Targy: UBA BANK PLC NOTICE BOARD, Datum: Sat, 20 Feb 16 09:25:44 +0000 Felado: Dr.ROBERT NMA < mariela_boneccaze@speedy.com.ar > Valaszcim: ubabank.plc11@yahoo.com.hk FOREIGN REMITTANCE DEPARTMENT TREASURY BILLS & BOUND ADDRESS 505 MISSEBO- WALTON HALL, TRADE FAIR BALONGUN. Phone Number +229 98 585 376 UBA BANK PLC NOTICE BOARD, Attention: Beneficiary, I AM MANAGER ROBERT NMA, I WRITE TO BRING TO YOUR NOTICE THAT I WAS APPOINTED AS THE NEW BANK MANAGER OF UBA BANK PLC AND AS I RESUME FULL WORK 20 FEBRUAY /2016 I FOUND YOUR TRANSACTION FILE AND THAT YOUR TRANSFER IN THE BANK BOUNDED ACCOUNT HAS NOT BEEN EFFECTED TO YOU SINCE THE PAST YEARS AND AS I HAVE THE NEW PROJECT AT HAND, I HAVE FORWARD YOUR PAYMENT FILE TO OUR FOREIGN TRANSFER UNIT TO LOOK INTO YOUR FILE AND HAVE YOUR PENDING TRANSACTION WITH THE BANK COMPLETED TO YOUR BANK ACCOUNT IN YOUR COUNTRY. AFTER THE OFFICIAL MEETING WITH THE BOARD OF FOREIGN TRANSFER UNIT THIS MORNING,IT WAS APPROVED THAT YOUR TOTAL DUE SUM OF $9,500.000 IN THE BANK BOUNDED ACCOUNT SHOULD BE WIRE TRANSFERD INTO YOUR OVER SEE ACCOUNT. TO CARRY OUT THIS TRANSFER, THE FOREIGN TRANSFER BOARD HAS OUTLINE THAT FIRST YOU MUST BECOME AN ACCOUNT HOLDER WITH THIS BANK AND THIS SIMPLY MEANS THAT YOU HAVE TO OPEN A NON-RESIDENTIAL ACCOUNT WITH THIS BANK TO ENABLE THE FOREIGN TRANSFER UNIT BE ABLE TO REMIT YOUR DEPOSITED FUND IN THE BANK BOUNDED ACCOUNT INTO YOUR ACCOUNT WITH THIS BANK BEFORE WE CAN BE ABLE TO TRANSFER THE TOTAL MONEY IN THIS YOUR ACCOUNT TO YOUR OVERSEA ACCOUNT THERE IN YOUR COUNTRY. TO OPEN A NON-RESIDENTIAL ACCOUNT WITH THIS BANK WILL COST YOU JUST $100USD only FOR YOU TO BECOME AN ACCOUNT HOLDER WITH THIS BANK. a)THE BANK CHARGE YOU $60.00 USD TO OPEN A NON RESIDENTIAL ACCOUNT FOR YOU. b)AND YOU MUST HAVE A BALANCE OF AT LEAST $30.00USD IN THIS YOUR NON-RESIDENTIAL ACCOUNT WITH THIS BANK BEFORE WE CAN BE ABLE TO CREDIT YOUR FUND FROM THE BANK BOUNDED ACCOUNT INTO YOUR ACCOUNT WITH THIS BANK IN READINESS FOR THE TRANSFER TO YOUR OVERSEAS ACCOUNT. THE FOREIGN TRANSFER UNIT HAS APPOINTED AN ACCOUNT OFFICE WHO WILL OPEN THE NON-RESIDENTIAL ACCOUNT FOR YOU ONCE YOU COMPROMISE AND SEND THE OPEN ACCOUNT FEE TO HIS INFORMATION BELOW. IT HAS BEEN RECOMMENDED THAT YOU SHOULD USE YOUR ACCOUNT OFFICE NAME AND DETAILS BELOW AND SEND THE OPEN ACCOUNT CHARGE OF $100 VIA MONEY GRAM NOW SO AS TO SPEED UP THE RATE OF PICK UP AND THE IMMEDIATE TRANSFER BE CONDUCTED TO YOU IMMEDIATELY WITHOUT FURTHER DELAY. ACCOUNT OFFICE DETAILS. RECEIVER NAME= = = = = = = RITA KEN COUNTRY= = = = = = = = = = BENIN REPUBLIC CITY= = = = = = = = = = = = =COTONOU TEST QUESTION TO BE USED= = =TAG ANSWER= = = = = = = = = = = PIN AFTER YOU SEND THE OPEN ACCOUNT CHARGE $100 GET BACK TO US WITH THE MTCN AND AS WELL AS YOUR ACCOUNT INFORMATION WHERE THE TRANSFER SHALL BE CONDUCTED TO YOU AS STATED BELOW. Full names Address. Country Telephone and Fax numbers Occupation Yours ID or your drivers license Bank name and address Bank account number claimer Signature. Date YOURS IN SERVICE, THE MANAGER, UBA BANK PLC Dr.ROBERT NMA EMAIL; ubabank.plc11@yahoo.com.hk UBA BANK PLC NOTICE BOARD If you received a similar letter, please ignore it. Do not answer it. If you do, you will end up on more of the mailing lists used by the criminals behind this fraud. Read more.... iStock/Thinkstock(DAVIS, W.V.) -- About 25 people fell to the ground after a ski lift derailed at the Timberline Resort in Davis, West Virginia, Saturday morning, an official told ABC News. The drop was about 30 feet, according to Joe Stevens of the West Virginia Ski Areas Association, of which Timberline is a member. Two people were hospitalized with non-life threatening injuries, Stevens said. About 100 skiers were left stranded on the ski lift after the derailment, Chief Sandy Green of Canaan Valley Fire Department Chief Sandy Green told ABC News. The remaining skiers were evacuated within two hours, said Stevens. The derailment was near the bottom of the hill, right after where skiers jump on the lift, Green told ABC News, saying that the incident could have been much worse if the malfunction had been further up the hill where the lift reaches up to 60 feet. Timberline tweeted at 10:40 a.m. that the Thunderstruck triple lift was not operating, saying that "we do not have all details at this time and our immediate focus is on our skiers." The cause of the derailment hasn't been determined, Stevens said. Copyright 2016, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. Mumbai: In a rather miraculous episode, a mother was able to locate and rescue her kidnapped daughter with the help of Apple iOSs Find my iPhone feature. According to media reports, the woman from Pennsylvania used Apples intuitive feature to locate, and track down her kidnapped daughter who was taken more than 150 miles away from home. The same reports pointed out that the victims mother said that her daughter had been messaging her continuously asking for help. The mother was quick to act in the situation and utilised the feature along with iCloud to track down her daughters handset. As the incident unfolded, it was discovered that the kidnapper was none other than the victims boyfrienda man named Joseph Boller. Boller has been arrested and has to pay a hefty amount for his release. For users who are not acquainted with this feature, users who have lost their iPhone can use Find my iphone to track down the exact location of the device and retrieve it, if possible. Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter. Samsung has a large number of businesses and the smartphone business is only a small part of the companies operations. (Representational Image) When we talk about consumer productsespecially smartphonesthe first company that comes to our mind is Samsung, the South Korean giant. However, Samsung is definitely not confined to just the consumer goods sectors, and is a lot bigger than what it seems. Did you know that the multi-national company started off as a small trading company that dealt with grocery? Samsung was founded by Lee Chull in Korea in 1938 and had a workforce of approximately 40 employees back then. During that epoch, the company produced noodles, sugar, and wool. A little lateraround the late 1950sthe company moved into insurance, security, and retail business. By the late 1960s, Samsung finally started the business that gives them their identity todayconsumer electronics. Interestingly, the first ever product built by Samsung was a 12-inch black and white television in 1970. The next big thing to join the companys product portfolio was the Samsung computer, which was developed in 1983. However, Samsungs real breakthrough came during the 90s when the company began to make steep inroads into the global marketplace, across numerous industries. Since then, the company has been strengthening its stance and is currently one of the market leaders in the global industry. We all know about the companies numerous diversified consumer-oriented productsTVs, computers, smartwatches, chips for smartphones, smartphones, digital cameras, and even smart housing appliances! But thats not all. Most people who believe Samsung only deals with the aforementioned products should think again. The companys modern day operations have exfoliated into several branches and there is a lot more to the companys operations than meets the eye. So how big is the company? For starters, Samsung generates about 17 per cent of South Koreas total GDP! In 2014, Samsungs revenue was more than both Apple and Googles combined. So how do the company make so much profit to make even Google look inferior? Well, Samsung is made up of 80 different businesses and supporting partners. Some of the prominent ones include Samsung Engineering and Construction, Samsung Trading and Investment, and Samsung Heavy Industries. Apart from Samsung Electronics, the company also owns Samsung Electromechanics, Techwina military arm, Samsung Mobile Display, and Samsung Digital Imaging. In the financial sector, the company has Samsung Life Insurance, Securities, Investments, Trust Management, and Venture Investment. Moreover, there are a several chemical units such as Samsung Petrochemicals and Samsung BP chemicals. The South Korean tech giants also have a prominent hotel and resort business, medical centre, and economic research institute. There are so many other businesses Samsung is involved with and here a bunch of lesser-known facts about that company that will leave you amazed: #1 Since 1993, Samsung has been the largest manufacturer of memory chips in the world. You will be surprised to know that even the original Apple iPhone and numerous other devices run on Saumsungs chips. Although Samsung has lost is edge over the past few years, the company still holds a strong position in the Asian market. #2 A total of 4,90,000 employees, which is more than the number of Apple, Google and Microsoft combined together. #3 You might also be interested to know that Samsung has been the largest manufacturer of television sets in the world. Moreover, the company also boasts of producing the largest number of LCD panels in the world, and approximately 98 per cent of the AMOLED screen market is dominated by Samsung. #4 The company has also made deep inroads in the field of R&D and have spent more than 14 billion dollars in 2014 alone. #5 In 1995, Samsung invested two million dollars in a clothing brand know as Fubu. #6 Samsung is also actively involved in military projects and have helped in developing surveillance equipment, aeronautics, automation, and weapons technology. The company has also designed a robot for South Korea! #7 Samsung heavy Industries has the most efficient shipbuilding centre in the entire world and have built some of the largest cargo ships in the world. #8 If thats not enough, Samsung also runs the biggest theme-based park in Korea along with a zoo and numerous other attractions. #9 The company has its very own clothing line, dubbed Samsung Fashion and the company has also been involved in car manufacturing for the past 20 years. #10 Samsung was also the primary contractors for building one of the tallest buildings in the worldthe Burj Khalifa! The above-mentioned facts clearly point out that Samsungs smartphone business is just a snippet of their vast empire and only generates a small portion of their total revenue. Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter. Bangalore: After disrupting the Indian smartphone market with its latest devices, LeEco has now announced the launch of its global brand property LeEco Day in India on the e-commerce platform, Flipkart. The company revealed that it will be giving away prizes worth Rs 8 crore on the February 25, as a gesture to show its gratitude to the growing fan-base in India. Additionally, users will also be given the option to exchange their old smartphones and avail discounts up to Rs 6,000 on the affordable Le 1s, and Rs 20,000 on the superior Le Max. The Le 1s is originally priced at Rs 10,999 and the Le Max is available for Rs 32,999 and the discounted rates indicate that users may possibly get discounts close to or above 50 per cent. In its three earlier flash sales, the company received a huge responseboth in terms of registrations and orders received. With the upcoming LeEco Day, the company wants to develop better relations with consumers and will be offering a slew of exciting gifts apart from the exchange offers. Users might also be excited to know that they will be able to order any LeEco device without registration starting February 25. The company is currently burning the candle at both ends to consolidate its presence in the Indian smartphone market. Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter. Hillary Clinton says this income has no influence on her policies and that she would increase Wall Street regulation. (Photo: AP) Washington: Hillary Clinton continued to resist calls to release her transcripts of paid speeches she gave to Goldman Sachs and other banks, saying she would hold onto them until Bernie Sanders and other rivals for the US presidency released theirs. Sanders, her populist rival for the Democratic presidential nomination who has surged in polls with his furious rebukes of Wall Street and its role in the 2008 recession, said on Friday he had none to release because he does not give paid speeches to banks. Clinton's reluctance to reveal what she privately told banks and other organizations has become an increasingly heated issue ahead of the election this November as she fights suggestions by Sanders and others from their party's more liberal wing that she is too cozy with the US financial industry. "I am happy to release anything I have whenever everybody else does the same, because everybody in this race, including Senator Sanders, has given speeches to private groups," she said on Thursday night in a televised 'town hall' event with voters in Nevada. Nevada is the third state to vote for the Democratic Party's nominee in caucuses to be held on Saturday. Clinton has earned more than $20 million for 92 paid speeches since leaving her job as US secretary of state in 2013, according to records disclosed by her campaign, including $675,000 for three closed-door speeches to New York-based investment bank Goldman Sachs. Her husband, Bill Clinton, has earned even more since he stepped down as president in 2001. She says this income has no influence on her policies and that she would increase Wall Street regulation. Sanders, a US senator from Vermont, last gave a paid speech in 2004, according to his Senate financial disclosures, when he spoke about social activism at the California Institute of Technology in an event that was open to the public. He earned $2,000, according to his disclosures. On Friday, Sanders' spokesman said the senator "accepts Clinton's challenge." "He will release all of the transcripts of all of his Wall Street speeches," Michael Briggs said in a statement. "That's easy. The fact is, there weren't any." Briggs said he hoped this was sufficient for Clinton to release her transcripts. Clinton's standard speaker's contract stipulated that the speech's host make a transcript that would then remain in Clinton's control. Spokesmen for Clinton and Goldman Sachs did not respond to questions. It remained unclear if Clinton's Republican rivals would meet her demands. Islamic State (ISIS) terrorists may have returned to Europe, says Europol (Photo: AFP) London: Up to 5,000 Islamic State (ISIS) terrorists may have returned to Europe after being trained in terror training camps in Syrian and other war zones as the continent faces its highest terror threat in over a decade, the head of EU's police agency has warned. Rob Wainwright, director of Europol - the European Union- wide law enforcement agency, said these trained terrorists may be plotting further attacks like those in Paris last November which claimed 130 lives. "Europe is currently facing its biggest terror threat in more than a decade," he told Germany's 'Neue Osnabrucker Zeitung' newspaper. "One can expect Islamic State (ISIS) or other religious terror groups to stage an attack somewhere in Europe with the aim of achieving mass casualties among the civilian population. Additionally, there is the risk of individual attackers this has not reduced," he said. Europol estimates that there are between 3,000 and 5,000 Europeans who have traveled to terrorist training camps abroad, including those run by ISIS in its territories in Iraq and Syria, and returned home, the report said. "The growing number of these foreign fighters presents new challenges for EU countries," Wainwright added. But he played down fears that terrorists are using the European migrant crisis to infiltrate the continent as asylum seekers at refugee camps. "There is no concrete evidence terrorists are systematically using the flow of refugees to infiltrate Europe," he said. However, Austrian prosecutors this week have confirmed a 34-year-old Pakistani suspect, who has not been named, was arrested along with a 28-year-old Algerian at a refugee shelter in the country on December 10 in connection with the serial terror attacks in Paris in November, 2015. Their arrest came after two other suspects were taken into custody. An Austrian prosecutors' statement said: "It can be assumed that all four are members of ISIS." Last month, the Europol in a report had warned that "ISIS is preparing more terrorist attacks, including more 'Mumbai- style' attacks, to be executed in member states of the EU, and in France in particular". Two attempts to restart the session failed as they came up against more tear gas and 18 lawmakers were banned from the chamber, four of them forcibly removed by police. (Photo: AFP) Pristina: Opposition MPs in Kosovo disrupted the first parliamentary session of the year on Saturday with what has become their commonplace method of protest releasing tear gas in the chamber. Angry about a government deal with Serbia and demanding snap elections, the united opposition has almost paralysed parliamentary proceedings since October with their tear gas protests. "The people have turned their backs on the regime and the government must resign and respond to the people's will," Visar Ymeri, head of the Self-Determination party, told lawmakers before the session began and the first gas canister was opened. The session was suspended after deputies began to flee during a hurried vote -- despite calls from the parliamentary speaker, also donning a gas mask, for them to continue with proceedings. Two attempts to restart the session failed as they came up against more tear gas and 18 lawmakers were banned from the chamber, four of them forcibly removed by police. Proceedings resumed mid-afternoon without the banned lawmakers, seven of whom were arrested. The opposition is against a deal with Belgrade, backed by the European Union, to create an association giving greater powers to Kosovo's Serb minority. It fears the plan will deepen Kosovo's ethnic divisions and increase the influence of Serbia, which does not recognise Kosovo's sovereignty. The opposition also opposes a border demarcation agreement with neighbouring Montenegro. Protesters who have taken to the streets in recent months further accuse the authorities of widespread corruption, lagging development and a disregard for Muslim-majority Kosovo's 1.8 million people. Ugly Behaviour Several hundred opposition supporters gathered on Friday outside the parliamentary building in Pristina, sealed off by special riot police units, and chanted: "Down with the government". "The only solution we accept now is elections, free elections," Self-Determination activist Yll Hoxha told the crowd. The protesters, who later dispersed, also spoke against Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Hashim Thaci becoming president this year, a post for which he is currently the frontrunner. Thaci himself described the chaotic scenes inside as "a continuation of the primitive and ugly behaviour" of the opposition. US Ambassador to Kosovo Greg Delawie said the protesting deputies were "depriving the citizens of Kosovo of the right to live peacefully in an independent, democratic country and I deplore that". A total of 130 people were killed and more than 350 were injured in the attacks that were claimed by ISIS as revenge for French air strikes on the jihadists in Iraq and Syria. (Photo: AFP) Brussels: Salah Abdeslam, a key suspect in November's Paris attacks, was holed up for three weeks after the killings in an apartment in the Brussels district of Schaerbeek, a report said. Belgian newspaper La Derniere Heure said Abdeslam took refuge in the apartment from November 14, the day after the attacks in which 130 people died, until December 4 when special forces descended on the area. Responding to the report, Belgium's Federal prosecutor confirmed to AFP that a fingerprint belonging to Abdeslam was found in an apartment in Schaerbeek. But a spokesman said investigators were not convinced it meant he had been in hiding there for the three weeks in question. "We can confirm only the discovery of a fingerprint in the Schaerbeek hideout after a search conducted on December 10. We cannot comment further," a spokesman said. Abdeslam, 26, who is believed to have played a key logistical role in the attacks, fled across the border to Belgium hours after the November 13 killings and is now one of the most wanted men in Europe. A total of 130 people were killed and more than 350 were injured in the attacks that were claimed by ISIS as revenge for French air strikes on the jihadists in Iraq and Syria. According to the report, on November 16 Abdeslam was on the third floor of a house at 86 Henri Berge Street in Schaerbeek at the same time as special forces were raiding a property in the Molenbeek area looking for him. "According to our information, he stayed there for 20 days," the daily said. Special forces carried out unsuccessful searches in Schaerbeek on December 4 at which point, the report said, Abdeslam probably left. Six days later, police raided 86 Henri Berge Street and discovered traces of explosives, three possible suicide belts, as well as the fingerprint belonging to Abdeslam. The Belgian federal prosecutor said it was impossible to date the fingerprint in order to establish if the fugitive was there before or after the attacks. Earlier this month, a source close to the French inquiry said no DNA from Abdeslam had been found on a suicide belt discovered in the French capital. The explosive belt was found in a dustbin in the southern Parisian suburb of Montrouge on November 23. Telephone data placed Abdeslam in the same area just after the attacks but the lack of DNA on the belt suggested that he had not worn it. Belgrade: A US strike on an Islamic State jihadist camp in Libya killed two Serbian embassy employees who were kidnapped in the area in November, Serbia's foreign minister said on Saturday. "Unfortunately as a consequence of this attack on the Islamic State (IS) in Libya, the two of them lost their lives," Ivica Dacic told reporters, referring to Fridays air strike. Embassy communications chief Sladjana Stankovic and her driver Jovica Stepic were kidnapped on November 8 in the coastal city of Sabratha, 70 kilometres west of Tripoli, from a convoy of cars heading to the Tunisian border. The US strike, which targeted a jihadist training camp near Sabratha, killed dozens of people, probably including Noureddine Chouchane, a senior IS group operative behind attacks in Tunisia, US officials said yesterday. It was the second US air raid in the violence-wracked North African country targeting the fast-expanding jihadist group in the past three months. Belgrade maintains an embassy in Tripoli, and Serbian citizens, mostly doctors and other medical staff as well as construction workers, have been working in Libya for decades due to close bilateral relations during Kadhafi's regime. Islamabad: A non-bailable warrant was issued against former Pakistani military ruler Pervez Musharraf on Saturday in connection with the murder case of Lal Masjid cleric Abdul Rashid Ghazi, who was killed in a military crackdown in 2007. A local court in Islamabad issued the order and directed the authorities to produce Musharraf before it on March 16. The court also rejected Musharraf's plea seeking permanent exemption from appearing in the case and issued the warrants. His counsel said they would challenge the order, Geo News reported. The 72-year-old former president has never appeared before the court during the previous 55 hearings. This is the fourth non-bailable arrest warrant against Musharraf in the case. The cleric's family filed a case in 2013 against Musharraf over his alleged involvement in the killing of Rashid during a 2007 operation when military commandos stormed the mosque in the heart of Islamabad on Musharraf's orders. The three-day seige in July 2007 at the Lal Masjid claimed scores of lives, including of students and security personnel. Last month, Musharraf was acquitted by an anti-terrorism court in the 2006 murder case of Baloch nationalist leader Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, the first major relief to the ex-military ruler entangled in several high-profile cases. He came to power in a bloodless coup in 1999, deposing then prime minister Nawaz Sharif. Facing impeachment following elections in 2008, Musharraf resigned as president and went into self-imposed exile in Dubai. The ex-army chief is facing a slew of court cases after returning from Dubai to contest the general elections in 2013. He lost the polls. He is also facing trial in a treason case for abrogating the constitution in 2007 and illegal detention of judges the same year. Musharraf has also been charged in connection with the 2007 assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto. A Pakistani court has banned his foreign travels. Islamabad: Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was on Saturday asked by an opposition leader to bring "real facts" about the Pathankot terror attack before the Parliament to take it into confidence. "India is leveling baseless allegations on Pakistan over Pathankot terror attack and the Prime Minister must bring real facts before the nation," Pakistan People's Party lawmaker Syed Khursheed Shah, who is also the leader of opposition in National Assembly, told reporters. This is the first time that the opposition has sought briefing over the January 2 attack on an Indian air force base in Pathankot and the probe by Pakistani authorities. Shah said Prime Minister Sharif should take parliament into confidence over the probe. Read: Pakistan's Pathankot probe team may visit India next month A team of Pakistani investigators are likely to visit India next month for collecting evidence on the involvement of Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorists in the Pathankot terror attack, a media report on said. "The team's visit is expected," a senior diplomat told Dawn News, adding that the dates for the trip were yet to be finalised. The announcement came days after militants killed nine police officers in two ambushes in Mohmand. (Photo: AFP) Islamabad: Pakistani security forces Saturday killed at least five militants in a gunfight in a restive northwestern tribal district bordering Afghanistan, the military said. Troops encountered the militants near Ghalanai, the main town of Mohmand, one of the seven tribal border districts which have been home to Al-Qaeda and Taliban-led militants. "Five terrorists were killed by security forces in Mohmand early morning today," a military statement said. Troops engaged the militants as they were planning a "terrorist activity", it said without elaborating, adding that the bodies were handed over to the local administration. The clash comes after Taliban militants killed at least nine policemen in two almost simultaneous attacks in Mohmand on Wednesday. They killed seven police in an ambush on a checkpoint in Pandyali area of Mohmand and shot dead two more who were guarding a solar-powered tube well in Michni area. Pakistan's army stepped up its offensive in the region after the Taliban's massacre of 153 people, mostly children, in Peshawar in December 2014, and killed or pushed hundreds of militants to Afghanistan. Overall, levels of militant-linked violence have dropped dramatically, with 2015 seeing the fewest deaths among civilians and security forces since 2007, the year the Pakistani Taliban umbrella group was formed. But the threat posed by the Taliban remains, particularly in the northwest. Last month Taliban gunmen stormed a university in the northwestern town of Charsadda, killing 21 people in a chilling reminder of their ongoing ability to carry out occasional high-profile and brazen attacks. Pakistan's Islamist insurgency began after the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, which led to a spillover of militants across the border and a surge in recruitment for Pakistani extremist groups. The Linn County Kennel Club is introducing a new program designed to advertise the amount of visitors a major dog show brings to the community. The clubs next show, to be held Feb. 26-29 at the Linn County Fair and Expo Center, will host thousands of dogs and their handlers. The club is offering a round, yellow sticker that reads, Im here for the dog shows, to each exhibitor. The idea is to demonstrate the number of show attendees who will shop, dine and stay in Albany during the show. This is big stuff, said club board member Linda Grace of the expected volume of visitors. The show draws visitors from across the country, as well as from overseas. We end up with people down from Canada, and last year we had people from the Virgin Islands, said Sue Wiley, the vice president of the club. Grace said the show this year will host several specialty breeds, such as Great Danes. Those specialty breeds always attract large number of exhibitors, she said, as well as breed enthusiasts who attend the shows. The event this year will feature more than 6,516 dogs from 189 breeds. Visitors can observe obedience competitions, which involve dogs responding effectively to basic commands; rally obedience, which involves dogs and their handlers navigating a course; and an agility competition, where the dogs run through tunnels, jump, and navigate a course at a full run. Dogs who compete in the agility course are separate from the main population of the show dogs. Club Vice President Sue Wiley said as many as 500 such dogs could compete in the event. Admission to the show is free, while parking is $5. Linn County will continue to press the issue of unfunded mandates, Commissioner Roger Nyquist said Friday in response to Oregon enacting the highest minimum wage levels in the nation. Oregon lawmakers on Thursday approved House Bill 1532, which will create a three-tiered level of minimum wages ranging from $12.25 per hour in rural areas to $13.50 in areas such as Salem and Eugene and $14.75 in Portland. Gov. Kate Brown is expected to sign the bill. Nyquist said he has already spoken with the owner of a large Linn County business who is making plans for significant staffing cuts. That person told him that a 48 percent increase in labor costs, coupled with the highest high school dropout rate in the nation, makes no economic sense. The business owner told Nyquist the only option was to cut overhead, and that means jobs. A management team was called together Friday morning and instructed to start making a list of potential cuts. And, Nyquist noted, its not just businesses that will be affected. It will significantly affect nonprofits such as Boys & Girls Clubs and universities, which employ students through work-study programs. Nyquist said hard decisions are about to be made statewide. We have no choice, he said. The cost of this program and the consequences to our budget give us no reasonable alternative other than to press forward with our belief that this is an unfunded mandate and is not allowed under the states Constitution. Nyquist said the county estimates that when the wage increases are fully implemented which includes escalating clauses on union contracts the cost will be about $2.2 million per year in Linn County alone. Our options are to press the unfunded mandate component, to make staff cuts, or to hand the bill over to Linn County taxpayers, Nyquist said. Reasonable people will say we really only have one option at this point. In recent years, the county has reduced staffing by more than 50 positions paid for out of the general fund. The total number of staff members does not reflect those cuts because numerous public health and mental health positions are funded by state and federal grants. We have run a tight ship in terms of budgeting, Nyquist said. When you consider all of the timber property that is owned by the state and federal government in Linn County that arent generating their full potential in terms of income, we should be looking like Curry and Josephine counties in terms of budget meltdowns. The annual budgeting process is just over the horizon, he said. County Administrator Ralph Wyatt met with department heads Thursday morning to begin talking about budgeting parameters. We have lots of tools and options before us, Nyquist said, talking about how the county will proceed with the unfunded mandates issue. We believe that legally we are right and we certainly believe we are right in terms of the spirit of the issue. There is no other reasonable alternative. Sept. 14, 1922 Feb. 14, 2016 Former Corvallis resident Frank Elmer Block of Reno, Nevada, passed away on Feb. 14, 2016. He was born to the late Frank Benedict Block and Emma Streib on Sept. 14 1922, in Portland. After graduating from Benson Polytechnic High School in 1941, he was called to active duty in 1943 and served with the 103rd Infantry Cactus Division in France, Germany and Austria. After discharge he returned to Oregon State University to complete his degree in chemical engineering. He worked for the U.S. Bureau of Mines in Albany, Reno, Nevada, and Washington, D.C., until retirement in 1983. He worked with the extraction and development of specialty metals. Frank was on the team that pioneered the development of titanium and zirconium which was needed for the first nuclear submarine and in the space race. Frank received both the Meritorious and Distinguished service awards from the Department of the Interior during his career as well as being inducted to the OSU Engineering Hall of Fame in 2005. After his retirement he pursued his hobby in woodworking making everything from ornate grandfather clocks, harps, chip carving, inlaid wood pictures and intricately carved figurines. He married Aileen Lindsay Sherwood Block in 1947 and they celebrated their 66th wedding anniversary before her passing in 2013. He lived for many years in Corvallis and in 2009 moved to Reno to live with family. He is survived by his daughter, Emily Barnes (Vern) of Reno; son Stephen Block (Judy) of Palm Springs, California; six grandchildren and one great-grandchild. Inurnment will be at Northern Nevada Veteran's Memorial Cemetery in Fernley, Nevada on March 14, 2016. A memorial gathering is planned with family and friends. Please visit www.waltonsfuneralhomes.com to send a message to the family. March 25, 1922 Feb. 14, 2016 Ruth Phillips Arent Anderson, 93, passed away Feb. 14, 2016, in Corvallis. Born in New York City on March 25, 1922, and raised on Riverside Drive and in Scarsdale, New York, Ruth attended Horace Mann School and graduated from Skidmore College in 1943. She went on to earn her master's in psychology from the University of Iowa and M.S.W. from the University of Denver, which enabled her to become a nationally renowned child psychologist and psychiatric social worker, author, speaker and educator. She married Jacob Jack Arent (1926-1971), raised her four children and became head of the League of Women Voters for the state of Colorado, as well as a civil rights activist and a community organizer. Long after Jacks passing, and following the passing of her husband Merton Andy Anderson (1918-1987), Ruth moved to Corvallis, where she was on the board of ALL (Academy for Life Long Learning) for many years and was active in Altrusa, CARE and The Raging Grannies. Ruth was an avid competitor and athlete and an Olympic medalist in swimming. She won two silver medals and a bronze medal in the 1942 Olympics, known as the Olympics of no record. Originally scheduled to take place in Berlin, due to the course of World War II, Olympic events were held in each participating country and times were compiled by the IOC. Ruth was a remarkable matriarch with a great capacity for love, a sharp mind and an unfailing sense of adventure. She was a pillar of truth and support for those around her and touched many lives with her brilliant conversation, acerbic wit, her magnanimous charisma, inquisitive nature, and her palpable joy for life and all its possibilities. She loved human connection, with her family and with her friends, of whom she had many, including cherished best friends from her days as a school girl at Horace Mann. She adored summers on Hog Island in Maine, rooting for fresh blueberries, canoeing, and watching the sunset under sweet smelling balsam and white pine trees. Fittingly, she passed away on Valentine's Day, as she loved love immensely, closely followed by chocolate. Ruth continued to travel, sketch, write poems and publish books into her nineties. She is mourned and survived by her four children, Margaret, Sally, Bonnie and Douglas, and her six grandchildren. A life ceremony will be at 4 p.m. Saturday, March 26, at Bruce Starker Arts Park in Corvallis. A reception with lots of encouragement for stories, humor and memories (and lots of Ruth's favorite foods) will follow. In lieu of flowers, please make contributions in Ruth's name to the Southern Poverty Law Center (https://donate.splcenter.org), Planned Parenthood (http://ppaction.org/PPRMgiving), or the Samaritan Evergreen Hospice in Albany (www.samhealth.org/givingvolunteering/Pages/makeadonation.aspx). August May is the first to admit his life could have turned out much differently. His mother and father made very bad choices, and August ended up in foster care as a child. I have five siblings Ive never met, he said. Fortunately, his foster mother, Letha May, also became his adopted mother and not only does the 16-year-old West Albany High School sophomore enjoy a well-rounded life, he knows that he is loved. He also remembers attending Royal Family Kids Camp when he was a child, a place that helped knock off the rough edges and began helping him build a new, purpose-driven life. When I first came to camp, I was a hellion, a bully, he said. Camp helped me take my first steps for the better. August said his foster mother showed me right from wrong, but the summer camp dedicated to foster children was eye-opening. I remember when all of the kids got a container with toys, he said. At first, I thought it was silly, but then, it was fun. August said that little by little, he also began a spiritual walk that changed his life. Don and Catherine Burwell have been active with the local Royal Family Kids Camp since its inception seven years ago. The annual one-week camp is held near Stayton in July. I remember August telling me that he was surprised by how kind everyone was to him, Carolyn Burwell said of that first camp. And, the adults didnt use dirty words around him. August said he was a physically active child and enjoyed numerous camp activities. There are so many things to do, from building bird houses to taking apart computers, he said. Today, August plays clarinet and recently attended an All-State music event that he called, awesome. He will perform in the coming West Albany musical, Into the Woods, and is beginning to make plans for college. I love music, but Im a numbers guy, he said. I enjoy math and science a lot. His family completes a mission trip to Honduras every year and recently built a church in a poor community. For the Burwells, the Royal Family Kids Camp is a calling, sponsored by their church, the First Assembly of God in Albany. Similar camps operate in Marion County as well as nationwide. We provide one adult for every two children, Carolyn Burwell said, adding that adults and children alike can be moved by the camp experience. Its a roller-coaster of emotions for the kids and the adults. Burwell said there were 42 campers last summer and she would like to increase that to 48. Most are like any other child at summer camp, but all carry emotional baggage associated with being foster children. Kids spend five days and four nights at Canyon View near Stayton. They do things other kids do at camp such as fishing, swimming, arts and crafts, hiking, games and Bible study. She said the zip line is especially popular as kids learn to overcome their fears and insecurities. It took one little girl three years to work up enough courage to ride the zip line, but she did it, Burwell said. Area churches make afghans for every child and Burwell said they quickly become their prized possessions. Foster children in first through sixth grades are eligible to attend at no cost. We have a birthday party and everyone gets a T-shirt and a photo album designed just for them, she said. Childrens Services selects the children and the First Assembly of God team provides funding and the setting. Planning starts in March, she said, and the annual budget is about $30,000. Numerous community specialists volunteer, including teachers, law enforcement officers and doctors and nurses. Finding a bus that will take the group to camp on Monday and pick them up on Friday is a major expense, Burwell said. We would really like to find someone who would donate that service. It would save us $700 to $1,000. Although the program accepts donations all year, about $12,000 to $14,000 is raised during the annual fundraising banquet held at the church in September. In addition to the annual camp, the program also includes year-round mentoring for 16 children. We commit to four hours per month and one Saturday per month, Don Burwell said. We take the kids bowling or out to visit the SafeHaven Humane Society. Its kind of like a Big Brother, Big Sister program. The Burwells say the community can participate in many ways by donating money, food, craft materials and items to be used in activities. The Royal Family Kids program began in 1985 with the goal that every foster child, age 6-12 experience a life changing camp, club and mentor. According to the program, there are more than 408,000 foster children in the U.S. To learn more about Royal Family Kids Camp or its mentoring program, contact the Burwells at the First Assembly of God, 541-926-2291. WASHINGTON I had a twinge of nostalgia watching George W. Bush campaign for his little brother in South Carolina Monday night. He was earthy. He recalled a previous visit to a South Carolina breakfast spot, where an animal-rights demonstrator dressed as a pig interrupted Bushs meal by dumping a steaming pile of manure in the parking lot to block his exit. Bush was corny. He spoke about how, in his presidential afterlife, he has become a tree farmer gives me a chance to practice my stump speech. He was also self-deprecating. Ive written two books, which has surprised a lot of people, particularly up east who didnt think I could read, much less write, he said. But mostly, Ws cameo in the 2016 campaign served as a reminder that, not too long ago, conservative politics wasnt so beastly. Bush, wading into the manure pile that is the 2016 Republican primary fight, was pleasant, civil and decent. If serving as president of the United States makes me a part of the so-called establishment, I proudly carry that label, he said, responding to the outsider fury fueled by Donald Trump and Ted Cruz. There seems to be a lot of name-calling going on, but I want to remind you what our good dad told me one time. Labels are for soup cans. The presidency is a serious job that requires sound judgment and good ideas. Without mentioning Trumps name, Bush belittled the bombastic billionaire. These are tough times, and I understand that Americans are angry and frustrated, but we do not need someone in the Oval Office who mirrors and inflames our anger and frustration, Bush said. Then he made his best case for Jeb: Strength is not empty rhetoric. It is not bluster. It is not theatrics. Real strength, strength of purpose, comes from integrity and character. And in my experience, the strongest person usually isnt the loudest one in the room. This isnt to idealize Bush, who did his share to coarsen political discourse: impugning his opponents patriotism, exaggerating intelligence to lead the country to war, and building the false case that Iraq was behind the 9/11 attacks. But even Karl Roves underhandedness seems almost quaint compared with todays brutality. The party isnt necessarily more conservative; Trump is less a conservative than a purveyor of insults, nationalism and conspiracy theories. Trump and Cruz are making the Republican Party into a rage-filled movement, as the dueling demagogues chew up opponents and each other. Some excerpts from Saturday nights debate: They lied! He lies. This guy lied. Thats a lot of lies. Why do you lie? You are the single biggest liar. Its a disgrace and an embarrassment. Give me a break. This country is dying. I dont know how he knows what I said on Univision because he doesnt speak Spanish. He is so weak on illegal immigration its laughable. You want to talk about weakness? Its weak to disparage women. Its weak to denigrate the disabled. He said he would take his pants off and moon everybody. He called him pathological and compared him to a child molester. Nasty guy. Trump took particular aim at the 43rd president, saying: They lied. They said there were weapons of mass destruction. There were none, and they knew there were none. At a news conference on Monday the same event where Trump repeatedly called Cruz unstable and said he would file a lawsuit to disqualify Cruz from the presidency because of his Canadian birth Trump flirted with the truther accusation that Bush had advance knowledge of the 9/11 attacks. They knew some bad things were going to happen, Trump alleged. They could have stopped it. Bush responded mildly to Trumps provocations, recalling the childs face he looked into when he first learned of the 9/11 attacks. The former president answered the Bible-bungling Trump with a passage on hypocrisy from Matthew about removing the speck from your brothers eye when there is a log in your own. We need someone who can take a positive message across the entire country, someone who can inspire and appeal to people from all walks of life, not just one party or one class of people, he said. Jeb will rise above the petty name-calling. Maybe, or maybe Ws appearance will serve only to remind voters of Jebs inferior political skills. Either way, the 43rd presidents re-emergence offered Republicans a chance to reflect on how Bushs party of conservatism so quickly became Trumps party of rage. If you could count the number of Democrats in the Oregon House of Representatives, and took one additional step checking to see where those Democrats tended to live you would not have been surprised by Thursdays House vote approving an increase in the states minimum wage. Even since Sen. Michael Dembrow, a Portland Democrat, overhauled a proposal from Gov. Kate Brown, and divided the state into three geographic areas, each with a different wage, the proposal was virtually guaranteed to pass. Thats because Dembrows intention in modifying the governors proposal was in part to shore up support among lawmakers from areas of the state that are not Portland. Again, make no mistake: This minimum-wage proposal has been driven from the start by the Portland metro area. The issue took a statewide turn in the wake of efforts to push a ballot measure to raise the minimum wage throughout the state. (Thats why Democratic leaders said it was imperative to deal with the issue in this short session, to forestall that ballot issue, which could have called for more aggressive increases in the wage. Organizers of the potential ballot issue havent yet said whether theyll now drop their efforts, but our guess is that they likely will.) Under the terms of Oregons first-in-the-nation three-tiered minimum wage, the Portland area will have a minimum wage of $14.75 at the end of six years. The middle tier of Oregon counties and this includes Linn and Benton counties will have a minimum wage of $13.50. Sparsely populated Oregon counties will have a minimum wage of $12.50. For contrast, Oregons minimum wage now is $9.25, and its already among the highest in the nation. The federal minimum wage is $7.25. Its a sure thing that Brown will sign the bill, but that wont be the end of the story. Linn County Commissioner Roger Nyquist on Friday continued to push his argument that the minimum wage increase represents an unfunded mandate from the state. As such, he says, its prohibited by the states Constitution, unless the Legislature fully funds the cost of the increase to local governments. Oddly enough, the bill the Legislature passed does not include that funding; it must have been an oversight prompted by the breakneck pace of the short session. Nyquist said Linn County budgeters believe that the price tag of the wage increases to the county will top $2 million a year. (Other governmental entities face similar assessments; budgeters at Oregon State University, for example, estimate that the cost of the measure eventually will top $1.5 million for each two-year budget cycle.) Our options are to press the unfunded mandate component, to make staff cuts, or to hand the bill over to Linn County taxpayers, Nyquist said. Reasonable people will say we really only have one option at this point. Whats still unclear is exactly how Linn County will pursue the unfunded mandate issue. But keep in mind that the county stands ready to sue the state over management of state forests as soon as this legislative session is over. Whats another lawsuit among friends? Or, the county could just refuse to implement the wage increases, and force the state to respond. What is certain is this: We have more twists and turns ahead in the minimum-wage story and you can be sure that governments throughout Oregon will be watching how Linn County plays its cards over the next few months. (mm) The campaign for Ann Roe, who is running for Congress against Lyin' Bryan Steil has come out with the best one-liner of this cycle so far: I can't argue... 11 months ago How an incompetent DCCC has reshaped the political landscape of Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, one of the most egregiously gerrymandered states in the country, has 18 congressional seats. Even though it's a blue state-- Obama beat McCain 3,192,316 (54.7%) to 2,586,496 (44.3%) and beat Romney 2,907,448 (52.0%) to 2,619,58 (46.8%); Bob Casey beat Tom Smith for the U.S. Senate seat in 2012 53.6% to 44.7% and the most recent statewide race saw Tom Wolf wipe out incumbent Governor Tom Corbett 55-45%-- only 5 congressional seats are held by Democrats now! In 2006, the congressional delegation reflected the state's partisan split far more accurately: there were 12 Democrats in Congress and 7 Republicans. The incompetence and grotesque corruption of Chris Van Hollen and Steve Israel and their staff guaranteed the portion of Democratic seats in the state would fall from 12 of 19 to 5 of 18. (This has been their impact coast to coast from the Canadian border to the Mexican border.) They like to use gerrymandering as an excuse, but it's a false excuse. The DCCC routinely ignores districts that favor Democrats if the locals have the temerity to nominate a progressive rather than a corrupt DCCC conservative. This cycle in Pennsylvania-- with it's 13 Republican-seats in what looks to be a huge year, with Bernie or Hillary at the top of the ticket, likely against some crackpot like Herr Trumpf or nut-case Dominionist Ted Cruz and Joe Sestak challenging failed right-wing Senator Pat Toomey, a Wall Street puppet ($6,353,491)-- the DCCC is challenging 3 Republicans. In order of interest, they're looking whomever the GOP nominates to fill Mike Fitzpatrick's seat in Bucks County (almost certainly the NRCC shill, Mike's uptight little brother Brian, who's counting on people mixing him up with his brother), Ryan Costello and Pat Meehan. In PA-08 (Fitzpatrick's seat), they recruited an establishment-favored typical DCCC conservaDem, Steve Santassiero, but backed away when he proved lazy, dumb and unable to raise and money. It looks more likely that the more progressive Shaunghnessy Naughton will win the primary in this seat Obama won against McCain, 53-46%. The DCCC recruited a wealthy entrepreneur/pastor, Bill Golderer, as their candidate against Pat Meehan in the Delaware County 'burbs south and west of Philly (PA-07), although there's a real grassroots progressive running, an Elizabeth Warren-type college professor, Mary Ellen Balchunis and she-- rather than he-- has the backing of the local Democratic parties. PA-07 is another instance of the DCCC recruiting their idea of a candidate and foisting him on the locals. They recruited a conservative Republican, a party switcher, Mike Parrish, to run in PA-06 (an oddly shaped monstrosity that includes pieces of Chester, Berks and Montgomery counties) but Parrish must have studied in the same how-to-lose school as Santassiero and the DCCC cooled on him as well. A progressive grassroots activist, Lindy Li is also running and she seems to be generating more enthusiasm than the ex-Republican. But those 3 Philly-area districts are the only ones-- of the 13 held by Republicans-- the DCCC is even bothering to contest. There are no Democratic candidates running against Mike Kelly (PA-03), Bill Shuster (PA-09), Tom Marino (PA-10) or Tim Murphy (PA-18), so no one even building for a future run the way Mary Ellen did against Meehan in 2014 when she got zero help from the DCCC but still managed to bring in nearly 90,000 votes, something she's using as a base of support for her campaign this cycle. It doesn't take a brain surgeon. But even in the districts where there are Democrats running, like in PA-05, where Kerith Strano Taylor is taking on Glenn Thompson again, the DCCC is ignoring the races, the talent they have in the most abundance. They are also ignoring Josh Burkholder's campaign against Scott Perry (PA-04), Michael Marsicano's campaign against racist/xenophobic freak-show Lou Barletta (PA-11), Steve Larchuk's race against Keith Rothfus (PA-12), the race to replace retiring Joe Pitts (PA-16), where Christina Hartman and Gary Wegman are in a primary-- and where Obama nearly beat McCain 50-49%. But the worst case of DCCC malfeasance is in the Lehigh Valley (PA-15), where Charlie Dent is being challenged by Democrat Rick Daugherty, who did reasonably well against Dent in 2012. Four years before that Obama won the district 52-47%. But the DCCC is uninterested in getting involved. So while the DCCC gets ready to repeat every mistake they've made in every cycle in recent memory-- recruiting awful candidates that the base doesn't relate to and leaving dozens of seats uncontested-- the NRCC is being far more aggressive and targeting way more House seats , including seats where they know they will lose in November but hope to pick up in 2018-- the kind of long-range thinking imbeciles like Chris Van Hollen, Steve Israel and Ben Ray Lujan are incapable of. Do you want progressive candidates who can win? Here are 18 , only one of whom the DCCC is even supporting at all. If you'd like to help any of them win, please tap the thermometer. Maybe there's even one near you. UPDATE: Another District In Play? Pennsylvania's most progressive House Member, Matt Cartwright, just endorsed Christina Hartman in PA-16, which includes Pennsylvania Dutch Country, all of Lancaster and some of blue Reading. Although the district is R+4, Obama won it in 2008 and held Romney to 52% in 2012. If the DCCC were less incompetent and actually got behind Hartman, there's a good chance she would beat likely GOP nominee, state Sen. Lloyd Smucker, an extremist nut who bears a chunk of responsibility for shutting down the state government-- the last thing we need in DC. "With a name like Smucker, hes got to be a turd" would be a great campaign poster for her... though maybe not in Lancaster County. This year marks the 25th anniversary of the reestablishment of U.S.-Albanian diplomatic relations. On his February 14 visit to Albania, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said, "We are friends. . . .We are allies. We have enormous mutual interests." Those interests extend to fighting violent extremism, including Daesh. While in Tirana, Secretary Kerry said defeating Daesh will require a broad coalition of which Albania is a charter member. "Albania," said Secretary Kerry, "has been there from the beginning, willing to stand by all countries in opposition to Daesh. And it is standing up with [the U.S.] in support of Iraq. It is standing up with [the U.S.] in support of Afghanistan. And it is standing with [the U.S.] in the long-term struggle to emphasize to people the importance of tolerance." Albania is a NATO ally, which brings special responsibilities for the Balkan region. Albania continues to take steps to become more integrated in Euro-Atlantic institutions, including embracing legislation to combat corruption at every level. In particular, during his trip to Tirana, Secretary Kerry praised Albania for approving legislation barring convicted criminals from serving in a wide range of elected and governmental positions. "That's a courageous step," the Secretary said. The Secretary also stressed the importance of passing comprehensive judicial reform, saying "I am encouraged. . .by the judicial reform package that is now being considered in order to improve the judiciary and allow for a greater crackdown on corruption." The United States supports Albanias efforts to make its government more accountable to its citizens. The Albanian people want to live in a place where judges and prosecutors abide by exactly the same rules as the average citizen, where everyone will be treated fairly, no matter what political party is in power and no matter who belongs to what party. Albania has come a long way in the last quarter century toward building a democracy and is clearly committed to achieving more. In doing so, Albania can count on the full friendship and support of the United States. Boko Haram continues its vicious attacks on the people of Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad and Niger as it seeks to impose its twisted ideology. Boko Harams savagery murder, rape, kidnapping, enslavement, extortion, destruction seemingly has no bounds or limits, said Assistant Secretary for African Affairs Linda Thomas-Greenfield. Boko Harams members use children in attacks, bomb places of worship, both Muslim and Christian, and they bomb busy commercial centers and raid local communities. They are murderers - pure and simple murderers. The insurgency has created a major humanitarian crisis in the region. Over the past 6 years, Boko Haram has killed over 18,000, forced over 180,000 Nigerians to flee their country as refugees, and left homeless some 2.4 million internally displaced persons. The challenge of defeating Boko Haram is going to require long-term dedication to this effort, said Assistant Secretary Linda Thomas-Greenfield. This is a global fight it is not just a Nigerian fight: We are working closely with Nigeria and with Nigerias neighbors to fight Boko Haram, and were fighting them on all levels -- militarily, intelligence, training efforts, a tremendous amount of support on the humanitarian side. Its not a battle that can just be won on the battlefield. Its our hope that we help address the issues that people are facing in the north: better education, creating jobs, preparing young people for the future, so that they can join the fight against Boko Haram and not continue to be victimized. A key part of United States strategy in the area is providing support to the Multinational Joint Task Force, which includes soldiers from Cameroon, Chad, Niger, Nigeria, and Benin. We are providing advisors, intelligence, training, logistical support, and equipment. As well, to those people who have been victimized by Boko Haram, we are providing more than $195 million in humanitarian assistance. This will be a long fight that requires perseverance, and it is going to require strong resources, said Assistant Secretary Linda Thomas-Greenfield.But now is the time for us to work together with our African partners to redouble our efforts to defeat Boko Haram and create the bright future that all of the people of Africa deserve. President Barack Obama recently opened the U.S.-ASEAN summit in Sunnylands, California, stating that few regions present more opportunity to the 21st century than the Asia Pacific. In order to take advantage of that opportunity, the U.S. has pursued a policy of engagement with Southeast Asia and ASEAN, which is central to the region's peace and prosperity. Together, said President Obama, ASEAN members can continue to increase the trade and economic partnership that create jobs and opportunity for people throughout the region. Over the last 7 years, trade between the United States and ASEAN has increased by 55 percent. "The region is now our fourth largest goods trading partner," said President Obama. U.S. companies have been the largest source of foreign investment in ASEAN one of the many reasons the region's gross domestic product has surged in recent years, lifting people from poverty to the middle class. President Obama urged ASEAN members to do more to encourage entrepreneurship and innovation so that growth and development is sustainable and benefits all people. ASEAN also has an important security role to play. In recent years, the U.S. has increased its maritime security assistance to its allies and partners in the region, improving mutual capabilities to protect lawful commerce and to respond to humanitarian crises. President Obama urged ASEAN states to advance a shared vision of regional order where international rules and norms, including freedom of navigation are upheld and where disputes are resolved through peaceful, legal means. Political freedom and accountability continue to play an important role in the region. The election in Burma and the political transition underway there give hope for a nation that is peaceful, united, and democratic. In joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership, Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei have committed to high labor and environmental standards. As President Obama noted, strong, prosperous and inclusive societies require good governance, rule of law, accountable institutions, vibrant civil societies, and upholding human rights. The vision that brings ASEAN nations together, said President Obama, is economic growth, creating opportunity for all; mutual security and the peaceful resolution of disputes; and human dignity, including respect for human rights and development. The funeral heading to the cemetery "Fadel Ibrahim" Hundreds if not thousands of mourners at the funeral of the 24-years van driver " Hazem Abdel Hamed" A lady to Sisi : The youth are killed like chicken Angry lady to Sisi : Justice ya Sisi . ... Posted by AbdelFattah Elsisi - on Friday, February 19, 2016 The protesters at Cairo security directorate by "Adham Ahmed" This time, they had demands: The demands of the people in Darb El-Ahamr And once again the protest law is broken in Egypt massively in the same week as Cairo witnessed real protests against the police we have not seen like it in the past three years.For the second day in a row, protests continue at the Popular areas of Darb El-Ahamr and Bab El-Khalak in Cairo over the murder of a small van driver by a low-ranking policeman on Thursday. First of all, Egypt's ministry of interior announced late Thursday that it did arrest that low-ranking policeman.Right after the Friday prayers, hundreds if not thousands of angry people mourned late Mohamed Ali Ismail, the truck drive and walked from Siada Nafissa to the cemeteries of old Cairo to bury him. Photos and video show really angry people who were chanting against the ministry of interior and policemen.In that video , mourners at the cemetery chant "No God but Allah and the police is the enemy of God" !!Video interviews taken during the funeral show huge anger not only aimed at the ministry of interior but also at the Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi himself.That lady , who seems to be from the working class is wondering about Jika "The political activist killed during Morsi's rule" and Shaimaa El-Sabbagh. Yes, she knows them.From his side, Sisi had an urgent meeting with Minister of interior Magdy Abdel Ghafer in Sharm El-Sheikh.After the meeting, the Egyptian presidency issued a statement announcing that the president ordered " legislative amendments" to regulate the security forces' performance in the Egyptian street and to guarantee that those who "violate citizen rights unjustly be punished". The statement added that the legislative amendments were to be presented to parliament for discussion within the next 15 days.After the funeral, the people of Darb Al-Ahamr returned back to protest at Cairo security directorate for hours.1- The dismissal of the minister of interior.2- The execution of policeman who killed Mohamed Ismail.3- Closing down the low-ranking policemen institute.4- To stop the direct contact between the low-ranking policemen and the people.5- To transfer immediately the Cassation court prison from Darb El-Ahamr.For hours, the people blocked the traffic there till security forces dispersed them.This movement in Darb El-Ahamr shows that revolution is not dead at all or failed but rather it is going on.Friday evening, the Prosecution decided to detain the low-ranking policeman 4 days pending investigations on charges of intended murder.Breaking the protest law publicly started this year with the Doctors syndicate's historical general assembly and ironically that historical turnout of doctors happened because 9 low-ranking policemen broke the law and assaulted doctors.I do not know if it will continue like that or not but 2016 seems to be different. ELKO Patients who suffer heart attacks may be able to avoid a long trip to Salt Lake City with the creation of Northeastern Nevada Regional Hospitals cardiology program. The hospital recently announced the hiring of Dr. Rodney Badger, an interventional cardiologist who noticed a need for a more comprehensive cardiology program at NNRH while working at a hospital in Utah. Just the helicopter alone is about $50,000. The hospital costs itself is going to end up being about the same, he said. But the real cost is in time. That transport time is heart muscle thats being destroyed. So the big cost savings is that more people live and less people are disabled. Badger has only been with the hospital two weeks but said he has already been able to treat a patient who would have had to travel a long way to get treated. We had our first heart attack patient come in yesterday, he said. We fixed her up, opened her heart and shell probably go home tomorrow. She definitely would have had to been flown to either Reno or Salt Lake. Hospital CEO Rick Palagi said having a doctor on staff like Badger was key to improving services to patients suffering from heart issues. Weve had great staff and the ability to do these kind of things but we havent been able to have the physician part of the equation at this level, he said. Were so grateful to be able to have the physicians of this caliber that are coming in to start this program. Palagi also mentioned that the hospital admitted five emergency room patients who had heart issues who will be able to get the necessary procedures done in Elko. One of the challenges of starting the program was the initial cost. But when Palagi discussed it with the hospital board of directors he said it was an easy decision to start building the program. It is an expensive program to start up. We probably have about $1 million invested in getting it set up, he said. That gives somebody a bit of a pause when youre looking at that kind of money to invest. For us it was kind of a no-brainer. Despite the initial investment Palagi pointed out that as a community hospital he thinks NNRH has an obligation to improve the cardiology program to better serve the area, which has a lot of heart disease patients. Director of marketing Hope Cripps also mentioned how important it was to have the program at the hospital based on the number of patients they were having to transfer to other medical facilities. Fos us its about the number of patients that need to be close to home, she said. Its not about finances or anything else. Even though he has only been at the hospital for two weeks Badger said it feels good to see that his work will have an impact in the area. I have the best job in the world, he said. I get to save lives and people thank me. How many people have a job where people come and thank them for saving lives? We are often asked, How do I get involved with the Chamber? The answer to that is multi-faceted. There are a few very direct ways that your time is always put to good use! We have committees at the Chamber that assist in the many events and daily operations of the Sherman Station. Below those committees are listed with a description of what they do. If you find something that looks like it may be fun or interesting, let us know. You are more than welcome to come sit in and see what you think. We can always find a way for you to feel you are useful! BAC (Business Advancement Committee)- BAC focusses on providing the Chamber members with information and education needed to run a business successfully. From human resources to budget concerns, we are excited to listen to the requests of our members and provide the resources needed. GAC (Government Affairs Committee)- GAC advocates to government on behalf of our members. GAC hosts annual Previews and quarterly meetings open to the public featuring a wide variety of topics. GAC also hosts Candidates Forums during election years and reviews national, state and local legislation. They can be reached at gac@elkonevada.com Ambassadors- We are actively seeking Ambassador members. We would love to really expand the reach of the Ambassador Committee in 2016. The Ambassadors are a volunteer committee comprised of men and women of the Chamber firms who represent and serve as the goodwill arm of the Chamber. They are charged with extending the hand of friendship to new and existing members alike. They promote membership and engagement by welcoming new members and assisting with Chamber events and functions. Community Outreach Committee- Communicate, Educate and Facilitate is what this BRAND NEW committee is about. They will be working with business leaders in Communication between each other and Governmental Entities, Educating on process and procedures, and helping to Facilitate the outcome of those connections. Look for more information to come as they mold this new committee. Chamber Events- If you are interested in volunteering for any of the Chamber events throughout the year contact, Billie Crapo at events@elkonevada.com for more information. Membership Engagement and Recruitment focuses on current non-members by helping them to understand the benefits offered by membership to the Chamber. Stacey educates current members how to take advantage of their memberships and develop and create new benefits that will appeal to our members. Stacey DeFord can be reached at membership@elkonevada.com You can contact the Chamber Office with any questions 775-738-7135 or email at chamber@elkonevada.com. ELKO The Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering and Tracking (SMART) program is taking hold by verifying 182 out of 187 offenders in Elko County. I want to give you a quick update on something were really proud of. Its called the SMART Program, said Roland Swanson, chief of investigations for the Nevada Attorney Generals Office, after being introduced to the Law Enforcement Summit Wednesday by Attorney General Adam Laxalt. There are a little over 8,000 registered sex offenders in Nevada, he said. In November of 2014, the Attorney Generals office awarded a $200,000 grant, through DOJ (Department of Justice) for the SMART Program, said Swanson, explaining the program is designed to provide funding to rural, state and local law enforcement, through overtime payments, to view the registering and maintenance of sex offenders across Nevada. Funding has been provided to 14 jurisdictions in the State. In the time since that funding was provided there have been four entities that have done an amazing job with this program today. The first is Elko County Sheriffs Office, said Swanson. Douglas County has verified 77 out of 81 offenders. Humboldt and Winnemucca developed their own task force and registered 49 out of 57 offenders. Throughout these sweeps, Swanson said there were several commonplace findings: offenders would register in one jurisdiction, but live a second, and work in a third jurisdiction in trying to maintain anonymity. Other findings included that some offenders were incarcerated in other states, others were trying to evade warrants for other charges, and one died. In 2007, the Legislature enacted Assembly Bill 579 in response to the Adam Walsh Act, creating the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act, he said, explaining how the program came to be. Swanson said the aforementioned bill has been tied up in litigation since that time. As recently as Jan. 22, of this year, it was upheld by the Nevada Supreme Court. So, this was a very positive thing for our state and for law enforcement, with respect to sex offenders, he said. The sex offender registration guidelines have been changed by the Supreme Court upholding this bill. He explained the tier system changed from zero, one and two to one low risk offenders who register once a year; two moderate risk offenders who have to register twice a year; and three high risk offenders who are required to register every 90 days. The bottom line with this program, and the enactment of Assembly Bill 579, is this creates a significant burden on law enforcement, Swanson said, explaining the rural nature of Nevada makes it difficult for registration and for law enforcement to monitor the offenders progress. Because the SMART Program is a grant funded program, there are certain administrative requirements that could place a burden on local law enforcement agencies. These sweeps are very important. These sweeps are very time consuming for these entities, said Swanson. The remaining counties are in the process of planning the sweeps that need to be done and they have the funding in place in order to compensate the officers for the overtime. Swanson said the Attorney Generals office may be able to help if agencies are unable to locate an individual through database searches. The Summit Law enforcement officials came from around the state for the Sheriffs and Chiefs meeting this week, and Laxalt hosted his third Law Enforcement Summit Wednesday. These officials meet quarterly and its not often they congregate in Elko. The Attorney General meets with them periodically in conjunction with the regular quarterly meeting to go over statewide issues, said Police Chief Ben Reed. He told the Free Press he is appreciative of the Elko Convention & Visitors Authority as it was the perfect type of statewide conference that could happen at the Elko Conference Center. Were proud to host this group here in Elko, said Reed, explaining they were happy to have the Attorney General there as well. These law enforcement summits have meaning and momentum ... and they are helpful for the State, helpful for our law enforcement community, said Laxalt. Sheriff Jim Pitts said the summit shows the cooperation we have with the Attorney General. ELKO -- With upcoming legislation regarding gun laws, members of local law enforcement agencies and gun owners sat down with the Free Press to discuss their constitutional right. We are here supporting the gun laws and the sale of weapons, said Sheriff Jim Pitts. Police Chief Ben Reed stressed the fact that local law enforcement works with gun owners and sellers to know about the issues. I would say as long as law enforcement works together with licensed firearms dealers to make sure that the laws are enforced and if theres any issues that we know about it, said Reed. That helps the gun stores, the ammunition dealers, everyone, in their commerce, because local law enforcement is going to know about it before state or federal is going to know about it. He explained local departments are usually on a first name basis in their working relationships with the gun shop owners in both the county and the city. That is the case, Reed explained. We know them all and we work together with them and if they have a problem, theyre able to just pick up the phone and call the sheriff or me and say, Heres the deal.' Former County Commissioner Jeff Williams, representing Gun World & Archery at 2515 Noddle Lane, said he is involved by invitation because he represents a particular business. I think its important that especially with the pending legislation that is due to come up right away, out of D.C. if not out of Nevada, concerning firearms that we make sure that everybody on the outside and the inside recognizes that, for the most part, 99 percent of gun owners in Nevada maybe even a higher percentage than that respects and works hand in hand with our police departments and sheriffs offices and FBI and everybody else in being responsible gun owners. Williams said gun sellers want to show, as much as possible, the positive relationship between law enforcement and gun shop owners at this time because right here is all the law enforcement in Nevada thats really important to us, anyway. Store owners hope to show how they are a positive influence for good and we abhor crime and people who misuse firearms, in any degree, just as much as they (law enforcement) do, or the judges do or anybody else, he said. When people begin to realize how important it is that we have firearms, how historically important it was that we did, then I think we can recognize that were not clashing with each other, like a lot of people around the United States think. Actually gun owners are working together, with law enforcement, to make sure that all communities are safe, he said, explaining his participation is to promote that message. Pitts said at the Sheriffs' and Chiefs' Meeting the CEOs of most departments in the state will be in Elko this week. Reed said another caveat in this is the Federal Firearms Licensees, the gun dealers, are required to have local law enforcement sign off on a license from both local law enforcement as well as adhere to numerous other federal regulations. This sign off, he said, occurs in five-year increments, indefinitely, with local law enforcement. Thats one of the requirements is that we know about them, we work with them and that if there are any issues, we can communicate, Reed said. So, theres a natural relationship right up front in that industry, which is highly regulated. Pitts said they are all there to say they support the Second Amendment. As long as the gun shops are very respectful of that and do the background checks, we work really well with them, he said to the Free Press. As long as you can legally have the firearms, we dont oppose that at all. Every time a gun is bought in Nevada from a licensed dealer, unless the buyer has a concealed carry license, he or she must have a background check before the purchase is made final. The county sheriffs in Nevada have the authority to issue concealed carry permits and conduct background checks. At this point in time, said Williams, You can still transfer a gun between two agreeing private individuals as long as everything is legal without a background check. This is as long as the seller doesnt deliberately sell the gun to an individual who shouldnt have a firearm and the gun is not knowingly stolen. Pitts said its important for the public to know, especially in Elko County and maybe statewide, the sheriffs office and all police departments in the county are pro Second Amendment. I think thats really important because it shows that we have a good relationship with the gun owners of Elko County, and the sheriffs office and the FFL-licensed dealers in things like this, he said. I would go further and state that its our duty in law enforcement to uphold the United States Constitution and what it says, said Reed. Bob Roshak, executive director of the Nevada Sheriffs' and Chiefs' Association, said the association in 2013 went on the record stating they support these rights. We are in support of anyone who legally can to do so, he said. Williams said because of President Obamas pending strategy to curb gun violence in America, sales have increased since Thanksgiving. Everything would have to go through federally licensed dealers, he said. Not every gun owner is opposed to this. For those selling firearms, inquiries can be made, at the local departments, on any property, for example guns or vehicles especially after purchase from a private owner to ensure it is not stolen. In the last legislative session a bill was passed enabling an individual to call the Department of Public Safety, at no cost, to ensure the buyer is a viable owner, said Roshak. I think its our job to follow the legislation thats presented. We try to not get involved in the politics of it, because we have to enforce the law ... to everybody, and we do our best to try and stay up on what all those laws are, Reed. Owner of Gun World & Archery Farnes Williams said it is good to work with the local law enforcement and "we support them any way that we can." On the subject of gun laws, he said the government needs to enforce the laws they already have. "They've already got enough laws in effect as it is," he said, calling the pending legislation "unnecessary." Editor: The need for taxes to support our state is undeniable. But the Nevada Department of Taxations latest move placing an even larger burden on the injured, sick and dying is both unnecessary and inhumane. The NVDOT found a legal way to ignore a previous NV Supreme Court decision exempting life-saving equipment like ventilators, oxygen concentrators, and all oxygen administration equipment from taxation. The rapacious act now makes Nevada the most oppressive state, one of the few to charge sales and use tax on their sickest population. In a cruel parting gift from the NVDOT, terminally ill hospice patients will now be taxed during their average remaining life span of 11 days. Even sick newborns are not protected: life-saving monitors may go unordered if parents cannot afford the expense. Most of us will need home medical equipment in our lifetimes. To charge sales and use tax on life-sustaining equipment is nothing short of immoral. NVDOT should be ashamed. Leslie Sargent Reno Editor: My name is Catana L Barnes. I am an independent voter and the president of Independent Voters of Nevada, I would like to caucus for Bernie Sanders but the state of Nevada and the Democratic Party of Nevada require that I give up my independence to do so. Call me an electoral conscientious objector. I believe partisan warfare is wrong. Forcing unaffiliated voters to join a political organization in order to be able to vote is wrong. As much as I would like to caucus for Bernie, I cant do what I am required to do. Mr. Sanders, an independent himself, needs the support of the independent voters here in Nevada (just as he did in NH and in Iowa.) Polls currently show that he is neck and neck with Hillary Clinton. Because independent voters are seeking a political revolution, many will switch their party affiliation in order to caucus for Mr. Sanders. I support their action. I understand it, and I hope that following the caucuses, they will re-register as independents. I also urge them to take one more step -- contact me and join the movement to change the partisan election system which treats independents like second class citizens, even though we are 43 percent of the country! Bernie Sanders had the guts to take on the most powerful political machine in America, the Clinton machine, when no one else would. He had the guts to say that the American people bailed out Wall Street and now its time for Wall Street to return the favor. But it is we, the independents, who have to lead the way to the systemic political change that will make it possible to achieve humane solutions to the social and economic crisis. We must put the people first, not the parties. I personally invite every independent voter who supports a political revolution to join the independent voter movement by contacting me at ivonorg@gmail.com. We can, we have and we will succeed at bringing about changes that empower all voters. Catana Barnes Reno Editor: Does the following remind you of Bernie or Hillary? "Therefore, we demand: "an end to the power of the financial interests ... "profit sharing in big business ... "a broad extension of care for the aged ... "in order to make possible to every capable and industrious [citizen] the attainment of higher education and thus the achievement of a post of leadership, the government must provide an all-around enlargement of our entire system of public education ... "the education at government expense of gifted children of poor parents .... "the government must undertake the improvement of public health ... "we are convinced that a permanent recovery of our people can only proceed from within on the foundation of the common good before the individual good ..." This is from the political program of the Nazi (National Socialist) Party adopted in Munich, 1920. Progressives (aka Socialists) need to keep the "poor" poor in order to justify expansions of government and steep income taxes. For everyone, guaranteed housing, food, education, healthcare, incomes (by way of mandatory minimum wage increases) is so inspiring, everyone wants to come here by any means necessary. Positioning themselves as champion of the underdogs, these Democratic-Socialists have transformed our history from one of expanding opportunity into one of Marxist proportions -- about wealthy white patriarchy and its victims. Ann Coulter described the motto of the Left as "speak loudly and carry a small victim." They have engineered a system so mired in the culture of dependency and poverty, there is no escape: welfare keeps the poor in their place! They hate Conservatives because of their belief in limited government, because they stand in the way of a society they believe should take care of every man, woman and child from cradle to grave no matter the cost; it's a death knell for progressive dreams that allow the government to function as a social savior. Conservatives are for those who can help themselves and find opportunities without government help. We are still the Promised Land ... otherwise, why would so many desperately seek to come here? And, if they are so oppressed, why don't they leave? Thelma M. Homer Elko ELKO Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders spoke to a crowd of more than 500 residents and others from across the country a day before the First in the West Caucus. Im here to introduce one of the greatest candidates Ive ever been around to see and one of the greatest ones Ive ever read about, said local resident Heidi Allen, explaining the Vermont senator is a candidate who finally speaks to her not only as a woman, but also as a mother, a member of the middle class, a feminist and as a member of the LGBT community. What occurred to me very clearly is that no president, not Bernie Sanders or anybody else, could do it alone. What really we needed to bring is a political revolution, said Sanders, telling the crowd at the old gymnasium at Elko High School that established politics will only deepen the issues the country is facing. The candidate spoke to the audience about racism, womens rights specifically maintaining funding for Planned Parenthood the billionaire class and education. He proclaimed that throughout American history that no one gave revolutionaries the right to create change, they took it for themselves. While Sanders spoke to segments of the Elko population, he did not address many larger issues for rural Nevada or the state, but mostly stayed in the generalities of his campaign platform. The only way that real change ever takes place in this country or around the world, its not from the guy on top the only way that change ever takes place is when millions of people, at the grassroots level, say whats going on today is not acceptable, the status quo is not acceptable that is what American history is about, he said. What we need to bring about is a political revolution, exclaimed Sanders to the crowd. He echoed the voices of early political theorists; Sanders repeated to the audience, many times and in many ways, the people need a government created by them that works for them. Race in America Sanders spoke of the evolution of the Civil Rights movement by saying significant progress was made in ending segregation and racism when protestors marched on Washington. What change is about throughout our painful, painful history, with regard to race, is hundreds of years ago incredibly brave African-Americans and their white allies began saying, How do we end this horror of racism and segregation, he said. This change was made from the bottom on up, he said, articulating grassroots politics. Womens Rights Looking back 100 years ago, which he said is not that long ago from a historical perspective, women did not have the right to vote in the United States. Sanders said women, and their male counterparts, decided it was wrong to treat women differently. As citizens of this country, they are able to reach their potential, be educated and choose their careers. This is America and were going to break down sexism, he said. Women have a right to control their bodies, he said, explaining his Republican counterparts do not believe this. Sanders said he would increase funding for Planned Parenthood. LGBT I dont have to go through history to tell you about the gay rights movement. If we were sitting in this room 30 years ago, and somebody stood up and said, You know, by the year 2015, gay men and women will be able to legally be married in 50 states in this country, the person next to them would have said, What are you smoking? Sanders told the crowd. Sanders said when he speaks to people specifically teens in his state of Vermont those he poses the question of whether or not they support gay rights are confused. He said its such a nonissue they dont even understand the question. He called that what revolutionary change is about. The Billionaire Class and the Economy Much more progress has to be done to further American democracy, Sanders said. I do not represent the billionaire class, he said, expounding the point he has made throughout his entire campaign. He said he did not want a Super PAC because it is about everything that is undermining American democracy. Sanders campaign is funded by individual contributions. In the last nine months, three-and-half billion individual contributions came into our campaign, he said. Those contributions are more than any campaign in history and the average amount was $27, Sanders said to a roaring crowd. Together what we are going to do is overturn this disastrous Citizens United, he told the audience, referring to a Supreme Court ruling on campaign contributions. Sanders said people in the United States work longer hours than any other country in the industrialized world. In discussing the economy, especially, the wealth disparity, he said it was rigged and there is welfare abuse. Sanders specifically pointed to the Walton family, saying one family owns more wealth than 40 percent of the American people. He also said Goldman Sachs is the story of political power in America and it has produced two secretaries of treasury. Criminal Justice System and Free Public Education Sanders called the criminal justice system broken, saying a young adult who is caught possessing drugs will live with that record, but an executive connected to the 2008 financial crash would not. The United States has more people in jail than any other country on earth, Sanders said, telling Elko there needs to be more investment in jobs and education. This brought him to speak about free public education in America. He said this country needs the best educated workforce. People should not be punished for getting an education, he said, bringing forth his idea to refinance student loans at the lowest interest rate. Other Topics The senators speech was multi-faceted, and he touted many of his ideologies which he has espoused numerous times throughout the country. These included single-payer healthcare to revolutionize the medical system; expanding Social Security and that Congress must pass a comprehensive immigration reform and a path toward citizenship. In a brief aside to his statement that climate change is real, Sanders said the public utilities decision in Nevada on solar energy is the exact opposite of what the state should be doing. He added that taking on the fossil fuel industry is a moral responsibility. Sanders said the overall issue is whether Nevada will play a leading role in moving the country toward a political revolution. Bako Sahakyan: It was so in the past, so it will be in the future! On 20 February President Bako Sahakyan sent a congratulatory address on the Artsakh Revival Day. The address reads: "Dear compatriots, On behalf of the Artsakh Republic authorities and myself personally I congratulate you on the Artsakh Revival Day, the holiday that bears special significance on us. Indeed, 28 years ago Artsakh revived; its freedom-loving spirit, patriotic soul, self-efficacy and belief in the radiant future did so too. It was a struggle based on legal, moral and universal human values, a nationwide movement, which consolidated the whole world spread Armenians, consolidated and united them around a common idea - to live freely and independently on historical land. It is the legitimate aspiration of any nation, and we secured this very right paying a price in blood. Today our young generation born and grown up in the Artsakh Republic continues with the work carried out by the 1988 devotees and deserves the great honor of being its citizens. They mastered the instructions to serve selflessly the native country and its people admonished by their heroic fathers and grandfathers and are ready to do their best for further developing and strengthening Artsakh, reinforcing its defense capability and ensuring its security. It was so in the past, so it will be in the future! Dear Artsakh people, I once again congratulate all of us on this memorable holiday and wish peace, good health, happiness and prosperity to every citizen and family in Artsakh!" Photo: http://www.mod.gov.vn/ He made the remarks at a reception in Hanoi on February 18th for the visiting Deputy Chief of the Main Directorate of International Military Cooperation of the Russian Defence Ministry Kshimovskiy Alexander. Vinh highlighted that these outcomes of the bilateral cooperation have significantly contribute to promoting peace and stability in the region and the world. The host expressed his hope that the upcoming Defence Policy Dialogue between the two countries will help further bolster their defence ties. For his part, Kshimovskiy hoped defence links between the two sides will be stronger and more effective in the future./. During her reception for a visiting delegation from Japans Gunma prefecture led by Governor Osawa Masaaki in Hanoi on February 17th, Ngan said the NA will continue facilitating the trade and investment of Gunmas businesses in Vietnam. Photo: VNA She hoped the visit will promote cooperation between Gunma and Vietnam, especially in tourism, and parliamentarian and people-to-people exchange. The NA Vice Chairwoman also thanked Gunmas authorities and people for their support given to nearly 3,000 Vietnamese national living there, expressing her hope that the Japanese prefecture will continue to receive more Vietnamese technical trainees to work in the locality. Governor Osawa Masaaki said Gunma is the centre of many small and medium sized enterprises operating in supporting industry, which is an industry promoted in Vietnam. Informing the host of the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on economic cooperation between the prefecture and the Vietnamese Ministry of Planning and Investment, the guest stressed that this will pave the way for strengthening ties in investment, business, technology and human resources between Gunma and Vietnam. The NA Vice Chairwoman expressed her belief that the MoU will help further deepen the strategic partnership for peace and prosperity in Asia between Vietnam and Japan./. It is not a bad thing for us, that the route known as the Goldene Strae or the Golden Road as we will get to know it- has escaped the attention of so many. It has been spared being overrun by hordes of tourists and as you will discover the German police chief admits officers couldn't control anti-migrant mob The chief of police in the German city of Chemnitz has admitted that officers struggled to gain control when an angry mob attempted to block migrants from getting off a bus in a nearby town. GALLERY The chief of police in the German city of Chemnitz has admitted that officers struggled to gain control when an angry mob attempted to block migrants from getting off a bus in a nearby town. Clausnitz, Germany (dpa) - Up to 100 anti-migrant protesters gathered in front of accommodation for asylum seekers in Clausnitz, situated near the Czech border, in an attempt to blockade new arrivals on Thursday evening.There has been strong criticism of the police response, after police orders for the crowd to clear off were reportedly met with jeers and laughter."Looking back, it was a misjudgement," police chief Uwe Reissmann said on Saturday. Less than 20 officers had been present at the scene when tensions spiked.Reissmann added that they were outnumbered and therefore unable to clear the road.Videos of a police officer forcibly dragging a scared boy from the bus and into the accommodation have also sparked outrage online.However, Reissmann argued that the asylum seekers were partly to blame for the escalation and called the officers behaviour "absolutely necessary and appropriate."The police chief said the passengers in the bus were filming the incident and had made rude gestures at the protesters outside.Several charges have been filed for unlawful assembly and disturbing the peace. Reissmann expects that number could rise.The incident is the latest in a string of protests targeting refugee accommodation in Germany, as right-wing groups lash out at the countrys decision to open its doors to more than 1 million migrants last year. BEIJING, Feb. 19, 2016 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping (C) talks with a correspondent who is just back from reporting in Zhengding County of Hebei Province, at the headquarters of Xinhua News Agency in Beijing, capital of China, on Feb. 19, 2016. Xi on Friday visited the People's Daily, Xinhua News Agency and China Central Television, the nation's three leading news providers. (Xinhua/Huang Jingwen) BEIJING, Feb. 19 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday visited the country's three leading media providers and urged them to strictly follow the leadership of the Party. Xi on Friday morning visited the People's Daily, the flagship newspaper of the Communist Party of China (CPC), Xinhua News Agency, the state news agency, and China Central Television (CCTV), the country's broadcaster. On Friday afternoon, Xi, also General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee, presided over a symposium on the Party's media work, which was attended by the heads of the three media outlets, and about 180 central media officials, Beijing municipal officials, and representatives of journalists, editors and TV anchors. Liu Yunshan, member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, accompanied Xi on the media tour and also attended the symposium. PRAISING CHINESE JOURNALISTS During his inspection of the general newsroom of the People's Daily, the president encouraged staff to continue to improve the quality of the flagship newspaper of the CPC. While visiting the headquarters of the People's Daily, Xi used the paper's new media broadcasting system to extend Lantern Festival greetings to the public. At Xinhua News Agency, Xi used Xinhua's remote news reporting command system to talk with an agency correspondent currently reporting from a village in Lankao County, Henan Province. During the conversation, he said that the workstyle of grassroots cadres was integral to the Party's rule and was directly linked to the people's interests. He noted that journalists should undertake more in-depth investigative reporting on this workstyle. Xi also visited an exhibition on the agency's history, which covered its development since it was founded in 1931. On display were an antique radio transmitter and a clockwork dynamo, as well as more cutting-edge devices employed in modern-day news reporting, including a maritime satellite and a drone. Xi showed approval for Xinhua's transition to a multimedia news service, now providing news products and services in eight languages to the whole world. At Xinhua's new media newsroom, Xi clicked a "Like" button on the agency's mobile app, extending his appreciation to all Chinese journalists for their diligence. The final stop on his media tour took Xi to the headquarters of CCTV. He visited the control room and made a video call to CCTV's Washington-based North America branch, which opened more than four years ago. Xi praised the branch for its work and sent his greetings to the staff, 90 percent of whom are Americans. The president was shown the studio where CCTV Evening News Bulletin, or "Xinwen Lianbo," is filmed. The program, which airs at 7 p.m. every day, has been running for more than 38 years. Xi gained insight into how the production team makes the program and encouraged them to continue to strive for excellence. PARTY'S LEADERSHIP FUNDAMENTAL ISSUE The fundamental issue of the Party's media work is to strictly adhere to the Party's leadership, Xi told attendees of the afternoon's symposium. All news media run by the Party must work to speak for the Party's will and its propositions and protect the Party's authority and unity. They should enhance their awareness to align their ideology, political thinking and deeds to those of the CPC Central Committee and help fashion the Party's theories and policies into conscious action by the general public while providing spiritual enrichment to the people, he said. Marxist journalistic education must be promoted among journalists, Xi added, to make them "disseminators of the Party's policies and propositions, the recorders of time, the promoters of social advancement and the watchers of equality and justice." According to Xi, the mission of the Party's media work is to provide guidance for the public, serve the country's overall interests, unite the general public, instill confidence and pool strength, tell right from wrong and connect China to the world, he said. To do so, Xi continued, they should also stick to guiding public opinion on the correct path in every aspect and stage of their work. "Truthfulness is the life of journalism, and the facts must be reported based on the truth," Xi said. "While accurately reporting individual facts, journalists must also grasp and reflect the overall situation of an event from a broad view." The president noted that public supervision and positive publicity are two compatible functions of media. He urged media outlets to confront problems emerging from their work and social ills head-on, spreading the good and condemning the bad while practicing critical journalism based on accurate facts and objective analysis. Calling for innovative concepts, content and methods, Xi told media groups to make use of new media's edge in publicity, amplify their voices on the international stage, tell stories about China well and build flagship media groups with strong global influence. According to Xi, the journalism industry should accelerate its progress in fostering workers with firm political beliefs, outstanding professional skills, moral excellence and whom the Party and people can trust. "Officials should improve their ability to interact with the media and make good use of it to publicize their policies and ideas, understand grassroots opinions, uncover conflicts and problems, guide public feelings, mobilize the people and push forward work in real life," Xi said. 17 1 [ Editor: Zhang Zhou ] Brent Lewis/The Denver Post via Getty Images(WASHINGTON) -- Colorado Sen. Cory Gardner delivered this week's GOP address and talked about the new sanctions put on North Korea. The North Korea Sanctions and Policy Enhancement Act, which was signed into law by President Obama on Thursday, had both Democrats and Republicans voting in agreement. "It imposes mandatory sanctions on individuals who contribute to North Koreas nuclear and ballistic missile program, its malicious cyber-attacks, its censorship activities, and the regimes continued human rights abuses," Gardner said. The goal of the sanctions will be "to quell North Korea's aggression, peacefully disarm the regime, and restore human rights," according to Gardner. Read the full Republican's address: Hi, Im Senator Cory Gardner, and Im proud to represent the great state of Colorado in the United States Senate. For decades, the United States and our allies like Japan and South Korea have faced a complex threat in North Korea. And while the Obama Administration has rightfully focused attention on developments in the Middle East, for too long it has turned a blind eye to the North Korean threat. A rogue regime headed by a leader with no respect for human dignity, North Koreas Forgotten ManiacKim Jong-Unhas been met with indifference instead of resolve. Its time to reverse this Administrations failed policy of strategic patience. Recent headlines confirm this. North Korea has conducted four nuclear tests, three of which occurred during the Obama Administration. Earlier this month, North Korea launched a long-range rocket. We know that the regime is expanding its nuclear stockpile and its capabilities are growing. North Korea may already possess as many as 20 nuclear warheads, with the potential to gain as many as 100 within the next five years. Furthermore, our military experts have warned that the situation on the Korean Peninsula may be at its most unstable point in over sixty years. They believe that North Korea has the ability to miniaturize an atomic weapon and place it on a rocket that has the ability to reach the homeland. North Koreas illicit behavior doesnt stop with its proliferation activities. The regime has intensified its cyberwarfare as evidenced by its attacks on South Koreas financial systems and the hack of Sony Pictures here in the United States. North Korea also has a long history of horrific human rights abuses and continues to maintain a vast network of political prison camps. We can no longer stand idly by as North Korea builds an arsenal of mass destruction, grows its cyber capabilities, and tortures as many as 200,000 of its own men, women, and children. We must apply the pressure required to change the Forgotten Maniacs pattern of belligerent behavior that endangers the globe. Thats why the Senate in an overwhelming bipartisan vote, recently passed my North Korea Sanctions and Policy Enhancement Act. My bill is a tough rebuke of Kim Jung Un and a dramatic change in U.S. policy toward North Korea. It imposes mandatory sanctions on individuals who contribute to North Koreas nuclear and ballistic missile program, its malicious cyber-attacks, its censorship activities, and the regimes continued human rights abuses. It also mandates that the Administration develop a comprehensive strategy to address the regimes human rights abuses and cyber activities. The goal of this bill is simple: to quell North Koreas aggression, peacefully disarm the regime, and restore human rights. During his final State of the Union address, President Obama acknowledged that our foreign policy must be focused on the threat from ISIL and al Qaeda, but it cant stop there. And I couldnt agree more with that statement. Its time for the United States to lead. We must set an example and send a message to the rest of the world that America will not tolerate patterns of belligerence a message that America will lead. Copyright 2016, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. Monitors of the Special Monitoring Mission of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE SMM) are recording the presence of tanks right behind the pullback line (15 kilometers from the front line) in Donbas. The monitors frequently see a large amount of weapons, especially tanks, right behind the pullback line, where they are in combat readiness; in particular, 88 tanks were spotted last week in three places in the territory uncontrolled by the Ukrainian government, OSCE Deputy Chief Monitor Alexander Hug told a briefing in Kyiv on Friday. Hug also said that the monitors have recorded over 500 explosions in Donbas over the past week. The type of weapons used points to a rise in intensity of hostilities; in particular the number of mortar fire cases has increased, he said. This influences considerably the life of local residents, who remained in the conflict area, Hug said. The danger and tension is felt particularly strongly now at the checkpoints on the dividing line, he said. On Saturday, the OSCE SMM monitors witnessed a two-hour clash in the area of Maryinka and Aleksandrovka, where a grenade launcher, RGD grenades, 12 mortar rounds were fired, and the Maryinka checkpoint was closed, he said. There are long queues at other checkpoints now, but people need to cross the dividing line all the same to receive pensions, buy food products and medicines, he said, adding that if they do not cross this line in Maryinka, they will cross it in Olenivka. In response to a question as to whether members of the mission will leave Donbas due to the intensification of fire, Hug said that it is an obligation for the parties to the conflict to ensure security of monitors. Hug reminded of the decision taken on Thursday to extend the OSCE SMM mandate in Ukraine. At present 699 monitors are working on the mission, 563 of them in eastern Ukraine. Decision to replace Shokin paves way for reform of prosecutor's office, Biden says to Poroshenko Vice President Joe Biden in a telephone call with Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko has commended his decision to replace Prosecutor General Shokin, the Office of the Vice President said. "The Vice President also commended President Poroshenko's decision to replace Prosecutor General Shokin, which paves the way for needed reform of the prosecutorial service. The Vice President urged President Poroshenko to continue on this positive trajectory, to include successful implementation of the new legislation and continued visible progress on anti-corruption reforms, noting this will require unity and stability," reads a statement published on the website of the U.S. Embassy to Ukraine. The vice president also welcomed the passage by the Verkhovna Rada this week of the anti-corruption legislation in line with the agreements with the IMF and the EU. The vice president also condemned the increasing violence in eastern Ukraine which has led to a deteriorating humanitarian situation, as well as "the continued failure by combined Russian-separatist forces to allow the OSCE full access to the areas under their de facto control." Biden also noted that implementation of Minsk agreements by all sides remained the best way forward for resolving the conflict. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and U.S. Vice President Joseph Biden have spoken on the phone and coordinated their efforts to continue pressure on Russia, the Ukrainian presidential press service has reported. "The interlocutors coordinated their efforts to continue pressure on Russia for the purpose of implementing the Minsk agreements," the report said. Also, the U.S. vice president welcomed the progress made by Ukraine in cooperation with the IMF and the European Union by latest votes in the Verkhovna Rada. Kyiv reports 54 attacks on Ukrainian positions in Donbas over past day The militants have conducted 54 attacks on Ukrainian army positions in the past 24 hours, including 28 in the Donetsk area and 26 in the Mariupol sector, the army operation press center has said. The enemy was firing a 82mm mortar, an air defense launcher and infantry combat vehicle weapons near Krasnohorivka, says the report published on Facebook on Saturday. Ukrainian army positions came under attack of an 82mm mortar near the village of Hnutove. According to the report, the militants opened intense grenade launcher and small arms fire near Maryanka at night. Ukrainian positions were shelled in Vodiane, Opytne, Pisky, Avdiyivka, Zaitseve and Maiorsk. A drone was seen flying near Shyrokyne. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko will pay a working visit to Washington on February 20-24, the mayor's press service has said. "Klitschko will take part in an international conference on measures for combating AIDS, poverty and inequality in cities, which will be held at the World Bank's office," the report said. The conference will be attended by world politicians, researchers, sponsoring organizations, community leaders and human rights activists. The event is tasked to support the Fast-Track Cities initiative. It will elaborate clear strategies for fighting AIDS and poverty in megalopolises which are affected by those problems most. The attention will be focused on three cities, including Kyiv. In addition, during his working visit to Washington, Klitschko will meet with U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Victoria Nuland, Senate Committee on Armed Services Chairman John McCain and World Bank executives. He will have a meeting at the Atlantic Council analytical center. The Kyiv mayor will visit the Holocaust Museum in Washington for consultations on further cooperation in the creation of the Babyn Yar memorial complex in the Ukrainian capital city. The Zaitseve checkpoint on the line of contact between the warring sides in Donbas reopened on February 20, the Ukrainian State Border Guard Service has said. "Due to the decreased gunfire intensity in the area of Zaitseve and for the purpose of alleviating social tensions in the civilian population of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, the ATO staff commanders have decided to reopen the Zaitseve checkpoint on February 20, 2016," the service said. Passenger and motor traffic has accelerated through checkpoints on the contact line over the past day, the press service said. The Novotroitske checkpoint was crossed by 7,875 persons and 1,788 vehicles; the Hnutove checkpoint by 4,050 persons and 1,015 vehicles, and the Stanytsia Luhanska checkpoint by 3,070 persons. Some 100 vehicles were standing in line at the Novotroitske checkpoint on Saturday morning to move in, and another 500 were waiting to move out; the Hnutove checkpoint saw 20 cars waiting to move in and 60 to move out. The Zaitseve checkpoint was temporarily shut down on February 3 after it had come under mortar attack. The sides traded accusations of gunfire. U.S. Vice President Joseph Biden in separate telephone conversations with President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko and Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk called on the politicians to unite over the ruling coalition, the White House has reported. "He called on the leadership of Ukraine to unite and restore the public's confidence in the strong ruling coalition and the reform program, as well as accelerate Ukraine's efforts to combat corruption, strengthen justice and the rule of law, as well as fulfill the requirements of the IMF," reads a statement. The vice president also emphasized the importance of implementing the Minsk agreements by all the parties "as the best way to resolve the conflict." During the conversation the Ukrainian leaders noted "the continuing refusal of Russia and the combined Russian-separatist forces to comply with their commitments as for ceasefire" and expressed the need for providing the OSCE with full access to the territory being under the control of Ukrainian authorities. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has submitted his recommendation to the Verkhovna Rada on Viktor Shokin's discharge as prosecutor general, the presidential press service has reported. "President Petro Poroshenko has submitted a proposal to the Verkhovna Rada on giving consent to Viktor Shokin's discharge as prosecutor general of Ukraine [...] in keeping with Article 85, Part 1, Clause 25, Article 106, Part 1, Clause 11, and Article 122, Part 1 of the Ukrainian Constitution," it said. Poroshenko said in his address to the nation on February 16 that he had asked Shokin to resign. Mustafa Nayyem, a parliamentarian from the Petro Poroshenko Bloc faction, said the same day that Shokin had tendered his resignation. However, this information was not officially confirmed at the time. Serhiy Horbatiuk, the chief of the Prosecutor General's Office special investigations directorate, was later quoted as saying that Shokin was on a leave. Presidential press secretary Sviatoslav Tseholko said earlier on February 19 that the presidential secretariat had received Shokin's letter of resignation. "Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin has submitted a letter of resignation, and it reached the presidential secretariat today," he said. Shokin was appointed prosecutor general of Ukraine in February 2015. The current version of the Ukrainian Constitution stipulates that a prosecutor general is appointed and discharged by the president at the parliament's consent. The parliament can also consolidate a certain number of votes to pass a vote of no confidence in the prosecutor general, which also results in his or her discharge. The next plenary session of the Verkhovna Rada is to open on March 15. President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko has met with the families of the Heroes of the Heavenly Hundred," reads a posting on the presidential website. "We should always remember the price paid for an opportunity to build our state. These crimes must be punished," the head of state emphasized. The president expressed gratitude to the families of the Heroes of the Heavenly Hundred for cooperation in the investigation into crimes against the activists of the Revolution of Dignity. Poroshenko noted that investigative institutions had certain flaws, but substantial progress had been achieved in recent months. According to the Prosecutor General's Office, 18 verdicts against 26 persons have already been issued, 84 cases are now being considered by the court, 11 cases have been submitted to the court and they will be considered in February. Some 63 proceedings are at the phase of pre-trial investigation. Some 16 individuals are held in custody, among them six Berkut officials and five so called "titushky." "Some criminals who killed the Ukrainian heroes have already been imprisoned. I would like to emphasize once again that nobody will remain unpunished," Poroshenko emphasized. The head of state informed that the Security Service had identified weapons used to kill Maidan activists. The president noted that the parliament would adopt a special law on trial in absentia. Currently, it can be initiated solely against persons declared internationally wanted by Interpol. "It shouldn't let criminals hide in Russia. We are now starting court proceedings, evidence was collected and the verdict must be issued. Not only Berkut and militant commanders must be responsible, but also those who ordered the issuance of weapons," he stressed. The president added that the punishment of judges who had issued illegal verdicts against AutoMaidan activists was under his personal control. "Nobody will avoid responsibility. It is not a revenge. Security officials should never ever use weapons against Ukrainian people. Ukraine must remain a democratic state forever," Poroshenko added. The United States intends this year in the Ukrainian issue to move from providing aid to the country to repel the aggression to assistance in the defense reforms, U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt has stated. "Our goal in 2016 is to move beyond emergency response that deals with the immediate crisis of Russia's invasion and focus on defense cooperation aimed at helping Ukraine build the NATO-standard military structures and institutions," the official said at Ukraine Defense and Security Forum 2016. The ambassador stressed he welcomes the stated position of President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko and Minister of Defense Stepan Poltorak to further reform the security sector. "We want to see Ukraine continue to make progress in developing modern military doctrines, to implement the excellent recommendations that the RAND Corporation has made for defense sector reform, and to improve Ukrainian interoperability with NATO partners and allies," Pyatt said. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko at a meeting with the families of those who were killed during the so-called Revolution of Dignity has said he won't allow the termination of an investigation into crimes committed during the events on the Independence Square in Kyiv in 2013-2014. Ihor Huryk, the chairman of the non-governmental organization Family of Heavenly Hundred Heroes, said at the meeting that the families were concerned about reports that the investigation into the crimes committed during the Euromaidan events would be stopped on March 1, after the law on the State Investigations Bureau in its current version should take effect. "The president underscored that stopping the investigation process because of the imperfection of the laws was unacceptable and vowed not to allow this," it said. The Verkhovna Rada passed the law on the State Investigations Bureau on November 12, 2015, and the president signed it in mid-January 2016. It stipulates that it comes into effect on the day when the government sets up the Investigations Bureau but no later than March 1, 2016. The Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office called on the Rada to postpone the law's entry into effect in February. In particular, Serhiy Horbatiuk, the chief of the Prosecutor General's Office special investigations directorate, said on February 19 that the investigations into crimes during the Euromaidan events in 2013-2014 would be stopped on March 1. He said he had warned about this possibility, but the Rada suspended its work until March 15 and did not pass amendments to the law on the State Investigations Bureau. Ukraine's representative in the Trilateral Contact Group, which mediates the Donbas conflict, Leonid Kuchma, has welcomed the release of three Ukrainians and hopes the process will be unblocked at the group's next meeting in Minsk on February 24. "This work is very complicated and exhausting but each time that Ukrainian citizens can return to their relatives and friends, you understand that all is not in vain. And this gives the strength for proceeding in the same direction. I hope today's release will signal that the hostage-exchange process will also be unblocked and continue at the next meeting of the Trilateral Contact Group in Minsk on February 24," Kuchma said, according to his press secretary Darya Olifer's Facebook post. It has been nearly four months since the previous swap took place, Olifer said. "At each meeting of the Trilateral Contact Group in Minsk, Leonid Kuchma has been very tough and principled in raising the issue of our people's release," his press secretary said. It was reported that a three-for-six prisoner swap took place in Donetsk region on Saturday. Donetsk militants released three Ukrainian soldiers in exchange for five militant fighters and a priest handed over by Ukraine. Four Ukrainian military service members were released on Saturday, according to the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU). "On February 20 the Ukrainian Security Service secured the release of three Ukrainian military servicemen. Returning to their relatives and loved ones are: senior sergeant Serhiy Harnaha, of the 28th separate mechanized brigade; junior sergeant Serhiy Dmytruk, of the first Volyn territorial defense battalion; and soldier Oleksandr Makukha, of the 40th Kryvbas battalion," an SBU spokesperson said. Later the spokesperson announced the release of yet another Ukrainian. "The Ukrainian Security Service secured the release of hostage Vadym Kyrpychenko. The soldier from the 53rd separate mechanized brigade was captured by militants near Verkhniotroitske in August 2015 and was being held by an illegal armed formation of the so-called Vostok battalion," he said. The release of the Ukrainian military personnel was also announced on Facebook by Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, who said that he had learnt the news from SBU chief Vasyl Hrytsak. It was reported earlier that three Ukrainians were exchanged for five Donetsk militants and a priest on Saturday. A wave of bank attacks ripped through downtown Kyiv on Saturday afternoon. Activists from the OUN joint territorial defense battalion hurled rocks and green paint and damaged property at a local Alfa-Bank branch, an Interfax-Ukraine correspondent reported. The attackers smashed windows and part of the interior, including furniture and office equipment. No one was hurt during the incident. There were no clashes with law enforcement officers. A team of investigators are working at the scene. In addition, activists threw green paint and hurled rocks at the Sberbank of Russia branch in downtown Kyiv after smashing up the office of the SCM company owned by businessman Rinat Akhmetov, which was also pelted with rocks. Alfa-Bank (prior to January 2001 Kyiv Investment Bank) was founded in 1993. It is part of Alfa-Bank Group, a private international group of banks based in Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia and the Netherlands. As of October 1, 2015 the bank's sole shareholder was ABH Ukraine Limited (Cyprus). Sberbank (previously PJSC Subsidiary Bank Sberbank of Russia; until then Bank NRB) was founded in 2001. It is owned by PJSC Sberbank of Russia. The second anniversary of the Maidan events is being commemorated on the Independence Square and nearby streets in Kyiv on Saturday. Hundreds of people, many in military uniforms, have gathered on the square. Activists are rallying near the Independence Monument, a victory column on the square, to demand a full inquiry into the killings of people on Maidan, and that those responsible be brought to justice. A commemorative prayer was performed in the Heavenly Hundred Alley and a part of former Istytutska Street. Before that, several hundred people walked to a cross erected in memory of the victims. In the morning, Donbas combatants and volunteer battalion fighters gathered to demand halt to the persecutions of their fellow fighters, and justice for those killed in Ilovaisk and Debaltseve. Overall, the situation is quiet; police are dispersed throughout the square's perimeter and in nearby streets to maintain order. Sinopec to shut oilfields temporarily in response to falling prices Workers check facilities at the Shengli Oilfield near Dongying, Shandong province. The oil producer is to shut down four oilfields to reduce costs amid plummeting oil prices.(Photo/China Daily) JINAN, Feb. 20 -- Four small, unprofitable oilfields managed by Sinopec Shengli Oilfield Co. will be closed temporarily this year to cut losses, the company told Xinhua Friday. The oilfields, in the eastern province of Shandong, produce 60,000 tonnes of oil a year, about 0.2 percent of the company's annual output. A subsidiary of China Petroleum &Chemical Corp., the company runs some of the country's oldest oilfields. Previous reports said the closures were a first in the company's history, however, Sinopec Shengli told Xinhua it had begun to shut down other oilfields last year. Sinopec Shengli reported a loss in 2015 after years of profits. The company analyzed its 70 oilfields to identify those that were no longer turning a profit. The slump in the price of oil has put particular pressure on China's mature oilfields, which have reported decreased production and increased costs. CNPCDaqing Oilfields, another arm of China National Petroleum Corp., is another example. The four oilfields will be put "on hold" and production may restart if oil prices bounce back, Sinopec Shengli told Xinhua. XINING, Feb. 19 -- China's remote western Hol Xil nature reserve, home to 70,000 Tibetan antelope, has applied for a UNESCO world natural heritage status, the reserve administration said Friday. The reserve, covering 60,000 square kilometers in northwest China's Qinghai Province at an altitude of over 4,500 meters, will be the only site in China to apply for listing in 2017, Tsering Samdrup, head of the reserve administration's publicity department. The UNESCO committee will inspect the reserve in September with findings expected to be released in the summer of 2017 at the 41st session of the World Heritage Committee, he said. Endangered Tibetan antelopes, wild yaks and wild ass inhabit Hol Xil, home to 7,000 lakes. "If the application is successful, it will improve Hol Xil's reputation and enhance its capacity in wildlife protection," Tsering Samdrup said. As an important gene pool, Hol Xil welcomes scientists to research the living habits and migration routes of the animals, he said. China currently has 10 world natural heritage sites. UNESCO has acknowledged 1,031 World Heritage properties across the globe, 802 cultural sites, 197 natural sites and 32 mixed sites. China now has 48 such sites, just below Italy, according to the UNESCO official website. A New York City police officer of Chinese descent was found guilty Thursday of manslaughter over the shooting of a black man, prompting concerns of discrimination. Upon hearing the Brooklyn state jury verdict, Peter Liang, who accidentally shot and killed Akai Gurley in November 2014, buried his head in his arms. A manslaughter conviction could lead to up to 15 years in prison. On Nov 20, 2014, Liang, a 27-year-old with only a year and a half on the job, was patrolling with his partner in Brooklyn's East New York housing project when he was startled by a noise. In a stairway that prosecutors described as "pitch-dark," Liang drew his gun and fired. The bullet ricocheted off a wall and hit Gurley on a lower level. The defense said the shooting was an accident, not a crime. The argument was backed by New York City Police Department Commissioner Bill Bratton, who said immediately after the incident that the shooting appeared to be an accidental discharge -- no intention to strike anybody. Liang's indictment and trial received wide-spread controversy among New York's Chinese community. People believed that the jury who delivered the verdict was under pressure from the backlash against police and prosecutors for not charging the white officers involved in the shooting of black Americans Eric Garner and Michael Brown. Supporters of Liang said that he has been made a scapegoat to counterweigh those white police officers who grand juries refused to indict, saying the prosecution of Liang was racist and politically motivated. In April 2015, tens of thousands of Chinese-Americans marched across the Brooklyn Bridge, calling for a fair trial for Liang. Liang is the first policeman from the New York Police Department to be convicted of homicide in the shooting of a civilian since 2005. Liang was also facing charges of assault, reckless endangerment and criminally negligent homicide. His sentencing is set for April 14. BEIJING, Feb. 19, 2016 -- Chinese PresidentXi Jinping(2nd L) is briefed on the development history of the People's Daily in Beijing, capital of China, on Feb. 19, 2016. Xi on Friday visited the People's Daily, Xinhua News Agency and China Central Television, the nation's three leading news providers. (Xinhua/Li Tao) BEIJING, Feb. 20 -- The People's Daily carried an editorial following President Xi Jinping's visits to China's three leading news providers on Friday, stressing Party- and government-run news outlets' mission and responsibility in guiding public opinion. The Communist Party of China (CPC)'s flagship newspaper said in the article that "all (publicity) work should be conducive to Party leadership, the socialist system, reforms, solidarity of different ethnic groups as well as social harmony and stability." The editorial urged reporters and editors to prioritize upholding the correct political direction while carrying out their mission and responsibilities. "In upholding the correct political direction, one must strictly adhere to Party leadership, keeping a high degree of uniformity with the CPC Central Committee in terms of ideology, political thought and actions," it continued. The editorial also called on news reporters and editors to be "disseminators of the Party's policies and propositions, recorders of the times, agents of social progress and guards of equality and justice." The editorial emphasized the traditional importance of guiding public opinion for the CPC. "Marxist political parties have always regarded the work of guiding public opinion as a sharp weapon in revolution." Guiding public opinion for the Party is crucial to governance of the country, it said. The work of leading public opinion is at the very forefront of the ideological battle, the editorial said, calling for a common ideological ground for pursuing the Chinese dream. The editorial also called on capacity building in guiding public opinion to better rally public support and enthusiasm for achieving the Chinese dream of a great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. Xi visited the headquarters of the People's Daily, Xinhua News Agency and China Central Television Friday. An ambulance rushes Chen Xinyi to a hospital after she and two other missing children were found on Friday in Zhejiang province. Shen Zhicheng / For China Daily The three children who went missing from a village in Zhejiang province were found safe on Friday morning after nearly 72 hours. Chen Xinyi, 12, her 7-year-old brother Chen Hanlin and Chen Minjie, an 8-year-old girl, were found by rescue teams at about 10:30 am on a mountain in Changshan, a village about 7 kilometers away from their home village of Jianguang in Pujiang county. The three children left their homes at around 11 am on Tuesday, and their parents called the police in the evening. The children were either carried out on stretchers or in the arms of rescuers and taken by ambulance to a local hospital. "The three kids were cuddled together by a creek and burst into tears when they saw us. Their condition was all right and they could respond to our words. We gave them some water and food immediately," said Ge Zhebin, head of a rescue team that found the children. "The sister was very concerned about her brother. She asked about the condition of the brother several times when we rescued her." The children suffered frostbite but were in stable condition, according to Hong Yansheng, a publicity officer from the county. The children got lost on the mountain and couldn't find their way home, and they relied on water in the creek for the past three days, Hong said. By Thursday evening, about 4,000 people from across the county were formed into 59 rescue teams. They scoured reservoirs, rivers, valleys, ditches and the mountainside for the missing children within a search area of 70 square km. Two police helicopters and two amphibious rescue vehicles joined the search effort. "I want to say thank you to ... everybody involved in the rescue," the brother and sister's uncle said with tears in a video clip uploaded from Sina Weibo by Pujiang county's information office. The rescue efforts were applauded by Internet users. "I really appreciate the local government authority that mobilized all the rescue resources. They prioritized the value of life," an Internet user named Zhuangxia wrote on Sina Weibo. My Favorite Quotes Recent Quotes Portfolio Summary Your most recently viewed tickers will automatically show up here if you type a ticker in the Get Quotes box on the top of the page. Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 20 Trend: The Nakhchivan Automobile Plant (NAZ) has reached an agreement with the Chinese car manufacturer Lifan on a full renewal of the model range of the cars assembled in Azerbaijan. A NAZ delegation, led by the plant's director Musa Abdullayev, has held talks with the Chinese carmaker on starting a new stage of cooperation. The NAZ officials said Feb. 19 that the assembly of the fully updated Lifan 820, the new all-wheel drive SUV Lifan 80, and the compact crossover X50 is the priority in the plant's plans. Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 20 By Anvar Mammadov - Trend: Baku received athletes from Israel very hospitably, says Israeli gymnast Andrei Medvedev, who arrived in Azerbaijan's capital to participate in the FIG World Challenge Cup in Artistic Gymnastics. "We early arrived in Baku for training and I'd like to say that fantastic conditions have been created here," he told Trend Feb. 20. Commenting on his performance at the tournament, Medvedev said he has done it well. "I'm satisfied with my results as it is my first start in this season," said the gymnast. The FIG World Challenge Cup in Artistic Gymnastics kicked off in Baku Feb. 19 and is to end Feb. 21. As many as 45 male and 22 female gymnasts will compete for medals in apparatus finals of the World Challenge Cup. In general, athletes from 19 countries are to participate in the event. Men's and women's qualifications on the first two days of the competitions will be followed by apparatus finals on the last day. Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 20 By Anvar Mammadov - Trend: The FIG World Challenge Cup in Artistic Gymnastics has been organized at a very high level in Baku, Brazilian gymnast Flavia Lopes Saraiva told Trend Feb. 20. "I am very pleased to perform at such a wonderful arena," she said. "The excellent conditions have been created for athletes. I am pleased with my results. I think that I will perform well in the final competition Feb. 21." Saraiva has advanced to the balance beam and uneven bars finals. She is also one of the leaders in the floor exercise qualification. The FIG World Challenge Cup in Artistic Gymnastics kicked off in Baku Feb. 19 and is to end Feb. 21. As many as 45 male and 22 female gymnasts will compete for medals in apparatus finals of the World Challenge Cup. In general, athletes from 19 countries are to participate in the event. Men's and women's qualifications on the first two days of the competitions will be followed by apparatus finals on the last day. Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 20 By Anvar Mammadov - Trend: Azerbaijani gymnast Oleg Stepko has advanced to the finals in the horizontal bar exercises at the FIG World Challenge Cup in Artistic Gymnastics, being held in Baku. He scored 13.950 points, ranking seventh during the qualification event. Turkish gymnast Umit Samiloglu shared the first place with Japanese gymnast Tomomasa Hasegawa. The FIG World Challenge Cup in Artistic Gymnastics kicked off in Baku Feb. 19 and is to end Feb. 21. As many as 45 male and 22 female gymnasts will compete for medals in apparatus finals of the World Challenge Cup. In general, athletes from 19 countries are to participate in the event. Men's and women's qualifications on the first two days of the competitions will be followed by apparatus finals on the last day. Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 20 Trend: The Foreign Ministers of Georgia, Azerbaijan and Turkey visited the Georgian section of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway main line, as part of the trilateral meeting in Tbilisi on Feb.19, Georgian Foreign Ministry's press service reported. According to the Foreign Ministers of the three countries, it is a project of historic importance which will connect Asia with Europe. According to the Georgian Foreign Minister, the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway will considerably increase the competitiveness of the transport corridor, will attract greater volumes of cargoes and will contribute to the realization of the Silk Road project. "The three countries continue to contribute huge amount of resources towards this project. Over 700 million has already been spent on the Georgian section alone. This project will create additional job places. Once completed, over 1400 people will be employed here. This is going to be a watershed project. We will soon have the first shipment of cargo freighted via this road"- Mikheil Janelidze said. Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway is being constructed on the basis of a Georgian-Azerbaijani-Turkish intergovernmental agreement. Azerbaijan allocated a loan of $775 million for the construction of the railway's Georgian section. The State Oil Fund of the Republic of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ) finances the project in accordance with the Azerbaijani president's decree 'On the implementation of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars project activities', dated February 21, 2007. The peak capacity of the corridor will be 17 million tons of cargo per year. At the initial stage, this figure will be one million passengers and 6.5 million tons of cargo. Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Feb. 20 By Huseyn Hasanov- Trend: Ashgabat will host a specialized exhibition of Iranian products on February 23-25, Turkmen national Altyn Asyr TV channel reported Feb. 20. More than 90 companies' products will be exhibited there, the statement said. Iranian manufacturers engaged in the engineering, chemical industry and electronics, food and light industry, agriculture and water management, construction, trade, health and education, will present their innovative products at the exhibition. Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov ordered at the last governmental meeting to hold an exhibition at a high level. "This traditional event must be another action in intensifying fruitful partnership between Turkmenistan and Iran and determining new ways of trade-economic cooperation on a wide range of areas," the president said. As of the first nine months of 2015, the trade turnover volume between Turkmenistan and Iran exceeded $2.62 billion, which is 2.2 percent more than in the same period of 2015. An agreement was reached to increase the bilateral trade volume up to $60 billion within the next 10 years during the Iranian President Hassan Rouhani's visit to Turkmenistan in March 2015. Baku, Azerbaijan, March 6 By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend: The Trans-Anatolian gas pipeline project (TANAP) is the second largest project in the world upon its technical criteria, SOCAR official representative in Belgium, Vusal Mammadov said at the conference held in this country by the Caspian Strategy Institute (HASEN), HASEN on March 6. "TANAP will open new opportunities for investments and to create new jobs," Mammadov added. He also stressed that the Azerbaijani gas will be delivered to Europe in 2019. The TANAP project envisages transporting gas from the Shah Deniz field through Turkey up to the country's border with Europe. The initial capacity of the pipeline is expected to be 16 billion cubic meters per year. About six billion cubic meters of gas will be delivered to Turkey and the rest to Europe. In the future, the pipeline's capacity can be expanded to 31 billion cubic meters of gas per year. Currently the share distribution in the TANAP project is conducted as follows: Turkey (20 percent) and Azerbaijan (80 percent). Following the completion of the process on acquiring a stake in the TANAP project by British company BP, the shares in the project will be distributed as follows: SOCAR (operator) - 68 percent , Botas (Turkish state pipeline company) - 20 percent and BP - 12 percent. TANAP shareholders plan to lay the pipeline's foundation in the second quarter of 2014 and to commission it in 2018. TANAP project's cost is estimated at $10 billion to $11 billion. On December 17, 2013 a final investment decision was made on the second phase of Azerbaijani Shah Deniz offshore gas and condensate field's development. The gas from the field will first go to the European market. The gas to be produced within the second phase of the field's development will be exported to Turkey (six billion cubic meters per year) and to the European markets (10 billion cubic meters per year) by means of expanding the South Caucasus Pipeline and construction of the Trans-Anatolian Gas Pipeline (TANAP) and the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP). TAP's initial capacity will be 10 billion cubic meters per year, with a possibility of expanding it to 20 billion cubic meters per year. TAP's shareholders include BP (20 percent), SOCAR (20 percent), Statoil (20 percent), Fluxys (16 percent), Total (10 percent), E.ON (nine percent) and Axpo (five percent). Partners operating on Shah Deniz field's development, which has reserves of 1.2 trillion cubic meters of gas, include State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) with a share of 16.7 percent, British BP (28,8 percent), Norwegian Statoil (15.5 percent), Iranian NICO (10 percent), French Total (10 percent), Russian Lukoil (10 percent) and Turkish TPAO (nine percent). Translated by NH Edited by CN Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Feb. 20 By Demir Azizov - Trend: The Uzbek Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Kamilov and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov discussed the upcoming Uzbek-Russian high-level contacts, Russian Foreign Ministry's press service said Feb. 20. "Topical issues of bilateral interaction and cooperation on international arena were discussed during the talk," said the ministry. As it was reported earlier, the 15th summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is scheduled to be held June 2016 in Tashkent. The further development of the SCO, issues of regional security and economic cooperation will be among the key issues on the summit's agenda. Isfahan, Iran, Feb. 20 By Mehdi Sepahvand - Trend: Iran's share in the world tourism stands at 0.24 percent, not befitting the country at all, considering the opportunities that exist, said Mahmoud Eslamian, CEO of Iran's Civil Pension Organization. He made the remarks addressing the International Travel and Hospitality Conference in Iran's central city of Isfahan Feb. 20, Trend correspondent reported from the event venue. Eslamian further said that tourism and hospitality can be a great asset in creating jobs for seven million unemployed Iranians and diversifying incomes away from oil revenue. Isfahan Governor General Rasoul Zargarpour also addressed the conference, recalling that during President Hassan Rouhani's trip to France last month, an agreement was signed for expansion of the Isfahan airport. He also said a high-speed railway line from Isfahan to Tehran will be built in less than 1.5 years. Local news agency Mehr earlier reported that Iran has 1,100 hotels - 130 of them have four and five stars. Iran plans to triple the number of hotels in the country before 2025. Experts believe that by 2025, the number of the tourists arriving in Iran will increase from five million to 20 million. Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 20 By Fatih Karimov - Trend: Hellenic Petroleum, Greece's biggest oil refiner, will buy 60,000 barrels of crude oil from Iran per day, Amir Hossein Zamaninia, the Iranian deputy oil minister for international affairs, said. During the trip of Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to Tehran early in February, it was agreed that Hellenic Petroleum would buy 60,000 barrels of crude from Iran every day, Zamaninia said, the oil ministry's official SHANA news agency reported Feb. 20. He further said the figure can increase to 150,000 barrels a day. The deputy oil minister added that the Greek company is ready to buy oil from Iran once the banking problems are solved. Zamaninia also spoke about the company's debts to Iran, saying the Islamic Republic is pursuing the previously made agreements for the Hellenic Petroleum to pay back its debts. The company is estimated to have a debt of 500 to 600 million euros to National Iranian Oil Company for the oil purchased before the nuclear-related sanctions were imposed on Iran in 2011. Hellenic Petroleum was a major buyer of Iranian crude, which accounted for about 20 percent of the southeast European country's annual crude oil imports, before the sanctions. Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 20 By Fatih Karimov - Trend: Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) has lost another high-ranking member in clashes in Syria. General Hamid Reza Ansari, a member of the IRGC's Ruhollah unit, stationed in Iran's Markazi province, was killed in Syria, the unit's official website reported Feb. 20. General Mohsen Karimi, the commander of the Ruhollah unit, also confirmed the death of Ansari, who was in Syria to "protect the holy shrine of Zaynab [a daughter of first Shia Imam Ali]". At least five top commanders of IRGC have been killed in Syria since early 2015, including Brigadier General Hossein Hamedani, killed last October. Over the past few years and since the crisis broke out in Syria and Iraq, several members of the elite forces of Iran have been reportedly killed in clashes with "terrorists", which suggested Iran's military presence in both countries. However, Iranian officials have constantly denied that their servicemen have boots on ground in Syria and Iraq, saying the officers of the Islamic Republic are in Syria and Iraq as advisers at official request from both countries' governments. Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 20 By Fatih Karimov- Trend: Iran and Oman are strategic partners, the Islamic Republic's foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif said. He made the remarks during a joint press conference with visiting Omani Foreign Minister Yusuf bin Alawi in Tehran Feb. 20, Iran's State IRINN TV reported. The both parties enjoy various areas for cooperation in short, medium and long terms, Zarif said, adding Iran and Oman will cooperate in energy, industry and mining sectors as well as transportation. "We discussed cooperation in economic and political fields and reviewed joint projects to be implemented by two countries," the Iranian FM said, referring to his talks with bin Alawi. The two parties also reviewed economic and energy cooperation as well as joint investment, he further said. Bin Alawi, for his part, said that cooperation with Iran will boost security and stability in entire region. "We have come here to open a new chapter in mutual relations with Iran, in particular in economic front." "We talked about score of two countries' cooperation both on regional and international levels," bin Alawi added. Bin Alawi arrived in Tehran Feb. 20 to discuss issues of mutual interests as well as key regional and international developments with Iranian officials. He will stay in Iran for two days. Oman and Iran, which share control of the strategic Strait of Hormuz, maintain friendly relations. Oman has mediated between Iran and the US on a number of cases including the three U.S. citizens who were arrested in Iran in 2009 on illegal entry and espionage charges and were released during 2010 and 2011. Muscat also played an important role in talks between Iran and the six world powers that led to July nuclear deal, then removal of anti-Iran sanctions on January 16. Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 20 By Elmira Tariverdiyeva - Trend: Despite numerous speculations over Russia's heavy weapons supply to Armenia as part of a recently signed $200-million loan, the expectations didn't come true. Russia didn't take risks and decided not to supply heavy weapons to Armenia despite the deteriorating situation in the region after its conflict with Turkey. Back in July 2015, before the loan deal was signed, various reports suggested that Russia decided to supply the Iskander-M tactical ballistic missiles to Armenia. Armenian media even recently reported that Moscow and Yerevan discussed a possible supply of three IL-76 military transport planes, as well as the newly designed Su-30SM multi-purpose fighters and simulators for these fighters to Armenia. Armenia, which has no modern aircraft, was so overwhelmed that even Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan rushed to confirm the reports. However, to avoid any further speculation, a list of weapons was released Feb. 18 by the Russian Legal Information Agency. To Armenia's great dismay, neither Iskander-M, nor SU-30SM fighters are included to the list. The list begins with the Smerch multiple rocket launchers, but that didn't impress anyone. For instance, Azerbaijan has 12 of that weapon. There is also the TOS-1A thermobaric rocket launcher in the list, but that is nothing new for the region. In short, it seems that apart from a large number of KAMAZ trucks, the Armenian army will get nothing paying back the loan, which will be very difficult for Armenia's dying economy. --- Elmira Tariverdiyeva is the head of Trend Agency's Russian news service, follow her on Twitter: @EmmaTariver A Saudi group has sent 21 trucks of humanitarian aid to Syrian refugees seeking shelter in southern Turkey, Anadolu agency reported. Speaking to Anadolu Agency at the entrance of Elbeyli Refugee Camp, the head of the Saudi National Campaign for Support Brothers in Syria office in Turkey, Khaled al-Salama, said they brought 60,000 blankets and 30,000 coats in cooperation with Turkey's Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD). Five additional trucks of aid are also en route to Elbeyli from Turkey's Iskenderun province. The Elbeyli camp in southern Kilis province hosts around 24,000 Syrian people. Salama said the Saudi group, which started sending aid in August 2012, has sent 450,000 blankets, 300,000 coats, one million jumpers and 150,000 items of women's clothing between 2015 and 2016. Salama also thanked Turkey for its "diligent" effort in helping Syrian refugees and said the two countries will continue to help the "Syrian brothers" with humanitarian projects. In addition, AFAD's Kilis provincial manager, Ilhami Akgul, thanked Saudi Arabia for its aid campaign. Turkey is home to the world's biggest refugee population, with more than 2.5 million Syrian people, and has spent $9 billion so far on caring for those who have fled the war. Syria has remained locked in a vicious civil war since early 2011, when the regime of President Bashar al-Assad cracked down on pro-democracy protests with unexpected ferocity. Syrian President Bashar Assad said on Saturday in 10 years he wants to be seen as a person who had saved Syria, Sputnik reported. The prospect of a truce in Syria resurfaced on Saturday after a source in the opposition group formed after talks in Moscow and Cairo told RIA Novosti that Russia and the United States had prepared a document on the "cessation of hostilities" to take effect after its approval. "The most important thing is how I see my country, because I am part of my country. Therefore, in 10 years I want to have been able to save Syria," Assad said in an interview with Spain's El Pais daily. Asked to clarify whether he planned to remain in power over the next decade, Assad said "I do not care about my presence in power." "For me, if the Syrian people want me in power, then I will be; and if not, then I will not. If I cannot help my country, then I must leave immediately." Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and State Secretary John Kerry later explained the "modalities for a cessation of hostilities" have not yet been agreed on. The latest decision follows a series of meetings among stakeholders to the Syrian conflict, including the February 11 International Syria Support Group (ISSG) that adopted a communique calling for a cessation hostilities and swift humanitarian access to all besieged areas. At least one person has been killed in a terrorist attack on a military convoy near an educational facility in the northern Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, while 100 students and employees remain trapped inside the building, Sputnik reported with the reference to Indian media. Unidentified gunmen attacked a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) convoy earlier in the day before retreating to the nearby Jammu & Kashmir Entrepreneurship Development Institute (JKEDI) in the town of Pampore, 10 miles southeast of Srinagar. "There are nearly 100 people trapped inside the three multi-storied buildings in the campus," a trapped JKEDI employee told the regional publication The Tribune. At least 11 CRPF personnel are said to have been injured, one of whom later died. The employee told the outlet that a gun battle was still underway and one of the gunmen had asked the hostages to "vacate" the building. The Jammu and Kashmir region has been claimed by both India and Pakistan since the end of British rule in 1947. Following several armed conflicts, the two countries agreed to a ceasefire in 2003. Since then, both sides have repeatedly accused each other of violating the truce. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kerry noted the need for military coordination between their countries to help ensure a truce in Syria, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Saturday. The two politicians held a phone talk earlier in the day, discussing humanitarian aid issues and the planned cessation of hostilities in Syria, "with the exception of fighting terrorist groups," the ministry said in a statement, Sputnik reported. "It was confirmed that the establishment of mechanisms to reach set goals requires military coordination," the statement reads. Lavrov and Kerry also noted progress when it comes to delivering humanitarian aid to besieged areas in Syria. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov noted during a phone talk with US Secretary of State John Kerry the importance of not allowing Turkey to violate Syria's territorial integrity. "Lavrov also noted that provocative Turkish acts that violate the Syrian Arab Republic's territorial integrity are inadmissible," the ministry said in a statement. Patriotic activists of the Republic of Serbia gathered in front of the Russian Embassy in Belgrade to express peaceful opposition to their country's cooperation with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) on Saturday, Sputnik reported. Up to 2,000 people carrying Serbian and Russian flags gathered outside the Russian mission in the Serbian capital, according to unofficial estimates. Many expressed indignation over the death of two Serbian diplomats kidnapped last November who were killed in US airstrikes on Libya on Friday. That day, Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic signed a confirmation of his country's cooperation plan with the Western alliance. Serbian lawmakers ratified a diplomatic immunity agreement and logistical support for NATO representatives on February 12. Serbia was among the former Yugoslav republics to be invited to join NATO's Partnership for Peace program - the alliance's pre-membership program - in 2006. It agreed to deepen cooperation with NATO through the Individual Partnership Action Plan in January 2015, which took effect in March 2015, shaping educational and technical cooperation, joint exercises and efforts to form a positive image of the alliance among Serbian society. NATO carried out a 1999 bombing campaign over Serbia in support of the Kosovo Albanian population. Serbia is also an observer state in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) and an associate member in the NATO Parliamentary Assembly. In 2007, Serbian lawmakers adopted a resolution upholding the republic's neutral status toward military alliances. Russia views NATO's eastward expansion as a threat to its national security and a breach of the military bloc's post-Soviet pledge not to encroach on Russian borders. Greece will not be expelled from the passport-free Schengen zone as proposed by EU member states disaffected by the unending number of migrant arrivals, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said Saturday, Sputnik reported. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande reportedly reassured Tsipras in a closed-doors meeting that Athens would remain in the border-free zone until a March 6 extraordinary EU summit. "There are and will be no closed borders," Tsipras argued to lawmakers, as quoted by the Kathimerini daily. European leaders are scheduled to discuss the refugee crisis with Turkey, a recipient of EU's $3 billion action plan to curb migrant numbers, on March 6. Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, who was initially scheduled to address the issue at the February 18-19 European Council, canceled his trip to Brussels following the deadly Ankara car bombings. "We cannot accept responsibility-shy bureaucrats pointing their fingers at us and telling us what to do," Tsipras stressed, referring to East and Central European favoring a backup plan to Brussels' solutions. The so-called Plan B envisions moving the Schengen border further north to the Bulgarian-Macedonian frontier as opposed to the Greek-Turkish border. Tsipras further argued that Greece has "done the most" in tackling the greatest migrant crisis in Europe in decades, "and nobody has come forward to challenge this." Greece has been under pressure from fellow EU member states as most of the refugees arriving in the country continue their journey through the Balkans to Austria, Germany and Sweden unrestricted. The influx of migrants has overwhelmed many European nations. The prospect of reinstating border controls with Greece became high on the agenda last month after Austrian and Czech officials expressed their disapproval of Athens' failure to secure its borders as migrants continue to transit through Greece. The Moldovan government nominated former foreign minister Natalia Gherman's candidacy for the UN Secretary General post, Prime Minister Pavel Filip said in a written address to the leaders of the UN General Assembly and the Security Council, Sputnik reported. Gherman, daughter of former President Mircea Snegur, most recently served as acting prime minister from June to July 2015. She held the foreign ministerial post from 2013 to January 2016. "We have the honour to forward a communication received from the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Moldova presenting Ms. Natalia Gherman as a candidate for the position of Secretary-General," Filip wrote in a letter dated February 19. Gherman joins six other candidates to succeed Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, the majority of whom hail from East and Central Europe. Ban's successor is slated to assume office on January 1, 2017, one day after the former South Korean prime minister steps down after two five-year terms. According to the UN Charter, the UN Security Council recommends a candidate to the General Assembly, where he or she must garner no less than two-thirds of the votes to be appointed Secretary General. Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 18 By Orkhan Quluzade - Trend: Turkey may be under risk of clashing with Russia if it launches military operations in Syria, an ex-commander of the Turkish Navy believes. Clash of interests of a number of countries in the Syrian crisis is a serious risk for Turkey, Admiral Meten Atac, member of the Advisory Board of the Caspian Strategy Institute (HASEN), said in an exclusive interview with Trend. The admiral also said that at present, one of Turkey's problems is the problem with Syrian refugees. "At present, more than three million people left Syria and a huge number of refugees are moving to the Turkish border," he said. Earlier, media reported that along with Saudi Arabia and Qatar, Turkey is preparing for holding ground military operations in Syria. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Feb. 17 that Turkey does not negotiate with the coalition led by the US concerning the participation in the military operations in Syria. Turkish Defense Minister Ismet Yilmaz has recently said that Ankara does not plan to carry out military operations in Syria, but the Turkish armed forces are ready to resist any threat from the territory of this country. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @o_quluzade Turkey reserves the right to carry out every kind of operations at home and abroad against terror threats, the country's president said on Saturday. "Turkey will use its right to expand its rules of engagement beyond [responding to] actual attacks against it and to encompass all terror threats, including PYD and Daesh in particular," Recep Tayyip Erdogan said at a UNESCO meeting in Istanbul. His remarks came after a suicide bomb attack in the Turkish capital Ankara killed 28 people and wounded 81 others on Feb. 17. The Turkish government revealed that the Ankara attack was carried out jointly by a YPG member -- a Syrian national -- and PKK members. The YPG is the military wing of the PYD, which is the Syrian affiliate of the PKK. Ankara considers all three groups to be terrorist outfits, while the U.S. designates only the PKK as such and regards the YPG as a "reliable partner" in northern Syria. In his remarks Saturday, Erdogan noted: "Nobody can limit Turkey in using its right of self-defense against terror attacks targeting the country. "Whoever prevents us from using our right of self-defense, we will recognized it as a terrorist and act accordingly," he added. The president reiterated his country's determination to "eliminate all the attacks targeting its lands, people, and unity, at their source if needed". Thousands of PKK terrorists have been killed in operations across Turkey and northern Iraq since the PKK resumed its 30-year armed campaign against the Turkish state in late July. Turkey is also a part of the U.S.-led coalition fighting against Daesh. Erdogan accused perpetrators of terrorism of trying to tarnish Turkey's image. "There are similar problems [terror activities] around the world, especially cities in the western countries," he said. "Despite the wars raging next to it and despite being a direct target of terror organizations, Turkey is still one of the safest countries in the world." At least 250,000 people have been killed since the Syria conflict began in 2011, according to UN figures. The conflict prompted an unprecedented refugee crisis which made Turkey the world's largest refugee-hosting country with nearly 2.7 million Syrian refugees. Turkey has been targeted by terrorist attacks in recent months. Ankara was hit by twin suicide bombings on Oct. 10, when 103 people were killed in an attack on protesters gathering outside the city's main train station for a peace rally. The attack was the deadliest in modern Turkish history and has been attributed to Daesh. Istanbul's historical district Fatih was also struck by a suicide bomber last month. The Jan. 12 suicide attack that killed 11 people -- mostly Germans -- occurred in the city's tourist hub Sultanahmet, home to the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia. Another Daesh-blamed suicide bombing left more than 30 people in Sanliurfa's Suruc district in July. WeChat being Used by Tibetans to Pray for Recovery of Dalai Lama The Dalai Lama was invited to attend a human rights function with the United Nations. (Photo : Getty Images) While officials from two prefectures of Sichuan Province deny that local Tibetans are praying privately for the Dalai Lama, it seems the religious leaders followers are using technology to storm heavens gate for his recovery. The Dalai Lama went to the U.S. for prostate gland treatment at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota in January, according to United Press International. Jiang Gang, head of the Aba Tibetan Prefecture, said that local Tibetans are probably too busy to hold private services for the Dalai Lama. Thats because they are busy observing the Monlam Prayer Festival and Tibetan New Year. Advertisement However, a YouTube video below confirms the holding of prayers for the Dalai Lama, defying the government ban. Another report by Radio Free Asia (RFA) said some Tibetans have tapped technology to intercede for the Dalai Lama by coursing their prayers through popular messaging app WeChat. The report added that the cutting of Internet service in Aba Prefecture failed to stop local Tibetans from being updated on the physical condition of their religious leader. Jiang also said that most of Tibetans who attended religious rites in local churches used sutra chanting to ask for a good harvest during the Spring Festival which started on Feb. 8. He believed that injecting political prayers during such period would be not relevant. Jiang likewise said that Internet service was not occasionally cut in Aba because such a move would be useless since locals find ways to get information about the Dalai Lama, reported Global Times. The spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism is scheduled to speak on Sunday morning at the Minneapolis Convention before about 3,000 Tibetan-Americans who live in the Twin Cities, according to Kaisang Kyoh, spokeswoman of the Tibetan American Foundation of Minnesota Airport Operations Resume After Air France Crash (Photo : Getty Images) A former high-profile presenter on state-run Central China Television (CCTV), Ni Ping, shared plans to migrate to Canada sparked and it sparked a debate on social media about patriotism. Ironically, about 60 million Chinese have joined the global diaspora and are found in almost any country in the world. Advertisement Yet, commenting on pleasant rainy weather in Vancouver, a Canadian city, and saying she wants to migrate to the North American country, created a Sina Weibo storm as Chinese netizens debated on the issue of migration, reported Global Times. Many netizens feel that Ni would be betraying China if she moves to another country. The heavier expectation from the TV personality comes from her having received a backbone of China award from the China Federation of Patriotic Projects in 2011. The group is connected with the Ministry of Culture. In 2010, Ni also publicly said that she loves China deeply as a member of the National Committee of the Chinese Peoples Political Consultative Conference. The conference is Chinas top political advisory body. Among the criticisms that Ni received from netizens were that she is a hypocrite and that she no longer deserves the backbone award. Ni held an art exhibit in Vancouver and was captivated by the place that she considered moving to Canada. She also shared her migration plans with Sing Tao Daily, a Hong Kong-based newspaper, on Feb. 12. However, because of the ruckus, the 57-year-old backtracked and claimed she was just joking about moving to Canada. She said on Tuesday, I apologize for the joke that has gone too far on her Weibo account. However, Zhou Xiaozhen, sociology professor at Renmin University of China, backed Ni and said that looking at celebrity migrants as unpatriotic is rooted in the long contentious issue of the wide gap between the rich and the poor. If Ni would still push through with her migration plans, she would join about 1.3 million Chinese migrants in Canada, who comprise about 4 percent of Canadas population. What Effect Does Peter Liang's Conviction Have on the NYPD and Police Accountability? New York City Police (NYPD) officer Peter Liang (C) leaves the courtroom after an arraignment hearing in the Brooklyn borough of New York City on Feb. 11. (Photo : REUTERS) On Thursday, Feb. 11, the jury in the trial of 27-year-old New York police officer Peter Liang reached a verdict and found Liang guilty of second-degree manslaughter and official misconduct in the death of 28-year-old Akai Gurley, becoming the first NYPD officer in over a decade to be convicted in a fatal shooting. Advertisement An article published on villagevoice.com called Liang's conviction "a pretty thorny place in city politics." Many Chinese New Yorkers wondered why Liang was indicted, prosecuted and convicted while white cops who had killed black men in recent years went scot-free. The article said that the NYPD and policing, in general, are now under a high level of scrutiny as political pressures to hold the police accountable are increasing while deep resistance to systemic change is felt. Liang's trial stretched across three weeks, and for both the Brooklyn district attorney's prosecutors and Liang's defense team, the trial was remarkable. One of the things that made it notable is that the basic facts were uncontested and incontrovertible: that on Nov. 20, 2014, Liang and his partner, who were both rookie cops, were on a "vertical patrol" inside the Louis Heaton Pink Houses, a public housing complex in East New York, when Liang's gun went off. Akai Gurley was on the landing one floor below when Liang's bullet ricocheted off a wall in the dark stairwell and hit the 28-year-old, unarmed man. He died. But beyond this, during final summations, both the prosecution and defense attorneys expressed their views on what Liang's trial meant. For the defense, it was to protect Liang from the bad timing. According to the Daily News, out of the 179 persons killed by NY police officers in the last 15 years, only three cases led to indictment. The incident involving Liang occurred just months after an NYPD officer was caught on video choking Eric Garner and the shooting of Michael Brown by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri. Public uproar over police violence was further intensified by the non-indictment of the shooters of Garner and Brown. "The decision to make a prosecution in this case is no less political than it is in other cases," Alex Vitale, a professor of sociology at Brooklyn College who studies police policy, was quoted in the article. "This is taking place in the middle of a legitimacy crisis in policing." According to Liang's lawyers, the situation and the usual rules were turned against them. "Policing in America is not on trial here," Robert E. Brown, one of Liang's attorneys, said in closing arguments. "What's on trial here is the evidence presented by these prosecutors against my client in this courtroom. He shouldn't be made a scapegoat for any other thing that's happening." The article said that what Brown seemed to be saying was that public housing is dangerous, and if an order should be imposed on such places, it should be imposed by cops who may have their guns drawn. Brown added that Liang was a cop doing what people ask cops to do every day. The prosecutors, on the other hand, argued that Liang's shooting of Gurley was unrelated to any wider controversy over police violence. "The defense is right," Assistant District Attorney Joseph Alexis told jurors in his own summation. "This isn't about other things that happened in our country. It's not about other police killings. It's about this police killing." For Alexis, however, it was not about protecting Liang but it was more about protecting the force from being tainted by Liang's case. "It is our position that Peter Liang is not the same as the police officers who bravely keep us safe every day," Alexis said. "Convicting Peter Liang is not a conviction of the New York City Police Department." According to prosecutors, Liang was a coward, fearful in the dark stairwell, too quick to shoot, too slow to man up, radio the incident in, and try to save Gurley's life as he lay bleeding out on the landing below. Alexis argued. "There are proud, brave cops who go out every day and patrol every day and every night to keep us safe," he said. "We honor those cops. We applaud those cops. But Peter Liang falls short of that. Peter Liang is not one of those cops." Liang's conduct violated the basic social contract with police, Alexis said. "In exchange for the power we give to police, the power to keep us all safe, the police have a sacred trust that they fulfill, a sacred trust with each community. That trust is that the police department commits to thoroughly train its officers before arming them with deadly weapons and sending them into our communities. That's why police officers go through rigorous and thorough training." Alexis said, adding that Liang disregarded that training. Some Chinese New Yorkers saw Liang's indictment as a double standard. "A lot of our people think this is very unfair," said Eddie Chiu, senior director of the Lin Sing Association, a 116-year-old Chinatown institution. "Why only charge Peter Liang? Because he's Chinese?" Chiu helped raise more than $40,000 for Liang from the Chinese community, money the Liang family used to hire their own defense team. However, other Chinese and Asian Americans are celebrating Liang's conviction. CAAAV, an organization that began in Chinatown 30 years ago as the Committee Against Anti-Asian Violence, fighting police brutality against immigrant communities, led in supporting Gurley's family's calls for justice against Peter Liang. Cathy Dang, CAAAV's executive director, said: "He's an officer of color, and he's one of the first cops to be put on trial in a very long time. There haven't been indictments of white officers." Dang also rejected the notion that Liang is a scapegoat. "A scapegoat is someone who didn't do anything wrong," she said. "Peter Liang did do something wrong: He killed Akai Gurley." "The climate has changed so much from when Eric Garner and Michael Brown were killed," Dang added. "The movement for police accountability has never been as strong as it is now, and those conditions made it so that the district attorney could indict Liang. Around the country, we're starting to see more and more police officers being held to account in the justice system." The article noted that the day after Liang's conviction, the family of Akai Gurley shifted focus from individual accountability to a wider structural overhaul. "We want justice beyond the courtroom," they wrote in a statement. "We want policy changes within the NYPD, to end the violence that police officers routinely inflict on our communities." They called for an end to vertical patrols, a withdrawal of the NYPD from public housing, and a reallocation of police funds to affordable housing and after-school programs. Police unions, negligent prosecutors, and indifferent politicians are all on notice, they said. "We will keep pushing for the systemic changes we need to end police violence for good." Peter Liang faces up to 15 years in prison. He was fired by the NYPD the same day he was convicted. Google Nexus 7 will be likely manufactured by Huawei. (Photo : Twitter) Rumors came out in late 2015 that Google is looking to revive its tablet business with a big rollout that will involve a third instalment of the tech giant's 7-inch Pure Android slate. It will be a huge jump from the first two versions that the Nexus 7 2016 on release date is tipped to give Apple's iPad and Samsung's Galaxy Tab a good fight. Advertisement The details on this part of the Nexus 2016 project remain scarce but listed below are the minimum expectations: Huawei will build the next Nexus tablet Huawei it seems delivered beyond to expectations with the Nexus 6P that Google is said to tap the Chinese device maker for the third-generation Nexus 7. If the rumors will prove accurate, the 2016 Nexus 7 will likely be the scaled up version of the phablet-size 6P. Premium specs inside and out Even before the Nexus 6P, Huawei has made a name for rolling out flagship and mid-range smartphones that in most cases are sights to behold and delight to use. Such trademark is only expected to extend to the new Nexus 7, which when unbox should have premium written all over it. And a good start is the metallic casing seen in the Nexus 6P that will be a quite an improvement for the plastic-wrapped Nexus 7 2012 and 2013 from Asus. New Android showcase As always the case, the Nexus devices show off the killer features packed with the new Android. As likely the first to come out, the Nexus 7 2016 will introduce the Android Marshmallow replacement that is known for now as Android N or Android 7.0. Feature bumps And among the feature upgrades could be an additional biometric tool like an iris scanner and a further enhanced version of the power saving app called Doze. The Nexus 7 2016 is also seen impress with productivity features such as split screen that will permit the optimal use of the tablet for multitasking. QHD panel In order to get attention of tablet users pampered by the iPad and Galaxy Tab, the next Nexus tab needs to impress with an eye-popping display that likely will have a Quad HD panel and to render in 1080p screen resolution. SD 810 It's unlikely that Google will rock the Nexus 7 2016 with Qualcomm's latest - the Snapdragon 820 - as the chip will make the tablet pricy. The best alternative would be the SD 810 that should keep the sticker price at a reasonable level. 2GB or 3GB RAM If the Nexus 7 2016 will slug it out with the iPad Mini 4, the starting price on release date should be no more than $400 and one way of achieving the mark is cutting down on cost of key components. It's possible that the tablet RAM provision could be as high as 3GB but 2GB will still be in the decent range while keeping a check on the price tag. China is intensifying its efforts to establish a support system for people with extreme difficulties. (Photo : Getty Images) People with extreme difficulties will be receiving improved support from the Chinese government after the State Council released a guideline on how assistance should be extended to this sector, the Xinhua News Agency reported. Advertisement According to the guideline, the beneficiaries will include people who are not capable of supporting themselves, such as senior citizens, people with physical disabilities, and minors under the age of 13 whose caregivers are not capable. Official data shows that there are more than 5.8 million people who belong in this populace. Zuo Ting, professor at China Agricultural University, pointed out the importance of extending aid to this group of people. "Without sources of income or the ability to work, basic care from family, and fitness, these people are indeed the neediest in our society today," Zuo said. Zuo also lauded the State Council-issued guideline, saying that it helped in aligning the average of the support system across provinces in China. He cited that previously, children with difficulties living in Hunan Province were not included in the system's beneficiaries. The guideline said that the support system aims to reach out to more people by resolving their concerns and providing their basic needs. Additionally, the guideline elaborated that the support will be given in the form of daily necessities and basic care services. It also highlighted the importance of establishing institutions with ample amount of resources to continually cater to the needs of the said groups. The Xinhua article noted that currently, less than one-third of this sector are being taken care of by such institutions, while the rest still live at home, oftentimes alone. To enhance the system's effectiveness, local governments were also tapped to give more attention to the concerns of the people with extreme difficulties, encouraging them to give more charity donations and provide more voluntary services. This latest initiative of the national government is part of its intensified efforts to eradicate poverty and establish a prosperous society. Majority of South Sudan refugees are suffering from malnutrition. (Photo : Getty Images) Chinese peacekeepers involved in the U.N. mission in South Sudan, one the world's least developed countries, continue to combat violence and food insecurity while protecting around 200,000 refugees, the Global Times reported. Advertisement The large-scale displacement of refugees can be traced back in 2013 when the country witnessed yet another outbreak of armed conflict. South Sudan, home to around 11.7 million people, first gained independence on July 9, 2011 but has been conflict-ridden most of the time. As part of China's humanitarian aid, the government sent peacekeepers who are currently stationed in four areas: the country's capital Juba, Malakal, Bentiu and Wau. "Before our arrival in Bentiu, people who worked there told us it's a paradise. Only when we got there did we realize it's a paradise where people don't eat or drink," Zhang Ce, one of those deployed in Bentiu, shared. Zhang arrived in the country in January along with other 12 policemen from East China's Jiangsu Province. He is one of the peacekeepers who safeguard the refugees located in six U.N. camps. "We have been deployed on the front lines to offer 24-hour protection for the refugees," Xue Qiang, captain of the Chinese peacekeepers in South Sudan and is currently stationed in Juba, said. Sharing the heightened risks even for humanitarian workers in South Sudan, Xue said: "There are many gangs entrenched around the camps in Juba, whose members have weapons and commit serious crimes such as murder, rape and robbery. Stray bullets are quite common at night, so we must wear helmets and body armor while on duty." "It's very common to find hidden weapons in the camps such as grenades and machetes. Occasional raids cannot stop the flow of weapons into the camps," Yang Shuo, another peacekeeper stationed in Juba, added. Food shortage is another ordeal faced by the peacekeepers. "The conflict left Bentiu a ruined town with poor infrastructure and no mobile phone signal," Zhang shared. "There are no shops or markets, so we can only depend on the supplies sent from Juba. It would be a luxury if you can have enough food and water here." "Due to the lack of basic commodities, we have brought vegetable seeds to South Sudan, hoping to support ourselves," Zhang Zhongfu, another Juba-stationed peacekeeper, said. A UNHCR report showed that millions of refugees suffer from malnutrition as their forced displacement prohibited them from planting and harvesting crops. Since 2000, China has sent a total of 2,307 peacekeepers to participate in nine U.N. missions. Chinese-Americans voice their concerns over U.S. authorities' false accusations of espionage against them. (Photo : Getty Images) Chinese-American professionals have waged a civil rights movement against the United States' unfair accusations calling Chinese immigrants spies, an article by Contra Costa Times reported. Advertisement "This is an issue that affects my kids and grandkids and yours, especially those of you still working," George Koo, a retired international business consultant, shared during a recently held Palo Alto forum attended by nearly 1,000 Chinese-American professionals like lawyers, academicians and scientists, among others. "We are considered a model minority, except when we're not," Koo said. "Then we are believed to be enemy agents for China." The meeting, which was produced by the revered Chinese-America group Committee of 100, "was a call to arms, especially aimed at Asian-Americans in science and technology," the article said. Sherry Chen, one of the attendees, recounted how she faced accusations in October last year when she was arrested at her U.S. government job for being a spy for communist China. "Suddenly, there were six FBI agents. One showed me an arrest warrant. Another one put me into handcuffs," the 60-year-old hydrologist shared. Chen was cleared a week before the start of her trial. The espionage counts could have cost her 25 years in prison and $1 million worth of fines, the report said. Meanwhile, the forum also cited a segment of the program "60 Minutes," aired in January, where the U.S. authorities called China's economic espionage as "a national security emergency." The segment also cited that this has cost the U.S. "hundreds of billions in losses and more than two million jobs." According to Chinese-American activists, the figures were exaggerated. They added that there had been growing concerns among their group as federal investigations continue to become more aggressive in charging Chinese immigrants. The activists cite loss of employment and large sum of legal fees as some of the consequences brought by the U.S. officials' unfair accusations; hence their initiative to stand for their rights. "It's about time we stood up and spoke out," Frank Wu, former dean of UC's Hastings College of Law, said. "For so long, Asian-Americans have been thought of as submissive or passive." Echoing the same sentiment, Chen shared: "We are part of the community. We make the country better and stronger. We are not spies." The stolen Buddha head is displayed at the National Museum of China, the second most visited museum in the world, next only to the Louvre in Paris, France. (Photo : REUTERS) Chinas National Museum is now the second most visited museum in the world, according to statistics published by travel institutions like the Themed Entertainment Association and Die Welt, a German newspaper, China Daily reported. Advertisement According to the report, the bucket list of the "Top 20 most popular museums around the world" has listed the Louvre in France, the National Museum of China and National Museum of Natural History in Washington in the top three spots, respectively. Aside from the National Museum, the other two candidates from China that made the top 20 list include the National Palace Museum in Taipei (10th) and the Shanghai Science & Technology Museum (13th). With an area of 195,000 square meters, China's National Museum in Beijing is also acknowledged as the biggest museum in the world, according to the list. The report said that the museums in Europe are still the most visited, with nine of them making the final list, while the U.S. has six in the ranking and Asia has five. Three cities--London, Washington and Paris--hold the richest number of museum resources with 5, 4 and 3 museums, respectively, on the top 20 most visited museums list. Located on the east side of Tian'anmen Square in Beijing, the National Museum of China is the largest comprehensive history museum in the country, according to information from the website of www.chinamuseums.com. The museum narrates the history created by the ancestors of the Chinese people through displays and exhibits. Currently undergoing expansion, the National Museum is built on the twin foundations of the former China History Museum and the former China Revolutionary Museum in 2003. The new museum has extremely rich collections and exhibits and the depth of its research are second to none, the website said. The National Museum holds the country's most important historical objects through its History Exhibition, which displays the long history and civilization of the Chinese people. At the same time, the museum conducts education projects, archaeological excavations and scientific researches. Pilots climb out of J-10 fighter jets after an exhibition during the China International Aviation & Aerospace Exhibition in Zhuhai, Guangdong Province, in Nov. 2014. (Photo : REUTERS) China has allowed the PLA to export its domestically developed J-10 fighter jet as the country looks to attract buyers at the China National Aero-Technology Import and Export Corp. booth at the Singapore Airshow 2016, which kicked off on Tuesday, Feb .16, according to a report China Daily. Advertisement The report said that a large-scale model of the FC-20, the export version of the J-10, was on display at the six-day airshow. Since it is an unspoken rule in China's defense sector that weapons solely designed for the People's Liberation Army are never displayed at foreign exhibitions, the model's appearance in Singapore is an indication that the country now wants to promote the warplane to the international market, the report said. The J-10, which was designed and produced by Aviation Industry Corp. of China, is a third-generation, multirole combat aircraft. It has a canard delta wing design and a fly-by-wire flight control system. Military experts regard it as one of the best fighter jets in the world. The plane first entered service with the PLA Air Force in 2004 as the J-10A and then it was declassified in 2009. British think tank International Institute for Strategic Studies estimated that the PLA Air Force and PLA Navy's aviation units had at least 260 of the jets in operation as of Feb. 2014. Various media reports said that the country has also developed at least two upgraded versions of the aircraft--the J-10B, which has started to be delivered to the PLA Air Force, and the J-10C that is in the testing stage. Chinese military observers and their foreign counterparts have long expected about the time that the J-10's export would be approved. Foreign media named potential buyers like Pakistan, Iran and Argentina, but none have been reported to be in substantial negotiations with China so far. In Sept. 2013, Ma Zhiping, former general manager of China National Aero-Technology Import and Export Corp., said that several foreign countries from Asia, Africa and South America had "expressed interest" in the J-10, as his company was expecting a huge market for the plane. Wang Ya'nan, deputy editor-in-chief of Aerospace Knowledge magazine and an expert in aviation, said that selling fighter aircraft was never an easy task since arms sales were often influenced by several geopolitical factors. "Land arms such as tanks or even short-range surface-to-surface missiles have limited impact on geopolitics, but fighter jets can perform strikes far away from their home country and thus are considered to have stronger prowess," Wang said. "In addition, a contract for fighter jets usually means a large amount of profit because their life span is very long, so the value behind the aircraft and the after-sale services involved would be very high. Therefore, every major player in the aviation industry will spare no effort to scramble for the contract," the aviation expert added. According to Wang, China's weakness in its selling efforts is that its fighter jets are still not proven in combat. "Fortunately, the PLA Air Force has many air combat drills each year, which can enable foreign clients to know the capabilities of Chinese aircraft," Wang said. The Chinese community in New York shows their support for former NYPD police officer Peter Liang. (Photo : YouTube) Members of the ethnic-Chinese communities have gathered in front of the Washington Monument and in 40 cities across the U.S. on Feb. 20 to show support for former NYPD police officer Peter Liang, whose manslaughter conviction was seen by many as unfair, China Daily USA reported. Advertisement On Feb. 11, Liang was convicted of second-degree manslaughter and official misconduct by a Brooklyn jury for the fatal shooting of Akai Gurley in a housing project in 2014. Liang, who is planning to appeal the verdict, is facing 15 years in jail for the manslaughter charge. The sentencing will be announced on April 14, the report said. Liang's conviction caused a great stir in the Chinese community across the U.S. Shuigen Xiao, head of the Greater Washington for Peter Liang Coordination Group, a new volunteer organization, described both Gurley and Liang as victims, adding that he hoped the Feb. 20 rallies in Washington and other U.S. cities would result in a fairer treatment for Liang. "We hope public concern about the case will help ensure a just legal proceeding," Shuigen told a news conference on Wednesday, Feb. 17, in Fairfax, Virginia. Xiao also believed that public donations will help Liang in the legal processes, while part of the money that will be collected will be handed over to Gurley's family. Organizers of the rally said that they will observe a moment of silence to express condolences for Gurley. They also plan to reach out to the African-American community and other communities to join the rally. Alex Zhong, a member of the coordination group, expressed belief that the rallies will have a profound significance for the Asian-American community, especially on the issue of equal treatment. On the other hand, Wenming Kuai, also a member of the coordination group, said the NYPD and the city's Housing Committee should also be held accountable for the accident. "It's unfair to let Liang take all the blame," he said. Vincent Wong, a member of the coordination group, said that some in the African-American community support the rally. Wong said he went to a local store to print rally posters, and a black woman staff member printed extra copies for him free of charge. Organizers said they are not sure how many people will join the rally but they estimated several thousands, perhaps as many as 10,000. Meanwhile, some from the Chinese community are looking to support Liang's legal defense as New York City lawyer Hugh Mo said he received messages from individuals who want to help. Mo, a former New York City deputy police commissioner and now a defense attorney, said that a graduate of Tsinghua University now working in the U.S. offered to pay $100,000 to hire him as Liang's lawyer. He said he also received calls from Canada, while a Chinese law school student offered to do background research for him on the case. "I'm very heartened by the fact that the Chinese community has come out to support and very touched by these people who want to contribute to his legal defense, who want their voice to be heard, and also want to make a difference. I think it's a noble spirit, a noble gesture," Mo said. Mo, however, said he will not reach out to Liang, as it is unethical for a lawyer to convince a client to take his services. According to the report, Liang has already hired private attorneys Robert Brown and Rae Koshetz to handle his case instead of the lawyer appointed for him by the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association, the largest police union. Mo said he expected Liang's lawyers to do a post-judgment motion for a mistrial or reduced charges. "Peter also has to step up. I know he's traumatized, but he has to speak up," Mo said. He also suggested Liang to publicly apologize to Gurley's family. "It's a double tragedy. It ruins the lives of two young men," said Mo, adding that he believed the jury did not see the whole picture of Liang's trial. Mo said that the NYPD also bears some responsibility for putting rookie cops in the most dangerous jobs, and the New York City Housing Authority for the dark staircase. He also pointed out that several officers testified that they did not get proper CPR training. "Peter went to work that day to protect the lives of the New York City citizens. He never intended to hurt anyone," Mo said. The report said that some WeChat groups have been set up in the West Coast to coordinate the rallies on Feb. 20 in Los Angeles and San Francisco. A woman uses the Uber app on a Samsung smartphone in Berlin, Germany, on Sept. 2, 2014. (Photo : Getty Images) The chief executive of ride-sharing app Uber revealed that the company is burning more than $1 billion each year in China, where it faces fierce competition with local rival Didi Kuaidi in luring consumers. Advertisement Uber boosted its valuation in China in January to more than $8 billion after raising more than $1 billion in its latest funding round, but the San Francisco-based firm has yet to become profitable in mainland China, Reuters reported on Thursday. "We're profitable in the USA, but we're losing over $1 billion a year in China," Uber CEO Travis Kalanick told Canadian tech website Betakit. "We have a fierce competitor that's unprofitable in every city they exist in, but they're buying up market share. I wish the world wasn't that way." Uber officials confirmed Kalanick's comments in an email to Reuters on Thursday. Didi Kuaidi, backed by Chinese Web giants Tencent and Alibaba, has an almost 80 percent share of the market, according to Analysys International, while Uber grew its market share to 11 percent within nine months through huge subsidies to drivers--a decision that many industry analysts claim as unsustainable. Uber China said in a statement that Didi Kuaidi spent "many multiples" more than the U.S. company to bolster its share in the market, adding that Uber's China is supported by profitable operations outside the region. When asked for a comment, spokesman for Didi Kuaidi told Reuters that Uber's claims regarding its spending were untrue and that it is relying on its bigger size. "Smaller competitors have to bleed subsidies to make up for their insufficient driver and rider network," the spokesman said, adding that Didi Kuaidi now offers services in 400 cities and has managed to break even in half of those cities. Earlier in January, Kalanick said that investing in such strategies is "how you win" in China, pointing out that Uber plans to beat is local competitors by deploying its investments more efficiently. Uber currently operates in more than 40 cities and plans to expand it to 100 by the end of the year. "I prefer building rather than fundraising," Kalanick added in the interview with Betakit. "But if I don't participate in the fundraising bonanza, I'll get squeezed out by others buying market share." Woody Island Missiles Vietnam expressed on Friday its deep concern over the deployment by China of advanced surface-to-air missile systems on the Paracels by filing a formal protest with the United Nations. Hanoi sent the diplomatic note to U.N. secretary-general Ban Ki-moon and the Chinese embassy in the Vietnamese capital city. Advertisement The missile systems were deployed to Woody Island, part of the Paracels that China, Taiwan, the Philippines and Vietnam are all claiming ownership, American and Taiwanese officials said on Wednesday. They showed commercial satellite images of Woody Island with the missiles. Vietnamese Foreign Ministry spokesman Le Hai Binh, said in a statement, These are serious infringements over the Paracels, threatening peace and stability in the region as well as security, safety and freedom of navigation and flight, quoted Reuters. In turn, China accused the U.S. of displaying its military might in the South China Sea where the disputed islands are located. Hong Lei, spokesman of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, pointed specifically to the deployment by the U.S. military of aircraft and military vessels, plus the holding of joint military exercises with its allies in the region, such as the Philippines, why Beijing is concerned over the regions stability and peace. The above actions have escalated tensions in the South China Sea, and thats the real militarization of the South China Sea, said Hong. Beijing has not denied the deployment of missiles in Woody Island, but insisted China has the right to defend its territory, referring to the disputed island, which is why it built facilities on it such as weather stations, lighthouses and other infrastructure that would make available more public goods and services to the international community, reported the Associated Press. The Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs, said in a statement, Such actions negate Chinas earlier commitment not to militarize the South China Sea. A Chinese woman wears a mask as haze from smog caused by air pollution hangs over the Forbidden City in Beijing, China, on Nov. 15, 2015. (Photo : Getty Images/Kevin Frayer) China may soon have a special court to hear disputes relating to environment and ecology in Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei province to ensure the quality of the verdicts and improve coordinated developments in the area, an official of the countrys top court told China Daily on Friday. As these regions experience China's worst air pollution, the number of environment disputes in the area has been rising in recent years to become "a major reason that we are planning to explore a new way to deal with such litigation," said Yan Maokun, director of the research department under the Supreme People's Court. Advertisement Yan said Hebei is being considered as the first location for the court. Hebei is said to suffer from frequent heavy smog, and the court will specialize in handling environmental and ecological cases in the province. If successful, the special court would provide much-needed experience and serve as a reference for relevant disputes across the area, Yan added. The top court issued a guideline on Thursday requesting every court in Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei to provide effective legal services as the country provides regional coordination. The Beijing Intellectual Property Court, which was created in late 2014, and the Tianjin Maritime Court are also required to hear related cases in the region to unify trial standards and increase efficiency, according to the guideline. Yang Tai'an, executive vice president of the Hebei High People's Court, said that the courts in the region will share case information and build a mechanism to boost communication with each other. "Information sharing will provide more convenience for litigants in the region, as similar cases sometimes received different verdicts in the past," Yang said. "But the sharing and the communication will solve this problem to a large extent." Ma Qiang, vice president of the Beijing High People's Court, said that the information provided by the courts can also be used by litigants, "which means people can enjoy equal quality litigation services." Ma said the guideline serves as a legal basis to handle disputes caused by coordinated regional developments. Members of the Chinese-American community join a rally to show support for Peter Liang in March last year. (Photo : YouTube) Chinese-Americans held a nationwide mobilization in 40 cities this weekend in protest of what they call as the "unjust conviction" of New York Police Department officer Peter Liang, who accidentally discharged his firearm and killed Brooklyn resident Akai Gurley in 2014, the Epoch Times reported. Advertisement The report said that the rallies, scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 20, aim to show the solidarity of the Chinese-American community with Liang's family and protest against his conviction. "The theme of the rallies is about Chinese-Americans making their voices heard about the unjust verdict against Peter Liang," Andy Wang, one of the organizers of the protest in San Francisco, said. "What happened was a tragedy, but it was not a crime." Peter Liang, a 28-year-old rookie officer, and his partner Shaun Laudau were patrolling the Pink Houses, a Brooklyn housing development at 2724 Linden Blvd., on Nov. 20, 2014. Liang accidentally pulled the trigger of his gun in a dimly lit stairwell. The bullet ricocheted off a concrete wall and hit Akai Gurley in the chest, according to police. Many Chinese-Americans felt that Liang was somehow being used as scapegoat for a number of deaths of African-American individuals where the white officers involved were not convicted. In March last year, some 3,000 Chinese-Americans turned out for a rally at City Hall to show support for Liang, and in April, thousands marched across the Brooklyn Bridge. On Feb. 11, the jury found Liang guilty of manslaughter and now faces a maximum of 15 years in prison. Support for Liang culminated in the national protests on Feb. 20. According to the report, the Long Island Chinese American Association (LICAA), a nonprofit, will provide 100 shuttle buses to ferry residents from Flushing, Manhattan and Brooklyn in New York City for the noon parade in Brooklyn. "If Liang were really sentenced for 15 years, it would be unthinkable in a normal society," Andy Wang said in an interview. "Even African-Americans would think: The guy who purposely strangled someone, who then died, wasn't found guilty, and this guy who accidentally fired his gun, unintentionally, was found guilty." Wang was referring to the incident involving NYPD officers and Eric Garner, who died on July 17, 2014, after he was put in a chokehold. The officers involved were not indicted. "What we want to do is to help America. We enjoy the benefits of the civil rights movement by black Americans. Chinese-Americans have made a lot of contribution to the U.S. economy. But in terms of human rights, now it's time for us to make a contribution," Wang said. On Feb. 18 in Flushing, more than 20 volunteers collected signatures in support of Liang in front of the public library. A local resident surnamed Yan told the New York-based broadcaster New Tang Dynasty Television: "We Chinese people have stayed out of the public eye. Now I feel that if I don't voice my opinion, will there be another chance in the future?" One of the volunteers for the signature drive, Lucy, said: "The message we want to send is that Chinese should be on their feet and not remain silent. In the face of an unjust ruling, we should let others hear our voices." The Lin Sing Association, a Chinese-American organization, said that many Chinese-Americans had come to its headquarters on Mott Street in New York to sign a petition to the judge overseeing Liang's trial. "Chinese people are outraged," said Zhao Wensheng, a consultant working at the association, adding that the association had been getting checks from supporters. A petition on the White House's website We The People, which calls for Brooklyn District Attorney Kenneth P. Thompson to withdraw the indictment against Liang, had garnered over 97,000 signatures by Feb. 18, the report said. 'Toilet!? Human Waste and Earth's Future' Exhibition Opens In Tokyo (Photo : Getty Images) There was significant change in preference of Chinese tourists for souvenir items purchased overseas for those who went outside the country to celebrate the Lunar New Year. The most noticeable is that fewer Chinese travelers purchased high-tech toilet seats from Japan as they did in 2015. Instead, a lot of the estimated 6 million Chinese who traveled during the Spring Festival break bought smaller items, but still for bathroom room use. However, they bought this year toiletries instead of commodes, reported The Wall Street Journal. Advertisement China Tourism Academy and Ctrip, a travel booking site, estimated the Lunar New Year spending of Chinese tourists at 90 billion yuan, slightly lower than the 1.2 trillion yuan in 2015, based on figures from the Chinese Ministry of Commerce. By country of destination, the items that Chinese travelers usually bought in Japan are Okamoto condoms, sanitary napkins and Suwada nail clippers. The condom, known for being super-thin, were purchased in bulk by Chinese tourists, contributing to the 78 percent rise in Okamotos shareprices year over year. For those who went to the U.S., top buys include clothing from known expensive brands such as Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger and Abercrombie & Fitch, confirming a previous report that affluent Chinese are one of the top buyers of luxury items when abroad. Also popular souvenir buys from the U.S. are Clinique products and GNC products. The popularity of GNC, especially its protein powder, is because more Chinese now are working out at the gym. Among Chinese tourists who went to South Korea, items bought include honey-buttered almond, instant noodles that are chewier and thicker compared to Chinese noodles and the Ryo damage-repair shampoo for dyed hair, indicating how popular hair dyeing is among Chinese. But it was not just Chinese abroad who were busy swiping their credit and debit cards during the Spring Festival. UnionPay said on Sunday that 307 million transactions were made in mainland China during the weeklong-holiday totaling 321.1 billion yuan, reported The South China Morning Post. Despite the economic slowdown in China, the data indicated a 31 percent increase in domestic spending during the one-week Lunar New Year holiday compared to 2015. Silicon Valley is set for a showdown with the US government on the Apple Vs. FBI controversy. (Photo : YouTube/Visual Alchemy) When the controversy over Apple's refusal to comply with a judge's order to break into an iPhone used by a suspected terrorist at the San Bernardino massacre first erupted, there was a deafening silence in the Silicon Valley. However, that seems of have changed now, as various tech giants have come under an umbrella to protest against the government's move to compel technology companies to offer backdoor access to their client's data. Advertisement As support has been pouring in from Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, Facebook and Twitter to their rival Apple's cause, it seems that the Silicon Valley is finally gearing up for a face-off with the US government. While none of the above mentioned tech titans have offered individual support to Apple or its CEO Tim Cook, the Reform Government Surveillance (RGS), a group of tech companies including Apple, have finally taken a stand on the issue The Verge reported. The RGS has made it known to the government that they are not willing to accept the government's demands to hack into their clients' devices and data. According to the organization it would set a precedent globally for the police and law enforcement agencies to force technology companies help them obtain secure data from any individual's computer or smartphone. At the same time, the tech giants have sent a silent message to their clients assuring them that they would not do anything that would violate the security of their devices or data. A statement issued by RGS said that though it is vital to dissuade terrorists and criminals and also to assist the law enforcement agencies, technology companies should not be asked to build in "back doors" to technologies, which ensure that their users' information is kept secure, IB Times stated. The RGS is a coalition comprising 10 major U.S. technology companies, including Google, Apple, Microsoft, Yahoo, Facebook, Dropbox, Twitter, LinkedIn, Evernote, and AOL. Last Tuesday, U.S. District Court judge in Los Angeles Sheri Pym directed that Apple ought to provide "reasonable technical assistance" to FBI investigators trying to unlock the data on an iPhone 5c, which was reportedly owned by Sayed Rizwan Farook, a killer in the San Bernardino massacre. In fact, Judge Pym granted Apple five days to submit an appeal against the order and the Cupertino tech giant is very likely to do that. Precisely speaking, the FBI wants Apple to develop a customized iOS version that would enable the investigators to input unlimited guesses with a view to unlock to the passcode, but not trigger a mechanism that would erase the data from the iPhone after 10 inaccurate guesses. Watch the video clip on "Apple vs. the FBI: A Closer Look - Late Night with Seth Meyers" below: HSBC Opted to Stay in U.K. because Lender Did Not Want to be Seen as a Chinese Bank if it Moved to Hong Kong HSBC Announce Plans To Remain In The UK (Photo : Getty Images) The decision by banking giant HSBC Holdings Plc. to remain in the United Kingdom instead of returning to Hong Kong did not surprise industry observers. The Special Administrative Regions (SAR) political system of being part of two systems but one country has been cited by analysts as the apparent reason for the global lenders decision. Advertisement Hong Kong, since 1997 when the island-state was returned to China, has some autonomy to operating its legal and political system, but the mainland has been exerting more its influence on the former Crown Colony. The risk of operating in one country, instead of two systems, is the one that HSBC did not want to make in staying put in the U.K., wrote David Webb, shareholder activist in the SAR, reported The Wall Street Journal. HSBC announced last week that it is remaining in UK after a 10-month review. Other factors behind the decision include changes made by the British government which encouraged HSBC, the largest bank in Europe, to stay in the United Kingdom, reported The Guardian. Because the political leaders in Hong Kong are moving toward integration rather than differentiation, Webb wrote that HSBC simply couldnt take the risk of shifting headquarters to Hong Kong and subsequently being perceived as a Chinese bank in its global markets. By remaining in the U.K., HSBC highlighted the need for the institution to remain competitive on regulation, tax and talent, said CBI Director General Carolyn Fairbairn. For Laith Khalaf Hargreaves Lansdown analyst, Beijings panicky intervention in the Chinese stock market in 2015 reduced Hong Kongs appeal as an alternative home for HSBC. Although HSBC only said it would not move out of U.K., but did not explain why, industry observers believe the decision was based on the lenders growing concern over Hong Kong losing the independence of its legal system. In contrast, Britains legal system is an internationally respected regulatory framework. But for Professor Andre Spicer of the Cass Business School, the collective interests of the U.K. corporate elite had a role in HSBCs decision. He also acknowledged that the current state of the Chinese market played a big role in why HSBC elected to stay put. Spicer added that moving HSBC to Hong Kong would mean adapting to a culture where emphasis is more on personal connections above everything else, plus the dreaded bigger role of Beijing in running Hong Kongs affairs. He reminded that moving headquarters is much worse that moving houses which is an awful experience. The End of Fossil Energy and Per Capita Oil by John G Howe (5th Ed)covers updates to the book as well as other related material regarding the imminent global energy crisis. Over 1.5 MILLION Followers and Readers have engaged our various curated Digest of Insights and Ideas from leading global investors, economists, scientists, experts and media; focusing on Humanity's "BIG 7 Es" Energy, Economics, Exponentiation, Environment, Entropy, Earth and Extinction. To share with friends and brethren The Gospel of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ (the Everlasting Gospel), and to prepare a people to stand when He returns to redeem His remnant. Also, to share relevant information of current events, and to show how they relate to prophecy; By means of articles, editorials, opinions, scripture readings, and poetry. Disclaimer Endrtimes does not necessarily endorse or agree with every opinion expressed in every article/video posted on this site. The information provided here is done so for personal edification; It's up to the reader to separate truth from error, and to examine everything (like the Bereans) from a Biblical perspective. Let the Holy Scriptures be you guide! - - - FAIR USE NOTICE: These pages/videos may contain copyrighted () material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Such material is made available to advance understanding of ecological, POLITICAL, HUMAN RIGHTS, economic, DEMOCRACY, scientific, MORAL, ETHICAL, and SOCIAL JUSTICE ISSUES, etc. It is believed that this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior general interest in receiving similar information for research and educational purposes. Russia's envoy to the UN on Friday warned long-term ally President Bashar al-Assad over his vow to retake all of Syria, saying he faced dire consequences if he did not comply with Moscow over the peace process. "Russia has invested very seriously in this crisis, politically, diplomatically and now also militarily," Vitaly Churkin told Kommersant newspaper, referring to an international agreement to cease hostilities sealed in Munich last week. "Therefore we would like Assad also to respond to this," he said, adding that the Syrian leader's stance "is not in accord with the diplomatic efforts that Russia is making." At their meeting in Munich, the 17-nation group backing Syria's peace process agreed to work for a ceasefire, the lifting of starvation sieges and the resumption of talks. In an interview with AFP last week, Assad defiantly pledged to retake the whole of the country, speaking before the plan for a nationwide "cessation of hostilities" in Syria was announced. If Syria "follows Russia's leadership in resolving this crisis, then they have a chance to come out of it in a dignified way," Churkin stressed. "If they in some way stray from this path -- and this is my personal opinion -- a very difficult situation could arise. Including for themselves," he warned. "If they proceed on the basis that no ceasefire is necessary and they need to fight to a victorious end, then this conflict will last a very long time and that is terrifying to imagine." Churkin however also suggested that Assad's comments were made for political impact. "It isn't worth putting too much significance into one statement or another and dramatising them," he said. "We should be guided not by what he says, with all respect for the statements of a person at such a high level, but by what he finally does." Churkin said of the Munich agreement that "Damascus, as I hope, understands this is a unique chance for Syria after five years of unremitting destruction." Russia launched air strikes in Syria in September last year to support Assad and fight "terrorists", saying it was targeting the Islamic State group and other jihadists. Search Keywords: Short link: But have you heard anything lately of what Heikal thinks of the current situation? asked the European ambassador towards the end of January. His question came second to a somber statement he had made: Things do not seem to be picking up right for Egypt; you know we do want Egypt to make it through and we were willing to understand that stability could take precedence over democracy for a while but we dont seem to see this happening. This ambassador had wished to schedule a meeting with Heikal just to try and understand given that he seems to be the only man in town who does have inroads in the presidential palace these days. No such luck; Mohamed Hassanein Heikal was already feeling unwell and his office was declining appointments. On Wednesday, as Heikal was being laid to rest, this ambassador remarked, what a pity; now we are left with nobody to offer a coherent assessment of the situation in Egypt that goes beyond the pieces of information. There is nothing particularly new about the assumption that Heikal, the most prominent political journalist and commentator on Egypt during the last century, had access to information about what has been going on behind the walls of the presidential palace. This, as his books, TV talks and published material reveal, has always been the case since his close association with Gamal Abdel-Nasser in the mid 1950s and until the death of Nasser in the autumn of 1970. Close associates and some of the aides who had worked with Heikal throughout seven decades of exquisite journalism say that this has equally been the case during the rule of Nassers successor, Anwar Sadat, even after the fall out between the president and Heikal in the mid-1970s and also throughout the three-decade rule of president Hosni Mubarak with whom Heikal had no particular close association in the beginning and was directly critical of towards the end. He had incredible sources going to him and meeting with him all over the world and they loved to answer his questions and at times they even volunteered stories just to impress him being the man who has always had his hands on confidential documents and classified material, said a journalist who had worked closely with Heikal in the late 1990s and early years of the 2000s. This, foreign diplomats and close associates insist, was the case after the Arab Spring just as it was before the eve of 25 January 2011. Let me tell you this, when we were sending delegations to Egypt during the 18 days [of the January Revolution] we made sure that all the top delegates would schedule a meeting with Heikal; and it was worth the nagging on the phone with his office; and of course he asked more than they did but still it was always very informative, said a Western diplomat who had served in Cairo during the last year of Mubarak and beyond. These and other foreign diplomats dont have any question in their minds about Heikals access to information they knew he had them as they unfolded. What some of them seemed to be wondering about as the rule of Mubarak was hitting its end how influential would Heikal be in the writing of the next chapter of Egypts politics? According to a former European ambassador in Egypt, We were not sure how much influence he would have because we were not very certain about the nature of his relations with the leaders of the SCAF. For sure, not very many of the members of the Supreme Council of Armed Forces had real chemistry with the guru of Egyptian journalism who had previously during very tumultuous points in Egyptian history assumed political capacity along the side with the legendary leader Gamal Abdel-Nasser. However, as one informed journalist who has had a very close contact with Heikal said: they did not like him but they were still keen to know what he thinks and what he tells to the foreign diplomats and the officials from world capitals who pursued him. He added, as the time was running out for Mubarak, some members of the SCAF were on the phone with Heikal explaining to him what was going on. According to several testimonies, the time, Heikal who had clearly saluted the calls coming from Tahrir with considerable admiration as some of his interlocutors at the time note was not at all trying at all to influence developments in any direct because he knew that Mubaraks day in office were coming to an end. The question on his mind at the time, however, was what next. I went to see him, it must have been 7 or 8 February, and when I arrived he did not ask me what is going to happen to Mubarak, although he knew I was coming from a meeting with one of the SCAF members but rather what will happen next for Egypt, said an informed civil society figure. He was not questioning whether or not Mubarak would go - one way or the other, as he put it but about what comes after Mubarak, the same figure added. He was asked what should be done after Mubarak stepped down by some around the SCAF and yes by a couple from within the SCAF among others, the same source said. The narratives differ about what Heikal prescribed as a post Mubarak path but one thing is reiterated: he told everyone that tomorrow is for the youth who made the revolution and that anyone who is over 70 should take a backseat and should only try to help without soliciting any official positioning. During the weeks that followed, Heikal who had invariably kept a tightly disciplined work schedule was doing his rounds of calls and meetings as becoming of the journalist he always was and was trying to share a few reflections with some of those he thought would be directly or indirectly involved in setting the scene for the post Mubarak transformation. According to the testimonies these rounds included military figures, judiciary figures and business figures. He also spoke to the journalist whose views he trusted and to members of the political parties. And, he did receive some from the people who would be labeled as youth figures; they came with some public figures or alone because he wanted to listen to them. What Heikal was suggesting in brief without putting it to his interlocutors in many words is that there should be a stable transition whereby collective efforts should be assembled to allow for the administration of the country pending the due preparations for presidential elections. And, as the many journalists and intellectuals who met him at the time would say in almost identical wording, he was not really concerned about the positioning of the armed forces and he believed that when all is said and done it has bowed to the wish of the masses. He also, according to the same journalists, favoured a wide political inclusion and he was not inclined for trying to impose any pressure on the public space because he was worried, as he himself had often said, that the country was recovering from a rule that had left it with hardly any serious political mobility. There are too many politicians without the politics required and they are just there by virtue of old illusions or renewed dreams, Heikal wrote in his remarks printed in the independent daily Al-Masry Al-Youm practically hours before the announcement of the end of Mubaraks rule was made public. Almost all the key presidential runners approached Heikal for consultation and for support. His doors were open for all and he shared his views and asked and listened. At the end of the day, nobody could ever tell with any considerable degree of confidence who got Heikals vote in the first or second rounds of the contested elections some argued it is the Nasserit candid Hamdine Sabbahi and others said it is for the leader of Strong Egypt AbdelMoneim AboulFottouh. One of the closest people to Heikal said: do you want the truth; I really dont think he went voting; I think he felt it was not his thing anymore; he felt that it is the future and that he would not be there to live it and it should be decided by those who will live it; but I dont know because the thing is no matter how close you get to Heikal you dont get to have him share everything with you. Whatever the preferences of Heikal, he had shown respect to all candidates, including Ahmed Shafik, Mubaraks last prime minister. Shafik, who ultimately went to the second round face to face with Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohamed Morsi, and to Omar Soulimane, Mubaraks long time intelligence chief and his assigned vice president during the January elections who ultimately and for some conspicuous reason did not run for a drop in his legal paper work. Heikal had earlier proposed a longer transition based on participatory state-management to allow for a more constructed transition. However, he bowed to the developments and showed respect to the final result and offered, through press interviews and some direct unannounced talks, his ideas to the leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood who had approached him repeatedly. I think that he told them they needed to be inclusive and that given they had decided to contest the presidency at such an early stage they need to count on prominent bureaucratic faces for top jobs and I think he proposed some names too, said a former member of the Muslim Brotherhood who had defected towards the second half of the Morsi presidency. Clearly, he added, neither Morsi, nor the strong man of the group Khairat El-Shater acted upon his advice. It was perfectly understandable that the Muslim Brotherhood leadership who legitimately associated Heikal with the era of Gamal Abdel Nasser when they went through what they had considered their worst ordeal and harshest times of torture. As the public anger against the Muslim Brotherhood style of rule was increasing, Heikal started to warn of complications and to urge the rulers to reconsider their path. At this point, Heikal, according some of the sources, was approached by some of the leading members of the National Salvation Front to join them but he firmly declined. He also declined any formal meeting with the NSF and welcomed, as always, direct chats with some of its members. In retrospect, the same sources say, Heikal must have been aware of the direct channels that some from the NSF had with the state bodies that were encouraging their anti-MB mobilisaiton and he must have known that the MB time in office was running out but he still offered a candid advice mostly indirectly at that point - and appealed for prompt reforms that lead to participatory rule. Weeks before the 30 June demonstrations, a military source say, Heikal could have had a picture of how the days and weeks that followed would unfold. And, the source added, he did not object. Some say it was in May and others suggest it was in April when Heikal received the first direct contact from Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, by then the minister of defense, who solicited his analysis and his advice and it was becoming clear that Heikal had agreed to lend his intellectual support to the coming transition. I think he saw it as inevitable or even necessary to spare the country from serious havoc because he saw that the Muslim Brotherhood had lost the support of the people the details of this were not exactly relevant at that moment of how much was genuine contempt and how much was orchestrated from the security body; it was clear the country was going through its summer of furry, one of the confidents of Heikal stated. Following the ouster of Morsi, some of his closest associates insist, Heikal called for caution and insisted that a harsh political confrontation should be averted as much as possible. He also offered, according to his confident, a detailed theory for those in charge about what needs to be done and who could be of help. He offered support to El-Sisis decision to run for president both privately and publicly because that seemed to be the only path at the time the army was in charge and the country was at the brink and someone should have taken over; this is what he meant by the president of necessity, the same confident added. During the early weeks for El-Sisi in office, Heikal was consulted at length an exercise that took a lower profile with time because El-Sisi was getting heavily involved in his new routine and because Heikal, as several of his frequent interlocutors suggest, seemed to be in the wait-and-see phase. According to one, Heikal would not at all reveal anything about these contacts he felt it was unbecoming and that whatever he said he said in confidence and he also felt that he was bigger than referring to some talks with any new official with the kind of history that Heikal had both in journalism and in politics. It was in the media, however, that Heikal made very brief references to those meetings much later after they took place, I have to say, said the interlocutor. This, he knew, might not have been to the liking of all concerned but he did it because he was getting some early signs that things are not picking up the right way. Still, he wanted to encourage change; his statements on TV regarding this matter were always, at the earlier stage that is, a mix of stating the hard challenges ahead of the president and of carefully worded warnings of what should be averted, the same interlocutor said. By the spring of 2015, Heikal was showing not sharing still frustration. And with the summer, he started to nod in agreement to criticism that was being subtly made about the presidential choices of policies and lack of choices of advisors. With the autumn of last year he was agreeing that things were not on the right track and his media statements included tones of skepticism. He felt disappointed, his confident said. He felt things could not go on the way they were and he put his message across in his way once and for all, he added. When was the message last put? The confident answered: it was public in his last TV appearance when he said we need to find the compass privately, I am not sure but I think it was a few weeks before. Heikal never denied that he did support the transition of 3 July and he never denied his support for El-Sisi neither publicly nor privately. However, he took exception to those who suggested that it was his doing because he genuinely convinced it was happening anyway and that his contribution was to make it orderly a much as possible. He also shrugged those who suggested his contribution was designed for a purpose of personal nature either for himself or for his children especially the youngest Hassan, a financer, who contrary to the rumors was never freely acquitted of the charges of illicit financial management and who chose to come back to Egypt from his overseas stay days before the death of his father and who said he would be here for the relevant process of litigation. I am not wishing by virtue of so many things, age and experience for any role; I am worried for a future that I shall not be here to see I am walking my last mile towards the end of the day and all I had hope for is to leave feeling that my country is on the right path, Heikal said over and again during the past few months. Search Keywords: Short link: Related Egypt hosts African business forum to boost private sector engagement in continent On Saturday in Sharm El-Sheikh, President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi is scheduled to inaugurate a two-day conference on investment in Africa. Several head of states and governments from the continent and a large number of business delegations are expected to take part in the event, which aims to promote trade and investment across the continent but especially in eastern and southern Africa. This conference offers an excellent opportunity for all those interested to build new opportunities in Africa because it is not about the official presence but also about the presence of entrepreneurs and the mechanism that is there to match-make businessmen with similar interests, said Ambassador Mona Omar, formerly assistant to the foreign minister on African affairs. Speaking to Ahram Online, Omar said that the fact that the president himself is taking the time to inaugurate this conference and to be there with other African leaders shows a genuine official wish to encourage closer relations and deeper cooperation with Africa. Omar, however, added that it does take much more than good intentions for Egypt to consolidate its relations with Africa through business channels. Listen, we have exceptionally good historic relations with Africa since the heydays of liberation movements on the continent that Egypt strongly supported in the 1950s and the 1960s, but unfortunately we never managed to build on those relations, Omar argued. Africa drop According to the ambassador, Egypt under Anwar Sadat during the 1970s all but fully dropped Africa had it not been for the sincere efforts of Boutros Boutros Ghali, whose eyes were always on Africa. Sadat was very consumed with the war to liberate Sinai and then with the peace talks and with the Middle East story; he also seemed to see no great strategic interest from investing in relations with Africa. This caused a drop, a serious drop, Omar said. She suggested that the early years of the rule of Hosni Mubarak were also busy with Arab relations but then there was some attention given to relations with Africa. This attention, she agreed, was intercepted with the attempt on the life of Mubarak in Addis Ababa in 1995 that forced security restrictions on the presidential visits. This was not helpful to the attempts that the foreign ministry was conducting at the time to encourage Egyptian entrepreneurs to pursue Africa not just for business interests but also to help reconsolidate relations through the creation of common interests. The issue here is that the business interest in Africa was limited due to the unfortunate and very unfair stereotypes that many in the business community have about Africa, Omar said. And while so many countries from across the world were going to seek business opportunities and closer ties with Africa we were losing out; today it takes a serious and sustainable determination from the business community to actually expand their presence in the many lucrative African markets that are being targeted by so many other non-African countries, she said. Omar argues that there are some Egyptian entrepreneurs who already have a strong presence in several African countries, but the numbers are few. She agreed that there is of course a role for the government in encouraging the members of the business community to go to Africa by proposing specific targeted markets for exports and specific targeted countries for investment but the business community has to have the will and it has to bypass its old-fashioned ideas about Africa. 'Coordinate scheme' There are bits and pieces of economic cooperation here and there across Africa but what we need is to have a more coordinated scheme to make sure that we are working systematically to expand in Africa, she argued. Omar agreed that there might actually be a need for a certain official body to be created and be annexed directly to the presidency to make sure that a serious momentum of cooperation with Africa is kept on track. Yes, I think this might be one of the ways of coordinating efforts and securing high-level support to this endeavour, she accepted. Without a sustainable approach towards Africa, Omar warned, Egypts share of investment in and trade with Africa is bound to remain insignificant compared to the big shares going to other countries like China, Turkey, Iran and Israel. We have to abandon the on-and-off efforts; we need to realise that our friends and brothers in Africa are skeptical about whether we seriously want to build strong ties of cooperation for the joint interests of everybody or if we are just showing interest now given that we are going through intense negotiations with Ethiopia over the issue of the Renaissance Dam, Omar said. According to Omar, these two matters should not be made to overlap because while the path of negotiations seems to be taking a tough curve, the avenues for economic cooperation seem endlessly open. There are big markets in Africa and there are many financial institutions that are willing to join developmental projects in the continent we should not let this go by confusing business deals with water negotiations that require hard work in explaining the Egyptian position to the world to garner support for a fair deal with Ethiopia, Omar stated. The former assistant minister argued that while cooperation among the Nile Basin countries is certainly a priority, Egypt has been too focused on these countries at the expense of other parts of the continent, for example the Sahel and the Sahara which is crucial for Egypt because it is also concerned with the combat of the expansion of terror organisations in the continent. However, Omar argued that going to Africa for economic reasons is not just a task for the entrepreneurs to assume we have to take in mind the handicaps that face the keen businessmen in terms of regulations and the hard currency crunch. I think a special attention and serious incentives should be accorded to those who are actually willing to do business in Africa, Omar said. She mentioned several bilateral agreements that Egypt had signed for the promotion of trade and business with a number African countries and also of its membership of COMESA whose full capacity has never been fully explored. Our cooperation with the countries of the COMESA has certainly increased over the years since we joined in the mid-1990s but what we could do is much more than what has been done, she argued. Meanwhile, Omar said that Egypt should also invest more in expanding its diplomatic and cultural presence in Africa. There have certainly been steps with the foreign service but much more surely needs to be done, she argued. Omar also said that more needs to be done to better bring Africa to Egypt in the sense that we have so many volumes of African literature translated into Arabic but they are never brought to the attention of the public who are still held hostage to some really very old images about Africa and of course the business community is not privy to a better understanding of the situation. Africa is a matter of strategic national interest to us all of Africa and not just the Nile Basin countries; and the Saturday conference is one window for us to look through and see what we could do about this very rich and promising continent despite the problems and conflicts it faces, Omar argued. Search Keywords: Short link: The policeman shot dead a taxi driver following an argument over his fare A Cairo prosecutor ordered on Friday that a lower-ranking policeman be detained for four days pending investigations into a street shooting a day earlier in the working-class district of El-Darb El-Ahmar. On Thursday, a brawl between the policeman and a taxi driver let to the policeman shooting dead the man; the interior ministry said the shooting was "accidental." The policeman was arrested on Friday by police. During the prosecutions questioning, the policeman, known as Mostafa Veto, said he attempted to fire his gun to scare the victim but not to kill him. The prosecutors decision followed hearing the testimonies of five eyewitnesses who were at the scene where the policeman murdered the driver. The witnesses told the prosecutor that the argument between the driver and policeman started over the Taxi fare. The policeman promised the driver LE200 (around $25) for the ride but only paid LE20 (around $2.55), witnesses said in their testimonies. An interior ministry statement following the incident said the policeman fired his gun to disperse a crowd of locals who had gathered and were sympathising with the driver, leading to the death of the driver. Cairo security directorate in an earlier statement said the policeman had shot dead the driver "by mistake." Hundreds of people converged outside Cairo security directorate to protest the death late on Thursday. The policeman ran away from the murder scene, in fear of the angry mobs. But police later located him in a hospital with some injuries sustained during his running away from the crowds. The incident comes on the back of a public fury over alleged abuses by police in recent weeks. Search Keywords: Short link: El-Sisi also said Egypt is looking to the creation of the African Free Trade Zone Egypts President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi opened a two-day forum on business investment in Africa in Sharm El-Sheikh on Saturday, telling attendees that achieving development is one of the main challenges facing Africans, which requires developing the mechanisms of joint action. El-Sisi also said Egypt is looking forward to the future establishment of the African Free Trade Zone. A number of African heads of states, including Nigeria's Muhammadu Buhari and Sudan's Omar al-Bashir, are among participants at the Africa 2016: Business for Africa, Egypt and the World conference. Under the umbrella of the African Union's commission, the event was organised by the Egyptian ministries of investment, trade and industry, international cooperation and foreign affairs. In June, Egypt hosted Africa's three major regional economic committees (RECs) during a tripartite summit in Sharm El-Sheikh where a free trade agreement across all three RECs was launched. The Continental Free Trade Area brings together the 26 African countries that are members of COMESA, EAC and SADC, and gives Egypt free trade access to seven new African nations. It aims to create free trade zones for goods immediately and the hope of introducing services and intra-continent investor opportunities at a later stage. President El-Sisi discussed main key points that would represent a platform for action for the African continent in the coming period. In a speech, El-Sisi stressed the importance of developing human capacity, along with giving adequate attention to African youth, education and its development in a way that would provide youth with the necessary skills to engage effectively in the labour market. El-Sisi also discussed the importance of raising productivity, growth and a focus on the transition to knowledge societies through development in the fields of research and innovation. He added that achieving development, which is considered the main challenge that all African countries face, requires that countries work on the development of mutual mechanisms through regional integration models, especially with the close link between the requirements for economic development in Africa and the need to execute large regional projects in several fields, including infrastructure. El-Sisi said that the size of Egyptian investments in the African continent reached more than $8 billion, which helped in creating tens of thousands of job opportunities, especially in the fields of construction, infrastructure, energy, agriculture, mining, communication and information technology. He added that the size of trade with our African brothers reached $5 billion, which Egypt aims to double in the next five years. "We hope such efforts contribute towards doubling intra-African trade, which only represents 12 percent of the size of African trade with the world, a number that does not correspond with the potential of economic integration between our African countries," El-Sisi said. El-Sisi said he looks forward to the logistic and industrial zones that will be established in the Suez Canal zone, describing it as a major and aspiring project that will contribute to pushing the African trade movement with international markets. He expressed Egypt's anticipation to continue with the construction of the Cairo-Capetown Highway, a road network that connects Egypt and South Africa, along with other African countries in between. "I call on my African brother leaders and our partners in development to put together the first building blocks to launch several projects and developmental initiatives in a frame that ensures a needed balance between the legitimate aspirations of the sons of the continent for a better tomorrow and the aspiration of our partners in development to incentives and rewards that open new horizons for more investments and capital flows," El-Sisi said. Search Keywords: Short link: 'The ministry will hold accountable all violators and wont tolerate these irresponsible acts that dont mirror the ministrys policies,' the interior minister said Egypts interior minister told police officials on Friday that it has become necessary to firmly deal with some police elements that give the ministry a bad name, in the wake of a policeman shooting dead a taxi driver, a Saturday ministry statement read. Minister Magdy Abdel-Ghafar added that the ministry is not and will not be a protector of those who do not understand the message of security and will not shield anyone who abuses his power or violates a citizens rights. The ministry will hold accountable all violators and will not tolerate these irresponsible acts that do not reflect the ministrys policies, the statement added. Abdel-Ghafar ordered that all laws that address the treatment by policemen of citizens be amended ahead of being presented to parliament. The minister met with his aides and some senior police officials following the Thursday street shooting and murder of a taxi driver by a lower-ranking policeman in Cairo. The interior ministry said the shooting was "accidental." A Cairo prosecutor ordered on Friday that the policeman be detained for four days pending investigations into the shooting. President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi met with Abdel-Ghafar on Friday, ordering that legislative amendments be presented to parliament in response to the killing. No further details were given on the nature of these legislations. The incident comes on the back of a public fury over alleged abuses by police in recent weeks. Search Keywords: Short link: Doctors across Egypt staged a one-hour-silent stand over the alleged attack by policemen on doctors at a Cairo hospital last month Hundreds of Egyptian doctors staged on Saturday a one-hour stand in front of their hospitals over the January attack by policemen on doctors at Cairos Matariya Hospital. On 28 January 2016, a number of policemen allegedly assaulted two doctors at Matariya Hospital after one of the doctors refused to include fake injuries in a medical report for one of the policemen. A statement by the Doctors Syndicate said the Saturday demonstrations called for a secure work environment for doctors, holding assailants accountable, and the drafting of legislation imposing heavy penalties on those who assault doctors. The statement added that justice is the cornerstone of stability and that no one is above the law. Member of the Doctors Syndicate and a staff doctor at Matariya Hospital Hani Mehana told Ahram Online that more than 100 doctors participated in Saturday's silent stand inside the hospital. "Work at the hospital was not disrupted at all by our one-hour stand, the decision by the syndicate was for all hospitals to hold the protest prior to working hours," says Mehana. Mehana said that all hospital doctors were supporting the stand and that Doctors Syndicate undersecretary Mona Mina participated in the Matariya Hospital demonstration. "We began our stand by 8:30 am local time, said Mehana, adding that after the stand we started our work at the hospital as usual." Day of Dignity The silent stands were not limited to Cairo hospitals, as doctors protested in hospitals in Alexandria, Sohag, Suez, Assiut, Fayoum, Luxor, Damietta and other governorates. Photos from hospitals in these governorates were posted on the official website for the Doctors Syndicate. Dr Mohamed Mokhtar, one of the participants in the silent stand at Gamal Abdel-Nasser Health Insurance Hospital, told Al-Ahram Arabic news website that "we want to send our message in a peaceful way and we will abide by all decisions made by the syndicates general assembly." The secretary-general to the Doctors Syndicate in Suez Tamer El-Bouhi said "we stand in support of our Matariya colleagues who were assaulted by policemen. We stand for the implementation of justice for all doctors." What's next? "We are all waiting for action to be taken concerning the incident that took place in our hospital, we are waiting for the police officers to be referred to court," said Mehana. Saturday's silent stand is the first decision put into action out of several measures announced by the Doctors Syndicate general assembly addressing the assault. The general assembly, which convened on Friday 12 February, decided on measures including providing medical service to citizens for free at public hospitals. Starting 27 February, prescribed medicines will be dispensed from public hospitals free of charge. The syndicate also called on physicians operating private practices to show solidarity by either closing their clinics or providing free treatment on 19 March, Egypt's National Doctor Day. In response to the recent outcry over police violence, Egypt's interior minister said on Saturday that the ministry is not and will not be a protector of those who do not understand the message of security, and will not shield anyone who abuses his power or violates a citizens rights. The ministry will hold accountable all violators and will not tolerate these irresponsible acts that do not reflect the ministrys policies, the statement added. Search Keywords: Short link: The summit meeting was held following talks between the Egyptian and Ethiopian foreign ministers on the Ethiopian dam Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan agreed on Saturday on cooperation means between the three countries in various fields, a statement by the Egyptian presidency read. According to presidency spokesman Alaa Youssef, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir and Ethiopian PM Hailemariam Desalegn agreed on the importance of bolstering cooperation strategies built on trust, mutual respect and a meeting the ambitions of nations in facing common challenges In a summit meeting during the African Investment Conference in Egypt's Sharm El-Sheikh, El-Sisi, Al-Bashir and Desalegn reasserted their commitment to strengthening cooperation and building on common interests through solutions that achieve mutual gains for the three countries. The three leaders agreed on mandating that the foreign ministers of the three countries study ways of establishing an institutional framework for cooperation. They also agreed on the establishment of a co-financing fund to be used to execute developmental projects in the three countries. They decided on the formation of three committees: political, economic and cultural, where the political affairs committee coordinates the workings of the three committees in fields including communications, technology, scientific research, agriculture, tourism and culture. Other fields of cooperation would include intelligence and security cooperation, and the exchange of information, especially in fighting terrorism, and collaboration in the fields of military and security training. They also agreed on encouraging joint parliamentary meetings in the three countries' parliaments, which would contribute to deepening mutual understanding on a public level. The leaders also agreed on holding yearly talks at the summit level, while looking at the suggestions on cooperation mechanism in their next meeting after six months. The summit meeting between the three leaders was planned following talks held during a security conference in Munich between Egypt's foreign minister Sameh Shoukry and his Ethiopian counterpart over Ethiopia's Grand Renaissance Dam. On Friday, Egyptian Minister of Irrigation Hossam Moghazi said the country's state council has approved a finalised draft of the contract to be signed with French consultancy firms responsible for studies related to the impact of the Ethiopian Dam. Moghazi added that both Ethiopia and Sudan have been officially informed of Cairo's readiness to sign the contract in the upcoming days. Consultations are under way between the water ministers of the three countries to set a date to sign the contract before the end of February, Moghazi said in a press release. Although Egypt has repeatedly expressed concern over the dam's possible effect on the country, Ethiopia insists it will not negatively affect Egypt's share of Nile water. Search Keywords: Short link: The two Presidents met on Saturday in Egypt's Sharm El-Sheikh on the sidelines of the forum on business investment in Africa Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi called for anti-terrorism cooperation in a meeting with his Nigerian counterpart Muhammadu Buhari on the sidelines of the forum on business investment in Africa taking place in Sharm El-Sheikh. Spokesperson to the Egyptian presidency Alaa Youssef said the two presidents discussed bilateral relations and means to tighten cooperation in different fields. Youssef also highlighted in a statement that both presidents discussed challenges currently facing Africa, particularly in Libya. "Both presidents agreed that the current phase in which the continent is going through necessitates concerted efforts and continued consultation and coordination on ways to deal with terrorist elements," the statement read. The two presidents also discussed the importance of stopping the supply of weapons and money to militants, as well as discovering new means of facing extremist ideologies. They also talked about the agenda of a security meeting planned to take place in March between defense ministers of the Community of Sahel-Saharan States, which includes many African countries including Tunisia, Morocco, Nigeria, Libya, Guinea, Sudan, and others. Search Keywords: Short link: Over 100 MPs submitted the request to parliament in the wake of several incidents involving police abuse More than 100 Egyptian MPs said on Saturday that they requested that parliament speaker Ali Abdel-Al devote a part of Sunday's plenary session to review the performance of the interior ministry in the wake of several incidents involving police abuse. The request came after prosecution authorities ordered a number of low-ranking police officers be detained on charges of assaulting doctors at a hospital and killing a citizen in two impoverished Cairo neighbourhoods in recent days. MPs said in their request that "the arbitrary practices of low-ranking policemen affiliated with the interior ministry have reached a crescendo, and the time has come for a complete overhaul of the performance of the interior ministry to be conducted in parliament." The MPs also pressed for interior minister Magdi Abdel-Ghaffar to come before parliament to face questions on the ministry's policies and review possible disciplinary actions for the security apparatus and how ordinary citizens can be protected from any further attacks. President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi ordered on Friday that legislative amendments be submitted to parliament with the objective of stemming the tide of "irresponsible acts by some members of the police force" against citizens. MP Ahmed Mostafa Abdel-Wahed from the Nation Guardians Party proposed that police personnel found guilty of assaulting ordinary citizens be referred to military trials. In response, Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Magdi El-Agati told reporters Saturday that "the interior ministry will be the one responsible for translating President El-Sisi's orders into proposed legislative amendments." "As far as I understand, the proposed amendments should be presented to parliament within 15 days," said El-Agati. He also indicated that he expects that the proposed amendments will include amending the interior ministry's internal code of conduct and forming "disciplinary councils" with the task of imposing penalties on police who use excessive force.\ "However, I do not think that these amendments will include referring police personnel to military trials because this goes against the new constitution and because military trials apply to military people and central security forces only," said El-Agati. El-Agati argued that "if disciplinary councils were formed in the interior ministry, it would be able to take all measures necessary to put all those responsible for arbitrary practices to account." MP Abdel-Wahed said violation of citizens rights by low-ranking police officers have sharply increased in recent weeks. "Three weeks ago, police personnel stormed a public hospital in Matariya [in East Cairo]," said Abdel-Wahed, adding that "the killing of an ordinary citizen at the hands of a low-ranking policeman in Darb El-Ahmar district on Thursday should ring alarm bells." Abdel-Wahed said there is a pressing need now to review the performance of the security apparatus as a whole. "While we highly appreciate that policemen sacrifice their lives fighting terrorism in Sinai and other Egyptian governorates, we also warn that arbitrary practices by the security apparatus could tarnish the image of the interior ministry as a whole," said Abdel-Wahed. MP Anwar Al-Sadat has asked interior minister Magdi Abdel-Ghaffar to submit his resignation. "Minister Abdel-Ghaffar should bear the political responsibility of the grave deterioration in the performance of the interior ministry," said Sadat, citing "a dramatic rise in the level of irresponsible behaviour on the part of policemen who resort to practicing torture and random killing." "My advice to Minister Abdel-Ghaffar is that if you are not able to contain the arbitrary practices of the security apparatus, it is better that you and other ministry officials submit you resignation and before things get out of control," said Sadat. Atef Makhaleef, an independent MP representing the Matariya district, said his proposed amendments of the penal code suggest that police personnel found guilty of violating citizen rights face harsh penalties, such as lengthy prison sentences and hefty fines. "I also propose that the interior ministry be entirely restructured to prevent low-ranking officers... from randomly and illegally arresting citizens... and using torture in prison cells, Makhaleef said. Search Keywords: Short link: Saudi Arabia's foreign minister said Syrian moderate rebels should be armed with surface-to-air missiles against the Russian-backed Assad regime, a German news weekly reported Friday. Anti-aircraft weapons could tip the scales on the battlefield as they did in Soviet-occupied Afghanistan in the 1980s, Adel al-Jubeir is quoted as saying in an interview with Der Spiegel. "We believe that introducing surface-to-air missiles in Syria is going to change the balance of power on the ground," he said, stressing this would have to be decided by a coalition of partner states. "It will allow the moderate opposition to be able to neutralise the helicopters and aircraft that are dropping chemicals and have been carpet-bombing them, just like surface-to-air missiles in Afghanistan were able to change the balance of power there." US deliveries of Stinger missiles to Afghan mujahideen fighters during that country's Soviet occupation is credited with having significantly turned around the conflict that ended in Russia's withdrawal. The minister cautioned that "this has to be studied very carefully, however, because you don't want such weapons to fall into the wrong hands". "This is a decision that the international coalition will have to make," Jubeir added. "This is not Saudi Arabia's decision." He also said that Russian support would not save the regime of President Bashar al-Assad in the long term, reiterating Riyadh's call for him to step down. "The other option is that the war will continue and Bashar al-Assad will be defeated," he is quoted as saying. Saudi Arabia has backed rebel forces fighting Assad in the country's nearly five-year civil war. It has also been part of the US-led coalition bombing the IS group in Syria and Iraq since late 2014. Jubeir told AFP this week that any Saudi troops, including special forces, on the ground would make the battle against the IS its priority. "We expressed our readiness to join the US-led, international coalition against Daesh with special forces," he said, using an Arabic acronym for the group. "All of this, however, is still in the discussion phase and in the initial planning phase," he added. Der Spiegel also asked the Saudi chief diplomat about similarities between the ultra-conservative Islam practiced in his country and the IS's religious ideology. "ISIS is as much an Islamic organisation as the KKK in America is a Christian organisation," he said, referring to the white-supremacist Ku Klux Klan movement. "They burned people of African descent on the cross, and they said they're doing it in the name of Jesus Christ. "Unfortunately, in every religion there are people who pervert the faith. We should not take the actions of psychopaths and paint them as being representative of the whole religion." Search Keywords: Short link: Western powers Friday rejected a Russian bid at the United Nations to halt Turkey's military actions in Syria, as France warned of a dangerous escalation in the nearly five-year conflict. The emergency Security Council meeting came as US Secretary of State John Kerry cautioned there was "a lot more work to do" for a ceasefire to take hold in Syria, following talks in Geneva between American and Russian officials. Meanwhile President Barack Obama, in a phone call with Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, urged the Ankara government and Kurdish YPG forces to "show reciprocal restraint" in northern Syria. The elusive truce was meant to begin Friday, but failed to materialize as fighting raged in Syria with Kurdish-led forces backed by US-led air power seizing a key town from the Islamic State group. Russia, which has been carrying out air strikes in support of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad's forces, has urged the UN to press Turkey to halt its shelling of Kurdish forces in the country's north. Moscow presented a draft resolution that "strongly demands" an immediate end to cross-border shellings and plans supported by Turkey for foreign ground intervention in Syria. But the text failed to garner support from key council members with at least six countries including veto-wielding France and the United States rejecting it outright during a closed-door meeting, diplomats said. US Ambassador Samantha Power accused Moscow of trying to "distract the world" from its air campaign in support of the Syrian regime and urged it to abide by UN resolutions supporting a peace process. "Russia must understand that its unconditional support to Bashar al-Assad is a dead-end and a dead-end that could be extremely dangerous," French Ambassador Francois Delattre said. "We are facing a dangerous military escalation that could easily get out of control and lead us to uncharted territory," he said. Turkey is pressing for a joint ground operation in Syria with its international allies, insisting it is the only way to stop the war. Turkish Ambassador Yasar Halit Cevik said his country was facing "national security threats emanating from Syria" in reference to the Kurdish militias it is targeting in the country's north. Amid the surge in fighting, UN peace envoy Staffan de Mistura said a new round of peace talks scheduled for February 25 was unlikely. Kurds seize town from IS group In his call with Erdogan, Obama stressed that Kurdish YPG forces "should not seek to exploit circumstances in this area to seize additional territory, and urged Turkey to show reciprocal restraint by ceasing artillery strikes in the area," a White House statement said. Obama, in an apparent reference to Russia, also "urgently called for a halt to actions that heighten tensions with Turkey and with moderate opposition forces in northern Syria, and undermine our collective efforts in northern Syria to degrade and defeat ISIL." French President Francois Hollande said Ankara's escalating involvement in the conflict was creating a risk of war between Turkey and Russia. "Turkey is involved in Syria... There, there is a risk of war," Hollande told France Inter radio. On the ground, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) alliance which groups the powerful Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) and smaller Arab groups seized the northeastern town of Al-Shadadi from IS, with backing from US-led air strikes, a monitor and Kurdish sources said. Al-Shadadi was the largest town controlled by IS in Hasake province, and the defeat extends earlier losses for the militants there. SDF forces earlier seized a nearby oilfield from IS and cut the routes from Al-Shadadi to Mosul in neighboring Iraq as well as IS's de facto Syrian capital Raqa. The SDF began a new operation in Hasakeh on Tuesday, following major advances by its forces in northern Aleppo province, where it has seized territory from Syrian rebel groups. Its advances in Aleppo have angered Turkey, which says the YPG is the Syrian affiliate of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), an outlawed group that has waged a decades-long insurgency against Ankara. Turkey has carried out nearly a week of shelling against SDF positions in Aleppo, intensifying its fire Friday and expanding it to target the Kurdish town of Afrin, where two civilians were killed, the Observatory said. Ankara fears the SDF advance in Aleppo province is intended to connect Kurdish-held areas in northern and northeastern Syria, creating an autonomous Kurdish region along much of its southern border. TAK claims Ankara bombing On Friday, Erdogan repeated accusations that the YPG was behind a Wednesday bombing in Ankara that killed 28 people. The YPG denied the charges. However the little-known Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK), a group linked to the PKK, claimed responsibility, saying it was revenge for military operations in southeast Turkey. The group warned foreign tourists not to visit the country. The PKK says the TAK is a splinter group over which it has no control. The TAK rose to prominence after it claimed that it fired mortar shells on Istanbul's Sabiha Gokcen airport on December 23. Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Jubeir meanwhile raised the prospect that Syrian rebels could be supplied with surface-to-air missiles, though he said it was not a decision Riyadh would take alone. Syria's conflict is now approaching its sixth year, with more than 260,000 people killed and half the population displaced. Search Keywords: Short link: Syria's opposition on Saturday said it had agreed to the "possibility" of a temporary truce, provided there were guarantees Damascus's allies including Russia would cease fire, sieges were lifted and aid deliveries allowed country-wide. Russian air strikes began last September and turned the tide in Syria's five-year civil war in Bashar al-Assad's favour, to the frustration of the United States and its allies who have supported rebels trying to topple the president. Attempts to negotiate a truce in recent months have failed. The latest round of talks at the United Nations in Geneva is being jointly chaired by Russia and the United States. On Saturday, various Syrian opposition factions "expressed agreement on the possibility of reaching a temporary truce deal, to be reached through international mediation," a statement from the High Negotiations Committee said. A halt to Russian bombardments did not look immediately likely. The spokesman for Russia's President Vladimir Putin, Dmitry Peskov, said: "Russia is sticking to its consistent policy of rendering assistance and aid to the armed forces of Syria in their offensive actions against terrorists and against terrorist organizations." The High Negotiations Committee, which joins various armed groups and Syria's exiled political opposition, said the U.N. must guarantee "holding Russia and Iran and sectarian militias ... to a halt to fighting". All sides should cease fire simultaneously and the government should release prisoners, it added. U.S. and Russian military officials met ahead of the wider Geneva meeting, diplomats said on Friday. A source close to peace talks earlier on Saturday told Reuters Syria's opposition had agreed to a two- to three-week truce. The truce would be renewable and supported by all parties except Islamic State, the source said. It would also be conditional on the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front no longer being targeted, at least to start with, the source said. The Nusra Front is considered a terrorist organisation by the U.N. Security Council and banned. Asked if the opposition's insistence on the Nusra Front no longer being targeted was the main stumbling block, he described it as "the elephant in the room". "They have to deal with this very delicately or they are going to end up with a civil war in Idlib on their hands," the source said. Nusra fighters are fighting alongside other rebel groups in some areas, including Idlib. Ending sieges on civilians have become another key sticking point in talks to end the conflict. The U.N. estimates there are 486,700 people in around 15 besieged areas of Syria, and 4.6 million in hard-to-reach areas. In some, starvation deaths and severe malnutrition have been reported. Search Keywords: Short link: Three police officers were killed by unknown assailants in the Pakistani city of Faisalabad on Friday, police said on Saturday, in an incident that is being investigated as a possible attack by Islamic State (ISIS) group. The three attackers, who escaped the scene, dropped copies of a pamphlet addressed to security officials which said a regional chapter of the Middle East-based militant group claimed responsibility for "recent attacks on security forces," a senior police official said. It warned police against "protecting the un-Islamic system" of democracy and urged them to quit their jobs or face violent consequences, according to a copy of the pamphlet seen by Reuters. Police said they were investigating "various leads" into the attack. "The role of ISIS cannot be ruled out, though they don't have any known presence in Faisalabad," police chief Afzaal Kausar told Reuters. He said similar attacks had taken place in Lahore and Islamabad during the past week, and police suspected the same group may be responsible. Earlier this month, the government reasserted that there was "no organised presence" of ISIS in Pakistan after an intelligence chief warned a parliamentary panel that the group was a threat, and was coordinating with militant groups in the country. The entry of ISIS into Pakistan would complicate the government's fight against indigenous Islamist militants fighting to overthrow it. Late last year, a few breakaway factions of the Pakistani Taliban, which seeks to topple the government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and set up a sharia state, declared allegiance to ISIS and ordered militants across the region to join its campaign to set up a global Islamic caliphate. But in January, the Pakistani Taliban released a statement rejecting ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi's claim to be the global leader of all Muslims. Search Keywords: Short link: French Prime Minister Manuel Valls on Saturday pledged greater military assistance to the former French colony of Burkina Faso and other countries in the Sahel region in the face of a growing Islamist insurgency. French troops stepped in to help Burkina Faso during an attack by militants from al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb on a hotel in its capital, Ouagadougou, last month that killed 30 people. The West African country is only just emerging from a rocky one-year transition to democratic rule that was marked by a short-lived military coup in September. Its long-time president and French ally, Blaise Compaore, was ousted by protesters in late 2014 as he sought to extend his rule. "We must strengthen our cooperation on intelligence and the training of security and other armed forces," Valls told reporters in Ouagadougou after a meeting with President Roch Marc Christian Kabore, who took office in December after winning the presidential election in November. Valls said assistance would come in the form of help for a two-year-old development and security body known as the G5 Sahel comprising Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Chad and Burkina Faso, as well as support for the United Nations peace keeping force in Mali. The French prime minister was in Burkina Faso as part of a three-day tour with Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian that incorporated a visit to Mali, which experienced a similar hotel attack in November. France is the largest Western power involved in fighting insurgents in the Sahel with around 3,500 troops based in the arid region that stretches across northern Africa from Senegal in the west to Sudan in the east. Its forces drove Islamist militants out of urban centres in northern Mali in 2013, but did not eradicate their networks. Search Keywords: Short link: Egypt's fresh imports of Russian and French wheat will be supplied by mid-March Egypt has imported 240,000 tonnes of wheat from Russia and France at an average price of $193 per tonne through an international bid held by the states General Authority for Supply Commodities (GASC), the supply ministry said in an e-mailed statement on Saturday. The worlds largest wheat importer currently has reserves sufficient until 1 June, with the new shipments to be supplied to the local market by mid-March with inventory, the ministry added. Earlier this month, GASC cancelled an international wheat tender after being offered unsatisfactory prices by only four traders. Confusion among international suppliers of wheat was ignited over Egypts policy on the presence of ergot fungus in its imported wheat after it rejected a 63,000-tonne French shipment that arrived in December. Last week, Egypt said it would revive the old subsidy system for local wheat farmers by paying them a fixed price of EGP 420 ($53.64) per ardeb (150 kg) in the new local procurement season starting in April. Accordingly, the government reversed its decision to buy the harvest from its peasants at the average global price and granted a direct cash subsidy of EGP 1,300 per feddan (roughly one acre) of wheat grown. Egypt's wheat imports for the 2015/16 marketing year are estimated at 11 million tonnes, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) wrote in October 2015, "about the same as the previous year and the average for the last five years." Search Keywords: Short link: 'Beyond Tahrir' is a film series dedicated to the fifth anniversary of the Arab Spring, organised by the Casa Arabe (Arabian House) Institute in Madrid, Spain Directed by Francois Verster, The Dream of Shahrazad is among the films to be screened at the 'Beyond Tahrir' screening series held in Madrid's Casa Arabe (Arabian House) Institute between 15 January and 4 March. The Dream of Shahrazad, to be screened on 22 February, addresses life post revolution and the heartbreak experienced due to recent developments in Egypt, Turkey and Lebanons social and political spheres. The Dream of Shahrazad employs music, politics and storytelling, presenting stories in the style of the literary classic Arabian Nights, using its main character Shahrazad as a metaphor. The films multiple characters include a youth orchestra conductor, a Cairene storytelling troupe, a troubled Lebanese actress, as well as various others, all employing art for a new political use, in addition to exploring how creativity can be used to fight oppression. Francois Verster is an award-winning South African documentary director whose films have won awards, most notably an Emmy for Outstanding Cultural and Artistic Achievement in 2006 for A Lions Trail. The Beyond Tahrir series also includes films from other Arab countries, including Syria, Morocco and Tunisia. The films include Horses of God by the Moroccan Nabil Ayouch; Silvered Water, a Syrian film by Ossama Mohammed and Wiam Simav Bedirxan; Tunisian Spring by Raja Amari, among others. For more arts and culture news and updates, follow Ahram Online Arts and Culture on Twitter at @AhramOnlineArts and on Facebook at Ahram Online: Arts & Culture Search Keywords: Short link: To Egyptian audiences, Argentine's tango is among the most sought after dance forms. Between 9 and 16 February, a fusion of ballet and tango was performed in Cairo and Alexandria by Nadia Muzyka and her troupe Tango, the dance of passion, remains one of the most visually attractive performance art forms which celebrates the body in the most direct, sincere and sensual ways. It impresses the viewer with its dynamism, improvisation and unique technique. Originally from Argentine (and Uruguay) no wonder tango awes audiences across the world, and creates a special imprint in the hearts of both music and dance aficionados. Once again, the great tango of Argentina returned to Egypt between 9 and 12 February (at the Cairo Opera) and again on 15 and 16 February (at the Alexandria Opera) when Nadia Muzyka, the principal dancer of Buenos Airess famed Teatro Colon and her troupe performed a show entitled Ballet Tango, Buenos Aires. A graduate of the Higher Institute of Art Teatro Colon, today Muzyka is a widely acclaimed artist in Argentina. She has also worked with renowned choreographers and ballet masters around the world. Apart from the leading roles she performed in ballets such as Giselle, Don Quixote, Romeo and Juliet, The Nutcracker, Paquita, Cinderella and Swan Lake, among others, Muzyka is also known for her take on the Argentine tango, in which she merges this dance form with her classical background. The show, which relied on a recorded music by Astor Piazzolla, was choreographed by Julian Galvan and Magdalena Cortes, also dancers in the show. According to May Selims note in Al Ahram Hebdo last week, the same show premiered recently in Vienna, Austria, under the different title, The Deadly or Rather Fatal Sins. The show is a choreographic approach to the seven deadly sins: lust, greed, avarice, laziness, anger, envy and arrogance. The dancers represent those sins. Each has its own personality, costumes and colours, Muzyka commented in this interview. To stress the distinctions between the sins, the seven characters-dancers, four women and three men, were each dressed in a distinctive colour, with Muzyka in red. The show is devoid of scenography, relying on only a few props in form of tables and chairs. Even the lighting technique emphasises the colours by lighting the screen upstage in a colour represented by a dancer. For instance, when Muzyka dances in her red dress, she does so against the backdrop of a red screen, or when a blue character performs, again, the screen turns to the same colour. In short, the Ballet Tango, Buenos Aires (or The Deadly or Rather Fatal Sins) is a collection of scenes-emotions. If we look for traditional structure, we wont find it, as the show does not have any solid dramaturgy in which the narrative elements have a place or a purpose and link the scenes together. It is rather a run through a collection of visually captivating numbers that form an over one hour-long sequence depicting a range of emotions wrapped in colours. Naturally, due to the dancers background, the whole show relied on a presentation of ballet skills, where the impressive grand jetes and clear pirouettes were the main vocabulary. The choreographers fused classical ballet with tango figures and stylings, striking poses and typical tango legwork. The final result was a creative amalgam performed by very skilful, and as their biographies reveal, accomplished dancers. For more demanding audiences, live music, instead of recorded, would have added an intimate and rewarding feel to the show. And though we may also raise questions about format and sequence, this does not take away from the artistry and precision of each individual scene, from solos to duets to group dances. Most important, however, is the fact that Ballet Tango, Buenos Aires was yet more proof of the tangos eternal power. Let us not forget that through over a century, tango has experienced many adjustments and readjustments, it moved from the intimate dance embraces in Buenos Aires and Montevideos bars and streets, which did not have big stages, fancy lights and scenography onto the Europes ballrooms and soon after to dance competitions where the ostentatious factor steals the show; many leading world-class dancers merged chosen elements from tangos fascinating vocabulary with their fields of expertise. And even if, in the endless creative experimentation, tangos numerous offsping have always found both supporters and opponents, most of the time, the multilingual component of tango manages to capture the international audiences hearts. In Cairos performances, the show was rewarded with strong applause. Argentina: Egypt's frequent visitor To Egyptian audiences, Argentina and Latin America in general are among the most sought after evenings and they constitute a substantial part of the yearly music and dance programming. Starting at the top of the list, we can point to the Cairo Symphony Orchestra which often includes works by Argentinas renowned composers, Alberto Ginastera and Astor Piazzolla among them, often placing them in evenings dedicated to Latin America. In terms of dance performances, the magic word is precisely tango and once it appears on posters and banners, the hall fills up. Quite recently (in January 2015), A Puro Tango, a company consisting of professional dancers with Argentine and Colombian backgrounds -- most of them champions of the tango competitions held in their respective countries -- brought Buenos Aires to the Cairo Opera with a show titled Life and Feelings. The show was a series of dance numbers interlaced with songs by David Gutierrez Ramirez. A small live band, which included a few bandoneon players, added a unique flavour to the evenings. Another take on tango came to Egypt with the Inaki Urlezagas Ballet Concierto, a troupe which fuses ballet steps with tango and other dance forms, and which has been among the Operas returning guests. Similarly to Muzyka, Urlezagas background is in classical ballet, as he performed many lead roles at the Royal Ballet of London and the Dutch National Ballet. Urlezagas fusion however leans towards fusing the ballroom formats with traditional tango. Along the same lines, one of the captivating repertoire elements of the Cairo Opera Ballet Company is Tango Reve (Tango Dream), a short ballet work to music by Astor Piazzolla choreographed by the American-born but French-hearted Joseph Russillo. The long biography of the choreographer includes cooperation with Piazzolla himself, which resulted in works that merge different dance techniques, from classical ballet to jazz, with tango. In Egypt, Tango Dream is often the opening segment of an evening which brings together a few short ballets such as Danses quon croise, based on Brahms Hungarian Dances with Thierry Malandains choreography and Ravels Bolero with Maurice Bejarts choreography. This article was first published in Al Ahram Weekly For more arts and culture news and updates, follow Ahram Online Arts and Culture on Twitter at @AhramOnlineArts and on Facebook at Ahram Online: Arts & Culture Search Keywords: Short link: Writer and journalist Ahmed Naji was sentenced to two years in prison on Saturday for publishing a sexually flagrant article in the state-owned cultural newspaper Akhbar Al-Adab last year. The Abul-Ela Misdemeanor Appeal Court in Cairo also fined Tareq El-Taher, the editor-in-chief, EGP 10,000. The verdict comes after the prosecution appealed the same courts order on 2 January to clear the two defendants of all charges. The two journalists were originally referred to misdemeanor court last year and stood in trial for the first time on 14 November 2015. The prosecutor accused Naji of publishing a "flagrant erotic article in which the charged writer published a text that spewed sexual lust and transient pleasures, using his mind and pen to violate public decency and good morals, inciting promiscuity." The initial decision to refer Naji and Taher to the court came after one of the newspaper's readers, known as Hani Saleh Tawfik, filed a legal complaint claiming that the text in question caused him to experience heart palpitations and an extreme feeling of sickness along with a sharp drop in blood pressure due to the indecency of the text. More to follow... Search Keywords: Short link: 09.28.2016 18:14 Expat literature is a key component of the city's literary history because expatriates passing through town have been, for better or worse, elemental to its society By Peter Gordon When I first moved to Hong Kong, at a time when 1997 was still something of an open question, I was advised by my Chinese boss to read James Clavell's Noble House. The events described in the book apartment blocks sliding down the hillside, the floating restaurant catching on fire, the bank runs really happened, he told me. And the white taipans were accurately portrayed, he claimed: vengeful, self-centered and manipulative. These were the people running his hometown. Lynne Kutsukake skillfully constructs her first novel, The Translation of Love, around the aftereffects of World War II on Japanese in the US and Canada, as well as in occupied Japan. The internment of Japanese and citizens of Japanese descent living in North America has become well-known, but the fact that life did not return to normal immediately after their release from the concentration camps less so. Of course, the war devastation was at a horrific level in much of Japan, especially in Tokyo, where day-to-day living was often an incomprehensible struggle. The main character is Aya Shimamura a thirteen-year-old Japanese-Canadian. She and her parents were forced into a camp at the beginning of the war. There, the injustice was compounded by the tragic death of her mother. After the war, her embittered father, realizing they could not return to their home, takes his daughter to Japan. That repatriation to war-torn Japan was the better of the options and speaks to the deep feelings of injustice and discrimination during and after the war. Aya, who speaks only some Japanese, is placed in a middle school. Of course, as an ultimate outsider, she is picked on and shunned. However, one of her worst tormentors, Fumi, becomes her ally and eventually her friend when Aya agrees to write a letter in English to General MacArthur, the leader of the occupation forces, asking him to find Fumis older sister, Sumiko, who has gone missing. One of the little known facts of Occupied Japan is that General MacArthur received thousands of letters from the Japanese, written personally to him and translated by several full-time staff, who were mostly Japanese-Americans. One of them in the novel, Cpl Matt Matsuyama, describes the letters: Dear General MacArthur, the letters would begin Topics ranged far and wide: sugar shortages, land reform, the difficulty in obtaining train tickets, the evils of prostitution, the lack of adequate housing, the high cost of soy sauce, womens rights, corruption among city officials, gambling, smoking in elevators, the need to liberalize taxes Some letters were longpage after page of tiny Japanese characters like rows of dark seedsand some were short, no more than a line: We wish you good health, or Welcome to Japan. Some were not kind: Get out, Americans. Some letters were written in blood. After Aya writes Fumis letter to MacArthur, the two girls decide they need to deliver it personally. They skip school and wait along the route with hundreds of others who gawk at the car delivering the general to his office at precisely the same time every day. They are thwarted at delivering the letter, but Matt sees them. They give the letter to him with a plea to ask the general to find Sumiko. Matt is sympathetic but of course the general wont do a thing about a missing Japanese woman, especially one who is a dance-hall hostess. Yet, he remains intrigued and enlists the help of Nancy Nogami, one of the typists in the translation staff, to see if they can find Sumiko. A Japanese-American, Nancy was stuck in Japan during the war because she was visiting relatives there just before it started. Meanwhile, Aya and Fumis teacher in middle school, Kondo Sensei, must deal with the truant students. The teacher wants the best for his students, but suffers loneliness and poverty. He makes some money on the side with his English skills, writing letters especially for forlorn Japanese women who believe their GI lovers told them the truth that they will return to bring them to America and get married. We also learn why Sumiko has disappeared through a shift in point of view to her story. In her life at a dance hall and the seedier bars of Tokyo, she is trying to make a living to help her family when things go terribly wrong. The lives of the main characters intertwine intricately as the story progresses. Kutsukake is an accomplished writer, adroitly handing the dark effects of discrimination, hunger, poverty, and disease after the war. The success is slightly diluted when one storyline is too easily resolved, and while the main characters are sympathetic, perhaps one recurring villain would have spiced up the plot. But, all-in-all the novel is an engaging and compelling read. Todd Shimoda is the author of Why Ghosts Appear, The Fourth Treasure and 365 Views of Mt. Fuji Reprinted with permission from The Asian Review of Books Chinese first lady Peng Liyuan, who accompanied her husband President Xi Jinping on a state visit to Korea on Thursday, began her itinerary here by attending a formal welcoming ceremony at Cheong Wa Dae. While her husband sat down with President Park Geun-hye, Peng was escorted to Changdeok Palace in downtown Seoul, where she watched a performance by a traditional Korean music troupe. Because Park is single, Peng was chaperoned not by her Korean counterpart but by Cho Yoon-sun, the senior presidential secretary for political affairs. Peng commented that she felt as if she had been transported onto the set of the popular Korean period drama "Jewel in the Palace." She told Cho that her daughter enjoys Korean soaps, adding that they play a positive role in promoting understanding among young people in both countries. A political crisis of longstanding duration has been brought to the worlds attention by the actions of a competitor at the recently c... A couple of pandas will be sent to Korea after Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Seoul on Thursday and Friday. Beijing often sends the endangered animals to foreign countries as gifts aimed at cementing relations. In a joint press conference following talks with Xi, President Park Geun-hye said, "The pandas will be loved by the Korean people as a symbol of the bilateral friendship, along with the crested ibises that arrived here last year." According to internal Chinese regulations, the pandas will be presented to Korea as a loan. They will likely arrive here late next year due to the complicated customs procedure. China presented pandas to Korea before. It loaned out a couple of pandas, named Mingming and Lili, to Korea on the second anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries in 1994. But Korea sent them back to China during the financial crisis in 1998 due to the exorbitant upkeep cost. The Supreme Court on Thursday found actress Sung Hyun-ah not guilty of prostitution. Sung, a former Miss Korea, was charged in December 2013 with receiving W50 million in exchange for sex with a wealthy businessman on three occasions in 2010 (US$1=W1,230). She was found guilty by a lower court and sentenced to a W2 million fine. Sung admitted taking the money but denied that it was payment for sex. The Supreme Court accepted that Sung could have met the businessman for a "sincere" relationship and ordered a retrial. Prostitution involves having sex with unspecified individuals for money, but the Supreme Court ruled that Sung had met the businessman through an acquaintance and even considered marrying him. It noted that they met several times without having sex and that she ended the relationship after realizing that he was not interested in marriage. The court therefore ruled that there exists reasonable doubt that the relationship was purely based on sex for money. But controversy continues, "The ruling says that taking money for sex can't be construed as prostitution as long as there was an intent to continue the relationship," one lawyer said. "But I can't help wondering how taking tens of millions of won over a short period and having sex multiple times over that period is in any way an ordinary relationship between a man and a woman." On June 30, a "bomb" was allegedly thrown towards the gate of the CPM office. However, it hit the pillar of the gate. The accused was arrested on September 22. Comment Policy Advance Indiana allows you to post comments via this blog subject to the guidelines set forth herein. You understand that any comments you post are your own and are not those of Advance Indiana. You further understand that Advance Indiana is not responsible for the content of any external sites referenced in your comments. Unlawful, harassing, defamatory, abusive, threatening, harmful, obscene, profane, sexually oriented, racially offensive, or otherwise objectionable comments are not acceptable. If you think any content posted or otherwise included in Advance Indiana violates the guidelines set forth herein, then please alert Advance Indiana. Advance Indiana reserves the right to pre-screen, edit, and remove any post as it deems appropriate. You specifically acknowledge that Advance Indiana has no obligation to display any post submitted or otherwise provided via Advance Indiana. #Navy plans Navy eyes creation of unmanned command in 2040s South Korea's Navy is seeking to create a new command running unmanned ships, submarines and aircraft in the 2040s, the armed service said Friday, in an effort to address a potenti... #SK data center fire SK C&C's data center raided over massive server outage Police on Friday raided regional offices of SK C&C, the host of the data center for Kakao Corp., in an investigation into a data center fire last week that caused massive servi... Turkey blames Kurdish militants for Ankara bomb; vows reprisals Updated: 2016-02-19 09:54 (Agencies) Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, flanked by Chief of Staff General Hulusi Akar (L), talks to journalists at the Army headquarters in Ankara, Turkey February 18, 2016 in this handout photo provided by the Prime Minister's Press Office. [Photo/Agencies] ANKARA/ISTANBUL - Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu blamed a Syrian Kurdish militia fighter working with Kurdish militants inside Turkey for a suicide car bombing that killed 28 people in the capital Ankara, and he vowed retaliation in both Syria and Iraq. A car laden with explosives detonated next to military buses as they waited at traffic lights near Turkey's armed forces' headquarters, parliament and government buildings in the administrative heart of Ankara late on Wednesday. Davutoglu said the attack was clear evidence that the YPG, a Syrian Kurdish militia that has been supported by the United States in the fight against Islamic State in northern Syria, was a terrorist organisation and that Turkey, a NATO member, expected cooperation from its allies in combating the group. Within hours, Turkish warplanes bombed bases in northern Iraq of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has waged a three-decade insurgency against the Turkish state and which Davutoglu accused of collaborating in the car bombing. Turkey's armed forces also shelled YPG positions in northern Syria on Thursday, a security source said. Davutoglu said the artillery fire would continue and promised that those responsible for the Ankara attack would "pay the price". "Yesterday's attack was directly targeting Turkey and the perpetrator is the YPG and the divisive terrorist organization PKK. All necessary measures will be taken against them," Davutoglu said in a televised speech. President Tayyip Erdogan also said initial findings suggested the Syrian Kurdish militia and the PKK were behind the bombing and said that 14 people had been detained. The political arm of the YPG, denied involvement in the bombing, while a senior member of the PKK said he did not know who was responsible. The attack was the latest in a series of bombings in the past year mostly blamed on Islamic State militants. Turkey is getting dragged ever deeper into the war in neighbouring Syria and is trying to contain some of the fiercest violence in decades in its predominantly Kurdish southeast. The YPG militia, regarded by Ankara as a hostile insurgent force deeply linked to the PKK, has taken advantage in recent weeks of a major Syrian army offensive around the northern city of Aleppo, to seize ground from Syrian rebels near the Turkish border. That has alarmed Turkey, which fears the advances will stoke Kurdish separatist ambitions at home. It has been bombarding YPG positions in an effort to stop them taking the town of Azaz, the last stronghold of Turkish-backed Syrian rebels north of Aleppo before the Turkish frontier. Hundreds of Syrian rebels with weapons and vehicles have re-entered Syria from Turkey over the last week to reinforce insurgents fending off the Kurdish-led assault on Azaz, rebel sources said on Thursday. Testosterone Oxytocin Cortisol Leptin Thyroid Hormone Every person in the world has one thing in common is the need for fat loss. Unfortunately, this is a common scenario for many people. Thats why its important to know what hormones or steroids are available that can help you reach your goal sooner and more efficiently. If you are interested in buying weight loss steroids, then a Great place to buy weight loss steroids at LAWeekly . Five essential hormones can help increase your metabolism and burn calories at a faster rate. 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So whenever you want to take thyroid hormone pills, you should always check with your doctor first if it is right for you or not. There is no point in risking your health just because you dont have enough money for prescription drugs.Eating less and working out more is not the only way to lose weight. You need to do it faster and easier if you want to see results in a short time. The five hormones listed above can help you burn calories faster than ever without any effort at all. Nancy Carnegie Merrill This year, the historical society is holding our annual essay contest and piloting a video contest, based on our popular and educational Exeter History Minutes. The topic for this years contest is technology in Exeter's history and students should choose a topic that relates to technological innovations that have been introduced in the Exeter area. Examine one form of technology that Exeter has experienced and answer the following questions: what was this form of technology; how did it change the lives of Exeter residents; was the change welcomed, or were they unsure of it? Students should not attempt to write the essay or create the video without receiving the requirements from their schools faculty members or the staff of the Exeter Historical Society. (These can also be found at http://bit.ly/2016EHSEssayContest and http://bit.ly/2016EHSVideoContest .)The deadline for both essay and video submission is Saturday, March 26, by noon. (The deadline for essay submission has been extended by a week.)A panel of judges will choose the entries from each division (Middle School and High School) that best meet the criteria of outstanding achievement in format, historical accuracy, originality and style. The winners of the essay contest will each receive a $100 prize and the winning papers will be read by the authors at our annual Youth Night awards ceremony on Thursday, April 21 at 7pm. The prize for the video contest is to have the video entries posted and promoted through the historical society's social media channels; the winning videos also will be shown at the Youth Night awards ceremony. (Please note that there is no monetary prize for the video contest.) While the essay contest is limited to one entrant per essay, the video may have multiple entrants per video submission.It is our hope that the Nancy Carnegie Merrill Award will foster an appreciation for our community and an interest in its past. The essay and video contests and Youth Night are generously sponsored by Service Credit Union.For additional information, please contact Laura Martin, Program Manager. Materials can be downloaded here: 2016 Nancy Carnegie Merrill History Award Flyer and Materials (essay) and 2016 Nancy Carnegie Merrill History Award Flyer and Materials (video) . The rubric that the judges will be using to evaluate the essay entries can be found here Pancakes I could have given you thousands of reasons for my choice but here it is in a nutshell.As a registered Republican I am ready willing and able to vote for potentially the next President of the United States. I am going to do so, without watching one commercial on TV. Why? I hate them. Now the question is who should I vote for? I have to remember that a Republican could actually win the election so I have to vote for who would be the least damaging to the republic.: He is so unlikable that his college roommate and fellow Senators hate him. Take that in. Anyone Ted Cruz has had dealings with in his political life, despise the man. He isn't a legal citizen, he is Canadian after all. He appeared with Pastor Kevin Swanson advocating the extermination of gay people. It has been reported that Ted Cruz's dad is an anti gay crusader . Ted Cruz also is endorsed by Gay Hating, God Sent Nazi Preacher Mike Bickle. This preacher is director of the International House ofPrayer. He endorsed Cruz in January. Enough about Cruz. Not voting for him. He is the worst of the candidates. Ted Cruz gives me the heebie-jeebies.: After that 4 strike debate performance it is a miracle Marquito (as we know him in Miami) or Marco Roboto as he is now called, is still in the race. But, the real reason for not voting for Rubio is his lifelong ties to the sleaziest politician in Florida: David Rivera. They owned a house and lived together in Tallahassee. To be a fly on that wall would have been bliss. I also don't like all the religious stuff inserted in the campaign. God and politics don't mix and he has them in a blender. He hasn't been around to represent Florida (on the "least damaging front", his missing so many Senate votes is a good thing). While in the state legislature and campaigning for Senator, he lived off campaign contributions and the Republican Party credit card. Never would vote for him. Rubio has taken money from the worst of the Robber Barons of this Century. He is the weakest candidate, a puppet.: He was a terrible, dictatorial governor. Mean, vindictive, and entitled. (If you read anything from Politico this season -- Jeb thinks Politico is "trash" -- read this week's doozie, "How Marco Slew His Mentor" . Priceless.) Two words about Jeb: Terri Schiavo. She was in a vegetative state for 15 years and Jeb fought her husband from pulling the plug. Schiavo's husband said:I am with Michael Schiavo, scratch Jeb off the list. That is even more vile than interfering with a woman's right to an abortion. Jeb also is funded by the Robber Barons just like Marco.: As awful as he is, I think he is the best Republican candidate and he is who I will vote for in the primary. His number one advantage is that he is a self-funded Robber Baron. He hasn't taken any tainted money from Sheldon Adelson and the Koch Brothers. Besides, if I had a sword to give Donald Trump, I'd give him one just like Jeb Bush gave to Marco Rubio. Why? Because Donald Trump has done what no Democrat has done in modern history: he has pulled all the fakery, lousy logic, and pretending from the Republican Party establishment. Lee Atwater, Karl Rove, and Roger Ailes belong in the dustbin of history, and Donald Trump is putting them there. I'm with the uprising: sweep out the old, bring in the new. Donald Trump can't do worse than this corrupt Grand Ole Party. And besides, how much are you looking forward to watching Donald Trump pivot to win the general election after the primaries are done. For November, after slaying Cruz, Rubio, and Jeb; Donald Trump coming our way on the greatest, best bent knee the world has ever seen!So, in the Republican Presidential Preference Election on March 15th I will choose DONALD TRUMP.If you Dems could vote in the Republican primary who would you choose? North Miami Beach Police are investigating reports of two arab women entering the Magen David Synagogue They reportedly asked when Yizkor is and had a koran and a prayer book The community already feeling under siege with the rash of robberies and last years murder of Rabbi Raksin is on high alert. FM has llearned that several sources in the police department are concerned that the person/ community activist MR Y L who reported this and has been publicizing this, was allegedly responsible for hindering other investigations as well . He faces a lawsuit for sexual harassment and the police are looking for other reliable sources to ascertain some of the alleged conversations with the arab women. He is alleged to have used lights and sirens to pull over vehicles in the community Never the less it is important for the jewish community to remain vigilant and the North Miami Beach police have said they will increase their patrols Blog Archive September (1) July (1) April (2) February (2) January (1) December (1) November (1) October (1) September (1) August (1) July (1) June (1) May (1) April (3) March (1) February (2) January (2) December (2) November (2) October (2) July (1) May (2) April (1) March (2) December (2) October (1) August (5) July (3) June (2) May (6) April (3) March (4) February (3) January (5) December (7) November (2) October (3) September (6) August (2) July (10) May (1) April (2) March (1) February (4) January (5) December (8) October (3) September (4) August (4) July (2) June (4) May (5) April (1) March (7) February (1) December (9) November (4) October (6) September (2) August (4) July (3) June (8) May (4) April (12) March (2) February (3) January (8) December (10) November (2) October (2) September (3) August (2) July (1) June (11) May (7) April (3) March (19) February (12) January (18) December (11) November (11) October (9) September (6) August (6) July (12) June (10) May (9) April (8) March (12) February (8) January (21) December (15) November (18) October (34) September (14) August (19) July (20) June (9) May (29) April (10) March (8) February (2) January (11) December (11) November (14) October (21) September (19) August (21) July (20) June (14) May (11) April (15) March (16) February (21) January (18) December (27) November (8) October (14) September (19) August (21) July (35) June (46) May (30) April (31) March (11) February (12) January (11) December (4) November (2) October (13) September (4) August (7) July (12) June (8) May (2) April (7) March (4) February (3) January (1) Love the article on Gaddaf i Samosa Iyoha Hello from Johannesburg I was amazed to find a website for Africans in Hungary . Looks like you have quite a community there. Here in SA we have some three million Zimbabweans living in exile and not much sign of going home ... but in Hungary??? Hope to meet you on one of my trips to Europe; was in Steirmark Austria near the Hungarian border earlier this month. Every good wish for 2011. Geoff in Jo'burg I'm impressed by ANH work but... Interesting interview... My comment to the interview with his excellency Mr. Adedotun Adenrele Adepoju CDA a.i-- B.Ayo Adams click to read editor's mail We must rise above tribalism & divide & rule of the colonialist who stole & looted our treasure & planted their puppets to lord it over us..they alone can decide on whosoever is performing & the one that is corrupt..but the most corrupt nations are the western countries that plunder the resources of other nations & make them poorer & aid the rulers to steal & keep such ill gotten wealth in their country..yemen,syria etc have killed more than gadhafi but its not A good investment for the west(this is laughable)because oil is not in these countries..when obasanjo annihilated the odi people in rivers state, they looked away because its in their favour & interest..one day!I think from what have been said, the Nigerian embassy here seem to be more concern about its nationals than we are for ourselves. Our complete disregard for the laws of Hungary isn't going to help Nigeria's image or going to promote what the Embassy is trying to showcase. So if the journalists could zoom-in more focus on Nigerians living, working and studying here in Hungary than scrutinizing the embassy and its every move, i think it would be of tremendous help to the embassy serving its nationals better and create more awareness about where we live . Taking the issues of illicit drugs and forged documents as typical examples.. there are so many cases of Nigerians been involved. But i am yet to read of it in e.news. So i think if only you and your journalists could write more about it and follow up on the stories i think it will make our nationals more aware of what to expect. I wouldn't say i am not impressed with your work but you need to be more of a two way street rather than a one way street . Keep up the good work... SylviaHe is an intelligent man. He spoke well on the issues! Thanks to Mr Hakeem Babalola for the interview it contains some expedient information.. "What I tell you three times is true." , . , 12 2000 . , - . , . , . , . (Adds study details, airline comments) By Jeffrey Dastin Feb 19 (Reuters) - Airline bookings to parts of Latin America and the Caribbean have slipped globally since a U.S. public health agency warned pregnant women against travel to areas where the Zika virus is spreading, travel data analysis company ForwardKeys said Friday. Bookings to regions hit by the mosquito-borne virus fell some 3.4 percent from a year ago between Jan. 15, when the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a travel advisory, and Feb. 10, the report found. A move by the World Health Organization (WHO) on Feb. 1 to call the Zika outbreak an international emergency appeared to accelerate the slide, with bookings plunging 10 percent between the WHO announcement and Feb. 10, according to the report. The study, which analyzed around 14 million daily travel agency transactions made via global ticket distributors, provides early evidence of Zika's potentially broad impact on travel demand to certain Latin American countries. Before the CDC warning, bookings were up 4.9 percent during December and early January to the same destinations from a year ago, the report said. Scientists are investigating a potential link between Zika infections of pregnant women and more than 4,000 suspected cases in Brazil of microcephaly, a condition marked by abnormally small head size that can result in developmental problems. American Airlines Group Inc, which has the widest Latin American network among U.S. peers, on Friday reiterated a late-January comment by its president that it has seen no material change to flight bookings. Its President Scott Kirby said at the time that identifying bookings lost due to Zika would be difficult because unit revenue already was down some 40 percent to Brazil because of the country's economic crisis. According to the ForwardKeys study, there were 3 percent fewer bookings made to Brazil between Jan. 15 and Feb. 10 versus a year before. Story continues Tourist hotspots with Zika outbreaks such as Martinique and the U.S. Virgin Islands saw steeper declines at 24 percent and 27 percent, respectively. "We have to watch (for developments on the virus) because if it really should explode, obviously it will have an effect on all of the Caribbean routes," Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA Chief Executive Bjrn Kjos said in an interview Thursday. Norwegian is marketing some tickets from New York to Martinique at $49, compared with lows of $79 it sold in the summer. Kjos said the company has yet to see Zika hamper bookings. (Reporting By Jeffrey Dastin in New York and Victoria Bryan in Berlin; Editing by Bernard Orr) (Adds detail from report, airline comments) By Jeffrey Dastin Feb 19 (Reuters) - Airline bookings to parts of Latin America and the Caribbean have slipped globally since a U.S. public health agency warned pregnant women against travel to areas where the Zika virus is spreading, travel data analysis company ForwardKeys said on Friday. Bookings to regions hit by the mosquito-borne virus fell some 3.4 percent from a year ago between Jan. 15, when the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a travel advisory, and Feb. 10, the report found. Before the warning, bookings were up 4.9 percent during December and early January to the same destinations from a year ago, according to the report. A move by the World Health Organization (WHO) on Feb. 1 to call the Zika outbreak an international emergency appeared to accelerate the slide, with bookings plunging 10 percent between the WHO announcement and Feb. 10, the report found. The study, which analyzed around 14 million daily reservation transactions, provides early evidence of Zika's potentially broad impact on travel demand to certain Latin American countries. Scientists are investigating a potential link between Zika infections of pregnant women and more than 4,000 suspected cases in Brazil of microcephaly, a condition marked by abnormally small head size that can result in developmental problems. United Continental Holdings Inc declined to share information on its bookings. Other airlines with many flights to the region - American Airlines Group Inc, JetBlue Airways Corp, Delta Air Lines Inc and Latam Airlines Group SA - did not immediately return requests for comment. (Reporting By Jeffrey Dastin in New York and Victoria Bryan in Berlin; Editing by Bernard Orr) NEW ORLEANS, LA--(Marketwired - February 19, 2016) - Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC ("KSF") and KSF partner, the former Attorney General of Louisiana, Charles C. Foti, Jr., remind investors that they have until April 4, 2016 to file lead plaintiff applications in a securities class action lawsuit against Insys Therapeutics, Inc. (INSY), if they purchased the Company's securities between March 3, 2015 and January 25, 2016, inclusive (the "Class Period"). This action is pending in the United States District Court for the District of Arizona. What You May Do If you purchased shares of Insys and would like to discuss your legal rights and how this case might affect you and your right to recover for your economic loss, you may, without obligation or cost to you, call toll-free at 1-877-515-1850 or email KSF Managing Partner Lewis Kahn (lewis.kahn@ksfcounsel.com). If you wish to serve as a lead plaintiff in this class action, you must petition the Court by April 4, 2016. About the Lawsuit Insys and certain of its executives are charged with failing to disclose material information during the Class Period, violating federal securities laws. The alleged false and misleading statements included, but are not limited to, that: (i) Insys was engaged in the illegal and improper off-labeling marketing of Subsys; (ii) certain Insys employees -- including the President and Chief Executive Officer of Insys during much of the Class Period -- were complicit in an illegal kickback scheme operated for the purpose of increasing prescriptions of Subsys; and (iii) as a result, Insys's financial statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times. About Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC KSF, whose partners include the Former Louisiana Attorney General Charles C. Foti, Jr., is a law firm focused on securities, antitrust and consumer class actions, along with merger & acquisition and breach of fiduciary litigation against publicly traded companies on behalf of shareholders. The firm has offices in New York, California and Louisiana. To learn more about KSF, you may visit www.ksfcounsel.com. RTX6J6Y The Georgia state Senate has passed a religious freedom bill that critics fear could lead to anti-gay discrimination, boycotts and billions of dollars of lost revenue. The Republican-backed legislation passed Friday by a 38-14 margin that fell along party lines is a hybrid of two bills. The First Amendment Defense Act has received the most criticism of the two. It allows religious organizations to deny services if they cite "a sincerely held religious belief or moral conviction" against same-sex marriage. The bill would apply to locally funded and state-funded nonprofit organizations such as hospitals, homeless shelters and adoption centers. "This bill protects the constitutional rights of individuals and faith-based organizations," said Republican state Sen. Greg Kirk, chief sponsor of the legislation. "It takes nothing away from same-sex couples or members of the LGBT community. "It is a live-and-let-live bill." However, critics argued the broad language of the bill opens the door for same-sex discrimination, as well as discrimination against people of any orientation who have sex out of wedlock. "Kirk really thinks that allowing anyone to discriminate against anyone makes the bill fair," Robbie Medwed, a local gay-rights activist, wrote in a column for Atlanta magazine, Creative Loafing. Georgia business leaders also criticized the bill, fearing it could lead to costly tourism boycotts and negative publicity. Some also expressed a desire to avoid the type of negative publicity the state of Indiana received when it passed its Religious Freedom Restoration Act last year. same sex marriage We believe that treating all Georgians and visitors fairly is essential to maintaining Georgias strong brand as the premier home for talented workers, growing businesses, entrepreneurial innovation, and a thriving travel and tourism industry, the Metro Atlanta Chamber said in a statement. Story continues In response to the bill, a number of major Georgia-based businesses, including Coca-Cola, Delta, Home Depot, UPS and Arby's, joined the Georgia Prospers coalition earlier this year, promising to promote diversity in their workforces. The other half of the bill is the so-called "Pastor Protection Act," which ensures that clergy will not be forced to perform same-sex marriages. The act was met with little objection. The combined bill will now go the House of Representatives for approval. On the Senate floor, Democratic state Sen. Nan Orrock urged her colleagues to consider the impact the legislation would have on their constituents. Untold numbers of gay, lesbian and transgender people are holding their breath in fear that we will pass this legislation, she said. "It says to them youre vulnerable, youre on your own." I would ask us to search our souls and do the right thing. Be able to tell your grandchildren that you didnt vote for state-sanctioned discrimination." NOW WATCH: The tragic story of Donald Trumps late brother Fred More From Business Insider By Foo Yun Chee BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Google Chief Executive Sundar Pichai will meet Europe's antitrust chief next Thursday for the first time since his appointment last August, two people familiar with the matter said on Friday. European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, who has accused the world's most popular Internet search engine of favouring its shopping service over rivals' when delivering search results, is considering whether to penalise Google. Possible sanctions could include ordering Google to change its business practices, as well as a fine of up to 10 percent of its global turnover. The case has dragged on for more than five years since the EU competition enforcer launched an investigation in November 2010, followed by three unsuccessful attempts by Google to settle the issue with concessions. Vestager may also scrutinise Google's back-tax deal with British tax authorities following a complaint from the Scottish National Party. Google agreed last month it would pay 130 million pounds to settle tax claims covering a 10-year period, but opposition parties have called the amount derisory. The sources described Pichai's visit as an introductory meeting. He will also meet EU telecoms chief Gunther Oettinger, a vocal critic of U.S. might in a sector where German media companies have, for example, been lobbying to protect content from online giants. European Commission spokesman Ricardo Cardoso declined to comment. Google's Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt met Vestager in March last year but failed to appease her. (Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Mark Trevelyan) DUBAI, Feb 20 (Reuters) - Greece's biggest oil refiner, Hellenic Petroleum, will buy 60,000 barrels a day of crude oil from Iran which can increase to 150,000 bpd, Iran's deputy oil minister said on Saturday. The deal was made during the recent visit of Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to Tehran, Amir-Hossein Zamaninia was quoted as saying by oil ministry's news agency, Shana. Hellenic Petroleum was a major buyer of Iranian crude, which accounted for about 20 percent of the southeast European country's annual crude oil imports, before sanctions were imposed on Tehran in 2011. (Reporting by Bozorgmehr Sharafedin; editing by John Stonestreet) Hillary Clinton won the Nevada Democratic caucuses on Saturday, beating Bernie Sanders by a close but still decisive margin. With almost 80% of the precincts in, Clinton was holding a 52% to 48% split of the vote to Sanders. The Associated Press and other networks declared her the winner based on projections. Some have doubted us be we never doubted each other, Clinton told supporters at a victory rally at Caesars Palace. This one is for you. She also said, The truth is, we arent a single issue country. We need more than a plan for the big banks, the middle class needs a raise and we need more jobs. Clintons campaign and her supporters are hoping that a victory in the state will show that, despite Sanders near victory in Iowa and blowout in New Hampshire, her fortunes improve as the Democratic race for the nomination progresses. The state was viewed a few months ago as one of Clintons strongholds, with a more diverse electorate. Five weeks ago we were 25 points behind and we ended up in a very close election, Sanders said in a statement. And we probably will leave Nevada with a solid share of the delegates. Sanders said that taking on the establishment is not easy, insisting that we have the momentum. He said that his campaign was facing a SuperPAC funded in part by Wall Street and special interests, a reference to Priorities USA Action, which has been backing Clinton. Although Sanders said he was next traveling to South Carolina, which holds its primary Feb. 27, he looked forward to wins on Super Tuesday. Clinton leads by wide margins in South Carolina. CNN early exit polls showed Sanders winning white voters, with Clinton leading among non-white voters. The most unusual aspect of the states voting is perhaps that some of the caucus locations are in casino hotels on the Las Vegas strip, allowing workers in hotels to participate on lunch breaks. Clinton beat Sanders handily at Caesars Palace, one of the sites hosting caucuses. The Trump Hotel was not a location. Story continues Fittingly, in the event of a tie at the caucus precints, state Democratic rules say that a winner will be declared by each side picking from a deck of cards. Clinton and Sanders supporters, including many from Los Angeles, fanned out across the state in recent days, hoping to boost turnout. I am 90 years old, so I like to give a hand to young, aspiring politicians, entertainer Dick Van Dyke, a Sanders supporter, quipped to Chris Matthews on MSNBC. Sanders, at 74, has drawn lopsided support among younger voters in New Hampshire and Iowa, and CNN entrance polls showed a similar case in Nevada. Van Dyke appeared at several events in the state for Sanders, a self-described Democratic socialist. Van Dyke told Matthews that younger voters are as bothered as much by that word socialism,' noting the connotation it has in European countries with a strong social safety net. Van Dyke called Sanders a New Deal Democrat, and said he was the first candidate he had actively campaigned for since Eugene McCarthys run in 1968, fueled by his opposition to the Vietnam war. Clinton campaigned on Friday with Eva Longoria and America Ferrera. On Saturday, the campaign released a video in which Will Ferrell urged Nevadans to caucus for Clinton, an apparent switch in his allegiance after being listed among Sanders supporters in a list of endorsements released in September. Underscoring the atmosphere at some caucus sites, Ferrera tweeted out an incident at a caucus site at Harrahs casino. Bernie Sanders supporters chant English-only to stop civil rights leader @DoloresHuerta from providing Spanish translation. Related stories Will Ferrell, Listed as Backing Bernie Sanders, Stars in Hillary Clinton Caucus Video Hillary Clinton Campaign Says Katy Perry Donated Concert Time at No Cost Endorsement Watch: Britney Spears Meets Hillary, Dick Van Dyke Campaigns for Bernie By Rania El Gamal DOHA/LONDON (Reuters) - The fate of the first global oil deal in 15 years could be decided on Wednesday when OPEC members travel to Iran to persuade the country to participate in a deal to freeze output levels, possibly by offering Tehran special terms. Dominant OPEC power Saudi Arabia and non-OPEC Russia, the world's top two producers and exporters, agreed on Tuesday to freeze production levels but said the deal was contingent on others joining in - a major sticking point with Iran absent from the talks and determined to raise production. OPEC members Qatar, Venezuela and Kuwait said they were also ready to freeze output and oil sources in Iraq - the world's fastest-growing producer in the past year - said Baghdad would abide by a global deal aimed at tackling a growing oversupply and helping prices recover from their lowest in over a decade. On Wednesday, Venezuelan Oil Minister Eulogio Del Pino and Iraqi Oil Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi will travel to Tehran for talks with their Iranian counterpart Bijan Zanganeh. OPEC member Iran, Saudi Arabia's regional arch rival, has pledged to steeply increase output in the coming months as it looks to regain market share lost after years of international sanctions, which were lifted in January following a deal with world powers over its nuclear programme. "Our situation is totally different to those countries that have been producing at high levels for the past few years," a senior source familiar with Iran's thinking told Reuters. Benchmark Brent oil prices fell 2 percent on Tuesday to below $33 per barrel on concerns that Iran may reject the deal and that even if Tehran agreed it would not help ease the growing global glut. [O/R] The fact that output from Saudi Arabia and Russia is near record highs complicates any agreement since Iran is producing at least 1 million barrels per day below its capacity and pre-sanctions levels. "It requires discussion and examination to be seen what has been their point," Iranian news agency Shana quoted Zanganeh as saying on Tuesday. "What is important is that, first, the market is oversupplied, and, second, that Iran will not overlook its quota," he added. Story continues The comments by Zanganeh revived memories of the last OPEC meeting in December which ended without a decision after Zanganeh said he rejected any plan to curtail Iran's production before it rises to pre-sanction levels. However, two non-Iranian sources close to OPEC discussions told Reuters that Iran may be offered special terms as part of the output freeze deal. "Iran is returning to the market and needs to be given a special chance but it also needs to make some calculations," said one source. The sources did not elaborate on the special terms, which technically could be anything from setting limited production increase levels for Iran to linking future output rises to a recovery in oil prices. The last global deal - OPEC and non-OPEC - dates back to 2001 when Saudi Arabia persuaded Mexico, Norway and Russia to contribute to production cuts, although Moscow never followed through and raised exports instead. (Additional reporting by Alex Lawler in London; Writing by Dmitry Zhdannikov; Editing by Pravin Char) DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran has increased oil exports by 500,000 barrels per day since international sanctions against Tehran were lifted in January, a top official said on Saturday. "As we had promised, we managed to increase our exports by 500,000 bpd shortly after the lifting of sanctions," Mohsen Ghamsari, Director of International Affairs of National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), was quoted by the FARS news agency as saying on Saturday. (Reporting By Bozorgmehr Sharafedin; Editing by Noah Browning and John Stonestreet) Vientiane (AFP) - US Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in communist-controlled Laos late Sunday in a rare high-level visit by an American diplomat to Washington's former wartime foe. The visit comes ahead of a key summit between President Barack Obama and leaders of the ASEAN bloc in the US next month -- and a landmark trip by the American leader to the tiny, landlocked Southeast Asian nation later this year. The Communist Party has ruled impoverished Laos since 1975 at the end of the Vietnam War, which spilt the country and saw it blanketed by bombs in a secret war led by the CIA. But relations between the two countries have improved with Obama courting the Association of Southeast Nations (ASEAN) as a diplomatic counterweight to regional power China. Laos is chair of the 10-member ASEAN this year and will see a flurry of diplomatic meetings that will open the cloistered, tightly-controlled nation to greater scrutiny. "After decades of a very difficult relationship between Laos and the US - a period of estrangement, a period of mutual suspicion - there has been increasingly a real transformation in the bilateral relationship," a US State Department official told reporters ahead of the visit. The US has reached out to its former wartime foe with help clearing unexploded bombs, an issue "that resulted from our actions in the Vietnam War," the official said, as well as through health and education schemes. In turn, the Lao Peoples Democratic Republic, has shown "a real interest in diversifying their diplomacy as well as their economy". US warplanes dropped more than two million tons of ordnance on Laos from 1964 to 1973 in some 580,000 bombing missions aimed at cutting North Vietnam supply lines through the neighbouring country. An estimated 30 percent of the ordnance failed to detonate and 50,000 people have been killed by the explosives since the end of the war. Kerry, a Vietnam War veteran, becomes only the second Secretary of State to visit Laos since the mid-1950s, after his predecessor Hillary Clinton visited in 2012. Story continues Human rights remain a sticking point between the two nations, in particular the disappearance of prominent community activist Sombath Somphone in 2012. Kerry arrived from Saudi Arabia where he reassured his hosts over the enduring strength of their relationship despite the US warming of ties with Iran. After spending the day in sleepy Laos capital Vientiane, Kerry will travel to neighbouring Cambodia. Both Laos and Cambodia are heavily under the influence of China which provides trade and diplomatic ballast to their authoritarian regimes. In that context, experts say Kerry's trip to two nations with small populations but strong growth rates is laden with symbolism. NEW ORLEANS, LA--(Marketwired - February 19, 2016) - Former Attorney General of Louisiana, Charles C. Foti, Jr., Esq., a partner at the law firm of Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC ("KSF"), announces that KSF has commenced an investigation into Navient Corporation (NAVI). On August 19, 2015, Navient's wholly-owned subsidiary Navient Solutions, Inc. ("NSI") received a Notice and Opportunity to Respond and Advise letter from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ("CFPB") providing notice that the CFPB's Office of Enforcement was considering recommending that the CFPB take legal action against NSI related to its investigation into NSI's disclosures and assessment of late fees and other matters, which had been previously disclosed in May 2014. The letter further stated that the CFPB may seek restitution, civil monetary penalties and corrective action against NSI. Then, on February 11, 2016, a securities fraud class action case was brought against Navient, alleging that the Company violated federal securities laws by making false and misleading statements to shareholders regarding the Company's business, operational and compliance policies. This action is pending in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware. KSF's investigation is focusing on whether Navient's officers and/or directors breached their fiduciary duties to Navient's shareholders or otherwise violated state or federal laws. If you have information that would assist KSF in its investigation, or have been a long-term holder of Navient shares and would like to discuss your legal rights, you may, without obligation or cost to you, call toll-free at 1-877-515-1850 or email KSF Managing Partner Lewis Kahn (lewis.kahn@ksfcounsel.com). About Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC KSF, whose partners include the Former Louisiana Attorney General Charles C. Foti, Jr., is a law firm focused on securities, antitrust and consumer class actions, along with merger & acquisition and breach of fiduciary litigation against publicly traded companies on behalf of shareholders. The firm has offices in New York, California and Louisiana. To learn more about KSF, you may visit www.ksfcounsel.com. Panama's President Juan Carlos Varela, pictured on January 27, 2016, announced that Panama was removed from the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering's gray list (AFP Photo/Rodrigo Buendia) (AFP/File) Panama City (AFP) - Panama has been taken off an international "gray list" of countries whose lax financial laws are seen as making money-laundering easier, its president, Juan Carlos Varela, said Thursday. "I am pleased to announce that Panama has come off the FATF gray list thanks to the new era of transparency we are living," Varela said on his Twitter account. The FATF is the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering, a 32-nation body created nearly three decades ago to combat international money-laundering. Its remit was later expanded to also fight the financing of terrorist groups. Panama, a thriving banking hub with simplified laws that actively encourage investment, has already enacted laws to counter perceptions that it was a tax haven. However its was still listed by the FATF as having deficiencies in fighting money-laundering. But a FATF meeting in Paris this week agreed to remove the country from its gray list after determining it now met the group's standards on information sharing, tax compliance and reporting suspicious transactions, a statement from the Panamanian finance ministry said. Panama has notably passed a law against bearer shares -- equities owned by whoever physically holds the stock certificate, meaning the owner is not registered or identified. It has also created a state body to prevent money-laundering in free-tax zones, casinos, property, construction and currency-exchange shops. (Updates paragraph 10 with details about land) By David DeKok SCRANTON, Pa., Feb 19 (Reuters) - A federal judge ruled on Friday that a Pennsylvania family that runs a maple syrup business cannot stop most of their trees from being cut down to make way for a shale gas pipeline, but he stopped short of charging them with contempt of court. Judge Malachy Mannion of the U.S. District Court in Scranton said his previous order allowing the tree-cutting could not be challenged in court. But he said lawyers for the company building the Continental Pipeline failed to prove the five defendants who own the property were guilty of obstructing the tree cutting. "But I'm going to direct that U.S. Marshals are empowered to arrest or detain anyone who obstructs the felling of trees," he said. "Then they will be brought before me for a contempt hearing." Monty Morgan, a former Ohio state trooper who is regional security director for Constitution Pipeline Co, was unable to identify any of the defendants as those who have blocked workers from cutting the maples this month. The $875 million Continental Pipeline, due to be operational this autumn, would run 124 miles (200 km) from Montrose, Pennsylvania, to Albany, New York. It would bring gas from fracking wells to the New York and New England markets. "I think this is the most realistic outcome we could have expected," said Megan Holleran, spokeswoman for North Harford Maple, a family-run syrup business in New Milford. "We never intended to disobey the judge's order." She said peaceful protests would continue and became emotional about the impending loss of the maple trees. But she said family members will stay outside an exclusion zone set by the judge, and would not encourage others to stop the cutting. Her mother, Catherine Holleran, is one of the defendants. Three others - Michael W. Zeffer, Maryann Zeffer, and Patricia Glover - are aunts or uncles. Dustin Webster, the fifth defendant, is a cousin. The family has owned the land since moving from Long Island in the early 1950s. Story continues The 120-foot (37-m) wide pipeline right-of-way would force the felling of up to 200 maples, or about 80 percent of the family's sugaring trees. The company and the family have made no agreement regarding compensation for the land, which was transferred by an "eminent domain" court order declaring the pipeline in the public interest. Michael Archie, a spokesman for Williams Companies Inc , which along with Cabot Oil & Gas Corp and several other partners will own the pipeline, said tree cutting could start as soon as the coming week. (Editing by Frank McGurty and Lisa Shumaker) scalia Applesauce and broccoli were left on the steps of the US Supreme Court on Friday in what was a makeshift memorial for a few of Justice Antonin Scalia's more memorable contributions to the Obamacare debate. "It's pure applesauce," Scalia said of the court's reasoning in last year's King v. Burwell case regarding Obamacare subsidies, which were upheld by the court in a 6-3 decision. And in the first Supreme Court case ever involving Obama's landmark health law, Scalia questioned whether the government could force people to buy broccoli. "Could you define the market everybody has to buy food sooner or later, so you define the market as food, therefore, everybody is in the market; therefore, you can make people buy broccoli," he said. Fortune cookies and paper bags were also left at the makeshift memorial, which were both a part of one of Scalia's more memorable lines in his dissent of Obergefell v. Hodges, the case that made same-sex marriage legal in the US last summer. "If, even as the price to be paid for a fifth vote, I ever joined an opinion for the Court that began: 'The Constitution promises liberty to all within its reach, a liberty that includes certain specific rights that allow persons, within a lawful realm, to define and express their identity,' I would hide my head in a bag. The Supreme Court of the United States has descended from the disciplined legal reasoning of John Marshall and Joseph Story to the mystical aphorisms of the fortune cookie." Scalia died at a Texas ranch last weekend at 79. His casket arrived at the Supreme Court on Friday ahead of his funeral on Saturday morning. Applesauce. At base of Supreme Court stairs for Scalia pic.twitter.com/wNVe5QL3tR Tom LoBianco (@tomlobianco) February 19, 2016 Yes, that's applesauce, fortune cookies, paper bags and broccoli as Justice Scalia memorial #SCOTUS pic.twitter.com/A3HJptWkAM Jessica Gresko (@jessicagresko) February 19, 2016 NOW WATCH: SEN. CORY BOOKER: The Republican position on the vacant Supreme Court seat doesn't make any sense More From Business Insider By Daniel Ramos LA PAZ, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Repsol SA discovered 4 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of possible natural gas reserves in Bolivia that it will start tapping in 2019, the government and company said Friday - a finding that could boost the Andean country's reserves by 40 percent. The three new fields - Boicobo, Ipaguazu and Boyuy - in the Caipipendi block in southern Bolivia contain enough gas to meet the demands of neighboring Brazil over 10 years, said Diego Diaz, the head of Repsol's Bolivian unit. Spain's Repsol has a 37.5 percent stake in the block and Bolivia's state-run energy company YPFB can take 82 percent of earnings on new energy production. "This news is a surprise," said Bolivian President Evo Morales. "We had forecast 17 tcf through 2020 and Repsol's new discovery wasn't in our plans." Bolivia now has 10.45 tcf of proven reserves. Natural gas accounts for roughly half of Bolivia's total exports, but its reserves have dwindled because of a lack of new finds and under-investment. The discovery will likely ease worries about Bolivia's ability to honor export contracts and sustain its high levels of domestic spending. Luis Alberto Sanchez, the country's energy minister, said the new find will likely add $1.3 billion to the government's annual oil and gas proceeds. Bolivia earned $31.5 billion from its key energy sector between 2006 and 2015 - 600 percent more than in the previous two decades, according to official data. Morales, who nationalized the energy sector in 2006, reiterated that the government will invest $2.4 billion in exploration and extraction this year. (Reporting by Daniel Ramos, Writing by Mitra Taj; Editing by Lisa Shumaker) CARACAS, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Russia's top oil producer Rosneft is to invest another $500 million as it raises its stake in the Petromonagas joint venture in Venezuela's Orinoco Belt region to 40 percent, President Nicolas Maduro said on Friday. That is the maximum stake foreign partners are allowed to hold in joint ventures with Venezuelan state oil firm PDVSA . "Today we are going to sign (for) an additional investment of $500 million in the Orinoco belt from Rosneft which is going to raise its participation up to 40 percent," Maduro said in comments broadcast live from the region. Further details were not immediately available. Rosneft originally had a 16.7 percent stake in the Petromonagas venture. Reuters reported last June that PDVSA and the Russian oil major were negotiating a financing deal under which Rosneft would lend its South American counterpart $5 billion, a source close to the negotiations said. (Reporting by Deisy Buitrago; writing by Andrew Cawthorne, editing by G Crosse) Libyans gather next to debris at the site of a jihadist training camp targeted in a US air strike, near the Libyan city of Sabratha on February 19, 2016 (AFP Photo/Mahmud Turkia) Belgrade (AFP) - A US air strike in Libya believed to have killed an Islamic State group operative behind the mass murder of tourists on a Tunisian beach also killed two kidnapped Serbian embassy employees, Belgrade said Saturday. The Friday attack, which has been condemned by Libya's internationally recognised government, targeted a jihadist training camp near the Libyan coastal city of Sabratha, killing dozens of people. But Belgrade said the victims of the strike also included two employees from its embassy in Libya, who were taken hostage on November 8 in Sabratha from a convoy of cars heading to the Tunisian border. US officials said the raid likely killed Noureddine Chouchane, also known as "Sabir," who along with other jihadists had been planning attacks against American and other Western interests. Chouchane is suspected of being behind both the beach attack in July 2015 near the Tunisian city of Sousse that killed 38 tourists, including 30 Britons, and an attack on the National Bardo Museum in Tunis that killed 21 tourists and a policeman in March 2015. Both attacks were claimed by the Islamic State group. "It has just been officially confirmed that two Serbian citizens who were foreign ministry employees, Sladjana Stankovic and Jovica Stepic, were killed," Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic told reporters. "They were killed by explosions, obviously we are talking about American bombs," he said, expressing "deepest condolences" to the families. "This is the first big hostage crisis that our state has been faced with. Our people would have been released had they not been killed," insisted Vucic. The Pentagon for its part said it had "no information" indicating that its air strike had killed the two Serbs and that the circumstances of their deaths "remained unclear". "Our forces watched this training camp for weeks leading up to the operation, and at the time of the strike there were no indications of any civilians present," spokesman Peter Cook said, extending his condolences to the Serbian government and the victims' relatives. Story continues Libya's internationally recognised government in the far east of the country issued a statement saying the US attack was not coordinated with the authorities and was "a clear and flagrant violation of sovereignty of the Libyan state". The Serbian premier said the bodies of Stankovic, the embassy's communications chief, and her driver Stepic were expected to be repatriated on Monday. Sabratha, which lies 70 kilometres (42 miles) west of Tripoli, is considered a stronghold of extremism in lawless Libya, where militants are trained in jihadist camps before launching deadly attacks in other countries. The country spiralled into chaos after longtime dictator Moamer Kadhafi was ousted and killed in October 2011, with two governments vying for power and armed groups battling to control vast energy resources. Belgrade maintains an embassy in Tripoli, and Serbian citizens -- mostly doctors, other medical staff and construction workers -- have been working in Libya for decades due to close bilateral relations during Kadhafi's regime. - IS training in Libya - The Pentagon estimates that around 5,000 IS fighters are in Libya, and Friday's strike was the second US air raid in the past three months targeting the fast-expanding group in the North African country. A statement from the Tripoli-based general prosecutor said that one of those wounded in the US strike had confirmed that he and the others killed in the raid were IS members. The wounded man said they "came to Libya to train and then carry out terrorist attacks in Tunis", the prosecutor's statement said. Vucic said Washington was probably unaware that the Serbian hostages were held at the bombed location, "but it will remain unknown". He said relations with the United States were "historically not easy", referring to the 11-week bombing campaign by NATO against Serbia in 1999 during the Kosovo war. "I am not ready... to strain and worsen relations with the United States because we need them as a friend and partner, not as an enemy," he added. A Ugandan soldier patrols the streets in central Kampala after President Yoweri Museveni won the presidential election for a fifth term on February 20, 2016 (AFP Photo/Carl de Souza) (AFP) Washington (AFP) - The United States on Saturday noted a series of troubling "irregularities" in Uganda's presidential and parliamentary elections and said that "the Ugandan people deserve better." Ugandan election officials said President Yoweri Museveni won 60 percent of the vote, handing him a fifth term. But opposition leader Kizza Besigye, in a message issued while under house arrest, denounced what he said were "sham elections." Mark Toner, a spokesman for the US State Department, called for Besigye's immediate release and said in a statement that while the elections had been peaceful, their conduct was "deeply inconsistent with international standards and expectations for any democratic process." He cited "delays in the delivery of voting materials, reports of pre-checked ballots and vote buying, ongoing blockage of social media sites, and excessive use of force by the police." US Secretary of State John Kerry urged Museveni on Friday to "rein in" his security forces. Although Museveni was easily re-elected, at least 19 of his ministers lost their parliamentary seats, among them Defense Minister Crispus Kiyonga, who has spearheaded regional efforts to end the political crisis in Burundi. Museveni and Besigye, the opposition leader, were once close, having fought together in a bush war to overthrow the country's first post-independence leader, Milton Obote. But Besigye has now made four unsuccessful attempts to unseat his former comrade-in-arms. 2000 - 2022 24 .- . focus-news.net, () . 24 . 24 . . 24 . We value your privacy. Focus Taiwan (CNA) uses tracking technologies to provide better reading experiences, but it also respects readers' privacy. Click here to find out more about Focus Taiwan's privacy policy. When you close this window, it means you agree with this policy. Forgot your Password? By logging into your account, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy , and to the use of cookies as described therein. CDNBear said: I can not fathom how anyone would support the NDP's position here, by railing against The Rebel. I can fully grasp that Ezra rubs people the wrong way. But to bury his media outlet over that, is deplorable. It gives credence to the NDP's abhorrent actions and continued attack on media with their proposed forthcoming policy of what is or isn't acceptable media. Simply barring The Rebel was stupid and misguided. Trying to come up with a policy, undoubtedly with the intent of barring The Rebel, has now morphed their original idiocy into a slippery slope. Journalist across the country are against what the NDP is proposing and stand steadfast against the govt deciding who is or isn't a journalist. It boggles the mind that anyone would exert any energy to further discredit a media outlet in the hopes of silencing it. Be it the CBC, HuffPost, The Star, The Sun, or whatever. Click to expand... You are absolutely right! The idea is abhorrent and extremely dangerous - but watch - I sincerely believe they'll do everything in their power to do exactly what Ezra predicts - set up a "panel" of "real" journalists thereby exempting those who don't agree with them.You watch - that's exactly what they'll try to do unless the public and other journalists stand up to them.It's going to be interesting for sure and if this is allowed, it's a slippery slope and the government in Ottawa would likely adapt the same kind of policy.The funny thing is that the media were so against the Conservatives and Mr. Harper because they simply ignored them knowing they'd publish what the hell they wanted anyway whether it was true or not.The Dippers here in Alberta and, potentially the Libs in Ottawa by the sounds of some of the Liberal tweets, would simply outright ban those who disagreed with them.JMHO Antifluff. Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall says he wants nothing to do with Ottawas plan for a national minimum price on greenhouse gas emissions as he raises the political heat ahead of the First Ministers climate summit scheduled for Vancouver in two weeks. In an interview Thursday, Mr. Wall who faces a re-election campaign this spring flatly rejected the federal governments plan to reach agreement with provinces and territories on a Canada-wide floor price for carbon, which would be at least $15 a tonne. Lets be clear that it would be a tax, and thats the very last thing the economy needs right now, Mr. Wall said. Ive already made it clear that if were re-elected, our government will not be pursuing any tax increases or new taxes, and neither would we support any new national taxes. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will meet with the premiers in Vancouver on March 3 for talks on a national climate strategy, but they are not expecting to reach a deal at that time. Instead, Ottawa and the provinces are looking to set up working groups to chart the path forward in key areas, including a pan-Canadian minimum carbon price that would apply broadly across the economy, but would also allow provinces to use their own mechanisms and collect the revenue. They are aiming to have a deal in six months. Federal sources say the proposal for a carbon floor price is purposely vague with no specific price or approach identified so as not to presume an outcome to the negotiations. But finding common ground will prove enormously challenging, given the various approaches already being pursued by provincial governments. Mr. Wall was outspoken in his skepticism about carbon pricing when premiers met with Mr. Trudeau prior to the Paris climate summit in December. And with an election looming, he is doubling down on his opposition. We think technological investment should be a higher priority than fiscal instruments or new taxes that would hurt economic growth and potentially cost jobs here in Saskatchewan and across the country, he said. His province has invested more than $1-billion in a carbon-capture project at the Boundary Dam coal-fired power station near Estevan, which Mr. Wall says will provide a technology solution to an energy-hungry world. Forgoing a broad-based carbon tax would leave Saskatchewan with a competitive advantage, as neighbouring Alberta moves to impose a $30-a-tonne levy, he added. I dont want a level playing field for our province. I want this to be the most competitive place that it possibly can be and that does not include a new carbon tax, especially now, given the state of the economy. Ontario Environment Minister Glen Murray cheered the federal governments plan to set a minimum national carbon price, saying it would create fairness between jurisdictions that are putting a price on carbon and those that arent. What do you do with something that comes out of Saskatchewan, that has no carbon price on it, versus something that comes out of Alberta? To remove interprovincial trade barriers and to have fair treatment within the Canadian federation that [floor price] makes sense, Mr. Murray said in an interview at Queens Park Thursday. Ontario is set to introduce a cap-and-trade system working in concert with Quebec and California that will impose carbon cost on fuel distributors and many industries; Alberta announced its carbon tax will complement an emissions cap on the oil sands. Mr. Murray said he talks to federal Environment Minister Catherine McKenna every week and that Ottawa has been very open with the process. The Atlantic provinces which accounted for 6 per cent of Canadas greenhouse gas emissions in 2013 would also face the choice of either living with a federal carbon tax or adopting one of their own. Environment ministers from the four provinces agreed to work together on climate policy, including the potential for a regional carbon-pricing plan. The recently elected Liberal government in Newfoundland and Labrador is considering options for carbon levies, Environment Minister Perry Trimper said in an interview. Were willing to step up to the plate in a way we have not been under the previous Progressive Conservative government, he said. B.C. Environment Minister Mary Polak said Ottawa has not yet laid out a proposal but predicted it will not be easy to win over agreement with all the provinces. She said there was discussion at the recent meeting between the federal, provincial and territorial ministers on climate about how to approach carbon pricing, but each province is at a different stage on the issue. We all have to acknowledge, Ms. Polak said, a pan-Canadian approach is a tall order. Weve got really big differences between provinces its a huge challenge. She sidestepped what might happen if just one province opts out. We havent seen what proposal they might bring, she said, adding: We know that every province is going to be contributing to Canadas agreement in Paris in different ways. wonderfulIn October of 2014, Steven Pratt was supposed to begin his life anew. He had served out a 30-year prison sentence and gone home to Atlantic City, N.J., where his family held a party to welcome him.But a violent history would repeat itself all too soon.Pratt was 15 when he got into an argument with his next door neighbor, Michael Anderson. Court records show that Anderson was a father figure of sorts to Pratt. On Oct. 11, 1984, he asked Pratt and his friends to vacate a hallway in their apartment building where they were noisily hanging out and smoking marijuana.Angered by Andersons request, Pratt retrieved a lead pipe from his apartment and approached Anderson with it in hand. Anderson wrestled the pipe from Pratts grasp, striking him on the face.Then Pratts mother entered the room, and Anderson left.Hours later, Pratt knocked on the door of Andersons apartment. When the neighbor appeared, Pratt asked him if he recalled their fight earlier that day, then shot him dead.Pratt was tried as an adult for the murder and began serving his sentence at a maximum security prison.Thirty years later, things should have been different. Pratt was 45 when he got out, and he returned to the Atlantic City neighborhood where his 64-year-old mother resided, the Press of Atlantic City reported . It was a quiet part of town, the kind of place where kids carved hearts around their initials in wet cement on the sidewalk.Neighbors told the Press of Atlantic City that Gwendolyn Pratt was kind and impeccably dressed. She took a 6 a.m. bus to work every day without fail.No one guessed that she would lose her life less than two days after her son got his freedom.On the Sunday morning after Pratts release, police found Gwendolyn dead from blunt injuries to the head. Pratt was charged, and at his initial court appearance, he wept.I have failed, Pratt told the judge, his voice barely audible, the Press of Atlantic City reported . I dont want a trial. Im guilty.He officially pleaded guilty to manslaughter this week. He is expected to be sentenced to 25 years in prison, according to the Associated Press 2014 Bureau of Justice Statistics report found that about 77 percent of released prisoners were arrested for a new crime within five years. Among convicted murderers, however, the recidivism rate is much lower, especially when it comes to those who commit murder again.Nancy Mullane, author of the book Life after Murder , studied the patterns of 988 convicted murderers who were released from California prisons, none of whom were rearrested for murder.The timing and gruesome repetition of Pratts crimes make him an anomaly one that led many to ask whether he had been destroyed by juvenile incarceration. THE WALL OF SHAME "The only thing [Trump's] mouth is good for is being Vladimir Putin's c--k holster." --STEPHEN COLBERT "[Ivanka Trump] Your father is a racist birther. Steve Bannon an anti-Semitic opportunist. You and your husband are enabling hatred. F--- your shoes." --BRADLEY WHITFORD "Melania [Trump] is a hooker." --JACOB BERNSTEIN "And my job is to shut other white people down when they want to interrupt." "We have to, at the DNC, provide training. We have to teach them how to communicate, how to be sensitive, and how to shut their mouths if they're white." --SALLY BOYNTON BROWN "And to our detractors that insist that this march will never add up to anything: F--- you! F---you! "Yes, I have thought an awful lot about blowing up the White House." --MADONNA "Barron Trump looks like a very handsome date-rapist-to-be." --STEPHEN SPINOLA "Barron [Trump] will be this country's first homeschool shooter." --KATIE RICH "Hollywood is crawling with outsiders and foreigners, and if we kick 'em all out, you'll have nothing to watch but football and mixed martial arts, which are not the arts." --MERYL STREEP "There's a billion to one chance we're living in base reality." [That means we're almost positively living in a simulation, like a video game.] --ELON MUSK "When I would deny that there was a significant racist component in some of the politics on our side, it was because the people I hung out with were certainly not. When suddenly, this rock is turned over, there is this'Oh shit, did I not see that?'" ---------------------------- "In any other scenario, Hillary Clinton's lying about her emails, and her pay-for-play relationship with the Clinton Foundation would be disqualifying issues. The only reason they're not disqualifying is because Donald Trump is a fundamentally more repellent, dishonest figure." --CHARLIE SYKES "I made a mistake in recalling the events of twelve years ago... I said I was traveling in an aircraft that was hit by RPG fire. I was instead in a following aircraft." --BRIAN WILLIAMS "I'm here to tell you if you elect me governor of this state, I will end the civil war." --TOM BARRETT "I would not look to the U.S. Constitution, if I were drafting a constitution in the year 2012. I might look at the constitution of South Africa. That was a deliberate attempt to have a fundamental instrument of government that embraced basic human rights, had an independent judiciary. It really is, I think, a great piece of work that was done." --RUTH BADER GINSBURG "Callista Gingrich. Karen Santorum. Ann Romney. Now, do you really think our country is ready for a white first lady?" --ROBERT DE NIRO "The death of Andrew Breitbart disproves the adage that only the good die young." --JULIAN BOND "The National Institute of Health has said that it is a danger to women's health and safety of their families that for 30 years to be exposed to the prospects of pregnancy." --GWEN MOORE "[Tea Party Republicans] have acted like terrorists." --JOE BIDEN "Why did- Couldn't the President have said at that moment, way back in December of last year, 'no game playing. No hostage-taking. No terrorizing this country with the debt ceiling. I'm not going to negotiate with you guys. You can't play it that way.' Could he have done that?" --CHRIS MATTHEWS "[T]he tea-party Hobbits could return to Middle Earth having defeated Mordor." --WALL STREET JOURNAL EDITORIAL "I remember distinctly an image of--we were sitting on his couches, and I was looking at [Obama's] pant leg and his perfectly creased pant, and I'm thinking, a) he's going to be president and b) he'll be a very good president." --DAVID BROOKS "I feel like calling her back and smackin' her around." --FRED CLARK, DEMOCRAT "The picture was of me, and I sent it." --ANTHONY WEINER "[I]f you go back to the year 2000, when we had an obvious disaster and - and saw that our voting process needed refinement, and we did that in the America Votes Act and made sure that we could iron out those kinks, now you have the Republicans, who want to literally drag us all the way back to Jim Crow laws and literally - and very transparently - block access to the polls to voters who are more likely to vote Democratic candidates than Republican candidates. And it's nothing short of that blatant." --DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ "This is probably one of the worst times we've seen because the numbers of people elected to Congress. I went through this as co-chair of the arts caucus. In '94 people were elected simply to come here to kill the National Endowment for the Arts. Now theyre here to kill women." --LOUISE SLAUGHTER "The protesters have proven today that theyre not going away. It was a pretty rough night last night. You can imagine if people said, well, we just cant fight the power. Instead, this morning, they came by tens, by hundreds, by thousands. By midday today, it was easily more than 10,000, perhaps as many as 15,000 people on the square here in Madison. Not organized by anyone, just grassroots citizens who came out just like the Minutemen in 1776." --JOHN NICHOLS "They're sitting on the money, they're using it for their own -- they're putting it someplace else with no interest in helping you with your life, with that money. We've allowed them to take that. That's not theirs, that's a national resource, that's ours. We all have this -- we all benefit from this or we all suffer as a result of not having it. I think we need to go back to taxing these people at the proper rates." --MICHAEL MOORE "Why don't we just raise the taxes and let these folks have their collective bargaining, have their union representation and go back to their jobs? Raise the taxes on the wealthy." --DAVID LETTERMAN "In 1933, [Hitler] abolished unions and that's what our Governor [Scott Walker] is doing today." --LENA TAYLOR, Democrat State Senator "So I would urge my Republican colleagues, no matter how strongly they feel -- you know, we have three branches of government. We have a House. We have a Senate. We have a president. And all three of us are going to have to come together and give some, but it is playing with fire to risk the shutting down of the government." --CHUCK SCHUMER "Well, when you start off with the Preamble of the Constitution, you talk about the pursuit of happiness." --JOHN LEWIS "I'm Rebecca Kleefisch. I performed fellatio on all the talk show hosts in Milwaukee. And they endorsed me and that's how I became lieutenant governor." --SLY SYLVESTER "Do you think this Constitution-loving is getting out of hand? I mean, is it a nod to the Tea Party?" --JOY BEHAR "We cant just leave it up to the parents." "[Military leaders] tell us that childhood obesity isnt just a public health issue; they tell us that it is not just an economic threat -- it is a national security threat as well." --MICHELLE OBAMA "Actually, I did not take part in [the assassination of Sarah Palin]. I led it." --KATHLEEN PARKER "[The repeal of ObamaCare is] a kind of creeping genocide." --JESSE JACKSON "[Obama] has to realize that Mitch McConnell has virtually said so that politically he wants to cut out his heart and throw his liver to the dogs." --DAN RATHER "And the instructions are not to improvise a comedy sketch, but to elect a group of unqualified, unstable individuals who will do what they are told, in exchange for money and power, and march this nation as far backward as they can get, backward to Jim Crow, or backward to the breadlines of the '30s, or backward to hanging union organizers, or backward to the trusts and the robber barons. "Result: the Tea Party. Vote backward, vote Tea Party. And if you are somehow indifferent to what is planned for next Tuesday, it is nothing short of an attempted use of democracy to end this democracy." --KEITH "Reagan's dead and he was a lousy President" OLBERMANN "I gotta wonder when people are gonna start wearing uniforms. I mean they've got an army out there in Alaska of militia people. You've got these guys going around acting like street thugs. I mean it isn't far from what we saw in the thirties, where all of a sudden, political parties started showing up in uniform." --CHRIS MATTHEWS "[Sharron Angle] is a moron on top of being evil... I'd like to see her do this ad in the South Bronx. Come here, bitch. Come to New York and do it. I'm not praying for her. She's going to hell. She's going to hell, this bitch." --JOY BEHAR "So people have been hurting and I understand that. And it doesn't give them comfort or solace for me to tell them, you know, but for me, we'd be in a worldwide depression." --HARRY REID "And to play Dick Cheney, all I had to do was find my Dick Cheney. And you can find all the villainy in the world in your own heart, and that's what an actor's job is. I always say to kids, inside you is Hitler and Jesus. And you got to find the appropriate person and bring them out." --RICHARD DREYFUSS "Because I live in the District of Columbia which is so predominantly Democratic, I am a registered Democrat. But I am an avowed neutral. And to put that into practice, I take my young daughter into the voting booth and she votes for me. She's now 14. We've been doing this since she was about age 4. She's now quite informed." --BOB WOODWARD "Sarah Palin's an idiot. Come on. This is a remarkably, stunningly, jaw-droppingly incompetent and mean woman." "The Democrats may have moved into the center, but the Republicans have moved into a mental institution." --AARON SORKIN "Perhaps the greatest threat of all is the undermining of our Constitution and the systematic attack against the inalienable rights of the citizens of this nation, rights that are guaranteed by our Constitution. At the vanguard of this insidious attack is the Tea Party. This band of misguided citizens is moving perilously close to achieving villainous ends." --HARRY BELAFONTE "[Christine O'Donnell is] a witch who doesn't masturbate." --JOY BEHAR "Ah, the Tea Party, the nativist bed-wetters who somehow control our national dialogue. Yes, I call them the Pee Party, Jay, because they're always peeing in their pants about something. They're just, they're afraid of a mosque being built in New York. They're afraid of guns. You know, they think Obama, who like every other pussy Democrat has never said a single word about gun control, but they are very sure that he and his Negro army are coming after their guns. You know what? If you think that he's coming after your guns, you need to get out of your chat room and have your house tested for lead. He's not coming after your guns or your Bible or your fishing pole or your chewing tobacco." --BILL MAHER "That's a trade-off society is making because of very, very high medical costs, and a lack of willingness to say, you know, is spending a million dollars on that last three months of life for that patient, would it be better not to lay off those ten teachers and to make that trade-off in medical costs. But that;s called the 'Death Panel' and you're not supposed to have that discussion." --BILL GATES "NOT the 'whiteman's bitch'" --IESHUH GRIFFIN "[If Rush Limbaugh suffered a heart attack in my presence, I would] laugh loudly like a maniac and watch his eyes bug out. I never knew I had this much hate in me. But he deserves it." --SARAH SPITZ "You want freedom, you going to have to kill some crackers. You going to have to kill some of their babies." --KING SAMIR SHABAZZ "If this was Texas, which is the state that, that is directly on the border with Mexico, and they were calling for a measure like this, saying that they had a major issue with, you know, with undocumented people flooding their borders, I would say I would have to look twice at this. "But this is a state that is a ways removed from the border. And, um, it just, it doesn't make sense to me that when you google this subject, if you put in 'Arizona S.B. 1070,' that you see a picture of the governor of Arizona meeting with President Obama in May of 2010. If you have direct linkage to the president, there are already National Guard troops on the border in Arizona." --PEGGY WEST "Tell [the Jews] to get the hell out of Palestine. Remember, these people are occupied and it's their land. It's not German. It's not Poland. [The Jews] can go home. Poland. Germany." --HELEN THOMAS "After the last eight years, it's good to have a president that knows what a library is." --PAUL McCARTNEY "By the way, I just want to point out I'm wearing my splash shield because I was told I was going to be in the splash zone (during Harry Smith's colonoscopy on live TV)." --KATIE COURIC "And that Word is, we have to give voice to what that means in terms of public policy that would be in keeping with the values of the Word." ---------------------------- "Think of an economy where people could be an artist or a photographer or a writer without worrying about keeping their day job in order to have health insurance or that people could start a business and be entrepreneurial and take risk, but not job loss because of a child with asthma or someone in the family is bipolaryou name it, any condition is job-locking." --NANCY PELOSI "Back in World War II, we viewed the Japanese as 'yellow, slant-eyed dogs' that believed in different gods. They were out to kill us because our way of living was different. We, in turn, wanted to annihilate them because they were different. Does that sound familiar, by any chance, to what's going on today?" --TOM HANKS "The 'White Right' is trying to set Barack up to be assassinated.... Here are Christians praying for God to kill Barack Obama." --LOUIS FARRAKHAN "I refuse to accept the notion that the United States of America is not going to lead the world economically throughout the 20th Century." --JOE BIDEN "Obama's critics keep blasting him for Chicago-style politics. So, fine. Channel your inner Al Capone and go gangsta against your foes. Let 'em know that if they aren't with you, they are against you, and will pay the price." --ROLAND MARTIN "Martha Coakley is running to fill the rest of Ted Kennedy's term, and her opponent is a far-right tea-bagger Republican." --CHUCK SCHUMER "I tell you what, if I lived in Massachusetts, I'd try to vote ten times. I don't know if they'd let me or not, but I'd try to. Yeah, that's right, I'd cheat to keep these bastards out. I would. 'Cause that's exactly what they are." --ED SCHULTZ "We also see how revved up the tea baggers are at the thought of hijacking health care reform and every chance we have at making progress in Washington." --JOHN KERRY "A few years ago, this guy (Obama) would have been getting us coffee." --BILL CLINTON "I didn't realize I had written a column defending Roman Polanski and minimized his crime - are you sure it was me? I mean, I? There is, apparently, more to this crime than it would seem, and it may sound like a hollow defense, but in Hollywood I am not sure a 13-year-old is really a 13-year-old." --TOM SHALES "Joe Wilson yelled 'You lie!' at a president who didn't. But, fair or not, what I heard was an unspoken word in the air: You lie, boy!" --MAUREEN DOWD "One awkward moment for Sarah Palin at the Yankee game... During the 7th inning, her daughter was knocked up by Alex Rodriguez." --DAVID LETTERMAN "I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasnt lived that life." --SONIA SOTOMAYOR "We all considered sexual abuse of minors as a moral evil, but had no understanding of its criminal nature." --REMBERT WEAKLAND, Archbishop of Milwaukee 1977- 2002 "You know, you might want to look into this, [President Obama], because I think maybe Rush Limbaugh was the 20th hijacker, but he was so strung out on Oxycontin he missed his flight." "Rush Limbaugh -- 'I hope the country fails.' I hope his kidneys fail." ---------------------------- "[Obama] told me I did a great job. The first lady said the same thing. I got a 'well done' from the president, I'm on cloud nine." --WANDA SYKES "Americans are looking for more government in their life, not less." --COLIN POWELL "[Tea Party goers are] just a bunch of wimpy, whiny, weasels who don't love their country." --PAUL BEGALA "I wouldn't want [gay marriage] to go to the United States Supreme Court now because that homophobe Antonin Scalia has too many votes on this current court." --BARNEY FRANK "Going forward, my mind will be open to every solution -- except one. We should not -- we must not -- and I will not -- raise taxes." --JIM DOYLE, Liar "He's a terrorist. Rush Limbaugh is a terrorist." --JOY BEHAR "You know, I just want to say to her (Sarah Palin), just very quickly...F--- you." --JON STEWART "Should I be worried about being a slave and being returned to slavery?" --WHOOPI GOLDBERG "I also believe that America is the greatest sin against God." --FR. MICHAEL PFLEGER "Those who think they can revive the stinking corpse of the usurping and fake Israeli regime by throwing a birthday party are seriously mistaken. Today the reason for the Zionist regime's existence is questioned, and this regime is on its way to annihilation." --MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD "We'll be eight degrees hotter in ten, not ten but 30 or 40 years and basically none of the crops will grow. Most of the people will have died and the rest of us will be cannibals." --TED TURNER "Look, [Mitt] Romney comes from a religion founded by a criminal who was anti-American, pro-slavery, and a rapist. And he comes from that lineage and says, 'I respect this religion fully.'" --LAWRENCE O'DONNELL "Mexico does not end at its borders... Where there is a Mexican, there is Mexico." --FELIPE CALDERON "The planet has a fever. If your baby has a fever, you go to the doctor. If the doctor says you need to intervene here, you don't say, 'Well, I read a science fiction novel that told me it's not a problem.' If the crib's on fire, you don't speculate that the baby is flame retardant." --AL GORE "Don't fear the terrorists. They're mothers and fathers." --ROSIE O'DONNELL "Is America ready for a black president? Well, I say we just had a retarded one. When did being black become a bigger deterrent than being retarded?" --CHRIS ROCK "Shut the f--- up! Shut up if you can't take a joke [about President Bush]!" --BARBRA STREISAND "Right, oh, yeah, Happy 9/11! Celebrate the day, right?" --JAMES BROLIN, Mr. Barbra Streisand "I think President Bush very well may have signed an authorization for the 9/11 attacks." --KEVIN BARRETT, UW-MADISON Lecturer "I said what I said. I am not guilty." --SADDAM HUSSEIN "Terri will not be starved to death. Her nutrition and hydration will be taken away." --MICHAEL SCHIAVO "On the eve of the election last month my wife Judith and I were driving home late in the afternoon and turned on the radio for the traffic and weather. What we instantly got was a freak show of political pornography: lies, distortions, and half-truths -- half-truths being perhaps the blackest of all lies. " --BILL MOYERS "I hate the Republicans and everything they stand for." --HOWARD DEAN "The Iraqis who have risen up against the occupation are not 'insurgents' or 'terrorists' or 'The Enemy.' They are the REVOLUTION, the Minutemen, and their numbers will grow -- and they will win." --MICHAEL MOORE "And there is no reason, Bob, that young American soldiers need to be going into the homes of Iraqis in the dead of night, terrorizing kids and children, you know, women, breaking sort of the customs of the--of--the historical customs, religious customs." --JOHN KERRY "F---ing retarded." "[Republicans] can go f--- themselves!" --RAHM EMANUEL "I'm not going to have some reporters pawing through our papers. We are the president." --HILLARY CLINTON "It depends on what the meaning of the word 'is' is." --BILL CLINTON "And let me tell you something -- for the first time in my adult lifetime, I am really proud of my country. And not just because Barack has done well, but because I think people are hungry for change. And I have been desperate to see our country moving in that direction and just not feeling so alone in my frustration and disappointment." --MICHELLE OBAMA "If asking a billionaire to pay the same tax rate as a Jew, uh, as a janitor, makes me a warrior for the working class, I wear that with a badge of honor." ---------------------------- "If you love me, you got to help me pass this bill." ---------------------------- "[F]or most of my lifetime, the United States was such a dominant economic power, we were such a large market, our industry, our technology, our manufacturing was so significant that we always met the rest of the world economically on our terms. And now, because of the incredible rise of India and China and Brazil and other countries, the United States remains the largest economic and the largest market but theres real competition out there. And that's potentially healthy. It makes -- Michelle was saying earlier I like tough questions because it keeps me on my toes. Well, this will keep America on its toes." ---------------------------- "If Latinos sit out the election instead of saying, 'We're gonna PUNISH OUR ENEMIES and we're gonna reward our friends who stand with us on issues that are important to us,' if they don't see that kind of upsurge in voting in this election, then I think it's gonna be harder and that's why I think it's so important that people focus on voting on November 2." ---------------------------- "We don't mind the Republicans joining us. They can come for the ride, but THEY GOTTA SIT IN BACK." ---------------------------- "We can absorb a terrorist attack. We'll do everything we can to prevent it, but even a 9/11, even the biggest attack ever... we absorbed it and we are stronger." ---------------------------- "We're buying shrimp, guys." ---------------------------- "We are the ones we've been waiting for." ---------------------------- "We talk to these folks because they potentially have the best answers so I know whose ass to kick." ---------------------------- "We're not trying to push financial reform because we begrudge success that's fairly earned. I mean, I do think at a certain point you've made enough money. But, you know, part of the American way is, you know, you can just keep on making it if youre providing a good product or you're providing good service. We don't want people to stop fulfilling the core responsibilities of the financial system to help grow the economy." ---------------------------- "If you've got a business, you didn't build that. Somebody else made that happen." ---------------------------- "It is a vital national security interest of the United States to reduce these conflicts because whether we like it or not, we remain a dominant military superpower, and when conflicts break out, one way or another we get pulled into them. And that ends up costing us significantly in terms of both blood and treasure." ---------------------------- "But I -- I think that the most important thing for the public to understand is, we're not handling any of these cases any different than the Bush administration handled them all through 9/11." ---------------------------- "One such translator was an American of Haitian descent, representative of the extraordinary work that our men and women in uniform do all around the world -- Navy CORPSE-MAN Christian [sic] Brossard. And lying on a gurney aboard the USNS Comfort, a woman asked Christopher: 'Where do you come from? What country? After my operation,' she said, 'I will pray for that country.' And in Creole, CORPSE-MAN Brossard responded, 'Etazini.' The United States of America." ---------------------------- "I hear that Dr. Joe Medicine Crow was around, and so I want to give a shout-out to that Congressional Medal of Honor winner. It's good to see you." ---------------------------- "We are God's partners in matters of life and death." ---------------------------- "[T]he Cambridge police acted stupidly." ---------------------------- "I am going to teach [my daughters] first about values and morals, but if they make a mistake, I don't want them punished with a baby." ---------------------------- "The reforms we seek would bring greater competition, choice, savings, and INEFFICIENCIES to our health care system." ---------------------------- "Over the last 15 months, weve traveled to every corner of the United States. Ive now been in 57 states? I think one left to go. Alaska and Hawaii, I was not allowed to go to even though I really wanted to visit, but my staff would not justify it." --BARACK OBAMA This S ite May Contain Copyrighted () Material. The Use of Which Has Not Always Been Specifically Authorized by The Copyright Owner. Such Material is Made Available to Advance Understanding of Ecological, Political, Human Rights, Economic, Democracy, Scientific, Moral, Ethical, Social Justice Issues, Teaching, and Research. It is believed that this Constitutes a ''Fair Use'' of Any Such Copyrighted Material as Provided For in Section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In Accordance With Title - 17 U.S.C. Section 107, This Material is Distributed Without PROFIT to Those Who Have Expressed a Prior General Interest in Receiving Similar Information For Research and Educational Purposes. Visit the following link for more information: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode Your alternate news source. Connecting the dots between politics and organized crime. "Let the Ghetto Gospel go forward into every hood possible." Ja Rule OSAGE Karen Hahn-Brown of Osage was named the first winner of KCMR 97.9 FMs Home Town Talent Contest. Hahn-Brown won with her song, Father, Shine Your Light, which she composed two years ago. After recording her song and sending in her entry, she was asked to come to the station for an on-air interview. The station will play her song daily in February. Each song shes written was because of trying times in her life. It was a time in my life when I hadnt surrendered my whole life to Christ, she said. I had walled off a part of my life and I didnt want Christ to address that part. At the time, if I was going to follow Christ, I had to allow him into all my life. Hahn-Brown started singing harmony with her sister at age 7. Her singing progressed until she joined a bluegrass gospel group at age 15. Gospel singing was right up my alley, Hahn-Brown said. It was a dream come true. She started writing music in high school and continued being a member of bluegrass gospel bands after school. Hahn-Brown had always played bass guitar until a church organist left. That absence forced Brown to learn to play a traditional guitar so she could accompany the congregation. She now uses the guitar to accompany her own singing. Karen Hahn-Brown met and married Pastor Paul Brown two years ago and moved to Osage. Today the Osage Baptist Church, where the Browns minister, sponsors a monthly cowboy church service where bluegrass gospel is featured. OSAGE Recognizing a shortage of skilled welders in Mitchell County, Osage school has partnered with North Iowa Area Community College and other schools to close the gap. A mixed class of high school and adult students has been meeting at Osage High Schools welding room the past four weeks to receive instruction. The class, which meets from 5 to 8 p.m. Thursday, is the first in what Osage Superintendent Barb Schwamman hopes will be an ongoing series of classes designed to help all ages acquire expertise to grow the countys skilled workforce. The two women and 10 men attending the course are taken step-by-step through the welding process, from safety to how-to. Its a good skill to have, said senior Shelby Draheim. My dad did it in the military and my sister-in-law does it. Draheim said hes possibly interested in welding as a profession and already knows the basics after taking a class at school. Jennifer Winkels says shes always wanted to learn how to weld, but her husband told her he thought it wasnt for her. I wanted to see if Id be any good at it, she said. Maybe it will lead to a skill and I can help my husband on the farm, or make little things to sell for extra money. While the demand for welders in the agricultural and manufacturing industry appears to be growing, skills can can also be used artistically for metal work and sculptures. Thats what led NIAAC student Jenn Onofri to take the class. Onofri said she enjoyed a metal sculpting class at the college last semester. Schwamman said shes pleased with the schools attempt at the first course and hopes to offer another in the future. anishashastri wrote: Hi Guys, I got wait listed this week. I know for a fact that it's my GMAT score (630) and there is a huge scope for improvement. Unfortunately, I don't have the time to study. I will need at least a couple of months to get to the 700 mark right. Besides, I see people with the 700 score cribbing about their scores *such humility*. The start up that I'm working for is going to have it's commercial launch soon and life is just crazy at the moment. Do you think there are ways of putting this across without making it sound like an excuse? Cheers, Anisha Hey,Sorry to hear about your waitlist. However, saying that a low GMAT score was THE reason would be overstating it. There has to be something else they saw, in addition to the score. Now that you mention your score and also that you're involved with a startup, I have a very similar story. I actually took the GRE, and the equivalent of right around where you're at. I am also involved with an international FinTech startup based in India. I know a few people at Stern (current students) with GMAT's well below 650. NYU really is different from other top schools in a way that it does not use your test scores as a "screen".Being a military veteran, I reached out to the Stern Military Veteran's Club and I'll tell you what a fellow veteran and and MBA2 (now my good friend) told me... Sure, the score may be low, but Stern really does have a holistic process. With a low score, be the person that the school would love to meet (at interview), and would love to take a risk on. Coincidentally, I know an individual who was waitlisted for three months with a GMAT score of 780 before being invited to interview. Hope this helps, and wish you the very best. There is still a LOT you can do to get in. Many scholars have theorized that economic development, particularly industrialization and urbanization, contributes to the growth of participatory democracy; according to this theory, it would seem logical that women would both demand and gain suffrage in ever greater numbers whenever economic development expanded their economic opportunities. However, the economic development theory is inadequate to explain certain historical facts about the implementation of women's suffrage. For example, why was women's suffrage, instituted nationally in the United States in 1920, not instituted nationally in Switzerland until the 1970's? Industrialization was well advanced in both countries by 1920: over 33 percent of American workers were employed in various industries, as compared to 44 percent of Swiss workers. Granted, Switzerland and the United States diverged in the degree to which the expansion of industry coincide with the degree of urbanization: only 29 percent of the Swiss population lived in cities of 10,000 or more inhabitants by 1920. However, urbanization cannot fully explain women's suffrage. Within the United States prior to 1920, for example, only less urbanized states had granted women suffrage. Similarly, less urbanized countries such as Cambodia and Ghana had voting rights for women long before Switzerland did. It is true that Switzerland urbanized cantons (political subdivisions) generally enacted women's suffrage legislation earlier than did rural cantons. However, these cantons often shared other characteristicssimilar linguistic background and strong leftist partiesthat may help to explain this phenomenon. Show Spoiler C Show Spoiler A Show Spoiler E 4. The passage suggests which of the following about states in the United States prior to 1920? Show Spoiler E 5. According to the passage, the scholars mentioned in the highlighted text assert which of the following about the growth of participatory democracy within a particular nation? 1. The primary purpose of the passage is toA. contrast two explanations for the implementation of women's suffrageB. demonstrate that one factor contributes more than another factor to the implementation of women's suffrageC. discuss the applicability of a theory for explaining the implementation of women's suffrageD. clarify certain assumptions underlying a particular theory about the implementation of women's suffrageE. explain how a particular historical occurrence was causally connected to the implementation of women's suffrage2. The passage states which of the following about Switzerland's urbanized cantons?A. These cantons shared characteristics other than urbanization that may have contributed to their implementation of women's suffrage.B. These cantons tended to be more politically divided than were rural cantons.C. These cantons shared with certain rural cantons characteristics such as similar linguistic backgrounds and strong leftist parties.D. The populations of these cantons shared similar views because urbanization furthered the diffusion of ideas among them.E. These cantons were comparable to the most highly urbanized states in the United States in their stance toward the implementation of women's suffrage.3. The passage suggests which of the following about urbanization in Switzerland and the United States by 1920?A. A greater percentage of Swiss industrial workers than American industrial workers lived in urban areas.B. There were more cities of 10,000 or more inhabitants in Switzerland than there were in the United States.C. Swiss workers living in urban areas were more likely to be employed in industry than were American workers living in urban areas.D. Urbanized areas of Switzerland were more likely than similar areas in the United States to have strong leftist parties.E. A greater percentage of the United States population than the Swiss population lived in urban areas.A. The states that were not highly urbanized were slow to grant women's suffrage.B. The states that were highly urbanized were the most influential in determining national policies regarding suffrage.C. The most highly urbanized states were more likely to have strong leftist parties.D. The most highly urbanized states were not necessarily the most industrialized ones.E. The most highly urbanized states had not yet granted women's suffrage.A. It is not necessarily correlated with increasing income and opportunities for women in that nation.B. It is not necessarily related to the implementation of women's suffrage within that nation.C. It cannot adequately explain the nation's level of economic development.D. It tends to be encouraged by the occurrence of industrialization in that nation.E. It is to increase with the growth of leftist parties in that nation. Hi there!Thanks for your inquiry. Since you have specific questions, I'll address them directly. The way you stand out of from an overrepresented pool is to excel in what you do. Leadership experience and capabilities are essential. So when you're getting involved in something, don't just participate, become engaged, emerge as a leader, and make a direct impact. Also, when thinking about getting involved in extracurricular activities, don't just do it for the sake of doing it. Think about why you want to do it (hopefully it's more than just to pad your resume). Find something you really care about and commit to it.Your GPA is very important, especially for top programs. As an engineer, you might be compared to other engineers, so simply having an engineering degree doesn't set you apart. If your GPA is low and you are only in your 2nd year, the good news is that you have time to do something about it!You really won't get what you want out of an MBA straight out of undergrad. The median age for most programs hovers around 27-29. While some schools like HBS, Yale, and GSB are looking for younger candidates, you will still need some work experience. A deferred program like the ones you listed are good options if you're interested in going early. And no, being rejected once won't hurt your chances later assuming you've made substantial progress in your career and other facets to improve your application.Hope this helps! Feel free to check out our free resources to learn more about the various program options and how to pick the ones that are best for you! Best of luck!_________________ A COUPLE of years ago Julio Guzman decided he wanted to run for president of Peru. On the face of things, that was implausible. He had never been a candidate for political office before. His experience of government was confined to two short stints as a deputy minister in the administration of the current president, Ollanta Humala. An economist, he had spent much of his working life abroad as an official at the Inter-American Development Bank.A small and dormant political party called Everyone for Peru (TPP in Spanish) agreed to field him as its candidate. For months he made no perceptible impact on the campaign for the election due on April 10th. But by street leafleting and through social media he gained support, especially among young people. This year he has surged in the opinion polls to 17%, behind only the long-standing front-runner, Keiko Fujimori (35%). In a run-off ballot, which would take place in June, he is the only candidate who might come close to beating Ms Fujimori.So it matters greatly that on February 16th the electoral court in effect stalled Mr Guzmans campaign. By three votes to two, it refused his appeal against an administrative ruling that TPP had broken its own statutes in the way that it organised the meeting in October that chose him as its candidate. Confusingly, the courts decision does not in itself annul his candidacy: a separate tribunal must now decide on that. But in practice the court has disabled it. Unless the court quickly reverses itself, weeks of legal argument may lie ahead.Its the political system [uniting] against a new option, declared Mr Guzman, though he insisted he would carry on campaigning. It is part of his pitch that he represents a middle-class insurgency against an entrenched reactionary establishment, a word he uses a lot.The courts majority deployed pettifogging legalism, giving more value to secondary regulation than to Mr Guzmans constitutional right to run and the right of the people to choose whomever they pleasethe essence of democracy. Even in narrow terms, the decision is questionable: the dissenting two pointed out that TPP later held a congress which endorsed the choice of Mr Guzman and that no party member had complained.The underlying problem is that Peru is a democracy in which hardly any of the 25 registered political parties is worthy of the name. They are shells, says Fernando Tuesta, a political scientist and former electoral official. No party conducts an internal election as it should be done. Cesar Acuna, the owner of three private universities who is accused of serial plagiarism and vote-buying (which he denies), remains in the race.The absence of parties is both a cause and an effect of the general contempt in which Peruvians hold their politicians. It injects unpredictability into elections and explains why Mr Guzman could come from nowhere. Aged 45, he is slim, short, articulate and relaxed. He presents himself as a post-ideological candidate situated firmly in the political centre. Whats demanded today is accountability, authenticity and effectiveness, he told Bello earlier this month.He reeled off his priorities for government: pre-school education, promoting innovation and a higher-tech economy, reform of the state and so on. He stresses policies to help the middle class. Many of these are sensible but not especially novel, as he admits. He gives the sense of making some things up as he goes along, and sometimes contradicts himself. That hasnt halted his surge. For it is Mr Guzman himself, as a fresh face and political outsider, who provides the novelty that Peruvians crave.Peru has fared well for most of the past 15 years, as faster economic growth has slashed poverty and paid for social progress. But growth has slowed, crime has risen and corruption scandals have proliferated. Peruvian democracy has been held together not so much by parties as by economic success and a consensus that the government should be run by technocrats (such as Mr Guzman). But are these still enough?It is ironic that the only semi-serious party is that of Ms Fujimori, whose father spurned political parties when he ruled the country as an autocrat in the 1990s. To her credit, she has been firmer than other rivals in defending Mr Guzmans right to run. In the short term, she may be the main beneficiary if he is disqualified: she might then win without a run-off. But it is in no ones interest that the electoral court has disrupted Perus election and potentially undermined the legitimacy of its eventual winner. View from our Club Room Breakfast at the Club Lounge Cocktail hour - they serve different canapes every evening! One of the evenings we had the miso pork belly and it was so good! Matchy OOTD with the cute zebra float Free flow Perrier Jouet champagne at the Sunday Champagne Brunch The Tokyo Bicycle can also be found on this feature wall at the hotel lobby - have fun snapping photos here! There are lots of great spots around the hotel for Instagram shots and photos. Thank you Hotel Jen Tanglin Singapore for having us! Room rates start from SGD$250 per night. Check in time 2pm, check out time 12pm. Location: Hotel Jen Tanglin Singapore, 1A Cuscaden Road, Singapore 249716. Tel: +65 6738 2222 Website: http://hoteljen.com/singapore/tanglin/ If you enjoyed reading my posts, The Tokyo Bicycle can also be found on this feature wall at the hotel lobby - have fun snapping photos here! There are lots of great spots around the hotel for Instagram shots and photos.If you enjoyed reading my posts, LIKE me on Facebook ! You can also follow me on Instagram (@babysumo) for more photo updates or Dayre for daily updates. Thanks :) Just before Chinese New Year celebrations began, we were in Singapore for a short weekend break. This visit, we stayed in, which has recently undergone an extensive $SGD45 million makeover, to mark its transition from Traders Hotel Singapore.The newly refurbished hotel gives out a fresh, contemporary vibe with many Instragrammable corners to be found around the hotel. There are 565 guest rooms in this 18-storey hotel with a choice of 6 room types- ranging from a 26m Superior Room to the 75 m Premier Suite with prices starting at SGD$250 per night. The rooms are all uniquely different, with four contemporary locally curated wallpaper designs highlighting a Singapore theme (bicycle, orchid, goldfish and shop house).We stayed in the, located on the highest floor, with a view of the pool area and nearby residential neighbourhood. The Club Room offers all the features of a Deluxe room, plus Club Lounge benefits. The rooms are thoughtfully appointed, with comfortable king-sized floating beds with 300-thread count linen, high pressure walk-in showers, USB charger outlets, electronic safe, tea and coffee making facilities as well as free, fast Wifi connection throughout the hotel. I like the bay window sofa, where I can sit and chill with a book. Our room has easy access to the Club Lounge on the 17th Floor, as the two floors are connected by a spiral stairway. If you're too lazy to walk, you can always take the lift - we were impressed with how fast they always arrive.Theis open daily from 6.30am to 10.00pm and is accessible 24 hours with room keys. It is a welcoming, chic space to chill or to enjoy a bite and drink, with fantastic views of the estate's surroundings. The Club Lounge offers daily buffet breakfast, mid-afternoon treats, cocktail hour (wines, cocktails, and delicious canapes) and even instant noodles for supper. Coffee, tea and soft drinks is also available all day, and they went prepare paper cups for you to "tapao" your drinks away. We had breakfast at The Club Lounge one of the mornings, and I was happy to find cold cuts such as Iberico ham and pork bacon. For a wider breakfast spread, you can opt to have it at J65 which offers lots of local breakfast items such as laksa, bak kut teh and chicken rice.Thelocated on the 4th Floor is surrounded by lush greenery. You can take a swim in the 30-metre long swimming pool, or relax in the outdoor whirlpool or on any of the comfortable lounge chairs at the pool area. They also provide lots of colorful floats (great for relaxing or simply for snapping photos ;)). There is also a 24-hour boutique gym and spa (with sauna, steam bath and indoor whirlpool) in the hotel.The hotel is a 25-minutes drive from Changi International Airport and is accessible via taxi, bus, subway (MRT) and hotel limousine. It is a 10-minute walk the hotel to Orchard Road, or you can catch the hourly free shuttle bus service. Tanglin Mall is connected to the hotel, and offers a range of high quality shops, cafes, and supermarket. Tokyo bicycles are also available free for guests to use and discover the City.Two new dining outlets are launched in the freshly refurbished lobby level; J65 , the hotel's all day dining restaurant and Jen's Kitchen On-The-Go.'s name is inspired by the Singapore international dialing code. The interior has a South East Asian modern market feel and is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. We tried the Weekend Seafood Dinner (available Fri and Sat - SGD78 nett per person) as well as the Champagne Sunday Brunch (SGD128 with alcohol or SGD 88 without alcohol) at J65 and we were very impressed with the vast selection of fresh seafood, roasts, sashimi, and desserts. Though the restaurant was at full capacity during both our visits, the food was constantly replenished and the service staff was very efficient in clearing our plates. I would highly recommend J65 to those who love buffets offering high-quality, delicious food. For a more detailed review post on J65 , please click here offers a selection of artisan roasted coffee brewed from scratch by baristas from local coffee connoisseurs, Nomad the Gallant as well as curated teas. Hotel Jen Tanglin are passionate in their support of small and local businesses the meticulously handcrafted artisan aprons worn by the F&B team members were conceptualized by local designer FIN and commissioned specially by Hotel Jen Tanglin to promote home-grown talent and skill. The buzzy cafe incorporates a funky Tokyo bicycle as part of the ingenious, contemporary new design. The hotel also houses Ah Hoi's Kitchen, which serves local street food such as Singapore chilli crab and many "zhi char" dishes. Marina Stajic holds a PhD in forensic toxicology and began directing the Forensic Toxicology Laboratory at the Office of Chief Medical Examiner in 1986but she was forced out of that position last spring after questioning the office's use of a controversial method of DNA testing in criminal cases, she alleges in a lawsuit filed yesterday. Since 2004, Stajic has served on the state's Commission on Forensic Science, which oversees accreditation for forensic and DNA laboratories in New York. On October 24, 2014, according to the suit, the commission held a session discussing Low Copy Number [LCN] DNA testing, a technique developed by OCME that analyzes minuscule amounts of DNA left on touched objects to help identify or exclude people suspected of crimes. Court papers state that at this meeting, commission member Barry Scheck questioned whether OCME had studied the reliability of LCN testing when the DNA sample is particularly small and contains a mixture of DNA from two or more people. Scheck is a founder of The Innocence Project, a New York-based nonprofit that exonerates wrongfully-convicted people through DNA testing (though you may know him better as one of O.J. Simpson's defense lawyers), and didn't think that this particular technique should be used in court because he didn't believe it had been proven to be accurate. At one point in the meeting, as described in a lengthy feature on DNA testing by The Marshall Project, he yelled at his fellow commission members, "YOU ARE ALL FUCKING LYING!" Stajic, along with three other commissioners, voted in favor of Scheck's motion to request that OCME release its internal data supporting the use of the LCN technique in such cases, according to the lawsuit. Though the motion was defeated, that vote was public, and Stajic is now claiming that her employers at OCME forced her to leave several months later because of her apparent skepticism toward the office's controversial method. The lawsuit further alleges age discrimination, noting that Stajic, 66, was replaced by a 41-year-old with substantially less experience. Stajic is suing the city, as well as her former employers, Chief Medical Examiner Barbara Sampson and OCME Chief of Laboratories Timothy Kupferschmid. In a statement, Stajic's lawyers, Kevin Mintzer and Daniel Alterman, said that she "was forced out of her job because of principled positions she took on the Commission on Forensic Science," and they are "eager to vindicate Dr. Stajic's rights to speak her conscience and to be free from discrimination." Stajic told the New York Times that she thinks "it's a dangerous precedent when people are expressing their honest opinion and they are compelled to resign or retire because of that." As the Times notes, OCME has said that its technique is reliable and can make accurate identifications based on these trace amounts of DNA, but other scientists and lawyers have questioned whether LCN testing results should be allowed as courtroom evidence. An OCME spokesperson said that the office "is committed to fairness and providing the highest standards of service for the people of New York City," and stated that courts throughout the city have recognized its techniques as reliable. But just last year, a Brooklyn judge refused to admit OCME's LCN testing as evidence because it is "so controversial that the community of scientists who are experts in the field can't agree on it." New York's OCME is the only public DNA lab in the country that uses the LCN technique for criminal cases. We rely on your support to make local news available to all Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2022. Donate today A six-year-old girl nearly drowned at the Queens Spa Castle this afternoon when her hair got caught in a pool vent. An FDNY spokesperson said that emergency medical services responded to a call to day spa's College Point location at 1:43 p.m. and arrived to find that the child had already been removed from the water. She was transported to New York-Presbyterian Queens in serious condition. Witnesses told ABC that her hair got stuck in an underwater vent, and she was blue when she was pulled out of the water. Another spa patron reportedly performed CPR on her. Unlike the midtown location, which requires all guests to be at least 10 years old, the Queens spa castle does not have an age restriction, and offers discounted rates for children under two years of age. The location does have a kiddie pool, which, according to its website, is monitored by lifeguards. It was not immediately clear whether the girl was swimming in the kiddie pool or in one of the spa's other aqua facilities, or whether the latter also have lifeguards. In December 2014, an 84-year-old man was found dead at the bottom of one of the spa's rooftop hot tubs. Witnesses to that incident said that no one immediately noticed when he went under, and spa staff had to go get a booklet with instructions on how to perform CPR. Spa Castle's owner said that three employees present today were certified in CPR. The location has five pools on the floor. The city is auctioning off a 62-year-old fireboat, and this hot item could be yours for as little as $510. The 129-foot boat is docked at the Brooklyn Navy Yard and went up for sale on Wednesday. It includes all sorts of nifty features such as hose spools and water cannonsthough the hose has been removed and it's not clear if the cannons workand plenty of space to stretch out. Before you start looking at your bank balance, though, it's probably worth pondering the hundreds or thousands a month this thing would cost to dock, not to mention its many possible maintenance needs. The auction site notes that the boat is being sold "'AS IS' and 'WHERE IS,'" and that the buyer is responsible for transporting it. This view could be yours. (Department of Citywide Administrative Services) In good news, the sellers note that the boat "WAS TAKEN OUT OF SERVICE APPROXIMATELY 5 YEARS AGO AND WAS IN RUNNING CONDITION AT THAT TIME." The auction goes till March 2nd, so a bidding war may yet break out. Then again, there may not be anyone out there with the guts to make the purchase. The city's other auction items are more mundanetables, chairs, old camcorders, filing cabinets (starting at only a dollar!)but agencies do on occasion try to unload old boats from their fleets. A Newtown Creek sewage-sludge-collector boat built in 1967 went up for bidding last year for a more ambitious $235,000, and though no winning bid is recorded on the auction site, a Department of Citywide Administrative Services spokeswoman said that a buyer is in the process of finalizing a sale. A local government in Florida and a scrap dealer had expressed interest, the New York Times reported. The FDNY last sold one of its vessels three years ago, the spokeswoman said. It's not clear where the nearest marina is that could accommodate such a big ship, were a buyer to want to go Sleepless In Seattle XL with it, rather than melting it down or using it to fight fires again. A worker at a Bronx marina suggested that the World's Fair Marina in Flushing is the only one in the city with slips potentially big enough to accommodate a 129-footer. The World's Fair Marina didn't immediately return a call, but its short-term overnight rates are $2 per foot per night. Long-term rentals are typically much cheaper. According to a plaque on the boat, it was named for Marine Engineer John McKean, who was burned by steam in a 1953 explosion on the George B. McClellan. "Although fatally injured, McKean heroically remained at his post, vainly trying to keep the vessel under control," the plaque reads. It was built in Camden, NJ, for a whopping $1,426,000 according to a website chronicling fireboat history. The boat was on the Hudson River during the September 11th attacks, according to the site, and its crew performed some heroic acts in the immediate aftermath. Don't mind the clutter. (Department of Citywide Administrative Services) The DCAS spokeswoman said that no test drives will be allowed, but people who want to inspect the vessel can create an account on the auction website and call the FDNY number listed there to set up an appointment to look at it. Interested buyers will be allowed to run the engine in place. Whoever photographed the ship seems not to have made much effort to pretty it up, but think of the possibilities! The spokeswoman said that if there are no bids, the city will likely scrap the boat. The city has stepped up efforts to inspect buildings' gas lines in the wake of the East Village building explosions last March, after investigators found unauthorized siphoning of gas likely caused the explosion. The Times reports that the Buildings Department conducted 343 gas line inspections in 2015, five times more than they conducted in 2014. The department has also boosted its number of inspectors, and overhauled how utility companies like Con Edison handle complaints about "unauthorized gas plumbing," forcing the companies to immediately notify the Buildings Department or the Office of Emergency Management so the issue can be addressed. Earlier this month, the Manhattan District Attorney's office indicted five people in connection with last March's explosion, which leveled three buildings and killed two people. General contractor Dilber Kukic, building owner Maria Hrynenko, her son and building facilities manager Michael Hrynenko, and two plumbers, Athanasios Ionnidis and Andrew Trombettas, were all charged, with DA Cyrus Vance alleging that the workers installed unapproved gas meters at 121 and 119 Second Avenue and set up an unsafe, leak-prone flexible hose system to channel gas into apartments upstairs. When ConEd discovered the setup and shut off the gas at 121, the Hrynenkos allegedly began tapping gas lines from 119. Kukic and Michael Hrynenko turned the gas in 121 on when ConEd inspected the building in the early afternoon on March 26th, and that later caused the explosion, according to prosecutors. Master plumber Trombettas also reportedly has been accused of a slew of safety violations and owes thousands of dollars in unpaid fineshe was fined for installing unsafe flexible gas hoses in one Queens building that housed a day care center. "These code violations aren't merely bits of bureaucracy. They are what, in a large city, with a lot of buildings; those codes are what stand between all of us and future explosions," Mark Peters, Commissioner of Department of Investigations, told ABC 7. Inspectors have since found illegal gas hookups in buildings all over the city, including at 250 Fourth Avenue in Brooklyn, at 39th Place in Sunnyside, Queens, and at 117 Second Avenue, 46 East 7th Street, and 96 Second Avenue in the East Village, all three of which are near the site of last year's explosion. My Journey to the Pyramids Opinion Clear message The Darwin awards are for the best approaches, normally successful, to removing yourself from the gene pool. The latest attempt by American Rebecca Clark shows how to do it in so many ways, a solo walk in a park, poor phone reception and then getting within a few feet of a 2000-pound bison. -- Thomas JeffersonSyndicated columnist Charley Reese (1937-2013): "Gun control by definition affects only honest people. When a politician tells you he wants to forbid you from owning a firearm or force you to get a license, he is telling you he doesnt trust you. Thats an insult. ... Gun control is not about guns or crime. It is about an elite that fears and despises the common people."The rifle itself has no moral stature, since it has no will of its own. Naturally, it may be used by evil men for evil purposes, but there are more good men than evil, and while the latter cannot be persuaded to the path of righteousness by propaganda, they can certainly be corrected by good men with rifles -- Jeff Cooper (1920-2006)Note for non-American readers: Crime reports from America which describe an offender just as a "teen" or "teenager" almost invariably mean a BLACK teenager.We are advised to NOT judge ALL Muslims by the actions of a few lunatics, but we are encouraged to judge ALL gun owners by the actions of a few lunatics.Two lines below of a famous hymn that would be incomprehensible to Leftists today ("honor"? "right"? "freedom?" Freedom to agree with them is the only freedom they believe in)It is of course the hymn of the USMC -- still today the relentless warriors that they always were.The intellectual Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius (AD 121-180) said: "The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane."How much do you know about Trayvon Martin? It's all here (Backups here and here An armed society is a polite society. Manners are good when one may have to back up his acts with his life. -- Robert A. HeinleinAfter all the serious stuff here, maybe we need a funny picture of a cantankerous cat This was passed along from Bob B. and also credit to Kevin Sorbo. For me When the State tells you its safe to go to Home Depot to buy a ... Visiting Varanasi, India, made such a deep impression on Connor Smith during last years Carroll College service trip that he returned with this years students. Last year, he created a nonprofit, Water and Education Fund for India, raising $1,000, which he got to distribute this time. Smith was one of a group of 19 mostly Carroll students and staff who traveled to India from Dec. 27 to Jan. 15. Students did service during the day, and at night they immersed themselves in Indian culture -- learning cooking, language, craft, dance and about its diverse religions. India can be a shock to the senses, admit several students. For the first times in their lives, they were the minority. And they were seeing a level of poverty they hadnt even imagined. They were struck that despite that poverty, the Indian people they met were incredibly generous and hospitable -- sharing their food and inviting the students into their homes. After the group flew into the holy city of Varanasi, they took a shuttle ride from the airport to their hotel that was absolutely hair-raising. Chaos, was the word Devan Hromcik used to describe her first impressions of the country. A Carroll nursing student senior, she was stunned: There are no driving rules. Cars, taxis, buses, cattle, motorcycles, bicycles all share the same space. Cars pass any which way with total disregard to any rules. Someone said its a country of extremes, she said. Everything assails the senses. There are the smells of exotic cooking spices and fragrant foods, as well as the odors of of diesel exhaust, human and animal feces, urine, garbage and cremations. Smog is evasive. And there are the sounds -- beginning with laughing yoga in the wee hours of the morning, to the rising din of talking, yelling, honking of horns and the sounds of an array of animals from cattle to dogs wandering the streets. Theres also the sheer numbers of people. Imagine 6 million people in the Helena Valley, said Smith. We have so much here in Helena, said Smith, who wants to fight poverty and is already looking forward to returning to India. Hromcik wasnt sure she would return to India. At first, she admits, she would have said no. But when I digested all the service we did, I would go back, she said. In a heartbeat I would go back, said Erica Ciez, 21, a sophomore in the nursing program. It stole a piece of my heart. Ciez befriended a grandmother who lived in a hut with six other family members across from the hotel. They invited her into their home, offered her their seats, their food and tea. I would go back to reunite with them, she said, as well as to help in rural areas. For sophomore biology major Robert Pearhill, 19, India was a quick lesson in learning they are people just like you. While there, they did health screenings and assessments, said Erin Kuntzweiler, an assistant professor of nursing who traveled with the students. We treated acute illnesses like pneumonia, she said. They also distributed worming medications and nutrition supplements. Stunted growth and lethargy from poor nutrition were just a few of the symptoms they saw when doing kids health assessments, said Kuntzweiler. They also saw rickets, as well as a lot of cases of dental caries, delayed development and poor eyesight. The students also visited a leper colony, where they helped change dressings on patients wounds. Some of the 32 residents had lost fingers or toes from the disease. We bought new clothes for all the residents, Kuntzweiler said, as well as a supply of crutches, wheelchairs and medicines. Although leprosy can be treated with antibiotics, these people hadnt received medicine in time and had suffered the long term consequences, she said. We treated open sores on their hands and feet, said Pearhill, who is a pre-med student. He liked that he got to help people in a "tangible way. They also volunteered at a school run by the Guria Foundation, which helps women get out of prostitution, prosecutes the brothels and pimps and provides education for the women and their children. Some students volunteered at Mother Teresas Ashram, which cares for widows, the elderly and mentally ill, where they gave bedbaths and did laundry. Besides doing service, the students learned about Varanasis history, culture and its wide range of religions -- Hinduism, Islam, Sikh, Christianity, Buddhism, Jainism. Outside their hotel on the Ganges River, theyd see people bathing in the river, doing rituals and burning incense. They also saw child labor close up. Many children have to work to help their families rather than attend school -- locking them into a cycle of poverty. One of the comments Kuntzweiler heard her students say more than once was, Why was I born white in America and not an Indian girl? It was an enlightening trip, Pearhill said, adding that he was suffering reverse culture shock. The trip opened his mind to see how easy it is to be judgmental. Things seem petty here, observed Ciez. India taught her to just join in. Its a complicated, beautiful mess and you have to embrace it. For Hromcik, India taught her empathy -- more than any nursing class ever could. Love is presence, said Hromcik, quoting Carrolls chaplain Marc Lenneman. You have to be present where you are and be hospitable. Work will begin March 1 on a three-year, $31 million project to improve a short section of Interstate 15 in Helena and prepare the highway for even greater traffic in the more distant future. The contract for the work went to Sletten Construction, which has an office in Great Falls in addition to those in Idaho, Wyoming, Arizona and Nevada. The Montana Department of Transportation told the handful of people who attended an informational meeting Thursday evening that the interstates bridges over the Montana Rail Link tracks will be replaced and the interstate between the Cedar Street and Capitol interchanges will become a three-lane highway. Both the bridge and interstate work that involve nearly one mile of highway will allow this portion of the road to become a four-lane highway when needed. Notices of the meeting containing project information were sent to 5,000 area residents, said Charles Lapp, project contact for A & A Consulting of Kalispell. An advertisement for the meeting was also published in the Independent Record, he added. The work schedule for this year and 2017 calls for construction between March 1 and Nov. 1. Work for 2018 will involve a couple of weeks in June when the road surface is sealed with a coat of oil and rock chips. Six-day work weeks are planned with Sundays off. Don Charters, with Sletten Construction, said work will start at 7 a.m. and run until 5:30 p.m. on Monday and Tuesday of each week. On Wednesday and Thursday, crews will start at 5 a.m. and work until 10 p.m. while the Friday and Saturday work schedule returns to 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Craig Shanholtzer, project superintendent with Sletten Construction, said the long hours two days a week will allow crews to complete the pile-driving portion of the project as quickly as possible, which he anticipated to conclude by the end of May. To help people be informed of project developments, weekly meetings on Thursdays beginning March 10 at 5:30 p.m. will be held at the conference room of the Days Inn, 2001 Prospect Ave., it was noted during the presentation on the upcoming work. The meetings will provide information on what happened in the prior week and whats planned for the coming week. Any closures of Boulder Avenue will be announced at these meetings as well as posted to alert traffic three days prior to closures. Traffic plans call for rerouting Boulder Avenue traffic away from the interstate overpass while work is in progress, although residents will still have access to their homes. What the state had planned for Boulder Avenue was what prompted Pat Allen, a 20-year resident of the street, to attend the meeting. Im just curious, she said. Will they close the street? Will I have trouble getting there? Interstate traffic between the Cedar Avenue and Prospect Avenue interchanges will see the two-lane traffic in both the northbound and southbound lanes reduced to one lane once work starts. This first step will allow lanes to be constructed allowing northbound and southbound traffic to cross over during construction. Once the crossover lanes are in place, the northbound and southbound traffic will share the interstate bridge formerly devoted to southbound traffic, according to the construction plan explained at the meeting. With the southbound interstate bridge now carrying traffic in two directions, the bridge that served the northbound traffic will be reconstructed. In March 2017, the two directions of traffic will be routed onto the newly reconstructed bridge allowing the other bridge to be reconstructed. The bridges, built in 1964, dont meet federal standards, the audience was told, which is why theyre being reconstructed. While each bridge is currently 28 feet wide, the new bridges will each be 64 feet wide. A permanent, decorative block wall will be built along portions of the west edge of the interstates southbound lane to help muffle future traffic noise for homes that are adjacent to the highway, Shanholtzer said. The sound barrier, which will be between 10 and 16 feet tall, will protect residences both north and south of the southbound interstate bridge, he added. No sound barriers are planned for along the interstates northbound lanes. A smaller retaining wall will also be built along the western edge of the southbound interstate right-of-way to hold earth moved during reconstruction. Piers for the interstate bridges will also be decorative, Shanholtzer said. Shanholtzer said he is impressed with the participation of Helenas police department in the planning of the project and Capt. Corey Livesays involvement. Everybodys involved to make this thing work, Shanholtzer said. Livesay told the audience that the Helena police department has plans to reroute interstate traffic in the event of an accident that blocks the interstate during construction. The reconstructed interstate bridges that carry traffic over the railroad tracks will be given an automated de-icing system, Shanholtzer said. Sensors in the bridges surface will be linked to a control station built below the bridge that will trigger the application of the de-icer, he explained. Its a state-of-the-art system, he added and said the temperature when the system is activated will be adjustable. MARSEILLE, France (AP) Growing up in Algeria, Shaira had almost everything a young man could wish for. But he also had a big secret. In a land where homosexuality is still a crime and a sin, he was forced to live a secret life, hiding that he was gay from everyone, even his closest family. The 26-year-old Shaira, who asked that his last name not be used to protect himself from attacks, went to study in France four years ago and has never gone back to Algeria. His family still has no idea of his sexuality. Now a gay imam from Algeria is working with a local lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender association to counsel and protect Shaira and other young gay Muslims who make their way to the ancient French port city of Marseille. The Le Refuge group says it has helped 26 gays find shelter and start a new life in Marseille last year. Some eventually go back to their families. Homosexuality is a criminal offense in much of the Middle East, punishable by imprisonment or, in countries like Saudi Arabia, by death. In Algeria, homosexual acts are punishable by up to two years in prison and a fine. Islam considers homosexuality a sin. Men having sex with each other should be punished, the Quran says, but it doesn't say how, and it adds that they should be left alone if they repent. The death penalty verdict instead comes from the Hadith, or accounts of the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad. The accounts differ on the method of killing, and some accounts give lesser penalties in some circumstances. The Islamic State group has taken this to an extreme. Videos the group has released show masked militants dangling allegedly gay men over the sides of buildings by their legs and dropping them head-first or tossing them over the edge. It is believed that at least three dozen men in Syria and Iraq have been killed by IS over accusations of sodomy. Ludovic-Mohamed Zahed is an imam born in Algeria who now works in Marseille and runs an association of French Muslims and gays. He has known the discrimination faced by the young people who come to Le Refuge for help. "Personally I have received quite a lot of threats, but I saw more people come to encourage me ... saying you are an embodiment of real Islam," Zahed said. The local head of Le Refuge in Marseille, Christophe Chausse, says the group tries to counsel young gays about how to cope with the constant conflict between their sexuality and their religion. "For them, there is a real dilemma between 'I am or I feel homosexual, and I have my religion, my faith which prohibits it, so I cannot live this homosexuality,'" Chausse said. Shaira cries as he talks about this conflict that he battles every day. "Everybody is telling me: 'you are gay, you are Muslim and this is not normal,'" Shaira said. "But I feel that I have the same right to have a religion as everybody else. Even if I'm gay." You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close This year Armenias Control Chamber (similar to the U.S. Government Accountability Office) will conduct investigations at two institutions of higher learning the Khachatur Abovian Armenian State Teachers' Training University and the Mkhitar Heratsi State Medical University. The investigations will look into how state funds have been spent, the spending of non-budgetary funds, and how state property is being managed and operated. The Control Chamber (CC), in its annual program, hasnt explained why these two schools have been singled out for investigation. Aram Alaverdyan, the CCs spokesperson, says that there are 100 internationally accepted norms based on which the CCs council has devised its annual investigation program. Alaverdyan did not specify which norms played a role in selecting the schools in question for investigation. We should note that in the past nine years (2007-2015), the last time the CC conducted a comprehensive examination of higher education institutions was in 2010. According to the program of that year, investigations were conducted of the State Engineering University of Armenia, the Abovian State Teachers Training University, the Bryusov State Linguistic University, the Armenian National Agrarian University, the Heratsi State Medical University and the Komitas State Conservatory of Yerevan. Among other violations, the CC found that amounts were spent from the state budget at the schools that hadnt been planned for and that, in some schools, the financial amounts of the violations werent specified. The CC didnt conduct a full investigation at the State Medical University arguing that the Law Regarding the Control Chamber included restrictions on investigations of State Non-Commercial Organizations (SNCOs). This year the CC presented a proposal to parliament that changes to Articles 5 and six of the law be made. The State Medical University isnt a SNCO but rather a foundation, and the CC can specifically look into this issue if it wants. Hetq has written about how the State Medical University failed to return undisbursed student aid funds to the government in 2015.The remaining funds were never returned to the state budget. The school broke a contract it had with fourth year students at the medical school and only allocated funds to 29 out of 54 students promised free tuition. Alaverdyan told Hetq that the CC was appraised of the situation and that, if and when needed, is examining the issues. As to what the CC will uncover at the universities, only time will tell. Gayane Sargsyan Individual taxi operators in Vanadzor, Armenias third largest city, are up in arms. They want to do away with a 2015 law forcing them to pay an annual fee of 15,000 AMD ($30) for the right to ply their trade. The drivers have petitioned Vanadzor Mayor Samvel Darbinyan to review the law in question. Backing up their demand, the drivers note that such a fee doesnt exist for cabbies in Yerevan, the capital and that the 15,000 AMD fee doesnt correspond to the depressed socio-economic conditions in Vanadzor. The drivers also argue that roads in Vanadzor are in such a bad state that they pay thousands in repairs and that the fares they collect from passengers leaves them at a loss at the end of the day. They also claim that state funds are poorly managed and that their taxes are being squandered on ineffective road maintenance. The cabbies note they are already paying a host of other fees and taxes and that have nothing left with which to care for their families. They delivered their petition, addressed to the mayor and municipal council, eight days ago, requesting that copies be handed out to municipal council members. When the cabbies shown up at todays municipal council meeting, to voice their demands in person, they found out that none of the council members had been handed copies of their petition and that they didnt even know about the issue. When asked why the petition hadnt been delivered, municipal staff secretary Gagik Simonyan, curtly replied that all council members would soon get a copy of the petition. Simonyan told the cabbies that they should have presented their petition in the fall of last year, before the fees were drafted by the council. He advised the taxi drivers to come back this fall and present their proposals during discussions regarding the fees to be set for 2017. Municipal Council member Armen Matinyan confirmed that the 15,000 fee imposed on independent cabbies in Vanadzor was the highest in the country. Its 10,000 in Yerevan and 12,500 in Gyumri. I dont know if the fees are being collected but they are lower than here. Ive always favored lowering the fee, but given our budgetary problems it hasnt been dropped, Matinyan told Hetq. Vanadzor cabbies voice their demands at the municipal council meeting Cabbie Aharon Saghatelyan said that Vanadzor had become a town of ruins. Theres no oversight. They dump the asphalt in the water. Those funds are the result of our hard work, Saghatelyan said. The taxi drivers want better municipal services before paying any fees. Mayor Darbinyan told the cabbies that the issue would be reviewed when the towns 2017 budget was up for discussion. Not receiving any satisfaction at the council session, the irate cabbies left and continued their protest outside the municipal office. Its a small town. There arent enough customers. There are days when we dont even make 1,000 drams. Ive spent 50,000 drams for a state license, so why do I have to pay a municipal fee as well? asked cabbie Norayr Gevorgyan. They argue there is no solution, but there always is one. Let them present our demands to the parliament, said Seyran Tovmasyan, another protesting cabbie. The drivers said they would petition the transport ministry if the municipal fee wasnt revoked. 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Include your full name, hometown and phone number. Your name and town will be published. The phone number is for verification purposes only. Please keep your letter to 250 words or less. Next Thursday is decision day for SHINE Medical Technologies. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission in Rockville, Maryland, will decide if SHINE will get a permit to build a plant in Janesville that will manufacture a radioisotope crucial for the health care industry. SHINE plans to make molybdenum-99, which decays into technetium-99m, a substance used in millions of diagnostic medical tests each year. At their final hearing in December, company officials endured 6 hours of questions from the four-member NRC. The commissions staff had recommended approval last October. SHINE has received $23 million from investors and has been awarded up to $25 million from the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Nuclear Security Administration for the project. If approved, construction is expected to start in 2017 with commercial production to start in 2019. The company has 25 employees but is expected to employ 150 when the plant is operating. SHINE officials say theyll wait to comment until they hear the NRCs decision. Redox to pitch at SXSW Madison health IT startup Redox is one of 48 companies from around the world chosen as finalists for a pitch competition at SXSW (South by Southwest), the huge music, film and tech fest in Austin, Texas, in March. Redox, whose technology lets health-related apps connect with patients electronic health records, will be part of SXSWs Accelerator pitch contest. It will be up against companies from as far away as New York; Paris; and Cork, Ireland, in the category of Health and Wearable Technologies. Its the only Wisconsin startup picked for the Accelerator competition, which drew more than 470 applicants. Were excited to be recognized at such a hip conference and represent Madison nationally, said Niko Skievaski, Redox co-founder. Over the course of two days, March 12-13, the 48 finalists will be pared to 18 and then winners will be chosen in each of the six categories. SXSW Accelerator says that since 2009 it has showcased more than 300 startups and 63 percent of them went on to attract more than $2.6 billion in funding, and 13 percent have been acquired by companies such as Google, Apple, Huffington Post and Live Nation. UW students to pitch NovoMoto, a startup founded by UW-Madison students, is one of 14 finalists chosen from around the Midwest to compete for prizes that total $1 million worth of investments in the CET Challenge in Chicago. The contest, to be held by the Clean Energy Trust on April 12, drew nearly 80 applicants. NovoMoto is developing a micro solar grid for use in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It is the only Wisconsin startup chosen for this years CET Challenge. Since 2011, CET has invested in 29 startups across the Midwest and those companies have raised an additional $86 million in funding and have created more than 300 jobs, the organization says. Venture capital per capita Madison is No. 14, worldwide, in the amount of venture capital investment per capita, according to a new study. The report, Rise of the Global Startup Cities, by Richard Florida and Karen King, shows the San Francisco Bay area and the Boston-New York-Washington, D.C., corridor attracted 40 percent of the global venture investment in 2012, the most recent year for which data were available. On a per-capita basis, though, Madison ranked 14th, with $100 in venture capital investment per capita for that year. The San Jose, California, area was No. 1, with $2,146 of venture funding per capita, the report said. The report from the University of Torontos Martin Prosperity Institute is based on figures from Thomson Reuters. Worldwide, venture capitalists invested $42 billion in 2012, in companies in more than 150 cities. Florida, known for his talks about the Creative Class, is director of the Martin Prosperity Institute and a professor of global research at New York University. [Editor's Note: This article has been revised to correctly state the amount of funding received from investors by SHINE Medical Technologies.] Milwaukee County investigators fired back Friday at Attorney General Brad Schimel in a court filing, calling his public statements about their actions in a halted John Doe probe into Gov. Scott Walkers recall campaign defamatory and unacceptable. Last month, Schimel asked a federal judge in a related lawsuit not to block the Wisconsin Supreme Courts order that the investigators turn over evidence collected in the John Doe investigation, which the state court halted in July. In a statement issued the same day as his filing, Schimel said the state high court determined investigators are requesting the federal court contradict the Wisconsin Supreme Courts order requiring that the evidence unlawfully seized by the John Doe investigators be kept under seal. Schimel also told conservative talk radio hosts that day that the investigators were illegally holding the evidence and that they stole it, according to a transcript of the interview. The Attorney Generals actions are unacceptable, the investigators lawyer Samuel Leib wrote in a court response filed Friday. The Investigator Defendants are lifelong civil servants, and they do not deserve to be the target of the Attorney Generals defamatory attacks. It is shameful that law enforcement officers have to fear that their own attorney general will trample on their reputations in the media just to score political points. The filing noted the investigators are not seeking to release sealed documents, but instead are asking to retain possession of them under seal as they defend themselves in the lawsuit. It also noted the evidence was seized legally under the authority of a judge. The Investigator Defendants should not be the target of the Attorney Generals ridicule just because the legal theory on which John Doe II was based was subsequently, and controversially, invalidated, Leib wrote, referring to the Wisconsin Supreme Court decision. Schimel spokeswoman Anne Schwartz declined to comment on the filing. The lawsuit filed by former Walker aide Cindy Archer alleges Milwaukee County investigators violated her civil rights when they served search warrants at her Madison home in September 2011 as part of an earlier John Doe investigation, which yielded six convictions of former Walker aides and associates. U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman has set a March 3 hearing before he rules on whether to allow the investigators to hold on to the evidence. Schimels filing marked the first time his office has taken sides in court in either John Doe I or II, which was investigating whether coordination between Walkers campaign and outside groups violated state campaign finance laws. Schimels predecessor, also a Republican, declined to lead the investigation, citing a potential conflict of interest for both himself as a Republican and his office based on its relationship with the governor. District attorneys from Milwaukee, Dane and Iowa counties may appeal the Wisconsin Supreme Courts decision on John Doe II to the U.S. Supreme Court. Earlier this week Justice Elana Kagan granted a motion to extend the filing deadline from March 1 to April 29. Schimel has made clear that he intends to intervene if the U.S. Supreme Court takes the case. In this case, the targets of this John Doe investigation will get the property back fastest by allowing the intervenors to file their appeal with the (Supreme Court of the United States), Schimel said in an email to a conservative blog shared by his office with the Wisconsin State Journal. While this may seem counterintuitive, the likelihood of the Supreme Court granting review is extraordinarily unlikely and, in the event that the Supreme Court agrees to hear the case, Wisconsin DOJ would seek to intervene to end the case at that time. Imagine the horror of being wrongly imprisoned for a heinous crime you didnt commit. In Wisconsin, that has happened to an estimated 40 people in the past 25 years. In addition to setting the person free, how much financial compensation will the state provide for that crushing error? The maximum is $25,000 an embarrassingly low amount. A bill that has passed the Assembly and will be considered in the Senate would increase the payout to $50,000 a year, to a maximum of $1 million, plus provide additional assistance to the wrongly convicted. While the state could never truly return those years behind bars, the additional compensation is long overdue. Sadly, theres a component of the legislation that we cant agree with and its troubling on more than one level. The legislation would require the court to seal all records of the criminal case involved in the wrongful verdict and remove records from the states online court records database if the wrongfully convicted person requests it. While that may seem like the fair thing to do, it is not. It isnt fair to the victim. It isnt fair to the rest of us. Our judicial system isnt perfect, but its the best system we have. Mistakes happen. Juries and judges can get it wrong. And, with the increasing use of sophisticated technology, new evidence can change the result of a case. We should all have the right to know about and examine the cases in which errors occur. Democracy can be a messy business. Having the ability to openly scrutinize that public business regardless of the branch of government is a crucial tenet of democracy. Lets also consider the person who was wrongly imprisoned. On the surface, sealing all records of the criminal case may seem like a humane approach. The legislation allows records sealed under this section shall be accessible to the person but may not be available for public inspection or through the consolidated court automation program case management system. But after all the publicity involving a criminal conviction, what happens if the person cant refer a friend or a prospective employer to the court record either in the court file or the digital record through the Wisconsin Circuit Court Access, known as CCAP, to prove that the conviction was in error? You cant expunge all of the information about the conviction from Internet searches, so why would you seal the record that proves innocence? Why doesnt the state in bold words listed on court records and on the online court files let everyone know that the person was wrongfully convicted of the crime and has been released from custody because of the error? That truly is the most humane way to treat the person who was wrongly convicted. And its the most transparent way to admit that justice isnt always accurately served. This Page has moved to a new address: Sorry for the inconvenience Redirection provided by Blogger to WordPress Migration Service IceViking strongly condemns physical attacks and harassment directed towards them. They are also often victims of the Islamic idea. This is true when it comes to the cruel and tragic treatment of Muslim women and children when it is in accord with the Koran, the example of Mohammed and Islamic law, Sharia, which may be applied regardless of where a Muslim male may find himself in the world, whether in a Muslim or non-Muslim country. However, in no way, shape or form should one judge all Muslim men because of what is in Islamic scripture and what constitutes the Islamic law, Sharia. "Race", ethnicity or basically anything that you are "merely" born with should never be a basis for bigotry and discrimination. Apostates from Islam have been executed for 1400 years in accord with the Koran and the words and actions of the Islamic prophet Mohammed and Islamic law, Sharia. They should be lovingly helped. Furthermore, approximately as many as 11,000,000 Muslims may have been killed by other Muslims since 1948. To quote the website The Religion of Peace (TROP), edited by Glen Roberts: While it may be safe to say that a true Muslim would not intentionally kill another true Muslim ( 4:92-93 ), the Quran places no such value on the life of a Muslim who is not true. Consider verse 9:73 : Strive hard against the disbelievers and the hypocrites, and be harsh against them, their abode is Hell. The Arabic for strive hard uses the same root as Jihad - and the context in this sura is holy war (see v. 86 and 91). Thus, there are two distinct classes of people that a true Muslim is to target with harshness: disbelievers and hypocrites. A disbeliever obviously refers to a non-Muslim, so a "hypocrite" must be a Muslim of some sort. In fact, hypocrites are those who say they believe, but do not act as they should. In other words, they are "Muslims", but not true Muslims. They will go to hell just as unbelievers do, and so, according to the verse, their lives matter for naught. The same sura says that a hypocrite can be recognized not just by lack of piety (reluctance to follow Sharia), but by fear of death ( 9:56 ), reluctance to fight ( 9:44-45 ) and even friendliness toward non-believers ( 9:67 ). A true Muslim would thus be a pious person who relishes martyrdom, is eager to fight, and shuns non-believers. Even the Quranic passage that warns against killing "believers" ( 4:88-94 ) is more complicated than it first appears. It never says that a true Muslim is incapable of killing another Muslim, just that it should not be done. In fact, it makes exceptions for the unintentional killing of "believers" in war and mandates the killing of "hypocrites." Verse 17:33 says, "Do not kill anyone which Allah has forbidden, except for a just cause" . The greatest cause of all is that Islam be superior ( 9:33 ), which is exactly what Islamic terrorists say is their goal. Thus believing Muslims are allowed to be collateral damage in the war on unbelievers. There is sadly a phenomena that I`ve noticed in Sweden and elsewhere of people using true facts about Islamic doctrine and history as a cover for all sorts of irrational targeting of Muslims, ranging from xenophobia and racism to verbal abuse and physical attacks. This is strongly condemned by this website and does not in any way serve serious criticism of orthodox Islam and other important work. It`s also important that one tries to express oneself in a civilized way. Words matter. In this bloggers humble opinion the root cause of the problem is the ancient doctrine of orthodox Islam. In simple terms a non-Muslim is a Kafir. " The Koran defines the kafir and kafir is not a neutral word. A kafir is not merely someone who does not agree with Islam, but a kafir is evil, disgusting, the lowest form of life." An exact quote, as stated in the writings of Dr. Bill Warner in the article "Kafir" at http://www.politicalislam.com/kafir . In the perfect Koran (Allah`s direct and literal word as revealed to Mohammed through the angel Jibril), Muslims are told 89 times to emulate Mohammed in all ways (see Koran 33:21 for instance). Mohammed`s example, the Sunna, is found in the Hadith (stories of what Mohammed said and did) and the Sira (biographies of Mohammed). Islamic law, Sharia , is directly derived from these unchanging scriptures. It is based on the Koran`s numerous commands to obey Allah and obey the Messenger, that is Mohammed (see Koran 4:59 for instance). Islam is Sharia. Sharia is Islam. It is a capital crime for Muslims to deny Sharia in any way. A Muslim is someone who submits to Islam and submitting to Islam means obeying the Sharia of Allah. Sharia law includes pronouncements for both Muslims and non-Muslims (Kafirs). Islam is a "complete way of life", a "complete code of life", a "complete system of life". Islam is not just a religion but also a comprehensive ideology. Islam is a supremacist ideology. Islam is a totalitarian and imperialistic ideology akin to Communism and Nazism. Islam is a civilization. Islamic law, Sharia, is a manual for a civilization. Islamic law, Sharia, governs every aspect of life. It has a say about every conceivable human act . Non-Muslims are morally and legally inferior in Islam. Women are morally and legally inferior in Islam. The History of Jihad: From Muhammad to ISIS by Robert Spencer is the first one-volume history of jihad in the English language and a great book on the topic. Allah guarantees Paradise to those who "kill and are killed" for him (Koran 9:111). A hadith depicts a Muslim asking Muhammad: "Instruct me as to such a deed as equals Jihad (in reward)." Muhammad replied, "I do not find such a deed." (Bukhari 4.52.44) Muhammad himself said: I have been commanded to fight against people so long as they do not declare that there is no god but Allah, and he who professed it was guaranteed the protection of his property and life on my behalf except for the right affairs rest with Allah. (Sahih Muslim 30) Freedom of speech, human rights, democracy, science and human lives are all at stake in the fight against the Islamic Jihad. News Story not available This story has been published on: 2022-10-21. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. This story is no longer available on our site. US President Barack Obama to honour six Indian Americans, who have made to the list of 106 scientists and engineers, with the highest US government prize for young independent researchers. By India Today Web Desk: US President Barack Obama to honour six Indian Americans, who have made to the list of 106 scientists and engineers, with the highest US government prize for young independent researchers. According to PTI, the Indian Americans selected for the Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers are Milind Kulkarni (Purdue University), Kiran Musunuru (Harvard University), Sachin Patel (Vanderbilt University Medical Centre), Vikram Shyam (NASA), Rahul Mangharam (University of Pennsylvania) and Shwetak Patel (University of Washington), according to a White House statement. advertisement "These early-career scientists are leading the way in our efforts to confront and understand challenges from climate change to our health and wellness," Obama said, who will present the awards at a ceremony this spring. He further said, We congratulate these accomplished individuals and encourage them to continue to serve as an example of the incredible promise and ingenuity of the American people.?? The Presidential Early Career Awards, established in 1996, highlight the key role that administration places in encouraging and accelerating the American innovation to grow economy and at the same time, tackle great challenges. Milind Kulkarni, an associate professor with the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Purude University, in his research, focuses on Programming Languages and Compilers that support efficient programming and high performance on emerging complex architectures. Dr. Vikram Shyam, a technical innovation in fundamental aeronautics, at NASA's Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, is among the six NASA scientists to receive this award. Shwetak Patel, Washington Research Foundation Entrepreneurship Endowed Professor in Computer Science and Engineering and Electrical Engineering, Patel, is a nationally recognised expert in sensor systems research. Rahul Mangharam from the University of Pennsylvania was selected for inventing a new formal methodology to test and verify the correct operation of medical device software, saving lives and reducing care costs, the National Science Foundation said. Dr. Kiran Musunuru, Assistant Professor of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology at Harvard University and Associate Physician at Brigham and Women's Hospital, has developed a "genome editing" approach for permanently reducing cholesterol levels in mice. Sachin Patel, an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, and Molecular Physiology and Biophysics Vanderbilt University Medical Centre, through his research, is offering a glimmer of hope to alcoholics who find it hard to remain sober. The National Science Foundation Director France Cordova said, "The awardees are outstanding scientists and engineers". "They are teacher-scholars who are developing new generations of outstanding scientists and engineers and ensuring this nation is a leading innovator," he further added. Check: LUMBA online application process commences advertisement Click here to get more education news. Get latest updates on exam notifications and scholarships across India and abroad here . --- ENDS --- Adivasi school teacher turned politician, Soni Sori, was on Saturday attacked in Chhattisgarh's Maoist-hit Dantewada district by three unidentified men, who allegedly threw on her what appeared to be acid. Soni Sori was attacked with a dark coloured liquid which was presumed to be acid. Photo: ANI By India Today Web Desk: Adivasi school teacher turned politician, Soni Sori, was on Saturday attacked in Chhattisgarh's Maoist-hit Dantewada district by three unidentified men, who allegedly threw on her what appeared to be acid. Sori was attacked near Jawanga village under Geedam police station when she was returning from Banjarin Ghati and heading towards Jagdalpur on a motorcycle along with two associates, revealed a senior police official. advertisement As per her statement, three youths on a motorcycle stopped them after crossing Bastanar Ghat and asked them to alight from their vehicle. One of them immediately hurled the liquid at her face following which the trio fled from the spot. Subsequently her associates rushed her to Geedam hospital and informed the police. The substance did not disfigure her face, but Sori said she suffered from a burning sensation, the official said. "According to doctors the alleged liquid seemed to be grease diluted with chemical. The woman (Sori) was further shifted to Jagdalpur hospital and kept under observation as she has complained of burning sensation in her face," he added. A case has been been registered in this connection based, the official said adding that further probe was on. Sori never thought of joining politics, but after she was brutally tortured by police in Chhattisgarh for her alleged links with Maoists, she joined the Aam Aadmi Party in a desperate bid to change the system. --- ENDS --- The Aligarh Muslim University which has been battling to preserve its character as a minority institution now finds itself in another controversy this time over beef. The issue broke out on social media yesterday when a WhatsApp post circulated a report that 'beef biryani' was being served at the AMU Medical College canteen, an allegation promptly denied by the university. By Press Trust of India: The Aligarh Muslim University which has been battling to preserve its character as a minority institution now finds itself in another controversy - this time over beef. The issue broke out on social media yesterday when a WhatsApp post circulated a report that 'beef biryani' was being served at the AMU Medical College canteen, an allegation promptly denied by the university. advertisement The reports spread the impression that it was cow meat and not the meat of buffalo that was being served. A picture of the canteen's menu card also went viral on social media. BJP Mayor Shakuntala Bharti, along with party leaders and several right wing activists, held a demonstration outside the office of Senior Superintendent of Police today, demanding registration of an FIR against the contractor of AMU medical college canteen for serving 'beef biryani'. Police said the matter was still under investigation. As news of the controversy spread, senior AMU officials led by University Proctor M Mohsin Khan rushed to the Medical College canteen and carried out an on-the-spot preliminary check. University spokesperson Rahat Abrar alleged that the incident was a "malicious" attempt to defame the institution, asserting that the beef mentioned in the menu was of buffalo meat. "It is nothing but a malicious propaganda to defame this institution. I can say with confidence that the beef biryani mentioned in the menu card pertains to buffalo meat and there is no iota of evidence to suggest to the contrary," he said. The spokesperson said that according to a preliminary investigation, it was revealed that the contract for the canteen was ending soon and some "vested interests" were eyeing it next, and so were creating a controversy. "The contract for the canteen was ending on February 23. Some vested interests which were eyeing the lucrative contract deliberately floated a malicious rumour suggesting that cow meat was being served," he said. Abrar, however ridiculed the allegations, saying that AMU was one of the first institutions to ban cow meat on campus more than a century ago. "AMU was perhaps the first educational institution of higher learning where beef was banned from being served inside the institution more than a century back. "The founding father of Mohammedan Anglo Oriental College (which became the Aligarh Muslim University in 1920), Sir Syed Ahmad Khan had issued an explicit order in 1884 that not only would no beef be served in any dining room but even sacrifice of cow during Idul Adha was forbidden for all AMU employees," he said. advertisement Abrar said Sir Syed took the action as he did not want to hurt sentiments of Hindus and terminated services of an AMU employee in 1884, when he broke this rule. ALSO READ: Haryana minister Anil Vij gives beef politics a Haryanvi twist Want to continue eating beef? Then vote for us, Asaduddin Owaisi tells voters in Hyderabad --- ENDS --- Emma Watson will take a year long hiatus from films to read more on feminism and gender equality. By India Today Web Desk: Harry Porter star Emma Watson is taking a year's hiatus from acting to read more on gender equality and feminism. ALSO READ: Emma Watson is dating William Knight: All you need to know about the Harry Potter star's new boyfriend ALSO READ: Emma Watson has taken on a whole new role at Oxford University advertisement SEE PIC: Meet William Knight, the tech wizard Emma Watson is dating The UN goodwill ambassador, known for her HeForShe initiative, says she wants to read books and study about feminism, a topic that she has been vocal about, reports aceshowbiz.com. "I'm taking a year away from acting to focus on two things, really. My own personal development is one," Watson was quoted as saying by Paper magazine. "My own personal task is to read one book a week, and also to read a book a month as part of my book club. I'm doing a huge amount of reading and study just on my own," she added. The 25-year-old said she wants to "listen to as many different women in the world as I can". "That's something that I've been doing on my own, through the UN, the HeForShe campaign, and my work generally," she said. Emma along with the Hollywood actor Benedict Cumberbatch has been appointed as one of Oxford University's visiting fellows, among nine others members. Being a visiting a fellow means she has to engage with students at the university from time to time. The actor will next be seen in Beauty And The Beast which is scheduled to release in 2017. A few days back it was revealed that Emma is dating 35-year-old tech wizard William Mack Knight. The two recently spent their holidays in Big Sur. (With inputs from IANS) --- ENDS --- After being the center of criticism for the way he handled the JNU row and Patiala House Court clash, Delhi Police Chief BS Bassi has now become the laugh of the town for his ignorance on social media site. Bassi mistook TV journalist Ravish Kumar's parody Twitter account as the original one. By India Today Web Desk: Delhi Police Chief BS Bassi invited a ridicule at social media today after he responded to the tweets made from the parody accounts of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and TV journalist Ravish Kumar. Responding to the tweet from Ravish's parody account, Bassi tweeted, "@ArvindKejriwal & @ravishndtv Committed to CONSTITUTION, NATION & TRUTH. SelfStyled Appraisers may better introspect." advertisement The tweet that was intended as a defence for his actions over the JNU row invited social media trolls on Bassi instead. Reportedly, this is the second time Bassi fell for the parody account on Twitter. Shekhar Gupta, veteran journalist, also joined the troll that went viral over the social media. "Once is happenstance, twice is coincidence...waiting for 3rd now for final confirmation of professional brilliance," he tweeted. ALSO READ: JNU student leader Kanhaiya Kumar not beaten up, says Delhi Police chief BS Bassi JNU row: Guilty lawyers to be punished, says Bar Council of India --- ENDS --- The Bengaluru police rescued 5 Thai women from a well-known spa in the posh locality of the city after they were allegedly forced into prostitution. Five people, including the owner of the spa, were arrested by the police on Friday. By Aravind Gowda: The Bengaluru police rescued 5 Thai women from a well-known spa in the posh locality of the city after they were allegedly forced into prostitution. Five people, including the owner of the spa, were arrested by the police on Friday. According to the police, the owners of Kiyora Welness and Thai Spa in RMV 2nd Stage lured the Thai masseurs under the pretext of high-paid salaries. After one month, they forced all the 5 Thai women into prostitution by allegedly withholding their passports. The police were tipped off by spa's visitors, who were offered "special services" by the owner. advertisement On Friday, the police raided the spa and arrested Chandrakanth (32), Sanjeev (39), Louis Ranjith (39), Aneesh R (23) and Abhisheka R (23). They recovered 7 mobile phones and condom packets from the premises of the spa. The police are searching for Ranjith's wife Veena, who was managing the spa. The police have registered cases under various sections of the IPC. The police have written to the Thai Embassy on the plightof the 5 Thai women, who are still in their custody. --- ENDS --- Ishfaq Ahmad Wani alias Molvi, a resident of Chechiloora, was arrested at village Peth Makhama in Magam area today morning, a police officer said. By India Today Web Desk: A Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) militant was on Saturday arrested and an AK assault rifle seized during an operation in Budgam district of central Kashmir, police said. Ishfaq Ahmad Wani alias Molvi, a resident of Chechiloora, was arrested at village Peth Makhama in Magam area today morning, a police officer said. He said an AK assault rifle and some ammunition were recovered from the possession of the captured militant. advertisement Police assisted by Rashtriya Rifles cordoned off the village last night following specific information about presence of some militants there, the officer said. He said the search operation was suspended late last night but a tight cordon was maintained around the village to prevent suspected militants from escaping. The search operation was resumed this morning and was underway till the last reports were received, the officer said. Earlier, on Thursday another HM militant was arrested and a militant hideout busted in two separate operations by the security forces in Kashmir valley. Abid Ahmad Bhat, a resident of Kanihama village in Shopian, was arrested from nearby Habdipora area in a joint operation of army and police. --- ENDS --- The BJP leadership today swung into action to take charge of the developments in the state. Party sources said BJP President Amit Shah has asked chief minister Mahohar Lal Khattar and others to speak to Jat leaders and find a solution to end the agitation. The BJP leadership today swung into action to take charge of the developments in the state. Party sources said BJP President Amit Shah has asked chief minister Mahohar Lal Khattar and others to speak to Jat leaders and find a solution to end the agitation . Haryana state's BJP leaders met Amit Shah in New Delhi and apprised him about the current situation. advertisement The party sources also said that prominent Jat leader and Union Rural Development Minister Chaudhary Birender Singh may play the role of a mediator between the government and the protesters. The party leaders Sanjeev Balian, OP Dhankhad, Ramlal and Anil Jain are also part of the team which initiate talks with Jats. The party leaders have also briefed Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the developments. Meanwhile, Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar said that the state government has accepted their all demands. --- ENDS --- The ongoing Jat agitation for reservation assumed enormous shape forcing the Centre to press the Army into action. Curfew was imposed in Rohtak and Bhiwani city on Friday late evening and shoot-at-sight orders were issued. Gurgaon administration has directed closure of all schools till further orders. The ongoing Jat agitation for reservation assumed enormous shape forcing the Centre to press the Army into action. By Ajay Kumar: The ongoing Jat agitation for reservation assumed enormous shape forcing the Centre to press the Army into action. Curfew was imposed in Rohtak and Bhiwani city on Friday late evening and shoot-at-sight orders were issued. Gurgaon administration has directed closure of all schools till further orders. At least eight districts of Haryana were severely affected by the stir that virtually disconnected the national Capital from other parts of North India. The worst affected district was Rohtak where agitators set Haryana finance minister Captain Abhimanyu's house on fire. To control the mob, the CRPF and Haryana Police opened fired at mob in which three persons were reportedly killed and over a dozen sustained injuries. advertisement The main impact of the agitation could be seen in districts like Rohtak, Jhajjar, Bhiwani, Hissar, Fatehabad, Karnal, Jind, Yamuna Nagar, Sirsa and Gurgaon where road transport has come to a halt. All roads connecting to the national Capital were blocked by the protesters thus disrupting vehicular movement between these cities. Reports also confirmed that a section of the agitating mob looted arms and ammunition from a gun house located in Rohtak main city. The agitators, who have rejected government's offer of enhancing quota for economically backward classes, blocked several roads in Panipat affecting traffic movement to Delhi and Uttar Pradesh. Haryana Roadways suspended its bus services on many affected routes in view of the agitation. Meanwhile, Jat leaders showed no signs of relenting and claimed that they will seek support from their community leaders from Uttar Pradesh. Trains Hit Train operations were also severely hit. "Disruptions caused a loss of `200 crore to the railways as the schedules of more than 600 passenger and freight trains were hit," a railway ministry official said. Meanwhile, Haryana DGP Yashpal Singhal confirmed that one person was killed in police firing. "The situation in eight districts such as Rohtak, Hisar, Jind, Bhiwani, Kaithal, Jhajjar, Sinepat and Karnal are extremely tense and hence we asked the Centre to send the Army. Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar has briefed Home Minister Rajnath Singh about current situation here. He has requested for deployment of army," Singhal said. Army units are being rushed to Rohtak from nearby Cantonment at Hissar, about 50 kms away, he said adding these will be deployed immediately in Rohtak and Bhiwani areas. He said Army units are also being rushed from Jaipur for deployment in other worst-affected areas of the state. Also Read Jat reservation row disrupts daily life in Haryana, vegetables, fuel running out of stock Jat reservation row: State government indifferent towards Jats --- ENDS --- The Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP government sought a direction to the Centre to intervene and ensure water supply to the national capital from Munak Canal in neighbouring Haryana which has been affected due to the stir. There were reports of clashes between Jats and non-Jats with 10 persons being injured at Kalayat in Kaithal district and in Hansi area of Hisar district. (Photo: PTI) By India Today Web Desk: The Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP government in Delhi tonight moved the Supreme Court to ensure that water supply to the Capital city is not affected due to Jat agitation. The Delhi government sought a direction to the Centre to intervene and ensure water supply to the national capital from Munak canal in neighbouring Haryana which has been affected due to the stir. advertisement The supply sources of water feeding 7 water treatment plants in Delhi completely dried up and the plants had to be shut down after protesters broke gates of Munak canal in Haryana. West Delhi, North-West, Central, South and part of North Delhi were severely affected due to the closure of the plants. Spoke to Haryana CM. He has assured that he will immediately send army to ensure safety of munak canal&; Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) February 20, 2016 Spoke to Rajnath ji also and apprised him of grave situation. He has assured that army is being sent to munak canal&; Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) February 20, 2016 Water Minister Kapil Mishra today said that in the wake of Jat protesters breaking gates of Munak canal leading to shortage of water, Delhi government has decided to rationalise supply to utilise the stored water. "60 per cent of water supply will be affected due to protest. Wazirabad and Chandrawal water treatment plants have been closed due to insufficient supply from the Munak canal. Chandrawal, Okhla, Haiderpur, Bawana, Nangloi, Dwarka and Okhla water plants will also be affected," Mishra said. The minister, who today held an emergency meeting over the water crisis, said that DJB has cancelled holidays of all its employees on Saturday and Sunday. "Munak canal is our main source of water supply to Delhi and if water doesn't come from the canal, the supply will significantly be affected across Delhi," he said. Jat quota agitation turns into unruly violence At least 7 persons were killed and 15 others were seriously injured as security personnel opened fire to quell arson and firing during protests for quota by Jat community in Rohtak and Jhajjar districts in Haryana today. Despite army flag march and police patrolling in worst-hit pockets, violence and arson in the Jat quota stir in the state spread to more areas. Pro-quota protesters torched several Haryana Roadways buses, seven railway stations, a police station and some buildings in the state. Appeal to the people of Haryana to maintain law & order in the Statehttps://t.co/NLHPr7n50F&; Manohar Lal Khattar (@mlkhattar) February 20, 2016 No one will be benefited by damaging public property - Urging everyone not to be swayed by unfounded rumours & maintain peace in the State.&; Manohar Lal Khattar (@mlkhattar) February 20, 2016 advertisement In a new twist to the agitation, there were reports of clashes between Jats and non-Jats with 10 persons being injured at Kalayat in Kaithal district and in Hansi area of Hisar district. Army had to use choppers to reach parts of blocked Rohtak district. Curfew was clamped in five more towns - the latest one being Jind, Hisar and Hansi. Earlier on Saturday, curfew was imposed in Sonipat and Gohana towns. It was already clamped in Rohtak, Bhiwani and Jhajjar towns. As many as 15 companies of India Reserve Battalion and Haryana Armed Police, 3 companies of paramilitary forces and two columns of Army were deployed to maintain law and order in the state.Train services disrupted The road and rail traffic through Haryana and destined to neighboring states, including Delhi, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan and Chandigarh remained disrupted with authorities cancelling bus and train services on most routes in the wake of continuing blockade. Appealing to agitators please don't block rail track, it's causing inconvenience to common people and loss of revenue to your own railways&; Suresh Prabhu (@sureshpprabhu) February 19, 2016 advertisement The Jat stir disrupted the movement of more than 800 trains, and seven stations in the state were set on fire by the agitators. Jhajjar, Buddha Khed, Julana and Pillu Kheda were among the seven stations which were set afire, a Railway spokesperson said, adding that two track machines were also burnt at Pillu Kheda. The country's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India also suspended operations at its two plants in Gurgaon and Manesar as component supplies were hit by the agitation of Jats demanding job reservation. Appealing to protesters to end their stir, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar asked agitators to "return to their homes as the Government has accepted their demands", but did not elaborate. Jat delegation from UP meets Rajnath Amidst the ongoing violence in Haryana following protests by Jats, a delegation of community leaders from Uttar Pradesh today met Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and urged him to take urgent steps to fulfil their demands on reservation. The Jat delegation told the Home Minister that the community has been deprived of benefits due to the lack of quota, especially in Haryana. They told Singh that Jats have ben facing problems in other states too, including in Uttar Pradesh. The delegation urged the Home Minister to ensure that justice is given to the community by the BJP government in Haryana and the NDA government at the Centre. advertisement Sources said the Home Minister gave the Jat delegation a patient hearing and assured them that the Central government and the Haryana government would do their best to solve the problems of the Jats.ALSO READ : Why Jats are protesting in Haryana: All you need to know Jat reservation: Amit Shah asks Haryana BJP leaders to step in Jat reservation protest: Schools to remain shut --- ENDS --- The Major Lazer gang is back in India, and this time around it is joined by a couple of more artists. By Srijani Ganguly/Mail Today: A year before Coldplay took a trip through the streets of Mumbai in its 'Hymn for the Weekend' video, Major Lazer toured the country for both its debut India concerts as well as shoot (what has now become) its most popular music video. The Major Lazer gang - Diplo, Jillionaire and Walshy Fire - is back in India for another tour. And this time, the three will be be performing with a couple of more artists, under the banner of Mad Decent Block Party. The entire tour package is a construct of the Mad Decent record label, which is owned by Diplo. advertisement "America's biggest dance event is making its India debut and you sure need to be excited. Big Gigantic, Gorgon City, Giraffage are all making their first-time visits to the country. It's more like a tasteful concoction of music festival and the ultimate hangout," says Diplo about Mad Decent Block Party, adding, "It's like a concoction of mainstream electronic and hiphop music with influences from the past and present styles of electro, moombahton, dancehall, dubstep and trap." The Major Lazer, comprising Diplo, Jillionaire and Walshy Fire, has priviously visited India in 2014 The Major Lazer guys have fond memories of the last time they performed in India (in 2014). Jillionaire says, "India is such a majestic land filled with beautiful people. India is special and its beauty absolutely humbled us. When we toured there as Major Lazer, it was mind-blowing to see our fan-base. Major Lazer has always been a culture mashup, and to us India feels like some kind of special creature with one foot in history and one firmly in the future. The experience is something we'll never forget." Another thing they will never forget is the shooting of the 'Lean On' video. (They don't rule out shooting another video here.) When they were making the 'Lean On' video, they were on a limited budget and only had a couple of days off from their India tour. "It was literally improvised and made up in 24 hours," says Jillionaire, adding: "It was so tiring that the dancers, everyone on set, were sleeping between the takes. In fact, the choreography was more or less created on-site and we all were just trying to learn between takes as well." A shot from its 'Lean On' video that was shot in India. Originally, they also had plans to use an elephant in the video. "But after we went over on another shot and it was time to use the elephant, it had fallen asleep! We thought the trainer was just milking us for more money, and tried to find an ATM to get some more money for the trainer, but the trainer said, 'No elephant. If I wake him up he will kill everyone'. Despite not having an elephant, this video still made it to a billion views. That's because of the endless love from our fans," says Diplo. For their fans, there is some good news coming their way in August-September this year. That's when they are planning to release a few songs. advertisement "We are trying to make a new language for the music we do, beautiful pop music," says Walshy Fire. "Nowadays, people have an open mind vis-a-vis new artists like Meghan Trainor, Nico & Vinz, Hozier - there are hits coming out of everywhere. We're doing unusual records that sound big, have a pop feel and we're getting better at it. Music is the Weapon (their upcoming album) follows on the formula of Peace is the Mission. There's a track we made with Usher that's sounding really good. There are some Rihanna demos we did that were too weird for her, which is great for us. There are many different ideas flying around right now." Major Lazer will perform at the Mad Decent Block Party, produced by Sunburn and Oji, at Gurgaon on February 20 --- ENDS --- A little girl's wish came true when she walked the ramp at New York Fashion Week. Battling a stage 3 cancer fulfilled her wish when she walked the ramp for Naeem Khan at NYFW. Picture courtesy: Instagram/maryalicestephenson By India Today Web Desk: Trinity Moran, an 11-year-old girl, who is suffering from rhabdomyosarcoma--a life-threatening cancer involving the muscle tissue--recently walked the ramp for designer Naeem Khan at the New York Fashion Week, which concluded on Thursday. Naeem Khan made Texas girl's dream to walk in a NY fashion show come true. She's battling a rare form of cancer. @naeemkhan #fall2016 #nyfw #NYC #naeemkhan A photo posted by Clifford Pugh (@cliffordpugh) on Feb 17, 2016 at 10:23am PST advertisement Moran, who is from Texas, had expressed her wish to walk in a fashion show to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. As a result, stylist Mary Alice Stephenson, who has served as the National Fashion Ambassador for the foundation for 15 years decided to fulfill her wish and contacted designer Naeem Khan. Also read: Meet these awesome plus-size models who are making BIG noise When Khan heard about Trinity's wish, he was more-than happy to invite her to walk the ramp during his show. Moran, along with her family, flew to New York and Naeem sketched an exclusive dress for her on the spot, which she wore at the show. Walking among other models, the 11-year-old didn't even get nervous, and was able to pull off her walk with absolute grace! After the show, Alice Stephenson took to Instagram and shared a picture of Trinity with the models and Naeem, with an emotional message. Trinity Moran in a Naeem Khan outfit. Picture courtesy: Instagram/maryalicestephenson "Her name is Trinity and her wish was to walk down the runway #NYFW. When I met with @naeemkhannyc to start styling his show this season we were in the middle of a fitting when I asked if he would ever consider granting this wish. He looked at me, and without a moment of hesitation, said he would be honored. So thanks to his incredible heart and generosity we got to @GLAM4GOOD today for @makeawishamerica at the show! Naeem sketched and made a dress for this gorgeous 11year old from Texas and she worked the runway like a true supermodel! When I asked her if she was nervous she said "just a little" but that she was "ready to rock the runway"! The collection was absolutely stunning but the prettiest thing of all was the smile on Trinity's face as she basked in the beauty of a wish come true. #GLAM4GOOD #MakeAWish #naeemkhan #stylethatmatters #voices4good Special thank you and to @lmw_jewelry for the gorgeous gold headpiece for our princess and @nicolebrylskincare for doing makeup!! So grateful!(sic)" advertisement Trinity is battling stage 3 rhabdomyosarcoma and has her surgery scheduled in five weeks. --- ENDS --- Pakistan has registered a case to investigate the Pathankot attack conspiracy after India demanded action based on the evidence handed over. Interestingly, it does not name terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), nor its chief Masood Azhar. India believes enough evidence was given to Pakistan to prove JeM chief Masood Azhar's role in the Pathankot attack. By Abhishek Bhalla : Pakistan has registered a case to investigate the Pathankot attack conspiracy after India demanded action based on the evidence handed over. Interestingly, it does not name terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), nor its chief Masood Azhar. Not naming JeM or its leaders like Azhar has disappointed India as the security establishment believes enough material was given to Pakistan indicating JeM's involvement.Pakistan had earlier indicated that a probe team from the country is open to visit India as part of its investigation but New Delhi's reaction was that it's not possible unless they file a First Information Report (FIR) first. advertisement Disappointment While there is disappointment, there is also the view that at least Pakistan has acknowledged that the conspiracy to attack the Air Force base was hatched in Pakistan. "It is a small step in the right direction. But it is disappointing that neither the name of Jaish nor Masood Azhar was incorporated in the FIR," a senior government official said. Pakistan filed the FIR against unknown persons after weeks of probe into the attack on the air base on January 2 in which seven security personnel were killed. It was registered at the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) in Gujranwala in the neighbouring country's Punjab province. "We have failed to understand why Jaish and its chief's names were not included in the FIR despite India giving the adequate evidence about their involvement," the official added. According to Pakistan's CTD, the FIR is needed for starting police and judicial proceedings on the basis of the evidence collected in connection with the attack for which India has blamed Pakistan-based JeM. Guilty India has identified Azhar as the mastermind behind the attack. It has also blamed his brother Rauf and five others for carrying out the attack. Law Minister of Pakistan's Punjab province, Rana Sanaullah, said if anyone, including Azhar, is found guilty of involvement in the attack, they will be prosecuted. "No one becomes guilty upon naming (in a case). I don't want to name anyone at this stage. Let the probe be completed and if Masood Azhar is involved, action will be taken," Sanaullah said. He also urged India to provide any evidence it has on Azhar or anybody else's involvement in the attack. The FIR was registered under sections 302, 324 and 109 of the Pakistan Penal Code, and sections 7 and 21-I of the Anti-Terrorism Act. The FIR also mentions the telephone numbers contacted by the militants during the attack. Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had formed the six- member investigation team headed by Additional Inspector General of Punjab's CTD Rai Tahir to probe India's assertion that JeM was behind the attack. advertisement Also read Pathankot-like attacks will keep happening, says Pervez Musharraf How Pakistani media reported Pathankot terror attack --- ENDS --- All is not lost for Bacchus lovers in prohibition-bound Bihar yet. The Nitish Kumar government has decided to allow one person to purchase one bottle of liquor a day for personal consumption once the new excise policy comes into effect from the next financial year. By Giridhar Jha: All is not lost for Bacchus lovers in prohibition-bound Bihar yet. The Nitish Kumar government has decided to allow one person to purchase one bottle of liquor a day for personal consumption once the new excise policy comes into effect from the next financial year. Excise and Prohibition Minister Abdul Jalil Mastan said the second bottle would not be available to the same person until the next day. advertisement As per the latest decision of the excise department, the buyer will have to sign on the register of the authorised shops of the Bihar State Beverages Corporation Limited as proof of his purchase while buying liquor. The shopkeepers will turn him back empty-handed if he arrives for another bottle of his favourite brand the same day. Not only this, the shops in urban areas will also have close circuit television cameras (CCTVs) to monitor liquor sale. There will be no alcohol shops in rural parts of the state from the next financial year. The Nitish government has decided to enforce phase-wise prohibition in Bihar from April 1 this year. In the first phase, it will ban sale, purchase and manufacturing of country liquor. However, the Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) will remain available for the tipplers, albeit in limited quantity, through the shops run by the state government undertaking until total prohibition is implemented. The department has also decided to make it mandatory for all the trucks carrying the liquor stock to be equipped with digital lock and GPS facilities. Besides, a full-body scanner will be installed at the check posts to scan the entire vehicle in order to check smuggling from outside the state. Significantly, there is also a provision for capital punishment in the proposed excise act for hooch deaths. If anybody dies from spurious liquor, those responsible for it will also have to face the gallows. There are also provisions for life imprisonment and jail term for up to seven years for other offences. If anybody is caught selling liquor in an illegal manner, he will also have to go behind bars. Nitish, who has resolved to enforce total prohibition in Bihar in keeping with a promise that he had made before the Assembly elections last year, reviewed the steps taken by the department in this regard on Thursday. According to officials, Bihar may well be the first state to have introduced such stringent punishment for violation of the prohibition laws. Meanwhile, the excise department has already launched an extensive drive to check illegal sale of alcohol in the state. A total of 822 people have been arrested in the first 16 days of this month. advertisement The move to sell one bottle a day has evoked sharp criticism from the Opposition. Rashtriya Lok Samata Party general secretary Seema Saxena said the Nitish government had resolved to implement total prohibition in Bihar but it had allowed sale of one bottle for one person everybody now. "How will the shopkeeper ensure that the liquor is being used for personal consumption and not for sale in the black market," she asked. Saxena said the government decision would only encourage smuggling and black marketing of alcohol in Bihar. The Nitish government had been earning excise revenue up to Rs 4,500 crore every year due to sale of liquor but it had to take the decision to enforce prohibition because of the long-standing demand of women, especially those from the villages. Also Read Bihar: Jitan Ram Manjhi vows to launch anti-liquor campaign against Nitish govt Liquor ban: Man hurls shoe at Bihar CM Nitish Kumar, arrested --- ENDS --- A non-bailable warrant was issued against former Pakistani military ruler Pervez Musharraf today in connection with the murder case of Lal Masjid cleric Abdul Rashid Ghazi, who was killed in a military crackdown in 2007. According to local media, Musharraf arrived in Karachi on Saturday evening for a visit after his indictment on treason charges in a special court in Islamabad. The charges relate to his suspension of the constitution and imposition of emergency rule in 20 By India Today Web Desk: A non-bailable warrant was issued against former Pakistani military ruler Pervez Musharraf today in connection with the murder case of Lal Masjid cleric Abdul Rashid Ghazi, who was killed in a military crackdown in 2007. A local court in Islamabad issued the order and directed the authorities to produce Musharraf before it on March 16. The court also rejected Musharraf's plea seeking permanent exemption from appearing in the case and issued the warrants. advertisement His counsel said they would challenge the order, Geo News reported. The 72-year-old former president has never appeared before the court during the previous 55 hearings. This is the fourth non-bailable arrest warrant against him in the case. The cleric's family had filed a case in 2013 against Musharraf over his alleged involvement in the killing of Rashid during a 2007 operation when military commandos stormed the mosque in the heart of Islamabad on his orders. The three-day siege in July 2007 at the Lal Masjid had claimed scores of lives, including of students and security personnel. In January 2016, Musharraf was acquitted by an anti-terrorism court in the 2006 murder case of Baloch nationalist leader Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, the first major relief to the ex-military ruler entangled in several high-profile cases. ALSO READ: --- ENDS --- A priest and two others were arrested by the police for organizing an item dance in a temple in Tekal in Kolar district, 75 kms from Bengaluru. They also assaulted the policemen and held them captive for a few hours. By Aravind Gowda: A priest and two others were arrested by the police for organizing an item dance in a temple in Tekal in Kolar district, 75 kms from Bengaluru. They also assaulted the policemen and held them captive for a few hours. The police said that they received information about girls in skimpy costumes dancing on the premises of the Byatagangamma temple on the Tekal-Bangarpete Road on Thursday night. When two policemen went to the spot, the priest and a few local residents objected to their presence. When the police asked them to produce the permission letter for the public performance, the priest and two others allegedly assaulted the law enforcement officers and locked them inside a room. advertisement When the policemen did not return to the station in time, the local sub-inspector went to the spot with a platoon of police. When they found out that the two policemen were locked by the temple priest, the police took control of the situation and arrested the priest and two others. The dancers were brought from the neighboring Andhra Pradesh for night long performance as part of the 6th anniversary celebrations of the temple. --- ENDS --- Priynka Chopra will begin shooting for Baywatch after Oscars 2016. The Bajirao Mastani star is currently shooting for ABC show, Quantico in Montreal and she will be soon flying back to India to promote her upcoming film, Jai Gangaajal. By India Today Web Desk: Priyanka Chopra, who has been roped for a negative role in Hollywood film Baywatch, will be joining the cast and crew after Oscars 2016. The 33-year-old actor is currently shooting for the next season of Quantico in Montreal, Canada. ALSO READ: Baywatch - Priyanka Chopra's character was initially written for a man ALSO READ: Priyanka Chopra in Baywatch - B-Town CANNOT stop gushing over Desi Girl's big Hollywood debut advertisement ALSO READ: It's official! Priyanka Chopra to play villain in Dwayne Johnson-starrer Baywatch Priyanka Chopra has to juggle between Hollywood and Bollywood projects after she signed up for Dwayne The Rock Johnson starrer-Baywatch. She has to promote her much-awaited film, Jai Gangaajal which is set to release on March, 4 2016. Before Prakash Jha directorial Jai Gangaajal releases in India, Priyanka will have to attend Oscars as she has been invited as one of presenters this year. In an interview with NDTV, the Bajirao Mastani actor said, "As soon as the Oscars wrap up on February 28 night, I leave for Miami. I begin shooting for Baywatch the very next day, even though the unit starts earlier. I will be juggling Baywatch and Quantico until April. So, it will be a lot of travel between Miami and Montreal. Makers of both have allowed me to do the balancing act. It is going to be crazy. I have a nightmare schedule ahead. I shoot for Quantico from Monday to Friday." And if this tight schedule is not enough to keep Priyanka busy, she has her new production house, Purple Pebble Pictures (PPP) to take care which was launched last year. But Priyanka is tough enough and calls herself a micro-manager as she said, "I can describe myself as a micro-manager since I am interested even in the minor details. I can manage many things at the same time because that is how I am. I have my finger in too many pies because I want all of those pies." The star seems to be more excited for her Hollywood debut as Baywatch also stars Zac Efron, Kelly Rohrbach and Alexandra Daddario in pivotal roles. She recently revealed that the filmmakers initially wrote the script keeping a male villain in mind, before the Quantico actor stepped in. Priyanka will be playing a negative character named Victoria Leeds in Baywatch. She has previously done negative roles in films such as Aitraaz (2004) and 7 Khoon Maaf (2011). Baywatch is scheduled to release in 2017. --- ENDS --- Union minister Giriraj Singh today hit out at Rahul Gandhi, alleging that the Congress vice president was speaking in a language that makes Pakistan and LeT chief Hafiz Saeed "happy". By Press Trust of India: Union minister Giriraj Singh today hit out at Rahul Gandhi, alleging that the Congress vice president was speaking in a language that makes Pakistan and LeT chief Hafiz Saeed "happy". "BJP is not in the business of giving away certificates of patriotism. But would Rahul Gandhi explain why, for the past few days, he has been speaking in a language that makes Pakistan and Hafiz Saeed happy?," Singh said here. advertisement The minister was reacting to a recent statement by Gandhi, that patriotism ran in his blood and he did not need certificates from BJP or RSS. Singh also said that political parties opposing the Narendra Modi government on the issue of JNU student leader Kanhaiya Kumar's arrest on the charge of sedition "should keep in mind the fact desh bachega tabhi rajneeti bachegee (politics is there only if the country survives)". The BJP leader also attacked at Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, alleging that under his rule "the state is witnessing a collapse of law and order." "Kidnappings, rapes and killings of political workers belonging to affiliations other than the ruling Grand Alliance have become the order of the day in Bihar. "The Chief Minister must answer the people of the state who have voted him to power for the third consecutive term", the Minister of State for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises said. Singh was in Kumar's cabinet when BJP shared power in Bihar with JD(U) until they parted ways in 2013. --- ENDS --- BJP MP Bhola Singh today slammed his party member Shatrughan Sinha for voicing his support to Kanhaiya Kumar, the JNUSU president who has been arrested for raising Pro-Afzal slogans in the Jawaharlal Nehru University. BJP MP Bhola Singh today slammed his party member Shatrughan Sinha for voicing his support to Kanhaiya Kumar, the JNUSU president who has been arrested for raising Pro-Afzal slogans in the Jawaharlal Nehru University. Bhola Singh also called JNU a den of anti-national activities. "There are several anti-national forces who are working against our country and JNU has become a den of such forces. Kanhaiya has also joined such forces and this by no means is patriotism", he said. advertisement Taking potshots at Sinha, Bhola Singh said that nobody now takes the actor-turned politician seriously because he speaks something on screen and then comes out and rubbishes it. Sinha has on many occasions taken jibes at his own party and has even backed Kanhaiya Kumar sparking a controversy. Calling him a trouble-maker, Bhola Singh said, " Our party believes in freedom of speech and because of this we are facing so much trouble but despite all this we have not taken action against Shatrughan Sinha. Its not that we don't want to act against him." Bhola Singh who is an MP from Begusarai added, "Shatrughan Sinha should not speak on Kanhaiya and various other issues. If he has to do so then he should leave the party and then condemn action against Kanhaiya. Action against Sinha is very much possible. He can be suspended as well as sacked from the BJP as part of action against him." Shatrughan Sinha had earlier lashed out at the current branding of Kanhaiya Kumar as an anti-national, and demanded his acquittal which has created quite a furore within the party ranks in Bihar. --- ENDS --- At least 120 people including employees and trainees are trapped in Entrepreneur Development Institute (EDI) on the outskirts of Srinagar as militants have occupied it after attacking a Centre Reserve Police Force (CRPF) convoy Srinagar-Jammu highway, police sources said. The militants attacked CRPF convoy on the highway at Sempora at around 3:30 p.m in which 11 CRPF men were injured. By Naseer Ganai: Three CRPF jawan were killed and 9 others were seriously injured in an encounter with Pakistan-trained militants today at Entrepreneurs Development Institute at Pampore on the Srinagar-Jammu highway. While three CRPF men were declared dead earlier, one civilian, identified as Abdul Gani Mir died late in the evening. A possible hostage situation was avoided due to the timely action taken by the CRPF and local police personnel. The security personnel successfully managed to evacuate civilians who were holed up inside EDI building on the outskirts of Srinagar. advertisement At least 120 people including employees and trainees were trapped in the building as militants have occupied it after attacking a Centre Reserve Police Force (CRPF) convoy Srinagar-Jammu highway, police sources said. The militants attacked CRPF convoy on the highway at Sempora at around 3:30 p.m. Srinagar based CRPF spokesman Bavish Chudhary said after the attack the militants, whose number is not known, rushed towards the EDI building. "There are civilians inside and first priority is to get them out of the building," the spokesman said. Superintendent Police (SP) Anwantipora, Muhammad Irshad said the police was trying to evacuate the civilians safely. An EDI employee Ashfaq Mir told Mail Today that all civilians have been evacuated by the police and paramilitary forces in seven shifts. "I am now in armored vehicle moving towards safe place." Mir said. He said that the intense gunfight between the militants and the security forces have started. Watch full video here: Also read: Terrorists holed up inside EDI campus in J&K's Pampore, encounter on --- ENDS --- Unidentified gunmen opened fire at a bus carrying CRPF men in Jammu and Kashmir's Pampore today. The incident took place near the Entrepreneurship Development Institute (EDI). By India Today Web Desk: Unidentified gunmen opened fire at a bus carrying CRPF men in Jammu and Kashmir's Pampore today. The incident took place near the Entrepreneurship Development Institute (EDI). Two CRPF men have been injured in the firing. Praying this news is wrong. All JKEDI does is train youngsters to look beyond government jobs & become entrepreneurs https://t.co/7oKSe8YXNF Omar Abdullah (@abdullah_omar) February 20, 2016 advertisement According to reports, security forces have nabbed one militant while he was trying to flee from the spot. Two more attackers are believed to be holed up inside the EDI complex, which has been cordoned off. At least 15 -20 people including government employees are reported trapped inside one of the buildings in the complex. Reinforcements have been rushed to the spot and an operation is on to secure the EDI building. Also read: Government has no proposal to remove AFSPA from J&K till now: Sources --- ENDS --- U.S. warplanes launched air strikes against a suspected Islamic State training camp in western Libya on Friday, killing more than 40 people, likely including a militant connected to two deadly attacks last year in neighboring Tunisia. A view shows damage at the scene after an airstrike by U.S. warplanes against Islamic State in Sabratha, Libya, February 19, 2016.(Photo: Reuters) By Reuters: U.S. warplanes launched air strikes against a suspected Islamic State training camp in western Libya on Friday, killing more than 40 people, likely including a militant connected to two deadly attacks last year in neighbouring Tunisia. It was the second U.S. air strike in three months against Islamic State in Libya, where the hardline Islamist militants have exploited years of chaos following Muammar Gaddafi's 2011 overthrow to build up a presence on the southern shores of the Mediterranean Sea. advertisement The Pentagon said it had targeted an Islamic State training camp. The facility in the city of Sabratha was linked to Noureddine Chouchane, a Tunisian blamed by his native country for attacks last year on a Tunis museum and the Sousse beach resort, which killed dozens of tourists. "Destruction of the camp and Chouchane's removal will eliminate an experienced facilitator and is expected to have an immediate impact on ISIL's ability to facilitate its activities in Libya, including recruiting new ISIL members, establishing bases in Libya, and potentially planning external attacks on U.S. interests in the region," the Pentagon said, using an acronym for Islamic State, also known as ISIS or Daesh. U.S. officials said Chouchane is most likely dead but White House spokesman Josh Earnest said he could not yet confirm the results of the air assault. He said the raid showed U.S. willingness to fight Islamic State. "It's an indication that the president will not hesitate to take these kinds of forceful, decisive actions," Earnest said. In Libya, photos released by the municipal authorities showed a massive crater in grey earth. Several wounded men lay bandaged in hospital. The mayor of Sabratha, Hussein al-Thwadi, told Reuters the planes hit a building in the city's Qasr Talil district, home to many foreigners. Locals officials said 43 people were killed. The strikes targeted a house in a residential district west of the centre, municipal authorities said in a statement. The house had been rented to foreigners including Tunisians suspected of belonging to Islamic State, and medium-calibre weapons including machineguns and rocket-propelled grenades had been found in the rubble, the statement said. The air strikes came just days after a warning by President Barack Obama that Washington intended to "take actions where we've got a clear operation and a clear target in mind" against Islamic State. Britain said it had authorised the use of its airbases to launch the attack. Islamic State runs a self-styled caliphate across swathes of Iraq and Syria, where it has faced air strikes from a U.S.-led coalition since 2014. DEEPER INTO CHAOS Since Gaddafi was overthrown five years ago by rebel forces backed by NATO air strikes, Libya has slipped deeper into chaos, with two rival governments each backed by competing factions of former rebel brigades. advertisement A U.N.-backed government of national accord is trying to win support, but is still awaiting parliamentary approval. It is opposed by factional hardliners and has yet to establish itself in the capital Tripoli. Islamic State has expanded, attacking oil ports and taking over Gaddafi's home city of Sirte, now the militant group's most important stronghold outside its main redoubts in Syria and Iraq. Calls have increased for a swift Western response to stop the group establishing itself more permanently and using Libya as a base for attacks on neighbours Tunisia and Egypt. Western officials and diplomats have said air strikes and special forces operations are possible as well as an Italian-led "security stabilisation" plan of training and advising. U.S. and European officials have in the past insisted Libyans must first form a united government and ask for help, but they also say they may still carry out unilateral action if needed. The United States estimates that the number of militants directly affiliated with Islamic State or sympathetic to it now operating in Libya is in the "low thousands," or less than 5,000, a U.S. government source said. advertisement Last November the United States carried out an air strike on the Libyan town of Derna, close to the Egyptian border, to kill Abu Nabil, an Iraqi commander in Islamic State. As many as 40 people were killed in U.S. warplanes' air strikes in western Libya on Friday. The air strikes against a suspected Islamic State training camp, which likely included a militant connected to two deadly attacks last year in neighbouring Tunisia. It was the second U.S. air strike in three months against Islamic State in Libya, where the hardline Islamist militants have exploited years of chaos following Muammar Gaddafi's 2011 overthrow to build up a presence on the southern shores of the Mediterranean Sea. The Pentagon said it had targeted an Islamic State training camp. The facility in the city of Sabratha was linked to Noureddine Chouchane, a Tunisian blamed by his native country for attacks last year on a Tunis museum and the Sousse beach resort, which killed dozens of tourists. "Destruction of the camp and Chouchane's removal will eliminate an experienced facilitator and is expected to have an immediate impact on ISIL's ability to facilitate its activities in Libya, including recruiting new ISIL members, establishing bases in Libya, and potentially planning external attacks on U.S. interests in the region," the Pentagon said, using an acronym for Islamic State, also known as ISIS or Daesh. advertisement U.S. officials said Chouchane is most likely dead but White House spokesman Josh Earnest said he could not yet confirm the results of the air assault. He said the raid showed U.S. willingness to fight Islamic State. "It's an indication that the president will not hesitate to take these kinds of forceful, decisive actions," Earnest said. In Libya, photos released by the municipal authorities showed a massive crater in grey earth. Several wounded men lay bandaged in hospital. The mayor of Sabratha, Hussein al-Thwadi, told Reuters the planes hit a building in the city's Qasr Talil district, home to many foreigners. Locals officials said 43 people were killed. The strikes targeted a house in a residential district west of the centre, municipal authorities said in a statement. The house had been rented to foreigners including Tunisians suspected of belonging to Islamic State, and medium-calibre weapons including machineguns and rocket-propelled grenades had been found in the rubble, the statement said. The air strikes came just days after a warning by President Barack Obama that Washington intended to "take actions where we've got a clear operation and a clear target in mind" against Islamic State. Britain said it had authorised the use of its airbases to launch the attack. Islamic State runs a self-styled caliphate across swathes of Iraq and Syria, where it has faced air strikes from a U.S.-led coalition since 2014. DEEPER INTO CHAOS Since Gaddafi was overthrown five years ago by rebel forces backed by NATO air strikes, Libya has slipped deeper into chaos, with two rival governments each backed by competing factions of former rebel brigades. A U.N.-backed government of national accord is trying to win support, but is still awaiting parliamentary approval. It is opposed by factional hardliners and has yet to establish itself in the capital Tripoli. Islamic State has expanded, attacking oil ports and taking over Gaddafi's home city of Sirte, now the militant group's most important stronghold outside its main redoubts in Syria and Iraq. Calls have increased for a swift Western response to stop the group establishing itself more permanently and using Libya as a base for attacks on neighbours Tunisia and Egypt. Western officials and diplomats have said air strikes and special forces operations are possible as well as an Italian-led "security stabilisation" plan of training and advising. U.S. and European officials have in the past insisted Libyans must first form a united government and ask for help, but they also say they may still carry out unilateral action if needed. The United States estimates that the number of militants directly affiliated with Islamic State or sympathetic to it now operating in Libya is in the "low thousands," or less than 5,000, a U.S. government source said. Last November the United States carried out an air strike on the Libyan town of Derna, close to the Egyptian border, to kill Abu Nabil, an Iraqi commander in Islamic State. A U.S. air strike targeted veteran Algerian militant Mokhtar Belmokhtar and other jihadists meeting in eastern Libya last June. His fate is unclear. ALSO READ: Two Indians kidnapped in Libya --- ENDS --- Talking to India Today, UP Director General of Police Javeed Ahmed said that it will be the state police's effort to maintain peace in the state at all costs. By Siraj Qureshi: In light of the JNU incident and the subsequent communal tension prevailing all over the country, the Uttar Pradesh Police has issued an ultimatum to the communal-minded individuals (goondas) in the state that any attempt to introduce communal disharmony in the state shall be dealt with extreme prejudice. Talking to India Today, UP Director General of Police Javeed Ahmed said that it will be the state police's effort to maintain peace in the state at all costs. The police station incharges in Uttar Pradesh have been given explicit instructions to file and investigate every complaint of communal violence in the state, besides preventing crimes against women. advertisement He said that as a return to the tried and tested methods of policing, the state police has been instructed to do patrolling on foot in the busy streets and alleys in the entire state which will increase the presence of the police in the cities. Ahmed said that cyber crimes are on the rise in the country and internet is being actively used as a medium to spread communal hatred. Such activities will be strongly curbed and the perpetrators brought to justice before they can precipitate any communal incident. A workshop to combat cybercrime shall be held soon in Agra. The traffic woes of commuters in the state shall also be addressed soon and the local police will be made answerable for any traffic snarls in their area. A smooth moving traffic shall ensure that the police can also reach crime scenes quickly and control any situation. He said that the police station incharges have been instructed to prepare a list of the communal 'goondas' in their areas and keep an eye on their activities. This strategy will effectively prevent a communal or hate crime from occurring and will ensure peace in the state. The station incharges have also been instructed to obtain help from the local community leaders in maintaining peace and communal harmony in their areas. Ahmed said that it was his target that a strong police presence should be felt across the state. He said that the 'Khaki' should instil a sense of security in the people, not fear and the police headquarter shall keep an eye on the police stations and the state of law and order in their areas, besides keenly observing the general public opinion about the policing in their area. He said that the police does not distinguish between 'white' and 'black' collared criminals and a criminal was only treated as a criminal. ALSO READ: JNU row: Delhi Police issues look out notice against 3 students Shikhar Dhawan's advice to anti-nationals: Don't speak ill against your country --- ENDS --- In a move to mobilise the cadres in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh, the BJP will organise several public meetings of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Rajnath Singh. The BJP will organise several rallies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Rajnath Singh (below) in poll-bound UP to mobilise cadres. By Kumar Vikram: In a move to mobilise the cadres in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh, the BJP will organise several public meetings of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Rajnath Singh. The rallies will be held in a manner so that every region of the state is well-covered. BJP's in charge of Uttar Pradesh Om Mathur had discussions with party President Amit Shah on the strategy. advertisement "Energising the cadres is essential to win polls. Rallies of prominent leaders will help in strengthening the cadres at the ground level in a big way," said a BJP state unit leader. The assembly elections in the state will be held in the first half of 2017; it has been discussed that the party will organise 15-20 rallies of PM Narendra Modi and Rajnath Singh. Apart from the top two faces, some other Hindi speaking leaders will also hold rallies. Moreover, local parliamentarians have also been told to regularly visit their areas of influence. The places for rallies will be decided in a way so that one rally could cover 15-20 Assembly constituencies. Moreover, local parliamentarians have also been told to regularly visit their areas of influence. The places for rallies will be decided in a way so that one rally could cover 15-20 Assembly constituencies. About 60 per cent out of the 22-crore population belongs to rural areas and the party has started wooing farmers with various initiatives. The BJP Kisan Morcha recently organised a meeting in Greater Noida where senior leaders, including Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh and Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh, interacted with farmers' groups. It was also observed that other activities in the state unit of the party have taken a backseat due to the poll preparation. The party has still not selected any face for the state unit president. The BJP believes that this time the political fight is mainly with Mayawati's BSP. A party insider said the first priority is to strengthen the cadre at the booth level. Sources claim that about 1.20 lakh booths out of total 1.40 lakhs have been selected. Also Read Mood of the Nation poll: Has the Modi magic faded? --- ENDS --- The Jat quota agitation has crippled Haryana for the second time in less than a year. The latest protest, however, has been more violent. This quota issue goes back to the 1990s. Jat community members blocked the Delhi-Rohtak road during their agitation for reservation in Rohtak on Wednesday. (Photo: PTI) By India Today Web Desk: Railway station, mall, several police and civilian vehicles and a minister's house set on fire, an armoury looted, highways dug up, rail tracks damaged. Jat protesters demanding reservation in jobs and education in Haryana have unleashed a reign of violence across the state. IN PICS Here is all that you need to know about Jat quota stir: advertisement The Jat quota agitation has crippled Haryana for the second time in less than a year. The latest protest, however, has been more violent. This quota issue goes back to the 1990s. Jats: The Jats are primarily farmers. Traditionally, they are not considered backward. They are economically and politically well off. Jats are 29 per cent of Haryana's total population. Demand: Jats are demanding to be declared OBC (other backward class), which will help them secure the 27 per cent OBC reservation in government jobs. What the Haryana govt offered them: Jats have rejected the Special Backward Class quota offered by the Khattar government on the basis of their economic status. The Supreme Court's take: Hearing a plea of the Jats, the Supreme Court had made it clear that caste alone cannot be the reason to approve reservation for a certain community. The top court had said that to determine backwardness of a community, social backwardness should be the prime concern. The Supreme Court has capped caste based reservation upto 50 per cent and if the Haryana government succumbs to Jat pressure and add Jat quota to the present OBC reservation (27 per cent plus SC, ST quota of 22.5 per cent) it will be flouting Supreme Court's rules. Jat quota demand - History in brief Ever since the implementation of Mandal Commission report in 1991, Jats have been opposing mention in the OBC list of the Union government and other states. In 1997, Jats in Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh demanded them to be included in the central OBC list. It was reject by the National Commission for Backward Classes. In 2012, a survey was conducted in six states on the directives of the commission to review the economical and social status of the Jats. States like Haryana and Uttar Pradesh were also included in the survey. In Haryana, the survey conducted compared the Jats to higher castes. During 2004 Haryana Assembly election campaign, Congress's Bhupinder Singh Hooda promised Jats a quota. Hooda won the election. Ahead of Assembly election in 2014, Hooda included Jats and four other castes in Specially Backward Class (SBC) quota. However, in July 2015, the Punjab and Haryana High Court rejected the Hooda government's plan to give 10 per cent reservation to the Jats after the Supreme Court refused the state government's quota recommendations. Centre's decision to include Jats from 9 states - Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Bihar - in OBC list rejected by the Supreme Court in March, 2015. advertisement Also Read: Jat reservation stir: Protesters set railway station on fire in Jind, Army airlifted to Rohtak Jat reservation row: 3 dead in the rampage Jat reservation row disrupts daily life in Haryana, vegetables, fuel running out of stockJat reservation row: State government indifferent towards Jats --- ENDS --- Investigative reporting from the inner city to Wall Street to the United Nations This is the blogspot version InnerCityPress.com Iran News Update suggested on Tuesday that Irans reluctance to participate in plans to freeze oil output at Januarys levels might be motivated in part by a desire to retaliate against OPECs previous unwillingness to cut production ahead of Irans reentry into the market. The report further indicated that Russia and Saudi Arabia appeared to be considering the possibility of offering special terms to Iran in order to entice its cooperation. Specific plans had not taken shape as of Wednesday, but Irans notably open-ended commentary on the situation could be interpreted as deliberately leaving the door open for a favorable offer from OPEC and Moscow. The discrepancy in reporting about Irans views of the deal stems from the fact that Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh specifically lauded the newfound cooperation but stopped short of declaring an Iranian policy that would actively support it. This situation led Reuters to conclude that Iran remains a serious obstacle for the agreement, which would be the first between OPEC and a non-OPEC oil exporter since 2001. Russia has reportedly made it clear that universal cooperation including cooperation from Tehran is a prerequisite for the agreement going forward. But the initial reports on Tuesday indicated that it was unlikely that even the other OPEC members would maintain strict controls over output levels. Furthermore, Reuters added on Wednesday that although Russia was a party to the similar 2001 agreement, the non-OPEC power failed to adhere the terms it had helped set. This historical context could make an agreement with Russia a more risky proposition, especially it is necessary for Saudi Arabia to offer special terms to its traditional rival Iran in order to secure that agreement. But even in comments peripheral to the OPEC negotiations, Russia has urged improvement of relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia, according to the Middle East and North Africa Financial Network. Public comments from Iranian officials have portrayed that reconciliation as a step toward the unilateral action that is necessary to stabilize the global oil markets. But it is also possible that Moscows efforts are partially aimed at facilitating return to those markets for its global partner Iran. That partnership apparently has been steadily deepening since some time prior to the conclusion of nuclear negotiations between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany. And it has especially deepened in its military dimensions since September when Russia began carrying out bombings in Syria in support of Iranian-led and Iranian-supported forces fighting in defense of President Bashar al-Assad. The cooperation in that fight and in other regional issues was reaffirmed on Tuesday in meetings between Iranian and Russia officials in Moscow. Iran News Update previously reported that Iranian Defense Minister Hossein Dehqan had met directly with Russian President Vladimir Putin to finalize plans for the delivery of Russian fighter jets, as well as to discuss other potential military shipments, including some that would violate UN restrictions on arms sales to Iran, which are set to remain in place until the nuclear agreement has been successfully upheld for five years. On Wednesday, Pakistan Today added that Dehqan had also met with his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu as well as Deputy Foreign Minister Dmitri Rogozin. During those meetings, Shoigu declared, I am convinced that our meeting is going to contribute toward reinforcing friendly relations between Russian and Iranian armed forces. He also said that the two countries stand ready to coordinate their approaches on a large number of global and regional issues. The ongoing expansion in cooperation will reportedly hit a new milestone on Thursday when the first advanced S-300 missiles will arrive in Iran from Russia, according to news sources the sale of these weapons was originally planned for 2011 but was stalled for years by global outcry before the nuclear negotiations gave Iran license to resume the transfer. After a number of delays and false starts, the transfer appears to be in progress at least, possibly signaling that Russia now considers the benefits of partnership with Iran to outweigh the political consequences of arming a government that is known for its sponsorship of terrorism. About Me Hausfrau Roisin I am an Irish woman living by Lake Konstanz in the German-Swiss border region. I arrived here in 2008 after a 21 year 'stop over' in New York City. The aim of this blog is simple: To give those who 'pop by' a moment of pleasure in the comings and goings of their daily life. I post anything that I think is worth sharing - like MY opinions for example. Or stories about fun or interesting things I enjoyed. I post photos and links to videos too. On a good day my contribution of musings, photos, or video links may reach to give the reader/viewer a smile; on those rare excellent days, perhaps even a down right chuckle. Being born in Ireland, I can't help but to see the world 'a little bit other ways' than most. Like most people born on the island - I consider that a good thing. That perspective will surely present itself in my postings. Thus you have Irish Stew for the Soul, if you will. View my complete profile This page has found a new home By Nelson LEbo III on 17 Novbember 2016 for the Automatic Earth - Image above: Popeye the Sailor's quote(usually said just before he recovers from a beating by eating a can of spinach and beating Bluto was) "That's all I can stands! I can't stands no more!" From ( http://www.redbubble.com/people/kashley/works/9077317-thats-all-i-can-stands ). Voters are fed up with money in politics. Voters are fed up with cronyism. Voters do not want a coronation of another Clinton or Bush. Every major NH newspaper endorsed Clinton. Every establishment NH Democrat politician endorsed Clinton. Sanders came from a 50-point projected deficit to win by over 20 points: 60% to 38%. Sanders won every demographic including 70% of women-under-30 except for over-65s and households making over $200,000. Among democratic voters in NH the #1 issue was income inequality. Donald Trump is my Person of the Year. Who else has made a bigger splash in 2015? Pundits say he plays on anxieties that exist among a certain voter demographic. He appears fearless in his attacks on political correctness. Bombastic is a term we hear to describe him. But I say his most significant accomplishment has been in mastering a communication technique and ideology that has grown to achieve a critical mass of cultural significance: the double down. This is not to be confused with KFCs Double Down a beef burger between two pieces of fried chicken breast with cheese and bacon. Doubling down takes many forms. It can mean making a false statement, and instead of admitting the mistake, vehemently insisting on the truthiness of the statement in the first place. Alternatively, it might mean coming up with bad policy and then working tirelessly to try to justify it. It may be throwing good money after bad. In Trumps case, it also means making outrageous or controversial statements and refusing to backtrack. Doubling down means never having to say youre sorry. Trump is my Person of the Year not because he invented the double down or that he is the only person that does it, but because he has given it a living, breathing form. He is a meme with a comb-over and a personal jet. Trumps political success relies on the fact that many people only accept information that fits their existing worldview. Facts dont matter. Research doesnt matter. Trained experts dont matter. As Ray Davies sang in 1981, Give the people what they want. The Trumpification of Western society has reached its watershed moment. It marks the end of apology. . SUBHEAD: In Dixville NH Kasich edged Trump on the Republican side 3 to 2, but Bernie crushed Hillary in a 4 to 0 landslide.While Ive lived in New Zealand for eight years, most of my adult life has been spent in New Hampshire, USA the Granite State where the official motto is Live Free or Die. Its on the license plate. You dont get more Libertarian than that.The states unofficial motto is First in the Nation, which refers to hosting the first Presidential Primary once every four years (Iowa is not a primary!). First of the first since 1964 has been the tiny hamlet of Dixville Notch, whose citizens have embraced the tradition of casting their ballots just after midnight.Of the nine eligible voters in Dixville Notch this year, five voted in the Republican Primary and four voted in the Democratic Primary. Counting the ballots took 30 seconds. John Kasich edged Donald Trump on the Republican side 3 to 2, but Bernie Sanders crushed Hillary Clinton in a 4 to 0 landslide.In order to vote in the primary one must be a registered voter: either as a Democrat, Republican or Independent. Registered Democrats and Republicans can only vote in their partys primary, but Independents may choose either.I lived in New Hampshire for 16 years, and over that time my primary votes got more and more strategic. I have voted in both primaries. When I was young I always cast my ballot for my candidate voting with my heart but as I got older my votes became increasingly strategic voting with my head.Left, right or centre, one thinghad in common last Tuesday was the rejection of so-called establishment candidates.What shines as a beacon of hope for democracy from what Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. called the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire is that no matter how much money and influence the powers-that-be throw behind their candidates, individual voters have the final say. I cant say that tears came to my eyes when I heard the result, but it did notch up my wavering faith in humanity. Let freedom ring! Let freedom ring!From this perspective, what happened on the Democratic side is nothing short of a Liberty Bell!Consider:This result speaks volumes about the current and future generation and wealth gap not only in America, but also in New Zealand and worldwide. In other words, it is a snapshot of what we will see more and more often as Baby Boomers hold on to their wealth and status while Millennials are left holding the bag.Many of us have seen this form of intergenerational tyranny coming down the tracks for some time. To me it is as simple as this:In the older demographics, we have a generation or two in America and some other countries who got free university education, bought real estate when it was cheap, and enjoyed decades of cheap energy while destroying the planets climate system. Meanwhile in the younger demographics we have a generation or two that did not. Who does not see the imbalance?Like many culture shifts, this one will move like an earthquake: in creeps and ruptures. The New Hampshire democratic result was a rupture and a week later the aftershocks are still being felt as the political circus moves on to South Carolina.If anything, the gift of superdelegates to Clinton will only increase the tectonic activity between voter demographics, as did the condescending and sexist comments from Madeleine Albright and Gloria Steinem.The fact that feminist icon Steinem made one of the most sexist comments I have ever heard in an attempt to rationalise why young women support Sanders instead of Clinton shows the desperation of the wealthy, retired left.It appears that as the older and the wealthier and the whiter see their positions of wealth and privilege threatened, they fight and fight to maintain them. As the late Joe Strummer sang, Now war is declared and battle come down (London Calling, 1979).Consider:Without doubt, Sanders is the income inequality candidate and Clinton is not. I find it troubling that Hillary was paid reported speaking fees of $600,000 (US) by mega investment bank Goldman Sachs, but refuses to release what she spoke about.Goldman Sachs was at the eye of the financial hurricane that started in 2008 and has only grown richer and more powerful since. I seem to recall Clinton saying during a recent debate something along the lines of, Of course Goldman doesnt expect anything in return. RightOn the Republican side, NH had its largest turnout ever. Here is my favourite headline: After running xenophobic & racist campaign, Donald Trump wins easily in New Hampshire.I have written about the Trump phenomenon in the past, most recently naming him my Person-of-the-Year for 2015:For writers like me and Ilargi and Nicole who rely on the best available data, statistics, facts and sound research to build a case Trumpification is a clear and present danger.Like Sanders, Trump speaks to the economic angst many Americans feel. While both men have a populist message, they appeal to vastly different demographic sub-cultures. The irony of course is that a billionaire businessman has convinced thousands of minimum wage Joe Blogs that he will look after their interests. RightWhen I lived in New Hampshire I remember driving the back roads and seeing run-down, crappy mobile homes in the middle of nowhere with Republican lawn signs out front Bush, Dole, Romney, McCain and wondering why these people actively vote against their own economic interests.Alongside Clinton, the biggest establishment candidate on the ticket was Jeb Bush, whose advertising budget in the state meant that at the end of the day his campaign spent $1,086 (US) per vote. He finished fourth, barely ahead of Marco Rubio.The takeaway message from New Hampshire is powerful but not new. Voters in Greece have rejected establishment parties twice. Voters in Portugal recently rejected the establishment. Voters in Iceland did so years ago and their nation is now thriving.So whats behind all of this rejection? I reckon its because you can only push people so far. As Popeye the Sailor is famous for saying, Thats all I can stands, I cant stands no more.While Trump is a classic Bluto character large, loud and aggressive Sanders retains a classic Popeye attribute that has endeared him to an increasing number of voters: I yam what I yam and thats all that I yam.Trustworthiness and integrity were the number one characteristic New Hampshire Democratic Primary voters were looking for in a candidate. From this perspective there can be no doubt about last weeks overwhelming result. What You Can't Discuss: This is a partial list of taboo topics within progressive-left venues around the Arab-Israel conflict. You cannot discuss this material because it undermines the "Palestinian narrative" of perpetual victimhood. This narrative is a club used by the Arab and Muslim enemies of Israel, along with their western progressive allies, to delegitimize that country in preparation for its eventual dissolution. 1) The centuries of Jewish dhimmitude under the boot of Islamic imperialism. 2) The recent construction of Palestinian identity, its connection to Soviet Cold War politics, and how this is an Arab people with a Roman name that refers to Greeks. 3) Arab and Palestinian Koranically-based racism as the fundamental source of the conflict. 4) The ways in which contemporary progressive anti-Zionism serves as a cloak for gross anti-Semitism. 5) The Palestinian theft and appropriation of Jewish history. 6) "Pallywood." 7) The historical connections between the Nazis, the Muslim Brotherhood, and the Palestinian national movement. 8) The perpetual refusal of the Palestinian-Arabs to accept a state for themselves in peace next to the Jewish one. 9) The progressive portrayal of terrorists as those fighting a righteous war of "resistance." 10) The Arab-Palestinian indoctrination of children with Jew hatred. 11) Human rights violations against women, children, and Gay people in the Muslim Middle East. 12) The fact that violent Jihadis call themselves "Jihadis" and claim to love death above life. This is only a partial list, so please let us know the many more that we are missing. [February 19, 2016] Fitch Rates Waxahachie ISD, TX's ULT Bonds 'AAA' PSF/'AA-' Underlying; Outlook Stable Fitch Ratings has assigned an 'AAA' rating to the following unlimited tax (ULT) bonds of Waxahachie Independent School District, Texas (the district): --$50 million ULT school building bonds, series 2016. The 'AAA' rating reflects the guarantee provided by the Texas Permanent School Fund (PSF), whose bond guarantee program is rated 'AAA' by Fitch. Additional information on the Texas Permanent School Fund is available in Fitch's Aug. 5, 2015 press release, 'Fitch Affirms Texas Permanent School Fund at 'AAA'; Outlook Stable', available at 'www.fitchratings.com'. The bonds are scheduled for negotiated sale on Feb. 24, 2016. Proceeds from the sale will be used to construct new facilities and renovate existing facilities of the district. In addition, Fitch assigns an 'AA-' underlying rating to the series 2016 bonds and affirms the underlying 'AA-' rating on $210.3 million of outstanding ULT bonds (accreted basis). The Rating Outlook is Stable. SECURITY The bonds are payable from an unlimited ad valorem tax levied against all taxable property in the district. KEY RATING DRIVERS STRONG FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE: District finances are well-managed, characterized by structurally balanced operations and maintenance of sound reserve levels. FAVORABLE LOCATION NEAR DFW: The district benefits from its location along a major transportation corridor and proximity to the larger Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) economy and employment base. SOME TAX BASE CONCENTRATION: Top taxpayer concentration is above average, but recent healthcare and retail investments are helping to diversify the tax base. New construction produced solid taxable assessed valuation (TAV) gains in each of the past two years. WEAK DEBT PROFILE: Overall debt levels are high and the pace of amortization is very slow, reflecting extensive use of capital appreciation bonds (CABs). Projected enrollment growth will pressure facility capacity over the medium to longer term. RATING SENSITIVITIES PRESERVATION OF BUDGET BALANCE: The maintenance of budgetary balance and solid reserve levels is necessary to mitigate the credit concerns over high debt, very slow amortization, and any operating pressures associated with new facilities. CREDIT PROFILE Waxahachie ISD is located about 30 miles south of Dallas in the center of Ellis County along Interstate 35E. Moderate enrollment growth is occurring and the current student count is approximately 8,200. STABLE LOCAL ECONOMY The district's proximity to the broad, diverse DFW economy and employment base, as well as its location along a major transportation route, has fostered a well-established local manufacturing and industrial base. In addition, the availability of affordable land has spurred residential development and accompanying enrollment growth. Healthcare investments and an improving housing market have prompted new residential construction in the past three years. The unemployment rate for Ellis County improved to 3.6% in December 2015 from 3.8% one year prior due to employment growth that outpaces the state and U.S. District wealth levels are average, with median household income and per capita income at 112% and 87% of national norms, respectively. Market value per capita of $86,000 in fiscal 2016 is boosted by the district's industrial base. TAX BASE EXPANSION Aggregate TAV growth of 13% over the past three years reflects increased residential and commercial construction activity. The fiscal 2016 TAV of $3.16 billion represents a solid increase of 5.7% over the prior year. Fitch expects moderate tax base growth to continue over the near term, based on current residential building activity and other positive economic indicators (including development spurred by the recent expansion of a medical complex). Taxpayer concentration remains above average with the top 10 payers at about 16% of fiscal 2016 TAV, led by a Walgreens distribution center at 4.7%. Other top taxpayers include a fairly diverse mix of manufacturing concerns. SOUND FINANCIAL OPERATIONS District financial operations are solid, with positive operating margins supporting pay-as-you-go capital spending. General fund operations in fiscal 2015 were balanced before a $9.7 million land purchase for future school sites. The deferral of $1.5 million in capital spending, along with positive revenue and expenditure variances, produced a drawdown of $4.6 million, smaller than projected at last review. Despite the use of reserves, the unrestricted fund balance remained a sound $20.3 million or 29% of spending. The adopted fiscal 2016 budget is balanced, despite the $1.5 capital carryover. Management currently projects that bottom-line results will reflect a modest general fund surplus of about $1.5 million, as indicated by year-to-date outperformance of conservative budget assumptions. Fitch expects that the district will maintain reserves above its informal fund balance target of three months of operating expenditures, which Fitch considers adequate. TAX RATE SWAP Waxahachie ISD voters approved a tax rate restructure in 2014 that maintained the total tax rate while shifting a portion ($0.13) of the debt service tax rate to the general fund. The net effect is approximately $1.5 million in additional operting revenues beginning in fiscal 2015 because the state funding formula more heavily subsidizes local operating taxing effort. Approximately $3.9 million of ULT debt service will be repaid via annual transfers from the general fund. Revenue generated from future TAV growth beyond the district's projections of flat valuation would be used to retire outstanding debt and reduce this transfer. Fitch recognizes the revenue advantage to the district from the tax rate swap, but this unconventional taxing structure could be subject to legislative or statutory changes. Credit concerns are mitigated by management's ability to reverse the tax rates if necessary and by sound financial operations. However, a reversal of the full $0.13 would raise the debt service rate above the state's tax rate cap of $0.50 per $100 of TAV for new debt, limiting borrowing capacity. The current rate is $0.38, providing significant margin below the cap. ELEVATED DEBT BURDEN Inclusive of the series 2016 bonds, overall debt on a current accretion basis is high at 8.4% of market value and $7,184 per capita. Annual debt service charges are manageable at 12.5% of fiscal 2015 governmental fund expenditures. Amortization remains very slow with only 17% retiring in 10 years, which Fitch views as a credit negative. The slow debt retirement is largely due to the prior use of CABs in the district's borrowing program. This offering concludes the district's May 2015 authorization, which was approved by a very high 75% of voters. Proceeds from the 2015 and 2016 bond issues are being used to finance a replacement high school and the renovation of an existing school, as well as a career and technology education facility. The district adopted a tax rate increase of roughly $0.13 per $100 of TAV for this project, matching the rate amount transferred from debt service to operations with the 2014 tax rate swap. AFFORDABLE POST-RETIREMENT BENEFITS The district participates in the Teacher Retirement System of Texas (TRS), a cost-sharing multiple employer pension system. Under GASB 67 and 68, TRS's assets cover 83.3% of liabilities as of fiscal 2015, a ratio that falls to 75% using Fitch's more conservative 7% return assumption. Contributions are determined by state statute, rather than actuarially, and historically have fallen short of the actuarial level. Recent reforms have lowered benefits and increased statutory contributions to improve plan sustainability over time. The state assumes the majority of TRS' employer contributions and net pension liability on behalf of school districts, except for small amounts which state statute requires districts to assume. Like all Texas school districts, the district is vulnerable to future policy changes that shift more of the contributions and liabilities onto districts?as evidenced by a relatively modest 1.5% of salary contribution requirement effective fiscal year 2015. The district's proportionate share of the system's net pension liability represents a manageable 0.3% of fiscal 2015 market value, and the district's contributions were $1.3 million. Carrying costs for debt service, pensions, and other postemployment benefits were modest at 14% of fiscal 2015 governmental fund spending. TEXAS SCHOOL FUNDING LITIGATION A Texas district judge ruled in August 2014 that the state's school finance system is unconstitutional. The ruling, which was in response to a consolidation of six lawsuits representing 75% of Texas school children and was the second such ruling in the past two years, found the system inefficient, inequitable, and underfunded. The judge also ruled that local school property taxes are effectively a statewide property tax due to lack of local discretion and therefore are unconstitutional. The Texas attorney general has appealed the judge's latest ruling to the state supreme court. If the state school finance system is ultimately found unconstitutional, the legislature would likely follow with changes intended to restore its constitutionality. Fitch would consider any changes that include additional funding for schools and more local discretion over tax rates to be a credit positive. Additional information is available at 'www.fitchratings.com'. Fitch recently published exposure drafts of state and local government tax-supported criteria (Exposure Draft: U.S. Tax-Supported Rating Criteria, dated Sept. 10, 2015 and Exposure Draft: Incorporating Enhanced Recovery Prospects into U.S. Local Tax-Supported Ratings). The drafts include a number of proposed revisions to existing criteria. If applied in the proposed form, Fitch estimates the revised criteria would result in changes to less than 10% of existing tax-supported ratings. Fitch expects that final criteria will be approved and published in the first quarter of 2016. Once approved, the criteria will be applied immediately to any new issue and surveillance rating review. Fitch anticipates the criteria to be applied to all ratings that fall under the criteria within a 12-month period from the final approval date. In addition to the sources of information identified in Fitch's Tax-Supported Rating Criteria, this action was additionally informed by information from Creditscope, Lumesis, and the Municipal Advisory Council of Texas. Applicable Criteria Exposure Draft: Incorporating Enhanced Recovery Prospects into US Local Tax-Supported Ratings (pub. 02 Feb 2016) https://www.fitchratings.com/creditdesk/reports/report_frame.cfm?rpt_id=875108 Exposure Draft: U.S. Tax-Supported Rating Criteria (pub. 10 Sep 2015) https://www.fitchratings.com/creditdesk/reports/report_frame.cfm?rpt_id=869942 Tax-Supported Rating Criteria (pub. 14 Aug 2012) https://www.fitchratings.com/creditdesk/reports/report_frame.cfm?rpt_id=686015 U.S. Local Government Tax-Supported Rating Criteria (pub. 14 Aug 2012) https://www.fitchratings.com/creditdesk/reports/report_frame.cfm?rpt_id=685314 Additional Disclosures Dodd-Frank Rating Information Disclosure Form https://www.fitchratings.com/creditdesk/press_releases/content/ridf_frame.cfm?pr_id=999721 Solicitation Status https://www.fitchratings.com/gws/en/disclosure/solicitation?pr_id=999721 Endorsement Policy https://www.fitchratings.com/jsp/creditdesk/PolicyRegulation.faces?context=2&detail=31 ALL FITCH CREDIT RATINGS ARE SUBJECT TO CERTAIN LIMITATIONS AND DISCLAIMERS. PLEASE READ THESE LIMITATIONS AND DISCLAIMERS BY FOLLOWING THIS LINK: HTTP://FITCHRATINGS.COM/UNDERSTANDINGCREDITRATINGS. IN ADDITION, RATING DEFINITIONS AND THE TERMS OF USE OF SUCH RATINGS ARE AVAILABLE ON (News - Alert) THE AGENCY'S PUBLIC WEBSITE 'WWW.FITCHRATINGS.COM'. PUBLISHED RATINGS, CRITERIA AND METHODOLOGIES ARE AVAILABLE FROM THIS SITE AT ALL TIMES. FITCH'S CODE OF CONDUCT, CONFIDENTIALITY, CONFLICTS OF INTEREST, AFFILIATE FIREWALL, COMPLIANCE AND OTHER RELEVANT POLICIES AND PROCEDURES ARE ALSO AVAILABLE FROM THE 'CODE OF CONDUCT' SECTION OF THIS SITE. FITCH MAY HAVE PROVIDED ANOTHER PERMISSIBLE SERVICE TO THE RATED ENTITY OR ITS RELATED THIRD PARTIES. DETAILS OF THIS SERVICE FOR RATINGS FOR WHICH THE LEAD ANALYST IS BASED IN AN EU-REGISTERED ENTITY CAN BE FOUND ON THE ENTITY SUMMARY PAGE FOR THIS ISSUER ON THE FITCH WEBSITE. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160219005691/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [February 19, 2016] Commercial Avionics Systems Market Worth 22.49 Billion USD by 2020 PUNE, India, February 19, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The report "Commercial Avionics Systems Market by Sub-System (FMS, FCS, CNS, HMS, and Electrical & Emergency Systems), Platform (Fixed Wing and Rotary Wing), Fit (Forward and Retro) and Geography - Global Forecast to 2020", published by MarketsandMarkets, the market is projected to reach USD 22.49 Billion by 2020, at a CAGR of 6.10% from 2015 to 2020. Browse 88 market data Tables and 74 Figures spread through 163 Pages and in-depth TOC on "Commercial Avionics Systems Market" http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/commercial-avionic-system-market-138098845.html Early buyers will receive 10% customization on this report. This market is segmented on the basis of sub-system, platform, fit, and region. The narrow body aircraft segment is expected to account for a major share in the commercial avionics systems market, among all fixed-wing aircraft platforms Based on platform, the commercial avionics systems market is segmented into fixed-wing aircraft and rotary-wing aircraft. The fixed-wing aircraft segment is further segmented into very large aircraft, narrow body aircraft, wide body aircraft, and regional transport aircraft. The narrow body aircraft segment is anticipated to grow at a high CAGR during the forecast period. The Asia-Pacific region accounts for a majority of narrow body aircraft deliveries, followed by Europe and North America. This growth is mainly attributed to the increase in aircraft deliveries, owing to the presence of low-cost carriers and rise in passenger traffic, especially in China. The flight control system is anticipated to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period Based on sub-system, the Commercial Avionics Market is segmented into flight control systems, communication, navigation & surveillance systems, electrical & emergency systems, health monitoring systems, and flight management systems. The flight control systems segment holds the largest share of the commercial avionics systems market in 2015. The flight control system market has been broadly classified into secondary flight control systems and primary flight control systems. The commercial avionics systems market in the Asia-Pacific region is expected to grow at the highest CAG during the forecast period On the basis of region, the market is divided into North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and the rest of the world (RoW). Regions such as the Middle East, Latin America, and Africa are covered under RoW. In 2015, North America is estimated to account for the largest share of the commercial avionics systems market. However, this market in the Asia-Pacific region is projected to grow at the highest CAGR from 2015 to 2020. This growth is mainly attributed to advancements made in the field of avionics systems that offers efficient fuel usage and reduces airspace congestion. Honeywell International Inc. (U.S.): The top player in the commercial avionics systems market A strong focus on innovation is observed in the commercial avionics systems market. The rich pipeline of innovative products in the commercial avionics systems market offers a wide array of growth opportunities. Players are particularly focused on developing devices that are compact and efficient. Inquiry Before Buying : http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Enquiry_Before_Buying.asp?id=138098845 Major players operating in the commercial avionics systems market are Honeywell International Inc. (U.S.), Thales Group (France), Rockwell Collins (U.S.), United Technologies Corporation (U.S.), and GE Aviation (U.S.). Browse Related Reports Autopilot System Market by Platform (Airborne, Land-based, Sea, Subsea), by Component (GPS, Gyros, Actuators, Software), by Application (Commercial, Defense, & Homeland Security), by Geography (North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, Latin America, & Africa), Do It Yourself Autopilot - Forecasts & Analysis (2014-2020) http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/autopilot-system-market-205309455.html Commercial Aircraft Health Monitoring Systems Market by Aircraft Type (VLA, WBA, NBA, RTA, Rotary-Wing Aircraft), IVHM Technology (Prognostics, Diagnostics, CBM & Adaptive Control), Sub-System (Aeropropulsion, Aerostructures, Avionics, & Ancillary), & by Geography (North America, Europe, APAC, & Row) Global Forecasts & Analysis (2014-2020) http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/aircraft-health-monitoring-systems-market-954.html About MarketsandMarkets MarketsandMarkets is world's No. 2 firm in terms of annually published premium market research reports. Serving 1700 global fortune enterprises with more than 1200 premium studies in a year, M&M is catering to multitude of clients across 8 different industrial verticals. We specialize in consulting assignments and business research across high growth markets, cutting edge technologies and newer applications. Our 850 fulltime analyst and SMEs at MarketsandMarkets are tracking global high growth markets following the "Growth Engagement Model - GEM". The GEM aims at proactive collaboration with the clients to identify new opportunities, identify most important customers, write "Attack, avoid and defend" strategies, identify sources of incremental revenues for both the company and its competitors. M&M's flagship competitive intelligence and market research platform, "RT" connects over 200,000 markets and entire value chains for deeper understanding of the unmet insights along with market sizing and forecasts of niche markets. The new included chapters on Methodology and Benchmarking presented with high quality analytical info graphics in our reports gives complete visibility of how the numbers have been arrived and defend the accuracy of the numbers. We at MarketsandMarkets are inspired to help our clients grow by providing apt business insight with our huge market intelligence repository. Contact: Mr. Rohan Markets and Markets UNIT no 802, Tower no. 7, SEZ Magarpatta city, Hadapsar Pune, Maharashtra 411013, India Tel: + 1-888-600-6441 Email: [email protected] Visit MarketsandMarkets [email protected] http://mnmblog.org/market-research/aerospace-defence Connect with us on LinkedIn @ http://www.linkedin.com/company/marketsandmarkets SOURCE MarketsandMarkets [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [February 19, 2016] FASTSIGNS Shares Growth Strategies at 2016 Buck Rogers Photofinishing Meeting With an ever-changing technological landscape, photofinishing operators are continuously adapting to promote long-term growth and longevity. Recognizing the valuable insight and resources applicable to photofinishing businesses, FASTSIGNS International, Inc. will be sponsoring the 2016 Buck Rogers National Photofinishers Group meeting in hopes to inspire this group to explore new routes for diversification. The event is taking place February 21-23, 2016 in Shell Beach, Calif. Held by The Buck Rogers National Photofinishers Group, The Buck Rogers Meeting is an exclusive organization with historic origins dating back to the 1930's. Comprised of owners, presidents and decision makers in the photofinishing industry, the organization has strongly influenced industry trends throughout its existence. Gabrielle Mullinax, Chairwoman of this distinguished photo finishing group and President of the Photo Marketing Association International, said, "We're thrilled to have FASTSIGNS, an industry leader in the signs and visual communications space, be a part of our event. FASTSIGNS has a depth of knowledge in the industry that will be truly beneficial to the independent photofinishing companies in attendance. I'm confident that many of my colleagues will leave motivated to incorporate the franchise's ideas into their businesses." FASTSIGNS will be attending the meeting to discuss top industry growth strategies and diversification methods, including the FASTSIGNS Co-Brand franchise program. In the past year, the leading sign, graphic and visual communications franchise has partnered with more than 10 independent photofinishing companies through this program. The franchise opportunity provides independent owners with the necessary resources needed to expand their businesses in the signage and visual communications pace, while still maintaining their independent identities and operations in photofinishing. "We are honored to be a part of such a long-standing, influential meeting and to join the nation's top U.S. and Canadian photofinishing companies," said FASTSIGNS International, Inc. EVP of Franchise Support and Development, Mark Jameson. "Sponsoring this event gives us greater insight into the photofinishing industry and supplies attendees with forward-thinking, game-changing strategies and new methods of broadening their service offerings." Independent business owners can join FASTSIGNS through its Co-Brand program for a down payment of $10,000, in addition to reduced royalties. As the leading brand name in the sign and graphics industry, the company offers the latest technology, cost savings through relationships with national vendors and suppliers, comprehensive marketing and visual communications solutions and the benefits that come from networking with FASTSIGNS centers nationwide. For Co-Brand franchisee Davis Hanson, partnering with a franchise as a way to grow his 105-year-old, fourth generation, family business was not a considered option. Upon learning about the FASTSIGNS Co-Brand program, it became clear that this was the natural next for Harold's Photo Centers. He said, "We knew that adding wide-format services to our business would provide a nice synergy with our existing product offerings. As a family-run business, we always did everything ourselves and thought we'd be more successful expanding into this space on our own, rather than paying to join a franchisee. We became intrigued once we heard about the Co-Brand program from another photofinisher who has seen his wide-format sales alone increase by 20 percent, since joining FASTSIGNS." Hanson continued, "The cost to join the program was a lot less than we anticipated, and the ongoing support and resources from their team has far outweighed the cost. We have been incredibly impressed by the dedication from the FASTSIGNS staff and their true investment in our success. As a family-owned business, joining a company of FASTSIGNS' size came with hesitations; however, with the great support we've received, they have proven that their main concern is for us to be successful." For information about the FASTSIGNS franchise opportunity, contact Mark Jameson ([email protected] or 214-346-5679) or download an eBook that explores the FASTSIGNS franchise opportunity at http://amzn.to/1FrnDJu. About FASTSIGNS FASTSIGNS International, Inc. is the worldwide franchisor for the more than 600 FASTSIGNS sign, graphic and visual communications centers in nine countries including the US (and Puerto Rico), Canada, England, Mexico, the Caribbean, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Australia (where centers operate as SIGNWAVE). The largest sign franchise in North America, the independently owned and operated FASTSIGNS centers provide comprehensive visual communications solutions to help customers of all sizes - across all industries - meet their business objectives and increase their business visibility through the use of signs, graphics, printing, promotional products and related marketing services. The Franchise Research Institute has named FASTSIGNS a top sign and graphics franchise and has awarded the company certification as a 2015 World-Class Franchise for four consecutive years. FASTSIGNS was also recognized by USA Today, Military Times magazine, G.I. Jobs magazine and Franchise Business Review as one of the top franchises for military veterans. For more information about FASTSIGNS franchise programs, contact Mark Jameson ([email protected] or 214-346-5679) or visit http://www.fastsigns.com/. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160219005719/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [February 19, 2016] Fitch Affirms Brentwood Union School District, CA's GOs at 'AA-'; Outlook Stable Fitch Ratings has affirmed the 'AA-' rating on outstanding unlimited tax general obligations (ULTGO) bonds of the Brentwood Union School District as follows: --$2.3 million series 1997C; --$17.4 million series 2012. The Rating Outlook is Stable. SECURITY The bonds are supported by an unlimited pledge of ad valorem tax on all taxable property within the district. KEY RATING DRIVERS SOLID FINANCIAL PROFILE: The district has maintained a solid financial position. Budgets are conservative and reserve levels remain healthy despite large reductions in recent years. LONG-TERM OBLIGATIONS: Overall debt levels are manageable, as are carrying costs for debt service and employee retirement benefits. The district plans to address its growing OPEB liability and adopted a management plan to incrementally increase contributions. ECONOMIC FACTORS: The local economy is characterized by above-average wealth levels, an unemployment rate below the state average and a stabilized housing market following severe declines in the recession. Construction of a few housing developments may lead to a slight increase in enrollment over the next couple of years. IMPROVED REVENUE PROSPECTS: State funding, which Fitch views as volatile and highly responsive to economic conditions state-wide, provides the majority of district revenues. Revenue growth prospects have improved recently with the general improvement of the state's finances and economy. RATING SENSITIVITIES STABLE CREDIT PROFILE: The rating is sensitive to shifts in fundamental credit characteristics including the district's strong financial position. The Stable Outlook reflects Fitch's expectation that such shifts are highly unlikely. CREDIT PROFILE Brentwood Union School District is a K-8 school district in eastern Contra Costa county that serves a population of about 56,000 within the city of Brentwood and limited portions of the cities of Antioch and Oakley. The district is located approximately 41 miles east of San Francisco, an area best classified as a bedroom community of San Francisco. SOLID FINANCIAL PROFILE Healthy reserves sustained the district's sound financial position during the last recession. Despite drawing on fund balances to offset general fund revenue declines, management's prudent budgeting practices and proactive spending reductions helped maintain reserves above 12%, where Fitch expects them to be maintained. Though much reduced from prior levels, this is well above the district's general fund balance policy to maintain no less than 4.25%. The district retains a moderate degree of spending flexibility; however, due to a stable revenue environment, Fitch does not anticipate the district to need to utilize this flexibility in the near term. IMPROVED REVENUE PROSPECTS State funding provides the majority of district revenues, and growth prospects have improved recently with the general improvement in state finances. The 2015-2016 First Interim Report illustrates that BUSD is projecting to operate in the positive with revenues of $2.6 million in excess of expenditures. The district's MYP projects general fund deficit spending in fiscal years 2016-2017 (-$2.1 million) and 2017-2018 (-$1.2 million), as a result of $5.1 million in one-time funds in this fiscal year that will be spent over the next several budgetary cycles. The income will only show in this year; however, expenditures of these funds made in subsequent years will be seen as deficit spending. ABOVE-AVERAGE ECONOMIC INDICATORS Brentwood largely serves as a bedroom community to the Contra Costa County and greater Bay Area labor markets. Unemployment rates in the city declined to 5.2% in 2014, well below the county (6.2%), state (7.5%), and US (6.2%) rates and on par with the unemployment rate of the San Francisco MSA (5.2%). Wealth levels in the city are above average with per capita and median household income at 111% and 148% of the state average, respectively. SLOWLY RECOVERING HOUSING MARKET The district experienced a very sharp contraction in AV, with a cumulative decline of 32% in AV from fiscal years 2008 to 2013. Fiscal year 2014-2016 mark years of AV growth since before the recession, due to increased housing development activity and improved home prices. AV has increased by 19% in that period is currently 13% below peak levels. The tax bse remains non-concentrated with the top 10 taxpayers comprising 5.3% of AV. MANAGEABLE DEBT BURDEN The overall debt burden for the district is moderate at $5,845 per capita and 4.5% of AV. Amortization is considered favorable with 67% of principal repaid in 10 years. The district's direct debt largely consists of property tax-secured general obligation bonds and includes a very small portion of variable-rate capital lease obligations. The district's 2014 Master Facility Plan outlines capital needs that include building up to four elementary schools and an additional middle school, for which the district intends to make use of land it purchased two years ago. The amount of construction would depend on actual needs. While the district has current enrollment capacity for an additional 200 students, which is projected to be adequate for the next few years, it is anticipated that the district will have an election for a GO bond issue to finance future building needs. The district operates eight elementary schools and three middle schools, most of which have been constructed within the past twenty years. The rate of population and enrollment growth was reduced significantly with the decline in the local housing market during the last recession. However, the district currently projects that enrollment will remain plateaued over the next couple of fiscal years. The district participates in two state-sponsored employee pension plans with substantial unfunded liabilities. In addition, the district had an unfunded OPEB liability of $8.3 million (0.1% of TAV), a figure Fitch views as very low, as of the most recent valuation on July 1, 2013. Carrying costs for debt service are manageable at 70% of governmental expenditures. However, this is offset by the rapid amortization of debt. Additional information is available at 'www.fitchratings.com'. Fitch recently published exposure drafts of state and local government tax-supported criteria (Exposure Draft: U.S. Tax-Supported Rating Criteria, dated Sept. 10, 2015. Exposure Draft: Incorporating Enhanced Recovery Prospects into U.S. Local Tax-Supported Ratings, dated Feb. 2, 2016). The drafts include a number of proposed revisions to existing criteria. If applied in the proposed form, Fitch estimates the revised criteria would result in changes to less than 10% of existing tax-supported ratings. Fitch expects that final criteria will be approved and published in the first quarter of 2016. Once approved, the criteria will be applied immediately to any new issue and surveillance rating review. Fitch anticipates the criteria to be applied to all ratings that fall under the criteria within a 12-month period from the final approval date. In addition to the sources of information identified in the applicable criteria specified below, this action was informed by information from CreditScope, Lumesis, IHS (News - Alert) Global Insight, and Zillow Group. Applicable Criteria Exposure Draft: Incorporating Enhanced Recovery Prospects into US Local Tax-Supported Ratings (pub. 02 Feb 2016) https://www.fitchratings.com/creditdesk/reports/report_frame.cfm?rpt_id=875108 Exposure Draft: U.S. Tax-Supported Rating Criteria (pub. 10 Sep 2015) https://www.fitchratings.com/creditdesk/reports/report_frame.cfm?rpt_id=869942 Tax-Supported Rating Criteria (pub. 14 Aug 2012) https://www.fitchratings.com/creditdesk/reports/report_frame.cfm?rpt_id=686015 U.S. Local Government Tax-Supported Rating Criteria (pub. 14 Aug 2012) https://www.fitchratings.com/creditdesk/reports/report_frame.cfm?rpt_id=685314 Additional Disclosures Dodd-Frank Rating Information Disclosure Form https://www.fitchratings.com/creditdesk/press_releases/content/ridf_frame.cfm?pr_id=999757 Solicitation Status https://www.fitchratings.com/gws/en/disclosure/solicitation?pr_id=999757 Endorsement Policy https://www.fitchratings.com/jsp/creditdesk/PolicyRegulation.faces?context=2&detail=31 ALL FITCH CREDIT RATINGS ARE SUBJECT TO CERTAIN LIMITATIONS AND DISCLAIMERS. PLEASE READ THESE LIMITATIONS AND DISCLAIMERS BY FOLLOWING THIS LINK: HTTP://FITCHRATINGS.COM/UNDERSTANDINGCREDITRATINGS. IN ADDITION, RATING DEFINITIONS AND THE TERMS OF USE OF SUCH RATINGS ARE AVAILABLE ON (News - Alert) THE AGENCY'S PUBLIC WEBSITE 'WWW.FITCHRATINGS.COM'. PUBLISHED RATINGS, CRITERIA AND METHODOLOGIES ARE AVAILABLE FROM THIS SITE AT ALL TIMES. FITCH'S CODE OF CONDUCT, CONFIDENTIALITY, CONFLICTS OF INTEREST, AFFILIATE FIREWALL, COMPLIANCE AND OTHER RELEVANT POLICIES AND PROCEDURES ARE ALSO AVAILABLE FROM THE 'CODE OF CONDUCT' SECTION OF THIS SITE. FITCH MAY HAVE PROVIDED ANOTHER PERMISSIBLE SERVICE TO THE RATED ENTITY OR ITS RELATED THIRD PARTIES. DETAILS OF THIS SERVICE FOR RATINGS FOR WHICH THE LEAD ANALYST IS BASED IN AN EU-REGISTERED ENTITY CAN BE FOUND ON THE ENTITY SUMMARY PAGE FOR THIS ISSUER ON THE FITCH WEBSITE. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160219006007/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Itongadol.- Hamas\s military wing located last week underground cameras and sensor meant to expose the terror group\s network of attack tunnels and militant activities inside them, senior Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh said on Friday regarding an investigation launched by the group into several tunnel collapses in recent weeks. Haniyeh used conciliatory rhetoric in his weekly Friday speech. "A new war on Gaza does not appear to be on the horizon, but Gaza has gained a system of deterrence, which doesn\t mean it has a balance of terror." He noted that Israel has been practicing defensive maneuvers, which he claimed was evidence that the IDF does not intend to embark on a new round of conflict in Gaza. Haniyeh further said that a breakthrough had occurred in talks between Israel and Turkey regarding the creation of a seaport in Gaza. Palestinian media outlets and Hamas reported several tunnel collapses over the past month. More than ten Hamas operatives have died in the collapses, prompting the group to vow it would launch an investigation. In early February, the IDF was spotted using engineering equipment to drill the ground near the Gaza border. Meanwhile, it has also begun installing classified technological systems for locating tunnels. Fears have grown among Gaza border residents in recent weeks following residents\ reports of drilling noises. Despite the ongoing reports, no attack tunnels have been found during the past year of searches. Thursday, February 4th - Ghanzi, Botswana I have mentioned lately that I hate camping? Well, let me say it again. I hate camping. It was a lovely night and very warm so I slept without a sheet or anything for most of the night. The mattress was thin and with only a sheet on it I felt every root and rock below me. I did sleep but it was not very comfortable. And getting up when you have a leg cramp is a real pain in a tent where you really can't stand up in in the first place. Then about 3 I had to go to the bathroom. The instructions were to just go behind the tents and stay close to the camp unless you really had "serious business" to do and then you could use the toilet. I didn't figure mine was too serious so I had to get out of the tent - that in itself was a struggle for me since the zipper at the bottom was really about 8" off the ground so I had to duck out of the tent and step up at the same time, which is a bit much to ask of a person at 3 in the morning. Oh, and you had to be watching for obstacles lIke tent poles and animals while you were doing it. Needless to say, I didn't go too far into the bush behind our tent! The canoe ride or should I say Mokoro ride back was very peaceful. (I do have to stop though and say that the Mokoro is not normally capitalized. However, the only way I can get the iPad to leave it as Mokoro and not change it to Motorola is to capitalize it! Sometimes this automatic correction stuff is really annoying.) Anyway, the ride back was beautiful with some wonderful dawn reflections in the calm water where we had large open areas. The rest of the trip was going through short grasses or tall reeds so all I got there was a lot of wet reeds and spider webs across my face as I was in the front of the first canoe. The water lilies were just opening and there were lots of birds along the shore and in the reeds, and one flew over us with a snail in its mouth. There were also a few hippos but they were far away on the distant shore. Once back on solid land we waited for truck, reloaded it and were on our way about 9:30 . We retraced our steps along the very bumpy road out of the area for 45 minutes to an hour, and then took another 15 minutes or so to get back to our last hotel on the main road. There we had to pick up our luggage (could only take small bag with us on camping trip),reload our bus and then on our way. We stopped in town for lunch and supplies an hour later. I bought some chicken pieces and ice tea at the grocery store and ate them on the bus as we drove along. It was a delicious picnic, albeit a bit bumpy on some of the roads. We made another bush stop along the way and arrived at our resort just before 5 p.m. This was the night we were supposed to sleep in bushmen huts but I just wasn't feeling up to it. My allergies were acting up while camping the day before and I didn't get a lot of sleep that night. I was in the back of the bus again for the drive during the day and it was really bumpy so I had to take a gravol, which always makes me sleepy. The thought of sleeping in a dusty thatched reed hut, which was going to make me sneeze even more, just did not appeal to me. For an extra $25 I could have a chalet so that's what I did. It was my night to be on my own so it was a real luxury. There were windows on three sides of the chalet so a nice breeze kept it cool. The bathroom was huge and did at one point have a tree in but now it was just a hole in the tiles. The bathroom alone was probably 12 X 12 ' with the one half covered and the other half open. The shower, sink and toilet were on the covered side. There was a clothes line across the middle so I did some laundry and hung everything up to dry - no problem with that since it's so hot and dry here. We had dinner at 7:00 and it was great with rice, roast potatoes, chicken, cooked vegetables, salad, beets and a sauce to go with the rice, potatoes and chicken. I only took a bit of that to start but had to go back for more. I have no idea what it was but it was good. Dessert was fruit salad, from a can but still tasty. After dinner we had a show by a group of bushmen. The ladies, about 5, basically sat around the fire clapping their hands and chanting while the men danced with their ankle/calf strings of shells making a tambourine sound. They just took very tiny steps but stamped their feet down in rhythms to get the sound of the shells as a rhythmic percussion.. One of the two men also sang sometimes during the songs. He did the initial welcome so I think he must be the head one of the group. The songs were not your typical African sounds. It was more like chanting than singing and parts of it were very off tempo and very discordant like they were fighting each other in what they were singing. I didn't find the songs particularly enjoyable from a musical point of view but they were interesting. Most of the songs were about animals and hunting but then they did a couple just to entertain us. In one song about a python the interpreter for us actually had a fake Python that he pulled along the ground with a string. There reactions at the sighting of the python were pretty funny, especially the main guy. The whole group wore animal skins and looked very authentic. Their show ran from 8 to 9 and shortly after that everyone was in bed. It had been a long day after our early wake-up call and we had an even earlier one coming the following morning. I downloaded some pictures but that was all I accomplished before giving in to a well-deserved sleep. A before and after of the Hollister brothers' marker in a Middle Haddam, Conn., cemetery. Like this blog on Facebook | Follow me on Tw... Its been a quick year since the Des Moines Water Works sued the boards of supervisors of three, ag-based Iowa counties over alleged violations of the Clean Water Act. It has not, however, been a quiet year. The lawsuit against 10 drainage districts in Sac, Buena Vista, and Calhoun counties, explains the DMWW, is over the discharge of nitrate pollutants into the Raccoon River, the utilitys chief source of water, and the counties' failure to obtain a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination Permit in violation of the Clean Water Act. In the intervening year, claims the DMWW, the river water has gotten worse. On Jan. 4, DMWW reported it had spent $1.5 million to operate its nitrate removal equipment a record 177 days in 2015 so the water sold to its 500,000 customers would meet federal drinking water standards. The other side of the fight has been equally active. Iowas farm-centered politicians continue to condemn the DMWW as over-wrought and its lawsuit as legal overreach. Last July, Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad again blasted the lawsuit and the DMWW (which delivers water to his Des Moines home). He suggested the utility start working with others rather than continue to sue and attack other people. In an October visit, former governor and current secretary of agriculture Tom Vilsack also encouraged cooperation and cautioned, You do not want a federal judge deciding this. Jawboning aside, the lawsuit continues. In January, the federal judge mentioned by Vilsack, Mark Bennett, asked the Iowa Supreme Court to rule on several legal questions before, he said, he could proceed because of the suits importance to the states key industry and its legal novelty. That novelty is, in fact, why most Iowa politicians and farmers alike are trembling at the very idea of the suit going forward. Heres how Neil Hamilton, director of the Agriculture Law Center at Drake University in Des Moines, explained it in a lengthy, jargon-free blog post last March: The key legal claim is the (three Iowa counties) drainage districts built, manage and maintain the system of drainage ditches which artificially collect, convey and discharge polluted groundwater into Iowas rivers and streams imposing costs on the DMWW and others who use the water. This makes the districts point sources under the (Clean Water Act) ... need permits to discharge. On Feb. 16, Hamilton, an ag law expert, explained to Kristina Johnson of the Food & Environmental Reporting Network that if the suits key claim is proven -- that underground farm tiles in artificially created and maintained drainage districts constitute traceable source points of alleged pollution -- then long-exempt normal farming activities may fall under the Clean Water Act. Moreover, in the long run, Hamilton suggested, it isnt necessarily important whether DMWW wins or loses the suit because it already has changed the discussion around water quality and agriculture. An eye-popping, Feb. 7 report titled Fooling Ourselves only adds to that evolving discussion. Researched and written by Environmental Working Group, a Washington, D.C.-based environmental non-profit that most U.S. farmers love to hate, the report found that while USDA has spent $3 billion in Iowa alone since 2005 on programs to help farmers farm in more environmentally friendly ways, theres little to no conservation benefit to show for all the dough. In fact, EWG claims, We are fooling ourselves by clinging to the hope that voluntary conservation measures will clean up Iowas water. In his FERN interview, lawyer Hamilton agreed. Theres no question that Iowa has a water-quality issue, and that its getting worse. The dirtier water, however, is an indication of a dirtier secret we in agriculture would like to keep: yesterdays rules cover an agriculture that no longer exists in either Iowa or the rest of the country. The rules covered traditional agriculture; todays agriculture is industrial. Therein lies the rub; more non-farmers than farmers -- water customers in Des Moines and Akron, federal judges, members of Congress, your state legislators -- are working to bring the old rules up to the publics new needs. Not too long ago Platte, Colfax and Butler counties were home to numerous dairy farms. In 1978, the first year the Nebraska Department of Agriculture counted its contemporary definition of a dairy farm, Butler County had 51 dairies, Colfax had 60 and Platte had 109. Before then, when dairy production was tallied by the number of farms with substantial profits from dairy or just farms that had dairy cows, those numbers were in the hundreds. The last agriculture survey, in 2012, showed a grim change in the industry. Platte County had nine dairies that year, Colfax had six and Butler had three. Theres a lot of labor in a dairy farm, said Darryl Osten, a former dairy farmer who retired in 2009. If you were alone itd be hard to keep it going. And it wasnt always profitable. Willow Holoubek, executive director of the Alliance for the Future of Agriculture in Nebraska, said in the 1980s and '90s dairy was not economical. The economic downturn of the 2000s pushed some producers out altogether. From 2003 to 2010, Cooperatives Working Together, a program developed by the National Milk Producers Federation, conducted a series of herd retirements that compensated dairy farmers who voluntarily reduced their herd sizes or retired altogether. And a lot of farmers applied. I think that generation got tired of working hard and making little money, said Holoubek. While other states such as South Dakota and Iowa were encouraging and supporting new dairy producers, in Nebraska many of the dairies that closed stayed closed. This also led to the shutdown of dairy processors and a breakdown of the overall infrastructure needed to maintain the industry. Unfortunately, it was a perfect storm, said Holoubek. The dairy buyout was good for individual farmers, but not for the industry as a whole. In March 2014, the Nebraska Legislature tasked the states Department of Agriculture with conducting a comprehensive study of the dairy sector. Assistant Director of Agriculture Bobbie Kriz-Wickham said the state came away with three key realizations. First, the department needed to work with current dairy producers on creating a succession plan for the next generation to take over operations so the state can retain its current production sites. All three of producer Mike Malenas children work together to run Malena Dairy near Leigh. Malena still helps out, but is essentially retired from the day-to-day operations. However, Malenas case is rare as the issue of farm succession is growing throughout agriculture. The second finding of the report is that the department needs to continue working with existing producers to grow their operations. When Malena started in 1971, he had 40 cows. Now, he said a dairy would need 1,000 to 2,000 cows to be successful. To build an operation for that many cattle would cost millions of dollars. Ive heard stories of people farming small herds, but they couldnt find a buyer, said Malena. That's because, as the Department of Agricultures study found, the state needs more processing plants. When Nebraska's dairy processors closed, Malena started selling his milk in Iowa. That meant he needed a large, steady supply to cover the cost of transporting his milk. If you cant produce a transport load of milk every other day, youre going to have a hard time finding a market, he said. Those who weathered the storm had to find ways to adapt, and most, like Malena, consolidated and grew into larger operations. But some found other, more creative, ways to stay in business. David Jisa of Jisa Farmstead Cheese near Brainard decided the best way to stay in business was to build a 3,000-square-foot plant to make cheese. Even though he has a fairly small herd by today's standards, the added value of producing his own cheese is keeping him afloat -- though its not easy. Anybody can sell milk, anyone can produce cheese, said Jisa. If you start making a product like cheese, you have to market that product. Thats tough. He said adding cheese production to his business was also good for the community. Ive got 15 employees. Im providing local jobs, said Jisa. In a sense, the business I run is very beneficial. Between the high cost of land, lack of land for sale, infrastructure and processors and the economies of scale that require producers to go big, both Jisa and Malena are skeptical the state will be able to expand the industry. But Holoubek and Kriz-Wickham are optimistic and say theyre even seeing results. Holoubek said the state has seen an increase in the number of dairy cows over the past two years. The Alliance for the Future of Agriculture in Nebraska has a goal of expanding the state's dairy herds by 30,000 cows by 2019. The group set the goal at 30,000 because that is number they believe is needed to attract a dairy processing plant to the state. According to Holoubek, the state is more likely to attract dairies that want to expand to Nebraska than new farmers starting out. For every dairy thats expressed interest in Nebraska, shes been able to match them with a location. And shes not waiting until they reach their goal to sell the state to processors. Nebraska has the water, irrigation and feed to sustain a successful dairy industry, and while land values are high, Holoubek said the low cost of feed mitigates that expense. "Once we have the commitment of a processor, we know the cows will come," she said. Kriz-Wickham said she has a number of leads on producers or processors interested in Nebraska. With all the resources here, it makes sense to move here, she said. Dairy is thriving and has great potential." The ACLU of Nebraska is losing patience. While the organization believes the prison system is making progress, it believes not enough effort has been made to address safety concerns and the needs of inmates, said ACLU legal director Amy Miller. And lawsuits to solve some of the Department of Correctional Services' critical needs continue to be considered, she said. This year, the ACLU plans to make a decision about pursuing lawsuits, both to address constitutional violations in Nebraskas prisons that harm public safety and waste taxpayer dollars, and to address the rights of individual inmates, she said. She warned that the time is now for senators to solve these problems, not three or five years from now. "The Legislature should not pass on its opportunity to make policy decisions that are more certain and efficient for the Department of Corrections and Nebraska taxpayers, she said. There are critical needs -- particularly medical needs -- inmates have that could lead to lawsuits, she said. Inmates have been waiting for basic prescribed medications for more than three months. Some have waited for basic mental health care for more than three weeks after their emergency pleas for help in crisis, she said. "Given the emergency state of dire conditions, we are commencing a serious review of these individual cases to determine which of these inmates has a valid civil rights claim," Miller said. Overcrowding is not getting any better, she said. And sharing tiny, cramped spaces sets up the prisons for increased violence. Corrections Director Scott Frakes last week met with the Appropriations Committee for more than two hours to talk about budget needs and plans of the department. Senators there questioned him on whether the department had enough sense of urgency on addressing crowding, given warnings from the ACLU and the potential for federal courts to force action. Corrections spokesman Andrew Nystrom said in a statement the department is working to address the concerns that have been identified and to transform the department. "We are not waiting to address issues," he said. Over the past year, the department has included the ACLU in the Long-Term Restrictive Housing Work Group and in implementation of legislation (LB605) passed last year aimed at helping to lower the prison population and ease crowding at facilities. Corrections officials will continue to work with the ACLU and others to address reforms, he said. "Director Frakes invites anyone with concerns about conditions of confinement to bring them directly to the director's attention for resolution," Nystrom said. Reforms passed in 2015 will take five years to reduce the crowding in prisons, Miller said. And the proposals for funding this year would still leave the prisons with three years of constitutional violations such as lack of access to health care, mental health treatment, exercise, ventilation and other concerns that have been the subject of ACLU and Nebraska Ombudsman office reports. Miller called on the Legislature to do more this session. In the past several years, including this year, the Legislature has focused on serious efforts to reform the state's prisons and reduce crowding. Senators have discussed at length the importance of making progress on sentencing and mental health reforms, and bills continue to be passed or are working their way through the system. Omaha Sen. Bob Krist has said repeatedly, for at least four years, that the state has to make progress on Department of Correctional Services reforms. "It is imperative that we show some action because, if not, we will go down along with our sister state California who had (the U.S. Department of Justice) telling them how to fix their problems," Krist has said in talking about sentencing reform to reduce crowding. And that, he said, would be expensive and not done in the Nebraska way. Senators have known that both the ACLU and the Department of Justice were standing by waiting for action. Miller said taxpayers want a correctional system that both protects the public and makes smart use of tax dollars. The use of solitary confinement in Nebraska continues to be the second highest in the nation," Miller said. "We are reviewing reports now of inmates still locked in solitary confinement for 23 hours a day but now forced to share a cell." That doesn't provide necessary human interaction, she said. "This is setting the prison up for physical violence between inmates forced to share tiny cramped spaces," Miller said. The Legislature has a chance this session to do more by not only expanding access to community corrections and mental health care in the prison system, but by giving judges the ability to make common sense decisions about sentences, she said. "In order to invest in the health of our communities, we need to stop wasting money imprisoning nonviolent offenders, such as drug and petty theft offenders," she said. Art can calm. Art can motivate. Art can heal. Art can speak when the body cannot -- or will not. Which is why Hildegard Center for the Arts created Art Bridges, an online collection of art projects and resources for teachers, care providers, therapists and parents to use to foster the mental, physical and spiritual connections that result from making art. The 120 activities/lesson plans, downloads and articles contained in 75 files encompassing visual art, storytelling, writing, poetry, music and drama are all free for the taking at hildegardcenter.org. More than one year in the making, Hildegard Center for the Arts vice president and co-founder Anne Woita consulted with artisans and educators for soul-stirring lesson plans that are as suitable for young children as they are the elderly; as suitable for those with disabilities as they are for those behind bars. Art Bridges promises to be a powerful resource that connects the arts for many of our most vulnerable, said Kim Einspahr, president and co-founder of Hildegard Center for the Arts. Lincoln mental health counselor Geralee K. Olson-Triplett can attest to that. Her specialty is children and adolescents -- people unable or unwilling to put their trauma and abuse into words for open discussion and moving forward. Art unlocks the barred doors in the brain, letting feelings, memories and experiences tumble out. Its amazing what you can bring out of a mind through art, Olson-Triplett said. She recalled using a lesson on butterflies inspired by childrens book author and illustrator Eric Carle. Through the creation of these colorful butterflies made from their own handprints, the youngsters -- all victims of trauma -- were able to move forward. It gave them a vision that they can fly and move into the future, Olson-Triplett said. Or, in the case of dementia patients, remember the past. 'Anyone Can Do It' Woita credits Art Bridges to the late Jean Martin, a former Lincoln artist, teacher and art curator. In 2013, the 90-something artist with failing eyesight was leading art classes at the Legacy Retirement Community. Martin told Woita her idea for Anyone Can Do It, in which art lesson plans and materials could be boxed up and sent to retirement communities. The plans would be so clear that anyone could lead residents in enrichment experiences -- and anyone regardless of disability could do it. Jean passed away in December of 2014 before we could properly plant and nourish her seed, but her vision lived on, Woita said. With the permission and blessing of her family, Hildegard Center for the Arts took hold of Jeans wonderful idea, expanded it and planted it. It has now blossomed into the clearinghouse of resources we call Art Bridges. Key to the program was creating lesson plans that could be implemented by another regardless of previous art experience -- or the lack of it. Plans also had to be flexible enough to work with preschoolers in child care, inmates in correctional facilities and senior citizens in assisted living facilities and nursing homes. Plans needed adaptability so they could be used by people with autism, or those struggling with addiction or suffering from post-traumatic stress. And plans needed to pass the Woita test. I would only include art projects/activities that I, as a nonartist, would be able to create and implement myself," she said. "Im great with stick people, but thats about the extent of my talents. If a project was too complicated for me, it didnt make it into Art Bridges. Some of the photos used in the step-by-step lesson plans are creations by nonartist Woita. Styled after a teaching curriculum, each activity/lesson includes a suggested audience, learning opportunities, supply lists, complete instructions with accompanying visuals, suggestions for possible adaptations and comments from those who piloted the lesson with their students, residents or clientele. In addition to the lessons and activities, Woita scoured the web and the experts looking for various insights and information regarding art and its impact on senior citizens, children with autism, etc. Some of the activities are perfect for enrichment and enjoyment; others help in the personal growth of the participants by exposing them to new experiences and information; and in the hands of counselors and therapists, other plans can assist in the healing process, Woita said. But it was not enough to simply pass the Woita test, so Hildegard recruited dozens of organizations to pilot Art Bridges curricula -- from Olson-Triplett at Behaven Kids counseling to the VA hospital; the Regional Center; schools, care centers; rehabilitation, recovery and treatment programs and corrections facilities. Randy Farmer with Lincoln Public Schools/Lancaster County Youth Services was so impressed that he asked the Hildegard Center to make 400 thumb drives of Art Bridges available so he could distribute them at the National Partnership for Youth Services Symposium in Pennsylvania this past September. They were part of the registration packet for the symposium attendees who came from more than 30 states and foreign countries, Woita said. 'Art makes us complete' Since piloting Art Bridges at St. Monica's Behavioral Health Services for Women, the art room has exploded with activity, said Nancy Marshall, therapeutic counselor at the treatment center. She shared stories of women writing simple Cinquain poems, doing alphabet arts, mandala coloring, emotion painting, and creating wild side/calm side self-portraits. "People with addiction use substances to not feel," Marshall said. "When you have something like emotion painting they can dip into those feelings safely. They don't have to talk about it. They can just draw about it." Retha Knapp, team leader for recovery support at CenterPointe, had her clients who struggle from both mental health and substance abuse issues create gratitude trees. They collected fallen branches and then adorned them with cut-out construction paper leaves, with each leaf listing something positive in their lives. The trees were used as tabletop centerpieces over the holidays. "It reminded them every day of all the things they had to be grateful for, Knapp said. Art offers a unique outlet for getting out the deep dark feelings you may not even be completely aware of, she said. It helps people be able to release a little, express themselves and come to terms with things that have happened in their lives, she said. Art lets the mind speak, Olson-Triplett said. A lot of times trauma victims dont have words, through drawing they can get whats in the brain out, without having to speak it, she said. The end product is not the most important part of the artistic experience, Woita said. It is the process of creating that holds the true power," she said. "Art makes us complete human beings, keeps us healthy and gives us a full range of expression. We need art to understand and share our individual and common history and keep us connected. Art Bridges went live on the Hildegard website (hildegardcenter.org) earlier this month. Every project and article is free for downloading -- no strings attached, Woita said. Marshall created a notebook with all the Art Bridges downloads. "This notebook is everything to me," she said. Art Bridges is just one more way the Hildegard Center can fulfill its mission to unite people of all beliefs, cultures and traditions to inspire humanity through the arts. Thats what Art Bridges does -- it builds on knowledge, understanding and successes others have achieved in these areas to use the arts to help us all grow and heal," Woita said. "It connects us in a very important way and is a reminder that none of us is alone in this journey we call life. That we are all loved and cared for and supported. We just need to be open to the possibilities. Margaret Reist Local government reporter Margaret Reist is a recovering education reporter now writing about local and county government and the people who live in the city where she was born and raised. Follow Margaret Reist Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today In Maggie Doanes music room at Huntington Elementary there are three rows of xylophones and glockenspiels of all shapes and sizes -- wooden and metal, mostly old, all well-used. Friday morning, two brand new glockenspiels -- soprano and alto -- joined the group. They arrived, along with a small group of Nebraska Wesleyan University students who presented them to the third-graders sitting on brightly colored stickers that marked their spots on the floor. The college students are members of Mu Phi Epsilon, a national music fraternity whose members at Wesleyan are either music majors or minors. Some years ago they decided to raise money to buy instruments for an elementary school. Raising money, if youre a small music fraternity on a small college campus in northeast Lincoln and youve got plenty of other priorities pulling at you, is a slow business, a bake sale here, some generous alums there. But this year, those bake sales and alums brought the fundraising total high enough to buy some instruments. The students decided to call Huntington because its in their neighborhood, a big brick building just down the road from the Wesleyan campus. Doane suggested the glockenspiels. A glockenspiel is the toy I didnt realize was an instrument when I was a kid pulling it along behind me by a string, its primary-colored metal bars begging me to hit them with a mallet (or whatever else was handy). I always called it a xylophone, but I was wrong. Xylophones, it turns out, have wooden bars. Glockenspiels have metal ones. Thanks, Fisher Price, pretty sure thats your fault, since you put wheels on the thing, made it colorful and attached the wrong name to it. At any rate, with the Wesleyan students donation, Doane's classroom now has enough glockenspiels and xylophones -- minus the primary colors and the wheels -- for all the students to play at the same time. The type of instruments in grade-school classrooms are largely based on the teachers choice, and Doanes student-led teaching method works well with instruments that allow kids to easily compose their own melodies. Huntington Principal Rik Devney cant say enough about his schools new music teacher, who started a folk dance night, a choir called Huntington Harmony Club and got a grant so all her fourth-graders could get their own recorders. The reality is the vibrancy of our music program with Mrs. Doane has really increased, he said. These kinds of donations help support the music program we can offer kids. For her part, Wesleyan senior Joanna Mackley was happy to be able to do something that made a difference. It was great to see them using them and having fun with them, she said. On Friday, they tried them out, each kid stationing themselves at the glockenspiels and xylophones old and new, their mallets at the ready, waiting for instruction from their teacher. Pinch, wrap, ready, Doane said, and the mallets came into position. And play. Artful teaching While were on the subject of the arts, Sheldon Museum of Art has been offering Lincoln teachers a series of workshops called Artful Teaching. I stopped by Thursdays workshop and joined about 60 teachers who attended three sessions, a cool way for them to get new ideas and familiarize themselves with the museum, a gem of a place thats been giving tours to students for more than half a century. In one session, University of Nebraska-Lincoln researcher Kim Matthews of the Minority Health Disparities Initiative gave a presentation on the power of visual literacy in a room full of the museums paintings. In another, teachers had an opportunity to draw images of the museums sculptures. In another, Nebraska State Poet Twyla Hansen worked with teachers who sat amid an exhibit called The Unfolding Center, a collaborative work by New Mexico artists Susan York and Arthur Sze. Hes the states poet laureate, shes a minimalist artist, and they combined their talents in an interesting work in which York created layered graphite drawings based on a poem Sze wrote. Its fascinating, a work where the process of that collaboration is as interesting as the outcome (and important to understanding what youre looking at and reading). The teachers -- mostly art teachers -- perused the exhibit then listened to our state poet talk about poetry, how tension plays a part in both art and writing. Then she had the teachers become the students, pick a word and write for five minutes. Like the students at Huntington, they did what they were told. Their tools were pencils and pens, not mallets. Different medium, same idea. Pinch, wrap, ready. And write. I read with humored interest Alan Jacobsons retort (Local View: Give charter schools a chance, LJS, Feb. 18) to Ann Hunter-Pirtles quite accurate column (Local View: Charter Schools are wrong for Nebraska, LJS Feb. 10.) I found the retort humorous in that at no point did Mr. Jacobson find facts counter to Ms. Hunter-Pirtle's facts. The facts are this. charter schools damage public education. In every state where the charters have been implemented, public schools have been forced to shorten the length of their days, cut the number of days a week they can educate students and shorten the school year by weeks. Those states include Kansas, Arizona, Wisconsin, Michigan and the list goes on. Thousands of teachers across the nation have either transferred to other states where there are no charter schools, quite teaching or took early retirement. In Kansas you have teachers in the classroom with no college education and this goes on elsewhere as well. All of this happening with promises of tax cuts. As far as charter schools offering education to all, why is it that at the charter school my granddaughter attends in Arizona, the students must meet certain criteria? As a retired 36-year teacher, including five years teaching in a parochial school in Lincoln, I am appalled at what is lacking in her classroom for her proper education, such as the lack of equipment. Why is she then not attending a much closer public school? Because its even worse! The school week is 4 days because funding to support the charter schools has so weakened the pubic school system. And of course the students who not allowed to attend the charter schools are left behind to suffer the consequences. This issue is NOT unique to Arizona. I have friends who are educators across the country and wherever charter schools are, far too many students go without. Fact. That is where the poor and troubled students suffer as in far too many instances; they are not allowed to attend the charter schools. I read nothing in her letter that led me to feel she was insulting or degrading private, parochial or home schooling. This letter is not either. All too often students from these institutions attended my classroom and were welcomed. Yes, that family's tax money was being used in a public school building. But in the end, it is the family's desire to not have their children attend public schools. I also found it interesting that in one breath Jacobsen supported a national institution as well as outside families that are funding this movement then in another breath said so much for local control. And dont get me started on how No Child Left Behind has all but destroyed the educational system with teaching to the test. Yes, people from out of state are the ones pushing charter schools. This cannot be denied. Why does Nebraska have to give Charter Schools a chance when every state it has been incorporated in has suffered? Should we not learn from their mistakes? At the Health and Human Services Committee hearing for LB 1032 on Feb. 10, there were 40 diverse supporters ("Battle rages on health insurance bill"). Doctors and hospital administrators, small-business owners, faith leaders and health policy experts all made the case for this bill, along with people who told their own stories of living without health insurance. The opponents who spoke, in contrast, were all on the Governor's payroll, or that of industrial billionaire David Koch. Besides Nebraska Health and Human Services staff, opposing testimony was offered by the Governor's own Platte Institute and Koch-funded Americans for Prosperity. These organizations often demonize Nebraskans with lower incomes and undermine any attempt to help working, poor families improve their lives. These same organizations were found by a 2014 report detailed in a Journal Star story ("Report criticizes conservative Nebraska think tank," Jan. 1, 2014) to push "an extreme right-wing agenda that aims to privatize education, block health care reform, restrict workers' rights, roll back environmental protections and create a tax system that benefits most those at the very top level of income." Has the Governor or his family ever had to live without health insurance? Through his puppet organizations, he seems to be working very hard to prevent relief to thousands of Nebraska families who need to see a doctor. Sally J. Herrin, PhD, Lincoln The volcanoes are hardly noticeable. Your eyes are drawn straight to the blue flowers, the most obvious thing in an otherwise yellow-green canvas, and its not clear, at first, that the background recedes well into the distance. Keep following it down, ostensibly, into a valley, where there are just faintly erupting volcanoes. Jan Lang calls the painting In the Beginning, and its one of the new works now on display at Gallery Nine downtown, where she recently became a member. Langs latest artwork provides an interesting combination of colorful, zestful figures and a more impressionistic backdrop, almost as if a cartoonist were drawing over a Cezanne. Lang is a self-described tree hugger who works at the Kellogg Soil Survey Laboratory. She has only been painting for about 10 years, she said, having not taken it up seriously until later in life. After one of her bosses saw some of her sketches, he enlisted her in some work-related art projects, and she took up the brush on her own soon afterward. During our interview, Lang was mild mannered and unpretentious about her craft. Most often she said she worked with acrylics in her sunroom. I put in a little James Taylor, she said, and just relax. Its just an enjoyable experience. I lose track of time and the housework that I am supposed to be doing. Since the sunroom isnt heated, Lang laughed and said she didn't get as much work done in the winter. Nearly all of Langs paintings including her newest, which she dubbed wild and crazy because of their fantastic colors and style involve nature, one of Langs loves. That love started early, she said, from her days growing up in Sioux City, Iowa, admiring the natural world in Stone State Park, which overlooks the South Dakota border. That love is certainly present in See the Beauty, which isnt one of Langs wild and crazy paintings, but is maybe more personal. In it, an American Indian woman holds her child and tries to convey to the child the splendor of the world around them. What drew me most to Langs work, though, was the kind of tension on display in In the Beginning and Love Tree, some of Langs newer works. The latter is a surreal, natural fantasy that could easily fit into the Beatles Yellow Submarine film; its eponymous tree has a golden trunk behind a swelling rainbow of flowers. If you look closely, you will see the tree is really on the outskirts of a city; its an interesting detail that is easy to miss, just like the volcanoes in In the Beginning, or the frog in Desert Frog, another wild and crazy painting of Langs, which is also on display at Gallery Nine. Lang has found some liberation in these new projects. They are very relaxing you just sit down and let your mind release, she said. Theres not a whole lot of planning, just painting. These paintings offer a sharp contrast between foreground and background. They are mishmashes of styles and contrasts that seem to break the rules; perhaps that is a result of Lang having no formal education in art. Lang said she painted a little bit for children, and from my interview it was clear that her son, Barry, who has special needs, was a source of inspiration for her. With her work, she also said she hoped to convey how taking care of the earth should be a priority. Whatever the type of painting it is, Lang admitted to having a hard time deciding when one was finished. I really have trouble letting go of a painting, she said. I don't think Ill ever really let go of a painting. Its a bit like having a child. UNION GROVE Members of Union Grove United Methodist Church are planning to Raise the Roof with a chili fundraiser dinner on Saturday, March 5. But the roof the congregation is trying to raise is not its own. Instead, they aim to raise money to help fund a new roof for the Graham Public Library at 1215 Main St., which is nearby the church at 906 12th Ave., in Union Groves downtown area. After a recent inspection of the librarys roof determined that it would need replacing sometime within the next five years, library board President Larissa Gallagher (also a member of UGUMC) spoke of the need to her fellow congregants. And before long, the idea of hosting a chili dinner at the church to benefit the library was born. Historical connection Around the same time, the churchs pastor the Rev. Seth LaBounty, who joined the congregation last July had been studying UGUMCs history and came across an interesting earlier connection between the church and Union Groves public library. It seems the congregation, whose roots in the community date back to 1853, had built a Sunday school library and, in 1922, donated the contents of that library to the community as a foundation for its first public library, LaBounty said. We thought that doing this fundraiser would be a great way to celebrate our relationship with the library, he said. Hosting community dinners is something UGUMC has a lot of experience with, having fed hundreds of folks each fall for more than 60 years with its popular Turkey Dinner. The menu for its Raise the Roof event will include a variety of chilis with all the fixings, hot dogs and cake, all for a suggested donation of $5. A separate bake sale offering items to go or to eat there will also be held during the event, with all proceeds from the evening benefiting the Graham Public Librarys new roof project, according to Gallagher. The event will be from 4 to 7 p.m. March 5 at the church. For more information on the fundraiser, go to www.facebook.com/Union-Grove-United-Methodist-Church-118132401537145 or call the church at 262-878-1248. Amazing resource Helping maintain the public library is something Gallagher, a mother of young children, said she feels is important because it is such an amazing resource for everyone. In addition to its many books and connection to the interlibrary system, the Graham Library which has served the community since 1959 offers a variety of public programming. And staff members go out of their way to provide programs of interest to children of all ages, as well as older adults, she said. The library is able to provide a wide range of services including help during tax season, the Energy Assistance Program, even online language learning opportunitiesto community members who may not have access to such things at home, Gallagher said. Cost estimates received by the library board for replacing the roof range from $70,000 on the high end to somewhere in the mid $30,000s, she said. And while the church has not set a specific fundraising goal for its Raise the Roof event, it may if all goes well plan another fundraiser sometime this summer or fall to help the cause, Gallagher said. Community-minded Such community outreach is something LaBounty said is important to the congregation because every member of the church is also a member of the community, and they want to see Union Grove and its surrounding areas be vibrant and full of life. Were not a large church, but as parishioners we want to help out in whatever way we can, he said. Katie Hanson, director of the Graham Public Library, said she hopes the people of Union Grove will come out and support the cause on March 5. This is a very community-minded thing they are doing for us, she said. For more about the Graham Public Library, go to www.uniongrove.lib.wi.us. Those who cant make it to Raise the Roof, but would still like to help, can find a wish list posted on the librarys website, with needed items ranging from colored pencils to paper towels. Donations can be dropped off or sent to the library; call 262-878-2910 for more information. Volunteer Opportunities WHEATON FRANCISCAN-ALL SAINTS: Wheaton Franciscan-All Saints hospital volunteer opportunities including comfort cart attendants, courtesy van drivers, gift shop workers, and SMILE and Schwobble game show hosts. Call Sandy Wahl at 262-687-4292. GOODWILL SALE: Boston Store seeks volunteers for the Goodwill Sale March 9-26. Donations will help replenish Goodwill retail stores. Volunteering may require light physical activity such as reaching, lifting, and bending. Visit http://bit.ly/GWSEW; call 414-847-4178; email dan.burnett@goodwillsew.com. SENIOR COMPANION INC.: Senior Companion Inc. has volunteer opportunities to visit with older people in their homes, as well as on the telephone and through the mail. Call Sue Craanen at 262-898-1941 or email scraanen@racinedominicans.org. RACINE UNIFIED MENTOR: Mentors are needed for Racine Unified School District elementary and middle school students. Contact David Power, mentor coordinator, at david.power@rusd.org or call 262-664-6994. MYRIDE: MyRIDE, a new senior transportation service sponsored by the Volunteer Center of Racine County and the Retired & Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP), has volunteer driver openings. Call 262-886-9612. ST. VINCENT DE PAUL FOOD PANTRY: One-hour volunteer opportunities are available at St. Vincent De Paul Food Pantry, 926 LaSalle St., from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday. There are also openings for behind the scenes volunteers that do not involve heavy lifting or paper work. Call 262-633-6467. MEALS ON WHEELS: The Meals on Wheels Senior Nutrition Program has volunteer driving opportunities. Volunteers drive Monday through Friday in two-hour shifts. Meal pickup is at Ridgewood Care Center, 3205 Wood Road. Call ADRC at 262-898-1370. HELP MILITARY RETIREES: Help recent military retirees and their families re-enter the civilian world with the Racine Area Retiree Council (RARC). Volunteers provide current benefits information, vocation opportunities updates and travel options. Call RSVP-Racine County at 262-886-9612. RACINE Challenges filed by the Racine Education Association against the nominating petitions of four Racine Unified School Board candidates cost the district just under $4,000, the district reported Friday. In an email sent to The Journal Times, Patricia Meyer, the school districts deputy clerk and local filing officer, wrote that the district expenses incurred for the challenges were $3,958 $3,258 for legal fees and approximately $700 in clerical overtime. The teachers union submitted paperwork challenging the petitions of the four candidates last month in an attempt to get them tossed from the ballot for the upcoming School Board elections. The candidates whose petitions were challenged were 2nd District incumbent John Koetz, 3rd District incumbent Pamala Handrow, and 6th District challengers Ernest NiA and Bryn Biemeck. The four candidates were among 20 who filed petitions to run for seats on the School Board in this years election. About a dozen REA members spent three days poring over almost all the nominations looking for inaccuracies, illegible handwriting, or signatures from residents outside the district of the candidate, REA President Aaron Eick told The Journal Times in January. Despite allegations of illegible and out-of-district signatures, all but one of the four candidates nomination petitions survived the challenges. In responses released Jan. 12 four days after the challenges were filed Meyer stated the District had found that all four candidates in question had received enough valid signatures from residents to appear on the ballot. A week later the union appealed the districts decision on NiA and Biemecks petitions to election officials at the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board. The GAB ruled that Biemeck be removed from the ballot for falling one signature short of the minimum required on her nomination petition, but determined NiA could stay on. NiA was defeated on Feb. 16 in the primary election for the 6th District seat. The local pastor netted the least amount of votes in the three-way race, losing out to incumbent Don Nielsen and fellow challenger Brian OConnell. Nielsen and OConnell will face each other again in the general election on April 5. REA responds Asked Friday about the cost of the petitions challenges, Eick said the Legislature and Gov. Scott Walker had created an unwieldy situation with their last budget when they included the measure that changed the way Unifieds nine School Board members were elected. The seats had long been elected at-large, but the budget measure required the seats be elected geographically by district. (They) gave a very brief timeline to turn around those (district) maps, as well as the elections, Eick said. This was a manufactured crisis by the state government. We are the only organization keeping a very close eye on how this started and where it has gone from there. We see ourselves as protecting the democratic process. RACINE Youre a bad guy the kind of person from whom residents should be protected, a judge told a Racine man on Friday before sentencing him to 15 years behind bars for one of the fatal shootings in a triple homicide more than a decade ago. Juwan Tyrae Matthews, 31, of Racine, was one of two men charged in 2013 in connection with the 2005 incident. Aaron Woods, Ryan Lockridge and Frank Mister, all of whom were 23, were killed in the early morning hours of July 17, 2005, in a parking lot in the 1300 block of Washington Avenue. Theres no pain like losing a child, Woods mother, Mary Helena, said in a soft tone during Matthews sentencing Friday. I dont have words to articulate where the pain is. I forgive you, Helena told Matthews. Not because Im such a nice person. Not because youre a nice person. But because I have to get on with living. Racine County Circuit Judge Michael Piontek wasnt as forgiving as Helena, saying: courts are not courts of forgiveness, theyre courts of justice. He ordered that Matthews prison time be served consecutive to his federal prison term in a drug case. Matthews is scheduled to be released from federal prison on Sept. 14, 2017, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Today is an empty day, Piontek told Matthews, also sentencing him to 10 years on extended supervision. She (Helena) walks out of here heart-broken again and she probably will be the rest of her life because of what you have done. And no human being should experience that. Matthews pleaded guilty on Oct. 19 to a significantly downgraded charge of being a party to the crime of second-degree reckless homicide. That charge was punishable by a maximum of 15 years in prison plus 10 years on extended supervision. The shootings allegedly were sparked by a dispute about a fixed dice game. Special prosecutor Jacalyn LaBre, a former Racine County assistant district attorney who now is Manitowoc Countys district attorney, recommended a significant prison sentence, not suggesting an amount. She said Woods was near a car in the parking lot that morning, trying to go home, and he had no involvement with these individuals. He claims self-defense, trying to shift the blame, trying to put blame on police officers. But he chose to be there, LaBre said of Matthews, noting he had been released from prison on June 21, 2005 less than a month before the killings. More to it than this Willie Ward allegedly was the shootings target. Co-defendant Demetrus N. Ozier reportedly lost money to another man during an earlier dice game at Cash Money Bar, 901 S. Memorial Drive, and Ward wouldnt return Oziers cash, according to his criminal complaint. The other man was accused of using trick dice in that game. A confrontation occurred at about 2 a.m. in the Washington Avenue parking lot, while area bars were closing for the night, witnesses testified during Oziers trial in 2014. Defense attorney Paul F.X. Schwartz argued that three eyewitnesses have told police that Ward fired his gun first, and that no one in Matthews group fired the first shot. However, Ward and another man in Wards group reportedly have told police differing accounts of what occurred, including that Mister fired the first shot, Schwartz argued. Ward fatally shot Mister, according to the complaints. He never was charged in Misters death, court records show. There was more to it than this and there were more people who were responsible, Schwartz said during the sentencing, asking for 7 years in prison plus eight years on extended supervision. Lockridge suffered a gunshot wound to the head and Woods suffered a gunshot wound to his right side. Mister received three gunshot wounds: to his abdomen, pelvis and left thigh, a medical examiner has testified. With all my heart Im truly sorry, Matthews told Helena, standing to speak directly to her during his sentencing. Again I apologize for your loss. I never denied my actions in any of this, you know what Im saying? Helena declined to comment after Matthews sentencing. Ozier, 34, of Racine, was sentenced on Oct. 16, 2014, to two life terms, plus 204 years behind bars for the two murders. A jury convicted Ozier in the shooting deaths of Woods and Lockridge, and the wounding of four others. He is appealing, court records show. Schwartz said Matthews probably (will) not appeal. RACINE COUNTY Balmy temperatures came with a heavy price Friday as winds gusting up to 60 mph overturned semi-trailer trucks on Interstate 94, snapped power lines, toppled trees, buffeted aircraft, shattered glass and pushed debris of all shapes and sizes across Racine County. While the mercury hit 58 degrees Friday, blasting winds battered most of the state, reaching 60 mph at Racines Batten Airport at 3 p.m., according to the National Weather Service. The NWS issued a high-wind warning from noon to 6 p.m. Friday, cautioning people that small objects such as trash cans and unsecured lawn furniture could be blown away, and large vehicles could be difficult to control. The constant barrage of bluster between 25 and 40 mph made walking a challenge, driving a hazard and flying nearly impossible. Harsh gusts blew over an empty semi-trailer on the southbound lanes of Interstate 94 at Highway 11 in Yorkville at about 2:40 p.m. Racine County Sheriffs Office, Wisconsin State Patrol and the Union Grove-Yorkville Fire Department responded to the scene. According to sheriffs deputies, a 49-year-old man from Indiana was driving the trailer and he was not injured. The semi-trailer was driving at about 50 mph when a gust of wind pushed the vehicle over, causing it to block all three southbound lanes of traffic, deputies said. The vehicle started to leak diesel fuel, but the leak was quickly contained without incident, deputies said. Traffic was diverted from Interstate 94 to Highway 11 for about 1 hours while the scene was cleared, deputies said. That incident followed a similar overturned semi-trailer that occurred at about 12:30 p.m. Friday near Highway E in Kenosha County. Wind blew the semi on its side and the disabled vehicle also blocked all three lanes of traffic, snarling traffic into Racine County. Corey Johnson, a driver for Dons Towing and Truck Service, 8100 Washington Ave., Mount Pleasant, said his company prepared their heavy equipment early in anticipation of a rollover because of the bad weather. All it takes is a little bit of wind to get underneath them like that and they just flip over real easily, Johnson said. So youve got to be careful with lane changes and stuff like that. Power lost Power lines had little hope against the strong winds as more than 20 power outages were reported across the county throughout the day Friday, We Energies officials said. The utility restored power to about 15,000 customers in southeast Wisconsin between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m., said We Energies spokesman Brian Manthey. The largest single outage in Racine County occurred at about 10:15 a.m., when about 1,250 customers lost power for more than an hour because of a downed power line, Manthey said. That outage affected homes bordered by 3 Mile Road to the north, Romayne Avenue to the south, Michigan Boulevard to the east and Fifth Avenue to the west, Manthey said. Damage reported Dozens of reports of the wind causing felled trees, dislodged roof shingles, broken windows and other damage were reported throughout the county. In Sturtevant, Highway H was shut down almost all afternoon after hundreds of newly-installed insulation tiles flew off the roof of a warehouse at Leman USA, 1860 Renaissance Blvd., an international logistics provider and freight company. The insulation tiles, which each measured 4 by 8 feet, apparently had been installed on the roof, but not secured, according to Sturtevant Police Chief Sean Marschke. Wind gusts grabbed hold of hundreds of the tiles, blowing them into the air and into the path of traffic on Renaissance Boulevard and Highway H, Marschke said. These things the size of a box mattress were flying through the air. Cars were stopping and swerving, trying to avoid being hit, Marschke said. We had to close the road for safety. Also in Sturtevant, wind mangled a railroad crossing gate on Durand Avenue near 98th Street, causing the crossing lights to remain on for nearly 30 minutes, Marschke said. In Racine, a car parked in the 600 block of Wisconsin Avenue near Toad Hall was damaged when an upper story window was blown out by the heavy winds and smashed on to the vehicle. And in Mount Pleasant, a light pole was toppled at Frank Boucher Chevrolet Cadillac, resulting in damage to several vehicles, dealership representatives said. Aircraft grounded Friday certainly wasnt a day for flying. Despite the spring-like temperatures, local pilots didnt even attempt to fly, said Mike Wasik, a line service technician at Racines Batten International Airport. Wasik said one plane attempted to land at Batten but finally gave up after two tries because of wind shear. It was a really terrible day for flying, Wasik said. No matter how big the plane was, there would be a lot of rocking and rolling up there. Professional pilots earned their money today. Where did it come from? A strong low pressure system tracked across northern Wisconsin and Lake Superior Friday. And thats not a typical track for February, NWS meteorologists said. Generally, low-pressure systems stay south of Wisconsin, putting the state more on the cold side. While the northern track meant warmer temperatures, the deep low pressure produced the very strong south to southwest winds. The winds will continue Saturday, according to the weather service, but wont be nearly as dangerous. Gusts should reach 25 mph with the temperature reaching a high of 51 degrees. The temperature will drop to 32 Saturday night, but the wind will drop to about 10 mph, NWS officials said. Withering on the Vine The Demographic Time Bomb is Most Marked in Japan The demographic time bomb whereby the elderly population assumes a greater and ... Government Sexual Libertinism Coming to a Government School Near You Further to our piece yesterday on the promotion of sexual libertinism in government schools, we rep... Some Random Observations The Aftermath of Mass Pre-Mediated Murder A few observations on the murder of 14 people in San Bernadino and the wounding of many more see... Letter From the UK (About State Tyranny) Ta-ta UK freedoms! Miranda matter outs vindictiveness of wounded police state Annie Machon is a former intelligence of... The Big One The Panoptican State Is Actually Operational Yesterday the "big one" dropped. The Guardian reported that the US and UK spy age... Fraud Central German Professor: NASA Has Fiddled Climate Data On Unbelievable Scale by James Delingpole BreitbartLondon A German professor ha... Statist Groupthink More and More Fashionable The Rise of Liberal Intolerance in America Edward Luce Financial Times I t ought to be a triumphal moment for American liberalism .... Vacuous Greenism Anti-Fracking Luddiocy Think of any technology that involves carbon based energy and its utilisation, and the lunatic fringe can be found ... "It is Finished": the Sixth Word from the Cross It is Finished: our Lords Sixth Word from the Cross What is history? That simple question covers a multitude of complexity, profundity... [JURIST] The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) [advocacy website] filed a class action suit [complaint] against Kansas on Thursday on behalf of six individuals challenging Kansas voter registration law. Since 2011, Kansas has been one of only four states that requires [NYT report] proof of citizenship for voter registration. The ACLU claims that Kansas controversial law violates the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, which allows voter registration upon obtaining a drivers license. Kris Kobach [personal profile], the former Kansas Republican chairman responsible for the bills inception, responded [WP report] by defending the states right to question citizenship. Kobach elaborated that the registration requirement places a negligible burden upon Kansas citizens and is crucial to preventing voting-fraud. Voting rights remain a controversial legal issue in the US. A partnership of voting rights groups last week filed suit [JURIST report] against the US Election Assistance Commission stating their decision limiting the use of national voter registration in Alabama, Kansas and Georgia deprives eligible voters of the right to vote. Last month a judge for the US District Court of the Middle District of North Carolina declined to grant [JURIST report] a motion by the NAACP and other plaintiffs that would have kept the state from implementing a voter identification law in the upcoming March elections. In May the New Hampshire Supreme Court struck down [JURIST report] a 2012 law requiring voters to be state residents, not just domiciled in the state. In March the US Supreme Court declined [JURIST report] to hear challenges to Wisconsins voter ID law. Also in March Oregon Governor Kate Brown signed a new law [JURIST report] that made Oregon the first state in the nation to institute automatic voter registration. A federal appeals court rejected [JURIST report] a Kansas rule that required prospective voters to show proof-of-citizenship documents before registering using a federal voter registration form in November 2014. Amnesty International (AI) [advocacy website] criticized [press release] the state of justice in Iraq on Thursday after a court in that country sentenced 40 men to death. The Baghdad court found the men guilty of being Sunni jihadists and allied militants that carried out a massacre of 1,700 military cadets from the Speicher Military camp by the Islamic State in June 2014. The men are sentenced to death by hanging under Iraqs anti-terrorism law that states [Global Post report] that anyone who perpetrates, incites, plans, finances or assists acts of terrorism will be sentenced to death. The 40 death sentences brings the total sentenced to death in 2016 to 92 death sentences in six weeks. The advocacy organization called on Iraqi authorities to halt the ratification of death sentences and to establish a moratorium on executions. AIs Middle East and North Africa Deputy Director said that, [t]he vast majority of the trials have been grossly unfair, with many of the defendants claiming to have been tortured into confessing the crimes. These allegations must be urgently investigated and a re-trial that meets international fair trial standard should be ordered. The use of the death penalty remains controversial worldwide. In 2014 UN officials called on the government of Iraq to impose a moratorium on the death penalty [JURIST report] in response to a significant rise in executions since the country restored capital punishment in 2005. Last month AI reported on the many juvenile offenders [JURIST report] on death row in Iran. The report stated that 73 executions of juvenile offenders took place between 2005 and 2015 and that 160 juvenile offenders are currently on death row. Last year AI said that use of the death penalty in Pakistan [JURIST report] was undergoing a disturbing and dangerous escalation after the execution of two men convicted of non-terrorism offenses. [JURIST] The US Department of Justice (DOJ) [official website] on Friday filed [motion, text] a motion to compel Apple [corporate website] to unlock the encrypted iPhone belonging to one of the San Bernardino shooters [CNN report]. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) [official website] is seeking Apples help to access Syed Rizwan Farooks phone, but the tech company has refused. In a letter [text] to its customers on Tuesday, Apple explained, When the FBI has requested data thats in our possession, we have provided it. Apple complies with valid subpoenas and search warrants, as we have in the San Bernardino case. We have also made Apple engineers available to advise the FBI, and weve offered our best ideas on a number of investigative options at their disposal. [But] in todays digital world, the key to an encrypted system is a piece of information that unlocks the data, and it is only as secure as the protections around it. Once the information is known, or a way to bypass the code is revealed, the encryption can be defeated by anyone with that knowledge. We are challenging the FBIs demands with the deepest respect for American democracy and a love of our country. We believe it would be in the best interest of everyone to step back and consider the implications. While the DOJ describes Apples rhetoric as simply a marketing strategy, the tech company has been joined by Google [NBC report], one of its largest competitors, in standing against the order. Complicating the situation, a report surfaced [ABC report] earlier this week that the iPhone in question had its iCloud password changed while in government custody. A California federal court has been scheduled to hear the motion on March 22. The clash between the US government and Apple gets at the core of the worldwide argument over surveillance. Earlier this month, the Intelligence and Security Committee of the UK Parliament released a report [JURIST report] outlining its concerns with the proposed Investigatory Powers Bill that plans to expand data collection and Internet spying, which it believes is handicapped from the outset in terms of the extent to which it can provide a clear and comprehensive legal framework to govern the use and oversight of investigatory powers. The bill drew opposition [JURIST report] from US tech companies as well. Domestically, in January the NYPD reached settlement agreements [JURIST report] in two civil rights lawsuits accusing the NYPD of wrongfully monitoring Muslims after the 9/11 attacks. The Georgia State Senate [official website] passed an amended version of a religious freedom bill, HB 757 [text, PDF; materials], which some critics believe may be used to discriminate against same-sex couples. The bill gives religious leaders the right to refuse to marry any couple if it is against their religion without facing penalties and bars the government from taking any adverse action against any person who acts in accordance with their religious views towards marriage. The bill also allows religious organizations to deny others use of their property if it would go against their beliefs. The Georgia House passed the legislation last week, but will review [CNN report] the legislation again to vote on the added provisions. If the bill passes the House, it will be sent to Governor Nathan Deal [official website] to sign. One sponsor of the bill, State Senator Greg Kirk, stated that the bills purpose is to provide equal protection to people with sincerely-held religious beliefs. However, critics of the bill believe it could lead to discrimination toward the LGBT community and unmarried couples. Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights, as well as freedom of religious practice, remain controversial issues in the US. At least nineteen states have enacted some variety of religious freedom laws, most modeled after the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act [text] signed into law by Bill Clinton in 1993. Following the US Supreme Court [official website] ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges [JURIST report] in June, Kentucky clerk Kim Davis refused to issue [JURIST report] marriage licenses, arguing that her Christian faith should exempt her from issuing the licenses to same-sex couples. In June North Carolina lawmakers passed SB 2, a law that permits magistrates to refuse to perform same-sex marriages on religious grounds, overriding a veto [JURIST reports] by Governor Pat McCrory. Earleir this year, an Indiana legislative committee approved a bill [JURIST report] that would repeal the controversial religious freedom law passed last year. Kizza Besigye, the opposition candidate for president of Uganda, was arrested with several of his supporters on Friday. Besigye was arrested [NYT report] as the election commission released early results that showed incumbent President Yoweri Museveni leading the election with 62 percent of the vote and Besigye trailing with 33 percent. The police arrested Besigye as he and his supporters were tallying votes, which they claim show that the opposition was beating the president by 7 percentage points. Besigye has since been released, but criticism of the governments actions have increased, citing late opening of polling stations and the governments blocking of social media and mobile money sites on election day in the capital. This is the second time this week that Besigye has been arrested; on Thursday he attempted to enter a police station to claim that the voting was rigged. In April 2011 Besigye was arrested [JURIST report] in connection with protests against increasing food and fuel costs. Besigye is the leader of the Ugandas most prominent opposition party, the Forum for Democratic Change. He lost to incumbent President Yoweri Museveni in previous elections that were criticized by the opposition as fraudulent. Besigye also ran for president in 2002 and 2006, and, prior to that, he was Musevenis personal doctor. In October 2010 Ugandas Constitutional Court unanimously dismissed treason charges [JURIST report] against Besigye and 10 co-defendants, ruling that there was insufficient evidence and that the state had violated the defendants rights. Besigye had been charged [JURIST report] with plotting to forcefully overthrow the Ugandan government between 2001 and 2004 but had always maintained his innocence, calling the charges against him politically motivated. UK Prime Minister David Cameron [official profile] announced [statement] Saturday that the UK will hold a referendum on June 23 to vote on whether the nation will remain a part of the European Union (EU) [official website]. EU and UK leaders met over the previous two days in Brussels to negotiate terms that would keep the UK in the union with a special status. Cameron presented [CNN report] the results of the summit to the UK Cabinet Saturday morning. In his announcement Cameron said he believes the UK should remain in a reformed EU and that leaving would threaten the nations national security and negatively impact the economy. He also assured the public that the special status in the EU would allow the UK to not take a role in many EU activities, stating, We will never join the Euro, we will never be part of Eurozone bailouts, never be part of the passport-free no borders area, or a European Army or an EU super-state. The European Union (EU) [CNN backgrounder] is a partnership of 28 European countries for political and economic purposes, with its own currency adopted by 19 member nations. It began in the 1950s as the European Economic Community (EEC) to promote a single economic market without trade barriers. The UK became a member in 1973, and held a referendum [BBC backgrounder] in 1975 with voters electing to remain in the union. The Treaty on the European Union was signed in the Netherlands in 1992, and an EU Constitution was approved by the member nations in 2004. In the years since, many in the UK have voiced concerns about remaining in the EU, with critics saying it has too much control over UK citizens. Yes, you can transfer your domain to any registrar or hosting company once you have purchased it. Since domain transfers are a manual process, it can take up to 5 days to transfer the domain. Domains purchased with payment plans are not eligible to transfer until all payments have been made. Please remember that our 30-day money back guarantee is void once a domain has been transferred. For transfer instructions to GoDaddy, please click here. Albert Woodfox freed after 43 years in US solitary prison The longest-serving prisoner to be held in solitary confinement in US history, Albert Woodfox, has walked free in Louisiana after 43 years. Birgunj bounces back as border closure ends Om Prakash Gupta, a daily wage earner in Birgunj, is happily back at work after being unemployed for a long time when the city was shut down due to political agitation. EU deal gives UK special status, says David Cameroon David Cameron says a deal struck with EU leaders will give the UK "special status" and he will campaign with his "heart and soul" to stay in the union. New Delhi rolls out red carpet for Oli New Delhi on Friday rolled out the red carpet for Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli who is on a six-day state visit to India with eyes on mending ties that saw an all-time low in recent history following the promulgation of the constitution. PM Oli meets Indian counterpart Modi at Hyderabad House, New Delhi Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has welcomed Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli at Hyderabad House in New Delhi, India on Saturday. PM Oli, Indian PM Modi sign on 7 agreements on mutual cooperation Prime Minister KP Oli who is on a six-day state visit to India called on his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi at Hyderabad House in New Delhi, India on Saturday. Thakur warns of another blockade if govts indifference continues Tarai Madhes Loktantrik Party Chairman Mahantha Thakur has warned of another protest including blocking border points if the government continues its apathy towards them. 1. Yes. Its important to cast my votes early and avoid the lines on Election Day. 2. Yes. With nearly two weeks of early voting, its a more convenient way to take part. 3. No. Its better to wait until Election Day, in case any last-minute information surfaces. 4. No. Im not planning to vote early or on Election Day. It isnt worth my time. 5. Unsure. It depends on how the campaigns are shaping up. Ill play it by ear. Vote View Results Bill Smith Jr W Bill Smith I was born in St. Louis, MO and raised in Harlem, NY, which was not far from Spanish Harlem. I was only 10 when I was touched by the Spanish language and Latin music. View my complete profile Blog Archive A blog on Singapore defence and the SAF that goes Above & Beyond The Obvious -The views expressed on this blog are my personal views and/or opinion and do not necessarily reflect the views and/or opinions of the Advisory Council on Community Relations in Defence (ACCORD). Copyright 2009-2020. David Boey. All rights reserved. Follow us on Twitter @SenangDiri Mike Dunleavy the governor of the US state of Alaska is intending to introduce legislation that will repeal the two state boards which regu... Welcome! You have come to the right place. Khmerization is a home to the Cambodian daily news, which is updated twice daily. Please take a tour and enjoy yourself. Thank you. To contact Khmerization please send an email to: Trollfest '09 Trollfest '07 was such a success that Jackson Jambalaya will once again host Trollfest '09. Catch this great event which will leave NE Jackson & Fondren in flames. Othor Cain and his band, The Black Power Structure headline the night while Sonjay Poontang returns for an encore performance. Former Frank Melton bodyguard Marcus Wright makes his premier appearance at Trollfest singing "I'm a Sweet Transvestite" from "The Rocky Horror Picture Show." Kamikaze will sing his new hit, How I sold out to da Man. Robbie Bell again performs: Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be Bells and Any friend of Ed Peters is a friend of mine. After the show, Ms. Bell will autograph copies of her mug shot photos. In a salute to Dancing with the Stars, Ms. Bell and Hinds County District Attorney Robert Smith will dance the Wango Tango. Wrestling returns, except this time it will be a Battle Royal with Othor Cain, Ben Allen, Kim Wade, Haley Fisackerly, Alan Lange, and Big Cat Donna Ladd all in the ring at the same time. The Battle Royal will be in a steel cage, no time limit, no referee, and the losers must leave town. Marshand Crisler will be the honorary referee (as it gives him a title without actually having to do anything). Meet KIM Waaaaaade at the Entergy Tent. For five pesos, Kim will sell you a chance to win a deed to a crack house on Ridgeway Street stuffed in the Howard Industries pinata. Don't worry if the pinata is beaten to shreds, as Mr. Wade has Jose, Emmanuel, and Carlos, all illegal immigrants, available as replacements for the it. Upon leaving the Entergy tent, fig leaves will be available in case Entergy literally takes everything you have as part of its Trollfest ticket price adjustment charge. Donna Ladd of The Jackson Free Press will give several classes on learning how to write. Smearing, writing without factchecking, and reporting only one side of a story will be covered. A donation to pay their taxes will be accepted and she will be signing copies of their former federal tax liens. Ms. Ladd will give a dramatic reading of her two award-winning essays (They received The Jackson Free Press "Best Of" awards.) "Why everything is always about me" and "Why I cover murders better than anyone else in Jackson". In the spirit of helping those who are less fortunate, Trollfest '09 adopts a cause for which a portion of the proceeds and donations will be donated: Keeping Frank Melton in his home. The Keep Frank Melton From Being Homeless booth will sell chances for five dollars to pin the tail on the jackass. John Reeves has graciously volunteered to be the jackass for this honorable excursion into saving Frank's ass. What's an ass between two friends after all? If Mr. Reeves is unable to um, perform, Speaker Billy McCoy has also volunteered as when the word jackass was mentioned he immediately ran as fast as he could to sign up. In order to help clean up the legal profession, Adam Kilgore of the Mississippi Bar will be giving away free, round-trip plane tickets to the North Pole where they keep their bar complaint forms (which are NOT available online). If you don't want to go to the North Pole, you can enjoy Brant Brantley's (of the Mississippi Commission on Judicial Performance) free guided tours of the quicksand field over by High Street where all complaints against judges disappear. If for some reason you are unable to control yourself, never fear; Judge Houston Patton will operate his jail where no lawyers are needed or allowed as you just sit there for minutes... hours.... months...years until he decides he is tired of you sitting in his jail. Do not think Judge Patton is a bad judge however as he plans to serve free Mad Dog 20/20 to all inmates. Trollfest '09 is a pet-friendly event as well. Feel free to bring your dog with you and do not worry if your pet gets hungry, as employees of the Jackson Zoo will be on hand to provide some of their animals as food when it gets to be feeding time for your little loved one. Relax at the Fox News Tent. Since there are only three blonde reporters in Jackson (being blonde is a requirement for working at Fox News), Megan and Kathryn from WAPT and Wendy from WLBT will be on loan to Fox. To gain admittance to the VIP section, bring either your Republican Party ID card or a Rebel Flag. Bringing both and a torn-up Obama yard sign will entitle you to free drinks served by Megan, Wendy, and Kathryn. Get your tickets now. Since this is an event for trolls, no ID is required. Just bring the hate. Bring the family, Trollfest '09 is for EVERYONE!!! This is definitely a Beaver production. Note: Security provided by INS. KPC News Service ANGOLA The Steuben County Economic Development Corp. has started the public phase of fundraising for the Northern Indiana Lakes Country Enterprise Center. The Enterprise Center launched its local fundraising campaign to provide businesses, organizations and individuals an opportunity to support the project at 907 S. Wayne St., it was announced Thursday. The Enterprise Center project includes industrial training facilities, classrooms, co-working space and business incubator space. The facility will house offices for the SCEDC and similar organizations. The overall goal of the SCEDC is to raise $150,000 from the Steuben County Industrial Guild, small businesses and the general public. Local money raised will support the application to a national philanthropic foundation for $300,000 and an application to the Regional Cities initiative for $500,000. With the growing amount of support and excitement for this project the goal to reach $150,000 is achievable, said Dave Koenig, SCEDC executive director. Solicitations were made this week to members of the Steuben County Industrial Guild and chambers of commerce in Angola, Ashley-Hudson, Fremont, Hamilton and Orland. The SCEDC board of directors will also be reaching out to members of the Steuben County Industrial Guild to encourage support. Contributions have already been made by Vestil Manufacturing, $25,000; Klink Group, $15,000; Eva-lution (C&K Tool), $10,000; and Key Bank Foundation, Koester Metals and Northeast Indiana Fund all for $5,000. The Enterprise Center has also received local and regional funds from the Steuben County Community Foundation, Town of Fremont, NIPSCO, Steuben County REMC, the town of Orland and other public and private contributors. Because of this local support, Steuben County was able to leverage an additional $250,000 grant from the state of Indiana to ensure the training center be initiated in 2016. With the continued support from local businesses and community members, the Steuben County EDC believes the $150,000 goal can be achieved, Koenig said. The additional local support will be very important in convincing outside sources, such as the national foundation and Regional Cities Initiative, that the community is behind this project and that their investment in the community is a wise investment. All contributions are 100 percent tax deductible and will go directly toward funding the Enterprise Center. For questions, visit the Enterprise Center at 970 S. Wayne St., or call 665-6889. Working through my ignorance with your help. It's been almost five years since design firm All That is Solid won the right to transform the entrance to Sunset Junction into a public art plaza. BLOOMRS, a giant iron saddle sculpture, was to be the centerpiece of a newly envisioned median next door to the Jiffy Lube at the intersection of Sunset and Santa Monica Boulevards. The designers at All That is Solid walked away with a win and some prize money that day, but they also got almost half a decade worth of bureaucratic headaches. Over the years, the project has been stalled over funding and promised but failed to materialize, but according to Eastsider LA, Sunset Junction might finally be getting its Saddle. In February 2015, it looked as though installation of the Sunset Junction Saddle was imminent. The initial $100,000 budget had been boosted to $125,000, but the LA City Council seemed willing to pay for it as part of a $1.725 million streetscape improvement project. Problem is, every time the city released a budget for street improvements in Sunset Junction, funding for BLOOMRS was never included. Sunset Junction waited, then waited some more. A year went by. The median was torn up and replaced with a landscaped plaza, but still no Saddle. So, what's behind the delay? Looks like a case of red tape. According to a spokesman for Council District 13, the designers are having trouble "complying with city guidelines" while still staying within their $125,000 budget. Saddle designer Heather McGuinn contends that they have always remained on budget despite the city imposing "other requirements that have boosted labor costs." McGuinn remains upbeat about the future of the BLOOMRS installation. Even though she's been hit with additional labor costs due to complying with city guidelines, she describes the costs as "nothing unsurmountable." McGuinn will be working closely with the Bureau of Street Services and Council District 13 to iron out the cost and compliance issues. If all goes well, Sunset Junction might finally get it's saddle in 2016. Will the Silver Lake saddle ever get built? [Eastsider LA] Giant Sunset Junction Saddle is Finally Happening This Year [Curbed LA] Silver Lake's Giant Saddle Plaza Finally Moving Forward [Curbed LA] This Giant Steel Saddle Will Be Jiffy Lube's Sunset Junction Neighbor [Curbed LA] MADISON, Wis. (AP) The Wisconsin Assembly has finished its work for the two-year legislative session, but things wont quiet down at the state Capitol. Senate Republicans plan to return for at least one more day in March. Theyll have to decide whether to take final votes on several bills that passed the Assembly this week. Other contentious measures that neither chamber touched will die unless they, too, are acted on. Myranda Tanck, a spokeswoman for Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, said four of those measures wont go through this session. Heres a look at the most notable legislation the Senate faces as well as some of the bills that will likely die: IN THE SENATE: DRUNKEN DRIVING: The Assembly overwhelmingly passed a bill Thursday that would strip repeat drunken drivers of their licenses for at least a decade. DEMENTIA CARE: The Assembly approved a 10-bill package Thursday designed to help people cope with Alzheimers disease and dementia. The package, developed by a task force Assembly Speaker Robin Vos created, would devote more money to dementia specialists, research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the states Alzheimer family and caregiver support program. Tanck said all proposals with a fiscal impact will be part of a larger caucus discussion on spending priorities and limitations. SANCTUARY CITIES BAN: The Assembly passed a bill Tuesday that would prohibit municipalities from banning police from asking about someones immigration status if theyre charged with a crime. The bill and a companion proposal that prohibits local governments from issuing identification cards drew more than 15,000 protesters to the Capitol on Thursday. Tanck said the legislation could be considered in March but is not a top priority, suggesting the senators are unlikely to take it up. COLLEGE AFFORDABILITY: The Assembly on Tuesday passed a set of bills that Republicans say would help college students with debt. The proposals include plans to lift the cap on tax-deductible student loan interest, boost grants for technical college students and two-year students in the University of Wisconsin Colleges, create internship coordinators and require colleges to update students annually on their debt levels. Democrats say the bills are little more than GOP campaign talking points and wont do much to contain student debt. Tanck said the caucus will examine all proposals with a fiscal impact while looking at spending priorities and limitations. VOUCHER SCHOOL FUNDING: The Assembly approved legislation Thursday that would limit public school districts ability to recoup their losses when students leave for schools in the states voucher program. The program subsidizes private school tuition. The state pays for it by cutting aid to public schools that lose students to the program. Under language in the state budget, districts can recoup those losses and more by raising property taxes. The Assembly proposal would allow districts to raise taxes enough to recoup only actual losses. ___ IN LIMBO: FETAL TISSUE RESEARCH: Republicans have drafted a bill that would ban research using tissue from fetuses aborted after Jan. 1, 2015, and prohibit the commercial sale of such tissue. Researchers have complained the measure could chill work on life-saving cures and treatments. Neither house has voted on it and likely wont. TRANSGENDER BATHROOMS: Another GOP bill would require public school students to use bathrooms and locker rooms assigned to their biological sex. The bills authors argue Wisconsin needs such a law to create a clear standard. Neither house has taken up the bill, and Tanck said it wont go through this session. Fitzgerald has said individual schools should deal with the issue as they see fit. GUNS ON SCHOOL GROUNDS: Several Republicans support a bill that would allow people with concealed carry permits to carry their guns on school grounds. Vos and Tanck have said the bill wont go through. CONCEALED CARRY IN UNIVERSITY BUILDINGS: Another all-but-dead GOP bill would let people carry concealed weapons in university classrooms, buildings and stadiums. That measure has gone nowhere in either house amid scathing opposition from UW System leaders. Tanck said it wont become law. PHOENIX (AP) A former roommate of a man charged with orchestrating a foiled attack on an anti-Islam cartoon contest in Texas testified Friday about the defendants increasingly radicalized statements about wanting to violently attack non-Muslims and seek revenge against people who portrayed the Prophet Muhammad in drawings. Witness Stefan Verdugo said 44-year-old Abdul Malik Abdul Kareem watched jihadist beheading videos and news coverage of the January 2015 attack on the French newspaper Charlie Hedbo. He said Kareem, Elton Simpson and Nadir Soofi became intent on making a stand for their Muslim brothers when they learned of a Prophet Muhammad cartoon contest in Garland, Texas. They both pretty much agreed on some type of revenge, Verdugo said of Kareem and Simpson. The 25-year-old Verdugo is a key government witness in the case against Kareem, who also is charged with supporting the Islamic State terrorist group. MAUSTON Leo Raymond Steiner, 93, a lifelong resident of Mauston, passed away peacefully Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2016, at Mile Bluff Medical Center. Born Nov. 16, 1922, to John and Minnie Steiner, Leo graduated from St. Patricks Grade School and then Mauston High School in 1941. After graduating, he worked in Alaska, with his Uncle Louis building an air base. When World War II broke out, he enlisted with his friends in the Army Air Corp. Basic training was at Atlantic City/ Boardwalk. His first assignment was Drew Field Tampa, Fla. While on leave, he met the love of his life, Natalie Jeanne Wright. On Dec. 4, 1943, they were united in marriage in Tampa. He was then transferred to Walker Air Base, Hayes, Kan. Upon the end of World War II, he returned to Mauston, and started his career in the postal service, as a city carrier and then a rural mail carrier. Leo retired Jan. 1, 1985. Leo is remembered as a kind, caring and loving husband, father and grandfather who loved to travel and spend family time with his children, grandkids and special friends, Richard and Marcia Jakubik and family. As a family, many summers were spent traveling the West. His loves were Yellowstone and the Black Hills. He was an avid hunter and fisherman that he shared with his family and friends. Leo was instrumental in the start of the Mauston Food Pantry. He was a champion of children and education, which he instilled in his own children. He quietly supported an Indian Mission School, Chamberlain, S.D., and orphanage for young girls in India, and St. Jude Foundation. Leo leaves behind his wife of 72 years, Natalie; four sons, Neil (Sue,) Steve (Carol,) Tony (Leo A.,) James (Martha;) and one daughter, Stephanie; four grandsons, Matthew, Timothy, Alexander, Jonathan; and nine great-grandchildren, Adam, Isaac, Phoebe, Andrei, Ivan, Olek, Elliott, Penelope and Clementine; and many nephews and one niece. He was preceded in death by his parents, John and Minnie; two brothers, John and Robert; and one sister, Jonetta Zukaukskis. Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 11:30 a.m. Monday, Feb. 22, at St. Patrick Catholic Church, Mauston. Friends may call from 9:30 am until the time of service at the church. Burial with full military honors provided by the Burton-Koppang American Legion Post 81 and Wisconsin Military Honors Program will be in Mauston Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be given to UW-Madison Research Foundation, Mauston Food Pantry, Burton-Koppang American Legion Post 81 or St. Patrick Grade School. The family wishes to thank Fair View Nursing Home Staff, especially Jill, Jan, Marianne and Jackie for the care of our father. For online condolences please go to www.crandallfuneral.com. A racist image scrawled on a whiteboard in a residence hall has spurred another discussion on hate, bias and racism at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. April Handtke, assistant director of housing, said staff doing a routine check of Coate Hall noticed a drawing of a black man being lynched by three men in white hoods accompanied by a drawing of a swastika and the words #black lives dont matter. Staff found the drawing about 2 a.m. on Jan. 30 on one of the public whiteboards in a basement study room. Handtke said staff are trained to take pictures of any objectionable material found in the residence halls and then make a hate/bias incident report. Handtke said the hall director communicated with his staff and residents his concerns about the hate portrayed in the act. This is not something that can be written off as a joke, Handtke said. No matter the intention, the impact of the drawing doesnt change. According to the UW-L campus climate office website, 126 incidents of bias or hate have been reported on campus since August. The reports include acts such as graffiti or vandalism in the residence halls, as well as verbal misconduct and physical violence. UW-L Chancellor Joe Gow said the investigation into the incident is still ongoing, and sent a copy of the image Friday morning in an email to everyone on campus with information about three events being held on racism and hate/bias. The first of the programs was a teach-in on racism held Friday in Eagle Hall, where students, professors and staff from the campus climate office spoke about its history and impact. We have to talk about these things, Assistant Director of Campus Climate Amanda Goodenough said at the teach-in. They are happening. And it is traumatizing for our community to see that. UW-L ethnic and racial studies professor Richard Breaux said he has become absolutely exhausted with the issue of racism. Just a few months ago, UW-L held a forum on the issue of a Confederate flag being displayed on campus by constructions workers. During the teach-in, Breaux spoke about the history of racism, the Ku Klux Klan and blackface as well as their ties to higher education from the 1800s to today. He spoke about how the Klan marched in the University of Minnesota homecoming parade in the 1920s and how blackface was a routine presence in the history of collegiate social life from fraternity minstrel shows to recent incidents including a ghetto party at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater during the 2006-07 school year. You can see the historical significance where an image like this comes from, Breaux said of the Coate Hall drawing. Suthakaran Veerasamy, a psychology professor at UW-L, conducted an exercise with students attending the teach-in, where they pretended to be squirrels sharing a cage at the zoo with the elephants. That is how people in the minority feel in relation to white people, he said, where there are more whites with political, economic and other forms of power than the minority. Whos running the show in the country, he said, the elephants or the squirrels? At the end of the teach-in, students were allowed to ask questions and one was about whether it was helpful to acknowledge racism. Both Breaux and Veerasamy said you have to tackle the topic rather than ignore it. You have to start acknowledging the real problem, Veerasamy said, that this is a racist country and a racist campus. People dont want to admit that, he said, and you cant have a real dialog until they do. It is good this happened, he said. We get to see the university for what it is. Kalon Bell, a UW-L student and president of student organization Black Student Unity, said he was also very frustrated, upset and angry. The first time he was called the n-word was in third grade, he said, and in light of the recent incident, doesnt know whether progress is being made. Bell said he was disappointed only a small group of students, staff and faculty attended the event, with many chairs left open at the teach-in. Bell and other black students attending said they felt society and the university have failed in their duties to educate people about racism, and UW-L could do more to require students to learn about issues of race. That image is a culmination of what we knew about how people feel, Bell said. It is something the institution has failed to combat. Matthew Hefti, author of A Hard and Heavy Thing, knows about modern warfare firsthand. A Bangor native, Hefti graduated from Onalaska Luther High School and spent a year at UW-La Crosse before joining the Air Force in 2002. Over the course of the next dozen years, Hefti served two tours of duty in Afghanistan and two in Iraq. Although these are dangerous places to begin with, Heftis job was even more stressful than most. He volunteered to be an explosive ordinance disposal technician We were basically the bomb squad unit for the military, Hefti said. If you saw the movie Hurt Locker, thats what we did. The goal was to take something apart so it didnt blow up on their terms. Wed either blow things up where they were or oftentimes they had to be dismantled and moved. We used robots whenever we could. While serving in Afghanistan and Iraq, Hefti lost several close friends. Asked about the most dangerous moment of his military career, Hefti had trouble recalling any one specific instance. There were hundreds and hundreds of roadside bombs it was kind of hard to keep track of them all, Hefti said. There were certainly a lot of close calls. Several times we were walking over bombs (that were live) only to discover that later. Currently in law school at UW-Madison, Hefti is clearly not the kind of person to let spare time go to waste. He has always liked to write and while serving overseas he completed an online bachelors degree in English and a master of fine arts degree in fiction. While the other guys were playing video games, I was working on my masters, Hefti said The book, which was published Jan. 1, actually grew out of a short story Hefti wrote. It follows two Coulee Region soldiers who enlist in the infantry in the Wisconsin National Guard and end up in Iraq. While Hefti insists the novel is fiction and not about his experiences specifically, its clear that hed drawn on what he observed while working with the bomb squad. For a first-time novelist, Heftis work has garnered overwhelmingly positive reviews. Those from fellow veterans who can attest that Hefti knows what hes writing about must be particularly gratifying. Like Hefti, David Abrams is a veteran of Iraq. His novel, Fobbit, is a New York Times Notable Book. He called A Hard and Heavy Thing a brilliantly observed and exquisitely paced debut novel. Likewise, Brian Castner, who wrote a memoir of his two tours of duty in an EOD unit in Iraq (The Long Walk), called Heftis book a timeless American story that rings with an honesty that is earnest and smart and sad. This novel is so true to itself that it hurts. Praise also has come from more traditional sources. Among the many solid reviews, Booklist gave it a starred review and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel put it on its list of 15 books to watch out for in 2016. Hefti said hes been pleasantly surprised by the positive response to the book. You never know what to expect, but anytime you write you hope it will work out, he said. Its been very validating to have this kind of reception. So far, despite Heftis law school course load in Madison and family obligations (he and his wife, Monica, have three daughters), he has managed to work in book signings in Buffalo, New York City, Washington, D.C., and Madison. He said he enjoys meeting both with people who have read the book and those who have not. So few people serve now something like 1 percent so its good to talk to people who want to know more about what its like, Hefti said. Hell do a local book signing at the Barnes & Noble store in Valley View Mall beginning at 11 a.m. Saturday. Hefti also will be at Pearl Street Books in downtown La Crosse for a talk and reading on March 26. Depending on class availability, Hefti is on track to graduate from law school either in December or next spring. Hes been working with The Innocence Project since coming to Madison and said hed like to go into criminal defense of some kind after graduation. While Hefti is focused on becoming a lawyer, he said he will probably always write as well. Work on a second novel already has commenced. ST. PAUL, Minn. Hospitals say they are learning a lot, but eliminating errors is tougher than anyone thought it would be. Over the year ending last October, there were 316 adverse patient events slightly higher than the year before, and on par with past years, according to a state Health department report released Friday. In 16 cases, the patients died. Ninety-three other incidents were labeled serious. Combined, fatal and serious injuries account for 34 percent of the total. Minnesota has been tracking medical errors for a dozen years in an effort to identify problem areas and prevent future mistakes. And Minnesota hospitals have made some limited progress in cutting down on injuries to patients. Patient falls declined to 67, the lowest number ever reported, after a campaign to modify patient bathrooms where falls are concentrated. There were fewer surgical errors following years of little improvement. Rahul Koranne, chief medical officer for the Minnesota Hospital Association, said surgery teams did a better job removing all foreign materials from patients bodies. The report shows the count dropped by a third to 22 patients. It takes many hands to carefully roll a sedated patient over on his side while maintaining the stability of the spine so that the skin team can change dressings, clean the skin, and check for any irritations, with the goal of preventing pressure ulcers. Judy Griesedieck for MPR News So we see that our packing and the sponges that we used to leave decades ago are no longer being left in, Koranne said. But the trend for another surgical category went in the wrong direction. Twenty-nine patients had procedures performed on the wrong body part. Spinal surgeries made up a third of the cases. Koranne said spinal surgery is complex and similar errors have been reported throughout U.S. hospitals, particularly with minimally invasive procedures. The surgeon is in there with a very small incision, Koranne explained. And its looking at the spine, all of the levels of which look very similar. In other cases of wrong site procedures, hospital data show that surgical staff sometimes skipped established protocols that should have alerted them to their mistake. The Minnesota Time Out process is a brief pause prior to surgery that is intended to give staff time to verify a patients name, the procedure being performed and the body part being operated on. But an urgent medical situation may trump the protocol. Hospitals report completing all steps of the voluntary process only 68 percent of the time. We all know that it can be easy to put something in place, but getting it hardwired and getting it really to be part of the culture in the operating room or the procedural areas can be a little tougher, said Rachel Jokela, director of the Adverse Health Events Program at the Minnesota Department of Health. I think we all probably wish that getting to that lasting change was easier or maybe a little quicker. But its very hard work. A skin-care team at Hennepin County Medical Center can attest to the work involved in making hospital care safer. Nurse Kim Schneider examines the skin of a severely injured patient who is wearing a neck brace. She checks for any signs of redness or irritation around the device that could indicate pressure ulcers. Commonly known as bed sores, they can grow into gaping wounds. Bedsores have consistently been the most frequently reported adverse event in Minnesota hospitals. There were 104 cases statewide last year. But none were in HCMCs surgical intensive care unit, an area of the hospital that traditionally has the highest rates of pressure ulcers. Nurse Beth Heather credits her teams success to a $10,000 grant she received to train nurses on the safe removal of protective braces to check a patients skin. And just short periods of removing complete pressure made a huge difference and then you get a really good skin inspection, Heather said. But its labor intensive work. On average it takes 19 minutes to do a full-body skin check. And usually a few nurses need to help. Its not necessarily an approach that all hospitals could manage or afford. HCMC made posters and videos of its skin training program anyway and has shared them with the Minnesota Hospital Association, so other hospitals can benefit from what HCMC has learned. Attorney General Brad Schimel wont intervene in a court case involving a halted John Doe investigation into coordination between Gov. Scott Walkers recall campaign and outside groups. Schimel, a Republican, was asked by two targets of the investigation, R.J. Johnson and Deborah Jordahl, to intervene on their behalf after the state Supreme Court last week rejected special prosecutor Francis Schmitzs request to reconsider its July decision to end the investigation. This has been a long, unfortunate chapter in Wisconsins history, Schimel said in a statement Tuesday. The courts have unequivocally rejected the John Doe investigation, both in the manner in which it was carried out, as well as the legal arguments brought by the prosecutors. The Wisconsin Supreme Court has now ordered that the property seized be returned. For everyone involved, the special prosecutor should end the case, and the property seized from the individuals in this case should be returned immediately. Schmitz said after the ruling he planned to appeal the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, though the four-justice majority nullified his appointment as special prosecutor, casting doubt on his ability to appeal. In a follow-up ruling on Friday, the court gave the five district attorneys originally involved in the case 14 days to intervene. Schimel said in his statement that it is very unlikely the U.S. Supreme Court would take the case, and if it does, it would more than likely uphold the Wisconsin Supreme Courts decision. Schimel also explained that his office was already involved in the case in representing the John Doe judge who quashed subpoenas in the case in January 2014. He did not reference that his predecessor, former Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen, had been asked to lead the investigation, but turned down the request because of a potential conflict of interest. Schmitz declined to comment on Schimels statement. Critics of the Wisconsin Supreme Courts decision, including the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign and the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin, have called for an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. They say the Wisconsin Supreme Court went beyond past federal court decisions in allowing so-called issue advocacy groups to coordinate with campaigns and that the justices who ruled on the case should have recused themselves because the groups under investigation spent millions of dollars to get them elected. On Saturday, March 19, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., the Wisconsin Historical Society will host a Norwegian-American genealogy workshop with Jerry Paulson, Naeseth Chair for Genealogical Research and Publication for the Norwegian American Genealogical Center and Naeseth Library. This workshop is perfect for anyone who has ever wanted to learn how to research their Norwegian heritage, said Lori Bessler, reference librarian at the Wisconsin Historical Society. Attendees will learn how to use the societys nationally recognized collections of published and unpublished materials for researching family histories as well as the newest online products for historical and genealogical research. The workshop will take place at the Memorial Library, Room 126, 728 State St. in Madison. It will provide attendees with an opportunity to focus on their research with other researchers, share ideas and move forward with family history research. The cost to attend the workshop is $30 and lunch will be provided. Space is limited, so people are encouraged to register early. To register and for additional information on other upcoming genealogy workshops, visit wisconsinhistory.org/GenealogyWorkshops. 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Southern NM and the border region The Zika virus has become a major health concern for people around the world. They are worried that it could become a crisis like the Ebola epidemic. The Ebola virus disease killed over 11,000 people during a two-year outbreak that started in West Africa in 2014. Health organizations around the world say the threat from Ebola has ended. In West African nations, people now know how the virus spreads. They know its symptoms and can get help if a relative or friend shows signs of Ebola. Health organizations in West Africa believe they will be able to control and contain any future cases. Critics of the international effort to stop the Ebola outbreak say the World Health Organization (WHO) and other agencies did not react fast enough. That leads people to wonder how WHO and local health organizations will deal with the Zika virus. There is not yet a vaccine for Zika. Mosquitos spread the virus to human beings. So far, Brazil is the country most affected by the virus. Health organizations think Zika might be directly linked to microcephaly, a condition linked to incomplete brain development. There could be 4,000 cases of Zika-related microcephaly in Brazil. Babies with the birth defect have an unusually small head. Children with severe microcephaly often do not live long. There is already one difference between Zika and Ebola. The WHO already declared Zika virus a global health emergency. Governments around the world are taking steps to guard against the disease. In the UniTed States, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) says there are more than 50 cases of the disease nationwide. All are connected to people who recently traveled overseas. President Barack Obama asked Congress to approve $1.8 billion in government spending to fight Zika. The money would go to the CDC and other health organizations in the U.S. Experts say the funding is a good start. But it is only the beginning. Financial resources are important for fighting viruses and diseases. Lawrence Gostin is a law professor at Georgetown University who specializes in public health. He says funding for research and disease containment is important for making sure the world is safe. Next time we might not be so fortunate as to have something we can contain, he said. Tom Frieden is the director of the CDC. He said there still is work to be done in the way the world handles health problems. We need to build the systems around the world to find things when they first emerge, to stop them rapidly, and to prevent them whenever that's possible. One way to be prepared is to enlist drug companies to help in the fight. The Reuters news agency reports that major pharmaceutical companies like Pfizer, Merck and Johnson and Johnson are evaluating their technology and existing vaccines to see if they can help fight Zika. Dr. Julie Gerberding is the president of Merck. She says the big drug companies can develop and manufacture vaccines for a large number of people in a short amount of time. We are necessary, she says. Non-governmental organizations cannot develop vaccines and manufacture them to the kind of scale that we need. Im Dan Friedell. Carol Pearson wrote this story for VOANews.com. Dan Friedell adapted it for Learning English. George Grow was the editor. How do you think the world will handle future health scares? Write to us in the Comments section or on our Facebook page. ________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story outbreak n. a sudden start or increase of disease enlist v. to get the support and help of (someone or something) pharmaceutical adj. of or related to medical treatments or medicines symptom n. a change in the body or mind which indicates that a disease is present epidemic - n. an incident in which a disease spreads very quickly and affects many people global - adj. involving the whole world incomplete - adj. lacking some part; not complete fortunate - adj. lucky People are divided about whether governments should torture people suspected of terrorism. Torture involves severe physical or emotional pain to gain information from someone. The Pew Research Center asked people in 38 nations if they believe torture is justified to gain information from suspected terrorists about future attacks. The average support for torture in the 38 countries was 40 percent. Governments sometimes defend torture as a way of learning about a planned terrorist attack so they can take action to prevent it. But a U.S. Senate Committee report said brutal questioning of suspects does not work. In 2014, the committee said torture was not an effective means of acquiring intelligence or gaining cooperation from terrorist suspects. The most support for torture came from people in Uganda. Seventy eight percent of Ugandans polled by the Pew Research Center said they support torture against suspected terrorists. Other countries with more than 58 percent support for torture were Lebanon, Israel, Kenya, Nigeria and the United States, Pew said. All those nations have experienced terrorist attacks. The lowest percentages of support for torture came from people in Argentina, Ukraine, Venezuela, Chile and Indonesia. Support in those five nations was 22 percent or less. Richard Wike of the Pew Research Center reported recently on the research about support for torture. It was based on interviews that Pew did last year. He said people who believe their own governments should use torture were more likely to support the United States' response to the 2001 terrorist attacks. The deadly attacks on New York City and Washington D.C. led the George W. Bush administration to permit tougher treatment of suspected terrorists. It included keeping suspects awake for long hours, playing loud music and waterboarding. Waterboarding is when water is poured on a cloth covering the face of a captive. It makes people feel they are drowning. Critics called the treatment torture, but the Bush administration denied this. The treatment of terrorism suspects drew criticism. U.S. Senator John McCain, a Republican from Arizona, said torture is not effective and could subject U.S. troops to similar treatment. President Barack Obama, who beat McCain in the 2008 presidential race, issued an order banning torture after his election win. Businessman Donald Trump, a leading Republican presidential candidate, said he supports waterboarding to deal with Islamic State terrorists. We're like living in medieval times. If I have to do it and if it's up to me, I would absolutely bring back waterboarding," Trump told ABC. I'm Christopher Jones-Cruise. Bruce Alpert reported on this story for VOA Learning English. Kathleen Struck was the editor. We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section or share your views on our Facebook Page. ______________________________________________________________ Words in This Story means - n. way or method acquiring - v. to come to have or to get something tougher - adj. stronger drew - v. led to issued - v. to give something in an official way; released medieval adj. of or relating to the Middle Ages -- relating to the period of European history from about A.D. 500 to about 1500 absolutely adv. in a complete way; not limited The South Dakota Senate passed a bill this week that orders people in public schools to use restrooms that align with their gender at birth. Lawmakers in the midwestern American state passed the measure Tuesday. The Senate voted 20-15 to send the bill to Republican Gov. Dennis Daugaard. If he signs the bill, it will become South Dakota state law. Daugaard earlier suggested he would support the measure. Then, last week he said he would need to study it more before making a decision. The bill's supporters say it is meant to protect the privacy of students. Opponents say it discriminates against vulnerable young people. The law orders schools to provide a "reasonable accommodation" for transgender students. This could mean bathrooms that serve one person at a time. Or schools could establish "controlled use" of a bathroom, locker room or shower room normally used by staff. State Senator David Omdahl urged other legislators Tuesday to support the bill. The Republican said it was designed to keep, in his words, "the innocence of our young people." Democratic Party lawmakers as well as some Republican Party members unsuccessfully opposed the measure in the Senate. The American Civil Liberties Union of South Dakota and the Human Rights Campaign have publicly opposed the measure. The groups called on Daugaard to veto the legislation. Chad Griffin is president of the non-profit Human Rights Campaign. He said in a statement Tuesday, "History has never looked kindly upon those who attack the basic civil rights of their fellow Americans, and history will not treat kindly those who support this discriminatory measure." Transgender supporters have criticized Omdahl and other lawmakers comments about transgender people. At a recent event, for example, Omdahl called transgenders twisted. Thomas Lewis is a transgender student in his final year of high school in Sioux Falls, the state's most populous city. He described the passage of the bill as shocking. Lewis said, "At this point, I'm hoping that the governor has a sense of humanity and the common sense not to write this bill into law." Federal officials say barring students from restrooms that correspond to their gender identity violates the federal law known as Title IX. Transgender issues are more public because of celebrities like Caitlyn Jenner. Jenner was Bruce Jenner and identified as a male when he won gold in the Decathalon at the summer Olympics in 1976. But last year, the former athlete came out as a transgender woman with the new name of Caitlyn. Im Caty Weaver. The Associated Press reported on this story. Caty Weaver adapted it for VOA Learning English. Kathleen Struck was the editor. What do you think about the bill? Should the South Dakota governor sign it into law? Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page. __________________________________________________________ Words in This Story restroom n. a room in a public place with a sink and toilet transgender adj. of or relating to people who have a sexual identity that is not clearly male or clearly female vulnerable adj. easily hurt or harmed physically, mentally, or emotionally accommodation n. something done to provide what is needed or wanted for someone or something staff n. a group of people who work for an organization or business twisted adj. strange and unpleasant : not normal Uganda held a national election for president Thursday, and there are accusations of unfair voting practices. Following the election, Kizza Besigye, a prominent candidate for president, was arrested. Besigye and a group of his supporters accused authorities of ballot tampering and changing election results, according to the Ugandan newspaper, the Daily Monitor. He tried to enter a house where he said election results were being changed. Police blocked the candidate from entering the house. VOA confirmed Besigye was released later in the day Thursday and taken to his home. International Business Times reported he was again arrested Friday morning and remains in custody. Besigye has been a candidate for the office of president in the three past elections. He has faced President Yoweri Museveni in past national elections. Museveni has been president of Uganda for 30 years. This election, he faced a challenge from seven opponents. Museveni was accused of election-rigging and intimidating voters in the 2006 and 2011 elections. CNN reported that social media throughout the country was shut down on election day. A government official said social media was not available throughout Uganda for security reasons. News organizations reporting on the election say voter turnout was large. More than 15 million Ugandans were registered to vote. Because of the large turnout, some voters stood in line seven hours to vote. Voting sites ran out of ballots and polling stations opened late due to late deliveries of paper ballots. The problems at the polls and the social media shut down led some voters to question whether the election was being conducted fairly. One voter said: If this is happening in Kampala, so close to the Electoral Commission, what is going on in the villages? Im Jim Dresbach. Jill Craig reported on this story for VOANews.com. Jim Dresbach adapted this story for Learning English. Kathleen Struck was the editor. We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section or visit our Facebook page. ________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story prominent adj. important and well-known tampering v. to change something especially in a way that causes damage or harm rigging v. to control something, such as a game or election, in a dishonest way in order to get a desired result turnout n. the number of people who go to or participate in something An analysis of the latest happenings in the area of Elementary/Secondary education with emphasis on state level policies as they affect teachers and school administrators. Send any comments or suggestions to louisianaeducator@gmail.com By: Michael Deshotels The crash of 2015 wont avert the clash of 2016. It seems Shah Rukh Khan has learnt no lessons from his demoniacal debacle last Christmas when he chose to release Dilwale with Sanjay Leela Bhansalis Bajirao Mastani against all advice, including the Dilwale director Rohit Shettys apparent imploration against the head-on collision. Youd think a wise man and a super entrepreneur like Shah Rukh Khan would have learnt his lesson. No such luck. Despite reports to the contrary SRK will go ahead with another boxoffice clash in 2016. This time he takes on an even more formidable adversary. Meanwhile, Salman Khan's makeover as at wrestler in Sultan already has the Salmaniacs drooling in anticipation. And the date is Eid, which is Salmans slot when the entire Muslim and Hindu population of India heads to the theatres to watch a his film. Into this insulated paradisaical passage that joins Salman to his fans, enters the other Khan superstar with a film that takes him away from his lover-boy image. I wonder what undisclosed reckless impulses has prompted Shah Rukh to take on Salman on the latters home territory! Could it be that stubborn defiant streak that we saw in him when he was told to apologize for his comments on Tolerant/Intolerant India? Shah Rukh never turns back even when the road ahead is strewn with broken glass. Why Eid for Raees? Diwali is when audiences welcome Shah Rukh Khan with open arms and emptied-out pockets. Give them anything for Diwali, and his fans will lap it up. But during Eid they look for Bhai on the silver screen as the moon peeps out of the clouds. Its like offering gujiyas for Eid and saiwaiyyan for Diwali. The palate is incongruous. In the film, Shah Rukh plays Raees Alam, a hooch don in prohibition-ridden Gujarat in the 1980s. From its theme to the choice of leading lady (Pakistans Mahira Khan) everything in Raees spells controversy. It most certainly seems like a battle of unequals. So what makes Shah Rukh Khan so sure he can pull this off? Could King Khan be over-estimating his own power at the box-office and underestimating Salmans hold over the Eid slot? Or is Shah Rukh just cockily confident of his own space in spite of the underperformance of Dilwale last Christmas? The last time and only time that Shah Rukh Khan took on Salman at the box-office was in 2006 when on October 20 Shah Rukhs Don released alongside Salmans Jann-e-Mann. Jaan-e-Mann bombed, and Don was a blockbuster. To this day Salman jokes how he urged his fans to watch his colleagues Don, and they took him too seriously. It would be interesting to see if the two Khan superstars promote one anothers films this Eid. Or would they drop their lately-assumed postures of bonhomie and get cut-throat in their competitiveness? This years Eid looks severely aggressive. May the best Khan win. Mumbai: If you are a Mumbaikar and have a bout of tuberculosis or have suffered an asthma attack, did you ever wonder what might have caused it? It might surprise you but pigeon droppings and feathers could be the reason. To this end, there are some good tidings as the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is planning to sterilise the burgeoning population of pigeons. So after the dogs over a decade ago, it is now the turn of the pigeons to get into the family planning programme. The idea of sterilising pigeons was first mooted by Shiv Sena corporator from Borivali, Abhishek Ghosalkar. He believed that the BMC should control this exploding population of pigeons with the help of Ovistop. According to this method, each pigeon is fed with Ovistop, a product made of corn seeds and covered in Nicarbazin, which acts as a contraceptive for birds. The pill is touted to be highly effective. The BMC health committee has already passed a proposal to this effect and has forwarded it to the Maharashtra health department for approval on Wednesday. But some procedural and political bottlenecks still remain. The decks are yet to be completely cleared as the state is planning to forward it to the Centre for necessary action bringing the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) office into the picture. A senior FDA official said that if the drug has to be imported from abroad, a mandatory clearance from the DCGI is needed. Speaking with Firstpost, Borivali corporator Ghosalkar said, "More than 80 percent of the pigeon population in a Spanish town has come down after a similar sterilisation programme was undertaken." A study has also revealed that out of 10 asthma patients in Mumbai, one contracts it from pigeons. "The percentage of the diseased is higher in children. I am neither anti-animal nor anti-birds. But we have to save our children and the lives of Mumbaikars from the pigeon menace," Ghosalkar said. In a reply given to Ghosalkar over his proposal, the BMC had said that the matter does not come under the jurisdiction of its health department and belongs to the director, Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) of the state government. However, we have asked the FDA about implementing this method of providing food mixed with Ovistop to pigeons in the city," a civic official told Firstpost. The reason the Central health ministry has to be involved because the contraceptive called Ovistop is not locally available and has to be imported from abroad. However, there is a political twist to the story as to why this programme was not taken up before and might not be executed until the civil polls in the country's business capital in 2017 have been completed. The ruling parties Shiv Sena and the BJP may not be in a mood to risk their future as many communities in Mumbai are now used to living with these pigeons. A comparison of these delays with the speed at which pigeons are born, however, is a matter of concern. According to a civic official, one pair of pigeons can produce up to 48 squabs a year. No wonder, Mumbai has seen a tremendous jump in its pigeon population over the years. On paper, there are 50 kabutar khanas in Mumbai. But in reality, there are more than a million places where residents offer corn, pulses and peanuts to pigeons. This can be anywhere whether the terrace of a building or an open space in a market area with people from all walks of life contributing to these mass programmes of feeding pigeons. A study has revealed that a well fed-pigeon on an average dispenses up to 11.5 kg of droppings a year. That's quite a quantity of poop to be taken care of, given the population of pigeons in Mumbai. Best of luck, BMC! By Srinivasa Prasad Even as CPM leaders were busy crusading for the rights of JNU students in Delhi, a bunch of the partys thugs hacked to death an RSS worker at Kannur in Kerala on Monday. That the CPMs fight for civil rights is limited to Left sympathisers and India-baiters is nowhere as clear as it is in the northern Kerala, where the partys workers kill RSS-BJP supporters with amazing regularity. The Sangh Parivar has, of course, never been found wanting in matching brutality with brutality in the region that has come to be known as Keralas killing fields. Kannur residents are bracing themselves for another bout of Sicilian-type vendetta that often sparks a chain of savage killings. The proximity of elections, just three months away, only keeps the nerves on edge. Mondays murder of the 27-year-old PV Sujith was the latest in serial killings that have intermittently rocked Kannur for four decades. On Monday night a gang of assailants, whom the police later arrested and identified as CPM workers, stormed into Sujiths house in Aroli and attacked him with sticks and knives before his old parents and a younger brother. Sujiths crime? He had vigorously campaigned for the BJP in the recent local body elections in Aroli and the party had polled a substantial number of votes. Intolerance for political adversaries has been the motive in all CPMs killings in Kannur which began some 40 years ago when the RSS began to flex its own political muscles there. Article XI, Section (k) of the CPMs constitution asks its members to defend the Party and uphold its cause against the onslaught of the enemies of the Party, the working class and the country. The loyal party cadres find that the easiest way to do it is to bludgeon all such enemies to instant death. The RSS would like us to believe that it was the killing of its mukhyashikshak Vadikkal Ramakrishnan by the communists in 1968 that started it all. The CPM says its rubbish. The party claims that its heroic efforts to protect Muslims in the Hindu-Muslim riots in Thalassery in 1971 had left the RSS in a vengeful mood. Whoever or whatever sparked it, the killings continue unabated. Just as Indiana Jones told Panama Hat in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade that the world was too small for the two of them, the CPM and the RSS seem to tell each other that Kannur is too tiny a place to have both of them. One must annihilate the other. And like cameos in films, members of the Congress and the Muslim League occasionally pop up, beating up a Marxist here or lynching a Marxist there. But its the CPM and the RSS-BJP that are the key players in Keralas blood sport. And by all accounts, the CPM is the current champion. For the CPM, the hammer and sickle are not just part of its election symbol. They are potential tools of murder. Swords, axes, knives come in handy for both sides. Crude bombs, made at homes with the same ease as appams and mutta curry, are a common feature. The CPM has many party villagesa euphemism for KGB-style safe houses where perpetrators of mayhem can hide. Over time, the BJP too followed suit with its own party villages. Outsiders can enter such places only with dire consequences, which may include a one-way ticket to hell. Like the KGB, Keralas CPM has zero tolerance for defectors. In a murder that shook the state in 2012, CPM workers killed TP Chandrasekharan, who had broken away from the party and launched his own outfit, by hacking his face with knives beyond recognition. The killings are always savage. Like Sujith of RSS last week, KV Sudeesh of SFI was hacked to death in 1994 in front of his parents. The SFI says Sudeesh was stabbed 37 times by RSS fascists. In 1999, KT Jayakrishnan of BJP, a schoolteacher, was killed in the classroom with blood spilling on his sixth standard students. The terrified children had to undergo psychiatric treatment. The precise number of political killings in the region is hard to get, though the police claim that the number is no more than 200 in last 40 years. An RTI petition revealed that 56 people had died in political violence during the 10 years between 1997 and 2008. The RSS claims that its the worst victim of communist terrorism. But the swayamsevaks evidently do not subscribe to the philosophy that when one is slapped on one cheek by the enemy one must turn the other cheek too. The CPM claims that more than 300 of its activists have been eliminated by RSS criminals since 1980. The partys website lists many of these martyrs. But this weeks murder of Sujith came at a particularly embarrassing time for the CPMs state and central leaderships. And it was not just because the partys leaders were tirelessly talking about freedom and democracy in the JNU context. Only three days before Sujith was killed, P Jayarajan, the Kannur district secretary of CPM, surrendered to a court to face trial for the September 2014 murder of RSS worker Elanthottathil Manoj. CPM workers threw home-made bombs at the car in which Manoj was travelling and, when the vehicle lost control, stabbed him. Manojs crime was that he had unsuccessfully tried to kill Jayarajan in 1999. The CBI, which was asked to probe the case, said Jayarajan was the kingpin and mastermind behind Manojs murder as well as several other brutal crimes. Jayarajan had earlier been arrested for the murder of Muslim League worker Abdul Shukoor. Earlier this month, the Kerala High Court ordered a CBI inquiry into Shukoors killing after the police said the CPMs intimidatory tactics had prevented them from conducting a proper investigation. After Manojs murder, Jayarajan had said that the Congress and the Sangh Parivar were colluding to implicate CPM in false cases to make his party look like a terrorist outfit. But nobody was convinced. Jayarajans bluff was called by his own son Jain Raj, who boasted on a social media site that the killing was long awaited, which prompted the police to slap a case on the son as well. This was not the first time that CPM boasted of its killings. In 2012, senior CPM leader MM Mani made a chilling confession at a public rally that the party had methodically eliminated its rivals in the Idukki district in 1980s. He was arrested. At the root of this mindless violence has always been the perception of threat from political adversaries. The CPM has always been in a panic over RSS taking away its supporters. This fear only strengthened in the last five years, and thats not surprising. The BJP increased its vote share from 4.75 per cent in the 2006 assembly elections to 6.06 in the 2011 assembly elections, to 10.3 per cent in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections and an all-time high of 13.3 per cent in the 2015 civic elections. Kerala has been calm since Mondays killing. But a peaceful Kerala makes people more tense than a tense Kerala. During tension, one knows whose murder is causing it. During peace, one has no way of knowing who will be next. The governments inept handling of the situation in JNU has given a fillip to secessionists in Kashmir. A lot of Kashmiris, including some in leading positions, have got the impression that substantial support for Kashmirs independence struggle has become apparent across India. They think the upsurge of middle class opposition to the arrest of JNU Students Union President Kanhaiya Kumar actually signifies support for them. They have this impression since the entire imbroglio got going over a function to observe the anniversary of Afzal Gurus hanging on 9 February and several television channels have projected all backers of free speech as supporters of Guru. In actual fact, a very large proportion of those who support the students agitation have focused on the political motivations behind the governments approach to the issue. Its target was the entire 'Left-liberal intellectual class and the ethos of JNU, rather than any actual wrongdoing. It is now obvious to even the most blinkered right-wing nationalists (except perhaps those with an implacable political mission) that Kanhaiya did not raise anti-India slogans. Those who had anything to do with what happened at JNU already knew it from the outset. I was able to establish it through a couple of telephone calls to students the day Kanhaiya was arrested. I was told that his role that day had been to try and make peace between the agitated ABVP group, the crowd of sloganeers, and the security men. The Delhi Police nevertheless arrested him last Friday, and promptly charged him with that most politically loaded crime, sedition. This means one of two things: either they are thoroughly incompetent, and lacked information about what had actually happened at the university (the second is unlikely), or their actions were dictated by political considerations. Perhaps it was a bit of both, but there is little doubt that some strategists in the government seized the opportunity to try and paint the 'Left', and indeed the entire gamut of liberal and intellectual opinion in India, as `anti-national. That muddied the waters. Students across the country, and Indian students studying elsewhere, were flabbergasted. There was an upsurge of public support for the JNU community. Most of that community united to agitate for Kanhaiyas release and against state repression. One student (the daughter of an outstanding army officer) who attended the march in the heart of New Delhi on Thursday told me she had nothing to do with politics and only wanted to study. But now, deeply upset over Kanhaiyas arrest, she wanted to understand political issues. Very little of the pan-India support for JNU endorsed the anti-India slogans raised on 9 February. But apologists of the government and several media channels projected support for JNU as support for Guru. One channel ran two labels on either side of its screen. Clips of all those who spoke for the freedom of expression, the right to dissent, or against police raids on campuses were run under the `pro Afzal label. By and large, this sort of media projection seemed acceptable only to the ruling establishments core nationalist support base except in Kashmir. There, large numbers got the impression that a significant proportion of Indians now support freedom for Kashmir. This is a tragic denouement. The government will have a tough time dealing with the consequences. On Friday, a week after Kanhaiya had been arrested, there were signs that the government had moved to Plan B: Kanhaiya would be released on bail next week if they could arrest Umar Khalid, the leader of the Democratic Students Union, by then. Meanwhile, with hope still alive that a PDP-BJP government might be formed in Jammu and Kashmir in March, it appears that the Kashmiris who actually raised the slogans will still not be touched. I refer to the two specific slogans that were constantly parroted by `nationalists in various stages of televised apoplexy, to target Kanhaiya, JNU, the `Left, liberals and other defenders of free speech as `anti-national. They finally took a break when it was revealed on Thursday that Kanhaiya had been framed with fudged audio on video footage of him. That is when Plan B seems to have come up: Khalid is to be demonised instead of Kanhaiya. That already began the moment it became clear that the 'evidence against Kanhaiya had been doctored. If this is indeed Plan B, its a bad one. It might turn out worse for the sort of future the conservatives backing it want than Plan A has been. It could turn Khalid into a youth icon for another wave of protests. In the bargain, it would bring the radical ideas that Khalid represents into public focus. If this putative Plan B is handled as ham-handedly as has been the targeting of Kanhaiya and JNU, that might even give life to what is so far no more than a hope in Kashmir, that secession has support among many ordinary Indians. Of course, the intelligence to make workable plans is not generally associated with the right wing of the human brain. But the government would be well advised to stop digging itself deeper and deeper into the mess it has made. Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa today announced a slew of concessions, including hike in assistance under Family Welfare Fund, for state government employees amid protests by some sections among them. Other concessions announced included increase in pension for nutritious meal workers, relaxation in norms for promotions and a rise in honorarium for guest lecturers. In a suo motu statement in the Assembly, Ms Jayalalithaa said the assistance under the Family Welfare Fund for the kin of government employees, if they die in harness, would be increased to Rs. three lakh from the present Rs. 1.5 lakh accepting the request of several employees associations. According to the plan, the employees' contribution would be Rs. 60 from the previous Rs. 30, she said. As of now, the government subsidy for the scheme is Rs. 6.18 crore, and the increase in assistance would entail an additional expenditure of Rs. six crore and it will be borne by the state government. Amid stir by sections of government employees pressing for several demands since February 10, she said government employees "are the face, foundation, and backbone of the government" who take government welfare schemes to the people. She said government employees had given several demands and representations over which senior ministers and officials held talks with them. "My government has decided to give them various concessions," she said. On the demand of several government employees unions for scrapping the Contributory Pension Scheme and reverting to the Old Pension Scheme, she said, "the demand should be thoroughly scrutinised. Hence, an expert committee will be set up to go into the demand and make recommendations to government. An appropriate decision will be taken based on the report of the panel." For those who joined government service on or after April 1, 2003, the Contributory Pension Scheme is applicable under which employees and the state both contribute for the Pension Plan. Under Group Insurance Scheme for employees including those in local-bodies, government aided educational institutions, and nutritious meal programme, the sum insured would be increased to Rs. three lakh from the present Rs. 1.50 lakh. It would mean an additional expenditure of Rs. 20 crore for the government over and above the Rs. 22 crore per annum being spent now, she said. Jobs under compassionate grounds would be regularised through a common government order to avoid delay, Ms Jayalalithaa said. Those appointed under compassionate grounds could get employment benefits like increment only after regularisation. For posts that need relaxation in norms, nod of TNPSC would be obtained and government orders would be issued relaxing norms, she said. Till such time TNPSC approval is received, such employees would be treated as temporary government employees and they would be given annual increment. The pension for retired nutritious meal employees would be increased to Rs. 1,500 from the present Rs. 1000 benefiting 86,873 employees and it would cost an additional Rs. 51.13 crore for the government. Similarly, cash benefits would be increased to Rs. 60,000 from the present Rs. 50,000 for nutritious meal workers. Also, cash benefits for chef and cooking assistants would also be increased to Rs. 25,000 from Rs. 20,000, she said. She also announced relaxation in service norms covering eligibility for promotion. In the Rural Development Department, eligibility for supervisors for getting promoted to the post of Junior Engineer would now be reduced to seven years from ten years, she said. A total of 157 associate professors serving in Government Medical College Hospitals would be promoted as professors. Bringing 1,500 nurses under time-scale of pay, promotion for 605 village sanitary nurses, hike of Rs. 5000 in honorarium for guest lecturers --from Rs. 10,000 to Rs. 15,000 per month, setting up an administrative tribunal were among other announcements, she made. On representations related to pay, issues like bringing those under consolidated pay into the time-scale bracket and parity will be examined by the pay commission, she said. "I believe that the new announcements will pave the way for government employees work with a new vigour," she said, Legislators, including CK Thamizharasan (RPI) and Jawahirullah (Manithaneya Makkal Katchi), praised and welcomed the new announcements. PTI By Badri Narayan Ram Prasad Singh, a Jatav youth of Saharanpur and an advocate in the district court, voted for the BJP in the 2014 Parliamentary elections. He was always a BSP supporter but he changed his preference this time because he sincerely believed that under Narendra Modis leadership, the BJP government would work for the growth and development of Uttar Pradesh and the entire nation, and that there would be many job opportunities for youth like him. He is a disappointed man now. He feels the BJP government has failed to fulfill his aspirations. He is determined to cast his vote in favour of the BSP in the coming 2017 UP Assembly elections. His other complaint is that it was due to the BJP and the ABVP politics that an able Dalit scholar, Rohith Vemula, of Hyderabad Central University committed suicide. Rohith, a PhD scholar, was found hanging in a university hostel room. He was among the five research scholars who were suspended by Hyderabad Central University (HCU) in August last year and also one of the accused in the case of assault on a student leader. Ram Prasad Singh feels the BJP is actually an anti-Dalit party. It does not seem to be in favour of Dalits and is not working for their benefit. This is one of the many reasons why he would vote for the BSP. Varanasi is considered to be the capital of eastern Uttar Pradesh and the political turmoil in eastern Uttar Pradesh is very well visible here. OP Bharti, a Dalit assistant professor of BHU, had cast his vote in favour of Narendra Modi in the 2014 Parliamentary elections because he also felt that Modi would work for the uplift of the Dalits. He did not have any faith in the BJP but he had full confidence in Modi. But he too is disheartened by the Vemula incident. He feels now that the BJP can never become a supporter of Dalits. Both these interviews are representative in nature. While doing field work in various parts of Uttar Pradesh, we documented many such interviews and got to experience the increasing aggression of educated rural and urban Dalit youths towards the BJP. This, despite the fact that the BJP has taken many initiatives to associate itself with the Dalits. The BJP and RSS have initiated intensive nationwide programmes and campaign activities such as arranging community meals (Samrasta Bhoj), opening schools in Dalit settlements, and organising sensitisation campaigns for upper castes. The Sangh Parivar has also propagated the concept of Ramrajya in which the upper and lower castes come together in social life as well as in democratic politics. To mobilise each Dalit caste individually, the BJP has also adopted a new strategy of communalisation and saffronisation of public spaces by evoking its unique caste identity. The party is constantly trying to appropriate the BR Ambedkar legacy. The prime minister recently inaugurated a world-class memorial in the Indu Mills Compound in Mumbai and also inaugurated the Ambedkar memorial at the partially restored London house. Prior to the 2014 Lok Sabha elections in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, the BJP president took part in caste rallies and meetings of various Dalit communities. Modi will be making a visit to the Ravidas temple at Sheergoverdhan in Varanasi, the birth place of Saint Ravidas, in the coming days. This temple has been constructed by Dera Saccha Bal Khand Jalandhar of Punjab and a golden dome has been constructed inside the temple. On the occasion of Ravidas Jayanti, which is usually celebrated in February every year, people of the Ravidasia community, particularly from Punjab, arrive in large numbers to pay their homage to saint Ravidas. The people of the Ramdasia Sikh community from Punjab living abroad, who are chamar by caste, also visit the temple on this occasion. The political motive of Modis visit is to associate the Dalits of Punjab with the Dalits of Uttar Pradesh, but the horrific Vemula incident has put a big question mark on all their efforts. Dalits who were gradually inclining towards the BJP have started distancing themselves from the party. The repercussion of this will be felt in the 2017 Assembly elections. As of now, Mayawati is not making much effort to associate the Dalits with her party, but those who had joined hands with the BJP have no alternative but to vote in Mayawatis favour, because they are strongly in need of a leader who can fight for their rights. We recorded the increasing aggression of the Dalits towards the BJP in various regions of Uttar Pradesh. Ramkali, a Dalit woman of a village nearby Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, said the suicide of an educated Dalit student is a matter of immeasurable grief for them. He lost his life just because of the BJPs politics, she said. New Delhi: The national flag should not only fly atop a 207-ft mast on university campuses but also at RSS headquarters in Nagpur, JNU students union said on Friday asserting that their varsity already has a flag-post since decades. The statement from JNU Students Union (JNUSU) comes in wake of a resolution, adopted yesterday at a meeting of the Vice Chancellors with HRD Minister Smriti, saying the tricolour will fly on the campuses of all 46 central varsities prominently and proudly to signify a strong India. No wonder how anti-national JNU is branded as, the flag-post at the administration block has existed here since decades. But this nationalism is not only needed in universities but there is also a need to replace the saffron flag atop RSS headquarters in Nagpur with the national flag, said JNUSU Vice President Shehla Rashid Shora at a press conference here today. RSS has always had a problem with JNU and every now and then this anti-national tag has been hurled at the university ever since the BJP government came to power. But we stand united and the varsity is very much national, she added. The varsity is caught in a row over an event on campus against the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, where anti-national slogans were allegedly released. The JNU students union president Kanhaiya Kumar is in judicial custody in a sedition case over the incident. PTI Editor's note: This article was originally published on 22 February, 2016. It is being republished as RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat defied orders of the Palakkad district administration and hoisted the flag at a government school. The Palakkad district collector had objected to it saying it was inappropriate for a political leader to hoist the National Flag in an aided school and only a teacher or elected representative of the people was allowed to do so. Those who do not want to respect the jhanda should get the danda, warned the twitterati on Thursday after imagining resistance to the BJP government's decision to fly the Tiranga at all central universities. On Arnab Goswami's show, as the nation cheered the HRD ministry's decision taken on Thursday, General GD Bakshi was moved to tears. Moved by the spirit of the occasion, firebrand BJP leader Nupur Sharma immediately tweeted out character certificates, "Veteran (General GD Bakshi) made to cry on TV (Times Now) defending the Tricolour! Horrible scenes! The Cong+Commie+Left opportunists should be ashamed." Here is a true story about the jhanda and the danda. On 26 January, 2001, three activists of an organisation called Rashtrapremi Yuva Dal entered the premises of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) at Nagpur to pay homage to its founder Dr Keshav Hedgewar. After a few minutes, the three activists Baba Mendhe, Ramesh Kalambe and Dilip Chattani--started chanting patriotic slogans and took out the Tiranga. Guess what happened next? First, the in charge of the RSS premises Sunil Kathle tried to prevent the activists from hoisting the national flag. But, when they succeeded in unfurling the Tiranga, the RSS took them to court for it. For 12 long years, the three Rashtrapremis (those who love their country) were tried by a Nagpur court for hoisting the national flag in the Sangh premises under relevant sections of the Bombay Police Act and the IPC. They were set free just in time for Independence day in 2013 by the court of RR Lohia for lack of evidence. In short, the Rashtrapremis got the danda for hoisting the jhanda. RSS and the National Flag The RSS and the Tricolour have had a fascinating history of resistance, rejection and acceptance. It may come as a rude surprise to neo recruits like Sharma that the RSS not the Congis+Commies+Left-- did not hoist the National Flag at its headquarters for 52 years. The National Flag was first hoisted at the Sangh headquarters on August 15, 1947 and then on January 26, 1950. The Tiranga was seen flying next time at the RSS premises in 2002, when it was hoisted at the HQ and Smruti Bhawan, the building that houses the memorials of its founder Hedgewar and Guru Golwalkar. According to The Times of India, Chotu Bhaiyya Dhakras, nagar sangh chalak of Mohite Vibhagh and Shriramji Joshi of Dr Hedgewar Smarak Samiti hoisted the flags respectively at the HQ and Smruti Bhawan, according to RSS office. The National Flag was hoisted on previous occasions on 15 August, 1947 and on 26 January, 1950 and stopped since then, RSS sources said. So, why was the Sangh averse to hoisting the Tiranga at its headquarters and shakhas? In 2002, when the Sangh decided to hoist the National Flag at its headquarters, its national executive member K Suryanarayana Rao told reporters in Bangalore the RSS did not biannually hoist the flag because till a few days ago, there were stringent rules restricting the hoisting of the flag only on government buildings. "Now that the rules have been relaxed, we will also hoist the flag," he said. Rao said the RSS had also been reluctant to hoist the flag at their shakas because the swayamsevaks wanted to participate in the general Republic Day and Independence Day functions with the mainstream. "If we hold the function at the shakas, naturally all of them have to be present there and will miss out the functions at schools and offices,'' he pointed out, according to The Times of India. Sardar Patel, Sangh and Tiranga In 1948, the RSS was banned by the government for its alleged role in the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi. When its leaders approached the then home minister Sardar Patel for revoking the ban, he put forward several conditions. One of them: the RSS accept the Tricolor as the National Flag. His stand is outlined in the Collected Works of Sardar Patel (Volume XIII), edited by PN Chopra and Prabha Chopra. According to this collection, Patel said at a Congress meet on 17 December, 1949, in Jaipur that any organisation seeking to supplant the National Flag by another would be sternly dealt with. "Sardar Patel, who vehemently condemned the activities of the RSS, was loudly cheered at the conclusion of his speech," says a newspaper report of the event, reproduced in this collection. Patel told Congressmen he had made his view very clear to M S Golwalkar, the leader of the banned RSS, when the latter met him, " The National Flag must be universally accepted, and if anyone thought of having an alternative to the National Flag, there must be a fight. But that fight must be open and constitutional." Home Secretary H V R Iyengar had written to Golwalkar in May 1949, stating, "An explicit acceptance of the National Flag (with the Bhagwa Dhwaj as the organisational flag of the Sangh) would be necessary for satisfying the country that there are no reservations in regard to allegiance to the State". The RSS has disputed this. It claims that there was never any conflict between the bhagwa dhwaj, which it considers the organisation's Guru, and the tricolour. On August 22, 2000, when Prakash Ambedkar, grandson of BR Ambedkar, argued in Parliament that the RSS had signed an agreement with the government in 1949 for hoisting the tricolour at its headquarter, its leaders challenged the Parliamentarian to produce the agreement. According to the Organiser (3 September, 2000), MG Vaidya, member of the national executive of the RSS, "marshalled facts to nail the canards being spread to malign the Sangh on the question of the National Flag." Vaidya pointed out that on August 16, 2000, Shri Prakash Ambedkar, MP, while speaking in the Lok Sabha had stated that according to the Home Ministry's resolution dated 26 November, 1949, "There was an agreement between the RSS and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel which clearly states that RSS will hoist the National Flag on 26 January, 1950 at its Nagpur headquarters." Vaidya said: "We will like to ask Shri Ambedkar to produce a copy of that agreement. He should not abuse MP's privileges to malign the RSS." According to historian Ramachandra Guha, during the thirties and forties, few, if any, RSS workers were seen saluting the National Flag. Their allegiances were sectarian rather than national-indeed, they chose to elevate their own bhagwa dhwaj above the tiranga jhanda. Shortly after Mahatma Gandhi's assassination, there were widespread reports of RSS activists trampling upon the tricolour. This greatly upset the Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. In a speech on the 24th of February 1948, Nehru spoke sorrowfully of how 'at some places members of the RSS dishonoured the National Flag. They know well that by disgracing the flag they are proving themselves as traitors'. It is good to know that the BJP wants the tricolor to fly at every central university and the country is celebrating, as it should. Let us hope the Sangh is equally gung-ho about the decision. And the wise men resting in Nagpur's Smruti Bhawan are happy that Smriti Irani has achieved what Patel couldn't. Because, exactly a year ago, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat had this to say about the Tricolour. "BR Ambedkar was also (emphasis added) of the view that bhagwa (the saffron flag of the RSS) should be adopted as the National Flag and Sanskrit should become the national language. Unfortunately, we couldn't propagate his views," the RSS chief said at a meeting in Kanpur. N Chandrababu Naidu must have been bone-weary with the lofty land prices and rapacious urge for rentals by property owners in the capital region of residual Andhra Pradesh. The pleonectic demands of government staff to relocate from Hyderabad and the toil involved in moving the state administration from Hyderabad to Amaravati are haunting the government every minute. Nearly 20,000 employees of different ranks - amounting to one lakh people in all - need to be moved from Hyderabad. Much to their chagrin, relocating to the new capital region - it is not just one city as such, but a conglomerate of a few cities, a few towns and some villages - is inevitable for the staff. The state government has set a 15 June deadline. Accordingly, Chandrababu Naidu laid the foundation for a 'temporary' secretariat complex, which will have a 2,000sq. ft rooftop helipad and a total of six blocks. Four of those blocks will have four lakh square feet of built-up area, while the remaining two will have a total built-up area of one lakh sq. ft. The smaller blocks will have Chief Minister's office in one and the Assembly in the other. While Larsen & Toubro (L&T) has bagged the contract for four blocks, Shapoorji Pallonji secured the contract for the other two. The total estimated cost for the proposed temporary secretariat is pegged at Rs. 201 crore, which would accommodate offices for 6,700 employees. The government has agreed to pay Rs 3,350 per sq ft for the bareshell of the structures, i.e. excluding interiors, HVAC (high-voltage air-conditioning) systems, electrification and fittings in wash area, etc. However, the tales of woe of employees in moving out of Hyderabad are too many. President of Andhra Pradesh (AP) NGO's Association P Ashok Babu told Firstpost that change of place was the one thing nobody would be ready for so easily. But this is inevitable and it has to happen. Though he is cagey about discussing that most of his peers are demurred to relocate, he says: "Most people, except those who are used to travelling jobs, cannot fall asleep very easily, if there is a change of place. So, it is but natural for the employees also to feel the same." Without getting lyrical about the exactitude on the completion of the moving of the administration to Amaravathi, a senior IAS officer has, on the condition of anonymity, said that he has six more years of service before superannuation and he does not foresee himself moving to a full-fledged secretariat when the "dream city of Chandrababu Naidu" takes shape, "if at all." U Murali Krishna, president of AP Secretariat Employees Association, has a different take. Gripped by ennui, most employees are generally reluctant to move their families from Hyderabad. In the first step, he says, a lot of them want transit accommodation, as several issues need to be resolved before the staff move out of Hyderabad lock, stock and barrel. According to him, the Government of India has to act on the recommendation of the Andhra Pradesh government on the local/non-local issue of their wards. The children of employees studying in Hyderabad become local to this region according to Article 371D of the Constitution of India. This needs to be amended to make these students local to Andhra Pradesh when their parents move out of Telangana. Those employees whose wards are about to complete their studies in two to three years cannot afford to move completely. They need to straddle across the two states. Murali Krishna says that such employees are urging for a five-day week facility. However, there is a catch here; if at all the government concedes to this demand that envelopes only the staffers moving out of Hyderabad, those who are already working in the new location will surely feel discriminated against. This infelicitous action may kick up a row among the employees and an ominous possibility of polarisation between employees cannot be ruled out. Though Murali Krishna asserts that it can be limited to a certain period until the new capital is complete in all respects, there are quite a few apprehensions. And, the demand to enhance the House Rent Allowance (HRA) to 30 percent from the current rate of 20 in the new Capital Region akin to Hyderabad, which has an A1 status will be a drain on the cash-strapped State exchequer. Meanwhile, Ashok Babu says that the APNGOs' Association is urging the government to also consider the couples working in Hyderabad, who must be retained in that city until the process of shifting the capital is complete. K S Jawahar Reddy, principal secretary of Panchayat Raj, who is head of a committee that is mandated to oversee the process of moving the employees, revealed to Firstpost that nearly 20,000 employees will have to be moved to Amaravati. The 2,500-odd secretariat employees, over 10,000 heads of departments and senior officers will be going from Hyderabad. Aside from these, Reddy says police personnel some of them are already working in different parts of Andhra Pradesh, though they have their headquarters in Hyderabad will also have to move. And, there are about 100 corporations, created under Schedule 9 of the Constitution of India. Some departments have staff of less than 20, while some have more. Over, 2,000 employees of these corporations may have to move to the new capital. However, these institutions are yet to be divided between Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. Shifting of police personnel is arguably a challenging task, as it is not like transferring other employees. They need to be provided the basic infrastructure like running grounds, play areas, shooting ranges, fitness equipment, etc. Though some battalion headquarters have a few facilities, it involves more toil, compared to the other departments, he observes. However, Ashok Babu is sceptical about the division of the Schedule 9 institutions and feels it takes a very long time, and his facial contortion only indicates that this is something that has a remote possibility in the near future. Some of those institutions have been created under the Companies Act, while some are corporations and the nature of their formation has far-reaching consequences on their division, said Babu. Then comes, the demographics. While there are no proper metrics readily available to group the government staff, who are set to move out of Hyderabad, in terms of their age, at least 60-65 per cent of the staff would be above the age of 50 years, claims Babu. For, there were no recruitments and most of the services were outsourced for several years. But Murali Krishna says there were recruitments in 2013, 2010, 2008 and 2002 and before. Therefore, the data needs to be collated to establish their age. But surely, the employees above the age of 50 are ostensibly loath to the very idea of moving out of Hyderabad for a variety of reasons: growing up children, their education, health condition, and above all a general demurral to move out of their comfort zone. While the government is making arrangements for accommodation to senior officers, the rentals, which cannot be governed by the state beyond a point, are going through the roof. Naidu himself has made an appeal to locals of new capital region to keep the rentals under check and participate in the growth story of the state. But, the stiltedness in the appeal doesn't miss the naked eye of anybody. Can a Chief Minister define what is a "normal rent" that he wants landlords to offer to 15,000-odd government employees? After all, it was Naidu who talked about the prospect of zooming up of land rental values while making alluring offerings to the farmers with a view to entice them to participate in land pooling in the capital region. His volte-face is naturally triggering polemical reaction from the opposition. APCC Chief N Raghuveera Reddy, YSR Congress leader Botcha Satyanarayana and former TDP minister Vadde Sobhanadreeswara Rao share a common thought in pooh-poohing the very idea of a temporary secretariat. Instead, Sobhandreeswara Rao says the Government should make use of the Rs 1,850-crore assistance for the capital given by the Centre to build a permanent secretariat, though NGO leader Babu says the new building may temporarily accommodate the secretariat, which normally is a permanent institution. "After all, a king should rule from his kingdom," he says. BRUSSELS European Union leaders agreed unanimously on a package of measures aimed at keeping Britain in the 28-nation bloc at an extended summit on Friday night, European Council President Donald Tusk said. British Prime Minister David Cameron said he had negotiated a deal to give Britain "special status in the EU" and he would recommend it to his cabinet on Saturday. That will fire the starting gun for a fierce campaign for a referendum on Britain's future membership of the bloc expected to be held on June 23, with the outcome deeply uncertain. Both men made their announcements on Twitter as leaders at a summit dinner reviewed an amended text that resolved outstanding disputes over welfare benefits for migrant workers from other EU countries and safeguards for Britain's financial services sector from euro zone regulation. "Deal. Unanimous support for new settlement for #UKinEU," Tusk's message said. The agreement delivered victory to Cameron on several of the key demands on which he chose to fight for what he called "a new settlement" with Europe. He won a commitment to change the bloc's governing treaties in future to recognise that Britain was not bound to any political union and would have safeguards against financial regulation being imposed on the City of London by the euro zone. Cameron earlier postponed a planned cabinet meeting to stay on in Brussels and work for a deal he can sell to sceptical voters, who are almost evenly split over whether to stay in the EU according to opinion polls. After all-night negotiations followed by a long day of private meetings to try to whittle down remaining differences, Tusk and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker put an amended clean text on the dinner table and the leaders quickly indicated their acceptance. Earlier, a plenary session to review progress was postponed several times - from a late "English breakfast" to an "English lunch" and again till dinner at 8 p.m. (1900 GMT) - and leaders were asked to book hotel rooms for an extra night in Brussels. Facing an uphill political battle at home, Cameron was concerned to show Britons that he had won concessions that he believes can reduce an influx of EU migrant workers and keep Britain out of any future political integration. In hours of wrangling with central and east European countries that provide many of Britain's low-paid immigrant workers, he secured the right to curb in-work benefits for up to four years and scale back child benefit for workers whose children remain abroad. HIGH STAKES European Parliament President Martin Schulz, whose assembly will have to pass legislation to implement concessions to Britain on benefit curbs, criticised some countries for trying to link demands on Europe's refugee crisis to the British deal. He appeared to be referring to Greece, which had said it could block the entire deal unless it got its way on a dispute with Slovenia over border controls to curb the flow of migrants. East European countries sought to restrict Cameron's welfare cuts to new arrivals rather than the more than 1 million European migrant workers already in the UK. In the end, both sides emerged with something to show for their negotiations. A compromise that appeared largely favourable to Britain was found for French concerns about differential treatment for London banks outside the euro zone as well as Belgian grumbles about Britain setting a precedent for states to snub EU integration. The stakes are high for both Britain and the EU, with opinion polls showing voters almost evenly split. The risks of Cameron's strategy were highlighted on Friday when an opinion poll showed the campaign to leave the bloc had a two-percent lead with 36 percent support. The TNS poll showed 34 percent of British voters wanted to stay in the bloc, 7 percent would not vote and 23 percent were undecided. Cameron was keen to show British voters he was fighting hard to secure a deal which he has called "the best of both worlds". SEMI-DETACHED Britain is already the EU's most semi-detached member, having opted out of joining the euro single currency, the Schengen zone of passport-free travel and many areas of police and judicial cooperation. Many leaders said they felt they were at a historic turning point for European integration. No country has ever voted to leave the Union. Britain is the EU's second-largest economy and one of its two permanent members on the UN Security Council. Its exit would end the vision of the EU as the natural home for European democracies and reverse the continent's post-World War Two march toward "ever closer union". Belgium, the most federalist of EU members, was pressing for a clause to ensure the deal with Britain would automatically cease to exist in case of a vote to leave - to make sure there was no possibility of a second renegotiation. The issue has divided Cameron's Conservative Party for decades, crippling his 1990s predecessor John Major and bringing down his hero Margaret Thatcher. Some Conservatives have criticised the reforms he is negotiating in Brussels as trivial, although most senior party figures are likely to join him in campaigning to stay in if he wins the concessions he is seeking. Before even the final deal with Brussels was done, the BBC said his friend and justice minister Michael Gove would declare his intention to campaign to leave the European Union. Britain's largely eurosceptic press depicted Cameron as begging or pleading, the Daily Mail describing him as "rattled". "Shambles as embattled PM's deal is watered down," a front-page headline read over a picture of an anxious-looking Cameron. (Additional reporting by Gabriela Baczynska, Elizabeth Piper, Alissa de Carbonnel, Francesco Guarascio, Paul Carrel, Andreas Rinke, Robert-Jan Bartunek, Philip Blenkinsop, Tom Koerkemeier, Jan Strupczewski, Alastair Macdonald and Robin Emmott in Brussels, Jason Hovet in Prague, Costas Pitas in London and Renee Maltezou in Athens; Editing by Andrew Roche and Alastair Macdonald) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. New York: You dont want to miss this ! Fareed Zakaria, host of CNNs flagship foreign affairs program Fareed Zakaria GPS interviews two Indian icons this Sunday, 21 February Indias richest man and Chairman of Reliance Industries Mukesh Ambani and Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan. 'Fareed Zakaria GPS' airs on CNN at 10 am and 1 pm EST Sunday in the United States and five times globally on CNN International. Zakaria, often described as the most influential foreign policy adviser of his generation and certainly one of a kind from Indian roots, speaks to Ambani on his massive investment in Reliance Jio and the single biggest economic opportunity of the moment. Ambani explains why he is betting big on Jio and why that is crucial for India which is on the threshold of a revolution never seen in a "100 years". Barely a few weeks ago, it was Shah Rukh Khans selfie with Mukesh Ambani during the #CelebratingJio launch in Mumbai which smashed records for retweets on Twitter. As we saw the year 2012-13, India is 150th in the world in mobile broadband penetration as well as quality. And Jio is really conceived to change this position, says Ambani in the exclusive interview that airs worldwide on CNN. Zakaria speaks at length with Mukesh Ambani on global oil prices too. Zakaria travelled from New York to Mumbai to meet Ambani at his residence Antilla, in Indias financial capital. Both these marquee interviews on the GPS show have made it into the must watch buzz across American broadsheets. Los Angeles Times lists the Mukesh Ambani interview in its television highlights for the weekend. The LA Times also speaks of Shah Rukh Khan as perhaps the worlds biggest movie star. Zakaria introduces Shah Rukh Khan to his audience this way: If you dont know him and his work, you should. Shah Rukh Khan, sporting a beard, talks about how Hollywood is competing to make a mark in India while Bollywood movies stand shoulder to shoulder in the global marketplace. If they dont have six songs, theyre not competing with us, Shah Rukh Khan begins before getting serious about strategy and stardom in the movies. It will be quite a while before international cinema becomes real competition, Shah Rukh tells Zakaria. Fiji declared a nationwide curfew on Saturday, as airlines suspended flights and the prime minister warned people to seek refuge from a cyclone that could prove to be the Pacific island nation's most powerful on record. After twice hammering outlying islands in nearby Tonga last week, Cyclone Winston re-intensified and began to track west towards Suva, the capital of Fiji, packing winds of 230 km per hour (143 mph), with gusts of up to 325 kph (202 mph). Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama urged Fijians to prepare themselves for a "terrible event", Australian broadcaster ABC reported. "We cannot afford to be complacent," it quoted the prime minister as saying. "And I am especially concerned that some people in urban areas do not appear to have heeded the warnings about the seriousness of the threat." A nationwide curfew has been imposed, the government said on social media website Facebook. "A total public curfew will take effect across the country today from 6.00 p.m.," it added. It issued a list of 758 evacuation centres across the nation of just under 900,000 people. As Fiji's weather service warned people in the east to "expect very destructive hurricane-force winds," Suva resident Alice Clements said the power had failed just after 5:00 p.m. and she expected water supplies to be hit next. "I have palm trees flying all around me at the moment," Clements, an official with a U.N. agency, told Reuters. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said Winston was following a path that might spare Suva the full force of its winds, rated as category 5, the highest ranking on the hurricane wind scale. "The cyclone has tracked further north than expected over the past 24 hours," the U.N. agency said. Airlines Virgin and Jetstar suspended flights into and out of Fiji's international airport at Nadi, while the national carrier suspended all flights. (Reporting by Peter Gosnell in Sydney; Editing by Matthew Lewis and Clarence Fernandez) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. New Delhi: India on Saturday conveyed to Nepal that success of its new Constitution will depend on resolution of contentious issues through "consensus and dialogue" in a time-bound manner as both sides held extensive talks with focus on repairing ties soured in the wake of a four-month -long agitation by the Indian-origin Madhesi community. India was for peace, stability and overall development of Nepal, Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserted after meeting his Nepalese counterpart K P Sharma Oli, who on his part said the main reason for his visit was to clear "misunderstandings" in ties that persisted in the last few months and that they "no longer exist". - pic.twitter.com/VpFxTYroNN Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) February 20, 2016 Wonderful to have PM Oli and his wife visit India. Am sure this visit will strengthen India-Nepal ties. pic.twitter.com/3M1EciEzEq Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) February 20, 2016 The two sides signed nine agreements including one on utilisation of Indian grant of USD 250 million to Nepal for post-earthquake reconstruction and another on improving of road infrastructure in Nepal's Terai region bordering India. Calling finalisation of Constitution a major achievement for Nepal, Modi expressed the hope that all political parties will come together to successfully resolve "remaining" Constitutional issues satisfactorily, taking in considerations aspirations of all sections of the society. "The drafting and announcement of the new Constitution after decades of struggle in Nepal is a major achievement. I appreciate the contribution of the political leadership and all sections of the society in Nepal in its making. "But its success depends on consensus and dialogue. I am confident on the basis of these principles and through political dialogue and by taking all sections together, you (Oli) will be able to resolve all issues relating to the Constitution satisfactorily and take Nepal forward towards the path of development and stability," Modi said in his media statement, in presence of Oli. In the meeting, Modi stressed that Nepal's stability was linked to India's security. On combating terrorism, he said, "We will not allow terrorists and criminals to use our open border. In this regard the security agencies of the two countries will intensify cooperation." Asked if the Nepalese Prime Minister could address India's concerns, Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar said the "tone and tenor" of the visit was forward-looking, adding assurances given on addressing grievances within Nepal if left unaddressed may "detract" the country from stability. "This was not a recriminatory visit. This was a forward-looking visit. It was a visit in a cooperative sense," he said, replying to a barrage of questions on whether India was satisfied with Nepal's assurance on issues relating to the new Constitution. He said Modi expressed the hope that all the outstanding issues in the Constitution will be resolved in a time-bound manner. On whether India was worried about Nepal getting closer to China, Jaishankar rejected such apprehensions saying the word China did not come up in the talks. In his statement, Oli, who arrived here yesterday on his first foreign visit after becoming Prime Minister in October last year, said he came to clear misunderstandings and "have done so". Ties between the two countries had soured in the wake of agitation by the Madhesi community, which shares close family and cultural ties with Indians, saying it failed to address their concerns over representation and homeland. The agitators had blocked trading points for almost four months crippling supply of petroleum products, medicines and other commodities by India to that country. The blockade was lifted this month. The Madhesi community is opposed to carving of seven provinces under the new Constitution and has been demanding adequate protection of their rights. Three major demands of the Madhesi community include re-demarcation of the boundary, inclusion of proportionate representation and allocation of Parliament seats on the basis of population. Jaishankar said the issues within Nepal have impacted India. He said two issues including the one relating to provincial boundary are being resolved, while hoping that concerns by Madhesi community relating to citizenship will also be addressed. The Foreign Secretary said that Prime Minister Modi appreciated efforts towards consolidation of parliamentary democracy in Nepal, acknowledging two amendments aimed at addressing concerns of agitators as positive steps. "He expressed hope that all political parties will come together in a spirit of consensus and dialogue and successfully resolve remaining constitutional issues in a time-bound manner," he said. The Prime Minister said India always wanted peace, stability and prosperity of Nepal and that it would extend all possible help to ensure its all-round development. He said India's economic progress may become a reason for Nepal's progress and that transport corridors may become "highways" of growth and development. "It is an important moment for Nepal-India ties," Modi said after the talks. The countries decided to open two more transit points which Modi described as a major development. "I appreciate the love and goodwill of people of Nepal towards India. At the same time, I respect aspirations of people of Nepal," he said. Talking about hydropower potential of Nepal, he said the two countries are working on projects to facilitate generation of 7,000 MW of power and that their quick implementation will result in Nepal's speedy development. The two Prime Ministers also dedicated 400 KV Dhalkebar-Muzaffarpur transmission line via "tele-inauguration" from Hyderabad House. India will supply 80 mega watt of power through the line to Nepal now and it will be enhanced to 600 MW in the next two years. In his statement Oli, recalled Modi's visit to Nepal in August 2014 and how people still talk about it. Oli has extended an invitation to Modi to visit the country again. Modi also offered to set up Ayurvedic colleges in Nepal by India while talking about possible areas of cooperation. The Prime Minister also paid glowing tributes to former premier Sushil Koirala, who died earlier this month, for strengthening India-Nepal ties. The agreements signed today will provide for cultural cooperation and facilitate trade between between Nepal and Bagladesh through Kakarbitta-Banglabandh corridor and through of Vishakapatnam port. Under the MoU on strengthening of road infrastructure, a total of 518 kms of roads will be strengthened in Terai region bordering India. As per a pact on transit routes, traffic of goods between Nepal and Bangladesh will be facilitated through the Kakarbhitta (Nepal) and Banglabandha (Bangladesh) corridor. It will also provide for transit facilities for Nepal through the Vishakhapatnam port. A separate pact on rail transport to and from Vishakhapatnam and rail transit facility through Singhabad for Nepal's trade with Bangladesh was inked. In their talks, the two sides also deliberated on promoting sub-regional cooperation in trade, power and some other sectors. The Nepalese Prime Minister mentioned about India's assistance to Nepal after it was struck by a devastating quake. He also appreciated India's announcement of USD 1 billion for reconstruction projects out of which USD 250 million is being released. "The earthquake hit Nepal, but its pain was felt by every Indian. Our USD 1 billion assistance package will take forward our cooperation in this area," Modi said. An MoU on utilization of USD 250 million grant component by India for post-earthquake reconstruction assistance was signed today. "India's assistance has always been constructive. Our actions have been in line with the priorities of people of Nepal," Modi said. It was felt in the meeting that Line of Credit given by India to Nepal should be spent more speedily. On trade, the Nepalese side underlined the need for addressing the trade imbalance which is in India's favour. 46 percent of foreign investment in Nepal is from India. The Nepalese Prime Minister also requested Modi to encourage Indian business groups to invest in Nepal and assured full protection to them. In the evening, Oli, who is staying at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, called on President Pranab Mukherjee. Earlier, Oli was accorded a ceremonial welcome at Rashtrapati Bhavan where Modi was also present. Before the talks between the Prime Ministers, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj called on Oli. During the meeting, he conveyed to her that Nepal is and will remain a "reliable" friend of India. Official sources said Oli told Swaraj that he wants to "move forward in the relationship which is not man-made but entirely natural and civilizational". PTI International support for Kanhaiya Kumar and his fellow Jawaharlal Nehru University students shows no sign of abating, with students from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada now throwing their hats into the ring. A solidarity statement from the Institute for Gender, Race, Sexuality and Social Justice at UBC stated that they were "in absolute and resounding support of the students, faculty, staff and allies at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU)". The statement goes on to say, "We condemn the political and legal clout being exercised by the Indian government in Kanhaiya Kumars arrest and subsequent reaction to protests" Read the full solidarity statement below: The solidarity statement from grsj institute in the university of british Columbia, Vancouver, Canada ISTANBUL Turkey's presidency said U.S. President Barack Obama had shared his concerns over the Syrian conflict and promised his support on Friday, hours after a tense exchange between the two NATO allies over the role of Kurdish militants. In a phone conversation that lasted one hour and twenty minutes, Ankara said Obama had told his counterpart President Tayyip Erdogan that Turkey had a right to self defence, and expressed worries over advances by Syrian Kurdish militias near Turkey's border. Washington did not immediately comment on the call, beyond saying Obama has given his condolences over Wednesday's bombing in the Turkish capital.. Earlier on Friday, Erdogan had said U.S.-supplied weapons had been used against civilians by a Syrian Kurdish militia group that Ankara blames for the deadly suicide bombing this week. The State Department, which sees the Syrian Kurdish YPG fighters as useful allies against Islamic State, said the United States had "not provided any weapons of any kind" to the group. The issue risks driving a wedge between the NATO allies at a critical point in Syria's civil war, as the United States pursues intensive talks with Syria's ally Russia to bring about a 'cessation of hostilities'. Turkey has blamed the YPG for the suicide car bomb attack two days ago that killed 28 people, most of them soldiers. But a Turkey-based Kurdish splinter group has claimed responsibility for the bombing and threatened more attacks. Before the call with Obama, Erdogan said he was saddened by the West's refusal to call the Syrian Kurdish militia terrorists, and would explain to the U.S. president how weapons provided by the United States had aided them. "I will tell him, 'Look at how and where those weapons you provided were fired'," Erdogan told reporters in Istanbul. "Months ago in my meeting with him I told him the U.S. was supplying weapons. Three plane loads arrived, half of them ended up in the hands of Daesh (Islamic State), and half of them in the hands of the PYD," he said. "Against whom were these weapons used? They were used against civilians there and caused their deaths." He appeared to be referring to a U.S. air drop of 28 bundles of military supplies in late 2014 meant for Iraqi Kurdish fighters near the Syrian city of Kobani. Pentagon officials said at the time one had fallen into the hands of Islamic State. The Pentagon later said it had targeted the missing bundle in an air strike and destroyed it. The United States has said it does not consider the YPG a terrorist group. A spokesman for the State Department said on Thursday that Washington was not in a position to confirm or deny Turkey's charge that the YPG was behind the Ankara bombing. The spokesman also called on Turkey to stop its recent shelling of the YPG. The YPG's political arm has denied the group was behind the Ankara attack and said Turkey was using it to justify an escalation in fighting in northern Syria. "CONFLICTING AND CONFUSED" The Turkish government has said the Ankara attack, in which a car laden with explosives was detonated next to military buses as they waited at traffic lights, was carried out by a YPG member from northern Syria working with Kurdish militants inside Turkey. But the Kurdistan Freedom Hawks (TAK), a group that once had links to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), claimed responsibility for the bombing in a statement on its website. It said the bomber was a 26-year old Turkish national. The claim of responsibility by TAK is unlikely to make a difference to Turkey's demand that Washington stop its support of the Syrian Kurdish fighters. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu earlier accused the United States of making conflicting statements about the Syrian Kurdish militia. He said U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry had told him the Kurdish insurgents could not be trusted, in what Cavusoglu said was a departure from Washington's official position. "My friend Kerry said the YPG cannot be trusted," Cavusoglu said at a news conference during a visit to Tbilisi. "When you look at some statements coming from America, conflicting and confused statements are still coming.... We were glad to hear from John Kerry yesterday that his views on the YPG have partly changed." Within hours of the Ankara attack, Turkish warplanes bombed bases in northern Iraq of the PKK, which has waged a three-decade insurgency against Turkey and which Davutoglu accused of collaborating in the car bombing. Violence between Turkish security forces and the PKK has been at its worst since the 1990s after a 2-1/2-year ceasefire collapsed last July. Two soldiers and a police officer were killed on Friday in a PKK attack in the Sur district of the southeastern city of Diyarbakir, parts of which have been under round-the-clock curfew since December, the armed forces said. Three other soldiers were killed as a building collapsed in the same district. (Additional reporting by Daren Butler, Asli Kandemir, Lesley Wroughton, Roberta Rampton and Doina Chiacu in Washington; Writing by Nick Tattersall, David Dolan and Dasha Afanasieva; Editing by Mark Trevelyan and Andrew Heavens) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. The clothes were shipped to retail outlets and sold with a "made in China" logo on them in a practice unions and non-governmental organisations say is likely to involve other large Australian clothing brands. In a major embarrassment that raises serious questions about Rip Curl's garment sourcing practices, a Fairfax Media investigation can reveal that workers at a the Taedonggang Clothing Factory near the North Korean capital Pyongyang were contracted to make some of Rip Curl's 2015 winter range of clothing. Iconic Australian surfwear giant Rip Curl has sold millions of dollars worth of clothes made in North Korea, where factory workers endure slave-like conditions. Rip Curl has blamed one of its subcontractors for the practice. Businessman Nik Halik took photos of the conditions in the North Korean factory while on a tour in July 2015. Credit:Helen Nezdropa HMN Workers in North Korea are routinely exploited. North Korean defectors have told investigators from NGOs, including Human Rights Watch, that employees are forced to work long hours with minimal or sometimes no pay. Workers who do not obey orders are imprisoned in work camps. After Fairfax Media sent Rip Curl photos of its garments being made in North Korea, the company's chief financial officer Tony Roberts released a statement that said the firm "takes its social compliance obligations seriously". "We were aware of this issue, which related to our Winter 2015 Mountain-wear range, but only became aware of it after the production was complete and had been shipped to our retail customers. They are the lobby group that once said being gay was more hazardous than smoking. That warns same-sex couples having children will lead to another stolen generation. And that this week called for anti-discrimination laws to be "set-aside" during a plebiscite campaign so opponents of same-sex marriage could argue their case. This won't be the last you hear from the Australian Christian Lobby as the election year wears on. Not only is the ACL the most visible proponent of the "no" camp on same-sex marriage, they have a track record of attracting the biggest of political wigs - from John Howard to Bill Shorten - to speak at their events. The man told Fairfax Media he was stopped when leaving for a holiday in Turkey and Cyprus to visit his parents. He was taken to a room where Customs and AFP officers were present. They took his phone and computer and demanded the access codes and then took his phone into another room where he could not see what was happening. During the time he was detained and searched, the man said he was asked questions about his religion, his family members, his young sister, his girlfriend, his employment and his travelling companions. He was strip-searched against his will and by the time he was released he had missed his flight. After organising another flight for the following day, he was again stopped by Customs and called his solicitor. The man's claim said he suffered great pain of body and mind and was deprived of his liberty, suffered psychological injury including nerves, worry, fear, depression and upset, was humiliated and embarrassed, suffered nervous and mental shock and anguish and was otherwise greatly damnified. He is also claiming the extra expenses he had to pay to get another flight. Separate documents obtained by Fairfax Media under Freedom of Information laws have revealed that it was a "counter-terrorism unit" officer that started reading the text messages on the passenger's phone and then responded to two SMS messages without the knowledge or permission of the passenger. "The CTU officer then deleted those messages before the mobile telephone was returned to the passenger," the documents said. In briefing notes prepared for the Minister of Immigration and Border Protection for question time last year, Border Force officials said officers had powers to examine certain goods carried by travellers and make copies but "it does not include using the device or making any amendments to or deletions of data". The documents also revealed that the actions of the officer were reported to the Privacy Commissioner. However, a spokesperson for Privacy Commissioner said "privacy complaints are treated confidentially. The OAIC generally does not disclose if a complaint has been received from an individual." The incident was referred by Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young to the Australian Federal Police for an investigation into the actions of the customs officer. "How can the Australian public have faith in the Department if its officers are behaving like this," Senator Hanson-Young said. "Spending millions of dollars on new uniforms and guns for these ABF officers has clearly influenced the culture of the department. "The same people who oversaw the disastrous Operation Fortitude in Melbourne have been handling the response to this case and, for many people, that will raise questions about the process. "The Department needs to explain exactly how it dealt with this incident and what happened to the offending officer, so that the Australian public can travel without fearing that their private conversations will be interfered with." The passenger only discovered what had happened when he received a letter from the Integrity and Professional Standards branch of the department, saying it was investigating the "inappropriate use" of his phone by the customs officer. The letter, dated nearly six months later, said: "This behaviour does not uphold the standards expected of our officers at the border and on behalf of the department and the ACBPS [Australian Customs and Border Protection Service] I apologise that it occurred." The letter said the "appropriate steps" were being taken in relation to the incident. The Border Force had previously refused to release details of the investigation to Fairfax Media, arguing that it could harm the effectiveness of the management of complaints; that officers would have significant reservations about raising issues and providing information to the Integrity and Professional Standards unit if there was a precedent of public disclosure; and that a reluctance on the part of personnel to report suspicions to report improper conduct would have a substantial adverse effect on the department to manage its personnel. A spokeswoman for the Department of Immigration and Border Protection said the incident of inappropriate behaviour was selfreported to the Integrity and Professional Standards branch. "The officer was subject to a formal investigation and was found to have breached the APS Code of Conduct. The officer was disciplined in accordance with the Public Service Act 1999. Asylum seeker baby Asha will stay at Brisbane's Lady Cilento Children's Hospital for at least another night, Queensland Health has confirmed. The department made the statement via Twitter just after 6.30pm as hundreds of supporters remained outside the hospital. The crowd had gathered after fears rose that baby Asha would be taken from the hospital in preparation for being sent to immigration detention on Nauru. In Sydney today protesters interrupted a speech by federal Labor leader Bill Shorten, calling for baby Asha and other asylum seekers to be allowed to stay in Australia. Voters in two diverse U.S. states are expected to further clarify the races in the Democratic and Republican fields Saturday as the quest for the White House intensifies. South Carolina is having a Republican primary while Nevada holds a Democratic caucus. Ahead of the South Carolina primary, comments by Republican Party front-runner Donald Trump and Pope Francis about building a border wall between Mexico and the United States have ignited controversy. On a flight to Rome following a trip this week to Mexico, the pope, responding to a reporter's question, said a person who thinks about building walls and not building bridges, is not a Christian. Trump has called for a border wall to be built between the two countries. In response to the pope's remarks, Trump initially called them "disgraceful," but said later during a nationally televised town hall Thursday that he has a lot of respect for Francis, and that the pope may have been given the "wrong information" about the border plan. Republican presidential candidates joining Trump for the town hall downplayed the controversy. Ohio Governor John Kasich declined to criticize the pope for his comments, while former Florida Governor Jeb Bush said he did not think it was appropriate to question Trumps faith. He knows what his faith is, Bush said. Trump leads among Republicans Trump was also challenged by town hall moderators for his 2002 comments that appeared to support the U.S. invasion of Iraq. He noted that by the time hostilities started in 2003, I was against the war. Trump continues to hold a commanding lead among Republican voters nationwide. A Quinnipiac University poll found this week that Trump leads his nearest competitor, Florida Senator Marco Rubio, 39 percent to 19 percent, closely followed by Texas Senator Ted Cruz with 18 percent. Senators Cruz and Rubio did not appear on the town hall but battled with each other Thursday over allegations the Cruz campaign doctored a photograph to make it appear as if Rubio and President Barack Obama were shaking hands. Rubio told reporters at a campaign stop in Anderson, South Carolina, that the picture was a fake and represented a disturbing pattern from the Cruz campaign. The Cruz campaign did not dispute the allegations but did post another photograph of Rubio and Obama on social media. South Carolina's popular governor, Nikki Haley, who officially endorsed Rubio on Wednesday, introduced him at a rally Friday in North Charleston by pointedly saying she'd sought a candidate with passion, principles and humility. She also said she wanted to back someone who would make her India-born "parents look back and say, 'Yes, moving to America was the best thing we could have done for our children.'" Rubio told hundreds of enthusiasts, including those holding babies and young children, this could be the first generation of Americans "to leave our children worse off" than before. The key is to dislodge Democratic control of the White House, he said. "If we lose, all the damage Barack Obama has done to America becomes permanent," Rubio said, accusing the administration of neglecting military veterans, among other things. South Carolina is home to eight military bases. Rubio promised that, as president, he would improve health care access for veterans. He also said he'd improve economic opportunities for families a point that resonated at least somewhat with Mark Jones of nearby Summerville. An employee of defense contractor Boeing, he was at the rally with his wife and six children. Though one of them held a Rubio sign, Jones said he still was undecided. "I'm 90 percent for Rubio but possibly Cruz," he said. Democratic endorsements On the Democratic side, former secretary of state Hillary Clinton and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders are locked in a battle for endorsements heading into Saturdays Nevada Democratic caucus. Both campaigns see multiethnic Nevada as a key test for electoral viability nationwide; with the Clinton campaign seeking the support of minority voters as a way of gaining ground on Sanders after his success in the low-minority states of Iowa and New Hampshire. Clinton picked up a key endorsement from influential African-American South Carolina Congressman James Clyburn Friday. Clyburn said the future of the Democratic Party would be best served by Clinton's "experience and know-how." On Thursday, Sanders received the endorsement of the Clark County Black Caucus, an African-American group in the states most populated jurisdiction. Union endorsements are also a crucial test for support in Nevada, which has the 11th-highest union membership in the country. In a sign that Sanders may be gaining ground on Clinton, the Nevada AFL-CIO and the influential Culinary Workers Union announced they would not endorse a candidate ahead of the caucus. Super delegate count Clinton holds a significant lead over Sanders in the number of super delegates to the Democratic National Convention, picking up 87 endorsements since the New Hampshire primary, compared to Sanders 11 additions. Delegates are allowed to change their minds but Clintons larger numbers mean that Sanders will have to pick up even more delegates in primary voting. A Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday found Clinton and Sanders are still running neck and neck in the race nationwide, with Clinton ahead by a margin of 44 percent to 42 percent. The Nevada Democratic caucus is followed one week later by the Democratic primary in South Carolina. Ugandas main opposition party, the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC), has rejected the outcome of the country's presidential election, saying it was neither free nor fair. The chairman of the electoral commission, Badru Kiggundu, had declared incumbent President Yoweri Museveni winner of the presidential vote with 60.07 percent of the total votes cast while main challenger Kizza Besigye came in second with 35.37 percent. But the chairman of the FDC, Mugisha Muntu, says the election was fraught with vote tampering and other voter irregularities aimed at ensuring Musevenis re-election. The victory enables Museveni to extend his 30-year rule in the East African country. Election results Muntu says the presidential election results released by the electoral commission show the figures have been tampered with. But supporters of the governing party reject the accusations. They insist Museveni won a competitive election and that the accusations are marks of sore losers. I believe the chairperson of the commission should really know that the results he announced at the tally center at the national level are inconsistent with the results that were even declared by their own officials at the lower levels like at the polling stations. Because from the declaration forms that we have got from a number of areas, you see clear inconsistencies between the two, said Muntu. We are trying to have a meeting still and determine the way forward and we will be communicating with our party supporters. One thing we can say for sure, which nothing is new to our party supporters, is that the elections have been fraudulent. Because we have been getting calls from people who were at the polling stations where results would be announced and at then hear at the national level different results being announced. Muntu says state security operatives made it difficult for the FDC to meet with presidential candidate Besigye to strategize on the partys the next line of action. This after the party accused the police of placing Besigye under house arrest and preventing senior officials of the party to reach him. Muntu said the security operatives used intimidation and harassment to suppress opposition votes as well as thwart efforts of the party to point out clear violations of the electoral process. Compiling evidence He says the opposition party is compiling evidence to show Ugandans as well as the poll observers that the elections were rigged in favor of Museveni. This morning we were in a meeting and we were arrested and we were released very late last night and this morning we attempted to have another meeting, but again we were not able to access the candidate today. However at the technical level, our tallying is still going on and we will surely come out with the results and the truth of the declaration forms that we would be able to offer as evidence, said Muntu. He says concerns raised by both local and international poll observer groups demonstrate that the elections were not transparent and credible. Muntu says the FDC leadership has been prevented by security operatives from visiting presidential candidate Kizza Besigye. In a released statement, the European Union Poll monitoring groups said the elections were held in intimidating circumstances. Police had used tear gas and the opposition leader had been arrested. Yesterday, while the National Tally Center was announcing the preliminary results of the presidential polls and the political parties were still following tallying and collecting data from their agents in the field, the police stormed FDCs party headquarters using tear gas and arrested the flag bearer, Kizza Besigye, and the partys leadership, read the EU statement. The U.S. and Russia have launched talks on brokering a cease-fire in Syria after failing to make Friday's scheduled deadline for a pause in fighting. Officials from the two countries sat down for talks in Geneva late Friday to try to find a way for a long-term cessation of hostilities that would help efforts to deliver humanitarian aid to besieged areas. The 17-nation International Syria Support Group agreed to form a Syria cease-fire task force, under the auspices of the U.N., during a meeting last Friday in Munich. The group agreed that Russia and the U.S. would co-chair the task force. Under the group's plan, an initial cessation of hostilities would begin in one week, while the task force worked out the mechanics of a broader cease-fire plan. Complex endeavor Secretary of State John Kerry acknowledged the challenges for reaching a deal. "Everyone recognizes the complexity of this endeavor, and there is certainly a lot more work to do," he said during a stop in London en route to Amman, where he planned to discuss Syria's crisis with Jordanian officials. The Syrian opposition has said it wants a cease-fire and an expansion of humanitarian aid to besieged areas before it resumes U.N.-facilitated talks with the Syrian government. Those proximity talks, which were due to resume February 25, have now been delayed. State Department spokesman Mark Toner said the U.S. agrees with the Syrian opposition that a cessation of hostilities and delivery of humanitarian assistance would be "helpful," but believes the talks should resume with no preconditions. Russian rejection Meanwhile, a Russian effort to muster U.N. Security Council condemnation of Turkey's actions on the Syrian-Turkish border appeared to fail Friday. Russia called for an urgent meeting of the council to discuss its concerns that Turkey may be planning to send ground troops into Syria. The Russian delegation presented a one-page draft resolution that would condemn such a move. It also "strongly" condemned cross-border shelling, the flow of terrorist fighters and the illegal movement of weapons from Syria's "neighbors." "The main elements of this Russian draft resolution are to demand all parties all parties refrain from interfering in internal affairs of Syria, to fully respect sovereignty and independence, stop incursions, and abandon plans of ground operations," Russia's deputy U.N. envoy, Vladimir Safronkov, told reporters after the closed-door meeting. But diplomats said at least six of the 15 council members rejected the resolution outright when it was presented and only one member Venezuela expressed support. One diplomat said that even China which normally allies its position with Russia on many council issues expressed reluctance, saying it would have to wait for instructions from Beijing before expressing an opinion. Current resolution "What's really important is that, rather than trying to distract the world with the resolution they just laid down, it would be really great if Russia would implement the resolution it's already agreed to," U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power said in a reference to Resolution 2254, which the council adopted in December. That resolution lays out a framework for starting political talks and, in parallel, establishing a nationwide cease-fire in Syria. So far, attempts to implement the resolution have failed. "We have a resolution on the books. It's the right resolution. We've committed ourselves to it, and we need Russia to do the same," Power added. Turkey's U.N. envoy, Yasar Halit Cevik, dismissed Russian allegations that Ankara is planning on launching a ground operation in Syria. "Our political leaders are quite open in saying that Turkey will not be going into Syria with boots on the ground if it is not a collective action," he told reporters. He said Turkey would consider military intervention only if the Security Council or the international coalition called for it. Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. (1 John 4:1 KJV) "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." (John 8:32 KJV) "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." (Ephesians 6:12 KJV) Fair Use Notice This site contains copyrighted material, the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a fair use of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more detailed information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. FEBRUARY 24 WEDNESDAY Make-it class/Burley A Make-It class for ages 10-18 will be 4-4:30 p.m. at the Burley Public Library, 1300 Miller Ave. The program helps children deepen their understanding through exploration. 25 THURSDAY Story time/Burley Story time for children up to age 4 will be at 10:30 a.m. at the Burley Public Library, 1300 Miller Ave. The theme is turtles, the color is green and the letter is Y. 26 FRIDAY Teen 3D printer class/Burley A free teen 3D printer class will be 4-5 p.m. for ages 13-18 at the Burley Public Library, 1300 Miller Ave. This class is for beginners. Students will meet the printer, get started with basic software and build a basic project. Story time/Burley Story time for children up to age 4 will be at 10:30 a.m. and 6 p.m. at the Burley Public Library, 1300 Miller Ave. The theme is turtles, the color is green and the letter is Y. 27 SATURDAY Oral history workshop/Burley An oral history workshop will be 10 a.m.-noon for ages 14 and older at the Burley Public Library, 1300 Miller Ave. The workshop is presented by the Idaho Humanities Councils Troy Reeves, the former Idaho oral history director. MARCH 5 SATURDAY Dr. Seuss birthday party/Burley A Dr. Seuss birthday party will be held for children up to age 4 at 10:30 a.m. at the Burley Public Library, 1300 Miller Ave. There will be games, crafts, book giveaways and a Cat in the Hat visit. 11 FRIDAY Noodle dinner/Paul The Paul United Methodist Church will serve a homemade chicken noodle dinner (takeouts welcome) for a freewill offering at the church, 127 W. Clark St. Noodles will also be for sale. Information: 208-438-5530. 12 SATURDAY Zarogoza benefit/Burley A benefit for Brandy Zarogoza, who has been fighting AML leukemia for three years, will be 7 p.m. at Duck Ugly's, 163 W. US. 30. There will be an auction with all proceeds going to Brandy. To donate or make reservations, call Lela at 208-312-7878. APRIL 9 SATURDAY Cold water training/Burley Cold water immersion training for anyone interested, including EMS, police, fire, search and rescue, first responders, medical providers and community members, at 10 a.m. at the Cassia County Sheriffs boat house near the Burley Heyburn Bridge. There is no cost. Register with the Cassia County Sheriffs Office: 208-878-9313. JEROME The mangled car at the bottom of the Snake River Canyon Thursday was the result of a suicide attempt, police said Friday. The Jerome County Sheriffs Office used a boat to access the car and identified the owner and insurance company Friday morning. The owner, a Twin Falls woman in her 20s, drove off in an attempted suicide but jumped out before the car plummeted into the canyon, officials said. An empty childs car seat rested 15 feet from the car but police confirmed the drivers child was safe and wasnt in the car when it drove off the canyon. Theres nobody else around (the car), Capt. Jack Johnson said. Were pretty tickled about that. Police say the driver went to St. Lukes Magic Valley Medical Center around 10 a.m. Thursday and told staff her car was in the canyon. The car landed on state land between Pillar Falls and Shoshone Falls. On Friday, county Search and Rescue and deputies took Idaho Power boats from Shoshone Falls to where the car was. Johnson, Sheriff Doug McFall and others hiked up to the car to check for anyone who may be inside and to check into owner and insurance information. The drivers insurance company is working with a company to pull the car out of the canyon. McFall said the investigation has concluded and that there arent any criminal charges. Hes just happy the woman is OK and seeking help. At least shes admitted to needing help and shes on her way to getting psychiatric help, McFall said. I started writing when I was 8. My mom got me a journal where I could rant (prob so I won't be an annoying brat). I stopped writing for 8 years until the pen and then later on the keyboard called on me again. I blog because I like writing and that's just about it. Hope you get inspired though... Bite the apple! About Me Mohd. Kamal bin Abdullah I am Mohd. Kamal bin Abdullah, who resides in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. I hold a post-graduate law degree from the United Kingdom. I blog to tell MALAYSIANS THE TRUTH. View my complete profile Blog Archive February 20, 2011. Exactly five years ago. That's when I wrote about Hillary Clinton's democratic credentials. Today, Hillary is once again trying to get the Democratic Party's nomination for the US Presidential Election. Once again, she is 'front-runner'. Once again she's tripping. Why this happens to her can perhaps be found in the incurable deceit that plagues her. This article refers to some of the issues. Read on. A few weeks ago an organization with a dubious track record, especially with respect to Sri Lanka, Reporters Sans Frontiers (RSF) along with an equally shady outfit called Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka (JDF, made up of LTTE-backers, money-launderers and petty thieves) called for a boycott of the Galle Literary Festival, citing issues pertaining to freedom of expression. Well known personalities like Noam Chomsky and Arundathi Roy signed the relevant petition. Of all the authors appealed to, just one heeded the call, discovered something called a conscience while partying in Sri Lanka, and left. We are yet to hear if this man has reimbursed costs incurred by the organizers. That little nothing was duly overshadowed by events in Tunisia and Egypt. When Egyptians took to the streets and the end of 30 years of tyrannical rule by Hosni Bubarak seemed imminent, the United States of America, realizing that their darling dictators use-by date was approaching expiry, adopted the language of democracy, transition, freedoms etc. Washington called for similar demonstrations in other Middle Eastern countries, being careful to exclude tyrannies friendly to US interests in the region. Just as things being settling down in Egypt with no outward sign of US interests suffering any damage, protests erupted in Libya and Bahrain. We are yet to hear wild applause from Washington regarding Bahrain; the tone is still cautionary. The Washington-friendly media is however all over Muammar al-Gaddafi. Mark LeVine in a piece titled Here we go again: from Egypt to Bahrain, points out that if the US is Egypt's primary patron, in Bahrain it is among the ruling family's biggest tenants, as the country is home to the Fifth Fleet, one of the US military's most important naval armadas, crucial to protecting Persian Gulf shipping and projecting US power against Iran. Bahrain is considered, LeVine argues, relatively moderate compared with Saudi Arabia, the ouster of whose ruler by a popular uprising Washington will not hear of. To put things in context, Bahrain is repressive and far from free and even the State Department acknowledges that civil liberties, press freedom, speech, assembly, association and some religious practices are restricted. What Washingtons Plan B for Bahrain is we do not know yet; these are after all and it is left to be seen whether things will be played according to the Washington Script for the Region. What is pertinent, however, is the consistency shown by Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, with respect to democracy-speak. Freedoms are spoken of. The sanctity of life is stressed. The right to protest is championed. When things seem slanted towards script-flip, there is appeal for calm, reason and better judgment. The importance of freedom of expression is mentioned. And theres the quiet, behind-the-scenes grooming of successor or blueprinting of succession-roadmap. The sanctimony of it all is galling and this is not on account of the Wikileaks regurgitation of what most people who peruse media sources different from the Washington-guided already knew. If anyone has any doubts about how two-tongued the United States is about democracy, justice, freedom, humanitarian concern and so on, the US vetoing a UN resolution on February 18, 2011 that would have condemned Israeli settlements in the West Bank as illegal and called for an immediate halt to all settlement building, these can low be laid to rest. All 14 other Security Council members voted in favour of the resolution. The US position was that while opposing settlement in principle, the Security Council was not the appropriate venue to resolve the Israel-Palestinian Conflict (they dont call it the occupation of Palestine). So its yes-on-principle but no-in-practice. Susan Rice, busybody personified, says the Council should not attempt to resolve the core issues. It was not about resolving core-issues Susan knows very well; it was statement of position, nothing more and nothing less. Then again, thats typical Washington language-skill or lack thereof! So expect in the coming weeks and months a lot more of more of the same. In other words, hypocrisy, feigned language-ignorance, selective umbrage at tyranny, clearing dictator shelves and replacing expired items with fresh ones, the celebration of some protests and cautioning of others, the switch from Plan A to Plan B or Plan C or D if necessary and so on. The world will hear countless lectures on freedom and democracy, decency and justice, civilization and humanity. Some will listen, some will not. Some may applaud and others will smirk. Theyll all be lectured to, nevertheless. But there is one person that Hillary Clinton will not dare to lecture to. His name is Ray McGovern. On February 15, 2011, even as this lady was acting as though she was some Special Rapporteur on Goodness, she saw an infringement of all things she claims to hold sacred. Right before her eyes. She was speaking at George Washington University condemning governments that arrest protestors and do not allow free expression. A 71-year-old man, Ray McGovern was grabbed from the audience in plain view of her by police and an unidentified official in plain clothes, brutalized and left bleeding in jail. She never paused speaking. When Clinton began her speech, McGovern remained standing silently in the audience and turned his back. Mr. McGovern, a veteran Army officer who also worked as a C.I.A. analyst for 27 years, was wearing a Veterans for Peace t-shirt. Blind-sided by security officers who pounced upon him, Mr. McGovern remarked, as he was hauled out the door, "So this is America?" Mr. McGovern is covered with bruises, lacerations and contusions inflicted in the assault. Listen to the lady folks. Shes entertaining. As is her boss, Barack Obama. Malinda Seneviratne is a freelance writer who can be reached at malindasenevi@gmail.co * And now abideth faith, hope, LOVE, these three; but the greatest of these is LOVE. 1 Corinthians 13:13 * Genesis 1-11 is actual HISTORY * The 10 Commandments WAS - IS - & WILL BE the LAW of GOD * REVELATION is written in symbols for actual end time events * The SANCTUARY lays out the Plan of Salvation (Justification / Outer Court + Sanctification / Inner Court = preparation for your Judgment / Most Holy Place) * The solemnity of the 7th day SABBATH (Saturday) was NEVER transferred to the 1st day of the week (Sunday) by God * The modern charismatic movement is a counterfeit Latter Rain * The Mark-of-the-beast will involve some sort of counterfeit Sabbath * "Soul Sleep" for the State of the Dead (dead until the resurrection) * The Godhead (Trinity) are 3 separate beings who work together in unity * The GODHEAD's Existence is ETERNAL (in other words-The arrow of time stretching for Infinity in both directions) * The GREEN RELIGION (modern environmental movement) is a cleverly cloaked spiritualism for the "sophisticated" modern world * The Little Horn of Daniel & the Beast of Revelation (a.k.a. the anti-christ to some) is one & the same institution - the same institution the Reformers declared it to be during the Reformation * Marriage is between ONE man & ONE woman * The Emerging Church movement -- & spiritual formation are modern day GNOSTICISM & have NO place within Christendom * Women Ordination is an ASSAULT on the foundation of the Godhead (as God is the head of Christ in an ecclesiastical setting - so too was the man placed as the head of the woman in an ecclesiastical setting -- outside this setting they are equal as Christ is with the Father) * Baptism is by Immersion at an age of consent * Justification + Sanctification = TRUE RIGHTEOUSNESS BY FAITH....( Justification ) Neither do I condemn thee : ( Sanctification ) go, and sin no more . John 8:11 * God is NOT homophobic -- rather He is sexual immorality phobic (HE places adultery, fornication, rape, bestiality, cross dressing AND homosexuality ALL in the same category) * " HELL " is NOT an eternally burning place -- rather it is the Lake of Fire where the wicked will be destroyed together once & for all when this Great Controversy between God & His opponent comes to an end....God does NOT torment people for eternity * The " Great Controversy " theme is the prism to make sense of this universal conflict between God & His opponent, of which we play a part on this space fabric of time as a "spectacle" (as Paul calls it) before all watching * Biblical "speaking in tongues" was a GIFT of known foreign languages for Evangelization (not the gibberish "tongues" uttered in churches today) * Historicism is the way to interpret eschatology from the view of the prophetic porch (NOT preterism, futurism or idealisim) * The 3 Angel's Message (of Rev.14) is the central Mission of the SDA Church & the Sanctuary Doctrine (& it's sub-doctrine of the Investigative Judgment) is the Cornerstone Doctrine of the Denomination * The Sacrament of the Lord's Supper is a SYMBOLIC Remembrance * The 2nd Advent of Christ will be a literal, visible, physical return where EVERY EYE SHALL SEE HIM & that is when the dead will rise & the living be caught up-- Not at some sort of a "secret rapture" before His return... * On the Nature of Christ - He was born with our sinful fallen nature / propensities--yet did NOT sin - hence His ability to be the spotless Lamb of God - the Lamb without blemish to cover ours * 7th Day Adventism did not rise up at the end of the time-frame of Daniel 8:14 to be just another denomination to hang upon the wall of Christendom... * The Dispensations around the Cross are 1) Before the Cross the Plan of Redemption laid out in the earthly Sanctuary in Types & Symbols patterned after the Heavenly Sanctuary {from the Altar of Sacrifice to the Mercy Seat} 2) After the Cross shifts to the REALITY of the Heavenly Sanctuary {from the Cross to the Judgment Seat}. ---- We REJECT the Dispensationalism that says "before the cross we were saved by the Law & after the Cross by Grace" ---- (the reason is because on BOTH SIDES OF THE CROSS we were never saved by the Law and always saved by Grace) * We REJECT the DISGUSTING "Prosperity Gospel" as many see TV (so-called) Evangelists preach today * Justification & Sanctification Simplified - God draws the BOUNDARIES with His LAW. When we step outside of them it's called SIN. (He offers JUSTIFICATION to remedy it). But afterwards He expects us to step back within those Boundaries (called SANCTIFICATION ). * EndTime "BABYLON" - Confederacy of the Counterfeit Trinity of the "Dragon", "Beast" & "False Prophet" of Rev.16:13. (Also a term of Reference for the Fallen Condition of Christendom) *The OLD TESTAMENT is simply the NEW TESTAMENT in Types & Symbols- therefore both are valid for Study & Doctrine. * "A Minister's words are only of Value as long as his word's are an Echo of the Word's of God." {Dwayne Lemon} * We REJECT the Church being involved with the ECUMENICAL movement....where do you see in Scripture God's people ever being told to be Ecumenical with neighboring religions?.. Nowhere.... *We believe in "Replacement Theology", that "Israel" in prophetic terms and spiritually is God's people...NOT Literal, Modern Day Israel in the Middle East. * Tithing is Biblical: MONEY (1/10 to God) TIME (1/7 to God- the 7th day of the week, called the SABBATH) * Soteriology: We believe in total FREE WILL as a component. - Therefore we Reject Sacramentalism, Predestination, Once-Saved-Always-Saved, Universalism & Pluralism. * The HEALTH MESSAGE-Live it as best you can. Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest....be in health... 3 John 1:2 * And always remember - "If you feel yourself to be the greatest sinner, Christ is just what you need, the greatest Savior. Lift up your head and look away from yourself, away from your sin, to the uplifted Savior; away from the poisonous, venomous bite of the serpent to the Lamb of God who taketh away the sin of the world." Ellen White {JUSTIFICATION} * " God has given us His commandments, not only to be believed in, but to be obeyed. " Ellen White {SANCTIFICATION} * SUMMARY: "Every chapter and every verse of the Bible is a communication from God to men." Ellen White * WARNING: "...by beholding we become changed. The mind gradually adapts itself to the subjects upon which it is allowed to dwell. It becomes assimilated to that which it is accustomed to love and reverence." Ellen White The ten-member terrorist cell dismantled Thursday by the Central Bureau of Judicial Investigation (BCIJ) was planning to attack sensitive economic companies to undermine Moroccan economy. The targets include the Morocco Mall shopping center, the headquarters of the state-owned phosphate corporation OCP, and the headquarters of the Tobacco Company, all located in the countrys economic capital, Casablanca, a source participating in the investigations said on Saturday The terrorists were also projecting attacks against hotels in Essaouira, the physical liquidation of Western tourists in this Atlantic city, and the assassination of senior civilian and military officials. Part of their plans to lay hands on firearms, the terrorists had designed attacks on military barracks, especially in Meknes and Marrakech, on the military units deployed at the Moroccan-Algerian border and on police officers. The terrorists were intending to use, besides firearms, explosives and deadly chemical substances, as BCIJ investigators seized chemicals with high sulfur content that can be used to make homemade powerful explosives releasing a toxic gas, considered as one of the most deadly biological poisons. The terrorist cell, dismantled Thursday by the Central Bureau of Judicial Investigation, the security and anti-terrorism department of the Directorate for Territorial Surveillance, was active in Essaouira, Meknes and Sidi Kacem and its leader was settled in El Jadida. BCIJ director, Abdelhaq Khiam, had revealed at a press conference on Friday some details about the cell members, aged between 16 and 40. Among these individuals, there are three students, one university graduate, one unemployed person and three school dropouts, he said, adding that their 35-year old leader is native of the southern city of Laayoune and works as a real estate agent. The cell includes a French citizen who has been living in Morocco for almost a year and who converted to Islam, Khiam said. He indicated that personal data about the ten members of the terrorist cell that had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group reveal that the organization continues to recruit radicalized individuals of all ages, from diverse backgrounds. The source close to the investigations said the 16-year old minor has been indoctrinated by the cell leader to accept to die as a martyr and pledged to commit a suicide car bomb attack against a sensitive site, probably the Parliament. To this end he was given driving lessons aboard a van that has been seized, , the source said. Khiam had also said at his Friday press conference that the cell members had identified a site near Tan Tan, southern Morocco, to be used as a rear base and a training camp. 2016 Microsoft Conditions Confidentialite et cookies Developpeurs Francais At least 18 people were killed and dozens were injured Thursday when armed civilians, posing as peaceful protesters, attacked a United Nations base in South Sudan, the medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) reported. The fighting erupted Wednesday evening and continued Thursday at a UN civilian protection site in the north-eastern city of Malakal, MSF said. According to the medical charity, at least 18 people were killed in armed conflict that erupted in the Protection of Civilians site in Malakal, including two South Sudanese staff members of MSF who were attacked in their homes. This attack on civilians is outrageous and we demand that armed groups stop these actions, said Marcus Bachmann, coordinator of MSF projects in South Sudan. The site is one of six UN bases housing nearly 200,000 people displaced by violence in the country. The UN Secretary-General condemned the violence saying that any attack directed against civilians, UN premises and peacekeepers may constitute a war crimes. Ban urges the leaders of South Sudan to implement without delay the peace agreement reached six months ago, so that the people of South Sudan can begin a process of reconciliation and healing. South Sudans President has reinstated his rival vice president earlier this week as part of a peace deal to end the countrys two-year civil war. Ghana and U.S government signed earlier this week a Security Governance Initiative (SGI) Plan, a new joint endeavor that will offer a comprehensive approach to improving security sector governance and capacity to address threats in the west-African nation. According to Ghanas Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Hanna Serwaa Tetteh, the initiative will support Ghana build capacity in the areas of cyber security, maritime and border surveillance and security governance. She added that the country is expected to receive three million dollars as the first instalment of security grant assistance to kick start the program. We thank the government and people of Ghana for your commitment to partnering with the United States in pursuit of stronger and more accountable security institutions, Andrew Jackson, US Ambassador to Ghana, said following the signing of the deal. In the initial year, $65 million is expected to be dedicated to the initiative. Ghanas cyber and border security systems are fraught with administrative challenges as well as inadequate logistics and human capacity. WHAT HAPPENED TO THE DEMOCRAT PARTY? I can no longer remain in todays Demo Party that is now under the control of an elitist cabal of warmongers driven by cowardly wokeness, who divide us by racializing every issue and stoke anti-white racism, actively undermine our freedoms, are hostile to people of faith, demonize the police and protect criminals at the expense of law-abiding Americans, believe in open borders, weaponize the national security state to go after opponents.TULSI GABBARD @PatriciaMazzei "Nos vemos en La Habana," President Barack Obama said Saturday in his weekly address, which he devoted to his upcoming visit to Cuba. See you in Havana. Read his remarks in full: Hi, everybody. This week, we made it officialIm going to Cuba. When Michelle and I go to Havana next month, it will be the first visit of a U.S. president to Cuba in nearly 90 years. And it builds on the decision I made more than a year ago to begin a new chapter in our relationship with the people of Cuba. You see, I believe that the best way to advance American interests and values, and the best way to help the Cuban people improve their lives, is through engagementby normalizing relations between our governments and increasing the contacts between our peoples. Ive always said that change wont come to Cuba overnight. But as Cuba opens up, it will mean more opportunity and resources for ordinary Cubans. And were starting to see some progress. Today, the American flag flies over our embassy in Havana, and our diplomats are interacting more broadly with the Cuban people. More Americans are visiting Cuba than at any time in the last 50 yearsCuban-American families; American students, teachers, humanitarian volunteers, faith communitiesall forging new ties and friendships that are bringing our countries closer. And when direct flights and ferries resume, even more of our citizens will have the chance to travel and work together and know each other. American companies are starting to do business in Cuba, helping to nurture private enterprise and giving Cuban entrepreneurs new opportunities. With new Wi-Fi hotspots, more Cubans are starting to go online and get information from the outside world. In both our countries, theres overwhelming support for this new relationship. And in Cuba today, for the first time in a half century, there is hope for a different future, especially among Cubas young people who have such extraordinary talent and potential just waiting to be unleashed. My visit will be an opportunity to keep moving forward. Ill meet with President Castro to discuss how we can continue normalizing relations, including making it easier to trade and easier for Cubans to access the Internet and start their own businesses. As I did when I met President Castro last year, Ill speak candidly about our serious differences with the Cuban government, including on democracy and human rights. Ill reaffirm that the United States will continue to stand up for universal values like freedom of speech and assembly and religion. Ill meet with members of Cubas civil societycourageous men and women who give voice to the aspirations of the Cuban people. Ill meet with Cuban entrepreneurs to learn how we can help them start new ventures. And Ill speak directly to the Cuban people about the values we share and how I believe we can be partners as they work for the future they want. Were still in the early days of our new relationship with the Cuban people. This transformation will take time. But Im focused on the future, and Im confident that my visit will advance the goals that guide uspromoting American interests and values and a better future for the Cuban people, a future of more freedom and more opportunity. Thanks everybody. And to the people of Cubanos vemos en La Habana. Reconciling the religious precepts of observant Muslims with the secular norms in the European workplace has long been a sensitive subject. Frances strict legal separation of religious and civic life a legacy of the French Revolution known as laicite formally discourages, and in some situations expressly bans, public religious expression. It is a brand of secularism that coexists uneasily with Islamic traditions, making workplace negotiations about religious practice particularly difficult and prone to misunderstandings. The issues have become thornier after the latest wave of terrorist activity, including the November attacks in Paris that left 130 dead. With much of the region on edge, the French government has set a forceful tone, granting sweeping emergency powers to the police and stepping up the scrutiny of mosques, Islamic associations and individuals. The sense of unease is particularly palpable for companies operating in sensitive areas like transportation, security and infrastructure. Adding to workplace conflicts like the one at Securitas, as well as reports of tensions at other large employers, is that many Muslims have become more assertive in fighting stigmatization on the job. But many managers and union leaders in France report feeling ill equipped to respond to employee demands for things like dedicated prayer rooms or pork-free canteens let alone to detect and combat genuine radicalization at work. Today, we are in a very complicated situation, said Philippe Humeau, a researcher at InAgora, a consultancy that specializes in religion and the workplace. While Frances workplace rules around religion are relatively distinct, the broad concerns are playing out globally, as countries confront the rise in terrorist activities. . . . Most companies dont know much about Islam, he said. And in the current climate, we are seeing companies confuse strict religious practice, which is already difficult to accept in France, with radicalization. The risk is that companies, in a quest to protect their staff and their clients, unfairly profile certain employees. The security company said the beard rules, and the subsequent firings, adhered to the law. As a private company working on behalf of public sector clients like the airport, Securitas said it must conform to Frances strict secularism laws. We are confident, Michel Mathieu, the head of Securitass French operations, said, in reference to the decision to fire the Orly guards. The company has not accused the guards of any illegal activities, nor has it presented any evidence that they engaged in radical behavior on the job. But he said that recent events had led Securitas to revisit its approach to all forms of religious practice in the workplace. What some might view as overt religious profiling, Mr. Mathieu insisted had become a necessity for a company like Securitas, whose mission is to protect against potential dangers that now include Islamic terrorism. The risks, he added, were no longer abstract. Last year, Securitas alerted the French authorities to four security agents who, despite a rigorous vetting process that includes multiple background checks, were found in possession of jihadist propaganda on the job. Officially, Frances vigorous brand of secularism applies to all religious faiths. But over the last decade, regulations on laicite (pronounced lie-EE-see-tay) have tended to focus on Islam. A law prohibiting government employees and high school students from wearing head scarves and other conspicuous religious attire was introduced in 2004. A specific prohibition against women wearing full-face veils in public went into effect in 2011. Opinion polls show such bans have broad public support and they have been upheld recently by Europes top human rights court. But they are resented by many of Frances five million Muslims who see the rules as unfairly stigmatizing their religion. Under French labor law, private employers are required to respect the religious freedom of their employees, meaning that such companies are expected to tolerate religion on the job. Only proselytizing and acts of pressure toward other employees are expressly banned. For picture posts from 2010 and earlier, see the Earlier Picture Posts Page Got some ideas about economics, policy, science, art or whatever, and you can write? Let us know here , we're looking for contributors! A dead cow is floating down the river Ganga. She is a black-and-white Holstein Friesian cow, like the one I own in Bangalore. She floats sideways, legs spreadeagled. Half of her face is visible, even though it is dark7pm on a Friday. I wish I could say that she looks peaceful, but her teeth are bared. Some 100 boats filled with Indian and foreign tourists are converging on Dashashwamedh Ghat for the evening Ganga aarthi, the spectacle that is the culmination of daily religious life in Kashi. The cow floats amid the boats, forcing embarrassed guides into stuttering, apologetic explanations in Spanish, French, Russian, Hebrew and English. Sometimes, when people have a pet cow that died and they cannot afford to bury or cremate her, they simply throw her into the Ganga," says our guide, J.P. Mishra, of Magic India Tours. He stares at our horrified faces and shrugs. Ganga is the mother. She accepts everything." Would the Ganga have been better served, had we imagined her to be our child rather than mother? What if our ancients imagined the Ganga to be a daughter, or better yet, given the Indian preference for male heirs, a son? Would we have taken better care of Ganga, our child, than we do of Mother Ganga? These are moot questions; whispers into the mists of time that reach back to 1500 BC when the Vedas were revealed" (not written or composed but revealed, but more on that later) to Hindu rishis. The first Veda, the Rig Veda, mentions the Ganga but a few times. The most famous reference to the Ganga in the Rig Veda comes from the nadistuti sukta, or the hymn in praise of the rivers". Even that mentions the Ganga somewhere in the middle, along with nineteen other riversincluding the Saraswati, Yamuna, Purushni, Asikni and Gomti. The hymn is predominantly in praise of the river Sindhu, or Indus, described as the mightiest of all rivers, into which other roaring rivers run like mothers to their calves", not calves to their mothers as I first mistakenly thought. The Sindhuwho flows flashing and white, with ample volume; whose roar can be heard to the heavens; who bellows like a bull; and who is beautiful like a steed. Ganga is just part of a list in these early days of Hinduism. An aside: Unlike other ancient literature like the Egyptian Book of the Dead (recorded on papyrus) or the Sumerian tale, the Epic of Gilgamesh, often called the first story in the world (recorded on carved tablets), the Vedas were not written down until much later. They were not even believed to be composed by humans. They were hearda better translation is seenby Hindu sages, who were therefore called seers. For this reason, the Vedas are apauraseya or authorlessrevealed texts that were grasped by Hindu seers as fully formed philosophies or insights about the world. The Vedas are preserved as shruti or listened literature in exactly the same formunchanged words, exactly the same meter and intonationfor millennia. It is only later when stories and myths were compiled into the Puranas that the Ganga gains importance. Her creation myth, depicted in the Bhagavata Purana is spectacular and goes thus: To teach a lesson to an arrogant king called Mahabali, Lord Vishnu lifts one of his feet heavenward in the Trivikrama pose, and pierces the sky with his toenail. Like piercing an egg, this causes the milk of human creationthe Gangato flow downwards from the upper reaches of the cosmos into the mere heavens where Brahma the creator resides, the Brahma loka, as it is calledBrahmas world. In some tellings, the Ganga is imagined as the Milky Way. The gods enjoy her fertile waters and she enjoys her stay and status in heaven. Several millennia later, on earth, a dutiful son is in a quandary. He has just discovered that 60,000 of his ancestors are wallowing in the netherworld because of a sages curse. They cannot even attempt reaching heaven. The dutiful son performs a lot of austerities, which pleases Brahma, the creator. Brahma tells him that the only way his ancestors can have a shot at heaven is if the purifying waters of the Ganga touch them. The son begs Brahma for help. Brahma orders the Ganga to fall to earth. She isnt particularly thrilled to leave the heavens, but has no choice but to agree. Brahma, after all, is the creator, her father. The problem is that the power of her fall will smash the earth to smithereens, wash it away in a great cascade of water. So the son prays again, this time to Shiva, begging him to cushion the Gangas fall by absorbing her into his long matted locks. As is seen in a wonderful painting by Raja Ravi Varma, there stands Shiva, with the kind of six-pack abs that would put Shah Rukh to shame. His long matted locks flow out like Sonam Kapoorsand isnt it pathetic that the only metaphors I can come up with are from Bollywood? Moving on, a leopard skin is wrapped around his waist, a snake around his neck. Shiva gazes upwards as the Ganga falls. He wraps her in his hair, trapping her impetuous arrogance, and allowing only a small trickle to fall on earth. Man subdues woman in the feminist telling of it; except that Hindu myths are gender agnostic. There are enough Durgas and Kalis who will ruthlessly kill the bad guy and swallow his blood if they need to, like Kali did with the demon Rakthabeeja. So the Ganga hits the earth. With folded hands, the sonhis name is Bhagirathaleads her to the netherworld where she purifies the souls of all 60,000 of his ancestors, allowing them to make their journey upwards to the heavens. No wonder all Hindus want to have a dip in this holy watertouched by Vishnus feet, Shivas hair, and Brahmas command, she is the liquid goddess linked to the divine trinity in Hindu mythology. As creation myths go, the story of the Ganga is hard to beat or duplicate. Is there a way to massage this myth to serve the Ganga in her present state? Indians view her as Ma Ganga. Mothers are taken for granted. Viewing her as a cherished daughteror sonmight have served her better through the ages. The instinct to take care of a child is primordial. View Full Image Photo: Shoba Narayan Might we have taken care of Ganga the child, better than we do Ganga the mother? Too late. Rationality cannot alter lore. Myths are carved in stone, and certainly one that is so braided into the Indian psyche cannot be morphed so easily, even if it might potentially help the river. A dead cow is floating down the Ganga. This irritates me on many levels. Cleaning the Ganga is a Herculean taskor should I choose from Indian myths instead of Greek and say, Bhagirathan task? And why not choose a womans name? Cleaning the Ganga is a Malala Yousafzai-ian task. This dead cow with her wide-open eyes symbolizes everything that is impossible about this venture. Why couldnt this cow have been given to a slaughterhouse? Did the poor farmer whose cow it was live in a state that banned the killing of the cow? Why couldnt the poor farmer have cremated the cow instead? Or did he love the animal so much that he wanted it to attain salvation through the holy waters of this river? Or was it simple economics? He didnt have the money to deal with her death. Tossing her into the Ganga was an easy option. Was it faith or desperation that led to him throwing the dead animal into the waters, polluting her further? *** At the Dashashwamedh (Ten Horse Sacrifice) Ghat, the Ganga aarthi is about to begin. The boats are fitted against each other like a jigsaw puzzle, to form an arc that faces the bank. In the next boat, two young womenAmerican by the sound of their accentsit cross-legged on the wooden boat, chatting with their guide. Ahead of us, on the steps of the ghat, a huge crowd of people has gathered. In the buildings behind them are billboards with photographs. Actor Sunny Deol posing, as if in a Calvin Klein ad, selling Cozi underwear to religious tourists who want to elevate their minds. Those of us on the boats are a captive audience, or as it turns out to be, customers. Within a few minutes, an energetic group of children balance their way across the boat, carrying bamboo baskets filled with ice water, candles to float on the Ganga, matchboxes, incense and photographs of gods. One young boy who looks about seven years old entreats the two American women beside me to buy his wares in broken English. This candy (he means candle) very nice," he says, holding up a leaf cup inside which nestles a small tea candle amidst a bed of yellow marigolds. It is a beautiful arrangement, Balinese in its simplicity, handmade and tenuousa floating candle, carrying wishes and hopes into the Ganga. You buy? Good price," the boy says. The two American women shake their heads even though he is charging them the same price that he charges everyoneRs10. Hardened by beggars and touts who swarm around them, warned by guides about bargaining for anything sold to foreigners in India, they fail to recognize a good deal. I feel sorry for the kid and buy six candles even though I dont intend to float them on the already overburdened Ganga. A male voice begins singing over the loudspeaker. Seven priests, all male, take their positions at different points on the broad ghat. They depict the Saptha-Rishis, or seven primordial sages. They follow the protocol of a puja, beginning with flowers, then incense, then a lamp with a single wick, and then a beautiful multilayered lamp with a tiered pyramid of wicks, all shining in the darkness. In synchronized movements, the seven priests lift the shining pyramid of flickering lamps, face the river, and circle their hands round and round. A group of men paying homage to a female goddess. All religions are male-dominated. Hinduism is no different. I have never seen a female priest in any Hindu temple. I resent the fact that Ganga aarthi does not even have a token woman as participanta female singer at least? Here have a peda," says our guide, opening a box. It is from the Hanuman temple." In Kashi, sacred food is everywhere. The peda is delicious and we chew it contentedly while watching the priests do their synchronized movementslike chewing popcorn at a movie. The aarthi lasts about half an hour. At the end, I search for the cow, wishing I had photographed it. Ghai? Woh chala gaya," says the boatman casually. It has gone. At least it is better than those corpses we used to see floating in the Ganga," says our guide soothingly. We take the motor boat upstream to Assi Ghat where my hotel is. Along the way, we see a dead buffalo right by the bank of Harishchandra Ghat, which, along with Manikarnika Ghat, are the two crematoriums on the Ganga. Somehow, this isnt as horrifying, perhaps because it is on the banks of a crematorium. A remnant corpse, even if it happens to be an animal, left behind, perhaps by a poor farmer, who couldnt pay for its funeral. View Full Image Photo: Shoba Narayan A few yards upstream, a couple is immersing themselves into the river. Like most devotees, the man is topless, with a cloth wrapped around his midriff. The woman is fully clothed in a maroon sari and mustard yellow blouse. She wades into the water and dunks her head in. The man does this three times. Cant they see the dead buffalo to their left? So many people take a bath every day in the Ganga. They dont fall sick. It is the power of belief," says our guide in explanation. Photo: Shoba Narayan Ah, belief. The great divide between the rational and the spiritual. The problem with religion is that it is predicated on tenets that are hard to measure, understand, explain or duplicate. Like reiki healing, noticing auras, or anything to do with intuition, religious belief has to be experienced. That is the problem. The path to belief can be zig-zagging and precarious, full of questions and second-guessing, like mine is. Sometimes, it happens gradually over a course of a lifetime through a gurualthough that too is a circular, chicken-and-egg situation. They say that a guru will come when you are ready to accept the lessons she has to offer; but how can you evolve to the stage when you are ready for mysticism, faith and spirituality without a guru? Faith can also happen in an instant, like a lightning stroke, through divine grace, although that is rare and requires miracles. Look at me through the corner of your eye; your kadai-kann," goes the lyrics of a Tamil song. Just a glance from the goddessnot even a full onebut one from the corner of her eyecan elevate a moron into a mystic, as the goddess of learning, Saraswati, is supposed to have done to the poet Kalidasa by drawing on his tongue. As nebulous as faith is, numerous studies point to its benefits. Faith is in vogueon the cover of publications worldwide. It confers self-control and peace of mind, fosters relationships, increases happiness and nurtures community. Faith is the ultimate feel-good pill on this rocky road that we call lifeit heals and empowers. I get all that. I would like to embrace my faith. I would like to be a better Hindu. Religion, however poses a perplexing paradox. Only if I have faith will I experience the benefits of faith. But how to embrace faith without some sort of proofnot scientific proof necessarily but even some sort of inner awakening, some sign from the cosmos? Anything?" as George Costanza said in Seinfeld. How do I get on the religious bandwagon? Where do I jump in? This is the first of a four-part series from Kashi. Comments are welcome at feedback@livemint.com Topics The worlds two largest oil producers, Saudi Arabia and Russia, decided to freeze oil production at January levels in an attempt to cap the glut of cheap oil. Qatar and Venezuela have also agreed to participate. Iraq expressed willingness to follow suit if all oil producers inside and outside the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) agreed to cap oil production. This is the first such deal between Opec and non-Opec countries in some 15 years. Oil prices rose by more than 14% in the three days following the announcement. 2. Seditions new address: JNU The arrest and filing of sedition charges against Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) Students Union president Kanhaiya Kumar set off a storm of protests across the country. Close on the heels of the protests over University of Hyderabad student Rohith Vemulas suicide, the arrest and raids in JNU show a trend of increasing politicization of campuses, and a heavy-handed approach towards student activism on the part of the administration. Legal experts have weighed in on the matter, stating that the sedition charge against Kumar doesnt hold. Kumar is struggling to get bail amid opposition from lawyers in Delhis Patiala House court. 3. Tiger Global invests in The Viral Fever Tiger Global has picked up a significant minority stake and invested about $10 million in popular online video content creator The Viral Fever (TVF). TVF makes online content targeted at the youth and is popular for its comedy and satirical videos. It was started by Arunabh Kumar, an IIT graduate. This is not the first investment by Tiger Global in the online video space. In 2015, along with Zodius Capital, it invested $18 million in Culture Machine, which runs several YouTube channels. 4. Yahoo pares web offerings Last week, Yahoo announced the closure of seven web magazines as part of its efforts to cut costs and reduce staff count by about 15%. Martha Nelson, global editor-in-chief, said that food, travel, parenting and auto-focused magazines were being shut, though content related to these subjects would still be available on the Yahoo website. Yahoos new focus will be on news, sports, finance and lifestyle. This marks the end of Yahoos expensive and aggressive editorial expansion under chief executive Marissa Mayer. 5. Green light for new rail projects The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs last week approved seven new rail projects worth Rs10,700 crore. The projects include six railway lines and a railway bridge, and will be completed during the 13th Five-Year Plan, from 2017 to 2022. Most of the projects are in coal-rich areas and are expected to generate better freight revenue: two of these projects will help connect Madhya Pradeshs coal belt. The projects will be funded through extra-budgetary resources, though the ministry did not elucidate on the exact mechanisms. 6. The cheapest smartphone ever Ringing Bells Pvt. Ltd, a Noida-based company, has caused a flutter by announcing that it will sell smartphones priced at Rs251. The phones specifications include a quad-core 1.3GHz processor, 1GB of RAM, a four-inch screen and 8GB of internal storage. Even as bookings for the phones started on its website, many reported glitches as the website seemed incapable of handling the heavy traffic. Meanwhile, mobile industry body the Indian Cellular Association has written to the telecom minister raising questions about the absurdly low price of the phone. 7. Honda unveils worlds biggest scooter factory Honda announced the commissioning of its scooter-only" manufacturing plant in Vithalapur in Gujarats Ahmedabad district. The company has invested Rs1,100 crore in the plant and claims it is the worlds largest scooter manufacturing facility. With a production capacity of 1.2 million units, the new plant is expected to increase Hondas cumulative production capacity in India to 5.8 million units per annum. The plant will manufacture the Activa and Dio models. Honda is the market leader in scooters in India. 8. Jaypee Groups cement deal unravels Jaiprakash Associates Ltds sale of two cement assets to UltraTech Cement Ltd has hit a regulatory hurdle, namely a pending amendment to the Mines and Minerals Development and Regulation Act. The deal will now become part of a larger transaction whereby Jaiprakash Associates will sell off its entire cement capacity. The company is looking at the sale to reduce debt. UltraTech is one of three potential bidders for its nearly 20 million tonne cement production business. The others include global private equity firm KKR and Co. and Dalmia Cement (Bharat) Ltd. 9. Pay hikes likely to dip Consulting firm Aon Hewitts India Salary Increase Survey, which looks at job appraisals in the white-collar employment sector, said that the average hike this year is expected to be 10.3%. This is lower than last years 10.4% increase. The average pay hike expectation has fallen on the back of weak business sentiment arising from the oil price slump, and the condition of the Chinese and European economies. The survey forecasts that junior employees will get bigger hikes, averaging 10.8%, while the hike at the senior management level will be around 9.5%, lower than last years 9.7%. 10. Make in India Week wraps up The high-profile Make in India Week in Mumbai concluded on Thursday with investment pledges of Rs15.2 trillion. However, it remains to be seen how many of these pledges will actually materialize. The government said that 30% of the investments pledged fall under the foreign direct investment (FDI) category. More than half of the total investment will flow to Maharashtra. Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said the state signed 2,594 memoranda of understanding worth over Rs8 trillion. Graphics by Ajay Negi/Mint. Comments are welcome at feedback@livemint.com Topics The economic turmoil in the world today, seven years after the great financial crash of 2008, has once again thrown the spotlight on the economics profession. After failing to foresee the crisis, economists seem to be struggling to find a way out of the morass in which the global economy has landed. As several commentators have argued, this period of economic crisis is also a crisis of economics itself. However, the crisis is also an opportunity to step back and ask what has gone wrong with economics, and if there are changes that can bring the discipline closer to reality and allow its practitioners to find more effective answers to economic problems. At a recent debate on the role of history and math in economics at the London School of Economics, Keynesian economist Robert Skidelsky and heterodox Cambridge University economist Ha-Joon Chang persuasively argued that the neglect of economic history is one of the major failings of modern economics. Greater attention to economic history would have made economists recognize the many mistakes of economists and policymakers throughout the course of history, and made everyone aware of the unresolved debates and plurality of views within the discipline, the duo argued. As Skidelsky pointed out, the applicability of particular economic models depends upon context, and economic and social history can offer valuable lessons on whether a particular economic prescription is likely to work in a given situation. Nobel-winning economist Robert Solow made a similar argument in a 1985 paper on the role of economic history, suggesting that a careful reading of economic history can offer the economist a sense of the different kinds of social arrangements and their interactions with economic behaviour. If the proper choice of a model depends on the institutional contextand it shouldthen economic history performs the nice function of widening the range of observation available to the theorist," wrote Solow. Economic theory can only gain from being taught something about the range of possibilities in human societies. Few things should be more interesting to a civilised economic theorist than the opportunity to observe the interplay between social institutions and economic behaviour over time and place." The old masters of economics and their analysis of historical economic events can offer valuable lessons for modern-day practitioners, as the Reserve Bank of India pointed out in its latest financial stability report. The ideas of forgotten economists such as Hyman Minsky, who analysed the ebb and tide of business cycles, and Alvin Hansen, who wrote about the Great Depression, are beginning to appear relevant again. As an earlier Economics Express column pointed out, the neglect of its own plural legacy began since the 1970s with the rise of a new orthodoxy of market fundamentalism, based on the idea of extremely rational agents who processed information perfectly. The level of dissent and debate in the profession fell dramatically, and the heterodox tradition of economics was quietly buried. The elegant mathematics of the rational expectations model led many mainstream economists to believe that it was the model" that could explain all economic reality. Old theories and prior history were seen as superfluous till the crash of 2008 proved them wrong. History is, however, not the only important discipline that economists neglect, it turns out. A 2015 paper by researchers Marion Fourcade, Etienne Ollion and Yann Algan uses bibliometric data to show that economists are the most insular of all social scientists. In its quest to become the physics of the social sciences, the profession seems to have rewarded knowledge of mathematics much more than the knowledge of other social sciences, even though insights from those disciplines have a direct bearing on the subjects of economic enquiry. The specialization of knowledge has made most social sciences insular, but the insularity of economics is markedly higher than any other discipline, Fourcade and her co-authors show. They point out that articles in the American Political Science Review cite the top 25 economics journals more than five times as often as the articles in the American Economic Review cite the top 25 political science journals". The asymmetry is even starker with regard to the American Sociological Review. From the vantage point of sociologists, geographers, historians, political scientists, or even psychologists, economists often resemble colonists settling on their landan image reinforced by some economists proud claims of economic imperialism," Fourcade and her co-authors wrote. Lured by the prospect of a productive crop, economists are swift to probe the new grounds. They may ask for guidance upon arrival, even partner-up with the locals (with whom they now often share the same data). But they are unlikely to learn much from them, as they often prefer to deploy their own techniques. And in some cases, the purpose has been simply to set the other disciplines straight. Under the influence, notably, of Chicago price theory, the dominant economic paradigm has successfully conquered a segment of political science, law, accounting, and (for a while) sociology under the label of rational choice theorythus explaining, in part, the directionality of the citation patterns observed above." Opinion surveys seem to point to the same trend: other social scientists and even business school professors value interdisciplinarity far more than economists. Fourcade and her co-authors show that citations in top economics journals are not just less interdisciplinary but also tend to be more concentrated. They identify two key reasons behind such concentration: the homogeneity of economics training (including the use of standard textbooks) which aids group-think, and the dominance of a few elite economics departments, which publish the top economics journals, and which provide an overwhelmingly large share of contributors to those journals. Such levels of concentration and control can have a pernicious impact in a discipline where top journal editors exert enormous influence because of the nature of the publication process, as Chicago University economist Luigi Zingales (who co-wrote the book Saving Capitalism from the Capitalists with Raghuram Rajan) pointed out in a 2013 research paper. Young contributors, especially if they are untenured faculty, can easily give in to the suggestions of a persuasive editor, slanting the discourse on a certain subject. All it takes to propagate certain ideas in the profession is to capture a few top editors, suggested Zingales. The lack of bias in the publication process depends crucially upon the lack of bias of the editors or, at least, the diversity of biases of the editors across major journals, since there are multiple outlets and thus an author can shop around," wrote Zingales. Unlike in law, though, the search process is impaired by the prohibition to submit the same paper to multiple outlets contemporaneously. Combined with the relatively long review time and the multiple rounds required, this process gives quite a bit of power to the editor to massage papers in the direction they prefer. If an assistant professor who is going up for review soon is asked at the last round of a long review process to modify slightly the conclusions to make them more palatable to a certain audience, would he refuse? Probably not. Not only does this action bias the conclusions of one paper, but it projects a perception that to publish in that journal one has to reach the right conclusions. Hence, researchers who want to publish in that journal would start tilting their conclusions in the right direction. In equilibrium, the editor does not have to exercise any arm-twisting, because all the distortion takes place before the first submission and is done voluntarily by the researchers to reduce the risk of seeing their paper rejected." The economic crisis has, however, emboldened many of the critics and dissenters within the profession to challenge the status quo vigorously. As this column noted earlier, there is a vibrant student movement that has challenged the way economics is taught and researched in major universities. The dissenters have challenged the narrowing of the economics curriculum over the past few decades, and demanded that alternative ways of thinking about economic ideas should form part of the mainstream. So should interdisciplinary approaches involving the study of sociology, history, politics and anthropology, they contend. A new research paper by Karla Hoff of the World Bank and Nobel-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz shows how insights from other social sciences can enrich economic modelling, and bring it closer to reality. Hoff and Stiglitz point out that our view of the world and the economy changes dramatically once we start relaxing the unrealistic assumptions of conventional economics, and take into account the insights of psychology, sociology and anthropology while making alternative models. A strand of behavioural economics has already led to changes in how economists understand choices of individuals by showing that the context of the moment of decision-making influences choices when the context is apparently irrelevant to the choice being made. Social factors such as peer pressure, which were not considered as relevant in standard models, have been found to be of paramount importance in empirical studies. Extending this argument further, and drawing on the work of sociologists and psychologists, Hoff and Stiglitz argue that the social context not only primes individuals, eliciting one kind of behaviour or another, but that in a fundamental sense it shapes themhow they think and what they want". Preferences that are considered given and exogenous in a standard economic model have to be treated as endogenous to bring our models closer to reality, they argue. Citing the example of empirical studies on bankers, they show how cultural norms in the banking industry may programme" bankers to act in selfish and even dishonest ways. Because how we perceive the world affects what we do, it affects in a deep sense who we are," Hoff and Stiglitz write. However, standard economics is built on the assumption that individuals are architects of their social worlds, but that the social worlds do not shape cognition or preferenceshow individuals think or what they want. The core model in standard economics also assumes that individuals have unlimited powers of objective perception and reasoning. All individuals exposed to the same data and experiences would come to the same conclusions. The rational expectations model goes even further. It makes sufficiently stringent assumptions that, with enough dialogue, all individuals would come to hold the same beliefsthere would be common knowledge. In contrast, cultural psychologists and sociologists take it for granted that society is partly inside us: socioeconomic factors affect the mental models that influence how we process information." Hoff and Stiglitz argue that the psychologists and sociologists have got it right, and provide empirical examples to show that the social environment can shape cognition and behaviour, which in turn shapes social outcomes. Just as economists have had to come to terms with the fact that individuals act in ways that are markedly different from those predicted by the rational actor model, economists will have to come to terms with the fact that preferences and cognition are shaped by those surrounding us, and that these social interactions may be as important determinants of economic outcomes as the variables upon which economists have traditionally focused," they write. Hoffs and Stiglitzs approach of modelling hitherto neglected but important social determinants of preferences such as culture and their acknowledgement of the role of history in shaping our current choices marks an important step in trying to change economics and economic modelling. Yet, the crisis in economics demands more than just better models of the world. In his latest book, Economics Rules: The Rights and Wrongs of the Dismal Science, Harvard economist Dani Rodrik argues that one of the cardinal sins of many economists has been to pretend that the model they use is the model" to explain all economic phenomena. Echoing Solow, Rodrik argues that unlike the natural sciences, there are no universal laws of economics: it is a collection of models, and depending on context, one model or another may be put to use. Extending Rodriks argument, one may point out that many economists may be mistaken in thinking that their way of doing economics is the way" of studying economic systems. While models are useful for their parsimony, they are often of limited use for the same reason: they lack richness, and are poor abstractions of reality. Critics of economic modelling do not advocate abandoning mathematical economics altogether, just as critics of rational agent-based modelling do not suggest that there is no rationality involved in making economic decisions. Rather, many like Chang of Cambridge University argue that economics needs to take advantage of other methods of enquiry used in other social sciences, such as case studies, oral histories, archival research, ethnographies and other qualitative approaches to supplement and to better inform economic theorizing and policymaking. Such an approach will allow economists to draw upon a richer repository of knowledge, make them pay greater attention to important contextual factors and perhaps also make them more careful while making policy recommendations. As Chang points out, economists not only owe it to themselves but also to the world to learn from history and minimize live experiments with people". Whether it be the horrors of totalitarian state-led command-and-control systems under communism, or the big-bang" transition back to capitalism, or the pains of structural adjustment programmes inflicted by multilateral lenders upon many powerless developing economies, millions of people have suffered at the hands of economists wearing blinkers. A catholicity of approaches, attention to economic history and greater engagement with (rather than colonization of) the other social sciences may help produce a finer, more sceptical, and more useful generation of economists in the years to come. Economics Express runs weekly, and features interesting reads from the world of economics and finance. Comments are welcome at feedback@livemint.com Topics Miss Media Junkie's commentary, reviews, meta, and ramblings on watching movies and TV. BILLINGS Across Montana, small-town skylines are dominated by, or in many cases solely consist of, decades-old grain elevators in various states of disrepair. Some of the elevators still operate, helping farmers send crops to market. Others held their last grain decades ago, and as they deteriorate they become financial and legal burdens. Elevators in Laurel, Columbus and Wilsall recently were toppled. Preparation began last week for the demolition of the iconic Teslow Inc. grain elevator in Livingston, but the building has new hope after a grassroots preservation group called a last-minute meeting Monday night. The group, Save the Teslow, reached a tentative agreement with current owner and local real estate developer Chris Salacinski, who took possession of the building in January. Barclay Rogers, a local lawyer and member of the community-based effort, said the short-notice meeting was well attended and a success by any measure. There was a strong show of public support," Rogers said. "The grain elevators owner has agreed to sell, the funding is in place to acquire the building, and demolition is halted. There are logistical issues that need to be solved, but the grain elevator is going to be saved." Salacinski took possession of the building in January after the previous owner struggled to maintain and insure the elevator. Rogers said a private group will initially put forth the money to account for expenses accrued so far, but the ownership will eventually transition to a nonprofit organization. I dont want the building, and theres so much damn liability because its been compromised, Salacinski said. Theres a big old hole on top. The railroad wants it gone or repaired. Montana Rail Link owns the land the elevator sits on, and new owners will need to secure a new lease. Salacinski said strong winds ripped large chunks of the roof off, and the top tier is structurally deficient. Repairing the building will be costly, but demolition was also complicated by nearby structures and power lines. He estimated the tear-down would have cost $75,000 to $100,000. *** The Teslow was the latest in a string of elevators to be threatened across the state. The G.D. Eastlick elevator toppled in Laurel at the beginning of February, a simpler project because of its open surroundings. Dick Jonason, a Billings grain purchaser with 46 years of experience, said the crib-style elevators have been out of date for decades and have been torn down or built around since that time. They used to ship (grain) in trucks and single (train) cars way back when. Then, oh back in the early 80s, they went to 26-car trains, Jonason said. During the next decade the trains doubled in size, and big trains today pull about 110 cars. The old crib-style elevators just couldnt keep up with that workload. The facilities were either closed or remodeled with more modern equipment. Before the multicar trains were put in use, the crib elevators loaded at a rate of about 1,000 bushels an hour. Todays elevators load 20 to 30 times faster. They also require less maintenance and generally offer a much greater capacity. Every little town had an elevator back in the day, but theyre kind of getting away from that because they cant build these big high-speed elevators, Jonason said. So, theyve kind of stretched out a bit. The modern elevators were built in centralized locations to serve more farms. Small towns lost the business but the old elevators remained. Theyre really some of the most iconic and community defining architectural specimens out there and really a delight for all, said Kate Hampton, Montana Historical Society community preservation coordinator. Hampton said the buildings are often landmarks for small towns, welcoming residents as they approach home from miles away. Sometimes people contact MHS looking for help preserving their local elevators or finding a new purpose for the structures. Elevators across the country have been turned into climbing gyms and breweries. One in Anthony is now a residence. The MHS office identified about a dozen crib-style elevators possibly eligible for the National Register of Historic Places, and elevators in Beaverhead, Gallatin and Sheridan counties already are listed on the registry. A listing on the National Register doesnt limit property owners rights to manage the structures as they see fit, but Hampton said it educates people on the historical significance of the elevators and the importance of preserving Montanas agricultural heritage. HOUSTON For the most part, the oldest landmarks are gone. The bayou-side brush arbor never was meant to last, and the old "Baptist Hill," site of a wooden box-like chapel, now is occupied by the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts. Antioch Missionary Baptist Church, though, never really was about buildings anyway, despite its current imposing Clay Street home. Antioch, its members will tell you, always focused on the soul. On Feb. 26, Antioch Houston's oldest African-American Baptist congregation will mark its 150th anniversary with a gala of celebrating leaders of the city's black community and a rousing affirmation of faith manifest in preaching, prayer and song. "It speaks of the resilience, the courage and faith of free slaves who had no direction to look to but to God," Antioch's pastor, the Rev. O.B. Winkley, said of the coming celebration. "We today are living their legacy. We keep the same faith. We have an intense thankfulness to God." Founded by a score of worshippers just months after the Civil War's close, Antioch for generations would prove an anchor to Houston's African-American community. "The people who started this church believed in education, property ownership, stability and moral character," said Camilla Jackson, chair of its heritage committee. While its early pastors were traveling clergy or formally associated with other congregations, Antioch found a man who embodied those values in John Henry "Jack" Yates, who, around 1868, became the church's first elected, full-time preacher. Today, his progressive spirit still is felt and his stern visage looks down on worship services from a second-story, stained-glass window. "My great-grandfather obviously was a visionary," said Martha Anne Goddard, a Yates descendant active in the church. "He always led by example. That meant that what he said was how he lived. That meant that what you saw was pretty much what you got." Like many of his successors, Yates, a literate Virginia-born former slave who came to Houston at the Civil War's close, was both man of God and an astute secular leader. With the help of teaching missionaries, he oversaw the creation of Houston Baptist Academy, the city's first school for African-Americans. The academy, which taught reading, writing, mathematics and vocational skills, later became Houston College for Negroes, which, church historians said, was a precursor to today's Texas Southern University. Under Yates' direction, Antioch in 1872 joined with Methodist Episcopal Church to buy land in the city's Third Ward for Emancipation Park, a tree-shaded enclave for the enjoyment of African-American residents. In 1879, Yates supervised the church's move to its present location at 500 Clay St. - initially a one-story structure designed and built by church members. The chapel, enlarged with a second story in 1895, was the first brick building owned by black Houstonians. Today, the Gothic revival structure with the words "Jesus Saves" emblazoned on its belfry is surrounded by skyscrapers on the edge of the rapidly changing Fourth Ward "Freedmen's Town." *** In terms of growth, Antioch from the beginning was a veritable rocket for Christ. In its earliest years, membership grew in quantum leaps. By the beginning of the 1930s, membership stood at almost 2,000, drawing the faithful from every quadrant of the city. Today, said Winkley, the church, which offers a Sunday morning worship service and Wednesday and Thursday Bible study, claims about 300 members. Its theology is resolutely evangelistic. "Our primary aim is to recover the lost, reach for the fallen and rejoice with the saints," its Web page notes, adding that it purveys a "Christ centered" message that delivers, strengthens, embraces and "keeps" its members. "This church was always a leader in the Houston community," Jackson said. "Most of the significant things that happened in this city, Antioch was part of it." The church was the religious home to many of the city's black leaders. In 1907, church member and businessman John Bell played a major role in creation of the city's first public library for African-Americans. His leadership in the National Negro Business League, a group headed by Booker T. Washington, assured Houston's place in national black leadership circles. In 1918, church member Dr. Henry Lee joined other community leaders in building Union Hospital, the first such medical facility for black patients and physicians. In the early 1930s, Houston teacher and Antioch member Lula White began working in the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People's Houston chapter to abolish Texas' notorious "white primary" law, a Jim Crow-era device to bar black participation in public governance. In 1939, she became president of Houston's NAACP chapter, a position she held seven years. When the U.S. Supreme Court struck down white primaries in 1944, White became active in educating new black voters. In 1949 she became director of the Texas NAACP. In 1971, Houston architect and church member John Chase fought to open his profession's doors to other people of color by co-founding the National Organization of Minority Architects. Chase, the first African-American to receive an architecture degree from the University of Texas, arrived in Houston in the 1950s to join the faculty of TSU. After repeated rebuffs from the local architecture community, he founded his own firm, and later became the first black person admitted to the Houston Chapter of the American Institute of Architects and to the Texas Society of Architects. In 1980, President Jimmy Carter named him to the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts. He was the first black person to serve in the position. His firm's commissions included the George R. Brown Convention Center, TSU's Thurgood Marshall School of Law and the U.S. Embassy in Tunis, Tunisia. *** Beyond the role of members in shaping life in Houston, Antioch was a regular stop for traveling celebrities. Among those who made a point of visiting the congregation were civil rights leader Jesse Jackson, Houston-born U.S. Rep. Barbara Jordan and fabled contralto Marian Anderson. While the "firsts" achieved by church members are significant, for Goddard, Jackson and other members of the Antioch's congregation, the church's real value lies in its religious foundation. "My family has been blessed by this church," Goddard said. "We have been through many trials and storms, and God has seen us through it all. ... I would like to envision this church as still providing the spiritual nourishment that our community needs. We believe in Christ. He is our guide. He put us here for a reason, and it's to bring other souls to him." Authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo charged six pro-democracy protesters Friday with inciting a revolt and belonging to an illegal organization, rights activists said, adding that the charges could bring several years in prison under the countrys penal code. Police arrested the men earlier this week in the eastern city of Goma, along with two activists in the capital city of Kinshasa, for allegedly working with the opposition group Front Citoyen 2016 and helping to organize Tuesday's national strike, known as Ville Morte" or Dead City, the activists said. On Tuesday, pro-democracy activists in major cities demanded President Joseph Kabila respect constitutional law and step down as his second term ends in December this year, after he has taken several steps to try to prolong his ability to stay in power. The protesters shut down public transportation and schools in Kinshasa, French newspaper Le Monde reported. Rights group Amnesty International on Wednesday demanded the mens unconditional release. Their arrests fit a broader pattern of repression including kidnappings and arrests as elections slated for Nov. 27 draw nearer, according to Nicolas Krameyer, head of Amnestys individual liberties program. The eight activists are members of the pro-democracy youth movement Lucha (Fight for Change), which is part of G7, a coalition of opposition groups. About 19 Lucha members have been in prison since the beginning of 2014, Krameyer said. Its a completely peaceful movement, he told Al Jazeera. Theyre asking for free elections. Last September, Kabila suspended seven politicians known as the Group of 7, or G7, after they demanded he respect the constitution and relinquish power. Kabilas detractors suspect he will increasingly try to cling to power as the end of his rule approaches. In January 2015, his government retracted a bill that would have prolonged Kabilas ability to govern following protests that killed at least 42 people. While Kabila has refused to comment publicly on his plans, his government will move to overhaul its voter lists, which might delay the elections, Reuters reported. The U.S. State Department joined Amnesty on Thursday in calling for the activists release. The department voiced concern about the harassment and detention of peaceful activists and opposition leaders in the country. These detentions stifle the free expression of diverse political viewpoints, contributing to a closing of political space while undermining the credibility of the Government of the DRC during the electoral period, department spokesman John Kirby said in a news release. The governor of North Kivu, the province where Goma is located, did not respond to Al Jazeera's request for comment. Goma residents predicted that the arrests wont deter the activists. The tensions are rising in Goma, said Chrispin Mvano, who is a researcher based in North Kivu and supports the pro-democracy movement. After these arrests, there will be more actions by the opposition and the civil society movement. Cat siblings Yukie and Bruno came to the Humane Society of Western Montana together and are now looking for a family who can take them to a forever home together. Yukie is just over a year old. She loves to cuddle and enjoys treats. Bruno is friendly guy who likes toys. We know taking on two pets at once can be a lot so weve waived the second adoption fee to ensure this brother and sister can stay together. Visit Yukie and Bruno at the shelter, 5930 U.S. Highway 93 S., in Missoula. Hours are 1 to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and noon to 6 p.m. Saturday. You can also learn more about these cats and other adoptable pets at myhswm.org. KALISPELL The owners of a Missoula outdoor film company, and an associate, have paid almost $6,000 in fines after receiving more than four dozen federal and state citations for illegal activities, the bulk involving multiple violations of bull trout fishing regulations. Authorities say brothers Zack and Travis Boughton of Missoula, owners of Montana Wild, made more than 2,200 videos from a 2013 fishing trip into the Bob Marshall Wilderness and South Fork of the Flathead, plus more while they were intentionally fishing for bull trout on the Spotted Bear River and North Fork Blackfoot River. Numerous videos showed the Boughtons and Anthony Von Ruden (also of Missoula) intentionally fishing for bull trout in tributaries such as Youngs Creek, White River, Big Salmon and Little Salmon Creeks according to Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks spokesman John Fraley. All are closed to fishing for bull trout, which is listed as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. FWP criminal investigator Brian Sommers said video evidence shows bull trout caught during the commercial filming were also over-handled, some for up to 12 minutes or longer after being netted. In one case, according to Sommers, a bull trout was caught, netted, handled, and released with the hook and line still attached so the Boughtons could film the fish under water and being reeled in, netted, handled and released again. The over-handling of bull trout that took place by these individuals on this trip will no doubt have negative impacts on the bull trout fishery, Mark Deleray, FWP Region 1 fisheries manager, said. The Boughtons did not respond Friday to requests for comment sent via email and Facebook. *** Montana Wilds website says we capture the adventures that are found in our backyard here in Montana. Our goal is to create visually appealing and inspiring pieces about fly fishing and hunting. We specialize in outdoor marketing, social media, cinematography, photography, video editing and a new line of apparel. Authorities seized five computers, 13 hard drives, two cellphones and other items while executing a search warrant at Montana Wild during the investigation. Fraley said the investigation was launched early in 2014 after a U.S. Forest Service district ranger informed USFS law enforcement officer L. Kevin Arnold about the possible existence of a commercial film regarding fishing for bull trout in the Bob Marshall. Commercial filming is not allowed in congressionally designated wilderness areas, and a permit is required to do so on National Forest System lands lying outside a wilderness area. Arnold conducted a preliminary investigation of the companys website and found substantial evidence that they did in fact commercially film on national forest lands in the Bob Marshall Wilderness, FWP said in a news release. The USFS law enforcement officer then requested that Sommers and Game Warden Perry Brown assist in the investigation, and Sommers obtained the search warrant. Arnold and Brown knew the videos were from the South Fork Flathead River drainage and its tributaries based upon their experience and knowledge gained from patrolling the Bob Marshall Wilderness, Fraley said. Footage on the website, specifically a teaser clip for an upcoming video to be introduced at the Fly Fishing Film Tour debuting in Missoula, showed individuals fishing for and catching bull trout in waters that can readily be identified as not being on the main stem of the South Fork Flathead River. Active or intentional fishing for bull trout can only occur on the main stem of the South Fork Flathead, and only by anglers in possession of a bull trout catch card, according to FWP regulations. FWP Warden Capt. Lee Anderson said the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service sets the rules and regulations that FWP must follow in order to allow anglers to fish for a threatened species, and We have to show people were abiding by the rules. Thats why those tributaries are closed, because theyre spawning areas. The privilege of fishing for bull trout could go away if people abuse it, Anderson said. *** Fraley said the joint investigation revealed numerous other instances of hunting and fishing videos that were taken by and for Montana Wild on federal, state, tribal and private lands without commercial-use permits. The videos, he added, were done in conjunction with sponsors who were endorsing Montana Wild in exchange for advertising in the videos, which would be sold or shown at film tours, film festivals and film rendezvous. The Boughton brothers and Von Ruden received 38 state citations in Flathead and Powell counties for intentionally fishing for bull trout in closed waters, failing to immediately release bull trout, and failing to report a bull trout on the FWP Bull Trout Catch Card. Portions of the wilderness area are located in both Flathead and Powell counties, and violations occurred in both, Anderson said. The Boughtons were cited for 11 more federal violations for unlawful commercial filming activating without valid permits on U.S. Forest Service lands. FWP says the three men entered into plea agreements with Powell County, which included the Flathead County charges, and the Boughtons forfeited collateral on the federal charges. The three paid a total of $5,950 in fines. They could have lost their hunting, fishing and trapping privileges for a period of time as well, Anderson said, but avoided that in the plea agreement. While the regulation preventing someone from intentionally fishing for bull trout can be difficult to prove, it is extremely easy for the angler to follow, Anderson said. Every angler out there knows if they are intentionally fishing for bull trout. An anti-refugee rally is scheduled for 11 a.m. Monday on the steps of the Montana State Capitol. The purpose is to request restraint in the admission of Arabian refugees to the United States and to ask for alternatives that are kind to all, John "Jack" Wiegman, who participated in a similar event held Feb. 1 in Missoula, wrote in an email. These are people with some experience in service in the Middle East. Some of them contribute to charities that also help refugees. Such contributions go far beyond what the rest of us give in taxes and in government jobs. The American Security Rally of Montana Helena event page on Facebook encourages attendees to prepare speeches and Bring signs about your Security concerns to the health and survival of the United States. The group plans to take those concerns to U.S. Sen. Jon Testers office and possibly the offices of U.S. Sen. Steve Daines and U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke, the page says. As of Friday afternoon, 51 people had confirmed they would attend. More than 100 people from across Montana and Idaho participated in the event held earlier this month in front of the Missoula County Courthouse. The Montana Human Rights Network responded with a statement accusing resettlement opponents of capitalizing on broader national fearmongering. A North Carolina coalition of parents, teachers and students has called on the states school districts to start using solar power amid a nationwide trend of schools adopting the renewable energy source. North Carolina schools could potentially save millions of dollars on utility bills in the coming decades if they install solar panels, according to Hannah Mitchell of Repower Our Schools, a nonprofit organization that promotes solar installation in the states schools. But North Carolina is one of just five states that still have significant barriers to financing solar projects, including the prohibition of third-party financing for solar energy, Mitchell said. "We've seen an increasing demand on the part of community members, parents and teachers wanting renewable energy options in our schools," Mitchell said. "If we were to have changes to statewide policy like explicit legislation of third-party energy sales, the schools could save a lot." At least 26 states plus Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico allow third-party financing for solar power, according to data from DSIRE, a renewable energy information group operated by the North Carolina Clean Energy Technology Center at N.C. State University (NCCETC). Third-party financing is the primary method U.S. schools are using to go solar, experts say, because it helps lower the upfront costs. With this financing, a customer leases the solar equipment and makes monthly payments. Nearly 4,000 U.S. schools had installed solar panels by 2014, according to Steve Kalland, executive director of NCCETC. But he said North Carolinas lack of third-party financing options means schools wont receive the same savings. Repower Our Schools commissioned NCCETC to research how North Carolina school districts Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS) and Durham Public Schools (DPS) might benefit from solar energy. With the allowance of third-party energy sales and upgrades to net metering policy, the nonprofit environmental group Greenpeace estimated that CMS could save $54.6 million and DPS could save $16.3 million over 25 years. "In North Carolina, and in a very small number of states, its very challenging to do that because of the ban on third-party sales," Kalland said. "It's only utilities that are allowed to sell electricity to end users ... there may be other ways to get at school systems but it would probably entail either some kind of charitable mindset on the part of the utility or some other direct government subsidy to cover the upfront costs." Because schools, like churches, are not tax-paying entities, they also do not receive the federal tax breaks that other commercial businesses and residents do when they install solar. Financing solar energy for public institutions remains "one of the more challenging pieces of the puzzle in terms of the regulatory structure," Kalland said. Industry trends suggest that more public institutions, including schools, will install solar energy panels in the near future. Thats possibly due to the lower cost of the alternative energy source, but also because of mechanisms like third-party financing, according to Henry Tsai, associate director at NCCETC. More than 3,000 of the nearly 4,000 U.S. schools with solar energy installed the alternative energy source in the last six years, according to the nonprofit Solar Foundation. The group says the average cost of solar installation dropped by about 53 percent since 2010. "Going solar is a major investment in time and capital, especially for public institutions," Tsai told Al Jazeera in an email. "To put it simply, one should always be looking at the interaction among the trifold of technology, policy and finance." BOZEMAN By the time we'd packed our skis and hit the lonely stretch of South 19th Avenue out past Stucky Road, the sun had already dipped well below the horizon. The first stars were beginning to poke out from the jet-black sky. There was no sign of the moon. Erin McCleary and I were headed to Hyalite Canyon for a cross-country ski trip to Grotto Falls. We packed our headlamps, skinny skis and a Mason jar full of water (I'd somehow misplaced my Nalgene bottle), and were eager for an evening escape into the mountains. We watched through the truck windows as we passed beneath towering pine trees on our way up the canyon. As we drove farther from the lights of Bozeman, the starlit sky began to pop against the outline of the high peaks. The trail to Grotto Falls is a quick and easy ski. Efforts supported by the Friends of Hyalite have made accessing the canyon, even at night, comparably easy through the winter months. I was shocked at the exceptional road conditions, particularly above the reservoir flashbacks to old ice climbing trips and rutted roads seemed a very distant memory. We arrived at the parking lot just after 8 p.m. and geared up. We cut the headlights to the truck and turned on the red LED lights in our headlamps to let our eyes adjust. In a moment the blanket of night lifted and the stars illuminated the landscape. McCleary, a professional downhill ski instructor, is one of the best alpine skiers I know. So it came as a bit of a surprise and was secretly comforting to see her struggle a bit on her borrowed cross-country setup. I've never felt entirely comfortable on cross-country skis, or downhill skis for that matter, much less in the dark. *** We set off on the trail, the red glow of our headlamps bobbing with each kick over the packed powder. Near a clearing in the pines we stopped for a break to take in the view of Mount Blackmore. At a dead stop I managed to lose my balance and crash into a heap on the snow. Both McCleary and I erupted in laughter. Moving south through the canyon, we arrived at a steep section of trail. I kicked my ski tips wide and pushed up the slope, feeling my heartbeat elevate with the effort. I don't know if I heard the crash first or the delirious giggling, but McCleary joined me in taking a digger. "This is a humbling experience for me," she said. I couldn't see her smile through the darkness, but I could tell it was there. After topping the rise we cruised over undulating trail toward Grotto Falls. At a clearing we gazed up through the pine trees to admire Mintaka, Alnilam and Alnitak, the three stars of Orion's belt. The Big Dipper hung low in the northern sky. At our feet in the powder, a snow angel shared our view. We pulled close to Hyalite Creek and could hear the gurgle of its flow through the trees. Rising over a knoll, we cast our headlamps down on the inky current below. McCleary and I popped our skis off for the steep descent to the water and the base of Grotto Falls. Behind the face of the falls we discovered an ice cave. The bright green moss clinging to the rock walls contrasted the blue ice falling from the height of Hyalite Canyon. McCleary checked her watch. It was past 10 p.m. It had taken us nearly two hours to cover the distance to Grotto Falls and we'd need to make haste on the way back. *** The return trip to the trailhead was filled with exhilaration and pure terror. Moving downhill in a bubble of light, we cruised through the forest at what seemed like extraordinary speed. Our eyes were barely able to catch up with the light beaming from our headlamps. We dodged a couple fallen trees and navigated a corner that seemed to come on incredibly quick. Neither of us could control ourselves, hooting and hollering the whole way. "I couldn't tell if your screams were fear or elation," McCleary said when we reached the trailhead just 20 minutes after leaving Grotto Falls. "Both," I said. "Definitely both." HAMILTON No one knew how many people would turn out Thursday to comment on a proposed letter from the Ravalli County commissioners seeking to keep Syrian refugees from settling here. I was guessing maybe 100, said Commissioner Jeff Burrows. The meeting turned out to be the largest county commission meeting Burrows has ever seen. When more than 500 people packed the commissioners meeting room, the stairway leading to it and the outside steps at the countys administrative building, the commission called the Hamilton School District for help. In hindsight, we should have postponed the meeting, Burrows said. The school district offered the auditorium at the middle school, but when that space wasnt large enough, the meeting moved into the schools gym. We ended up putting them in a bad situation when all they were doing was trying to accommodate us, Burrows said. The meeting was often loud, and some students went home and told their parents about what happened. There were also reports that some people carried guns. Parents called the school district to complain Friday. Hamilton Superintendent Tom Korst said the district was taken by surprise by the number of people at the meeting. When we were called yesterday, the commission told us they had an overflow, Korst said. We were under the impression that the numbers were fewer. We thought we could accommodate them in the auditorium. It wasnt 100. It was more like 600. In hindsight, Korst said that while the district wants to be a good neighbor, it also has to balance that wish against the need to run a school in a safe manner. We ended up putting kids in a situation where they and their parents were uncomfortable, he said. I dont blame them. Were not going to have that happen again. I wont allow any spur-of-the-moment requests like that, unless the board directs me to do otherwise. Korst received reports of a number of violations of school rules, including people smoking on school grounds. The tone of the meeting was pretty harsh, he said. I didnt see any guns myself. That would have been a clear violation of state and federal law, and we would have addressed it. There could have been people carrying concealed weapons, Korst said. We dont have metal detectors. People did disperse OK once the meeting concluded. Nothing happened, but it did create a moment of tension. Were very aware that the situation wasnt ideal. Ravalli County Sheriff Chris Hoffman said a commissioner had asked him to attend the meeting a couple of days before it occurred. When Hoffman saw the number of people, he asked the undersheriff and lieutenant to join him. I think if I had been consulted, my suggestion would have been to postpone the meeting and wait for a more appropriate time, Hoffman said. That would have allowed for more time to arrange a better venue that, obviously, didnt coincide with school being in session. Hoffman said he and the other law enforcement officers did not see any weapons at the meeting. There were lots of empty holsters, he said. People were in compliance with the law. Hoffman said he would have liked to have had the opportunity to offer input on the letter the commission wrote to the U.S. State Department opposing the settlement of Syrian refugees. I wish they would have included the sheriffs office in the entire discussion, he said. There was the public safety aspect. ... I feel like the sheriffs office should have been involved. I wished they would have called and asked for our suggestions. Meanwhile, two international trade unions have filed a complaint with the United Nations labor agency about seafood from Thailand processed by slave workers. The Thai government said it was installing satellite tracking devices on fishing ships and requiring additional reporting of which workers get on and off ships. These and even stronger reforms are urgently needed to respond to the dark side of a multibillion-dollar industry that employs more than 650,000 people in Thailand alone. Thailand has long been judged by the State Department to be one of the worst slave labor offenders. A series in 2015 by The Timess Ian Urbina provided searing details about forced labor on Thai boats and chronicled the lives of several dozen Cambodian migrants, most of them boys, who worked on the ships but are now free. As the series made clear, lawlessness on the high seas goes beyond slave labor and illegal catches. Murders are committed with impunity, ships dump huge quantities of oil and sludge, and gunrunning is frequent. These problems are interrelated and must be addressed in a comprehensive way. The new American reforms can help correct some of these problems if they are rigorously enforced. The publicity the issue has been getting has led to pressure from consumers and activists on importers and wholesalers to be more diligent in identifying their suppliers, but there are questions about whether the government of the United States and those of other countries are fully committed to the task. The most potent advocates for change may be educated consumers. Get new posts by email: Click here to Subscribe With both candidates scrambling to win over African-American voters ahead of primary and caucus contests in Nevada and South Carolina, Sen. Bernie Sanders has said that his rival Hillary Clintons outspoken support of President Barack Obama amounts to transparent pandering to black voters. Sanders has largely closed the gap in polls between himself and Clinton among likely participants in the Nevada Democratic Caucus set for Saturday. The Vermont senator made the statement in an interview with the BET network, set to air Sunday night less than a week before the Democratic Primary in South Carolina, where Clinton leads Sanders by double digits among voters overall, and among African-American voters as well. "Hillary Clinton now is trying to embrace the president as closely as she possibly can. Everything the president does is wonderful. She loves the president, he loves her and all that stuff, Sanders said, according to CNN, whose correspondent conducted the interview. And we know what that's about. That's trying to win support from the African-American community where the president is enormously popular, Sanders added. Yvette Williams, chair of the Clark County Black Caucus (CCBC), which recently voted to endorse Sanders, said she agreed with the senators assessment, and that she was speaking for herself and not representing the caucus. Clark County is home to the state's largest city, Las Vegas. In my personal opinion, it appears she has done a lot of pandering to the African-American community for votes, Williams told Al Jazeera. Williams added that she had been a Clinton supporter until she heard Sanders speak in person, delivering a message of battling joblessness and poverty that afflict African-Americans in Nevada. She said Clintons campaign had reached out to the CCBC for a meeting last summer, but then never got back to the group to follow up on ways of addressing the concerns they raised about jobs, voting rights and education. I have seen a lot of her messages change and redirect their focus on black issues as the black electorate has become more important, Williams said. Sanders message hasnt changed. Its been consistent since day one, she added, saying that Clinton has simply tried to use the water crisis in Flint, Michigan, where lead-tainted water hit communities of color hard. Williams said Bill Clintons legacy in the White House including making welfare harder to access and promoting policies that drove mass incarceration also gave her pause. In recent debates, Clinton has attacked Sanders for questioning Obamas decisions and policies. Sanders reminded Clinton in the sometimes testy exchanges that she, not he, choose to challenge Obama in the then-Illinois senator's successful 2008 bid for the Democratic presidential nomination. Sanders said that the he bears the president no ill will, and that they have worked together in the past. "I think he has done a great job in many respects," Sanders said. "But you know what? Like any other human being, he is wrong on certain issues." The Clinton campaign blasted back at Sanders early Friday, after the news of his accusation came out. "It's disappointing that Senator Sanders thinks the only reason a Democrat would be proud of President Obama's work would be a political ploy to court African-American voters," Clintons office said, according to Politico. "We know Senator Sanders believes the President has shown failed leadership, but like Hillary Clinton, most Democrats have a different view. We are proud of President Obama's work to rescue the economy from the brink of collapse, pass landmark health reform and reform Wall Street, the Clinton offices statement added. Issues that affect the African-American community have taken center stage in this years contest for Democratic primary votes, more so than in 2008. In the last two years, controversial killings of unarmed black men and women by law enforcement with some such deaths captured on now-ubiquitous cell phone cameras have drawn calls from black civil rights activists for changes to how police treat members of their communities. Both Clinton and Sanders have planks in their platforms devoted to police reform and expanding social welfare programs to low-income African-American communities including a $125 billion plan Clinton announced Wednesday in Harlem. Sanders has said that through his push to reduce income inequality and expand access to education, life will improve for people of color. Williams said she feels that Clintons campaign seems to revolve too much around the candidate herself, while Sanders is bringing a message of collective civic action that is larger than him as a politician. "With Bernie Sanders it's about 'we,'" she said. The Covellite Theatre in Uptown Butte has been vacant since 2007. But thanks to some local entrepreneurs, Butte residents will again be able to watch performances in the historic structure. Brett Berry, Ed Lewalk and Matt Frey, who all live in Butte, purchased the Covellite in October and hope to have the theater up and running by summer. Built in 1896, the Covellite was once the First Presbyterian Church and was later converted into a theater. Berry, Lewalk and Frey said the decision to purchase the Covellite was simple: they didnt want to see the historic structure deteriorate. Everyone in Butte loves the building, said Berry. Every one of us were pretty big on the historic preservation side. We all got together and saw this as another opportunity to save a building, added Lewalk. The three are working to restore the theater at 215 W. Broadway St., across from the Butte Public Library. Updates include repairing the structures chimneys, renovating the interior, beautifying the outside, and improving the buildings functionality. They also said they have located the churchs original stained-glass windows and are in the process of acquiring them from the owner. Although the three entrepreneurs do not have a backgrounds in the arts, they said theyre confident they can breathe new life into the theater. People who are involved in arts and theater arent always the best business people in the world, said Lewalk. "We may not know much about arts and theater, but the three of us do know something about business. Indeed all three men have business experience. Berry, a former captain in the U.S. Army, has a background in sales and professional and technical writing, and Lewalk previously owned his own businesses. Frey, meanwhile, owns the property management company Big Sky BMG. Although the Covellite may be Buttes latest performing-arts scene, its not the only gig in town. Butte is already home to venues like the Mother Lode Theatre, Civic Center, Orphan Girl Theatre and The Times Bar, to name a few which begs the question, does Butte really need another stage? The three entrepreneurs say yes, pointing out that the Covellite offers diversity in a small venue experience. Were not in competition with the Mother Lode. The Mother Lode is our grand theater here in Butte that attracts off-Broadway shows, said Berry. (The Covellite) is for things that are going on in Butte, for Butte and by Butte. The entrepreneurs also pointed out that the Covellite is able to accommodate a variety of events. The two-story building features a stage, a small movie screen, and a bar-like space on the first floor while the top floor resembles a formal theater, replete with 220 plush seats. The seats can also be removed and stored in order to create room for a dance floor or standing area. The flexibility of the Covellite, the entrepreneurs maintain, makes the theater unique. Berry, Lewalk and Frey said they already have a few private events lined up for the Covellite. In the future, they hope to have live theater, music, movies, corporate events and open mics. But perhaps the most exciting attraction on the horizon will be the Covellite International Film Festival. Organized by Illinois native and Butte transplant Don Andrews, The Covellite International Film Festival will run Sept. 15 through 18. Andrews, who previously worked for the Oregon Film Festival, said he hopes to feature 40 films in 20 venues across Butte and will begin accepting submissions on the festivals website and on withoutabox.com in March. Andrews said he named the festival Covellite not only in reference to the theater but also because he was inspired by the rare minerals history. Covellite, Andrews said, elicits excitement from miners because it signals that gold or copper is nearby. In other words, covellite means something good is about to happen. And for Berry, Lewalk and Frey, that something good is a cultural rebirth. Theres just been a resurgence of people caring about arts and performance said Berry. (Theres) a kind of renaissance for Butte. You see it in other communities, said Lewalk. Art can save cities. The legal battle over the public's right to access the Ruby River from Seyler Lane in Madison County has entered its 12th year with a new hearing in District Judge Loren Tucker's courtroom in Virginia City Monday. While the Montana Supreme Court decided in 2014 the public has the right to use Seyler Lane, which runs through Atlanta media mogul James Cox Kennedy's property, through prescriptive easement, what Tucker still has to rule on is how much shoulder the county needs to maintain and repair the bridge. The hearing will allow both sides to bring in new witnesses to the case. Public Lands and Water Access, a nonprofit group, argues the county will need 60 feet of right-of-way to repair and maintain the bridge and needs to get down into the Ruby River. The county argues it needs two feet from the wingwall of the bridge. The wingwall is the angled, short wall on either side of a bridge. Lori Ryan, public affairs specialist for the DOT, says 60 feet of shoulder right-of-way is the Madison County standard. The bridge is inspected every two years. The last inspection took place in September 2015. During the last inspection, the inspector noted cracking and scaling on the foundation of the bridge and exposed rebar. A new Federal Highway Administration rule, which the DOT implements starting this year, requires that certain bridges, including Seyler Lane bridge, will have to be inspected at their foundation level underneath the water. Jeff Ebert, administrator for the DOT, said the stream beds underneath a bridges foundation gets "scoured," meaning the stream bed washes away over time due to water's flow. When the stream bed is washed away enough to cause concern, the DOT will meet with the county to discuss repairs, which would require the county to get down into the water. Susan Swimley Brown, the attorney representing the county, said the new rule won't affect the case. "The county doesnt have an argument in this other than to establish what the facts are," Swimley Brown said. Peter Coffman, the Atlanta-based attorney arguing Kennedy's side, said he didn't think the new regulation would affect the case either. "We've never stopped an inspector from getting into the water," Coffman said. But Devlin Geddes, attorney for Public Lands and Water Access, said the county has taken a narrow interpretation of what the bridge needs. "If the court determines the right-of-way is that narrow, it would be so narrow, it would be meaningless," Devlin said. "We're advocating for a wider width because that is what is reasonably necessary for the road and bridge." The hearing planned for Monday is expected to be the last hearing on the case. Then it'll be up to Tucker to rule, which could end the fight - unless the side that loses tries to appeal again. Montana Western hosts social Saturday in Butte Montana Western Alumni and Friends will host a social at Metals Sports Bar & Grill, Park and Main, 3 to 5 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 20, prior to the Bulldog Men's and Women's basketball games at Montana Tech. "We are excited about the opportunity to host an alumni and friends social in Butte," alumni director Roxanne Engellant said. "Montana Western has many alumni and friends in the area, and we hope to host more regional events this year." Appetizers will be provided by Montana Western Alumni and Friends. The bar is no-host, and door prizes will be given. Theologian to speak at St. Anns Church As part of St. Anns Lenten Parish Mission, David M. Thomas, a theology professor, will talk about The Sacred Sheer Power of Mercy on Monday and Tuesday, Feb. 22 and 23. He will speak after the 8:45 a.m. mass and at 7 p.m. at St. Anns Church, 2100 Farragut Ave. Thomas is the director of Family Life and publisher and editor of Spirituality and Theology. Irish history contest winners named Three Ramsay School students have been named local and state winners in the 2015 Ladies Ancient Order of Hibernians Irish history essay contest, "The Involvement of Women in the 1916 Easter Rising." Winning at the local level, Anaconda Division, are: 1. Hallie Burnett, $100; 2. Madison Bailey, $75; and 3. Braleigh Garrett, $50. Winning at the state level are: 1. Braleigh Garrett, $100, and 2. Hallie Burnett and Madison Bailey tied for second, $62.50 each. The three students will be awarded their prizes at the school's quarterly assembly in April. Library hosts afternoon programs Beginning Tuesday, Feb. 23, the Butte-Silver Bow Public Library will host weekly afternoon events. The free offerings run from 3:30 to 5 p.m. and are open to all ages and abilities. The schedule follows: Tuesdays Library Lego Build offers a chance to create designs with Legos. This is an opportunity to just let your creativity go and make it at your library. Wii Wednesdays are gaming galore. We will set up our Wii and give you an opportunity to show off your moves and challenge your friends. We also have iPads loaded with games and board games while you wait your turn on the Wii. Coding Club on Thursdays offers a chance to learn JAVA coding with www.coding.org. Code Studios easy-to-use tutorials are designed to teach computer science basics for students of all ages. You can start any time and work at your own pace. Either bring your own laptops or use one of ours (spaces are limited to the number of laptops). Details: Shari Curtis at 406-723-3361 (ext. 6302) or scurtis@buttepubliclibrary.info. Dozens of Al Qaeda fighters took control of the southern Yemeni town of Ahwar on Saturday, residents said, consolidating the group's control over much of the region. The coastal city and surrounding district, in Abyan province, is home to more than 30,000 people and is an important geographic link between the major port city of Mukalla to the east and the smaller town of Zinjibar, both of which Al Qaeda seized months ago. "At dawn this morning the Al Qaeda gunmen clashed with the Popular Resistance forces, killing three of them," one resident said. "They attacked the sheikh in charge of the area and after he escaped set up street checkpoints and planted their black flag on government buildings." Separately, two gunmen riding a motorbike killed one of the most senior commanders in the Popular Resistance, a loose confederation of southern groups opposed to Al Qaeda. Sheikh Mazen al-Aqrabi was killed along with a bodyguard in Yemen's second-largest city of Aden in the southwest, an eyewitness and a security official said. The gunmen were believed to be from Al Qaeda, according to the official. Residents in Aden's Mansoura neighborhood also reported heavy explosions on Friday night as gunmen launched shoulder-fired rockets in a failed attempt to take over a container port. Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, a Sunni Muslim group that claims to be subordinate to the main global militant organization, has expanded during Yemen's civil war. Viewed by Western analysts as the most dangerous arm of Al Qaeda, it claimed responsibility for the deadly January 2015 attack in Paris on the satirical French magazine Charlie Hebdo. The Al Qaeda groups in advance in Yemen triggered a military intervention by a Gulf Arab coalition in March last year. The Saudi-led forces, which back the ousted government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, have clashed with the ascendant Houthi movement that they fear is a proxy for Shia Muslim Iran. The Houthis and Iran deny this. Hadi's Aden-based government has struggled to reverse Al Qaedas advance which has reached areas close to the presidential palace. Even so, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has suffered setbacks, losing its leader and several top officials in U.S. drone strikes and is facing competition from the new Yemen branch of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant. Reuters GUANGZHOU, China Fahd Ali Esmail owns Saba, the only Yemeni restaurant in Guangzhou. He went to China in 2001 at the age of 18, following his father, who had been working in the garment trade in Indonesia. Esmail spoke neither Chinese nor English then but picked up both as his family moved its fabric business to Guangzhou, then opened a restaurant in 2002. As China joined the World Trade Organization, Arab businessmen flooded into special economic zones like Guangzhou, ordering everything from lingerie to toothbrushes from Chinese factories to sell in the Middle East. China welcomes Arabs more than Arabs themselves, said Esmail, who grew up in Saudi Arabia but has no intention of returning there or to Yemen, especially with the ongoing civil war. His family has found customers among the Arabs who congregate in areas like Guangzhous Xiaobei Lu, a hub for African and Middle Eastern communities. There, cellphone stores selling unlocked SIM cards with Facebook access sit among mini-markets stocked with dates, tahini and chocolate imported from Iran. Chinese waiters serve customers from menus filled with Levantine salads and Turkish kebabs as well as Cantonese dim sum. Arabs are in China largely for the same reason that China is increasingly going into the Arab world: business. Last month Chinese president Xi Jinping made his first diplomatic visit to the Middle East. Amid heightened regional tensions after Saudi Arabias execution of prominent Shia cleric Nimr al-Nimr, Xi met with leaders in Riyadh, Cairo and Tehran. His trip underscored Chinas recent attempts to expand its role in conflict resolution, even as Beijing emphasizes its principle of noninterference. China supports peace talks rather than looking for a proxy in the Middle East or seeking any sphere of influence, Xi remarked before the Arab League at its headquarters in Egypt. But Chinas strength lies in its economy, and as the countrys GDP growth slows down, Beijing is building its diplomatic goals on a vision of peace and stability through business as usual. Xi and his recently established Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank have already pledged $100 billion in financing for the One Belt, One Road initiative, an ambitious vision of Chinese investment and trade rejuvenating the ancient Silk Road from China through Central Asia to the Middle East. His visit helped substantiate the plan as he offered $55 billion worth of loans and investments in the region, mostly for infrastructure and industrial development. Chinas overtures to the Middle East come at a time of economic shifts. The economic slowdown in China is exactly whats driving Xi Jinpings increased efforts to advertise for One Belt, One Road, said Tong Zhao, an analyst at the Carnegie-Tsinghua Center for Global Policy. Egypts President Abdel Fattah El Sisi, left, and Xi at the Luxor Temple in Luxor, Egypt, Jan. 21, 2016. Stringer/AFP/Getty Images Chinas slowdown has affected business in Guangzhou, but not to the extent that traders are withdrawing en masse. Muta Daker, a Syrian, owns La Rosetta, a lingerie franchise, with a factory in Guangzhou, that exports underwear and nightgowns to Dubai. He employs 50 people, including 35 sewing workers who live in factory dormitories, with food provided standard for migrant workers in the area. When he opened his factory in 2008, laborers were paid 1,200 yuan ($184) per month. Now you cant find a worker for 3,000 or 4,000 yuan, he said. Costs have gone up so much that a garment business is no cheaper to run in China than in Turkey, he said. But China remains unbeatable for its sheer amount of manpower, even with rising costs. No one can replace China in terms of productive capacity. Expansion of Sino-Arab trade ties benefits businesses like Seven Seas Shipping, a Jordanian air and freight company headed by Nader Shahrouri, 34. China is the factory of the world, he said. All the world has an economic crisis now. China has a crisis too, but it will keep on exporting. His company beats Chinese competitors by providing access to areas rife with conflict. Other shippers can reach Dubai, but it takes regional expertise to provide door-to-door deliveries to Damascus and Baghdad. His company recently secured a deal to ship Chinese oil extraction and infrastructure construction equipment from Shanghai to Jordan for the Attarat Power Plant, a planned project slated to cost $1.6 billion, financed by loans from the Bank of China and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China. Attarat could become the second-largest oil-shale-fired power plant in the world, he said, but the project has been delayed. Oil prices are down, he said. As Xi made his rounds, Chinese analysts and media outlets praised Chinas approach. State-run outlet The Global Times ran an article titled The Wests interference in the Middle East hurts itself and others, presenting China as an important alternative. China is the only great nation without imperial interests or demands in the Middle East, said Li Shaoxian, the vice president of Chinas Institute of Contemporary International Relations. A central cause of Middle Eastern instability is overlapping conflicts among various great powers fighting to secure their interests in the region, he wrote in The Peoples Daily. China can meet the Middle Easts two urgent needs, he added: security and economic renewal. Economic growth is the foundation for stability, especially after structural turmoil. No one can replace China in terms of productive capacity. Muta Daker Syrian businessman MUSCATINE, Iowa At age 16, Eric Yerington became a camp counselor at the Salvation Armys Kid Zone Day Camp. Now, 27 years later, Yerington is director of the camp, which he has proudly developed into a fun, memorable experience for the children who participate. At first I thought I might do it a year or two, but every year I wanted to go back and every year I want to make it better, said Yerington, 43, who is excited to announce that enrollment is open for 2016. In the beginning we had 10 kids sign up now we can enroll 70 children. The licensed day care aims to be a fun and educational experience for participants 6 to 12 years old. Campers take field trips to local attractions such as the Muscatine Aquatic Center, the movie theater, Discovery Park and the Muscatine Art Center. Once a week they take a big out-of-town trip and are bused to a new destination. In the past, the group has gone to the Maquoketa Caves State Park, Circa 21 Dinner Theater in Rock Island, Illinois, and Hucks Harbor at Fun City in Burlington. They also practice for a musical that is performed for their parents. When participants arent on the go, they enjoy playing and learning at the Salvation Army Corps Community Center, 1000 Oregon St. in Muscatine. Kid Zone Day Camp is a ministry of the Salvation Army and includes daily devotions and Christian-based scripture lessons. Breakfast, lunch and snacks are provided during the camp, which operates weekdays 9 a.m.4 p.m. June 6-July 29. All field trips and activities are covered by the weekly fee of $55 per child, and $45 for each additional child. Yerington said it is important to make the price affordable while still offering activities and travel experiences. The Salvation Army, an international organization, is an evangelical part of the universal Christian Church and was established in Muscatine in 1892. While the Salvation Army is known for its social services, Kid Zone Day Camp is for everyone and all children are welcome to enroll, regardless of religious beliefs, Yerington said. Yerington, a science teacher at West Middle School for 17 years, said the camp staff is made up of certified teachers who have experience with children. Having been involved with the camp since it began, Yerington said he has a good grasp of what works, what doesnt and what the children enjoy doing. Yerington appreciates watching children learn and grow, and wanted be a science teacher since he was in high school. He said being part of the camp allowed him to get some training before college and work with youth in a positive, enjoyable environment. Most of the kids that come really love it. A lot of them dont get to go to places like this on a daily basis, he said. It is an experience for a lot of them. They make memories at camp. Zach Robertson, 12, attended the camp in the past and said that he enjoys the trips and that the camp instructors are very friendly. He is returning to the camp this summer. Its a good camp to go to. I have a lot of friends there, Robertson said. I like that they tell you all the good places you will get to go but sometimes they surprise you too with good trips. Yerington said it is best for parents to enroll students early to allow for planning, however applicants will be accepted through the June 6 start date. For more information, visit Kid Zone Day Camp on Facebook or call 563-263-8272. MUSCATINE, Iowa Congressman Dave Loebsack, D-Iowa, spent Friday afternoon in Muscatine visiting a homegrown business and having a fish dinner with some of his constituents. Loebsack toured Fighting Chance Solutions, 215 E. Second St., in Muscatine, the manufacturers of The Sleeve and the Rampart. The ownership team, which developed both products, started off by showing Loebsack how their first product, The Sleeve, works. The Sleeve is a 2.11-pound piece of 12-gauge carbon steel designed to slip over the door's closer arms to prevent it from being opened from the outside. Many doors in schools and other public places open out into the hallway and have closer arms. They then developed the Rampart to secure doors that open in and aren't equipped with a closer arm. The name came from the Star Spangled Banner verse "O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming." Loebsack asked many questions and told the group he would see what he could do about helping them learn the ins and outs of marketing their products to the federal government. They have sold some to government offices but have not been able to market the devices to the government on a larger scale. After spending about 40 minutes at Fighting Chance, Loebsack went to the Lenten Friday fish fry at Sts. Mary and Mathias School on Cedar Street. He talked with constituents. "The more I can get around my district the more I can, hopefully, effectively represent folks within my district in Washington D.C.. I think I've had four or five visits today at least," Loebsack said. "This is the kind of day I like to have. I like to get out and talk to as many people as possible. What these folks are doing here is pretty amazing." "We appreciate the Congressman coming out and feeling that support . It is a local company. He didn't have to come here but he made it a point go out of his way to come down and meet with us and that always means a lot," said Dan Nietzel of Fighting Chance. DENVER, Colo. Clarence Moses-EL met his three grandsons for the first time last December, when he was released from prison after serving 28 years for a sexual assault he says he did not commit. On the steps of the jail, the boys wrapped their arms around his legs and looked up at their beaming grandfather. Moses-EL had insisted that they not see him in jail and know little about him. "I didn't want them to experience that. People ask, 'Who is your granddad?' 'My granddad is a jailbird'." Moses-EL had served half of a 48-year sentence when a handwritten confession letter was delivered to him. "I have a lot in my heart," it said. "Have them come up and see me. It's time." The note was signed "L.C." L.C. Jackson was a friend of both Moses-EL and the victim. Jackson was already in prison for a separate rape when he wrote the letter and admitted to investigators that in 1987 he had sex with the victim, then attacked her; Moses-EL was not the perpetrato. A judge has since overturned Moses-EL's conviction and ordered a probe, citing the letter and inconsistent blood evidence presented at Moses-EL's trial. Today, Moses-EL is out on $50,000 bond waiting for the Denver district attorney to decide whether he will retry the case. "I didn't do it. And they know that," Moses-EL said about the possibility of a retrial. One of the crucial pieces of evidence at his 1988 trial was the victim's word that she had a vision of him attacking her while she was in a coma. The eventual confessor, Jackson, was never interviewed about the assault despite the fact that the victim named him and two other men before she slipped into unconsciousness. The entire time he was behind bars, Moses-EL proclaimed his innocence and never stopped fighting for justice. When DNA technology advanced, he didn't have the funds to have the rape kit from his case analyzed. Other inmates stepped up and collected their own money to pay for it. Tragically, the rape kit sat for so long at the police station that it was thrown out. If there was a time for Moses-EL to give up, that was it. Over a decade later came the confession from Jackson. But the revelation may not be the smoking gun Moses-ELs attorneys say it is. In a statement, district attorney Mitch Morrissey said Jackson admitted to investigators that "he lied and made the confession up." Jackson did recant the confession to investigators, but later testified under oath that he meant it after all. Morrissey also claims that the details Jackson gave about having sex with the victim are "implausible and not consistent with the brutal beating that resulted in the serious injuries she suffered." Since the case was overturned, district attorney investigators have been jogging the decades-old memories of witnesses and the victim herself, who stands by her original story. Next week, the district attorney will announce his decision about whether or not to retry Moses-EL. "The fact that the DA's office has not dismissed the case is disappointing, to say the least," said Moses-EL's current attorney, Eric Klein. Though he's out of jail, learning about cellphones and how to live with his wife Stephanie again, Moses-EL says he is not a free man. He wears an ankle bracelet that monitors his movements. He must stay inside his home from 10 p.m. until 6 a.m. Still, Moses-EL insists that he doesnt hold any grudges and is hopeful for justice. "When I came out, I wanted to kiss the ground. I didn't come out bitter. I didn't come out angry," he said. ATHENS, Ga. Melissa Link shares her personal testimony as if she were at a religious retreat. Standing on a table in front of 200 mostly young, white residents of this Southern college town, she explains how she came to believe and asks them to spread the message to the world. The crowd erupts in applause and cheers wildly. But this isnt a camp meeting or faith-based revival. She is endorsing Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders at the launch party for his campaigns Athens field office. Dont be ashamed, ever. And dont be afraid, ever, to let people know what you believe. And share the truth about Bernie, Link exclaims. People have given up hope. They have totally given up hope ... We need to restore that hope. Its a scene that has repeated itself across this state and even the region. Sanders had a near-tie in the Iowa caucuses and a resounding victory in New Hampshires first-in-the-nation primary. Now his campaign is ramping up its ground game in the South before Super Tuesday, on March 1, when many Southern states hold their primaries. But because those states have a higher percentage of minority voters and have more moderate Democratic electorates, many wonder whether Sanders, a socialist-leaning senator from Vermont, can make true inroads. The Sanders campaign opened offices in Athens, Atlanta, and Savannah last week, according to state Rep. LaDawn Jones, the campaigns Georgia director. While those offices are to support campaign efforts for South Carolina primary on Saturday, theyre also making calls and knocking on doors in Georgia. We are working with South Carolina to canvas communities throughout South Carolina, and South Carolina will be working with us, Jones says. We are reaching out to the people that matter most, the voters. Amanda Guthrie-Puckett, 38, a homemaker from Jefferson, Georgia, is part of that effort. During the Sanders campaigns launch party in Athens, she shares her struggle to survive on low-paying jobs and meager public assistance. Trying economic times, she says, motivated her to support Barack Obama and, now, Bernie Sanders. Ive seen what money in politics can do, she said. Sitting next to her is Christina DeLaigle, 68, a retired teacher from Athens. She tells the group how painful it was when a friend couldnt afford cancer treatments at the same time DeLaigles insurance was able to pay for her own cancer medication. I saw that, and it made me so grateful that millions more have health care, she says of Obamas signature health care reforms. [Now] Im going with Bernie on the single-payer [system], she adds, in reference to Sanders ambitious promise to further reform health care in the U.S. Les emplois a Rennes sont abondants et varies. Il y a quelque chose pour tout le monde. Que vous soyez a la recherche dun emploi [] Les blattes ou cafards (Blatta orientalis) sont des insectes qui appartiennent a la famille des Blattoptera. Ils se caracterisent par leur forme allongee, leurs ailes [] Earlier this week, the U.S. government dropped a bombshell in its ongoing crusade against strong encryption: A court order demanding that Apple help the Federal Bureau of Investigation bypass the security features of an iPhone recovered from Syed Rizwan Farook, who, along with his wife, Tashfeen Malik, killed 14 people last December during a mass-shooting in San Bernardino, California. National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden called it the the most important tech case in a decade, and in many ways hes absolutely right. Apple has been on the front lines of the tech privacy fight ever since it improved the security of its devices such that no one, not even the company itself, would be technically capable of accessing their stored data. Now, facing a standstill in Congress, the U.S. government has ordered the company to build a custom version of the iOS operating system that would disable the iPhones security features, allowing FBI investigators to crack the passcode protecting the device by trying every possible combination a method known as brute force. The order is unprecedented. At stake is whether the U.S. government can legally compel a company to create software that sabotages its own products in the name of fighting crime. In a scathing letter posted on Apples website, CEO Tim Cook announced the companys intent to fight the order, saying it would set a dangerous precedent that would be ineffective against criminals and would hurt only the well-meaning and law-abiding citizens who rely on companies like Apple to protect their data. Whats more, many details of the case cast doubt on the value or existence of data supposedly contained on the device. It suggests the governments real goal is actually setting this dangerous precedent not unlocking a dead criminals phone. Evidence of this strategy can be found in the order itself including in its legal justification, the All Writs Act, a law that was enacted 277 years ago. The Act broadly allows courts to compel individuals and companies to do pretty much anything, as long as it aids the execution of a court order and isnt unreasonably burdensome. Needless to say, its invocation in a case dealing with advanced technology is bizarre and smacks of desperation to many legal scholars. As the CATO Institutes privacy law expert Julian Sanchez puts it, The FBI [...] is relying on an 18th-century law to grant it powers that our 21st Congress wont. Secondly, the FBIs assertion that the phone contains valuable evidence is at odds with the known facts of the case. The court order notes that Farook destroyed several other phones to hide evidence prior to the attack. Its extremely doubtful hed neglect to destroy the remaining phone if it had any evidence on it. Another reason to be skeptical: The device was actually owned by Farooks employer, the San Bernardino county health department. Given the lengths he went to destroy evidence, its highly unlikely Farook would plan attacks using a company device, since it would be reasonable to assume his employer might be monitoring it. The phone was discovered by agents with the Find My iPhone feature turned on a very strange setting to have activated on a device being used to coordinate terrorist plots. Hello, fellow seniors. Its great to be with you again. We recently learned that on Dec. 31, 2015, Legal Aid of Napa Valley has formally joined Bay Area Legal Aid. The two have long shared a commitment to equal justice, legal excellence, diversity and pro bono services, and Legal Aid of Napa Valley is thrilled to expand legal services for low-income Napa County residents. Together, that commitment will continue and build new partnerships that will transform the lives of Napa Valley clients. Today, we are fortunate in having as our guest Kristi Lesnewich, staff attorney at Legal Aid of Napa Valley, now Bay Area Legal Aid (BayLegal). Im pleased to tell you that Kristi and I have been good friends for many years, so this is much fun for me. So lets welcome Kristi and ask our first question. Betty: Kristi, please tell us what this merger means to the senior of Napa Valley? Kristi: I will continue to do the work I was doing as a staff attorney at Legal Aid of Napa Valley. And the exciting part is that I will have support of all the other attorneys and support staff at Bay Area Legal Aid (BayLegal). BayLegal helps with preventing elder abuse, preparing small-estate documents that include wills, power of attorneys for finance and advance health-care directives, assistance with landlord/tenant disputes, incapacity and conservatorships, access to Social Security, SSI, and other public benefits and issues with long-term care and nursing home problems. Betty: Kristi, that is amazing. I dont believe our readers realized the extent of the services you have to offer on legal matters. Please continue. Actually, it gets even better. BayLegal has a Health Consumer Center, dedicated to serving residents with health access needs including assistance with understanding the Affordable Care Act, providing assistance with accessing or maintaining or resolving issues with Medi-Cal, Denti-Cal, Medicare, In-Home Support Services (IHSS), Paratransit and/or county health programs. In addition to these services, BayLegal helps individuals with problems dealing with medical bills, problems with or accessing private health coverage, treatment, health services, prescriptions, procedures and/or medical transportation. Betty: Thanks, Kristi. Lets talk a bit about your years leading up to BayLegal. Prior to the merger with BayLegal, I had worked as a staff attorney for the seniors program at Legal Aid of Napa Valley for 13 years. During those years I had the pleasure of assisting thousands of seniors living in the valley. Many of our seniors are truly living the golden years but regrettably there are those who are not as fortunate. Sadly, I see many of those in our older community who are victims of elder abuse. This abuse can be found in the privacy of ones own home by ones own family member. I have clients who have had adult children or grandchildren move in and slowly take over the home. The abuse can be as subtle as just not contributing to the household expenses, causing a strain on an already limited fixed income, to the extreme of physically harming the elder. I work closely with the countys Adult Protective Services and the District Attorneys Elder Abuse Prevention staff to ensure the safety of all who live here. Part of the work I do is community outreach so I can share information to both seniors and their loved ones. There is so much to be gained from knowledge, including piece of mind. An example: I recently had a call from an isolated senior who was on the verge of hysteria because she was told by a debt collector that if she did not make a payment in the next day the sheriff would come to her home and arrest her. Had she been armed with the knowledge that the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act prohibits debt collectors from using abusive, unfair or deceptive practices to collect a debt, and that there is no debtors prison in California, she could have put that caller in his place. In addition to my work providing direct legal services, I also have had the opportunity to work with community partners. One project that was extremely gratifying was the work done as a commissioner on the Commission on Aging to make Napa County the one and only county to pass a caregivers ordinance, ensuring that those who provide care in the homes of our elderly and disabled undergo a criminal background check. And now I am working with Honoring Choices Napa Valley, with the goal that all who live in our valley will receive health care based on their previously expressed personal and cultural values. Napa County has a large number of older adults, many with legal needs. Although I am now pleased to be working with such a supportive agency, we still have limited resources so we must prioritize our work. We do this by targeting older adults who are low-income and/or disabled, those who are isolated, who are at risk of homelessness or those who are victims of elder abuse. Many thanks, Kristi. I think our readers would all agree that BayLegal has an outstanding and dedicated attorney, ensuring the well-being of all seniors with legal issues. Thanks, so much, for being with us. Friends, Kristi Lesnewich with BayLegal, formally Legal Aid, can be reached at the Legal Advice Line, 800-551-5554, for an appointment to see her or to get legal advice BayLegal is at 575 Lincoln Ave., Suite 210 in Napa, 259-0579. If youd like assistance with one of their attorneys at the Health Consumer Center, the number there is 855-693-7285. That wraps it up for this week. Enjoy the weather and enjoy one another. Id love to hear from you at bettyrrhodes@sbcglobal.net, RICHMOND, Va. Ever since Virginia slapped strict laws on the sale of distilled spirits after Prohibition, enterprising businesspeople have looked for ways to set the devils water free. This year, the legislature is weighing bills pushed by local makers of small-batch liquor that would allow them to pocket more of the profit from their bottle sales and give customers inventive ways to imbibe the strong stuff. The bills are among dozens seeking to ease alcohol regulations in Virginia, including efforts to serve drinks in cigar shops and art studios, reduce the amount of food restaurants must sell in order to be allowed to pour cocktails, and allow state-run liquor stores to sell tourism merchandise such as Virginia Is for Lovers swag. The onslaught has left lawmakers weighing public safety against economic development as Virginia struggles to reconcile its tip-of-the-Bible-Belt rural communities with Washingtons progressive suburbs and the embrace of entrepreneurs by Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a Democrat. It poses a particular conundrum for some Republican lawmakers, who must balance the teetotaling tendencies of some of their socially conservative constituents with an ideological aversion to government regulation and interference. And the proposals have sparked a wave of opposition from sellers of other forms of alcohol, who are reluctant to give producers of hard liquor a competitive edge. Were [seeing] more folks looking for ways to sell alcohol that were not used to, said Del. C. Todd Gilbert, R-Shenandoah, a former prosecutor who chairs the committee that hears alcohol-related bills. We certainly want to encourage business to thrive in Virginia, but that is bumping up against long-established rules and regulations. We may need to go back to the drawing board. An overhaul of Virginias Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control cant come soon enough for Denver Riggleman, who followed his wife Christines hunch a few years ago that they could build a business distilling spirits in the Blue Ridge Mountains. They named it Silverback Distillery after Denver Riggleman a former intelligence officer with gray hair and a hot temper. Christine apprenticed out west, learning to cook liquor that is far superior to the bathtub gin that, according to family legend, her aunts made years ago. We learned from the ground up, Denver Riggleman said. I was a good drinker I was talented at that but I never made liquor. It might be a family tradition, we just dont want to own up to it. The Rigglemans two-story distillery features modern tasting rooms with photos of their signature gorilla and fermentation equipment that rivals national brands. On a recent Saturday, customers crowded around locally sourced soapstone bar tops like they would at any tavern. But there were some subtle differences. The glasses were small Virginias craft distilleries can serve at most four half-ounce tastings of their product, amounting to a series of mini-neat drinks or cocktails. There is no similar limit at wineries and breweries. And the share of sales that goes to the state ABC agency is larger than what beer and wine sellers have to pay. Hoping to change all that, some of the states 40 distillers including the Rigglemans formed a guild and hired W. Curtis Coleburn, a former ABC head, to lobby lawmakers and the states powerful alcohol interests. They so far have found little enthusiasm for making big changes to a state-run system that generated $845 million last year, for a record profit of $152 million. We as an industry are vested in making sure that stays in place and grows, said Philip H. Boykin of the Virginia Beer Wholesalers Association, which is pushing to limit changes in the states alcohol regulations. Because if those profits arent coming out of ABC, theyre going to be looking to other alcohol interests for those tax dollars. The Virginia Restaurant Lodging and Travel Association opposes the proposal to allow much bigger tasting portions at distilleries, which they say would give those businesses an unfair advantage over restaurants. Restaurants can serve unlimited, full-portion cocktails, but unlike distilleries they must sell a certain proportion of food in order to be able to serve liquor. Until that state policy changes, we as a restaurant community dont want to see some businesses being given an advantage in selling liquor where we dont enjoy the same privileges, lobbyist Thomas Lisk said. The Virginia Wine Wholesalers Association did not return messages seeking comment. Riggleman said the lobbies fear competition and see the growth of businesses like his as a threat and a slippery slope toward privatization of the sale of hard liquora concept that former Republican governor Robert McDonnell tried but failed to push through the GOP-controlled legislature in 2011. The wine and beer lobbies made $1.7 million in political donations in 2014 and 2015, according to data compiled by the Virginia Public Access Project. The loosely formed distillers guild is so new that it has not coordinated a similar political giving effort. But Virginias distilled spirits industry has seen a 62 percent jump in total sales direct from distilleries and through ABC retail stores over the last five years, according to a beer and wine association analysis of state data. Boykin, the beer lobbyist, said those numbers show craft distilleries can afford to wait for thoughtful, deliberative change. The General Assembly approved a small increase in tasting size last year, for example, and seems likely to approve another small increase this legislative session. But Riggleman, who considers himself a rebel and an entrepreneur, is impatient. He says he and his wife would not have built their business in Virginia had they known what they were up against. If youre lobbying to hurt another industry because youre afraid of competition, thats cronyism, he said. Every other industry has this level playing field. Why not us? That frustration is exactly what McAuliffe is trying to combat with a slick economic development operation and incentive grants. His administration has awarded eight businesses involved in craft brewing a total of $471,500 in exchange for a $30 million capital investment and 128 jobs, data show. You will be hearing more about economic development happenings in the distilled spirits sector during 2016 because of projects that are coming online and existing projects that are growing, Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry Todd Haymore said in an interview. Scott Harris who with his wife, Becky, founded Catoctin Creek Distilling in Purcellville in Loudoun County in 2009 said he is optimistic about the future of the spirits industry in the state. Millennials want to know where their food comes from, Harris said, and its no different for whiskey. They say, Oh, this whiskey was made an hour from here, and I can go visit, he said. On Christmas Day last year, 13-year-old Digna Hernandez Turcios was at home in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, when three men rushed into her familys home and shot her uncle dead for refusing to join Barrio 18, a transnational gang. The group and its rival, Mara Salvatrucha 13, have wreaked havoc across Central Americas so-called Northern Triangle of Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador. The assassination was payback for not cooperating. Dignas story is a common one. Every Central American making the perilous journey in search of asylum in Mexico or the United States seems to have his or her own story of murder, rape or extortion. So when Pope Francis visited Ciudad Juarez on Wednesday, refugees were high on his agenda. He has long empathized with the struggles of all those who are in movement, as he calls them, and has said that refugees have an inalienable dignity, which is theirs as a child of God. In Juarez he lamented the human tragedy that is forced migration. But the popes plea for empathy and compassion will likely fall on deaf ears in Washington, where decades of harsh immigration policies and partisan politics have helped create the very refugee crisis Central America now faces. Francis didnt stop at words to relay his message of empathy and hope. Before holding a cross-border Mass attended by 50,000 people on the U.S. side and 200,000 on the Mexican side, he visited CERESO Estatal 3 (State Prison No. 3), a notoriously violent prison in Juarez where gangs once exerted total control inside its walls. There was speculation that he would make good on his desire to cross the Mexico-U.S. border in a show of solidarity with migrants, but he stopped just short, ascending a ramp to a specially built platform overlooking the border, where he blessed those gathered a stones throw away on the U.S. side. The turf wars tearing apart Central America began in Los Angeles in the 1980s, when thousands of refugees from El Salvadors civil war arrived and settled in some of the citys poorest and roughest neighborhoods. Their children formed MS-13 and the Barrio 18 to protect themselves from the entrenched Mexican-American and black gangs. In the early 1990s, with tough-on-crime policies being advanced across the country, the United States responded to the gangs by clamping down on immigration. The 1996 Illegal Immigrant Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act and the accompanying Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act broadened the definition of an aggravated felony under immigration law, making more petty crimes, like shoplifting and even missing a court date, deportable offenses while reducing the list of forms of relief available to noncitizens. The combination was catastrophic. As a result of those acts, scores of young gang members were deported to El Salvador and Honduras, and they took their LA street gang affiliations with them. The numbers are astounding. El Salvadors murder rate in 2015 surged to its highest level since the countrys civil war ended in 1992. At 104 murders per 100,000 people a 70 percent spike over 2014 the countrys murder rate is the highest in the world outside of war zones. A comparable rate in New York City would mean almost 9,000 murders per year. (The city had 208 murders in 2015 a 9 percent increase from the previous year sparking public outcry.) Concerned citizens and scientists have joined forces to combat a major threat to walnut trees: Thousand Cankers disease, a fungal infection, spread by the tiny, native walnut twig beetle. Susceptible trees include our magnificent Northern California black walnuts, Paradox walnuts and English walnuts, which are still grown commercially here. The disease was confirmed in Napa County late last year. On Feb. 9, I attended a seminar presented by the Napa County Walnut TCD Task Force, an opportunity to learn the latest information on this tree pest/disease complex. Presented by the Napa County agricultural commissioners office, the program included Dr. Richard Bostock, professor of plant pathology at UC Davis; Steve Seybold, research entomologist, UC Davis and U.S. Forest Service; Gretchen Hayes of Tessera Sciences; and well-informed people who have been following the problem. Here is a brief rundown: The disease is caused by a fungus, Geosmithia morbida, which hitches a ride on the bodies of walnut twig beetles (Pityophthorus juglandis). The beetles are only about 1.5 mm in length. They make pin-size entry and exit holes in the bark of the trunk and branches. Of themselves, the wounds and the egg galleries would probably not be life-threatening to a vigorous tree, but the fungus causes cankers, dead patches that enlarge and eventually cut off the supply of nutrients. There may be thousands of these in a single tree, hence the name. The effects are seen as oozing patches, flagging of the foliage, dieback of branches and eventual death of the tree. The beetle was discovered in New Mexico around 1896 but its association with the fungus at that time is not known. The fungus was new to science in 2011, Dr. Bostock said. The disease was confirmed in walnuts in Utah and Oregon in the 1990s, then New Mexico, Colorado, Washington State, California, Nevada, Idaho, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Virginia and North Carolina. And now it has been confirmed in English walnuts growing in northeast Italy. It is believed that an infestation in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, originated from a black walnut log transported there from Chico. The extent of the disease in California includes at least 15 counties from Sutter in the north, to Los Angeles in the south. In September 2015, Californias Department of Food and Agriculture confirmed the first report of Thousand Cankers disease in Napa County. Paradox walnut, Luther Burbanks hybrid of English and Northern California black walnut, which is the rootstock for about 70 percent of commercially grown English walnuts, is most susceptible to the disease. Northern California black walnut and English walnuts are somewhat less susceptible. Of particular interest to me is the similarity of this pest/disease complex to that of foamy canker in oaks, caused by Geosmithia pallida and spread by another tiny beetle, the western oak bark beetle (Pseudopityophthorus pubipennis). Interestingly, infestations of that beetle in live oaks, in my experience, have not been fatal except in recent years, when foamy canker disease began to be confirmed in our region. Literature distributed at the seminar, and available online from UC IPM, states, There are currently no known control measures for diseased trees. Monitoring, by trapping and identifying beetles as described in Detecting and Identifying WTB (UC IPM, March 2013), is being employed to detect an incipient population of WTB or delimit a known population where it has been recently discovered, the publication says. Management guidelines include: Infected trees should be removed and destroyed by grinding or burning immediately to kill the beetles. Beware that coarse wood chips could harbor live beetles carrying the disease. Do not move infested walnut chips, firewood or stock for woodworking to new areas, even among the counties of California. Live beetles may lurk in tiny crevices in the bark. Report possible detection to your agricultural commissioners office or local UC Cooperative Extension office. Youve probably seen them buzzing overhead, perhaps at a local park or even on your own block. They zip about like mechanized mosquitoes or miniature space ships. They are drones, and they are increasingly taking flight in Napa. Kenneth W. Graham is a Napa drone owner and pilot. Graham also works with the drone club at New Technology High School and is a beta tester for a drone company. After doing some video surveillance work with the Air Force, Graham said he became familiar with early drone technology. I thought, Oh my gosh, this is going to be incredible, said Graham. When drones became commercially available, I jumped in. Today, he flies a drone called a Chroma Blade 4K, valued at about $1,500. Drones are amazing, Graham said. More expensive drones are able to record video and still images with high-resolution cameras. Drones can skim down the middle of a river, swoop up hillsides or orbit above vineyards and other landscapes. Stabilizers steady the camera, so the video isnt jittery. Many have automatic return to home capabilities, preventing lost drones. Theres a drone for almost any budget, starting at about $50 for a basic model without a camera and running up to thousands of dollars for commercial-grade equipment. Drones show our world from a unique perspective one that no one is used to seeing, said Graham. But with that comes the responsibility to use the drone legally and responsibly, Graham said. According the Federal Aviation Administration, drone hobbyists should not fly above 400 feet or interfere with manned aircraft operations. Drones flyers should keep their aircraft clear of surrounding obstacles and within visual lines of sight at all times. Drones should not be flown within five miles of an airport unless you contact the airport before flying or be flown near people or stadiums. Drone owners should not fly an aircraft that weighs more than 55 pounds or be careless or reckless with their unmanned aircraft. The minute you become a drone pilot, you are responsible for education, Graham said. At New Tech High, Graham is mentoring students in the schools drone club. One member is Miguel Lopez. For his senior project, Lopez is building a drone with Grahams assistance. Lopez said the robotic and electronic elements in drones interest him, including all the little components that go into making one and knowing how to fly it. You can take a drone places you could never go to without taking an airplane or going on a helicopter, he said. Its fun and cool to make videos, which he shares on social media. Next year, Lopez will start college where he hopes to study science, technology, engineering or math. Right now, its a hobby, but in the future, drones could be a career, he said. Trey Wagner is Napa High School senior. Ive always been interested in filming and making movies, said Wagner. This past Christmas, he received a drone as a present from his family. I really love going to different areas of Napa and shooting video and taking photos, he said. Hes used his drone in Westwood Hills Park, Skyline Wilderness Park, Kennedy Park and around San Francisco. Flying a drone gives you way cooler perspectives to record footage, he said. You can get into places almost as small as a square foot in size. I can take it anywhere, he said. Wagner said hes had only positive responses to his drone. I havent had any negative confrontations. Most people ask about costs or where to buy a drone. His DJI Phantom cost about $700, he said. He has registered his drone with the FAA. Its the law, he said. As of Dec. 21, anyone who owns a small unmanned aircraft of a certain weight must register with the Federal Aviation Administrations Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) registry before they fly outdoors. People who previously operated their UAS must register by Feb. 19. Those who do not register could face civil and criminal penalties, according to the FAA. Wagner said hes using common sense and keeping public safety in mind. Its just for fun. No one wants people to get hurt. Robbie Waggonner of Napa is another drone hobbyist. I always had a fascination with things that flew remote control and as (drones) came down in price, I was able to acquire one about two years ago, he said. Ive just been into it ever since. I like getting the footage and editing together videos for friends, he said. Its a lot of fun and you get some really nice photos you wouldnt get otherwise. Waggonner, who has invested more than $3,500 into his drone, flies it several times a week, depending on the weather. His favorite places include Napa, Lake Berryessa, Bodega Bay, Tomales Bay, Benicia and Sausalito. So far, no one has complained about his drone, said Waggonner, but he chooses to fly in safe areas and away from other people. Im very, very careful where I fly it, and how, he said. Its important to be a responsible drone owner, he said. If people dont follow the FAA regulations, it tightens the laws for recreational flyers like myself. The last thing I want to do is make drone flying more difficult. I believe most drone flyers fly by the rules and regulations. Theres going to be those few that do things they shouldnt, such as chasing dogs, harassing wildlife or flying too close to homes, but for the most part, drone enthusiasts abide by the law. According to the Consumer Electronics Association, the global market for consumer drones was expected to approach $130 million in revenue in 2015, increasing by 55 percent from 2014, with unit sales expected to reach 400,000. The revenue from drone sales is expected to exceed $1 billion in just five years. Ray Dahlgren, owner of Napas Loose Caboose hobby shop, said as soon as he started selling drones, model helicopter sales at his shop came to a dead halt. People would much rather have the drone because it takes pictures. With a helicopter, its just flying. Its a different world. In the past year, the Loose Caboose has sold hundreds of drones in all sizes and prices, officials said. Besides hobbyists, Dahlgren said wineries are also using drones to take video and photos of individual rows of vineyards to monitor growth and irrigation. Realtors use drones to make videos of properties for sale. The better-quality drones feature high-quality cameras. Its absolutely amazing the pictures they get, said Dahlgren. The camera is solid. They dont wiggle or wobble. Youd think it was on a stand. Its a smooth operation. He had advice for anyone considering buying a drone. The market is kind of flooded with a lot of junk, he said. Make sure you can buy replacement parts. Otherwise, once you crash it, its done. Learning how to use your drone properly is important, Dahlgren added. If you dont fly it responsibly, you are going to crash it and youll never get it back. As for himself, Dahlgren said he doesnt own a drone. Ive got too many toys, he said. Marge was born in Nebraska City, Nebraska on August 9, 1931 to parents Lawrence and Dorothy Peters. She had two brothers, Ed and Pete. She attended Nebraska Wesleyan University earning a Bachelor of Arts and a Teaching Credential. She taught high school English and Speech for two years before moving on to become a stewardess for Trans World Airlines where she would meet her future husband, Richard (Dick) T. Preston. Marge and Dick were married in 1959 in New York. They lived in New York and San Francisco before starting their family. They had three children, Richard (Randy), Wendy and Bradley (Brad). They moved to Foster City in 1964 and to St. Helena in 1974. Marge was always active as a room mother in her childrens schooling and accompanied them to their many swim meets. Of course before they left for a swim meet, Marge would always have to check the stoves yet again to make sure they were turned off. Marge also was active in many organizations including The Upper Napa Valley Republican Woman, The Napa County Republican Central Committee, the St. Helena Library Board and The Daughters of the American Revolution. She served as an alternate delegate to two Republican National conventions, was active in Republican Women, attended many conventions and did state newsletters. She always flew the American flag in front of her house and it was flying there at the time of her death. Two years ago a hospital administrator confirmed that my brother Gary had tuberculosis. Then she told the bad news. "It's worse than we thought," she said. "There might not even be any medication to help him." I didn't understand. It's the 21st century, not the 1800s or even early 1900s. We have sophisticated machines and advanced robotics; surely we know how to cure TB? But the doctors at the Southern California hospital where Gary was being treated kept trying new antibiotics - and nothing was working. Gary's symptoms had started a few weeks before, with a 103-degree fever. We took him to the emergency department, where he was admitted to the hospital and diagnosed with pneumonia. In the hospital, he continued to lose weight, and his fever would not go down. He looked so frail; I worried he would break if I touched him. It was hard to watch the big brother who had always protected me, who was then only in his mid-30s, waste away in front of me. Gary was tested for TB, but the results were confusing. First, we were told Gary had TB, then that he didn't have it, then again that he did. But pneumonia and TB are treatable, so why wasn't my brother getting better? I demanded to speak with his nurses, his doctors and the county health department. That is when the hospital health administrator told me there was no hope. The hospital had isolated Gary in a tiny room with a bed and a bathroom. I had to wear a cloth mask when I visited, and his doctors wore full hazmat-like suits. "I don't know how to help you," one doctor told us. Another apologized. "I've just never seen a case like yours," he said. Finally, the hospital staff told me that Gary didn't have just multi-drug-resistant TB: He had "extensively drug-resistant" TB. Later I would learn he had one of the most drug-resistant forms of TB ever diagnosed or treated in the United States, among the most drug-resistant in the world. Tuberculosis has haunted humans for thousands of years. In the late 1880s, when the bug that causes TB - Mycobacterium tuberculosis - was first identified, the airborne disease was responsible for killing 1 of every 7 people in the United States. The bacteria can attack any part of the body but usually attacks the lungs. It wasn't until antibiotic treatment was developed in the mid-1900s that the disease was brought under control. Between 1953 and 1985 the number of new TB cases in the United States dropped by 74 percent. People began to believe that it had been eradicated, and resources were diverted from TB surveillance, treatment and prevention to other areas of health care. When the HIV/AIDS epidemic hit in the 1980s, TB rates began to increase once again in the United States. TB is the most common opportunistic infection affecting HIV-positive people. Increased federal resources and programs were devoted to those with HIV/AIDS, and by the mid-1990s rates of TB were decreasing again. In 2014 there were 9,412 reported new cases of TB in the United States - or three new cases per 100,000 people. While this is a 2.2 percent decrease from 2013, it represents the smallest decrease in the rate of the disease in more than a decade. This alone is not cause for alarm, but there are worrying trends - health systems' limited experience with and institutional knowledge about the disease, the lack of new TB medications, the toxicity of drugs used to treat drug-resistant TB, and the lengthy and disruptive treatments that drug-resistant TB requires. While the overall TB incidence in the United States is declining, the incidence of multi-drug-resistant TB is not. Worldwide, TB is the No. 1 killer of people with HIV. One-third of the world's population has latent TB, meaning that they have TB in its dormant state but that the disease has the ability to reactivate. Individuals with TB have the potential to infect up to 10 to 15 people each over the course of a year. According to the World Health Organization, only 1 in 4 of the estimated 480,000 people who developed multi-drug-resistant TB globally in 2014 were diagnosed and notified. India, China and Russia accounted for more than half of those 480,000 patients. I grew up in Hollywood, but Gary and my two older sisters grew up in Russia and Armenia. Our family is Armenian and moved to the United States while I was still young. Gary later returned to the former Soviet Union and was living in Russia with his own nuclear family in 2009 when he developed a cough. Doctors there diagnosed pneumonia. It wasn't the first time that Gary had been sick. In his 20s he had been diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis, an inflammatory disease that can result in the spinal vertebrae fusing together, causing a hunched-forward posture. He was given immune-suppression medication, something I now believe may have made him more vulnerable to developing TB. Gary continued to suffer bouts of pneumonia on and off for the next several years. At the hospitals in the United States, doctors occasionally mentioned "seeing something on his lungs" when they X-rayed them. In the end, they always concluded it was scar tissue from his past bouts of pneumonia and sent him home with more antibiotics. In December 2013 Gary developed the fever that would not break. But this time, the doctors also tested him for TB. It was the third time he had been to the emergency department for a cough that fall. And the first time he was tested for TB. Gary, a musician, was divorced by this time, and his son and daughter were living in Russia. It fell largely on me and my sisters to care for him. After much lobbying on my part, Gary was transferred to Olive View-UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles. Caitlin Reed is the medical director of the inpatient TB unit there, and I truly believe that if it wasn't for Reed, Gary would be dead right now. As the incidence of TB in the United States declines, fewer doctors are familiar with the disease and are often late to diagnose it, according to Reed. In 2000, a study from Johns Hopkins University's Center for Tuberculosis Research Laboratory reported that TB had become rare enough in the United States, and its treatment complicated enough, that doctors in private practice often did not get the treatment right. The Hopkins authors suggested that these doctors were responsible for most of the country's new drug-resistant cases. A patient faces better outcomes when treated by a public health physician such as Reed, who has seen more cases of the disease. Reed started testing various antibiotics to see what would work. At one time, Gary was on about a dozen antibiotics at once. The drug that probably saved his life was a new one, bedaquiline, for which the Food and Drug Administration granted accelerated approval in late 2012. Gary began taking bedaquiline in March 2014 and a few months later was deemed "culture negative," meaning he was no longer contagious. But his battle was far from won. One of Gary's lungs was so badly damaged by TB that Reed decided on a drastic measure. Her strategy was to remove the largest burden of the disease by surgically removing the damaged lung and then using drugs to kill the remaining disease in the other lung. A method used before antibiotic treatment was available, lung surgery for TB is not as common as it used to be. John Mitchell, a surgeon at National Jewish Health in Denver who has treated many TB patients, agreed to remove Gary's lung. After the surgery, he came back to California to recover, and we had to force him to walk. He felt as if he couldn't breathe. He'd panic and refuse to move. Gary is out of the hospital now. He uses an oxygen tank constantly and must continue antibiotic treatment for two additional years. The treatments themselves have taken their toll. One of the antibiotics damaged Gary's hearing, and if I stand just a few feet away, he can't hear me unless I yell. Other drugs have brought on a short temper, paranoia and nerve damage in his hands and feet. There is no guarantee that the burning pain he experiences in his limbs will ever lessen or go away. If he continues to take the drug that causes the nerve damage, there's a chance he could no longer be able to walk. He takes more drugs to ease the nerve pain and slow the progression of the nerve damage. His memory is so bad we don't trust him to take his medications without supervision. He's on steroids that give him pimples all over his face and body and discolor his skin. Yet it's a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" situation. If a TB patient doesn't take his medicine, he dies. Gary now lives with our father and one of my sisters. He has gone from the attractive teenager whom people approached about being a model to a man who avoids going out to avoid people's stares. Excursions are a hassle anyway: There is the loading of oxygen tanks, the packing of medication and the fact that he has to be home at 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. so the health department can watch him take his most important medications - drug resistance could result if he did not take them regularly or interrupted treatment. He wears a mask when he goes to the doctor's office or hospital, to protect him from germs. He has had several colds, and each time he ends up back in the hospital. The next one could kill him. There was another option - one we all fought for, including Reed. The drug is called delamanid and was approved by European and Japanese regulators in 2014. It is not yet approved in the United States but is available under the FDA's expanded access, or "compassionate use," program. The program requires buy-in from the patient's physician, the FDA and the drug manufacturer. But when Reed appealed to the Japanese drug manufacturer, Otsuka, to allow her to use delamanid on Gary, it denied her request because the drug had never been tested for use in combination with bedaquiline. Reed had high hopes for using the drugs in combination. Delamanid would have replaced the drug that was causing Gary's nerve damage. However, it is unknown whether the two drugs are safe to use together; we believe it's a risk worth taking when the alternative is eventual paralysis. In early 2015 the pain of Gary's drug regimen became too much to endure, and he told his doctors he could not bear to take the drug that was causing his nerve damage any longer. They replaced it with another drug, which caused kidney damage. He is on a third drug now, one we hope will work out better, in combination with his other medications. The nerve damage and pain continue, and he still takes medication to combat it, along with very high doses of painkillers. Gary is almost done with his drug treatment. Following additional testing, delamanid use with bedaquiline is now allowed under limited circumstances through the compassionate-use protocol. The last effective diagnostic for latent tuberculosis was introduced in 1891; the last vaccine for TB was introduced in 1921; and before the approval of bedaquiline in 2012, a new first-line drug for TB had not been introduced in the United States since 1967. In the United States the small number of TB cases means that there isn't much monetary incentive for companies to stock TB drugs, which has resulted in widespread shortages of critical TB medicines and testing supplies. There is also an urgent need for new, more effective vaccines for use in preventing TB infection, disease manifestation and recurrence, internationally and even domestically. TB has not yet been relegated to the history books. As my family's story continues to unfold, the disease's burden is very real, and the next chapters remain uncertain. Aleksanyan is an actress and chief operating officer of Smart Actors, a company that offers online acting and mentoring sessions. She wrote this essay with Katya Cengel, a freelance writer. This article was excerpted from the Narrative Matters section of the journal Health Affairs and can be read in full at healthaffairs.org. As this weeks slugfest between Donald Trump and the Pope confirms, the 2016 election is unlike others we have known. Trump may eventually lose to another candidate. Or he could end up with the most delegates and the Republican nomination for president. Which raises a basic question: What is the Republican Party if Trump is its nominee? The answer is not immediately obvious. Parties are amorphous and hard to define, but they are much more than the shadow cast by a presidential nominee. The Republican Party has traditions and factions, dispositions and interests, and it embodies and conveys an identifiable set of values. The gun lobby and conservative Christians are generally components of the party. Unions and environmentalists are generally not. And pretty much everyone gets that. If Trump gains the nomination, however, many Republican verities are up for grabs. Trump has proposed a sometimes fiercely protectionist agenda in a party known for free trade. He has converted to the more than three-decade-old party line opposing abortion, but countered its more recent demonization of Planned Parenthood. He has advanced a wholly new Republican aspiration government protection of the sort of jobs made vulnerable by globalization while at the same time endorsing most of the partys habitual tax policies to further enrich those who benefit most from globalization. He has the potential to reshape the party around a new coalition, said Republican consultant Steve Schmidt, a senior adviser to John McCains presidential campaign, in an interview. A new coalition means a new set of interests, supporters and attitudes. Blue-collar concerns, protectionism and white nationalism would be ascendant; some Democrats, including some Bernie Sanders supporters, might answer Trumps call. Big companies, the Chamber of Commerce, Wall Street would all take a big hit, Schmidt said. On national security, the orthodox Republican narrative portrays the 21st century as a matrix of threats to which Democrats render us vulnerable, and from which only the Republican Party can keep the nation safe. Trump obliterated that narrative in a South Carolina debate last week, accusing President George W. Bush of being unprepared for al-Qaidas 2001 attacks, and thus responsible both for the devastating result and his administrations disastrous response invading Iraq. Trump repeated the claim at a CNN forum Thursday night, blaming Bush for destabilizing the Middle East, leading to the creation of Islamic State, while scaling back his charge that Bush had lied about the existence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. If Trump manages to win despite such flagrant heresy, what tenets of the Republican faith remain sacred? Will the party keep insisting that tax cuts for wealthy job creators really create jobs? That the tax on wealthy estates is truly so onerous? Protecting the interests of the wealthy rarely ranks high on the demands of blue-collar voters, regardless of their party affiliation. Trump has already rejected the Republican gospel that runaway entitlements Medicare and Social Security are bankrupting the nation. He attacks the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), but has also rejected the implicit Republican stance that Obamacare can be repealed without dangerous consequences. If someone is dying on the street, Trump told Sean Hannity, some Republicans would say let him die. Trump repeatedly promises something more humane (albeit less explicit). A party is partly the sum of its history, and what it tells itself about that history. The Party of Lincoln, arguably the greatest Republican president, celebrates Ronald Reagan as its patron saint. Reagans presidency solidified the Republicans post-1964 transition to a white, Southern-based party wedded to individualism and unfettered free enterprise, and laced with a potent dose of racial resentment. That regional shift, Schmidt maintains, has hindered the party in national elections. The countrys Southern party traditionally doesnt win presidential elections, he said. The emergence of a brash New Yorker vying for the partys leadership signals change. It seems like were at a moment when something new is forming, Schmidt said. A Trump nomination would confirm it. The impact of a Trump nomination would be felt among Democrats as well. Sanders, the Vermont socialist, is waging a spirited insurgency against the quintessence of a middle-of-the- road Democrat. The Democratic coalition, too, is looking shaky. But Sanders neednt win to shake up his party; Trump might do it for him. Its possible that a fight between Hillary Clinton and Trump would push more white working class Democrats into Trumps column, leaving the Democrats to manage an increasingly awkward partnership of prosperous coastal white elites and vastly less affluent racial minorities. A Trump presidency promises to confound. The partys head, grafted to a distrustful body, would be facing one direction and its Congressional majority another. The chance that Trump would simply dominate an inevitable battle of wills seems slight; the chance that Republicans would steal their party back is perhaps even slighter. Indeed, as Trumps threat to decades of strict Republican orthodoxy grows more real, party elites will no doubt rush to co-opt him. Good luck with that. It may already be too late even for Trump to apply the brakes to his runaway campaign. Francis Wilkinson writes on politics and domestic policy for Bloomberg View. Question -- What is the goal of this website? Why do we share different sources of information that sometimes conflicts or might even be considered disinformation? Answer -- The primary goal of Nesaranews is to help all people become better truth-seekers in a real-time boots-on-the-ground fashion. This is for the purpose of learning to think critically, discovering the truth from withinnot just believing things blindly because it came from an "authority" or credible source. Instead of telling you what the truth is, we share information from many sources so that you can discern it for yourself. We focus on teaching you the tools to become your own authority on the truth, gaining self-mastery, sovereignty, and freedom in the process. We want each of you to become your own leaders and masters of personal discernment, and as such, all information should be vetted, analyzed and discerned at a personal level. We also encourage you to discuss your thoughts in the comments section of this site to engage in a group discernment process. "It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." Aristotle 11 In "The Final Call," "Fault Lines" explores the hidden epidemic of suicide among U.S. firefightersand asks why more isnt being done to address depression and PTSD. The film airs on Sunday, Feb. 21, at 9 p.m. Eastern time/6 p.m. Pacific on Al Jazeera America. | Click here to find Al Jazeera in your area. In the early evening of January 22, 2014, Captain Mike Mauser, a 49-year-old firefighter-paramedic in Clarksville, Tennessee, drove his green Subaru SUV to a local cemetery. His body was found a day later by a passerby. It was hanging from a tree. It was quite shocking, said Mausers daughter, Lauren Ferguson. He held inside whatever was bothering him. Ferguson, an EMT and trained disaster manager, believes that her father was suffering from emotional trauma triggered by what he experienced over the course of his 33-year career. What got him in the end was what none of us could see, Ferguson told Fault Lines. Mausers death is not an isolated incident. Firefighters in the United States are three times more likely to die by suicide than in line of duty, according to the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation (NFFF), an organization chartered by Congress to honor and provide support to the families of firefighters killed on the job. The same year Mauser killed himself, roughly 109 firefighters and paramedics took their own lives, according to one estimate. Thats an average of two deaths per week. In 2015, a record 113 firefighters and paramedics killed themselves. The numbers, however, could be much higher because there is no official database tracking suicide by firefighters and paramedics. Very few fire departments report these incidents, and very few first responders ask for helpa product of a culture that stigmatizes showing any type of weakness, whether physical or mental. Suicide among our brothers and sisters is real, said Captain Jeff Dill, a retired firefighter and founder of the nonprofit Firefighter Behavioral Health Alliance. According to data hes collected, the number of firefighters and paramedics taking their own lives has grown nearly every year since 2011. Witnesses to human tragedy Firefighters and paramedics routinely witness traumatic events. Beyond fires, they are called to the scenes of mass shootings, homicides, suicides, road accidents, and instances of child abuse, among myriad other incidents. Such job-related experiences led retired firefighter-paramedic Tim Casey to start posting videos online, sharing his memories of the job and reaching out to other first responders dealing with trauma and depression. A photo of Tim Casey, a retired firefighter from Colorado Springs, Colorado, who shared tales of his depression in a series of YouTube videos. He took his own life in the summer of 2015. Singeli Agnew for Al Jazeera America In one of his posts to YouTube, the 31-year veteran of the Colorado Springs Fire Department recounted his inability to save a toddler: A mother had backed over, accidentally, the head of her baby toddler and squished its brain out. And we showed up on the fire engine, and she handed me a baby with its brain coming outand the baby was still breathingand said, Save my baby. And I didnt save the baby. I mean, obviously, it died. Because of calls like these, Casey started reliving harrowing incidents he'd seen in his dreams. Witnessing that kind of activity day in and day out starts wearing on you, he said in one of his videos. Casey was eventually diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). He turned to alcohol to cope with his suffering. The 57-year-old ultimately killed himself on July 31 last year in his Colorado Springs home, inhaling fumes from his car as its engine ran in his closed garage. Prior to his death, Casey had attempted suicide at least twice in the past. Fault Lines spoke to Casey for hours on the phone and was scheduled to interview him in August. He died three weeks before the meeting. Overcoming a macho culture While Casey was willing to talk about his job-related trauma, depression and suicidal thoughts, thats not standard practice in the fire service, as Fault Lines heard repeatedly in interviews with more than two dozen firefighters and paramedics across the country. The predominant culture in the fire industry dictates that mental health issues are a sign of weakness. We suffer what I call cultural brainwashing, said Jeff Dill. The firefighter-turned counselor travels across the U.S and Canada to conduct workshops for firefighters on issues related to mental health and suicide prevention. For many in the fire service, he said, You put this uniform on, this is how youre supposed to act: strong, brave, offer help, dont ever ask for help. That pervasive machismo led Mike Mauser to conceal his own mental health issues, his friends and former colleagues said. Joe Stambush, who works at the Bellevue-Dayton Fire House in northern Kentucky, where he first met Mauser more than 20 years ago, couldnt hide his bewilderment at his friends suicide. Never in a million years would I have imagined someone like Mike doing something like that, he said. After 58 years in the fire service, the 70-year-old Stambush, who is also a Vietnam veteran now mostly provides training to other firefighters. He said Mauser could have come to him if he needed to talk about anything, but he understands that a lot of his peers prefer to keep personal matters to themselves. Experts say having firefighters talk to each other, as opposed to therapists, could be the key to addressing mental health issues and suicide in the fire service. Judith Bock, a psychologist at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, supervises the Colorado Springs Fire Departments 12-year-old Peer Support Program. The initiative relies on actual firefighters becoming counselors for their colleagues because, she said, They know their coworkers so well. According to Bock, peer supporters undergo an intensive week-long training that enables them to detect early warning signs and symptoms of mental illness. They can then suggest confidential treatments, if needed, or refer the individuals to psychologists for further evaluation. (Because Tim Casey retired from the department in 2008, he was no longer eligible to participate in the Peer Support Program.) Dollar, euro drop in Armenia Iranian Consul General advises Kapan residents not to worry anymore: Iran is here for Armenian people FM reaffirms Armenia plan to open consulate general in Irans Tabriz Turkey to open consulate in occupied Armenian Shushi city of Artsakh Turkish Ministry of Finance: Ankara can buy Russian oil without Western funding Armenia Security Council chief briefs European Parliament rapporteur on recent Azerbaijan military aggression British bookmakers name favorite for post of prime minister Erdogan: Armenia-Azerbaijan relations progress will contribute to Armenia-Turkey relations normalization Iranian Consulate General opens in Kapan Erdogan: Turkey is looking for alternative to American F-16 fighters Iran consul general: We are here for Armenian people Turkey FM slams OSCE decision to send needs assessment mission to Armenia Peskov reacts to Erdogan's words about Putin's softening on Ukraine negotiations European Parliament rapporteur on Armenia visits Armenian Genocide Memorial in Yerevan European Parliament rapporteur on Armenia to legislature speaker: Attack was from Azerbaijan, naturally Armenia President to EEU PMs: We will manage to take another confident step by respecting mutual interests EUSR Toivo Klaars exclusive interview with NEWS.am on EU Monitoring mission,Nagorno Karabakh future and violence videos Explosions rock Ukraines Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia President meets with newly formed Artsakh Public Council members Armenia PM: We need understanding in price horizon, at least in medium term PM: Armenia trade with other EEU countries increased by 74% France region to provide 300,000 to Armenias Syunik Province affected by Azerbaijan military aggression Eurasian Intergovernmental Council extended meeting underway in Yerevan MOD: Armenia did not fire at Azerbaijan positions, vehicle MPs in Strasbourg, present threatening dangers: Armenia has powerful support in European Parliament Years first snow falls in Armenias Shirak Province World oil prices on the rise Newspaper: Russia dismisses Armenia PM's news on Karabakh Russia PM in Yerevan, to discuss with EEU colleagues single oil, natural gas markets formation Newspaper: Why is Iran in hurry to open consulate in Armenias Syunik Province? France, Spain, Portugal agree to build Barcelona-Marseille natural gas pipeline Admiral: U.S. should now prepare for Chinese 'invasion' of Taiwan Harutyunyan: I cannot imagine Artsakh's future without presence of Russia Harutyunyan: Without questioning path of our independence, we must meet with Baku Prime Minister of Finland does not think that Hungary and Turkey will block country's application for NATO membership Iranian FM: U.S. made hasty statements in connection with protests Former Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim involved in car accident in Karabakh Arayik Harutyunyan: Artsakh people's right to self-determination is non-negotiable Iranian MFA calls it important to form platform with Armenia and India on North-South corridor Details of EU monitoring mission in Armenia are known Foreign Ministry: It seems Ankara is more interested in opening corridor through Armenia than Azerbaijan Mirzoyan: Unexpected third countries support Azerbaijani interpretation of road to Nakhchivan Foreign Ministry: Armenia, Iran and Bulgaria initial agreement on creation of Persian Gulf-Black Sea corridor Israeli Defense Minister to visit Ankara Armenian Foreign Minister names main obstacle to solving problems with Azerbaijan Erdogan once again raises issue of so-called 'Zangezur corridor' Armenian and Iranian FMs to open Iranian Consulate General in Syunik province tomorrow Abdollahian: Aliyev assured that he does not want border changes, Iran will prevent implementation of such idea Iranian Foreign Minister in Yerevan supports '3+3' platform Iranian Foreign Minister recalls Tehran's 'red lines' in regional issues Mirzoyan: We highly appreciate Iran's principled position regarding territorial integrity of Armenia UK imposes sanctions against Iran for alleged delivery of drones to Russia Yerevan hosts meeting of Eurasian Intergovernmental Council in narrow composition Armenian and Iranian Foreign Ministers meet in Yerevan in extended format Charles Michel: EU energy deal possible, but difficult Erdogan says Baku should demand 'compensation' from Yerevan Pashinyan: EEU mechanisms are of great help, trade turnover between Armenia and Belarus has doubled Yair Lapid: Russia-Iran relations are serious problem for Ukraine, Europe, and whole world Amir-Abdollahian: Iran is against presence of foreigners in this region, both in Azerbaijan and Armenia Pashinyan at EAEU meeting: Fundamental principles of world economic system in question Iranian Foreign Minister's official visit to Yerevan begins Macron says Germany should not isolate itself in Europe EU begins deployment of mission on Armenia-Azerbaijan border Trump's son made fun of Zelenskyy's ability to ask West for money EU to provide emergency aid for Armenia residents affected by recent Azerbaijan military aggression Azerbaijan army units fire at Armenia positions Mikhail Mishustin arrives in Yerevan EU approves new sanctions against Iran over alleged drone deliveries to Russia Eurasian Intergovernmental Council meeting begins in Yerevan Baku calls OSCE mission to assess situation on Armenian-Azerbaijani border 'private visit' On fourth day of IRGC military exercises on border with Azerbaijan, artillery destroys planned targets Liz Truss quits as UK Prime Minister Turkey parliament to consider extending Turkish militarys mandate in Azerbaijan Dollar falls, euro rises in Armenia Russias Putin ratifies agreement on simplification of payments for goods transit within EEU territory Stoltenberg: Almost all NATO countries have agreed to Sweden and Finland joining the alliance Ombudswoman of Armenia: Azerbaijan prevents removal of remains of fallen soldiers Zakharova: Matter of holding CSTO Collective Security Council meeting being worked out Ombudswoman of Armenia: I received video materials from EU special representative about Azerbaijanis Armenia Security Council chief, UK army general discuss cooperation in security The US and Turkish Presidents Barack Obama and Recep Tayyip Erdogan had a telephonic conversation. The US President stated that the advance of the Peoples Protection Units (YPG), the armed unit of the Syrian Kurds, is a cause for concern, according to Milliyet daily newspaper of Turkey. Obama, however, again did not consider the YPG to be a terrorist organization. Also, the leaders of the two countries shared the view that Russia and the Assad regime in Syria need to stop their military strikes on the countrys moderate opposition, and that an end must be put to all actions which interfere with the fight against the Islamic State. YEREVAN. - Two heads can govern more productively. Ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) MP Manvel Badeyan told the aforementioned to Armenian News NEWS.am correspondent. Personally, he isnt against the third head too, but there has been no such wish from a third party. To the question why they didnt invite Prosperous Armenia party (PAP) into the coalition, Badeyan noted that they are open for cooperation, but PAP expressed no such wish officially. In the MPs words, Prosperous Armenia had to take a party decision and announce about its readiness to share responsibility in governing the country, following which the authorities would respond to their proposal. RPA is open for cooperation with all political forces, but there should be a wish from the other side too. Many of the PAP members support the coalition, but there has been no party decision on this, Badeyan said. YEREVAN. - If many forces unite round the platform of proposals excluding falsifications on the Electoral Code, the authorities will be so much pressed that they will have to accept those proposals. Head of the Armenian National Congress (ANC) faction Levon Zurabyan told the aforementioned to Armenian News NEWS.am correspondent. Several days ago Zurabyan met with the OSCE /ODIHR representatives after which he realized that the international institutions back the forces united round the platform of these proposals. To the question on how they are going to put pressure on the authorities, who are against their main proposals, i.e. publicizing of voter lists and voting via fingerprints, Zurabyan responded: If there is a consensus and if the entire civil society, political forces and civil initiatives come up with demands and rational proposals, hindering falsifications during the elections, then the OSCE/ODIHR office will apparently be ready to guarantee these consolidated proposals and will help advance them with greater energy than in the absence of such a consolidation. In his words, the authorities claim that the publicizing of the voter lists contradicts the provision of the Venice Commission, according to which this is a violation of secret ballot. To the question on whether these forces cant address the same Venice Commission, the opposition MP said: Unfortunately, there is no institutional form for the opposition to turn to the Venice Commission. This is a big problem. This Commission has institutional ties only with the authorities. Zurabyan also noted that the authorities and the Venice Commission dont decide on everything regarding the publicizing of the voter lists. There are no less prestigious institutions, which dont consider this as an obstacle, he noted. No less authoritative OSCE/ODIHR noted in their final report that despite the confirmations of the Venice Commission, this practice isnt actually prohibited by the international legislation and is applied in a number of countries, including UK. And secondly, they presented a legal justification on why it can be allowed to get familiarized with the voter lists. a lil bit of everything interesting that will fascinate you and loads of gist. Neither the EURONEST Parliamentary Assembly nor other parliamentary formats are platforms for conflict settlement. Head of the Armenian delegation to the EURONEST Parliamentary Assembly (PA), Artak Zakaryan, stated the aforementioned at the subsequent bureau session of the EURONEST PA in Brussels. Issues on the agenda of the fifth plenary session, which will take place on 21-23 March 2016, were discussed. Considering the situation in the framework of the Eastern Partnership, issues on the modification of the EURONEST PA structure and expansion of its involvement in that structure were also discussed. During the next plenary session, four reports on political, economic, energy and humanitarian issues will be introduced for discussion and endorsement. Co-author of the report Foreign policy of the EU and Eastern Partnership member-states and external threats to their security, prepared on behalf of the Political Affairs Committee, is Artak Zakaryan. The proposal on the Co-Chairs visit to Baku in order to bring back the Azerbaijan delegation was also discussed. In his speech, Artak Zakaryan noted that since the establishment of the EURANEST PA, the Azerbaijani delegation is carrying out an anti-Armenian activity and through its destructive steps has always hindered the joint initiatives under the logic of multi-lateral parliamentary activity. Zakaryan also noted that they wont be against the Azerbaijani delegations return, but this, according to him, should not harm the Assemblys reputation. Moreover, the MP stressed that its important for the Azeris to finally understand that neither EURONEST nor other parliamentary formats are platforms for conflict settlement. He also added that the Armenian delegation wont allow the Azeris to distort the peaceful process of the Karabakh-Azerbaijani conflict settlement in the framework of EURONEST PA or any other form. An Armenian farmer from Uzbekistans Jizzakh province, Aramayis Avagyan, who is accused of having ties with ISIS, has been sentenced to 7 years in prison. According to the verdict of the Criminal Court of Jizzakh province, Avagyans friends, Furkat Jurayev and Bektemir Umrzazkov have been sentenced to 12 and 6 years respectively, while Dilshod Alimov and Akmal Mammatmurodov to 5 years and 6 months of prison respectively. The charges brought against the defendants include diversion, robbery, creation, management and participation in religious, extremist, separatist, fundamentalist or other prohibited organizations. Aramayis Avagyans wife, Shirin Tursunova, told Ozodlik, Uzbekistan Radio Liberty, that the court hearing started and finished very quickly. It was an unusual process. It lasted for 10 minutes. I didnt manage to enter the session hall: the doors were quickly closed. The relatives of the other defendants werent allowed in either. The attorney also didnt take part in the trial during the verdict announcement, Shirin Tursunova said. Since 4 September last year, Aramayis Avagyan, 33, and his friends were kept in the pre-trail detention facility of the National Security Service. The Uzbekistan authorities accused Avagyan of having ties with ISIS terror group. However, Aramayis Avagyan didnt plead guilty to any of the points of the indictment. The trial into Avagyans case started on January 6 of this year. After the coverage of the two trial hearings by Ozodlik, the witnesses, who earlier testified against the Armenia farmer, took back their words. But the authorities of Jizzakh province continue to press Shirin Tursunova, demanding her not to cooperate with media outlets and refrain from giving interviews about her husbands case. Avagyans relatives also told Ozodlik about the tortures used against the Armenian farmer during the investigation. According to Avagyans relatives, the farmers conflict with the local authorities started because of his fish farm in Pakhtorski district of Jizzakh province, when the head of the district, Gafur Karshibayev, tried to unlawfully seize the farmers business. The latters talk with Avagyan ended in a scandal. The witnesses heard the official cry at the farmer, threatening by the following words: Ill destroy you in the prison! Aramayis Avagyan is an Uzbekistan citizen, but despite of this fact, his mother, Flora Sakunts, has turned to the authorities and human rights defenders of Armenia. Drug Innovation Ventures at Emory (DRIVE) and the Emory Institute for Drug Development (EIDD) have launched an effort to identify and develop antivirals to treat the infection caused by Zika virus. There are currently no treatments or vaccines against the virus, which has been declared a public health emergency and is linked to birth defects. According to George Painter, PhD, CEO of DRIVE and director of EIDD, for the past three years, we have been synthesizing and developing antivirals against alphaviruses, such as chikungunya, and flaviviruses, such as dengue. Since Zika is a flavivirus in the same family as dengue and hepatitis C, we can apply what we have learned working on alphaviruses and flaviviruses, as well as from our past success with treatments for HIV, hepatitis B, hepatitis C and herpes viruses, in our search for an effective drug. We are making progress developing a Zika RNA Polymerase Assay, says Abel De La Rosa, PhD, chief scientific officer of DRIVE and EIDD. This assay would allow us to rapidly screen our nucleoside/nucleotide library of compounds against Zika virus, some of which have shown activity against other flaviviruses. Lessons learned from HIV, hepatitis C and other viral diseases, where vaccine development lagged behind effective antiviral treatment successes, suggest the best rationale against emerging viral diseases is a parallel development path for both vaccines and antivirals. The Georgia Research Alliance (GRA) is providing critical early support for the Zika project. We are very pleased to fund the expansion of DRIVE and EIDD s work to include the treatment of the Zika virus, says H. Lee Herron, vice president, commercialization, Georgia Research Alliance. DRIVE and EIDDs leadership have a proven track record of developing assays and effective drugs to treat many of the worlds most devastating viruses. About DRIVE DRIVE is a not-for-profit company wholly owned by Emory, but with the independence to run like a biotechnology company. DRIVE applies focus and industry development expertise to efficiently translate discoveries to address viruses of global concern. DRIVE has an internal program working on the discovery and development of nucleoside/nucleotide analogues against respiratory syncytial virus, chikungunya virus and dengue virus. Learn more here. About the Emory Institute for Drug Development (EIDD) The EIDD was founded and constructed to provide the multidisciplinary capabilities that are required to effectively advance cutting-edge drug discovery and development programs at the preclinical stage. The EIDD is housed in 12,000 sq. ft. of state-of-the art, fully equipped laboratory and office space that was specifically designed to support dedicated teams focused on medicinal and process chemistry, virology and molecular biology, bioanalytical chemistry, drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics. EIDD currently has a Department of Defense contract to develop nucleoside/nucleotide analogues against Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus, a biodefense threat. Learn more here. About GRA The Georgia Research Alliance (GRA) works to expand research and commercialization capacity in Georgias universities to recruit world-class talent, seed new companies and transform lives. For 25 years, GRA has worked to strengthen the research enterprise in Georgia by working in partnership with the University System of Georgia and the Georgia Department of Economic Development to create the companies and jobs of Georgias future. Learn more here. The prophecy is more than seeing into the future. For the prophecy sees without the element of time. For the prophecy sees things as they were, as they are, and as they always shall be. Kenny Zulu Whitmore Herman Wallace Herman Zulu is a true warrior, Panther, a servant of the people. He has fought a good battle, for so long, unrecognized, unsupported! --Robert Hillary KingABOUT ZULU:I am. I have been enslaved in one of the most brutal and bloodiest prisons in the USA, Angola, LA, the "last slave plantation". Framed for a murder I never committed I have been in solitary confinement for over 30 years now.....In December 1973 I was arrested on frivolous charges and held over for a magistrate hearing where a bond would be set. While awaiting my court appearance I found myself in a cage right across from a black man who struck me as a fearsome revolutionary. It turned out to be. I was impressed with his words of wisdom, which enabled me to better understand the treatment and condition of my community by the police. I felt honored just to have been in his presence. There were others on the unit, but all you could hear was the voice of. We talked all through the night after he learned why I was arrested. He explained that if my concern was to protect the people, my only route of doing so would be to educate myself of the political Kingdom and then organize the people to effectively challenge the ill that cripple the people. I realized my speaking out against drug dealers and police brutality alone would be viewed as a personal war and wouldn't achieve anything.Herman told me he and others had established a chapter of the Black Panther Party in Angola, to fight against prison corruption. I gave him all my information because what he spoke of was what I needed in my life. I dare say it was my first true political education. The next day I learned he was there on trial for the death of a prison guard. At that time I believed he didn't stand a chance. In the mean time history has proven I was wrong. However, instead of focusing on his trial, he had many questions about community service and conditions. I ended up giving him my name and address. He told me he was officially making me a member of the Angola Chapter of the Black Panther Party. I was very honored but I had no idea what this man expected of me. But I knew about the Panthers and so I went back to the community with the idea of organizing the community against illegal drug trafficking.On February 19, 1975 I was arrested again. This time charged with two counts of armed robbery of a Zachary shoe store. In June of 1975 all charges were dropped after both victims argued with the judge that I was not the person who did this crime. But I still couldn't go free...Kenny Zulu Whitmore,86468 D/Hawk - 4LLouisiana State PrisonAngola, LA 70712 At least 1 CRPF trooper was dead on Saturday in a suspected militant attack on a forces' convoy on the Jammu-Srinagar highway near EDI Pampore. A CRPF spokesman Bhavesh Choudhury said that 10 others were injured in the attack. He said that the convoy on its way to Srinagar from Jammu was attacked by the militants near the EDI building. An employee of the EDI told Greater Kashmir over phone that at least hundred people, including staff and trainees, were trapped inside the building. Stanford sociologist and faculty leader Sanford Dornbusch dies at 89 Sanford M. Dornbusch, a scholar renowned for his research on adolescence, was a "founding father" of Stanford's Department of Sociology. Chuck Painter Sanford Dornbusch, whose long career shaped sociology at Stanford, was a prominent voice in the Faculty Senate. Sanford M. Dornbusch, a pioneer in sociology at Stanford University, died Feb. 9 in Palo Alto after a bout with cancer. He was 89. Dornbusch was the Reed-Hodgson Professor in Human Biology, Emeritus, and a professor emeritus of sociology. He was hired as chair of the Stanford Sociology Department in 1959, launching a prolific career that shaped Stanford sociology for decades to follow. Dornbusch retired in 1995. His research interests were in social psychology, the sociology of education, and adolescence, including the impact of divorce on adolescents; factors involved in the academic performance of Chicano students; and the evolution of family structures. "Sandy's commitment, energy and enthusiasm will be missed by all those who worked with him," said W. Richard Scott, professor emeritus of sociology, who was his close friend and colleague. "He was a popular figure on campus, a happy warrior who worked tirelessly to strengthen the sociology program at Stanford." Dornbusch is commonly known as one of Stanford sociology's "founding fathers." When hired at Stanford, he was allowed to bring with him several professors: Scott, Joe Berger, Frank Camilleri, Morris "Buzz" Zelditch and Bernie Cohen, all of whom contributed to building a nascent department that had been formed in 1948. Scott later wrote in an article for the American Sociological Association that Stanford's hiring of Dornbusch reflected a "serious investment" by the university in the future of sociology. "This was the event a moment of reorganization and renewal which launched the modern era of sociology at Stanford," he wrote. Opposed loyalty oath Dornbusch was a prominent voice in Stanford's Faculty Senate and was among those who in the early 1960s successfully opposed the university's adoption of a "loyalty oath" to the U.S. government. In 1970, he traveled with other Stanford scholars and students to Washington, D.C., to meet with politicians on the Vietnam War and academic freedom. Dornbusch was a founding member of Stanford's Program in Human Biology, served as director of the Stanford Center for the Study of Families, Children and Youth; founded and directed Stanford's Curriculum on Children and Society; and co-founded Stanford's Center on Adolescence. He was also a member of first class of fellows at Stanford's Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences in 1954-55. "Sandy will be deeply missed by colleagues and students of Stanford University, but his spirit will continue forever in human biology," said Paul Graham Fisher, a professor of neurology and of pediatrics, and the Bing Director of the Program in Human Biology. Fisher said Dornbusch spoke his mind on anything, "without rancor or animosity," and was a man of strong character. "He never promoted himself, but worked for the common good," Fisher said. "His knowledge and wit were highlights of my undergraduate education at Stanford. Imagine a Stanford scholar who could mesmerize 200 sophomores in the core while lecturing on the 'tragedy of the commons' and make the topic funny," said Fisher. Born on June 5, 1926, in New York City, Dornbusch went to college on the G.I. Bill after serving in three branches of the U.S. military: the Army, Navy and Coast Guard, according to Scott. Dornbusch earned his doctorate in sociology from the University of Chicago in 1952. His first academic post was on the sociology faculty at Harvard University. He moved on to the University of Washington before being tapped by Stanford. Dornbusch's authored and co-authored books include Beyond the Classroom (1966), A Primer of Social Statistics (1955), Evaluation and the Exercise of Authority (1975), Feminism, Children and the New Families (1988), Popular Religion (1974) and Popular Psychology (1962). He is survived by his wife, Barbara Dornbusch, an artist; two sons, Steven and Jeffrey; and two grandchildren, Hannah and Leah. Memorial reception, donations A memorial reception for Dornbusch will be held from 4-6 p.m. on April 7 in the Faculty Club's Red and Gold Lounge. Remarks will be made at 4:30 p.m. The Sociology Department, the Program in Human Biology and the Art & Art History Department are sponsoring the reception. In lieu of flowers, the Dornbusch family asks that donations be sent to the Barbara and Sandy Dornbusch Fund, which benefits activities in sociology, human biology and art on campus. To do so, send an email to development-services@lists.stanford.edu or call (650) 725-4360. Media Contact Clifton B. Parker, Stanford News Service: (650) 725-0224, cbparker@stanford.edu Deliberating the details of a deep-rooted relationship. PM Narendra modi and POM K.P. Sharma Pli lead delegation talks, external affairs ministry spokesman Vikas Swarup stated on Twitter. The talks got underway after a meeting between Modi and Oli at Hyderabad House here. This is the first bilateral visit by a prime minister from the Himalayan nation since 2011 when Baburam Bhattarai visited India. In 2014, then prime minister Sushil Koirala visited India for the swearing-in ceremony of the Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government. In August 2014, Modi paid a bilateral visit to Nepal, the first by an Indian prime minister in 17 years. Modi again went in November 2014 for the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) summit in Kathmandu. Earlier on Saturday, Oli was accorded a ceremonial welcome at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, where he was accorded a guard of honour. Following this, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj called on the visiting dignitary. During the meeting, Oli told Sushma Swaraj that India and Nepal have a natural and civilisational relationship, according to Swarup. Oli's visit assumes significance as ties between the two South Asian neighbours in the last few months soured after the adoption of a new constitution in the Himalayan nation sparked violent protests in the country's southern plains. --Indo-Asian News Service ab/vm ( 255 Words) 2016-02-20-13:11:34 (IANS) Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi on Saturday opened the Africa 2016 Forum at the Red Sea resort city of Sharm El-Sheikh to enhance economic and trade cooperation among African states. Held under the African Union Commission and organised by Egypt in cooperation with the Comesa, Regional Investment Agency, the first session of the two-day conference saw some 1,500 participants including the presidents of Sudan, Nigeria, Togo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea and the Ethiopian prime minister, Xinhua reported. "Achieving development, the major challenge that we all face, requires us to develop the mechanisms of joint African action and follow the model of regional integration," said Sisi. He stressed the need for carrying out huge regional African projects in various fields including infrastructure. "We need to enhance the competitiveness of our national markets to increase their ability to attract investments and infiltrate into the international markets, bearing in mind the growing challenges facing the world economy," Sisi continued. He noted that Egypt seeks over the coming five years to double its trade with African states that currently stands at $5 billion, adding that the recent expansion of Egypt's Suez Canal marked "the first step" in a massive project to boost African trade with the international markets. Sisi also underlined the need to develop Africa's human potentials and pay the required attention to the African youths, stressing the future of the continent depends on them. Suffering economic problems due to security issues that led to declining investment and tourism, Egypt received in early January $500 million as the first batch of a $1.5 billion loan from the African Development Bank (AFDB). Addressing the Forum, entitled "Africa 2016: Business for Africa, Egypt and the World," AFDB President Akinwumi Adesina highlighted the need for removing cross-Africa barriers to achieve sustainable development in the continent. He also urged all African leaders to work together on eliminating all trade and business obstacles and opening a unified market that would guarantee growth and prosperity for all African states. For his part, Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir said in a discussion after the opening ceremony that Africa suffers improper infrastructure for inter-communication and low industrialisation of its raw material. He said that the 2008 global economic crisis and the recent law oil prices greatly affected the economic growth in Africa, which shows that Africa is affected by what happens around the world. "We can avoid this by manufacturing our raw material and doubling our products, encourage inter-African trade as Africa has a huge market and if we make best use of this advantage it will bring great benefits to the African states," Bashir said. The investment ministers of Egypt and Kenya signed an agreement to extend a railway line to boost trade between the two countries. --Indo-Asian News Service py/vm ( 470 Words) 2016-02-20-18:53:33 (IANS) The meeting, which will be attended by several senior party leaders, will be held to discuss the issues to be raised during the upcoming Budget session of the Parliament. Several pertinent issues such as the JNU row and suicide of Hyderabad University student Rohith Vemula are also likely to be discussed in the meeting. With the opposition planning to corner the ruling government on several issues in the country, the Budget session of the Parliament is expected to be a stormy one. (ANI) "Congratulations to Sh @vijayrupanibjp ji on becoming President of @BJP_Gujarat. I'm sure under his leadership party will further strengthen," Shah tweeted. Rupani was elected unanimously as only one nomination was filed by filed by Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel, which was supported by other cabinet ministers. Rupani is a cabinet minister holding important portfolios including limewater resources, transport and labour and employment. Earlier this morning, Rupani had visited Rashtriya Swaymsevak Sangh (RSS) headquarter of Gujarat in Ahmedabad and also met senior RSS functionaries. He also sought former Gujarat chief minister Keshubhai Patel's guidance and blessings for his new responsibilities. (ANI) Condoling the demise of Indian student Raj Kumar Raja, who was found dead in Israel on Monday, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj today said that arrangements are being made to bring back his mortal remains to India. "There was a news item that an Indian student has been found dead in Israel. I asked for a report from the Embassy. The report says that an Indian student Raj Kumar Raja aged 27 and resident of Chittoor Distt (AP) was found dead in the hostel room of Tel Aviv University," Swaraj tweeted. "We will fly his mortal remains to the family and follow up police investigation. Our heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family," she said in another tweet. Raj Kumar Raja, was a research student in cancer studies at the university. He was found dead in his dormitory room on Monday and the cause of his death is unknown. Raja hails from Kuppam in Andhra Pradesh. (ANI) According to National Fish Workers Forum Secretary Manish Lodhari, many more boats might have been captured than reported so far. According to reports, out of seven fishing boats, six were from Okha Port while one from Porbandar. More than 60 Indian fishermen along with 14 boats were arrested by the Pakistani Marine Security Agency in January. (ANI) President Barack Obama was one of those many Americans whom honoured and mourned the demise of author Harper Lee, announced on February 19. The author of 'To Kill a Mocking Bird', who died at the age of 89, was once declared by the US president as an author "who changed America for the better" with her works, reports the Guardian. The Obama family in a statement said Lee never wrote 'To Kill a Mockingbird' for an award or famer, rather "she was a country girl who just wanted to tell an honest story about life as she saw it." "But what that one story did, more powerfully than one hundred speeches possibly could, was change the way we saw each other, and then the way we saw ourselves," the statement added. Former US president George W Bush, who awarded the author the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2007 in one of the most public outings of her later years, released a statement saying, "Harper Lee was ahead of her time and her masterpiece To Kill a Mockingbird prodded America catch up with her." Hailed as a brilliant writer and an extraordinary person, she was honoured by friends, families and every person across the globe who was inspired by her simplicity and honesty. "Knowing Nelle these past few years has been not just an utter delight but an extraordinary privilege," said her literary agent, Andrew Nurnberg, in a statement. Mourning on the death of the most famous author of the publishing house, the president and publisher of HarperCollins US, Michael Morrison, said that the world knows Harper Lee was a brilliant writer but "what many don't know is that she was an extraordinary woman of great joyfulness, humility and kindness." Aaron Sorkin, the writer of 'The West Wing' and 'The Social Network' who last week announced that he was working on a Broadway adaption of Lee's Pulitzer-winning 1960 novel about racial prejudice in the American south, told, "I was saddened to learn this morning of the passing of Harper Lee, one of America's most beloved authors." Media mogul Oprah Winfrey took to her Twitter handle to say,"Harper Lee my 1st favorite author! I always wanted to interview her. She said" honey I already said everything I had to say". #RIPHarperLee" Ava DuVernay, director of the civil rights drama Selma, shared a still from the 1962 film adaption of 'To Kill a Mockingbird' starring Gregory Peck on Twitter and wrote, "You never really understand a person. until you climb into his skin and walk around in it." Thank you, #HarperLee." Former US president George W Bush, who awarded the author the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2007 in one of the most public outings of her later years, released a statement saying, "Harper Lee was ahead of her time, and her masterpiece To Kill a Mockingbird prodded America catch up with her." Apple's CEO, Tim Cook also paid tribute to the author with one of her own quotes over twitter, "Rest in peace, Harper Lee. "The one thing that doesn't abide by majority rule is a person's conscience."" Science fiction author Stephen King acknowledged Lee's great contribution to Truman Capote's non-fiction crime classic In Cold Blood and wrote on his twitter handle, "Let's celebrate the life of Harper Lee, who wrote an American classic and helped her friend Truman Capote write another." Not saying much about the reason of the death, publishing house HarperCollins released a statement on February 19 confirming her death which said "died peacefully last night." (ANI) Meanwhile, Bharatiya Janata Party leaders (BJP) Sanjeev Balyan,Om Prakash Dhankar, Anil Jain and Ram lal also held a meeting at party office. They will meet BJP president Amit Shah after the meeting. The Army has been called in the state to quell the ongoing Jat agitation in Haryana which took a violent turn. At least three protesters were reportedly killed in the clashes. Around 150 trains have been cancelled. There have been fire incidents at Jhajjar station. The agitating members of the Jat community are demanding their inclusion in the OBC category and thereby reservation in government jobs. (ANI) The National Human Rights Commission today said the attack on Jawaharlal Nehru University student union leader Kanhaiya Kumar in the Patiala house court appeared to be planned.The NHRC panel, visited the Tihar jail today to meet Kanhaiya. In its report to the rights body, the panel said that Kanhaiya Kumar was subjected to psychological pressure and was made to issue a statement before he appeared in the court, owing allegiance to the Constitution which was dictated by police.Kanhaiya Kumar was abused and physically assaulted by some persons dressed as advocates in the Patiala House court premises on February 17. He was even physically assaulted inside the adjoining court room in the presence of police who did not do anything to prevent the assault or apprehend the attackers even though they were identified by Kanhaiya Kumar then and there. The physical assault on Kumar in the court premises appears to be organised and pre-planned, the report submitted to the NHRC by its fact-finding panel said.Kumar, arrested on February 12 for alleged sedition charges following a controversial event at JNU where anti-India slogans were allegedly shouted.The student leader was produced in court on Wednesday after the end of his police custody, where a group of lawyers attacked him and others, including journalists. Kanhaiya moved to the Delhi high court to seek bail after the Supreme Court refused to intervene in the matter saying that would set a precedent of due process being bypassed. He then approached the apex court yesterday seeking bail on the grounds that his life was under threat in Tihar jail. On February 18, the cting Chairperson, NHRC directed that a team comprising C. K. Chaturvedi, Registrar (Law) and S. K. Jain, SSP (Investigation) to visit Central Prison, Tihar and inquire into the several important issues pertaining to Kanhaiya Kumar.These included assessing arrangements made and measures taken to ensure safety and security of Kanhaiya Kumar in the prison and to ascertain the apprehensions, if any, in his mind with regard to his safety and security.The panel was also asked to ascertain the treatment meted out to him by the police and prison authorities while in custody. To ascertain whether the statement released to the press by the Commissioner of Police, Delhi in the name of Kanhaiya Kumar was made by him voluntarily and without any extraneous influence. In its report the panel said ''The statement which was issued by the police as an appeal on behalf of Kanhaiya Kumar was not written by him voluntarily. The content, construction and framework of the statement were as dictated by the police.''The committe also added "What happened in the Patiala House Court Complex on February 17 was a major security lapse on the part of the police. Going by the sequence of events, the safety and security of Kanhaiya and his family members is a serious cause of concern''.A copy of the inquiry report submitted by the NHRC team has been forwarded to the Commisioner of Police, Delhi and the Director General of Prisons, Tihar Jail for their comments, to be received by the Commission, on or before February 26. UNI AR PS0103 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0298-599358.Xml External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj called on the visiting dignitary. Her meeting was aimed at renewing the important relationship between the two countries. Earlier, he paid tributes to Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat here. He was accorded a ceremonial reception at the forecourts of the Rashtrapati Bhawan. Prime Minister Modi and the Nepal Prime Minister will hold delegation level talks this afternoon. The two leaders will discuss issues of mutual concern, as well as strengthening bilateral cooperation in diverse areas including developmental assistance, energy and connectivity. After the talks, the two countries will exchange agreements. (ANI) Congress today accused the district administration authorities in Varanasi of dictatorial attitude saying that they did not grant the permission to a Dalit for holding dharna against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his constituency."In PM Modi's constituency Varanasi, a Dalit was arrested for seeking permission from the authorities for holding dharna against the PM", the opposition party said in a tweet on its social media page."Saheb Ke Khilaf bologe to jail Jaoge", it quoted officials in the tweet terming it as BJP's dictatorship. UNI SS SV 1316 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0089-599635.Xml Indian pilgrims today set sail to the Katchatheevu Island in the Palk Bay to participate in the annual two-day St.Antonys Church festival for the seventh year in row. Escorted by the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) ships, 92 mechanized fishing trawlers were ferrying as many as 3477 pilgrims, including women and children to the Katchatheevu Island from Rameswaram, official sources said. The first boat carrying 37 pilgrims was seen wading through the blue waters from Rameswaram fishing jetty, this morning after the mandatory security clearance. The festival begins this evening with flag hoisting followed by car procession tonight. The pilgrims will return to Rameswaram tomorrow evening. Though there was no need for visa and passport for the pilgrimage to Katchatheevu, the Indian authorities follows customs and immigration procedures. The ICG ships escort the boats carrying Indian pilgrims up to International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) from where the pilgrims will be taken safety to the Island by Sri Lankan Naval personnel. The 275-acre uninhabited Katchatheevu Island was ceded to Sri Lanka by the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1974 as a goodwill gesture. As per the Indo-Sri Lankan agreement, fishermen of both countries were allowed to fish near the Island, dry their fishing nets and offer prayers in St.Anthonys church. However, the Island became controversial after the Sri Lankan government banned entry of Indians to participate in St.Antonys church festival and also denied permission to Indian fishermen to fish around the Island in 1982 due to the civil war. The Lankan government lifted the ban on Indian pilgrims in 2010 after the end of civil war. UNI GSM CS 1200 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0415-599553.Xml Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu suggested of introducing an online system that will credit state-provided benefits for entrepreneurs in the first week of every month. According to the new policy, electric bills, subsidies, and other subsidies will be deposited in the beneficiary bank account from April 2016. In a review meeting held here last night on Ease of Doing Business, the Chief Minister directed the officials to look into the possibility of reducing the duration of the approval process to 15 days. Citing Singapores model as an example, the Chief Minister explained that the country ranks first in Ease of Doing Business, setting an example for receiving applications, permissions and processing of licenses. Referring AP securing second place in World Bank rankings of Ease of doing Business, the Chief Minister asked the officials to work hard for moving forward then Gujarat this year. Meanwhile, the officials brought to the Chief Ministers notice that there has been a delay in issuing permits from the fire department. Out of 5,357 applications received last year, 4,655 had been approved and 403 were rejected. In this regard, the Chief Minister cited the Singapores practice of taking disciplinary action against non-performing officials. Mr.Naidu also directed the officials to develop a communication system to update the investors about the status of their pending applications and asked the officials to resolve legal-related problems quickly. He further suggested taking assistance from KPMG, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, World Economic Forum and World Bank to achieve the desired results.UNI DP CS 1206 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0415-599564.Xml The traffic on Mumbai Pune express was affected for three hours after a LPG tanker ramped with a road side divider near khandala early this morning. Two persons were injured in the mishap which occurred before the second tunnel near Khandala.The injured were rushed to MGM hospital in Kamothe, highway police said.The traffic was restored around 0900 hrs. Due to the traffic jam, the Pune-Mumbai traffic was diverted to the old Mumbai-Pune highway, police added. UNI SP ADG1321 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0171-599569.Xml Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, who is on a two-day visit to his parliamentary constituency Amethi today held a ' Janata Durbar' to hear the grievances of his voters.Hundred of people have been thronging the Munshiganj guest house since this morning and have queued up to meet their local MP.Meanwhile Congress Rajya Sabha member Dr Sanjay Singh, who met the party vice-president this morning, said Mr Gandhi has directed the leaders of the state to start preparing for the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls.Talking to reporters outside the guest house, Mr Singh said, "BJP through the JNU issue was trying to polarise the country on the name of Hindu and Muslim.""After BJP's defeat in the Bihar and Delhi assembly polls and in the local bodies poll in Gujarat and Maharashtra, the party was now conspiring to divide the nation on the name of Hindu and Muslims," he alleged. Congress is playing a constructive role inside and outside the Parliament and will prevent such conspiracy by the BJP," he said.Meanwhile, Mr Gandhi who, started his Amethi visit yesterday, had reteirated his patriotism for India though a section of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morach(BJYM) activists staged protest before the leader. Mr Gandhi took strong exception to the RSS and BJP for giving him lesson on patriotism. The Congress vice-president is slated to leave for New Delhi this afternoon.UNI XC-MB SV PR1407 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0196-599544.Xml On getting definite clue about illegal activities, CCB sleuthsraided 'Kiyora Wellness and Thai Spa' a Beauty Paralours in the cityand arrested Chndrakant, Sanjeev, Louis Ranjit Kumar, A Anish and R Abhishek. Preliminary investigation has revealed that Louis, by offeringgood job in the Beauty Paralour, used to bring girls from Thailandand force them into prostitution. During the raid, a cash of Rs 4,100, 7 mobile phones, one I-Pad, 2credit card payment machines were recovered from them.UNI MSP CS 1341 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0284-599679.Xml Uttar Pradesh government has now made it compulsory for all two wheeler companies to provide quality helmets to the new purchasers as a measure to hike road safety. In an order issued yesterday, the government said that all the showrooms of the two wheeler companies will have to show in their receipt that the customer has been provided with helmet. The governor order also said that the companies should provide a BIS marked helmets for the customers. UP's Transport commissioner Ravindra Naik said here today that this move will minimise the casulty in road accidents of the two-wheelers in which youths are most affected. UP has the highest number of deaths in road accident in the country. Earlier, the state government had initiated a law that if a two-wheeler driver was caught without helmet three times, then his driving licience would be cancelled.UNI MB SV VP1416 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0196-599648.Xml Metropolitan Magistrate Lovleen granted bail to Pitroda after he appeared before him asking him to furnish a personal bond of Rs.50,000 and a surety of like amount. The court also granted exemption from personal appearance to Gandhis, Congress treasurer Motilal Vora, Gandhis' family friend Suman Dubey and another party leader Oscar Fernandes, who are out on bail. The apex court on February 12 exempted the Gandhis and others from personal appearances, noting their presence in the trial court would cause more inconvenience than convenience. The court also fixed March 21 for further hearing of the case. Bharatiya Janata Party leader Subramanian Swamy has initiated the case against Gandhis and others. On June 26 last year, the trial court issued summons to the Congress leaders on Swamy's complaint about "cheating" in the acquisition of Associated Journals Ltd., which published the National Herald newspaper, by Young India Ltd., "a firm in which Sonia and Rahul Gandhi each own a 38 percent stake". Vora, Dubey, Fernandes and Pitroda were also named as accused in the case. The Delhi High Court in December dismissed the plea of the Gandhis to quash the summons issued to them by the trial court on Swamy's complaint. --Indo-Asian News Service akk/pr/vm ( 260 Words) 2016-02-20-15:41:33 (IANS) Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare J P Nadda today ruled out the possibility of any increase in drug prices due to hike in import taxes and assured that medicines would be made available at cheaper rates. It is falsely reported that there will be hike in drug prices in India due to hike in import taxes. On the contrary, medicines are likely to become cheaper, he said. Apart from generic drugs, medicines for cancer and cardiovascular surgical implants will also be available at 60 to 90 per cent subsidized rates. The minister made this statement while laying the foundation stone of the Rs 150-crore super specialty block for the Government Tirumala Devaswom (TD) Medical College. HLL Infra Tech services Ltd , a subsidiary of HLL Lifecare Ltd (HLL), will construct the14,100 sq m block. Mr Nadda also said his ministry is willing to provide assistance in setting up Amruth Centres in Kerala. But the state government should give us land for the scheme implementation, he added. The new super specialty block will have 200 in-patient beds and 50 ICU beds. It will be equipped with air-conditioned operation theatres for cardiology, cardiothoracic surgery, neurology, neurosurgery, urology, nephrology, gastroenterology, plastic surgery and endocrinology. A project under the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY), the four-storeyed building with four lifts will have state of the art medical facilities, like X-Ray, CT scan, MRI, ultrasound scan, laboratories and CSSD. The Kerala government will contribute Rs 30 crore out of Rs 150 crore for the construction of the facility, which is expected to be completed in 18 months.The Super Specialty Block of Thiruvananthapuram Medical College hospital, the first hospital upgradation project, was built by HLL's Infrastructure Development Division under PMSSY in record time. The function was presided over by Kerala Health Minister V S Sivakumar. UNI CR VV ADB1635 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0324-599991.Xml Hailing New Zealand skipper Brendon McCullum's record for the fastest Test century, star batsman Suresh Raina, who will lead the Kiwi in the Indian Premier League (IPL) today said, he would be happy to see an Indian break the record. ''As of now, I would like the record to be with McCullum only, but I would be happy to see an Indian break his record,'' Raina told reporters here today. McCullum blasted a brilliant 145, with his first 100 runs coming from 54 balls, to rescue New Zealand before Australia were reduced to 57 for one by the close of day one of the second Test at Hagley Oval in Christchurch. MORE UNI TBA KU GAU 1805 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0106-600354.Xml Thai budget carrier Nok Airlines said today it will cancel 20 domestic flights on February 23 even as it faces an investigaton into earlier cancellations and the threat of having its licence suspended.An official at the airline, a unit of Thai Airways International, told Reuters that passengers affected had been contacted and offered compensation or alternative flights."These are normal cancellations and we informed passengers three days in advance, which is in line with the (transport) ministry's regulations," she said.Nok Air is under investigation by the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand after 3,000 passengers were affected by flight cancellations last Sunday following a pilot strike.On Monday, Deputy Transport Minister Omsin Chivapruek said Nok Air's operating licence could be suspended if there were more flight cancellations.Thailand is under pressure to improve its aviation standards after the US Federal Aviation Administration downgraded the country's safety ratings in December last year.REUTERS JW BD1810 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0364-600368.Xml Much touted Muzaffarpur-Dhalkebar transmission line between India and Nepal became operational today, opening a power exchange grid that will immediately inject 80 megawatt electricity in the Himalayan nation reeling under acute power crisis. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Nepalese counterpart Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli tele-inaugurated the power station in Bihar by pressing a remote control switch from Hyderabad House here.India will initially supply of 80MW which will be stepped up to 200MW by October and 600MW by December 2017 through a line charged with 132KV, 220KV and 200KV power respectively. Nepal aims to import half of its electricity from India in a drive to light up some 5.7 million homes in the mountainous terrains as well as Terai plains. Later, the grid will also be used to supply surplus power to India once the other hydel projects in Nepal are fully networked. Lack of infrastructure to tap hydel power, disruptions by the Madhesis and two powerful earthquakes worked up to a severe power crisis in the Himalayan nation, forcing the government to declare "energy emergency" only yesterday.Mr Modi and Mr Oli also oversaw the signing of six more agreements and MoUs designed to stitch up bilateral ties that lay in tatters by violent ethnic protests and exchange of barbs between the two sides in the recent past.More UNI PRA SW AE 1720 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0384-600132.Xml BJP National General Secretary MuralidharRao today alleged that the ruling Congress government in Karnatakahas not made sincere effort to solve the Kalasa-Banduri Nalaconstruction diverting Mahadayi river for providing drinking waterto three water starved districts. Speaking to newspersons here, Mr Rao said it was Congress supremoSonia Gandhi's stand not to allow the project when her party was inpower in Goa and took the issue to tribunal. In Karnataka theruling party did not show its sincerity in solving the issue till today, he claimed. The BJP leader said 'Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana'(PMFBY-CropInsurance Scheme) is more farmer friendly and farmer is required to shell outonly between 1.5 to 5 per cent from as high as 18 to 25 per cent inthe country earlier. Mr Rao said during UPA government only 20 per cent of thefarmers had opted for crop insurance and the target set is to coverover 50 per cent of the farmers. The norms and conditions ofsettlement have been simplified and covers the smallest individualfarmer, he informed. He said Narendra Modi-led NDA government is bringing out more and morescheme sfor farmers like food security, employment generation,sprinkle irrigation, Kisan Suraksha and Kisan Kalyan, among others Mr Rao said NDA government has cleared Rs 9000 crore interestfree loan to farmers. A revolving fund for sugar cane growers willbe generated and amendments are brought to sugar Act, he added. "The farmers are in distress and committing suicide mainly due toCongress rule and its policies. The Karnataka government has failedin disbursing more than Rs 1500 crore sanctioned, as relief tothe farmers, the BJP leader alleged.UNI HVN MSP KVV ADB 1815 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0287-600348.Xml Union Minister for Medium, Small and Micro Enterprises (MSME) Kalraj Mishra along with Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh laid foundation stone of Rs 102.32 crore Tool Room cum Technological Development Centre (TDC) for investors at industrial township Baddi in Solan district, today. The Tool Room would be set up under the Technology Centre System Programme (TCSP) of Government of India. Addressing gathering , Mr Mishra said after realising the growing need of opening of such centers, the government had taken up the case with world bank that sanctioned Rs. 2200 crore for setting up such Technology Centers for 15 places in the country, adding that 10 different places had been identified, till date. Himachal government has already provided 20 acres of land free of cost for the Technology Centre. He said this Technology Centre cum Tool Room was a dream project of Mr Singh and similar technology centers were coming up in Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana, Uttrakhand and other places where more than one lakh youths would be trained for setting up of the industrial units.The Tool Room will provide quality training to the youth which would also be eco-friendly. He said the Prime Minister Narendra Modi had been stressing for Make in India products and achieve the Skilled India label to make Bharat a manufacturing country, so that the world could use the products and import them with the label Make in India. He said Ministry of MSME would provide adequate support for setting up rural based industrial units in the State as Himachal was hub of Medium, Small and Micro units. Mr Mishra said the Tool Room set up under the Technology Centre System Programme (TCSP) focuses on technological and skilled manpower support to the industries of the region for design and development and engineering solutions including import substitution. He said the Ministry was also working towards strengthening the Rural Self Employment Training Institutes and said that for seeking online registration the union government had made a provision of one page form to be filled within no time to facilitate the entrepreneurs.The Union Minister announced shifting the Multipurpose Development Training Centre from Kaned to Sundernagar in Mandi district on the request of Chief Minister. Speaking on the occasion, Mr Singh said Rs 102.32 crore Technology Centre cum Tool Room would provide consultancy and advisory services in technology and engineering solutions for improvement of the quality system and productivity and would prove handy for providing employment to both the skilled and unskilled manpower. He said in Himachal Pradesh more than 500 Medium and Large Scale and 40 thousand Small scale units were in operation with an investment exceeding over Rs.18,000 crore.The Chief Minister urged the Union Minister to re-store the Industrial package which had expired on January, 2013 and said the issue had been raised many a times with union government for extension of the Central incentive package and we hope you will favorably respond to this. Speaking on the occasion, Industries Minister Mukesh Agnihotri raised the issue for re-storing the industrial package of the State and said the state government had invited many big industrial houses in the state. The Minister urged the Union Minister to form a separate policy for setting up micro and small scale industries for the hill states. UNI XC PY AE BD1819 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0293-600121.Xml Questioning if being a Kashmiri Muslim is a crime enough to be called for interrogation, former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah said he was ready for interrogation since he is a Muslim and Kashmiri. He was reacting to a tweet by a Kashmiri Migrant Pandit who has in a tweet said "Shiela Rashid #VicePresident #JNU who is a #KashmiriMuslim shld be interrogated She had also opposed #BabaRamdev in #JNU.#Nationfirst". Taking to micro blogging site Twitter Mr Abdullah, working president of the National Conference (NC) said Now being a Kashmiri Muslim is crime enough to warrant interrogation. BTW it's Shehla not Sheila but what the hell!!. "I'm a Kashmir Muslim AND I'm not a Ramdev supporter/follower. I'd better prepare for my interrogation", he tweeted further.UNI BAS AE VN71756 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0331-600100.Xml Three people, including a director of Bhojpuri films, have been arrested by the District Rural Police for allegedly raping and cheating a Pakistani actress. The 30-year-old complainant in her complaint with the Mira Road police station stated that the victim and the director were known to each other for the last three years. They had acted in movies together and produced films too, police said today. The director moved close to her and raped her on several occasions in the city, the complaint stated. He also took around Rs 35.80 lakh from her for the produ ction of the films and never returned it. When asked for the same, he threatened her, the complaint said. After realising that she had been duped, the actress went to the Mira Road police last evening and registered an offence. Following which, the police arrested the director. While, his two other associates were arrested today, police said. Police declined to reveal their identity. An offence under sections 376, 414, 406, 504 and 506 read with 34 of Indian Penal Code has been registered against the trio, sources added.UNI XR SS AE VN2005 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0171-600562.Xml Well-known composer and flautist Rakesh Chaurashia has said ongoing 'Ketavan World Sacred Music' which is underway here has played important role in bringing different types of artistes together.Speaking to reporters today, Mr Chaurasia, who is here to perform at festival at Old Goa, said, ''The organisers of Ketavan Sacred Music have managed to bring together musicians practicing different genres of music.''Charasia will be performing at ancient Church Heritage Complex at Old Goa. Italian musician Paolo Pacciolla and his dance partner Luisa Spagna, who were also here to perform in the festival, were of the view that the festival was unique in its nature as it had brought together both eastern and western music.They said they loved tradions of India and its people.On Thursday last, the international and Indian musicians taking part in the ongoing, Ketevan World Sacred Music Festival in Old Goa, had stepped into schools and destitute homes across Goa to share the joys of music with little school children and destitute women.While a group of musicians went to the Lourdes Convent and St Xavier's Vidyalaya in Saligao and Korgao respectively, another set of musicians visited the ASHA Mahal destitute home in Taleigao and the Santa Cruz school in Santa Cruz. Acclaimed Spanish violinist Leo Rossi along with viola player Pablo Trave, violin cello player Jose Luis Tarin and Mumbai-based violinist Dielle Braganza regaled the inmates of the ASHA Mahal and later had the children of the Santa Cruz school in a thrall. Rossi and his colleagues played Mozart's 'Divertimento in D' to the destitute women at the ASHA Mahal. The four pieces performed by the musicians, so captured the imagination of the less privileged women that they were almost moved to tears.Michelle, one of the inmates, said in a choked voice, "I have never heard such heavenly music before. God bless these lovely people for coming to our home today." Soccorinha Fernandes, manager, ASHA Mahal said, "These musicians play in international concerts. That they came to our destitute home to share their joy, exhibits their humaneness." At the Santa Cruz school, the musicians were greeted by a church- full of 200 children ranging from class I to X. The musicians played Mozart once again to thunderous applause. School teacher Bernadette Diniz was clearly overwhelmed by the performances. She said, "We are indeed lucky to have these accomplished musicians visiting us to perform here. This is such a big inspiration for our little children." Visiting American choir teacher, Nicky Manlove, who teaches the school children, picked out Leo Rossi's 'Bach solo' as his personal favourite. "Rossi is indeed a fantastic musician," Nicky said. The festival which concludes tomorrow has Indian classical flautist Rakesh Chaurasia, Indian classical slide-guitarist, Debashish Bhattacharya, western classical pianist, Marilena Fernandes and western classical violinist, Leo Rossi for regaling the audiences at the first.UNI AKM SS SM PY AE BD2015 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0171-600570.Xml People of Kadadaragaddi village in Lingasugur taluk, Raichur district, boycotted the ZillaPanchayat and Taluk Panchayat elections here today. According to the official sources none of the 750 voters turnedout to polling station even two hours after the commencement ofvoting. The villagers said that they had boycotted the polls astheir long pending demand of getting a bridge over Krishna river wasnot realised. Voting had not started in Anchesugur (PS 06) in Deodurg taluk eventwo hours after the scheduled commencement owing to a technical snagin the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM). The voters were sent back inthe morning. The technical staff are trying to fix the problem, butunsuccessful so far. Voting in Jangamarahalli village in Manvi taluk was also disrupteddue to technical problems in EVM. Some voters at Gonal village in Raichur taluk protested outside the polling station when they found that some names were deleted from the electoral roll. There was a heated exchange of words between polling staff and people. "Five voters, including myself, who are still alive are deleted fromthe roll and denied voting while over fifty dead people are still inthe roll," Hanumaya said news persons outside the polling station. Till 3 pm around 53 per cent voting reported in Raichur district ,the official sources saidUNI SD VV ADB2026 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0287-600573.Xml DSK Liverpool outshone Mohammedan SC by 3-0 to reap three points in 120th LG IFA Shield 2015-16 (U19) at Kalyani Stadium here today.DSK Liverpool took control from the starting of the match. There was continuous attack and tremendous pressure of DSK Liverpool on Mohammedan SC.On the 34th minute, DSK Liverpool scored the first goal. Prasanth K netted the ball to take the lead.Lallianzuala was the player to earn second goal for DSK Liverpool on 43rd minute.In the second half Pallal Remkima scored to register a convincing win against Mohammedan SC.Rohit Kumar of DSK Liverpool performed well to be adjudged the Man of the Match.UNI BM AD AJ BL2130 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0108-600740.Xml President Pranab Mukherjee today conveyed his greetings and felicitations to King of Bhutan Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck on his birthday which falls on February 21. In his message, the President said, On behalf of the Government, the people of India and on my own behalf, it gives me immense pleasure to extend my heartiest good wishes and warm greetings on the occasion of Your Majestys birthday. ''The special relationship between India and Bhutan is a unique example of good neighbourly relations. Your Majestys personal commitment to consolidating our historic and close bilateral relations is very much appreciated by the Indian people. It was an honour and privilege for me to receive Your Majesty in India in 2014 and meet Your Majesty during my visit to Bhutan the same year.''''I take this opportunity to extend my best wishes for the health and happiness of Your Majesty and esteemed members of the Royal Family of Bhutan,'' the President said.UNI AR AJ 2241 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0092-600793.Xml The Lok Sabha Secretariat, New Delhi will organise a two-day national conference of women legislature from March five in New Delhi. A release issued by the Department of Information and Publicity here today said the conference, with its central theme on 'Women Legislatures: Building Resurgent India (Mahila Pratinidhi-Sashakt Bharat Ki Nirmata)', has been conceptualised by the Speakers Research Initiative (SRI) and is being organised under the auspices of Indian Parliamentary Group. The conference is intended to provide the first ever such chance and platform for Women Legislatures from all parts of India to interact with their counterparts from other states, with MPs, Chief Ministers, Union Ministers and a few very eminent pillars of Judiciary and higher Bureaucracy. These interactions and guidance from seniors is intended to sharpen the skills and abilities of new Legislators to perform their Legislative and Non-Legislative leadership roles with a sharper focus and greater effectiveness. It is intended that the eminent Speakers, discussants, session moderators and delegates-all of whom will be Legislators and MPs with engaged in very intensive, in depth and focused dialogue with the purpose that clear ideas for action, study and roadmaps for future emerge, the release added.UNI AKM SS PY AJ VN2312 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0171-600603.Xml A squad of Itwara Police has raided a reading a place where gambling was done on a casino machine confiscated various items including mobile handset and others worth Rs 2.94 lakh. As per the police report, a squad constituted under the guidance of the SP Paramjit Singh Dahiya and theadditional SP Sandeep Doiphode headed by the police inspector S S Shinde and others raided a place in Itwara area last evening where it was found that the 11 accused without the permission were gambling on a casino electronic machine in a open shop, when all the police were engaged in preparation of the possession of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. A case has been filed against the accused under the section 12 (a) of the Bombay Prevention of Gambling Act 1887 and instigation was going on.UNI XR/VKB PY AJ VN2304 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0171-600751.Xml BJP National Secretary Siddharth Nath Singh today accused Jadavpur University vice-chancellor Suranjan Das of going soft against a section of students who allegedly raised anti-India slogans on the behest of state ruling Trinamool Congress."The vice-chancellor of Jadavpur University has a duty to identify the students who raised anti-India slogans and take punitive action, instead of doing this he seemed acting as an appointee of the TMC and executing its political agenda," Mr Singh told reporters here.Mr Singh reiterated that Prof Das being the vice-chancellor of the university should keep an eye on the students who were doing anti-India activities and take lawfully punitive action. Mr Singh said since the state governor, who is also the chancellor of the varsity, sought a report on the issue, the JU VC should have produced such report by now and handed over to the governor. "It is very unfortunate to see the VC is not acting against the anti-India elements. It is very much clear that there are political influences behind it," he said. BJP's state president Dilip Ghosh said the students and teachers who have been accused of anti-nationalism should be pulled out of the academic institution and punished. ''If BJP was in power in Bengal, then we would have dragged the traitors by collar, be it teacher, student or any other staff member. Anti national activities will not be tolerated. But unfortunately we do not have any authority in the state. I request the state government to take strong action against any one going against the nation, Mr Ghosh added.Meanwhile, Prof Das said it was an unfortunate statement coming from a political party."I am appointed by the Chancellor and not this time only, I was also appointed by the previous Left Front government as one of the VCs of an university," Prof Das asserted."India is a democratic country and Jadavpur University is an independent and autonomous academic institution. The students have freedom of speech which they can exercise. We had said before that the anti national slogans were carried out by some fringe elements whom we condemn, he said.UNI PC AD AJ 2325 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0108-600684.Xml The state Congress unit today asked Delhi Police to furnish evidence against Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union (JNUSU) president Kanhaiya Kumar who has been booked under sedition charges. Bihar Congress President Ashok Choudhary told mediapersons here that the police should produce evidences against JNUSU president otherwise it would be considered that Kumar was being framed. He said the entire JNU campus could not be defamed and if anybody raised anti-India slogans, he should be identified and brought to justice. He said BJP in run up to the Assembly elections in Assam and Uttar Pradesh was trying to whip up passion of the people to improve its electoral chances. He also demanded action against BJP MLA Kailash Choudhary for terming Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi as "traitor" and also for the MLA's comment on Mr Gandhi that he should be either hanged or shot to death. Mr Choudhary said nobody should give sermon to the Congress on the issue of nationalism as the grand old party had always stood for unity and integrity of the country. He said those who were opposed to the ideologies of BJP and RSS were being called traitors. Anarchy like situation was prevailing across the country due to the Narendra Modi led government's attempts to impose ideologies of BJP and RSS on everbody, Mr Choudhary said. The party chief said the gravity of the situation could be understood by the fact that the Supreme Court while transferring the bail plea of Kanhaiya Kumar to the Delhi High Court, a bench of the apex court observed that an "extraordinary situation was prevailing" in the matter. It was a paradox that those who were treating Nathuram Godse, the assassin of Mahatma Gandhi as martyr and also wanted to install his statues at different places across the country were calling themselves as patriots, he added. Mr Choudhary said his party would burn effigy of Mr Modi near Boring Road roundabout tomorrow in protest against the JNU controversy, alleged failure of the Centre on all fronts and other issues. He said the party would also hold demonstrations against the Mr Modi government at the district headquarters in the state on February 22.UNI DH AD PY AJ VN2348 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0108-600789.Xml In the backdrop of JNU row, an Islamic students body accused NDA led central government of interfering in the matters of universities and premier educational institutions in the country.Addressing a news conference here, Students Islamic Organisation of India (SIOI) national president Iqbal Hussain alleged that during the last few days there had been political intervention on a large scale in the educational institutions. ''I think universities and educational institutions should have freedom to work. But there were political interventions. For example there was political pressure in the case of Hyderabad University, which resulted in suicide of a student. Before that there was a problem in Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) wherein students were protesting against appointment of its head. Now there is problem in Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU),'' he said.''Environment of JNU has been vibrant. Students have been organising protests in the campus. If anything has been done which is anti-India that must be condemned and action should be taken according to law. But an image of JNU has been created and it seems there is political motive behind that,'' he said.He alleged through media manufactured facts were being presented before the people.Accusing administration of JNU of failing to discharge its duty, he alleged that vice-chancellor of the central university allowed police to enter the campus and arrest JNU Student's Union president Kanhaiya Kumar. He announced that the organisation would hold nationwide campaign in universities on March 23 and 24 against anti-national pressure groups. UNI AKM SS AJ 2336 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0171-600642.Xml In a meeting held at Congress office here, district president Keshvara Autade and office-bearers of the party strongly condemned Mr Shetty's statement that the farmers' suicides were becoming a fashion nowadays. Mr Autade alleged that the present state government as well as central government failed to provide assistance to the affected farmers of the Marathwada region as well as other parts of the state. As a result, affected farmers have become panic and taking extreme step like suicide. In Marathwada region so far 124 such farmers have committed suicides in past 45 days, Mr Autade said. Speaking on the occasion, city chief Adv Sayed Akram said the state government has failed to take measures to tackle the drought condition in the region, so the affected farmers have no option but to commit suicides. To divert their failure in administration and goverence, the government was diverting the people's attention towards sentimental issues like JNU and added that Mr Shetty's statement was totally irresponsible, Adv Akram added. Later, the Congress acitivists staged a demonstration in front of the party office. Prominent among those who participated were former MLAs Kalyan Kale, Nitin Patil, Prakash Mugdia, Vilas Autade and others. UNI VKB SS PY AJ BL2319 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0171-600720.Xml Slovakia will take measures to protect its border with Austria following Vienna's decision to cap the number of migrants travelling through its territory, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said today. "We are launching all technical measures for the protection of our border with Austria for the eventuality that larger groups stay at the Austrian border ... and try to get around and get to Germany via a different route," Fico told a news briefing during an EU summit in Brussels. REUTERS PY BL2306 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0298-599344.Xml Vietnam Foreign Ministry said on Friday that these are serious infringements on Vietnam's sovereignty over the Paracels, threatening peace and stability in the region as well as security, safety and freedom of navigation and flight. The statement said diplomatic notes had been issued to China's embassy in Hanoi and to UN Chief Ban Ki-moon to condemn China's activities. China claims nearly all of the South China Sea, including small islands such as the Paracels. (ANI) South Sudan's warring government and opposition are killing, abducting, and displacing civilians and destroying property despite conciliatory rhetoric by both sides, the United Nations said today.UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is due to travel to South Sudan's capital Juba next Thursday to meet with President Salva Kiir. A political dispute between Kiir and his former deputy Riek Machar two years ago sparked a civil war and renewed hostilities between Kiir's Dinka and Machar's Nuer people. More than 10,000 people have been killed.After months of ineffective negotiations and failed ceasefires, both sides agreed in January to share positions in a transitional government and earlier this month Kiir re-appointed Machar to his former post as vice president."It cannot be tolerated that leaders make declarations in Juba, while the hostilities and attacks on the civilian population continue and intensify across the country," said UN Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights Ivan Simonovic.He told the UN Security Council that the conflict threatens stability in the entire region.Simonovich said that in the Greater Upper Nile region of South Sudan government forces had systematically razed villages and that sexual violence and abuse of children's rights were rampant."During an attack on Koch county, one woman described how soldiers killed her husband, then tied her to a tree and forced her to watch as her 15-year-old daughter was raped by at least 10 soldiers," Simonovich said.UN peacekeepers are sheltering nearly 200,000 people at six protection sites in South Sudan and more than 2.3 million people have been displaced.Eighteen people were killed in fighting on Wednesday at one of those UN compounds and more than 90 were wounded, the UN Refugee Agency said. Two Medicins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) workers were among the dead, the international medical aid group said."Violence continues in many regions of the country, including in areas that had previously been relatively calm," Deputy UN envoy to South Sudan Moustapha Soumare told the council. REUTERS PS PM0113 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0109-599362.Xml The Islamic State fighters in Libya that were targeted by US warplanes in an overnight strike posed a threat to the United States as well as its interests in the region, Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook told a news briefing today."We've made clear that we need to confront ISIL wherever it rears its head," Cook said, using an acronym for Islamic State."They have posed a direct threat to the United States, they have encouraged attacks against the United States and our allies and we're going to continue to confront it to protect our national security," Cook added.US warplanes carried out strikes targeting Islamic State militants at a training facility in Libya on Friday. The facility was linked to Noureddine Chouchane, a Tunisian blamed by his native country for attacks last year on a Tunis museum and the Sousse beach resort, which killed dozens of tourists.Both manned and unmanned aircraft were involved in the strike, Cook said, declining to specify the type of planes used further. The training facility was in a rural area with some buildings nearby, Cook said, adding that the United States believes there are other similar training camps remaining in Libya."When we see opportunities or the need to take this kind of action, we will be prepared to do so," Cook said.The strike was conducted under the 2001 authorization for the use of military force (AUMF), Cook said. President Barack Obama has sought a new authorization from Congress that would specifically cover the fight against Islamic State.Cook said the United States has the legal authority to carry out the strikes, but a new authorization would be "helpful" and an indication of support for US troops.Cook thanked Britain for offering its airbases to launch the attack, but declined to say which bases the United States had used.As many as 60 fighters were being trained at the facility at times, Cook said, adding that a "significant number" of fighters were at the site at the time of the strike. REUTERS PS PM0116 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0109-599363.Xml French President Francois Hollande said today that there was a risk of war between Turkey and Russia over Syria, adding that Moscow should stop backing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.Russia's foreign ministry said earlier today that it intends to call a session of the United Nations Security Council to discuss the Turkish government's statements about a possible ground operation in Syria."There is a risk of war between Turkey and Russia," Hollande told France Inter radio. "There is an escalation.""Negotiations must resume, bombardments must stop, aid must come," he said.Russian warplanes entered Syria's increasingly complex five-year-old conflict at the end of September, backing the forces of their ally Assad, and bombing rebel positions.The Turkish military shot down a Russian jet in November it said had breached its airspace while on a bombing campaign in neighbouring Syria."There must be pressure on Moscow so that we have negotiations," Hollande said. "Moscow will not succeed by unilaterally backing Bashar al-Assad."Hollande said in the radio interview that he had told Russian authorities: "You are not striking the right spots and you are striking civilian populations, which is unacceptable."Turkey, opposed to the government in neighbouring Syria and worried about advances by Kurdish militants in Syrian territory, this week had to deny a media report that it had already sent troops over the border.Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu also told Reuters this week that his country, Saudi Arabia and some European powers wanted ground troops in Syria, though no serious plan had been debated.The Syrian government and its allies, including Russia, must cease hostilities on Friday in line with an agreement made between major powers on February 11, France's Foreign Ministry spokesman said earlier today. REUTERS PS PM0131 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0109-599367.Xml Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said US supplied weapons had been used against civilians by a Syrian Kurdish militia group that Ankara blames for a deadly suicide bombing this week.The State Department said the United States had "not provided any weapons of any kind" to the YPG militia, and the White House said President Barack Obama phoned Erogan to offer US condolences over Wednesday's bombing in the Turkish capital.Washington considers the Syrian Kurdish fighters as useful allies against Islamic State, but Turkey sees the group as a terrorist organisation linked to Kurdish militants waging an insurgency on its own soil.The issue risks driving a wedge between the NATO allies at a critical point in Syria's civil war, as the United States pursues intensive talks with Syria's ally Russia to bring about a 'cessation of hostilities'.Turkey has blamed the YPG for the suicide car bomb attack two days ago that killed 28 people, most of them soldiers. But a Turkey-based Kurdish splinter group has claimed responsibility for the bombing and threatened more attacks.Before the call with Obama, Erdogan said he was saddened by the West's refusal to call the Syrian Kurdish militia terrorists, and would explain to the US president how weapons provided by the United States had aided them.Turkish presidential sources said the call lasted an hour and 20 minutes."I will tell him, 'Look at how and where those weapons you provided were fired'," Erdogan told reporters in Istanbul."Months ago in my meeting with him I told him the US was supplying weapons. Three plane loads arrived, half of them ended up in the hands of Daesh (Islamic State), and half of them in the hands of the PYD," he said."Against whom were these weapons used? They were used against civilians there and caused their deaths."He appeared to be referring to a US air drop of 28 bundles of military supplies in late 2014 meant for Iraqi Kurdish fighters near the Syrian city of Kobani. Pentagon officials said at the time one had fallen into the hands of Islamic State. The Pentagon later said it had targeted the missing bundle in an air strike and destroyed it.The United States has said it does not consider the YPG a terrorist group. A spokesman for the State Department said on Thursday that Washington was not in a position to confirm or deny Turkey's charge that the YPG was behind the Ankara bombing.The spokesman also called on Turkey to stop its recent shelling of the YPG. The YPG's political arm has denied the group was behind the Ankara attack and said Turkey was using it to justify an escalation in fighting in northern Syria."CONFLICTING AND CONFUSED"The Turkish government has said the Ankara attack, in which a car laden with explosives was detonated next to military buses as they waited at traffic lights, was carried out by a YPG member from northern Syria working with Kurdish militants inside Turkey.But the Kurdistan Freedom Hawks (TAK), a group that once had links to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), claimed responsibility for the bombing in a statement on its website. It said the bomber was a 26-year old Turkish national.The claim of responsibility by TAK is unlikely to make a difference to Turkey's demand that Washington stop its support of the Syrian Kurdish fighters.Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu earlier accused the United States of making conflicting statements about the Syrian Kurdish militia.He said US Secretary of State John Kerry had told him the Kurdish insurgents could not be trusted, in what Cavusoglu said was a departure from Washington's official position."My friend Kerry said the YPG cannot be trusted," Cavusoglu said at a news conference during a visit to Tbilisi."When you look at some statements coming from America, conflicting and confused statements are still coming.... We were glad to hear from John Kerry yesterday that his views on the YPG have partly changed."Within hours of the Ankara attack, Turkish warplanes bombed bases in northern Iraq of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has waged a three-decade insurgency against Turkey and which Davutoglu accused of collaborating in the car bombing.Violence between Turkish security forces and the PKK has been at its worst since the 1990s after a 2-1/2-year ceasefire collapsed last July.Two soldiers and a police officer were killed on Friday in a PKK attack in the Sur district of the southeastern city of Diyarbakir, parts of which have been under round-the-clock curfew since December, the armed forces said.Three other soldiers were killed as a building collapsed in the same district. REUTERS PS PM0144 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0109-599373.Xml Turkey's presidency said US President Barack Obama had shared his concerns over the Syrian conflict and promised his support on Friday, hours after a tense exchange between the two NATO allies over the role of Kurdish militants.In a phone conversation that lasted one hour and twenty minutes, Ankara said Obama had told his counterpart President Tayyip Erdogan that Turkey had a right to self defence, and expressed worries over advances by Syrian Kurdish militias near Turkey's border.Washington did not immediately comment on the call, beyond saying Obama has given his condolences over Wednesday's bombing in the Turkish capital..Earlier on Friday, Erdogan had said US-supplied weapons had been used against civilians by a Syrian Kurdish militia group that Ankara blames for the deadly suicide bombing this week.The State Department, which sees the Syrian Kurdish YPG fighters as useful allies against Islamic State, said the United States had "not provided any weapons of any kind" to the group.The issue risks driving a wedge between the NATO allies at a critical point in Syria's civil war, as the United States pursues intensive talks with Syria's ally Russia to bring about a 'cessation of hostilities'.Turkey has blamed the YPG for the suicide car bomb attack two days ago that killed 28 people, most of them soldiers. But a Turkey-based Kurdish splinter group has claimed responsibility for the bombing and threatened more attacks.Before the call with Obama, Erdogan said he was saddened by the West's refusal to call the Syrian Kurdish militia terrorists, and would explain to the US president how weapons provided by the United States had aided them."I will tell him, 'Look at how and where those weapons you provided were fired'," Erdogan told reporters in Istanbul."Months ago in my meeting with him I told him the US was supplying weapons. Three plane loads arrived, half of them ended up in the hands of Daesh (Islamic State), and half of them in the hands of the PYD," he said."Against whom were these weapons used? They were used against civilians there and caused their deaths."He appeared to be referring to a US air drop of 28 bundles of military supplies in late 2014 meant for Iraqi Kurdish fighters near the Syrian city of Kobani. Pentagon officials said at the time one had fallen into the hands of Islamic State. The Pentagon later said it had targeted the missing bundle in an air strike and destroyed it.The United States has said it does not consider the YPG a terrorist group. A spokesman for the State Department said yesterday that Washington was not in a position to confirm or deny Turkey's charge that the YPG was behind the Ankara bombing.The spokesman also called on Turkey to stop its recent shelling of the YPG. The YPG's political arm has denied the group was behind the Ankara attack and said Turkey was using it to justify an escalation in fighting in northern Syria."CONFLICTING AND CONFUSED"The Turkish government has said the Ankara attack, in which a car laden with explosives was detonated next to military buses as they waited at traffic lights, was carried out by a YPG member from northern Syria working with Kurdish militants inside Turkey.But the Kurdistan Freedom Hawks (TAK), a group that once had links to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), claimed responsibility for the bombing in a statement on its website. It said the bomber was a 26-year old Turkish national.The claim of responsibility by TAK is unlikely to make a difference to Turkey's demand that Washington stop its support of the Syrian Kurdish fighters.Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu earlier accused the United States of making conflicting statements about the Syrian Kurdish militia.He said US Secretary of State John Kerry had told him the Kurdish insurgents could not be trusted, in what Cavusoglu said was a departure from Washington's official position."My friend Kerry said the YPG cannot be trusted," Cavusoglu said at a news conference during a visit to Tbilisi."When you look at some statements coming from America, conflicting and confused statements are still coming.... We were glad to hear from John Kerry yesterday that his views on the YPG have partly changed."Within hours of the Ankara attack, Turkish warplanes bombed bases in northern Iraq of the PKK, which has waged a three-decade insurgency against Turkey and which Davutoglu accused of collaborating in the car bombing.Violence between Turkish security forces and the PKK has been at its worst since the 1990s after a 2-1/2-year ceasefire collapsed last July.Two soldiers and a police officer were killed on Friday in a PKK attack in the Sur district of the southeastern city of Diyarbakir, parts of which have been under round-the-clock curfew since December, the armed forces said.Three other soldiers were killed as a building collapsed in the same district.REUTERS PS PM0343 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0109-599386.Xml Morocco has decided not host the 2016 Arab League meeting, saying it wanted to avoid giving a false impression of unity in the Arab world.The annual meeting, which would have been the group's 27th, was initially set for on March 29 in the Moroccan tourist city of Marrakesh but had already been postponed to April 7 at Saudi Arabia's request."Amid the lack of important decisions and concrete initiatives to submit to the heads of states, this summit will be just an other occasion to approve ordinary resolutions and to pronounce speeches that give a false impression of unity," a statement from the Moroccan foreign ministry said."Arab leaders cannot confine themselves, once more, to simply analysing the bitter situation of divergences and divisions without giving decisive responses," it added.Saudi Arabia said yesterday it suspended a 3 billion dollar aid package for the Lebanese army in what a official called a response to Beirut's failure to condemn attacks on Saudi diplomatic missions in Iran.The region is riven by the rivalry between Sunni Muslim power Saudi Arabia and the leading Shi'ite power Iran. The two are backing different sides in Syria's civil war and different factions in neighbouring Lebanon.Saudi Arabia was enraged when Iranians, protesting against the kingdom's execution of a Shi'ite Muslim cleric, raided its missions last month - and many countries in the region came out in support of Riyadh. REUTERS PS PM0408 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0109-599387.Xml Russia asked the United Nations Security Council today to call for Syria's sovereignty to be respected, for cross-border shelling and incursions to be halted and for "attempts or plans for foreign ground intervention" to be abandoned.Russia circulated a short draft resolution to the 15-member council over concerns about an escalation in hostilities after Turkey this week said it and other countries could commit ground troops to Syria.The Security Council met yesterday afternoon to discuss the draft, but veto-powers the United States, France and Britain all said it had no future."Rather than trying to distract the world with the resolution they just laid down, it would be really great if Russia implemented the resolution that's already agreed to," US Ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power, told reporters after the meeting.She was referring to a resolution unanimously agreed by the Security Council in December that endorsed an international road map for a Syria peace process.The Russian draft, seen by Reuters, would have the council express "its grave alarm at the reports of military buildup and preparatory activities aimed at launching foreign ground intervention into the territory of the Syrian Arab Republic."It also demands that states "refrain from provocative rhetoric and inflammatory statements inciting further violence and interference into internal affairs of the Syrian Arab Republic."Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told Reuters this week that his country, Saudi Arabia and some European powers wanted ground troops in Syria, though no serious plan had been debated.Russian air strikes have helped to bring the Syrian army to within 25 km of Turkey's borders, while Kurdish militia fighters, regarded by Ankara as hostile insurgents, have also gained ground, heightening the sense of urgency.Turkey has been shelling positions of the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia in response to what it says is hostile fire coming across the border into Turkey.Russia's relations with Turkey hit a low in November when Turkish warplanes downed a Russian bomber near the Syrian-Turkish border, a move described by Russian President Vladimir Putin as a "dastardly stab in the back."Syria's civil war was sparked by a Syrian government crackdown on a pro-democracy movement in early 2011. Islamic State militants have used the chaos to seize territory in Syria and Iraq, and some 4.3 million Syrians have fled the country.The UN says at least 250,000 people have been killed.A US-led coalition has been bombing Islamic State targets since September 2014. Russia began air strikes in Syria in September 2015.REUTERS PS -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0109-599391.Xml Media tycoon Rupert Murdoch congratulated a close ally of Prime Minister David Cameron today for wanting to campaign to leave the European Union in an upcoming referendum.Cameron hailed a landmark deal he said gave Britain "special status" in the European Union and pledged to campaign heart and soul to stay in the EU at a referendum expected in June.But he acknowledged that one of his closest political allies, Justice Secretary Michael Gove, would campaign to leave the EU, saying he was disappointed but not surprised. He suggested other Conservatives may also join the "out" camp."Congratulations Michael Gove," Murdoch said on Twitter. "Friends always knew his principles would overcome his personal friendships."The message from the 84-year-old executive chairman of News Corp and 21st Century Fox Inc raises the possibility that some of the media tycoon's British newspapers could campaign for an EU exit.Previous editors of Murdoch's Sun tabloid, the country's biggest selling newspaper, have said they sometimes reflected Murdoch's opinions in the paper on major issues such as which political party to back at elections.Murdoch had previously used the social media network to call Cameron's renegotiation with the EU a "non-deal", adding "Now he's rumoured to be begging cabinet colleagues to put aside beliefs."Murdoch's News Corp newspapers include the Wall Street Journal, the New York Post and the Sun and the Times in Britain.REUTERS JW PR1434 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0364-599757.Xml South Africa confirmed its first case of the mosquito-borne Zika virus in a Columbian man, health authorities said.The virus, which is causing international alarm after spreading through much of the Americas, was detected in the man on his visit to Johannesburg, Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi said."The businessman presented with fever and a rash approximately four days after arrival in South Africa but is now fully recovered," he said.The World Health Organisation declared the outbreak a global public health emergency on February 1, noting its association with two neurological disorders - microcephaly in babies and Guillain-Barre syndrome that can cause paralysis. REUTERS JW PR1441 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0364-599774.Xml Prime Minister David Cameron will meet senior ministers today to endorse an EU deal he hopes will persuade voters to ratify Britain's membership of the world's largest trading bloc at a referendum likely to be held in June.Cameron hailed a deal clinched with other European Union leaders at a summit in Brussels as granting Britain special status, and said he would campaign hard to convince voters to stay in the bloc that Britain joined in 1973."I will be campaigning with all my heart and soul to persuade the British people to remain in the reformed European Union," Cameron said after securing the deal that was approved by all other 27 EU leaders."We are stronger, safer and better off inside this reformed European Union," Cameron said. He will update senior ministers at a Cabinet meeting at 1000 GMT and announce the referendum date soon afterwards.The legally-binding agreement reached late yesterday granted Britain an explicit exemption from the founding goal of "ever closer union", offered concessions on the welfare rights of migrant workers and safeguards for the City of London.A British exit from the EU would rock the Union - already shaken by differences over migration and the future of the euro zone - by ripping away its second-largest economy, one of its top two military powers and by far its richest financial centre.Pro-Europeans warn an exit could also trigger the break-up of the United Kingdom by prompting another Scottish independence vote. The $2.9 trillion British economy would face years of uncertain negotiations over the terms of a divorce.Opponents of EU membership -- who will include one of Cameron's closest political allies, Justice Secretary Michael Gove -- say Britain would prosper outside what they say is a doomed German-dominated bloc that punches way below its weight on the world stage.In common with Cameron's Conservative Party, British voters are also split over membership, opinion polls show, with a significant number of people yet to make up their mind, though perceptions that the EU has failed to deal with the migrant crisis may be turning some towards a 'Brexit'.CONSERVATIVES DIVIDEDCameron is due to make a statement to parliament on Monday, triggering the start of the campaign for the referendum.The cabinet meeting will formalise the government's support for staying in the EU and Cameron has said that ministers will then be free to campaign on whichever side they want.Europe has divided the Conservatives for three decades and played a major part in the downfall of two of Cameron's two Conservative predecessors, Margaret Thatcher and John Major.Finance minister George Osborne backed Cameron and other senior members of his cabinet - such as Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond - are expected to follow suit.London Mayor Boris Johnson has yet to make his position clear and Cameron acknowledged that Gove would campaign to leave, saying he was disappointed but not surprised. He suggested other Conservatives may also join the "out" camp.Media tycoon Rupert Murdoch, who is influential in Britain through ownership of a clutch of British newspapers, congratulated Gove."Congratulations Michael Gove," Murdoch said on Twitter. "Friends always knew his principles would overcome his personal friendships." REUTERS JW PR1447 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0364-599782.Xml Two Serbian embassy staff members abducted in Libya in November are believed to have been killed in US raids against a suspected Islamic State training camp, Serbia's foreign minister said.Sladjana Stankovic, a communications officer, and Jovica Stepic, a driver, were taken hostage on November 8 after their diplomatic convoy, including the ambassador, came under fire near the coastal city of Sabratha. "We are expecting identification of the victims, so formally we cannot confirm the information," Minister Ivica Dacic told a press conference.US warplanes launched air strikes against the suspected camp in western Libya yesterday, killing more than 40 people, probably including a militant connected to two deadly attacks last year in neighbouring Tunisia.REUTERS JW PR1527 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0364-599864.Xml Six staff at the Madrid branch of China's biggest bank Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) who were detained this week in an investigation into alleged money laundering were ordered to jail by a Madrid court today.The six testified for more than 14 hours yesterday and early today as part of the investigation known as "operation Shadow". Three were ordered to jail without bail and the other three were ordered to jail but granted bail of 100,000 euros. It was not immediately clear if they had paid the bail.The court said in a statement that all six were suspected of having committed "several economic crimes", without giving any further details.A legal source had earlier said the six faced charges of money laundering, fraud and tax crimes and that one of them was the Madrid branch's general manager.Under Spanish law, if there is enough evidence of a crime, suspects can be held in jail while an investigative judge continues to work on the case. This can take weeks, months or in some cases as long as two years before a trial is set.The arrests follow an investigation by police, the Spanish tax agency and Europol into alleged money laundering through the branch involving funds transferred by a criminal group via the bank to China.In a previous statement released yesterday the court had said the Madrid branch would continue to operate."The entrance and registration was done within the strict framework of the investigation and, so, there has been no judicial intervention in the bank itself," it said.No one at the bank in Madrid was immediately available for comment but an ICBC spokesman in Beijing said the lender was "paying great attention to developments."The Chinese Embassy in Spain said in a statement on its website that the bank had been using the "latest anti-money laundering systems" to strictly control capital.It said ICBC had played an active role in supporting the Spanish economy, including helping finance more than 1 billion euros (1.1 bln dollars) in investment projects."Since its launch, ICBC's Madrid branch has actively pushed forward trade cooperation between China and Spain," it said.China's foreign ministry said in a statement yesterday that the country attached high importance to the case and it had asked that Spain protect the rights and interests of Chinese companies and citizens there and handle the case in accordance with the law. ( 1 dollar = 0.8986 euros)REUTERS JW VP1600 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0364-599943.Xml Thailand is pursuing closer ties - and possible arms deals - with Russia, with relations between Thailand and its traditional partner, the United States, cooling in the wake of a May 2014 coup.Two Thai deputy prime ministers will travel to Russia, just weeks after a visit to Bangkok by the powerful head of Russia's security council, Nikolai Patrushev.On the table, officials from both countries say, are wide-ranging talks on trade and security cooperation, as Russia seeks to develop its position as an Asian power.Most attention has been focused on Thailand's warming ties with China, including talks on a massive rail project and the possible purchase of 1 billion dollars worth of Chinese-made submarines.But Russia appears keen to compete for Thailand's attention.In the last 18 months, Thai junta leader General Prayuth Chan-ocha has met three times with Russian Prime Minister Dimitry Medvedev, who visited Thailand in April 2015, the Russian ambassador to Thailand, Kirill Barsky, told Reuters. Prayuth will travel to Russia in May for a meeting between Russia and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)."THE US WON'T SELL"The big prize of talks - and of most strategic concern to the United States - is in defence.Thailand served as a staging ground for American forces during the Vietnam War, and the Pentagon values its strategic access to the Southeast Asian nation's airfields and ports. But for a second straight year, the United States scaled back regional military exercises, known as "Cobra Gold", which Thailand hosted earlier this month.Thai media have reported that Thailand is seeking to buy dozens of Russian T-90 tanks to replace part of its ageing US-made fleet.In an interview, Thai Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwan told Reuters no decision had been made on the tanks. But US restrictions on the sale of arms to the military-ruled country means Thailand needs to shop elsewhere for the roughly 50 tanks it needs, he said."The US won't sell weaponry to us, and as of late we've been on a tight budget and can't afford them," Prawit said. A 2011 deal to buy 49 tanks from Ukraine fell through after only 10 were delivered, he noted.Thailand is on course to sign an agreement with Russia covering counter-terrorism and is looking to buy Russian hardware, such as helicopters, for disaster response, he said."It's not that we've decided to be on good terms with China and Russia and not with the US We're equally good to all of them.""THIS IS OUR DESTINY"Russia has made it clear that its approach to Thailand is part of a broader push for Asian influence. But this will not necessarily be at the expense of China or the United States, Barsky, ambassador Barsky said."Russia does not need to prove to anybody that Russia is an Asian power, an Asia-Pacific power, a Euro-Pacific power. This is our destiny as a country which stretches from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific coast," he said.Next week's visit will include talks on 25 separate draft agreements, including on trade, culture, technology and security, he said.Prawit will meet Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin and Trade Minister Denis Manturov for talks on military and technical cooperation, Barksy said."If Thailand selects Russian tanks, more than welcome, more than welcome."Matthew Sussex, a Russia expert at Australian National University, said any deal on tanks "would certainly make Washington sit up and take notice".Russia already refuels its nuclear-capable bombers in Vietnam and is probing Southeast Asia for a possible strategic "toehold", he said.Even if they remain all talk, warming Thai-Russia relations would still worry the United States, Sussex said."The fact that the Thai government is starting to say 'well, you know, what about the Russians?' sends pretty worrying signs to DC"REUTERS JW VP1602 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0364-599964.Xml Russia today said it was seriously concerned with the growing tensions on the Syrian-Turkish border, terming Turkeys strikes at Syrian territory as unacceptable. "Russia is concerned with the growing tensions on the Syrian-Turkish border," Kremlins spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters here. He was commenting on Ankaras strikes at Kurdish positions in Syrias north. The spokesman pointed out that this subject was not discussed at yesterdays meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Security Council permanent members. "In general, of course, Russia views such trans-border strikes by Turkish artillery and artillery strikes at the Syrian territory as unacceptable," he added. Mr Peskov refused to comment on whether a conflict between Russia and Turkey is possible over Ankaras actions. The Kremlin has voiced regret over the fact that the UN Security Council did not pass the Russian draft resolution on Syria. "In this case, we can only express our regret over the fact that this draft resolution was not supported," he said. "Russia, of course, pushes ahead with its consistent, transparent and understandable policy aimed at ensuring stability, combating terrorism and preserving the territorial integrity of the countries in the region," he stressed. The UN Security Council yesterday held the first discussion of Russia-initiated draft resolution in favour of Syrias sovereignty. It was a response to Ankaras plans to send ground troops to the territory of the neighboring country. The one-page draft resolution makes no mention of Turkey but condemns "the ongoing shelling of Syrias territory" and "the incessant flow of foreign terrorists and illegal arms supplies" carried out in violation of UN Security Council resolutions and "with the connivance or direct involvement of some states," including Syrias neighbours.The document "strongly demands that Syrias sovereignty is fully respected and any cross-border artillery bombardments and intervention be stopped." It also points to the need "to abandon all attempts or plans of foreign military intervention into Syrian territory."The US, Britain and France who are permanent UN Security Council members with veto power have expressed their sharply negative attitude towards Russias initiative. According to diplomatic sources, three non-permanent Security Council members including Ukraine, spoke out against passing the draft resolution.UNI XC DS AE 1800 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0177-600311.Xml Dozens of al Qaeda militants took control of the southern Yemeni town of Ahwar today, residents said, consolidating the group's control over much of the region.The coastal city and surrounding district, in Abyan province, is home to more than 30,000 people and is an important geographic link between the major port city of Mukalla to the east and the smaller town of Zinjibar, both of which Al Qaeda seized months ago."At dawn this morning the al Qaeda gunmen clashed with the Popular Resistance forces, killing three of them," one resident said. "They attacked the sheikh in charge of the area and after he escaped set up street checkpoints and planted their black flag on government buildings."Separately, two gunmen riding a motorbike killed one of the most senior commanders in the Popular Resistance, a loose confederation of southern militias opposed to al Qaeda.Sheikh Mazen al-Aqrabi was killed along with a bodyguard in Yemen's second-largest city of Aden in the southwest, an eyewitness and a security official said. The gunmen were believed to be from al Qaeda, according to the official.Residents in Aden's Mansoura neighbourhood also reported heavy explosions on Friday night as gunmen launched shoulder-fired rockets in a failed attempt to take over a container port.Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), a Sunni Muslim group that claims to be subordinate to the main global militant organisation, has expanded during Yemen's civil war.Viewed by Western analysts as the most dangerous arm of al Qaeda, it claimed responsibility for the deadly January 2015 attack in Paris on the satirical French magazine Charlie Hebdo.AQAP's advance in Yemen triggered a military intervention by a Gulf Arab coalition in March last year. The Saudi-led forces, which back the ousted government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, have clashed with the ascendant Houthi movement which they fear is a proxy for Shi'ite Muslim Iran. The Houthis and Iran deny this.Hadi's Aden-based government has struggled to reverse AQAP's advance which has reached areas close to the presidential palace.Even so, AQAP has suffered setbacks, losing its leader and several top officials in US drone strikes, and is facing competition from the new Yemen branch of jihadist group Islamic State.REUTERS JW SB1728 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0364-600193.Xml Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kerry on Saturday discussed issues on Syrian peace process. The two, over a phone call, discussed humanitarian aid issues and the planned cessation of hostilities in Syria, "with the exception of fighting against terrorist groups". It was noted that progress was made on humanitarian aid delivery to besieged areas in Syria, Xinhua news agency reported. Lavrov and Kerry also discussed current practical interaction between the two countries, both being co-chairs of the International Syria Support Group. "It was confirmed that the establishment of mechanisms to implement tasks (in the Munich agreement reached last Friday) requires military coordination," Russian foreign ministry statement said. Lavrov also stressed the importance of not allowing Turkey to violate Syria's territorial integrity, as Ankara continued "inadmissible and provocative" bombings against Syrian territories. In another development, Russia on Saturday urged the US and other NATO countries to responsibly and carefully choose their targets in Syria. The comment came as the Serbian foreign ministry earlier confirmed two employees of the Serbian embassy, kidnapped last November in Libya, were killed in the US airstrikes against terror outfit Islamic State (IS). "This is far from the first time NATO airstrikes have killed innocent people," the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement, expressing deep condolences to the families of the victims. "Of course, the US and its allies should be guided first and foremost by international law and act not unilaterally, with coordinated steps with all concerned parties in the international community." The US-led coalition have been conducting airstrikes against terrorist targets in Syria and other Middle East countries since 2014, while Russia started bombing terrorist targets in Syria from last September. Russia has fallen into "war of words" with western countries on Syrian issues, accusing each other of causing civilian casualties and bombing targets other than terrorists'. Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday claimed that Russian armed forces in Syria "helped Syrian government army and other participants in anti-terror efforts to defeat terrorists, saved civilians from violence, barbarism and tyranny". "We have always sought to resolve any disputed issues solely through political and diplomatic means, we have repeatedly contributed to stabilizing the situation in different countries, helped resolve serious conflicts," Putin said. Reiterating that fighting terrorists in Syria is protecting Russia's national interests, Putin said the Russian army must "always be ready to promptly and efficiently respond to any potential threat, to stop any provocation and aggressive actions". --Indo-Asian News Service pku ( 424 Words) 2016-02-21-02:03:34 (IANS) SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia is in talks with Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines, among six nations, to resettle asylum seekers detained in Papua New Guinea and the Pacific island nation of Nauru, the Sydney Morning Herald said on Saturday. The number of asylum seekers trying to reach Australia is small in comparison with those arriving in Europe, but border security is a hot-button political issue in Australia, which is scheduled to hold a national election later in the year. Negotiations with the governments of the three Southeast Asian countries focus on potentially settling 1,459 detainees, many of whom arrived during previous administrations, the newspaper said. Three other countries are also involved in preliminary stages of talks, it added, but did not identify them. A spokeswoman for Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull declined to confirm or deny the report. However, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop cautioned that it was "early days" for the talks, as pressing local issues would influence the discussions. "Some of them have domestic issues, like elections," Bishop said in a statement. The Philippines goes to the polls on May 9 to choose a new president and vice president, among other officials. Australia's tough immigration policies provide that anyone intercepted while trying to reach the country by boat is sent for processing to camps in Nauru and Papua New Guinea's Manus Island. They are never eligible to be resettled in Australia. Past Australian efforts to resettle asylum seekers elsewhere ran into hurdles. Last October, Philippine President Benigno Aquino said the country had "no capacity" to permanently relocate asylum seekers, adding that his government was "challenged to meet the needs of its own people right now". Australia had offered $150 million spread over five years in exchange for permanent relocation of some refugees. A deal struck with Cambodia was halted after only four asylum seekers were resettled. In 2011, the Australian high court ruled invalid a deal with Malaysia, as it was not a signatory to the United Nations Convention on Refugees. Australia has also received criticism from the United Nations and rights groups for its hardline policy. Since 2012, people on boats trying to reach Australia have been turned back or taken to camps in Nauru, where there have been reports of assaults and systemic child abuse, or Papua New Guinea, where Canberra has set up processing centers. (Writing by Peter Gosnell; Editing by Clarence Fernandez) By Gabriela Baczynska, Robert-Jan Bartunek and Alastair Macdonald BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Austria said on Thursday it would go ahead with introducing daily caps on migrants despite warnings from Brussels that the move broke European Union rules, which have already been badly stretched by the migration crisis engulfing the bloc. Vienna announced it would let in no more than 3,200 people and cap asylum claims at 80 per day from Friday as it tries to cut immigration, drawing criticism from the European Union's migration chief. "Politically I say we'll stick with it ... it is unthinkable for Austria to take on the asylum seekers for the whole of Europe," Austria's Chancellor Werner Faymann said on arriving at an EU leaders' summit in Brussels. Around 700,000 migrants entered Austria last year and about 90,000 applied for asylum in the country sitting on the migrant route from Turkey via Greece and the Balkans to Germany. "After 100,000 refugees, we can't tell the Austrian people that it will just continue like this. That's why I tell the EU: we set a good example but to think that you don't have to do anything, then I have to say it is time for the EU to act," Faymann said. Austria is the latest EU state to resort to its own measures to curb migration and try control the flows as the 28-nation bloc has all but failed to implement a joint response to its worst migration crisis in decades. "It is true that Austria is under huge pressure," European Union Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos told Reuters earlier on Thursday. "It is true they are overwhelmed. But, on the other hand, there are some principles and laws that all countries must respect and apply." Avramopoulos sent a letter to Austria's Interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner on Thursday, urging Vienna to reconsider the move as it was against EU laws. "The Austrians are obliged to accept asylum applications without putting a cap," Avramopoulos said. But Faymann blamed the failure of the European migration and refugee policies, saying the bloc's relocation plan to ease the burden on most-affected countries was not working and criticising central-eastern EU members who have stalled it. The migration crisis, which saw more than a million people reach Europe last year, opened deep rifts between EU states, which are trading blame and increasingly resorting to ad-hoc national solutions despite Brussels calls to prevent them. Faymann backed Merkel in pushing for more cooperation with Turkey to get Ankara to curb the number of migrants and refugees who embark from its shores towards Europe. Germany and Austria are among 11 EU states that were due to meet Turkey separately before the summit of all 28 EU leaders to discuss taking in more people directly from Turkey to discourage perilous journeys across the Mediterranean. "Every agreement between Turkey and Greece to protect the common border and make legal immigration possible, every advance and may it be ever so mediocre, would be necessary and right," Faymann said, adding he would seek a new meeting with Turkey after the Thursday one was cancelled over a bombing in Ankara. (Additional reporting by Shadia Nasralla and Francois Murphy in Vienna; Editing by Andrew Heavens) Vienna (AFP) - Austria's combative interior minister rejected Saturday EU criticism of its cap of 80 asylum claims per day, saying a letter of complaint from the bloc's migration commissioner was "sent to the wrong address". "It should be generally known that Austria does not have an external EU border and is therefore not the first safe country that these people (migrants) set foot in," Johanna Mikl-Leitner told the Austria Press Agency (APA). "If everybody stuck to the content of the letter (from migration commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos), then Austria would not have a problem with it. But the letter was clearly sent to the wrong address," Mikl-Leitner said. Instead, the complaints should be sent to safe countries that the migrants pass through on their way to Austria, she added, in a reference in particular to Greece, the main entry point in the European Union for migrants. In 2015, more than a million migrants reached Europe -- nearly half fleeing the five-year-old Syrian civil war, and many risking their lives crossing to Greece and Italy in overloaded boats. The huge influx has caused a major political headache, fuelling the rise of populist parties on the back of concerns about jobs and security, and driving a wedge between members of the 28-nation EU. Thousands more migrants have made the journey this year too, travelling up from Greece through countries in the western Balkans towards Austria and beyond. Austria last year took in 90,000 asylum seekers, making it one of the highest recipients in the EU on a per-capita basis, while almost 10 times that number passed through, mostly to Germany and Sweden. Faced with a resurgent far-right opposition topping opinion polls, Chancellor Werner Faymann's centrist government this week imposed the new cap and said only 3,200 migrants could transit per day. Austria -- one of several members of the passport-free Schengen Zone to reimpose some border controls -- is also tightening these checks and will only take in 37,500 asylum seekers this year. Story continues On Thursday, amid widespread criticism of Austria, Avramopoulos sent a letter to Mikl-Leiter calling the cap "plainly incompatible with Austria's obligations under European and international law." The measures have also raised fears that when migrant numbers rise as expected again in the coming months as spring arrives, there will be a dangerous backlog of people along the Balkans route from Greece northwards. - New asylum claims - On Friday, when the new restrictions came into effect, no single migrant entered Austria, due to bad weather. On Saturday 396 people, many of them families and including some elderly people, entered at the main Spielfeld border crossing point with Slovenia in southern Austria, police said. But of these only 12 applied for asylum, the others saying they wished to travel onwards to Germany and transported in army buses to migrant centres, police spokesman Wolfgang Braunsar said. Vienna says its unilateral moves are necessary because a German-backed EU plan agreed in November for Turkey to stem the flow of migrants leaving its shores for Greece is not yet working. The EU and Turkey are due to hold a summit on March 6 to seek to firm up their agreement, which would see migrants flown directly from Turkey and shared -- in theory -- around certain members of the bloc. In return for sealing its borders, Turkey would receive several billion euros (dollars) in aid and other sweeteners including reinvigorating its drive for EU membership and easing visa restrictions. A Bangladeshi father dubbed "Tree Man" for massive bark-like warts on his hands and feet on Saturday underwent a successful operation to remove some of the growths, a hospital said. A nine-doctor team took three and a half hours to remove the giant warts from Abul Bajandar's right hand at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital, facility director Samanta Lal Sen told AFP. The 26-year-old was admitted last month for an operation to remove the growths weighing at least five kilogrammes (11 pounds) that first began appearing 10 years ago. "It was a successful operation. We removed warts from all five fingers of his right hand. He's now happy and was laughing," Sen said. "We'll now review his condition for the next three weeks before deciding whether to conduct more operations. It's a big challenge." Bajandar, from the southern district of Khulna, was diagnosed with epidermodysplasia verruciformis, an extremely rare genetic condition dubbed "tree-man disease" that causes the skin growths. He became a celebrity with people travelling to Khulna over the years to see the "Tree Man" and hundreds visiting him in hospital. He was given the all-clear for surgery after tests confirmed the warts were not cancerous. The Bangladesh government agreed to bear the costs of his treatment and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was given an update on his condition, Sen said. Bajandar's wife Halima Khatun saw her husband after the operation and said he looked "relaxed and happy". Hospital director Sen said there were only three known cases of epidermodysplasia verruciformis in the world and Bajandar's was the only one in Bangladesh. Bajandar told AFP last month that he initially thought that the warts were harmless but slowly as the growths covered his hands and feet, he was forced to quit working as a bicycle rickshaw puller. An Indonesian villager with massive warts all over his body underwent a string of operations in 2008 to remove them. The most politically-charged Berlin Film Festival of recent years comes to a head tonight with the awards ceremony for the winners of the Gold and Silver Bears. This year's contest has been one of the hardest to handicap, with most competition films dividing critics and Berlin audiences. But it is a safe bet to assume politics will take center stage again on Feb. 20 when the accolades are handed out at the Berlinale Palast theater. Current issues, including the migration crisis in Europe and the controversy over patrolling the U.S/Mexican border, have been the themes that have dominated Berlin this year. Even George Clooney, who opened the festival Feb. 11 with the feel-good Coen Brothers' film Hail, Caesar!, spent most of his Berlin visit talking about the refugee crisis. Clooney and his wife, human rights lawyer Amal Clooney, even met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin on Friday, Feb. 12, to discuss the issue. Meryl Streep, who headed the seven-person Berlin Festival jury that chose this year's winners, said of the Golden Bear-winning film Fire at Sea from Gianfranco Rosi: "This is a film that commands our attention and demands action. It is a documentary on the refugee crisis, looking at the island of Lampadusa In Italy where thousands of refugees have flooded into Europe." See the list of announced winners below. Golden Bear for Best Film: Fire at Sea from Gianfranco Rosi Grand Jury Prize: Death in Sarajevo from Danis Tanovic Alfred Bauer Prize: A Lullaby to the Sorrowful Mystery from Lav Diaz Best Director: Mia Hansen for Things to Come Best Actress: Trine Dyrholm for The Commune Best Actor: Majd Mastoura for Hedi Best Script: United States of Love from writer-director Tomasz Wasilewski Best First Feature: Inhebbek Hedi from Mohamed Ben Attia Golden Bear for Best Short Film: Balada De Um Batraquio from Leonor Teles Silver Bear Jury Prize (Short Film): A Man Returned from Mahdi Fleifel Audi Short Film Award: Anchorage Prohibited from Chiang Wei Liang Story continues See More: The Scene at Berlin Film Festival See More: A Conversation with the Cast of 'Alone in Berlin': Presented by THR & Kino SAO PAULO, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff said her government would provide all resources needed to develop a vaccine against the Zika virus during a speech in the northeastern city of Petrolina on Friday. Much remains unknown about Zika, including whether the virus actually causes microcephaly, a condition marked by unusually small heads that can result in developmental problems. Brazil said it has confirmed more than 500 cases of microcephaly, many in the Northeast, and considers most of them to be related to Zika infections in the mothers. Brazil is investigating more than 3,900 additional suspected cases of microcephaly. (Reporting by Caroline Stauffer) London (AFP) - Prime Minister David Cameron on Sunday begins the daunting challenge of persuading his country to stay in the European Union, after announcing a June 23 referendum on its membership of the bloc. The conservative premier will face the outspoken leader of the eurosceptic UK Independence Party (UKIP), Nigel Farage, and Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon on the BBC's Andrew Marr show from 0900 GMT. Cameron announced the date for the referendum on Saturday after a two-hour cabinet meeting where he briefed ministers on a deal struck in Brussels that he said will give Britain "special status" in the EU. But, with the ruling Conservative Party deeply divided over Britain's place in Europe, six members of his 22-strong team including justice minister Michael Gove had already announced by the end of the day they would campaign to leave. "We are approaching one of the biggest decisions this country will face in our lifetimes," Cameron said, addressing the nation outside his 10 Downing Street residence. "The choice goes to the kind of country we want to be," he said, warning that proponents of leaving were offering "a risk at a time of uncertainty, a leap in the dark". Britain would be "safer, stronger and better off" in the 28-member bloc, he said, calling the concessions negotiated with other EU leaders "the best of both worlds". The referendum campaign will be bitterly contested in a country with a long tradition of euroscepticism and a hostile right-wing press, with most opinion polls showing Britons are almost evenly divided. Farage has branded the deal "pathetic," calling on the British public to back leaving the bloc: "The 23rd is our golden opportunity, let battle be joined." Around 50 Conservative MPs had by Saturday come out in favour of leaving, while pro-EU MP Nick Herbert tweeted 100 Tory MPs would back Britain staying in -- almost half the 330 lawmakers the party has in parliament. Story continues - 'Diverse' Europe - A bigger blow for Cameron would be the loss of popular London mayor Boris Johnson to the eurosceptic camp, which has so far been plagued by in-fighting and has no clear leader. He is expected to reveal his decision on Monday. The Mail on Sunday carried good news for Cameron with a Survation telephone poll showing the "in" campaign with a 15 percent lead, a huge swing from level previous surveys. Cameron announced his intention to hold a referendum three years ago, under pressure from Conservative eurosceptics and the rise of UKIP. He originally said he would only back being in the EU if he could secure reforms to address migration and competitiveness, among other issues, but after clinching the deal with Brussels said he will campaign "with all my heart and soul" to stay. France's Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault also backed the deal in an interview published on Sunday, saying it "simply demonstrates Europe's diversity". "It does not undo what has been done or hinder those who want to go further. The base principles and founding values of the EU remain," he told France's Journal du Dimanche. But critics in Britain say the deal, which contained restrictions on welfare payments for EU migrants and an opt-out for Britain from the EU's goal towards ever-closer union, fell short. "Call that a Deal, Dave?" headlined the Daily Mail, while The Daily Telegraph said Cameron had made "puny gains" and The Times called it "thin gruel". Analysts say the nitty gritty of the EU deal will likely be only a small part of the referendum campaign, which is already focused on immigration, security, prosperity and Britain's place in the world. Anand Menon, professor of European politics at King's College London, said he expected both sides to emphasise the risks of either leaving or sticking with the status quo. "This is going to be a depressingly negative campaign," he told AFP. Columbia (United States) (AFP) - White House hopefuls Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders were in a tight race Saturday in Nevada's Democratic caucuses, early results showed, while Donald Trump looked for a big win in the South Carolina Republican primary. The two main US political parties parted ways for the third stage of the surprise-filled presidential nominations race, with the Democrats heading west and the Republicans in the south. In Nevada, Democratic voters streamed into caucus sites to show their support for either Clinton or rival Bernie Sanders. With nearly 39 percent of precincts reporting, Clinton was at 51.4 percent to 48.5 percent for Sanders. Voters meanwhile streamed to the polls in South Carolina, in what could be an important test of strength for the 69-year-old frontrunner Trump. Voting places were to close at 7:00 pm (0000 GMT Sunday). - Clinton bets on immigration - In the desert state of Nevada, both Clinton and Sanders have been working hard to reach out to the African-Americans, Hispanics and Asian-Americans who make up roughly half of the state's population. Clinton, who won by a hair in Iowa but was crushed by Sanders in New Hampshire, is counting on a major Hispanic voter turnout, especially among Las Vegas hotel and casino employees. Nevada has some three million residents, and the population is overwhelmingly concentrated in two large urban centers, Las Vegas and Reno. The former top US diplomat also needs a win in Nevada, a state once seen as a relatively easy victory for her -- one where her advantage has dissipated as the Sanders campaign gathered steam after trouncing Clinton in New Hampshire on February 9. Since Wednesday, the 68-year-old Clinton has visited staff at casinos in Las Vegas, where workers "caucused" right on the famous Strip. "I need your help this morning -- in the show room, 11 am," she told employees at Harrah's on Saturday, less than an hour before caucus time. Sanders visited the same casino cafeteria about 20 minutes earlier. Story continues Clinton says she is the natural ally of Latinos on immigration, and if elected she promises a quick path to citizenship for those in the country illegally. The former first lady and senator from New York has relentlessly attacked Sanders for voting against immigration reform in 2007. Sanders counters that the measure gave little protection for foreign "guest workers," and that he voted for a 2013 immigration reform bill that died due to Republican opposition. Clinton claims that Sanders is offering impractical, pie-in-the-sky ideas, but Sanders's camp is convinced that young minority voters will back him. - Crunch time for Trump - In South Carolina, pre-vote surveys showed the billionaire businessman Trump with a lead over his five Republican rivals, although his advantage had shrunk in one poll in the lead-up to Saturday's primary in the Palmetto State. Lynn Derrick, a regional vice president for Oracle Corporation and a first-time primary voter, said he had cast his ballot for Trump. "I want to put somebody in the White House who has a business background," Derrick told AFP at a high school in the state capital Columbia. "We just think we want to take a risk with Trump. We think he's had success with everything he's touched." Trump is banking on a big symbolic win ahead of "Super Tuesday" on March 1, when about a dozen states will go to the polls to choose candidates for the November 8 presidential election, with a quarter of the nominating delegates up for grabs. "It's crunch time, folks," Trump told voters at a North Charleston rally, his final pitch Friday before the primary. He finished second to Texas Senator Ted Cruz in Iowa on February 1, but secured a commanding win in New Hampshire one week later. The two have duked it out in the past week, with the campaign growing increasingly nasty. On the eve of the primary, Trump led with about 28 percent of likely Republicans voters backing him, according to an NBC-Wall Street Journal poll. The ultra-conservative Cruz followed with 23 percent. Trailing were Senator Marco Rubio at 15 percent and former Florida governor Jeb Bush at 13 percent. Rubio and Bush are under intense pressure to fare well Saturday, as are Ohio Governor John Kasich and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, whose campaigns have struggled. Edwin Pearlstine, a retired beer distributor and brewery owner who said he voted for Kasich even while conceding he had little chance of winning, said if Trump wins the Republican nomination, he'll leave the country. "I got a pretty place right on the beach in the Bahamas. I'll just go stay there," he said. With the Maltese capital Valletta celebrating its 450th anniversary in 2016 and the Valetta Cruise Port being awarded Best Mediterranean Port & Destination award this past week in the Cruise Excellence Awards, there's never been a better time to discover the balmy climes of this 316 sq km archipelago. Here's a look at some of the sights and activities visitors can enjoy on a trip to this popular destination. > Explore Valletta Picked as a European Capital of Culture for 2018, Valletta is a must-see stop on any trip to Malta. Rising from the sea with its towering city walls and church spires, the city, built during the rule of the Order of St John of Jerusalem, will be celebrating its 450th anniversary on March 28, 2016. While the best way to visit Valletta is to wander its picturesque streets, taking in the bright colors of the capital's buildings, visitors should also look inside the flamboyant Saint John's Co-Cathedral. The terrace of the legendary Caffe Codina is a great place to relax and watch the world go by. Traveler's tip: Valletta isn't known for its lively nightlife. Restaurant-goers should be warned that the city tends to shut down from around 7-8pm! > Visit the "Blue Grotto" in a traditional Maltese fishing boat On Malta's southern coast, near the tiny harbor of Wied Iz-Zurrieq, the "Blue Grotto" attracts 100,000 tourists each year. Plus, divers will have a field day exploring its stunning underwater sights. Moviegoers may already have seen the grotto when it was used as a film location for "Troy," starring Brad Pitt. To visit the site, buy a ticket from one of the harbor's fishermen, who run trips to the sea caverns aboard traditional blue, yellow and red boats. They tell the stories behind each of the caverns' shapes and play with echoes as their boats pass through the rocks into the caves. Traveler's tip: get there early in the morning to beat the crowds. Story continues > Restaurant hopping in Sliema Close to Valletta, the town of Sliema is an ideal stop-off when visiting Malta. When evening arrives, visitors stroll along the seawall browsing the menus of the town's many different restaurants. Foodies will be sure to look out for pastizzi, Malta's traditional savory pastry parcels filled with ricotta cheese or peas. There's plenty of freshly grilled fish to sample too. Another Maltese specialty is rabbit stew, made from rabbit marinated and cooked in red wine. Traveler's tip: watch out for local Maltese wines to accompany the island's culinary specialties. > A cultural excursion to the Hypogeum of Hal Saflieni A 45-minute bus ride from Valletta, the small town of Paola intrigues visitors with its subterranean secret. The Hypogeum of Hal Saflieni is an underground structure excavated from around 2,500 BC. Becoming a burial site in the prehistoric era, the structure was expanded and added to over time, creating an underground labyrinth that was only discovered in 1902. The remains of over 7,000 individuals have been found at the site. The Hal Saflieni Hypogeum is extremely well preserved and its various levels can be visited in a spooky near darkness that may not appeal to claustrophobic types. Traveler's tip: the date and time of all visits must be booked in advance via www.heritagemalta.org. Entry costs 30. > Saint Julian's by night As a hot destination for exchange students looking to improve their English, Saint Julian's is the focal point of Malta's nightlife. Not far from Sliema, this former village has become the island's top destination for visitors looking to party into the early hours in its bars, restaurants and nightclubs. But Saint Julian's is also a chic kind of resort, where famous faces can sometimes be spotted. Head for the heart of the action in the town's Paceville district. Traveler's tip: Saint Julian's also has a pleasant beach at St George's Bay. > Escape to the peaceful haven of Comino island The Maltese archipelago comprises three islands -- Malta, Gozo and Comino. Measuring 3.5 sq km, Comino is a perfect getaway for peaceful walks away from any hustle and bustle. The island has just one hotel for visitors looking to escape for a night. Think Robinson Crusoe with added creature comforts. Don't leave without taking a dip in the crystal clear and turquoise waters of the "Blue Lagoon" bay. Springtime and early autumn are ideal times to enjoy the island at its quietest. Count a good 1.5 hours to get from Valletta to the Cirkewwa ferry terminal on the Northern tip of Malta, where speedboats provide a regular shuttle service for tourists heading to Comino. Traveler's tip: try to get to Comino as early as possible before the tourist buses descend on the "Blue Lagoon." > Get back to nature on Gozo island Gozo is known as Malta's wilder sister island. To the north of Malta, Gozo is a tranquil haven for nature-lovers, far from the urban bustle of the main island. Gozo is thought to be the legendary Calypso's island in Homer's Odyssey, and is home to landscapes that are green, lush and rural. Must-see sights include the Roman salt pans near Marsalforn, the Ggantija temples and the cliffs at Dwejra. To visit Calypso Cave, look for the path up from the beach at Ramala Bay. Traveler's tip: set aside two days to explore the island rather than rushing to fit everything into a day. SHANGHAI (Reuters) - A Chinese court in Beijing has jailed 15 hospital "scalpers" for allegedly scamming unsuspecting patients by posing as medical staff without qualifications, exaggerating positive effects of treatments and then prescribing expensive drugs. The court in Beijing's Chaoyang district sentenced the 15 people to jail sentences ranging from 19 months to more than two years, the official Xinhua news agency said on Saturday. The issue of hospital-based fraud flared up in January when a woman in Beijing posted a video denouncing other scalpers for buying up "tickets" often needed to ensure an appointment with a doctor and then inflating the price to re-sell them to patients. Chinese patients contend with a creaking healthcare system which suffers from a shortage of doctors, snarling queues to see medical workers, and a huge disparity between urban and rural care that drives many patients from villages and the countryside to hospitals in big cities. The Beijing court said on its official microblog that the 15 people had illegally rented consulting rooms at large hospitals and then lured in patients with fake credentials and prescribed them expensive traditional Chinese medicines. It said the people had swindled over 60 patients and raked in tens of thousands of dollars in profit through the scheme. China is trying to reform its healthcare system, looking to encourage more private investment in hospitals to take some of the pressure off overloaded state hospitals. However, despite the talk of reform, industry insiders say the drive is being stalled because of a lack of real support by Beijing and other obstacles to making changes to China's huge, fragmented public healthcare sector. Reforms to reduce hospitals' reliance on drug sales also faces a revolt from doctors who argue this will take away a key revenue stream at a time when medical staff are overworked, underpaid and often violently abused by angry patients. (Reporting by Adam Jourdan; Editing by Tom Hogue) China will replace the head of its securities regulator, state media reported on Saturday, as the country struggles to reassure global investors that it can effectively manage stock markets that have experienced massive turmoil. Xiao Gang, who was in charge during last year's crash, will be "dismissed" from his post at the China Securities Regulatory Commission and replaced by Liu Shiyu, chairman of the Agricultural Bank of China, the official Xinhua news agency said. As growth slows and stocks deflate, capital has flooded out of the country, leaving Beijing desperate to win back waning confidence in the once vaunted economic oversight that has made China the world's second-largest economy. Chinese stocks slumped 23 percent in January, their poorest month since the depths of the global financial crisis in 2008, a performance that made the Shanghai exchange the world's worst-performing major market. A series of moves intended to smooth dramatic swings in stock prices that began last June instead created panic, raising questions about Beijing's ability to manage a critical period of economic transition. Xiao, 57, took over as chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission in March 2013. He spent most of his career in China's banking system, including the central bank and the state-owned Bank of China, one of the country's "Big Four", which he headed for 10 years before moving to the CSRC. He was in charge of overseeing the market in mid-2015 when the benchmark Shanghai index plummeted by almost a third, wiping off trillions of dollars and jolting global markets. The plunge was triggered when regulators changed the rules on traders' use of borrowed money, bursting a debt-fuelled bubble that had seen Shanghai's benchmark index surge 150 percent in the year to mid-June. - 'Fools make decisions' - Calls for Xiao's departure, heard regularly since the debacle, heated up early in January after the CSRC's deployment of a "circuit breaker" closed the Shanghai and Shenzhen exchanges early twice in four days before it was scrapped. Story continues "Somebody needed to bear responsibility after the suspension of the circuit-breaker system," Zheng Chunming, a Shanghai-based analyst at Capital Securities Corp., told Bloomberg News. At the time, many angry investors took to the Twitter-like Sina Weibo to condemn Xiao's abilities as head of the regulator. One user wrote: "(I) strongly urge Xiao Gang to step down. The stock market's management is a mess and market disasters keep happening... Xiao Gang's ability is poor and he is incompetent." Another wrote: "I have never heard that the index could fall to a stop in five minutes. Why does China always let the fools make decisions?" Xiao himself revealed during a 2012 television interview that at school he preferred arts subjects such as writing poetry to mathematics. He also said he "didn't choose to learn finance" at college. Some financial analysts took a kinder view of his accomplishments. He did "a lot of work in market monitoring, increased market transparency and cracked down on market irregularities", Li Daxiao, chief analyst at Yingda Securities, told AFP. Nevertheless, he welcomed the news of the replacement, saying "the market has new hope now". - Favourable turn - Xiao's successor, Liu, has spent most of his career in banking. He served as a vice-governor of the People's Bank of China, the central bank, before being tapped as chairman of the Agricultural Bank of China, the country's third-largest lender. With his entrance, people may feel there will be some new ideas or a favourable turn for the market now. The market could rise for a short time after this", Qian Qimin, a broker with the Shenwan Hong Yuan Group, told AFP. But on Weibo Saturday, commentators, using a play on the new appointee's name, wondered if Liu's tenure would bring a "bull market" or leave behind a "dead fish". In recent years, Agricultural Bank has experienced its own share of troubles. In December the bank's president resigned for "personal reasons" amid reports that he had been questioned in connection with a corruption investigation. In January, Chinese media reported that two junior employees at a Beijing branch of the bank stole bills worth 3.9 billion yuan ($600 million), sold them, then used the proceeds to invest in the stock market -- sustaining huge losses during last year's crash. Spartanburg (United States) (AFP) - Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump grabbed a big win in the South Carolina primary on Saturday, while Democrat Hillary Clinton breathed life into her sluggish campaign with a victory over Bernie Sanders in Nevada. The wins for the brash billionaire and the former US secretary of state give them a major boost heading into the crucial next phase of the White House race -- Super Tuesday on March 1, when about a dozen states go to the polls. But the rough-and-tumble campaign claimed another victim when former Florida governor Jeb Bush -- brother and son to two US presidents -- dropped out of the race after another poor showing. In South Carolina, the 69-year-old Trump captured about a third of the votes, with all of the precincts reporting. His supporters erupted in a roar when CNN called the contest in his favor -- his second win of the nominations race after New Hampshire and an important test of the strength of his bid to succeed President Barack Obama. "There is nothing easy about running for president, I can tell you," Trump told his victory party in Spartanburg. "It's tough, it's nasty. It's mean. It's vicious. It's beautiful." "When you win, it's beautiful." After several nail-biting hours, final results showed Florida Senator Marco Rubio in second place in the Republican contest with 22.5 percent of the vote, narrowly ahead of Texas Senator Ted Cruz, who had 22.3 percent. "After tonight, this has become a three-person race and we will win the nomination," said Rubio, like Cruz a Cuban-American first-time senator. In Nevada, Clinton claimed a major win in the Democratic race. Final results gave her 52.7 percent of the vote against 47.2 percent for Sanders. "This is your campaign, and it is a campaign to break down every barrier that holds you back," Clinton said in her victory speech at her Caesars Palace headquarters on the Las Vegas Strip. Story continues - 'Take a risk' with Trump - In South Carolina, Trump -- a onetime reality TV star who has upended the political landscape with his tough talk on everything from Muslims to Mexico to waterboarding -- showed he could compete for the long haul. "We just think we want to take a risk with Trump. We think he's had success with everything he's touched," Lynn Derrick, a first-time primary voter, told AFP in the state capital Columbia. Trump and Cruz, who won the Iowa caucuses, duked it out in the week leading up to Saturday's primary, with the campaign growing increasingly nasty. Trump even had a spat with Pope Francis, who suggested the tycoon was "not a Christian" for wanting to build a wall on the border with Mexico. Trump also called for a boycott of Apple over its refusal to unlock the phone of a suspect in the San Bernardino attacks. If Trump wins the Republican nomination and is elected president in the November 8 election, he would be the first US president in history to have no government experience. Saturday's results were bad news for Bush, Ohio Governor John Kasich and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, who were relegated to the second tier of candidates. Bush did not wait long to fold. "In this campaign, I have stood my ground, refusing to bend to the political winds," he said. - Clinton wins in desert - In the desert state of Nevada, the 68-year-old Clinton scored a major win, but Sanders proved he was in it for the long haul. "Some may have doubted us, but we never doubted each other," Clinton said in a fiery left-leaning speech clearly aimed at the minority voters who make up roughly half of the state's population and who are key in the US South. Clinton claims that Sanders is offering impractical, fantasy ideas that he cannot deliver as president, and on Saturday took aim at corporate America -- usually a message sounded by Sanders. "If you cheat your employees, exploit consumers, pollute our environment, or rip off taxpayers, we're going to hold you accountable," Clinton said. "But if you do the right things, if you invest in your workers, contribute to your communities, help build a better America -- we're going to stand with you." Clinton, who won by a hair in Iowa but was crushed by Sanders in New Hampshire, had counted on a major Hispanic voter turnout, especially among Las Vegas hotel and casino employees. CNN entrance polls showed that she handily won the black vote, but the Latino vote was more evenly split -- evidence that the Sanders campaign may have more stamina than first expected. Clinton did well with women, but was again stomped by Sanders with young voters, the polls showed. Sanders congratulated Clinton, and said he was proud of having significantly narrowed the gap. "We have the wind at our back as we head toward Super Tuesday," the 74-year-old Sanders said, looking ahead to the showdown, when about a fifth of the Democratic nominating delegates are in play. Charleston (United States) (AFP) - Senators Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio mounted all-out efforts to topple Donald Trump in the war for the Republican presidential nomination, seeking to steal support from the billionaire frontrunner in South Carolina -- and each other. The state holds its crucial Republican primary on Saturday, and Trump is seeking a comprehensive win that would boost his claim that he is pulling away from his rivals, notably the two first-term senators eager to rein him in. It is the third state-wide contest in the race for the White House, with Republican hopefuls looking to be the party's candidate on November 8 in the general election. "This race will be decided friend to friend, neighbor to neighbor, pastor to pastor, South Carolinian to South Carolinian," Cruz told about 800 supporters and others at a theater in downtown Charleston, emphasizing the importance of the ground game. Locked in a fierce battle for second place with Rubio, Cruz is arguing that Rubio has more to lose in South Carolina, given that popular Governor Nikki Haley, conservative Senator Tim Scott, and prominent congressman Trey Gowdy have all endorsed him. Cruz advisor Alice Stewart, a veteran of several campaigns, told AFP that Rubio would be in "serious trouble" if he failed to pull out a victory in the Palmetto State given the backing from "those powerhouses." "The heat is on Marco Rubio to win South Carolina," Stewart said. Rubio, speaking at a rally with Haley and Scott at his side, urged voters to choose him because "I will win this election, (and) the Democrats would not want to run against me." "They know... that we have the ability to unite this country," Rubio told several hundred people at a high school in North Charleston, one of five scheduled stops on the eve of the primary. Delivering a stump speech in front of a huge American flag, Rubio called for a return to core conservative and Judeo-Christian values, as he lamented the wrong turn the country took seven years ago by electing Democrat Barack Obama. Story continues "You're seeing the American dream slipping away," he said. - Trump in command - For either Cruz or Rubio to snatch the state from Trump's grasp would be a dramatic upset, by all accounts. Trump leads with 28 percent support, but the ultra-conservative Cruz is not far behind with 23 percent, according to an NBC-Wall Street Journal poll released Friday. Rubio is in third at 15 percent. Highlighting the fierce battle over second-place scraps, and the blood-sport politics that have become a hallmark of South Carolina, Rubio's team warned of potential "primary day tricks" by Cruz. "We will not allow Ted Cruz to do to Marco in South Carolina what he did to Ben Carson in Iowa," Rubio communications director Alex Conant said Friday, referring to the Cruz team wrongly telling voters in Iowa that Carson, a retired neurosurgeon who like Cruz draws evangelical support, had dropped out of the race. Critics say Cruz's dirty tactics in Iowa propelled him to a first-place finish in the caucuses, and Conant warned South Carolinians to be "suspicious" of political reports or emails Saturday. "We fear the worst dirty tricks are yet to come" from Cruz's team, Conant said. Cruz and Rubio supporters alike argued that lower-polling candidates -- Carson, Ohio Governor John Kasich and former Florida governor Jeb Bush -- ought to drop out to give either Cruz or Rubio a shot of besting Trump. "At some point, if Trump's going to be stopped, if people want to look at it that way, there has to be a consolidation of the other candidates," Dan Brisker, 69, told AFP as he waited to enter the Cruz rally. "They've got to get out of the way." Cruz took a veiled swipe at Trump and his slogan. "It is easy to say Make America Great Again," he said. "But the question is, do you understand what it was that made America great in the first place?" FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Electric batteries have won a slight edge over hydrogen fuel cells in their quest for future dominance in the car industry, Daimler Chief Executive Dieter Zetsche told a German weekly. Daimler is cooperating with partners in both areas and Zetsche said it was still unclear which of the two competing technologies would be more successful in playing a leading role in the sector. "But one has to recognize: batteries have become more attractive in recent years. It has become more likely that they could prevail," Zetsche told Euro am Sonntag in an interview, adding that batteries had shown progress in two key areas - range and charging time. "Cars with electric driving ranges of 500 kilometers and fast charging times of 20 minutes are within reach," he said. Meanwhile, the biggest challenge with regard to fuel cells - the affordable and wide distribution of hydrogen - had not been solved yet, Zetsche said. He also put pressure on the German government to do more to ensure its declared goal of having 1 million electric cars in Europe's biggest economy by 2020 is met, but stopped short of calling for subsidies. "Subsidies could only fulfill a bridging function anyway," he said, adding that they could not be the solution in the medium and long term. Germany lags markets such as Norway and the Netherlands when it comes to subsidies and providing charging points for electric cars in particular. Chancellor Angela Merkel earlier this month met with industry executives to find a solution. "I'm just saying: If everything stays the way it is now, you have to bid farewell to the target of putting 1 million electric cars on Germany's roads by 2020," Zetsche said. (Reporting by Christoph Steitz; Editing by Digby Lidstone) By Nate Raymond and Jonathan Stempel NEW YORK (Reuters) - A federal judge on Friday ordered the release from prison of John Rigas, the Adelphia Communications Corp founder convicted over a fraud that led to the cable TV company's collapse, because he is dying of cancer. Rigas, 91, has been serving a 12-year prison term, but U.S. District Judge Kimba Wood in Manhattan reduced his sentence to time served. Federal prosecutors had recommended that Rigas be freed after he was diagnosed with terminal Stage IV bladder cancer with metastases to the lungs. They said his life expectancy is six months or less, and that he was likely to die before being eligible for release in January 2018. Once freed, Rigas is expected to spend his remaining months with a son in Coudersport, Pennsylvania. Federal probation officers also recommended the early release. Lawrence McMichael, Rigas' lawyer, said his client could be released in the next few days. Rigas and another son, Timothy Rigas, Adelphia's former chief financial officer, were found guilty in 2004 of conspiring to conceal Adelphia's debt and loot corporate funds and assets. Adelphia had been the fifth-largest U.S. cable TV operator before its 2002 collapse. It became one of the biggest corporate fraud prosecutions in recent years, along with Enron and WorldCom. Rigas was originally sentenced to 15 years in prison, but his term was reduced after a federal appeals court threw out part of the government's case. His lawyers in December sought Rigas' early release after his condition was diagnosed as terminal. But Wood ruled at the time that while "extraordinary circumstances exist," Rigas had not demonstrated that his legal challenge raised "substantial claims." The case is U.S. v. Rigas, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 02-cr-01236. (Reporting by Nate Raymond and Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Chris Reese and Leslie Adler) BRUSSELS (Reuters) - There is no formal agreement yet among European Union leaders on a deal to keep Britian in the 28-nation bloc, a spokesman for the European Council President Donald Tusk, who is leading talks on the matter, said on Twitter. "Still no agreement on new settlement for #UKinEU at 'British dinner'," the spokesman, Preben Aaman, wrote after the Lithuanian and Czech leaders, present at the meeting, tweeted that an agreement had been reached. (Reporting by Gabriela Baczynska and Jan Strupczewski) By Alastair Macdonald BRUSSELS (Reuters) - These are key sections of the deal struck by European Union leaders with David Cameron, on which the prime minister announced he will campaign to maintain British membership of the bloc in a referendum on June 23. INTERNATIONAL TREATY "The Heads of State or Government of the 28 Member States ... whose Governments are signatories of the Treaties on which the Union is founded, desiring to settle, in conformity with the Treaties, certain issues raised by the United Kingdom ... Have agreed on the following Decision:..." This preamble to the four parts of the agreement sets out that it is a binding international treaty among the 28 states, not requiring ratification by referendums and not needing immediate amendments to EU treaties -- something that would also in some states require lengthy and uncertain plebiscites. It also asserts the power of the states that signed the EU treaties to lay down interpretations for constitutional courts to follow. "ECONOMIC GOVERNANCE" First section of the deal reaffirms that Britain does not have to adopt the euro but also reasserts that all but one other EU state (Denmark) does have to. It also says the euro zone requires "further deepening" and that Britain will "facilitate" that, while having its own rights respected by the euro zone. After hard bargaining with France, the text sets out how to maintain a "level playing field" in regulation between those institutions and markets in the euro zone and those in London. "Supervision or resolution of financial institutions and markets ... in view of preserving the financial stability of (non-euro states)... is ... a matter for their own authorities and own budgetary responsibility ... "This is without prejudice to the development of the single rulebook and to Union mechanisms of macro-prudential oversight for the prevention and mitigation of systemic financial risks in the Union and to the existing powers of the Union to take action that is necessary to respond to threats to financial stability." These passages try to balance British and euro zone regulators. British officials believe they ensure London's leeway despite French efforts to limit how far Britain can give its banks a competitive advantage through lighter regulation. Britain has no need to contribute to euro zone bailouts. Britain alone is entitled to hold up euro zone measures it fears could hurt it by raising the matter at the level of national leaders. But it has no power of veto or filibuster. "The substance of this Section will be incorporated into the Treaties at the time of their next revision." This is one of two parts of the deal where governments have agreed they will amend the EU treaties as part of a broader reworking in years to come. "COMPETITIVENESS" The least controversial element of the deal commits the EU to foster market competitiveness and cut red tape for business. "SOVEREIGNTY" "The United Kingdom ... is not committed to further political integration into the European Union. The substance of this will be incorporated into the Treaties at the time of their next revision ... so as to make it clear that the references to ever closer union do not apply to the United Kingdom." In fact, most EU states do not see themselves bound to deeper political integration by the phrase "ever closer union" in the founding treaty. But it has become a political issue in Britain so this clarification is offered, hedged about with other wording to appease Belgium. It also argues that "ever closer union" is legally binding and, unlike Britain, wants it. Britain won a new right for national parliaments, working in concert, to block EU legislative proposals they argue mean an unnecessary centralization of lawmaking on an issue. The text also restates that national governments control their security. MIGRATION The text reasserts rights to deny welfare benefits to non-working foreign EU citizens, to deport European criminals and those seen as a threat and to outlaw marriages of convenience. "If overriding reasons of public interest make it necessary, free movement of workers may be restricted by measures proportionate to the legitimate aim pursued." Asserting it is an established piece of EU jurisprudence, the EU proposes a "safeguard mechanism" by which a state may deny a new worker arriving from another EU country "non-contributory in-work" benefits for up to the first four years of employment. The definitions of the kind of benefit essentially mean only Britain can ever use it -- a key factor to win agreement from the east Europeans. It also limits this emergency situation to seven years. In a separate text, the EU executive Commission said Britain already satisfied the conditions for asking to apply the mechanism. It will put the legislation to the European Parliament if Britain votes to stay in the EU. Parliamentary leaders back the measure. A second piece of promised legislation will let states cut the amount of benefit paid to foreign EU workers for children living in another EU country according to an index reflecting the cost of living and local child benefits in that country. They will be able to index benefits for new claimants right away but for existing claimants only from 2020, appeasing easterners. THIS PACKAGE WILL SELF-DESTRUCT IF ... "Should the result of the referendum in the United Kingdom be for it to leave the European Union, the set of arrangements referred to ... above will cease to exist." At the insistence of federalist states led by Belgium, the leaders underlined that Britain will not get another chance to renegotiate on the basis of the offer and the offer will not form a legal precedent for other states to seek a new deal. (Editing by Richard Balmforth) Bangui (Central African Republic) (AFP) - Faustin-Archange Touadera, a former prime minister and maths professor, was Saturday declared the winner of a presidential election in the Central African Republic seen as crucial to turning the page on years of sectarian violence. Touadera won 62.71 percent of the hotly contested run-off vote compared with 37.29 for Anicet-Georges Dologuele, a one-time banker nicknamed "Mr Clean" who had won the first round on December 30, the national electoral authority (ANE) announced. Voter turnout was a lower-than-expected 61 percent, the ANE said. The results still have to be confirmed by the constitutional court. Touadera, 58, who ran as an independent, surprised everyone when he took second place in the first round vote. The well-respected former mathematics professor served as the last premier of ex-president Francois Bozize who was deposed in a coup in 2013. The ouster of Bozize, a Christian, by the mostly Muslim Seleka rebels unleashed a spiral of violence between Muslim and Christian militias that left thousands dead, and many voters expressed a strong desire for peace when they cast their ballots last Sunday. Touadera's team hailed his victory as a new chapter for the chronically unstable nation, which has been run by a transitional government since 2014. "It warms your heart. It shows the desire of the Central African people to end the transition and the serious crisis that has gripped our country since 2013," Touadera's campaign manager Simplice Sarandji told reporters. Touadera's rival Dologuele, also 58 and himself a former premier, accepted his defeat and said he would not challenge the results. "I respect the decision of the national election authority and congratulate the new president-elect," he said during a press briefing at his home. - 'He stayed' - Touadera's jubilant supporters took to the streets of Bangui carrying his portraits and cheering for their so-called "candidate of the people". Story continues "Touadera has the calm force of teachers," said one of them, who gave his name as Elyse. Edouard Pounawala, a motorcycle taxi driver, said he admired Touadera because he stayed in the country after the coup "while others gorged on roasted chicken and red wine in France and in other European countries". "We are going to support him to the end," he added. A softly-spoken academic, Touadera campaigned on promises to restore security and boost the economy in the mineral-rich but dirt-poor nation. Many say his popularity stems from a grassroots measure during his 2008-2013 premiership, namely the payment of salaries of government officials directly into bank accounts and thereby ending decades of pay arrears and unpaid wages. "He will be remembered as someone who paid civil servants and he is greatly appreciated for that," said a diplomatic source in Bangui before the run-off vote. Touadera also demonstrated impressive diplomatic skills in 2008, leading tortuous talks involving the government, the opposition and rebels which led to several peace accords being signed with insurgent groups. Even during his stint in government, Touadera -- who studied in France and Cameroon -- clung to his academic roots and continued to teach at the University of Bangui. "He has never run after a career in politics. It's more politics that sought him out for his qualities," a source close to him recently told AFP. French President Francois Hollande was among the first world leaders to send his congratulations, wishing Touadera "success in bringing the Central African people together for reconciliation and development". "This election which took place in an atmosphere of calm and transparency, demonstrates the extent of the progress made in the past three years," Hollande said in a statement. The bloodshed that followed the 2013 coup triggered the Central African Republic's worst humanitarian crisis since it gained independence from France in 1960. As well as leaving thousands dead, the atrocities drove about a tenth of the population of 4.8 million people from their homes. OUAGADOUGOU (Reuters) - French Prime Minister Manuel Valls on Saturday pledged greater military assistance to the former French colony of Burkina Faso and other countries in the Sahel region in the face of a growing Islamist insurgency. French troops stepped in to help Burkina Faso during an attack by militants from al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb on a hotel in its capital, Ouagadougou, last month that killed 30 people. The West African country is only just emerging from a rocky one-year transition to democratic rule that was marked by a short-lived military coup in September. Its long-time president and French ally, Blaise Compaore, was ousted by protesters in late 2014 as he sought to extend his rule. "We must strengthen our cooperation on intelligence and the training of security and other armed forces," Valls told reporters in Ouagadougou after a meeting with President Roch Marc Christian Kabore, who took office in December after winning the presidential election in November. Valls said assistance would come in the form of help for a two-year-old development and security body known as the G5 Sahel comprising Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Chad and Burkina Faso, as well as support for the United Nations peace keeping force in Mali. The French prime minister was in Burkina Faso as part of a three-day tour with Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian that incorporated a visit to Mali, which experienced a similar hotel attack in November. France is the largest Western power involved in fighting insurgents in the Sahel with around 3,500 troops based in the arid region that stretches across northern Africa from Senegal in the west to Sudan in the east. Its forces drove Islamist militants out of urban centers in northern Mali in 2013, but did not eradicate their networks. (Reporting by Mathieu Bonkoungou; Writing by Emma Farge; Editing by Nerys Avery) By Tara Oakes BERLIN (Reuters) - Gerard Depardieu lambasted the Hollywood star system for playing it too safe, and chided George Clooney for getting involved in politics, as the veteran French actor appeared at the Berlin film festival on Friday to promote his new movie. Depardieu, who was speaking at a post-screening press conference for his film "Saint Amour" in which he plays a bull farmer, noted that Clooney had met German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin last week to discuss the refugee crisis. "I saw that Mr George Clooney wanted to see Mrs Merkel. I worry that it went badly," he said, adding: "Its good that now you can be an actor and a ecologist and a politician, you can do everything." Depardieu also took a potshot at "The Revenant", starring Leonardo DiCaprio as a frontiersman who survives a mauling by a bear and makes a superhuman trek in the snowy wilderness. The film is considered a strong entry in the Academy Awards and the vehicle that may win DiCaprio his first Oscar for best actor. "Thats a bit different from what you get in general in cinema at the moment," Depardieu said, referring to the gritty setting for the film and reports that the actors had to work in very trying conditions. "Because if I take the Oscars, 'The Revenant', with the production crew behind and the heating (on set) and all that 'go and cover yourself in shit' - but Im sure the 'shit' is perfumed - and you're in this mud, which is perfumed and isn't cold, it's heated," Depardieu said. Asked about his having accepted Russian citizenship granted him by President Vladimir Putin in 2013 at a time when Depardieu was chafing at the prospect of higher French taxes, the actor said these days when he travels he feels that he is Russian. "I feel very Russian even abroad because I am outside of France, a lot," he said. "How would one not feel more Russian than French with the president that we have in France?," Depardieu said, referring to President Francois Hollande. Since he got his Russian passport, Depardieu has defended Russia's international policies in interviews with French and other media. "It's true that I have a lot of admiration for Putin and what he does and for the Russian population. Some French intellectuals don't like that sometimes - including my friends and I am not reproaching them, I don't want anything to do with that because me, I know what I live." Benoit Delepine, who directs the film in which Depardieu's character Jean takes his son Bruno, played by Benoit Poelvoorde, on a tour of the French wine country, said the parts had been written with the two actors in mind, having seen them work together in the 2010 film "Mammuth". "We already realised that they had a sort of absolute and volcanic rapport, so we tried to show that in a film, it should show something," Delepine said. (Writing by Michael Roddy; Editing by Andrew Heavens) San Francisco (AFP) - Google chief executive Sundar Pichai will meet with the European Union's competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager in Brussels in the coming week, a source familiar with the matter said. European competition officials have been investigating the US tech giant for years over alleged monopolistic practices involving its search engines, but any resolution has been elusive. Three successive proposals by Google for an amicable settlement have been rejected. Vestager last year sent a "statement of objections." It said Google had diverted traffic from rival price-comparison services like Kelkoo, which operates in several European countries, to favor its own comparison shopping service. Google responded in late August that Brussels's findings were wrong and based on a flawed evaluation of the market. If no agreement is reached and the group is found to have broken the EU's antitrust rules, it could face fines amounting to billions of dollars. In addition to the initial inquiry into Google's search engines which began in late 2010, the European competition service opened a second one in April to examine the group's Android mobile operating system. This software, used by a wide range of brands, is installed in more than 80 percent of the world's smartphones. Pichai became Google's chief executive officer during a restructuring last year that installed a new holding company, Alphabet, as Google's parent. Google now focuses on its core businesses -- online activity, Android, YouTube -- while its peripheral interests such as driverless cars are overseen directly by Alphabet. Pichai is scheduled to be in Brussels on Thursday, where he will meet with Vestager as well as Gunther Oettinger, the EU commissioner for digital economy and society, and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker. Topics to be discussed include the digital single market as well as digital skills and jobs. Earlier, Pichai will be in Barcelona on Monday and Tuesday for the Mobile World Congress, and in Paris on Wednesday to meet with publishers. DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan (Reuters) - Militants blew up part of a newly constructed government school in Pakistan's South Waziristan region late Friday night, a spokesman for a wing of the Pakistani Taliban said on Saturday, the latest in a string of attacks on educational institutions. No one was hurt in the blast in Pakistan's restive tribal belt, but 18 labourers working on the site were abducted, said Azam Tariq, a spokesman for an arm of the Pakistani Taliban known as the "Sajna" group, which claimed responsibility for the attack. He said the workers were released a short time later. "We have blown up the school because it was a government installation," said Tariq, warning the group would continue to attack government targets. Twenty people were killed and dozens wounded last month when militants launched an attack on Bacha Khan University in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, a little more than a year after Taliban gunmen massacred 134 students at a military school in nearby Peshawar. The Peshawar school attack was seen as having hardened Pakistan's resolve to fight militants along its border with Afghanistan. Officials in South Waziristan said the girls' wing of the school in the Tehsil Tiarza area was damaged in Friday's blast, as well as some heavy machinery being used for ongoing construction at the site. In a separate incident in Mohmand tribal area to the north, Pakistani security officials killed five militants during a clash near Mohmand Agency's administrative headquarters on Saturday. The militants were planning an attack in the area, a security official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. A generation of Pakistani militants have used the tribal region to launch attacks on the Pakistani state and U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan. The Pakistani Taliban are fighting to topple the government and install a strict interpretation of Islamic law. They are loosely allied with the Afghan Taliban who ruled most of Afghanistan until they were overthrown by U.S.-backed military action in 2001. (Reporting by Saud Mehsud in Dera Ismail Khan and Jibran Ahmad in Peshawar; Writing by Krista Mahr; Editing by Tom Hogue) CONAKRY (Reuters) - Guinea's four-day general strike ended on Friday after the government agreed to raise wages and pensions for workers, labour union officials and the government said on Friday. The strike began peacefully on Monday, with banks, shops and markets shut and public transport at a standstill. Sparks of violence flared as the week went on, however, with gunshots heard and roads blockaded with burning tyres on Thursday, witnesses told Reuters. There was some concern that the strike might hit the West African country's mining sector, already struggling due to low commodity prices. But major mining firms said earlier this week that production of bauxite was unimpaired. Guinea, whose economy is still reeling from an Ebola outbreak, holds nearly a third of the world's reserves of the metal, used to make aluminium, and currently produces around 18 million tonnes a year. General strikes about 10 years ago caused rampant disruption and the subsequent crackdown led by security forces led to the deaths of 135 people. Despite the agreement over wages and pensions, the government of Guinea did not agree to lower fuel prices - another key union demand. "On the ... point concerning the price of fuel, the union members have accepted to wait for the end of the IMF (commitment)," said Amadaou Damaro Camara, vice-president of parliament, referring to the International Monetary Fund. Guinea's IMF three-year, $199 million program is due to end in March. (Reporting by Saliou Samb; Writing by Edward McAllister; Editing by Makini Brice and Katharine Houreld) The following contains spoilers from this Fridays Hawaii Five-0. This week on CBS Hawaii Five-0, a Valentines Day mystery was solved as in, why did San Francisco PD inspector Abby Dunn hightail it out of her romantic hotel room rendezvous with Chin and later lie to him about returning to the mainland? RELATEDHawaii Five-0 Scoop: Silicon Valleys Martin Starr to Return as Hacker As revealed at the close of Fridays episode, as Danny was questioned by the FBI about Five-0 tactics, Abby was on the other side of the one-way glass observing, having been planted as a mole to investigate McGarretts team. Here, Julie Benz talks about keeping Abbys secret (even from her H50 castmates!), whos out to sink Five-0 and what the twist means for Chibby as a couple. TVLINE | What did Julie Benz know and when did she know it? Hawaii Five-0 They came and told me early on, but I wasnt allowed to even share it with the rest of the cast. I had to keep a big secret, and I felt terrible about that. [Laughs] [The secrecy was] because they wanted to incorporate shots of me watching Chin and have the audience interpret it in the moment as Abbys falling in love with him, but in hindsight as Shes observing him. So if you go back and watch the previous episodes, youll see some weird shots where Im just staring at him. TVLINE | When your casting was first announced, as a possible love interest for Chin, did you almost want to scream, Oh, but theres so much more!? I didnt know at that point. It wasnt until after my first three episodes that they came and told me. I was excited, because every character on the show has some sort of secret, so I was wondering, What is Abbys secret going to be? Whats her thing? TVLINE | Why did her crisis of conscience come to a boil on Valentines Day? Because I think shes really falling in love Story continues Hawaii Five-0 Benz with Chin. What started off as her investigating and observing and pretty much using whatever it takes to get close, all of a sudden she started developing feelings for him. And then she realizes her own moral ground was broken. TVLINE | But all of the intimacy, thats real, yes? Yes, yes. TVLINE | Having lied to Chin about being back in San Francisco, is she going to be lying low for a little while, kind of ghosting him? Or would to do that tip her hand? Shes definitely laying low for a bit, while he thinks that shes back in San Francisco and is going to come back. [Laughs] TVLINE | What sort of inner conflict will we see her deal with? Shes working for federal prosecutor Robert Coughlin (played by Ingo Rademacher), who has his own personal agenda as to why he wants to take down Five-0. When his agenda comes out, it really puts Abby in a bind because she doesnt like to be manipulated. She doesnt want to be a part of someones personal vendetta. And she really does feel that what Five-0 stands for, what theyre doing, is great, and she has not observed any abuse of power. Shes put in a really tough position where she has to decide between doing her job and following her heart. TVLINE | Will it be a few weeks at least before Chin finds out? Make the audience sweat it out a bit? Yeah, theyll have to sweat it out. Thats the sad part the fans are going to hate Abby for a while! [Laughs] It was hard to get them to love her, and now that they do theyre going to be destroyed. [Laughs] TVLINE | What do you think the odds are of Chin forgiving her in the end? I think the odds are fairly good. I hope. I think that, ultimately, Abby is trying to do the job that she was hired to do. They will have to work through a lot, obviously, to get to the other side, but I do hope that theres a happy ending for the two of them. Chin really needs a happy ending! What did you think of Hawaii Five-0s Abby twist? Related stories Supergirl Recap: Master Blaster -- Plus: Laura Vandervoort's Debut Trailer! The Good Wife Recap: Consummated Professionals Madam Secretary Recap: 'Tip of the Spear' -- Plus: Henry's Fate Revealed! To know Mario Joseph is to wait for Mario Joseph. You will wait for him to return from a last-minute hearing, to stop barking into one of his two mobile phones, to wrap up a meeting that started an hour late. And you will wait because Joseph, managing attorney at the NGO Bureau des Avocats Internationaux, is the best human rights lawyer in Haiti, a country where human rights are honored mostly in the breach. From dawn till dusk, clients gather on his offices bougainvillea-laced terrace: brave women going after rapists, homeless Haitians evicted from post-quake tent camps, cholera victims seeking reparations. Josephs eyes are often red-rimmed from lack of sleep, but his suits are sharp, his ties are sumptuous and his shoes and fingernails are buffed till they shine. With his percussive Creole and typically stern countenance, Joseph can be intimidating. Its easy to forget that he was raised in rural poverty by a single mother who couldnt read, and that he managed to get a law degree only through a series of flukes and his own determination. If fate had had its way, Joseph would have been like the millions of Haitians who never attend school, never see a doctor and live on less than $2 per day. Instead, hes fighting two of Haitis most compelling human rights battles and the behemoths behind them. If youre persistent, if you fight, if you organize, if you push the system, it can move. It gives you hope. You can see it on my clients faces. The first is against Jean-Claude Baby Doc Duvalier, the dictator who fled Haiti in 1986 only to make a surprise return in 2011. Duvalier stands accused of mass political violence an estimated 3,000 people died in the torture chambers known as Fort Dimanche, and countless others disappeared or were forced into exile and groups from Human Rights Watch to Amnesty International demanded that he be held accountable. But under a Haitian government said to be sympathetic to the former tyrant, the wheels of justice seemed to grind to a halt. Last year, a trial court threw out the case, saying that Haiti doesnt recognize crimes against humanity. Baby Doc let loose in restaurants and nightclubs and was photographed shaking hands with the then-U.N. Special Envoy to Haiti Bill Clinton. Story continues When he is representing his clients, Mario has no fear. Many Haitians were resigned: Impunity is the norm in their country; justice, the exception. But Joseph set out to change that, and in February, the 61-year-old Duvalier was summoned to an appeals court to face his accusers for the first time in history. A judges ruling on whether Duvalier can be tried has been delayed, but for Joseph and his clients, the Duvalier prosecution shows that justiceis possible in Haiti. Its a novel notion and a huge step, Joseph said. It means that if youre persistent, if you fight, if you organize, if you push the system, it can move. It gives you hope. You can see it on my clients faces. When he is representing his clients, Mario has no fear, says Amanda Klasing, a researcher with Human Rights Watch who has been following the case and who has known Joseph for six years. He puts people who typically dont have access to justice on an equal playing field with some of the most powerful forces in Haiti, and in a really magnificent way. I like to see him at work. The second behemoth is the United Nations. Yes, the worlds premiere advocate for human rights stands accused of a major violation: importing cholera into Haiti through grossly inadequate sanitation at a U.N. peacekeeping base. (Think broken pipes and waste pits emitting infected sewage into the tributary of a major river.) The water-borne illness, not documented in Haiti until October 2010, has since killed 8,200 people and infected 7 percent of the population. The great weight of scientific evidence pinpoints the U.N. even a July report by a U.N.-appointed expert panel. Joseph and his partners filed claims on behalf of 5,000 cholera-affected Haitians seeking damages, an apology and long-term investment in sanitation infrastructure. The U.N. has insisted that its immunity protects it against the claims, which it calls not receivable. Josephs next step: filing in U.S. and Haitian courts. If the case is heard, it could have worldwide implications for peacekeeping operations and aid accountability. Its a controversial suit, and critics fear that it might impede peacekeeping operations around the world. But for Joseph, as for most Haitians and many in the international human rights community, the right thing to do is clear. Its a veritable debacle for the U.N., he says. Theres a huge contradiction between the values they promote and their behavior in countries like Haiti. Imagine if this had happened in the U.S. or France or Canada Joseph trailed off. Well, it wouldnt happen there. Mario Joseph Source: Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti Josephs pugnacity has gotten him in plenty of trouble back home. Just in the past year, hes been on the receiving end of intimidating phone calls, cars tailing him, and police officers rifling through his office. And its been a pretty normal year on the threats-and-intimidation barometer. The term hero gets thrown around way too easily, but Im not sure theres a better term for someone who absolutely risks his life every day when he goes to work and does it for very little personal, tangible reward, says Fran Quigley, a professor at Indiana Universitys law school. So what keeps him going? Joseph name-checks his supporters abroad, yet its clear that compassion, duty and a love for battle stoke the fires. Its my responsibility to participate in the construction of democracy here, he says. If it sometimes seems a Sisyphean task, Joseph knows one thing above all: Justice is never going to come unless you fight for it. Related Articles India Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Nepal's new premier K.P. Sharma Oli in New Delhi on Saturday, with the leaders pledging to work together to mend ties strained by a months-long border blockade. The two countries also signed nine agreements including a $250 million grant for reconstruction following a devastating quake last year and memoranda of understanding to improve Nepal's roads and power infrastructure. "The main reason for my visit is to clear the misunderstandings between India and Nepal that have settled in last few months," Oli, who arrived in Delhi on Friday for a six-day visit, said at a joint press conference. Protests by Nepal's Madhesi ethnic minority began in September over a new constitution which they said left them politically marginalised, with more than 50 people dying in clashes with police. Kathmandu accused India of imposing an "unofficial blockade" on the landlocked nation in support of the Madhesis, who share close cultural, linguistic and family links with Indians across the border. India denied backing the protesters, who lifted a blockade on a key checkpoint earlier this month, and has urged Nepal to hold talks with Madhesis to resolve the political differences. "The entire world acknowledges Nepal's commendable progress on the path of democracy and federalism in last few years," Modi said Saturday, calling the constitution an "important achievement". "I am confident you will take Nepal on the path of peace and stability by resolving all constitutional issues on the basis of these principles, through political dialogue and by taking along all sections of Nepal," the premier told reporters. India also promised to step up cooperation with Nepal on security issues, Modi said. Nepal's new constitution, the first drawn up by elected representatives, was meant to cement peace and bolster Nepal's transformation to a democratic republic after decades of political instability and a 10-year Maoist insurgency. Story continues But ongoing discussions between the government and protesting parties over the charter have failed to yield an agreement. Nepal on Thursday announced plans to establish a committee to review disputed provisions within the constitution. The unrest led Oli, who was elected in October, to put off his visit to India, a traditional first stop for Nepali prime ministers heading overseas. The small country is heavily dependent on India for fuel and other supplies. Baghdad (AFP) - Iraqi tribesmen battled Islamic State group militants inside their Fallujah stronghold for a second day Saturday, a significant challenge to longstanding jihadist control that may be undermined by a lack of supplies. Fallujah is one of two Iraqi cities still controlled by IS, and residents -- said to number in the tens of thousands -- vastly outnumber the estimated 300 to 400 jihadists inside it. But IS has had plenty of time to assert its control over the civilian population through arrests and public executions -- its usual means of discouraging dissent. "Armed confrontations between the sons of the Fallujah tribes and the Daesh organisation are continuing," an army brigadier general said, using an Arabic acronym for IS. The clashes are taking place in Al-Jolan in northwest Fallujah and Nazal in the centre, the officer said, adding that the army was shelling IS positions on the city's outskirts. There have been casualties among both the tribesmen and the jihadists, the officer said. Tribal leader Sheikh Majeed al-Juraisi said that fighting was continuing in both the centre and north of Fallujah. The tribesmen "are beginning to run out of supplies and need the support of the government," Juraisi said. - Fear of 'massacre' - There is "fear that they will completely run out and afterwards the Daesh organisation will arrest and massacre them." In 2014 and 2015, IS executed dozens of members of the Albu Nimr tribe, which opposed the jihadists as they overran swathes of Anbar province, where Fallujah is located. Saadun Obaid al-Shaalan, who was elected by a local council to administer the Fallujah area, confirmed that fighting was continuing, saying that tribesmen had posted snipers on rooftops in the Al-Askari area of east Fallujah. He said that the tribesmen needed assistance and "we are trying to obtain that support" from the government. Officials said the clashes began on Friday as a fight between tribesmen and Al-Hisba, IS members charged with enforcing religious strictures in the city. Story continues Members of the Al-Juraisat, Al-Mahamda and Al-Halabsa tribes have taken part in the fighting, officials said. Fallujah, which lies about 50 kilometres (30 miles) west of Baghdad, is the only Iraqi city apart from IS's main northern hub Mosul still under jihadist control. But IS also controls some large towns, including Tal Afar and Hawijah. - Dire humanitarian situation - Anti-government fighters took control of Fallujah in early 2014 during unrest that broke out after security forces demolished a protest camp farther west, and it later became an IS stronghold. The tens of thousands of civilians in Fallujah are facing increasingly dire living conditions, and officials say IS is preventing civilians from leaving the city, which has largely been cut off by security forces. Anbar Governor Sohaib al-Rawi has said that the situation in Fallujah "has reached a state of famine". Lise Grande, the UN's humanitarian coordinator for Iraq, said: "We are receiving reports of hunger and shortages of medicines and essential supplies. "We know that people are trying to leave the city but are prevented from doing so. We fear that the situation is becoming desperate." IS launched a sweeping offensive that overran swathes of Iraq in June 2014, but security forces and allied fighters have pushed the jihadists back with support from US-led air strikes. Tribesmen have played a key role in holding the jihadists back in several areas, including Haditha in Anbar, Amerli in Salaheddin province and Dhuluiyah in Diyala. Sunni Arab tribesmen from Anbar helped drive back IS's predecessor organisation Al-Qaeda in Iraq after joining forces with US troops from 2006. Around 40 stars will be taking to the stage at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles on Sunday, February 28, 2016, as presenters and performers in the 88th Oscars ceremony. In line with Oscars tradition, the four winning actors from the previous year's Academy Awards have been called back to present an Oscar to one of their successors. Julianne Moore, who was crowned "Best Actress" in 2015 for "Still Alice," will announce the winner of this year's "Best Actor" gong. Its 2015 winner, Eddie Redmayne ("The Theory of Everything"), is nominated again this year for "The Danish Girl," and will announce the winner of "Best Actress." Patricia Arquette ("Boyhood") and J.K Simmons ("Whiplash") will be back onstage to present Oscars to 2016's top supporting actor and actress. Some of this year's nominees are scheduled to appear onstage alongside 2016 host Chris Rock, even if they don't end up winning a coveted golden statuette. Cate Blanchett -- up for "Best Actress" in "Carol" -- and Rachel McAdams -- up for "Best Supporting Actress" in "Spotlight" -- are signed up to star in the ceremony's show. Music will be provided by Lady Gaga, Sam Smith and The Weeknd, who are all competing for "Best Original Song." Other musicians invited to perform include John Legend and Common, 2015 winners of "Best Original Song" for "Glory" ("Selma"), plus former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl, Quincy Jones and Pharrell Williams. Watch out for stars of "The Force Awakens" and "The Big Short" Other silver-screen stars will be appearing at the Oscars to support nominated movies. In the running for five Academy Awards, "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" can count on the presence of its director JJ Abrams and stars Daisy Ridley and Andy Serkis. Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling and Margot Robbie will be on hand to back "The Big Short," which is also up for five gongs. Charlize Theron will be cheering on "Mad Max: Fury Road" for its 10 nominations, and 9-year-old Jacob Tremblay will be supporting "Room" with four nominations. "Sicario," nominated in three categories, counts Emily Blunt and Benicio del Toro on this year's list of presenters and performers. Spanish-American actor, Benicio del Toro -- 2001's "Best Supporting Actor" for "Traffic" -- won't be the only former winner heading back to the ceremony stage. Russell Crowe ("Gladiator"), Morgan Freeman ("Million Dollar Baby") and Whoopi Goldberg ("Ghost") -- who has hosted the ceremony four times -- will be taking part in the festivities along with Jared Leto ("Dallas Buyers Club") and Reese Witherspoon ("Walk the Line"). The Academy has also called upon Superman (Henry Cavill) and Captain America (Chris Evans), plus Sacha Baron Cohen -- currently busy promoting "The Brothers Grimsby" -- Tina Fey, Jennifer Garner, Kerry Washington, Sofia Vergara and Louis CK. WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry expressed concern over the detentions of Uganda's main opposition candidate Kizza Besigye and harassment of opposition party members in a call to President Yoweri Museveni on Friday, the State Department said. Kerry also called on Museveni to rein in the security forces and to lift a block on social media and mobile money sites, the State Department said. "He urged President Museveni to rein in the police and security forces, noting that such action calls into question Ugandas commitment to a transparent and credible election process free from intimidation," it added. (Reporting by Lesley Wroughton; Editing by Eric Walsh) Amman (AFP) - US Secretary of State John Kerry urged Saturday that a ceasefire be agreed as soon as possible in Syria, during a phone conversation with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. "The Secretary expressed his hope that a full cessation of hostilities could be achieved in the shortest timeframe possible," State Department spokesman John Kirby said in a statement. Kerry, who arrived in the Jordanian capital Amman on Saturday night from London ahead of meeting King Abdullah II Sunday, again expressed his concern to Lavrov about Russian air strikes in Syria in support of President Bashar al-Assad's regime. "Secretary Kerry also restated his deep concern over the indiscriminate nature of continued bombing by Russian military aircraft and the lives being lost as a result," Kirby said. "The United States continues to call for all sides to abide by international obligations to avoid civilian casualties, and that responsibility lies first and foremost with the Assad regime and its supporters," he added. The two ministers discussed progress made by two UN task forces meeting in Geneva this week, one on humanitarian aid to besieged Syrian towns and the other on a "cessation in hostilities" that had been set to come into force on Friday, Kirby said. On Saturday in London, Kerry said in a statement that a lot of work remained to be done before reaching a truce in Syria. Russia meanwhile promised to continue to help Damascus to fight "terrorist" groups in Syria, while a key Syrian opposition group said it would support a truce only if regime supporters halted their fire. Kerry and Lavrov are the main architects of the Munich agreement on February 11 and 12 according to which 17 countries and three organisations agreed on a proposed ceasefire for Friday. The European Union, which is part of the Munich grouping, separately announced that Kerry and the bloc's foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini had spoken by phone Friday and Saturday about the crisis in Syria. "They discussed the ongoing diplomatic efforts to reach a cessation of the hostilities and the positive progress of the task force for the humanitarian assistance, in which the European Union plays a key role, that has already managed to deliver aid to the population in parts of Syria," it said in a statement. More than 260,000 people have been killed in the nearly five-year conflict, and half the country's population has been displaced. BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) - Heavy clashes in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi have left at least 14 people dead and 32 wounded, medical officials said on Saturday. Five years on from the uprising that toppled Muammar Gaddafi, Libya is plagued by instability, and Islamist militants have taken advantage of a security vacuum to expand their presence. A spokesman for the military forces loyal to Libya's eastern government, Wanis Boukhamada, said fighting was mostly in the neighborhood of Boatni. The army has been battling Islamist groups in the city for months. Two governments, one based in Tripoli and the other in the east, each backed by complex alliances of armed factions, are vying to for control of the country. On Friday, U.S. warplanes carried out an airstrike on a suspected militant camp in Sabratha in western Libya. At least 50 people were killed including two Serbian embassy staff abducted in Libya in November. Neighboring Tunisia's Interior Ministry said on Saturday that five militants had been arrested in the southern city of Ben Guerdan who had trained in Sabratha and had planned to carry out attacks in Tunisia. U.S. officials said on Friday that one of those targeted in the attack was the Tunisian Noureddine Chouchane, blamed for two attacks targeting foreign tourists in Tunisia last year in which dozens were killed. More than 3,000 Tunisians have left their country to fight with Islamist groups in Syria and Iraq, but increasingly Tunisian officials say they see fighters returning to fight with Islamic State in Libya. (Reporting by Ayman al-Warfalli in Libya and Tarek Amara in Tunis; Writing by Aidan Lewis and Patrick Markey; Editing by Kevin Liffey) From Good Housekeeping San Francisco was killing me. I would say it was the naked meth head touching himself in front of my office window that did me in, but we still stayed for another six months after that. I was making more money than I will most likely ever make again, but still, I was barely scraping by. My life was great I had a new husband, a gorgeous puppy, and a cozy cottage, but I didn't have the energy or the funds to enjoy it. Never mind that San Francisco was getting more and more overwhelming each day. After two years in the city and six months in the suburbs (a failed attempt to escape increasing rent), I was in debt, lonely, and exhausted. After a ten-hour day commuting to and from work at a tech startup, I spent any remaining time binge-watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It's no secret that San Francisco is one of the most expensive cities in America. Our rent - for a 700 square foot 1-bedroom above-garage cottage (45 minutes outside the city) - was $3,000 per month. It was a better deal than our 500 square foot basement studio with no laundry, parking or doors. But moving out ended up being more expensive. The dog walker was $30 per day. Commuting across the bridge with gas, tolls and parking was $45. Forty five. Dollars. Per day. Just to get to work. It took two and a half years before I folded. Aside from the money, I felt isolated from the community I had grown to love. Exhausted after long days surrounded by tech bros, I turned down invitations to after-work yoga or weekend drinks. For one, I didn't have the money. Also, trying to go to a brunch at any time in San Francisco? Nope. Then there was my actual work environment. I worked for one of those "unicorn" tech companies. The ones with lots of funding and kombucha on tap. While I didn't hate my job, getting there was a different story. No, it wasn't the traffic. It was the office location. Many SF tech companies base themselves in SOMA, a neighborhood famous for methadone clinics. I couldn't walk down the street - at any time of day - without dodging comments about my "delicious ass." Then there were the times I was followed or grabbed just walking from the parking lot to work. Story continues And the naked meth head incident of 2015? Not the only time I saw a penis during my working week. So, my husband and I made accommodations. We balanced our weeks with long, meandering, hikes on gorgeous trails. We shopped at farmer's markets and cooked romantic dinners. We hosted weekend parties, decorating the trees with streamers and balloons. It's not that our quality of life was all bad. We were healthy, employed, and surrounded by our favorite people. The problem was, we rarely had the money or energy to enjoy it. We worked our butts off in San Francisco, simply to afford the honor of living there. So six months ago, we decided to go for broke. We gave up everything and moved to Germany. The moving-to-Europe idea had been percolating for a while by then. I'd lived abroad for most of my adult life, and I wanted my new husband to experience the adventure of being an expat. Plus, anywhere was better than San Francisco at that point. It's funny that we ended up moving over 5,000 miles away just to afford living back home. We made a deal. If one of us could find a job abroad, that would be the sign we should do it. It happened quicker than we thought, though. My husband's San Francisco employer had offices in Dusseldorf, Germany. Neither of us spoke German. We'd never even travelled to the country. But we jumped on the opportunity, eager to experience a new life. Germany has definitely been an experience. Dusseldorf is a small city in the West of Germany, just over the border from The Netherlands. We live in a beautiful light-filled apartment in one of the most desirable neighborhoods. We're a five-minute walk from the main park, 10 minutes from the river and 20 from the Alstadt, an old town complete with a castle and cobblestone streets on the banks of the Rhine. Our rent, for an apartment twice the size of our old cottage, is a third of the cost. A nice dinner out with wine and dessert? $20 a pop. Train tickets throughout the continent of Europe cost the same as commuting just 20 miles in California. We don't need a car, and train tickets throughout the continent of Europe cost the same as commuting just 20 miles in California. In six months we've been everywhere from Sweden to Italy. We invest our money in experiences instead of a zip code. Even with half our income (Europeans just don't pay the same way Californians do), we're still able to squirrel away hundreds of dollars each month into savings. By the time we leave, we'll have enough to move back to the States and buy a house (far, far away from San Francisco). It's funny that we ended up moving over 5,000 miles away just to afford living back home. So while sometimes we don't understand the language and we're still experiencing major culture shock, we've gained a new world understanding, have more time together as a couple, more money in the bank, and significantly fewer penises interrupting my work day. Tobruk (Libya) (AFP) - Libya's prime minister-designate, Fayez al-Sarraj, on Saturday presented the programme of his new national unity government before the parliament of the internationally recognised government ahead of a confidence vote. "The members of parliament discussed with the Presidential Council the proposed unity government's programme as well as the names of ministers," the Libyan news agency LANA, which is close to the recognised authorities, reported. It added that the session was adjourned after several hours of "heated debate" and was set to resume on Sunday at 0800 GMT. The oil-rich North African country has had rival administrations since the summer of 2014 when the internationally recognised government fled Tripoli after a militia alliance including Islamists overran the capital. That alliance has established its own administration and parliament called the General National Congress. The United Nations has been pushing both sides to back a unity government. The Presidential Council, born of an agreement in December under UN auspices between representatives of the rival parliaments, on Monday proposed the formation of a unity government of 18 members. Before a confidence vote scheduled for Tuesday, the MPs in Tobruk had asked that Sarraj appear before them. It was not immediately clear if Sarraj would attend Sunday's session also. Libya has been torn by strife since Moamer Kadhafi was overthrown and killed in 2011 following a rebellion supported by Western military intervention. The chaos that has reigned since has allowed the jihadist Islamic State group to establish a foothold, and IS now controls the port city of Sirte and its surroundings. LANA reported that 14 members of forces loyal to the recognised government were killed in clashes in second city Benghazi in the east on Saturday. LANA, quoting medical sources in hospitals in Benghazi and the nearby city of Marj, also said that 34 other members of the forces were wounded in the fighting. For a year and a half, Benghazi has seen bloody fighting between armed groups including IS and Ansar al-Sharia, which is close to al Qaeda, and forces loyal to the government. Saturday's parliamentary session came a day after a US air strike against an IS training camp in Sabratha (70 kilometres, 43 miles west of Tripoli), killed 49 people, probably including a top jihadist. CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) Actress Lucy Liu is being honored at Harvard for her humanitarian work. The Kill Bill and Charlie's Angels actress, currently starring on CBS' Elementary, was named 2016 artist of the year by the Harvard Foundation for Intercultural and Race Relations. Liu is scheduled to receive the award Saturday evening in a presentation at the Cultural Rhythms Festival at Sanders Theater in Cambridge. Born to immigrant parents in the New York City borough of Queens, Liu is a UNICEF Ambassador and has been a spokeswoman for the Human Rights Campaign. Harvard says the actress has "worked tirelessly to raise awareness of the plight of women and children in some of the world's most impoverished countries." Previous Harvard Foundation winners include Eva Longoria, Andy Garcia, Matt Damon, Denzel Washington and Salma Hayek. Read More: Will Smith, Norman Lear to Be Honored at Russell Simmons' New Awards Show Malcolm X called him the most impressive black man ever to walk the African continent. Just six months after becoming the first prime minister of the newly independent Republic of the Congo (later called the Democratic Republic of the Congo), and two days before John F. Kennedys inauguration in January 1961, Patrice Lumumba was shot down by a firing squad. But Lumumbas surprising path and sudden death serve as a powerful reminder that for political leaders in many parts of the world, true reform has only one major prerequisite: survival. Few countries today are as troubled as the Congo, a land of 68 million nestled near the center of sub-Saharan Africa. Belgian invaders looted the country for almost a century, during perhaps the most brutal colonization in Africa. But Congo, rich in mineral resources like rubber, was once poised to be an African success story, thanks in no small part to the man his people called by one name: Lumumba. Lumumba went from being a political prisoner to being his countrys prime minister at the tender age of 34. Tall, wiry and intellectual, Lumumba grew up in a Catholic family in the Congolese countryside, working as a postal worker and beer salesman before risking his stable, middle-class life to join the anticolonial independence movement. He was quickly embraced as a leader of the movement, only to be imprisoned in late 1959 as the Congo was about to gain independence. But popular pressure forced his release, and nine months into his 69-month sentence, Lumumba went from being a political prisoner to being his countrys prime minister at the tender age of 34. Lumumba led a poor Congo, where nearly half the population was undernourished. He had high hopes for enacting the agrarian reform necessary to feed his people, and that was just the beginning of his ambitious plans. Then, just three months into his term, Lumumba was deposed, in a move orchestrated by a cadre of great powers: the U.S. via the CIA, which had planned to poison his toothpaste on orders from President Eisenhower; England with the connivance of MI6; and Belgium, the Congos former landlord. The reason? A significant crime in the Cold War heyday: making nice with the Soviets, who, it should be noted, Lumumba leaned toward because of Western hostilities arising from the possibility that he might find common cause with the Communists. Story continues Even the jungle wanted him dead, Joseph Conrad wrote of Kurtz, the Belgian ivory trader who ventures deep into the Congo in Heart of Darkness. It was as true for Lumumba as it was for Kurtz. What followed was a coup by future despot Colonel Joseph Mobutu. Lumumba was arrested, beaten and trucked to a location where, with Belgian approval, he was put to death by a firing squad. According to one report, Lumumba was shot multiple times, and his body was dissolved in acid by Belgian military officials who wanted to prevent a full investigation. Mobutu took over the Congo, renamed it Zaire and looted it to the tune of $5 billion over the next 30 years. And it wasnt until 2002 that the Belgian government apologized to the Congolese people for its role in Lumumbas assassination. Lumumba lives on in the hearts of many people in the Congo, but his lesson like that of so many slain revolutionaries may not be what he hoped for or expected. Being bold, principled and even on the right side of history will not lead your people into the promised land, nor will it make you the next George Washington, Nelson Mandela or Fidel Castro. If, however, youre willing to adapt and persevere, the rest may take care of itself. And if not, someone may just take care of you. Related Articles (Reuters) - A Mississippi policeman who worked in an anti-narcotics squad was killed on Saturday and three state troopers were wounded in a shootout with a suspect during a standoff in the northeastern corner of the state, according to local officials. The suspect was also killed in the exchange early Saturday morning in a rural area of Tishomingo County near Iuka, about 118 miles east of Memphis, Tennessee, according to County Coroner Mack Wilemon. State narcotics bureau officer Lee Tartt, 44, of Grenada, was killed, Wilemon said. A married father of two and a 22-year law enforcement veteran, he had won a Bureau of Narcotics agent of the year award in 2011 and a 2012 award for valor, according to the Mississippi Department of Public Safety (DPS), which includes the narcotics bureau. Tartt made an unsuccessful run for Grenada County sheriff last year. The suspect killed was Charles Lee Lambert, 45, Wilemon said. The three other officers were hospitalized and their conditions were not immediately known, Wilemon said. In a statement on Saturday, Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant asked residents to pray for Tartt's family. "This is a tragic reminder that their willingness to serve can exact the highest price," Bryant said, referring to the state's law enforcement officers. The department's Facebook page displayed a sign of mourning, showing a black silhouette of the state crossed by an indigo blue band. Tartt's death follows other shootings of police officers in Mississippi in the past year, including two Hattiesburg officers killed last May, and a Clarksdale officer shot in the head and left in critical condition after responding to a robbery this month. Saturday's shooting developed out of a domestic situation in a home late on Friday afternoon, according to a DPS statement. Lambert, his wife, and 10-year-old daughter were in the house when deputies arrived, and he refused to comply with Tishomingo County Sheriff's officers orders to come out, DPS said. Story continues Officers from the state's Highway Patrol, Bureau of Investigation and Bureau of Narcotics came to help the sheriff's office. After six hours of negotiations, tactical teams entered the home, meeting Lambert, who was armed with a high-powered rifle, DPS said. In an exchange of fire, Lambert, Tartt and three state troopers were shot. The woman and the child were rescued safely from the house, the DPS said. It was the first time that a Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics agent was killed in the line of duty since 1998. (Reporting by Mary Wisniewski in Chicago; Editing by Nerys Avery and Chizu Nomiyama) Seoul (AFP) - North Korea fired a few artillery rounds during an apparent military drill near a frontline island on Saturday, a military spokesman from the South said, as tensions run high following nuclear and missile tests by Pyongyang. The incident also comes days after the South said it would conduct its largest-ever annual joint military exercises with the United States next month, which usually causes a spike in cross-border friction. "The North Korean army fired a few artillery rounds" at around 07:20 am (2220 GMT Friday) from an artillery battery at Jangsangot promontory on its southern coast near the disputed sea border between the two Koreas, a defence ministry statement said. "North Korea is believed to have conducted a military drill" north of the sea border, it said. As a precautionary measure, however, the South urged residents on Baengnyeongdo island to prepare to go into shelters and fishing vessels at sea to return to nearby ports, it said. Currently, the North Korean army shows no signs of engaging in any further provocative activities, it added. In 2010, the North shelled Yeonpyeong island near Baengnyeongdo, killing four people, in response to a live-fire drill conducted by the South near the disputed sea border. By Roberta Rampton and Ayesha Rascoe WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will review briefing documents from his staff this weekend on potential Supreme Court nominees, the White House said on Friday, as a tough political fight loomed with Senate Republicans over filling the pivotal vacancy. The White House arranged for photographers to snap pictures of Obama carrying a thick binder filled with papers during his walk from the Oval Office to his residence on Friday night as he ponders who to pick to replace conservative Justice Antonin Scalia, who died on Feb. 13. Earlier in the day, the president and first lady Michelle Obama paid respects to Scalia as the late justice's body lay in repose in the Supreme Court's Great Hall. "The president's team, over the course of this week, has spent a lot of time preparing materials for the president's review, and I would expect, over the weekend, that the president will begin to dig into the materials that have been prepared for him," White House spokesman Josh Earnest said. Earnest gave no clues about who Obama might pick but said the lengthy briefing materials included information about "some potential nominees" including career accomplishments and experience. The court's ideological balance of power is at stake, and Obama's nominee could tip it to the left for the first time in decades. Scalia's death left the court with four conservative and four liberal justices. Obama phoned Senate leaders, including Republicans who have threatened to block any nominee made by the Democratic president to replace Scalia. Obama made it clear in his calls with two key Senate Republicans, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, that he will nominate someone for the job, Earnest told reporters. McConnell has said the seat should remain vacant until Obama's successor takes office next January so voters can have a say in the selection when they choose a new president in the Nov. 8 election. Obama also spoke with Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid and Senator Patrick Leahy, the Judiciary Committee's top Democrat, Earnest said. Reid said on Thursday after speaking with Obama that he expected the president to name his pick in "a little over three weeks." Earnest declined to discuss a timetable for Obama's decision, and said the president's staff had not yet provided a "short list" of candidates. (Additional reporting by Doina Chiacu and Megan Cassella; Editing by Mohammad Zargham and Will Dunham) WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama on Friday spoke with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan by telephone about the situation in Syria. Obama expressed concerns about recent Syrian government advances in northwest Syria and called for a halt to actions that heighten tensions with Turkey and with moderate opposition forces in northern Syria. Obama stressed to Erdogan that Kurdish YPG forces should not seek to exploit circumstances in this area to seize additional territory, the White House said in a statement. He also called for Turkey to "show reciprocal restraint" by stopping artillery strikes in the area. (Reporting by Ayesha Rascoe and Jeff Mason; Editing by Eric Beech) (Reuters) - One of the final four militants arrested in the armed occupation of a federal wildlife refuge in Oregon was granted a pretrial release from jail on Friday on condition that she avoid contact with any of her co-defendants, including her husband. Sandra Anderson, 47, along with her spouse, Sean Anderson, 48; Jeff Banta, 46; and the very last holdout, David Fry, 27; surrendered peacefully to the Federal Bureau of Investigation on Feb. 11, ending a 41-day standoff at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in remote eastern Oregon. The four holdouts were indicted the prior week along with 12 others previously arrested, including protest leader Ammon Bundy, on charges of conspiring to impede federal officers during the occupation. A 13th participant in the protest who acted as a spokesman for the group, Robert "LaVoy" Finicum, was shot dead during a confrontation with the FBI and state police on a snow-covered roadside on Jan. 27. The takeover at Malheur, which began on Jan. 2, was sparked by the return to prison of two Oregon ranchers convicted of setting fires that spread to federal property near the refuge. The occupation also was directed as a protest against federal control over millions of acres of public land in the West. Under terms of her court-ordered release, Anderson is required to find and maintain full-time employment or approved schooling, or a combination of the two, as directed by pretrial services officials. She also is barred from owning or possessing firearms, traveling outside of Oregon or her home state of Idaho without prior approval, or having any contact with her co-defendants, including her spouse, who remains incarcerated. She was required to undergo mental evaluation and counseling at the direction of the U.S. Pretrial Services Office. At the time of his surrender, Sean Anderson had a warrant out for his arrest in his previous home state of Wisconsin on misdemeanor charges from 2014 of resisting an officer, marijuana possession and possession of drug paraphernalia, according to court records. (Reporting by Steve Gorman; Editing by Leslie Adler) PORTLAND, OR / ACCESSWIRE / February 19, 2016 / Oregon Web Solutions | Portland SEO is now offering world class search engine optimization services to Portland and the entire State of Oregon. Our services include search engine marketing, website design and optimization, online reputation, and social media marketing. Seth Morrisey the Co-Owner of Oregon Web Solutions says, "We have been very successful in helping our clients optimize their websites and increase Google search engine rankings. 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Story continues "Our proprietary process of rankings websites is "white hat" and Google friendly. We focus on creating high-quality unique content around the web and linking it back to your web page. Our methods work on all niches and business types, and we always guarantee a Google first page ranking," says Seth Morrisey. If you are looking to find new customers, increase your revenue, and grow your company then search engine optimization may be for you. Oregon Web Solutions is now offering a no-obligation website video analysis for free. Simply fill out their Discovery Form and they will send you a video analysis of your website and online presence. Contact Oregon Web Solutions: Oregon Web Solutions | Portland SEO 1717 NE 42nd Ave #3800 Portland, OR 97213 (503) 563-3028 Email: contact@oregonwebsolutions.com Website: http://www.oregonwebsolutions.com/portland-seo-company/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/oregonwebsolutions Twitter: http://twitter.com/weboregon Instagram: http://instagram.com/oregonwebsolutions SOURCE: Oregon Web Solutions More than 18,300 people have applied for 14 or fewer spots in NASA's next astronaut class, shattering the 1978 record of 8,000 applicants. (In 1978, it had been nine years since the previous chance to apply to be an astronaut, and the space shuttle had recently been announced. Plus, it was the first official call for female applicants.) The prospective astronauts all submitted their applications between Dec.14 and when the application period closed yesterday (Feb. 18) and the total number is close to triple the applicants for NASA's most recent astronaut class, in 2012. (At the time, the 2012 application pool was the second largest ever at more than 6,300.) [Related: How To Become An Astronaut] "It's not at all surprising to me that so many Americans from diverse backgrounds want to personally contribute to blazing the trail on our journey to Mars," NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said in a statement. "A few exceptionally talented men and women will become the astronauts chosen in this group who will once again launch to space from U.S. soil on American-made spacecraft." Bolden himself is a former astronaut, selected as one of a class of 19 in 1980. Over the next 18 months, NASA's astronaut-selection board will narrow the applicants down, and the top applicants will interview at Johnson Space Center in Houston ultimately, NASA will select a final set of eight to 14 astronaut candidates to begin training. The training process will take about two years, and will include "training on spacecraft systems, spacewalking skills and teamwork, Russian language and other requisite skills," NASA officials said in the statement. Ultimately, those who make it through the training will be assigned to either the International Space Station, NASA's Orion spacecraft, the Boeing CST-100 Starliner or the SpaceX Crew Dragon. Orion, currently in development to launch in the early 2020s on the new Space Launch System megarocket, will be able to support a crew of four for up to 21 days habitat modules will be added for longer journeys, such as visiting Mars or deep space. Both the Starliner and Crew Dragon are in development aided by NASA's commercial crew program to bring four astronauts to the space station at a time. Story continues But first, NASA's astronaut-selection board has its hands full choosing the most qualified candidates from the enormous pool of astronaut hopefuls for the 2017 astronaut class. "We have our work cut out for us with this many applications," Brian Kelly, director of Flight Operations at Johnson Space Center, said in the statement. "But it's heartening to know so many people recognize what a great opportunity this is to be part of NASA's exciting mission. I look forward to meeting the men and women talented enough to rise to the top of what is always a pool of incredible applicants." Email Sarah Lewin at slewin@space.com or follow her @SarahExplains. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com. Copyright 2016 SPACE.com, a Purch company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. SYDNEY (Reuters) - A substantial settlement has been reached in a landmark A$200 million ($143 million) class action brought against ratings agency Standard & Poor's, according to the law firm for the local governments, churches and charities bringing the suit. London-based law firm Squire Patton Boggs said on Saturday that the settlement, which is subject to court approval, is likely to have widespread international ramifications for similar actions against Standard & Poor's (S&P) due to the number of products it rates throughout the world. Financial terms of the settlement were confidential, Squire Patton Boggs said. Litigation funder IMF Bentham said it would generate revenue of about A$52 million and a pretax profit after capitalized overheads of around A$47 million as a result of the settlement. The Federal Court lawsuit was brought by 92 Australian groups who had bought synthetic collateralized debt obligations issued by Lehman Brothers Australia between 2005 and 2007. The applicants alleged Standard & Poor's engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct by assigning AA and AAA credit ratings to the Lehman Brothers products. S&P denied the allegations. It could not immediately be reached for comment on the settlement. "The outcome of this case has highlighted that organizations such as Standard & Poor's require transparency and accountability in the formulation of the credit ratings that they assign to financial products such as SCDOs," said Amanda Banton, a partner at Squire Patton Boggs. Mick Wainwright, the leader of one of the local councils who took part in the class action, said the confidential settlement was "a welcome end to the monumental David and Goliath style action." Wainwright said the agreement vindicated the lengthy international pursuit to recover funds. The Federal Court found three years ago that Lehman Brothers Australia had engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct, breached fiduciary duties, breached contracts and acted in negligence toward plaintiffs. The finalization of that matter enabled the launch of the class action against Standard & Poor's in 2013. (Reporting By Jane Wardell; Editing by Tom Hogue) ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - A Pakistan police spokesman said on Friday a case has been lodged against unnamed perpetrators of a deadly attack on an Indian air base last month that has renewed tensions between the rivals. The Jan. 2 attack on the Pathankot air base, in which seven Indian security personnel were killed, has stalled hopes of revived peace talks between the nations after Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a surprise visit to his counterpart Nawaz Sharif in December. India said it gave actionable intelligence to Pakistan in the weeks following the attack, but Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar suggested on Thursday Pakistan was slow to act. "The government of India has been continuously giving evidence of so many things," Parrikar said in a televised interview on India Today. "If someone is serious, he can definitely act." Foreign secretary level talks between the nuclear-armed neighbours had been scheduled for last month. On Thursday, Pakistan's Foreign Office said a new date should be decided "as early as possible". Counter-terrorism police in Pakistan's Punjab province on Thursday filed a case against the alleged air base attackers and "their alleged abettors" belonging to a banned militant group, a spokesman said in a statement. It did not give the number or names of the accused, or which group they belonged to. Last month, Pakistan detained Maulana Masood Azhar, head of Jaish-e-Mohammad, or Army of Mohammad, a militant group that Indian officials blamed for the attack. Pakistan authorities sealed offices and shut several religious schools run by the group, but security officials said a special team set up to look into the attack found no evidence implicating Azhar or associates in the January raid. On Friday, Pakistani officials said a new joint team of military and civil intelligence agencies would look into the freshly lodged case, and that any non-state actor found to be involved would be brought to justice. "The registration of this case shows that there is full commitment and earnestness," Punjab's law minister Rana Sanaullah told reporters. "If you want to make your image before the world better, and to dispel the propaganda of other countries that our commitment is questionable, then we have to do things like this," he said. India has long accused Pakistan of using Kashmir-based militants such as Jaish-e-Mohammad as a proxy to mount attacks on Indian soil. Pakistan and India have fought three wars since becoming separate countries in 1947, two of them over the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir. (Reporting by Mubasher Bukhari in Lahore, Asad Hashim and Krista Mahr in Islamabad and Syed Raza Hassan in Karachi; Writing by Krista Mahr; Editing by Richard Borsuk) Militants said Saturday they had blown up a girls' school in Pakistan's restive northwest, the latest in a string of attacks on educational institutions. There were no casualties, but the bomb destroyed three out of five classrooms of the government girls' primary school in Tiarza village of tribal South Waziristan, a local security official told AFP. Azam Tariq, a spokesman for the "Sajna" arm of the Pakistani Taliban, claimed responsibility for the attack, saying the school had been targeted because it was run by the military and the group was opposed to female education. Tariq told AFP that militants captured 18 people including school security guards and labourers before planting the explosive, but later released them. Since 2002, when the army moved into northwestern tribal areas to fight the Taliban, militants have blown up hundreds of schools. Pakistan's army stepped up its offensive in the region after the Taliban's massacre of 153 people, mostly school children, in Peshawar in December 2014, and killed or pushed hundreds of militants to Afghanistan. Last month Taliban gunmen stormed a university in the northwestern town of Charsadda, killing 21 people in a chilling reminder of their ongoing ability to carry out occasional high-profile and brazen attacks. Overall, levels of militant-linked violence have dropped dramatically, with 2015 seeing the fewest deaths among civilians and security forces since 2007 -- the year the Pakistani Taliban umbrella group was formed. But the threat posed by the Taliban remains, particularly in the northwest. Separately in the region on Saturday, Pakistani security forces killed at least five militants in a gunfight, the military said. Troops encountered the militants near Ghalanai, the main town of Mohmand, one of the seven tribal districts bordering Afghanistan which have been home to Al-Qaeda and Taliban-led militants. "Five terrorists were killed by security forces in Mohmand early morning today," a military statement said. The clash comes after Taliban militants killed at least nine policemen in two almost simultaneous attacks in Mohmand on Wednesday. Pakistan's Islamist insurgency began after the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, which led to a spillover of militants across the border and a surge in recruitment for Pakistani extremist groups. Rabat (AFP) - Hundreds of protesters gathered Saturday in Morocco's capital to mark the fifth anniversary of the country's pro-reform movement born during the Arab Spring, an AFP journalist said. The demonstrators turned out to celebrate the "February 20 movement" born in 2011 to demand sweeping political and social reforms. When it first emerged it mobilised mass demonstrations, but five years on members say little progress has been made towards reaching its goals. "The February 20 movement is continuing its action five years on because nothing has changed since 2011 except the economic and social situation is now worse," said one demonstrator, 28-year-old Mohammed al-Masir. Protesters walked from near Rabat's Old City to parliament, calling for "freedom, dignity and social justice" and "power to the people". Authorities say most of the movement's demands were met after King Mohammed VI in 2011 introduced constitutional reforms that curbed his near absolute powers and held polls that saw the moderate Islamist Justice and Development Party (PJD) elected for the first time. The movement lost much of its support when the PJD broke with it after the elections and after scores of activists were arrested and jailed. Omar Balafrej, a member of the Moroccan leftist parties federation, said Morocco "sadly sanctifies social inequality and most citizens don't enjoy their dignity". "The Moroccan people deserve better," he added. Aden (AFP) - Al-Qaeda militants killed three pro-government fighters Saturday as they strengthened their presence in the southern coastal town of Ahwar, residents and military officials said. The jihadists launched an attack at dawn on a checkpoint manned by fighters close to the government of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, the sources said. They captured three of them before slitting their throats and going on to seize several government buildings. Al-Qaeda militants have controlled several neighbourhoods of the town in Abyan province for several weeks, according to the military officials. The Sunni Muslim extremist group has shored up its presence in Abyan where it already controls the provincial capital Zinjibar and the towns of Jaar and Shaqra. Their advance gives them control of most of the coast from their southeastern stronghold of Mukalla to Zinjibar, not far from the main southern port city of Aden. Hadi's internationally recognised government declared Aden the country's provisional capital in March, after Shiite Huthi rebels drove it out of Sanaa and much of northern Yemen. Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group have stepped up attacks on Aden despite the government's efforts to secure the city. LONDON (Reuters) - Britain will vote on its membership of the European Union in a referendum set for June 23 after British Prime Minister David Cameron agreed a new deal with EU leaders. Below are comments on the vote: DAVID CAMERON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER "I do not love Brussels. I love Britain. I am the first to say that there are still many ways in which Europe needs to improve and that the task of reforming Europe does not end with today's agreement. "That is not the question in this referendum. The question is will we be safer, stronger and better off working together in a reformed Europe or out on our own. "Let me be clear. Leaving Europe would threaten our economic and our national security." GEORGE OSBORNE, CHANCELLOR "We are stronger, and safer and better off in the EU and the alternative is a big leap in the dark with all the risks that that involves. "We get the best of both worlds, we get access to the single market for our businesses, so that creates jobs, but we don't have the costs of the euro zone, we have the security of being in the EU but we are not signed up to ever closer union, we end the something for nothing culture when it comes to benefits from migrants - these are big wins." JEREMY CORBYN, LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION LABOUR PARTY "Despite the fanfare, the deal that David Cameron has made in Brussels on Britain's relationship with the EU is a sideshow. "His priorities in these negotiations have been to appease his opponents in the Conservative Party. He has done nothing to promote secure jobs, protect our steel industry, or stop the spread of low pay and the undercutting of wages in Britain. "We will be campaigning to keep Britain in Europe in the coming referendum, regardless of David Cameron's tinkering, because it brings investment, jobs and protection for British workers and consumers." MICHAEL GOVE, JUSTICE MINISTER "It pains me to have to disagree with the Prime Minister on any issue. My instinct is to support him through good times and bad. But I cannot duck the choice which the Prime Minister has given every one of us. "I believe our country would be freer, fairer and better off outside the EU. "I dont want to take anything away from the Prime Ministers dedicated efforts to get a better deal for Britain. He has negotiated with courage and tenacity. But I think Britain would be stronger outside the EU." ALEX SALMOND, FORMER NATIONALIST LEADER OF SCOTLAND "I think the referendum across the UK is on a knife-edge, it will depend entirely on how it's argued. I don't rate the deal that Cameron has done in Brussels, I think it's about marginal issues. "If we were dragged out against our will by the votes of a much larger English (electorate), then the pressure for another independence referendum in Scotland would be irresistible and I think very rapid." THERESA MAY, HOME SECRETARY "The EU is far from perfect, and no one should be in any doubt that this deal must be part of an ongoing process of change and reform crucial if it is to succeed in a changing world. "But in my view - for reasons of security, protection against crime and terrorism, trade with Europe, and access to markets around the world - it is in the national interest to remain a member of the European Union." NIGEL FARAGE, HEAD OF UK INDEPENDENCE PARTY "This is a truly pathetic deal. Let's leave the EU, control our borders, run our own country and stop handing 55 million pounds every day to Brussels." NICOLA STURGEON, LEADER OF THE SCOTTISH NATIONAL PARTY "Across the UK the polls suggest this campaign is on a knife-edge and that's why I think it's important for the in-campaign to be positive. "If we get into the situation, where Scotland votes to stay in, the rest of the UK votes to come out, then people in Scotland will have big questions they will want to look at again about whether Scotland should be independent." ARLENE FOSTER, LEADER OF THE DEMOCRATIC UNIONIST PARTY, NORTHERN IRELAND "In our view we see nothing in this deal that changes our outlook. Therefore we will on balance recommend a vote to leave the EU." JOHN LONGWORTH, DIRECTOR GENERAL, BRITISH CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE "Businesses across Britain will be relieved that the horse-trading between Westminster and Brussels is now concluded, and that the hard work of recent months could potentially deliver some benefits for the UK. "(But) the deal falls well short of the business expectations we set out nearly a year ago." (Reporting by Ana Nicolaci da Costa; editing by Kate Holton) Tripoli (AFP) - Libya's internationally recognised government Saturday condemned a US air strike west of Tripoli believed to have killed a top Islamic State group operative and dozens of others the previous day. In a statement, the government, based in the far east of the country, denounced the raid targeting an IS training camp in Sabratha, saying it was not coordinated with the authorities and was "a clear and flagrant violation of sovereignty of the Libyan state". Friday's US air strike was believed to have killed Noureddine Chouchane, suspected of being behind the mass murder of tourists on a Tunisian beach, but it also killed two kidnapped Serbian embassy employees. US officials said Chouchane, also known as "Sabir," had been planning attacks against American and other Western interests along with other jihadists. Chouchane is suspected of being behind both the beach attack in July 2015 near the Tunisian city of Sousse that killed 38 tourists, including 30 Britons, and an attack on the National Bardo Museum in Tunis that killed 21 tourists and a policeman in March 2015. Both attacks were claimed by IS. Oil-rich Libya has had rival administrations since the summer of 2014. The internationally recognised government fled Tripoli after a militia alliance including Islamists overran the capital in August that year. The alliance has established its own administration and parliament called the General National Congress. The United Nations is pushing both sides to back a unity government to tackle jihadists and people-smugglers. By Steve Holland CHARLESTON, S.C. (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidates Marco Rubio and Jeb Bush are locked in a bare-knuckled fight for third place in a South Carolina primary vote on Saturday, afraid that anything less could blunt their White House hopes. With front-runner Donald Trump fighting to hold off U.S. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas and win his second straight early nominating contest, Rubio and Bush are battling to become the main anti-Trump alternative from among establishment Republicans seeking the party's nomination for the Nov. 8 election. An NBC News-Wall Street Journal/Marist poll released on Friday showed Trump in the lead with support from 28 percent of likely Republican primary voters, followed by Cruz at 23 percent. Rubio led Bush narrowly, 15 percent to 13 percent. The Bush-Rubio competition is layered with home-state drama: Bush, 63, is the elder statesman of Florida politics having served as governor. Rubio, 44, is the upstart understudy, a first-term U.S. senator who served in Florida's legislature. Rubio supporters were offended by the millions of dollars in attack ads spent by Bush's Super PAC, Right to Rise, believing that the money would have been better spent attacking Trump rather than trying to undermine a like-minded Republican. "People are going to do whatever they think they need to do to win. But its notable they spent far more money attacking Marco than they have the front-runner Donald Trump," said Rubio spokesman Alex Conant. The Bush team dismissed the complaints. "I dont think there's anything personal about it from Jebs side," said Jim Dyke, Bush's campaign chief in South Carolina. "Jeb for good reason feels like he's much more qualified to be president of the United States. That's what this is all about." ENDORSEMENTS FOR BOTH Bush has a key backer in South Carolina's Republican U.S. senator, Lindsey Graham, but Rubio upped the ante by winning the support of popular Governor Nikki Haley. Her endorsement gave Rubio momentum at just the right time and the two have campaigned together around the state. Rubio is treading carefully around whether Bush should exit the race if he performs poorly in South Carolina, saying Bush has worked hard and "has a right to be in this race as long as he wants to be." "I mean, he's spent $50 million attacking me. If there are differences in policy well talk about it. What I've said about Governor Bush is he doesnt have any foreign policy experience, which is true. But I dont view that as an attack. I view that as a fact," Rubio told reporters on Wednesday. Bush has bristled at the charge, telling supporters he has visited 89 countries and seen his brother and father develop foreign policy as U.S. presidents. His team has made much of Rubio's having missed many hearings and votes as a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. "Its hard for me to be lectured to by a gifted young guy who thinks going to committee hearings means you know something about the world," Bush said. Rubio forces had wanted to knock Bush out of the race in New Hampshire, the last nominating contest held on Feb. 9, but a bad Rubio debate performance and a strong campaign trail performance by Bush thwarted those hopes with Bush edging his rival for a fourth-place finish. (Reporting by Steve Holland; Editing by Howard Goller) Over the past few days, there has been a whirlwind of media attention over events in Syria and a likely Invasion of that country. Syria, as everyone knows, is an ally of Russia and Russia is operating inside that country, with the permission of its lawfully elected government. Despite a whirlwind of statements from several Arab nations, NATO and the UN, Russia has only said two things: 1) If ground troops from any nation enter Syria without Damascus' permission, it will be a declaration of war." AND; 2) The Americans - the American President and our Arab partners - have to ask themselves if they want permanent war." Other than those two public statements, Russia has been very quiet. The fact that the Russians have said nothing is a very revealing thing: There is no more left to say. The time for talking is over. Actions will determine the future. If this . . . . then that. It's quite simple, really. Russia has said "If any foreign ground forces enter Syria without Damascus' permission, it will be a declaration of war." Russia says what it means and means what it says; a rarity in today's world. So the line has been clearly drawn by Russia. Now, it's up to the rest of the world to decide whether or not Russia's statements mean what they actually said? This is a mistake that many are about to make. The Arabs, ever shifty as a matter of culture, do not realize they are dealing with an absolute. No means no. The Arabs are acting just plain stupid in this regard. They apparently think if they come into Syria with a big enough force, and fast enough, they will simply over-run the nation. The idea that their troops will be vaporized by tactical, battlefield, nuclear weapons, didn't even occur to them. Now that some alternative media sites (like this one) have stated this is precisely what will take place, those sites are receiving heavy and sustained visits from people in Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar and elsewhere in the Middle East. Folks are now rapidly waking up to the fact tactical nukes may very well be used. Rather than face this reality and pull back, these nations seem to be going into psychological "denial." They seem to be thinking ""Russia wouldn't dare." Not to put too fine a point on it but, Yes, they would. Turkey is proving to be worst of all. That country has a leader, Erdogan, who seems to have become a maniac. Perhaps he suffers from some delusion about being some religious prophet or calling-down the Mahdi . . . or whatever they call it He -- Erdogan of Turkey -- will be the first hot head to move and, if we read Russia correctly, they will allow him to come right over the border, deep into Syria, before they strike. Once Turkish troops are sufficiently inside Syria, the Russians will unleash force in such a fury, the Turks won't know what hit them! It will be horrible -- and glorious -- all at the same time (depending upon which side you're on!) But regardless of the side you're on, it will already be too late for those Turkish troops. Few if any will get out alive. We suspect the rest of the Arabs will see this and run like hell. End of war. The US has neither the cash nor the inclination to enter a war with Russia. We also have a limp-wristed weakling as our President. As we saw several years ago with his "Red Line" about chemical weapons in Syria, Obama TALKS a good game, but when push comes to shove, he's a girly-man. No stomach for a fight. We will even go so far as to say all this trouble in the Middle East is Obama's fault! If he weren't such a candy-assed wimp, a lot of the troubles that have flared-up around the world, would never have taken place. As for NATO, the Europeans are so mentally weak from political correctness, and so financially wrecked by their socialistic systems, they can't even protect their own borders! NATO can't say no to wild hordes of barbaric invaders, what will they do when someone actually starts shooting at them on a battlefield? RUN AWAY! NATO, in other words, is a joke. Within a few days, we'll see an explosion of military action in and around Syria. We will see a brutal defeat of Turkey and Saudi Arabia, then cooler heads will suddenly prevail. We hope. Yet, part of us is very concerned due to the old adage made famous in the movie "Forrest Gump:" Stupid is as stupid does. Obama and his left-wing, liberal cry-babies are, if nothing else, stupid. They may yet get all of us killed by talking tough against a country like Russia who is not afraid of their bluster. Like it or not, Russia is a super power. Now think back a few years to when President Limp Wrist went on TV and referred to Russia as a "regional power." That misstatement was a huge miscalculation. History will record that from the moment Obama uttered those words, everything in the world went to hell in a hand basket. Stupid is as stupid does. By Ana Nicolaci da Costa LONDON (Reuters) - If Britain votes in a June referendum to leave the European Union against the wishes of Scotland then pressure would rise for a second independence referendum, the nationalist leader of Scotland said on Saturday. Nicola Sturgeon, the leader of the Scottish National Party and of Scotland's devolved government, said she supports staying in the EU, and polls show that a majority of the 5 million Scots would also back that view. However, the Scottish vote is dwarfed by that of England which has 53 million and represents about 84 percent of the population of the United Kingdom. "Across the UK the polls suggest this campaign is on a knife-edge and that's why I think it's important for the in-campaign to be positive," Sturgeon said. "If we get into the situation, where Scotland votes to stay in, the rest of the UK votes to come out, then people in Scotland will have big questions they will want to look at again about whether Scotland should be independent." Scots rejected independence by 55-45 percent in a vote in 2014 but since then the SNP has gained further strength, taking 56 of the 59 seats representing Scotland in the national parliament in London in last May's election. Prime Minister David Cameron on Saturday called a June 23 referendum on membership of the EU after securing a deal from other EU leaders. Former SNP leader Alex Salmond said he did not rate the EU deal that Cameron had secured. If "we were dragged out against our will by the votes of a much larger English (electorate), then the pressure for another independence referendum in Scotland would be irresistible and I think very rapid," Salmond said. (Reporting by Ana Nicolaci da Costa; editing by Guy Faulconbridge) Santiago (AFP) - Chile's remote Easter Island over the past two weeks has seen a dramatic increase in dengue, with a total now of 16 confirmed cases, including one serious enough to require hospitalization. Health officials in Santiago said two new dengue cases were confirmed Saturday on Easter Island in two women, ages 20 and 52. "One of them required hospitalization after displaying serious symptoms," Chile's health department said in a statement, who said the woman at present is in good condition. Authorities said they are also monitoring the population for Zika virus, and that about a dozen people suspected of having the disease are under observation. Both dengue and Zika are transmitted by the same mosquito, aedes aegypti. Officials worry that the dengue outbreak could hurt tourism, a major source of revenue. Several nations in Latin America and the Caribbean have seen serious outbreaks of Zika, which officials suspect of causing birth defects in infants, and other potentially serious health concerns. Easter Island, a Chilean Pacific territory of just 5,761 people, is a volcanic outcrop of Polynesian culture some 3,500 kilometers (2,200 miles) from the Latin American continent. It is famous for its archaeological sites, including some 900 mammoth ancient statues of human figures, which are a major tourist attraction. By Andrea Shalal WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Air Force would ground the Russian-built RD-180 engines that power its Atlas 5 rockets if a U.S. government review determines that several sanctioned Russian individuals have too close a relationship with the engine maker, a top U.S. general said on Friday. Lieutenant General Samuel Greaves, who heads the Air Force's Space and Missile Systems Center, said the Pentagon was reviewing responses about the sanctions issue and related matters in time to meet a Feb. 22 deadline set by Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain. McCain last week asked the Air Force and Pentagon to explain why the U.S. government is continuing to use engines built by Russia's NPO Energomash given sanctions in place against Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin and other sanctioned individuals, who control the company after a big reorganization. Congress banned use of the Russian RD-180 rocket engines for military use after 2019, following Russia's annexation of the Crimea region of Ukraine in 2014. But U.S. lawmakers eased the ban late last year, worried that it could drive United Launch Alliance, a joint venture of Lockheed Martin Corp and Boeing Co, out of business and leave only privately-held SpaceX, to lift satellites into space. Greaves said the Air Force would abide by U.S. law. "These folks are on the sanctions list, and if the Department of the Treasury comes back and says there's a problem with that relationship, then we have to work with the Congress and others to determine a way ahead," he said. Asked to elaborate about possible consequences, he said, "If we're not supposed to be flying the RD-180s, they're grounded." The Treasury Department declined comment. A spokeswoman for United Launch Alliance also had no immediate comment. The U.S. Court of Federal Claims had ruled on the issue in response to a lawsuit filed in April 2014 by SpaceX, concluding that the purchases were not in violation of U.S. sanctions. At the time, senior U.S. officials said that control of Energomash by Rogozin could provide a basis for formally blocking the property and interests of the company. McCain argues the situation has changed due to a new Russian law that took effect in January, which consolidated the Russian space industry under a single state corporation, Roscosmos. Roscosmos is due to merge with the state-owned parent company of Energomash, making Energomash a direct subsidiary, he said. (Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Tom Brown) By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - South Sudan's warring government and opposition are killing, abducting and displacing civilians and destroying property despite conciliatory rhetoric by both sides, the United Nations said on Friday. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is due to travel to South Sudan's capital, Juba, next Thursday to meet with President Salva Kiir. A political dispute between Kiir and his former deputy Riek Machar two years ago sparked a civil war and renewed hostilities between Kiir's Dinka and Machar's Nuer people. More than 10,000 people have been killed. After months of ineffective negotiations and failed ceasefires, both sides agreed in January to share positions in a transitional government, and earlier this month Kiir re-appointed Machar to his former post as vice president. "It cannot be tolerated that leaders make declarations in Juba, while the hostilities and attacks on the civilian population continue and intensify across the country," said U.N. Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights Ivan Simonovic. He told the U.N. Security Council that the conflict threatens stability in the entire region. Simonovic said that in the Greater Upper Nile region of South Sudan government forces had systematically razed villages and sexual violence and abuse of children's rights were rampant. "During an attack on Koch county, one woman described how soldiers killed her husband, then tied her to a tree and forced her to watch as her 15-year-old-daughter was raped by at least 10 soldiers," Simonovic said. U.N. peacekeepers are sheltering nearly 200,000 people at six protection sites in South Sudan and more than 2.3 million people have been displaced. Eighteen people were killed in fighting on Wednesday at one of those U.N. compounds and more than 90 were wounded, the U.N. Refugee Agency said. Two Medicins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) workers were among the dead, the international medical aid group said. President Barack Obama's national security adviser, Susan Rice, said in a statement that the United States was disturbed by "credible reports that a large group of South Sudanese Government soldiers entered the compound and opened fire on civilians seeking refuge within the camp." She urged the government to identify the soldiers responsible for the attack and bring the perpetrators to justice. (Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Additional reporting by Mohammad Zargham in Washington; Editing by Toni Reinhold and Leslie Adler) (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday refused to stay a ruling that two North Carolina congressional districts be redrawn over racial gerrymandering in a 2011 redistricting, forcing congressional primaries to be rescheduled for June 7. A lower court panel of federal judges this month barred elections in the majority black districts, the 1st and the 12th, until new maps are approved, calling the current maps unconstitutional. The Supreme Court gave no explanation for its decision in a one-sentence order issued late on Friday night. The ruling said race had been the main factor when the Republican-controlled legislature redrew the boundaries and state lawmakers were not justified in using that benchmark. Three voters filed suit in 2013 to invalidate the districts. Both are represented by Democrats, with G.K. Butterfield in the 1st, and Alma Adams in the 12th. The primaries for the state's 13 U.S. House seats will be held on June 7 rather than March 15 after North Carolina lawmakers agreed to move the date on Thursday if the Supreme Court rejected the stay request. The state's presidential and gubernatorial primaries will still be held on March 15. Broadcaster WRAL reported that while state lawmakers hoped for a stay, legislators in the state's House on Friday moved ahead and gave final approval to newly-drafted congressional maps ahead of the Court's decision to reject the stay request. Politico reported that Justice Antonin Scalia had been expected to vote in favor of staying the ruling before his death last Saturday, though it was not immediately clear how his death affected the court's decision. (Reporting by Curtis Skinner in San Francisco; Editing by Clarence Fernandez) BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syria's army and allies, backed by Russian air strikes, recaptured 18 villages from Islamic State fighters in eastern Aleppo province on Saturday, a monitoring group said. The advance extended their control of parts of a road running toward the jihadist group's stronghold of Raqqa, and built on gains made in assaults that intensified sharply earlier this month. Damascus's offensive, drawing heavily on Russian air cover and ground support from Lebanese Hezbollah and Iranian fighters, has brought the Syrian army to within 25 km (15 miles) of Turkey's border. The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Syria's army and allied fighters recaptured 18 villages east of Aleppo, bringing under their control some 40 km (25 miles) of a highway that leads from the city to Raqqa. Syrian state television also said its armed forces had captured several villages in the area from Islamic State. The Syrian army in November fought its way to the Kweires military air base that had been besieged by Islamic State in eastern Aleppo province. Saturday's advances took place to the west of the base. Russia intervened in Syria's nearly five-year-old civil war in September with an air campaign to bolster Assad. Its air strikes have hit Islamic State targets but mostly other insurgents, including Western- and Turkish-backed fighters. U.S.-led air strikes are also hitting Islamic State in areas it controls in Raqqa, Deir al-Zor and Hasaka provinces in the north and east of the country. (Reporting by John Davison; editing by Andrew Roche) After "X-Files," "Limitless" and "Minority Report" hit screens this year, American networks have plenty more TV adaptations in the works, with projects to bring all kinds of past hits to the small screen for the 2016/2017 season. Leathal Wapon With "Rush Hour" scheduled for March on CBS, Fox is giving another famous buddy movie franchise from the 1980s and 1990s a new lease of life on the small screen. Damon Wayans ("My Wife & Kids") has been signed up to star as Roger Murtaugh, played by Danny Glover in the movies, but a replacement for Mel Gibson is yet to be announced. The Exorcist Fox will be bringing a well-known story to the small screen with its adaptation of "The Exorcist." The TV version will be based on the 1971 novel by William Peter Blatty, distancing itself from William Friedkin's 1973 movie. The series is billed as a psychological thriller following two very different men as they tackle one family's case of terrifying demonic possession. Taken NBC is reviving a more recent movie franchise with its prequel to "Taken." The series follows a young Bryan Mills -- the movie's hero, originally played by Liam Neeson -- as he learns his spy skills. The series has been ordered directly by NBC for the upcoming season, so it won't be debuting with a traditional pilot episode. Cruel Intentions NBC is also interested in rebooting this 1999 movie based on the French novel "Dangerous Liaisons." The network is apparently trying to coax Sarah Michelle Gellar back into her original movie role. As yet, there's no word on whether Reese Witherspoon, Ryan Philippe and Joshua Jackson have also been invited back to the cast. Training Day CBS has reportedly asked Ethan Hawke to star in its TV adaptation of "Training Day," headed by Antoine Fuqua, the director of the original movie. The small-screen version will be set 15 years after events in the movie, but will keep the film's basic premise, following a young rookie cop and his corrupt detective coworker. Story continues Frequency CW has enlisted the help of the "Supernatural" series creator to turn this 2000 movie into a TV adaptation. Dennis Quaid's original role will be revamped for 2016, as a female police detective finds she can communicate with her dead father via amateur radio. The pair then work together to clear up an unresolved murder case. MacGyver The cult 1980s hero is being revamped for a big return to the small screen. The new series follows Angus MacGyver -- played by Richard Dean Anderson in the original series -- in his 20s, when he gets recruited to a clandestine organization to solve problems in his typically unconventional ways. CBS has not yet announced which actor will be playing the legendary agent. Prison Break Another major comeback sees brothers Michael Scofield and Lincoln Burrows return in a new series of "Prison Break," scheduled for late 2016. Seven years after the series was cancelled by Fox, Wentworth Miller and Dominic Purcell are stepping back into the lead roles, alongside other familiar faces from the show, such as Sara Tancredi (Sara Wayne Callies), Theodore "T-Bag" Bagwell (Robert Knepper), Benjamin Miles "C-Note" Franklin (Rockmond Dunbar) and Fernando Sucre (Amaury Nolasco). 24: Legacy Fox is reviving another of the network's past hits with a reboot of "24." Instead of bringing back the original lead character, Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland), the 2016 version follows Eric Carter, a new recruit to the anti-terrorist cell, played by Corey Hawkins ("Straight Outta Compton"), as he tries to thwart what could be one of the most deadly attacks on American soil. Nancy Drew The amateur sleuth and star of a popular series of novels is coming back to the small screen in a CBS adaptation. The network is looking to modernize the story by casting a non-white actress as Nancy Drew. This contrasts with the last screen adaptation, which saw Emma Roberts play Nancy Drew in a 2007 movie. Washington (AFP) - Washington's elite put political differences aside on Saturday as thousands gathered to pay final respects to US Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, whose death last week ignited a fierce battle over his successor. Vice President Joe Biden and the court's Chief Justice John Roberts led a distinguished group of officials, dignitaries and family friends in attendance at the funeral mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. Scalia died a week ago of an apparent heart attack at age 79 while on a hunting trip in Texas. It was the first funeral for a sitting member of the US high court since 2005, when Chief Justice William Rehnquist died. Scalia -- a conservative icon -- was a devout and tradition-bound Catholic. Cardinal Donald Wuerl, the archbishop of Washington, called him "an extraordinary man." His death plunged the Supreme Court into uncertainty, leaving what had been a conservative-dominated body evenly divided in a year of blockbuster cases -- on abortion, affirmative action, immigration and President Barack Obama's health care law. It also set off an epic election-year battle over Scalia's successor, whose appointment could tip the body to a liberal majority with the potential to reshape American life far into the future. Thousands of mourners filled the pews at the vast Romanesque-Byzantine basilica, the country's largest Catholic church -- where Pope Francis celebrated a mass in September. Dozens of white-robed priests were on hand -- so laughter ensued when Wuerl said that Scalia had expressed a desire for a "simple parish family mass." The mass was led by one of the justice's nine children, Paul Scalia, who is a priest in nearby Arlington, Virginia. Four other sons served as pallbearers. While the late justice preferred traditional Latin masses, his own was mostly in English. In words that to many seemed to refer to his father, Paul Scalia said: "We are gathered here because of one man. A man known personally to many of us, known only by reputation to even more, a man loved by many, scorned by others, a man known for great controversy, and for great compassion." Story continues He paused, then added, "That man, of course, is Jesus of Nazareth." It was because of Jesus, he went on, that "in confidence we commend Antonin Scalia to the mercy of God." - High-profile mourners - Scalia's fellow justices -- including Clarence Thomas, who offered a Bible reading -- joined several cabinet secretaries and many members of Congress at the mass. Former vice president Dick Cheney, former House speaker Newt Gingrich and Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, the papal nuncio to the United States, were also in attendance. Senator Ted Cruz, the conservative Southern Baptist who is seeking the Republican presidential nomination, broke away from the campaign trail to attend, CNN reported. A private burial followed the mass. The president and First Lady Michelle Obama were not present Saturday -- an absence sharply criticized by some Republicans. Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump tweeted during the mass: "I wonder if President Obama would have attended the funeral of Justice Scalia if it were held in a Mosque? Very sad that he did not go!" The Obamas paid their respects Friday when Scalia's flag-draped casket lay in repose in the Great Hall of the Supreme Court. A spokesman said the president did not want his presence at the basilica to be a distraction. While Obama and Scalia had deep political differences, the president had paid homage to Scalia's undeniable impact over nearly 30 years on the high court. "Justice Scalia and I had different political orientations," he said, while adding that "he was a giant on the Supreme Court." Within hours of Scalia's death, leading Republicans made clear that they had no intention of even considering any nominee Obama might put forward in the remaining 11 months of his presidency. But Obama said it was his constitutional duty to nominate a replacement, and the Senate's to provide his nominee a fair hearing. White House aides said Obama has been studying dossiers on several potential nominees; he is expected to name someone within weeks. Biden, in an interview Friday with The Washington Post, acknowledged that the nomination could be a "gigantic game changer," but said he thought Obama would make a relatively non-ideological pick. "We have to pick somebody, as the president will, who is intellectually competent, is a person of high moral character, is a person who is demonstrated to have an open mind, and is a person who doesnt come with a specific agenda," he said. By Ece Toksabay ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Saturday called on the United States to give unconditional support in the fight against Syrian Kurdish militants, illustrating growing tension between Ankara and Washington over policy in northern Syria. Davutoglu also said Turkey would tighten security across the country, especially the capital, after a car laden with explosives was detonated near military buses in Ankara on Wednesday, killing 28 people. Turkey says the Syrian Kurdish YPG, which the United States is backing in the fight against Islamic State in Syria, was involved in the bombing, working with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). Washington, which does not consider the YPG a terrorist organization, has said it is not in a position to confirm or deny Ankara's charge the militia was behind the bombing. "The only thing we expect from our U.S. ally is to support Turkey with no ifs or buts," Davutoglu told a news conference following a five-hour security meeting with members of his cabinet and other officials. "If 28 Turkish lives have been claimed through a terrorist attack we can only expect them to say any threat against Turkey is a threat against them." The disagreement over the YPG risks driving a wedge between the NATO allies at a critical point in Syria's civil war, as the United States pursues intensive talks with Syrian ally Russia to bring about a "cessation of hostilities". The Kurdistan Freedom Hawks (TAK), a group that once had links to the PKK, on Friday claimed responsibility for the bombing. However, Davutoglu said that did not rule out the responsibility of the YPG, calling the TAK a "proxy" that claimed the bombing to shield the international reputation of the Syrian Kurdish fighters. YPG DENIAL The YPG's political arm has denied the group was behind the Ankara attack and said Turkey was using the bombing to justify an escalation in fighting in northern Syria. Turkey reserves the right to carry out operations at home and abroad against terror threats, President Tayyip Erdogan was quoted as saying on Saturday, in comments that suggest Ankara could increase shelling of YPG positions. "Turkey will use its right to expand its rules of engagement beyond (responding to) actual attacks against it and to encompass all terror threats," the pro-government Daily Sabah newspaper quoted him as saying at a speech in Istanbul. Washington has called on Turkey to stop its recent shelling of the YPG. Ankara says it is doing so within the rules of engagement and in response to cross-border fire from the insurgents. President Barack Obama on Friday spoke to Erdogan in an 80-minute telephone call, sharing his concerns over the Syrian conflict and promising his support. A State Department spokesman later told reporters Washington would continue to support organizations in Syria that it could count on in the fight against Islamic State - an apparent reference to the YPG. (Reporting by Ece Toksabay; Writing by David Dolan; Editing by Andrew Roche and Marguerita Choy) Research offers new evidence about the Gulf of Mexico's past Map shows the study area along eastern Mexico and the Gulf [Credit: Stephen Cossey] TANN you might also like Geologists studying a region in the Mexican state of Veracruz have discovered evidence to explain the origin of the Wilcox Formation, one of Mexico's most productive oil plays, as well as support for the theory that water levels in the Gulf of Mexico dropped dramatically as it was separated from the rest of the world's oceans and the earth entered a period of extreme warming.The drop in water levels and the warming, known as the Paleocene-Eocene thermal maximum (PETM), occurred around 55.8 million years ago. The Gulf refilled about 850,000 years later.Geologist Don Van Nieuwenhuise said the study, published in the February edition of, explains the distribution of the Wilcox Formation from onshore Texas and Mexico into the deep waters of the Gulf and offers insight into the episode of extreme warming more than 55 million years ago, with potential implications for climate change today.Van Nieuwenhuise, director of professional geoscience programs at the University of Houston, is an author of the study, along with lead author Stephen P.J. Cossey, Joseph Davis, Joshua H. Rosenfeld and James Pindell. Cossey, Davis, Rosenfeld and Pindell are independent geologists.The findings support the theory that the Gulf of Mexico was landlocked as the Paleocene Epoch morphed into the warmer Eocene, punctuated by a massive loss of water due to evaporation and, millennia later, was inundated again.Van Nieuwenhuise said oil producers long have been puzzled about the Wilcox Formation's appearance in the Gulf's deeper waters, hundreds of miles from where it appears onshore. This new information could mean there are still-undiscovered sections of the formation, also known as the Paleocene/Eocene Chicontepec Formation, he said.But while the research offers a better understanding of where additional oil reservoirs might be located, Cossey said it also expands what is known about the history of the Gulf."There have been geologists working in the Gulf of Mexico for decades," said Cossey, who is based in Durango, Colo. "After all these years, we're still finding out things we didn't know. This is important for oil and gas exploration, but it's also important in the history of the Gulf of Mexico and our knowledge of climate change."The researchers said waters in the Gulf dropped at least 650 feet, leaving an exposed area that refilled less than a million years later - the blink of an eye in geologic time."Proving the existence of the Paleocene-Eocene drawdown would profoundly alter the interpretation of the Gulf's geologic history with academic and economic ramifications," the researchers wrote. "The theory, if further validated, would provide a revised context and would enhance predictability for petroleum exploration. ... We can add another line of evidence that the (Gulf of Mexico) drawdown occurred and that it likely happened near the Paleocene-Eocene boundary," or in the era between the Paleocene and Eocene epochs.Several members of the team had previously worked near the village of Chicontepec, in Veracruz. Cossey, in fact, has written a book about the region, "Chicontepec: A Mexican National Treasure."He returned in February 2015 to an outcrop previously documented as a coal bed, convinced that the existence of turbidites, a type of sedimentary rock associated with deep ocean currents, next to the coal deserved more investigation.Analysis of samples from the outcrop convinced the researchers that the "coal" was in fact a fossilized oil seep dating to the late Paleocene/early Eocene. Samples from above and below the oil contained fossilized sea life, additional evidence that the area was once submerged.The researchers report that the oil seep developed after a dramatic drop in water levels in the Gulf, triggered by evaporation and coinciding with the PETM, the previously reported surge in temperatures. They conclude the dropping sea levels reduced pressure on hydrate-rich sediments, resulting in a massive methane release. Although there is not yet proof the warming was triggered by the methane release, Cossey said the timing fits."We know there was an increase in temperatures about 56 million years ago," he said. "If we know the drawdown in the Gulf of Mexico caused that, we can better understand how natural events on earth can affect the climate."Van Nieuwenhuise noted that today's warming oceans could also cause hydrates on the ocean floor to release methane, which may exacerbate climate change.The region where the outcroppings were found was re-submerged as the Gulf waters rose but are now above sea level and about 100 miles from the Gulf coast, due to later geologic movement known as Tectonic activity, which would have reopened the passage between the Gulf and the world's oceans. By Ece Toksabay ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkey's presidency said U.S. President Barack Obama had shared his concerns over the Syrian conflict and promised his support on Friday, hours after a tense exchange between the two NATO allies over the role of Kurdish militants. In a phone conversation that lasted one hour and 20 minutes, Ankara said Obama had told his counterpart President Tayyip Erdogan that Turkey had a right to self-defense, and expressed worries over advances by Syrian Kurdish militias near Turkey's border. Obama stressed to Erdogan that Syrian Kurdish YPG forces should not seek to exploit recent gains by the Syrian government to seize additional territory, the White House said in a statement. He also called for Turkey to "show reciprocal restraint" by stopping artillery strikes in the area, the statement said. Earlier on Friday, Erdogan had said U.S.-supplied weapons had been used against civilians by a Syrian Kurdish militia group that Ankara blames for the deadly suicide bombing this week. The State Department, which sees the Syrian Kurdish YPG fighters as useful allies against Islamic State, said the United States had "not provided any weapons of any kind" to the group. The issue risks driving a wedge between the NATO allies at a critical point in Syria's civil war, as the United States pursues intensive talks with Syria's ally Russia to bring about a "cessation of hostilities." Turkey has blamed the YPG for the suicide car bomb attack on Wednesday that killed 28 people, most of them soldiers. But a Turkey-based Kurdish splinter group has claimed responsibility for the bombing and threatened more attacks. Obama expressed his condolences to Erdogan over the bombing in the Turkish capital, the White House said. Before the call with Obama, Erdogan said he was saddened by the West's refusal to call the Syrian Kurdish militia terrorists, and would explain to the U.S. president how weapons provided by the United States had aided them. "I will tell him, 'Look at how and where those weapons you provided were fired'," Erdogan told reporters in Istanbul. "Months ago in my meeting with him I told him the U.S. was supplying weapons. Three plane loads arrived, half of them ended up in the hands of Daesh (Islamic State), and half of them in the hands of the PYD," he said. "Against whom were these weapons used? They were used against civilians there and caused their deaths." The White House statement did not say whether Erdogan brought up the subject of U.S. weapons with Obama. AIR DROP Erdogan appeared to be referring to a U.S. air drop of 28 bundles of military supplies in late 2014 meant for Iraqi Kurdish fighters near the Syrian city of Kobani. Pentagon officials said at the time one had fallen into the hands of Islamic State. The Pentagon later said it had targeted the missing bundle in an air strike and destroyed it. The United States has said it does not consider the YPG a terrorist group. A spokesman for the State Department said on Thursday that Washington was not in a position to confirm or deny Turkey's charge that the YPG was behind the Ankara bombing. The spokesman also called on Turkey to stop its recent shelling of the YPG. The YPG's political arm has denied the group was behind the Ankara attack and said Turkey was using it to justify an escalation in fighting in northern Syria. The Turkish government has said the Ankara attack, in which a car laden with explosives was detonated next to military buses as they waited at traffic lights, was carried out by a YPG member from northern Syria working with Kurdish militants inside Turkey. But the Kurdistan Freedom Hawks (TAK), a group that once had links to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), claimed responsibility for the bombing in a statement on its website. It said the bomber was a 26-year-old Turkish national. The claim of responsibility by TAK is unlikely to make a difference to Turkey's demand that Washington stop its support of the Syrian Kurdish fighters. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu earlier accused the United States of making conflicting statements about the Syrian Kurdish militia. He said U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry had told him the Kurdish insurgents could not be trusted, in what Cavusoglu said was a departure from Washington's official position. "My friend Kerry said the YPG cannot be trusted," Cavusoglu said at a news conference during a visit to Tbilisi. "When you look at some statements coming from America, conflicting and confused statements are still coming.... We were glad to hear from John Kerry yesterday that his views on the YPG have partly changed." Within hours of the Ankara attack, Turkish warplanes bombed bases in northern Iraq of the PKK, which has waged a three-decade insurgency against Turkey and which Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu accused of collaborating in the car bombing. Violence between Turkish security forces and the PKK has been at its worst since the 1990s after a 2-1/2-year ceasefire collapsed last July. Two soldiers and a police officer were killed on Friday in a PKK attack in the Sur district of the southeastern city of Diyarbakir, parts of which have been under round-the-clock curfew since December, the armed forces said. Three other soldiers were killed as a building collapsed in the same district. (Additional reporting by Daren Butler, Asli Kandemir, Lesley Wroughton, Roberta Rampton and Doina Chiacu in Washington; Writing by Nick Tattersall, David Dolan and Dasha Afanasieva; Editing by Mark Trevelyan, Andrew Heavens and Lisa Shumaker) By Aleksandar Vasovic and Ahmed Elumami BELGRADE/TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Two Serbian embassy staff members abducted in Libya in November were among nearly 50 people killed on Friday in U.S. air strikes on a suspected Islamic State training camp, Serbia's prime minister said. U.S. officials said the site targeted in the strikes in Sabratha, western Libya, was a camp used by up to 60 militants, including Tunisian Noureddine Chouchane, blamed for two attacks on tourists in Tunisia last year in which dozens were killed. Sladjana Stankovic, a Serbian communications officer, and Jovica Stepic, a driver, were taken hostage on Nov. 8 after their diplomatic convoy, including the ambassador, came under fire near Sabratha, a coastal city. "It is officially confirmed that the two embassy staff were killed in air raids," Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic told a news briefing in Belgrade. He described the deaths as "terrible collateral damage" and said Serbia had been close to securing their release. The Pentagon said it was aware of reports that the Serbs had been killed, but had "no information indicating that their deaths were a result of the strike" carried out by U.S. forces. The mayor of Sabratha, Hussein al-Thwadi, said the death toll from Friday's strikes had risen to 49. It was the second U.S. air raid in three months against Islamic State in Libya, where the militants have exploited chaos following Muammar Gaddafi's 2011 downfall to build up a presence on the southern shores of the Mediterranean Sea. 'FINANCIAL INTEREST' On Saturday, Libya's attorney general said one of six wounded survivors told prosecutors those in the building that was hit were "members of Islamic State who came to Libya recently for training and then to carry out terrorist acts in Tunisia". But Sabratha's mayor said the building was "just a house", adding: "The house was used for meetings and other acts but not training." Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic said Serbian authorities had been negotiating the release of the two staff and "the kidnappers had a financial interest". But he said the demands had been "impossible" to meet by either the families or the government. He said Serbia would send a protest note to Washington for not informing Serbian authorities of the raid. Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook said the circumstances in which the Serbs had died were "unclear". "Our forces watched this training camp for weeks leading up to the operation, and at the time of the strike there were no indications of any civilians present," he said in a statement. "We will share whatever information we can with the Serbian government." U.S. officials have said they gave advance warning of the strikes to Libyan authorities, without specifying who they contacted. Since 2014 Libya has had two competing governments, one based in Tripoli and the other, which has received international recognition, in the east. Both sides are supported by loose alliances of former rebels and armed brigades. A unity government has been nominated under a United Nations-backed plan but has yet to win approval or move to Libya. Western powers and the United Nations have been trying to reach out to armed factions to provide security for the unity government and tackle the threat from Islamic State militants. The ultra-hardline group took control of Gaddafi's home town of Sirte last year and has carried out attacks in several other towns and cities. Diplomats and foreign nationals have been targeted in the past for kidnappings, mostly for ransom or to demand the release of fighters being held by overseas governments. Islamist militants have also targeted foreigners. Serbia has ties with both of Libya's governments. (Additional reporting by Idrees Ali in Washington; Writing by Ivana Sekularac and Aidan Lewis; Editing by Janet Lawrence) BELGRADE (Reuters) - Two Serbian embassy staff abducted in Libya in November were killed in U.S. raids against a suspected Islamic State training camp on Friday, Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said on Saturday. Sladjana Stankovic, a communications officer, and Jovica Stepic, a driver, were taken hostage on Nov. 8 after their diplomatic convoy came under fire near the coastal city of Sabratha. "It is officially confirmed that the two embassy staff were killed in air raids," Vucic told a press briefing. (Reporting by Ivana Sekularac; editing by John Stonestreet) By Andrea Shalal WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon and the U.S. Air Force could still cancel the ground control system Raytheon Co is developing to operate new GPS satellites, if the company does not improve its performance on the troubled system, a top U.S. general said. Lieutenant General Samuel Greaves, who heads the Air Force's Space and Missile Systems Center, said officials were keeping close tabs on Raytheon's GPS Operational Control System, or OCX, which he described as the Air Force's "No. 1 troubled program." "OCX has significant promise, but no system is a no-fail system," Greaves told a breakfast hosted by the Air Force Association's Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies. "Nothing is too big to fail."Pentagon chief arms buyer Frank Kendall is due to review the $3.6 billion program again in early March after a December restructuring that delayed its completion by two years. Officials have stopped short of cancelling the OCX program, which has seen costs double due to increased cyber requirements and poor contractor performance, citing the importance of the system. OCX will be the first satellite control system designed after the advent of significant jamming and other cyber threats. Greaves said both Kendall and Air Force Secretary Deborah James were demanding improved performance on the program by the company, but he gave no specific deadline for a decision on whether to proceed with the contract. Kendall is expected to review a new cost estimate for the program at his next "deep dive" review, where he will meet with Raytheon Chief Executive Tom Kennedy, according to an Air Force spokeswoman. Raytheon spokesman Mike Doble said the company was committed to delivering "without compromise" the modernized ground system and meeting all program requirements as specified by the Air Force. Greaves said the Air Force has alternatives in case it did have to cancel the Raytheon program. Those include a contingency plan announced earlier this month that would allow Lockheed Martin Corp, which is building the actual new Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites, to modify the current GPS ground system to work with the new satellites, he said. (Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Phil Berlowitz and David Gregorio) By Dustin Volz and Julia Edwards WASHINGTON/LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Justice filed a motion seeking to compel Apple Inc to comply with a judge's order for the company to unlock the encrypted iPhone belonging to one of the San Bernardino shooters, portraying the tech giant's refusal as a "marketing strategy." The filing escalated a showdown between the Obama administration and Silicon Valley over security and privacy that ignited earlier this week. The Federal Bureau of Investigation is seeking the tech giant's help to access the shooter's phone by disabling some of its passcode protections. The company so far has pushed back, and on Thursday won three extra days to respond to the order. A senior Apple executive, speaking with reporters on Friday on condition of anonymity, said Congress is the right place for a debate over encryption, not a California courtroom. The executive said Apple was stunned that such a legal request had come from the U.S. government rather than a country with weaker traditions of protecting privacy and civil liberties. The motion to compel Apple to comply did not carry specific penalties for the company, and the Justice Department declined to comment on what recourse it was willing to seek. The Apple executive characterized the Justice Department's latest filing as an effort to argue its case in the media for a second time, before the company has a chance to respond. In the order, prosecutors acknowledged that the filing "is not legally necessary." The clash between Apple and the Justice Department has driven straight to the heart of a long-running debate over how much law enforcement and intelligence officials should be able to monitor digital communications. A federal court hearing in California has been scheduled for March 22 in the case, according to Thom Mrozek, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Central District of California. The Justice Department said its Friday motion was a response to Apple CEO Tim Cook's public statement Wednesday, which included a refusal to "hack our own users and undermine decades of security advancements that protect our customers." "Rather than assist the effort to fully investigate a deadly terrorist attack ... Apple has responded by publicly repudiating that order," prosecutors wrote in the Friday filing. "Apples current refusal to comply with the courts order, despite the technical feasibility of doing so, instead appears to be based on its concern for its business model and public brand marketing strategy, prosecutors said. The two sides have been on a collision course since Apple and Google began offering default end-to-end encryption on their devices in 2014, a move prompted in part by the surveillance revelations from former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden. But the Justice Department struggled to find a compelling case where encryption proved to be an insurmountable hurdle for its investigators until the Dec. 2 shooting rampage by Rizwan Farook and his wife in San Bernardino, California, which killed 14. Authorities believe the couple was inspired by the Islamic State. Some technology experts and privacy advocates backing Apple suggest Farook's work phone likely contains little data of value. They have accused the Justice Department of choreographing the case to achieve a broader goal of gaining support for legislation or a legal precedent that would force companies to crack their encryption for investigators. The case has quickly become a topic in the U.S. presidential race. Republican frontrunner Donald Trump on Friday called for a "boycott" against Apple until the company complied with the court order. (Reporting by Julia Edwards, Dustin Volz and Lisa Richwine; Additional reporting by David Ingram; Editing by Andrew Hay and Bill Rigby) By Dustin Volz and Julia Edwards WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Justice filed a motion on Friday seeking to compel Apple Inc to comply with a judge's order to unlock the encrypted iPhone belonging to one of the San Bernardino shooters, portraying the tech giant's refusal as a "marketing strategy." In response, a senior Apple executive, speaking with reporters on condition of anonymity, characterized the Justice Department's filing as an effort to argue its case in the media before the company has a chance to respond. The back and forth escalated a showdown between the Obama administration and Silicon Valley over security and privacy that ignited earlier this week. The Federal Bureau of Investigation is seeking the tech company's help to access shooter Syed Rizwan Farook's phone by disabling some of its passcode protections. The company so far has pushed back and on Thursday won three extra days to respond to the order. Another senior Apple executive said Congress is the right place for a debate over encryption, not a courtroom. The executive said Apple was stunned that such a legal request had come from the U.S. government rather than a country with weaker traditions of protecting privacy and civil liberties. The motion to compel Apple to comply did not carry specific penalties for the company, and the Justice Department declined to comment on what recourse it was willing to seek. In the order, prosecutors acknowledged that the latest filing was "not legally necessary" since Apple had not yet responded to the initial order. The clash between Apple and the Justice Department has driven straight to the heart of a long-running debate over how much law enforcement and intelligence officials should be able to monitor digital communications. A federal court hearing in California has been scheduled for March 22 in the case, according to Thom Mrozek, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California. The Justice Department said its Friday motion was a response to Apple CEO Tim Cook's public statement Wednesday, which included a refusal to "hack our own users and undermine decades of security advancements that protect our customers." "Rather than assist the effort to fully investigate a deadly terrorist attack ... Apple has responded by publicly repudiating that order," prosecutors wrote in the Friday filing. "Apples current refusal to comply with the courts order, despite the technical feasibility of doing so, instead appears to be based on its concern for its business model and public brand marketing strategy, prosecutors said. ID CHANGE POSES HURDLE The two senior Apple executives said the company had worked hard to help investigators and tried multiple avenues including sending engineers with FBI agents to a WiFi network that would recognize the phone and begin an automatic backup if that had been enabled. They criticized government officials who reset the Apple identification associated with the phone, which closed off the possibility of recovering information from it through that automatic cloud backup. San Bernardino County reset the password on the iCloud account at the request of the FBI, said county spokesman David Wert. The government first disclosed the identification change in a footnote to its filing Friday. The Apple executives said that the reset occurred before Apple was consulted. The Justice Department declined to comment on that contention. The two sides have been on a collision course since Apple said it would offer strong encryption by default on its devices in 2014, a move prompted in part by the surveillance revelations from former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden. But the Justice Department struggled to find a compelling case where encryption proved to be an insurmountable hurdle for its investigators until the Dec. 2 shooting rampage by Farook and his wife in San Bernardino, California, which killed 14. Authorities believe the couple was inspired by the Islamic State. Some technology experts and privacy advocates backing Apple suggest Farook's work phone likely contains little data of value. They have accused the Justice Department of choreographing the case to achieve a broader goal of gaining support for legislation or a legal precedent that would force companies to crack their encryption for investigators. The case has quickly become a topic in the U.S. presidential race. Republican frontrunner Donald Trump on Friday called for a "boycott" against Apple until the company complied with the court order. The two Apple executives said they felt in good company, noting that Trump has faulted many other groups and individuals. The debate will also play out on Capitol Hill. Bipartisan leaders of the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee late Friday invited Apple's Cook and FBI Director James Comey to testify at an upcoming hearing on encryption, though a date was not set. The House Judiciary Committee is also planning an encryption hearing for March and has invited Apple to attend, according to a congressional source. (This version of the story was corrected to remove reference to Google encryption in 18th paragraph) (Reporting by Julia Edwards and Dustin Volz; Additional reporting by Lisa Richwine in Los Angeles, David Ingram in Washington, Dan Levine, Julia Love and Joseph Menn in San Francisco; Editing by Bill Rigby, Cynthia Osterman and Lisa Shumaker) Kampala (AFP) - Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni on Sunday celebrated extending his three decades in power with a walk with his beloved cows, dismissing opposition claims of poll rigging and criticism by the international community. Uganda's veteran leader was declared the winner of the country's presidential election with 60 percent of the vote on Saturday, far ahead of the 35 percent won by detained opposition chief Kizza Besigye, whose house was surrounded by police in riot gear as the results were announced. "The opposition are not leaders, they are just demagogues, liars, just talking, talking," the 71-year-old Museveni said Sunday in a speech broadcast from his home in western Uganda, his first comments since winning. Besigye, who was arrested three times in the past week, and whose party headquarters were stormed on Friday by police firing tear gas, has slammed the results as a fraud and appealed to the international community not to recognise them. In contrast with the images of Besigye's besieged home, pictures released by the government showed a relaxed Museveni walking with his long-horn cattle and chatting with their herders, wielding a stick and wearing his familiar wide-brimmed hat. "Besigye cannot be allowed to disturb our peace," Museveni later told reporters, speaking from the garden of his rural home. - 'Those Europeans are not serious'- "I am very happy with Ugandans, they came out in big numbers and voted," Museveni added, warning against those who wished to cause violence through protests. "We shall use both soft and hard means to guard the peace in Uganda... by soft means I mean talking to the youth, who these criminal politicians try to use," he said. "But also we can use non-lethal but tough methods, to deal with any trouble makers." International observers raised concerns over the proceedings, saying that Uganda's electoral commission lacked transparency and accusing the police of heavy-handed treatment of the opposition. Story continues But Museveni dismissed the criticism. "I don't need lectures from anybody," he said. "Those Europeans are not serious." While Museveni succeeded in extending his rule of the east African country, over a dozen influential ministers lost their parliamentary seats. - Rigging claims 'rubbish' - "Anybody who is trying to challenge the results of this election must not be serious," Museveni added. "If anyone was rigging, why did we not rig in Kampala? Why did we agree to lose where we can rig? That's rubbish." Besigye has urged the world to ignore the results. "Should you ratify the results of these sham elections, at least have the courage to admit that you do not care about democracy or human rights in Africa," he said. Ex-prime minister Amama Mbabazi, a former ruling party stalwart who trailed in distant third with just over one percent of the vote, also said the election was "fundamentally flawed." Some 9.7 million Ugandans -- a turnout of around 63 percent -- voted for president and members of parliament, with 290 assembly seats contested by candidates from 29 political parties. The election on Thursday was disrupted in Kampala by the late arrival of ballot boxes and papers and angry demonstrations by voters that the police quelled using tear gas. At nearly 28,000 other polling centres voting passed off smoothly, but the ballot was extended for a second day in 36 places after delays that Commonwealth election observers called "inexcusable" and that "seriously detracted from the fairness and credibility of the result". European Union election observers on Saturday said that voting was peaceful in the "vast majority" of the country, but voiced criticism over the "lack of transparency and independence" of the electoral commission. The US criticised "irregularities" in the vote, including accusations of vote buying and rigging, which a State Department spokesman said was "deeply inconsistent with international standards and expectations for any democratic process". Despite the controversy, several African leaders extended their congratulations. Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta wished Museveni "every success as he serves his nation for another term", while Burundi's embattled President Pierre Nkurunziza praised the "well-deserved re-election." President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud of Somalia -- where Ugandan troops are fighting the Al-Qaeda-linked Shebab -- said it showed "the maturity of practising democracy in a peaceful manner." By Paul Carrel BRUSSELS (Reuters) - With a deal secured to help keep Britain in the European Union, German Chancellor Angela Merkel swiftly refocused her sights on pressing ahead with a joint EU solution to the bloc's refugee crisis in tandem with Turkey. Along with the deal for Britain, tackling Europe's migrant crisis in collaboration with Turkey was a top priority for Merkel at a two-day EU summit in Brussels that ended late on Friday. Germany took in over one million migrants last year, many of them fleeing war in Syria and Iraq, and has led efforts to offer money and promises to revive Turkey's long-stalled EU accession talks to get Ankara to prevent more people from embarking from its shores for Europe. But Merkel's efforts to press on with the EU-Turkey plan were frustrated when a pre-summit meeting on migration due to be held Thursday between Turkey and 11 EU states was called off due to a bombing in Ankara. Merkel said she spoke by telephone with Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Friday and was pleased that, after Thursday's canceled meeting, he would join all 28 EU leaders for a summit in early March. "The fact that we have decided a joint summit - not just a summit of 'the coalition of the willing', but a joint summit of 28 with the Turkish prime minister - I think that is a very strong signal," Merkel said. Stoking the frustration of many EU states, Austria, the last stop on the way to Germany for hundreds of thousands of migrants who have flocked to Europe, on Thursday vowed to press on with a plan to cap migrants flowing into the country. Austria's dispute with its peers is symptomatic of the rifts the massive flow of migrants into Europe has opened within the EU, with member states often ignoring calls from the European Commission to share the burden more evenly, and unilaterally reimposing barriers to movement over their borders. The Austrian move threatens to clog up the route for migrants leaving Greece to head for Germany and other wealthier EU nations, exacerbating the migration crisis in Greece, the point of entry into the EU for many migrants. Four skeptical eastern European members have floated a fallback policy of ring fencing Greece to keep the migrants they expect to land there from proceeding through Macedonia and Bulgaria to other EU countries to the north and west. Merkel, who wants to keep the EU's commitment to the free movement of people within its borders, is pinning her hopes on the EU-Turkey deal. "The EU-Turkey plan ... is a priority for us," she said, speaking for the EU as a whole. (Editing by Mary Milliken) By Francesco Guarascio BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union leaders reached a deal late on Friday that offers leeway to Britain in applying banking and markets' regulations, but maintains that there will be a single set of rules for the financial sector within the EU. EU Council President Donald Tusk said the agreement aimed at keeping Britain in the bloc won unanimous support from all 28 EU leaders. In a two-day summit meant to set new terms for Britain's EU membership, France pushed to reduce the leeway offered to the City of London, on the grounds that it could have given an unfair advantage to the British financial center, which generates around 10 percent of Britain's gross domestic product. The final deal preserves most of the concessions made to Britain in previous versions of the settlement, although it may not address concerns raised by British regulators and analysts. The text confirms that British regulators, such as the Bank of England in London, are to be responsible for the supervision of national banks and markets when it comes to preserving financial stability. Attempts to exclude markets from the scope of the leeway were rejected during the negotiations. However, these sovereign powers can be exercised only "without prejudice to the development of the single rulebook" of EU financial rules, the final deal maintains. "The text clarifies that financial oversight is a national competence but without prejudice to the single rulebook and to European financial authorities," said Roberto Gualtieri, head of the economic and monetary affairs committee of the European Parliament. France had also pushed for deleting wording in the text that may have been interpreted as freezing the powers of EU financial authorities at their current levels, limiting their clout on British financial operators. Paris wanted to cancel the word "existing" in the sentence of the text saying that regulatory leeway offered to Britain is "without prejudice ... to the existing powers of the Union institutions and relevant Union bodies." While the compromise keeps the word "existing," it deletes "institutions and relevant Union bodies" from the text. "The possibility to give new powers to EU financial institutions is therefore preserved," an EU negotiator said. (Reporting by Francesco Guarascio, Paul Taylor; editing by Andrew Heavens and G Crosse) Kiev (AFP) - Ukrainians on Saturday sombrely marked the second anniversary of the bloody revolution that ousted Russian-backed president Viktor Yanukovych, as a fresh political crisis left many disillusioned with the current leadership. President Petro Poroshenko and his wife came early in the morning to light icon lamps at a memorial cross for the more than 100 people killed in the pro-European Union protests. Hundreds of Kiev residents headed to the city's landmark Independence Square where the protests took place to lay flowers and candles and share grief as well as indignation at the dragging political chaos. "Of course, we are disappointed with many things, but there is still hope", said Tetyana, a small woman in glasses with the yellow and blue Ukrainian flag draped over her shoulders. She stood in front of a portrait of young man, one of the "Heavenly Hundred" activists killed in the uprising, holding a candle and wiping away tears. "Something is changing -- slowly, but it's happening and that is already a victory", she said. An elderly man who gave his name as Viktor waved the red and black flag of the Ukrainian nationalist movement and carried three red carnations to lay at the memorial. "If our government does not change its attitude to the situation, we will have to take some radical steps", he said. "A Third Maidan is always possible. People realized that they can bring anyone to power and topple them at any time. The people realized they are strong." US Vice President Joe Biden praised the "brave Ukrainians" who took part in the protests as he held talks overnight separately with Poroshenko and Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk. He said he stressed to both that "there is still a great deal of work to be done to honor the legacy of the brave Ukrainians who have given so much in their pursuit of a better future for their country". Biden spoke to the leaders following a failed attempt on Tuesday by the parliament to oust the government over its perceived failure to tackle corruption. Story continues With the pro-Western ruling coalition on the verge of collapse, Biden urged the politicians "to unite and rebuild popular trust around a strong governing coalition" and to "accelerate Ukraine's efforts to fight corruption". The fall of the pro-Kremlin regime was followed by Russia's annexation of Crimea and the armed conflict in the east that has already killed more than 9,000 people. The standard of living in Ukraine has fallen dramatically as the currency has plunged and many feel their hopes have been betrayed. Reforms are stalling while a growing number of corruption scandals to many seems only too reminiscent of the rule of Yanukovych and his cronies. More than 250 alleged perpetrators of the Maidan murders are facing criminal proceedings, but so far the courts have not reached any landmark verdicts. blog of the State Geologist of Arizona Belgrade (AFP) - A US air strike in Libya believed to have killed an Islamic State group operative behind the mass murder of tourists on a Tunisian beach also killed two kidnapped Serbian embassy employees, Belgrade said Saturday. The Friday attack, which has been condemned by Libya's internationally recognised government, targeted a jihadist training camp near the Libyan coastal city of Sabratha, killing dozens of people. But Belgrade said the victims of the strike also included two employees from its embassy in Libya, who were taken hostage on November 8 in Sabratha from a convoy of cars heading to the Tunisian border. US officials said the raid likely killed Noureddine Chouchane, also known as "Sabir," who along with other jihadists had been planning attacks against American and other Western interests. Chouchane is suspected of being behind both the beach attack in July 2015 near the Tunisian city of Sousse that killed 38 tourists, including 30 Britons, and an attack on the National Bardo Museum in Tunis that killed 21 tourists and a policeman in March 2015. Both attacks were claimed by the Islamic State group. "It has just been officially confirmed that two Serbian citizens who were foreign ministry employees, Sladjana Stankovic and Jovica Stepic, were killed," Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic told reporters. "They were killed by explosions, obviously we are talking about American bombs," he said, expressing "deepest condolences" to the families. "This is the first big hostage crisis that our state has been faced with. Our people would have been released had they not been killed," insisted Vucic. The Pentagon for its part said it had "no information" indicating that its air strike had killed the two Serbs and that the circumstances of their deaths "remained unclear". "Our forces watched this training camp for weeks leading up to the operation, and at the time of the strike there were no indications of any civilians present," spokesman Peter Cook said, extending his condolences to the Serbian government and the victims' relatives. Story continues Libya's internationally recognised government in the far east of the country issued a statement saying the US attack was not coordinated with the authorities and was "a clear and flagrant violation of sovereignty of the Libyan state". The Serbian premier said the bodies of Stankovic, the embassy's communications chief, and her driver Stepic were expected to be repatriated on Monday. Sabratha, which lies 70 kilometres (42 miles) west of Tripoli, is considered a stronghold of extremism in lawless Libya, where militants are trained in jihadist camps before launching deadly attacks in other countries. The country spiralled into chaos after longtime dictator Moamer Kadhafi was ousted and killed in October 2011, with two governments vying for power and armed groups battling to control vast energy resources. Belgrade maintains an embassy in Tripoli, and Serbian citizens -- mostly doctors, other medical staff and construction workers -- have been working in Libya for decades due to close bilateral relations during Kadhafi's regime. - IS training in Libya - The Pentagon estimates that around 5,000 IS fighters are in Libya, and Friday's strike was the second US air raid in the past three months targeting the fast-expanding group in the North African country. A statement from the Tripoli-based general prosecutor said that one of those wounded in the US strike had confirmed that he and the others killed in the raid were IS members. The wounded man said they "came to Libya to train and then carry out terrorist attacks in Tunis", the prosecutor's statement said. Vucic said Washington was probably unaware that the Serbian hostages were held at the bombed location, "but it will remain unknown". He said relations with the United States were "historically not easy", referring to the 11-week bombing campaign by NATO against Serbia in 1999 during the Kosovo war. "I am not ready... to strain and worsen relations with the United States because we need them as a friend and partner, not as an enemy," he added. Yangon (AFP) - The US embassy in Yangon said it was "deeply concerned" over clashes involving ethnic armed groups and the military in northern Myanmar that have displaced thousands of people, warning that the violence threatened to unravel the country's delicate peace process. Heavy bouts of fighting broke out last week in Shan state between two ethnic rebel groups in the region, the Restoration Council for Shan State (RCSS) and the Ta'ang National Liberation Army (TNLA). The flare-up of violence comes during a complicated political transition from an army-backed government to Aung San Suu Kyi's pro-democracy party, which dominated historic polls last year. "The US embassy is deeply concerned about ongoing clashes in Shan State involving the Ta'ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), the Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS), and the military," the embassy said in a statement published Friday evening. "We urge all sides to exercise restraint and recommit to dialogue so that the peace process may remain on track, and those displaced can return to their homes and resume their lives," it said. Since the beginning of the month at least 4,300 people have fled their homes seeking refuge from the violence, according to estimates from the United Nations' country Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. The conflict has exploded in townships in the north of Shan state -- a region home to the Palaung ethnic group, whose interests the TNLA says it represents. The RCSS has previously been based further south. The TNLA has accused the Myanmar army of assisting the RCSS, which is one of eight groups that participated in government-led peace talks seeking to end decades of civil warfare between the state and the country's patchwork of ethnic minorities. But the TNLA and other major ethnic militias locked in ongoing conflicts with the military boycotted the dialogue, which was steered by the outgoing quasi-civilian government that took power in 2011 and transitioned Myanmar out of decades of military junta rule. Story continues It is unclear what sparked the recent clashes in Shan state, but the lack of full participation in the peace deal has raised concerns that rebel groups could begin vying with each other to control territory. Efforts to achieve a nationwide truce will now fall to Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy, which is set to form a government in April. Ahead of November's elections, analysts predicted that Suu Kyi, 70, would struggle to win support among minority voters because of her ethnic Bamar heritage. But her party scooped a vast majority of elected seats across the country, even beating out some ethnic parties on their home turf in the frontier regions. The democracy champion has since vowed to make ethnic affairs a priority of her administration. New York (AFP) - Argentina's quest to resolve its debt problems moved a step forward when a US judge tentatively agreed to lift a block on repaying holders of its restructured bonds. Judge Thomas Griesa, who placed the injunction on the payments two years ago to force Buenos Aires to settle with so-called holdout creditors, said the country's new reformist government had made enough progress for it to be lifted. But he said Argentina would first have to repeal domestic laws that sought to prevent full repayment to the holdouts. And the agreements reached with a handful of the holdout creditors over the past two weeks would have to be fully completed, and payments made, before the injunction is lifted, he said. If that happens, Argentina could both erase its 2014 default on debt payments forced by the injunction and gain the upper hand in talks with the toughest of its holdout creditors, hedge funds which so far have rejected its early February settlement offer. Argentina asked the court last week to remove the injunction after it announced settlement deals with several of the holdouts, creditors who had refused to join bond restructuring deals in the years after its 2001 default on $100 billion in debt. Most of the country's creditors at the time agreed to the restructuring deal, in which they accepted new "exchange" bonds with much less value to be guaranteed some repayment. But NML Capital and Aurelius Capital Management, two US hedge funds that stayed out of the restructuring, led a US court fight for full repayment. In 2012, Griesa ruled in their favor and then forbid Argentina from servicing any of the exchange bonds. He also barred any banks from processing payments, forcing the country into default. Facing holdout claims totaling $9 billion in principal and accumulated interest, Buenos Aires has offered holdouts $6.5 billion, with several groups accepting the deal in the past two weeks. Argentina argued to Griesa that, with those deals in hand, the government has shown its willingness to settle. Story continues But it said that in order to pay the holdouts, it needs to be able to access new credit in global markets, something impossible as long as the injunction prevents it from making payments on exchange bonds. Griesa rejected the two hedge funds' argument that Argentina was still avoiding striking a fair deal. "Vacating the injunctions would serve the public interest by ceasing the collateral effects they have on third parties," Griesa said, referring to the exchange bondholders. "It would also promote amicable resolution of protracted legal disputesboth generally and in this particular litigation." Washington (AFP) - The Pentagon said Saturday it had "no information" indicating that its air strike on a jihadist training camp had led to the deaths of two kidnapped Serbian embassy employees, noting it had watched the facility for weeks before the raid. Belgrade said Friday's attack near the Libyan coastal city of Sabratha -- believed to have killed a senior Islamic State operative -- also had claimed the lives of two employees from its embassy in Libya, who were abducted in November. Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic told reporters that the pair "would have been released, had they not been killed." Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook extended his condolences to the Serbian government and the relatives of the two employees killed, but said the circumstances of their deaths "remained unclear." "We have seen reports that two Serbian hostages have been killed in Libya. At this time, we have no information indicating that their deaths were a result of the strike that US forces conducted against an ISIL senior leader and ISIL training camp in Libya," Cook said. "Our forces watched this training camp for weeks leading up to the operation, and at the time of the strike there were no indications of any civilians present," he added, vowing to share any information possible with authorities in Belgrade. "When conducting our operations, the US military goes to extraordinary lengths to limit the risk of civilian casualties, and in our campaign to defeat ISIL we will continue to do so," Cook said. US officials said the raid likely killed Noureddine Chouchane, also known as "Sabir," who along with other jihadists had been planning attacks against American and other Western interests. Chouchane is suspected of being behind both the beach attack in July 2015 near the Tunisian city of Sousse that killed 38 tourists, including 30 Britons, and an attack on the National Bardo Museum in Tunis that killed 21 tourists and a policeman in March 2015. Both attacks were claimed by the Islamic State group. While some states wrestle with whether or not to release the names of police officers involved in shooting incidents, one state is pondering whether or not to make the names of all officers privateall the time. It used to be that there was a healthy respect for law enforcement, state Sen. John Cosgrove of Virginia told The Associated Press. Now theyve become targets of opportunity. Cosgrove is the sponsor of a bill that would keep all names of local and state police and sheriffs in Virginia out of the publics reach. The bill passed the state Senate on Monday, and is headed to the House. Cosgroves bill would make law enforcement exempt from Freedom of Information Act requests in an effort to protect them from the harassment and violence he says they face. The bill was written in response to a court order in November that allowed The Virginian-Pilot to access employment records of 125,000 current law enforcement officers and personnel in the state. Reporters were investigating whether or not police officers with complaints filed against them have been shuffled to different departments rather than leaving the field. The paper sued the Department of Criminal Justice Services after a FOIA request was denied. Stories of officers being rehired in neighboring departmentsor even the same departmentafter exhibiting problematic behavior on the job are commonplace throughout the country, though tracking employment records can pose a challenge. Law enforcement unions and arbitration processes also safeguard officers from being fired, and some union contracts have provisions that allow the destruction of officers disciplinary records or make those records exempt from FOIA requests. An AP investigation in November found that even in states that revoke law enforcement licenses after misconduct, the process often takes so long that officers are able to work at other departments in the meantime. Even when law enforcement officials do examine the disciplinary records of potential employees, identifying past incidents of serious misconduct doesnt guarantee the officer wont land the job. Story continues A separate investigation into the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department in 2013 revealed that 280 officers with records of accidentally firing their weapons, soliciting prostitutes, and having sex on the job were hired by the department. But these revelatory investigations rely on the transparency that comes from public records requests and the data those requests are able to uncover. While other states have various laws protecting the privacy of police, the Virginia bill is the broadest in scope. Releasing to the public the names of officers involved in shootings has become particularly contentious in the past few years following numerous high-profile incidents in which police have shot and killed unarmed citizens. In Philadelphia last year, the Department of Justice recommended increasing transparency by releasing the names of officers involved in shootings within 72 hours of the incident after investigating the departments use of force. But they were met with fierce resistance from the states police union, which filed a complaint with the states Labor Relations Board, arguing that the policy infringes upon officers privacy rights. Meanwhile, police chiefs in Arizona pleaded with Gov. Doug Ducey last March to veto a bill that would have required law enforcement to keep secret the names of officers involved in shootings. We need to build and repair the trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve, Tucson Police Chief Roberto Villasenor told the AP. Enacting legislation that would hamper that trust by not allowing officers names to be released is not in my opinion the best way to improve or repair that level of trust. The Arizona bill, which passed both houses with bipartisan support, was ultimately vetoed. Related stories on TakePart: Outrage and Heartbreak Over Non-Indictment of Police Who Shot Tamir Rice Its Going to Take Way More Than 50,000 Body Cameras to Reform Policing This May Be a New Model for Community Policing Original article from TakePart Warsaw (AFP) - Poland's new right-wing leaders are using fresh allegations about Solidarity hero Lech Walesa to revive conspiracy theories that the communist-era regime staged its own demise in 1989 to hold onto power behind the scenes. In claims that Polish EU leader Donald Tusk lamented as "unfortunate" for the country's image abroad, newly-released police files allege that Nobel Peace prize winner Walesa was in fact a paid communist spy. Walesa is renowned worldwide for negotiating a bloodless end to communism in Poland in 1989. The move triggered the country's first democratic elections since World War II, ushering Walesa into the presidency a year later. But right-wing politicians like Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the powerful leader of the governing Law and Justice (PiS) party, have long argued that Walesa was a regime spy and puppet whom communists used as a political fig-leaf while they held on to key military and economic sectors. Centrists and liberals have repeatedly ridiculed the idea, arguing that Kaczynski -- who was also a communist-era dissident -- is being vengeful after falling out with Walesa during his presidency. Kaczynski also insists his late twin president Lech Kaczynski is the true hero of Poland's historic transition from communism to democracy. "In light of Walesa's complete disgrace, Lech Kaczynski will become the symbolic patron of the Solidarity movement," Kaczynski is quoted as having said in 2010, after his brother died in a jet crash in Russia. - Walesa a 'paid communist spy' - Poland's Institute of National Remembrance, which is responsible for prosecuting communist-era crimes, on Thursday revealed a newfound 1970s secret police file showing Walesa was a paid collaborator codenamed "Bolek". Walesa admitted Friday he had "made a mistake", but flatly denied he was ever a regime agent. He was cleared of suspicion by a special vetting court in 2000. Story continues The 72-year-old did not elaborate on what his mistake was, but pointed to a mystery person who "should reveal the truth" about the past. Poland's new Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski says he is not convinced. Walesa was a regime "puppet" and the newfound secret police files can prove that "the project to free Poland was orchestrated by the regime," Waszczykowski told Poland's commercial TVN 24 news channel on Friday. "We must try to find out... whether decisions made at the time were independent and in line with national interests or whether they were concocted by foreign or domestic secret services. "It can show us that we were wrong in thinking we made the revolution and that our decisions were independent," he added. - 'Polish hell' - Poland's TVP public broadcaster, which recently saw the PiS install loyalists in top management, aired interviews with several historians Friday who said the newfound files confirm their convictions that Walesa was indeed a regime collaborator. During the interviews, TVP also showed communist-era pictures of Solidarity leader Walesa engaging in friendly meetings with regime top brass. Walesa supporters have hailed his historic role in Poland's transition to democracy, but admit he could have caved in to secret police pressure while still a young electrician at the Gdansk Shipyard, later the cradle of the Solidarity trade union. Communist-era dissident Henryk Wujec insists Walesa "never betrayed" fellow anti-regime activists to the secret police. Grzegorz Schetyna, a former dissident and leader of the liberal Civic Platform (PO) official opposition, said the controversy surrounding Walesa was rooted in political "vengeance" and dubbed it a "real Polish hell". "It's a classic example of how Poles are able to bring out the worst in each other," he added. - 'Unfortunate for Poland's image - EU president Tusk, a communist-era dissident and former Polish premier, insisted that Walesa never hid the fact that he was questioned by the regime's secret police. "It's all very unfortunate for Poland's image, for its great traditions and the legend of Solidarity and Lech Walesa," he told Polish media on Friday in Brussels. Poland's image abroad has already suffered in recent months because of controversial reforms introduced by the right-wing government that critics say undermine the independence of state media and the constitutional court. In the Gazeta Wyborcza newspaper, editor-in-chief Jaroslaw Kurski traces the history of ill will between Kaczynski and Walesa, which goes back to 1991 after earlier friendlier ties. "To reduce Lech Walesa, victor over communism, our greatest contemporary historic symbol, to the level of secret agent? No one in the world will understand," Kurski wrote. "What are the Poles doing to their own history?" Walesa himself, on a trip to Venezuela and the United States, defended himself, saying: "On the path I chose, I had to hold all kinds of discussions. And in the end, those discussions led to victory. "If I had chosen another path, we would have ended up like Ukraine, or even worse," he told reporters in Caracas, Venezuela, on Thursday. YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 20, ARMENPRESS. Turkish artillery continues to attack defensive positions of Syrian Kurds in northern Syria, Armenpress reports, citing press agency Anadolu. Earlier, as informed by the White House, during a phone conversation US President Barack Obama urged the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to stop the strikes on Kurdish rebels in northern Syria. The artillery strikes are carried out by Firtina self-propelled howitzers, which are stationed in the Kilis province near the border of Turkey. The targets of the strikes are the Minnekh airbase, which was previously occupied by the Kurds from Syrian rebels, and the Kurdish positions located near Marana and Tel-Rifaat villages. From Cosmopolitan There have been no dire warnings not to get pregnant, and incidents of infection may still only be in the high double digits, but for those in the United States who may be considering having a baby in the near future, news of the Zika virus is still alarming. Two miscarriages are thought to be the result of Zika after women traveling outside the country contracted the disease, and experts already warn that it will come to the U.S. both "soon" and "rapidly." Yet while other countries are debating whether extreme bans on abortion should be lifted in light of the health crisis, the United States technically should be unaffected by such questions. After all, abortion is already a constitutional right - at least until viability. But is that enough, or will a new fight open over the later abortions that the right has fought so hard to restrict? Zika, according to the Center for Disease Control, is an infection transmitted by a particular species of mosquitos, but only recently has reached a crisis point in Latin American countries such as Brazil, where about 1.5 million people have been diagnosed since 2014. Although the virus has not yet been proven definitively to cause microcephaly, a genetic defect that causes babies to be born with usually small heads and which can cause medical complications ranging from brain abnormalities and developmental delays to seizures, a reported initial 4,000 cases of possible microcephaly in the country led the CDC to issue warnings to pregnant people traveling to the area to be on alert. At the same time, health officials in El Salvador, another country experiencing a Zika crisis, told those capable of potentially getting pregnant to avoid pregnancy until 2018 in order to reduce their risk. In the U.S., Zika has had only minor impact. No local mosquito-borne Zika cases have been discovered yet, although in one case, the virus may have been transmitted sexually. There have been two reports of miscarriage, but doctors have been unable to confirm that the loss was definitely related to Zika itself. Still, the illness already made its way into the congressional debate when the Obama administration asked for $1.8 billion in emergency funding to fight Zika. Anti-abortion politicians in the House such as Republican Rep. Chris Smith of New Jersey and Republican Rep. Jeff Duncan of South Carolina immediately responded requiring assurances that no funding might potentially go to any abortions for pregnant patients diagnosed with Zika. A real discussion about the ability to access abortions for those who do not want to carry a fetus with microcephaly isn't likely to pop up on the national radar now, while the number of North American Zika patients is still under 100. But should the virus eventually spread farther north into the U.S. itself, and infection rates become the crisis it has in other countries, this could be a whole different story. Early abortion, especially during the first trimester of a pregnancy, is relatively accessible for a majority of the American population. Try to get an abortion after 22 weeks gestation, however, and it is far, far more difficult as a patchwork of state restrictions and a shortage of doctors limit a patient's options - even if the abortion is due to a genetic anomaly. And while Zika can be easily diagnosed in a pregnant person with a blood test, in the U.S., the tests are taking weeks to return from the CDC, and the effects the virus may have had on a developing fetus may not show before many states have cut off the option for a legal abortion. Those weeks of delay could not only push legal abortion out of reach within a given state but will dramatically increase costs after the first trimester, often by $100 or more per week, and in many states, insurance is unlikely to provide any coverage. "It is difficult to say when we could diagnose microcephaly because we don't know enough about this particular form," Dr. Cheryl Chastine, a family doctor and abortion provider in the Midwest, told Cosmopolitan.com. "Microcephaly is something that develops later in the pregnancy." According to Dr. Chastine, most genetic defects won't have any effect on the size of the skull until later in a fetus's development, making it unlikely to be detected until around 24 weeks gestation or even later. "It's a very difficult diagnosis to make at all prenatally." If a pregnant person were to test positive for Zika, that would essentially put her in a waiting game with her pregnancy, Dr. Chastine said. If she wanted to ensure she gave birth to a baby without microcephaly, she would need to wait until sometime in the late second trimester to see if the virus may have impacted the development of the fetus, knowing she would need massive financial resources to travel to a state with later abortion limits. Her other choice would be to abort earlier, even if that potentially means terminating what might have been a healthy pregnancy, and trying again. The decision is likely to be an economic one, and it will be those of lesser means who will be the most likely to face terminating a pregnancy that may have been a healthy one. "People who are going to have the resources to take a wait-and-see approach knowing that they will still be able to access an abortion in the third trimester are going to be in the higher social economic strata," Dr. Chastine said. "The families with the fewest resources will have to make an early decision about whether to take the risk of having a compromised pregnancy." Patients lacking the resources needed to access later abortions are also those most likely to lack the financial and social resources that ease the additional stresses of raising a child with genetic anomalies. "Raising a special-needs child is overwhelming already for those who have the available time and income to devote to that child," Dr. Chastine said. "A patient whose economic circumstances forces them to make their decisions with less information will also be the least well-positioned to meet those additional challenges." According to RH RealityCheck, a reproductive health news site, there are currently 13 states with active bans on abortion after 20 weeks, with three other states also banning abortion at that point although their laws have been blocked by courts, and at least five other states have introduced similar laws this legislative session. The Guttmacher Institute, which tracks abortion legislation across the country, reports that even of those states that do still allow third-trimester abortions, most restrict it to only preserving the life or physical health of the pregnant person, an exception that does not usually include not carrying a fetus with an anomaly to term. The inability to access a later abortion for a fetus with an anomaly could actually cause an increase in earlier abortion, rather than do what anti-abortion activists had hoped and prevent terminations later in pregnancy. Just like in the '60s, when the rubella virus caused hospitals to begin offering abortions for infected pregnant patients and changed the entire debate around legal abortion, an actual Zika outbreak in the U.S. could halt the introduction of "no-exceptions" 20-week abortion bans and second-trimester abortion bans - both meant to challenge Roe v. Wade by banning abortion before a fetus is viable (generally considered to be 24 weeks) - as well as bans on abortion solely in the case of a genetic defect. And it most certainly would change the debate surrounding a federal 20-week abortion ban - a ban that Senate Democrats have managed to block through filibustering as recently as September 2015, and that abortion opponents promise will be the end result of electing a Republican to the White House in 2016. If there was literally no place within the United States to obtain an abortion if an anomaly was detected later in pregnancy, there is no doubt that a portion of those diagnosed with Zika would seek out early terminations rather than risk being unable to access a later abortion once the pregnancy could be determined to be negatively impacted. In a 2013 poll conducted at the beginning of the 20-week ban debate, 58 percent of respondents approved of abortion being legal after 20 weeks in the case of a severe fetal anomaly likely to cause "fetal death or extreme disability." "People are very anxious when they are pregnant, and with all the hype around the Zika virus, people may not want to wait until 18-, 20-week ultrasounds. They may think, 'Yeah, it's too risky," Dr. Gabrielle Goodrick of Camelback Family Planning in Arizona and a board member of NARAL Pro-Choice Arizona, told Cosmopolitan.com. Dr. Goodrick remains unsure whether a Zika outbreak would lead to more abortions early in a pregnancy because of a lack of later abortion options, however, or whether pregnant patients would simply end pregnancies because they didn't want to take the risk of an anomaly at all, regardless of if the pregnancy could be ended later or not. "When women are faced with the possibility that something they were exposed to or did may cause an abnormality, women do terminate pregnancies based on risk, just because of the anxieties it provokes," she said. "Women do that now, like with medications they have been taking such as teratogens [drugs that may cause birth defects]. They won't wait; they'll say, 'I'll do it now because I'm just too scared.'" In that way, a Zika outbreak and the '60s rubella outbreak would look very similar, with many infected pregnant patients terminating out of caution, regardless of how dramatically the technology for detecting an anomaly has advanced in the last 50 years. Of course, all this conjecture of what would happen with a Zika outbreak in the U.S. could be alarmist. The government hopes to have protective measures in place to keep spread to a minimum once warmer weather arrives and mosquitos begin to multiply. In a best-case scenario, the need to access an abortion due to Zika infection - regardless of the point in the pregnancy in which a diagnosis comes - won't be much of an issue at all. However, if preventative measures do fail and Zika sweeps the United States as it has in Brazil, Colombia, El Salvador, and other countries, then expect an abortion debate unlike anything seen since Roe v. Wade. After all, this will be when Americans finally see how far the right has rolled back access to abortion, all while leaving the "right" mostly intact. Follow Robin on Twitter. Harare (AFP) - Zimbabwe authorities on Saturday released a cargo plane hired by South Africa's central bank, six days after it was detained with a dead body in the landing gear and 67 tonnes of cash on board. The US-registered cargo aircraft, owned by the Western Global Airlines Company, had last Sunday been en route to South Africa but made an unscheduled stop-over in Harare where the grim discovery was made. "The body of the deceased and the cargo have been released to the crew after it was established that there is nothing suspicious," police spokeswoman Charity Charamba told journalists. A pathologist report showed that the unidentified dead man had succumbed to a lack of oxygen due to the high altitude at which planes fly. "From what the investigations have indicated there is a high probability that this was a stowaway," Charamba said. The cargo plane, carrying 67 tonnes of cash in millions of rands for the South African Reserve Bank had departed from Liege, Belgium on February 11 and made a stop in Munich to pick up the shipment of cash. It made another stop-over in Abidjan, Ivory Coast on the same day and went on to Abuja, Nigeria as well as Entebbe, Uganda on February 13, according to the police. Charamba said Zimbabwe police had taken fingerprints from the body to be sent to Interpol for analysis. "Nothing from international law obliges Zimbabwe to be responsible for the burial, cremation or any disposal of the body," she said. South Africa's ambassador to Zimbabwe, Vusi Mavimbela, had told AFP earlier that the plane was hired from the Florida-based cargo carrier by the South African central bank to carry banknotes printed in Germany, but did not disclose the amount involved. HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe on Saturday released a U.S.-registered cargo plane and the unidentified body of a suspected stowaway found on board last Sunday, saying the cause of death was lack of oxygen. National police spokeswoman Charity Charamba told reporters that the MD11 cargo plane, owned by Florida-based Western Global Airlines, its crew, the man's body and cash belonging to South Africa's central bank had left for South Africa. The body was discovered by Zimbabwean aviation officials when the plane landed in Harare after failing to land in Durban, South Africa, Charamba said. Questions still remain about the origins of the man. The cargo plane had for three days traveled from Belgium to Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Uganda and Germany, after which it landed in Harare. Charamba said a pathologist had found no internal or external injuries on the body. "The cargo has been released to the crew after it was established that there is nothing suspicious. Nothing from the international law obliges Zimbabwe to be responsible for the burial, cremation or any disposal of the body," said Charamba. (Reporting by MacDonald Dzirutwe; editing by Andrew Roche) By MacDonald Dzirutwe HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe threatened to discipline ruling party members he accuses of fanning divisions over who will succeed him, reaffirming his authority ahead of his 92nd birthday on Sunday. In a 30-minute speech broadcast on state-owned ZBC TV late on Friday, Mugabe said he was disturbed by "dog fights" and insults among senior officials of the ruling ZANU-PF party, who are divided over who should succeed him. "We are all being abused, the President, his wife, in a manner that is very disgraceful. It's a shame," Mugabe said, flanked by his two vice presidents, Emmerson Mnangagwa and Phelekezela Mphoko, at his official State House residence. "So, we will definitely take action where we feel action should be taken within the party. There is need for a whip of discipline now to be shown and to be used," he said. Mugabe says ZANU-PF will choose his successor. But he plans to contest the next election in 2018 aged 94, seeking his last five-year term under a new constitution that would see him through to 99. His life presidency aspirations are frustrating the feuding factions of ZANU-PF, who have been trying for years to position themselves for a post-Mugabe political era. Allies of Vice President Mnangagwa and a group of senior ZANU-PF officials, labeled G-40 by local media, have been denouncing each other in public. The Mnangagwa faction says Mugabe should retire and Mnangagwa should succeed him. G-40 is rallying behind Mugabe's wife Grace, but says Mugabe should be allowed to die in office. "Those who are saying we belong to this faction or that faction, I say to them 'shut up', you belong to Zimbabwe. Shut up and let us not hear any divisive voices from you," Mugabe said raising his voice. In 2014 Mugabe fired his deputy of 10 years Joice Mujuru after accusing her of leading a "treacherous cabal" that plotted to challenge his leadership. But divisions have since worsened. Mnangagwa has cemented his position by getting allies appointed to important cabinet posts and securing the tasks of reforming the economy and legal system. After Mugabe's long rule some people fear the government could be paralyzed and the country riven by instability if he dies without resolving the succession issue. (Reporting by MacDonald Dzirutwe; Editing by Susan Fenton) YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 20, ARMENPRESS. The glorification of the murderer Ramil Safarov in Azerbaijan had a turning effect on the Nagorno Karabakh peace process, political scientist Hrant Melik-Shahnazaryan informed during a press conference on February 20. "The murder of Gurgen Margaryan with an ax during his sleep is an obvious display of Armenophobia. The glorification of this murderer in Azerbaijan is also a clear expression of hatred towards Armenians. The glorification of Safarov had a turning effect on stopping the negotiation process ", - reports Armenpress", quoting the political scientist. He believes that the Azerbaijani authorities have to clarify for the international community the glorification of a criminal. "It is time that Armenia focuses on the propaganda issue, apart from the legal side, and show Azerbaijans true face to the international community," Hrant Melik-Shahnazaryan added. YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 20, ARMENPRESS. President of National Assembly (NA) Galust Sahakyan will soon be discharged from hospital, chief physician of N1 hospital of Yerevan State Medical University after Mkhitar Heratsi Karen Sahakyan informed in the interview with Armenpress. Galust Sahakyans health condition is good. He will be discharged from the hospital in coming days, Sahakyan said, Armenpress reports. NA Presidents health condition was deteriorated at 20:00, on February 17. Sheron posts bail On Wednesday, Sukhdeo appeared before a Chaguanas Magistrate at the Tunapuna Administrative Complex to answer charges of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and malicious wounding of his wife Rachael Sukhdeo. He was granted $85,000 bail but spent both Wednesday night and Thursday night in prison at Remand Yard, because of delays in the processing of bail documents. However, all documents were signed and Sukhdeo posted bail yesterday and he was released from prison. He however would have to stay elsewhere instead of at his Chaguanas mansion as a protection order taken out against him by his wife, bans him from entering that address as well as bars him from coming within a certain distance of Mrs Sukhdeo Naps student held with weed in school bag According to a police report, at about 8.10 am yesterday, the Colleges Dean of Discipline made a search of the teenager while at the back of the school and discovered a quantity of marijuana in his school bag. A report was made to the police and the teenager was arrested and taken to the San Fernando Police Station where his parents were called in. In his parents presence, the teen was questioned, cautioned and charged by Constable Harripersad with possession of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking. Police sources said that the more serious charge of possession for the purpose of trafficking instead of flat possession, is automatically laid against anyone held with illegal narcotics inside a school compound or within the vicinity of a school compound, irrespective of the quantum of drugs found. The student is expected to appear before a San Fernando Magistrate on Monday to answer the charge. Venezuelan national robbed The criminal who was dressed in a green and yellow t-shirt and beige jeans, pointed a knife at Urquizo and demanded that he hand over his valuables. Urquizo became afraid and handed over his cell phone, the bag and cash. Urquizo passport, plane ticket and ID card were also stolen by the bandit. The suspect then ran East along Chaguanas Main Road making good his escape. A report was made to the Chaguanas police and PC Rajpath is continuing enquiries. In an unrelated matter, at about 6.10 pm on Thursday, Ricardo Aguillera, 29, a Marine Engineer of Ravine Sable Road, Longdenville was seated in a chair in front of his home when he observed two men with what appeared to be a shotgun. One of the men pointed the gun at Aguillera and fired a shot. Aguillera ran away and the men fled the scene by running west along Ravine Sable Road. WPC Carter and a party of officers visited the scene, interviewed persons and made checks for the suspects. Two suspects fitting the descriptions were arrested and WPC Carter is continuing enquiries. Mentally challenged man shot and killed According to police reports, at about 7.55 am yesterday, King was walking along a track in the area known as the Mall when he was shot and killed. Persons responding to gunshots, found King lying on the ground, bleeding from gunshot wounds. Officers of the La Brea Police Station and Southern Division Homicide Bureau visited the scene. A motive is yet to be established for the killing, no arrest has been made and investigations are continuing. Kings body was later moved to the Forensic Science Centre in St James for an autopsy. In an unrelated incident, a Laventille man has been hospitalised at the Port-of-Spain General Hospital after being shot multiple times yesterday. Police sources said that at about 4.30 pm, the man was walking near his Prizgar Lands, Laventille home when he heard gunshots and felt burning sensations in both legs. When he fell to the ground in pain, the man realised he had been shot. Residents in the area contacted emergency services and an Emergency Health Services responded. He was rushed to the Port-of- Spain General Hospital where he was treated. No arrest has been made and investigations are continuing. Gunman in custody for shooting at couple On checking, police said, the victims saw two men armed with guns, one of whom was known to them. Police said one of the gunmen fired a shot in the direction of the couple but no one was hurt. Another shot was fired before the gunmen made good their escape by running out of the house. WPC Valdez and a party of officers from the San Fernando Police Station responded and acting on information, the officers went to a house in La Romaine and arrested a suspect. He was interrogated and pointed out by the victims. Prisons head: Full body scanners very effective Commissioner Stewart said that while it is always embarrassing when prison officers are found smuggling items into the prisons, there are a lot of good officers who have been upholding the law and trying to make the prison service a better place. He was commenting on the arrest of a prison officer on Wednesday at the Maximum Security prison in which 10 packets of cigarettes were found in the shoes and waist of the officer. The officer who has five years service was under surveillance for smuggling illicit items into the prison. According to Commissioner Stewart were it not for the use of the full body scanners at he MSP the prison officer would not have been caught, and he added that the body scanners are proving to be very effective. He said that since assuming office as Prisons Commissioner he has adopted a zero tolerance with respect to the smuggling of contraband items into the prisons, and is urging prison officers who may be tempted to carry out those illegal acts to be aware that they will be found and flushed out. On another matter the Commissioner said that an electricity fluctuation has resulted in only parts of the MSP being affected by the grabbers and jammers. However, he added that the situation should be rectified shortly, and the grabbers will be in full effect making the use of illegal cell phones obsolete. The Commissioner pointed out that every effort is being made to deal with illegal activities from within the prison compounds and added that searches will continue to rid the prisons of improvised weapons, contraband and illicit items. Prisons Inspector calls for ease on bail conditions He was speaking yesterday during a public meeting of the Joint Select Committee (JSC) on Finance and Legal Affairs at the Office of the Parliament, International Waterfront Centre, Port-of-Spain . He said because of the delays in the criminal justice system, one can understand the heat in the prison . Khan said that legislation to restrict bail noting was supposed to solve crime. He noted, rather, that faith should have been put in the judicial officers . He pointed out that most of those charged for violence criminal offences, are of lower economic means, and cannot afford bail . He suggested a pulling back on bail conditions and laws for those on the most minor offences . You are putting more and more people in a volatile situation, he said. JSC member and Opposition Senator Wayne Sturge asked Khan if the decriminalisation of certain offences would ease up the system, though he did not want to speak of possession of marijuana right away . He noted that people have died in prison for failure to pay maintenance, and also spoke about prisoner Wayne Clement who died this week after complaining about being unable to breathe. Clement was reportedly on a murder charge . Sturge said so many people are remanded for simple possession of marijuana, including repeat offenders who are habitual users . He noted that perhaps there could be a system where you do not have to appear for the courts for offences like possession, obscene language, and resisting arrest . Khan in response said he does not believe in absolute mandatory provisions, and pointed out that it was unlikely that someone on an obscene language charge would abscond . On remand inmates, Khan said, they have a different psychology than convicted prisoners . He explained that initially they have a hope their matter will start and they will be acquitted, and they begin alternating between hope and despair. He noted a socially displaced man who was charged for stealing coconuts was remanded for nine months which was farcical and showed how strict laws can lead to abuse . Sturge asked whether the majority of prison violence was from the Remand section and Khan responded that it was generally so. Khan said they are more aggressive and feisty than convicted prisoners who are settled, and have access to facilities . He reported that of the population of about 4000 prisoners, about 60 per cent of them are on remand . JSC Vice Chairman and Government Senator Michael Coppin said we have to philosophically separate remandees from prisoners, and how we treat them, and not cruelly treat those who are presumed innocent . YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 20, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian Genocide issue will be discussed in the German Bundestag o n February 25 , paying tribute and honoring the victims of the crime that took place 100 years ago, "Armenpress" reports, citing the Bundestag official page. The discussion was initiated by the Bundestag "Alliance 90 / The Greens" party, the co-president of which is Cem Ozdemir, who is Turkish by nationality. Discussions will last 45 minutes. "Alliance 90 / The Greens" and its co-president have repeatedly condemned the Armenian Genocide, urging Turkey to recognize the historical facts and come to terms with the reality. In 2005, Germany's parliament adopted a resolution recognizing the Armenian Genocide. However, in the Bundestags decision, the term Armenian Genocide was avoided, and instead "massacres of Armenians" was used. In March of 2015, the President of the German Parliament Norbert Lammert said: "what happened in the Ottoman Empire during the First World War in front of the whole world, was genocide. And it was not the last genocide of the 20th century. " On April 24, before the Bundestag hearings, Germany's Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier announced that he supports those MPs, who are in favor of calling the mass killings of Armenians Genocide. On April 23, during the ceremony in the Berlin Cathedral dedicated to the memory of the Armenian Genocide, German President Joachim Gauck used the term Genocide in his speech. Venezuelans arrested with stolen international credit cards Officers also seized $22,700, and a quantity of withdrawal slips from various RBC banks amounting to the same $22,700. According to reports, at about 9 pm on Wednesday, officers of the Arouca CID led by Sgts Parmarsar and Robert Joseph and including Cpl Dardaine and others were on road block exercise at the Priority Bus Route in the vicinity of the Arouca Police Station when they stopped a car with the two Venezuelan nationals. The two men are in their early 30s and who could not speak English were questioned and they could not account for the 58 international Credit cards in their possession. Police believe that the cards were stolen from persons and sums of cash illegally withdrawn from several Royal Bank ATMs throughout the country. None of the credit cards are believed to be from local persons. The two suspects were taken to the Arouca Police Station where they were detained up until yesterday and they are expected to be handed over to officers of the Fraud Squad for interrogation. Investigations are continuing. In an unrelated exercise, officers of the Counter Trafficking Unit (CTU) on Wednesday detained two Venezuelan nationals male and female who were found in a Maraval house by officers of the Western Division shortly after 9 am yesterday. The two were detained after officers raided the house where they were staying at Cameron Road, Maraval and seized eight rounds of ammunition. The two detainees who are unable to speak English were unable to assist officers to ascertain why they were at that house, and why the ammunition was on the property. Following the seizure of the ammunition, Western Division alerted officers of the CTU and the two Venezuelans were taken into their custody. An interpreter was being sought yesterday to ascertain details about the two Venezuelans. It remained unclear yesterday how the Venezuelans entered the country and what was their purpose for being in that Maraval house. Investigations are continuing. Claims of brutality, intimidation in prison It was reported that on Wednesday night prison officers were alerted to an altercation in one of the cells. The officers believed that one of the prisoners was stabbed. According to reports the prison officers ordered all prisoners out of that particular cell and began searching and questioning the inmates while the wounded inmate was being transferred to the infirmary. Prison officers then allegedly beat inmate Obe Albert. This prisoner, sources said, was beaten so badly that one leg was broken and the other fractured. A prison source alleged Albert was made to lie on the ground while a senior prison officer took a cane and used its ends to press down on the mans injuries. t was later discovered that the inmate was not stabbed, but stitches on wounds he received prior to being incarcerated were ripped open during the fight inside the cell. Efforts to reach Commissioner of Prisons Sterling Stewart for a comment were unsuccessful Champion mixer The 2016 edition of the Angostura Global Cocktail Challenge (AGCC) had 900 entrants from 36 countries around the world, with Angostura describing the 12 finalists as the cream of the crop. Ramdhan, 23, will spend the next two years travelling the globe in his role as Angostura Global Brand Ambassador for Angostura Aromatic Bitters, Angostura Orange Bitters, Angostura Rums and Amaro di Angostura. He also won a cash prize of US $10,000 and the opportunity to serve as a judge in the next AGCC, which is scheduled for 2018. The 2016 AGCC took place on Carnival Sunday (February 7) at Angosturas head office, corner of Eastern Main Road and Trinity Avenue, Laventille. Long before all 12 finalists had finished their presentations, many in the audience could be heard saying how impressed they were by Ramdhans presentation of Rum Cocktail, Resurgence and his Freestyle Cocktail, Bitter Mayan. Holding his large crystal trophy, into which someone had poured some Angostura 1919 for Ramdhan to drink in honour of his win, the humble young man sat down to speak with Newsday shortly after being named 2016 AGCC winner. Recalling that he first entered the competition in 2014 but did not progress beyond the semi-final round for TT bartenders, Ramdhan credits two people with helping him achieve success -- his older brother Clinton Ramdhan and their former boss/mentor, Martini Makers Limited (MML) owner and 2013 Angostura GCC winner, Daniyel Jones. I must say hats off to my brother Clinton Ramdhan. Hes the one who actually worked with me day and night to get ready. There were times I wanted to give up and go sleep, but Clinton was like, Lets go one more round to make sure I could finish (presentation and cocktails) within the allotted seven minutes. Sometimes I was too busy to do research, Ramdhan shared, and Clinton would tell me about new trends in bartending and mixology. My brother studied at the TTHTI (Trinidad and Tobago Hospitality and Tourism Institute), hes a chef by profession. Jones came in for praise from the 2016 AGCC winner for his willingness to share his knowledge with others and most especially, for encouraging MML employees to enter bartending competitions. Im a bartender at Aria nightclub (on Ariapita Avenue, Portof- Spain) and I have a bachelors degree in accounting from the University of the West Indies but I actually started bartending under Daniyel Jones as a server within his company. He always pushed us to compete but with the focus on service; keep smiling, execute well, make sure our (work) station is always clean, and knowing your judges. Leading up to the finals, he could no longer advise me because he was a (co-host) of the event. However, his earlier (mentoring) served me well. Ramdhan explained that since you cant please everyones palate, he chose to focus on 2016 Chief Judge, Jeff beach bum Berry, who he described as the modern Tiki guru. Ramdhan bought Berrys books and through his research, realised the chief judge focused a lot on Caribbean history. So I really tried to impress (Berry) by creating a cocktail called Resurgence which was inspired by the resurgence of Tiki-style cocktails in modern times. Each of the competitors two cocktails were judged across four categories for 50 points, with a grand total of 100 points: Taste of drink (25 points); Presentation (15 points); Appearance (5 points); and Aroma (5 points).Keeping all of this in mind, Ramdhan came up with recipes and a way to display his drinks that he was confident would earn him high marks (which they did). Apart from winning the overall title of 2016 AGCC, Ramdhan also had the Best Freestyle Cocktail with his drink Bitter Mayan. South Africas entrant, Dino Jose Batista, won the Best Rum Cocktail with his drink, The Sanctuary. Ramdhan explained why he chose the ingredients that he did for his Bitter Mayan. My freestyle cocktail referenced Caribbean history by using Angostura 7-Year rum which has lots of flavour - maple syrup, notes of toffee, chocolate, honey. I also used elderflower liqueur, which gives you a floral expression, lingering to an elegant finish, and beetroot nectar because the Bitter Mayan needed something earthy to (represent) the tribal aspect of my drink. Ramdhan also used Angostura Orange Bitters and ginger beer foam made of local beer, Carib, infused with ginger syrup, to complement the cocktail. When it came time to present the Bitter Mayan to the judges, he placed the deep pink drinks; (two glasses of each cocktail must be presented to the judges), on a slab from an old oak barrel that he soaked in Angostura Bitters prior to the finals. A calabash, with the top removed, also formed part of the presentation. It was placed between the glasses on the oak slab. Ramdhan said he chose the calabash because it was very popular in the (Caribbeans) tribal era. In an interview with Jones who inspired Ramdhan to victory, he said he felt truly blessed and very motivated after seeing the impact of his mentoring pay off for Ramdhan. Every bartender that works with me, I always advocate that they compete because competition challenges you to become better. Neal and his brother Clinton (Ramdhan) are excellent bartenders. They both have a great work ethic, and a passion and desire to succeed. I always believe that to become the best, you always have to share your knowledge and Ive learned so much from mentors like Raakesh Madoo (Food and Beverage lecturer at TT HTI). So I feel honoured to share with people like Neal (Ramdhan), whos also very passionate and wants to learn, Jones said. Here are the recipes for Ramdhans winning freestyle cocktail and rum cocktail and for South Africas Dino Jose Batistas Best Rum Cocktail titled The Sanctuary.. Freestyle cocktail: Bitter Mayan 45ml Angostura 7-Year old rum 15ml St Germain 15ml Beetroot nectar 15ml Fresh Lime juice 1 dash of Angostura orange bitters Garnish - Ginger beer foam Method: Ice shake, fine strain into a cocktail glass and top with ginger beer foam Rum Cocktail: Resurgence 45ml Angostura 5 yr old rum 15ml Aperol 10ml Oleo Saccharin Pinch of salt 5 dashes of Angostura aromatic bitters Method: Add ingredients into a mixing glass, dry stir then pour into cocktail class with crushed ice. Winning Rum recipe: By Dino Batista of South Africa The Sanctuary 37.5ml Angostura 5 year-old rum 15ml Pinotage syrup 37.5 ml pineapple juice 7 dashes of Angostura aromatic bitters 10 ml fresh pressed lime juice Method: Combine all ingredients in a tin and shake with hard ice. Double strain into a chilled coupette, Garnish with dehydrated pineapple slice. Serve in a cut crystal coupette glass. Lovely song puts Bishops on top Adjudicator Prof David Hoult found their opening lovely, and accurate on all three parts of the harmony. Hoult stated the song was a lovely one with a peaceful atmosphere and all participating choirs captured it. However, Bishops had best captured it with good dynamics of the music and perfect diction. The choir was awarded 87 marks and first place. Second was Holy Name Convent Junior Choir with 85 marks. Hoult said their singing in the opening was very expressive, with good dynamic contrast, very secure and a well prepared performance. Placing third with 84 marks was Sacred Heart Girls RC Choir who had a lovely mood and good musical phrasing said Hoult, adding that it was a very effective musical performance. In the Class JR-A10 Folk Song Solo: Boy or Girl (19 years and under) Final, participants chose their own test piece. TShara Coutain raised some pores with her moving delivery of Johnny Gave Me One Big Black Baby. Hoult found all three performances in this category wonderful, but for him, Coutains was particularly enjoyable, as she had good characterisation and was vocally sound. He gave her 87 marks to win that final, while the other two performers both got 86 marks to tie for second place. They were Amelia Emmanuel who sang Murder in the Market and Aysiah Mc Eachnie Assing who performed Linstead Market. Both of them performed earlier in the Class JR-B2 Girls Duet (12 years and under) preliminary, and earned two of the nine places in the final. The full list of the nine Class JR-B2 Girls Vocal Duet finalists going on to the February 22 final are:- Zehira-Marie Nicholas and Janya Hinds Isabelle DAbadie and Sophia Mc Intosh Kayah Charles and Vonique Marshall Lisha Mark and Breanna Flemming Aysiah Mc Eachnie Assing and Anjali Crichlow Jelecia Silpa and Curlise Bentham Amelia Emmanuel and Clarisse Lee Sing Sapphire Wilson and Meredith Antoine Zande Alexander and Anna Blake GANGS SHUT SCHOOL But plans for the invasion and possible mass murder in the school were scuttled when a pupil who is a gang-member flagged down a teacher who was driving to school and told him what was to come. This shocking revelation was related by TT Unified Teachers Association (TTUTA) head Devanand Sinanan at a news briefing yesterday at Tower D, International Financial Centre, Port-of-Spain. Education Minister Anthony Garcia and Minister in that Ministry Dr Lovell Francis were present at the press conference. The planned gang warfare in the school sent teachers and students into a panic so much so that classes were cancelled for the day. However, the battle was deterred by the presence of seven soldiers in a TT Regiment vehicle. One of the soldiers, went to collect his childs school report book, but decided to stay on with his fellow soldiers to secure the compound, while a report was made to the Chaguanas Police Station. Sinanan complained that the Chaguanas police never showed up at the school. It was alleged that officers at that station previously declined to deal with reports of student misconduct at this school. Sinanan said staff are scared to work as they face threats from pupils aligned to gangs in Chaguanas, as manifested in threatening graffiti and recent seizure of guns and drugs on the school compound. A teacher was flagged down by a student and alerted to the fact that there is going to be a shootout in the school. It stems from activities which are external to the school and the fact that one student, the day before, was taken down to the police and charged with a particular offence. The students from one gang decided that they intend to exact revenge. Apparently students who belong to that gang loaned (school) uniforms to persons who are not students of the school so they could have gained easy access to the school this morning. Thankfully a student from the other gang flagged down the teacher and alerted him about what was to unfold, Sinanan said. Minister Garcia said MTS had promised him to beef up security staff by Monday and he will visit the school next Tuesday, as he will be in Tobago on Monday for a National Consultation on Education. Sinanan revealed that classes were suspended over the past week due to a spate of threats and violent acts by pupils linked to community gangs. Sinanan said teachers blamed a halving of security (from eight to four officers) for more cases of indiscipline, including debarred pupils scaling the fence and writing gang-related graffiti on the walls and desks. There were also reports of guns being brought onto the compound by these students. The police have been continuously alerted to deal with drug-possession, robberies, extortion, physical and verbal assaults on teachers and acts of violence. One of the latest episodes saw a Form Two student on Monday sustaining serious head injuries after he was attacked by a Form Four student with a chair, Sinanan said. A concerned Sinanan revealed that Chaguanas Police Station told the schools principal not to send them her errant pupils. The TTUTA head saying this has not been his experience at other police divisions. He said the school staff want more MTS guards, CCTV cameras, the return of school safety officers, plus more support from the police. They also want the temporary removal of gang-linked pupils who threaten the safety of staff and students and revival of supervised, off-site suspension centres. He said TTUTA wants the Ministry to take immediate steps to work with the school authorities to restore order and normalcy, even as he hailed teachers for enduring work conditions under which they are daily threatened. Garcia said yesterdays case was serious as it involved non-pupils. He said the Ministry takes infractions of discipline very seriously and has issued a circular as to how to deal with errant pupils. Saying those involved in yesterdays matter must feel the full brunt of the law, he said everyone must now put heads together to ensure no repeat. All schools must be places of safety, Garcia said, and the current scourge of violence must be ended. Minister Francis said a meaningful intervention is now needed for both victims and perpetrators of school violence, the latter whom simply cannot just be suspended at home during which time their misconduct would be reinforced. Garcia said the National Parent/ Teachers Association (NPTA) and Minister of National Security Edmund Dillon, were both been invited to yesterday briefing but both were unavoidably absent. Tonnes of cocoa left unsold Our friends who are now on the other side took the unprecedented decision to come to this Parliament and eliminate, by way of repeal of legislation, the decades-old mechanism for the States involvement in the buying, selling and export of cocoa and coffee beans, the Minister said during Parliament Question Time. That was by Act No. 7 of 2014. And by Section 7, in one line, the legislation which had underpinned this sector was removed without anything being put in place. (The Board was repealed by Act No. 4 of 2014, Section 9). The Minister said the Cocoa Development Company was incorporated, and a board appointed but said, nothing further happened in 18 months in relation to the buying, selling and export of cocoa. He said $1.7 million was allocated to deal with liabilities in relation to the closed board, and $14 million pumped into the Cocoa Development Company. Former Agriculture Minister, Devant Maharaj ,yesterday said while the board was repealed, the intention was to have the new state enterprise facilitate the industry, and assist in the transition, particularly with stock. He said this never occurred due to public sector bureaucracy. Also during Question Time, Minister of National Security Edmund Dillon said $466 million had been allocated for acquisition and maintenance of coastal patrol vessels. Of this, $273 million relates to a contract with the Damen Shipyard, Holland, with funds for this to be obtained from loan resources to be obtained from the ING Bank; $158 million relates to one multi-purpose vessel, half of which had been paid for. Fingerprint expert to scrutinise top cop By way of a simple vote, the Parliament approve President Anthony Carmonas nomination of Dinanath Ramkissoon for appointment as a member of the Commission, even as members of the Opposition said the Government had watered down the independent constitutional body. In tabling a procedural motion to approve the nomination, Acting Government Whip Colm Imbert read from a CV which said Ramkissoon holds a diploma in fingerprint science, as well as a police training diploma. Ramkissoon, the vice president of legal services at the National Insurance Development Company (NIPDEC), also worked as a State prosecutor in the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions and as a detective inspector (senior fingerprint expert). The appointee holds an LL.M in Public Law from the University of the West Indies and a Legal Education Certificate from the Hugh Wooding Law School. Imbert linked the appointment to the process by which a new Police Commissioner is to be selected. He said last Wednesday this process began with a formal request being made by Minister of National Security Edmund Dillon to the PSC. We expect that... the Police Service Commission, being further strengthened by the addition of an additional member, will move with despatch to the task of the appointment of a permanent Police Commissioner, Imbert said. The current situation, where you have had an acting police commissioner, with seven acting stints, has gone on for far too long and must be rectified. However, Opposition MP Dr Roodal Moonilal said the Government had sent a clear signal that it had no confidence in the PSC, and accused the Cabinet of undermining the PSC and encroaching upon its independence. He said the Governments proposal to establish a Police Management Authority was a sign that all was not well. The very policy of introducing a Police Management Authority supports that the Government has no confidence in the PSC, the Oropouche MP said during the same debate. Referring to the decision to limit the recruitment process for the Commissioner of Police to a local private firm, he said, We have already seen this Government watering down the role of the PSC. Are they truly committed to the independence of the PSC? Moonilal said while a new member was being appointed to the PSC, the current arrangements surrounding it, such as its dependence of the office of the Director of Personnel Administration, remained unworkable. He questioned why new agencies were being created while existing agencies are left under-staffed and under-resourced and suggested lines of accountability would be blurred. To this day, nobody knows anything about the legal and policy framework for the Police Management Authority, Moonilal said. I warn against this tendency to undermine independent constitutional institutions and their work. He said audits being conducted by private firms into State entities had been subject to ministerial pressure and cited what he termed, the hijack of the Red House but gave no details. In wrapping up the debate, Imbert said the Police Management Authority would have oversight of officers below the rank of Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner. He said the new agency would help develop professionalism and skills and training while the PSC was responsible for recruitment of the two top cops. The agency is simply an organisation that would help to build professionalism, uphold accountability and would enhance the capability of the police force, Imbert said. He also said it would, implement operational processes, practice and doctrine and set and maintain ethics and values. Chalk and cheese. All the Police Service Commission does is appoint the Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner and monitors the effectiveness of these two officials. It also has the power to remove the Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner, and it deals with appeals coming from police....The difference is something as wide as the Grand Canyon. We wont leave any stone unturned Rowley said, I have not been briefed as to what has happened since, but I expect that the position remains that we are expecting that our security services leave no stone unturned to ensure that we bring the perpetrator to justice as we would in any other situation. Nagakiyas body was found under a tree in the Queens Park Savannah on Ash Wednesday. An autopsy later indicated that she died of manual strangulation. Saying the Government was concerned about any person who was killed in this country, the Prime Minister stated, In so far as the victim being a foreigner, we have expressed our condolences to the Japanese people and the family of the young lady. He added that TT continues, to maintain cordial relations with Japan. Rowley offered no opinion about the time frame in which Port-of-Spain Mayor Raymond Tim Kee resigned his post, in the wake of his controversial statements about Nagakiyas murder. Tim Kee indicated last Saturday he would resign on Monday, but resigned one day later. When the Mayor of Port-of-Spain indicated that he would demit office in response to the unfortunate statement. I said that had brought the matter to an end. I will simply reaffirm that alls well that ends well, the Prime Minister said. Rowley made no comment on calls for Point Fortin Mayor Clyde Paul to resign for expressing support for Tim Kees statement. Rowley, who is also Peoples National Movement (PNM) political leader, dismissed a call from Oropouche East MP Dr Roodal Moonilal for Tim Kee to be fired from his post as PNM treasurer. We are open to advice from all quarters in TT. The last place we will take advice from is the Opposition, he quipped. Regarding the appointment of a new Commissioner of Police (CoP), Rowley said he expected that. in the not too distant future the National Security Minister will address that matter properly. He added. I took Im very anxious to have it done. National Security Minister Edmund Dillon, Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi and Finance Minister Colm Imbert (who acted as prime minister while Rowley was in Belize) were at the airport to welcome him home. Also present was Foreign and Caricom Affairs Minister Dennis Moses who accompanied Rowley to Belize. Govt steady on foreign used policy The revisions are: the age limit of gasoline powered foreign used cars which are allowed for importation be revised to four years from the former six years with immediate effect; current age limit of three years for diesel powered cars and four years for CNG powered cars which are allowed for importation be maintained and individuals be allowed to import foreign used right-hand drive cars for personal use once every four years instead of once every three years. The age limit of such cars imported for personal use will now also be four years. Moreso, subject to evidence of same, vehicles which have already been purchased/en route to Trinidad and Tobago prior to Friday 15 January, be exempt from the policy change. It should be noted, the release stated, that Minister of Trade and Industry Paula Gopee-Scoon met with executives of the Trinidad and Tobago Automotive Dealers Association (TTADA) on January 22, at the associations request and held discussions on the issue. YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 20, ARMENPRESS. The regular session of Euronest PA Bureau was held in Brussels, on February 18 which was attended by Head of the Armenian Delegation to the PA Artak Zakaryan. Armenpress was informed from the Armenian National Assembly (NA) Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs that 5th Plenary Sessions issue of agenda, which will be held from March 21-23, 2016, were discussed during the session. Considering the created situation in the framework of the Eastern Partnership, the Bureau also discussed issues related to modifying the structure of the Euronest PA and the involvement in the latters structures. In the upcoming plenary session, the Assembly will discuss and approve the submission of four reports on the political, economic, energy and humanitarian issues. Co-author of the report, prepared on behalf of the Political Affairs Committee is Chairman of the NA Standing Committee on Foreign Relations Artak Zakaryan. The report is entitled "Foreign policy of the EU and Eastern Partnership member-states and external threats to their security. The proposal of co-chairs visit to Baku, aimed at bringing back the Azerbaijani delegation, was discussed in the session of Bureau which was previously discussed in the joint consultation with political groups of European Parliament. In his speech on this issue, Artak Zakaryan reminded theBureau members that the Azerbaijani delegation, since its inception to Euronest PA, has made anti-Armenian activities and undermined the joint initiatives under the logic of the multilateral parliamentary activities. Artak Zakaryan said he is not against Azerbaijani delegations return to Euronest PA but he hoped that Azerbaijanis will eventually understand that Euronest PA and other parliamentary formats are not arenas for conflict resolutions. Artak Zakaryan assured Armenian delegation will not allow Azerbaijani side to distort and misrepresent the Azerbaijani-Karabakh peace process within the framework of Euronest PA. Documenting from Scotland the rise of the One World King; the "masonic" Sun God. What you need to know about the Octagon Art Festival on Sunday in Ames news YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 20, ARMENPRESS. Britain will vote on whether to remain in the EU on Thursday 23 June, Armenpress reports, citing BBC, Prime Minister David Cameron said. The prime minister made his historic announcement in Downing Street after briefing the cabinet. He said he would be campaigning to remain in a reformed EU - and described the vote as one of the biggest decisions "in our lifetimes". Ministers immediately divided up into the leave and remain camps as the campaigns got under way in earnest. Home Secretary Theresa May heads the list of those who have announced they will campaign to stay - but Justice Secretary Michael Gove has signed up to the leave campaign. Leave campaigners are also hoping London Mayor Boris Johnson will join their cause - but he has yet to declare where he stands. In his statement, Mr Cameron warned that leaving the European Union would be a "leap in the dark" as he urged voters to back his reform deal. "Those who want to leave Europe cannot tell you if British businesses would be able to access Europe's free trade single market, or if working people's jobs are safe, or how much prices would rise. All they're offering is a risk at a time of uncertainty - a leap in the dark, David Cameron said. Special Purpose Vehicles formed for implementation of Smart City Plans ; MP, Rajasthan take lead New Delhi, Sat, 20 Feb 2016 NI Wire 23 Losers of Smart City Competition to meet 20 winners for peer learning Shri Venkaiah Naidu to address the cities on challenges ahead Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan have taken the lead in setting up Special Purpose Vehicles (SPV) for the implementation of Smart City Plans of the cities who have won in the first round of competition for selection of cities. Ministry of Urban Development has been informed that SPVs have been set up for Jabalpur, Indore and Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh and Jaipur and Udaipur in Rajasthan. These cities have been among the first batch of 20 winners of Smart City Challenge Competition announced on January 29,2016. Ministry has also been informed that SPVs for the remaining 15 cities will be formed in the next two weeks. Ministry of Urban Development will release Rs.200 cr for each of the 20 selected cities only after SPVs are set up. SPVs to be registered under the Companies Act,2013 will have 50:50 equity by the states and respective urban local bodies. Private equity is also allowed but the management control will rest with the Governments only. SPVs are required to be set up under Smart City Mission Guidelines to ensure timely and efficient execution of plans with operational freedom. They approve, sanction and execute the projects besides mobilizing resources from various sources. Madhya Pradesh has set up a 12 member SPV for each of the three cities. Respective District Collector will be the Chairman of the Board and respective Municipal Commissioner as Executive Director. Other members include representatives of central and state governments, nominee of the Mayor, 2 Independent Directors, representatives of DISCOMs, Public Health Engineering Department etc. Rajasthan has set up a 11 Member SPV for Jaipur and a 13 Member body for Udaipur. Principle Secretary (Local Self Government) is the Chairman in both the cases. Mayor will be the Vice-Chairman and Municipal Commissioner will the Chief Executive Officer till a regular CEO is appointed. Representatives of central and state governments, 2 Independent Directors will also be on the Board. Meanwhile, Ministry of Urban Development is organizing a day long workshop on Monday i.e February 22, 2016 where in 23 cities participating in the Fast Track Competition will interact with first batch of 20 smart city winners for peer learning about making winning proposals. One top ranked city from each of the 23 States and UTs that could not win in the first round are participating in this accelerated round of competition, under which these 23 cities have to submit revised proposals to the Ministry of Urban Development by April 15 this year. These 23 cities will be advised on how to bridge the identified gaps in their Smart City Plans earlier submitted and evaluated in the first round of competition. Areas required to be improved include-financing plans, convergence of different schemes of central and stage governments, smart solutions and frugal solutions, consistency of area development plans etc. Minister of Urban Development Shri M.Venkaiah Naidu will address the representatives of 43 cities. The 20 winners will discuss next steps regarding operationalisation of SPVs project formulation and resource mobilization. Experts and representatives of mentoring institutions like Centre for Science and Environment, Institute of Spatial Planning and Environment Research, Indian Institute of Human Settlements, All India Institute of Local Self Government, Administrative Staff College of India and hand holding institutions like world Bank, AFD, DFID, GIZ and Asian Development Bank will guide the winners and losers on the next steps. The 23 cities participating in the Fast Track Competition are : Warangal (Telangana) ranked 23 in the first round of competition, Chandigarh(24), Lucknow(29), New Town Kolkata (30), Panaji (32), Pasighat, Arunachal Pradesh(39), Dharamshala, HP(59), Raipur(62), Bhagalpur, Bihar(65), Karnal, Haryana(66), Shillong(70), Namchi, Sikkim(71), Port Blair(72), Diu (74), Oulgaret, Puducherry (75), Silvassa (78), Imphal (83), Ranchi (84), Agartala (85), Kohima (90), Aizawl (93), Kavaratti (95) and Dehradun (97). Among the first batch of winners, Bhopal which was ranked 20 scored 55.47% marks in the first round of competition. Warangal scored 54.79 marks to lose in the competition by just 0.68 marks while Dehradun which was ranked at the bottom of 97 scored 38.13% losing in the competition by a margin of 17.34 marks. At the workshop on Monday, these 23 cities will be assisted to bridge the gap so as to come to the level of marks scored by Bhopal and beyond. Source: PIB We need to challenge ourselves to see beyond the stereotypes and preconceptions that prevent us from accepting others: Vice President New Delhi, Sat, 20 Feb 2016 NI Wire Gives away 1st interfaith harmony award The Vice President, Shri M. Hamid Ansari has said that societies have developed responses to respond to diversity of faiths within them which has been particularly marked in the case of India where a plural society reflective of a multiplicity of faiths, reinforced by teachings of Bhakti and Sufi saints, has been a ground reality for centuries. The Vice President was addressing a function to mark the Silver Jubilee of Temple of Understanding India and Presentation of Dr. Karan Singh Interfaith Harmony Award to Sri M, here today. The Vice President said that it was this historical backdrop that propelled the makers of the Constitution of India to put in place a secular state structure premised on equality and fraternity. It also brought us face to face with what Dr. Ambedkar called the life of contradictions and tardiness in the recognition of evils that lie across our path he added. The Vice President mentioned that societies are living entities that respond to challenges of changing times and India is no exception to it. He further said that in the globalising world of the 21st century, spaces have shrunk, traditional practices are being eschewed and new means of communications, apart from the good they bring, are also facilitating the communication of prejudices and mischief. Each of these impedes the effort to understand the other who may be a neighbour, a fellow citizen, a fellow human being, he added. The Vice President said that the quest for understanding is a complex process and it proceeds from impressions and vivid mental phenomena to reasoned ideas based on factual information or conclusions derived from them. The first step in this process is tolerance, an acceptance that the other though different may not be harmful or undesirable; its apogee would be acceptance, that the other though different is not harmful or undesirable, he added. Following is the text of Vice Presidents address: Honble Member of Parliament, Dr. Karan Singh ji, Shri Mumtaz Ali, the Awardee, Dr. A.K. Merchant, General Secretary Temple of Understanding, India, Dr. B.P. Singh, Vice President, Temple of Understanding, India, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen; This is a joyous happening. We have gathered here to celebrate the conferring of an important award on a distinguished person who has contributed his bit, so meaningfully, to making our world a better place. I felicitate Shri Mumtaz Ali and commend the jury for making this choice. A celebration is a multi-dimensional occurrence. It is a happy occasion; it is also an occasion for introspection. Some questions do come to mind. Why the honour? What is its relevance in individual and societal terms? Here, as on many other occasions, semantics could be a starting point. The dictionary defines faith as complete trust or confidence in someone or something; a second meaning is as strong belief in the doctrines of a religion, based on spiritual conviction rather than proof. Interfaith is thus understood as interaction between faiths or belief systems professed by individuals or groups. Our definition would need to include agnostics and atheists since they too have a role in society. Exceptions apart, the human being is a social creature and throughout known history has lived in groups or societies that had their own unique experiences and, in the process, developed ideas and beliefs as well as a set of desirable, less desirable and undesirable norms of behaviour. Some of these related to belief systems or perceptions on matters beyond the physical world. Interaction between these social groups therefore also necessitated interaction between these belief systems. Over time, and driven by the realisation that concord is preferable to discord and harmony to disharmony, humankind in different societies sought an understanding of other thought patterns and faiths. This was, and remains, the impulse for interfaith dialogue. From time to time and in varying measures, it is also reflected in the approach of governments or rulers in individual societies. Record shows that it could be accommodative or exclusionary. An excellent example of high-minded approach to the question is to be found in Emperor Ashokas Girnar Rock Edict near Junagarh in Gujarat around the year 260 BC: The King honours all religions and sects. His Sacred Majesty does not value gifts and honours as he values the growth of the essential elements of all religious sects. But the root of it is restraint of speech, that is, there should not be honour only of ones own religion and condemnation of other religions. On the other hand, other religions should be honoured too. By doing this, one helps his own religion to grow and benefits the religion of others also. By doing otherwise, one harms his own religion and injures the other religions too. For whoever honours only his own religion and condemns other religions injures more gravely his own religion. Hence concord alone is commendable and all should listen, and be willing to listen, to the beliefs professed by others. The historian Edward Gibbon made a succinct comment on the pragmatic approach to religious diversity in the Roman Empire: The various modes of worship which prevailed in the Roman world were all considered by the people as equally true; by the philosopher as equally false; and by the magistrate as equally useful. And thus tolerance produced not only mutual indulgence, but even religious concord. Either way, principled or pragmatic, societies have developed responses to respond to diversity of faiths within them. This has been particularly marked in the case of India where a plural society reflective of a multiplicity of faiths, reinforced by teachings of Bhakti and Sufi saints, has been a ground reality for centuries. It was this historical backdrop that propelled the makers of the Constitution of India to put in place a secular state structure premised on equality and fraternity. It also brought us face to face with what Dr. Ambedkar called the life of contradictions and tardiness in the recognition of evils that lie across our path. Societies are living entities that respond to challenges of changing times. India is no exception to it. In the globalising world of the 21st century, spaces have shrunk, traditional practices are being eschewed and new means of communications, apart from the good they bring, are also facilitating the communication of prejudices and mischief. Each of these impedes the effort to understand the other who may be a neighbour, a fellow citizen, a fellow human being. What then is the choice before us? One option is to remain embedded in our prejudices and take them to their logical conclusion through promotion of strife to overcome the other. The other is to seek understanding in the expectation that disagreements would be narrowed, perhaps even eliminated. The first option is becoming increasingly impractical since strife would disrupt social peace, impede development and thus obstruct the achievement of national objectives in any modern society. The quest for understanding is a complex process. It proceeds from impressions and vivid mental phenomena to reasoned ideas based on factual information or conclusions derived from them. The first step in this process is tolerance, an acceptance that the other though different may not be harmful or undesirable; its apogee would be acceptance, that the other though different is not harmful or undesirable. Given the cultural and spiritual legacy, we in India can assert that such an ideal is achievable and has, in fact, been advocated by rulers from time to time. One instance of it is Ashokas Edict cited earlier; another is Akbars institution of Ibadatkhana at Fatehpur Sikri as also his assertion in his letter to Shah Abbas of Persia that we must be kind to all people who are the treasures of God and have mercy for everybody no matter what their religion or ideas are. Much more has been said by mystics and saints. Well known is Khwaja Nizamuddin Aulias remark that har quam raast rahe, deen-e-wa qiblagahe; equally meaningful on this theme are the teachings of Sant Kabir and Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti. So is swami Vivekanands observation that we must not only tolerate other religions but positively embrace them as the truth is the basis of all religions. In November 1995, and pursuant to earlier UN General Assembly Resolutions, the General Conference of UNESCO adopted a Declaration of Principles on Tolerance that defined as respect, acceptance and appreciation of the rich diversity of our world's cultures, our forms of expression and ways of being human, adding that tolerance is harmony in difference and is not concession, condescendence or indulgence and that it is not only a moral duty but a political and legal requirement for the replacement of the culture of war by a culture of peace. It emphasised that this is to be achieved by action at state, social and educational levels. Tolerance is thus a virtue to be cultivated. Acceptance, however, goes a step beyond tolerance. It is a person's assent to the reality of a situation, recognizing a process or condition without attempting to change it, protest, or exit. You can tolerate something without accepting it, but you cannot accept something without tolerating it. Moving from tolerance to acceptance is a journey that starts within ourselves; within our own understanding and compassion for people who are different to us. We need to challenge ourselves to see beyond the stereotypes and preconceptions that prevent us from accepting others. Principles, however lofty and relevant will remain in the realm of the ideal unless they are accompanied by an implementing methodology. It is here that dialogue becomes an imperative necessity. It is only through dialogue that misunderstandings are removed and understanding promoted. How then should the dialogue be initiated, and conducted? Dialogue partners the world over have developed modalities to facilitate the process. The late Dr. Asghar Ali Engineer had written an essay suggesting a set of rules for such dialogues. Allow me to mention them here: 1. Those who enter into dialogue should be firmly rooted in the tradition of their faith and have inner conviction; 2. There should not be any feeing of superiority in their respective traditions; 3. Dialogue should not be polemical in style, should not be focused on right or wrong, and should be conducted to understand the others viewpoint, and its integrity and uniqueness; 4. Its purpose should be to explain the viewpoint, not to convert the other to it; 5. The dialogue partners should recognise that diversity is the very basis of life; 6. Its purpose should be to promote the spirit of accommodation and adjustment to minimise conflict in society; 7. The difference between dialogue and monologue should at all times be borne in mind; and 8. An effective dialogue is possible when the partner not only listens but also makes the effort to understand and appreciate it. I commend the effort on the part of all, individuals and groups, who indulge in this noble venture. Jai Hind. Source: PIB ARTICLE UPDATED - 22 February 2016Two archaeological site guards on duty at the archaeological site at at Deir el-Bersha in Egypt have been killed after unknown assailants apparently opened fire while at the site to loot archaeological material.Sentry A'srawy Kamel Jad, alternatively known as "Waa'r" was a resident of the village of Deir Abu Hanas in Malwi. He had been a long standing sentry at the archaeological preserve. A'srawy was killed on site.A second guard, Ali Khalaf Shaker, also a resident of Deir Abu Hanas in Malwi was transferred in serious condition to Minya University Hospital. Ali died of his injuries on Sunday, February 21, 2016. The Coptic village of Deir el-Bersha is located on the east bank of the Nile, south of Hermopolis, what is known today as El-Ashmunein. It sits on the opposite side of the Nile river from Mallawi. The archaeological site is part of the governorate of Minya. The site of Dayr al-Barsha in Middle Egypt has been known since ancient times for its limestone quarries and its renowned Middle Kingdom nomarchal tombs. The site's necropolis is located at the entrance of Wadi Deir el-Nakhla, in a remote area east of the Nile that is difficult to get to. Individuals passing through the site do not do so casually. Given the fragility of the site and previous issues of looting, the area is closed to the general public and it is only with special authorisation, that persons can visit, accompanied by a government official. The remoteness of the site is evidenced by the attached Youtube video. The site's most important tombs are those of the Nomarchs of the XV Nome, the Nome of the Hare, of Upper Egypt during the XI and XII Dynasty. The tomb of Djehutihotep is the most well studied of the 39 tombs documented at the necropolis. Last year, on May 11, 2015, Egyptian Archaeologist Monica Hanna reported looting and extensive destruction to the tomb of Djehutihotep. According to reports by the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Belgium) archaeology mission, which has been working at Deir el-Barsha in Middle Egypt under the direction of Harco Willems since 2002, a wall relief fragment had been hacked out from the 3,850 year-old tomb which measured 30 by 50 centimeters (12 by 20 inches.) Pictured below are two sets of comparison images, on showing relief decoration on the left, including the head of a seated figure which were removed. The second image shows a small triangular segment removed. Some news reports also suggested that the dig house had also been looted in 2015. Pictured below are two sets of comparison images, on showing relief decoration on the left, including the head of a seated figure which were removed. The second image shows a small triangular segment removed. Some news reports also suggested that the dig house had also been looted in 2015. Image Credit: Dayr al-Barsha Project ARCA strongly discourages the purchase of antiquities without a solid collection history; this includes anything made of stone or pottery likely to be more than 100 years old. We urge collectors to buy the work of contemporary artisans using traditional methods and materials, and to not promote the trade in blood antiquities. Share As noted last week, event season has started in earnest in areas that are of major consequence to the members of the Next Generation Communications Community. First is Mobile World Congress (News - Alert) 2016 (MWC) this coming week in Barcelona. It is always chaotic due its size and scope. For those going, be forewarned it is on track to once again break attendance records. The following week, is the RSA (News - Alert) Security conference in San Francisco. The latter is where I will, and I look forward to seeing community members around the camp fire. With the two shows in mind, it is not surprising that the news and features have a mostly wireless and security focus this week. It should also be noted that after concentrating last week on features, this week we had ample news of community interest. News A good place to start is with MWC news coming from community host Nokia (News - Alert). First, Nokia will be showcasing new data center and consulting services at the show. This is significant. Consulting services may not seem like a proverbial show-stopper, however, realities are that network complexities and expertise in network transformations mean that even the most sophisticated communications service provider (CSP) needs assistance from those who have deep knowledge and experience. Second, there will also be display of the Nokia collaboration with MediaTek. They will be demonstrating technology called Extended Coverage Enhanced General Packet Radio Service (EC-EGPRS). It is comprised of innovative features like Power Efficient Operation (PEO) and extended discontinuous reception (eDRX). EC-EGPRS promises to deliver battery life that can be measured in years while providing a wider reach than conventional GSM/GPRS networks today. In other industry news this week: GL Communications (News - Alert) expanded its testing portfolio with addition of new suite of IP analysis and simulation tools. The Linux Foundation announced a new open source project called FD.io that aims to provide an IO services framework for the next generation of network and storage software. Although just introduced, the project has already announced availability of its initial software and formation of a validation testing lab. EMnify, a developer of infrastructure services for machine-to-machine (M2M) and Internet of Things (IoT) connections, released EMcore, its virtualized mobile core network. Features As noted security is always top of mind these days, particularly as IT departments to shore up their defenses and reduce potential attack surfaces whether in enterprise networks or service provider ones. The increasingly popular use of Docker containers as an alternative to legacy virtual machine solutions for operational efficiencies as well as enhanced security thanks to isolation in theory should mean additional security surround for containers would not be required. As I noted in discussing a blog by Nuage Networks on the subject, such is not necessarily the case. In the other featured postings, my colleague TMC Executive Editor Paula Bernier (News - Alert), delved into the value and significant opportunity that LTE Broadcast can create for mobile network providers, especially in the face of the need to fend off OTTs with new differentiated services. Our final feature could not in many ways be timelier. As anyone who has been to MWC has experienced, getting a wireless connection of any type at the venue is problematic at best. It is the equivalent of going into a no-fly zone. This does not, and should not, have to be the case. Indeed, hopefully solutions such as Nokias Zone applications for making event venue mobile experiences compelling become the norm sooner rather than later. We expect, particularly at a site that hosts multiple major wireless shows, ubiquitous broadband access is not only available but works flawlessly. I guess there is always next year? Weekend Reading If you are spending significant time on an airplane going to a show this week, why not get the planes Wi-Fi and use the community home page to link to constantly up-dated news, whitepapers, videos, podcasts and case studies. In particular, we have had server new and interesting additions from TechZine which I highly recommend. They are: RAN virtualization: Real-world successes Carrier-grade virtualized routers: Are we there? Field insights: Optimal indoor cell placement The home page also has links to outstanding resources such as the Digital Ideas section which contains a series of informative podcasts, along with links to eBooks and blogs. The government has signaled that Samarco, co-owned by giants Vale and BHP Billiton, is ready to pay 20 billion reais for the collapse of a waste water dam at its iron ore mine in Minas Gerais on November 5. The accident, which unleashed a massive flood of mud into the River Doce, was described as Brazils worst ever environmental disaster. Drinking water supplies were cut for hundreds of thousands of people, a village was flattened, and local fishing and tourist businesses were badly impacted. The nearly US$5 billion expected settlement for last years toxic flood that killed 17 people in Brazil could be challenged by prosecutors, who say the amount is not enough. A car and two dogs are seen on the roof of destroyed houses. The dam held waste from an iron ore mine and the accident unleashed a deluge of thick, red toxic mud Photograph: Felipe Dana/AP Richard Branson unveiled Virgin Galactics much anticipated second SpaceShipTwo at a ceremony in Mojave, CA, attended by his family, Virgin Galactics Founder Future Astronauts, stakeholders and partners. Professor Stephen Hawking named the new vehicle Virgin Spaceship (VSS) Unity via a recorded speech and said, I would be very proud to fly on this spaceship. The space tourism project was dealt a major blow after an in-air explosion killed one of the companys pilots on a test flight in 2014. Virgins CEO Richard Branson questioned continuing the project. But today, at the Mojave Air and Space Port in the California desert, the record label-turned-space travel agency is once again throwing its hat in the ring to make commercial civilian spaceflight a reality. This new version of SpaceShipTwo is structurally almost identical to the shuttle that tragically failed, with a few upgrades. Most of the changes that we made were planned before the accident, said Will Pomerantz, Vice President of Special Projects at Virgin Galactic. With regard to the accident specifically, we have made one structural change to the vehicle, which is to add a mechanical inhibit to the featherlock system that would prevent that from ever being inadvertently opened at the wrong time in flight. Such a safeguard could have protected against pilot error, which was the primary source of failure in the deadly 2014 test flight. Scaled Composites didnt factor human fallibility into their models. Pilot Michael Alsbury unlocked a feathering mechanism at the incorrect time, triggering a chain of events that caused SpaceShipTwo to break apart in flight, according to the National Transportation Safety Bureaus investigation. Virgin stands alone in its focus on space tourism for the ultra-wealthy (tickets are now going for $250,000 a pop), which makes their risky choices all the more questionable. Still, keeping in mind NASA spends upwards of $70 million with each astronaut it sends to space, Virgins tickets are relatively cheap, if not out of reach for almost everyone on the planet. SOURCES Virgin Galactic, Wired, Youtube China, Taiwan and Vietnam all lay claim to strategically valuable Woody Island. "There is every evidence, every day that there has been an increase of militarization of one kind or another", Kerry told reporters when asked about the reported deployment. An editorial published yesterday in the Global Times said that the USA has "injected the most military elements in the region". And it's doing nothing...to make the situation there more stable and more secure. "In fact, it's having quite the opposite effect", Kirby said. Citing China's strong economy as a motive, it added: "The hyping by certain western media is a pure repeat of the "China threat" theory". Turkey accuses Syrian Kurdish group of deadly bombing Turkey, which has insisted the YPG was behind the attack , has so far arrested 20 people in connection with the bombing. The Kurdish militia, however, has been most effective in the fight against the Islamic State group in Syria. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Wednesday called on all claimants to practice a policy of "no militarization" in the waters, noting that Chinese President Xi Jinping's had said during a visit previous year to Washington that China would not militarize the South China Sea. The Chinese defence ministry did not deny or confirm the reports to Sky News, saying only that China has "legitimate rights to deploy protection facilities in the territory". China's foreign minister has dismissed reports that it has deployed an advanced surface-to-air missile system to one of the disputed islands it controls in the South China Sea. He defended "the limited and necessary self-defence facilities" on islands inhabited by Chinese personnel as "consistent with the right for self-preservation and self-protection... under the worldwide law". Australia and NZ have called for a lowering of tensions over the South China Sea dispute. Militant Kurdish group claims Ankara attack: Statement But Erdogan said only three of the suspects are believed to have had "active part" in the attack. The Kurdistan Freedom Falcons, also known as TAK, named the bomber as Abdulbaki Sonmez. China claims almost all of the South China Sea, including small islands that are hundreds of kilometres from its southern coast. To press its claim, China has been aggressively creating islands from reefs and sandbanks across the waterways and building harbours for naval vessels and runways capable of receiving military aircraft. He was responding to a question about reports that China has deployed positioned anti-aircraft missiles on a disputed South China Sea island in what analysts are describing as significant military escalation. Art Harun is stumped how government obsessed over halal issue instead of attending to China's build-up of surface-to-air missiles in the South China Sea. The South China Sea, bordered by China and a number of Southeast Asian nations, including the Philippines, has been the center of rising tensions since Beijing began expanding its foothold in the region a year ago. Code Pink praises Donald Trump after debate No matter who registered this domain, it has dealt another blow to a presidential campaign that is quite clearly struggling. According to an ABC 15 Arizona report, Trump's campaign has denied having a role managing the JebBush.com domain name. The United States also has conducted sea and air patrols near artificial islands that China has built in the Spratly islands chain farther south in the South China Sea, including by two B-52 strategic bombers in November. The United States and Cuba have signed an arrangement that provides for the re-establishment of scheduled air services after more than 50 years, officials say, less than a year after the countries restored diplomatic relations. Apart from the existing 10 to 15 charter flights operating daily, the US-Cuba commercial air flights agreement also include 20 regular flights from the U.S.to Cuba. The application follows Tuesday's signature of a historic agreement allowing North American Airlines to fly scheduled commercial flights to Havana and nine other Cuban cities. Under the deal, the two countries could be linked by as many as 110 flights a day, more than five times the number of the current charter flights between the two countries. Former Ohio State star James Laurinaitis among those cut by Rams Louis Rams though, but they just showed that they are willing to take big risks for big results, and are ready to start fresh. They need an upgrade at middle linebacker, and they need a linebacker they can count on to be on the field week-after-week. The U.S. Treasury Department has set 12 categories of authorized travel including for artists and journalists. There have been no scheduled flights between the United States and Cuba for over half a century. "They have already had numerous trips and conversations to grease the skids for when this becomes a possibility", said Brandon Belford, the deputy US assistant secretary for aviation and worldwide affairs. USA air carriers, the press release noted, are eager to "take advantage of these new Cuba opportunities". American's Latin America gateway hub at Miami International Airport (MIA) will be included in the company's application for scheduled service to Cuba. Bombardier Fires 7000, Takes Order for CS300 Jets Layoff notices are expected to be issued in the coming weeks and completed by next year. Bombardier repeated its request for federal aid on Wednesday. "Our focus cities in NY and Florida are natural gateways to Havana and other Cuban destinations", said Doug McGraw, a JetBlue spokesman. Rodriguez said the accord marked "the start of a new era in air transport links between Cuba and the United States, which will contribute to the deepening of ties between our two countries". This agreement does not affect chartered flights to Cuba, which can continue as normal. American plans to submit a proposal to the Department of Transportation in the coming weeks as does United Airlines. The US has imposed a crippling embargo on Cuba since late 1960, nearly two years after Fidel Castro led a revolution against of US-backed dictator Fulgencio Batista. "And, U.S. airlines want to be part of that", the WSJ said. Michigan Gov. Says Feds to Blame for Flint Water Crisis Rick Snyder announced a local company familiar with the city's water system will take on the task of studying its infrastructure. State Representative Jeff Irwin (D-Ann Arbor) also called for money to start work now on digging up and replacing lead pipes. Orlando International has had charter service to Havana since last summer, including Wednesday and Sunday flights through Island Travel & Tours. Comments Policy Comments that are excessively crude, obscene or profane - especially when they consist of nothing more than gratuitous insults or aspersions upon the character of authors or other commenters - will be vigorously discouraged. Therefore, if you find your comment has been deleted, you will know why. We have used your information to see if you have a subscription with us, but did not find one. Please use the button below to verify an existing account or to purchase a new subscription. Under Secretary of State for political affairs Thomas A. Shannon hailed Morocco for its mature and balanced approach in dealing with the Sahara issue, describing the proposal made by the North African country to grant autonomy status to the disputed territory as realistic, serious and credible. Moroccos autonomy proposal is realistic, serious and credible, and the Kingdom adopts a mature and balanced approach on the Sahara issue, Shannon said in an interview published Friday by local daily Akhbar Al Yaoum. He deemed that Moroccos ambitious plan for the territory will be accepted by all sides and enable a peaceful settlement of the crisis that is fuelled by regional rival Algeria which supports the separatist Polisario front. Given that the Sahara is a priority for Morocco, it is also a priority for the United States, said Thomas Shannon who has just wound up a visit to Morocco, first leg of a tour that will also take him to Tunisia, Algeria, Burkina Faso, and Mali. The US official met with Junior Foreign Minister Mbarka Bouaida with whom he discussed in addition to bilateral relations a set of regional issues. Morocco is a partner whose priorities and interests matter to us, Shannon said. To a question on lack of security cooperation between Rabat and Algiers, Shannon indicated that the US is ready to facilitate security cooperation between the two countries to secure borders. The number two man in the State Department also commended Morocco for its crucial part in the fight against terrorism, mainly its efforts in Syria. He pointed out in this vein that Washington and Rabat are working together on how to curb the flux of foreign fighters in war-torn Syria. We adopted four measures to solve that problem, namely disrupt terrorist networks sources of funding, dismantle jihadist recruiting cells, control and arrest returnees and share intelligence between security services, Shannon said. He likewise lauded Rabat for its role in the Libyan Dialogue it hosted and that was crowned by a peace deal, providing for a new national unity government. The official did not discard the contingency of a US military assistance to the unity government, saying given that we are part of the international coalition against terrorism, we can say that this coalition is willing to provide this type of assistance. Predictions made years ago by many a pundit about the Tindouf-based separatists schemes to lay hand on the drug trafficking market in the Sahel-Sahara region have been confirmed once and again, and most recently by a Mauritanian official. Ahmadou Abdel Malek, the official spokesman in France of the Mauritanian ruling Union for the Republic, told France 24 TV in Arabic that members of the Algeria-backed Polisario were involved in drug trafficking. He made his assertions when commenting on the seizure in Mauritania earlier this month of two tons of cocaine and the arrest of dozens of traffickers of various nationalities. Mauritanian security agents and anti-drug forces have arrested several gangs in the past, he said pointing out that this is not the first time that they manage to capture a gang, formed mostly of Polisario members and citizens from the countries of the great Sahara who know perfectly the region According to the UpR spokesman, the latest operation has foiled their drug trafficking schemes. The Mauritanian website Sahara Medias, citing Mauritanian officials, had revealed that the trafficking network was made up of Polisario elements, in addition to Algerian, Mauritanian, Malian and Senegalese smugglers. The network was using the Mauritanian territory to convey to Europe the banned substances coming from Latin America. According to media reports, Mauritanian Security services were monitoring some elements of the separatist Front settled in the country, but the cocaine trafficking operation had been aborted thanks to tips provided by US intelligence agencies. The operation revealed that the trafficking network was also operating in weapons and ammunition smuggling as arms trade in the Sahel-Sahara region is booming with the spread of Jihadists and terrorist groups. Morocco and independent analysts have sounded the alarm years ago, drawing the international communitys attention to the Polisarios schemes to expand their smuggling operations to the lucrative drug trafficking and to the interconnection between drug trafficking and terrorism. In December 2010, key members of one of the Saharas largest drug networks were arrested in Mali and Mauritania. The network was known as Polisario because 90 percent of its members come from the Polisario-run camps in Algeria. The Mauritanian army had killed two men and captured seven others during a raid on the traffickers on the eastern Mauritanian border with Mali. The alleged leader of the group, a Sahrawi called Sultani Ould Ahmadou Ould Baddi, aka Sleitine, was hit by a bullet in the abdomen. A couple of days later, Malian security forces announced the arrest of six major drug dealers in the Sahara desert. All this shows the extent of the involvement of the separatist Sahrawi Front in various trafficking operations in such a vulnerable region. The ten-member ISIS cell, including a French national and a 16-year old minor, dismantled in El Jadida Thursday was planning car bomb attacks and the use of biological weapons. The initial findings of the investigations revealed that the group is not a mere terrorist cell, but a genuine armed commando, said Abdelhak Khiam, the director of the Central Bureau of Judicial Investigation (BCIJ,) at a news conference Friday. The terrorist cell that was active in El Jadida, Essaouira, Meknes and Sidi Kacem was projecting to set up, after the perpetration of its planned attack, a military training camp at Sehb el Harcha, a mountainous area about twenty kilometers from Tan-Tan, Khiam said, adding that the terrorists had already spotted caves to serve as their safe heaven and areas for their military training. Besides a range of weapons consisting of automatic machine guns, revolvers, rifles and hundreds of bullets, the BCIJ seized six jars containing chemicals with high sulfur content, usually used as fertilizer in agriculture. According to BCIJ chemical and biological products experts, the chemicals allow to make homemade powerful explosives and once heated to a high temperature, the material releases deadly toxic gas. The members of the terrorist cell had planned to integrate this toxin in their explosive device to widely disseminate this neurotoxin, considered as one of the most powerful biological poisons. And for Abdelhak Khiam, the weapons and substances seized as well as the militants training leave no doubt that Daech (ISIS) has radically changed its tactics. The weapons seized came from Libya, which confirms that the General Staff of the terrorist organization is consolidating its positioning in the Maghreb, he said. Another revealing fact is that members of the terrorist cell have not been trained, as usual, in camps in Syria or Iraq. These people were trained locally in coordination with Daech, which provided them with the necessary weapons, the BCIJ director said. The first information elements about the ten members of the terrorist cell that has pledged allegiance to the Islamic State organization reveal that the organization continues to recruit radicalized individuals of all ages, from diverse backgrounds. Among the arrested individuals, aged between 16 and 40, there are three students, one university graduate, one idle person and three school dropouts, the BCIJ director said, adding that the 16-year old was supposed to drive the suicide car bomb. Their 35-year old leader, they call emir, is a real estate agent native of Laayoune, who settled in a popular neighborhood in El Jadida, while the French citizen has been living in Morocco for almost a year and converted to Islam. Abdelhak Khiam said investigators have not yet determined the exact locations targeted by the planned terrorist attacks, but what is sure is that the terrorists were eying state institutions, civil and military personalities and hotels. The BCIJ director who expressed satisfaction at the results scored by is department in tracking down terrorists underlined however that Morocco remains a prime target for various armed groups settled in the area, due to its openness. He also mentioned the threat embodied in the large number of Moroccan fighters having joined ISIS in Iraq and Syria. The Secret to Happiness is the Joy of the Lord; and the joy of the Lord is His manifest presence in your life. It is our Privilege and Responsibility to Glorify God; and we glorify God by manifesting His character every moment and in every situation. Humility and Pride You can tell a humble man that he has a problem with pride and he will agree with you; but if you tell a proud man that he has a problem with pride, he becomes your enemy. This one thing I know for sure, that whenever there is a problem with my relationship with the Lord, it is not His fault. Some people are just plain lazy; some people are just overly sensitive to gravity; others are simply economical with their energy. It's not enough to preach the Gospel; you must be the Gospel. If you can describe your life in a nutshell, there's a good probability that you're a nut. As a good Canadian, I'd like to apologize in advance for anything I might say that offends you; sometimes my mouth hits high gear while my brain is still in low. Never allow the thought, "I am of no use where I am"; because you certainly can be of no use where you are not. Oswald Chambers We cannot even begin to approach the Truth until we are willing to go wherever the Truth leads us. The newest object of idol worship is 'my opinion'! Suffering is the only experience we have in common with every other human who ever lived. Confira o preco do seguro para o Chevrolet Onix Saiba quando voce gastaria com o seguro do carro mais vendido do Brasil By Luciana Lopez and Steve Holland By Luciana Lopez and Steve Holland LAS VEGAS/COLUMBIA, S.C. (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump rolled to victory on Saturday in South Carolina in a contest that saw former Florida Governor Jeb Bush drop out, while Democratic hopeful Hillary Clinton beat back a strong challenge from Bernie Sanders in Nevada. The victories by Trump, who is running as an anti-establishment outsider, and Clinton, a preeminent political insider, solidified their positions as the front-runners to win their parties' respective nominations ahead of the Nov. 8 presidential election. The night's most prominent casualty, Bush suffered a distant fourth place finish in the Republican contest and announced he had suspended his campaign, ending his dream of becoming a third Bush president after his father and brother. "The people of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina have spoken, and I really respect their decision," an emotional Bush said in Columbia. He finished far out of the running in each of the first three states. By winning both South Carolina and New Hampshire and holding leads in 13 states that hold Republican contests on March 1, Trump was arguably on track to win the nomination, an outcome that seemed astounding to contemplate when he entered the race last summer. "It's going to be very difficult for him to be derailed at this point," said Hogan Gidley, who was a senior adviser to former Republican candidate Mike Huckabee. The 69-year-old real estate billionaire and reality TV star was declared the winner in South Carolina about an hour after polls closed, and launched into a feisty victory speech. "Let's put this thing away," Trump told cheering supporters in Spartanburg. He denounced TV pundits for saying there could be enough anti-Trump votes to beat him when the race thins further. "These geniuses," he said. "They don't understand that as people drop out, I'm going to get a lot of those votes also. You dont just add them together." Trump easily defeated Florida Senator Marco Rubio and Texas Senator Ted Cruz, who were in a close fight for second place and the right to declare themselves the anti-Trump alternative. With 99 percent of South Carolina precincts reporting, Trump had 32.5 percent, followed by Rubio with 22.5 percent and Cruz with 22.3 percent. Cruz's inability to distinguish himself from Rubio in the state was a blow to his campaign, which had invested heavily there to rally support among South Carolina's large population of evangelical voters. Trump's victory won him at least 44 of the state's 50 delegates, bringing his delegate count to 61, compared to 11 for Cruz and 10 for Rubio, according to a tally by Real Clear Politics. Republicans need 1,237 delegates to win the party nomination. SANDERS SETBACK It was Trump's second victory in a row, an outcome that frightens establishment Republicans but thrills the "throw-the-bums-out" conservative base of the party that has long been fed up with Washington. The bellicose New York billionaire had created some last-minute drama in South Carolina after Pope Francis said on Thursday his views on U.S. immigration were "not Christian." Trump, who has also advocated a ban on Muslim immigrants to counter domestic terror threats, stirred fresh controversy on Friday when he told a crowd about a U.S. general who was said to have dipped bullets in pigs' blood to kill Muslim prisoners a century ago. Former Secretary of State Clinton's victory in the Nevada Democratic caucuses, meanwhile, could help calm worries among the Democratic establishment about the strength of her campaign. Her result denied Sanders the breakthrough win he had sought in a state with a heavy minority population, but his ability to close a one-time double-digit polling lead for Clinton suggests the Democratic nominating race will be long and hard fought. With 90 percent of precincts reporting, the former first lady was leading with 52.6 percent of the vote to Sanders' 47.4 percent. Clinton's victory gave her fresh momentum as she heads into the next contest in South Carolina on Feb. 27, where polls show her with a double-digit lead largely as a result of heavy support from black voters. "Some may have doubted us, but we never doubted each other," she told cheering supporters at a victory rally in Las Vegas. "This is your campaign." Sanders vowed to fight on and set his sights on the 11 states that vote on "Super Tuesday," March 1. He predicted that when Democrats gather for their nominating convention in Philadelphia in July, "We are going to see the results of one of the great political upsets in the history of the United States." "The wind is at our backs," the Vermont senator said. "We have the momentum." After routing Clinton in New Hampshire and finishing a strong second in Iowa, states with nearly all-white populations, Sanders had hoped to prove in Nevada that he could win over black and Hispanic voters and compete nationally as the race moves to states with more diverse populations. But entrance polling in Nevada showed he badly lost among black voters, by 76 percent to 22 percent, a bad omen for South Carolina and other southern states with big black populations. He did win among Hispanics by 53 percent to 45 percent. Clinton's campaign has argued she would assert control of the Democratic race once it moved to more diverse states with black and Hispanic populations who have traditionally backed Clinton and have been slow to warm to Sanders. (Reporting by Luciana Lopez and Steve Holland; Writing by John Whitesides, Steve Holland and Richard Valdmanis; Editing by Andrew Hay and Mary Milliken) This article was funded in part by SAP. It was independently created by the Reuters editorial staff. SAP had no editorial involvement in its creation or production. Cookie banner We use cookies and other tracking technologies to improve your browsing experience on our site, show personalized content and targeted ads, analyze site traffic, and understand where our audiences come from. To learn more or opt-out, read our Cookie Policy. Please also read our Privacy Notice and Terms of Use, which became effective December 20, 2019. By choosing I Accept, you consent to our use of cookies and other tracking technologies. Bernie Sanders Photo: Darren McCollester/Getty Images Last week, the Tax Policy Center published an analysis of Marco Rubios tax plan, which it found would increase the deficit by some $8 trillion over a decade, while conferring 40 percent of its benefits to the highest-earning 1 percent. As a share of the economy, Rubios tax cuts would be nearly twice as large as the 2001 and 2003 Bush tax cuts combined. A few days later, Rubio adviser Avik Roy fired off a blistering response. The Tax Policy Center was biased, he charged, because theres long been speculation that the center had leaked an analysis of Mitt Romneys tax plan to the Obama campaign in 2012. (Len Burman, the Centers director, denied to me over email that anybody at the Center had done so.) Also, Roy charged, the Center had failed to account for the extra economic growth Rubios tax cuts would encourage. (Its true the Center did not assume Rubios plan would make the economy grow faster, but the evidence is at least as strong that debt-financed tax cuts like Rubios inhibit rather than encourage economic growth.) Roy is one of the smarter policy minds in the conservative movement. The problem is that he is working within the conservative movement, and within that movement, neutral technocratic analysis is viewed with inherent suspicion. The basic fault line within American economic policy has pitted technocratic liberalism against ideological conservatism. Liberalism is invested in ends higher incomes for most people, better health, sustainable climate, and so on which can be measured, and the means to attain it thereby adjusted. Conservatism is invested in the means smaller government which it equates with freedom, and which does not require empirical confirmation. In a recent National Review essay, Charles C.W. Cooke lists among the main accomplishments of modern conservatism the tarring and feathering of the reflexively technocratic mindset that obtained from the outset of the New Deal to the end of the 1970s. Technocracy is inimical to conservatism because it allows for the possibility of remedies conservatives would rule out on philosophical grounds. Conservative movement economists were united in their rejection of fiscal projections which showed that Bill Clintons 1993 combination of tax hikes and spending cuts would reduce the deficit, or that George W. Bushs 2001 tax cuts would explode it, and when those very things happened, nobody within the movement rethought their assumptions. Instead they dismiss technocrats as harboring suspicious counter-motives of their own, i.e. scientists claim greenhouse-gas emissions cause rising temperatures because they want to force governments to give scientists more power. Roy warns that the Tax Policy Center calculates that enormous tax cuts for the rich tend to reduce revenue and increase incomes for the rich because cutting taxes makes it harder for the government to spend more money. There is no cost within the GOP for dismissing technocratic conclusions on ideological grounds. In the Democratic Party, there is. In 2005, I wrote a little essay about the asymmetry between liberalism and conservatism the former being inherently technocratic, and the latter inherently anti-technocratic. In it I suggested the true parallel to conservatism is not liberalism but socialism. Like conservatism, but unlike liberalism, socialism has strong moral principles about markets, government, and ownership that override any measurable impacts of a specific policy. A decade ago, socialism was so remote from mainstream political debate that the comparison was theoretical. Now the Bernie Sanders campaign has made it a live issue. The Democratic Partys wonk class is being riled up over what might seem, at first blush, to be a small issue. Sanderss campaign has relied on implausibly optimistic growth forecasts to support its health-care plan, and, as Annie Lowrey explains, justified those forecasts by assailing critics as Establishment. The dispute helps firm up the somewhat nebulous question of just what Sanders means when he described himself as a socialist. Sanders has described himself as not believing in the capitalist system, but he has not taken this principle to the point of endorsing state ownership of the means of production. What Sanderss version of socialism seems to mean instead is a reflexive distrust in markets that is the ideological mirror image of conservative distrust of government. He may not be proposing to shut down Apple (any more than Ted Cruz wants to eliminate Medicare). But Sanders does not feel compelled to constrain his policies with ordinary cost-benefit calculations. If reality intrudes upon his ideological ambitions, then reality, rather than the ambitions, must give way. I am personally sympathetic to technocratic government. But it is important to concede that technocracy is not inherently correct; it is a value judgment. Its perfectly valid for tax-cutting conservatives to care more about slashing government than about how this will bear upon government revenue or access to health insurance; its likewise valid for Sanders to care more about eliminating the role of private insurance than how this will fit into his budgetary plans. Sanderss evident disdain for technocracy is not a campaign failure. Just the opposite: liberating the Democratic Party from the constraints of technocracy may be a primary goal of his political revolution. The godly Duck Dynasty patriarch, Phil Robertson, and the less godly congressman Mark Sanford are both thumping the tubs for Ted Cruz in S.C. Photo: Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images When South Carolina congressman and former governor Mark Sanford endorsed Ted Cruz Friday, some observers may have thought this was a consolation prize for the failure to secure the support of Sanfords former protegee, the much more popular and less controversial current governor Nikki Haley (who endorsed Marco Rubio earlier this week). But its important to understand that before and after his love life and hiking habits branded him forever in the national eye, Sanford was known as the closest thing to an actual libertarian who could be elected in a place like South Carolina an anti-government zealot who didnt much think public opinion or the needs of his constituents mattered when it came to keeping the public sector small and weak. Indeed, it was probably this devotion to ideological principle that made his political comeback in 2013 possible even after he had long sacrificed the support of Christian-right types offended by his marital misbehavior and his romanticization of adultery. Unusually for a Deep South Republican, Sanford has never run away from the L-word of libertarianism. And so his support for Cruz reflects a secondary and less-well-understood tactic by the fiery Texan to supplement his Christian-right backing with people who love a good solid originalist view of the Constitution even if they dont love Jesus. That became much easier the day after the Iowa caucuses, when Rand Paul folded his presidential campaign and left many libertarian orphans. Cruz may not be anything like Paul as a consistent libertarian, but he did Stand With Rand on NSA surveillance issues and opposition to U.S. intervention in Syria, not to mention hostility to longtime libertarian targets like Iowas ethanol subsidies. So maybe Sanfords support can bring some of these people across the line. Still, Cruzs primary constituency in South Carolina is better represented by another celebrity in his camp, the patriarch of the Duck Dynasty clan, Phil Robertson. He made some news today at a Cruz rally in Myrtle Beach, launching into his well-rehearsed plea to men to stop sleeping around with women or with men for hygienes sake, if not Gods: I know what God says about perversion. I mean, you know marriage is between a man and a woman. Keep your sex right there, Robertson said. Heres a report from the CDC, gentlemen. Young men, marry you a woman. Oh, dude, if shes clean, and youre clean, and you marry her you keep your sex right there, youre never going to get a debilitating disease and/or dead. Its safe! Robertson ended by praising Cruz as a staunch, Jesus Biblebelieving, Jesus-loving, godly man. A very different man of God, the Reverend Jesse Jackson, used to say the divisions between himself and more centrist Democrats didnt matter in the end because it took two wings to fly. That seems to be the Cruz campaigns philosophy as well. Footage and a photograph of Bernie Sanders being arrested at a 1963 antisegregation protest have emerged, according to the New York Times and Chicago Tribune. The Times notes a video that has been uploaded by a company called Kartemquin Films shows a young man, who the Sanders campaign confirms was the senator, being dragged away by police officers at the protest. The Tribune found an old photo of the same event: 1963 arrest photo of young activist Bernie Sanders emerges from Chicago Tribune archives https://t.co/0zYArWlYwx pic.twitter.com/bnWonq0nwn Chicago Tribune (@chicagotribune) February 20, 2016 At the time, Sanders was a 21-year-old student at the University of Chicago. The video shows his arrest on August 12, 1963, while protesting against the segregation of Chicago public schools in Englewood. He was later charged with resisting arrest and fined $25. It was Sanders himself who confirmed it was him in the video, according to his campaign. In addition, the Chicago Tribune subsequently found a photograph in their archives showing Sanderss arrest as well, which they then released early Saturday morning. (Senator Sanders also confirmed the authenticity of the photo.) The footage and image are sure to bolster Sanderss civil-rights record, a record some involved in Hillary Clintons campaign have recently called into question in the run-up to Saturdays primary in South Carolina, where the Democratic voting will be dominated by African Americans. Welcome to New York, also known as trash island. Photo: tytyeu/Getty Images/iStockphoto It will surprise no one who lives here that New Yorks waterways are filled with garbage after all, this is the city of snow trash. But a new study went to great lengths to calculate just how much garbage has landed in the various rivers, estuaries, kills, and other bodies of water that collectively stretch from the Tappan Zee Bridge to Sandy Hook. A crew from NY/NJ Baykeeper sampled 18 locations around the New York Bight and calculated that, at any given time, an estimated 165 million bits of plastic, or more than 256,000 particles per square kilometer, are floating in the waterways surrounding both states. According to the New York Times, most of the plastic particles 38 percent take the form of polystyrene, or what youd casually call Styrofoam. Other categories include fishing line, clothing fiber, pellets, and films. To come up with an accurate estimate, the team dragged a manta trawl a nine-foot net with a large open mouth that resembles a manta ray across different patches of water at two knots for 30-minute stretches, then counted the take. Based on a study of plastic pollution in the Great Lakes, they could then extrapolate that 165,840,512 pieces of plastic are bobbing around between New York and New Jersey. That includes the microbeads that were until recently used in cosmetic products, which are extremely dangerous to marine animals because they (a) absorb other toxins, and (b) are so tiny that fish accidentally eat them, taking in those toxins. Despite being banned in December, microbeads still showed up in NY/NJ Baykeepers samples, as did other types of microplastics that had broken down (but not disappeared) over time. In fact, 85 percent of plastics discovered in waterways were five millimeters or smaller. In other words, just because its not depressingly huge and visibly disgusting doesnt mean its not killing wildlife. Marc Jacobss Grand History of Power The designers contemplative, cadaverous fall 2016 collection is deeply satisfying. The faster the world moves, the more some designers want to slow its orbit. The set for Marc Jacobss show last night, at the Park Avenue Armory, was an open circle large, unobstructed, bright white. It seemed more breathing space than void, and because it was round, it represented, to me, a fundamental life pattern: What goes around the eternal return of the same But maybe because of the huge shadows cast by the models on the back wall as they entered the open space, I saw them as ghosts, and Jacobss collection as an expression of the way history remains as a trace. This is especially true of clothing, with its stock of human associations and, literally, body impressions. The Paris costume curator Olivier Saillard made this point in the performance pieces he did with Tilda Swinton a couple of years ago in Paris, in which she used gestures and words to relate historical garments to the figures who had once worn them. Even though Jacobss show contained many historical shapes silk robes and visiting dresses that might have been from around 1900, full skirts from the 50s, poufy ball gowns and furs from the glitzy 80s it was no more a trip down memory lane than Saillards pieces were. If anything, the Jacobs show was a plea to step away from the runway rat race and Instagram hustle, and take time to seriously consider things. A possible clue to his intentions was the lack of music: the models, on towering platforms, walked just to the chime of single, irregularly repeated bell tones. The shoes were another clue. Not only did they make already tall women seem ridiculously tall, but they also made them seem quite wispy, as if they might blow away. With their raccoon eyes and 1920s finger waves, the girls looked like a cross between Edward Gorey figures and the eccentric Italian heiress Luisa, Marchesa Casati, who loved a cadaverous look. (Indeed, some of the full black skirts had black cats on them that suggested Gorey. And a smudgy hand-print pattern in gray added to the ghostly vibe.) The Marc Jacobs show was a plea to step away from the runway rat race and Instagram hustle, and take time to seriously consider things. Photo: Imaxtree Another thing that struck me was the number of grand-looking clothes. Some, as I say, had overtones of the Edwardian era, others the 80s in New York a period associated with the Basses, Gutfreunds, Kravitzes, the lavish designs of Ungaro and Oscar de la Renta, and of course captured in The Bonfire of the Vanities. Those eras, though, were about power and greatness great wealth and ambition but also a swaggering claim on the future. Masters of the Universe. Viewed in the calm of the Armory, the silhouettes of dresses seemed what mostly remains of that greatness. A new generation now sets the tone. Sometimes I think a Jacobs show can get a bit old-clothesy. I felt that way a year ago about his ode to Diana Vreeland. Dreary me! But this time, in spite of the many vintage shapes, I didnt have that impression. I thought Jacobs was relying more on his feelings, on ideas and images that have been stored in his mind for years, and which he wanted to selectively relate to the present above all, perhaps, to our topsy-turvy sense of time. And he began this collection so modestly, too. I started with an oversize sweatshirt, he said backstage. And that led to In short, to a deeply satisfying experience. Maybe the time has come for Ralph Lauren to shake up his formula. Photo: Imaxtree Hoping that Ralph Lauren might change up his idyllic American style, even just a little, wont get you very far. The opening tweeds and cashmere sweaters (this season in taupe and truffle-brown with a drop of olive and loden) were determinately the same as in seasons past. Jewel-tone evening dresses in matte velvet were lovely, and Im a sucker for an 18th-century ruffled cotton shirt. But maybe the time has come for Lauren to shake up the formula of both the presentations and the low-key classics. Ornament got the better of Francisco Costas show for Calvin Klein. Photo: Imaxtree Ornament got the better of Francisco Costas show for Calvin Klein. First it was leather suspenders and black harness belts that added clutter to fairly sleek black trouser suits, and then it was smooth pieces of stone inset (by means of thin metal frames) into long silk dresses. Rock hounds can understand the appeal of organic materials, but on a cocktail dress? The idea needed more thought, or should have been skipped altogether. My favorite bit in the show was a handful of silk shifts and long-sleeve dresses in contrasting plaids and checks on a white background. They were a quick wink at grunge, and I wish Costa had kept the rest of the collection as light and unexpected. Jeffrey Dodd's strength is the simple gesture that gives a maximal effect. Photo: Courtesy of Jeffrey Dodd Jeffrey Dodd is a new designer, in his third season, but his elegant, modest sportswear merits attention. Dodd, who formerly worked as an assistant at Rachel Zoe and as a merchandiser at Ralph Lauren, focuses on tailoring in soft menswear fabrics, but in a way his strength is the simple gesture that gives a maximal effect, like a spare black evening column overlaid with close-fitting black point desprit (with the arms covered, too), or a navy hand-knitted sailing sweater, whip-stitched with tiny black leather cord, and worn with a jaunty black leather skirt. His repertoire is small, for now, but the grace notes are strong. Filtrar por Provincia Todas Formentera Ibiza Mallorca Menorca Elige una localidad Todas alaro Algaida Formentera Llucmajor Manacor Palma Sant Antoni de Portmany Sant Josep Cuando Tipo Todos Actividades para ninos Actos religiosos Auditorios Bibliotecas Charlas y conferencias Conciertos Cultura diputacion Cursos y seminarios Danza Deportes Espectaculos Exposiciones Ferias y congresos Festivales Fiestas Gastronomia Libros Mercados Museos Navidades solidarias Otros Proyecciones cine Rutas y excursiones Teatro Toros Zarzuela Precio Todos Gratis Hasta 20 Entre 20 y 50 Mas de 50 Living the Orthodox Catholic Faith in the Anglican Tradition When Russian gas giant Gazprom bought up Kyrgyzstans natural gas distribution system in 2014, some grumbled about loss of sovereignty, while others were relieved the purchase meant gas cut-offs could become a thing of the past. So there will be some dismay if Gazprom-Kyrgyzstan, as the local affiliate is called, follows through on threats to suspend gas supplies in the country. News website Zanoza.kg on February 18 reported that Olga Lavrova, Gazprom-Kyrgyzstans deputy general director for finances, said the danger of a cut-off has been precipitated by a dispute over debt with German-owned plate glass manufacturer Interglass. Because of the debts owed by Interglass, the whole of Kyrgyzstan could end up without gas, Lavrova was quoted as saying. Gazprom-Kyrgyzstan has since its incorporation been engaged in an uphill battle to force its customers to pay for the fuel that they use. Interglass is by far the largest delinquent debtor with 698 million som in unpaid bills and another 419 million som in interest outstanding on those debts, according to the gas supplier. As of February 1, that puts Interglass total debt to Gazprom at a whopping $15 million at the current rate. Related: Why Is Well Decommissioning So Slow In Canada? Lavrova said Interglass continues to use 1.2 million som worth of gas daily, while only usually paying 2-3 million som per month. Failure by the glass producer to pay its bills has caused Gazprom-Kyrgyzstan in turn to accumulate debts to its suppliers of $12.5 million, Lavrova was quoted as saying. Gazprom-Kyrgyzstan has not paid for its supplies of natural gas in November 2015. The supplier has allowed for a delay in payment, and is not charging interest, but this situation cannot go on indefinitely, Lavrova said. But if the supplier is not paid, flows of gas will come to a halt, she said. Gazprom-Kyrgyzstan says it has initiated bankruptcy proceedings against Interglass in an attempt to claw back some cash through a seizure of assets, but to no avail. Interglass apparently has no money in any of its bank accounts inside Kyrgyzstan and the companys assets are being held as collateral by a third party. Related: Oil Rally Stalls After Iran Declines to Commit to Freeze Online news agency 24.kg quoted Saltanat Djumagulova, an adviser to Gazprom-Kyrgyzstans general director, as saying that gas supplies to Interglass could be suspended within the coming two weeks unless debts are cleared. It turns out that we cannot secure the money owed to us by any means. So we have decided to cut off the company in the near future. We want to stop the further accumulation of our debts and see no other way of settling the issue, Djumagulova said. Such disputes are a far cry from the optimism that accompanied Gazproms entry into Kyrgyzstan. Back then, Gazprom was promising to invest 20 billion rubles ($560 million at the time) into upgrading the countrys aging gas distribution network and to extend the coverage of gas supply from 22 percent of the population to 66 percent. As part of the symbolic $1 purchase of Kyrgyzstans gas company, then called Kyrgyzgaz, Gazprom also agreed to saddle itself with around $40 million worth of debt. In fact, Gazprom-Kyrgyzstan in January finally paid $41.3 million owed to Kazakh supplier KazTransGaz for deliveries and unauthorized gas bleeds between 2004 and 2014. Related: Activist Investors Crushed By Oil Crash Should Gazprom-Kyrgyzstan decide it can no longer supply gas, it could further strain Russias admittedly high standing among the population. In January, Kyrgyzstans parliament voted to cancel a deal with Russian companies to build two major hydropower facilities after concluding that the projects were going nowhere. Conscious of the importance of preserving friendly ties with Moscow, on which Kyrgyzstan remains heavily dependent, President Almazbek Atambayev adopted a strikingly forgiving tone ahead of the vote in parliament. In the current situation, when the economy of Russia is not on the rise, lets just say, and the trend for oil prices is only going downward, we see that these agreements well, for objective reasons they cannot be fulfilled by the Russian side, he said. UPDATE: Gazprom-Kyrgyzstan quickly rowed back from its officials statements later on February 18 by assuring the public that natural gas supplies in Kyrgyzstan would remain stable and uninterrupted. Still, the Russian-owned company injected a hint of warning into its reassurances, which appear to have been issued in reaction to a flurry of media reports about Lavrovas possibly ill-judged remarks. The inability of Interglass to settle its accumulated debts negatively impacts Gazprom-Kyrgyzstans ability to fulfill its duties to pay for the gas that is delivered to this country, the company said in a statement. By Eurasianet More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Search This Blog A button for your sidebar "PEACE IS A BY-PRODUCT OF VICTORY. PROSPERITY IS A BY-PRODUCT OF LIBERTY AND JUSTICE. " "The cost of freedom is always high, but Americans have always paid it. And one path we shall never choose, and that is the path of surrender, or submission." - John Fitzgerald Kennedy, 35th President of the United States QUESTION: WHICH VERSION OF ISLAM DID MUHAMMED PRACTICE, "MODERATE ISLAM"OR "RADICAL ISLAM"? THE ANSWER IS THE ONLY THING YOU REALLY HAVE TO KNOW ABOUT ISLAM - AND ITS APOLOGISTS. Blog Archive Following the fall of Germany after World War II, the people of the world asked, "How did the Germans not know about the Nazi death camps?". Well, I'm asking today's world, "How can we not know about the Syrian refugee crises?" Moreover, Americans are more absorbed in the vitriolic narratives of Donald Trump than we are concerned about the human carnage going on in Syria. We have a responsibility to respond to this question and care for those suffering as a result of this humanitaran tragedy. Syrian Refugee "death" Crisis - How can the world not know this is happening? Frankly, I'm embarassed about how Donald Trump's presidential campaign gets top billing over world news. American media pander for viewer ratings by giving Donald Trump all the free exposure he absorbs, like quicksand. Yet, they're ignoring the Syrian refugee crisis, the horrific destruction of the city of Aleppo, the deaths of children by drowning as families flee from Greece to Turkey across the Aegean Sea and desperate people who are dying from starvation as part of President Bashar al-Assad's campaign of tyranny to win a revolution he has the power to stop. In fact, the Turkish and Italian Coast Guards are picking up the bodies of drowned children like dead fish, as they suffer with their families in over capacity capsized boats, trying to reach Turkey. Here is a link to a fact filled website with informaton Americans and the world must know about the Syrian refugee crises. In fact, the Syrian refugee crises is the largest humanitarian disaster happening in the world today and the ramifications from the tragedy will remain with us for generations. It's unconcianable for the world to continue to let this crises continue, especially when the solution is to eliminate Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. In fact, Assad is one mortal man. He must receive justice for the murder and forced dislocaiton of tens of thousands (by some counts, even millions) of his own people, plus the resulting annihilation of his country, as a result of a civil war he could've stopped. Tragically, Assad won't stop the horrendous Syrian civil war. He won't stop it because doing so will put his life on trial and, besides, Russia's President Putin is propping him up like the corpse at an old fashioned Irish wake. What you need to know: Crisis in Syria, refugees, and the impact on children - http://www.worldvision.org/news-stories-videos/syria-war-refugee-crisis#sthash.Bxw03ril.dpuf Syria crisis: Fast facts 13.5 million people in Syria need humanitarian assistance. 4.6 million Syrians are refugees, and 6.6 million are displaced within Syria; half are children . . Most Syrian refugees remain in the Middle East, in Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, and Egypt; about 10 percent of the refugees have fled to Europe. Children affected by the Syrian conflict are at risk of becoming ill, malnourished, abused, or exploited. Millions have been forced to quit school. Why are Syrians fleeing their homes? Violence: Since the Syrian civil war began, 320,000 people have been killed, including nearly 12,000 children . About 1.5 million people have been wounded or permanently disabled, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.4 The war has become more deadly since foreign powers joined the conflict. . About 1.5 million people have been wounded or permanently disabled, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.4 The war has become more deadly since foreign powers joined the conflict. Collapsed infrastructure: Within Syria, healthcare, education systems, and other infrastructure have been destroyed; the economy is shattered. Childrens safety: Syrian children the nations hope for a better future have lost loved ones, suffered injuries, missed years of schooling, and witnessed violence and brutality. Warring parties forcibly recruit children to serve as fighters, human shields, and in support roles, according to the U.S. State Department. Eventually, President Assad and Russia's Czar Putin will die, but the Syrian refugee crises will continue to unfold after hose two are into rigor mortis. Will powerful people, those who were able to help resolve the Syrian crises, be able to face the consequences of having done nothing when they are asked, "How could you not know?". Labels: Aegean Sea, Bashar al Assad, Vladimir Putin, World War II When the leaders of two major religions get together, you can bet something is afoot. The meeting between Pope Francis and Patriarch Kyrill in Cuba is not only a divine signal that the normalization and packaging of the socialist island on America's doorstep for the enjoyment and profit of the liberal world is proceeding apace. It also signals that Russian President Vladimir Putin's campaign against what he calls "the degradation and primitivization of Western culture" is bringing the two schools of Catholicism together in what is shaping up as an ecumenical campaign. I had the privilege of knowing both Raul, Cuba's current president, and Fidel, the leader of the revoution, between 1963 and 1965, when I investigated the reasons why they and their companions made the revolution. Then - and for a long time afterwards - religion was seen as 'the opium of the masses', in Marx's famous words, cautioning the rule of the few over the many. But even before Vladimir Putin came to power in Russia, the official attitude toward religion in Cuba became more relaxed, and I'm certain that although it welcomed increased trade with the West, anything goes capitalism, in which 'stuff' is seen as the purpose of life remains abhorrent to most Cubans, making their country a uniquely appropriate choice for the historical meeting of the two men in white. Although it will take a while for them to reverse a millennium of collaboration between their respective churches and mammon, it seems clear from Francis' repeated pronouncements and Kyrill's support for President Putin, that Catholicism is moving to the side of the many. February 18th My forecast has just been confirmed in spades: At a mass on the US border on his last day in Mexico, Francis declared that anyone who builds walls is not a Christian, hitting Donald Trump right between the eyes, in a David/Goliath match. The Donald fired back that when ISIS targets the Vatican the Pope will be sorry he didn't get Donald to build a wall. Anchors were quick to note that the Pope's criticism of Donald was as contrary to Christian teachings as the building of walls, but they failed to note that there is already a wall around the Vatican, which is known as 'the walled city'. Nor did they appear to notice that the Pope's scolding shows him unequivocally on the side of the many rather than of the builders of golden towers. The incident, which is bound to have long legs, reminded me of the incident in 1944 when British Prime Minister Churchill told Stalin that his country was honor bound to come to the aid of Catholic Poland, and Stalin's quip: "How many divisions does the Pope have?" become what was probably the Cold War's only joke. The biggest irony, however, is that in our day the Pope, the Patriarch, and members of every other clergy, have the equivalent of many military divisions on-line. Doubtless Frances and Kyrill have concluded that if ISIS can influence minds electronically, they can too. In addition, they can fly around the world like so many angels coming to life before amazed parishioners to tell them that 'things' are not what life is about. Claiming a Russian desire to recreate the Soviet Union, with its satellites in Eastern Europe, NATO has inched its way right up to Russia's borders, in defiance of President Reagan's promise to Gorbachev that it would not move an inch from Germany. Putin knows that NATO's goal is to get at Russia's treasure trove of minerals but he has no intention of invading the Baltic countries anymore than he took the bait in Georgia in 2008, or in Ukraine, that would provide a pretext for invasion. He is concentrating on changing minds and unlike Stalin, he can count the Pope's support. Christianity started with Jesus' challenge to the money-changers of the Jewish temple. Inevitably, the sale of indulgences giving rise to a Protestantism that eventually outdid Catholicism in its devotion to Mammon. The industrial revolution, followed by the electronic revolution, created cowboy capitalism, which led to the 'me' society, unapologetically devoted to the pursuit of 'stuff', in which every human endeavor has a price tag . On the other side of he planet, from the downfall of the Tzars in 1917, until the election of Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Russian Orthodox Church was barely tolerated in a country that officially espoused atheism as it tried to level incomes. During the first post-Soviet decade, under President Boris Yelstin, Russia was inducted into the 'me' society, many of its most ardent exponents ending up, with or without their millions, in the West. Luckily, Vladimir Putin was young and fit, for he confronted the mammoth task of more evenly dividing the capitalist spoils among his citizens. A just published poll shows that half of Russians would favor a return to a planned economy over market capitalism's free-for-all. By inference, it sheds light on support for a president who while not disdaining comfort, appeals to a more traditional lifestyle, something like the 1950's America's two-parent families with dishwashers. With the blessing of the Russian president, the leaders of Cuba, and their enlightened southern counterparts, Kyrill and Francis have enrolled their 'divisions' in the combat against 'stuff' that goes hand in hand with the literal 'saving' of the world's poorest - and the planet. I voted (Image by Tobyotter) Details DMCA by Walter Brasch Like millions of Americans in the middle of February I have the flu. Unlike millions of Americans I have a deadline. Forced to stay at home, sucking Vitamin C drops, I have read newspapers, listened to radio, and watched television as a source of diversion. Dominating the media is the campaign for the presidency. In Iowa, all of the candidates went to fairs, restaurants, and anywhere there was any sign of carbon-based organic life to grab votes. Because hogs and corn stalks haven't yet been granted the right to vote, the candidates resorted to talking with humans, and making sure that everyone got more useless swag than the presenters at the TV awards shows. The newspaper reporters were doing their best to report interactions between candidates and humans; the TV reporters were reporting on the polls. Very few were asking the tough questions. When the votes in the caucuses were finally decided, Hillary Rodham Clinton barely edged Bernie Sanders on the Democratic ticket. However, it was a victory for Sanders who was getting single digit acceptance a few months ago; for Clinton, it was a hit in the head that she needed to revitalize her campaign. For the Republicans, Donald Trump, as expected, continued spewing insults at his rivals, shouting about immigrants and building something along the U.S.--Mexican border that would make the Great Wall of China look like a picket fence. Sugar-coating his own rhetoric, he somehow convinced Iowans that America was no longer great, but in his hands, which were holding up his ego, he would make America great again. One of his solutions was he "would bomb the sh*t" out of them. He never explained how he was going to do that with a nation and military that he thought wasn't so great. Nevertheless, Iowa Republicans swooned over his carnival squeals and delivered him a blue ribbon victory. Minutes after the election results were announced, the candidates, trailed by a horde of byline hungry reporters, began their rapid descent upon New Hampshire, where they shampooed, rinsed, and repeated their assault upon anything with a heartbeat. The Republicans increased their attacks on President Obama, renewed attacks on Hillary Clinton's e-mails, and erroneously called Bernie Sanders a Communist. Underlying their vitriol for Democrats was a pile of vitriol of each other, invoking the legacy of Ronald Reagan while grossly violating his 11th commandment that Republicans should not be attacking each other. For Clinton and Sanders, their own debate was more like a sharp discussion of issues rather than personal attacks. When the votes came in, Trump again got the plurality, but Ohio Gov. John Kasich surprised the media and the poll analysts by coming in second. Two candidates dropped out of the race; the rest scrambled their positions and staff trying to figure out why they no longer were second or third, and what to do to body-slam Trump who was scoring points by pretending to be an extreme conservative by launching an even greater fusillade of insults at what he believed were a bunch of wannabe losers. By the time the candidates and reporter menagerie made it to South Carolina, Sarah Palin and Donald Trump were basking in a love fest while Nikki Haley, governor of the third state in the primary shuffle declared her support for Marco Rubio and not Jeb Bush. To account for that insult, the former Florida governor brought in the heavy artillery--his father, the 41st president and his brother, the 43rd president, a reminder to the voters that the Bush genetic markers called for another Bush to surround the White House. Somewhere during the campaign, the candidates stopped long enough to pretend they were in a legitimate debate. For the Republicans, it was a case of Trump vs. The Other Guys, all of whom seemed to be trying to get media attention.Sometime between the New Hampshire and South Carolina primaries, Supreme Court associate justice Antonin Scalia died. Within minutes, Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell declared he would block any nomination that President Obama presented for confirmation. The other Republican leaders and presidential candidates picked up the message and ran with it, declaring that a president in the his final year should not nominate a Supreme Court justice, fearful that any nominee would be a liberal whose presence on the Court would turn it from a 5--4 conservative majority to a 5--4 liberal majority. Barack Obama, backed by most elected Democrats, said he was still the president and would fulfill his constitutional responsibility to make nominations. By the time the gaggle of reporters and what's left of the candidates limp into Super Tuesday, March 1, the public will be burdened by the last of the presidential swag and hoping that everyone--candidates, on-air reporters, and bloviators--get laryngitis. As for me, hopefully my flu will be over and I'll be able to find amusement in something other than a flush caused by high volume egotistical hyperbole laced with half-truths and statements, all of which are enough to inflate my blood pressure. [Dr. Brasch is an award-winning columnist and author of 21 books; his latest book, published this week, is Fracking America: Sacrificing Health and the Environment for Short-Term Economic Benefit.] Next Page 1 | 2 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). Pakistan lifted sanctions on Iran ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Friday lifted the sanctions on Iran pursuant to United Nations Security Council Resolution 2231, said a statement issued by the Finance Ministry. The modalities for lifting of sanctions were finalised in an inter-ministerial meeting chaired by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar. A formal notification has been issued to this effect by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs after the meeting. This would revive economic and commercial relationship between Pakistan and Iran, including in the areas of trade, investment, technology, banking, finance and energy. All previous notifications giving effect to UN Security Council sanctions on Iran stand repealed with the issuance of the new notification by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the statement said. Pakistan had welcomed the Joint Comprehensive Programme of Action (JCPOA) agreed between Iran and European Union, China, the United States, Germany, France, the United Kingdom and the Russian Federation. Pakistan also appreciates the steps taken by Iran for the implementation of the JCPOA. It would enable the two countries to fully reinvigorate various bilateral and multilateral arrangements for promoting investments and cooperation in across all sectors including banking, finance, industry and energy, the statement said. In Resolution 2231, dated July 20, 2015, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) unanimously endorsed the Iran nuclear deal of July 14, 2015. On December 2, 2015 Iran was confirmed by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to have fulfilled its commitments under the deal. Accordingly, seven UNSC resolutions were terminated on January 16, 2016 and $100 billion worth of frozen financial assets released as part of the lifting of sanctions. But unilateral US sanctions remain against its alleged missiles programme, while Tehran denounced them as legally and morally illegitimate. Earlier this year, Japan also lifted its sanctions on Tehran, falling in line with major world powers after the United Nations atomic energy agency confirmed that Tehran had fully taken steps to curb its disputed nuclear programme. Iran emerged from years of economic isolation when the US and other countries lifted crippling sanctions against the Islamic republic. Tens of billions of dollars worth of Iranian assets are now unfrozen and global companies that have been barred from doing business there will be able to exploit a market hungry for everything from automobiles to airplane parts. With the lifting of the sanctions, Japanese insurance companies will be able to issue policies covering trade deals involving Iran. Japanese business will also be able make new investments in Irans oil and gas sector. Separately, a delegation of Saudi oil company Aramco, led by its vice chairman, Abdul Aziz M Al-Judaimi, called on Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on Friday and expressed the companys interest in investing in the oil refineries and power sector of Pakistan. Judaimi stated that the purpose of the visit was to explore investment opportunities in the energy and petrochemical sectors. Pakistan is not only a large market, it also provides access to other markets in the region, therefore, Aramco would be looking at making investment in refineries and power stations, he said. Judaimi informed that a technical team would visit Pakistan soon to seek further details about various potential projects. He said that the visit was being undertaken under the direction of Prince Muhammad Bin Salman Al Saud, the deputy crown prince of Saudi Arabia. The finance minister welcomed the delegation and hoped that the visit will lead to further strengthening of economic relations between the two countries. He referred to the special interest of the Saudi leadership in the development of Pakistan and recalled his visit to Saudi Arabia during which many Saudi companies had indicated their interest in the investment opportunities in Pakistan. He said Pakistan offered a very attractive incentive package for foreign investors and Saudi investors must make use of it for mutual benefit of the two sides. Item No "x x x. The elements of the crime of theft as provided for in Article 308 9 of the Revised Penal Code are as follows: (1) t... Pakistani investigators to visit India next month ISLAMABAD: A team of Pakistani investigators is likely to visit India next month for collecting evidence relating to alleged involvement of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terrorists in the Pathankot airbase attack. The investigation teams visit is expected, a senior diplomat told Dawn on Friday, adding that dates for the visit were yet to be finalised. The registration of FIR by the Counter-Terrorism Department of Punjab police has, however, paved the way for the visit of the six-member investigation team constituted by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif weeks after the attack on the airbase on Jan 2. The investigation team will visit the site of the attack and collect evidence related to Indian claim that the terrorist strike was planned in Pakistan and executed by a group of four persons who had crossed the border into Pathankot. The investigators will also meet officials of Indias National Investigating Agency investigating the attack. Pakistans High Commissioner Abdul Basit held a meeting with Indian Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar on Thursday and informed him about the registration of the FIR in the case. The FIR will provide a legal basis for taking the investigation forward. The federal government, while seeking the lodging of FIR, had said that a first information report may be registered . and investigation may be conducted so as to identify the culprits involved in the offence and bring them to trial in accordance with the law. India, a diplomatic source said, was ready to receive the Pakistani team and facilitate it in investigations. The decision regarding cooperation with Pakistan was taken at a meeting in Delhi presided over by Indian National Security Adviser Ajit Doval in which issues relating to the visit of the Pakistani team were discussed. Mr Doval has been in touch with his Pakistani counterpart Gen Nasser Khan Janjua since the attack happened. Conversations between the two helped prevent the Pathankot incident turning into a major crisis in the relationship, although it delayed the foreign secretaries meeting for deciding timetable and modalities of the Comprehensive Bilateral Dialogue. Although there was no formal reaction to the registration of FIR, a diplomatic source said the move had been received well in Delhi, where the authorities were seeing it as a move in the right direction. India had earlier welcomed the Pakistan governments crackdown on Jaish-e-Mohammad as important and positive first step, but insisted on credible and comprehensive action against perpetrators of Pathankot attack. There is, meanwhile, still no progress on the rescheduling of the foreign secretaries meeting. The development regarding the registration of FIR has happened at a time when diplomats in Delhi and Islamabad are exploring the possibility of a meeting of Prime Ministers Nawaz Sharif and Narendra Modi in Washington next month on the sidelines of Nuclear Security Summit. A meeting between the two leaders on the margins of the Climate Change Summit in Paris on Nov 30 initiated a thaw in relations, after which the two countries agreed on resuming the dialogue on outstanding issues under the new name of Comprehensive Bilateral Dialogue. In March of 1821, 195 years ago, the legislature in Albany approved the new town of Victory subdivided from the Revolutionary War military tract township known as Cato. There were 25 original military tract towns established by a number in 1781 in New York state. The names assigned in 1790 were Aurelius, Brutus, Camillus, Cato, Cicero, Cincinnatus, Dryden, Fabius, Hannibal, Hector, Homer, Locke, Lysander, Manlius, Marcellus, Milton, Ovid, Pompey, Romulus, Scipio, Sempronius, Solon, Tully, Ulysses and Virgil. The towns of Galen, Junius and Sterling were added after 1791. These names are thought to be designated by Robert Harpur, a classical scholar, who worked in the office of the state surveyor general, Simeon DeWitt of Ithaca. As was the case in the Civil War, Congress required states to raise regiments and a quota of men to serve in the Revolutionary War in 1776. Congress needed 88 battalions of men for the war and based on population, New York state was to provide four regiments. With a surplus of land, the government guaranteed every soldier bounty of 100 acres if they served until the end of the war. This was later increased to 600 acres per lot, of which there were 100 lots in each township in central New York. Within all military townships, six lots were retained for churches, schools and businesses. There was also a compensation for swamp lands in each town. The 23 towns in Cayuga County today were all part of the eight original military tract townships and also part of the Cayuga Indian Nation reservation. Land outside the military tracts near Cayuga Lake and Onondaga Lake were left to the First Nations, the Iroquois, as an agreement for signing over the tract in 1789. Subsequent treaties between the First Nations and New York state are still being disputed today. In 1781, General Cornwallis surrendered to end the Revolutionary War, and the Treaty of Paris with Great Britain was signed in 1783. In 1791 the town lots were drawn and distributed to soldiers or their heirs. Soldiers waited for land to be surveyed in 1790 and many sold their claim to area settlers. Here are the classical connections of a few of the towns: Aurelius was probably named for Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, 180-121 B.C., a Roman emperor portrayed by Richard Harris in Gladiator in 2000, defending Rome from enemies. Cato may have been named for Cato the Elder, Marcus Porcius Cato, 234-149 B.C., a statesman and moralist who recommended the destruction of Carthage. Also, Cato the Younger, named Marcus Porcius Cato, 95-46 B.C., great-grandson of Cato the Elder, was a supporter of Pompey in the dispute with Julius Caesar. Brutus (Weedsport) was a Roman surname, and Marcus Junius Brutus, 85-42 B.C., was one of the assassins of Caesar from Shakespeares play Julius Caesar." Sterling (Stirling) may refer to William Alexander, Earl of Stirling (1567-1640), an English poet; to James Stirling, 1692-1770, a great Scottish mathematician; or to Lord William Alexander Sterling, a Revolutionary War officer. Thank you to Bernie Corcoran for his research on the Cayuga County NYGenWeb Project. Now, back to the thought of winter, as it seems to be making itself known again. A picture is included from the past, circa 1947, when a blizzard hit Victory over 65 years ago and blanketed the county with lots of snow. A little girl, Ginny Jones, from Victory, played with her pony and wagon in the snow by Old State Road and the old town highway barn. From Greg Swank, 12-4-2 You are about to read a list of 45 goals that found their way down the halls of our great Capitol back in 1963. As... Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. AUBURN John Ryan's farewell from Daikin Applied wasn't filled with balloons, cake or any kind of company-wide celebration. Instead, the 50-year-old was greeted Friday afternoon in the parking lot by friends and family after walking out the door for the last time after 30 years of employment with what was formerly one of the largest employers in Cayuga County. Ryan was one of the last hourly employees to finish working for the company, leaving only the janitorial staff and a few of the salaried employees left behind. Daikin Applied, which specializes in manufacturing building management equipment, announced in 2013 that the plant was shutting down, leaving more than 300 employees without jobs. Initially the plan was to shut down by December 2014, but the plans were extended through 2015. The plant's operations were scheduled to be moved to Mexico. "So it's like you're told one day and then you gradually see the place decrease, decline and of course you are going to find another job," he said. "But it's the people that you live with every day for eight hours a day, 40 hours a week and then some." Ryan began working with the company in 1986 when the facility was on Columbus Street before it moved to its current location at the Technology Park site off North Division Street. He said he got the job after his sister, Kathy Ryan-Rainone, started working there in 1981. She left the company in 2004. First traveling across the state servicing air conditioners, John Ryan worked his way up to becoming group leader of the shipping department where he managed a staff of 12-13 employees. "You'd think it'd be a good thing to be one of the last people here. It was the worst thing, because your friends left every week, every month," he said. "Then you turn around the last day to walk out the door to say goodbye and there's nobody there." He said members of the maintenance staff have to remain in the building and continue working to clean up and make sure the pipes don't freeze. John Ryan said he is in the process of securing another job, understanding he will once again have to start from the bottom and prove himself as a quality employee. "It was a lot of fun. We had a lot of fun. I couldn't wait to go to work in the morning. Then toward the end it got real depressing," he said. For years now, the state Legislature's pretty much ignored, or assigned to death-by-committee, a variety of bills that would mandate fines for those who drove vehicles with roofs piled high with snow and ice. One bill, sponsored by Assemblywoman Shelley Mayer, D-Yonkers, would make it a violation to drive a vehicle on a public thoroughfare with an "accumulation of snow, sleet or hail on the roof or cargo of the vehicle in excess of three inches." Revenue from the fines would help fund a safety campaign to remind drivers of the dangers of ice falling from uncleaned vehicles. Fines would also cover the cost of setting up special roadside stations so truckers can keep snow and ice off their rigs. Mayer has worked to get legislation through every year since she took office in 2012; then-Assemblyman and now-Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano carried the bill before that. Mayer said there are other paths to addressing a snow-removal mandate; for example, the governor could include money for snow-clearing stations at truck and rest stops. So far this session, Mayer's bill is stuck in the Assembly's transportation committee and there's no "same as" in the Senate. "We would be very wise, sooner rather than later, to enact some laws to deal with it before we really regret (it)," Mayer told the Editorial Board. We had a close call last year on the Tappan Zee Bridge. A 23-year-old Valhalla man received dozens of stitches to close a gaping wound on his forehead after a chunk of ice came crashing through the windshield of his Subaru. Even though New York has no law mandating snow and ice removal from vehicles, damage after-the-fact can earn a violation. "You are responsible for things in or on your vehicle," New York State Police Sgt. William Collins said last February after state police (unsuccessfully) sought the trucker whose rig shed the iceblock that caused havoc on the bridge. We may not (yet) have a law that mandates clearing your vehicle's roof. But that's hardly a reason not to take a few extra minutes and make sure you're not commandeering an ice- and snow-piled vehicle on slippery roads. The Journal News When they're on the stump, it's easy for presidential candidates to make promises. Only one of them will win the election in any given campaign cycle, so no one will care that all the others can't keep their word. And for the one who reaches the White House, there will be plenty of time to come up with excuses as to why his or her specific pledges never came about. U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., wants to make college tuition free and debt free. Real estate developer Donald Trump said he would build a wall between the United States and Mexico and he'd make Mexico pay for it. If one of these men is actually elected president, don't be surprised if his landmark promise doesn't come to pass. Both pledges, and all the major ideas offered by the other candidates, face uphill battles. Most presidents attained their offices on deals that, yes, were too good to be true. Lyndon Johnson wanted to eliminate poverty. Richard Nixon declared a war on cancer. Harry Truman called for universal health care for everyone. While campaigning for the presidency, Barack Obama made closing Guantanamo Bay one of his the cornerstones of his platform. And while Mr. Obama has been in office for seven years, Gitmo still hosts prisoners. That's because presidential candidates often neglect to mention that many of their promises require congressional approval. So it's nice to hear the candidates rattle off their lists of pledges just as long as we keep in mind what stands in the way of these offers becoming reality. With the Iowa caucus and New Hampshire primary out of the way, we find ourselves well into the race for the White House. The New York primary will be held in two months, which means the candidates will be canvassing the Empire State before too long. So we'll soon hear from the candidates up close and personal about what they'd like to achieve. And while it's helpful to know what proposals they'd like to work on once in office, there is a more important question we need to ask them while we have their attention. How does each of them plan to work with a divided Congress in reaching a consensus on the ideas they've put forth? The Daily Times, Watertown The announcement that NATO would send ships to patrol the Aegean in an effort to break up the smuggling rings ferrying desperate refugees and migrants from Turkey to Greece is, at this point, more a symbolic show of solidarity than anything else. Gen. Philip Breedlove of the United States Air Force, NATO's supreme allied commander for Europe, said last week that the mission had "literally come together in the last 20 hours" and that he had been asked to "go back and define the mission." Part of that mission must be to help refugees at risk. Last year, 3,800 people drowned trying to cross the sea to Europe, and more than 400 have already drowned this year, many of them children. Frontex, the European Union border agency, and the Greek Coast Guard have simply not been able to cope. Concern for refugees' safety was not, however, the reason Germany, Greece and Turkey the three countries most affected by the crisis asked NATO for help. The main concern is political: public dismay at the prospect that the tide of refugees shows no sign of abating. This is an especially critical issue for Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, who has met with the Turkish government six times in an effort to enlist its help to stem the flow of refugees. Her popularity has plummeted as Germans have soured on an open-arms approach that saw more than a million asylum seekers arrive in Germany last year alone. Meanwhile, with its economy still in tatters and refugees continuing to arrive at a rate of nearly 2,000 a day, Greece stands accused by the European Union of bungling the processing of the applications of more than 800,000 asylum seekers who arrived on its shores last year, then allowing people to continue overland to Germany and other destination countries. So far, only 497 people have been relocated. That paltry number speaks volumes about the real crisis unleashed in Europe by the refugee influx, one that NATO ships in the Aegean cannot solve: the failure of European Union member states to forge a united, humane response to the tide of desperate humanity seeking help. The New York Times For full functionality of this site it is necessary to enable JavaScript. Here are the instructions how to enable JavaScript in your web browser Australia's one-term Prime Minister above ... Events of interest from a libertarian/conservative perspective below Two major city of Flagstaff projects, the Rio de Flag flood control project and a long-term care veterans home, are getting closer to federal funding. U.S. Rep. Ann Kirkpatricks office announced Wednesday that she had secured $1.25 million in the 2017 federal budget for the Rio de Flag flood control project. The money is slated for tree removal and grass work on the Clay Avenue detention basin, landscaping and rip rap near the Butler channel. Rip rap is rock or other material that is used to line a shoreline or streambed to prevent erosion. Some of the money will also go to completing the limited re-evaluation report for the project. The report will give the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the city a better idea of the cost of the project. The original cost of the project was $24 million. It now has an estimated cost of $106 million. The citys share of the updated cost would be about $37.3 million. Flagstaff Mayor Jerry Nabours said he and several members of staff and Flagstaff City Council met with representatives from the Corps of Engineers a few weeks ago and were told that the money had been approved to finish these projects. The Rio de Flag flood control project is designed to channel the water from a 100-year flood away from the citys center. The city and federal government have been working on the project since 2000. The Clay Avenue basin was finished in 2009 but the earthen embankment around it was not built to specifications and it started to crack and settle. At the same time, an Arizona Senate bill, SB 1114, that would provide state funding for a long-term care veterans home in Flagstaff passed the Senate Public Safety, Military and Technology Committee last week by a 5 to 0 vote with one member, John Kavanagh, not voting. The bill is currently being held in the Senate Appropriations Committee. Councilmember Jeff Oravits said the bill is supposed to come up for a hearing in the Senate Appropriations Committee next week. This will be the real test, Nabours said. A similar bill, HB 2329, is waiting for a hearing in the Arizona House Appropriations Committee. It passed the House Military Affairs and Public Safety Committee on Feb. 4 by a 6 to 2 vote. I would like to see this pass as a stand-alone bill, Oravits said. But Speaker of the House David Gowan has pledged that if the bill does not pass, he will put a request into the Legislative budget. The two bills would set aside $10 million from the Arizona Department of Veteran Services budget for the home. The $10 million would cover about one-third of the cost to build the facility. Once the state sets aside the money, the federal government will put the project on a waiting list for funds to cover the remaining $20 million price tag. The city of Flagstaff has already donated land for the project on McMillan Mesa. The Arizona Chamber Foundation and the Prosper Foundation just released their joint policy brief entitled, The Proposed Grand Canyon Watershed National Monument: A Monumental Mistake? If you didnt think a policy paper on state and federal land management could be a page-turner, then you havent read this paper. It provides a perfect snapshot of an administration in D.C. that is completely out of touch with the unique issues facing the West. The paper was the centerpiece of the discussion at the latest Arizona Chamber Leadership Series breakfast, which featured a conversation with Sen. John McCain and former Sen. Jon Kyl. On the issues that will profoundly affect Arizonas future, like water, fire and land management, you wont find two leaders with their depth of experience and insight. Ten years ago, Time magazine named Sen. McCain and then-Sen. Kyl two of the nations 10 Best U.S. Senators. Arizona was the only state to have both of its senators on the list. A decade later, their teamwork is still impacting Arizona in a positive way. The senators message was that we should all be very wary of the federal governments attempts to manage Arizonas land and water resources. The foundations analysis centers on President Obamas proposed designation of 1.7 million acres of northern Arizona as the Grand Canyon Watershed National Monument. Arizona and the federal government have historically enjoyed a multiple-use partnership on the almost 70 percent of land in the state that is federally controlled. With less than 20 percent of land in Arizona in private hands, the multiple-use relationship has been a critical component of the states economic vitality. President Obamas proposed monument designation completely upends that partnership, though, drastically reducing public access, impeding efficient land management, representing unwarranted and unwanted federal overreach, according to the paper. This new monument designation would not be the first time the feds overreached into Arizonas environmental management. Theres the EPAs carbon emission reduction plan, which is likely to lead to higher energy bills for Arizona ratepayers; the Waters of the U.S. rule, which would bring vast swaths of land under federal jurisdiction; a proposed EPA ozone rule that would put the entire state into a non-attainment status; an exceptional events rule that has the feds wagging their finger at us for dust storms we cant control; and the Endangered Species Act that affects dozens of species in Arizona and hamstrings our economic development. The president is relying on the over-100-year-old Antiquities Act to make his Grand Canyon land grab. Most of the state north of the Grand Canyon and a significant area between the entrance to Grand Canyon National Park and Flagstaff would be affected. Were talking about an area larger than the state of Delaware, making it the second-largest on-land national monument. And it would encompass 64,000 acres of Arizonas State Land Trust, assets that are intended to help a variety of beneficiaries, including the states K-12 schools. As the paper states, by locking up 64,000 acres of State Trust Land, the national monument would deny the beneficial use to the State Land Trust and its beneficiaries. The president is proposing a solution in search of a problem. No one would argue that the Grand Canyon, one of the seven natural wonders of the world, doesnt deserve protection. But most of the land that would be federalized is far from the Grand Canyon. As for the watershed part, its not even clear how much of the land is real watershed. Federalizing land doesnt necessarily preserve an areas flora and fauna. In 1999, there were more than 100 big horn sheep in the area that was later designated the Sonoran Desert National Monument. But once it became more difficult for the Arizona Department of Game and Fish to access the area and provide new water sources, the sheep population has plummeted to fewer than 35 today. If youre looking to Washington to manage your states land and wildlife, youve got problems. The Grand Canyon Watershed National Monument proposal is one that should be permanently shelved, and we in the West must send that message to the administration. Arizonas ability to grow economically is directly tied to its ability to effectively manage its land and resources. Bureaucrats in Washington already hold sway over 70 percent of the land in Arizona. They dont need any more. Starting Monday, Arizona Department of Transportation crews will be preparing foundations for a new overhead electronic message sign on Milton Road between University and Forest Meadows in Flagstaff. Monday through Wednesday, southbound travel on Milton will be restricted to accommodate crews working on the west side of the roadway. Work will take place during evening hours from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. ADOT works to inform the public about planned highway restrictions, but there is a possibility that unscheduled closures or restrictions may occur. Weather can also affect a project schedule. To stay up-to-date with the latest highway conditions around the state, visit the ADOT Traveler Information Center at www.az511.gov or call 511. GLENS FALLS Acting Glens Falls Police Chief Michelle Arnold has decided not to take the civil service test to become permanent chief, leaving city leaders to figure out whether to appoint a new chief, even as some of them push to disband the police department. Arnold notified Mayor Jack Diamond and the city Board of Public Safety on Thursday that she would not take the civil service test, scheduled for next month, that is required for her to be appointed chief. Diamond said Arnold has agreed to stay on as acting chief as long as needed, and the Board of Public Safety will discuss the issue in the coming weeks. Chief Arnold has done a great job and Im still hoping she will change her mind, he said. Arnold acknowledged in an email Friday she had decided not to take the chief test, saying it was for personal reasons about which she did not want to elaborate. The possibility of the chiefs job being phased out as part of any transfer of police duties to the Warren County Sheriffs Office was a significant part of Arnolds decision, Diamond acknowledged. Arnold would have no longer been a member of the Glens Falls Police Benevolent Association, the union that represents Glens Falls Police officers, if she became the permanent chief. Losing that union protection was a concern for her, Diamond said. Diamond said he understands the uncertainty among officers as consolidation discussions continue. Diamond has been negotiating with Warren County leaders over disbanding the Police Department and having the Warren County Sheriffs Office police the city. A majority of Glens Falls Police officers would transfer to Warren County, but at least four supervisory positions would be eliminated. The two supervisors below Arnold on the departments organizational chart are Capt. Tony Lydon and Detective Lt. Peter Casertino. Lydon took the captain position when Arnold, who had been captain, was named acting chief to replace the retired chief, Will Valenza, in December 2014. Im waiting to see what the city does, Lydon said. This was all sudden and I dont think anyone has made any plans for whats going to happen. Casertino said he does not have interest in the chief position, but he praised Arnolds efforts over the last 15 months. Shes very fair with everyone. Shes done an outstanding job, he said. FORT EDWARD | The Washington County Board of Supervisors was urged Friday to increase its focus on tourism and to do it soon because time is running out to promote events in the summer. A group calling itself Battenkill Valley, which represents the chambers of commerce of Greenwich, Salem and Cambridge, appeared before the board to express its concerns about lack of tourism promotion. The board last year did not renew the contract of Tourism Director Christine Hoffer and plans to hire a consultant to assess how to promote the county. Suzanne Becker, president of the Greater Greenwich Chamber of Commerce, said there needs to be a designated person to handle tourism marketing, including booking advertising space in national and regional publications to promote upcoming events. Deadlines for those publications are coming up in April and May, according to Becker. Without this promotion, the county will miss out on potentially thousands of visitors coming in and spending money at local businesses such as her floral shop. This is crucially important to keeping Washington County and the people and the businesses and our way of life viable, she said. The group booked one ad so far in a Capital Region tourism brochure, but Becker said these business owners cannot take on the promotion role. We are all volunteers that run around like crazy doing what we do, she said. Jay Kerr, artistic director of the Fort Salem Theater, said there are many different kinds of tourism including cultural, agricultural and recreational. He and his wife first fell in love with Washington County during a visit from Manhattan in 2001. They ended up moving to the area full time in 2006. Kerr said the group was speaking on behalf of the 600 businesses that are concerned with the policies of the Board of Supervisors. They are working to make southern Washington County a destination. Were just trying to keep our financial heads above water and weve come here to ask for your help, he said. Hebron Supervisor Brian Campbell said the county was not aware that the chambers were working this closely together. Theres a lot of things that maybe weve missed along the way that have been brought to our attention, he said. Board Chairman Bob Henke said the supervisors support tourism efforts and still have funding available. I think our only problem is exactly how we want to have it done, he said. It is tough to quantify how effective tourism promotion efforts are because there are not a lot of hotel beds in Washington County, he added. The boards Agricultural and Tourism Committee will hear an update on tourism efforts at its meeting at 1 p.m. Monday. HUDSON FALLS The villages plan to buy the former Washington County Courthouse gained momentum Friday when Assemblywoman Carrie Woerner, D-Round Lake, announced she has requested $250,000 in state funding toward the $300,000 purchase price. This is a big step for us, said Village Attorney William Nikas, who is working with Trustee Robert Cook and the Village Board on the purchase of the courthouse building, its annex and two parking lots. Carrie really came through. This is big news. Woerner was the final speaker at a 90-minute meeting that drew more than 100 people to the second-floor courtroom in the building. Other speakers talked about the need for a youth center, the viability of the building and the availability of grant funding for the project. The village has until June 1 to act on an option to buy the courthouse complex for $300,000. What we are looking at here are a pair of bookends to our historical district, said Cook, who is working with Nikas on a private, nonprofit organization known as Phoenix Rising-Project Hudson Falls, which is involved in a number of community projects. We have Bill (Nikas) owning the Masonic Hall and now with the village moving to buy the courthouse, we have historical buildings at either end of the village. In buying the courthouse, we want to preserve one of the most historically significant buildings in the town and county, Cook said, noting the countys other former courthouse, in Salem, hosts an active community center. From here, the village needs to submit an application to the state Dormitory Authority for the funding, but Woerners backing was the crucial step. This is such an exciting project, said Woerner, former executive director of the Saratoga Springs Preservation Foundation. Its important for two reasons first for the historic preservation. When a community re-invests in the past, it flourishes. Your future is protecting your past. The other reason Woerner said she likes the project is that the village plans to use the annex as a youth center. The value in this project is that it hits multiple issues, Woerner said. Its very historic, and it will give the kids a place to go and believe they are being cared for. Several speakers talked about the importance of a youth center, then Fred Keil, an architect who has done numerous projects, including the Center for the Arts in Plattsburgh, noted the building is in extremely good shape, considering it is more than 100 years old. The building is 100 percent sound, he said. Usually you start from the top down, and the roof is in very good shape. There are no issues. This building will need very little modification. Keil presented his plans for handicapped accessibility, including a ramp into the building and a wheelchair lift to allow access to the second floor. He also talked about where handicapped-accessible bathrooms could go. The heating is in good shape, though you will need to put zone heating in, he added, The first floor (of the courthouse) needs virtually nothing but silverware to put in a restaurant, which would add income, or it could be converted to office space. Keil said he spoke to teens about what they would want in a teen center, and summed up his presentation by saying: You have value. You have potential. You can create an urban center. James Thatcher, manager of community development for C.T. Male Associates, said the building is a strong candidate for grant funding for four specific reasons. First of all, there are viable, new uses, such as the youth center. And you already have plans and a road map for renovation priorities. That always helps, he said. You want to preserve the historic building and its features, and you have community support. It is absolutely eligible on many fronts. Kate Newcombe of National Grid said her company has a Main Street program for buildings such as the courthouse, which would be an adaptive re-use. She said National Grid worked with Peter Hoffman, a local developer who renovated the former bank building across the street from the courthouse. Super delegates. As the Times editorial has it, the weight of party bigwigs can (and probably will) simply hand the nomination to Hillary Clinton. They might lose that ability to corrupt the "popular vote" if only Democratic voters were to vote. But we don't. We accept losing the power of our vote and then sit back and blame the political machine. Aside from anything else, we should feel embarrassed. Look at what the DNC did to New Hampshire: In the New Hampshire primary last week, which Mrs. Clinton lost by 22 percentage points, Mr. Sanders won 15 of the states 24 pledged delegates, and Mrs. Clinton won nine. But because she has the support of six of the states eight unpledged superdelegates, including Senator Jeanne Shaheen and Gov. Maggie Hassan, she is virtually tied with Mr. Sanders in the New Hampshire delegate count. ...NYT MoveOn is mobilizing an effort to get super delegates to back off. Maybe they'll succeed. But it doesn't solve anything until the DNC changes its ways. Donations can be sent to BNC at Max Obuszewski, 431 Notre Dame Lane, Apt. 206, Baltimore, MD 21212 . Email: mobuszewski2001 [at] comcast [dot] net. Kuni Takahashi has been working on a long-term project on the effects of the Liberian civil war on its children. Over the past 12 years, he has visited seven times, and the result is this two-part series. Gift Dorkus Bender is knee deep in a pond. Its 8 a.m., and the grass is still wet with morning dew. The air is fresh, the forest quiet. This is not the Liberia she remembers. I used to be terrified to return, she says about the land where she was born. But now, Im so glad I did. Bender is one of hundreds of children who were adopted by American families at the end of the Liberias 14-year civil war, which left a third of the population displaced and more than 250,000 dead. Her own story is filled with loss. When she was an infant, her parents were tied to a tree and shot. That was in 1991, two years after the war broke out. She has no memory of either of them. Her four older siblings raised her, but they died too, in 2003, just days before the fighting ended. A mortar fell on the tent where they were living as displaced people, outside the American embassy in the capital of Monrovia. Bender had stepped outside mere moments before to look for food. In an instant, she had no family. I burned all my photos of them, she says. The memories were too painful. Some links and readings posted by Gary B. Rollman, Emeritus Professor of Psychology, University of Western Ontario Published by an old curmudgeon who came to America in 1936 as a refugee from Nazi Germany and proudly served in the U.S. Army during World War II. He is a former law enforcement officer and a retired professor of criminal justice who, in 1970, founded the Texas Narcotic Officers Association. BarkGrowlBite refuses to be politically correct. (Copyrighted articles are reproduced in accordance with the copyright laws of the U.S. Code, Title 17, Section 107.) M WAQAR..... "A man's ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties; no religious basis is necessary.Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death." --Albert Einstein !!! NEWS,ARTICLES,EDITORIALS,MUSIC... Ze chi pe mayeen yum da agha pukhtunistan de.....(Liberal,Progressive,Secular World.)''Secularism is not against religion; it is the message of humanity.'' The Facebook Agency Ambassador program which is bringing together top creative media minds from agencies across the world, will further astronomically catapult RDM's already astute use of Facebook as a digital marketing tool for its clients. This is because, as part of the package, the RDM team will receive technical and strategic training from Facebook's Blueprint Program. According to Facebook, the Blueprint Program, "Trains marketers on how to use Facebook, so they can create better campaigns that drive business results. Combining online courses, in-person training and certification, Blueprint offers training on everything from campaign optimization and how to use video on Facebook to effective ad measurement solutions. The foundation of Blueprint is its eLearning center, which features over 35 online courses and has tracks organized by category, such as direct response marketing, as well as tracks designed for specific roles, such as digital buying. Blueprint eLearning easily integrates with other learning and development programs and offers reporting to track progress and results." In view of this capacity enhancing opportunity, the RDM team will be in an even better position to achieve increased service delivery to its clients. "This is a major accomplishment for an agency that is about a year old," the head of RDM Ghana, Muhammida El Muhajir told Pulse Business. "Our whole approach to marketing [the 360 approach], how we work with our clients on all aspects, did it for us", she said. Touching on the strategy her team employs in meeting customer expectations, Muhammida said, " Our approach is to run dedicated client servicing teams which allow the creative process to be fast and in tandem with the strategy proposed to our clients" According to her, the program will afford her outfit in-depth education on the latest trends and tools in digital marketing. She said it is "a big thing to get" because Facebook hardly comes to Africa with such programs. On how Ringier Digital Marketing skillfully leverages on social media tools to maximize customer satisfaction, Olatunji Olatubosun who is head of social and paid media for RDM Ghana told Pulse Business, " We push the limits on social media for our client. For the past 90 days we have had 22 days when our clients' hash tags were trending." In addition to this, Ringier is a pacesetter in the use of alternative media in enhancing clients' ability to satisfy and communicate with their customers. " We are using whatsapp to troubleshoot for our clients customers. This kind of innovation puts us firmly in a space where social media is used beyond a brand campaign and actually solves a business problem", Ola concluded. The first ever Facebook Agency Ambassador program was held in Asia-Pacific last year. In a blogpost, Facebook said "With the ever-evolving nature of the digital landscape and millions of pieces of online content being created every minute, its never been more important for marketers to understand how to cut through the clutter to reach their audience." "We launched the Agency Ambassador Program in Asia-Pacific as a hands-on education session. During the three-day session in Singapore, our teams worked closely with agency representatives from India, Japan, Korea and Southeast Asia on how to apply best practices to campaigns and client briefs so the knowledge sticks." Ringier Digital Marketing (RDM) provides companies across Africa professional solutions to profit from the full value chain of online marketing. With various services for businesses ranging from development and design of their online presence, to the support, planning and handling of social and other digital marketing channels, RDM is ensuring that customers are set up for continuous success in reaching and selling to audiences online. RDM runs the digital marketing for companies like Campari, Supabets, Tonaton and other blue chip financial clients in Ghana. And quiet apart from its immense and diverse use of social media, RDM utilises its content management and digital publishing outlets to distinguish the brands of their clients from their competitors. The ferry which is operated by the Volta Lake Transport Company (VLTC) was traveling from Mankrado in the Volta Region to Yeji in the Brong Ahafo Region, but midway into the journey the ferry started taking in water, necessitating an emergency landing to evacuate the passengers on board the vessel. Dr Donkor insisted that the incident should not be taken lightly and that the VLTC should be held accountable for the near mishap, because the company had been derelict in their responsibility of ensuring that they operated sea-worthy craft, as some of their vessels had been involved in similar incidences owing to their deplorable state. I have seen the deplorable state of that particular ferry and was not too surprised that the vessel took in water and had to make an emergency landing at a village to enable the evacuation of passengers," he told members of the Parliamentary Press Corps in Accra on Friday. This is not the first time the companys ferries have had such near missesas Ghanaians we should not wait until there is a fatality were 500 lives perish before we cry foul, Dr Donkor said. The immediate past Power Minister said the Transport Ministry and other regulatory bodies such as the Ghana Maritime Authority should, as a matter of urgency, constitute an independent investigative team to find out the state of the vessels being operated by the VLTC, particularly the one that nearly sank. I would urge the Minister not to leave the investigation to the VLCT but to constitute an independent investigation into the circumstances leading to the incident, he said. He said such investigation should also be extended to the ferries in Dambai and Kete Krachie, adding that those vessels were also disasters waiting to happen. The ferries are a crucial means of transport for many rural folks and just as a lot of attention is given to roads, the water ways and vessels that ply them should be given adequate attention. Safety should be a corner stone of the operations of the VLCT, he said. Dr Donkor suggested that a portion of the Road Fund should be utilised to purchase new vessels and recondition those currently in use. He called on the Transport Ministry to ensure a ferry was sent to Yeji to replace the one that broke down. Director of Elections for the NDC, Samuel Ofosu Ampofo said the EC is an independent institution and persons accusing the Commission of being in alliance with the ruling party must desist from doing so. I think that we are making so much noise about this committee. In any case, what is the steering committee going to do? he asked on Radio Ghanas Behind the News programme. The EC on Friday announced its decision to take a second look at its 18-member steering committee following protests that the committee has been compromised. Mr. Ofosu Ampofo stated that the Electoral Commissioner also votes and if she is going to vote, she is going to vote for a party so if we decide that we are going to dissect people and look at their backgrounds, then we may end up not asking anybody to represent anybody on any committee. I think that we are taking the matter too far, he stressed. He however, expressed regrets that despite all the major issues which were discussed with the EC on Friday, the issue of the composition of the steering committee has rather generated public debate. It is unfortunate that the real issues that were on the agenda which we took over three hours to discuss have rather been relegated to the background and an issue which was brought as other matters has rather taken the centre stage, he remarked. Explaining what took place at the political parties meeting with the EC, the NDCs Director of Elections said: There was a consensus by all the political parties that the Electoral Commission should have done some broader consultation to come out with the steering committee. At least as political parties, we are key stakeholders we should had been notified that this committee is being put in place, he added. The two Yemenis - Mahmoud Omar Mohammed Bin Atef, 36, and Khalid Shayk Mohammed, 34 - were transferred from the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba to Ghana by the United States Government. The US Government, however, maintains that the two pose no threat to the safety of Ghanaians. Speaker Edward Doe Adjaho, in an address before the House went into the close-door sitting, noted that despite the matter being of public interest it was also before the highest court. Speaker Adjaho said the decision to hold the briefing in camera was arrived at in consultation with the leadership of the House. He added: In my mind it does not amount to pandering to another arm of Government. Many legislators, mainly from the Minority side, have raised concerns with governments acceptance of the two Yemenis and have stated that government should have brought the issue before the peoples representatives in Parliament. Earlier in the week, the Minority New Patriotic Party (NPP) caucus held a press conference to register their objection to the in camera briefing of the House, on the grounds of the matter being of public interest. He stated that in an election year, many minor issues were usually magnified out of proportion by politicians and the media to create the apprehension among the people. The Vice President made the call when he attended the 2015 West African Soldiers Social Activity (WASSA) durbar at Burma Camp. WASSA is an annual ceremony observed by all units of the Ghana Armed Forces to promote socialisation among military personnel, and to serve as an opportunity to take stock of the working year, to strategize for the coming year. Despite the event being organized to have fun, it is also an avenue for renewing camaraderie among officers, other ranks and the civilian employees of the military. Vice President Amissah-Arthur indicated that although the year is in its early stages, the country had witnessed a high profile attack on a Member of Parliament, as well as the horrific accident that occurred on the Kintampo Road, this week. He said in such situations, the military must always be available to support the civilian authorities to provide safety and relief to the people. He cited the June 3, 2015 flood-fire incident at Nkrumah Circle, in which the military were at hand to protect the citizens from the ravages of the water and fire. That tragedy claimed more than 150 lives and destroyed properties valued at millions of Ghana cedis. Vice President Amissah-Arthur commended the Ghana Armed Forces, especially the Airforce, for helping to airlift injured persons from Kintampo to Sunyani and other specialist hospitals for treatment. He urged the Military High Command to integrate their forces with that of the Police to enhance the security situation in the country and urged the military to continue to support the public. He said this year being an election, one the country needed all the support it could mobilise to help Ghana retain its stability and peaceful nature. Air Vice Marshal Michael Samson-Oje, the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), assured of the militarys resolve to work professionally to enhance the peace and security in the country. He said the military would continue to provide support for the public in national emergencies and crisis. For Book Clubs I am available to book clubs, either in person or via Zoom, upon request. Contact me at morelonhouse --at-- optonline --dot-- net for details. The general overseer of the International Central Gospel Church, Pastor Mensah Otabil has come under scathing attacks from some members of the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) after he asked Ghanaians to demand better things from government. We cant just be happy because a road has been tarred. We cant just be happy that we didnt have electricity now we have electricity. We cant be happy with minimalscitizens must have an appetite for better, Pastor Otabil said. On Thursday, the Communications Director of the NDC, Solomon Nkansah, said Pastor Otabil is a threat to national security. In an interview on Accra-based Kasapa FM, Mr. Nkansah said: If we condemn him some of you in the media think weve said something abominable, but what this man has said is very frightening. It amounts to inciting the public against the government. Under the guise of the Bible, he says all sorts of things against those he is not in support of. But you know what; God is bigger than him and so whenever he says such things people dont listen to him. I am ashamed and scandalized as a Christian that a man of God can speak like Pastor Mensah Otabil has done. According to Dr. Nduom, such attacks only amount to many good and talented people being adamant about not wanting to venture into anything close to politics. Find below, Dr. Nduoms full post on Facebook I have thought long and hard about this. Should I, should I not? What pushed me over the edge was what I heard on radio this morning coming from the mouth of an NDC Communications person in the Elmina/Cape Coast area. Should our politics be about development or should it be about personal attacks and insults? Can someone, anyone have an opinion about the state of our nation, good or bad? What the leadership of a political party says is repeated at the regional and local levels and in the translation negative utterances of leaders become venomous words in the mouths of the followers. What I heard this morning was a convincing confirmation of this. I will not repeat what this young man said about Pastor Mensa Otabil. And what is Pastor Otabil's crime? No wonder many good and talented people are adamant about not wanting to venture into anything close to politics. Which is also the reason why many idle hands and minds can be found in the various political parties. The best talent we have as a people are outside the political parties and we have insulting words and dirt throwing to thank for it. When the Communications Director of the NDC, Solomon Nkansah says on radio that Pastor Otabil was openly biased against the ruling party and was inciting the public against the government; when he describes the Founder of the International Central gospel Church (ICCG), Mensah Otabil, as a threat to national security; that is where I am moved to call for brakes to be applied. Another writer, a supporter of the NDC has also written, Folks, I have had several occasions to take on Re. Mensa Otabil and charlatans of his ilk who are abusing the pulpit to do dirty politics. I havent regretted for putting such politically motivated Men-of-God where they belong in public discourse regarding the challenges of development facing our country. They are self-seeking noise makers to disregard. Really? Finding these off-the-beaten-path destinations can been difficult, though. At least, until now. The United Nations World Tourism Organization just released the results of its international travel survey, including what countries see the fewest international visitors. These destinations see only 1,000-15,000 visitors a year, but that may change, now that they're our the radar. May we suggest considering a trip before their popularity surges? Read on to see the five least visited of all: Tuvalu This South Pacific island sees only 1,000 visitors a year, but those who do make the voyage are treated to crystal clear water and a low crime rate. Kiribati Only five thousand tourists head to these remote islands each year the nearest civilization, Hawaii, is an impressive five hours away. The islands comprise 33 coral atolls, or ring-shaped coral reefs, that span 1.3 million square miles of the Pacific. Montserrat Montserrat, a Caribbean island in the Lesser Antilles, currently sees about 7,000 visitors per year, though it was once much more popular with British travelers. That is, until it was hit with a hurricane in 1989 and a volcano eruption in 1995. But the consistently beautiful beaches and bright blue waters are helping popularity rise once again. RELATED ARTICLES Sao Tome and Principe Comoros Comoros, a collection of islands in the Indian Ocean, plays host to only about 15,000 tourists every year, but those who do visit are able to enjoy the country's mountains, beaches, and wildlife-filled forests. Strangely last month the 'rain maker' as he is popularly known said he did not go to rehab. In an interview with TV station TVC he said "It was wrong to say I was taken to a rehab. I only went into seclusion for spiritual rebirth." Last August Majek Fashek was taken to rehab by his close friends and concerned individuals. His treatment at the Abuja based rehab Synapse Services- Centre For Psychological Medicine was sponsored by oil baron Ayiri Emami. At a press conference in Abuja, Majek Fashek advised youths to stay away from drugs. In the press conference Majek Fashek was with his treatment specialists and Charly Boy. Speaking to the press men, Majek Fashek confirmed that he was in rehab for treatment for drug and alcohol addiction. Monica Omorodion Swaida, his former backup singer who was raising funds for rehab was at the press conference also. Steven Pratt who lived with his mother in New Jersey pleaded guilty to manslaughter after admitting he repeatedly struck his mother Gwendolyn Pratt in the head the morning of Oct. 12, 2014. However, it wasnt reported what might have led to Steven Pratts horrifying act an autopsy later revealed that his mother died from blunt force trauma to the head. Could it be that Steven Pratt has anger management issues? He was locked away for 30 years for the fatal shooting of one Michael Anderson who reportedly got him smoking marijuana with his friends and confronted him. Welcome to the Pulse Community! We will now be sending you a daily newsletter on news, entertainment and more. Also join us across all of our other channels - we love to be connected! Punch reports that these notorious gunmen regularly storm the community with nothing in mind but to kill and this time around 15 people went down in the massacre. Read More:Hottest Gist Stories This Week According to a resident Pa Benedict Ajie who is a neighbour to two young men who were shot at close range during the bloody raid. They (gunmen) were many; they came around 9pm and when we saw them, we ran inside the house. The truth is that we dont know where they came from. We were hiding inside when we heard the sound of gunshots and by the time everything had settled, we came out and saw the corpses of the two men, Other residents who survived the attack attested to the fact that the blood thirsty gunmen invaded the community randomly killing people without any reason from house to house and although they contacted the police for help during a 9 hours bloody raid, they got no response. Citing the killings as a political related the state APC chairman Dr. Davies Ikanya, alleged that the Nigeria Police did not provide security for the people of the area, he specifically said that suspected members of a cult group known as Icelanders were behind the invasion of Omoku and surrounding communities. They picked on selected houses of APC members and murdered some of the occupants. At least, 26 people were shot dead, with some of them beheaded. The killings began early evening and lasted till 10 pm, he stated, adding that police failed to respond to calls for help" But the state Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Chief Felix Obuah who expressed shock about the killings said the incident was being politicised by the APC in the state and he should be interrogated for admitting to be in possession of the video clips of the killings, adding that being in possession of such item means he was fully aware of the attack. More worrisome is the incitement being induced by the APC in the state through Davies Ibiamu Ikanya, who has formed the habit of laying claim to ownership and party membership of victim(s) of any dastardly act anywhere in the state just to create disaffection between the ruling party and the rest of the people. We also enjoin our security agencies to intensify their efforts in arresting insecurity in the state, arrest and prosecute anybody convinced to have been directly or indirectly involved, encouraged, abetted or behind the killings, the state PDP chairman said. A human rights activist, Mr. John Abiye, who is now seating on the matter urged security agents to work hard to ensure that such horrifying incident that happened of Friday 12, 2016 in ONELGA would be the end to the continued mass murder in the area. According to report by Punch the Deputy Comptroller in charge of anti-human trafficking unit of the headquarters, Kola Sofuwa, who spoke on behalf of the Assistant Comptroller-General and Zonal Coordinator of the Zone F Headquarters, Mike Longe the arrest of the suspect was a long chain of people who had in one way or the other been linked to a two years search of a missing 15-year-old Togolese girl, called Assana. Read More: In 2013 the brother (Cossy) of the victim (Assana) allegedly sold his sister to several end users for domestic work, without a dime getting to the victim. Assana was smuggled into Nigeria from Togo without any travelling documents and was made to work for different trafficking agent after her brother sold her for N52,000 with the permission of their mother. We got the letter in form of a petition and set out looking for Assana. We were able to apprehend the brother who brought her to Nigeria and involved her in a long chain of human trafficking ring. He first handed her over to a Togolese trafficking agent called in Eruwa who also contracted her out to one , 55, with an agreement of N60,000 annual wage that never got to the victim. One woman simply known as also paid N72,000 for her services to a Nigerian agent, . When she could not endure the hardship, Assana ran away and unfortunately ended up in the hands of another agent, Titi, who is now at large. Her final destination was the home of a pastor, , who also paid N72,000 for her in exchange for domestic services. Even the brother, Cossy, lost track of her before she was rescued at the clergy womans house, says Mike Longe Although the victims brother was the one who reported to the police about the disappearance of his little sister, he also confessed to: I brought her here when my wife left me so that she could cook for me. When my wife returned, I gave her out to people who could use her for work. I had to collect money from them after some negotiation. I told our mother and I got N52,000 from the deal. I bought things for our mother each time I went home from the money. Then Assana got missing and I have since been looking for her. A statement signed by the Information Officer of LUTH said that the patient had now tested negative to the Lassa fever virus after weeks of receiving treatment. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the first case of Lassa fever in Lagos was diagnosed at the LUTH on Jan. 15. It was a 25-year old student of the Ahmadu BelloUniversity, Zaria, Kaduna State, who had contracted the virus before visiting his parents at Ifako-Ijaiye area of Lagos State. He was admitted in a private hospital at Ifako-Ijaiye on Jan. 9 and was transferred to LUTH on Jan.15 on an account of developing symptoms of fever, sore throat and body ache. The medical personnel in LUTH had run a blood test on him and confirmed that he had Lassa fever. The statement said, It is gladdening to note that the patient has fully recovered and has been discharged having tested negative for Lassa fever virus. When the case was reported, the Lagos State and Federal Governments were intimated and they gave a quick response by providing logistic support including providing the drug (ribavirin) for Lassa fever. The hospital also mobilised its team of specialists including nurses, virologists and medical microbiologists. The patient was managed in an Isolation Centre with other drugs and adequate infection control measures put in place. These included contact tracing and monitoring, it said. The statement said the management of the hospital applauded the Federal Ministry of Health, National Centre for Disease Control and the Lagos State Government for their quick intervention. According to it, the LUTH is probably one of the first hospitals in the South West that has successfully admitted, managed and discharged a Lassa fever patient in this outbreak. He advised the district heads of the various wards to ensure that the equipment were put to proper use and refuse evacuation in their communities monitored. The chairman, who said that despite the lean financial condition of the council, it has been able to demonstrate its passion and commitment toward a clean and healthy environment He, however, appealed to the FCT Minister for assistance in providing at least two compacting trucks to complement the efforts of the council. He also called for assistance from the minister to help complete the ongoing Gwagwalada market road, adding that the FCDA Dobi-Izom road project was yet to be completed. Though the commissioner withheld the names of the two monarchs under investigation, he said the development saddened the command. In his words, We are investigating them for their alleged involvement in crisis that engulfed the area which led to the death of one Nosuru Oguntade. It was believed to have been masterminded by the two royal fathers over leadership tussle. The command is sad over the development. As we speak, the State CID, Panti,Yaba, is still interrogating the two men with a view to ascertaining their involvement. Four persons were arrested and are still under interrogation, while one of the sons of the leaders has been declared wanted. The Economic Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had alleged that Tarfa had telephone conversations with the judge over the case. The agency provided phone numbers of the accused, the judge, and bank documents with details of the N225,000 transfer from the lawyer to Justice Yunusa. In an affidavit filed before a Federal High Court in Lagos on Friday, February 19, Tarfa said the money was a donation to the judge following the loss and burial of his father-in-law. It reads: The applicant (Mr. Tarfa) did not on 7th January, 2014 bribe Honourable Justice M.N. Yunusa with the sum of N225,000 or any other sum at all, the lawyer stated in the affidavit deposed to by John Odubela, the head of his chambers. It was common knowledge in the legal circles that Honourable Justice M.N. Yunusa lost his father-in-law, Alhaji Audi Garba Damasa on the 28th December, 2013 in Maiduguri and travelled there to attend to the funeral rites. The applicant and some friends of Honourable Justice M.N. Yunusa made some donations towards the said funeral rites and to commiserate with the judge since they could not physically go and commiserate with him in Maiduguri, where he was and stayed for a while. The contributed monies amounted to N225,000, which sum was given to the applicant with the responsibility to get same across to the bereaved judge. The applicant consequently made arrangements to forward the sum N225,000. I know as a fact that it is common in Nigeria for friends and well-wishers to contribute gifts in cash and kind to people who are celebrating or bereaved. The EFCC had on Tuesday, February 16, arraigned Tarfa before a Lagos High Court, for allegedly obstructing two of its officers from arresting Gnanhooue Sourou and Nazaire Odeste, the owners of Rana Prestige Industries. In a counter-suit, Tarfa filed a N2.5 billion fundamental rights action enforcement against the EFCC in protest of his arrest and detention. The strike began peacefully on Monday, with banks, shops and markets shut and public transport at a standstill. Sparks of violence flared as the week went on, however, with gunshots heard and roads blockaded with burning tyres on Thursday, witnesses told Reuters. There was some concern that the strike might hit the West African country's mining sector, already struggling due to low commodity prices. But major mining firms said earlier this week that production of bauxite was unimpaired. Guinea, whose economy is still reeling from an Ebola outbreak, holds nearly a third of the world's reserves of the metal, used to make aluminium, and currently produces around 18 million tonnes a year. Despite the agreement over wages and pensions, the government of Guinea did not agree to lower fuel prices - another key union demand. "On the ... point concerning the price of fuel, the union members have accepted to wait for the end of the IMF (commitment)," said Amadaou Damaro Camara, vice-president of parliament, referring to the International Monetary Fund. The new wave of internal refugees has added to the misery of a conflict that has displaced more than 2.5 million and killed up to 300,000, the United Nations estimates, since 2003 when mostly non-Arab tribes took up arms against the Arab-dominated government. Although the violence has ebbed over the last decade, the insurgency continues and Khartoum has escalated attacks on rebel groups in the past year. Critics accuse government forces and their militia allies of pursuing genocide in Darfur. The government denies that and says it has no links to the militias. "Militias stopped us on our way out and took away all our belongings," said Ishaq, 42, speaking by telephone after fleeing fighting in the Jebel Marra region of central Darfur, a remote and barren region of Western Sudan. While tens of thousands have made it to camps, many remain trapped in conflict zones. "We are stuck in Jebel Marra and we don't have food, all roads are blocked by militants and we would risk our lives if we decided to go out," a 43-year-old farmer who gave his name only as Taher told Reuters, adding that neighbouring villages had been razed. "We hear the gunshots outside and no one offers us help." Al-Shafea Abdallah, a camp co-ordinator in Central Darfur, said fighting in Jebel Marra, which straddles three of Darfur's five states, was continuing to force people to the camps. "It's a dire situation for the displaced," he said, adding that little humanitarian assistance was available. The United Nations, whose mission in Darfur has often been criticised for failing to do enough to protect civilians, said that food, water, medical supplies and nutritional supplements were being provided to the newly displaced. "The situation remains very fluid, and the United Nations and partners have teams on the ground working to assess the needs of those who have recently arrived," said U.N. Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator Marta Ruedas. Beyond the camps, some of those who have fled Jebel Marra have headed to remote mountainous areas and are desperate for help, according to relatives who spoke to Reuters. For the second year, Nevada Treasure RV Resort is hosting the annual Shadow Mountain Quilters Pins and Needles Quilt Show beginning today, Friday. The event showcases the works of area fiber artists and beyond. Quilter Joyce Higginbotham said first, second and third place prizes are up for grabs in a variety of categories. We have people who make placemats or tote bags and theres also a wearable arts category with clothing, she said. Its a wonderful variety of crafts because not everyone in the guild quilts. We have some wonderful knitters, crochet and embroiderers. We have several miscellaneous ribbons for best of show, judges choice, best finishing and best quilting, just to name a few. As we can afford it, we also have a cash prize for first and second place winners. At present, the guild is roughly 150 members strong. Higginbotham said some members of the group are not residents of Pahrump, as membership extends to Las Vegas and California. She noted there are people who visit the community just to enjoy the show. We have people who come from all of the surrounding states and they plan their vacations on and around our show and we are very proud of that, she said. Through word-of-mouth and hard work, we have accumulated a really nice following and were very proud of that. An additional feature to the show is whats known as the Art Quilt Challenge. Higginbotham likened it to a mini-quilt show inside the main show. We have had a challenge for a few years now, which is only open to guild members, she said. The art quilt challenge is a lot of fun and it brings out a lot of creativity. Another element of the show includes the chance to win the 2016 Opportunity Quilt, which helps to raise funds for next years show. Higginbotham said people have the opportunity to win the quilt by purchasing raffle tickets. They are $1 apiece or six for $5, she said. It is handmade by the guild members each year. Lynn McDonald is the one who created the quilt this year. A husband of one of our members made a beautiful custom quilt rack that people can put the quilt on if they wish. This year the quilt comes with a matching body pillow. Higginbotham spoke about an age-old tradition which will be part of the show again this year. The bed-turning event is an old custom and we have members who loan to us old quilts, family quilts and quilts with good stories, she said. We lay them out on our old brass bed and twice a day we have someone read stories of the quilts. Its very interesting and its something that goes back a couple hundred years. Its something that we have had for a long time and its one of the most popular parts of our show. Although a majority of the guild is comprised of women, Higginbotham said there are a handful of men who practice the art. They are as creative as women are and every bit as intricate with their work, she said. There are some very famous men who have a following and they go to the big conventions and sell their designs. Its not just a womans thing. Higginbotham began quilting back in the 1990s. She noted the beneficial aspects of the activity. The art can be therapeutic and we drop into another world when were doing that, she said. Thats with any of the needleworks. You just immerse yourself in it. The 2016 Pins and Needles Quilt Show runs from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday. The deadline for entry is closed. We invite everybody to come down to the show at Nevada Treasure RV Resort, Higginbotham said. Admission is $5 per day or you can get a multi-day wristband which is good for all three days for just $8. Well have vendors selling fabrics and crafty things. We also have a quilt appraiser who will be there to give appraisals for a very small fee. We also have a wonderful silent auction where our members put together baskets. We have 46 baskets with different items that people can bid on in the silent auction. Contact reporter Selwyn Harris at sharris@pvtimes.com. Exposed brick and shiny ductwork provide a stark contrast to the sequins, pearls and palette of colors that adorn the dresses hanging inside Celebrate!, the newest business to occupy The Shoppes on 2nd in downtown Rock Island. Sheleigh Martin, owner of the consignment shop, likes the look. And so does her growing base of customers, who have flocked to the shop to purchase bridal gowns, prom dresses and other dressy attire at prices far below what they would pay for new. Martins inspiration came last year, after her daughter, a student at Alleman High School in Rock Island, was looking at a prom dress that was priced at more than $500. I said no to that, Martin said. I wondered how many families could afford dresses like that. You shouldnt have to go into debt to feel beautiful for a prom or wedding. Her daughter eventually settled on a black gown that cost less. She paid for it herself, Martin, a 911 dispatcher for the Silvis Police Department, said with a touch of pride. A few weeks ago, that dress hung on a rack at the store, waiting for another young woman to purchase it for her special night. Its the dress that started it all, Martin laughed recently as she unpacked merchandise in Suite 6 of the business incubator. She originally opened her business in Moline on Black Friday, but moved a few weeks ago to the Rock Island location. She likes the visibility of having a storefront along 17th Street, and the support she has gotten from Renaissance Rock Island and its partnership with the city of Rock Island. Beth Payne, administration director for Renaissance Rock Island, said Celebrate! is just the latest example of how the incubator concept works successfully to assist potential business owners with achieving their dream. We knew when we opened it that it truly was guided by the business owner, Payne said. We are very, very happy with the results. Advantages of locating in the incubator include the ability to maximize customer reach and customer base, the inclusion of utilities costs and common area maintenance in rent, having the resources of Renaissance Rock Island to expand networking and partnership opportunities, and having access to marketing and promotion opportunities, she said in an email. The Shoppes on 2nd was featured in the latest edition of Downtown Rock Island magazine. Other current tenants are Rocket Bottoms, which offers custom-designed cloth diapers and patterns; Spellbound, a new age and gift shop; and Switch Stance Skate Shop, offering skateboard and accessories Rent subsidies are provided during the first three years a business is located in the incubator. The city also has a microloan program for small businesses that offers loans up to $10,000. Prior to her decision to open the shop, Martin spent considerable time doing research and developing a business plan. Initially worried that nobody would bring me dresses, she went from having four dresses of my own to close to $40,000 in inventory. Social media and word of mouth have been powerful tools to get both merchandise and buyers for the dresses. She posts updates on the businesss Facebook page, recently featuring a brand new bridal gown with the original $1,100 sales tag still attached that was selling for $200 in her store. You can find anything here, from $50 up to $300, she said. She also has established relationships with other formalwear consignment stores, particularly some in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, and will contact them if a customer is looking for a particular style of dress that she doesnt carry. The store offers other merchandise such as flower girl baskets, ring bearer pillows and table decor for receptions. Martin also can refer customers to additional wedding-related vendors with whom she has worked. Martin works with consignees to set a sales price for their dresses, but it is ultimately their decision. When the merchandise is sold, the owner receives 75 percent of the sales price, and Celebrate! retains 25 percent. Currently, business hours are Sunday and Monday by appointment, Tuesday through Friday from 4 to 6 p.m., and Saturday from 2 to 5 p.m. Martin says the hours will be changing in about a month and encourages customers to check the Facebook site at Celebrate QC or call. Martin said a recent weekend brought 150 customers to her shop. At this time of year, demand is high for prom dresses, particularly the mermaid style, a form-fitting gown that flares out at the hem. We cant keep those in, she said. Here's a look at how Deere & Co.'s divisions performed in the first quarter as well as the outlook ahead: Agriculture & Turf: Sales of agriculture and turf equipment decreased 12 percent for the quarter. Operating profit was $144 million, down from $268 million for the same period a year ago. Deere lowered its 2016 sales forecast and now predicts sales of agriculture and turf equipment to decrease by about 10 percent for fiscal 2016. The decline is expected to include a negative currency-translation effect of 4 percent. According to Deere, industry sales of agricultural equipment in North America are forecast to be down 15 to 20 percent for 2016 due to low commodity prices and stagnant farm incomes. Construction & Forestry: Construction and forestry sales decreased 23 percent for the quarter. Operating profit was $70 million for the quarter, which compared to $146 million in 2015. The profit decline was mainly due to lower shipment volumes, which was partially offset by price realization and lower selling, administrative and general expenses. Deere now forecasts worldwide sales of construction and forestry equipment to be down about 11 percent for 2016. The decline is due to weak conditions in the North American energy sector as well as lower sales outside North America. In forestry, global sales are expected to be down 5 to 10 percent from last years strong levels, primarily due to weaker demand in North America. Financial Services: John Deere Capital Corp. reported net income of $99.9 million for the first quarter, compared with $133.6 million last year. Lower results were primarily due to less favorable financing spreads, higher losses on residual values primarily for construction equipment operating leases and a higher provision for credit losses. Net receivables and leases financed by John Deere Capital Corp were $31.510 billion at Jan. 31 and $31.508 billion a year earlier. The full-year net income for financial services operations is expected to be about $525 million. Equipment maker Deere & Co. reported better-than-expected first-quarter earnings Friday while it lowered it full-year forecast as the global slump in the farm and construction equipment markets continues. The Moline-based Deere, which employs about 7,800 workers in the Quad-Cities as part of its global operations, reported net income of $254.4 million, or 80 cents per share, for the quarter ended Jan. 31. Earnings were down 34 percent from $386.8 million, or $1.12 per share, a year ago. The earnings beat Wall Street's expectations and sent the stock down $3.33, or 4.14 percent, to close at $77 in trading Friday. Analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research expected 71 cents per share. Record harvests have led to larger surpluses and lower commodity prices, and in turn, lower farm incomes are causing farmers to be more cautious about investing in new equipment. "John Deeres first-quarter results reflected the continuing impact of the downturn in the global farm economy as well as weakness in construction equipment markets," Deere chairman and CEO Samuel Allen said in the earnings news release. "At the same time, all of Deeres businesses remained solidly profitable, benefiting from the sound execution of our business plans and the success of actions to develop a more responsive cost structure." Deere's sales and revenues decreased 13 percent to $5.525 billion, compared with $6.383 billion last year. Wall Street had expected $4.79 billion. The company lowered its full-year forecast to about $1.3 billion for its $1.4 billion forecast of the previous quarter. Spokesman Ken Golden said the largest portion of the change is foreign currency weakness in Europe and Brazil. Deere also lowered its sales forecast for ag and turf equipment division and its construction and forestry equipment division. Deere now projects company equipment sales to decline 10 percent a larger decline than the 7 percent predicted at the previous quarter. "There is continued weakness in both sides of the main two businesses," Golden said, adding that construction sales are expected to fall 11 percent for 2016. Deere had predicted a 5 percent decline as of three months ago. "Construction is not coming back as we thought it would even though the fundamentals are there," he said, pointing to growth in the GDP, increased construction spending and an increase in U.S. housing starts. However, the company also said the market is also seeing weakness in the North American energy sector and a sluggish economic growth outside the United States. Golden said another trend seen in the U.S. housing market is the construction of more multi-housing units, which creates a lower demand for earth-moving equipment. In the ag sector, he said "Lower commodity prices are going to make farmers decide not to invest (in equipment) at the rate we saw in the past until they see a higher income. they want confidence they will be able to pay for our equipment." Deere has been responding to the weaker equipment markets by adjusting production to match demand. In the past few years, the company has laid off hundreds of workers at its Midwest manufacturing plants, including all of the Quad-City manufacturing plants. The latest round came in November as 220 employees were put on indefinite layoff at Moline's Seeding & Cylinder Group. Currently, 1,500 manufacturing employees are laid off in the Midwest, he said. In the new contract last year with the United Auto Workers, the union agreed to 16 weeks of inventory adjustment a year, compared with 10 previously. "This gives us more flexibilty, it about managing costs," he said. In an inventory adjustment, workers know when they are coming back, which is different from an indefinite layoff. Golden said the company's long-term strategy has created a "more flexible response cost structure, where we can manage costs better." In addition, the company has widened its "geographic reach, added more products, which has resulted in a more durable business model." "All these things combined helps us to be profitable even when the markets are depressed as they are today." On a day when Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner vetoed a bill that would have provided $721.5 million to community colleges and financial aid to low-income students, Quad-City community and educational representatives gathered at Western Illinois University-Quad-Cities in Moline to demand immediate funding for education. Speaking on Friday to an audience of about 80 people, nine panelists called on the Illinois legislature and Rauner to pass a budget as soon as possible. One of those speakers, Padmaja Pillutla, an associate professor of accounting at Western, said public higher education is what made Illinois a pre-eminent industrial state. Now, too, moreso than ever, where nearly 70 percent of all jobs in the modern economy require some level of higher education, the path to our future economic success is through public higher education," she said. Denying and decreasing support to higher education is denying the promise of Illinois. By not funding MAP, or Monetary Award Program, grants, Pillutla said Rauner is denying educational opportunities, growth and access to better paying jobs to 125,000 MAP grant recipients of Illinois middle class and low income families. Nicolas Moreno, 21, a junior business at Western and president of the student government, said he knows many students who rely on MAP to attend college. I know I wont see some of those students again if the state doesnt finance the MAP grants, Moreno, of East Moline, said after the event. Western is one of the least expensive schools in the state, and if those students cant afford to go here, where are they going to go? The future of the state is an educated workforce. David Tretter, president of the Federation of Independent Illinois Colleges and Universities, which represents Illinois private schools such as Augustana College, said the wrangling between the politicians in Springfield is adversely affecting 130,000 students on financial aid, 40,000 of whom attend private colleges. An investment by the state of $2 billion in higher education comes with a return of about $50 billion, Tretter said. What other business gets a return 25 times higher than its investment? Western Illinois University president Jack Thomas said after the presentation that the university has used $11 million of its reserves to fund MAP grants for students during the fall and spring semesters. Were in our eighth month with no funding from the state, Thomas said. Thats unheard of. Weve funded the MAP grants for the past two semesters out of our reserve, but that reserve is running low. Thomas added that since 2002, Western has seen its funding from the state drop from about $63 million annually to about $40 million. There have been layoffs and cuts to the schools budget to compensate. My board has told me to do what is necessary to keep the doors open and thats what I intend to do, Thomas said. Blaming President Obama for his past mistakes in Syria may be satisfying, and is largely deserved, but it's not a policy. This is the most complicated battlefield the world has seen in decades, and the next moves by the U.S. and its allies have to be deliberate, and carefully considered. The U.S. should move forward with the cease-fire process begun by Secretary of State John Kerry a week ago in Munich. Yes, it's a long shot, and woefully dependent on Russian "goodwill." But it offers a chance to reduce the suffering of the Syrian people and save lives, and it should be pursued awhile longer. If diplomacy fails, what comes next will be much worse for everyone. "It's the only game in town," says Yousef Al Otaiba, the United Arab Emirates' ambassador to Washington, of Kerry's diplomatic effort. "I don't see any other strategy for now." If Russia is sabotaging cease-fire hopes by continuing to bomb Syrian civilians, then the U.S. and its allies should focus international indignation on Moscow. Yes, Kerry may have been overly optimistic in making the Munich deal, but the Russians signed it -- and they should be held accountable if it fails. In the Syrian nightmare, even small steps forward are notable. So this week's move to send relief to five besieged areas around Damascus shouldn't be dismissed. This humanitarian assistance was part of the Munich agreement, and U.S. officials say the aid convoys moved into some of the towns on Wednesday. It's a fragile, first step toward de-escalation, but it's a positive sign. The "cessation of hostilities" that Kerry negotiated on paper was supposed to begin Friday, but it won't. That's partly because the Russians have continued their assaults on rebel areas. It's also partly because the opposition hasn't yet signaled clearly that it's willing to stand down. Given the opposition's weakness, this reluctance to embrace a truce is understandable, but it's wrong. Any chance to reduce violence and create space for political discussion should be seized. The battlefield around Aleppo is a mess -- a crosshatch of different combatants and foreign forces. Within a small area are Syrian regime forces backed by Russia and Iran; Kurdish rebel forces backed by the U.S.; Turkish forces that are shelling the U.S.-backed Kurds; Arab rebel fighters supported by the CIA and Saudi intelligence; Jabhat al-Nusra fighters allied with al-Qaeda; and Islamic State fighters, who want to kill all of the above. A full cease-fire in this landscape is impossible right now -- and not just because Kerry has been too trusting of the Russians. The combatants have to sort themselves out. Rebels will vote with their feet whether to ally with Jabhat al-Nusra and the Islamic State. Saudi Arabia and other Arab patrons will have to lean hard on "moderate" rebels to pull them toward the cease-fire group and away from the terrorists. If the Russians keep bombing the rebels around Aleppo, willy-nilly, that will sabotage any hope of a truce. Here again, blame Moscow if it blocks de-escalation. Going forward, the U.S. needs more military leverage to match Russia. That may be coming, with Saudi Arabia and the UAE offering to send special forces into Syria, under overall U.S. command. Details are still being discussed, but the UAE appears willing to train Sunni fighters inside Syria -- helping to fill a hole in U.S. strategy. These forces might be part of an eventual strike against Raqqa, the Islamic State's self-proclaimed capital in eastern Syria. The U.S. campaign against the Islamic State continues, mostly invisibly. The key U.S. allies have been fighters from the Syrian Kurdish group known as the YPG, which has now been rebranded as the "Syrian Democratic Forces." This week, about 6,000 fighters moved to attack al-Shaddadi, a town about 50 miles east of Raqqa. This force included about 2,500 Arabs. Overall, the SDF umbrella group now numbers about 40,000, of which 7,000 are Arabs. The Syrian Kurds have been the toughest and most effective fighters in this conflict. Their success seems to have panicked Turkey, which claims the Syrian Kurds are terrorists. The Turks have been shelling YPG positions in northwest Syria -- even as these fighters (with quiet U.S. support) have been attacking Islamic State positions near Aleppo. What a crazy war -- with a NATO member (Turkey) attacking America's best allies in Syria (the Kurds)! The Syrian conflict is at a critical, delicate moment. A miscalculation by Russia or Turkey could be catastrophic. It's never too late for the U.S. to do the right thing -- which is to build, carefully, the political and military framework for a new Syria. Wellness programs" offered by employers are all the rage. Intended to improve workers' health and hold down insurance costs, they are broadly defined. As one shrewd researcher told a Register editorial writer: "If you've seen one wellness program, you've seen one wellness program." And workers are frequently not interested in participating. So some employers are taking advantage of a provision in the Affordable Care Act. It allows them to impose penalties on workers who do not participate. Companies must meet requirements in federal rules intended to prevent discrimination and cap penalties, but an employee who refuses to undergo a health screening, join a weight loss program or try to quit smoking may pay more for insurance coverage. Honeywell International, a technology and manufacturing company headquartered in New Jersey, fined workers up to $4,000 for not agreeing to biometric testing, according to the New York Times. Flambeau Inc, which makes plastic products, required employees to fill out a health questionnaire and undergo screenings for, among other things, weight and blood pressure. A worker who missed the deadline for screening lost his coverage, prompting a lawsuit. While the details about what employers can and can't do are sorted out by courts and federal agencies, workers are wondering how companies are defining "healthy." Many wellness programs offered by large employers use body mass index (BMI) as a measure of health, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. If rules proposed last year by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission are adopted, the number of "health contingent" wellness programs may grow and BMI may be even more widely used as an indicator of overall health. That's why employers should pay attention to a new UCLA-led study, which confirms what many of us have long suspected: Your BMI is not an indicator of how healthy you are. Body mass index is derived simply by dividing a person's weight by height and then assigning them a magic number that falls into one of four categories: underweight, normal, overweight or obese. For example, someone who stands 5-foot-6 and weighs 155 pounds would have a BMI of 25 and be considered "overweight" by a federal government calculator which considers nothing else about you, including muscle mass. Lose a few pounds and you're no longer considered fat. The UCLA study found using BMI classifies more than 54 million Americans as "unhealthy," even though they are not. More than 30 percent of the people with numbers in the "normal" range are unhealthy based on their other health data examined by researchers, including triglyceride and glucose levels. . The cost of health insurance can be an albatross around the neck of any employer, large or small. The desire to offer wellness programs is understandable. But requiring participation raises concerns, and singling out workers based on a faulty health measure is wrong. Des Moines Register DES MOINES An Iowa landowner group and the developer of the proposed Bakken interstate crude oil pipeline are at odds over what authority county officials should have during construction if the Iowa Utilities Board grants a permit. The Northwest Iowa Landowner Association is seeking to clarify roles and enforcement provisions for county boards of supervisors and county inspectors. Developer Dakota Access is resisting, saying it would give county inspectors unqualified authority to stop the work at any time, which could be problematic in an instance, for example, where winter conditions necessitated backfilling a trench. Dakota Access said this would be unworkable and would exceed the authority specified in the Iowa Code, which only authorizes the county inspector to temporarily suspend work on the project until the inspector is able to consult with the supervisory personnel of the pipeline company, General Counsel David Lynch told board members. The presentation came Friday as the three-member appointed utilities board resumed its deliberations, which focused on terms and conditions in the case for a $3.8 billion pipeline. The line would cross 18 Iowa counties from northwest to southeast. The board again delayed ruling on the permit and eminent domain request, but gave its first clear indication of when a ruling might come: March 9 or 10. When we come out of the closed session, the board will make statements and either on March 9 or March 10 it is our intent to have an order that will be presented, chairwoman Geri Huser said. Lynch and Huser disagreed with Dakota Access interpretation on local authority, but board member Nick Wagner sided with Dakota Access. This is what I would see as a significant change to the past procedures and rules of the board in that you are changing the authority of the county inspector, he said. Regardless of how the board rules, lawsuits are likely to ensure the board doesnt have the final say. I think there will be legal challenges coming from a number of directions. I dont think its a done deal, said pipeline opponent Ed Fallon, a former state representative who served with board members Huser and Libby Jacobs when they were members of the Iowa House. Fallon, of Des Moines, who attended Fridays meeting, predicts regulators will vote 2-1 next month to approve the permit and the issue likely is headed for court. Several landowners already have sued, arguing the utilities board lacks authority to grant eminent domain permission in this situation. A judge declined to rule on the claim, saying due process hadnt yet played out. Dakota Access, a division of Texas-based Energy Transfer Partners, has a lot riding on the Iowa ruling as well. Three other states Illinois, South Dakota and North Dakota have given a green light to the 1,168-mile underground pipeline. The company has already indicated objections to the Iowa boards scope of authority and how laws apply in the case, and it has stockpiled supplies and signed on construction contractors. Dakota Access didnt return a message Friday seeking comment. Russian Supreme Court revokes ruling over insurance money for Superjet crash in Indonesia MOSCOW, February 20 (RAPSI) Russias Supreme Court has reversed a lower court ruling ordering Kapital Strakhovaniye company to pay over $4 million to six foreign insurers in connection with the 2012 Sukhoi Superjet-100 crash in Indonesia killing 45, according to the courts press service. The court therefore granted a cassational appeal filed by Kapital Strakhovaniye and remanded the case for a new trial. The plane crashed on its first ever demonstration tour, across six Asian countries, over Indonesia on May 9, 2012. All people on board the plane, including eight Russian nationals, were killed. The plane crashed into Mount Salak at an altitude of 1.6 km. The investigation found that the disaster was caused by human error. The airplane was insured by Kapital Strakhovaniye, which later reinsured 95% of its risks on the foreign market. The plaintiffs QBE Corporate, Starr Syndicate, Starr Insurance and Reinsurance, Muenchener Rueckversicherungrs-Gesellchaft AG, Dornoch and Catlin Insurance Company (UK) reinsured the risks in line with Lloyd's of London terms. After the crash, the plaintiffs transferred $3.5 million to Kapital Strakhovaniye, which was to compensate the relatives of deceased passengers. After conducting an investigation, the foreign companies decided that this was not an insured accident because the plane had crashed during a demonstration flight and because the insurance policy covered only test flights. In September 2014, the reinsurers sued the Russian company at the Moscow Commercial Court, demanding a refund, plus interest. Three court instances upheld their lawsuit. Kapital Strakhovaniye in its cassational appeal insisted that the plane crash was an insured accident and, according to the Russian company, reinsurers admitted this fact when initially paid insurance indemnity. TROUT CREEK The way forward for the Scotchman Peaks proposed wilderness appears as patchy as the winter trails into its landmark cedar trees. Like the mix of snow and bare gravel around the Ross Creek Cedar Grove, the fate of land designation on the Idaho and Montana sides of the mountain range straddles two different climates. About 13,900 acres of the 61,800-acre recommended wilderness area may soon be written into legislation by the Idaho congressional delegation. But the 47,900 acres on the Montana side of the border remain in limbo. Weve had a lot of traction on the Idaho side, said Phil Hough, a member of the Friends of Scotchman Peaks Wilderness advocacy group. In the last year, weve had strong endorsements from chambers of commerce, and the Bonner County commissioners last March passed a resolution calling on the Idaho (congressional) delegation to designate it as wilderness. All three are solid, conservative Republicans. This is an unusual thing that any county commission passes a resolution calling for wilderness without calling for anything else. Last May, Sen. Jim Risch, R-Idaho, told his Senate colleagues the Scotchmans would probably be the next candidate (for wilderness designation) in Idaho, during the debate on the Boulder-White Clouds Wilderness Area. That legislation passed in August. That was really encouraging, although it doesnt mean anything definitive, Hough said. We hope to see him introduce a bill sometime this spring, although the politics need to line up. And theyre always shifting. The gravel sits on the east side of the state line, although northwest Montana groups recently celebrated a significant victory. The Kootenai Forest Stakeholder Coalition of snowmobilers, environmentalists, timber workers and business owners released a consensus statement on managing public land in the Kootenai National Forest including the Scotchmans. At this point, our (Montana) delegation is interested in the Scotchman project, but hasnt shown much willingness in taking positive action, said Doug Farrell, who represents the Montana side of the Friends of Scotchman Peaks. While Sen. Jon Testers Forest Jobs and Recreation Act included 30,000 acres of new Kootenai Forest wilderness when it was introduced in 2009, the Scotchman Peaks were left out of the negotiations. Democrat Testers bill has also languished in committee without backing of Republican colleagues Sen. Steve Daines and Rep. Ryan Zinke. The agreement calls for between 70 million and 90 million board feet of timber to be cut on about 800,000 acres of the Kootenai National Forest. The current forest plan projects an available budget for cutting about 47.5 million board feet a year. Finding that amount of available timber without harming old growth, wildlife habitat or recreation needs was a huge plus for the coalition, according to group chairwoman Robyn King of the Yaak Valley Forest Council. We didnt know we were going to get that result, King said. We were ecstatically surprised that we could put in a timber piece that met conservation needs and still come out with a good result. Defining the timber supply for local mills allowed the timber partners to move forward on recreation issues. The result was a recommendation for 185,000 acres of future wilderness up from the Kootenai Forests suggested 117,000 acres. And it included a mix of motorized and non-motorized recreation areas. While about 86 percent of the Kootenai is currently open to motorized use, the agreement suggests several new permanent snowmobile recreation areas receive official sanction. We agreed those roadless areas could get the big W for wilderness and that wouldnt adversely affect forest production, said stakeholder group vice chairman Tom Dougherty, log buyer for the Moyie Springs Sawmill in Idaho. We also found some new places for snowmobiles in the forest travel plan. They wanted more areas to go to, and we came to consensus on several places the Kootenai Forest called non-motorized but that the conservation community said we can live with motorized. The Cabinet area includes 94,667 acres of proposed new wilderness, roughly doubling the existing Cabinet Mountains Wilderness. It also has three motorized recreation exploratory areas and 2,046 acres of proposed nonmotorized backcountry land a halfway step between general forest and full wilderness. The Yaak area proposes adding 50,883 acres of new wilderness, 50,473 acres of new permanent snowmobile recreation area and 54,321 acres of backcountry non-motorized area. The Scotchman Peaks proposal seeks 34,569 acres of wilderness on the Montana side of the border, along with 6,492 acres of permanent snowmobile recreation area. However, the Troy Snowmobile Club has proposed an alternative map with 1,800 acres of additional snowmobile areas in the Dry Creek and Savage Basin areas of the Scotchmans. Were still working on that trying to see how we can get to resolution, King said of the additional snowmobile areas. Id call it a friendly and passionate discussion about those values. But none of that stakeholder agreement is slated to be included in legislation any time soon. Nor is it built into the Kootenai National Forest plan, although its based on the latest plans prescriptions. The agreement isnt intended to replace anything, King said. Were using it to be an active participant in the public process on our public lands. It shows where a group of diverse folks are in solidarity on one document, instead of each stakeholder sending separate letters about what we like and dont like at the project level. That leaves the Friends of the Scotchman Peaks a baby step closer to their 11-year goal of permanent protection. Like the Salmon-Priest Wilderness on the Washington-Idaho border, it may wind up big W federal wilderness in one state and tentative study area on the other. The goal is to unify the Scotchmans like the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness on the Montana-Idaho line to the south. But the reality could look more like the Great Burn Wilderness Study Area in between. We face the same challenges in moving legislative proposals forward, Ferrell said. Getting both state delegations at once might be considered almost impossible. But if you have the opportunity for one side or state to reach an agreement, you build on that. Were pretty excited. A Victor woman was charged with felony assault with a weapon after she allegedly threatened a 16-year-old near the Cowboy Troys parking lot. Teresa Liles Griffin, 56, appeared earlier this week on the felony charge and misdemeanor driving under the influence before Ravalli County Justice Jennifer Ray. According to an affidavit, Griffin was arrested after a sheriffs deputy was called to Cowboy Troys in Victor at about 11 p.m. Friday, Feb. 12. When the deputy arrived, he spoke with a 16-year-old girl who reported that she and her boyfriend were walking when they saw Griffin drive out of the restaurants parking lot and around the block without headlights. The teenagers recognized Griffin as a substitute teacher in Victor, the affidavit said. At some point, they made contact with Griffin, who allegedly told the girl that if she told anyone about her drunk driving, she would kill the girls boyfriend. The girl told the deputy that Griffin then grabbed a rifle case from the front seat and showed it to them. When the girl asked Griffin if she had a gun in there, she allegedly replied: hell ya, the affidavit said. The deputy found Griffins car parked on the landscaping on the restaurants premises. When he found Griffin, she was sitting on the deck smoking a cigarette. She denied making any threats or driving. The deputy reported that Griffin was slurring her words, talking slow and was very unstable on her feet. A preliminary breath same found a .216 BrAC. In Montana, a person is considered impaired with a .08 BAC. The affidavit said Griffin made inconsistent statements about where she had been, what she had eaten and what she had to drink, but she did admit that she had a rifle in her truck in a pink camouflage case that had been described by the girl to the deputy. The two teenagers told the deputy that they believed Griffin would kill the boyfriend if they reported that she was driving drunk. Bail was set at $2,000, with a requirement that Griffin wear an alcohol monitor. No one knew how many people would turn out Thursday to comment on a proposed letter from the Ravalli County commission seeking to keep Syrian refugees from settling here. I was guessing maybe 100, said commissioner Jeff Burrows. The meeting turned out to be the largest county commission meeting that Burrows has ever seen. When more than 500 people packed the commissioners meeting room, the stairway leading to it and the overflow stood on the outside steps at the countys administrative building, the commission called the Hamilton School District for help. In hindsight, we should have postponed the meeting, Burrows said. The school district offered the auditorium at the middle school, but when that space wasnt large enough, the meeting spilled out into the schools gymnasium. We ended up putting them in a bad situation when all they were doing was trying to accommodate us, Burrows said. The meeting was often loud. Some students went home and told their parents about what had happened. There were reports that some people were carrying guns. Parents called the school district to complain Friday. Hamilton School District Superintendent Tom Korst said the district was taken by surprise by the number of people at the meeting. When we were called yesterday, the commission told us they had an overflow, Korst said. We were under the impression that the numbers were fewer. We thought we could accommodate them in the auditorium. It wasnt 100. It was more like 600. In hindsight, Korst said that while the district wants to be a good neighbor, it also has to balance that wish against the need to run a school in a safe manner. We ended up putting kids in a situation where they and their parents were uncomfortable, he said. I dont blame them. Were not going to have that happen again. I wont allow any spur of the moment requests like that, unless the board directs me to do otherwise. Korst received reports of a number of violations of school rules, including people smoking on school grounds. The tone of the meeting was pretty harsh, he said. I didnt see any guns myself. That would have been a clear violation of state and federal law and we would have addressed it. There could have been people carrying concealed weapons, Korst said. We dont have metal detectors. People did disperse okay once the meeting concluded. Nothing happened, but it did create a moment of tension. Were very aware that the situation wasnt ideal. Ravalli County Sheriff Chris Hoffman said a commissioner had asked him to attend the meeting a couple of days before it occurred. When he saw the number of people, he asked the undersheriff and lieutenant to join him. I think if I had been consulted, my suggestion would have been to postpone the meeting and wait for a more appropriate time, Hoffman said. That would have allowed for more time to arrange a better venue that, obviously, didnt coincide with school being in session. Hoffman said that he and the other law enforcement officers did not see any weapons at the meeting. There were lots of empty holsters, he said. People were in compliance with the law. Hoffman said he would have liked to have had the opportunity to offer input on the letter the commission wrote to the State Department opposing the settlement of Syrian refugees. I wish they would have included the sheriffs office in the entire discussion, he said. There was the public safety aspectI feel like the sheriffs office should have been involved. I wished they would have called and asked for our suggestions. Masters Of War Come you masters of war You that build all the guns You that build the death planes You that build all the bombs You that hide behind walls You that hide behind desks I just want you to know I can see through your masks. You that never done nothin' But build to destroy You play with my world Like it's your little toy You put a gun in my hand And you hide from my eyes And you turn and run farther When the fast bullets fly. Like Judas of old You lie and deceive A world war can be won You want me to believe But I see through your eyes And I see through your brain Like I see through the water That runs down my drain. You fasten all the triggers For the others to fire Then you set back and watch When the death count gets higher You hide in your mansion' As young people's blood Flows out of their bodies And is buried in the mud. You've thrown the worst fear That can ever be hurled Fear to bring children Into the world For threatening my baby Unborn and unnamed You ain't worth the blood That runs in your veins. How much do I know To talk out of turn You might say that I'm young You might say I'm unlearned But there's one thing I know Though I'm younger than you That even Jesus would never Forgive what you do. Let me ask you one question Is your money that good Will it buy you forgiveness Do you think that it could I think you will find When your death takes its toll All the money you made Will never buy back your soul. And I hope that you die And your death'll come soon I will follow your casket In the pale afternoon And I'll watch while you're lowered Down to your deathbed And I'll stand over your grave 'Til I'm sure that you're dead.------- Bob Dylan 1963 Rick Moran Donald Trump has made it clear that international law will not stand in his way when interrogating terrorists. He has threatened to bring back waterboarding and "worse." But did he have to repeat a totally fabricated story circulating via email about General Pershing summarily executing Muslims rebels in the Philippines using bullets dipped in pig's blood? MSNBC: Donald Trump closed his South Carolina campaign on Friday with a rambling speech highlighted by a giddy, almost childlike, enthusiasm for torturing and summarily executing the suspected enemies of America in the name of safety. Trump was in free-association mode ahead of Saturday's primary, dwelling for an extended time on one topic, like heroin in New Hampshire or Japan's monetary policy, and then jumping to another. "I'm really good at the trade," the billionaire told a crowd of thousands. "I'm really good at the borders." The standout topic, however, was terrorism and national security. Trump repeated favorably an apparent myth about how General John Pershing summarily executed dozens of Muslim prisoners in the Philippines with tainted ammunition during a guerilla war against the occupying United States. "He took fifty bullets, and he dipped them in pig's blood," Trump said. "And he had his men load his rifles and he lined up the fifty people, and they shot 49 of those people. And the fiftieth person he said 'You go back to your people and you tell them what happened.' And for 25 years there wasn't a problem, okay?" The story appears to be a hoax spread via e-mail forwards, according to rumor tracker Snopes.com,with no evidence it occurred. The moral of the tale, according to Trump: "We better start getting tough and we better start getting vigilant, and we better start using our heads or we're not gonna have a country, folks." Trump was unimpressed with waterboarding, a banned interrogation tactic that he has pledged to bring back against suspected terrorists, and supplement with far worse forms of abuse. "Is it torture or not? It's so borderline," he said. "It's like minimal, minimal, minimal torture." So, only a "minimal, minimal, minimal" violation of international law. Trump is someone all Americans can embrace - at least, those Americans who are admirers of barbarians, tyrants, and crazies. Should we be concerned that his monumental disrespect for international law carry over to a flippant attitude toward US law? Republicans appear willing to take that chance, but fortunately, I seriously doubt the American people as a whole will. There are still enough voters who find what Trump said yesterday, and much of what he's said on the campaign trail, totally unacceptable and completely contrary to their image of what a president should be. Derek DeLuca Starting in 2013, China began a concerted effort to establish large, artificial islands throughout the Spratly Island archipelago in the South China Sea (China claims the entire sea and archipelago). The undeniable purpose of such efforts is for China to control the archipelago, and therefore control the unquestionably important region. The problem with the People's Republic of China laying claim to the entire region is that five other nations (Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam) also lay claim to certain areas of the Spratly Islands, making one of the world's most heavily militarized regions even more volatile. In addition to the above-named countries, any potential conflict in Southeast Asia could eventually draw in the United States to protect its interests and allies. Most importantly, the United States and the Philippines have at least three treatiesthat would lead to a defense of the latter by China. The 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty, the 1999 Visiting Forces Agreement, and the 2014 Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement all oblige the U.S. to oppose any aggression to its ally, the Philippines. The two nations remain close partners in the War on Terror, as Washington has sent thousands of troops and other resources to combat the Islamic insurgency in the Philippines. The United States also maintains close relations with the Republic of China (Taiwan). China could very well use the Spratly Islands disagreement as a pretext to end the decades-long dispute with the island nation. Once again, the United States may very well be involved in a conflict between Taiwan and China, given the level of 'strategic ambiguity' with regards to mutual defense in the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act. Strangely enough, China's assertiveness in the region has led Vietnam to look to the United States as a potential partner to counter Beijing's power and land grab. India is also involved in the dispute, stationing naval units in Vietnamese waters, acting as a counterweight to Chinese aggression. Indian companiesare also currently drilling for oil in the territorial waters of Vietnam. Now, you may ask, "Why should I care?" Look at any item or article of clothing you have in your home. The tag or sticker will oftentimes say, 'Made in China', 'Made in Taiwan', 'Made in Vietnam', etc. Simply put, most people around the world would potentially feel the impact of a major conflict in the area brought on by the Spratly Island dispute. The South China Sea is a major transit point for maritime trade and shipping. According to Robert Kaplan, two-thirds of South Korea's energy supplies, sixty percent of Japan's and Taiwan's, and eighty percent of China's crude oil imports sail through the South China Sea. In fact, the amount of oil passing through the South China Sea, via the Malacca Strait, is triple the amount that passes through the Suez Canal and fifteen times the amount that transits the Panama Canal. In addition to the amount of energy supplies transiting the region, the South China Sea witnesses the flow of one-third all maritime traffic in the world, involving nearly fifty percent of the world's merchant fleet. Trillions of dollars worth of goods flow through the region, making any potential conflict over the Spratly Islands devastating to the world economy, including worldwide stock markets and consumer prices. That would affect everyone reading this article. China, and the rest of the region, is interested in the Spratly Islands not only because it allows the controlling nation to regulate the trade of oil and other goods, but it can lead to control of the exploration of oil and natural gas in the South China Sea. According to the Chinese National Offshore Oil Company, the South China Sea region, including the Spratly Islands, holds 125 billion gallons of oil and 500 trillion cubic feet of gas. The U.S. Geological Survey disputes these number, instead estimating that the region holds 5 to 22 billion barrels of oil and 70 to 290 trillion cubic feet of gas. The fishing industry is extremely important to the region and especially China, given the size of its population. The South China Sea accounts for about twelve percent of the worldwide seafood catch. Since the Chinese coastline is seriously polluted, the Chinese government heavily subsidizes the Chinese fishing fleet, and especially encourages the fishing fleet to sail to the Spratly Islands. In fact, according to Adam Minter, China is responsible for about half of the total catch in the South China Sea which is estimated to be worth $21 billion China has answered concerns about the overfishing in the South China Sea with an annual ban that lasts from May to August and supposedly applies to all regional nations. Vietnam, among others, has violated the 'ban', suggesting the 'ban' violates the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Laws of the Sea. The dispute over the Spratly Islands and the greater South China Sea has the potential to escalate into a regional conflict between any number of nations. The importance of the region to the world economy and the stationing of United States military forces in the area, might lead to a concerted effort to prevent military confrontation. At the end of October 2015, the United States Navy sailed the U.S.S. Lassenwithin 12 nautical miles of Subi reef, which is claimed by China. The move was widely denounced by Chinese state media as proactive and "damaged regional peace and stability". The United States showed that it would not stand for China's aggressive moves, moves opposed by numerous nations. Add instability on the Korean Peninsula, the massive militaries possessed by many Asian nations (plus the United States), and the increasing nationalistic behavior of economically distressed China, and the threat of war, or proxy war, between the United States and China and their respective allies is a real possibility. It is a conflict that will affect all of us. It will cost all of us, in lives, wealth, comfort, and peace. Sagarmatha Network Pvt. Ltd. is the organization dedicated in the field of printing, publishing service since 2001. As part of media, we've been publishing Review Nepal, an English medium weekly registered at District Administration Office (DAO) Kathmandu with registration number 130-162-163 and reviewnepal.com as an online digital newspaper, with registration number 849-075-076 at Department of Informational and Broadcasting (DIB) from Kathmandu, Nepal since 2003. OUR SPONSORS Our sponsors offer the best services available and make The View From Fez possible. Please visit them by clicking on images below Welcome to my blog. Here you will find information that is both interesting and useless. You can even see how Steve, my camera, sees the world through my eyes, or get your hands on my latest novel, Jihad Joe at: Thanks for visiting. Hope you enjoyed the coffee and cake. Sorry we ran out of donuts. WARNING for European visitors European Union laws require you to give European Union visitors information about cookies used on your blog. In many cases, these laws also require you to obtain consent. As a courtesy, we have added a notice on your blog to explain Google's use of certain Blogger and Google cookies, including use of Google Analytics and AdSense cookies. The value of an Industrial Park building is a subject of contention between owners and the Gage County Assessors office, and is set for a hearing next month. Gage County Assessor Patricia Milligan said the case dates back to 2014, when the property reevaluation was contested. Its set for hearing before the Nebraska Tax Equalization and Review Commission (TERC) on March 29. This is Gage County Industrial LLC, she said. Its a two-year TERC case. TERC has been way behind getting these cases because theyve had a lot from Douglas and Lancaster. This is a 2014 case that now came to the County Board. Darrel Stanard, appraiser consultant for Gage County, has examined the valuation with assistance from its owner, Kenneth Cheloha. County Board Chairman Myron Dorn said the building and land was initially valued at $1,156,150. Mr. Cheloha and this property, they requested a valuation of $724, 635, Dorn said. They protested in front of the Board of Equalization. The board at that time set a value of $979,660. He did file at that time with TERC. It has been sitting up there for two years. Dorn said Stanard has had ongoing discussions regarding the propertys valuation, and new information was received to lower the valuation even further. He has come forward with some more income figures that he did not present to the Board of Equalization back in 2014, Dorn said. Based on that information and what Darrel has reevaluated we are now recommending an $875,000 valuation figure Board member Terry Jurgens said additional information was requested in 2014, but was not provided at that time. The board approved the new valuation figure Monday with a 3-2 vote, with John Hill, Dennis Byars and Dorn voting in favor. Jurgens and Matt Bauman voted in opposition. My Academia.edu webpage. My Research gate page. My University of Louisville homepage. My Selected Works , by University of Louisville Library. My Google Scholar page. Email comments to: rapayn01 at yahoo dot com. Banner photos courtesy of U.S. government. I give my consent to Sakshi Post to be in touch with me via email for the purpose of event marketing and corporate communications. Privacy Policy The NGage economic development group has reelected its executive board to serve an additional term. Consisting of President Andrea Schafer, Vice President Patrick Ratigan, Treasurer Darin Baehr and Secretary Karen Stohs, the executive board will maintain its previous positions for another year. All were elected without opposition or other nominees from the board, and Schafer and Ratigan have held positions since the board was established around five years ago. (Ratigan) and I have been on the board since its inception and weve held officer positions since inception, Schafer said. If there are other bodies on this board that would like to step into a leadership role, I dont think that either one of us would be offended in any sort of way. Board member Robert Morgan also requested at the meeting that the group create a formal committee to field questions from prospective businesses, when they arise. I would like to at least suggest the possibility of adding what I would call business industry recruitment, he said. Its probably our primary most important function. I would say that the executive team should be the membership of that committee. Schafer said the executive board has already performed this function, and making an official committee would be appropriate. I think thats currently happening already when projects come in and we need to gather some forces and get some information together, she said. Thats the group of people that are helping to do that, so I think it makes sense to have a committee and make it a little bit more formal. At NGages annual meeting last week where board members were selected, Schafer, Ratigan and Steve Hovendick were all selected to remain on the board and continue in their roles as officers. No other nominees were presented. The NGage board also discussed an ongoing housing study, set to be completed in the coming weeks. The housing study is being conducted with Hanna:Keelan Associates, a Nebraska-based community planning and research consulting firm, alongside a countywide housing steering committee comprised of local community and county officials and housing stakeholders. City Administrator Tobias Tempelmeyer said the city will likely need to look at various aspects of housing. I think youre going to need a multifaceted approach, he said. Some of its going to be what can you fix up for current houses, what can we do to get new houses built and what can we do to get several houses built at one time. Here's what the new Docking State Office Building could look like LINCOLN The Lancaster County Sheriffs Department seized $2.4 million in suspected drug money from a semi-truck on Thursday near mile marker 391 on Interstate 80. Deputies pulled over the driver and owner of the vehicle, Michael Melchior, 65, for following too closely, Chief Deputy Jeff Bliemeister said Friday. Melchior and his passenger, 63-year-old Peggy Brennan, are both from California. The pair was driving westbound, but deputies dont yet know where they were coming from or what their destination was. Sheriffs deputies stopped the 2006 Freightliner Renegade about 10:30 a.m. and asked to search it after deputies suspected there was criminal activity involving the vehicle. The request was denied, but a police dog alerted officers to the odor of drugs, giving deputies probable cause to search, Bliemeister said. In the truck, they found luggage filled with heat-sealed and banded money. The packaging and the investigation so far shows that the money is from the proceeds of narcotics, Bliemeister said. When the cash was unsealed, there was an overwhelming odor of raw marijuana, he said. Currently, investigators believe the money is only tied to the sale of marijuana, but Bliemeister said that enterprises like this are often involved in the distribution of multiple types of narcotics. The sheriffs office is working with local, state and federal authorities to complete the investigation. This investigation has shown already that this is the direct proceeds of the sale of narcotics, Bliemeister said. We believe this money was intended to purchase additional narcotics to be resold again throughout the United States. We believe that in taking this money, we are not only charging them with a criminal offense, but we are inhibiting future distribution of narcotics. This is the largest cash seizure LSO has investigated. Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. str Romulus 15-17 (Photo source: Cotidianul) Passing these two striking buildings joined by a passerelle whilst out for a walk with a friend on Friday afternoon, I wondered, not for the first time, what tales lay behind them. Somebody had told me a long time ago that the larger one on the right had been a synagogue, and this medieval-looking edifice in the middle of the city certainly does have something synagogue-ish about it, with its imposing neo-gothic architecture. A security guard in a yellow plastic jacket (he must have been boiling in 35) was behind the gate in the courtyard. Seeing us standing there, he and a woman he was chatting to came over to see what we were up to. "Sorry to bother you. Could you tell me anything about these incredible buildings?" I asked him. He looked at me as if I must have been hit on the head by a flying bag of spanners, and shrugged. "Was this one ever a synagogue?" I indicated to the right-hand building. "No. Never," he replied. "So, what was it?" I persisted. (Photo source: Sarah in Romania) Of course he wanted to know where I was from and why I was so interested, so I explained that I had passed it many times and was simply curious to learn the history of such a majestic pair of buildings. Satisfied that I wasn't related to anyone out to claim back a heritage or with some other hidden motive apart from admiration of the touristic sort, he explained that it had been a factory in the times of Regele Mihai, but didn't know what kind. Now, he told me, it was used to store archives. Pleasantly surprised to find a guard who actually knew something about the buildings he was taking care of, we thanked him very much, lingered in front of the larger building a while longer as my imagination went bonkers and then continued our walk. I was determined to find out more as soon as I got home. We did rather doubt the security guard's explanation, though. How on earth could such a stunning building have been a factory? And archives, I thought as we walked. Really? With grimey windows and such an unoccupied air? Could it house something as important as a part of the country's archives? And what about the ornate house next door? When I got home, I put out a message to friends asking for info. Mara Popa replied almost at once with THIS article written by Dan Ghelase in Cotidianul featuring some splendid photos of the interior plus THIS video, and confirmation that the larger building had indeed been a factory. For carriages. A monument of industrial architecture, it is registered on the LMI as a category B, reference B-II-m-B-19597. Radu Oltean then answered with the same info, adding that the first building, more residential-looking but in the same sort of architectural style, had been home to the factory's owner. (Photo source: Sarah in Romania) Next came a very informative reply from Silvia Colfescu who said that the richly decorated predominantly neo-gothic house with Art Nouveau detail dated pre-1899 and, due to its style, could possibly have been the work of architect , whilst the newer factory with its eclectic facade and decorative Byzantine-Moorish elements was built between 1911-1927 by German architect H.I. Rieber. The Carriage Factory, she explained, became a car service (garage?) for German cars during the interbellic period until it was nationalised. Today, she wrote, the Carriage Factory (or Rieber Factory, as it was known) building is owned by the state and does indeed house a section of Romania's National Archives, whilst the house, says Dan Ghelase's article (dated 2014), is in the throes of a restitution battle. So now we know. And the security guard wasn't far off after all. For more information, see Metropotam and Hai la Bord. My thanks to Mara Popa, Radu Oltean and Silvia Colfescu for all their wonderful information so promptly shared. The wonderful world of Kitsch In the middle of the Old Town, the inconspicuous entrance to str Covaci 6 and its several flights of wooden stairs will lead you away from the hustle and bustle of cobbled streets, shops and restaurants up into a seeing-is-believing world of pure, unadulterated Kitsch. Yes. The Romanian Kitsch Museum opened its doors yesterday, and well worth a visit it is, too. Garden gnomes accompany your climb up the old stairs, and as you round a corner, you're confronted by a sublimely cheesy mural of Christ in Superman robes with colourful giftbags of stuffed toys at his feet. The museum's 215 exhibits are divided into several categories ranging from religious kitsch to communist, modern and gypsy. There's even an area for making your own kitsch. Everything has you doing double takes as you make your way around, not knowing quite whether to laugh or cry. But you'll cringe. Ohhhhh, how you'll cringe. Flashing crosses reminiscent of a '70's discotheque, pitzipoance and cocalari in all their tasteless glory, images of screamingly awful gypsy palaces, tacky gold jewellery, flames of a mock fireplace on a flat TV screen, Count Dracula (perhaps Romania's ultimate kitsch), plastic fruit on doilies, bad copies of the Mona Lisa, moth-eaten taxidermy, lurid tapestries, gaudy ornaments... Aaaaagh!!! The communist style of political speech known as limba de lemn (wooden language) is featured too, encouraging you to pick texts and see them transformed into the hollow, meaningless phrases so many Romanians will remember right before your very eyes. That had my attention for quite some time. Fascinating. With a great deal of gypsy kitsch to be seen, it's hard to imagine the gypsy community won't be just a bit put out. However, one of the information texts explains, 'Cultural differences are a rich source of kitsch. When a minority culture subsists beside a majority culture, many of its features are labelled as authentic kitsch. The important gypsy minority in Romania comes into prominence through its contribution to the Romanian landscape.' Included in the 'gypsy' category: manele, gypsy culture, gold accessories, fortune tellers and gypsy architecture. Whether offensive or not, the kitsch is undeniable. Like it? Don't like it? It's kitsch either way. I expect the BOR will complain a lot louder than the gypsy community. Religious kitsch is widespread and plentiful across the entire country in varying degrees of splendiferous tackiness, so it's hardly surprising it is found here in rather generous doses. The corresponding introductory information board reads: 'When religion stops being spiritual and becomes materialistic, it turns into kitsch.' Couldn't agree more. Museum founder Cristian Lica told us that everything in the museum had come from his own personal collection and all images had been taken from the public domain. He'd used nothing that wasn't already out there, in other words. A friendly man and perfectly happy to stop for a chat, it had not been his intention to upset anyone, though he was aware that it might. So, is Romanian kitsch any different to that from elsewhere? I've been googling to find out, and really, it appears not. Perhaps French kitsch is a little more oppulent (HERE's a mind-bogglingly exaggerated example), whilst English kitsch finds its culminating points in the Eurovision Song Contest (!!), Brit seaside holidays and the kind of tat you'd expect to find in souvenir shops these days, but apart from that, one pile of kitsch is much like another: 'Definition - KITSCH (noun): showy art or cheap, decorative objects that are attractive to people who are thought to lack any appreciation of style or beauty (Cambridge Dictionary)'. The only difference is that Romania has a great deal more of it (and shows it off in spectacular fashion) than anywhere else I've ever known. Bucharest is certainly plagued with a massive scourge of kitsch (more prevalent since 1989) which invades our streets, parks, taxis and churches along with our homes. It is impossible to make it through the day without having it shoved in our faces at some point or another. See HERE for a perfect example. For this reason, tourists pay a 30 lei entrance fee whilst Romanians pay 20. They have to put up with so much bloody kitsch that they deserve the discount! :D Kitsch is as annoying as it is omnipresent, but seeing so much of it here in this space dedicated to (sub)culture seems to make the bling and artlessness a little less nauseating, strange though that may sound. Let's hope the future of Cristian Lica's museum will not be marred by controversy and a sudden demand for political correctness, for it really does deserve to be seen - both by foreigners and Romanians alike. In addition, any artist is welcome to exhibit on the upper floor dedicated to Art, just as long as their work is kitschy, Mr Lica says. For more, see THIS excellent article by Alison Mutler, THIS from Vice, and THIS one by Hotnews complete with videos. The Romanian Kitsch Museum Strada Covaci 6, Bucuresti 030167 Phone: +40 723 794 989 Open every day from 12h-23h Facebook Website . . . . . . [Photos by Sarah in Romania - please don't nick without asking] Ernest Urdareanu - The tale of an arrivist I tumbled into R.G. Waldeck's Athene Palace yesterday and boy, is it a trove of history, first-hand gossip and addictive scandal in fabulous detail. I was no stranger to King Carol II's disastrous ruling nor the shameless disgrace of Elena Lupescu, but the career of unscrupulous leach Ernest Urdareanu (1897-1985), the true meteoric ascendance of an eminence grise, came as a staggering revelation. Pour yourself a nice festive drink, then sit back for a story that will whisk you back to late 1930s Bucharest - another world, or so I thought. Turns out it wasn't that different from today's Bucharest after all, for opportunists and Rasputin-type power-snafflers have existed since time immemorial, all out to rob Romania and her population for their own self-enrichment. Because they can. Astonishing really. Almost out of nowhere, Ernest Urdareanu became King Carol II's minister of the court, chamberlain, closest advisor and the third branch of Romania's ruling Trinity with the King and Lupescu. After King Carol II himself, Urdareanu emerged as the most powerful AND the most hated man in all Romania. And with cause. Nobody seems to know much about Urdareanu's early years, but Wikipedia says he had two brothers and came from a military family. In 1931, he arrived at the Palace as an aide recommended by Nicolae Titulescu, and became head of the Palace garage (he had a great passion for cars and was a former racing driver) where he was a regular chauffeur for Lupescu. Appointed private secretary in 1933 and vice-marshal in 1936, the star was truly launched a year later when he became head of the royal household. Photo source: Urdareanu (fifth person from left to right) in the company of King Carol II and Jockey Club President Constantin Argetoianu (1939) Urdareanu was not promoted on merit, experience or qualification but on the boundless trust bestowed upon him by Carol II and Lupescu. The power he gleaned was hallucinating, and how it could possibly have happened had many a Bucharestean scratching his head from 1936 onwards. According to Waldeck in Athene Palace (University Chicago Press, 2013, p24/5), many 'fantastic stories' buzzed frenetically around the capital. The most fantastic perhaps was that the King had married Lupescu off to Urdareanu. Many say the two were lovers and it has never been disproved. Whatever, impossible though it was to ascertain how this man's career had soared so extraordinarily, one thing was sure and certain: It was Lupescu who had taken him from the garage and popped him into the Palace. (Photo source - Ernest Urdareanu) Carol II was a blabbermouth. He talked too much, too freely and to everybody. On more than one occasion, he even talked about Lupescu and she was most displeased. It seems that she put Urdareanu in his valuable, powerful position to keep a gossipy king in check and thus cover the throne in some wondrous veil of secrecy that would emanate an air of mystery befitting royalty as well as minimising further chitchat focusing on her. The upshot was that Urdareanu became the singular most important influence over Carol II's reign. Urdareanu lorded it over the camarilla (circle of shady but powerful favourites including wealthy industrialists Auschnitt and Malaxa, Aristide Blank, Mihail Manoilescu around the King all of whom loathed Urdareanu) too, along with Lupescu. Although Carol II may have created his lavish personality cult which grew more extreme as his reign progressed, Urdareanu controlled it - and everything else: (Waldeck, p25) 'Prime Ministers and cabinets came and went often, but Ernest Urdareanu was always there, firmly between the King and the outside world. No letters or telephone calls reached the King unless approved by Urdareanu. The King received in audience only persons whom Urdareanu approved, and even these were received in Urdareanu's presence. Even His British Majesty's minister, ponderous Sir Reginald Hoare, and the Fuhrer's stiff and polite envoy, Dr Fabrizius, had to count heavily on the good will of the all-powerful court minister.' Rumour had it (and it's not hard to believe) that anyone who wanted to see the King had to grease Urdareanu's palm first. He is quoted to have boasted, "Madame Lupescu controls the King, but I control Madame Lupescu so I control Romania." (Moats, 1955) Photo source: Ernest Urdareanu and Elena Lupescu, Bermuda, 1941 As the King's right-hand man, Urdareanu had seats on the boards of a myriad of companies in which Carol II had financial interests. It is generally believed that Urdareanu helped the King transfer large sums of money out of the country into foreign banks, and did not neglect his own financial benefit in the process. Waldeck describes (p25) Urdareanu as a swarthy little man of 'flashy elegance with a silver plate in his skull who was said to use powder and rouge.' Every day he had lunch at Lupescu's house - they were neighbours. Young Prince Michael detested him and 'behind his father's back called him Murdareanu which was Romanian for dirt.' Astute child. Everyone knew he was corrupt to the very bones, and the huge wealth he amassed in only a few years was proof of the pudding. Waldeck writes (p25/6), 'Rumour had it that the great European powers, including Germany and England, paid large sums to the King's favourite. All this if true, would be in the best tradition of the Balkans. But even Urdareanu's bitterest enemies admitted that he adored the King and was completely loyal. They even admitted that Urdareanu advised Carol according to the best of his knowledge as to what was best for the King. What his enemies resented was that this 'best knowledge' was a primitive kind of unscrupulous shrewdness, and that what Urdareanu thought was the best interest of Carol was rarely the best interest of Romania.' Fast forward to 1940 (see HERE for more on Carol II's abdication): When King Carol II fled Romania with Elena Lupescu and hundreds of pieces of luggage, among them priceless paintings such as several El Grecos which some say actually belonged to the state, along with other treasures, Urdareanu was right there with them. Naturally. It sounds rather like a madcap adventure for teens off inter-railing for the summer. Wikipedia explains: 'When King Carol and Madame Lupescu were forced to leave the country after the King's abdication on 6 September 1940, Urdareanu accompanied them on their adventurous flight from the country, when the royal train was hounded and shot at by members of the Fascist Iron Guard. First they went to Switzerland and afterwards to Spain, where they stayed in Barcelona, Madrid and Seville. Due to constant pressure from the German and Romanian government for the extradition of Lupescu and Urdareanu on account of their suspected crimes and corruption, in March 1941 Urdareanu organised their flight to Portugal.' They weren't in Portugal long. Fearing German occupation would spill in to Portugal, the three preferred to seek asylum in Cuba, Mexico and Brazil. In Mexico, Urdareanu married 18-year-old Monique Cook (happy to give many an interview on her marriage, adventures and opinions of Carol II and Lupescu over the following years, see HERE for example) and, in 1947, organised Carol II's and Lupescu's marriage in Brazil. Wikipedia continues: 'In 1949 all four returned to Portugal, where they set up a household in Estoril, with Urdareanu still as secretary and chamberlain of the King. After the unexpected death of King Carol in 1953, Urdareanu organized the funeral in Lisbon, which was not attended by ex King Michael, partly because the latter didnt want to meet Lupescu and Urdareanu [how perfectly understandable - Sarah's note]. Michael detested Urdareanu. After King Carol II's death [untimely at 59 years old - Sarah's note], Urdareanu and his wife stayed with Madame Lupescu until her death in 1977. Urdareanu later died in Portugal in 1985, at the age of 88, never returning to Romania.' Of course he didn't return to Romania. He'd have been immediately arrested and thrown in jail. So that's that. That's the story. Except it isn't a story. This slippery, sly and pretty darn ruthless bloodsucker from seemingly nowhere swung from royal chauffeur to perhaps the lover of the King's mistress (Downton Abbey much?) and became the most powerful man in Romania besides the King himself. At the moment of abdication, this (by now wondrously rich) freeloader ran off with King and Vamp for a wild extended holiday in Europe and Latin America on money nicked from the Romanian population, and went on to live out his days bine mersi in lovely Estoril finally snuffing it at the ripe old age of 88 having never answered for a single crime. 80 years on, any sign of evolution? Not really. For more, please see Romania Libera and BZI.ro. Other books in English on this period in Bucharest: Foreign Correspondent by Robert St John; The Balkan Trilogy by Olivia Manning Happy Feast of St Nicholas! For 16 centuries, tradition has it that Saint Nicholas crosses the globe tonight, leaving presents for all those who have done good deeds throughout the year. Children (young and old, big and small!) polish their boots on the evening of December 5th, so that he will stop by and drop his gifts inside them. Over 811,000 Romanians mark their name day on December 6th. Saint Nicholas (Greek: , Agios ["saint"] Nikolaos ["victory of the people"]) (270 - 6 December 346) is the common name for Nicholas of Myra, a saint and Bishop of Myra (Demre, in Lycia, part of modern-day Turkey). Because of the many miracles attributed to him, he is also known as Nicholas the Wonderworker. He had a reputation for secret gift-giving, such as putting coins in the shoes of those who left them out for him, and thus became the model for Santa Claus whose English name comes from the Dutch Sinterklaas. His reputation evolved among the faithful, as is common for early Christian saints. (Wikipedia) St. Nicolas is surrounded by a rich myriad of tales and legends. One story is that of a poor man who had three daughters. In those days, a young woman's father had to offer prospective husbands a dowry. The larger it was, the better chance she had of finding a good husband and without it, she was unlikely to marry at all. The poor man's daughters had no such dowries and were therefore destined for slavery. Mysteriously, on three different occasions, a bag of gold appeared in their home providing the much-needed riches. The bags, tossed through an open window, are said to have landed in stockings or shoes left in front of the fire to dry, leading to the custom of children hanging up their stockings or putting out shoes. Sometimes the story is told with gold balls instead of bags, hence why three gold balls - today's symbols for pawn brokers, sometimes represented as oranges - are one of the symbols for St. Nicholas. One of the oldest stories showing St. Nicholas as a protector of children takes place long after his death. The townspeople of Myra were celebrating the good saint on the eve of his feast day when a band of Arab pirates from Crete arrived in the district. They plundered the Church of Saint Nicholas and made off with the booty. As they were leaving town, they snatched a young boy, Basilios, for slavery. The emir selected him as his personal cup-bearer, as Basilios didn't speak Arabic and thus would not understand what the king said to those around him. So, for the next year, Basilios served the king bringing his wine in a beautiful golden cup. For Basilios' parents devastated at the loss of their only child, the year passed slowly and was filled with grief. As the next feast day of St Nicholas approached, Basilios' mother refused to join the festivities for it was now a day of pain although she agreed to keep a simple observance at home - quiet prayers said for Basilios' safekeeping. Meanwhile, many miles away, as Basilios was fulfilling his tasks St. Nicholas suddenly appeared to him, blessed him, whisked him up and set him down again at his home back in Myra still holding the king's golden cup. This is the first story told of St. Nicholas as protector of children which became his primary role in the West. Another story tells of three theological students en route to Athens to study. A wicked innkeeper robbed and murdered them, then hid their remains in a large pickling tub. Nice! It so happened that Bishop Nicholas, travelling along the same route, stopped at that very inn. That night, he dreamed of the crime, got up, and summoned the innkeeper. As Nicholas prayed earnestly, the three boys were restored to life. In France, the variation is that of three small children who, wandering in their play, get lost. Lured by an evil butcher, they are captured. St. Nicholas appears and appeals to God to return them to life and to their families. And then there is St. Nicholas and the sea. When he was young, he made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. There as he walked where Jesus had walked, he sought to experience the Lord's life, passion, and resurrection through meditation. Returning by sea, a mighty storm threatened to wreck the ship. Nicholas calmly prayed. The terrified sailors were amazed when the wind and waves suddenly calmed, sparing them all. No surprise that St. Nicholas is also the patron of sailors and voyagers. (Image source: Artist: Michele Damiani; Postcard: Magicatera, Bari, Italy 2007: St Nicholas Center Collection There are plenty of other stories full of how Nicholas saved his people from famine, spared the lives of those innocently accused and many more. He carried out kind and generous deeds in secret expecting nothing in return. Within a century of his death, he was celebrated as a saint. Today he is venerated in the East as a wonder or miracle worker and in the West as patron of a great variety of people - children, sailors, bankers, pawn-brokers, scholars, orphans, laborers, travellers, merchants, judges, paupers, marriageable maidens, students, children, victims of judicial errors, captives, perfumers, even thieves and murderers. Bref, he is the friend and protector of all in trouble or need. Sailors claiming St. Nicholas as patron carried stories of his favour and protection far and wide leading to chapels built in many seaports. As his popularity spread throughout the Middle Ages, he became the patron saint of Apulia (Italy), Sicily, Greece, and Lorraine (France), and many cities in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Russia, Belgium, and the Netherlands. Following his baptism in Constantinople, Vladimir I of Russia brought St. Nicholas' stories and devotion to his homeland where Nicholas became the most beloved of saints. He was so widely revered that more than 2,000 churches were named for him including three hundred in Belgium, thirty-four in Rome, twenty-three in the Netherlands and more than four hundred in England. Nicholas' tomb in Myra became a popular place of pilgrimage. Due to the many wars and attacks in the region, some were concerned that access to the tomb might be hampered. For both the religious and commercial advantages of a major pilgrimage site, the Italian cities of Venice and Bari vied for the saint's relics. In the spring of 1087, sailors from Bari managed to spirit away the bones bringing them to Bari, a seaport on the southeast coast. An impressive church was built over St. Nicholas' crypt and many faithful journeyed to honour the saint who had rescued children, prisoners, sailors, famine victims, and many others through his compassion, generosity, and the countless miracles attributed to his intercession. The Nicholas shrine in Bari was one of medieval Europe's great pilgrimage centers and Nicholas became known as "Saint in Bari." To this day, pilgrims and tourists visit Bari's great Basilica di San Nicola. In Romania and beyond, children typically leave their boots on the window-sill the evening of December 5th. By next morning, Mos Nicolae (Sfantul Nicolae) has left sweets and gifts if they have been good, or a rod (Romanian: nuielusa) if they have not (most children end up getting small gifts but also a small rod). So, now you know. Happy Feast day to all Nicoles, Nicolettes, Nicoletas, Nicolas's, Nicus, Nikys and Nicks and to all children, both big and small, everywhere! La Multi Ani, Bucuresti! [Gheorghe Leahu: Popa Nan, source] In 1459, 557 years ago today, Bucharest first appeared in a written document. 557 years.... Bucharest became Romania's capital in 1862. This, from Wikipedia: "Its eclectic architecture is a mix of historical (neo-classical), interbellum (Bauhaus and Art Deco), Communist-era and modern. In the period between the two World Wars, the city's elegant architecture and the sophistication of its elite earned Bucharest the nickname of "Little Paris" (Micul Paris). Although many buildings and districts in the historic centre were damaged or destroyed by war, earthquakes and Nicolae Ceausescu's program of systematisation, many survived." All elderly ladies deserve kindness and respect. Bucharest is no exception. Happy birthday, my dear beloved city. May what remains of your quiet and timid loveliness be preserved and treasured yet a while... The kindness of strangers This morning, I wandered into the so-far-unbeknownst-to-me Biserica Adormirea Maicii Domnului (Mosilor/Sf Gheorghe Nou), also called Razvani by locals in memory of its founder, ruling prince of Moldova, Stefan I Razvan. According to the plaque for historic monuments, it was originally constructed in 1597, rebuilt in 1705-6 and underwent repair in 1857-9 following serious damage by fire. Restored to its present state in 1970 (architect E. Chefneaux), it has been undergoing further work to strengthen its foundations since 2012. In the shaded coolness of the porch, a priest and several parisioners were having coffee and covrigi. Invited to join them, I had to decline (tho' the coffee smelled marvellous) as I was on a mission, not to mention a diet. "Then take these," said the priest, giving me a handful of mini covrigi. "You look like a busy lady and being busy is hungry work." How nice. Thank you. "And just a moment!" he added, rooting about to the elbow in a large bag. "Here. Take this too. Im sure you'll like it." He handed me a CD/DVD entitled 'Parintele Cleopa'. I shall indeed watch it a little later on this evening. :)It was a morning filled with the kindness of strangers at every step. Smiles, greetings, small talk with/from all sorts of people from all walks of life. As I stood admiring a particularly gorgeous facade (see left, architect L. Negrescu, 1899) somewhere behind Magazin Cocor, a guy leapt out of his van and came rushing over. "1898," he said (well, he wasn't far off). "Isnt it splendid!" I wholeheartedly agreed. It really was. He presented his card with a gentlemanly flourish which rather brought Dick Van Dyke (Burt) in Mary Poppins to mind, and said, "you never know when you'll be needing a good plumber!" Indeed you don't! Everyone was glowing with good humour this morning from the cobbler behind Coltea Hospital, the trolley bus drivers (actually two) and the kebab seller ("No? Not even a cup of coffee?? You've broken my heart!") to the man in the corner shop who gave me a free bottle of water ("such heat - hard for ME to bear so for an English lady it must be awful!") and a sweetheart feeding birds in the gardens of Sf Gheorghe Nou who said she could recognise each and every one of them and had given them all names, bless her. Had I really forgotten how incredibly warm people are here in my beloved city (present summer temperatures aside!), or was there something in the water today? Perhaps a little of both :):)I kid you not. EVeryone, without exception, had Rusalii (Pentecost) - legends, fairies and dances (Image source) When I woke up this morning I realised, rather surprised, that I'd never done a post on Rusalii. Excellent timing then, seeing as how I'm in the mood for some magic. Rusalii is Romanian Pentecost/Whitsuntide and falls 50 days after Easter. We had our Pentecost ages ago (May 15th), but since Orthodox Easter was five weeks after ours this year, they're still catching up. Whit Sunday and Monday are national holidays here, so a longer weekend lies ahead for many - more than welcome considering the heatwave that has hit Romania over the last few days. (Photo source) There are plenty of stories attached to Rusalii as you would expect in a country so rich in folklore. Rusaliile are magical creatures - fairies, actually - found in forests, mountains, near water and in the sky itself who visit this crazy world of ours over the course of this week (or for three weeks depending on the region). Legend has it they are the souls of dead girls who, having left their tombs on Maundy Thursday and spent Easter amongst the living, have flatly refused to return to the underworld preferring instead to hang around a while and torment those who disrespect the rituals of Pentecost. According to tradition, people once avoided calling them Rusalii to appease them, giving them different names instead: Iele (rather like the veela in Harry Potter) and Zane (fairy) and Frumoasele ('beauties'). They must, says folklore, be chased away at all costs. One way to do this a little in advance is by giving generously to charity on Mosii de Vara (yesterday), a summer commemoration for the dead. Once Pentecost is upon us, however, wearing garlic and wormwood around one's waist is advisable. (Photo source) In the countryside, keeping the fairies at bay is done by way of dances - Calusarii - a ritual of healing and protection. Here are two from 1974 and 2004 performed by three generations of dancers. Do take a look for they are amongst the oldest traditional dances in Romania. Back in days of yore, Calusarii, which date back to the Dacians, were danced uniquely by men bound to the group for 3, 5 or 9 years and forbidden any sexual activity during the ritual dance period. The ancient meanings have been lost over time, but folklorists and historians believe that the dance was either a fertility ritual or indeed an exorcism performed to cure the delirium and hypnotic trances caused by fairy possession which would eventually drive a person out of their mind. Such a disease, known as luat de Rusalii (taken by the fairies) can be triggered either by seeing them dancing naked in the moonlight or by inadvertently stepping on a spot where a dance has taken place. One can recognise these spots with a trained eye, for the grass is left burned following fairy presence, and once it grows back it is a darker green, left untouched by cattle and covered by a particular kind of mushroom known as Lingurita Zanei (Fairy Spoon). So now you know. Keep eyes peeled should you be in the countryside this weekend... (Photo source) Its hard to say what calusar actually means, says RoUnite, although you may be interested to take a look at a few definitions derived from other beliefs: - Some say the word comes from Latin collosium meaning a dance group and a secret society. - Others relate the Romanian word calus which means a small piece of wood placed in the mouth to prevent talking. - The word calus could be also seen as a diminutive of the Romanian word cal (horse) from the Latin caballus. - Last but not least, its sometimes said that calusar is derived from Salii Collini Roman priests of Mars whose duty was to keep Rome safe in battle. There are of course similarities between calusarii and Salii Collini, but the number of differences almost excludes the possibility that they are related. The dance spread to Serbia and Bulgaria and also has similarities to our British Morris Dancing, suggesting that the Celts rather liked it, borrowed it from the Dacians and took it home westwards. Originating in the south (Oltenia), other variants may be found in Moldova, Maramures and Transylvania. (Photo source) Apart from Calusarii there are other superstitions linked to this festival, says Romania Journal. Knowing them will help you take some precautions to protect yourself from fairies up to no good: - Refrain from working in the fields for Ielele will catch and punish you; - On the day of Pentecost, you must not enter a vineyard, a wilderness, a forest or stand next to a fountain - there lurk the evil spirits; - Anyone working on the day of Pentecost (ie. today) will be punished by the Fairies for not properly honouring and cherishing the day; - 9 weeks from Rusalii one should not pick medicinal herbs; - You must not quarrel on Rusalii; - Doors must be brushed with garlic to protect homes from evil and bad luck all year long; - Evil spirits are banished through noisy rituals and cracking lime branches. I have to work tomorrow, Whit Monday, so I hope that won't upset any fairies. If you do too, we'd better stuff our belts and/or pockets with garlic and wormwood just in case. In the meantime, Bucharest is heaving with events for Pentecost from open air jazz and classical music concerts to exhibitions, picnics and fairs, see HERE. Enjoy the weekend! For more on Rusalii, please see HERE in English and HERE in Romanian. IMPORTANT POST SCRIPT: Anyone concerned by the prospect of possible altercations between Rusaliile and Sanzienele on Thursday night (Noaptea de Sanziene) due to a collision of these two mystic festivals, fear not. It seems they met three years ago when the very same thing happened and signed a peace treaty which still holds today. Thank you to Rocky's Dad for the comforting info - it was rather a worrying prospect. Happy 128th birthday, dear Ateneul Roman! (Photo: Sarah In Romania) The steps of the Romanian Athenaeum concert hall in the centre of Bucharest have long been a favourite vantage point for watching the world go by while concert (and sometimes conference) nights in this beautifully ornate, circular, domed main hall leave you entirely at one with both surroundings and history as the music ebbs to its sublime close. Ateneul Roman is very much part of home to Bucharest's music-lovers. Today, it is residence to the George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra and choir, along with the George Enescu International Music Festival. Take a look at this marvellous virtual tour if you've never had the pleasure to put a foot beyond its doors. In 1865, cultural and scientific personalities Constantin Esarcu, V. A. Urechia, and Nicolae Cretulescu founded the Romanian Atheneum Cultural Society. To serve its purposes, the Romanian Athenaeum, a building dedicated to art and science, was erected in Bucharest, says Wikipedia. (Photo: Sarah In Romania) Designed by French architect Albert Galleron on a property that had belonged to the Vacarescu family, it was inaugurated on 14th February, 1888, although work continued until 1897. Built with funds collected publicly following a national lottery - 500,000 tickets were issued at one leu each. The scientist Constantin Esarcu (1836-1898) addressed an appeal to the people of Romania: "Give one leu for the Ateneu'!" - a lesson in unity and an awakening of national conscience. The slogan is still remembered affectionately today. In addition to being a great symbol of culture, Ateneul Roman is also a historical site, for, on December 29, 1919, a conference of leading Romanians voted there to ratify the unification of Bessarabia, Transylvania, and Bukovina with the Romanian Old Kingdom to constitute Greater Romania. The graceful, circular-form of the building is owed to an already existing foundation in the Diocese Garden (Gradina Episcopiei), once destined for ... a circus. Its facade, inspired by the architecture of ancient Greek temples with its majestic row of columns, is supported by a triangular pediment. At the time, its placement was much criticised, but today, Ateneul Roman is an oasis close to the bustle of Calea Victoriei and a nearby carpark - one can't imagine Bucharest without it. When I lived here back in 2008, I was treated to a tour (my first) of this exceptional gem by one of the pianists hired to accompany the George Enescu choir. Back-stage we went, full of what had been scenery and all kinds of bits and pieces, the room where the choir members could change, eat, etc. In the main hall, I stood there like a goldfish, opening and closing my mouth in wonder, as she explained the fresco encircling the walls depicting the history of the Romanian people in 25 'chapters'. Of course, I had sat in the audience many times and gazed at it, but hadn't known who was who nor what chapters referred to which parts of history. (Photo: Sarah In Romania) There, all the stories I'd been told unfolded before me - Emperor Traian entering Dacia; Stefan cel Mare (who was actually not so 'mare' but rather short!); Mihai Viteazu and the unification of the three principalities; Horea, Closca and Crisan the three heroes of the Peasants' Revolt; Carol I; King Ferdinand and Queen Marie of Romania and many more. Here too, I was told, on 1st March 1898, the chords of George Enescu's divine symphonic suite "Poema Romana" rang out for the first time. Holding the baton was George Enescu himself, aged just seventeen. Other great names who had performed on that very stage flashed before me: Celibidache, Lipatti, Arthur Rubinstein, Pablo Casals, Stravinsky, Richard Strauss, Bartok, Ravel.... Moving closer to the present, my marvellous guide explained that by some miracle, Ateneul Roman had survived the bombardments of World War II while many buildings surrounding it had succumbed. The beautiful fresco had been covered up during the communist era so people would not be able to see their history of Emperors and Kings - King Carol II and King Mihai were erased completely. Extensive reconstruction and restoration work was carried out by a Romanian construction company and the restoration painter, Silviu Petrescu, in 1992. (Photo: Silvia Colfescu) A friend from the US and writer of the blog, Tom's Place, visited Bucharest that summer. He had never been inside Ateneul Roman, so we popped into the little office round the corner and begged the caretaker to let us in since the main door was closed. He accompanied us to the main hall, the "Mouse Hole" (the little hall downstairs) and once again, I swooned at the majestic marble staircases, the graceful lines and architectural beauty. We stayed for a couple of hours photographing everything we could like a pair of things possessed until our (or rather, my) camera batteries went flat. Since then, there have been countless visits with friends to this wonderful culture-capsule of sheer elegance - both for tours (I can't get enough of them) and concerts. Memories of this incredibly romantic place are always swamped with great affection. Imagination is overwhelmed with enchanting, magical snap-shots in rapid succession of a Bucuresti de alta data back in a time when one dressed up for concerts (actually, there, they still do), when top-hatted gentlemen helped ladies in elegant gowns clutching tiny, beaded bags and opera glasses out of carriages or motor-cars and when there was a real and admirable inteligentia alive and well in Romania's capital. Ateneul Roman is a major part of 'my' Bucharest and my heart longs to be sitting on those steps once again waiting for friends or lost in my book. It longs for the lovely circular concert hall, the stunning fresco and the first lulling notes of Faure's Requiem or Schumann's "Carnaval" to envelope it. La Multi Ani, dear Ateneul Roman - and many, many more! Welcome to the House of the People - and don't come back! Last week, one of my closest friends (S.) came to Bucharest for New Year. It was her first visit so I really wanted her to feel the charm of this marvellous, vibrant city. We sped about all over the place taking in museums, galleries, churches, monasteries and two wonderful days in Brasov. Towards the end of a lovely busy week, S. decided she'd like to go on a tour of Casa Poporului ("well, you've got to haven't you. Can't be in Bucharest and not see that."), so having found nothing helpful on the site (bravo) we called to enquire about times, reserve a place on a tour and thus done, set off that same morning. According to the voice on the phone, S. needed her ID, the tour in English would begin at 10h45 and last 90 minutes and there'd be a visit to the underground nuclear bunker. "Ooooh!" said S. The night before it had snowed hard, and Bucharest was something of an icerink in the making. The taxi dropped us off at the Izvor entrance a good way from the building itself - taxis can't get any closer. We crunched and slid along to the front of the hugely imposing eyesore gingerly negotiating the stone slabs that run alongside to the entrance doors. No sand, no salt, just a load of people-friendly ice. A nice tourist (Italian?) saw the two of us clinging to each other like a pair of old dears and helped us along. Thank you, kind tourist, whoever you were. Once inside (God, what a foreboding place it is), we went to an info centre to the right where a lady sat behind a white cardboard-like counter similar to those you find at fairs. She checked the list for S's name and ticked her off. I didn't join the tour due to my overwhelmingly deep aversion to the place. Just one ticket please. The info lady filled in a slip of paper which involved ticking several boxes whilst looking important, and then waved us to a small dusty shop the other side of the hall evidently stuck in a 70s time warp. "What now?" I wondered. "We pay there, I spose," said S, who having lived two years in Moscow seemed more with it than I was. The bored girl at the counter took the slip of paper with the ticked boxes and said "60 lei" in a none too friendly tone. Jobs worth. 60 lei exchanged hands. No "thank you", no "enjoy your tour". Happy New Year to you too. Unsurprising for the first week of the year, people were still on holiday and tourism was booming. Around us, UK/US English, French, Italian, Spanish, Hebrew. Visitors queued in droves on that freezing, snowed up morning. An American nearby was flicking through Rick Steves for some pre-tour input on life in Romania under communism. What better place to come, you'd think. A young guy (Scandinavian?) was at the info counter asking if he could pay by credit card. No. Cash only. "But I have no local money. Can I pay in foreign currency?" No. "Is there an ATM here?" Vague shrug translating roughly into 'not my problem'. Excellent customer service. Later, S. said there was an ATM but on the other side of the barrier and up the stairs. Useless if you need cash to pay the entrance fee since without your ticket, you can't get through the barrier. Here we are in 2016 and credit cards cannot be used in the famous House of the People ("second largest building in the world next to the Pentagon, you know"). In what decade are we exactly? 10h45 came and went. At 11h, a voice called for those wanting the English tour. Stampede. Once S. had gone through the barrier (xray security and tralala) and waited a further 20 minutes on the steps beyond for everyone else to be checked, I went back to the info lady to see if the modern art museum was open. Nope. Neither was the cafe above it and no, there were no exhibitions currently running. If I wanted the contemporary art wing, I'd have to go around the outside of the building to the front. On the unsalted icerink. No thanks. An excellent example of optimising Bucharest during the holiday season. Well done, authorities. The entrance hall had a commie-style make-do bar (no seats, just the bar see above left) where I got a coffee and then took root in a bright green chair by the door to people-watch the 90 minutes away. No wifi. Don't be daft. At least there were chairs. After a while, I decided to explore any books to be had in the gloomy shop. With no room to swing so much as a flea in there, I squeezed my way past four people (German) getting tickets for a later tour, and browsed a little to kill time. Didn't take long. Mugs of Dracula, wooden masks, Romanian blouses at 521 (yes, ONE!) lei a shot, plastic dolls in national costumes that needed a wash, calendars (2016 - well done), magnets, keyrings. Books? Another stupid idea. Some on Romania (a few quite dog-eared), two illustrated books of Casa Poporului that analysed the "impressive architecture" but nothing much else, and a bunch of guidebooks from publications I'd never heard of. Nothing historical, no novels. No effort to cater to an interested or curious public. Back to my seat. People queueing, wondering where to pay, a traffic jam for those trying to get into the cramped shop while others waited for friends and family already on tours. Half an hour later, I just happened to turn to my left and... there was S. sitting on an identical green chair trying to text me. "Hey! How come you're out so soon? Didn't you like it?" She shrugged. "It started late and finished early." A 50 minute tour for the price of 90 minutes. "Did you take lots of photos?" I asked. "Yes, and so did everyone else whether they'd paid the photo tax or not. I had to wear an extra sticker to say I'd paid mine but there were people snapping away who hadn't. What a rip off." A rip off indeed. 50 minutes instead of 90 and an unnecessary photo tax that's a con anyway. A nice way to fleece tourists. What had she learned from the tour? Anything interesting? Not much except for the number of lightbulbs in the chandeliers and the weights of the afore-mentioned, the height of the windows, the length of the curtains and when they'd last been washed, the number of artisans from all over the country who worked on the site and how BIG, how EXPENSIVE, how IMPRESSIVE and how GLORIOUS it all was. Seriously? How about Ceausima? The destruction of an entire third of the city? 7km to be exact. The 27 orthodox and 3 protestant churches, 6 synagogues, Vacaresti monastery, the entire district of Uranus, the tens of thousands of homes? The suffering of the population who went cold and hungry for such madness? The terror of so many working there that the Ceausescus would be displeased with results? The appalling working conditions? Nope. Oh wait, yes. Demolition was mentioned in passing, but the only statistics were concerning the nit-picking details leading to the 'greatness' of the building, not the heinous suffrance it wrought. Hallucinating. Disgusting. What about the nuclear bunker? "Oh, that," she said. "If you mean a few pipes in the basement... Didn't see a bunker." So, to recap: A 90 minute tour that took 50 minutes; a photo tax that was nothing more than a way to squeeze yet more money out of foreigners; the famous bunker visit that didn't happen and an agitprop guide. Did anyone ask questions, I wanted to know. "Yes," said S. "Some. They wanted to know the weight of this and that, the materials used, etc." I almost regretted not going on the tour too so I could at least have yelled about The book is not dead! Long live the book!! (Photo source - Litera) Bucharesteans are getting terribly good at coming up with strategies to promote reading. Romania Insider published THIS article this morning on a recent project between Meridian Taxi and Editura Litera, The Mobile Library (Biblioteca Mobila), where clients can browse through books as they're driven to their destinations. Published by Litera, Alice Munro, AP Cehov, Sinclair Lewis, Frantz Kafka and Mihail Bulgakov are just a few of the authors you'll find in a Meridian taxi - and they'll be changed on a monthly basis. The project aims to 'encourage reading, turning every moment into an opportunity to get stuck into a book' says a post on Editura Litera's Facebook page. What a fiendishly excellent idea! (Photo source - Litera) Picture the scene: you've flagged a Meridian taxi - my favourite cab company incidentally - to get you to heaven knows where, are stuck in a traffic jam and spy a book title on the front seat you rather fancy. You get stuck in (if you don't get carsick like me) and become utterly engrossed in chapter 1. I guess they'll choose to put works that capture attention immediately otherwise what would be the point. Once at your destination you're going to have one thought in mind: "Ohhhhh!! But I'm just getting to a good bit!" or "But I don't wanna stop..." Off you'll go to the nearest bookshop to buy a copy. Brilliant marketing strategy by Editura Litera (even if you could probably get the same title by other publishing houses depending on the bookshop you go to). Well done! There are plenty of other creative examples here in Bucharest for luring noses into a good tome. In almost every metrou station, you'll find book vending machines much like the ones you feed money into for snacks and drinks. YES! I said BOOK VENDING MACHINES. How great is that? They too are changed regularly and have a wide range of choice from I.L Caragiale and Nichita Stanescu to Octavian Paler, Marin Preda and Neagu Djuvara. (Photo: Sarah in Romania) Not long ago in Gradina Cismigiu, I fell upon a wonder. A book tree! Sounds magical doesn't it. There it was, a silver vision stretching out its book-ladened branches up, up, up towards a hazy sky. The trunk had all kinds of hidey holes equally stuffed full of books and magazines. Around the tree beanbags, seats and hammocks beckoned at passers-by to fall into for a rest and a read. A cafe had been set up too where you could grab a coffee or a soda to accompany you on your literary journey. There were plenty of people all lost between pages in peaceful surroundings. What a gift on a hot day. The Metropolitan Library (strada Tache Ionescu nr.4). was another to create a Reading Garden this summer, see HERE. (Photo source) And that's not all. Asociatia Team Work in partnership with Gradina Botanica "Dimitrie Brandza" launched "Gradina din Carti" ("Book Garden") at the Botanical Gardens last month dedicated to students needing a place to study for exams and working together on projects. Workshops and photography competitions have been just two of the possible events found there this year. (Photo source) There are several cafes that have strived to make reading a part of their ambiance. Take Green Tea (see left) at str. Dr. Burghelea nr.24 near Piata Traian for example, a cosy hub where the owner puts her library at your disposition should you not have your own reading matter with you. Curled up in a comfy chair under a sloping roof, book in hand and a mug of coffee or tea by your side you can while away the hours surrounded by soft jazz and golden oldies. The Hobby Cafe on strada Sfantu Stefan (Parcul Popa Soare - map HERE) is another haven rich in the literary word along with board games, Nintendo, chess, card tables, table football and anything else you can possibly think of to pass the time in the establishment's Hobby Room, Salon du The or Coffee Room. There's a nice terrace too. Mustn't forget the multicultural Readers Cafe (photo left) at the Metropolis Business Centre on Iancu de Hunedoara either. Cristina and Dan opened an English bookshop as a result of partnerships with publishers in the US and the UK and there, you can read to your heart's content accompanied by regular live music and exceptionally good food should you get peckish. See THIS link for other reader-friendly cafes. (Photo source) Bucharest isn't a city alone in its quest to encourage reading. Back in June, bus-rides were free for a week in Cluj for anyone armed with a book. Bookworm and founder of the "Cartile pe fata" campaign Victor Miron went to Emil Boc (the city mayor) with his proposal who put the suggestion on his Facebook page with an overwhelmingly positive response. Set up as part of several other initiatives aimed to promote reading in the city, free public transport is certainly an incentive to open a book! Also thanks to Victor Miron, 3rd June last year saw people able to take taxis between 11h-15h totally free of charge here in Bucharest, providing they had a book with them and read for the majority of the fare. (Photo source) Every Thursday in August 2014, an area in Parcul Izvor was transformed into an open-air reading room between 16h-21h complete with comfy places to sit and shelves for book swaps, whilst the Sky Tower organised a very nice space on one of their large terraces wih benches, colourful sofas, a fountain and play area for children for anyone needing a break. They didn't provide books - you brought your own - but it was a lovely spot to sit and read awhile not to mention the additional bonus of a superb view over the city. So, all those who bemoan that Bucharest has nothing to offer, it does. Jos palaria to all those creative, imaginative people whose love and respect for reading, education and knowledge keep books alive and well in this beloved city of mine. The book is not dead! Long live the book!! Concert etiquette (Image source) We were so looking forward to being at Sala Palatului last Tuesday night for the Israel Philharmonic (Enescu and Mahler) conducted by Zubin Mehta. Since the George Enescu Festival is the country's greatest classical music (and cultural) event of the year, getting hold of tickets has become more and more difficult. All around me I could hear a whir of English, Italian, German, American, Spanish, Czech, French, Russian. Everyone who spoke to me (apart from the friend I was with) did so in (mostly accented) English. Tuesday's audience had a very large percentage of foreign tourists/businessmen. This blogpost is therefore 'dedicated' to them rather than Romanian members of the public who, I'm sure, are generally better schooled in concert etiquette. Two seats to my left a lady was sipping champagne (I asked her what she'd done with the rest of the bottle and she replied she'd had a bad day) and swiping the screen of her iphone. In front of us, a young couple with a child that can't have been much more than five squirming in her seat. An announcement that, due to a recent knee operation and adamant refusal to miss the concert, Maestro Mehta would be sitting down to conduct brought forth thunderous applause from the audience. The conductor, supported by two walking sticks, was greeted with standing ovation. Most touching. The first chords of transported an eager public into the world of Romania's national composer George Enescu. Not for long though in my case. Ten minutes in, a couple arrived and everyone in my row had to get to their feet to let them in. Two seats still free between me and the girl playing with her phone, my friend and I moved along a) to be more central and b) so we wouldn't have to move again should there be anymore stragglers who couldn't tell the time. The two people next to my friend moved up too so the empty seats were sensibly at the end of the row. End of the first movement. Applause. Noooooooooooooo..... Maestro Mehta kept absolutely still, back to the audience (obviously) and waited for both applause and shushing to die down before he raisd his baton once more. The child in front of us wriggles about bored to tears poor thing. Why bring a kid to hear works difficult enough for adults much less an ankle-biter. Someone to my left decides they need a sweet and opens one with a loud crackling of wrapper. Behind me to my right a phone rings. The Nokia tone. Then another further down to my left. My neighbour is sending an sms, blue screen glaring in the darkness. Someone two rows down is playing Minefield on his phone. I can see it plain as can be. Why come at all? End of Enescu's symphonic poem and loud applause. Interval. (Image source) Now for Mahler. A symphony. Four movements. Even if some know nothing about classical music, four movements to a symphony is basic general knowledge. Let's not have applause between each one again. The couple and child are still there, the latter waving to someone in a box. Someone else is eating a chocolate bar and another a packet of crisps. Lights down and Mahler's 9th begins. Hustle bustle and whispering from behind us. The two 'empty seaters' have arrived and don't want to sit on the end which would save disturbing others in their row. No. they want THEIR seats. In the middle of the sodding row. Selfish gits. Late AND egocentric. Someone tries to whisper an explanation but they won't have it. We all stand and move across again liberating the two seats. No apology. They get settled with plenty of huffing and puffing and then the woman (now next to me) rustles in her bag. Cough sweets. Crackle crackle. Her husband adjusts his hearing aid with a whistle. Aoleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeu. Another phone rings. The Nokia tone rings again. Coughing, fidgeting. End of the first movement. Applause. Oh my God... why do these people come to concerts? Just to be seen? To take selfies for Facebook? (Image source) End of second movement. Applause AGAIN. No way. There's a global sound of 'nuuuuu' mixed with 'shhhhhhh' echoing around the concert hall. Maestro Mehta remains seated with baton down, unmoving. Silence prevails except for the odd crackling of sweet wrappers, a few coughs, and the third movement of delicious schmultz oozes from beyond to envelope awaiting earsl - those interested enough, anyway. Another phone. Good grief. Even during the interval people hadn't turned them off. Un-be-bloody-lievable. Someone behind us decides they have better things to do and leaves. She is wearing mules and the 'flip-flop' sound of her shoes against her feet must have been heard for several rows. More sweet paper rustling and the child in front of me is really starting to lose it now. No surprise. Mahler's 9th is a long symphony. Very long. And it takes concentration. The parents decide to leave during a pianissimo. Simply incredible. Everyone to their right in their row stands to let them out while we in the row behind are equally disturbed. End of the third movement. No applause this time. Thank God. But a phone rings as the final movement begins. It's the Nokia one again. Are people so dependent they can't live without them for two hours or at least so selfish they can't put them on silence? PLEASE bring the phone signal jammer to Bucharest - illegal in the US and most of Europe, they are used in India, France and Japan at cinemas, art galleries, concert halls and other public venues. WE NEED 'EM HERE!! A deafening wave of coughing takes hold. About ten minutes before the end of the fourth movement, people actually start to leave. WTF? Scared of a stampede for the exit if they leave with everyone else? A plane to catch? Left the stove on? Tummy upset? No, but really... They missed the last part, the most beautiful part, when silence falls from the heavens and peace reigns. But even that didn't happen on Tuesday night. People started to clap too soon. Far too soon. The spell was broken and I felt as if my breath had been snatched away. That marvellous fluffy serenity that descends upon you in those final bars couldn't possibly exist in such absence of respect and etiquette. Two days later I'm still fuming. We didn't pay the price of a ticket (not cheap by Romanian standards) to hear the Nokia theme tune over and over accompanied by the rustling of sweet wrappers and the whinging of bored kids, and nor did we pay to see multiple phone screens flashing on and off like a discotheque and people coming and going like flamin' Picadilly Circus. We paid to hear Enescu and Mahler and to see Maestro Mehta leading the Israel Philharmonic at a magnificent festival of which all Romanian should be proud. Silvia Colfescu got equally annoyed two years ago - enough to write THIS wonderful post where she gave a list of 9 simple rules for anyone unaware of concert etiquette. Here's my translation below (I hope she'll forgive me for it): 1. DO NOT applaud between movements. If you don't know the piece, wait for the conductor to turn around to face the audience or wait until the whole hall applauds. DO NOT drink during the concert. Wait until the interval. It's hardly as if you've just come from the Sahara after three days without water. DO NOT eat in the concert hall: stuffing do-nuts, cakes etc. Maybe it's usual at a football match but it's totally inappropriate at a concert. DO NOT fidget in your seat. If you don't like classical music or you're bored, DO NOT come. If you want to become a classical concert-goer, listen to it on the radio (Radio Muzical or TV Mezzo) for a few months or get hold of some CDs until you have grown used to it and feel you can resist two hours of performance without distrubing your neighbour who will probably be a very civilised person and thus largely unsympathetic to any antsiness next to her/him. DO NOT talk, blow your nose, or cough during the performance. If you have an uncontrollable coughing fit, leave the hall discretely. DO NOT bring your mobile phone to the concert hall. Or at least, turn it off before entering. It is humiiating to disturb an entire audience with a blast of a phone ditty. And be aware that the conductor could make you look like a prize lemon too, as was the case at Ateneul when Fabio Biondi blew a gasket onstage (and Lawrence Foster two years ago) when some berk's telephone rang during a performance. And what did the berk do? I know because he was sitting beside me. He turned off the ring but during the performance wrote a long message and sent it, probably telling whoever called him that he was a great music fan and at a concert... DO NOT take photographs during the performance. A reminder - if you take any during the applause, turn off the flash. Musicians like everyone have eyes too and don't take kindly to being blinded by dozens of flashes in the face. DO NOT show up LATE and, if you ARE late, stay near the door until the end of the movement/piece. DO NOT disturb an entire row of people who'll have to get up while the orchestra is playing, distracting the musicians along with a large part of the rest of the audience too, to reach your seats. DO NOT leave before the orchestra has finished playing even if you aren't much enjoying it: be patient and don't fidget. Leaving early disturbs the musicians and annoys the public. If you really want to leave, do so during the interval. If you've read this list more than five times and STILL don't know the rules in their entirety, PLEASE STAY HOME!!! And with that, I wish you a Happy Festival. Turning back the clocks with Sanda Marin (Photo source - 1936, 2nd edition) The cookery book, in an advanced stage of tatters (though cunningly held together with wrapping paper, paper clips and willpower), sits on the work surface in the kitchen ready for action. Its discoloured pages have seen a lot of the world and witnessed much of life. Full of scrawled notes in the margins dating back decades, the countless jottings on bits of coloured paper pinned to corresponding recipes are a reminder of what to do and what not to do next time. Today, chiftele is on the menu and Sanda Marin is needed to be sure nothing has been left to chance. Anyone who knows their way even remotely around a Romanian kitchen will have heard of Sanda Marin, Romania's own interbellum version of our Mrs Beeton. She is an authority; indispensable, a national symbol of homeliness and since 1936, every Romanian household has had a copy of her Carte de Bucate in the kitchen, or at least on a shelf somewhere. In a word, Sanda Marin was and is the Romanian JOY of cooking. "When I was a child," said Andrei Plesu, "we thought Sanda Marin was one word - 'sandamarinul' - a useful tool with the answer to everything." (Photo source) Sanda Marin, born Cecilia Maria Simionescu (1900-1961), grew up in Iasi amongst a family of prominent intellectuals. Her father Ion Simionescu, a reknowned paleontologist, was president of the Romanian Academy. Cecilia went to the best schools and benefited from excellent professors, amongst them Florica Musicescu (Dinu Lipatti's teacher) with whom she studied piano in Paris. She spoke fluent German, French and English and rubbed shoulders with the intellectual elite of the interwar period who visited her home. Cecilia was an avid listener and adored their discussions which were usually full of passion and controversy given the time. Following her marriage to doctor in chemistry Mihai Zapan, she transformed her home into a gastronomic nirvana in which she prepared mouth-watering, divine creations for her family and friends. (Photo: Sarah in Romania) Uninspired by the Romanian cookery books available on the market at the time, Cecilia decided to share her talent and show that cooking could be an art. Unsure of her success, she took a pseudonym: Sanda Marin. Published in 1936 it quickly became a bestseller and the most comprehensive collection of traditional Romanian recipes in the country. Published by Cartea Romaneasca, the preface was written by Pastorel Teodoreanu and contained 1000 recipes. Sanda Marin's Carte de Bucate in its many editions is a history book in itself. A written testament to the changes communism brought the Romanian people in terms of food shortage, her recipes suffered due to censorship and rationing. After 1945, the 7th edition republished by Editura Tehnica showed vastly reduced ingredients often replaced with something else - what was required was no longer available, and Sanda Marin's introductions had far less charm for the reader. (Photo: Sarah in Romania) In 1954, the volume was reprinted and much-shortened. What had become 1,300 recipes since the first publication in 1936 was slashed to 850. Anything considered too 'opulent', 'exotic' or 'cosmopolitan' was omitted: caviar (icre negre) salad, Chateaubriand and consomme all disappeared. Foreign names were changed. Tarte Napoleon became tortul marmorat (marble cake). Sauce hollandaise became sos cu unt (butter sauce), bechamel was modified to sos de faina (flour sauce), and bearnaise was given the boot completely along with anything that had a religious connotation or connection. Recipes for post (dishes for Orthodox Lent without meat/dairy) were removed but found in preparations considered 'economic'. One can actually follow the increased limitations for the pantry and the need to be very frugal through the ingredients of Sanda Marin's recipes. Everything published after Sanda Marin's death in 1961 was done by Roda Visinescu, a dietician, who updated and revised the author's recipes to reflect changing 'economic' conditions. Ceausescu always said that Romanians ate too much. In the 70s, he planned huge soup kitchens for Bucharest to feed the population with meals to take home at low cost in superposed metal containers (sufertase) much like billycans. Remember the Circurile foamei? How ironic to construct such massive buildings for the selling of meals to the population of a sector when everything was so scarce - agricultural produce was all being exported to pay the country's external debt. There was only one choice of dish per day. Bucharest City Mall and Plaza Romania were all buildings initially destined for this project but unfinished at the time of the lovilutie. Another is now a university (D. Cantemir in Timpul Noi). Ceausescu was particularly interested in the one at Sf. Vineri, and followed its progress carefully. Built to accommodate thousands at a time in huge halls, he called it a 'fabrica de mancare', ie. food factory. Page 13 of our battered 1969 edition reminded me of this, although it was printed years earlier when things were a lot better. The text reads (translated from Romanian): (Photo: Sarah in Romania) 'In our country, the diversity of products is becoming ever richer. The choice is so great that one faces a dilema as to what to cook for a balanced diet.' This was somewhat true in 1969 if not a little exaggerated. Such 'diversity' wouldn't last, though. Page 13 continues: 'The daily ration should bring you at least the quantities indicated above (there's a chart - Sarah's note). For example, the amount of meat can be occasionally increased, but on that day, don't drink milk. If you don't have 100g of meat, you can do just as well with 50g of dried beans and 2 eggs.' In other words, 100g of meat can be substituted with 50g of dried beans and 2 eggs... If this could be suggested in a 'good' period like 1969, imagine how dire things got in the 80's. (Photo: Sarah in Romania) Before 1945, one finds recipes that ask for 'a fat, plucked chicken'. Later, post-'45, the same recipe begins with 'take half a chicken', and there's no mention of 'fat'. Times reflected in a list of ingredients... The recipe for Chiftele ca de piept de pasare (meatballs with chicken breast) is not prepared with piept de pasare at all. 5 eggs, 1 onion, 1 slice of bread, 1 potato, 1 tbsp flour, salt, pepper, parsley, 2tbsp lard and 1 tbsp breadcrumbs, but no chicken. In fact, no meat at all. The meat is substituted by the potato. Names like icre imitate, pateu imitat and mititei altfel break your heart although I'm told by MP (thank you!) that such recipes were nothing new. In Sanda Marin's various editions from the fifties onwards, onions are a main ingredient for almost every savoury recipe. For Salata de icre imitate one requires: 1.5 cups of water, 4tbsp grits, 1tbsp fishpaste (like anchovy paste - Sarah's note), half tsp cayenne pepper, 100g olive oil, 1tsp vinegar or lemon if you have it, 1 medium onion. From icre to fishpaste... (Photo: Sarah in Romania) In our 1969 edition, water features often as a substitute for unavailable ingredients: 'If you don't have cream, add water', 'if you don't have milk, add water'. Making do. One is asked to use a conopida frumoasa - vocabulary for a gospodina. There were no 'lovely' cauliflowers. At the market, most peasants wouldn't allow you to choose your vegetables ("nu-i la alegere, doamna!") and you got what you were given. How about a slice of tort de fasole (string-bean cake)? Does it tempt you? Can anyone seriously imagine serving a string-bean cake at a birthday party? Portocale (oranges) are mentioned in our 1969 edition, but there were none available except for on New Year's Eve. A complete and restored edition of Sanda Marin's cookbook was finally published by Humanitas in 2009, and it can also be found in English. I don't want a new edition though. Our yellowed pages, dog-eared and tired, recapture voices from around a table, chatter from a long-lost kitchen whereby, if you didn't have milk or eggs, you'd use water. The profound changes that took place in Romanian society as a result of food shortages particularly in the '50s, followed by relative abundance throughout the '60s and '70s are illustrated through the ingredients and commentaries of this culinary bible. Has anyone seen an edition published between 1980-1996? I haven't, but then again, who'd have needed a cookery book when there wasn't much to cook. Indeed, so much more than a pile of traditional recipes... 1937 - source 1939 - source 1941 - source 1945 - source 1949 - source 1956 1966 - source 1980 - source 1996 - source 2009 - source The 'ie' - a destiny with needle and thread (Photo source) Today, June 24th (the feast of St John as well as magical Sanzienele or Dragaica), marks Ziua Universala a Iei - the Universal Day of the Romanian Blouse. As I walked down my nearby boulevard earlier this afternoon, almost every woman I passed was wearing one. Me too. We smiled at each other, stopped to comment on our blouses, where they'd come from, who'd made them. The short walk to the Post Office took me over an hour! But why is the ie (pronounced ee-eh) such an important national symbol? Handed down from mother to daughter over many generations, every inch of the traditional ie from the material (cotton or linen of flax or hemp) to the beautiful embroidery is pure art painstakingly hand-sewn, and has remained unchanged for centuries. As well as being a statement of folklore and cultural belief, the decorative patterns on the ancient (and not so ancient) ie were a myriad of symbolic communication signalling gender and age, family ties, marital status, wealth and social position, occupation and of course, style. Each unique piece had its own story to tell. The signs and symbols in geometrical and floral motifs all had their individual significance depending on region, seamstress and often the person for whom it was destined. When the Romanian peasant set about embroidering her blouse, she knew exactly what she wanted to express. The material was her easel upon which she 'painted' her future with needle and thread, using symbols for fertility, war, love, fragility, power and faith. Nothing can be taken at face value on an ie, for nothing is without underlying meaning. How can one not marvel at such a breath-taking masterpiece? (Regina Maria and Principesa Ileana - source) Trees feature largely on the ie symbolising wisdom, life and rebirth. The fir tree is particularly popular especially in the countryside, representing eternal youth or immortality - a frequent element in Romanian mythology, ballads and poetry. THIS post gives a little more insight: 'A circle or a sunflower signifies the sun, day or Divinity; since Romanians were traditionally an agricultural society, living off the boon of the land, the sun was of capital importance and was often associated with God and abundance. Likewise, depending on the region, more motives related to daily activities can be found: water (either as a river or as sea waves) and fish in the fishing villages along the rivers and sea coast, wheat or corn stems in agricultural villages, wheels or coin in crafting traders villages, and so on.' The 'Woven Wheel' (left) indicates the passing of time, the cycle of the 4 seasons caused by the 4 winds which pull the world into different directions Colours too have their own distinct meanings according to region, pattern and destination: greens and golds for the plains; red, grey and brown for the mountains; blue and silver for the rivers. Young girls tended to wear lighter hues, but the colours darkened as they grew older to reflect their social status. (La blouse roumaine by Matisse - source) The XXIc has seen a huge revival of the ie, and perhaps Henri Matisse should take a bow for the part he played in that. THIS post describes how it happened: 'In April 1940, Henri Matisse finished 'La blouse roumaine,' having begun the painting in November 1939. Theodor Pallady, a Romanian painter, had given him a beautiful collection of traditional Romanian blouses as a gift which eventually inspired Matisse to create this painting along with others currently on show in Paris at the Pompidou Centres National Museum of Modern Art. Forty years later in 1981, these paintings were to inspire Yves Saint Laurent to dress his models for his autumn-winter collection presentation in Paris. And this is how the dusty streets of Romanian villages became a podium for the chic clothes worn by international top models. That fashion collection was later exhibited worldwide in numerous museums. In 2009, a year after the death of Yves Saint Laurent, the collection arrived in Bucharest and stayed here for two months (28 May-26 July). Thus, the fashion designer succeeded to raise the Romanian blouse the large sleeves, the open neck, the geometric figures embroidered on the chest to a cult object. This was only the beginning, as after Saint Laurent, the Romanian blouse was also later used as a source of inspiration by other fashion designers such as Jean-Paul Gaultier, Oscar de la Renta and Tom Ford. For instance, Tom Ford reinterpreted the Transylvanian blouse with black embroidery specific to the region, which appeared in the American Vogue Magazine in March 2012 worn by the British singer, Adele.' Wonderful! (Photo source) And so you see, the ie is so much more than just an item of clothing. It is a firmly preserved tradition and a very personal story rooted in an idyllic past. It is Romanian history itself and a wake-up call for its people to reconnect with heritage. Every Romanian woman should be immensely proud of her ie. I am not Romanian as you know, but mine are amongst my most treasured possessions. Whether I bought them myself or received them as gifts, they are stunning exemplifications of all that I love here in the country of my heart. Each is an enigma waiting to be solved. Just like Romania herself, one must have the love, curiosity and patience to explore beyond the superficial evidence for the meaning and richness that lies beneath. When a woman wears the traditional clothes of her people, she wears the entire Cosmos. Pavel Panduru For more, please see THIS wonderful post and enjoy! To the heart of the matter... (Photo source - Tudor Besleaga) The press are always quick to jump on stories about unsavoury Romanian ex-pats running amok and ripping off the UK's benefits system, but there are thousands of Romanians living abroad working hard, studying their pants off and making a success of their lives that we never hear about. This post, therefore, is dedicated to one such success story with a future ahead of him that could potentially change the face of coronary patient care worldwide. Tudor Besleaga is a UCL Mechanical Engineering graduate currently working on his PhD project in Medical Device Innovation at the UCL Institute of BioMedical Engineering in London and is one of two PhD students sponsored by Integrated Technologies (ITL). Together with his team of researchers, he is developing a wearable device that could potentially save the lives of thousands by detecting heart failure and alerting clinicians to patients at risk from imminent heart attacks. Sure, there is technology that gives an estimate today (smart watches, fitness devices etc), but that's all it is - an estimate. Tudor foresees turning that estimate into a diagnosis, leading to preventive medical action before the attack occurs. Watch the video HERE as he explains the project. (Photo source: Highest cause of death per country, article Jan 2015) Every country in the world is labeled with the disease that caused the most deaths within the nation - See more at: http://truthalerts.com/this-map-shows-the-most-deadly-disease-in-every-nation/#sthash.TtbsnPvE.dpuf Heart disease is singularly the UK's biggest killer, responsible for 82,000 deaths a year - that's an average of 224 people every day. The country spends 3.2 billion on healthcare costs for heart disease annually, so this device would not only save, literally, a great deal of heart ache, but also a heap load of money. Healthline lists the world's top 5 countries with the highest rates of heart disease-related deaths to be Russia, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Argentina in that order. According to WHO data published in April 2011, heart disease was responsible for 56,727 deaths in Romania - 26.16% of the country's total mortality rate for that year. Such a preventive device would bring indescribable change to patients, doctors, international health systems and budgets all over the world. The potential is, frankly, mind-boggling. The project team is led 'by consultant cardiologist Dr Pier Lambiase and cardiovascular research associate Michele Orini as well as two UCL professors specialising in biomedical electronics and optics', says ITL. "It works as a pulse oximeter, with an LED lighting the skin, and a photodiode detecting how much light is absorbed by the blood in that region. The blood flow can be determined indirectly. The technology is cheap, but reliable," Tudor explained to EMDT Currently perfecting the algorithms to be used for monitoring arrhythmia, his next stage is prototype development. By the time he completes his PhD project in 2018, he wants to have a usable product. If that isn't something to be proud of, I don't know what is. Fingers crossed for a marketable product and eventual regulatory approval. Bafta, Tudor! For more, please see THIS detailed article with more from Tudor in EMDT by Thomas Klein. Demetrius of Thessaloniki (Image source: Sfantul Dumitru by Romanian painter Gheorghe Tattarescu) Today, Orthodox Christians observing the Gregorian calendar celebrate the feast day of St Demetrius (see HERE for procession in Thessaloniki). One of the most important military saints often paired with Saint George, Demetrius is regarded as a protector of the young, the patron saint of crusades, is invoked by those struggling with lustful temptations and is also known for an impressive number of miracles. Our spelling of Demetrius (or less commonly Demetrios) is a romanisation of the ancient Greek pronunciation; in Romanian, he is Dumitru. Demetrius of Thessaloniki is one of my personal favourites along with St Seraphim of Sarov, and anyone who has ever been to an Orthodox country will have heard of him. But who was he, and why is he so beloved? THIS site gives the story of his life: 'The Great Martyr Demetrius the 'Myrrh-gusher' of Thessaloniki was born into one of the most noble and distinguished families in the province of Macedonia (Thessaloniki, Illyricum) in the year 270AD. Roman paganism, spiritually shattered and defeated by the multitude of martyrs and confessors of Christianity, was intensifying its persecutions. The parents of St Demetrius were secretly Christians, and he was baptised and raised in the Faith in a secret church in his fathers home. (Image source: XIIc mosaic icon of St. Demetrius the Great Martyr, Xenophontos Monastery) By the time Demetrius had reached maturity and his father had died, the emperor Galerius Maximian had ascended the throne (305). Maximian, confident in Demetrius education as well as his administrative and military abilities, appointed him to his fathers position as proconsul of the Thessaloniki district. The main tasks of this young commander were to defend the city from barbarians and to eradicate Christianity. The emperors policy regarding Christians was expressed simply: "Put to death anyone who calls on the name of Christ." The emperor did not suspect that by appointing Demetrius, he had provided a way for him to lead many people in the opposite direction. On accepting the appointment, Demetrius immediately began to teach the Faith openly and overthrow pagan customs and idolatry. When Maximian learned that the newly-appointed proconsul was not only a Christian, but had also converted many Roman subjects, his rage knew no bounds. Returning from a campaign in the Black Sea region, the emperor decided to lead his army through Thessaloniki, on a mission to massacre the Christians. When the news of the emperor's plan reached Demetrius, he ordered his faithful servant Lupus to distribute his wealth to the poor and began to prepare himself for martyrdom through prayer and fasting. (Image source: Fresco of St. Demetrius by M. Panselinos in the Church of Protaton on Mount Athos, circa 1290) When the emperor arrived in the city, he summoned Demetrius who boldly confessed his faith and denounced the falsehood and futility of Roman polytheism. Maximian threw him in prison, where he was visited by an angel who comforted and encouraged him. Meanwhile, the emperor was busy amusing himself with 'games' in the arena. His champion was a German named Lyaeos. He challenged Christians to wrestle with him on a platform built over the upturned spears of victorious soldiers. A brave Christian named Nestor went to see Demetrius and requested a blessing to fight the barbarian. Thus granted, Nestor prevailed over the fierce German and hurled him from the platform onto the awaiting spears. The enraged Maximian ordered the execution of the holy Martyr Nestor (October 27th) and sent a guard to the prison to kill Demetrius, too. At dawn on October 26th, 306 soldiers appeared in the saints underground prison and ran him through with lances. His faithful servant, St Lupus, gathered up the blood-soaked garments, took the imperial ring from his finger (a symbol of high status) and dipped it in the blood. Once all had been sanctified by the saint's blood, St Lupus began to heal the infirm. The emperor ordered his subsequent arrest and death. The body of St Demetrius was cast out for wild animals to devour, but the Christians took it and secretly buried it. During the reign of St Constantine (306-337), a church was built over St Demetrius's grave. A century later, the relics of the holy martyr were discovered during the construction of a new church on this spot. Ever since the seventh century, a miraculous stream of fragrant myrrh is said to flow continually beneath the crypt from the sarcophagus, giving St Demetrius the name 'Myrrh-gusher.' Followers of St Demetrius tried to bring his holy relics, or some of them, to Constantinople on numerous occasions. Invariably, the saint made it clear that he did not want them taken from Thessaloniki.' (Photo source: The relics of St Demetrius at the temple in Thessaloniki) The most ancient icons of St Demetrius may be found in the church of Thessaloniki of which he is patron saint. This is not just because he was born and died there, but because the people believe it was through his actions that the city was saved from the many attacks by Slavic nations, the Bulgarians, Arabs, Saracens and many others besides. Even the liberation of Thessaloniki during the Balkan wars of 1912 coincide with the feast day of St Demetrius on October 26th. "The world has found in you a great champion in time of peril, as you emerged the victor in routing the barbarians. For as you brought to naught the boasts of Lyaios, imparting courage to Nestor in the stadium, in like manner, holy one, great Martyr Demetrios, invoke Christ God for us, that He may grant us His great mercy." Apolytikion (Third Tone) HERE is a recording of excerpts from an oratorio written for St Demetrius by the Romanian-born composer of Greek origin Nicolas Astrinidis (1921-2010) in 1962. Three parts premiered at the first Demetria Festival in Thessaloniki fifty-two years ago today, and the entire work was first heard in 1966 with subsequent performances in 1985 (Thessaloniki) and 1993 (Bucharest). La multi ani frumosi cu sanatate si noroc tuturor care poarta numele de Dumitru! This post is dedicated to Mitu with love. In Nebraska -- the most irrigated state in the nation -- water has long been a valuable commodity. Even with the vast High Plains aquifer to draw from, its a limited resource. An innovative new virtual market for leasing rights to that liquid resource could help farmers get groundwater where they want it, bolster river conservation efforts and benefit endangered species. Being developed as a pilot program for the Central Platte Natural Resources District, the Groundwater Exchange would let farmers and conservation groups lease or buy water for a single growing season. The exchange, which would be accessed through a website, could begin a trial run this spring if Central Platte board members vote to move forward. Irrigation wells gushed into Nebraska agriculture beginning in the 1950s with the advent of the center pivot irrigation system. Nebraska went from having about 25,000 irrigation wells in 1960 to 80,000 in 1990 to more than 114,500 as of the end of last year. Farmers drilled more than 5,800 new wells in 1976 alone. But water systems are complex. Many rivers, including the Platte, depend on groundwater to keep streamflow up. With farmers pumping so much water out of the ground, flows important to ecosystems and surface water irrigation began to suffer in some areas. Looking to head off lawsuits and protect the states water resources, the Legislature passed a law in 2004 requiring Nebraska's 23 natural resources districts to keep a closer watch on the balance of water supply and demand. In some areas, that meant a moratorium on new irrigation, and in areas where too much water is being used to be sustainable, the NRDs must find a way to balance the system. The Central Platte NRD has more than a million irrigated acres of farm ground in its district, a 175-mile stretch along the Platte between Gothenburg and Columbus. About 80 percent of the district is fully appropriated, meaning no new groundwater irrigation can be developed unless it is offset by stopping irrigation somewhere else. The other 20 percent of the district is over-appropriated, which means too much water is being pumped to be sustainable. For over-appropriated areas, the NRD and the Nebraska Department of Natural Resources have to find a way to get water back into the Platte. Theyre still working with consultants to figure out exactly how much, said Central Platte NRD General Manager Lyndon Vogt. State and district officials hope the exchange will help get water into the watershed without them having to permanently buy water rights from farmers, dry up irrigated acres or put new regulations in place that would restrict irrigation. The state, NRDs and conservation groups could buy irrigation rights, then simply not pump the water, letting it stay in the system. At the same time, farmers who need more water but dont want the expense of permanently buying the right to irrigate can rent it for a year instead. Producers already can sell their water rights; the Central Platte NRD processes hundreds of sales a year. Other districts and states have computer systems for facilitating sales and matching buyers and sellers. What makes the new exchange unique is that it works as an auction site, and the algorithm that pairs buyers and sellers ensures all deals meet local rules and wont negatively affect the river system, officials said. The program uses existing models of river and groundwater flows to track impact on the Platte. Farmers get to set the price at which they are willing to buy or sell water, and the algorithm figures out the market price for groundwater at each location, ensuring farmers get the most value from the water, and streamflow in the Platte remains ample, said David McAdams, the Duke University economics professor who designed the computer algorithm for the leasing process. What is really important in this market is actually the way water flows in the ground," he said. "Because when a farmer takes water out of the aquifer, they also impact streamflow, and different locations have different stream impact. Part of the problem with the existing system is that it can be difficult to find people willing to sell their rights to water permanently. The new water market solves that problem, McAdams said. It also opens up new irrigation strategies to farmers. Previously it was a use-it-or-lose-it situation. Now if you dont use it, you can make some money, he said. Were freeing them up to make the decisions that are best for them, and we may conserve some water as well. Jesse Bradley, program director for the Nebraska Department of Natural Resources, echoed the sentiment, saying farmers who dont want to sell water rights permanently might be happy to rent them out for a year. As commodity prices change and the value of water goes up and down, people dont get locked into a situation that might be adverse in the future, which we found to be a very important element to the producers, Bradley said. Rural Kearney-area farmer Jim Bendfelt, who serves on the Central Platte NRD board, is hoping to cash in by selling some water and predicts there will be more farmers wanting to sell than those looking to buy. Bendfelt and his 38-year-old son, Shane Bendfelt, manage about 2,000 acres of Nebraskas most fertile ground, 95 percent of which is irrigated. On a 160-acre quarter, a center pivot system might only reach 152 acres. They can offer up the water rights to the acres the sprinklers cant reach without negatively affecting the crop. Jim Bendfelt doubts the exchange will result in farmers putting in new irrigation wells, simply because the cost of installing an irrigation system can hit $120,000. Thats too large an investment for a single year of guaranteed water, he said. But it might help farmers with equipment already in place but only able to irrigate part of a field due to restrictions. Jerry Kenny of the Platte River Recovery Implementation Program said his only concern about the exchange is that water will be in such demand his organization will be outbid. It plans to bid $300,000 the first year in hopes of getting 5,000 acre feet for enhancing, restoring and protecting habitat for endangered critters, including the whooping crane, piping plover, pallid sturgeon and least tern. Until there is a market, its hard to know what an appropriate value is, he said. Kenny said he hopes the exchange, if it catches on, will lead to Nebraskas groundwater being used more effectively. He said farmers with subpar farmland could lease water to producers with more productive acres. Its an important step in establishing water markets and recognition that in agriculture water itself can become a cash crop, he said. The Nebraska Department of Natural Resources paid $150,000 to develop the water exchange platform, Bradley said. If it proves successful, the department hopes to see it spread to other parts of the state. There could be hurdles to expansion, including installing the infrastructure to monitor how much water producers are using, which Central Platte NRD already had in place. Bidding in the new water market would happen once a year in the fall, but Vogt said the district might do a trial run this spring, with the pre-approval process starting the first week of March. More information at market4water.com. I am growing weary of claims by unvaccinated people that vaccine mandates are a limit on their freedom. Freedom is such a tricky concept a... Click On Our Advertisers Ads Most of our ads have links to take you directly to their Websites. Just click on an ad and away you go. If you are currently a print subscriber but don't have an online account, select this option. You will need to use your 7 digit subscriber account number (with leading zeros) and your last name (in UPPERCASE). Storytelling events where a mix of local luminaries and everyday raconteurs get onstage and for some reason choose to relive their most embarrassing and awful real-life stories have become increasingly common on both sides of the Bay. Here, we tell it like it is with a list of our favorite such spoken word shows in San Francisco and Oakland. Porchlight The Bay Areas longest-running storytelling show, Porchlight is the rib-tickling love child of SF author Beth Lisick and Arline Klatte (above). Now nearly 14 years running, Porchlight often garners a big stage at events like SF Sketchfest and the San Francisco International Film Festival. While regular monthlies are usually held at the Verdi Club, the troupe also puts on a smaller open mic event called Porchlight Open Door at the Hemlock Tavern, awarding all storytellers a free drink and the evenings best storyteller, as selected by a random audience member, a bag of hot nuts, a free pound of coffee, and $50. Verdi Club, 2424 Mariposa St., with Porchlight Open Door at the Hemlock, 1131 Polk St., on the last Monday of each month. Bawdy Storytelling Yes, that is the Dan Savage above, appearing at the perviest storytelling event of them all: Bawdy Storytelling. Bawdys tales of love and lust gone wrong now spans not just SF but also Seattle, LA and Chicago, with a national tour in the works. We lay out how to find community with fellow polyamorists, swingers, foot fetishists, cuckoldees, sex party enthusiasts, dominatrices, kinksters, furries, single-and-dating twenty-somethings and other open-minded folks, founder Dixie De La Tour told SFist. Bawdy Storytelling crowds are also treated to an icebreaker game called Bang-O, a version of bingo wherein you check your boxes by finding a fellow crowd member who, say, digs anal or has gotten to first base with their cousin. Verdi Club, 2424 Mariposa St., on the second Wednesday of each month. Image: Masaya Tamegei TMI Oakland comedian Gina Gold (above) still holds her monthly Oakland storytelling event but is working out the "kinks" with the Center for Sex and Culture to start an additional San Francisco monthly (Nina Hartley and Carol Queen will both appear at the first one). Still, the East Bay version continues to deliver raw stories, real spit, and tonights TMI kicks off at their new host venue, Geoffreys Inner Circle. 410 14th St., Oakland, third Friday of every other month. Image: Mortified SF Mortified The blockbuster event Mortified goes down hard in both San Francisco and Oakland plus dozens of other cities all over the world. With a focus on embarrassing childhood and teen stories, Mortified also incorporates real childhood artifacts like love letters, school photos, and those inexcusable guitar/melodica hybrids that were big for 10 minutes in the 1980s. San Franciscos Mortified is at the DNA Lounge, Oaklands is at the New Parish, and both sell out pretty much immediately when they go on sale. 375 11th St., San Francisco, second Friday of each month. 1743 San Pablo Ave., Oakland, second Saturday of each month. Image: Public Works via Facebook The Moth San Francisco StorySLAM The Moth probably deserves the credit for kicking off this whole storytelling craze, starting in 1997 when author George Dawes Green held the first Moth events in his New York living room. Now spreading its wings with NPRs Moth Radio Hour and events in nearly 20 US cities, The Moth StorySLAM includes a monthly installment here in San Francisco at Public Works. Public Works, 161 Erie St, on the last Tuesday of each month. Image: Joe Kukura Peaches Christs OUTLOUD I have a feeling you might be disgusted by tonights show, Josh Grannell, a.k.a. Peaches Christ, told the audience at OUTLOUDs latest installment, titled "Repulsion." "I wasn't sure if I should tell the smegma story, the accidental diarrhea story, or the nose-vomit story. Indeed, the evening lived up to its repulsive promise as actor Jef Valentine presented the audience with 13 years of saved-up fingernail and toenail clippings kept in a mason jar. OUTLOUD has even outgrown The Oasis smaller Fez Room and is now held on the venues larger main stage. 298 11th St., on the second Tuesday of each month. Image: Story Showdown via Facebook Story Showdown There is $400 in cash prizes on the line at every Story Showdown, an East Bay storytelling collaboration between Tourettes Without Regrets' Jamie DeWolf and Seduction Feroce's Wonder Dave. Despite the competitive aspect the atmosphere always remains congenial among the storytellers, Wonder Dave tells SFist of the cash-money competition held monthly at Awaken Cafe. 1429 Broadway, Oakland, third Thursday of each month. Image: Fireside Storytelling Fireside Storytelling Though Fireside Storytelling has a microphone for its logo, it is meant metaphorically and the event purposefully does not employ a microphone. Many storytellers and performers tell us Fireside is their favorite storytelling event to perform at because the audience is so attentive and the space is so intimate, Fireside co-founder Tim Pratt mentioned to SFist just after their most previous event themed "Spectacular Injuries." This cozy and personal monthly event feels like an actual gathering among friends around a fireside, and is now held at the San Francisco Institute of Possibility. 3359 Cesar Chavez St., on the second Wednesday of each month. Image: Idris Hassan The Shout Whats unique about The Shout is the addition of several wild card slots where audience members whose names are drawn from a hat are given their own six-minute slots to tell stories. It's like a great party in your living room, only there is a microphone and someone else cleans up, co-founder Cassidy Brown says, though The Shout is not in your living room and is instead at Oaklands perch coffeehouse. 440 Grand Ave., Oakland, on the second Monday of each month. Image: Snap Judgment Snap Judgment Oaklands Snap Judgment has also graduated into a weekly NPR program, but still has occasional live events in Oakland. Hosted by NPRs great black hope, Glynn Washington, Snap Judgment snaps back to the Paramount Theater at the end of this month for an event to be taped for a TV special. 2025 Broadway, Oakland, Saturday, February 27, 8 p.m. A British tourist walking with his niece near Post Street and Franklin was robbed at knifepoint and then stabbed in the head. His condition is described as "grave." The 44-year old tourist and his niece, who was visiting from Southern California, were mugged at 8:30pm on Thursday night. According to police, the victims described their assailants as, "a black male 5'10" with a heavy muscular build, hooded sweatshirt. The female was black 5'4" wearing a green and grey wool scarf." The scarf, which might contain potential DNA evidence, was left behind at the crime scene. During the robbery, the victim attempted to hang on to his green messenger bag which contained his passport, cash, credit cards, and his cell phone. It was at this point that the male suspect stabbed the victim in the head. The suspects ran away with the messenger bag, and the victim was taken to SF General Hospital, where he remains with life-threatening injuries. The niece was not (physically) injured in the attack. Former San Francisco Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi just happened to be walking on that very same block the next morning, apparently on his way to the gym. Mirkarimi took this opportunity to tell reporters that there should be more beat cops walking the streets of San Francisco. There needs to be more of a community policing presence throughout San Francisco, Mirkarimi told the Chronicle. Tourists find every nook and cranny in the city. Anyone with information about this crime can call SFPD at (415) 575-4444 or send a text to TIP411. It has been far too many years since the Woke theology interlaced its canons within the fabric of the Indoctrination Realm, so it is nigh time to ask: Does this Representative Republic continue, as a functioning society of a self-governed people, by contending with the unusual, self absorbed dictates of the Woke, and their vast array of Victimhood scenarios? Yes, the Religion of Woke must continue; there are so many groups of underprivileged, underserved, a direct result of unrelenting Inequity; they deserve everything. No; the Woke fools must be toppled from their pedestal; a functioning society of a good Constitutional people cannot withstand this level of "existential" favoritism as it exists now, unending. This blog is about the political struggle I am engaging in Singapore. The title "Singapore Alternatives" is chosen because my only political dream is to build a true alternative in Singapore. Alternative to PAP government, of course. As the Alternative, the political party must be able to have the visions and policy insights to lead Singapore. I will write on various policy views and personal beliefs that I think is crucial in building up the Alternative. All constructive comments are welcome. CHICAGO | After months of waiting, Amie and Brian Martin were grateful when their daughter Ava finally received a new heart. The 19-month-old girl with big, blue eyes and strawberry blonde hair had already endured two open heart surgeries and countless health problems before strangers donated the heart that would save her life. Doctors at Lurie Childrens Hospital deemed the Dec. 14 transplant a success. As Ava recuperated from the operation, her exhausted parents retired to a nearby hospital suite, turned off the lights and were about to get some much-needed rest. Thats when Amie Martin noticed a Facebook instant message on her phone. Oh my God, she remembers gasping so loudly it startled her husband awake. She read the message aloud. 12/15 7:45 p.m. Jamie Heard Hey Amie! I heard about your sweet daughter from a friend and my body felt weak. Our son, William, a two-year-old from Nashville, donated his heart yesterday. We were told it was going to a one-year-old in Chicago. That is all the info they gave us. Do you know where your daughters new heart came? Regardless, it warms my heart to hear your story. We lost our son when he choked while eating lunch on Friday. In the words of our four year old, He is alive in Heaven! God has been so good to us and knowing our sweet Williams heart and kidneys went to save two lives has been a bright spot in our darkest hour. I will be praying for your girl. With love, Jamie It marked the beginning of a friendship between two mothers who had never met but were connected when ones heartbreak became the others hope built through an emotional stream of instant messages on the Internet. The Martins had assumed it would be a year before they could reach out to the donors family to express their deepest gratitude. Although there are no set rules for how long a donor or organ recipient must wait before making contact, counselors at The Gift of Hope, the organ procurement organization that covers Illinois and northwest Indiana, encourage both parties to take their time recuperating, grieving and respecting privacy before getting in touch. But in the last decade, the Internet and social media have lent their immediacy to organ donation. Transplant patients seeking donors find their matches online. Resourceful organ recipients identify donors by searching news stories. And with Facebook, Twitter and other sites, donor and recipient families no longer have to wait for procurement agencies to serve as the intermediary. Amie and Brian Martin, who live in La Grange, Illinois, with Ava and her 3-year-old sister, Ella, never questioned the authenticity of the message that arrived less than 24 hours after the transplant. They knew Avas surgery was the only pediatric heart transplant performed in Chicago that day. And they saw Jamie Heards profile picture a heartbreaking image of a 2-year-old boy laughing in her arms and instantly understood why the mother was reaching out to them: for confirmation, for comfort, for a connection. So just half an hour after Jamie Heards message arrived, Amie Martin typed the first response that came to mind. 12/15 8:16 p.m. Amie Martin Oh my goodness Jamie we are just speechless And she accepted Jamie Heards Facebook friend request. The online friendship will culminate offline next month, when Jamie, her husband, Daniel, and their 4-year-old daughter, Madeline, are scheduled to come to Chicago to meet the Martins in person. I think itll be emotional, but itll just be so nice to finally hug them, Jamie Heard said. We feel so close to them already. AVA GETS A NEW HEART Before Ava was even born, her parents knew her heart was sick. During a 20-week ultrasound, doctors identified a condition called hypoplastic left heart syndrome, in which her left ventricle was smaller than it should be. They told the parents that terminating the pregnancy was an option. If not, surgery would be needed to repair the faulty structures in her heart, and the baby would struggle, Amie Martin recalled. The Martins never questioned their decision to endure dozens of high-risk prenatal check-ups and tests, open-heart surgery for Ava when she was 7 days old and again at 7 months old, and many related health complications. Even during Avas healthy stretches, she was not well. Lack of blood flow from her heart led to regular vomiting, profuse sweating that kept her indoors, and poor digestion. At times, Ava was so weak she slept 17 hours each day, her parents said. We just kind of chugged along, Brian Martin said. They told us this was going to be hard, so we just thought, weve just got to get through this and get through the next surgery. When Ava went into heart failure at 13 months old, she joined nearly 350 children nationwide awaiting heart transplants. The Martins set up a Facebook page Hope for Amazing Ava to keep friends and family up to date. On Dec. 14, Amie Martin was still in shock when she posted: Today is Avas big day! 111 days listed. She will receive her heart today, a gift from an amazing family that in their darkest hour chose to give life to our daughter. We will never be able to thank you for this gift. We will honor your child every day. Prayers for our sweet girl today. Please dear God protect her and let her come through the other side. All her guardian angels unite and keep your hands on her today and throughout her recovery. Nearly 890 people liked the update, and 180 shared it. A SECOND CHANCE AT LIFE Several of Jamie Heards friends in Tennessee had heard about the little girl in Chicago. They had learned about Ava the way people often get their news from social media a friends sister-in-law had a friend who was Facebook friends with Amie Martin. In private conversations, the friends wondered if it was possible: Could Williams death have given Ava another chance at life? Three days before Avas transplant, William was home with a nanny when he choked on a piece of chicken in his soup. The nanny tried patting his back and performing the Heimlich maneuver, but the toddler fell limp in her arms. Paramedics arrived shortly after and couldnt dislodge the food, Jamie Heard said. By the time Jamie and Daniel arrived at the hospital, they knew the situation was grave. Doctors restored a heartbeat, but tests showed no brain activity. The devastated parents agreed to donate Williams organs, and a medical team kept the boy on life support until organ recipients were chosen. The Heards leaned on their faith to help them cope with the sudden loss. They also had unwavering support from family and friends, many of whom were at the Heards house in Brentwood, Tennessee, on Dec. 15 when one of her closest friends revealed to her that they thought they knew where Williams heart went. Jamie Heard said she was grateful for the distraction from grief. The friends huddled around her laptop and searched for any news on Ava they could find. After seeing a Chicago TV news report about Ava receiving the transplant, including footage of the donated heart being removed from a cooler, Heard knew she had to write to the little girls mother. Her friends helped her to craft the message. When Martins response came, nearly everyone in the room was moved to tears, Heard recalled. And over the next two hours, the mothers exchanged details that left each feeling certain their children had a remarkable connection. 12/15 9:38 p.m. Amie Martin This is just so surreal that we were able to connect so quickly. Im just floored. When I laid down last night at 11:30, I stared up at the ceiling. Got out of bed and knelt at the bedside. My prayers were not for Ava as theyve been for months and months. They were for you, your husband and your son. Unknowingly you all, but they were for you. They will continue to be for you. 12/15 9:53 p.m. Jamie Heard Im sitting here with a group of friends and we have cried tears of joy Thank you for your prayers and please continue to pray for us Thank you for giving our little boys heart a second chance at a life. MOTHERS NATURAL CONNECTION The next day, Gift of Hope officials confirmed for the Martin family that Avas heart came from Nashville. The organization typically waits a full month before sending any information about how to connect with a donor or organ recipient, whose names are revealed only if they are willing. Both mothers say they can understand why such guidelines are in place, but they feel their connection has been comfortable and natural. Jamie Heard said she will always be grateful that Avas story gave her something hopeful to say when mourners approached at Williams funeral, four days after the transplant. In recent exchanges, the mothers have discussed what they will do when they meet in person. There are plans to attend a fundraiser for Ava, and possibly go to the American Girl store. The Heards also will visit the Martins home in La Grange, where Jamie Heard plans to put her ear to Avas chest. If words fail them in that moment, the mothers can rely on what theyve already shared. 12/15 8:27 p.m. Amie Martin Williams heart is so strong Brian and I listened to Avas sick heart one last time before they took her down to the operating room yesterday. I grabbed the stethoscope as soon as we saw her last night at 10:30 p.m. and listened to the most beautiful sound in the world. Your gift of life. Your sons gift of life. 12/15 8:31 p.m. Jamie Heard We have a recording of his little heart before he went to surgery. The sweetest sound indeed. Want to record your beloved pet's likeness in a work of art? There are many unusual options, from artfully designed throw pillows to stained glass, metalwork and paintings. Your pet's adorable face could adorn holiday ornaments, glass stemware, ceramics, jewelry, rock art even a spoon or a phone case. Just a sampling of what's available: DIGITAL PORTRAIT In the small fishing port of Brixham, England, Karen McIntosh assembles digital caricatures of pets. "I am a real fan of the dark, moody images of the Old Masters, and love recreating this ambience in my work," she says. She blends images and adds shadows and brush strokes in Photoshop for a painterly feel to works printed on high-quality matte paper. "It's so much fun creating the composition around an animal's expression or breed, and I welcome a challenge," says McIntosh, who has made portraits of llamas, mice and horses in addition to many dogs and cats. PAINTED METAL Lisa Manzo of Plainfield, Illinois, uses high-gloss paints on galvanized steel a modern-looking canvas to create colorfully stylized pet portraits. She fills in her black outlines with a vibrant, fluid paint. The combination lends dimension. "(With) some of my works, you really have to take a step back to realize what it is," says Manzo. "I love the fact that the viewer needs to use their imagination to put it together. I think art should make you go, 'Mmm, how cool.'" PAINTED PILLOW Sebnem Ergun's story begins with a stray cat she found near her home in Istanbul, Turkey. The animal's courage gave Ergun the strength to quit her day job to paint first on stones and porcelain but now on cotton fabric finished into pillows. She has mailed her custom-order artwork to customers around the world. "Painting, especially painting pets and animals, is like meditation for me," Ergun says. "I feel my inner joy and peace while painting their unique beauties." SEWN PILLOW In Hartlepool, England, textiles instructor Diane Watson uses applique, embroidery and pops of vintage fabric color to fashion a pet's image onto linen that becomes a pillow. She began by embroidering a portrait of her brother's dog, and has since made hundreds of custom-order pillows, of guinea pigs and goats as well as the usual dogs and cats. "I love animals and have my own pets a grumpy cat and a friendly greyhound. There's so much diversity with animals, and they mean a lot to people," she says. EMBROIDERY Kathy Halper of Highland Park, Illinois, is a painter who recently began embroidering pet portraits framed in embroidery hoops or stretched over square forms. "Embroidery has always been considered a craft, (but) I approach it as an equal, contemporary art form," Halper says. "The excitement for me is creating the painting experience with thread." CERAMICS Suzanne Ellenbogen of Golden, Colorado, was creating ceramic jewelry and sculpture when she began sculpting animal heads, starting with her two Goldendoodles, Fred and Ginger. Commissioned work soon followed. "I love that a piece starts as a mound of clay, never knowing exactly what it will be until I start forming it, then adding texture and color," she says. STAINED GLASS Glass pieces lend vibrancy to Suzanne Coverett Earls' pet portraits. "Glass enables me to bring the realistic sparkle and depth to the eyes of my furry subjects," she says from her rural home near Brantford, Ontario. Earls tries to capture each animal's quirks and personality in custom-order pieces using hand-cut stained glass. METAL Dadra Hunt of Scottsdale, Arizona, welds metal pet portraits out of steel. Working from a photograph, she draws on and hand-cuts 16-gauge steel, layering and bending the steel before welding it. Pieces are colored using stains, heat or paint. "I have worked with a lot of mediums but metal art resonates with me the most," says Hunt. "It's exciting to take something so seemingly hard and impassive and find the character within." SIOUX CITY | For years, some western Iowa Republicans who disliked the representation of outspoken conservative U.S. Rep. Steve King have wished for a major Republican player as an alternative. That may happen this year, as state Sen. Rick Bertrand, R-Sioux City, told the Journal on Friday he is giving considerable thought to running for the Iowa 4th congressional district seat King has held for eight terms. "I am strongly, strongly considering it. I have been heavily considering it for the last six months to a year," Bertrand said. Bertrand, who is also a Sioux City businessman and commercial developer, will have to make up his mind soon. The deadline for state and federal candidates to file papers for the June 4 primary election in Iowa is March 18. The filing period opens Feb. 29. Candidates have to get petition signatures from eligible voters equal to at least 1 percent of the votes cast in the 4th District for Republican governor candidate Terry Branstad in the 2014 general election. The district covers 39 counties in western and north central Iowa. Bertrand, 46, has won two terms in the Iowa Senate, with the first coming in 2010. He declined to address specifics about his legislative experience and how that might play in a congressional race. "Maybe it is time to give Iowans a choice," Bertrand said. Bertrand's current Senate term runs through 2018, so it's possible he could seek the congressional seat without giving up his seat in the Iowa Senate. Bertrand has been a sound fundraiser for his campaigns in a district closely divided by Republican, Democratic and no party voters. During the reporting period from July to mid-October 2015, he raised $44,970. King was a state senator himself when he won his first term in the U.S. House in 2002. He has since coasted to seven congressional seat victories, including a not-as-close-as-some-anticipated win over former Iowa first lady Christie Vilsack in 2012. One other candidate, attorney Paul Lunde, 79, of Ames, in January announced he would run against King in the Iowa 4th District this year. The only Democratic candidate so far is Kim Weaver, of Sheldon. Some Republicans have been displeased with King in recent months, when he endorsed U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, of Texas, in the presidential race. Those Iowans complained about Cruz's objections to federal policies that support ethanol, a fuel blend that uses a lot of Iowa corn. They criticized Cruz for not supporting an extension to the federal Renewable Fuel Standard for ethanol, and Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad said Cruz should not get the backing of Iowans. King has long lauded the primacy of western Iowa as a top place nationally for renewable energy. Bertrand is a Sioux City native who graduated from Bishop Heelan High School and the University of Northern Iowa. He is a businessman who has launched several entities, including some as part of a downtown Pearl Street redevelopment. In the Senate, he serves on the Commerce, Labor and Business Relations and State Government committees. SIOUX CITY | The mayor of Sioux City will get a 50 percent pay raise, and the four other members of the city council will see their salaries jump by 53 percent, effective Jan. 1, 2018. The council voted 4-0 to approve the pay hikes during a Thursday night budget meeting. Councilman Keith Radig was absent. Under the plan, the mayor's annual salary will climb by $5,000, from $10,000 to $15,000, while council pay will leap by $4,500, from $8,500 to $13,000. Two of the four members who supported the measure effectively gave themselves a future pay raise. The four-year terms for Mayor Bob Scott and Councilwoman Rhonda Capron run through Dec. 31, 2019, meaning they are scheduled to receive the higher pay for at least two years. The terms for council members Pete Groetken, Dan Moore and Radig expire on Dec. 31, 2017, a day before the new salaries take effect. The trio would need to win re-election in order to get their pay increase. Mayoral and council salaries were last increased on Jan. 1, 2000, when the council pay grew from $7,500 to $8,500, and the mayor's salary increased from $9,000 to $10,000. "They haven't raised it since 2000, and it's about time they had a pay raise," Scott said Friday. "It's not our full-time job, but I would say an average council member that does a good job probably spends 15 to 17 hours on an average week doing council business." In explaining his vote, Moore also pointed to the fact that it's been years since the mayor and council have had an "increase of any kind." "I don't think it's out of line. Maybe someone should make the argument we should have had gradual increases over the years, but it's usually an unpopular thing to do," Moore said. Capron agreed with Scott and Moore. "We're trying to play a little bit of catch up," she said Friday. Groetken said he previously did not support an increase during his first two years on the council. That later changed when he realized higher pay could encourage more people to run for elected local office. "It is important for me to be able to help attract young, qualified, interested people in our community who care about city government," Groetken said. "Although $13,000 isn't a great deal of money, I know how busy the council is." In Sioux City, mayoral pay lags behind most every other large city in Iowa. At $96,597 annually, the mayor in Council Bluffs is the highest paid. The mayor in Waterloo, Iowa, is paid $81,952. In Des Moines, the mayor collects an annual salary of $52,000, following a 70 percent pay raise last year. Unlike Sioux City, Council Bluffs and Waterloo do not have city manager forms of government. Des Moines has a city manager who works alongside the mayor. There are many fitness goals out there that we desire. Some of us want to be leaner and others wish to put on muscle mass. The thing is, for you to achieve your fitness goals, you need to Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia: Above. We lost a great man this weekend. He was one of the few souls left in our nation's capital who still believed our Constitution is worth respecting and paying attention to.It is disheartening to listen to our elected leaders and drivebys speak about Justice Scalia in a manner akin to discussion of The Super Bowl, the race for the National League pennant, or March Madness. *Oh, it's going to shift the balance from 5-4 conservative to 4-5 conservative!*Really? The Supreme Court was established as a check on the other two branches of government. In modern times, politicians have ceded more and more legislative authority to this unelected group. And, due in no small part to the misdeeds of our current vice-president, nominations for the court, and lower federal courts, has become deeply politicized. Surely, Hamilton, Jefferson, and Madison could never have imagined a nominee's views on funding Planned Parenthood, Adam and Steve getting "married", or single-payer nationalized health insurance as bases for determining said nominee's fitness for the high court.Who would have thought that it would become controversial to actually follow the language established by our founding fathers?Since 2001, we've watched an incredibly rapid erosion of our rights and freedoms. Statists are working to make US citizenship a joke - an afterthought. Our kids are being taught that their relationships with this week's sex partner is no different from Mom and Dad's thirty year marriage. Our ability to actually do what we wish with our own property - and actually live life under the protections of the Bill of Rights - hangs in the balance with these appointees vetted and approved by the amoral, boozing, lying, thieving blow-dried scalawags on Capitol Hill.Heroes like Scalia, Thomas, Alito - and in some cases, Roberts - have stood up and held the line against further trashing of our freedoms. But that work needs to shift back to the legislative and executive branches. In 1994 and 2010 we got promised a radical shift of power back to the people. What we got, instead, was a complete surrender to statism.North Carolina's US senators will get to play a key role in the future direction of The Supreme Court. Thom Thillis, for some reason, sits on the Judiciary Committee. Any nominee the president submits would have to pass muster with that committee. Of course, Loretta Lynch already made it through this same group. Thilli$$$, for what it's worth, has said he favors waiting for the next president to pick Scalia's replacement.Spineless Richard Burr is up for reelection this year. He gave two thumbs up to Obama's attorney general Loretta Lynch. He also highly praised Judge Max Cogburn - the leftist hack who dreamed up rulings that threw out our state constitution's marriage amendment and that threw our congressional elections into their current state of chaos. I'm not real comfortable with his decision-making, either.The GOP Senate has fallen all over itself to appease Obama since 2014. Do they have the guts to stay in session burrnon-stop until the November elections, in order to prevent a recess appointment by Obama?We need to take a stand and END the policy-making and legislating by unelected folks in black robes. We need some leadership. With Scalia's passing, I had the same disheartened feeling as I did with the passing of Ronald Reagan, William F. Buckley, Jesse Helms, and Andrew Brietbart. Those were great warriors for freedom and individual liberty. But to keep this great American experiment going strong, we need some younger folks to step in and try to fill their shoes. Guys like Ted Cruz and Mike Lee are trying to get it done. But they need a lot of foot-soldiers to stand with them in the fight.Until we take our country back, we need to be mindful of the fact that the future of our country, and the continuation of our special freedoms, could very well be in the hands of Barry Obama, his leftist ideologue Supreme Court appointee, and a spineless Republican Congress. Your RSS feed from RSSFWD.com. Update your RSS... The gravity of the existential threat we face from Islamic Jihad is truly of epic proportions. It is essentially a battle pitting free-civilized man against a totalitarian barbarian. What is at stake is the struggle for our very soul - namely who we are and what we represent. The lives that were sacrificed for individual rights and freedoms that we've come to cherish are being chiseled away from right under our noses by the stealth jihadists. And many of us are in denial and totally clueless. The left's appeasement and pandering to evil is nothing new. What makes their utopian delusions so infuriating and unpardonable is that it is not only they who will have to pay the consequences, and deservedly, so, they are thwarting and undermining our best efforts at resistance and are thus dragging us down in the process as well. By Peter Lancz,, the head of the Raoul Wallenberg World Campaign Against Racism. Red Cross confirmed he had attended a course on how to treat woman 16-year-old has been detained ahead of a future hearing, prosecutors said Teenager followed catering worker down into basement at centre in Menen A teenage Afghan immigrant has been charged with raping a female worker at an asylum seekers' centre in Belgium, authorities said, prompting outrage from anti-immigrant politicians. The 16-year-old Afghan asylum seeker followed a worker from a catering firm into the basement and raped her at the centre in Menen, near the French border, prosecutors said. The judge ordered him detained in youth custody until his next hearing. Many right-wing protesters took to the streets after the Cologne sex attacks, which they blamed on the influx of migrants into Germany A spokeswoman for the Red Cross said it was the first time in 25 years such an alleged incident had occurred at one of the organisation's asylum seeker centres in the country. 'Two weeks ago we gave a course about how to treat women in Flanders and the boy was present there,' the spokeswoman said. The allegation feeds into to a highly charged debate over immigration in Europe, particularly since authorities in neighbouring Germany accused gangs of migrants of sexually assaulting women in Cologne on New Year's Eve. 'I repeat: people who need a course on how to treat women should not be there in the first place,' Tom Van Grieken, leader of anti-immigrant party Vlaams Belang said on Twitter. Belgium received 35,476 asylum requests in 2015, more than twice the level of 2014. The incident echoes that of Swedish social worker Alexandra Mezher, who it is alleged was stabbed to death by Somalian migrant Youssaf Khaliif Nuur at an adolescent migrant centre where she worked in Gothenberg, Sweden last month. It also follows the Cologne sex attacks on New Year's Eve, in which hundreds of women filed sexual assault complaints after wave of attacks in the German city. A mob of men - believed to be of North African and Arab origin - were said to have molested and robbed women after congregating at the city's central station. Meanwhile an Iraqi migrant raped a 10-year-old boy at a swimming pool in Vienna earlier this month. The registration process for the Charles County Public Schools (CCPS) kindergarten program begins on Monday, April 11 at all Charles County public elementary schools. To be eligible for kindergarten for the 2016-17 school year, students must be five years old by September 1.Kindergarten registration for in-county students is conducted at the individual elementary schools. To find out what elementary school an address is zoned for, use the School Locator feature on the Charles County Public Schools website at www.ccboe.com. Some schools allow parents to make kindergarten registration appointments in advance. Call your childs zoned school of attendance to ask about registration appointments.All children entering Charles County Public Schools must have the following information: A physical examination by a physician or a certified practitioner (physicals must be completed between nine months prior to and six months after entering school); Proof of required immunizations against communicable diseases (the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene 896 form showing the required immunizations is available at any school); The child's birth certificate or other acceptable proof of birth (passport/visa; physician's certificate; baptismal or church certification; hospital certificate; or birth registration). If the child was born in Maryland, a copy of his/her birth certificate can be purchased from the Charles County Department of Health, 301-609-6900; and Two proofs of domicile (residency): deed, mortgage statement/bill or settlement papers (with appropriate signatures), current signed verifiable lease or rental agreement (with signatures of both parties), current utility bill (complete with name and address), completed Verification of Domicile form accompanied by two acceptable proofs of domicile for the owner/lessee of the property, property tax bill for domicile (not assessment), current pay check with name and address, property title record, current court document (with name, date, and home address), and current government issued documents that include name, date and home address such as documentation of benefits from the Social Security Administration. Call the department of student services at 301-934-7326 with questions about proofs of domicile.For more information about the kindergarten registration process, visit the CCPS website at www.ccboe.com or contact the office of early childhood education at 301-934-7360.Charles County Public Schools (CCPS) will begin to accept applications for early entrance to kindergarten on Monday, April 11. The school system has procedures and guidelines for early entrance into the kindergarten program. Parents must submit an application by June 15 for their child to be tested for early kindergarten admission.Early admission for the 2016-17 school year is open only to children whose fifth birthday falls between Sept. 2 and Oct. 15, 2016, and who reside with a parent or guardian in Charles County. State law requires students entering kindergarten to be five years old by Sept. 1 in the school year in which the child registers. In some cases, early admission is granted to children who turn five years old between Sept. 2 and Oct. 15; however, there are a number of considerations and rigorous admission standards.Applications are available at all county elementary schools and should be submitted to the school in which the child would attend. Parents can use the School Locator feature on the Charles County Public Schools website at www.ccboe.com to determine what school their child would attend. Applications are forwarded to the CCPS early childhood education office for review. The application is also posted at http://www.ccboe.com/community/parents/register.php To be considered for early admission, children must demonstrate exceptional ability in social, emotional, cognitive and physical development. Potential early admission students are tested by certified CCPS staff, who use a standardized test that takes approximately 60 minutes and includes mathematics, reading/language and general knowledge for kindergarten. Parents will be contacted within two weeks of submitting a completed application to set up a testing appointment.Parents will be notified by mail of their childs eligibility within three weeks of the testing date. In addition to testing, the following are other guidelines set by the Maryland State Department of Education and CCPS for early entrance into a kindergarten program. Children must be five years old by Oct. 15. Student placement in the program is based on exceptional ability in social emotional, cognitive and physical development. Children who are admitted early into kindergarten are provisionally placed and observed for a 30-calendar day period at the beginning of the school year. Acceptance for early admission and registration does not guarantee continuation in kindergarten beyond the 30-calendar day placement review.All children entering CCPS must also have the following information: A physical examination by a physician or a certified practitioner (physicals must be completed between nine months prior to and six months after entering school); Proof of required immunizations against communicable diseases (the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene 896 form showing the required immunizations is available at any school); The child's birth certificate or other acceptable proof of birth (passport/visa; physician's certificate; baptismal or church certification; hospital certificate; or birth registration). If the child was born in Maryland, a copy of his/her birth certificate can be purchased from the Charles County Department of Health, 301-609-6900; and Two proofs of domicile (residency): deed, mortgage statement/bill or settlement papers (with appropriate signatures), current signed verifiable lease or rental agreement (with signatures of both parties), current utility bill (complete with name and address), completed Verification of Domicile form accompanied by two acceptable proofs of domicile for the owner/lessee of the property, property tax bill for domicile (not assessment), current pay check with name and address, property title record, current court document (with name, date, and home address), and current government issued documents that include name, date and home address such as documentation of benefits from the Social Security Administration. Call the department of student services at 301-934-7326 with questions about proofs of domicile.Early kindergarten admission does not guarantee that a child will be promoted to the next grade. Decisions regarding the promotion of early admission kindergartners to first grade will be based on performance during the kindergarten year. Students who do not qualify for early entrance into kindergarten are not automatically placed into the prekindergarten program. Parents must submit a separate application for prekindergarten admission, and acceptance is based on state and CCPS guidelines.For more information on the early kindergarten entrance requirements and application process, visit the CCPS website at http://www.ccboe.com/community/parents/register.php . Call the early childhood education office at 301-934-7380 with questions.The application process for the Charles County Public Schools (CCPS) prekindergarten program begins Monday, April 11 at all Charles County public elementary schools. To be eligible for prekindergarten, students must be four years old by September 1.The selection of prekindergarten students is based on criteria and guidelines set by the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) and CCPS. Placement in the program is based on need in the following three categories: Category one (guaranteed admission): students who are eligible for free or reduced-price meals; qualify for homeless status (certified by the CCPS department of student services); or receive food stamps and/or Temporary Cash Assistance (valid food stamp or TCA letter showing names of household members is required). Category two (next priority, admission is not guaranteed/students must meet one or more criteria): family income falls within 10 percent of the limit for category one; child has an Individualized Educational Plan (IEP); child speaks another language at home; child participated in Head Start or other federally funded program in the past 12 months; or certain family circumstances (adolescent parent, elderly guardian, parent has a diagnosed chronic illness that impacts his/her ability to care for the child, or parent is/will be deployed for 12 months or more). Category three: children who are not eligible for categories one or two, and wish to be considered if vacancies exist, which are determined on a school-by-school basis. Families applying for category three admission must submit a separate application and only need to provide a birth certificate and verify their home address when applying. Additional registration documents (listed below) will only be required if the child is placed into the prekindergarten program. Details on the category three application are posted at http://www.ccboe.com/PDF/earlychildhood/Category3Request1617.pdf Category one families will be notified of their childs application status within three weeks of submitting their application. Category two and three families will be notified at a later time, and may not be notified until after the start of the school year. Category three families will only be notified in the event that their child is placed. School change requests are not honored for prekindergarten.Prekindergarten applications are available at all Charles County public elementary schools, and on the CCPS website at http://www.ccboe.com/community/parents/register.php . To find out what elementary school an address is zoned for, use the School Locator feature on the Charles County Public Schools website at www.ccboe.com.All children entering Charles County Public Schools must have the following information: A physical examination by a physician or a certified practitioner (physicals must be completed between nine months prior to and six months after entering school); Proof of required immunizations against communicable diseases (the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene 896 form showing the required immunizations is available at any school); The child's birth certificate or other acceptable proof of birth (passport/visa; physician's certificate; baptismal or church certification; hospital certificate; or birth registration). If the child was born in Maryland, a copy of his/her birth certificate can be purchased from the Charles County Department of Health, 301-609-6900; and Two proofs of domicile (residency): deed, mortgage statement/bill or settlement papers (with appropriate signatures), current signed verifiable lease or rental agreement (with signatures of both parties), current utility bill (complete with name and address), completed Verification of Domicile form accompanied by two acceptable proofs of domicile for the owner/lessee of the property, property tax bill for domicile (not assessment), current pay check with name and address, property title record, current court document (with name, date, and home address), and current government issued documents that include name, date and home address such as documentation of benefits from the Social Security Administration. Call the department of student services at 301-934-7326 with questions about proofs of domicile.Additional information is posted on the CCPS website at http://www.ccboe.com/community/parents/register.php , under the prekindergarten section. ANNAPOLIS (Feb. 19, 2016)Thursday's theme at the State House was supposed to be "Democratic power grab," but Thursday morning the theme of the day turned into "Democratic anger" about what Gov. Larry Hogan said, and what he has done or failed to do.Said Hogan of the lawmakers:"They come into town like it's they're on spring break, breaking furniture, they start throwing beer bottles off balconies, and all kinds of crazy stuff. Luckily, they're all going to go back home in a few weeks, and we can go back to running the state, and making progress as we have been for the past year," Hogan told the WBAL radio audience toward the end of a half-hour on the C4 show Within the hour, Sen. Bobby Zirkin, typically a not-very-partisan Democratic chair of the Judicial Proceedings Committee, was up on the floor of the Senate, reading off Hogan's remarks, as shown in a Facebook video by Bryan Sears of the Daily Record "I'm insulted and I think everyone of us should be insulted," Zirkin told the Senate. He demanded an apology from the governor.House Speaker Michael Busch later agreed that Hogan had insulted all of the legislators.At the same time Hogan was on the radio, the members of the legislative black caucus were holding a press conference in Annapolis where they ultimately accused of Hogan of making racially motivated decisions, disrespecting them and their communities, and refusing to meet with them until the end of session."There are assaults going on the black community across this state," Del. Curt Andersen, chair of the Baltimore City delegation, as again recorded by Bryan Sears in this Facebook video. "We know what's going on and we're not going to take it anymore. And we're going to retaliate."This all comes after a series of remarks on Hogan's Facebook page that angered Senate President Mike Miller and other Senate leaders about their votes to override his vetoes, particularly on voting rights for felons. This in turn has led to a series of bills by Senate Democrats seeking to curb Hogan's powers on transportation, spending and schools, which Hogan and Republicans see as "a power grab."Late Thursday afternoon, the governor offered an olive branch to the black caucus. He wrote to the budget committee chairs withdrawing his request for $18 million for design of a new Baltimore City Jail complex, and redirected the money back to other projects at universities, including three historically black universitiesMorgan State, Coppin State and University of Maryland Eastern Shore.A comment Hogan made about the Democratic lawmakers on the C4 show might be turned around on the governor himself."It's doesn't seem like a smart political strategy, and I'm not sure how any of them expect to be reelected," Hogan said.Miller had a subdued response to Hogan's comments about the legislators. "Everybody has a bad day," said the Senate president. ANNAPOLIS (Feb. 19, 2016)The Maryland Senate debated Thursday over an emergency bill that would give them greater influence over the Board of Education's next superintendent appointee. The bill, which Republican senators characterized as politically motivated, would require the Democrat-controlled Senate to authorize the Maryland Board of Education's appointee for state superintendent. The board of education is appointed by Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican, and there is a pending vacancy in the seat for state superintendent. Some Republican senators expressed concern that the bill could be politically motivated. Suspicious Sen. Justin Ready, R-Carroll, said the timing of the bill is "suspicious." Since former Superintendent Lillian Lowery resigned in September to work for an education nonprofit, the position has been held in the interim by her then-deputy Jack Smith, who will become superintendent of Montgomery County public schools this summer. Education spending has been a point of contention between Hogan and Democrats in the legislature. Appointments by governors and discord among board of education members in states around the country have led to short tenures for superintendents, said the bill's sponsor, Sen. Paul Pinsky, D-Prince George's. Sometimes, superintendents only stay a few years before they are let go, he said, and having legislative involvement could help extend their terms. Legislatures in 14 other states, including Virginia and Delaware, already have similar powers of approval over superintendent appointees, Pinsky said. Lengthens a difficult search Giving the Senate the ability to turn away superintendents politicizes the position and could lengthen an already difficult search, said Senate Minority Leader J. B. Jennings, Baltimore and Harford counties. "You're going to have special interest groups calling their legislators about this," said Jennings. The process for choosing superintendents is rigorous enough, with expert interviews and assessments that narrow down the best choice from a pool of 35 to 40 candidates, and it does not need more political involvement, said Sen. James Brochin, D-Baltimore. The State school board typically appoints superintendents in June, but giving the Senate the power of approval could put potential candidates in a limbo until the General Assembly's spring session, Jennings said. The bill is scheduled for a preliminary vote Friday. Republicans consider it part of a package of legislation designed to put controls on the power of the governor. LA PLATA, Md. Disclaimer: In the U.S.A., all persons accused of a crime by the State are presumed to be innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. See: http://so.md/presumed-innocence. Additionally, all of the information provided above is solely from the perspective of the respective law enforcement agency and does not provide any direct input from the accused or persons otherwise mentioned. You can find additional information about the case by searching the Maryland Judiciary Case Search Database using the accused's name and date of birth. The database is online at http://so.md/mdcasesearch . Persons named who have been found innocent or not guilty of all charges in the respective case, and/or have had the case ordered expunged by the court can have their name, age, and city redacted by following the process defined at http://so.md/expungeme. (Feb. 20, 2016)The Charles County Sheriff's Office released the following incident and arrest reports.OFFICERS LOCATE AND ARREST INDIVIDUAL WITH MULTIPLE WARRANTS: On February 17 at 8:20 p.m., officers responded to the 12000 block of Sweetwood Place in Waldorf after receiving information that Anthony Damte Brown, who had five outstanding warrants, was at the residence. Brown, 33 of Waldorf, was located and arrested. Charges on the warrants included possession with intent to distribute a controlled dangerous substance, theft, and several child support related charges. Pfc. J. Garner investigated.FOURTH-DEGREE BURGLARY/TRESPASSING: On February 16 at 10:28 a.m., officers responded to the 2300 block of Audrey Manor Court in Waldorf for the report of squatters occupying a bank-owned residence. Upon arrival, officers made contact with the property manager who advised that several individuals were inside the residence illegally. Officers then made contact with James Maurice Henry, Jr., who was uncooperative and refused to provide documentation permitting him access to the residence. During the course of the investigation, Henry, 26 of Springdale, became hostile and disorderly and was subsequently arrested and charged with fourth-degree burglary and trespassing. Charges for the remaining individuals involved in this incident are pending. Pfc. R. Smith is investigating. Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand, Joel 2:1. All quotations from the Scriptures will be from the Authorised Version - the best and most accurate English translation of the Scriptures. Please see Sermons & Articles further down the Blog about why the Authorised Version is the best and most accurate English translation of the Scriptures and why we reject the many perversions of the Scriptures, including those so beloved of many neo-evangelicals at present such as ESV & NKJV. Asteroid Redirect Mission NASA A new report chartered by NASA provides input to important areas of robotic mission requirements development and explores the science benefits and potential knowledge gain from the agencys Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM). NASA will visit an asteroid boulder during the Proving Ground phase of its journey to Mars in cislunar space the volume of space around the moon featuring multiple stable staging orbits for future deep space missions. Read the Report: Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM) Formulation Assessment and Support Team (FAST) Final Report highlights Data from the Formulation Assessment and Support Team (FAST) report will help with the development and design of the robotic portion of the mission, spacecraft, and boulder capture. The report answers questions posed by engineers developing requirements, including the origins of the reference parent asteroid from which a multi-ton boulder will be collected, boulder spatial and size distributions, geotechnical properties, robotic handling of the selected boulder, and crew safety and containment considerations. Also included in the report are investigations that could provide additional benefit from the mission, through potentially partner provided sensors, subsystems, or candidate operations. The work of the FAST focused on science, planetary defense, asteroidal resources and in-situ resource utilization, and capability and technology demonstrations. The expert teams priorities were put into categories based on their benefits and relevance to ARM and NASA goals. We received really comprehensive responses to all of the questions we posed to the FAST, said Dr. Michele Gates, ARM program director. The findings in this report have been particularly helpful as we develop requirements and system design for the robotic spacecraft. Weve learned a lot about the asteroids characteristics, which will be important for the capture system that will collect the asteroid and even for handling and containment techniques that the astronauts will have to practice before sampling it. NASA issued a membership call to the public last year to create the FAST and draft the report. The ARM FAST consisted of primarily non-NASA participants who participated in requirement formulation efforts during the initial development phase of the Asteroid Redirect Robotic Mission (ARRM). The agency ultimately selected 18 engineers and scientists out of 100 applicants from academia and industry to work with three NASA leaders on the report. We had originally planned to select approximately 12-15 members for the FAST, said Dan Mazanek, Senior Space Systems Engineer at NASAs Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia and ARM Mission Investigator. However, due to the large number of exceptionally qualified applicants and the diversity needed to support the ARRM Requirements Closure TIM, we decided to expand the team to a total of 18 members. NASA released a draft of the report in November 2015 for public comment before finalizing the report. The asteroid communitys response to the membership call was astounding, said Gates. Weve made a conscientious effort over the past few years to encourage external participation in this mission, and this FAST is a brilliant result of those efforts. It is remarkable that the team was able to collaborate at such a rapid pace and provide us with the many valuable inputs we received. As the first mission to robotically capture an asteroid mass and deliver it to an orbit around the moon where astronauts can investigate it, the Asteroid Redirect Mission uniquely transcends and combines traditional robotic and human exploration mission formulation processes. This coupling has garnered significant interest from the science and human exploration communities, allowing NASA to leverage the worlds top scientific and engineering minds throughout the planning of the ARM and the journey to Mars. Public comments to the Draft ARM FAST Report: Complete Public Comments: Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM) Formulation Assessment and Support Team (FAST) Final Report Comment attachment from Laszlo Ketsay, USGS Astrogeology Science Center Comment attachment from Patrick Michel, Cote dAzur Observatory, Nice, France Comment attachment from Raffi Sahul, Ph.D., TRS Technologies, State College, PA Privacy statement: This blog does not share personal information with third parties nor do we store any information about your visit to this blog other than to analyze and optimize your content and reading experience through the use of cookies. You can turn off the use of cookies at anytime by changing your specific browser settings. We are not responsible for republished content from this blog on other blogs or websites without our permission. This privacy policy is subject to change without notice and was last updated on January 1, 2017. If you have any questions feel free to contact Springfield Vermont News directly here: ed44vt@gmail.com It's likely that the Kurds simply want to use both Great Powers to help them liberate Raqqa so that they can later trade' it back to Damascus in exchange for a guarantee of federalization. If they succeed in acquiring this much sovereignty, then it could cause a chain reaction among other identity groups to do the same, which would thereby fulfill the Brookings Institution's plan for a weakened central state comprised of a kaleidoscope of ethno-regional political identities. On the other hand, the SAA is fighting to maintain a unitary state without any politically formalized identity differences, and if it liberates Raqqa, then it would be in a prime military and normative position to reinforce the country's territorial integrity. At the same time, they probably wouldn't go as far as clashing with the Kurds in any post-Daesh environment, understanding that the established facts on the ground in northern and northeastern Syria are something that would necessitate a political solution to resolve. The People's Choice No matter what happens be it the majority-Kurdish SDF pushing for federalization or the SAA wanting to retain national unity nothing of the sort can occur in post-conflict Syria without the voice of the people being heard. UNSC Resolution 2554 specifically mandates that a new constitution be drafted, although it doesn't provide any details as to how this process should be managed. Judging by the terminology used in calling for "credible, inclusive and non-sectarian governance", it can be inferred that the patriotic opposition and the Kurds will both have seats at the negotiation table, and that the latter will probably push for a clause about autonomy or federalization, dependent on whether the SAA liberates Raqqa or the SDF does so instead, respectively. It's possible that the YPG will ask their fellow SDF Arab allies and other opposition groups to support their initiative, convincing them that they'll all achieve some sort of self-interested gain by weakening the unitary state. Ultimately, however, the final arbiters on this will be the Syrian people, since UNSC Res. 2554 stipulates that a national election be held afterwards in choosing a new government. It's not clear from the text whether that means that there'll also be a referendum in deciding on the new constitution or not, but at the very least, Syrians will have the chance to vote for their representatives and use this opportunity to signal their support or disagreement with the post-conflict political process up until that point. If history is any indication, then they'll overwhelmingly vote once more for President Assad, but there's no precedent for gauging how they'd respond to any prospective federalization or autonomy proposals, especially as regards the Syrian Kurds. No matter what they decide upon, the UNSC has already signaled through the aforementioned resolution that they'll support their choice, meaning that both the US and Russia could possibly end up recognizing Kurdish autonomy in northern Syria and crossing Erdogan's infamous red line. Cracking The Conundrum The reason that Erdogan is so afraid of the Kurds gaining autonomy in Syria is because he knows that it would have an immediate demonstration effect on the ones that are living in his country. While nobody can accurately say what will happen in Syria next year, if its citizens do in fact end up voting for a government that allows for an autonomous Kurdish entity, then it could possibly symbolize a peaceful resolution to whatever outstanding political-territorial disputes that the Kurds might have with Damascus in a post-Daesh environment. Accordingly, it would also set a precedent for how Turkey could responsibly approach the issues that it has with its own Kurdish minority. The Daily Mail's opinion column said: "The prime minister comes out of this sorry saga badly wounded, just eight months after his surprise election triumph made him look all but invincible on the domestic political battleground. But it is not too late for him to redeem himself. He should tell voters, humbly and frankly, that he has tried hard but failed to secure a deal worth having." Migrant Worker Benefits Central to the deal was Cameron's attempt to prevent migrant works enjoying the same benefits as UK citizens from the moment they started working in the country something deeply opposed by most Eastern European countries which have thousands of workers in the UK. The deal sates that there should be "an alert and safeguard mechanism" whereby "The Council would authorize that Member State to limit the access of newly arriving EU workers to non-contributory in-work benefits for a total period of up to four years from the commencement of employment. The limitation should be graduated, from an initial complete exclusion but gradually increasing access to such benefits to take account of the growing connection of the worker with the labor market of the host Member State. The authorization would have a limited duration and apply to EU workers newly arriving during a period of 7 years." However, the declaration goes on to say: "The future measures referred to in this paragraph should not result in EU workers enjoying less favorable treatment than third country nationals in a comparable situation." Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel said: "We are very, very far from the initial British position that wanted to create a discrimination," suggesting there had been a climb down on Cameron's part. Never Closer Union Cameron managed to gain acknowledgement that "make it clear that the references to ever closer union do not apply to the United Kingdom" and some confirmation of non-discrimination against non-eurozone countries. The declaration said: "Discrimination between natural or legal persons based on the official currency of the Member State, or, as the case may be, the currency that has legal tender in the Member State, where they are established is prohibited." However, in a rider, it said: "Any difference of treatment must be based on objective reasons", without stating what "objective reasons" were, leaving a wide margin for future argument. It also carried a warning that London would not be able to stop any future consolidation of Eurozone states. "Member States whose currency is not the euro shall not impede the implementation of legal acts directly linked to the functioning of the euro area and shall refrain from measures which could jeopardize the attainment of the objectives of economic and monetary union." Cameron has faced criticism over the issue of whether the whole declaration on the UK's "new settlement" has any basis in law also remain uncertain. The European Council statement says that "this Decision is legally binding" but then goes on to say it "may be amended or repealed only by common accord of the Heads of State or Government of the Member States of the European Union," which leaves the whole matter up for discussion in the future. One significant fallout from the night's event is the news that big-hitter and Cameron ally, justice minister Michael Gove has become the first cabinet minister to defy the prime minister and campaign for the UK to leave the EU. This immediately prompted the proprietor of the London Times and the popular tabloid The Sun Rupert Murdoch who has close ties with Cameron to tweet: Congratulations Michael Gove. Friends always knew his principles would overcome his personal friendships. Rupert Murdoch (@rupertmurdoch) 20 2016 Cameron may think he has won a victory in Brussels, but he now faces an uphill struggle back home to convince voters and many in his own party that the deal is anything more than a classic EU fudge. MOSCOW (Sputnik)EU leaders met in Brussels on February 18-19 to discuss the United Kingdoms future in the European Union ahead of Britains referendum on its membership of the bloc. On the second day of the summit, an agreement on Britains EU reform proposals was reached. "Despite the fanfare, the deal that David Cameron has made in Brussels on Britains relationship with the EU is a sideshow, and the changes he has negotiated are largely irrelevant to the problems most British people face and the decision we must now make," Corbyn said in a statement published on the party's website. According to the politician, Camerons priorities in the talks with Brussels were to appease his opponents in the ruling Conservative Party. Commenting on Berlin's allegations and the launching of the investigation, experts speaking to independent Russian newspaper Svobodnaya Pressa suggest that it could indicate that Germany and the West are looking to ramp up the information war being waged against Russia and its foreign broadcasters. "Factually, this hysteria (and there is no other way to describe it), seems to suggest that the information war being waged against Russia is entering a new level," Alexander Kamkin, senior researcher at the Center for German Studies at the Russian Academy of Sciences, told the newspaper. "We already saw a vivid example of this [last month], when a legal case was filed in Berlin against the work of a Russian journalist" who was covering the alleged rape of the Russian-speaking German girl. "That instance, you might say, was the 'first shot'," Kamkin said. "Now, on the basis of the precedent, a system is being formed. An image of the 'enemy' is being created in the minds of Germans. That is, if earlier, during the Cold War, our country served as a nuclear-armed 'rogue superpower', today's Russia is shown as an 'evil empire'attempting to control public opinion in Europe with the help of Russian media RT, Sputnik, and so on." Italy's investigation into criminal activities by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan may have to look to authorities in Switzerand, Malaysia and Austria to solve the case, Turkish parliamentarian from the opposition People's Democratic Party (HDP) Aykut Erdogdu told Sputnik Turkiye. Unlike previous scandals and investigations in Turkey, which were swept under the carpet, this investigation may actually result in some results, according to Erdogdu. A participant in previous investigations, Erdogdu believes that charges against Recep Tayyip Erdogan's son, Bilal, could be legitimate, if the investigation is made international. "Some time ago, we conducted the investigation against companies involved in bribery in Turkey. As a result of these investigations, it was found that high-ranking civil servants and politicians in Turkey have received large bribes. The story did not received the appropriate judicial follow-up, and was simply swept under the carpet," Erdogdu told Sputnik Turkiye. ATHENS (Sputnik) The program aims to soften the austerity measures agreed to under the third international and European bailout package to rescue the strained Greek economy. The bill was withdrawn in December because of pressure from Greeces creditors. The "parallel program" was buoyed by votes of the ruling Syriza-Anel radical left coalition. Opposition New Democracy, Golden Dawn and Union of Centrists parties voted against the program, while Democratic Coalition, Communist and To Potami parties abstained. Opposition lawmakers have nonetheless supported a number of provisions contained in the bill BRUSSELS (Sputnik) Syria has been mired in civil war since 2011, with government forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad fighting against numerous opposition factions and extremist groups, such as Daesh, which is banned in a range of countries. "The European Council welcomes the start of delivery of humanitarian aid within one week to civilians in besieged areas and urges all sides to ensure that this continues and use this as a first step to full sustained and unimpeded humanitarian access throughout Syria, as agreed in Munich, including Aleppo, and in full compliance with international humanitarian law," the council said in a statement after the February 18-19 summit in Brussels. Major powers of the International Syria Support Group (ISSG) agreed in Munich on February 11 to speed up humanitarian access to besieged areas across Syria ahead of a cessation of hostilities. "The agreement between Iran and Russia on the construction of the second and third stages of the Bushehr NPP was signed some time ago," Beheshtipour recalled. "However, the details were not disclosed. Now its clear now that everything is set for implementation. Most likely, the new reactors will provide the standard Russian capacity 1000 MW [apiece]." "Regarding news of the possible participation of Hungary in Bushehr II-III, here a clarification is necessary," the commentator explained. "The founder and lead contractor on the project will be Russia. Other countries, most likely, will be able to act as exporters of certain types of equipment, and to perform auxiliary functions. But here things are not so simple. It is enough to recall that Ukraine had at one time committed itself to supply a steam turbine for the first phase of Bushehr, but then, at the last moment, refused to honor the contract, pointing to the sanctions which were in place against Iran at the time." Ultimately, Beheshtipour says, "Russia remains a priority option for Iran when it comes to the construction of powerful nuclear reactors. Moreover, the new project at Bushehr is attractive for Iran in the strategic sense as it means the construction of two new units at once. It's true, Tehran signed an agreement with China on the construction of a small capacity plant [in] southern Iran, but we already have a record of experience with Russia one which has time-tested." "Nothing circles the wagons like the emphasis on an external threat," Eland noted. Eland also linked the announcement to US to plans to put Theater High Altitude Air Defense, or THAAD, missile defense systems into South Korea, in the face of Beijings objections. "The Pentagon's disclosure of Chinese air and missile defenses being placed on islands that China has had for quite some time may be an attempt to justify US missile defenses being placed in South Korea," he said. Eland suggested the US government could defuse the issue by pulling its powerful m naval and air presence out of the South China Sea. "The United States should stay out of local disputes in the South China Sea, and should gradually withdraw its military presence from South Korea, thus making such issues moot," he advised. Military affairs analyst and retired US Army Major Todd Pierce maintained that Obamas determination to keep a high profile naval force in the South China Sea was rooted in US efforts to assert domination over the entire Pacific Ocean going back nearly 120 years. "It follows all of our declarations of hostility toward China in this century, such as the Asian pivot [and] the collusion with Japanese Prime Minister [Shinzo] Abe to subvert the Japanese Constitution to permit the deployment of the Japanese military in support of the United States, Pierce maintained. From the time of the Spanish-American War in 1898 the American public had looked upon the Pacific Ocean as a region where their country was dominant by right, the analyst continued. "Each of our 20th Century wars only reinforced that notion as government policy to today when we accept it as a fait accompli. But China obviously doesnt," Pierce cautioned. This attitude remained engrained among US policymakers, Piperce added, and was reflected in the network of major US bases around the western Pacific. "We have acted as if the Pacific was our sea in maintaining Guam, Okinawa, and our many other outposts. We have also taken all the necessary steps to go to war over that claim, notwithstanding any legitimate concerns China may have." Lendman added that comments critical of the United States emanating from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu are "largely bluster," because without US support Turkey's extremely dangerous delusions of establishing another Ottoman Empire "will go up in smoke." The key regional concern in the Middle East, Lendman argued, is not Turkey or Saudi Arabia, but the United States and its true agenda. Lendman argued that US support for peace and cessation of hostilities is pure subterfuge. "Obama didn't launch war to quit until achieving his objective replace Syrian sovereignty with US-controlled puppet governance." Russian President Vladimir Putin, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and other officials, Lendman explained, continue forthright efforts to end years of conflict in Syria despite understanding the US agenda to control the region. University of Oklahoma Center for Middle East Studies Director Joshua Landis told Sputnik that if Turkey were to follow through on threats to limit access to Incirlik it would put the United States in a very precarious position. "Incirlik remains crucial to US efforts to fight the Islamic State [Daesh]," Landis suggested. "The United States has been building an airport in northern Syria, but it is small and would not be able to repair sophisticated jets." Landis, who is also the editor of Syria Comment, observed that Washington is trying not to get in between the PYD and Ankara in their dispute because they both are vital US allies. "I presume Turkey and the United States will work out their difference in some form of compromise, but US-Turkish differences are sharpening," Landis concluded. Over the past month, Turkish forces have repeatedly attacked Kurdish positions in Syria, under the pretext they threaten Turkish security. Both Russia and the United States have called on Turkey to cease its artillery strikes. Searching for the positive in everyday life "I dont think they are in violation of international law, but you have got to look at the longer implications," Winnie said. "It makes other countries jittery and may be more likely to align themselves with the United States." Other countries throughout the region such as the Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and Japan were all watching closely, he observed. "The moves reflect strong nationalist sentiments in China. It is not a good public relations strategy on their part. I dont think they have a nefarious purpose, but it creates a negative perception," Winnie advised. Chinas standing in the region could be harmed rather than advanced by such unilateral steps, he maintained. "Certainly, China has a major role to play in the Asia-Pacific Rim as a major stakeholder. But the perception of unpredictable and forceful behavior in the South China Sea will hurt them," Winnie predicted. The Beijing government wanted stronger relations with their neighbors and n knew they needed to keep and expand their trading partners, he recalled. "They are a major great power and they have the right to exert themselves in the region. But it has the potential to backfire. The heart of the matter is that such behavior makes people very nervous and very uncomfortable. It doesnt help China in its long term goal of establishing itself in Asia." According to Winger, the current two-party system in the US is out of date. He recommends switching to a multi-party democracy, similar to that of many European countries, allowing for many parties to choose from. Kevin Akin discussed the decline of the role of the Democratic Party due to billionaires who have easy access to whatever they want. "The Democratic Party has got soft on the modern equivalent; it's got soft on rule by billionaires," he suggested. According to Akin, the extremely rich and powerful 1 percent have the best chance in a presidential race. If the former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg, a billionaire many times over, wants to become part of the US legislative body, "all he has to do is to instruct his accountants to make his money available and voila he will have a party," unlike an ordinary candidate who must find money and ask for political support. "The US and Nigeria are the only two countries in the world that have just two parties in the national legislative body," Akin found. "A two-party system is artificial; it will not exist unless the government bans the rules to get extra privileges and protection for two parties and squashes the rest of them." He pointed out that independent candidates are excluded from debates primarily because they cannot pay to advertise on TV. "The big money guys have basically taken a big step towards total control over the electoral system," Winger stated. While tensions are simmering over the prospect of a Turkish-Saudi invasion of Syria , six members of the UN Security Council, including the US, UK and France, have voiced their objections to a Russian draft resolution aimed at restoring the sovereignty of the Middle Eastern state, fanning the flames. The draft resolution, which denounces any actions that undermine the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria and condemns any plans for a foreign military invasion, has been dismissed by the US and French UN ambassadors as "having no future." It is rather surprising that the proposed resolution, aimed at peace in Syria and the protection of the fundamental values of the UN charter, has immediately come under fire from Washington and the major European powers. However, there is an obvious explanation: the Western powers have repeatedly violated international law, having acted militarily in Syria without official permission from the legitimate government of President Bashar al-Assad. Furthermore, "NATO is closely connected to military, political, scientific and corporate elites. Europe now has a huge military-industrial complex. BAE Systems, the largest military firm, is British owned, and has factories in New Hampshire, US, and many other places. The major Italian arms manufacturer Finmeccanica and the French Thales are heavily government-supported. EADS is a conglomerate headquartered in the Netherlands, with subsidiaries in France, Germany and SpainSweden also has a significant high-tech military industry." "The European Union," Roelof emphasizes, is "closely enmeshed with NATO. During its formative period, the original nations sent NATO ambassadors to Paris, its early headquarters. They developed a pro-NATO view which often [clashed] with their governments. Currently, the EU executive and NATO both have headquarters in Brussels." USEmbTallinn: RT USNATO: NATO SecGen Stoltenberg spoke of increasing NATO-EU cooperation against terrorism. Read h pic.twitter.com/pBv5hvIwOh Michael Voolaid (@michaelvoolaid) 18 2015 Grants, Education, Training & Bases: The Weapons of Influence of the 21st Century NATO's massive new headquarters, the political scientist suggests, is entirely "suitable for a global empire." "Among [the alliance's] diverse activities are grants for many types of science researchNow that everything affects security, NATO sponsors research in [fields as diverse as] women's reproductive choices, sustainable development, leather tanning effluent toxicity, landscape architecture, and stained glass preservations. Many projects are conducted jointly by teams including NATO member and PfP nationals, facilitating the mentoring of initiates. #NobelPrize Chemistry Laureate Aziz Sancar had received 2 @NATO_SPS Science Programme collaborative research grants! pic.twitter.com/MbeCRNedDC NATO SPS Programme (@NATO_SPS) 9 2015 Furthermore, "economic, political, educational and social activities" are meant to "give NATO a friendly face," with the alliance offering internships in Brussels to students of political science, security studies, engineering, IT, and journalism, among other fields. "It gives grants to environmental and other organizations just like a philanthropic foundation. On the other hand, citizens who protest the 'out of area' aggressions are often branded as extremists or simply ignored." The alliance's training, of course, also includes "massive war games, in which all members and many partners participate. For example, in 2013, 'Steadfast Jazz', a live-fire exercise, included partners Ukraine, Finland, and Sweden." Steadfast Jazz 2013 was NATOs biggest live-fire exercise since 2006. http://t.co/Hx8MEtv5jU pic.twitter.com/iG3ThyqLs8 NATOSource (@NATOSource) 14 2013 With NATO members' soldiers trained at a broad network of institutions, colleges and universities across Europe and the United States, Roelof highlights that some of these institutions "[educate] civilian leaders and potential leaders as well as military personnel." "The US Department of Defense/State Department joint report to Congress for 2014 states that 52,600 people from 155 nations were trained but this does not include NATO members, Australia, Japan, or New Zealand, because they are not required for the report." Effectively, the professor suggests, NATO-funded and supported educational programs have captured students from most of the world. "The relationships acquired through training, conferences, seminars and joint exercises are a source of considerable power, as these experiences help younger people to move up the ladder to civilian and military leadership in their countries." Thank you @NATO Laurie Walker for talking at our seminar on #Montenegro's next steps. @MeGovernment pic.twitter.com/zH6zcF48ur Geo. C Marshall Ctr (@Marshall_Center) 28 2016 Finally, Roelof notes, "bases are also a source of influence. At one time there were more than 800 in Europe; now it is estimated that there are about 350Everywhere, bases generate economic activity and also enable surveillance and influence," as explained in Catherine Lutz's The Bases of Empire. To Understand NATO Today, It's Necessary to Know Its Origins Conceptually, Roelof explains, NATO sprang from the idea, formed in the late 1940s, "that the Soviet Union was poised to invade Western Europe," and was disseminated with the aid of the newly formed CIA, the FBI, and various foreign intelligence services. With much of the foreign press becoming involved, "the CIA and private foundations [also] created new publications, such as Encounter Magazine in London, and others in France, Italy, Germany and elsewhere. Conferences, such as those of the Congress for Cultural Freedom, were held to lure European intellectuals away from socialist and pacifist ideologies." In addition, Ankara launched an all-out war against Kurds in Turkey 's southeast region in 2015 and has repeatedly attacked Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) in Syria. For several days the Turkish artillery has been shelling the northern parts of Syria. "The Turkish regime continued on Friday its crimes against the Syrian people, instructing its heavy artillery to attack regions in Aleppo northern countryside in a flagrant violation of international law," SANA wrote on February 19. On February 18, the Kurdish Hawar news agency ANHA reported that "dozens of Turkish military vehicles advanced 200 meters into Rojava land over the Meydan Ekbise village of Efrin city." Apparently to expand its Lebensraum in the Middle East, Turkey de facto invaded Iraq regardless of the vocal displeasure of Baghdad, and has pledged to launch a ground operation in Syria, as soon as Washington authorizes the campaign. It is no secret anymore, that Ankara is involved in illicit oil trade with Daesh, as well as sponsoring the training and arming of radical Islamic fighters together with Saudi Arabia and Qatar. However, Washington and its NATO allies turn a blind eye to Erdogan's criminal actions. "President Obama expressed concern about recent Syrian regime advances in northwest Syria and urgently called for a halt to actions that heighten tensions with Turkey and with moderate opposition forces in northern Syria, and undermine our collective efforts in northern Syria to degrade and defeat ISIL [Daesh] He emphasized the unwavering commitment of the United States to Turkey's national security as a NATO Ally," the recent transcript of the US President's Call with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey reads. Some experts believe that the deadly February 17 attack in Ankara was deliberately blamed on YPG by the Turkish leadership to justify a potential ground operation in northern Syria. General Comman of YPG: Turkey fabricates false accusations against us, to justify her attacks against Rojava. Perwer Muhammad Ali (@perwerjan) 19 2016 "In this situation an 'unexpected' incident near the Syrian-Turkish carried out by ISIS [Daesh] could become an ideal solution for Turkey, providing it with a 'legal' pretext for the invasion of Syrian territory. But ISIS has no resources to carry out such an attack since it's stuck fighting in Syria and has practically been surrounded near As Sin. Under these conditions, only hosted Turkish secret services could provide Ankara with a pretext that it needs so desperately," Berger stressed. The journalist notes that Erdogan's ability and willingness to create such pretexts is well-known and documented. In this light there is the possibility that Ankara will itself create "the last straw" situation that will allow the Turkish leadership to invade Syria. Recently, the analyst said, "we have witnessed a decisive victory by government troops in Aleppo province, through the liberation of Nub'l and Az-Zahraa. In the country's south as well, the Syrian Army, supported by Russian aviation, has successfully liberated the towns of Sheikh Miskin and Atman, approaching the border with Jordan." "In northern Latakia, the Syrian Army inflicted a serious blow to the terrorists, who had taken refuge in the Turkmen and Jabal al-Akhrad Mountains, thus coming close to the border with Turkey. In eastern Ghouta [a suburb of Damascus], after the elimination of Jaish al-Islam [jihadist militant group] leader Zahran Alloush, the military situation also shifted in favor of the Army. As a result, starting approximately from last October, the Syrian government has begun turning the situation around." Amid these tactical and operational successes, a strategic victory, Asadollahi says, now depends heavily on the actions of foreign actors. "It must be said that so long as there is outside interference from countries including Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE, Jordan, the US and other Western governments, the Syrian crisis will continue. If Syria manages to close its borders and to stop the flow of finances, reserves and weapons to the terrorists, then it will really become possible to defeat them." In the past few years Turkey and Saudi Arabia have been creating a "new Wahhabi empire" in the Middle East and beyond by fuelling Islamic extremists, Muslim Brotherhood recruits and al-Qaeda affiliates. "Turkey and Saudi Arabia have made their plans clear to an amazed world, a new Wahhabist empire, an 'Islamic State,' not the one the puppet front organization ISIS [Daesh] is running, but a real one with up to a million men in uniform, over three thousand modern combat aircraft and nuclear weapons," Veterans Today editor and Marine combat veteran Gordon Duff writes for New Eastern Outlook. The Marine combat veteran envisions that if Ankara and Riyadh prevail, the region would be turned into a caliphate while the fate of the Mideast nation-states and the Kurdish minority is likely to be deplorable. Syrian Kurdish militants could apparently drive a wedge between NATO allies with Turkey urging the Obama administration on Saturday to voice irrevocable support to the country in its fight against Syrian Kurdish YPG, which is supported by the US. The Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said at a news conference that Turkey is about to tighten security over the country following the recent attack in Ankara. On Wednesday, a car bomb exploded at a military housing complex near the parliament building in the Turkish capital, killing 28 people. "The only thing we expect from our U.S. ally is to support Turkey with no ifs or buts," Davutoglu told journalists after a five-hour security meeting. . If you do not agree with the blocking, please use the Access to the chat has been blocked for violating the rules . You will be able to participate again through:. If you do not agree with the blocking, please use the feedback form The discussion is closed. You can participate in the discussion within 24 hours after the publication of the article. MOSCOW (Sputnik)On February 16, a California judge ordered Apple to help the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) unlock an iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino attackers after the agency was unable to do so. "Apple appears to object based on a combination of a perceived negative impact on its reputation and marketing strategynumerous mischaracterizations of the requirements of the order, and an incorrect understanding of [the law], the prosecutors said Friday, as quoted by The Wall Street Journal. On Tuesday, Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a public letter that he would not comply with the order to help the FBI break into the phone. Cook said that the FBI had asked the company to build a new version of the iPhone operating system and software that would allow authorities to unlock any iPhone in someones physical possession. The CEO explained that building such a back door would hand the equivalent of a "master key" to cyber criminals and bad actors that could potentially open "hundreds of millions" of locks. Our latest entry always comes up first... Click this link if you want to start at the beginning of our trip from South Carolina (where we bought the boat) to Lake Ontario Click this link: If you want to see the story of our 2 1/2 year project getting The Russian Embassy in Washington, DC hosted the second annual Tatiana Day Ball, bringing together a large gathering of Russians and Americans to celebrate the saint of students icon of the Russian Orthodox Church, Tatiana. The Friday celebration, traditionally celebrated on January 25, provided the occasion for the Russian embassy, in partnership with Russian Orthodox Church, to raise money for Russian-speaking children in need, primarily in Russia and Ukraine, but also in the United States and other part of the world. The celebration featured traditional Russian singing, dancing, and ended with a modern mix of music and dancing that bridged the Russian and American cultures. "In comparison with last year, we had had many more guests this year, and the organizers [of the event] informed us that they had a few hundred people on the waiting list," Russian Embassy head of communications Yuri Melnik stated. "People are interested in attending and contributing to this charity," he added. Tatiana Day was originally established in 1755 when Empress Elizabeth, daughter of Peter the Great, signed a decree establishing a University in Moscow. In modern times, the day has become widely celebrated by Russias millions of students, as it marks the end of winter exams and the start of a two-week winter vacation. The Washington Embassy event was postponed from its original date, January 25, due to the winter storm Jonas. "It is difficult to imagine that China will simply lay down and allow the United States to effectively make this trade decision for China," Ward claimed. The United States, Ward explained, has now encouraged all UN member states to implement sanctions against any person, including any financial institution, that facilitates proliferation, illicit activities, arms trafficking, cyberterrorism, import of luxury goods, among other actions, by the North Korean government. The sanctions "mandate" the president to implement asset blocking powers against any violators, unlike previous measures wherein the implementation was optional, Ward added. Earlier on Friday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said the introduction of new US sanctions against North Korea would not improve the situation and called on both sides to show restraint. Peterson Institute for International Economics Research Analyst Kent Boydston told Sputnik that Beijing routinely repeated standard diplomatic language calling for all parties to exercise restraint after such incidents, but this time was different because the new US sanctions might directly affect Chinese trade policies. "In this case, China has some reason for concern that mandatory enforcement requirements in the US legislation may cause complications for Chinese trade," Boydston stated. There has been speculation for years that North Korea has become more of a liability than a friend to China, Boydston suggested, but Beijing has done very little to put real pressure on Pyongyang and is instead lax on sanctions enforcement and waters down UN sanctions resolutions. The more salient issue for China, Boydston added, is that compared to previous North Korean provocations this time there is significant momentum in South Korea to deploy US THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Air Defense) missiles to defend against growing North Korean missile capabilities. Earlier this month, North Korea fired a long-range rocket to allegedly put a satellite into orbit in violation of a UN Security Council resolution. In January, Pyongyang declared that it had successfully carried out a hydrogen bomb test, triggering condemnation from the international community. MOSCOW (Sputnik)Moscow hopes that the next intra-Syrian reconciliation talks will be held on February 25 in Geneva and will include participation from the Kurds, a source in the Russian Foreign Ministry said Saturday. We have said that the meeting needs to be held as soon as possible and are in favor of the Kurds taking part in it, the diplomatic source told RIA Novosti. The Geneva talks between the government of Syria and the representatives of the Syrian opposition began on January 29. UN special envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura said on February 3 that the talks came to a temporary pause. The resumption of the intra-Syrian negotiation process is expected on February 25. A resolution to protect the sovereignty and territory of Syria was proposed by Russia as Turkish forces repeatedly shelled Kurdish-held areas in northern Syria over the past week, claiming they threaten national security and demanding the Kurdish self-defense forces retreat from the northwestern city of Azaz. Both the United States and Russia have called on Turkey to cease artillery strikes and deescalate tensions. Moscow has repeatedly expressed concern over alleged Turkish plans to carry out a military incursion in Syria. Earlier in February, the Russian Defense Ministry said that Ankara's activity on the Turkish-Syrian border pointed to intensive preparation for a military incursion in Syria. Later, media reports emerged claiming that Saudi Arabia could deploy ground troops to Syria in likely coordination with Turkey against terrorist groups. The Kremlin is concerned over growing tensions on the Syria-Turkey border and strongly condemns the shelling of the Syrian territory by Turkey, Dmitry Peskov said. "The Kremlin is concerned by the growing tension on the Syrian-Turkish border," Peskov said in a conference call with reporters. "In general, Russia deems it unacceptable that Turkish artillery conducts cross-border shelling of the Syrian territory," Peskov stressed. On February 13, Turkish artillery began shelling positions held by the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), a Kurdish group with links to the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), in Syria's Aleppo Province. The archpriest explained that the church has a charity fund and all proceeds from the ball go to people in need. The raised money is allocated to different charitable projects of the Russian community in the United States and abroad, he added. Asked how much money was collected at the event, Potapov said that, according to a rough estimate, some $30,000 was raised, but around $5,000 would go to organizational expenses. In 2015, a large portion of proceeds was sent to the Donetsk charity fund "Dobrota" for children who have become victims of war in eastern Ukraine. This year, the church plans to donate to "Dobrota" again. Potapov added that they have already spent some money in advance payment to help a Russian family from St. Petersburg residing in Baltimore, whose daughter has brain cancer and has become blind. Tatiana Ball was held at the Russian embassy in Washington, DC, for the second time with support of Ambassador Kislyak, who promised to continue the tradition. Tatiana Day was originally established in 1755 when Empress Elizabeth, daughter of Peter the Great, signed a decree establishing a University in Moscow. In modern times, the day has become widely celebrated by millions of students in Russia, marking the end of winter exams and the start of a two-week winter break. In the wake of the recent devastating fire at Classy Lane Training Centre on January 4th, in this week's Rewind Robert Smith recalls a similar tragedy from over 50 years ago. A huge fire at Batavia Downs in October of 1962 took a heavy toll, particularly on two then young Canadian horsemen. The above headline announced the horrible tragedy from 1962 at Batavia Downs. The total number of horses lost as shown increased upon further investigation. The above headline announced the horrible tragedy from 1962 at Batavia Downs. The total number of horses lost as shown increased upon further investigation. Early on the morning of Sunday, October 14, 1962 at around 8 a.m., a fire of unknown origin broke out in the backstretch area of Batavia Downs. Within minutes, two stables were ablaze. As caretakers and rescue workers attempted to save as many horses as possible, it was soon evident that a major fire was underway. As so often happens, a number of horses instinctively ran back into the burning buildings. Many others were forced out, using water soaked towels to cover their eyes. A large number of horses not immediately involved were led out onto the track and let loose as a safety precaution. I can recall hearing first-hand reports from people who were there about how the horses were actually putting on their own "race" during the melee. It was apparently amusing on a day otherwise overshadowed by horror as it took over three hours to finally round the horses up. The fire broke out in Barn 12 located in the North West corner of the complex and soon spread to the adjacent stable 11. Both barns were 40 feet wide and 200 feet long, and built in 1953. It was feared that the nearby Race Office might also become involved which could mean the loss of valuable records. A team of people soon began to shuttle boxes of documents to the track restaurant for safe keeping. A number of people were injured during the height of the fire and one man received facial burns as well as suffering from smoke inhalation. The track estimated its loss in buildings and equipment at $125,000. There was no immediate estimate of the value of the horses that perished. In the track's 23-year history, this was the first fire ever recorded. It could have been much worse considering that nearly 600 horses were on the grounds. When the fire was finally subdued by the Batavia Fire Dept. -- assisted by six other fire departments from Genesee County -- and order restored, the grim task of taking toll of the casualties began. A 38-year-old groom by the name of Jack Jamison was the only human victim, and his demise was somewhat strange. He had risen earlier and began his morning chores, after which he attended the track restaurant for breakfast around 7:30 a.m.. Upon his return it is unclear why he became a casualty, the only explanation being that he had returned to bed and was asleep. He had only been at the track for some three days from his native Mercer, Pennsylvania. Although relatively unknown, he was described by colleagues as "quiet and friendly." The loss of horses was significant; in all, a total of 25 horses perished. Hardest hit was the stable of the Downs' leading driver Wm. "Buddy" Gilmour, a native of Ridgeway, Ont. and just 30 years old at the time. He lost a staggering 18 head. Among them was the outstanding six-year-old stallion Howard Rosecroft, who had just won his most recent start the night previous to the fire. This horse was co-owned by Gilmour and Sheridan Revington of Lucan, Ont., and was a former Horse of the Year in Western New York. A total of three top money-winning horses were among those lost, all having lifetime earnings of over $100,000. In addition to Howard Rosecroft were the trotters Bold Colby and Demon Damsel, the latter was from the Delvin Miller stable and at Batavia for a current trotting series. Thankfully handlers were able to rescue seven from the Gilmour barn, but a couple were too seriously burned to be saved. Wm. "Buddy" Gilmour is shown with the three-year-old colt Symboleer which he lost in the Batavia fire. This horse was originally rescued but his injuries were too severe. Wm. "Buddy" Gilmour is shown with the three-year-old colt Symboleer which he lost in the Batavia fire. This horse was originally rescued but his injuries were too severe. Canadian horseman Clint Galbraith of Tara, Ont., just 25 at the time, suffered the loss of four from his stable. Additionally a yearling filly sired by Kimberly Kid was severely burned but chances of her recovery were promising. Seven of Galbraith's stock including his star trotting mare Helen Brooke K. were saved. Lost in the fire was Kalmuck Direct, a sentimental favourite of Clint's who had provided him with his first career victory several year previous to this. Mr. John Wehle of nearby Scottsdale, N.Y., the owner of The Genesee Brewing Co., had four perish in the inferno as part of the Gilmour barn. At this time the Batavia horsemen included a large percentage of Canadian-based stables. Among them were those of Ed Arthur, Dr. John Findley, "Ancaster Bill' Harvey, George Gilmour, "Red" Holmes, Cecil Champion, Jack Mehlenbacher, Joe Hodgins, Don Larkin, Gary Campbell, Harold & Wm. Wellwood, Ron Turcotte and a number of others. Although some were close by especially the Wellwood contingent in Barn 11, they did not incur any losses or damage. At right, Clint Galbraith, of Tara Ont. who lost four horses in the 1962 fire. After starting on the Ontario fair circuit Clint rose to national prominence winning several drivers titles at Batavia Downs. With the fire occurring on a Sunday, the only "down" night of the week, Track officials quickly decided to immediately resume racing the following night. A somewhat larger than usual Monday night crowd of 4,403 was on hand, undoubtedly for a 'cause'. At the conclusion of the second race won by Franco Tim, a huge round of applause went out for the winning driver Bud Gilmour. When many of these same fans left the track after Saturday evening's card was completed, no one could have envisioned the horror that would occur the following day. Thankfully both Bud and Clint quickly rebounded from the unfortunate happening and went on to stellar careers. Bud passed away in 2011 and Clint is still a New York State resident and according to fairly recent reports may still be doing a small amount of training. A couple of weeks after the horrendous fire Batavia officials held two ceremonies to recall the human heroism and also to mourn the loss of so many valuable race horses. Eugene Lowen, a 31-year-old groom from New York State, was honoured for his part in leading many horses to safety. He was hospitalized for shock and minor burns at the time but was on hand to accept the thanks of the organizers and also a couple of cheques from Batavia Downs and the Marra Program Company. In a separate ceremony a plaque was unveiled, listing the names of the horses who perished in the fire. This idea was put forth by Mrs. Wanda Appleton (left) a racing fan from nearby Rochester, N.Y. She was in attendance along with Herman Grannis, Batavia's general manager. It was announced that a permanent bronze plaque was planned to be located on the grounds. In a separate ceremony a plaque was unveiled, listing the names of the horses who perished in the fire. This idea was put forth by Mrs. Wanda Appleton (left) a racing fan from nearby Rochester, N.Y. She was in attendance along with Herman Grannis, Batavia's general manager. It was announced that a permanent bronze plaque was planned to be located on the grounds. The fear of fire and the knowledge of its potential devastation is an ongoing concern for anyone who has spent time around horses. No precaution can ever be too stringent regardless of its cost; no one can ever be too careful or too protective. To my knowledge no horse has ever started a fire. I can recall as a young child being summoned by my mother in the wee hours of the night as a nearby farmer's barn was on fire. The memory of how that inferno lit up the nighttime sky has never left me. My heart goes out to the recent victims of the Classy Lane disaster and indeed to anyone who has ever lost an animal in a fire. A Mauritanian Politician Confirms that Elements from the Polisario-run Camps are Still Active in Cocaine Trafficking Across the Sahara Contact: K.Drawi, 240-994-2476ROCKVILLE, Md., Feb. 20, 2016 / Standard Newswire / -- In a recent interview with France 24 Arabic, the spokesperson in France for the Mauritania's ruling Union for the Republic Party (UPR), Ahmadou Abdel Malek, confirmed that members from the Polisario-run camps near Tindouf, Algeria are still heavily involved in cocaine trafficking across the Sahara."Mauritanian security forces arrested several gangs and this is not the first time they arrested a group which included members of the Polisario," said the spokesman of the UPR.Ahmadou Abdelmalek was referring to an operation conducted by the Mauritanian authorities at the beginning of February 2016, which resulted, thanks to intelligence provided by the US, in the seizure of a large quantity of drugs, including two tons of cocaine and the arrest of dozens of traffickers of various nationalities.Quoting local security sources, the Mauritanian web site "Sahara Media" revealed that this network included Polisario elements, in addition to Algerian, Mauritanian, Malian and Senegalese smugglers.These revelations prove, once again, that Nouakchott Zouerat Tindouf road is used not only to convey products smuggled in from the Canary Islands, but also to transport much less trivial products, on top of which the highly lucrative cocaine coming from Latin America across the Atlantic to reach the Mauritanian coast.The traffickers generally do not limit their activities to this dangerous substance only. They also operate in weapons and ammunition trafficking as the arms trade is booming with the demand of all those jihadists and terror groups roaming in the Sahara-Sahel region. Er is iets heel griezeligs aan de gang in Nederland. Dat wij geleidelijk aan in een totalitaire 'democratie' wegzinken wordt steeds ... 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Or a Longview, for that matter. Both her grandfathers followed their own family connections into the Long-Bell Lumber Co. empire in 1913, Earl H. Houston in sales, L.C. Stith in finance. At the time, Long-Bell operated in the south, and it came to the Northwest after World War I to find timber because southern forests were depleted. So Houston and Stith came west from Louisiana to Longview in the early 20s. Both rose steadily, and each became a vice president in 1948. Bierlein remembers Grandpa Houston, the salesman, as her favorite grandparent, while Grandpa Stith, the accountant, was a much more stern man who scared the pants off me! The two executives children married, and Jerry Houston and Virginia Stith had three daughters. Suzanne was the the second, arriving in 1952. In her childhood, Bierlein recalls, Longview still was not developed far beyond its company-town origins, and almost all her playmates had parents who worked for Long-Bell. Bierlein knew Mark Morris and other company leaders by sight, but she rarely spoke with them because her familys Southern manners discouraged children from chattering during adult gatherings. I was proud of where I lived. It was cool, said Bierlein, who lived in two homes one on Maple Street, another on Kessler Boulevard during her youth in Longview. I was the kind of person that hung out with everybody. I just liked it that way. I didnt like it when people said, Her family has money. She and her friends rode their bikes to swim in the long-gone pool at the Monticello Hotel. Their Saturday afternoon routine was to take a few cents, watch cartoons at the Columbia Theatre, and visit the Longview Library on the way home. Attending R.A. Long High School was great. It was so great. I loved the school itself. I really liked the teachers. I was proud that it was R.A. Long, and I thought it was a beautiful school. I just hope they dont do too much to it. Bierlein herself attended Western Washington University to become a teacher and spent two years at the head of a first-grade class in Australia. She wondered if she would ever return to Longview. But her path did lead her back to her hometown, through a local Catholic-school job opportunity that proved a less than pleasant experience. Im not Catholic, so it was a little rough. Her next job offer was from Castle Rock, where she soon clicked both with the school and with fellow teacher Jim Bierlein. The first day of school, I met him, and I swear, it really was love at first sight. You should have seen me. We just meshed. And weve been married for 36 years, living in Castle Rock. Now retired after over three decades of teaching, Bierlein is renewing her interest in her roots, collecting Long-Bell and Longview memorabilia books, maps, company minutes and legal papers from the 30s, vintage grainart, paraphernalia from a Longview before the age of the spotted owl, Great Recession, or deterioration of the Monticello. The Monticello makes me so sad. I just wish somebody, or a group of people, would buy that hotel. It was really a big thing to go have lunch or dinner at the hotel. I think, Oh, things have really gone downhill. And then I think, No, its just change. You have to get used to change. Bierlein does feel that in Longviews case, change would go better if filtered through an appreciation of the towns unique history. I think they study (Longview) in fourth grade, and I think thats not old enough. And I think that everyone should study Longview, and I think if it was taught the right way, it could really bring some loyalty. If people were taught about their city ... theres a reason that city is there! Citing the tone and substance of vocal opposition to its plans, Northwest Innovation Works announced it is temporarily suspending the permitting process for its $3.4 billion Tacoma-area methanol plant. The company says the decision in no way affects its plans to build two $1.8 billion methanol plants at the Port of Kalama and Port Westward near Clatskanie. The Kalama project remains on schedule, with an environmental impact study due out this spring, Northwest spokeswoman Charla Skaggs said late Friday afternoon. Permitting for the Port Westward project has not yet begun, she said, but Northwest remains committed to that project, too, Skaggs said. Opposition to the Tacoma project has centered largely on how much water and electricity the plant there would require, as well as other possible environmental effects. The Federal Way City Council recently voted to oppose the Tacoma plant, and several state legislators have been trying to ban it. Despite the setback in Tacoma, the Chinese-backed company still plans to build all three methanol plants, Skaggs said. Each facility is expected to generate 1,000 construction jobs and 200 permanent jobs, according to the company. The Kalama and Clatskanie plants would be the biggest jobs and tax-generating boost the lower Columbia River region has received in years. Northwests goal is to build local industry that contributes to the economy and protects the environment by reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Northwests use of new clean technology provides an exciting opportunity for Washington to become world leaders in addressing climate change through innovation, company president Murray V. Godley said in a prepared statement. We have been surprised by the tone and substance of the vocal opposition that has emerged in Tacoma. To force a facility on a community that does not welcome it would not be consistent with our goals. Therefore we have decided to pause the ... environmental review process in Tacoma, Godley wrote. The company will continue to engage the Tacoma community in further dialogue and share more information about the project, he added. The plants would convert natural gas into methanol, which would be shipped to China for the manufacture of olefin, an ingredient used in plastics in many consumer products. Making methanol from natural gas produces 70 percent less carbon dioxide the chief gas contributing to climate change than getting it from burning coal, the company says. Methanol is often called wood alcohol and is toxic to humans and animals. A 2011 Duke University study, though, says methanol poses little long-term threat to ecosystems because it is biodegraded quickly in both aerobic and anaerobic conditions and therefore is unlikely to accumulate in the environment. Assault An 11-year-old Winlock Middle School student is being referred to the Lewis County Prosecutors Office on suspicion of fourth-degree assault after he pushed a 38-year-old teacher Thursday morning. Burglary The Lewis County Sheriffs Office reported a burglary occurred between Feb. 1619 at the home of a 62-year-old man on the 100 block of Enchantment Lane in Vader. Heart medications, 40 capsules of oxycodone, two diamond rings and a pump action shotgun with a total value of $2,700 were stolen. The investigation is ongoing. Drugs Longview police Thursday arrested Jake Credence Pearson, 19, of Longview on suspicion of felony drug possession and third-degree driving while license suspended. Drugs Woodland police Thursday arrested Shawna D. Hemenway, 39, a transient, on suspicion of third-degree theft and felony drug possession. Theft 1000 block of Ninth Avenue, Longview. Thursday. BMX bike with purple accessories, white seat and frame. Obama bashing Frequently, I encounter someone who seems to take great delight in Obama Bashing! often using very hateful and unkind remarks, and blaming him for all thats wrong with our country. Their remarks about the president of our country sadden me greatly. Lest we forget, we need to be reminded as to some of President Obamas greatest accomplishments. He weathered a recession by getting passed a large stimulus bill to mitigate the affects of a recession, which included bailing out the auto industry and Wall Street, along with a bill and regulations to reform Wall Street. He passed Healthcare Reform (ACA) which has allowed 17.6 million people to have coverage; legalized same-sex marriage; has been a leader in climate change, set our country on a course away from dependence on fossil fuel, in addition to closing dirty power plants. He was a leader in overseeing a nuclear agreement with Iran and normalizing relations with Cuba, has relied on giving diplomacy a chance, and wound down the Bush/Cheney war. Obama has been passionate about stopping gun violence by wanting to expand back ground checks, and close gun show loopholes. The administration has the best intelligence, counterterrorism, homeland security, and law enforcement professionals in the world. Obama has served the American people with integrity, intelligence, passion, and a demeanor that is cool, calm, and collected. I would say his accomplishments are quite impressive for a young man who started out as a community organizer from the South Side of Chicago. John Steppert Longview It rings a bell Without engaging in a history lesson, Id like to point out that Social Security and strong unions are products of a 1930s backlash against unbridled capitalism leading to the Great Depression. With high income inequality, low wages and high unemployment, demand for goods suffered. With weak demand, wealthy business owners did not invest in growing their businesses, investing instead in a series of speculative bubbles, ruining the economy. Sound familiar? Between the 1930s and the 1970s, the U.S. drastically reduced income inequality, redistributing wealth from the top to the middle and bottom. With a living wage, demand for goods increased, and the economy and businesses flourished. It can happen again. There are a lot of disillusioned folks out there, angry at Wall Street and a system that has cheated them out of a fair shot at the American dream. They see comparisons to European social democracy under Bernie Sanders and think, Whats so bad about that? Whats so bad about universal healthcare, a living wage, and a government that works for all of the people? Lawrence Studebaker Castle Rock Government for sale Charles and David Koch, billionaires, organize the ultra-rich to purchase the government which they want. In Dark Money, Jane Mayer claims that a guest at one of their money-fests was Justice Scalia. A significant reason why workers are getting broker and weaker, compared to bosses, is Justice Scalia. A significant reason why integration is slowing and racial tensions are rising is Justice Scalia. A significant reason why Congress and state legislatures are gerrymandered to favor business interests is Justice Scalia. A significant reason why poor people do not vote is that Justice Scalia did not want them to vote. A major impediment to womens health is that Justice Scalia wanted to be darn sure that they had no abortions. Excepting maybe brother Jebs heavy hand on the scales, the major reason why Al Gore won the 2000 election but W Bush took over the White House was that Justice Scalia wanted it that way. A significant reason why corporations can evade regulations and buy elections is that Justice Scalia believed that corporations are people. A three-month-old baby and the family dog know better. L.S. Wagle Seattle Thumbs up: Tim Cook A federal magistrate judge ordered Apple to hack its own iPhone so the Federal Bureau of Investigations can break into a phone owned by one of the San Bernadino shooters. We are absolutely against the government having the ability to hack our phones. The order would compromise our safety as consumers smell a Fourth Amendment violation. The technology doesnt even exist to unlock the phone. In fact Apple CEO Tim Cook stated that they have spent years using encryption to do just the opposite. If this order is enforced, government would have the ability to reach into anyones devices, not just phones, and capture all of our data, health records, financial data, microphones and cameras. Where does it end? Thumbs up: Shopping cart ordinance The city of Kelsos proposed shopping cart ordinance seemed ridiculous to us. The retailer whos cart was stolen would be charged a $25 fine to retrieve their cart? This seems no different to us than charging a person a fee for finding their stolen property. So someone breaks into your house and steals your TV. The city says theyve found your TV, but you have to pay a $25 fine to retrieve it? No. There is no spin on this that came make this ordinance palatable. Thumbs sideways: Snohomish County PUD A KOMO television news story titled, Frustrations boil over at SnoCo PUD meeting mirrored the same complaints rate payers in Cowlitz County are having. It seems Snohomish County citizens are upset their bills jumped over the winter heating period. Snohomish County PUD cited higher rates and usage as the issue behind the increased bills. While were not happy with increased PUD bills for any community, this underscores one of the challenges PUDs will have going forward higher rates. Between increased costs from the Bonneville Power Administration and I-937 regulations PUDs have very few options for maintaining rates. Conservation will likely be our communities best chance to minimize PUD rate increases in the years ahead. In the meantime, lets hope for warmer weather. Thumbs up: Stronger open meetings law Just this week, the Washington State Senate passed Senate Bill 6171 to strengthen the Open Public Meetings Act. We applaud the state Senate, which unanimously voted 49-0 to pass this legislation. (And who said supermajority votes were impossible?) If this or a similar bill passes the House, politicians will face higher penalties for violating the Open Public Meetings Act. If meetings are not open to the public, politicians currently face a $100 fine. Under the new legislation, the first violation would mean a $500 fine, with any additional violations incurring a $1,000 fine. Open public meetings are critical if we expect to hold government and politicians accountable. Increasing the fines for violating the OPMA may cause elected officials to think twice before holding secret meetings. Thumbs down: Killer released Barry Massey was recently released from the Monroe Penitentiary. Massey was paroled after spending 28 years in prison. What makes the Massey release different than most is that he was sentenced tolife without the possibility of parole. Massey and a friend shot and stabbed Paul Wang, ultimately killing him. Massey was age 13 at the time. The U.S. Supreme Court outlawed life sentences for juveniles about four years ago. In response, Washington State law was changed to allow juvenile offenders to seek parole after serving at least 25 years in prison. While putting any juvenile behind bars is tragic, we struggle with the idea of seeing Massey go free. Reportedly, the victims family has long opposed the release as well. Thumbs up: Spencers HeartStrong Foundation and PeaceHealth Spencers HeartStrong Foundation, created by Spencer Best, a wonderful young man who survived Sudden Cardiac Arrest, is holding its annual free teen heart screening Saturday at PeaceHealth. Teens are asked to fill out a questionnaire, their health history is reviewed, their blood pressure is checked, they are given an EKG, and an abbreviated echocardiogram. Before they leave, they are taught hands only CPR. As volunteers at this screening, we have seen firsthand the lives that are saved from this annual event. And we also say Bravo! to PeaceHealth for footing the bill we know it isnt cheap. We cant imagine what Rich and Tracy Best, Spencers parents, felt when they heard their son was clinically dead for 8 minutes and survived due to the fast work of Bill Brill and Bill Bakamus. But thanks to the work of these two organizations, there are a few less parents in our community that will have to go through what they did. Were proud of you Spencer! "We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844 Between January 2003 and September 2006, out of 138 letters to the editor that I sent to the Financial Times before I placed them on this blog they published these 15 . Not bad! Thank you FT!Unfortunately, since then and until the very last day of the decade, out of some 1.000 letters that you can find here, FT published none, zero, zilch. Of course FT is under no obligation whatsoever to publish any of my letters and of course one should not exclude the possibilities that my letters might have quite dramatically gone from bad to worse yet one wonders.My usual suspects are:1. Someone in FT with a delicate ego feels his or her importance diminished by giving voice to a lowly non PhD from a developing country daring to opine on many issues of developed countries.2. That FT has some sort of conflict of interest with the credit rating agencies that makes it hard for them to give too much relevance to someone who considers they have been given too much powers.3. The FT establishment had perhaps decided there were only macro economic problems and not any financial regulation problems, and wanted to hear no monothematic contradictions on that.4. That FT feels slightly embarrassed when someone repeatedly asks the emperor-is-naked type question of what is the purpose of the banks and realizing this was something FT should have itself asked a long time ago.5. It is way too much oversight for FT to handle.6. Or am I just supposed to be a living example of one half of the Financial Times motto, namely that of "without favour"Which one do you believe is closest to the truth? tech2 News Staff Over the last one month, a lot of announcements, leaks and reports are making rounds around what would possibly be on display at the Mobile World Congress 2016. Going by the buzz online, it is sure to be an action packed tech show with a series of launches to watch out for. Here's a quick summary of what to expect from tech giants at the upcoming show. Samsung Samsung is all set to steal the show a day before the MWC at the Unpacked event by unveiling its upcoming flagship devices, most likely to be named the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge. The company has been sharing a few teaser videos and a string of leaks around its specs, design and features have been out already. Here's everything we know about the Galaxy S7 so far. Xiaomi The popular chinese phone maker, Xiaomi, will also make its first presence at the MWC 2016. The company is all set to launch the highly anticipated Xiaomi Mi 5. The Xiaomi Mi 5 has seen plenty of leaks and rumours, but a recent leaked PPT has a lot to say about what to expect from the Mi 5 including 5.2 inch Full HD display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 chipset, and more. https://twitter.com/hbarra/status/692532951104512001 Lenovo Lenovo, that also owns Motorola and is planning to phase out the name in favour of the Moto branding, will be showcasing its new Lemon 3 Plus smartphone with Snapdragon 616 processor at the event. Yes, it is expected to be a mid-range model, and not a flagship device. Besides, Lenovo will also put on display the DolbyAtmos dual-speaker setup. LG LG is also got its armour ready for an event on February 21. Unlike others, LG has already let out that G5 is set to make an appearance. The LG G5 is expected to sport Qualcomms latest Snapdragon 820 processor, 5.3-inch QHD display with 1440 x 2560 QHD resolution, 3GB RAM and Android 6.0 Marshmallow. Adding to the list, the company a dual display LG X Screen and a dual camera LG X Cam are also expected to be showcased. That's not all, an LG VR 360 headset will join the expanding portfolio of VR-enabled devices. Also, expected is the new Stylus 2. Sony Sony has a conference held on February 22, but has been quite discreet about what's under the covers. But there is speculation around a new tablet probably called Xperia Z6 or Z6 Compact. Moroever, a successor to its smartwatch could also make it to the list. Oppo Oppo will be at the Mobile World Congress and has promised a new innovation that will 'Wow the world', going by its invite. It may also let users get a hand-on with some of its most recent smartphones. Huawei Huawei has also zeroed in on pre-MWC event that will take place on February 21. The company has planned an all-metal flagship smartphone along with a 2-in-1 hybrid aimed at business users. HTC Unlike last year, HTC doesn't have its new flagship to announce at the MWC 2016. However, this doesn't mean there will be a no-show from the company. HTC Vive, the VR headset, will be there to grab eyeballs. ZTE Joining the a-day-before MWC announceents, ZTE is likely to pull the covers off its new innovations with a press invite that reads 'Imagination and beyond.' However, not much is known about what products would be on display. We will be at the MWC 2016 in Barcelona, Spain. Watch the space for all the action at the tech show. hidden The U.S. Department of Justice filed a motion on Friday seeking to compel Apple Inc to comply with a judge's order to unlock the encrypted iPhone belonging to one of the San Bernardino shooters, portraying the tech giant's refusal as a "marketing strategy." In response, a senior Apple executive, speaking with reporters on condition of anonymity, characterized the Justice Department's filing as an effort to argue its case in the media before the company has a chance to respond. The back and forth escalated a showdown between the Obama administration and Silicon Valley over security and privacy that ignited earlier this week. The Federal Bureau of Investigation is seeking the tech company's help to access shooter Syed Rizwan Farook's phone by disabling some of its passcode protections. The company so far has pushed back and on Thursday won three extra days to respond to the order. Another senior Apple executive said Congress is the right place for a debate over encryption, not a courtroom. The executive said Apple was stunned that such a legal request had come from the U.S. government rather than a country with weaker traditions of protecting privacy and civil liberties. The motion to compel Apple to comply did not carry specific penalties for the company, and the Justice Department declined to comment on what recourse it was willing to seek. In the order, prosecutors acknowledged that the latest filing was "not legally necessary" since Apple had not yet responded to the initial order. The clash between Apple and the Justice Department has driven straight to the heart of a long-running debate over how much law enforcement and intelligence officials should be able to monitor digital communications. A federal court hearing in California has been scheduled for March 22 in the case, according to Thom Mrozek, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California. The Justice Department said its Friday motion was a response to Apple CEO Tim Cook's public statement Wednesday, which included a refusal to "hack our own users and undermine decades of security advancements that protect our customers." "Rather than assist the effort to fully investigate a deadly terrorist attack ... Apple has responded by publicly repudiating that order," prosecutors wrote in the Friday filing. "Apples current refusal to comply with the courts order, despite the technical feasibility of doing so, instead appears to be based on its concern for its business model and public brand marketing strategy, prosecutors said. ID CHANGE POSES HURDLE The two senior Apple executives said the company had worked hard to help investigators and tried multiple avenues including sending engineers with FBI agents to a WiFi network that would recognize the phone and begin an automatic backup if that had been enabled. They criticized government officials who reset the Apple identification associated with the phone, which closed off the possibility of recovering information from it through that automatic cloud backup. San Bernardino County reset the password on the iCloud account at the request of the FBI, said county spokesman David Wert. The government first disclosed the identification change in a footnote to its filing Friday. The Apple executives said that the reset occurred before Apple was consulted. The Justice Department declined to comment on that contention. The two sides have been on a collision course since Apple and Alphabet Inc's Google began offering default end-to-end encryption on their devices in 2014, a move prompted in part by the surveillance revelations from former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden. But the Justice Department struggled to find a compelling case where encryption proved to be an insurmountable hurdle for its investigators until the Dec. 2 shooting rampage by Farook and his wife in San Bernardino, California, which killed 14. Authorities believe the couple was inspired by the Islamic State. Some technology experts and privacy advocates backing Apple suggest Farook's work phone likely contains little data of value. They have accused the Justice Department of choreographing the case to achieve a broader goal of gaining support for legislation or a legal precedent that would force companies to crack their encryption for investigators. The case has quickly become a topic in the U.S. presidential race. Republican frontrunner Donald Trump on Friday called for a "boycott" against Apple until the company complied with the court order. The two Apple executives said they felt in good company, noting that Trump has faulted many other groups and individuals. The debate will also play out on Capitol Hill. Bipartisan leaders of the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee late Friday invited Apple's Cook and FBI Director James Comey to testify at an upcoming hearing on encryption, though a date was not set. The House Judiciary Committee is also planning an encryption hearing for March and has invited Apple to attend, according to a congressional source. Reuters Anirudh Regidi The Freedom 251, the Rs.251 smartphone from Ringing Bells is certainly turning a lot of heads. That said, the amount of controversy and mystery surrounding the phone is also staggering. Yesterday, Akash Chadha, President of Ringing Bells, went on air with NDTV in an attempt to lay the controversies to rest and lay their cards on the table. The interview however, raised more questions than it answered. We got in touch with an industry expert in an attempt to get to the bottom of the mystery. It's all about numbers Considering the specs of the phone and the early "prototype" that was handed out to journalists in Delhi, Ringing Bells readily acknowledges that the phone costs around Rs.2000 to manufacture and that it was made by Adcom. How is he bringing the price down to a 10th of that? Akash Chadha states that four factors are responsible for this: 1. 'Economies of scale' bring down the price by Rs.400 (they're claiming to sell 50 lakh units by June, online and offline). 2. "Manufacturing" in India and the subsequent benefits of that bring down the cost by another Rs.400. This is an intriguing statement considering that the phone is not yet being manufactured in India. 3. Selling the device via their own portal and online slashes another Rs.400. Manufacturing cost: Rs.800 4. "Other partners" will make up the deficit. By our calculations, that amounts to at least Rs.551 (though the figure might be closer to Rs.1000). The nature of these partners is unknown because Ringing Bells insists that they're operating under a non disclosure agreement and can't reveal details. While the first three factors do make sense, the fourth one raises a very big question. Where's all that money coming from? Back of the hand calculations suggest that if Ringing Bells is going to be selling 50 lakh phones by June this year, their "other partners" have to give them Rs.200 crore just to bring the manufacturing costs below Rs.251. To put that number in perspective, Facebook is estimated to have invested around Rs.170 crores ($25 million) in India to promote their FreeBasics project. Who are these other partners and why are they willing to invest so heavily in this project? If all goes to plan, Ringing Bells hopes to sell 1 crore units a month. This means that they're going to be expecting almost Rs.500 crores a month from their "other partners". No matter how you look at it, that number is staggering. Where is all that money coming from? The company has relatively little experience in this field, don't even have a production ready model and claim that they will import, assemble and ship 50 lakh units by June this year. We're already getting reports that the device isn't certified, that their company has no license and a host of other issues. Too surreal When asked for comment, Vijay R. K., GM - Technology, Operations, Pre-sales at Sakri Group, said, "I did some analysis on the smartphone domain through my contacts in the industry here in India and from China. A bill of materials(BOM) of $5 might be possible later when Digital India initiative is really implemented but at this moment it is too surreal. Typical phones with Intel Sofia, Qualcomm, MTK chipsets range between $26 to $30." Here's what Vijay had to say on the Freedom 251 and Ringing Bells: Supposing we wanted to build a smartphone for Rs.250. Would that be possible? In my opinion, this is a far cry if legitimate chipsets, and other BOM (Bill of Materials) validated by OEM's (Original Equipment Manufacturers) like Intel, Qualcomm, MTK are to be considered. Given the fact, that these are imported in SKD (Semi-knocked Down) or CKD (Completely Knocked Down) as the company claims, in the initial run up, these have to be imported as a final product so it looks dicey to me. What would a bill of materials for such a phone [the Freedom 251] normally look like? Considering the BOM of any average performing smart phone it ranges in between $26 to $30 (Rs.1,800-2,100) and this does not even include shipping, customs costing. What sort of life expectancy can we expect from such a phone? It's good for as long as it goes. Just as they typically say for Chinese imports. It can run for years or die without warning. You definitely can't expect the same quality as you'd find on an iPhone or Samsung device. If we can't build a phone for Rs.251, how's Ringing Bells doing it? Especially as they claim that they're selling a phone that would normally cost Rs.2500 to manufacture. Now their claim of Rs.2500 is legit and given the above figures, it roughly falls in that ball park figure adding customs, logistics etc. Now how are they doing it? I am clueless and hopefully these are not low end or refurbished dumps. Overall, he concludes saying that it's "definitely a volume game" and that their [Ringing Bells'] estimates as far as tax exemptions are correct. He goes on to add that, "In all fairness, their bold idea to launch [the Freedom 251] at a throw away price is a challenge for both the manufacturers and the customers as durability, performance parameters are to be judged in the long run." Vijay R. K., GM - Technology, Operations, Pre-sales at Sakri Group, is responsible for defining the Technology and Engineering aspects of various products across AV (Anti-Virus), Electronics, Network Security and IT&ITES. This Blog was born during the Troubles of 2007, and thereafter continued as a weekly update on our life and thought within the work of Testimony Faith Homes, a 'home from home' for Kenya orphaned and destitute children,. EU deal gives UK special status, says David Cameron The deal was announced shortly after leaders met for dinner on Friday BBC Online: David Cameron says a deal struck with EU leaders will give the UK "special status" and he will campaign with his "heart and soul" to stay in the union. The agreement, reached late on Friday after two days of talks in Brussels, gives the UK power to limit some EU migrants' benefits. It also includes a treaty change so the UK is not bound to "ever closer union" with other EU member states, he said. EU exit campaigners said the "hollow" deal offered only "very minor changes". Mr Cameron is set to the announce the date of a referendum on whether Britain should remain in the EU after a cabinet meeting which is happening at 10:00 GMT - the referendum is widely expected to be Thursday, 23 June. Once the date is announced, ministers will be allowed to campaign for whichever side they want - one of Mr Cameron's closest political allies Michael Gove has already been named as supporting the Leave camp. Others, such as Iain Duncan Smith are expected to follow - but a question mark remains over which way London Mayor Boris Johnson will jump. The key points of the deal are: An "emergency brake" on migrants' in-work benefits for four years when there are "exceptional" levels of migration. The UK will be able to operate the brake for seven yearsChild benefit for the children of EU migrants living overseas will now be paid at a rate based on the cost of living in their home country - applicable immediately for new arrivals and from 2020 for the 34,000 existing claimantsThe amending of EU treaties to state explicitly that references to the requirement to seek ever-closer union "do not apply to the United Kingdom", meaning Britain "can never be forced into political integration"The ability for the UK to enact "an emergency safeguard" to protect the City of London, to stop UK firms being forced to relocate into Europe and to ensure British businesses do not face "discrimination" for being outside the eurozone The prime minster had to make concessions to get a deal with the leaders of the 27 other EU members. Mr Cameron had originally wanted a complete ban on migrants sending child benefit abroad but had to compromise after some eastern European states rejected a complete ban and also insisted that existing claimants should continue to receive the full payment. On how long the UK would be able to have a four-year curb on in-work benefits for new arrivals, Mr Cameron had to give way on hopes of it being in place for 13 years, settling for seven instead. The agreement on renegotiating the UK's EU membership was announced by European Council president Donald Tusk, who tweeted: "Deal. Unanimous support for new settlement for #UKinEU." German Chancellor Angela Merkel predicted the package of reforms would "elicit support in the UK for the country to remain in the EU". Mr Tusk said it "strengthens Britain's special status", while EU Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker described it as "fair". Mr Tusk added: "We didn't walk away from the negotiating table. We were willing to sacrifice part of our interests for the common good, to show our unity. "I deeply believe the UK needs Europe and Europe needs the UK. But the final decision is in the hands of the British people." Manpower MoU with Dhaka not to be invalidated: KL Malaysia has assured Bangladesh that its suspension of foreign workers hiring will not affect the deal it signed with Bangladesh on Thursday in Dhaka. In a dramatic move, the Southeast Asian nation on Friday suspended recruitment of foreign workers from all countries, including Bangladesh. Kuala Lumpurs suspension of foreign worker intakes does not invalidate the memorandum of understanding that Malaysia signed with Bangladesh, Malaysian online newspaper Malay Mail Online quoted the Malaysian Human Resources Ministry as saying. It said Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri Richard Riot welcomed Fridays announcement by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi on the moratorium, saying he appreciated the governments prioritisation of local workers. However, this announcement does not affect the validity of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed with the government of Bangladesh. Further details on the decision to freeze foreign workers recruitment are to be announced by the government, Riot said in a statement. Zahids announcement on Friday on the hiring freeze of all foreign workers came just a day after Putrajaya signed a memorandum of understanding with Dhaka Thursday to recruit some of Bangladeshs 1.5 million labourers available. The moratorium had further complicated the issue as it was initially reported that Malaysia would bring in 1.5 million Bangladeshi workers. Riot then clarified that the figure referred to Bangladeshs overall labour pool for 139 countries, not the planned intake for Malaysia specifically. Reports of the planned 1.5 million-strong Bangladeshi labourer intake had sparked intolerant responses from some Malaysians, including some local NGOs that claimed the entry of such foreign workers would lead to rape, terrorism and the spread of diseases. Meanwhile, the Malaysian government has not yet officially informed anything to the Bangladesh government about their recent suspension of foreign workers recruitment. Acting secretary of the Ministry of Expatriates Welfare and Overseas Employment Begum Shamsun Nahar said this while talking UNB on Saturday. As we havent been informed anything yet by the Malaysian government about workers recruitment suspension the next procedure to materialise the MoU will continue, she said. -- Dhaka, Feb 20 (UNB) Turkey says Obama shares Syria concerns with Erdogan, affirms support Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu (2nd L) chats with Chief of Staff General Hulusi Akar (L) as President Tayyip Erdogan (2nd R) looks on during a funeral ceremony for Army officer Seckin Cil in Ankara, Turkey on Friday. Reuters, Istanbul :Turkey's presidency said U.S. President Barack Obama had shared his concerns over the Syrian conflict and promised his support on Friday, hours after a tense exchange between the two NATO allies over the role of Kurdish militants.In a phone conversation that lasted one hour and 20 minutes, Ankara said Obama had told his counterpart President Tayyip Erdogan that Turkey had a right to self-defense, and expressed worries over advances by Syrian Kurdish militias near Turkey's border.Obama stressed to Erdogan that Syrian Kurdish YPG forces should not seek to exploit recent gains by the Syrian government to seize additional territory, the White House said in a statement.He also called for Turkey to "show reciprocal restraint" by stopping artillery strikes in the area, the statement said.Earlier on Friday, Erdogan had said U.S.-supplied weapons had been used against civilians by a Syrian Kurdish militia group that Ankara blames for the deadly suicide bombing this week.The State Department, which sees the Syrian Kurdish YPG fighters as useful allies against Islamic State, said the United States had "not provided any weapons of any kind" to the group.The issue risks driving a wedge between the NATO allies at a critical point in Syria's civil war, as the United States pursues intensive talks with Syria's ally Russia to bring about a "cessation of hostilities."Turkey has blamed the YPG for the suicide car bomb attack on Wednesday that killed 28 people, most of them soldiers. But a Turkey-based Kurdish splinter group has claimed responsibility for the bombing and threatened more attacks.Obama expressed his condolences to Erdogan over the bombing in the Turkish capital, the White House said.Before the call with Obama, Erdogan said he was saddened by the West's refusal to call the Syrian Kurdish militia terrorists, and would explain to the U.S. president how weapons provided by the United States had aided them."I will tell him, 'Look at how and where those weapons you provided were fired'," Erdogan told reporters in Istanbul."Months ago in my meeting with him I told him the U.S. was supplying weapons. Three plane loads arrived, half of them ended up in the hands of Daesh (Islamic State), and half of them in the hands of the PYD," he said."Against whom were these weapons used? They were used against civilians there and caused their deaths."The White House statement did not say whether Erdogan brought up the subject of U.S. weapons with Obama.Erdogan appeared to be referring to a U.S. air drop of 28 bundles of military supplies in late 2014 meant for Iraqi Kurdish fighters near the Syrian city of Kobani. Pentagon officials said at the time one had fallen into the hands of Islamic State. The Pentagon later said it had targeted the missing bundle in an air strike and destroyed it.The United States has said it does not consider the YPG a terrorist group. A spokesman for the State Department said on Thursday that Washington was not in a position to confirm or deny Turkey's charge that the YPG was behind the Ankara bombing.Reuters, Istanbul Turkey's presidency said U.S. President Barack Obama had shared his concerns over the Syrian conflict and promised his support on Friday, hours after a tense exchange between the two NATO allies over the role of Kurdish militants.In a phone conversation that lasted one hour and 20 minutes, Ankara said Obama had told his counterpart President Tayyip Erdogan that Turkey had a right to self-defense, and expressed worries over advances by Syrian Kurdish militias near Turkey's border.Obama stressed to Erdogan that Syrian Kurdish YPG forces should not seek to exploit recent gains by the Syrian government to seize additional territory, the White House said in a statement.He also called for Turkey to "show reciprocal restraint" by stopping artillery strikes in the area, the statement said.Earlier on Friday, Erdogan had said U.S.-supplied weapons had been used against civilians by a Syrian Kurdish militia group that Ankara blames for the deadly suicide bombing this week.The State Department, which sees the Syrian Kurdish YPG fighters as useful allies against Islamic State, said the United States had "not provided any weapons of any kind" to the group.The issue risks driving a wedge between the NATO allies at a critical point in Syria's civil war, as the United States pursues intensive talks with Syria's ally Russia to bring about a "cessation of hostilities."Turkey has blamed the YPG for the suicide car bomb attack on Wednesday that killed 28 people, most of them soldiers. But a Turkey-based Kurdish splinter group has claimed responsibility for the bombing and threatened more attacks.Obama expressed his condolences to Erdogan over the bombing in the Turkish capital, the White House said.Before the call with Obama, Erdogan said he was saddened by the West's refusal to call the Syrian Kurdish militia terrorists, and would explain to the U.S. president how weapons provided by the United States had aided them."I will tell him, 'Look at how and where those weapons you provided were fired'," Erdogan told reporters in Istanbul."Months ago in my meeting with him I told him the U.S. was supplying weapons. Three plane loads arrived, half of them ended up in the hands of Daesh (Islamic State), and half of them in the hands of the PYD," he said."Against whom were these weapons used? They were used against civilians there and caused their deaths."The White House statement did not say whether Erdogan brought up the subject of U.S. weapons with Obama.Erdogan appeared to be referring to a U.S. air drop of 28 bundles of military supplies in late 2014 meant for Iraqi Kurdish fighters near the Syrian city of Kobani. Pentagon officials said at the time one had fallen into the hands of Islamic State. The Pentagon later said it had targeted the missing bundle in an air strike and destroyed it.The United States has said it does not consider the YPG a terrorist group. A spokesman for the State Department said on Thursday that Washington was not in a position to confirm or deny Turkey's charge that the YPG was behind the Ankara bombing. Language Martyr Rafiq Uddin Ahmed Rafiq Uddin Ahmed (1926-1952) was a language martyr. He was born on 30 October 1926 at village Paril in Singair upazila of Manikganj district. He Matriculated from Baira School in 1949. While a student of Intermediate class at Devendra College in Manikganj he discontinued his studies and moved to Dhaka. There he worked in his father's commercial printing business. On 21 February 1952, a general strike was called and a mass demonstration staged in Dhaka demanding recognition of Bangla as one of the State Languages of Pakistan. The government imposed ban on public gatherings in Dhaka under Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code. But students and people from all walks of life defied Section 144 and participated in a demonstration. The police opened fire on the demonstration in the premises of Dhaka Medical College Hostel. Rafiq Uddin joined the demonstration and was shot dead. The police took his body to the morgue of Medical College Hospital. He was buried in Azimpur graveyard at 3 am under an army guard. In recognition of his sacrifice during the Language Movement, Rafiq Uddin Ahmed was awarded Ekushey Padak posthumously in February 2000. -ASM Rafiqul Akbar Zainul festival ends in Barisal Barisal Correspondent : Two-day long Zainul festival was started in Barisal on Wednesday. Charukala Barisal, the only fine arts institute in the city, organised the programme on occasion of the 101'st birth anniversary of the renowned artist Shilpacharya Zainul Abedin. On the first day an exhibition of 60 paintings and 70 dolls was inaugurated by Artist and Engineer Moinul Abedin, son of the Shilpacharaya, at Barisal Ashwini Kumar Hall. Besides Charukala Barisal Shilpalaya, an art gallery at Charukala Barisal was inaugurated by Artist Shamsul Alam Azad, principal of Narayanganj Charukala Institute. Among others Sculptor Aminul Hasan, Artist Dr. Kazi Mozammel Hossain, cultural activists Advocate S M Iqbal, Shanti Das, Shuvangkar Chakraborty were present in the programmes. A painting competition for children and juveniles also held on this occasion. A discussion programme on the life and achievements of the Shilpacharya and reception to Artist Jagonnath Dey also arranged with Dr. Gazi Md. Saifuzzaman as chief guest arranged on this occasion. Zainul Abedin (29 December 1914 - 28 May 1976), the renowned Bangladeshi painter got the break through in 1944 with his Famine Series paintings of 1943. After partition Zainul moved to Pakistan. In 1948 he helped establish the Institute of Arts and Crafts (now Faculty of Fine Arts) at Dhaka University. After liberation of Bangladesh in 1971, Zainul became the founding father of Bangladeshi modern art. He was given the title Shilpacharya (Great Teacher of the Arts) in Bangladesh for his artistic and visionary qualities. Jibanananda remembered Two-day long 'Jibanananda Mela' to observe 117th birth anniversary of Poet Jibanananda Das started at Barisal Government Brojo Mohun College Ground on Wednesday calling for more study and research on life and achievements of the poet. The fair was organized by 'Uttoran', the cultural organization of the college students, with the programmes including rally, discussion meeting, book fair and cultural functions on the same premises. Prof. Md. Ziaul Huq, chairman Barisal Education Board, inaugurated the program while Prof. S M Imanul Hakim, principal of the college, attended as the chief guest. The programme was addressed among others by Prof. Shah Sazeda, Prof. Kaium Uddin and others. On other hand Jatiya Kabita Parishad Barisal unit and Jibanananda Das Academy, jointly organized a programme in Poet Jibanananda Memorial Hall at the parental house of the poet on Kobi Jibanananda Das Sarak on the same day. This programme included placing flower wreath at the portrait of the poet, recitation of poetry and discussion by Tapankar Chakrabarti, Moshtaq Al Mehedi, Kazi Shelina, Partha Sarathi and others. Speakers of the both programmes said works of Jibanananda Das, is to be felt with the sense of time and history encountering references to olden period and places, events and personalities, rather than merely read or heard. Participant of the programmes also called for implementation of the Dhanshiri River eco park project, excavation of the river, establishing museum, memorials and sculptures of the poet in places connected with his life, works and memories, more study and research on his achievements. They demanded immediate removal of the dustbin constructed by Barisal City Corporation in front of the paternal house of the Poet . Mentionable Jibanananda Das born in 17 February 1899, died on 22 October 1954; eight days after he was hit by a tramcar. Traditional job-seekers threatened by Internet Steven Hill : What is the future of work, and the future of jobs? For the last several decades, the workers of Germany, the US and Europe have been the most productive and wealthiest in the world. But now that prosperity is in danger. Where is this danger coming from? Is it from hordes of immigrants arriving from distant lands? Or foreign competitors stealing jobs? No, ironically the threat is self-inflicted. The situation is most advanced in the United States, but it's heading to Germany and Europe. The US workforce is undergoing an alarming transformation. Millions of workers are finding themselves on shaky ground, turned into freelancers, contractors and temps, with inadequate wages and a weaker safety net. Even many full-time and professional jobs are experiencing this shift. America is heading toward a "freelance society." During the weak economic recovery, nearly half of new jobs created pay only a bit more than minimum wage. Even as corporate profits are at an all-time high - with much profit parked in overseas tax havens - three-fourths of Americans now live paycheck to paycheck, with little emergency savings. Now a mash-up of Silicon Valley technology and Wall Street greed is driving the latest economic trend: the so-called "sharing economy." Companies like Uber, Upwork and TaskRabbit are allegedly "liberating workers" to become "independent entrepreneurs" and "their own CEOs." In reality, workers are hiring themselves out for ever-smaller part-time jobs (called "gigs"), with no safety net or assurances of future work, while the companies profit handsomely. What is equally alarming is that US corporations themselves are being redesigned. The vertical, industrial powerhouses of the post-cold war era, in which all operations were performed under a single company roof, yielded in the 1980s to companies like Nike and Apple, in which production was outsourced to low wage countries, while design and marketing remained in-house. But now that business model is yielding yet again to companies like Uber and Upwork, and their precursor Amazon. These companies are little more than websites and an app, with a small core of executives and employees who oversee an army of freelancers, temps and contractors. In the vision of the libertarian CEOs of Silicon Valley, they want a "fractured" labor force they can turn off and on like a water spigot. Upwork, for example, is a website where 10 million freelancers and contractors scrounge for work. Upwork draws globally, putting U.S. and German workers in direct competition with counterparts in India, Thailand and elsewhere. The result is predictable: cheap, Third World labor undercuts developed-world wages. As "independent contractors" these workers also do not receive safety net benefits, and have no guarantees of future employment. They must constantly search for their next gig - the search itself is unpaid - in this "share the crumbs" economy. The "good jobs" of old are an endangered species. Welcome to the Freelance Society. While these economic trends are most advanced in the US, Germany and Europe display similar tendencies. I am a visiting scholar in Germany at the American Academy in Berlins, here to research a few things. First, is it possible that this sharing economy could work better in a place where the welfare state, labor unions and the "visible hand" of government are more developed? Or might the current differences prove to be temporary, as the pressures of global competition tend to homogenize nations over time? Can we preserve transatlantic prosperity if our economies are based on fractured, unilateral employer-employee relationships? Or does prosperity require more co-determination between all the players? These are the great questions before us. Fortunately there are solutions, but it will take a reimagining of the social contract, and careful regulation of these new ways of doing business. (Steven Hill is a journalist and the Holtzbrinck Fellow at the American Academy in Berlin. His most recent book is Raw Deal: How the ' Uber Economy' and Runaway Capitalism Are Screwing American Workers). Ekushey reminds us the need of fighting for our rights as a free nation AMAR Ekushey is being celebrated today with due solemnity and colourful festivities to remember the Martyrs of the 1952 Language Movement. In fact, it is a day of awakening for the nation and a landmark occasion in the history of the Bengali people that laid the foundation of our future nation from that blood taint event. As we know the then Pakistani rulers had wanted to deny us the right to use Bengali as the State Language and tried to impose Urdu on us as the official language of the people of East Pakistan who constituted the majority of the nation. It sparked protest all over the land. The students of Dhaka University immediately took to the streets demanding the repeal of the move. The Pakistani government deployed heavily armed police to stop the movement and at one point they opened fire on protesters at the place where the Shaheed Minar is located now, killing four students to make them the first martyrs of our Language Movement. It inflamed the spirit of Bengali nationalism to ultimately lead to the creation of an independent Bangladesh. We remember Salam, Barkat, Rafique and Jabbar on this occasion for their sacrifice, which led establishing Bangla as our State Language and Bangladesh as an independent nation. Bangladesh has become the model by now for world recognition of February 21 as the 'International Mother Language Day' since 2000. The United Nations took this move bringing the highest level of recognition to our Language Martyrs. President, the Prime Minister, Cabinet Minister, leaders of the opposition, other political parties, diplomats and socio-cultural bodies place floral wreaths at Central Shaheed Minar on this occasion as a mark of respect to those who laid down their lives for their mother tongue. Bangla Academy opens the month-long event with a book fair; which becomes the center of month-long cultural activities and launching of new books authored during the past year. The Academy also announces new literary awards. It is a festivity of colour and cultural jubilation, about the past achievement. It is not that important to talk of history about the victory we achieved in Pakistan days by securing recognition of Bengali as a State Language. It was necessary to prove our identity and honour in the backdrop of Pakistan. Now our focus should be on the totality of our own identity and prestige as a free nation. We must have courage to protect our other rights. Our challenge is not only how we enrich Bengali language but how we ensure all round development for us. We are no more fighting West Pakistanis for our language, now we have to improve our English for going ahead in the modern world. In Vietnam which never had any respect for English language, now English is learnt there compulsorily. 16 get Ekushey Award Staff Reporter :Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Saturday handed Ekushey Padak-2016 to 16 eminent persons in recognition of their outstanding contributions to their respective fields.The Padak distribution ceremony was held at the Osmani Memorial Auditorium in the city.The recipients are: Justice Kazi Ebadul Haque, Dr Sayed Haider, late Syed Golam Kibria (posthumous) and Dr Jashimuddin Ahmed for their contribution to the 1952 Language Movement; Begum Jahanara Ahmed (Actress - television and film), Pandit Amaresh Roy Chowdhury (classical music), Begum Shaheen Samad (Music), Amanul Haque (dances), late Kazi Anwar Hossain in (painting) (posthumous), Mafidul Haque for contribution to the 1971 Liberation War and Toab Khan in journalism.The recipients also include Prof Dr ABM Abdullah in research, Mongsen Ching Monsin (research), Joityprakash Dutta (language and literature), Prof Dr Hayat Mahmud (language and literature) and Habibullah Siraji (language and literature). Every piece of Ekushey Padak has 35 grams of gold, a citation and a cheque of Tk two lakh each.Cabinet Secretary Mohammad Shafiul Alam conducted the function and read out the citations of the awardees at the function held with Cultural Affairs Minister Asaduzzaman Noor in the chair.While addressing the ceremony, Sheikh Hasina urged all to protect the country's mother tongue, achieved by the language heroes."We are proud that Bengali is our mother tongue. We should respect our language and protect it. We are happy that we can honour the respectable persons of our society on the language day," she said.Sheikh Hasina also said, "Pakistan, a country from 12 hundred miles away of Bangladesh. They wanted to impose Urdu on us as our State Language forcibly. But then Dhaka University students did not accept it. They foiled the Pakistani conspiracy by raising their strong voice and movements.""Ekush gave us self-identity, it taught us self-esteem and not to bestow our heads to any evil forces," she added. "We won all achievements through blood and movements," she added. Khaleda to go to Shaheed Minar UNB, Dhaka :Unlike last year, BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia is set to pay homage to the Language Movement martyrs by placing wreaths at the Central Shaheed Minar in the early hours of Shaheed Dibash (Feb 21) .Speaking at a press briefing at BNP's Nayapaltan central office, BNP joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi said they have already sought cooperation from law enforcers in ensuring necessary securityfor their chairperson while paying tribute to the 1952 Langue Movement heroes.Last year, Khaleda organised a doa mahfil at her office to pay respect to the Language Movement martyrs, skipping her visit to Central Shaheed Minar in the early hours for the first time since she joined politics.However, BNP leaders and activists, led by Khaleda's Advisor Enam Ahmed Chowdhury, placed wreaths at the Shaheed Minar on behalf of the party last year.Meanwhile, BNP has taken a two-day programme to mark the Shaheed Dibas and International Mother Language Day with due respect.The party will also keep the party and national flags at half-mast and hoist black flags at its Nayapaltan central office at 6 am on the day.Leaders and activists of the party will gather in front of Balaka Cinema Hall at Nilkhet at 6 am. Later, they will first offer fateha at the graves of Language Movement martyrs at Azimpur Graveyard and then go to the Central Shaheed Minar to pay tributes to the martyrs.BNP will hold a discussion the following day at the Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh at 2 pm, marking the day. Amar Ekushey (Feb 21) will be observed simultaneously as Shaheed Dibas and International Mother Language Day in recognition of the Bangali nation's supreme sacrifice to the cause of their mother tongue. In 1999, Unesco declared the day as the International Mother Language Day. Amar Ekushey today City under security blanket SM Mizanur Rahman :The nation pays rich tributes to the martyrs of the historic Language Movement with the clock striking 00.01am on Sunday marking 'Amar Ekushey', the Language Martyrs Day and International Mother Language Day. People at home and abroad have been observing the day -'February 21' as the 'Shaheed Dibash' and the International Mother Language Day for last 16 years. In 2000, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) declared 21 February as International Mother Language Day.Walking barefoot to the Central Shaheed Minar with wreaths and flowers singing 'Amar bhaiyer rokte rangano Ekushey February', people will pay their deep respects to the Language Movement heroes, who sacrificed their lives for achieving the recognition of Bangla as the State Language of erstwhile Pakistan on this day in 1952. President Abdul Hamid, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia have issued separate messages on the occasion.Amid tight security arrangements, President Abdul Hamid will pay tributes to the Language Martyrs by placing wreaths at the altar of the Central Shaheed Minar at 00:01 am on Sunday followed by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Hasina along with her Cabinet members, Advisers, lawmakers and party leaders will place another wreath on behalf of her party. BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia also will place rich tribute at the altar of the Central Shaheed Minar On this day in 1952, when students defying Section 144 started marching forward demanding recognition of Bangla as an official language, police opened fire and killed a number of students, including Abdus Salam, Rafiq Uddin Ahmed, Abul Barkat and Abdul Jabbar in the city's Dhaka University area.The language movement was the forerunner of the nationalist movement that culminated in the Liberation War in 1971 and won the nation independence. On March 21 in 1948, Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, first governor general of the then Pakistan in public meeting in city's Suhrawardy Udyan formerly known as Race Course maidan said, "let me make it very clear to you that the State Language of Pakistan is going to be Urdu and no other language." "Therefore, so far as the State Language is concerned, Pakistan's shall be Urdu," he had mentioned. These comments generated enormous anger and resentment in the hearts of the Bengalis of East Bengal and prompted voices of protest even at the public rally. And later in the face of massive upsurge, the then Pakistan government granted Bangla the status of official language in 1956. The government, in the meanwhile, has taken extensive programmes to observe the 'Shaheed Dibash' and the International Mother Language Day on February 21.The day is a public holiday. The national flag will be hoisted at half-mast atop all educational institutions, government, semi-government and autonomous offices and private buildings across the country. In line with the national programmes, the day will be observed by the district, upazila councils and administrations, Bangladesh missions abroad, City Corporations and Municipalities and all the educational institutions including the Madrashas. Quran Khwani, Milad Mahfil and special munajats will be held at Azimpur graveyard in the city for the Martyrs of the Language Movement. Dhaka University authorities will implement programmes at the Central Shaheed Minar in coordination with other relevant agencies. Different road islands and important spots in the city would be decorated with festoons inscribed with Bangla alphabets. The public and private print and electronic media will cover the programmes marking the day. Different political and socio-cultural organisations have also chalked out elaborate programmes to mark the day. Besides, various organizations and institutes, including Bangla Academy, Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy, Nazrul Institute, Jatiya Grantha Kendra, Islamic Foundation, National Museum, International Mother Language Institute and Shishu Academy will observe the day through different programmes.The programmes include book fair, discussion meetings, recitation, essay writing competition and cultural functions.Meanwhile, a security blanket are in place in and around Central Shaheed Minar with taking extra security measures in preparation for smooth observation of Amar Ekushey and International Mother Language Day today.Law-enforcement agencies including police and Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) have deployed in large numbers at Central Shaheed Minar and its adjoining areas from Friday evening to this end. All precautionary measures have already been taken in terms of intensified patrolling and striking forces' surveillance to keep sensitive areas under extra care, says Director General (DG) of RAB Benazir Ahmed. Several closed-circuit televisions (CCTVs) have been installed in and around Central Shaheed Minar to make the security foolproof, he said, adding that plainclothes police and members of intelligence agencies remain active on the occasion. Besides, adequate measures also would be taken for the foreign mission representatives here to pay their tribute at the Shaheed Minar. Tree man undergoes first surgery successfully Staff Reporter :The first surgery on Abul Bajandar, 26, the fourth man in the world, who has been suffering from epidermodysplasia verruciformis or tree man syndrome, was done successfully at Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) on Saturday. The surgeons first carried operations on his right hand. "We operated Bajandar's right hand. The next operation will be done after three weeks." Dr Samanto Lal Sen, Project Director of the Burn Unit Project of DMCH told the reporters around 1:00 pm, after the operation.A nine-member medical board started their operation on Abul Bajandar around 10:30am, which continued for 2:30 hours.Md Abul Kalam, Professor and Head of the Department of Burn and Plastic Surgery and Project, was the head of the Board.Hailing from Khulna, Abul, 26, has tree trunk like warts, almost weighing four kilogrammes on his both hands and feet. As a result, the functionality of his limbs became severely limited."He was suffering from malnutrition when he came here. By this time, he has improved a lot under our care," Samanto Lal Sen told The New Nation. On February 10, Physicians sent blood, tissue and saliva samples of Bangladeshi tree man to a molecular microbiologist in the United States for diagnosis. According to information found in the Internet, a Romanian man was first diagnosed with the disease in March 2007. The 2nd case was reported from Indonesia in November of the same year and the 3rd case also happened in the same region of Indonesia in 2009. Boi Mela gets Ekushey smack Abir Rayhan :The month-long Amar Ekushey Boi Mela may get momentum today (Sunday) as thousands of people from all walks of life will assemble on the Bangla Academy premises and Suhrawardy Udyan. Publication houses have equipped their stalls with a good number of new books and extra manpower, expecting huge sales.The Bangla Academy authorities have also taken all the preparations to make the Mela a success on the historic 21st February. Extra Law enforcing agencies will be deployed in and around the Boi Mela to meet the emergency.Director General of Bangla Academy Professor Shamsuzzaman Khan said that they would give special focus on this day. On this occasion, the Mela will remain open from 8:00am to 8:00pm today.At 12:01 am tonight, thousands of barefooted people in chorus will sing "Amar Bhaiyer Rokte Rangano Ekushey February," and will pay homage to the Language Martyrs.On Saturday, just a day before the Ekushey February (21st February), the sale of books at every stalls reached its height, publishers said. Visiting the Boi Mela it is witnessed that a large number of readers, mostly youths and students of different universities and colleges, were selecting books of their choice. The children corner also was swarming with readers and visitors. Monjur Hossen, publisher of Jonaki Prokashoni, said that we expecting huge turnout today (Sunday).The publisher of Samhati Prokashon, told The New Nation that he had been happy at the Saturday's sale proceeds. Hossain Khoka, a 1st year Marketing Dept. student of Jagannath University, came to the Boi Mela with his friends and bought seven books in order to present his friends on the occasion of the Mother Language Day. Meanwhile, many writers, including Muhammad Zafor Iqbal, are likely to come to the Boi Mela today to attend the book launching programmes, converse with their readers and to give autographs.Bangla Academy arrange a self-composed poetry reading event that will be held today (Sunday) at 7:30 am in the main stage of Academy. Poet Asad Chowdhury will preside over the function.Meanwhile, one hundred and thirty-seven new books landed in the Mela yesterday. Of them, 11 books on Story, 20 Novels, 8 Article, 50 Poetry, 6 Rhyme, 10 Child Literature, 2 Biography, 1 Volume, 4 Liberation War, 3 Excursion, 4 History, 1 Politics and 17 Miscellaneous.Some books are Amar Chitra Amar Narail of Annesha Tithy published by Muktochinta, Abul Maal Abdul Muhith Rochonaboli-5 of Abul Maal Abdul Muhit published by Utsho Prokashon, Kobir Kororekha of Al Mahmud published by Suchipatro, Energy Reporting of Tusher Abdullah published by Adarsha, Rodela of Mohammad Hossen published by Ananna and Economy of Bangladesh of Abul Maal Abdul Muhith published by Somoy Prokashon. A discussion titled 'Bangladeshey Shamajik O Sanskritik Jagoron: Somoshya O Sombhovona was held in main stage of Academy. Kamal Lohani presided over the function while, Mofidul Hoque presented the keynote. Bodiur Rahman, Golam Kuddus and Shuvashis Sinha were present as the discussant.Latter, a cultural program was held in the main stage of Academy. The artist were Fakir Siraz, Farhan Sadik Khan Sami and Abdul Motin, among others.At 4:00 pm a lecture program titled ' will be held today (Sunday) in the main stage of Academy. Professor emeritus Anisuzzaman will preside over the function while, Shamsuzzaman Khan, Director General of Bangla Academy will provide the welcome speech. Sociologist Anupom Sen will present the keynote titled 'Abason: Bishwa O Bangladeshey'. At evening a fascinating cultural function will be held. Militants` dens busted in city 2 held with arms, explosives Staff Reporter :The members of Detective Branch (DB) in a drive busted 'militants' dens' and discovered large cache of lethal weapons, bombs and explosives in the capital's Badda and Mohammadpur areas.They also picked up two suspected militants along with bombs and explosives. They are Bangla Team members Kamal alias Shahin and Shah Alam alias Salauddin Hiron.Bahauddin, 45, Inspector of the DB, was also hacked by the militants during the raid between 8:00pm on Friday and 3:30am on Saturday, detective source said.DB's Additional Deputy Commissioner (North) Mahfuzul Islam said, "The detectives first raided House No. 577 in the GM Bari area at Satarkul of North Badda at about 8:00pm. At that time, a clash ensured between the detectives and militants. The DB men nabbed two 'militants' and seized lethal weapons and some documents from the ground floor of the house.They also took four persons, including the house owner, to the DB office for interrogation. Later, nine more people, including seven women of the building, were taken to the DB office for interrogation."Militants hacked inspector Bahauddin during the drive. The detectives fired 15-20 gunshots for self-defense that led the militant members to fire back. As per information gleaned from the detainees, the DB team, later, raided a bomb-making factory of Ansarullah Bangla Team on the fourth floor of House No. 28 at Nabodoy Housing in Mohammadpur at night. But the detectives could not make any arrest as the militants managed to flee sensing the drive. But, they seized huge bombs and bomb making materials from the spot. The DMP's newly-formed Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime unit, also known as CT, Chief Monirul Islam said that detectives arrested Shahin and Salauddin from Badda around 10:00pm on Friday.Monirul said that the Badda den was Ansarullah Bangla Team's headquarters and Mohammadpur den was their bomb-making factory."We have collected samples from the two dens that will be sent for DNA test to identify the criminals," he said. 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Ireland Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of Zimbabwe . NEWS AND VIEWS THAT IMPACT LIMITED CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT "There is danger from all men. The only maxim of a free government ought to be to trust no man living with power to endanger the public liberty." - - - - John Adams All photos and text are property of Dave Forney and may not be used without express permission. If you are looking for the new Immoral Minority posts, you should know that they can be found here at our new home Please stop by to get caught up on politics, join the conversations, or simply check out the new digs. Pre-purchase property inspection is a relatively new thing in the United Kingdom. Its not something that most people have heard about, but it has become increasingly popular over the last few years with the rise in property prices and increased demand for high quality homes. What are the benefits of pre-purchase building inspection? What can you expect to find out when you pay someone else to inspect your home before you buy it? And what should you look for during an inspection? Many people want to know if theyre buying a house thats been well maintained or if its had any serious problems. If youve found a place on the market that seems attractive, but then discover some issues after moving in, you may not be as excited about buying it as you thought you were. Its important to do your due diligence when looking at properties. A lot goes into making a property appealing to potential buyers, from the landscaping to the flooring to the kitchen appliances. The same applies when inspecting a property there are many things that need checking over to make sure everything is running smoothly. Here are some of the benefits of performing a pre-purchase inspection: You get to see exactly what will happen to your money When you go shopping for a new car, youll probably be shown several different models. You might even be shown one that looks like a great value, but doesnt fit around all of the extra features that you want. When it comes time to actually buy the vehicle, however, you wont have seen how your money will be spent on it once you drive it off the showroom floor. Likewise, when you shop for a new home, you dont really know what youre getting yourself into until you move in. In order to get a feel for whether the home youre considering is what you want, you normally have to spend quite a bit of time inside it. This allows you to learn more about everything that youre going to be spending your hard-earned cash on. A pre-purchase building inspection gives you much the same kind of experience without having to spend thousands of dollars. Since youre paying for the service, you can expect to see exactly what youre paying for, instead of just seeing a vague idea of what you might end up with. You find out about potential major repairs Some buildings are very expensive to maintain, which means that owners often neglect them for the sake of saving money. While youre paying for a building inspection, youre also paying for a professional who knows how to spot signs of trouble and repair work that needs doing. If you notice that a particular area of your new home needs fixing right away, you can call in an expert to take care of it quickly. If you find that theres something wrong with your boiler, you wont have to wait weeks for a plumber to come over and fix it. Instead, youll have access to a solution immediately. You can save hundreds of pounds by finding out about potential problems early on One of the biggest expenses when you first buy a home is the cost of moving in. Many people dont realize this until its too late. Buying a home involves not only paying for the actual house, but also for moving costs, furniture, and other items that have to be moved along with the home. Having a good idea ahead of time of what youre likely to encounter can help you avoid these kinds of costs. If you know youll need to replace the plumbing system, for example, youll be able to put together a budget for the expense and plan accordingly. You can protect your investment by finding out if the homes been well cared for While there are plenty of people who think that houses always look better when theyre newly built, youd be surprised at how well maintained older residences can still look nice. Sometimes, though, those homes need some additional maintenance to keep them looking their best. This could involve repairs that arent so noticeable or small improvements that you wouldnt consider otherwise. Even worse, some houses have fallen into disrepair without anyone noticing. This is why having a professional perform a building inspection prior to purchasing a home is such a big benefit. Not only will it give you insight into the state of the property, but it will also give you peace of mind knowing youre not getting taken advantage of. As long as youre aware of the potential pitfalls, youll have less reason to worry about the state of your new home. You can use information gathered during a building inspection to negotiate a lower price If youre worried about buying a home because you suspect that it may need extensive renovation work, you may already have a rough idea of how much work youll need to do to bring it up to scratch. That knowledge can come in handy if you decide to buy the home. You can use all of the details that you gather during a building inspection to present a realistic picture of what the home is worth to prospective buyers. If a potential buyer thinks that the home is worth more than what you paid for it, you can try negotiating a lower price. You can sell your home faster and for more money If you decide to list your home on the market soon after buying it, youll need to price it accurately in order to attract buyers. But if youve already done a thorough building inspection, youll know exactly what work is needed and what the current market conditions are. In other words, youll be able to make a more accurate estimate of the amount of money youve invested in the home and how much its worth. If you find that youre selling your house for close to its full market value, you can use this information to convince the potential buyer that your home is worth the asking price. Even if youre planning to stay in the home for a while before you decide to sell, the fact that you did a thorough building inspection will give you more confidence when listing it. Prospective buyers will know exactly what theyre paying for. Your home will hold its value longer As mentioned earlier, the value of a home depends heavily upon the condition of the building itself. If your home is in bad shape, potential buyers wont be interested in buying it. On the other hand, if youve performed a thorough building inspection and know what sort of repairs are necessary, you can offer your prospective buyer a compelling reason to invest in your property. When you buy a home, youre essentially agreeing to have it inspected periodically to ensure that it stays in top shape. Not only does this allow you to avoid expensive repairs down the road, but it can also increase the value of your home. You can make smart decisions about property investments Buying real estate isnt as simple as just driving a couple of minutes to pick up a house. There are lots of considerations involved, ranging from location to cost. The same is true when youre investing in property. If you find a house that meets all of your requirements, youll want to make sure that you have a solid understanding of where it stands with regards to the rest of the market. If you havent spent enough time researching the area, you could inadvertently end up with a bad deal. There are lots of resources available online that can help you determine the overall level of competition in your area. They can also help you figure out if there are any properties that meet your requirements that you didnt know about. If you own rental property, you can use the information to identify tenants who might cause damage If you own rental property and youve noticed that certain tenants consistently cause damage, you can use the results of a building inspection to identify them. You can then contact them directly to let them know that youre watching them closely and that you dont appreciate the problem theyre causing. They might start taking better care of their homes, which would be good news for everyone. It could also be the case that youll find out that theyre responsible for previous damages that werent caught during a previous visit. You can make smarter decisions about hiring contractors If youve hired contractors to build or repair your home, you might want to ask them for references. However, unless you perform a thorough building inspection, you might not know exactly what to look for. For instance, maybe you only checked the roof for leaks or the walls for cracks. You might not have looked underneath the foundation for anything that could cause a future issue. By performing a building inspection, you can ensure that you hire reputable contractors who will be trustworthy with your money. You can avoid purchasing a home thats in poor condition Of course, the main benefit of structural inspections perth is that it helps you avoid purchasing a home thats in poor condition. Before you make the decision to buy a home, you should do whatever you can to find out about the state of the building. You can also ask your realtor about what sorts of inspections are typically recommended. Some agents say that its standard practice to check the heating system, the roof, the electrical wiring, and the floors. Others will tell you that they recommend that you check the entire structure. Either way, if you choose to hire an inspector, youll find out exactly what needs to be fixed and how much it will cost to do so. As a result, it can be concluded that a pre-purchase building inspection is highly important for the buyers because it provides transparency regarding the current conditions of the structure. Additionally, the building owner is made aware of any upgrades or repairs that are required, which could lead to a fair deal throughout the purchasing and selling process. After living in Tanzania for many years, we now live in the UK and enjoy working with Amigos Worldwide and Bees Abroad as we continue to be passionate about seeing local churches transform their communities! KSN&C is intended to be a place for well-reasoned civil discourse...not to suggest that we dont appreciate the witty retort or pithy observation. Have at it. But we do not invite the anonymous flaming too often found in social media these days. This is a destination for folks to state your name and speak your piece. It is important to note that, while the Moderator serves as Faculty Regent for Eastern Kentucky University, all comments offered by the Moderator on KSN&C are his own opinions and do not necessarily represent the views of the Board of Regents, the university administration, faculty, or any members of the university community. On KSN&C, all authors are responsible for their own comments. See full disclaimer at the bottom of the page. The S.P.D. Murder of John T. Williams On a sunny, warm Seattle August day in 2010, Native American wood carver John T. Williams was murdered by the Seattle Police Department as he walked down the crowded downtown streets while on his normal daily routine of carving small totem poles with a small pen knife, then selling them to the tourists that flock by the Seattle Public Market. Seattle Police Officer Ian Birk noticed Mr. Williams walking down the city streets and deemed him a threat, do in major part I believe - simply because he was Native American. Williams was one of many homeless Native Americans who roam downtown Seattle. These people are usually dismissed and overlooked by Seattles daily bustle of businessmen, the working class, and tourists. When the officer approached Williams from behind, and then ordered him to freeze and drop his small carving knife and a stick of carving wood he was carrying, Williams was hard of hearing in one ear, and failed to hear the police officer over the traffic and pedestrians, thus did not immediately comply; officer Birk then instantly felt that this gave him the right to use lethal force against John T. Williams. No threat was ever given by the homeless woodcarver. Officer Ian Birk coldly gunned down John T. Williams from behind, murdering him in the streets of Seattle, Wash, right in front of many horrified citizens who later professed that they felt no threat from the homeless Native American man whatsoever. The officer was fired thats it, and was allowed to live his life somewhere else, work a steady job, live in a nice house, somewhere out of media sight, and out of the publics mind; smug in the fact that he got away with legal murder with just a slap on the wrist. We must all remember that this type of legal homicide happens every day all over this nation of ours, by those sworn to Serve and Protect us. And that this violent tragedy can happen to anyone, or anybodys family members, especially if they are citizens of color. This makes it everybodys problem who believes in justice, personal safety from unwarranted persecution, and true American freedom in the society they live in. Let us still remember John T Williams, and never forget the fact that he was ruthlessly murdered by the S.P.D. South Carolina State University alumnus Terrence Head has been tapped as the next business professional to speak at the Business Executive Speaker Series. Head is president and founder of Outlier Global Solutions, an information technology management consulting firm based in Washington, D.C. He will discuss Leading Strategically: A Business Built on Finding Business Solutions at noon on Feb. 24 in the Belcher Hall auditorium. Head has more than 16 years of experience as a technical consultant and executive leader in the government contracting industry. His firm, Outlier Global, provides its partners and clients with expertise in business transformation, business process modeling and re-engineering, chief information officer strategy and execution, enterprise architecture, project management, strategic planning, systems engineering and system integration. The companys clients include the Department of Defense, intelligence community, federal civilian agencies and private sector. Outlier Global was selected by the National Institutes of Healths Office of the CIO as senior advisor for business transformation activities. and to lead the redesign of its Center for Information Technologys service delivery model. As a result, Head currently leads major IT initiatives for the National Institutes of Healths more than 35,000 user community. He is the former director of productization within the Office of the CIO at BAE Systems Inc., a global defense, security and aerospace company. In prior roles at BAE Systems, Head was the chief of staff for the CEOs Global Information Management and Technology Council, leading the development of policies and standards for seven global home markets: Australia, India, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Sweden, United Kingdom and United States of America. During this time, he also managed a $48 million budget for operations and special IT projects as director of IT, reporting directly to the CIO. In yet another role at BAE Systems, as cyber director, he led the cybersecurity solutions merger and acquisition integration activities for several targets in the organic business startup. Head, who has maintained top-secret clearance for more than 16 years, has also held positions at Lockheed Martin Corp., a global security and aerospace company, and Booz Allen Hamilton, a leading provider of management consulting, technology and engineering services to the U.S. government in defense, intelligence and civil markets. Some of Heads awards, community and professional involvements include member of the South Carolina State University Foundation Board, former member of the National Society of Black Engineers Board of Corporate Affiliates, the Professional Executive Board, the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers Industrial Partner Council and the Society of Womens Engineers Corporate Partnership Council. He has been featured several times in U.S. Black Engineer Information Technology magazine for his innovative work in IT and community activism in STEM. Head is an S.C. State graduate with a bachelor of science in electrical engineering. He graduated from the University of Maryland University College with a master of science in technology/project management and an MBA in global economics. He is also a graduate of the Boardroom Bound Boardology Institute and has been profiled in the National Director-Candidate Database. For more information on the School of Business Executive Speaker Series, contact Ann Winstead at 803-516- 4864 or awinstead@scsu.edu. DENMARK An actress best known for her roles in the television shows Living Single and The Cosby Show visited Voorhees College on Friday as part of a South Carolina Legislative Black Caucus Rural Economic Summit and also to push Hillary Clintons Get Out the Vote effort. Actress Erika Alexander, who played Maxine Shaw in Living Single and Cousin Pam on The Cosby Show, joined Stephanie Schriock, president of EMILYs List, at the event. Alexander currently appears on the TV sitcom Last Man Standing and the TV series Bosch. She said she has been a supporter of Clinton since 2007. Back in 2007 and 2008, I traveled across the country with Chelsea and then-Sen. Clinton visiting colleges and communities, Alexander said. Raised in Arizona, the actress said both of her parents were orphans. Her father was an itinerant preacher and her mother was a teacher, she said. For the first 13 years of my life, we were in and out of wherever anybody would put us up, Alexander said. That was my life. They had six kids. They had multiple jobs. They had to make ends meet. They traveled anywhere and everywhere to do their ministry. We were what is called the working poor. She added, Thats the way it is for so many families today. Alexander said people are still struggling to get by and are still trying to recover from the Great Recession. People have gone a long way without a real raise. College and housing costs are through the roof. ... For the black community, this is compounded by systematic racism, she said. For women, gender equality also remains an issue, Alexander said. She has lived in Los Angeles, New York and Detroit, where lots of people are being pushed out of those neighborhoods, Alexander said. They cant afford them. Im tired of young people having a hard time and not being able to find a job, no matter what their qualifications or credentials are, she said. Alexander said she is also tired of black men spending their lifetimes behind bars and black women making less than men working the same job. We have a power within us if you want change, she said. If we want America to be the great, free society that weve all worked so hard for and that our ancestors have worked for whatever your background we have to use the power that weve got, and thats the power to vote. Clinton is someone who has a real plan to make a difference, the actress said. It was important for me to come here and give my testimony and say why I was for her and what I was doing to support that, she said. Schriock said her organization, EMILYs List, is a national pro-choice womens organization and one of the largest resources for women in politics. Born in the rural community of Butte, Montana, Schriock said, We know that weve got to fight for every job we can get our hands on when were in communities like that. She said she grew up in a household with a Democratic mother and a Republican father. We come from a place that it didnt so much matter about the parties because we were held together by values of community, opportunity and equality, Schriock said. Thats what moved us forward. As she traveled through various cities working for Democratic candidates, she said she discovered a community of Americans who believed in opportunity and success for everyone, no matter their background. Were all in this together. Were not looking for a handout; were just looking for a hand-up. You give us just a little bit; we will take it the rest of the way, she said. EMILYs List has helped elect 19 women to the United States Senate over 100 women to the House of Representatives, Schriock said. We have helped elect every woman of color whos serving in the U.S. House of Representatives today, she said. Clintons vision for America is to break down barriers, such as increasing the minimum wage and making college affordable, Schriock said. She added, Weve got to change our criminal justice system. These barriers exist all around us but we can break them down together. If we give Clinton a Congress that she can work with, she knows how to get this stuff done. Shes done it before in every job shes had, Schriock said. Also during the summit, state lawmakers Sen. John W. Matthews, Sen. Margie Bright Matthews, Rep. Justin Bamberg, Sen. John L. Scott Jr. and others discussed the challenges of and solutions to economic development in the region. Danny Black, CEO of the Southern Carolina Regional Development Alliance, provided a presentation about marketing and industrial recruitment in Hampton, Jasper, Allendale, Colleton, Barnwell and Bamburg counties. The session allowed the business community to discuss what the legislature can do to assist local industries and legislators and others to share ideas for economic and community development. The recent death of Justice Antonin Scalia, a historically conservative firebrand on the Supreme Court, sent shockwaves through the political world. In the middle of a hectic and noisy presidential primary, the Republican candidates shared a moment of silence during their ninth debate and then dove into a conversation about whether President Barack Obama should nominate a successor. Scalia left his mark on the judicial branch of the U.S. government over the course of his 33 years in the public eye. The many bipartisan tributes pouring in after his death at the age of 79 have praised his intellect, wit and dedication to public service. InsideGov digs into Scalias personal history and record on the court to find 25 essential facts and figures that defined his life and career. Weve looked at it all, from his guest turn in an opera to that time he made a list of potential vice presidential candidates, ranking everything from the smallest to largest figure. 0 Breathing Documents Scalia was a strict constitutionalist, articulating that the Constitution was not a living document. Instead, Scalia said the document is dead, dead, dead and must be read exactly as the Founding Fathers wrote it. 1 Elephant Ride Scalia and his fellow Supreme Court justice, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, rode on an elephant together in India in 1994. The two justices, on opposite ends of the ideological spectrum, were best buddies, according to Ginsburgs tribute to Scalia following his death. 1 of 3 Dissenters Scalia was one of three justices who dissented in Lawrence v. Texas, the 2003 case that invalidated a sodomy law in Texas and made consensual same-sex activity legal throughout the U.S. The majority found that consensual sex between adults was protected under the due process clause of the 14th Amendment. But Scalia argued the court took sides in the culture war and signed on to the so-called homosexual agenda. 1 Case, 1 Win Before he was appointed to the Supreme Court, Scalia served as the assistant attorney general under former President Gerald Ford. During that time, he argued his only case in front of the Supreme Court, Alfred Dunhill of London Inc. v. Republic of Cuba. The case looked at how to handle cigar manufacturing profits after Cuba nationalized U.S. businesses in 1960. Scalia argued for Dunhill, and won. 2nd Amendment In 2008, Scalia penned the majority opinion for the District of Columbia v. Heller case, which argued the Second Amendment provides Americans with the right to gun ownership. Scalia wrote that the militia referred to in the amendment pertains to individuals, not just the military. Heller was one of the five cases 2016 Republican presidential hopeful Sen. Ted Cruz won at the Supreme Court during his tenure as the Texas solicitor general. 2 Guest Appearances Scalia and Ginsburg, both opera aficionados, made joint guest appearances in performances of Richard Strausss Ariadne auf Naxos in 1994 and 2009. Their long friendship inspired a one-act comic opera, Scalia/Ginsburg, which premiered in July 2015. 3 Books A verbose and colorful writer on the bench, Scalia penned three books, starting with his 1997 tome, A Matter of Interpretation. He co-wrote his next two with Bryan Garner, a lawyer and legal scholar on language. 4 Years In 1982, former President Ronald Reagan appointed Scalia to the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. During his four years in that role, Scalia developed his distinctive, sharp writing style that he became known for. 5-3 Vote In a 5-3 vote in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, the Supreme Court ruled against military commissions for detainees at Guantanamo Bay. In the run-up to arguments at the court, five retired generals asked Scalia to recuse himself because of comments he made during a speech a few weeks earlier in Switzerland. He said foreigners who waged war on the U.S. had no rights under the Constitution. Salim Ahmed Hamdan, who said he was Osama bin Ladens driver and was designated an enemy combatant by the U.S., questioned the military commissions. Scalia was part of the three-person dissent in the case. Score of 5.25 According to data from OnTheIssues, Scalia was the most conservative justice on the bench, coming in at 5.25 on the scoring scale. OnTheIssues scores range from negative 10 (very liberal) to positive 10 (very conservative). Scalias more moderate views on international and economic issues helped to average out his very conservative perspective on individual rights. 7 in the Majority Scalia was part of the majority in the 2000 case Bush v. Gore, which stopped the recount in Florida and ultimately led to George W. Bush assuming the presidency. The case was split into two questions, about the constitutionality of the way the votes were counted and the feasibility of a recount. By a 7-2 vote, the court found there was a violation to the Equal Protection Clause when different standards of vote counting were used in different counties in Florida. The court also found, in a 5-4 decision, that a recount couldnt happen in a reasonable timeframe. 9 Children Scalia and his wife, Maureen McCarthy Scalia, had nine children, but the grandkid tally varies: some news outlets count 36 grandchildren while others count 28. Scalia himself was an only child, and was the lone kid of his generation within his larger family, as his parents siblings didnt have any children. 21 Pages In his 21-page dissent of the King v. Burwell case in 2015, Scalia delivered some of his most memorable zingers. In a 6-3 vote, the court upheld the tax subsidies in the Affordable Care Act, but not before Scalia described the decision as pure applesauce and interpretive jiggery-pokery. (Fact: Scalia used the phrase sheer applesauce in a 2007 dissent about school funding.) 29 Years, Five Months Scalia served on the Supreme Court for almost 30 years. Former President Ronald Reagan appointed Scalia to the high court in September 1986. 30 Days The flags in the plaza in front of the Supreme Court will fly at half-staff for 30 days after Scalias death. 31st of December Every year, Scalia and Ginsburg celebrated New Years Eve together. Scalia called the pair the odd couple during a 2015 speech at George Washington University in D.C. 50 Years Old Scalia was 50 years old when the Senate confirmed him, making him the youngest justice on the Supreme Court at the time. 54 Percent When he was among the dissenting votes on a case, Scalia wrote an opinion 54 percent of the time. 62 Years In the last 62 years of the Supreme Courts history, Scalia is the third justice to die while in office. Justice Robert H. Jackson died in 1954 and Chief Justice William Rehnquist died in 2005. 66.7 Percent Scalia was one of six Roman Catholics on the Supreme Court, meaning two-thirds of the current justices subscribe to that faith. The remaining three justices are all Jewish. 77 Laughing Episodes Although perhaps best known for his staunch conservatism, Scalia was also known for his sharp wit, in his writing and during arguments. According to a study of transcripts from the Supreme Courts 2004-2005 term, Scalia inspired 77 bouts of laughter during oral arguments by far the most among his colleagues. 85 Days It took 85 days for Scalia to go from Supreme Court nominee to confirmed justice. 98 Votes During his Senate confirmation in 1986, Scalia received 98 votes the second-highest margin since 1970. Former Justice Sandra Day OConnor received 99 votes in 1981. 1957 Valedictorian at Georgetown University For his undergraduate degree, Scalia studied history at Georgetown and graduated at the top of his class. He then studied law at Harvard Law School. 1996 Republican Ticket When former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole, R-Kan., ran for president in 1996, Rep. John Boehner then the head of the House Republican Conference tried to persuade Scalia to run as Doles vice president. Scalia declined, and Jack Kemp, a longtime congressman out of New York, ended up joining the ticket. An Orangeburg man pleaded guilty to his third charge of driving under the influence on Thursday. Keon Salley, 38, of 270 Shadowlawn Drive, Orangeburg, was sentenced to three years in prison by Circuit Judge Diane Goodstein. After Salley serves 148 days and pays a fine of $2,100, the balance of his sentence will be suspended to five years of probation. Goodstein gave Salley credit for having already served 148 days at the Orangeburg County Detention Center. The judge also ordered him to undergo substance abuse counseling and to attend either Narcotics Anonymous or Alcoholics Anonymous meetings twice weekly. Salley was also ordered to get mental health counseling. Also during General Sessions Court: Overton Eugene Hines Jr. 31, of 4804 Norway Road, Norway, pleaded guilty to third-degree burglary. Goodstein sentenced him to prison for three years, with the balance suspended to 18 months of probation. Hes also ordered to pay $600 in restitution to Carolina Fresh Farms. Jimmy Cartell Ritter, 31, of 247 Cinnabar Road, Rowesville, pleaded guilty to breach of trust with fraudulent intent in the amount of $2,000 or less. Goodstein sentenced him to 30 days at the detention center, suspended to two years of probation. He must also pay $2,500 in restitution. Martha Deschamps Petoskey, 46, of 254 Dantzler St., Orangeburg, pleaded guilty to defrauding an innkeeper. She was given credit for three days of time served at the detention center. Adam Anthony Howell, 22, of 1048 Doyle St., Apt. 34, Orangeburg, pleaded guilty to three counts of forgery, with a value of less than $10,000. He was sentenced to three concurrent terms of six months in prison, but after he serves 30 days, the balance of his sentence is suspended to six months of probation. He must pay $550 in restitution. Sandra Tomkia Scott, 44, of 122 Bradley Road, Moncks Corner, pleaded guilty to possession of a controlled substance and was given credit for having served 12 days at the detention center. Dion Morais Irick, 29, of 150 Franklin St., Orangeburg, pleaded guilty to failure to stop for blue light. As a result, his probation was revoked. He was sentenced to prison for 90 days but given credit for having served six days. Irick may serve his prison time on weekends and must be on probation for three years. Goodstein ordered him to attend vocational rehabilitation, substance abuse counseling, random drug/alcohol testing, Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous three times weekly, undergo a mental evaluation and under curfew from 7 p.m. until 5 a.m. Curtis Minigan, 51, of 121 Neomie Road, Eutawville, pleaded guilty to possession with the intent to distribute a controlled substance. He was sentenced to 90 days at the detention center. Saquon Quontez Smith, 24, of 345 Forest Drive, Orangeburg, pleaded guilty to a Richland County forgery charge and an Orangeburg County charge of possession with intent to distribute marijuana, second offense. Goodstein sentenced him to two concurrent terms of two years in prison. He was given credit for 22 days he served at the detention center. COLUMBIA -- Presidential candidates campaigning in South Carolina know that faith influences, and sometimes dictates, the thinking of voters, particularly those who identify as conservatives. Recently, the Rev. Franklin Graham rallied 7,100 people on the S.C. Statehouse grounds in Columbia and called for Christians to vote with their religious ideals in mind. He also told the crowd that he had no faith in 2016 presidential candidates, just days ahead of the Republican primary and weeks ahead of the Democratic primary. I have zero hope in the Democratic Party, Graham said, interrupting an uproar from the crowd. I have zero hope in the Republican Party, Tea Party or anyone else. Instead, Graham, who heads up the international relief agency Samaritans Purse as well as the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, reinforced the importance of Christianity in America. Our only hope for this country is almighty God, said Graham, echoing themes of his evangelist father who became one of the most revered religious figures in the 20th century. The younger Graham refused to say whom he was voting for in 2016. Graham has embarked on a 50-state tour in the months leading up to the November presidential election to challenge Christians to live out their faith at home, in public and at the ballot box. South Carolinians who attended last Wednesdays huge Decision America tour made clear they too believed it was time for Christians to reassert themselves in the public square. Ron Ethridge, a member of First Baptist in Lexington, said he was in attendance to heal America. Im here to pray for the country, he said. Weve had eight years of mess. Annette Willette, another fan of Graham, agreed. Im hear to praise the Lord, she said. America is on a destructive path because the people have forgotten God. William Temple, a supporter of Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, said he was there to support Dr. Graham and his call to Christians. He also attributed Americas obsession with sin to popular media. Hell is just a click away, he said. In September and October, Justice Antonin Scalia told audiences at two different law schools that it would not surprise him if the death penalty were ruled unconstitutional while he was still on the court. Scalia noted Justice Stephen Breyer's recent dissent in Glossip v. Gross, a case in which Breyer said the court should consider the issue of whether the Eighth Amendment requires an end to capital punishment in America. Scalia had previously identified himself as the fifth vote on a court divided four to four on the issue. He could not have known that his sudden death a few months later might be the vehicle for that very eventuality. All of the Republican candidates can be expected to nominate a candidate for the Supreme Court who will follow Scalia's lead in upholding the constitutionality of capital punishment. Of the remaining presidential candidates, only Bernie Sanders opposes the death penalty and can be counted on to appoint a Supreme Court candidate who would become the fifth vote to abolish capital punishment. It is less clear how Hillary Clinton -- a death penalty proponent -- would expect her nominee to answer the question, because no one has bothered to ask her. If Clinton wins, and nominated a candidate with a strong civil rights background, the death penalty will very likely be abolished. However, if a victorious Clinton nominates a former prosecutor, like Loretta Lynch or Eric Holder, it would likely mean the U.S. continues its ignominious membership in a dwindling group of backward nations that continue to execute their own citizens. Unfortunately, Hillary Clinton has a 20-year history of enacting criminal justice policy that exploits the public's fear of crime and invariably results in a racially disparate impact on poor minorities. The Clintons' championing of the 1994 Crime Bill (which contributed to the mass incarceration of poor minorities) and the 1996 Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (which raised procedural bars to claims of actual innocence) are both examples of the Clintons' pandering to the public's tough-on-crime sensibilities to achieve political ends. It reflects an approach to governing which is tinged -- some might even say poisoned -- by a tendency to choose political expediency over ethics and morality. This has been their pattern since their days in Arkansas. Earlier this week, Clinton made headlines for barking like a dog while telling a folksy story about her husband's early campaigns in Arkansas. The barking incident was an unintended reminder of the Clintons' involvement in the 1992 execution of a 250-pound lobotomized man-child named Ricky Ray Rector. A 1993 New Yorker article by Marshall Frady, "Death in Arkansas," described how Rector repetitively performed a little shuffle dance, and alternatingly giggled to himself like a child or barked like a dog, as he waited in his cell to be executed on Arkansas' death row. Bill Clinton, who was embroiled in a sex scandal that threatened to derail his presidential campaign, had returned to Arkansas to personally preside over Rector's execution. Christopher Hitchens described Rector as "a lumpen failure of a man" who, after killing a police officer turned the gun on himself, destroying a good portion of his brain in the process. Rector survived the suicide attempt as a different person with the mental faculties of a small child. Frady also described the frantic efforts of one of Rector's lawyers to reach Clinton on the day of the execution. Jeff Rosenzweig had grown up with Clinton in Hot Springs, Arkansas, where his father had been Clinton's pediatrician. When he finally reached Clinton late in the afternoon, Rosenzweig explained the severity of Rector's mental deficits. Executing Rector, Rosenzweig told Clinton, would be the equivalent of executing a child. Rosenzweig knew it was an uphill battle given the political pressure Clinton was under, but he hoped that his old friend "wouldn't want to be seen as merciless." Clinton wouldn't budge. The execution proceeded that evening after a one-hour delay, punctuated by Rector's loud groans, as prison officials struggled to find a usable vein. The medical team finally had to slash into his arm with a scalpel in order to find a vein capable of carrying the lethal chemicals into his massive body. Once the chemicals started to flow, it took Rector 19 minutes to die amid his intermittent gasps for air. Rector had been sacrificed on the altar of the Clintons' political ambitions; or, as Frady said one of Rector's earlier lawyers put it, "Poor ole Ricky Rector's timing just happened to be real bad." Speaking last week from his law office in Little Rock, Arkansas, Rosenzweig said the Clinton's decision to save the 1992 campaign by killing Rector "was certainly a Faustian bargain." Hillary Clinton's key decision-making role in her husband's 1992 campaign is well-documented, yet no one has ever bothered to ask her about the killing of Rector. It's about time someone did, and long before she's in a position to nominate someone to fill Scalia's seat on the U.S. Supreme Court. ----- Nat Hentoff is a nationally renowned authority on the First Amendment and the Bill of Rights. He is a member of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, and the Cato Institute, where he is a senior fellow. Nick Hentoff is a criminal defense and civil liberties attorney in New York City. "The World Trade Center came down during your brothers reign, remember that. Donald Trump practically bellowed these words during Feb. 13s Republican debate in Greenville, a week before South Carolinas First in the South primary. His statements were the culmination of a heated exchange with former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush about George W. Bushs presidency. Trump and Bush have since gone on to become political adversaries, publicly attacking one another during rallies and speeches. How did he keep us safe when the World Trade Center the World excuse me. I lost hundreds of friends. The World Trade Center came down during the reign of George Bush. He kept us safe? That is not safe, Trump said These comments attacking the Republicans last president proved to be controversial among party members. South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, who has endorsed Bush, went on ABCs Good Morning America two days later and expressed his displeasure. Thats something that really only comes from the kook part of America, Graham said, saying he didnt know what he would do if Trump became the Republican partys nominee. Trump would go on to spend the week leading up to the South Carolina Republican presidential primary rallying in cities all across the state, sometimes holding multiple on the same day. On Feb. 17, he began the day with a rally in Bluffton before moving to Walterboro and finally ending the night in Sumter. But there, a packed convention center filled with supporters and hundreds of veterans seemed to validate his bellicose stance. Most people, in fact, seemed to agree with him. His 9/11 comments were spot on. Bush 43s big problem was Osama (bin Laden) and Al Qaeda. They blew off the info briefing. I just have to laugh when people say he kept us safe, said Howard Wooldridge, a retired police detective and drug policy specialist from Washington. Thom Moore, 56, said, I like George Bush, I was in the military during that time frame, but still Trump was right. We dont need a nice guy in office. Donald Trump has attracted a large amount of veteran support including that of New Hampshire State Rep. Al Baldasaro, R-Rockingham, a retired 22-year Marine Corp veteran. Baldasaro says he speaks out whenever Trump needs help. Hes been speaking at Trump rallies in South Carolina leading up to the primary and says he understands Trumps comments on 9/11. To Donald Trump it was personal. He had friends that died. I took it personal because it was like America was under attack. I believe we dropped the ball, but George Bush did a great job, said Baldasaro. Trump added a new adversary this week. Pope Francis questioned Trumps status as a Christian because of his views on immigrations and his desire to build a wall between the United States and Mexico. Trump responded with a statement calling the Popes questioning of his faith disgraceful. Trumps controversial comments havent affected his position in South Carolina. Trump is currently leading the South Carolina Republican Primary polls with 35.2%, ahead of Ted Cruzs 19.1%, according to the Huffington Post. However, according to a NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, Trump has fallen behind Cruz for the first time nationally, with 26% to Cruzs 28%. Voting for the South Carolina Republican Primary opens at 7 a.m. on Saturday and closes at 7 p.m. About Me alok I am an avid Traveler a photographer, a Tech guy My Life is a Journey and the takeaways are the Memories and the warmth of your Smiles View my complete profile Issues of concern to people who live in the west: property rights, water rights, endangered species, livestock grazing, energy production, wilderness and western agriculture. Plus a few items on western history, western literature and the sport of rodeo... Frank DuBois served as the NM Secretary of Agriculture from 1988 to 2003. DuBois is a former legislative assistant to a U.S. Senator, a Deputy Assistant Secretary of Interior, and is the founder of the DuBois Rodeo Scholarship. We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking Accept, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. You won't see me coming.... Azerbaijan is developing a new model of Islamic banking, chief executive officer of B.EST Solutions Islamic finance consultancy, Islamic Financing consultant and member of the CIS Islamic Banking Advisory Council, Behnam Gurbanzada said. He made the remarks within the framework of the Commonwealth of Independent States Global Business Forum (CIS GBF 2016) in Dubai, according to the forums website. He said plans are afoot to introduce Islamic banking regulations in the country. He went on to add that while the workflow was not too fast in the past, in the current economic environment, there is a greater focus to bring real banking solutions with a focus on customers. Gurbanzada said Azerbaijan is developing a new model of Islamic banking, even as one commercial bank is all set to becoming fully Islamic. Last year, the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) allocated to Azerbaijan a grant of $200,000 to improve the legislative framework, which will form the basis for Islamic banking. /By Trend/ /By Azernews/ By Laman Ismayilova The Home-Museum of the outstanding Azerbaijani artist Sattar Bahlulzade has represented the first catalogue of his works titled "Caricatures of Sattar Bahlulzade", which were drawn during his work at Communist newspaper. The text of collection with a historic value belongs to the chief curator of the museum, PhD on art criticism, and member of the artist's family, Parzad Abdinova, the Museum said. Deputy Minister of Culture and Tourism Sevda Mammadaliyeva, honored art worker of Azerbaijan Ziyadkhan Aliyev and famous Azerbaijani artist Huseyn Haqverdiyev made speeches at the ceremony. Speakers told about Sattar's life and career, stressing his invaluable contribution to the development of national contemporary art. The visitors enjoyed incredibly beautiful art, once published in Communist newspaper. Laureate of the National Award and the founder of lyrical landscape in the fine arts of Azerbaijan, Sattar Bahlulzade was born in 1909 in the village of Amirjan, in about half an hour's drive east of Baku. Strong passion for art since childhood gave him the drive to began his professional education at the National Art Institute in Baku (1927-1931). Then, he began to work with Azim Azimzade at Communist. Bahlulzade entered in 1933 the department of graphic arts of Moscow Institute of Arts named after V. Surikov, where he studied in the workshops of famous Soviet graphic artist Vladimir Favorskiy. For the rest of his life, the artist felt the enormous influence of his teacher, who inspired a love of beauty in his student. The first personal exhibition of Bahlulzade was held in 1966 in Prague. It was the first personal exhibition of a soviet Azerbaijani artist in Europe. Many of his works include specific areas of Azerbaijan, for example, a series of landscapes dedicated to Guba area (in the north-east of Azerbaijan,): The Shore of Gudiyalchai, A Road to Gyz-Benevsha, The Valley of Gudiyalchai, and The Green Carpet. In 1940, Bahlulzade worked on his final project "Revolt of Babek", dealing with a great hero of the 7th-century struggling against the Arabic invasion. Bahlulzade died in 1947 due to the blood poisoning. Unlike other prominent art workers, he was laid to rest in his native village of Amirjan, next to his mother's grave. The 34th UNESCO General Assembly issued a resolution to mark the 100th anniversary of Sattar Bahlulzade in 2008-2009. Azerbaijan's first lady, President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, head of Azerbaijan-France interparliamentary friendship group Mehriban Aliyeva met on February 19 with a delegation led by Senator representing Upper Rhine department at the French Senate, member of the French-Caucasus friendship group Jean-Marie Bockel. At the meeting Mehriban Aliyeva said the French delegation's visit would contribute to the strengthening of relations between the two countries and development of inter-parliamentary cooperation. She hailed the bilateral cooperation in political, economic and humanitarian fields. The first lady praised the contribution of the French Senate members, Azerbaijan's friends in France and members of France-Azerbaijan friendship group to the development of cooperation between the two countries. The friendship group is aimed informing the French society about the Azerbaijani realities. I am happy that we have achieved a lot of success in recent years thanks to joint activity. Over these years twelve regions and cities of France and Azerbaijan have signed a number of documents on sistership and cooperation," said Mehriban Aliyeva. Noting that there was a French lyceum in Baku, she said an Azerbaijani-French university will open in the country this year. The president of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation emphasized that a series of events aimed at promoting Azerbaijan were held in France, and similar events will be held this year as well. Mehriban Aliyeva hailed the fact that apart from capital Baku, the French Senate delegation would visit Azerbaijani regions. During your visit to the regions you will meet with the people who have become refugees and IDPs as a result of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, she stressed. Mehriban Aliyeva said Azerbaijan has done its utmost to find a peaceful solution to the conflict for more than twenty years. The first lady expressed her disappointment that the negotiations have yielded no results. Mehriban Aliyeva said that the Azerbaijani government applauds France's support on this issue. "Our stance is clear. We have no territorial claims against any country. What we want is just the liberation of Azerbaijani territories and the return of refugees and internally displaced people to their native lands," said the first lady. She in particular underlined the activities of a strong Armenian lobby in France and their spreading false information about Azerbaijan. The friendship group's objective is to deliver truth to the French society," Mehriban Aliyeva emphasized. She thanked the French Senate members for their support on this issue. Jean-Marie Bockel praised the Azerbaijani first lady's contribution to the strengthening of relations between the two countries. /By Trend/ Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak may visit Iran in late February as part of the Russian-Iranian intergovernmental commission, a source in the Russian government told RIA Novosti. "The Russian energy minister may pay this visit," a source said. Earlier, the energy ministry has not confirmed the information about Novaks visit to Iran. Novak and representatives of Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and Qatar reached an agreement following the meeting in Doha February 16. The agreement was reached about the readiness to maintain oil production in 2016 on average at the level of January 2016 if other oil producers join this initiative. /By Trend/ A Kurdish militant group on Friday claimed responsibility for a suicide car bomb attack in the Turkish capital Ankara which killed 28 people, Milliyet newspaper reported. A terror attack was carried out in Ankara Feb. 17 near the buildings of the Turkish parliament, the general staff and a military dorm in the city. Commenting on the explosion Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said the explosion killed 28 and injured 61. Reports suggest that a car bomb was detonated. Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has said that the Syrian wing of the terrorist organization Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) - Syrian Kurdish Peoples Protection Units (YPG) stands behind the terrorist attack in Ankara. Earlier on Feb.17, Turkeys National Intelligence Organization (MIT) has warned the country of the possibility of new terrorist attacks. /By Trend/ US President Barack Obama discussed over the telephone the recent developments in war-torn Syria with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said in a briefing on Friday, Sputnik reported. Earlier on Friday, Erdogan said he would discuss with Obama the US stance on Syria's Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), which Ankara accuses of terrorism. "President Obama did telephone President Erdogan earlier today," Earnest stated. "The conversation between the two leaders did talk about the situation in Syria." /By Trend/ Snapshots in History: February 19: Remembering Celia Franca & the National Ballet of Canada On February 19 and beyond, take a moment to remember British-born Celia Franca (1921-2007) (aka Celia Franks), who almost single-handedly launched the National Ballet of Canada in 1951 by sheer determination and served as its artistic director for 24 years. Previously, Celia Franca studied dance at the Guildhall School of Music and the Royal Academy of Dance in the United Kingdom. She was recognized as one of the outstanding dramatic ballerinas at age 20 in the Sadlers Wells (later Royal) Ballet company based in the London borough of Islington. In 1947, Celia Franca joined the Metropolitan Ballet as a ballet mistress and soloist. Additionally, she began choreographing ballets for television for the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). In 1950, Canadian ballet enthusiasts asked Celia Franca to start a Canadian classical ballet company which she accomplished within 10 months while working as a file clerk at an Eatons department store. Hence, the National Ballet of Canada opened on November 12, 1951. Francas imaginative vision was often constrained by the desire and need to please audiences with conservative ballet tastes. Celia Franca and Nancy Elizabeth Betty Oliphant co-founded the National Ballet School of Canada in 1959, combining the elements of a mainstream education with a focus on ballet dancing. Franca retired from the National Ballet of Canada and moved to Ottawa, serving on the board of the Canada Council for the Arts. Celia Franca's awards included membership in the Order of Canada (member, 1967; companion, 1985), the Governor Generals Performing Arts Award (1994), the Molson Prize (1974) and the Canadian Council of the Arts Diplome d'honneur 1986. Consider the following titles from Toronto Public Library collections: Book - Also available in eBook format. Read the review from Macleans magazine. DVD Book Tetra Pak, the world leading packaging and processing solutions company, will once again be present at the Gulfood 2016, the worlds biggest annual food and hospitality show which opens tomorrow in Dubai. With its participation at this year's show, the global food processing and packaging company adds value as knowledge partner to over 400 customers in Greater Middle East & Africa region. Tetra Pak, under the theme The Difference, bringing innovation, value and leadership is set to welcome customers to the Connect Lounge, the companys platform for connecting and knowledge exchange at the show. Amar Zahid, the president, Greater Middle East & Africa (GME&A) for Tetra Pak, said: "Gulfood is an excellent opportunity for Tetra Pak to connect with customers attending the show. Our Connect Lounge provides an environment that allows us to highlight the latest market trends, innovations and technology." "We are continuously working with our customers to understand their challenges and to provide real solutions as well as insights to drive growth for their businesses," he added. Tetra Paks Knowledge Series seminars will take place at the Connect Lounge this year, and will include a number of key topics related to Tetra Pak customers businesses, said the company in a statement. With prior registration required, sessions include innovations in combating obesity, insights into food protection, package design and marketing best practice, the use of social media to drive business, operational cost reduction, and new products and innovations, it added. Having operated in The Greater Middle East & Africa, one of its biggest regions, for over 50 years, Tetra Pak has developed long-standing partnerships with over 400 leading food manufacturers. With a presence in 49 countries, 21 sales offices and five packaging material plants, the company has delivered 28 billion packages, primarily in juice and dairy product categories, to the region last year.-TradeArabia News Service Syria's opposition on Saturday said it had agreed to the "possibility" of a temporary truce, provided there were guarantees Damascus's allies including Russia would cease fire, sieges were lifted and aid deliveries allowed country-wide. Various factions "expressed agreement on the possibility of reaching a temporary truce deal, to be reached through international mediation," a statement from the High Negotiations Committee said. It said the United Nations must guarantee "holding Russia and Iran and sectarian militias ... to a halt to fighting". All sides should cease fire simultaneously and the government should release prisoners, it added.-Reuters Airline bookings to parts of Latin America and the Caribbean have slipped globally since a US public health agency warned pregnant women against travel to areas where the Zika virus is spreading, travel data analysis company ForwardKeys. Bookings to regions hit by the mosquito-borne virus fell some 3.4 percent from a year ago between Jan. 15, when the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a travel advisory, and Feb. 10, the report found. Before the warning, bookings were up 4.9 per cent during December and early January to the same destinations from a year ago, according to the report. A move by the World Health Organization (WHO) on Feb. 1 to call the Zika outbreak an international emergency appeared to accelerate the slide, with bookings plunging 10 percent between the WHO announcement and Feb. 10, the report found. The study, which analyzed around 14 million daily reservation transactions, provides early evidence of Zika's potentially broad impact on travel demand to certain Latin American countries. Scientists are investigating a potential link between Zika infections of pregnant women and more than 4,000 suspected cases in Brazil of microcephaly, a condition marked by abnormally small head size that can result in developmental problems. United Continental Holdings Inc declined to share information on its bookings. Other airlines with many flights to the region - American Airlines Group Inc, JetBlue Airways Corp, Delta Air Lines Inc and Latam Airlines Group SA - did not immediately return requests for comment. Reuters CHEYENNE Prosecutors plan to dismiss a manslaughter charge stemming from the death of a 6-month-old baby in Cheyenne. Laramie County District Attorney Jeremiah Sandburg announced his intention Friday to dismiss the charge against Tyler Child in the June death of Clayton Lemmons, who was the son of Child's then-girlfriend. Coroner Ron Sargent held an inquest earlier this month to let a jury decide the baby's manner and cause of death because the medical examiner who performed the autopsy listed it as undetermined. The three-person jury picked by Sargent also returned a unanimous verdict of undetermined. According to court documents, Child had been taking care of his girlfriend's children when he called 911 to report that the infant didn't appear to be breathing. KALISPELL, Mont. A Missoula-based film company has been cited for violating state fishing regulations and filming illegally in the Bob Marshall Wilderness. Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks says the company's owners and an associate were fined a total of about $6,000 as part of a plea agreement involving 38 state and 11 federal citations. Missoula Wild produced films that showed people illegally fishing for bull trout, a federally protected species. State citations were issued for intentionally fishing for bull trout in closed waters, failing to immediately release bull trout and failing to report a bull trout on a Fish, Wildlife and Parks Bull Trout Catch Card. The federal citations were for unlawful commercial filming on U.S. Forest Service lands without valid permits. CHEYENNE Schools hoping to see previously cut funds restored to their districts budgets got mixed signals from the Legislature on Friday. But that was enough to keep their hopes alive. Both the House and Senate debated amendments to restore some or all of the $45 million in proposed cuts to education funding over the next two years. Earlier, the Joint Appropriations Committee had agreed to a $15 million cut in the first year of the two-year budget and a $30 million cut in the second. The money would come from external cost adjustment funds. Those are used by districts to deal with costs of rising inflation and to pay for things like staff payroll, textbooks and other materials. The cuts would be 1 percent of the cost adjustment funds in year one and 2 percent in year two. The Senate rejected three separate amendments to restore that funding. But the House adopted one partial restoration amendment only to rescind it and adopt another that seeks to restore all $45 million. But it agreed to cut 14 percent of transportation funds. On the Senate side, Chris Rothfuss, D-Laramie, and Stan Cooper, R-Kemmerer, each tried to restore the cut funding. Rothfuss first amendment sought to divert the states 1 percent statutory mineral severance tax from the Permanent Land Fund into the School Foundation Program account instead. Rothfuss said his amendment would restore all of the $45 million cut. But that effort was defeated. So was a second Rothfuss amendment that sought to do something similar with the mineral severance tax, but only with the aim of giving schools one extra year to assess their budgets and prepare for future cuts. Coopers amendment, meanwhile, sought to reduce the cuts to the external cost adjustment to half a percent in year one and 1 percent in year two. It was defeated by a vote of 14-16. The amendments in the House had an easier time of it. The first amendment from Rep. David Northrup, R-Powell, sought to restore about $13 million of the cut funds. He included a requirement that the education and appropriations committees monitor school enrollment over the next year in case funding needs had to be adjusted further. That amendment passed, approaching 40 aye votes. But Rep. Steve Harshman, R-Casper, followed with his own amendment. He sought to delete Northrups amendment and replace it with a workaround: giving schools all $45 million in external cost adjustment funds and making up the difference by cutting their transportation budgets across the board instead. Harshman proposed that transportation budgets for the next two years be reduced to 86 percent of whatever their averages were for the past three years. Part of the reasoning behind the amendment was that gas prices have plummeted, and it would be easier for a district to drop a field trip or two rather than not buy textbooks. That amendment passed with 56 ayes and just 3 no votes (one representative was excused). Kathy Vetter, president of the Wyoming Education Association, said she had not seen Harshmans amendment coming. But she seemed pleasantly surprised at what it does. (External cost adjustment) funds go directly to students; its what funds the books, the classrooms, all of those things that directly touch students, Vetter said. This makes school districts have to think twice about transportation costs. But what this will do is ensure we have all the things we need to make sure students get a great education. With Harshmans amendment adopted by the House, it now will fall to the Senate to vote on whether to accept the idea. If the Senate cannot get a majority in support, both the House and Senate will select members to go into a conference committee to try to resolve their differences on the amendment. CHEYENNE The Wyoming Senate has voted down a bill that would have called on state voters to decide whether to amend the state constitution to recognize an individual right to privacy. The Senate voted 16-to-13 on Thursday evening against the joint resolution. The defeat followed a recommendation earlier this week from the Senate Appropriations Committee to kill the bill. The committee vote came after members heard from the state Secretary of State's Office that it would cost $45,000 to publish the proposed amendment around the state. The Legislature's Joint Corporations, Elections & Political Subdivisions Interim Committee had sponsored the proposed joint resolution. Supporters of the measure have said they're concerned new technologies such as automated license plate readers that track motorists threaten to erode individual privacy. Copper miners on both sides of the border are accusing parent company Grupo Mexico and its U.S. subsidiary, Asarco, of violating workers rights. A complaint was filed Thursday with the U.S. National Contact Point for the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development Guidelines on Multinational Enterprises, asking for mediation. The specific contents of the complaint are confidential, but the United Steel Workers and the National Union of Mine, Metal, Steel and Allied Workers of the Mexican Republic accuse Tucson-based Asarco of multiple unfair labor practices in the United States, including threatening workers, unlawfully implementing changes in workplace conditions, and failing to negotiate with the unions at the companys five U.S. facilities. More than 2,000 workers have been working at Asarcos copper mines and processing facilities under the terms and conditions of a labor agreement that expired in June 2013 but was extended until the parties terminated it in June 2015. Asarco has used intimidation, manipulation and discrimination to interfere with workers attempting to exercise their rights, USW International President Leo W. Gerard said in a statement. Companies like Grupo Mexico, and other multinational conglomerates that attempt to silence workers, are precisely the reason why international solidarity among labor unions is so important. Asarco officials did not respond to a request for comment Friday. The filing by the two unions comes as workers prepare to mark the 10th anniversary of an explosion at the Grupo Mexico mine at Pasta de Conchos in the state of Coahuila that killed 65 workers. The bodies of 63 miners remain trapped underground. Representatives of the USW will join Los Mineros members for a march this weekend in Mexico City to demand recovery of the bodies, compensation for the families of the victims, and prosecution of the responsible company and government officials. It is the latest allegation against the copper company in its years-long clash with workers. Last month, the National Labor Relations Board issued an amended complaint against Asarco alleging the company unlawfully implemented its last, best and final offer though bargaining had not reached a good-faith impasse. The NLRB charged that the company had refused to bargain collectively with the United Steelworkers and seven other unions, which have represented Asarco employees since 2007. Asarco was ordered to file a written response and a hearing on both complaints has been set for March 15 in Phoenix. Company officials have not publicly commented on the dispute. Episcopal church hosts workshop on addiction recovery The Episcopal Church of the Apostles, 12111 N. La Cholla Blvd. in Oro Valley, will host the workshop The Episcopal Church and Recovery: For Addicts or Their Loved Ones from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 20, according to press materials. The free workshop includes lunch. For more information, visit ovapostles.org or call 544-9660. Sacred Space hosts talk by Muslim feminist Khalidi Muslim feminist Rula Khalidi will present My Turbulent Journey Through Womens Rights in Islam at Sacred Space at 4:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 21, according to press materials. Music begins at 4:10 at the Ward 6 city council office, 3202 E. First St. For more information, visit sacredspacetucson.org. Church ordains new pastor Tucson Church of the Brethren, 2200 N. Dodge Blvd., will install the Rev. Nelda Clarke as its new pastor at 10:45 a.m. Sunday, Feb. 21. The Church of the Brethren ordained Clarke 38 years ago, according to press materials, and she previously ministered to the homeless in Minnesota. For more information, visit the church at tucsonchurchofthebrethren.com or call 327-5106. Freethought Arizona talk covers religion in an election season Freethought Arizona will hold a talk titled Fighting Against the Rise of Theocracy from 10 to 11:45 a.m. Sunday, Feb. 21. Neil Carter of Jackson, Mississippi, will speak at the DuVal Auditorium at Banner University Medical Center, 1501 N. Campbell Ave. about the attempts of presidential candidates to win the religious vote. Carter writes about life as skeptic in the Bible Belt and is a leader in several secular and humanist organizations. For more information about the free talk, visit freethought-az.org. Theology Uncorked to cover community building, solidarity Most Holy Trinity Parish, 1300 N. Greasewood Road, will host the next in its Theology Uncorked series from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Monday, Feb. 22. Jeffrey Odell Korgen, a social ministry consultant and writer from New Jersey, will discuss community building and solidarity, according to press materials. For more information, visit mostholytrinityparish.org or call 884-9021. Bishop to celebrate Mass at food bank Bishop Gerald Kicanas of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tucson will celebrate Mass at the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona, 3003 S. Country Club Road, at 10 a.m. Monday, Feb. 22, according to press materials. The Mass is part of the dioceses recognition of the Year of Mercy. For more information, visit diocesetucson.org or call 838-2500. Talk on Buddhism, Judaism and the Holocaust at JCC The Tucson Jewish Community Center, 3800 E. River Road, will host the lecture Why We Keep Going Back to Auschwitz-Birkenau: The Confluence of the Jewish, Buddhist and Human Experience. The Rev. Francisco Genkoji Paco Lugovina, a Buddhist priest, and Reb Shir Yaakov Feit, a Jewish musician, producer and teacher, both from New York, will speak from 6 to 9 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 25, according to press materials. For more information on the free talk, visit tucsonjcc.org or call 299-3000. Tanque Verde Lutheran to host womens retreat on boldness Tanque Verde Lutheran Church, 8625 E. Tanque Verde Road, will hold a womens retreat titled I Am She This Is What Bold Looks Like from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, Feb. 26, and 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 27. On Saturday, breakfast and lunch are provided. The retreat costs $35. When Jan OBrien redesigned the kitchen of her newly purchased Foothills home, she took a page from what has been a standard in modern bathrooms. She and her husband, Mike, each got their own cook top in the new, luxury kitchen where they can work their craft side-by-side, not unlike the two-sink bathroom where couples have long been able to make an area their own. My husband and I both cook so I chose to do two separate, two-burner cook tops that I spread apart so we could both stand there at the same time and work together, OBrien said. We had that at our old house and it was just a great thing. OBriens kitchen and the entire home will be on display for anyone interested during Desert Dwelling Design Week 2016, a three-day event March 4-6 put on by the Arizona South Chapter of the American Society of Interior Designers. The event is open to the public. There are admission charges to various sessions. The tour and panel discussion at OBriens home will be March 5. OBrien designs kitchens and baths as a business, so when it came time to do her own during a full remodel of her home, she had a pretty good idea what she wanted, what was available and where it all needed to go. When I design anyones kitchen I always put myself in the middle of it and I visualize how it will function, where I will put things, how it will look, she said, adding that in her kitchen she went for a lot of counter space, a lot of storage. I was really anxious for state-of-the-art appliances and I got it all. Jessica Herring, general manager at Monark Premium Appliance Co., 3850 W. Orange Grove Road, will lead the March 6 discussion on luxury kitchens. She said decisions in kitchen redesigns, in particular those going for the full-on luxury kitchen, revolve around cooking and all that goes with it. People are very interested in the cooking, Herring said. It seems that the dishwasher and refrigerator purchases are both very emotional purchases. The refrigerator is one of most touched things in the home so people spend a lot of time dissecting whats important in a refrigerator. But the thing thats driving (customers) kitchens is the cooking. How do you want to cook? Whats new in the market that you can cook with? Lately, OBrien said, that means cooking with gas. OBrien chose gas for the burners in her kitchen after a period of popularity for the smooth-surface cook top. She said there were a number of issues that developed with those over time, including discoloration, scratches, and the fact that to cook efficiently on them, cooks needed to have flat-bottom pans. Not all pans have flat bottoms, she pointed out. OBriens setup is four standard burners: two large ones and two smaller ones. But she said there are choices of modules that allow a cook to have whatever he or she needs. You can purchase an induction electric module. You can purchase a wok burner, she said. You can purchase a grill. Theres also a built-in steamer for the counter top. It really personalizes your selections and your choices. Like so much else in this generation, technology advances have revolutionized the kitchen to the point that computers and apps within various appliances do much of the thinking and take much of the guesswork out of cooking. Even if youre not a good cook there are products out there that can help you be a good cook, Herring said. A lot of appliances are computerized now. If you want to make a chicken, the oven walks you through it. What kind of chicken are you cooking? How many pieces of chicken are you cooking? How do you want that to come out? You can pre-program that and the oven is basically going to do it for you. Even regular everyday appliances have apps. And predictably, the new technology is threatening old technology. The convection steam oven price tag $2,400 to $5,000, according to Herring is driving the microwave oven toward the same retirement home as the rotary phone. OBrien has one in her new kitchen our favorite appliance, she said. It heats quickly but unlike the microwave oven, what it heats does not dry out. Its a technology that has long been in restaurants but has only been introduced to the residential market in the last three years or so, OBrien said. My clients who have purchased this are absolutely wild about it, she said. You can steam vegetables and they retain 100 percent of their nutrients. When youre heating leftovers, it tastes like you just made the stuff. In OBriens kitchen, the steam oven is the appliance above the oven where the microwave has been a staple for years. And her microwave? Its a $59 cheapy tucked away in a cabinet in a corner. Its not an appliance that anyone was ever really comfortable cooking with, she said. Its taking a back seat to our steam oven. A microwave kind of makes a leftover come out like a piece of tire tread. And the steam oven is like it was freshly baked. Another appliance that OBrien predicts is headed for the wayside, at least in luxury kitchens, is the one-piece refrigerator/freezer. OBriens kitchen features a built-in refrigerator next to the ovens. When the door is opened, it reveals a refrigerator that goes all the way to the floor. The freezer is a separate, built-in unit around the corner of the kitchen. When you talk about luxury kitchens youre normally talking about built-in appliances, she said. The future of built-in refrigeration is that they will all be separate modules. You no longer buy a one-piece refrigerator/freezer. In the end, OBrien said, building a functional luxury kitchen is about convenience and making the investment. For example, in her kitchen the dishwasher is across the aisle from the sturdy drawer where she keeps her dishes. Moving the dishes from the washer to the drawer is a reach and a hip turn instead of bending over to grab the dishes then standing up to put them in an upper cabinet. People want more convenience, OBrien said. They want more room for multiple cooks. They want a variety of counter heights for those multiple cooks. Its very much a living space. My husband is the cook in the family, bless his heart. Hes very happy in here. Middle school students gather around a table with artwork spread out over it, pencils and score sheets in hand. Oh wow. Thats a really great portrait, one student says. Mr. Hawes, can we see this one in not color? another asks. Artworks submitted by K-8 students are being graded on a scale from one to 10 for possible inclusion in the 20th edition of the Eagles Quill, a literary magazine run by students at St. Michaels Parish Day School. Each edition is full of poetry, stories and artwork created by students in all grades. The editorial staff consists of students in grades six through eight and two faculty advisers. The magazine is published each spring and distributed during the last week of school. Last years edition was given a superior ranking the highest from the National Council of Teachers of English, an organization dedicated to improving the teaching and learning of English and language arts, for the first time. The recognition draws praise from Alex Hawes, teacher and faculty adviser for the Eagles Quill. What I find most gratifying is that what I try to draw out of my students in class ... is recognized and valued, Hawes says. With an emphasis these days on fill-in-the-bubble tests and nonfiction analysis under Common Core, theres less space in many schools to celebrate the poetic and the beautiful. Weve committed ourselves to the fine arts and visual arts at St. Michaels, and Eagles Quill puts that on display to our families. Last years student editors, Kayla Conway and Macey Brown, both 14-year-old eighth graders, share the same sense of pride. I feel really accomplished, Conway says. Its nice knowing that something I participated in got a national award. Im very proud to go to a school that gets such high rankings for writing and art, Brown adds. Though it is the magazines superior ranking, it isnt the first time it has been recognized. I must admit as the day approaches each winter for NCTE to announce the contests winners, I do get butterflies, Hawes says. Having won recognition 10 years in a row now, it would be very disappointing to miss out ... so I do feel a great sense of relief when the envelope from NCTE delivers good news. Works for the upcoming issue have been submitted throughout the year. The magazine staff promotes monthly contests to encourage students to submit their writing and art. The current theme: May the Sci-Fi Be with You. Hawes projects an image on a screen. Does this go with a story? one student asks. Yes, but were gonna look at it for its own merit, Hawes replies. Each piece of work is judged individually, based on grade level. So, if its a kindergarteners piece, it is judged accordingly. At the beginning of the year, we give a lesson on criteria for judging art and writing, says Ann Hand, who founded the Eagles Quill, and is now a retired teacher and staff adviser. So, they have a background. It can be hard to pick favorite writings, says Madeline Greene, 13, co-editor of this years edition. Sometimes it can be really hard to decide, Greene says. Especially when its repetitive with the younger kids. But, some really stand out. This years art director, Aidan Romanoski, an 11-year-old sixth grader, has a system for picking his favorite art pieces. Note: This originally ran in "Tales from the Morgue" Feb. 19, 2009. Poitier will be 89 on Feb. 20, 2016. Sidney Poitier was 35 years old when he was in Tucson filming Lilies of the Field. That was in 1962. February 20, is his 82nd birthday. Poitier, who had very little schooling, described his first embarrassing attempt at acting and of the resolve it gave him to not only educate himself, but also to perfect his speech and to lose his Bahamian accent. He told a reporter I had to undo these things . . . I had to prove that I was a very special material. The Academy Award for Best Actor, which he received for his performance in Lilies of the Field, probably proved that. Using Sabino Canyon as the location, the movie was filmed in two weeks in late 1962. Two local actresses, Francesca Jarvis and Isa Crino were cast to play nuns in the movie which starred, along with Poitier, Viennese actress Lilia Skala. Poitier would return to Tucson at least two more times, both times to direct. In April 1980, Poitier was directing Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor in the wacky comedy about two jailbirds who participate in the prison rodeo. He also ended up entertaining and directing over 1,000 people who showed up at the Tucson Rodeo Grounds to be extras. The crowd had hoped to catch glimpses of the movies stars, but they were not on the set that day. In between directing the rodeo scenes, Poitier worked at firing up the crowd. A man is facing homicide and sexual assault charges after deputies responding to a burglary on Tucson's northwest side Friday morning found a man dead and a woman wounded. Steven Leska, 46, was arrested on suspicion of murder, domestic violence attempted murder, domestic violence kidnapping and domestic violence sexual assault, said Deputy Ryan Inglett, a Pima County Sheriff's Department spokesman. Leska was booked into the Pima County jail Friday night, Inglett said. At 9 a.m. Friday, deputies went to a house in the 1900 Block of West Harran Circle after a 911 call about a burglary that was occurring, said Inglett. The neighborhood is near West Orange Grove Road and North La Cholla Boulevard. When deputies arrived, they learned Leska forced his way into the home of a woman who he had a previous relationship with, said Inglett. Also in the home was James Kozar III, 50, said Inglett. Leska attacked the woman and Kozar, and Kozar was pronounced dead at the scene. The woman was taken to a hospital with non-life threatening injuries, Inglett said. Authorities did not release if a weapon was used in the crime. U.S. Marshals announced the arrest of Anthony E. Wideman, 54, and Julia C. Mitchell, 36, at the Grand Avenue Port of Entry in Nogales, Arizona in a statement released Saturday, February 20. Wideman and Mitchell are wanted for alleged manufacturing of methamphetamine and criminal damage after an explosion suspected to have been caused by meth cooking operations in Carterville, Georgia. More than 120 high school students, ranging from freshmen to seniors, visited 13 different manufacturing companies Friday as part of a career and technical education program. Pima County Youth Career Connects trains Southern Arizonas high school students in industrial technology. It sends them to two years of school at Pima Community College and sets them up with job training, according to Gerri Brunson, a coordinator for Arizona @ Work, the workforce solutions division of Pima County. The program is a partnership between Arizona @ Work, Joint Technical Education District, Pima Community College, Southern Arizona Manufacturing Partners and the Sunnyside and Tucson Unified school districts. The tours were intended to expose students to different types of jobs in manufacturing, Brunson said. Its going to help them really get insight and understand what that career might look like on the inside, she said. At Industrial Tool, Die and Engineering Inc. near South Alvernon Way and Interstate 10, Steve Richards, the companys director of quality, led a group of seven students from Desert View High School. Jesus Gil, an alumnus of Desert View and the Youth Career Connects program, and employee of the company, explained the workings of an electric discharge machine. Gil graduated from Desert View in 2013 and interned at the company through the program before being hired on as a full-time employee. I think I found what I want, he said of precision manufacturing. Gil is one of eight former interns that Industrial, Tool, Die and Engineering, Inc. has hired, said Don Theriault, the companys president and spokesman for the Southern Arizona Manufacturing Partners, a coalition of more than 30 industry groups. The manufacturing industry has not done a great job of training new talent in the past 25 years or so, he said. The manufacturing partnership wants to change that by being more involved in high school programs. Industry has to do a better job helping academia, he said. Iridian Monge, 16, was one of the students touring the company. The sophomore is currently enrolled in a drafting class, which typically precedes the precision manufacturing class. Its interesting how much goes into a part, she said after the tour. Ultimately, Monge said she wants to be an aeronautical engineer and possibly work for the NASA. But she plans on starting out with precision manufacturing. There arent too many other female students pursuing this career, she said. Desarae Stephens, 19, is another former intern and Desert View graduate who was hired at Industrial, Tool, Die and Engineering, Inc. She said she sometimes gets confused looks from male students in her college classes. Her advice to students like Monge: Dont give in to the intimidation. Stephens said she wants to encourage more women to pursue precision manufacturing. Girls are just as good, if not better, she said. U.S. Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick thought shed be talking about education and the economy during her visit to Tucson on Friday. However, the item that most people want to talk about is something that she has no control over as a member in the U.S. House of Representatives: replacing U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, who died last week at 79. It is a topic that puts the Flagstaff Democrat, who is running for the U.S. Senate, at odds with the man she hopes to face in the general election, Republican Sen. John McCain. I think the big question now is what is going to happen there with the opening of the court, Kirkpatrick said. The appointment should be delayed, McCain has said, because it should not be made during President Obamas last term. With less than a year left in a lame-duck presidency and the long-term balance of the Supreme Court at stake, Sen. McCain believes the American people should have a voice in the direction of the Supreme Court by electing a new president, said Julie Tarallo, McCains press secretary. The business before the court should not be held hostage, Kirkpatrick says. I am hoping that wiser, common-sense heads will prevail and that we will get an appointment, Kirkpatrick said. One issue Kirkpatrick is specifically concerned about is Obamas recent executive actions related to immigration reform. The legality of those actions are expected to be reviewed by the Supreme Court in coming months. Ultimately, I hope that the court will uphold those orders, she said. On Thursday, Kirkpatrick said the Senate race will be a race of contrasts, noting she has disagreed with the McCain on a number of issues, including the DREAM Act, the states controversial immigration law commonly known as SB 1070 and comprehensive immigration reform. While Kirkpatrick has her sights on McCain in the general election, fellow Democrat Leonard Clark has filed to challenge her for the partys nomination. There are several Republicans vying to challenge McCain for the GOP nomination, as well as several independent candidates. OPINION: "Pima Community College belongs to the entire Tucson community. The governing board is the communitys way to hold the college accountable and to steer the institution toward best serving the greatest number of people. Help secure the brightest future for our community college and join us in supporting Theresa Riel for the District 2 seat on the PCC Governing Board," writes Makyla Hays, president of the Pima Community College Education Association. Q: I experienced several mishaps when I was flying from Rome to Dallas on Lufthansa. Im trying to get a refund for part of the flight, and I hope you can help me. The segment between Frankfurt and Chicago was booked in premium economy. I went to the Lufthansa service counter at the Rome airport the day before my flight and inquired about an upgrade from premium economy to business class. The agent was most gracious and tried to find a special rate, but in the end could offer me only a fare difference upgrade of $1,800. I declined to upgrade. The next morning, when I arrived to check my baggage, the Lufthansa agent at the baggage counter told me that I didnt have a ticket. I had electronic boarding passes on my phone, but there was no ticket in the system. My feeling is that the agent at the service counter had canceled my ticket when I asked about the upgrade. Or perhaps the Lufthansa system did that automatically. In any case, I didnt have a ticket. I went back to the service counter and asked about my ticket. The agent again was most gracious, but told me that I couldnt have my original flights because there was no room available on the Frankfurt-to-Chicago leg. Instead, she booked me from Frankfurt to Dallas on a flight that didnt have premium economy. In addition, that booking didnt have my lactose-free/gluten-free meal request. I accepted the booking so I could travel that same day. I feel that I am due a partial refund, not only for the inconvenience of having a canceled ticket, but also for the inconvenience of having to fly economy. And the double inconvenience of not being able to eat any of the meals during the flights from Rome to Frankfurt and from Frankfurt to Dallas. Lufthansa is sending me form responses. Can you help? Elizabeth Bentley, Dallas A: Lufthansa should have reimbursed the difference between your premium economy and economy class seats. In reviewing the correspondence between you and the airline, its not clear why Lufthansa refused. Perhaps the airlines records suggest you canceled the return flight, in which case you would have to pay the going rate for a return flight and would be owed nothing. Its also possible that the airline meant to respond, but that the ball got dropped between Lufthansa and one of its codeshare partners, which may have been tasked with answering your complaint. What I didnt see when I reviewed your efforts was a brief, polite email to a Lufthansa customer-service executive. I list the names and numbers on my site: elliott.org/company-contacts/lufthansa-airlines. I believe, in your situation, an appeal would have made a difference. Clearly, your case got stuck in the bureaucracy. The paper trail you sent me was sketchy. In order to get more information, I needed to ask Lufthansa about your ticket, so I did. The airline acknowledged your complaint and promised to review it again. A representative contacted you and admitted that the airline had absolutely no idea what happened to your reservation. How refreshing for an airline to admit its shortcomings like that. The Tucson Theatre Announcements List is a monitored e-mail list. Notices from Tucson area theatre companies, filmmakers and others are forwarded to the list members. These notices include auditions, casting calls, openings and other announcements of interest to actors, directors, techies and theatre lovers in our community. This Blog contains an archive of recent posts to the list. For more information go to http://tucsonstage.com Help India! By TwoCircles.net Staff Reporter New Delhi: To publicly question the ban on Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) and demand its lifting the Muslim community launched a campaign by organizing a conference today at Constitution Club in New Delhi. It is the first time in the last eight years (SIMI was banned in September 2001) that the community has gathered courage to publicly question the ban. The community leaders have decided to build public opinion to put pressure on the central government to lift the ban. Support TwoCircles Inaugurating the conference Dr. S Q R Ilyas, editor Afkar-e-Milli and Convener of the daylong conference on Ban on SIMI: Why And For How Long, said: We are organizing this conference to demand the central government to lift the ban from SIMI as in the period of more than 8 years the government time and again has failed to provide even a single piece of evidence to justify the ban on SIMI. The ban on SIMI was unjustified and an attempt to malign the Muslim community in India in the name of so-called global war against terror, he added. Prominent community leader and Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid Fatehpuri, Mufti Mohd. Mukkaram, said: SIMI was banned to please some people and frighten the Muslim community. The ban on SIMI is unjustifiable and we oppose it. He appealed to the Muslim community leaders, organizations and all democratic organizations to raise their voice to declare SIMI a lawful organization. Maulana Arshad Farooqi, president, Markazi Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind, described the ban politically motivated. The ban on SIMI is politically motivated. The government banned the organization at the direction of some foreign forces, the maulana said. While commending the move to raise voice against the ban he hoped the voice of this program will go to the masses and government will be forced to lift the ban. Declaring the ban on SIMI undemocratic and contrary to the spirit of the Indian Constitution, Dr. Tasleem Rahmani, President, Muslim Political Council of India said, SIMI was banned because it wanted Indian government not to follow the dictation of imperial powers and it was raising voice against injustice. It is need of the hour to come and join hands to demand to lift the ban from SIMI because until we pressurize the government, they are not going to do it on their own, he added. Investigative reporter and editor-at-large, Tehelka weekly, Ajit Sahi who has done an extensive investigation into the cases related to SIMI said, The allegations are bogus and flimsy hence most of the accused have been released after trial. But what is very disturbing and alarming is that the entire project of so-called war against terror has created a sense of fear amongst Muslim masses especially youth. Moreover, it has created gulf between Muslim and non-Muslim citizens of this country, he added. To come out of this alarming situation, we have to initiate a process of dialogue amongst ordinary citizens and opinion building mechanism with policy makers, politicians and media persons at the earliest, he suggested. Noted civil rights activist Manisha Sethi, who also heads Jamia Teachers Solidarity Association, while expressing her solidarity with SIMI, said: We might not agree with the policies of SIMI or any other organization but everybody has the right to associate and practice on the lines of their belief and ideology. Questioning the ban she said, If anti-social and fascist organizations like RSS and its hundreds of offshoots, about whom commission after commission and report after report have proved their involvement in anti-social and communal activities especially crimes against minorities and women, can work freely, why not SIMI, about which allegations are yet to be proved? Narrating the experiences of communal witch hunt of Muslims in Kerala, Adv. Shahnawas of Minority Rights Watch India said, The Muslim in Kerala especially youth are being targeted on regular basis. Hundreds of youth have been arrested and tortured in last few years. Moreover, the police and IB officials are saying Kerala is becoming hub of terrorist activities, he added. Presiding over the conference, Dr. Zafarul Islam Khan, editor, Milli Gazatte urged the gathering to engage with media and start media initiatives. Today, media is the most important tool to win any struggle, he asserted. He also called upon organizations and all justice loving people to join this initiative. Leaders of other important Muslim organization like Jamaat e Islami Hind, Bharti Majlis spoke at the conference. The conference approved resolutions demanding, lifting ban on SIMI, Independent probe in all riots and disruptive acts during last ten years, Police and Judicial reforms, punishing police officers involved in fake encounters, custodial deaths, etc. Profile of SIMI SIMI was founded in Aligarh on April 25, 1977 as a students organisation to follow and propagate the path set by the Quran and Prophet Mohammad. SIMI first came to national attention in 1984 with a conference it organised in New Delhi to debate the challenges before Indias Muslims. The first criminal cases against SIMI began to surface in 1998 onwards. With the BJP-led NDA in power at the Centre and the BJP ruling Uttar Pradesh, security agencies began building a case against SIMI. By 2000, the Union Home Ministry had begun to say that SIMI was under its scanner for possible connections with Pakistani terror groups. In 2001, in the wake of the terror attacks in the United States on September 11, the Indian government banned SIMI on September 27, 2001, under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act 1967, for two years stating SIMIs involvement in anti-national and terrorists acts. The ban was renewed thrice. Each time, a tribunal constituted by the Centre upheld the ban after elaborate proceedings. But the fourth ban promulgated on February 8, 2008 was rejected by a tribunal headed by Delhi High Court judge Geeta Mittal on August 6 last year. The next day, however, the Central Government reached the Supreme Court and the apex court stayed the tribunals order. As the term of fourth ban is ending on coming February 7, it is feared the government will again ban the group for two years more. Thats why the community has risen up to raise voice against the ban. Help India! By TCN News, New Delhi: A delegation comprising of prominent Social Activist, Academicians and Journalists of Human Chain met Pranab Mukherjee, President of India and raised the issue of Minority Character of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), and Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI). Support TwoCircles Human Chain, an NGO that works for the upliftment of education in the society on Thursday met Pranab Mukherjee and expressed communitys concern over the change of stance by central government towards AMU and JMI. The group which was led by Mohammad Aslam Alig, President of Human Chain drew the attention of Mukherjee towards present Union governments stand, as expressed by the Attorney General before the Supreme Court on Jan 11, 2016, of not supporting the Minority character of the Aligarh Muslim University and withdrawing of an appeal filed by the UPA government against the Allahabad High Court judgment of 2006. Delegation discussed that according to AMU Amendment Act -1981, Section 2(L), University means the educational institution of their choice established by the Muslims of India which originated as the Mohammadan Anglo Oriental (MAO) College, Aligarh and which was subsequently incorporated as the AMU. Tauqueer Aslam told that the stand of NDA government also amounts to denying the minorities of their fundamental rights and goes against the declared policy of the Prime Minister Sabka Sath Sabka Vikas as without the educational advancement of Muslims, development of minorities will remain a distant dream. As also the backwardness of the largest minority in India adversely affects progress of the Nation. He also raised the issue of funds for all three AMU centers, especially AMU-Kishanganj center. Tauqueer Alam Jamei, Vice President of Human Chain said that minority character of AMU and JMI was not only a matter of education but also an advancement of the socially, economically backward section of Indian society, especially Muslims, hence please take all necessary steps to safeguard the Minority status of AMU and JMI. Pranab Mukherjee listened to the concerns raised by the delegation and said that he was well aware about the issue of Minority Character of AMU and JMI and that he would take necessary steps to restore the minority character of AMU and JMI. On delegations urging, he also provided assurance of releasing fund for all three AMU centers. In 2013, Human Chain had played a significant role between the government of Bihar and AMU administration for the establishment of AMU centre at Kishanganj. Help India! By TCN News, Patna (Bihar): A delegation of Aligarh Muslim University Old Boys Association (AMUOBA) Bihar chapter met Ramnath Kovind, the Governor of Bihar and urged him for restoration of Minority character of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU). Support TwoCircles On Friday the delegation that was headed by Dr. Arshad Haque, General Secretary AMUOBA submitted a memorandum to the Governor seeking his favour for the restoration of Minority status for AMU. We have received very positive response from Honble Governor as he had patiently listened our concerns and assured for his support, Haque said in a written statement. Haque also said, In numbers of enrolled students, after the state Uttar Pradesh, there is maximum strength of students from Bihar including large number of economically weak students. The group is now contemplating to meet Pranab Mukherjee and Narendra Modi in New Delhi, Haque further said. Help India! By TwoCircles.net Staff Reporter, Support TwoCircles Latur (Maharahstra): In an apparent display of anarchy, a Muslim policeman is beaten up badly and paraded in the streets by a mob in Pangaon town of Latur District in Maharashtra. On Friday morning at around 9 am ASI Shaikh Yunus Pashamiya, 56, was surrounded by 200 men and beaten up by sticks after he was asked to hold saffron flag, parade and dance. Maharashtra was celebrating Maratha warrior Shivajis birth anniversary on Friday due to which people were tying saffron flags in different areas. As per sources, on Friday Pashamiya had restricted some men from tying saffron flags in certain sensitive areas sighting orders from superiors but people got angry due to such opposition and warned him of consequences. Reportedly, Pashamiya was singled out from policemen and was beaten up brutally by the mob. Reports suggest that mob also tried to shave his beard off and was asked to make parade with saffron flag in his hands. Name of one local Chavan is making round on social media for being responsible of instigating the mob against Pashamiya. One local told TwoCircles.net on condition of anonymity that mob targeted Pashamiya even though he was standing with his colleague ASI K Awaskar. He is now recuperating at civil hospital in Latur. Family of Pashamiya could not be contacted for comment on the incident. Meanwhile, Imtiaz Jaleel, MIM MLA from Aurangabad of Maharashtra twitted Shocking: Muslim policeman beaten up/paraded on street with saffron flag in Latur village for doing his duty/ shame. Note:The incident occurred on Friday and not on Saturday as reported earlier. The above story is modified on February 22 at 6.54AM. Related: Traumatized family of Latur cop fears repeat attacks The Prosecutor General's Office has authorized the Investigations Directorate of the National Police's Main Department in Odesa region to re-investigate all the criminal cases related to fire and riots in Odesa on May 2, 2014, MP Oleksiy Honcharenko wrote on his Facebook account. "Two years after the best investigators of special cases haven't identified a single suspect, haven't determined a chain of events during the fire, haven't provided any answers to the most crucial questions. There are only rumors, guesses, and anti-Ukrainian speculations. It is a complete failure. Now this high profile case is taken on by Odesa police. New people will study the materials, probe into circumstances, examine witnesses, establish perpetrators, dig deep into evidence now, when two years after the events have passed," Honcharenko wrote. According to him, the transfer of the case from the Interior Ministry's Main Investigations Department to the regional police will be seen as a mocking reaction to the criticism of Ukraine's law enforcement agencies expressed by the Council of Europe in it report on the investigation in the Odesa tragic events. As reported, the International Advisory Panel concluded that the investigation into the Odesa May 2 events had failed to achieve considerable progress. The Panel listed a number of obstacles to the authorities' investigation into the circumstances of the crimes and identification of the perpetrators. As reported, 48 people were killed and over 200 were injured during civil riots in Odesa on May 2, 2014. Most of the victims were killed in a fire that broke out at the House of Trade Unions. The investigators established that the mass riots in Odesa had been organized and pre-planned. A number of Ukrainian law enforcement agencies have opened around 10 criminal proceedings on various counts of the Odesa May 2 events. In particular, the Interior Ministry's Main Department in Odesa region opened a few cases based on the reports of injuries and deaths of people during clashes between pro-Russian and pro-Ukrainian activists. Later these cases were passed on to the Ministry's Main Investigations Department in Odesa region. Some of them have already been brought to court. Besides, the Prosecutor's Office of Odesa region and the Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office are investigating actions of officials employed with the Main Department of Ukraine's Interior Ministry in Odesa region and the Main Department of Ukraine's State Emergency Situations Service in Odesa region during the events of May 2, 2014. One more pre-trial investigation in the relevant criminal case is conducted by Ukraine's Security Service in Odesa region. What is more, as of today, there are at least four court investigations into suspects of the Odesa May 2 crimes. Furthermore, Ukraine's Verkhovna Rada and Odesa Regional Council have initiated separate investigations of the Odesa tragedy. The Rada's investigation team concluded that it was a result of law enforcers' inaction, while Odesa Regional Council terminated its enquiry and disbanded a group of Council deputies in charge of it on grounds of the Council's failure to obtain necessary information from law enforcement agencies. Additionally, another enquiry is being carried out by the May 2 Group that includes journalists, activists, and a number of experts. For the time being, this is the only team that has made public the most complete and detailed information on the Odesa May 2 events, as well as their causes. In November 2015, the International Advisory Panel, probing the violent events in Odesa, published its report concluding that the investigation by Ukrainian authorities was inefficient. IMF head says China's economic restructuring `not a walk in the park' Updated: 2016-02-20 05:29 By AGENCIES(China Daily USA) International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde said on Friday that China's transition to a more consumer-driven economy "will not be a walk in the park" and will bring economic difficulties and turbulence, but that she believed Chinese leaders understood their influential place in the global economy as they make restructuring decisions. She also said she has urged Chinese leaders to communicate their policy intentions more clearly. "What is critical, for one, is a good and solid communication," Lagarde said. She made her comments to reporters after she was re-elected to a second five-year term as the crisis lender's leader. Lagarde said that G20 finance ministers and central bank governors should focus on global economic spillovers from their policy decisions when they meet in Shanghai on Feb 25 and 26. "The G20 I think, is going to have to focus on spillovers, on spillbacks and on the combination of various policies in play at the moment," she said. She said that at the moment, the "asynchronicity" of US, Japanese and European monetary policies needed to be reviewed and practices better coordinated. She also said that G20 ministers should examine the interactions of their countries' fiscal policies and structural reform moves. By better coordinating these policies, the major economies can improve market confidence and limit the spillovers on the rest of the IMF's 188 member countries, Lagarde said. "Are we in a 2009 moment, I don't think so. Are we in a moment where coordination is needed? Yes," she said, referring to the deepest part of the recent financial crisis and widespread recession. The former French finance minister, 60, was the only nominee as the IMF's chief for the five-year term starting July 5. She was re-elected by board consensus. Aussie scientists confident in stopping spread of Zika virus Updated: 2016-02-19 12:42 (Xinhua) CANBERRA - Australian scientists have moved a step closer to preventing the spread of Zika virus, after they exposed mosquitoes to bacterium that could limit the ability of the virus to be transmitted to humans. The "super-infected" mosquitoes were exposed to two strains of Wolbachia, a bacterium which traditionally reduces the risk of dengue fever spreading to humans, but scientists from the University of Melbourne have said new applications could help reduce the risk of humans contracting the Zika virus. Prof. Cameron Simmons from the university's Peter Doherty Institute said while the Wolbachia mix was proven in preventing the spread of dengue, it could be some time before researchers are able to restrict the spread of Zika, which has no known cure and has spread rapidly throughout South America and Asia. "(Zika) would be a higher hurdle for the virus to get over the top of," Simmons told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) on Friday. Testing the effectiveness of the Wolbachia is expected to take part in Latin America, Indonesia and Vietnam early next year, and Simmons said he expects the Wolbachia to perform similarly to how it does against dengue. He said laboratory evidence has suggested that Wolbachia could also slow the spread of other viruses carried by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, including chikungunya and yellow fever virus. Previous studies undertaken by the institute found the ability of a virus, in previous cases, dengue, to spread throughout the Wolbachia-infected insect's tissues was "limited". Simmons said the Wolbachia prevents the virus from passing through the mosquito's salivary glands, and therefore, prevents it from being spread to humans. "It's a dead end essentially for the virus," Simmons said. "The Wolbachia stops the mosquito being able to onward transmit the virus to a human host." UN chief to visit Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan Updated: 2016-02-20 05:15 (Xinhua) UNITED NATIONS -- UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will leave New York over the weekend for a visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and South Sudan, where dire humanitarian situation attracts global attention, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters here Friday. On Feb 23, the secretary-general will be in Goma, a city in eastern DRC, where he will visit people impacted by the insecurity and humanitarian crisis in the region, including those living in internally displaced persons (IDP) camps, Dujarric said at a daily news briefing here. He will then move to Kinshasa, the DRC capital, the next day for the opening session of the Great Lakes Private Sector Investment Conference. "He is also expected to meet with President Joseph Kabila and several government officials, as well as political and civil society representatives," said the spokesman. On Feb. 25, Ban will leave Kinshasa for Juba, the capital of South Sudan, where he will meet with President Salva Kiir and visit a Protection of Civilians' site of the UN Mission in the country (UNMISS). Please turn JavaScript on and reload the page. Loading... Checking your browser before accessing the website. This process is automatic. Your browser will redirect to your requested content shortly. Please wait a few seconds. About Company : Larsen & Toubro Limited, also known as L&T, is an Indian multinational conglomerate headquartered in Mumbai, Mahara... Just moments ago, Albert Woodfox, the last remaining member of the Angola 3 still behind bars, was released from prison 43 years and 10 months after he was first put in a 6x9 foot solitary cell for a crime he did not commit. After decades of costly litigation, Louisiana State officials have at last acted in the interest of justice and reached an agreement that brings a long overdue end to this nightmare. Albert has maintained his innocence at every step, and today, on his 69th birthday, he will finally begin a new phase of his life as a free man. In anticipation of his release this morning, Albert thanked his many supporters and added: "Although I was looking forward to proving my innocence at a new trial, concerns about my health and my age have caused me to resolve this case now and obtain my release with this no-contest plea to lesser charges. I hope the events of today will bring closure to many." Over the course of the past four decades, Albert's conviction was overturned three separate times for a host of constitutional violations including prosecutorial misconduct, inadequate defense, racial discrimination in the selection of the grand jury foreperson, and suppression of exculpatory evidence. On June 8th, 2015, Federal Judge James Brady ordered Albert's immediate release and barred the State from retrying Albert, an extraordinary ruling that he called "the only just remedy." A divided panel of the 5th Circuit Court of appeals reversed that order in November with the dissenting Judge arguing that "If ever a case justifiably could be considered to present 'exceptional circumstances' barring re-prosecution, this is that case." That ruling was on appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court when news of his release broke. On behalf of the Angola 3 - Albert Woodfox, Robert King, and in memory of Herman Wallace - we would like to sincerely thank all the organizations, activists, artists, legal experts, and other individuals who have so graciously given their time and talent to the Angola 3's extraordinary struggle for justice. This victory belongs to all of us and should motivate us to stand up and demand even more fervently that long-term solitary confinement be abolished, and all the innocent and wrongfully incarcerated be freed. For more information about the Angola 3, visit STATEMENT FROM THE LAWYERS FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 19, 2016 Contact: Laura Burstein, Albert Woodfox, Longest-Serving Solitary Confinement Prisoner, to be Freed from Prison After Four Decades Statements from Albert Woodfox - One of the 'Angola 3' - and Attorneys George Kendall and Katherine Kimpel February 19, 2016, West Feliciana, LA -- Albert Woodfox, who spent more time in solitary confinement than any prisoner in U.S. history, will be released this afternoon from custody after more than four decades in the Louisiana prison system. Mr. Woodfox, who turned 69 today, continues to maintain his innocence for the murder that sent him to solitary confinement for more than four decades. He pled no contest to two lesser crimes before being set free. "I want to thank my brother Michel for sticking with me all these years, and Robert King, who wrongly spent nearly 30 years in solitary. I could not have survived without their courageous support, along with the support of my dear friend Herman Wallace, who passed away in 2013," said Mr. Woodfox. "I also wish to thank the many members of the International Coalition to Free the Angola 3, Amnesty International, and the Roddick Foundation, all of whom supported me through this long struggle. Lastly, I thank William Sothern, Rob McDuff and my lawyers at Squire Patton Boggs and Sanford Heisler Kimpel for never giving up. Although I was looking forward to proving my innocence at a new trial, concerns about my health and my age have caused me to resolve this case now and obtain my release with this no-contest plea to lesser charges. I hope the events of today will bring closure to many." The extreme and cruel solitary confinement endured by Mr. Woodfox and his fellow prisoners, Herman Wallace and Robert King, known as the "Angola 3," drew international condemnation. The unnecessary and inhumane use of solitary confinement was particularly stark in light of Mr. Woodfox's exemplary conduct record for decades. In fact, in the midst of litigation, the Wardens of both institutions where Mr. Woodfox was held in solitary confinement admitted that he had exemplary conduct records. "Although we are overjoyed that Albert Woodfox is finally free, it is indefensible he was forced to endure decade after decade in harsh solitary confinement conditions, longer than any prisoner in the history of the United States," stated George Kendall, attorney with Squire Patton Boggs, LLP. "Albert survived the extreme and cruel punishment of 40 plus years in solitary confinement only because of his extraordinary strength and character. These inhumane practices must stop. We hope the Louisiana Department of Corrections will reform and greatly limit its use of solitary confinement as have an increasing number of jurisdictions around the country." Mr. Woodfox and Mr. King, along with Mr. Wallace, brought a civil lawsuit in 2000, challenging the constitutionality of the State of Louisiana's use of indefinite solitary confinement. Mr. Woodfox and Mr. King confirmed that a primary goal of the ongoing litigation is to help bring light to the fact that there is no penological justification for how the State of Louisiana currently uses solitary confinement and to create incentives for reform. As Mr. Woodfox explained, "I can now direct all my efforts to ending the barbarous use of solitary confinement and will continue my work on that issue here in the free world." Their case, which is pending, is supported by extensive reports from two nationally-recognized corrections experts. Those most recent experts' reports, from 2015, are publicly available and include extensive detail about the State system's failings ( "It is past time for our nation to leave behind its shameful legacy of being one of the only developed countries in the world that still relies so heavily on the outdated and ineffective corrections practice of indefinite solitary confinement," commented Katherine Kimpel, partner at Sanford Heisler Kimpel, LLP. "That Albert Woodfox served over four decades in solitary confinement shocks the conscience and is a national embarrassment. We should take advantage of the growing national consensus regarding corrections reform to ensure that, if our society were to be judged by entering our prisons, we would not be found lacking." Attorneys for Mr. Woodfox said he will now be able to receive the medical attention he desperately needs. If you would like to speak with attorneys for Mr. Woodfox or leading experts on solitary confinement conditions and reform, please contact Laura Burstein or Jamie Moss at Laura.Burstein@Squirepb.com, 201-788-0142. 'Angola 3' Case Background In 1972, Brent Miller, a young, white guard at Angola prison, was killed. At a time when Angola prison was highly racially polarized, investigators eventually honed in on four suspects who were politically active Black Panthers. Albert Woodfox and Herman Wallace were two of those men. No forensic or physical evidence linked Mr. Woodfox or Mr. Wallace to the crime, the fingerprints found at the scene, or the bloody knife found nearby. Several alibi witnesses placed both men in different parts of the prison and away from the scene of the crime at the time of the murder. Mr. Woodfox was originally convicted in 1973 of the murder solely on the testimony of three inmate witnesses. However, as Mr. Woodfox learned decades after his original trial, these inmates were provided attractive incentives by the prison officials for their testimony, including promises of improved housing and a pardon. State officials also suppressed inconsistent statements by these witnesses. Eventually, Mr. Woodfox's 1973 conviction was overturned because of discrimination in the selection of the grand jury that indicted him. He was retried in 1998. Despite the fact that two of the State's three inmate witnesses had died, and despite the fact that they never were adequately cross-examined because of evidence hidden by prison officials, their transcripts from the prior trial were admitted into evidence and Mr. Woodfox was again convicted. After many years of appeals, his 1998 conviction was set aside in later 2014 and he was recharged in 2015. His lawyers waged a vigorous campaign to exclude from any new trial the prior testimony of the deceased witnesses who never were adequately cross-examined. However, both the trial judge and the First Circuit Court of Appeal in Louisiana denied those motions, meaning that the prior statements would again be used against Mr. Woodfox at a new trial. Although Mr. Woodfox and his legal team remained optimistic about the possibility for an acquittal at a new trial, concerns about Mr. Woodfox's health mounted as he approached his 69th birthday. Mr. Woodfox decided to bring the case to a conclusion with today's action. His plea of "nolo contendere" or "no contest" to two lesser charges is not an admission of guilt. It means simply that he does not contest that the State would present evidence at a new trial from witnesses who said he committed this crime. Mr. Woodfox continues, as he always has, to maintain his innocence. ### Take a deep breath everyone,Just moments ago, Albert Woodfox, the last remaining member of the Angola 3 still behind bars, was released from prison 43 years and 10 months after he was first put in a 6x9 foot solitary cell for a crime he did not commit. After decades of costly litigation, Louisiana State officials have at last acted in the interest of justice and reached an agreement that brings a long overdue end to this nightmare. Albert has maintained his innocence at every step, and today, on his 69th birthday, he will finally begin a new phase of his life as a free man.In anticipation of his release this morning, Albert thanked his many supporters and added: "Although I was looking forward to proving my innocence at a new trial, concerns about my health and my age have caused me to resolve this case now and obtain my release with this no-contest plea to lesser charges. I hope the events of today will bring closure to many."Over the course of the past four decades, Albert's conviction was overturned three separate times for a host of constitutional violations including prosecutorial misconduct, inadequate defense, racial discrimination in the selection of the grand jury foreperson, and suppression of exculpatory evidence. On June 8th, 2015, Federal Judge James Brady ordered Albert's immediate release and barred the State from retrying Albert, an extraordinary ruling that he called "the only just remedy." A divided panel of the 5th Circuit Court of appeals reversed that order in November with the dissenting Judge arguing that "If ever a case justifiably could be considered to present 'exceptional circumstances' barring re-prosecution, this is that case." That ruling was on appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court when news of his release broke.On behalf of the Angola 3 - Albert Woodfox, Robert King, and in memory of Herman Wallace - we would like to sincerely thank all the organizations, activists, artists, legal experts, and other individuals who have so graciously given their time and talent to the Angola 3's extraordinary struggle for justice. This victory belongs to all of us and should motivate us to stand up and demand even more fervently that long-term solitary confinement be abolished, and all the innocent and wrongfully incarcerated be freed.For more information about the Angola 3, visit angola3.org Contact: Laura Burstein, laura.burstein@squirepb.com 202-626-6868 (o); 202-669-3411 (c)Statements from Albert Woodfox - One of the 'Angola 3' - and Attorneys George Kendall and Katherine KimpelFebruary 19, 2016, West Feliciana, LA -- Albert Woodfox, who spent more time in solitary confinement than any prisoner in U.S. history, will be released this afternoon from custody after more than four decades in the Louisiana prison system. Mr. Woodfox, who turned 69 today, continues to maintain his innocence for the murder that sent him to solitary confinement for more than four decades. He pled no contest to two lesser crimes before being set free."I want to thank my brother Michel for sticking with me all these years, and Robert King, who wrongly spent nearly 30 years in solitary. I could not have survived without their courageous support, along with the support of my dear friend Herman Wallace, who passed away in 2013," said Mr. Woodfox. "I also wish to thank the many members of the International Coalition to Free the Angola 3, Amnesty International, and the Roddick Foundation, all of whom supported me through this long struggle. Lastly, I thank William Sothern, Rob McDuff and my lawyers at Squire Patton Boggs and Sanford Heisler Kimpel for never giving up. Although I was looking forward to proving my innocence at a new trial, concerns about my health and my age have caused me to resolve this case now and obtain my release with this no-contest plea to lesser charges. I hope the events of today will bring closure to many."The extreme and cruel solitary confinement endured by Mr. Woodfox and his fellow prisoners, Herman Wallace and Robert King, known as the "Angola 3," drew international condemnation. The unnecessary and inhumane use of solitary confinement was particularly stark in light of Mr. Woodfox's exemplary conduct record for decades. In fact, in the midst of litigation, the Wardens of both institutions where Mr. Woodfox was held in solitary confinement admitted that he had exemplary conduct records."Although we are overjoyed that Albert Woodfox is finally free, it is indefensible he was forced to endure decade after decade in harsh solitary confinement conditions, longer than any prisoner in the history of the United States," stated George Kendall, attorney with Squire Patton Boggs, LLP. "Albert survived the extreme and cruel punishment of 40 plus years in solitary confinement only because of his extraordinary strength and character. These inhumane practices must stop. We hope the Louisiana Department of Corrections will reform and greatly limit its use of solitary confinement as have an increasing number of jurisdictions around the country."Mr. Woodfox and Mr. King, along with Mr. Wallace, brought a civil lawsuit in 2000, challenging the constitutionality of the State of Louisiana's use of indefinite solitary confinement. Mr. Woodfox and Mr. King confirmed that a primary goal of the ongoing litigation is to help bring light to the fact that there is no penological justification for how the State of Louisiana currently uses solitary confinement and to create incentives for reform. As Mr. Woodfox explained, "I can now direct all my efforts to ending the barbarous use of solitary confinement and will continue my work on that issue here in the free world."Their case, which is pending, is supported by extensive reports from two nationally-recognized corrections experts. Those most recent experts' reports, from 2015, are publicly available and include extensive detail about the State system's failings ( http://bit.ly/1PUqjiG http://bit.ly/1oNAfUv ). As a federal judge wrote, the extreme length of Mr. Wallace's and Mr. Woodfox's solitary confinement was "so far beyond the pale that this Court has not found anything even remotely comparable in the annals of American jurisprudence." See Wilkerson v. Stalder, No. 00-304 (M.D. La. Feb. 1, 2005) (Doc. No. 105 at 21)."It is past time for our nation to leave behind its shameful legacy of being one of the only developed countries in the world that still relies so heavily on the outdated and ineffective corrections practice of indefinite solitary confinement," commented Katherine Kimpel, partner at Sanford Heisler Kimpel, LLP. "That Albert Woodfox served over four decades in solitary confinement shocks the conscience and is a national embarrassment. We should take advantage of the growing national consensus regarding corrections reform to ensure that, if our society were to be judged by entering our prisons, we would not be found lacking."Attorneys for Mr. Woodfox said he will now be able to receive the medical attention he desperately needs.If you would like to speak with attorneys for Mr. Woodfox or leading experts on solitary confinement conditions and reform, please contact Laura Burstein or Jamie Moss at Laura.Burstein@Squirepb.com, 202-626-6868 (o), 202-669-3411 (c); or jamie@newspros.com In 1972, Brent Miller, a young, white guard at Angola prison, was killed. At a time when Angola prison was highly racially polarized, investigators eventually honed in on four suspects who were politically active Black Panthers. Albert Woodfox and Herman Wallace were two of those men. No forensic or physical evidence linked Mr. Woodfox or Mr. Wallace to the crime, the fingerprints found at the scene, or the bloody knife found nearby. Several alibi witnesses placed both men in different parts of the prison and away from the scene of the crime at the time of the murder.Mr. Woodfox was originally convicted in 1973 of the murder solely on the testimony of three inmate witnesses.However, as Mr. Woodfox learned decades after his original trial, these inmates were provided attractive incentives by the prison officials for their testimony, including promises of improved housing and a pardon. State officials also suppressed inconsistent statements by these witnesses.Eventually, Mr. Woodfox's 1973 conviction was overturned because of discrimination in the selection of the grand jury that indicted him. He was retried in 1998. Despite the fact that two of the State's three inmate witnesses had died, and despite the fact that they never were adequately cross-examined because of evidence hidden by prison officials, their transcripts from the prior trial were admitted into evidence and Mr. Woodfox was again convicted.After many years of appeals, his 1998 conviction was set aside in later 2014 and he was recharged in 2015. His lawyers waged a vigorous campaign to exclude from any new trial the prior testimony of the deceased witnesses who never were adequately cross-examined. However, both the trial judge and the First Circuit Court of Appeal in Louisiana denied those motions, meaning that the prior statements would again be used against Mr. Woodfox at a new trial.Although Mr. Woodfox and his legal team remained optimistic about the possibility for an acquittal at a new trial, concerns about Mr. Woodfox's health mounted as he approached his 69th birthday. Mr. Woodfox decided to bring the case to a conclusion with today's action. His plea of "nolo contendere" or "no contest" to two lesser charges is not an admission of guilt. It means simply that he does not contest that the State would present evidence at a new trial from witnesses who said he committed this crime. Mr. Woodfox continues, as he always has, to maintain his innocence.### Prime Minister Narendra Modi shakes hands with his Nepalese counterpart Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli during a ceremonial reception at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi on Thursday. PTI Photo Vijay Verma India and Nepal on Saturday signed nine agreements following delegation-level talks led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Nepalese counterpart K.P. Sharma Oli. These include agreements on utilisation of Indian grant of $250 million for post-earthquake reconstruction, improving of road infrastructure in Nepal's Terai area, cultural cooperation, transit between Nepal and Bagladesh through Kakarbitta-Banglabandh corridor, operationalisation of Vishakapatnam port and rail transport to and from Vishakapatnam. "India and Nepal exchange nine agreements for partnership and progress," external affairs ministry spokesman, Vikas Swarup tweeted. Read more from our special coverage on "NEPAL INDIA RELATION" Olis visit on Friday marks the first bilateral visit by a prime minister from the Himalayan nation since 2011 when Baburam Bhattarai visited India. Earlier on Saturday, Oli was accorded a ceremonial welcome at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, where he inspected a guard of honour. Following this, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj called on the visiting dignitary. During the meeting, Oli told Sushma Swaraj that India and Nepal have a natural and civilisational relationship, according to Swarup. In 2014, then Prime Minister Sushil Koirala visited India for the swearing-in ceremony of the Narendra Modi-led Democratic Alliance (NDA) government. In August 2014, Modi paid a bilateral visit to Nepal, the first by an Indian prime minister in 17 years. Modi again went in November 2014 for the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit in Kathmandu. Oli's visit assumes significance as ties between the two South Asian neighbours in the last few months soured after the adoption of a new constitution in the Himalayan nation sparked violent protests in the country's southern plains. India and Armenia today signed an agreement for cooperation in the sector. In this regard, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed by Minister Radha Mohan Singh and Armenian Minister Sergo Karapetyan here, which provides for setting up of a joint working group (JWG) and preparation of work plans in priority areas of farm sector. "The two ministers further identified cooperatives, cattle identification, agriculture machinery, plant breeding and exchange of agri-scientist and students as priority areas and resolved to constitute the JWG at the earliest to take the agreement forward," an official release said. They also emphasised on furthering relationships not only for catalysing trade and investment prospects but also sharing the knowledge that the two countries have accumulated over the years, it said. The Armenian minister also reiterated his country's support for India's claim to a permanent seat in UN Security Council, the statement added. The agreement is valid for five years and extendable beyond five years. Coroners tragic conclusion on mystery disappearance of teen backpacker A coroner has handed down her findings on the Belgian backpacker who disappeared almost without trace in an idyllic New South Wales tourist town more than three years ago. Jim Chalmers warns disaster floods will weigh on GDP growth Treasurer Jim Chalmers has revealed the "initial estimate" the recent flooding would have on the economy but warns costs associated could be "even more significant" ahead of his first federal budget on Tuesday. Limited value: Liberal Senator against royal commission into COVID Liberal Senator Jane Hume acknowledged the long-term effects of lockdowns and school shutdowns but said Australia fared well compared to other countries. Heavy rain, hail and more flood warnings for four states this weekend Millions of residents along the east coast have been told to brace for more wet weather this weekend, with warnings of large hailstones for Friday and severe thunderstorms bringing heavy rain to already flooded river systems. Here I will share my feelings about America and her Future. Let it be known to all the World, I love all Humankind, however the poor actions of the few that take away the Freedom's of the many wear on my soul. I don't hate them I feel sad for their foolishness before God and humankind. Those leaders who seek to 'Keep their Oaths of office' and those who seek only self glory, power, tyranny and the destruction of America as it was founded, hoping to turn it into a Dictatorship, Marxist or other state of Tyranny. For a long while I was unsure of putting a blog together with my thoughts on this, however Truth must be shared, if not to Awake American's to their dangerous situation then to record the folly of the ways of the wicked who do exist in the leadership of our Nation, States, Counties, Towns. Sad that I must add this page. "We often search for things in life, yet seldom do we find. Those things in life that really matter, until we make the time." S.T.Huls God Bless the Republic of America! DES MOINES The Iowa Economic Development Authority on Friday formally approved an expansion project for Monett, Mo.-based financial services firm Jack Henry & Associates Inc. in Cedar Falls and Des Moines. The companys proposed $580,000 capital investment includes relocating the Des Moines office to a larger facility, remodeling offices in Cedar Falls and Des Moines and purchasing equipment to accommodate growth. The project was awarded a $200,000 forgivable loan and $309,895 in tax incentives. It is expected to create 50 jobs at a qualifying wage of $26.72 per hour. Jack Henry has nearly 11,300 customers nationwide and internationally and markets its services and support through three primary brands, according to IEDA. Jack Henry acquired Cedar Falls-based Banno, formerly T8 Webware, operations in Cedar Falls and in Des Moines in 2014. Jack Henry now plans to invest about $17 million. Of that, $16 million will be put into research and development and another $1.6 million in building rent and tenant improvements in Cedar Falls and Des Moines along with computer hardware, software and furniture/fixtures, said Bob Seymour, interim planning and community services manager for Cedar Falls, when the project was announced last week. Seymour said the project will create 20 new jobs in Cedar Falls and 30 in Des Moines, with starting annual wages ranging from $60,000 to $110,000. A couple of years ago, we invested in the Banno headquarters there in Waterloo and Cedar Falls, and were seeing continued growth in that business, said Alan Pramann, senior tax accountant with Jack Henry in Lenexa, Kan. Were going to be adding additional people to work in that business. Were looking at about a three-year time frame. DECORAH | Drug charges are being filed after the Decorah Police Department used two K-9 units to search the Decorah High School on Friday. The search was conducted as the result of information obtained in an ongoing drug investigation and was not random, according to a news release from the Police Department. The K-9s detected the presence of illegal drugs in two lockers. John Jenkins, an 18-year-old student, was arrested for possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia as a result of the search. The investigation also concluded the presence of a controlled substance found connected to two juveniles who are being referred to Juvenile Court Services on charges. The Decorah Police Department was assisted by the Decorah High School staff, the Winneshiek County Sheriffs Office and K-9 unit, the Fayette County Sheriffs Office K-9 unit and the Winneshiek County Attorneys office. For years, the Decorah Community School District has worked in conjunction with local law enforcement agencies to promote student safety and well being while protecting student rights, Decorah High School Principal Kim Sheppard and Associate Principal Adam Riley wrote in a letter to parents distributed Friday. Today both entities worked in conjunction to have a trained drug dog perform a search of student lockers located in hallways and locker rooms to detect the presence of illegal substances. The searches were performed in a manner that complies with Iowa State Law and Iowa Supreme Court decisions. No person was or will be searched or sniffed by the drug dog. If the presence of illegal drugs is detected in any students locker during a search, high school administration and law enforcement officers will contact the student assigned to use the locker and the content of the students bag or purse will be searched. All searches will be conducted in a manner that respects students privacy and rights, in addition to following Iowa State Law, the letter continued. We hope this information will encourage a dialogue within your household to discourage the presence of illegal substances within our High School and continue to promote a safe and focused learning environment for our students and staff. If you have opinions about the subject matter of posts on this blog please share them. Do you have a story about how the system affects you at work school or home, or just in general? This is a place to share it. a blog about the world- however big or small it may be From Whiplash to The Grand Budapest Hotel to Carol, so many great, awards scooping (or, in the latter case, massively snubbed) movies begin their lives at film festivals, letting good word from the critics in attendance carry them from little-known prospects into absolute behemoths. All of those movies premiered months before their big theatrical release, meaning by the time audiences could actually see them it was already well established they were something special. But there's another side to the world of film festival hype; the movies that everyone's talking about for all the wrong reasons. You see, for every breakout hit there's a movie so utterly dreadful that it garners such dismissive reviews that distributors refuse to touch them, or those who over-zealously brought the rights sight-unseen suddenly become reluctant to show it to the real world based on all the negative buzz. Over the past year, there's been plenty of good from the festival circuit (Cannes alone saw the unveiling of Carol, Macbeth, Sicario and Son Of Saul), but an awful lot of bad, which, thankfully for most, has been spared a proper release exactly because it's so terrible. Here are the four movies from the run that were so bad they're unreleasable. William Shakespeare. The name may make you shudder with the memory of English classes, or revel in your passion for his works. For many, he is the greatest English writer of all time, at the least certainly the most well regarded by modern culture. People quote lines from plays they have never read and use words and phrases he created in everyday parlance, often without realising ("A laughing stock", "In stitches", "Vanish into thin air", and "Method in my madness" are just some examples from his works.) The BBCs 2002 poll of the 100 Greatest Britons placed him at number five between Charles Darwin and Isaac Newton, and yet there remain doubts as to who this man really was. Academics have been making cases since the 19th century suggesting that Shakespeare did not write the plays credited to him, that they were instead the work of one or a number of other writers at the time. The truth is, well, we don't know the truth. 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Photos of our students at work are published solely for the promotion of the Wisdom of the Hands program and Other uses are strictly prohibited and copyright will be enforced. Questions about Wisdom of the Hands can be addressed to A brief-yet-ongoing journal of all things Carmi. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll reach for your mouse to click back to Google. But you'll be intrigued. And you'll feel compelled to return following your next bowl of oatmeal. With brown sugar. And milk. If youre looking to try out an online casino, there are several things that will help you make a decision. Heres what you should look for when choosing an online casino Are they regulated? A lot of the larger ones have licenses issued by the authorities in their respective regions, so its worth checking this first. Do they offer games from different software providers? Some casinos just use one software provider and limit your selection. This is fine if you like playing those types of games but you may want to check other casinos as well. What does their payout percentage look like? The payout rate refers to how much money you can expect to win after every bet. A high payout rate means youll be able to play more often without having to worry about losing all your money. Its also important to know the minimum and maximum bets allowed on each game. If youre going to play roulette, for example, then you probably dont want a casino with a minimum bet of less than $2.50 or even lower than that. The players used to play the game slot online in the land based casinos in the past time. But now with time after the invention of the online casinos players play the game slot online. Online platform provide the players with the convenience in playing and even better winning. Even after keeping a good percentage of the profits, they distribute good funds to players. How many games do they offer? There are lots of different types of games to choose from. Roulette, blackjack and poker are some of the most popular options, but you might find slots, video pokers, video bingo and others as well. You can usually filter these games down to only show the ones that interest you best, so make sure that your list isnt too long! Is there a bonus offer? Many online casinos offer free bonuses as part of their welcome package which includes new players being awarded 100% up to $10 instantly, for example. These offers are great but not everyone has access to them all the time (and some require you to deposit real money). If youd prefer to avoid paying a fee, some casinos offer no-deposit bonuses where you can get a certain amount of funds before you need to put any actual money into the account. These are usually offered alongside welcome bonuses, so make sure you read both parts of the terms and conditions carefully before signing up. Does it offer live dealer games? Live dealers are much preferred by many over regular virtual versions, so it pays to check this option out too. Most online casinos now offer live dealer games in addition to their regular offerings, allowing you to experience the thrill of the real thing without needing to leave home. Now that youve got an idea of what to look for when choosing an online casino, heres some tips for making the right choice It really comes down to personal preference. No two people are exactly alike, so everyone has an opinion on what they like and dislike about each casino. That said, here are some things to consider in order to narrow down your choices Popularity. Check out reviews, forums and Facebook pages to see what other people think of the casino. Also, ask around at work or friends houses who they would recommend to you. You could always take a look at the casinos website too, to see what kind of information they provide about themselves. Reputation. Find out what the general public thinks about the casino. Check out any customer reviews on sites like Trustpilot, Amazon and Google Play to find out more. As far as gaming goes, you can also check out the Better Business Bureau to see whether there have been any complaints against the casino. Security. Make sure the casino uses SSL encryption to secure its transactions, meaning that your private data stays safe during transactions. Other than that, look for security seals on the site itself and verify that theyre legitimate. You can also check out the casinos privacy policy to see how they handle confidential information. Payment methods. Its good to have multiple payment options available, especially if you plan to play frequently. Its also nice to find a casino that accepts cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. If youre worried about safety, you can always opt for a credit card or PayPal instead. With all those criteria in mind, heres our top picks Betway: Betway is a relatively new UK casino offering online gambling to residents of the United Kingdom and European Union. They offer hundreds of games across both land based and digital platforms, with plenty of top software providers like Net Entertainment, Microgaming and Yggdrasil Gaming Network. With a generous welcome offer that gives players 100% up to 100, you really cant go wrong with Betway. Coral Casino: Coral Casino is operated by the same company that runs the famous Caribbean casino, Grand Reef. Like many casinos, Coral Casino offers a wide variety of games, including plenty of video slots and table games. New players can benefit from a huge 100% match bonus up to 1000, while existing customers enjoy 25% cash back on deposits made within 48 hours of opening an account. Ladbrokes Casino: Ladbrokes Casino is owned by the same company as the famous bookmaker that started life in 1921. With more than 500 games from leading software providers such as Amaya, NetEnt and Microgaming, you wont be disappointed by the quality of the games here. New players get a 200% match bonus up to 500, while existing customers can claim 35% cashback on their first three deposits. Paddy Power Casino: Paddy Power is another Irish-owned casino that operates throughout Europe. Not only does Paddy Power Casino offer traditional casino games like blackjack, roulette and slots, but it also provides a full range of sports betting, including football, tennis, boxing and horse racing. New players can receive a massive 100% match bonus up to 200, while existing customers can claim 35% cashback on their first three deposits. William Hill Casino: William Hill Casino is one of the biggest names in the industry, operating in Europe, Asia and North America. Founded in 1984, this online casino has more than 400 games to choose from, including slots and table games, with a wide array of software providers like WagerLogic, Big Time Gaming and Rival. Bonus: 100% Match Bonus up to 100 Register Now Betway: 100% Match Bonus up to 100 Claim Now Coral Casino: 25% Cash Back on Deposits Claim Now Ladbrokes Casino: 35% Cash Back on First 3 Deposits Claim Now Paddy Power Casino: 100% Match Bonus up to 200 Claim Now William Hill Casino: 100% Match Bonus up to 200 Claim Now If youre interested in trying out an online casino but arent quite ready to commit to one, why not try out one of the many no deposit casinos weve reviewed? You can test drive various casinos completely risk-free, so you can feel confident about your choice before you make a single penny deposit. Feb 19, 2016 | By Benedict In years gone by, life-size busts had to be made by a professional sculptor. They were therefore commissioned only by the rich and famous. How times have changed! Although hand-chiseled marble statues will still cost you a pretty penny, affordable and professional-looking alternatives, produced in completely new ways, can now be bought by anybody. The catalyst for change? Technology, of course. 3D scanners, 3D modeling software, and 3D printers have all contributed to the growing market for affordable 3D busts and statues. Visual data can be sourced with cheap hardware, processed with open source software, and crafted using a variety of mechanical and manual techniques, allowing average Joes like you and I to immortalize ourselves and our loved ones in plaster. Luckily for us, EGO3D is neither a group of Freudian psychoanalysts nor a Kanye West fan blog; it is rather one of Germanys leading manufacturers of affordable, personalized, 3D printed busts. Their products include life-size busts, miniature busts, and sculptures. Thanks to the companys fair pricing structure, anybody can order a 3D printed bust of themselves or their loved ones through the EGO3D online shop, with the digital sculptors promising a high quality and rapid delivery times. As well as customized products, EGO3D also has a catalogue of celebrity likenesses featuring busts of historical figures. Arthur Schopenhauer bust? Hed have been miserable about the whole idea, but sure, well take one. Fyodor Dostoyevsky bust? It would be a punishable crime not to order one of those. John Paul II bust? We dont need that one, but its still great that it exists. Perhaps the most thought-provoking offering within the category is EGO3Ds 3D printed Karl Marx bust: What would the revolutionary have thought of his head and shoulders being sold for profit? And would he have valued himself higher than 19.90? Unlike many 3D printing services, EGO3D does not require a 3D scan of its subject, which allows customers to place orders online with minimal effort. All that the German company requires to create its impressive likenesses is three photos from different angles: First, we optimize your photos for the calculation of the 3D model, EGO3D explains. Our self-developed software then generates a rough head from these photos. Once the rough 3D model has been generated, a member of the EGO3D team manually sculpts the digital image until a satisfactory likeness has been achieved. Our team of educated artists sculpt by hand the details, the essential features and hair, they explain. Here again, the intermediate result is compared with the customer's photos. This modeling is performed on the computer and uses highly specialized software. To produce the physical bust, EGO3D uses a special kind of 3D printer, which prints each bust in a mineral powder, similar in kind to those used in the automotive industry for prototype parts. The 3D printed busts are not fired, as is the case with clay or earthenware products, but are instead saturated with a hardening liquid. The result is a model as strong as porcelain, but much less fragile. Prices for the miniature customized busts start at 69.90, with the more luxurious life-size models costing as much as 1,500. Posted in 3D Printing Application Maybe you also like: Jackie ODonnell wrote at 12/16/2017 10:47:05 PM:How big are the miniature busts?Dilip wrote at 5/20/2016 2:49:12 AM:Can it be done with picture only,as have photograph of my late Dad.Thanks Feb 20, 2016 | By Kira Well leave it up to the experts in Hollywood to recreate the epic, gargantuan robot wars of films such as Transformers and Reel Steel, but if youve ever wanted to hold your own battle of the bots, you now can, thanks to Alex Czechs 3D printed BashBots Series. The latest in the series, the 3D printed BugBot, has just been released, and the STL files are available to download for free. Alex Czech is a 3D printing enthusiast hailing from Australia who seems to have a thing for creating cool 3D printed battle gear. Previously, he designed from scratch these awesome and functional 3D printed exoskeleton hands, inspired by Matt Damons futuristic suit in the film Elysium. Those hands were later extended into 3D printed exoskeleton arms, and eventually, he intends to build a complete, 3D printed exoskeleton body suit! The BashBot Series, on the other hand, consists of miniature 3D printed robots powered by standard and low-cost DC motors. The robots are Czechs take on the classic Bristlebot, one of the simplest and most popular forms of mobile robots. Simply put, its lower surface is covered in rigid, angled bristles that are made to vibrate by a simple, low-cost DC motor. The vibrating movement causes the bristles to move forward, and voila! Youve got a mobile 3D printed robot. In order to make your very own bristlebot at home, Czech has just released the free STL files for his version, called the BugBot. The BugBot was designed to be 3D printed in durable ABS plastic, with Czech using his Up Plus 2 3D printer to get the job done. There are three 3D printed parts (the motor housing, bristles, and dome-shaped protective cover), and additional parts include a DC Electric Mini Vibration Motor and an AA battery to power the whole thing. Some soldering is required for the assembly, however Czech has put together a very easy to follow manual complete with step-by-step images to make this project as easy and accessible as possible. Once youve mastered the BugBot, you might want to take a look at the other members of the BashBot family: the MilliBot and the BeetleBot. They use the same bristle-based concept, but are outfitted with an additional low-cost DC motor to power claw-shaped, spinning weapons. The rather epic YouTube video below shows a whole series of MilliBots, BeetleBots, and even a larger, modified spinning bot, pitted against each other in a purpose-built battle arena. Whirling claws collide, BeetleBots are overturned, and as more bots are added (and the bodies start piling up), the scene begins to take on a real gladiatorial feel. If you want to create your own 'Battle of the BashBots', the MilliBot and BeetleBots STL files are available to purchase via Czechs 3DPrintIt Sellfy page, for $0.99 and $1.99 respectively. Or get started with the fun and easy 3D printed BugBot model, which is available to download on Thingiverse entirely for free! Posted in 3D Printing Application Maybe you also like: Phillip Barron at The Quarterly Conversation: In an epistolary keynote address delivered this past June, poet Aaron Abeyta tells the Association of American University Presses perhaps we are all here to trace and collect words, to sow meaning; we collect that thing which people discard as ordinary and bring it to a page of life where it can flourish and be the map of human struggle and therefore an instruction as to how we can all survive. When I read his letter, I am interested in who we are. On one reading, Abeyta includes himself with the academic book publishers he addresses, thinking of writers and publishers collaborating to bring pages to life. On another reading, Abeyta identifies with his high school teacher who, to address his unruly classroom behavior, gave the freshman the key to the cabinet with seniors books. In the cabinet he found Truman Capotes In Cold Blood, learned that he would love books and their saving power, and discovered his own career path to university professor. On yet a third reading, perhaps Abeytas we speaks of writers and specifically poets. Writers are, after all, the ones who collect language, that which people discard as ordinary. The speaker in Scott T. Starbucks poem, Speaking to a Street Person about the Problem with North America, attends a house party where dancing and music rage on even while the house begins to burn. Smoke enters through door cracks and no one can hear the sirens because music and laughter are too loud for all except us dogs to hear. Once again, I am interested in the us. more here. Did Jamie Smith say he wanted to raise taxes as governor? In a new ad buy, the Noem campaign is alleging Smith said he wanted to raise taxes at a Sioux Falls Rotary meeting. It's not that simple. Since the last 4 years, Like OKs flagship show Savdhaan India has been on a mission to enable and empower each and every household in India against crime. This time around, the channel is all set to go on-ground to urge its viewers to come together to make sure their families are safe and secure with the launch of a unique initiative- Suraksha Utsav across different cities in India. The thought behind the event is to introduce every parent and kid to crucial safety measures with a view of empowering the children of the family. Suraksha Utsav will help you promise your kids safety for life. The first city in this journey is Lucknow. This open to all activity will be held on 21st February at Awadh High School, Gomtinagar. One of the unique highlights of the pre-event activities is the Safety Rangers Challenge being conducted across 15 top city schools in the city. The inter-school competition was launched with an interactive workshop in each school post which students were asked to submit their innovative ideas on what safety means to them. The shortlisted entries will become a part of a special exhibition on the main event day. In order to excite the entire city about the main event, the pre-event phase also includes an interactive and engaging mobile canter activity across the city, auto-rickshaw bhopu promotions along with conversations on Radio about the concept. The Utsav will have engaging demonstrations and games that provide interactive lessons on various aspects of safety. While one stall will train kids on how to suspect and dodge danger, the next stall will provide training on basic self-defense against an attack. Other demonstrations will include training on Fire safety, Earthquake protocol, Road safety, First aid and Helpline numbers. Along with the exhibition by school kids, college students will also perform street plays to drive the message home. Actors Sushant Singh, Divya Dutta along with IPS officer Navneet Sikera will be part of the event. Commenting on the initiative, Life OK spokesperson said Savdhaan India Suraksha Utsav is our initiative to take our relationship with the viewers to the next level. As a brand that celebrates the protector of the house, we are now going on ground to empower him/her to keep their families safe.. We plan to take Suraksha Utsav across the length and breadth of the country. Al Udeid shop operates most productive AF wheel, tire repair facility The 379th Expeditionary Maintenance Squadron operates the only wheel and tire repair facility in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility and the most productive facility in the Air Force. In the past year, the squadrons wheel and tire maintenance team produced 3,000 serviceable tires, more than any other Air Force wheel and tire shop. We average between eight and 10 tires a day, said Staff Sgt. James Mercatell, a 379th EMXS aerospace maintenance craftsman from Sebastian, Florida. There are days when weve received 25 tires, and we have the capability to turn 30 wheels and tires in a single day. Unserviceable wheels are pulled off aircraft and delivered to the shop. Once received, each wheel is broken down and inspected. A couple days ago we received 30 wheels and we had stuff everywhere, but we got every wheel and tire out, with 15 being completed in one shift, Mercatell said. We inspect everything to ensure each wheel is serviceable, and it can be reassembled safely and properly. Nearly 10 Airmen work in the wheel and tire repair facility. These Airmen look for anything that would make a wheel unserviceable such as cracks or signs of corrosion. The inspection is a thorough process and includes hand cleaning of every wheel, as well as an inspection by the 379th EMXS nondestructive inspection team to detect potential micro fractures, which are invisible to the human eye. As the only wheel and tire repair facility in the AOR, we disassemble, inspect and reassemble wheels and tires for any aircraft in the AOR, said Senior Airman Michael Dalleo, a 379th EMXS aerospace maintenance apprentice from Enfield, Connecticut. Dalleo said the work he does has an impact every day. I get to work on seven different aircraft, and I see the direct effect of what we do and how it supports operations, Dalleo said. I take great pride in knowing what we do enables missions across the AOR. Planes cant take off or land without tires. The 379th EMXS has enabled more than 20,000 sorties and more than 683 million pounds of fuel to be off-loaded in 2015. Because of the units dedicated mechanics, Al Udeid Air Bases KC-135 Stratotanker fleet was able to take-off from the base and fly more than 100,000 combat hours and perform more than 54,000 aerial fuel transfers. Having a hand in those accomplishments has special meaning for every one of his Airmen, Mercatell said. We provide a lot to the fight and we all understand the magnitude of what we do every day, Mercatell said. Thats why we carefully inspect each item. We want to make sure we support the fight so our planes can fly; if theyre not flying, then theyre not able to support our brothers and sisters in arms who need us. The best part of the job is knowing we support the fight, he added. We make a difference. The wheels we work on go on aircraft across the AOR and those aircraft fly missions to take out bad guys. Senior Master Sgt. Adam Otto, the 379th EMXS maintenance flight chief from Hastings, Michigan, said the dedication the Airmen in the wheel and tire section display is impressive. Most of the Airmen here have never worked together before and many have never worked in a wheel and tire shop, Otto said. They get trained, they come here and they come together to support the mission. We rely on them to become a cohesive team in a minimal amount of time. Theyre turning more tires than any other shop in the Air Force and they have the capability to produce up to 30 tires in a day, he continued. The work this team does is very important because without our aircraft flying, more people would be in harms way. Commentators also warn of the impact on existing property investors who, while still being able to make use of negative gearing tax breaks, may lose out when they sell their properties if the mooted changes depress the market and put off buyers. Worse off Modelling by tax accountant H & R Block of the impact of Labor's proposed changes indicate a taxpayer earning $220,000 a year, with two investment properties worth $450,000 and $550,000 each, would be about $19,000 worse off every year if these investments were made after July 1, 2017. "In such a scenario, many investors would probably exit the property market or put up the rent," says Mark Chapman, director of tax communications for H & R Block. And if the same taxpayer sold both properties under Labor's reduced capital gains tax regime (assuming they were bought after July 1, 2017 and held for at least 12 months) and derived a $250,000 capital gain, Australian Financial Review modelling using the ATO tax calculator indicates he or she could be liable for up to $46,000 in additional income tax in the year of divestment. What this does not take into account, though, is a Labor proposal that accumulated net rental losses can be offset against the capital gain. Impact of negative gearing if the changes go through Advertisement Analysts warn that for landlords left with a cashflow shortfall, it would not be as easy as just putting up the rent. As both economist Saul Eslake and housing analyst Louis Christopher have pointed out, rents are a factor of supply and demand. Investors who arbitrarily increase rents to make up the cashflow shortfall could risk losing tenants and be left with vacant properties. Such fears might spark a sell-off of investment properties, another trigger for prices to fall. At the same time, a reduction in the amount of rentable housing stock could create the conditions for rents to rise, as some have argued. "Negative gearing and the capital gains discount have not achieved their aim to boosting housing supply and encourage the building of more new homes," the Labor Party said in its tax reform announcement. The party argues its changes to negative gearing and CGT concessions would improve housing affordability, increase the supply of new homes and make home ownership accessible to first-home buyers. Clear message Federal Treasurer Scott Morrison has said the government will target "excessive" use of negative gearing, which has been interpreted to mean either restricting the number of properties that can be negatively geared in a portfolio or limiting the tax offset that can be claimed. Advertisement The Treasurer did not provide further details at his address to the National Press Club this week, but said again that "some changes" would be made to negative gearing. Overall, the message appears clear: changes to negative gearing, once the sacred cow of investing, are coming. Not surprisingly, the response from lobby groups like the Property Council and the Housing Industry Association has been damning. The key message is that Labor's proposal will reduce the attractiveness of property investment, which would affect housing supply, rents, construction activity, jobs and economic stability. "Two million Australians own an investment property and, of those, 1.2 million negatively gear," said the Property Council. "This policy will put rents at risk, risk jobs and make it so much harder for families to plan their economic futures." Among the fears is the distortions such sudden changes will have on the market and the mentality of property investors. For example, a rush to buy before an expected Labor win could result in a temporary surge in prices in sought-after markets like Sydney and Melbourne. Advertisement Speculating till the cows come home Tax Institute president Arthur Athanasiou says: "Any developer who takes the position that a Labor win is possible will be out there land banking greenfield sites in the middle of nowhere. They would be speculating till the cows come home." The Tax Institute, the peak body for tax education, is firmly opposed to Labor's plans, believing they will remove a key incentive to investment and create a rental crisis. More broadly, it believes any "piecemeal changes" to the tax system will create "distortions and deficiencies". In a statement this week, the institute said the debate about tax reform had dissipated into a "daily flurry of attention-grabbing headlines on isolated issues and a narrow discussion about choosing to reform one tax over another". "While we welcome appropriate cuts to income tax and have suggested ways negative gearing could be reformed, cherry-picking reform options without looking at the complete package doesn't assist the public to make an informed decision about tax reform," Athanasiou said. This is a view shared by the Reserve Bank of Australia, which in its submission to the Parliamentary Inquiry into Home Ownership last year said it believed there "is a case for reviewing negative gearing, but not in isolation". Advertisement Opponents of Labor's proposed changes argue that house prices would inevitably have to fall or rents increase (or both) to deliver a meaningful return to investors. Negative gearing which the Reserve Bank says gives investors the "ability to deduct legitimate expenses incurred in the course of earning income" offsets the pitiful net returns from rental income. Average gross yields on houses are just 3.4 per cent and 4.1 per cent for units, according to CoreLogic RP Data figures for the major capital city markets. Off-the-plan uncertainty According to buyer's agent Rich Harvey, another problem with Labor's policy is that investors overwhelmingly favour the better returns offered by existing dwellings rather than the uncertainty of buying off-the-plan. "It's really hard to find good-quality developments that stack up from an investment perspective," he says. BIS Shrapnel and associate forecaster Kim Hawtrey highlighted another complication while a negatively geared investor could buy a new apartment, the next buyer of the apartment could not, which would depress capital growth. It could also create the "us versus them" housing market disharmony highlighted by Yellow Brick Road chairman Mark Bouris, where some investors could still claim negative gearing tax breaks on their investments, but others who bought after July 1, 2017 could not. But others see positive benefits from Labor's proposals and have sought to debunk the myths around who really benefits from negative gearing and its impacts on rents and housing supply. Advertisement Writing on The Conversation website, the Grattan Institute's John Daley and Danielle Wood said while some investors may sell their properties if tax concessions are less generous, "every time an investor sells a property, a current renter buys it, so there is one less rental property and one less renter, and no change to the balance between supply and demand of rental properties". "Indeed, one of the benefits of changes to negative gearing is that it makes housing more accessible for first home buyers," they say. Others like prominent investor Peter Morgan liken negative gearing to a ponzi scheme that pours massive amounts of debt into the financial system. "At some stage negative gearing has got to go," he says. Budget repair necessary Another supporter of change is Daryl Browning, boss of $11 billion property fund manager and developer ISPT, who argues budget repair is necessary and that changes to negative gearing won't impact much on pricing because of grandfathering provisions, while driving investment into new housing. "It would be good to see money going into other sectors of the economy. We don't want Australia to become a one-horse pony just reliant on housing", Browning says. According to Australian Council of Social Services chief executive Cassandra Goldie public sentiment had shifted. "I think people - even those are doing well out of investing in existing real estate know it is at the expense of generations coming through, those that are locked out of the housing market." Cargolux and Oman Air are expanding their partnership with the addition of two weekly flights to Mumbai. The first service heads from Luxembourg to Bahrain before connecting with Mumbai, while the second flight goes from Luxembourg to Kuwait and then Muscat before heading to Mumbai. Oman Air chief operating officer Abdulrahman Al Busaidy said: Our product advantages include the carriage of project cargo, livestock, cargo aircraft-only freight, odd size cargo, vehicles and aircraft engines. And, importantly, the new service will make an even greater contribution to the development of Oman as a global cargo hub. Cargolux executive vice president sales & marketing Niek van der Weide added: With Indias growing importance as a manufacturing nation, we see a lot of future potential and possibilities for both our companies. The two carriers launched their partnership in April last year, which provided Cargolux with access to the Middle East airlines facilities in Muscat, Salalah and Sohar. Later, the two partners added flights to Chennai. The last few weeks have seen a lot of activity around Indias air cargo market as the countrys economy continues to grow while others flounder and logistics and transport firms look to capitalise on the development. Earlier this week, Quikjet launched a scheduled freighter service in the country. Share this story February 19, 2016 On at least three occasions Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tried to look into or promote the establishment of a casino in Israel. The first attempt took place during his first term as prime minister and then again in 2003 in his capacity as finance minister. The most recent attempt was made Feb. 17, when the premier set up a steering committee that would draw up a plan and prepare a bill for the establishment of a casino complex in the southern city of Eilat. Netanyahu and Yariv Levin, the tourism minister and the (future) steering committees chair, claim that a supervised casino complex in Eilat will save the southern resort city from economic collapse. As it turns out, over the past three months Levin has turned from a vehement detractor of the idea who had many cogent arguments against it into a staunch supporter. His change of heart came after delving into the issue and studying it, as he put it. To pre-empt his critics, Netanyahu announced ahead of time that his close associate, American casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, would not be investing in the Israeli casino. Hatched by Levin and broached at a meeting Netanyahu held earlier this week, the plan proposes to set up a gambling complex in Eilat, consisting of four casinos as well as hotels and restaurants. The idea is to create a tourist attraction primarily for foreign tourists. The law will restrict Israeli gamblers in terms of when they are allowed into the complex and how much money they can gamble. Yet nobody in the Knesset was really impressed with Netanyahu and Levins casino idea. The strong objection that immediately ensued from left and right from within the coalition as well as from the back seats of the opposition heralds the demise of Netanyahus current initiative. Similar to all its predecessors, this plan, too, is doomed to vanish into thin air. The reason is chiefly a political one. Netanyahu wont be able to cobble together a majority for a bill that the ultra-Orthodox parties and Orthodox HaBayit HaYehudi, which make up the core of his narrow coalition, see as a bullfighters red muleta. Nor can he rely on the opposition, where a secular and liberal party such as Meretz sees a casino as a dicey idea that runs counter to Israels values and the partys own worldview. We have always been opposed to a casino, and we always will be, Meretzs chairwoman Zehava Gal-On said. In fact, there are few issues in Israeli politics that practically elicit a consensus across the political spectrum right and left, religious and secular such as the broad opposition to casinos in Israel. It is for a reason that no party has ever raised the flag of the first Israeli casino in its election campaign, even though there are parties that openly talk about legalizing recreational drugs, including Meretz and Aleh Yarok (the Green Leaf Party). In an incisive post on his Facebook page, Naftali Bennett, the education minister and chairman of HaBayit HaYehudi, explained why his party would not support the establishment of a casino in Eilat. Israel is not Las Vegas, nor will it be. We will take action against the building of a casino in Israel. By my book, having a casino in Israel is wrong both morally and practically. It is morally wrong because it contradicts the values of our state. It serves the strong and weakens the weak. It is practically wrong because we are the ones who will have to pay for the damage such casinos will cause to the body and soul. In interviews with the media, Bennett further wondered, How can we raise here a generation of children on the idea that the way to achieve goals is through hard work, effort and creativity and not the easy way when their fathers spend their evenings at the gaming tables? Aryeh Deri, the chairman of the Mizrahi-ultra-Orthodox Shas Party, was also quick to declare, This wont fly. Casinos will only serve the tycoons and cause damage to the weaker walks of society. They were joined by Knesset members from other parties such as the ultra-Orthodox Yahadut HaTorah, Zionist Camp and Likud, including Haim Katz, the minister for welfare and social services. They all made it clear that they would oppose the establishment of a casino. Within hours, a spontaneous across-the-board blocking majority was formed against Netanyahus bizarre move. In fact, apart from Netanyahu and Levin, there was nobody in the government to defend the idea. Israelis have an ambivalent stand when it comes to casino gambling. On the one hand, many of them gamble in casinos abroad, especially the bustling ones in Varna and Bulgaria and the closer one in Taba, Egypt. In the early 2000s, casino boats off Israels territorial waters in Eilat were booming. Thousands of Israelis would spend long weekends there, leaving behind piles of money. In 1998, Israelis flocked to the Oasis casino in Jericho in the West Bank. However, when the second intifada broke out in 2000, the gambling era in the Palestinian Authority came to an end. The above notwithstanding, the fact that many Israelis spend time in casinos abroad as well as in local illegal gambling establishments does not reflect the way the majority of the public perceives casinos, namely as a source of trouble, crime, prostitution, social problems and a serious incentive for developing an addiction to gambling. According to a public opinion poll conducted Feb. 17 by Panels Politics for the Knesset TV channel after Netanyahu went public with his initiative, 65% of Israelis were opposed to establishing a casino. This is not a surprising figure for a society that is fundamentally conservative and made up of Arabs, ultra-Orthodox and many observant Jews. Furthermore, in recent years, Israelis have been attaching great importance to social issues. They perceive casinos to be a means of taking advantage of the weakest. They feel that by their own very nature, casinos are conducive to crime and especially beneficial to tycoons. Oren Hazan, a Likud Knesset member, ran a casino in Bulgaria before being elected to the Knesset. When that fact came to light, his image was seriously tarnished. It is no surprise, therefore, that it was Hazan who was one of the most vocal opponents to the idea of having a casino. He explained that of all people, he knows best how much evil such places can bring. Ive seen Israelis at the casinos in Bulgaria, totally losing their heads. One bad streak at the roulette table and your life is dashed in a heartbeat. Israeli society is not ready for this yet," he said. Though unquestionably a political thug, Hazan does, however, understand very well the popular Israeli spirit, mainly the one that is represented by the Likud: Israelis prefer to gamble abroad. Over the years, whenever the issue of the casino came up, even toward the end of the late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabins government, law enforcement agencies expressed their opposition. In 2008, the Knesset research center published a comprehensive document about the various aspects of having a casino in Israel. It presented objection from the police and Welfare Ministry, among others, due to the fact that gambling is conducive to serious offenses such as violence, property crimes, corruption and substance abuse. It therefore remains unclear what prompted the prime minister, who uses polls as a bellwether for almost everything, to come up with the idea at this time. He also failed to look into the political feasibility of that plan. It seems that he himself is aware of the fact that a government like his wont lend a hand to a casino. Its possible that all Netanyahu wanted was another spin in order to brush off the affairs of Meni Naftali, the former chief caretaker of his residence who recently won a lawsuit against Netanyahu, and the ongoing wave of terrorism, all the while demonstrating that there are still some consensual issues in Israel. That, too, can be counted as some kind of an achievement. February 19, 2016 It seems every time Egypt finds itself in a critical position in the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam negotiations, it rushes to announce the discovery of some new groundwater reserve. That happened in 2012 against the backdrop of the failed settlement with Ethiopia under then-Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi. At that time, the Egyptian Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation announced the discovery of an underground basin in the Qattara Depression enough water to support the cultivation of 260,000 acres of land. However, the details of the discovery still haven't been disclosed. Last month, Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation Hossam Maghazi announced the discovery of an underground basin in the Minya governorate, which he claimed covered the equivalent of 85% of Egypt's area. This "disclosure" embarrassed the Egyptian government after reports emerged that the ministry was actually talking about the already discovered and well-known Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System stretching from Egypt to Sudan, Libya and Chad. The news made the rounds on social media with statements from the public deriding the ministry and statements from water experts denouncing the governments misleading of the public. The ministry issued a statement 48 hours later confirming the miscommunication and said that what had actually been discovered was the main source feeding the underground basin. The statement added that drilling showed the surface reservoir and the Nubian aquifer are linked, which confirms accurate studies had been carried out, especially with regard to the available underground water. According to local media reports Jan. 18, Maghazi said a well has been established in the aquifer area, and the underground water rises to the surface from a depth of more than half a mile. This is proof of a massively deep reservoir, which is likely to become a promising source for the West Minya area, Maghazi said. He noted that a new drilling device, which the ministry procured for 1.5 million Egyptian pounds ($192,000), had been used for the first time. The device reveals the depth and quality of water and the reservoir's size without the need for exploration work. Haytham Awad, head of Alexandria University's irrigation and hydraulics department in the engineering faculty, told Al-Monitor that underground water quantities in Egypt are known and were officially and publicly estimated years ago. The underground water sources do not exceed 132 trillion gallons all over Egypt and they are mostly nonrenewable aquifers. A lot of areas in Egypt suffer from the deterioration of groundwater, he said. Awad added that the ministrys statement about the massive groundwater discovery is not scientifically proven. This was a technical discovery, and there was no need to [raise] the issue at the level of the public opinion, especially since this does not help Egypt in its negotiations with Ethiopia regarding [Egypt's] share of the Renaissance Dam from the Nile, he added. Nader Noureddine, a professor of water resources and irrigation in Cairo University's agriculture faculty, told Al-Monitor that the water minister wanted to shift public attention from his failed Renaissance Dam negotiations and distract it with hopes of new water sources in Egypt. The ministrys announcement came after Ethiopia refused to delay dam construction until impact studies are completed and rejected Egypts proposal to increase the number of dam gates to allow Egypts share of water to pass through. Noureddine said, Addis Ababa [Ethiopia's capital] has actually started the experimental storing of water behind the dam walls with more than 3 billion cubic meters [792 billion gallons] so far, which was announced in the local media. It will start generating energy and actual operation in June, while the Egyptian minister is still running from the truth in front of the Egyptian public, [trying] to distract people by misleading them. He added that statements made by the Ethiopian foreign minister clearly show Ethiopia will not commit to changing its plans. He believes Ethiopia will not make any concessions to Egypt, especially regarding its share of the Nile water. The plan to fill the dam is part of the construction plan and is not related to any agreements with Egypt. This does not bode well for Egypt, as Ethiopia will be using the Nile water based on its needs and not on the agreed shares of water. Noureddine also disputed the claims by some water ministry officials that a new drilling device was procured, as the ministry does not own any excavation company. A Chinese drilling company was in charge of excavation at the discovery site, and the companys official was standing next to the minister during the fake announcement of the new underground basin, according to Noureddine. February 19, 2016 The Palestinian academic community hopes to internationally shame Israel for its raids on universities and disruption of education in the West Bank. During the current uprising in the West Bank, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) stormed two Palestinian universities: Birzeit University near Ramallah on Jan. 11 and Al-Quds University at Abu Dis in East Jerusalem on Jan. 29. The IDF attacked the Birzeit student council building and left a great deal of havoc behind. They confiscated computers and destroyed furniture. They also seized office supplies and four student lockers. At Al-Quds University, the IDF raided the student blocs offices, tampered with their contents and confiscated computers. They broke into the Dawa and Fundamentals of Religion Faculty building, where they vandalized the students club and seized cultural activities and services materials and tools. In October, the IDF had conducted several successive incursions into Palestine Technical University at Kadoorie in Tulkarm. They clashed with students within the university premises and fired tear gas canisters and rubber bullets at them. That raid followed nearby, but off-university, clashes between young Palestinians and the IDF occurred near the Israeli Geshuri agrochemicals factory. The security forces tracked down the students involved in the incident. The Israeli army is attacking universities within the scope of an Israeli systematic scheme designed to eradicate the Palestinian identity and tame the Palestinian young generation's libertarianism by disrupting the educational process," Palestinian Minister of Education and Higher Education Sabri Saidam told Al-Monitor. In a Jan. 11 statement, the IDF said it raided Birzeit University to confiscate Hamas propaganda materials, calling the materials inflammatory. The Israeli army considers incitement to be the main reason behind the escalation of the current uprising. But Israels storming into university campuses raised questions among Palestinians about the protection procedures to be implemented and the role of the Palestinian government and civil society institutions in this matter, especially in the absence of a defense strategy for universities. Ghassan Khatib, vice president for development and communications at Birzeit University, told Al-Monitor, Palestine cannot have a strategy to defend and protect universities, as the Israeli army controls [the Palestinian] territories and can storm any institution in the city. There is no way to prevent Israeli forces from storming universities, but there are ways to make these forces pay for these violations. Khatib explained that Palestine will seek to obtain international and academic condemnation of Israels violations on the part of international academic institutions affiliated with the United Nations, such as UNESCO and the International Association of Universities, in the hope of boycotting Israel academically. This is not to mention the messages of solidarity from institutions affiliated with the Palestinian universities, especially as attacking university campuses is in direct conflict with international and ethical laws, according to Khatib. Imad Abu Kishek, president of Al-Quds University, told Al-Monitor, Al-Quds University called on all Palestinian universities and human rights institutions, including Al-Haq and Al Dameer organizations, to form a joint committee which is still under discussion to formulate a strategic vision and draw a roadmap to protect universities from intrusions through the legal frameworks. Saidam said, Palestinians are counting on exposing Israel before the international community and academic institutions to pressure it to stop its violations." He added, "We addressed international academic institutions, mainly UNESCO, and informed them about the Israeli attacks on universities and schools to ensure respect for the sanctity of education in Palestine." Although UNESCO did not take a stance against the raids, the Ministry of Education, the Palestinian government and its institutions have called upon Arab, Islamic and international universities to boycott Israel academically and to consider the storming of universities acts of terrorism. In light of the continuing attacks, [even] international efforts are not enough. This is why we decided to pursue a media policy to expose the Israeli transgressions before all international [organizations] visiting Palestine, Saidam said. "We are planning a meeting which has yet to be scheduled to be attended by consuls and representatives of foreign countries to view a documentary produced in cooperation with the Ministry of Information, revealing Israeli attacks on educational institutions," Saidam added. "We are also planning meetings with Palestinian human rights organizations to discuss ways to raise this issue at the regional and international levels. According to Khatib and Abu Kishek, Birzeit University and Al-Quds University have informed international academic institutions of Israels incursions and their impact on the educational process. These academic institutions have yet to respond. Al-Haq said in a Jan. 12 statement that universities are seen as civil properties and should not be attacked, as per the international humanitarian law, and that Israel "violated its legal obligations with regard to the Palestinians right to education." Amjad Barham, president of the Palestinian Federation of Unions of University Professors and Employees, told Al-Monitor, The attacks on the Palestinian universities is the main issue we decided to raise in the international and regional academic meetings that we will attend in order to exert pressure on Israel to stop its aggressions." Palestinians seem to be seeking to exploit Israel's attacks on academic institutions to expand the scope of a 15-year-old campaign for a comprehensive boycott of Israel economically and culturally. Birzeit's Khatib said, We called on international institutions to respond to Israels incursions into universities by joining the campaign for the academic boycott of Israel. This is a widespread international campaign, which we believe is an appropriate response to the continued Israeli violations. Saidam echoed the idea, "We seek to exploit these attacks in the campaign for the international boycott of Israel by providing information and statistics documented by our friends and supporters across the world. Israel has only itself to blame for this battle. George Giacaman, a member of the constituent body in the International Academic Boycott of Israel and associate professor of philosophy and cultural studies at Birzeit University, told Al-Monitor, We must face assault on universities by adopting several approaches, including exploiting assaults in the international boycott of Israel, which includes the academic boycott campaign. He mentioned other approaches, saying, Legal institutions and human rights organizations must shed light on these violations through the international media, which must be pressured to put these violations under the spotlight, as some lobbies are imposing strict censorship on Palestinian media outlets." More support is needed, Giacaman indicated. Some Palestinian embassies are not subject to accountability or assessment. Universities in Palestine and the Palestinian Liberation Organization-affiliated institutions are not deploying sufficient efforts to protect themselves, he said. The Israeli army had waged an extensive campaign against Palestinian universities in 2014 following the disappearance of three Israeli settlers in Hebron. In June 2014, Israeli forces raided Birzeit University and confiscated the contents of student blocs offices. The IDF also attacked the Palestine Polytechnic University building in Hebron and the building of the Arab American University of Jenin for the second time, as well as Al-Quds University in Abu Dis. In light of the Palestinian Authoritys inability to protect universities from Israeli army incursions, the international communitys condemnations and denunciations will not be enough to deter the Israeli army. These international condemnations, however, if coupled with an international boycott of Israel as Palestinians hope will surely affect the Israeli army. February 19, 2016 The car bomb attack that rocked Ankara Feb. 17 killed 28 people, most of them military personnel. About 100 others were wounded. The assailant was also killed. Three features of this attack were seen for the first time in Ankara. First, a moving vehicle was used for a suicide attack. Its location was also significant: 500 meters from the parliament, 300 meters from the headquarters of the chief of General Staff, 150 meters from the air force command and 100 meters to the quarters where generals reside. It was the first time military and civilian personnel working at the Chief of Staff offices and at air, naval and ground forces commands have been targeted. The question everyone is now asking is whether such an attack could be repeated there or in Istanbul and other major Turkish cities. In his statement early the next morning after the attack, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said in tough language that the Democratic Union Party (PYD), linked to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), was behind the attack and that concrete evidence of PYD responsibility will be shared with allied countries led by the United States. Then followed media reports that the perpetrator was Saleh Najjar, a Kurd from Hasakah, Syria. Najjar had legally entered Turkey as a refugee on July 8 and properly applied to the police and immigration offices, where he completed the routine formalities. He was photographed and fingerprinted. After receiving his foreigner identity number, Najjar lived in different cities but was not involved in any criminal activity and attracted no attention from the police and intelligence services. Following Davutoglu's damning statement, PYD leader Salih Muslim declared his organization didnt know the culprit and had no connection with him. Prominent PKK leader Cemil Bayik said his organization had no direct connection with the perpetrator and was not involved in the operation, adding, We dont know who did it, but it could be a revenge operation against massacres in Kurdistan. Though Ankara alleges the attack was carried out by the PKK-linked YPG, these denials contradict the PKKs usual practice of taking credit for its attacks. The speed of the prime ministers revelation of the attacker's identity became a major topic of debate over social media. Reports said 29 bodies had been found. As 20 of them were military personnel whose fingerprints were on file, they were identified quickly along with eight other civilians. Then the ninth body, said to be torn into 158 pieces, was identified as Najjar's by his fingerprints. Ankara insists that the YPG is behind the attack and that there is ample evidence. Nevertheless, many people are asking why the PYD, which has made impressive gains in northern Syria recently and has built good relations with the United States and Russia and a positive international image on its Islamic State (IS) struggle, would pursue an operation that could only hurt its interests. There are those who describe the attack as inspired by the PKK and under YPG influence but not directly ordered by the leaders of the two organizations. This narrative points to a situation that is going to make Ankara uncomfortable: We have to recognize that this attack was in retaliation to ongoing security operations in southeast Turkey and the artillery fire against YPG targets in the Afrin region. The PKK has been learning from fighting IS. One technique that the PKK has adapted well is the decision-making process for operations, allowing local cells to decide on their planning, execution and financing. This means we are facing autonomous cells that dont take direct orders from the PKK's upper echelons and that they plan their attacks by assessing the developments on the ground. Bayiks statement appears to support this thesis. While persistently denying any PKK link to the attack, he drew attention to youngsters who are capable of deciding by themselves and taking action in response to field developments. Bayik also said the PKK respects such decisions. This decentralization inside the PKK brought about by its involvement in Syria and combat against IS is something new. Previously, the PKK was known for its strict organizational discipline and absolute command structure. By embracing the rising trend of youth rebellion, the PKK is trying overcome the pressure it's under in Syria and southeast Turkey by transferring its operations to Ankara and the country's west. While putting pressure on Ankara with such low cost, low risk and highly effective operations, these autonomous cells do not endanger the PKKs growing international visibility and reputation. But the PKKs approach of franchising violence makes the war dirtier. The PKKs need to mitigate the pressure it's under in Syria and the southeast makes it difficult for it to grasp how dirty the war has become. Meanwhile, Ankara, isolated in Syria, is having problems explaining its views to the United States, other Western allies and the international public. Naturally, Ankaras blemished reputation and eroding persuasive powers are serving the PKK. Diplomatically, Ankara will keep trying to persuade the United States and the rest of the West that there is an organic link between the perpetrators and the YPG and that the YPG, under direct command of the PKK, was behind the attack. But Ankara still has the problem of persuading its allies about the Syrian issue. This time it is imperative for Ankara to take a stand with solid intelligence to back it up. Nevertheless, given the developments in Syria, it appears unlikely that the United States will change its attitude and terminate its cooperation with the PYD. What Ankara can do the on the ground is limited. About two hours after the Ankara bombing, at around 8:30 p.m. local time, Turkish planes struck a group of 60-70 people that included some senior PKK leaders in Iraqs Haftanin area. But it is almost impossible for Ankara to conduct such an operation against YPG targets in Syria because of the de facto no-fly zone Russia has imposed in the country's north. It is possible that the Turkish howitzer fire on YPG targets in Syria will be intensified and the border crossings between the PYD-controlled area and Turkey will be further restricted. Ankara is also likely to adopt an even tougher line in its operations in the southeast because of recent military casualties sustained in that area. In a nutshell, Ankara doesnt really have too many effective options. One must not ignore the ethical, sectarian, political and socio-economic fault lines that will deepen with Ankaras toughened approach to security. The real question Ankara must ask is why Turkey has become a country where acts of terror are so easy. February 19, 2016 Looking back at Turkeys failed peace process with the Kurds now that it has devolved into a bloody conflict also affecting Syria, the position of Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan is perhaps best summarized through something he conveyed to lawmakers from the Kurdish-dominated Peoples Democratic Party (HDP) during a March 2014 meeting on the prison island of Imrali, where he is serving a life sentence. According to minutes of his meetings with the HDP team that began in 2013 and ended April 5, 2015, Ocalan said, I have a family. My family 5 or 10 million people we rebelled. Now we want to make peace. How is this to be achieved? I want to give up the war. Do you agree? The minutes, since published as a book, indicate that the settlement talks were deadlocked, primarily because of the Democratic Union Party (PYD) and its accomplishments in neighboring northern Syria, or Rojava, as the Kurds call the area. The canton system established by the PYD appears to have prompted Turkey to reject Ocalans offer to give up the war. Speaking in parliament Feb. 16, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu slammed the Peoples Protection Units (YPG), the PYDs armed wing, for advancing to Azaz and openly threatened to strike it. If they approach Azaz again, well respond in the strongest fashion, Davutoglu said. If any attempt is made to use the [Menagh] airbase in the region against opposition forces or innocent civilians well render it unusable. Two days later, Ocalan, behind bars since 1999, was trending on Twitter under the hashtag Serok Apo, which means Chairman Apo in Kurdish. Why? The YPG had not only continued to advance in Rojava, but had captured the Minagh airbase that Davutoglu threatened to destroy and had reportedly renamed it Serok Apo. Within hours, Davutoglu was blaming the YPG for the deadly bomb attack in Ankara the day before, vowing a strong response. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also set out to convince the international community of the YPGs guilt, ignoring PYD and YPG denials of responsibility. Reuters soon reported that 2,000 armed Syrian rebels had crossed from Turkey into Syria, heading to Azaz as reinforcement against the YPG. Turkeys stance against Syria and the Kurds marks a dramatic return to the tensions of 17 years ago, when Ocalan was captured, with one major difference: Turkey today appears headed for a debacle. The chain of events that led to Ocalans capture began Sept. 16, 1998, when Turkeys land forces commander openly threatened Damascus in a speech near the Syrian border. Ill put it plainly: Neighbors like Syria are misinterpreting our goodwill, Gen. Atilla Ates said. Turkey has done what it takes for good neighborly relations. If Turkey fails to get the response it expects, it will be entitled to take all sorts of measures. Our patience is running out. The threat stemmed from the safe haven Ocalan enjoyed in Syria. Turkey wanted him kicked out immediately. Two weeks later, President Suleyman Demirel threatened military action. I declare once again before the world that we reserve our right to retaliate against Syria, which maintains its hostile attitude despite all our warnings and peaceful openings, and that our patience is about to run out, Demirel said. The pressure worked, and Ocalan left Syria on Oct. 9, 1998. He shuttled between Russia, Greece and Italy before ending up in Kenya, where a complex operation involving multiple actors landed him in Turkish custody on Feb. 15, 1999. This marked the beginning of a speedy recovery in Turkish-Syrian ties, which climaxed in September 2009, when Davutoglu, then foreign minister, and his Syrian counterpart, Walid Muallem, agreed to create the bilateral High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council. In the struggle against terrorism, we cooperate extensively with Syria today, just as we did in the past. The two countries are in full agreement on this issue, Davutoglu said at a joint press conference. So, how did the full agreement of 2009 devolve into a crisis in 2016? To better understand this turn of events, one must take a look at Ocalans vision of democratic autonomy. Seventeen years ago, Turkey had a clear objective to get Ocalan out of Syria. Mobilizing all its political, diplomatic and military might, it eventually managed to lock up Ocalan. Today, however, its threats toward Syria and Rojava rest on extremely ambiguous grounds. What exactly does Turkey want? To stop the YPG, which is part of the US-led international coalition, from advancing westward? To destroy the YPG, which it labels a terrorist group? To disrupt the canton system in Rojava? Given that Damascus itself is not fighting the YPG or opposing the cantons on its own soil, what justification does Turkey have for its opposition? Turkey, it seems, intends to use the Ankara bombing for the strong justification it needs. Although the YPG denies being responsible for the attack, Turkey appears to be readying for war on Rojava. In fact, Turkey is waging war against Rojavas democratic autonomy system, which the Syrian Kurds began building in July 2012 on theoretical grounds laid out by Ocalan. In the summer of 2015, the Kurdish movement in Turkey moved to declare democratic autonomy in several towns after Ankara terminated the settlement process and launched military operations against the PKK. The Rojava model is, in fact, the matured version of the model the Kurdish movement espouses for Turkey. Ocalans theoretical democratic autonomy framework has been embraced not only by the PYD in Syria, but also by the Kurdistan Party of Free Life (PJAK) in Iran and the Kurdistan Democratic Solution Party (PCDK) in Iraqi Kurdistan. Back in September 2011, before the YPG even existed, PYD leader Saleh Muslim told this reporter that the PYD wanted democratic autonomy from Damascus. Just like our brothers [in Turkey], we dont want to split but to live within the current borders but freely, he said. Ocalans writings are viewed as a road map by the Kurdish movement. Ocalan maintains that ethnic and religious groups in the Middle East should be entitled to self-determination under an autonomous, decentralized governance model on the condition that they remain subject to the borders of current states. He frequently likens this framework to the European Union model, stressing decentralized governance versus dictatorship. Since April of last year, Ocalan has been barred from having visitors. He had also been isolated in July 2012, when the foundations of the Rojava cantons were laid. This isolation is meant to prevent him from guiding his movement, but it has failed to diminish his clout among the Kurds. Ocalan is behind bars, but his ideas continue to sway events on the ground. The primary reason for Ankaras military operations since July, the rage of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the looming war can again be found in Ocalans words. According to the minutes, Ocalan said the following in February 2013: The AKP is after hegemony. We cant allow this to happen. ... I wont become an instrument to that. The AKP must not become hegemonic. This is my only condition. In short, Erdogans centralist vision and Ocalans decentralized approach are locked in a bitter war. Rojava and the besieged Kurdish settlements in Turkey are the battlefield of this war. February 18, 2016 It was not difficult to read the message behind the deadly Feb. 17 suicide bombing in Ankara: Terror can strike Turkey anywhere, at any time. The blast shook the heart of Ankara during rush hour, killing 28 people and injuring 61, some badly. Five shuttle buses carrying military personnel were hit by an explosives-laden vehicle as the convoy stopped at a traffic light. Twenty-seven of the victims have been identified as military personnel. While this was not the deadliest terrorist attack in Turkeys history, it was without a doubt the most spectacular, as the blast occurred only a few hundred yards from the military headquarters, parliament and other government offices. The attack is likely backlash from the violence in Syria, which has contributed to clashes between Kurdish militants and Turkish security forces in southeastern Turkey. It is also an outcome of Turkeys policies regarding Russia, the United States and the United Nations and above all, toward the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) and its armed wing, the People's Protection Units (YPG). Most recently, Syrian Kurds with Russian air support have made significant advances north of Aleppo, changing the power balance in Syria against Turkey. The YPG has also raised the hackles of the Turkish government by capturing the strategic Menagh air base from opposition elements, triggering intense Turkish shelling of the Syrian town of Azaz. Turkeys shelling of YPG targets was so effective that the UN Security Council felt obliged to express concern about Turkeys actions. Also, the US State Department, France and European Union foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini have all called on Turkey to stop. Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu was startlingly quick to blame the YPG. Less than half a day after the blast, Davutoglu announced the alleged assailant's name as Saleh Najjar, a Syrian Kurd and alleged YPG member who had been in Turkey since July 2014, when he entered as a refugee. The revelation was somewhat bizarre. Turkeys security establishment, while unable to prevent the massive terrorist attack, was able to identify the suspect with stunning speed. Some intelligence sources in Ankara believe the bombing could be an act by Syrian military intelligence, perhaps backed by Russia. After all, the explosion took place very close to the air force command, which could be taken as a message of retribution for Turkey's Nov. 24 downing of a Russian fighter jet. The rhetoric Davutoglu used while announcing the identity of the alleged bomber and blaming the YPG without question gave the impression that the Turkish government was trying to use the terrorist attack to legitimize its actions against the PYD/YPG in Syria. On the morning of the blast, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) again lashed out at the US administration, calling on it to decide who its ally is in this conflict, Turkey or the terrorist PYD/YPG. Immediately after blaming the YPG for the attack, Davutoglu said, After this, we hope our allies will see the YPG as the extension of the terrorist organization PKK. ... Those who see an organization that is the enemy of Turkey as friendly will lose Turkeys friendship." It took less than an hour for PYD leader Salih Muslim to reject Davutoglus claims. Muslim told international news agencies that his organization has no member by that name. The bomb might have been exploded to provoke military intervention in Syria. The bombing is part of the aggression started by the AKP. The AKP wants to complete its series of aggressions with a military intervention in Syria, Muslim told Istanbul-based independent news website T24. The YPG also denied the allegation, issuing a communique the same day. The group reiterated that it has never engaged in any military operation in any neighboring country or against anyone except terrorist groups that have attacked it, referring to IS and Jabhat al-Nusra, al-Qaedas affiliate in Syria. The YPG also accused the Turkish authorities of distorting the facts. These objections did not seem to impress Erdogan. According to him, everything was crystal clear: The YPG was behind the attack. Erdogan's persistent rhetoric aims to pressure the United States to make a clear choice between Ankara and Washington's Syrian Kurdish allies. Yet, much to Ankaras annoyance, Washington did not cave. All this controversy fueled talk of conspiracy among Turkeys Islamists. Passionate backers of Erdogan and people close to Davutoglu increasingly believe that the Islamist political power in Turkey faces an international struggle in which the United States and the West stand with Russia. They see the Syrian and Turkish Kurdish insurgency as evidence of a conspiracy. According to this mindset, to foil this plot, Turkey should militarily intervene in Syria and draw a line of defense around Aleppo. One of the most prominent advocates of this train of thought is Ibrahim Karagul, editor-in-chief of the pro-AKP Yeni Safak. On the day of the Ankara explosion, his column was headlined, Let us be frank, we are already at war. If we do not confront the war in Aleppo, if we prefer to meet the aggression coming from Kobani at Cizre tomorrow the war will be waged hundreds of kilometers inside Turkey, Karagul wrote. Thus, Turkey should repel the threats emanating from the PKK/PYD which has been transformed into an instrument of direct intervention and is no longer related to any sort of ethnic identity back into Syria itself and prevent that frontier from becoming a front line. It should give priority to those moves in the territories of Syria that would eradicate the threats from there. Erdogans son-in-law, Energy Minister Berat Albayrak, said the war is not only a defensive" one waged by Turkeys Islamist power-holders against the alleged international conspiracy. This fight also has a missionary connotation on behalf of all Muslims on behalf of the "ummah," or community. Today, Turkey is waging an existential war, a war for the future. And this war is not only for this country and this region; it is a war for the independence of the ummah, Albayrak said in a recent speech in Trabzon province. Given the mindset of Turkey's ideologically committed neophytes in power, it might not be surprising that a formidable NATO ally in that part of the world has become a free zone for terrorism that is striking not only the hearts of Turkeys cities, but also the souls of its citizens. February 19, 2016 The Feb. 19 airstrike on an apparent Islamic State (IS) training camp near Sabratha isnt the precursor to a sustained American air campaign in Libya, US officials have made clear. Instead, the pre-dawn bombing that killed some 40 suspected terrorists near the border with Tunisia appears to be better understood as a one-off operation aimed at protecting that fledgling democracy from militants who would plunge it into chaos. Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said the strike aimed to take out Tunisian national Noureddine Chouchane, a prime suspect in the 2015 attacks that killed 60 people in Tunis and Sousse, along with a camp where foreign fighters were training for possible external attacks on US interests in the region. I think this [attack] should be treated separately than the Libya issue, said Christopher Chivvis, the associate director of the International Security and Defense Policy Center at the Rand Corporation. I think this has much more to do with Tunisia than it does with Libya. The isolated compound that was destroyed by F-15 jets and unmanned aircraft, he said, is nothing like going after the thousands of [IS] fighters present in their Libyan stronghold of Sirte, hundreds of miles to the east. Obviously the United States is concerned about the stability of Tunisia and the impact that the terrorist attacks that took place last year can have on the Tunisia political system, which still remains the one shining light from the 2011 Arab uprisings, Chivvis told Al-Monitor. There are certainly a lot of countries that are interested in doing what we can to strengthen security in Tunisia, and this was an obvious attempt to step in that direction. One such country is Great Britain, which lost 30 of its citizens in the Sousse beach hotel attack in June 2015. British Defense Secretary Michael Fallon said he authorized US jets to use a British base to launch the attack. "I welcome this strike that has taken out a Daesh training camp being used to train terrorists to carry out attacks, Fallon told reporters. I was satisfied that its destruction makes us all safer, and I personally authorized the US use of our bases. The Tunisian Embassy in Washington did not have an immediate reaction, but Tunis in the past has expressed concern about Sabrathas emergence as a base for the Islamist group Ansar al-Sharia, according to The New York Times. Tellingly, reports from the ground said the US strikes killed dozens of Tunisians and Algerians, but apparently no Libyans, suggesting that the destroyed camp may have been used to train recruits to fight elsewhere in North Africa as well as in Europe. With thousands of young, disaffected Tunisians flocking to IS and similar groups, the United States and Tunisia have been rapidly expanding their counterterrorism cooperation. The Obama administration designated Tunisia as a major non-NATO ally eligible for enhanced military assistance during President Caid Essebsis visit last year, and US equipment will help monitor a newly completed obstacle system along the border with Libya. Hawkish lawmakers in Congress have been pushing the administration to open another front against IS in Libya, which National Intelligence Director James Clapper described as the terror groups fastest-growing affiliate in testimony to Congress earlier this month. We hope todays airstrikes signal the beginning of a new commitment by the Obama administration to put Libya at the center of a comprehensive strategy to defeat international jihadism, House Intelligence panel Chairman Devin Nunes, R-Calif., said in a statement. Thats unlikely to happen, however. Obama has turned down recommendations from several defense officials to target Sirte, the Daily Beast reported this week, preferring to first focus on settling the political crisis in Libya that has fueled the rise of the IS affiliate and other militant groups. And US officials did not contradict the impression that the Feb. 19 attack was anything more than a strike of opportunity against a dangerous terrorist leader. The parent tumor of [IS] is in Iraq and Syria, and that remains the primary focus for us," Cook told reporters at the Pentagon when pressed about whether the Sabratha strike represented a new chapter in the US campaign against IS in Libya. "As we see [IS] metastasize and spread to other parts of the world, we're going to continue to keep a very close eye on it, and when we feel the need to strike, we'll be prepared to do so using all of the tools at our disposal and obviously also working with our coalition partners." The Alabama Brewers Guild is confident a new bill will pass this legislative session allowing brewers to sell beer directly to customers for off-premise consumption. Senate Bill 211/House Bill 176 were introduced to lawmakers last week and mirror recommendations presented by the Alabama Alcoholic Beverage Study Commission in January. The Commission said small breweries and brewpubs that produce less than 60,000 barrels of beer per year should be able to sell up to 288 ounces in bottles, cans or growlers. Other recommendations include: Brewpubs would no longer have to be located in a historic building/site or economically distressed area. Brewpubs would not have to be located in a county where beer was brewed for public consumption prior to the ratification of the 18th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Brewers could directly deliver beer to charity functions, up to two kegs per event. "The next step is to pass HB176 out of the House and to get the Senate companion bill (SB211) through committee," said ABG Executive Director Dan Roberts. "These steps might happen as early as next week. We just have to work through the process." The Commission formed last year after ABG's direct sales legislation died in Montgomery without a vote. Members of the Commission traveled to Colorado and North Carolina in late 2015 to study their alcohol laws. Roberts said the Commission spent about 10 months studying the issue before developing a proposal that will "bring Alabama into a reasonable alignment with how the vast majority of states treat their craft brewers." "Virtually everyone in the industry - from the brewers to the ABC to wholesalers to retailers - are on board," he said. "Around 41 percent of the Legislature is sponsoring or cosponsoring it. The leadership wants to see this issue resolved." Melinda Sellers, a partner at Burr & Forman in Birmingham, has practiced alcohol regulatory law since 2006. She has worked with both wholesalers and manufacturers across the state and holds the title of Certified Cicerone. She spoke on several legal topics related to the brewing industry at the Craft Brewer's Conference from 2012-2015. Her husband, Michael Sellers, is a co-founder at Good People Brewing Co. in Birmingham. Sellers believes to-go sales will have a positive impact on the industry. "I do hear from both sides that they have reached a bill that both sides are comfortable with, so to me, that's a good thing," she said. "I'm glad that we're not in a state where one side is strongholding the other or that the bill is heavily opposed by some group." ABG commissioned a report from Jacksonville State University in early 2015 to determine how off-premise sales would affect Alabama's economy. The study found ABG's Brewery Jobs Bill would create 655 jobs, generate $12.3 million in tax revenue and create $100 million in total economic output within three to five years. Here's a quick breakdown of the study: 461 - Number of jobs without implementation 1,116 - Number of jobs with implementation $8,668,695 - Amount of tax revenue without implementation $21,039,976 - Amount of tax revenue with implementation $68,755,826 - Amount of economic output without implementation $169,725,865 - Amount of economic output with implementation Sellers said to-go sales would boost the state's tourism industry, especially for out-of-town visitors who can't easily buy products from a local restaurant, taproom or retail store. It will also allow breweries to grow their brands, she added. "If I can go in breweries in Tennessee and purchase that six-pack of beer and take it home with me to whatever other state, that's one more interaction with the tourist that we don't have in Alabama," she said. "So I'm glad that we're opening that door for them here." "Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Lyle Lovett and Vince Gill," a man said, stepping to the microphone at 7:37 p.m. on Friday night. And Lovett and Gill walked onto the Alabama Theater stage against no flashy backdrop, greeted by five of their guitars, two chairs, two monitors and two end tables. There was no opening act. There was no fanfare. There were only Lovett, Gill and a sold out Alabama Theater. Well, maybe it wasn't "sold out," but when the venue opened its doors at 6:30 p.m., only singles remained. Start here: what Lovett and Gill did in their "Songs & Stories" performance on Friday was vaudeville country. It was Hee-Haw for the new millennium. Lovett, the quirky Texan, slender and in a suit sat beside Gill, the Oklahoman, in flannel and jeans. And Lovett, he of the funnier songs, found himself the straight man to Gill's comedic giant. Gill - the man that penned "Go Rest High on That Mountain" and "Look At Us" found himself the Lou Costello to Lovett's Bud Abbott. Lovett began the two hour and twenty minute set with his "I've Been to Memphis," a tune which includes the line "I've been to Memphis, and Muscle Shoals. And I love a woman, What I don't know," an Alabama reference met with cheers. "I made my first trip to Birmingham in 1975," Lovett began at the song's conclusion. "There was a little club called Oak Street. It's probably not there anymore..." "Nope! It's not!" older audience members began to reminisce in the direction of the stage. "We may have put them under. But it's good to be back tonight." The evening's real genius began to shine on Gill's first song, "One More Last Chance," from the 1992 album "I Still Believe in You." Upon its' conclusion, Lovett asked, "Did it work out in that song? I feel like you left me hanging." "It did," Gill replied. "I'm proud to say that in a few weeks, I'll celebrate my 33rd year of marriage." The crowd began a slightly confused, but congratulatory applause. "Total," Gill added, to one of the evening's biggest laughs. It became a callback for the remainder of the evening, as Gill seemingly without intent, but likely so, mentioned playing music for 33 years later in the evening and was met with recalled laughter. That was the night. A flawless balance of Lovett's straight man to Gill's elaborate stories; impeccable timing of finding segue from melancholy to humor. Gill setup "Look at Us" by sharing its origin: a song that he had written with Max D. Barnes, the man that had written "Chiseled in Stone" for Vern Gosdin. "He had written 'Who's Gonna Fill Their Shoes?' with George Jones and 'Chiseled in Stone' for Vern Gosdin," he said. "And I heard that song and thought that's the saddest thing I've ever heard in my life. Except 'Old Shep.'" "Old Shep," he continued, was a folk song about a boy and his dog, a song in which the boy loved his dog and had to put it down when he got older. It was a song that Gill's father would sing to him as a child when Gill refused to sleep, begging to hear another song. Gill would retreat to his bedroom upon hearing his father's opening chords. "I've heard they don't play that at PETA rallies," he joked, to uproarious approval. "So I went to Max's place and he asked if I had anything and I played him something," Gill continued. "I thought, 'Man, he's gonna love this. He wrote 'Chiseled in Stone.'" But Barnes encouraged him to changed the ending of "Look at Us." "That's the saddest song I've ever heard," Gill recalled Barnes's response. "And I said, 'You wrote 'Chiseled in Stone.' That may be the second saddest song I've ever heard." "What's the first?" Barnes replied. "Old Shep." "Well, you may have a point." Barnes convinced Gill to rewrite the ending, and it became one of the latter's biggest hits. And as he finished the song, Lovett awaited applause to calm before interjecting, "Thirty-three years, huh? That's really something." The crowd laughed. A flawless balance. One that bled into Lovett's "Penguins," a song about penguins. One that lasted just 60 seconds, maybe less. "Your turn," Lovett ordered. "Well, this kind of relates to birds," said Gill. "I was given one," he continued as he held up his middle finger. Then he proceeded to share a tale of the first time he drove under the direction of his father. The tale concluded with how his father had made Gill promise to finish a song idea that he had before his death in 1997. "You'll be bigger than Elvis if you finish this song!" his dad proclaimed. "I said, 'I'm two buffets away from being bigger than Elvis now." He eventually finished that song with cowriter Rodney Crowell. It would be "It's Hard to Kiss the Lips at Night." Gill would share much more. About the title track from the new record and how he had the title before the lyrics, about the lady he met in a karaoke bar in Seattle on an off-night that swore she recognized him, but he was coy before dueting with her and nailing the third verse. "That sweet lady has been coming to my shows for 25 years since." He told of how he choked up singing at the funeral of George Jones, and how he had never really done that in front of an audience of that size; and then he choked up in front of Alabama Theater's audience of 2,000 [approximately the same capacity as The Ryman, the site of Jones's memorial] as he shared the story of leaving his own home and how his father called him on his CB as he left the driveway and said, "Breaker Breaker 1-9 for 'Old Shep.'" "It was the first time that my father had talked to me and not at me," he fought through. Vince Gill played with Pure Prairie League and Newgrass Revival and Ricky Skaggs, and Lyle Lovett may have invented "Texas country." But the greatest act for either may be the one that they are exploring together as elders, a show that features amazing musicianship, terrific songwriting, great storytelling - a show that leaves its audience feeling every emotion. It was a show for ages 8-80. It should be syndicated. SETLIST: I've Been to Memphis [Lyle Lovett] - One More Last Chance [Vince Gill] - She's Leaving Me Because She Really Wants To [Lyle Lovett] - Whenever You Come Around [Vince Gill] - Nobody Knows Me [Lyle Lovett] - Look at Us [Vince Gill] - Penguins [Lyle Lovett] - It's Hard to Kiss the Lips at Night [Vince Gill] - She's No Lady [Lyle Lovett] - I'll Be Waiting For You [Vince Gill] - Down to My Last Bad Habit [Vince Gill] - Give Back My Heart [Lyle Lovett] - Pantry [Lyle Lovett] - When I Call Your Name [Vince Gill] - Cowboy Man [Lyle Lovett] - Go Rest High on that Mountain [Vince Gill] - Church [Lyle Lovett] - Sad One Comin' On [Vince Gill] - If I Had a Boat [Lyle Lovett] - This Old Guitar and Me [Vince Gill] - [ENCORE BREAK] - My Baby Don't Tolerate [Lyle Lovett] - Don't Let Our Love Start Slippin' Away [Vince Gill] A Madison County jury recommended life in prison without parole Friday for John Clayton Owens for strangling his 91-year-old neighbor during a burglary of her house. Owens was convicted Thursday in the death of Doris Richardson in August, 2011. He was tried in the court of Circuit Judge Allison Austin. Jurors debated only about 35 minutes before voting 10-2 in favor of recommending the sentence of life without parole. Austin set sentencing on April 20 at 1:30 p.m., and she could reject the jury's recommendation and order the death penalty. Lead prosecutor Timothy Gann argued strongly for the death penalty during closing arguments. "To give anything less than the maximum would be to minimize what Doris Richardson was...," Gann said. "There has to be an accounting when someone sheds innocent blood." Gann asked the jury to put themselves in Richardson's place, ready for bed at night in her home, and "imagine the fear she felt when she saw a man in her house, a big man with bad intent." Co-defense attorney Ron Smith argued in closing that "life without parole is not skating accountabililty." Smith said either sentence was appropriate under Alabama law. "Mercy is a reasonable moral decision," Smith said. After the trial, Richardson's daughter, Carolyn Bentley, said she was satisfied. "Justice has been served," she said, adding that "either one" of the possible sentences would be justice. "He will be serving his time," Bentley said. Bentley said she wanted her mother remembered as "petite but so full of life. She loved life. She loved to go and travel and be with people. Just full of life." "She was always wanting to help out," she said. "She took care of her friends, took them places - to the doctor - and always wanted to help." Four men have been re-indicted in the 2012 murder of 36-year-old Marlo Casell Patton. One of those suspects is back in the Madison County Jail. Investigators are working on bringing in the rest. Robert Eugene Davis Patton's body was found partially clothed in Lincoln County, Tennessee on April 21, 2012. He was determined to have died as a result of blunt force trauma and/or asphyxiation. The four men were arrested days later - Robert Eugene Davis, Jamie Ladae Kelly, Timothy Jabbar Smith and Savontae Terrelle Shoulders - are accused of kidnapping Patton from his Huntsville home, taking him to Tennessee and killing him. A Madison County grand jury indicted them for murder in May 2013. That indictment was given a nolle prosse status in August 2014 in order for the U.S. Attorney's Office to pursue federal charges. Those federal counts included kidnapping and weapons charges, which referred to guns used to abduct Patton the day before his body was found. Madison County Assistant District Attorney Shauna Barnett said a grand jury re-indicted them for murder last week. Court records show the federal indictments were terminated on Wednesday in favor of the state re-indictments, which was an option under the original nolle prosse motions. Davis, 29, is the first to be sent back to the Madison County Jail. He was transferred from the Cullman County Detention Center, which houses federal inmates. Madison County Metro Jail officials confirm Davis is charged with three counts of murder and is being held on a $15,000 bond. Barnett said the other three will be located and sent back to Huntsville too. Officials are determining their locations. Some of them may be incarcerated in other jurisdictions, she said. Outside, it is raining a hard, cold northern California downpour. But inside the wooden house it is warm and cheerful, full of the sound of children singing. I am listening to their voices speaking in an ancient Native American language that until recently was given up for dead. But now, the people here are determined to keep their language alive. The dozen children in the room, ranging from three to six years old, are learning Hupa or, as it is properly called, Hoohh Ch on their redwood country reservation 500 kilometres north of San Francisco. Teacher Ginger Rogers leads the kids in a song, and then at snack time she tells them the Hupa names for the treats they clamor for. The Hupa word for bananas, for example, translates as food that the monkey eats. Hupas very existence is hanging by a slender thread, says 40-year-old teacher Salish Jackson, who himself learned it by studying with a tribal elder. There are three elder fluent speakers; theres a handful of people my age or older, that are language learners- slash- teachers, he says. We have come to a level where we can teach and understand and have conversations. The Hupa have lived in their beautiful homeland of forest, mist and mountain forever. Ask a tribal member where the Hupa came from, and youll get a lecture denouncing anthropologists explanations that Native Americans originated with people who wandered across the Bering land bridge from Siberia around 16,000 years ago. We have been here forever, since time immemorial, says tribal language restoration official Gordon Bussell. We didnt come here from some other place. We came out of the earth, right here. The Hupa had little contact with Europeans or white Americans until the mid-19th century, following the discovery of gold in California. As prospectors and settlers poured into the US, government and the Hupa signed unequal treaties, taking away most of their land and leaving the Hupa with a small reservation of 19 kilometres squared. In the early 20th century the government embarked on a policy of Americanising natives across the US. A key part of the calculated strategy of cultural destruction was to remove Indian children from their families and force them to attend harsh, military-style boarding schools. In those schools Native American languages and traditions were banned. READ MORE: A Native American nation divided Bussell says Hupa children were beaten for using their mother tongue. You would actually get punished in the school and in the community at times get turned in. So the Indians had to go underground. With an additional onslaught of American culture, radio, television and other forms of English-only media, the Hupa language dwindled. And without the language, Bussell says, the Hupa world spun out of balance. You lose a language and you lose a song, he says. This is what keeps the world together. This language doesnt just exist because of us. It actually exists in the air in the land, and its part of everything. So when I talk the language, the land knows me. To lose your language is like losing the fingers on your hand. Then, your body is sick. And so now, the world is sick. Against imposing odds, the 3,000-member tribe is taking practical steps to restore their language. Tribal schoolteachers are learning basic Hupa in order to teach it in primary and high schools. Eventually, there will be total immersion Hupa classes for children up to age six. Language teachers like Salish Jackson and Gordon Bussell are working closely with the remaining elders who speak Hupa most fluently. Outsiders are helping, too. Students at the San Jose State University, under the direction of Professor Jeanine Pfeiffer, made an animated film of a Hupa legend, narrated by Hupa elder Verdena Parker. Like many Native American people, the Hupa suffer from poverty, crime, alcoholism and drug abuse. Dilapidated trailer homes are scattered around the village of Hoopa Valley. Theres a small casino with slot machines, a gas station, and a single coffee and sandwich shop. There are few economic opportunities for young people. In mid-February the tribal council declared a state of emergency following a sharp spike in crime, including a stabbing death. READ MORE: Bury my heart in Dresden Ryan Jackson, the Hupa Tribal Council Chairman, said: The impacts of the boarding schools are still felt today. There are just so many feelings of despair folks tend to find themselves in situations where theres no hope and they just cant see the light at the end of the tunnel, so to speak. Bringing back the Hupa language and culture can help heal historic wounds and reduce social problems, Jackson says. With the language comes the culture, with the language comes the tradition, with the language comes the history. This is something that is really vital to the survival of Hupa people. Restoring the language wont be easy. For one thing, Hupa is an extraordinarily complex and difficult language. In English, for example, you have three tenses-past, present, and future, says Salish Jackson. In Hupa, we have nine. Its a project that will span generations. Back in teacher Ginger Rogers preschool Hupa class, the kids are learning some words about emotions. She explains that the English phrase I want to give you a hug in Hupa means I want to place my spirit next to yours. The goal is for children like these to speak Hupa fluently from an early age, and then, when they are older, to pass it on to their own children. It is coming back, Bussell says, and utters a short prayer in Hupa. The language is alive. Berlin, Germany When Mohammad Dowwah arrived in Germany, he had never heard of the Berlin International Film Festival, also known as the Berlinale. He certainly didnt expect to be volunteering at the event, one of the worlds largest cinema festivals, only a year later. I didnt know what the Berlinale was, he says. I just watched films online. Going to the cinema wasnt one of my interests. Dowwah may seem an unlikely choice to staff the information booth at the entrance to the building, welcoming guests on Potsdamer Platz in downtown Berlin, but the 22-year-old has proven to be a natural at helping confused and sometimes lost festivalgoers in Arabic, English, German and even Russian. The Berlinale is really cool, Dowwah says. This experience is something new for me. The medical student from Damascus learned about the new initiative for young asylum seekers to spend 10 days as an intern at the Berlinale through a friend. The two attended an information session and immediately signed up. I am trying to live in the moment. For me, I was always studying medicine all the time for two years, he explains. The cinema is something new, so why not try it? Thats how I joined. Recruiting refugees as volunteers In 2016, 18 asylum seekers from Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine and Serbia signed up to be a part of a pilot project: a programme for refugees to volunteer at the Berlinale. The schemes goal is to provide the young adults with job experience and an opportunity to practise German. Coordinators at the festival, one of Berlins largest public events, say they feel a responsibility to do their bit to promote the citys open and welcoming culture. Alexander Katt, the head of the festivals internship programme, sees including refugees in the trainee scheme as a positive way to help take care of the Berlinales 10,000 accredited guests and 300,000 moviegoers. This programme is a good opportunity to help one-and-a-half dozen young refugees to be a small part of our team and sneak into the wonderful world of international cinema, he told Al Jazeera in an email. When Katt decided to launch the traineeship, he reached out to the Counselling and Care Centre for young refugees and migrants (BBZ), a place where young newcomers can receive information and support as they adapt to a new life in Germany. The BBZ and the Berlinale then organised a meeting to explain the programme to potential volunteers. Those who were interested signed up, listing their interests and language skills. The interns were then assigned a placement. While Dowwah is at the information centre, some volunteers check badges at the different venues around the city. Others hand out Berlinale goody bags to guests. The initiative aims to place only one asylum seeker in each team to facilitate their integration faster and oblige them to speak German with their colleagues. Tschingis Sulejmanov oversees the partnership between the BBZ and the film festival. He visits the volunteers daily to ensure that there are no problems and, most importantly, that they are enjoying their experience. Its a good opportunity for refugees to get in touch with new things like the Berlinale and to see behind the scenes how theyre organising such events, Sulejmanov says. From the BBZs [perspective], this is a really good opportunity for the future. Its a way for the volunteers to receive job training or even decide if they want to join the film industry. It is also a very good experience to improve their language skills and get in touch with new people. Adrienne Boros, the Berlinales administration manager, agrees that the Berlinale has a special role to play in integrating newcomers into German society. The festival was, after all, founded in 1951, when millions of Europeans were displaced after World War II. We think its very important for refugees to get to know everyday life in Germany, and work belongs to everyday life, Boros says. Thats the reason we started this activity. Katt is pleased with the projects success thus far. In the beginning, it took a while to warm up from both sides, but when the festival started and the people met their crews in a lot of our cinemas and at information counters, we all developed to be a big Berlinale family, regardless of origin and status, he says. We hope to develop and improve the programme in the next years. The power of cinema Since his placement began last week, Dowwah has already learned a lot about cinema. He spent a few hours speaking about film with Katt one afternoon. He told me all about cinema, he says. While he spends most of his time at the information desk, Dowwah has also seen a few movies. He speaks about watching Agnes, a film about a love story between a writer and a student, and Fukushima Mon Amour, a story of a young German woman who moves to Japan to volunteer in the aftermath of the nuclear disaster in 2011. However, he learned the most about Germany, he says, from a movie called Young Light. Set in a mining town, it follows a young boy during his school vacation and his relationship with his father. This film talks about real life in another time in German history, Dowwah explains. When you know [Germans] past, you can be closer to them. You learn what your [culture] shares with theirs. The Berlinales organisers hope that by including refugees, they are introducing German culture to them through the festival. Thats what cinema can do: bring you into another world, even if its nowadays Germany, says Boros. You are sitting in a dark room watching scenes and you are emotionally involved. This kind of emotional involvement is an opening into another society. So we are sure that this kind of cultural participation can build bridges between cultures, peoples and nations. Thats why we are doing it. Not just a refugee As a newcomer to the world of cinema, Dowwah is pushing himself out of his comfort zone by volunteering at the festival. He is also building new contacts in Berlin. I used to be alone with my books and my interests, so I didnt have much contact with other people, he says. At the information centre, I meet new people and I am in contact with people I dont know. [Volunteering] broke down this barrier to help me to be more social. READ MORE: The Syrian cheese-maker of Bavaria Most importantly, Dowwah hopes that the placement will help him to break the stereotypes that some Germans have about refugees. Asylum seekers are sometimes accused of coming to Germany to take advantage of the countrys welfare schemes, such as free housing, medical care and a monthly allowance of 364 euros ($404) for an adult asylum seeker. I think this programme shows Germans that refugees arent only people who sit at home and ask for help, he says. Refugees can do something and can help. They are part of this society. This point is important for me. Dowwah wants to demonstrate that he can be a productive member of society when allowed to be so. Under German law, asylum seekers are forbidden from working until their application has been approved. I think that I can do something for society. If there are programmes and events, they can include these refugees and use their experience and knowledge. We are doctors, engineers we are educated. We can do a lot. His time at the information centre has been positive for Dowwah. He has become adept at answering festivalgoers wide array of questions, ranging from Is there internet? to What can I do with this badge? I am proud of myself when I answer questions. I can do something, he says. After visiting each of the 18 asylum seekers during their internship at the Berlinale, Tschingis Sulejmanov, the refugees representative at the festival, believes the programme has been a success and helped humanise the current influx of refugees in Germany. Until now, everyone has been nice and talks to the refugees like human beings. Its really good. Dowwah nods in agreement. No one has asked me if I am a refugee or not, he says. I feel welcome here. His favourite part of the entire experience has been meeting his colleagues, he explains. I have met a lot of great people, especially Alexander Katt and my colleagues, Lukas and Matthias. I really respect them. Sulejmanov hopes Dowwahs placement at the festival will help him to build professional contacts and perhaps even find a job in the future. I hope [Mohammad] can also if he wants to work at the Berlinale next year get a more important position. Reaching the youngest refugees Working with children forms another core part of the Berlinales programming. Generation, a special section aimed at including children and young people in discussions surrounding film, has existed since 1978. This year, groups of 18 to 22 young refugees have been invited to participate. The children watch a movie with their Welcome Class, a special programme for new arrivals who are learning German, then discuss the films themes with their classmates, guided by a teacher. As the head of the Berlinale Educational Project, Martin Ganguly has tried to ensure that refugee children are able to participate in the festival. Film and media have a huge impact on the lives of every teenager and young adult in the 21st century, Ganguly says. It is a tool for communication without borders. In German curricula, film is an important topic for education. Refugee children deserve the same possibilities to access those communication tools in modern society. The Welcome Class was invited to watch Born to Dance, a movie from New Zealand about a young mans passion for dance despite his fathers disapproval. Ganguly says that the participants could relate to many of the films themes, such as dance as a universal language, the father-son relationship, love and jealousy, and trying to achieve your dreams. These are the subjects they will discuss in their Welcome Class. [The young refugees] enjoyed being part of an audience of young people, students and professional adults, experiencing the expression of body language and dance, he explains. They also loved taking pictures of the director and the red carpet moments. Abstinence-only curriculum in some Texas schools may be challenged in wake of new sexually transmitted Zika virus cases. Dallas, Texas As the third case of the Zika virus was confirmed in Dallas county on February 10, the United States and Latin America are left rushing to contain the spread of the disease. On February 2, the Dallas County Health and Human Services reported the first case of sexual transmission of Zika. This came as a surprise for many public health officials. The most common symptoms of Zika virus are fever, rash, joint pain, and conjunctivitis of the eyes. The symptoms of the virus are usually mild, lasting several days to a week, but recent studies suggest that it can cause microcephaly, a serious birth defect of the brain which causes unusually small heads and has lifelong developmental consequences. Even now, the mechanics of sexual transmission are not entirely understood. We suspect there is sexual transmission of Zika, a Center for Disease Control (CDC) spokesperson told Al Jazeera, remarking that he was unable to provide figures or further information on sexual transmission. Sexual transmission: a cause for concern Sexual transmission is a worry, said Dr Anil Mangla, the assistant director of San Antonio Metro Healths communicable diseases division, where two new cases of Zika were recently confirmed, adding that there was ample evidence to show that sexual transmission could spread the virus. Mangla highlighted the great difference between Zika and West Nile virus, another mosquito-borne malady that had previously caused panic in Texas: With West Nile, the human is a dead-end host, meaning it wont transfer further. However, Mangla added, if a mosquito bites a person infected with Zika, then they can transfer the virus to the mosquito population, which will cause it to spread through further mosquito bites, or a mother can give it to a child, as seen in Brazil, and then theres sexual transmission. The virus lasts for up to 10 days in the blood, but up to three months in semen. If people engage in sexual activity, they have to use protection. It is key [to protecting themselves], Mangla concluded. But this discovery came in a US state with a poor track record in sexually transmitted infections (STI), contraception use and teenage pregnancy. We have a problem We hardly need another sexually transmitted infection in Texas to tell us we have a problem, said Dan Quinn, a communications director at Texas Freedom Network (TFN), a non-partisan, grassroots organisation of more than 131,000 religious and community leaders that works to battle the influence of the religious right. According to a 2015 CDC report, Texas record in combating STIs leaves much to be desired: The state ranks third among the 50 states in number of HIV diagnoses in 2013, 10th in chlamydia, 12th in gonorrhoea and 13th in syphilis. The same report found that 53.8 percent of sexually active Texas students who account for more than half of all students did not use protection during their most recent sexual encounter. In Quinns view, much of this is related to abstinence-only sexual education in the state. In Texas, there is no law requiring that schools teach about sexual education. [The law] just says that if you do teach about it, [lessons] have to emphasise abstinence. Abstinence-only programmes teach that the only effective way to prevent pregnancy and STIs is to abstain from sex. Previous incarnations of these programmes have included material that Quinn says enforced sexist assumptions about women and men and included gender-based stereotypes. Quinn added that the programmes also took moralistic stances on premarital sex. The Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States quotes the 2003 curriculum of Worth the Wait (WTW), a sex education programme produced by Texas-based Scott and White Health, as saying condoms can never protect someone from the emotional problems that can result from multiple sexual partners and premature sexual activity. Another review of WTW found that the programme misleads students on STIs and portrays sex as an uncontrollable force. Abstinence against facts Many studies, including those conducted independently by Texas universities, have found that abstinence-only sexual education has little effect on the sexual behaviour of teenagers. Regardless of these findings, politicians at both the state and national level continue funding abstinence-centric education to the tune of tens of millions of dollars. In 2015, Texas politicians even defunded HIV prevention programmes in order to allocate a further $3m for abstinence education. Republican representative Stuart Spitzer was quoted by the left-leaning Texas Observer as saying that abstinence is the best way to prevent HIV in response to criticism of the bill. READ MORE: Sexual transmission of Zika virus likely in US case The TFN has completed two studies on the topic, most recently in 2011, that show that nearly two-thirds of Texas schools still teach this type of sex education. Quinn said that the TFN was in the process of collecting information for a new report, but suspected that the overwhelming majority of Texas schools still focus on abstinence in their classrooms. With a new, sexually transmitted threat to public health looming, Quinn has little hope that it will inspire change in Texas schools. From a policy point of view, it would be remarkable if something like the Zika virus caused policymakers in Texas to change something that should have been changed a long time ago, Quinn said. The problem is that we are lying to students by not teaching them to protect themselves. Follow Creede on Twitter: @creedenewton The unlikely presidential campaigns of Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders have been the most entertaining in many years. Large crowds more reminiscent of sporting than political events routinely attend their campaign appearances. Television audiences eagerly tune in to televised debates, attracted less by the prospect of learning something new about Obamacare or Syria than by the spectacle of Trump dissing the hapless Jeb Bush or feeling the burn of Sanders righteous indignation. There is something different, even unprecedented, about the candidacies of Trump and Sanders. Their historic campaigns for the US presidency are nothing less than a reflection and a symptom of the central fact of US life today the calamitous deficiencies of US ruling economic, political, and national institutions and the loss of legitimacy they are suffering from a US public fed up with the shortcomings of the status quo. The new millennium has witnessed three seminal events in its young life the attack on the World Trade Center in September 2001, the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, and the Great Recession. Receding middle-class life The US economy has not delivered for most Americans in decades. Incomes are stagnating and the dream of a comfortable middle-class life is receding. These are not the consequences of a failure of the famed American work ethic, but of the distorted power and interests of US financial powers and the corruption of the titans of the US economy. READ MORE: Why Id vote for Trump, but you shouldnt The successful attack on the US by al-Qaeda and the subsequent bloody and destructive war in Iraq revealed the rot at the core of US intelligence and political decision-making systems. Trump's promise to make the US great again and Sanders' calls for a new American revolution are two sides of the same coin. by The entire process at the heart of the decision to wage war was manufactured on a lie. Who can forget the cascade of spurious claims at the heart of the debate? The US political class Democrat and Republican alike led the chorus of US support for this misadventure, whose destructive legacy still dominates the news. Intelligence and military systems abetted the charade, applauded by a cheerleading press. The digital age, which is supposed to open unimagined horizons of truth and knowledge to an engaged and educated public and to inform public debate on critical issues of national importance, instead metastasised into a vital tool in the creation and dissemination of official falsehoods, popular ignorance, and grievous misapprehension that paved the road to the invasion and occupation of Iraq. US system gone haywire These events are most often seen and understood as discreet and separate, interesting and important only in themselves. The truth is that these seminal events in US life, and others associated with them, are not occurring in isolation, nor did they happen overnight. They are all the products of a US system gone haywire. They are signs of a much deeper malaise, requiring far more attention than the flaccid remedies that the US financial and political leaders have implemented. These half-measures are not surprising. What else can be expected when you ask the fox how to repair the henhouse? The unlikely if compelling candidacies of Trump on the Republican side and Sanders on the Democrat are incomprehensible without reference to these crises, which are themselves related to each other. Trump and Sanders dont agree on the solutions to Americas problems but they are united in their view that making America great again requires no less than a revolution. Americans are angry and frightened, not only because the failures of the system across a wide spectrum threaten the secure futures of their families but also because no one in the financial or political community is seen to be paying for their misdeeds or misjudgments, or indeed even recognises their severity. READ MORE: Why I will vote for Bernie Sanders Al-Qaedas attack is dismissed as a one-off oversight. The wars in Iraq are blamed on the Iraqis, and lessons are said to have been learned from the Great Recession. Popular anger is transformed into voter antipathy when its causes are not addressed or recognised. The support declared during the last debate of major Republican candidates for George Bushs conduct of the war in Iraq and their rejection of his responsibility for 9/11, and Hillary Clintons association with Wall Street are the expressions of clueless politicians ill-prepared to address a public mood they do not understand. Virulent antipathy The voting booth is the place where todays virulent antipathy with the way things are is being registered. Not surprisingly, the pundits and professionals those who profess to know how Americans think or seek to instruct them have been flummoxed by the energised campaigns of renegades from the left (Sanders) and right (Trump). Their energy stands in contrast to the somnambulance of the mis-anointed front-runners Bush and Clinton heirs of storied families whose lustre has been perhaps fatally dimmed by the publics apparent belief that the traditional representatives of the US political system contesting the presidency are no longer deserving of their confidence. Trumps promise to make the US great again and Sanders calls for a new American revolution are two sides of the same coin. Each in its own way represents an authentic response of two political outsiders to the broad and all but unprecedented failures of a US system in recent times and the estrangement many Americans feel from their ruling economic and political institutions. Each demands that leaders and institutions themselves be held accountable for the uncomfortable truths that each believes he is the only one bold enough to acknowledge that Bush failed to protect the US, that the war in Iraq was based on a lie, and that traditional politicians Republican and Democrat alike are the source of the US economic problems and the obstacle to their solution. Geoffrey Aronson writes about Middle Eastern affairs. He consults with a variety of public and private institutions dealing with regional political, security, and development issues. The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial policy. Toll from raids targeting suspected ISIL camp in Sabratha rises to 49, including two kidnapped Serbian embassy staff. Serbia says two members of its embassy staff who were abducted in Libya in November are believed to have been among at least 49 killed in US air strikes on a suspected training camp of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group. US officials said the site targeted in Fridays strikes in Sabratha, a coastal city in western Libya, was a camp used by up to 60 fighters, including Tunisian Noureddine Chouchane, blamed for two attacks on tourists in Tunisia last year in which dozens were killed. Deaths reported in US raids on ISIL camp in Libya Sladjana Stankovic, a Serbian communications officer, and Jovica Stepic, a driver, were taken hostage on November 8 after their diplomatic convoy, including the ambassador, came under fire near Sabratha. Unfortunately as a consequence of this attack on the Islamic State in Libya, the two of them lost their lives, Ivica Dacic, Serbias foreign minister, said, referring to Fridays air strike. He said they had received information from several sources, including other intelligence services, of the deaths of Stankovic and Stepic. The information was yet to be officially confirmed by Libyan authorities. Dacic offered sincere condolences to the families of the victims, saying they had been informed of the news and that the repatriation of bodies would be organised in the coming days. Hussein al-Thwadi, the mayor of Sabratha, said Libyan authorities had sent photos of the bodies to Serbian diplomats for an initial identification. READ MORE: Libya Gaddafi left behind a long, damaging legacy He said the death toll from Fridays strikes had risen to 49. It was the second US air raid in three months against ISIL in Libya, where the fighters have exploited chaos following Muammar Gaddafis 2011 downfall to build up a presence on the southern shores of the Mediterranean Sea. Libyas attorney general said on Saturday that one of six wounded survivors told prosecutors that those in the building that was hit were members of ISIL who came to Libya recently for training and then to carry out terrorist acts in Tunisia. News: After the Spring Libya promo But Thwadi said the building was just a house, adding: The house was used for meetings and other acts but not training. Dacic said Serbian authorities had been negotiating the release of the two staff before the attack. The kidnappers had a financial interest, he said, adding that demands had been impossible to meet by either the families or the government. He said Serbia would send a protest note to Washington DC for not informing Serbian authorities of the raid. US officials have said they gave advance warning of the strikes to Libyan authorities, without specifying who they contacted. Since 2014 Libya has had two competing governments, one based in Tripoli and the other, which has received international recognition, in the east. OPINION: Libya, extremism and the consequences of collapse Serbia has ties with both of Libyas governments. Both sides are supported by loose alliances of former rebels and armed brigades. A unity government has been nominated under a UN-backed plan, but has yet to win approval or move to Libya. Western powers and the UN have, in the meantime, been trying to reach out to armed factions to provide security for the unity government and tackle the threat from ISIL. The group took control of Gaddafis home town of Sirte last year, and has carried out attacks in several other towns and cities. Diplomats and foreign nationals have been targeted in the past for kidnappings, mostly for ransom or to demand the release of fighters being held by overseas governments. Armed groups have also targeted foreigners. Albert Woodfox spent decades in solitary confinement but walked free after his murder conviction was overturned. An US man kept in solitary confinement for 43 years has been released after his murder conviction was overturned on appeal. Albert Woodfox was convicted twice for killing a prison guard in 1972 but a judge ordered his release last summer. The former Black Panther was kept behind bars by a federal appeals court as the state of Louisiana, where he was imprisoned, lodged a challenge against his release. His release on Friday came after the state dropped the threat of a third murder charge in exchange for Woodfox pleading no contest to lesser charges. Cruel and inhumane Although I was looking forward to proving my innocence at a new trial, concerns about my health and my age have caused me to resolve this case now and obtain my release, Woodfox said in a statement after he was freed. Woodfoxs supporters have insisted his imprisonment and detention in solitary confinement were politically motivated. His legal team has called on authorities to end the use of solitary confinement as a punishment, describing the practice as cruel and inhumane. The activist was one of three men known as the Angola Three, alongside Robert King and Herman Wallace, who supporters say were kept in isolation because they fought for better prison conditions. King was released in 2001 after his conviction was overturned and Wallace died in 2013 just two days after his release. Date announced for historic poll on whether to stay in the EU, after UK secures special status deal in Brussels. David Cameron has said Britain will hold a historic referendum on June 23 on whether to stay in the European Union. After a rare cabinet meeting on Saturday in London, the UK prime minister said his ministers supported his goal of keeping Britain inside the 28-nation bloc. He said Britain would be safer and stronger inside a reformed EU. Cameron praised a deal that Britain reached on Friday night in Brussels with other EU nations and told the British people the decision about their nations fate is now in their hands. Cameron said the deal would give Britain special status in the bloc. The UK, EU and Brexit: Who wins and who loses? Britain is already the EUs most semi-detached member, having opted out of joining the euro single currency, the Schengen zone of passport-free travel and many areas of police and judicial cooperation I have negotiated a deal to give the UK special status in the EU, Cameron said on Twitter, before making a public announcement on Friday saying that Britain will not be part of a common European currency or a future European superstate. Britain will never join the euro. And weve secured vital protections for our economy and a full say over the rules of the free trade single market while remaining outside the euro, he said. Cameron also said there will be tough new restrictions on access to its welfare system for EU refugees and migrants. He noted that Britain has secured an emergency brake which, once activated, can be applied for seven years to restrict access to British in-work benefits. Late-night deal After all-night negotiations in Brussels followed by a day of private meetings to try to narrow remaining differences, Cameron announced the deal late into the night on Friday. Many leaders said they felt they were at a historic turning point for European integration. No country has ever voted to leave the EU. Britain is the EUs second-largest economy and one of its two permanent members on the UN Security Council. Its exit would have ended the vision of the EU as the natural home for European democracies and reverse the continents post-World War II march towards ever closer union. Gianfranco Rosis documentary about the Italian island Lampedusa highlights the risky refugee journey to Europe. Fire at Sea, a documentary film about the Italian island of Lampedusa, the first stop of many refugees making their way to Europe, has won the Golden Bear for best film at the Berlin International Film Festival. A jury headed by Meryl Streep chose director Gianfranco Rosis film from a field of 18 contenders at the first of the years major European film festivals on Saturday. In a year of thrillingly diverse films, the jury was swept away by the compassionate outrage of one in particular, Streep said. Its a daring hybrid of captured footage and deliberate storytelling that allows us to consider what documentary can do, she said. READ MORE: Refugees take centre stage at Berlins film festival Rosi contrasts the native islanders everyday life, particularly that of a 12-year-old boy, with the arrival of the many men, women and children making the dangerous trip from Africa across the Mediterranean Sea on decrepit smugglers boats. Many refugees drown on the perilous passage to Europe, their bodies often pulled out of the waters around Lampedusa, a small island located between Sicily and Libya. At this moment, my deeper thought goes to all the people that [do] not arrive at Lampedusa on these journeys of hope, Rosi said. Its not acceptable that people die crossing the sea to escape from tragedies. Silver Bear winners Danis Tanovics Death in Sarajevo, set at a hotel in the Bosnian capital as it prepares to host VIPs on the 100th anniversary of the assassination of the Austro-Hungarian crown prince that helped ignite World War I, won the festivals grand jury prize, which comes with a Silver Bear statuette. Mia Hansen-Love of France was named best director for Things to Come, a drama starring Isabelle Huppert as a woman in her 50s reassessing her life. The best actor prize went to Majd Mastoura for his role as a young Tunisian discovering love in a society in upheaval in Hedi, director Mohamed Ben Attias feature film debut. Trine Dyrholm was honoured as best actress for her part in Danish director Thomas Vinterbergs The Commune as a television newsreader shaking up her and her husbands life by inviting their friends to live with them. The festivals honour for a film that opens new perspectives went to Filipino director Lav Diazs eight-hour black-and-white historical drama, A Lullaby to the Sorrowful Mystery. The best script prize went to Tomasz Wasilewski for United States of Love, which he also directed, a film portraying four women in provincial Poland in the early 1990s following the end of communist rule. Mark Lee Ping-Bing, a cameraman, took the award for an outstanding artistic contribution for his work in Crosscurrent, a film by Chinese director Yang Chao. Republican Jeb Bush suspends campaign after poor showing, as Democratic race remains tight ahead of Super Tuesday. Hillary Clinton has won the Democratic Party caucuses in Nevada, beating Bernie Sanders, the Vermont senator, while Donald Trump prevailed in the crowded Republican nominating primary in South Carolina. Saturdays contest was the first test for the White House hopefuls Clinton and Sanders in a more racially diverse state than the opening contests in Iowa and New Hampshire, which the candidates split. Meanwhile, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, who has done poorly in the first three early Republican contests, suspended his campaign. Voters in South Carolina backed Trump in the First in the South contest to pick the Republican nominee for the November 8 US presidential election. While Clintons campaign once saw Nevada as an opportunity to start pulling away from Sanders, her team had anticipated a close contest with Sanders. The victories put Clinton and Trump in strong positions as the 2016 presidential election barrelled toward the March 1 Super Tuesday contests, a delegate-rich voting bonanza. Theres nothing easy about running for president, Trump said at his victory rally. Its tough, its nasty, its mean, its vicious. Its beautiful when you win its beautiful. Clintons roughly five-point win eased the rising anxieties of her backers, who feared a growing challenge from Sanders. At a raucous victory rally in Las Vegas, she lavished praise on her supporters and declared: This one is for you. Trumps strong showing in South Carolina marked his second straight victory in the Republican primaries and strengthened his unexpected claim on the party nomination. No Republican in recent times has won New Hampshire and South Carolina and then failed to win the nomination. READ MORE: Republican Party would love to see Trump fall Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, a pair of freshman senators, were locked in a race for second place in South Carolina. Bush and other candidates lagged far behind. Al Jazeeras Alan Fisher, reporting from Columbia, South Carolina, said Trumps win came despite another controversial week in which he called Bush a liar and had his Christianity questioned by Pope Francis. Trump will move on with momentum from here, Fisher said. Close contest For Democrats, the contest between Clinton and Sanders has grown closer than almost anyone expected. Sanders, an avowed democratic socialist, has energised voters, particularly young people, with his impassioned calls for breaking up Wall Street banks and providing free tuition at public colleges and universities. Clinton hoped to offset Sanders youth support by winning big majorities among blacks and Hispanics. She eyed Nevada, where a quarter of the population is Hispanic, as the first in a series of contests that would highlight that strength. NOTEBOOK: Republican field to narrow after South Carolina A victory for Sanders would have given his campaign a boost heading into the Democratic contests in 11 states on Super Tuesday. Democrats gathered at 200 caucus sites, including six at Las Vegas Strip casinos so housekeepers, blackjack dealers and others with weekend schedules could attend. Democrats and Republicans will swap locations in the coming days. Republicans hold their caucuses in Nevada on Tuesday, while Democrats clash in South Carolina on February 27. At least four dead and scores injured as members of the Jat farming community protest in support of caste-based quotas. Violent protests in northern India over caste-based quotas in jobs and education have left four people dead and nearly 80 injured, officials said. Members of the Jats farming community have been protesting in Haryana state, with mobs setting fire to vehicles, buses and shopping malls, despite curfews overnight on Friday and an army presence. The Jats are demanding quotas in government jobs and institutions of higher education for their caste. One person was killed when police opened fire on protesters on Friday in Rohtak city, the epicentre of the protests. Three more people had died in the hospital overnight, state official DK Behera said. The situation is really tense with the clashes raging for the second day and protesters setting shops on fire in marketplaces, Behera said. Army brought in Protesters also set a railway station on fire in Jind city and targeted petrol pumps in several other towns. The army used helicopters to bring in troops to the worst-hit districts, including Rohtak, Jhajjar and Bhiwani, where a curfew was imposed. The agitation had reached Delhi with protests being reported at some colleges as protesters also blocked a highway that links the national capital to some northern cities. Talks between community leaders and the state government failed on Friday with the leaders adamant on continuing the agitation until legislation was passed that met their demands. Haryana chief minister ML Khattar appealed to the Jats to end the protests, saying the violence was creating disharmony in the society. India has an affirmative action policy which includes quotas for the lowest castes who have faced discrimination for centuries. Over the years, the government has expanded the quotas to include other communities that are economically or socially disadvantaged. Firing causes panic among residents near border as tensions remain tense between Seoul and Pyongyang after nuclear test. North Korea has fired several artillery rounds into the sea near a disputed maritime border with South Korea amid tensions between the two states over a nuclear test conducted by Pyongyang in January. The South Korean military on Saturday said the rounds had not crossed the border but caused alarm among residents on a nearby island in the South. Last month North Korea carried out a nuclear test and in February it tested a long-range rocket, which were condemned by South Korea and the United States as grave violations of UN Security Council resolutions. The allies are expected to begin large-scale annual military drills in early March, which the North calls preparations for war and routinely vows retaliation over. No unusual movements Saturdays firing, heard from the island of Baengnyeong, was probably aimed in a northwestern direction from the Norths shore as part of an exercise, a South Korean defence ministry official said by telephone, asking not to be named. The Souths office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff later said there were several rounds of artillery fire, revising a comment by the ministry official that there had been a single shot, and there were no other unusual movements by the Norths military. South Korea suspended the operation of a jointly run factory park in the North, closing what had been the last window of regular interaction born out of a summit meeting in 2000, when leaders pledged to work for peace and reconciliation. The area is near the scene of the sinking of a South Korean navy ship in 2010 that the South blames on the North, although Pyongyang denies any role. The island of Baengnyeong sits just a few miles from the disputed Northern Limit Line (NLL) border and less than 20km at its closest point to the Norths shore. Republican Trump solidly ahead in S Carolina, polls say, as Democrats Clinton and Sanders go neck-and-neck in Nevada. Voters in South Carolina have begun casting their ballots in the First in the South contest to pick the Republican nominee for the November 8 US presidential election. Out west, Democrats gathered on Saturday across the state of Nevada for caucuses that marked the first test for Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders in a more racially diverse state than the opening contests in Iowa and New Hampshire, which the candidates split. While Clintons campaign once saw Nevada as an opportunity to start pulling away from Sanders, her team was nervously anticipating a close contest with the Vermont senator. Trump ahead in polls Opinion polls in South Carolina showed frontrunner Donald Trump solidified his spot at the top of the pack and rivals Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio fighting for a second-place finish. Behind them, Republican candidates Jeb Bush, John Kasich and Ben Carson could be vying in South Carolina to keep their campaigns alive before the presidential race rapidly picks up steam in March when dozens of states hold nominating contests. Republican Party would love to see Trump fall An NBC News-Wall Street Journal/Marist poll released on Friday showed Trump in the lead with support from 28 percent of likely Republican primary voters, followed by Cruz at 23 percent. Rubio led Bush narrowly, 15 percent to 13 percent. Voting in South Carolina will end at 00:00 GMT. Clinton vs Sanders For Democrats, the contest between Clinton and Sanders has grown closer than almost anyone expected. Sanders, an avowed democratic socialist, has energised voters, particularly young people, with his impassioned calls for breaking up Wall Street banks and providing free tuition at public colleges and universities. Clinton hoped to offset Sanders youth support by winning big majorities among blacks and Hispanics. She eyed Nevada, where one-fourth of the population is Hispanic, as the first in a series of contests that would highlight that strength. But Clintons campaign has played down expectations in Nevada in recent days. A victory for Sanders or even a narrow loss to Clinton would give his campaign a boost heading into the Democratic contests in 11 states on Super Tuesday. Democrats were to gather at 200 caucus sites, including six at Las Vegas Strip casinos so housekeepers, blackjack dealers and others with weekend schedules could attend. Democrats and Republicans will swap locations in the coming days. Republicans hold their caucuses in Nevada on Tuesday, while Democrats face off in South Carolina on February 27. Assads opponents want ceasefire to be accompanied by lifting of sieges, prisoner releases and aid access across nation. A number of Syrian opposition groups have declared that they agree to the possibility of a temporary truce if President Bashar al-Assads government and its allies respect several conditions, including halting fire. The groups said on Saturday they would agree provided there were guarantees that the Syrian government forces and its allies would respect a ceasefire, sieges were lifted and aid deliveries permitted across the country. The announcement came as fighting continued on the ground despite a Friday deadline for cessation of hostilities. Turkey calls on allies to fight Syrian Kurdish fighters Russian fighter jets are repeatedly striking rebel targets, particularly in Aleppo, backing government forces as they push towards Syrias second city. The opposition factions expressed agreement on the possibility of reaching a temporary truce deal, to be reached through international mediation, a statement from the High Negotiations Committee said. It said the UN must guarantee holding Russia and Iran and sectarian militias to a halt to fighting. All sides should cease fire simultaneously and the government should release prisoners, the statement said. The UN is struggling to deliver aid to about 4.5 million Syrians who live in hard-to-reach areas, including nearly 400,000 people in besieged areas. The fighting in Syria started as an unarmed uprising against Assad in March 2011, but has since expanded into a full-on conflict that has killed more than 260,000 people, according to UN estimates. Russia said on Saturday it would continue to provide assistance and help to the armed forces of Syria in their offensive actions against terrorists. READ MORE: The politics of war crimes in Syria It also expressed regret that a planned UN Security Council resolution cautioning against a Turkish ground invasion was rejected on Friday, and said it was concerned at the growing tension at the Syrian-Turkish border. It said UN-led talks planned for Saturday between major international players on a ceasefire in Syria had been postponed. Maria Zakharova, Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman, told Russian news agencies the meeting in Geneva had been put back to an unspecified later date as consultations between key nations continued. Military and diplomatic officials from Russia and the US held talks on Friday to try to finalise the details of a possible ceasefire, as a hoped-for halt in hostilities on the ground failed to materialise. That gathering was supposed to pave the way for a broader meeting after the 17 key international players involved in negotiations to end the Syrian conflict agreed on January 12 that a ceasefire should come into force within a week. The truce failed to take effect on Friday as fighting continued in Syria, with Kurdish-led forces backed by US-led air power seizing a key town from the Islamic State of the Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group. John Kerry, US secretary of state, urged on Saturday that the ceasefire be agreed as soon as possible, in a phone conversation with Sergey Lavrov, Russias foreign minister. Secretary Kerry also restated his deep concern over the indiscriminate nature of continued bombing by Russian military aircraft and the lives being lost as a result, John Kirby, state department spokesman, said. Bombing campaign Russia is currently flying a bombing campaign in Syria to back up forces loyal to Assad, while the US is leading a coalition against ISIL, which has seized territory in Syria and Iraq. Syrian forces have also advanced in Aleppo province, backed by Russian air strikes. Government troops on Saturday seized 18 villages around the road east from Aleppo city towards the ISIL stronghold of Raqqa, the monitoring group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The advances secure government forces grip on about 40km of the highway, which passes by the Kweyris military airport that government forces recaptured with Russian help in November. Turkey is to introduce new national security measures in the wake of a car bombing in Ankara that killed 28 people on February 17. Ahmet Davutoglu, Turkish prime minister, made the announcement on Saturday, a day after a Kurdish armed group claimed responsibility for the attack, which was aimed at a military convoy. We are going for changes in the matter of security, he said after a five-hour meeting in Istanbul with his security chief. He said that as part of the new plan, more security forces would be deployed and their presence would become more visible, but he also called on citizens to do their part. Terrorist groups aim to cause trauma and chaos among the population. We must all assist the security forces, he said. No security efforts can succeed without the support of the people. Kurdish claim rejected Davutoglu also rejected the claim of responsibility by the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK) for the Ankara bombing. TAK, which has been linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), said the attack was revenge for operations by the Turkish military in the southeast of the country. But the Turkish government insists that the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) and its Peoples Protection Units (YPG) were behind the attack, in a joint operation with the PKK. It has been very clearly determined that this attack was the work of the PKK-YPG, Davutoglu said. The assertions have been greeted with scepticism from the US, causing an increasingly acrimonious split between the key NATO allies. READ MORE: Major Kurdish factions Davutoglu on Saturday again criticised US support for Kurdish fighters in Syria, and appealed to the US to show solidarity with Turkey in its fight against terrorism. He added, however, that he hoped the two NATO members would still be able to find common ground. US President Barack Obama spoke by phone with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday, urging both the Turkish government and Kurdish YPG forces to show reciprocal restraint in northern Syria. Turkey has been firing artillery rounds into Syrias northern Aleppo province for the past week, in an effort to stem the advances of the YPG-led coalition, which has seized territory from rebels. Turkey fears the Kurds are trying to unite several Kurdish-majority regions in north and northeastern Syria to create a contiguous zone on the border. Veteran leader declared winner with 60 percent of votes in election marred by violence and allegations of ballot fraud. Yoweri Museveni, who has ruled Uganda for 30 years, has been re-elected the countrys president in an election overshadowed by arrests of politicians and allegations of rigging. The countrys election body declared Museveni, 71, the winner on Saturday afternoon with more than 60 percent of the votes cast. Museveni, a former rebel who seized power in 1986, was widely expected to win a fifth term, which will now extend his power into a fourth decade. His closest rival, Kizza Besigye, 59, obtained about 35 percent of the vote. Shortly before the election result was declared, the countrys security forces put Besigye under house arrest. Police carried out multiple arrests of opposition activists, including Besigye, during the vote. House arrest Police have arrested Besigye four times since the day of election and he is currently detained at his house in the capital Kampala. Besigyes third arrest was caught by Al Jazeera cameras as he tried to access a house where ballots were suspected of being altered. On Friday police in riot gear set off stun grenades and fired tear gas at Besigye supporters, who responded by hurling rocks and erecting street barricades. John Kerry, US secretary of state, called Museveni to voice concern over Besigyes detention, harassment of opposition figures and the shutdown of social media such as Facebook and Twitter. Police officials said they were at Besigyes home as a preventive measure to prevent a further escalation of violence and denied detaining him. Besigye was Musevenis field doctor during the war which brought him to power, and served as deputy interior minister in his first cabinet. He broke ranks with Museveni in 1999, saying the president was no longer a democrat. On Saturday, Besigye rejected the outcome of the polls and reportedly called it a sham. He has called for an independent audit of the results. #UgandaDecides: Museveni's main challenger Besigye rejects election outcome, calls for independent audit of results pic.twitter.com/FHCchckLVX Adeola Fayehun (@AdeolaFayehun) February 20, 2016 Al Jazeeras Malcolm Webb, reporting from Kampala, said the conduct of the election had been criticised by European Union observers. They said the use of force against the opposition has been unacceptable and they also said the electoral commission has lacked transparency, he said. Lacking transparency In an interview with Al Jazeera, Eduard Kukan, European Unions chief observer, called the work of the electoral commission a failure. Kukan, however, said the observers have not personally witnessed the alleged stuffing of ballot boxes and vote rigging. Our correspondent said it was unclear how opposition supporters would react to the outcome of the election. The electoral commission rejected the criticism and said it had conducted the elections in a free and fair way. Earlier, Jonathan Taremwa, a spokesman for the electoral commission, told Al Jazeera the vote was transparent and fair. Some people didnt get to vote. It was unfortunate, it was regrettable, and the commission offered an apology. We finally had stations [affected by delays] opened for votes and later extended the voting from 4pm to 7pm, Taremwa said. Besigyes supporters said the delays were deliberate and were aimed at favouring Museveni. Veteran leader declared winner of general elections marred by violence and allegations of ballot fraud. Ugandas President Yoweri Museveni has all but extended his 30-year rule after taking a strong lead in general elections disputed by rivals. With about half the votes counted on Saturday, the incumbent candidate had 60 percent of votes to leading challenger Kizza Besigyes 35 percent. Full results of the vote are expected to be released on Saturday afternoon. The vote has been marked by allegations of ballot fraud and multiple arrests of opposition activists, including Besigye. Police have arrested Besigye four times since the day of election and the opposition candidate is currently detained at his house in the capital Kampala. Besigyes third arrest was caught by Al Jazeera cameras as he tried to access a housewhere ballots were suspected of being altered. On Friday Police in riot gear had set off stun grenades and fired teargas at Besigye supporters, who responded by hurling rocks and erecting street barricades. US Secretary of State John Kerry called Museveni to voice concern over Besigyes detention, harassment of opposition figures and the shutdown of social media such as Facebook and Twitter. Police officials said they were at Besigyes home as a preventative measure to prevent a further escalation of violence and denied detaining him. Lacking transparency Al Jazeeras Malcolm Webb, reporting from Kampala, said the conduct of the election had been criticised by EU observers. They said the use of force against the opposition has been unacceptable and they also said the electoral commission has lacked transparency, Webb said. The electoral commission rejected the criticism and said it had conducted the elections in a free and fair way. Earlier, Jonathan Taremwa, a spokesman for the electoral commission, told Al Jazeera the vote was transparent and fair. Some people didnt get to vote. It was unfortunate, it was regrettable, and the commission offered an apology. We finally had stations [affected by delays] opened for votes and later extended the voting from 4pm to 7pm, Taremwa said. Besigyes supporters said the delays were deliberate and were aimed at favouring Museveni, whose rival is popular in Kampala. Museveni, 71, a former rebel who seized power in 1986, is widely expected to win a fifth term, which would extend his power into a fourth decade. Besigye was Musevenis field doctor during the war which brought him to power, and served as deputy interior minister in his first cabinet. He broke ranks with the president in 1999, saying Museveni was no longer a democrat. Paris rejects Russian UN draft resolution to end Turkish cross-border shelling in Syria, as US gives Ankara its backing. Western powers have rejected a proposed UN resolution drawn up by Russia that demanded the immediate halt of cross-border shelling by the Turkish army into Syria. The Russian draft presented at an emergency security council meeting on Friday sought to cease any actions that undermine Syrias sovereignty. When asked whether he supported the move, Francois Delattre, Frances UN ambassador, replied: The short answer is no, the Associated Press news agency reported. Delattre said the current military escalation was the direct result of the brutal offensive in the north of Syria led by the Syrian regime and its allies. He said Russia must understand that its support for Syrias President Bashar al-Assad is a dead end that could be extremely dangerous. Samantha Power, the US ambassador, called the Russian draft a distraction, and urged the Russians instead to implement a resolution adopted unanimously by the Security Council in December endorsing a peace plan for Syria that includes a cessation of hostilities and negotiations between the Assad government and opposition. The Kremlin said it regretted the rejection of the resolution and that it would continue to protect Syrias sovereignty. We can only express regret that this draft resolution was rejected, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. Russia naturally continues with its consistent, transparent and clear line to provide stability in the fight with terrorism, to preserve the territorial integrity of the country [Syria] and the region. The draft resolution comes amid heightened tensions between Russia and Turkey over the formers backing of a Syrian regime and the Syrian Kurdish armed group Peoples Protection Unit (YPG) advance against rebel territory bordering Turkey. Turkey has responded to the offensive, which is backed by Russian fighter jets, by shelling Syrian army and YPG positions. Intervention in Syria Turkey has proposed military intervention in Syria to counter the threat posed to it by Kurdish groups and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group. The YPGs advance on rebel positions north of Aleppo has also strained ties with Turkeys NATO allies in Washington. Kurdish groups taking on ISIL are funded, supplied and trained by the US. Turkeys presidency said US President Barack Obama had shared his concerns over the Syrian conflict and promised his support on Friday, hours after a tense exchange between the two NATO allies over the role of Kurdish fighters. In a phone conversation that lasted one hour and 20 minutes, Ankara said Obama had told his counterpart President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that Turkey had a right to self-defence, and expressed worries over advances by Syrian Kurdish militias near Turkeys border. Speaking in Istanbul before the phone call on Friday, Erdogan said he was saddened by the Wests refusal to call the PYD and its military wing, the YPG, terrorist groups. Turkey accuses the YPG of being behind a bombing that left at least 28 people dead in its capital Ankara on Wednesday. Many members of the Yazidi religious minority in Iraq, fearing persecution, are choosing to migrate to Germany. Lalish Deep in the mountains of Iraqs Kurdish region lies a sanctuary for the Yazidis, a religious minority that has been viciously persecuted by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). Lalish, which means both silence and listen, is the oldest Yazidi temple in the world. Usually quiet and peaceful, the temple has more recently become a refuge for internally displaced Yazidis who fled ISILs advance on the city of Sinjar in 2014. Although Kurdish forces have expelled ISIL from Sinjar, many Yazidis displaced from the city have no plans to return. In five years there wont be any Yazidis left here, said Najim Aleas Abdi, a Yazidi general fighting with the Peshmerga, a Kurdish armed group battling ISIL. READ MORE: Yazidis long for home as Sinjar operation stalls According to the Yazidi Human Rights Organisation, Iraq was originally home to 800,000 Yazidis, but just 450,000 remain today. Much of this is due to emigration. Abdis oldest son lives in Germany, and he plans to take the rest of his family there soon. No family is complete here. Everyone has brothers and sisters in Germany, Abdi told Al Jazeera. The dream is shared by many Yazidis. I will either be eaten by the fish or make it to Germany, said Ziad Shangar, who is originally from Sinjar. Shangar said he planned to cross the Mediterranean Sea next month, and travel onwards to Germany. For the time being, he works as a volunteer at the tomb of Sheikh Adi, a Yazidi saint. Shangar says he has found a German woman on Facebook who is willing to marry him, and he is confident it will all work out. It is estimated that 50,000 Yazidis are living in Germany. The Yazidis arent fleeing just Iraq; they are fleeing their homeland, where their holy city, Lalish, is located -which to them is the equivalent of Saudis having to flee Mecca, said Kyle Msall, a University of Chicago PhD candidate with expertise on the crisis facing Yazidis. Yazidi culture is so intertwined with their religion that it seems unfathomable for them to leave this area, where their religion has been for centuries, Msall said. READ MORE: A year after ISIL attack, Yazidis will never forget Over scalding tea in Lalishs mountainside temple, which is used for worshipping the sun, four Yazidi men discussed the possibility of a better life in Germany and their concerns about returning to Sinjar. I will either be eaten by the fish or make it to Germany. by Ziad Shangar, Iraqi Yazidi Luqman Mahmood, a native of Mosul, now works as a teacher at a high school in Sheikhan, Iraq. He said most of his students refuse to shake his hand because they liken his religion to devil worship. This misconception stems from the link between the devil and Tausi Melek, the Peacock Angel believed to have been created by God to reign over the universe. The Peacock Angel is identified as a fallen angel, but is not the devil in Yazidism. Mahmood said that on one occasion, students appreciative of his help pulled him aside after school to offer a sign of their gratitude. They told him that he would go to hell for being Yazidi, but that they would help him convert to save his soul. We dont have a problem with people. But people have a problem with us, Mahmood told Al Jazeera. The persecution of Yazidis predates the rise of ISIL, but has increased in recent years. In 2007, two Yazidi communities were reduced to rubble by bombings that killed 500 people and displaced more than 1,000 families. When families feel their children will have no future, thats when they choose to leave. The aggregate situation for all children in Iraq is extremely troubling including Yazidis, said Karim Elkorany, a spokesperson for UNICEFs Iraq branch. Qasim Hussein, a local Kurdish translator, has applied to go to Germany legally. Asked whether he would consider himself a refugee, he vehemently shook his head, saying Iraq is still home. But if you get slaughtered and killed, whats the point? We have to let go, he said. According to Msall, Many individual Yazidis believe that everyone wants the Yazidis gone from the Middle East, so the option for Europe seems like best-case scenario in their opinion. After tea, the Yazidi men walked through Lalish towards a baptismal pool. Only Yazidis may enter the room surrounding the baptismal pool, and an old woman guards the entrance to enforce this rule. She said that 10 families had visited the holy site on a recent day before making the dangerous journey to Europe. In colder weather, the price charged by smugglers to bring families to Europe drops by thousands of dollars, and families who previously could not afford the risky journey have been jockeying to secure spots. We look at what the European Union will look like without Britain and how the UK will fare without the EU. The UK has been threatening to leave the European Union for some time, but with Britain preparing for a referendum on EU membership in June, a British exit from the EU, or Brexit, is becoming a real possibility. It's going to be hard... but I will not take a deal that does not meet what we need. by David Cameron, British Prime Minister Prime Minister David Cameron has warned his European counterparts that the UK could leave if it fails to meet his countrys needs. He says he wants to stay in the EU, but not under current rules. Cameron recently travelled to Brussels armed with a package of reforms, demanding controversial concessions, the kind that require an actual change in EU treaty terms. Camerons proposed reforms included restricting benefits for up to four years for migrants arriving in Britain from other parts of the EU; to be able to opt out of the EUs drive to pursue an ever closer union across Europe; plus, a stop to the financial regulation which some believe is strangling business in Britain. But the reforms are just one part of the situation, because with or without them, there will be a referendum in the UK which will settle its membership once and for all. So what is next for Europe? Is the Brexit a real possibility? And, if so, what does the future look like for the different countries? Karel Lannoo, the chief executive of the Brussels-based Centre for European Policy Studies, joins Counting the Cost to discuss Brexit and what this could mean for the UK and the EU. The Saudi-Russia oil deal Oil powerhouses Saudi Arabia and Russia have agreed to freeze oil production if other producers do the same, in a move aimed at halting a drop that has seen oil prices reach their lowest levels in more than a decade. The agreement, which also included Qatar and Venezuela, was the first deal struck between an OPEC and a non-OPEC player in 15 years. It is a beginning of a process which we will assess, in the next few months, and decide whether we need other steps to stabilise and improve the market We dont want significant gyrations in prices. We do not want reduction in supply. We want to meet demand. We want a stable oil price, Saudi oil minister Ali al-Naimi said. Iran, who only recently started shipments of crude to Europe after years of sanctions, didnt commit to the plan but said it did support it. Vitaly Kazakov, director of Master of Economics in Energy and Natural Resources at the Moscow-based New Economics School, joins the programme to discuss whether the crisis can be stopped and what the future holds for oil dependant countries such as Venezuela. We look at a sedition case that has sparked violence against the media; plus, Donald Trump, speaking the unspeakable. In the latest battle over freedom of expression in India, journalists have marched on the countrys Supreme Court for protection from violent nationalist groups backing Prime Minister Narendra Modis government. Some 800 journalists presented a petition to the Supreme Court in New Delhi this week demanding protection as well as an investigation into recent attacks against reporters. The protest rally came after Kanhaiya Kumar, a PhD student at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, was arrested on sedition charges for organising a rally marking the anniversary of the execution of a Muslim Kashmiri leader. A student faction linked to Modis ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) accused Kumar of using anti-Indian slogans during the demonstration. Journalists reporting the court case were called traitors and terrorists while being attacked in broad daylight despite the presence of police forces throughout the complex. In what many journalists and writers see as an increasing climate of oppression, news outlets in the worlds largest democracy are struggling to find a way to cover stories that touch on the nationalism movement and those who oppose it. Talking us through the story are Rajdeep Sardesai, consulting editor at India Today Group; Sudhir Chaudhary, editor at Zee News; Hartosh Singh Bal, political editor at Caravan Magazine; and Madhu Kishwar, the author of Modi, Muslims and Media. Other media stories on our radar this week: exiled Syrian journalist Rami Jarrah has been arrested in Turkey while applying for a residence permit; a Palestinian journalist imprisoned by the Israeli authorities is now reported to be more than 85 days into a hunger strike and his lawyer says he is on the verge of death; cameraman Ahmed al-Shaibani has been killed in Yemen while covering fighting between Houthi forces and the Yemeni Popular Resistance. Breaking the Taboo: Trumping the US mainstream media Often, it takes an outsider such as Donald Trump to break a taboo, to go where establishment figures insiders from the worlds of politics and the media refuse to go. In the Republican debate in South Carolina last weekend, Trump declared live that the Bush administration, and therefore by association the president himself, deliberately lied to the American people about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. For the past 15 years, politicians and journalists have been critical of the Iraq war but they have almost never accused President Bush of starting a war based on lies. That, essentially, is what a leading republican candidate did, saying something that not even the so-called liberal media in the US dare to say. The Listening Posts Richard Gizbert reports. Finally, in the US televised election debates, candidates trade blows over policy, they differ on substance and in style, but one topic where they tend to find common ground is the news media and its presumed bias. We collected a few moments of debated media bashing, and we bet we will see plenty more between now and November. This week, more than seven million people in Niger, one of the poorest and least developed countries in the world, are going to the polls to elect a president and a new parliament. It is the second election after Nigers military coup in 2010. Today when you look at the situation in Diffa, we can say Boko Haram has been weakened and we are close to winning a lasting victory over Boko Haram... To face Boko Haram, we decided to rely on our own forces. But this does not rule out that we can call on friendly countries, like France and the United States. by Mahamadou Issoufou, Niger's president The sitting President Mahamadou Issoufou is intent on winning a second term. But among the other 14 presidential candidates Issoufou has some serious rivals, including former prime minister Seyni Oumarou and the controversial Hama Amadou, who is currently in jail, accused of complicity in a baby trafficking scandal. His supporters say those allegations are false, giving this election an added controversy in addition to a long list of divisive issues the political leadership here is already facing. The landlocked country is confronting severe threats to its stability as a result of armed conflicts in the region. Boko Haram is in Nigeria to the southeast and other groups such as ISIL in Mali and Libya in the north. The Nigeria conflict, which has killed thousands, has already spilled over to Niger. Up to 130,000 have fled across the border. In the Diffa region, large areas are unstable, and more than 170 villages are deserted. Meanwhile, there is concern that ISIL fighters are potentially moving into Niger to escape renewed Western military action in Libya. President Issoufou believes that a foreign intervention in Libya is a must: I am positive that a foreign intervention is needed in Libya, because after the fall of Gaddafi there was no after-sale service. And this after-sale service is exactly what I want in Libya today. The after-sale service can only happen as an intervention aimed at accompanying a national union government in Libya. Im not deceiving myself here. Im under no illusion, even if put in place this government wont be able to face the terrorist threat by itself. All of this is further threatening Nigers top priority, development. Despite being ranked as the worlds fourth-largest producer of uranium and newly-discovered oil reserves, Niger is one of the poorest and least developed countrys in the world and around 60 percent of the population lives on less than one dollar a day. So is Niger failing to benefit from its natural resources and to redistribute its wealth to the people? How big a threat is Boko Haram? What are the main challenges facing the country? And what is at stake for the people in Nigers elections? We went to Niger to look at the major challenges this country is facing. We talked to members of the opposition and young people and we put all this to President Issoufou as he talks to Al Jazeera. You can talk to Al Jazeera, too. Join our Twitter conversation as we talk to world leaders and alternative voices shaping our times. You can also share your views and keep up to date with our latest interviews on Facebook. In the mid-1990s,organized sessions that truly deserved to be called "all-star"teaming the ace vibes player with guitarist, pianist, bassistand drummerand which resulted in the acclaimed Like Minds (1998, Concord). With all respect due to the amazing credentials of Burton and friends,'s Hasta Karma frequently echoes and matches the stunning, glistening beauty of the music made by Burton's five Like Minds.For his fourth MoonJune release, this visionary guitarist teams with bassistand drummer, the rhythm engine of Pat Metheny's Unity Band; this core is joined by vibes playerand keyboardist, a native of Indonesia like Budjana. "I was really impressed by their discipline," Budjana reveals in his liner notes, "and how smoothly and precisely they executed each track. They really gave different souls to each song, far beyond what I had imaginedespecially Antonio, with his unique rhythmic variations. It was great to have the current Pat Metheny rhythm section, and working with a vibraphonist was a total novelty for me; my guitar and Joe's vibraphone matched and blended perfectly, like a Gamelan."Hasta Karma is lush and ripe with flowing, beautiful melodies. Locke's vibes swimming in the rhythm beneath Budjana's soaring, singing electric guitar doubling and counterpointing its linescreates a shimmering, bright beauty in the opening "Saniscara," a beauty that Budjana's subsequent solo shreds in a spasms of electric guitar god glory. Locke's vibes leads "Just Kidung" through its nimble, sing-song melody; Locke and Budjana drop out to create room for thoughtful solos by the rhythm section and pianist before the melody reunites the ensemble and Budjana unleashes hard rocking buzzsaw guitar to close."Ruang Dialisis" emerges from more personal space. After wading through an electronic sound portrait very much like-ertronics, it settles into a stately and somber rhythm which parts for a sampled, looped, and very human vocalthe voice of Budjana's grandmother chanting the traditional Mamuit farewell song at the funeral of her son, Budjana's father. (She too passed away six months later.) Budjana concludes with a soft misty reflection through "Payogan Rain."Amazingly, Hasta Karma is the result of a single session recorded in a single day. "We had an International World Combination," Budjana suggests, "from Balinese roots melody lines with Mexican jazz drumming to African-American bass grooves and Western vibraphone, it's totally a world music. I like these kinds of multi-dimensional, multicultural, multi-ethnic combinationsthey're really inspiring." 2005 .. Almotamar.net - The United Nations Security Council have urged all parties to the conflict in Yemen to take urgent steps towards resuming a ceasefire. In a statement issued on Friday night, the Security Council called on all Yemeni parties to engage in political talks without preconditions and in good faith, including by resolving their differences through dialogue and consultations. The Council underlined its strong support for the UN Special Envoy for Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed in facilitating these talks. The Security Council called upon all sides to comply with international humanitarian law, including to take all feasible precautions to minimize harm to civilians and civilian objects. In its statement, the Council expressed its deep concern about the increasing presence of Al-Qaeda and Daesh organizations in the Arabian Peninsula. Urging all parties to fulfill their commitments to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian assistance, including measures to further ensure rapid, safe and unhindered humanitarian access, the Council further underlined the importance of the delivery of commercial goods and fuel for civilian purposes to all parts of Yemen. The statement stressed the Security Councils strong commitment to maintain the unity and sovereignty of Yemen territories. The AU Election Observation Mission in Niger concluded a 2 days orientation and briefing programme aimed at empowering its 40 continental short-term observers with tools and information that will ensure their successful deployment and engagement throughout the various electoral zones during the parliamentary and presidential elections to be held on 21 February 2016. During the []http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Appa-sourceTheAfric... The launch of a Tunisian-Swiss friendship group during the state visit of President Beji Caid Essebsi to Switzerland characterises the excellent relations between the two countries. President Beji Caid Essebsi and President Johann N. Schneider-Ammann were present at the event on Friday. The topics of economic cooperation and vocational education and training formed the focus []http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Appa-sourceTheAfric... Governments and other key actors today set the stage for key decisions on the implementation of the environmental dimension of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including addressing the environmental aspects of global humanitarian crises and human health risks. On the final day of a week-long Open Ended Meeting of the Committee of Permanent Representatives []http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Appa-sourceTheAfric... We, the Heads of Mission of the United States, United Kingdom, and Norway (Troika), condemn in the strongest terms the violence that occurred at the UN Mission in the Republic of South Sudan (UNMISS) protection of civilians (PoC) site in Malakal. We are outraged by the senseless deaths and injuries to civilians sheltering in the []Source : http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Appa-sourceTheAfric... AR's Editor Joe Shea Talks About Elections On Iranian TV Bear Stearns Saved By Fed As Lehman Bros. Falters; Major Bank Failure Looms Over Wall Street, Sends Markets Into 200-Pt. Dive Lie Upon Lie Five Years Into the Iraq War The Administration Still Churns Out Lies by Randolph Holhut A Small Tragedy Even at 90, As Friends Turn Cool She Knows the Show Must Go On by Joyce Marcel I'll Take Me Imagine John Wayne or Arnold In Heels, Silk and a Girdle by Elizabeth Andrews Sen. Nelson Calls For New Fla. Primary; Gov Crist Backs 'Do-Over' Who'll Win? Ask Spock Spock.com Engine Predicts Winners By Site Searches; It Can be Wrong by Jay Bhatti Chatting Up The Cat God Gave Me Dominion Over Him But I Think He's a Non-Believer by Constance Daley Death of a Thug The Life and Horrors of Suharto by Andreas Harsono ___________________________ This Just In Sierra Club: McCain Ducked All 15 Key Votes On Green Laws (AR) A Work By AR's T.S. Kerrigan Is Chosen As 'Best Poem' By Wordpress Site Murder At Mile 63 The Deadly Assault and Bush Administration Cover-Up by S. Eben Kirkesby and Andreas Harsono 5427 14th St. West, Bradenton, FL 34207 $6.99 Fish Fridays! Manatee Co.'s Only 24-Hr. FREE Wi-Fi Paid Advertisement On Native Ground AFTER 5 YEARS, WE'RE STILL LIED TO ABOUT IRAQ by Randolph T. Holhut DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- Next week is the fifth anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq. And it is likely that sometime in the next couple of weeks, the 4,000th American soldier will die in Iraq. [MORE] Momentum OFF TO SEE THE WIZARD by Joyce Marcel DUMMERSTON, Vt. - It's 1931, and a 14-year-old girl is standing alone on a stage. She's small and lively with dark curly hair, widespread hazel eyes, slender wrists and an open, eager face filled with the wonder of performing. Her name is Rose, and one day she will be my mother. But now she is performing an Eugene O'Neill monologue called "Before Breakfast" for a ladies' club in a wealthy suburb of Long Island. [MORE] One Woman's World COMFORTABLE WITH MYSELF by Elizabeth T. Andrews CARTERSVILLE, Ga. -- I'm not sure but I think I may be socially incorrect. [MORE] On Native Ground ENOUGH FOR A WAR, NOT FOR A PEOPLE by Randolph T. Holhut DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- Last week, the National Governors Assn. met in Washington, D.C. One of the tasks the NGA had on its agenda was to ask President Bush to increase federal spending on roads, bridges and other public works projects as a way to stimulate the economy. He rejected their pleas out of hand, claiming that infrastructure projects wouldn't offer any short-term economic boost. [MORE] Brasch Words BEWARE THE SELF-REVERENTIAL PRESS by Walter Brasch BLOOMSBURG, Pa. -- Shortly before the primary votes this past week, Newsweek's Jonathan Alter called Sen. Barack Obama's surge to the Democratic nomination "inevitable." It also called for Hillary Clinton to "start her campaign for Senate majority leader." [MORE] Constance A CONVERSATION WITH MY CAT Constance Daley ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. -- Normally, when the cat starts his evening rant of meowing continuously until he makes his point, I just take it as long as I can, pick him up, and put him in the garage for the night. He doesn't want to go, but the meowing stops and I don't care if he likes it or not. [MORE] Momentum OUT OF STRUGGLE, ART by Joyce Marcel DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- Here we are again at the crossroads of art and social change, having the opportunity to watch good and great films about the lives of women in support of the Women's Crisis Center. [MORE] Campaign 2008 HOW TO PREDICT SUPER TUESDAY II WINNERS? ONLINE SEARCH by Jay Bhatti NEW YORK, March 4, 2008, 7:00PM ET -- With the outcomes of the Texas, Vermont, Ohio and Rhode Island primaries to be decided tonight, how possible is it that online searching can predict who will win tonight's primaries? [MORE] One Woman's World DON'T VOTE; IT ENCOURAGES THEM by Elizabeth T. Andrews CARTERSVILLE, Ga. -- Call me angry and disgusted but don't call me un-American because I won't be voting come November. [MORE] On Native Ground BUSH AND THE KEYBOARD COMMANDOS by Randolph T. Holhut DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- As the days tick down toward the eventual departure of President George W. Bush from the White House, it's a hopeful sign that most Americans are no longer moved by his Administration's constant exploitation of terrorism for political gain. [MORE] Momentum WHICH AMERICA DO YOU LIVE IN? by Joyce Marcel DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- It's a little confusing. [MORE] Make My Dat THE LAWYER THAT ATE NEW YORK by Erik Deckers INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- I used to know a guy who, quite literally, didn't get hyperbole. He didn't understand exaggeration. As a result, he missed most jokes that came his way. [MORE] On Native Ground FIDEL RETIRES: NOW THE COLD WAR IS REALLY OVER by Randolph T. Holhut DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- Maybe now, we can finally say the Cold War is over. [MORE] Make My Dat THE LAWYER THAT ATE NEW YORK by Erik Deckers INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- I used to know a guy who, quite literally, didn't get hyperbole. He didn't understand exaggeration. As a result, he missed most jokes that came his way. [MORE] One Woman's World POLITICS IS NO PARTY by Elizabeth T. Andrews CARTERSVILLE, Ga. -- Are you having a hard time focusing your eyes? Do you have faint red spots all over your body? Is there a ringing in your ears and do you see wavy lines when you look at your television set? Do your hands shake when you try to hold a cup of coffee? And have you recently been forgetting what day of the week it is - or what year? [MORE] Make My Day FOR BETTER OR WORSE ... A LOT WORSE by Erik Deckers INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- "Marriage: It's Only Going to Get Worse." [MORE] Constance YOU CALL THESE RIGHTS? by Constance Daley ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. -- When you express an opinion you hope to persuade others to your point of view. It doesn't always happen but still, opinion writers try. [MORE] Momentum THE BRIDGE WOMAN by Joyce Marcel DUMMERSTON, Vt. - Out there in America - yes, still - is a generation of women who were born in the 1940s, raised in the 1950s, and who came to radical consciousness in the late 1960s and early 1970s. I am one of them. Hillary Clinton is one of them. [MORE] On Native Ground OBAMA AND MY GENERATION by Randolph T. Holhut DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- I originally planned on voting for Dennis Kucinich in the Vermont Primary on March 4. [MORE] The Willies: WARNING: THIS MEDICATION MAY MURDER YOUR FRIENDS by Joe Shea BRADENTON, Fla. -- You've heard the warnings, haven't you? Stop Prozac and you may take a shotgun, an Uzi or an AK-47 and mow down your family and friends, or even a whole classroom full of your fellow students. You didn't? Well, that warning is not on the bottle, but like countless mass-murder incidents before it, Friday's shootings at Northern Illinois University, as well as the Virginia Tech shootings that killed 32 last year, was probably precipitated by the effect of stopping medications that suppress anger and other powerful emotions but do not relieve the underlying cause. Isn't it time we started warning people - or stopped prescribing these medicines? [MORE] One Woman's World DON'T KNOCK ON MY DOOR by Elizabeth T. Andrews CARTERSVILLE, Ga. -- I wish I could feel delight in my poet's mansion being like Grand Central Station all the time, but I can't. And I wish my place was such a place that someone would one day write: "Her door was always open and she always made you feel all fuzzy and warm in her presence. She could make a cup of coffee seem like a banquet." [MORE] Reporting: Panama PANAMA'S VIOLENT LABOR UNREST INTENSIFIES Mark Scheinbaum PANAMA CITY, Panama, Feb, 15, 2008 -- After just one day of relative calm, wildcat construction strikes by some members of Panama's largest union flared up again Friday morning, four days after a police sniper shot one worker. More than 140 demonstrators have been injured and at least 500 arrested, authorities say. [MORE] Brasch Words TO STIMULATE ECONOMY, BUY A CHINESE-MADE U.S. FLAG by Walter Brasch BLOOMSBURG, Pa. -- Walking down Main Street, pushing a grocery cart loaded with clothes, toys, and appliances was Marshbaum. Fastened to the right front corner of the cart was an American flag tied onto a three-foot ruler. [MORE] Make My Day THE TOOTH, AND NOTHING BUT THE TOOTH by Erik Deckers INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- To commemorate the death of noted shark exploder Roy Scheider, and the "Jaws" movies that resulted in Erik never setting foot in the ocean again, we are reprinting this column from 2003. Shark Experts 0, Sharks 1 [MORE] Momentum THE WINTER OF MY DISCONTENT by Joyce Marcel DUMMERSTON, Vt. - As I write this, it's raining ice. Maybe a half a foot of snow and ice has already landed up here in the woods of Dummerston. Our cars are encased in it, and the door to the house is blocked. The satellite dish that brings in our Internet service quit about 20 minutes ago - frozen solid. [MORE] The Willies AMERICA TO HILLARY: GET OUT! by Joe Shea BRADENTON, Fla., Feb. 13, 2008 -- Sen. Hillary Clinton has adopted the Rudy Giuliani strategy, and it's working - for Sen. Barack Obama. It turns out to be the strategy all Democrats are seeking - an exit strategy. But it's not for Iraq. It's for her exit from the race for the 2008 Democratic Presidential nomination. [MORE] Constance CONFESSIONS OF A DISAPPOINTED VOTER by Constance Daley ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. -- A week ago at just about this time, I completed an article and was about to submit it as scheduled to The American Reporter. I was feeling rather elated, ready to show up on Super Tuesday morning, firmly touch the X next to Rudy Giuliani's name and get on with my day. He was my choice; he would get my vote. [MORE] Reporting: Florida SIERRA CLUB SET TO SUSPEND FLA. CHAPTER by Joe Shea BRADENTON, Fla., Feb. 10, 2008 -- The national Sierra Club is set to suspend its Florida chapter after years of divisive infighting, the president of the national club told Florida members in a letter delivered to some this weekend. It is the first time in its 116-year history that such a step has been considered by the club, according to news reports. [MORE] One Woman's World PLANT A NEW WORLD THIS SPRING by Elizabeth T. Andrews CARTERSVILLE, Ga. -- For a little while, the men will just have to toss and turn in their fear-free-women beds. For a small space of time Hillary Clinton will just have to trudge on toward the White House without my faint applause in the background. [MORE] On Native Ground VERMONT AND THE 5 STAGES OF CONSERVATIVE GRIEF by Randolph T. Holhut DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- First, Vermont tried to convince the nation to impeach President Bush and Vice President Cheney. [MORE] Make My Day REBEL WITHOUT A TONGUE by Erik Deckers INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- Kids' brains work in amazing ways. At times, they can grasp complex concepts and make impressive discoveries. Other times, you have to wonder how we ever survived as a species. [MORE] The Willies FOR DEMOCRATS, NOW IT'S ABOUT RACE, INCOME AND GENDER by Joe Shea BRADENTON, Feb. 6, 2008 -- It's not a good time to be a Democrat. As the Super Tuesday results demonstrated, the presidential race between Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton has divided the partly along clear racial, income and gender lines - the very distinctions the party has sought to erase in principle but has emphasized in its pursuit of diversity. [MORE] Momentum SUPER TUESDAY BLUES by Joyce Marcel DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- Super Tuesday has come and gone and I still can't get excited about the upcoming presidential elections. [MORE] The Willies ON THE BRINK OF HISTORY, YOUR PUSH IS NEEDED by Joe Shea BRADENTON, Fla., Feb. 5. 2008 -- I'm expecting a sea change tonight. I believe that for the first time in this nation's history we will once and forever banish racism as the deciding factor in the destiny of African-Americans, and indeed adopt diversity as our path to the future. [MORE] Campaign 2008 AT 88, EVERY VOTE REALLY COUNTS by Ted Manna DENVER, Feb. 5, 2008 -- Pearl Turner will caucus for Mitt Romney tonight in Denver. [MORE] One Woman's World STAND BY YOUR WOMAN by Elizabeth T. Andrews CARTERSVILLE, Ga. -- The black vote. The gay vote. The fundamentalist vote. The Hispanic vote. [MORE] An AR Special SUSPECTS IN BENAZIR ASSASSINATION HAVE TIES TO MUSHARRAF by Ahmar Mustikhan WASHINGTON, D.C. -- When Gordon Brown this past Monday feted coup-leader-turned-President Pervez Musharraf at 10 Downing Street, Britain's new prime minister probably didn't ask the Pakistani dictator a question that is now on many minds: Did you order the murder of Benazir Bhutto? [MORE] Momentum TO THE VERMONT DELEGATION: WHAT HAVE YOU DONE FOR US LATELY? by Joyce Marcel DUMMERSTON, Vt. Back when President George W. Bush and Dick Vice President Dick Cheney were building up to their loathsome war in Iraq, very few people were brave enough to call the bullies' bluff. [MORE] On Native Ground IF BUSH HAS HIS WAY, WE'LL NEVER LEAVE IRAQ by Randolph T. Holhut DUMMERSTON, Vt. - In his final State of the Union address on Jan. 28, President Bush cautioned against accelerating U.S. troop withdrawals from Iraq, saying that it would endanger the process that has been made over the past year. [MORE] Campaign 2008 CLASH OF COMMENTS AND PROTESTORS AT CLINTON, OBAMA RALLIES IN DENVER by Ted Manna DENVER, Feb. 1, 2008 -- At least four presidential campaigns of both partiers rolled into in Denver this week ahead of the Feb. 5 "Super Tuesday" primaries in 22 states, but it was the Democratic presidential contenders who drew the big crowds and duked it out Wednesday. If sheer numbers are any indication, Sen. Barack Obama - preceded by a buoyant and beautiful Caroline Kennedy - won the round handily. He is the overwhelming favorite to win the Colorado primary next Tuesday. [MORE] The Willies WHY THE FLORIDA PRIMARY STINKS by Joe Shea BRADENTON, Fla., Jan. 30, 2008 -- I was with my wife and daughter driving the back way from Miami home to Bradenton when we stopped at a McDonald's in Clewiston, the only big town along the vast shore of Lake Okeechobee, the state's precious freshwater reservoir. The McDonald's had three televisions at a central seating area, each tuned to a different network, and our table was in front of CNN as the very first election results started to pour in around 7:30PM. With them, almost as counterpoint, suddenly came such an overwhelming odor of cow plop that my wife started to throw up as we all ran to the parking lot. [MORE] Passings: Suharto DEATH OF A KEMUSU THUG by Andreas Harsono JAKARTA - A few minutes after hearing that former president Suharto had died in his hospital bed, Marco, a militia leader in downtown Jakarta, raced to Suhartos house, wearing his jungle camouflage and began guarding the Suhartos residence on Cendana Street. [MORE] Constance I REMEMBER YOU by Constance Daley ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga.. -- It seems to be more often lately that the sentiment is spoken but it's always been out there: "You never get over the death of your child." This is true. But the heartfelt expressions come from some who cannot fathom the notion of losing a child; their own child is who is in their mind, not another mother's child. [MORE] In the good old days of Hollywood cowboy movies the truth was always obvious, the good guys wore white hats, and the villains wore black ones. In the real world, judgments of people and of their behavior are not that simple. A particular example of this is the differing versions of the behavior of French people that have been and are being expounded in the flood of books and commentaries about the Vichy regime and the occupation of France by Nazi Germany during World War II. There has always been a kind of moral ambiguity about this. For almost thirty years there was deliberate official organized amnesia about the distressing fact of widespread collaboration of French people with the Nazis. Collective memory was, as the historian Pierre Nora suggested, used by groups to interpret the past. Specific dates and individuals are commemorated and may become familiar through political emphasis and cultural carriers of film, media, and literature, while others may suffer from collective amnesia. Few historians of World War II would agree with the assertion by General de Gaulle in his famous speech of August 25, 1944 on returning to the capital that Paris liberated by itself, liberated by its people with the help of the French armies, with the support and help of all Francethe only France, the real France. But everyone can appreciate both the importance for political unity in France of de Gaulles remark, and his pride in those who risked death as members of the French Resistance. In the rewriting of French history, the intellectual amnesia about the thousands who collaborated in some way with the Vichy regime or with the German occupiers has been gradually dispelled. With it has been increasing attention to those individuals and groups who played a heroic role, at personal or family cost, in confronting the Nazis, and who can be considered righteous. The willingness to tell the truth about the mixed, disparate behavior of French people is a remarkable contrast, one of courage, the other of cowardice, to the refusal to acknowledge the truth in a German court. On trial in Germany in February 2016 is a 94 year-old man named Reinhold Hanning, a former SS sergeant guard at Auschwitz-Birkenau camp, who is charged with being an accessory to murder of more than 170,000 people at the camp between January 1943 and June 1944. Hanning followed the pattern of the more famous SS officer, Adolf Eichmann, who was the Nazi transportation minister, the senior official, the fanatic Nazi organizing the task of deporting Jews to their death. There was no moral ambiguity in this case of sheer unrepentant evil. Though he once boasted he was no ordinary recipient of orders, at his trial in Jerusalem in 1961 for crimes against humanity, he pretended he was only a low level bureaucrat, a mere instrument, following orders. The silence of a willing participant in the slaughter of Jews is in startling contrast to the long silence about the activity of many brave and heroic French individuals who fought in the Resistance against Nazi Germany. It is refreshing, and indeed inspiring if somewhat sad, to read the story, told in the context of history and personal memoir, of some of those resisters by Charles Kaiser in his book The Cost of Courage. In sensitive fashion Kaiser relates the gripping story of an interrelated group, starting with the bravery of Andre Postel-Vinay who joined resistance groups in Paris from the beginning. It is a pleasure to see him honored, even more so because he is the father of the brilliant and intellectually brave French historian, Claire Andrieu. Postel-Vinay convinced his friend Andre Boulloche to join the Resistance at the end of 1940. The latter, a member of the sophisticated and cultured Boulloche family, social Catholics, is the central figure in Kaisers book. For 60 years the family was silent and did not reveal publicly their heroism in the French Resistance during World War II. The three youngest members of the family, Andre Boulloche and two sisters, became resisters though other members of the family did not. Their father was deported to Ravensbruck camp and died there; their mother was arrested, water-boarded, and sent to Buchenwald where she died; their older brother died at another camp, Ellrich. This was the true cost of their courage, deaths of the non-resisters in the family because of the actions of the resisters. For the rest of his life, Andre suffered guilt about the deaths of his family while he survived. After the Nazi occupation of Paris, Andre, a trained engineer, left for Algeria, returned to France, escaped from a Spanish prison, then went to join the Free French and General Charles de Gaulle in London. At age 28 he was parachuted into France, with 500,000 francs in cash and a cyanide pill, as de Gaulles personal military delegate in Paris to bring order to the Resistance movements in 11 departments of northern France. He was betrayed, captured by the Gestapo, shot in the stomach, tortured and water-boarded, and sent to Auschwitz, yet he survived three concentration camps. In the deportation train on April 27,1944 to Auschwitz he was accompanied by 1,700 prisoners put in 17 cattle cars with an assortment of people including members of 64 different Resistance organizations. Andres two sisters continued activity in the Resistance, and by luck survived. Both women, and also Andre, married after the war. Symbolically, one sister choose to to be married on June 18, 1947, the anniversary of de Gaulles famous speech in London calling for a Free France. After the war Andre became an official and then a politician, becoming Minister of Education under de Gaulle, then became a mayor, and a Socialist member of the National Assembly. It is gratifying to know that his legacy of service to his country had been continued by his great nephew, Francois Delattre, French Ambassador to the United Nations. Among other things, Andre called for reconciliation with Germany. The final irony was that died in a plane crash in the Black Forest of Germany. The basis and objective of resisters varied: some were national patriots, lovers of country, some were ideologues wanting a better France, some wanted social justice, some wanted to save Jews, some were religious opponents of Nazism, some were youthful opponents of the existing system. Of course, the complexity of French behavior existed from the start. Andre experienced this. When he and his friends left for North Africa in the belief that this was the best place to continue the battle against the Nazis, they were treated in Oran, Algeria as if they were traitors. French Jews, including youngsters, for a short time thought they could coexist with the Vichy regime and survive. It is always difficult to sort out myth or falsehood from reality. This was particularly the case with France during the war. A defender of Vichy could argue that Petain did participate in the deportation of 76,000 Jews, but mostly only in the case of foreign Jews in order to save national French Jews. But in fact this myth was invented by Pierre Laval in his trial in 1945 and was promoted by French right wing nationalists. One controversial, uncomfortable reminder of this is the case of Raymond Aubruc who was arrested by the Gestapo while in the company of Jean Moulin, usually held to be the leader of the Resistance, and members of the Resistance group in June 1943. Surprisingly, he escaped from the Gestapo, supposedly with the aid of his wife. Consequently, there have been lingering doubts about whether Aubruc had betrayed Moulin. President de Gaulle, speaking to the National Council of the Resistance, candidly told his audience, You are the Resistance, but the Resistance is not the nation. Kaisers book is a reminder that many thousands of French people did risk their lives and many died for the liberty and the liberation of France, and others bore the cost. Today marks the 83rd anniversary of the passage of the Blaine Act, which initiated the repeal of Prohibition in the United States. It makes for a fitting time to recognize that our government is not the appropriate arbiter of morals, no matter how agreed upon those morals may be. Prohibition came to pass as a result of the crusading Women's Christian Temperance Union and others who sought to cure society's ills not through appealing to the better angels of its nature, but through the long arm of the law. As a result, the effort largely failed. It was part of a larger movement by Progressives to end all sort of "abuses" like gambling and drug abuse. It's no wonder that the Progressives movement of today seeks to combat its pre-conceived societal ills in much the same fashion, be they the internal combustion engine, guns, or 32-oz. sodas. But surely, you protest, we cannot devolve into anarchy, letting everyone do as they please, no law to live by, only subtle persuasion. No, we cannot. Anarchy, like totalitarianism, has been proven not to work everywhere it has been tried. So where do we draw the line between which morals to enforce with compulsion and which to enforce with appeal? The answer, as is usually the case, rests in the first lines of our Declaration of Independence, which decree that we are endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable Rights, among them life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness (also known as estate or property, if the Lockean origins of the Declaration are to be believed). This means that my rights to do whatever I want end where the tips of my fingers touch the tip of your nose, or whatever the tips of your fingers have created. Murder, then, clearly, is an act that government has the duty to prevent. So, too, are theft, rape, and slavery. But drinking? Hardly. I understand the motivations of the temperance movement and, to an extent, agree with them. Here we were in the footloose and fancy free teens. Men were gallivanting around, prone to the ills of the bottle, and leaving their wives and children to fend for themselves. This is not the basis of a good society. So, just as today's Progressives blame murder not on the man who pulls the trigger, but on the trigger itself, Progressives of that era blamed broken families and broken vows on broken bottles of gin. It's much easier that way, for guns and gin can't fight back, and they become easy targets for our wrath. But this approach doesn't solve the problem. Just as murders continue to be committed by people who don't legally have access to guns, public drunkenness and truant fathers continued long after the 18th Amendment was passed. The correct means of curbing society's ills, then, is to appeal to the better angels of our nature. Let's take seat belt laws. They are in place because seat belts prevent injury. This is proven. Yet a small percentage of folks refuse to comply with the law. And this is, or at least should be, their right. After all, if they go through the windshield, they're hurting only themselves. (Yes, if they don't have insurance, we're all going to have to pay for their stupidity, but that's a different argument for a different day.) And whether it's seat belts, alcohol, or even murder, we need to realize that, no matter how many laws we pass, certain people will never comply. And for those who don't, we have two options. We can, and should, ignore them when they seek to punish causal offenses i.e., actions that are not harmful in and of themselves but can lead to actions that are. And we should punish the offenders severely when they break a law that actually does cause harm. Case in point would be drinking and driving. "What?! What?!" you say. "Surely drinking and driving should be a primary offense. Drunk drivers kill thousands of people per year!" Yes, but how many people successfully have a few pints down at the local pub and drive a few miles back home with nary a scratch? Don't get me wrong: I'm not advocating that people drink and drive because they "drive better when they're drunk" or some of the other nonsense I've heard. I'm just saying that, logically, drunk driving is a secondary offense. If you actually do drive better when you're drunk and can manage to get all the way home without causing an accident or swerving about enough to gain the attention of the police, congratulations: you win. As they say, nothing's illegal unless you get caught. Of course I say that in jest, yet there's more truth to it than we like to admit. So all this is to say that we, by all means, need to encourage and educate people to be safe, smart, and moral in their actions. Don't drink and drive. Don't go on a bender and gamble away next month's mortgage or leave your wife and kids for Ashley Madison. But, more importantly for the purpose of this article, I don't want government, which is already hard pressed to do the things we've asked it to do, to take on enforcing laws that it can't enforce while walking ever closer to that line of nanny-statism (or past it, as the case may be). After all, while the vast majority of us can agree on not drinking and driving, how many of us really agree on the morality of eating foie gras or driving a Ford F-350? So let's raise a toast to Mr. Blaine and thank him for allowing us to, once again, make our own decisions, at least in the part of America that doesn't include a large part of Arkansas. Mark Griswold is a conservative radio show host and writer and lives in the Seattle area. His opinions can be read at ThePoliticalBistro.com and heard on Seattle's AM 1590 The Answer. For the past 37 years, the excesses of the Islamic regime, both at home and abroad, have made the Islamic Republic and the Fundamentalist-Revolutionary establishment that brought it to power one of the most hated governments of all time, trying to sustain a way of life based on intimidation through the use of terror and fanaticism. Unfortunately, the people of Iran have never been given the moral support to be able to translate their plight into an all-consuming political movement against this theocracy. The majority of Iranians have recognized that the resolution of the country's serious economic, political, and social problems is clearly beyond the competence of the theocratic regime. The clerics who rule Iran today do not include "moderate" men. There is no moderation in the application of the Law of Vengeance. There is no moderation in the separation of men and women, nor in the gross domination of men over women. There is no moderation in denying Iranians their national heritage art, music, poetry, and literature. And there is no moderation in teaching children that one is born to look for "martyrdom." The Iranian people not only have endured years of oppression under the rule of theocracy, but have been isolated throughout the world as a result. Economically, Iranians are suffering, and the country is in ruins. The national resources of Iran have been depleted due to the mismanagement and corruption of the Islamic regime. Today, the majority of people are under the poverty line. After the Islamic Revolution 37 years ago, not only was freedom lost, but the majority of Iranians have been deprived economically. Across the Middle East, Western Europe, and the United States, the reign of terror is felt. Officials of the Islamic regime applaud the "heroism" of the "martyrs" of those terrorist acts. To them and their few but fanatical followers, terrorism is a legitimate political tool, justified by a higher cause. Since 1984, while President Ronald Reagan was in office until the present day, the U.S. government has designated the I.R. a regime of terrorism every year, one that puts efforts toward destabilizing Middle Eastern countries and aids international terrorist groups. In its annual report on worldwide terrorism released last June 19, the U.S. State Department reported that the Islamic Republic continues to support militant groups in Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, and Gaza and also in South America and Africa. If there is one thing that truly distinguishes the United States as a great country, it is the profound respect it has for human rights and decency. Can America reject the behavior of Nazi rulers, Gaddafi's terrorism, and Pol Pot's "killing fields" and yet believe that it can establish a lasting line of communication with a regime that routinely persecutes religious minorities, tortures and executes thousands of political prisoners, teaches schoolchildren to spy on their parents, and promotes international terrorism? Would America's conscience accept a relationship with such a monstrous regime? You cannot reason with a regime that does not respect the rights of its own people. You cannot deal with fundamentalists who believe that the United States of America is the great Satan. The fact is, the philosophy of the Islamic revolution is the destruction and disappearance of modern civilization from the face of the Earth, and evidently those in charge of it are effecting this with great pleasure. Therefore, there is no difference between moderate and hard-liners; in the theocratic regime, they are all alike. Just to mislead the civilized world, they play it as moderate president vs. fundamentalists or hard-liners' "Islamic Parliament." Hassan Rouhani has a much worse resume than Ahmadinejad before him more arrests, more prisoners, more executions, and more oppression. In addition, Rouhani has made plenty of empty promises for the Iranian people, while it is a fact that he has no authority to do anything. He was just put in office for his smile and sweet talk to negotiate and end the destructive sanctions, and to release all frozen funds for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard to continue its illegal activities in the region. Other than that, he is the supreme leader Khamenei's handyman. The U.S. Navy reported that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard fired rockets near the USS Harry Truman aircraft carrier and the USS Bulkeley guided missile destroyer in the Strait of Hormuz, Persian Gulf, last December. Immediately, dictators in Tehran shamelessly denied it and called the U.S. Navy report "psychological warfare." There was no serious reaction when clergy in Tehran on different occasions violated the U.N. resolution by firing nuclear-capable missiles for which, obviously, the only practical purpose is testing to carry atomic warheads. Recently, the I.R.'s Revolutionary Guard Corps climbed on board U.S. vessels in the Persian Gulf, arrested American sailors, took them into custody, and confiscated their military gear. Furthermore, the head of the I.R.'s armed forces, Hassan Firouzabadi, proudly said, "This incident should be a lesson to the troublemakers in the U.S. Congress." How dare a notorious terrorist insult American lawmakers who are representing the people of this great nation and call them troublemakers? And yet the president of America ignores this affront and calls it good diplomacy. Then where is the promise of Mr. Obama that the nuclear agreement with Iran would not prevent his administration from imposing new sanctions on the I.R. for non-nuclear issues? What happened to the Treasury Department sanctioning announcement of last December 11 for individuals and entities that contributed and assisted the I.R.'s ballistic missile program? Evidently, Mr. Obama is reluctant to do or say anything that would make the Islamic regime unhappy and derail the nuclear agreement, undermining Obama's legacy. Mr. President, to establish a genuine legacy, put pressure on Islamic leaders in Tehran to accept a visit by Amnesty International and other international organizations to the prisons across the country, which are crowded with innocent men and women of all ages and beliefs crying for liberty and human rights. Mansour Kashfi, Ph.D., is president of Kashex International Petroleum Consulting and is a college professor in Dallas, Texas. He is also the author of more than 100 articles and books about the petroleum industry and its market behavior worldwide. mkashfi@tx.rr.com This week, UK Foreign Secretary Phillip Hammond asked, Is Russia really committed to a peace process or is it using the peace process as a fig leaf to try to deliver some kind of military victory for Assad that creates an Alawite mini state in the north-west of Syria? Obviously, the Russians are not committed to the Syrian peace process and want an Alawite state. Their national interest is in keeping their client state, Syria, and the Russian bases within it, in existence. The Russians have little interest in a peace process to create a more democratic -- and certainly Sunni Arab (74% of the population) dominated -- Syria, where they would probably lose both their client and their bases. The easiest way for the Russians to do this now is to cut off the Alawite portions of the state and thereby create an Alawite majority/plurality state. The U.S., and the rest of the West, needs to understand what these Russian interests are, and try to make the best of the situation. Thanks to the U.S.s fecklessness in the region, we have already allowed Russia to take a dominant role in Syria, and there is probably little chance of us pressuring them to leave. Besides, the creation of a separate Alawite nation is not necessarily in opposition to Western interests. The West has long sought to promote peace; boost the number of democratic nations; and also protect minority rights (whether religious, gender, ethnic, or tribal) throughout the Middle East. Some revamped borderlines, including the creation of an Alawite state, may well maximize these Western interests. Syria was one of the many Middle Eastern states that were created by the Sykes-Picot Agreement. Unfortunately, the post-World War I Sykes-Picot lines were drawn solely for the benefit of the colonial powers, and not based on the idea of creating stable, united, and democratic nations. So, the end result of Sykes-Picot has been the creation a Middle East plagued by violence, genocide, and persecution. And with the Obama Administrations decisions to: 1) pull the U.S. from the region; and 2) favor Islamist Iran, which has long sought to promote instability throughout the rest of the region and thereby boost Iranian power, things have gotten even worse. Dividing Syria into different nations -- whether officially or de facto -- might help ameliorate the bloody civil war that has (so far) reportedly killed up to 470,000 Syrians and driven millions more into exile. An Alawite state in the west of Syria would satisfy the Russians, but also protect the Alawite and Shia population (13%) from slaughter at the hands of Sunni Islamist groups. (Perhaps an agreement could also be reached with Putin to remove Assad, and replace him with another, less bloodthirsty, Alawite.) An Alawite state could also include Syrian Christians (10%), who mostly live near the Alawites, and also are endangered by the Islamists. A Kurdish state in the north would be positive for the West, since the Syrian Kurds (10%): 1) have proven to be the most effective fighters against ISIS; 2) are largely secular; and 3) have had some success creating a region where other minorities are protected. A Druze state, in a portion of the south where they are a majority, might also be a good idea. The Druze (3%), as a minority, generally do not discriminate against other groups, have faced threats from the Syrian Sunni Islamists, and have long been known as fierce and competent fighters. Syrias division would also impact Iraq. The remainder of the Syrian state is Sunni dominated, and should probably be added to the Sunni portions of Iraq to create one state. This 'Sunni-stan' has economic potential as an oil producer (subject to negotiations with the Kurds, to be sure) and could be a bulwark against both Mr. Assad and Iran-allied Baghdad. This would also allow the West to empower viable Sunni leaders, including tribal authorities to fight against ISIS, in a replay of what happened in Iraq in 2007. Currently the Sunni Arabs who dominate in those regions so fear being controlled by Shia Iraqis, Alawite Syrians or Shia Iranians that they will not oppose Sunni ISIS. Of course, by separating Sunnis and Shias in Iraq and Sunnis from non-Sunnis in Syria, this should also decrease the religious violence and discrimination currently occurring in Syria and Iraq. If the Sunni Arab areas of Iraq are separated from the rest of Iraq, this will also result in the creation of a separate Kurdish state in the north, since Sunni Iraq is between Iraqi Kurdistan and Shia Iraq. (Iraqi Kurdistan and Syrian Kurdistan could also unite as one state). Once again, the West would benefit from a Kurdish state; Iraqi Kurdistan is a uniquely strong, stable, and democratic house that generally has a good record of respecting minority rights. Two nations will object to these map changes in Iraq and Syria. Iran wants to maximize its control over the Middle East. But contrary to the belief of President Obama, the U.S. does not have national interests in empowering the Shia Islamist Iran. Turkey would also object. But the concerns of that undemocratic, discriminatory Sunni Islamist regime should be immaterial to the West, especially since the Russians would be happy to stick it to the Turks by backing a Kurdish state. It is time to redraw the lines in the Middle East to ameliorate violence and promote democracy and human rights. I hope the next U.S. president will have the courage and foresight to do so. Adam Turner serves as general counsel to the Endowment for Middle East Truth (EMET). He is a former counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee where he focused on national security. Starting in 2013, China began a concerted effort to establish large, artificial islands throughout the Spratly Island archipelago in the South China Sea (China claims the entire sea and archipelago). The undeniable purpose of such efforts is for China to control the archipelago, and therefore control the unquestionably important region. The problem with the Peoples Republic of China laying claim to the entire region is that five other nations (Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam) also lay claim to certain areas of the Spratly Islands, making one of the worlds most heavily militarized regions even more volatile. In addition to the above-named countries, any potential conflict in Southeast Asia could eventually draw in the United States to protect its interests and allies. Most importantly, the United States and the Philippines have at least three treaties that would lead to a defense of the latter by China. The 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty, the 1999 Visiting Forces Agreement, and the 2014 Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement all oblige the U.S. to oppose any aggression to its ally, the Philippines. The two nations remain close partners in the War on Terror, as Washington has sent thousands of troops and other resources to combat the Islamic insurgency in the Philippines. The United States also maintains close relations with the Republic of China (Taiwan). China could very well use the Spratly Islands disagreement as a pretext to end the decades-long dispute with the island nation. Once again, the United States may very well be involved in a conflict between Taiwan and China, given the level of strategic ambiguity with regards to mutual defense in the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act. Strangely enough, Chinas assertiveness in the region has led Vietnam to look to the United States as a potential partner to counter Beijings power and land grab. India is also involved in the dispute, stationing naval units in Vietnamese waters, acting as a counterweight to Chinese aggression. Indian companies are also currently drilling for oil in the territorial waters of Vietnam. Now, you may ask, Why should I care?" Look at any item or article of clothing you have in your home. The tag or sticker will oftentimes say, Made in China, Made in Taiwan, Made in Vietnam, etc. Simply put, most people around the world would potentially feel the impact of a major conflict in the area brought on by the Spratly Island dispute. The South China Sea is a major transit point for maritime trade and shipping. According to Robert Kaplan, two-thirds of South Koreas energy supplies, sixty percent of Japans and Taiwans, and eighty percent of Chinas crude oil imports sail through the South China Sea. In fact, the amount of oil passing through the South China Sea, via the Malacca Strait, is triple the amount that passes through the Suez Canal and fifteen times the amount that transits the Panama Canal. In addition to the amount of energy supplies transiting the region, the South China Sea witnesses the flow of one-third all maritime traffic in the world, involving nearly fifty percent of the worlds merchant fleet. Trillions of dollars worth of goods flow through the region, making any potential conflict over the Spratly Islands devastating to the world economy, including worldwide stock markets and consumer prices. That would affect everyone reading this article. China, and the rest of the region, is interested in the Spratly Islands not only because it allows the controlling nation to regulate the trade of oil and other goods, but it can lead to control of the exploration of oil and natural gas in the South China Sea. According to the Chinese National Offshore Oil Company, the South China Sea region, including the Spratly Islands, holds 125 billion gallons of oil and 500 trillion cubic feet of gas. The U.S. Geological Survey disputes these number, instead estimating that the region holds 5 to 22 billion barrels of oil and 70 to 290 trillion cubic feet of gas. The fishing industry is extremely important to the region and especially China, given the size of its population. The South China Sea accounts for about twelve percent of the worldwide seafood catch. Since the Chinese coastline is seriously polluted, the Chinese government heavily subsidizes the Chinese fishing fleet, and especially encourages the fishing fleet to sail to the Spratly Islands. In fact, according to Adam Minter, China is responsible for about half of the total catch in the South China Sea which is estimated to be worth $21 billion China has answered concerns about the overfishing in the South China Sea with an annual ban that lasts from May to August and supposedly applies to all regional nations. Vietnam, among others, has violated the ban, suggesting the ban violates the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Laws of the Sea. The dispute over the Spratly Islands and the greater South China Sea has the potential to escalate into a regional conflict between any number of nations. The importance of the region to the world economy and the stationing of United States military forces in the area, might lead to a concerted effort to prevent military confrontation. At the end of October 2015, the United States Navy sailed the U.S.S. Lassen within 12 nautical miles of Subi reef, which is claimed by China. The move was widely denounced by Chinese state media as proactive and damaged regional peace and stability. The United States showed that it would not stand for Chinas aggressive moves, moves opposed by numerous nations. Add instability on the Korean Peninsula, the massive militaries possessed by many Asian nations (plus the United States), and the increasing nationalistic behavior of economically distressed China, and the threat of war, or proxy war, between the United States and China and their respective allies is a real possibility. It is a conflict that will affect all of us. It will cost all of us, in lives, wealth, comfort, and peace. Backing the French initiative to convene an international conference in the near future on the "Israeli-Palestinian conflict," a group of eleven prominent French ambassadors published an appeal in Le Monde on February 3, 2016, urging Paris and Brussels to "save the Palestinian state." Their 900-word opus can be summarized as follows: The ongoing "knife-intifada" is an expression of the "frustration and humiliation" of the Palestinians "after nearly 50 years of occupation," and the "spontaneous violence" it produced has nothing to do with Islamic terrorism as practiced by the Islamic State (ISIS). Besides, "Israel's repression" has produced "a far greater number of victims" than Israeli casualties. Since the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin in 1996, "all peace initiatives have failed," thus preventing the Palestinians from "being granted a portion of Palestine since 1967." In theory, negotiations should conform to the "principle of two-states, recognized by the United Nations since 1947" but the policies of Prime Minister Netanyahu which aim at "establishing a Greater Israel from the sea to the Jordan River" -- have reduced the potential area of the future Palestinian state. The unresolved Palestinian question fuels the animosity of the "Arab/Muslim world against the West." While the U.S. will continue to pledge their allegiance to Israel, Europe remains "inhibited by the specter of the Shoah and the power of the [pro-Israel] lobbies." But the "power of the law" should address the "sense of injustice that is spreading in public opinion." To that effect, the French Government will introduce a Security Council resolution to "resume negotiations under international control" and, "should these negotiations fail, France would recognize the Palestinian State." As the international community confronts ISIS, why wouldn't it deploy "an equivalent effort" toward peace, which would "at last grant the Palestinian people their rights"? But we should not wait. Without delay, "France should immediately recognize the Palestinian State." As long as Israeli "colonization" continues, "the association treaty between Israel and the European Union should be suspended" as well as "the special economic and scientific cooperation from which Israel benefits." These measures are necessary to prevent Israel from "losing its soul" in the pursuit of its "apartheid policies." What is at stake in this conflict are the "values of the Western world" and it behooves everyone to contribute to its solution "in terms of civilization." This is not an essay written by a team of first-year university students with progressive ideas detached from reality and who know next to nothing about the Middle East quagmire. The authors are veteran diplomats with over 200 years of collective experience and, supposedly, a broad knowledge of history, law, and politics. And yet, should we laugh at this torrent of insanity or cry at the degenerate state of French political postures, divorced from rational thought, built on an inverted sense of justice and distorted legal and historical facts? They talk about "nearly 50 years of occupation." But the response I got from a private letter I addressed to President Francois Hollande last May implied that the source of the conflict was not the so-called "occupation" of 1967, which is ceaselessly recited without any basis in law or history. I was told that "the great suffering of the Palestinian people" originated "over 60 years ago." This candid admission from the Elysee puts the blame squarely on the very existence of the modern State of Israel. The persistent pattern of condemnation of Israel, in total disregard of the provisions of international law, is nothing new. In the aftermath of the Mavi Marmara incident of May 2010, virtually the whole world found Israel guilty before proven guilty. The United Nations and its agencies; the European Union and most of its member-states (with the welcome exception of the Czech Republic); the media at large; and, it goes without saying, the whole Arab/Muslim world found Israel in breach of international law following the boarding of the Turkish vessel. But when the U.N. released its final report in September 2011, and Israel was largely exonerated on the grounds that it "complied with the requirements of international law," we heard no retraction from the horde of accusers. The eleven French ambassadors will probably observe the same cowardly silence when the legal rights of Israel under international law and the forged Palestinian narrative are widely disclosed and recognized worldwide. But we should remember that among Western nations, French institutions are often the most sluggish in recognizing their past mistakes. It took almost a century for the French military establishment to publicly admit, on September 7, 1995, that there was indeed a "military conspiracy" against Captain Alfred Dreyfus. The France I loved and admired in my school days is long gone. Ever since the demographic composition of California was transformed by the infusion of millions of Hispanics and the driving out of middle- and upper-middle-class residents (of any race) through high taxes, the state has been a Democrat stronghold a sure win for the Electoral College and Senate. Could that possibly change? The announced retirement of Senator Barbara Boxer has created an open seat, and there has been much glee among progressives over the prospect of the dimwitted but vicious Boxer being succeeded by the photogenic and much smarter attorney general of California, Kamala Harris, who has been dubbed The next Barack Obama. What could possibly derail this progressive dream? Joel Pollak writes at Breitbart: The leader in the race to replace retiring U.S. Senator Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) in Americas most liberal state is Republican Condoleezza Rice, according to a new Field Poll released Wednesday. Rice, the former Secretary of State and Stanford don, is backed by 49% of votersahead of Attorney General Kamala Harris, the liberal Democrat who was the first to declare. The poll, which sampled 972 likely voters in California, presented respondents with a list of 18 potential candidates and asked if they would be inclined or not inclined to vote for that person, with no limit on the number they could support. Rice led among both male and female voters, and did well among Latino voters, though the top choice for Latinos remains former Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. Rice and Harris each polled 74% among their respective political parties. The only problem is persuading Rice to run. She enjoys multiple appointments at Stanford University, which is a much pleasanter place to spend time than Washington, D.C. And Democrats in California have been known to run particularly vicious statewide campaigns against Republican challengers, such as the attacks on Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina when they ran for statewide office. Rice has kept her private life quite private, and I have no doubt that Democrats would stoop as low as they had to in order to damage her in a fight for the Senate seat they regard as belonging to them. Over the last few days, especially as the South Carolina primary neared, I've had the increasingly disorienting feeling that, like Alice, I've fallen through a hole and landed in a political world I can't comprehend. All the usual people and physical features are there two political parties; their presidential candidates; commentators; news analysts; hyper-partisans; a public divided as usual among the politically indifferent, the grossly ignorant but passionately committed, and a thin stratum of the attentive and informed. But nothing and no one are in the right place, and everyone is saying the wrong things. American politics has finally descended into bedlam, driven there at last by a Republican elite that thought it could forever ignore and defy its voters without consequence, and by a Democratic elite that thought this time those rubes will love The Queen of the Night. Among Republicans, the right commentators cheer the left candidates, while the left candidates claim to be the right, and the unclassifiable claims to be the savior. The last is loved by no one among the party's graybeards all he has are the voters, but among them only a steady plurality. As a conservative, I desperately want someone yes, I will say it: anyone from this group to be sitting at the big desk after January 20, 2017. Yes, I have preferences, but none of them would bring the other party's demented crowd of America-despising civilizational destroyers to Washington. But whom to choose to win? There are many who will tell you they know who has the best chance of winning. Beware those claiming such knowledge they will lie to you about other things. In the Democratic Party, the second-time-around heiress replays her nightmare of 2008: denied the crown then by a usurper, she faces the real possibility of a second and this time terminal rejection. How many times can a woman live through this without going mad? If she were even slightly less odious, I would feel sorry for her. Again mercilessly harassed from her left, again rejected by her party's young, again met by her should-be supporters with emotions ranging from indifference to disgust. And most humiliating of all in this iteration of the nightmare, her tormentor is not a young black man, but an old white man. In a political party whose core belief is that old white men are the root of all evil, is it not the ultimate rejection to be unable to brush aside a member of this demographic? Can a human being's psyche live through this? But again, whom do we who want, we who want this party to lose? Beware those claiming such knowledge they will lie to you about other things. We wished for Obama in 2008 rather than The Queen of the Night, because America would never elect a man so far left. Right. But surely, today America would never elect a lifelong Marxist. Right. Socialism sounds great if you have no experience of life and know no history. So, unsurprisingly, in an eerie reprise of 2008, the old Marxist's most ardent supporters are the under-30s, blissfully unaware that about 2.5 billion people lived under Bernie's principles for about 30 to 70 years (counting the Chinese), then woke up one morning and threw the whole system out because it produced nothing but poverty and misery. Shout-out to millennials: Bernie's brew is not new. (Rather catchy, that.) It sounds new to you only because no one taught you anything, and you're too young to have experienced much. Sex, videogames, and a P.C. undergraduate curriculum don't count. But good luck selling that wisdom to the kids this fall. So we don't know whom our guys should nominate to win, and we don't know which opponent to wish for for them to lose. Other than that, in this political Wonderland, everything is perfectly clear. The MSM and conservative media are full of people talking about the popes supposed condemnation of Donald Trump. Few of the articles actually quote what the pope said. Instead, they rely on the MSMs gross distortion of the popes response, a mistake that even Rush Limbaugh has made in the past. While Trump would be a horrible president, the current kerfuffle is a two-for-one shot by the MSM to attack both Trump and Pope Francis. To pull this off the MSM significantly distorted what both men said and they lied to the pope to boot. Heres the full text of the question and the popes response: Phil Pullella, Reuters: Today, you spoke very eloquently about the problems of immigration. On the other side of the border, there is a very tough electoral battle. One of the candidates for the White House, Republican Donald Trump, in an interview recently said that you are a political man and he even said that you are a pawn, an instrument of the Mexican government for migration politics. Trump said that if hes elected, he wants to build 2,500 kilometers of wall along the border. He wants to deport 11 million illegal immigrants, separating families, etcetera. I would like to ask you, what do you think of these accusations against you and if a North American Catholic can vote for a person like this? Pope Francis: Thank God he said I was a politician because Aristotle defined the human person as 'animal politicus.' At least I am a human person. As to whether I am a pawn, well, maybe, I don't know. I'll leave that up to your judgment and that of the people. And then, a person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian. This is not in the Gospel. As far as what you said about whether I would advise to vote or not to vote, I am not going to get involved in that. I say only that this man is not Christian if he has said things like that. We must see if he said things in that way and in this I give the benefit of the doubt. The first thing to note is that the Reuters reporter presented a grossly biased view of Trumps position. While Trump has talked about getting rid of illegals he has also talked about letting some of them back in. Its also important to remember that families will only be separated if the parents who illegally entered the U.S. refuse to bring their children back to their homes with them. No one is talking about forcing children who are supposedly citizens because they happened to be born to invaders in the U.S. to stay in the U.S. when their parents are deported. Second, the pope did not condemn the building of walls. He said only that if the only path being pursued were to keep people out that would not be Christian. Who could disagree with that? Who wants to keep the true Syrian refugees, the Christians, out of America? Who wants to end all legal immigration? Who wants to prevent the foreign wives of Americans from entering the country? Not Trump, and not any other candidate. Its taken a while, but most Americans now agree that refusing refuge for Jews fleeing Nazi Germany was an un-Christian thing to do. All the pope said was that any policy that would keep everyone out of America would be un-Christian. Next note that the pope clearly indicated that he was answering a hypothetical question because he, the pope, was doubtful that Trump actually said what the reporter said Trump said: We must see if he said things in that way and in this I give the benefit of the doubt. Finally, its important to note that the pope did not say that even if Trump werent a good Christian, Catholics couldnt vote for him. While thats different from the pope saying that its fine to vote for Trump, it means that even if the reporters portrayal of Trumps position was correct, which it wasnt, the pope wasnt saying that Catholics couldnt vote for him. On the other hand, Pope Francis has clearly and unambiguously condemned politicians who work to keep abortion legal. In a letter to the Argentinian bishops, the pope wrote: [People] cannot receive Holy Communion and at the same time act with deeds or words against the commandments, particularly when abortion, euthanasia, and other grave crimes against life and family are encouraged. This responsibility weighs particularly over legislators, heads of governments, and health professionals. These are the guidelines we need for this time in history[.] There is no worse punishment for a Catholic than to be cut off from Communion. The Pope clearly is not comparing Trumps stand on immigration to issues like abortion and euthanasia. The reality is that because Pope Francis calls for mercy the MSM realize that low information voters will easily believe any distortion of what the Pope says so long as that distortion supports liberal causes. As a result, the MSM has misrepresented what the pope has really said on many occasions; here, here, and here. Some conservatives have made that same error because of the popes position on issues that are not theological, such as global warming. Yet the truth is that the pope is always consistent with traditional Catholic theology. His encyclical on the environment is very good in terms of theology; its only the areas where the pope has no special authority, such as the science of climate change, where there are problems. Its the media who distort what he says thats the real problem. For example, how many times have you seen this line from the popes encyclical on the environment? Since everything is interrelated, concern for the protection of nature is also incompatible with the justification of abortion. How can we genuinely teach the importance of concern for other vulnerable beings, however troublesome or inconvenient they may be, if we fail to protect a human embryo, even when its presence is uncomfortable and creates difficulties? Thats right: the pope said you cant be Green and pro-abortion. Yet that fact has been as well concealed as the fact that Ted Cruz might be our first Hispanic president. Similarly, did you ever hear how the pope condemned welfare in the same document? Helping the poor financially must always be a provisional solution in the face of pressing needs. The broader objective should always be to allow them a dignified life through work. Finally, did you know that when the pope said, Who am I to judge them, he was talking about gays who were sexually chaste and following Church teaching? By hiding inconvenient sayings of the pope and distorting other comments, the MSM has built up a fake Pope Francis, who appears to be Obamas pope and hence the MSMs pope. The reality is that the pope is far from a fan of much of Obama and the MSMs agenda. We need to raise peoples awareness that anything the MSM says the pope said has to be taken with a very large block of salt. Trust no story about the pope until you see the original text and even then make sure you understand the full context. And remind your friends that the MSMs pope is not the real pope. You can read more of Toms rants at his blog, Conversations about the obvious, and feel free to follow him on Twitter. What is it about politicians and fibs that can easily be shown false? On the campaign trail in 2008, Senator Barack Obama told black audiences stories about his parents' involvement in the civil rights protests of 1960s that were not even remotely true. Over the years, Hillary Clinton has made preposterous claims about everything from being named after the conqueror of Mt. Everest to having been under sniper fire in Bosnia. We all know that Trump constantly proclaims he is the greatest at just about everything. Add eyesight to the list. "Because I had a view I have a window in my apartment that specifically was aimed at the World Trade Center, because of the beauty of the whole downtown Manhattan. And I watched as people jumped and I watched the second plane come in. ... I saw the second plane come in and I said, "Wow that's unbelievable".' Trump's apartment, in the penthouse of iconic Trump Tower in midtown Manhattan, is 4.1 miles away from where the twin towers once stood. An object the size of a human body cannot be discerned by the human eye at that distance. Now, maybe there is a telescope or pair of binoculars in Trump's penthouse. However, on that day, Donald Trump was apparently not in the penthouse. At the time the Twin Towers were struck on the morning of September 11, 2001, Donald Trump was reported to be at a business meeting in downtown Chicago, Illinois, almost 800 miles from Manhattan. On the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, Adrian D. Smith, a well-known architect in the Chicago office of Skidmore Owings & Merrill, was in a meeting with Donald Trump. The hyperbolic New York City developer was in Chicago to go over the design of a proposed Trump residential tower in that city that he had decided should be what else the tallest building in the world, around 2,000 ft. In the midst of that meeting, the two men got word of the first plane that hit the World Trade Center. When the second plane hit, we all rushed to the television to see what was happening, says Smith. That was the end of the meeting. And also the end of the 2,000 ft. tower. A few weeks later, Trumps people came back with a revised proposal at 900 ft. or so. Update: Other media reports have Trump in New York that day or the next two days. It would have been very difficult for him to get back with the ban on air travel. Mobile growth is stagnating. Worldwide, the mobile market is starting to reach saturation, resulting in growth levels slumping to those seen back in 2008, before Android took off and when iOS was in its infancy. Back then, smartphones were mostly for enterprise users, the mobile web consisted mostly of text-based or WAP sites and, to most people, there was no such thing as an app ecosystem. Many analysts agree that emerging markets, places like Africa and India that are just starting to adopt mobile technology en masse, are the final frontier for the traditional mobile market in many ways. These places and the unique challenges and needs they present, however, are also beginning to change the face of mobile in their own ways. Emerging markets cant be catered to with expensive devices and powerful cloud-based or value-added services that depend on a mature network in the same way a bigger market like the United States or China might be catered to. Emerging markets are a battleground for bang-for-your-buck devices, bundled services and convenient integration into everyday life. Advertisement On the device front, emerging markets tend toward lower cost, but devices that offer a great value also tend to do well. Devices like the Motorola Moto G, OnePlus X and Xiaomis Redmi series all do well for their own reasons, though there is a place in the market for flagship devices like the Samsung Galaxy Note 5 and the iPhone 6S. Even the Android One program, despite its mostly chilly reception, did generate a few devices that managed to make waves. In some circles, higher-end devices are prized for their increased functionality, often used for business. To others, they may simply be status symbols. There are, of course, those who value their mobile experience greatly and would rather save up longer and pony up for a flagship device, though most cant justify this sort of expense, especially in the face of cheaper devices that function perfectly for most use cases. For some, smartphones are more accessible than basic services and infrastructure. In a neighborhood with no plumbing or a small town far from hospitals and government centers, you may find people saving back their little hard-earned cash for a decent device or simply snapping up whatevers cheap, such as a smartphone costing less than $5. On the software side, emerging markets often tend toward hub or portal services that allow them to socialize, obtain services and create content in an easy, efficient manner. This is evidenced by trends such as messaging apps, like Line and Facebooks Messenger becoming full-fledged ecosystems where users can chat with friends, access the web, shop and even call a cab. In some places, this has become the status quo, to the point that even a giant like Google has a hard time piercing the market. Accessing services via mobile devices is becoming a great alternative to traditional means of access in some markets. For example, Kenyas population mostly went without bank accounts, but the advent of a mobile payment service called M-PESA changed that in short order. In 2014, over 80 percent of the countrys total GDP wound up passing through M-PESA at some point or another. The fast emergence of mobile tech is providing access to services that were previously out of reach or perhaps not even thought of. Advertisement Growth in places like Mexico, India and Brazil is currently exploding, with the crowd flocking to the services that are the most available and convenient. WhatsApp, for example, boasts roughly 70 million users in India alone. Along with the insanely huge shift in the volume and type of content on the internet thats impending from this growth and new access to mobile tech, essential services are on the cusp of being rethought for the mobile world. Education is one example that could be done well, as well as government administration and citizen input. In an area with no schoolhouses around, students may gather around a tablet or pull out their smartphones to enjoy educational content, resulting in a cultural and economic boon for the area in the future. People wanting to report issues to their local government may send a message online rather than by slow snail mail, which may or may not exist in some parts. The arms race for rural mobile internet surrounding this growth is truly something to behold as well, with Microsoft getting in on the action as Googles Project Loon begins receiving worldwide green lights and Facebooks Free Basics finds itself booted out of India, a key growth market, for net neutrality violations. The future for emerging markets as a result of saturation elsewhere is looking pretty bright. Entrepreneurs and bigger companies looking to get a slice of the last fresh pie in the mobile tech space, as well as get in on the ground floor in revolutionary new technology-based servicing fields, will be pouring resources into emerging markets, resulting in economic growth. As the infrastructure and services are built out, access to information and the ability to create content will become more rich, easier and further-reaching. Its really no stretch to say that the next few years growth in some emerging markets may help to shape world history in huge ways. Something that a lot of people forget, is the fact that while Google has their hands in all kinds of businesses. Including a mobile OS in Android, an ISP as Google Fiber, a wireless carrier as Project Fi, just to name a few. Google is an ad company. In fact, they make more than 90% of their revenue from ads. Not just from their search results, although thats a big number of their ads, also from other sites that use Adsense. Ads have been in Google search results for a pretty long time, in fact as long as we can remember. There would normally be about 3-5 ads on the right-hand side, as well as three or so above your search results. However, Google has decided to change that up a bit. Google is deciding to remove their ads from the right side of search results pages. So essentially they are decreasing the number of ads you are seeing, even though they are also adding a fourth ad to the set of ads at the top of the search results page. So instead three up there, you now see four. Google stated that theyve been testing this layout for a long time so some people might see it on a very small number of commercial queries. The company went on to say that theyll continue to make tweaks but this is designed for highly commercial queries where the layout is able to provide more relevant results for people searching and better performance for advertisers. Advertisement While this wont really affect the majority of the internet that performs Google searches, it should help out advertisers and give them better performance. In turn, what that means is that by giving better performance to advertisers, Google will make more money by having advertisers spend a bit more to get even better results. After all, these ads are what pay for Android, Google Drive, and just about everything else that Google offers right now. Many people dislike ads, however they keep the internet free, and with more and more ad blockers popping up, Google has to do something here. Xiaomi is one of the most successful Chinese smartphone manufacturers at the moment. This Asian company was the most successful Chinese smartphone manufacturer last year, but only as far as the domestic market goes. Huawei trumped Xiaomi overall considering it became worlds third-largest smartphone manufacturing company. That being said, Xiaomi will introduce their long-rumored Mi 5 flagship on February 24th, both in Beijing, and in Barcelona during the Mobile World Congress (MWC). As were waiting for the announcement to happen, a rather interesting new report surfaced. According to a new report from Reuters, Xiaomi will use their very own SoCs by the second half this year. Now, according to Reuters source who has a direct knowledge of the matter, Xiaomi aims to implement their very own SoCs in some entry-level products in the second half of this year. This is actually not the first time were hearing about Xiaomis very own SoC, the company has been working on this for quite some time now, if rumors are to be believed, of course. Xiaoimis Redmi devices are expected to be powered by these processors, at least some units from that lineup. Advertisement Xiaomi has actually hired 200-300 people to work on SoC design in various cities in China, including Beijing, Shanghai and Nanjing, according to the source. Xiaomi is copying the model of designing processor chips in-house from Apple Inc, Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (005930.KS) and Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, said the source. Now, most of you probably dont know this, but a China-based SoC design company, Leadcore Technology, has actually signed an agreement with Pinecone Electronics to jointly design 4G multiple mode SoCs back in 2014. Now, Pinecone Electronics company might be unknown to the vast majority of you, but do note that this company is actually owned by Xiaomi, which makes things a whole lot more interesting, doesnt it. Either way, it seems like were in for an interesting year as far as mobile processors go. Xiaomi seems to be entering the race, though it will take the company quite some time until they managed to manufacture more powerful processors. Either way, stay tuned, well report back as soon as we hear more about this. Since launching last year, Samsung Pay has been gaining ground left and right, and launching all sorts of new markets. Today, Samsung announced that they are bringing Samsung Pay on over to China. This comes shortly after Apple launched their own mobile payment system, Apple Pay, in the country. However, Android Pay is not yet available in China, and thats largely due to Google having withdrawn from the country years ago due to their censorship laws. Samsung Pay still only works on Samsung smartphones, and while Samsung does have a somewhat small market share in China its still a big market for them because they are the largest country. Sitting at roughly 1.3 billion, and even a 15% market share there is still a huge number of users. Yesterday, Samsung also announced that their mobile payments system has accounted for over $500 million in transactions while having 5 million users. Thats an average of about $100 in purchases per person. Thats a pretty telling number, considering the platform is only available in a couple of countries South Korea and the US only. Additionally, it has only been available since around September of 2015, making it just about 6 months old. Of course, Samsungs promotions for Samsung Pay have definitely helped it gain ground. Giving out wireless chargers, headphones and much more, just to sign up. Advertisement Samsung Pay is coming to China in March, but thats not the end of the upcoming roll out for Samsung Pay. As the company also announced that the platform will be rolling out to Australia, Brazil, Singapore, Spain and the UK. Now those countries didnt get a specified time as to when itll be available, just that Samsung Pay will be there before the end of the year. Seeing as were only at the end of February now, theres still quite a ways to go. Canada is also on the list, but they havent committed to actually rolling out their mobile payment platform there just yet. Where Samsung Pay uses MST technology, it means that just about any system at any store can handle Samsung Pay. Because it works with the strip reader that youd normally swipe your card through. As well as working with NFC like Apple Pay and Android Pay. Unfortunately, Samsung Pay is only available on the Galaxy Note 5, Galaxy S6 Edge+, Galaxy S6 Edge and Galaxy S6. Although itll likely be available on the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge that are being announced tomorrow in Barcelona. This weekend is probably going to be dominated by LG and Samsungs announcements tomorrow, a day before Mobile World Congress officially opens to the press, but that doesnt mean people arent looking forward to what next week has in store. Where Sony is concerned, who has recently reminded us that theyre holding an event on Monday morning, it seems as though were headed for some sort of in-ear Bluetooth headset at least, but there could be more. Curiously absent from leaks and rumors over the past few weeks has been word of an Xperia Z6 or any smartphone release at all. That could be because Sony is looking to announce something a little different this year. A recent posting in an O2 forum across in the pond UK hints at a release of virtual reality headset for Sony devices. Found inside of the Privelege app, available on Sony Xperia devices is a version of the film, The Walk, mastered for VR. The Walk is a film from TriStar Productions, itself owned by Sony Pictures, so it would make sense to see such a film mastered for VR by Sony. The curious thing here however, is that Project Morpheus is said to be a long way from release and Sony do not offer a mobile headset like Samsungs Gear VR. This could be a hint that Sony is preparing to launch one during MWC next week, after all why would there be a VR film in a Sony-exclusive app on a Sony device if they werent going to offer the ability to watch it in VR? Advertisement Theres a screenshot from the app down below, and while we havent heard anything about a VR headset before now, the Japanese firm could have been sitting on a nice little secret all this time. Whatever the company is going to release, well be there during their press conference next Monday, and well have all the news that the firm has to offer fans. This weekend is shaping up to be a big weekend for those looking to get the biggest news from Mobile World Congress, but therell be plenty next week as well, by the sounds of it. The automotive industry might be known as one that steadily evolves over long periods of time, but more recently theres been a whole lot of innovation and experimentation going on. Most likely spurred on by Googles efforts with self-driving cars and Android Auto, auto makers are looking to bring their vehicles into the 21st Century, even if it has taken them 15 plus years. The humble key is something that saw steady and gradual evolution, into something that now might be everything but a key in terms of looks, while offering the same functionality. Many cars from the last few years have included wireless key fobs of some sort, but Volvo is looking to take things further and make it simple for users to unlock their cars with their smartphones, over Bluetooth. While not expressly named, it appears that Bluetooth could be the only way that Volvo achieves their end goal of becoming the worlds first car manufacturer to offer cars without keys from 2017. In their official announcement, Volvo details an easy-sharing method using the Volvo app, by sending the digital key to family or friends and allowing them to unlock the car with their own phone. To do this, its unlikely Volvo will manage to get all the major car manufacturers onboard to adopt a proprietary wireless transmission specification. Volvo have bigger aspirations for the technology than just easy-open for drivers, and have said that it could revolutionize the car hire business, giving renters an even more independent manner in which to pick up a hire car. Advertisement Of course, right now this is the thing of dreams, as this is just a concept, an idea. Volvo aim to have the technology ready for cars launching some time in 2017, which is a long way off. This is the sort of thing that could bring smartphones and cars closer together in genuinely useful, yet subtle ways and we wouldnt be surprised if we saw other manufacturers announce similar solutions throughout the rest of the year. For now though, Volvo fans will be able to go completely-keyless with their next Volvo. (ANSA) - Pisa, February 19 - A trial against a Moroccan national accused of using Facebook to instigate the public to jihad, or Islamic holy war, kicked off Friday in the Tuscan city of Pisa. Jalal El Hanaoui, 26, was picked up in July 2015 after using three Facebook identities to call for holy war among 12,000 followers, posting photos of monuments around the world suspected of being targets for attacks - including the tourist-famed Leaning Tower of Pisa, the Statue of Liberty, the Cathedral of St Basil in Moscow and the Israeli wall separating Jerusalem from the rest of the occupied West Bank. In posts and chat with two other terror suspects the Moroccan proposed creating an Islamic state via massacres, murders, and other attacks, prosecutors said last summer. Born in Morocco, El Hanaoui joined relatives in Italy at age eight and has remained in the country ever since, notching up a criminal record for drug dealing. He was unemployed at the time of his arrest. El Hanaoui has rejected the charges against him and reportedly explicitly distanced himself from the so-called Islamic State (ISIS) terrorist group and from radical Islam. On Friday, his defence lawyers argued the charges against him are based solely on "some phrases taken out of context". remaining of Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading. Le CBD, cette molecule active du cannabis a aujourdhui le vent en poupe. Et cela est en grande partie du au fait quil permet... CSAF celebrates Whiteman total force excellence Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark A. Welsh III visited here Feb. 16-18 to engage with civic leaders and meet Airmen of the world's only B-2 Spirit stealth bomber base. While at Whiteman Air Force Base, Welsh met with leadership from the 509th Bomb Wing, the 131st Bomb Wing, the 442d Fighter Wing, and other tenant units to discuss the evolution of total force integration and to see firsthand the TFI model the base has established. Welsh communicated his support of the TFI mission with total force leaders during roundtable meetings and spoke about the modernization of TFI and B-2 bomber missions. During his visit, Welsh held an all call and stressed his three C's -- common sense, communication and caring -- to Airmen from the three total force wings at Whiteman AFB, and expressed how they can integrate these concepts into their unique missions. "Apply common sense to all we do. If it doesn't seem right, make the change and use the chain," Welsh said. "We have four generations in the Air Force; we must use accountable communication to work as a professional organization. And lastly, know your Airmen better. Every Airman has a story. Care enough to know it." Welsh also expressed his gratitude and support to the total force Airmen in attendance and reminded them that the Air Force is rich in pride. "Never forget how critically important you are to what we are doing," Welsh added. "We have great people with great training and education and pride -- we, the Air Force, are built on pride, and it shows in your performance. That's where we come from." Brig. Gen. Paul W. Tibbets IV, the 509th Bomb Wing commander, thanked Welsh for the visit and his leadership and echoed his sentiments. "Our wing's heritage inspires us to take pride in the work we accomplish," Tibbets said. "We have a legacy of excellence. Through your efforts, we will continue that tradition for many years to come. Our pride will help us remain focused and allow us to face resource-constrained environments and ever evolving adversaries as we continue our strategic deterrence, global strike and combat support mission." Welsh wrapped up the all call with a question and answer session and reminded Airmen why he loves the Air Force and why he's served for so long. "I will die for you," Welsh said. "We have only met for about an hour, and I'd die for you. I believe you'd do the same for me. That is what's so special about the Air Force." Air Force senior leaders share lessons learned from Desert Storm During recent visits to Howard University and the University of Maryland, two Air Force senior leaders shared memories and lessons learned from Operation Desert Storm with more than 160 Washington, D.C., area Air Force ROTC cadets as part of the Air Forces focus on the 25th anniversary of the conflict. Brig. Gen. Craig La Fave, the special assistant to the chief of the Air Force Reserve and military deputy to the total force continuum, deputy chief of staff strategic plans and programs, visited AFROTC Detachment 130 cadets at Howard University Feb. 10. La Fave flew C-141 Starlifters during Desert Shield and Desert Storm, taking part in the massive airlift effort that made the successful buildup and execution of the war effort possible. During his time with the cadets, La Fave shared personal stories and discussed how the Gulf War shaped the way airpower is used today, as well as how it changed the tactics used by our enemies. Operation Desert Storm was a great example of what an overwhelming Air Force can do, La Fave said. Today, our enemies have learned from that and they know they cannot challenge us out in the open. We may never see that type of warfare again. Our enemies now try to fight us from within cities and through cyber warfare. And we have to be capable in both types of warfare. Maj. Gen. Vincent Mancuso, the mobilization assistant to the Air Force chief of staff, spoke to AFROTC Detachment 330 cadets at the University of Maryland Feb. 18. Mancuso flew F-4 Phantom Wild Weasel aircraft throughout Desert Storm. He spoke to the cadets about personal leadership lessons he learned as a young pilot during the conflict and how those lessons are applicable to the cadets as they begin their Air Force careers as officers. This was a fantastic opportunity to help shape our next generation of Airmen, Mancuso said. They are hungry to understand what they will face when they get into the active Air Force. Its wonderful to have the opportunity to share with them, to give them that understanding and share some wisdom that might make their own journey a little better. I find that to be particularly valuable. Cadets said the opportunity to hear firsthand accounts from Desert Storm veterans was an invaluable experience. We read about these wars in the history books, but to hear from someone who has that firsthand experience and can tell us what they did and why things happened really helps us to apply the lessons learned, said Cadet Maj. Daniela Carchedi, who is assigned to AFROTC Detachment 130. We are able to draw from that to prepare us for what we will be facing in the future. The lessons we learn from these leaders who came before us are extremely valuable. Lt. Col. Gardner Joyner, the AFROTC Detachment 130 commander, said the importance of the interactions between Air Force senior leaders and the cadets cannot be measured. To have someone from the Pentagon here, it really reinforces the lessons we are trying to impart on them, Joyner said. To have the general here to discuss the lessons learned from Desert Storm helps the cadets to understand why we do what we do. Imparting knowledge gleaned from Desert Storm was rewarding for the Air Force senior leaders as well. This is really full circle for me, La Fave said. I started as an AFROTC cadet and now I have the opportunity to come back 30 years later and speak to a detachment and tell my story and the Air Force story and discuss how effective we were and what we learned through Desert Shield and Desert Storm. It was special to see these sharp, young cadets ready to go at the front end of their careers. I hope my story can help to shape their future. They have a great future in the Air Force. About Me Ask not what blogging can do for you but what you can do for blogging. View my complete profile Best Computer Products and Services Would you like to submit an article in the Computer category or any of the sub-category below? Click here to submit your article. Would you like to have your product or service listed on this page? Contact us. The signature was reached after lengthy discussion. Union representatives in both countries have raised concerns. Malaysia offers tax incentives for hiring Bangladeshi migrants, to detriment of workers in Malaysia. The Bangladeshi associations instead fear the monopoly of the Malaysian trade unions and non-protection of their countrymen. Dhaka (AsiaNews / Agencies) - The governments of Bangladesh and Malaysia have signed an memorandum of understanding (MOU) for the exchange of 1.5 million workers in the next three years. The final agreement was reached on 18 February between Nurul Islam, Bangladeshi Minister for Welfare of expatriates and workers abroad, and Datuk Seri Richard Riot, Malaysian Minister for Human Resources. The signing comes after lengthy discussions, during which several reservations were raised from both countries about future conditions of Bangladeshi workers abroad and the danger that this could represent for the domestic labor market of Malaysia. The issue of Bangladeshi migrant workers is becoming more and more sensitive. The migrants go abroad in search of better living conditions and the governments of the host countries welcome the large influx of cheap labor. Lately, however, a number of cases have emerged of the exploitation and abuse that these workers suffer abroad. Saudi Arabia is one of the riskiest countries of destination, especially for women. Some of them have talked to AsiaNews about the dramatic conditions in which they were forced to live as domestic slaves by day; at night, sex slaves for employers and their male employees. The new agreement with Malaysia has raised concerns, especially when it became known that the authorities in Kuala Lumpur would have hired immigrants through the private sector, so as to have more tax cuts. In fact, according to the agreement, the tax per employee will be equal to 1,946 Malaysian ringgit (about 415 euro). This has raised protests from unions in both countries. On the one hand, the Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (Baira) has lamented the "possible monopoly of Malaysian trade unions of companies in the recruitment of workers". Instead the Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) is concerned that such favorable tax conditions could damage the Malaysian workers. The association has submitted a report in denouncing the government's agreement and urging the formation of a Royal Commission of Inquiry and the cancellation of MOU to protect the interests of the Malaysian people. From San Francisco, where he is on a state visit, the Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said he would discuss the issue with the deputy prime minister. Either way Najib pledged that "every decision made by the government is to meet the needs of the economy." Vietnam has raised a formal protest against China, expressing its "deep concern". Hanoi denounces "serious infringements" of its territorial sovereignty and a "threat to peace". Beijing ignores the protest, instead charges the United States of being "real cause" of concern in the region. Beijing (AsiaNews / Agencies) - Vietnam has raised a formal protest against China and the United Nations, saying it is "deeply concerned" about Beijing's decision to install air missiles on disputed islands in the South China Sea. In a statement released yesterday, Hanoi's Foreign Ministry spokesman Hai Binh speaks of "grave breaches" of Vietnams territorial sovereignty in the Paracels, which constitute "a threat to the peace and stability of the region, risking the "security, protection and freedom of navigation" and airspace The protest was raised at the Chinese Embassy in Hanoi and with the UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon. The question of the seas has been the focus of talks in recent days between Vietnam and the US, with the Asian country which called for "stronger action" from US President Barack Obama to contain China's expansionism. Meanwhile, the Chinese government has ignored the Vietnamese protest in turn charging the United States of wanting to "militarize" the Asia-Pacific seas, allocating patrol ships, aircraft carriers and cruisers in disputed waters, and promoting joint exercises with allies. Beijing sees this as a "real cause" for concern, because it leads to an "escalation of tension" in the South China Sea. The Chinese government claims most of the sea (almost 85 per cent), including sovereignty over the disputed Spratly and Paracel islands, in opposition to Vietnam, Taiwan, the Philippines, Brunei and Malaysia. In recent months, China has used various political, economic and diplomatic means to hamper non-Chinese vessels from fishing or moving through the disputed waters. In recent years, Vietnam and the Philippines - which has taken its case to a UN court - have shown growing concern over China's "imperialism" in the South and East China Seas. For the United States, which backs the claims of Southeast Asia nations, Beijing's so-called 'cow tongue' line which covers 80% of the 3.5 km2 - is both "illegal" and "irrational". Anyone with a hegemonic sway over the region would have a strategic advantage, in terms of seabed (oil and gas) development, but also in trade since two thirds of the world's maritime trade transit through it. Kuala Lumpur (AsiaNews / Agencies) - Catholic school pupils are being pressured to convert to Islam, according to Sister Rita Chew, president of the Educational Commission of the Archdiocese of Kota Kinabalu (Sabah Region, East Malaysia). The religious denounces an increasingly aggressive presence of Muslims in schools run by the Church: "Some people seem very interested in bringing forward Muslims programs in our elementary schools. " Local sources said that Islamic proselytism activities take place in all schools of the country, with the exception of private schools, and do not even spare Catholic institutions. Several episodes also show a widespread prejudice against non-Muslim students. "Our fear - continues Sister Chew - comes from the fact that conversions take place, but the government denies this fact. Some Christian parents have found that their children are taught Islamic prayers. " According to the religious, these proselytizing activities are aimed at a "recovery" of the Islamic regions of Sabah and Sarawak, where Christians account for a good percentage of the population and where there are the most Catholic schools. Of the 448 Christian and missionary institutions in Malaysia, 130 are in Sarawak and 98 in Sabah. Catholic schools, however, are greatly respected in Malaysia. A retired teacher, interviewed by UCAN, states that Muslim parents often choose schools run by the Church for their children, as they are considered centers of excellence when compared to those state: "In those - says the man , who wants to remain anonymous - the only focus is on exams and results, it is not an open and well-rounded education, which is what parents want for their children". Vatican City (AsiaNews) - What is commitment? What does it means to commit oneself to something? Pope Francis asked faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square for the extraordinary "Jubilee" audience, a monthly event that will continue throughout the Holy Year. Commitment, he explained, "means taking on responsibility. God has committed Himself to us, keeping the world in spite of our attempts to destroy it and giving us Jesus. " In the jubilee year, says Francis, "we are invited to know more about the Lord and to live in accord with the faith, with a lifestyle that expresses the Father's mercy. It is a commitment that we are called to take on in order to offer to those we meet the concrete sign of closeness to God. My life, my attitude, the way I live must be a concrete sign of the fact that God is close to us . Small gestures of love, of tenderness, of care, which suggest that the Lord is with us, is close to us. This is how we open the door of mercy ". This is why we need to make a commitment: "It means that I take on a responsibility, a task for someone; and it also means lifestyle, loyalty and dedication, an attitude, a particular attention with which I carry out a certain task. " Committing oneself, in short, means putting our good will and our forces into improving life: "Even God has committed Himself to us. His first task was to create the world, and despite our attempts to ruin it - and there are many - He agrees to keep it alive. But His greatest commitment was to give us Jesus. This is Gods greatest commitment. In the gift of Jesus, as the Gospels explain, "God has engaged in a complete way to give back hope to the poor, to those who were deprived of dignity, to foreigners, the sick, the prisoners, and sinners whom He welcomed with kindness. In all this, Jesus was a living expression of the Father's mercy. " To the point of having even sinners welcomed with kindness: "If we think in a human way, the sinner would be an enemy of Jesus, an enemy of God, but He approached them with kindness, He loved them and changed their hearts. We are all sinners: everyone! We all have some guilt before God. But we must not be without confidence: He approaches us to give us comfort, mercy and forgiveness. In the face of this merciful love "we can and must respond to His love with our commitment. And this especially in situations of greatest need, where there is hunger for hope. I think - for example - of our commitment with the abandoned, with those who carry very heavy handicaps, with the most seriously ill, with the dying, those who are not able to express gratitude ... In all these situations we bring God's mercy through a commitment of life, which is the witness of our faith in Christ. We must always take the caress of God - because God has caressed us with his mercy - bring it to others, to those who need it, to those who have a pain in their heart or are sad: draw closer with God's caress, which is the same that He has given to us. " The two governments announced Key Resolve/Foal Eagle joint military exercises. The annual event will be unprecedented this year. Some 15,000 US troops with nuclear hardware will join almost 300,000 South Korean troops. North Korea warns against provocations. Seoul (AsiaNews) The annual South Korea-US joint exercises will be the largest ever in terms of both "quality and quantity," South Korean Defence Minister Han Min-koo told lawmakers. Joint South Korea-US war games have been a regular feature since the end of the Korean War (1953). North Korea always uses them to protest what it calls an act of war. The exercises however fall within the jurisdiction of the United Nations Command structure. The war games are usually held in March and are divided into two phases. The first one, Key Resolve, lasts 12 days and is almost all related to cyber terrorism. The second, Foal Eagle, lasts eight weeks and involves the regular forces. This year, the scale of the operation could require an extension of a few days to the second phase. Twice as many US troops and double the equipment will be participating; that is about 15,000 US troops, plus hardware like a combat aviation brigade, a Marine mobile brigade, an aircraft carrier fleet, a nuclear-powered submarine fleet, and aerial refuelling tankers. On the Korean side, the troop numbers will be greater by half than usual at 290,000 personnel, including special operations forces, Army corps in the front-line areas, and Army divisions in the rear areas. As expected, North Korea reacted harshly to the announcement. An official government statement called on Seoul to stop its provocations" and warned of "serious retaliation for those involved. It appears that by time he leaves office at the beginning of 2019, Governor Nathan Deal will have: Vastly reformed our criminal justice system; Expanded the Supreme Court and Court of Appeals; Appointed a majority of the Supreme Court and Court of Appeals; Appointed a substantial portion of the states Superior Court and State Court trial judges; Launched construction of a new landmark Judicial Building near the Capitol building; and Facilitated creation of a statewide electronic court filing system. Fortunately, he will have done all that without harming the civil justice system. Some conservative politicians condemn trial lawyers and are drawn to tort reform like moths to a flame, always looking for new ways to rub salt in the wounds of people who have been hurt. Gov. Deal doesnt go there. I have been at events where it would have been a cheap applause line to condemn trial lawyers and call for draconian tort reform. He talked about education, economic development, criminal justice reform, transportation infrastructure, etc., never the cheap political drug of tort reform. In the spring of 2012, I made a trip to Washington as State Bar president to attend two events honoring Georgia lawyers. Gov. Deal spoke at a Republican National Lawyers Association program at which my friend Randy Evans was presented an award as the National Republican Lawyer of the Year. Before a group that included a number of Fox News commentators, Gov. Deal talked with conviction reflecting his own life experience about the wisdom of a small town trial lawyer. The first time I met Nathan Deal about 30 years ago when he was that small town trial lawyer. We were at a doctors deposition in Habersham County. I was a young insurance defense lawyer and he was representing a plaintiff in a personal injury case. He was cordial, professional and competent in representing his client. Much of his Gainesville law practice involved defense work for insurance companies, as did mine in those days. But like many small town lawyers, he also did other things, including service as Juvenile Court judge. He served as State Senator from the Gainesville area and as Majority Leader before his election to the U.S. House of Representatives. Nathan and Sandra Deal did a good job raising their children. Their son, Jason Deal, graduated from Furman, my alma mater, and then from UGA Law School. Jason in due course was elected District Attorney and later Superior Court judge in their hometown. As judge, Jason became a leader in the development of Drug Court programs to salvage lives of folks caught up in addiction. Criminal Justice Reform. When Nathan Deal was elected Governor, one of his first priorities was criminal justice reform. At that point I was president-elect of the State Bar of Georgia. Shortly after he was sworn in, my predecessor and I went to meet with him about support for the new Evidence Code that a State Bar task force had developed. Gov. Deal responded positively, then quickly turned the conversation to his plans for a Criminal Justice Reform Council. I told him I had planned to appoint a bar committee on this, but maybe now it wouldnt be necessary. He responded that I should appoint a strong bar committee on criminal justice reform to complement the work of his Criminal Justice Reform Council. A couple of months later, his executive counsel called to ask me to serve on that Criminal Justice Reform Council. I told him that I hadnt handled criminal cases myself since the indictments were written on parchment with a quill pen, but that didnt matter. I was proud to serve two years on the council as we helped develop legislation that supported drug, DUI and veterans court programs, sentencing and probation improvements, chipped away at some of the problems with excessive rates of incarceration and sought to improve the juvenile justice system. From several close encounters, I can attest that the Governors heart and soul have been deeply invested in salvaging lives of nonviolent offenders who are caught up in addiction and mental health problems. He has pursued a methodical, step by step project each year of his tenure, winning consensus for each incremental proposal. I expect the best is yet to come. Expansion of Court of Appeals from 12 to 15 judges. Four years ago, during my year as State Bar president, I had conversations with Gov. Deals executive counsel about a lot of things, including his idea of expanding the notoriously overworked Court of Appeals once budget problems growing out of the recession were eased. The state constitution already allowed for up to 15 seats on the Court of Appeals, but only 12 seats had been funded and filled. In a number of those meetings, the executive counsel repeatedly encouraged me to think about applying for a Court of Appeals seat. In July 2012, the month after I complete my term as bar president, the Judicial Nominating Commission put me on the short list for two vacant seats on that court. It was clear that one of those seats had to go to a woman and one to a Superior Court judge, and the only female Superior Court judge on the list withdrew from consideration. In my interview with Gov. Deal, he was most warm and gracious, pointed out that there would be another opening in December due to an upcoming retirement, that I was his kind of guy and I should keep my powder dry for the next appointment. Based on that, I deferred my search for new office space and staff. I still believe he was totally sincere in that conversation. In that brief interval from July to November 2012, I actually believed I would be donning the black robes of an appellate judge. I was working with the Governors team in day-long Criminal Justice Reform Council meetings every couple of weeks. When my mom died that fall, they treated me like family. But in November 2012, Romney lost to Obama and Republican political strategists gained a new interest in diversity. In some campaigns for governors offices in other states, they had seen Democratic ads compiling photos of a Republican governors appointees who were overwhelming white males. Within a week after that election, I noticed a subtle change in my interaction with a young lawyer on the Governors staff who been quite encouraging to me for months. When the next Court of Appeals appointment came in December 2012, it went to Carla Wong McMillian, a very bright Asian-American woman who was born the month I graduated from college. No political challenger would be able to run that composite photo ad, including me as one of the old white male appointees, against Gov. Deal in 2014. I like Judge McMillian and think she does a fine job, but I admit that I did have a few adult beverages the night after I got that news. Then I pulled up my socks and started looking for new office space for my law practice. In retrospect, I recognize that when you complete a term as State Bar president at 61, you dont have much runway left for pursuing judicial aspirations. While I briefly looked at the possibility of running for the court in 2014 if there had been an open seat, that did not happen. When I determined that there would not be an open seat, I texted my wife, Good news, bad news. No opportunity on the court but were going to France in May. Her immediate response was, So whats the bad news? Late in the 2015 legislative session, Gov. Deal added to the budget three new judgeships on the Court of Appeals, posts which were authorized but had never been funded. The legislature easily went along with expanding the court from 12 to 15. The new posts were to be effective January 1, 2016. Again, I briefly considered seeking one of those appointments. But I recognized that the Governor would likely appoint people young enough to serve several decades and young enough to be my children if I had started a family in my early twenties while I would only be able to serve one decade before the quasi-mandatory retirement age. Moreover, I knew that if I got on the short list again as a courtesy, I would have to interrupt a planned vacation in Italy to fly home for a perfunctory interview. Sure enough, when we were in Rome when I read online that Gov. Deal had appointed Judge Amanda Mercier (40), Judge Nels Peterson (38) and Judge Brian Rickman (36). All are brilliant young conservatives who will serve with distinction. All were born after I started law school, and one was born when I was prosecuting felonies. Like several other young appellate judges, all are members of the conservative Federalist Society. All are bright, well qualified and young enough to serve until approximately 2050 (Mercier), 2052 (Peterson) or 2054 (Rickman) before reaching mandatory retirement age. The torch has been passed to a new generation. Expansion of Supreme Court from 7 to 9 justices. In the 2016 legislative session, Governor Deal is close to gaining legislative approval for expanding the Supreme Court. The state constitution authorizes up to 9 seats on the Supreme Court but only 7 have been funded and filled. On February 18th, the Georgia House of Representatives approved the court expansion. It appears likely that the Senate will also approve it. The enlarged size of the Supreme Court would enable it to hear some cases in panels of three which would recommend decisions to the full court. The same legislation would make jurisdictional changes, shifting cases involving land titles, equity, wills, extraordinary remedies and divorce and alimony from the Supreme Court to the recently expanded Georgia Court of Appeals. According to Chief Justice Hugh Thompson, the intent is to free up the states highest court to devote more time and energy to the most complex and the most difficult cases that have the greatest implications for the law and society at large. Appointment of majority of both Supreme Court and Court of Appeals. By the time he leaves office in January 2019, Governor Deal will have appointed at least 5 of 9 justices on the state Supreme Court and at least 8 of the 15 judges on the Court of Appeals. On the Supreme Court, he appointed Justice Keith Blackwell in 2012, promoting him from the Court of Appeals in his mid-thirties. By the end of 2016, it appears that he will be able to appoint two new members of the Supreme Court to fill the newly created posts. By 2018, he will appoint two additional Supreme Court justices due to retirements. The two retirements from the Supreme Court will be due to the forced retirement age of 75. In Georgia, an appellate judge must retire on or before the day he or she reaches the age of 75, or on the last day of the term in which she or he reaches 70, whichever is later. Any appellate judge who fails to resign then receives no retirement benefits. Due to this effectively mandatory retirement rule, Chief Justice Hugh Thompson (whose wry wit is unfortunately kept under wraps in public because too few people who dont know him well would be sharp enough to get his jokes) will need to retire by July 2018 and Presiding Justice P. Harris Hines will retire by September 2018. My hunch is that Chief Justice Thompson step aside as Chief Justice by 2017, to allow Justice Hines to take a turn as Chief Justice before his retirement. If a Republican is elected President in 2016, it would not be surprising to see Justice David Nahmias appointed to the U.S. Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals or perhaps even a vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court. He was on Harvard Law Review with President Obama, clerked for the late Justice Scalia on the U. S. Supreme Court, served in the U.S. Justice Department in the second Bush administration and was U.S. Attorney in Atlanta toward the end of the Bush years. His move to a federal court would give Gov. Deal yet another opportunity to appoint a Supreme Court justice. The Governor may fill at least one and maybe more of those Supreme Court openings with a promotion of young conservatives from the Court of Appeals. The Court of Appeals judges who are in that category include Judges Steve Dillard (appointed by Gov. Perdue), Mike Boggs (who chaired Criminal Justice Reform Council and was blocked in federal court nomination by liberal opposition in Washington), Elizabeth Branch (who served in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in the second Bush administration), Carla Wong McMillian, Brian Rickman, Amanda Mercier and Nels Peterson (who was executive counsel to Governor Sonny Perdue and state Solicitor General under Attorney General Sam Olens). I will be surprised if the Governor does not give the last of his Supreme Court appointments to his loyal executive counsel, Ryan Teague, now in his mid-thirties, allowing him to join on the bench the young Federalist Society peers in whose judicial appointments he has been instrumental. I like Ryan and enjoyed working with him when I was State Bar president. Each promotion from the Court of Appeals to the Supreme Court will give the Governor a twofer, the opportunity to make another appointment to the Court of Appeals, probably other young members of the conservative Federalist Society. Looking at the short list from last falls Court of Appeals selection process, and excluding candidates over 50 years old who may have been included mostly as a courtesy, that leaves Georgia Solicitor General Britt Grant, 37. She was an aide in Nathan Deals congressional staff in Washington and at the Bush White House before graduating from Stanford Law School in 2007. There is also a long list of young Superior Court and State Court judges who might be considered. Each pomotion of a trial court judge to the Court of Appeals to replace a judge promoted to the Supreme Court would give the Governor a three-fer, an opportunity to appoint three judges in a chain reaction. In addition, the highly respected Presiding Judge Herb Phipps will have to retire from the Court of Appeals by his 75th birthday before Gov. Deals term ends. Because Judge Phipps is African American, there will be sentiment in favor of replacing him with by another African American. The pool of young, conservative African American Federalist Society members in Georgia is small. I will refrain from speculation about who might be chosen. New Judicial Building. Another topic discussed during my term as State Bar president was the potential to build a new Judicial Building. Currently both appellate courts and the Attorney Generals staff are shoehorned into the old judiciary building across from the capitol, with offices scattered through adjoining buildings. While it is not publicized, I have heard privately for years that some of these leaky buildings have some sort of sick building syndrome. Whether due to mold, chemicals, poor ventilation or something else, I understand it is a chronic problem. Last year, the State Financing and Investment Commission shifted $7.5 million in bond funds to begin the process of designing a new judicial complex to be built on the site of Archives Building that has been vacant (except for movie productions) several years due to structural problems. Preliminary design images have leaked into the media. Designed to house Georgias highest courts for at least the next century, it will stand above the intersection of I-20 and I-75/85 near the capitol building. While this is still a work in progress, I expect construction will begin before Gov. Deal leaves office. Electronic court filing. One of my pet projects as State Bar president was to promote creation of a statewide e-filing system in superior and state court. The biggest obstacle was the Council of Superior Court Clerks whose concept of e-filing was contrary to what most lawyers and judges seemed to want. We wanted a system in which we could use a single statewide log-in to access filing in all participating counties, and in which we could view and download documents in our case as well as submitting documents electronically. When I mentioned this to Gov. Deal, he immediately understood and supported what we were trying to do. Last year, he included in the budget funds for development of the system. I am now serving on the Judicial Council Standing Committee on Technology, which has contracted with the National Council of State Courts for development of the statewide e-filing portal. Already a variety of e-filing systems are proliferating through the state. I am hopeful that a statewide e-filing portal will be operational by the time Gov. Deal leaves office. In summary, by the time he leaves office in January 2019, the small town lawyer I met at a doctors deposition long ago will have stamped his legacy on the Georgia judicial system with expanded appellate courts, a new generation of young conservative judges who can serve to the middle of the 21st century, a reformed criminal justice system, new judicial building, new evidence code and statewide electronic court filing system. - U.S. Army researchers are experimenting with making 3D-printed drones on demand. The Army Research Laboratory recently proposed the concept as a means to quickly build and deploy small unmanned aircraft in the field. The idea won a spot in the 2017 Army Expeditionary Warrior Experiments, which allow selected project teams to demonstrate new technologies, the Army said in a news brief this month. According to leaders of the On-Demand Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems project, such drones could be ordered and built in 24 hours using parts that can be assembled with simple tools. The drones could perform any number of tasks from transporting items to security detail. Small UASs can also be used to investigate weapons of mass destruction at a safe stand-off distance, looking beyond gaps, collecting forensic data, and breaching complex obstacles such as those that require hover-flight capability, according to the teams paper on the project. Some of the challenges include developing software to integrate computer-aided designs and 3D printing. The goal would to make parts quickly and keep them on hand to assemble drones on order, reducing the time and costs of deployment while allowing for inexpensive ways to replace obsolete equipment, the Army said. The research laboratory is working with Georgia Techs Aerospace Systems Design Lab on the project. While specific designs have yet to be discussed, the Armys illustration of the concept indicates 3D printing could help fill the brisk demand for handheld drones similar to the popular Raven UAS, which has a wingspan of about 4.5 feet and weighs just over four pounds. 20 February 2016 10:34 (UTC+04:00) Azerbaijan's first lady, President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, head of Azerbaijan-France interparliamentary friendship group Mehriban Aliyeva met with a delegation led by Senator representing Upper Rhine department at the French Senate, member of the French-Caucasus friendship group Jean-Marie Bockel on February 19. Addressing the meeting Mehriban Aliyeva said the French delegation's visit would contribute to the strengthening of relations between the two countries and development of inter-parliamentary cooperation. She hailed the bilateral cooperation in political, economic and humanitarian fields. The first lady praised the contribution of the French Senate members, Azerbaijan's friends in France and members of France-Azerbaijan friendship group to the development of cooperation between the two countries. The friendship group is aimed at informing the French society about the Azerbaijani realities," Mehriban Aliyeva said. "I am happy that we have achieved a lot of success in recent years thanks to the joint activity. Over these years twelve regions and cities of France and Azerbaijan have signed a number of documents on sistership and cooperation." Noting that there was a French lyceum in Baku, she said an Azerbaijani-French university will open in the country this year. The president of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation emphasized that a series of events aimed at promoting Azerbaijan were held in France, and similar events will be held this year as well. Mehriban Aliyeva hailed the fact that apart from capital Baku, the French Senate delegation would visit Azerbaijani regions. During your visit to the regions you will meet with the people who have become refugees and IDPs as a result of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, she stressed. Mehriban Aliyeva said Azerbaijan has done its utmost to find a peaceful solution to the conflict for more than twenty years. The first lady expressed her disappointment that the negotiations have yielded no results. Mehriban Aliyeva said that the Azerbaijani government applauds France's support on this issue. "Our stance is clear. We have no territorial claims against any country. What we want is just the liberation of Azerbaijani territories and the return of refugees and internally displaced people to their native lands," said the first lady. She in particular underlined the activities of a strong Armenian lobby in France and their spreading false information about Azerbaijan. The friendship group's objective is to deliver truth to the French society," Mehriban Aliyeva emphasized. She thanked the French Senate members for their support on this issue. Jean-Marie Bockel praised Azerbaijani first lady's contribution to the strengthening of relations between the two countries. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 20 February 2016 10:48 (UTC+04:00) Azerbaijani gymnasts successfully started their performance at the FIG World Challenge Cup in Artistic Gymnastics, which kicked off in Baku February 19. Four Azerbaijani gymnasts advanced to the finals on the first day of the event. Thus, Yulia Inshina advanced to the uneven bars finals, Oleg Stepko the rings finals, Maria Smirnova the vault finals, and Petro Pahnyuk - the floor exercise finals. The FIG World Challenge Cup in Artistic Gymnastics kicked off in Baku February 19 and is to end February 21. As many as 45 male and 22 female gymnasts will compete for medals in apparatus finals of the World Challenge Cup. In general, athletes from 19 countries are to participate in the event. Mens and womens qualifications on the first two days of the competitions will be followed by apparatus finals on the last day. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 20 February 2016 14:50 (UTC+04:00) The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has issued a statement commemorating the 24th anniversary of the Khojaly genocide. The statement says that the OIC Secretary General Iyad bin Amin Madani has paid a tribute to all those who lost their lives on the night of February 25 to 26, 1992 atrocity. Recalling the resolution on condemning the genocide adopted at the 42nd session of OIC Foreign Ministers Council, which was held in Kuwait in May 2015, the Secretary General emphasized that the tragedy resulted due to illegal occupation of Azerbaijani territories by Armenia. The statement says that the organization fully supports Azerbaijan's initiatives and efforts to liberate its occupied territories and restore its territorial integrity. Khojaly, the second largest town in the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, came under intense fire from the towns of Khankendi and Askeran already occupied by the Armenian armed forces in 1992. 613 civilians mostly women and children were killed in the massacre, and a total of 1,000 people were disabled. Eight families were exterminated, 25 children lost both parents, and 130 children lost one parent. Moreover, 1,275 innocent people were taken hostage, and the fate of 150 of them remains unknown. -- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 20 February 2016 16:45 (UTC+04:00) Azerbaijani gymnast Oleg Stepko has advanced to the finals in the parallel bars exercises at the FIG World Challenge Cup in Artistic Gymnastics, being held in Baku. Stepko scored 15.700 points, ranking first. Two Japanese athletes, two Turkish athletes and athletes from Spain, Israel and Belgium have advanced to the finals in the qualification event. Stepko has also advanced to the finals in the horizontal bar exercises. He scored 13.950 points, ranking seventh during the qualification event. Turkish gymnast Umit Samiloglu shared the first place with Japanese gymnast Tomomasa Hasegawa. Azerbaijan's Marina Nekrasova will perform in the finals in the floor exercises. Nekrasova scored 12.550 points by ranking seventh during the qualification event. This guaranteed her participation in the finals. Another Azerbaijani athlete Yulia Inshina became the third reserve gymnast for the final. Brazilian gymnast Flavia Lopes Saraiva showed the best result, scoring 13.800 points. The FIG World Challenge Cup in Artistic Gymnastics kicked off in Baku February 19 and is to end February 21. As many as 45 male and 22 female gymnasts will compete for medals in apparatus finals of the World Challenge Cup. In general, athletes from 19 countries are to participate in the event. Mens and womens qualifications on the first two days of the competitions will be followed by apparatus finals on the last day. -- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 20 February 2016 11:50 (UTC+04:00) The Foreign Ministers of Georgia, Azerbaijan and Turkey visited the Georgian section of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway main line, as part of the trilateral meeting in Tbilisi on February 19, Georgian Foreign Ministry's press service reported. According to the Foreign Ministers of the three countries, it is a project of historic importance which will connect Asia with Europe. The Georgian Foreign Minister believes the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway will considerably increase the competitiveness of the transport corridor, will attract greater volumes of cargoes and will contribute to the realization of the Silk Road project. The three countries continue to contribute huge amount of resources towards this project. Over 700 million has already been spent on the Georgian section alone. This project will create additional job places. Once completed, over 1400 people will be employed here. This is going to be a watershed project. We will soon have the first shipment of cargo freighted via this road," Mikheil Janelidze said. Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway is being constructed on the basis of a Georgian-Azerbaijani-Turkish intergovernmental agreement. Azerbaijan allocated a loan of $775 million for the construction of the railways Georgian section. The State Oil Fund of the Republic of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ) finances the project in accordance with the Azerbaijani presidents decree 'On the implementation of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars project activities', dated February 21, 2007. The peak capacity of the corridor will be 17 million tons of cargo per year. At the initial stage, this figure will be one million passengers and 6.5 million tons of cargo. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 20 February 2016 10:00 (UTC+04:00) By Amina Nazarli Now visiting Azerbaijan is not a problem for those desiring to receive permission for entry into the country in a short term. The amendments to be applied to the migration law beginning from February 1 at President Ilham Aliyev's order, reduce the issuing term of electronic visas for foreigners desiring to travel to the country dropped from 10 to 5 days. As many as 45,000 foreigners received visas for visiting the country upon switching to electronic application in March 2013.T The electronic visa system is designed to provide a simplified and rapid issuing a an entry permission for foreign tourists wishing to visit the country, as well as to reduce travel packages at prices of individual and group tourist visits, and to increase the flow of tourists to Azerbaijan. Foreigners and stateless persons may obtain an electronic tourist visa through travel agencies accredited at the Azerbaijan Culture and Tourism Ministry. List of companies are published on the websites of the Culture and Tourism Ministry, Foreign Ministry and the embassies of Azerbaijan in foreign countries. Foreign nationals wishing to visit Azerbaijan as a tourist can apply for visa through email by contacting the travel agency by phone, e-mail or by using the opportunities created on the web page of the company, providing the required documents and paying a state fee in the amount of $20. The documents required for getting an electronic visa include a filled and signed e-Visa application form, Passport style colored photo (dimensions 3x4), a colored copy of Passports main page, and a copy of round-trip flight ticket or reservation. Today the capital Baku, located at the meeting-point of Europe and Asia, remains the focus of many tourists visiting the country. Currently, the government conducts several measures to attract tourists to its regions, rich with history and unique nature. President of Azerbaijan Airlines Company Jahangir Asgarov told The Business Year magazine that Azerbaijan is interested in attracting foreign carriers to fly into the country's regions, adding that negotiations with a number of airlines, including low-cost are underway. Increase of flights from abroad in the regions of Azerbaijan will contribute to the development of tourism in the country. Azerbaijan has many beautiful places that I'm sure the guests will like. In addition, technical support of regional airports is cheaper, and ticket prices in the regions may be lower than for similar flights in Baku, he said. Currently, Azerbaijan has five airports in the regions including Nakhchivan, Ganja, Gabala, Lankaran and Zagatala, which have the international status and meet all modern requirements in the field of civil aviation work. Turkish and Russian air companies carry out flights to the countrys regions. Asgarov noted that the main problem the air companies face now is financial crisis. The difficult economic situation in many countries has led to a decrease in the purchasing power of the population, as people began to save money on trips abroad. Many private companies are also trying to minimize their costs, he noted. From February 1, AZAL, one of the leaders of the aviation community of the CIS countries, announced new airfare for budget round-trip flights on departure from the national airports to the most popular destinations in Turkey, Georgia, Russia, UAE and Iran. The launch of low-cost flights to popular destinations was an important step for AZAL. We plan to continue working in this direction in order to provide the most favorable and flexible terms in our pricing policy. In parallel, we will continue negotiations with our foreign counterparts for the implementation of flights to new destinations and the signing of code-share agreements, AZALs president said. -- Amina Nazarli is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 3.0 ( - - ): editor [at] bahrainmirror.com It's been nearly two years since eight families living on Nelson Court in Arvin suddenly received a knock on their door from Kern County healt A day that started with heartbreak for a Tampa family ended with joy. The Medina family said their 9-year-old German Shepard, Layka, was stolen from the fenced backyard of their home on West Lowry Lane sometime Friday morning. Tampa Police got a report that drivers saw the dog being let out of a blue pick-up truck along I-275 near Bird Street. Witnesses said the person stomped at the dog to scare her and make her run. "You don't take an animal and just discard it like garbage on the side of the road," said Brenda Medina, the dog's owner. Police said someone saw what happened, picked the dog up and contacted authorities. After the Tampa Police Department posted the story on Facebook, a friend of the Medina's saw it and alerted them that Layka had been found. Brenda and her two daughters rushed to Hillsborough County Animal Services to pick the dog up. "She's always friendly, she always watches over us, she's very nice. We all love her," said Anessa Media, 8. "I'm very happy she's back," said Camilia Medina, 4. The family doesn't know who saved Layka but they said they are thankful. "I just want to tell the person who found my dog and did something to help her that I thank them so much and my family is very grateful for them," said Medina. Layka left the shelter getting lots of love and a few extra treats. "Oh, it's amazing. I feel like I'm on Cloud 9," said Brenda Medina. "It's kind of like someone took a piece of my heart and I found it again. I'm very, very happy." So far, no one has been arrested for stealing the dog. The Florida Department of Transportation has shut down Ehrlich Road for the rest of the weekend for a bridge expansion project. No through traffic will be allowed underneath the Veterans Expressway (State Road 589). Officials say drivers will be allowed to get up to the intersection but will have to make a U-turn to go back in the opposite direction. Gunn Highway also has the northbound on-ramp to Veterans Express closed, according to the Hillsborough County Sheriffs Office. Gunn Highway is restricted to one lane in each direction east of the Veterans Expressway. Drivers are advised to take alternate routes. For the latest traffic information: BN9 Traffic Resources The International Space Station will be easy to spot tonight, if you know when and where to look. NASAs state-of-the-art orbiting research facility will be the third brightest object in the sky. Thankfully, NASA has made it easy for stargazers who want to catch a glimpse of the ISS throughout the month of February with its Spot the Station website. The site allows you to put in you location to find the best sighting opportunities near you. According to the space agency, the ISS orbits the earth nearly 15 times a day, which allows for plenty of time to see it. Federal regulators are cracking down on the companies that make those self-balancing scooters, also known as hoverboards. The Consumer Product Safety Commission sent letters to companies that make, import and sell the hoverboards this week. In the letters, CPSC told the companies they received 52 cases from Dec. 1 to Feb. 17 of self-balancing scooters catching fire and causing $2 million in property damage. The damage includes the destruction of two homes and a vehicle. "We believe that many of the reported incidents, and the related unreasonable risk of injuries and deaths associated with fires in these products, would be prevented if all such products were manufactured in compliance with the referenced voluntary safety standards," said Robert J. Howell, acting director for the CPSC. The voluntary standards were created by Underwriters Laboratories, an independent safety science company that's been creating electronics safety standards since 1901. The agency also said that if officials encounter hoverboard products coming into the country they deem to be hazardous, they have the right to keep those products from leaving the port. They may also recall any domestic products they deem hazardous. Several airlines banned hoverboards last month because of the fire danger. Heidi Cruz, wife of Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz, will campaign in Beaumont Friday, Feb. 26, one day after Republican candidates debate in Houston and on the last day Texans cast early ballots in the March 1 primary, a local official said. The event will be from 9 to 10:30 a.m. at Green Light Kitchen in the Edison Plaza, Jefferson County Republican Party Chairman Garrett Peel said. Admission is free, and tickets can be reserved at eventbrite.com. The website shows Heidi Cruz will also visit Rosenberg, Kingwood and The Woodlands on Friday and Saturday. Texas, which Ted Cruz represents in the Senate, is the biggest prize on Super Tuesday, when Republicans will go to the polls in 12 states. Cruz has raised more money from Southeast Texas contributors than any other presidential candidate in either party. A fundraiser last May at the MCM Elegante Hotel generated $125,000, campaign officials previously said. In total, the senator had collected $220,000 from locals as of Dec. 31, more than twice the amount raised by the next candidate, Democrat Hillary Clinton, according to the Federal Election Commission. Cruz's campaign chairman is from Beaumont, and Cruz has visited the area several times since his 2012 Senate campaign. More than 145,000 inmates sit behind the bars of Texas prison units across the state, according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. The total amount of offenses committed far exceeds that number. Using TDCJ data, the Texas Tribune examined each prisoner's charges and tallied the number of offenses across the state. For hospitals eyeing mergers this year, executives may be surprised to hear that consolidating revenue cycle departments is likely the best place to start. Mergers, acquisitions and other types of partnerships have become increasingly important as hospitals transition to value-based models and focus on providing coordinated, cost-effective care. Hospital M&A activity jumped 70 percent in the last five years, according to recent study by Kaufman, Hall & Associates, and is expected to continue playing a significant role in healthcare business practices. In light of the increase in hospital M&A activity, Robert Parris, managing director of Huron Healthcare, spoke with Becker's Hospital Review about the strongest expedites and biggest inhibitors to successful revenue cycle consolidation. Experts at the Chicago-based consulting company believe revenue cycle is a good place for merging hospitals to begin consolidation efforts because it is both people and process driven, says Mr. Parris. The architecture of a revenue cycle oftentimes looks very similar between hospitals beginning with patient access, closing with collections thereby making RCM an appealing place to begin stabilization and standardization processes between entities. Moreover, revenue cycle functions can be completed across various locations between the merging hospitals without requiring a centralized office or entity level expertise. For instance, Mr. Parris explains, cash posting processes require individual personnel to have knowledge of specific payer-provider contracts, yet can be facilitated virtually at multiple sites. This makes implementing standardization strategies more straightforward. Though RCM may be the best place to begin consolidation, it can present a unique set of challenges for hospital executives. "Consolidating revenue cycle departments is both an art and a science," says Mr. Parris. "There is no formulaic, cookie cutter approach that can be applied between one merger transaction and the next." Taking time in the beginning to understand particular dynamics within RCM departments may open up issues and create opportunities hospitals otherwise wouldn't have seen. Like in any office environment, individual revenue cycle arms operate under discrete and unique cultures. Mr. Parris emphasizes the importance of "peeling back the onion" to assess and understand each department before initiating changes that may alienate staff. In his experience, Mr. Parris has seen some departments be particularly resistant to change when employees feel overlooked, or when there is not a service-level agreement in place to define quality and responsibility. To mitigate feelings of disaffection among ground-level staff, hospital leaders should devise transparent, effective communication strategies at each level of service, as well as establish identifiable and inclusive bodies of governance that give departments an outlet in which to voice concerns as the merger takes effect. Huron Healthcare's recent whitepaper, The Art of Putting it Together, which outlines best practices in stabilization and standardization during RCM consolidation, can be accessed here. The following hospital and health system executive moves were reported by Becker's Hospital Review in the last week. They are listed below, beginning with the most recent. 1. Nancy Barone, EdD, MSN, vice president and COO of the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, will resign Feb. 29. 2. Steven Burghart was named president of SSM Health's Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital in St. Louis, effective March 28. 3. Tracie Haughey, CFO of Washington, Ga.-based Wills Memorial Hospital, will take over the CEO position while also, for now, continuing as CFO. 4. Anthony Wehbe, DO, was named chief population health executive of Voorhees, N.J.-based Kennedy Health. 5. Jacksonville, Fla.-based Nemours Children's Health System promoted multiple employees. Stephen Lawless, MD, was named senior vice president and chief clinical officer. Mariane Stefano was named senior vice president and chief experience officer. Debbie Chang has been named senior vice president of child health policy and prevention. 6. Tyrone (Pa.) Regional Health Network, previously known as Tyrone Hospital, named CNO Sharon Fisher, MSN, RN, as interim CEO following the resignation of Stephen Gildea. 7. Jackson-based University of Mississippi Medical Center named Don Hutson CEO of its hospitals in Grenada and Lexington, effective in March. 8. Sister Laura Wolf, president of the Manitowoc, Wis.-based Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity Sponsored Ministries, will step down from her post. 9. Leaders at Meridian, Miss.-based Rush Health Systems are now serving in new roles. Dale Armour was named executive vice president and COO of Rush Health Systems. David Malloy, MD, was named CMO of Rush Health Systems. Larkin Kennedy was named president of the Hospital Group at Rush Health Systems. Chris Rush was named president of corporate services and CFO of Rush Health Systems. Jason Payne was named executive vice president and COO and administrator of Rush Foundation Hospital in Meridian. Casey Bland was named director of nursing for Rush Foundation Hospital. Lance Brent was named vice president of physician and clinic operations at Rush Health Systems. Tammy Martin was named director of operations for Rush Medical Group. Sonya Carrier was named director of primary care clinics at Rush Health Systems. Melissa Mitchell was named director of quality services at Rush Health Systems. 10. Thomas J. (T.J.) Senker was named president of Olney, Md.-based MedStar Montgomery Medical Center, effective Feb.1. 11. Memphis, Tenn.-based St. Jude Children's Research Hospital appointed Pat Keel CFO. 12. James G. Bands joined Laramie, Wyo.-based Ivinson Memorial Hospital as CFO. 13. Peter Butler, president of Chicago-based Rush University Medical Center, will retire at the end of June. Glasgow, Ky.-based T.J. Regional Health has completed its $3.35 million acquisition of Westlake Regional Hospital in Columbia, Ky., which ceased inpatient services earlier this month, according to the Glasgow Daily Times. Westlake Regional was previously owned and operated by the Adair County Public Hospital Corp. and the Adair County Hospital District, which each filed for Chapter 9 bankruptcy in July 2013. The hospital remained operational after the bankruptcy filing, but it was financially distressed. T.J. Regional and Westlake Regional began negotiations last October. A few weeks ago, just before the official takeover occurred, Westlake Regional stopped admitting patients. With the transaction completed, Westlake is now T.J. Health Columbia, and although it is possible the facility will offer inpatient services in the future, that isn't a goal, T.J. Regional Health President and CEO Bud Wethington told the Glasgow Daily Times. "The immediate need is to focus on core services, improving facilities and the most efficient use of resources," said Mr. Wethington. Although the facility is no longer taking inpatient admissions, the emergency room and several other components of care have continued, according to the report. More articles on healthcare finance: Georgia hospitals unite to avoid financial failure 9 recent hospital, health system capital projects Partners HealthCare earnings dragged down by Epic transition From a teen being arrested for posing as a physician to 51 hospitals across the nation agreeing to a $23 million False Claims Act settlement, here are the latest healthcare industry lawsuits and settlements making headlines. 1. Healthcare CEO faces life in prison for fraud that led to 2 patient deaths The CEO and co-owner of a Maryland diagnostics company is facing life in prison after a federal jury convicted him of two counts of healthcare fraud that resulted in death. 2. 51 hospitals pay $23M for alleged overuse of cardiac devices The Department of Justice inked a deal for more than $23 million with 51 hospitals across the nation including Cleveland Clinic and San Francisco-based Dignity Health hospitals to settle False Claims Act allegations related to the implantation of cardiac devices in Medicare patients. 3. UPMC blames familiar foe for delay in $12.5M antitrust settlement Pittsburgh-based UPMC tentatively agreed last week to pay $12.5 million to settle a long-standing antitrust lawsuit. However, the health giant's rival, Pittsburgh-based Highmark, could delay the settlement agreement. 4. Pfizer's Wyeth unit to pay $784.6M to settle False Claims Act violations Pfizer said its Wyeth unit agreed to pay a $784.6 million settlement for cases related to the calculation of Medicaid rebates for a gastric drug sold between 2001 and 2006. 5. St. Mary's surgeon files defamation lawsuit against CNN for 'reckless disregard for the truth' The heart surgeon at the center of the CNN expose in early June that led to the closing of St. Mary's Hospital's pediatric heart surgery program and the resignation of hospital CEO David Carbone fired back against the cable news network with a lawsuit alleging defamation. 6. Teen poses as physician again, this time at his own fake medical office Florida teenager Malachi Love-Robinson, is accused of pretending to be a physician for the second time in just over a year. 7. NJ physician accused of submitting false claims settles for $5.25M A Westfield, N.J.-based physician, Labib E. Riachi, MD, agreed to pay the federal government $5.25 million to resolve allegations that he and two of his companies fraudulently billed federal healthcare programs for tests that were never provided. 8. Ohio air ambulance company sues Medical Mutual for $3.5M Air Evac Lifeteam sued Medical Mutual of Ohio, claiming the payer owes $3.5 million in unpaid bills for its air ambulance services. 9. IPA sues Wellmont Health for allegedly trying to drive it out of business: 6 things to know Highland Physicians, a Kingsport, Tenn.-based independent practice association, sued local Wellmont Health System, claiming the system spent six years working to destroy the association. 10. 2-decade Cigna lawsuit involving 27k employees nears finish In 1998, employees and former employees of Cigna sued the Bloomfield, Conn.-based health insurer for changes to its pension plan. Now, the lawsuit is drawing to a close. 11. Chicago con man impersonates psychiatrist, writes dozens of patients prescriptions A Chicago man was charged in federal court for impersonating a psychiatrist and making dozens of fraudulent medication prescriptions. 12. Retirees file class-action lawsuit to halt healthcare changes Wayne Country, Mich., retirees filed a lawsuit against the county to stop healthcare alterations they claim could potentially cost them thousands of dollars annually. 13. Norwalk Hospital to pay nearly $1M to settle false claims allegations Norwalk Hospital in Fairfield County, Conn., agreed to pay the federal government $920,000 to settle accusations that it falsely billed Medicare while treating patients for osteoporosis. 14. Appeals court upholds prior express consent in robo-dialing suit The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit upheld a lower court's ruling that a medical debt collection company did not violate the Telephone Consumer Protection Act when it robo-dialed patients who gave "prior express consent." 15. Device manufacturer faces $5M lawsuit after infection scare Patients notified of potential infection due to bacterial exposure during open-heart surgery at WellSpan York (Pa.) Hospital and Penn State Hershey (Pa.) Medical Center filed a class-action lawsuit against device manufacturer LivaNova, seeking damages in excess of $5 million. 16. Union suit against Kaiser takeover of Maui hospitals dismissed: 4 things to know A federal judge threw out a union lawsuit that could have been a potential roadblock for Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente to manage the three state-owned hospitals in Hawaii. More articles on health law: Regulatory change in Illinois makes it easier to close hospitals How to avoid whistle-blower lawsuits: 4 key tips for healthcare leaders Federal appeals court: Hospitals can be 'rural' and 'urban' at the same time The CEO and co-owner of a Maryland diagnostics company is facing life in prison after a federal jury convicted him of two counts of healthcare fraud that resulted in death, according to the Department of Justice. On Wednesday, a federal jury found 67-year-old Rafael Chikvashvili, PhD, guilty of healthcare fraud. Dr. Chikvashvili was the co-owner and CEO of Owings Mills, Md.-based Alpha Diagnostics, which was a portable diagnostic services provider, principally of X-rays. According to evidence presented at trial, Dr. Chikvashvili was involved in a scheme to defraud Medicare and Medicaid. He and others allegedly conspired to create false radiology, ultrasound and cardiologic interpretation reports. He also allegedly submitted insurance claims for medical examination interpretations that were never completed by licensed physicians, according to the DOJ. Dr. Chikvashvili allegedly instructed his nonphysician employees to interpret X-rays, ultrasounds and cardiologic examinations, which, according to testimony provided at trial, resulted in two patient deaths. In one case, an Alpha employee who was not a physician reviewed X-ray images and failed to detect congestive heart failure. As a result, the patient was not transferred to an acute care facility for care and died four days later. In the second case, an Alpha employee misread a patient's pre-operation X-ray and failed to detect congestive heart failure, which put the patient at an increased risk of bleeding during and after an upcoming elective surgery. Due to the misinterpretation, the patient was cleared for surgery, experienced significant bleeding, and died six days after her chest X-ray was misread. Dr. Chikvashvili and his co-conspirators allegedly defrauded Medicare and Medicaid of more than $7.5 million through the scheme, which occurred from 1997 through 2013, according to the DOJ. In addition to healthcare fraud, Dr. Chikvashvili was also found guilty of wire fraud, false statements and aggravated identity theft. He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison for each of the two counts of healthcare fraud resulting in death. He also faces 10 years in prison for each of nine counts of healthcare fraud; 20 years for each of eight counts of wire fraud and for the conspiracy count; a maximum of five years for each of 11 counts of false statements relating to healthcare matters; and a mandatory two years for two counts of aggravated identity theft. More articles on health law: Regulatory change in Illinois makes it easier to close hospitals How to avoid whistle-blower lawsuits: 4 key tips for healthcare leaders Federal appeals court: Hospitals can be 'rural' and 'urban' at the same time To continue following the latest news and information for Bedfordshire and surrounding areas, simply enter your full postcode below Eddie Redmayne said marrying Hannah Bagshawe in 2014 was the best thing he has ever done Leonardo DiCaprio is "definitely going to win and should win" the Oscar for Best Actor next weekend, according to Eddie Redmayne. "I feel excited just to be invited to the party, frankly," the actor said. Redmayne, who was born in London, is nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in The Danish Girl. He played Lili Elbe in the film, one of the first recipients of sex reassignment surgery. Redmayne, 34, won the award last year for his portrayal of Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything. "That was extraordinary," Redmayne said of his first Oscar win, i n an interview with the Telegraph magazine. This year however, Redmayne wants to see the award go to DiCaprio at the awards ceremony on Sunday February 28. The actor, who has famously never won an Oscar, is nominated for the sixth time, this time for his role in The Revenant. DiCaprio faced sub-zero temperatures to play Hugh Glass, a frontiersman who faces a grim battle for survival after being attacked by a bear. "For me to be considered in the group of nominees, with (Matt) Damon, DiCaprio, Michael Fassbender and Bryan Cranston... It feels amazing," Redmayne said. The actor is currently working on JK Rowling's Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them, a spin-off from the Harry Potter films. Set 70 years before Harry Potter begins, Redmayne plays Newt Scamander, a "magizoologist" who travels the world finding magical creatures. To prepare for the role, Redmayne spent time at London Zoo and Port Lympne Reserve in Kent, where he met animal handlers. "Some of them sleep with baby tigers when they're born. What was important for me here was to see how people with such a close relationship with animals communicate with them, because Newt has that," he said. Shooting for the film requires long days and many 5am finishes at the Leavesden Studios in London. Redmayne said his wife Hannah Bagshawe, who gave up her job as an art dealer so she could travel with Redmayne, has been "an absolute wonder". Marrying her at the end of 2014 was "the most wonderful thing I've ever done," he added. British director Michael Caton-Jones has described working on his new release Urban Hymn as "one of the best film making experiences I've had." Caton-Jones, whose films include Rob Roy and The Jackal, returned to the UK to shoot the coming of age drama set against the backdrop of the 2011 London riots. It stars Letitia Wright as a vulnerable teenager whose loyalties are split between the care worker trying to help her secure a better future and her volatile best friend, played by Isabella Laughland. After making its debut at the Toronto Film Festival in September, Urban Hymn received its UK premiere at the Glasgow Film Festival on Friday. Speaking on the red carpet, Caton-Jones said it took something special for him to return to film-making almost a decade after his last feature, 2006's Basic Instinct 2. Asked what attracted him to the project, he said: " It's always the screenplay, but it was really the stuff that was in it that I thought I could do a decent job with. "I had three lead women of different emotional colours. "There was a lot of music in it, and i t was about a social issue but not beating you over the head with it. It had a load of elements. "I really felt that I didn't want to get back in the saddle making something unless it was going to be emotionally worth my while. "I'm really glad I did because it became one of the best film making experiences I've had." The film was shot at various locations in the capital including former prison Latchmere House in south east London and includes a cameo by musician and activist Billy Bragg and his initiative Jail Guitar Doors, which donates instruments to aid prisoners' rehabilitation. Shirley Henderson, familiar as Moaning Myrtle in the Harry Potter series, plays social worker Kate who is called to work with troubled young people after suffering a loss and makes an attachment to Wright's character Jamie. She said: "T heir worlds are very different. "The way they see life at the beginning is very different, but ultimately it's the same - they are both looking for the same thing, to feel that they belong, that there's a reason to keep going, and that there's something more. "It's quite an interesting journey, she is setting Jamie up for some kind of future." Laughland said of her character's relationship with Wright's: " They are more like sisters, really. "My character feels incredibly protective over Letitia's character Jamie. They are all they've got. "They've never really had any love and they meet each other in the care home and they gel. "Their relationship is everything, especially to my character." Wright said of working on the film: " It was a lot of hard work. I realised that in order to play a lead role, you have to be there on time, every single day, and y ou have to be on it. "It took a lot of work from all of us. I leant a lot about what it takes to really dedicate yourself to a story." Comfortable living: student accommodation at John Bell House in Belfast city centre is a far cry from some of the properties that students inhabited in the past Comfortable living: student accommodation at John Bell House in Belfast city centre is a far cry from some of the properties that students inhabited in the past Comfortable living: student accommodation at John Bell House in Belfast city centre is a far cry from some of the properties that students inhabited in the past Comfortable living: student accommodation at John Bell House in Belfast city centre is a far cry from some of the properties that students inhabited in the past Comfortable living: student accommodation at John Bell House in Belfast city centre is a far cry from some of the properties that students inhabited in the past Belfast's landmark Metropolitan College building is being transformed into luxury en suite student apartments at up to an eye-watering 720-a-month rental. Three Belfast Telegraph writers have altogether grimier recollections of slumming it in dingy flats while, overleaf, local celebs share their memories of uni days. Emma Cowan: Our carpets were threadbare, full of bugs and sticky underfoot It's going to be all mod cons for Belfast students of the future, with a total of 1,600 new student rooms given the green light. Private room, en suite, central heating, wifi - the works. It's a far cry from student accommodation of yesteryear, that's for sure. But is it all for the better? Back in the day, my experience was somewhat different. Four walls and a roof, waterproof and windproof, could be taken for granted, but nothing else on that list of essentials for today's pampered students. I lived in two student houses; one off Botanic Avenue and the other on the edge of the Holylands. Heat was in one room only and came from a real fire (now considered a health and safety hazard, or an unwanted insurance premium). I had the head start there, for I already knew how to set a fire. One of my housemates had to learn the hard way, with cold evenings of trial and error. Carpets were, at best, threadbare and bug-rich and, on occasion, sticky underfoot. Beds? Well, mine was a mattress on the floor, though in my second house I graduated to a whole bed. One basic bathroom for everybody and plenty of catfights before nights out in the students' union. The kitchen could have been the heart of the home - if only we had all been able to fit in at once. But it had what we needed: cooker, fridge, sink, kettle. One house had a great innovation. It was an upper-story flat, so we had a rubbish chute devised by the landlord, which emptied into the bin in the yard. Great. Until it got blocked. Maybe to students these days, that all sounds dreadful, but it wasn't. It was fun - hilarious at times. It was also a learning and growing experience, both in practical living and human development. The fabled long nights discussing the meaning of life over endless cups of coffee actually happened, something that can't be replicated by being cocooned in a contract-furnished, designer, but potentially lonely and isolating single room. We learned to develop relationships, build trust, respect, empathy and consideration. You can't do that alone. Then there were the strange, but funny moments that stick in your memory. Like walking in to view the flat currently inhabited by rather upmarket law students - only to discover that they used the bath as an oversized coal scuttle. Posh, smart, but not clean, then. Or, in the Holylands, the next-door neighbour, a resident, blithely telling my boyfriend that, yes, his car was missing, but not to worry. He had taken it for "a bit of a joyride". To be fair, he told us where it was and he hadn't damaged it, or stolen the contents. He even gave us back the keys. Even now, I probably don't live in the level of comfort and decorative balance that our students will enjoy in their des-res rooms. But there's more to life than comfort. Lee Henry: 'I walked in on a 12-inch rat terrorising our kitchen' I completed my Bachelor's degree in English and History at Manchester Metropolitan University in 2004 and look back on that time through rose-tinted spectacles - partly because of the subsequent experience of living and studying in Belfast. Not only was I able to immerse myself in the subjects that I loved, I also lodged for the duration with my Mancunian grandmother, a hard-talking, no-nonsense, secretive Daniel O'Donnell fan, who introduced me to Yorkshire puddings and casual racism. She cooked for me, cleaned for me and charged very little rent in return. Every day was like Sunday. And I loved it. In reality, my time working toward an ultimately disappointing 2:2 was no walk in the park. My studies were difficult and I was forced to work unsociable shifts in a well-known chicken-based fast food establishment in order to pay off a first-year credit card spent, in record time, on CDs and beer. Compared to what came next, however, my Manchester memories are idyllic. I undertook postgraduate studies in journalism from a shared house on Belfast's University Street - the main arterial route leading into and, mercifully, out of the Holylands area of south Belfast - excited to relocate to the capital after a brief recharging of the batteries in my native Newcastle, Co Down. With the blinkered outlook of someone who has spent the past four years living with their grandmother, I paid for the first room I had the (dis)pleasure of viewing - an exceptionally large quadruple bedroom looking out onto what is now the Ibis Hotel (then Renshaw's Bar) - without even checking the carpet for bugs. I spent that first night observing legions of freshers serenading one other on the street after final orders with endless renditions of The Killers' Mr Brightside and scoffed at their youthful naivety. "They'll learn," I convinced myself, before searching for a sleep that never came. Even now, years later and with a wife and child nearby to keep me sane, I hear that discordant chorus in my nightmares. It is much easier to put up with such distractions and the demands and challenges of further education when surrounded by supportive friends and luckily I shared that towering, teetering edifice with a core of long-term lodgers similar in age and sensibility, including a mild-mannered creationist with whom I disagreed on almost every subject and two motor-mouthed Dublin girls who thought Belfast quaint, despite the regular blood-letting at closing time. When my studies were finally over and I was able to move up in the world - to a luxurious, one-bedroom flat in Stranmillis - I did so with an overwhelming sense of relief, not least because it meant leaving behind the 12-inch rat who terrorised our kitchen toward the end, when I was almost alone following a mass exodus of housemates who simply could not stomach the living-room slugs any longer. I walked in on it one morning, that fearless rodent, as it attempted to chew the gristle from our cooker and our eyes met as an inmate's meets a jailer's. And when I recall that brief, hellish union, I can't help but think that students these days, by all accounts, don't know they're born. Frances Burscough: 'Every day I'd dodge drug addicts and kerb-crawlers' I'm sorry, but I'm not in the least bit impressed by this new build of so-called 'luxury' student apartments at Belfast Metropolitan College. In my opinion, the words 'student' and 'luxury' do not belong together in a sentence. Ever. Certainly not if it's describing accommodation. Anyone who has ever lived in student digs - with the possible exception of Prince William and David Cameron - will tell you that the whole essence of student life revolves around squalor. It's all part of that great rite of passage that is leaving home to go to university: you forsake a lovely, tidy, warm and cosy family homestead, where the fridge is always full, the cupboards always stocked, the radiators always on and all's right with the world, to start a life of grime in a virtually uninhabitable dump occupied by oddballs and wierdos, where the only creature comforts are actual vermin. And, what's more, you absolutely love it. My first experience of student accommodation - when I was a student of Fashion at Manchester Polytechnic in 1984 - was as follows: 24 Atholl Road, Whalley Range; the most squalid house in the most unkempt road in one of the most rundown parts of town. Nowadays, like a lot of urban areas outside thriving cities, it has been done-up and gentrified. But, back in 'my day', Whalley Range, with its interminable rows of three-storey terraced houses providing perfectly grotty digs for generations of students and other assorted drop-outs, had no redeeming features whatsoever. To describe it as a humble abode would have been a gross understatement. It was cold, damp and treacherous. Mine was the middle bedsit in the converted Victorian terrace in what can only be described as a slum. Above me lived a prostitute, who plied her trade in the house at all hours of the day and night, so the communal doorbell never stopped ringing. Next door was a pregnant teenager and her junkie boyfriend, while below me was a de-frocked priest who coughed and wheezed so much I assumed he had caught Bubonic plague from the rats who lived below us all in the cellar and occasionally surfaced to raid our bins. The carpet was mouldy and stained with God-only-knows-what; the air was musty and smelt faintly of putrefaction, while the ancient faded wallpaper was peeling away from every damp dripping dingy surface. My flat was 'fully furnished' with Oxfam rejects, while the only mod-cons were dodgy wiring plug sockets, a three-bar heater that sparked when you switched it on and an electricity meter that sold half-an-hour's water heating for 50p. So, what was so good, or so beneficial, about my student digs, I hear you ask. Well, it was a melting pot. Almost all my fellow students were in the same boat. We'd all left home and moved to another galaxy far, far, away. Regardless of our background, or circumstances, we all went through the same culture-shock and the camaraderie that resulted have remained forever as unbreakable friendships. It was thrilling to be free and independent and, for the first time, to be able to please myself. It also taught me how to persevere, to cope, to face adversity and personal threat and to survive and to thrive against all odds. You may think I'm exaggerating, but I'm not. Every day I was dodging drug addicts and kerb-crawlers and muggers and every vice imaginable just to get to and from classes. And as for going out at night, CSI Miami had nothing on the last bus home to Whalley Range. But, in retrospect, the most important things I learned during those four years, was to appreciate the home life that I'd had; the things that you take for granted when you're growing up. It taught me the value of things, the importance of maintaining relationships, of courtesy and kindness and how it must feel to have nothing, or nobody. Luxury student accommodation certainly won't be able to offer that - even for 180 per week. Ups and downs of student life Rebecca McKinney (29) is co-host on the Cool FM breakfast show and also works as a fashion stylist. She says: I attended Queen's University to study Law and I graduated in 2005. It was a three-year degree and, for my first year, I lived at home. I moved with friends into a house in my second year. It wasn't a very studenty area at all, but we got a new-build, four-bedroomed house for 600 a month. My rent was only 125 a month, so it was absolutely worth it. I think if I was to do it again, I would rather live in the thick of student life - but only in a place that was really good quality and really good value for money." Claire Sugden (29) is an Independent MLA. She lives in Coleraine with her fiance, Andy. She says: I went to Queen's from 2005-2008 and I stayed in the Elms Halls of Residence in my first year. For me, it was a bit of a burden to walk up and down the hill to it. The rooms were pretty basic, although I paid more for an en suite bathroom, which helped. I studied Politics and that meant I was only in for two days a week. My family are from Coleraine, so for the second and third year I lived at home. My rent in halls cost 75 a week, but my train fare was 30 for a month, so it wasn't good value for me to stay in Belfast." Emma Pengelly (36) is a DUP MLA and junior minister. She lives in Belfast with her husband, Richard. She says: I studied law at Queen's from 1998. I spent a year as deputy president of the students' union after I graduated and then I spent another couple of years doing my postgraduate barrister training. I'm originally from Markethill and I didn't drive, so it made sense for me to stay up in Belfast. In my first year, I managed to get accommodation in the halls at Stranmillis College, because my sister was studying there. After first year, my sister and I moved into shared houses with four or five others. That was in the days before a lot of shared housing legislation had come in and I don't think they were in the best condition. People bought student houses as an investment, but they didn't invest in the property itself." Interviews: Kerry McKittrick Tom Gallaher may have started as just one man selling tobacco from the back of a cart, but within 40 years he had opened the largest cigarette factory in the world. The Gallaher name is synonymous with a time when the north of Ireland was still a major player in the industrial world. Established in 1857 by Thomas Gallaher and originally opened in Londonderry, the company went on to become one of the biggest tobacco suppliers in the world. Gallaher was a brand that stood alongside power house companies such as Harland & Wolff shipbuilders that put Ulster industry on map. The business flourished and in 1863 it made the move to bustling Belfast city. In 1896, Gallaher opened what was then the biggest tobacco factory on the planet. And with the development of colour lithography in the late 1870s, companies like Gallaher's could now create attractive images to market their products. Gallaher began operating from premises in Hercules Street, his company's York Street factory was built in 1881, and within 10 years 40 tobacco spinning machines were in operation, eventually covering a 10-acre site. This included the factory opened in Ballymena, which has been a cornerstone of the town's economy. To cope with the huge expansion and demand, Gallaher also opened premises in London. As his company continued to grow, Gallaher took his place as one of the most prominent and successful businessmen in the British Empire. In 1900 Queen Victoria awarded Gallaher's a royal warrant, and in 1928 it became a publicly traded company. Growing manufacturing demands prompted major extensions to the York Street factory in 1935. Most employees were females and among their tasks would be stripping the stem from the tobacco leaf. Mostly it was performed by hand before machine stripping was developed. According to local legend, the smell never left the women no matter how much they washed and when they went to dances, their dancing partners would say: "I know where you work." When the first machine stripper came in, the workforce rose to more than 1,000. With war on the horizon, Gallaher's built air raid shelters in 1939 at the Belfast factory and the warehouses at Connswater. In the Belfast Blitz over Easter 1941, 180 Luftwaffe bombers attacked the city. As a result 1,000 people were killed, 1,500 injured and half the houses in Belfast were damaged or destroyed. Many factories were also damaged. Despite this, cigarette production boomed during the Second World War, with cigarettes regarded as a morale booster for servicemen and women. Gallaher's main factory and York Street Mill were among those badly damaged by bombs. This prompted the decision to build a brand new factory at a site purchased just outside Ballymena at Lisnafillan. This site was built specifically for cigarette manufacture. It was to become one the town's biggest employers, alongside the Michelin tyre factory and Wrightbus. The factory put Ballymena on the map as an area of promising enterprise. And in 1963 it got the royal seal of approval when the Queen Mother visited the factory. Gallaher's first major acquisition came in 1936 with the purchase of JA Pattreiouex the makers of the Senior Service brand followed by the acquisition of cigar makers JR Freeman in 1947. It bought over the UK branch of Benson and Hedges in 1955, and in 1963 it launched Silk Cut, which was to become one of the company's most well-known and popular brands. When Benson and Hedges was purchased, a new brand named Olivier was launched. It was named after the actor Sir Laurence Olivier, who helped market them, and it's claimed that they were the only product stocked at vending machines at his theatre in London. A huge milestone occurred for Gallaher Group Plc in May 1997 when, for the first time, its shares were listed on both the London Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange. After 1997, the Gallaher Group was transformed in to a leading tobacco multinational. Its position as a global manufacturing and wholesale company was firmly cemented, with manufacturing plants around the world in places such as Austria, Russia and South Africa. Then, in 2007, Japan Tobacco International became the sole owner of the Gallaher Group the purchase was the largest-ever foreign acquisition made in Japanese history, costing JTI a reported 7.5bn. Few people can claim that coming face-to-face with a tiger changed their life. However, Liz Bonnin credits a big cat with getting her the job as presenter on some wildly popular wildlife and science programmes, including Autumnwatch, Springwatch and Stargazing Live. Her close encounter in the jungle 12 years ago turned out to be the first of many fascinating experiences for the 39-year-old, who was most recently on screen with Chris Packham, battling it out on BBC show Cats v Dogs: Which Is Best? "Cats rule," she says with a laugh. "They're far more fascinating than dogs as personalities and when they interact with you, it's more meaningful because it's so much on their terms." Cat lover she may be - whatever size they are - but she's not confined herself to one species. In fact, she's been lucky enough to communicate with an ape using sign language, gaze into the eyes of an elephant (which she felt was "intuitively checking me out") and tickle the tummies of grey whales. "I've had so many magical moments observing animals, which have revealed to me how much we've underestimated the intelligence of many species and that we may have to reconsider whether they should be kept in captivity. Most significant for me personally was seeing my first tiger, Kunkutti, in 2003. She literally changed the course of my life," says Bonnin, the daughter of a Trinidadian mother and French father who grew up in Ireland. Despite gaining a science degree, she initially followed a love of music and sung in Irish girl group Chill, before going into presenting roles, including Channel Four's morning show RI:SE and Top of the Pops. "Although I was passionate about science right from being a young child, after university I just travelled a lot and sort of floated through a lot of my twenties, not being serious about getting my career together," she admits with a smile. "I had faith that things would fall into place and when I saw Kunkutti, while working on a wildlife documentary in India, it all did. She re-ignited my science passion and I went back to school and eventually gained a Masters in Wild Animal Biology, specialising in tigers in Nepal." Bonnin - who's backing EDF Energy's Pretty Curious programme, which hopes to encourage teenage girls to study science-based subjects at school or beyond - has been involved in science broadcasting for 10 years and, since 2013, presented ITV's Countrywise alongside Paul Heiney and Ben Fogle. "The series has been so much fun, there's another one coming up this year, and it's given me the opportunity to find out more about wildlife in this country as, embarrassingly, when I joined the team I realised I knew far more about wildlife abroad. "Wandering around the beautiful British countryside and meeting people who are dedicated to preserving our natural species has been a real privilege." She's also worked on a wide range of documentaries, including Super Smart Animals, BBC One's Animals In Love and Big Blue Live. "I've always had wanderlust and I can't believe how lucky I've been to travel the world, looking at nature and helping to show people the incredible things on our planet. Science has opened up so many opportunities for me and I hope I can show young girls that it can do the same for them and that far from being dry or dull, it's endlessly interesting and varied. "While my real love is big cats, and I'm determined to study one of the most elusive cats on the planet - the snow leopard - I've recently learnt more about elephants and been blown away by their emotional intelligence. "One female in Botswana is ingrained in my memory forever. She and I locked eyes for what seemed like an eternity and she reacted to my every tiny movement. These animals remember places they've only visited once, sometimes up to 40 years ago, and can find them again. Their mental capacity is awesome," she enthuses. "Mammals like whales are just as fascinating. On location in Mexico, grey whales came up to our boat and presented their calves to us and supported them out of the water so that we could scratch their bellies - unbelievable! It would be wonderful if we could understand the complex social structure of whales. "But truly one of the most surreal moments I've had was actually having a two-way conversation with a bonobo ape in America who was aware that as a visitor I could take him out in a car for a picnic. He signed to me requesting that and pointed out he'd need to wear a collar. It showed an incredible power of forward thinking." Her life's not been without risk, though. She's had a rather too close encounter with a tiger which became enraged by the film crew's presence, on a dive off Northern Ireland in choppy seas a cameraman ran out of oxygen, and she braved a challenging journey plunging to oceanic depths in a tiny submersible craft. "In exciting but precarious situations, you have to be fatalistic and accept that these sort of adventures involve risk and all you can do is try to minimise it and stay safe. I'm determined to explore as many places and species as I can in my lifetime. "I know everyone can't do that and I realise it's all too easy for people to get bogged down in daily routines, but it still amazes me how many don't have much interest in the natural miracles that are out there, and the abundance of wildlife, often just on their doorsteps. "Part of what I do is, I hope, to inspire people to get outside. They don't have to travel miles like I do, it can be just to a park or the countryside. If they do, I think they can regain a sort of wonderful childish curiosity. Out in the open, wherever it is, you find you breathe easier, get a smile on your face, enrich your life and, even better, you'll find out more about this incredible little rock, Earth, which is suspended in the vast universe." Liz Bonnin is a role model for EDF Energy's Pretty Curious programme (aimed at encouraging teenage girls to study science-based subjects at school and beyond). Visit edfenergy.com/prettycurious/inspire From cancer to career upheaval, and a set of decisions and dilemmas on a scale most of us are never faced with, Jo Malone has been through a lot these past 15 years. The emotion of it all is evident when I sit down with the businesswoman who has become a byword for beautiful fragrances. "Cancer definitely changed my perspective on life," she says. "Although some of the lessons I learnt I've let slip through my fingers." There can't be many people who haven't had some Jo Malone in their home - one of her signature scented candles, perhaps, or some fancy bath oil, or a crisp cologne. It's very likely such items will have been received as a gift, nestling in a cream and black box lined with tissue paper and tied up with a grosgrain bow. In all these ways Malone creates a kind of magic, but the idea that her life might have been as idyllic as the world she creates is some way from the truth. At 52, Malone can look back on more than three decades of extraordinary achievement, during which she built a staggeringly successful brand. However, back in 1999 the sale of Jo Malone to the beauty behemoth Estee Lauder turned out to be a mixed blessing, for all the millions Malone made. It presaged a period in her life that was professionally challenging to say the least, and when cancer struck, that challenge became even harder. Malone - a woman of immense drive and energy - has come through the dark times and right now, with her Jo Loves range keeping her at the forefront of the beauty business, she is back to her true love: being creative. There's a steeliness to Malone and there's no doubt that she had to learn to be tough from an early age. "I grew up in a little two up, two down on a council estate in Bexleyheath," she recalls. "My father was a very brilliant artist, and I'd help him in the market selling his paintings. He was also a member of the Magic Circle and I'd be his magician's assistant. I had a pet white dove with clipped wings that used to sit on my shoulder and there were white rabbits everywhere." Her father was also "a huge gambler", but the matter-of-fact way that she refers to this seems to be a testament to a reconciling with her past, for all the difficulties it presented. "I remember sitting in my bedroom, looking out and thinking, I don't want to grow up like this. I was the sole provider for our family from the age of 11, 12 years old." Her mother, a beautician, suffered a stroke, and Malone left school at 15 to care for her. She had no qualifications, but the inspiration for what would turn out to be her career had already presented itself in the form of a woman called Countess Lubatti, who Malone's mother worked for. "I was eight or nine and I'd go to work with my mum and watch this incredible woman in the laboratory. I'd watch how face masks were made; watch Madame Lubatti grind the sandalwood." Malone's job was to pour the finished products into little pots for Lubatti's wealthy clientele, but she proved to have an exceptional ability for creating them too. She was on her way, the Bexleyheath council house was left far behind, with the clientele that she inherited from Lubatti becoming her first customers when she launched her own range of bath oils from her kitchen table in 1994. That a company as big as Estee Lauder would eventually make a bid for Jo Malone was perhaps inevitable. Malone, by then in her mid-thirties, stayed on as creative director, but it was now that her cancer was diagnosed. "When I came out of a very drawn-out, excruciating year of chemotherapy, I suddenly felt like I could run at life again," she says. And that realisation led, in 2006, to her next big decision - to leave the company that bore her name. "There was a disconnect. I started looking at it purely as a business, and I'd never felt that way about it before." A new, seizing-hold of life, coupled with a fear that the cancer would return, persuaded her to make the leap, but by the time she was reassured that the disease wasn't returning it was too late to think about where she'd really be landing. She had fought for her life, but without fragrance she felt that she was no longer really living: "I made the right decision for the business, and for Estee Lauder. But for me, as a creator, it was the worst thing I could have done." Under the terms of the Estee Lauder deal she was obliged to take a five-year hiatus from the industry, and she found herself with a lot of time on her hands, much of it spent miserably. She says that she "couldn't even walk through a department store I was so unhappy". "I'd look at other businesses being built and I'd literally get choked up. My mind was full of endless possibilities and creations, and there was nothing I could do." She kept herself busy, sitting on various boards, a role not suited to her given her fondness for plain-speaking. She made a TV programme with the BBC which drew on her retail skills. She holidayed and spent time with her family, husband Gary and son Josh. She was made an MBE for her services to the beauty industry. Finally, the five years was up, and as soon as Malone was free to work in the business again, she did, launching Jo Loves in 2011. It wasn't easy. Her departure from Jo Malone five years earlier had not been widely publicised so the new venture came as a surprise to many. And it was made even tougher by the fact that for a start-up venture the scrutiny was intense, exacerbated by her own exacting standards. She tells a story about her first scent, Pomelo, that says a lot about her. "I really felt Pomelo was my voice. It conjured up exactly how I was feeling, the emotion of everything. We'd got right the way through the process - ordered the bottles and the compound, the labels even - and we were ready to launch as soon as I got back from our Easter holiday. "I was walking down the beach in the resort in Turks and Caicos on my own one morning, and this stingray swam by the side of me as I walked up and down. And in that moment I knew in my heart that the fragrance wasn't finished, and I pulled it. It cost us 100,000 and nobody spoke to me for a week. I was so desperate to get back to this industry that I'd been ignoring this nagging voice, but I knew I couldn't ignore it any more." No sense of any such difficulties lingers when I meet Malone at the Jo Loves store, a serene white space tucked away in Belgravia. On the day of my visit, florist Matthew Dickinson is installing a Valentine's Day window display: a veritable meadow of lemons and white silk roses in homage to White Rose & Lemon Leaves, the second-best seller in the Jo Loves range after Pomelo. Malone is dyslexic, so she couldn't follow a formulation, but by watching the process she was able to "hook the various stages and then knit them together - I could make a face cream from the age of nine, and I could tell when it was ready by the texture". When she had sold her company to Estee Lauder they, understandably, asked to see the formulations. "I said: 'I haven't got a formulation, I make it from my head.' I sat in their laboratories and they'd ask me to make something, and off I'd go. They'd say, 'stop, stop! How many drops was that?', and I'd say: 'I don't know! Until it feels right!' Then we'd have to start all over again." This affinity for the ingredients is innate: "I could tell if the camphor or rosemary oil was past its sell-by just by the smell. I was taught from a really young age that what I saw and what I smelled were really valuable tools." For a perfumer a sense of smell is obviously vital, but Malone's ability is rare even among industry noses. When she recently said that she could smell running water in her building it was laughed off by her family, until six weeks later a leak burst through the wall. "I can smell anything. I could smell when my husband was sick, when there's something not right with the dog, when it's going to snow. I can smell all kinds of things that are normal to me, but not to other people." When she underwent chemo she says she wasn't worried about losing this ability, instead focusing her energies on surviving. "I was living in New York, and creating these basil candles. I love the smell of basil. Well, I did love the smell of basil. I don't now. The product came over to my apartment for me to test and every time I burnt them, boy was I sick. Even if I smell it now it turns my stomach. But I didn't let cancer take anything more from me than it needed to. Chemotherapy takes a lot from you, but it gave me everything back, apart from my eyelashes. But my sense of smell has come back stronger." It's not just Malone who has faced life-threatening illness. In 2014 Gary suffered adrenal failure, and she says that her belief in God has helped her face up to these challenges. "My faith is a very important part of my life," she says. "It's my compass. When I talk about inspiration, innovation, integrity -these are elements inspired by my faith. I faced my own mortality. When I was going through chemotherapy there was a week when I thought I was going to die. And when I sat by the bedside of my husband, who I thought was going to die, my faith was what got me through. I wouldn't impose it on anybody, but it's something I choose to live by." Her charity work is another expression of her values. She is involved in Magic Breakfast, which helps ensure that underprivileged children start the school day with a healthy meal: "Not one child in this country should go to school hungry. It's ridiculous." So what about her politics? During last year's election she gave her support to the Conservatives. "I put my head above the parapet and I fought because I didn't want to see a lot of the work small business had done being undone." You can see how she ruffled feathers in her various board positions. Currently her only directorship is of Walpole, which promotes the luxury industry and on which she is allowed to speak her mind. She is also a fundraising committee member with the British Film Industry. "If I could choose two things in life it would be fragrance and film. I go to the movies twice a week; I love being totally immersed in somebody else's creativity." She says she compartmentalises her life into "moments". That epiphany on the white sand of Turks and Caicos was a defining one, and another occurred in Montana, where she visits a horse ranch every year. "One summer I wasn't back at work and I was very unhappy and I couldn't find who I was at all," she recalls. "We went to the ranch and I took Josie, my horse, out. I was getting these terrible anxiety attacks and coming back down the mountain it was all shingle and every time Josie put her hoof down she'd slide. I could tell that she was frightened and I just burst into tears. The cowboy who we were with said: 'Trust your horse Jo, she'll get you down.'" Nearly three hours later Malone was at the bottom of the mountain. "It was as if life was saying to me: 'Every time you step somewhere something shifts, but you've still got to take every step.' From that minute I looked at life differently." A mural at the Clutha Vaults, the pub that was the scene of the tragic police helicopter crash in 2013 A sign in the window of Play it Again records, Glasgow Edinburgh made my student years. A Six Nations clash at Murrayfield reeled me and my mates in. The bars, medieval streets and charming Scottish men kept us going back. Glasgow, in those days, didn't compare. But I've grown up since then and here I am, returning at rush hour on a winter's morning to find that it too has changed. Some things are warmly familiar, like the straight-talking Glaswegians and their pleasingly simple two-ring subway system. But it's got taller, faster and more accessible (just 40 Flybe minutes from Belfast City Airport) than in the days of drunken ferry crossings to dingy pubs. The grand Mackintosh architecture and Victorian statues are now surrounded by stylish boutiques, hipster bars and trendy restaurants. The Duke of Wellington still wears his traffic cone - but is now so popular he's featured on the wall of my Ibis Styles hotel room. The old shipbuilding district of Finnieston has transformed from rough docks area to the trendiest neighbourhood in town; a change that's not a million miles away from Belfast's Cathedral Quarter. This city's industrial past is suddenly in vogue. But here I detect the same effortless 'cool' as Scotland's Scandi neighbours across the North Sea. THE FOOD Expand Close Ox and Finch, Glasgow / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Ox and Finch, Glasgow The critics' choices include the Ubiquitous Chip, The Gannet and Brian Maule at Chardon d'Or. And for a good value, satisfying brunch it has to be The Butterfly And The Pig. Glasgow has no Michelin stars but no one gives a damn. The fickle Belfastian I am, I will tell you that Ox and Finch is the restaurant most hotly tipped to attain that shiny little accolade that will bring Londoners prowling and send prices soaring. It's run by the former chef to the McLaren Formula One racing team, but don't let that lure you into expectations of glitz and glamour. A continuous stream of 'sharing plates' are plonked in front of our tour group in the fun, haphazard manner of Spanish tapas. Expand Close Buffalo mozzarella with salty prosciutto and tart figs at Ox and Finch in Finnieston, Glasgow / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Buffalo mozzarella with salty prosciutto and tart figs at Ox and Finch in Finnieston, Glasgow Rich confit duck in a delicate Thai yellow curry. Braised ox cheek that melts in the mouth. And creamy buffalo mozzarella with salty prosciutto and tart figs. I'm in food heaven and I don't want to leave. So off I march to the vibrant West End to buy cheese from George Mewes. THE SHOPPING Expand Close House of Fraser was established in Glasgow in 1849 as Arthur and Fraser / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp House of Fraser was established in Glasgow in 1849 as Arthur and Fraser Since I'm in bohemian Byers Road, a vintage shopping spree is called for in Ruthven Lane - a haven for those looking for anything from an authentic NYPD jacket to a thirties ball gown. A ginger cat watches me cautiously from a cardboard box in the window of record shop, Play It Again. No luck finding Ziggy Stardust today, though - a sign forewarns 'No Bowie in stock'. Expand Close The window of record shop, Play It Again, in Glasgow's Ruthven Lane. / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The window of record shop, Play It Again, in Glasgow's Ruthven Lane. I decide to walk the two-and-a-half miles back to my hotel in Merchant City, popping into craft shops, designer furniture stores (BoConcept - wow!) and coffee shops along Sauchiehall Street. The biggest fashion brands can be found in Glasgow's Style Mile around Buchanan Street and Argyle Street, it's a shopaholic's paradise. If, like me, you want to take home a selection of Scottish whiskies, The Whisky Shop in Buchanan Galleries has a wall full of miniatures and staff who are happy to un-complicate the seemingly complicated. THE ARCHITECTURE Expand Close Royal Exchange Square, Glasgow / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Royal Exchange Square, Glasgow This city was built over centuries, and every era's starchitect - from Charles Rennie Mackintosh to Zaha Hadid - has left an indelible influence on the landscape. Tour the former's masterpiece, the Glasgow School of Art, then gawp at Hadid's triumphant first major building in Britain - the Riverside Transport Museum (voted European Museum of the Year 2013). Expand Close The Riverside Transport Museum / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The Riverside Transport Museum 2016 is Scotland's Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design, so there's never been a better time to get an education in Glasgow's impressive heritage of Victorian buildings and Art Nouveau. THE ART HISTORY Expand Close Kelvingrove Art Gallery / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Kelvingrove Art Gallery Don't even think of visiting Glasgow without an hour, minimum, in Kelvingrove Art Gallery. The joy of visiting in winter is that you can stare at Salvador Dali's controversial Christ of Saint John of the Cross for as long as you like with little interruption. It was purchased by Kelvingrove in the early 1950s in spite of protests over its unusual depiction of Jesus and the city's lack of public funds in the post-war era. But now people flock from across the world to see it. I wander into the next room, where rare Australian turtle posts stand next to an exhibition about the Scottish island of St Kilda's. "The 'highbrow' don't like it. And as long as they don't like it, we'll keep doing it," says our tour guide. Sounds like a good motto for the city as a whole. THE BARD Expand Close Dramatic poetry reading at The Gannet's Burn's Night supper. Pic The Gannet/Facebook / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Dramatic poetry reading at The Gannet's Burn's Night supper. Pic The Gannet/Facebook It's January and it's wet, so we take our leave from the hardly souls of Glasgow and seek out a warming Burn's Night supper at The Gannet. Don't worry if you can't make the 25th - there are events all week long. Glaswegians go full on for Robert Burns' birthday, with foot-stomping Celtic music and poetry readings so dramatic the actor must need more than a 'wee dram' to recover his voice afterwards. This is the true Scottish experience and (another reason why Glasgow is better than Edinburgh) it's a lot more fun when you're not surrounded by Americans. A piper 'addresses' the haggis before we devour it, washed down with Bruichladdich whisky. But for me the Highland red deer loin with beetroot pithivier and game sauce is the star of the supper. THE BOOZE Expand Close The brewery at Drygate / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The brewery at Drygate The smell of hops wafts through Drygate Brewery, where 'bottle master' Chris Moriarty talks us through the brewing process at the UK's first experiential craft brewery. The tour encompasses the history of brewing in Glasgow, a look round the inside of the brewery and a tutored tasting of the Drygate core range. I'm not one for 'hoppy' beers but the Outaspace Apple Ale is a refreshing fusion of beer and cider; it shouldn't work, but it does. Expand Close A beer flight at Drygate Brewery / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp A beer flight at Drygate Brewery Pair award-winning craft brews with an impressive menu - whisky cured salmon, slow braised ox cheek, 'blue murder' venison - and you have the perfect afternoon out. THE MUSIC Expand Close Barrowland Park and the bands that have played Glasgow's famous rock venue / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Barrowland Park and the bands that have played Glasgow's famous rock venue National Geographic recommended Glasgow in its 'Best trips 2016' list for the "unrivaled music scene" - it's a designated Unesco City of Music. We set off on a walking tour with Fiona Shepherd, a renowned music journalist for The Scotsman and a walking encyclopedia of musical knowledge. I expect rock stories from the 70s and 80s - Simple Minds, Primal Scream, Deacon Blue - and she does tell us as many as she can while we walk along the Barrowland Park artwork that honours the bands who have played the famous venue. But what I get next is something quite unexpected. We step into a time warp - the Britannia Panopticon Music Hall. Nicotine-stained wallpaper hangs off the walls of the oldest surviving music hall in the UK, where Stan Laurel made his debut here in 1906, aged 16. Expand Close Inside the Panopticon Music Hall / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Inside the Panopticon Music Hall 1,500 people would cram into the auditorium in the 19th century - a working class "merciless mob" who, according to director Judith Bowers, would pelt the acts on stage with shipyard rivets and horse manure. It was so packed the men would pee where they stood rather than fight their way back out of the hall - and this, she believes, is "the only reason it didn't ignite; it was saturated with urine. All other music halls burnt down, this one didn't." People suffocated because of the gas lighting and smoking. Prostitutes solicited business in the dark corners of the balcony, where over 300 fly buttons where found during the hall's restoration. Judith tells us anecdote after awesome anecdote - I could listen all day and night... Expand Close Judith Bowers, director of the Panopticon Music Hall / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Judith Bowers, director of the Panopticon Music Hall Take me there ... Claire stayed in the Ibis Styles hotel at George Square in the city centre. Flybe currently offers a choice of up to five flights daily from George Best Belfast City Airport to Glasgow Airport. Departing at 07.00 and with the last returning flight at 20.25 allows for maximum time in Glasgow for a day trip or weekend away. Lead-in fares for a single journey start at 27.99 including taxes and charges. Located 8 miles from the city centre, airport buses run from the airport every 10 minutes, 24 hours a day and take approximately 25 minutes. A man who died after suffering a seizure in hospital was killed by a potentially deadly form of the drug ecstasy known as blue ghost, an inquest found yesterday. William Daniel McLaughlin (35) took an unknown number of the pills at a pub in Omagh in September last year. He passed away the following morning at South West Acute Hospital. At Laganside House in Belfast yesterday, coroner Suzanne Anderson said she was satisfied the death was accidental and that a post-mortem had shown McLaughlin died "due to poisoning by MDMA, known as ecstasy". Three witnesses - Mr McLaughlin's father Liam, his brother Gavin, and friend Tommy Moore - gave evidence. In a statement read out in court, Gavin McLaughlin said: "I remember seeing him in a bit of a state and I thought he had taken something. He was agitated, he wasn't himself. "I've since been told my brother had taken pills called blue ghost. My sister Zoe called me on Sunday morning to tell me he had died in hospital." Tommy Moore, who was with the victim in the pub, said he noticed after a couple of games of pool that Mr McLaughlin "must have taken something". "From his behaviour, I knew he wasn't drunk - he was lying down and smacking his mouth," he added. "He was wired and out of it". Mr Moore admitted that after going back to Mr McLaughlin's flat, the victim "handed me two pills and said 'bang them into you'," adding: "I can't remember what they looked like, but I knew they were ecstasy. The next thing I remember was being woken by my sister Mary who was crying and said (Mr McLaughlin) had died." Speaking to the Belfast Telegraph after the inquest, Mr McLaughlin's brother and sister said they were shocked by his death because he was not known as a regular drug user. "Apparently, he took one tablet," Ms McLaughlin said. "You hear of people taking loads and nothing happens. He hasn't done it for years. "When he was younger, he would have dabbled in things. To do it one time and for this to happen, it just doesn't seem right." Gavin McLaughlin said: "It's still very raw. He was a bad diabetic too and that's what I thought it was. I saw him in the house that night- that's why I was so shocked to hear it was pills." He described his brother as an "outgoing, good lad" who loved music and fishing and said: "The family has been pulled apart." Ms McLaughlin added: "There's always a risk no matter what you do, but you just don't think it's ever going to happen." Blue ghost pills have been linked to a number of deaths across the Republic of Ireland in recent years. In May last year, gardai said they suspected that 18-year-old student Ana Hick died after taking a mixture of pills including blue ghost at a Dublin night club. In another widely reported case, at the Electric Picnic festival in 2013 in Co Laois, a 20-year-old man with a heart condition also died after taking blue ghost pills. In a statement the Public Health Agency (PHA) said: "To date, we have not been made aware that this particular tablet, blue ghost, was being used here in Northern Ireland". This time last year, the PHA issued a public warning on a super-strength form of MDMA called UPS. In 2014, there was also a warning over so called speckled rolex tablets, which are believed to be linked to 20 deaths. Assembly Members who lose their seats at this year's election will be entitled to pay-off packages worth up to 70,000. Outgoing MLAs can claim a "resettlement allowance" - worth as much as 48,000 - to help them adjust to life outside Stormont. They will also be entitled to a 22,000-plus payment to help close down their office. The expenditure, funded by the taxpayer, has been described as "totally unjustifiable". Around 15 current MLAs have already signalled they will be stepping down in May. Each will be entitled to winding up and resettlement allowances, as will any member booted out by voters. MLAs will also be allowed to keep items previously bought on their Assembly expenses. The revelation is likely to fuel public anger after a week of controversy surrounding Stormont expenses. David Hoey, Northern Ireland co-ordinator of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said the payments were too big. "Of course there will be some expenses incurred by departing MLAs winding up their offices, as well as staff redundancies to be handled, but taxpayers would expect those costs to be fully accounted for and kept to a minimum," he said. "What especially sticks in the craw is the fact that those MLAs departing of their own volition are being handed a five-figure taxpayer-funded golden goodbye. "Particularly when budgets are so tight, this kind of largesse is totally unjustifiable, as is the ability of former MLAs to keep the Aladdin's cave of gadgets and gizmos they've bought with taxpayers' money for their offices over the years." In recent days MLAs have been issued with guidance on the various allowances available to Members not returning after the May 5 election. A resettlement allowance is available to each outgoing MLA. The guidance states: "Members who do not stand for election or who are not returned to the Assembly will be entitled to a resettlement allowance payment based on age and the number of complete years of service as a Member at dissolution." Anyone who has served the full Assembly term will be eligible for between 41% and 100% of their 48,000 salary. Under current tax legislation, members won't have to pay tax on the first 30,000. Outgoing MLAs can also claim a winding-up expenditure "to meet necessary expenses incurred in winding up" their business. This is capped at 22,387 and is provided to cover contractual obligations such as pay in lieu of notice for support staff, salary costs for staff who continue to work winding-up the constituency office and office rental agreements. While accepting that winding-up and resettlement allowances were a common feature of British politics, TUV leader Jim Allister questioned the award of large resettlement payments to outgoing MLAs of retirement age. He said: "There is a certain justification for both, but I would have concerns as to the scale of the resettlement allowance, as it might coincide with pension eligibility." He added: "The winding-up allowance, because it's focused on winding up an office where staff are made redundant, is fair enough. "That is standard for any legislature, as is the resettlement allowance. "It is perhaps the scale of the payments that would concern rather than the principle of it." The Assembly said office cost expenditure (OCE) varies depending on whether a Member is retiring or loses their seat. "For those that are retiring, OCE is payable up to the date of dissolution of the Assembly and for those not re-elected it is payable up to the date of the poll," a spokesperson said. "Winding-up expenditure is recoverable in respect of a person who ceases to be a member and it covers the actual expenditure which has been incurred during a maximum period of four months starting with the date on which he or she ceases to be a Member." Arlene Foster's letter will include a proposal for 'a new system to deal with all financial matters for Assembly Members' First Minister Arlene Foster is planning action to end the growing crisis over MLAs' expenses by agreeing a new system for Stormont finances from the start of the next Assembly. The DUP leader revealed that on Monday she will send a letter to all party leaders, DUP Assembly candidates and Assembly chief executive Trevor Reaney insisting that, from day one of the next mandate, there should be "a new system to deal with all financial matters for Assembly Members". Speaking at a party meeting in Cookstown last night, Mrs Foster said the row threatened to destabilise the Assembly's programme in the run-up to the election on May 5 "If people are going to vote for us they need to have confidence in us. They need to be confident that we're one of them, fighting for them and not for ourselves," she said. Mrs Foster added she wanted to make NI "a better place... (but) at the minute no one can hear about my vision because the administration of expenses is the main issue". "We need a completely independent system, just as there is in Westminster, where expenses are taken entirely out of the hands of MLAs and of staff working for the Northern Ireland Assembly." Her plan emerged as it was confirmed the two Stormont bodies at loggerheads over MLAs' expenses are to meet next week in an attempt to defuse the row. Their dispute is intensifying with both the Independent Financial Review Panel (IFRP), which sets the rules on expenses, and the Assembly Commission, which implements them, refusing to back down. In an increasingly tangled controversy, the IFRP, chaired by Pat McCartan, has strongly rejected claims that it made a mistake in a ruling in 2012. The Commission, made up of MLAs and chaired by Speaker Mitchel McLaughlin, has insisted it has applied the ruling correctly. A joint statement yesterday from the commission and panel tried to lower the political temperature. They insisted they both "share the aim of ensuring that the system of financial support for MLAs is transparent and robust and allows elected Members to work effectively on behalf of their constituents". It also said both organisations recognised "the negative impact which recent publicity has had on public confidence in these arrangements". Ahead of their meeting next week, they acknowledged differences of "interpretation and implementation" and added: "We are both committed to working together to address this within our separate and distinct responsibilities." Sir Richard Branson yesterday revealed his Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo - the craft which will power the next phase of the company's race to launch commercial space flights. Star guest at the launch was Professor Stephen Hawking, who claimed that the world is "entering a new space age" as he helped to unveil the spacecraft. The new space plane was made public just over a year since a mid-air crash killed one pilot and left another seriously injured. Despite the setback, Sir Richard Branson said that after some soul searching the company decided to push ahead with its vision of sending commercial passengers into space. Prof Hawking, who suffers from the degenerative condition amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), confirmed that he is still hoping to take a trip into space on a Virgin Galactic rocket. The astrophysicist, said: "A man with the vision and persistence to open up space flight for ordinary, earth-bound citizens, Richard Branson made it his mission to make space flight a reality for those intrepid enough to venture beyond the boundaries of the earth's atmosphere. "If I am able to go - and if Richard will still take me, I would be very proud to fly on this spaceship. "Space exploration has already been a great unifier - we seem able to cooperate between nations in space in a way we can only envy on earth. We are entering a new space age and I hope this will help to create a new unity." Seats on the spacecraft, which can carry six passengers, will cost $250,000 - around 174,500. More than 700 people are said to have signed up so far. As Sir Richard revealed his plans, British astronaut Tim Peake released night-time footage of the UK lights blazing as the international space station orbited across northern Europe. You can see Major Tim's video on our website at http://goo.gl/y14xnI. A judge has praised a resilent pensioner as he freed a burglar who ransacked her home A judge has praised a resilent pensioner as he freed a burglar who ransacked her home. He also released a married couple who used her stolen credit card to go on a 1,200 spending spree, buying drink and two flatscreen TVs. Judge Stephen Fowler QC told the trio that while every quality she had and displayed stood in stark contrast to theirs, he believed the public would best be protected by allowing for continued treatment in the community. Burglar Joseph Parick McDonnell (52), of Dorset Close, Antrim, was given an 18-month jail term, suspended for two years, along with 39-year-old Gerald Francis Joseph Gould, now of Antrim Road, Belfast, who admitted fraudulently using the pensioner's credit card. Gould's 37-year-old wife Lynn Louise Marie Gould, now also with a Belfast address in Ponsonsby Avenue, who also admitted the fraud charge, was freed on 12 months' probation. Freeing her, the Dungannon Crown Court judge said she deserved full credit for her guilty plea. Rev Kingsley Sutton said it was blatantly wrong to take flags from St Patricks and St Marys churches in Newry A Church of Ireland minister who sparked outrage after burning two Royal British Legion flags has secured a new parish, the Belfast Telegraph can reveal. The Rev Kingsley Sutton caused a storm last year after removing and destroying two standards at St Patrick's and St Mary's churches in Newry. Mr Sutton resigned after it emerged that he had defied the orders of Bishop of Down and Dromore Harold Miller. The controversial cleric was never disciplined by the Church of Ireland, and has secured a new position at a parish in Co Cork just four months later. He has been appointed the rector of Kilgariffe Union of Parishes in Clonakilty and will take up the new post in April. The Bishop of Cork, the Right Rev Dr Paul Colton, confirmed the appointment this week. The service of institution will take place on April 19 at Kilgariffe Parish Church. A statement from the Church of Ireland Diocese of Cork, Cloyne and Ross said: "Having recently resigned his incumbency in Newry, in the Diocese of Dromore, the Rev Kingsley Sutton currently holds a general licence in that diocese, and he has been looking for a new opportunity for ministry." Bishop Colton said they were pleased to give Mr Sutton an opportunity. "I know that he will receive a warm and encouraging welcome in Kilgariffe Parish," added the bishop. "We also look forward to welcoming him and his family to the diocese, and to supporting Kingsley in this new beginning in ministry." Concerned parishioners in Newry contacted this newspaper last October after Rev Sutton removed Legion standards that had been hanging in St Patrick's and St Mary's churches. He replaced them with white flags featuring a red heart from the Global Day of Prayer event in the ground of the Stormont Estate in 2006, explaining that his actions were to try and "make a break" from the past. It then emerged that he had insulted members of the Apprentice Boys in September during a sermon for their annual Ulster Covenant service and parade, telling them repentance should be sought for those who signed the anti-Home Rule document. The discomfort of some of the parishioners began over Mr Sutton's attempts to modernise services at the two Newry churches during his 13-year tenure. It later emerged that he had defied a direct order by Bishop Miller by removing the flags - and that he had not only removed them, but also incinerated them. Rev Sutton chose to resign after his actions were revealed by the Belfast Telegraph. Bishop Miller described the destruction of the flags as "very painful indeed". Rev Sutton issued a public apology to his church, Bishop Miller, the Royal British Legion and the Apprentice Boys. He explained that in his "haste to provide worship areas in Newry that are more accessible to all people and free from what I perceived as the vestiges of the past, I completely underestimated the depth of meaning and present day value of the Royal British Legion standards". Rev Sutton said then that he had "fully resubmitted myself to the structures of authority within the Church of Ireland", and that he had committed himself to learn from his mistakes. The Royal British Legion described the destruction of the flags as "unfortunate". A spokesman for the Church of Ireland yesterday told the Belfast Telegraph that no disciplinary action was ever taken against Mr Sutton, and that because he had resigned from his post in Newry, he was consequently free to seek a new position. He added that the local churches in Newry and the bishop offered to help the Royal British Legion to replace the standards, however they were replaced by the body's central organisation. Mr Sutton is originally from Co Wicklow, while his wife is from Cork. He previously served curacies in St Matthew's Parish in north Belfast and at Willowfield Parish in east Belfast, before being appointed the rector of Newry in 2002. First Minister Arlene Foster has called for an end to "unacceptable" attacks on Orange halls. The DUP leader was speaking after visiting Strawletterdallon hall near Newtownstewart, which has been attacked twice in recent days. Five windows, including door panels, were smashed in the first incident, which was discovered on Wednesday night. The Orange Order said more windows were smashed at about 7pm on Thursday. It claimed the attack was part of a "hate campaign" against the local Protestant community. Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness said the vandalism was "deplorable". Yesterday Mrs Foster, accompanied by local DUP councillor Allan Bresland, visited the hall to view the damage and speak to lodge members. She said: "Strawletterdallon is a prime example of how many Orange halls are community hubs, particularly in rural areas. "This is an attack on the entire community and I welcome the strong words from many different quarters in response to it. "It is important, though, that such solidarity is not just displayed in the aftermath of an attack. We regularly see opposition to loyal order parades. "Its members are often described as sectarian and as bigots. "Alongside the rightful condemnation of attacks on property, we need to hear condemnation of such verbal attacks on the institution and its members also. The Orange Institution is a valuable part of the fabric of life in Northern Ireland and we should all send out a message that attacks on its property or members are simply unacceptable." Nearly all the windows in the hall were damaged. The grand master of the Grand Orange Lodge said the repairs were likely to be very expensive. Edward Stevenson said the people behind the attacks had "nothing to offer society". "They attacked a very vulnerable hall sitting at the side of the road, a very easy target," he said. "But what started off as a hate crime earlier in the week is vast becoming a campaign, with the second attack in as many days on this hall." The vandalism drew condemnation from Sinn Fein. Mr McGuinness wrote on Twitter: "I deplore the two recent attacks on Newtownstewart Orange hall. Those responsible for this sectarianism are despicable and represent no one." Michaela Boyle, a Sinn Fein MLA for West Tyrone, called for the assaults to cease. "This is the second attack on this hall in recent days and the people who are carrying out these attacks will not succeed in raising tensions and need to stop," she said. "This hall is an asset as it is used for a range of activities servicing a rural community. "The attacks are simply sectarian and those involved have nothing to offer our society." Ulster Unionist MLA Ross Hussey said those responsible will not succeed in dividing people. "This hall is a valuable community resource in a rural area and it is used extensively by a wide range of groups," he said. "Such mindless attacks are designed to whip up community tensions and create divisions, which the people responsible can exploit further." The Orange Order called for an increased police presence in the area. "Given the similarities with the previous attack, there is little doubt that the perpetrators have reverted to type and once again, under the cover of darkness, brazenly re-engaged in their wicked deeds," the spokesman added. "The sheer audacity of these criminals knows no bounds. "Despite such destructive sectarian behaviour, the Orange fraternity in and around Newtownstewart will not be deterred by a minority rump whose futile activities are not representative of the wider community. We urge those responsible to think again and immediately desist." Strawletterdallon hall was previously targeted in an arson attack. The Orange Order said nine halls were attacked during 2015. Jennifer Cardy was snatched as she cycled to a friends house in the Co Antrim village of Ballinderry in 1981 The funeral of child killing paedophile Robert Black at Roselawn Crematorium last Friday Robert Black's ashes have been discarded at sea after no one came forward to claim them. No ceremony was held during the scattering at a secret location outside the UK. The Northern Ireland Prison Service finally confirmed yesterday that his remains had been disposed of - three weeks after his cremation in Belfast. A spokesman said: "In the absence of anyone claiming the remains of Robert Black, his ashes have been scattered at sea, without ceremony, beyond these shores. This has been done in accordance with the legal requirements for disposal. No further comment will be provided." Black died on January 12 at Maghaberry Prison, where he was serving 12 life sentences for the kidnap and murder of four children, including Ballinderry schoolgirl Jennifer Cardy. Local undertakers had refused to handle his remains, leading to a delay in a funeral being held. Jennifer's father, Andy, said yesterday that discarding his ashes at sea was a fitting end. The Prison Service came under heavy criticism over repeated attempts to keep the details of Black's funeral secret. However, the Belfast Telegraph revealed last month that he had been cremated after hours at Roselawn Crematorium on the outskirts of Belfast, and that the prison authorities were planning to scatter his ashes at sea. Alastair Ross, chairman of Stormont's Justice Committee, said last night: "This was an incredibly difficult and sensitive matter for the Northern Ireland Prison Service to handle. "I believe that ultimately they have taken the appropriate course of action." It is understood that the prison chaplain who officiated at Black's cremation had responsibility for disposing of his ashes. After Black's death, there was huge concern about his funeral arrangements, with members of the public and politicians demanding that his remains be discarded outside of the province. Black was first accused of rape aged 12. He went on to abduct and murder a number of young girls while working as a delivery driver. He was jailed in 1994 for the murders of Susan Maxwell (11) from Cornhill-on-Tweed, Northumberland, in 1982; Caroline Hogg (5), from Edinburgh, in 1983; and Sarah Harper (10) from Morley, near Leeds, in 1986. In 2011, he was also convicted of the murder of Jennifer (9), in Ballinderry, Co Antrim, in 1981. He was further convicted of a failed abduction bid on Teresa Thornhill in Nottingham in 1988, when she was 15. At the time of his death, Black was strongly suspected of killing up to 15 more children, including Genette Tate, who vanished in a country lane close to her Devon home in 1978. He was expected to be charged with her murder within weeks at the time of his death. Genette's father, John Tate, criticised the prison authorities over their initial refusal to make public any details about Black's funeral. Mr Tate said that the families of his victims had a right to know where his ashes had been scattered. Barney Devlin with a painting of him and Seamus Heaney Barney Devlin at the forge near Castledawson that inspired the poet Seamus Heaney The blacksmith who inspired two of Seamus Heaney's most memorable poems has died peacefully at his home at the age of 96. Barney Devlin, from Hillhead near Bellaghy in Co Londonderry, was the inspiration for late Nobel laureate Seamus Heaney's famous poem The Forge. Heaney first wrote about his metal-hammering hero craftsman in the poem that was part of his 1969 collection A Door Into The Dark, which takes its title from the poem's first line: "All I know is a door into the dark." The world-renowned bard again penned verse about the romance of the forge in The Midnight Anvil from his 2006 collection District And Circle, in which Devlin rings in the millennial New Year by striking his anvil 12 times, while someone holds up a phone so his nephew in Canada can hear the clangs. Mr Devlin was described as a "much-loved" grandfather and great-grandfather and husband of the late Margaret (Peg) and dear father of Clare McCusker, Joe, Anne Scott, Kieran, Barry, Patricia Kelly, Teresa, Gerard and the late Hugh. The Poetry House, an arts group in Derry that promotes Heaney's legacy, posted on its Facebook page on Thursday night: "It is with regret this evening that we announce the passing of our wonderful friend Barney Devlin. "A character in his own right, Barney achieved fame in the latter half of his long life as Seamus Heaney's unlikely muse in the eponymous poem that brought fame to Barney's tiny forge at Hillhead. "I'm sure you will join us in 'tapping the anvil' in memory of another great man who this evening has left this place of ours that little bit darker." Devlin's forge has become an essential stop-off on the Seamus Heaney tourist trail in Co Derry. In Mr Devlin's living room, a painting of him and the poet at the "dark door" of the old forge hangs above a handwritten copy of the poem, signed off with the note "Hammer on Barney". He previously said: "Taking visitors from across the world through the dark door is like a second pension to me in my old age. "It's busy and it's a real honour. People don't realise it, but he actually wrote the poem before he even crossed the dark door. When he arrived he laughed because everything was in place as he wrote it." It is understood Barney kept a visitors' book at his forge, in which Heaney left the note: "For Barney, old friend and good example of how to do good work and stay true. I'll maybe write a poem." When the poet died in August 2013 the retired blacksmith said: "I was shocked to hear of Seamus's death. "He was only a young man - compared to me anyway. It's certainly a big loss for the area. He would always have called to see me if he was in Bellaghy, but he hadn't been about for a couple of years. "It is a very sad day indeed." Yvonne Watterson, a writer from Co Antrim, was among those paying tribute to the blacksmith. She said: "When I found out that Barney Devlin had died, I was immediately transported back to that forge, to the other side of a Door Into The Dark, to a lovely conversation with him on a rainy afternoon last June. "Barney lived for almost a century, with heart and craft and good humour, bringing into his tiny forge thousands of visitors from all over the world. He loved the craic. "He loved it when people would stop and give him the time of day. Tonight, I think only Heaney would know what to say about Barney's passing. He would have the right words." Laurel Villa, a guesthouse that promotes the work of Heaney, tweeted from its account: "Rest in Peace Barney Devlin. You gave so much to your community around Castledawson and to many people the world over." Barney was at the centre of a row in 2014 when an interview with him on BBC's Countryfile was subtitled because of his rural accent. This prompted criticism from local Sinn Fein and DUP MLAs, however the BBC confirmed Barney had no objection. Barney will be buried alongside his late wife tomorrow following funeral Mass at St John's Church, Milltown. The Forge All I know is a door into the dark. Outside, old axles and iron hoops rusting; Inside, the hammered anvil's short-pitched ring, The unpredictable fantail of sparks Or hiss when a new shoe toughens in water. The anvil must be somewhere in the centre, Horned as a unicorn, at one end and square, Set there immoveable: an altar Where he expends himself in shape and music. Sometimes, leather-aproned, hairs in his nose, He leans out on the jamb, recalls a clatter Of hoofs where traffic is flashing in rows; Then grunts and goes in, with a slam and flick To beat real iron out, to work the bellows. By Seamus Heaney Three men were arrested after what is believed to have been a gang rape in west Belfast in the early hours of yesterday Two men, aged 18 and 23, have been charged with rape following an attack on a woman in west Belfast early on Friday morning. It is understood the attack occurred at a Traveller site at Glen Road. Two caravans remained sealed off by police yesterday. The men were arrested in the same area of the city. They are expected to appear before Belfast Magistrates Court on Monday. A PSNI spokeswoman said: "Three men have been arrested following a serious sexual assault on a woman in her 30s in the Glen Road area of west Belfast early on Friday morning." One of the men was later released unconditionally. Local Sinn Fein MLA Pat Sheehan said the news was very concerning. Mr Sheehan added: "This has been a very serious sexual attack in west Belfast and I want to advise anyone with any information regarding the attack to contact the PSNI." Eileen Kelly, a former volunteer with the now defunct Rape Crisis Centre, said that while these kind of attacks were extremely rare, the incident was very worrying. Ms Kelly, who is still a counsellor for victims of sex abuse, added: "It's concerning for any woman who was confronted by three men in this way. "It must have been extremely frightening for the lady. These types of attacks are extremely rare, but even if there is only one of them, it heightens women's fear of going out and being able to move around freely. "Thankfully, she is alive, but this is a very concerning development. "We have heard of these types of attacks happening in other countries, and quite recently during the New Year (in Cologne, Germany) when women were attacked by groups of men who appeared to be travelling in gangs." There are a number of organisations which can provide specialist support to victims of sexual violence and abuse in Northern Ireland. These include Nexus NI, which offers counselling and support to survivors of sexual abuse and victims of sexual violence, including those who have experienced rape and sexual assault. The Northern Ireland's Women's Aid Federation also provides advice, support and safe accommodation for women - and their children - who have been abused either mentally, physically or sexually. Protesters from across Ireland braved poor weather conditions to take part in the campaign's last major rally before Friday's election Thousands of anti-water charge campaigners have taken to the streets of Dublin for a major demonstration ahead of the general election. The event was organised by the Right2Water/Right2Change movement and attended by election candidates who have aligned themselves with it. The movement, which is led by community and political representatives and trade unions, wants the controversial charge axed. It also is critical of the outgoing Fine Gael/Labour government's policies on other social issues, such as housing, employment and health. Protesters from across Ireland braved poor weather conditions to take part in the campaign's last major rally before Friday's election. Right2Water/Right2Change says 106 candidates vying for seats in the new Dail are signed up to its principles. A series of protests was staged across Ireland in January while last August tens of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of Dublin. Right2Water/Right2Change is backed by trade unions including Mandate, Unite, the Communication Workers Union, power union the TEEU, and the Civil and Public Services Union. Unite official and Right2Water/Right2Change coordinator Brendan Ogle said Saturday's event represented an "unprecedented show of determination and unity". "For the first time in our history, people are being offered the opportunity to vote for a real alternative - to vote for change," he claimed. "I have no doubt that they will seize that opportunity on polling day." The event organisers estimated the turn-out at 80,000. Mr Ogle said: "The huge turnout at today's demonstration, on the final Saturday before the general election, sends a clear message to the outgoing Government that public anger at water charges remains unabated and will be reflected in the ballot boxes next Friday." Hundreds of migrants and refugees based at the Jungle camp in Calais have been ordered to leave next week or face eviction, local aid workers said. State authorities have given them until 8pm local time (7pm UK-time) on Tuesday to leave their makeshift homes in the southern part of the squalid site. Up to 1,000 people who have fled war, poverty and persecution are reported to be affected by the plans, but local aid workers say the figure could be much higher. Pascal Froehly, who volunteers for the relief organisation Caritas, spoke of his concerns of heightened tensions being created if bulldozers move in to level the site. He said: "I find it extremely annoying and unfair to move these people away from what they have created, including churches, shops and restaurants." Mr Froehly said the plans to move them to heated containers elsewhere in the camp offered the migrants and refugees no chance to socialise, adding: "It's just a bed for them." Mayor of Calais Natacha Bouchart said the dismantling of the camp would keep migrants and refugees away from activists bent on causing disruption. She said it was a "sensitive situation" that required "necessary firmness". And she added the conditions endured at the Jungle were "unworthy of human nature". Plans to move people to heated containers in the camp and centres around France were announced by Prefect Fabienne Buccio, the top official in France's northern Pas-de-Calais region. Ms Buccio said this month: "It's time to tell the migrants of Calais who live in undignified conditions and give Calais an image that isn't dignified either, that we have a solution for each of you." An estimated 4,000 migrants and refugees from countries including Syria, Afghanistan, Eritrea and Iraq are currently based within the sprawling Jungle. This week 145 celebrities, including Idris Elba, Helena Bonham Carter and Benedict Cumberbatch, wrote an open letter calling on David Cameron to help save children based there. They want the Government to step in and allow unaccompanied children living in the camp to be reunited with their families in the UK. Meanwhile, Eurotunnel has asked the British and French governments to reimburse it 22 million (29 million euro) for lost revenue during the cross-Channel migrant crisis. The Chunnel operator faced heavy disruption to its services last summer as migrants based at the Jungle made repeated bids to cross to Britain. Murder squad detectives have released a man arrested after a Muslim religious leader was left for dead from a brutal attack while walking home from a mosque. Jalal Uddin died in hospital from serious head injuries after being assaulted in a children's playground in Rochdale on Thursday night. Muslims have been asked to remain calm amid fears of a racist attack on the 64-year-old, who was well known as a prayer-leader or qari, at the Jalalia Jaame Masjid mosque in Rochdale. Shortly before 9pm on Thursday police were called by paramedics to the play area at the end of South Street in the Wardleworth area of the town, following reports that a man had been found injured. Mr Uddin was taken to hospital but died a short time later. A Home Office post-mortem examination concluded he died from a head injury. A 31-year-old man arrested yesterday on suspicion of murder has now been released without charge and eliminated from police inquiries. Detectives say a racist motive for the murder has not been ruled out but they are keeping an "open mind". Local religious leaders have called for calm, asked police be allowed to do their work and for locals not to speculate what prompted the attack. It is now believed he was assaulted sometime between 8:41pm and 8:48pm after he was walking home from a friend's house on South Street. Detective Chief Inspector Terry Crompton of Greater Manchester Police, said: "We have carried out a significant number of inquiries since Thursday evening to establish what happened to Jalal that led to his tragic death, and we are providing support to his family. "Following extensive analysis of CCTV in the area, we now know that Jalal walked into the park from the South Street entrance at 8.41pm. He was then found injured seven minutes later by a passing member of the public. "We are keen to hear from anyone who saw anything in the South Street area around that time, and from people who were using the park that evening. You may think your information is trivial but it could be crucial to our investigation. "We are still working to establish the exact circumstances surrounding how Jalal came to suffer his injuries and we are keeping an open mind as to the motivation behind this attack, with a number of lines of inquiry currently being investigated. "Understandably, news of this attack has caused concern in the local area and we have extra patrols in place to try and reassure the community. "There has been a lot of speculation on social media about what happened and what may have been the reason for this attack, but I would urge people to refrain from making assumptions and please contact us with any information they have which may assist us." Dr Shuja Shafi, secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain said: "We pay our deepest condolences to his family, friends and the community in Rochdale, for the loss of a man who played a significant role within the community and will be sorely missed. "It is not the first time that an imam has been murdered whilst on the way home from mosque, and we would urge the community to be vigilant and offer support and assistance whilst travelling." Anyone with information should please contact officers at GMP's major incident team on 0161 856 4711 or the independent charity Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111. Justice Secretary Michael Gove is reported to have joined the "out" camp, after much soul-searching David Cameron said his EU deal would allow the UK to have the best of both worlds David Cameron has issued a stark warning that leaving the EU will be a "leap in the dark" as he fired the starting gun in the referendum campaign which will determine Britain's European future. The Prime Minister returned overnight from his marathon negotiations in Brussels to brief a rare Saturday meeting of the Cabinet on his reform package and to confirm his promised in/out referendum will be held on June 23. The meeting was the signal for five Cabinet ministers headed by Justice Secretary Michael Gove - freed from the shackles of collective responsibility - to declare they would be campaigning for an "out" vote. The group - plus Employment Minister Priti Patel who is not a full Cabinet member but attends meetings - immediately headed out from Downing Street to the Vote Leave campaign headquarters where they posed for photos with a "Let's take back control" poster. In No 10, there was relief there were no last minute surprises among the list of "outers" - which also included Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith, the Leader of the Commons Chris Grayling, Culture Secretary John Whittingdale and Northern Ireland Secretary Theresa Villiers. During a meeting which lasted more than two hours - with every minister present being given the opportunity to speak - potential waverers such as Business Secretary Sajid Javid, Attorney General Jeremy Wright and deputy Conservative chairman Rob Halfon confirmed they would be in the "in" camp. A No 10 spokesman said the discussion had been conducted in "a good spirit and a dignified manner" with "measured, thought through interventions" from ministers reflecting the way they had each carefully weighed up the choice they were facing. That left "out" supporters looking to Boris Johnson - who has assiduously kept his options open - as the possible high-profile champion that their campaign clearly craves. There was speculation that the London mayor could use his weekly column in The Daily Telegraph finally to come off the fence and declare his hand. Speaking on the steps of No 10, Mr Cameron said that the "special status" that he had secured for the UK meant the country could enjoy the benefits of the EU in terms of trade and security without having to sign up to a European superstate. He said Britain inside the EU would be "safer, stronger and better off" while leaving would threaten the country's "economic and national security" creating deep uncertainty for the future. "Those who want to leave Europe cannot tell you if British businesses would be able to access Europe's free trade single market, or if working people's jobs are safe, or how much prices would rise. All they're offering is a risk at a time of uncertainty - a leap in the dark," he said. Mr Gove, one of the Prime Minister's closest political allies, said it was "the most difficult decision of my political life" to disagree with him, but that he had to be true to his principles. "My instinct is to support him through good times and bad. But I cannot duck the choice which the Prime Minister has given every one of us," he said. "I believe our country would be freer, fairer and better off outside the EU. And if, at this moment of decision, I didn't say what I believe I would not be true to my convictions or my country." Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, while confirming the Opposition would campaign for an "in" vote, said the renegotiation was a "missed opportunity". "We will be campaigning to keep Britain in Europe in the coming referendum, regardless of David Cameron's tinkering, because it brings investment, jobs and protection for British workers and consumers," he said. Ukip leader Nigel Farage dismissed the "truly pathetic deal" and urged voters to seize the "golden opportunity" to show that Britain would be better off being fully independent of Brussels. Samantha Craig, daughter of missing man Mervyn Craig, with her 16-month-old son Ethan and three-year-old daughter Bethany A married father-of-four has vanished without trace after travelling to England to meet a woman he befriended online. Mervyn Craig (46) had told his family he was going to Manchester to work on a building site, but his true intentions were discovered by his distraught daughter after she accessed his Facebook account. Mr Craig, who is diabetic and insulin-dependent, has now been officially missing for 11 days and his family are beside themselves with worry. Greater Manchester Police have also expressed concern about the safety of the grandfather-of-three from Lisburn, who requires daily self-medication by means of an injection from a weekly prescription. Speaking to the Belfast Telegraph, his distressed daughter Samantha (29) said she had not spoken to her dad since he left Northern Ireland and went to Wigan over three weeks ago. "Daddy told us he was going over to Manchester because he had a job lined up," she explained. "After he flew out on January 28 we were unable to contact him, so I checked his Facebook account because we were so worried about him. "That's when I discovered he had met somebody else and, basically, the two of them were going to live happily ever after. It was a huge shock." Samantha said her devastated mother Donna (50), who is too unwell to work, was involved in a car accident the day before her father left. "Mum's badly bruised and still recovering from the crash - and now she has to deal with all this," the mother-of-three said. "She's bearing up as well as can be expected, but it's very hard to come to terms with everything." Samantha, a sales assistant, said that she confronted her father's Facebook friend, who is in her mid-30s and lives in Wigan, on the social media site and was told that they had parted company on February 8. Police have confirmed that Mr Craig was last seen at the Arnold Clark Motorstore on Wallgate, Wigan, later that Monday at around 8pm. "Daddy doesn't drive and he has never had a licence, so I have no idea what he was doing there - that's a mystery as well," Samantha said. She added that her siblings - Dwayne (24), 21-year-old Chloe and Ryan (20) - are becoming increasingly desperate for news about their father. And she told how her children - seven-year-old Madison, Bethany (3) and Ethan, who is 15 months - just want their granddad to come home. "Daddy didn't take any medication with him when he left," his eldest daughter said. "All he took was his card for the building site, electoral ID, work clothes and work boots. "He just had one bag with him, that was it." Samantha, who lives in Lisburn, said Mr Craig took a flight from Belfast International Airport to Manchester and told his family that he would be back home in a month. "He had a mobile with him when he left but we can't track him down on that either," she added. "We're all really worried about him and we want him to get in touch and let us know that he's okay." Mr Craig, who is normally shaven-headed, is described as "burly" and at least 6ft 4ins tall. He was last seen wearing a light grey 'Tapout' T-shirt with dark jeans. His daughter said that if the manual labourer failed to take his injections he would become disorientated and confused and would begin to mumble. Detective Inspector Martin Reddington issued a fresh appeal for information on the missing man and said that Greater Manchester Police had now utilised "significant resources" - including officers on the ground and the underwater search team - to find Mr Craig. "Mervyn has now been missing for a week and we are growing more and more concerned for his welfare with each passing day," DI Reddington added. "We are working closely with local businesses and keeping in close contact with Mervyn Craig's family in the hope of locating him. "But the public can play their part in finding this man safe and well, too. "If you see Mervyn, please contact police as his family are extremely worried about him." Anyone with information about Mervyn's whereabouts is asked to call police on 101 or the independent charity Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111. The Forth Road Bridge will fully reopen to traffic 11 weeks after it was forced to close when a crack was found The Forth Road Bridge will fully reopen to all traffic this weekend - 11 weeks after the discovery of a crack forced its closure. The busy crossing had to be shut to all traffic early in December, although cars and light vehicles were allowed to use it again just before Christmas. Scottish Transport Minister Derek Mackay confirmed HGVs will be allowed to use the bridge at any time from 11pm on Saturday. It comes after a phased re-introduction earlier this month saw 600 lorries able to travel northbound on the bridge for a limited period every night. Mr Mackay said on Friday: "The immediate repair work is in the final stage and no further structural defects have been identified during painstaking investigations by engineers. "I know that this is something that will be welcomed by the tens of thousands of drivers who use the bridge on a daily basis, especially the heavy goods vehicle drivers who have had to observe restricted crossing times in the past few weeks." The Road Haulage Association had previously complained that the closure of the bridge was costing firms 600,000. The 51-year-old crossing had been closed to all traffic from December 4 after a crack in a truss end link was discovered during a routine inspection. At the start of February, ministers said the storms which had battered Scotland had slowed the progress of repairs, and they warned it could be mid-March before HGVs could have unrestricted access to the bridge. But to speed up repairs, as much work as possible was done in the factory, lessening the impact of the weather and allowing the date to be brought forward. Mr Mackay said: "Tribute should be paid to the engineering team that has been relentless in its commitment to getting this structure reopened. "The team has worked tirelessly throughout, despite very challenging weather conditions, employing innovative approaches to the repairs and putting in place very effective solutions to complex problems." AA president Edmund King said: "It is wonderful news for all drivers in Scotland that this key bridge is to be fully reopened. "AA RoadWatch has been reporting the knock-on effects of the closure and diversions. It is a stark reminder to us of the importance of well-maintained road infrastructure." Martin Reid, Road Haulage Association director for Scotland, said: "The return to normal is a huge relief for all concerned. All too often we take our core road infrastructure for granted and that cannot be allowed to happen in future." Reaction to the news that a deal on Britain's membership of the European Union had been reached in Brussels: David Cameron tweeted after talking to the world's media: "I believe Britain is stronger, safer and better off within a reformed European Union." In a series of tweets president of the European Council Donald Tusk wrote: "We have achieved a legally binding and irreversible deal decided on by all 28 leaders, strengthening Britain's special status in the EU. "The #UKinEU settlement addresses all of PM @David_Cameron 's concerns without compromising our fundamental values. "We didn't walk away from the negotiating table. We were willing to sacrifice part of our interests for the common good, to show our unity. "I deeply believe the UK needs Europe and Europe needs the UK. But the final decision is in the hands of the British people." Jean-Claude Juncker tweeted: "#UKinEU Deal done. Months of hard work w/ @eucopresident + cooperation w/ @europarl_en paid off. Happy. Fair for UK, fair for 27 #EU States.2" Lithuanian president Dalia Grybauskaite: "Agreement #UKinEU done. Drama over." The prime minister of Malta Joseph Muscat tweeted: "It's a deal, a fair deal. Best of luck to @david_cameron in his campaign to keep #UKinEU. It is now up to the British people to decide." Estonian prime minister Taavi Roivas tweeted "Official: After months of hard work, a good and fair deal offered to UK people. EU determined to be united with #UKinEU". Czech Republic prime minister Bohuslav Sobotka tweeted: "This is an important moment. Europe has demonstrated a huge will continue as a strong community. Perhaps it lasts in the solution of other problems. #EUCO." Irish Taoiseach Enda Kenny tweeted: "Pleased that European Council agreed package of reform that will allow @David_Cameron to put Brexit question to UK." Lib Dem leader Tim Farron tweeted: "The fight to keep #UKinEU starts now. Join @LibDems campaign to keep Britain #INtogether http://www.libdems.org.uk/europe ." Plaid Cymru's Jill Evans MEP said: "We have to see the big picture. There is a lot we would like to change about the EU but we can only do that from within." Labour MP for Birkenhead Frank Field said: "A vote to leave is the only way to achieve major EU reform" #LeaveEU co-chairman Richard Tice tweeted: "Cameron promised half a loaf, begged for a crust and brought home crumbs." #EUCO" Tory MEP Daniel Hannan tweeted: "Britain banged the table and aggressively demanded the status quo. The EU, after some mandatory faux-agonising, agreed. #EUCO #VoteLeave." Former Tory MP Louise Mensch tweeted: "All you need is Gove (and @JWhittingdale and @patel4witham and @sajidjavid) #Brexit let's go! Britain rising!" Bob Neill MP for Bromley & Chislehurst and Chairman of the Justice Select Committee tweeted: "Full say over single market rules whilst never joining Euro, no discrimination v UK financial services trading in big wins for London." Former Tory MP Louise Mensch tweeted: "All you need is Gove (and @JWhittingdale and @patel4witham and @sajidjavid) #Brexit let's go! Britain rising!" Former Labour cabinet minster Yvette Cooper tweeted; "Visited company & workforce in Whitwood today who said 80% of business there depends on Europe. More reason why Yorkshire is #StrongerIn." Tommy Simpson has been in hospital since before Christmas, and was diagnosed with cancer last month Four-year-old Tommy Simpson has been diagnosed with leukaemia, with his parents launching an urgent appeal to find a stem cell donor for him (London Fire Brigade/PA) The parents of a four-year-old boy diagnosed with leukaemia have launched an urgent appeal to find a stem cell donor. Tommy Simpson has been in hospital since before Christmas, and was diagnosed with cancer last month. His parents, London firefighter Nigel and Maxine, are pleading for donors to come forward as no family members have been found to be suitable matches. The mixed race youngster's white British and black Caribbean heritage means a donor match is harder to find, the African Caribbean Leukaemia Trust (ACLT) said. The blood cancer charity is leading the campaign using the hashtag #Match4Tommy. Tommy's parents appealed for people to register to become a donor in the hope they could " potentially be able to save the life of our funny and beautiful little boy". They said: "We know the window of opportunity for an unrelated match being found is going fast with each day passing, that's why we are appealing for people to join the stem cell register now." Tommy, who is being treated for Acute Myeloid Leukaemia at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London, is awaiting test results to see if he will need a life-saving bone marrow transplant. A number of donor registration drives are being held in the hope of finding a match, with the first held in Croydon on Saturday and another due to take place in Leicester Square on March 19. London Fire Brigade has backed the appeal, in support of Mr Simpson who works as a firefighter in the capital. London Fire Commissioner Ron Dobson said: "Firefighters are at the heart of our communities and help others day in, day out to keep London safe. "Now we need help from the public to respond to this urgent appeal for donors for a London firefighter's son, Tommy. "If you are yet to join the stem cell registers, please attend this donor registration drive and encourage your family and friends to attend too; Tommy desperately needs your help." The net began to close when French investigators seized 1.3 tonnes of cocaine hidden in suitcases on an Air France flight An eight-strong gang of drug traffickers have been jailed for a total of nearly 50 years. The net began to close on the men, who were all from Nottingham or Birmingham, when French investigators seized 1.3 tonnes of cocaine hidden in suitcases on an Air France flight from Venezuela's capital Caracas to Paris in September 2013. They are said to be associates of alleged international drug trafficker Robert Dawes who was arrested at his villa in Benalmadena in Costa del Sol in November 2015, according to the National Crime Agency. He was extradited to France, where he awaits trial. The men were sentenced at Nottingham Crown Court. William Goldhawk, 33, of, Nottingham, was sentenced to five and a half years after pleading guilty to possession with intent to supply heroin and money laundering. Nottingham-based Jermaine Hammond, 30, and Shaun Porteous, 48, each pleaded guilty to possessing heroin with intent to supply. Hammond was jailed for four years and eight months while Porteous was sentenced to 13 years and four months. Jamie Parlor, 28, of Bramcote, Nottingham, was jailed for five years being found guilty to possessing heroin with intent to supply. Oliver Junior, 36, of Nottingham, was jailed for eight and a half years after pleading guilty to conspiracy to supply MDMA and possession with intent to supply amphetamine. Mark Thone, 51, of Nottingham, pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply amphetamine and was sentenced to three years. Kane Price, 28 of Nottingham, who had pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply MDMA, was jailed for three and a half years. Birmingham-based Masued Khalil, 50, was sentenced to five years and four months after he pleaded guilty to conspiring to supply MDMA and possessing cannabis. The agency was working with the East Midlands special operations unit and Nottinghamshire Police when NCA officers observed Price receiving a kilo of MDMA from Junior in June 2015. Junior, who had previously been seen handing a bag containing 2,000 cash to another criminal, was arrested later that month. He collected two kilos of amphetamine from a house in Beeston belonging to Thone. Officers found 26 and a half kilos of amphetamine in Thone's freezer after they arrested both men. Officers also discovered an industrial pill press at Junior's garage. During other surveillance operations police watched as more of Dawes' criminal associates were involved in drug and cash exchanges. Among those arrested was Porteous who delivered a kilo of heroin to Goldhawk in February 2015. Police later found 12 kilos of heroin in Porteous's car. Officers also seized an another 11 kilos of MDMA and 7,000 cash during the investigation. Rob Hickinbottom, of the NCA, said after the hearing: " Our investigation is ongoing and further arrests and prosecutions are planned." Shocking footage of a man repeatedly and deliberately running over his girlfriend's ex has been released by police. Johnathan Leuty, 34, of Malt Drive, South Brink, Cambridgeshire, was arrested on October 30 last year after he called police to admit what he had done. He told call handlers he had gone to visit his girlfriend in Wisbech but her ex-husband was there blocking the doorway, preventing him from entering the flat. When officers arrived they found a man lying in the middle of the road after being run over, Cambridgeshire Police said. Leuty later told officers he was provoked by the victim and had "snapped" before running him over with his car. He then handed himself in at Wisbech Police Station. The CCTV footage showed Leuty reversing his car then drive directly towards the victim, causing him to roll across the bonnet. He turned his car round and drove over the victim, dragging him along the road under the car before stopping and reversing, which released the victim from under the vehicle. The 30-year-old victim then hobbled across the road and hid between parked cars before Leuty rammed them in an attempt to injure the victim further, the force said. Speaking after Leuty was jailed for four years after admitting causing grievous bodily harm with intent and dangerous driving at Norwich Crown Court on Friday, Detective Constable Simon Rust said the victim was lucky to be alive. He added: "It is clear from Leuty's full admission of the incident that he feels great remorse and regrets his actions, but it just goes to show how disputes can quite easily escalate and get out of hand, and how these actions result in very serious consequences." The sun rises over St Mary's Island in Whitley Bay, as people in different parts of the country are told to expect varying weather Britain will see all seasons in one weekend with heavy snow, torrential rain and sunshine forecast in different places. Much of Scotland has been told to brace for sleet, snow and hail on Saturday and Sunday, while parts of north west England and north Wales could see nearly a month's rain fall in 36 hours. The Met Office has issued a yellow warning of snow and ice for much of northern Scotland lasting from the early hours of Saturday until 11am on Sunday. A yellow warning of persistent rain is in place for north Wales and north west England from midday on Saturday until midnight on Sunday, with up to 3.15ins (80mm) expected over the weekend. Meanwhile the south of England could see temperatures climb as high as 14C on Sunday with sunny spells - although any fine weather is expected to be accompanied by gusty winds. Despite the arrival of heavy rain the Environment Agency said there is a low risk of flooding for Wales, the North West, the Midlands and the North East. Met Office forecaster Marco Petagna said: "There is a three-way split for this weekend, with a band of localised heavy rain pushing across the central slice of the country through today. "We have a warning for persistent rain in Wales and the north-west of England valid through today and tomorrow, with some parts looking at potentially three inches of rainfall through the weekend. "The average rainfall for the month of February in Wales is around 3.5in (80mm), so it's almost a month of rain over two days. "In Scotland it will be cold and we could see significant snowfall across the hills up to 20cm on the highest ground and there is another warning in place valid through until 11am on Sunday. "The weather front is going be a big divide, with scope for brighter breaks in the south and temperatures into the low teens, as high as 14C in the South East on Sunday, but it's quite a blustery picture." The officer's condition is not yet known A police officer needed hospital treatment after he was "deliberately driven at" by a suspect fleeing a Leeds pub, his force has said. Officers were carrying out inquiries at the Omnibus pub in the Middleton area of the city just before 7pm on Friday when the Vauxhall Astra sped off erratically. West Yorkshire Police said the officer's injuries were not life-threatening and he has since been discharged from hospital. Inquiries to trace the driver were continuing, a force spokeswoman said. Anyone who saw what happened has been asked to call Detective Inspector Seth Robinson on 101. Local reports said the pub was open for the last time on Friday before being demolished. On its Facebook page, West Yorkshire Police Federation said: "Our thoughts are with our injured colleague at this time and we will be providing whatever support we can to the officer. "We wish him a speedy recovery." On Twitter, the force's police and crime commissioner Mark Burns-Williamson said he echoed those words, adding he was "saddened to hear of this incident and wish #WYP colleague a speedy recovery". RAF veteran James McCune receives a kiss from his eight-year-old great-granddaughter Bethany at Thiepval Barracks in Lisburn on Tuesday, as he became one of 31 Northern Ireland veterans to receive the Legion d'Honneur - France's highest military decoration RAF veteran James McCune receives a kiss from his eight-year-old great-granddaughter Bethany at Thiepval Barracks in Lisburn on Tuesday, as he became one of 31 Northern Ireland veterans to receive the Legion d'Honneur - France's highest military decoration. Some of the medals were awarded posthumously, but 15 servicemen - including James, who was accompanied by his family - were present to be honoured by French consul Regine McCullough for their roles in the 1944 D-Day landings. The National Order of the Legion of Honour was established by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1802 as the highest military honour awarded by France. The Master of the Order has always been the French head of state - emperor, king or president. The current Master is President Francois Hollande, who appoints recipients and ordered these medals to be awarded after the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings two years ago. The Normandy landings of Allied forces began on Tuesday, June 6, 1944 - commonly known as D-Day. It remains the largest seaborne invasion in history. More than 156,000 Allied troops landed on the beaches of Normandy from more than 5,000 boats. The landings were originally planned for May 1 and then again for June 5, but were delayed by bad weather. On the day, troops covered 50 miles of French coastline and had support from 11,000 aircraft. Casualties were huge, with 4,400 Allied troops confirmed dead on the first day. Nonetheless, the operation began the liberation of German-occupied France and, by August 1944, there were two million Allied troops in Europe. Ultimately, the invasion contributed directly to the Allied victory in Europe in 1945. In Lisburn on Tuesday, veterans swapped stories of their roles during the invasion. James McCune was serving in the RAF as a leading aircraft hand. He landed at Sword Beach from a tank landing craft. He was managing barrage balloons, but was quickly ordered to cut them loose once it was realised the enemy were using them to target the area. For the remainder of the war, he travelled with his unit throughout Belgium, Holland and Germany before being demobilised. KERRY McKITTRICK John Whittingdale, Theresa Villiers, Michael Gove, Chris Grayling, Iain Duncan Smith and Priti Patel attend the launch of the Vote Leave campaign at the group's headquarters in central London Six Tory MPs pledged their commitment to restoring Britain's "sovereignty" as they announced they would be campaigning for the country's exit from the the EU. Minutes after David Cameron announced the date for the referendum, Michael Gove, Iain Duncan Smith, Chris Grayling, Theresa Villiers, John Whittingdale and Priti Patel made the journey across the river to the headquarters for exit campaign group, Vote Leave. They arrived to cheers from supporters and were quick to sign a banner emblazoned with the slogan: "Let's take back control". Chris Grayling, Leader of the House of Commons, expressed his relief at finally being able to formally take a public stance on the issue "after all these weeks of not being able to say anything". He said that talks in the Cabinet meeting had been "deeply civilised" and that they had "agreed to have a mature, sensible, grown-up, friendly debate about these matters over the next few months". Gesturing towards his colleagues, Mr Grayling continued: "The six of us who stand here today are committed to campaign for Britain to leave the European Union. "This is going to be a team effort. It is not going to be Conservative effort, it is going to be a cross-party effort, it is going to involve people of all parties and none. "But above all, it is a campaign to restore the sovereignty of our nation." While recognising that it would take the efforts of those up and down the country, he declared the campaign would be successful in securing the vote for Britain to leave the EU. Mr Grayling thanked those present - many of whom will voluntarily spend the weekend calling councillors and asking for their support - "for being part of a team that is going to be a winning team and for starting on a journey that I think will take Britain to a prosperous and successful independent future". Earlier Nigel Farage dismissed the Prime Minister's deal as "truly pathetic" as he urged voters to take the "golden opportunity" to get the UK out of the EU. But the Ukip leader faced controversy after unveiling firebrand left-wing former Labour and Respect Party MP George Galloway as the latest recruit to the Brexit campaign. Mr Farage returned from Brussels to address a packed anti-EU rally put on in Westminster by the cross-party Grassroots Out (GO) group - which is seeking recognition as the official "leave" campaign. The event had been seen as a likely platform for Eurosceptic cabinet ministers to announce their intention to campaign for "leave", but the delays in Brussels scuppered that prospect. Reacting to the deal, Mr Farage said: "I believe in Britain. We are good enough to be an independent, self-governing nation outside of the EU. This is our golden opportunity. "This is a truly pathetic deal. Let's Leave the EU, control our borders, run our own country and stop handing 55 million every day to Brussels." Paul Wilmott died after an explosion at his home in Haxby University officials have paid tribute to a 63-year-old employee, who was killed in an explosion which damaged more than a dozen houses. Paul Wilmott died in the suspected gas explosion at his home in Haxby, near York, on Friday morning, which obliterated his detached home on Springwood. He worked for more than 30 years at Leeds Beckett University, most recently in the video production unit. It was believed he was alone in the house at the time. Specialists recovered his body from the debris. Vice chancellor Professor Peter Slee said: "Paul was a committed colleague with 33 years' service at our university, most recently in our video production team. "We are very saddened to hear of his death and our thoughts are with his family, friends and colleagues at this difficult time." Meanwhile, a local police officer has asked for residents to be given space to recover during the long repair process. Pc Kirven 1810 tweeted: "Having been up close on the scene in #haxby last night I can safely say you need to give the community time to come to terms with what's... "...happened. Please don't harass, pester or nosey in on them. They have a lot of work to repair their homes ahead of them so please please... "..respect their privacy and please respect the dignity of the male who lost his life and don't gossip about him on social media. Thank you." The scene at the Bill Nicholson pub after the incident on February 3 A woman has been charged with the murder of a man found stabbed to death above a pub. The body of 32-year-old Shenol Erol Ali, was discovered in a flat above the pub in Tottenham, north London earlier this month. A Metropolitan Police spokesman said they had charged Gyuldzhan Hadzhieva, 37, of Northumberland Park, with his murder. She is due to appear at Hendon Magistrates' Court on Saturday. At around 11.30am on February 3 police were called by the London Ambulance Service to the Bill Nicholson pub on Northumberland Park, Tottenham. Mr Ali, a Bulgarian national living in Haringey, was pronounced dead at the scene and a post-mortem examination revealed he died as a result of multiple stab wounds. Hillary Clinton has thanked her supporters after she won the Nevada Democratic caucuses, defeating Bernie Sanders. She said: "To all my supporters out there - some may have doubted us, but we never doubted each other. This one's for you." After the victory, which came after the Vermont senator's victory in New Hampshire, Mrs Clinton told her supporters: "T his is your campaign. It is a campaign to break down every barrier that holds you back. " Americans are right to be angry. But we're also hungry for real solutions." The victory for the former secretary of state gives her two wins to one in the race for the Democratic nomination, as she also eked out a victory in the Iowa caucuses. The competition heads next to South Carolina, which holds its Democratic primary next Saturday. Mrs Clinton's win in Nevada means she will pick up most of the state's delegates. With 35 at stake, she will gain at least 18. Mr Sanders will pick up at least 14. Three delegates remain to be allocated, based on votes in the congressional districts. The results of the caucus are the first step in determining delegates who are expected to support candidates at the national convention. To date, Mrs Clinton remains far ahead in the overall delegate count due to early endorsements from superdelegates, or party leaders who can support the candidate of their choice, no matter whom voters back in primaries and caucuses. Including superdelegates, she now has at least 501 delegates and Mr Sanders at least 69. It takes 2,383 delegates to win the nomination. The contest in Nevada was the first of two presidential primary contests being held. Republicans were fighting in South Carolina, a state seen as billionaire Donald Trump's to lose and one that could start to clarify who, if any, of the more mainstream candidates might emerge to challenge him Mr Sanders conceded in a phone call to Mrs Clinton. The Vermont senator said he congratulated her on her victory, and that he is proud of his campaign and expects to leave Nevada with a "solid share of the delegates". Mr Sanders highlighted his campaign's work to bring working people and young voters into the process, and said he believes his campaign has "the wind at our backs" heading to the Super Tuesday contests on March 1. Two Serbian hostages were amongst those killed in US air strikes on an Islamic State camp in western Libya (AP) Two Serbian embassy staffers held hostage since November died in Friday's US air strikes on an Islamic State camp in western Libya that killed dozens, Serbian officials said Saturday, questioning why the Americans did not appear to know that foreign captives were at the site. A US official said American forces had "no information indicating that their deaths were a result" of the air strikes. Premier Aleksandar Vucic said there was no doubt that Sladjana Stankovic, a communications officer, and Jovica Stepic, a driver, were killed in the American bombing. They were snatched in November after their diplomatic convoy, including the ambassador, came under fire near the coastal Libyan city of Sabratha. "Apparently, the Americans were not aware that foreign citizens were being kept there," Mr Vucic told reporters, adding: "But that will always remain an unknown fact to us." American F-15E fighter-bombers on Friday struck an Islamic State group training camp in rural Libya near the Tunisian border, killing at least 40 people, probably including an IS operative considered responsible for deadly attacks in Tunisia last year, US and local officials said. Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said the US is determined to stop IS from "gaining traction" in Libya. Mr Cook said the training camp was "relatively new". "Our forces watched this training camp for weeks leading up to the operation, and at the time of the strike there were no indications of any civilians present," Mr Cook said. "While the circumstances of their deaths remain unclear, we, nevertheless, express our deepest condolences to the Serbian government and the families of those killed. We will share whatever information we can with the Serbian government," Mr Cook said. Serbian foreign minister Ivica Dacic said Serbia had known for a while the exact location where the Serb hostages were being held and had been working to get them back, adding that Libyan troops were considering an operation to free them. "I believe we had been close to the solution for them to be freed. Unfortunately, as a consequence of the attack against Isis in Libya, the two of them lost their lives," Mr Dacic said, using another acronym for the Islamic State group. He said there may have been no communication between Libyan and US security services in organising the attack and on whether the Americans were informed that the hostages were in the base. "We will seek official explanation from both Libya and the United States about the available facts and the selection of targets," he said. "No one had informed us that the attack will take place." According to the information received by the Serbian security services, a criminal group believed to be linked to IS had demanded ransom for the hostages and were holding them at the targeted site, he said. On the other hand, the American administration said it was a (IS) training camp," Mr Dacic said. "This is information that has to be checked." He did not specify the amount of ransom demanded of the families, saying only it was "impossible to pay". "It wasn't in the interests of the people who held them to kill them, because there were no other demands but financial," Mr Dacic said. A Libyan armed group calling itself the Special Deterrent Forces announced on Facebook that the two bodies had been delivered to Tripoli's Matiga Airport. The group posted pictures showing two green coffins inside a hearse, and another of one of the coffins sitting on a tarmac next to a small plane. The Special Deterrent Forces are loyal to the militia-backed government that now controls Tripoli. The Serbian officials said the bodies would be flown to Serbia on Monday. In November, gunmen in Libya crashed into a convoy of vehicles taking Serbia's ambassador to neighbouring Tunisia and then kidnapped the two embassy employees. Serbian ambassador Oliver Potezica escaped unharmed along with his wife and two sons. "The attack happened when one of the embassy cars was hit from behind. When the driver came out to check what happened, he was dragged into one of the attackers' cars," Mr Potezica told Tanjug news agency at the time. Since the 2011 overthrow of Libya's long-time autocrat Moammar Gaddafi, the sprawling North African nation has fractured into warring camps backed by a loose array of militias, former rebels and tribes. Libya's internationally recognised government has been forced out of the capital, Tripoli, and now operates out of the eastern cities of Tobruk and Bayda. Another government, backed by Islamist-affiliated militias known as Libya Dawn, controls Tripoli and much of western Libya. UN-brokered efforts to form a unity government continue to falter. The chaos has provided fertile ground for Islamic extremist groups such as al Qaida and the Islamic State group to flourish. Turkey's UN ambassador Yasar Halit Cevik speaks during a press conference after Security Council meetings on Syria (AP) The Syrian government has said Turkish artillery shelling inside Syria is an "outrageous violation" of international law. Syria also accused Turkey of committing "crimes" against the Syrians by firing artillery shells at areas in the northern province of Aleppo. In a statement published by the state-run SANA news agency, it added that a number of civilians were injured by the artillery fire that targeted Tel Rifaat, Malikiyeh and other towns. Turkey has in the past week kept up a cross-border artillery shelling campaign against US-backed Syrian Kurdish militia positions in Syria. It has also threatened ground action, saying it is exercising its right to self-defence and responding to fire from Syrian soil. The main Kurdish group in Syria has denied firing at Turkey from Syria. One of the most striking stories from the St Valentine's weekend was that of the personal friendship between the late Pope John Paul II and a female philosopher who wrote him a series of what some people might consider to be "love letters". The story of the correspondence between the Pope and his friend, Anna-Teresa Tymieniecka, was revealed in a well-balanced BBC Panorama programme presented by Edward Stoughton, who produced an acclaimed biography of John Paul II several years ago. There was never any suggestion that the Pope had done anything improper, but it was clear that the lady, who was married to an American academic, was deeply smitten by him. Her letters were put on sale some time ago, and quickly buried away in the Polish National Library. The details of John Paul's letters to her have not yet been revealed. The Vatican seems to have tried hard to play down the relationship, and to airbrush the woman from the Pope's personal and ecclesiastical history. This is not surprising. The Vatican's civil servants are good at getting their own way, as Pope Francis has sadly discovered. So what do you make of it? Some local Catholic commentators, like others in the Vatican, are keen to stress that the Pope kept within "the proper boundaries", but to my mind they miss the whole point of the story. This is really all about the humanity of John Paul the man, and also of the woman, as well as the searing loneliness of leaders in high places, and especially of bachelors as they grow older. However, the story does bring into question the whole concept of Catholic clerical celibacy. As most people are aware, clerical celibacy is a man-made invention, and it is not a ruling from the Bible. Therefore being man-made, this rule will sooner or later be abolished, if the Catholic Church is to survive as an institution and to show a more human, understanding face to its people. Celibacy should become a choice for priests, and not a commandment imposed by the Catholic Church alone. No doubt celibacy is a burden for many younger Catholic clergy but even more burdensome is the prospect of living without, and growing old without, the comfort of a woman's companionship and love, of the kind that found in all lasting relationships. As a journalist I have encountered deep loneliness among a number of Catholic clergy. One man, who left the priesthood, told me that he had done this partly because he did not want to live the rest of his life alone. One of the greatest scourges of modern society is loneliness, and this is all the greater for those whose vocation or job sets them apart from the mainstream of daily life and other people. This is increased by the structure within the Catholic Church itself where the emphasis seems to be more on ecclesiastical correctness within the priesthood, rather than on the pastoral care of these men as human beings. This comes across particularly from those who have been wrongly accused of sexual misbehaviour and who feel that they have been hung out to dry by their Church, while their case drags through the courts. Perhaps that rare glimpse of Pope John Paul's II's loneliness and humanity might encourage the Catholic Church to be more understanding of the humanity of those serving within its ranks. One often wonders, however, if the Catholic Church, as an institution, listens to any one but itself. 'One wonders if the Vatican listens to any one but itself' The two attacks on Strawletterdallon Orange hall within the space of 24 hours were most depressing The two attacks on Strawletterdallon Orange hall within the space of 24 hours were most depressing. The building was also attacked a few years ago, and so the thuggish sectarianism of a minority continues to deface our society. Orange halls in rural areas are vulnerable, and this is particularly unfortunate because for some people they act as a hub and meeting place for the locals. They are used for a wide variety of community activities, ranging from the WI to young farmers' clubs and, occasionally, blood transfusion centres. Therefore, an attack on a rural Orange hall is also an attack on the local community - particularly in those areas where shifts in population have left these buildings in what may be perceived as hostile territory. It must not be assumed that such attacks reflect the view of the surrounding nationalist population, who recognise the importance of diversity and adopt a 'live and let live' attitude. It is encouraging to see the First Minister visiting the area in support of a community which might well view itself as somewhat beleaguered. It is also encouraging to hear the Deputy First Minister condemn these attacks, and he and his party have been consistent on this issue. The Orange Order in general should be commended for its strenuous efforts in outreach work during recent years. While these attacks on Orange halls are depressing, this newspaper believes that the majority of people in Northern Ireland wish to live together in mutual tolerance and respect. Despite the small factions of naysayers and negative micro-groups, the reality is that this province has come a long way in a relatively short time. This has been virtually a blink of an eye, given the centuries of our troubled history. Those who carry out sectarian attacks on either side have nothing to offer us, apart from continued division and hatred. They should be opposed and shunned at every available opportunity. I am simply amazed by the level of public interest in the House of Lords vellum row. It would appear, that in order to save 80,000 a year, the House of Lords is considering scrapping the centuries old practice of recording Acts of Parliament on vellum. A reliable 'archival paper' has been identified as a suitable alternative but many are not happy. Much discussion has taken place within the media and on social media as to the benefits of continuing using vellum with historians telling us that the oldest Act of Parliament in the archives dates from 1497. The Prime Minister himself has indirectly got involved in the debate with the Cabinet Office suggesting that they would cover the shortfall of 80,000 to keep the traditional practice in place. Listening to this row over the benefits of using vellum scrolls immediately reminded me of a story which we find in the Bible in Jeremiah Chapter 36. Jeremiah, the prophet, has got his secretary Baruch to record the Word of the Lord on a scroll. When the scroll is completed Baruch enters the temple in order to read out the Lord's words to the assembled people, but many are displeased and disturbed and report him to the King, Jehoiakim. Indeed when King Jehoiakim hears for himself what is written on the scroll he is furious and instructs his secretary, Jehudi, to burn the scroll - section by section - in a fire which is conveniently burning nearby. The King does not want to hear the word of the Lord. He doesn't like his sin, and the sin of the nation, being condemned by God. He doesn't want to listen to a message from God that speaks of God's displeasure with the nation of Judah because of their failure to obey God and serve Him. Many are like Jehoiakim today. When they read the Bible they are unhappy at the idea of sin and judgment. However, if we read on we discover that there is more to God's message concerning sin than words of judgment and punishment. In fact we're told that "God so loved the world that He sent His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16) The tenant/landlord relationship can be a tricky one. Whether it's dealing with a landlord who doesn't return your calls or arguing over what qualifies as an "emergency" (like that pesky mouse infestation), dealing with a deadbeat landlord can be a serious struggle. But the good news is that there are ways to handle an unresponsive landlord without ever having to involve a lawyer. "In order to deal effectively with an absentee landlord, you should understand what most landlords most value," explains Don Tepper, a real estate agent with Long & Foster in Alexandria, VA. "And that is a tenant who pays his or her rent on time and maintains a smoothly run property." Here are eight ways to deal with a landlord who's frequently MIA when you need them most. Pay your rent on time You like your paycheck to arrive twice a month, right? The same goes for your landlord -- he or she wants to get paid just like you. "If the rent arrives on time, month in and month out, most landlords will be more accommodating when there's a problem," says Tepper. "That's true whether or not the landlord is absentee, but considering that problems and repairs can be more of a hassle for a landlord who is absentee, timely payment of rent can be especially useful and give you additional leverage when needed." Do a thorough inspection Before you move in, inspect the property up and down to make sure any pre-existing damage isn't blamed on you. Josh Myler, director of the residential division at The Agency in Los Angeles, CA, says your landlord should ensure the property is free of any material defects. All systems like the roof, HVAC, plumbing, electrical, plus fixtures and appliances should be in good operating condition before you move in and after you move out. Document everything with date-stamped photos, a thorough list of any issues upfront (emailed for a paper trail), and even consider having the documents notarized. Don't sweat the small stuff As in, asking your landlord to replace things like high-efficiency light bulbs. But make sure your lease is extremely clear on exactly what you as the tenant are responsible for before signing a lease. "The landlord probably is responsible for major repairs and problems," says Tepper. "The tenant is probably responsible for minor issues such as replacing light bulbs and, depending on the lease, some regular maintenance ranging from mowing the lawn to having the gutters cleaned." Be selective when it comes to major repairs too. "A plugged-up toilet is a problem -- but if it's plugged up with a toy that a tenant's child dropped in. . . ." You get the drift. Play detective if you have to You should never have to track down your landlord, but sometimes things don't work out like you planned. "Your landlord should provide his or her contact information at the same time the lease is signed," says Tepper. "If not, the tenant should request it. If a tenant doesn't have that information, he or she should check with the local city or county tax assessor's office. Most contact information is available online. The tax assessor's office will have the address the tax bills are mailed to. This often will provide the landlord's actual address." Keep in mind that if the property has been managed by the same company for years, the tax bill may be sent to the management company. One caveat: "Continue paying your rent while trying to reach out as this may affect your credit score if you stop," explains Matthew Kennedy, a licensed real estate agent for Coldwell Banker Burnet in Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN. Know your rights This may be the most important tip when dealing with an absentee landlord, especially if your situation results in legal action. "Your tenant rights will be spelled out both in your lease and in your local city or county regulations," says Tepper. Federal law protects against discrimination based on race, religion, sex, familial status, or national origin. On top of those protections, states, cities, or counties may include others, such as sexual orientation or marital status. Other laws and protections will also vary -- for example, the procedure and schedule that must be followed during an eviction or the time by which a damage deposit must be returned. Many cities and counties have an office of tenant or renters' rights that can advise you on these matters. "Landlords have a responsibility to maintain the condition of their rental properties and should be reported if they are not doing so," adds Kennedy, "If you find yourself in a situation where you feel that your health and livelihood are at risk, don't hesitate to contact your local attorney general. They are there to help. Also, your local social services office will be able to offer you information and resources if you find yourself in a legal situation with your landlord. They will have a list of attorneys that you can gain access to if you qualify for legal aid." Be flexible . . . within reason Yes, it may feel like the world is coming to an end if the washing machine in your rental unit breaks. But in reality, it's best to be somewhat flexible, especially with an absentee landlord. "A good landlord will buy the new washing machine, pay for delivery, and pay to have the old one removed," says Tepper. "But if the landlord is 1,000 miles away, they can't physically meet the delivery person." In which case, you could be asked to help facilitate delivery and installation -- and it's in your best interests to do so, especially if you want your landlord to continue to resolve any additional maintenance issues quickly. If there's a management company, go through them first If you rent, it's always ideal to have a rental company act as the mediator between you and your landlord. However, since that's not always an option, it's best to discuss upfront what the best form of communication may be. "What method of communication works best for the tenant and for the landlord? Email? Telephone? A Web-based form? Skype? Text?" says Tepper. "The lease may specify the preferred methods of communication. If not, the landlord and tenant should figure out what works best for them and put it in writing." Put it in writing While it may be most efficient to pick up the phone and call your landlord about a problem, it's always best to get it in writing. "If you're notifying the landlord of a serious issue, write or email even if it's simply for a follow-up," advises Tepper. "If there's a chance that you'll need a record of the communication, you'll need a written record." Similarly, real estate agreements must be in writing to be enforceable. Consider this scenario: You want to paint one room a new color. You call the landlord and they give you verbal permission, so you paint. Then when you move out, you're assessed $300 in damages because the room has to be repainted. Your telephone agreement isn't enforceable. But your written lease, which may prohibit repainting rooms, is. If you do communicate with your landlord via phone, send a follow-up email documenting your conversation so that you have what was discussed in the phone call on record. From Truila, as originally seen on The Huffington Post. A rescued migrant from Bangladesh watches over another migrant receiving medical attention in Kuala Langsa, Indonesia, after being rescued off a human trafficking boat, May 17, 2015. A day after Malaysia inked a bilateral memorandum for taking in 1.5 million Bangladeshi workers, the deputy prime minister Friday announced a moratorium on all new arrivals of migrants from Bangladesh and other countries. Today I want to announce that the government has decided to suspend the intake of all foreign workers, including from the source countries, including Bangladesh, Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi told reporters after meeting with army personnel in Sarawak state. And we call on all employers to hire local workers as their employees, he added. The moratorium would last while the government reviewed a program for collecting levies for foreign workers, the Star Online quoted Zahid as saying. He did not talk about a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between Malaysia and Bangladesh in Dhaka on Thursday. Bangladeshi officials declined to release copies of the document, but said Thursdays memorandum stipulated that Kuala Lumpur would take in 1.5 million Bangladeshi workers over a three-year period. What Malaysia has done is beyond diplomatic norms and decency. One minister came and signed the MoU, while another minister declares freezing of the agreement in less than 24 hours, Saiful Haque, chairman of the WARBE Development Foundation, a Bangladeshi NGO that works in migration and gives a voice to migrant workers, told BenarNews on Friday. Malaysian officials did not immediately say why the government was putting a freeze on incoming migrants especially after having just signed the memorandum with Bangladesh. In Dhaka, a top government official said Bangladesh had yet to be notified about the new moratorium. We have come to know about the freeze of the memo from the media. But unless the Malaysian government informs us officially, we will assume that the agreement stands valid, Jabed Ahmed, additional secretary at the Ministry of Expatriates Welfare and Overseas Employment, told BenarNews. Meanwhile, the Malaysian minister who signed the MoU denied that his government had agreed to take in 1.5 million Bangladeshi migrants. The perception that 1.5 million workers will be brought in from Bangladesh to work in Malaysia is not true, Malaysian Human Resources Minister Richard Riot Anak Jaem told a news conference in Putrajaya on Friday, the Star reported. The figure is, in fact, the number of Bangladeshis registered with its ministry of expatriates welfare and overseas employment for the purpose of seeking employment in foreign countries, including Malaysia, he added. Domestic pressure on Malaysias government Fridays announcement by Zahid came amid growing criticism on social media and in Malaysian labor circles toward the bilateral plan to bring in 1.5 million Bangladeshis, who would be a source of cheap labor. Jabed Ahmed, the Bangladeshi official, said the MoU stipulated that each migrant worker would be paid a maximum of 900 ringgit (U.S. $213; 16,753 takas) in monthly wages. Malaysias largest union, the Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC), was among local groups that criticized the plan. On Thursday the MTUC sent a memo to the government in which it objected to it. The country does not have to rely on labor resources from foreign countries. This situation will certainly harm the economy and have an adverse impact on the local population, the MTUC said in its memorandum, according to the state-run Bernama news agency. And on the same day that Malaysia signed the MoU in Dhaka, Prime Minister Najib Razak issued a statement from San Francisco in which he acknowledged domestic concerns about the plan. I think we need to make sure that whatever move we make will fulfil the needs of the economy. Some sectors of the economy need workers, like the plantation industry, Bernama quoted Najib as saying. Very hard and dangerous The bilateral MoU would have offered a legal track for Bangladeshi workers to migrate to Malaysia in search of employment opportunities. Such an avenue has been closed to Bangladeshis since 2009. In 2013, Dhaka and Kuala Lumpur signed deal for the Malaysian recruitment of 500,000 low-wage workers. Around 1.4 million Bangladeshis registered online for the program, but the process went nowhere. As a result, Bangladeshi migrants have since resorted to paying human trafficking syndicates large sums of money to smuggle them into the Southeast Asian country. Haque, of the WARBE Development Foundation, criticized the latest MoU for its lack of transparency. Neither Bangladesh nor Malaysia has made the MoU public, Haque told BenarNews. This is suspicious; people want to how much money the workers will have to pay, what will be their wage, whether there will be any health safety clause and other [questions], he added. Bangladeshi workers are willing to take on so-called 3-D jobs those that are dirty, dangerous and difficult such as jobs on palm oil and rubber plantations, he said. Working on palm plantations is very hard and dangerous. Snakes and dangerous insects kill many people. So, I have opted for a cleaning job, Md. Zahir, a Bangladeshi worker employed by a company in Malaysias Johor state, told BenarNews by phone. Indian soldiers take position on the perimeter of an air base in Pathankot, Jan. 4, 2016. A Pakistani move to file a report against unknown participants in a deadly attack on an Indian air base is unlikely to end a diplomatic impasse between the two countries, analysts say. Pakistan on Friday registered a First-Information Report (FIR), which is a step toward identifying and bringing to trial suspects linked to the Jan. 2 assault on the base in Pathankot, India. Seven security personnel and a civilian died in the attack and subsequent fighting. All six suspected Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) militants who carried it out were killed as well. Foreign secretary level talks scheduled for Jan. 15 between India and Pakistan were postponed following the attack. According to a New Delhi-based political analyst, India would insist that Pakistan carry out investigations to their logical end and arrest those who supported the attack. Registration of the case into the deadly attack will not help end the prevailing impasse between India and Pakistan at least in the near future, Imtiyaz Ahmad told BenarNews. India will insist on serious investigations to nail the culprits. Dialogue between the two nations would not be initiated immediately as India will demand stern action against the culprits before resuming the dialogue, he added. At the request of Pakistan Deputy Home Secretary Aitzaz-ud-Din, the Punjab police counter terrorism department filed the FIR. Murder, attempt to murder and terror charges were levelled against the suspected attackers, News International reported. A joint investigation team will trace the perpetrators of the attack so that they will be brought to trial under the law, Dawn newspaper quoted a police spokesman as saying. Pakistan will not allow non-state actors to use Pakistani soil to conspire terror attacks on other countries, Punjab law minister Rana Sanaullah said, according to Dawn. The case registered against attackers should dismiss doubts other countries have about Pakistans commitment to eradicate terrorism. Ahmad expressed pessimism that the FIR would bring about a serious investigation on the Pakistani side. After some time Pakistan will say nothing incriminating was found in investigations, and India will again insist for stern action, Ahmad said. Willingness for talks will be there on paper from both countries, but talks will not be initiated by either side . Step forward But a Srinagar-based political analyst said the two countries would gradually resume the peace process. This time Pakistan seems slightly more serious in carrying forward investigations into the recent terror attack and, more significantly, there are no panic reactions from India in response to the registration of the case by the Pakistan government, Noor Mohammad Baba told BenarNews. The latest development may not help end the prevailing deadlock over night between two countries. Also they may not be able to move forward with the same frequency they moved sometime earlier, he added. Indian lawyers shout slogans and carry an effigy as they march through the streets of the New Delhi while pledging to attack anyone found to be anti-national, Feb. 19, 2016. Indias Supreme Court on Friday deferred hearing the bail plea of a student leader whose arrest on sedition charges has sparked a wave of violent protests in the country. Kanhaiya Kumar, president of the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union (JNUSU), was arrested for allegedly partaking in anti-India chanting at an on-campus event Feb. 9 marking the death anniversaries of two executed Kashmiris. On Thursday he asked the Supreme Court to grant bail, citing a threat to his life in the Delhi prison where he is being held. The event was held at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) campus in south Delhi to show solidarity for Afzal Guru, executed in 2013 for his role in an attack on the Indian parliament in 2001, and Maqbool Bhat, a Kashmiri separatist leader who was hanged in 1984. On Friday, the Supreme Court refused to entertain Kumars plea, saying it would be setting a dangerous precedent if it bypassed lower courts and referred the case to the High Court. You are leading a dangerous proposition. If this court will entertain it, it will become a precedent which will be available to all the accused in the country, the Indian Express quoted justices J. Chelameswar and A.M. Sapre as saying. Later in the day, Kumars legal team approached the High Court, which postponed the hearing until next week without stipulating a date. Delhi Police Commissioner B.S. Bassi on Wednesday confirmed that his department would not contest bail for Kumar, who denies speaking out against India. Meanwhile on Friday, a separate court rejected the bail application of S.A.R. Geelani, a former Delhi University professor, also charged with sedition for allegedly referring to Guru and Bhat as martyrs at an event at the Delhi Press Club on Feb. 10. Geelani, who was accused in the 2001 parliament attack case but later acquitted, will remain in judicial custody until March 3. Sedition charges were also brought against five other JNU students, including the Feb. 9 event organizer, Umar Khalid. They are not in custody, police said. 800 phone calls Khalids phone records reveal he made 800 calls between Feb. 3 and Feb. 9, including some to Jammu and Kashmir, a predominantly Muslim state in the Himalayas, according to a report on India TV that cited unnamed sources. Calls were also made to and received from Bangladesh and some Gulf countries. Police said they were conducting raids in as many as 10 states to nab Khalid, who has been missing since Kumars arrest. Khalids father, Syed Qasim Ilyas, disagreed with the sedition charge against his son. There are so many other people, including academics, politicians and writers who talk of freedom for Kashmir. Why arent they being charged with sedition? Ilyas told BenarNews. In a democracy there could well be a dissent. There could be different opinions. Those who have a voice of dissent and have a different opinion are labeled as anti-national by the government, Khalid had told BenarNews last week before he was charged with sedition. A friend who refused to be named said Khalid was on the run because he feared for his life. What do you think will happen if he came out of hiding? He would probably be lynched just because he has been accused of being an anti-national. On top of that, he is a Muslim. Just look at whats happening to Kanhaiya Kumar, he said, referring to an alleged assault by lawyers on the leftist JNUSU president when he was taken to Delhis Patiala House court on Wednesday. A group of lawyers, shouting pro-India and anti-Pakistan slogans, had launched an attack on JNU students, teachers and journalists attending Kumars hearing on Monday and Wednesday. More violence On Friday, hundreds of Delhi lawyers marched around the India Gate circle in the heart of the national capital, demanding severe punishment for the anti-India sloganeers. We dont belong to any political party. We are patriots marching in protest of the anti-national wave that has swept the country, Manoj Kumar told BenarNews. Meanwhile, protests by self-proclaimed nationalists and dissent-backing liberals who accuse Indias ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of trying to stifle dissent, kicked off across the country following Kumars arrest. They kept raging Friday with clashes witnessed in the states of J&K and Rajasthan. Carrying placards that thanked JNU for supporting the cause for Kashmirs freedom, masked protesters pelted stones at security forces in Srinagar while waving flags of Pakistan and the Islamic State (IS). Police retaliated by firing teargas shells to disperse the mob. No casualties were reported in the violence (see video). Sad that recent events and their handling have created a situation where JNU now features alongside Pak and ISIS, former J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said in a tweet, using another acronym for the IS. In Jaipur, the capital of north Indias Rajasthan state, members of the BJP-backed Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) clashed with members of the National Students Union of India the student wing of the opposing Congress party during a rally organized at the Rajasthan University campus to demand Kumars unconditional release. Both the groups were holding their own demonstrations when the clash occurred at the universitys main gate. Police intervened and broke up the fight. The situation is under control, the citys Deputy Commissioner of Police K. Rastradeep said. Even as the debate over nationalism and free speech continues to rage, Indias leftist parties have called for a countrywide protest from Feb. 23 to 25 to challenge what they call the governments attempt to stifle voices of dissent. A group of 15 Karen rebels from Myanmar spent a week in Indonesias westernmost province of Aceh to learn how the region maintains peace after gaining it a decade ago. During their stay, from Feb. 14 20, the group met with academics, government officials, former members of the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM), activists and journalists. The success of the peace in Aceh is a role model for our region, with a few adjustments, of course. For example, the establishment of a local political party is really interesting and maybe can be discussed back home, delegation leader Isaac Po told BenarNews. The 15 represented three subgroups Karen National Union/Karen National Liberation Army (KNU/KNLA), Democratic Karen Benevolent Army (DKBA), and Karen National Union/Karen National Liberation Army Peace Council (KNU/KNLA PC). In one session during the week, journalists shared their experience in reporting on gun battles between the Indonesian army and GAM separatists. We really had to be independent in reporting the conflict, because if we took a side, the other would be angry, said Tarmilin Usman, chairman of Aceh Chapter of the Indonesian Journalists Association (PWI). Back then, local media always campaigned about the need to end the armed conflict through dialogue. Even a small opportunity for dialogue between the warring parties, we would turn into major news, he said. Ceasefire The government of Myanmar signed a ceasefire agreement with eight groups of rebels, including the Karen, in October 2015, following more than six decades of conflict. The ceasefire has been going smoothly so far. We adhere to the ceasefire agreement and there has been no more armed contact with the military, Po said. It is true what some people we met here in Aceh said, bringing a conflict to an end requires negotiation and dialog. He added that his group wants to learn how Acehnese achieved lasting peace. They also want to learn about the challenges in maintaining peace. We are also interested to know how former GAM separatists transformed from armed freedom fighters to high-level government officials, Po said. We realize we still have a long way to go to achieve peace in our land, but were optimistic we can do the same as what Acehnese have done under one condition no party betray the other, he added. Po said the ceasefire in Myanmar occurred as the nations politics changed from a military junta that ruled for more than 50 years to a democratic government. Unlike in Aceh, no mediator was involved in the peace talks. The National League of Democracy landslide victory led by Aung San Suu Kyi in last years election created an opportunity for Myanmar to create a democratic leadership. Military influence remains strong, however, as the constitution requires one-fourth of the parliament be filled by members of the military. Indonesia experienced similar authoritarianism during the New Order era, when former President Suharto ruled with an iron fist for 32 years. Rebels Met Local Top Leader The delegations visit was facilitated by the Cambodia-based Center for Peace and Conflict Studies (CPCS) and the International Center for Aceh and Indian Ocean Studies (ICAIOS). ICAIOS is a joint research center of three universities Syiah Kuala University, Ar-Raniry Islamic State University and Malikussaleh University of Lhokseumawe. ICAOS said the Karen delegation met with Malik Mahmud Al Haythar, known as Wali Nanggroe Aceh, on Tuesday. The Wali Nanggroe is a traditional leader seen as a unifying figure in Aceh. Malik shared his story about the separatist struggle and peace talks with the Indonesian government that began in 1999. Several agreements made during the process fell through because the parties did not trust one another. It was not that smooth, the challenges were there. So it was only in 2005 that peace was realized through negotiations in Helsinki, Finland. The most important thing is mutual trust between the two sides, he said. The former GAM prime minister advised the Myanmar group to follow in the footsteps of GAM by sticking to dialogue and negotiations. We, the GAM rebels, used to think there was no other way but war. But in reality, there is hope in another kind of solution, through dialogue, that brings lasting peace and benefits to both sides, he said. If you hold talks, you will get support not only from local society, but also the international community. Peace is not just for the Karen rebels, but also for your people, Malik said. The delegation also met officials of the Aceh Party and Aceh National Party, two local political parties formed by former GAM separatists, to learn how former armed rebels switched to politics. A reporter takes a picture during a press conference in Thailand on Oct. 11, 2013. The Committee to Protect Journalists is raising concerns about the nations new guidelines on issuing visas for foreign journalists. A press freedom watchdogs warning that a new set of Thai visa restrictions for foreign media could make it harder for reporters to cover Thailand prompted the government to issue a swift clarification on Friday. The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) earlier on Friday released a statement expressing concern that Thailands military-controlled government would have new discretionary powers to deny visas to reporters whose work or behavior is deemed as constituting any disruption to public order or to the security of the kingdom. The CPJ was reacting to a new visa policy for members of the foreign press, which the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced a day earlier. The committee said the new restriction was similar to the juntas ban against any news that could undermine social stability or sow political divisions imposed on Thai media. The CPJ also pointed out that those with category M (Media) visas must work full time for a registered news outlet or report specifically on Thailand was a change that could force long-time freelance photographers and reporters to leave the country. Additionally, journalists must renew their M visas annually, and have face increased scrutiny of their applications since the Thai military seized power in a coup in May 2014, the CPJ said. The increased scrutiny includes mandatory interviews where reporters could be asked to state their personal opinions about the junta, monarchy and fellow foreign journalists. Thailands response According to the clarification statement issued by the government, as of January 2016 more than 500 foreign journalists applied for M visas with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The ministry said that no more than 5 percent would be ruled ineligible to apply for the visas. The government claimed that the new guidelines were developed to introduce a clear category for journalists eligible for media visas, in light of the changing nature and increase in online media. Journalists, correspondents and freelancers employed by a news agency registered with the competent agency of either Thai or foreign government will not be affected, the statement said. The new guidelines are not intended to restrict, forbid or limit the work of foreign media, as well as foreigners who work in Thailand, it added. The government also claimed that journalists who were not eligible for M visas would be advised to apply for another appropriate category. It gave the example of foreign photographers who would not qualify but who could be advised to apply for a non-immigrant B (business and work) visa. For freelance photographers who require a media card to work for a news agency, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will receive the application and inform Thai agencies to issue a media card, the statement said. The guidelines were based on research of visa requirements from other nations, discussions with foreign correspondents and a meeting with executive members of the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand. CPJ challenged the governments statement that the guidelines were established in response to the changing nature of media. These restrictive new criteria clearly aim to hollow out the foreign media and silence critical foreign reporting on Thailand's rights-curbing military regime, said Shawn Crispin, CPJs senior Southeast Asia representative, in a news release. Its a crude tactic that aims to instill fear and encourage self-censorship, and, if strictly implemented, could put Thailand in league with some of the regions most closed, authoritarian societies. Czech PM Sobotka: If people are trying to escape war, we must help them 20. 2. 2016 cas cteni 2 minuty "The Czech Republic has a duty to help people escaping war," said Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka in an interview given to the Pravo daily on Saturday. "We are dutibound to do this because of international law and also because we are a country with a strong humanist tradition, so that we should be helping. However, Czech immigration policy must be governed by rules and by caps. We must be able to control who is coming to Europe in order to eliminate security risks. We will have to turn away economic migrants. Building fences on countries' borders does not solve the problem. It would be of course possible to continue with the current chaotic policy, but it would not be sensible. "The Visegrad group says that if migration between Turkey and Greece cannot be stopped there must be an alternative solution of closing the borders in Macedonia and Bulgaria. Even Angela Merkel now supports this. "We need Turkey to stop the refugees leaving for Europe and we are putting pressure on Greece to fulfil its duties as a member of the Schengen group. "We will either help Turkey by giving it EU money to take care of more than 2 million Syrian refugees, or these people will continue coming to Europe. It is much better for the EU to help people in Jordan, Lebanon or Turkey rather than having them setting out with their naive and distorted ideas to Europe where their integration is not simple and brings about a number of risks. "We need positive examples of integration and an active integration policy in the Czech Republic. There are several hundred thousand of people living in the Czech Republic who have not been born there, yet they have integrated successfully. These include many muslims from Bosnia and Herzegovina who came here in the 1990s. "It is not a problem for the Czech Republic, a country with 10,5 million people to integrate two or three thousand foreigners over several years. Czech society cannot isolate itself from the outside world and we cannot act on the basis of a hostility towards a religion. If we emphasise our nationalism, who can guarantee that in future, hatred will not turn against, say, the Poles or the Ukrainians, in spite of the fact that they are all good catholics? They will suddenly be foreigners, they will be 'unCzech'." "We need to have an open, free society. A return to simplistic nationalism which ruled in central Europe in the first half of the 20th century is a road to hell. It is a road to stagnation. All social development would stop." Source in Czech HERE 0 Importance Of Bhakti Yoga Faith Mysticism oi-Staff Bhakti means dedication and devotion towards God. You need to hand over all your fears, doubts, qualms and convey a genuine devotion and love to the almighty God of the earth. However, have you ever heard about what bhakti yoga is? Bhakti yoga is one of the 4 main yogic routes to enlightenment. It is the most simplest way to gain mastery among the 4 other yogic paths. In Raja Yoga and Hatha Yoga, you need much more physical health and internal strength to achieve your goal. Jnana yoga on the other hand needs an enthusiastic and subtle intelligence. However, for Bhakti yoga, you only need a loving and an open heart. Since the theory at the back of the Bhakti yogas practice is so simple, it can be practiced by anyone. A Short History Of Bhakti Yoga One of the most ultimate examples of bhakti yoga is a 12th century old incident, when a small girl of 10 years named Akka Mahadevi ignored the childhood games and became Lord Shivas devotee in its place. When Mahadevi became young, she got married to a local king. However, later she realised that her irresistible love for Lord Shiva surpassed any human form of love. She abandoned her husband and fled. As per the legend, she surrendered all the treasures of the empire and left all the worldly pleasures to devote herself to Lord Shiva. She traveled around the country as a saint and poet, and spent the rest of her life in singing praises to Lord Shiva. Thus, Akka Mahadevi plays an important role in the process of understanding what bhakti yoga is in hinduism. The next important practice of bhakti yoga is Bhagvad Gita, which is also known as the love song to the God. Gita suggests the idea that by connecting yourself with your hearts, you can achieve the destination of spiritual realisation. In the 5th century AD, for the very first time, the first devotional schools in Shaiva tradition began to develop in the southern parts of India. The main aim of these schools were to encourage devotion, praying and reciting mantras to the deities such as Krishna, Kaali, Shiva and Vishnu. In addition to this, singing religious songs, pursuing a Guru, meditation, writing blissful poems and performing puja and arti rituals were also encouraged. The bhakti yoga highlighted the deep longing to know about God. As per the historical evidences, Bhakti yoga was embraced by all genders and classes of the Indian society. Who Is Your God Or Guru As per the legends about what bhakti yoga is, Shiva was the God or Guru of Akka Mahadevi. Similarly, some of the latest bhakti devotees dedicate themselves to a particular deity. There are also some other devotees who dedicate themselves to a living or dead Guru. Some people think that it is important to have a Guru for understanding what bhakti yoga is. A Guru can help you to surrender yourself to the lord. However, some people think that it is not essential to have a Guru for bhakti yoga. Bhakti yoga can also be practiced by chucking out your egos, and leading a normal blissful life with your family. The 9 Modes of Devotion The love and dedication for God can be boosted by using the bhakti techniques. There are 9 modes of devotion in the bhakti yoga, which are Kirtanam, Padasevanam, Sravanam, Smaranam, Archanam, Dasyam, Sakhyam, Vandanam and Atmanivedanam. Finally, what bhakti yoga preaches in hinduism is to love, adore and worship God, so that we can absorb his godly qualities and ultimately unite with Him to become one soul. GET THE BEST BOLDSKY STORIES! Allow Notifications Story first published: Saturday, February 20, 2016, 4:00 [IST] Police in the north are appealing for information following an aggravated burglary in west Belfast last night. At around 8pm, four masked men carrying hammers forced their way into a house in the Moyard Parade area. Former Manchester United boss David Moyes does not think the club should sack his successor Louis van Gaal. Van Gaal is under heavy pressure after his side's underwhelming season took a serious turn for the worse with a dismal 2-1 defeat to Danish minnows FC Midtjylland on Thursday. Moyes was axed with the club in similar disarray two years ago but the Scot does not believe another dismissal would be right. Moyes told BBC Sport: "I don't think Manchester United should become a sacking club. I was disappointed when I lost my job after 10 months, but we would think Manchester United have always stood for much greater things than sacking their managers regularly. So, I don't think they should (sack him)." Moyes was speaking while working as a TV pundit at former club Everton's FA Cup tie at Bournemouth. Sitting alongside him was ex-England striker Alan Shearer, who suggested Van Gaal's days were numbered. Shearer said: "I think he will be very lucky to see this out. I admired him for the way he kept fighting back and sticking up for his team and himself and his club, but I thought he looked a defeated man after Sunderland and the performance in midweek in the Europa League was terrible." Latest update: 12.40pm David Cameron has announced the British Cabinet has agreed to recommend the UK remains in a reformed European Union at referendum to take place on Thursday June 23. David Cameron warned that leaving the European Union would be a "leap in the dark" as he urged voters to back his reform deal. Speaking in Downing Street after briefing the Cabinet, the Prime Minister said that the promised in/out referendum would take place on June 23. He confirmed that the Cabinet had backed his plan but that individual ministers would be free to campaign on either side. Latest update: 8am David Cameron is expected to call a referendum on Britain's membership of the European Union this morning, after reaching a new deal with EU leaders. The British prime minister will meet his cabinet to discuss the agreement. Part of it allows the country to put an emergency brake on benefits for new EU migrants for seven years. The Minister for Foreign Affairs Charlie Flanagan has said the Irish Government strongly believes the UK should remain in the EU. European Council president Donald Tusk has said he hopes the reforms are enough: The United Kingdom needs Europe and Europe needs the United Kingdom. To break the link now would be totally against our mutual interests. We have done all we could not to let that happen. Drug-dealers stopped on the motorway had a solid block of cocaine weighing 999 grams hidden in their car. Albanian nationals Bekim Domi and Shkelqim Dardha were at the M6's Corley Services in the Midlands en route to London when traffic officers stopped the pair. The Syrian government has said Turkish artillery shelling inside Syria is an "outrageous violation" of international law. Syria also accused Turkey of committing "crimes" against the Syrians by firing artillery shells at areas in the northern province of Aleppo. LONDON: Copper prices extended losses on Wednesday as soaring inflation and the prospect of more interest rate hikes... ISLAMABAD: The government of Pakistan will take all possible steps locally and globally to create awareness about... LONDON: Civilians should evacuate the Russian-controlled Ukrainian city of Kherson as fast as possible because... NEW DELHI: A panel of Indias top court said on Thursday it was divided on a decision to allow hijabs in classrooms,... Experts are warning of devastation as Cyclone Winston heads to Fiji. Credit:National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Local media reported an elderly man has died on Koro island as Tropical Cyclone Winston, described as one of the most powerful storms in recorded history, lashes the mainland with wind gusts of up to 325km/h. About 1200 Australians are registered with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade as being in Fiji, although the actual number is thought to be much higher. Cyclone Winston is expected to make landfall on Fiji's most populous islands. Credit:RSMC Nadi tropical Cyclone Warning Centre Resorts boarded their windows and practised emergency alarms and procedures ahead of the cyclone, which is the strongest storm to directly hit Fiji ever recorded. Fiji Airways and Virgin Australia have grounded all flights in and out of Nadi. Jane Irvine and Patrick Sibberas took this photo in Fiji on Friday, before the bad weather hit. Jane Irvine, 22, is on vacation in Warrick, on Fiji's south-west coast, with friend Patrick Sibberas. The Monash University pharmaceutical student, from Macleod in Melbourne, said local radio reports in Fiji were urging people to stay inside. "Furniture is off balconies in rooms. Anything that could blow away is tied down," she said, adding supermarkets had been "crazy busy" as people stocked up on supplies. Tourists have also been evacuated off some resort islands as a precaution. Peter Joli Wilson, a photojournalist living in Coolangatta on the Gold Coast, chose to remain on Namotu Island when it was evacuated. The 65-year-old said he wanted to stay to help his friend, who owned a resort on the island. Virgin Airways announced on Saturday that it had cancelled all flights in and out of Nadi on Saturday and Sunday, and will review flights scheduled for Monday. "Our team of meteorologists and safety experts have been closely monitoring Tropical Cyclone Winston and have determined that conditions are not suitable for flying in or out of Nadi, Fiji," Virgin Australia said in a statement. Affected travellers can change their travel dates or destinations without incurring fees, the airline said. Fiji Airways also cancelled scores of flights on Saturday, including flights into Nadi from Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney. The departure times for Saturday morning flights out of Nadi to Brisbane and Melbourne were moved forward. Matthew Karstunen, a journalist at the ABC, has been on holiday in Nadi, Fiji and was due to fly home on Monday. The 21-year-old Sydney man said he is now unsure of when he will be able to leave. Mr Karstunen said tourist activities like snorkelling trips had been called off, with many tourists now staying inside their hotels. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has advised travellers heading to Fiji in coming days to contact their airline. It also warned Australians currently in Fiji to expect severe weather conditions and to follow the instructions of local hotel management. "You should expect high winds, heavy rains and storm surges in coastal areas," the department said on their website. Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said Australia's thoughts were with the people of Fiji. "I have contacted Foreign Minister Kubuabola to offer Australia's support and assistance," she said. "Australians are frequent travellers to Fiji and we have a great affection for its people. "There are 1200 Australians registered with Smartraveller as being in Fiji, but I expect there are many more currently in the country. "If Australians have any concerns about friends and family in Fiji, I urge you to attempt to contact them directly first." The Fiji Meteorological Service warned residents in the nation's eastern islands to "expect very destructive, hurricane-force winds". The forecast also warns of flooding from heavy rains and storm surges. Winston initially passed west and south of Fiji before turning back toward the island earlier this week. "Destructive winds may begin several hours before the cyclone centre passes overhead or nearby," the Fiji-based Joint Typhoon Warning Centre said. Ships within 300 nautical miles of the storm were asked to report in every three hours and told to expect "phenomenal seas within 30 nautical miles of the centre". CARE Australia's Pacific Gender Advisor, Anna Cowley, said the organisation was ready to assist "people living in poorly constructed housing in settlements around the capital Suva"."These people are highly vulnerable and their homes offer very little protection from these hurricane-force winds." Fiji is one hour ahead of Melbourne and Sydney time. Australians who are unable to reach their friends or family in Fiji and hold concerns for their welfare are urged to contact the Consular Emergency Centre on 1300 555 135. The Jerrabomberra Wetlands were abuzz with activity on Saturday as prospective apiarists attended the ACT's first beekeeping "open day". After a little over a year spent putting together an apiary off Dairy Flat Road with the territory government's blessing, the ACT Beekeepers' Association opened the facility for people interested in becoming beekeepers or learning more about the insects. Adrian Iodice talks about natural bee keeping with a Kenyan top bar hive demonstration. Credit:Graham Tidy The event included talks from NSW Department of Primary Industries beekeeping specialist Dr Doug Somerville, Plant Health Australia project officer Sam Malfroy and Australasian Beekeeping Magazine and queen breeder Des Cannon, who discussed the basics of the practice, pests and diseases, and safety. Bee suits were also available for visitors who wanted to try out the practice before committing to beekeeping, while several vendors ran stalls selling hive woodwork, parts, protective clothing and protein supplements. Telopea Park School students had the chance to simultaneously hear about the experiences of an author, screenwriter, politician, diplomat and entrepreneur at a special presentation this week. The students did not need to choose which of the professions to hear about, as they were recalled by a single man who's lived through them all. French writer Erik Orsenna speaks to year 10 students Meline Cretegny, of Griffith, Lea Texier, of Chapman, and Eline Dostal, of Jerrabomberra, all 15, about writing and literacy during a visit Telopea Park School/Lycee Franco Australien. Credit:Elesa Kurtz Famed French novelist Erik Orsenna visited the school on Friday to speak to students about literature, the power of words and the importance of being open-minded to new opportunities. His novel Love and Empire won the Prix Goncourt in 1988, and he was later admitted as a member of the Academie francaise, the official authority over the use and evolution of the French language. Time is relative, and nowhere is that more evident than in a hospital isolation ward. Patients who spend long periods in isolation at Canberra Hospital those who are too sick to read or watch television have a new option to pass the time, other than watching the clock. Canberra Hospital Foundation general manager Helen Falla in a Canberra Hospital isolation room with the new installation (on the TV) by local artist Marzena Wasikowska. Credit:Rohan Thomson Canberra artist Marzena Wasikowska has developed a slowly changing montage of a waterfall and mist to help relax patients and better mark the passage of time. The idea for the work, titled Window, came to Wasikowska after members of her family spent their recovery time in hospital waiting for the hands of their room's clock to align. "We are utterly committed to ensuring that we give no encouragement, no marketing opportunities to the people smugglers." Protesters rally in Brisbane in support of asylum seekers. Credit:Jorgia White How would it be a marketing opportunity if NZ were to take some? Because the people smugglers could sell it as a new product, Turnbull imagines, along these lines "come on my boat to Australia, yes you'll be taken to a detention camp but look, you'll eventually go to live in lovely NZ. "And if you don't like it there, it's easy to move from NZ to Australia any time." He will take no chances of creating a possible "pull factor" for asylum seekers. "The one thing we must not do is give an inch to the people smugglers," Turnbull continued, "because, believe me, we are not talking about theories here. The alternative approach has been tried by Labor and we know what the consequences are." Support for immigration program rises Turnbull reminded reporters of what happened the last time Australia relaxed its policy on boat arrivals under the Rudd government: "Over 150,000 unauthorised arrivals, over a thousand deaths at sea. It was a catastrophic failure of policy." The daily fact of their imprisonment in Australia's name chafes and pricks the consciences of millions. Labor, with the greatest reluctance, had to agree. It was Rudd who, eventually, declared that no one arriving by boat would ever be allowed to settle in Australia. And it was Rudd who negotiated with PNG to set up the Manus Island camp. That wasn't enough to stop the boats, and it was, famously, the Abbott government's promise that it would "stop the boats" by turning them back at sea, where necessary. Labor last year formally accepted boat turnbacks as part of its policy. Turnbacks are now bipartisan national policy and non-negotiable. Australia's coastline is vast at over 36,000 kilometres long, equivalent to about 90 per cent of the circumference of the earth. Comprehensively sealing it to boat arrivals is a considerable logistical feat. This was also central to restoring public confidence that the borders are under sovereign control and that the immigration program is orderly. As boats have stopped, polled support for the current immigration program has risen, shown in surveys including the annual Scanlon Foundation reports on Australian social cohesion. This is now an established pattern, recurring over decades, that reveals the underlying socio-political construct in Australia if we think the borders are under control, we accept a high immigration intake. If boats are arriving in an uncontrolled way, we oppose it. But that alone is not enough. The offshore detention camps are not a permanent solution. They are inherently unreliable as physical realities. They are politically vulnerable, subject to the vagaries of political opinion in the host countries of Nauru and PNG. The Nauruan government specifically designates the Australian detention centre as "temporary". Inherently unconscionable to a great many Labor's Richard Marles, who engineered the party's decision last year to accept boat turnbacks, points out that 1000 or so asylum seekers is a big number in a tiny country, population 10,000: "Nauru has never been a suitable place for the long-term settlement of hundreds of refugees and asylum seekers. The idea of permanently resettling an extra 10 per cent on the existing population is plainly silly, and the need to resolve the fate of these asylum seekers and refugees is becoming critical, both for them and the Republic of Nauru." And the camps are inherently unconscionable to a great many Australians as a permanent place of detention for people who risked their lives to get to Australia. The daily fact of their imprisonment in Australia's name chafes and pricks the consciences of millions. A quarter of respondents to an Essential Media poll last November said the treatment of people in the offshore detention centres was "too harsh". That equates to over 3.5 million Australian voters. Many of these are people who consider themselves Liberal voters, but they're uneasy over the suffering of asylum seekers. The party's internal research is showing that this is a problem, an issue that suppresses potential levels of support for Turnbull. In the same poll, another 29 per cent of respondents said their treatment was "too soft". These people, however, are generally voting for the Coalition already. They will not abandon Turnbull over asylum seekers so long as the boats stay stopped. Shaping perceptions of Australia This is an issue that dogs Australia's image abroad and eats away at its reputation as a country that respects human rights. It is the biggest continuing source of international media coverage of Australia. The moral dimension of the treatment of immigrants flared this week in the US election campaign when the Pope condemned would-be Republican candidate Donald Trump. The celebrity demagogue's very first sally into the presidential campaign was to smear Mexicans as rapists and to promise to build a wall along the entire 3100 kilometre border, with Mexico somehow being required to pay for it. This is not a plausible policy; the popularity of it with Americans, however, is a case study in how a frustrated people can turn to extremes if they think their borders are not under sovereign control. Pope Francis told reporters: "Anyone, whoever he is, who only wants to build walls and not bridges is not a Christian." Australia has a big immigration program, one of the biggest in the world on a per capita basis. So it is a leading bridge-builder, on the Pope's definition. Yet this is lost in global media coverage, which highlights only the suffering of asylum seekers in offshore detention camps. This is no surprise the definition of news is what's going wrong in the world, not all that's well. But it is a reality that the persistence and prevalence of the coverage shapes international perception of Australia. 'This is like the boy who drowned on the beach' The surge of public sympathy for the 237 asylum seekers who've been brought from Nauru to Brisbane for medical treatment has shown that many Australians remain keenly alive to the plight of asylum seekers. The "let them stay" campaign has moved a lengthening list of churches to offer them sanctuary under the ancient custom. Even though it has no legally enforceable basis, this is a powerful moral statement. The case of baby Asha has become a focal point. The government intends to return the one-year-old, being treated for burns, to Nauru once her medical care is complete. But the child's doctors are refusing to discharge her. "This is like the boy who drowned on the beach in Turkey," Alan Kurdi, "because it personalises the issue," says Patrick Baume of the media monitoring firm iSentia. "It's pricked the conscience of a lot of people across the spectrum." He says this helps explain the continuing prominence of the "let them stay campaign". It was the third most-reported story in the news this week, after the new Turnbull ministry and the tax debate but ahead of the Cardinal Pell story and coverage of the Grammys. "Let them stay" has been running at high volumes in the news media and in social media for two weeks now, says Baume: "That's a fairly long time for any story these days. It's clearly got more legs than any other asylum seeker issue in recent times." The other part of the explanation is that the campaign has been shrewdly promoted by activists on social media, he says. By contrast, it's a dead issue on talkback radio. iSentia reports "let them stay" had 8000 mentions on social media in two days this week but just 14 talkback calls. The campaigning, officially ignored, is yet quietly noted, and the cumulative effect on Liberal voters is weighed. 'I want this settled' On a human level, the plight of the asylum seekers weighs on ministers and senior officials too. No official or politician wants to see them remain indefinitely in detention centres. None enjoys having to confront the constant stream of problems, allegations of rape and abuse, harm and self-harm. Turnbull himself, while immovable on the methods that have stopped the boats, wants movement on the resettlement of asylum seekers on Manus Island and Nauru. "I want this settled," he instructed a senior official soon after taking the prime ministership. The Abbott government already was quietly seeking options for their resettlement to third countries. Turnbull has put new energy and focus into the quest, officials said. Australian officials are discussing resettlement of asylum seekers from the offshore detention centres into third countries with half a dozen foreign governments now. Of those, discussions have progressed into negotiations with three. As the Turnbull government approaches six months in office, it is time to look back in the rear-view mirror of Tony Abbott's bike, to assess his strengths and at least attempt to fit as many of his weaknesses as I can into the demands of this column. Abbott was a quiet achiever; so quiet he was at times silent. He was at his best, under the radar, in a closed room by himself, doing laps, ticking off his mileage, and mentally converting it to match the kilometres on the front handle. He was an oracle in the Billy McMahon style, perhaps a tad lower. He could move a crowd to leave. The extraordinary successes enjoyed in the Middle East since the Coalition's invasion of Iraq are due to some very difficult decisions he made along the way in stopping the boats, and to inflame the Syrian War to such a frenzy, it forced millions of refugees to turn their boats around, face them in the opposite direction, and to drown in the colder waters of the dark Mediterranean Sea. Abbott literally changed the course of history in the same way as he changed climate change, by willing it away. He turned the clouds away. There were many questions about his fitness for office, but he was one of those rare leaders who left office fitter than when he took it. Despite his calf muscles failing to propel the churning wheels of social justice, he always reached his daily exercise and calorie requisites. Tony Abbott cycling: "There were many questions about his fitness for office, but he was one of those rare leaders who left office fitter than when he took it." Credit:James Alcock Recognising the wide disparity in the cabinet's attention to women's business, Abbott quietly appointed, under the radar and off the books, bank-style in an honorary position a new portfolio the Minister for Men. During her short time as Minister for Men Gretel Killeen was the real force behind Abbott's more successful and historical stamps on white armband history. She of course had to step down when Abbott left office. The Minister of Men was also to act as a counterweight to the enormously powerful Peta Credlin. The minister ably disposed of Credlin by pointing out her resemblance to John Sutherland. It is believed by insiders that the decision to give the desperately under-decorated and underrated warrior Prince Phillip an Australian knighthood was first mooted in secret meetings between the Minister for Men and Abbott in closed sessions. The papers will remain sealed for 60 years, unless leaked. The mission statement from the Minister for Men was to even the playing field, that had tilted so far in favour of men, a number of prominent Australians decided to become women in protest. The canny Abbott, sensing some blowback, appointed a woman, Gretel Killeen, as The Minister For Men, and allowed her to run her press releases, interviews and daily blogs through the web, where it was more popular than the parliamentary Hansard broadcasts, aired late at night on ABC as a national sleeping aid. Federal MPs and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's wife Lucy could claim workers' compensation for the first time through a fund a lawyer says may have covered the injury Jamie Briggs sustained tackling Tony Abbott. The Turnbull government is moving to establish a parliamentary injury compensation scheme for MPs who are injured or contract diseases due to their work as office holders. A bill introduced into Parliament last week says the scheme will cover things like medical treatment, inability to work, rehabilitation programs, death benefits and funeral expenses, and lost and damaged medical equipment. Take a knee: From January 1 injuries to MPs may be eligible for compensation if a parliamentary scheme passes. Former cities minister Jamie Briggs, who sustained his injury after a friendly tackle on Tony Abbott last year won't qualify. Credit:Andrew Meares Maurice Blackburn principal Rod Hodgson said that if passed, the scheme could cover injuries ministers sustained after hours at work-related functions. Such a scheme could "arguably" have covered the knee injury Mr Briggs sustained after tackling ousted prime minister Tony Abbott on the night of the leadership spill last year, he said. Mr Hodgson cited a High Court case, which ruled a federal public servant was not entitled to compensation for an injury she incurred having sex while on a work trip because her employer had not "encouraged the activity that gave rise to the injury". Protesters sustained a hospital vigil through the night after celebrating what they considered a mini victory in the fight to keep an asylum seeker baby from deportation to Nauru. The patrol will continue until the government guarantees it won't remove the one-year-old girl known as "Asha" from Brisbane's Lady Cilento Hospital. They formed human walls to block and check police cars for the one-year-old, chanted into the night and declared they'd "sent a message" to the government. Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Sean Fitzgerald said the south-east could expect a cool change this weekend, with a chance of rain in the afternoons, but Queensland's far west would continue to swelter. A one-in-100-year downpour drenched the Lockyer Valley on Friday night with 99 mm pelting the region in 30 minutes, a weather bureau forecaster said. "We have had that change come through so we will see temperatures drop overnight and provide some relief in the southeast, which will be a nice break for people," Mr Fitzgerald said. The evenings will be mild with minimums remaining between 19 and 22 degrees after daytime maximums of around 30. Brisbane's western suburbs received between 60mm and 120mm of rain - 120mm fell at Mount Coot-tha and 118mm at Lawton. Only a few drops fell a Logan and Brisbane's south. Queensland's Channel Country in the west will continue to sizzle, with temperatures soaring to between 38 and 40-plus from Thargominda in the southwest to Mount Isa and Julia Creek in the northwest, over the weekend and into next week. Mr Fitzgerald said the warm weather that would see maximums of up to six degrees above the average for the month in the Channel Country would move east into Maranoa and Warrego by Thursday and possibly even the Darling Downs after that. A renewed bid for a multi-billion dollar Gold Coast cruise ship terminal on the southern end of Southport Spit this week would avoid environmental concerns and have lower infrastructure costs, Gold Coast mayor Tom Tate said. The mayor refuses to give up on his signature 2012 election bid for a Gold Coast cruise ship terminal, which was last year rejected by the incoming Labor government. The high-profile Wavebreak Island bid was backed by the ASF Consortia, but rejected by the incoming Labor Government. In August 2015, however, they were granted the right by the Labor goverment to develop a $2 billiion casino on land just to the south of SeaWorld Nara resort on the opposite side of the Southport Spit. A Senior Constable from the Central Police Region suspended from duty since 2009 was dismissed from the Queensland Police Service on Saturday. The decision to dismiss the officer was made by Deputy Commissioner Gollschewski after a disciplinary hearing substantiated several misconduct allegations against the officer. The decision to dismiss the officer was made after a disciplinary hearing substantiated several misconduct allegations. Credit:Jason South The substantiated allegations relating to sexual assault, breach of bail conditions and assaulting a police officer. In keeping with a commitment to high standards of behaviour, transparency and accountability, the Queensland Police Service has undertaken to inform the public when a member faces disciplinary proceedings involving stand down or suspension. Surf life savers have been kept busy on the Gold Coast beaches with many rescues, including 10 rescues in one 20-minute stretch, and even a shark sighting on Saturday afternoon. The spate of rescues, in wild surf conditions, happened across a number of beaches, including: Burleigh Heads, Broadbeach, Southport, Bulcock and Kawana between 2.30 and 3pm. Powerful surf has kept crews busy on the Gold Coast with condition expected to worsen on Saturday afternoon. Credit:Wolter Peeters At 2pm, surf lifesavers rescued a 52-year-old man at Tallebudgera and he was taken to hospital by the Queensland Ambulance Service. They closed Coolangatta after a shark sighting just after 3pm. A Catholic priest will no longer conduct mass at a Melbourne primary school after parents withdrew their children in protest over sexual abuse allegations. Earlier this month, more than 40 parents removed their children from school mass conducted fortnightly by Father John Walshe at St John Vianney's Primary School in Parkdale. Father John Walshe addressing parents at St Patrick's school in Mentone in 2010. Father Walshe has been accused of sexually abusing an 18-year-old seminarian in 1982. More than 100 malnourished and distressed horses and ponies have been seized from a property in the state's west. The seizure comes as animal welfare group RSPCA Victoria blames drought conditions and rising feed costs for "one of the biggest spikes in horse welfare concerns in its 145-year history". Horses seized from the property are malnourished and distressed. Credit:RSCPA Victoria The horses are very underweight, exhibiting signs of malnutrition and muscle wasting, and many are suffering from worms and parasites, according to the RSPCA. The seizure, which took place over Thursday and Friday, was authorised by ministerial order under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act. The industry employs 1 million people - second only to farming - in Nigeria, pumping $US600 million ($840 million) annually into the national economy, according to a 2014 report by the US International Trade Commission. In 2002, it made 400 movies and $US45 million. Cast and crew talk over the script together during filming in Illah, Nigeria. Credit:New York Times Nollywood resonates across Africa with its stories of a pre-colonial past and of a present caught between village life and urban modernity. The movies explore the tensions between the individual and extended families, between the draw of urban life and the pull of the village, between Christianity and traditional beliefs. For countless people, in a place long shaped by outsiders, Nollywood is redefining the African experience. "I doubt that a white person, a European or American, can appreciate Nollywood movies the way an African can," said Katsuva Ngoloma, a linguist at the University of Lubumbashi in the Democratic Republic of Congo who has written about Nollywood's significance. "But Africans - the rich, the poor, everyone - will see themselves in those movies in one way or another." An actor plays a policeman slain in a shootout during filming in Nigeria. Credit:New York Times In Yeoville, a neighbourhood in Johannesburg that is a melting pot for migrants, a seamstress from Ghana took orders one recent morning for the latest fashions seen in Nollywood movies. Hairstylists from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique and Zimbabwe, working in salons or on the street, offered hair weaves following the styles favoured by Nollywood actresses. "Nigerian movies express how we live as Africans, what we experience in our everyday lives, things like witchcraft, things like fighting between mother-in-laws and daughter-in-laws," said Patience Moyo, 34, a Zimbabwean hair-braider. "When you watch the movies, you feel it is really happening. One way or another, it will touch your life somewhere." Lights for a Nollywood night scene are powered by portable generators in Nigeria. Credit:New York Times Back in 2002, the movies were simply known as Nigeria's home videos. They were popularised at first through video cassettes traded across Africa, but now Nollywood is available on satellite and cable television channels, as well as on streaming services like iRokoTV. In 2012, in response to swelling popularity in Francophone Africa, a satellite channel called Nollywood TV began offering round-the-clock movies dubbed into French. Most Nollywood movies are in English, though some are in one of Nigeria's main ethnic languages. Surulere, in Lagos, the birthplace of Nollywood. Film production has since moved to other cities, especially Asaba, an otherwise sleepy state capital in south-eastern Nigeria. On any given day, a dozen crews can be found here - "epic" films with ancient story lines like "Beyond the Dance" are in the works in nearby villages, while "glamour" movies about modern life make the city itself their sets. Ini Edo touches up her makeup between scenes while filming a scene in the village of Illah, Nigeria. Credit:New York Times One recent entry in the glamour category was "Okada 50," the story of a woman and son who, after leaving their village, open a coffin business in the city and terrorise their neighbours. Most films have budgets of about $US25,000 and are shot in a week. Actresses check the script before filming a Nollywood movie scene against a green-screen held up by bamboo poles and a rope, in the village of Illah, Nigeria. Credit:New York Times Once completed in Asaba, the movies find their way to every corner of Africa, released in the original English, dubbed into French or African languages, and sometimes adapted, repackaged and often pirated for local audiences. Many movies are also propelled by a symbiotic relationship with Nigeria's Pentecostal Christianity, which pastors have exported throughout Africa. If England votes to leave the European Union against the wishes of Scotland then pressure would swiftly rise for a second independence referendum, the former nationalist leader of Scotland said on Saturday. Nicola Sturgeon, the current leader of the Scottish National Party and of Scotland's devolved government, has said she supports staying in the EU, and polls show that a majority of the 5 million Scots would also back that view. Former Scottish National Party leader Alex Salmond. Credit:Simon Dawson However, the Scottish vote is dwarfed by that of England which has 53 million and represents about 84 percent of the population of the United Kingdom. "I think the referendum across the UK is on a knife-edge, it will depend entirely on how it's argued. I don't rate the deal that Cameron has done in Brussels, I think it's about marginal issues," former SNP leader Alex Salmond told the BBC. Latest News Australia's record property market run comes to an end PEXA NSW sees the largest declines in both property sales volume and aggregate value MFAA offers cybersecurity resources to members Optus data breach a 'wake-up call' for businesses Making news this week, an aggregator launched a niche white label product, a leading brokerage appointed a new CEO and a major franchise claimed the industry should follow its lead on commissions. Challenger aggregator My Local Broker announced the launch of Footy Home Loans ahead of the business official launch set for April 2016. The product is available specifically the fans of NRL team Melbourne Storm after a sponsor agreement announced in December. However, My Local Broker CEO Jaci Smith told Australian Broker that the Melbourne Storm is only the beginning. It is not just Melbourne Storm, it will be both codes AFL and NRL and there will be more clubs coming to the pack. This week Shore Financial also announced a major restructure, including the appointment of a chief executive officer, as it transitions from a small Sydney-based brokerage to a large interstate financial services organisation. Theo Chambers, who co-founded Shore Financial with Alex Nochar in 2013, has been promoted to the newly created CEO position. Speaking to Australian Broker, Chambers said his main focus this year will be to deepen its referral relationships and improve Shores business infrastructure and processes. Finally, the CEO of Mortgage Choice John Flavell said the industry would benefit if ASICs forthcoming commission review suggests the mortgage broking industry adopts the Mortgage Choice commission structure. Actually I think if there is any opportunity to improve in terms of commissions then I think the industry would benefit if they adopted the approach that Mortgage Choice takes that is, regardless of which lender the customer goes to the broker receives the same amount of commission. It is a weighted average commission, he said. The National side project LNZNDRF, which features The National's Bryan & Scott Devendorf and National collaborator Ben Lanz (who's also played with Beirut and others), release their self-titled debut album today. As mentioned, the band will be touring and hitting NYC for early and late shows on March 5 at Mercury Lounge. Both are sold out, but we're giving away a pair of tickets to each one. Enter the contest below for a chance to win. The same night as those shows, LNZNDRF will host the "first-ever before/during/after party at Elvis Guesthouse," presented by BrooklynVegan and Other Music. It goes from 8 PM to 2 AM with guest DJs and drink specials. That's the poster above. LNZNDRF also have a new video for "Future You" off the album. Watch that, alongside the contest widget, below... --- On this episode of Sleepy Hollow, Kindred Spirits, a monster from Crane and Abbies past comes back to haunt them, Abbie is reluctant to return to work and Crane must deal with a heartbroken Zoe. Young lovers go parking, but the scenario quickly takes on a date rape quality as the gentlemen fails to respect the young ladys boundaries. Before he can do any real harm though, hes pulled from the car and killed, rather viciously. A Not So Charming Prince The woman emerges, anxious to thank her rescuer. Its dark, and his back is to her, but when he turns around, hes a monster. One weve seen before in season 2, called the Kindred. The woman is horrified, and it turns out the Kindred isnt quite as chivalrous as we thought, because he proceeds to slaughter her as well. Sleepy Hollow Recap: Pandora and Crane Search for Abbie >>> Abbie Struggles to Adjust Abbies having a little trouble acclimating to life in the real world again. She grew used to not eating or drinking or sleeping for almost a year and is suffering from some post-Catacombs stress disorder. Crane tries to get her to open up about her experiences in the alternate dimension, but Abbie insists her biggest enemy was boredom. Crane suggests an outing, but Abbie is more interested in solitude and chooses to go running along a trail that she and Jenny hiked as kids. On her jog, Abbie has some flashbacks of herself coming a bit mentally unhinged during her time of solitude. So shes still got some issues to work through. For such a remote little town, Sleepy Hollow gets stellar cell reception, because Abbie gets a call from Reynolds. Abbie handed in notice, but he still needs her help. Abbie meets him at the crime scene, but the couple we saw slaughtered turns out not to be the first victims of the Kindred. Reynolds informs Abbie there have been three double homicides in one week, all the victims killed and dismembered. A Monster Returns Theres one set of boot prints but theres evidence that shows hes using two different weapons. There are lacerations and puncture wounds. Abbie puts the pieces together pretty quickly realizing this is the monster she and Crane unleashed on the world. She tells Reynolds that shes not quite ready to come back to work after all and suggests he put Agent Foster on the case. Reynolds knows Foster is good but thinks Abbies better. Abbie reminds him that she no longer works for him, but Reynolds announces he never turned in her letter of resignation. Reynolds attempt to engage Abbie doesnt work. Abbie tells him she still needs more time before she can even entertain the idea of coming back to work. Foster catches up with Abbie as shes leaving the scene, and Foster tells Abbie that she knows this isnt the work of a run-of-the mill serial killer. Abbie makes a plan to meet Foster at the Archives in an hour. Crane and Abbie fill Agent Foster in on how the Kindred came to be. In short, he and Abbie raised the creature to help them fight the Headless Horseman and get Katrina back. The Kindred proved to be somewhat of an ally but disappeared, and this is the first theyve heard of him since. They know the Kindred must be back because of Pandora and the Hidden One. Foster feels helpless, because theres nothing she can do to stop the Kindred, and he will just go on and on killing. Crane and Abbie encourage Foster to use her resources at the Bureau; they have to attack this from every angle. Abbie asks Foster to look for spots the Kindred might hit next, romantic spots with low foot traffic. Franklin-steins Monsters Abbie and Crane do a little more research regarding Ben Franklins experiments with the undead. After Franklin failed to raise the Kindred, he continued to reanimate the piece parts of other fallen soldiers, minus the Kindreds immortality. Franklin wanted to figure out how to control the Kindred if he ever had the good fortune of coming across a piece of the Horseman of Death to get the Franklin-steins Monster. In an old book of Franklins, Abbie and Crane find some information gathered by Franklin during his experiments on the Kindred proxies. When left alone, Kindred Proxies, creatures of habit, return to familiar places such as burial and resurrection sites. They can be soothed and guided by calming vibrations, specifically a glass harmonica, an instrument invented by Franklin. Joe and Jenny go to retrieve the glass harmonica, while Abbie and Crane return to the tunnels where they found the Kindreds body. They find evidence the Kindred has been back to his burial spot, Hes been squirreling away items from his victims. Crane finds a piece of paper with the Kindreds writing on it, raising the questions since when does this thing write, and why would it want to? Crane recalls the moderating influences Franklin wrote about: a creature of habit that returns to its origins-that means home-and responds to music/relaxation therapy. These are moderating influences for people, not monsters. Abbie recalls the condition of the bodies. The way the were killed indicated pain, rage and longing. These are all emotions. They surmise the Kindred isnt just turning evil, hes turning human. Agent Foster has tracked down the Kindred just as hes about to take out another couple. Hes impervious to bullets which is bad news for her. But instead of killing her, he takes off on his horse. The Kindred is Looking for Love Crane and Abbie have figured out the Kindreds motive. Hes killing couples because hes envious of love, a connection he can never have. Abbie and Crane inform Foster they are now faced with two problems. One being that they have no way to kill the Kindred, and even if they did, they cant kill a semi-conscious being. Crane feels its their responsibility to end this humanely. Foster gets that they feel guilty, but whether the Kindred is a monster, human or something in between, hes killing innocent people, and theyve got to get a hold on it. Abbie wants to use the glass harmonica to draw the Kindred inside the Masonic cell. Crane recalls Franklins hobby of reworking the lyrics of beloved songs, and this helps them track down a tune Franklin apparently composed strictly for the Kindred, a summoning tune. In the middle of trying to capture a lovesick hybrid monster-human, Crane is dealing with some issues in the romance department. He runs into Zoe who is more than a little put out that he just quit calling. He tries to explain that Abbie went missing, but Zoe thinks its just a lame excuse. She shows up at the Archives to retrieve a book she loaned him just as he, Abbie, Joe and Jenny are setting their trap for the Kindred. Crane is distracted, but Zoe cant figure out by what, since he seems to be all by himself in the Archives. Shes unaware that the rest of the gang is down below in the tunnels. Sundown comes, and the Kindred rises. Joe plays a tune, and it appears they are going to be able to trap him, that is until the Kindred hears the voices of Crane and Zoe having a heated discussion upstairs. The Kindred takes off, and Abbie, Joe and Jenny chase him. The Kindred drops a photo that is a basically a collage of parts, the final product being a womans face. Abbie figures out the Kindred isnt just jealous, hes looking to make a love connection of his own. The Kindred burst into the Archives, and Crane valiantly attempts to fight him off. The Kindred takes Zoe captive and tells Crane she belongs to him, and if Crane follows them, Zoe dies. Looks like Franklin-stein found his bride. Abbie calls Foster and tells her to check out the Carriage House. The Kindred has been there before, and its where the Headless Horseman took Katrina. Casting Bits: OUAT Casts Hercules, Gaius Charles Joins Blindspot and More >>> Better Than Tinder Still unsure how to stop the Kindred, Joe recognizes an insignia on the front of one of Franklins books. He and Jenny saw it at The Jersey Opera House where they stole Franklins harmonica. They got lucky. It happened to be a place Franklin hung out back in the day. Only then, it was known as the Ridotta Theatre. The insignia was on a weird door that Crane knows very well. One of his first missions with Betsy Ross was to hide medical supplies there. (BTW, Im sick to death of the Betsy Ross flashbacks. Bring the chick to the present already.) Crane realizes the medical supplies he thought he was hiding from the British were a cover, in fact the medical school that Franklin founded in the Colonies was also a cover, all so he could conduct these Kindred experiments. Behind that odd door with the insignia lies a female counterpart to the Kindred, the Kindress. Crane, Abbie, Joe and Jenny grab the girl and head to the Carriage House where Foster has been keeping an eye on the gruesome bachelor. Joe and Jenny show up in time to save Foster from getting decapitated. They temporarily disable the Kindred while they hurry to retrieve Zoe who has fainted from all of the excitement. During the battle, a lantern tips over and a fire begins to spread. Outside, Crane is doing a spell to raise the Kindreds girlfriend, and she is not pretty. Shes also immediately ready to kick ass. Everybody makes it out of the Carriage House, with the Kindred hot on their heels. He spots his lady, and its love at first sight. All murderous intent drains from them both, and they wander off hand in hand, leaving Crane to comment That was odd. Conveniently, Zoe doesnt remember much, and all she can tell the FBI is that the guy who took her was really deformed. Thats an understatement. Crane apologizes to her for being inattentive, claiming hes not ready for a relationship, but Zoe thinks he is, just not with her. They still end things politely, mainly because Zoes just thankful to be alive. And, not surprising, Abbie tells Reynolds shes ready to come back to work. Oh, and he confesses that he used to be in love with her, no biggie. And as for the Kindred and his girlfriend, they are on their way out of town, which is upsetting to the Hidden One. He was counting on the Kindred to be his second in command and lead an army of supernaturals and instead, the guy throws the Hidden One over for a piece of tail. In retaliation, he destroys the happy couple with a wave of his hand. So much for happily ever after. And finally, Abbie is haunted by a symbol from the Catacombs. Sleepy Hollow airs Fridays at 8pm on FOX. (Image courtesy of FOX) Previously on The Vampire Diaries, Damon tried to come to grips with killing Elena by toeing the line between shutting off his feelings and feeling everything, Caroline learned that the twins she is carrying are siphons as they slowly began draining her of her blood, and Enzo freed the huntress. We know that Rayna Cruz is the huntress, but who is she really? This episode, This Womans Work, gives us that answer, and a lot more! Saint Malo, Louisiana 1857 It is 15 years after Raynas father, one of the Brotherhood of the Five, taught her how to fight. He has been summoned to a vampire attack. Rayna does the opposite of what shes told and follows her father. She finds him helpless as hes about to be killed by a vampire. That vampire is none other than Julian! Rayna stops Julian before he tears into her fathers neck. She tells him if he kills her father he will be afflicted with the hunters curse. So instead, Julian compels her to do the deed for him. Rayna enlists the help of a Native American tribe. They do a protection spell so that no magic can touch her. Then they start sacrificing themselves in order for her to have multiple lives. The final step of the ritual is linking her spirit with the Phoenix stone sword. The Vampire Diaries Recap: Stefan Ups the Body Count >>> England 1903 Julian, Nora, Mary Louise and Bo are having a great night until they run into Rayna. She stabs Bo in the throat with the sword. This is how he lost his voice. Julian recognizes her. He throws her across the room momentarily knocking her out. He tries to get himself and the rest of the heretics out of town as quickly as possible. Theyre loading up the carriage when Rayna finds them again. Julian puts up a little bit of a fight. He thinks he has the upper hand, and tries to make a quick escape. Rayna is quicker. She throws her sword and it lands directly in Julians chest. This is how Julian is trapped in the stone. Mystic Falls Present Day Rayna escapes the glass prison Enzo has her locked in. She wants her sword. Enzo calls Bonnie to ask for the sword. She refuses to give it to him. Enzo then blackmails Damon into getting the sword for him. If Damon cant deliver the sword to Whitmore College, then Enzo is going to tell Bonnie about Elena. Damon manages to talk Bonnie into giving up the sword. Bonnie knows that Enzo must have something really good on Damon, or else he wouldnt be doing this. She questions Damon, but he doesnt give in. He knows he will lose his friendship with Bonnie if she knows that he killed Elena. And Bonnie is pretty much his only friend right now. The two go to meet Enzo in a classroom at Whitmore. Theyre surprised to find him tied to a chair. Rayna is waiting for them. Damon is surprised that she looks exactly like his new girlfriend, Krystal (with a K). He throws the sword through the window. Rayna scurries across campus and is finally reunited with her most prized possession. At the hospital, Stefan finds Carolines desiccating body. He compels the doctors to ignore anything that cant be explained by medicine and perform an immediate C-Section. There is a problem though, the babies are not ready to be delivered. Valerie comes up with an idea to have more magic outside of Carolines body than there is in her blood which is what the twins are feeding off of. Valerie calls in her heretic family to help her out. Theyre standing around Caroline chanting a spell. It seems to be working at least until the scar on Bos neck opens up. The heretics know this means that Rayna is on her way. Once you have been marked, The Huntress will track you down to the ends of the Earth. Valerie stays behind to help Caroline and the babies as the rest of the heretics try to make a run for it. They dont even make it out of the parking lot before Rayna shanks Bo with the sword, trapping his soul in the stone, and sets his body on fire. At this point, everyone is at the hospital. Bonnie goes to help Valerie, and Damon goes to kill Rayna. Bonnie has to actually convince Stefan to stop his brother. She tells him that she doesnt know what Damon has done, but hell do anything to make it right including risking his own life. Damon is putting up a pretty good fight against Rayna. Stefan shows up just when its starting to look bleak. He jumps in front of Damon and Rayna stabs him. Hes now marked. Stefan knows that he has to get out of town fast. [WATCH] The Vampire Diaries Preview: Will Caroline Give Birth to the Magical Twins? >>> Back at Whitmore Enzo is still tied up. Hes trying to convince Damon to let him go, but Damon has other plans. He wants to flip a coin and let fate decide whether Enzo lives or dies. As he tosses the coin in the air, Enzo blurts out that Elena is alive! He says the coffin was empty and Damon was only hallucinating. Enzo and Tyler were working together. Enzo has the real coffin and body in New York. Damon calls Stefan to tell him the great news. He vows to take out Rayna so that Stefan can come back. Three Years From Now Caroline is driving. The twins, Josie and Elizabeth (named after her mother) are in the backseat. Alaric has instructed her to drive to New Orleans. I really enjoyed this episode. It was great to finally see the pieces finally starting to come together. What did you think? Do you like where this season is going? Sound off in the comments below. The Vampire Diaries airs Fridays at 8pm on The CW. (Image courtesy of the CW) Burnham-On-Seas Member of the European Parliament (MEP) has welcomed the Prime Ministers deal on the EU. Julie Girling last night pledged her full support to the Prime Minister after his successful renegotiation of Britains relationship with the EU. As details of David Camerons new deal for the UK emerged from the Brussels Summit, she said: This is a case of mission accomplished so far as the deal is concerned. He has achieved more than many thought possible. We have more powers for own parliament, we have protection for our status outside the Eurozone, and crucially we have the means to roll back benefits tourism. Now we really can have the best of both worlds if we all recognise what the Prime Ministers has achieved and vote to remain in the EU. Cynics said it could not be done but he has proven them wrong again. The hard work must continue though Now he needs the party and the country to fall in behind him so that this success is not thrown away in the referendum. International, Inc. will launch its popular design-focused AC Hotels by brand in India this year. We are identifying the place and the project will come up in any metro cities in India, Neeraj Govil, International Incs Market Vice President for South Asia, told Business Standard. The AC Hotels brand will be one of the seven brands that the company had planned to launch in India this year, he said, adding that 2016 will be a busy year as the company will concentrate on increasing the brand portfolio. AC Hotels by Marriott was launched in 2011 as a joint venture between Marriott International and Spanish group AC Hotels, which was founded in 1998 by Antonio Catalan. Today, AC Hotels by Marriott has a portfolio of 79 hotels in Spain, Italy, Portugal and France, encompassing nearly 9,000 rooms. The brand inspired by the runways and fashion houses of Milan, features simple, clean and crisp lines, marrying sophisticated European style with approachable design for a distinctly urban feel. Each hotel reflects the uniqueness and character of its location. Govil said the design-led hotel slated to open in India would solidify its position as a leader in the boutique-lifestyle hotel sector catering to the creativity and passions of travelers with a millennial mindset. AC Hotels by Marriott has extremely high brand recognition in Spain and is among the 50 best valued brands within that market. There are currently five AC Hotels by Marriott in the companys global development pipeline. The company opened its Courtyard by Marriott in Raipur, the 14th property for the brand in India. Govil said five more properties of the company would be opened in the current financial year in the country. Ringing Bells, a Noida-based firm which claimed to be maker of the worlds cheapest smartphone this week, found itself in the centre of controversy on Saturday as the government swung into action following allegations of wrongdoing. While Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has asked Secretary of Department of Electronics and IT (Deity), Aruna Sharma, to look into the scheme of Ringing Bells offering a smartphone for Rs 251, the I-T and the excise departments are looking into the financial structure of the Noida-based company and have obtained documents, including those from the Registrar of Companies (RoC), in this regard. Ringing Bells President Ashok Chaddha said in a statement, "Yes, there was a visit from excise department and I-T department. Since we are planning to achieve milestones under Make in India, Skill India and Startup India. They issued us some guidelines for future and extended full support and cooperation,". The government's action has come in response to a letter from BJP MP Kirit Somaiya. The minister has received a representation from Kirit Somaiya and mobile phone manufacturers, expressing doubts about the veracity of this venture, said a source in telecom ministry. Any action against the company will be taken only after the report of the IT ministry, which will be out by next week. Prasad has asked the secretary to probe the entire issue. Somaiya has approached a host of ministries, including telecom and finance, regulators Sebi, Trai, RBI, and state governments, raising doubts about the company claiming to offer the worlds cheapest mobile phone. On Saturday, Ringing Bells closed the booking for its Freedom 251 phone, citing heavy demand. The notice on the website of company said it received 3.70 crore registrations on Day 1 and 2.47 crore on Day 2. The company said delivery of all handsets will be completed by June 30. Ringing Bells President Ashok Chadha said the manufacturing cost of the phone is about Rs 2,500, which will be recovered through economies of scale, innovative marketing, reduction in duties and creating an e-commerce marketplace. By going for Made in India components, we can save on the 13.8 per cent duty. Also, we will be selling online first and thus, save the costs incurred on the large distribution network, he said. Chadha also rejected speculation of the handset being subsidised by the government. The phone will be manufactured in Noida and Uttarakhand. Two plants will be set up for Rs 250 crore each with a capacity of 5 lakh phones. The money will come in the form of debt and equity (1.5:1), he said. Chadha added that the equity is being met by the promoter family of the company that is engaged in agri-commodities business in Uttar Pradesh, but declined to give details. But this has not gone down well with the industry. The response... of Ashok Chaddha of Ringing Bells that how much cost will be saved due to import/local assembling/online marketing... far from convincing, MP Kirit Somaiya posted on Twitter. Indian Cellular Association (ICA) has also questioned the claims. We have checked with all operators in the industry and no one has admitted to having been in any kind of bundling deal or partnership with them. I will only say consumers should stay cautious. More than consumers, it may hurt businessmen in small towns if the promise made by the company fails, ICA National President Pankaj Mohindroo said. The company had heavily advertised before Wednesdays launch, resulting in a mad scramble for the phone when online bookings opened on Thursday. Consumers and media persons were in for a rude shock when they found the small office closed and company officials not responding to phone calls. Chaos reigned in Haryana on Saturday with escalated violence in several areas as thousands of Jat protesters ran amok, setting afire government and private property and vehicles, blocking roads and highways, disrupting trains and uprooting tracks and indulging in looting. In an emergency meeting, the Centre instructed Haryana government to control law and order situation. This was conveyed by Cabinet Secretary P K Sinha to Haryana Chief Secretary D S Dhesi and DGP Yashpal Singhal at a meeting held through video conferencing. "The Cabinet Secretary reviewed the prevailing situation in Haryana and took inputs from the Chief Secretary and DGP," a senior government official said. Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi and others senior officers were present in the meeting. Four people were killed on Saturday as the stir intensified with protesters torching a railway station in Jind. Army conducted a flag march in curfew-bound districts of Rohtak, Bhiwani and Jhajjar. Earlier in the day, around 200 paramilitary personnel were airlifted to Rohtak from Delhi after protesters blocked all roads connecting Delhi with the riot-hit region. ALSO READ: Why Jats need education more than govt jobs On political front, Bharatiya Janata Party leaders from Haryana met party president Amit Shah in New Delhi and apprised him about the situation. Shah asked Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar to speak to Jat leaders and find a solution to the problem. Union Rural Development Minister Birender Singh, a senior Jat leader from Haryana, said "I appeal to the people leading the agitation to hold talks with our leadership Youths who are at the forefront should also join talks." However, Jat leaders refused to call off the agitation unless the government promulgated an ordinance to include the community in the OBC category. All India Jat Aarakshan Sangarsh Samiti's president Yashapal Malik said, "We will not withdraw our agitation unless the state government brings an ordinance for giving reservation to Jats." Western Railway announced cancellation of eight trains that were scheduled to pass through the affected region. Also, fifteen mail services were short-terminated and five other trains diverted. Production halts at Maruti Suzuki plants The protests have crippled supply of components to auto makers in Gurgaon-Manesar region, forcing players like Maruti Suzuki to temporarily suspend production. A prolonged agitation could impact more players. Other leading companies based here are Hero MotoCorp, Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India, and component makers like Sona Koyo and Minda. Maruti Suzuki has suspended production at Gurgaon and Manesar plants beginning Saturday afternoon. The company is learnt to have declared holiday for its 5,500 permanent and 8,000 temporary workers. "Owing to the agitation in Rohtak and nearby areas, supplies of certain components have been disrupted. As a consequence, the company has had to temporarily suspend manufacturing of cars," the company stated. The combined output from Manesar and Gurgaon plants is about 5,000 vehicles per day. Maruti Suzuki had seen low sales growth of 0.8 per cent in January. The company had attributed it to lower number of working days last month. If situation doesn't improve soon, the company's February sales may be impacted. Hero MotoCorp has two of its four manufacturing facilities in Gurgaon and Dharuhera. "Normal production is going on at our plants in Haryana. Our despatches from the plants have, however, been affected due to the blockade of the National Highway and other roads. We don't expect this to have any impact on our customers for now, as there is adequate stock with our dealers," said a Hero MotoCorp spokesperson. Other automobile companies also said that dispatches from all manufacturing units to markets were hit due to the stir. Manesar industrial belt is home to about 1,000 small and big plants. The agitation impacts about 150,000 workers in the region. MNCs in Gurgaon nervous On the outskirts of Delhi, Gurgaon is home to offices of 300 of Fortune 500 companies. It is also IT and ITeS hub of North India, serving clients across the world 24x7. Saturday's violent protests have forced these companies to take emergency measures. "We are based out of Udyog Vihar (in Gurgaon) and for the last few days we have been monitoring the situation. While till now we are running on full strength, if the agitation continues, we will have to ask our employees to work from home. It will cut down our operations by 30-40 per cent," said Rajesh Kaul, co-founder and CEO of Tirotech Solutions, an application development and m-commerce service company. A host of e-commerce companies are based out of Gurgaon including Snapdeal, Shopclues and Zomato. On Saturday, many companies decided to end shifts earlier than usual to ensure safety of their employees. "We had a couple of employees working on Saturday, but after reports of problems in nearby areas, we asked them to immediately go home," said a senior official at Shopclues. Most companies said they were monitoring the situation and the decision on Monday's operation will be taken on Sunday. "We are finding out more about the ground situation from authorities and will issue an advisory to employees by Sunday as the picture would be clearer by tomorrow," said a source at Snapdeal. Market experts said if the stir continues, Monday might see many empty offices. "Till now, there has not been much impact on businesses in Gurgaon. We have to wait till Monday to see how deep the impact of this agitation is. Such stirs have a negative effect on multinational giants and send out bad signal. If the stir continues, then not only Gurgaon, offices in Faridabad would also be affected," said Rohit Bhatiani, director, Deloitte in India. (With inputs from agencies) SOCIO-ECONOMIC PROFILE OF JATS According to estimates, there are 85 mn Jats in India Jats are a key caste in 30 Lok Sabha seats in Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan and Western Uttar Pradesh In Haryana and Rajasthan, Jats are a land owning community Jats are included in the Central List of OBCs in Gujarat (only Jat Muslims) and Rajasthan. They are included in 9 state OBC lists Jats' demand for reservation in Haryana was rejected in 1997 by the National Commission for Backward Classes, but the political lobbying has kept the issue alive:of Haryana populationshare in class I & II services of state govtcommunity members engaged in agriculturechildren of the community (aged 6-14) never attended schoolenrolment at graduation level, lesser than state average of 8.3%enrolment at PG level, against state average of 2.26%Comparable figure for castes in the OBC list not availableSource: NCBC website Success of Nepals new Constitution will depend on consensus and dialogue and India was for peace, stability and overall development of the Himalayan nation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday after holding talks with his Nepalese counterpart, K P Sharma Oli. The two leaders discussed all aspects of the bilateral relationship, particularly the political situation in Nepal, following which Oli said, misunderstandings that persisted in the last few months no longer exist. The two sides inked nine MoUs to expand cooperation in a range of areas, including in transport and power sectors. The relationship between the two countries had soured in the wake of the agitation by the India-origin Madhesi community, which shares close family and cultural ties with Indians, opposing Nepal's Constitution. "The announcement of the new Constitution in Nepal came after decades of struggle in Nepal. It is a major achievement. I appreciate the contribution of the political leadership and people of Nepal for it. "But its success depends on consensus and dialogue. I am confident on the basis of these principles and through political dialogue and by taking all sections together, you (Oli) will be able to resolve all issues relating to the Constitution satisfactorily and take Nepal forward towards the path of development and stability," Modi said in his media statement, in presence of Oli. The prime minister said India always wanted peace, stability and prosperity in Nepal and that it would extend all possible help to ensure its all-round development. On combating terrorism, the prime minister said, "We will not allow terrorists and criminals to use our open border. In this regard the security agencies of the two countries will intensify cooperation." Oli on his part said India will remain a close friend of Nepal and that the "misunderstandings that persisted between the two countries in the last few months no longer exist". Modi said it was clear that "Nepal's stability is linked to India's security" and that the two sides agreed to fight growing extremism and terrorism. The two prime ministers also dedicated 400 Kv Dhalkebar-Muzaffarpur transmission line via "tele-inauguration" from Hyderabad House. India will supply 80 Mw of power through the line to Nepal now and it will be enhanced to 600 Mw in the next two years. "India's assistance has always been constructive. Our actions have been in line with the priorities of people of Nepal," Modi said. The prime minister said both sides are working on a number of hydro-power projects in Nepal. He said trade and investment are strong pillars of relations between the two countries and mentioned about the joint initiatives to construct roads in Terai region which he said will boost trade and infrastructure. "The earthquake hit Nepal, but its pain was felt by every Indian. Our $1 billion assistance package will take forward our cooperation in this area," he said. The Nepalese prime minister thanked Modi and people of India for "spontaneous support" in aftermath of earthquake in Nepal last year. Earlier, Oli was accorded a ceremonial welcome at Rashtrapati Bhavan where Modi was also present. Before the talks between the prime ministers, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj called on Oli. During the meeting, he conveyed to her that Nepal is and will remain a "reliable" friend of India. Official sources said Oli told Swaraj that he wants to "move forward in the relationship which is not man-made but entirely natural and civilizational". Swaraj said the visit will deepen the trust between the two countries. Swaraj and Oli also discussed reconstruction efforts in Nepal, which was hit by a devastating earthquake in April last year, sources said. "They discussed political issues, reconstruction assistance, SAARC satellite and bilateral cooperation," the sources said. Oli is accompanied by wife Radhika Shakya, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Kamal Thapa, Finance Minister Bishnu Poudyal, Energy Minister Top Bahadur Rayamaji and Home Minister Shakti Basnet among others. Coming out in support of JNUSU President Kanhaiya Kumar, senior Samajawadi Party leader Azam Khan said on Saturday he did not utter anything which may be termed "anti-national". "Versions of Kumar's speech that appeared in various telecasts did not show what the Union government has been saying," he said. Speaking at a function at government's post graduate college Azam accused Modi government of conspiring to "saffronise" JNU. Wherever dissenting voice is raised, it is being crushed. This is the crux of anti-democratic intentions of the government, he added. Supporting Shiv Sena's demand to demolish Taj Mahal, he said, "If it is demolished, we shall celebrate." Earlier, he had said the money spent on building the Taj Mahal was "unjustified" and he would have led the mob had it decided to bring it down stating that Shah Jahan had no right to squander crores of public money in the memory of his wife. He also asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, "You visited Pakistan hurriedly, what were the circumstances that compelled you to fly to Pakistan ignoring security protocol?" At another PG girls' college, Azam alleged his phone is under surveillance 24 hours. After I pull up my car near an auto-rickshaw to ask the driver directions to my destination, he obliges but tells me to be careful: "Inn JNU waalon se sambhal ke rehna (Be careful of these JNU people)." I'm still amused as I walk around and breathe in the fresh, misty air inside the sprawling Jawaharlal Nehru University, or JNU, campus in New Delhi. The university is in the eye of a recent storm over alleged "anti-national" activities and the arrest of one of its student leaders, Kanhaiya Kumar. What began as a "cultural event" on February 9 to mark the hanging of Afzal Guru, a convict in the 2001 attack on Parliament, soon became a bone of contention between the Left and Right parties on campus - with the Bharatiya Janata Party's student wing, the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), on one side, and the various Left-leaning student organisations, such as the Student Federation of India (SFI), All India Student Federation (AISF) and Democratic Students' Union (DSU), on the other. ALSO READ: Shekhar Gupta: Rage of the uncles As the protests got louder, so did the demands to shut the campus down. On social media platforms such as Twitter, #ShutDownJNU was one of the top trends. Chandan Mitra, BJP member of the Rajya Sabha, in a blog post on NDTV's website, suggested the campus rather be used as a training academy for civil servants. In another blog post, titled Dear JNU Students, We Fund Your Studies, Not Your Politics, T V Mohandas Pai, chairman of Manipal Global Education and former Infosys board member, condemned the "outdated" Left ideologies that have brought down the level of research at JNU. "In case students wish to focus on politics and not on their studies, there is no case for taxpayers to subsidise extreme views or an archaic Left," he wrote. ALSO READ: JNU, where one can be subversive without being seditious Inside the office of Rakesh Batabyal, associate professor at the Centre for Media Studies in JNU, a young woman, who is here to meet Batabyal for advice on what course she should apply for, voices similar views. "These students have too much time on their hands. If their parents had sent them to a private university where they had to pay a lot more money, they would keep their heads down and just study," she says. Education at JNU is, of course, highly subsidised. Once the 25-year-old leaves, Batabyal, a historian who wrote JNU: The Making of A University, turns to me with a befuddled expression. "Is this what we have created? Are students merely meant to take examinations? The university is meant to be a space to question, not blindlessly conform," he says. ALSO READ: Friendship above ideology: why JNU ABVP leaders revolted Alamu Rathinasabapathy, a political science alum of the university, recalls the stereotypes about JNU that she heard before she joined the campus. "I had constantly heard from people that 'it's a den of communists', 'we don't want our children to study in JNU because it propagates left ideology', 'it's democratic republic of China', 'you people support Naxals'. All that changed when I began studying there," she says. Another alum from the School of Languages, Literature and Culture Studies, Bedatri Datta Choudhury, recalls more such cliches. "There seems to be a presumption that coming from JNU, I'd probably be someone who engages in a lot of debates. They assume I am a Leftist too, like they always assume I am a Feminist when I tell them I went to Lady Shri Ram College for Women. I quite enjoy having these perceptions about myself and don't take them to be a stigma," she says. As old as history The perception about JNU being "radical", the "jhollawalas" not doing much other than organising protest marches, is one that is as old as JNU itself. Established in 1969, the JNU campus soon became a Left bastion, especially since a lot of its early faculty members came from Presidency College in Kolkata. But even within the Left, JNU remained largely affiliated to the ideologies of the Communist Party of India (CPI), which was, in turn, closely aligned to the political and social vision of the Congress and its leader, Indira Gandhi. The "radicalisation" within JNU happened soon after the split within the Communist part, with CPI (Marxist) and CPI (Marxist-Leninist) emerging as more Left than the CPI. This was also a time when Russia was India's great policy and ideology influencer, and a Sino-Soviet split in Communist ideologies was simultaneously acting itself out on the global stage. For India in general and JNU in particular, the CPI and Congress aligned with Russia and the CPI (M) and CPI (ML) looked towards China for a more revolutionary vision of Communism. Soon after its establishment, India witnessed Emergency under Indira Gandhi's rule and the rise of the "total revolution" spearheaded by Jayaprakash Narayan. A woman who grew up on campus in the 1970s recalls JNU as a "seething cauldron of white hot passion". "One of my most vivid memories is from a general body meeting of the JNU Students' Union one night. People from within the so-called Left were attacking each other's ideas and they brooked no curbs," she says. It is this history that shapes JNU's politics today, but over a period of time, has also created space for differing political ideologies to co-exist. Even in the late 1980s, when India was on the brink of liberalising its economy, it was politics that played out in debates and not "militant" expression of thought. "I wasn't in favour of a lot of stuff being taken up as issues, but no one forced me. I enjoyed the debates and discussion, even if I did not agree with the views being expressed," recalls a senior journalist. In his two years at JNU, he says that there were a large number of Centrists, "free-thinkers", Leftists and even "radical" Leftists who supported Maoism. "Self-determination, class and hegemony were commonly taken recourse to discuss issues," he says. But classrooms in JNU are not devoid of Right-leaning view points, either. "For the Indian political philosophy course, I read writing by M S Golwalkar and V D Savarkar. In fact, I read very little Marx and Engels," says Rathinasabapathy. She also points towards the last election for the students' body in JNU, where the joint-secretary's post in the central panel was contested and won by an ABVP candidate. "Another interesting trend emerged this year, when a majority of the students voted for extreme right and left wing candidates in the same chit," she explains. JNUSU has four seats - president, vice-president, secretary and joint-secretary - and students vote in a single chit for all four posts. "We were quite baffled as you could still vote on individual basis within the Right/ Left wing of the spectrum, but what does voting for ABVP and AISA in the same chit convey?" As I have countless times before, I lose my way inside the JNU campus, and like all those times, a student graciously offers to walk me back to the main street. VS Gourish, a student of the arts and aesthetics department, says he is familiar with Left politics since he belongs to Kerala. "But I feel no affinity to the Left cause after I joined JNU. With so many student oganisations, it can get quite confusing," he says. It is not just red While most students on campus are politically engaged, not everyone is politically active. "I think the intellectual Left is different from the political Left. For instance, except for one or two professors, there are hardly any self-proclaimed Marxists in my department," explains Rathinasabapathy. "Besides, the intellectual Left does not necessarily support the position of the political Left." Not only are there differences within the Left, there are several professors within JNU who do not associate themselves with the Left school of thought. Rama Baru, a professor in the Centre of Social Medicine and Community Health, explains how even during the GBM to discuss Kumar's arrest, several teachers came out to openly condemn the "anti-national" activities. "Our university celebrates ideological pluralism. Without plurality of thought, a university is just a teaching shop," she says. In fact, the GBM, according to Baru, specifically instructed teachers and students to not alienate any student of the ABVP or their supporters in the faculty. "The university is a space for dialogue and no one benefits from discrediting JNU," she explains. It seems some ABVP students saw merit in this sentiment and resigned from their posts to protest the malicious statements that were being publicly expressed against JNU. Pradeep Narwal, joint-secretary of the ABVP JNU unit, wrote in a Facebook post: "Today we all must stand together to save JNU which has given us identity, we need to come across party lines to save reputation of this institution, to save future of JNUites as more than 80 per cent students don't belong to any political party." Outside Batabyal's office in the Social Sciences Department, Che Guevara's face looks over the foliage. On the opposite wall, the map of India, with what appears to be Bharat Mata at the centre, is painted in vibrant colours. There are countless ABVP posters, and almost as many from SFI, in a silent battle for wall space. Batabyal calls Left-leaning parties a peculiar condition of Communism in India. And across solidarity marches and open lectures, it is this peculiarity that shines through. The word sedition has been contorted, distorted, stretched and moulded to fit a number of cases in the recent past -47 cases of sedition were filed in 2014 itself. Senior advocate Kamini Jaiswal speaks to Nikita Puri on what the term means and its implications on freedom of speech in India The sedition law, most recently used to arrest JNU student Kanhaiya Kumar, has colonial origins. What was the need for this law? The law came about during the freedom movement when there was a lot of agitation against the British-led government which was ruling the country. It was basically used against freedom fighters like Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Mahatma Gandhi, Bhagat Singh and others - all of them were tried under the sedition law because they were trying to overthrow the government. What exactly is sedition and can the term be misinterpreted to suit those in power? Section 124A or sedition has been spelt out by the Supreme Court in Balwant Singh's case (Balwant Singh and Another vs State Of Punjab, 1995). Supposing I give a speech, and I tell people that this government is illegitimate, it won't amount to sedition; something has to happen as a result of that. People have the right to criticise the government if they are not happy with the functioning of the government. Every criticism of the government does not necessarily mean you want to overturn or destabilise the government. Sedition is a very serious matter. 'I don't like you' can't amount to sedition, neither can 'I don't like the prime minister's face' or 'I don't like the prime minister's policies.' One moment the police commissioner has concrete and clinching proof of sedition, which turns out to be a morphed video, then he flits between opposing bail and not opposing bail - power shouldn't be in the hands of such people. The UK repealed its sedition law in 2009, the US has struck down parts of it over time. Besides India, the countries that hold on to sedition include Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Iran, Uzbekistan, Sudan, Senegal and Turkey. Is this law relevant in today's times? They follow the West, unless it comes to retrograde laws. Then, they want to go with countries like Saudi Arabia and Uzbekistan. We should be looking up and not looking down. You want people to come and make in India, but you don't follow the good examples to do away with such retrograde laws? Every cartoonist who criticises the government should be guilty of sedition (in its current example); you, me, all of us should be guilty of sedition because we criticise the government's policies and actions. It's not relevant. How can we differentiate between sedition and free speech? Just speaking up is not sedition. There has to be something following that, and that something does not mean somebody beating up somebody else. It has to be something more serious than that. It means actual violence with the intention of trying to overthrow the government. I have read in great detail what Kanhaiya Kumar said. I have seen the video, and I have read the English transcripts. My take on this is that we have to divert our attention and some action has to be taken against people who have circulated these morphed video because what they have done is sedition. Because what they have done has clearly resulted in violence. We should highlight the fact these TV channels, which have completely gone wild showing a morphed video, they are the ones who have incited people. A serious note has to be taken about this and whoever is responsible for this kind of a mob frenzy, this kind of violence, they are guilty of sedition. As sedition law moves along in Indian history, what should be the next step? Do you think this law should be done away with? I am of the firm opinion that sedition law has to be done away with. If we say something against the government, we are anti-national. If you criticise something, you are anti-national. There is no free speech, today we are in a state worse than Emergency, an undeclared 'emergency'. We must do away with sedition now; this is one colonial law which must go. It's obnoxious and appalling that they use this law all the time. Going forward, public opinion has to be generated irrespective of what 'nationalists' say, irrespective of what hoodlums in our society, like certain lawyers, have to say. Every newspaper has at least one article on this every day and this has to be kept on. That's the only way to go forward, to have debates on the issue and to make representations to the government. You can't take the law into your own hands. No ruler in Delhi, at least not since the time of Jat ruler Suraj Mal in the 18th century, has been able to take the Jat community for granted. Given their proximity to Delhi, Jats have have time and again forced governments to accommodate their interests. Read more from our special coverage on "CURFEW, ROHTAK, BHIWANI, JATS," Curfew in Rohtak, Bhiwani as Jat stir worsens In its last days in power, the Manmohan Singh-led United Progressive Alliance government succumbed to the pressure exerted by the community as also the lure of their significant votes in Haryana, Rajasthan and Western Uttar Pradesh to recommend their inclusion in the central list of 'OBC' or 'Other Backward Castes' in nine states. With months to go for the state polls in 2014, the Bhupinder Singh Hooda-led Congress government in Haryana also created 10 per cent 'socially backward class' (SBC) state-specific reservation for the community. ALSO READ: Why Jats need education more than govt jobs The Jats, since 1997, have been demanding reservation in central government jobs. They argued that they might be a landed community but did not have adequate representation in government jobs as well as educationally, that all the communities with whom they have 'hukka-pani' or inter-dining - Ahir, Gujar, Lodha and others - have advanced thanks to being beneficiaries of affirmative action. A dominant landed peasant community in North India, Jats also argued that shrinking land holdings and diminishing returns from agriculture had led to backwardness of the community. This was in some contrast to Chaudhary Charan Singh, one of the greatest leaders of Jats who served as the prime minister of the country in 1979-80, having rejected the Mandal Commission recommendations that the community be included among the castes covered under 27 per cent reservations for OBCs. Charan Singh, in the late 1970s, had argued that Jats were a proud and hard working community which had no need for affirmative action to ensure its advancement. But subsequent Jat leaders found other peasant and landed communities had advanced with the help of reservations in education and jobs. By 1997, Jat delegations petitioned the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) to include Jats in the central list of backward classes. The demand was rejected primarily because of lack of empirical data to establish Jat backwardness. In 2011, the UPA II government, of which the Ajit Singh-led Rashtriya Lok Dal became a constituent at the fag end of that year, revived the process. It asked the NCBC to reconsider its earlier decisions on the issue of giving Jats OBC status. The NCBC first asked the community to wait for the completion of the Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC), but later asked the Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) to conduct a comprehensive socio-economic census of Jats. A year later, the NCBC asked the ICSSR to instead conduct a 2 per cent random sample survey. In 2013, the UPA government constituted a Group of Ministers (GoM) to monitor and expedite the NCBC/ICSSR survey. However, with Lok Sabha elections near and Jats moving towards the Bharatiya Janata Party after the Muzaffarnagar riots of August 2013, the Union Cabinet asked the NCBC to junk the survey and prepare a report on existing material on the socio-economic status of the Jats. But the NCBC found no reliable data. On February 26, 2014, it conveyed to the then government that it could not possibly recommend OBC status for Jats. On March 3, 2014, the Union Cabinet found that the NCBC failed to take into account 'ground realities'. It overlooked the NCBC's recommendation and the next day notified the inclusion of Jats in the central OBC list of nine states, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Bihar, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. On March 5, the Election Commission announced election dates and the Model Code of Conduct kicked in. However, the Supreme Court struck this decision of the Union Cabinet in March 2015 and also dismissed a review petition moved by the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance government in July 2015. Similarly, the Punjab and Haryana High Court struck down the Hooda government's notification on 10 per cent reservation for Jats in Haryana. In 2014, the BJP won an unprecedented victory in the Haryana assembly elections on the strength of the 70 per cent non-Jats of the state. The Jats primarily voted for their two leaders, Hooda and Om Prakash Chautala of the Indian National Lok Dal. Now, the Khattar government has constituted a committee under the chief secretary of the state to look into the demands of Jats for reservations. However, any such demand to be conceded will need an empirical basis to identify the 'socio-educational' backwardness of Jats. A baby with a shrunken, misshapen head is surely a heartbreaking sight. But reproductive health experts are warning that microcephaly may be only the most obvious consequence of the spread of the Zika virus. Even infants who appear normal at birth may be at higher risk for mental illnesses later in life if their mothers were infected during pregnancy, many researchers fear. The Zika virus, they say, closely resembles some infectious agents that have been linked to the development of autism, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Schizophrenia and other debilitating mental illnesses have no single cause, experts emphasised in interviews. The conditions are thought to arise from a combination of factors, including genetic predisposition and traumas later in life, such as sexual or physical abuse, abandonment or heavy drug use. But illnesses in utero, including viral infections, are thought to be a trigger. "The consequences of this go way beyond microcephaly," said W Ian Lipkin, who directs The Centre for Infection and Immunity at Columbia University. Among children in Latin America and the Caribbean, "I wouldn't be surprised if we saw a big upswing in ADHD, autism, epilepsy and schizophrenia," he added. "We're looking at a large group of individuals who may not be able to function in the world." Researchers in Brazil are investigating thousands of reports of microcephalic births. While there is no solid proof that Zika virus is the cause, virologists studying the outbreak strongly suspect it. Although the virus was discovered in 1947, there has been no research into its long-term consequences. Scientists are left to draw inferences from what is known of similar infections. In interviews, psychiatric researchers specialising in fetal development agreed with Lipkin's pessimistic prognosis. A viral attack early in pregnancy can kill a fetus or stunt the growing brain, producing microcephaly, they explained. An infection later in the fetus's development, when the brain is nearly fully formed, can do damage that is less obvious but still significant. "It is pretty scary," said Urs Meyer, a behavioural neurobiologist at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich who studies the consequences of fetal infections in lab animals. "These problems are on a continuous scale, and whether you end up with autism or schizophrenia is complex - and we really can't predict it." "It can happen with a variety of viruses and other infectious agents, but we don't know how often," said E Fuller Torrey, executive director of the Stanley Medical Research Institute in Chevy Chase, Maryland. Torrey noted that Rosemary Kennedy, sister of President of John F Kennedy, was born in 1918 during the Spanish flu epidemic. She suffered mental disabilities as a child and developed schizophrenia-like symptoms at age 20. Although some historians have attributed her disabilities to a lack of oxygen at birth, Torrey believes that viral infection in utero is "the most likely" explanation. The possibility that in utero infection could contribute to mental illness first emerged with an observation in 1988 by Finnish researchers that children born during the 1957 "Asian flu" epidemic had high rates of schizophrenia later in life. Researchers have long noted that schizophrenia is highest in adults who were born in winter and early spring - just after the peak of flu season. 2016 The New York Times News Service The Odisha state government has urged the Union Ministry to instruct payments licensed by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to set up branches in un-banked regions in the state. "The efforts by payments to establish branches will help supplement the work being done by public sector and private to open brick-and-mortar branches in the un-banked gram panchayats (GPs) of the state", said a senior government official. The RBI has licensed 11 entities to open -- Aditya Birla Nuvo, Airtel M Commerce Services Ltd, Cholamandalam Distribution Services Ltd, Department of Posts Ltd, Fino PayTech Ltd, National Securities Depository Ltd, Reliance Industries Ltd, Dilip Shantilal Sanghvi, Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Tech Mahindra Ltd and Vodafone m-Pesa Ltd. These are mandated to target financially excluded customers like migrant workers, low-income households and tiny businesses. At present, out of 6,238 GPs of the state, as many as 4,597 GPs were identified as un-banked in 2014. The gram panchayats in Odisha have an average geographical area of 25 sq km. This is a reasonable size for having a bank branch so that people don't have to travel long distances to access one. If the villages are far away from the physical branch, the extension of banking service will not be satisfactory, even though such services may be provided through business correspondents (BCs). The State Level Bankers Committee (SLBC) has consequently decided to open a brick-and-mortar branch in each of the 4597 unbanked GPs. According to SLBC data, banks have, until December 2015, opened 152 branches in un-banked GPs. In 2015-16, banks have established only 33 branches compared to the allocated target of 1,926 with most private sector banks drawing a blank. However, privately-owned HDFC Bank has opened 21 branches in the un-banked GPs, beating even the most networked State Bank of India (SBI), which only opened 17. The state government is also providing space in GP offices free of cost for opening branches. There are 367 identified un-banked GPs where necessary infrastructure is already available. However, one of the major issues is availability of internet connectivity in remote locations. President of India greets king of Bhutan on his birthday . The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee has conveyed his greetings and felicitations to His Majesty Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, the King of Bhutan on his birthday which falls on February 21. . . In his message, the President has said, On behalf of the Government, the people of India and on my own behalf, it gives me immense pleasure to extend my heartiest good wishes and warm greetings on the occasion of Your Majestys birthday. . . The special relationship between India and Bhutan is a unique example of good neighbourly relations. Your Majestys personal commitment to consolidating our historic and close bilateral relations is very much appreciated by the Indian people. It was an honour and privilege for me to receive Your Majesty in India in 2014 and meet Your Majesty during my visit to Bhutan the same year. . . I take this opportunity to extend my best wishes for the health and happiness of Your Majesty and esteemed members of the Royal Family of Bhutan". . . Special Purpose Vehicles formed for implementation of Smart City Plans ; MP, Rajasthan take lead . . 23 Losers of Smart City Competition to meet 20 winners for peer learning . . Shri Venkaiah Naidu to address the cities on challenges ahead . . Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan have taken the lead in setting up Special Purpose Vehicles (SPV) for the implementation of Smart City Plans of the cities who have won in the first round of competition for selection of cities. Ministry of Urban Development has been informed that SPVs have been set up for Jabalpur, Indore and Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh and Jaipur and Udaipur in Rajasthan. These cities have been among the first batch of 20 winners of Smart City Challenge Competition announced on January 29,2016. . . Ministry has also been informed that SPVs for the remaining 15 cities will be formed in the next two weeks. Ministry of Urban Development will release Rs.200 cr for each of the 20 selected cities only after SPVs are set up. . . SPVs to be registered under the Companies Act,2013 will have 50:50 equity by the states and respective urban local bodies. Private equity is also allowed but the management control will rest with the Governments only. . . SPVs are required to be set up under Smart City Mission Guidelines to ensure timely and efficient execution of plans with operational freedom. They approve, sanction and execute the projects besides mobilizing resources from various sources. . . Madhya Pradesh has set up a 12 member SPV for each of the three cities. Respective District Collector will be the Chairman of the Board and respective Municipal Commissioner as Executive Director. Other members include representatives of central and state governments, nominee of the Mayor, 2 Independent Directors, representatives of DISCOMs, Public Health Engineering Department etc. . . Rajasthan has set up a 11 Member SPV for Jaipur and a 13 Member body for Udaipur. Principle Secretary (Local Self Government) is the Chairman in both the cases. Mayor will be the Vice-Chairman and Municipal Commissioner will the Chief Executive Officer till a regular CEO is appointed. Representatives of central and state governments, 2 Independent Directors will also be on the Board. . . Meanwhile, Ministry of Urban Development is organizing a day long workshop on Monday i.e February 22, 2016 where in 23 cities participating in the Fast Track Competition will interact with first batch of 20 smart city winners for peer learning about making winning proposals. One top ranked city from each of the 23 States and UTs that could not win in the first round are participating in this accelerated round of competition, under which these 23 cities have to submit revised proposals to the Ministry of Urban Development by April 15 this year. . . These 23 cities will be advised on how to bridge the identified gaps in their Smart City Plans earlier submitted and evaluated in the first round of competition. Areas required to be improved include-financing plans, convergence of different schemes of central and stage governments, smart solutions and frugal solutions, consistency of area development plans etc. . . Minister of Urban Development Shri M.Venkaiah Naidu will address the representatives of 43 cities. . . The 20 winners will discuss next steps regarding operationalisation of SPVs project formulation and resource mobilization. . . Experts and representatives of mentoring institutions like Centre for Science and Environment, Institute of Spatial Planning and Environment Research, Indian Institute of Human Settlements, All India Institute of Local Self Government, Administrative Staff College of India and hand holding institutions like world Bank, AFD, DFID, GIZ and Asian Development Bank will guide the winners and losers on the next steps. . . The 23 cities participating in the Fast Track Competition are : Warangal (Telangana) ranked 23 in the first round of competition, Chandigarh(24), Lucknow(29), New Town Kolkata (30), Panaji (32), Pasighat, Arunachal Pradesh(39), Dharamshala, HP(59), Raipur(62), Bhagalpur, Bihar(65), Karnal, Haryana(66), Shillong(70), Namchi, Sikkim(71), Port Blair(72), Diu (74), Oulgaret, Puducherry (75), Silvassa (78), Imphal (83), Ranchi (84), Agartala (85), Kohima (90), Aizawl (93), Kavaratti (95) and Dehradun (97). . . Among the first batch of winners, Bhopal which was ranked 20 scored 55.47% marks in the first round of competition. Warangal scored 54.79 marks to lose in the competition by just 0.68 marks while Dehradun which was ranked at the bottom of 97 scored 38.13% losing in the competition by a margin of 17.34 marks. . . At the workshop on Monday, these 23 cities will be assisted to bridge the gap so as to come to the level of marks scored by Bhopal and beyond. . . AAR Textiles Secretary declares IHGF Delhi Fair Spring 2016 open Overseas Buyers from more than 110 countries sourcing from this fair The 41st edition of India Handicrafts and Gifts Fair, renamed now as IHGF - Delhi Fair Spring" 2016 was declared open by Ms. Rashmi Verma, Secretary, Textiles at the world class venue of India Expo Centre and Mart, Greater Noida at a colourful ceremony here today. The fair is being held from 20 23 February, 2016. The IHGF is being organized by the Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts (EPCH) since 1994. More than 2800 exhibitors including permanent marts are displaying houseware, home furnishing, furniture, gifts & decoratives, Christmas & festive dcor, carpets and rugs, fashion jewellery & accessories, Spa & wellness products, bathroom accessories, leather bags, lamps and lighting, stationery, educational toys and games in the IHGF-Delhi Fair Spring 2016. In her inaugural address, Ms. Rashmi Verma, Secretary, Textiles said that Handicrafts is an important sector both from economic and social point of view. She said that the uniqueness of this sector lies in its high export potential, low capital investment requirement and immense scope for generating employment and generating job opportunities particularly for economically and socially backward sections of the society. She further added that Ministry of Textiles, Govt. of India through O/o Development Commissioner (Handicrafts) has undertaken various developmental and promotional activities through its on-going schemes such as creating mega clusters, common facility centres and design development and technology upgradation centres. After visiting various stands of the participating companies, she appreciated the vivid range of products on display, of high quality, matching with international standards. She also advised the exporting community that adequate emphasis should be laid on new designs and product innovation to retain the share of Indian handmade products in the world market as lifestyles across the globe are changing very fast. She applauded the efforts of EPCH for constantly organizing this fair for the last 22 years, besides for other measures taken by it for promotion of exports of handicrafts from the country. Dr. K. Gopal, Development Commissioner (Handicrafts) said that this event has created a common platform under one roof, for exporting and buying community; he called the IHGF-Delhi Fair a classic fair which is based on consumer demands. The US government and Apple escalated their battle over accessing data on the iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino attackers, raising the stakes in the high-profile standoff about the balance between law enforcement and privacy in the digital age. The Department of Justice on Friday asked a California judge to compel Apple to provide tools that will make it easier for investigators to unlock the phone used by Syed Rizwan Farook, saying the company's refusal amounted to putting profits over security. Apple executives quickly responded, saying that the US government is overreaching ... The head of China's securities regulator has been removed from his post after last year's $5-trillion stock market bust, an unprecedented government rescue and a renewed crisis as plunging Chinese equities last month reverberated around the world. Xiao Gang, 57, a former head of Bank of China, had been chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission since March 2013. His exit was announced Saturday by state-owned Xinhua News Agency, which cited a State Council statement. Xiao's replacement is Liu Shiyu, who previously served as chairman of Agricultural Bank of ... At least two congressional committees are planning hearings after Apple's refusal to help the FBI unlock a phone used by a terrorist. The House Judiciary Committee asked officials from Apple to testify at a March 1 hearing, according to people familiar with the planning. And the House Energy and Commerce Committee sent letters Friday to Tim Cook, Apple's chief executive, and FBI Director James Comey, asking them to testify. A date wasn't specified.Read more from our special coverage on "APPLE"Apple,US escalate the battle over San Bernardino shooters iPhoneFacebook, Twitter back ... Google saved $2.4 billion in worldwide taxes in 2014 by shifting euro 10.7 billion ($12 billion) in international revenues to a Bermuda shell company, Alphabet Inc, the parent of the Web-search provider, regulatory filings show. The amount Google moved through its Dutch subsidiary, Google Netherlands Holdings BV, and then on to Bermuda represents the bulk of its profits overseas. The amount transferred to Bermuda was 16 per cent greater than the prior year, according to documents the subsidiary filed with the Dutch Chamber of Commerce on February 4 and made available this week. The filing ... The Saudis may go public, OPEC's in disarray, the US is suddenly a global exporter, and shale drillers are seeking lifelines from investors as banks abandon them. Welcome to oil's new world order, full of stresses, strains and fractures. For leaders gathering in Houston next week at the IHS CERA Week conference - often dubbed the Davos of the energy industry - a key question is: what will break first? Will it be the balance sheets of big US shale companies? The treasuries of Venezuela and Nigeria? The resolve of Saudi Arabia, whose recent deal with Russia to freeze output levels ... The UK's looming in/out referendum on EU membership has sparked jitters, with analysts predicting declines in everything from London property prices to the pound. But what would so-called really mean for the City of London? Here are some based on research notes and interviews with analysts, lawyers and bankers. What is at stake? Financial services account for 180 billion ($258 billion) a year - about 12 per cent - of UK economic output and contribute 66 billion in taxes. In some areas, like foreign exchange trading (41 per cent of the world total) and over-the counter derivatives (49 per cent), London is the undisputed global leader. Opponents of a fear a departure would precipitate years of uncertainty and steady waning of influence and market share. Does passporting matter? Under the current regime, any UK-authorised firm is free to do business in any other European Economic Area state by applying for a "passport" from British regulators. For non-EU banks like JPMorgan Chase & Co, Credit Suisse Group AG or Nomura Holdings Inc, the ability to access the region's 500 million customers from a base in London has been an important draw. Without it, many firms may seriously consider upping sticks. An exit wouldn't automatically mean an end to passporting rights, but the British prime minister would have to negotiate hard to keep them. The remaining EU members won't want to incentivise other countries to follow suit. Loss of passporting could result in exports of financial services to the EU falling by half, or about 10 billion, according to a study commissioned by fund manager Neil Woodford. Frankfurt and Paris would gladly pick up the pieces. How would a work? The problem with contingency planning is that talks on the UK's future relationship with the bloc would only begin after a vote to leave, resulting in a two-year negotiation. In the so-called Norwegian model, the UK leaves the EU but remains part of the EEA. In a "hard exit," the UK loses influence over EU legislation and kisses goodbye to passporting. A middle scenario would see the U.K. retain passporting but secure autonomy over key issues outside of finance, such as immigration. That could be conditional on the UK ensuring its financial regulations are on par with those in the EU. What would Brexit mean for the banks? Every day more than a trillion dollars worth of euros change hands in London, close to half the global total, according to the Bank for Settlements. The City's global dominance of the foreign-exchange market is likely to be tested by any Brexit package that fails to guarantee a continuation of access to the single market. Last year the European Central Bank lost its bid to force clearing houses handling euro-denominated trades to be based in the 19-nation Eurozone. If it left the EU, Britain wouldn't be so lucky again, and it may make little sense for firms to run their euro trading divisions outside of the EU, lawyers say. Over-the-counter derivatives are another area for concern. About three-quarters of all trading in such instruments in Europe currently takes place in the British capital. Without access to the single market, much of that is likely to migrate, according to lawyers and bankers who say that US banks are already mulling moving operations. Still, London's vast pool of skilled labour and back-office infrastructure will be tough to replicate, and mean any loss of market share may be a slow drip rather than a sharp decline. For big firms with offices across Europe, shifting from London to Luxembourg or Dublin may not be such a challenge, lawyers say. For others, moving thousands of staff would be a huge upheaval. All agree that it would be costly. What do the banks think of it all? Most firms are drawing up contingency plans and keeping quiet until they know what they are up against, but a few have stuck their heads over the parapet. HSBC Holdings Plc announced this week that it will keep its headquarters in the UK, but may have to move 1,000 of its 5,000 London investment banking employees to Paris. Goldman Sachs Group Inc has put its weight behind staying in the EU, and expects to move some of its offices to continental Europe in the event of an exit vote. UBS Group AG Chairman Axel Weber told delegates at an event in London that he was confident the UK could secure a favourable deal that need not damage the City of London. Deutsche Bank AG Co-CEO Juergen Fitschen said the German lender is studying the implications of the UK leaving, and that companies can contribute to the debate to help avoid "stupid decisions." He also said London's appeal as a "cultural centre" won't change overnight. Pakistan has captured as many as 16 boats and 88 Indian fishermen in Sir Creek area off the Gujarat Coast in the last 48 hours. Earlier, as many as 40 Indian fishermen were arrested and seven boats impounded by the Pakistan Maritime Security Agency from the International Maritime Boundary Line off Jakhau Port in the Arabian Sea late on Thursday night. According to Fish Workers Forum Secretary Manish Lodhari, many more boats might have been captured than reported so far. According to reports, out of seven fishing boats, six were from Okha Port while one from Porbandar. More than 60 Indian fishermen along with 14 boats were arrested by the Pakistani Marine Security Agency in January. Worried about the impact of the Jat agitation on Delhi, especially the city's water supply as protestors have blocked the Munak canal, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday spoke to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh who has assured him that army is being sent to the canal. "Spoke to Rajnath ji also and apprised him of grave situation. He has assured that army is being sent to munak canal," Kejriwal tweeted. The Delhi Chief Minster also said that he spoke to his Haryana counterpart Manohar Lal Khattar who also assured him that army would be immediately send to ensure safety of munak canal. Water supply to many parts of the city is likely to take a hit as protesters have blocked the Munak canal. Plants likely to be severely affected are the ones at Dwarka, Bawana, Nangloi, Haiderpur and Okhla. Meanwhile, the train services have been badly hit in the state in the wake of the pro-reservation agitation. Passenger trains going from Delhi to Haryana, Rajasthan, Punjab and Jammu have been affected. Meanwhile, the army and para-military personell have also been called in eight districts of the state after one person was killed and 21 injured in police action as the Jat protest for quota turned violent. Array The rampaging mobs set ablaze the state finance minister's house besides several government and private properties. Array Protesters also took some police personnel captive besides going on a rampage at many places including Rohtak, Jhajjar and Hansi, targeting police and private vehicles, buildings housing offices. A non-bailable arrest warrant was issued on Saturday against former military ruler Pervez Musharraf in the Ghazi Abdul Rasheed murder case. According to the Express Tribune, a sessions court in Islamabad issued the warrant. Ghazi Abdul Rasheed, the cleric of the federal capital's Lal Masjid, was killed during a confrontation between the militants and security forces in July 2007 - led by then president Musharaf. Issuing the warrants, the Additional Sessions Judge ordered the authorities to produce the former president in the court on March 16 and the court also reportedly dismissed Musharraf's plea filed earlier in connection with his permanent exemption from the court. Militants opened fire on a CRPF bus at Pampore in Srinagar on Saturday near the Entrepreneurship Development Institute, in which seven CRPF jawans have been injured. A fierce gunbattle is underway as the civilians are trapped inside the building. According to reports, the militants are holed up inside the EDI building and the area has been cordoned off, as the security forces are heavily engaging with the gunmen. More details awaited. Flight operations were briefly halted when a small fire broke out near Lucknow Airport's runway here on Saturday. The dry grass on the side of the tarmac caught fire when crackers were used to scare away the birds. After spotting the fire, the airport authorities were quick to respond as they immediately suspended flights and rushed fire tenders to contain the flames. The air traffic has now been resumed. One of the leading imaging technology firms in India, Fujifilm India Pvt. Ltd is all set to strengthen its brand presence in India with its latest marketing initiatives, which will enable the company achieve a 20 percent growth in FY 2016. To achieve the same, Fujifilm India is going strong on its ATL / BTL activities this year. The Japanese imaging firm, known for its world class cutting edge solutions in photo imaging, medical products, graphic arts, recording media and industrial products, set the ball rolling by participating in three marquee events. To begin with, the company showcased its latest photo imaging products and photography concepts at the annual Consumer Electronic Imaging Fair (CEIF) - world's third biggest photography fair organized every year by the All India Photographic Trade and Industry Association. During CEIF, Fujifilm introduced the concept of Wonder Photo Shop for the first time in India to inspire innovative photo printing. It has been conceptualized as a new way of enjoying photographs in the smartphone era. The Wonder Photo Shop is set up as a one-stop style boutique for a range of photo imaging products and services including wonder print station, theme based accessories, scrapbook, photo albums, frames etc. as well as the latest Fujifilm camera range and camera equipment. Post CEIF, the company showcased its latest graphic printing products and concepts at the bi-annual Media Expo- India's premier event for Media and Advertising industry. To further strengthen its Graphic Arts presence in India and as a first initiative by Fujifilm in the Wide Format Inkjet (WFIJ) printing industry, the company opened its First Demo Centre exclusively for this segment in Mumbai on January 22nd, 2016. To showcase its latest medical equipments, Fujifilm participated at the Annual Conference of Indian Radiological and Imaging Association (IRIA) in Bhubaneswar. Fujifilm displayed its latest medical devices like Full Field Digital Mammography (FFDM), Digital Radiography (DR), Computed Radiography (CR) Systems, Medical Informatics (medical imaging and information management system) and Ultrasound Equipment. The company's key showcase in FFDM was its very latest state-of-the-art Amulet Innovality- a highly advanced breast cancer diagnostic machine that has made early detection of breast cancer a reality with its 50 Micron 3D image quality and advanced tomosynthesis technology that reveals the internal structure of the breast with a precision enabling the detection of lesions that ordinarily get overlooked in a routine mammography. "Fujifilm has always believed in innovation and such events/ exhibitions present great platforms to showcase our world class products and concepts. India being an important market for Fujifilm ranks among top positions when it comes to marketing spends. ATL/ BTL will continue to be our focus to reach out to our target customers," said Managing Director Fujifilm India Pvt. Ltd., Yasunobu Nishiyama. "We are confident about our products in the Indian market and with these initiatives and our long term commitment towards our customers and partners we aim to achieve 20 percent growth in FY 2016. We are very excited on our India journey as we continue to scale our operations," added Yasunobu Nishiyama. Haryana BJP-president Subhash Barala on Saturday said that the Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar has accepted all demands of the Jat community protesting for reservation in government jobs, and urged the agitators to withdraw their agitation. Array "Now that the government has accepted all their demands, the agitators must withdraw their protest. The Government held talks with the khap panchayat leaders and in the all party meeting, the Chief Minister had even said it wants to give reservation to the Jat community. The Chief Minister even said that he is willing to introduce a bill in this regard," Barala told ANI Array "I think after so much assurance, there is no need for such an aggressive protest. We have still opened talks, so I appease to the protestors to withdraw their protest. They should protest non-violently if they want to," he added. Array He further appealed to every section of the society to main peace in the state. Array Meanwhile, the train services have been badly hit in the state in the wake of the pro-reservation agitation. Array Passenger trains going from Delhi to Haryana, Rajasthan, Punjab and Jammu have been affected. Array Meanwhile, the army and para-military personell have also been called in eight districts of the state after one person was killed and 21 injured in police action as the Jat protest for quota turned violent. Array The rampaging mobs set ablaze the state finance minister's house besides several government and private properties. Array Protesters also took some police personnel captive besides going on a rampage at many places including Rohtak, Jhajjar and Hansi, targeting police and private vehicles, buildings housing offices. Nepal Prime Minister K.P Sharma Oli on Saturday said the main purpose of his visit to India was to clear all misunderstandings that have surfaced in the last few months. "The main mission of my visit is to clear misunderstandings that surfaced in the last few months and to bring back our relations to the same level of enthusiasm that we saw when Modiji visited Nepal in August 2014," said Oli at a joint press conference with Prime Minister Modi. "The sentimental response of the Nepalese people to the spirit of Modi ji is still fresh in the minds of Nepalese," he added. Prime Minister Oli further said that India is now emerging as one of the major economic power houses of the region and the world. "India is now emerging as one of the economic powerhouses. The progress India has made in economic transformations in science and technology, communication, research and innovation are inspiring for us," he said. "We are proud of the impressive development of India and want to reap benefit from this," he further added. Prime Minister Oli further said that the relations between India and Nepal are beyond governments and formal deals. "Our people share a sense of deep friendship and fraternity. For Nepal, relations with India are important. India is our biggest trade and development partner, largest source of FDI and the provider of bilateral transit facility," he added. Praising India for the spontaneous support in aftermath of earthquake in Nepal last year, Oli said: "I sincerely thank PM Narendra Modi and people of India for spontaneous support in aftermath of earthquake last year." "We are equally appreciative of the support of India in our reconstruction drive," he added. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Modi Appreciated Nepal's commendable progress towards democracy and federalism, saying its eventual success depends on consensus and dialogue. Terming the framing and promulgation of Nepal's Constitution is an important achievement, Prime Minister Modi congratulated Nepal's Government and the political leadership and all sections of the Nepali society for their contributions in its development. Nepalese Prime Minister Oli, who is on his first visit abroad after assuming office in October last, was accorded ceremonial reception at the forecourts of the Rashtrapati Bhawan today. Speaking about security cooperation with Nepal, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said it is clear that Nepal's stability is linked to India's security and two countries will fight growing extremism and terrorism together. "Prime Minister (K.P) Oli and I agree that the two countries will fight growing extremism and terrorism together. We'll not allow terrorists and criminals to abuse our open borders. In this context, the security agencies of the two counties will intensify their cooperation," said Prime Minister Modi at a joint press conference with his Nepalese counterpart K.P. Sharma Oli here at Hyderabad House here. He said India and Nepal are working on hydro projects with combined cap of 7,000MW, and their quick and successful completion can be gateway to Nepal's eco prosperity. "Trade and investment are strong pillars of our relations. And early completion of ICPs and construction of road in the Terai region will boost trade infrastructure," he said. Array Highlighting the deep bonding between the two nations, Prime Minister Modi said the earthquake had hit Nepal, but its pain was felt by every Indian. "Our $1billon assistance package will take forward our cooperation in this area," he added. The Prime Minister said that he was confident that under able leadership of Prime Minister Oli, the Indo-Nepal ties would deepen. The Jat community protestors, who are demanding reservation under the Other Backward Classes (OBC), set a milk plant in Haryana's Rohtak district on fire today. The people living in the vicinity of the Vita's milk plant were asked to vacate the areas due to possibility of a gas leakage. Meanwhile, 13 army columns have reached Haryana and are assisting the administration in controlling the situation and 10 more columns are being airlifted to respective destinations. 10 companies of para-military forces have reached and 23 more companies are on their way to Haryana. Earlier, seven causalities were reported from Jhajjar and 1 casualty in Kalayat in Haryana after Army columns opened fire to disperse the mob. The Congress Party on Saturday alleged that Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) students' union president was in jail not because he is 'anti-national' but because he was not a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) supporter. Array "Kanhaiya Kumar is in jail not because he is anti- . He is in jail because he is not a Sanghi. The definition of nationalism of this government is anyone who is not a Sanghi, who does not wear a 'khaki' pant, is anti-national," Congress leader Manish Tewari told ANI. A Human Rights Commission delegation yesterday visited Tihar Jail to inquire about the condition of Kanhaiya Kumar, who has been arrested on sedition charges for allegedly raising anti- slogans and formed a report which stated that Kumar had been subjected to 'psychological pressure' during his interrogation by the Delhi Police while in custody. The report also alleges that the 'official statement' which was issued by the police as an appeal on behalf of Kanhaiya was not written by him voluntarily and that the content, construction and framework of the statement were as dictated by the police. According to the inquiry report by the NHRC, Tihar has made special arrangements to ensure safety and security of Kanhaiya inside the prison and he has been kept in an independent and separate cell. Muzaffarpur, Feb. 20 (ANI) Lives of women in villages in Saraiya block, Muzaffarpur district, Bihar was no different from lives of women in rural communities across the country. Married young, they remained confined to household chores, to looking after children, husband and elders in their marital home -having no voice within their families, or significant roles within the community. An independent identity, in any sphere of life, social, economic or political was inconceivable. Societal norms were deeply etched preventing women from exploring any avenues for their growth in any area outside their home. Array It is in this scenario that Rajkumari Devi, 58 and a mother of three scripted her growth story moving out of the confines that have tied down women over generations to the choola- chaukhat ( home and hearth) and prevented them from taking a step into the wider world. Married in 1974 to Avdesh Kumar Choudhary from an agricultural family in Anandpur village, after finishing matriculation - Rajkumari too faced the unseen, unspoken familial and societal curbs on her very movements. Even a short trip to the market, with her head covered demurely in a 'pallu' would invite disapproval from people in the village. She was after all only a bahu. Yet a window of opportunity opened up for her and indeed the family. The common family land had been primarily cultivated for tobacco. After a division of this land between Avdesh Kumar Choudhary and his brothers, Rajkumari found that her family's share was only two and a half bighas. She decided to move beyond tobacco cultivation and diversify in order to optimise the produce from their reduced plot of land. She then planted a variety of vegetables, fruit trees and shrubs on the plot and was delighted to find that it flourished. In this bountiful produce, Rajkumari saw a brilliant opportunity - to convert these into products for the local market. Using her existing knowledge of making 'murabbas' ( jams and jellies) and pickles, she turned out a variety of these and supplying them. The work grew slowly and Rajkumari was glad to involve other women in the community who were drawn to her work. As sales picked up, profits grew, contributing substantially to the family income - it became obvious that an alternate source of earning had opened up, the lives of women were opening up and a quiet process of empowerment was taking root. Bracing in her new-found area of work, Rajkumari was lucky enough to ride a bicycle going round in the village, meeting people, talking animatedly about her work and motivating them. She earned the respect of all and began to be affectionately called "Kisan Chachi", an inspirational figure who through her labour of love had not only created a flourishing enterprise but had immense knowledge of diverse aspects of cultivation. What has been heartening are the changing perceptions and attitudes towards her work within her own family. Her husband Avdesh Kumar says candidly, "At first I did not like what my wife was doing as it went against social norms. But as I watched my appreciation grew... Today I am proud of my wife and believe that in every family, there should be a woman like her." Kisan Chachi has touched many lives. Geeta Devi, another rural housewife was emboldened to question and ultimately cross the limitations imposed by her family. A woman who had never experienced a world outside her home, Geeta is today well known as a producer of lemons and an intrepid entrepreneur herself. In fact she has involved her daughter, Preeti after she completed her graduation, in the work. Thus a family enterprise involving generations has taken root. Kisan Chachi today has an enviable range of products - 23 varieties of jams and pickles that find their way not only to local markets, but to other states as well including metros such as Delhi and Mumbai. Rajkumari, however, sees her journey not as a personal achievement but as an opportunity for the entire community. Under the Swarna Jayanti Rojgar Yojana, 300 women have formed SHGs under Kisan Chachi's guidance. Array She says with a quiet conviction "This is not only for me. I support all the women fully so that they can flourish, build their future and be recognized in society." Of course there have been accolades that have been hers alone. In 2006, Rajkumari was selected for the "Kisan Shri Award" by the state government that carried a cash prize of Rupees One Lakh. In 2010, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, on a visit to interact with women groups in the region, met Kisan Chachi and applauded her role in empowering women. In 2013, during a handicraft and cottage industries fair in Ahmadabad, Narendra Modi, then Chief Minister of Gujarat, visited her stall and greatly appreciated her work. The Charkha Development Communication Network feels that in a day and age of glitzy products backed by enormous outlays and marketing chains, Kisan Chachi's products make a quiet statement with their simplicity, purity and low production costs. The views expressed in the article are of Amritanj Indiwar. Appreciating Nepal's commendable progress towards democracy and federalism, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday pointed out that its eventual success depends on consensus and dialogue. "The entire world acknowledges Nepal's commendable progress on the path of democracy and federalism in last few years. But its success depends on consensus and dialogue," said Prime Minister Modi at a joint press conference with his Nepalese counterpart K.P. Sharma Oli here at Hyderabad House here. "I am confident that you will take Nepal on the path of peace and stability by resolving all Constitutional issues on the basis of these principles, through dialogue and by taking along all sections, said Prime Minister Modi. After decades of struggle, he said, the framing and promulgation of Nepal's Constitution is an important achievement. "I congratulate Nepal's Government and the political leadership as well as all sections of the Nepali society for their contributions in its development," he said. On September 20, Nepal President Ram Baran Yadav announced that his country had a new constitution, which is the result of eight years of deliberation, including the failure of the first Constituent Assembly in 2012. It is the seventh constitution to have been adopted by Nepal in the last 67 years and the first by democratically elected representatives However, many Nepalese in the country's southern plains are protesting against state demarcation, citizenship and other provisions in the constitution, saying it pushes them further towards the margins. The protests, in which more than 40 people have died in recent weeks, have drawn critical attention from India, Nepal's neighbour on three sides with which it shares an open border. Here's what to know about Nepal's new constitution. The agitators accused the Nepal government of ignoring the aspirations and sensibilities of the Madheshis, Janajatis, Dalits and women, the dominant communities from the hills, have started targeting the protesters, accusing them of being "Indian agents". . With violent protests by the Jat community demanding reservation under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category disrupting rail and road traffic in Haryana, the Indian Railways have been forced to cancel more than 600 trains on the route. The Northern Railways and the North-Western Railways have been affected by the agitation of Jat protesters. Railway public relations officer Anil Saxena confirmed the news to ANI and said, "This agitation has affected two zones of the railways-Northern Railways and North-Western Railways. The train system originating from New Delhi to Punjab, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir and Rajasthan have been badly affected by this agitation. At this point of time, we have cancelled more than 600 trains which include all passenger trains as well as mails and express trains." Meanwhile, at least three protesters were reportedly killed in the clashes that have entered its seventh day today. The agitating members of the Jat community are demanding their inclusion in the OBC category and thereby reservation in government jobs. In a major relief to technocrat Sam Pitroda, who is one of the accused in the Herald case, the Patiala High Court on Saturday granted him bail. The court also granted Congress president Sonia Gandhi, vice-president Rahul Gandhi and three others exemption from personal appearance in line with a Supreme Court directive. Pitroda, who had earlier moved the bail application, furnished security of Rs. 50,000. The court will pronounce the order at 4 p.m. today. The next hearing in this regard has been scheduled for March 21 at 2 p.m. The court also reserved its order on release of documents to BJP leader and petitioner in this case, Subramanian Swamy relating to transactions of Associated Journals Limited. Swamy had asked for these documents for scrutiny and to corroborate charges against Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi and others. Congress leader and lawyer Kapil Sibbal, who appeared for the Gandhis, oppose the release of these documents to the BJP leader. Sibbal said that Swamy could have access to these documents without proper reasons and omnibus access to the documents is not permitted. The Gandhis had moved the apex court earlier this month, appealing against an order that asked them to appear in a Delhi trial court on February 20. On June 26, last year, the trial court issued summons to them on Swamy's allegations of 'cheating' in the acquisition of Associated Journals Ltd (AJL) by Young India Ltd (YIL) -- a firm in which Sonia and Rahul own 38 percent stakes each. The Delhi High Court had in December 2015 rejected their plea and directed them to appear before the trial court. The case relates to the Indian Congress granting an interest-free loan of Rs. 90.25 crore (USD 13 million) to Associated Journals Limited (AJL), owner of the Herald newspaper which was established by Jawaharlal Nehru in 1938. It was alleged that the loan was either not repaid or repaid in cash, which is in violation of Section 269T of the Income Tax Act, 1961. A closely held company, Young Indian, was incorporated in November 2010 with a capital of Rs.5 lakh (USD 7,400) and it acquired almost all the shareholding of AJL and all its properties (alleged to be worth Rs.5000 crores (USD 740 million). The Congress leaders have accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led BJP Government of 'political vendetta' in the National Herald case. Nepal Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli, who is on his first visit abroad after assuming office in October last year, on Saturday, called on President Pranab Mukherjee at the Rashtrapati Bhawan here today. Oli had also met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj earlier in the day. He earlier also witnessed signing seven memorandums of understanding (MoU)s between India and Nepal to expand cooperation in a range of areas including in transport and power sectors. Oli, who was accorded a ceremonial reception at the forecourts of the Rashtrapati Bhawan, also paid tributes to Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat here. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lay the foundation stone for houses to be built under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, at Naya Raipur on Sunday in Chhattisgarh. The Prime Minister will also launch the Shyama Prasad Mukherji Rurban Mission at Kurubhat in Rajnandgaon District of Chhattisgarh. Array "In Odisha will address a public meeting in Bargarh & in WB I will attend inauguration of Centenary Celebration of Gaudiya Mission & Math.Will launch Shyama Prasad Mukherji Rurban Mission, which will equip our villages with best infra & make them centres of economic growth," the Prime Minister tweeted. The Rurban Mission aims at development of rural growth clusters in all States and Union Territories, which would trigger overall development in the region. These clusters would be developed by provisioning of economic activities, developing skills & local entrepreneurship and providing infrastructure amenities. "Will visit Chhattisgarh, Odisha &West Bengal tomorrow. In Chhattisgarh will lay foundation stone for houses to be built under PM Awas Yojana," Prime Minister Modi tweeted. Later in the day, he will address a public meeting at Bargarh in Odisha. The Prime Minister will attend the inauguration of the Centenary Celebration of Gaudiya Mission and Math in Kolkata tomorrow evening. Nepalese Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli, who is on his first visit abroad after assuming office in October last, on Saturday paid tributes to Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat here. Earlier, he was accorded a ceremonial reception at the forecourts of the Rashtrapati Bhawan. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Home Minister Rajnath Singh were among others present at the ceremony. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will be calling on Prime Minister Oli at the Rashtrapati Bhawan. Thereafter, he will meet Prime Minister Modi at the Hyderabad House, which will be followed by delegation-level talks, exchange of agreements and press statements. India and Nepal will be holding wide-ranging discussions on issues of mutual concern, as well as on strengthening bilateral cooperation in diverse areas, including developmental assistance, energy and connectivity. The Prime Minister will host a banquet for him. Preity Zinta's marriage is surely the talk of the town at this moment with loads of updates coming in every moment. After a rumour that the very cute 41-year-old actress is tying knot in next 10 days, a leading web portal now says it will take place in the month of April in Los Angeles. It has also been reported that the 'Kya Kehna' actress and her beau will first have a private church wedding with their close friends and family in LA. This will be followed by a big fat Rajput wedding with three-day-long ceremonies in Mumbai with her friends from film industry in attendance. Post the big fat wedding Preity will be hosting a huge reception for her Bollywood buddies in Mumbai. Coming to her wedding outfit, Preity's attires for sangeet, mehendi and wedding will be either designed by Manish Malhotra or her friend Surily Goel. Gene Goodenough, who is the Vice President of Finance in a hydroelectric power company called NLine Energy, is based out of US. The 'Veer Zara' actress met Gene on one of her trip to her brother who resides in the USA. The there have been loads of news doing around regarding her marriage, the actress still now has not opened about anything. With protesters going on rampage, creating serious law and order situation in Haryana, Director General of Police (DGP) Y.P. Singhal on Saturday appealed to elderly people to counsel the youth not to take part in such protests. Here are the highlights of the press conference: 1) Protesters are not blocking roads everywhere; people are responding in peaceful way after. 2) In many places, the jams have opened up. At least ten companies of Paramilitary forces have reached while another 23 are on their way. 3) Over 78 people have been injured during these protests. 4) Flag match is underway in the affected areas, and I am sure the situation will normalise very soon. 5) There was stone pelting at BJP MP Raj Kumar Saini's house, but the police reached the spot instantly and the protestors were dispersed. 6) Strict action would be taken in all the registered cases. 7) The report of IG's residence being attacked is false. The house hasn't been vandalised. The house gate was burnt and stones were pelted at his house. 8) Curfew has been imposed in Rohtak, Bhiwani, and Jhajjar. 9) We are taking all measures to ensure peoples' security. 'The Mob Wives' star Angela Raiola, who died at the age of 55 after losing the battle with cancer, will be honored with a private funeral in New York. The four private showings will be held in a funeral home for Big Ang and on Monday, a private funeral will take place at the Basilica of Regina Pacis in Brooklyn, E! Online reports. In addition to this, Raiola will be laid to rest in a private burial on the StatenIsland. Many celebrities and 'Mob Wives' stars have paid tribute to the late TV star. Nicki Minaj took to Instagram to write, "Such a vibrant, loving, genuine spirit. #BigAng," Her representative Jennifer Graziano has released a statement on behalf of the family, revealing Raiola passed away peacefully surrounded by friends and family at 3:01 am on 18 February. The TV star died from complications of cancer in a hospital after she contracted pneumonia. Raiola is survived by her daughter, son and grandchildren. Noida based start-up Ringing Bells has come under the scanner of excise and income tax departments as debates around the feasibility of offering a Rs. 251 handset comes into light. "Yes, there was a visit from excise department and IT Department. Since we are planning to achieve milestones under Make in India, Skill India and Startup India. They issued us some guidelines for future and extended full support and cooperation," Ringing Bells President Ashok Chadha said. Meanwhile, BJP MP Kirit Somaiya on Friday levelled serious allegation against the company, saying it is a 'ponzi bogus company scam'. "This is a huge scam, that is why I went through all the papers of the company. The government has informed Uttar Pradesh government to check the bonafide of the promoter. This is a Ponzi bogus company scam," Somaiya said. Noida-based company Ringing Bells on Thursday started booking for the phone for Rs 251 and has said that delivery of all handsets will be completed by June 30. The smartphone was launched by BJP MP Murli Manohar Joshi on February 17 at Delhi's Nehru Park. Up to 20 militants were killed and 33 injured in military operations across Afghanistan, the Defence Ministry said on Sunday. "The Afghan National Defence and Security Forces carried out 12 clean-up operations and 15 special operations in nine provinces in the past 24 hours, killing 20 insurgents and injuring 33 others," Xinhua reported quoting the Ministry. The Afghan air force also launched airstrikes, destroying four militants' hideouts over the period, the Ministry statement said, without elaborating about casualties on the side of the security forces. The Afghan troops have beefed up military operations as the Taliban militants and Islamic State terrorists are attempting to capture territory and consolidate their positions ahead of winter in the mountainous country. --IANS him/bg (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) At least 35 Taliban militants were killed, over the past two days in military operations in Baghlan and Badghis provinces of Afghanistan, officials said on Saturday. "A total of 15 armed Taliban were killed in Baghlan province since Friday," Xinhua quoted a police official as saying. Seven more militants sustained injuries, the official said. There was no casualty on the security personnel, he added. Dand-e-Shahabudin and Dand-e-Ghori districts have been regarded as Taliban hotbed threatening the provincial capital Pul-e-Khumri. The government forces, in efforts to dislodge militants from the said areas, launched a major offensive around one month ago which has claimed scores of lives from both warring sides as well as non-combatants. Government forces onslaught continues in Dand-e-Ghori and Dand-e-Shahabudin areas amid Taliban stiff resistance. Taliban militants also destroyed several power pylons and thus plunged Kabul into darkness over the past three weeks. Similarly, military operations in parts of the restive Badghis province have left 20 militants dead since Friday, an official said. "A cleanup operation involving units of national army and police was launched in Badghis province on Friday," the official said. Eight security personnel were injured during the operation, the official added. Meanwhile, Taliban outfit in an online statement confirmed clashes in Badghis and Baghlan provinces, claiming its fighters have inflicted casualties on government forces in Sang-e-Atash district of Badghis, besides killing seven soldiers and injuring six others in Dand-e-Shahabudin over the past couple of days. Government forces have pulled out of Musa Qala district of Helmand province after months of fierce fighting, a security official said on Saturday. "The forces finally retreated from Musa Qala district Friday night," Xinhua quoted the official as saying. However, the official did not provide more details, saying authorised officials would brief the media. The strategically important Musa Qala district, if captured by Taliban, would enable them to threaten government interests in Sangin and Gereshk districts. Taliban militants, fighting for the control of the district in the restive and poppy growing Helmand province, were yet to comment on it. The Afghan government has dismissed reports of the presence of child soldiers in the security forces as baseless. "No child exists with the rank of Afghan army," the state-run Bakhtar News Agency on Saturday quoted Second Vice President Sarwar Danesh as saying in a meeting with Leila Zerrougui, the special envoy of UN Secretary-General on children and armed conflicts. The report would be investigated to assure that no child was recruited in the security forces, he said. However, Danesh said that unfortunately children were misused by the armed opposition groups and girls were deprived of education in conflict hit areas. According to the media reports, the warring sides in Afghanistan, including the government, have been using children as soldiers in the conflict. Danesh said poverty has badly affected the children in Afghanistan and requested the international agencies to help the government in insuring the rights of children. The UN Secretary General for Children and Armed Conflict termed the government's commitment as encouraging. Zerrougui called on all parties to "respect international humanitarian law and to take all precautions to reduce the impact of conflict on children." Amid reports of discontent among some Left Front partners apprehensive of getting a lower share of seats following a probable Left-Congress tie-up in the coming West Bengal assembly polls, Left Front chairman Biman Bose on Saturday said all allies have to be prepared for sacrifices. "All Left Front partners need to make sacrifices, and yes, the CPI -M (Communist Party of India -Marxist which spearheads the LF) has to make the biggest sacrifices," Bose said. With the CPI-M and other LF constituents beginning the process to identify seats which each constituent would contest in the coming polls, there have been reports of some partners unwilling to let go a portion of their share of seats to the Congress in case the LF-Congress tie up becomes a reality. In a meeting on February 11, all LF constituents had given the stamp of approval on holding alliance talks with the Congress, but put the ball on the Congress court, saying it has to approach the combine first with the proposal. Meanwhile, Trinamool Congress supremo and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee dismissed the possible alliance at a party meeting and exuded confidence of returning to power. "She told the meeting that she is not at all bothered about the tie up. She said Trinamool would emerge victorious irrespective of whether the LF and the Congress comes together or not. She also said the party would win on the weight of the tremendous development work that the state has seen over the past five years," said a Trinamool leader present at a meeting of the elected representatives and organisational functionaries of the party's Kolkata district body. Virtually clearing the decks for its first-ever tactical electoral tie up with the Congress in West Bengal, the CPI-M on Thursday sought the cooperation of all democratic forces to defeat the ruling Trinamool in the coming state assembly polls. While CPI-M secretary Sitaram Yechury refused to be very specific keeping in mind the concerns of the Kerala party unit, which would have to take on the ruling Congress as its arch-rival in the assembly polls scheduled to be held around the same time as in West Bengal, another CPI-M central committee member Gautam Deb emphatically said his party was eyeing a tie up with the Congress. Soon after, the state Congress leaders welcomed the CPI-M's stand and said "the grassroot workers of the two parties have already formed an alliance on the ground". With the polls months away, the state leaderships of both the CPI-M and the Congress have been pitching for a joint fight against the Trinamool. On February 1, a majority of state Congress leaders conveyed to the party vice president Rahul Gandhi their desire to team up with the CPI-M. Congress president Sonia Gandhi will take the final decision on on the possible tie-up. A number of state Congress leaders have already flown to Delhi to impress upon the high command the need to formalise the pact without delay. The total number of approved solar parks has risen to 33 in 21 states with an aggregate capacity of 19,900 MW, an official statement said on Saturday. "As against 25 solar parks planned, the ministry (of new and renewable energy) has approved 33 solar parks in 21 states with aggregate capacity of 19,900 MW," said Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) managing director Ashvini Kumar in a statement. The SECI is the implementing agency and has already released Rs.54.93 crore to respective states from the sanctioned Rs.374 crore. Power and New and Renewable Energy Minister Piyush Goyal told a parliamentary consultative committee of his ministry that installed solar power capacity in India has crossed 5,000 MW in January and would achieve the target of 18,000 MW by the end of 2017 At the meeting held in Tirupati, he said India initiated the world's largest renewable energy programme by increasing the existing 3,500 MW by five-fold to 175 GW to be achieved by 2022. The meeting also attended by MPs Bharat Singh, Om Prakash Yadav, Sushil Kishore Singh and Jayadev Galla reviewed the progress made by Solar Park Scheme and National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) measures aimed at reducing emissions. MNRE Secretary Upendra Tripathy said the ministry has launched several projects like Scheme for Development of Solar Parks to achieve 20 GW through ultra mega solar parks. Top executive from MNRE, NTPC and National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) gave presentations gave presentations on their initiatives. A Pakistani court has issued a non-bailable arrest warrant against former president Pervaiz Musharraf in a murder case. A session judge on Saturday issued the warrant and directed authorities to produce Musharraf before court on March 16 in the murder of fundamentlist Ghazi Abdul Rasheed during the seige of the Lal Masjid here in 2007, The News International reported. The court also dismissed Musharraf's plea for permanent exemption from appearing in the case. The former president has never appeared before the court during 55 hearings of the case. The three-day standoff in July 2007 at the Lal Masjid claimed scores of lives, including of students and security personnel. The chief cleric's brother, Ghazi Abdul Rasheed was among those killed in the operation. A Bihar court on Saturday rejected the anticipatory bail plea of Rajballabh Yadav, a legislator of the ruling RJD who is accused of raping a minor girl, a government lawyer said. The district civil court in Biharsharif, the headquarters of Nalanda, rejected the legislator's anticipatory bail plea after hearing both sides in the case. Police have been raiding different places to arrest Rajballabh Yadav, who is still absconding after a warrant of arrest was issued after the girl from Nalanda district filed an FIR against him. The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) last week suspended Rajballabh Yadav, the legislator from Nawada assembly constituency. Police said the charges against Yadav were found to be true during their preliminary investigation. According to the police complaint, a woman named Sulekha Devi took the girl to an undisclosed location in Nalanda on February 6 and forced her to drink liquor. She was then raped by a man, later identified as Yadav. After she was raped, the girl said the woman gave her Rs.30,000. Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Saturday flagged off the 'Mukti Caravan', a campaign on wheels against child trafficking spearheaded by Bachpan Bachao Andolan (BBA) in association with the Kailash Satyarthi Children's Foundation. Flagging off the Mukti Caravan from near his official residence, Gogoi said the movement launched in the state would help create awareness on trafficked, sexually abused and exploited children and liberate them from bondage. Gogoi recalled his meetings with Nobel laureate Satyarthi, and appealed to the people, NGOs and the media to join hands with the state government and the BBA to put an end to all sorts of exploitation of children. The first phase of the campaign will have tribal youth generating awareness in villages and towns prone to human trafficking. The campaign will sensitise people through street plays, folk songs infused with social messages, pamphlets, wall writings, pledge signings and awareness camps on child exploitation and need for education to sensitise the masses. Former victims of trafficking and bonded labour will participate in the campaign. The first phase will cover 10 districts -- Kamrup Rural, Kamrup Metro, Sonitpur, Lakhimpur, Baksa, Udalguri, Kokrajhar, Bongaigaon and Goalpara. The BBA has been utilising Mukti Caravan as an instrument of mass mobilisation and awareness since 1997. The caravan has covered trafficking-prone villages in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh, reaching out to more than one million people by traversing a distance of 2.5 lakh km. BBA member and Balashram director Sumedha Kailash appealed to everyone to save children from being trafficked and help rehabilitate them into the mainstream. "I appeal to the people to lodge complaints against child trafficking and sexual abuse with police and the office of Bachpan Bachao Andolan. I also urge the media to bring to light cases of children trafficked in the state," she added. She said that in the earlier campaign launched in the state in 2011, around 500 complaints against exploitation of children were received, out of which 259 children were rescued and rehabilitated. The Congress in Rajasthan on Saturday submitted an application to police superintendents in all district headquarters demanding filing of a police complaint and the arrest of BJP legislator Kailash Chaudhary for his "traitor" remark against Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi. Chaudhary, the BJP legislator from Baytoo constituency in Barmer district, while addressing a farmers rally on Wednesday said Gandhi stood with people who made anti-India and pro-Pakistan slogans, and was thus an "anti-national and traitor", who "should be punished, hanged and shot". He also said such people "should be thrown out of the country" and they do not have any right to live in India. Members of the Congress on Saturday submitted an application to superintendents of police in all district headquarters of the state demanding filing of an FIR against the BJP leader. State Congress president Sachin Pilot said Chaudhary should be arrested immediately, and also demanded immediate sacking of the leader by the BJP. Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda on Saturday ruled out the possibility of any increase in drug prices due to a hike in import taxes, and said medicines would be made available at cheaper rates. "It has been wrongly reported that there will be hike in drug prices in India due to hike in import taxes. On the contrary, medicines are likely to become cheaper. Apart from generic drugs, medicines for cancer and cardiovascular surgical implants will also be available at 60 to 90 percent subsidised rates," Nadda said in his address at a meeting at the state-run T.D. Medical College here. After laying the foundation stone of the Rs.150-crore super specialty block for the medical college, Nadda said his ministry was willing to provide assistance in setting up AMRIT centres -- Affordable Medicines and Reliable Implants for Treatment -- in Kerala if the state government gives land for the scheme's implementation. Sanjay Patel's animated short, "Sanjay's Super Team", which tells the story of an immigrant community and "a family of colour", is up against movies like "Bear Story" and "World of Tomorrow" for the Best Animated Short Film at this year's Oscars. The Indian-American Pixar artist and director says it feels special just to be in the company of "incredibly deserving" nominees. The world is eagerly waiting to see who will walk away with the prestigious statuette at the 88th Academy Awards, to be held in Los Angeles on February 28. And Indians have a reason to cheer as Patel, who has roots in Gujarat, is pitted against "Bear Story", directed by Gabriel Osorio, "World of Tomorrow", helmed by Don Hertzfeldt, Richard Williams's "Prologue" and "We Can't Live Without Cosmos", directed by Konstantin Bronzit. "I was confident (of winning) until I saw the other nominees. I became even less confident after I met the nominees. They are so incredibly deserving. All the films are so unique and special. It feels special just to be in that company," Patel told IANS over the phone from Los Angeles. The US film production studio Disney-Pixar's film shows a boy, modelled on Patel, who wants to watch superhero cartoons on television. It goes on to present the boy's daydreams -- bored with his father's religious meditation -- who imagines Hindu gods as superheroes. "John Lasseter (chief creative officer, Disney-Pixar) was the one who gave me the confidence and permission (to make the film). I had a story about a little boy from India who didn't have a father and it was more about him being absorbed in western comics and kind of ignoring the stories from his own culture. I told that story to John. He liked it. Then he asked me about how I grew up. "I told him about my experience with my father. John straight away loved the idea. The same ideas got communicated, but it got richer and more universal. Initially, the concept was something that may be only a certain amount of people might have been able to relate to. But the idea of generational struggle between a young person and his parents is way more universal and emotional," he said. He feels proud that Pixar was "so supportive in letting me tell a story from an immigrant community... a story of family of colour and give me that opportunity to tell the truth". Born in Britain to Gujarati parents, Patel moved to the United States in the 1980s. The 41-year-old joined Pixar Animation Studios in 1996 as an animator on "A Bug's Life", and has animated on many of Pixar's feature films, including "Ratatouille", "Cars" and "Toy Story 3". Patel also storyboarded extensively for "Monster's Inc.", "The Incredibles" and "Toy Story 2". "My father has always been proud of me. The truth is I was always very embarrassed of him... of his Indianness. So, I am really proud that my father was patient for me to grow up, for me to come to appreciate who we really are," said Patel. In fact, his "big wish" is to visit India with his parents. "My dream is to... I have never been to Gujarat with my parents. It's a big wish of mine. I just want to go back and have them show me our roots," said the first-time director, who also has a son named Arjun. (Natalia Ningthoujam can be contacted at natalia.n@ians.in) South African health authorities on Friday confirmed the first Zika case involving a Colombian businessman. The businessman who visited Johannesburg has been diagnosed with Zika by a private Johannesburg pathology laboratory, Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi said. At the moment the South Africa National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) is busy conducting confirmatory tests, according to the minister. The businessman was in South Africa for four days when he went to see his doctor because of fever and rash, but now he is fully recovered, Motsoaledi said. "This infection was acquired in Colombia before he visited Johannesburg," Motsoaledi was quoted by Xinhua news agency. "The confirmation of this particular case poses no risk to the South African population as the virus is not transmitted from human to human but through the Aedes aegypti mosquito and or possibly from mother to the foetus in pregnant women," Motsoaledi said. The virus is causing international alarm after spreading quickly in South and Central America and the Caribbean, with Brazil the worst affected country. The World Health Organization declared an international health emergency on February 1 over the virus, citing concern over a possible link with a rise in cases of microcephaly, a birth defect characterized by an abnormally small head that can result in developmental problems. Most infected people have no symptoms or mild ones, including fever and skin rashes. Five more people were killed in Haryana on Saturday as the violence linked to the Jat agitation escalated, forcing the state government to seek additional columns of the army and more companies of paramilitary forces to control the situation. "Four people lost their lives in district Jhajjar when armed forces opened fire to quell arson and firing, and one was killed in district Kaithal. Five people were injured in district Rohtak. Apart from this, 10 people, including some police personnel, were injured in district Jhajjar," a state government spokesman said here. Three people were killed in firing by security forces in Rohtak on Friday. The request for additional security forces came as Haryana remained on the boil on Saturday due to violence by Jat protestors in several districts. The losses due to government and private property being set on fire, buses and private vehicles being burnt, roads and highways being blocked, trains being disrupted and tracks being uprooted and free-for-all in looting and arson by hooligans, could run into thousands of crores. "The requisition for additional force was made by Crisis Management Group comprising the chief secretary, additional chief secretary, home and director general of police who held a meeting with union cabinet secretary, chief of army staff, chief of air force and Director IB through video conference from here," the spokesman said. He said that the people behind the violence were being identified and 154 First Information Reports (FIRs) have been registered. "Army and police personnel have been deployed in adequate number in Rohtak to control the situation. 15 companies of India Reserve Battalion and Haryana Armed Police, three companies of paramilitary forces and two columns of army have already been deployed," the spokesman said. He said that the central government is providing a helicopter for monitoring measures to control the agitation and also spray tear gas to disperse mobs, especially at blockades. The spokesman said that Bhiwani town remained peaceful whereas in Hisar district, two people were injured in a village near Hansi as a result of a clash between two groups. Joint teams of the army and police carried out a flag march in Bhiwani town on Saturday, urging people not to come out of their houses as curfew had been imposed and to maintain peace in their areas. Want to know how exactly feeding penguins or watching the world's oldest panda eat or play around feels like? One can be witness to all the excitement at the Ocean Park, a marine mammal park and animal theme park here. Home to over 20 species of penguins, including king penguins, rockhopper penguins and gentoo penguins, the Ocean Park also offers an encounter element for visitors who like to get up, close and be personal with them. This starts with a brief educational class and an interactive session about the flightless bird, which is mostly found in the Antarctica region. Once the 15-minute class gets over, visitors are given sterilised clothing, boots, gloves and goggles. After entering the area visitors are allowed to pet the penguins and also feed them fish. The penguin exhibit replicates the environs in Antarctica keeping in mind their habitat. It focusses on humans lowering the carbon footprint that affects animals living in icy habitats, by pledging to reduce, recycle, reuse and save energy, among other issues. But that's not all. The theme park is not just limited to penguins, sea lions and dolphins. Spread across 91.5 hectares of land in the south Hong Kong island region, it is also a home to several exotic and endangered animals like the giant pandas, the Sichuan golden snub-nosed monkey, sea otters, red pandas and koala bears. The park is known to have four giant pandas - with two, Jia Jia and An An, being the oldest. The endangered golden monkey is said to be a gift from a Chinese province. The theme park also offers 27 rides of myriad intensities, and a gigantic aquarium that boasts about 5,000 fish of over 400 species such as the hammerhead shark, giant crabs, giant Pacific octopus and the mantaray, to name just a few. How many people does it take to run such a park? "We have over 2,400 people working for us," its chief executive, Tom Mehrmann, told a visiting IANS correspondent. India is a huge market for Ocean Park. "I may be slightly off on the numbers, but in 2014 about 550,000 people from India came to Hong Kong. About 50 percent of that number came to Ocean Park; so it tells us India is a critically important market," Mehermann added. (The writer's trip is at the invitation of Ocean Park Hong Kong. Durga Chakravarty can be contacted at durga.c@ians.in) Hardik Patel, the leader of the Patel quota agitation who is on protest hunger strike while in judicial custody, has been admitted to hospital after he complained of dizziness, officials said on Saturday. Medical staff overseeing Patel at the prison ward of the New Civil Hospital in Surat said his condition was normal. The 23-year-old leader and convener of the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) was brought from the Lajpore jail in Surat to the hospital on Friday night after he complained of breathlessness and weakness, said hospital superintendent Mahesh Vadel. The Patel leader, who was to begin his fast on Saturday, launched it on Thursday itself after the parents of three of his associates submitted a letter to Chief Minister Anandiben Patel that the group was willing to talk peace with the state government. The letter that was signed by nearly two dozen people carried Hardik Patel's name, but significantly, not his signature. Hospital superintendent Vadel said the doctors conducted various tests on Patel and he was normal now. However, Patel has been kept under observation at the hospital. Vadel said Patel agreed to consume water on the instructions of the doctors. The PAAS leader has been in judicial custody for over five months after being slapped with sedition cases in Ahmedabad and Surat. His three associates, whose fathers submitted the letter to the chief minister, are also in judicial custody on sedition charges. According to sources, Patel is in no mood for a compromise with the state government unless the demand for reservation to the Patel community is met -- which was why he went on a fast from Thursday. Meanwhile, the administration has refused permission for a pro-quota women's rally by PAAS in Mehsana city on February 29, citing law and order issues. The PAAS challenged this in the Gujarat High Court, where Justice Sonia Gokani told the authorities to take a decision whether to allow the rally by February 25 and inform the petitioners by email. Chaos reigned in Haryana on Saturday with escalated violence in several areas as hooligans, who have joined ranks of Jat protestors, ran amok, setting afire government and private property and vehicles, blocking roads and highways, disrupting trains and uprooting tracks and indulging in looting. Curfew was imposed in Hisar, Sonipat and Jind towns after violence. Violence was also reported from Kaithal. The death toll in the violence in past 36 hours has reached four with over 100 people being injured. One person was killed when soldiers opened fire on an unruly mob in Jhajjar. The Haryana Police and local administration in the affected districts have failed to react to the violence, leave alone controlling it even as the army moved in to control the situation in the worst-affected areas of Rohtak, Bhiwani and Jhajjar. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and NSA Ajit Doval discussed the deteriorating law and order situation in the state in New Delhi. While Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar appealed to protestors to stop the violence and his BJP invited them to hold talks with the party's central leadership, his predecessor Bhupinder Singh Hooda, of the Congress, said that he would start a hunger strike at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi from Saturday till the situation normalised. Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) leader Abhay Chautala demanded that the Khattar government be dismissed and president's rule be imposed in view of the deteriorating situation. Army columns conducted flag marches at various places in the violence-hit districts as the security forces grappled with the tense situation in areas where violence occurred. However, the army did not take a flag march towards Gate No.2 of Maharishi Dayanand University in Rohtak town as nearly 3,000 Jat youth laid siege to the area, armed with sharp-edged weapons, despite warnings by the authorities not to venture out of their homes. Protesters set several buses on fire in the Gohana bus stand in Sonipat district, 210 km from Chandigarh. Mobs set a police station in Meham town on fire. A police station and a railway station was set on fire in Jind district, a 'dharamshala' (free hostelry) was set on fire in Jhajjar and buses were set on fire in Julana and Kaithal towns. Buildings of revenue departments were also set on fire at some places. The toll plaza on the Panipat-Rohtak highway was also set on fire by mobs, while protesters uprooted the Delhi-Ambala railway track at Rajlu Garhi in Panipat district, disrupting the crucial rail line which connects Delhi with north India and leaving hundreds of passengers stranded. Nearly 550 trains were either cancelled or diverted since the agitation began. The Vita milk plant was set on fire in Rohtak and scores of shops were set afire in the town. Curfew continued in Rohtak, Bhiwani and Jhajjar towns on Saturday but the violence did not stop. Haryana Director General of Police Y.P. Singhal said that 129 cases have so far been registered against agitators and claimed that the situation improved on Saturday compared to Friday. Home Secretary P.K. Das said no untoward incident was reported from Rohtak, Bhiwani and Jhajjar districts, and that more army and para-military would be air-lifted to the violence-hit areas. "A petrol pump and Sadar police station in Meham were damaged and set on fire. The national highway-1 (NH-1) is blocked but efforts are on to get the blockade lifted," Singhal said. He said 13 army columns have reached the state to assist the administration and 10 more columns are being airlifted, while 10 companies of paramilitary forces have reached the state and 23 more are on their way. The DGP said the ongoing agitation in Haryana was "leaderless", and the role of outsiders in the violence could not be ruled out. Soldiers were airdropped earlier on Saturday in violence-hit Rohtak town after the protesters blocked and dug up roads to prevent their entry. Indian Air Force helicopters conducted several sorties to transport soldiers into some parts of the town. The agitation began as Jats demanded reservation for the community in government jobs and educational institutions. Reports said NH-1 was blocked by protesters in Sonipat district, 50 km from Delhi, and thousands of people and hundreds of vehicles were stranded. Traffic was also disrupted in Gurgaon. Haryana continued to be on the boil on Saturday as youth protesters of the Jat community set on fire government property, buses and other vehicles at several places. Even as the Army moved in to control the situation in the worst affected areas of Rohtak, Bhiwani and Jhajjar districts, reports of more violence in Jind, Kaithal and Sonipat districts were received. Army columns conducted flag marches at various places in the violence-hit districts as the security forces grappled with the tense situation in areas where the Jat agitation demanding reservation had turned violent. However, the army did not take its flag march towards Gate No.2 of Maharishi Dayanand University in Rohtak town as nearly 3,000 Jat youth protesters laid siege to the area, armed with sharp-edged weapons, despite warnings by the authorities not to venture out of their homes. Protesters set several buses on fire in the Gohana bus stand in Sonipat district, 210 km from Chandigarh. Mobs set a police station in Meham town on fire. A railway station was set on fire in a village in Jind district, a dharamshala was set on fire in Jhajjar and buses were set on fire in Julana and Kaithal towns. A police station and railway station was set on fire in Pillu Khera area of Safidon sub-division in Jind district. Buildings of revenue departments were also set on fire at some places. The toll plaza on the Panipat-Rohtak highway was also set on fire by mobs. Protesters uprooted the Delhi-Ambala railway track at Rajlu Garhi in Panipat district. Curfew continued in Rohtak, Bhiwani and Jhajjar towns on Saturday. In Rohtak town, scores of shops were set on fire by mobs. Haryana Director General of Police (DGP) Y.P. Singhal said 129 cases have so far been registered against those agitating. He claimed that the situation improved on Saturday compared to Friday. Haryana home secretary P.K. Das said no untoward incident was reported from Rohtak, Bhiwani and Jhajjar districts. "A petrol pump and Sadar police station in Meham were damaged and set on fire. The national highway-1 (NH-1) is blocked but efforts are on to get the blockade lifted," the DGP said. "Thirteen columns of army have reached the state and are assisting the administration. Ten more columns of the army are being airlifted to their respective destinations. "In addition, 10 companies of paramilitary forces have reached the state and 23 more companies are on their way to Haryana. These were either being airlifted or reaching by road," Singhal said. The DGP said the ongoing agitation in Haryana was "leaderless", and the role of outsiders in the violence could not be ruled out. Despite the army being deployed, the situation in Haryana continued to remain tense. Soldiers were airdropped earlier on Saturday in violence-hit Rohtak town after the protesters blocked and dug up roads to prevent the entry of the military. The agitation began as Jats demanded reservation for the community in government jobs and educational institutions. Looting and arson continued in the town through Friday night with unruly mobs targeting malls, shops and other buildings and many of them were set on fire. Indian Air Force helicopters conducted several sorties to transport soldiers into some parts of Rohtak town. "Around 20-30 troops were being brought into Rohtak town by choppers. They will be deployed in areas which are under siege of the Jat protesters," a senior officer told IANS. Reports said NH-1 was blocked by protesters in Sonipat district, 50 km from Delhi. The Delhi-Ambala railway track remained blocked since Friday evening. Hundreds of passengers were stranded as railway authorities cancelled several trains on the route. Nearly 550 trains were either cancelled or diverted since the agitation began a week ago. On Friday, the agitation intensified and resulted in the death of three people and injuries to nearly 100 people, including security personnel. A mob also attacked the office of the Rohtak range inspector general of police (IGP) and set the house of Finance Minister Abhimanyu on fire on Friday. Jat leader Hawa Singh Sangwan said youth have taken over the agitation. The authorities also blocked internet and SMS services in the affected districts. The situation in Haryana continued to remain tense on Saturday due to ongoing agitation carried out by Jat protesters, with army personnel deployed in eight districts. Soldiers were airlifted earlier on Saturday to the violence-hit Rohtak town after the protesters dug up roads to block the entry of the military. The agitation began as Jats are demanding reservation for the community in government jobs and educational institutions. Looting and arson continued in the town through Friday night with unruly mobs targeting malls, shops and other buildings and many of them were set on fire. Indian Air Force helicopters did several sorties to transport soldiers into some parts of Rohtak town. "Around 20-30 troops were being brought into Rohtak town by choppers. They will be deployed in areas which are under siege of the Jat protesters," a senior officer told IANS. Authorities in Rohtak asked people not to venture out of their houses after 9.30 a.m. as the army prepared for a flag march. The army staged a flag-march in Bhiwani town. Officials said that the situation was under control. Reports said that national highway No. 1 (NH-1) was blocked by protesters in Sonipat district, 50 km from Delhi. The Delhi-Ambala railway track remained blocked since Friday evening. Hundreds of passengers were stranded as railway authorities cancelled several trains on the route. Nearly 550 trains were either cancelled or diverted since the agitation began a week ago. On Friday, the agitation that started a week ago, got even worse and resulted in the death of three people and dozens, including security personnel, were injured. The mob also attacked the office of the Rohtak range inspector general of police (IGP) and set the house of Finance Minister Abhimanyu on fire. Jat leader Hawa Singh Sangwan said that the youth have taken over the agitation. "They do not have any organised leader and hence the violence is happening. Some mischievous elements have infiltrated the mobs," he said. Authorities have also blocked internet and SMS services in the affected districts. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Nepalese counterpart K.P. Sharma Oli led delegation-level talks here on Saturday, the second day of the latter's six-day visit to India. "Deliberating the details of a deep-rooted relationship. PM Narendra modi and POM K.P. Sharma Pli lead delegation talks," external affairs ministry spokesman Vikas Swarup stated on Twitter. The talks got underway after a meeting between Modi and Oli at Hyderabad House here. This is the first bilateral visit by a prime minister from the Himalayan nation since 2011 when Baburam Bhattarai visited India. In 2014, then prime minister Sushil Koirala visited India for the swearing-in ceremony of the Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government. In August 2014, Modi paid a bilateral visit to Nepal, the first by an Indian prime minister in 17 years. Modi again went in November 2014 for the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) summit in Kathmandu. Earlier on Saturday, Oli was accorded a ceremonial welcome at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, where he was accorded a guard of honour. Following this, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj called on the visiting dignitary. During the meeting, Oli told Sushma Swaraj that India and Nepal have a natural and civilisational relationship, according to Swarup. Oli's visit assumes significance as ties between the two South Asian neighbours in the last few months soured after the adoption of a new constitution in the Himalayan nation sparked violent protests in the country's southern plains. With the stir by Haryana's Jat community, wanting affirmative action, entering the seventh day, the impact on industry in the National Capital Region worsened on Saturday, with companies neither able to get supplies, nor ship out their merchandise. Even as Army columns held flag marches in violence-hit districts of Haryana -- a state bordering the national capital -- movement of goods continued to suffer due to blockades of both railways and roadways. Particularly hit were the industries in Haryana, India's third largest exporter of software with a large presence of automotive, agro, textiles, oil refining, biotechnology and petrochemicals industries. While no estimate was available on the extent of losses, the impact can be somewhat gauged by the fact that the state's GDP was $72.2 billion in 2014-15 -- a shade under $200 million per day or Rs.1,360 crore in Indian currency. "Yesterday alone we've lost Rs.15 lakh worth of business. Our finished goods just couldn't reach the locations," a businessperson with a factory in Gurgaon, a hub for IT services, told IANS but requested anonymity due to the sensitivities and the violence involved. "All our major offload takes place during the month-end. If we don't service our clients on time, our receivables also get impacted," the businessperson said, adding the movement of trucks even to areas beyond Haryana was getting affected. Her reference was to the blockade along the National Highway 1, which is an arterial road that connects the north of Haryana with the southern parts of the country. This has resulted in some consignments of other states getting stuck as well. For some specifics, the highway was blocked by protesters in Sonipat district, 50 km from Delhi, even as the disruptions were caused on the railway track between Delhi and Ambala, some 200 km north of the national capital. Nearly 550 trains were either cancelled or diverted. Due to the violence -- resulting in the death of three people and injuries to dozens, including security personnel -- industry bodies declined comment, politely saying they needed more time to assess the situation. State Finance Minister Abhimanyu's house was set on fire. Mahendra Mittal, president of the Haryana state sector of the Confederation of All India Traders, told IANS: "Of course business is impacted due to the agitation. But if the government promised the Jat community reservation earlier, then they should stick to that promise." The state has several large units, including the main plants of India's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki. But smaller units are the ones that pepper the industrial landscape. However, Central Minister for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Kalraj Mishra had little to say. He termed the stir as "unfortunate" but remained nonchalant about the impact. "Disturbances will keep happening," he said, trying to give the matter a political twist as well. "Some frustrated elements can't digest the huge mandate given to the BJP." Even Maruti Suzuki said it halted production at two facilities, making 5,000 cars per day. "Owing to the agitation in Rohtak and nearby areas, supplies of certain components have been disrupted. As a consequence, the company has had to temporarily suspend manufacture of cars at its facilities in Manesar and Gurgaon, starting Saturday (February 20) second half," it said. "Once the supply of components is restored, normal operations will resume." In the National capital, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted on Saturday: "Am worried about impact of Jat agitation on Delhi." He said he spoke to the central Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and was assured early resolution of the issue. What has also left industry wondering is: How will the state now showcase itself as an attractive destination, when it hosts its flagship event for the global investors. As of today, "Happening Haryana", as the summit on March 7 is being called, sounds like it is for a different reason. Turkey's initiative for the enforcement of a no-fly zone over Syria is "a repetition of mistakes" committed by the West in the past, a senior Iranian official said on Saturday. "The solution to the Syrian crisis, which has negatively affected regional security, is merely political," Xinhua quoted Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Amir-Abdollahian as saying. "Undoubtedly, renewal of the idea of a no-fly zone (over Syria) will not provide any help for regional security and stability," he said. Ankara has renewed calls for setting up a no-fly zone and a safe zone for rebels and refugees in the north of Syria as hopes to stop the five-year-old conflict in its Arab neighbour dim more than ever. Turkish President Recep Tayyip on Wednesday said a no-fly zone would have prevented Russia's air campaign in the region and prevented thousands of civilian deaths. The proposal does not have the backing of most NATO allies. Only Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Wednesday that a kind of no-fly zone from Aleppo to the Turkish border can be good to protect civilians. Independent legislator Engineer Rashid was attacked by activists of right-wing Hindu groups in Rajouri district of Jammu region on Saturday. "With murderous intention, activists of Bajrang Dal and VHP attacked me in Bhamla (Sunderbani) area of Rajouri district today," Rashid alleged. "They also broke the windshield of the vehicle in which I was travelling. They tried to sprinkle ink on my face but it fell on the damaged vehicle," the legislator told reporters. Engineer Rashid stirred up a hornet's nest last year when he hosted a beef party at the legislators' hostel in Srinagar. Authorities here in Haryana on Saturday imposed prohibitory orders banning unlawful assembly of people, as the Jat community disrupted traffic and stopped trains in many areas for the second consecutive day. Demanding reservation under the OBC category, people belonging to the Jat community stopped trains in places like Chandu, Sarai Alawardi, Patli, Garhi Harsaru on the Delhi-Rewari route, delaying at least eight passenger and express trains. People blocked the road linking Gurgaon to Najafgarh in southwest Delhi, while the road at Bajghera Chowk was also blocked for a few hours, causing a huge traffic jam. Jats blocked traffic near the Daultabad flyover on the Gurgaon-Jhajjar road, Gurgaon-Sohna Road near Islampur (Subhash Chowk), and also near Basai and Dhanwapur, causing problems for commuters. Police did not try to remove the barricades set up by the Jats and the agitators left the protest sites on their own. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J.Jayalalithaa on Saturday dismissed Milk and Dairy Development Minister B.V.Ramanaa from her cabinet and also dismissed him from his party post. Ramanaa was the Tiruvallur west district secretary of the AIADMK. However no reasons were given for dropping Ramanaa from the council of the ministers or removing him from the party post. The action came on the last day of the last session of the 14th assembly. A statement issued by Raj Bhavan said Governor K.Rosaiah has accepted Jayalalithaa's recommendation of dropping Ramanaa and that Rural Industries and Labour Minister P. Mohan will handle the milk and dairly development portfolio. The recent shutdown of an inter-Korean industrial complex will not affect Pyongyang's nuclear programme, as it started before the opening of the zone, North Korea said on Saturday. North Korea's development of nuclear and "space" programmes will remain intact after the shutdown, adding that South Korea's plan to cut the funding of such projects by closing the complex will be unsuccessful, Yonhap news agency reported. The South Korean government decided to close the operation of the joint complex in the North's border city of Kaesong in response to Pyongyang's recent nuclear test and long-range rocket launch. Around 54,000 North Korean workers were employed by 124 South Korean firms in production facilities in Kaesong. The shutdown of the industrial zone is set to drive Kaesong-based South Korean firms to "death", the report said. The measure has drawn mixed views on its effects, given the fact that local manufacturers had run production facilities there with the output hovering above $500 million in 2015. Global credit appraiser Moody's Investors Service, meanwhile, earlier said the shutdown will have only a limited impact on South Korea, as the zone contributes only around 0.04 percent of the country's annual gross domestic product. In 2013, the industrial zone was also closed due to Pyongyang's protest against a joint military exercise between South Korean and the US forces. The two Koreas still technically remain in a state of war since the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce, not a peace treaty. The Kaesong Industrial Complex first went into operation in 2004. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday expressed concern over the ongoing in Haryana and discussed the issue with Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar. The Delhi Chief Minister had said in a tweet that he is worried about water supply to the capital. Later, in a series of tweets, Kejriwal said both Singh and Khattar have assured him that the army is being sent to Munak canal, which supplies water to south Delhi. "Spoke to Rajnath ji also and apprised him of grave situation. He has assured that army is being sent to Munak canal," the Delhi chief minister tweeted. Kejriwal also spoke to Khattar, who gave a similar assurance. "He (Khattar) has assured that he will immediately send army to ensure safety of Munak canal," Kejriwal said. Haryana has been on boil with Jat community agitating demanding reservations in government jobs and educational institutions. In worst hit Rohtak, looting and arson continued in the town through Friday night with unruly mobs targeting malls, shops and other buildings and many of them were set on fire. The two Serbian embassy employees kidnapped last November in Libya were most probably killed during the US airstrikes against the Islamic State, Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic said on Saturday. Dacic said the ministry received photos that confirmed their identity with a high level of certainty, although the victims were not officially identified and Serbia was waiting for an official confirmation by Libyan authorities, Xinhua reported. Sladjana Stankovic and Jovica Stepic were kidnapped while travelling to Tunisia on November 8, 2015 and were taken near the town of Sabratha by unidentified gunmen, who negotiated a ransom with their families in Serbia. "Information (that they were killed) has still not been confirmed by Libyan authorities, but we received photos that clearly point out that the information is likely correct," Dacic said, adding that the ministry got the information about the event on Friday. The families of the kidnapped employees were immediately notified and transport of their bodies and funeral in Serbia will be organised shortly after their identities are confirmed. Dacic said Serbia was not notified about the US operation and announced that the country will ask for an explanation from the US and Libyan authorities concerning the information on locations and targets they had prior to the airstrikes. He explained that the target was an alleged training camp suspected to be a property of the Islamic State; however foreign citizens were also kept there. He said that Serbian intelligence forces knew about the location of the building, and that Serbian authorities cooperated and negotiated with local authorities that were waiting for the right time to organise a rescue operation at the camp. Dacic said that kidnappers had an exclusively financial motive and the two employees would not have been killed if it were not for the airstrikes. The US Department of Justice (DOJ) alleged that there was brand marketing strategy behind the refusal by Apple, a technology company in Silicon Valley, to help access the phone of a terrorist killer. The DOJ on Friday filed a motion at a court in the US where Judge Sheri Pym on Tuesday ordered Apple to provide specialised software to hack into the phone of Syed Farook, XInhua reported. Farook, with his wife Tashfeen Malik, was responsible for killing 14 people on December 2 last year in San Bernardino, California. In the 35-page document, the DOJ included as an "exhibit" the three-page statement by Apple chief executive officer Tim Cook, which was posted on Wednesday to argue against Judge Pym's order. Cook called the order, at the request of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), "an unprecedented step" threatening the security of Apple customers. In its response, however, the DOJ said Apple's current refusal to comply with the court's order "appears to be based on its concerns for its business model and public brand marketing strategy." It went to the length to say Apple "appears to object based on a combination of: a perceived negative impact on its reputation and marketing strategy were it to provide the ordered assistance to the government, numerous mischaracterizations of the requirements of the (court) order, and an incorrect understanding of the All Writs Act." Under the US law, the All Writs Act, the law Judge Pym applied in issuing her order to Apple, authorizes the US federal courts to "issue all writs necessary or appropriate in aid of their respective jurisdictions and agreeable to the usages and principal of law." FBI investigators, already accessible to call logs and other information from a mobile phone service carrier, told Pym earlier that without passcode they were unable to look into an iPhone 5c used by Farook. It was a work phone owned by San Bernardino county, where Farook worked at the public health department. The FBI therefore requested Apple's help to bypass a security feature that erases data in the smartphone after 10 unsuccessful unlocking attempts. Cook acknowledged that the FBI asked for help from Apple in the days following the San Bernardino attack and his company has provided data in its possession. Noting that Apple's assistance was necessary, the DOJ said technicians from both Apple and the FBI agreed that they were unable to identify any other methods feasible for gaining access to the "currently inaccessible data" on the phone. It listed in footnotes four suggestions discussed between Apple and the FBI, including attempting an auto-backup of the phone with the related cloud service account at Apple and obtaining previous back-ups of the device. Despite one senior Apple executive's defence on Friday that the company's refusal was about principles, rather than marketing, the DOJ pointed out that Apple "has consistently complied with a significant number of (court) orders." The company reportedly unlocked at least 70 iPhones at federal investigators' requests between 2008 and 2015. At a court hearing last year, Assistant US Attorney Saritha Komatireddy said Apple "had an established procedure to routinely take any of these requests, comply with them, processing them." While trying to compel Apple to comply with the latest court order and provide the software needed, the DOJ said it would allow Apple "to retain custody of its software at all times" and "the software never has to come into the government custody." A hearing on the case at the US District Court in Central California has been scheduled for March 22. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday greeted the people of Arunachal Pradesh on their statehood day. "On Arunachal Pradesh's Statehood Day, my greetings to people of the state. I pray for the state's overall development in the coming years," Modi said in a tweet. The state on Friday got a combined Congress-Bharatiya Janata Party government after 24 days of the president's rule. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday greeted the people of Mizoram on statehood day. "My best wishes to the wonderful people of Mizoram on their statehood day. May Mizoram scale new heights of progress in the years to come," an official release quoted the prime minister as saying. However, no official function was held on Saturday to celebrate the day. Mizoram was previously part of Assam until 1972, when it was carved out as a union territory. The mountainous state, which shares an 828-km border with Bangladesh and Myanmar, became the 23rd state of India on February 20, 1987. Prime Minister Narendra Modi met his Nepalese counterpart K.P. Sharma Oli on Saturday, the second day of the latter's six-day visit to India. The two leaders met at Hyderabad House here ahead of delegation-level talks. "Stepping forward into the future. PM Narendra Modi welcomes PM K.P. Sharma Oli at Hyderabad," external affairs ministry spokesman Vikas Swarup tweeted along with pictures of the two leaders. This is the first bilateral visit by a prime minister from the Himalayan nation since 2011 when Baburam Bhattarai visited India. In 2014, then prime minister Sushil Koirala visited India for the swearing-in ceremony of the Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government. In August 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi went on a bilateral visit to Nepal which was the first by an Indian prime minister in 17 years. Modi again went in November 2014 to attend the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) summit in Kathmandu. Earlier on Saturday, Oli was accorded a ceremonial welcome at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, where he inspected a guard of honour. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj thereafter called on the visiting dignitary. During the meeting, Oli told Sushma Swaraj that India and Nepal have a natural and civilisational relationship, according to Swarup. Oli's visit assumes significance as ties between the two South Asian neighbours in the last few months soured after the adoption of a new constitution in the Himalayan nation sparked violent protests in the country's southern plains. With Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday saying that "Nepal's stability is linked to India's security", his Nepalese counterpart K. P. Sharma Oli expressed the desire to take relations between the two countries to the "same level of enthusiasm" as earlier by clearing up all "misunderstandings". "The whole of India and I are in favour of economic development of Nepal... I am confident that under your able leadership, India-Nepal relations will further strengthen and attain new heights," Modi told Oli while addressing a joint press conference with him here. "It is clear that the stability of Nepal is linked to India's security. Prime Minister Oli and I agree that we need to face together the rising extremism and terrorism in the two countries," Modi said. The two leaders also vowed not to allow the open border between the two nations to be misused by terrorists and criminals. "We will not allow terrorists and criminals to misuse the open borders between the two countries. "Security agencies of both countries will collaborate closely in this context," Modi said. Oli, while thanking India for its vital support, said he had come to India to clear "misunderstandings" that surfaced in the recent past. "The main mission of my visit is to clear misunderstandings that surfaced in the last few months and to take back our relations to the same level of enthusiasm when Modiji visited Nepal in August 2014," said Oli. He also thanked India for all the support it provided to Nepal over the years for its developmental work in various fields, and specially for spontaneous support after the earthquake in April last year that killed 8,800 people and destroyed property worth crores of rupees. "The support and solidarity shown by our friends from India turns the heads of Nepalese people," he said, adding that "we equally appreciate the support of India in our reconstruction drive". Oli, who is making his first foreign visit after the Himalayan nation adopted a new constitution in September last year, said that India and Nepal shared a lot in common and their relations were beyond formalities. The two prime ministers tele-inaugurated a power transmission line between Muzaffarpur in Bihar and Dhalkebar in Nepal. "We are working on hydro projects with combined capacity of 7,000 MW and their quick and successful completion can be a gateway to Nepal's economic prosperity," Modi said, adding that the just inaugurated power line would initially provide 80 MW electricity to Nepal but in the next two years it would provide up to 600 MW of power. India and Nepal also signed nine agreements following delegation-level talks led by Modi and Oli. The agreements signed on Saturday between the two sides included those on utilisation of an Indian grant of $250 million for post-earthquake reconstruction, improving road infrastructure in Nepal's Terai area, cultural cooperation, transit between Nepal and Bangladesh through the Kakarbitta-Banglabandh corridor, and use of Visakapatnam port by Nepal. Speaking to the media later in the day, Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar said that Oli briefed Modi on the developments in Nepal after the adoption of the new constitution. "Our prime minister appreciated the progress made towards the consolidation of constitutional democracy in Nepal, acknowledging the two amendments which were passed by the Nepalese parliament as positive steps," he said. Nearly 60 people lost their lives in violent protests after the adoption of the new constitution last year with agitating Madhesi political parties and ethnic groups of the Nepal Terai demanding amendments in the statute that they deem discriminatory and ignoring their rights. Crucial entry points from India to Nepal were blocked by the agitators leading to shortage of essential supplies and medicines in the northern neighbour. Nepal blamed the Indian establishment for instigating the trouble, a charge New Delhi has firmly and constantly denied. On January 23, the Nepal parliament approved the first ever amendment to the country's new constitution to address the agitating Madhesis' demands for proportionate representation and allocation of seats in parliament on the basis of population. In Saturday's talks, Oli said of the constitutional issues that were being discussed and debated, some of them have been addressed and some are still being addressed, Jaishankar said. The six-day visit of Oli, who arrived here on Friday, is the first state visit by a prime minister from the Himalayan nation since 2011. Earlier on Saturday, Oli was accorded a ceremonial welcome at Rashtrapati Bhavan, where he inspected a guard of honour. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley called on the visiting dignitary during the day. Oli later called on Vice President Hamid Ansari and President Pranab Mukherjee. The aspiration to become astronauts seems to have rocketed in the US as more than 18,300 people applied to join NASA's 2017 astronaut class, far surpassing the previous record of 8,000 in 1978. The number of applications that the agency has received for the 2017 astronaut class is almost three times the number of applications received in 2012 for the most recent astronaut class, NASA said. "It's not at all surprising to me that so many Americans from diverse backgrounds want to personally contribute to blazing the trail on our journey to Mars," said NASA administrator Charlie Bolden in a statement on Friday. "A few exceptionally talented men and women will become the astronauts chosen in this group who will once again launch to space from US soil on American-made spacecraft," Bolden noted. Applications opened on December 14, and closed Thursday, but that is just the beginning of an 18-month process that will end with the selection of 8-14 individuals for the opportunity to become astronaut candidates. NASA hopes to announce its selections in mid-2017. Between now and then, NASA's Astronaut Selection Board will review the applications, assessing each candidate's qualifications. The board will then invite the most highly qualified candidates to the agency's Johnson Space Center in Houston for interviews before the final selection is made and the new astronaut candidates report to Johnson for training. After reporting at Johnson, the astronaut candidates will go through about two years of initial training on spacecraft systems, spacewalking skills and teamwork, Russian language and other requisite skills. Those who complete the training will be given technical duties within the Astronaut Office at Johnson before being assigned on any of four different spacecraft: the International Space Station, NASA's Orion spacecraft for deep space exploration, or one of two American-made commercial crew spacecraft currently in development -- Boeing's CST-100 Starliner or the SpaceX Crew Dragon, NASA said. Actor Ranveer Singh, who is known for his quirky and eclectic fashion sense, says although he is not brand conscious, he is well aware of brands. "I wouldn't call myself brand conscious but I am very aware of brands. I am very much aware of brands so my knowledge with brand is good," Ranveer said at the launch of American multinational clothing and accessories retailer GAP's store here. "GAP is one of the most renowned brands in the world which assures quality, coolness, style. It's great they have come to Mumbai it's a household name," Ranveer said about the brand, while adding that their products are "durable and high quality". "So even if a person has certain financial standing and finds this cloth expensive it is an investment," he added. On the film front, after hitting the jackpot with "Bajirao Mastani", Ranveer is prepping up for his next venture "Befikre", which marks Aditya Chopra's comeback as a director. He stars in it opposite Vaani Kapoor. Nepalese Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli on Saturday briefed his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi on the developments in Nepal after the adoption of a new constitution last year as the two sides signed nine agreements ranging from power to transport. Briefing the media here following delegation-level talks and the exchange of agreements, Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar said the two prime ministers reviewed the entire gamut of the close, broad and deep relationship between the two countries. The six-day visit of Oli, who arrived here on Friday, is the first state visit by a prime minister from the Himalayan nation since 2011 when Baburam Bhattarai visited India. The visit assumes significance as ties between the two South Asian neighbours in the last few months soured after the adoption of a new constitution in the Himalayan nation in September last year sparked violent protests in the country's southern plains. "They (Modi and Oli) discussed political, economic, socio-cultural ties between us and both the inter-governmental ties as well as the people-to-people relationship," Jaishankar said. The two leaders discussed promotion of sub-regional cooperation, including trade, connectivity, water and power, and "noted with satisfaction the excellent cooperation on security-related matters". "The prime minister of Nepal briefed our prime minister on developments in Nepal after the adoption of a new constitution," Jaishankar said. "Our prime minister appreciated the progress made towards the consolidation of constitutional democracy in Nepal, acknowledging the two amendments which were passed by the Nepalese parliament as positive steps," he said, adding that Modi expressed the hope that all political parties in Nepal would similarly come together and successfully resolve the remaining constitutional issues. Nearly 60 people lost their lives in violent protests after the adoption of the new constitution last year with agitating Madhesi political parties and ethnic groups of the Nepal Terai demanding amendments in the statute that they deem discriminatory and ignoring their rights. Crucial entry points from India to Nepal were blocked by the agitators leading to shortage of essential supplies and medicines in the northern neighbour. Nepal blamed the Indian establishment for instigating the trouble, a charge New Delhi has firmly and constantly denied. On January 23, the Nepal parliament approved the first ever amendment to the country's new constitution to address the agitating Madhesis' demands for proportionate representation and allocation of seats in parliament on the basis of population. In Thursday's talks, Oli said of the constitutional issues that were being discussed and debated, some of them have been addressed and some still being addressed, Jaishankar said. Oli also appreciated India's aid after the devastating earthquake in April 2015 and said his visit showed the importance Nepal attached to good neighbourly relations with India. "On his part, Prime Minister Oli mentioned that the primary purpose of his coming to India at this moment was to clear some of the misunderstandings that were there in the relationship and he felt that he has been successful in doing so," Jaishankar said. According to the foreign secretary, Modi said that as a well-wishing neighbour, India really hoped that Nepal would reach new heights in its stability, in its inclusiveness, in fairness and in prosperity. Modi and Oli also discussed housing development and tourism for Nepal's economic development. Oli asked Modi to inspire Indian investors to go to Nepal, saying he himself would talk to Indian corporates and assure them of stability in his country. Among the nine agreements signed on Thursday between two sides included those on utilisation of Indian grant of $250 million for post-earthquake reconstruction, improving of road infrasxtructure in Nepal's Terai area, cultural cooperation, transit between Nepal and Bagladesh through Kakarbitta-Banglabandh corridor, use of Vishakapatnam port by Nepal, and inauguration of the Muzaffarpur-Dhalkebar power transmission line. The state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has undertaken a Rs.5,050 crore ambitious plan to explore for more gas in northeastern state of Tripura, a top official said here on Saturday. "ONGC would invest Rs.5,050 crore by 2020 to explore more gas in Tripura. ONGC board has approved this determined plan," ONGC Executive Director S. C. Soni told IANS over phone. "Under this plan, new wells would be drilled and additional surface facilities would be created to increase gas production from the present 4.1 million standard cubic metres per day (MSCMD) to at least 5.1 MSCMD from Tripura gas fields," he said. Soni, also the asset manager of ONGC Tripura, said that so far eleven gas fields were discovered by the corporation in the bordering state and seven of the fields were on production. Under the investment campaign to produce and supply of 5.1 MSCMD to various consumers, including production of electricity, for another 15 to 20 years, at least 153 wells were to be drilled, the official said. "To enhance the gas production, processing and improve the supply capabilities, the GCS (Gas Collection Centre) in Sonamura, Gojalia and Konaban would be upgraded and around 900 km gas pipelines would be laid." The executive director said that the ONGC Tripura asset was carrying out its drilling activities with three owned rigs under operation and well servicing operations through two work-over rigs. Additional four to five rigs would be hired to intensify the exploration activities. Tripura gas fields lie in logistically and environmentally challenged area, where a good number of drill sites, facility, pipeline locations are in forest lands which needs special efforts for forest clearance and timely construction of work, he said. ONGC has so far drilled around 200 wells in Tripura and more than 50 percent wells are gas-bearing. ONGC has also commissioned its first mega commercial power project in southern Tripura by floating a company -- ONGC Tripura Power Company (OTPC). The Rs.10,000 crore 726 MW capacity gas-based thermal power project (using both water and natural gas) at Palatana, 60 km from here, was ONGC's first commercial power project in India. ONGC, in association with Rajasthan based Chambal Fertilisers and Chemicals Limited and the Tripura government, would also set up a Rs.5,000 crore fertiliser plant in northern Tripura. "The process is on to set up the fertiliser plant," said another ONGC official. Pakistan on Saturday apprehended 88 Indian fishermen for violating the country's territorial waters, Geo TV reported. The Maritime Security Agency personnel also seized 16 boats of the Indian fishermen, fishing in the Pakistani waters. The Indian fishermen have been handed over to the Docks police station in Karachi where a case has been lodged against them. A court in Pakistan on Saturday issued a non-bailable warrant for the arrest of former President Pervez Musharraf in a case of the murder of a cleric, lawyers said. Abdul Rashid Ghazi was among 90 students who were killed in a military raid on Islamabad's Red Mosque in 2007. At least 11 security men were also killed in the clashes. The operation was launched to nab armed militants holed up inside the mosque and a nearby girls' seminary. Additional Sessions Judge in Islamabad, Pervez Qadir, dismissed an application of Pervez Musharraf for exemption from personal appearance in the court on medical grounds, and ordered his arrest and production in the court on March 16. The judge also ordered issuing show cause notices to the sureties of the accused and that they be directed to ensure Musharraf's presence in the court on the date of hearing, failing which their bail bonds would be forfeited. Musharraf had filed an appeal in the court for exemption from personal appearance on health grounds. Tariq Asad, lawyer for the slain cleric, told the court that the former president is "very much healthy and had been appearing on various 'talk shows' on several TV channels of the country". The judge observed the accused should not be allowed exemption on "fancy and flimsy grounds" of his health condition. The court had 54 hearings in the case, and Musharraf has never appeared in the court. The Islamabad High Court had ordered the police in 2013 to register a case against Musharraf. Pakistan says it is sending a probe team to India next month to collect evidence on the alleged involvement of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terrorists in last month's attack on the Pathankot air base, a media report said on Saturday. The move has been in the air for a while but India has not officially reacted to the move. Indian Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar has, however, said that the National Investigation Agency (NIA) would conduct whatever probe was necessary and it was for Pakistan to take this forward in its own country. "The investigation team's visit is expected," Dawn quoted a senior diplomat as saying, adding that dates for the visit were yet to be finalised. The newspaper said the registration of an FIR by the Counter-Terrorism Department of Punjab police on Friday has paved the way for the visit of the six-member investigation team constituted by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif weeks after the attack on the Pathankot Air Force Station, part of the Western Air Command of the Indian Air Force on January 2 that resulted in the death of 14 people - six attackers, seven security personnel and one civilian. The investigation team will visit the site of the attack and collect evidence related to Indian claim that the terrorist strike was planned in Pakistan and executed by a group of four persons who had crossed the border into Pathankot, Dawn said. The investigators will also meet NIA officials, the newspaper said. It quoted a diplomatic source as saying India was ready to receive the Pakistani team and facilitate its investigations. The decision regarding cooperation with Pakistan was taken at a meeting in Delhi presided over by Indian National Security Adviser Ajit Doval in which issues relating to the visit of the Pakistani team were discussed, the newspaper said. Doval has been in touch with his Pakistani counterpart Gen Nasser Khan Janjua since the attack happened. Conversations between the two helped prevent the Pathankot incident turning into a major crisis in the relationship, although it delayed the foreign secretaries' meeting for deciding timetable and modalities of the Comprehensive Bilateral Dialogue, Dawn said. The development comes at a time when diplomats in New Delhi and Islamabad are exploring the possibility of a meeting of Prime Ministers Sharif and Narendra Modi in Washington next month on the sidelines of Nuclear Security Summit. Train services went haywire for hours following an indefinite rail 'roko' (blockade) agitation launched by the Greater Cooch Behar Peoples Association (GCPA) on Saturday to press their demand for statehood or union territory status for Cooch Behar. Slogan-shouting GCPA activists squatted on the railway tracks in New Cooch Behar station of northern West Bengal since early morning seeking intervention of the union home ministry to resolve the issue. Several long distance trains were stranded or short terminated due to the agitation, said a Northeast Frontier Railway official. The Delhi-bound 12435 down/Dibrugarh Town-New Delhi Rajdhani Express via Lucknow and 12423 down /Dibrugarh Town-New Delhi Rajdhani Express via Allahabad was detained at New Bongaigaon station, while 15960 Dibrugarh-Howrah Kampur express was detained at Barpeta Road. AGCPA leader Bangshi Badan Barman claimed Cooch Behar had enjoyed the status of a C category state for around three months when it was included in India through a pact between the then maharaja of Cooch Behar and the Indian government. However, the West Bengal government then included it into the state as a district. "We will continue with our movement unless the central government agrees to our demand to make Cooch Behar either a C Category state or a union territory," said Barman. Goa Governor Mridula Sinha, who is a Swachh Bharat ambassador appointed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Saturday said students should shoulder the responsibility of cleaning 2-3 households in their neighbourhood. "Every student could be urged to shoulder the responsibility of 2-3 households in his/her neighbourhood," Sinha said at a public function in Margao town, 35 km from Panaji. Sinha, who unveiled the 'Clean Margao Mission' on Saturday, also appealed to teachers to imbibe the importance of cleaning up homes and surroundings at a tender age. "Swachh Bharat Abhiyan should go hand-in-hand alongside developmental issues and should not be treated merely as a cleanliness matter," she said, adding that her dream was to ensure that Goa ranks first in the Swachh Bharat Mission, a pet project of Modi. It was inevitable that the kind of muscular nationalism favoured by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would lead to hooliganism by its followers among the lawyers in the Patiala House courts where Kanhaiya Kumar, the Jawaharal Nehru University (JNU) student leader, was being charged with sedition. However, as a result of the thuggish behaviour of the saffron lawyers, the high ground which the BJP had thought it had climbed by playing the patriotic card in the JNU affair has slipped from under its feet. Apart from the party, the two persons whose reputation has been tarnished are Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Delhi Police Commissioner B.S. Bassi. Once called a "provincial" by former party member Jaswant Singh, the credentials of the politician from Uttar Pradesh to hold the home minister's post, once occupied by the BJP's icon, Vallabhbhai Patel, have generally been doubted. Now the misgivings of the doubters have been substantiated not only because he mistakenly believed that by leading the charge against the JNU "anti-nationals", he would be able to refurbish his image, but also because of the certificate he gave to the police commissioner for cracking down on campus within a day. While the premature praise apparently persuaded Bassi to go easy on the saffron hoodlums among the lawyers for two days in succession, Rajnath Singh's castigation of the "traitors" encouraged the hoods to take the law into their own hands. It is evident from the conduct of a dyed-in-saffron home minister and his rowdy followers that a fascistic party has no time even for the advice of one of its favourite godmen, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, to be "compassionate" towards wrong-doers. There is little doubt that in the saffron camp, only Atal Behari Vajpayee displayed such an attitude of understanding towards an adversary when he said that the solution to the Kashmir insurgency would be sought within the parameters of "insaniyat" (humaneness) and not only within the limits of the Constitution. Narendra Modi, too, gave glimpses of such a spirit of accommodation when he observed the sadbhavna (goodwill) fasts, apparently to atone for the distress and divisiveness caused by the Gujarat riots of 2002. To an overwhelming number of his partymen, however, the charge of betraying Mother India is like a red - sorry, saffron - rag to a bull. This is the xenophobic dogma on which they have been reared in the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) shakhas (schools), where the nation is seen as a victim of invasion by Muslims in the medieval ages and of Pakistani conspiracy today. Moreover, to the saffronites, the homegrown "secularists" are hand-in-glove with the conspirators, which is why the persistent call to beef-eaters and critics of Modi to go to Pakistan. It is not surprising that the same slogan about emigrating to Pakistan greeted the team of lawyers sent by the Supreme Court to survey the situation in the Patiala house court. Evidently neither constitutional propriety nor compassion has any meaning for the Hindutva Gestapo. However, the BJP was apparently unprepared for, first, the antics of its supporters -- one of them, the Union minister Girijaj Singh called for shutting down the JNU -- diverting attention from the supposedly traitorous activity of a handful of naive and excitable students and, secondly, for the possibility of the charge of sedition against Kanhaiya Kumar not being upheld by the judiciary. Even the "video evidence" shown with alacrity by some channels has now proved to be fake. The party's expectation, therefore, that it has been able to overcome the setback it suffered after the suicide of the Hyderabad central university student, Rohith Vemula, may not be fulfilled. What the BJP has to realize is that the kind of divisive policies which it routinely follows - Hindu vs Muslim, patriots vs traitors - appeals only to its rabid followers and are of little relevance to the average citizen. It is even possible that such tactics may prove to be electorally counter-productive for they show that the BJP has remained stuck in the days of rath yatras and riots during the Ramjanmabhoomi movement and that Modi's sabka saath, sabka vikas slogan is meant more for public consumption than implementation in an atmosphere of social harmony. The ministerial interventions in the affairs of autonomous institutions - Rajnath Singh in JNU, Smriti Irani and Bandaru Dattatreya in Hyderabad - also show that Modi has little control over his team despite his "strong man" image. While he has apparently been able to calm down some of the trouble-makers like Yogi Adityanath and Sakshi Maharaj, the ministers and the saffron goons among the lawyers have been running amok. Like his call for a 10-year moratorium on sectarian conflicts, the prime minister will do well to say openly that the kind of hyper-nationalism which makes the party members describe the JNU and Hyderabad central university as hotbeds of anti-national activity is uncalled for. As the support which the agitating students have received at home and abroad shows, few believe what the ministers say. (Amulya Ganguli is a political analyst. The views expressed are personal. He can be reached at amulyaganguli@gmail.com) Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kerry on Saturday discussed issues on Syrian peace process. The two, over a phone call, discussed humanitarian aid issues and the planned cessation of hostilities in Syria, "with the exception of fighting against terrorist groups". It was noted that progress was made on humanitarian aid delivery to besieged areas in Syria, Xinhua news agency reported. Lavrov and Kerry also discussed current practical interaction between the two countries, both being co-chairs of the International Syria Support Group. "It was confirmed that the establishment of mechanisms to implement tasks (in the Munich agreement reached last Friday) requires military coordination," Russian foreign ministry statement said. Lavrov also stressed the importance of not allowing Turkey to violate Syria's territorial integrity, as Ankara continued "inadmissible and provocative" bombings against Syrian territories. In another development, Russia on Saturday urged the US and other NATO countries to responsibly and carefully choose their targets in Syria. The comment came as the Serbian foreign ministry earlier confirmed two employees of the Serbian embassy, kidnapped last November in Libya, were killed in the US airstrikes against terror outfit Islamic State (IS). "This is far from the first time NATO airstrikes have killed innocent people," the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement, expressing deep condolences to the families of the victims. "Of course, the US and its allies should be guided first and foremost by international law and act not unilaterally, with coordinated steps with all concerned parties in the international community." The US-led coalition have been conducting airstrikes against terrorist targets in Syria and other Middle East countries since 2014, while Russia started bombing terrorist targets in Syria from last September. Russia has fallen into "war of words" with western countries on Syrian issues, accusing each other of causing civilian casualties and bombing targets other than terrorists'. Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday claimed that Russian armed forces in Syria "helped Syrian government army and other participants in anti-terror efforts to defeat terrorists, saved civilians from violence, barbarism and tyranny". "We have always sought to resolve any disputed issues solely through political and diplomatic means, we have repeatedly contributed to stabilizing the situation in different countries, helped resolve serious conflicts," Putin said. Reiterating that fighting terrorists in Syria is protecting Russia's national interests, Putin said the Russian army must "always be ready to promptly and efficiently respond to any potential threat, to stop any provocation and aggressive actions". Vietnamese Ambassador to India Ton Sinh Thanh on Saturday invited Indian filmmakers to shoot their movies in Vietnam to boost the two millenia-old cultural ties between the two countries. "Besides enhancing the exchange of artists, cultural troops, students and think tanks, we should try new areas such as exchange of movies and promoting film shooting in each other's countries," Ton said while speaking as the guest of honour at a bilateral international seminar on "Indo-Vietnam cultural relations: Retrospect and prospect" here. "We welcome an Indian cultural centre in Hanoi, we hope that there will also be a Vietnamese cultural centre in New Delhi," he said. Stating that Ho Chi Minh, the father of the Vietnamese people, was a great friend of the Indian people, he also said that a statue of the revolutionary Communist leader in New Delhi would be an excellent symbol of friendship between the two countries. "Cultural cooperation is one of the pillars in the strategic partnership between our two countries. Vietnam and India have many cultural similarities which have been accumulated by the interactions between our countries over the last 2,000 years," the ambassador said. Organised by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), the seminar is aimed at covering topics on the centuries old cultural bonding between India and Vietnam and its relevance in today's geopolitical scenario. There are seven participants from Vietnam, including a minister rank delegate and a member of the central committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam, who would interact with 15 Indian scholars to analyse Indo-Vietnamese relations in a historical perspective and evaluate them in the modern context. "The seminar is an effort to unearth the contacts between these two ancient civilisations and would cover the centuries-old cultural bonding between India and Vietnam, the role of Hinduism and Buddhism, relevance of culture and literature in today's geopolitical scenario in the context of India-Vietnam relations, Ho Chi Minh and India and (Rabindranath) Tagore and Vietnam," ICCR Director General Ambassador C. Rajasekhar said in his welcome address. "These subjects are likely to witness debate and discussion over our future strategy so far as interactions in the fields of art and culture are concerned," he added. ICCR President Lokesh Chandra said that Indian traders and monks who had once migrated from India to Vietnam, had established their Cham (Hindu) kingdom in central Vietnam without any violence or invasion. "The Indian approach was sharing and giving them scripts for language while cotton fabrics and sugar were major exports going to the highest point in Vietnam. In the past 2,000 years. Vietnam has maintained its identity while we have problems in India," Chandra said. "Buddhism has a long history which dates back to the third century BC in Vietnam," Anil Wadhwa, secretary (east) in the ministry of external affairs, said in his speech as the chief guest. "Furthermore, some historians also feel that the oldest Hindu kingdom, Funan, ruled from Vyadhapura, was established in the lower valley of the Mekong. The carvings of Cham period depicted events of Ramayana and Indian mythology such as marriage ceremony of Ram-Sita, Krishna playing flute, Indra and dancing apsaras, Vishnu and Sheshnag and the Shivling," he said. "The depiction of musical instruments such as pakhawaj, mridangam, drums etc. are reflective influence of Indian music. Vietnam's famous 'LakhonBassac' dance drama is based on the epic Ramayana." Wadhwa said that the Mekong-Ganga cooperation initiative has been built on cooperation in the region defined by two great rivers, the Mekong and the Ganga. "It is a forum which is unique in its civilisation foundation. It is also a forum which has tremendous potential to become a powerful catalyst for socioeconomic development in the region," the secretary (east) said. At least six members of a family were killed as a roadside bomb struck a vehicle in Paktika province, the Interior Ministry said on Saturday. The deadly attack occurred in Waza Khowah district of Paktika province on Friday, killing six occupants, including four children, on the spot, Xinhua reported. The Interior Ministry blamed the enemies of peace, a reference to the Taliban militants, and condemned the incident in strong terms. Taliban militants who largely rely on suicide and roadside bombings have not yet claimed responsibility for the bombing. "Never before in economic history would 15 million bank accounts have been opened on a single day. Never before has the Government of India organised a programme of such scale," Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on August 28, 2014, launching the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (Prime Minister's People's Wealth Programme/PMJDY). Seventeen months later, in January 2016, the scheme reached all Indian households, according to official data, bringing 200 million additional families to the banking system. But the primary goal, direct transfer of government subsidies to people, has not overcome two challenges: linking the unique identification (Aadhaar) card to PMJDY; and getting beneficiaries to use the bank account. The speed of adding accounts, as IndiaSpend reported earlier, was outpacing the delivery of benefits, and Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Raghuram Rajan, in 2014, cautioned banks against focussing on numbers alone. Less than half the 210 million Jan Dhan accounts were seeded with Aadhaar as of January 31, 2016, the data indicates. More than 30 percent of these accounts have been at "zero balance", meaning the account holder was not using the account. States struggling to link Aadhaar to PMJDY include Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand Karnataka, Kerala and Maharashtra. These states together linked less than 40 percent accounts to Aadhaar. It is important that these states fall in line, as subsidies on cooking fuel, auto fuel and food grain impose a multibillion-rupee subsidy burden, the government has said. The government is estimated to have spent Rs.266,700 crore ($45 billion) on subsidies in 2015, of which Rs.122,700 crore ($20 billion) was spent on food, Rs.71,000 crore ($12 billion) on fertiliser and Rs.60,300 crore ($9 billion) on oil. Up to half of these subsidies are misappropriated, according to various estimates. "One of the biggest reforms that India has embarked upon is moving to a market-pricing mechanism across a variety of products such as cooking fuels, auto fuels, food grains and fertilisers," a Kotak strategy report said. 'A policy does not work by itself?people must know how to use it' "It takes time to properly implement policies in India, more so for financial schemes like PMJDY as a lot of people are unaware of words like bank, loan, subsidy," said Santosh Kumar, professor of public policy and administration at FLAME University, Pune. The integration of PMJDY, Aadhaar and Mobile (JAM) could be an important component of structural reforms. The idea of JAM, as propounded in the 2015 Economic Survey and the union budget, was to identify the beneficiary and deposit subsidies directly into his/her bank account. "A policy does not work by itself," said Kumar. "The government must have a strong political will to implement the policy properly by scrubbing it of discrepancies." "There are two aspects to financial inclusion: one is bank accounts and the second is access to credit. The scheme announced by the prime minister addresses the first problem. The issue of making credit available to small borrowers remains," wrote C. Rangarajan, former chairman of the Economic Advisory Council to the prime minister, in The Hindu. An article published by RBI in May 2013 revealed that more than 42 percent of rural credit is sourced from non-institutional agencies. "Rural credit markets in India is characterised by the coexistence of both formal and informal sources of finance and the market is fragmented," RBI concluded after four rounds of survey. "The scheme is a step forward but a lot needs to be done before calling it successful," said Anindita Roy Saha, associate professor of economics at Delhi University. "People from rural and urban areas need to be treated separately. For achieving the objectives, people should be educated about the financial system." The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government had opened nearly 60 million so-called no-frills accounts, but RBI data have shown that more than half of them remained dormant. "The basic idea of financial inclusion is to include most of the vulnerable sections of society in the banking system," said Kumar. "People need to know the potential of the scheme and the documents they have in possession; otherwise, they can't exercise their rights." (In arrangement with IndiaSpend.org, a data-driven, non-profit, public interest journalism platform. Himadri Ghosh is with 101reporters.com, a pan-India network of grassroot journalists. The views expressed are those of IndiaSpend. The author can be contacted at respond@indiaspend.org) An international team of scientists says the unusual dinosaur tracks found in northern China might have been by the four-legged sauropod dinosaurs. Previous studies of such track ways have suggested that the dinosaurs, which were far too big to walk on their hind legs, might have been swimming. The scientists from China University of Geosciences in Beijing, including palaeontologists from the University of Bristol suggested that trackways fossil trackways from Gansu Province in northern China, in which only the front or hind feet are imprinted into the sediment, were produced by walking, not swimming animals. Published in journal Scientific Reports, the new study said the tracks, dating from the Lower Cretaceous, over 120 million years ago, are roughly circular and with a clear set of four or five claw marks at the front. These prints perfectly match the feet of medium-sized sauropod dinosaurs, massive long-necked, plant-eating dinosaurs such as Brontosaurus and Titanosaurus. "Nobody would say these huge dinosaurs could stagger along on their hind legs alone - they would fall over. However, we can prove they were walking because the prints are the same as in more usual tracks consisting of all four feet, its just that here, we do not see the hand prints," lead author Lida Xing said. "If they had been swimming, with the hind legs dangling down, some of the foot prints would be scratch marks, as the foot scrabbled backwards," Xinga added. The study said that most of the animal's weight was towards the rear, and so the hind-feet pressed deeper. The front feet, on the other hand, did not apply enough pressure to make a lasting mark. Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was on Saturday urged to take parliament into confidence over the Pathankot air base attack probe. Syed Khursheed Shah, leader of opposition in National Assembly, said: "India is levelling baseless allegations on Pakistan over Pathankot terror attack and the Prime Minister must bring real facts before the nation," Geo TV reported. The telecom ministry has done an internal assessment on viability of the handset 'Freedom251', being touted as the world's cheapest smartphone at Rs.251 (less than $4), and found such a device cannot be offered for not less than Rs.2,300-2,400, say informed sources. "An internal assessment was done by the telecom ministry from the day the phone was launched. Officials have found that such a handset cannot be offered for less than Rs.2,300-2,400," an official source told IANS. Noida-based startup, Ringing Bells, which is promising the world's cheapest "Make in India" smartphone, on Friday claimed to have received nearly five crore registrations in just two days of opening up for online pre-orders. Ringing Bells president Ashok Chadha told IANS that since the company will hand over 25 lakh "Freedom 251" phones to the people who have registered for it online, the firm is now considering whether to stop the registration process which was supposed to go on till 8 p.m. on February 21. Taking the world by surprise, the firm on Wednesday launched "Freedom 251" smartphone that, it said, has been developed "with immense support" from the government. There are, however, some apprehensions about its final appearance and performance. It looks similar to an Apple iPhone. All the icons of the built-in app are a pixel-to-pixel copy of Apple's iOS icons. "Freedom 251" has a Android 5.1 operating system, a 4-inch qHD IPS display, a 3.2-megapixel primary and a 0.3-megapixel front camera. The smartphone comes with pre-installed apps like Swachh Bharat, Women Safety, WhatsApp, Facebook and Twitter, among others. A Trinamool Congress legislator, who had sparked a controversy by making disparaging comments about judges a day back, publicly apologised on Saturday after being censured by his party. Monirul Islam, the legislator from Labhpur in Birbhum district, on Friday -- without naming anybody -- accused "a number of judges" of singing paens to the Leftists as they had got property worth crores of rupees at throwaway prices during their rule. "Mamata Banerjee is the only chief minister who has not taken any piece of land from minorities, tribals or Scheduled Castes to dole out to others. She has not given away property worth crores to judges by charging only one rupee." "A number of judges, are preaching sermons. But in reality, these judges are enjoying property worth Rs.15 crore, Rs.20 crore, Rs.10 crore, Rs.5 crore by forking out only Re.1. Then how can they not but sing paens to the Leftists, rather than to Mamata Banerjee?" Monirul's comments led to a furore, with opposition parties and the civil society condemning him unequivocally. Sensing the damage that the remarks could cause to the party, Trinamool secretary general Partha Chatterjee directed him to apologise publicly. "Trinamool does not endorse the comments of Labhpur MLA regarding judiciary. The party has asked him to apologise publicly," said Chatteree. Under pressure from his party, Monirul told the media that he was respectful to the judges and the judicial system, but claimed he only had one particular retired judge in mind while making the comments. "I or my party respect the honourable judges and the judicial system. I wanted to comment on a former judge who has retired and wants to join politics. "I did not want to show disrespect to any judge or the judicial system. But despite that, if anybody has felt humiliated or pained by my comments, I feel sorry and apologise." Infamous for his hate speeches, Monirul, a murder accused, was issued a show-cause notice by the Election Commission ahead of the Lok Sabha polls in 2014 after he asked Trinamool workers to prevent people from voting for other parties. Monirul had publicly threatened to decapitate a Congress leader during the rural polls in the state in 2013. "It would not take me even a minute to behead you," he had said at a rally in July 2013 as he went on to claim how he had "squashed" three people under his feet for committing atrocities against women. Donald Trump is leading the Republican pack ahead of Saturday's crucial primary in South Carolina while Hillary Clinton is facing a tough challenge from Bernie Sanders in the Democratic contest in Nevada. With the real estate mogul leading with 31.8 percent support in Real Clear Politics average of polls widely expected to win in Indian-American governor Nikki Haley's home state, the focus is on who would get the second place. While Texas senator Ted Cruz, who scored a surprise win in the first Republican caucus in Iowa, has the backing of 18.4 percent Republican voters, Florida senator Marco Rubio snapping at his heels with 17.8 percent, has been endorsed by Haley. Trump, who Thursday took on Pope Francis for suggesting he is not Christian because of his plans to build a wall on the US-Mexican border and deport illegal immigrants and Rubio are both attacking Cruz calling him a liar and dishonest. "He holds up the Bible and then he lies," Trump said of Cruz Thursday. "I think it's very inappropriate." Cruz is fighting back and dared Trump to sue him after the billionaire sent a letter urging Cruz to stop. The remaining three candidates are also hoping for a good performance in South Carolina to keep their campaigns going. Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson thinks he'll perform better in South Carlolina than many expect. "It's a very important state," he said in Charleston. "It can have an effect of redirecting things. I think there is a lot of potential here." John Kasich, the Ohio governor, is hoping his strong New Hampshire second-place finish will lead to unexpected gains in future primaries. Former Florida governor Jeb Bush, after losing the coveted endorsement of Haley to Rubio, is running low on cash. His efforts this week have included campaigning with his brother, former president George W. Bush, and his mother, former First Lady Barbara Bush. Meanwhile, self styled Democratic Socialist Bernie Sanders is posing a tough challenge to Clinton in the Democratic caucus in Nevada. In her first run for the White House in 2008, Clinton won the popular vote in Nevada over then Sen. Barack Obama. The question is whether after a drubbing in New Hampshire, would she be able to repeat the feat and put a stop to the "Bern-mentum." Both campaigns have invested heavily in caucus training geared toward Spanish speakers, including the Clinton campaign's training, "Caucus Conmigo." Clinton reiterated Friday that she'll release the transcripts of the infamously expensive speeches she gave to Wall Street firms including Goldman Sachs if other politicians start releasing transcripts of their past speeches to private groups. "I'm happy to release anything I have when everybody else does the same, because every other candidate in this race has given speeches to private groups, including Senator Sanders," she said at an event in Las Vegas. Bernie Sanders' campaign quickly "accept[ed] Clinton's challenge" with a tongue in cheek press release: "Sen. Sanders accepts Clinton's challenge. He will release all of the transcripts of all of his Wall Street speeches. That's easy. The fact is, there weren't any. Bernie gave no speeches to Wall Street firms." (Arun Kumar can be contacted at arun.kumar@ians.in) Two Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) troopers were injured on Saturday when guerrillas attacked their convoy on the Jammu-Srinagar highway near Pampore town in Pulwama district of Kashmir region, police said. After the attack, three militants entered the nearby multi-storeyed Jammu and Kashmir Entrepreneurship Development Institute (JKEDI) building, a senior police officer said here. "The building has been surrounded and an operation has been started to safely evacuate the trainees and staff from the building before flushing out the militants," the officer added. Abu Dhabi, Feb 20 (IANS/WAM) The United Arab Emirates and Russia on Saturday discussed ways to strengthen friendship and cooperation between them, particularly in the parliamentary domain in the best interests of the two countries. Amal Abdullah Al Qubaisi, Speaker of Federal National Council (FNC) of UAE, discussed with Ilyas Umakhanov, Deputy Chairmen of the Federation Council of Russia, the importance of enhancing parliamentary cooperation and exchange of visits between the two councils. Umakhanov invited Al Qubaisi to visit Russia and the Russian Federation Council. She praised Russia's stance of supporting the UAE over its three islands, occupied by Iran. Umakhanov said Russia looks forward to enhance relations with the UAE, noting the multiple and available investment opportunities and potentials of the two countries in various domains. --IANS/WAM py/vm Villarreal's Mexican midfielder Jonathan Dos Santos will be sidelined for eight weeks after medical tests showed on Saturday that he has sustained a left thigh injury. The Mexican player was injured during his side's 1-0 victory over Napoli in the first leg of the Europa League round of 32 on Thursday, reports Efe. Santos's injury is another setback for the Spanish team, who are also suffering the absence of injured midfielder Samu Garcia, who still needs two months to recover. Villarreal are currently in fourth place in the La Liga with 48 points, five points behind Real Madrid who occupy the third place. German Bundesliga club Wolfsburg have fined their striker Nicklas Bendtner for breaking club rules on Instagram. The former Arsenal forward recently posted a picture of himself posing alongside a Mercedes S-class vehicle. Below the picture, the 28-year-old wrote: "On my way to another session." The outfit is owned by rival car manufacturer Volkswagen and the club's sporting director Klaus Allofs said the behaviour would cost the Danish forward money. "This is a misbehaviour and in the end it will cost money," Allofs was quoted as saying by goal.com on Saturday. Wolfsburg have clear rules for players and staff regarding other brands. Employees are fined and banned if they turn up in practice in any other vehicle other than a Volkswagen. This is not the first time that Bendtner finds himself in such a controversy. He was fined 80,000 and suspended for one international game for displaying sponsored underwear during a Euro 2012 game against Portugal. may end up swapping as much as $22 billion in debt for even bigger problems. The floundering Brazilian oil giant could get relief from state banks that are considering exchanging their loans to the company for shares of stock, according to Reuters. Handing more ownership to an erratic government, however, is a troubling prospect. No deal has been announced. But the swap with state development bank BNDES and government-backed Banco do Brasil and Caixa Economica Federal would offer breathing room to the embattled oil group, which is teetering under some $130 billion of total debt. That huge financial burden - together with low oil prices, fallout from a multibillion-dollar corruption scandal and broader economic turmoil in Brazil - has wiped away nearly three-quarters of the value of common shares since late 2014. The company's current market capitalisation of about $18 billion may in part reflect investor hopes for a bailout. Analysts at BTG Pactual who examined the concept of a debt-for-equity swap earlier this week, however, reckon that with oil prices stuck around $35 a barrel, stock is essentially worthless. Bondholders might generally welcome a plan for freeing more resources to honor outstanding loans. Shareholders, on the other hand, would face significant dilution of their holdings. But even that might be preferable to owning an undiluted stake in a zombie corporation. A debt swap could nonetheless create bigger risks down the road. Brasilia and various state banks and pension funds already control over 60 per cent of Petrobras voting rights after a massive 2010 financing that followed the company's 1997 partial privatisation. Investors pushed the value of Petrobras common stock up nearly eight per cent on Wednesday, indicating they're perhaps worried more about Petrobras' immediate financial squeeze than its long-term governance. Handing another slug of shares to state-backed lenders, however, could in essence amount to renationalisation. And, the heavy hand of government is what got Petrobras in so much trouble in the first place. By even the most basic definition, lawyers are expected to provide their clients with competent legal representation and advice and act in their best interests. By extension, then, they can be considered responsible for maintaining public confidence in a country's legal system and ensuring its integrity. In the discharge of their professional duties it behoves lawyers, whether in the lower courts or the highest court in the land, to observe a minimum decorum. On the evidence of the last few days' unedifying spectacle at the Patiala House trial court, it is doubtful whether some of them can admit to this fundamental understanding of their obligations. The manner in which some of them were seen attacking a student leader and journalists on the court premises made it difficult to distinguish the lawyers from the average neighbourhood lumpen. The fact that the miscreants flaunted their allegiance to the party ruling at the Centre and participated in a havoc-wreaking spree with an MLA from the same party showed that they placed little credence on the unbiased nature of their profession. Sitaram Yechury debuted on microblogging site Twitter much later than many of his political contemporaries. The general secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) posted his first tweet on October 29, 2015. As the chief of a party that still commands a sizeable, albeit receding, cadre strength, Yechury has 11,600 followers on Twitter. Curiously, even a week ago he had only half as many followers. Of course, Yechury, too, has taken to the site with much more vigour after the arrest of Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union President Kanhaiya Kumar on charges of sedition. The party's Twitter handle and website have also seen more traffic than usual in the last couple of days. And more support for the right wing, too? While the Leftists find themselves at the centre of the mainstream discourse after a long time, the Sangh Parivar is overjoyed at the groundswell of support it has received on the "nationalist" and "anti-nationalist" debate. The debate may have polarised India but the Sangh Parivar is convinced much of the support is for the "nationalist" forces. It plans to keep the pot simmering, with routine marches across India against those who support "anti-national" causes. The Sangh believes it has conveyed the message about the dangers to India if the designs of "anti-national" forces and those who support such causes were to succeed. It hopes the Bharatiya Janata Party will now receive more support in the coming Assembly polls in Kerala, Assam, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. Traditionally, people went to their neighbourhood bank if they wanted to rent a safe deposit locker. But, now non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) have also received permission to offer this facility. While now you will have more choices, you also need to do proper due diligence before deciding which institution's locker facilities to use. Wider range of choices In the past, an individual's interaction with an NBFC was mostly limited to taking loans: personal loans, gold loans and consumer durable loans. Sometimes, these NBFCs came out with non-convertible debentures and other types of bonds, which investors subscribed to if they found them attractive. Now, if customers can open a safe deposit locker with an NBFC in which they will keep their valuables, then the dynamics of the relationship will have to undergo a change. NBFCs will have to earn the high level of trust that banks enjoy. Since customers interact with their bank regularly, a bond exists. Hence, they find it easier to entrust their lifetime's savings and valuables with a bank. NBFCs will have to work harder to gain a similar high level of trust. Acquiring a locker In the first place, for you to be able to acquire a safe deposit locker at a bank, spare lockers must be available at the neighbourhood branch where you conduct most of your banking transactions. Lockers are not easily available. Not every bank branch offers this facility. In those branches where the facility is available, all the available lockers may be already taken by the older customers. Banks find it difficult to increase the number of lockers in response to rising demand, because this facility must meet certain specifications regarding space and security. These requirements often render it physically impossible for the bank to provide more lockers. Lockers are available in various sizes ranging from very small ones to large ones. Public sector banks have codes like A, B, C, and so on to denote lockers of different sizes and types. Choose a size that meets your requirement instead of going for the biggest that is available. You will have to sign a locker rent agreement on a stamp paper for the specific locker that you have chosen. You will also have to meet the Know Your Client (KYC) requirements so that the bank is satisfied with the details that you have presented. In all likelihood, the process will be similar for renting a locker with an NBFC, though the exact details will be known only once they start offering their services. HOW TO SELECT A SERVICE PROVIDER Compare the rent for the locker facility at different banks. This depends on size Find out how many years advance rent the bank will charge. Some ask for as many as three years rent Find out how much security deposit the bank will require in the form of a safe deposit Safety should be the most important criterion Banks will not take responsibility You may insure the contents on your own to ensure safety The rent that you have to pay for a locker depends upon its size. For a small-sized locker the rent is a little over a thousand rupees per year, while for larger-sized ones you may have to shell out a few thousand. The rent also depends on the type of bank and the location of its branch. One point to remember about locker rent is that it has to be paid in advance. This is not a service that you can avail of and then pay for at the end of the year. In some cases, banks collect three years' rent in advance. Usually, the locker facility is linked to your savings bank account. So it is easy for the bank to debit the rent directly from your savings account. Be prepared for this cost to appear once every year in your bank statement and maintain the requisite minimum deposit (in the month when it is debited) to meet this cost. If you don't pay the rent despite repeated reminders, the bank could seal your locker and not allow you to operate it until you make the payment. Make a security deposit Banks also ask for additional security in the form of a fixed deposit from customers who wish to rent a locker. The amount of fixed deposit varies from one bank to another and could range from Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000. This deposit will, of course, earn you a rate of interest as offered by the bank. However, the customer has to be prepared to have a certain amount of his money locked up with the bank, which he can't use elsewhere. There is an opportunity cost involved here, since you can't deploy the money in higher-return instruments or put it to use for any other purpose. Factor in the risks Since your valuables are going to be kept in the locker, you must ensure that they will be utterly safe. There is a difference on this count between a safe deposit locker and other banking products. In case a bank goes under, your savings with the bank are insured up to Rs 1 lakh. No such guarantees are available for a safe deposit locker. The bank also does not take responsibility for the contents of the locker. If they are damaged, the loss has to be borne by the customer. You may get the valuables kept in the locker insured on your own to safeguard yourself against losses. NBFCs have been asked to inform customers that their locker service is not regulated by the Reserve Bank of India. Thus, NBFCs are also not likely to take any responsibility for the contents of the locker. This makes it all the more essential for customers to do the due diligence before they select the entity with which they would like to entrust all their valuables. Besides cost and ease of operation, safety should be your paramount consideration when choosing the right entity. The writer is a certified financial planner A meeting of leaders of all parties in the Rajya Sabha called by Vice President Hamid Ansari saw all leaders making the right noises about their commitment to allowing discussions in the House, but practical suggested there is little hope for much meaningful business. The goods and services tax (GST) and bankruptcy Bills are likely to be taken up in the second half of the Budget session, scheduled for the end of April. To enable their smooth passage, the government appears to be following a policy of first discussing contentious issues, such as the controversy surrounding Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and Hyderabad University. That discussion will take place on February 24, a day after the Budget session begins. However, the fact that Arunachal Pradesh got a new chief minister as rebel Congress leader Kalikho Pul formed a government with support from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has led the Congress to raise the issue in the House. The BJP is also clear that events in JNU have been represented in the media and the public space through the prism of the Opposition and will seek forcefully to defend its "nationalist" claims in the course of the debate on JNU. This is the first such formal pre-session meeting convened by the Rajya Sabha chairman. Leaders who attended the meeting said that although the government has agreed to discuss every issue, including JNU, the body language and political stance point to a choppy session ahead. The only Bill that is likely to get bipartisan support is the delimitation of constituencies in West Bengal, following the land swap agreement between India and Bangladesh. This Bill is urgent, as elections are due later in the summer in the state. The Congress will meet on Monday to refine its parliamentary strategy. Troops detained 10 Israelis today as they joined a commemoration in the flashpoint West Bank city of Hebron for 29 Palestinian worshippers killed by a Jewish extremist in 1994. Some 200 people, most of them Palestinians, took part in the anniversary demonstration which was dispersed after some protesters threw stones at troops, an army spokeswoman said. It came with tensions running high in the Hebron region after scores of Palestinians were killed in a new upsurge of violence since last October. Many were killed during attacks or attempted attacks on Israelis, but others were shot dead during demonstrations. The majority were youngsters, some as young as 13. Hebron has always been a flashpoint in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. A few hundred Jewish settlers live under heavy army guard among several hundred thousand Palestinians in the heart of the West Bank's most populous city. The Ibrahimi Mosque, where Baruch Goldstein killed the 29 worshippers in 1994, is also revered by Jews as the Cave of the Patriarchs and has been a constant source of division. Since October 1, Palestinian knife, gun and car-ramming attacks have taken the lives of 27 Israelis, an American and an Eritrean, according to an AFP count. At the same time, 175 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces. Some analysts say Palestinian frustration with Israeli occupation and settlement building in the West Bank, the complete lack of progress in peace efforts and their own fractured leadership have fed the unrest. Israel blames incitement by Palestinian leaders and media as a main cause of the violence. A US Air Force veteran and former airplane mechanic charged with trying to join the Islamic State will be among the first Americans to go on trial as a result of the US government's pursuit of dozens of suspected sympathizers of the militant group. Tairod Nathan Webster Pugh, 48, was stopped at a Turkish airport in January 2015. He told investigators he was just on a vacation, but an indictment alleged that he was carrying 180 jihadist propaganda videos, including one featuring the beheading of an Islamic State prisoner. Later, prosecutors said they found a letter on his computer in which he told his wife he wanted to join the Islamic State. Jury selection in Pugh's trial at a federal court in New York City is scheduled to begin in earnest this week. Pugh has pleaded not guilty to charges that he tried to provide material support to a terrorist group and obstructed justice. The Justice Department said it has pressed criminal charges against more than 70 Islamic State sympathizers, though some published reports have put that figure higher. Karen J. Greenberg, director of the Fordham Law School's Center on National Security, which tracks terrorism cases, said the U.S. Government has charged 78 people in connection with the group. Of those, two dozen have pleaded guilty. Opening statements began last week in Phoenix in the trial of Abdul Malik Abdul Kareem, a moving company owner charged with plotting to attack a Prophet Muhammad cartoon contest in Texas. Authorities said two of Kareem's associates were killed when they brought semiautomatic rifles, bulletproof vests and an Islamic State flag to the event. Kareem's lawyer, blaming the government's "overactive imagination," told jurors Kareem had no knowledge the attack was to occur. Other cases are moving closer to trial, including in Minneapolis, where several members of Minnesota's Somali community are scheduled for trial in May on charges that they plotted to join Islamic State fighters. Another trial scheduled for this month has been put off after charges were upgraded against a 19-year-old in North Carolina accused of killing a neighbor and stealing his money so he could buy an assault rifle to carry out an Islamic State-inspired shooting at a concert or club. Authorities said the Morganton man thought he could kill as many as 1,000 people. Pugh served in the Air Force from 1986 to 1990 after being trained to install and maintain aircraft engines and navigation and weapons systems. The airman first class worked in July 1987 at the Woodbridge Air Base in England before moving to the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona in July 1989. After leaving the military, he worked as an avionics specialist and mechanic for companies in the Middle East and US. The Delhi Police have detained 21 Madhesis, who were on their way to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's residence in Race Course Road here today to protest against the visit of Nepal Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli. According to police, all the detained persons are . They were detained in the morning when they were marching towards the Prime Minister's residence. In his first overseas trip after assuming charge of the top office, Oli arrived in New Delhi yesterday on a six-day visit during which he will hold extensive talks with the Indian leadership with a major focus on mending ties hit by issues relating to the Himalayan nation's new Constitution. It is expected that India will ask Nepal to complete the "unfinished task" of making the Constitution more inclusive to address the concerns of the Madhesi community which share close family and cultural ties with Indians. The second phase of the zilla and taluk panchayat elections held in 15 districts of Karnataka today saw a voter turnout of 68 to 70 per cent. State Election Commissioner P Srinivasachary told reporters that polling was peaceful except for a minor clash in Mysuru district. Mysuru, Chikkamagaluru, Dakshina Kannada, Hassan, Kodagu, Mandya, Chamarajanagar, Udupi, Bidar, Ballari, Kalaburagi, Yadgir, Raichur, Koppal and Vijayapura were the districts that went for polls in the second phase of polls. Polling was held to 530 zilla panchayat seats and 1,936 taluk panchayat seats. A total of 2,159 candidates contested the zilla panchayat polls and 6,457 candidates were in the fray for taluk panchayat seats. Candidates in one zilla panchayat seat and three taluk panchayat seats have been declared elected unopposed. Five villages in Basava Kalyan boycotted the polls in protest against the government's "inability" to provide them drinking water and other facilities, he said. After casting his vote in Siddaramanahundi, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said the the results of these polls will not be a referendum on the performance of his government. "Issues for civic polls are different from issues debated during Assembly and Lok Sabha elections," he said. However, the results may indicate people's reaction to the government's performance, Siddaramaiah said. A total of 74.37 per cent of voting was recorded in the first phase held on February 12. Counting of first and second phases will be held on February 23 in the taluk headquarters. African leaders and bankers turned out at an economic summit in Egypt today, vowing to push for trade and investments on the continent despite growing security concerns in the region. More than 1,200 delegates including some heads of state aim to sign business agreements during the next two days at the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, to attract private sector investments in Africa. Organisers hope the "Africa 2016" conference can build on a 26-nation free trade pact signed last year to create a common market on half the continent. Analysts say that despite the continent's economic growth rate of more than four per cent, Africa still accounts for about only two per cent of global trade. The forum was aimed at "pushing forward trade and investment in our continent to strengthen Africa's place in the world economy," Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said in his opening remarks at the conference. "It not only aims to present investment opportunities that Africa offers to the international business community... but aims to pave the way for active decisions, communication and cooperation." Organisers are also seeking to turn the spotlight on Egypt as its economy remains sluggish after years of political turmoil following the ouster of longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak in early 2011. Heavily dependent on tourism, Egypt's economy was dealt a body blow when a Russian airliner broke up mid-air on October 31, minutes after taking off from Sharm el-Sheikh. All 224 people on board, mostly Russian tourists, were killed when the plane blew up over the Sinai Peninsula. The jihadist Islamic State group said it brought down the jet with a bomb on board. Egypt says it still has no evidence that a bomb downed the plane, although Moscow has acknowledged that a "terrorist attack" caused the disaster. "Africa 2016 forum is expected to position Egypt as a gateway for foreign investments into African markets," Omar Ben Yedder, member of the organising committee, told AFP. Those attending the summit organised by Egypt and the African Union include the presidents of Sudan, Nigeria, Togo, and Gabon, and dozens of ministers and senior officials from Africa involved in trade and investment. Taking a dig at Odisha Government for 'tardy' utilisation of Central funds in the farm sector, Union Agriculture Minister Radhamohan Singh today said agriculture output remained abysmally low in the state. "Funds made available to Odisha are not being used properly in the agriculture sector. The pace of utilisation remains slow and the state has been unable to use allocated money in time," Singh told reporters after reviewing the agriculture scenario in the state at a high-level meeting. Because of slow pace of utilisation of the allocated funds in several schemes, major portion of the money often get carried over to next year, the minister said adding whatever funds are made available must be utilised properly in time for the interest of the farmers. It is a matter of concern that Odisha is lagged behind in farm output as compared to national average and other states, he said adding that the Centre is ready to extend help. Singh reviewed the scenario in the farm sector in Odisha in the presence of Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and state Excise and Cooperation Minister Damodar Rout and Agriculture Minister Pradeep Maharathy. On allegations of suicide of farmers in the state which was hit by drought, Singh said he would discuss the matter with the state Government. Stating that funds and central assistance for Odisha in case of natural calamities have increased substantially during the NDA government compared to the previous UPA regime, he said money must be used properly. Singh said the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana would benefit the farmers in a big way as shortcomings of earlier schemes have now been addressed. Stating that the farmers should avail beenfits of the crop insurance scheme, the Union Minister said technology will be used extensively for early settlement of claims. While 25 per cent would be paid immediately, the rest would be given as soon as possible, he said adding premium to be paid by farmers for kharif crop will be 2 per cent and for rabi crop just 1.5 per cent. Similarly, Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana has been formulated amalgamating various ongoing schemes which would go a long way in raising irrigation coverage, he said. The Minister said the Centre is working towards integrating all the 585 wholesale mandis across the country under the e-agri market platform in a phased manner and 200 mandis would be integrated by the end of March this year. Speaking on the occasion, Pradhan sought steps for facilitating extraction of bio-fuel from paddy residues and said this project would provide Rs 500-600 crore additional benefit to the farmers. Pop sensation Justin Bieber has been urged by the North American Primate Sanctuary Alliance (NAPSA) to not to get another monkey as a pet. The "Sorry" hitmaker, 21, had capuchin monkey OG Mally as his pet, but the animal was taken off him by officials when he travelled to Germany in March 2013 and put into quarantine. NAPSA has issued a statement urging Bieber, 21, to turn his attention to a different pet as he cannot provide the correct care the animal needs to live, reported Vanity Fare magazine. "Please do not repeat this foolish endeavour. It is simply not possible to fulfil the unique needs of your monkey within a private home... It will prove dangerous to both you and your monkey, as well as irresponsible when it comes to your public following," read the statement. When OG Mally was seized from him, Bieber said, "Everyone told me not to bring the monkey. Everybody told me not to bring the monkey. I was like, 'It's gonna be fine, guys!' It was the farthest thing from fine. Andhra Pradesh Health Minister K Srinivas today appealed to citizens to utilize the services offered for timely medical care to pregnant women in the state. "The state government would provide free CT scan test twice to all pregnant women from March 1," Srinivas said in a press release. "The pregnant women should also avail the free-of-cost '102 Mother and Child Express' service to reach their residence from the hospital after the delivery," he said. "Under this service, ambulance would reach the hospital where the mother gave birth within 30 minutes after making a call on toll-free number 102. It would carry her to her residence along with a medical staff," he said. He said the government has decided to fill vacant posts of 500 doctors in Primary Health Centres (PHCs) and 1,000 nurses in the state. The Andhra Pradesh government will notify the final master plan for the 217 sq km new capital region on February 22, Minister for Municipal Administration P Narayana said today. The land pooling plan containing micro details like land use, infrastructure and zoning for the 29 villages in the capital region would be notified from February 28 to March 7, he told reporters here this evening. "We notified the draft master plan for the capital region a few months ago and received objections and suggestions from all stakeholders. We have incorporated them in the final master plan. A team of officials from Singapore, who are aiding the AP Capital Region Development Authority in drafting the master plan, discussed the final details with us today," Narayana said. Farmers, who parted with their land under the land pooling scheme for the development of the capital, would be given plots through draw of lots from March 31. Except in three villages, all other farmers would be given plots in their own village. The plot allotment process would be completed in 30 days, he added. In case of the three villages, plots would be given to farmers close to their villages. China's GICC bagged the contract for designing roads in the capital region, he said. GICC would also design plans for development of other infrastructure like drains, sewerage system, street lighting, etc. "They are preparing the designs and we will start road development works from June. There will be six to seven main roads covering the 29 villages in the capital region. Also, we made certain changes in the draft master plan with respect to some roads. This has reduced the number of houses to be demolished to just 360 from 3,600," Narayana added. An Army convoy moving towards Rohtak from here got stuck near Madankheri subdivision late last night as protesting Jats had "dug up" a stretch of road as part of their agitation. Eleven trucks of army could not move towards Rohtak from Hisar late night as road near Madankheri village in Narnaund sub-division of the district was "dug up" by protesters, official sources said. Army then repaired the road and moved towards their destination. Haryana government had called in army in eight districts to control the protesters, who have gone on rampage since yesterday. A group of army veterans here will lead a protest march tomorrow against alleged anti-national activities in Jawaharlal Nehru University, which they charged was an "organised attempt" to "balkanize" India. Addressing a press conference, Maj Gen (Retd) Dhruv C Katoch said the rally has been organised by an "apolitical" group 'People for Nation' which has "just been" established. ABVP, the student wing of RSS, has been actively promoting the event and has sent out invites to the media, which Katoch downplayed claiming political parties "across the spectrum" have been invited to the event. "We are completely for unfettered freedom of speech but there should not be debate on a few things. We will match against anti-national slogans raised during the event at the JNU campus. We simply want to initiate a counter-narrative through this," Katoch said. "This clearly is an organised attempt by disruptive forces, possibly with foreign funding, to attempt to balkanize India," a statement released by the group said, adding such "anti-India" slogans have found resonance in other universities as well as the Kashmir Valley. Air Marshall (Retd) P K Roy said "anti-national" slogans "demoralise" the soldiers guarding the country's frontiers. "A few unguided people resort to such activities. As elders, it is our responsibility to guide them," he said. The veterans also urged families of martyrs to be present at the 'March for unity to save the country' that will begin at Raj Ghat at 10.30 am and culminate with a public meeting at Parliament Street here. Media fraternity in Arunachal Pradesh today boycotted the 30th Statehood Day celebration in protest against the state government's alleged failure to release huge outstanding advertisement bills of both print and electronic media for the last four years despite repeated pleas. Media fraternity under the aegis of Arunachal Press Club (APC), Arunachal Pradesh Union of Working Journalists (APUWJ) and Arunachal Electronic Media Association (AEMA), have unanimously decided to conduct the movement till full and final settlement of the entire outstanding bills is done. "To begin with, the press bodies today boycotted the celebration of Statehood Day and events related to thereof," APC President Chopa Cheda said. Referring to a meeting held on November 2 last year, when a delegate of media fraternity met the then Chief Minister Nabam Tuki who had assured clearance of about 15 per cent of the outstanding dues within a week, the fraternity expressed disappointment at not receiving the said amount till date. Further, the former CM had directed officials to clear rest of the 85 per cent of pending bills within a month's period. "Despite repeated follow-ups with the Chief Secretary, Secretary IPR and Director IPR and also despite repeated assurance and commitment to clear the file as directed by Tuki, the concerned authorities, especially the Finance Department (Principal Secretary and Secretary), are indulging in arm-twisting the media houses which can only be construed as an attempt to harass and exploit the entire value-chain," the APC chief added. The press bodies also submitted memorandum to Governor J P Rajkhowa and Chief Secretary Ramesh Negi yesterday. Union MSME Minister Kalraj Mishra today laid the foundation stone of a Rs 102-crore Technological Development Centre (TDC) for micro, small and medium enterprises at Baddi in Solan district, which he said would give impetus to the Make in India initiative. Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh was also present. The tool room, which is expected to be eco-friendly, will be set up under the Technology Centre System Programme (TCSP) of the central government, Mishra said at the event. The main objective of such a technology centre, he said, is to keep pace with changing technologies and theWorld Bank had sanctioned Rs 2,200 crore for setting up such units at 15 locations across the country, adding that 10 places have been identified so far. He thanked the state government for providing 20 acres free of cost for the technology centre. According to the minister, similar technology centres are coming up in Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana, Uttarakhand and other places where more than one lakh youth will be trained, who would either set up their own industrial units or get employed by major industries. Mishra also promised support from the ministry to set up rural-based industrial units in the state. To back up his claim, Mishra said the ministry is working on strengthening the Rural Self-employment Training Institutes and for those seeking online registration, the government has provided a one-page form to facilitate entrepreneurs. The Union minister also announced shifting of the Multi-purpose Development Training Centre from Kaned to Sundernagar in Mandi district. Speaking on the occasion, the chief minister said thetechnology centre/tool room being set up wouldprovide consultancy and advisory services in technology and engineering solutions for improvement ofquality and productivity. Speaking on the occasion, State MSME and Textile Secretary Rajiva Sinha lauded the efforts made by the ICC in assisting and promoting the MSME sector in India in general and West Bengal in particular. Sinha said that Venture Capitals are a unique entity and should be provided to MSME sectors where they are absent. "There is a tremendous need to generate awareness among the new startups about various new schemes and policies that have been introduced by the government to create a positive business environment in the country," he said. Sinha mentioned that, in order to reduce paper work, save time and cost, the West Bengal government has stared single-window clearances for all kind of approvals. The state has also introduced a mobile app with all carry relevant information regarding policies and schemes available for the MSME sector along with tracking facilities of proposals and requisite approvals. Special initiatives have also been taken to deal with land related issues like Mutation and Conversion, Sinha said. Besides introducing 'EDP', a two week-long online certificate course for Entrepreneurs have been introduced in the state while the state government has also launched MSME venture capital funds to promote the sector, Sinha said. The state government has also introduced Technology Facilitation Centres (TFC) to create an one point solution system to reduce time and maintain transparency. The state has launched an initiative called "Startup Bengal" to support and nurture startup ecosystem in the state, he informed. Further, Bengal has a dedicated MSME Policy 2013-2018 with 23 MSME facilitation cells across state as of July 2016, Sinha said, adding that it was very important to create a communication channel among the Centre and state government, banking institutions and private and public industry bodies to support the MSME sector in the country to grow. Nayantara Palchoudhuri, Member, ICC Executive Committee of said that the MSME sector contributed 8 per cent of India's GDP in 2015, employed 106 million people, accounted for 40 per cent of India's total exports and 45 per cent of the manufacturing output. The sector has 361.76 lakh enterprises out of which only 15.64 lakh are registered, she said while lauding various initiatives undertaken by the Centre and West Bengal government to promote the sector. Delhi Police Chief B S Bassi today hit out at Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and a TV journalist terming them as "self-styled appraisers" following a tweet from a "parody account" ridiculing him. Bassi was responding to a tweet that questioned his "commitment" towards the khaki and wondered whether his loyalty was for the uniform or "knickers", a veiled reference to RSS. Kejriwal had retweeted the twitter message critical of Bassi from the handle @raviishNDTV, which is not run by TV journalist Ravish Kumar. "@ArvindKejriwal & @ravishndtv Committed to CONSTITUTION, NATION & TRUTH. SelfStyled Appraisers may better introspect," Bassi tweeted in response. The Commissioner, who is set to retire on February 29, has been facing intense flak for Delhi Police's alleged mishandling of the JNU row. The tweet in Hindi that irked the police chief read "When Bassi says that his commitment is towards the khaki, then it's not clear whether he is referring to the uniform or knicker." The last tweet from Kumar's verified account was on August 22 last year. He had stopped tweeting over the "silence" of liberals against online abuse. Bassi tagging Kejriwal in his response assumes importance in the light of the persistent animosity between the two and the Chief Minister's recent statements slamming police for "flouting" Supreme Court orders leading to violence inside court premises. Kerala Industrialist Kochouseph Chittilappilly today began a 24-hour hunger strike here seeking an end to the stray dog menace. Speaking on the occasion, Chittilappilly said "the penalty amount for killing a stray dog was only Rs 50. If everyone decides to kill a stray dog a day, then the menace will be over." Slamming the 2001 law, which prevents culling of stray dogs, he urged the people to work together to put pressure on the government to amend it. There have been reports of violent attacks by stray dogs on humans, including young children. Since 2014, Chittilappilly has been campaigning against the dog menace for which he came under a lot of criticism from animal lovers and has also been booked under various animal cruelty laws for inciting the public to kill stray dogs. Chittilappilly, Founder-Chairman and Managing Director of V-Guard Industries, has donated one of his kidneys to an truck driver. Archbishop Soosai Pakiam of the Latin Catholic church, inaugurated the fast, which began at 12 noon. The agitation has been organised under the aegis of Federation of Residents Association of Thiruvananthapuram here. Thiruvananthapuram District Collector, Biju Prabhakar, was also present. Asserting that it stands for Jat quota, BJP today lined up Jat leaders to reach out to the community, whose stir in Haryana has shown no signs of a let up amid widespread violence, and invited their representatives to hold talks with party chief Amit Shah and Union ministers. Concerned over the fallout of the conflagration as the community holds sway in western Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and parts of Delhi, Shah and Home Minister Rajnath Singh held talks with the party's Jat faces separately and discussed possible measures to douse the fire. "In a way, there is an atmosphere of anarchy (in Haryana). I appeal to the people leading the agitation to hold talks with our leadership.... Youths who are at the forefront should also join talks. I appeal, pray to the people of Haryana to maintain peace and harmony," Union Minister Birender Singh said. Singh, party's most notable Jat leader from Haryana, was joined by another Union minister Sanjeev Balyan, who has emerged as the party's face from the community in western UP, Haryana cabinet minister O P Dhankar besides party General Secretary and state in-charge Anil Jain. Singh blamed Congress for the crisis, saying it announced reservation for Jats without due diligence due to "political reasons", following which the Supreme Court quashed the decision. "We are paying the price for Congress' wrong deeds," Jain said. Seeking to allay apprehensions expressed by some community leaders that that the BJP was not keen on quota for it, Singh said the party leadership had assured them that it was for reservation. The central government and the party are exploring ways to see to it that Jats get reservation, the leaders said. The need for an early solution to the crisis and placating the numerically strong community is being keenly felt in the party as its repercussions could be felt in the UP assembly polls scheduled for early next year. Jats have backed BJP in the state following the Muzaffarnagar riots. The Home Minister is meeting Jat leaders from UP and Delhi tonight. With a few non-Jat Haryana leaders of BJP making comments against inclusion of Jats in the OBC category, the party also went on a damage-control mode and said a show cause notice was being issued to Raj Kumar Saini, its MP from Kurukshetra. Saini, an OBC leader, has opposed Jat quota and threatened to resign if the community was included in backward grouping as it will cut into their share. "We want to take every community along. We are against any struggle among communities in the society. We are issuing a show cause notice to Saini," Jain said. He also hinted at involvement of political rivals for pushing the state towards violence, saying it will become clear in some time as who are the people who have done it. "Our immediate priority is restoring law and order in the state. Mutual harmony is most necessary," Dhankar said. The Haryana minister added that Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and other ministers were in touch with the community leaders during their agitation and have been talking to them. Britain will hold a historic referendum on whether to stay in the European Union on June 23, Britain Prime Minister David Cameron announced Saturday, a day after securing a summit deal for European Union reforms. Making his historic statement in Downing Street after briefing the cabinet on his EU reform deal, Cameron said, "The vote would be one of the biggest decisions this country will face in our lifetimes." He said he would be campaigning to remain in a reformed 28-nation bloc. A string of ministers have come out in favour of remaining, but others will campaign against Cameron. Home Secretary Theresa May heads the list of those who have announced they will campaign to stay, but Justice Secretary Michael Gove has signed up to the leave campaign, the BBC reported. Leave campaigners are also hoping London Mayor Boris Johnson will join their cause but he is yet to declare where he stands. Cameron said that his EU reform deal, hammered out at a two-day summit in Brussels, will give the Britain "special status" within the bloc, tackling concerns over migrants getting "something for nothing" from the benefit system and exempting the country from the EU drive for "ever closer union". He argued that Britain would be "safer, stronger and better off" in the EU and warned that leaving the EU would be a "leap in the dark" as he appealed to voters to back his reform deal "Leaving Europe would threaten our economic and our national security," he said. The date of the referendum still has to be formalised by parliament, where Cameron will deliver a speech on Monday. Britain will hold a historic referendum on whether to stay in the European Union on June 23, Prime Minister David Cameron announced today even as he warned that leaving the 28-nation bloc would be a "leap in the dark". Making the announcement outside his 10 Downing Street residence after briefing the cabinet on the EU reform deal he struck in Brussels yesterday, Cameron said, "The vote would be one of the biggest decisions this country will face in our lifetimes." He said he would be campaigning to remain in a reformed bloc as the UK would be "safer and stronger" if it remained in the EU. "The choice is in your hands - but my recommendation is clear. I believe that Britain will be safer, stronger and better off by remaining in a reformed European Union," Cameron said in his direct appeal to the British public. The Prime Minister warned that leaving the EU would be a "leap in the dark" as he appealed to voters to back his reform deal. "Those who want to leave Europe cannot tell you if British businesses would be able to access Europe's free trade single market, or if working people's jobs are safe, or how much prices would rise. All they're offering is a risk at a time of uncertainty - a leap in the dark," he said. Cameron, who spent the last few days thrashing out new terms for Britain's membership of the EU, has given his Cabinet and MPs a free vote on the issue. He said if Britons decided to remain in the EU, he would seek continued reforms to address their concerns about job losses and benefit payments to EU migrants seeking work in Britain. "I do not love Brussels, I love Britain...The question is - will be we safer, stronger and better off working together in a reformed Europe or out on our own?" he said, emphasising that Britain can have "the best of both worlds" if it remains in the EU under the reform deal he with EU leaders. His comments came as clear lines began to be drawn within the Cabinet along the "Leave" or "Remain" campaign for the EU. A string of ministers have come out in favour of remaining - but others will campaign against Cameron. Priti Patel, the senior-most Indian-origin member of the Cabinet, came out openly in favour of leaving the EU. The UK employment minister and Cameron's Indian Diaspora Champion joins other senior colleagues like UK justice secretary Michael Gove and Northern Ireland secretary Theresa Villiers. Most other ministers will campaign to remain, including UK business secretary Sajid Javid, international development secretary Justine Greening and transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin. Both groups get a 600,000 pounds campaigning grant, campaign broadcasts, free mailshots and a spending limit of seven million pounds to lay out their case. The UK's Election Commission will take charge of the referendum planning as soon as the date is officially cleared by the parliament, where it is expected to sail through with a majority. Cameron on Monday will address the parliament. Key to the deal with the EU were agreements over welfare payments to migrants, Britain's right to opt-out of the eurozone, and a promise the UK would have stronger sovereign control over laws made in Brussels. It came after behind-the-scenes talks which stretched from Thursday night and most of Friday, as Cameron and European Council president Donald Tusk struggled to get all the members to agree to Britain's demands. At a press conference shortly after the deal was done in Brussels, Cameron had said: "In the last hour, I have negotiated a deal to give the United Kingdom special status inside the European Union. This deal has delivered on the commitments I made at the start of this process." "Britain will be permanently out of ever-closer union, never part of a European super-state, there will be tough new restrictions to our welfare system for EU migrants - no more something for nothing - Britain will never join the euro and we've secured vital protections for our economy." "I believe that this is enough for me to recommend that the UK stays in the European Union, having the best of both worlds," he said. The changes include a so-called seven-year "emergency brake", allowing the UK to reduce in-work benefits for EU migrants. But the brake will be a single-use instrument, which once pulled will last for seven years and then can't be pulled again. Eurosceptics, including many within Cameron's Conservative Party, dismissed the package as mild and said only withdrawal could restore sufficient powers to the country from Brussels. Britney Spears met Hillary Clinton in Las Vegas but did not officially endorse the presidential candidate. Spears, 34, posted two photos with Clinton on her Twitter and Instagram accounts, originally using the #ImWithHer hashtag on Instagram before editing the post and removing it. The #ImWithHer hashtag is used by her endorsers and supporters on social media. "Being in Vegas for #PieceOfMe is amazing for so many reasons... Especially when you get to meet @HillaryClinton!," Spears tweeted. "Piece of Me" is the name of Spears' rolling show in Las Vegas, where she performs her hit songs from the last 15 years since she became a pop star. Clinton is in Nevada for last-minute campaigning efforts ahead of the caucuses. A camp will be held by Rajasthan government to help facilitate the stay of Pakistani Hindu migrants, who are staying illegally here after coming on a pilgrim visa, according to an outfit working for the cause of migrants. Seemant Lok Sangthan (SLS) had taken up this issue afflicting the migrants with Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje during her recent visit to Jodhpur. After this meeting, the CM had issued orders to the Foreign Regional Registration Officer (FRRO) to hold camps for such migrants and take applications from them so the needful could be done, SLS President Hindu Singh Sodha said. "If this happens, it would be a great relief to about 3000 such migrants, who have a visa of another city, mostly Haridwar, but have been illegally staying here (Jodhpur) with the expired visa," he said. Facing religious persecution in Pakistan, these Hindu find it easy to come to India on a pilgrim visa to visit Haridwar, he added. "These migrants pay a visit to Haridwar and then land up in Jodhpur or any other town where they already have relatives or family members," Sodha said. As these migrants have visas for other cities, they do not have any legal right to apply for extension of visa in Jodhpur. Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara today said the students' protests takingplace in university campuses across the country, including Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), reflects "unrest" among the "oppressed castes". "What happened on Hyderabad University campus and what is happening at JNU, are examples of unrest among the oppressed castes," Parameshwara, who himself is a Dalit, told reporters here. He said the Congress cares for freedom of expression, development and equality and gives the oppressed castes opportunities. To a query on Congress' "double standards", first executing Afzal Guru and then backing his supporters raising slogans against his execution, he said, "it is a question of freedom of speech, not an issue of context". "The police tried to stifle the right to freedomenjoyed by Kanhaiya Kumar, and the students' leader is not ananti-national," he said. There was also a need for definition of anti-national, Parameshwara said. JNU Students Union President Kanhaiya Kumar was arrested on charges of sedition by Delhi police, last week. The arrest has escalated into a major standoff which saw students goingon strike demanding his release. On Taluk and Zilla Panchayat polls held in Karnataka, he said Congress would win more TPs and ZPs, than BJP and JDS. He said the recent bypoll verdict in eight states did not reflect that people have rejected the idea of politicians backing students indulging in protests on Hyderabad University and JNU campuses. "Out of the 12 assembly seats, Congress has won fiveseats.. So, it is not outright rejection of theCongress and the stand taken by it on JNU and HyderabadUniversity turmoil," he said. CBI has arrested three more officials of customs intelligence in connection with a Rs 10 lakh alleged bribery scandal involving Assistant Director Anil Kumar Mishra, arrested yesterday in Dehradun. CBI sources said senior Intelligence officer Satender and intelligence officers A K Gupta and Vivek Pandey were arrested by the agency today. They said the agency had carried out searches at their residences yesterday. These officers have been arrested in connection with alleged bribery scandal involving an Assistant Director Anil Kumar Mishra in the Directorate General of Customs and Central Excise (Intelligence) Dehradun who was nabbed red handed yesterday receiving bribe of Rs 10 lakh to settle a service tax issue of a businessman. They said Mishra had raided the premises of a businessman in March, 2015 and red-flagged some service tax issues. He had allegedly offered to settle them if a bribe of Rs 10 lakh was paid to him, they said. The sources, quoting the businessman, said Mishra had demanded money from him in the past too. As violence continued during Jat quota protests, the Centre today asked Haryana government to provide security to people and property by ensuring law and order. This was conveyed by Cabinet Secretary P K Sinha to Haryana Chief Secretary DS Dhesi and DGP Yashpal Singhal at a meeting held through video conferencing. "The Cabinet Secretary reviewed the prevailing situation in Haryana and took inputs from the Chief Secretary and DGP. He asked them to ensure protection to people and property by maintaining law and order," a senior government official said. Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi and others senior officers were present in the meeting. Four people were killed today in fresh incidents of violence in Haryana as the Jat stir for quota intensified with protesters torching a railway station in Jind. Army conducted a flag march in two curfew-bound districts of Rohtak and Bhiwani, while curfew has now also been clamped in Jhajjar. Earlier in the day, Chief Minister M L Khattar had appealed to the people to maintain peace and harmony. The exact cause of the fire at a 'Make in India' event here will be known only next week as recording of statements of people linked to the expo and also organisers is taking time, a senior official said today. "Our investigation is heading in proper direction and by next week, we would be able to ascertain the exact cause of the fire," Mumbai's Chief Fire officer P S Rahangdale told PTI. He, however, declined to give the exact date of submitting the much-awaited probe report. "Currently, I am in the process of cross-examining the officers and executives who were part of the event. I have found many missing links during cross-examination and those I need to verified and corroborate before arriving at a definite conclusion," said Rahangdale. So far 7-8 officials, who were associated with the February 14 programme, have been quizzed and many more are lined up for questioning, he said. "I wanted to wind up the investigation in two days, but the process of cross-examination is taking time, the Chief Fire Officer said. A huge fire broke out on Sunday at Girgaum Chowpatty sea front during a cultural programme organised as part of the 'Make in India' expo, which concluded on February 18. A day after the incident, a Fire Brigade official had said all aspects, including sabotage angle, will be investigated. No casualties were reported in the fire. The Colombian military has killed seven leftist guerrillas and captured an eighth in an operation near the Venezuelan border, President Juan Manuel Santos has said amid a sharpening conflict with the country's second-largest guerrilla group. Santos said yesterday the guerrillas belonged to the National Liberation Army (ELN), which has been in preliminary discussions for two years with the government about joining formal peace talks. Tensions have risen sharply, however, since February 3 when the group captured a Colombian soldier. "If they want to begin some kind of public conversation, they have to free those two kidnapped people they are holding," Santos said, referring to the captured soldier and a civilian who has been in rebel hands since 2014. "There will be no step toward a negotiation if they do not at a minimum fulfil these conditions," he said in a speech to the leadership of the National Police. The seven ELN guerrillas were killed Friday night in Arauca, a region that borders Venezuela, Santos said. The operation followed a three-day ELN offensive aimed at disrupting traffic on major roads. Three police were killed and dozens of violent incidents were reported across the country from last Sunday to Tuesday. The army had put itself on "maximum alert" in anticipation of more violence on the 50th anniversary, last Monday, of the death of Camilo Torres, a rebel priest who was an early leader of the ELN. Founded in 1964, the ELN is the country's second-largest guerrilla group, with an estimated 1,500 fighters. Colombia's largest guerrilla group is the FARC, or Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, which has been in formal peace talks since November 2012. The FARC and the Santos government have pledged to reach a final peace agreement by March 23, but negotiators have yet to agree on details of a disarmament process and the mechanism by which a final accord will be ratified. A host of Congress leaders including Rahul Gandhi and former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda today appealed for peace in Haryana which remained on the boil as the Jat quota stir unleashed fresh incidents of violence and arson. "I appeal to people of Haryana to maintain peace and brotherhood. Mutual harmony and dialogue can alone resolve any issue," the Congress Vice President said on micro-blogging site Twitter. Speaking to reporters, Hooda spoke in similar vein but steered clear of questions as to who was responsible for the deteriorating situation. Appealing to Haryana government to find an early resolution to the crisis, he said some forces were bent on damaging the social fabric. "I do not want to speak on politics. The need of the hour is to bring peace. Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi are also keen for peace to return," he said. Haryana CLP leader Kiran Chaudhary also spoke in similar vein. She wanted the state government to open a dialogue with the agitators to calm down the situation. Surjerwala also attacked the BJP and the RSS for the situation, saying "I am pained to say that while the BJP and RSS are conspiring to divide the nation through communalism and regionalism, they are also engaged in an obnoxious conspiracy of dividing Haryana on caste lines." He said by making controversial and unnecessary statements everyday, the ministers, MPs and MLAs of BJP have created the current provocative situation. "The BJP government has totally failed to solve it after creating the problem," Surjewala alleged. Asking the BJP government in Haryana and Modi government at the Centre "to refrain from divisive politics", Surjewala called for effective steps, advising the government to follow its 'rajdharma'. A man was arrested today for allegedly duping several people of their valuables, and gold ornaments worth around Rs 1 crore were seized from him. "The accused, identified as A Chinna Reddy alias Chinnaiah, was nabbed from his residence in Nizamabad district of Telangana," Hyderabad Police Commissioner M Mahendar Reddy said. A case of theft was registered at Market Police Station following a complaint by a jeweller that somebody stole 2.3 kg of gold ornaments from his driver by offering him liquor on February 11, he said. During investigation, the accused was identified through CCTV footages collected from different places which showed that he had visited a bar and consumed liquor with the driver, Reddy said. Police teams were sent to different places to nab the accused, following which he was arrested today, the Police Commissioner said, adding gold ornaments weighing about 2.77 kg valued at around Rs 1 crore were seized from his possession. "The accused used to befriend people, take them to bars and make them drink heavily. Once they lose consciousness, he would replace their bags containing valuables with his," the Police Commissioner said. During interrogation, Chinnaiah confessed to stealing 2.3 kg of gold and also committing 13 similar offences in different districts of the state, including four crimes in Hyderabad, Reddy said. The accused, who was originally a farmer, had cheated many people, including farmers and gold agents, and was arrested in some of those cases, he said, adding investigation is underway. Ahead of railway budget, Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan today pitched for recruiting coolies from stations across the country into group 'D' of rail services and offering pensions to them. "We urge Railway Minister (Suresh Prabhu) to incorporate coolies, who serve people, in group D, offer them pensions, housing facilities and free health check-up among other facilities. We will strive to see their demands are fulfilled," Paswan said. The Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Minister made the statement while addressing a gathering of coolies associated with Jan Shakti Mazdoor Sabha at Jantar Mantar here today. The meeting was also attended by Union Minister of State for Drinking Water and Sanitation Ram Kripal Yadav, Paswan's MP-son Chirag and BJP Parliamentarian Udit Raj. Chirag echoed Paswan's views and urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to "boost the morale" of coolies by addressing them through his monthly radio programme 'Mann Ki Baat'. "Our Prime Minister reaches out to people in an effective way through different media which includes Mann Ki Baat (raio programme). Crores of people listen to it. So, I will request him to address coolies to boost their morale and respect," he said. Yadav and Udit Raj also addressed the gathering. The railway budget will be presented on February 25. The group 'D' of rail services comprises posts like trackman, helper, assistant points man, sweepers and peon. A local court here today rejected the anticipatory bail petition of suspended RJD MLA Raj Ballabh Yadav in connection with a rape case. Additional District and Sessions Judge (I) Rashmi Shikha rejected the bail plea after hearing both sides for over an hour. During the hearing, the minor victim's lawyer opposed the bail plea of Yadav citing the Supreme Court judgments and also contended that the accused cannot be granted bail under POCSO Act. Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) 2012 was formulated to effectively address sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children, the counsel said. The lawyer also submitted that the victim has made a statement charging the fugitive MLA with raping her at the latter's residence in Nawada. Yadav's lawyer contended that the MLA should be given bail claiming the family members of the victim have been giving contradictory statements. On February 15, the ADJ court had issued arrest warrant against the legislator and three others in connection with the rape case. It had also issued another warrant to carry out searches at the legislator's residence at Pathra village under Mufassil police station of Nawada district where he had allagedly raped the minor girl on February 6. Yadav, an RJD MLA from Nawada, who had served as minister in Rabri Devi government in the past, remained untraced after his arrest order was issed by Deputy Inspector General of Police Shalin on Saturday last after finding the complaint of the minor victim girl's family true. Nalanda police yesterday took the absconding MLA's son Akhilesh into custody from Anisabad in Patna on the charge of destroying evidence in the case. A fellow RJD MLA Prakash Bir had on February 16 said that Raj Bhallav Yadav would surrender before the court on February 18. RJD suspended Yadav from the party on Sunday last. The party also served a show-cause notice to the MLA. Yadav won from Nawada seat in the recent Assembly election. A day-long conclave of social activists organized here saw participants laying emphasis on the use of sanitary napkin by women. "The conclave was organised yesterday by the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) cell of Vadodara district Collectorate, in collaboration with the Federation of Gujarat Industries (FGI). "Several important prominent figures like social entrepreneur Arunachalam Muruganantham, former MP Priyanka Dutt, Gujarat CSR Authority Chairman Maheshwar Sahu took part in the event," Vadodara District Collector Avantika Singh said. Padma Shri recipient Arunachalam Muruganatham, who is the inventor of a low-cost sanitary napkin manufacturing machine, and has been at the forefront of increasing its accessibility in the country, said, "We have set up 2,004 centres across the country and manufacture various brands of sanitary napkins, through which we employ 24,000 women. The napkins are made available to women at a cheaper rate." "Menstruation is a subject that has culturally been considered a taboo and is entrenched with misconceptions and disregard, with little cognisance of the hazards of inadequate menstrual protection. It is necessary to create nationwide awareness among women about this," Avantika Singh said. Priya Dutt asked corporate houses to adopt one village each and make CSR an integral part of their philosophy and business. "This would have a positive impact on the society and the environment in which they operate," she said. She said efforts of business houses should be towards ensuring sustainable development, including education, health, environment etc. Seema Rath, Deputy Director, CSR under the Union Ministry of Corporate Affairs, spoke in detail on the CSR policy of the government. Delhi is staring at huge water shortage in next one or two days with 60% of water supply affected due to the Jat stir in neighbouring Haryana, prompting the city government to rationalise water supply and approach the Supreme Court for help. Water Minister Kapil Mishra said that in the wake of Jat protesters breaking gates of Munak canal leading to shortage of water, Delhi government has decided to rationalise supply to utilise the stored water. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today directed Delhi Jal Board (DJB) to approach Supreme Court immediately seeking an urgent hearing over the crisis. "60% of water supply will be affected due to protest. Wazirabad and Chandrawal water treatment plants have been closed due to insufficient supply from the Munak canal," Mishra siad. "Chandrawal, Okhla, Haiderpur, Bawana, Nangloi, Dwarka and Okhla water plants will also be affected," Mishra added. The minister, who today held an emergency meeting over the water crisis, said that DJB has cancelled holidays of all its employees on Saturday and Sunday. "Munak canal is our main source of water supply to Delhi and if water doesn't come from the canal, the supply will significantly be affected across Delhi," he said. A senior government official said that Kejriwal has directed DJB to approach the apex court immediately to seek an urgent hearing as water crises may prevail if supply is not made normal at the earliest. "Spoke to Haryana CM. He has assured that he will immediately send army to ensure safety of munak canal(sic)," Kejriwal tweeted," Kejriwal tweeted. In another tweet, Kejriwal said, "Am worried about impact of Jat agitation on Delhi esp Delhi's water supply. Sought time from Rajnath ji". The Water Minister said that North, West and Central Delhi's areas are most affected due to the ongoing Jat protest, assuring Delhiites that they should not get panic. "We have decided to rationalise the supply so that people's water demands are met. Areas in North, West and Central Delhi are major affected. "We have also set up a control room to monitor quality and quantity of the water being supplied by the DJB," Mishra also said. He noted that in 2011, the Supreme Court had directed the governments of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana to ensure supply of water and essential commodities to Delhi in the wake of the threats by Jats demanding quota in central jobs. Fresh incidents of violence were today reported in Haryana as the Jat stir for quota intensified with protestors torching a railway station in Jind even as the Army conducted a flag march in two curfew-bound districts and used helicopters to reach parts of the blocked Rohtak district. As the violence by Jat protestors demanding quota continued unabated, Chief Minister Manohar Khattar issued a fresh appeal to the people to maintain peace. The ongoing Jat stir that has paralysed parts of Haryana today spilled onto the streets of the national capital with over a thousand youths from the community taking out a protest rally from Delhi University, demanding quota in government educational institutions and jobs under OBC category. The protesters continued their rally despite police using water cannon to push them back, and blocked the road on both sides at the GTB Nagar intersection, which threw traffic out of gear. The protesters said that one of their members was injured during the protest, a claim that was not confirmed by the police. The agitators comprised students from Delhi University, Indraprashta University and youths who stay in colonies around GTB Nagar, preparing for competitive examinations. They said they were agitating in support of the members of their community from Haryana who are demanding reservation under OBC quota. "We are only seeking our own right and not snatching anybody else's right. The community has remained socially and economically backward, and need reservation for jobs in government sector and top educational institutions," said a protester, Vikas Huda. The protesters will continue to block the road and will not move until their demand for quota is met by the Haryana government, he added "We were given reservation which was then removed by the present state government. Our demand is valid. We sacrifice our life as armymen and work for the country as farmers. The government should understand this," Ankush Dahiya, a DU student, said. The rally started from near Khalsa College in the Delhi University campus and moved on towards GTB chowk, which sent the police into a tizzy as the two neighbouring areas fall under the jurisdiction of two different police districts, a senior official said. The protesters had sought permission from the office of DCP (North) but not from DCP (North-West), for which the rally was again diverted towards the Ring Road stretch near Wazirabad. "However, no person was detained till evening and the situation is under control now," both DCP (North) Madhur Verma and DCP (Northwest) Vijay Singh said. The protesters blocked the Ring Road affecting traffic movement for hours. A posse of nearly 300 policemen were deployed to keep the matter under control. "The call to protest has been given by the Akhil Bhartiya Jat Mahasabha, and we have support of students from the DU and other universities in Delhi including IP University. Several students from Haryana who stay near DU have also supported us," Akshay Lakra, an organising member, said. The raging JNU row turns into an ideological battle between the BJP and its Left opponents, with Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi lending them support and comparing the Modi government with Hitler's regime. Mumbai: Promising stable and predictable tax regime, Prime Minister Narendra Modi says this was the best time to invest in India as the government carries reforms including setting up a company law tribunal and effective IPR regime. New Delhi: Reacting strongly, India summons US Ambassador Richard Verma to convey its "displeasure and disappointment" over Obama administration's decision to sell F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan. Sunday Mumbai: A massive fire engulfs the stage at a cultural event held at Girgaum Chowpatty seafront here where a string of film celebrities and political leaders are present as part of the high-profile 'Make in India' investment meet but there were no casualties. New Delhi: Carrying the burden of huge expectations, the Arvind Kejriwal government announces waiving pending water bills till November last as it completed one year in office, a period marked by repeated run-ins with the Lt Governor and the Centre. New Delhi: Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh unleashes a political storm with a claim that an event at JNU to protest the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru had received "support" from LeT founder Hafiz Saeed amid an escalating showdown over the crisis at the varsity. Monday Jammu/New Delhi: Adopting a reconciliatory tone after weeks of tough-talk, PDP says it has not demanded any confidence-building measures (CBMs) from its ally BJP as a pre-condition for government formation which will take "some time". New Delhi: Violence breaks out in the Patiala House court complex when groups of lawyers thrash journalists and students and teachers of JNU while the political slugfest over the arrest of the university's student leader snowballed with BJP chief Amit Shah targeting Rahul and Sonia Gandhi on the issue. New Delhi: Yogesh Kumar Tyagi, currently Dean of Faculty of Legal Studies at South Asian University, is appointed Vice-Chancellor of Delhi University, a position which saw much controversy during the term of his predecessor Dinesh Singh. Tuesday New Delhi: Delhi Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) chief M K Meena, who had been at the loggerheads with the Arvind Kejriwal government, is transferred along with 14 senior Delhi Police officials in a major reshuffle. New Delhi: The BJP and its allies make gains in the Assembly bye-elections winning seven of the 12 seats in eight states when the party inflicted blows on ruling Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh and Congress in Karnataka. Wednesday New Delhi: Leading gun-maker BAE Systems announces selection of Mahindra as its India partner for the nearly USD 700 million deal for the supply of 145 M777 howitzers to the Indian army, the first new artillery guns after the Bofors scandal. Bhubaneswar: Four absconding SIMI activists, who escaped from a jail in Madhya Pradesh in 2013 and were since then allegedly involved in a series of terror incidents in multiple states, are arrested from Rourkela. Kolkata: A day after pro-Afzal Guru slogans are raised in Jadavpur University (JU), posters calling for 'freedom' for Kashmir, Manipur and Nagaland are found in the campus even as two rival groups of students bring out rallies in the varsity premises. Thursday Chandigarh: Violence breaks out during Jat agitation for quota in Rohtak leaving at least 15 persons injured even as Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar convenes an all-party meet tomorrow to find a way out of the impasse. Lucknow: Wooing dalits ahead of the 2017 UP Assembly polls, Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi says it wants to develop a young Dalit leadership in all states and attacked BSP supremo Mayawati for not "encouraging Dalit leadership" to keep a "firm grip on power". New Delhi: In an unprecedented show of solidarity, thousands of students along with scholars, academics and the intelligentsia hit the streets of the capital decrying the arrest of JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar over charges of sedition and demanding his immediate release. Surajkund (Har): The national flag is set to fly atop a 207-ft tall flag mast on the campuses of all 46 Central Universities "prominently and proudly" to signify a "strong India", a resolution adopted at a meeting of their Vice Chancellors with HRD Minister Smriti Irani. Friday New Delhi: India and Bhutan talks on key bilateral and regional issues including implementation of India-assisted development projects in hydro power and other sectors in the Buddhist nation. Itanagar: Dissident Congress leader Kalikho Pul is sworn in as Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh after more than two months of political crisis, shortly after the Supreme Court paves the way for government-formation and President's rule is lifted from the state. As water supply may be "significantly affected in Delhi in next one-two days due to Jat protest in Haryana, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today directed Delhi Jal Board (DJB) to approach Supreme Court immediately seeking urgent hearing over the crisis. Delhi Water Minister Kapil Mishra today held an emergency meeting with DJB officials and decided to rationalise water supply till the situation is normal. Mishra said that protestors have broken gates of Munak canal due to which water supply will be affected across the capital. "The Delhi CM has directed DJB to approach the apex court immediately to seek an urgent hearing as water crises may prevail if supply is not made normal at the earliest," said a senior government official. Kejriwal talked to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and his Haryana counterpart M L Khattar to discuss the situation. "Spoke to Haryana CM. He has assured that he will immediately send army to ensure safety of munak canal(sic)," Kejriwal tweeted. In another tweet, Kejriwal said, "Am worried about impact of on Delhi esp Delhi's water supply. Sought time from Rajnath ji". "Have spoken to HM about Munal canal crisis. He has assured me to direct Army Chief and do the needful to avoid water crisis in Delhi," Deputy CM Manish Sisodia also tweeted. Fresh incidents of violence were today reported in Haryana as the Jat stir for quota intensified with protestors torching a railway station in Jind even as the Army conducted a flag march in two curfew-bound districts and used helicopters to reach parts of the blocked Rohtak district. As the violence by Jat protestors demanding quota continued unabated, Chief Minister Manohar Khattar issued a fresh appeal to the people to maintain peace. A drug peddler was arrested here today and 320 gram heroin with street value of Rs 1.5 crore seized from him, police said. Inderjeet Singh alias Dhyana was arrested from Bhogpur-Ranipur T-point, Phagwara DSP Manpreet Singh Dhillon said. The accused, a resident of Ranipur Kamboan village, has 13 cases, including 6 related to drugs and 7 to lootings, registered against him in different police stations, he said. Dhyana supplied heroin in Hoshiarpur, Nawanshahr, Kapurthala districts besides Phillaur, Phagwara, Jandiala, Adampur and Dhanipind, Dhillon said, adding he got the drug from one Lakhu of Lamapind village near Jalandhar. Dhyana was arrested under relevant provisions of the NDPS Act, he said. Union Health Minister J P Nadda today ruled out the possibility of any increase in drug prices due to hike in import taxes and assured that medicines would be made available at cheaper rates. "It is falsely reported that there will be hike in drug prices in India due to hike in import taxes. On the contrary, medicines are likely to become cheaper," he said. "Apart from generic drugs, medicines for cancer and cardiovascular surgical implants will also be available at 60 to 90 per cent subsidised rates," he said laying the foundation stone of the Rs 150-crore super speciality block for the Government Tirumala Devaswom (TD) Medical College. HLL Infra Tech services Ltd, a subsidiary of HLL Lifecare Ltd (HLL), will construct the 14,100 sq m block. Nadda also said his ministry was willing to provide assistance in setting up Amruth Centres in Kerala, but the state government should provide land. The minister later visited HLL's Hindlabs' MRI Scan Centre, which was set up in January 2010 at the Alappuzha Medical College, and lauded it for setting up the lab with most modern equipment, including MRI scanning machines. Hindlabs was launched by HLL Lifecare Limited (HLL), a 'mini Ratna' PSU, to curb the exploitation by private medical laboratories. It provides diagnostic tests to patients at 10 to 60 per cent rates cheaper as compared to market rates. Kerala Health minister, V S Sivakumar, HLL Chairman and Managing Director, Dr M Ayyappan, were among those present. Several Delhi University students came out in support of JNU and held a protest today demanding withdrawal of cases against JNU Students' Union president Kanhaiya Kumar and others, amidst a counter protest from members of RSS' studnts wing ABVP. The students today gathered near Delhi University's Arts Faculty under the banner of "Save DU", which received support of several Leftist student outfits including AISF, AISA and SFI and also members of Delhi University Teachers' Union. "We will continue the agitation until they withdraw sedition charges on Kanhaiya Kumar and withdraw cases against other students of JNU. We are here to take the spirit of protest across to every single college and university in the country," National General Secretary of AISF Vishwajeet Kumar, one of the organising members, said. A PhD student from DU, Aswathy Senani, who was among those participating in the meeting, said that she supported the ongoing agitation. "I am not affiliated with any political party but I believe that a university should be a space where all sorts of debates and discussions should happen. The way the present government has acted against students by trying to suppress dissenting voices in educational institutions should be opposed, and that is the reason why I decided to come here," she added. An office bearer of the AISA at DU, Aman Gautam claimed that more students from the university who were not affiliated to any party were coming forward to support their demand to release arrested JNU student Kanhaiya Kumar. "Even students who are not affiliated to any political party are lending their support," he said. The meeting took place amidst opposition from nearly a dozen ABVP members who shouted slogans such as "Jo Afzal ka saath dega woh Afzal ki maut marega (Those who will support Afzal will die his death)." The police prevented a clash between ABVP members and the protesting students, numbering a little over 100. "No person has been detained and the situation was brought under control in due time," DCP (North) Madhur Verma said. "The way they are demanding the release of Kanhaiya is not acceptable to us and therefore, we are here to oppose the meeting. Support for Afzal and opposing the nationalistic ethos of the country will not be tolerated," said Delhi unit secretary of ABVP Bharat Khatana. He said that ABVP has given a "Sansad Gherao" call on January 24 at Jantar Mantar where they will demand suspension of Members of Parliament who have supported Kanhaiya. Up to 5,000 Islamic State (ISIS) terrorists may have returned to Europe after being trained in terror training camps in Syrian and other war zones as the continent faces its highest terror threat in over a decade, the head of EU's police agency has warned. Rob Wainwright, director of Europol - the European Union- wide law enforcement agency, said these trained terrorists may be plotting further attacks like those in Paris last November which claimed 130 lives. "Europe is currently facing its biggest terror threat in more than a decade," he told Germany's 'Neue Osnabrucker Zeitung' newspaper. "One can expect Islamic State (ISIS) or other religious terror groups to stage an attack somewhere in Europe with the aim of achieving mass casualties among the civilian population. Additionally, there is the risk of individual attackers - this has not reduced," he said. Europol estimates that there are between 3,000 and 5,000 Europeans who have travelled to terrorist training camps abroad, including those run by ISIS in its territories in Iraq and Syria, and returned home, the report said. "The growing number of these foreign fighters presents new challenges for EU countries," Wainwright added. But he played down fears that terrorists are using the European migrant crisis to infiltrate the continent as asylum seekers at refugee camps. "There is no concrete evidence terrorists are systematically using the flow of refugees to infiltrate Europe," he said. However, Austrian prosecutors this week have confirmed a 34-year-old Pakistani suspect, who has not been named, was arrested along with a 28-year-old Algerian at a refugee shelter in the country on December 10 in connection with the serial terror attacks in Paris in November, 2015. Their arrest came after two other suspects were taken into custody. An Austrian prosecutors' statement said: "It can be assumed that all four are members of ISIS." Last month, the Europol in a report had warned that "ISIS is preparing more terrorist attacks, including more 'Mumbai- style' attacks, to be executed in member states of the EU, and in France in particular". A former Black Panther activist who spent a record 43 years in solitary confinement was freed from a US prison after decades of legal battles to prove his innocence. Albert Woodfox is the last of the "Angola Three" activists to taste freedom in a case which provoked outrage among rights groups. A federal judge had ordered Woodfox's unconditional release in June in a strongly-worded ruling that barred any further trial on charges of murdering prison guard Brent Miller. Woodfox twice managed to overturn his conviction for the crime, but Louisiana's attorney general had been determined to pursue a third trial and managed to bar Woodfox's release on appeal. He won his freedom yesterday by pleading "no contest" to two lesser charges in a deal which allowed him to be released on his 69th birthday. "Although I was looking forward to proving my innocence at a new trial, concerns about my health and my age have caused me to resolve this case now and obtain my release with this no-contest plea to lesser charges," Woodfox said in a statement. "I hope the events of today will bring closure to many." The plea is not an admission of guilt but instead a legal manoeuver in which he "does not contest that the State would present evidence at a new trial from witnesses who said he committed this crime," his lawyers said. The Angola Three said they were targeted by prison officials because they spoke out against inhumane treatment and racial segregation at the notorious Louisiana prison built on a former slave plantation. Woodfox and Herman Wallace, who were sent to Angola for unrelated cases of armed robbery, were convicted of the Rogers murder in 1972. Wallace was released in 2013 and died shortly thereafter from cancer. Robert King, the third member of the group, spent 29 years in solitary until his conviction for a separate prison murder was overturned in 2001. The case of the Angola Three has brought attention to the psychological toll of solitary confinement, which typically means being locked in a tiny cell for 23 hours a day. Hundreds of evacuation centres were activated across Fiji today as severe tropical cyclone Winston intensified near the Pacific island nation. The powerful storm, with average winds of 220 kilometres (136 miles) per hour and gusts of up to 315 kilometres per hour, was forecast to hit land late in the day, according to the Fiji meteorological office. National Disaster Management Director Akapusi Tuifagalele told the Fijilive website that 758 evacuation centres had been prepared. "We are prepared to face a very strong cyclone and are urging people all over the country to be prepared as well," he said. "Our officers are stationed in every part of the country to assist our people and evacuation centres have been set up for people who may be at risk in their respective homes." Tuifagalele said people were urged to take necessary precautionary measures at the earliest opportunity. Winston has been moving around the South Pacific for a week, skirting around Vanuatu and Tonga and has previously taken aim at Fiji before veering away. The UN humanitarian agency UNOCHA said it was ready to support the disaster management office if required. Winston had the potential to bring "destructive winds, heavy rains, dangerous storm surge and a high risk of both flash and river flooding", UNOCHA said in a statement. Residents of Fiji were beginning to clean up and assess the damage today after a ferocious cyclone tore through the Pacific island chain overnight. There were no immediate reports of fatalities, although aid workers said it would take at least a day to establish communications with some of the smaller islands that were directly in Cyclone Winston's path. There were widespread reports of damage, with many homes and crops destroyed. Authorities were urging people to remain indoors as they cleared fallen trees and power lines. They said all schools would be closed for a week to allow time for the cleanup. Yesterday the government imposed a nationwide curfew and declared a 30-day state of natural disaster, giving extra powers to police to arrest people without a warrant in the interest of public safety. Wind speeds from Cyclone Winston were estimated at up to 285 kilometers per hour. The cyclone moved westward overnight along the northern coast of the main island, Viti Levu, before continuing out to sea. Fiji's capital, Suva, located in the southern part of the main island, was not directly in the cyclone's path and avoided the worst of its destructive power. "Truth be told, we've gotten off pretty lightly here in the capital," said Alice Clements, a spokeswoman for the aid agency UNICEF who lies in Suva. "It was still a pretty awful night. You could hear crashing trees and power lines, and popping rivets as roofs got lifted and ripped out." She said there's foliage everywhere which looks like it has been put through a blender. Clements said there's real concern for the welfare of people on the northern part of the main island and smaller islands elsewhere. She said many would have lost their homes and livelihoods. She said the Fijian government is responding quickly by clearing vital roads. Flights to Fiji were canceled yesterday and Clements said some tourist resorts on the outer islands may have suffered damage. Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama wrote on social media that the island's evacuation centers were operational and that the government was prepared to deal with a potential crisis. "As a nation, we are facing an ordeal of the most grievous kind," he wrote. "We must stick together as a people and look after each other." Fiji is home to about 900,000 people. Fiji was today struck by its most powerful ever cyclone, according to reports, as the island nation battened down the hatches with a blanket curfew and mass evacuations. The category five super-storm hit the main island of Viti Levu overnight, according to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center, with flights cancelled and evacuation centres activated earlier in the day. "As a nation, we are facing an ordeal of the most grievous kind," Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama said in a national address. "We must stick together as a people and look after each other. Be alert and be prepared." Severe tropical cyclone Winston, with average winds of 220 kilometres per hour and gusts of up to 315 kilometres per hour, was the first ever category five storm to hit the nation, the Fiji Times reported. "This mega storm has the potential to cause catastrophic damage across Fiji, an island nation frequented by hundreds of thousands of holiday-goers every year," said Iris Low- McKenzie, CEO of Save the Children Fiji. "It looks as though the storm could pass over the international airport in Nadi, which, if significant damage is caused, will make the humanitarian response all the more difficult," she added. National Disaster Management director Akapusi Tuifagalele told the Fijilive website that 758 evacuation centres had been set up in the nation of about 900,000. Winston brushed by the more northerly island of Vanua Levu on Saturday afternoon, with unconfirmed reports of trees felled and roofs blown off houses. "I've never seen such a strong cyclone as this one in 60 years," resident Zalim Hussein told AFP by phone. "This is a monster cyclone, without doubt the strongest we've ever experienced. We're all very scared and hope it goes away quickly." Fiji Airways, Virgin Australia and Jetstar all cancelled flights to the holiday hotspot, which is a popular destination for Australians and New Zealanders. The government imposed a nation-wide curfew on Saturday night, with the prime minister warning residents not to go outdoors. "The threat of being hit by flying debris is extremely high," he said. Winston has been moving around the South Pacific for a week, skirting around Vanuatu and Tonga and has previously taken aim at Fiji before veering away. Cyclones are common in the South Pacific and their impact is notoriously difficult to predict, with major storms capable of causing major devastation but sometimes blowing themselves out with relatively little damage. At least five militants were killed today by Pakistani security forces during a gunfight in the troubled northwestern tribal region bordering Afghanistan. The security forces launched an operation in Karapa area of Mohmand district after Taliban militants killed at least nine policemen in the area on Wednesday. "Five terrorists were killed by security forces in Mohmand early morning today," a military statement said. Security forces also recovered explosives and other weapons during the search operation. Mohmand, one of the seven tribal border districts which have been home to Al-Qaeda and Taliban-led militants, is close to Charsadda town where Taliban gunmen attacked a university last month and killed at least 21 people. Fiji warned residents to brace for an onslaught today as a category five super-storm bears down on the Pacific island nation, with international flights cancelled and evacuation centres activated. "As a nation, we are facing an ordeal of the most grievous kind," Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama said in a national address. "We must stick together as a people and look after each other. Be alert and be prepared." Severe tropical cylone Winston, with average winds of 220 kilometres per hour and gusts of up to 315 kilometres per hour, was forecast to hit the main island Viti Levu overnight today, according to the Fiji meteorological office. The storm brushed by the more northerly island of Vanua Levu this afternoon, with unconfirmed reports of trees felled and roofs blown off houses. "I've never seen such a strong cyclone as this one in 60 years," local resident Zalim Hussein told AFP by phone. "This is a monster cyclone, without doubt the strongest we've ever experienced. We're all very scared and hope it goes away quickly." National Disaster Management director Akapusi Tuifagalele told the Fijilive website that 758 evacuation centres had been prepared in the nation of about 900,000. Fiji Airways, Virgin Australia and Jetstar all cancelled flights to the holiday hotspot, which is a popular destination for Australians and New Zealanders. "Our team of meteorologists and safety experts have been closely monitoring Tropical Cyclone Winston and have determined that conditions are not suitable for flying in or out of Nadi, Fiji," Virgin Australia said in a statement. The government imposed a nation-wide curfew today night, with Bainimarama saying conditions would be too dangerous for residents to venture outside. "I ask parents to be especially careful of the young and the elderly," he said. "Do not allow anyone to go outside during the storm itself. The threat of being hit by flying debris is extremely high." Winston has been moving around the South Pacific for a week, skirting around Vanuatu and Tonga and has previously taken aim at Fiji before veering away. Cyclones are common in the South Pacific and their impact is notoriously difficult to predict, with major storms capable of causing major devastation but sometimes blowing themselves out with relatively little damage. The UN humanitarian agency UNOCHA said it was ready to support the disaster management office if required. Winston had the potential to bring "destructive winds, heavy rains, dangerous storm surge and a high risk of both flash and river flooding", UNOCHA said in a statement. Railway Minister Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu today said four new express trains will ply from Silchar by April this year. "Our focus is to connect the entire North East with the rest of India through rail network. As part of this plan, we will introduce four new express trains from Silchar by April," Prabhu said here. The trains will run from Silchar to Agartala in Tripura, Tinsukia in Assam, Mumbai and Chennai he said, adding one intercity train will also be started between Silchar and Guwahati. Prabhu today flagged off the 'Sampark Kranti Express', which was extended to Silchar from Guwahati and will go to New Delhi and said one heritage train will be started in Barak valley soon. The Railway Minister also inaugurated the Badarpur-Jirania and Badarpur-Jiribam sections for trial run. "The Central government gives emphasis on rail and road connectivity. We will implement many projects for development of communication in the region and there is no constraint for funds," he added. Around a dozen labourer families were allegedly robbed of Rs 4 lakh at gunpoint by a gang of 15 dacoits and a woman was raped by one of the robbers in Muradnagar area here, police said today. The families engaged in construction work in Jalalabad village at Muradnagar were looted of cash and jewelery worth Rs 4 lakh by the gang on Thursday, SP (Rural) Rakesh Pandey said. A woman from one of the families was raped by robber Praveen (30), he said. Seven members of the gang, including Praveen have been arrested, Pandey said. The woman has been sent for medical examination. He said the labourers were given their wages on the day of the crime and one of the gang members saw the exchange of money between the contractor and the labourers, he said. The gang was apparently hired by a nearby farmer to chase away wild pigs from his fields, police said. Efforts are on to arrest the remaining culprits, they added. A hardcore Maoist carrying Rs one lakh reward on head and his two militia supporters surrendered before security forces during anti-naxal operation in Karlapat Reserve Forest of Odisha's Kalahandi district today. The surrendered ultra, identified as Suka Majhi (20) of Mulunga village under Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh, had been inducted into the banned outfit six years ago by Maoists, Kalahandi SP Brijesh Rai and Deputy Commandant CRPF 64 Battalion Suryamani Behera told reporters. Majhi, who was present at the press meet, said he had been imparted training by the red rebels in Chhattisgarh and later brought into Odisha to operate in Malkangiri, Koraput, Rayagada and Kalahandi districts. In Kalahandi, he was working in Bansadhara-Ghumsar- Nagabali Division as an armed cadre. Recently Majhi, who carried a reward of Rs one lakh on his head, was operating in Karlapat, Gundi and Kahandual mali Reserve Forest areas, the SP said. Majhi alleged that he was subjected to harassment and on many occasions had faced assault by senior cadres. Gradually, he got disillusioned with the organisation and was looking for an opportunity to quit. Along with him, two other local militia members who were providing support to the Maoist cadre working in their area under duress, also gave themselves up, the senior official said adding their identity was not disclosed because of security reasons. Madras High Court today pulled up a Madras University Student for attempting to misuse the jurisdiction of the court and imposed a cost of Rs 5,000 besides dimssing his PIL, which sought a direction to the University to reconstitute a search committee for selection of Vice Chancellor. Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice M M Sundresh dismissed the PIL by J Alex alias John Alexander, student of Master of on-line Journalism, who also sought to quash a G.O dated January 7 of the Higher Education department. According to petitioner, P N Veda Narayanan, a retired Vigilance and Department Commissioner, R Balasubramanian, Director, Faculty of Science and Humanities, SRM University and R Surendira Prasad, (former member of Syndicate, University of Madras) were nominated to the Search Committee. He contended that Surendira Prasad at no point of time in his career ever held a full time position as a teacher, researcher or administrative head of the institution. Prasad was now starting to do research as a student. Therefore, the search committee appointed by the government was not in accordance with the UGC regulations, he submitted. The bench said it was unfortunate to note that a student of the University was seeking to misuse the jurisdiction of the court in PIL seeking to assail the composition of the search committee formulated for selection of the Vice Chancellor alleging that it was not in accordance with UGC regulations. "In our view, the petitioner has clearly either been a set up or has deliberately concealed the issue that the single judge of this court has examined the same very issue at the behest of the Madras University Teachers' Association and those petitions were dismissed on December 18,2015", the court said. "This is now another endeavour to raise the same issue again under the garb of a PIL. We have also grave doubts as to how the petitioner can question and raise the issue as a PIL. We even pointed out to the petitioner appearing in person the said fact, but the petitioner persisted in raising the contentions. Even on merit, we do not find any case made out by the petitioner." "Sunredira Prasad is a full time non-stipendiary Ph.D. Research Scholar, who is not getting any monetary benefits from the University. Therefore, the contention sought to be raised that he is a student deserves to be rejected", the court said. "The petitioner has miserably failed to point out any violation of the provisions contained in the Madras University Act, the bench added. French President Francois Hollande said a package agreed with Britain so as to keep it in the European Union gave London no special favours and broke no EU rules. "There are no exceptions to the rules," Hollande said after a difficult two-day EU leaders' summit in Brussels on British Prime Minister David Cameron's demands for key reforms to the bloc. The paramotor expedition team of Indian Air Force arrived at Thanjavur as part of their "expedition Pradakshina". The team, which aims to cover a distance of 10,000 km and create a new world record, was flagged off from Gurgaon on January 28. The team, which arrived at Thanjavur Air Force Station yesterday, was received by group Captain R V Shinde, Station Commander of Air Force Station, Thanjavur, an IAF press release said here today. The team will cover most of the boundary of the nation. Upon successful completion, the team will not only set a national record but also script a new world record by surpassing the current record of 9,132km for such an expedition. The team consists of 14 air warriors, including paramotor pilots, ground vehicles and support staff, and is being led by Wing Commander MPS Solanki from the Directorate of Adventure, Indian Air Force. Paramotor flying includes open cockpit flying where the pilot is not protected and is exposed to the elements. During the expedition, the team will cover a distance of 10,000 km in difficult weather conditions. It will cross terrain ranging from mountains and forests to coastlines and the desert and will attempt to achieve standards that not only remain unbeaten for years to come but also place India on top of the world in the field of aero-sports, the release said. State-owned IDBI Bank today said it plans to raise up to Rs 1,500 crore by selling stake to Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) by preferential issuance of shares to the insurer. The board has approved the proposal for preferential issue of capital to Life Insurance Corporation of India, aggregating up to Rs 1,500 crore (inclusive of premium amount) subject to Government of India's approval, IDBI Bank said in a statement. LIC and various other schemes currently hold 7.25 per cent stake in IDBI Bank. Last week, the bank also got board approval for raising up to USD 500 million through tier I bonds. The board has approved issuance of Basel III compliant Additional Tier 1 (AT 1) bonds in offshore markets up to USD 500 million to enhance tier 1 capital of the bank, the bank had said. AT-1 bonds, which qualify as core or equity capital, are one of the means of raising capital by public sector banks that require Rs 1.80 lakh crore by March 2019 to meet global norms on capital adequacy (Basel III). India today conveyed to Nepal that success of its new Constitution will depend on resolution of contentious issues through "consensus and dialogue" in a time-bound manner as both sides held extensive talks with focus on repairing ties soured in the wake of a four-month -long agitation by the Indian-origin Madhesi community. India was for peace, stability and overall development of Nepal, Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserted after meeting his Nepalese counterpart K P Sharma Oli, who on his part said the main reason for his visit was to clear "misunderstandings" in ties that persisted in the last few months and that they "no longer exist". The two sides signed nine agreements including one on utilisation of Indian grant of USD 250 million to Nepal for post-earthquake reconstruction and another on improving of road infrastructure in Nepal's Terai region bordering India. Calling finalisation of Constitution a major achievement for Nepal, Modi expressed the hope that all political parties will come together to successfully resolve "remaining" Constitutional issues satisfactorily, taking in considerations aspirations of all sections of the society. "The drafting and announcement of the new Constitution after decades of struggle in Nepal is a major achievement. I appreciate the contribution of the political leadership and all sections of the society in Nepal in its making. ""But its success depends on consensus and dialogue. I am confident on the basis of these principles and through political dialogue and by taking all sections together, you (Oli) will be able to resolve all issues relating to the Constitution satisfactorily and take Nepal forward towards the path of development and stability," Modi said in his media statement, in presence of Oli. In the meeting, Modi stressed that Nepal's stability was linked to India's security. On combating terrorism, he said, "We will not allow terrorists and criminals to use our open border. In this regard the security agencies of the two countries will intensify cooperation." Asked if the Nepalese Prime Minister could address India's concerns, Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar said the "tone and tenor" of the visit was forward-looking, adding assurances given on addressing grievances within Nepal if left unaddressed may "detract" the country from stability. "This was not a recriminatory visit. This was a forward- looking visit. It was a visit in a cooperative sense," he said, replying to a barrage of questions on whether India was satisfied with Nepal's assurance on issues relating to the new Constitution. He said Modi expressed the hope that all the outstanding issues in the Constitution will be resolved in a time-bound manner. On whether India was worried about Nepal getting closer to China, Jaishankar rejected such apprehensions saying the word China did not come up in the talks. In his statement, Oli, who arrived here yesterday on his first foreign visit after becoming Prime Minister in October last year, said he came to clear misunderstandings and "have done so". Ties between the two countries had soured in the wake of agitation by the Madhesi community, which shares close family and cultural ties with Indians, saying it failed to address their concerns over representation and homeland. The agitators had blocked trading points for almost four months crippling supply of petroleum products, medicines and other commodities by India to that country. The blockade was lifted this month. Seeking to boost cultural cooperation, India and Vietnam have set the ball rolling for promoting each other as a "favourable destination" for shooting films. "Vietnam had approached us with a proposal that pitched it as a favourable destination for filmmakers in India. Besides, soap operas, Bollywood movies are quite popular there, and we also wish to forge a bond in this segment," Secretary (East), External Affairs Ministry, Anil Wadhwa said. The senior MEA official was speaking at the opening of an international seminar on 'Indo-Vietnam Cultural Relations: Retrospect and Prospect' organised by ICCR here. "We are moving further in this direction, and a high-level delegation from India visited Vietnam last December at the invitation of the administration, and have found a few locations that could be used for shooting films," he said. Endowed with natural beauty and world heritage sites, Vietnam is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in South East Asia, and places like Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Hoi An have been featured in many domestic and international film productions. "Some of the places, our delegation identified during the visit are -- Ha Long Bay (a World Heritage Site), Ho Chi Minh City and places that were parts of ancient Chinese civilisation in Vietnam, among others," Wadhwa told PTI. Ambassador of Vietnam to India Ton Sinh Thanh also expressed his country's desire to partner with India in the cultural sector and mutually promote shooting of films in the two countries. "We would like Indian filmmakers to come to our country and explore the place as a shooting destination. We would also like our filmmakers to visit India and shoot movies there... Because, if culture diplomacy works, rest automatically falls into place," he said. The Vietnamese diplomat also reiterated his country's desire to have a "bust of Ho Chi Minh installed in Delhi". "I take this opportunity to once again appeal to India to have a statue of the great leader Ho Chi Minh, installed in Delhi, as it has been done in Kolkata," he said. Thanh said, "Nehru and Ho Chi Minh both represented friendship between the two countries, and this statue would be a monument to that cordial relationship that we have enjoyed over the years." Wadhwa said that besides cinema and TV production, the countries have tremendous potential to "cooperate in ares of Yoga and Ayurveda, apart from our strategic cooperation in the defence sector. Indonesian police have arrested dozens of suspected Islamic militants on the main island of Java as authorities get set to tighten anti-terrorism laws following last month's deadly attack in Jakarta. Central Java police spokesman Col Liliek Darmanto says police early today arrested 36 men who were attending military-style training at an alleged jihadi camp on the remote slopes of Mount Sumbing. Police are investigating the men's possible links to Islamic radicalism. Officers seized air rifles, knives, jihadi books and flags in the raid. Separately, police say five suspected militants were captured late yesterday in Malang, a hilly city in East Java province. Indonesia's government has submitted to parliament a new anti-terrorism law that would enable authorities to hold suspects involved in radicalism and extremism for up to six months. Sunni Arab tribesmen battled militants of the Islamic State group in their Fallujah stronghold for a second day today in a major blow to the jihadists in Iraq, officials said. Fallujah is one of two Iraqi cities still controlled by IS, but residents -- said to number in the tens of thousands -- vastly outnumber the estimated 300 to 400 jihadists inside it. IS has had plenty of time to assert its control over the civilian population and has carried out large numbers of arrests and public executions in the city. "Armed confrontations between the sons of the Fallujah tribes and the Daesh organisation are continuing," an army brigadier general said, using an Arabic acronym for IS. The clashes are taking place in Al-Jolan in northwest Fallujah and Nazal in the centre, the officer said, adding that the army was shelling IS positions on the outskirts. There have been casualties among both the tribesmen and the jihadists, the officer said, without giving a number. Tribal leader Sheikh Majeed al-Juraisi said that fighting was continuing in both the centre and north of Fallujah. The tribesmen "are beginning to run out of supplies and need the support of the government," he added. There is "fear that they will completely run out and afterwards the Daesh organisation will arrest and massacre them." In 2014 and 2015, IS executed dozens of members of the Albu Nimr tribe, which opposed the jihadists' seizure of most of Anbar province, including Fallujah. Saadun Obaid al-Shaalan, who was elected by a local council to administer the Fallujah area, confirmed that the fighting was ongoing, saying that tribesmen had posted snipers on rooftops in the Al-Askari area of east Fallujah. He said the tribesmen were in need of supplies and "we are trying to obtain that support" from the government. Officials said the clashes began yesterday as a fight between tribesmen and Al-Hisba, IS members charged with enforcing religious strictures in the city. Members of the Al-Juraisat, Al-Mahamda and Al-Halabsa tribes joined the fighting as it escalated. Fallujah, which lies about 50 kilometres (30 miles) west of Baghdad, is the only Iraqi city apart from IS's main northern hub Mosul still under jihadist control. Several large town in the north are also held by the jihadists, including Tal Afar and Hawijah. IS launched a sweeping offensive that overran swathes of northern and western Iraq in June 2014, but security forces and allied fighters have pushed the jihadists back with support from US-led air strikes. Tribesmen have played a key role in holding the jihadists back in several areas, including Haditha in Anbar, Amerli in Salaheddin province and Dhuluiyah in Diyala. The Jammu and Kashmir government today released the balance 25 per cent funds amounting to Rs 13.55 crore for Special Task Force Projects of Jammu and Ladakh regions. During the financial year 2015-16, an allocation of Rs 54.19 crore was made for projects under STF for Jammu and Ladakh and 75 per cent of funds were already released for the purpose, an official statement said here today. Under Special Task Forces programme launched in 2010 by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs for Jammu and Ladakh regions, projects worth Rs 189.19 crore were initially taken up in district Leh, Rs 226.51 crore in district Kargil and Rs 496.63 crore in Jammu region, it said. Up to 2014-15, funds to the tune of Rs 668.51 crore have been spent under the special programme with Rs 298.51 crore for Jammu and Rs 185 crore each for Leh andKargil districts. With Jats in Haryana upping the ante renewing their old quota demand, the state government is facing an uphill task to carry on with its preparation works for the upcoming mega investor summit scheduled to be held two weeks later in Gurgaon. The agitation, which has been flared up in the last two days, is posing a major challenge for the BJP government in Haryana to make the investors' summit a big success. Days before the Jats started their protest, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar had been holding roadshows in various cities of the country including Mumbai and Chennai, seeking investments for his state. The state government had in recent days been making efforts to make the forthcoming "Happening Haryana Global Investors Summit-2016" scheduled for March 7-9 in Gurgaon, a grand success. However, the Jat quota stir came at a wrong time for the Khattar government which was going full steam to prepare for the first investors' summit and "Pravasi Haryana Divas" (on March 9) to woo domestic and international industrial investors. Chief Minister Khattar along with Finance Minister Capt Abhimanyu and senior officials had already undertaken two foreign trips -- the first to the US and Canada in August last year and the second one recently to Japan and China -- to attract investors. Besides, the state government has also held roadshows in five metros in the country. Notably, the current Jat agitation is the second major untoward event which has put the state government in a tight spot. The BJP government came to power in Haryana in October 2014. Immediately after taking oath as the Chief Minister, Khattar had to face the 'godman' Rampal issue. Opposition Congress had then even taken a dig at the government over its alleged inept handling of the Rampal issue, claiming that CM Khattar had failed to handle it as he was a person with no experience in administration and public life. In November 2014, there had been violent clashes at the Satlok ashram of the self-styled godman in Haryana and thousands of Rampal's followers had to be evacuated from his Ashram, before police finally arrested him. The incident had also caused a few casualties and left hundreds injured. Former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda while commenting on present Jat agitation, said it was not the right time to indulge in political speak over the handling of the Jat issue by the present government, "yet it is true that the situation has been allowed to come to such a pass because the BJP leaders had made tall promises to the Jat community before coming to power". "Even when they came to power, various leaders of the BJP have been speaking in different tones, which complicated things. At the same time, I want to make it clear that Congress strongly condemns any act of violence and we appeal to people to maintain peace and harmony," he said. (Reopens NRG21) "There may be an adverse impact on new investments in Haryana in the wake of ongoing Jat stir," said Sher Singh Sangwan, Professor at Centre for Research in Rural and Industrial Development (CRRID), Chandigarh. "The Jat agitation will also impact the image of the state if it prolongs,' he further said while adding, "the government should act fast to end the stir". Industry experts said new investors would not like to make fresh investment in the state which is facing lawlessness and violent protest in the wake of Jat stir. This is the first investors summit organised by the Khattar government in the state. Khattar government had even launched a new industrial policy to attract fresh investments in the state. Haryana is seeking investments in several fields including agro-based industry, electronics, footwear accessory, renewable energy, solar parks, auto, auto parts, defence, aerospace, pharma, textile etc. Khattar has even held roadshows in states such as Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai to invite investors to make investments in the state. As violence spread to more areas in Haryana over the Jat quota agitation, curfew was clamped in Jind, Hisar and Hansi districts. The authorities clamped curfew in Jind in view of some violent incidents that included setting afire three Haryana Roadways buses int he district by agitating Jats. Army, paramilitary and police conducted a flag march in Jind, where incidents of violence were reported from various places including Julana, Uchana and Pilukhera. Curfew has been imposed from 8 PM to 6 AM in Hisar and Hansi as a precautionary measure. Earlier today, the Sonipat district administration had clamped curfew in the city and Gohana town of the district. Curfew has now been imposed in at least eight towns in Haryana in the wake of incidents of violence during agitation. Curfew had already been clamped in Rohtak, Bhiwani and Jhajjar towns. Road transport and rail services have been badly hit because of the protest as buses remained off the road while protesters were squatting on rail tracks at multiple points. Around 200 paramilitary personnel were today airlifted to Rohtak in Haryana from here after Jat protesters blocked roads following fresh incidents of violence. The security personnel were dispatched from Delhi's Safdarjung airfield in batches as the trouble-torn district was cut off by road and rail network due to protests by the Jat community demanding reservation. The decision to send the paramilitary personnel by air was taken by the Home Ministry following a request of the Haryana government. The Centre yesterday rushed 3,300 paramilitary personnel to Haryana and assured Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar of all possible help to maintain law and order as the stir turned violent. Concerned over the volatile situation, Home Minister Rajnath Singh yesterday called up the Haryana Chief Minister, who briefed him about the prevailing situation in the state. Singh also appealed to the people to maintain peace and order and stressed on the need for discussion and dialogue. Five persons were today killed while several others were injured in firing by security personnel during violent protests for quota by Jat community in Rohtak, Jhajjar and Kaithal districts, taking the toll to six. Five persons were killed "when armed forces opened fire to quell arson and firing" by the protesters, an official release said today. The fifth casualty took place at Kaithal, while four other persons died in Jhajjar and Rohtak earlier in the day. Besides, 15 people, including security personnel, were injured in Rohtak and Jhajjar today, the release said. A Haryana Dairy Corporation's milk plant was set on fire by the protesters in Rohtak. The residents were asked to move out due to a possible gas leak from the plant, an official spokesman said. The Haryana government sought additional companies of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and more columns of Army to be deployed in Haryana by tomorrow morning to control the agitation in the state. The requisition for additional force was made by Crisis Management Group of Haryana comprising Chief Secretary, Additional Chief Secretary (Home), and Director General of Police, who held a meeting with Union Cabinet Secretary, Chief of Army Staff, Chief of Air Force and Director IB through video conference from here. The release quoting an official spokesman said that 154 FIRs have been registered and persons are being identified, and stern action will be taken against them. He said the army and police personnel have been deployed in adequate number in Rohtak to control the situation. As many as 15 companies of India Reserve Battalion and Haryana Armed Police, three companies of paramilitary forces and two columns of Army have already been deployed. He said the central government is providing a chopper to Haryana for monitoring the measures to control the agitation and also spray tear gas to disperse mob specially at blockades. Bhiwani remained peaceful whereas in Hissar, two persons were injured in a village near Hansi as a result of a clash between two groups (non-Jats and protesters). Both are now out of danger, he said. "Two persons were brought dead in PGIMS here today, while another patient, who was critically injured, was operated upon but succumbed to his injuries," hospital authorities in Rohtak said. "Another patient was brought dead at Jhajjar civil hospital with bullet injury in his head," Jhajjar civil hospital official said. Among the five deceased, three have been identified as Parveen (Jhajjar), Krishan (Jhajjar) and Nitin (Rohtak). "Three patients, who are undergoing treatment, are very critical," PGIMS authorities said. The Jat stir had yesterday claimed life of one unidentified person killed in a BSF firing in Rohtak after agitation turned violent. A group of people belonging to Saini community pelted stones at some shops near Jat Dharamshala Hansi and set a wine shop on fire, police added. Violence and arson in the Jat quota stir in Haryana spread to more areas today with five people being killed in firing by security forces in three districts taking the death toll to six even as the Army staged flag marches in worst-hit pockets. As Haryana remained on the boil, several Haryana Roadways buses, seven railway stations, a police station and some buildings were torched by pro-quota protesters. Army had to use choppers to reach parts of blocked Rohtak district. A milk plant of the Haryana Dairy Corporation (Vita) was set on fire by the protestors at Rohtak. The residents nearby were asked to move out to protect them for possible gas leak from the milk plant, an official spokesman said tonight. Curfew was clamped in five more towns--the latest one being Jind, Hisar and Hansi. Earlier today, curfew was imposed in Sonipat and Gohana towns of Sonipat district. It was already clamped in Rohtak, Bhiwani and Jhajjar towns. The road and rail traffic through Haryana and destined to neighboring states, including Delhi, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan and Chandigarh remained disrupted with authorities cancelling bus and train services on most routes in the wake of continuing blockade. An official release said tonight that five persons were killed "when Armed Forces opened fire to quell arson and firing" by the protesters. Fifteen persons, including security personnel, were injured in Rohtak and Jhajjar today, the release said. The fifth casualty occurred in Kaithal district while earlier in the day deaths of four persons in firing were reported from Jhajjar and Rohtak. One person was killed in firing by BSF in Rohtak yesterday. As many as 15 companies of India Reserve Battalion and Haryana Armed Police, three companies of paramilitary forces and two columns of Army have already been deployed, the release said. Among the five dead, three were identified by authorities as Parveen (Jhajjar), Krishan (Jhajjar) and Nitin (Rohtak). The identity of the fourth is not yet known. One unidentified person was killed in firing by BSF yesterday in Rohtak. The Jat stir has severely hit the movement of more than 800 trains, and seven stations in the state were set on fire by the agitators. Jhajjar, Buddha Khed, Julana and Pillu Kheda were among the seven stations which were set afire, a Railway spokesperson said, adding that two track machines were also burnt at Pillu Kheda. The country's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India suspended operations at its two plants in Gurgaon and Manesar as component supplies have been hit by the agitation of Jats demanding job reservation. In a new twist to the agitation, there were reports of clashes between Jats and non-Jats with 10 persons being injured at Kalayat in Kaithal district and in Hansi area of Hisar district. Appealing to protesters to end their stir, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar asked agitators to "return to their homes as the Government has accepted their demands", but did not elaborate. "Such incidents create disharmony," he said here after reviewing the situation with his ministerial colleagues and senior civil and police officers. But several Jat leaders refused to call off the pro-quota agitation unless the government promulgated an ordinance to include the community in the OBC category. Expressing concern over the violent Jat stir for quota in Haryana, Uttar Pradesh Cabinet Minister Shivpal Singh Yadav today appealed to members of the community to maintain peace and said they can file a review petition in the Supreme Court against the apex court's ruling on the reservation issue. "I appeal to members of Jat community to maintain peace. The judgement given by the Supreme Court was supreme. Jat community can file a review petition in the apex court," Yadav told reporters. On Delhi Jama Masjid Imam Syed Ahmed Bukhari's proposed visit to the state capital, Shivpal said that Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav listens to all sections of the society and accepts their demands. "The government has fulfilled all its promises," he said. In her parting speech on the last day of the 14th Assembly session in this poll-bound state, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister today thanked MLAs of opposition parties and lauded Speaker P Dhanapal for being 'unbiased' in his handling of affairs of the House. Making a slew of announcements for differently-abled persons and farmers, the Chief Minister also expressed satisfaction over addressing the demands of the former "on the last day of the 14th Assembly". "I am very happy to have worked as Chief Minister with the elected members of this House. While there have been many heated debates, I thank the opposition members for having worked without any hostility," she said. Jayalalithaa, whose party is fancying a successive term after the elections due in about two months, said that the Legislative Assembly was the 'specialty' of democracy and that it provided a 'rare opportunity' to serve people of various hues. "I extend my felicitations to Speaker P Dhanapal who was unbiased and Leader of the House (and Finance Minister) O Panneerselvam," she said. Swiss police said today they have launched a manhunt for three men who robbed a high-end jewelry store in Zurich, making off with a stash worth more than USD 1.0 million. Shortly after mid-day on Saturday, three unknown men walked into the luxurious Harry Hofmann shop in downtown Zurich and pulled a gun on two staff members, city police said in a statement. "They stole numerous pieces of jewelry, gems and cash from the display and in an adjacent room. Shortly after they fled on foot ... With a booty worth well over one million Swiss francs" (USD 1.0 million, 908,000 euros), the statement said. The two shop employees, a man and a woman, were not hurt, it said. Zurich police had rushed to the scene, but were unable to apprehend the robbers. They immediately launched a manhunt for the trio, and published security footage photographs of two of them, showing tall, dark-haired men both wearing glasses and trimmed beards, who both allegedly spoke broken German. Police said the third offender could not be described in detail. JNUSU President Kanhaiya Kumar, charged with sedition, may have to spend another couple of days in prison as the Delhi High Court is likely to hear on Tuesday his bail plea in which he has contended that he was 'falsely implicated'. His counsel said all defects in his petition pointed out yesterday by the Registry have been rectified and the legal team would press that he was wrongly arrested on the basis of an FIR which was devoid of evidence to book him under such a serious charge. The counsel said the petition is limited to bail for Kanhaiya who was arrested on February 12. Kanhaiya has sought bail claiming he was falsely implicated as he had never raised any anti-national slogans during an event organised in Jawaharlal Nehru university (JNU) on February 9. In the plea, he has also claimed that no case is made out against him as there was no evidence. Kanhaiya had approached the high court after the Supreme Court yesterday refused to hear his bail petition on the ground that it will set a "dangerous precedent" and had asked him to approach the high court. Escorted by police, Kanhaiya's lawyers Sushil Bajaj and Vrinda Grover had thereafter rushed to the high court Registrar yesterday and mentioned the petition when certain deficiencies were pointed out in it. Security was yesterday beefed up in the high court, not far away from the Patiala House Courts, which was the scene of attacks on Kanhaiya and journalists by a group of unruly lawyers on Monday and Wednesday. Kanhaiya, who is in judicial custody till March 2, had approached the apex court directly seeking bail on the ground that his life was under threat in the Tihar Jail. He was arrested on February 12 on sedition charge following a controversial event at JNU campus where anti-India slogans were allegedly raised. Anirban Lahiri fought back on the back nine with three birdies against no bogeys to ensure that he is around for the weekend at the Northern Trust Open on the PGA Tour at the Riviera. Lahiri bounced back with a four-under 67 that put him at three-under 139 and in tied 28th place, up from 77th after first round. The 28-year-old Indian, who had to come back early in the day to complete the remaining two holes from the first round, parred both and finished the round at one-over 72 in tied 77th place. Canadian Jason Kokrak fired a 64 to open a one-stroke lead over Chez Reavie (67), even as Jordan Spieth, the world's No. 1 player, missed the cut by five shots. Knowing he had some work to do, Lahiri opened with a stunning eagle on the par-first hole. He smashed his driver to well over 300 yards and then arrived onto the green with another great second shot. He holed the eagle putt from just over 12 feet for a great start. But he immediately went into the greenside bunker on the next then left himself a 16-footer for par, which he missed. But he recovered with a 10-foot birdie on second only to give back a shot on the fifth with a par miss from just over three and a half feet. At that stage, Lahiri was one-under for the front nine and even par for the tournament, when it seemed par would be the likely cutline for the week. A fine shot off the tee on par-3 10th landing to within three feet for a birdie and then holed a 15-footer for birdie on 11th to get to three-under. Steady play with some good chipping and putting kept him going. On the 18th, he rolled in a nice 17-footer for a final birdie to finish the round at 67. Lahiri hit 50 per cent fairways and only found a third of the greens in regulation in first round but he found 10 of the 14 fairways in second and two-thirds of the greens in regulation. "I hit it much better in the second round. Also my chipping and putting was sharp. That kept me in the tournament despite terrible ball striking in the first 27 holes," said Lahiri. "I am feeling better about my game with each week. Hopefully I can find some form over the weekend and put up some good scores. The course was not easy and the greens were tricky and they took their toll on many other players in the field. Spieth made eight birdies but still missed the cut by five shots. Some others missing out included Sergio Garcia, Danny Lee, last week's winner, Vaughn Taylor, Keegan Bradley and Hunter Mahan. Kokrak, with eight birdies fired a 64 to open a one-stroke lead over Reavie (67). Kokrak, who birdied all par-fives, is now 10 under as he seeks what would be his first PGA TOUR win. Dustin Johnson (66) and Bubba Watson (68) were in the group at eight-under 134. Johnson has been the runner-up at Riviera each of the last two years, while Watson won the Northern Trust Open two years ago with a 64-64 weekend. Rory McIlroy (69) and Adam Scott (68) were four shots behind. Charl Schwartzel made a double bogey and a triple bogey -- the latter when a shot hit him in the hand -- and still shot 68 to remain in contention. He was in the large group at six-under 136 that included McIlroy, Scott, Hideki Matsuyama (67) and Justin Leonard (69). One of the three lawyers, who allegedly led the attack on journalists, students and teachers of JNU at Patiala House Court Complex on February 15 was arrested today. The accused lawyer, identified as Om Sharma, presented himself for interrogation at Tilak Marg police station, where he was arrested under relevant sections of IPC and was later released on bail, Deputy Commissioner of Police (New Delhi) Jatin Narwal said. Besides Sharma, two other lawyers, identified as Vikram Singh Chauhan and Yashpal Singh, were issued notice by police thrice asking them to join interrogation between Wednesday and yesterday. While Sharma was arrested today, the others are yet to join investigation. If they fail to join, the police are likely to move court seeking warrant against them in the coming week, a senior official said. On February 15, a group of men dressed in black robes, allegedly led by the trio, had attacked journalists, students and teachers of JNU at Patiala House court where JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar was produced. Two FIRs were registered in connection with the incident and earlier this week BJP MLA O P Sharma, who was caught on camera assaulting a CPI activist on the same day, was arrested too. On February 17, defying instructions of the Supreme Court, groups of men dressed like lawyers, led by Chauhan, unleashed another attack on journalists and Kanhaiya Kumar when he was produced at Patiala House court at the end of his police custody. Following that incident, two fresh cases were registered by police. With the Indian government giving in-principle approval for establishing a state-of- the-art interferometer in the country, a top US scientist has said it is "technically feasible" for the project to be operational by the end of 2023. "It is technically feasible for LIGO-India to go online by the end of 2023," said Fred Raab, head of the Hanford Observatory and Laboratory liaison for LIGO-India. Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) scientists have made dozens of trips to India to work with Indian colleagues, especially with the three nodal institutes that would have primary responsibility for construction and operation of LIGO India -- Institute of Plasma Research (IPR) Gandhinagar, Inter University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA), Pune, and Raja Ramanna Centre for Advanced Technology (RRCAT), Indore. "Together, we have identified an excellent site for the facilities and have transferred detailed LIGO drawings of the facilities and vacuum system to IPR, after adapting them for conditions in India," he said. The Union Cabinet on February 17, gave its approval in the wake of the announcement of LIGO's detection of gravitational waves earlier this month. "This is the step that we've been waiting for. It will allow funding for the LIGO-India project to begin, and commence a number of critical path activities toward getting a detector built in India," said LIGO Laboratory Executive Director David Reitze. "Coming on the heels of the Discovery announcement, this has truly been an historic week for LIGO and for the field of gravitational wave astronomy," he said. The project will build an Advanced LIGO Observatory in India, a move that will significantly improve the ability of scientists to pinpoint the sources of gravitational waves and analyze the signals, a statement said. Gravitational waves-ripples in the fabric of space and time, produced by dramatic events in the universe such as merging black holes and predicted as a consequence of Albert Einstein's 1915 general theory of relativity, carry information about their origins and about the nature of gravity that cannot otherwise be obtained. With their first direct detection, announced on February 11, scientists opened a new window onto the cosmos. The twin LIGO Observatories at Hanford, Washington, and Livingston, Louisiana, are funded by the US Science Foundation (NSF), and were conceived, built, and are operated by Caltech and MIT. Advanced LIGO -- a major upgrade to the sensitivity of the instruments compared to the first generation LIGO detectors -- began scientific operations in September 2015. Funded in large part by the NSF, Advanced LIGO enabled a large increase in the volume of the universe probed, leading to the discovery of gravitational waves during its first observation run. At each observatory, the 4-km-long L-shaped interferometer uses laser light split into two beams that travel back and forth down the arms (four-foot diameter tubes kept under a near-perfect vacuum). The beams are used to monitor the distance between mirrors precisely positioned at the ends of the arms. According to Einstein's theory, the distance between the mirrors will change by an infinitesimal amount when a gravitational wave passes by the detector. A change in the lengths of the arms smaller than one-ten- thousandth the diameter of a proton (10-19 metre) can be detected. According to Reitze, the executive director of LIGO and a Caltech research professor, the degree of precision achieved by Advanced LIGO is analogous to being able to measure the distance between our solar system and the sun's nearest neighbour Alpha Centauri -- about 4.4 light-years away, accurately to within a few microns, a tiny fraction of the diametre of a human hair. "We have built an exact copy of that instrument that can be used in the LIGO-India Observatory," said David Shoemaker, leader of the Advanced LIGO Project and director of the MIT LIGO Lab, "ensuring that the new detector can both quickly come up to speed and match the US detector performance". LIGO will provide Indian researchers with the components and training to build and run the new Advanced LIGO detector, which will then be operated by the Indian team, the statement said. LIGO-India will also bring considerable opportunities in cutting edge technology for the Indian industry which will be engaged in the construction of the new observatory's 4-kilometer-long beam tubes. As per the US statement, Indian scientists at RRCAT have designed a special testing/prototype facility for receiving Advanced LIGO parts, have been training the teams that will install and commission the detector and are currently cross-checking the IPR vacuum system drawings against the Advanced LIGO detector drawings to ensure a good fit and rapid installation for the third Advanced LIGO detector. In addition to leading the site-selection process, IUCAA scientists have been setting up a computing centre for current and future data. This preparation should make it possible for India to carry the project forward rapidly, it noted. "LIGO-India will further expand the international network that started with the partnership between LIGO and Virgo, which operates a detector near Pisa, Italy," said Stanley Whitcomb, LIGO chief scientist. "With LIGO-India added to the network, we will not only detect more sources, we will dramatically increase the number of sources that can be pinpointed so that they can be studied using other types of telescopes," he said. Taking note of the various problems faced by patients and their kin who are in dire need of medical and health related services, a Kurla-based Chartered Accountant has developed 'M-Health', an Android app that caters to 12 major and other allied needs. According to Chartered Accountant Kiran Damle, the app will cover medical and health services in Mumbai, Thane and Navi Mumbai, and will be launched on February 21 by Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. "The main features of the M-Health app include hospitals and related services, blood banks, ambulance services, organ donation, health care centres, NGOs operating patient helping equipment centres," he said. "Information on 24-hour pharmacies will also be provided along with information on generic medicine, dialysis centres, nursing services, heart care centres, cancer care centres and NGOs giving financial help for medical purposes to patients in need of help," he added. Damle said any patient or relative in need of any blood group, after logging in the details of the patient and the hospital, will get a list of 10 blood donors in vicinity of the stated hospital. Besides, the donors too will get a message on their mobile about urgent requirement of certain blood group. "Many times relatives in unfamiliar localities often find it tough to locate nearby 24 hour pharmacies, pharmacies selling generic medicines. Another problem faced at times of medical emergencies is to locate ambulance services nearby," he said. The app will also have list of NGOs which offer financial help for medical purposes to needy patients, he said. Damle said there are many NGOs and private organisations that offer medical equipments like crutches, walkers and other nursing services on hire. Replying to a query, he said at present there are no plans to include doctors as already there are apps dedicated to it. HealthPlix is making the interaction between the patient and their doctor for chronic diabetes care seamless, quick and more efficient than the conventional approach being followed today. When doctors use HealthPlix app and platform to treat their diabetes patients, they are augmenting their current clinical setup to make it well-suited for the needs of management of chronic diabetes. Commenting on the development, Raghuraj Sunder Raju, Founder and CEO, HealthPlix, said, "India is the diabetes capital of the world with over 70 million people affected by the disease with an estimated another 80 million in the pre-diabetes stage. With HealthPlix, we aim to bring in a paradigm change in the chronic disease management space. Currently 33 leading diabetologists and endocrinologists in Bangalore have reposed their faith in our app and platform for their patients. We would like to extend the benefits of our product to more patients by bringing in an additional 400 doctors on our platform by the end of this year. Bangalore has been a good kick-start for the company; we have received an overwhelming response from both doctors and patients. Looking forward to receiving the same in Pune, Hyderabad and Delhi." About HealthPlix: HealthPlix, a healthcare tech company, offers one-stop technology solution for diabetes management. The company's singular purpose is to help improve the treatment outcomes in chronic diabetes care. Using a sophisticated yet user friendly mobile health app for the patients backed by a robust platform, it organizes chronic diabetes care for the patients. Doctors use HealthPlix platform and app to provide on-going chronic diabetes care for their patients with the purpose of identifying the best treatment options for an individual patient. The HealthPlix app is integrated with a custom designed Electronic Health Record software for chronic care. This offers immense flexibility for the doctors to provide care either through a mobile app or through a desktop based software. Link to download the app: https://play.Google.Com/store/apps/details?id=com.Healthplix.P atient&hl=en https://play.Google.Com/store/apps/details?id=com.Healthplix.M d&hl=en For more information, please visit: http://www.Healthplix.Com Media Contact: Raghuraj Sunder Raju Raghuraj@healthplix. With the Congress and the CPI(M) preparing to forge an alliance, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today told her party leaders she is not bothered about any such combination and is confident of winning the next Assembly election. "Mamata Banerjee has said she is not bothered about alliance. Whether alliance or not, TMC will win the next Assembly elections. She said the party and the government have worked hard in last four years and taken various pro-people policies and initiatives," said a senior TMC leader, present in a meeting of Kolkata district unit Banerjee presided over. Banerjee today presided over an organisational assessment meeting of Kolkata district, which was attended by senior party leaders, MPs, MLAs and councillors. "Mamatadi emphasised all the party leaders should go to the masses in their respective areas and talk about the pro-people policies that we have pursued in last four and half years," the leader added. Banerjee further asked some of the MLAs from Kolkata to stay away from infighting and work unitedly with the councillors, the source said. "Mamatadi asked us to work hard so that we could win all seats in Kolkata district," the leader added. The West Bengal Congress had yesterday hailed the decision of CPI(M) seeking cooperation from all democratic forces by stating that every secular party in the state should respect the aspirations of the masses. The CPI(M) Central Committee, after its two-day meeting, in a statement said, "In West Bengal, the main task is to restore democracy and foil the aggressive efforts by the communal forces to polarise the people by ousting the present Trinamool Congress government... A senior Mauritanian official today said that at least 40 prisoners escaped in a jailbreak outside the capital. The official said the prisoners rushed the facility's main door early today while guards were changing shifts. The official said none of the prisoners who escaped were suspected Islamic militants. The official insisted on anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the press. The official said seven prisoners were back in custody and that officials were searching for the others. Amnesty International has accused Mauritanian security forces of torturing detainees at the prison, located in the Dar Naim suburb of Nouakchott. In December, a member of al-Qaida's North Africa branch escaped from a different prison in Mauritania and was caught several weeks later. Opposition Mizo National Front (MNF) chief Zoramthanga today slammed the Mizoram government for not organising any official function to commemorate the 29th anniversary of the Mizoram State Day today. He also criticised the state government for not declaring the State Day as a public holiday. State agriculture minister R. Lalzirliana said that the government discontinued declaration of the state day as a public holiday to enable the people to have more working days to achieve self-sufficiency in food production. Zoramthanga promised that state day would again be observed after the MNF returns to power. Following the historic Mizo Peace Accord signed between the Centre and the erstwhile underground MNF on June 30, 1986, Mizoram, then an union territory was upgraded to full-fledged state on February 20, 1987. Mizoram, earlier reeling under 20 years of insurgency, became one of the most peaceful states in the country since then. On the day of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's scheduled visit to his Lok Sabha constituency on February 22, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is also likely to visit theRavidas temple here. On the occasion of Guru Ravidas Jayanti, the Prime Minister will first visit the Ravidas temple in the morning hours. He will spend 15 mintues at the temple and then will head to address the Banaras Hindu University's centennial year convocation function. After delivering the convocation address as the chief guest, the PM would fly back to Delhi the same day in the afternoon. The BHU Vice Chancellor Girish Chandra Tripthi todaytold mediapersons that the Prime Minister has declined to accept the varsity's proposal to be conferred an honorary degree of Doctor of Laws during its convocation ceremony. Kejriwal would reach Varanasi at around 12:10 PM from Delhi and will head to the Ravidas temple where he will stay till 2:45 PM before returning to the national capital. It would be the first visit of Kejriwal since he lost the Lok Sabha election to Modi from Varanasi constituency in 2014. The spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin today said the Kremlin is disappointed by the rejection of a proposed United Nations resolution aimed at stopping cross-border shelling and foreign ground intervention in the Syrian conflict. The draft resolution was put forth by Russia yesterday at an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council and was immediately turned down by France. It did not name Turkey but it was clearly aimed at the Turkish government, which has threatened ground action and is continuing a cross-border artillery shelling campaign against US-backed Kurdish militia positions in Syria. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov yesterday said "Russia views such trans-border strikes by Turkish artillery and artillery strikes at Syrian territory as unacceptable," according to the state agency Tass. "We can only express our regret that this draft resolution was not supported," he said. Syria's government, meanwhile, described the Turkish artillery shelling inside Syria as an "outrageous violation" of international law. In a statement published by the state-run SANA agency, it accused Turkey of committing "crimes" against the Syrians by firing artillery shells at areas in the northern province of Aleppo. It added that a number of civilians were injured by the artillery fire that targeted Tel Rifaat, Malikiyeh and other towns. Turkey has in the past week kept up a cross-border artillery shelling campaign against U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish militia positions in Syria. It has also threatened ground action, saying it was exercising its right to self-defense and responding to fire from Syrian soil. The main Kurdish group in Syria, the People's Protection Units, or YPG, has denied firing at Turkey from Syria. The group has been on the offensive near the Turkish border, seizing territory from Turkey-backed Syrian rebels as well as the extremist Islamic State group. The YPG dominates a military alliance made up of Kurdish, Arab and Christian fighters known as the Syria Democratic Forces which on Friday captured the town of Shaddadeh in northeastern Syria after three days of battles with IS militants. The town was one of the biggest strongholds of the group in Syria. The capture of Shaddadeh was reported by the SDF as well as by Syrian activist groups opposed to President Bashar Assad yesterday. A militant website affiliated with IS disputed the reports, saying the militants were still in control of the town. A statement published by the Aamaq agency said fighting was still raging around the town with Kurdish units trying to advance with US air cover. Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan have set up special purpose vehicles (SPVs) for the development of smart cities. "The Ministry of Urban Development has been informed that SPVs have been set up for Jabalpur, Indore and Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh and Jaipur and Udaipur in Rajasthan," an official release said. Read more from our special coverage on "SMART CITY" First phase of Keralas smart city project inaugurated These cities are among the first 20 to bag challenge competition announced on January 28 this year. The ministry has also been informed that SPVs for the remaining 15 cities will be formed in the next two weeks, the release said. The ministry will release Rs 200 crore for each of the 20 selected cities only after the SPVs are set up. SPVs are required to be set up under mission guidelines to ensure timely and efficient execution of plans. Besides mobilising resources from various sources, SPVs will approve, sanction and execute the projects. Madhya Pradesh has set up a 12-member SPV for each of the three cities, while Rajasthan has set up a 11-member SPV for Jaipur and a 13-member body for Udaipur. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu today remained evasive on the issue of admitting some MLAs of the opposition YSR Congress into his party but said there was need for "political consolidation" in the state. Speaking over the issue at a press conference here, he said "like-minded people" could join hands with his party. "There is a need for political consolidation. We want to strengthen our party up to the village level and our leaders are working actively on this," the Telugu Desam Party chief said. On reports that YSRC MLAs, Bhuma Nagi Reddy and his daughter Akhila, were ready to jump sides, Naidu said, "You speculate. We act." Asked about his meeting with Deputy Chief Minister K E Krishna Murthy and other leaders from Kurnool district on the issue, he laughed it away saying "Is it?" Naidu also refused to comment on Opposition leader Y S Jaganmohan Reddy's claim that he could pull down the TDP government with the support of 21 ruling party legislators. "Should I comment on this," he asked. A couple of days ago, YSRC President Jaganmohan Reddy had said in Hyderabad that at least 21 MLAs were needed in addition to his party's 67 legislators to topple the Naidu Government. "I will inform you first when I have that numbers," Jagan had told mediapersons after a meeting with the Governor. NASA has received a record 18,300 resumes from people keen on becoming astronauts, the US space agency has said. The number of applications for a spot in NASA's 2017 class is almost triple the amount that came in during the last recruitment call for the 2012 class. And it shatters the previous record of 8,000 in 1978. "It's not at all surprising to me that so many Americans from diverse backgrounds want to personally contribute to blazing the trail on our journey to Mars," NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden, a former astronaut, said in a statement yesterday. But only a chosen few will actually see their galactic career goals realized. Over the course of the next year and a half, a selection board will whittle down the applications and invite only the most highly qualified candidates for interviews at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. In the end, a mere eight to 14 lucky individuals will be asked to report for training. NASA expects to announce its new class in mid-2017. The timeframe for submitting applications opened on December 14 and closed Thursday, with the space agency taking to social media to get the word out. Training for the chosen candidates includes a focus on spacewalking and teamwork, as well as some command of Russian language. Those who make it through will be given technical duties at Johnson's Astronaut Office. They will then be assigned to the International Space Station, the Orion spacecraft for deep space exploration or one of two commercial crew spacecraft currently in development -- SpaceX's Dragon crew capsule and Boeing's CST-100 Starliner. With the American spaceflight program grounded since 2011 when the space shuttle was retired, NASA's current active corps currently comprises 47 members, down from 149 in 2000 at the peak of the space shuttle era. In its call for recruits, NASA encouraged pilots, engineers and other scientists to apply. Qualified candidates need to be US citizens and have at least a bachelor's degree in engineering, science, computer science or math, as well as three years of professional experience or at least 1,000 hours of pilot-in-command time in jet aircraft. They also have to be physically fit and pass a "NASA long-duration astronaut physical." More than 300 people have been hired as NASA astronauts since the US space agency's first corps of seven was selected in 1959 as part of Project Mercury, which sent men into orbit around the Earth. "A few exceptionally talented men and women will become the astronauts chosen in this group who will once again launch to space from US soil on American-made spacecraft," Bolden said. White House hopefuls face their third test today when Republicans square off in South Carolina with Donald Trump enjoying a commanding lead, and Democrats battle in Nevada where Hillary Clinton is seeking a comeback. As the race moves on, the two parties are on separate battlefields. In South Carolina, Republicans will vote in a primary, while in Nevada, Democrats will caucus grouping themselves together by candidate to voice their support. Trump is looking for a big symbolic win ahead of "Super Tuesday" March 1, when about a dozen states will go to the polls, with a quarter of the nominating delegates up for grabs. Read more from our special coverage on "US PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS" "It's crunch time, folks," Trump, 69, told voters at a North Charleston rally, his final pitch before the South Carolina primary. The real estate billionaire finished second to Senator Ted Cruz in Iowa on February 1, but secured a commanding win in New Hampshire one week later. Trump took no chances yesterday, urging all of his supporters to troop to the polls. "I don't want your money," added Trump, who is self-funding his campaign. "We want your vote." Trump the onetime reality TV star who has upended the political landscape with his brash style and controversial comments on everything from Muslim immigrants to waterboarding has his eye on a particular date: March 15. On the eve of the primary Trump led with about 28% of likely Republicans voters backing him, according to an NBC-Wall Street Journal poll. The ultra-conservative Cruz followed with 23%. Trailing were Senator Marco Rubio at 15% and former Florida governor Jeb Bush at 13%. Rubio and Bush are under intense pressure to fare well, as is Ohio Governor John Kasich and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, whose campaign has struggled to gain traction. To the west, Democrats were making their closing arguments in Nevada, land of the desert sun, for Saturday's caucuses. The key issue is the minority vote: blacks, Hispanics and Asian Americans make up roughly half of the state's population. Clinton, who won by a hair in Iowa and lost big to rival Bernie Sanders in New Hampshire, is counting on a major Hispanic voter turnout, especially among the hotel and casino employees in Las Vegas. Since Wednesday, the former secretary of state, 68, has visited staff at Caesars Palace, the MGM Grand and the Paris casinos, in order to persuade them to join her camp. A non-governmental organisation, working for the welfare of fishermen, has sought the Centre's intervention to free four Tamil Nadu fishermen jailed in Qatar for allegedly straying into the waters of the Arab country. "The fishermen, working for a Saudi Arabian company, were arrested by Qatari Coast Guard personnel on January 7 when they strayed into the Qatar Sea Zone after putting out to sea from Saudi coast of Dharin," P Justin Antony, President of Tamil Nadu Fishermen Development Trust said. A fine of Rs 15 lakh(20,000 Qatari Riyals) was imposed on them on Feb 10, when they were produced before a court in Qatar. The Saudi Arabian employer had opted to file an appeal against the court order, Antony said in a release here today. The family members of the four fishermen from Kanyakumari District have sought theintervention of the Central Government to insist the Saudi employer to pay the fine amount and rescue them. Else, the Centre should pay the fine amount and rescue them, he added. Niger's top court approved a controversial plan to allow voters to cast their ballots without identity papers, sparking an opposition outcry today on the eve of presidential and legislative polls. The proposal, submitted by the government, allows people to vote without any ID as long as they are accompanied by two people who vouch for their identity. The opposition had challenged the proposal in court but the Constitutional Court on Saturday "rejected the opposition's request," the number two of the National Independent Electoral Commission (CENI), Kadri Oumarou Sanda, told AFP. "We were right in authorising it," he said. The poll body had okayed the proposal submitted by Prime Minister Brigi Rafini earlier in the week. But a source in the CENI said the proposal did not have unanimous backing of members of the electoral commission. "The prime minister's move is an ill-disguised attempt by the government to disrupt the elections," said Tahirou Kalilou from the opposition COPA 2016 grouping. Amadou Boubacar Cisse, who is contesting for the presidency, said it was an "abuse of power and violation of electoral law." The move affects about 1.5 million of the 7.5 million registered voters who were found not to have any identity papers. "This can pave the way for fraud," said Moussa Tchangari, a leading civil society figure. Sunday's elections pits outgoing President Mahamadou Issoufou, who is hoping for a second five-year term, against 14 challengers. Issoufou hopes for a "knockout" first-round majority victory but that would be a first in the country's short history of multi-party democracy, beginning in 1990. Results are due within five days of the vote. A non-bailable warrant was issued against former Pakistani military ruler Pervez Musharraf today in connection with the murder case of Lal Masjid cleric Abdul Rashid Ghazi, who was killed in a military crackdown in 2007. A local court in Islamabad issued the order and directed the authorities to produce Musharraf before it on March 16. The court also rejected Musharraf's plea seeking permanent exemption from appearing in the case and issued the warrants. His counsel said they would challenge the order, Geo reported. The 72-year-old former president has never appeared before the court during the previous 55 hearings. This is the fourth non-bailable arrest warrant against Musharraf in the case. The cleric's family filed a case in 2013 against Musharraf over his alleged involvement in the killing of Rashid during a 2007 operation when military commandos stormed the mosque in the heart of Islamabad on Musharraf's orders. The three-day seige in July 2007 at the Lal Masjid claimed scores of lives, including of students and security personnel. Last month, Musharraf was acquitted by an anti-terrorism court in the 2006 murder case of Baloch nationalist leader Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, the first major relief to the ex-military ruler entangled in several high-profile cases. He came to power in a bloodless coup in 1999, deposing then prime minister Nawaz Sharif. Facing impeachment following elections in 2008, Musharraf resigned as president and went into self-imposed exile in Dubai. The ex-army chief is facing a slew of court cases after returning from Dubai to contest the general elections in 2013. He lost the polls. He is also facing trial in a treason case for abrogating the constitution in 2007 and illegal detention of judges the same year. Musharraf has also been charged in connection with the 2007 assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto. A Pakistani court has banned his foreign travels. President Barack Obama in a telephone call with Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has asked the Ankara government and Kurdish YPG forces to "show reciprocal restraint" in northern Syria. "President Obama stressed that YPG forces should not seek to exploit circumstances in this area to seize additional territory, and urged Turkey to show reciprocal restraint by ceasing artillery strikes in the area," a White House statement said. With Odisha receiving investment proposals worth Rs 70,000 crore, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has asked the officials to ensure that companies face no problem in setting up units. Patnaik gave this direction yesterday while reviewing the response Odisha drew at the Make In India Week in Mumbai. He said the officials need to ensure investors do not face any problems in getting forest and environment clearance and land acquisition as per the new industrial policy. At least 14 companies have placed formal proposals to set up industries in the state in different sectors except minerals. A total of 26 companies had discussed with the state government proposals of more than Rs 70,000 crore investment. The proposed investments are likely to come in food processing, hotel, metal, solar, information and technology, electonics, automobile sectors and waste disposal management linked to smart city scheme, a senior official said. "We received proposals mostly in non-mineral sectors such as electronics manufacturing, solar power and textiles. This is a good sign for the state," Industry secretary Sanjeev Chopra said. Country's largest biking festival 'India Bike Week' (IBW) kicked off on a high note at Arpora village in north Goa with thousands of biking enthusiast from India and abroad participating in it. "Many thousands of hardcore and casual bikers have crossed national and international borders to gather at Arpora, Goa to celebrate the event that has established itself as a cornerstone of India's biking culture," said Martin da Costa of event management firm 70 EMG, which is organising the event along with Fox Life. He said around 12,000 bikers are participating in the two-day event which culminates today. A total of 700 riders registered on the 'Ride to IBW', supported by IBW, with medical support and marshaling from Nagpur, Mumbai and Bangalore, he said. Besides, the opening also saw Harley Davidson parade of over 2,500 Harley Owners Group (HOG) riders driving down IBW's Main Street, followed by the DSK Benelli riders. Next was the parade of Triumph Motorcycles, consisting hundreds of bikers who make up the Riders Association of Triumph, he said. During the event, the biking community witnessed several new bike unveiling from manufacturers - DSK Benelli which unveiled the TRK 502 and Benlli Tornado 302, Triumph the new Street Twin T120 and Thruxton R, Harley-Davidson's new 1200 Custom, and Ducati- Panigale 959. Costa said the event has innovation Bike display, with models like the Monowheel, a single-wheel vehicle derived from the concept of planetary gear box, and the Skatocross showcased. Teri's Executive Vice-Chairman R K Pachauri, facing sexual harassment charges levelled by a former woman colleague, has "deliberately" violated travel conditions imposed on him by overstaying abroad, a Delhi court has said while forfeiting his surety bond. The court ordered that the surety bond of Rs 4 lakh, furnished by Pachauri as a condition for being allowed to travel abroad, be forfeited and the amount deposited by Monday. "In these circumstances, it is clear that accused has deliberately and unilaterally extended the liberty granted to him. Thus, it is a clear case of violation of terms and conditions, subject to which, the accused was permitted to travel abroad vide order dated February 15," Metropolitan Magistrate Shivani Chauhan said. Read more from our special coverage on "TERI" The court said Pachauri has failed to return to India according to schedule from Sharjah, where he had gone to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award on February 16, and there was nothing on record to show that the schedule of the event was changed at the last minute. "The accused failed to return back to India on scheduled date and time and thus violated the condition imposed upon him by the court," it said. "There is nothing on record to show that the scheduled award ceremony was indeed changed at the very last minute. There is no document or other material on record to support this contention of the accused," the court said, taking a stern view. The court had on February 15 granted permission to Pachauri to go to Sharjah from February 16 to 18, where he was to be conferred the award. However on February 18, Pachauri moved an application submitting that due to a change in the schedule of the award ceremony, he had to extend his trip by one day and would be arriving on February 19 instead. The court, while refusing to consider his submission, said Pachauri had not sought permission to extend the trip in view of an order of a sessions court binding him to seek nod of the court each time he went abroad. "It is hereby clarified that accused had not sought permission to extend the trip in view of the order dated March 21, 2015, passed by the Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ)," it said. Since the FIR against him was registered on February 13 last year, Pachauri has been allowed to travel abroad at least nine times, including to the USA, UK, China, Japan, France, Kazakhstan, Bolivia, Kuwait, Somalia and Saudi Arabia. The FIR was registered on charges of sexual harassment under IPC sections 354, 354(a), 354(d) (molestation) and 506 (criminal intimidation). "The organisation of any award ceremony entails a lot of planning and logistics. Participation of several guests and other dignitaries is also involved. Any rescheduling of such an event would entail extensive pre-planning and arrangements in advance," the court said in its order. The court said it appeared that the accused had unilaterally sought to bypass the directions passed by the court of the ASJ without any justification and without seeking prior permission of the court. "This court, as well as the accused, are bound by the directions passed by the ASJ," it said. "In these circumstances, surety bonds furnished by the accused at the time of his travel stand forfeited. The surety is directed to deposit the forfeited amount of Rs 4 lakh on or before the next date," the court said, while asking Pachauri to comply with the directions by February 22. Pachauri had obtained permission from the court to travel to Sharjah till February 18 and later attend a meeting with the secretary general of Geneva-based World Meteorological Organisation from February 22 to 26. The court had allowed him to travel according to his itinerary, subject to furnishing of one local surety of Rs 4 lakh. It had noted the submission of the investigative Officer, that the probe in the matter was complete and charge sheet is likely to be filed soon. Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was today asked by an opposition leader to bring "real facts" about the Pathankot terror attack before the Parliament to take it into confidence. "India is leveling baseless allegations on Pakistan over Pathankot terror attack and the Prime Minister must bring real facts before the nation," Pakistan People's Party lawmaker Syed Khursheed Shah, who is also the leader of opposition in National Assembly, told reporters. This is the first time that the opposition has sought briefing over the January 2 attack on an Indian air force base in Pathankot and the probe by Pakistani authorities. Shah said Prime Minister Sharif should take parliament into confidence over the probe. A team of Pakistani investigators is likely to visit India next month for collecting evidence on the involvement of Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorists in the Pathankot terror attack, a media report said today. "The team's visit is expected," a senior diplomat told Dawn News, adding that the dates for the trip were yet to be finalised. Read more from our special coverage on "PATHANKOT TERROR ATTACK" Pathankot terror attack: Pakistan lodges FIR in case The registration of FIR by the Counter-Terrorism Department of Punjab police has paved the way for the visit of the six-member investigation team constituted by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif weeks after the attack on the Air Force base in Pathankot on January 2, the report said. The investigation team will visit the site of the attack and collect evidence on India's assertion that the terror strike was planned in Pakistan and executed by a group of four persons who had crossed the border into Pathankot, it said. The report said the visit is likely to take place next month. The investigators will also meet officials of India's Investigating Agency probing the attack, it said. It also said the FIR will provide a legal basis for taking the investigation forward. A diplomatic source was quoted as saying that India was ready to receive the Pakistani team and facilitate it in investigations. Claiming "complete involvement" of people from across the border in Pathankot terror attack, a top Army Commander today said Pakistan should take action on dossiers concerning evidence of the militant strike. General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C), Western Command, Lt General K J Singh also said a multi-agency response has been put in place to scuttle any terror attacks on security establishments. "You know dossiers (on evidence of involvement of Pakistani elements in Pathankot terror attack) have been handed over to them twice. So they should take action," Singh told a press conference here on the sidelines of an investiture ceremony. "That (action by Pakistan) will foster good relation between two countries," Singh added. Investigations are at primary kind of stage, he said, adding, "While I share concern (over Pak investigation), but it may be better to allow diplomats and official agencies-- they have empowered people-- they are aware that they are taking all measures in this regard." "I am sure that they will take measures to highlight this issue and Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) will take it up and we hope to see that," Singh said. Taking a dig at Pakistan over classification of terrorism into "good and bad", the Army Commander said "The problem is that if you start classifying terrorism and use it as a strategic weapon, one day it is going to backfire." "So, we advice and counsel our neighbour that they must realise this that people who are terrorists should not be classified as good and bad terrorists or their agents. They (Pakistan) should be ruthless to them (terrorists)," Singh said. Replying to another question on Pakistan's involvement in Pathankot terror attack, the Army Commander said, "There is a complete involvement. You have seen shoes (recovered from terrorists), food packets. You have seen a note of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) claiming that they have taken revenge (for the hanging) of Afzal Guru, from Udhampur to Samba and beyond." "There is complete involvement of people from Pakistan and whether it is the state agencies (involved in it), that still needs to be investigated," Singh said, adding "JeM is there and there is complete involvement of their people. On reported goof up in security coordination, Singh said an enquiry was on. "If I make any comment it will not be proper. NIA is doing investigation. Army has also ordered a detailed probe. General Campose is holding a full investigation into it so whatever lessons will come out they will be shared with you," he said. "We have learnt lessons from the past. Our PM has also said lessons have been learnt from such incidents. Those lessons and corrections have been applied and some are being applied, so we are prepared," Singh said. To a question on threats by Hafiz Saeed to engineer fresh terror attacks, he said, "There is multi-agency response which is in place." "There is grave threat. There are great concerns. What Hafiz Saeed is doing, it is dangerous. He has done it earlier. We should not take it lightly," the Army Commander said. "There is also a competition between militants of various terror outfits. If one incident was engineered by JeM another would be done of Lasher-e-Toiba (LeT). They fight for attention between themselves," Singh said, adding that measures have been taken to tackle such threats with multi-agency response. "The Border Security Force, the Army, the Police and technical surveillance are involved in it," he said. He said a couple of days back Northern Army Commander had said there is a presence of considerable number of people (militants) who are on launching basis and staging areas, so there are regular inputs to that effect. "We are concerned about it. We monitor it. We have inputs on that," he said. He said that elaborate measures have been put in place and security strengthened along the border following Pathankot terror attack. He said 200-300 militants are across the border (waiting to infiltrate into India). The Pakistan Maritime Security Agency (PMSA) has apprehended another 48 Indian fishermen and seized their nine boats from Arabian Sea off Jakhau port of Gujarat, hours after it held 40 fishermen from India from the same spot, National Fishworkers' Forum (NFF) said today. With this, the total number of Indian fishermen apprehended by PMSA in the last 48 hours has gone up to 88. While the NFF had yesterday confirmed that PMSA had held 40 Indian fishermen late Thursday night, today it said that the Pakistani agency apprehended another 48 hours later. "The PMSA has apprehended 88 Indian fishermen and 16 of our boats. Yesterday, we had got to know that it had caught 40 Indian fishermen and seven boats and today we are able to confirm that another 48 fishermen and nine of their boats have been captured," NFF secretary Manish Lodhari told PTI. Preliminary reports have revealed that all of them were caught near the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) and have been taken to Karachi Port by the Pakistani agency, Lodhari said. Since there are no physical markings in the sea, fishermen are dependent on the GPS system installed on their boats to find out their exact location in the sea and proximity with IMBL. "However, GPS is not fitted in all the boats. Moreover, only the latest GPS devices show the IMBL on the GPS screen, while older GPS devices do not have that facility. As a result, it becomes difficult for fishermen to determine their exact location," he added. Lodhari said that they have informed the state authorities as well as the Coast Guard about action taken by the Pakistani agency. Air Commodore J S Dhamoon, the head of the Pathankot air base which was attacked last month by Pakistani terrorists, is being transferred to Delhi. IAF officials have described his transfer to the national capital as a "routine" one. Dhamoon, Air Officer Commanding (AOC), had taken over the charge of the Pathankot air base in July, 2014 and is likely to be replaced by Air Commodore Anuj Mishra who is moving in from Bengaluru. "Any tenure between one and half years to two years for an AOC is a normal tenure. Air Commodore Dhamoon falls in the bracket of completion of normal tenure," an IAF spokesperson said today. Dhamoon's transfer comes less than two months after the Pathankot airbase came under attack by heavily-armed terrorists who managed to breach the perimeter. An inquiry into the incident and the breach of the air base is underway and a security audit of all major bases has also been carried out in the wake of the brazen attack that left seven soldiers killed. "Twilight" star Peter Facinelli and Jaimie Alexander have called off their engagement. The couple has split almost a year after the actor proposed to the "Thor" beauty, reported People magazine. "Due to conflicting family and work commitments on opposite coasts, and after much consideration, Peter and Jaimie have chosen to part ways amicably and remain good friends," their representatives said. Facinelli, 42, and the 31-year-old were first linked in November, 2012, eight months after the actor split from his wife, Jennie Garth. Alexander was previously linked to Milo Ventimiglia in 2010, while Facinelli was married to former "Beverly Hills, 90210" star Garth from 2001 to 2013. A multi-layeredsecurityblanket has been thrown over Raipur and Rajnandgaon districts for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's tour of Chhattisgarh, tomorrow. Modi will launch a number of schemes including the key 'Rurban mission' at Kurrubhat village in Rajandgaon, while upcoming state capital Naya Raipur will also witness unveiling of several programmes. The Prime Minister will arrive at the Swami Vivekanand Airport in Raipur at 8.45 AM by Air Force's special plane and will leave for Satya Sai Hospital where he will lay foundation stone of dwellings to be constructed under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna, a public relation official said here. Modi will then leave for Kurrubhat by a chopper where large-scale deployments of police and paramilitary forces have been made in and around the village. Modi will launch the Shyama Prasad Mukherji Rurban Mission at around 11.00 AM. Special Protection Group (SPG) officials in coordination with state police andparamilitaryofficials are dealing withsecurityarrangements, a senior police official told PTI said. The multi-layeredsecuritywill keep a hawk eye at the venue where everybody will be frisked before entering. Armed guards have been deployed at all strategic locations, he said, adding patrolling has been intensified in interior forest pockets adjoining Maharashtra border, he said. Under the Rurban mission, a cluster of smart villages will be developed on lines of smart cities. In the first stage, four districts -- Rajnandgaon, Dhamtari, Kabirdham and Bastar -- will be covered under the scheme where development works will be carried out in four different clusters which will draw an investment of Rs 120 crore, the public relation official said. Murmunda village cluster in Rajnandgaon will cater to 16 village panchayats. Modi, on the occasion, will also declare two development blocks of Rajanandgaon - Ambagarh Chowki and Chhuriya - as "open defecation free". Similarly, security has been beefed up at Naya Raipur where around 1,500 security personnel will be deployed. Chief Minister Raman Singh today visited the venue at Naya Raipur and took stock of the preparations, he said. Under the 'Housing for all' scheme, 40,000 homes will be built for average and lower income group, he said. On the occasion, the Prime Minister will also lay foundation stone of electronic manufacturing cluster to be set up under the Make In India mission in Naya Raipur. He will also launch Chhattisgarh Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development policy besides 'Jan Aushdhi Medical Store' under which 100 generic medicines stores will be opened at government district hospitals and community health centres. The Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) today said it would soon announce more seats for women candidates for coming Tamil Nadu assembly elections. Talking to reporters here, PMK founder leader Dr S Ramadoss said the party would announce more seats for women candidates after the conference scheduled to be held in Vandalur on Chennai outskirts. He appealed to the voteres not to accept money from any political party for votes. Ramadoss has yesterday said the party would contest all 234 assembly constituencies in the state. Delhi Government today dedicated to public power transmission projects worth Rs 136 crore aimed to strengthen the electricity supply in the national capital. Delhi Power Minister Satyendar Jain dedicated the projects spread over six assembly constituencies and said it will benefit areas such as Wazirpur, Ashok Vihar, Shalimar Bagh, Pitampura, Palam, Dwarka, Kakrola, Matiala, Delhi Metro, Bawana, Narela, Okhla, Jasola, Kanjhawala, Rohini Extension and Karola. "Delhi government is committed to provide uninterrupted power supply at a reasonable price to public and has taken various initiatives to strengthen the transmission and distribution network. These projects will cater to the needs of large part of the national capital," a Government statement quoted Jain as saying during an event held in Dwarka. These projects will help distribution companies draw sufficient and reliable power from the state grid and make Delhi a power cut-free area, he added. The Minister informed that 34 lakh of the total 42 lakh electricity consumers using up to 400 units per month have been benefited by Government's subsidy. "Their electricity bills have been halved. The power tariff may further come down if Union Government withdraws the costly power allocated to Delhi," he said. Speaking on the issue of redressal of false power theft cases, he said that DERC has been asked to frame policy that DISCOMS would only be able to file case against consumer if he has been found guilty by Public Grievances Cell. Jain noted the demand for electricity in the city is "increasing every year" and said that it is a challenging task to keep pace with the increasing demand. Replying to a question Goyal said that power purchase agreements (PPAs) are sacrosanct legal agreement entered into by different power distribution companies and the Centre has no role in cancelling or allowing anybody to surrender power. The Delhi government has written to the Centre several times over "surrendering" over 2265 mw of expensive power. "The Central government has no role in cancelling or allowing anybody to surrender power. At best they can offer it to any other state which is a willing purchaser and where there is transmission ability," the minister said. "While Telagnana did offer to buy power for a few months but for lack of transmission ability they could not possibly purchase that power from Delhi but it is beyond our control to do anything about it," he said. "But instead of only harping about surrendering power, I think we should all focus on improving efficiencies reducing AT&C losses and improving the working of these states and ensuring for efficient utililsation of available capacities which each state has," the minister said. In a significant transformation, India has become power surplus from chronic power shortage. Record capacity addition of around one-fifth of current conventional power capacity and solar power capacity addition of 157 per cent in the last two years led to a boost in power generation, the minister said. The highest-ever increase in transmission lines and sub-stations improved the transmission scenario resulting in energy deficit falling to lowest ever of 2.1 per cent in the last fiscal, he said. He further said that today, not a single power plant faces shortage of coal as opposed to the impending power crisis in 2014 when two-thirds of major power plants had critical coal stocks of less than seven days. "Working on war footing, our government completely eliminated coal shortage in the country. In line with achieving the target of doubling coal production to 100 crore tonnes by 2020, the last two years witnessed the highest ever growth in coal production of 7.4 crore tonnes," Goyal said. Stressing that its government was focused on addressing the root problems of the power sector, the minister said that every discom is expected to eliminate losses by 2019-20 with potential savings of over Rs 1,80,000 crore every year from 2019. "UDAY was designed through extensive stakeholder consultations and has been a game changer for States," he said. Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has asked Department of Electronics and IT Secretary (Deity) Aruna Sharma to look into the scheme of Ringing Bells offering a smartphone for just Rs 251. This has come in response to a letter from BJP MP Kirit Somaiya. "The minister has received a representation from Kirit Somaiya and mobile phone manufacturers where they have expressed doubt about the veracity of this venture," a Telecom Ministry source told PTI. He added that the minister has asked the Deity secretary to go into the whole issue and if need be, states' cooperation will be sought to find out more about the company. Somaiya has approached a host of ministries, including telecom and finance, regulators Sebi, Trai, RBI, and state governments, raising issues about the company claiming to offer the world's cheapest mobile phone. The Noida-based company Ringing Bells today closed its booking for Rs 251 phone and has said delivery of all handsets will be completed by June 30. Ringing Bells' President Ashok Chaddha said the manufacturing cost of the phone is about Rs 2,500, which will be recovered through a series of measures like economies of scale, innovative marketing, reduction in duties and creating an e-commerce marketplace. "By going for Made in India components, we can save on the 13.8 per cent duty. Also, we will be selling online first and thus, save the costs incurred on the large distribution network," he said. Chaddha also rejected speculation of the handset being subsidised by the government. "The phone will be manufactured in Noida and Uttarakhand. Two plants will be set up for Rs 250 crore each with a capacity of 5 lakh phones. The money will come in the form of debt and equity (1.5:1)," he said. Chaddha added that the equity is being met by the promoter family of the company that is "engaged in agri-commodities business" in Uttar Pradesh, but declined to give details. But this has not cut much ice with Somaiya as well as the industry. "The response... Of Ashok Chaddha of Ringing Bells that how much cost will be saved due to import/local assembling/online marketing... Far from convincing," Somaiya said in a letter attached to his tweet. The mobile phone industry body ICA too has raised some red flags. "We have checked with all operators in the industry and no one has admitted to having been in any kind of bundling deal or partnership with them. I will only say consumers should stay cautious. More than consumers, it may hurt businessmen in small towns if the promise made by the company fails," ICA National President Pankaj Mohindroo said. The company today closed the booking for its 'Freedom 251' phone, citing heavy demand. The notice on the website of company said it has received 3.70 crore registrations on Day 1 and 2.47 crore on Day 2 (as of 1949 hours). Al-Qaeda militants killed three pro-government fighters today as they strengthened their presence in the southern coastal town of Ahwar, residents and military officials said. The jihadists launched an attack at dawn on a checkpoint manned by fighters close to the government of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, the sources said. They captured three of them before slitting their throats and going on to seize several government buildings. Al-Qaeda militants have controlled several neighbourhoods of the town in Abyan province for several weeks, according to the military officials. The Sunni Muslim extremist group has shored up its presence in Abyan where it already controls the provincial capital Zinjibar and the towns of Jaar and Shaqra. Their advance gives them control of most of the coast from their southeastern stronghold of Mukalla to Zinjibar, not far from the main southern port city of Aden. Hadi's internationally recognised government declared Aden the country's provisional capital in March, after Shiite Huthi rebels drove it out of Sanaa and much of northern Yemen. Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group have stepped up attacks on Aden despite the government's efforts to secure the city. The Rapid Action Force (RAF) has planned to raise five more battalions to strengthen the specialised riot-control wing of the CRPF, a senior RAF official said Saturday. Inspector General of RAF, K S Bhandari, who was in the steel city for an inspection of 106 battalion, told newsmen the government has in principle agreed to raise five new battalions to strengthen the specialised wing. The new battalions would be raised in Alwar, Bengaluru, Patna, Varanasi, and in Siliguri for the North-East region, he said adding a discussion in this regard was held with the Bihar government. Bhandari was accompanied by Commanding Officer of 106 battalion P Kujjur. He said the setting up of new battalion would help ease pressure on 106 battalion, which was currently operating in the Eastern part of India. "Currently we have 10 battalions while the official strength altogether is 12,000. Around 6000 personnel are likely to join RAF following the implementation of the proposal," Bhandari said. Referring to resources development, he said technical up-gradation was a continuous process and they are working to make available resources more effective. "As far as non-lethal weapons are concerned, we have been doing research with the help of DRDO to extract better result without causing danger to human life," he said. To a query about the impact of stress on jawans, Bhandari said people across society are under stress for different reasons but yoga, routine exercise, and awareness campaign are parts of our daily routine to ease it. Congress Vice President today met Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Singh to discuss the party's prospects for the upcoming Uttar Pradesh elections. Speaking to reporters here, Singh said Rahul held talks on the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections slated early next year. Rahul is on a two-day visit to his parliamentary constituency. In a closed door meeting with legislators in Lucknow on Thursday, Rahul had discussed option of forming an alliance for the assembly elections on the pattern of Bihar where the party put up a good show as part of grand alliance in the assembly polls winning 27 of 41 seats contested, a party MLA had said on condition of anonymity. Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi today met Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Singh to discuss the party's prospects in the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls. Speaking to reporters after their half an hour-long meeting here, Singh said Rahul held talks on the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections slated early next year. Rahul is on a two-day visit to his parliamentary constituency. In a closed door meeting with legislators in Lucknow on Thursday, Rahul had discussed option of forming an alliance for the assembly elections on the pattern of Bihar where the party put up a good show as part of grand alliance in the assembly polls winning 27 of 41 seats contested, a party MLA had said on condition of anonymity. Gandhi also met Bhartiya Kisan Union's district unit president Pramod Misra, who apprised him of the issues being faced by the employees of Sanjay Gandhi Hospital, and Jagdishpur MLA Radhey Shyam. (REOPENS DEL 54) Asked about BJP dubbing the Congress leader as being "non serious", Singhvi said, "With the greatest respect I must castigate such an attempt." Singhvi said the "poor dalits" deserve greater attention from you than "such peripheral debased and devalued stories". He said, "We don't believe in such trivialisation and such superficiality" and showed a similar picture of Narendra Modi clearly showing him "sleepy" but said Congress party does not want to make public. "The picture is of Mr Modi feeling slightly sleepy on November 26, 2015. I have never raised this issue and I do not intend to raise this even today," he said, adding that he does not believe that even if Mr Modi is feeling slightly sleepy and tired for a few minutes, it is something on which he would make an issue in the press. Taking a dig at Rahul Gandhi, BJP National Secretary Shrikant Sharma said it showed how serious he was for dalits and that Congress never considered the community more than a vote bank. "Rahul Gandhi and company visits those places from where they can draw political benefits. He did not go to Kerala when a dalit girl was brutally raped and murdered. It would be unreasonable to expect mature and constructive politics from him. "To do politics to grab power and show fake concern for the poor and dalits is his politics," he said claiming that the Modi government had done a lot for them while Congress only exploited them. Union minister Giriraj Singh today hit out at Rahul Gandhi, alleging that the Congress vice president was speaking in a language that makes Pakistan and LeT chief Hafiz Saeed "happy". "BJP is not in the business of giving away certificates of patriotism. But would Rahul Gandhi explain why, for the past few days, he has been speaking in a language that makes Pakistan and Hafiz Saeed happy?," Singh said here. The minister was reacting to a recent statement by Gandhi, that patriotism ran in his blood and he did not need certificates from BJP or RSS. Singh also said that political parties opposing the Narendra Modi government on the issue of JNU student leader Kanhaiya Kumar's arrest on the charge of sedition "should keep in mind the fact - desh bachega tabhi rajneeti bachegee (politics is there only if the country survives)". The BJP leader also attacked at Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, alleging that under his rule "the state is witnessing a collapse of law and order." "Kidnappings, rapes and killings of political workers belonging to affiliations other than the ruling Grand Alliance have become the order of the day in Bihar. "The Chief Minister must answer the people of the state who have voted him to power for the third consecutive term", the Minister of State for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises said. Singh was in Kumar's cabinet when BJP shared power in Bihar with JD(U) until they parted ways in 2013. Defending Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi over the JNU controversy, party leader Narayan Rane today lashed out at BJP and RSS, saying they have no moral right to give lessons on patriotism to his party which has made numerous sacrifices for the country. Rane's attack on ruling BJP, which has been targeting Rahul for "supporting" anti-nationals over the JNU row, came a day after Maharashtra Congress President Ashok Chavan slammed the saffron outfit. "Entire atmosphere in the country has been vitiated. BJP MPs and leaders, instead of maintaining calm, have polarised the political debate into 'patriots vs traitors'," the former Chief Minister said at a press meet here. "BJP representatives are threatening to shoot our leader Rahul Gandhi whom they have branded as 'anti-national'. The fact is his family members have shed their blood for the unity and integrity of the country and made sacrifices," Rane said. BJP and RSS have no moral right to give lessons on patriotism to Congress and its leaders, he said. "I want to ask BJP and RSS, how many of their workers took part in the freedom struggle? How many of them sacrificed their lives for the country? Their contribution in freedom movement is nil," Rane, who left Shiv Sena to join Congress, said. The former Industry Minister dubbed the just concluded Make In India (MII) week in the metropolis as "dud" and claimed the February 13-18 investment meet was "nothing but a wastage" of public money. The BJP-led government is "misleading" the people of Maharashtra over the outcome of the high-profile expo, he said. According to the Centre, the manufacturing summit secured investment commitments worth Rs 15.2 lakh crore, with host state Maharashtra alone accounting for Rs 8 lakh crore. "I, too, have served as Chief Minister and Industry Minister. I know there are certain procedures to finalise a deal with companies. But, I have not found those procedures being taken into account (during MII). The government only issued press statements. It should come out with a white paper and tell the people truth about the (event)," Rane said. "After splurging a huge amount of money, the Fadnavis Government has signed deals with companies which have already turned bankrupt. The government has claimed to have signed investment deals worth Rs 8 lakh crore. "It's all farce. The government has inked deals with companies whose balance-sheets look dubious and the MoUs are not going to materialise," the Congress leader said. "Fire at Sea", a harrowing documentary about Europe's refugee crisis, clinched the Berlin film festival's Golden Bear top prize today from a jury led by Meryl Streep. Italian director Gianfranco Rosi's picture offers an unflinching look at life on the Mediterranean island of Lampedusa, where thousands of migrants have arrived trying to reach the European Union over the last two decades and thousands more have died trying. The Eritrean-born Rosi dedicated the prize to the people of Lampedusa "who open their hearts to other peoples". "I hope to bring awareness," he said as he accepted the golden trophy from Streep. "It is not acceptable that people die crossing the sea trying to escape from tragedies." France's Mia Hansen-Love won the Silver Bear for best director for her drama "Things to Come" starring Isabelle Huppert. Huppert wowed audiences with her dignified, soulful turn in "Things to Come" as a philosophy teacher whose marriage falls apart just as her elderly mother dies. Tunisia's Majd Mastoura won the Silver Bear for best actor for his role in "Hedi", a love story set in the aftermath of the Arab Spring, which also won best debut feature. "I give this gift to the Tunisian people, all the martyrs of the revolution, all of those who contributed to the revolution," he said. "I hope we will continue on being free, being happy, producing good art." The Silver Bear for best actress went to Denmark's Trine Dyrholm for her role as a wronged wife in Thomas Vinterberg's "The Commune", a semi-autobiographical movie about his 1970s childhood. Oscar-winning Bosnian director Danis Tanovic accepted the runner-up Grand Jury Prize for "Death in Sarajevo" about the corrosive legacy of the Balkans wars. A more than eight-hour-long historical epic by Filipino director Lav Diaz, "A Lullaby to the Sorrowful Mystery", claimed the Alfred Bauer Prize for a feature film that opens new perspectives in cinema. Best screenplay went to Polish filmmaker Tomasz Wasilewski for his portrait of the pivotal 1989-90 period in his country as told through four women, played by some of Poland's best-known theatre actresses, at crossroads in their lives. Western powers have rejected a Russian bid at the United Nations to halt Turkey's military actions in Syria, as France warned of a "dangerous escalation" in the nearly five-year conflict. The emergency Security Council meeting came as US Secretary of State John Kerry warned there was "a lot more work to do" for a ceasefire to take hold in Syria, following talks in Geneva between American and Russian officials. The elusive truce was meant to begin yesterday, but failed to materialize as fighting raged in Syria with Kurdish-led forces backed by US-led air power seizing a key town from the Islamic State group. Russia, which has been carrying out air strikes in support of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad's forces, has urged the UN to press Turkey to halt its shelling of Kurdish forces in the country's north. Moscow presented a draft resolution that "strongly demands" an immediate end to cross-border shellings and plans -- supported by Turkey -- for foreign ground intervention in Syria. But the text failed to garner support from key council members with at least six countries including veto-wielding France and the United States rejecting it outright during a closed-door meeting yesterday, diplomats said. US Ambassador Samantha Power accused Moscow of trying to "distract the world" from its air campaign in support of the Syrian regime and urged it to abide by UN resolutions supporting a peace process. "Russia must understand that its unconditional support to Bashar al-Assad is a dead-end and a dead-end that could be extremely dangerous," French Ambassador Francois Delattre said. "We are facing a dangerous military escalation that could easily get out of control and lead us to uncharted territory," he said. Turkey is pressing for a joint ground operation in Syria with its international allies, insisting it is the only way to stop the war. Turkish Ambassador Yasar Halit Cevik said his country was facing "national security threats emanating from Syria" in reference to the Kurdish militias it is targeting in the country's north. Amid the surge in fighting, UN peace envoy Staffan de Mistura said a new round of peace talks scheduled for February 25 was unlikely. French President Francois Hollande said Ankara's escalating involvement in the conflict was creating a risk of war between Turkey and Russia. "Turkey is involved in Syria... There, there is a risk of war," Hollande told France Inter radio. South Africa has set up a task team to monitor SA's implementation of pricing principles, a reprieve to the country's largest steel producer controlled by NRI steel baron Lakshmi Mittal. The pricing committee or task team was set up by Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies to monitor the company's implementation of pricing principles agreed to with the state. Mittal was reported to have engaged senior leaders of the government last year, which now appears to have resulted in a task team to monitor pricing principles. The task team was set up this week after complaints from the opposition Democratic Alliance party that SA was in breach of its undertaking not to increase prices after the government introduced tariff duties on cheap Chinese imports which had made local production not a viable option. SA was facing closure of some of its plants amid falling steel prices globally. The threat of closure at one stage threatened to shut down the entire town of Vanderbijlpark that depended on the steel plant there as the biggest employer. Last year, Mittal had to call on South African government authorities to help bail out his South African operations amid a threat of closing down a huge plant which would effectively have seen an entire town being destroyed economically. Mittal was vital for the South African government when he came to the rescue of the ailing state-owned steelmaker Iscor more than a decade ago. After turning Iscor around, Mittal bought out the manufacturer with government support. But in recent years, Mittal has been under pressure from the South African government because of the company's policy of parity pricing which forced local buyers to pay prices for its products, even forcing some smaller into closure due to unaffordability. Despite the government intervention, ArcelorMittal SA announced this week that its loss for last year would be 22 times more than that of 2014. The announcement came just a few weeks after the company sold more than R4 billion of shares to settle its debt and increase investment in plants. But the company is still reviewing the viability of its steel plant at Saldanha Bay. Outgoing CEO of ArcelorMittal SA, Paul O' Flaherty, said even the government tariff introduction was not enough to rescue the Saldanha plant which would be shut down by 2018 if suitable solutions could not be found. The company's shares have plummeted more than 90 per cent in the past eight years. Once voted South Africa's richest businessman for six years in a row, Indian-origin Mittal started dropping down on the annual list of South Africa's richest businessmen list three years ago and did not feature at all in the 2015 edition of the Sunday Times Rich List. Days before Delhi Police Commissioner B S Bassi's retirement, the AAP today demanded that he be sacked and charged that his loyalty was not to the police force, but to the RSS. AAP's Delhi unit secretary Saurabh Bharadwaj said Bassi, who has had frequent run-ins with the Delhi government, should not be given a "respectable exit" and cited his stint as the city police chief which will end this month. "B S Bassi has often said that he owed loyalty towards the khaki, but inaction in the JNU case where journalists and students were attacked shows that he owed his loyalty not the unifrom, but khaki pants," AAP's Delhi unit convenor Dilip Pandey said, in a veiled reference to RSS. The Commissioner, who is set to retire on February 29, has been facing intense flak for Delhi Police's alleged mishandling of the JNU row. The party also listed out the cases like the Kaliash Parbat murder case where a girl was killed by eve teasers and the alleged "police inaction" over it as also the alleged targeting of AAP MLAs. "This is the credibility of police under BS Bassi. He claimed that they had proof against Kanhayia, but no evidence has come out till today. "The Delhi Police is too quick to act against AAP MLAs but unable to find real culprits in JNU case. Rather, a fake video was circulated," Pandey said. The party has been at odds with the Delhi Police and has often accused Bassi of being a "BJP activist". "We not only demand his immediate sacking, but we don't want Bassi to have a respectable exit," Bharadwaj added. Delhi Jama Masjid Imam Syed Ahmed Bukhari;s security personnel today allegedly tried to drag a journalist out of his press meet here. During the presser, when the local scribe asked Bukhari how many Muslim organisations supported him, his personal security guards held his hands and tried to take him out of the venue. The man was let off after the other media personnel expressed anger over the incident. Bukhari immediately tendered an apology to the scribes. Later, the journalist also claimed that there was a scuffle when he was asked to leave by the guards. US President Barack Obama hugs Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the group photo for the G-20 Summit 2015 in Antalya, Turkey. Photo: PTI A Republican Senator has called on the Obama administration to re-evaluate US' growing diplomatic ties with India, alleging that the country continues to "suppress" religious liberty and human rights. "The United States should consider its role and relations with India with caution," James Lankford, junior Republican Senator from Oklahoma, said in a letter Thursday to US President Barack Obama. In the letter, the Senator called on Obama to re-evaluate America's growing diplomatic ties with Cuba and India, alleging that the two countries continue to have a poor human rights and religious liberty record. "While India continues to suppress religious liberty and human rights, I encourage the administration to utilise the strength of our current relationship with India to support the religious liberty and human rights of Indian citizens of all faiths," Lankford said. Every US state has two senators. A junior senator is the one who has been in the Senate for a less period of time as compared to the other senator. A former student ministries and evangelism specialist for the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma, Lankford entered the Senate in January 2015 after being in the House of Representatives for two terms from 2011 to 2015. Observing that India has a religiously diverse society and a secular government, the Senator alleged there were significant violations of human rights and freedom of religion in the country. In his long letter, the Oklahoma Senator alleged that Christians and Muslims are often the target of religious harassment and violence. "Christians have reported violence, arson, destruction of property, and a reluctance of local police to protect them or investigate the incidents," he said. "According to the Evangelical Fellowship of India, in November and December of 2014, there were more than 38 incidents of harassment or violence against Christians. Additionally, there have been violent attacks on Catholic churches and communities," he said. Madhya Pradesh minister Bupendra Singh today said around Rs 5,000 crore might be spent in hosting the month-long Simhastha Kumbh Mela, which will begin from April 22 in Ujjain. "Rs 3,000 crore has been spent so far on different works for Simhastha. According to our estimate, the expenditure may rise to Rs 5,000 crore till its conclusion," he said. Pandals for Sadhus will be provided with free electricity, the state Transport and District Guardian In-charge minister said. Around 70,000 policemen will be deployed at Simhastha Kumbh, one of the biggest religious festivals of Hindus, where nearly 5 crore devotees are expected, he said. On the ongoing tussle between seers, Gyandas and Narendra Giri for the Akhil Bharatiya Akhada Parishad's president post, Singh said the government has left the entire issue to the Parishad. "We will recognise the pontiff whom the Parishad picks up at its president," he said. With Delhi staring at a "water crisis" due to the Jat stir in neighbouring Haryana, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and Water Minister Kapil Mishra tonight took up the matter with Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh. Both Sisodia and Mishra met the Union minister and apprised him of the "water crisis" in Delhi due to the Jat stir. They sought the Centre's help to resolve the situation. The Union Home Minister has assured the Delhi government of finding a solution to the problem, he said. In the wake of Jat protesters breaking gates of Munak canal leading to shortage of water, Delhi government has decided to rationalise supply to utilise the stored water. Mishra later said DJB water tankers will ensure supply in areas most affected by the "water crisis". All water treatment plants will be affected if the problem is not solved at the earliest, he said. Six officials of Chinese megabank ICBC have been placed in detention by Spanish authorities on suspicion of laundering tens of millions of euros, judicial sources said today. They were detained overnight and while three of them can be freed if they post bail of 100,000 euros (USD 111,000) each, the others will remain in custody for the time being, the Madrid appeals court said. The suspects were arrested on Wednesday at the bank's central Madrid branch as part of a probe into the suspected laundering of at least 40 million euros (USD 44.5 million). They were questioned from yesterday afternoon through to early today. The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China is accused of allowing traders to move money earned through smuggling and tax fraud out of the country, to China, "in a way that appeared legal", Spanish police said in a statement. Spanish prosecutors said the employees were being sought for "economic crimes" but did not elaborate. The raid was a follow-up to an operation last year that targeted Madrid-based Chinese syndicates suspected of importing huge amounts of goods from China without declaring them, to avoid duties and taxes. The groups allegedly deposited the proceeds in ICBC accounts, with the lender accused of sending the funds to China without checking their origin as required by law. ICBC is the world's largest bank by market capitalisation. It entered the Spanish market in January 2011 with the inauguration of its branch in Madrid. A year later it opened a second branch in Barcelona. The Chinese lender's foreign operations accounted for about 10 percent of its total assets at the end of last year. Central universities are favoured over State varsities and this has led to quality of knowledge and research going down at the latter, said noted scientist G D Yadav today as he called for doing away with traditional style of classroom teaching. There is a yawning gap between the State and central universities. The quality of knowledge and research in state universities has gone down because more favour is granted to Central universities, he said. Yadav, Vice-Chancellor of Mumbai-based Institute of Chemical Technology, was addressing the 32nd convocation of Sant Gadge Baba Amravati University. The duty of universities is to create new knowledge and remain at the forefront of advances in science and technology, said the Padma Shri award winner. "Only then new knowledge can be extended to the students." Stating that not a single university or an IIT of the country is among the top 100 universities of the world, Yadav said the fault for this either lies in our education system or in research tendency. Urging teachers to give up the traditional style of classroom teaching, Yadav appealed to them to focus more on developing ideas among students. "Students should be taught through discussion because in classroom teaching students' time of concentration is only for seven minutes. There is a need for participation-based education." Quoting the mythological story of Eklavya and Dronacharya, Yadav linked it to the modern day Internet. "Internet is the incarnation of Dronacharya, but today's Eklavya needs to know the truth after a lot of thinking," he added. Several Jat leaders today refused to call off the pro-quota agitation unless the government promulgates an ordinance to include the community in the OBC category. The response came after Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar today released a statement saying that his government has "accepted" their demands, but did not elaborate. The leaders also demanded that a compensation of Rs 50 lakh be given to the kin of the person killed in firing yesterday and a government job to one of his family members. All India Jat Aarakshan Sangarsh Samiti's president Yashapal Malik said, "We will not withdraw our agitation unless the state government brings an ordinance for giving reservation to Jats." "We will not accept mere statements issued by Khattar. The government will have to promulgate ordinance first. The government should pass a Bill in this regard in the Assembly," he told PTI. Replying to reports that youths from the community were "not in control" of the agitation leaders as they were indulging in incidents of violence and arson in parts of the state, Mailk said that the youth are in "our control." Malik alleged that "BJP workers were indulging in violence and arson". The leader had yesterday accused Khattar of having a "casteist mentality" and resisting quota demand as he was "not from the community". Earlier in the day, the BJP government in Haryana had "accepted" the demands of the community which is seeking quota under OBC category. Khattar had appealed to protesters to end their stir and asked them to "return to their homes as the government has accepted their demands", but did not elaborate. Meanwhile, Haryana Governor Kaptan Singh Solanki has appealed the agitators to call off their stir and resolve the issue through negotiations. "Violence is no solution to any problem, rather it creates hurdles in the path of development and prosperity," the governor said in a statement here today. The governor said that unity, brotherhood and harmony have been the tradition of Haryana. "They should desist from acts of vandalism and arson. I appeal all agitators to call off their stir and resolve the issue by sitting across the table," he said. Normal life has been paralysed in Haryana in view of Jat agitation, which has also been marred by incidents of violence. A student was crushed to death and his father and brother were injured when the motorcycle, on which they were riding, came under the wheels of a bus on NH 107 of Purnea district in Bihar today. The victim has been identified as 10-year-old Pritam Kumar. His father Jagat Narayan Mehta and his brother Gautam Kumar (6) have been admitted to a private hospital in Banmankhi sub-division in a serious condition, Banmankhi Sub-divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Kundan Kumar said. The incident occurred near Ram Nagar Parsahi panchayat on NH 107 under Janki Nagar police station when Jagat Narayan Mehta was going to attend a family function at Gokulpur village after picking up his two children from the school on motorcyle, Kumar said. The SDPO said that bus has been seized and the driver of the bus has been arrested. An FIR has been lodged with the concerned police station on the basis of statement made by the victim's father, the officer added. A 21-year-old student was today killed and two others injured when the motorcycle they were ridding on was hit by a lorry in the district, police said. The mishap occurred near Seetarampuram on the outskirts of Tallarevu 25 km from here, an official attached with the Korangi police said. While Baby a second year B Tech student of BVC college of engineering at Mummidivaram was killed, two of his friends sustained injuries, he said. The injured were admitted to Kakinada general hospital. A case under relevant sections of IPC was registered in this regard and investigations are underway, police said. Washington's elite put political differences aside as thousands gathered to pay final respects to US Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, whose death last week ignited a fierce battle over his successor. Vice President Joe Biden and the court's Chief Justice John Roberts led a distinguished group of officials, dignitaries and family friends in attendance at the funeral mass yesterday at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. Scalia died a week ago of an apparent heart attack at age 79 while on a hunting trip in Texas. It was the first funeral for a sitting member of the US high court since 2005, when Chief Justice William Rehnquist died. Scalia -- a conservative icon -- was a devout and tradition-bound Catholic. Cardinal Donald Wuerl, the archbishop of Washington, called him "an extraordinary man." His death plunged the Supreme Court into uncertainty, leaving what had been a conservative-dominated body evenly divided in a year of blockbuster cases -- on abortion, affirmative action, immigration and President Barack Obama's health care law. It also set off an epic election-year battle over Scalia's successor, whose appointment could tip the body to a liberal majority with the potential to reshape American life far into the future. Thousands of mourners filled the pews at the vast Romanesque-Byzantine basilica, the country's largest Catholic church -- where Pope Francis celebrated a mass in September. Dozens of white-robed priests were on hand -- so laughter ensued when Wuerl said that Scalia had expressed a desire for a "simple parish family mass." The mass was led by one of the justice's nine children, Paul Scalia, who is a priest in nearby Arlington, Virginia. Four other sons served as pallbearers. While the late justice preferred traditional Latin masses, his own was mostly in English. In words that to many seemed to refer to his father, Paul Scalia said: "We are gathered here because of one man. A man known personally to many of us, known only by reputation to even more, a man loved by many, scorned by others, a man known for great controversy, and for great compassion." He paused, then added, "That man, of course, is Jesus of Nazareth." It was because of Jesus, he went on, that "in confidence we commend Antonin Scalia to the mercy of God. Thousands marched through Dublin today to call for an end to austerity, as Ireland prepares to vote in parliamentary elections. The "Right2Change" protest brought together a range of anti-austerity groups under the banner of opposing controversial water charges, which have crystallised anger at a rise in poverty, budget cuts and tax hikes since an economic crisis and bailout in 2010. Protesters carried colourful flags and banners reading "Can't Pay Won't Pay" and "Water is a Human Right", and chanted: "Banks Got Bailed Out, We Got Sold Out". "We are fighting to end to the austerity that has crippled people in this country. Water was the straw that broke the camel's back," said June Markham, a retiree from Dublin. "We might not get the exact government we want this time but by God we're on our way to doing it." Organisers said the protest was for an Ireland "not based on cronyism, corruption or greed, but instead one based on equality, democracy and social justice". Polls ahead of the election on February 26 show Ireland may be the latest eurozone country to face political uncertainty as prime minister Enda Kenny and his current coalition government could struggle to form a majority for a second term. The march was also supported by left-leaning republican party Sinn Fein, which has boosted its support with an anti-austerity stance, and leader Gerry Adams joined the crowds to address a rally. The water charges issue has galvanised opposition to austerity after the government began charging households for water, rather than financing provision through general taxation as had been done previously. Opponents see the move as a step towards privatisation. Ireland goes to the polls on Friday with the outgoing coalition of Fine Gael and Labour seeking a second term on a platform of keeping the economy steady. The eurozone nation has the highest economic growth rate in the European Union -- 7.0 per cent in the first nine months of last year -- but many voters say they are not feeling the benefit and are disillusioned after years of sacrifices and a financial crisis that has discredited Ireland's elite. Tamil Nadu Assembly today passed amendments to a fishing law envisaging a thrust for deep sea fishing, enhancing coastal security and better regulation of fishing and management of fishery resources. The bill, seeking to amend the Tamil Nadu Marine Fishing Regulation Act, 1983 was adopted amid objections from Left parties over provisions including penalties. While CPI(M) MLA, K Balakrishnan said the bill should be referred to a select committee and pointed to provisions like penalty clauses, S Gunasekaran (CPI) wanted the new government to be in place after the coming election to scrutinise it. The amendment says no owner or master of a mechanised fishing vessel shall go in for fishing within five nautical miles from the coastline. Fishing, in effect, for such vessels is allowed only beyond five nautical miles and such operation too would be subject to conditions that may be specified by the government. Levying penalty not exceeding Rs 15,000 for specified offences, ban for fishing species declared protected under Wild Life (Protection) Act are some of the other features of the bill. Also, the bill has brought in a provision mandating driving licence to drive mechanised fishing vessel. Importance has been given to sea safety, surveillance and communication systems as well. Among other provisions are the ones related to fishing gears. "No owner or master of a fishing vessel shall use or cause or allow to be used the fishing vessel for fishing by using prohibited gear and shall also not carry any prohibited gear on board," was among such provisions. The use of purse seine and pair seines nets are banned in Tamil Nadu. Top Union ministers, senior officers and the Army chief today reviewed the prevailing situation in Haryana where violence continued unabated following the Jat quota stir. Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari sat for an hour, taking stock of the situation, as violence and arson spread to more areas in the state. National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Army Chief General Dalbir Singh Suhag, Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi, chief of Intelligence Bureau Dineswar Sharma were among those who attended the meeting. "The ministers and the top officers reviewed the situation and the steps taken to curb the violence and restore normalcy in the trouble-torn areas," a senior officer told PTI. This was for the second consecutive day that the senior ministers reviewed the Haryana situation. Yesterday, they had decided to provide all assistance to Haryana government to tackle the law and order situation. Army and paramilitary personnel have already been deployed in several districts in Haryana. Four persons were killed in firing by security personnel at Rohtak and Jhajjar districts taking the death toll to five even as he Army staged flag marches in affected pockets. As Haryana remained on the boil, Army had to use choppers to reach parts of blocked Rohtak district even as several Haryana Roadways buses, seven railway stations, a police station and some buildings were torched by pro-quota protesters. A top American diplomat on arms control will visit India next week for the second India-US Space Dialogue in New Delhi. The Assistant US Secretary for Arms Control, Verification and Compliance Frank A Rose would lead a US delegation for the dialogue on February 24, the State Department said in a statement. On February 22, he would meet with the leadership of the Indian Space Research Organisation in Bangalore. On February 23, he will hold meetings with the Indian Ministries of External Affairs and Defense and with Members of Parliament. He is also scheduled to deliver keynote remarks at the Observer Research Foundation Conference. The Goa tourism department will be conducting a study on shack capacity of each of beaches across the state before the tourist season begins in October. The Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority (GCZMA) will write to the Tourism department asking them to study how many shacks can be accommodated on the beaches, a senior official said today. Goa is bestowed with 105-kilometre-long coastline, which has several hundred shacks and structures serving food and liquor specially thronged by tourists. The official said the study would be conducted beach-wise with the prescribed limit per stretch. Beaches like Calangute, Baga and Colva have highest number of shacks, while at some stretches there are only couple of them are installed. The shacks are allotted to unemployed youths of the state for a period of three years. Former Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh Nabam Tuki today blamed RSS and BJP for the dismissal of his government, alleging that their aim was to topple all Congress governments in the Northeast. Tuki, whose Congress government was dismissed by imposition of President's rule on January 26 after 21 party MLAs revolted against him, also alleged that Governor J P Rajkhowa and Union Minister Kiren Rijiju worked "to overthrow his democratically elected popular government". "The whole dissidence was funded and controlled by RSS and BJP. They just want to topple all Congress governments in the Northeast. RSS and BJP were firing through the shoulders of Congress dissident MLAs," he said at a press conference here. Tuki's statement came a day after leader of the Congress dissidents, Kalikho Pul, was sworn-in as Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh following withdrawal of President's rule. The former Chief Minister, flanked by 26 MLAs loyal to him, said whenever the NDA came to power, the governments in Arunachal Pradesh were destabilised -- be it in the time of (former Chief Ministers) Gegong Apang or be it during Mukut Mithi. Tuki claimed every effort was made by Governor Rajkhowa "to trample on democracy and defy the Constitution" to remove the Congress government. "There was no reason to dismiss my government. There was no law and order problem, there was no internal disturbance. Still, President's rule was imposed undemocratically and unconstitutionally," he said. The Congress leader accused Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju of supporting and instigating dissident MLAs against his (Tuki's) leadership. Demanding removal of Rajkhowa as Governor, former Congress MP Takam Sanjay said democracy and Constitution "were murdered in Arunachal Pradesh and this may lead to serious law and order problems in the sensitive border state". "Modi ji, please stop treating us as second class citizen. We are as much Indian as anyone else. Don't turn Arunachal Pradesh as another Jammu and Kashmir," he said. Congress has governments in Manipur, Assam, Meghalaya and Mizoram in the Northeast. A revolt by Congress dissidents led by Pul ledto a political crisis in Arunachal Pradesh that finally led to imposition of President's rule on January 26. Tuki has the support of 26 MLAs in the 60-member Assembly. Congress, which had 47 MLAs in the 60-member assembly, suffered a jolt when 21 of its lawmakers revolted against Tuki's leadership. Eleven BJP MLAs and two independents backed the rebels in the bid to upstage the government. Later, 14 rebel Congress MLAs were disqualified by the Speaker. (Reopens DEL 35) The Supreme Court was considering pleas against imposition of President's rule in Arunachal Pradesh and also hearing petitions seeking examination of constitutional schemes on the scope of discretionary powers of the Governor. After Union Cabinet's recommendation for withdrawal of President's rule, Congress moved the Supreme Court and got an order for maintenance of status quo in the crisis-ridden state till it examined judicial and assembly records on disqualification of 14 rebel Congress MLAs by former Speaker Nabam Rebia. However, on Thursday, the apex court virtually paved the way for government formation in Arunachal Pradesh by vacating its order on maintaining status quo, after being satisfied with the Gauhati High Court order staying the disqualification of the 14 rebel Congress MLAs. Congress again moved the Supreme Court yesterday but the Supreme Court rejected its plea for an interim direction that it be allowed to go in for a floor test in the Arunachal Pradesh Assembly to prove majority. Pul was sworn-in as Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh last night following withdrawal of President's rule. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, alleging that Congress leader Jagdish Tytler was "interfering" with the probe into the 1984 anti-Sikh riots and CBI was "shielding" him. He said a Delhi court had in an order dated December 24, 2014 rejected a clean chit to Tytler and criticised CBI, which "continue to shield culprits" like him. "A perusal of the order shows a sorry state of affairs as to how the primary investigation agency, which reports directly to the PM, has failed to conduct a proper investigation and hurriedly filed a closure report against the main accused, Tytler. This despite the fact that the earlier closure reports have been rejected by the court," he alleged. "A perusal of the closure report dated December 24, 2014 filed by CBI and the court order dated December 4, 2015 leaves no doubt that Tytler has been interfering with the investigation. "In these circumstances, in any other case, the accused would have been arrested and kept in jail. I am surprised as to why CBI has not adopted the same for Jagdish Tytler," Kejriwal said in the letter. On February 2, the court concerned had observed that CBI neither filed the status report nor was any officer on its behalf was present before the court to inform it about the progress in the investigation, he said. extended his three-decade rule Saturday after winning a fifth term in polls rejected as fraudulent by his closest rival who was under house arrest. The 71-year-old veteran won 60% of the vote in the sometimes chaotic elections, far ahead of the 35% garnered by detained opposition leader Kizza Besigye, whose house was surrounded by dozens of armed police in riot gear. "The commission declares Yoweri Kaguta Museveni the elected President of the Republic of Uganda," Election Commission chief Badru Kiggundu said as he read out results. Large numbers of police and troops have been deployed on the streets of the capital Kampala. US Secretary of State John Kerry yesterday urged Museveni to "rein in" his security forces. "The outcome of an elections can either tear or build a country. As Ugandans let us be prepared to exhibit more tolerance," commission chief Kiggundu said. "We love this country and you Ugandans love your country." Besigye's party has decried results as "fraudulent", but Museveni's National Resistance Movement (NRM) party swiftly issued a statement celebrating the win. "The result confirmed that our opponents failed to offer any alternative," NRM spokesman Mike Sebalu said. "Behind their vague claims of change, there were no policies and no chance of progress and people saw through these empty claims." Ugandan police chief Kale Kayihura also warned that celebrations after results required police permission. "We anticipate that candidates who have won in the elections intended to hold celebratory activities. To protect public order, all candidates planning celebrations must first discuss and get clearance," he said. The election on Thursday was disrupted in Kampala by the late arrival of ballot boxes and papers and angry demonstrations by voters that the police quelled using tear gas. At nearly 28,000 other polling centres voting passed off smoothly, but the ballot was extended for a second day in 36 places after delays that Commonwealth election observers called "inexcusable" and that "seriously detracted from the fairness and credibility of the result." European Union election observers on Saturday said that "voting was conducted in a calm and peaceful environment in the vast majority of the country". But the observers also voiced criticism over the "lack of transparency and independence" of the electoral commission. Ex-prime minister Amama Mbabazi, a former ruling party stalwart, was trailing in a distant third with just over one per cent of the vote. Uganda's top opposition leader Kizza Besigye today said poll results handing President Yoweri Museveni a fifth term should be rejected, in a statement issued while under house arrest surrounded by dozens of police. "The results of the presidential elections must be rejected," Besigye's statement read. "We have just witnessed what must be the most fraudulent electoral process in Uganda." The veteran 71-year-old Museveni won 60 per cent of the vote in the sometimes chaotic elections, far ahead of the 35 per cent garnered by Besigye. International observers have also raised the red flag, warning that Uganda's electoral commission lacked transparency and accusing the police of heavy-handed treatment of the opposition. "Today I am under house arrest. My home is sealed off and I am not allowed to leave. Nobody is allowed to access my home," Besigye said. Police had stormed Besigye's Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) headquarters yesterday to arrest him, saying they wanted to prevent him from unilaterally proclaiming his vote score. Besigye appealed to the "international community" not to recognise the results. "Please reject the temptation to ratify these sham elections," he said. "But should you ratify the results of these sham elections, at least, have the courage to admit that you do not care about democracy or human rights in Africa." Although Museveni was re-elected as president, at least 19 of his ministers lost their parliamentary seats, among them defence minister Crispus Kiyonga -- who is spearheading regional efforts to end the political crisis in Burundi -- and attorney general Fred Ruhindi. Museveni and Besigye, 59, were once close. They fought together in a bush war to overthrow Uganda's first post-independence leader Milton Obote. During that time, Besigye served as Museveni's personal physician. This was Besignye's fourth attempt to unseat his former comrade-in-arms, his best performance so far being in 2006, when he polled 37 per cent. "To my fellow Ugandans... Remain vigilant and steadfast. The struggle is long and hard but, in the end, we shall win if we continue in our patient and steadfast resolve," Besigye added. "The regime cannot survive without our co-operation. Let us denounce this electoral theft by withdrawing our recognition of the regime and ceasing to co-operate with it. An active platform is required for museum professionals in India to share the best practice and build skills and resources, Martin Bellamy, the head of the research and curatorial team at Glasgow Museums said. Bellamy, along with Tim Corum, Director, Curatorial and Public Engagement at Horniman Museums (UK), came to the city to participate in a workshop, being held for museum professionals from across the country, from February 18 to 20 at the National Council of Science Museums here at the initiative of British Council. The two museum experts were talking to PTI here last evening. The experts said the workshop will be the road map in building up the active platform for museum professionals to share and exchange. "We visualise a day when both digital museums as well as museums in their present physical form will co-exist in another 30 years time. People will access exhibits with the click of mouse. But seeing and sensing the object in the physical form is important. So digital museum cannot altogether replace a museum as we see it in the present form. They can supplement each other," Corum said. Bellamy added, "Yes, I am looking forward to an era when all the objects in different premier museums all over the world will be digitally catalogued in different heads and one can see and know about them by logging in from any part of the world." Asked if there can be lack of interest about the exhibits and maintenance among the lower-level staff of state-run museums, who might consider it as more of a job and less of a passion, Bellamy said, "On the contrary I found the motivational level quite high among everybody I had interacted with. They are keen to exchange views and tips with us." "We interacted on ways of collections management - policy and practice, including how to explore the digital method, and found the participants quite passionate about preserving the subjects in their custody," Corum said. The duo went through the exhibits of Victoria Museum and found the treasure trove fascinating with modern preservation techniques put to use. Nearly 35 museum professionals from - Victoria Memorial, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (Mumbai), Bhau Daji Lad Mumbai, City Palace Museum Jaipur, Sulabh Museums Delhi, Indian Museum, Salarjung Museum Hyderabad and others attended the workshop at NCSM. "We would love to go through the private museums in the city and know how the owners keep the exhibits, in our next visit," they added. Two of London's leading universities, King's College and the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) organised Kashmir Awareness Week which concluded today. The Kashmir solidarity movements of the two institutions had planned a series of symposiums and talks over the past week in an attempt to trigger debate and present all sides of the conflict. "We are seeking to stand in solidarity with the Kashmiri people and their struggle for self-determination," their statement said. Students, academics and representatives of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) were present at the event. "The Jammu and Kashmir issue is not about the valley of Kashmir but the whole state and its various inhabitants are equal stakeholders to the dispute," said Dr Vivek Kaul, a National Health Service (NHS) surgeon, invited to a seminar at King's College yesterday. "It is also shameful that both India and Pakistan forget the other equal stakeholders in the dispute which include Kashmiri Sunni Muslims, Kashmiri Shias, Kashmiri Hindus, Sikhs, Dogras, Jammu Muslims, Poonchis, Mirpuris, Gilgitees, Baltis, Ladakhi Buddhists, Kargili Shias, Kishtwaris, Badrawahis, Gujjar, Bakerwals etc," he said. Zafar Khan of JKLF focused on the need for plebiscite and claimed that the majority of the population was in favour of an independent Kashmir. "The plight of Kashmiri Pandits, when 350,000 of them were thrown out of their homes into ramshackle tents in Jammu, was the obvious elephant in the room that no one wanted to acknowledge," said a Kashmiri Pandit student. Ukrainians today sombrely marked the second anniversary of the bloody revolution that ousted Russian-backed president Viktor Yanukovych, as a fresh political crisis left many disillusioned with the current leadership. President Petro Poroshenko and his wife came early in the morning to light icon lamps at a memorial cross for the more than 100 people killed in the pro-European Union protests. Hundreds of Kiev residents headed to the city's landmark Independence Square where the protests took place to lay flowers and candles and share grief as well as indignation at the dragging political chaos. "Of course, we are disappointed with many things, but there is still hope", said Tetyana, a small woman in glasses with the yellow and blue Ukrainian flag draped over her shoulders. She stood in front of a portrait of young man, one of the "Heavenly Hundred" activists killed in the uprising, holding a candle and wiping away tears. "Something is changing -- slowly, but it's happening and that is already a victory", she said. An elderly man who gave his name as Viktor waved the red and black flag of the Ukrainian nationalist movement and carried three red carnations to lay at the memorial. "If our government does not change its attitude to the situation, we will have to take some radical steps", he said. "A Third Maidan is always possible. People realized that they can bring anyone to power and topple them at any time. The people realized they are strong." US Vice President Joe Biden praised the "brave Ukrainians" who took part in the protests as he held talks overnight separately with Poroshenko and Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk. He said he stressed to both that "there is still a great deal of work to be done to honor the legacy of the brave Ukrainians who have given so much in their pursuit of a better future for their country". Biden spoke to the leaders following a failed attempt on Tuesday by the parliament to oust the government over its perceived failure to tackle corruption. With the pro-Western ruling coalition on the verge of collapse, Biden urged the politicians "to unite and rebuild popular trust around a strong governing coalition" and to "accelerate Ukraine's efforts to fight corruption". The fall of the pro-Kremlin regime was followed by Russia's annexation of Crimea and the armed conflict in the east that has already killed more than 9,000 people. The Aligarh Muslim University which has been battling to preserve its character as a minority institution now finds itself in another controversy - this time over beef. The issue broke out on social media yesterday when a WhatsApp post circulated a report that 'beef biryani' was being served at the canteen, an allegation promptly denied by the university. The reports spread the impression that it was cow meat and not the meat of buffalo that was being served. A picture of the canteen's menu card also went viral on social media. BJP Mayor Shakuntala Bharti, along with party leaders and several right wing activists, held a demonstration outside the office of Senior Superintendent of Police today, demanding registration of an FIR against the contractor of canteen for serving 'beef biryani'. Police said the matter was still under investigation. As news of the controversy spread, senior AMU officials led by University Proctor M Mohsin Khan rushed to the Medical College canteen and carried out an on-the-spot preliminary check. University spokesperson Rahat Abrar alleged that the incident was a "malicious" attempt to defame the institution, asserting that the beef mentioned in the menu was of buffalo meat. "It is nothing but a malicious propaganda to defame this institution. I can say with confidence that the beef biryani mentioned in the menu card pertains to buffalo meat and there is no iota of evidence to suggest to the contrary," he said. The spokesperson said that according to a preliminary investigation, it was revealed that the contract for the canteen was ending soon and some "vested interests" were eyeing it next, and so were creating a controversy. "The contract for the canteen was ending on February 23. Some vested interests which were eyeing the lucrative contract deliberately floated a malicious rumour suggesting that cow meat was being served," he said. Abrar, however ridiculed the allegations, saying that AMU was one of the first institutions to ban cow meat on campus more than a century ago. "AMU was perhaps the first educational institution of higher learning where beef was banned from being served inside the institution more than a century back. "The founding father of Mohammedan Anglo Oriental College (which became the Aligarh Muslim University in 1920), Sir Syed Ahmad Khan had issued an explicit order in 1884 that not only would no beef be served in any dining room but even sacrifice of cow during Idul Adha was forbidden for all AMU employees," he said. Abrar said Sir Syed took the action as he did not want to hurt sentiments of Hindus and terminated services of an AMU employee in 1884, when he broke this rule. A US strike on an Islamic State jihadist camp in Libya killed two Serbian embassy employees who were kidnapped in the area in November, Serbia's foreign minister said today. "Unfortunately as a consequence of this attack on the Islamic State (IS) in Libya, the two of them lost their lives," Ivica Dacic told reporters, referring to yesterday's air strike. Embassy communications chief Sladjana Stankovic and her driver Jovica Stepic were kidnapped on November 8 in the coastal city of Sabratha, 70 kilometres west of Tripoli, from a convoy of cars heading to the Tunisian border. The US strike, which targeted a jihadist training camp near Sabratha, killed dozens of people, probably including Noureddine Chouchane, a senior IS group operative behind attacks in Tunisia, US officials said yesterday. It was the second US air raid in the violence-wracked North African country targeting the fast-expanding jihadist group in the past three months. Belgrade maintains an embassy in Tripoli, and Serbian citizens, mostly doctors and other medical staff as well as construction workers, have been working in Libya for decades due to close bilateral relations during Kadhafi's regime. The US government has declassified the fact it held nuclear weapons on Okinawa in Japan during the Cold War, though the matter had long been an open secret. A Department of Defence website states the Pentagon has declassified "the fact that US nuclear weapons were deployed on Okinawa prior to Okinawa's reversion to Japan on May 15, 1972." The National Security Archive at George Washington University welcomed the disclosure, but pointed to US Air Force photos depicting nuclear weapons on the island that have been publicly available for more than 25 years. "However welcome the release may be, its significance is somewhat tempered by (that) astonishing fact," the on-governmental research group said in a statement yesterday. The group added that the US government had wasted an "inordinate" amount of time and resources by delaying the declassification. Japan is the only nation to have been attacked with nuclear weapons. The United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, killing more than 210,000 people and leading to Japan's surrender in World War II. Japan has since campaigned to abolish the weapons. Former prime minister Eisaku Sato won the Nobel Peace Prize largely for his "three principles" -- that Japan will not possess, produce or allow nuclear weapons on its soil. Okinawa remained under US control until 1972, and many parts of the archipelago are still used for US bases. Haryana remained on the boil today as the Jat stir unleashed fresh incidents of violence and arson in which a railway station, a police station and some buildings were set ablaze even as the Army had to use choppers to reach parts of blocked Rohtak district. Curfew was clamped in three more towns--Sonipat, Gohana (Sonipat) and Jhajjar--today as sporadic incidents of arson continued during the night and later in the day in addition to Rohtak and Bhiwani districts where it is already in place and shoot-at-sight orders issued yesterday. Flag marches were conducted by Army in Rohtak and Bhiwani districts. Road and Railway traffic continued to be affected in the state due to blockades resulting in disruption of services from Delhi and beyond to Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Chandigarh through various National Highways, including NH 44 (Delhi Ambala) and NH 10 (Delhi-Hissar- Fazilka). Several trains were cancelled by Railway authorities. Police said some persons had pelted stones at the Jhajjar residence of Haryana Minister O P Dhankar, but no one was injured in the incident. As the violence by Jat protestors demanding quota continued unabated, Chief Minister Manohar Khattar issued a fresh appeal to the people to maintain peace and law and order, saying government would find a solution to the problem. "Such incidents create disharmony," he said here after reviewing the situation with his ministerial colleagues and senior civil and police officers. Appealing to protestors to end their protest, Khattar said that nothing will be gained by destroying public property, as more central forces were rushed to the state. Normal life remained disrupted in large parts of the state with shops and commercial establishments besides schools remaining closed, mobile internet services being suspended in many districts, and transportation of essential commodities, including LPG, milk and vegetables, also being adversely affected. Protesters have also blocked NH-44 near Nangal village in Sonipat district and near Panipat affecting movement of traffic, which connects Punjab, HP, Chandigarh and J&K. Petrol pumps in various areas have gone dry as fresh supplies are not being received. In Meham. A police Station and some adjoining buildings were torched by the protestors. Budha Khera Railway Station was set ablaze in Jind district resulting in damage to furniture and official records. The railway station falls on Jind-Panipat rail route. Despite fresh incidents of violence being reported, State Police chief Yashpal Singhal claimed that the situation had improved since yesterday. He said that one person was killed in an incident of violence at Rohtak yesterday. Prohibitory orders under section 144 CrPC banning assembly of five or more persons and taking out of processions have been clamped in more districts including Panipat, Hissar, Jhajjar, Jind and Kaithal. Opposition parties today closed ranks over JNU row but offered conditional support only for the passage of "essential" bills, as Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari held an all-party meeting aimed at ensuring its smooth functioning in the budget session, beginning next week. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who also attended the meeting, made a brief intervention hoping that the three-month long session, beginning February 23, would be a "very constructive and positive" affair. However, there was enough indication that the crucial bills like GST are unlikely to be taken up in the first half of the session, which concludes on March 16. The JNU row was raised by several opposition leaders and government assured them that a date for the debate on the issue will in all probability be decided on the opening day of the session itself. There is a view in BJP that a debate on the JNU row will revolve around the issue of nationalism which will work to its advantage. In the meeting, the Opposition and the government also agreed to pass a bill without discussion in RS on delimitation exercise in West Bengal to grant voting rights to people who came to India from Bangladeshi enclaves. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who spoke first in the meeting, sought the Opposition cooperation for the same, to which West Bengal's ruling Trinamool Congress agreed. Ansari said,"time has come to assure the public that parliamentary democracy does work and is sensitive to the needs of the people." Immediately after the meeting called by Ansari, Opposition leaders huddled together to chalk out a common floor strategy. A meeting of the Congress Working Committee has been convened by party chief Sonia Gandhi on the eve of the session. At the all party meeting, D Raja (CPI) urged Ansari to hold a structured discussion on the JNU issue and take it up on a priority basis while K C Tyagi from JD(U) accused the government of "targetting" Opposition parties, and speaking the language of Congress during the Emergency. Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs M A Naqvi said that a decision on the date for the discussion on JNU row will be taken on the first working day of the session when a meeting of the Business Advisory Committee is called. After the meeting, Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad said,"we have said that we will cooperate in the passage of the essential bills, which are in the interest of the nation, and for fulfilling people's aspiration. We will support on merit basis only those measures on which there is a general consensus. Azad said that a number of incidents have happened in recent times, which are "agitating" the minds of people like the incident in JNU, bashing up of journalists in court premises and a dalit scholar's suicide in Hyderabad. "All these issues need to be discussed threadbare," he insisted. Asked whether the pending bills on GST and real estate could also be taken up, Azad said these were not discussed. "There has been no discussion on GST. Only those bills will be passed on which there is a general consensus," he said. Another party leader indicated that these bills could only be taken up in the second half of the budget session, which begins from April 25 and ends on May 13. Azad said that Opposition also wants to discuss issues like price rise and farmers' suicide. Tyagi said that while the Opposition wants Parliament to run, "the unilaterism of the ruling party will not be allowed". The meeting was also attended by Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman P J Kurien, Deputy Leader of Congress in Rajya Sabha Anand Sharma besides representatives of JD(U), CPI, CPI(M), RJD, SAD and NCP. Jaitely apprised the opposition leaders that the government is open to discussion on all issues. He added that the first part of the budget session should be devoted towards passing urgent bills besides the budget. "The meeting ended with a general sense of agreement that the House should legislate and deliberate on all issues. All leaders present shared the same feeling. The Prime Minister held that it has been a good meeting and hoped that the session will work," a communique from the Rajya Sabha said. Apparently concerned over the virtual wash out of last two sessions, Ansari called the meeting amid the possibility of a tumultuous session. Ansari had also held an informal meeting with leaders of Congress and BJP in Rajya Sabha on Wednesday as well. Rajya Sabha, where the government lacks majority, had seen repeated disruption in the monsoon and winter sessions with Congress and several other opposition parties blocking key economic reform measures of the Modi government. Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan and Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu have also called separate all-party meetings on February 22, a day before the session begins. The government is keen to push its legislative agenda in the budget session, including the pending bills on GST and real estate that were thwarted in the last two sessions. Naidu had last month met Congress President Sonia Gandhi seeking cooperation for early passage of the crucial GST and the real estate bills. Enraged over dowry demands, a 24-year-old woman called off her marriage to a government teacher scheduled for next week. Bharti Yadav alias Pinki, a resident of Faithapura village, called off her marriage with Shambu Dayal scheduled on February 22 after he and his family demanded a car as dowry in Baran city, Shriram Badesara, SHO, Sadar police station said. According to the complaint filed by Bharti on Thursday, Shambu and his maternal grandfather, Kanayalal threatened to call off the marriage if they were not given a car as dowry. They further forced the bride's family to sign a legal document stating that they would give the car six months after the marriage as Bharti's father expressed his inability to give such an expensive gift, Badesara said. Bharti was engaged to Shambu on Feb 15 and her parents had given them a motorbike and jewellery as gifts after the engagement. A case has been under various sections of IPC has been registered following the complaint. Badesara said that a notice has been sent to the family and their statements have been recorded. Stating that there was frustration and disillusionment among the youth against the systems world over, Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi today stressed the need for compassion to deal with them and harness their strength. On the ongoing row over alleged anti-national sloganeering in Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi, he said truth will prevail in the case, which has now reached the court. "(I) strongly see the frustration and disillusionment among the youth against the systems," Satyarthi said during an event here. "There was also growing intolerance and violence among the youth. This is not only in India, but happening globally. They (youth) are full of idealism and the youth are looking for better alternatives. Their strength is not harnessed and channelised. "There is a lack of compassion to deal with the youth. For this, I am planning to launch a special programme targeting the youth," Satyarthi, who shared the Nobel peace prize with Pakistan's Malala Yousafzai in 2014, said. Asked for his views on the JNU row on the sidelines of the event, he said, "Truth will prevail in the JNU incident. But, I will not say anything more as the matter is sub-judice." He said the central government should make more budgetary allocation for fighting issues relating to child labour and trafficking. "The Parliament will meet soon for the Budget Session. I will request the government to invest more in children by allocating more funds," Satyarthi said at the event organised by Press Club Kolkata. "Less than four per cent of the budget is earmarked for education, health and protection combined. This is a serious question," he said. "41 per cent people in the country are below the age of 18. We can talk of demographic dividend. When it comes to investing in them, it is dismal," Satyarthi, who has been working on child labour for long, said, adding that India's economy was growing while others' were slowing down. "Under such circumstances, I urge the government to spare adequate resources," he said. Stating that existing laws on child labour are archaic and obsolete, he demanded an amendment in legislation and stressed on the need for more progressive laws. The Nobel winner said India had been on the forefront on sustainable development goals of the UN and abolition of child labour, slavery and protection of children as envisaged in the SDG needs to be translated here also. "Economic growth cannot be built on misery and slavery," Satyarthi said. The company on Thursday was granted three additional days by the court to file a response to the order. Apple will now have until Feb. 26 to send a reply, a person familiar with matter told . The tech giant and the Obama administration are on track for a major collision over computer security and encryption after a federal magistrate judge in Los Angeles handed down an order on Tuesday requiring Apple to provide specific software and technical assistance to investigators. [nL2N15W29J] Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook called the request from the Federal Bureau of Investigation unprecedented. Other tech giants such as Facebook Inc , Twitter Inc and Alphabet Inc's Google have rallied to support Apple. [nL2N15Y02J] Apple has retained two prominent, free-speech lawyers to do battle with the government, according to court papers: Theodore Olson, who won the political-speech case Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission in 2010, and Theodore Boutrous, who frequently represents media organizations. Government lawyers from the U.S. Justice Department have defended their request in court papers by citing various authorities, such as a 1977 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that upheld an order compelling a telephone company to provide assistance with setting up a device to record telephone numbers. The high court said then that the All Writs Act, a law from 1789, authorized the order, and the scope of that ruling is expected to be a main target of Apple when it files a response in court by early next week. But Apple will likely also broaden its challenge to include the First Amendment's guarantee of speech rights, according to lawyers who are not involved in the dispute but who are following it. Compared with other countries, the United States has a strong guarantee of speech rights even for corporations, and at least one court has ruled that computer code is a form of speech, although that ruling was later voided. Apple could argue that being required to create and provide specific computer code amounts to unlawful compelled speech, said Riana Pfefferkorn, a cryptography fellow at Stanford University's Center for Internet and Society. The order against Apple is novel because it compels the company to create a new forensic tool to use, not just turn over information in Apple's possession, Pfefferkorn said. "I think there is a significant First Amendment concern," she said. A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Los Angeles declined to comment on the possible free-speech questions on Thursday. A speech-rights argument from Apple, though, could be met with skepticism by the courts because computer code has become ubiquitous and underpins much of the U.S. economy. "That is an argument of enormous breadth," said Stuart Benjamin, a Duke University law professor who writes about the First Amendment. He said Apple would need to show that the computer code conveyed a "substantive message." In a case brought by a mathematician against U.S. export controls, a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which covers California, found in 1999 that the source code behind encryption software is protected speech. The opinion was later withdrawn so the full court could rehear the case, but that rehearing was canceled and the appeal declared moot after the government revised its export controls. The FBI and prosecutors are seeking Apple's assistance to read the data on an iPhone 5C that had been used by Rizwan Farook, who along with his wife, Tashfeen Malik, carried out the San Bernardino shootings that killed 14 people and wounded 22 others at a holiday party. U.S. prosecutors were smart to pick the mass shooting as a test case for an encryption fight with tech companies, said Michael Froomkin, a University of Miami law professor. That is because the shooting had a large emotional impact while also demonstrating the danger posed by armed militants, he said. In addition, the iPhone in dispute was owned not by Farook but by his employer, a local government, which has consented to the search of the iPhone. The federal magistrate who issued the order, Sheri Pym, is also a former federal prosecutor. "This is one of the worst set of facts possible for Apple. That's why the government picked this case," Froomkin said. Froomkin added, though, that the fight was enormously important for the company because of the possibility that a new forensic tool could be easily used on other phones and the damage that could be done to Apple's global brand if it cannot withstand government demands on privacy. "All these demands make their phones less attractive to users," he said. (Reporting by David Ingram and Alison Frankel in New York, Dan Levine in San Francisco; Editing by Jonathan Weber, Lisa Shumaker and Gopakumar Warrier) Co said on Friday that the United States gave it a licence to hold talks with airlines in Iran about buying jetliners, but said it would need additional US approval to make sales. Boeing's licence, received on Thursday, marked a step toward catching up with European rival Airbus, which last month agreed to sell Iran 118 planes worth about $27 billion at list prices. "We have applied for and received a licence to assess the current commercial passenger airplane needs of US Government-approved Iranian airlines," said in a statement, adding, "The licence permits us to engage approved airlines to determine their actual fleet requirements." The US Treasury declined to comment. Analysts said faces numerous obstacles in Iran. The country may not be able to afford many planes, and financial backers may balk at funding leases or sales fearing the risk in repossessing aircraft in a bankruptcy. Iran also faces tough competition from established Middle Eastern carriers such as Emirates, Qatar Airways and Etihad Airways that offer top-notch service with alcohol, Western movies and Internet access. "There might be hundreds and hundreds of potential orders, but the realities of establishing a real airline industry in Iran are going to put a brake on those numbers," said Richard Aboulafia, analyst at the Teal Group in Fairfax, Virginia. The number and age of Airbus and Boeing aircraft in Iran show the potential for sales. Iran's fleet of 94 Boeing and McDonnell Douglas aircraft is nearly equal to the 96 Airbus planes in the country. Counting the Airbus order last month, Airbus' tally now totals 214 planes, according to Flightglobal's Ascend Fleets database. Many of the Boeing planes date from the 1970s and 1980s. Iran has none of Boeing's flagship wide-body model, the 777, raising the possibility of significant sales, analysts said. Iran continues to fly much older Boeing planes, including 11 747s that date from 1969 to 1988, according to Flightglobal. "Our European competitor, Airbus, is advancing its interests in the market, and Canada recently indicated that it will permit Bombardier access to the Iranian market as well," Boeing said in its statement. "We understand that the situation in the region is complicated and ever changing and we will continue to follow the US government's guidance as it relates to conducting business with Iran," the company statement said. Boeing shares fell 2% to $115.60 on the New York Stock Exchange Friday. Flows of Indian white to Myanmar, a gateway for smuggling into China, are slowing down, while Brazilian is becoming more competitive due to cheaper freight. Volumes of white shipped to Myanmar soared last year and early this year due to a jump in smuggling into China because of high domestic prices in the world's top sugar buyer. Up to one million tonnes of sugar is trafficked into China every year, a Chinese agriculture ministry official said earlier this month. Dealers said the bulk of the smuggled white sugar came from India and Thailand, with far-away Brazil supplying a much lower share. But persistently high domestic Indian sugar prices, around $30 per tonne above world prices, are now reducing incentives to ship low quality Indian whites to Myanmar. "Mills are getting higher prices in the local market," said Mukesh Kuvadia, secretary of the Bombay Sugar Merchants Association (BSMA). "They are reluctant to sell at a discount in the world market as they know production (in India) would be lower this year and next year due to drought." A European trade source said a drop in Indian exports could provide an opportunity for sellers of Brazilian sugar. "This is creating room for Brazilian low quality whites in Myanmar as freight rates have on average fallen by at least 35-40 percent over the last five to six months," the source said. He said it was likely delivered Brazilian low quality whites to the Chinese border region were at least $10-11 per tonne cheaper than Indian supplies. A second European trade source said a shipment of 45,000 tonnes left Brazil for Myanmar in January. Dealers said they expected large flows of white sugar to continue to be shipped to Myanmar while Chinese domestic prices remained at a high premium to world prices, but noted that Chinese prices had eased after the Lunar New Year. "I do not expect the flow to abate very soon - as long as the domestic Chinese prices are attractive," the second European trade source said. Indian Sugar Mills Association President Tarun Sawhney told a conference in Dubai earlier this month that of 1 million tonnes already contracted for export from India much was destined for Myanmar where the sugar was expected to be smuggled into China. Indian traders said exports of Indian refined sugar to Myanmar, which had been processed from Brazilian raw sugar imported to Indian coastal refineries, were steady. The European trade source said Brazilian low quality whites might also start to be shipped to Asia on bulkers or cargo ships, rather than in containers. TOKYO (Reuters) - Sharp Corp plans to choose between rival rescue offers as soon as Thursday, as a favoured bid from Taiwan's Foxconn continues to be challenged by a Japanese state-backed investment fund, people with direct knowledge of the matter said. The board of the ailing electronics maker met on Saturday to discuss the two takeover proposals, according to the sources, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media. The company's 13-member board holds a regularly scheduled meeting on Wednesday, and aims to vote on the competing offers at an extraordinary meeting the next day, the sources said. Sharp said earlier this month that it was devoting more resources to studying a deal with Foxconn, an Apple Inc supplier known formally as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. The Taiwanese firm, the world's largest electronics assembler, has offered to invest 659 billion yen ($5.9 billion) in Sharp, far more than the 300 billion yen investment proposed by state-backed Innovation Network Corp of Japan (INCJ). Sharp declined to comment while INCJ officials could not immediately be reached. Foxconn said it had no comment, citing previous remarks by its chairman, Terry Gou, that it was in a silent period during its negotiations with Sharp. Gou was in Japan late in the week following a visit to Taiwan by Sharp executives. Their report formed part of Saturday's board discussions, one source said. Foxconn said this month it had agreed with Sharp on most points of a deal, but the sources said the situation remained fluid with both bids still on the table. The Taiwanese firm has offered to pay 100 billion yen as a cancellation fee if it does not go through with the deal, one source said. Another source said Sharp's main lenders oppose the INCJ proposal, which calls for them to cancel the preferred shares they own. In recent days, INCJ has made a final push, objecting to two Sharp board members who it says have a conflict of interest as they represent a fund that holds preferred shares in the electronics company, sources said. A deal with Foxconn would give Sharp much-needed resources to develop advanced organic light-emitting diode panels, which Apple is said to be adopting in its iPhone within a couple of years. INCJ, on the other hand, plans to combine Sharp's loss-making display business with rival Japan Display Inc. ($1 = 112.5400 yen) (Reporting by Taro Fuse and Makiko Yamazaki; Additional reporting by JR Wu in Taipei; Writing by Makiko Yamazaki; Editing by Neys Avery) First Saudi Romantic Comedy Comes to the Berlinale Published on February 20, 2016 Story by Tony Andrews en pl fr es it de Director Moahmoud Sabbagh presents a hugely entertaining and edifying film at 2016 Berlinale. If you were to try to add up the number of movie theaters in Saudi Arabia all commercial and independent theaters, you would arrive at the grand total of one. Very few film industries in the world are as restricted and as impoverished as in the desert kingdom. That fact alone would have been enough to make Barakah meets Barakah remarkable. Yet the beauty of this film goes far beyond the impressive logistical (and political) accomplishment of getting it made. It is is also wholly entertaining and an admirable work of art. The film is being touted as the first romantic comedy to come out of Saudi Arabia, a label which the director Moahmoud Sabbagh only reluctantly accepts. It traces the clumsy courtship of Barakah, the municipal worker, and an instagram star, Bibi. As the two try to nurture their fledgling feelings, a third character, the omnipotent repressive society, emerges to foil their attempts. They must figure out how to actually get to know each other without having to get married. In one scene Bibi outlines the impossibility of the task: they could go to the beach, she imagines... but face being caught by the religious police. They could go to a restaurant... but face being caught by the religious police. Or they could go for a walk, but there too they have to face... you get the picture. What is deeply refreshing about the film is that it is not a glorification of Western values. The impetus is not towards a steamy backseat scene a la Titanic. In fact the characters only really ever touch once. Instead the narrative thrust is pointed at making a comment on the ridiculous restrictiveness of the Saudi system, one which is condemned as draconian by even the most conservative nations in the world. The love between the two characters is not even used manipulatively by the writer to get the audience to disapprove of whatever is holding them apart, as is the mainstay of romance plots from Romeo and Juliet through to Brokeback Mountain. Barakah and Bibi don't even know if they love each other. All they want is a fighting chance to find out. Although the backdrop of an ultra-conservative society can be a downer, Barakah meets Barakah manages to be deliciously funny at times. The film opens with the words: "The pixelation you are about to experience is totally normal, and is not a comment on censorship. We repeat, it is not a comment on censorship." This tongue-in-cheek disclaimer becomes the source of great amusement throughout the film as elements on screen, like a glass of whiskey, are obscured even though it is blatantly obvious what it is. The characters are fitting representatives of Saudi citizens. The nation is indeed filled with avid social media users the kinds of celebrities that Bibi plays are as real as they are a release valve for a highly controlled society. Barakah, as a public servant, has his gripes with the taboos that reign, yet is content to continue working for that regime. All the characters recognise the nation's short-falls, but they have accepted them, and semi-contentedly live lives made possible by oil sales. Sabbagh deserves great respect for not only pushing through considerable resistance in order to get a film like this made, but also for creating one that is hugely entertaining and edifying. Story by Tony Andrews Contributed photo Savannah Jack, which includes bassist Jay Darby, the lead vocals of Don Gatlin and Matt Schumacher playing fiddle, banjo, mandolin and trumpet, will perform Sunday at the Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi Performing Arts Center. SHARE Contributed photo Savannah Jack, which includes bassist Jay Darby, the lead vocals of Don Gatlin and Matt Schumacher playing fiddle, banjo, mandolin and trumpet, will perform Sunday at the Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi Performing Arts Center. By Bob Copes In the mood for tight vocal harmonies, blazing guitar solos and fast-paced fiddle work? Good, because Savannah Jack is coming to town. Formed in Nashville a dozen years ago, Savannah Jack draws its influence from a range of country and rock artists, and music critics have compared its sound to the Eagles, Diamond Rio and Tom Petty. When asked which comparison was most flattering, bassist Jay Darby said, "All of them! They are all iconic in their own right, each having their own individual sound and style. So just to even be mentioned in the same sentence is quite amazing." Savannah Jack also includes Don Gatlin handling lead vocals and Matt Schumacher playing fiddle, banjo, mandolin and trumpet. All come from musical families and began performing at an early age. Now, with the right chemistry producing a great sound, they have graduated from Nashville bars to national stars. The group, which will perform Sunday at the Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi Performing Arts Center, maintains a busy tour schedule, both as headliners and performing alongside artists such as Peter Frampton, Vince Gill and the Doobie Brothers. The preferred opening act for Kenny Rogers, Savannah Jack has performed with him in more than 60 shows. And the band members enjoy the variety of appearing in both large and small venues. "Each is exciting in its own way, because they have their own dynamic. When we headline a cruise ship, we have a built-in audience of roughly 2,000 people, and private parties can range from 50-400 people. Each represents a challenge of how best to reach and engage the audience, and we tailor our show to that," Darby explained. Despite its busy schedule, the group will conduct an invitation-only educational outreach event at Del Mar College. "We are honored to be asked to participate in such a great cause," Darby said. "Music means something and does something different to everybody. Many people express themselves though playing music. We love sharing stories of our musical journeys with the hope of inspiring others to follow their dreams." Del Mar College Choral Director Dennis Richardson understands the benefits of the event. "Even though aspiring young musicians see professional artists on TV and at big concert venues, there's something very real and personal about being close up to them on an intimate stage and having an opportunity to engage with them one on one. This adds an element of true inspiration and motivation to young people to work harder at developing their art and following their dreams," he said. IF YOU GO What: Savannah Jack When: 5 p.m. Sunday Where: Performing Arts Center at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi Cost: Tickets range from $25-80. Tickets are also available for $10 for students with valid ID Information: 361-980-1949 or corpuschristilive.com SHARE The good times were a-rollin' Jan. 30 as Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi hosted its annual Mardi Gras Ball at the new University Center on campus. The event, which serves to recognize major donors and celebrate another year of support to the university, has a laissez-le-bon-temps-roullez theme that had guests second-lining in the aisles to the university's jazz band. This year's honorees were: Bronze- Marine Technology Society Houston Section and The Meadows Foundation; Silver, the Jessie Frances Neal Foundation; Gold, the Coastal Bend Community Foundation and Celika Storm; and Platinum, the John G. and Marie Stella Kenedy Memorial Foundation. Among the bead-wearing, Carnival-celebrating guests, I spotted Deneece and Wayne Squires, Scott Meares, Mary Ann Sinclair, Bonnie and Dr. Jack Dugan and Dan Brown. Even the dinner had a New Orleans theme, with gumbo as the appetizer and shrimp and scallops for the entree, before we decamped, parade style, to the courtyard for hot beignets and bananas Foster on ice cream. This New Orleans girl, who gets homesick every year during Carnival season, always enjoys this celebration of all things Mardi Gras! Gypsy is Theme for Ballet Ball The Corpus Christi Concert Ballet will host Gypsy Ball at 7 p.m. March 5 at Havana Club. The evening will benefit the ballet's educational outreach programs. Cost: $50. Information: concertballet.net or 884-9004. Bust out the Boots and Bling Dress for Success' third annual Success in a Jar, themed Boots and Bling, is at 6 p.m. March 5 at the Richard M. Borchard Regional Fairgrounds. The evening will feature live country music by the Jason Southern Band, dancing, a night of casino gaming, a silent auction and, of course, the signature buffet in a jar. Information: 232-5226. GABE HERNANDEZ/CALLER-TIMES Students from Texas A&M-Corpus Christi wade back to shore after collecting organisms from the Oso Bay during the 26th Annual Study of Oso Bay on Friday, Feb. 19, 2016, in Corpus Christi. SHARE GABE HERNANDEZ/CALLER-TIMES Students from Texas A&M-Corpus Christi gather after collecting organisms from the Oso Bay during the 26th Annual Study of Oso Bay on Friday, Feb. 19, 2016, in Corpus Christi. GABE HERNANDEZ/CALLER-TIMES Students collected organisms, including this blue crab, during the 26th Annual Study of Oso Bay on Friday, Feb. 19, 2016, in Corpus Christi. GABE HERNANDEZ/CALLER-TIMES Students from Texas A&M-Corpus Christi collect organisms from the Oso Bay during the 26th Annual Study of Oso Bay on Friday, Feb. 19, 2016, in Corpus Christi. GABE HERNANDEZ/CALLER-TIMES Students from Texas A&M-Corpus Christi transfer organisms they collected from the Oso Bay into buckets of water during the 26th Annual Study of Oso Bay on Friday, Feb. 19, 2016, in Corpus Christi. Related Photos Studying the Oso Bay By Gabe Hernandez of the Caller-Times Students from Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi gathered at Oso Bay between the campus and the Naval Air Station to gather and study water specimens on Friday during the 26th Annual Study of Oso Bay. Six groups from Dr. Jennifer Pollack's Marine Ecology classes visited five different stations to collect plankton using nets, measure water quality and view the collections under microscopes. "We are planning on learning the health of the Oso Bay and just making sure that it is being sustained over the years," said student Meghan Hargis. Students have 24 hours to study the Oso Bay before writing an extensive research paper to describe what they found and compare results with previous studies. What has Gov. Abbott done about the six mass shootings on his watch? COURTNEY SACCO/CALLER-TIMES Bipana Sigdel (second from left) and Anjanette Strauser (second from right) practice how to properly wash a contaminated animal on a live duck Friday, Feb. 19, 2016, during the Wildlife Center of Texass Oiled Wildlife Response Workshop. SHARE COURTNEY SACCO/CALLER-TIMES A live duck is used to demonstrate for student how to properly wash a contaminated animal Friday, Feb. 19, 2016, during the Wildlife Center of Texass Oiled Wildlife Response Workshop. COURTNEY SACCO/CALLER-TIMES Esteban Hiracheta (left) and Cara Murray (right) learn how to properly wash a contaminated animal using a live duck Friday, Feb. 19, 2016, during the Wildlife Center of Texass Oiled Wildlife Response Workshop. COURTNEY SACCO/CALLER-TIMES Participants watch a demonstration on how to properly wash a contaminated animal using a live duck Friday, Feb. 19, 2016, during the Wildlife Center of Texass Oiled Wildlife Response Workshop. COURTNEY SACCO/CALLER-TIMES Richie Sleger (left) and Kelli Holt practice washing oil off a feather Friday, Feb. 19, 2016, during the Wildlife Center of Texass Oiled Wildlife Response Workshop. By Fares Sabawi of the Caller-Times The sound of duct tape ripping resonated through the Texas General Land Office warehouse Friday afternoon as more than 40 people suited up to learn to respond to a hypothetical oil spill. The white suits that covered their clothing were overlapped by long latex gloves secured by duct tape at their elbows. That's because the job they were about to do is known to get a little messy. Volunteers learned how to clean oiled wildlife at a training workshop hosted by the Wildlife Center of Texas. The instructors certified the volunteers to assist rehab staff in the event of an oil spill. "There are many facets to be trained at in oil spills," Texas General Land Office manager Jay Veselka said. "These are volunteers that are getting trained on the safety part of the wildlife." Volunteers were surprised at the amount of work required to clean an oiled duck. While one partner keeps the duck's head out of the water, the other partner swashes the water aggressively under the wings. It's not as easy as it looks, Travis Tidwell said. "There's a lot of communication you have to do," Tidwell said. "The amount of manual activity that goes into washing one bird is pretty impressive." Birds that are covered in oil are at risk for several reasons, Wildlife Center of Texas Coordinator Brian Mihura told the volunteers. They lose their ability to regulate their temperature and lose their buoyancy. Volunteers need to act quickly to prevent the bird from ingesting the oil on its body. The Wildlife Center of Texas hosts a training seminar once a year in Corpus Christi and about eight times a year across the state. The more volunteers, the better organizations are at minimizing the toll an oil spill takes on local wildlife. "It's big to have trained volunteers standing by," Tidwell said. "It will help organizations respond quicker." SHARE Henry Hank Fletcher, Alice Disappointed by comments during DA debate I was greatly disappointed in District Attorney Mark Skurka's comments about Mark Gonzalez's tattoo and career devoted to getting criminals off the hook when I read about their debates. My little brother and some other family members have tattoos, along with quite a few of my fellow combat Marines from Vietnam. So does this change them as to who they are because they wish to have tattoos? No, Mr. Skurka. I know Mark's father and two uncles from Agua Dulce and they all came from a good family foundation. What happens when we go to court and the DA tell us that this person is innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt? Well, if Mark proves his case because of his excellent knowledge of the law and the person is found innocent by the jury, how are they criminals? No, I do not live in Nueces County anymore but I served my country while I lived there and this is just freedom of speech in something I know is wrong: to judge someone because he has tattoos and defends the innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. He said he hoped the field day, which ran under the theme "good beekeeper good neighbour" gave members of the public a better understanding of what beekeeping involves, as well as encouraging them to take up the practice. The planning authority in its approval said "the decision is inconsistent with advice from the conservator; [Territory and Municipal Services Directorate]; and Icon Water", but included a condition that construction could not begin until it received a final endorsement from the latter two organisations. She said she had not taken Roxy to a vet for nine or 10 months and she had never taken Tish to a vet. She later agreed to surrender the two dogs. [Your Business Name] Contact Info Phone: Fax: Email: Web: CAPITOLHILLCUBANS.COM Business Overview Geographic Area Line of Business Brands We Carry Products and Services Discounts Offered Additional Information Business Hours Timezone We Accept Our Promise: Welcome to Care2, the world's largest community for good. Here, you'll find over 45 million like-minded people working towards progress, kindness, and lasting impact. Care2 Stands Against: bigots, racists, bullies, science deniers, misogynists, gun lobbyists, xenophobes, the willfully ignorant, animal abusers, frackers, and other mean people. If you find yourself aligning with any of those folks, you can move along, nothing to see here. Care2 Stands With: humanitarians, animal lovers, feminists, rabble-rousers, nature-buffs, creatives, the naturally curious, and people who really love to do the right thing. You are our people. You Care. We Care2. Lexus has confirmed that developing a successor to the LFA is not currently under consideration. At the launch of the new LC500h, the companys European boss Alain Uyttenhoven said that while theres a chance the firm will eventually produce a successor to the LFA, it is neither needed nor a priority at the moment. Uyttenhoven said that, thanks to the LFA, Lexus has learned about the importance of adding emotion to its cars and with this, can channel elements of the LFA into its future products. The LFA is an icon now and possibly always we dont need to replace it to keep that status. It is a car we can reference for another 25 years if we choose. Its status is assured. But whats clear is that we can create similar emotion in more attainable cars, and that is our focus now. For the future, who knows? Im not saying we wont do another LFA. I just dont know. But I am certain that we will surprise you in the future with the cars we have planned. It is possible that we will one day create another supercar, but in my view a super-high-end machine is not what we need right now. By the time it launched in 2009,the LFA was one of the most eagerly awaited cars of the decade and while it didnt offer groundbreaking performance, it offered driving thrills previously unheard of from the luxury arm of Toyota, thanks predominantly to its howling V10 engine. Story references: Autocar PHOTO GALLERY Prosecutors in South Korea searched the local office of VW and Audi today, as part of an emissions investigation. Seouls Supreme Prosecutors Office sent its investigators to raid the office and the house of an unidentified senior company official according to Reuters, seizing email exchanged with the headquarters and documents on emissions verification. Volkswagen Korea confirmed the raid without providing any further details, repeating their full cooperation with authorities. The environmental ministry of South Korea filed a criminal complaint against the local department of VW/Audi and two of their officials, saying that their cars are not compliant with the emission standards. If found guilty, a conviction could be a prison sentence of up to seven years and a fine of up to 100 million won (around $81,000). Volkswagen and Audi are among the best-selling imported car brands in South Korea, which is the second biggest Asian market for diesel vehicles after India. PHOTO GALLERY Atomo is modeled on Channel Frederator, which currently represents 2,500 YouTube channel partners with a global audience of 40 million subscribers. It plans to offer network members a similar set of services, resources, promotion, and support. Additionally, Atomo will provide translation and dubbing services to select members of Channel Frederator, allowing English-language channels to expand their reach to Spanish-speaking audiences. For Cartoon Brews Spanish speakers, here is a news segment from yesterday in which Anima exec Enrique Vazquez, who has been named general manager of Atomo Network, discusses the new venture: Atomo Network will definitely mark a whole new era in animation for all Spanish-speaking audiences. There is a huge talent pool of creators en Espanol and we want to support them, added Jose Carlos Garcia de Letona, COO & executive vice president Anima Estudios. The main Atomo Network YouTube channel will debut with original Spanish-language cartoons from Anima Estudios, which released two theatrical features in Mexico last year: Top Cat Begins and Wicked Flying Monkeys. The studio is currently producing the Netflix series Las Leyendas, the streamers first original animation series targeted for Latin America, set to debut in 2017. Additionally, Atomo will produce localized versions of Channel Frederators mot popular shows, including 107 Facts, Tooned Up, and Cartoon Conspiracy. Photo: Contributed - Google Street View Update: 5:28 p.m. The vehicle incident 6 kilometres east of Salmon Arm is now clear. Update: 5:15 p.m. The road is now reduced to single lane alternating traffic, following a motor vehicle incident. The Trans-Canada Highway near Salmon Arm is closed to traffic in both directions. The closure is the result of a motor vehicle incident six kilometres east of the community. No word is yet available on the severity of the incident or how long traffic will be delayed. According to DriveBC, an assessment is underway with no estimated time of reopening available. No detour has been established. An update is expected about 5 p.m. Send pictures, video to [email protected] Photo: Kate Bouey A new way for drivers to avoid a parking ticket in downtown Vernon will be proposed to city council on Monday. The Downtown Vernon Association wants council to consider allowing people to pay for parking using their cell phones. PayByPhone is a cost effective way to provide customers and clients with a simple and convenient solution to many of the parking concerns our members and their clients have with parking in the downtown core, Lara Konkin, DVA executive director, states in a letter to council. Calling it a convenient option, Konkin says it allows users to add money to the meter without having to get up from a restaurant table or leave in the middle of an appointment or meeting to plug the meter. By using PayByPhone, customers will be notified before the meter expires helping to reduce the frustration of receiving a parking ticket, she says. Parkers would also pay a 25 cent convenience fee. While there are costs to set up the system, Konkin states they are very low and that it could increase revenues in the long-term with people paying for extended periods of time at meters. Photo: The Canadian Press Environmentalist David Suzuki and Grand Chief Stewart Phillip are throwing their support behind those opposing construction of the Site C Dam. Both have said they will be in attendance at the BC Supreme Court in Vancouver in support of protest camp at Rocky Mountain Fort. The BC Supreme Court will hear an injunction application from BC Hydro Monday, requesting removal of the protest camp. The camp maintains that construction of the proposed hydro dam should not proceed while legal challenges remain in the courts and opposition to the project continues to grow. Supporters have also called for a halt in all construction activity until the Auditor General has reviewed the recommendations and projections provided by BC Hydro and until it is evaluated by the BC Utilities Commission. Protesters say the dam would create an 83-kilometre-long reservoir, submerging 78 First Nations heritage sites, burial grounds and places of cultural and spiritual significance while also flooding approximately 5,550 hectares of agricultural land. Photo: Contributed - Wildlife Defence League British Columbia's controversial helicopter hunt for wolves meant to save endangered caribou herds has shifted from the Kootenays to the northeast. The Resource Operations Ministry said in a statement Friday that the cull in the South Selkirk region ended recently, but it will not provide current wolf-kill figures until both hunts are complete. The ministry said the aerial wolf hunt is now underway in the northeast's South Peace region, near Chetwynd. Earlier this year, the government said it planned to shoot 200 wolves in the second year of its five-year plan to save endangered caribou herds. The ministry rejects claims by B.C.'s Wildlife Defence League that all wolves in the South Selkirk area were killed except one. The ministry says many South Selkirk wolves have been radio-collared, and wolves with territory that isn't in caribou habitat and are not posing a risk to caribou have not been removed. Photo: The Canadian Press The final two 2011 Stanley Cup rioters to be sentenced will both serve time behind bars. Both William Fisher and Jeffrey Milne were found guilty on a series of charges, including aggravated assault, taking part in a riot, and break and enter. Fisher has been sentenced to 36 months in prison, while Milne received 32 months. Justice Minister Suzanne Anton says the sentences are the two highest handed out for crimes committed during the melee. The five-hour riot erupted June 15, 2011, moments before the Vancouver Canucks lost Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final to the Boston Bruins. A report released last month showed prosecutors spent $5 million prosecuting the cases, and 912 charges were laid against 300 suspects, with 284 pleading guilty, nine convicted after trials, one person acquitted and charges stayed against six others. Photo: Contributed Four people from Chilliwack have been charged in what police allege is a dial-a-dope ring. RCMP say they conducted raids at two homes in the spring of 2015 related to the alleged sale of heroin in the Fraser Valley community. Police seized various drugs, including hundreds of pills containing MDMA, firearms, rifles, bear spray, a conducted energy weapon and cash. Mounties say that in late 2014, undercover officers bought heroin valued at $11,600 from a male suspect. A news release says officers were also offered to purchase brass knuckles equipped with built-in conducted energy weapons. Brian Schapansky, Dina Anthony, Constantinos Anthony and Jamie Rogers have been charged with various drug offences and are expected to make a court appearance later this month. Photo: Contributed - crowdfundinsider.com It's still a case of waiting for those involved in the Armstrong Spallumcheen Refugee Project. The group knows a refugee family from Iraq will be moving to the area but when that may be is still up in the air. An Iraqi family currently living in the United Arab Emirates is destined for Armstrong, said Ron Brinnen of ASRP. The university-educated parents have three preschool-aged children. Brinnen said the parents speak English as a second language. Our documents are in, their documents are in, all of the paperwork is done and is now in Winnipeg at the documentation centre (where claimants are processed), said Brinnen. A five-bedroom, furnished house is ready and waiting for the family. We've been told by the United Church to expect them within the year, Brinnen laughed, adding the group has also been told it could be a matter of months. Although the Liberal government's efforts have been focussed on Syrian refugees and the humanitarian crisis there, refugees have flooded out of Iraq for years due to persecution and war. Photo: Contributed - DriveBC UPDATED: 1:45 P.M. Highway 3 has now been reopened at Kootenay Pass. The highway was closed Saturday morning due to a high risk of avalanches in the area. ORIGINAL: 5:41 A.M. A high avalanche hazard has closed Highway 3 at Kootenay Pass. The highway is currently closed in both directions from the avalanche gates at the west side of the pass to the gates at the east side, a stretch of 27 kilometres. DriveBC reports an alternative route is available via Highway 3A and the Kootenay Lake Ferry. Estimated travel time of the detour is 2.5 hours. There is currently no estimated time of reopening, however, assessment of the situation is ongoing. Further updates are expected later this morning. Photo: The Canadian Press A Surrey woman has been charged after she allegedly assaulted two people on a SkyTrain Wednesday. Tamara Robertson, 46, appeared to be intoxicated and was openly drinking alcohol on the train according to police. Robertson allegedly punched a woman who had told her to stop harassing a group of deaf students on the train. The woman received a concussion and black eye in the altercation. Robertson then went on to assault a 71-year-old man who was trying to get off the train, according to police. The man had asked her to move out of the way as he tried to leave the train, which prompted the punch. Robertson was arrested by transit police soon after. - With files from CTV News VATICAN CITY He might be the first Argentinian to be bishop of Rome but it is Cuba that could start claiming Pope Francis as one of its own. Francis has not only helped solve the long-standing diplomatic impasse between the country and the United States, but has now visited Cuba twice. The most recent visit took place Feb. 12 when the pope made history by meeting Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, head of the Russian Orthodox Church, for two hours of talks in Havanas Jose Marti International Airport. It was an encounter that many see has importance in ending the 1,000-year rift between Eastern and Western Christianity, which followed the great schism of 1054. While the de facto leader of eastern orthodoxy is the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, it is the Russians who hold the power and influence. That is why the Holy See and the pope worked hard for a year to make the meeting happen. Any encounter had to take place in a neutral venue, and Patriarch Kirill happened to be visiting Cuba at the invitation of President Raul Castro around the time Francis was due in Mexico. The fact that the meeting took place in Cuba rather than in a traditionally neutral venue such as Switzerland or Austria further demonstrates the desire of this pope to shift attention away from the old power centers. Following their discussions, the pope and the patriarch released a long joint declaration. It focused on the need for action to help persecuted Christians and to bring peace to the Middle East, particularly Syria, where Russian military intervention has been criticized for helping Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The statement also strongly defended religious freedom, and stressed that marriage is between a man and a woman, but it said little about climate change, one of Francis signature issues. This came as a surprise, given the fact that the pope collaborated with the Orthodox on the issue (there is now a World Day of Prayer for Creation on the Catholic and Orthodox liturgical calendar). Still, credit should be given to Pope Francis for managing to engineer the meeting at all. It could pave the way for an even more historic papal trip to Russia, where the pope has said he would like to visit. Francis, it seems, is willing to go over to the other side when it comes to diplomacy. For example, in an interview with the Asia Times last month, the pope praised the Chinese regime and said the world should not fear the countrys growing influence. Francis has said he would dearly like to travel to China. The odds, however, are stacked against such a visit until the Holy See is able to establish normal diplomatic relations with he country. The popes meeting with Patriarch Kirill took place on Francis way to Mexico, the highlight of which was his Mass in Ciudad Juarez once the most murderous city in the world and right on the U.S. border. Choosing that place to close out his visit to Mexico, the second most Catholic country in the world, highlighted not only the crime that has plagued Mexico for decades, but also the plight of families who flee that violence for a better life in America. Along with the immigration crisis, Francis criticized corruption and the drug trade, highlighted protection of the environment and praised traditional Mexican culture. During a Mass for 100,000 indigenous people in Chiapas Mexicos least developed state the pope criticized colonial powers that were intoxicated by power, money and market trends and had stolen your lands or contaminated them. He affirmed the right of indigenous people to live where oppression, mistreatment and humiliation are not the currency of the day. Francis later had lunch with the indigenous community. On the menu: chicken, corn tortillas, fruit, regional sweets and locally grown coffee. The local diocese of San Cristobal de Las Casas has just a few dozen priests. It is served by more than 300 married deacons, many of whom come from the indigenous population and minister to them. Mexicos indigenous population is about 11 million. Owing to concerns over the large number of permanent deacons, the Holy See stopped the ordination of new ones in San Cristobal in 2001. Pope Francis lifted the ban last year. On his return from Mexico, Pope Francis has some important decisions to make on the restructuring of the Roman Curia. Before leaving for Central America, he finished a meeting with his advisory group of cardinals, the C9, who presented final proposals for the creation of two new Vatican departments: the proposed Congregation for Laity, Family and Life, and the Congregation for Justice, Peace and Migration. These new dicasteries will include existing Vatican departments always a difficult task, given that it will mean new jobs for some people. So far, the pope has shied away from creating new departments in the areas of finance and communications. But restructuring is harder, particularly in an institution as old as the Curia, which is used to doing things in a certain way. At their meeting this month, the C9 held a session on curial reform that was based on the popes speech during Octobers Synod on the Family, in which he called for a sound decentralization of power in the church. Whatever happens with the Curia, the popes vision is clear: he wants the Curia to have less power, and to better serve local churches. Regarding the synod, next month, possibly March 19, the pope is due to issue his document on the family following the synod meetings of 2014 and 2015. Many are expecting him to address the question of whether some divorced and remarried Catholics can receive Communion, an issue the synod fathers left open for development. Will Francis pronounce on the matter? It seems likely that he will keep the question on the table, and possibly refer it to local churches for further study. This pope is not someone who rules by decree, as he has repeatedly stated that leadership in the church is about service, and serving requires listening. It is understood that his close aide, Archbishop Victor Manuel Fernandez, rector of the Pontifical Catholic University of Argentina, will help draft the synod document. He also helped write Laudato Si, the popes encyclical on the environment. But we dont need to read tea leaves in order to grasp general thrust of what Francis will say. He wants the church to take a more pastorally sensitive approach to the family, particularly to those who struggle to live up to the ideals of the tradition. Meanwhile, virtually every day the pope makes personnel changes. This month, for Americans at least, the decision to appoint Msgr. Peter Wells as papal ambassador to South Africa was important. Wells has been the assessor equivalent of deputy chief of staff at the Holy Sees Secretariat of State since 2009, and he has served in the important curial department since 2002. Wells new role is significant, given that many see Africa as the future of Catholicism, and that South Africa has an important strategic position on the continent. Nevertheless, his presence will be missed in Rome, and it is expected that an American priest will be appointed to fill his role. Guest Commentary In 1962, songwriter Bob Dylan composed The answer, my friend, is blowin in the wind. It was a Vietnam War protest song suggesting the ambiguous answer to ending war and living in peace and harmony was blowin in the windsomewhere. Today, wind power is an important part of our nations electricity generating system and it will be essential in the decades ahead. The question is how much of it can we reasonably produce to meet our nations growing electrical demands? While people support wind power they arent hip about seeing thousands of additional acres lined with rows of 500-foot windmills. The protests against are growing and now stretch from Vermont to California. In Vermont, a group of 24 bipartisan legislators introduced a bill that would ban wind projects over 500 kilowatts. Since the average single industrial turbine has a 1.5 megawatts capacity, new wind farms would be toast. Last year in California, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to ban large wind turbines in the countys unincorporated area. Board supervisor Michael Antonovich told the Wall Street Journal that wind turbines create visual blight and contradict the countys rural dark skies ordinance in areas such as the Santa Monica Mountains. In Washington, protesters tried to stop the small family-owned Whistling Ridge project on wind swept, logged-over timberland near Bingen. The 50-turbine project was tucked away behind the hills and out of the visual impact area of the Columbia River Gorge. In fact, only a handful of residents would see a few wind turbines when looking out their back windows. That project is in limbo. In the Northwest, drivers on our east-west interstate highways see miles of wind turbines on what was once unobstructed open prairie. In fact, the nations second largest wind farm, Shepherds Flat, covers 30-square miles along Interstate 84 near Arlington, Ore. The good news is Shepherds Flat produces enough electricity each year to supply 235,000 households and reduces carbon emissions by the equivalent of taking 200,000 passenger vehicles off road. By contrast, its power output is one-quarter of Grand Coulee Dam. If America is to double its current wind power production to 10 percent by 2020, it will need many more wind farms the size of Shepherds Flat. Setting the goal of 30 percent by 2030, as the U.S. Department of Energy envisions, is pie in the sky. The pertinent question for wind advocates is where are the acceptable and available sites where the air steam is powerful and consistent enough to turn turbines? Remember, many of the prime locations are already developed and in production. Wind and solar power generation needs to be augmented with power plants that produce electricity at all hours of the day and all year around. Today, that consistent production comes largely from coal, natural gas, nuclear and hydropower plants. The good news is the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) reports the cost of wind-generated electricity has fallen by two-thirds in the last six years. The cost of wind generation has been a formidable barrier. Despite costs and growing siting problems, wind power now supplies electricity to the equivalent of 19 million typical American homes. In Washington, the two largest utilities, Puget Sound Energy and Snohomish County PUD, both use about 8 percent wind power to serve their customers electricity needs. Seattle City Light reports that 4 percent of its electric power comes from wind. However, the bottom line is our nation needs electricity from all sources. The key is to continue to make all energy sources more environmentally friendly and affordable. In reality, the answer to our energy future is only partially blowin wind. Don C. Brunell is a business analyst, writer and columnist. He retired as president of the Association of Washington Business, the states oldest and largest business organization, and now lives in Vancouver. He can be contacted at theBrunells@msn.com. Buyers of Smart cars and Fiats tend to identify as Democrats. New Porsche owners are more likely than buyers of any other brand to identify as Republicans, according to a survey conducted by Strategic Vision, a San Diego brand consultant. (Maserati rates even higher with Republicans, but the sample size wasn't large enough to be statistically meaningful, the company says.) Another survey, by Resonate, a consultant in Reston, Virginia, shows that Bernie Sanders supporters are 82 percent more likely than the average American to eat at Chipotle, while Donald Trump fans are 111 percent more likely to grab a bite at Sonic. Marco Rubio's backers are 141 percent more likely to have stayed at a Ritz-Carlton. Advertisement Traditionally, consumer data have been used by campaigns to better understand where they should invest their ad dollars, or which potential voters and donors they should have volunteers cold-call. Increasingly, candidates are also using the sentiment to figure out how to present themselves to voters. When the Rubio campaign released its most recent campaign finance filing, it included a paragraph describing its brand loyalty: "The Rubio campaign's new Federal Election Commission report also details how the campaign took 431 Uber rides and spent enough fueling up at Chick-fil-A to have eaten 1,348 nuggets." The message was clear: Rubio rides in an Uber and enjoys chicken nuggets! Similarly, Hillary Clinton stopped at a Chipotle in Ohio to pick up a burrito bowl for lunch the day after announcing her presidential campaign. "It's a safe bet to say, 'Hey, I'm just like you,' " says Alexander Edwards, president of Strategic Vision. " 'I put my pants on, I button my shirt, so we're the same. You can vote for me.' " Advertisement Uber has become a darling among Republicans. According to surveys by YouGov, a market-research company that measures what people think about brands based on what they've read or what their friends have told them, conservatives' views of the service have gone from predominantly negative in 2014 to positive. One possible reason: Clinton has been critical of the sharing economy and its general lack of worker protections, a position that inspires sympathetic outrage from conservatives on Uber's behalf. "She seems to be reason enough," says Eitan Hersh, an assistant professor of political science at Yale. Jeb Bush was photographed taking an Uber in San Francisco last summer. (The driver, interviewed later by reporters, said he intended to support Clinton.) Cruz frequently characterizes himself as the Uber of Washington-a disruptive force. "Uber defines a candidate approach with regard to the new 'gig' economy," says Tim Albrecht, a public-relations consultant who advises Republican candidates, including Bush. "If you favor this new economic reality, you seek the 'Uber-ization' of things." Conversely, Albrecht says, "if you're a candidate who views Uber as a challenge to the old guard, you'll seek to take a 'cautious approach,' which is a dog whistle for more regulations and government involvement." Sanders and Clinton supporters are more likely than most Americans to stay at Sheraton hotels; a person who appears in consumer data as a Sheraton customer is a better target than someone who stays at Hampton Inn (a favorite among Ted Cruz backers). "I'm old enough to remember when, to become a preppy, you had to spend four years at Andover," says Geoffrey Nunberg, a linguist at the University of California at Berkeley. "Now you spend an afternoon at Abercrombie & Fitch or J.Crew. It's the extension of the same principles that make brands efficient ways of representing the features of the products-they can also be an efficient way of evoking the features of their users." Chick-fil-A is one of several brands that have acquired a partisan affiliation. In 2012, Dan Cathy, the Atlanta-based chain's chief executive officer, commented in a radio interview that "we are inviting God's judgment on our nation" by legalizing same-sex marriage. The restaurant became a cause celebre for Republicans Mike Huckabee and Rick Santorum, who asked their supporters to patronize the chain to show their solidarity with other opponents of gay rights. Brand associations can go both ways. In 2012, after the Obama administration's bailout of General Motors, the company's plug-in hybrid Chevy Volt-which benefited from special government support-was labeled an "Obamamobile" by the American Tradition Partnership, a conservative group that opposes regulation of greenhouse gas emissions. The car became shorthand for the bailout among Republicans who opposed it. Mitt Romney called the car "an idea whose time has not come." Newt Gingrich had his own complaint: "You can't put a gun rack in a Volt." Republicans tend to favor Chevy pickups, but survey data at the time by CNW Marketing Research showed that fewer than 14 percent of Volt buyers identified as Republicans. Dan Akerson, then GM's CEO, complained in congressional testimony that the political criticism had hurt sales: "We did not engineer the Volt to be a political punching bag." The great uniter among consumer brands right now? The numbers show it's the Apple iPhone, according to Strategic Vision's Edwards. The "iPhone is nonpartisan," he says. "They speak to everybody." With so many steakhouse openings over the past year, it's rare to hear about one shutting down, especially a 15-year veteran of the scene. As first reported by Crain's Chicago, Phil Stefani's 437 Rush plans to close by the end of the month. But the restaurant group behind the steakhouse staple, Phil Stefani Signature Restaurants, may not be finished in the building just yet. Advertisement As is often the case with restaurants with prime locations and Phil's has an impressive one, just steps from Michigan Avenue it all comes down to the terms of the lease; Stefani, who says he previously had a "very attractive" 15-year lease, is still trying to work out a deal that makes financial sense for his group, he says. "Most of our restaurants have had longevity," he says. "We're not an organization that opens and closes restaurants every two years." Advertisement But even if a deal is made, Stefani plans to try a new concept for the location. He says that the new plan is all drawn up, but declined to share details right now. In the meantime, his restaurant group is the midst of an opening spree. MAD Social opened recently in the West Loop, and The Flamingo Rum Club, a Cuban-inspired cocktail bar, is set to open in River North soon and, Stefani reveals, there's another concept in the works, too. Once again, he's keeping tight-lipped about the details, saying only that an announcement should be made in the next couple weeks. nkindelsperger@tribpub.com Twitter @nickdk "I'm here as a Democrat to help this district and say it's time for Madigan to go," Gonzales told me as we sat at the New Pindos diner on Archer and Pulaski the other day. "He's the king of the machine. He draws the political maps. It's a system rigged for insiders, a system that put us in this mess. Police officers investigate the scene of a shooting in the 8500 block of South Hermitage Avenue where a 19-year-old man was shot to death late Friday. (Alexandra Chachkevitch / Chicago Tribune) A man was killed and at least nine others have been wounded since Friday evening in separate shootings around the city, police said. The man was fatally shot around 11:20 p.m. in the Gresham neighborhood on the South Side, said Officer Hector Alfaro, a Chicago police spokesman. Advertisement The Cook County medical examiner's office identified him as 20-year-old Terrell Sykes, of the 8500 block of South Hermitage Avenue. He was standing on the street in his home block of South Hermitage when he heard gunshots and realized he was shot, Alfaro said. Advertisement The man suffered several gunshot wounds to the abdomen. He was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center, where he was later pronounced dead, Alfaro said. No one was in custody as a result of the shooting early Saturday. At the scene of the shooting, police officers wrapped yellow crime tape around two cars parked next to each other in the middle of the block on the one-way Hermitage, which was lined with mostly red and yellow bungalows. A red sweatshirt and another piece of dark clothing lay in the grass next to the two cars. An evidence technician placed a yellow marker next to the clothes and another marker next to a piece of evidence that lay on the ground in the middle of the two cars. He took pictures of the crime scene while a detective talked to a neighbor on the block. As officers investigated the scene, a man pulled up in a black car behind the two cars with yellow tape. "Is everything OK?" he asked as he stepped out of the car. The man, dressed in a T-shirt with "Black Lives Matter" slogan, walked up to the detective who was knocking on the door of a house in front of which the shooting happened. The two exchanged a few words. After a couple of minutes, the man walked back toward his car. Advertisement "Have a good night. Be safe out here," the detective told the man, who then drove away. In other shootings: Most recently, a 17-year-old boy was critically wounded in a shooting around 4:22 a.m. Saturday in the Gresham neighborhood on the South Side, said Officer Ana Pacheco, a Chicago police spokeswoman. The boy was shot in the back while he was in the 8200 block of South Marshfield Avenue. He was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in critical condition, Pacheco said, citing preliminary information. About 3:10 a.m., a 20-year-old man was wounded in a shooting in the West Rogers Park neighborhood, said Officer Veejay Zala, a Chicago police spokesman. The man was shot in the right leg and right arm in the 6300 block of North Western Avenue during a possible drive-by shooting, Zala said. Advertisement The man was taken to Presence Saint Francis Hospital, where his condition stabilized, Zala said. Police officers investigate the scene of a shooting outside The Shrine club, at 2109 S. Wabash Ave., early Feb. 20, 2016. (Alexandra Chachkevitch / Chicago Tribune) About 2 a.m., a woman was shot in the head and a security guard was wounded in a shooting outside the entrance of The Shrine club, at 2109 S. Wabash Avenue, in the South Loop neighborhood, according to police. According to preliminary information, a group of people started fighting inside the club and was escorted by the club's security outside. Shortly after, an armed male attacker fired gunshots from a burgundy vehicle in front of the club, police said. A 29-year-old woman was shot in the head, and a 36-year-old man, one of the security guards at the club, was shot in the leg, according to a police source. Both were taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital. The woman was listed in critical condition, and the man's condition stabilized, police said. Police recovered three guns at the scene of the shooting. No one was in custody as of early Saturday. Advertisement About 8:30 p.m., a 61-year-old man was wounded in a shooting in the 9300 block of South Cottage Grove Avenue in the city's Burnside neighborhood, said Officer Thomas Sweeney, a Chicago police spokesman. The man was arguing with someone who pulled out a gun and shot him in the leg and groin. The victim was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital where his condition was stabilized, Sweeney said. About 7:40 p.m., a 21-year-old man was shot in the back in the Brighton Park neighborhood, Sweeney said. The man was in the 4600 block of South Albany Avenue when someone in a passing vehicle fired shots, police said. He was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital where his condition was stabilized. Another person was shot about 6:38 p.m. in the 3400 block of West Van Buren Street in the city's East Garfield Park neighborhood, said Sweeney. Advertisement In that shooting, a 20-year-old man suffered a wound to the leg and groin, and was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital where his condition was stabilized, Sweeney said. Daywatch Weekdays Start each day with Chicago Tribune editors' top story picks, delivered to your inbox. > The man was walking on a sidewalk when someone in a passing vehicle fired gunshots at him, police said. About 6:24 p.m., a 16-year-old boy walked into the emergency room of Stroger Hospital and told officials he had been shot in the 2700 block of West Flournoy Street in the city's Lawndale neighborhood, Sweeney said. The boy was walking when someone in a white vehicle drove by and fired shots at him, police said. The boy suffered a gunshot wound to the right side of his chest, and his condition was stabilized at the hospital. A 24-year-old man was wounded late Friday afternoon in a shooting in the city's West Garfield Park neighborhood. Advertisement That shooting happened about 4:52 p.m. in the 4600 block of West Monroe Street, Sweeney said. The victim, who was uncooperative with police, suffered a graze wound to the leg and refused treatment, Sweeney said. Police were investigating. Gov. Bruce Rauner has acknowledged that the spring session of the General Assembly likely will be a repeat of last years stalemate. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune) SPRINGFIELD At the heart of Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner's budget address was a request for special authority to make spending cuts. It was an easy ask, since Democrats who control the legislature aren't going to grant him such powers out of fear he might actually use them. Instead, Democrats say the Illinois Constitution already is set up to give the first-term governor much of what he wants: All he needs to do is take out his veto pen and go line by line to make reductions to the budget bills they send him. Advertisement Those arguments are politically convenient for both parties, even if they don't get state government any closer to solving its intractable problems. No one wants the blame for either a tax increase or massive budget cuts. And political cover is the order of the day ahead of the November general election, when Democrats will try to preserve supermajorities in the House and Senate and Rauner is trying to pick off as many of them as he can to increase his leverage and win approval of his pro-business, union-weakening agenda. The spring session is expected to be a repeat of last year's stalemate, and Rauner acknowledged as much in his speech. Advertisement "As elected officials, you have to deal with political realities," said Rauner, who has three years left in his term while most lawmakers are up for re-election this fall. "Primary elections. Special interests. Campaign supporters." Rauner is asking for the extra authority because the budget blueprint he submitted Wednesday is $3.5 billion in the red. (Democrats say it's likely to be $5 billion short because several cost-saving measures the governor proposed are likely to run into political or legal difficulties.) Dubbed the "unbalanced budget response act" by the administration, the proposal would give the governor unprecedented authority to cut spending in all state agencies, including the legislative branch and constitutional offices. He would be able to limit automatic yearly spending known as continuing appropriations, which set aside pots of money for things including lawmaker salaries, pension payments, tax revenue normally doled out to local governments and health insurance for retired teachers. The powers also would allow him to cut health care costs and reduce the number of people who qualify for various human service programs by giving him authority to adjust payment rates for providers and limit eligibility requirements. The only things Rauner's office has said would be off-limits are debt payments, money for early childhood education and funding for school districts. Democrats, not wanting to risk money for public employee pensions and local governments including Chicago, point to the governor's existing ability to reduce or zero out line items in the spending plan. "If we pass a budget that the governor thinks is out of whack, he can amendatory veto the budget he can reduce the line items," Democratic Senate President John Cullerton said. "It's in the constitution. He has the authority to do it. He should have done it last year." Administration officials contend that so much spending is written into state law that Rauner was limited in what he could cut through his veto powers. As it is, Republicans acknowledge he doesn't want to be forced to make the cuts on his own this time around, either. "He doesn't want to have to make drastic cuts all by himself," said Senate GOP leader Christine Radogno of Lemont. "But if there's no alternative, we owe it to the taxpayers of this state to stop the bleeding, and that's what this does." Advertisement By proposing a budget that's at least $3.5 billion short, Rauner may have undercut one of the main arguments he has used against Democrats: Last year they sent him a budget that was at least $4 billion in the red, leaving him no choice but to veto all of it except for spending on elementary and secondary education. The governor has now done the same thing. Government worker pension payments remain a big part of state spending. Last year, Rauner counted on $2 billion in savings from a proposed change in public pensions that likely was unconstitutional and ultimately went nowhere. This year he says he'll back Cullerton's plan to overhaul retirement benefits, though specific language has yet to materialize. In the meantime, the governor has proposed saving an estimated $750 million by ending late-career salary spikes, requiring schools and universities to pick up employee pension costs above a $180,000 yearly salary, and changing how payroll is counted toward pension payments. Democrats say that last one would only backload the pension payment schedule. As Illinois' budget problems grow exponentially, so do the political difficulties of resolving them, with election-year politics creating huge partisan divides in which each side tries to avoid being blamed for the mess. Cullerton has said that if there is to be a tax increase, "it's going to be Bruce Rauner who decides we're going to have it" because Democrats, particularly in an election year, are unwilling to raise taxes without Republicans also joining in. "That's on him," Cullerton said of Rauner. Advertisement Rauner wants Democrats to approve his economic agenda, which includes changes to rules on how workers are compensated for on-the-job injuries, tighter rules on big-dollar lawsuits and limits on what unions can negotiate in collective bargaining. In return for those items, Rauner has suggested he'd go along with a tax hike to bring the budget into greater balance. That's not a very appealing invitation, Cullerton said. If Democrats were to go along with Rauner's agenda, "our reward, that Democrats get to vote for a tax increase, is kind of crazy." Cullerton's House counterpart, Speaker Michael Madigan, once again has called for a state constitutional amendment that would put a 3 percent surcharge on incomes of more than $1 million to go to public education. Though Madigan lacked the votes in the legislature to put the measure on the ballot for the 2014 election and is likely to be unsuccessful this time as well, the proposal represents an effort by the Democrat to play on the national presidential campaign theme of income inequity as he blasts Rauner for proposing an "extreme-right economic theory" to weaken unions. While a target of Madigan's push, Rauner could counter that the veteran House speaker's effort is an attempt to raise state taxes to bail out a Chicago Public Schools system mired in red ink, a district that didn't help itself politically when its former CEO, Barbara Byrd-Bennett, pleaded guilty to federal public corruption charges in October. Rauner already has said Chicago's schools aren't entitled to any special deals or a bailout and has asked his State Board of Education to look into CPS finances. On Friday, Rauner said the system could "very likely" face a state takeover that Democrats are rejecting. It is Rauner and his promise to use the wealth he attained as a private equity investor to erode the Democratic supermajorities in the House and Senate that represents an unknown factor for Madigan and Cullerton in legislative races this fall. Advertisement While a majority of Democrats are running in districts that have been drawn favorably for them and have the potential plus of a home-state native in Hillary Clinton at the top of the ticket the infusion of Rauner money and that of his wealthy allies in mailings, automated phone calls and TV commercials could have an impact. With the general election set to become a public referendum on Rauner and Madigan, already a proxy war between the two is playing out in Chicago's 5th House District Democratic primary contest between Rep. Ken Dunkin and challenger Juliana Stratton. More than $2 million, an unprecedented sum for a legislative primary contest, could be spent between Dunkin, who has allied himself with Rauner against Madigan, and Stratton, who is backed by organized labor. Dunkin decided to side with Rauner, denying Madigan's Democrats their 71-vote, veto-proof majority on issues affecting public employees and social services. Dunkin got $500,000 from the Illinois Opportunity Project, which is backed by Rauner supporters, and has gotten another $441,000 in outside help from the IllinoisGO political action committee, which ostensibly supports Democrats that share many of Rauner's views. Dunkin began the year with $226,000 in his campaign bank account. Stratton has emerged as a well-financed challenger. Since the start of the year, she has raised more than $644,000, largely in big checks from public worker and labor trade unions. Republicans in Springfield also were surprised recently when Rauner sent a video to a Sangamon County GOP event in which he endorsed the primary challenger of Sen. Sam McCann. He was the county organization's endorsed candidate but was the only Republican to buck Rauner on a major labor union-supported vote. Advertisement Amid the election-year backdrop, Rauner was careful in his speech to strike a more measured, bipartisan tone. He called on Democrats to "commit today to working together" and asserted that things could get done at the Capitol "if everyone was willing to compromise." That shows it's not just lawmakers who are worried about the fallout from the budget fight this fall, said Christopher Mooney, director of the Institute of Government and Public Affairs at the University of Illinois. "Look at the rhetoric he's using: 'I'm giving my hand, I love you, your eyes are so blue,'" Mooney said of Rauner's speech. "He wants to look reasonable. Public opinion is such that everyone wants government spending to be cut, but no one wants specific details. By keeping (the budget address) general, it's more pleasing to the public." Chicago Tribune's Celeste Bott contributed. Pearson reported from Springfield. rap30@aol.com mcgarcia@tribpub.com Advertisement kgeiger@tribpub.com MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. The Republican campaign for South Carolina turned deeply personal on the eve of Saturday's high-stakes presidential primary, as New York businessman Donald Trump eyed a delegate sweep and his Republican rivals jockeyed for a southern surprise. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, the son of a pastor, evoked "the body of Christ" in his closing message while fending off allegations of "dirty tricks" in a state where most Republicans identify as evangelical Christians. At the same time, Trump allies took subtle shots at Pope Francis for questioning the Republican front-runner's devotion to Christian principles. Ohio Gov. John Kasich continued hugging supporters, while Jeb Bush turned to his mother to help revive his underdog campaign. Advertisement Friday marked an emotionally charged day in the Republican presidential contest amid a growing sense of urgency. South Carolina offers the six candidates still in the race a trove of 50 delegates and perhaps more importantly, momentum to help survive into the next phase of the campaign: March 1's Super Tuesday. On the other side of the country, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders competed for votes ahead of Saturday's Democratic caucuses in Nevada. Advertisement "Guess what? There's a caucus here in Nevada! We are here to win," Sanders said at a rally in sparsely populated Elko. Back in South Carolina, Trump appeared to hold a commanding lead less than 24 hours before voting began. With a big win, the billionaire businessman could take home most, if not all, of the state's delegates. Such a victory would mark a particularly painful blow to Cruz, whose consistent focus on Christian values and southern roots should have given him a distinct advantage here. As the undisputed Republican front-runner, Trump was a popular target in the final-hours' scramble for votes. "Trump values are not South Carolina values," the state's senior senator, Lindsey Graham, charged during a Charleston rally for Bush. Former first lady Barbara Bush had this to say about her son's values: "He's steady. He's honest. He is modest. He is kind, and he is good." Trump's campaign tried to brush off an extraordinary criticism from Pope Francis the day before. When asked about Trump's call to build a massive wall on the U.S.-Mexican border, the leader of the Roman Catholic Church said those who seek to build walls instead of bridges are not Christian. Trump called the Pope's words "disgraceful" on Thursday, but offered a distinctly softer jab as he courted South Carolina voters on Friday. "Yesterday, the Pope was great," Trump told an audience in Myrtle Beach. "They had him convinced that illegal immigration was like a wonderful thing. Not wonderful for us. It's wonderful for Mexico." Added Trump supporter, pastor Mark Burns: "We respect and honor the Pope. But I don't know ... The walls that are around the Vatican are pretty big walls." Advertisement Campaigning in the same city, Cruz tried to take advantage of the spiritual spat by highlighting his own religious devotion. "Every minute that you're not on the phone calling friends and loved ones, spend beseeching God, praying for this country, that this spirit of revival that is sweeping this country continue and grow, and that we awaken the body of Christ," the Texas senator said. Cruz also took a veiled shot at Trump's campaign motto, featured on hats, T-shirts and bumper stickers. "It's easy to say, 'Let's Make America Great Again,'" he said. But, he asked, "Do you understand what made America great in the first place?" Cruz faced new questions about a website his campaign created this week featuring a photo of Florida Sen. Marco Rubio shaking hands with President Barack Obama. Cruz's team acknowledged the photo was manufactured using a computer program. "Every picture in a political campaign is photoshopped," Cruz spokesman Rick Tyler told FOX News when pressed to explain the tactic. Rubio spokesman Alex Conant warned South Carolina voters in an email to be on the lookout for "dirty tricks" from Cruz, charging that the Texas senator "will do anything to stop Marco Rubio's momentum." Advertisement Meanwhile, the lesser-known Kasich highlighted his compassionate side. In a television ad broadcast across the state, he spoke of his parents' deaths at the hands of a drunk driver. "I was transformed. I discovered my purpose by discovering the Lord," Kasich says in the ad. During a Columbia rally, the Ohio governor hugged a woman who said she's long been a Democrat but believes he's a "good man." The day before, he hugged for several moments a teary supporter who opened up about his own personal struggles. The supporter was a volunteer for a pro-Kasich group based in Georgia. "For some reason people feel safe in telling me stuff," Kasich said. "There's a bigger message than about me. Forget me, it's about all of us having to pay more attention to some other people." The personal and religious appeals come in a state where religious conservatives typically play an outsized role. In South Carolina's 2012 Republican primary election, two-thirds of the voters identified themselves as born-again or evangelical Christian. Associated Press Some years ago, I added "To Kill a Mockingbird" to the syllabus of my "Ethics in Literature" course. I teach in a law school, and the students in the seminar were as hard-bitten and hypercritical as one would expect. Most of the works we read they trashed from one end to the other, often with the easygoing savage hauteur of the young intellectual. But not "Mockingbird." They treated the classic with a respect bordering on awe. Prompting them to criticize it was as successful as prompting an evangelical to criticize the Bible. Harper Lee, who died Friday at 89, always professed herself astounded at the role of her masterpiece in the lives of so many millions of readers. The story's images are seared into us. Those who don't read it in middle school read it in high school. The book is as firmly installed in the popular culture as a novel can be. It's inspired satires galore including on "The Simpsons" and Aaron Sorkin is now adapting it for Broadway. Advertisement "Mockingbird" was published in 1960. After the book quickly sold 500,000 copies, Life magazine quoted an ecstatic neighbor who said to Lee: "The next thing you'll be getting one of those awards from across the water." Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 11 Author Harper Lee in 2001 outside the Blacksher home in Uriah, Ala. The house was built in the first decade of the 20th century. Uriah is about 20 miles from Monroeville, Ala., where Lee was born and raised. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune) Maybe not Lee had to settle for a Pulitzer Prize and, later on, a couple of presidential medals but the book's influence on generations of schoolchildren can hardly be overstated. The story of Scout Finch's Alabama childhood and her father's brave but doomed defense of a black man accused of raping a white woman is not only one of the best-selling novels of all time (estimates run above 40 million copies), but also one of the most loved. As the legal scholar Thomas Shaffer has put it: "The millions of people who like 'To Kill a Mockingbird' are not analytical about their liking it." He added: "The story of Atticus Finch appeals in an immediate way to people. ... He is a hero." Advertisement The novel was published at an auspicious moment. Lee, moved by such events as the killing of Emmett Till to reflect upon the racial attitudes of the town where she grew up, at first had trouble shaping the narrative. But when she finally succeeded, she had written what Oprah Winfrey would call "our national novel" and the writer Jane Smiley would later call "the 'Uncle Tom's Cabin' of the 20th century." The book was part autobiographical Lee modeled Scout on herself, Atticus on her father, the neighbors in Maycomb on her neighbors in Monroeville and even the scorching tale of the trial in the bigoted town was something of a cri de coeur. Her experiences outside the South had redefined her, but she could never quite turn her back on the world that had spawned her. On initial publication, "Mockingbird" received generally glowing reviews, although The New York Times warned that "some of the scenes suggest that Miss Lee is cocking at least one eye toward Hollywood." If she was, that was a good thing. The film version is one of the most beloved movies ever, and in 2003, the character of Atticus Finch (portrayed by Gregory Peck, who won the Academy Award) was selected by the American Film Institute as the greatest movie hero of all time. After the film, however, Lee disappeared. Not really. She wasn't a Garbo-esque recluse. She simply preferred to spend time with friends and neighbors. Meanwhile, fans waited for her next book. And waited, and waited, and waited. Lee was 34 years old when "Mockingbird" was published. When "Go Set a Watchman" finally saw the light of day in 2015, she was 88. The new novel, as it turned out, was mostly from an old manuscript, the rough original from which "Mockingbird" derived. "Watchman" was a huge commercial success, but critics were largely unkind. In the New Yorker, Adam Gopnik called it "a failure as a novel," but nevertheless "testimony to how appealing a writer Harper Lee can be." Yet I wonder whether behind much of the criticism of "Watchman" there might not lurk a bit of disappointment that the heroic Atticus Finch turned out to be just another bigoted yokel. The anger at the second novel, in other words, might be part of the love for the first. The Atticus we all met on first reading "To Kill a Mockingbird" back in grade school supplied a hero for all seasons, and we prefer to keep him that way. As Shaffer points out, "An important thing about hero stories is that they appeal from life to life." That's what Lee gave us: a hero story we can't forget. And so one modest young woman earned her place among the literary immortals. Advertisement Bloomberg Stephen Carter is a Bloomberg View columnist and a law professor at Yale. Faraz Namdari, of Chicago, was cited with three traffic violations after driving a semi truck onto at least six graves in the Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery in Elwood, police said. (Courtesy of Elwood Police Department) The Chicago truck driver who drove over veterans' graves at the Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery in Elwood pleaded not guilty to three related traffic violations Friday. Attorney Vic Cordova appeared in Will County traffic court on behalf of Faraz Namdari, 43, of 1900 block of W. Greenleaf Avenue. Advertisement The incident occurred Jan. 4, when Namdari told police he tried to turn around a 2015 Freightliner Tractor Trailer he was driving after getting lost heading to a nearby industrial park, Elwood Police Chief Fred Hayes said at the time. Namdari turned into the cemetery off U.S. 53, which is a main thoroughfare for trucks. At the entrance, there are signs posted on both sides of the road in both words and graphics that indicate trucks are prohibited. Namdari drove past those signs, as well as other signs and a marked secondary turnoff designated for trucks that occasionally get misdirected, Hayes said. Advertisement Prosecuting attorney for the Village of Elwood, Ericka Thomas, said she did not yet know if the village will seek additional restitution in the case. She said she did not know the extent of the damage caused, or if there were other circumstances to consider. Cemetery director Sean Baumgartner said in January that he believes that the damage was superficial and that spring's thaw of the ground will reveal there was no damage to the crypts below. About six graves were affected, he said. Cordova had no comment about Namdari's plea. A bench trial is scheduled for April 8. Erin Gallagher is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown. South Elgin High band performs at Walt Disney World Students from seven Illinois schools, including South Elgin High School, packed their bags for a magical trip to Walt Disney World Resort where they entertained thousands of guests with performances at Magic Kingdom Park and Disney Springs throughout February. Advertisement The school ensembles, choirs, orchestras and dance teams stepped into the spotlight on Waterside Stage at Disney Springs, showcasing their talents to Disney guests. South Elgin's band, along with its director, marched down Main Street, U.S.A. past Cinderella Castle, playing songs and cadences that capture the spirit of Americana. The band performed on Valentine's Day. "When I was in college, I did the summer college program out in California, the All-American Marching Band, and I've always loved it. I want my kids to experience the kind of fun performance experience, and just coming down here brings our group together," South Elgin High School Band Director Kurt Dobbeck said. "It's a great place to perform, great people to meet, the clinics are the best in the world if you ask me, at least for my band." Advertisement Additionally, some of the schools experienced an educational and mentoring program through Disney Performing Arts workshops. The lessons allowed the students to immerse themselves in Disney movie magic, rehearsing the scores of classic films in workshops or learning real-world audition techniques and choreography. The schools were selected from applicants that submitted audition tapes reviewed by adjudicators, who evaluate and select schools for the opportunity to participate in a Disney Performing Arts program. Black Lives Matter? Or All Lives Matter? A community conversation A community conversation is planned to discuss why Black Lives Matters is important, as well as foster an understanding and dispel the belief that by its title, it also means that All (or other) lives don't matter. The event will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 25, at the Heritage Ballroom, Centre of Elgin, 100 Symphony Way, Elgin. Doors open at 6:45 p.m. The event is free. The moderator will be Bob Whitt and scheduled panelist are Elgin Human Relations Commissioners Marcia Thompson, Phillip Reed and Deb Perryman. Audience members will be able to ask questions. Police warn of IRS scams Elgin police are advising residents that fake Internal Revenue Service agents are calling Elginites this tax season. Advertisement Police have two tips to avoid becoming a victim: If you owe Federal taxes, or think you might owe taxes, hang up and call the IRS at 800-829-1040. IRS workers can help you with your payment questions. If you don't owe taxes, hang up and fill out the "IRS Impersonation scam" form on this website, www.treasury.gov/tigta or call TIGTA at 800-366-4484. The IRS usually first contacts people by mail not by phone about unpaid taxes, officials said. And the IRS won't ask for payment using a pre-paid debit card or wire transfer. The IRS also won't ask for a credit card number over the phone. Treasury Inspector General for Taxpayer Administration also provides some telltale signs of a scam: callers utilize an automated robocall machine, use common names and fake IRS badge numbers, may know the last four digits of the victim's Social Security Number, make caller ID information appear as if the IRS is calling, send bogus IRS e-mails to support their scam or call a second or third time claiming to be the police or department of motor vehicles, and the caller ID again supports their claim. The group and the IRS encourage taxpayers to be alert for phone and e-mail scams that use the IRS name. The IRS will never request personal or financial information by e-mail, texting or any social media. Forward scam e-mails to phishing@irs.gov. Don't open any attachments or click on any links in those e-mails. Advertisement Taxpayers should be aware that there are other unrelated scams (such as a lottery sweepstakes winner) and solicitations (such as debt relief) that fraudulently claim to be from the IRS. League of Women Voters candidate forum scheduled The League of Women Voters of the Elgin Area Rutland-Dundee Townships Committee is holding a candidate forum at 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 25, at the Rakow Senior Center, Dundee Township Park District, 665 Barrington Ave., Carpentersville. A primary will be held Tuesday, March 15. Early voting starts Feb. 29. Candidates for the following contested primary races have been invited to participate: Illinois State Rep. District 66: Carolyn Schofield (R), Paul Serwatka (R), Allen Skillicorn (R), Dan Wilbrandt (R) Advertisement Kane County Board Chairman: Chris Lauzen (R), Kenneth Shepro (R) Kane County Auditor: Terry Hunt (R), Craig P. Lee (R) Kane County Coroner: Robert Russell (R), Robert Tiballi (R), Tao Martinez (D), John Shoemaker (D) Kane County Board District 24: Roben B. Hall (R), Billita Jacobsen (R), Joseph R. Haimann (D), Jarett Sanchez (D) Kane County Cougars announce Ballpark Concert Series lineup Kane County Cougars are counting down to the 2016 season. Advertisement Single game tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 25. Fans can order tickets in person from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. that day at Fifth Third Bank Ballpark, 34W002 Cherry Lane, Geneva, by phone at 630-232-8811 or online at kccougars.com. Opening night is Thursday, April 7. The Cougars play against Clinton. The Cougars are hosting its Ballpark Concert Series with pregame concerts at the team's new permanent music pavilion in the ballpark. Among the bands scheduled to perform are Too White Crew, a tribute to 80s and 90s hip hop with live music from a six piece band, Mr. Myers Band, performing on Jimmy Buffet Night and Big Band Boom, an 18 piece modern jazz ensemble paying during Military Appreciation Night. A complete schedule of bands is available on the Cougar's website. Hundreds of volunteers gathered at North Central Colleges' Residence Hall/Recreation Center Saturday to put together food packages for children through Naperville's Feed the Need program. (David Sharos, Naperville Sun) Volunteers worked all day Saturday, and will resume Sunday, to meet a goal of packaging 1 million meals for children around the world. Feed The Need, an informal coalition of Naperville area churches, congregations and civic organizations, organized members to do two-hour shifts at North Central College in Naperville in the fourth year the huge volunteer effort has been undertaken. The effort is undertaken in cooperation with the Feed My Starving Children organization, which provides nutritious meals shipped to people in need throughout the world. Advertisement Les May, mobile pack coordinator and co-founder of Feed The Need, said he helped launch the effort in 2012 and, with the help of just four Lutheran churches, was able to complete 180,000 food pouches. "Our next year, we had 10 churches of various denominations and grew to just over 450,000 packs, and then in 2013, there were 14 churches and we had nearly 525,000 packs," May said. "Last year, North Central College joined us along with 16 churches and we did just over 800,000." Advertisement This year 25 churches are involved and, according to Karli Saner, North Central's assistant director of ministry and service, volunteers were expected to grow from 3,800 a year ago to 5,000 this weekend. "We literally have the entire age spectrum of people working here today, from 5- and 6-year-olds to people that are 90," Saner said. "When we saw how many people we had last year and what we accomplished, we thought we could do better. We wondered if we had reached enough people, and if we could do more." May said the materials for the food packs are scientifically formulated to supply the necessary nutrients and calories to feed a young child for a day, based on adding water to nearly two cups of dry material that includes rice, dehydrated vegetables, vitamin supplements and more. "We know from previous experience that each packer tends to do anywhere from 200 to 215 pouches during a shift," he said. "We have people working from noon until 2 p.m., another group from 3 to 5 p.m., and a third from 7 to 9 p.m. today." As the first shift on Saturday moved into its second hour of work, those overseeing the operation, including Brian Rainville, director of ministry and service at North Central College, were somewhat in awe of what was transpiring. "It's amazing to me we had a track meet in this building last night that didn't end until 10:30, and the women's team helped us tear down the whole thing and helped us setting up the tables and equipment," Rainville said, shaking his head. "I mean, this is a college campus and life here still goes on, but it was all hands on deck." One of the churches lending a hand was Our Saviors Lutheran in Naperville. Parishioners Lauri Etter and her husband Mike said their church was one of the first to hold the packing event and the couple has been involved ever since. "I think the concept of the organization is wonderful, and it just feels good knowing this is helping kids from around the world," Mike Etter said. Advertisement "It's great to see how this whole thing has grown and for the church to come together each year," Lauri Etter added. "You see so many familiar faces." Several children, including 7-year-old Emerson Hebel, said they were enjoying lending a hand. Emerson's mother Sherilyn said she loves being able to give her daughter an early life lesson in helping others. "I shouldn't tell you this, but the age minimum to work here is supposed to be 5 years old, and we snuck her in when she was 4," Sherilyn Hebel said. "It's great how this community is doing something to help the rest of the world." Emerson's aunt Michelle Kolenda said her niece also has embraced the Feed the Need mission. "There have been times when we're driving in the car and I've said, 'I'm starving,'" Kolenda said. "Emerson said to me, 'No, you're not. You might be hungry, but Feed My Starving Children, they're the ones that are starving." The volunteer effort continues Sunday at the college from noon until 5 p.m. Last year's food pouches were divided between children from Haiti and the Philippine Islands. Advertisement David Sharos is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun. Munster firefighters confer Friday afternoon after winds of more than 50 mph ripped off the roof of Quality Carpets, 11 Ridge Road, Munster. No injuries were reported. (Michelle Quinn, Post-Tribune) Wind gusts of up to 60 mph cut power to more than 8,200 homes Friday in Northwest Indiana, peeled a roof off a building in Munster and brought travel warnings from the State Police. The National Weather Service issued a high wind advisory for Friday, saying that the wind reached speeds of 30 to 40 mph during the day, with gusts reaching up to 60 mph. The advisory lasted until 6 p.m. Friday. Advertisement NIPSCO showed more than 8,200 homes without power as of late Friday afternoon, including about 1,500 homes in Hammond, 1,200 in Valparaiso and more than 1,000 in Gary. The winds proved particularly unforgiving to a Munster business Friday afternoon, leaving its roof a twisted mess. Advertisement Munster firefighters received a call at 2:27 p.m. from Quality Carpets, 11 Ridge Road, that its roof had been damaged by the winds, said Chief Dave Pelc. When they arrived on the scene, the found the roof bent back almost in half from the southeast corner. Quality Carpets owner Mike Dozier said he saw debris flying around outside the store, but didn't' know about the damage until a neighboring business owner came in and said his roof was damaged. "I came outside and saw this. (The day is) probably not as good as it was two hours ago," Dozier said. "But we've got a roofer coming to get it reattached, and I think we should be back in business (Saturday)." Complex manager Katie Anderle said the timing couldn't have been more ironic, because they were supposed to have a new roof installed on the building this week, but couldn't because of the weather. A representative for Korellis Roofing in Hammond arrived on the scene and told Dozier and Anderle that while he could have roofers out within 24 hours, they wouldn't be able to do anything until the wind dies down. Pelc said the complex was evacuated and blocked off until the roof could be made safe again. Indiana State Police Cpl. Zack Beaver, at the Lowell Post, said roads are passable Friday afternoon but the high winds were causing problems for some larger semitrailers. "We have seen a higher instance of rollovers. There are concerns about the high winds," Beaver said. Advertisement All southbound lanes of Interstate 65 were closed later Friday afternoon due to an overturned semitrailer at mile marker 240 near the Indiana 2 exit near Lowell. The duration of the closure is unknown, according to INDOT. A few miles farther south in Jasper County, all southbound lanes of Interstate 65 were closed Friday afternoon near the 200-mile marker just north of the U.S. 24 exit, according to the Indiana Department of Transportation Northwest District. Eastbound lanes of the U.S. 20 Bypass in South Bend were closed Friday afternoon at Mayflower due to an overturned semitrailer. All lanes of U.S. 421 were closed between Indiana 8 and Indiana 10 in LaPorte County due to an overturned semitrailer leaking diesel fuel. Beaver said he could not confirm the rollovers were wind-related or caused by driver error, but it is likely the wind is playing a role. He urged motorists to use caution. As of Friday afternoon, he said there were no travel restrictions in place for semitrailers due to the weather, but he didn't encourage travel. "There's a potential for problems. If they can refrain from driving, they probably should," he said. Advertisement Brian Hitchcock, director of Lake County's consolidated 911, said he had to add extra staff this afternoon to handle the increase in calls. He said there was a fair amount of wind damage calls, like roofing blowing off and downed branches, in the northern part of the county including Hammond, East Chicago and Munster. He did not have specifics on any damage reported or a full report of which towns and cities had weather-related calls. "We are busy," he said. Four extra supervisors and four dispatchers were brought in to help handle the increased call volume. About 22 people were on the floor. All consoles in the center were in use. "At one time we were handling 14 calls simultaneously," Hitchcock said, adding everything appeared to be running smoothly. Staff writer Teresa Auch Schultz and freelancers Carrie Napoleon, Michelle L. Quinn and Amy Lavalley contributed. German engineering giant Siemens on Friday signed an agreement with the Sino-German Ecopark to set up its first overseas innovation center for intelligent manufacturing in Qingdao, a coastal city in east China. The center will be devoted to technological innovation, development and applications in fields such as intelligent manufacturing, robotics, modern logistics, big data, information security and smart cities, according to the agreement. The center will bring advanced digital and automation technologies to China, said Zhu Xiaoxun, senior executive vice president of Siemens Ltd., China. The center will also work with Chinese companies, particularly those in Qingdao, to develop technologies suitable for China and establish some national and industrial demonstration projects and technology standards, said a spokesman of the Sino-German Ecopark. Intelligent manufacturing is the core of China's "Made in China 2025" plan, and this innovation center will support the plan's implementation in Qingdao, said the spokesman. You are here: Home Four small, unprofitable oilfields managed by Sinopec Shengli Oilfield Co. will be closed temporarily this year to cut losses, the company told Xinhua Friday. The oilfields, in the eastern province of Shandong, produce 60,000 tonnes of oil a year, about 0.2 percent of the company's annual output. A subsidiary of China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., the company runs some of the country's oldest oilfields. Previous reports said the closures were a first in the company's history, however, Sinopec Shengli told Xinhua it had begun to shut down other oilfields last year. Sinopec Shengli reported a loss in 2015 after years of profits. The company analyzed its 70 oilfields to identify those that were no longer turning a profit. The slump in the price of oil has put particular pressure on China's mature oilfields, which have reported decreased production and increased costs. CNPC Daqing Oilfields, another arm of China National Petroleum Corp., is another example. The four oilfields will be put "on hold" and production may restart if oil prices bounce back, Sinopec Shengli told Xinhua. Chinese President Xi Jinping presides over a symposium after touring China's three leading news providers in Beijing, capital of China, on Feb. 19, 2016. [Xinhua] Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday visited the country's three leading media providers and urged them to strictly follow the leadership of the Party. Xi on Friday morning visited the People's Daily, the flagship newspaper of the Communist Party of China (CPC), Xinhua News Agency, the state news agency, and China Central Television (CCTV), the country's broadcaster. On Friday afternoon, Xi, also General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee, presided over a symposium on the Party's media work, which was attended by the heads of the three media outlets, and about 180 central media officials, Beijing municipal officials, and representatives of journalists, editors and TV anchors. Liu Yunshan, member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, accompanied Xi on the media tour and also attended the symposium. PRAISING CHINESE JOURNALISTS During his inspection of the general newsroom of the People's Daily, the president encouraged staff to continue to improve the quality of the flagship newspaper of the CPC. While visiting the headquarters of the People's Daily, Xi used the paper's new media broadcasting system to extend Lantern Festival greetings to the public. At Xinhua News Agency, Xi used Xinhua's remote news reporting command system to talk with an agency correspondent currently reporting from a village in Lankao County, Henan Province. During the conversation, he said that the workstyle of grassroots cadres was integral to the Party's rule and was directly linked to the people's interests. He noted that journalists should undertake more in-depth investigative reporting on this workstyle. Xi also visited an exhibition on the agency's history, which covered its development since it was founded in 1931. On display were an antique radio transmitter and a clockwork dynamo, as well as more cutting-edge devices employed in modern-day news reporting, including a maritime satellite and a drone. Xi showed approval for Xinhua's transition to a multimedia news service, now providing news products and services in eight languages to the whole world. At Xinhua's new media newsroom, Xi clicked a "Like" button on the agency's mobile app, extending his appreciation to all Chinese journalists for their diligence. The final stop on his media tour took Xi to the headquarters of CCTV. He visited the control room and made a video call to CCTV's Washington-based North America branch, which opened more than four years ago. Xi praised the branch for its work and sent his greetings to the staff, 90 percent of whom are Americans. The president was shown the studio where CCTV Evening News Bulletin, or "Xinwen Lianbo," is filmed. The program, which airs at 7 p.m. every day, has been running for more than 38 years. Xi gained insight into how the production team makes the program and encouraged them to continue to strive for excellence. PARTY'S LEADERSHIP FUNDAMENTAL ISSUE The fundamental issue of the Party's media work is to strictly adhere to the Party's leadership, Xi told attendees of the afternoon's symposium. All news media run by the Party must work to speak for the Party's will and its propositions and protect the Party's authority and unity. They should enhance their awareness to align their ideology, political thinking and deeds to those of the CPC Central Committee and help fashion the Party's theories and policies into conscious action by the general public while providing spiritual enrichment to the people, he said. Marxist journalistic education must be promoted among journalists, Xi added, to make them "disseminators of the Party's policies and propositions, the recorders of time, the promoters of social advancement and the watchers of equality and justice." According to Xi, the mission of the Party's media work is to provide guidance for the public, serve the country's overall interests, unite the general public, instill confidence and pool strength, tell right from wrong and connect China to the world, he said. To do so, Xi continued, they should also stick to guiding public opinion on the correct path in every aspect and stage of their work. "Truthfulness is the life of journalism, and the facts must be reported based on the truth," Xi said. "While accurately reporting individual facts, journalists must also grasp and reflect the overall situation of an event from a broad view." The president noted that public supervision and positive publicity are two compatible functions of media. He urged media outlets to confront problems emerging from their work and social ills head-on, spreading the good and condemning the bad while practicing critical journalism based on accurate facts and objective analysis. Calling for innovative concepts, content and methods, Xi told media groups to make use of new media's edge in publicity, amplify their voices on the international stage, tell stories about China well and build flagship media groups with strong global influence. According to Xi, the journalism industry should accelerate its progress in fostering workers with firm political beliefs, outstanding professional skills, moral excellence and whom the Party and people can trust. "Officials should improve their ability to interact with the media and make good use of it to publicize their policies and ideas, understand grassroots opinions, uncover conflicts and problems, guide public feelings, mobilize the people and push forward work in real life," Xi said. Ministers of environment, permanent representatives from U.N. member states and scientists agreed on a plan to deal with environmental health risks and disasters, a U.N. agency said on Friday at the end of a week-long meeting in Nairobi. The UN Environmental Programme (UNEP) Executive Director Achim Steiner said the landmark declaration in Nairobi by the governments and other key actors set the stage for key decisions on the implementation of the environmental dimension of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, a new poverty blueprint. "Keeping the global environment under review through science and policy dialogue enables governments to build the international agreements that will result in improvements for both the environment and human development," Steiner said at the close of the meeting. "When ministers gather here for UNEA-II, the decisions they take will again set the global environmental agenda," he added. Some 14 ministers in charge of the environment, delegations from 120 UNEP member states, 41 civil society organisations and 29 international organisations attended the U.N. Environment Assembly's (UNEA) Open-Ended Committee of Permanent Representatives meeting to discuss how to address new environmental challenges. The next UNEA meeting will take place in Nairobi from May 23-27 with the main objective of pushing for action on how to address the environmental aspects of global humanitarian crises and human health risks. Steiner said during the Nairobi preparatory conference, every nation took a seat at the table to outline a series of health commitments ahead of UNEA's Ministerial Summit. The environment ministers and experts laid emphasis on two of the key focal issues under discussion--humanitarian crises and human health. Research by the World Health Organization and others shows that a poorly-managed environment leads to human health issues, which have wide-ranging negative impacts on sustainable development. Chengdu plans to spend more than 500 billion yuan (about US$77 billion) in the next ten years to improve local environment, the municipal information office said on Friday. The provincial capital of Sichuan outlined an environmental protection plan to contain average PM 2.5 density in the city to less than 50 microgrammes per cubic meter by 2025, down more than 20 percent on the 2015 average. The city's forest coverage is to be raised above 41 percent by the same date, an increase of around 8 percent. Over 200 projects will cover water, air and soil pollution and treatment of waste. Chengdu is preparing to shift from a growth mode which sacrifices environment to one that is led by it, said Zhu Xiaowen with the city's development and reform commission. Flash A top Moroccan intelligence official said Friday that the Islamic State (IS) planned a series of terror attacks in Morocco, including a suicide car bomb attack. Deeming the busted terrorist cell on Thursday as "the most dangerous" cell dismantled in Morocco, the director of the Central Bureau of Judicial Investigations, Abdelhak Khiame, told reporters that investigations revealed the members of this cell planned attacks against sensitive sites, including hotels, and high profile civil and military figures. He said the suicide car bomb attack was planned to be carried out by a 16-year-old boy who received extensive training, adding that the seized weapon and ammunition were smuggled from Libya in close collaboration with IS leaders. Morocco's Interior Ministry said Thursday that security services have foiled "dangerous" IS terrorist attacks and arrested 10 suspects, including a French national. "The 10-member cell was commandos acting based on precise plans designed by IS", Khiame said, adding the cell planned to get more weapons from Libya, he added. The mastermind of the cell was arrested inside a "safe house" in the city of El Jadida, about 190 km southwest of the capital Rabat, where a considerable amount of weapons and ammunitions were seized, according to the Interior Ministry. During the operation, the police also seized four expandable batons, an electric Taser, six plastic bottles containing chemicals which could be used to make explosives, an IS flag, as well as bladed weapons and military uniforms. Morocco has seen a growing threat from the IS group. The ministry said it has busted 31 terrorist cells since 2013 and foiled "numerous terrorist plans" targeting vital national, Arab and Western interests. Flash The Kurdish-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on Friday captured the city of Shadadi, the main stronghold of the Islamic State (IS) group in Syria's northeastern province of al-Hasakah, a monitor group reported. Kurdish-backed fighters capture key IS stronghold in Syria [Xinhua file photo] The SDF capture of Shadadi in the southern countryside of al-Hasakah came after three days of intense battles against the IS, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The UK-based watchdog group said the city was stormed by the SDF from two main routes, namely the town of al-Houl and the Mount Abdul-Aziz in the southwestern countryside of al-Hasakah. It added that the battles were coupled with airstrikes carried out by the U.S.-led anti-terror coalition. A day earlier, the SDF cut a strategic supply line for the IS between Syria's northern province of al-Raqqa and the Iraqi city of Mosul, the Observatory reported. The SDF cut the IS strategic supply line in Shadadi, which connects al-Raqqa, the de facto capital of the terror group, with its stronghold in Iraq's northern city of Mosul. The SDF progress in the northeastern province of al-Hasakah, namely in Shadadi, has enabled them to cut the supply line between Shadadi and Mosul and Shadadi-al-Raqqa. The SDF, an alliance of Kurdish, Syrian Arab, Assyrian Syriac Christian and Turkmen militias in cooperation with the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), said their aim is to fight the IS in northern Syria. The SDF, which is supported by the airstrikes of the U.S.-led anti-terror coalition, has been making notable gains in al-Hasakah and the northern Aleppo province near Turkey. Turkish officials recently said that they will not allow the Kurds to take Azaz, a main stronghold for the Turkey-backed militants in Aleppo. Earlier this week, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Turkey's shelling against Kurdish areas in northern Syria had succeeded in halting the YPG advance toward Azaz. He further pledged the "harshest reaction" if the YPG tried inch closer to the town, which is of strategic importance for Turkey as it's the main conduit of support from Turkey to the rebels inside the city of Aleppo. You are here: Home Flash U.S. President Barack Obama on Friday spoke to Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan by telephone about the situation in Syria. "President Obama expressed concern about recent Syrian regime advances in northwest Syria and urgently called for a halt to actions that heighten tensions with Turkey and with moderate opposition forces in northern Syria," White House said in a press release. Obama also stressed that the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) forces should not seek to exploit circumstances in this area to seize additional territory, according to the statement. He also "urged Turkey to show reciprocal restraint by ceasing artillery strikes in the area." In addition, Obama underscored the "collective efforts in northern Syria to degrade and defeat" the Islamic State. Obama also offered his condolences for the Feb. 17 terrorist attack in Turkish capital Ankara and Feb. 18 terrorist attack against a Turkish military convoy in the country's southeastern Diyarbakir Province. Flash European leaders on Friday reached a deal on British Prime Minister David Cameron's reforming plan to give Britain special status in the European Union (EU). Here are some of the highlights: Sovereignty Cameron has secured recognition from the EU that Britain is not committed to further political integration within the bloc. According to the deal, references in EU treaties to ever closer union do not apply to Britain. The leaders agreed on a "red card" system that will require the backing of 55 percent of the 28 national parliaments to stop or amend newly proposed EU legislation. Economic governance Britain, home to Europe's most important financial center, the City of London, is concerned that possible discrimination from the eurozone could harm its interests. In response, the EU leaders approved a mechanism to address the concerns of non-euro states, allowing for "the coexistence between different perspectives." However, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said the deal did not include giving London a veto over eurozone issue. Immigration Britain will be entitled to deny in-work benefits to newly arrived workers from other EU states for their first four years in the country; it will be able to apply this "emergency brake" to new arrivals during a seven-year period from the measure first being used. Britain also called for reduction of child benefits for EU workers whose families live abroad. EU leaders agreed to let any member state adapt child benefits for these workers to costs in the country where their family is living. Under the compromise, this will apply only to new claims until 2020, when it can be extended to previously existing child benefit payments. Competitiveness Britain has been assured that the EU will take concrete steps to improve its competitiveness such as cutting red tape for business, pursuing an ambitious trade policy, encouraging entrepreneurship and boosting job creation. China Aid Translated by Carolyn Song. Edited in English by Ava Collins. (Tianjin, ChinaDec. 9, 2015) The defense attorney for a church elder wrote a letter in late October to a branch of the Tianjin Municipal Security Bureau, requesting a meeting with his client. Li Baiguang, who is also representing detained legal professional Liu Peng, demanded that a meeting be arranged with his client, Hu Shigen, a Beijing church elder who has been missing since July 9. In his Oct. 28 letter, Li listed stipulations from various Chinese legal documents that give him the right to meet his client and urged the bureau to handle this case in accordance with these laws. China Aid works to expose abuses of the legal system such as those involved in the disappearance of Hu, and to raise awareness about the state of human rights in China. A translation of Lis letter can be found below. Application for meeting with suspect Tianjin Municipal Public Security Hexi Branch, Commissioned by the suspect Hu Shigens brother Hu Shuigen, I am the lawyer for the suspect Hu Shigen, accused of allegedly subverting state power and picking quarrels and provoking troubles, whose case you are investigating. Hu Shigen was put into criminal custody on July 9, 2015, by your bureau, and transferred to residential surveillance on Aug.7. The detainment period has been over 110 days. According to the stipulations of the Criminal Procedure Law of the Peoples Republic of China, Articles 36, 96, and 151, and the Law of the Peoples Republic of China on Lawyers, Article 30, and the Several Provisions on the Public Security Organs Handling of Cases Involving Economic Crimes, Articles 40 and 47, I, the defender, am applying to your bureau to meet the suspect Hu Shigen based on these laws. Please handle this case in accordance with these laws, upholding [the stipulations of] Legally Safeguarding the Lawyers Rights to Practice Law issued by the Supreme Court, the Supreme Peoples Procuratorate, the Ministry of the Public Security, the Ministry of National Security, and the Ministry of Justice on Sep. 16, 2015. Please safeguard my right to practice law, and arrange for me to meet with Hu Shigen as soon as possible. If your bureau makes the decision again not to allow me to meet with Hu Shigen, I, the defense attorney, believe you are required to comply with the stipulation of the Several Provisions on the Public Security Organs Handling of Cases Involving Economic Crimes, Article 47, and provide me the names of crimes the suspect committed, the main facts your organization has already made clear, all conditions of the application, any change, whether rescinding or prolonging, of the suspects detention, information regarding the commissioned defense lawyer, or allowance for this defender to go to your bureau to listen to the introduction of the case personally and write everything in records. Sincerely, Li Baiguang To Tianjin Municipal Public Security Hexi Branch Applicant: Li Baiguang Beijing Gongxin Law firm Application Date: Oct. 28, 2015 Information about the Defender: Mailing Address: Room 709, Zuoangongshe, 68 North Ring West Road, Haidian District, Beijing Phone: 010-8282-7326, Zip: 100080 Defense Lawyer: Li Baiguang, Cell 15810689698 China Aid By Rachel Ritchie (Liuzhou, GuangxiFeb. 17, 2016) The director of a church-run kindergarten in Chinas southern Guangxi was released from prison today after serving two years for engaging in illegal business operations. Cheng Jie, the director of the Hualin Foreign Language Experimental Kindergarten, was released today and was picked up from the prison by her husband and two sons. Liuzhou authorities detained Cheng from the school on Feb. 18, 2014. Guangxi officials crossed the border into the neighboring Guangdong province on June 24, 2014, and detained Huang Qiurui, the elder of Guangzhous Liangren Church, which founded Hualin Kindergarten. Along with Huang, authorities detained Li Jiatao, a Liangren Church member, and Fang Bin, a man contracted to print textbooks for the school. Cheng Jies two sons, pictured, and her husband picked Cheng up from prison following her release on Feb. 17, 2016. (Photo: China Aid) Officials alleged that all four had engaged in illegal business operations by printing character-education textbooks without approval without government approval and then selling the books rather than using them solely for internal use. The lawyer defending the four detainees countered that the books were sold for an amount that only allowed the Kindergarten to break even for printing costs and that authorities were targeting the school because it was founded by a church. Cheng, Huang, and Li were convicted and sentenced to two years in prison and ordered to pay a fine of 5,000 Yuan (U.S. $765) each. Fang was sentenced to a year and nine months in prison. China Aid Media Team Cell: (432) 553-1080 | Office: 1+ (888) 889-7757 | Other: (432) 689-6985 Email: [email protected] For more information, click here Sainty Marine Corp Ltd has become China's first listed company to apply for bankruptcy and reorganization. [Photo / IC] Sainty Marine Corp Ltd has become China's first listed company to apply for bankruptcy and reorganization, after it said it had been hit hard by the slowing global shipbuilding industry. Nanjing Intermediate People's Court has accepted the Jiangsu province firm's application, the company said in a statement Wednesday, after making losses for two years. Sainty Marine suspended trading in its stocks on Aug 6 last year. Established in 2007, the firm is a subsidiary of Jiangsu Guoxin Investment Group Ltd, a State-owned company that manages government-authorized assets. It floated on Shenzhen Stock Exchange in 2011. The company said it lost 4.9 billion yuan to 5.8 billion yuan ($751 million to $890 million) last year, up from 1.8 billion yuan in 2014, which it blamed on sluggish demand and low prices from the international market. According to its earnings statement for the third quarter last year, its debts had risen to 8.3 billion yuan as of Sep 30. It has now cut its staff from 1,188 at the beginning of last year to just 114. A number of shipbuilding companies applied for bankruptcy in China last year, including Dalian-based STX Shipbuilding, the country's biggest foreign-owned shipbuilder, and Zhejiang Zhenghe Shipbuilding Co Ltd. The Baltic Dry Index, a measure of the world's dry and tanker shipping markets, hit a historical low on Jan 5 of 468, falling from an all-time high of 11,793 in 2008. Shen Zhengyuan, a researcher at Beijing-based CI Consulting, said falling demand for bulk commodities, an oversupply in the global raw materials market, and low oil prices will keep the BDI depressed for a while yet. "The shipping industry has been experiencing a slowdown since the 2008 financial crisis and shows no sign of recovery," said Shen. "Shipping companies may get rid of ships that generate low profit or require high maintenance to lower their costs. Or they can weather the winter through cooperation and merger, to consolidate resources and increase their resilience to risk." Statistics from the China Association of the National Shipbuilding Industry show total new shipbuilding activity in 2015 increased by 7.1 percent to 41.84 million deadweight tons. The domestic industry's global new orders, however, were 31.26 deadweight tons, down by 47.9 percent from 2014. Shanghai International Shipping Institute has already predicted a rise in bankruptcy and reorganization this year, starting with companies involved in dry-bulk shipbuilding. A report from the institute said more than 60 percent of dry-bulk shipbuilders have been making prolonged losses, and nearly 40 percent of those are in financial difficulties. An investor checks stock prices at a securities brokerage in Nantong, Jiangsu province. [Photo/China Daily] But analysts warn of signs that equities are due for price decline Analysts said on Friday that Chinese stocks may be showing signs of a short-term correction, after a continued roll out this week of government measures to shore up the economy. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index edged ahead 0.1 percent in volatile trade on Friday, paring its weekly gain to 3.49 percent, the biggest rise in two months. "The probability of a short-term correction is rising," wrote Guangzhou Securities' analyst Jin Zi in a note, citing the shrinking turnover as the sign of stronger investor sentiment. The People's Bank of China said Friday it will adjust banks' reserve requirement ratio on Feb 25. Unqualified banks will no longer enjoy a favorable RRR requirement, the PBOC said. The PBOC said the adjustment had nothing to do with January's new loan growth after media reports suggested the central bank may hike reserve ratio for banks to contain risks after the surge in credit last month. Some analysts said the move may underscore concerns by the Chinese monetary authority that too much credit loosening may undermine the country's economic reform and destabilize the value of the renminbi. Nonetheless, the stock market may continue to respond positively on investor anticipation of more supportive government policies to shore up the economy, particularly the property market, they said. The Ministry of Finance also said it will cut taxes on home transactions in a bid to help reduce oversupply in the property market. The cut came after officials lowered mortgage down payment requirements to the lowest level ever earlier this month. With signs the economy is stabilizing in the near term, China's stocks may extend the recent "relief rally", Bloomberg quoted Kinger Lau, a Hong Kong-based strategist at Goldman Sachs Group Inc, as saying. The China Securities Regulatory Commission also denied earlier reports it has suspended the approval of domestic fund applications for overseas investments under the Qualified Domestic Institutional Investors program, fearing a weaker yuan. Deng Ge, the CSRC spokesman, said the regulator maintained its normal processes for the registration and sales of QDII products. Regulator launches retail-investor pilot project to empower shareholders China is launching a pilot program to allow public financial institutions to act on behalf of retail investors in the country's listed companies. Planned for Shanghai as well as Guangdong (excluding Shenzhen) and Hunan provinces, the program will be managed by Zhongzheng Smaller Investors Service Center Co Ltd, a public financial institution set up by the China Securities Regulatory Commission in 2014. Under the program, the company will buy 100 shares in each of the listed companies in the pilot city and provinces, CSRC said on Friday. Deng Ge, the CSRC spokesman, said its purpose is to empower smaller investors and shareholders by offering them a voice in the voting and decision-making process of listed companies. The pilot is also aimed an enhancing supervision and improving the corporate governance of listed companies, Deng said. China Tower Corp, a joint venture established to handle the tower assets for China's top three telecom carriers, is in discussions to install air monitors and surveillance cameras on its towers. The move, which the company said will diversify its business and be a more efficient use of resources, comes amid expectations that the number of telecom towers will surge over the next couple of years when consumer demand spikes for faster Internet speeds and better call quality. "In the near future, the density of telecom towers will be higher in cities. With access to both wired and mobile networks, our towers are in a good position ... to be equipped with air monitors, surveillance cameras and satellite receivers," said Tong Jilu, general manager of China Tower. The State-owned company currently has more than 1.5 million telecom towers across the country after its shareholdersChina Mobile Communications Corp, China United Network Communications Group Co Ltd and China Telecommunications Corpinjected 203.5 billion yuan ($30.8 billion) worth of telecom tower assets into it. The company was established in 2014 when the three telecom carriers pooled their assets to avoid overlap in the construction of towers. China Tower is now utilizing its towers to branch into new areas of business. "The demand for telecom towers often sees drastic ups and downs because of industry cycles. When 5G communication technology arrives, for instance, it will boost demand. But once it reaches saturation, there will be few businesses," Tong said. A worker helps a driver recharge her electric car at an expressway service station in Dingyuan, Anhui province. State Grid Corp plans to set up a nationwide charging network along all expressways and within cities. [Photo/China Daily] Main routes across country to be equipped with rapid charging stations for electric vehicles State Grid Corp of China, the nation's biggest power transmission company, has installed electric-vehicle rapid charging stations in eight major expressways in the country. The company said the expressways include the routes from Beijing to Shanghai, Shenyang to Haikou, Qingdao to Yinchuan and from Beijing to Macao via Hong Kong, with a charging station located every 50 kilometers. Each station is equipped with four charging posts that can simultaneously provide power to four electric vehicles. The State-owned company, headquartered in Beijing, plans to set up a nationwide charging network along all highways and within cities. By 2020, it is aiming to build 10,000 rapid charging stations and 120,000 charging posts across 202 cities and 36,000 km of expressways. It said in a statement on Friday it is inviting both public and private investors to help it reach its highly expensive goal. The cost of a charging post with 10 chargers is approximately 5 million yuan ($767,000), not including land-use fees. State Grid faces competition from China Tower Corp, a joint venture created to handle the network assets of the country's top three telecom carriers, which is also building a swathe of electric-car charging stations. China, the world's largest energy consumer, aims to boost its electric-vehicle market to help reduce carbon dioxide emissions and air pollution, but the lack of charging facilities and power supply have hindered the government's development efforts. Industry experts said while State Grid's plan to build more charging facilities will spur demand for new-energy vehicles, the company should learn from well-established markets such as Europe and the United States. "The number of charging posts in China for electric-vehicle users is clearly not enough compared with the US," said Lu Jinyong, a professor at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing, adding that in the US there are normally 10 charging posts in each station. In Pasadena, California, every public parking lot has a free charging station where vehicles can plug in for 90 minutes. Chinese electric-vehicle drivers, on the other hand, have to pay fees for the use of electricity and service. The number of new-energy vehicles to hit China's roads by 2020 will reach 300,000, according to a government estimate. Sales of new-energy vehicles in China rose by 144 percent year-on-year to 16,100 units in January. People on Yongxing Island in the South China Sea can now eat vegetables grown on the island, marking a further step of construction on the island, which is of key strategic significance. Huang Yufen, 50, bought all the food for Lunar New Year's Eve dinner from a newly opened supermarket. "It was a big dinner. The supermarket has made our life here very convenient, with no difference at all compared with life on the continent," said Huang, a construction worker. Yongxing Island is the biggest of the Xisha islands. The city government of Sansha, Hainan province, China's southernmost city that was set up in 2012, is on the island. Yongxing Island was in the global spotlight this week as Fox News cited satellite photos as showing that China had deployed an advanced surface-to-air missile system there. Chinese authorities, in response, said the country has every right to deploy defense facilities on its territory. According to Hainan Daily, the local government has called on fishermen to grow vegetables on unused land. The Ministry of Science and Technology also allocated funds to build a 28,000 square meter greenhouse to grow vegetables. Now, people can buy 23 kinds of vegetables and more than 10 kinds of fruit at the supermarket. Vegetables grown on the island, including bean sprouts, spinach and bok choy are priced from 7.6 yuan ($1.17) to 9.6 yuan per kilogram. Cai Damao, a manager of the vegetable greenhouse in Sansha, said the prices in the supermarket are the same as at the greenhouse. Liu Zeyun, a local civil servant, said that vegetables previously came mostly from Hainan Island. "When the weather was bad, we would sometimes run out of vegetables. Now the problem has been settled." Li Xiaokun contributed to this story. Representatives of six major business chambers urge the public to speak out against filibuster in the legislature and violent acts at a media briefing in the building of the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong on Friday. PARKER ZHENG/CHINA DAILY The escalating violence on Hong Kong's streets and filibustering in the legislature are bringing Hong Kong to a standstill and will destroy its competitiveness, city business leaders and political heavyweights cautioned. They urged everyone to return to rational discussion. Six major business chambers in Hong Kong joined for the first time in expressing concern on the street violence and the ongoing delay of discussions in the Legislative Council initiated by the pan-democratic camp. Betty Yuen So Siu-mai, vice-chairwoman of the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce, said a series of incidents, from the 79-day illegal "Occupy" movement in 2014 to last week's Mong Kok riot, have greatly harmed Hong Kong's international image and investors' confidence. Local and overseas investors might reconsider their investment plans in the special administrative region out of fear of unpredictable social instability, Yuen said. Daniel Cheng Man-chung, chairman of the Federation of Hong Kong Industries, hoped all citizens would calm down and reason things out through dialogue. He suggested an open televised debate on certain social issues. On Feb 8, hundreds of protesters clashed with the police in Mong Kok, the most serious violence Hong Kong had seen in decades. About 130 people, including 90 police officers, were injured. About 70 people have been arrested. Meanwhile, filibustering in the Legislative Council has halted the progress of Hong Kong's infrastructure construction, said Eddy Li Sau-hung, president of the Chinese Manufacturers' Association of Hong Kong. As competition from countries and territories in the region heats up, Hong Kong could lose its advantages, he warned. Suffering from the domestic political wrangling and international economic downturn, the SAR's imports and exports have both declined, for the first time since 2009. If new growth engines cannot be sorted out, the economic gains of the past years could have been in vain, Li said. One of the pillar engines is infrastructure construction, he said. According to the Legislative Council, only two of 72 public works projectsworth HK$67.5 billion ($8.68 billion)submitted to the council this legislative year have been passed. The others, including the high-speed rail project, were delayed. Also on Friday, Secretary for Security Lai Tung-kwok condemned the Mong Kok riot, naming it the "most serious challenge" to Hong Kong's rule of law and public order since the reunion with the mainland. He urged all Hong Kong people to reflect on the incident and speak up to help stop violence and radicalization. In response to the riot, the police force established a review committee to enhance the safety and professional competency of police officers in execution of their duties. The committee held its first meeting on Friday. Legislator Jeffrey Lam Kin-fung urged all people to stop radical acts and protect Hong Kong's peace and stability. HANGZHOU - The entry-exit inspection and quarantine bureau in east China's Zhejiang Province on Saturday said that it was conducting epidemiological studies and sampling 32 travellers a day after the province reported China's third Zika patient. It was confirmed on Friday that a 38-year-old man, who had traveled to the city of Yiwu in Zhejiang on Feb 15 from Fiji and Samoa, had the virus, according to the National Health and Family Planning Commission. The patient developed a fever and had been bitten by mosquitos. None of the 32 people that traveled with the patient have developed any related symptoms so far. The bureau advised pregnant women against travelling to countries with Zika outbreaks, as the virus is suspected by medical experts to be linked to microcephaly among newborns. Symptoms of the Zika virus, which spreads to people through mosquito bites, include fever, joint pain, a rash, conjunctivitis, headache and muscle pain. Disease prevention experts said the risk of the spread of the virus was low due to the current low temperature which inhibits mosquito activity. China's first Zika patient was discharged from hospital on Sunday after a full recovery. The second case, also imported, was detected in southern province of Guangdong on Feb 15. Their care and safety is 'mutual responsibility of families, government and society as a whole The central government intends to improve care systems for children left-behind in rural areas by migrant worker parents, a high-level government meeting pledged on Wednesday. A system will be set up to serve such children by reporting on them, intervening and offering assistance as needed, all to keep them from falling prey to criminal activity. The decisions were made at an executive meeting of the State Council presided over by Premier Li Keqiang. The meeting also discussed measures to reduce the number of left-behind children by encouraging migrant workers to permanently move to cities or work near their rural homes. A statement issued after the meeting said that "caring for and protecting millions of children left behind in rural areas, and allowing them to grow safely and in good health is the mutual responsibility of families, government and the society as a whole". Each party, it said, including the local government, village committee and school, must carry out its duties. Charity and social organizations were encouraged to participate to improve the system. China has about 60 million left-behind children. In recent years, a number of tragedies have called attention to their plight. Last year in Bijie, Guizhou province, four children of absent migrant workers committed suicide at home. They were aged 5 to 13. Also in Bijie last year, a 15-year-old girl and her 13-year-old brother were killed at home. Police found that the girl had been sexually assaulted before she was murdered. Their parents were migrant workers away from home. In 2014, 10 villagers were imprisoned for repeatedly raping and sexually assaulting a left-behind 13-year-old girl in Guangxi province. luowangshu@chinadaily.com.cn Progress vowed in agricultural upgrading China will apply new development concepts in its efforts to make agricultural modernization more efficient, inclusive and environmentally friendly, according to a policy document released on Wednesday. The document, publicized by the top CPC authority, vowed "marked progress" in agricultural modernization by 2020. Output should be improved to ensure grain security, while the urban-rural income gap must be narrowed, the document said. The importance of blue sky thinking was also underscored and supply-side structural reform in the agriculture sector was identified as an area that would be given attention. Xinhua An injured TV journalist, center, is helped by his colleague and a riot policeman after being hit by a stone thrown by a protester onto his face during a clash at Mong Kok district in Hong Kong, China, Feb 9, 2016. [Photo/Agencies] Lao Tzu (about 571 - 471 BC), the Chinese thinker best known as the father of Taoism, famously said more than 2,000 years ago that when someone is mad beyond reason it means that person's days are numbered. Herodotus (484 - 425 BC), a celebrated ancient Greek historian, also stated that the god Zeus always made a man go mad before banishing him to the underworld. It has been over two millennia since these wise men lived, but mankind has seen their wisdom proved countless times. On the night of Feb 8, which was the first day of the Year of the Monkey, a riot broke out in the Mongkok area of Hong Kong. It lasted until the small hours of the following day. The incident will be remembered in Hong Kong history as further proof of what Lao Tzu and Herodotus concluded more than 2,000 years ago. This is because the separatist forces - a small but extreme faction of the opposition in the special administrative region - showed that their days are numbered by resorting to such violent behavior. In fact, the opposition already revealed it had the mentality of a gambler in the last quarter of 2014 with the illegal "Occupy" campaign. It used "civil disobedience" as an excuse for attempting to paralyze the heart of Hong Kong's financial services industry. Also known as the "umbrella revolution", this campaign was designed to impose a Western-style political system on Hong Kong which would give the SAR de facto independence. The "Occupy" organizers incited violent attacks on police officers by hundreds of young "occupiers" in the early days of the 79-day campaign. Most of these clashes happened in Mongkok. People should not be surprised if the mindless act of political extremism at the Lunar New Year turns out to have been the opposition's last throw of the dice. "Occupy" was never able to win the support of mainstream Hong Kong society and eventually it fizzled out. The SAR government was then able to clean up the mess more or less peacefully. The fact it ended with hardly a whimper allowed some politically naive people to think the opposition had finally come to its senses. Little did they realize that if "Occupy" succeeded in anything, it was in motivating some factions of the opposition camp to head down the path of radicalism and extremism. British Prime Minister David Cameron arrives at the EU council headquarters for a second day of a European Union leaders summit addressing the talks about the so-called Brexit and the migrants crisis, in Brussels, Belgium, February 19, 2016. [Photo/Agencies] BRUSSELS - European Union leaders agreed unanimously on a package of measures aimed at keeping Britain in the 28-nation bloc at an extended summit on Friday night, European Council President Donald Tusk said. British Prime Minister David Cameron said he had negotiated a deal to give Britain "special status in the EU" and he would recommend it to his cabinet on Saturday. That will fire the starting gun for a fierce campaign for a referendum on Britain's future membership of the bloc expected to be held on June 23, with the outcome deeply uncertain. Both men made their announcements on Twitter as leaders at a summit dinner reviewed an amended text that resolved outstanding disputes over welfare benefits for migrant workers from other EU countries and safeguards for Britain's financial services sector from euro zone regulation. "Deal. Unanimous support for new settlement for #UKinEU," Tusk's message said. The agreement delivered victory to Cameron on several of the key demands on which he chose to fight for what he called "a new settlement" with Europe. He won a commitment to change the bloc's governing treaties in future to recognise that Britain was not bound to any political union and would have safeguards against financial regulation being imposed on the City of London by the euro zone. Cameron earlier postponed a planned cabinet meeting to stay on in Brussels and work for a deal he can sell to sceptical voters, who are almost evenly split over whether to stay in the EU according to opinion polls. After all-night negotiations followed by a long day of private meetings to try to whittle down remaining differences, Tusk and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker put an amended clean text on the dinner table and the leaders quickly indicated their acceptance. Earlier, a plenary session to review progress was postponed several times - from a late "English breakfast" to an "English lunch" and again till dinner at 8 p.m. (1900 GMT) - and leaders were asked to book hotel rooms for an extra night in Brussels. Facing an uphill political battle at home, Cameron was concerned to show Britons that he had won concessions that he believes can reduce an influx of EU migrant workers and keep Britain out of any future political integration. In hours of wrangling with central and east European countries that provide many of Britain's low-paid immigrant workers, he secured the right to curb in-work benefits for up to four years and scale back child benefit for workers whose children remain abroad. WASHINGTON - IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said on Friday that G20 finance ministers and central bank governors should focus on global economic spillovers from their policy decisions when they meet in Shanghai next week. Christine Lagarde, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) attends the session "The Global Economic Outlook" during the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, in this January 23, 2016 file photo. [Photo/Agencies] "The G20 I think, is going to have to focus on spillovers, on spillbacks and on the combination of various policies in play at the moment," Lagarde told reporters after she was re-elected to a second five-year term as the crisis lender's leader. Lagarde said that at the moment, the "asynchronicity" of US, Japanese and European monetary policies needed to be reviewed and practices better coordinated. She also said that G20 ministers should examine the interactions of their countries' fiscal policies and structural reform moves. By better coordinating these policies, the major economies can improve market confidence and limit the spillovers on the rest of the IMF's 188 member countries, she said. Currently, many oil- and commodity-exporting countries are experiencing financial difficulties as the Chinese economy slows. "Are we in a 2009 moment, I don't think so. Are we in a moment where coordination is needed? Yes," Lagarde said, referring to the deepest part of the recent financial crisis and widespread recession. G20 finance ministers and central bank governors will meet in Shanghai on Feb. 25 and 26 amid markets roiled by cheap oil and commodity prices and uncertainty over China's growth rate. Lagarde added that China's transition to a more consumer-driven economy "will not be a walk in the park" and will bring economic difficulties and turbulence, but that she believed Chinese leaders understood their influential place in the global economy as they make restructuring decisions. She said she has urged Chinese leaders to communicate their policy intentions more clearly. "What is critical, for one, is a good and solid communication. This is something that I have said before and this is something that I believe is being heard" by Beijing, Lagarde said. The former French finance minister, 60, was the only nominee as the IMF's chief for the five-year term starting July 5. She was re-elected by board consensus. 'The Phoenix' necklace, by HMR Jewellery, made from 18k gold, hotan jade, diamond and Tahiti black pearl [Provided to China Daily] Chinese art jewelry brand HMR is set to lead a new fashion trend of creating everlasting pieces that capture the soul of Chinese culture and history. The company, founded in 2008 as a business mainly selling precious metal art items, has spent the past five years working on its first art jewelry collection and exhibited more than 20 highlight pieces in central London on Friday to coincide with the beginning of London Fashion Week. Zheng Rui, founder of HMR "Chinese culture is rich, deep and insightful because of our five thousand years of history, so when Chinese cultural elements are incorporated into jewelry we can constantly produce surprises," says Zheng Rui, founder of HMR. "I wanted to create a brand beyond luxury. It will have artistic elements that can be appreciated today and for a long time in the future. It will be a Chinese brand in dialogue with Western culture, creating common understanding through the jewelry's extraordinary beauty and craftsmanship," Zheng says. The pieces in HMR's inaugural collection are richly imbued with references to Chinese philosophy, poetry, and artistic elements. Natural elements like plants, water, mountain and animals commonly occur in the jewelry designs, impeccably made through craftsmanship that HMR developed through extensive research and development, which the firm says is a unique selling point that prevents copying. Extensive details can be observed on the jewelry pieces. One necklace featuring the Buddhist figure Guanyin in a pond surrounded with small water ripples, lotus, roots and flowers, is finely detailed. Even the smallest lines on the lotus flower petals are there, but the overall picture is one of harmony and calmness, and greatly resembles how these elements appear in nature. Another necklace which replicates an ear of wheatmade in gold, is beautifully crafted, eachgrain ear appearing different but fittin in harmony with each other to present the image of the wheat growing full of energy while being blown by the wind. Despite being in a stable state, the wheat necklace visually projects energy and momentum for the viewer, and is crafted to make sure its large number of spikes causes no discomfort to the wearer. "From the details you can really see why it took us five years to create the collection. From an idea's initiation to crafting it into a practical and wearable piece, the process requires frequent communication between the artist, jewelry designer and craftsman, so we often did things again and again to strivefor perfection," Zheng says. The collection, named Yue Jie (which translates as crossing mediums), uniquely combines the work of visual artists who draw out their ideas, jewelry designers who translate the drawings into jewelry pieces, and craftsman who create the pieces. US political and cultural figures mourned the death of author Harper Lee on Friday, crediting her with helping to promote tolerance and quoting her with admiration in social media and formal statements. Lee, whose 1960 book "To Kill a Mockingbird" about racism and injustice in the US South is a classic of American literature, died on Friday at age 89 in her home town of Monroeville, Alabama. "Harper Lee was ahead of her time, and her masterpiece To 'Kill A Mockingbird' prodded America to catch up with her," former President George W. Bush, whose wife Laura Bush is a librarian, said in a statement. Bush, who awarded Lee a Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2007, said she had been a voice for tolerance. Author Stephen King (@StephenKing) honored not only Lee's work but the influence her talent had on another famed author. "Let's celebrate the life of Harper Lee, who wrote an American classic and helped her friend Truman Capote write another," King tweeted Friday. Alabama Governor Robert Bentley said that "it is because of Harper Lee that the world knows about her special hometown of Monroeville." The governor also noted in his statement the celebration in Alabama after the publication last year of Lee's second novel, "Go Set a Watchman" 55 years after the first. Senator Rand Paul, a Republican from Kentucky, and Senator Richard Shelby, a Republican from Lee's home state of Alabama, both praised the Pulitzer Prize winning Lee as a great author. "Today I join Alabamians and all Americans in mourning the passing of Harper Lee," Shelby said in a statement. Admirers of Lee took to Twitter to post quotes from the author, with novelist Erica Jong and Apple Inc Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook joining the chorus. "Rest in peace, Harper Lee. 'The one thing that doesn't abide by majority rule is a person's conscience,'" Cook wrote. And Hollywood celebrities also expressed shock and sadness. "Harper Lee my 1st favorite author!" tweeted Oprah Winfrey (@Oprah). "I always wanted to interview her. She said 'honey I already said everything I had to say.'" "Oh no. The great Harper Lee has passed away," actress Debra Messing said on Twitter. "She changed the world with 'To Kill A Mockingbird.'" Actor Josh Gad tweeted that "To Kill a Mockingbird" was the first book he remembers reading cover-to-cover. "It propelled me toward my love for lit," he said. Fiji declared a nationwide curfew on Saturday, as airlines suspended flights and the prime minister warned people to seek refuge from a cyclone that could prove to be the Pacific island nation's most powerful on record. After twice hammering outlying islands in nearby Tonga last week, Cyclone Winston re-intensified and began to track west towards Suva, the capital of Fiji, packing winds of 230 km per hour (143 mph), with gusts of up to 325 kph (202 mph). Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama urged Fijians to prepare themselves for a "terrible event", Australian broadcaster ABC reported. "We cannot afford to be complacent," it quoted the prime minister as saying. "And I am especially concerned that some people in urban areas do not appear to have heeded the warnings about the seriousness of the threat." A nationwide curfew has been imposed, the government said on social media website Facebook. "A total public curfew will take effect across the country today from 6.00 p.m.," it added. It issued a list of 758 evacuation centres across the nation of just under 900,000 people. As Fiji's weather service warned people in the east to "expect very destructive hurricane-force winds," Suva resident Alice Clements said the power had failed just after 5:00 p.m. and she expected water supplies to be hit next. "I have palm trees flying all around me at the moment," Clements, an official with a U.N. agency, told Reuters. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said Winston was following a path that might spare Suva the full force of its winds, rated as category 5, the highest ranking on the hurricane wind scale. "The cyclone has tracked further north than expected over the past 24 hours," the U.N. agency said. Airlines Virgin and Jetstar suspended flights into and out of Fiji's international airport at Nadi, while the national carrier suspended all flights. BEIJING - China's alleged deployment of a missile system on its Yongxing Island in the South China Sea has been met with frantic overreaction from the United States, which has accused China of "militarizing" the region. "We see no indication that [...] this militarization effort, has stopped. And it's doing nothing [...] to make the situation there more stable and more secure," US State Department spokesperson John Kirby said Thursday as commercial satellite imagery reportedly indicated the "very recent" placement of missiles on Yongxing Island. It is no secret that the island, home to the municipal government of China's southernmost city of Sansha, has seen deployment of defence measures for decades. In fact, it is well within China's sovereignty rights, as granted by international law, and has no relation to any sort of regional "militarization." China has repeatedly made it clear that it has no intention to militarize the region. Its island construction is mainly for maintenance purposes, improving the living conditions for stationed personnel and facilitating the movement of public goods in the region. Then why is the US stirring up this hype? Previous self-defence moves on Yongxing Island seemed to raise little US interest, still less an uproar such as has been seen in recent days. The change itself looks deliberate and questionable. Criticizing China, regardless of the circumstances, seems to be the tool that the US is using to move more of its own military weight to the region. It is the US, rather than China, who is posing the most significant risk of militarization. The US frequently sends military vessels or planes to waters in the South China Sea to conduct reconnaissance against China. A US missile destroyer and strategic bombers intruded waters and airspace adjacent to China's Nansha Islands. Not to mention the joint drills between the USand its allies. Such muscle-flexing has created heightened tension on the sea, enticing US allies to take more provocative measures to press their illegitimate territorial claims. The US, with a global network of military bases, has also reopened its bases in the Philippines, a move widely interpreted as stirring up tension in the region. The US has taken double standards on the militarization in the South China Sea. It automatically links Chinese defence facility deployment to militarization while selectively dodging the Philippines and Vietnam that have militarized the Chinese islands they occupy or the US joint drills and patrols. When asked if sending the large US naval ships and military planes to the region is militarization at a recent press briefing, State Department spokesperson Mark Toner insisted the practice was "basically freedom of navigation." The US, the self-styled guardian of freedom of navigation, rationalizes its navy and air force patrols for such purposes and says it will continue to do so. However, "freedom of navigation does not give one country's military aircraft and ships free access to another country's territorial waters and airspace," as a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson put it. Instead of questioning China about "militarizing" the region, the US should reflect on its own behavior. Stopping patrols, drills and reconnaissance will be the right way for it to serve its own interests and others. China and other claimants of the South China Sea have the capacity to work out their disputes through dialogue and negotiation. As a non-claimant, the US should make good on its repeated commitment that it does not take a position on competing territorial claims. LONDON - British Prime Minister David Cameron has agreed a deal with EU leaders he hopes will persuade Britons to vote to remain in the European Union at a referendum likely in June. Here is the reaction to Cameron's EU deal: GEORGE OSBORNE, BRITISH FINANCE MINISTER "We are stronger, and safer and better off in the EU and the alternative is a big leap in the dark with all the risks that that involves. "I think what you see in this agreement that the Prime Minister has delivered is a special status for Britain in the European Union. "We get the best of the both worlds, we get access to the single market for our businesses, so that creates jobs, but we don't have the costs of the euro zone, we have the security of being in the EU but we are not signed up to ever closer union, we end the something for nothing culture when it comes to benefits from migrants - these are big wins." JEREMY CORBYN, LEADER OF BRITAIN'S OPPOSITION LABOUR PARTY "Despite the fanfare, the deal that David Cameron has made in Brussels on Britain's relationship with the EU is a sideshow, and the changes he has negotiated are largely irrelevant to the problems most British people face and the decision we must now make. "His priorities in these negotiations have been to appease his opponents in the Conservative Party. He has done nothing to promote secure jobs, protect our steel industry, or stop the spread of low pay and the undercutting of wages in Britain. "We will be campaigning to keep Britain in Europe in the coming referendum, regardless of David Cameron's tinkering, because it brings investment, jobs and protection for British workers and consumers. Labour believes the EU is a vital framework for European trade and cooperation in the 21st century, and that a vote to remain in Europe is in the best interests of our people." ALEX SALMOND, FORMER NATIONALIST LEADER OF SCOTLAND "I think the referendum across the UK is on a knife-edge, it will depend entirely on how it's argued. I don't rate the deal that Cameron has done in Brussels, I think it's about marginal issues. If we were dragged out against our will by the votes of a much larger English (electorate), then the pressure for another independence referendum in Scotland would be irresistible and I think very rapid." THERESA MAY, BRITAIN'S INTERIOR MINISTER "It means we keep control of our right to decide which criminal justice measures we participate in. It strengthens our ability to deport dangerous foreign criminals. And while European countries must work together to tackle terrorism, it makes clear that our national security is ultimately our responsibility, not Europe's. "The EU is far from perfect, and no one should be in any doubt that this deal must be part of an ongoing process of change and reform - crucial if it is to succeed in a changing world. "But in my view - for reasons of security, protection against crime and terrorism, trade with Europe, and access to markets around the world - it is in the national interest to remain a member of the European Union." NIGEL FARAGE, HEAD OF UK INDEPENDENCE PARTY "This is a truly pathetic deal. Let's leave the EU, control our borders, run our own country and stop handing 55 million pounds every day to Brussels." JOHN LONGWORTH, DIRECTOR GENERAL, BRITISH CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE "Businesses across Britain will be relieved that the horse-trading between Westminster and Brussels is now concluded, and that the hard work of recent months could potentially deliver some benefits for the UK. "There is no certainty at this stage whether the deal's outcomes are legally enforceable and irreversible. What's more, the deal falls well short of the business expectations we set out nearly a year ago. "If delivered, this deal would change some aspects of the UK's relationship with the EU. Yet it is inescapable that, deal or no deal, the EU itself remains largely unreformed." (Photo : Reuters) The resignation of Xiao Gang, chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), is expected within the coming days. Advertisement China's top securities regulator is stepping down as the country's leaders move to dispell rumors of disarray in the management of the economy and spell out the specifics of how the government intends to supervise China's economic transition, sources with direct knowledge of the matter told the Wall Street Journal on Friday. Like Us on Facebook Advertisement An official announcement on the resignation of Xiao Gang, chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), is expected within the next few days, according to the WSJ, which cites unnamed Chinese officials. Xiao is expected to be replaced by Liu Shiyu, the current chairman of the Agricultural Bank of China and a former deputy governor of the People's Bank of China (PBOC). Xiao and the CSRC have apparently been faulted for ill-advised policy moves after the Shanghai and Shenzhen markets saw a steep rise until the middle of June last year, then a sharp fall. Circuit-Breaker There had been reports that Xiao offered to resign in January, when a "circuit-breaker" mechanism he championed went dramatically awry. The mechanism was intended to limit market sell-off in the wake of official announcements on China's economic slowdown and the subsequent restructuring of the country's economy. Investors claim, however, that the "circuit-breaker" contributed to a series of precipitous declines in the market in the first days of trading this year, tottering investor confidence and setting off market jitters. The Chinese government abandoned the mechanism after only four days in use. The WSJ reports the leadership change at the securities agency has already been approved by China's Central Organization Department. Xiao will be re-assigned as secretary-general of the State Council where he will counsel Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on economic issues. Zombie Hunt This news developed as China's top economic policymakers gathered in Beijing on Friday to present a unified message on the government's efforts to build a consumer-driven economy, shedding its reliance on cheap exports abroad and infrastructure investments at home. Yang Weimin, a deputy director at the Office of the Central Leading Group for Financial and Economic Affairs, said Beijing's efforts to restructure China's economy are crucial to the country's future economic progress. "If we miss the window of opportunity," the WSJ quotes Yang as saying, "we would suffer severe consequences." The next two years are critical to the reduction of the nation's debt and the shuttering of "zombie" businesses and factories, Yang said. He took aim at those who oppose Beijing's reform agenda by continuing to contribute to the country's problems with overcapacity. "Those responsible for overseeing state assets shouldn't drag their feet just because shutting those firms would decrease the amounts of assets they oversee, and local governments shouldn't protect zombie firms," said Yang. Advertisement Tagschina economy and government, China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), Xiao Gang (Photo : Getty Images) Uber is losing about $1 billion a year because of the intense competition it faces in China with Didi Kuaidi. Advertisement Taxi-hailing app Uber is reportedly burning through over $1 billion per year in China as the competition intensifies with another China-based taxi app Didi Kuaidi. Uber's Chinese venture strengthened its valuation on January to over $8 billion after raising over $1 billion from its newest round of funding. However, the firm is not profitable in China yet as competition heats up. In an interview with Canadian tech news site Betakit, Uber CEO Travis Kalanick revealed that "we're profitable in the USA, but we're losing over $1 billion a year in China." Like Us on Facebook Advertisement Kalanick's comments were confirmed by a spokesperson from the company to CNN, explaining that strong profits in other nations are fueling its international expansion. The spokeswoman said that the company though is equipped with financial strength to win over China in the long run, while its biggest rival "spends many multiples of what we do to buy up unprofitable market share." The spokeswoman further said that Uber is currently operating in over 40 Chinese cities and plans to expand to 100 by the end of 2016. Meanwhile, Didi Kuaidi, which is supported by Internet giants Alibaba and Tencent, pushed back. Its spokeswoman Casper Sun revealed that Uber is coming up with "fictitious numbers" and its scheme was volatile and critically challenged. He further added that the company, which holds the lion's share of the Chinese market, is now operating in 400 cities and had passed break-even in half of these cities. Both companies, however, have spent heavily on subsidizing drivers and clients in an attempt to attract more of the market, a strategy analysts claim is unsustainable for long term, according to CNN. Advertisement TagsUber, Didi Kuaidi, china, Tencent, Alibaba (Photo : Reuters) Vietnamese foreign ministry spokesman Le Hai Binh (above) has said China's deployment of missiles on Woody Island is a serious infringement of Vietnam's sovereignty. Advertisement The Vietnamese government on Friday submitted a formal complaint to the United Nations (UN) against China following reports that Beijing has deployed surface-to-air-missile (SAM) batteries to the Paracel Islands in the South China Sea. Like Us on Facebook Advertisement China has controlled the islands since 1974, but its authority over the territory is disputed by Vietnam and Taiwan. The Vietnamese government claims that China's deployment of missiles on Woody Island -- in the eastern Paracels -- is a violation of Vietnamese sovereignty. Vietnam has called on the UN to condemn the move, according to a statement Hanoi sent to Reuters. "These are serious infringements of Vietnam's sovereignty over the Paracels, threatening peace and stability in the region as well as security, safety and freedom of navigation and flight," Vietnamese foreign ministry spokesman Le Hai Binh said in a statement. The call comes a day after Vietnam drew criticism for its failure to respond quickly to reports of China's deployment of missiles on the island. "China Threat Theory" Beijing has said that it has had sea and air defense placements on the Paracel Islands for years. But recent reports of their existence have escalated tensions in the region. This has led China's state-run news portal, the Global Times, to conclude that American ulterior motives are behind the extensive media coverage of the reported missile batteries on the islands. "The hyping by certain Western media is a pure repeat of the 'China threat' theory," said the influential news agency, referring to concerns over China's growing economic and military power. In a statement issued recently to the Russian news agency RIA Novosti, the Chinese defense ministry said China has the right to install military infrastructure on its territory as these are necessary for the protection of national security and sovereignty. "Chinese air defense systems have been on these islands for many years already," said the statement. "Ulterior Purposes" Vietnam's formal complaint against China comes after Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi defended China's refusal to acknowledge the jurisdiction of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) over a case filed by the Philippine government against the legality of Beijing's claims in the South China Sea. Citing the UN Convention of the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), Wang said on Wednesday that China made a public statement of optional exception in 2006, rejecting PCA arbitration on issues concerning territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests. The option is stipulated in the UNCLOS, and over 30 countries throughout the world have made similar optional exception declarations in the past, Wang added. Wang likewise pointed out that -- while generally accepted international protocol requires both parties in a dispute to agree to third party mediation -- the Philippines had initiated PCA arbitration unilaterally. "The Philippines initiation of the South China Sea arbitration with Punic faith makes us doubt whether there are complex international backgrounds and even ulterior political purposes behind the country's stubborn acts," Wang said. Beijing is trying to manage separate maritime and territorial disputes with the Philippines, Brunei, Vietnam, Malaysia and Taiwan -- each of which has overlapping claims in the South China Sea. Advertisement TagsChina-Vietnam relations, Paracel Islands, Territorial disputes in the South China Sea, United Nations (UN) (Photo : Getty Images) China has banned all foreign firms from publishing online in the mainland as a way of policing digital media over concerns that an uncensored cyberspace could jeopardize domestic security. Advertisement China, in an effort to minimize Western influence, has banned all foreign firms from publishing online in the mainland, according to new rules issued this week. A new directive issued by China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology says that companies, which are at least in part, owned by foreigners, will be banned from publishing "words, books, pictures, maps, games, animation and sound of an informational and thoughtful nature" online unless they have approval from the state. Like Us on Facebook Advertisement The new directive categorically stated that only wholly Chinese-owned companies will be able to publish online, subject to strict self-censorship in line with the government's existing policies. Most censored Chinese websites are considered to be among the world's most censored with Beijing blocking many foreign internet websites with a system critics describe as the "Great Firewall of China." The directive, which will take effect next month, is seen by many as the latest move to tighten control over what people in China can view on the internet in an attempt to rein in public speech and thought. Part of the rules directs Chinese publishers cooperating with foreign media to seek the approval of the state before publishing any works online. Unclear Chinese publishing expert Xu Yi said that the implications of the rules were unclear. "I think these regulations provide a legal basis for the government to manage foreign companies setting up websites in China," he said. "I don't think this means that websites opened by foreigners in China will be forced to close...it all depends on the Chinese government's intentions". New media Experts say the rise of new media has prompted China to police digital and social media by introducing new legislation believing that an uncensored cyberspace would jeopardize domestic security. "China is still focused more on maintaining the social stability and national security interests when it comes to making policies on the internet industry, while caring less about the commercial and individual interests," according to Zhang Zhian, director of the school of communication and design at Sun Yat-sen University. Advertisement Tagsforeign firms, online publishing, new directive, Ban, china (Photo : Getty Images) Xiao Gang, the chairman of Chairman of China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), has been fired. Advertisement The chairman of China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) Xiao Gang has been officially dismissed from his post, the state-run Xinhua news agency announced on Saturday. The news of Xiao's dismissal comes following recent reports that he is on the verge of being fired. Like Us on Facebook Advertisement Xiao has been immediately replaced by Liu Shiyu, the former head of the Agricultural Bank of China. Xiao's dismissal comes after CSRC failed to control the volatility in the country's stock market, which has been on a continuous downfall since June last year. Xiao Gang faced severe criticism especially after failure of his much talked about 'circuit-breaker' mechanism, which he introduced in beginning of this year with the promise that it would stem volatility in stock market. The 'circuit-breaker' mechanism, however, ended up leading the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock market to lose about $5 trillion. As a result, it was withdrawn from the market only about four days after its introduction. The circuit-breaker's embarrassing failure sparked off rumors that the government would ask Xiao Gang to resign from his post sooner or later. There were even rumors that he was set to resign. Xiao, however, continued in his post for over a month. The news of Xiao's dismissal has been greeted with cheers across China. Many have voiced the opinion on China's Twitter-like social media platform Weibo that the stock market would surely surge on Monday morning after the news of Xiao's dismissal. At the moment, neither Xiao nor CSRC have issued a statement about the news of his dismissal. Advertisement TagsChinese Stock Market, Xiao Gang, china (Photo : REUTERS /JIM YOUNG /FILES) One of the first video game title to support cross-network play will be Rocket League. Advertisement Tech giant Microsoft has rolled out a handful of new features for its Translator app. The features, which were rolled out on Thursday Feb. 18, vary on the iOS and Android platform. For the Android platform, Microsoft Translator now functions even in the offline mode. Although this might sound unfeasible, Microsoft claims that its Translator on Android feature is as accurate as its online translator contemporaries. Microsoft was able to achieve this feat by integrating a deep neural network-powered engine, the same engine that powers Skype's auto translate function as well as Bing's Translator function. Like Us on Facebook Advertisement In a statement posted on the official Microsoft blog, the Redmond-based tech company wrote, "Deep Neural Networks, also known as Deep Learning, is a state-of-the-art Machine Learning technology that has been in use for almost a year by the popular Microsoft Translator cloud service to deliver high-quality translations to the many experiences it powers." In order to take advantage of this updated Translator on Android, users need to download specific language translation packs in order to make it work. Microsoft said that the language packs can be downloaded for free. At the time of this writing, only nine language packs were available; simplified Chinese, French, German, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Vietnamese. Microsoft said that it working to expand its support to other languages. For iOS users, the update will bring in access to Microsoft's Optical Character Recognition Engine (OCR). This is the same engine that has powered Translator on Windows Phones since 2010. Devices with activated OCR engine can translate written words like street signs or restaurant menus directly on the phones' camera roll. Microsoft's Optical Character Recognition Engine currently supports 21 languages including traditional and simplified Chinese, Turkish, Russian and Hungarian. Microsoft said that these two features are still unavailable on other platforms, but it is working in order to integrate it. Advertisement TagsMicrosoft, Microsoft Translator, Translator for Android, Translator for iOS, Microsoft Translator for iOS, Microsoft Translator for Android The Chocolate Math of it All - v. 9/30/2022 Number of Days Since This Chocolate Bet Started: 5,860 Number of Chocolate Items Eaten: 5,860+ Number of different items combined with chocolate: 371 - from Absinthe to Zucchini) Weight of Chocolate Eaten: ~ 5,860 oz. (366.25 lbs. or 166.12 kg) Total Number of Chocolate Calories Consumed to date: ~ 879,000 (There are, on average, 150 calories in 1 oz. or 28.3 grams of chocolate.) Number of Companies producing chocolate items I've eaten: Approx. 1,592; Number of bean-to-bar makers: 194 Number of Countries where chocolates were made: 66 Number of Pounds of Chocolate Americans Eat: Approx. 11-12 pounds per year; I eat 27 lbs. (more than 12 kg.)/year. Per capita chocolate consumption in Switzerland, Austria, Germany and Ireland: 8-9 kilograms (17-22 pounds)/year. Global demand has stayed high, despite economic fluctuations. Cost of all these Chocolates: A lot of money, but worth every penny. Chocolates range from $1 to $20 each. Occasionally I receive gifts or samples. Copyright Information All other product names, logos, trademarks, and product packaging designs belong to their respective owners. Content and photos are by Corinne C. DeBra unless otherwise noted; all photos are posted in low resolution. Copyright (c) 2006-2021 Corinne C. DeBra, Chocolate Banquet In an attempt to halt deportation of more than 260 people to Nauru, many protestors are standing up for the refugees in Australia. Amongst the protestors, around ten church communities are supporting refugees. St. Cuthberts Anglican Church, Wesley Uniting Church, Gosford Anglican Church, Pilgrim Uniting Church, St. Johns Uniting Church, Paddington Anglican Church, Pitt Street Uniting Church, and Wayside Chapel are all willing to open doors and provide hospitality to the asylum seekers. We offer this refuge because there is irrefutable evidence from health and legal experts that the circumstances asylum seekers, including children, would face if sent back to Nauru are tantamount to state sanctioned abuse, said Peter Catt, the Anglican Dead of Brisbane. The refugees in Australia are in the process of being sent to detention camps in Nauru. It is said that a huge number of severe sexual charges were reported. Many refugees escaped to Australia in search of shelter, protection, and medical treatment. A group called Love Makes A Way has protested at the Minister for Justice Office. They sought to pray and to appeal to Justice Minister Michael Keenan, and to persuade him through their actions that he too may be on their side to help the possible deportees gain their freedom. Nine Christian leaders were immediately arrested afterwards. However, they continue to stand up and support the refugees. Love Makes A Way spokesperson Kate Leaney says, No one should be in detention on Nauru, where there is no functioning hospital - but it would be particularly cruel to rip children out of classrooms and send away these 37 babies born on Australian soil. Out of the 267 people deportees, 37 of them are babies born in Australia. Malcolm Turnbull, the prime minister of Australia, states that he has a resolution to ward off fugitives. This is the initiation of a steady result to come, and is for the best interest of Australia, Turnbull says. Former immigration minister, Scott Morrison, comments that it was a difficult decision; nonetheless, the government has to follow regulations that are printed in the policy. The Australian government has sought to stop refugees from coming in. However, advocates of refugees disapprove of the governments actions and are starting a social media campaign to express their opposition through the hashtag, #LetThemStay. Sen. Cruz Responds to Obama Administration Threat to Veto Bill Honoring Chinese Dissidents 'How Ironic it is that the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate is Threatening to Veto a Bill Honoring the 2010 One' Contact: Senator Ted Cruz Press Office, 202-228-7561 WASHINGTON, Feb. 19, 2016 /Christian Newswire/ -- U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) today responded to the Obama administration's threat to veto his bill to rename the plaza in front of the Chinese embassy in Washington, D.C. as "Liu Xiaobo Plaza," after pro-democracy dissident and Nobel Peace Prize winner Dr. Liu Xiaobo. The U.S. Senate unanimously passed the bill on Friday, and Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) has introduced companion legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives. "The Obama administration's veto threat is yet another outrageous example of its eagerness to coddle an authoritarian Communist regime at the expense of pro-American dissidents," said Sen. Cruz. "The pattern started weeks after President Obama was sworn in when Hillary Clinton travelled to Beijing to reassure the Chinese that they would put human rights on the back burner so they wouldn't interfere with climate change negotiations. It continued last September when the White House put barriers up around the formal reception for President Xi so the Chinese would not be offended by the sight of protesters across the street exercising their First Amendment rights. And it continued Friday when the White House threatened to veto my bill to rename the street outside the People's Republic of China (PRC) embassy 'Liu Xiaobo Plaza' in honor of the world's only jailed Nobel laureate -- despite the fact that it had just passed unanimously through the Senate. Sadly, President Obama and his administration would rather stand with the communist Chinese than with Dr. Liu, whose only crime was to peacefully protest for basic political freedoms. What Obama and Clinton didn't understand in 2009 and they don't understand today is that the moral high ground enjoyed by the United States is an advantage when dealing with a country like China, not something to be voluntarily abandoned. How ironic it is that the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize laureate is threatening to veto a bill honoring the 2010 one. The PRC should be on notice that the obsequiousness of the U.S. administration will end in January, 2017." Sen. Cruz has spearheaded the effort to rename the plaza in Dr. Liu's honor since 2014, and delivered speeches on the Senate floor in September, October, and November of 2015 to call attention to Dr. Liu's plight and human rights abuses in communist China. While seeking passage of his legislation on the Senate floor, Sen. Cruz also highlighted a similar successful effort by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) to rename the street in front of the Soviet embassy 'Sakharov Plaza' after Soviet dissident and human rights activist Andrei Sakharov during the height of the Cold War. Share Tweet UNC excavation crew in Galilee region of Israel uncover first known depictions of biblical heroines An excavation team in Israel has discovered the first known depiction of two biblical heroines from the Old Testament. World to reach 8 billion people in November, India to unseat China as most populous in 2023: UN By Nov. 15, the worlds population is projected to reach 8 billion, and by 2023, India is projected to surpass China as the worlds most populous country, according to a new report from the United Nations. Single, non-religious young adults are most unhappy Americans post-COVID-19: report Young adults under 35 who are single and non-religious report the highest levels of unhappiness since the COVID-19 pandemic began and since 1972, when the General Social Survey began measuring levels of happiness among Americans, a new analysis from the Institute of Family Studies suggests. 10 Christian families evicted from Mexico community, left in the mountains for their refusal to renounce faith Ten Christian families have been evicted from their community in Mexico and left in the mountains after they refused to renounce their faith, according to the International Christian Concern (ICC). The Baptist families, consisting of 18 adults and 10 children, were reportedly expelled from the community of Tuxpan de Bolanos in the state of Jalisco, Mexico last Jan. 26 following a consensus made by its residents, who are followers of syncretistic Catholicism, a religion formed of components of Catholicism and indigenous beliefs and rituals. "At 3 p.m, a town assembly agreement to evict these families from the community was executed by local citizens who gathered the Baptist believers into a pickup truck and abandoned them in the nearby mountains,'' Charisma News reported, citing ICC as source. The Christian organisation condemned the decades-long system of persecution of evangelical Christians in rural Mexico. "ICC is disturbed to learn of another instance of religious minorities being expelled by local governments on the basis of their faith,'' said Nate Lance, ICC's advocacy manager. Lance said the organisation also laments that the state and federal government continue to refuse to protect their religious minorities or prosecute perpetrators, resulting on these families to now become ''religious refugees in their own country.'' "In the strongest terms, we demand that the government of Mexico intervene and reinstate the freedom of worship that their Constitution is meant to guarantee,'' he said. The regional president of the Baptist community, Omar Rodriguez, has reportedly made arrangements with the city government of Guadalajara to house the expelled families. The city has also been asked to dispatch police patrols to transport them to safety, reports said. Some U.S government officials are also trying to help end the persecution of Christian minorities in that country by allowing an open discussion to address the alarming trend. Last July 15, Sen. Marco Rubio questioned Assistant Secretary of State Roberta Jacobson, the current nominee for next U.S. ambassador to Mexico, on how she would address this trend with the Mexican government, the ICC report said. ICC estimated that more than 70 open cases of religious persecution against minority Christian communities, each involving between 20-100 victims, existed in the states of Chiapas, Hidalgo, Oaxaca, Puebla and Guerrero. ICC said it will now include the state of Jalisco to this list. Amish Community Buries Victims of School Shooting A mournful silence hung over Nickel Mines in Pennsylvania yesterday as four of the five victims of Monday's horrific Amish school shooting were laid to rest. |PIC1|The silence was broken only by the rattling of the horse-drawn buggies that streamed through the township bringing relatives and friends to the homes of the victims where the simple and private funerals took place. Naomi Rose Ebersol, seven, Marian Fisher, 13, sisters Mary Liz Miller, eight, and Lena Miller, seven, were all laid to rest Thursday at a hilltop cemetery in Nickel Mines after they died in Monday's shooting rampage by milk lorry driver Charles Carl Roberts IV. Each girl was buried in a plain pine coffin, using no metal in accordance with the Amish belief that all human remains should return to dust. Each was dressed by female relatives in plain white dresses and laid out at home in open caskets as mourners arrived to pay respects, said Rita Rhodes, a local midwife who delivered two of the victims. The funeral of the final victim, Anna Mae Stoltzfus, 12, will take place today as doctors switched off a sixth girl's life support machine so she could be taken home to die her family by her side. Memorial services and prayer vigils across Lancaster County and the entire U.S. gave individuals the opportunity to express their grief and sorrow over the shootings in the one-room schoolhouse in Nickel Mines. The funerals took place as reports of selfless heroism in the moments before the shooting emerged. "They knew they were going to be shot, and nobody begged not to be shot," said Rhodes. According to ABC News, Rhodes reported that the oldest victim, Marian Fisher, allegedly stepped forward in an act of extraordinary bravery and told Roberts to "Shoot me first". Her younger sister, Barbie, who survived, then reportedly said: "Shoot me second." Four other girls aged between six and 13 remain hospitalised in critical or serious condition following the attack by gunman Roberts who police believe wanted to sexually assault the girls before he lined them up in front of the blackboard and shot them "execution-style". One man told of girls in the classroom questioning Roberts as to why he was carrying out the attack before he opened fire. Leroy Zook told the New York Times: "And he told them why: He's angry at God, he's just bitter. He told them that they're supposed to pray for him that he wouldn't do this." Zook told the Times that he had shaken hands with the father-in-law of Roberts since the siege. "I think it's helping him to meet people, too, and see that there's no grudge," he told the Times. "How could you hold a grudge against the wife, the family?" Cardinal George Pell rejects 'baseless' child abuse allegations The Australian cardinal who oversees the Vatican's finances has strongly denied newspaper allegations of involvement in child sexual abuse, describing them as "utterly false". The Sun Herald newspaper reported late Friday that Cardinal George Pell was being investigated by Australian police over allegations of abuse while he was serving in senior positions within the Catholic Church in Australia. Pell has called for a public inquiry to be conducted into police in the state of Victoria, saying the allegations were leaked "to do maximum damage" before he gives evidence at the end of the month to a child abuse inquiry in his homeland. Victorian police said they could not comment on any investigations into any individuals. Pell, once seen as a contender to become pope, was cleared earlier this week to testify at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse via videolink, because of a heart condition. The ruling frustrated victim groups who wanted him to appear in person. They have since begun a crowdsourcing campaign to raise money to travel to Rome in the hope of seeing him testify in person. The Sun Herald report said Victorian police had compiled a dossier containing allegations that Pell committed "multiple offences" when he was a priest in Ballarat, a town in the west of the state, and also when he was archbishop of Melbourne. The inquiry has been gathering evidence for a year, the paper said. In a lengthy statement issued by his office in Rome in response to the report, Pell called on senior police and government officials to "immediately investigate the leaking of these baseless allegations." "The allegations are without foundation and utterly false," the statement said. "These undetailed allegations have not been raised with the Cardinal by the police." Pell would cooperate with police if they wished to question him, the statement added. The Royal Commission heard testimony last year that priests suspected of abuse in Pell's former diocese were moved between parishes and put in church-appointed rehabilitation instead of being reported to police. Pell, 74, has denied those allegations. He is due to testify from Rome via videolink on February 29. 'Narcos' season 2 spoilers: Series to stick to Pablo Escobar's real-life timeline The second season of Netflix's groundbreaking series "Narcos" has yet to be released, but fans of the show are already concerned about the show because its lead character Pablo Escobar dies in the upcoming season. If the historical drama will stay true to the events that happened in Escobar's life, it means that the infamous Colombian drug lord only has 18 months to live after he managed to break out of La Catedral prison. This means that Wagner Moura's character could not possibly survive after the end of season 2. Showrunner Eric Newman earlier confirmed that they will stick to Escobar's timeline when the series returns for its sophomore season. During the Television Critics' Association's press tour in January, Newman revealed several key details about the upcoming season. "Trust me, if we could find a way to keep him alive and keep Wagner on the show..." the showrunner said in the press panel, as reported by Slash Film. "He will die. The design of the show is we told 15 years of history in season one. At the point of Escobar's escape, which is the summer of 1992, Escobar has 18 months to live. That's not something we can change. To stretch that out beyond another season would be disingenuous of us. That story was always designed to have an ending." However, Newman also said that they are also contemplating several ideas for the series after Escobar's death in "Narcos" season 2. He believes that there were other events that happened in the drug cartel world after the fall of the wealthiest criminal in history, but they have yet to commit to any of those at the moment. He cited how "Homeland" managed to survive after the death of one of its lead characters after season 3. But he admitted that they are still focused on creating the "best version of season 2" before they could think beyond the current season. The production for "Narcos" season 2 is currently ongoing in Colombia, and the series is expected to be released by Netflix in August, one year after season 1 was released. National Clergy Council Meets Families of Amish School Shooting Victims The President of the National Clergy Council in the U.S., the Rev Rob Schenck, has met all day with families of both the victims and the perpetrator of the Amish school shootings in rural Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. He will appear on Larry King Live in the U.S. tonight where he will give an interview on his time spent with the families. Rev Schenck met the relatives as the head of the Washington DC-based interdenominational organisation which represents more than 5,000 clergy and 20,000 lay associate members. He met the mother of one of the girl victims and was afforded the rare privilege of witnessing the highly private wake along with scores of extended family members. The wake was held in the girl's home. Rev. Schenck had earlier spent time with the parents and other family members of shooter Charles Roberts. "This tragic event is one of the saddest and most agonising situations I have ever faced," said Schenck, adding, "All the people caught up in this tragedy are victims and we must not forget that. I conveyed the sympathy and support of churches and people of Christian faith across the country for all the families so devastated by this enormous horror - and they received that message with comfort and deep gratitude." According to a Sky News report, families of some of the children murdered in the rural Bart township have invited the wife of the killer, Marie Roberts, to the funerals. Vigils were held across the state of Pennsylvania to remember the five Amish schoolgirls as the healing process begins in the tight-knit community. The Amish community of Nickel Mines have touched hearts with their appeals for forgiveness, not anger, in the aftermath of Monday's horrific and devastating tragedy that left five girls dead and five more critically injured. Members of the Amish community said they were sad and disappointed but not angry. "It's just not the way we think. There is no sense in getting angry," said Henry Fisher, 62, a retired farmer with five grown children and 33 grandchildren who has lived all his life in the town some 60 miles west of Philadelphia. Marie was at a prayer meeting when Roberts, 32, called during the standoff in the schoolhouse and confessed that he had molested two female relatives when they were three to five years old. Police also believe that the death of his prematurely born daughter, Elise, in 1997 may also have been a motive behind the attack, which police believe Roberts had been planning for up to a week. Utah governor supports proposed bill to administer anaesthesia to unborn babies during abortion Utah's Republican Gov. Gary Herbert has thrown his support to a proposal to administer anaesthesia to unborn babies during an abortion procedure, calling it the "most humane" way to end a human life. "You know, abortion is a very emotional issue," Herbert told reporters, according to KSL. "Rather than get into the abortion debate, I guess the question is: If we're going to have abortion, what is the most humane way to do it?" He said he doesn't know at what point a foetus may feel pain. "Foetuses have a heartbeat after about five weeks. And the idea of just being callous about that should cause all of humanity's concern," said Herbert, who is opposed to abortion. He added that if foetuses feel pain, then he is in favour of a bill being crafted by Republican state Sen. Curt Bramble to "eliminate that discomfort." He added that he will review his bill once it's drafted. Bramble told KSL Newsradio that the bill intends to protect from "the pain inflicted at the time that the unborn child's life is taken." Montana lawmakers passed a similar bill last year requiring foetal anaesthesia for surgeries, including abortion after 20 weeks of gestation. However, this was vetoed by Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock. About a dozen states have approved a ban on abortion after 20 weeks to protect "unborn children who are capable of feeling pain," according to the National Right to Life Committee. Planned Parenthood's Karrie Galloway, CEO of the abortion provider in Utah, is opposing the bill, saying "obviously, he [Herbert] wants to insert his political opinion in a private decision between a woman and her physician," the Associated Press reported. Nearly 60 million children have been aborted in America since the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision of Roe v. Wade, the Christian News Network reported. Dear Abby: I have been in a relationship with my girlfriend, "Allison," for two years, but lately there have been frequent rough patches. I'm 18 and a college student. I love Allison, but the relationship is taking a toll on us. We have had to deal with separation ever since we got together. She's the only one with a car and a "real" job. I work on campus in a work-study program in exchange for reduced tuition. I try to help Allison as much as I can to reduce the stress on her. She has asked me to transfer schools, but I'd like to stay where I am because I feel I will have the ability to make something of myself. I have suggested that maybe we need to go our separate ways so she doesn't have to pull the majority of the weight, but she gets upset and accuses me of not loving her. What should I do? Stressed Student in Georgia Dear Student: First let me suggest what not to do. Do not allow Allison to pressure you into changing schools. It is important that you complete your education, and there is no guarantee that the financial arrangement you have with this school can be replicated somewhere else. You and Allison are young, and long-distance relationships are often hard to maintain. That she is carrying the lion's share of the load right now is unfortunate, but it won't last forever. If she's unwilling to accept that, then I agree that perhaps it's time for a break. Dear Abby: Years ago, I wrote to your mother about the many difficulties and stress of raising a very disabled son. Her advice gave me and my wife much needed encouragement. I keep her framed handwritten letter above my desk. Our son passed away unexpectedly 17 months ago. Our family, neighbors and community gave us lots of support. Our son was loved by all. But for the past few months, it seems as if it is taboo for anyone to ask about how we are doing. Even if I mention our son in the context of a conversation, there is no follow-up. I can understand people may be reluctant to open up a sorrow. However, I want to let them know it is OK to ask, "How are you doing?" It just would be nice if people would still acknowledge his life and that we all still miss him. Always His Dad Dear Dad: I am glad you wrote because you are not alone in having this heartache. As a general rule, people are uncomfortable bringing up the subject of death because they are afraid they will cause the person more sadness. Rarely is this true. People who have suffered a loss need to know their loved one hasn't been forgotten. No one should be afraid to share a warm memory, or ask how a grieving family member is doing. To show that kind of sensitivity is a generous gift. DearAbby.comDear AbbyP.O. Box 69440Los Angeles, CA 90069Universal Press Syndicate This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Efforts to ban black men suspected of being gang members from a court-ordered "safety zone" in a southeast Houston neighborhood are discriminatory and were undertaken without the knowledge of the community, lawyers for the defendants charged Thursday. At a news conference, the attorneys, accompanied by local residents, charged that the men excluded from the Southlawn neighborhood were targeted because they are African-Americans and said the action will keep some of them from their homes. "What we are seeing is an over-arching display of lazy policing," said Brennen Dunn, who represents a dozen defendants. "We're going to do what we have to do to fight against it." Last September, state and Harris County officials quietly began the legal process in civil court to permanently ban 92 individuals allegedly associated with the Bloods, Crips and other gangs from a 2 square mile area of the Southlawn neighborhood south of the University of Houston and Texas Southern University. Southlawn is the third "safety zone" created recently in Harris County. The other two are the East Aldine/Haverstock area in northeast Harris County and the Brays Oaks community in southwest Houston. According to U.S. Census data, the population in two of the zones - Southlawn and East Aldine/Haverstock - is 70 percent African American and in the third, 41 percent are African American and 40 percent are Hispanic. In 2014, residents in the Haverstock/Aldine zone reported reduced crime, following a 2010 injunction involving an apartment complex. The zone expanded three years later. Safety issues cited Southlawn activists charged Thursday that they only found out about efforts to exclude the men last week as lawyers who represent some of the defendants started distributing copies of the lawsuit at community meetings and talking to organization leaders. A hearing on a permanent injunction is scheduled for April. Robert Soard, first assistant Harris County Attorney, acknowledged Thursday officials had sought to keep the legal efforts to ban the men quiet out of a concern over "safety issues." "Early on there was a conscious decision made to keep this a little bit under the radar," Soard said. "These were very serious allegations against individuals within that area. There were a lot of them. All of them had to be served and if there were publicity on it, it would have made it difficult to have papers served on them." Former gang interventionist Charles X. White said the "discriminatory injunction on black men" was done in "secrecy" and announced a public hearing called by community members and activists at 6:30 p.m. on Feb. 25 at South Union Church of Christ. He said he intends to invite Harris County Attorney Vince Ryan and District Attorney Devon Anderson. Houston defense lawyer Monique Sparks said police are labeling people as gang members based on subjective criteria. Reading from the Houston Police Department's gang policy, she noted that the general order states that "when in doubt about whether or not an incident should be coded as a gang crime officers should code the report as a gang crime." "When in doubt: Gang crime. That's why there are 92 men on this list," said Sparks, who represents a dozen men named in the lawsuit. Activists said that even though most people in Harris County do not live in these neighborhoods and are not black men, everyone should be concerned about this method of addressing alleged criminal activity. "There has not been one piece of legislation that was aimed at improving the conditions of black people that only benefitted black people," White said. "So when we get help, everybody gets help. The county and the police can apply this to any ethnic group. We want to stop it here." Soard said that the injunction lawsuits do not seek black male exclusion from certain neighborhoods, but are filed in response to reports from law enforcement about crime hot spots. He said officials have proceeded with cases only when there is sufficient evidence. He added that a permanent injunction hearing on the Southlawn case will include "many local residents who are asking that this injunction be issued - apartment complexes, apartment managers, people identified in our pleadings. This would not go forward unless there were witnesses on the scene available and willing to testify. It's more than just police officers." Ryan said the injunction efforts are part of the county's "community protection program." "We are responding to the police department and other concerned groups about these gangs in these neighborhoods." The Southlawn safety zone includes 1,326 acres and is roughly bounded by I-610, Texas 288, Old Spanish Trail and Cullen. There is no temporary injunction in force, but agreed orders with about 50 defendants who have legal representation. Those filings exclude them from a small area near the Southlawn Palms apartments - which is the entity with the major complaint about gang activity, according to the defense lawyers and Soard. "In order to move this forward, we had to come to an agreement on the Scott block between Yellowstone and Lydia, where, right now, these young individuals are not allowed to be," Dunn said. This month, 14 men were legally excluded from the entire zone by "default" because they did not respond to the lawsuit. "So, they are permanently banned from that community - from the entire 2 miles," Sparks said. "Some of them are in prison. When they come home, they will have no home to go to." Violating the injunction switches the issue from a civil matter to a potential criminal charge. At least one man who agreed last year not to show up in the area was spotted by police in January. A contempt charge was filed against Billy Duncan last week. He could face jail and a fine. In November, a Houston federal judge questioned whether the county's approach to excluding certain individuals, particularly one of the men who was incarcerated, conformed with the rights to due process afforded by the Constitution. Due process concern U.A. Lewis, an attorney who represents defendant DeAndre Fizer, tried to have the injunction lawsuit transferred to federal court to have constitutional questions resolved - namely potential violations of the rights to freedom of association, speech, assembly, travel and unreasonable search and seizure. Fizer is serving a six-year sentence in federal prison for a felon-in-possession-of-a-firearm conviction and has a 2019 release date, according to Bureau of Prison records. Last September, the 22-year-old was being held pending trial. "Him being enjoined makes no sense," Lewis said. "He was already in jail He is not a threat to the community and he should be able to come back to the community once he serves his debt to society." U.S. District Judge Vanessa Gilmore determined that the injunction sought relief under state law but did not allege any federal questions, so she remanded the case to state court. Still, the judge had concerns the defendant was not given the chance to appear at a hearing in the case. "Although there does not appear to be a federal question in the current petition, the court would note that [Fizer] appears to have raised due process issues which could potentially create a right to relief under federal law," she said in an order issued in November. "The court notes that it appears that the state court issued a show cause order requiring Fizer to appear at the temporary injunction hearing but failed to send a bench warrant to the Harris County Jail to allow him an opportunity to appear at the hearing. This could create a constitutional claim for future consideration by the court." Data reporter John D. Harden contributed analysis for this story. The Texas health commission finally has chosen a company to run a long-delayed massive data project, awarding it to the same firm whose tentative contract was canceled in 2014. The commission disclosed this week that it had decided to award a $104 million contract for the Enterprise Data Warehouse project to Truven Health Analytics of Ann Arbor, Mich., the company that lost the tentative contract award over cost concerns and fears the firm was getting inside information. A commission spokesman said the state chose Truven over six other applicants only after officials reduced the scope of the project and got the company to dramatically reduce its cost proposal. In all, the $104 million contract total is nearly $35 million less than what was being discussed in 2014, said the spokesman, Bryan Black. "The Health and Human Services Commission is excited the contract is signed and we are moving forward," Black said. The award, contingent on approval from the federal government, means the project has a contractor for the first time since lawmakers funded it in 2007, calling for it to be operational by February of 2009. First discussed in 2005, the project was envisioned as a gargantuan database housing dozens of different sets of information about transactions in everything from welfare benefits to Medicaid. Putting it all together, officials believed, would improve services and spur savings. Over the years, state budget writers have set aside more than $100 million for the project -- money that could not be used elsewhere -- and spent $12 million, mostly on consultants. The project continually encountered delays, however. Some of the issues were the fault of the commission, while others were due to the federal government, according to state officials. Health commission officials thought they finally had gotten the project on track in the spring of 2014, when they awarded a tentative contract award to Truven and opened cost negotiations. Then came the eruption of a contracting scandal over alleged favoritism by commission officials toward another data company, 21CT of Austin. In a meeting in August of 2014, commission lawyer Jack Stick, who already had steered a Medicaid fraud detection project to 21CT, seemed to imply in a meeting that that company could do the Enterprise Data Warehouse for less money than Truven. Two weeks later, negotiations with Truven were over, the Houston Chronicle revealed. The commission blamed cost and said there had been a leak that led the company to learn about Stick's comment. Officials blamed project manager Leah Rayne for the leak, and fired her. Stick and four other commission officials eventually resigned in connection with the 21CT scandal, and the Medicaid fraud project was canceled. The data warehouse project was put out for bid in November of 2014. The project's updated timeline called for a tentative award to be issued by April of 2015 and the project to start by that September, but again, there were delays. Now, officials are hopeful the project can start soon, although that is not yet clear. "The timeline for entering the contract and getting started is dependent on (federal) approval, which can take up to 60 days," Black said. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate The wife of notorious Mexican drug cartel lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman fears for her husband's life at the hands of prison officials and the Mexican government, the former beauty queen told Telemundo News. RELATED: 'La Patrona,' financial operator for Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman captured in Mexico Telemundo will air an exclusive in-depth interview with Emma Coronel Aispuro, a California-born pageant queen who apparently married the drug lord on her 18th birthday, on Sunday, the network announced Friday. In a sit-down with Mexican journalist Anabel Hernandez, Aispuro claims that her husband's health has deteriorated in the Antiplano prison since the Sinaloa cartel leader was recaptured on January 8. "I am afraid for his life," Aispuro told Hernandez."We don't know if he is eating well. We don't know what his situation is because we haven't seen him." RELATED: Photos surface of new Mexican criminal organization declaring war on powerful drug cartel Guzman escaped from the Antiplano prison through a tunnel in the shower area of his cell in July. The drug lord's escape was considered a major embarrassment for the Mexican government as Mexican marines mounted a nationwide manhunt. Marines finally caught up to Guzman at a home in Los Mochis in January. Guzman's lawyer has alleged that prison guards in the Antiplano prison are not allowing his client to sleep. "They want to make him pay for his escape," Aispuro said in the interview. "They say that they are not punishing him. Of course they are. They are there with him, watching him in his cell. They are right there, all day long, calling attendance. They don't let me sleep. He has no privacy, not even to go to the restroom." RELATED: Alleged Sinaloa cartel hit man 'The Surgeon' arrested for drug possession near Texas border The special, titled "The Queen of El Chapo," will detail Aispuro's life with Guzman including when and where the pair were married, her life as Guzman's wife and the drug lord's relationship with his twin daughters. "Not everything people say is true," Aispuro says in the interview. "I think that all human beings have the right to have at least the basic things for life handy. They are not giving that to him." jfechter@mySA.com Twitter: @JFreports The summers final Live on the Waterfront concert was held Wednesday evening at Prince Arthurs Landing. The popular series in Thunder Bay has completed nine weekly shows that began on July 13. Wednesdays concert was unique as it was held one hour later in the evening to mesh with the 10 p. Leviticus 12:1-14:32 ~ Click here to read today's Scripture on BibleGateway.com ~ // Mobile Site Link ~ Listen to today's Scripture on ESVBible.org ~ Today in Leviticus chapter 13 we read about contagious skin diseases and mildew. Quite a chapter! It does make sense to me that this level of detail is given by God on these topics. These instructions were health instructions for the community of Israel as a whole. The NIV Study Bible notes that "the ceremonially unclean were excluded from the camp (the area around the tabernacle and courtyard), where the Israelites lived in tents. Later, no unclean persons were allowed in the temple area, where they could mingle with others." I look at this from the standpoint that they did not have medicines back then to heal people of these contagious diseases - and as such, the only way to keep the diseases from spreading to the entire population was to isolate the sick. I know this doesn't sound compassionate on the surface... but was there a better option at that time? In the New Testament we read about Jesus curing people of leprosy, which was a couple of thousand of years later. It's obvious that skin diseases were a major issue in Moses' day and through Jesus' day - as was mildew during Israel's rainy season of October through March - particularly along the coast and by the Sea of Galilee where it is very humid. Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Leviticus chapter 13 begins at this link and you'll see a few "Next Commentary" links at the bottom of each page to take you through the chapter. On a side note, leprosy, or Hansen's disease, is still in existence in our world today, though at much lower incidence rates than ever before. It is a sad disease to learn about... I did a google image search on the word leprosy and was pretty shocked by the pictures. The World Health Organization's website says this - "Today, diagnosis and treatment of leprosy is easy. Essential work is being carried out to integrate leprosy services into existing, general health services. This is especially important for communities at risk for leprosy, which are often the poorest of the poor and under-served. Full control of leprosy has eluded mainly in some parts of Angola, Brazil, India, Madagascar, Mozambique, Nepal, and United Republic of Tanzania." More info on leprosy in our world today is at the World Health Organization's website at this link. All of a sudden now these 3 verses about Jesus and leprosy in Matthew chapter 8 verses 1 through 3 really stand out to me... - "When Jesus came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him. A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean. Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. I am willing, he said. Be clean! Immediately he was cured of his leprosy." YouTube: Per our readings in Leviticus today, below is a brief documentary about Hansen's disease: Comments from You: What verses or insights stand out to you in today's readings? Please post up by clicking on the "Comments" link below! God bless, Mike p.s. Download our monthly Small Group study notes for our Chronological Bible readings at this link. p.p.s. Download a schedule of our Chronological Bible readings for the year in PDF format at this link. p.p.p.s. I would greatly appreciate it if you would pray for this Chronological Bible Blog ministry today. Thanks! Casey Anthony: 'Tot Mom' Pregnant Again After Death of Daughter Caylee? Casey Anthony was considered as America's most-hated woman after she was acquitted of murdering her two-year-old daughter, Caylee back in 2011. Now, according to a new report, the accused murderer is expecting another child! Not only is she allegedly pregnant, Anthony actually believes she "can be a good mom." HollywoodLife reports that according to In Touch magazine, five years after her acquittal, the 29-year-old "Tot Mom" is now shockingly expecting another baby but won't reveal who the father is. Shes telling friends her wish has come true and shes pregnant, the source told the magazine. She believes she has a bright future and can be a good mom. The source then revealed that the tragic incident of losing her daughter didn't change Anthony's partying ways. She seemed to have moved on from the horrific situation and is now living her life to the fullest. Its the same old Casey, the source shared. The site added that Anthony is "back to hitting up local bars in West Palm Beach." The source went on to say that as Caylee's mom had been enjoying herself at the club, she then met a guy and now she's pregnant. Anthony was reportedly "excited" about the baby news and believes that this is such a good thing for her. Shes been seeing a guy she met on the club scene, and now she believes he got her pregnant. Shes excited, the source revealed. She believes that having a new baby would make her life perfect. If that's not enough, another source shared that Anthony "thinks she has a new, free life with a wonderful future. Casey Anthony was accused of killing Caylee but was found not guilty. The prosecution didnt find any incriminating evidence that tied her to the crime and she was set free. 2016 The Classical Art, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. TagsCasey Anthony Calvin Harris Treats Taylor Swift Like Princess After Big Grammy Night Although Calvin Harris was a no-show during the Grammy Awards 2016, he had a valid reason for it and he totally made it up afterward to his multi-Grammy Award winning girlfriend, Taylor Swift. The superstar DJ joined her at the Grammys after-parties and he reportedly made sure that the "Bad Blood" singer had a romantic morning the next day. Harris and Swift had a blast during last year's Grammys, but this year the 26-year-old hitmaker brought BFF Selena Gomez as her date instead. But this doesn't mean that they are having some relationship issues, the Scottish recording artist and remixer supported her from afar during the actual ceremony and celebrated her win at the after-parties. Calvin Harris spent the night with Taylor Swift at her Bev Hills home after her victorious and very emotional night at the Grammys, the source shared to HollywoodLife exclusively. She may have had Selena [Gomez] as her date, but her man was quietly supporting her from behind the scenes. Swift had an epic Grammys night but she was stressed prior to the ceremony after learning about Kanye West's diss song "Famous." Even after bagging three wins including Album of the Year, Harris still thinks that his main squeeze still needs one more gift. Taylor wanted to stand strong as an independent woman at the award show, but wanted Calvin with her leading up to, and after the big night, the source revealed. Calvin was there for Taylor at the after parties and this morning, as they slept in late after a long night. To celebrate her big win and great speech Calvin even made her breakfast in bed! It looks like West's diss backfired on him, because while he was busy sharing about his money problems, Taylor is busy munching on some homemade breakfast while staring at her three brand new trophies. A photo posted by Taylor Swift (@taylorswift) on Feb 16, 2016 at 2:10pm PST 2016 The Classical Art, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. TagsCalvin Harris, Taylor Swift, Grammys 2016 AKRON, Ohio -- An Akron man admitted Friday to his role in helping kill a 17-year-old boy. David Quarterman, 19, pleaded guilty to complicity to voluntary manslaughter with a gun. Quarterman will be sentenced March 24 by Summit County Common Pleas Judge Tammy O'Brien after a full background check. Quarterman agreed as part of the plea deal that he would testify against co-defendant Marcus Price in the aggravated murder of Ahmed Hill-Crim. Price's trial is scheduled to begin on Monday. Price, 19, is charged with aggravated murder, murder and tampering with evidence in the Feb. 15, 2015 fatal shooting on Colfax Road near Gale Street. Neighbors heard gunshots and found Crim-Hill dead in an alleyway. Neighbors also saw two men running from the area after the gunshots. Quarterman also pleaded guilty in connection with a January 2015 home invasion. Quarterman and his then-16-year-old brother Devaughn Quarterman are accused of pointing guns at three men on Jan. 21 inside a home in the 800 block of Barbara Avenue. The duo demanded money. A 29-year-old man who lived there told the duo they had no money. The younger Quarterman then shot the 29-year-old man in the leg. Devaughn Quarterman is facing charges as an adult. NORTH RIDGEVILLE, Ohio -- The North Ridgeville High School Academic Recognition Committee (ARC) is accepting nominations for the 28th annual Distinguished Alumni Hall of Fame induction. To be eligible for the nomination, the person must have graduated from North Ridgeville High School at least five years ago. Nominations for the Alumni Hall of Fame should include the following information: alumnus name, current address, year of graduation from North Ridgeville High School and occupation. Biographical information about the nominee listing distinguishing honors, community service and other accomplishments should also be included. The nominator's name, address and phone number will be needed to complete the nomination process. ARC is a group of dedicated parents, administrators, and teachers, who recognize students for their academic accomplishments by sending letters of recognition every quarter, award scholarships to graduating seniors, and host the academic awards ceremony each May. Objectives of ARC include supporting the academic endeavors of North Ridgeville High School, promote and stimulate community interest in all academic activities of the High School and to encourage and recognize academic excellence at North Ridgeville High School. The induction ceremony will take place May 17 at the high school. Receiving the Distinguished Alumni honor in 2015 were Adam Hill (Class of 1996) and Michael Sheehan (Class of 1979). Send nominations to Tom Szendrey, Principal, Attn: Hall of Fame, North Ridgeville High School, 34600 Bainbridge Road, North Ridgeville, OH 44039. Deadline for nominations is March 14. AVON Sweet music: Come out and enjoy the talented student musicians in Avon at the Chocolate Symphony #6 Feb. 27 from noon -5 p.m. at Avon High School, 37545 Detroit Road. The event features performances from all Avon orchestras from grades 5-12. Chocolate treats are served with ticket purchase. Cost is $5 for adults and children 6 and over; seniors and veterans are $3; children 5 and under are free. Basket raffles and silent auction items donated by local businesses are also included. "Shrek the Musical" tickets available: Get your tickets now for the Avon High School Drama Club's production of "Shrek the Musical." Show dates and times are March 11 at 7 p.m., March 12 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. and March 13 at 2 p.m. at Avon High School, 37545 Detroit Road. This is sure to be a sell-out so order your tickets today. Log on to seatyourself.biz and search "Shrek" or "Avon High School." Safety Town registration: Safety Town is a program offered to Avon residents/students that will be entering kindergarten in the fall. The one-week sessions will be held June 6-10 and June 13-17. Three time slots are available. Parents are encouraged to check other activities their children may be involved with this summer as the Parks and Recreation Department cannot always accommodate class changes. The program is not required for entrance into kindergarten. Cost is $25 and classes are held behind the former Village School (now the school district's Board of Education offices), 36600 Detroit Road. To register, log on to bit.ly/1Qi3hS1. Adult co-ed softball registration: Games will be played on Sundays May 1 through July 10. No games will be played Memorial Day and Fourth of July weekends. A single elimination tournament will be held on July 17. Game times are 4:30, 5:45 and 7 p.m. The team fee of $250 includes 16 T-shirts and one dozen balls. Umpire fees of $30 per team must be paid before each game. The league has a 12 team maximum. Registration deadline is April 6. To register, log on to bit.ly/1Qi3hS1. Dr Seuss' birthday: Join the celebration at the Lorain Public Library System's Avon Branch March 2 between 2 and 7 p.m. There will be crafts and activities for you to stop in and do, as well as a special story time at 6 p.m. featuring teen volunteer readers from you know who. Preregistration is required and is available online at LorainPublicLibrary.org or by calling the library at 440-934-4743. AVON LAKE "Urine Town" shows: If you missed it last week, you still have time to catch Mighty Goliath's production of the musical "Urine Town" at the Daniel B. Ross Performing Arts Center, 175 Avon Belden Road, Feb. 26-27 at 7:30 p.m. For tickets, email tickets@mightygoliath.com. Public health services meeting: A special public town hall meeting is scheduled for Feb. 29 at 7 p.m. with Mayor Greg Zilka and Health Commissioner Dave Covell from the Lorain County General Health District discussing changes in public health services in the city. The meeting will take place at Learwood Middle School (auditorium), 340 Lear Road. Candy science at the library: On March 5 from 2-3 p.m. try fun experiments to unwrap the secrets inside your favorite sticky, sweet and colorful treats. Event is for children grades 3-6. Registration is required beginning Feb. 27 at the Children's desk at the Avon Lake Public Library or online at alpl.org. ALECPTA Kids Closet tables available: More than 100 participants will be selling gently used infant, children, teen and maternity items, including clothing, toys/games, furniture and related gear at the annual Avon Lake Early Childhood PTA's Spring Kids Closet resale event April 9 from 7 a.m.-noon at Avon Lake High School Auxiliary Gym, 175 Avon Belden Road. Tables are now available for the sale. The cost to rent a 10x10 foot space is $30 and $25 for ALECPTA members. Spaces are available on a first come, first serve basis and limited to three per seller. For more information, contact alecpta.kidscloset@gmail.com. To register, log on to alecpta.org. "Spring cleaning season is approaching, so whether you're looking to clear out closets and make extra cash or stock up on infant, child, teen or maternity items, we have you covered," said Lindsey Geiss, ALECPTA board member, Kids Closet committee. "Parents, expectant moms, grandparents and others can score great deals on high-quality, gently used and even new products. The event also features a bake sale, and we have arranged a collection by local nonprofits for any remaining items sellers wish to donate to families in need following the event." Kindergarten registration: It's that time of year. If you have a child entering kindergarten in the fall, the Avon Lake City Schools have outlined the steps needed to register. Step 1: Go to the district website, avonlakecityschools.org and click on the "new student registration" link found under the district information column. Find the 2016-2017 Kindergarten Registration section and click on "online kindergarten registration" where you will be directed to the InfoSnap portal to create an account. After doing so, proceed as prompted. Step 2: After completing the online kindergarten portion of the registration, gather the necessary documents as listed. Step 3: Bring the documents to one of the registration days - March 7, 8 and 10 in the Performing Arts Center (PAC) at Avon Lake High School, 175 Avon Belden Road, between 7:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. Parking will be available in the north lot in front of the PAC. Please use the PAC main lobby entrance as school will be in session. For more information, contact Laura Kramer at 440-933-0984 or laura.kramer@avonlakecityschools.org. NORTH RIDGEVILLE Museum open house: The North Ridgeville Historical Society will host an open house at the Old Town Hall Museum, 36119 Center Ridge Road, Feb. 28 from 2-5 p.m. The Old Town Hall was built in 1882 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The museum is home to various exhibits from over 200 years of local history and all ages are welcome. Steel drum band performance: All ages are welcome to enjoy the sounds of Trinidad and Tobago played on steel drums and other instruments from 7 Mile Isle at the Lorain Public Library System's North Ridgeville Branch Feb. 28 from 3-4 p.m. The performance is sponsored by The Friends of the North Ridgeville Branch Library, Inc. For more information, call the library at 440-327-8326. Club enhances creativity: More than 100 second and third-graders registered to participate in the new Creator Club at Liberty Elementary School. The club gives students the opportunity to design, create and build using a variety of mediums such as wood, Legos and recycled materials. The club was created by the North Ridgeville Supplemental Review Committee and approved by the Board of Education after observing needs and student interest to expand on art and project-based learning initiatives. Projects club members will work place emphasis on design and mechanics - using 3D images and combining different types of materials to form new creations. Students work as teams and share ideas, knowledge and concepts in a project-based learning environment. Club Staff Advisor, Terri Persing provides guidelines and support weekly after school to the student group. Future projects will be on display and incorporated into district wide scholastic events to showcase the group and student talent. Men's breakfast speaker: Brenda Culler of Ohio Department of Natural Resources will present, "Lake Erie Protection and Restoration Plan" at the North Ridgeville Senior Center Men's Breakfast March 3 from 9-10 a.m. The center is located at 7327 Avon Belden Road. The Senior Center Men's breakfast is open to senior men 60 years and older and includes an entree, fruit, juice and coffee all for $3. For reservations, call 440-353-0828. High school musical competition: Lake Ridge Academy will participate this year in the inaugural Playhouse Square High School Musical Theater Awards program. With the aim of inspiring performance and recognizing the importance of musical theater and arts education in northeast Ohio schools, the program is affiliated with the National High School Music Theater Awards ("The Jimmy Awards") presented by the Broadway League Foundation. The Upper School production of "The Addams Family," slated for March 3-5, will be the show in consideration for the awards. "To sing, dance, and act where our Broadway Series tours perform will be an unparalleled experience for our students," said Kristy Rodriguez, Lake Ridge Academy theater teacher. "It's exciting to be a part of a high school theater community dedicated to producing quality musicals." The Playhouse Square High School Musical Theater Awards program offers arts education opportunities throughout the school year and culminates with "The Dazzle Awards," an awards showcase modeled after the Tony Awards, May 2. "Dazzlers" will be presented to outstanding musical theater productions and students in 13 categories, including Best Musical, Best Actor/Actress, Best Student Orchestra, Best Costume Design, and Best Scenic Design. Nominations and awards will be based on the evaluations of an independent panel of adjudicators. The winners of the Best Actor and Best Actress categories will represent northeast Ohio at the National High School Musical Theater Awards in June. For more information, log on to playhousesquare.org/dazzleawards. Beatles hits: Join Dr. Joel S. Keller at Lorain Public Library System's North Ridgeville Branch March 6 from 3-4:30 p.m. for a presentation on the rise of the British Invasion and the phenomenon of The Beatles. He will talk about each of their 20 American No. 1 hits as determined by Billboard magazine with facts about recording and distribution dates, weeks at No. 1 and more. The songs will be played and lyrics displayed to encourage an audience sing-along. The program is sponsored by The Friends of the North Ridgeville Branch Library, Inc. For more information, call the library at 440-327-8326. If you have news to share regarding an event, award or other interesting tidbit happening in Avon or Avon Lake, and North Ridgeville send me an email at jshortavon@aol.com. The column's online version is at Cleveland.com/Avon, which offers direct links for many of the news items listed. ORANGE VILLAGE, Ohio -- Fire call, Nob Hill Oval: A smoke detector went off in a home after a "hoverboard" caught on fire while it was plugged into the wall on the afternoon of Feb. 13. No injuries were reported and the only damage resulted from light smoke that was cleared once firefighters ventilated the home. Firefighters were still trying to determine on Feb. 19 exactly what ignited the hoverboard -- a self-balancing two-wheeled scooter -- that has a history of isolated but similar incidents across the country, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Disturbance, Orange Place: Dispatchers received a call from Bahama Breeze shortly after 11 p.m. on Feb. 14 concerning a man and a woman who were at the bar cursing at each other. The employee said neither appeared to be intoxicated, but the call was disconnected before any further information could be obtained. The couple was gone by the time police arrived. Unwanted guest, Orange Place: Police responded to the Courtyard Marriott shortly after noon on Feb. 13 when the management requested assistance in removing guests who had been staying there for more than a month and refused to leave. They were transported to the Marriott on Warrensville road and told to call the corporate office. Assault in progress, Chagrin Boulevard: A driver for students with special needs pulled his Honda Odyssey into the Shell True North station and attempted to break up a fight involving two girls from South Euclid just before 8 a.m. on Feb. 10, calling police in the process. One girl, 17, was taken to Ahuja Medical Center for an evaluation, and the other, 14, was taken to the police station and turned over to her mother. Detail, Hidden Valley Drive: Police responded to a resident who called in on Feb. 16 with concerns that her stove was ticking. No hazard was found. Disturbance, Orange Place: Police received a report on the evening of Feb. 14 about a man with a gray ponytail walking through the first floor of the Extended Stay South and screaming obscenities. 21DARCY-POPE.jpg Asked about Donald Trump, Pope Francis said a person who only thinks about building walls and not bridges, "is not a Christian." CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The exchange between his Holiness Pope Francis and his Hairsprayness Donald Trump should have zero negative impact on today's voting in the South Carolina primary. In response to a reporter's question about Trump's immigration plan, Pope Francis said, "A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian. This is not in the Gospel." When told second hand of the pope's remarks, Trump declared that ISIS' "primary target is to get the Vatican." Trump went on to say that "if and when the Vatican is attacked the pope would only wish and have prayed that Donald Trump would have been elected president." To my ears, that statement sounded like even Trump doesn't believe he'll be elected president. "Would have been elected president," said Trump. Trump had earlier criticized the pope's trip to Mexico. "I think the pope is a very political person," said Trump, who also claimed the pope was being used as a pawn by the Mexican government. By Friday Pope Francis and Trump were turning the other cheek. Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said on Vatican radio that the pope's comments were not meant, in any way, to be a personal attack nor an indication of how people should vote. On ABC's "Good Morning America" Trump said that once he had a chance to read the pope's comments, which he had heard second hand, they were "a little bit lighter" than how they were portrayed. The pope's comments were not surprising and neither was Trump's response. Did anyone think the pope would endorse building walls instead of bridges? Especially a pope from Latin America who just completed a trip to predominantly Roman Catholic Mexico.? The pope pontificating might actually help Trump in today's voting. In addition to the pope addressing Trump's main talking point -- immigration, there are only a few hundred thousand Catholic voters in South Carolina, where evangelicals dominate. And many of South Carolina's voters are old enough to remember that John F. Kennedy had to reassure voters in the south that he wouldn't be taking orders from the Vatican when he became the first Roman Catholic to be elected president. Pope Francis is surely aware of that election history. When asked if he would try to influence Catholics on how to vote in the election, the pope wisely said he "was not going to get involved in that." SEuc sign.jpg Many residents living on or near Lowden Road don't want to see former school property on the street rezoned for multiple senior dwellings. (Jeff Piorkowski/Special to cleveland.com) SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio -- The city's Planning Commission voted down a South Euclid-Lyndhurst Board of Education request to change the zoning for the Lowden School property from single-family home use, to multi-family use. The commission voted 4-0 Feb. 11 against the rezoning, a vote that those opposing the action re cautiously calling, for now, a victory. Opposition to the zoning change comes from several residents living in the vicinity of the closed school building, located off Lowden Road. The residents see the plan, calling for a two-story, 65-unit senior apartment building as incompatible with the neighborhood, which is made up of single-family homes. The school board is attempting to sell the property and has a purchase agreement with NRP Group, who could build the senior dwelling if City Council decides not to accept the commission's recommendation and change the zoning. "I wish I could say it was the end of it," said Greenvale Road resident Bess Rhoades, spokseperson for the Lowden Neighborhood Association. "But the mayor (Georgine Welo) has made it clear that City Council has the final say. I know she's interested in seeing senior housing in South Euclid." Community Service Director Keith Benjamin said a public hearing will be held, probably sometime in late March or April, before council takes a vote. There is a mandatory 30-day waiting period that must take place following a Planning Commission decision and a public hearing. In addition, the public hearing must be advertised twice to the public. Benjamin said that the administration has taken no position on the matter. "This is a process and part one, with the Planning Commission, has been completed," Benjamin said. "Now City Council will review and debate the issue and determine if they will accept the Planning Commission's recommendation." Seventeen residents picketed before the South Euclid-Lyndhurst Board of Education meeting of Jan. 12. Many of them then spoke out at that meeting against the proposed rezoning. During that meeting, Board President Cassandra Jones told those in attendance that money from the sale of the property would be put to good use, the education of children. The property is appraised at $400,000. When asked for a comment about the rejection of the rezoning of the Lowden property, Jones and Superintendent Linda Reid released to cleveland.com this joint statement. "The board of education has a fiduciary responsibility to the taxpaying citizens of our community to evaluate all board-owned property and to ensure that those properties are being utilized to their best and maximum use. This includes our duty to dispose of any property for which the school district no longer sees a good and proper potential, and such is the case with the Lowden property. "The SEL Schools expects that the city of South Euclid will do the same type of evaluation, to determine where and when zoning changes fits the best interests of the community." Ward 1 Councilwoman Ruth Gray has been vocally supporting residents who live in the vicinity of Lowden. "I was glad to see that decision," Gray said of the Planning Commission vote. "I support the position the residents of the community have taken. I agree with it 100 percent." Gray believes the school board acted in opposition to state code by "extending its authority" in making an application for a zoning change on behalf of a potential buyer. Further, she said, "The Lowden community has benefited for over 60 years from a school on that property and the greenspace it provides." She said that the city's master plan calls for greenspace, the kind the school property could continue to afford. Of the senior dwellings, Gray said, "It doesn't fit into the neighborhood's current landscape. There's no transportation in that area, a lack of RTA service. How would the seniors get to the grocery store or the pharmacy? "I think the Planning Commission did their due diligence and now council must take our turn and do the same." Gray said residents aren't against new development at he Lowden site, but they don't want the type proposed. Building Commissioner Paul Kowalczyk said the Planning Commission members, at their Feb. 11 meeting (all but member Dan Ivins were present), felt as did the residents. "They felt the city needs a housing alternative for older people," Kowalczyk said, "but that this might not be the best setting." Kowalczyk said that while the purchase agreement with NRP Group is contingent on rezoning, a change in zoning to multi-family use could interest other developers should NRP decide against moving forward with the project. NRP did not return a call for comment. Rhoades said 42 residents packed the Planning Commission meeting room at city hall during its December hearing on the Lowden subject, and that 57 were at the commission's Jan. 14 hearing. Speaking about the upcoming council public hearing, Rhoades said, "We will be out in full force." In other South Euclid news, the city will conduct its Community Garden Lottery at 4:30 p.m. March 16. The city has seven community gardens and 120 available plots. Housing Manager Sally Martin said a lottery process is used to award plots. Any additional plots left after the drawing will be awarded on a first-come, first-serve basis. To enroll in the lottery, visit onesoutheuclid.org/southeuclidcommunitygardens/. The web site also provides information on the location and size of each garden. Each gardener pays a $20 fee for a garden plot for the season. Lido Lounge A shooting early Saturday morning at Lido Lounge centered on the merits of Ohio strip clubs vs. those in Florida. (John Petkovic, The Plain Dealer) CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A Florida man suffered a gunshot wound to his leg Saturday at a strip club after he argued with a fellow patron about the difference between gentlemen's clubs in Ohio and Florida. The 24-year-old Orlando man told police he was at the Lido Lounge strip club in the 3000 block of West 117th Street for a friend's birthday party. The man told police he went to the parking lot about 2 a.m. Saturday. He argued with another man about strip clubs in the Sunshine State. The argument escalated into a fight and the other pulled out a gun and shot the 24-year-old in the left thigh, according to Cleveland police. A friend drove the man to Lakewood Hospital. Lakewood police officers were alerted by hospital officials. They contacted Cleveland police when they learned the shooting happened in Cleveland. Cleveland police car 3.jpg A security guard shot and wounded a man who was shooting at cars driving by the gas station. (cleveland.com) CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A gas station security guard shot and wounded a 23-year-old gunman who fired shots at a car driving by the gas station. The gunman is recovering at MetroHealth Medical Center. He was arrested on suspicion of felonious assault, possessing a stolen gun and possessing a gun with a felony record. Formal charges have not been filed in the case. The shooting happened about 2:40 a.m. at the Gas USA station in the 3900 block of West 117th Street. A patron told a guard a group was "acting crazy" in the parking lot. The guard walked outside and saw the 23-year-old man holding a gun and shooting at a car driving on West 117th Street. No injuries were reported from that shooting, police said. The guard ordered the man to drop his gun and get on the ground. The 23-year-old man turned toward the guard with his gun. The guard shot the man in the shoulder, leg and wrist, police said. Linndale police officers assisted Cleveland EMS and police because they were close by after making a traffic stop and heard the gunshots, police said. The gun the 23-year-old man used was stolen from Middleburg Heights, police said. The guard was unharmed in the incident. "There was no reason in heck why you should have thought things were going any better for Deere than AGCO. You just needed to listen," the "Mad Money" host said. Large agricultural equipment maker Deere sold off dramatically on Friday following the confirmation of a weak quarter. However, in Cramer's opinion the clues were all there when AGCO CEO Martin Richenhagen appeared on the show recently and described a weakness in sales. Jim Cramer has always encouraged the tried and true method of doing homework on stocks. But sometimes, all it takes is simply watching an interview on " Mad Money " to get a good feel of what is about to happen. I think Yahoo goes higher, but again, let's not be surprised here. Meanwhile, many investors have been grumbling over the sorry numbers produced from mall based department stores because it is so hard to compete with Amazon . Sure enough, Nordstrom confirmed it had spent too much money versus what it can make in its online division. At the same time, VF Corp guided down on sales when it reported. It was clear to Cramer that clothing just isn't selling like it used to, and if it is, people are buying it on Amazon. Read more from Mad Money with Jim Cramer Cramer Remix: Why Apple is a hot value play Cramer: Let the bad times roll for stock prices Cramer: A once red-hot play ready for investing "No wonder the Internet giant went up $9 today. You just can't compete against the darned thing unless you have very specialized merchandise, which few seem to do," Cramer said. Finally, there was Yahoo . Two weeks ago Cramer spoke with Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam, who revealed on "Mad Money" that he would consider a bid for Yahoo's assets. Considering that Verizon already purchased AOL and said it would consider buying Yahoo, Cramer was not shocked when Yahoo formed a committee to consider the overtures from Verizon and others. It was not a huge revelation to those that saw the McAdam interview. "I think Yahoo goes higher, but again, let's not be surprised here," Cramer said. (Tweet This) So while 2016 has been a nightmare year thus far, Cramer wants investors to keep their eyes open for trends. When an executive comes on the show and tells you exactly what they are about to do, it should not be a surprise when things unfold as predicted. "We should profit from what they have to say, or at least avoid any potential losses. And in every one of these cases, I think that the possibilities and opportunities were there to be had," Cramer said. An Uber driver in Washington, D.C. Evelyn Hockstein | The Washington Post | Getty Images For some start-ups taking on Uber and Lyft, the road to growth is paved with happy drivers. Two companies San Francisco's DriverCars, and New York's Juno are trying to lure drivers disenchanted with the two dominant players in the ride-on-demand market onto their platforms. One of these start-ups, DriverCars, has even attracted an early investor in Uber Keith Teare. "DriverCars believes that the weak spot of Uber is the drivers, because as the prices are being constrained and the share taken from the drivers is going up, there's a lot of drivers starting to protest outside Uber's offices," said Teare. Uber drivers protest the company's recent fare cuts and go on strike in front of the car service's New York offices on February 1, 2016 in New York City. Getty Images With help from Teare's accelerator Archimedes Labs, DriverCars is raising a $1 million seed round. It then expects to raise its first institutional round of about $10 million. The goal is to launch the app within six months. Founded by former limo driver Keith Hale, DriverCars' business model is subscription-based. Drivers pay $300 per month after they make their first $1,500, and get to keep all of their fares. "There's obviously quite a big opening there for a software company that gives drivers the software to behave like Uber, but keep all the money," said Teare. "Now there's a fleet with iPhones on the dashboard and all it would take is for them to run a different piece of software to become your fleet." That some drivers are unhappy with the dominant players is hard to argue with. Drivers in New York and San Francisco staged protests on Feb. 1 over Uber's fare cuts, which drivers said prevent them from earning a living wage. Uber said those cuts initiated on Jan. 9 were necessary to combat the post-holiday slump in demand, and that the reductions lead to more work, and ultimately higher earnings for drivers. Another issue that drivers have with Uber is the lack of tips. Lyft said that its platform has paid out more than $65 million to divers in tips. "The issue with Uber and Lyft's model is that it's really dependent on how far the drivers drive, and San Francisco is small," said Hale. The average Uber driver that Hale speaks to makes between $1,500 and $2,500 per month if they are working full time, he said. (Uber said driver earnings differ from market to market.) Hale compared the business models employed by Uber and Lyft to those employed by strip clubs. "You can never have a repeat client with either model and you can't ever own the client, because the client belongs to Uber or Lyft," he said. He said his model is a better fit because it was created by someone who actually works as a driver. "These are tech guys, so they have never been in the vehicle and they don't understand from a driver's perspective what we know," said Hale. "The drivers care about building a sustainable business and the ability to provide for a family." watch now Hale's goals are unarguably ambitious. He believes that within the first year the company will have 35 percent of Lyft drivers and 50 percent of Uber drivers. (Any driver can sign up with multiple companies, of course.) But convincing drivers may be the easy part. The company's success, of course, hinges on persuading users to download yet another app. To do that, DriverCars is planning a mass marketing campaign and to leverage an army of drivers on the ground to spread the word. Importantly, DriverCars rides will on average be 25 percent cheaper than Uber and the app will not have surge pricing, said Hale. The company will also offer some additional services, such as the ability to pre-book rides or specify driver gender for late-night pickups. As DriverCars gets ready to launch, Hale is secretly working with about 30 Uber drivers across several major cities on the West Coast to gather market data. "What we're attacking is the market that Uber and Lyft has already created," said Hale. On the other side of the country, New York-based Juno, currently operating in stealth mode, is also aiming to create a more driver-friendly service. Its website landing page invites drivers to "come meet us for coffee." According to CB Insights, the secretive company was founded by Talmon Marco, who sold his last company to Rakuten for $900 million. Like DriverCars, it's leveraging Uber's existing fleet to gather market data, reportedly paying drivers to gather information. The company recently rented a large office at 1 World Trade Center, said CB Insights founder Anand Sanwal. (CB Insights tracks private companies and their investors.) "It looks like Juno has some resources and a successful founder at the helm based on what we could piece together," said Sanwal. "Whether Juno is some sort of other sharing economy play or a direct competitor to Uber remains to be seen." Juno did not respond to requests for comment. This week's chatter to cap oil output by producers has eased investor's concerns, but the question remains: is the worst over for oil? "The worst is behind us; I don't think it's completely over yet," Kevin Norris, president of Univest Wealth Management, told CNBC's "Power Lunch" on Friday. Oil prices remain under pressure due to oversupply, and a possible freeze in oil output at record levels will only exacerbate the current glut, he said. Norris, who calls for production cuts from OPEC, sees opportunity in the multinational oil and gas company Exxon Mobil . "We like Exxon from the flight-to-quality perspective," he said. "It's a solid integrated oil producer, [has] a solid balance sheet ... and it could be the beneficiary of a shakeout in the energy sector." Norris' comments come as energy company defaults are rising in the face of low oil prices. Meanwhile, oil companies have been forced to lay off employees. BP last month said it was cutting thousands of jobs. Norris, who manages $3 billion in assets, suggests that while many other companies may not hold up, "a quality company" such as Exxon is set to succeed. The company's stock is up nearly 6 percent year to date. These payments, described in the lawsuit as a "sham," are on top of the 300 million in fees that Barclays disclosed at the time of announcing the deal. Ms. Staveley, a one-time girlfriend of Prince Andrew and now financial fixer to sheikhs, has endorsed the claim on behalf of PCP, which accuses Barclays of making a 280 million secret payment to Qatar Holding that was never made public. That was in addition to a 66 million special payment that was disclosed. PCP's London lawsuit, which seeks 720 million in damages plus interest and costs, lifts the lid on frenetic last-minute arrangements in the run-up to the October 2008 deal, which enabled the bank to stay out of the control of the U.K. government but has now come back to haunt Barclays. PCP, Amanda Staveley's investment vehicle which invested on behalf of a senior Abu Dhabi royal during Barclays' 7.3 billion cash call, has alleged in court documents that Barclays made the payments after the Qataris saw the value of an earlier investment in the bank plummet as the financial crisis took hold. Barclays paid Qatari investors a total of 346 million ($498.45 million) in secret and dishonestly characterized payments to secure their participation in the bank's 2008 emergency fundraising, a 1 billion lawsuit brought by another key investor on the deal has alleged. PCP accuses Barclays of deceit and argues that Ms Staveley was promised the same deal offered to Qatar, relying chiefly on representations made by Roger Jenkins, then the bank's executive chairman of investment banking. He led the capital-raising for Barclays and she alleges that he acted dishonestly. The bank said: "We believe the claim against Barclays is misconceived and without merit and Barclays will be vigorously defending it." A lawyer for the Qatari investors declined to comment, as did Ms. Staveley. A lawyer for Mr. Jenkins did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The lawsuit maintains that had Ms. Stavely known about the extra payments, she would not have ceded half of PCP's 3 billion in warrants options to buy shares at a certain price to the Qataris, as requested by Mr. Jenkins. Qatar Holding and an investment vehicle of Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabr al Thani, then the country's prime minister as well as chairman of Qatar Holding, ploughed 3.8 billion into the bank. Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al Nahyan of Abu Dhabi, meanwhile, invested 3.5 billion through PCP; Ms. Staveley was eventually paid 30 million for her work on the deal. It was the second time that the bank turned to outside investors in 2008 the Qataris, along with other investors, had already invested 4.5 billion that year and was controversial from the start, irking existing shareholders because they did not have a chance to participate. The deal arrangements have already landed the bank with a 50 million fine from the U.K.'s financial watchdog, now stayed pending a parallel criminal investigation by the Serious Fraud Office. The investigation has reached a key moment after the bank ceded a longstanding battle with the agency over important evidence. But the lawsuit airs publicly some of the details that the SFO is believed to have examined in private over the past three years. At the heart of both the lawsuit and the SFO's probe is what exactly Barclays paid to the Qatari investors for their participation in the October deal. According to the court claim, an email trail between Barclays and Qatar Holding, copied to Mr. Jenkins, shows that Sheikh Hamad was expecting an arrangement fee of 65 million and an additional sum of 192 million "intended to bring the average subscription price down to 130 pence a share" just one day before the October 2008 fundraising was announced. This image of the continental United States at night is a composite assembled from data acquired by the Suomi NPP satellite in April and October 2012. Source: NASA North Korea, the country whose nuclear ambitions have been the fulcrum of global security concerns for more than a decade, may be a threat in more ways than one. Concerns about Pyongyang's nuclear arsenal have largely revolved around whether the country could eventually launch a warhead at neighboring South Korea, or even the United States itself. Yet the country's recent actions have converged with percolating fears about the U.S.'s antiquated power gridwhich a growing number of observers say is vulnerable to asymmetric threats. The possibility of an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attackdefined as the detonation of a nuclear device at high altitude that produces an electromagnetic wave that can either damage or destroy electronic systemshas been mooted since at least the Cold War, the Center for Security Policy notes, while solar flares can also trigger the same effect. Read MoreNorth Korea's bomb test may backfire in a big way Yet its the threat of a malicious attack on the more than 450,000 miles of high voltage transmission lines that comprise the U.S. power lattice that has some experts worried. It has been a generic concern in national security circles for years. However, North Korea's suspected test of a hydrogen bomb in late Januarycombined with its firing of a rocket just days agohas fanned new EMP fears among observers who have warned about the issue for some time. "The technology of building a super EMP weapon is understood and at least by circumstantial evidencethe North Koreans know how to do it," said Henry (Hank) Cooper, a director at the think tank Foundation for Resilient Societies and a former arms control official under Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush. Recent events suggest the power grid remains a prime target for terrorism, both at home and abroad. Within the last few months, both Israel and Ukraine were hit with crippling hacks against their respective power grids. Separately, a mysterious 2013 sniper attack on a Silicon Valley substation is widely suspected to have been the result of terrorism. The possibility of a sophisticated attack on the energy grid "is real and needs to be addressed urgently," James Woolsey, chairman of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, told CNBC in a 2014 interview. Woolsey is a Democrat who was CIA Director under President Clinton and a Navy official under former President Carter. Knowledge about the extent of North Korea's arsenal is notoriously opaque, which is one reason why January's nuclear test was met with skepticism by U.S. officials. Cooper, however insisted that "there is no good reason" to dismiss the idea that the totalitarian regime may in fact be prepping an EMP. Last month's nuclear test "is disputed on the basis of it not creating a big seismic signalbut that's not true," said Cooper, a trained mechanical engineer. Calling it an "essential threat," Cooper argued that a low-yield hydrogen weapon can be used to produce the conditions that can trigger an EMP attack. Knowledgeable observers warn that that an EMP detonation is more than just abstract theory or science fiction. Late last year, veteran broadcaster Ted Koppel released a book, "Lights Out," in which he warned an attack on the power grid was a legitimate possibility. The White House released a contingency plan in October for a theoretical electromagnetic space storm that could disrupt the grid. Separately, federal regulators have also cautioned that EMP events are difficult to anticipate, and could "interrupt power to as many as 130 million people in the United States alone, requiring several years to recover." '7 on a scale of 1-10' TV screen broadcasting a news report on North Korea's long range rocket launch on February 7, 2016. Kim Hong-Ji | Reuters At a minimum, the U.S. government has tacitly acknowledged the potential of such an attack or incident. Last May, the North American Aerospace Command (NORAD) announced plans to revive its Cheyenne Mountan Complex, an emblem of the country's Cold War posture. In announcing the move at the time, NORAD officials cited the need to defend the country from an EMP attack. A successful attack could potentially devastate the domestic economy, causing more than $2 trillion in economic damage, according to a "back of the envelope" December 2015 estimate by The Sage Policy Group, a consulting firm. Vincent DeVito, a former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Energy under President George W. Bush and who is now a law partner at Bowditch & Dewey, told CNBC that on a scale of 1 to 10, he classified the threat posed by an EMP attack as a 7. "It's all exposedand it's not just the U.S.," said DeVito. "We're interconnected with Canada and Mexico, so it's really a North America issue." Businessman Donald Trump, who spent the week fighting shrinking poll numbers and a stinging rebuke from the Pope himself, is the projected winner of the South Carolina Republican primary, NBC News reported. With 99 percent of the state's precincts reporting, Marco Rubio edged out fellow senator, Ted Cruz, for second place, with 22.5 percent of the vote compared to Cruz's 22.3 percent, Reuters reported. In victory, Trump said: "A number of the pundits said, ... 'Well, if a couple of the other candidates dropped out, if you add their scores together, it's going to equal Trump.' They don't understand that as people drop out, I'm going to get a lot of those votes also." According to NBC News exit poll data, 31 percent of white voters said they voted for Trump, the most among any GOP candidate. The data also said that 96 percent of voters identified themselves as white. Trump's faith was called into question this week when Pope Francis said the GOP front-runner was "not Christian" because of his views on immigration. In response, Trump said the pope would wish for a Trump presidency if ISIS were to attack the Vatican. NBC News exit poll data showed that 73 percent of voters in South Carolina supported temporarily banning Muslims from entering the U.S. Trump's performance in South Carolina - the first primary in the South - gives him even more momentum moving forward, especially with "Super Tuesday" just nine days away. Dr. Ben Carson and Ohio Gov. John Kasich, finished well behind Trump, Cruz of Texas, and Rubio of Florida. "After tonight, this has become a three-person race, and we will win the nomination," Rubio said in a speech, acting very much like a victor. "Tonight here in South Carolina, the message is pretty clear. This country is now ready for a new generation of conservatives to guide us into the 21st century." "First Iowa, then New Hampshire, now South Carolina ... each time defying expectations," Cruz said in a separate speech. "Indeed, the screaming you hear now, from across the Potomac, is the Washington cartel in full terror that the conservative grassroots are rising up." The Co-Opticrew is getting real dangerous this weekend. Not only are we delving back into poorly lit underground chambers (as we have each weekend for about a month), we're also taking on two of humanity's greatest threats: fire and disease. In all honesty, both are pretty well contained, with the former to the Wyoming wilderness and the latter to New York City, but that certainly isn't stopping us. You point out a (virtual) pocket of danger that needs to be (artificially) dealt with, and we're there lickety split (metaphorically speaking, that is. I mean, we usually get around to it in a timely manner). I'd like to throw a personal shoutout to our own John Bardinelli, who'll be diving into The Greatest Game Ever Made. Good luck, John! We're all counting on you. Nick Puleo (@NickPuleo) - "I'm hoping to jump into the Division with some of the Co-Opticrew on PC. Maybe watch the Co-Opticrew die horribly in XCOM 2." Jason Love (@JLove55) - "I, too, shall be fighting off the mysterious plague in the Division. When I'm not doing that, I suspect I'll be grinding for better gear in FF14 and the wife and I will be continuing our adventure through Pathfinder Adventure Card Game: Rise of the Runelords." Mike Katsufrakis (@Pheriannath) - "FIRE EMBLEM FATES." Marc Allie (@DjinniMan) - "I hope to get some X-Com Enemy Within (yes I am behind) and looking forward to a session of D&D on Sunday." Eric Murphy (@smurph_em) - "We're streaming Monaco's 'Fin' campaign tonight starting at 8PM CST on our Twitch channel. Tomorrow, I'm hoping to absorb as much of The Division possible by playing it on both PC and Xbox One simultaneously." John Bardinelli (@itsamejohn) - "Got a hankering for the old school and decided to pull out Skies of Arcadia. Probably lose myself in that for a few days." Locke Vincent (@LockeVincent) - "Gaming funk because of RL stuff - actually picked up Old Hunters DLC for Bloodborne so I am going to punish myself in Byrgenwerth." Tally Callahan - "I may finish crafting my first legendary weapon in Guild Wars 2. Other than that, some board games and maybe a little Darkest Dungeon!" Enoch Starnes (@enochstarnes) - "I'll be ensuring the safety northern Wyoming in Firewatch and ensuring the destruction of an entire nation in Fire Emblem Fates." How about you? Are you hurling yourself headlong into danger, or will this weekend be "Safety Protocols: A Play in Three Acts"? Let us know in the comments! George Wentworth (Howard Culver), standing, confesses to his deception in the Internal Affairs: Parolee episode of Dragnet. The round 1915-S Panama-Pacific International Exposition gold $50 piece, the rarest U.S. commemorative coin, drives the story told in the Internal Affairs: Parolee episode of the revived Dragnet series, but makes only a cameo appearance toward the end. This is the third in a series of articles from Gerald Tebben's cover feature about coins starring in television programs, published in the March 2016 issue of Coin World Monthly. This article focuses on an episode of Dragnet, airing Nov. 27, 1969. The round 1915-S Panama-Pacific International Exposition gold $50 piece, the rarest U.S. commemorative coin, drives the story told in the Internal Affairs: Parolee episode (season 4, episode 10) of the revived Dragnet series, but makes only a cameo appearance toward the end. The Jack Webb cop drama ran from 1951 to 1959 and was revived in 1967 for four more years. Other articles in series: The parolee episode begins with Sgt. Joe Friday (Webb) and Officer Bill Gannon (Henry Morgan) assigned to determine if 15-year-old theft and check-kiting charges against Lyle Thompson (who is never seen) are still prosecutable. Thompson, 65, has been in prison in Canon City, Colo., for 14 years and is eligible for parole, provided California does not extradite him on the old felonies. Connect with Coin World: He was charged with the Jan. 3, 1956, theft of a 1956 convertible from a rental agency, cashing a bad $300 check and stealing a commemorative coin valued at $400 from his former employer. Thompson, it turns out, invented the high-pressure valve that accounted for 90 percent of Wentworth Industries business, but was fired after 18 years by the founders jealous son two days after Thompsons wife and son died in an auto accident. In investigating the old charges, Friday and Gannon determined the rental car was left at the airport a few hours after it was taken and the store stiffed with the bad check does not want to prosecute such old charges. George Wentworth (Howard Culver), though, still wants blood from the man he said stole the coin on the day he was fired. FREE REPORT: How to Invest in Rare Coins Hes in jail now. He belongs in jail and thats where Im going to see him stay, Wentworth says. He told Friday, My father gave me that coin a 1915 $50 gold piece from the Pan-Pacific Exposition in San Francisco. They only made 483 of them. Do you know what theyre worth? Gannon replies, Yes sir, the report listed its market value at $400. Wentworth says, That was back in 56. Today the 1915 S series round Pan Pacific gold piece is worth over $6,000. Now dont you think he should be prosecuted? Friday is bothered by the fact that Wentworth keeps track of the coins value after all those years, but must report back that the theft charge is still prosecutable. As Friday and Gannon are discussing the case with their boss two minutes before the episode ends, Wentworth arrives at the police station and plunks down the coin still in the black leather case lined with purple plush that coin dealer Farran Zerbe placed it in before selling it for $100 at the 1915 exposition. There it is: a 1915 S-series $50 gold piece from the Pan Pacific Exposition in San Francisco, worth over $6,000 today, Wentworth says. Thompson never took it. I thought he did. All the circumstances indicated he did. It was simply lost the whole time. I found it about five years ago when we moved into our new building. He continued, I dont know why I said he took the coin. I guess it was old resentments coming through. I got frightened for not reporting that I found the coin five years ago. I want to live with a clear conscience so here I am. At the shows postscript, it is revealed that Thompson won parole. The Panama-Pacific International Exposition was commemorated with distinctive half dollars, gold dollars, quarter eagle $2.50 pieces, and two types of gold $50 pieces octagonal and round. While 1,500 coins of each $50 shape were minted, the octagonal piece, which harkened back to octagonal $50 Gold Rush slugs, proved more popular with buyers than the round pieces. Mint records show that 864 octagonal pieces and 1,027 round pieces went unsold and were melted. That gave the round piece a net mintage of just 483 pieces, making it the rarest U.S. commemorative coin. The coin is shown for just a few seconds during the show, a single coin in a Zerbe case. In Commemorative Coins of the United States: A Complete Encyclopedia, author Q. David Bowers writes, A complete set consisting of one each of the half dollar, gold dollar, quarter eagle, and choice of $50 (round or octagonal) could be had for $100, the same price asked for a single $50 coin, so it seems reasonable to assume that most $50 pieces were sold as parts of sets. The round $50 is a major rarity today, worth considerably more than its $6,000 value in 1969. In 2010, Stacks Bowers Galleries sold a Professional Coin Grading Service Mint State 66 example for $281,750. The episode can be viewed online free at Hulu. Feb. 20, 2016 "Please welcome Virgin Spaceship Unity." With those words delivered by physicist Stephen Hawking, and the break of a baby's milk bottle across its bow, Virgin Galactic on Friday (Feb. 19) christened the VSS Unity, the second of its SpaceShipTwo sub-orbital spacecraft, during a ceremony at the Mojave Air and Space Port in California. The first vehicle to be entirely built and assembled by The Spaceship Company, Virgin Galactic's manufacturing arm, the VSS Unity emerged from behind a black curtain inside FAITH, the company's final assembly, integration and test hangar. The space plane, featuring a new silver and white livery, was towed into position by a Range Rover provided by Virgin Galactic's automotive partner, Land Rover. "Now I'm pretty sure a one-year old has never christened a spaceship before, so we really are in 'virgin' territory," said Richard Branson, Virgin Galactic's founder, referring to his granddaughter, Eva-Deia. "But today seems to be the right time to change that, as we are after all celebrating the birth of two gorgeous babies." One-year-old Eva Deia, Richard Branson's granddaughter, breaks a milk bottle across the VSS Unity's bow, christening the ship, with help from her parents, Sam and Isabella Branson. (collectSPACE) "Clearly, champagne would be inappropriate, [although] it never did me any harm, and certainly hasn't done my wife any harm, so do we have any milk?" asked Branson, who soon after watched on as Eva-Deia, helped by her mother and father, smashed the milk bottle across the nose of the newly-named spaceship. "I've always believed that having the best looking planes and trains in the world, while not a guarantee of success, is a good start," said Branson. "But our new spaceship has taken that concept to a new level. Isn't she quite beautiful? She is quite stunning." A better and safer system Under construction for four years, the VSS Unity succeeds and replaces Virgin Galactic's original SpaceShipTwo, the "VSS Enterprise," which was rolled out in December 2009 and was destroyed during a fatal accident in 2014. "It has now been 16 months since our flight test accident. That was a hard day," said George Whitesides, the CEO of Virgin Galactic. "It was a moment when years of hard work were put into public doubt and the life of a brave test pilot, a family man and a friend to many of us was lost." On Oct. 31, 2014, the VSS Enterprise broke apart over the Mojave Desert during its fourth rocket-powered test flight. The accident claimed the life of co-pilot Mike Alsbury and left pilot Pete Siebold seriously injured. Both pilots worked for Scaled Composites, which built the first SpaceShipTwo as well as SpaceShipOne, the X-Prize winning vehicle that was the basis for Virgin Galactic's vehicle. The Enterprise was lost as a result of Alsbury prematurely unlocking the ship's braking feathers, causing the two tail booms to deploy at a time when aerodynamic and inertial loads were too powerful for the vehicle. Investigators were not able to determine why Alsbury had moved the lever to unlock the feathers when he did. Safeguards have been added to the VSS Unity to prevent the premature deployment of the tail booms. "Hardly a day goes by when I don't think of Mike and his family," said Doug Shane, the president of The Spaceship Company. "I know he believed in this mission, and in this technology and in this vehicle design." "We've made it a better and safer system because making a better and safer system is what Mike was all about," said Shane. From assembly to the flight line With the Unity now unveiled, it will next undergo integrated systems verification, followed by ground and flight tests in Mojave and then ground and air exercises at its operations home at Spaceport America in New Mexico. 'Galactic Girl' nose art on Virgin Spaceship Unity. (collectSPACE) "All of us here today have been very eagerly anticipating the rollout of this spaceship and that is because it marks a very dramatic change for us, as the employees," said Mike Moses, Virgin Galactic's vice president of operations. "We go from the build phase, where we're planning, assembling and analyzing what will be, to the flight line phase, where it is now living and breathing and performing what it is we all dreamt about." "You can think of the act of 'rollout' as a transition marking a stage a technical milestone when a brand new vehicle is ready to leave the hangar," he continued. "The hangar is where it was assembled and undergone system testing on the individual level. When it rolls out to the flight line, it is ready for the next phase of its life, where it sees the world and we test the entire vehicle now as a whole." Although the company won't share its schedule it wants test results, rather than public statements, to drive its pace going forward Moses believes the VSS Unity will need significantly less time to pass the same types of tests that the VSS Enterprise took five years to complete. "We'll check it on the ground, out on the ramp. We'll test it out on the runway. Then we'll put it on [the carrier aircraft] WhiteKnight[Two] and test it in the air," said Moses. "And then we'll finally fly free and more in the glide flight phase, and eventually move onto the powered test program." Founder Richard Branson joins Virgin Galactic's customers (future astronauts) for a photo with the VSS Unity. (collectSPACE) Only after the VSS Unity has been safely flown beyond the internationally-recognized boundary of space 62 miles (100 kilometers) high, does Virgin Galactic intend to begin launching the 700 or so people who have reserved tickets at $250,000 each. The craft seats six passengers and two pilots. "The fact that more people have signed up to experience space with Virgin Galactic than have ever been to space before is thrilling," remarked Whitesides. "The knowledge that we must repay their support by making space travel affordable and safe is humbling, but it also inspires us on a daily basis." 'Unity' in sight Before the Enterprise was lost, Virgin Galactic sometimes referred to its second SpaceShipTwo as the VSS Voyager. It was in the wake of the accident that Branson found the inspiration for the name "VSS Unity," based on the letters of support that he and the company received asking that they "stay firm in [their] resolve to stay the course." "And thanks to one message in particular I knew without a doubt who I was going to ask to name her. That message came from the great man who never ceases to amaze and inspire us all," said Branson. "We are entering a new space age and I hope this will help to create a new unity," stated Hawking, who had hoped to attend the ceremony but was represented by a recording. "Space exploration has already been a great unifier we seem able to cooperate between nations in space in a way we can only envy on Earth." "Taking more and more passengers into space will enable them, and us, to look both outwards and back, but with a fresh perspective in both directions," Hawking observed. The nose art on the VSS Unity features the eye of famed physicist Stephen Hawking, who helped to name the ship. (collectSPACE) Hawking's vision of space will now be a part of VSS Unity's missions, literally and figuratively. "We felt strongly that we should somehow make sure that Stephen remained a part of Unity's story because so much of what he stands for resonates with what we aspire to be. So the 'Galactic Girl' on the side of our proud spaceship, the VSS Unity, now carries the banner using an image of Stephen's eye," Branson revealed. "This watching eye reminds us not only of his part in our journey but of the human experience that space provides." Organizers of the Rocky Mountain Pizza and Pints summer festival hope to get a permit this year as Louisville officials discuss how the city handles public events. The first Rocky Mountain Pizza and Pints event was held at Community Park in Louisville July 18. For 2016, organizers applied for an event permit months ago but so far have not received one, said Meg Denbow, a spokeswoman for Boulder Creek Events. Were sort of in limbo at this point, Denbow said. Were open to suggestions. There are a lot of factors in play that were not completely aware of. At a city council meeting Jan. 5, Louisville officials discussed tightening several issues related to events, including noise, traffic plans, timing and signage. Denbow presented information about Rocky Mountain Pizza and Pints and Shelley Angell, executive director of the Louisville Chamber of Commerce discussed the business groups similar Pints in the Park event. Pints in the Park is a fundraiser for the chamber of commerce, Angell said in an interview after the meeting. Its scheduled this year on the afternoon of Sept. 3 to encourage participants to walk over to Main Street restaurants for dinner, afterwards, she said. Were excited for our third year, Angell said. It helps the chamber a great deal, and thats the money we use to offer free programs for the businesses. At the City Council meeting, Angell asked councilmembers to approve Louisville events in three-month intervals to allow all of them to do well. In 2015, Rocky Mountain Pizza and Pints and Pints in the Park were held just six weeks apart. Councilmembers discussed Angells request and other event issues, but made no decisions. Councilmember Ashley Stolzmann asked generally if organizers of either beer event would be willing to move to another park in town, since she said there seemed to be event fatigue from Community Park neighbors. Neither Denbow nor Angell responded. It would be really lovely if someone could move their event to Heritage Park or Cowboy Park, Stolzmann said. Wed like to try to keep the neighborhood a nice place to live and a peaceful environment for families. I dont know what the right and fair way is to solve it. Mayor Bob Muckle questioned if creating too many rules for event permits makes it too difficult for small organizers to operate in Louisville. If were having a small neighborhood concert, or run, or whatever, have we made it too onorous for those types of events? Muckle asked. The event permit rules discussion is expected to come back before the council at a future meeting. Beth Potter: 303-473-1422, potterb@coloradohometownweekly.com The Foundry development a building of shops and offices next door to 32 condominiums has been approved for the southwest corner of Paschal Drive and Colo. 42 in Louisville. The City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved the project on a 5.8-acre piece of land. The council added several conditions to the approval, including that 24 of the condos must be age-restricted to buyers who are over 55. The Source artisan food market in Denver was the inspiration for the Foundry, said Justin McClure, developer of the planned development. The Source, 3350 Brighton Blvd. in Denver, is in a historic brick foundry building. The Foundry plans include high windows and a corrugated metal exterior. McClure said local entrepreneurs already have contacted him about leasing space, although none have committed so far. He said he is looking for tenants such as brewpubs, bakeries, coffee shops and butcher shops. On the residential side, three-story condos with views to the west will be marketed to empty nesters, McClure said. The 37-year-old developer said that while he doesnt fit into the empty-nester age group, hes focused on that demographic, in part, because he and his wife would be interested in buying a condo in the neighborhood once his daughter heads off to college. Several nearby residents spoke in favor of the project and praised McClure for responding to their requests not to put a gas station on the site. Nearby resident Peter Wengert said he supports The Foundry, saying that the layout of the project will give people a chance to walk rather than drive. This is a beautiful entry point (from) the north, Wengert said. People are going to say Louisville is a good place to come to. Resident Gary Larson said The Foundry plan has an open atrium space in its center, which would make a good community gathering space. Once theyre built, the condos could sell for about $600,000 each, based on comments made at the meeting. Mayor Pro Tem Jeff Lipton said he knows many residents dont want to see any more high-density residential areas get approved. Lipton said he is frustrated that the city has not wrapped up small area plans that will guide future development in the South Boulder Road and McCaslin Boulevard corridors. Such planning documents could offer officials more tools in the toolbox to help them make development decisions, he said. Beth Potter: 303-473-1422, potterb@coloradohometownweekly.com Santulli hazing unlikely to end binge drinking, says MU professor Professor Phil Wood discusses how difficult it is to curb binge drinking in fraternities and sororities, what MU is doing and what it's not doing. By Stephanie Norton of The Commercial Appeal Memphis police have charged a man after he allegedly poured boiling water on a woman Friday night, fled and wrecked his SUV. John Hancock, 41, is charged with aggravated assault, driving under the influence, reckless driving, refusal to submit to blood-alcohol test, driving while license suspended/revoked, violation of financial law, disregarding a red light and leaving the scene of an accident. Officers received a call at 5:29 p.m. that a woman in the 3300 block of Ridgeway had been doused with boiling water. The suspect then fled the scene, according to police spokesman Louis Brownlee, and struck an officer's car at Knight Arnold and Hickory Hill. Officers attempted to stop the suspect, who then crashed his vehicle. Hancock was taken to the Regional Medical Center in critical condition, Brownlee said. The officer was not injured. The woman, who has not been identified, was taken to St. Francis Hospital and is in stable condition. Hancock is due in court Monday for a video arraignment. February 17, 2016 - Vice President Joe Biden delivers a speech at the Norfolk Southern Memphis Regional Intermodal Facility in Rossville, Tenn. outside of Memphis to commemorate the 7th anniversary of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Wait a minute, Mr. Vice President. Locating a major rail yard in a rural eastern corner of the metro area is one of the last things Memphis needs. Already, the regions commercial axis has begun to tip east, further away from the old city fighting to keep its tax base. The rail yard will accelerate the trend. Lets start at the beginning. Vice President Joe Biden arrived the other day for a photo opportunity in the rail yard of Norfolk Southern, which built the $112 million freight handling station in 2012 near Rossville, Tennessee. Taxpayers aided the Virginia railroad, furnishing $52.5 million for the project out of the $800 million in federal stimulus money amassed by the Obama administration and Congress and earmarked for spending to stabilize the nation amid the 2008 economic rout. In Rossville, Biden lauded the stimulus program, and used its seventh anniversary to gaze into cameras and tell Americans infrastructure matters. Bemoaning the nations deteriorated roads and bridges was on point, but he then steered wide, explaining why this rail yard matters. Youre going to make the region a haven, Biden said. Because youre going to be able to pull up to the Rossville depot and put your product in the back of a train and you can get it anywhere from New Orleans to New York City. Haven? Beg your pardon, but this makes Rossville, population 680 and growing, a haven. And it's at the expense of Memphis, the sprawling city of 645,000 population, whose outskirts begin almost 15 miles west. Memphis already is in touch with New Orleans, New York and almost every other city of consequence on Earth. One of the most globally-connected American cities, Memphis is a trade town, a reason the welcome signs leading into the industrial parks off heavily congested Lamar Avenue call us Americas Distribution Center. Dozens of truck lines are here, five major railroads, pipelines, barge terminals, the worlds No. 2 cargo airport, FedExs global freight center, UPS cargo hub. Thats a lot of infrastructure, and almost all of it is in the big city, but if Memphis were a ship, it would be leaking in a full gale. Opening a rail yard at Rossville isnt like the U.S. Navy sailing up with a pump and a patch. Its like another blow to the hull. Memphis African American middle class has been shrinking in size, particularly households earning $40,000 to $75,000. The U.S. Census found 52,000 black households of that income level two years ago, 3,000 fewer than in the year before the recession. Thanks for the stimulus, Mr. Biden, but it came and went. Many of Memphis middle-class neighborhoods are located nearly 40 miles from Rossville. Are Memphians of any color going to roundtrip an hour between home and work in the rail yard or the massive new industrial park centered next door in Mississippi? Sure, for a time, if wages are good, but eventually many will move closer to the job, further destabilizing the big city. All that said, you have to praise Norfolk Southern for modernizing. Slack capital spending by other U.S. corporations prolonged the nations slow recovery from the 2008 melt down. Its a reason Greater Memphis employers report 14,000 fewer payroll jobs now than the year before the recession. And you have to admire Mississippi real estate investor William Adair. He had the foresight, the audacity, to draw the big railroad onto his property. Adair grew up poor nearby, made his fortune in Nashville in insurance, and now is carrying out his vision. He said he wants to recast this far-flung edge of the metro area as a hub for thousands of jobs in his new industrial park, Gateway Global, thousands of rural acres straddling both sides of the state line and served by a heavy-duty road he built into the Norfolk Southern yard. Its too bad Adair is not doing for Memphis what he is doing at Rossville. But theres no turning back. Interstate 269, the outer loop being built through the Mississippi suburbs, already has opened near Gateway Global, and connects to Tenn. 385, which runs to Interstate 40, the Southeasts key east-west freight highway. Forty miles up I-40 near Brownsville, Tennessee, economic developers are actively recruiting big factories for 4,100 state-owned acres now named the Memphis Regional Megasite. Its hard to understand how economic development bonanzas far away as Brownsville and Rossville can benefit the old city. Biden is a likable person. A few years ago, I met him. There was a stimulus-related event in the Midwest countryside at a new electric car company named EnerDel. He sounded then much like he did the other day welcoming a grand future, this one in electric cars. Back then, oil prices had soared. So did interest in electric cars powered entirely by batteries. The Obama administration pumped millions into the fledging industry. What happened at EnerDel is telling. General Motors old West Point for electrical engineers was the Delco Remy division, whose engineers in the Indianapolis area helped pioneer the technologically superb General Motors EV1 electric car early in the 1990s. After GM spun off Delco Remy years later, some EV1 pioneers went to new EnerDel. If you had heard the cheery vice president then, and looked at the electrical engineers assembled before him, a crew of enormous potential who soon would be let go, you could understand why many Donald Trump supporters today loathe the old political class in Washington. GM, once the largest corporation in the world, filed for bankruptcy. Remy filed for bankruptcy. EnerDel, by then backed by Russian wood pulp billionaire Boris Zingarevich, filed for bankruptcy, its car shelved for the same reason the EV1 was taken off the market: Batteries were too expensive. And they needed recharging every few hours. And the dream of an electric car fleet? Still a dream after Washington squandered millions of taxpayer dollars. It is important for our political class to help lead America, but leading is different from cheerleading. Biden would do better if he talked less and delivered more. By Maria Ines Zamudio of The Commercial Appeal About 20 activists and tenants held a prayer circle Friday afternoon outside a Global Ministries property where the founder was hosting a conference for gospel ministers. The Mid-South Peace and Justice Center organized the prayer action to bring awareness about the conditions at Warren and Tulane apartments to the ministers attending the Revival conference Rev. Richard Hamlet is hosting a "conference on Revival" at the Stephen Olford Center. "We are working for the interest of the tenants," Brad Watkins said. "We are here to tell them [the ministers and Hamlet] not in the name of our faith and not with out tax dollars." SHARE February 17, 2016 - Fred D. Beal, 22, looks back as a witness walks into the courtroom during his trial in the killing of a 21-year-old Memphis mother of three, Amelia Campbell, who was fatally shot July 19, 2011 in the 2300 block of Shasta while her four-year-old son was present. Related Coverage Trial begins in killing of Memphis mother By Katie Fretland of The Commercial Appeal A Memphis man charged with shooting a 21-year-old mother of three in the back of her head during a robbery attempt when he was a juvenile was convicted Friday of first-degree murder. Fred Beal was convicted of killing Amelia Campbell, a cosmetology student, who had her 4-year-old son with her on the night of July 19, 2011, in the 2300 block of Shasta Avenue in North Memphis. Another victim, Travis Metcalf, was shot in the back causing a lasting impact to the functioning of his foot. Shelby County Criminal Court Judge Chris Craft sentenced Beal to life. The state said Beal killed Campbell during a robbery attempt and talked about it later, while his attorney, Juni Ganguli, questioned the credibility of witnesses who implicated Beal. Beal was 17 years old when a rumor started that a man had a "whole lot of money" on Shasta in the area of North Hollywood Street and Chelsea Avenue, said Brandon Holmes, who is also charged in the case. A plan developed to take the money. "We had said we need some guns," Holmes said. Beal, 22, denied planning a robbery with Holmes or killing anyone. He testified in his own defense. Asked where he was when the shooting happened, he told Assistant District Attorney Neal Oldham he didn't know. "It's been so long," he said. He was also convicted of attempting to kill Metcalf, employing a firearm during a dangerous offense and attempted especially aggravated robbery. The police investigation of the incident first focused on two people, not Beal or Holmes, who had feuded with a woman who was on Shasta with Campbell that night, Ganguli said. Jerrica Reed argued with a man earlier on the day of the shooting because he swerved a car towards her as she was walking on the sidewalk by her house. She argued with a different person because he road up on a bicycle and started cursing at her, she said. But Reed was not the person who was shot, Oldham said. Holmes gave a written statement admitting his involvement and that Beal fired several shots, according to an affidavit. "Mr. Beal and Mr. Holmes are awful robbers," Oldham told the jury. "This plan was awful. ... But you know what crime Mr. Beal is really good at? Murder." Holmes said Beal told him the victim had reached for her purse as if she had a gun. But Amelia Campbell was unarmed, sitting and talking with friends and listening to an MP3 player when she was ambushed. "She was harming no one," Assistant District Attorney Colin Campbell said. In the end, Beal got no money from the robbery attempt, the prosecutor said. "She's dead for what?" Campbell said. "A whole bunch of nothing." SHARE Sharonda Hampton By Yolanda Jones of The Commercial Appeal Thursday's fatal shooting of a 20-year-old store clerk shot during a robbery marked the 33rd homicide in the city this year. Memphis police released updated homicide statistics Friday that showed out of the 33 murders, 20 of the victims knew their killer and all but four were killed by guns. Memphis police Deputy Director Mike Ryall, Deputy Chief Sharonda Hampton and homicide's acting Lt. Col. Caroline Mason, discussed with the media Friday the recent murders in the city. Around this time last February, 19 people had been killed in the city, police said. Why the spike in murders this year? Hampton, who is in charge of the department's investigative unit, which includes homicide, answered that by saying, "Although homicide is the most serious crime that can be committed and one that has a negative reflection on our city, it is the most difficult crime to predict." Police leaders said that is why it will not only take the department getting "boots on the ground" in high-crime areas, but they also need the community's help. "I challenge everybody to step up. If you see something, by all means, say something," Hampton said. Last year, Memphis had 161 murders. Of this number, 125 were solved. Of this year's 33 homicides, 23 have been solved, meaning police have made an arrest or they know who the suspects are. Six of this year's homicides were domestic-violence related. Six also involved juveniles four victims and two suspects. Five of the homicides were gang-related this year, and there have been two triple killings, where two pregnant women were killed and a double homicide where two men were killed on Feb. 7. All of these homicides involved guns. "We understand that 29 of our 33 homicides were gun-related and that is heavy," Ryall said. "That is bad guns, in bad hands." He added that police are working to maintain its current fleet of officers and also working to recruit more, but reiterated that police need the help of citizens. "One thing we're doing is being proactive and getting the community involved through our COPS program, working with the media, and just asking the community to help. We want the public to know that we are accessible," Ryall said. February 18, 2016 - Memphis police work the scene of a traffic accident near the intersection of Hickory Hill and Knight Arnold. (Stan Carroll/The Commercial Appeal) By Staff A man allegedly poured boiling water on a woman Friday night, then fled from the victim's family in an SUV, bumping a police officer's car before wrecking his own vehicle and suffering critical injuries, police said. Memphis Police spokesman Louis Brownlee said police received a call at 5:29 that a woman at 3330 Ridgeway had been doused with boiling water. The suspect then fled from family members of the victim, Brownlee said, striking the officer's car at Knight Arnold and Hickory Hill. He said officers tried to stop the suspect, who was then involved in a one-vehicle wreck. The suspect, whose name was not immediately released by police, was taken to the Regional Medical Center in critical condition, Brownlee said. The officer was not hurt. The woman who was attacked was taken to St. Francis Hospital and was in stable condition as of 7:15, Brownlee said. Brownlee said he didn't know how close the officers were to the SUV when it crashed but said he'd been told the officers were trying to make a traffic stop. Police temporarily blocked off a section of Knight Arnold near Hickory Hill Road as workers cleaned up wreckage. A badly damaged vehicle decorated with a logo of the Green Bay Packers was in the middle of the intersection and was later hauled away. Officers said this was the SUV the suspect was driving. February 19, 2016 A MATA employee walks in The Barn where buses in need of repair are parked behind the operations building at 1370 Levee Road Friday. (Yalonda M. James/The Commercial Appeal) SHARE By Tom Charlier of The Commercial Appeal The Memphis Area Transit Authority's No. 9 bus, running about eight minutes late, rumbles north along Highland Street on a sunny afternoon carrying a half-dozen riders, including Wilmetta Crawford, who's well aware that, for all the troubles of public transportation in Memphis, she would be hard-pressed to do without it. A teacher's assistant at Getwell Elementary, Crawford each day rides 30 minutes to and from a bus stop near Macon and National, which is a short walk from her home. Without the No. 9 bus, "I'd have to go all the way Downtown and transfer two or three times," she said. But the chronic and deepening financial strains that have put MATA "on the verge of collapse," as president and general manager Ron Garrison told the City Council last week, could threaten lightly used routes such as No. 9. Without an infusion of another $7 million in operating funds from City Hall as well as $5 million in capital money to buy new buses severe cuts in service might be required when the next fiscal year begins on July 1, Garrison said. A look a MATA's finances makes clear that the financial problems have been long in coming, and intensifying. The agency endured eight straight years of budget deficits totaling $22 million through fiscal 2015. And without further help from the city, the accumulated deficits could reach $66 million by 2018. So bleak are the finances that MATA last year had to take out two bridge loans from the city totaling $4.5 million just to meet payroll and other expenses. MATA gets about 95 percent of its revenue from four main sources the city, the federal government, passenger fares and state grants. Between fiscal 2012 and 2015, total operating revenues declined from $55.8 million to $53.3 million as federal support fell by more than $1 million to $12.4 million, state grants dropped more than $700,000, to $7.5 million, and passenger fares plummeted $2 million to $8.3 million. Support from the city, which provides more than 40 percent of the agency's funds, remained constant at around $23 million. The decline in funding, which began in 2009, triggered a devastating, self-perpetuating cycle, agency officials say. Faced with drooping revenues, MATA began diverting nearly all of its federal capital-maintenance grants money that should be used to purchase vehicles to operations. The result was an aging fleet, with nearly half the agency's 162 fixed-route buses eligible for retirement, that became increasingly costly and trouble-prone to keep operating. The fleet troubles, in turn, forced service cuts, which translated into a drop in passenger totals, which further cut revenues from fares and from formula-based federal and state grants. "We took from staff and capital funds to keep operations on the street ...," Garrison said in an interview Friday. "We have zero reserves. We operate in a deficit." MATA buses now average a total of about 25,000 riders a day. The ongoing shutdown of the trolley system following two fires in 2014 has hurt MATA in several ways. The loss of the system's 1.1 million annual riders meant no farebox revenues from trolleys and no federal rail funds. Additionally, the agency needs to spend close to $2 million this year rehabilitating the trolley system. Amid the drop in revenues, MATA's expenses also have been falling, but not enough to pull the agency out of the red. Total expenditures in fiscal 2015 were $56.9 million, down from $60.3 million a year earlier. Salary expenses declined as MATA shed 135 employees nearly a quarter of its workforce between 2008 and 2015. The agency also benefited from a steep drop in fuel costs. Total fuel expenditures fell to a projected $3.95 million for fiscal 2016 down 57 percent from $9.15 million in 2009 because of cheaper oil prices and the reduced consumption associated with service cutbacks. Despite those and other cost reductions, MATA finished last fiscal year $3.6 million in the hole, down from a deficit of $5.9 million for 2014. For fiscal 2017, the agency is requesting $30 million in operating funds from the city along with extra capital funds to replace 40 fixed-route buses. In its 2016 budget proposal issued last August, the agency said funding was needed to upgrade the fleet, stabilize operating finances, build a capital reserve and deal with a "huge" OPEB (other post-employment benefits) liability that had left the agency with no money on hand for large payouts. Having lost so many employees, MATA also needs to start filling some key staff positions to "cease the gradual unraveling of organization infrastructure," the proposal said. To meet the agency's 2017 needs, officials have confirmed they're weighing a possible transportation fee that city residents and businesses would pay monthly. To bolster their point that the agency is woefully underfunded, MATA officials showed council members estimates that cities such as Nashville and Louisville, Kentucky, spend $41 and $50 per capita on public transportation, respectively, compared to $29 for Memphis. In its presentation last week, MATA also said it hopes to "raise the bar" for service by having routes within a half-mile of 50 percent of residences and businesses, by simplifying fares and improving its availability to low-income residents. Census figures show that public transportation remains a critical need in Memphis. About 6,200 people in the city commute daily by bus, according to the figures, and more than 35,000 households in Memphis have no access to a car or truck. John Kasich speaks. (AP Photo/Morry Gash) SHARE By David Royer of The Commercial Appeal Republican presidential hopeful John Kasich will host a town hall meeting in Memphis on Feb. 26, his campaign announced Friday. The Ohio governor will appear at the Holiday Inn at the University of Memphis, 3700 Central, at 6 p.m. Doors open at 5:30. The public is invited to attend. Tickets can be found by searching for the event on eventbrite.com. Kasich, who placed second behind Donald Trump in New Hampshire's recent Republican primary, will also make appearances in Nashville and Knoxville the following day. Tennessee's primaries will be held March 1. Early voting is happening now. Dr. Reavis Mitchell, a history professor at Fisk University and chairman of the Tennessee Historical Commission, presides over a commission discussion Friday over a historical marker commemorating the Memphis race riots and massacre of 1866. By Richard Locker of The Commercial Appeal NASHVILLE A proposed new state historical marker in Memphis will have both "Memphis Race Riot of 1866" and "The Memphis Massacre" as its titles, under revised wording approved Friday by the Tennessee Historical Commission. The 29-member state commission has spent hours discussing and revising the text for the new marker and particularly whether its title should be "1866 Memphis Massacre" as proposed by the NAACP's Memphis Branch, or "Memphis Race Riot of 1866," which the commission approved in October. Friday's vote would put both names in a two-line title, with the race riot wording on top. The official marker is to be erected at Army and Navy parks, two small parks separated by South Second Street at G.E. Patterson Avenue in South Memphis, in time for a sesquicentennial commemoration of the events in May. The Memphis Branch of the NAACP, which requested the marker and would fund most or all of its costs, still must sign off on the new wording. The state's official historical markers, which are topped by the tri-star of the state flag, are erected and bear the Tennessee Historical Commission name. But because of inadequate state funding, the markers are usually requested and subsidized by local sponsors, often with suggested wording. This one was proposed by the NAACP's local branch, which also submitted language. But the commission has authority to approve the final wording, with a focus on accuracy. There was a lengthy discussion at the commission's last quarterly meeting in October, when local NAACP representatives objected to a virtually complete rewrite of their original wording, including changing the title from "1866 Memphis Massacre" to "Memphis Race Riot of 1866." After the October meeting, University of Tennessee history professor Stephen V. Ash expressed concerns about the accuracy of the commission's revised language in an email to Phyllis Aluko, a Memphis lawyer who drafted the NAACP's original text and who spoke at length on the NAACP's behalf at the October meeting in Jonesborough, Tenn. Ash specializes in Tennessee's Reconstruction period; he researched and wrote "A Massacre in Memphis" about the events of May 1-3, 1866, that historians agree resulted in the murders of at least 40 black Memphians at the hands of between 200 and 300 white rioters. Friday's four-hour meeting was held in Jubilee Hall at Fisk University, the historically black college founded in the same year as the Memphis riots-massacre 150 years ago. At the meeting, commission member Sam Elliott, a Chattanooga lawyer, moved to rescind the commission's October action on the marker and replace it with a new version that he said incorporates the UT professor's suggestions and most of the NAACP's. Elliott's revision was original titled "Memphis Race Riot of 1866" but after more give and take among his colleagues and Aluko and Madeline Taylor, executive director of the NAACP Memphis branch who both attended the commission approved the new wording with both names in the title. It also changed several words and phrases at Aluko's urging. Taylor told the commission that she lacks authority to approve the new wording unilaterally and must take the revision back to leaders of the Memphis branch for further discussion and approval before it agrees to funding the marker. "It was a nice suggestion that they added 'massacre' to it but we have to take it to our committee," she said after the meeting. "The fact that we're willing to take it back to the committee says something." Much of the talk focused on what the events were called over time. Aluko said some early accounts sought to whitewash the events but the congressional committee appointed to investigate it called it a massacre. "The Memphis NAACP feels strongly it should be called what it is ... It's a massacre and to call it anything else is putting a dagger in the backs of our ancestors," Aluko said. Dr. Carroll Van West, the state historian, told the commission that much of the early scholarship on the events called them race riots but "current scholarship" calls it the Memphis Massacre. Both sides cited Congress' Select Committee on the Memphis Race Riot, whose report ultimately called the events a massacre. "Turning one's aggression systematically on other people, to me, meets the definition of a massacre," said commission member William Lyons, deputy to Knoxville Mayor Madeline Rogero and former UT political science professor. Text of new historical marker approved by Tenn. Historical Commission Memphis Race Riot of 1866 The Memphis Massacre On May 1, 2, and 3, 1866, an estimated 200-300 white people, the great majority of whom were Irish immigrants, including many policemen, attacked recently emancipated black people. At least 40 blacks were murdered, dozens more wounded, several black women were raped, and many others robbed. Rioters burned numerous black churches, schools, and houses. Federal troops still stationed in the city restored order on May 3. No one was prosecuted in connection with the riot, which was characterized by several newspaper accounts and a Congressional committee report as a massacre. The Memphis riot was a rallying cry in the momentous battle over the nations reconstruction following the Civil War. Ultimately, it helped ensure Congress passage and submission to the states of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. February 16, 2016 - Edmund Ford Jr. asks a question during talks about the rollout of police body cameras during a Budget Committee meeting. Memphis City Council committees approved $2 million for a rollout of police body and in-car cameras, and got a preview of policies related to the videos. (Brad Vest/The Commercial Appeal) By Ryan Poe of The Commercial Appeal During his campaign last year, Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland never missed an opportunity to say the city needs to emulate the Boys & Girls Club of Memphis. Strickland has fewer than two months on the job, but he said Thursday at his and City Council member Jamita Swearengen's first town hall meeting that he's working on a plan to implement similar programs at city community centers. Strickland didn't give many details about the initiative, but said it could help reduce crime by keeping Memphis youth out of trouble. Businesses will be asked to help with the initiative, which he said could be costly. "It's not going to happen overnight because it's going to take a lot of money," he told the crowd at Mt. Pisgah CME Church in Orange Mound. Opposition to Metamorphosis Project One of the topics of discussion at the town hall meeting was the Memphis Gay & Lesbian Community Center's plan to use renovated shipping containers to house homeless or struggling gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender youth in Orange Mound. The plan, dubbed The Metamorphosis Project, drew some criticism from area residents, who questioned why they hadn't known about the project earlier and said they were concerned how the shipping containers could affect property values and blight in the area. Some citizens said they would voice opposition to the project at an upcoming city-required, neighborhood feedback meeting. Free speech or hate speech? The long-running dispute between city officials and employees over pay and benefits got personal Tuesday at the Memphis City Council meeting. Employee advocate Fran Triplett criticized council member Edmund Ford Jr., who was sitting in as chairman for Kemp Conrad, because he'd filed a complaint against her husband, a Memphis police officer. Her husband, according to the exchange, had showed up at Ford's family's mortuary in uniform to talk to Ford, who in a recent council meeting had called out Triplett. Ford responded by saying her husband had tried to intimidate him, and that she should "grow up." A few minutes later, citizen Walter Broady prayed at the close of the meeting for Triplett and her husband to have "peace," which got a hearty "amen" from Ford. The heated exchange was just another day at City Council, but it shows the frustration some council members have with the closing public-comment portion of the council meetings, which give citizens a few minutes to voice their anger -- with the council, city services, government conspiracies or anything else. In the past year, council members have been blasted repeatedly for their votes to cut city employee and retiree health benefits, especially. Ford has been so frustrated he's called for a meeting of the council's Rules Committee March 15 to discuss recommendations for limiting public comments. Follow more politics and policy coverage from the InforMemphis team on Twitter and Facebook. SHARE By Joseph E. Uscinski MIAMI Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia died just days ago, but already conspiracy theories about his death abound. Radio talk-show host Alex Jones suggested that a pillow found near Scalia's head might indicate that he'd been suffocated. Some retired detectives said the lack of an autopsy was evidence of a cover-up. The website TruNews wondered whether the CIA used heart-attack-inducing drugs to kill the justice. Even Donald Trump joined the fray, calling the death "pretty unusual." For those who don't believe that the justice was murdered Scalia, at 79, had passed average life expectancy it can be disconcerting to watch a large swath of the public fall prey to hysteria and paranoia. After all, we live in a democracy. If a substantial portion of Americans operate in a conspiracy-fueled delirium, how can we make sound decisions, choose thoughtful leaders and support rational policies? Those concerns motivated psychologists and social scientists like me to try to better understand why people believe conspiracy theories and what the consequences are. In the past decade, scientists have conducted hundreds of opinion polls and laboratory experiments on the subject, leading to the publication of dozens of books and scholarly articles. Based on this emerging body of research, the explosion of Scalia assassination theories is probably two-fold. First, some people are, by their nature, inclined toward conspiratorial logic. Second, partisans tend to view their side as virtuous and the opposition as ignorant, wrong-headed, corrupt and perhaps evil. Increasingly partisan times, like these, stir the pot even more. Recently, psychologists began measuring people's predisposition to believe conspiracy theories. Using polling and questionnaires, scientists developed a list of questions about political control and secrecy. The surveys were designed to tap respondents' underlying views of how the world works, rather than their thoughts about specific conspiracy theories. Through these experiments, researchers found that conspiratorial thinking falls on a spectrum. Some people are very inclined toward conspiracy theories, seeing them lurking around every corner, no matter the facts. People on the opposite end of the spectrum are unlikely to accept conspiratorial beliefs, even when mounting evidence suggests something is afoot. The folks on this extreme might be thought of as naive; conspiracy theorists often refer to them as "sheeple." Most people are somewhere in the middle: They believe in some conspiracy theories, but reject most. For example, in one national poll, respondents were given a list of nine groups to choose from that included "corporations and the rich," "communists and socialists," "the government" and "foreign countries." Participants were asked to select any groups they believed were working in secret against the rest of us. The respondents who scored lowest on the spectrum of conspiracy thinking chose an average of about 1 groups. Respondents with stronger predispositions toward such thinking picked more. Those at the highest levels of conspiratorial thinking choose about 4 groups. Given this, it's not surprising that some people thought of conspiratorial explanations corruption! assassination! intrigue! as soon as they heard of Scalia's passing. It's also unsurprising that most national news coverage of these conspiracy theories has been to debunk them. Partisanship also drives conspiracy theories. Partisans often view politics as a Manichean struggle, with their party as good and the other as evil. This leads them to believe that if something bad happens, the other side caused it. This plays out over and over again in our national discourse. For example, after the shooting in San Bernardino, California, last year, Republicans criticized what they called Obama's weak stance on terrorism; Democrats blamed the GOP for what they consider lax gun laws. For the conspiratorially minded, it's a hop, skip and a jump to accusations of scheming: Some on the right suggested that the Obama administration orchestrated the San Bernardino attack so that afterward, it could take away gun rights. Some on the left continue to suggest that the George W. Bush administration was either complicit or directly involved in the 9/11 attacks. Social scientists such as Brendan Nyhan have used polls to show that members of both parties harbor conspiratorial thinking, and in equal amounts. But at any given time, the balance of domestic power makes it look like only one side belongs to the paranoid fringe. That's because the theories that gain traction tend to come from those accusing the people in power of wrongdoing. Since President Obama's election, most of the prominent conspiracy theories have originated with Republicans. They have accused the president of faking his birth certificate, blowing up the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, killing moviegoers in Aurora, Colorado, and slaughtering children at Sandy Hook Elementary. But go back a few years, and we observe the opposite: Democrats sounding the alarms with 9/11 truther theories and obsessions with the Iraq war, Halliburton, Dick Cheney and Blackwater. In fact, when one party wins a presidential election, a significant portion of the other party believes the election was rigged. For example, a Fairleigh Dickinson poll shows that about 37 percent of Democrats believe Republicans committed fraud to keep the presidency in 2004; 36 percent of Republicans believe that Democrats committed fraud to stay in the White House in 2012. The most prominent conspiracy theories accuse the biggest and most powerful actors. In other words, conspiracy theories are for losers. Looking back in history, we see the same thing: When President Franklin Roosevelt attempted to pack the Supreme Court with like-minded justices, some Republicans declared that Roosevelt was conspiring to become a dictator. It therefore follows that when a conservative Supreme Court justice dies in office, some Republican conspiracy theorists will immediately conclude that the Democratic president and those under his control murdered him. The urge to blame Obama is made even more potent by the fact that Scalia's death will change the ideological balance of the court in a way that favors liberals. Republicans think they just lost control of a branch of government. It's hard to know how the United States ranks alongside other countries in terms of its penchant for conspiracy theories, since there are no systematic comparisons. But my research has led me to believe that Western Europeans and Americans are, for the most part, anti-conspiratorial. Conspiracy theories certainly exist, but people mostly believe in and trust the American system and its institutions. One study that tracked levels of conspiricism using letters to the editor in prominent newspapers shows that conspiratorial talk has decreased in the past several decades. In other regions, like post-communist Eastern Europe, conspiracy theories abound. This may be because institutions in those countries are less transparent. There have been millions of conspiracy theories. Very few convince many people; most come and go with little notice. The Scalia theories will probably make headlines for a few weeks, then disappear from our discourse. That doesn't mean we shouldn't pay attention. Conspiracy theories broadcast people's deepest fears and values. By doing this, they offer leaders a signal. In this case, Obama should see that Americans on the right are uneasy about a shift of power on the highest court. In naming a replacement, he could show empathy for those who are afraid by directly engaging with those worries and choosing a compromise nominee. It's worth remembering that, very occasionally, conspiracy theories turn out to be true. Just ask the two cheeky journalists who followed a crazy conspiracy theory 40 years ago and brought down a sitting president. Joseph Uscinski is an associate professor of political science at the University of Miami. He is a co-author, with Joseph M. Parent, of "American Conspiracy Theories." He wrote this for The Washington Post. SHARE By Ramesh Ponnuru President Barack Obama has said "the Constitution is pretty clear about what should happen now" that Justice Antonin Scalia's death has left a vacancy on the Supreme Court. What should happen now, he said in a press conference this week, is that he should nominate someone to fill that vacancy and then the Senate should approve or disapprove the nomination. Republican senators have said they will not confirm any Obama nominee this year, allowing the winner of this year's presidential election to make the choice. Obama mocked this idea: "There's no unwritten law that says that [Supreme Court confirmations] can only be done on off years that's not in the constitutional text. I'm amused when I hear people who claim to be strict interpreters of the Constitution suddenly reading into it a whole series of provisions that are not there." Obama is battling a straw man, as is his wont. Republican senators are not contending that the Constitution bars them from confirming a nominee this year. They're saying it allows them to hold off until next year. Which it does. The framers considered requiring the Senate to take action to keep a nominee from being confirmed. They rejected that idea, writing a Constitution that made confirmation depend on affirmative steps by the Senate. The practical difference between these arrangements is that under our Constitution, the Senate can kill a nomination passively, by doing nothing. When Obama was himself a senator, he tried to block an up-or-down vote on the nomination of Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court going against what he now says the Constitution obliges. When this history came up at the press conference, the closest Obama came to a response was that Alito made it to the court anyway. A spokesman later said the president regrets the decision to take part in the filibuster. But if Obama wasn't shirking his constitutional duty back then, and he wasn't, neither are Senate Republicans now. The fact that the Constitution allows the Senate to ignore a Supreme Court nomination does not mean it is right to do so. Chris Cillizza, in The Washington Post, suggested that Republicans are making a "big mistake" even from the standpoint of their own political interests. Instead of saying no from the beginning, he argued, they should hold hearings and then filibuster Obama's nominee. (They could also hold hearings and then vote that nominee down.) He speculated that Republicans would look more reasonable this way. How to defeat a nomination, though, is just a tactical question. The more fundamental issue is whether it's reasonable actually reasonable, not just reasonable-looking to deny Obama the chance to fill this vacancy this year. I think the answer is yes. In part that's because, for all the convenient invocations of the Founders we have heard in this debate already, this isn't the Founders' Supreme Court. It's a court that plays a much larger policymaking role than it did for much of our history. (Recall that the court in its first 70 years struck down precisely two federal laws as unconstitutional.) Modern liberalism is aggressive in its use of judicial power to impose its policies, whether or not those preferences accord with the text or original understanding of the Constitution. The best example of this tendency is Roe v. Wade, in which the court struck down abortion laws across the U.S. on the pretense that the Constitution somehow forbids them. Even experts on constitutional law who support legal abortion have said Roe was a poorly reasoned decision ("it is not constitutional law and gives almost no sense of an obligation to try to be"). This anti-constitutional decision has become sacred for Democrats. Obama claims he has no litmus test, but has said that his judicial nominees will support Roe. Judges who are willing to put their policy views over the Constitution in that manner will find it easy to do it in other cases, too: to hold that states cannot give students scholarships for private and parochial schools, or that they cannot maintain the death penalty. When a court invalidates a law because it clearly violates the Constitution, it can justify its apparently undemocratic action on the ground that the Constitution counts as the will of the people in a more durable sense than a statute does. When it invalidates a law without that justification, its rulings lack democratic legitimacy. Scalia was one of the court's most stalwart opponents of that kind of end run. Replacing him with another justice who will vote in lockstep with the court's liberal wing, which tends to vote as a bloc much more than the conservatives do, would go far to advance the project of replacing the Constitution with progressive dogma. The Constitution gives Republicans the ability to call at least a temporary halt to this project, by keeping Obama from making another Supreme Court appointment. They're right to take it. Ramesh Ponnuru, a Bloomberg View columnist, is a senior editor for National Review and a visiting fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. 23 May 2022 - Understand the French healthcare system, how you access it and how you are reimbursed - Useful if you are new to the French healthcare system or want a more in-depth understanding - Reader question and answer section Aimed at non-French nationals living here, the guide gives an overview of what you are (and are not) covered for. There is also information for second-home owners and regular visitors. For weeks now I have been wrestling with the most difficult decision of my political life. But taking difficult decisions is what politicians are paid to do. No-one is forced to stand for Parliament, no-one is compelled to become a minister. If you take on those roles, which are great privileges, you also take on big responsibilities. I was encouraged to stand for Parliament by David Cameron and he has given me the opportunity to serve in what I believe is a great, reforming Government. I think he is an outstanding Prime Minister. There is, as far as I can see, only one significant issue on which we have differed. And that is the future of the UK in the European Union. It pains me to have to disagree with the Prime Minister on any issue. My instinct is to support him through good times and bad. But I cannot duck the choice which the Prime Minister has given every one of us. In a few months time we will all have the opportunity to decide whether Britain should stay in the European Union or leave. I believe our country would be freer, fairer and better off outside the EU. And if, at this moment of decision, I didnt say what I believe I would not be true to my convictions or my country. I dont want to take anything away from the Prime Ministers dedicated efforts to get a better deal for Britain. He has negotiated with courage and tenacity. But I think Britain would be stronger outside the EU. My starting point is simple. I believe that the decisions which govern all our lives, the laws we must all obey and the taxes we must all pay should be decided by people we choose and who we can throw out if we want change. If power is to be used wisely, if we are to avoid corruption and complacency in high office, then the public must have the right to change laws and Governments at election time. But our membership of the European Union prevents us being able to change huge swathes of law and stops us being able to choose who makes critical decisions which affect all our lives. Laws which govern citizens in this country are decided by politicians from other nations who we never elected and cant throw out. We can take out our anger on elected representatives in Westminster but whoever is in Government in London cannot remove or reduce VAT, cannot support a steel plant through troubled times, cannot build the houses we need where theyre needed and cannot deport all the individuals who shouldnt be in this country. I believe that needs to change. And I believe that both the lessons of our past and the shape of the future make the case for change compelling. The ability to choose who governs us, and the freedom to change laws we do not like, were secured for us in the past by radicals and liberals who took power from unaccountable elites and placed it in the hands of the people. As a result of their efforts we developed, and exported to nations like the US, India, Canada and Australia a system of democratic self-government which has brought prosperity and peace to millions. Our democracy stood the test of time. We showed the world what a free people could achieve if they were allowed to govern themselves. In Britain we established trial by jury in the modern world, we set up the first free parliament, we ensured no-one could be arbitrarily detained at the behest of the Government, we forced our rulers to recognise they ruled by consent not by right, we led the world in abolishing slavery, we established free education for all, national insurance, the National Health Service and a national broadcaster respected across the world. By way of contrast, the European Union, despite the undoubted idealism of its founders and the good intentions of so many leaders, has proved a failure on so many fronts. The euro has created economic misery for Europes poorest people. European Union regulation has entrenched mass unemployment. EU immigration policies have encouraged people traffickers and brought desperate refugee camps to our borders. Far from providing security in an uncertain world, the EUs policies have become a source of instability and insecurity. Razor wire once more criss-crosses the continent, historic tensions between nations such as Greece and Germany have resurfaced in ugly ways and the EU is proving incapable of dealing with the current crises in Libya and Syria. The former head of Interpol says the EUs internal borders policy is like hanging a sign welcoming terrorists to Europe and Scandinavian nations which once prided themselves on their openness are now turning in on themselves. All of these factors, combined with popular anger at the lack of political accountability, has encouraged extremism, to the extent that far-right parties are stronger across the continent than at any time since the 1930s. The EU is an institution rooted in the past and is proving incapable of reforming to meet the big technological, demographic and economic challenges of our time. It was developed in the 1950s and 1960s and like other institutions which seemed modern then, from tower blocks to telexes, it is now hopelessly out of date. The EU tries to standardise and regulate rather than encourage diversity and innovation. It is an analogue union in a digital age. The EU is built to keep power and control with the elites rather than the people. Even though we are outside the euro we are still subject to an unelected EU commission which is generating new laws every day and an unaccountable European Court in Luxembourg which is extending its reach every week, increasingly using the Charter of Fundamental Rights which in many ways gives the EU more power and reach than ever before. This growing EU bureaucracy holds us back in every area. EU rules dictate everything from the maximum size of containers in which olive oil may be sold (five litres) to the distance houses have to be from heathland to prevent cats chasing birds (five kilometres). Individually these rules may be comical. Collectively, and there are tens of thousands of them, they are inimical to creativity, growth and progress. Rules like the EU clinical trials directive have slowed down the creation of new drugs to cure terrible diseases and ECJ judgements on data protection issues hobble the growth of internet companies. As a minister Ive seen hundreds of new EU rules cross my desk, none of which were requested by the UK Parliament, none of which I or any other British politician could alter in any way and none of which made us freer, richer or fairer. It is hard to overstate the degree to which the EU is a constraint on ministers ability to do the things they were elected to do, or to use their judgment about the right course of action for the people of this country. I have long had concerns about our membership of the EU but the experience of Government has only deepened my conviction that we need change. Every single day, every single minister is told: Yes Minister, I understand, but Im afraid thats against EU rules. I know it. My colleagues in government know it. And the British people ought to know it too: your government is not, ultimately, in control in hundreds of areas that matter. But by leaving the EU we can take control. Indeed we can show the rest of Europe the way to flourish. Instead of grumbling and complaining about the things we cant change and growing resentful and bitter, we can shape an optimistic, forward-looking and genuinely internationalist alternative to the path the EU is going down. We can show leadership. Like the Americans who declared their independence and never looked back, we can become an exemplar of what an inclusive, open and innovative democracy can achieve. We can take back the billions we give to the EU, the money which is squandered on grand parliamentary buildings and bureaucratic follies, and invest it in science and technology, schools and apprenticeships. We can get rid of the regulations which big business uses to crush competition and instead support new start-up businesses and creative talent. We can forge trade deals and partnerships with nations across the globe, helping developing countries to grow and benefiting from faster and better access to new markets. We are the worlds fifth largest economy, with the best armed forces of any nation, more Nobel Prizes than any European country and more world-leading universities than any European country. Our economy is more dynamic than the Eurozone, we have the most attractive capital city on the globe, the greatest soft power and global influence of any state and a leadership role in NATO and the UN. Are we really too small, too weak and too powerless to make a success of self-rule? On the contrary, the reason the EUs bureaucrats oppose us leaving is they fear that our success outside will only underline the scale of their failure. This chance may never come again in our lifetimes, which is why I will be true to my principles and take the opportunity this referendum provides to leave an EU mired in the past and embrace a better future. To understand yesterdays EU deal, one has to begin at the beginning with ten renegotiation aims that David Cameron began to set out in opposition and develop in government. These were: Taking back control over social and employment laws . A complete opt-out from the Charter of Fundamental Rights. Stopping the ECJ overruling our criminal law. Stopping EU migrants coming to the UK without a job offer . Removing EU jobseekers after six months . Reforming the Working Time Directive . Stopping the European Parliament meeting in two places . Reforming the Common Agricultural Policy . Reforming the EUs Structural Funds . Changing the EU treaties before a referendum . Some of these aims fell by the wayside before the last election (such as taking back control of social and employment laws) and others made it into last Mays Conservative Manifesto. The most important one was the last changing the EU treaties before a referendum, since only treaty change can guarantee any agreement binding effect. I have previously set out on this site how these were cut back, post-election, for the actual negotiation that concluded yesterday. In January, David Cameron set out his aims for it in the Commons as follows: I have set out the four areas where Britain is seeking significant and far-reaching reforms: on sovereignty and subsidiarity, where Britain must not be part of an ever-closer union and where we want a greater role for national Parliaments; on competitiveness, where the EU must add to our competitiveness, rather than detract from it, by signing new trade deals, cutting regulation and completing the single market; on fairness for countries inside and outside the eurozone, where the EU must protect the integrity of the single market and ensure there is no disadvantage, discrimination or additional costs for a country like Britain, which is not in the euro and which in my view is never going to join the euro; and on migration, where we need to tackle abuses of the right to free movement, and deliver changes that ensure that our welfare system is not an artificial draw for people to come to Britain. In practice, this boiled down to four main items: An emergency brake on welfare. Child benefit. Protection for non-Eurozone countries. The red card system. So lets turn, with the help of the useful Daily Telegraph and Guardian snap guides see here and here to what the Prime Minister originally demanded and what he actually got. For a detailed analysis, see Christopher Howarths magisterial article on this site this morning. The emergency brake This was originally to be a brake on migration itself, not access to benefits. So that it became one on access to benefits only (based on the popular but misconceived view that they are a major draw for migrants) was a climbdown. Furthermore, the control of the brake will be in the hands of the European Commission, not the British Government a second climbdown. The Conservative Manifesto said that we will insist that EU migrants who want to claim tax credits and child benefit must live here and contribute to our country for a minimum of four years. But the deal struck agrees a gradual reduction in benefits a third climbdown. The brake itself will be able to last, if used, for a maximum of seven years. This is longer than the five years that the Visigrad group of EU leaders pushed for but shorter than Camerons original bid of 13 years. Child benefit The manifesto said that If an EU migrants child is living abroad, then they should receive no child benefit, no matter how long they have worked in the UK and no matter how much tax they have paid. However, the terms of the draft deal said that child benefit should be paid to the children of EU migrants living abroad, though at local rates unquestionably a climbdown. And the deal itself says that it should be paid at these rates only to new claims (a second climbdown) and, furthermore, these new rates for new claims will not apply until 2020 a third climbdown under this heading. Protection for non-Eurozone countries The manifesto said that We will protect our economy from any further integration of the Eurozonewe will not let the integration of the Eurozone jeopardise the integrity of the Single Market or in any way disadvantage the UK. The draft deal proposed that an unspecified number of non-euro states could take objections to measures proposed by Eurozone states to the Council of Ministers, which would do all in its power to engineer a satisfactory solution and seek to facilitate a wider basis of agreement in the Council. The deal itself says that a single non-euro state can take objections to the council an advance for the Prime Minister. However, there is, as in the draft deal, no guarantee that objections will be sustained, or indeed what will happen if there is deadlock on the council. The Red Card system The manifesto said that we want national parliaments to be able to work together to block unwanted European legislation. The deal proposes that a minimum of 14 parliaments within the EU can raise a red card against a new law if each does so within a three month period. So the Prime Minister has his red card plan written into it. However, the yellow card system, on which the red card one is based, has only been used twice. In opposition, William Hague dismissed the idea, saying that even if the European Commission proposed the slaughter of the first-born it would be difficult to achieve such a remarkable conjunction of parliamentary votes. There is much else in the deal, but three points stand out clearly. First, the tale of both Camerons original renegotiation idea and his recent proposals, resulting in yesterdays deal, is essentially a story of many steps backwards over time, including at the summit, and a few forward at the latter, too. If a man takes more steps backwards than forward, in which direction has he moved? Second, as has been conceded, the European Parliament has the capacity to unpick the deal. In the vivid phrase of an EU official, MEPs can be like monkeys with guns. Third, any aspect of the deal can be overturned by the European Court, since it is not enshrined in Treaty Change. Ominously, the Guardians Brussels correspondent tweeted post-deal: EU negotiator confident Camerons terms will be challenged in court. So what does the tale of this negotiation and this summit tell us? ConHome believes as follows. There is a case for Britain leaving the EU, which this site holds and which has been put on it many times. There is also a case for Britain staying in the EU, which the Prime Minister made towards the end of his summit press conference, and put rather well. What there is not is a case for Britain staying in the EU on the basis of this deal. When Cameron sought to suggest otherwise yesterday evening, his claims collapsed as fast as he made them. Lets consider three examples from that post-summit statement. He said that the deal has given Britain special status within the EU, because today we have permanently carved Britain out of [ever-closer union], so that we can never be forced into political integration with the rest of Europe. But the Council said less than two years ago that the concept of ever-closer union allows for different paths of integration for different countriesrespecting the wish of those who do not want further integration. This was attested to by the Prime Minister himself, who told the Commons afterwards that we broke new ground, with the Council conclusions stating explicitly that ever-closer union must allow for different paths of integration for different countries and, crucially, respect the wishes fo those such as Britain that do not want further integration. He said that we have permanently protected the pound and our right to keep it. But he has previously acknowledged that Britain already has an opt-out from the single currency. He said that we will be out of the parts of Europe that dont work for us, he proclaimed, out of the open borders. This is simply untrue. There is more. But the Prime Minister is relying on most voters being turned off by the detail, and there is little point in giving more when a few words will serve. They are those of the stupendously indiscreet Dalia Grybauskaite, Lithuanias President, who tweeted before the deal yesterday that it would be a face saving and face lifting exercise. When Leader of the Opposition, Cameron had a phrase that he hurled at Gordon Brown, and which stuck. Hes treating people like fools, he would say. But in puffing this hollow negotiation, it is the Prime Minister himself who now is treating people like fools. Many Conservative MPs told their voters and Associations at the last election that Britains relationship with the EU cannot go on as it is. They are fully entitled to say now that they have changed their minds. That they have been persuaded that Britains future is brighter as an EU member state. That they will swallow any misgivings they have about the deal, and back their Party leader who, after all, is on some measures the most successful Conservative leader of modern times bar Margaret Thatcher. That this is no time to campaign for a referendum result that would turn an election-winning Prime Minister out of office, and destroy the reforming work of the first majority Tory Government in over 20 years. What they cannot say, if they have declared that Britains relationship with the EU must see real reform, is that this deal makes a difference. And if they want to see such change, the lesson of this summit is that it isnt on offer. Which leaves only one option open to them, and to Party members of the same mind to back Brexit. Close Doctors at Johns Hopkins Hospital announced that an injured American soldier would be the first patient in U.S. history to receive a penis transplant. The surgeons will be using a microscope to connect the nerves and blood vessels of a donated penis to the veteran, who has not been named. The vet will also be getting his scrotum, groin, and certain parts of the abdominal wall and inner thigh replaced with a "block of tissue from a donor." The soldier had lost the majority of his penis and suffered major groin injuries in a bomb explosion that occurred when he was deployed in Afghanistan, Reuters reported. The doctors hope that after the 12-hour long procedure is done, the patient will be able to urinate and have sex normally within six months to one year. The doctors added that losing a sexual organ is one of the most emotionally traumatic experiences for men, which is why a successful penis transplant would be groundbreaking. "When you meet these guys and you realize what they've given for the country, it makes a lot of sense," Dr. Richard Redett, a plastic surgeon who will be a part of the operation, told Reuters. The doctors are now waiting to get an organ from a recently deceased male patient donor, whose age and skin tone would be a good match to the patient's. The donation would have to be made with the permission of the deceased patient's family. The doctors hope to schedule the surgery within the next few weeks. If the transplant is successful, about 60 other servicemen with similar genital injuries could undergo the procedure as well. The team at John Hopkins said that the surgery would be exclusive for servicemen for now. So far, only two penis transplants have been attempted. The first one took place in China in 2006 and was unsuccessful. The second one, which was successful, occurred in South Africa two years ago. See Now: What Republicans Don't Want You To Know About Obamacare Capital Punishment In Pakistan By Ali Mohsin 20 February, 2016 Countercurrents.org On his first visit to Europe in 1857, the great Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy witnessed the execution of Francis Richeux, a convicted murderer and thief who was guillotined in Paris before a crowd of 12,000 to 15,000 people. The incident had a profound effect on the remarkably sensitive Tolstoy, deepening his skepticism of state power and contributing to the development of his egalitarian philosophy. In his book, A Confession, written between 1879 and 1880, Tolstoy discussed the execution and the feelings it had aroused in him at the time: When I saw the head separate from the body, and how they both thumped into the box at the same moment, I understood, not with my mind but with my whole being, that no theory of the reasonableness of our present progress can justify this deed; and that though everybody from the creation of the world, on whatever theory, had held it to be necessary, I know it to be unnecessary and bad; and therefore the arbiter of what is good and evil is not what people say and do, and is not progress, but is my heart and I. More than 130 years have passed since Tolstoy penned these words, with the once ubiquitous practice of capital punishment now a relic of the past in much of the world. As of July 2015, out of the 193 countries that are UN member-states, only 37 still retain the use of capital punishment in both law and practice. In 2014, Amnesty International recorded executions in just 22 countries, a significant decline from two decades earlier in 1995, when the human rights group recorded executions in 42 countries. These statistics point to the obvious global trend of countries moving away from the death penalty and upholding the right to life, the most elementary of all human rights. In Pakistan, however, the state has been carrying out executions at the rate of nearly one per day since the moratorium on the death penalty was lifted following the horrific attack on the Army Public School in Peshawar in December 2014. As many as 345 people have been put to death since the resumption of executions, according to Reprieve, an international organization that opposes capital punishment. Earlier this month, Gallup Pakistan released the findings of survey it conducted which showed that 92 percent of Pakistanis support the use of the death penalty against terrorists. The results of the survey demonstrate the widespread revulsion generated by the APS attack and the growing frustration of Pakistanis fed up with terrorism. It must be said, however, that lending support to a barbaric practice like capital punishment in exchange for a false sense of security, or out of an unhealthy desire for revenge, is unsound at best. The argument that the death penalty is necessary due to the unique threat posed by terrorist groups flies in the face of reality. There is little evidence that the executions carried out so far have effectively reduced the threat posed by terrorism. The country has continued to be hit by terrorist attacks since the moratorium was lifted, including the appalling massacre of Ismailis in Safoora last May, and the recent attack on Bacha Khan University. Numerous other plots have been foiled. Moreover, the bizarre ideology of the terrorists is not taken into account by proponents of capital punishment. Last year, Amnesty International reported being told by prison officials that the militant group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi had given out sweets to celebrate the martyrdom of one its members executed in prison. The terrorists do not fear death the way normal people do, they embrace it. They believe their murderous actions are divinely sanctioned, and that dying for the cause earns them a ticket to Paradise. Its difficult to see how such people would be deterred by the threat of execution. The most interesting aspect of this issue is that the vast majority of the people executed since the reinstatement of the death penalty werent accused of any terrorism-related crimes. A study conducted by various organizations revealed that fewer than 1 in 6 of the people executed between December 2014 and July 2015 were involved in terrorist activity. Reprieve believes that the proportion since then may be even lower. These statistics demonstrate the executions taking place have little to do with countering terrorism. The use of capital punishment should be seen for what it truly is: the ultimate assertion of state power over individuals. There are many valid arguments against the death penalty, but the strongest is the fact that once the sentence is carried out, it cannot be reversed. History provides many examples of innocent people who were wrongly executed. Two years ago in China, for example, a teenager from Inner Mongolia who had been executed for rape and murder years earlier had his conviction overturned after another man confessed to the crime. In the United States, 156 death row convicts have been exonerated since 1973, their innocence proven in the nick of time. The American justice system is far from perfect, but it is vastly superior to the corrupt system in Pakistan where unfair trials are the norm and the police routinely use torture to extract confessions. If innocent people can be condemned to die in an advanced country like the US, one can only imagine the situation prevailing in Pakistan. There are approximately 8,000 people on death row in the country. No sensible person could possibly believe that all of them are guilty. The question raised here is, exactly how many of these unfortunate souls would have to be proven innocent in order change public opinion regarding capital punishment? Truth be told, the execution of even a single innocent person is an indelible stain on the human conscience. There is very convincing evidence that Pakistan has already executed an innocent man since reinstating the death penalty. Last year, a Christian man named Aftab Bahadur was executed in Kot Lakhpat. Bahadur, who was only 15 when he was convicted, spent 22 years on death row for a murder that many human rights activists and journalists believe he didnt commit. According to Bahadur, the police had offered to release him in return for a Rs50,000 bribe, but as a plumbers apprentice, Bahadur couldnt afford to pay the sum. Just days before his execution, the main witness whose testimony sent Bahadur to death row recanted, stating that the police had forced him to say that he saw Bahadur committing the murder. The authorities couldnt care less, and Bahadur was executed on June 10, 2015. He wept as he was led to the gallows and went to his grave claiming his innocence. Those of us from privileged backgrounds can easily dismiss the death of Bahadur as a one-off incident without a second thought. After all, the death penalty isnt meant for those at the top. However, the poor people of the country cant afford to be nonchalant, because what happened to Bahadur can happen to any one of them as well. Unfortunately, capital punishment will continue to be viewed as a solution to terrorism and bloodshed in the foreseeable future. In reality, the death penalty is a reflection of an already brutalized and violent society. Terrorism and crime do not exist in a vacuum. They are directly related to the poverty, deprivation and backwardness that plague the country, problems that successive governments have shown little interest in addressing. The writer holds a Master's degree in Political Science from Long Island University. He is a freelance columnist and activist based in New York and can be reached at amohsin1917@gmail.com Western Powers Move Closer To New Military Intervention In Libya By Marianne Arens 19 February, 2016 WSWS.org Five years after the NATO war in Libya, a new war is being prepared against the North African country behind the backs of the world population. Like Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen, East Ukraine and Syria, Libya will once again become the arena for war and destruction if the Western powers get their way. In the past week, a new war in Libya has come dangerously closer. Last Sunday, a proposal for a new national unity government in Libya was presented in the Moroccan seaside resort Skhirat under the watchful eye of U.N. representatives. The main task of the new U.N. puppet government will be to make an official appeal to the so-called international community and allow NATO to carry out a new military intervention in Libya under the pretext of a struggle against the Islamic State (ISIS). While negotiations were underway in Skhirat, British Royal Air Force military jets were already flying over the Libyan coast. On Sunday evening, Fathi al-Majbari, head of the Libyan presidential commission and designated Libyan prime minister, presented the list of members of a new government in Tripoli with thirteen ministers and five state secretaries. He plans to present his agreement to the parliament in Tobruk. The latest proposal has nothing to do with any kind of will of the people. Rather, it came about as a result of an ultimatum by the U.N. Although all nine members of the presidential council were handpicked by U.N. experts, two of them protested and refused to put their signatures on the proposal. For more than a year, the imperialist powers, including the U.S., Germany, England, France and especially Italy have been working intensely on a new, so-called robust mandate for Libya. Such a robust U.N. mandate would, according to the U.N. charter, allow the international air, sea or land armed forces to carry out measures that are required for the protection or restoration of world peace and international security. In reality, however, the aims of the U.N. in Libya have nothing to do with either the restoration of world peace, or the war on terror, but rather control of the countrys resources, above all oil and natural gas, as well as strategically important access to the entire African continent. The NATO powers already reduced the country to rubble five years ago, killing approximately 30,000 people. Libyan head of state Muammar Gaddafi was brutally murdered. Before his assassination, Western intelligence agencies had already carried out a covert war against the Libyan government and systematically armed Islamist groups. This prepared the way for the current chaotic situation in Libya as well as the development of ISIS in North Africa. The resulting chaos is now being used as a pretext for a renewed military intervention in Libya. Today, at least three governments and six different militias are struggling for power in Libya. The national congress in Tripoli replaced the so-called National Transitional Council (NTC) in the summer of 2012. Two years later, Islamists built the so-called government of national salvation in competition with the internationally recognized House of Representatives that had fled to Tobruk. In 2014, ISIS began to fight ever more fiercely for control of oil resources and developed its presence along the strategically important Mediterranean coast. Since then, the U.N. has made a desperate effort to bring together the two competing governments in Tripoli and Tobruk and enforce support for a unity government that would sanction a further Western military intervention. This would give the Western powers a free hand to protect the oil refineries and the ports from the access of ISIS and to place them under their direct control. The last thing in the world you want, said U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in Rome at the beginning of February, is a false caliphate with access to billions of dollars of oil revenue. Libya is the country with the largest oil and natural gas reserves in Africa. At the moment, the imperialist powers are collaborating in opposing ISIS, but at the same time there is a struggle behind the scenes over which country and which large energy corporations will have the final say and receive access to the desired resources. At the end of January, the Pentagon made it known that it was planning a new war in Libya. General Joseph Dunford Jr., head of the U.S. Marine Corps made it clear that U.S. President Barack Obama himself approved a new bombing campaign. Dunford declared that a decisive military action against ISIL [ISIS] is being planned and will take place in conjunction with the political process in Libya. The president has made clear that we have the authority to use military force, he added. Next to the United States, Italy is playing a leading role in plans for a new campaign against Libya. Italy has a long and bloody colonial history in the regions of Cyrenaika and Tripolitania, which make up a large part of Libya today. Italy has participated in the exploitation of Libyan natural resources since the fascist dictatorship of Benito Mussolini with the energy corporation ENI (formerly Agip). It also played an active role in the NATO bombardment five years ago. Italian marines have been preparing for months to intervene militarily on the Libyan coast and to secure the offshore oil refineries and transfer ports. A full year ago, at the beginning of February 2015, Defense Minister Roberta Pinotti publicly declared: Italy is ready to lead a coalition of regional countries in Europe and North Africa in Libya in order to halt the advance of the kalifates, which have already come up to 350 kilometres from our coasts. She wanted to prepare five thousand Italian soldiers for this purpose. Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has insisted on a U.N. mandate in order to carry out a coordinated military intervention. In May and June, 2015, the EU Military Committee (EUMC) laid down concrete conditions for the intervention. EU High Representative Federica Mogherini passed a resolution that planned the expansion of the existing EU mission in the Mediterranean and in Libyan territorial waters and on the Libyan mainland. Conditions were specified in which smuggling boats would be destroyed off the Libyan coast and both smugglers and ISIS terrorists could be pursued on Libyan territory. The EU worked out scenarios in this context for the securing of existing institutions such as airports and oil refineries and opened the way for extensive military, police and intelligence agency operations in Libya. All 28 member states agreed to the plan. The NATO maneuver Trident Juncture 2015, which took place last fall with over sixty war ships and 36,000 soldiers in the entire Mediterranean also served to prepare for an intervention in North Africa. All of these scenarios depended up until now on the formation of the impending national unity government. For weeks, the Italian media has been preparing the population for a new invasion of North Africa. A military intervention in Libya comes ever closer and this time Italy will take part, reads the title of an article in VICE News. An article in La Repubblica on January 26, 2016 begins with the words: at the moment it will not be discussed anymore whether one should invade Libya. The question that poses itself is only when and how. The militaries of the anti-IS coalition are already inspecting the terrain. The German elite has long been of the opinion that Germanys nonparticipation in the NATO war in January 2011 was a mistake and that the geo-strategic and economic interests of Germany must be carried out above all by military means. In January, Defence Minister Ursula Von der Leyen made it clear to the Bild newspaper that the German army would take part in the Libyan intervention this time. In answer to the question whether she would shortly send German soldiers to Libya, she said: Libya is opposite the coast of Europeseparated only by the Mediterranean Sea. The most important thing now is to stabilise the country, and ensure that Libya gets a functioning government. The [new government] will rapidly require assistance to impose law and order in this massive state. And at the same time to combat Islamist terrorism, which is also threatening Libya. Then she emphasized: Germany will not be able to escape the responsibility of making a contribution there. At the Munich Security Conference last weekend, Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier (Social Democratic Party/SPD) said: In Germany and Europe we cannot be indifferent about what takes place a few hundred kilometres to the south of Italy, on the other bank of the Mediterranean. And we definitely cannot be indifferent, when IS terror militias gain a firm foothold on the borders of Europe. It is now the moment to take responsibility for Libya. Why Is The State Trying To Evict JagLAG, Malini And Bela From Bastar? By Parijata Bhardwaj 20 February, 2016 Countercurrents.org The developments in the national capital have once again placed the fascist nature of State on display. While the intensity of the attack unleashed by the State has come as a surprise for some, it is important to note that the same is not an aberration but just the extension of what is faced by the adivasis, dalits and marginalized communities of this country on a daily basis. One such target of the States fascist attack is the mineral rich land of Bastar. With the prolonged conflict between the Indian State and the Maoists, the anti-national script of the state has been perfected in the region. A person who blindly conforms to the diktats of the State is a national and one who dares to deviate even by a single inch becomes an anti-national or worse a Maoist. It is this very definition which is currently being applied by the local administration against the Jagdalpur Legal Aid Group, group of lawyers Shalini Gera and Isha Khandelwal working to safeguard the constitutional rights of the socially and economically deprived sections of Bastar, journalist Malini Subramaniam and Bela Bhatia, to push them out of Bastar. The local police of Jagdalpur on the night of 17th February summoned the landlord of the house of Shalini and Isha to the police station and detained him at the thana for 2 hours to pressurize him to evict his tenants within a week. To add import to their threats the police also seized the car of the landlord who plies taxis by profession. Similarly, the police detained the female domestic worker of Malini Subramaniam and kept her in the police station till late in the evening. The situation further deteriorated on 18th Feb when the police once again summoned the domestic worker of Malini and refused to let her leave the station and also detained Malinis husband who had gone to enquire the reason of the detention. Finally, the police released both of them but by then Malini had also been provided a written eviction notice by her landlord forcing her to vacate the house with her family on the same day. Things did not improve for the Jagdalpur Legal Aid Group which became the target of sloganeering of the Samajik Ekta Manch in the day. JagLAG and Bela approached the various representatives of the local administration who while admitting the hounding was bad did not provide any assurance to put an end to the same. In the evening their landlord was once again called to the police station and detained for hours. On his return JagLAG was informed that the notice period for their eviction had been reduced to a day. While JagLAG and Bela approached the local authorities seeking an end to this persecution, none of the visits have resulted in any effective change in their eviction status. The question which arises now is that why is the local administration hell bent on getting rid of them? What is it that the State is so afraid of that it is resorting to such tactics? The answer is simple, because they are people who are working for the recognition of the rights guaranteed by the Indian Constitution in a land which has long forgotten the very existence of the document. With the BJP coming into power at the Centre, Bastar has witnessed a sustained escalation in the violence unleashed by the State against the local adivasis under the garb of its military campaign against the Maoists as well the aggression with which it is forwarding its agenda of development. The heavy militarization in the region has not only led to an increase in the restrictions on the basic freedoms of the people but also placed para-military forces with absolutely no knowledge about the local culture or landscape in the region, who function on the assumption that every villager is a Maoist unless proved to the contrary. This has resulted in an increase in the number of villagers being arrested, illegally detained and even being killed in encounters, while the socio-economic well being of the people drastically deteriorated. It was in the face of these developments that JagLAG, Malini and Bela refused to remain mute spectators. The three of them in their own capacities have been working with the local adivasi leaders like Soni Sori, Linga Ram Kodopi, Sukal Prasad Nag along with the local people in their struggle for the recognition of their personhood and rights. It was due to the combined efforts of all them, that from the end of 2014 Bastar became witness to several peaceful movements by the local people demanding the enforcement of their rights. Whether it was the thousands of villagers peacefully assembling outside the Kukanar thana, to demand the police to release Sukdi, who had been kidnapped by the police to coerce her husband Ayata a local leader to comply to the demands of the police or the large rally of people from the village of Revali peacefully demanding an audience with the collector to order an inquiry into the encounter death of Nuppo Bhima, both the occasions revealed a willingness on part of the villagers to peacefully place their demands before the state officials. Further, the presence of JagLAG and Malini, ensured not only the fact that the villagers were provided the requisite legal guidance but also a detailed coverage of the issue got reported. These, two were but the first of more such peaceful gatherings of villagers before the State officials seeking justice and thus, provided the State one of the best opportunities to prove that it was concerned about the well being of the people and open to listen to their grievance even if the same were against itself. Though, that was not the case as soon the gatherings were as being motivated by naxalites and villagers who had taken a leading role in them were either threatened or arrested by the police and implicated in false cases. The other consequence of the presence of JagLAG and the others, in the region is the creation of a space for students, journalists, filmmakers, academicians and others to come to region and witness for themselves the ground reality of the region. Since its presence in the Bastar, JagLAG has been instrumental in facilitating several fact finding trips of activists, academicians and researchers into different areas of the region. The last few months witnessed visits by two fact finding teams into Bijapur and Sukma on information of sexual violence by the troops. The teams on all its visits uncovered the extensive violence unleashed on the villagers especially the large scale sexual violence targeted against adivasi women. In one of the fact findings, the team went to 5 villages in Basaguda Block of Bijapur- Pegdapalli, Chinna Gellur, Pedda Gellur, Gundam and Burgicheru. In all these villages women narrated harrowing tales of sexual violence by the security forces. They mentioned being stripped, assaulted or even having nipples pinched to establish whether the claim of being a breast feeding mother was true or not. Several women had bruises and injuries on their person. The women agreed to accompany the team to the collectorate and police station seeking action against the security forces. Despite the reluctance taking into consideration the nature of the testimonies and the continued pressure of the administration by the group, an FIR was registered against the security forces. Further, separate fact finding teams of the adivasi mahasabha and the Indian National Congress also visited the village and demanded action against the troops. Since this incident there have been two other instances of large scale violence against women by security forces in Bijapur, which was recently condemned by the Indian National Congress in its press conference. Apart, from this, JagLAG is also representing several people implicated on charges of being Maoists, including Soni Sori, local journalists Somaru Nag and Santosh Yadav, villagers seeking justice in the matter of the extra-judicial killings in Sarkeguda as well as the villagers in Raoghat who are being affected by the rail lines. Thus, the State was now faced with activists who did not shy away from taking up the issues of the people, lawyers who fearlessly fought for the rights of their clients and a journalist who courageously reported the ground reality, in other words people who actually did what their profession mandated. Their presence also provided the local people the support to continue to strive for their due. Instead, of capitalizing on this opportunity to establish itself as a pro-people regime, the State took recourse to its age old ally of labeling, threats and warnings. The friendly warnings started almost three years ago itself but it is the last one and a half years that have witnessed an escalation in the nature of the threats. From veiled threats to restrictions on the right to practice, the purpose of all is the same to remove any one from even attempting to hold the State accountable. Furthermore, these threats are also not aimed only at JagLAG or Malini or even Bela but given to any and everyone who is part of the support system. The aim of the State is clear to isolate and attack. History has been evidence to the fact that fascism has always utilized nationalism to justify the violence it unleashes on people who dare to question it and in all those situations it is the silence subjugation to the State which has lead to some of the worst atrocities of mankind. Malini has already been forced to leave and the pressure on JagLAG and Bela is rapidly increasing. Now is not the time to be silent but to unite and challenge this authoritarian regime which under the garb of nationalism has taken law into its own hands. Parijata Bhardwaj is a lawyer in Bombay High Court. She is one of the members of Jagdalpur legal aid group. Her mail id - parijatabhardwaj@gmail.com Broken Ukraine By Linh Dinh 20 February, 2016 Countercurrents.org I hadnt even changed money when a guy in a military jacket approached me for a donation for Ukraines war efforts, and he was quite persistent too. This happened in Maidan Square, now turned into a deathshrine, with photos of sacrificed soldiers scattered all over. Of different sizes, many were draped with rosary beads and/or accompanied by a flag, flowers, votive candles and/or pine twig. Many of the dead had faded or bled smearily. Some posed with pets, guns or cars. In his tent, a red bearded, smiling dude gave a thumb up. A chubby, bespectacled man hugged a tree, while a suited fellow appeared to be singing karaoke. Baby faced or wizened, all these men and a few women have died in a hopeless war with no objective save the American imperative to harass Russia. As for their government, it is US-installed and seeded throughout with foreigners. Remember the tie-biting President of Georgia? He contributed 2,000 troops to the US invasion of Iraq then, egged on by Bush, decided to trade blows with Russia over South Ossetia, with predictably calamitous results. Mikheil Saakashvili is now head of Ukraines International Advisory Council on Reforms, as well as the Governor of Odessa Oblast, having been granted Ukrainian citizenship just the day before. Only a wrecked nation would recruit the wrecker of another to join its wrecking crew. Mikheil was plucked right out of Brooklyn, where he was moping to escape prosecution back home. The just-resigned Minister of Economy and Trade, Aivaras Abromavicius, was born in Lithuania and does not speak Ukrainian. Minister of Finance Natalie Jaresko retains her American citizenship, wisely, it must be said, so she can quickly jump off this sinking ship. Taking the bus from Leipzig to Kiev, I crossed all of Poland and half of Ukraine. This took nearly 24 hours of sitting stiffly, with over 2 spent at the Polish/Ukrainian border. All of the 61 passengers but me and two others were Ukrainian. One was a World Bank financial advisor in her 60s. Half Russian by blood and born in Tennessee, Carol, not her real name, has spent most of her adult life in Europe, working in Frankfurt, Moscow and now Kiev, with brief assignments to Manila and Banjul. Her father was a chemist on the Manhattan Project. Out the windows, villages passed by, their houses humble and somewhat dilapidated, though a few were quite grand. Colorful churches cheered up the grim winter landscape, as did decorated wooden crucifixes. Here and there, a Madonna shrine. Stores and hotels also stood out. A cheeky motel mimicked a castle with turrets. Peddling seven heads of cabbage, a forlorn man displayed them on the hood of his rusty Lada. I spotted vehicles I didnt know were still extant. Inside cement bus stops, well-bundled folks waited stoically. One shelter had a painted helicopter. Black coated women under flowery babushkas waddled down frozen paths. I even saw three horse-drawn carts. Youll see more off the main road, Carol informed. You know Adidas has saved many lives here. Their clothes and shoes often have these reflectors. Before, you had all these people getting run over because they were walking on these dirt roads at night, drunk. This highway is in pretty good shape, though. Turkish contractors had to be brought in, she laughed. The locals couldnt finish it. They were so corrupt! As for Ukraines political and societal dire straits, Carol pinned it all on Putin. He wants to invade the Baltic nations and the rest of Ukraine. He is causing unrest all over Europe by supporting extremists on both the left and right. Putin is destabilizing Bosnia and buying off Hungarys Viktor Orban. Before reaching Kiev, we paused in Lviv, Rivne and Zhytomir. I had seen enough concrete, Communist-era apartment blocks in Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland and Hungary, but the Ukrainian ones seemed even more dismal. They contrasted quite grotesquely with the faux utopia of advertising billboards, where all faces were ecstatic, all bodies trim and fashionable and all products, even the most banal, lickably sexy. In Lviv, theres a spiffy shopping mall called King Cross Leopolis. Over the next week, I would spot many more references to landmarks from that mythically prosperous Europe that most Ukrainians will never experience. The outskirts of the capital were basically more of the same dispiriting Communist urban planning, but here and there rose new high rises that were not unattractive. I was surprised, though, by how beautiful and sophisticated the center of Kiev was. With much of the countrys wealth parked here, brand name shops were everywhere, but all were bedecked quite stridently with large SALE signs of up to 90% off. Whatever that was wrong with Ukraine before the Euromaidan demonstrations, it was clearly making progress, for otherwise there wouldnt be all these shops for all budgets. Now, thousands of salesclerks and store owners stand around all day to look pleadingly at every passerby. As I strayed into the meat and fish section of the vast Besarabsky Market, each stall owner shouted a torrent at me to buy a just-killed piece of something, so that I had to wade through a sea of incomprehensible words just to get out. Such a gem of a city would normally be swarmed with tourists, but I saw almost none. Taking the subway several times each day for a week, I was clearly the only alien, with the lone exception a black man who didnt look all that comfortable. I heard no foreign languages on these extended rides far underground, and the Kiev subway is bizarrely deep. I wondered why most people did not hurry up or down the endless escalators, but those long, angled tubes were indeed soothing. A man sat down on a grooved, steel step. Near Lisova Station, at the end of the red line, I found over a hundred businesses selling used clothes and shoes. Folks rummaged through enormous mounds, looking for suitable bargains. At one stall, one could even choose second hand skis and skates. Appropriate to their wares, these complexes were mostly shabby, with corrugated tin or plastic walls. Often, I walked on planks or dirt under tarps through poorly lit passages. Among the merchants, there were Black Africans, Arabic speakers and Vietnamese. Vietnams only (publicly known) billionaire, 47-year-old Phan Nhat Vuong, had his start as an instant noodle magnate in Ukraine. Carol, I ate Mivina noodles too. Everyone did. After the Fall of Communism, people had very little money. Theres a Kiev high school named Ho Chi Minh. There are also North Koreans in Ukraine. They do some of the hardest agricultural works, such as picking onions. Kiev restaurants that serve foreign foods, whether Japanese, Thai or Turk, etc., are almost always owned and run by Ukrainians. Sushi is hugely popular, with even chains like Burger Club and Mafia offering it. There are 22 Sushiyas, 17 Eurasias and 15 Murakamis. Theres a Chinese joint, Bruce Lee, one of only a handful. There are 32 McDonalds, with one seemingly outside each subway station. At Minska, there are two. Taxi Bar, a 50s styled American diner, is like a Day-Glotableau from Grease. Though its war and sinking economy have chased or kept foreigners away, Ukraines culture is intensely outward looking, with international references everywhere. Cigarette stands have images of New York or London. Inside a Kiev shopping center, theres a gigantic English styled phone booth, with a Sherlock Holmes scaling it. At the same mall, there are fake cactuses and two effigies of Mexicans, one dozing, one climbing onto a ledge, as if breaking in. Kiev night clubs have names like Pink Freud, Rout 66, Carribean and even Franklin, with a huge picture of Ben towering over pedestrians. An American flag hangs in a neighborhood bar in Holosiivskyi. Ukraine, it is clear, wants very much to belong to the wider world, even as its receding in everyones rear view mirror. At least a million Ukrainians have already fled the country, and this number will only multiply as its human crisis deepens. In the warzone, many are starving or have committed suicide. Europe has another refugee crisis coming. As of October 2015, the average net wage in Ukraine is only $136 a month, among the lowest in Europe. On Kiev sidewalks, people sell whatever they can, with, say, three plucked chickens on a piece of cardboard. In trendy Podil, a woman picked up her bare, stiff fowl at dusk and marched away in frustration, while behind plate glass windows, hipsters sipped drinks in fancy cafes. I saw a boy of about 14 stand stoically behind some beets, onions and garlics. On subway trains, wandering, clearly desperate people tried to push calendars, toys, candies or icons, etc. Riders looked away as they delivered their sad pitches. With nothing to offer, many begged with a sign and/or a sustained yet exhausted plea. Inside stations, some stood in silence with heads bowed. Plopped next to her crutches, a woman stuck her destroyed foot out. Instead of toes, there was but a bloody stub. A one-eyed woman had a cardboard sign around her neck. Outside in all weathers, many beggars prostrated most abjectly. On magnificent and still glittering Shreshchatyk, a crone was bunched up like a giant toad, face hidden, with a hand on the cold pavement and a cane next to her. Near Vokzalna Station, a black-clad, young and blonde beauty knelt under an umbrella while holding a sign with a photo of her son. Sleet was slanting down. One shouldnt be surprised by the obscene contrast in Kiev between comfortable, even affluent normalcy with stark destitution as largely caused by the war. As long as people are not dodging bullets or bombs, they will carry on like the rest of us, and if they can afford it, they will eat sushi and savor martinis. There were large ads in Kiev for a concert by the Japanese jazz pianist, Keiko Matsui, and Scorpions, a German heavy metal band, was also coming. The megastar Red Hot Chili Peppers will be in town in July. Even in places of enjoyment, though, there are nods towards the war. In Kupidon, a hugely popular bar on Pushkinskaya, theres a pork dish called Crimea is Ours, and a 75 cent pint of Lvivske 1715 is listed as we drink so that Moscals wont get it. On the door of Baraban, a joint popular with journalists, theres a notice below the MASTERCARD and VISA sign, Dear Friends, you should know that by spending money in Bar Baraban you support Ukrainian Army and National Guardia, which fights international terrorism in the eastern Ukraine. We spend 25% of our turnover to provide necessities for our military. Inside, I met quite by chance Dmytro Potekhin. Son of a diplomat, former advisor to the Japanese embassy in Kiev and occasional journalist, Potekhin is best known as a US-funded and trained activist from even before the Orange Revolution. On August 7th, 2015, he was captured by Russian separatists in Donetsk and jailed for 48 days. Potekhin, You know, Ive visited Dachau, and the concentration camp in Donetsk is worse than Dachau. He said that to me. Publicly, he has accused his captors of feeding him cold soup twice a day and hitting him hard once in the head. He claimed others were beaten bloody. As for Russians being terrorists, Potekhin declared on Ukrainian TV shortly after his release, Russia annexed the Crimea and Russia is helping the terrorists in Donetsk, and Russia itself is a terrorist organization basically. We still for some reasons call it country, for some reasons this organization has its diplomats in the UN Security Council, and here in Kyiv, but actually they are not diplomats, they are representing Russia, but they are representing not a country, they are now representing terrorist organization called Russia. In Kiev gift shops, theyre selling Putin toilet paper. According to Potekhin, its not Ukraine thats disintegrating, but Russia. He explained that with the embargo and cratering oil prices, Russia has been forced to dip into its cash reserves, so it can last another six months maybe, maybe a year. As for the war, We can easily take those provinces back militarily, but the bigger challenge is to prove to those people that we have a better model and future. When they see that Putin cant take care of them, but were improving, they will want to come back. On the bar, there were two remote control tanks, one called POWER KING, in front of the Ukrainian and European Union flags. On the walls were two images of Che Guevara and one of Bob Marley. It was ridiculous to see Che idolized since Ukrainian nationalism is supposed to be anti-Communist, but such is the power of Western pop culture. Agreeing with me, Potekhin added that the bar owner had studied in the US. The music on the sound system, Cab Calloway, Roy Orbison, Gogol Bordello, Van Morrison, Otis Redding, B.B. King and Carl Perkins, etc., showed his musical taste. Beneath a photo of a pensive Miles Davis were these scrawls, NEVER be bought never be SOLD and PAIN IS TEMPORARY BUT PRIDE IS FOREVER. Hearing American music everywhere, much of it black, I cant help but conclude how greatly Uncle Sam has benefited from driving his black population into the deepest despair or half mad, for whether they moan most pathetically (blues), blather ecstatically or even incoherently (jazz), or lash out obscenely (rap,) the United States does not lose but gain billions of admirers. Blacks, then, are a huge component of Uncle Sams soft power. Nearly each night, theres a pianist at Bar Barbaran, and I was lucky enough to catch the inspired performances of Elena, then Anton Ryzhenko, who also had a snare drummer. Playing driven, obsessive jazz, the stern Elena kept her black, faux fur-trimmed hooded coat on and unleashed gorgeous runs although practically no one was paying any attention to her. Done, she took her small payment from the barmaid and left sorrow-faced. A television host got off the couch to say hello to Potekhin, then turned to me, We havent gotten anywhere. Were still at the same place. So whats the solution? Stay calm and carry on. Maybe you shouldnt stay calm? We tried that the last time! Nothing makes me happier than being in a novel place, and though a distressed Kiev was still magical, I could feel no elation, for everywhere there were signs of grim endurance or outright despair, so that I was constantly reminded of how our small lives can be so casually destroyed by unseen hands. Men are most belligerent when they risk nothing. Born in a devastated country, I could see in Kiev more than enough of myself, so I cursed, if only under my breath, those who have reduced such a beautiful and dignified people to such a condition. Rushing up to me, a woman blurted, Help me! At dusk, at least two dozen ordinary, well-dressed citizens lined up in Maidan Square for a mobile soup kitchen. Surely many Ukrainians must know theyre being used. During the Soviet years, they suffered the Holodomor (in which up to 7.5 million starved to death) and Chernobyl on top of daily Communism. Now, theyre bankrupt and dying. To be unmolested for any stretch of time is a rare respite for any small nation. For six nights in Kiev, I paid less for a room than one night in NYC, and my hotel was right on Maidan Square. An excellent and varied hot breakfast was part of the deal. One morning, I heard American English spoken behind me, the first time in several days. Before I could turn around and ask, Where are you folks from? I heard the womans hesitant voice. It was clear she wasnt a native speaker. They werent Mr. and Mrs. Balanchuk visiting from Chicago. As they left the breakfast room, I could see a middle-aged man in a sweatshirt with TOKYO on it, and she was a young blonde who belonged in a glossy magazine. Hes probably convinced hes saving her, the way Victoria Nuland has saved Ukraine. For nearly three years, I was a regular commentator for Irans Press TV. On March 8th, 2014, I was supposed to debate Taras Kuzio, once the Head of Mission of the NATO Information and Documentation Center in Kiev. Our TV tussle never got off the ground, however, as Kuzio became enraged at hostess Marzieh Hashemis very first question. After a gruff response, Kuzio terminated the live feed and simply disappeared. I have never seen anything like it. One would think a US-trained and funded mouthpiece would be more eager to broadcast. On April 19th, 2014, I gave Press TV another Ukraine commentary. Rereading the transcripts, both available online, I stand behind every word, so heres the second, more succinct statement: America brings ruination to each country it interferes with. Just look at Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya and now Ukraine. Just look at the continuing war in Syria. While posing as a force of good and democracy, the US brings nothing but destruction and death. My fear is that America will become even more violent as it collapses. The US has instigated this entire crisis, but it is blaming everything on Russia each step of the way. After it staged a violent and illegal coup against the Kiev government, it accused Russia of fomenting unrest in the Eastern and Southern parts of the country, but it is only natural that ethnic Russians in these regions would want to be reabsorbed back into Russia. They dont want to be second class citizens in a country thats wrecked by American economic manipulation, and they dont want to be a pawn in a dangerous game of provocation against Russia, maybe even war against Russia, whom they identify with. Ukraine is being used by the US to disrupt the economic integration of Russia and Europe. The US is trying to prevent both Russia and China from becoming vital economic partners of Europe, because this would leave no room for the United States. You have to be insane or an American policy maker to think Russia would let go of its seaport on the Black Sea (Sevastopol) or Mediterranean (Tartus), and thats why Putin had to put the kibosh on Uncle Sams hubris in both Ukraine and Syria. Before leaving Kiev, lets have one final cup of coffee. I had just gotten off the metro at Teremky, the end of the blue line. Negotiating the ice, snow and slush covered sidewalk, I noticed a strange bus painted with cupcakes, cakes and a large cup of coffee. On its roof were pine branches and fake presents. Inside were lace curtains, seats lovingly upholstered in geometric patterns and an image of Times Square. The ceiling was fringed with plastic snowflakes and pasted with smiley faces and reflective hearts. A calendar said, The TREE of Life. Stevie Wonder was wailing, I just called to say I love you. The owner of this trippy establishment was a burly man of about fifty. For more than an hour, I was his only customer, and I would be very surprised if he got more than a handful the rest of the day. Though he knew I couldnt understand him, the man would say this and that and look in my direction. Though obviously friendly, not once could he muster up a grin or smile, the way strangers often do, especially when they dont share a language. From seeing so many other empty businesses in Kiev, including a vast bowlingalley nearby, I think I have a pretty good idea where hes coming from. The most laughter I heard in Ukraine was on the bus leaving it. The Milky Way expanded as soon as we entered Poland. Linh Dinh is the author of two books of stories, five of poems, and a novel, Love Like Hate. Hes tracking our deteriorating socialscape through his frequently updated photo blog, Postcards from the End of America. Rohith Vemula To Kanhaiya Kumar: It's Not Over Yet By Goldy M. George 20 February, 2016 Countercurrents.org Rise of a New Radical Dalit Discourse Rohith Vemulas death is not just an institutional murder; rather it is the systemic stratagem of a deadly design of caste within Indian educational institutions. His death has raised eye brows of the entire world, as it is the continuum of the Hindutva assault on Dalit assertion. In many ways the radical Dalit politics espoused by groups like the Ambedkar Students Association (ASA) is diametrically opposite to that of Hindutva. Nothing else punctures the pompous claims about Hindu civilisation, culture, rashtra and rashtrawad, as effectively as the radical Dalit politics. Ever since Phule-Ambedkar discourse, the radical Dalits have pointedly questioned the very existence of a Hindu society, culture and civilisation. Rohith Vemulascase has already attained immense national and international attentions. However the question of discrimination of Dalits and Adivasi students have not been adequately addressed in any of these efforts. Interestingly many studies and fact finding reports suggests that a large number of students who take their lives have strong academic achievements, and it is their claim to equal treatment that upsets the academic establishment, wherefrom stems the idea of discrimination and secondary treatment as they are categorised as reserved and therefore do not meet the actual merit. The idea of merit in Indian academic institutions and public spheres needs critical debates as to what does it actually mean. Social anthropologist Ajantha Subramanian of Harvard University points out that what is understood as merit in Indias educational institutions is only another name for the accumulated cultural capital of Indias upper-caste elites. In the current debate of education, human right and institutional discrimination, one could see the emergence of a radical Dalit discourse in the country, which goes against the traditional pattern of engagement such as reservation, discrimination and conversion. The rise of ASA and Ambedkar Periyar Study Circle (APSC)raising critical questions of caste, ethnicity, class, patriarchy, religion, ecology and sexual orientation indicates the beginning of this discourse where there is a composite approach towards the crisis of humanity. Currently one could also observe a different set of Dalit youths analogous to that of the Dalit Panthers of Mumbai in early 90s. What is different and more radical is that while the Dalit Panthers remained confined to Mumbai and Maharashtra, the current discourse has crossed all state and even national boundaries that exists. The Dilemma of Education and Academia Education is the medium to attain the highest order of human wisdom. All education, including streams of pure and social sciences should mandatorily be non-discriminatory and accessible for all humans in all ways across the globe. As an institutional mechanism, education should directly or indirectly, serve the interest of furthering non-discriminatory practices, human rights, irrespective of class, caste, gender, race, ethnicity, religious or sexual orientation or physical or mental disability. Thus one could come to point that the purpose of all education is to sensitise, to humanise, to take humanity to higher levels of knowledge, awareness, freedom and social responsibility. However, the story in most of the educational institutions is not this fanciful. Discrimination, humiliation, mistreatment and human rights violations with students from oppressed socio-cultural backgrounds have turned to be an integral part of academic institutions. Students from such background often meet with different unidentified patterns of discrimination, violence and violation of human rights. The disdain attitude has led to a large number of suicide deaths in Universities across the world. Here identity of the individual becomes the key factor. Whether it is the case of Dalits or Adivasis in India, or the blacks in different parts of the world, or the indigenous groups in Latin America, Africa, Australia and Europe, the end result remains the same. Discrimination and human rights violations in academic institutions are also found on the basis of ones religious identity, gender, colour, race, class, linguistic aspects, regional dynamics, sexuality and sexual orientation. Such aspects are important areas of social science studies. Adivasis are Betrayed of Constitutional Rights in the Campus Sandilya Priyanka Sandilya an Adivasi scholar doing MPhil-PhD from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) has recently knocking the doors of all possible spaces within her reach along with other fellow Adivasi scholars. In a letter to the Minister of Tribal Affairs (MoTA) JualOram, Sandilyarefers to the pattern of prohibiting Adivasi scholars from some particular institutions like TISS to apply for legitimate scholarship. With the removal of TISS from the UGCs list, many Adivasi Scholars enrolled for doctoral studies at TISS have been left staggering without any support. In her letter she mentions that all the four campuses of TISS (Mumbai, Tuljapur, Hydrabad and Gawhati) has been dropped from the national list, leaving them to loose their constitutional rights to avail scholarships. The fellowship original known as Rajeev Gandhi National Fellowship for ST students (RGNF) was renamed as National Fellowship for Higher Education of St Students (NFST) removed TISS from the eligibility list this year. According to the letter, we have been deprived of applying under the UGC scheme In the online application form of NFST, the name of Tata Institute of Social Sciences did not appear in the list of eligible universities, due to which, many ST students could not apply and some have applied leaving the Institute name blank in the online application form. As Adivasi Students, we are eligible to apply under this scheme, but we are being deprived of being considered for the award of the Fellowship. According to Sandilya, she had been consistently following it up with the Chairperson of the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) RameshwarOraon, where he expressed his support with a promise to immediately rectify it, however, nothing happened till date. The online fellowship application was open for Adivasi scholars since September 23, till November 23, 2015. On a telephonic discussion Sandilya said, since the application was open, I found the name of TISS was not on the list after which I checked up with the Social Protection Officer. As per his direction I called up the UGC office to know the reason why the name of TISS has disappeared. I was told that TISS does not fall under the 12B and 2F category of Deemed Universities and therefore scholars from TISS are not eligible to apply for this fellowship. Interestingly the Dalit, OBC, Minority students, single girl child category and differently abled from the institute were allowed to apply respectively in the same academic year, but why this selective discrimination when it comes to the question of Adivasi scholars. Since September last, I wrote to the Deputy Director, Dean and Director and other official of the institute. They have responded with their mails too. I wrote to the Chairperson NCST, Smriti Irani, MHRD, UGC and others too apart from MoTA. I was in regular telephonic touch with RameshwarOraon who promised me to check and rectify it. But the dates flew off without anything happening. We the Adivasi scholars of TISS feel extremely betrayed by the double standard and secondary treatment by the UGC. If it was a mistake then there was a time of two months, but it appears that they did not want to bring the institute name on the list. We fear that this would be replicated with other institutions in some form or other too. Sandilya hails from the state of Chhattisgarhand has been fighting for her Constitutional Rights, against the double standards and the betrayal by the UGC. In the meantime the TISS administration has also followed up the matter with the Director, Registrar, Deputy Director (Research), the Student Union of TISS writing to the UGC highlighting this error in the online form but no action has been taken by the officials to rectify the error.In fact TISS does not need 12B and 2F certification since it is already certified under Allocation of Business Rules, MHRD, 1967. The TISS is a fully funded Deemed University by the UGC. Instead of rectifying such flaws, the concerned officials went on to interpret it differently. NFST would provide a monthly fellowship amount of 25000 rupees to the scholars if selected under this programme. This is one of the largest affirmative measures under reservation policy under the Tribal Sub-Plan (TSP). Recently many RTIs have come up with statistical evidences of how the budgetary allocations under TSP have been underspent by the concerned ministries. Rohiths Death and After Rohiths death sparked off hundreds of protests across the India as well as different parts of the world, where people came on to the streets demanding justice for Rohith and end to caste discrimination in all spheres of life.This gave a new synergy to the suppressed voices of Dalits and Adivasis in Universities and other public spaces. Far from efforts to deliver justice to the Dalit scholar, Rohithabettors have received promotions to honorary positions, shielded from judicial scrutiny and defended beyond logic while these very forces have consistently questioned the identity of Rohith and his Dalitness. While there is condemnation on institutional murder of Rohithfrom various sections of students, faculties, social organisations, mass movements, networks and other administrative sections of the society, the ruling government has taken it upon itself to divert the attention of the people towards another institution of higher education, JNU, by declaring it anti-national on the basis of fabricated intelligence reports, sensationalised news coverage and blatant conspiracy by the RSS led BJP-ABVP combine. The Sanghi sponsored newspapers and TV channel have turned part of the conspiracy theoryfloating new definitions of cultural nationalism based on the fundamentals of Hindutva. Behaving like military generals TV reports and anchors have been manipulating the shows by not listening to dissenting opinions of the representatives. Protesting students were consistently lathicharged, shot teargas shells during the past month and they were literally threatened by Sanghi outfits. The lastest in this story comes the arrest of Kanhaiyya Kumar the President of the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) students union as well as an activist of the All India Students Federation (AISF) over a week ago under sections of sedition, criminal conspiracy and war against the state. Since then the agitators have gone more aggressive. Incidentally, while his friends, supporters and comrades went to the court on two different dates of his hearing, they were met with severe physical violence under the leadership of the BJP MP and other Sanghi outfits. Even the media persons were not left offin this attack. On both the occasions, Kumar was brutally assaulted in the presence of police and force and now fears for his life. Those who came in support of Kumar included students, professors, faculty members and retired professors. They were also not left off the violent fray. There remains a state of complete impunity not only in Delhi but also across all universities across the entire nation.Thus the Dalit students movement has been in the transformation to become a movement of students against all forms of injustice, tyranny, oppression and repression. At present it is not just a students movement but at largeit has turned out to be a mass movement. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, and MHRD Minister Smriti Irani virtually declare war on universities as spaces for dissent and debate. The undeclared emergency and the dramatic escalation of the undeclared war byNarendraModi government and Sangh Parivaris to wage a war of Hindutva against the culture of democratic dissent in India. The incident that triggered the arrest was the alleged chanting of anti-national slogans by persons unknown at an event on the university campus. Rajnath Singh announced on Twitter that he had ordered the Delhi police to take strong action against the anti-India elements. Apart from its raid on JNU, the police has also filed sedition charges in a second case stemming from another meeting in Delhi to commemorate the hanging of Afzal Guru where anti-national slogans were apparently raised.Now, whether the home minister likes it or not, there is no law which bans speech that is anti-national. The crime of sedition still remains on the statute books. However, as the courts in India have repeatedly ruled, slogans and speech, however distasteful and odious they may be, cannot be considered seditious under Section 124 of the IPC unless they involve the direct and imminent incitement of violence against the government established by law. Interestingly Nathuram Ghodse, the killer of Gandhi has been thoroughly eulogised and there is no action against such cliques. Such elements are provided state protection, police escort, elevation of stature, provided with lalbatti cars, and their hooliganism is justified as nationalism by all ways and means. Thus come a new form of nationalism of violence, war, killings, arrogance, aggression and legal entanglement of those who do not adhere to the jingoism of Hindutva Nationalism. In this entire drama, one thing that one could observe is that the question of caste discrimination against Dalit and Adivasis is also slowly taking a backseat. While the earlier aggression was against Rohith, now the focus has turned to Kanhaiya. The government has slowed down its attack on Rohith and his identity; the current row of hostility is on JNU students, the faculties and others who support the movement. Police diktats surface every new day in a fresh incarnation while the Indian Central Ministers has been defending its outrageous violence spitting deadly venom against the agitating populace. Diluting the Dalit-Adivasi uprising is very much on the cards of the fascist government as they still observe them as decisive vote banks for mission 2019. Goldy M. George is an activist for Dalit and Adivasi rights for the past 25 years. He holds a PhD in Social Science from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences. He has authored many books and contributed papers in research journals. Currently he is the Chief Editor of the Journal of Peoples Studies. Printer Friendly Version Polymath Author And Teacher Umberto Eco Passes By Gaither Stewart 20 February, 2016 Greanvillepost.com Rome: The Italian writer, intellectual, philosopher, semiologist, sociologist, university professor, Umberto Eco, sometimes referred to as the man who knew everything, died the evening of February 19 in his home in Milan at age 84. His numerous books ranged from a several, novels to a mass of wide-ranging intellectual books touching on most every aspect of the life of his times, plus countless academic papers and a weekly column for the leftwing Espresso magazine. His lectures at the University of Bologna became evens that no Italian intellectual could miss experiencing, four hundred persons fight for space. Books however were Ecos life: A person who does not read lives one life, of maybe seventy years; the reader lives 5000 years. I had the good luck of interviewing Umberto Eco in the year 2000, a text which however rings extremely current due to his long-range vision. His novel, The Name of the Rose of 1980 was the starting talking point, which however held little interest for him. I hate it, my worst novel. But since the book deals with medieval abbey libraries which he loves he warmed to that subject. The library was born according to a design that has remained obscure throughout all centuries, says the Benedictine Abbot in Umberto Ecos bestselling novel, The Name of the Rose, (the one he came to profess he hated, which I however doubt.). Only that librarian knows the contents of Ecos mystical library, and his lips are sealed about the secrets contained in the great books. All truths, says the Abbot, are not meant for all ears; not all lies can be recognized as such by pious spirits. The book is a fragile creature, he says, it suffers from the use of time. So the library must defend that fragile book. It must defend itself, unfathomable, like the truth it hosts. Recalling that monasterium sine libris est sicut mensa sine cibis, Ecos fourteenth century Abbot calls his Benedictine Order a reserve of knowledge that threatens to disappear in fires, sackings and earthquakes. In the pre-printing press centuries described by Eco, monastery libraries were vital centers of knowledge. But they were shrouded in mystery because knowledge was already a dangerous thing. Monk scholars spent their time in the Scriptorum copying ecclesiastical books, illuminating, binding, and also preserving them. Monasteries like the thirteen original ones founded by Saint Benedict in the sixth century in the mountains near Rome were Europes major reserves of culture during the subsequent barbarian invasions. After Umberto Ecos novel described in such a mysterious manner life in a monastery library, I decided to visit some of them. The Santa Scolastica Monastery in Subiaco is the only one surviving of the original Benedictine monasteries. Today, it is concealed in that fabulous town of Subiaco, isolated in the mountains seventy kilometers from Rome. Then, its monks spent their time in meditation and copying books, while artists frescoed their church and chapels. The arrival in Subiaco of two German printers from Mainz 550 years ago changed monastery life. Suddenly progress was in the air. The printing press was to end the work of illiterate monks who made the ink, prepared parchments from sheep skins, and bound the great books while the more learned copied books in artistic handwriting and artists illuminated the margins. But generally little is known about the role of Subiaco in the diffusion of the art of printing in the fifteenth century. History quickly passed it by. The Germans, Arnoldus Pannartz and Conradus Sweynheym, were diligent. Neither Paris nor Romesoon to become Europes great printing centershad yet begun when the Germans built their presses in isolated Subiaco and produced Italys first printed book: the philosophical-ethical work, the Lattanzio. Written by 4th century convert to Christianity Cecilio Lattanzio, that book contains the first printed characters in Greek in the worlda type devised for its extensive quotes in Greek, all in mobile letters now called Subiaco type. The book indicates Subiaco as the place of printing and is dated October 29, 1465. The two monasteries of Santa Scolastica and the Sacro Speco, the Holy Grottowhere Saint Benedict liveddominate medieval Subiaco. With its 100,000 precious volumes, the Santa Scolastica is one of the richest of Italys eleven great abbey libraries. Its books constitute a veritable cultural-literary-historical-mystical treasure. I have employed here one of Ecos favorite techniques and list here some of that librarys works: 320 manuscripts-codices of the tenth to seventeenth centuries that have never left the library, 2000 fifteenth century books, 14,000 of the seventeenth century, a tenth century collection of Psalms and an eleventh century explanation of the Bible, the handwriting of which served as the model for Humanists and for Subiacos printing characters four centuries later, a thirteenth century missal bearing the volume number 2001 indicating how big the library once was, and 280 incunabulabooks printed between 1445 and 1500. (The word, by the way, comes from the Latin cuna, cradle, the cradle of the new artthe printing press.) The library is housed in a twelth century Romanesque cloister, topped by a bell tower of 1052. A curiosity is the neo-classic church of Santa Scolastica by the architect from Bergamo, Giacomo Quarenghi, who at 25 years of age built this, his only church in Italy, before he was called to Russia by Catherine II to become the Bernini of St. Petersburg. Sacro Speco, cut into the rocks, on various levels, nearly totally frescoed by eighth-thirteenth century artists, is one of the most spectacular and lesser known sites of Italy. An area of rugged mountains, narrow valleys, rushing waters, rocky cliffs and thick woods, Umberto Eco could have captured there the mysterious atmosphere of The Name of the Rose. Yet monks insist that there are no mysteries here, no intrigues, no romance. Just peace and silence. Umberto Ecos famous novel was at the top of the USA TopTen for months, sales around the world skyrocketed into many millions, and a film based on the work was made. The New York Times wrote of the phenomenon that publishers should learn from this that the public is ready for something more than the usual prefabricated products. Literary critics around the world dissected The Name of the Rose, trying to solve the mystery of the novels extraordinary success. The book was labeled a historic novel, a theological thriller, a philosophic novel, a Gothic novel, a monumental exercise in mystification. The author was criticized for having concocted the book artificially at the planning table and was, therefore, assured of success from the start. But then one Italian critic and an Eco admirer, Beniamino Placido, noted that the book was only apparently a trip into medieval culture; behind its historic design, he said, there blooms the history of the explosive tensions and the anxieties of the modern world. Eco himself agreed: The Middle Ages are a mirror for the present. We find there the roots of our problems, of our anguish, of our crises. Besides, Umberto Eco has never believed in old convictions of inspiration and passion in art. People have not yet learned that every work of art is a game played out at the worktable. Nothing, he says, is more harmful to creativity than the passion of inspiration. Its the fable of bad romantics that fascinates bad poets and bad narrators. Art is a serious matter. Manzoni and Flaubert, Balzac and Stendhal wrote at the worktable. That means to construct, like an architect plans a building. Yet we prefer to believe that a novelist invents because he has a genius whispering into his ear. When his novel appeared, Eco had already written some twelve works, from the poetics of Joyce to How To Write A Dissertation. After having participated in a group of young, left-wing writers known as Gruppo 63, Italys major post-war literary movement, he was involved with major participants of the 1968 protest movement, many of whom later became the leaders of Italys left-wing terrorism. He, however, did not follow others into protest organizations or into politics. When his novel appeared in 1980, Umberto Eco was already an internationally known scholar, a brilliant speaker and professor of semiotics, an expert on mass communications, essayist, journalistic writer, author, thinker; he was a super-gifted man with a fabulous memory. He was 48. Overnight he became a bestselling author. A rich author. Like most foreign correspondents in Italy, I reported on the Eco phenomenon. But before the novel appeared I had never read more than a few of his journalistic articles and had never met him. After his success he stopped giving interviewsunless to the New York Times, Le Monde, or BBC. He agreed to a written interview with meperhaps because we had a mutual friend in Milanhighlights of which I have reported here. However, it should be said that his typed answers were some fifteen pages long. If he belittles inspiration, Umberto Eco believes that the impulse to narrate is common to us all. Thats why so many scientists and philosophers and critics, too, write novels. Not only those that we remember like Tolkien, Segal, Hoyle, Sartre, Asimov, and Harold Bloom who came from academia, but many others weve forgotten. I think that writing is a way of revealing the contradictions of life that one would like to resolve. Writing fiction, like poetry, means simply to display those contradictions but not necessarily to resolve them. In fact, the reader, through his interpretive cooperation, decides what the story means. I wrote The Name of the Rose simply because I wanted to. A good reason. First comes the desire, like the desire to make love. Then one sits down at the worktable and begins, I wont say to write, but to play, to construct a possible world. The first year, after I got the desire, I didnt write, I designed, I made a plan of the abbey, I sketched out the list of names, I even drew the faces of the characters. So I believe one writes a novel because of the desire to construct a world. And to communicate. Already in the 1950s, Eco was writing about the Middle Ages; his university dissertation was on St. Thomas Aquinas. In the explosive 1960s he worked for the major Italian publishing house, Valentino Bompiani. One said then that at editorial meetings, his was always the last word. Eco half closed his eyes, drew on his pipe, and spouted a phrase that resolved matters. In those years he was busy with signs and mass communications and became Italys leading semiologist, all while he published his academic works. Even then anecdotes circulated that created a certain Eco image: Eco works twenty hours a day, Eco can quote from memory half of what he reads, Ecos life is organized in a German way, he has an extraordinary ability to associate diverse things. He wrote me humorously that he also saves time by abbreviating interviews, then wrote those fifteen pages! His success in the Chair of Semiotics at ancient Bologna University was immediate. His famous lectures were attended by 400 students, fascinated by his charisma. Narcissistic as he is, he responded by giving up to 250 lectures a year. Open to dialogue, he is by nature simultaneously ironic and academic. You never know, his friends say, if Eco is playing or working. He says hes an academic spider. The Eco style is severe but marked by jokes, games and memory contests. He is described as a thinking machine. *** Since semiotics is easily applicable to the Middle Ages, so rich in signs and a less complex society, I asked him about his fascination with that period and its importance for our world today. The fashion for the Middle Ages, the Medieval dream, cuts through all of European civilization. The Middle Ages were the crucible of Europe and modern civilizations: were still reckoning with things born thenbanks and bank drafts, administrative structures and community politics, class struggles and pauperism, the diatribe between state and church, the university, mystic terrorism, trial based on suspicion, the hospital and the episcopate, the modern city, modern tourism, how one should respect ones wife while languishing for ones lovebecause the Middle Ages also created the concept of love in the West. We reconstruct classical antiquity excavating in the Roman Forum, one props up the Coliseum, cleans up the Acropolis; but they are not filled up again. Once rediscovered, they are only contemplated. But that which remains of the Middle Ages can be botched and one continues to re-utilize it as a container, putting something into it that is not radically different from what was there originally. I mean a bank is still a bank. And one adapts as one can Chartres or San Gimignano, but not to venerate them but to continue to live in them. You pay for a ticket to visit a Greek temple but you go to a mass in the Milan Cathedral. I mean to say here that the dream of the Middle Ages is acted out on that which can be adapted, not on that which can only be a museum. He seems to have views on everything that has happened since the Middle Ages. Umberto Ecos ideas about libraries have often been quoted. He likes to muse on what a library should and should not be. He has said that he especially likes the Sterling Library at Yalea neo-Gothic monastery, he calls it. He deplores the labyrinth-like libraries of Italy and advances theoretical organizational plans for an ideal library. He describes how clothes condition man, recalling how warriors in past centuries dressed in armor lived exteriorly, while monks had invented a dressmajestic, fluid, all of a piecethat left the body free and forgotten (inside and under!). Monks were thus rich in interior life, and filthy, because their bodies, defended by a dress that while it ennobled the body also liberated it to think and forget itself. His irony emerges in full force in his advice on intelligent vacations. Noting that people who are not criminals or terrorists are more exigent in their recreational reading matter, he made a series of proposals: for people who want to keep up with Third World problems he suggested the delightful Kitab al-s ada wal isad, by Abdull AlAmiri, of which a critical edition of 1957 is available in Teheran. Or, the Zefir Yezirah; the Zohar naturally, for some good reading on the Cabalistic tradition. Or you can simply take along to the seashore Die Grundrisse, the apocryphal New Testament and some unpublished microfiches by the semiologist Peirce. He reflects on how much it costs to write a masterpiece, from expensive works like Magic Mountain (sanatorium, furs, etc.) to Death in Venice (Lido hotels, gondolas and Vuitton bags) to cheap works like For Whom the Bell Tolls (clandestine trip to Spain, room and board furnished by Republicans, and sleeping bag with girl), or Robinson Crusoe (just embarkation costs). I have listed Ecos diverse subjects also to underline his predilection for lists. His subjects make up a long list. His mind catalogues, transforms and applies. I asked him why all those lists in The Name of the Rose. Ive always loved the technique of the list. For many years I made a collection of examples and considered writing a book on the use of lists, from classic literature down to Joyce. Moreover, the list is a typical medieval descriptive strategy. Therefore, I used the list in this book because it is so medieval. In the tendency of the list there is something even more important: it is typical of both primitive epochs and overly cultivated epochs. When one doesnt yet know, or one no longer knows what is the form of the world, instead of describing a form, one lists its aspects. One proceeds by aggregation instead of by organization. In substance, my character Adso in The Name of the Rose does not understand well what is happening nor what has happened; therefore, he lists what he sees or what he hears, and what he believes to have seenand he knows only because he has heard or read other lists. Apparently Umberto Eco is the intellectual per se. He is considered such in Italian and in international society. His analogy between the intellectual and the critic is a cogent reflection of the role he sees for himself in society. I often say that the intellectual is something like Italo Calvinos Baron Rampante: he sits in the trees but follows and criticizes things, thus participating in the events of his era. The intellectuals participation in political life is a critical activity that sometimes can assume forms of apparently disinterested research, even if as a private citizen he can be both committed in public life and able to put his knowledge at the disposition of a party or a group. But his true intellectual function is exercised not when he speaks for his party or group but when he speaks against it. Its easy to criticize enemies. The problem is to criticize friends. The role I would like to play is of one who through his analyses signals something that is not functioning, in areas where too little has been said. Yet, I try to remember that while society needs its poets and wants to hear their opinions, its however a false position. Poets speak through their works and are worth little at conferences where they usually say stupid things. My success as a novelist gives me a halo of authority but when I do agree to speak I try to speak as an essayist not a novelist. Finally one must speak with Umberto Eco about power relationships, which he claims were the background for The Name of The Rose. The role of European intellectuals was a powerful one in the post-WWII era. Europe was coming out of war and Fascism and was politically divided down the middle between progressives (Socialists and Communists) and Conservatives (Fascists and Christian Democrats). Progressive intellectuals were at the heart of the protest movements of 1968 in Italy, France and Germany. The question of power was paramount. Eco says that Michel Foucault elaborated the most convincing notion of powerpouvoir or poterein circulation. Power is not only repression and interdiction but is also incitement to speak and the production of knowledge. Secondly, power is not one single power. It is not massive. It is not a unidirectional process between one entity that commands and its subjects. Power is multiple and ubiquitous. It is a network of consensuses that depart from below. Power is a plurality. Power is the multiplicity of relationships of strength. For the semiologist, language is always closely linked to power. Ecos theory is that the criticism of power has degenerated because that criticism has become massive. Mass criticism of power spawned ingenuous notions that powerthe systemhad one center, symbolized by the evil man with a black mustache manipulating the working class. As an example of the misunderstanding Eco recalls the theorists of European terrorism who wanted to strike at the heart of the state. The danger, Eco says, is confusing power and force. Force is causality. And causality is reversible. That reversal is called revisionism. On the other hand, to change power is to make a revolution. For example, man decides that woman will wash the dishesa symbolic relationship of force based on the consensus of the subject. That relationship is changed if the woman refuses to wash the dishesthat is revisionism. Compromises are revisionistic. Revolution, however, is the sum total of a long series of revisions, the violent overturn of progressive revisions. Society becomes a universe devoid of a center. Everything is periphery. There is no longer the heart of anything. Only romantic terrorists of the Red Brigades thought that the state had a heart and that the heart was vulnerable. On the other hand, multinational empires exist today. They are not an invention of protesters or terrorists. I dont want to moralize and say that multinationals are bad. They are the form that modern industrial organization has taken in capitalistic society. Its also true that multinationals are always disturbed by local events and local political decisions. Look at what happened in Chile. And now in many places. This is one of the problems of our times. Dont ask me for a solution. I just note it. Gaither Stewart, based in Rome is a veteran journalist and essayist on a broad palette of topics from culture to history and politics, he is also the author of the Europe Trilogy, celebrated spy thrillers whose latest volume, Time of Exile, was recently published by Punto Press. Tweet WhatsApp Share Share on Tumblr Comments are moderated Printer Friendly Version Pope Francis Spoke Out Against Trump But While A Powerful Jesuit Was Silent During Murder Of Thousands By Jay Janson 20 February, 2016 Countercurrents.org Feb. 18, 2016! Pope Francis Spoke Out Against Trump, ABC News Pope Francis questions Donald Trump's Christianity, BBC Pope Francis: Donald Trump "is not Christian" CBS , ABC News, BBCCBS Those of us who know that Pope Francis, while he was the most influential Jesuit leader in Argentina, maintained a cooperative silence, even as millions of people throughout the world were aghast at the horrific news that thousands of Argentinians were being murdered or 'disappeared' during the brutal US supported dictatorship of General Videla, see the Pope's present outspokenness about anti-establishment presidential candidate Donald Trump as consistent with the Papacy having always been a tool of the business interests of the colonial, now neocolonial, capitalist elite in Europe and the United States. Was the Pope's intervention in the US electoral process of phony democratic appearances spontaneous, or was the Pope wheeled out as a big gun in the corporate establishment's ongoing media discrediting of upstart maverick candidate Trump? Are Trump and Socialist Senator Sanders really temporary thorns in the side of the elite of our world destroying thieving US led speculative banking industry, or merely a well managed sideshow intended only to portray the election of the next posterboy puppet presidential spokesperson for Wall Street insanity as having been more than just the usual choice between two politicians obedient to the military-industrial-finanical complex? Which ever the case, let us at least learn about Trump's world celebrity Italian detractor, Pope Francis, born Jorge Mario Bergoglio. Media holding up high this Catholic Pope as a paragon of virtue with God-like authority and a reputation purer than snow, has to serve well as a form of rehabilitation of the Papacy itself for the quite substantial amount of people who know of the horrific role of the church during the early centuries of European genocidal subjugation, plunder, enslavement and destruction of cultures and civilizations under the pretense of saving souls in the name of the God of the Christians, a role Popes have continued to play during the recolonializtion or neocolonization of world led by an elite of speculating investors on Wall Street. The career of Jorge Bergoglio, who has been paraded all week before the TV viewing world audience as an angelic Pope Francis, an awesome figure, often as not in the usual regal headdress Popes wore during the Dark Ages of European history, contains nothing outright criminal like the careers of the Popes of the Inquisition, however his career does reflect a proclivity not to interfere while the exploited poor are murderously persecuted by the world's white establishment. Your Archival Research Peoples Historian did a quick Internet search: 'Pope and Videla,' and chose for his readers from the first thirty entries that popped up. (General Jorge Rafael Videla was President and dictator of Argentina during the so called 'Dirty War' that took place from roughly 1974 to 1983, though it should well be dated from 1969, when military and security forces and right-wing death squads in the form of the Argentine Anticommunist Alliance.) Jorge Bergoglio, now Pope Francis, held the top leadership position in the powerful Society of Jesus in Argentina from 1973 to 1979.) The Truth Behind Jorge Mario Bergoglio, Pope Francis , 3/16/2013, Global Research , 3/16/2013, Global Research Pope's every movement and words constantly blown up in large proportion and importance makes for a media inculcated impression that God's representative on planet Earth is blessing America while its investors in the profitable use of US Armed Forces go on destroying nations and peoples in the formerly outright colonially occupied and plundered nations, most of which were originally wealthier and more highly cultured and scientifically advanced than their savage European conquerors.Media holding up high this Catholic Pope as a paragon of virtue with God-like authority and a reputation purer than snow, has to serve well as a form of rehabilitation of the Papacy itself for the quite substantial amount of people who know of the horrific role of the church during the early centuries of European genocidal subjugation, plunder, enslavement and destruction of cultures and civilizations under the pretense of saving souls in the name of the God of the Christians, a role Popes have continued to play during the recolonializtion or neocolonization of world led by an elite of speculating investors on Wall Street. [http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-truth-behind-pope-francis-breaking-the-silence-the-catholic-church-in-argentina-and-the-dirty-war/5327049] "Argentina between 1976 and 1983 was wracked by a "dirty war" in which successive military regimes hunted down, tortured and "disappeared" tens of thousands of citizens. The dictatorship that followed consigned thousands of Argentineans into military detention. Most were tortured; a few were released, many were eventually murdered. These "disappeared" numbered in all around 30,000." Jorge Rafael Videla Dead: Did Pope Francis Sit Idly By During Argentine's 'Dirty War'? By Ana Maria Defillo, MIC Sep 17, 2015 - [http://mic.com/articles/42815/jorge-rafael-videla-dead-did-pope-francis-sit-idly-by-during-argentine-s-dirty-war] "Former Argentine military dictator Jorge Rafael Videla recently died in prison while serving a life sentence for his crimes against humanity." Former Argentine dictator Jorge Rafael Videla was announced dead on Friday. At 87, he died while serving life in prison for the abhorrent human rights abuses he conducted during the span of his ruthless military dictatorship from 1976-1983. Gen. Videla became president after overthrowing Isabel Martnez de PerAn, in a coup d'etat. His dictatorship, referred to as the "Dirty War," is responsible for up to 30,000 disappearances, killings and tortures of subversives. Babies born into "dissident" families were stolen to give to military families. " most of the controversy is based on his inaction towards the junta military as the leader of Argentina's Jesuits during the Dirty War. Federico Finchelstein, an Argentine historian at the New School for Social Research in New York, told the New York Times that "The combination of action and inaction by the church was instrumental in enabling the mass atrocities committed by the junta ... Those like Francis that remained in silence during the repression also played by default a central role," he said. "It was this combination of endorsement and either strategic or willful indifference that created the proper conditions for the state killings." Professor Finchelstein makes a valid point. In a region where church leaders have been vocal against military juntas in the past, it is very troubling that Pope Francis remained silent during such atrocities. It also doesn't help his case that as "the head of the Argentine Conference of Bishops from 2005 to 2011, Francis resisted issuing a formal apology for the church's actions during the Dirty War." Regardless of the politics behind these accusations, there is a bigger, more disturbing question we should be asking. Why wouldn't a church leader step in or at least speak out while thousands of innocent lives were being kidnapped, tortured, and killed? His [the Pope's] duty as a leader of the church is to represent the teachings of Christ, right? Would Jesus sit idly by while such atrocities are taking place? " to think that someone who watched thousands of people die could be chosen as the head of the Roman Catholic Church." Did Pope Francis Have a Part in Argentina's "Dirty War Time Magazine, 3/14/2013 Cover Story: Pope of the Americas) "Since he was anointed cardinal by Pope John Paul II in Rome in 2000, Jorge Bergoglio has had to contend with repeated allegations over his actions -- and inaction -- in the years of what is called the 'Dirty War.' Those claims have resurfaced now that he has become Pope Francis, the first Pontiff from the New World. The general criticism against him has been that raised against most prominent personalities of the period of junta rule: that he perhaps did not do enough at the time to try to stop the generals, that he did not speak out publicly about the thousands of desaparecidos -- the disappeared who vanished without a trace and whose mothers protested for answers in a plaza in Buenos Aires. Bergoglio, as quoted in his own defense in the Time article, rather seems to show himself as an insider of the dictatorship. "I never believed [the two priests] were involved in subversive activies," Bergoglio said. "But because of their work with some priests in the slums they were exposed to the paranoia of the witch hunt." Bergoglio said he moved fast to save their lives. "That same night when I heard of the kidnappings I started to move. I saw Videla twice and I saw Massera. In one of my attempts to meet Videla I found out who the military chaplain was who gave mass to Videla and convinced him to call in sick and managed to be named to replace him." Bergoglio said that after the mass he managed to speak to Videla about the case, which would not have been an easy task at the time, given the climate of fear that reigned over these issues in Argentina then." Pope Francis and Argentina's Dirty War: Nine Questions He Needs to Answer By Steve Weissman, Reader Supported News, http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-truth-behind-pope-francis-breaking-the-silence-the-catholic-church-in-argentina-and-the-dirty-war/5327049 , 3/22/2013 [http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/295-164/16604-pope-francis-and-argentinas-dirty-war-nine-questions-he-needs-to-answer] "Dogged journalists from Argentina and around the world have raised concern about the election of Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio to become Pope Francis. Was he, they ask, complicit with the Argentine military that kidnapped, tortured, raped, killed, and "disappeared" tens of thousands of people starting even before the coup of March 1976? The victims included two bishops and as many as 150 priests and nuns, and the atrocities reached the absolute horror of stealing newborn babies from their mothers and throwing living prisoners from helicopters and airplanes into the South Atlantic. ... Vatican spokesmen dismiss it as old smears spread by the anti-clerical left. We have heard this spin before, over " the Church's complicity with the Nazi Holocaust ... Pope Francis needs to do better than that. If he wants to put the dirty war behind him, he needs to provide full and convincing answers to nine deeply disturbing questions. 1. Gen. Jorge Rafael Videla, the imprisoned leader of the military junta, credits Papal Nuncio Po Laghi, Archbishop Raul Francisco Primatesta, and other Church leaders with advising the military junta and helping handle the situation of the disappeared. "In some cases," the former dictator told Argentina's Revista El Sur, "the Church offered its good offices and told the relatives to give up searching for their child because he [or she] was dead." But the Church only did this, said Videla, "if it was certain that the relatives would not use the information politically" against the junta. How, Your Holiness, do you explain such close collaboration? 2. Church officials in Argentina have repeatedly asked forgiveness for their failure to speak out against the junta's human rights violations, and Bergoglio personally called for the Church to do public penance for the sins of the dirty war. The Church obviously lacked courage and moral clarity, but it was far from silent. It publicly supported the military junta. Cardinal Archbishop Juan Carlos Aramburu gave communion and his blessing to the newly installed dictator, Gen. Videla. Bishop Jose Miquel Medina, the head chaplain of the armed forces, and other church leaders justified torture, while providing chaplains to help the torturers overcome their moral qualms. In his visit to Buenos Aires in April 1982, Pope John II publicly embraced Videla's successor General Leopoldo Galtieri and refused to meet with the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, who were demanding justice for their disappeared relatives. When, Your Holiness, will the Church face up to the depth of its complicity? 3. In 2007, an Argentine court convicted Father Christian von Wernich, a police chaplain, for his complicity in seven murders, 42 abductions, and 31 cases of torture. According to BBC News, several former prisoners testified that he used his position as a priest to win their confidence and then passed what they told him to police torturers and killers. The former prisoners said that he attended several torture sessions and told the torturers that they were doing God's work. Von Wernich is now serving a life sentence. As archbishop, Bergoglio ruled against giving holy communion to politicians and health care workers who facilitate abortion, while allowing von Wernich to remain a priest and provide communion to his fellow prisoners. Does Your Holiness truly believe that Church doctrine on abortion and contraception is more important to uphold than prohibitions against torture and mass murder? 4. In a case directly involving Bergoglio when he was the top Jesuit in Argentina, the army kidnapped, drugged, tortured, and held captive two of his subordinates who had been living and doing social work in a Buenos Aires slum. The army held Fathers Orlando Yorio and the Hungarian-born Franz "Francisco" Jalics blindfolded and in chains for five months and then dumped them half-naked and drugged into a field on the outskirts of the city. Soon after, Father Yorio sent the Jesuit hierarchy in Rome a first-hand report in which he accused Bergoglio of promising to speak to people from the armed forces and assure them that the two priests were not working with the left-wing guerrillas. But, wrote Yorio, Bergoglio spread rumors that we were. "We began to suspect his honesty," wrote Yorio, who reportedly forgave Bergoglio, but never withdrew his charges. Would Your Holiness release the late Father Yorio's full report and your detailed response to it? 5. Father Jalics made similar charges and has never withdrawn them. Now at a monastery in Germany, he says he has forgiven Bergoglio and does not want to comment on the new pontiff's role in what happened. Would Your Holiness ask him, in the name of truth, to testify about what he knows? 6. In 1979, Father Jalics was living in Germany and asked Bergoglio to help him get his passport renewed. Bergoglio made the formal request, but The Guardian has published a typed note from the foreign ministry archives that "appears to prove that Bergoglio said one thing and did the opposite." The note records that Jalics and Yorio "lived in small communities that the Jesuit Superior [Bergoglio] disbanded in February 1976. They refused to obey, requesting that they be removed from the order." According to the note, the information came from Bergoglio, who recommended that the foreign ministry not renew Jalics' passport. How, Your Holiness, do you respond to this damning evidence? 7. Horacio Verbitsky, one of Argentina's best-known investigative journalists, uncovered the above document and interviewed many of the dissident voices within the Church, presenting their evidence in his left-leaning Peronist daily Pagina 12 and his best-selling "El Silencio: De Paulo VI a Bergoglio." He is also a direct participant in the story, having shown the courage after the coup to take up arms in the guerrilla war against the military dictator ...Would Your Holiness ask your defenders to stop trying to kill the messenger and deal with the specific evidence Verbitsky offers? 8. Pope Francis has long talked of making the poor central to the Church, encouraging Christian charity toward them and criticizing inadequate government and even IMF policies. But, in line with John Paul II and Benedict XVI, he worked to suppress Liberation Theology, which called for helping the poor to organize to fight for their own rights. This appears to have been an underlying issue in his treatment of Fathers Yorio and Jalics and in the heated divisions within Argentina's Catholic Church. Will Your Holiness now reopen the debate and allow defenders of Liberation Theology to speak freely within the Church? 9. Horacio Verbitsky and other critics are quick to credit Bergoglio with helping many of the junta's opponents and even hiding them from arrest. "I know people he helped," said Father Yorio's brother Rodolfo. "That's exactly what reveals his two faces, and his closeness to the military powers. He was a master at ambiguity." Over the years, Your Holiness, you have been a reluctant, vague, and often evasive witness about your role -- and the role of your fellow priests -- in the dirty war. Would you now, in the spirit of truth and reconciliation, give independent journalists and historians access to Church archives, which -- along with in-depth interviews and already available government archives -- will allow them to set the record straight?" A veteran of the Berkeley Free Speech Movement and the New Left monthly Ramparts, author Steve Weissman lived for many years in London, working as a magazine writer and television producer. He now lives and works in France, where he writes on international affairs. [Reader Supported News is the Publication of Origin for this work. Permission to republish is freely granted with credit and a link back to Reader Supported News.] Jay Janson is an archival research peoples historian activist, musician and writer; has lived and worked on all continents in 67 countries; articles on media published in China, Italy, UK, India, Sweden and the US; now resides in NYC; First effort was a series of articles on deadly cultural pollution endangering seven areas of life emanating from Western corporate owned commercial media published in Hong Kong's Window Magazine 1993; Howard Zinn lent his name to various projects of his; Global Research; Information Clearing House; Counter Currents, Kerala, India; Minority Perspective, UK; Einartysken, Sweden: Saker Vineyard, Germany; Dissident Voice; Ta Kung Pao; Uruknet; Voice of Detroit; Mathaba; Ethiopian Review; Palestine Chronicle; India Times; MalaysiaSun; China Daily; South China Morning Post; Come Home America; CubaNews; TurkishNews; HistoryNews Network; Vermont Citizen News have published his articles; 300 of which are available at: click http://www.opednews.com/author/author1723.html ; Weekly column, South China Morning Post, 1986-87; reviews for Ta Kung Bao; article China Daily, 1989. Is coordinator of the Howard Zinn co-founded King Condemned US Wars International Awareness Campaign: (King Condemned US Wars) http://kingcondemneduswars.blogspot.com / and website historian of the Ramsey Clark co-founded Prosecute US Crimes Against Humanity Now Campaign http://prosecuteuscrimesagainsthumanitynow.blogspot.com / featuring a country by country history of US crimes and laws pertaining. Tweet WhatsApp Share Share on Tumblr Comments are moderated Video Shows Execution Of Palestinian In Jerusalem By Maureen Clare Murphy 20 February, 2016 Electronicintifada.net The apparent execution of a Palestinian in occupied East Jerusalem was caught on video by Al Jazeera on Friday. Israel says that the young man was carrying out a stabbing attack on Israeli Border Police officers when he was killed at the Damascus Gate to Jerusalems Old City. But video of the incident released by Al Jazeera indicates that the young man did not pose an immediate threat to anyones life when massive lethal force was used against him. The video shows a Border Police officer shooting at the man, who falls to the ground. Then several other heavily armed officers shoot dozens of bullets into the body of the man as he lies on the ground and as passersby hurry away from the scene: The video is a shocking display of Israels routine and reflexive use of lethal force, which has resulted in the slaying of approximately 170 Palestinians, including dozens of children, since a new phase of violence began in October last year. Al Jazeera media workers who were at the scene to film a field report told the Maan News Agency that six Israeli officers on site surrounded the Palestinian and fired almost 50 bullets after he had already been shot twice and fallen to the ground. An Israeli police spokesperson told Maan that the Israeli forces opened fire on the young man after he drew a knife on them. Two officers were lightly wounded after being stabbed in the upper body and taken to hospital. Palestinian media reported that a Palestinian bystander was wounded by shrapnel in her foot and was taken to hospital for treatment. Israeli media circulated a photo of the ID belonging to the man killed during the incident, identifying him as 20-year-old Muhammad Abu Khalaf from the Jerusalem-area town of Kufr Aqab. The Quds news network stated that at least 10 Palestinians have been slain at Damascus Gate since October, and that 11 alleged attacks have been waged at the main entrance to the ancient walled city. Two Palestinians were shot and killed there on Sunday after an alleged armed attack on Border Police and three other youths were slain there two weeks earlier during a similar incident. Israeli forces killed two more Palestinians on Friday. Khaled Yousif Taqatqa, 21, was shot during confrontations between protesters and the Israeli military in the village of Beit Fajjar near the West Bank city of Bethlehem. The Palestine Red Crescent Society told the Maan News Agency that medics were prevented from treating the young man at the scene and that he died of his injuries at a hospital in Jerusalem. An image of Taqatqa circulated on social media after his death. And in the West Bank village of Silwad, near Ramallah, Israeli forces shot dead a Palestinian man who allegedly attempted to ram them with his car. No Israelis were injured during the incident. The slain man was identified by Palestinian media as Abed Raed Hamad, 22, a student at Birzeit University focusing on journalism and media. Photos of the incident show the mans car crushed into a military jeep. An image of Hamad circulated on social media after the incident. Israeli forces killed two other Palestinians in Silwad last December, both of whom were allegedly waging car-ramming attacks when they were shot dead. But investigations by journalists and a human rights group suggest that one of those killed, Mahdia Hammad, was not attempting any attack and was trying to get home to feed her baby when soldiers opened fire at her. Meanwhile in Washington on Friday, the State Department condemned a stabbing attack in a West Bank settlement on Thursday in which a US citizen was fatally wounded. The Tel Aviv newspaper Haaretz reported that Tuvya Weisman, who lived with his wife and infant daughter in Maaleh Michmash settlement, was a soldier in Israels Nahal Brigade and was off duty when he was stabbed and another Israeli moderately wounded. An image of Weisman in his uniform circulated after the incident. The two Palestinian attackers, Omar Rimawi and Ayham Subih, both 14, were shot by a bystander and are reported to be in serious but stable condition in separate hospitals in Jerusalem. An image circulated on social media shows Rimawi on the right and Subih on the left: An image of the scene appears to show the two on the ground and bleeding. Israeli media published a video of Israeli soldiers apparently raiding and documenting the boys homes to prepare to demolish them. The pair are the youngest to have killed an Israeli since October, according to Maan, referring to data compiled by Israeli intelligence. Nearly half of the more than 200 attacks the Shin Bet says have been waged since October were committed by assailants aged 20 or under. The alleged attacks, mostly involving knives or car-ramming, have largely taken place at Israels settlements and military checkpoints in the West Bank symbols of the occupation. Approximately 30 Israelis and two US citizens have been slain during such attacks. Maureen Clare Murphy is the managing editor of The Electronic Intifada and lives in Chicago. Twitter @maureenclarem Tracing The Anti-National By Parijata Bhardwaj 20 February, 2016 Countercurrents.org Anti-national is the word of the hour. Whether it is shouted at nauseatingly high decibel levels by politicians and news anchors or become the justification for lawlessness, it has very firmly and surely occupied centre stage in lives of a vast majority. As many have argued the term has existed for long and has universally been one of the favoured weapons in the arsenal of the State to tarnish the credibility of anyone pointing out its failings. Though, the one factor which distinguishes the record of the present government from that of its predecessors is not only its Hindutva derived definition of nationhood but also the frequency and aggression with which it terms any dissent to this idea of nationhood as anti-national. The Anti-national list The BJP government came into power on 16 May 2014, but the term anti-national was a part of the parties arsenal during the election campaign itself. The campaign was rife with party members labeling people opposing Modi not only as anti-national but also demanding that they should leave the country and go to Pakistan. Thus, equating a Modi to the nation and showcasing the reactionary nature of the party. The demand of shipping dissenters to Pakistan stems from the basic ideology of the parties patron saint, the RSS which vehemently defines India as a Hindu rashtra with Muslims as the marauders, who chose to sever Mother India and create a land for themselves-Pakistan. One of the first attacks unleashed by the Government, was the targeting NGOs, activists and intellectuals allegedly tarnishing the image of India based on a report of the IB. All of them were together labeled as anti-national. The government at no point clarified how these organizations, institutions and people working for the enforcement of the rights of the people became anti-national but one of the charges leveled was the alleged foreign funds received by the institutions which the government termed coloured the intent behind their acts. Though, the same logic was not applied to the Vishwa Hindu Parishad which receives one of the highest foreign contributions. Furthermore, foreign funding does not seem to trouble the government when it comes to realm of the market. On all his visits out of the country Modi, never fails to make a pitch for increase in foreign investment in the country whether it be in the realm of infrastructure, mining or even education, irrespective of the implications of these investments for the vast majority of the population. Then came the beef ban, for after all the food of the citizenry also needed to be in the interests of the Hindu nation. The considerations of beef being a staple constituent of meals for Dalits, the adivasis, the muslims and the poor were not important in the light of the hallowed status of the cow. Yet again criticisms to the policy were not met with any reasoned arguments but sharp allegation of being yet again anti-national for not according the respect the holy cow deserved. Of course, the basic respect which a person is entitled to by virtue of being a human was something irrelevant and this gained further clarity with the brutal Dadri lynching. The tenor of the governments response whether it be calling the incident an accident or stating that if the meat was found to be beef the killing was justified, revealed yet again with alarming clarity the aggression with which the idea of India as a Hindu nation was being propagated. It was this brazen insensitivity coupled with the murders of Dabholkar and Kalburgi, which initiated a revolt on part of renowned writers or popularly referred to as award wapasi. Apart, from the writers the incident also awakened the previously apolitical actors like Shahrukh Khan to express concern over the growing intolerance in the country. Though, once again the BJP stuck to its hard ingrained script and denounced all the critics as anti-national and demanded them to be shipped off to Pakistan. There was no attempt on part of the government to initiate a dialogue or to even make an attempt to hear out concerns of eminent intellectuals and writers. The next major act in the anti-national script of the government unfolded in the educational universities. Whether it be the Ambedkar-Periyar Study circle at IIT, Madrass, the FTII movement, the Occupy UGC movement or even the Ambedkar Study Circles assertions at HCU, they were all commonly labeled as anti-national by the government. Infact, the script in these spaces was also suitably pumped up thanks to the presence of the ABVP cadres. Since it came into power, the aim of the present government has been to control the academic spaces in the country, whether it be through the appointment of puppet heads or stone-walling of any dissent. Further, in Smriti Irani, perhaps owing to her long stint in vendetta filled Indian soaps, the government found a willing actor to brandish its anti-national sword. Whether it be passing orders to expel students, ban student organizations or aggressively invite investment in education, Irani has not shied from brazenly putting forth the authoritarian face of the government. This becomes even more evident when one takes into consideration the sheer apathy of this country to the concerns of the citizenry. The institutional murder of Rohith Vemula was also brushed aside as a mere suicide, with Irani refusing to even discuss the complicity of the ministry and university in the matter.. Apart from these incidents the hate speeches by the likes of Sakshi Maharaj and others continue to increase without any action on part of the ruling government. The last few days have witnessed perhaps one of the most brazen and aggressive attacks on the student body by the present regime. Whether it be the immediate deployment of security forces into the university or the slapping of sedition charges against students or the arrest of the JNUSU student and the open hooliganism inside courts, it seems nothing short of a planned action on part of the State to quell dissent. This need to quell dissent has once again gained momentum in Bastar where the police is evicting the lawyer group in Bastar -Jagdalpur Legal Aid Group, which has been working for the last 3 years in the area to enable access to justice to the marginalized and Bela Bhatia renowned academician and researched who has been working in Bastar since January 2015 as well as adivasi leader Soni Sori. The police has already been successful in forcing Malini Subramaniam, one of the last independent journalists in the region to leave her house for her alleged anti-national coverage. The aggression with which this label is being employed now promises that this list is going to expand. State and its efforts to safeguard national interests Now, while the State has viciously gone out of its way to target all the anti-nationals it might be interesting to see what State has done to forward the national interests of the country. One of the primary agenda even during the elections was the constant assurance on part of the BJP to cater to the interests of the corporate, the constant hob-nobbing of the Prime Ministerial candidate in the private helicopter of Adanai further supported this assertion of the party. Unlike the other election promises, this was one of the promises which the party immediately geared up to implement, by diluting the labour laws and further initiating the single window clearance system for projects to remove unnecessary and harrowing clearances like the environmental checks etc. The next on the agenda was the dilution of the land acquisition act to make the task of procuring land for developmental purposes easier. Of course, the large scale displacement and alienation which would be fostered by this policy change was not a concern for the government. The fact that the new land acquisition bill brought farmers on street demanding an end to their persecution prevented the government from passing the law but it did not make them sit up and take note of the basis of the protests. For within a few months later, villagers of Omkareshwa who were protesting the proposed increase of the dam height on the ground that it would displace them, were labeled not only as anti-development but also anti-national. Recently, in the Sarguja district of Chhattisgarh the forest rights of the adivasis were summarily cancelled for coal allocations in the interest of development. The next focus of the government in its aim to serve the national interests was the future of this nation the children. The party has gone on and on about the duty of the child to Mother India but somehow the State washed its hands off its duty to its citizenry. The government consistently worked to dilute the few safeguards the laws had provided for children. Thus, whether it be legalizing the work of children below 14 in household businesses or reducing the age of the juvenility, this government has had no qualms in stripping the child of the minimal security it had previously enjoyed in the welfare State. It is baffling how this State plans to instill nationalism into an entire generation by further exposing them to situations where they are bound to be exploited and face injustice, instead of nurturing them. It is also interesting to note that the very same government which has been shouting itself hoarse at the students and intelligentsia for not showing the required respect to the slain army personnel in the Himalayas, is still dilly dallying on the demands of the armed forces on the issue of One Rank One Pension. The latest on it being a wishy washy statement of the defense minister apparently waiting for the analysis of the reports submitted as well as issuing a caveat against army personnel who retired for personal reasons and not in the interest of Mother India. The truth is that the State while conveniently using the armed forces to forward its vision has systematically failed to even look into the basic demands made by them time after time. A report on the condition of security forces in Central India revealed that the primary reason for the deaths of the forces was not the bullets of the Maoists but due diseases like malaria and dengue which were exacerbated by the poor living conditions of the people. The concern for the armed forces like many of this governments words is mere rhetoric with nothing to back it. The continuous attack within court premises of JNUSU president and complete disregard for the constitution reveals their lack of respect for the national institutions of the very country they are claiming to be defending. The truth, as written by an ex ABVP member, is simple the idea of nationalism as expounded by this government is nothing but hooliganism and fascism. So what now? As a young student while reading of the holocaust during the WWII or about the rule of Mussolini, I would often think how could the people have let things escalate to such an extent and be caught up in the tizzy of fascist nationalism. But as I grew up I realized that people especially the privileged sections have the ingrained ability to a turn a blind eye to injustice and work selfishly to safeguard only their personal interests. The injustice for them is a phenomena happening outside their world and while some of them might even have sympathies for it, this sympathy seldom translates into action. What is happening in the national capital is but an extension of prolonged the oppression of the dalits, adivasis and minorties. These sections for long have not only been labeled anti-national but also deemed to be perfect sacrifices in the raise for development. The only difference between the actions in Delhi and the experiences of the marginalized is the fact that developments of Delhi having affected several of the indifferent sections of the society has managed to mobilize support on a much larger scale and it is this support which must be capitalized. We should ensure that this momentum continues and work and creating solidarities across the country to challenge this fascist regime every step of the way, for if we remain silent now, years down the line the future generation is going to ask the very same question I asked, how could we have remained silent? Parijata Bhardwaj is a lawyer in Bombay High Court. She is one of the members of Jagdalpur legal aid group. Her mail id - parijatabhardwaj@gmail.com An Open Letter To Neo-Patriots From A Seditious JNUite By Samar 20 February, 2016 Countercurrents.org My Not so dear patriots, brave hearts of Mother India (not sons, as even she would disown you for your unique ability of following your Victory to Mother India slogans with abusing mothers and daughters) I, a JNUite, am overwhelmed with the brave display of your patriotism. I would have been happier if you had displayed the same over Pathankot attack too. The scoundrels attacked us and killed our brave soldiers despite all the shawl-sari-suit-mango-birthday wishes in person-surprise visit to deliver love letters diplomacy of our very patriotic turned peacenik PM Modi. Though believe me that I am not disappointed with you not displaying your patriotism there. Your clan has no history of showing patriotism against real enemies of the nation after all. I have searched libraries after libraries to look for a single case of a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) leader imprisoned by the British for participating in the freedom struggle. I found none- right from their top leaders Keshav Baliram Hedgewar and Madhav Sadashiv Golwalkar to RSS cadre at lower levels. Thats like keeping quiet against the British from 1925 to 1947 at best and working as their stooges at worst, with later being evidenced by the history. Had they fought against the British, Prime Minister NarendraModi woundt have been forced to chant the name of Gandhi across the world on his foreign trips. I understand poor Modis predicament; the history of his ideological ancestors betrayal taking his trip on the foreign trips he loves so much! He wouldnt have had to try to steal Sardar Patel, a lifelong Congressi who even banned RSS from Congress then. Poor chap would also not have had to try to abduct the legacy of NetajiSubhash Chandra Bose, the man who called Mahatma Gandhi the father of nation in the first radio broadcast of the Indian National Army. That too despite having had to quit Congress because of Gandhis displeasure! Now, showing you your own history of betrayals to India, I will call you neo-patriots now onwards. Oh, I had to talk about us, the JNUites and I started talking about your treason. Let me get back to us, not so dear patriots. Yes, I am a JNUite and despite the fact that I had started becoming what I am much before joining JNU, it is JNU which made me whatever I am. The reason behind this was simple. Despite joining the communist movement in Allahabad during my graduation, I did not have much of a chance to meet real India. Back in those days, India was largely upper caste, North Indian, Hindi-speaking India for most of us. We hardly met anyone beyond this India but for in films with highly stereotyped South Indians doing AiAiyo and Anna cameos in Bollywood flicks and an even rarerDanny Denzongpa pitching in for all of the North East- specially in villainous roles. It was only after reaching JNU that real, diverse India opened up for many like me. Barring an odd professor in Psychology department of University of Allahabad, I had never known any South Indian personally before coming to JNU. Lo and behold, in no time my best friend in JNU was a Kannadiga girl and the naughtiest a Manipuri. The close friend group that soon evolved out of that class of 2002 in Centre of Social Medicine and Community Health consisted of 5 of us, me a Purabiya (eastern UPite) boy and 4 girls a Kannadiga, a Telugu, a Chhattisgarhi and a Tamil. More than a decade after that, I am married to a Tamil, a fellow JNUite, of course. I learnt more about India sitting with them at JNU dhabas- from Ganga to Sabarmati via Godawari than I had in all my life before that. Being active in JNU students movement added to it even more. Suddenly the issues plaguing handloom workers in Telangana were not a distant issue tucked in inner pages of newspapers- it was now a real one affecting those close to a girl I had the hots for. Though I had started opposing the militarization of Manipur since my Allahabad days, it had now become something directly affecting two of my classmates- one a very good friend at that! With all these beautiful relationships JNU gave me, I didnt remain a mere Indian in JNU, I was now India itself. No, not the India you are, not so dear patriots. That India ends as soon as you come out of its troubled peripheries like Kashmir or Manipur and turns into something else- Marathi Manoos for instance and starts beating up people from north India, and threatens them to leave Maharashtra. If only your patriotic hearts bled for that India too, if only you had taken on those goons instead of forging alliances with them. I am that India, the Bhaiya India that gets beaten up in Maharashtra. I am India of Bastar, too. The India you shower with your patriotic bullets, without thinking even once who gets killed by them. I never saw you getting bothered about innocents who get caught in the crossfire between you and the Maoists, not beyond treating them as collateral damage of your war at the behest of all the Adanis and Ambanis. Remember Sarkeguda in Bijapur? The village where Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) had killed 17 tribals including 15 year olds in an encounter? Remember that the then home minister P Chidambaram had said he was deeply sorry if any innocent was killed? Remember also, that MLA KawasiLakhma of his own party had showed that in fact innocents were killed? I am that Sarkegudas India. I am India of MeenaKhalkho too. Remember that 16-year-old tribal girl who was brutally raped and killed by brave cops of Chhattisgarh police? No, dont rush to declare me a seditious, anti-national India for saying this. I did not say this in fact, a judicial commission established by BJP government of Chhattisgarh said this and booked 25 cops for her rape and murder. I am India of MeenaKhalkho. I am also the India of Thangjam Manorama. Remember her? The daughter of Manipur- that Manipur which doesnt figure in your India until there is a racist attack on north eastern students in Bengaluru or Delhi or some underground- insurgent group for the uninitiated, attacks Indian troops or vice versa. It is only in these circumstances that you remember Manipur as an integral part of India the moniker otherwise reserved for Kashmir. Manorama was a daughter of that Manipur whose children you call Chinky in times other than the above mentioned one, and assault racially. She was picked up by brave patriots of Assam Rifles and was killed. She was mercilessly tortured and perhaps gang raped too, something not proved because the soldiers had sought her even in her vagina! Dont rush to declare me an anti-national, as I am not saying this, a judicial commission appointed by the government of Manipur is. I am India of Manorama. I am India of Kashmir too, the Kashmir of Shopian, of Machil. That Machil where brave soldiers of Indian Army had killed 3 Kashmiri youth, poor laborers, in a fake encounter. Dont rush to judge me again, unlike in many cases of such fake encounters, Army confessed this one andpunished 6 of its soldiers to life imprisonment for that fake encounter. Such killings, collateral damage for you, are the worst ones, not so dear patriots as they dont come from bloodthirsty terrorists but those mandated to protect the lives of Indian under oath with constitution. I am India of that Machil. Dont panic, not so dear patriots. I will give you a chance to attack me. That too not with heavy, JNU type arguments, I know that would be too harsh for people of your level of intelligence. I could have asked why your patriotism goes on leave when Union Agriculture Minister Radha Raman Singh told the parliament that farmers are committing suicide because of impotence and love affairs. I could have asked why your patriotic hearts dont boil with indignation when a BJP MP Gopal Shetty adds more insult and says that the farmers are committing suicide in fashion! I wont even ask you where were you when social justice bench of the Supreme Court had slammed the patriotic government about persisting child malnutrition in country- arent these children Indian too? I will talk to you on your own ground, not so dear neo-patriots. I do not want to become Afzal Guru; just like his son Ghalib who wants to become a doctor, not Afzal. I never saw anyone shouting I want to become Afzal Guru in my JNU. I can see that in your videos (many of them proven to be doctored by now) there is darkness when these slogans are shouted, and when there are faces these slogans miraculously change to we want freedom from hunger and so on. Afzal is not my martyr, he just cannot be. But I do believe that he was a victim of Indian judiciary, a victim who was hanged just to satisfy the collective conscience of the nation for flimsy circumstantial evidence. I oppose his hanging, I will keep opposing anyones. The same way I opposed Gujarat governments decision (later revoked) to seek death sentence for its former minister and Naroda Patia massacre convict Maya Kodnani. No society can have death sentence and be civilized at the same time, not so dear neo-patriots. Getting barbaric with even most barbaric criminals would be their victory, not ours. Forget my position, though and tell me what do you think about Peoples Democratic Party, the one self-designated wholesaler of patriotism BJP allied with to grab power in Jammu & Kashmir government. What happens to your patriotism when they call Afzal Guru a martyr? Where does your bravery disappear when they demand his mortal remains to be brought back to Kashmir immediately after forming government with you? Why do you not feel like beating them, not so dear patriots, when BJP makes a separatist leader Sajjad Lone a minister from its quota despite the opposition of PDP? Your patriotism comes across as very opportunistic patriotism, not so dear Bhakts. It was nowhere to be seen even when first thing Mufti Mohammad Sayeed had done after taking oath as BJP-PDP allainces Chief Minister was thanking Pakistan and separatists for ensuring peaceful election in Kashmir. Ditto, when BJP-PDP government freed MasarratAlam, a supporter of merging Kashmir with Pakistan. Ask your own conscience about all this, that is if you are left with any. I am the India that pricks into the eyes of those who never fought for its freedom. I am the India which pricks into the eyes of those who want to cleanse India of its diversity and turn it into a monotonous Hindu, Upper caste, Male nation. I am the India in which everything is not fine and admitting that is seen as the beginning of attempts to correct that, not treason. The poor, the marginalized face a lot of injustice in my India and I will keep speaking against that. I know that the brave soldiers in Army of my India not only keep us safe by guarding our borders, they also save people during natural calamties- be it in Uttarakhand or Kashmir. I also know that there are a few criminals who mange to infiltrate into its ranks and do Machhil, Manorama, Manipur. The honour of my India and its army increases by fighting against them, not hiding their crimes and thus making the whole army suspect. You might be panicking again, not so dear patriots. So its time to let me give one more opportunity to attack me. Knowing your intellectual capacities I would not do that invoking best jurists of India such as Fali S. Nariman or Soli Sorabjee who made it clear that though definitely in bad taste, shouting even anti-India slogans is not sedition. I would not even cite the Supreme Court which made it clear that even being a member of a banned organization is not seditious until one engages in violence or incites it while giving bail to Dr. Binayak Sen. I too find slogans against my India in bad taste. I, however, know that my India is not so weak like yours or Islamic States Islam that it will be endangered by 10 idiots shouting slogans against it. Your India might be just a political weapon for you, mine is one which is made of the ashes of my ancestors. My India is both strong and compassionate enough to embrace these sloganeers, soothe them and then ask what makes them so agitated. My India has the moral courage to look into their eyes and add, your ancestors are cremated/buried in this soil too- why do you want to break it. My India is also conscientious enough to apologize to them if they have really been victims of injustice and fight for them in its courts. You can force someone to say yes to whatever you want by putting a trident on their necks, you cannot make them love you or the country by doing this. Remember that many people in this country used to swear their love for the British? Remember that Savarkar of your clan was one among them? You think they really loved the British? So keep living in your India that gets threatened by slogans, that too with the dishonesty of neither including Hindu Mahasabhas slogans in that nor their despicable and really seditious act of burning Indian flag- a crime under Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971. I will live in my India with my head held high, mind without fear. Keep attacking me, you cannot scare me. Of course you can kill me, but then the British killed Bhagat Singh and you know whom does India remember with love, whom it hates. Finally, I am not intolerant like you despite you belonging to a different India, one full of hatred and not love for its children, I have a suggestion for you. Keep shedding the blood of Dalits, minorities, tribals, women, students or whosoever your patriotic handlers order you to attack at that moment. Try, however, also seeking employment, good life, guarantee of safety for you, your children and your elderly, the things they promised you to win your support in the first place. You would see, then, which side of their uniformed forces with guns pulled out you would be. Patels of Gujarat have already seen that. Jats of Haryana are witnessing that as I write this piece. Till then, keep starting your sentences with Victory to Mother India and finish them off by abusing mothers and daughters of the same mother India. It is just that no mother could ever be happy with someone abusing her daughters, even if the abusers do it in her name. Seditiously Yours Avinash Pandey (Samar) The Radical Work Of Healing: Fania And Angela Davis On A New Kind Of Civil Rights Activism By Sarah van Gelder 20 February, 2016 Yesmagazine.org Angela and Fania Davis. YES! Photo by Kristin Little. Angela Davis and her sister Fania Davis were working for social justice before many of todays activists were born. From their childhood in segregated Birmingham, Alabama, where their friends were victims of the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing, to their association with the Black Panther Party and the Communist Party, to their work countering the prison-industrial complex, their lives have centered on lifting up the rights of African Americans. In 1969, Angela Davis was fired from her teaching position at UCLA because of her membership in the Communist Party. She was later accused of playing a supporting role in a courtroom kidnapping that resulted in four deaths. The international campaign to secure her release from prison was led by, among others, her sister Fania. Angela was eventually acquitted and continues to advocate for criminal justice reform. Inspired by Angelas defense attorneys, Fania became a civil rights lawyer in the late 1970s and practiced into the mid-1990s, when she enrolled in an indigenous studies program at the California Institute of Integral Studies and studied with a Zulu healer in South Africa. Upon her return, she founded Restorative Justice for Oakland Youth. Today, she is calling for a truth and reconciliation process focused on the historic racial trauma that continues to haunt the United States. Sarah van Gelder: You were both activists from a very young age. Im wondering how your activism grew out of your family life, and how you talked about it between the two of you. Fania Davis: When I was still a toddler, our family moved into a neighborhood that had been all white. That neighborhood came to be known as Dynamite Hill because black families moving in were harassed by the Ku Klux Klan. Our home was never bombed, but homes around us were. Angela Davis: Fania is probably too young to remember this, but I remember that strange sounds would be heard outside, and my father would go up to the bedroom and get his gun out of the drawer, and go outside and check to see whether the Ku Klux Klan had planted a bomb in the bushes. That was a part of our daily lives. Many people assume that the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church was a singular event, but actually there were bombings and burnings all the time. When I was 11 and Fania was 7, the church we attended, the First Congregational Church, was burned. I was a member of an interracial discussion group there, and the church was burned as a result of that group. We grew up in an atmosphere of terror. And today, with all the discussion about terror, I think its important to recognize that there were reigns of terror throughout the 20th century. Sarah: So where were you when you heard the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing had happened? Fania: I was attending high school in Glen Ridge, New Jersey. And I didnt take no stuff from nobody. I was always talking about James Baldwin or Malcolm X, and always bringing up issues of racial equity and justice. I heard about the bombing when my mother told me that one of the girls mother had called her upbecause they were close friendsand said, Theres been a bombing at the church. Come and ride down with me so we can get Carole, because Caroles at church today. And they drive down there together, and she finds that there is no Carole, shes been theres no body even. I think it fueled this fire, the fire of anger and just made me determined to fight injustice with all of the energy and strength that I could muster. Sarah: Can you say more about what everyday life was like for you growing up? Angela: We went to segregated schools, libraries, churches. We went to segregated everything! Fania: Of course, in some ways it was a good thing that we were very tight as a black community. When we went outside of our homes and communities, the social messaging was that youre inferior: You dont deserve to go to this amusement park because of your color or to eat when you go downtown shopping. You must sit in the back of the bus. At the same time, at home, our mother always told us, Dont listen to what they say! Dont let anybody ever tell you that youre less than they are. And so I found myselfeven as a 10-year-oldjust going into the white bathrooms and drinking out of the white water fountains, because from a very early age I had a fierce sense of right and wrong. My mother would be shopping somewhere else in the store, and before she knew it, the police were called. Sarah: Lets skip ahead to when it became clear that you, Angela, were going to need a whole movement in your defense. And Fania, you ended up spending years defending her. Fania: Yeah, about two years. Angela: In 1969, I was fired from a position in the philosophy department at UCLA. Thats when all the problems started, and I would get threats like every single day. I was under attack only because of my membership in the Communist Party. Fania: Angela had been very involved with prison-rights activism at the time, leading demonstrations up and down the state. And then she was all over the news: Communist Fired From Teaching at UCLA, you know, Black Power Radical. Angela: Then in August 1970, I was charged with murder, kidnapping, and conspiracy. And so I had to go underground. I found my way to Chicago, then to New York and Florida, and finally I was arrested in New York in October. It was during the time that I was underground that the campaign really began to develop. Sarah: So, Fania, when did you turn your focus to supporting your sisters cause? Fania: The night before I left Cuba, I found out that she had been captured. So instead of going home to California, I immediately went to where Angela was in the Womens House of Detention in Greenwich Village. Angela: All of my friends and comrades began to build the campaign. Once I was arrested and extradited, they all moved up to the Bay Area. We were active in the Communist Party, and, you know, whatever criticisms one might have of the Communist Party, we could go anywhere in the world and find people with whom we had some kinship, and people opened their homes. It was the Party that was the core of the organizing for my release, and the movement was taken up by students on campus and church people. This happened all over the world. Every time I visit a place for the first time, I always find myself having to thank people who come up to me and say, We were involved in your case. Sarah: Did you know that there was that kind of support happening? Angela: I knew, and I didnt know. I knew abstractly, but Fania was the one who traveled and actually got to witness it. Fania: Yeah, I was speaking to 60,000 people in France and 20,000 in Rome, London, and East and West Germany, all over the world, and seeing this massive movement to free her. Angela: It was an exciting era because people really did believe that revolutionary change was possible. Countries were getting their independence, and the liberation movements were going on, and there was this hope all over the world that we would bring an end to capitalism. And I think that I was fortunate to have been singled out at a moment of conjuncture of a whole number of things. Sarah: Your work since that time has centered on the criminal justice system. Are you both prison abolitionists? Angela: Oh, absolutely. And its exciting to see that the notion of abolition is being broadly embraced not only as a way to address overincarceration, but as a way to imagine a different society that no longer relies on repressive efforts of violence and incarceration. Abolition has its origin in the work of W.E.B. Du Bois and the idea that slavery itself was dismantled, but the means of addressing the consequences of that institution were never developed. In the late 1800s, there was a brief period of radical reconstruction that shows us the promise of what might have been. Black people were able to generate some economic power, start newspapers and all kinds of businesses. But all of this was destroyed with the reversal of Reconstruction and the rise of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1880s. Fania: Yeah, we abolished the institution of slavery, but then it was replaced by sharecropping, Jim Crow, lynching, convict leasing. The essence of the racial violence and trauma that we saw in the institution of slavery and in those successive institutions continues today in the form of mass incarceration and deadly police practices. Angela: Were taking up struggles that link us to the anti-slavery abolitionists, and the institution of the prison and the death penalty are the most obvious examples of the ways in which slavery has continued to haunt our society. So its not only about getting rid of mass incarceration, although thats important. Its about transforming the entire society. Sarah: How might restorative justice help with this transformation? Fania: A lot of people think that restorative justice can only address interpersonal harmand its very successful in that. But the truth and reconciliation model is one thats supposed to address mass harmto heal the wounds of structural violence. Weve seen that at work in about 40 different nations; the most well-known is, of course, the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission. In South Africa, the commission invited victims of apartheid to testify, and, for the first time ever, they told their stories publicly. It was on all the radio stations, in all the newspapers, it was all over the television, so people would come home and tune in and learn things about apartheid that they had never known before. There was an intense national discussion going on, and people who were harmed felt vindicated in some way. That kind of thing can happen here, also, through a truth and reconciliation process. In addition to that sort of hearing commission structure, there could be circles happening on the local levelscircles between, say, persons who were victims of violence and the persons who caused them harm. Angela: How does one imagine accountability for someone representing the state who has committed unspeakable acts of violence? If we simply rely on the old form of sending them to prison or the death penalty, I think we end up reproducing the very process that were trying to challenge. So maybe can we talk about restorative justice more broadly? Many of the campaigns initially called for the prosecution of the police officer, and it seems to me that we can learn from restorative justice and think about alternatives. Sarah: Fania, you told me when we talked last year that your work on restorative justice actually came about after you went through a personal transition period in the mid-1990s, when you decided to shift gears. Fania: I reached a point where I felt out of balance from all of the anger, the fighting, from a kind of hypermasculine way of being that I had to adopt to be a successful trial lawyer. And also from around 30 years of the hyperaggressive stance that I was compelled to take as an activistfrom being against this and against that, and fighting this and fighting that. Intuitively, I realized that I needed an infusion of more feminine and spiritual and creative and healing energies to come back into balance. Sarah: How did that affect your relationship as sisters? Fania: My sister and I had a periodright in the middle of thatwhen our relations were strained for about a year, due in part to this transformation. It was very painful. At the same time, I finally understood that it needed to happen because I was forging my own identity separate from her. I had always been a little sister who followed right in her footsteps. Yeah, and so now we are close again. And shes becoming more spiritual. Angela: I think our notions of what counts as radical have changed over time. Self-care and healing and attention to the body and the spiritual dimensionall of this is now a part of radical social justice struggles. That wasnt the case before. And I think that now were thinking deeply about the connection between interior life and what happens in the social world. Even those who are fighting against state violence often incorporate impulses that are based on state violence in their relations with other people. Fania: When I learned about restorative justice, it was a real epiphany because it integrated for the first time the lawyer, the warrior, and the healer in me. The question now is how we craft a process that brings the healing piece together with the social and racial justice piecehow we heal the racial traumas that keep re-enacting. Angela: I think that restorative justice is a really important dimension of the process of living the way we want to live in the future. Embodying it. We have to imagine the kind of society we want to inhabit. We cant simply assume that somehow, magically, were going to create a new society in which there will be new human beings. No, we have to begin that process of creating the society we want to inhabit right now. Sarah van Gelder wrote this article for Life After Oil, the Spring 2016 issue of YES! Magazine. Sarah is co-founder of YES! Follow her on Twitter @sarahvangelder Iran Has Critical Parliamentary Elections Ahead By Akbar E. Torbat 20 February, 2016 Countercurrents.org Irans parliamentary and Assembly of Experts elections will be held on February 26, 2016. This is the tenth parliament (Majles) elections since the Iranian revolution in 1979 and the fifth round for the Assembly of Experts, the clerical body that chooses Irans future Supreme Leader. In these elections, the US and its allies wish the Islamic regime sways from the controlling hands of the more conservative clerics to the hands of the so-called moderate clerics who have more friendly relations with the West. The Coming Elections These elections are typically symbolic because major political parties in Iran that oppose the ruling clerics are banned and their members are disqualified to run for elections. The supreme religious Leaders authority, as is defined by the Islamic Republic constitution (Article 110), supersedes the authorities of the major organs of the government. Hence, democratic principles such as separation of powers between three branches of the government do not effectively exist. Moreover, political rights such as freedom of speech, assembly, and opportunity to fully participate in the political process are not honored. Applicants who want to run for election ought to believe in Islamic system of government under the rule of Velayat-e Faghih (Guardianship of the Jurist).The regime selects the applicants who would serve its own ideological interests. The screening of applicants is based on the regimes ideological requirements, which clearly contradict fundamental norms of democracy. Applicants who do not express allegiance to such ideology are disqualified. Some secular political groups have indicated that they would boycott the elections. Despite the boycotts, the rival factions within the regime plan to have noticeable presence in the elections. The Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has urged Iranians to vote, saying even if you oppose me you should vote to support Islamic Iran. However, in reality, those who do not support the regime ideology do not have anyone on the ballot to vote for. The Parliament For the legislative Majles 290 seats, 12123 applicants registered in January 2016, which was the highest since the revolution. Initially 4700 applicants or about 40% passed screening by the Central Elections Supervising Committee, the rest were rejected because of their criminal records or lack of required documentations. Yet, several more were disqualified by the vetting body, the Guardian Council. However, after consideration of some applicants complaints, the Guardian council reversed 1500 of the applications, resulting in 6300 or 55% that is about an average of 22 candidates per seat and that includes 586 women. The candidates names were announced on February 4, just three weeks before the election day. The campaign time is between February 18 to 24 that is (29 Bahman to 5 Esfand) only 8 days before the election day on Feb 26, which is very short time for the candidates to introduce themselves to the voters. A new requirement for the applicants for the Majles in this election is to have at least a masters degree. In the previous Majles elections in 2012, 5200 applicants had registered from which one-third were rejected, 3400 or 12 candidate per seats were approved to run.[1] There are currently only 9 women in the Majles. The Assembly of Experts Another simultaneous election that has been historically less visible is the election of 88 clerics for the Assembly of Experts. This is an entirely clerical body that has the authority to choose, supervise, or dismiss the Leader of Islamic Republic, and to appoint a new leader in case of death or resignation of the present Leader, Ali Khamenei. The assembly meets twice each year for at least two days. The Assembly does not have any other noticeable function. The word Expert is a misnomer because the clerics are not experts in any fields other than Islamic Shia theology. They are elected every 8 years. The candidates are required to have extensive knowledge of Islamic jurisprudence and current social affairs and have to take a written Ejtehad (means independent reasoning in Islamic law) exam. Only those applicants who have seminary education are qualified to participate in the exam administrated by the Guardian Council. The exam measures the level of Shia theological Knowledge. The incumbents and those who previously have passed the theology exams are not required to take the exam. All the current members are male clerics (mojtahed). The exam for this election was given on January 5, (15th of Dey), with 400 applicants, including 12 women taking the test. From the 795 applicants who registered for the Assembly, 161 or 20% male clerics were approved to run, which is less than 2 persons per each seat. The current Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei who opposes the Western influence in Iran, is 76 years old and there have been rumors about him suffering from prostate cancer. Reformists hope to promote a cleric in their own group to succeed him after he passes away. For months, it had been reported that Saied Hassan Khomeini, a grandson of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, would be a candidate for the Assembly of Experts elections. The younger Khomeini who has ties to reformists could be prepared to become a possible replacement for Khamenei in the future. By using Khomeinis name, reformists could extract votes from some of the lower strata who are Ayatollah Khomeinis devotees. The conservatives believe the young Khomeini was drawn into a plot by the former president Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani for seizing control of the Assembly of experts. The plot appeared to have been originated from London and Paris. In mid January 2016, it was reported that the French ambassador to Iran Burno Foucher had a secret meeting with the younger Khomeini and Mohammad Khatami in Kashanak district in Tehran.[1] After all, Hassan Khomeni did not take the required Ejtehad qualification exam, possibly due to fear of failing the test that is administrated by the conservative clerics. As a result, the plot failed as he was disqualified to run because he did not take the exam. Efforts to Transmute the Regime At present, there is a power struggle between the cleric tycoon, Hashemi-Rafsanjani who leads the wealthy class and the more conservative clerics who rely on support from the impoverished class. Rafsanjanis family and their cronies have accumulated tremendous wealth using their influence in the regime.[2] Rafsanjanis sons have been involved in some major financial corruption cases; one of them Mehdi was sentenced to ten years imprisonment for receiving millions of dollars bribe from the Western oil companies. The conservative clerics currently have control over most important organs of the Islamic government except the executive branch. In these elections, a faction within the regime that labels itself as reformist is trying to subdue the conservative faction from power. Reformists are backed by the former presidents Hashemi-Rafsanjani and Mohammad Khatami, and have tacit support of the current president Hassan Rouhani. They want to occupy most of the seats in these elections and then force the other faction led by Khamenei out of power. The clerics who have more friendly relations with the West are referred to as moderates. For some time, Washington and its allies have been backing the moderates versus the conservatives to transmute the Islamic regime in their favor. The Western backed Persian language media outlets and NGOs have been actively promoting the reformists.[3] The Wests effort to influence these elections is continuation of the failed Green Movement in 2009 which intended to transmute the regime. The Conservatives claims that the attempts by three cleric presidents, Rafsanjani, Kahatami, and Rouhani to establish closer relations with the US have not served Irans national interest. Also, the Revolutionary Guards are against establishing closer relations with the US. They claim the US and its allies are striving to change the Islamic regime from within. The Conservatives have influence to mobilize the populous poor against the West. The Western elites have eyed Mohammad Khatami to come back to the scene since 2005. They invited him to attend the Bilderberg Group Annual meeting in 2006. George Soros, the financier of color revolutions, has had meetings with him twice outside of Iran. [4] The conservatives have accused Khatami of being a promoter of Soros Foundation plot for a velvet coup in Iran. Both Rafsanjani and Khatami were the key clerics behind the so-called Green movement in the post election riots of 2009. The revolt had been planned well ahead of the elections by them along with Mehdi Karroubi and Mir-Hossein Mousavi who have been since under house arrest. In 2013, the regime transmutation partly succeeded when a former reactionary cleric, Hassan Fereidon Sorkhei, who had been the chief nuclear negotiator a decade before, was promoted to become Irans president. Previously, he had changed his last name to Rouhani (meaning cleric) and a British university had awarded him a phony doctorate degree. In the run up to the 2013 presidential elections, Rouhani became the darling of the US and British financed Persian language media outlets that were boosting his campaign.[5] After a surprise announcement that Rouhani was Irans president elect, the Western powers were delighted. Upon coming to the office, to please the West, Rouhani hastily made an agreement to dismantle Irans nuclear infrastructure. The agreement was finalized in July 2015 and consequently some of the sanctions against Iran were suspended, effective January 16, 2016. The next Rouhanis task is to transmute the regime by putting his affiliated candidates in the Parliament and the Assembly of Experts in these elections. Rouhani and Rafsanjani are both the current members of the Assembly, and Mohammad Yazdi, a conservative cleric, is its present head. Ali Larijani, the present Majles head has turned away from the conservatives camp to help Rouhani succeed in transmutation of the regime. Yazdi, Rouhani, and Larijani are candidates for re-election. In the meantime, three US Congressmen have written an unusual letter to the Leader Khamenei and head of the Revolutionary Guards to observe the elections on February 26 and to visit Irans nuclear facilities.[6] Moreover, the Persian BBC has actively promoted the reformist faction in these elections and even has broadcast commentaries implying Iranians should not vote for the conservative Ayatollahs such as Mohammad Yazdi, Taghi Membah-Yazdi, and Ahmad Janati who are the key supporters of the Leader Khamenei. Similar commentaries have been heard for the Persian broadcasts associated with the Voice of America. On the whole, Iranians do not have any good option in these elections. If they vote for the conservative faction, it would prolong Islamic fundamentalism in Iran. If they vote for the reformist faction, the compradors will control the government and the country will become heavily dominated by the West. Consequently, some political groups plan to boycott the elections which seem to be the best choice under the circumstances. Professor Akbar E. Torbat teaches economics at California State University, Los Angeles. He received his PhD in political economy from the University of Texas at Dallas. Email: atorbat@calstatela.edu, Webpage: http://web.calstatela.edu/faculty/atorbat [1] Rajanews, News code 231738, 94/10/23 [2] Forbes Magazine , http://www.forbes.com/free_forbes/2003/0721/056_2.html [3] http://www.ipu.org/parline-e/reports/2149_B.htm [4] http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1703272/posts [5] Akbar Torbat, The Unexpected Results of Presidential Elections in Iran, July 02, 2013, http://original.antiwar.com/akbar-e-torbat/2013/07/01/the-unexpected-results-of-presidential-elections-in-iran/ [6] http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/three-us-congressmen-ask-visit-iran-monitor-upcoming-elections-1376121508 Syrias President Assad Amnesties Syrias Draft-Evaders By Eric Zuesse 20 February, 2016 Countercurrents.org Syrias President, Bashar al-Assad, issued on February 17th, a decree "granting a general amnesty for military deserters inside and outside the country and the crimes included in the Military Service Law committed before 17th February 2016. This is being done in order to remove one reason why some Syrians are now refugees in foreign countries: their refusal (for whatever reason) to serve in the military. "The decree grants amnesty on the full penalty for those who have deserted outside the country who are included in Article No. 101 of the military Penalties Law issued by Legislative Decree No. 61 for 1950 and its amendments. This decree does not include fugitives from justice unless they turn themselves in within 30 days for those inside the country and 60 for those outside the country. However, unless and until the foreign supplies of armaments and jihadists to fight against the government reduces (instead of increasing, such as especially the Saudi and Turkish governments want to do), this decree, the amnesty-offer, wont have many takers, because anyone who fled in order to avoid military service can then subsequently be called up for military service in the event that the war continues. Right now, both Saudi Arabia and Turkey seem to be committed to intensifying their invasion of Syria, rather than to reducing or ending it. Consequently, this decree wont have much effect unless the Syrian peace process becomes real, which would require as a prerequisite that Saudi Arabia and Turkey halt their plans to overthrow the Assad government. A step toward reducing the likelihood of a massive Saudi-and-Turkish invasion of Syria was taken on February 18th, when military cooperation between the United States and Russia commenced: Almasdar News headlined, "U.S. has asked Russia not to attack special forces in Syria, and reported: "The United States has told Russia broad areas in which U.S. special forces are operating in Syria and asked them not to strike there, U.S. military officials said on Thursday. A prerequisite for such cooperation to enter into effect would be a promise by the U.S. side not to carry out any operations in Syria that would be unacceptable to Russia, such as assisting the jihadists to overthrow the Assad government. If the United States is providing such assurances (and agrees to allow Syrian and Russian intelligence to monitor U.S. forces compliance with it), then both of these news-reports taken together will signify that, in any military conflict between Syria and the Turkish-Saudi forces in Syria, the United States will side with the Russian-Syrian alliance, irrespective of any treaty commitments that might happen to exist within NATO (which includes both the U.S. and Turkey), and the U.S. would be willing, in that case, to break the NATO alliance. If, on the other hand, the anticipated Saudi-Turkish mass-invasion of Syria occurs, and the United States ends up supporting it, then the avoidance of an all-out war between NATO and Russia would be difficult if not impossible. Obviously, therefore, the diplomatic activity, and decisions, which occur between the United States and Russia, during the coming days and weeks, will be critically important in order to avoid what could quickly become a nuclear war which neither side wants. The specific details of these negotiations are, of course, not being made public by either side. But, whatever they are, future historians (if they will exist) will be very interested to know what they were. Important history is now being made. Investigative historian Eric Zuesse is the author, most recently, of Theyre Not Even Close: The Democratic vs. Republican Economic Records, 1910-2010, and of CHRISTS VENTRILOQUISTS: The Event that Created Christianity. SHARE EVENTS Revival: with evangelist Braxton Hunter, 6:30 p.m. Sunday, Monday and Tuesday at Trinity Village Chapel, 4233 Medwel Drive in Newburgh. Lenten Study: "Living the Questions 2.0" at Bethlehem United Church of Christ, 6400 Oak Hill Road. Discussion topics will be "An Invitation to Journey" on Sunday, "Taking the Bible Seriously" on Feb. 28, "Thinking Theologically" on March 6, "Stories of Creation" on March 13, "Lives of Jesus" on March 20, "A Passion for Christ: Paul" on April 3 and "Out into the World: Challenges Facing Progressive Christians" on April 10. Each session will be begin at 6:30 p.m. Sisters of St. Benedict of Ferdinand Program: "Never Despair of God's Mercy, 9:30-11:30 a.m. Feb. 27 at the Benedictine Hospitality Center at Kordes Hall on the grounds of Monastery Immaculate Conception in Ferdinand. Presenter will be Sister Karen Joseph. Cost is $30. Registration deadline is Wednesday. For more information or to register, call 800-880-2777 or 812-367-1411, ext. 2915, or visit thedome.org/programs. Sounds of Grace Gospel Choir of Grace and Peace Lutheran Church: will offer the Black History Month program "In Our Shoes." The compilation of songs, stories, quotes, readings and witness talks will be presented at 5 p.m. Feb. 28 in the sanctuary of Grace and Peace Church at 200 S. Boeke Road. The program is offered free to the public. Saint Meinrad Archabbey Library Gallery: St. Meinrad, an exhibit of wall hangings "Healing the Earth" by artist Joanne Weis, through Feb. 28. The exhibit is free. For library hours, call 812-357-6401 or 800-987-7311, or visit saintmeinrad.edu/library/hours/. Teaching from the Book of Revelation: 11 a.m. every Sunday until completion at Church of God of Prophecy, 3407 Bellemeade Ave. Speaker is Bishop William Gaddis (free). Call 812-459-2359. The Mighty Acts of God in Zion: The Storyline of the Bible: 7-8 p.m. on Tuesdays in the fellowship hall of St. Ananias Orthodox, 4411 Washington Ave. Old Friendship Church Celebrate Recovery Program: 7 p.m. on Fridays at Oak Hill Christian Center, 4901 Oak Hill Road. Traditional Roman Catholic Latin Mass: 3 p.m. every Sunday at St. Paul's Chapel, 629 E. Louisiana St. music Concert: featuring The Conquerors Quartet and The Holders, 7 p.m. Feb. 27 at First Christian Church, 4544 Indiana 261 in Newburgh. A freewill offering will be accepted. Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods: will host composer David Haas for a concert and workshop. The concert will take place from 7 to 8:30 p.m. March 11 in the Church of the Immaculate Conception. The workshop, which will be open to the public, will take place from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. March 12 in the O'Shaughnessy Dining Hall. Cost to attend the concert is $10; workshop is $20 and includes a box lunch. Tickets for the concert and workshop may be purchased online by registering at events.sistersofprovidence.org. Tickets for the concert may also be purchased the night of the performance. For more information, call 812-535-2952 or email jfrost@spsmw.org. meals St. James Fish Dinners: 4:30-7:30 p.m. Friday and March 11 at St. James Church Madden Hall, Old Princeton Road, Haubstadt. Menu will consist of fried or baked fish, German potato salad, applesauce, cornbread, dessert, coffee and tea. Carryouts will be available in the old cafeteria. Lenten Fish Fries: 4:30-7 p.m. Fridays through March 18 at Nativity Catholic Church, 3635 Pollack Ave. Menu includes fried catfish fillet, baked tilapia or chicken tenders with salads, vegetables, dessert, drink and cheese biscuits. Cost is $9 for adults and free ages 7 and younger with an adult dinner purchase. Call 812-476-7186. Free Neighborhood Breakfast: 8-9 a.m. Feb. 27 in the fellowship Hall at Bethel United Church of Christ, 3029 N. Green River Road. By Max Roll of the Courier and Press An Evansville woman was arrested Friday on charges related to her role as a bartender who served a man who later was convicted of driving drunk and hitting a man in an accident that left a local doctor paralyzed, Indiana State Excise Police said. Dawn Elizabeth Bunting, 28, was arrested at a traffic stop on Saint George Road, according to an excise press release. On April 15, Dr. Conrad De Jesus was jogging on the Greenway when he was struck by Owensboro, Kentucky resident Travis Kyle Cox, 23, who was convicted of operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated, leaving the scene of an accident and criminal recklessness. Cox was sentenced to 12 years in prison February 11. Police said Bunting served alcohol to an intoxicated Cox at Xcess on Fulton Avenue, a club that formerly went by the name Scores. Bunting is lodged in Vanderburgh County jail. Her only listed charge on the jail's booking website is failture to appear. Online court records show she was charged with sale of an alcoholic beverage to an intoxicated person, a Class B misdemeanor, on April 16. The jail website shows a $50 cash bond. SHARE By Staff Report A Mount Vernon, Indiana, man made a false accusation about someone being in possession of a weapon Friday morning at SABIC, according to the Posey County Sheriff's Office. John Michael Kellems, 25, was at SABIC working for a temporary employment agency contracted by the plant. Sheriff Greg Oeth said the Posey dispatch center at 8:45 a.m. received a call from someone at SABIC alleging he saw another individual carrying a weapon. According to SABIC, the area in question was immediately secured and employees were kept in place. But no weapon was discovered, and the accusation was unfounded. Kellems is preliminary charged with intimidation, a felony, and false reporting, a misdemeanor. RIGHT: California Highway Patrol officers and a Caltrans worker share information after a suspected DUI-related traffic accident Friday on Interstate 5 south of Cypress Avenue. Jim Schultz/Record Searchlight Truck driver Randall Megazzi sits in the back of a CHP car after being arrested Friday on suspicion of DUI. SHARE By John Martin of the Courier and Press Indiana State Police Sgt. Todd Ringle said a proposal to lower the nationally recognized .08 blood alcohol content threshold to .05 limit would save lives. "I know from experience and training that when a person starts to consume they start to be affected about .05 percent," said Ringle, a spokesman and post commander for the state police in Evansville. "Many times we will stop a motorist for a traffic violation, weaving or driving left of center, who are at less than .08 percent. There are people who shouldn't be driving between .05 and .07." The reduced limit recommendation comes from the National Transportation Safety Board. The push for a lower limit has come up before, but it has not gained traction among states. The most recent NTSB recommendation for .05 came this month. More than 100 countries have adopted a .05 standard or lower, according to the NTSB. The agency contends nearly half of deadly crashes in the U.S. would go down with the .05 limit, citing drops in Australia and other countries that have changed its laws. Ringle cited statewide Indiana statistics for 2015 showing that 450 crashes occurred involving drivers with BAC of .05 to .07. Seven people were killed in those crashes and 240 were injured. Knowing the limit is lower, Ringle said, might dissuade some people from driving when they might otherwise get behind the wheel. Many others, though, are less sure a lower limit would have tangible positive impact. Mothers Against Drunk Driving has not endorsed the NTSB recommendation, saying it supports fighting the problem by other means. MADD says it is focused on more sobriety checkpoints, high-visibility enforcement and state ignition interlock laws for all drunken driving offenders. AAA also does not support a .05 limit. And others in the law enforcement community were less convinced than Ringle that a .05 limit would make streets considerably safer from drunk drivers. Henderson County, Kentucky, Sheriff Ed Brady described his stance as "on the fence," because one individual's ability to drive safely at .05 can differ from someone else's. Someone's body weight, frequency of consumption and recent rest patterns are among the circumstances that determine impairment, Brady said, adding that he's seen drivers in his career well below .08 who were barely able to function and others at .10 who seemed fine. "A police officer's judgment has to enter in at some point, what their observations are," Brady said. "I'd like to see some data that it needs to be lowered ... My thought process is, if they drop it to .05, in 10 years they'll drop it to .03." Lowering the legal blood alcohol content also would not address the issue of illegal drugs and prescription drugs, which also can cause impairment, Warrick County Sheriff Brett Kruse said. Kruse said he isn't opposed to lowering the BAC limit, but "a lot of the problem today is not just alcohol." He noted it's easier for officers to tell if someone's been drinking because of odor, but influence of other substances is harder to detect. "Someone in a bar for a few hours who has a couple drinks won't get to .05, but they might have some pills while they're there," Kruse said. During a 36-year law enforcement career, Vanderburgh County Sheriff Dave Wedding said most drunken drivers he's arrested have shown BAC levels comfortably above the current .08 limit. Wedding studied the arrests he made one year while working as a third-shift patrolman, and the average BAC was .15. "So, I was taking dangerous people off the streets," Wedding said. "I felt 100 percent comfortable taking them to jail. People at .10, I wouldn't call them severely impaired, but I took them to jail because they broke the law." Wedding said he spoke to a couple of his deputies about the issue, and they agreed that finding a field sobriety test to detect impairment for someone with .05 BAC would be difficult. Anyone pulled over from drunken driving must fail a field sobriety test before being tested. "I think .08 is pretty reasonable, and I think .05 would be a bit restrictive," Wedding said. "But I'm just one person." The Evansville area has had its share of high-profile drunken driving cases of late, with the alleged culprits far above the current .08 limit. The March 2015 crash on University Parkway that killed Reitz High School student Logan Brown and injured two of his classmates, for example, was allegedly caused by a driver with a BAC of about .30. Michael N. Gann is awaiting trial. A Kentucky man who in April 2015 struck a jogger on the Greenway registered a BAC of .25, prosecutors said. Travis Kyle Cox of Owensboro, who had a history of alcohol-related misdemeanor convictions, received a 12-year sentence. The incident left the jogger paralyzed. The NTSB argues that new approaches are needed to combat drunken driving. Its report states that about a third of the more than 30,000 people killed in highway crashes each year result from impaired driving, and that number has varied little for several years. The NTSB recommended incentive grants to encourage states to lower the BAC threshold. Another of its recommendations was that all suspected drunken drivers whose licenses were revoked be required to install interlocks as a condition to get licenses reinstated, despite having not yet been convicted of the crime. Vanderburgh County Prosecutor Nick Hermann said he's "not against" dropping the legal limit, but he doubts it would have significant effect. "Any drink of alcohol that you have is going to impair your abilities, but to what extent?" Hermann said. "I don't know that people at .05 are going to fail a sobriety test so I don't know that's going to make a big difference. A lot of people we see quite frankly are .20 or higher, especially the people getting in accidents. They typically have higher BACs. I'm not against the idea (of a lower limit), but I don't know we'll see a lot more cases if that were to happen." In 2015, Vanderburgh County had 699 individual defendants in misdemeanor and felony drunken driving cases. Hermann noted the NTSB recommendation in favor of ignition interlock devices received less national publicity than the call for a lower BAC standard. Interlock devices, which require someone to blow into a mouthpiece to determine sobriety before starting a vehicle, are being used more frequently in the Vanderburgh County court system. Twenty-three states have ignition interlock requirements for drunken drivers, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. They are allowable in Indiana, but are not required. Superior Court Judge Wayne Trockman said new technology surrounding the devices has made him less hesitant to have drunken driving defendants use them. "We've used them more and more within the last year and year and half," Trockman said. "When I used to put someone on one, the vendor I used was always concerned that the guy was out drinking all night and was still drunk when getting up to go to his construction job at 5 a.m., but he would just take off in his girlfriend's car." But now, Trockman said, "it doesn't matter what car you drive, you have to blow into the ignition interlock three times a day whether you drive the car or not. If he doesn't blow within the time period prescribed three times a day, I receive a violation report and a petition to revoke his probation is filed right away." Newer devices also are capable of snapping a picture of the person blowing into the device, to ensure it's the defendant. "It closed the loophole that always bothered me," Trockman said. As for the proposed .05 BAC level, Trockman isn't a fan. He noted that if a law enforcement official firmly believes a driver is impaired with a level below .08, an arrest still can be made if the driver fails a series of field tests. "Now, the police officer has to be good," Trockman said. "And we have some very good deputies and police officers who testify very credibly and give all these tests. And we have had convictions, especially when the officer has gone through the whole battery of tests and documented the results carefully." Indiana Public Defender Council Executive Director Larry Landis said many drivers are impaired with a BAC of .08, but he's not seen data showing that to be the case with .05 levels. "If there's good hard empirical evidence that nearly everybody is impaired at .05, it's justifiable (to lower the level)," Landis said. "But if only 50-60 percent have some impairment at that level, you're punishing a lot of innocent people." For Ringle, though, the best result that would come from lowering the BAC standard further is heightened awareness. Consumption of alcohol impacts judgment, and those who are out drinking often are having fun with friends and not carefully monitoring their intake, Ringle said. He suggested that a change in the law would provide greater incentive to do so, and perhaps ward off a potential crash or arrest. "Whenever you lower the limit, everyone's awareness level increases," Ringle said. SHARE Rep. Larry Bucshon By Thomas B. Langhorne of the Courier and Press Ousting a member of Congress at the polls is hard. Denying a congressman renomination by his own party is well-nigh impossible. Just four of 435 U.S. House members standing for re-election in 2014 lost their seats in party primary elections. And yet every year 8th District Rep. Larry Bucshon has stood for re-election since ascending to Congress in 2010, someone from his own party has challenged him. It is not as if Bucshon, a Republican, is widely considered vulnerable. He is fortified by all the advantages of incumbency large contributions from favor-seeking political action committees, taxpayer-funded letters and glossy mailers that tout his accomplishments and the power to do favors for constituents by sorting out their problems with government agencies. The former Newburgh heart surgeon demolished comparatively underfunded primary challengers Kristi Risk in 2012 and Andrew McNeil in 2014. The nation's leading political handicappers rate his seat as safe this year. "I'd rather be him than be any of his opponents right now," said Robert Dion, a University of Evansville political scientist. But something compelled Jasper-based Dr. Richard Moss and Rachel Covington, a 23-year-old whose candidacy was invalidated on eligibility grounds Friday, to step up to the plate against Bucshon this year anyway. Something compelled Moss to put up $28,000 of his own money in campaign loans to take on Bucshon, who reported having $445,928 in campaign cash at the end of 2015. For Moss, that something is the same something that drove conservative activists Risk and McNeil true belief. "He's gone along with all the spending," Moss said of Bucshon. "The Republican Party and the Democrats are really working together and expanding the size of government and cutting deals and bankrupting our children. There's no notion of fiscal prudence, and unfortunately both parties are part of it and he's in on that." Like Risk and McNeil, Moss portrays Bucshon as a loyal foot soldier of Republican congressional leaders and not a revolutionary conservative dedicated to meaningful change. He decries what he calls an oligarchy of career politicians, consultants, lobbyists, and donors who expand government to benefit their own entrenched interests. But Bucshon insists he is the genuine conservative article. "When you look at my broad record of opposing (the Obama) administration on health care, on energy, on spending, on all kinds of policies, I've got a solid conservative voting record," he said. "The reality is, though, is I've been elected by the people of the 8th district to also be responsible and do what I think's in the best interests of the 8th district.'' Bucshon appears to have fallen out of favor with some conservative organizations, at least for the moment. The Conservative Review gives his voting record a "Liberty Score" of 51, a failing grade. By contrast, conservative heroes like Rep. Dave Brat of Virginia and Rep. Louie Gohmert of Texas receive scores of 100 and 96, respectively. Heritage Action for America's Scorecard gives Bucshon a grade of 57, while The Madison Project gives him a 52. The Madison scorecard's website said its score represents an"average composite of the member's rating from Heritage Action for America and the Club for Growth for 2014." The American Conservative Union, the nation's oldest conservative lobbying organization, gave Bucshon a score of 72 for his 2014 votes. But Rep. Marlin Stutzman, who got significantly higher conservative scores than Bucshon in the other ratings, received a score of 96 from the group. Moss pounced on Bucshon's vote in December for a $1.1 trillion spending package that averted a government shutdown. The House approved the measure in a 316-113 vote, with 150 Republicans voting in favor of it. But many of the House's 113 votes against came from Republicans considered the lower chamber's most conservative members. Ninety-five of the 113 were Republicans. Bucshon portrayed the vote as a victory for fiscally prudent policies. In a statement he released days afterward, he said the spending bill, as signed into law by President Barack Obama, "permanently extends critical tax cuts for Hoosier families and businesses. The legislation also includes a two year delay of the 2.3 excise tax levied on medical devices to help pay for the Affordable Care Act." "It delays the medical device tax that is hampering lifesaving innovation and permanently extends a provision that helps farmers and small businesses plan large expenditures on equipment so they can invest in our local communities," Bucshon's statement said. "Most importantly, it keeps more money in the pockets of taxpayers and away from bureaucrats in Washington, D.C." But Moss said the spending package funded many of the elements of Democrat Obama's agenda that Bucshon said he is against. "He claims to be a conservative, but he fully funds the Obama agenda," Moss said. Dion said Bucshon is who he is and that's been good enough so far for voters. Bucshon "fits in well with most members of the Republican Conference," Dion said, but he is simply not a conservative firebrand. "He's hitting the right notes for the broad Republican constituency. What he's not doing is mimicking (conservative Iowa congressman) Steve King or Louie Gohmert, and I don't know that he's even got that in him or if that would be the right fit," the UE political scientist said. Bucshon isn't John Hostettler, the conservative Republican who held the 8th district seat from 1995 until 2007. "Hostettler didn't always seem to care what the Republican Conference wanted. He wasn't shy about disagreeing with his own party's leadership, and he said things in the press that often came back to haunt him but he stood by them," Dion said. "(Hostettler) took votes all by himself on lots of stuff, and got bitterly criticized for it. Bucshon really has not followed that model at all. He typically votes with the House Republican Conference for Republican priorities." Bucshon pointed out that he's not the only House member who is being challenged in a primary this year. He said many Americans are angry at the government primarily Obama and federal agencies under his watch but that anger isn't always focused on the right targets. "I think there's just an unsettled feeling out in the country amongst the American people on both sides of the aisle," he said. "I think that's why you see people like me have primary opponents." SHARE Todd Young Marlin Stutzman By Zach Osowski INDIANAPOLIS Todd Young will stay on the U.S. Senate ballot after Indiana's Election Commission couldn't reach a consensus on two complaints filed against his campaign. Young, currently a U.S. Representative for Indiana's 9th Congressional District, is running for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate. Young's eligibility to be on the ballot was challenged by the Indiana Democratic Party as well as the campaign of GOP rival Marlin Stutzman. Both claimed he didn't collect enough signatures to run. Stutzman will face Young in the May 3 Republican primary. The Indiana Election Division's official documents show Young collected 501 valid signatures of registered voters in Indiana 1st Congressional District. However, a line-by-line count by both the Democratic Party and Stutzman's campaign came up with only 497 valid signatures. State law requires statewide candidates to collect 500 signatures from registered voters in all nine of Indiana's Congressional Districts. After several hours of testimony, the four-member Indiana Election Commission tied 2-2 on four votes to deny the complaints brought against Young. The commission is comprised of two Republicans and two Democrats appointed by Gov. Mike Pence. The first complaint was that Young did not get enough signatures in the 1st district. David Brooks, counsel for Young's campaign, argued clerical errors leaving part of the petition blank led to the total of 497. He said errors resulting in such a small shortcoming shouldn't be reason enough to leave a candidate off the ballot. Brooks pointed to case law, saying candidates have a right to believe county clerks who tell them they have collected sufficient signatures. The Democrats and Stutzman's camp disagreed, saying Young's campaign was asking the Election Commission to certify votes, which isn't their job. "The Young campaign wants you to certify signatures we don't even have," said Clay Patton, counsel for the Democrats. "That's just unconscionable to me." Anthony Long, vice-chair of the commission, agreed with the Democrats, saying the law states that county clerks must certify the number of registered voters. He said it was clear the clerks had not done that. The two Republicans on the commission disagreed. "I tend to fall back on the spirit of the law," Commissioner Chair Bryce Bennett said. Zachary Klutz agreed but said according to the evidence he had seen, Young's total signatures was 500, not 501. A vote to sustain the challenge tied 2-2 and a subsequent vote to deny the challenge tied 2-2, keeping Young on the ballot. The Democrats then filed a second complaint, offering evidence that one of the signatures collected on the petitions Young's campaign submitted was certified before the woman on the petition was a registered voter. Patton showed the commission documents showing one of the signatures counting towards Young's 500 was made by an unregistered voter. Documents were also provided showing the woman in question registered to vote a few days after the petition was submitted and certified. Brooks countered by submitting signatures of his own that he said should have counted but didn't. The motion to sustain the complaint was denied by a 2-2 vote, officially keeping Young on the ballot. In other action, the commission also removed Rachel Covington from the ballot in the primary race for the Eighth Congressional seat. The commission ruled that she was not old enough to take office, should she be elected. Covington, who planned to face Rep. Larry Bucshon in the May Republican primary, is currently only 23. She would not turn 25 until March of 2017, two months after she would have been sworn in if elected. The U.S. Constitution states a U.S. Representative must be 25 before taking office. That ruling leaves Bucshon and Richard Moss as the two Republicans on the May primary. What's going on with the real estate market in Evansville? How did Vanderburgh County's housing market do in July? The median price for a house in 2022 was lower than 2021. Sussex News Story Saved You can find this story in My Bookmarks. Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right. It is not a public problem yet. But according to multiple experts, it will be. It is the cybersecurity whistleblower an employee who sees a flaw, or flaws, in his or her companys network security, brings the problem to management but gets ignored or punished marginalized, harassed, demoted or even fired. And then the worker either goes public or files a complaint with a federal regulatory agency like the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Such a scenario is unlikely to end well almost certainly for the company (if the complaint is credible) and perhaps even for the whistleblower, notwithstanding laws meant to protect them. The company could face fines and other regulatory actions. The employee, who in some cases could be rewarded (the SEC offers 10 percent to 30 percent of a settlement of more than $1 million to qualifying whistleblowers), still might find it damaging to a career. [ ALSO ON CSO: Whistleblowers at risk when using US government websites ] Think about it. If you were someone classified as a whistleblower, it would label you unemployable, said one expert who declined to speak for attribution. Another expert, who also declined to speak for attribution, said when he refused to certify that his previous employer was meeting a certain security standard, I got warned, and eventually resigned. It became a hostile work environment. He has never spoken about it to regulators or other outside authorities either. Eddie Schwartz, international vice president of ISACA and president of WhiteOps, said he knows of a case where a nation-state hack occurred and an employee reported it to his superiors. He was told to mind his business and that the organization was dealing with it. It wasnt, and when he reported it to authorities, he was essentially fired for it, Schwartz said. (Whistleblowers) can seek assistance through other authorities if thats warranted, but there is no one size fits all for these types of situations. Eddie Schwartz, international vice president of ISACA, president of WhiteOps So the predicted increase in cybersecurity whistleblower cases is somewhat speculative at the moment, in part due to secrecy. There are no public cases involving them on record so far, even though most businesses have had an online presence for two decades or even longer. They do exist, according to Debra Katz, a founding partner at Katz, Marshall & Banks. She said her firm has represented about a dozen such whistleblowers, but those cases were, settled in the pre-litigation stage and contain robust confidentiality provisions. In other words, they are not public. A second reason for a lack of clarity is that it remains a relatively new legal field. All federal agencies not just the SEC are playing catch-up to align their policies with the seriousness of cybersecurity threats, Katz said. All federal agencies not just the SEC are playing catch-up to align their policies with the seriousness of cybersecurity threats. Debra Katz, founding partner, Katz, Marshall & Banks That means there is not much legal history, precedent or even laws that specifically addresses cybersecurity whistleblowers. While there are nearly two dozen laws in various states that provide protection for whistleblowers in areas ranging from asbestos to drinking water, solid waste, railroads, motor vehicles, shipping containers, pipelines aviation, consumer products, hazardous waste, food, drugs and more, there is nothing on the books that provides specific protection for those involved with cybersecurity. Still, attorneys like Katz, who specialize in whistleblower cases, say top management in organizations may need to play catch-up as well, since such cases could lead to damaging breaches or an investigation by a regulatory agency or both. And while legal protections may not be explicit for cybersecurity whistleblowers, they exist by implication, experts say. Lance Hayden, managing director at the Berkeley Research Group and a CSO contributor, is one of several who have cited a settlement last September between the SEC and R.T. Jones Capital Equities Management over charges that the firms violation of the safeguards rule led to a breach that compromised the information of about 100,000 people. While the firm did not have to admit to the charges, it agreed to a censure by the SEC and to pay a $75,000 fine. There was no documented evidence of whistleblower involvement in the case, but Hayden wrote that it became, a sort of catalyst, for the SEC to focus on cybersecurity. He quoted SEC Commissioner Kara Stein saying after the R.T. Jones settlement that the agency intends ...to play a much more active role in trying to help companies better protect themselves against an increasing number of cyber security issues Dallas Hammer, an attorney with Zuckerman Law, writing for the National Law Review, said the R.T. Jones case indicates that, cybersecurity issues have become a key enforcement priority for the SEC, which means that, in turn, whistleblower tips that touch on cybersecurity may receive additional scrutiny. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate MONROE When it was built in 2004, Victoria Drive was a road with a stoplight leading to nowhere. But now, in addition to Ole Soccer Training Center and Victorinox Swiss Army, the road will soon be home to Fairfield Countys first Wal-Mart Supercenter. Some people love it and some people hate it. But either way, theyre coming, said First Selectman Steve Vavrek. It will employ about 300 people, said Phillip Keene, a spokesman for Wal-Mart, adding that it typically takes about a year to get a store up and running. John Kimball, who owns the local developing firm The Kimball Group, said he expects to begin construction of the 150,000-square-foot facility in June. Hes just waiting for one more state permit to come through. It puts Monroe on the map for national retailers. Since Wal-Mart has come in, weve had interest from several other national retailers. Wal-Mart is going to be the anchor, the catalyst, said Kimball. Constructing Wal-Mart is one part of a larger development plan Kimball has dubbed Shops at Victoria Place. Next door to the Wal-Mart, at 10-36 Main St., he hopes to build a shopping center that would house 22 stores. Filling a 15-year void The empty lot off Victoria Drive was bought in 2001 by Kimball with the intention of housing Jewish Senior Services, which ended up taking a place in Bridgeport instead. After clearing the 40-acre area, Kimball planted 10 varieties of evergreen trees from 6 to 18 feet tall that currently line the vacant lot to give it a natural look and feel. The trees serve as a buffer between the soon-to-be-commercial site and a residential neighborhood. For the next 13 years, a series of companies expressed interest in the space before dropping out. Kimball said it was hard to find someone to commit because of Monroes lack of a sewage system. Weve been working on filling the site since we bought it, he said. In 2014, he reached out to Wal-Mart, which was looking to place a new store in Fairfield County. He presented the plan to bring the national retailer to the towns planning and zoning commission that year. Not everyone was in favor some residents feared that bringing in a national retailer like Wal-Mart would put small, local stores out of business. But after 18 months of back-and-forth, the town ruled in favor of bringing a Wal-Mart Supercenter to Monroe. Wal-Mart has 11 of its large-variety stores and 23 regular stores in Connecticut. When Wal-Mart comes here, well really want to emphasize the shop-local thing, Vavrek said. Kimball said Wal-Mart will have a trickle-down effect to the rest of the community. Since the 2015 ruling, Kimball has received several offers from retailers interested in his 90,000 square-foot Shops at Victoria Place. He signed one lease for a store and is in negotiations with several others, which include both national retailers and local businesses, adding that hell reveal the names of the stores after he has agreements for about half of the allotted venues. The last permit Wal-Mart is waiting for is a septic system approval. Kimball said he is confident the permit will be accepted before the end of spring. Not only has the prospect of a Wal-Mart in town spurred other retailers interest, but Vavrek said it also put more pressure on negotiations with the state to improve traffic flow at that bottlenecked segment of Route 25. This January, Kimball received permission from the state to add additional turnoff lanes into Victoria Drive and upgrade traffic signals along the route. He said work on the highway will begin the same day as Wal-Mart begins construction. Thats one of the good things about this. Its only when you do larger developments that the state steps in, he said. SFoster-Frau@scni.com; @SilviaElenaFF As the state continues to roll out a new background check program for employees of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities, representatives of those agencies had both praise for and criticism of the new initiative. In November, the Connecticut Department of Public Health announced it was launching the comprehensive background check system, which would help agencies such as nursing homes identify whether a job seeker had convictions related to health care fraud, patient abuse or controlled substances. Many nursing homes, home health care providers and other agencies already did their own background checks, but there were gaps in the system that allowed people with troubling backgrounds to fall through the cracks. The new system requires potential employees of long-term agencies to have fingerprint-based criminal history records checks, conducted by the state police. The care providers also have to register with a Web portal, which will be used to process these background checks. The program is being rolled out gradually, with one category of care providers being added at a time. Nursing homes were the first to enroll in the system several months ago, and home health agencies began going online last week. So far, officials from associations representing the states nursing homes and health agencies said theyve embraced the new system. Its been a fairly smooth transition for us, said Matthew Barrett, executive vice president of the Connecticut Association of Healthcare Facilities, the trade association representing 170 skilled nursing homes in the state. More Information A closer look Here are a few details about the state's new background check program for those applying for jobs with long-term care agencies. The new background check system will cover a variety of agencies, including nursing homes, residential care homes, home health agencies and others. Homemaker and companion programs are not covered through the background check program. The framework for the program was established by passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2010. The program is administered by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The centers awarded more than $50 million to 26 states to design comprehensive background check programs, including $2.8 million to Connecticut. Eventually, 650 long-term care facilities will be registered through the system. Facilities are signing on to the system one category of care at a time. Nursing homes began registering in October. So far, more than 330 long-term care facilities have registered through the system, 228 nursing homes and 103 home health agencies. So far, more than 3,100 applicant background checks have been successfully processed through the new system. See More Collapse But he and Deborah Hoyt, president and CEO of the Connecticut Association for Healthcare at Home, had some concerns with the new system, including that it doesnt encompass everyone who provides care to the elderly. Worries about the elderly Connecticut has been looking to add a more comprehensive background check for care providers to the elderly for years. In 2011, the state Legislature voted to approve the new background check system, but it took several years to build the web portal. There have been several incidents in recent years of older people being harmed by the very people who are supposed to be caring for the. In May, a nurse from Lord Chamberlain Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Stratford was arrested after allegedly swapping a patients medications for Tylenol and over-the-counter allergy medications. In 2012, an employee of Ludlowe Health Care Center in Fairfield was accused of assaulting an 84-year-old patient. But concerns about caregivers reach back even further, to a 2011 report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services estimating that 92 percent of nursing facilities employed at least one person with a minimum of one criminal conviction. That report showed most states required nursing facilities to conduct either an FBI or statewide criminal background check for aspiring employees, but Connecticut didnt have such requirements. The state began taking steps toward changing that after the Affordable Care Act the sweeping health care reform legislation known as Obamacare passed in 2010. The legislation established the framework for a program to conduct background checks on a statewide basis on all prospective direct patient access employees of care facilities and providers. Connecticut was awarded approximately $2.8 million in federal grants to establish the background check system. Long-term care patient abuse, neglect and misappropriation of funds have been identified as a widespread problem for millions of Americans receiving services, said interim Department of Health spokesman Christopher Stan. Praise and concerns Both Barrett and Hoyt said, though both of their associations have always stressed background checks for workers, they understand the need to offer something more intensive. Weve been doing background checks for years, but (the state) wanted to make sure were hiring trustworthy, ethical individuals, Hoyt said. We, as a home health agency, wanted people to feel comfortable and feel safe. Barrett echoed Hoyts thoughts on the need for the portal, though to date he isnt aware of any major offenders who have been identified through the new system. But, he said, just because youre not getting a lot of hits, doesnt mean it isnt working. It might be working from a deterrent standpoint, by keeping people with troublesome records from pursuing these jobs. However, Barrett and Hoyt said the new program has some issues, including that it doesnt cover everyone who cares for older people. For instance, homemaker and companion agencies which provide basic care in the home, such as meal preparation, laundry and transportation dont have to run workers through the background check system, even though many of them work with the elderly. Stan said homemaker and companion agencies are not a long-term care provider as defined within Section 19a-491c of the General Statutes, and are regulated by the Department of Consumer Protection, not public health. Hoyt and Barrett also worried about the accessibility of the new background check system. To get the fingerprint check, job applicants have to travel to their nearest police barracks. If someone doesnt live near a barracks, that could be tricky, Hoyt said. Some people (applying for these jobs) dont have transportation, she said. This may cause an inconvenience for these workers. The Capitol campus is in emotional lockdown. Social-service providers, facing major budget cuts, are in a snit. Lawmakers, in a big election year, want to appear to serve their constituents without being labeled profligate spenders. Taxpayers want something, anything for their money. Because the jobs regained from the 2008 recession have mostly been lower-wage positions, with resulting revenue decreases, the state deficit of $20 million announced at 5 p.m. on Friday in the budget that runs through June 30, will likely increase further. And the various legislative committees are hard-pressed to somehow make the columns add up to a half-billion-dollars in spending reductions for the next fiscal year. Short of cashing in on some institutional Powerball investments for we the people the General Assembly is facing hard decisions. Assuming the vulnerable Democratic majorities of 87-64 in the House and 21-15 in the Senate dont raise taxes (never a safe bet), theyre going to have to come to terms with a new budget that takes effect July 1 and pull a rabbit out of their hat. Or bags of marijuana from their desks in the historic House chamber. Yep, its time for lawmakers to look at the potential big bucks generated by legal recreational use of Americas favorite contraband. Colorado, with 5.3 million people, realized nearly $90 million in tax revenue last year from cannabis sales. Connecticut, with 3.5 million people, could easily cop $50 million in fresh taxes. And the sooner the better. At this point, even as Vermont discusses full legalization, Connecticut could have the regional lock on sales. I can see the cars with New York plates, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Virginia, heck, North Carolina plates making marijuana pilgrimages to the Nutmeg State. Theyll be lining up at the cannabis dispensaries to pay 20-percent excise taxes on $400-an-ounce weed. Our still nascent marijuana growers will have to increase production and hire more people. The concept of jobs and revenue are two of the three things the average state lawmaker understands. The third is lunch in the caucus room! While Connecticuts pharmacy model of producers and dispensaries is the secure national standard, we can learn a lot from Colorado, where there are three levels of taxes on recreational sales. Theres a 2.9-percent tax; a 10-percent marijuana tax and a 15-percent wholesale tax on sales from producers to dispensaries that gets passed along to consumers. Thats nearly 28 percent in taxes. Its a Democrats dream! With a captive market, at least for a while until our surrounding neighbors get hip and, as Bob Marley would say, legalize it, we could charge any crazy taxes lawmakers want. An additional 10-percent for out-of- staters? Marijuana tourism can come to the Constitution State. There would be lines at the states art museums. Theyd be bumping into each other over at the Florence Griswold Museum of American Impressionism in Old Lyme, oohing and ahhing over the 100-year-old splashes of paint. The Bruce Museums tiny parking lot in Greenwich would overflow, creating even more revenue from parking tickets. Tarrywile, the 722-acre city park in Danbury and the Bartlett Arboretum in Stamford, would host hundreds of blissed-out nature lovers. Who wouldnt want to set up a nearby ice cream truck? In Bridgeport, the Vibe Tribe, all early adopters of the three-dimensional possibilities of cannabis, would show up at Seaside Park at the end of July out of habit just to watch the waves lap on the beach, even though the Gathering of the Vibes is taking a years sabbatical. Alas, full legalization of cannabis is so thoroughly unlikely to be passed this year in the Connecticut General Assembly, I wont blame gentle readers for suggesting your columnist is stoned to the gills. Its an election year and the minority Republicans are so close to regaining control of a legislative chamber that they can taste it. They last controlled one of the two houses the Senate during the first term of John Why Should I Resign If Ive Done Nothing Wrong? Rowland. Two years later, the Democrats regained control, after the 1996 elections, and have held on tight. While there is a bill in the hopper this year that would call for recreational use of cannabis, it has virtually no shot. The last thing Democratic leaders want is to let GOP lawmakers ascend their high horses, pointing the finger at soft-on-crime Democrats. In fact, I predict that this golden opportunity will slide by the boards and Connecticut wont be the first in the region to OK full legalization. Aside from gay marriage, which was mandated by the state Supreme Court, Connecticut hasnt exactly been in the forefront of regional social change. Lets not forget that Connecticut approved the 19th Amendment, granting women the right to vote, a full month after it was ratified by the necessary 36 states in 1920. Ken Dixons Capitol View appears Sundays in the Hearst Connecticut Newspapers. You may reach him in the Capitol at 860-549-4670 or at kdixon@ctpost.com. Find him at twitter.com/KenDixonCT. His Facebook address is kendixonct.hearst. Dixons Connecticut Blog-o-rama can be seen at blog.ctnews.com/dixon/ Expanding the types and numbers of facilities that are patrolled by armed security guards is not the answer to the sporadic outbursts of gun violence that ail us. The fundamental question here is this: Are we safer with more guns among us? In regard to that particular question, we believe the answer is no. The most recent manifestation of this issue is a bill before the Connecticut General Assembly that would let community college campus security officers become certified and carry weapons on campus. They would be in a category of special police forces. The bill stems from a decision made last year by the Connecticut Board of Regents for Higher Education to allow armed security officers on community college campuses. The board gave individual institutions the option to have armed or unarmed security. But before this can happen, the legislature would have to pass the bill. We recognize the role firearms play in helping to preserve our security. Obviously, our various branches of law enforcement need to be armed. And you could probably make a case for security guards at community colleges carrying weapons. But we resist the notion because it is another incremental step toward increasing the number of guns in our environment. So well go back to the answer to the fundamental question raised above. The action by the board of regents came shortly after an explosion of violence at a community college in Oregon, where a student shot and killed nine people. But is the answer to every mass shooting incident to arm more people? Should theaters and elementary schools be staffed by armed security? A debate is already underway nationwide regarding the arming of hospital security personnel. The New York Times last Sunday highlighted the issue through the case of a 26-year-old college student brought to a hospital in Houston for treatment of possible bipolar disorder who ended up being shot by an off-duty Houston police officer working as a security guard. The student, who was described as growing increasingly delusional though not aggressive or threatening survived the shooting. Obviously this is not comparable to the potential scenario of a so-called active shooter on a campus or in some other public setting. It is, though, an example of a situation in which, since a gun was present, it was used. As gun-rights advocates would argue, enforcing the laws we have and imposing strict penalties for gun offenses is part of the solution to gun violence. And we agree. Bolstering our mental health systems is another step. Banning certain military-style weapons and establishing ironclad rules for background checks also have to be part of the solution. Taking another step toward turning our institutions into armed camps shouldnt be part of the solution. 'Joe Biden can have them': Mastriano vows to bus migrants to Delaware Ian relief: Deadline extended for property tax payments Gov. Ron DeSantis signed an executive order delaying the payment of property taxes across 26 Florida counties struggling from impact of Hurricane Ian. Lifestyle | Daily Life | News | The Sydney Morning Herald Were sorry, this feature is currently unavailable. Were working to restore it. Please try again later. Dismiss How very carefully orchestrated it was meant to be. First, the late-night negotiations on Thursday. Then, a dramatic agreement in the early hours of yesterday morning. Next, the deal would be signed off with a flourish with a so-called British breakfast in Brussels under the guidance of summit chairman Donald Tusk. David Cameron was then supposed to fly back in triumph to London and summon a Cabinet meeting yesterday afternoon. Then, standing in Downing Street, he would announce to the world that the British people would vote in a referendum on the UKs membership of the EU to be held on June 23. Finally, the PM would nestle onto the sofa for BBC1s The Andrew Marr Show tomorrow morning to explain why he thinks the deal hed won was very good for Britain. With a hubristic and breath-taking arrogance, the strategy was outlined in advance to the media by Mr Camerons hapless communications team David Cameron was supposed to fly back in triumph to London and summon a Cabinet meeting yesterday afternoon. Finally, the PM would nestle onto the sofa for BBC1s The Andrew Marr Show tomorrow morning to explain why he thinks the deal hed won was very good for Britain With a hubristic and breath-taking arrogance, this strategy was outlined in advance to the media by Mr Camerons hapless communications team. But as so often happens in politics, carefully-laid plans can go badly wrong. And so was the case with the EU summit in Brussels. For Mr Cameron himself, this has been a professional and personal calamity. It is now obvious that he has failed to honour his promise to the British people that he would obtain fundamental political reforms. Hed made that cast-iron pledge in his famous Bloomberg speech on January 23, 2013, in which he said there would be a referendum on British membership of the EU if the Tories won the 2015 General Election. Mr Cameron vowed to renegotiate the terms of British membership and, in doing so, restore democracy to the over-bureaucratic and sclerotic EU. Back in 2013, many critics viewed Mr Camerons pledge as a cynical ploy to appease Eurosceptic Tory Right-wingers and win votes off Ukip. While others were more generous, the talk in Westminster was that the Tory leader was unlikely ever to be put to the test because his chances of winning the 2015 General Election with an overall majority seemed remote. It seemed the best he could hope for was another Coalition government with the Lib Dems, who would assuredly block any referendum. However, the Tories election victory last May changed the political landscape entirely. Of course, this was a great personal triumph for Mr Cameron but it also presented him with a huge dilemma. He was duty-bound to follow through on his promise to achieve a new settlement for Britain and fundamental, far-reaching change of the EU before holding a referendum. Since then, despite endless PR spin from Downing Street, the PM has struggled. Back in 2013, many critics viewed Mr Camerons pledge as a cynical ploy to appease Eurosceptic Tory Right-wingers and win votes off Ukip The truth is that Mr Cameron always prefers the status quo to work within conventional parameters and to appease rather than confront established interests. These characteristics are shared by his very close aide, Cabinet Secretary Sir Jeremy Cover-Up Heywood. Perhaps both men acquired that rigid mindset from their time at Oxford University. And thus, it rapidly became clear that Mr Cameron had no serious intention of delivering the fundamental reform that he had promised. Indeed, he seemed to have no idea what reforms he wanted. Incidentally, he would have done himself a favour if he had accepted Boris Johnsons offer to be the British governments chief negotiator rather than give the job to Brussels stooge George Osborne. It rapidly became clear that Mr Cameron had no serious intention of delivering the fundamental reform that he had promised As it was, the Chancellor met his European counterparts but they were left baffled about what exactly Britains demands were. This was no surprise because Mr Osborne is the most pro-European member of the Cabinet. At no point did he seem interested in spelling out any concrete demands on how to reform our relationship with the statist, sluggish, anti-democratic and corrupt EU. For his part, David Cameron made another massive mistake. He dropped all pretence of being prepared to campaign for Britains withdrawal if any conditions he might make were not satisfied. He seemed to have become a signed-up member of the Stay campaign. This was a huge tactical own-goal. As every experienced negotiator knows, it is only possible to extract meaningful concessions if you make it abundantly clear that you are ready to walk away from the table. Yet Mr Camerons had placed himself at the mercy of his European counterparts. To make matters worse, the PM also sent out a series of contradictory messages. Some of the time, he claimed his ultimate purpose was to reform Europe and bring its institutions up to date so as to make its members economies fit to compete with booming nations such as Brazil, India and China. Yet, on other occasions, he said that he was purely fighting for Britains interests. These two objectives, as fellow European leaders noted, were incompatible. To sum up, over the past few months, Messrs Cameron and Osborne have given a masterclass in how NOT to carry out a negotiation. At no stage does it seem that they have a clearly-thought- out strategy. And so, last night, they found that they had almost certainly failed on all fronts. Not only had they not achieved that much-trumpeted fundamental reform demanded by those Britons appalled by the prospect of a European super-state, but he had also upset Europhiles because the referendum saga had made the UK more unpopular in mainland Europe. Even if Mr Cameron eventually manages to strike an improved deal, it will amount to very little. Certainly not the promised fundamental change. As Mr Cameron's negotiations continued a new opinion poll from TNS suggested the Leave campaign would start the official referendum campaign in front - but with a large block of undecideds Personally, Mr Cameron will take this setback extremely badly. Until now, he has been seen as a trustworthy politician. In many ways, he has been a capable Prime Minister. He has authority. He brings charm and grace to the job. He is business-like and has an air of easy command, which normally serves him well when dealing with foreign leaders. The way he made the Tory Party electable again after three consecutive defeats to Tony Blairs New Labour has to be admired. He also has significant achievements to his name. For example, his government has carried out an important programme of welfare reform and courageously taken on the teaching unions in order to raise standards in schools. But I fear that when history is written, David Cameron will be remembered above all for this bungled negotiation over Europe. He now has a stark choice. He can persist with his flawed strategy and recommend a deal to the British public which, in his heart, he must recognise as hopelessly inadequate and contrary to the countrys interests. If he follows this path, though, he will be rightly mocked and derided as weak and hypocritical. Inevitably, his personal authority will be badly eroded. He will be open to accusations that he has behaved like an estate agent trying to sell a property which he privately knows is not worth the price. In practical terms, many among the Tory grassroots as well as on his backbenches will feel betrayed. I predict, therefore, a mass defection by Tory activists as many join the Brexit camp. Much more serious, the Conservative Party will split. As it was, the Chancellor met his European counterparts but they were left baffled about what exactly Britains demands were Until now, Mr Cameron has been seen as a trustworthy politician. In many ways, he has been a capable Prime Minister. He has authority. He brings charm and grace to the job Ultimately, David Camerons legacy could well be as the prime minister who picked a fight with Europe and was so inept and weak-willed that he lost. That said, there is even now a way that he can try to rescue his reputation. But it would require huge guts and courage which I fear is not in his nature. He could announce that he had done his best in his negotiations with his 27 fellow EU leaders, but they were to blame for refusing to accept any sensible reforms. Dramatically, he could then say that in view of such myopic intransigence at a time when the EU is facing huge challenges particularly from migration he has no alternative but to announce plans for Britains withdrawal. He would be perfectly entitled to do this under Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty which stipulates: Any member state may decide to withdraw from the Union in accordance with its own constitutional requirements. Mr Cameron could then announce that he will be leading the Brexit campaign in the run-up to the referendum in June. If Mr Cameron did this, he would look principled. But dont hold your breath! Mr Putin might become a Quaker before this happened. Nevertheless, the Prime Minister could show that he was acting consistently with the Eurosceptic beliefs which he has advocated all of his political life. Indeed, we were reminded this week how, as a young prospective Tory parliamentary candidate in 1996, he told his party conference: They (Brussels) want a federalist pussycat, not a British lion. Its up to us to make sure that lion roars because when it does, no one can beat us. Also, he would, at last, he honouring the promises he made in his Bloomberg speech. History would then accord him the tribute that he had been a prime minister who, at a time when voters had increasingly lost trust in slippery and self-interest politicians, had redeemed the reputation of politics and scored a remarkable triumph for democracy. Alternatively, he could cravenly accept this weeks Brussels charade and sign his own political death warrant. Lovebirds Stephen Fry and new husband Elliott Spencer have finally settled on a swanky nest Stateside. I can reveal that the pair's new home in the U.S, where they have been house-hunting in recent months, is a 1.8million pad high in the exclusive Hollywood Hills. The couple's three-bedroom, three-bathroom house is so showbiz it's even got views of the iconic Hollywood sign. The 3,800 sq ft property also comes with a hot tub and spa, a swimming pool and nearly half an acre of land. Lovebirds Stephen Fry and new husband Elliott Spencer have finally settled on a swanky nest Stateside Fry, 58, and Spencer, 28, bought the Twenties Spanish-style home in their joint names in November last year. It was previously owned by an oil tycoon. Fry once said: 'A cut-glass English accent can fool unsuspecting Americans into detecting a brilliance that isn't there.' Did he use it in price negotiations with the vendor, I wonder? Spencer confirmed this week the couple were moving to LA, reportedly saying that he and Fry, who also have homes in London and Norfolk, are 'excited about having a new base'. Spencer, a comedian, is applying for a green card so he can work in America, while Fry plans to spend the spring months in L.A. working on a writing project. But Fry has been quick to quash reports that he is planning to quit the UK for good, after his close friend actress Emma Thompson called Britain a 'cake-filled, misery-laden, grey old island'. In a blog post this week, Fry said: 'I have been bombarded by texts and emails asking me why I am leaving Britain to go and live in America. The pair's new home in the U.S, where they have been house-hunting in recent months, is a 1.8million pad high in the exclusive Hollywood Hills 'This caught me not a little by surprise, since I have no plans at all to swap the UK for the U.S.' Fry flounced off Twitter on Monday after an ill-judged remark at the Baftas, in which he called his friend Jenny Beavan a 'bag lady', but his husband is still active on the site. Spencer wrote: 'For the record: we have bought a house in L.A. but we aren't planning on being their [sic] permanently. 'We're both proud to be British and love it here. It'll just be exciting to spend some time there too.' Talk about having your misery-laden cake and eating it... Mentioning no names... Life has changed dramatically for Russell Grant in the four years since he burst onto the dance floor to become the most unlikely star of Strictly Come Dancing. The flamboyant astrologer, who was famously shot out of a cannon in his final appearance on the show in week eight, has found his career on a similarly upward trajectory ever since. 'I've not stopped since, darling,' he says. 'It's been amazing. In the West End I did Midnight Tango with my lovely partner Flavia from Strictly and took over from Michael Crawford in Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Wizard Of Oz. I toured in Grease, and did Celebrity MasterChef! Who'd have thought it!' Russell Grant has been busy following his appearance on Strictly Come Dancing taking over from Michael Crawford in Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Wizard Of Oz and touring in Grease He says he still chats to Flavia Cacace three times a week, and is also good pals with Aliona Vilani and Natalie Lowe, two of the other pro dancers, as well as Judy Murray, a contestant in a subsequent series. Yet today the conversation ranges from light to deeply serious. There's laughter, but there are tears too. He's spoken before of how he spiralled into comfort eating after the deaths of his beloved grandmothers in the 90s. Alice and Lily had played a large part in his upbringing, even more so after his parents split up, and after losing them he struggled for years, ballooning to 27 stone and becoming a virtual recluse. He credits Strictly with not just changing his life, but saving it. 'I have no doubt,' he says. 'I was getting back on my feet, but the show helped me get there faster, back to good health.' This year is an especially significant one for Russell, as he turned 65 this month. 'I'm officially a pensioner, and I could be thinking of retiring,' he says. 'But I'll never do that in a million years.' One project he's particularly proud of is a new book called Art Of Astrology, an adult colouring book that combines the psychology and meaning of colours with astrology. 'It will help people to learn more about themselves,' he says. 'You can read about the meaning behind your choice of colours and how they connect with your sun sign. And it's calming and uplifting at the same time. Perfect for de-stressing.' But reaching that milestone birthday and finding himself increasingly responsible for his 88-year-old parents has also brought on a major decision. Russell on This Is Your Life in 1985 with his Nan Alice who suffered from Alzheimer's in her final years 'It's made me concentrate on what's important. My Nan Alice had Alzheimer's in the last terrible years of her life and I've raised quite a lot of money for various charities. But I've decided I'm going to devote a third of my working life to finding a cure. It's not just an old people's disease, and if we don't find a cure we're going to reap the whirlwind in 20 years' time it will be an epidemic. It doesn't take an astrologer to know that. 'In 2014 I met the lovely team working on Alzheimer's at Edinburgh University and that was a turning point. It's known that music, dance and visual arts are very beneficial for people with dementia so I'm working on a project with them to help sufferers. The person deteriorates. This was a woman who'd stand in the bathroom and put her clothes on back to front. All her dignity had gone Then there are Dementia UK's Admiral Nurses, who provide the support my mother and I never had with Nan. With other illnesses the patient can mostly say what they want. But with Alzheimer's they often can't. Carers have to second-guess what the sufferer needs.' Russell speaks from bitter experience, and it's obvious that even after 20 years the memories are raw. 'It's such a cruel disease, and in those days there was no real help. Diagnosis was not what it is now, and in the early days Nan could appear lucid when the doctor came. He once said to my mother, "You just want to have her certified so you can have a good time." 'My mum used to sleep on the floor so Nan couldn't go out at two in the morning. She used to say she was off to get a quarter of ham from the shop she'd lose all track of time. Policemen had to keep bringing her back in the early hours. It was very upsetting.' He shows me a picture of his grandmother smiling. 'This was taken when I walked into the room. I was the only person she recognised towards the end. She had Alzheimer's for nine years and became mute eventually. There was another distressing side too. My grandmother, who'd never sworn in her life, would come out with words that would make a sailor blush, and she was preoccupied with sex. Russell is still in touch with his Strictly partner Flavia and said he has overhauled his exercise regime and diet since appearing on the show 'That's what happens, the person deteriorates. This was a woman who'd stand in the bathroom and put her clothes on back to front. All her dignity had gone.' He weeps, then pulls himself together. 'There was no help, none! So I decided I'd try to do my bit. And that's what I'm doing now.' He talks about a gala dance night he's organising this year with his Strictly pals including Arlene Phillips, who cared for her own father when he developed dementia. 'She's my dear friend. She choreographed me in The Wizard Of Oz and she'd be brilliant for this. When I approached her she said, 'Yes, let's do it!' We're at an early stage of planning, but it would be wonderful. It makes me feel good to have made this decision.' Meanwhile, Russell is trying to stay healthy himself. 'I try to go to the gym at least four times a week but I still have days when I feel blue and eat things I shouldn't,' he says. 'I used to polish off a box of Maltesers but I haven't had one in a year, and I walk everywhere, five miles a day. Who ever thought I'd be doing that when just six years ago I was a guy with a stick who couldn't get to the door without having an angina attack?' Visit alzheimersresearchuk.org and dementiauk.org. Dispelling the myth that grown-ups can't wear glitter make-up, models twinkled down the Fashion Week runways this season with sparkle-topped eyes, lashes, nails and even noses. On the glitter spectrum so far? Out-there silver slashes at Opening Ceremony, grungey glitter-encrusted cat eyes at Saint Laurent and delicate dustings of gold eye glitter at Tommy Hilfiger. Each of the shows proved that there is truly no wrong way or time to wear glitter. We learned from the make-up pros backstage that the key to pulling off the eye-catching trend is to keep the rest of the face soft and neutral. Pulling it off: The key to elevating glitter eyeshadow, demonstrated on Hailey Baldwin by make-up artist Pat McGrath at Tommy Hilfiger, is to keep the rest of the face matte and neutral, adding only hints of natural color Cool-girl glitter: After applying different colored glitters on designer Rosie Assoulin (left) for fun, make-up artist James Kaliardos decided to mimic the play session on the models at Rosie's fall presentation Make-up artist James Kaliardos expertly demonstrated the right way to do glitter at Rosie Assoulin's fall presentation: In addition to applying a mixture of copper, lavender and teal MAC metallic glitters below the models' bottom lash line and to the inner corners of their eyes, he added just a hint of peach color to the cheeks (using MAC Studio Quiktirk Stick in All Aflush, out next fall) and lips (using MAC lipstick in Peachstock) in order to keep the look youthful and whimsical. FIVE RULES FOR WEARING GLITTER MAKE-UP AS A GROWN-UP Contrast glitter by keeping the rest of the face matte and neutral, meaning minimal other make-up! For a sophisticated look, apply finely-milled glitter on just the eyelids Chunky glitter used under the eyes or around the inner corners gives off a youthful vibe To keep eye glitter from falling onto your cheeks, press it into a layer of creamy shadow and place a tissue under the area during application To successfully remove glitter make-up, use an oil-based cleanser (which can break down stubborn product) like MAC Cleanse Off Oil Advertisement Face-painting wizard Pat McGrath also paired radiant, clean skin with a smattering of glitter at Tommy Hilfiger. She mixed loose gold glitter with Gold 001, a sold-out pigment from her namesake line, and pressed it onto each model's eyelids. The look tied in perfectly with the collection's nautical-inspired sequin dresses and metallic accents. Sequin dresses and eye sparkles also went down the runway at Burberry Prorsum's fall show during London Fashion Week. In this instance, however, the frocks were paired military-inspired outerwear and the glitter was sprinkled from the outer corners of the eyes to the cheekbones. To get the holographic blue and gold glitter (Burberry Shimmer Dust, launching in August) to stick to skin, make-up artist Wendy Rowe prepped the area with Burberry Fresh Glow Highlighting Luminous Pen. Sparkle tears: Backstage at Burberry, make-up artist Wendy Rowe called the holographic glitter she applied to the outer corners of the eyes and cheekbones 'tears of joy' Beyond the eyes: In addition to the eyelid, make-up artist Bobbi Brown also sprinkled glitter on models' eyelashes at Jenny Packham, calling the look 'disco lashes' Nailing it: Manicurist Rita Remark layered two chunky, glitter nail polishes to achieve a 'broken glass' effect for Wes Gordon's show. Fun fact: The only way to see his show was on Instagram To complement Jenny Packham's glitzy, Paris club scene-inspired collection, make-up artist Bobbi Brown topped models' eyes and lashes with gold, silver and copper glitter shadow. Launching next fall, the shades are part of a new line of 'Sequin' eyeshadows from her eponymous brand. To finish the look, she applied Bobbi Brown Retouching Pencil and Retouching Powder to create matte-looking skin and soft pink cheeks. Glitter also made an appearance on the nails at Wes Gordon's fall show, which premiered last Friday on Instagram - the only place you could watch it. Playing off of the show's downtown romantic theme, manicurist Rita Remark conceptualized a nail look that mimicked broken glass. To achieve it, she layered Essie Set in Stones, a chunky silver glitter, over Essie Hors d'Oeuvres, a chunky platinum gold-silver glitter mix. To ensure that loose glitter pieces stay in place on the nail, Rita recommends sealing the look with a gel topcoat like Essie Gel.Setter. James Kaliardos mixed glitter with grunge at Tadashi Shoji's dark, tattoo-inspired show, applying MAC Copper Sparkle Pigment over a messy layer of MAC Black Paint Stick and MAC Smolder Eyeliner. 'I imagined being in a cave and mining for copper,' the make-up artist said backstage. Going grunge: To complement designer Tadashi Shoji's tattoo-inspired gowns, makeup-artist James Kaliardos imagined a smudgy, smoky eye topped haphazardly with copper glitter pigment Hollywood nights: Likely a nod to David Bowie's alter ego Ziggy Stardust, make-up artist Aaron de Mey created glitter-covered cat eyes at Saint Laurent's glam rock-themed show in Los Angeles Sci-fi: Make-up artist Yadim played with the idea of 'a cyborg with metal peeking through the skin', when conceptualizing his shimmery, futuristic look for Opening Ceremony Another edgy use of sparkle was seen at the Saint Laurent show in Hollywood earlier this month, where designer Hedi Slimane debuted part one of his glam rock-influenced fall womenswear collection. (Part two is scheduled during Paris Fashion Week in March.) In what was likely a nod to the late David Bowie and his iconic Ziggy Stardust character, make-up artist Aaron de Mey surrounded models' eyes with thick flashes of green, red, blue, gold and silver glitter. Most surprising, however, was the glitter-slashed look at Opening Ceremony, dreamt up by make-up artist Yadim. With artist Syd Mead's futuristic work for films like Blade Runner in mind, Yadim and his team brushed glitter down noses, across brow bones and along jaws of the models - the placement was dependent on each girl's bone structure. Gwyneth Paltrow's beloved trainer Tracy Anderson has been robbed of nearly $70,000 by her former bookkeeper. Evelyn Valdez, 36, from New York City, stole $69,998 off of the 40-year-old celebrity fitness guru's lifestyle brand, Tracy Anderson Mind and Body, over the course of five months before she was caught DNAinfo reports. Police arrested Evelyn on February 10, and according to court records she was charged with grand larceny before she was released without bail. Financial loss: Gwyneth Paltrow's trainer and friend Tracy Anderson (right) as been robbed of nearly $70,000 by her former bookkeeper. The two are pictured at Imagine1day's Annual Charity Gala in 2014 Better times: Over the course of five months, Evelyn Valdez (not pictured), 36, from New York City, stole $69,998 off the fitness guru (pictured) Police said that Evelyn started to embezzle money from Tracy's company almost immediately after she started working there on August 10. Five days into her new job, Evelyn made an illegal wire transfer to herself before doing it again on September 15, giving herself a total of $8,000 following the two transactions. The criminal complain states that Evelyn went on to make two wire transfers to her daughter on August 28 and November 12 for amounts totaling $29,000. According to prosecutors, Evelyn also paid herself $33,000 more than she was supposed to receive at her position, and between August up until the end of January, she took the company for almost $70,000. Falling out: Tracy found fame after her fitness method attracted the likes of Madonna, however, the two stopped working together in 2009 A-list clients: The 40-year-old has worked with everyone from Nicole Richie (left) to Molly Sims (right) A representative of the celebrity trainer told Daily Mail Online that Evelyn Valdez is no longer employed at Tracy Anderson but declined further comment. Tracy found fame after her fitness method attracted the likes of Madonna and her dear friend Gwyneth. The mother-of-two who maintains that women should never lift more than three pounds, promises that her workout regimen will give women the streamlined physique that they desire because unlike other programs, hers focuses on accessory muscles rather than major muscle groups. Tracy went on to attract the likes of A-list stars such as Jennifer Lopez, Kim Kardashian, and Nicole Richie. And while Tracy and Madonna parted ways in 2009, Gwyneth, 43, continues to gush about the pint-sized blonde trainer. Tracy and her second husband Matt Mogol parted ways in 2013 after two years together. The couple share a three-year-old daughter named Penelope, while Tracy Earlier this month, Gwyneth told Yahoo Beauty that she does Tracy Anderson Method workouts five days a week and has stuck with the regimen for nearly a decade because it works. 'I honestly owe her a huge debt of gratitude because shes the reason that I feel I can eat so much food and still fit into my clothes,' she said. 'Im such a Tracy loyalist that I really havent tried any of the upcoming recent trends,' she added. 'I think when you find something that works so well for you and your body you just dont want to mess with it.' And now the blonde duo have yet another thing in common. Over the December holiday season, robbers targeted the Gwyneth's newly-opened pop-up shop featuring her Goop lifestyle range and clothing, running off with $173,000 of merchandise after forcing open display case. Tough time: Gwyneth's Goop pop-up shop was targeted by thieves who ran off with $173,000 of merchandise after forcing open display case in December. The 43-year-old is pictured at the opening of the outlet Upscale: Items that were on sale in the store, which closed on Christmas Eve, included $8,900 dresses and $1,075 white sneakers. The most expensive item of clothing is a $10,500 motorcycle jacket The three men who were spotted by staff during the robbery were not arrested and remain at large. This is also not the first time that Tracy's company accounts have come under scrutiny; in 2009 it was reported that the fitness trainer's former business partner Glynn Barber, the man behind the Reformer, the machine used in Tracy's classes, had declared himself bankrupt, claiming at the time that she was largely responsibly for his financial ruin. He insisted that Tracy owed him thousands of dollars for 12 Reformers that he had built for her - but never been paid for. Princess Diana's niece proved she's a style icon in the making as she attended a London Fashion Week presentation. Socialite Lady Kitty Spencer stepped out in a chic dogtooth-print coat for the Charlotte Simone Autumn/Winter 2016 showcase at the Scream Gallery on Friday. The 25-year-old blonde bombshell was joined at the fluff-filled extravaganza by a host of other well-dressed stars including Millie Mackintosh, model Daisy Lowe and Made In Chelsea star Rosie Fortescue. Princess Diana's niece proved she's a style icon in the making as she attended a London Fashion Week presentation on Friday Charlotte Simone are famed for their celebrity-adored fluffy scarves and have now created a fur coat line Glamorous Kitty, who is the eldest daughter of Charles Spencer and Victoria Aitken, turned heads in the bold-print outerwear, which she layered over a plain black jumper and skinny jeans. An understated clutch bag, pearl droplet earrings and pointed heels with gold detailing completed the sophisticated evening look. The IT girl tousled her glossy blonde locks into elegant curls and left them to hang loosely around her shoulders. Kitty, the cousin of Prince William and Prince Harry, also sported her go-to make-up look: a nude smoky eye and clear lip gloss. Lady Kitty Spencer, pictured right, poses with designer Charlotte Beecham, centre, and Rosie Fortescue, left A model showcased a marshmallow pink jacket from Charlotte's new line and a multi-coloured stripe scarf The fur-tastic presentation also included Charlotte's new range of trainers, which she has designed in collaboration with Adidas Guests were spotted snapping the new Autumn/Winter 2016 collection on their mobile phones Charlotte Beecham, the designer behind the celebrity-adored label, is most well known for her colourful fur scarves and furry bobble hats. However, for next season she has expanded her coveted range to include a capsule collection of shearling coats. The striking garments come in a range of combinations and colours, including pink, blue, black, white and grey. A model donned the marshmallow pink version while Professor Green's wife Millie arrived in the light grey offering. 'I'm hoping to see Lily Donaldson in a bomber during fashion week, I have a massive crush on her beautiful face,' Charlotte Beecham told Vogue before unveiling her new line. 'Kendall Jenner has also been a keen supporter of the brand so I've got my fingers crossed to spot her in one.' Two beautiful models stiked a poses in Charlotte Simone's latest fluff-filled creations A model poses in one of Charlotte's new jackets which has black shearling sleeves She added: 'To be honest, I think Londoners have such great style; I'd be very happy, proud and excited to just see stylish girls on the streets in a bomber. 'Whenever I see ladies in CS around town I sort of lurk behind them and try and take photos. Nothing beats that feeling.' The British-based designer founded Charlotte Simone in 2011 after spending a year in Paris studying. Inspired by the effortless style of French women and their ability to build an outfit around a single accessory, Charlotte sought to reinvent the everyday scarf. She uses fur that is ethically sourced and Origin Assured. Additionally, all styles on her website are available in faux fur. Charlote has reimagined the neck warmers in a number of exciting new shades including neon pink and ivory stripes, navy with cerise and white lines and jazzy multi-coloured versions. Charlotte also debuted her new collaboration with sportswear giant, Adidas. Sticking to her tried-and-tested formula, the New York University graduate has added fur across the laces of the brand's iconic white sneakers. Lady Kitty Spencer, pictured left, poses with Alice Naylor-Leyland, right, at the Charlotte Simone presentation The raging JNU sedition row assumed a new dimension on Friday with the Supreme Court agreeing to hear a plea seeking initiation of contempt proceedings against arrested JNUSU President Kanhaiya Kumar, absconding student activist Umar Khalid, ex-DU professor SAR Geelani and four others. This was in connection with alleged distribution of pamphlets during events at the JNU campus and Delhi Press Club which termed Parliament attack case convict Afzal Gurus hanging as judicial killing. The death sentence awarded to Guru by sessions court was confirmed by Delhi High Court and Supreme Court. Lawyers, mostly from the Patiala House Courts, shout slogans and wave the Tricolour during a protest march in New Delhi By calling the act as judicial killing, judges of the apex court have been projected as killers despite the free and fair trial of the convict and it clearly tantamount to criminal contempt. The Supreme Court needs to take stringent action against the offenders. The parties named in the petition have crossed every limit of the fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression, Petitioner Vineet Dhanda, a Supreme Court lawyer said in the petition. A bench headed by Chief Justice TS Thakur agreed to list the plea for hearing next week after it was mentioned by senior lawyer JP Dhanda. The other four who have been made parties in the petition include Lenin Kumar, member of the Democra tic Student Federation, research scholar Anirban Bhattacharya, JNUSU vice-president Shehla Rashid Shora, and Ali Javed, a member of the Press Club of India. Supreme Court of India has passed a detailed judgment after giving due consideration as per law and after going through the evidence. Afzal Guru was hanged to death after he had exhausted all legal remedies, the petition said. Meanwhile, Kanhaiya failed to get relief from SC after it refused to hear his bail plea and asked his battery of top lawyers to approach Delhi HC. They have moved HC and the plea is likely to be come up for hearing on Monday. This means that Kanhaiya will have spent at least three more nights in Tihar jail. Hundreds of lawyers marched to India Gate demanding action against those indulging in antinational activities. The protesting lawyers were surrounded by police personnel Citing the reason for rejection, the apex court said if it directly entertains a bail plea, it would set a dangerous precedent. Why have you come here directly? If we entertain it will be laying a dangerous proposition opening floodgates for all accused in similar situation to come to us directly. This will be witnessed especially in sensational cases. Why this short cut? If you are objected there, then come here, Justice J Chelameswar said. Senior lawyers Soli Sorabjee and Raju Ramachandran, appearing for Kanhaiya, replied that they came directly because SC has been hearing petition relating to denial of justice in the case. To this, the judge retorted: What is under scrutiny is something different law and order situation in Patiala house, violence etc. for bail you definitely approach the Delhi High Court. Sorabjee then asked the bench to only decide if there was a genuine apprehension of denial of justice or not to the bail applicant after the violent incidents witnessed on two days at Patiala House Court. Ramachandran said the High Court was also very close to Patiala House and was in the same hexagon. Lawyers and other elements from there could come there also. The judge then said in a lighter vein: Sorry. If distance is the only criterion then we are equi-distant from Patiala house. Ramachandran got support from senior counsel Rajeev Dhawan who was also in the court-appointed panel that was rushed to Patiala House on February 17 during fresh violence. Kanhaiya Kumar, who is currently lodged in Tihar Jail, failed to get relief from Supreme Court after it refused to hear his bail plea and asked his battery of top lawyers to approach Delhi High Court He said: People who have access to Patiala House have access to High Court also. Supreme Court is very secure as smart cards are required for a lawyer to enter. Supporting SCs plan to move the bail plea to HC, Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar who appeared for the Delhi Police pointed out that there are several cases where movie stars, politicians and hardcore terrorists are produced in courts and similar situations exist. But the courts function smoothly. A message definitely should not go out that the High Court was not a safe place and not capable of holding hearings in such cases, he argued, after which the SC transferred the plea to HC. 'Lawyers' hold protest march at India Gate By Mail Today Reporter Hundreds of lawyers, including those who had led attacks on journalists and JNU students and teachers on two occasions, on Friday marched to India Gate demanding action against those indulging in antinational activities. The lawyers, mostly from Patiala House and several other district courts, marched aggressively, in the heart of the Capital shouting slogans like Bharat Mata ki Jai and waving the Tricolour, amidst tight security. Lawyer Vikram Singh Chauhan, who was the face of the attacks at the Patiala House Court complex on Monday and Wednesday, along with many other lawyers, who were caught on camera carrying out the brazen assaults, appeared unfazed as they said they will not think twice before acting against the anti-social elements. The lawyers, mostly from Patiala House and several other district courts, marched aggressively, in the heart of the Capital shouting slogans like Bharat Mata ki Jai I was very much part of the protests and why should I not be, he said. Asked why he did not appear before police as summons were served on him in connection with the case, Chauhan said, I will act as per instructions given by my seniors. Three days back, police had issued summons to three lawyers asking them to make themselves available before the investigators of the case. We will keep attacking the anti-nationals no matter what. We will not tolerate any insult to our Motherland. Let police issue summons against us, said one of Chauhans colleagues. Another lawyer claimed those who attacked mediapersons were outsiders and do not belong to the legal fraternity. They were not lawyers. Lawyers do not cross limits set by the rule books. Outsiders may have been there. Media is defaming the community, he said. Lawyers had attacked mediapersons and JNU students and teachers on Monday and Wednesday when Kanhaiya Kumar was to be produced. City court denies bail to Geelani By Sneha Agrawal Charged with sedition, former Delhi University professor SAR Geelani was denied bail by a city court on Friday. The court observed that the evidence collected by Delhi Police indicated his complicity in the case. The court said slogans raised by the accused and 20-25 youth in the event at Press Club could have incited violence and created public disorder. The matter that was being heard by Metropolitan Magistrate Harvinder Singh at Patiala House Courts. The court took note of the statements of two Press Club officials who stated that Geelani, along with other youths, was chanting slogans on freedom for Kashmir and calling Maqbool Bhat and Afzal Guru martyrs. The counsel for Geelani, Satish Tamta, countered the allegations saying there was no reasonable ground for believing that Geelani is guilty of sedition. He said the matter was registered by the SHO based on the news reports of TV channels without verifying the facts. The accused has deep roots in the society and there are no chances of fleeing. He has been falsely implicated in the case and bears good moral character. No useful purpose would be served if he is kept in judicial custody, Tamta argued. However, the public prosecutor opposed the bail plea saying the investigations are at initial stage and others are yet to be arrested. The evidences can be destroyed by the accused, he added. The counsel for the police also alleged that there has been incitement and hatred generated against the Government of India. The purpose of the event was to create disloyalty among the people of India. Is the Make in India phone a Made in China replica? Chinese smartphone sellers say the design of the Freedom251, released in Delhi on Thursday, looks exactly like a China-made fake iPhone that was popular in the country five years ago. Billed as the worlds cheapest smartphone, the Freedom251 has already made global headlines. Chinese smartphone sellers say the design of the Freedom251, released in Delhi on Thursday, looks exactly like a China-made fake iPhone that was popular in the country five years ago But in China, the home of the cheap phone, the announcement has been met with some amount of disbelief. In Zhongguancun, Beijings sprawling electronics market that is one of the worlds biggest, sellers told Mail Today they were surprised by a phone that costs 25 Yuan in Chinese currency. The cheapest phone in China is at least thrice that amount. There is, however, a surprising familiarity with the Freedom 251. Ten different phone sellers that Mail Today spoke to say the phone bears a striking resemblance to a China-made fake iPhone 4, known here as a Shanzhai phone. With an on-going crackdown on fakes, the phone is no longer available in Beijing. One seller said, It is also outdated, now people want Shanzhai iPhone 6, not 4.This phone is now hard to find as no one wants it anymore. The Freedom251 device, presented by Ringing Bells President Ashok Chadha, was said to be a beta or trial device. The phone handed to journalists appeared to be a near replica of the Adcom Ikon 4 some even bore the logo of Adcom that had been whitened out, according to reports. Adcom founder and chairman told PTI that Ringing Bells had procured a few devices from the company. Some devices were taken from us. I cannot comment any further on this, he said. A Ringing Bells executive claimed the devices on the launch day were sample models and smartphones that will be sold in the market will not have the branding. Adcom admits that its phones have been contract manufactured in China and Taiwan. But Chinese sellers say the Adcom Ikon 4 is itself a near replica of the Shanzhai iPhone -- also an Android. Its obvious copies of Apples iOS icons are even written in Chinese characters in some of Adcoms advertisements for the Ikon 4 on websites such as FlipKart and Snapdeal; for instance, the icon for weather is exactly the same as Apples, uses the Chinese word for 'weather'. While fakes are now hard to find in Beijing, Chinese sellers say they can still be made to order in Shenzhen, south China, in bulk for around Rs 1,000 per piece. Ringing Bells maintains the device released was only a beta or a trial device. Yet, its striking resemblance to a phone that is itself a near replica of a Chinese iPhone fake raises questions whether the 'beta' device was indeed manufactured by the company in India, and if not, why the company chose to have a high-profile release if its phones had not yet been manufactured. The ongoing Jat agitation for reservation assumed enormous shape forcing the Centre to press the Army into action. A curfew was imposed in Rohtak and Bhiwani city on Friday late evening and shoot-at-sight orders were issued. Gurgaon administration has directed closure of all schools till further orders. A section of the agitating mob looted arms and ammunition from a gun house located in Rohtak At least eight districts of Haryana were severely affected by the stir that virtually disconnected the national Capital from other parts of North India. The worst affected district was Rohtak where agitators set Haryana finance minister Captain Abhimanyus house on fire. To control the mob, the CRPF and Haryana Police opened fired at mob in which three persons were reportedly killed and over a dozen sustained injuries. The main impact of the agitation could be seen in districts like Rohtak, Jhajjar, Bhiwani, Hissar, Fatehabad, Karnal, Jind, Yamuna Nagar, Sirsa and Gurgaon where road transport has come to a halt. All roads connecting to the national Capital were blocked by the protesters thus disrupting vehicular movement between these cities. Reports also confirmed that a section of the agitating mob looted arms and ammunition from a gun house located in Rohtak main city. The agitators, who have rejected governments offer of enhancing quota for economically backward classes, blocked several roads in Panipat affecting traffic movement to Delhi and Uttar Pradesh. Haryana Roadways suspended its bus services on many affected routes in view of the agitation. Meanwhile, Jat leaders showed no signs of relenting and claimed that they will seek support from their community leaders from Uttar Pradesh. Trains hit Train operations were also severely hit. Disruptions caused a loss of Rs 200 crore to the railways as the schedules of more than 600 passenger and freight trains were hit, a railway ministry official said. According to railways, the running of 124 passenger trains and about 500 freight trains has been affected since the launch of the Jat agitation on February 15. The agitation disrupted over 600 passenger and freight trains The agitation has affected train services in the Northern and North Western parts of the country, the official said. Many important trains, including the Jammu Rajdhani and Vaishnodevi - Katra train and Shatabdi trains to Chandigarh, Kalka and Amristsar were cancelled, the official said. Meanwhile, Haryana DGP Yashpal Singhal confirmed that one person was killed in police firing. The situation in eight districts such as Rohtak, Hisar, Jind, Bhiwani, Kaithal, Jhajjar, Sinepat and Karnal are extremely tense and hence we asked the Centre to send the Army. Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar has briefed Home Minister Rajnath Singh about current situation here. He has requested for deployment of army, Singhal said. Army units are being rushed to Rohtak from nearby Cantonment at Hissar, about 50 kms away, he said adding these will be deployed immediately in Rohtak and Bhiwani areas. He said Army units are also being rushed from Jaipur for deployment in other worst-affected areas of the state. (With Inputs from Manjeet Sehgal) Government indifferent towards Jats The Opposition slammed the government of Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar for handling the reservation stir casually Haryana is burning once again. The Jats whose agitation had paralysed life last year are back on the streets. The community is demanding 10 per cent reservation under Other Backward Classes (OBC) category which was scrapped by the Punjab and Haryana High Court in July 2015 after the apex court had scrapped the Union government's decision to include Jats in OBC. Interestingly, the state government which just filed a review petition in the apex court did not do anything concrete to settle the dispute. The Opposition slammed the Khattar government for handling the reservation stir casually. Former chief minister and senior Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda blamed the indifferent attitude of the state government and said, The BJP leaders lack consensus on the issue. While one BJP MP is openly targetting Jats, others are in favour. The party leaders are giving contradictory statements which is adding fuel to the agitation. However, CM Manohar Lal Khattar affirmed that his government was in favour of reservation to jats. "The state government would prepare a draft Bill for reservation and suggestions have also been sought from all parties in this regard. Delhi has seen upsurges of the young and idealistic before in the anti-corruption movement and in the anti-rape movement. Those skeptical of seeing hope of a political awakening of the young in those protests, have asked if the young were merely dancing to tunes played by a supportive media? Well, the sea of young people on the streets of Delhi on February 18 should reassure us and renew our hope and confidence in the political good sense of the young. Students from various organisation display placards as they march in solidarity with JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar in New Delhi Defying a vicious high-decibel campaign against anti-national slogans in JNU led by the Modi government and amplified aggressively by much of the media, an estimated 15,000 students from Delhis many universities marched to express solidarity with JNU. The fear of being branded anti-national which is the governments trump card for a chilling effect on free speech and activism, simply failed to work. The students demanded the unconditional release of the JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar and withdrawal of all charges against the other five students What was most reassuring was their sense of indignation at the Islamophobic incitement of hatred against Umar Khalid, one of the organisers of the February 9 event at JNU. By now, it is clear that many of the videos being shown as proof of anti-national activities in JNU are doctored. The slogan of Pakistan Zindabad was probably never raised at all. Another video showing Kanhaiya shouting slogans for Kashmirs azaadi has now turned out to be fake his slogans sought freedom from casteism and communalism. One news channel ran a story of an IB report proving Jaish links of Umar Khalid intelligence and Home Ministry officials have denied it as a figment of someones imagination. It is such figments of the fevered Sangh imagination that have led to eight students being debarred from academic activities, and hunted by the police. Why are they absconding? bay some anchors. The mob attacks in Patiala Court, blessed by the Police Commissioner and his boss, the Home Minister, threats by the MLA to shoot dead these students, the posters inciting violence against them on the citys walls are signs that the media-fuelled hate campaign has endangered the lives of these students. In such circumstances, if JNUSU vice-president Shehla Rashid leads the movement from the front, it is a remarkable act of courage and commitment. Organising an event to protest Afzal Gurus execution can hardly be a crime, else one would have to arrest many legal luminaries and political leaders. As for the slogan of Kashmirs azaadi, it is undoubtedly one of the most universal slogans in the Kashmir Valley. Before arresting students for raising these slogans on campuses, perhaps the BJP should ask its erstwhile and wouldbe J&K ally, the PDP, whether it will condemn the pro-Afzal and Kashmir freedom slogans? How can the same slogans and sentiments be selectively seditious depending on whether they are raised by the PDP or by students in JNU? The slogans raised by former JNUSU president and AISA leader Ashutosh Kumar try to persuade Delhis students to engage and empathise with Kashmirs urge for freedom by linking it with slogans for freedom of women and of every citizen. The slogans raised by Kanhaiya in the February 11 video, from a different political vantage point, attempt something similar. The slogans for Bharat ki barbadi and Bharat ke tukde honge hazaar raised by a few should be condemned not because they are anti-national (a term of meaningless abuse) but because they choke off any room for empathy and meaningful political engagement, thereby defeating the very purpose of the event organised by Umar and his friends, which was to persuade Delhi students to feel the pain and hear the voices of people from The Country Without A Post Office. Slogans and political events are not sedition. JNU students held placards in the march saying We Argue, We Listen, We Debate We Are JNU. India should tell all its dissenting and contentious voices, its oppressed castes, its workers, peasants, students, minorities, and all the people from Kashmir or Manipur or Nagaland, to our neighbours, We Argue, We Listen, We Debate. That willingness of Indians to listen, engage and empathise, to say Not In Our Name to media trials and capital punishment for Afzal or Yakub, to fake encounters, to Army and police rapes, political massacres and pogroms, would bring us closer to political solutions for long-festering questions. Rohith Vemula of HCU, or Kanhaiya, Rama, Ashutosh, Anirban or Umar of JNU, are not anti-national for seeking to do so. The writer is Politburo member of the CPI(ML) Liberation 'No', says Shiv Shakti Bakshi Call for India's destruction not an isolated case on the campus In 2004 a resolution was introduced in a JNU Students Union (JNUSU) council meeting, seeking to condemn China for showing Arunachal Pradesh as part of its territory. The resolution was defeated with all the SFI, AISF and AISA council members voting against the resolution. Similarly, a resolution declaring Jammu & Kashmir an integral part of India was introduced and defeated in the first council meeting after the JNUSU election in 2015. JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar presided over the meeting wherein SFI, AISF and AISA councillors came together to defeat the resolution. In this backdrop, the claim that JNUSU has always stood for Indias unity and integrity appears ludicrous. After all, as the two cases mentioned above show, calls for Kashmirs azaadi and Indias barbaadi are not isolated incidents but an inherent part of the ideological discourse prevalent on the campus. In JNU, although the communists (SFI, AISF, AISA, DSU, etc) are a divided lot, they invariably and strategically join hands to ensure their collective hold over the students union. So, each communist outfit is incessantly seen to be fighting on two fronts with the ABVP, and also with other Left outfits. There is a relentless tussle among the Left outfits to prove who the real Left is. It is this competitive radicalism that leads one outfit to demand the removal of AFPSA in Jammu & Kashmir, followed by the other demanding right to self-determination for Kashmiris, and the third calling for the azaadi of Kashmir. The JNU incident has showcased another disturbing trend: Of radical Left joining hands with jihadi elements. It has become a dangerous mix of extreme ideologies reinforcing each others ideological positions. The end result is manifested in the celebration of killings of security forces personnel in Dantewada, Chhattisgarh, and in making heroes out of terrorists like Afzal Guru and Maqbool Bhat. Such atmosphere of competitive radicalism has make campuses like JNU a hub for anti-nationals. Those who are claiming that the JNUSU president was not involved should know that its not possible for the outsiders to enter the campus without the patronage and protection of the insiders. While the socalled cultural evening had open support of the Kanhaiya Kumar-led JNUSU, he never filed any complaint before the JNU authorities or police against the presence of masked men at the campus or against anti-India and pro-Pakistan sloganeering during the programme. Worse, he was seen supporting and encouraging such subversive elements. The incident in JNU should not be seen in isolation. It is not that a handful of students came out and raised some slogans; such incidents are part of a larger design to weaken the country and mislead its youth. Anti-India forces are trying to create such situations in different campuses across the country, as is evident from whats happening in Jadavpur University. So by conducting proper investigation this conspiracy needs to be fully exposed before the nation. Its unacceptable for the people that anti-India, pro-Pakistan slogans are raised in connivance with some JNUSU office-bearers and the masked people shouting slogans are not only provided protection but also encouraged and patronised by them. Enough is enough; such incidents should be condemned in no uncertain terms. More than half a century ago it was billed as the next big thing in cinema technology, but never took off and was later named one of the worst ideas ever. But the idea of Smell-O-Vision has been making a comeback at film festivals, 55 years after the invention was first presented to audiences for the 1960 film Scent of Mystery. The technology by Swiss inventor Hans Laube released perfumed scent bottles such as tobacco on cue as the movie screened - but huge costs and poor reception led to its immediate failure. Creation: US film producer Mike Todd Jr (left) sits in 1959 with Swiss inventor Hans Laube (right), who points to his Smell-O-Vision machine, which made smells in synchronisation with action in the film Scent of Mystery Trying it out: Cinemagoers at the Widescreen Weekend 2015 in October in Bradford sample a new version of Smell-O-Vision for a special showing of the film Scent Of Mystery, which was also known as Holiday in Spain But there is still interest in the technology, with a Smell-O-Vision-style screening held in Bradford in October and a film with scratch 'n' sniff cards shown across Britain for the 2014 Scalarama festival. And new technology now being developed includes a Japanese smelling screen with four small fans - and a virtual reality mask called Feelreal which immerses viewers in sight, sound and smell. Cinematic expert Toni Booth said Smell-O-Vision was one of various gimmicks developed around a period starting in the mid-1950s primarily because cinema was under threat from television. The associate curator at the National Media Museum in Bradford told MailOnline: It fits in very much with that history of the response to television. There is a bit of a history before that period. Original poster: The idea of Smell-O-Vision has been making a comeback at film festivals, 55 years after the invention was first presented to audiences for the 1960 film Scent of Mystery (pictured) A bit of fun: In 1981 a US comedy called Polyester produced by John Walters featured scratch and sniff cards to help viewers follow the film Its very scant and not something that the film production companies themselves did, but there are some examples of film managers of thinking wouldnt it be fun if we could waft in smells. HOW SMELL-O-VISION WORKED Smell-O-Vision was first released to the public in the Spain-based film Scent of Mystery, which was advertised with the tagline: 'First (1895) they moved, then they talked (1927), now they smell (1959). On screen: Scent of Mystery (aka Holiday in Spain) It features a photographer on holiday who discovers a murder plot and tries to save the target, who is a mystery woman. She is identifiable until the end only through her distinctive perfume, while her nemesis smells of tobacco from his pipe. To help the audience follow the story, Swiss inventor Hans Laube created a machine which pumped 30 artificial scents including bread, shoe polish and wine through pipes to individual seats. The process was also used for humour, with one gag seeing the audience smell brandy while a taxi driver sips a coffee -indicating that he is drinking on the job. Scent bottles were held on a rotating drum and the odours were released by a signal on the film via its 'Smell Brain' - which gave electromagnetic cues. When the film told the drum to release a scent, the next one was cued up - and this avoided human error by projectionists. But the movie flopped due to a wobbly plot and because some aromas were delayed while others were too noisy. Some people also reported feeling nauseous. Advertisement While cinemas faced having to refit buildings for the technology, developers also had to control the smell. Ms Booth added: Once its out in the auditorium, how long does it stay around for? Because it takes so long for the smell to go through, it might not reach everybody until something else comes on screen. Then you might get a mixture of smells. So it becomes tricky to control that. She said that cinema managers declined to pay the high costs required to make big changes to their buildings because the invention never gained momentum or became a money maker. It was also badly received by audiences at three special cinemas in New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago, who complained of a delay between actions on screens and their smells. Ms Booth added that another earlier form of Smell-O-Vision called 'Scentovision' was trialled in 1939 at the Worlds Fair in New York, and involved the smells coming from below peoples seats - but this also failed to take off. Another gimmick released at the time of Smell-O-Vision was the Percepto used in 1959 horror film The Tingler by US director William Castle, which saw a device vibrate under seats at points of the film for added value. Decades later in 1981 an American comedy called Polyester was produced by John Walters, featuring scratch and sniff cards to help viewers follow the film, but this was only ever intended as a bit of fun, Ms Booth said. However, it has since built up a cult following at film festivals. More recently in 2013, scientists in Tokyo, Japan, revealed they had invented a 'smelling screen' making smells waft from the spot on a display that their corresponding objects appear. It works by feeding odours from gel pellets into four air streams in each corner of the screen which are blown across the displays surface. Other recent inventions include the oPhone Duo, which came to light in 2014 after scientists sent the smell of champagne and macarons from Paris to New York via an iPhone app. The oPhone Duos system features an app allowing users to make an 'oNote' with a smell created out of a palette of 32 scents that can be combined in 300,000 possible combinations. Gel pellets: In 2013 scientists in Tokyo, Japan, invented a 'smelling screen' that makes smells waft from the spot on a display that their corresponding objects appear The saved oNote can then be sent to the oPhone hardware - which is able to recreate the smell. Movement: Scientists sent the smell of champagne and macarons from Paris to New York in 2014 using the oPhone Duo (above). Users can make an 'oNote' with a smell created out of 32 scents that can be combined in 300,000 possible combinations Another invention from the past few years is the Scentee device, which can release a favourite aroma at the same time as a phone clock alarm or when an individual receives a text message. In other new technology, the 200 Feelreal virtual reality mask revealed in California in spring 2015 promises users 'the most immersive, unbelievable and fascinating virtual experience youve ever known'. An odour generator built into the headset has seven removable smell cartridges that can be changed depending on the film users are watching or video game they are playing. However, despite all the new inventions, Ms Booth doubts any type of Smell-O-Vision will ever return in any major form, even though there appears to still be plenty of interest among cinemagoers for the experience. One deserted Winston Churchill's mother for his new actress girlfriend. Another committed 'frequent adultery' with novelist DH Lawrence. A third a prince no less ran off with another woman just a few months after tying the knot while already secretly married to someone else. They could be outrageous plot lines from a TV period drama. But they are actually the real-life divorces of royals, Army officers and respected academics. The cases are among 75,000 divorce proceedings between 1858 when the Matrimonial Causes Act first came into effect and 1914 which have been published online for the very first time on Ancestry, allowing the public to see if any of their ancestors were involved in a scandalous break-up. Digitised from original records held at The National Archives in Kew, each case includes names of the married couple, any other 'involved parties' and the subsequent grounds for divorce including adultery, desertion or even the contraction of a 'venereal disease'. They give a fascinating insight into the married lives of Establishment figures and the common man alike, the drama of the family courts and how divorce has changed over the years. Here, MailOnline looks at some of the most high-profile and bitter break-ups... Lady Churchill (left), the mother of Prime Minister Winston Churchill, accused her second husband George Cornwallis-West (right), a captain in the Scots Guards, of 'repeated adultery coupled with desertion' after he ran off with his new actress girlfriend whom he reportedly married within an hour of his divorce being finalised Lady Churchill, the mother of Winston Churchill (pictured) is said to have changed her name back to Lady Randolph Churchill by deed poll after filing her case for divorce in 1913, according to newspaper reports MATRIMONIAL ACT MADE IT HARDER FOR WOMEN TO GET A DIVORCE When the Matrimonial Causes Act first came into effect in 1858, men were allowed to file for divorce on the grounds of adultery alone, but women had to prove additional faults such as cruelty or desertion. An amendment in 1923 did make the process easier for women, yet adultery still had to be proved. At this time, the cost of divorce was very high meaning that it was a process largely reserved for the wealthy. By the time of the Divorce Reform Act of 1969, divorce was slowly becoming more socially and culturally acceptable. This particular piece of legislation allowed people to divorce on the basis of separation if their marriage had irretrievably broken down as opposed to having to prove matrimonial offences such as adultery. Advertisement Winston Churchill's mother Jennie Cornwallis-West (formerly Lady Randolph Churchill) Winston Churchill's mother, Lady Randolph Churchill, was married three times. These records show her divorce from her second husband George Cornwallis-West, a captain in the Scots Guards. She accused her husband of 'repeated adultery coupled with desertion' claims that he accepted in court. After the case was filed in 1913, newspapers reported she had changed her name back to Lady Randolph Churchill by deed poll. Meanwhile, her ex-husband married his new actress girlfriend Stella Campbell supposedly within an hour of their divorce being finalised in April 1914. Princess Jeanne Marie Louise Delaporte de Bourbon and Prince Charles Albert Edgar Serge Cesar de Bourbon According to newspaper reports, this royal couple met in January 1910 at the house of a mutual friend in Milan before marrying secretly in London a couple of months later. Unfortunately, their matrimonial bliss was short-lived because in that September the prince reportedly deserted his wife in Paris and was seen in public two days later with another woman. Their divorce records show the princess petitioned for an annulment in 1912 on the grounds that the marriage was not legal in the first place because her husband was reportedly still married to someone else. The prince was travelling the continent at the time, so the divorce papers were served via his solicitor. German translator Frieda Weekley (left) ran off to 'frequently commit adultery' with DH Lawrence (right) after they met in 1912. The attraction was instant with the writer declaring: 'She is ripping, the finest woman I know' Frieda Weekley married British philologist and professor Ernest (pictured) at a young age and moved to Nottingham to live with him Frieda Weekley and Ernest Weekley Frieda was a German literary translator who married British philologist and professor Ernest Weekley at a young age and moved to Nottingham to live with him. In 1912, Frieda crossed paths with famed poet and author DH Lawrence (a former pupil of her husband's). The attraction was instant with the writer declaring in a letter to a friend: 'She is ripping, the finest woman I know.' The feeling was mutual and Frieda fled to Europe leaving behind three young children, to as the divorce records state 'frequently commit adultery with D.H. Lawrence'. Marcellus Raymond Morand and Helena Woodley Morand Marcellus Raymond Morand was a relatively famous actor and comedian in his day. He brought a petition for divorce against his wife Helena Morand and accused her of 'habitual adultery' in court. In particular, he cited one instance where she spent several nights in a Parisian hotel with her lover Captain Morrison. Both respondent and co-respondent denied adultery but lost the case and a decree nisi was granted. The damages were fixed at 5,500 (equivalent to over 500,000 today), this being the amount agreed to between the parties. Searchable by name, gender, spouse and petition year, the collection covers a 56-year period and dates from 1858, when the Matrimonial Causes Act took effect. When the act first came into effect, men were allowed to file for divorce on the grounds of adultery alone, whereas women had to prove additional faults such as cruelty or desertion. Court documents detailing the divorce of Marcellus Raymond Morand and his wife Helena Morand A letter submitted to the court accusing of Helena Morand 'habitual adultery' with her lover Captain Morrison The amendment to the Matrimonial Causes Act in 1923 did make the process easier for women, yet adultery still had to be proved. At this time, the cost of divorce was very high meaning that it was a process largely reserved for the wealthy. By the time of the Divorce Reform Act of 1969, divorce was slowly becoming more socially and culturally acceptable. This particular piece of legislation allowed people to divorce on the basis of separation if their marriage had irretrievably broken down as opposed to having to prove matrimonial offences such as adultery. Miriam Silverman, Senior UK Content Manager from Ancestry comments: 'The update to this eye-opening collection brings to light the scandalous specifics of even more high-profile divorce cases from 100 years ago with adultery and desertion both cited as common reasons for divorce. 'With the addition of these 8,000 records covering the key pre-WWI period, now is the perfect time to get online and uncover if your ancestors were implicated in any of the cases, or simply immerse yourself in the high drama of the Victorian divorce courts.' A bride has been left distraught after her 1,900 designer wedding dress was accidentally sent to Amazons returns warehouse because a courier put the wrong label on it. Ann Clifford cried when she discovered her Maggie Sottero dress was sent 330 miles to the depot in Fife, Scotland instead of to a specialist cleaning shop in Southampton. The 33-year-old, who said the mistake spoiled the memories of her big day, had thought the dress was safely on its way - until she checked her paperwork and realised the DPD courier had put the wrong sticker on it. Mrs Clifford, an IT consultant from Arnold, Nottingham, is now desperately battling to try and get the dress back after Amazon admitted it does not know where the item is and revealed some unmarked parcels sent to the depot are destroyed. Ann Clifford, pictured with her husband Ian on their wedding day, was left in tears after her Maggie Sottero designer dress was mistakenly sent 300 miles to the Amazon depot in Fife, Scotland instead of to a specialist cleaning shop in Southampton. The dress is now lost Speaking exclusively to MailOnline, she said the mistake has left her unable to enjoy looking through her wedding photographs and has 'spoiled' the otherwise perfect day. She said: I'm distraught and have been in tears about this. I only got married on New Years Eve so I haven't had the dress very long and I wanted to have it cleaned so I could enjoy it. Now it's gone. It's quite upsetting to look back on the photographs [from the wedding], the whole situation has tarnished them. 'I've got a bad feeling I'm never going to see it again - my husband only saw it once.' Mrs Clifford married her 29-year-old partner of three years, Ian, who is also an IT consultant, at Norwood Park, Southwell, on New Year's Eve. She tried on a number of dresses before the big day but said when she put on the Maggie Sottero dress last March she knew it was the one. The 33-year-old, pictured with her bridesmaids, had thought the dress was safely on its way - until she checked her paperwork and realised the DPD courier had put the wrong sticker on it A photograph taken by the DPD courier after collection clearly shows the parcel did have the correct address on (left). The parcel went missing after the sticker pictured right was also placed on the box - wrongly sending it to Amazon She added: 'When I tried this one on my maid of honour said my face completely changed, I knew it was the one. 'It was beautiful, a fishtail dress with a really long train. I knew straight away and didn't want to try any others on. Once you know you know.' Mrs Clifford, who honeymooned in Thailand, Cambodia and Kuala Lumpur, was inspired to get the dress cleaned after the winter wedding left it dirty and said she wanted it in pristine condition so she could show her future children. She carefully researched companies and discovered Atlantic Bridal Services in Southampton. Atlantic organised for courier service DPD to have the dress picked up and a delivery driver collected it while Mrs Clifford was out. It was not until she returned home that she realised the driver had ignored her sticker, which had Atlantic's address on, and instead put on another that sent the parcel to Fife, Scotland. Mrs Clifford, an IT consultant from Arnold, Nottingham, is now facing a battle to try and get the dress back after Amazon admitted it does not know where the item is. She is pictured with Mr Clifford at their wedding Mrs Clifford is now hoping one of the companies will be able to find her dress (pictured) - but has been told by a DPD customer services representative on Twitter that '[DPD has] literally no power in this' Mrs Clifford is now hoping one of the companies will be able to find her dress - but has been told by a DPD customer services representative on Twitter that '[DPD has] literally no power in this'. She said: The dress has essentially gone completely and utterly missing. I cannot believe it has happened. What do you do in these circumstances? I'm distraught and have been in tears Ann Clifford I said to DPD it is your major mess up and they said Amazon had to look into it. Instead it has been me who has had to be the intermediary, sending emails to both of them rather than them taking ownership. It couldn't have gone anywhere worse. If it has got a label on for Southampton, what they hell are they doing?' In a private Twitter message to Mrs Clifford, the DPD representative added: 'The most we can do is ask for the parcel back.' But Amazon told Mrs Clifford in an email: 'We ask that you please contact the appropriate DPD representatives to see what information they would have on their system.' They added that some unmarked parcels, or ones without a return address on, were destroyed due to 'security reasons'. Nothing matching Mrs Clifford's package had been destroyed, they said. Mrs Clifford married her 29-year-old partner of three years, who is also an IT consultant, at Norwood Park, Southwell, on New Year's Eve. The couple are pictured watching a professional fireworks display at their wedding Mrs Clifford, pictured walking down the aisle, said she has been left in tears over the situation, which spoiled her otherwise 'dream' wedding Mrs Clifford added: 'I'm not annoyed with Atlantic but perhaps they could choose a different service. 'I was very careful researching a company and everything seemed to be really good. 'I just didn't imagine that it would go so long. It has left me distraught and has been really distressing. I just want to enjoy married life.' Peter Nugent, director of Atlantic, said the company remained optimistic the dress would be found. He added: 'First of all we are devastated that Mrs Clifford's dress has unfortunately been misdelivered by the courier company 'Over the last 10 days we have been doing our utmost to press both DPD and Amazon for any positive information. 'We are in regular contact with all parties and will continue to be so.' Gerard Depardieu called out the 'fabulous comfort of cinema' when speaking to the press Gerard Depardieu lambasted Hollywood films like The Revenant for playing it too safe and chided George Clooney for getting involved in politics as he appeared at the Berlin film festival on Friday to promote his new movie. The 67-year-old veteran French actor, who was speaking at a post-screening press conference for his film Saint Amour took a potshot at The Revenant, starring Leonardo DiCaprio as a frontiersman who survives a bear mauling and makes a superhuman trek in the snowy wilderness. The film is considered a strong entry in the Academy Awards and the vehicle that may win DiCaprio his first Oscar for best actor. 'That's a bit different from what you get in general in cinema at the moment,' Depardieu said, referring to the gritty setting for the film and reports that the actors had to work in very trying conditions. 'Because if I take the Oscars, The Revenant, with the production crew behind and the heating (on set) and all that "go and cover yourself in s***" - but I'm sure the "s***" is perfumed - and you're in this mud, which is perfumed and isn't cold, it's heated,' Depardieu said. 'That's the fabulous comfort of cinema,' he added. 'I like things that are not comfortable, even if I scream all the time. I'm shouting all the time over a film. I start by saying "no, nein". And then I make it. That's how it is, that's life.' Depardieu, noted that Clooney had met German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin last week to discuss the refugee crisis. 'I saw that Mr George Clooney wanted to see Mrs Merkel. I worry that it went badly,' he said, adding: 'It's good that now you can be an actor and a ecologist and a politician, you can do everything.' Depardieu said that the mud and s*** in used in The Revenenant was probably heated and smelled like perfume The 67-year-old veteran French actor also criticized George Clooney for meeting with Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin after discussing The Revenant, starring Leonardo DiCaprio as a frontiersman who survives a bear mauling and makes a superhuman trek in the snowy wilderness Asked about his having accepted Russian citizenship granted him by President Vladimir Putin in 2013 at a time when Depardieu was chafing at the prospect of higher French taxes, the actor said these days when he travels he feels that he is Russian. 'I feel very Russian even abroad because I am outside of France, a lot,' he said. 'How would one not feel more Russian than French with the president that we have in France?,' Depardieu said, referring to President Francois Hollande. Since he got his Russian passport, Depardieu has defended Russia's international policies in interviews with French and other media. 'It's true that I have a lot of admiration for Putin and what he does and for the Russian population. Some French intellectuals don't like that sometimes - including my friends and I am not reproaching them, I don't want anything to do with that because me, I know what I live.' Benoit Delepine, who directs the film in which Depardieu's character Jean takes his son Bruno, played by Benoit Poelvoorde, on a tour of the French wine country, said the parts had been written with the two actors in mind, having seen them work together in the 2010 film Mammuth. A short police pursuit in western Sydney has left three women dead and two people seriously injured. Police say officers began pursuing a car in Marayong without its headlights on at about 1.10 on Saturday morning after a car failed to stop for random breath testing along Railway Road. The driver allegedly failed to stop and a pursuit was initiated. A short time later the vehicle left the roadway, near Shedworth Street. Scroll down for video Roza Mawen (centre), a mother of four, was one of three woman killed in the deadly police pursuit The white Holden Commodore that crashed shortly after a police pursuit began in western Sydney The white Holden Commodore crashed shortly after the chase began, and two women died at the scene. A third woman died after being taken to Westmead Hospital. One of three women killed has been identified as Roza Mawen, a mother of four. She was killed along with another mother from Melbourne, identified as Bianca, and Adut Garang, according to the Daily Telegraph. Media reports have also identified 43-year-old woman Asunta Jongkor and 33-year-old man John Diing, the driver, as the two other people hurt in the crash. Both are in a serious but stable condition in Westmead Hostpital. All those dead and injured were in the car, police said. Paramedics and firefighters aid a victim believed to be in the car that crashed in Marayong One of the deceased's daughters posted a message to Facebook expressing her grief, the Sydney Morning Herald reported. 'This can't be true not my mum noo,' her message reads. 'Can't believe she's actually gone why did you leave me alone. 'What is life now without you.' Tresa Diing, the aunt of the car's driver, John, told the Daily Telegraph the crash was 'shocking'. 'How are the kids going to survive with no mother? The father will be there but the mother does a lot of things for the kids,'she said. A crime scene has been established at the location, which will be examined by specialist forensic officers and police from the Crash Investigation Unit. Police have launched a critical incident investigation from North West Metropolitan Region, to be overseen by the Professional Standards Command. All information will be provided to the Coroner who will determine the cause of death of the three people and make any findings about the events leading up to the incident. Police are appealing for witnesses to come forward. Anyone who can assist police should contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000. Police rescue teams inspect the aftermath and wreckage of the incident The car accident which happened in the early hours of Saturday, left three women dead A man and woman were treated by paramedics at the scene Two survivors were taken to Westmead Hospital and are in a serious but stable condition A third woman died after being taken to Westmead Hospital NSW ambulance, fire and police services rolled into the scene A crime scene has been established at the location, which will be examined by specialist forensic officers and police from the Crash Investigation Unit Residents told 9NEWS they heard a loud 'bang' when the car lost control and crashed Benny now rolls around the house while the family saves for the surgery James Paniagua built the wheelchair out of $40-worth of materials His owner's boyfriend decided to build the dog a wheelchair while the family saved up to afford Benny's potentially $10,000 surgery A man built his girlfriend's dog a wheelchair after they couple learned treatment for the dog, who spontaneously lost use of its hind legs, could cost up to $10,000. James Paniagua, 22, of Barstow, California, told ABC News until he could figure out how to afford Benny, a Pomeranian-mix, surgery, he'd figure out a way to make the dog more comfortable. With $40 worth of PVC pipes, wheels and various other materials, James build Benny his very own wheelchair. Scroll down for video Benny, a four-year-old Pomeranian-mix (pictured), spontaneously lost use of his legs due to a disk problem in his back. His owner's boyfriend built the dog a wheelchair so the pup can be comfortable until he has surgery 'Theyve had him since he was a baby,' James said of his girlfriend's family. 'He woke up about a week ago not being able to move his hind legs. 'It was just freakishly strange to us because hes never had problems with that type of thing or been admitted to the hospital,' he told ABC News. At the hospital, veterinarians told James and girlfriend Briana Ibarra that an MRI could cost up to $1,500. If the dog ultimately needed surgery, they could be looking at medical bills as high as $8,000 to $10,000. 'I was like, "Wow thats expensive".' 'The family was trying to process everything. Theyre still figuring out what theyre going to do,' James said. While the family decided how they would move forward with Benny's surgery, James began researching doggie wheelchairs. He learned that in and of itself wheelchairs for dogs can be a massive expense since they are custom made. They sometimes don't even fit the dog. Benny had never had leg problems prior to the new ailment, but doctors think surgery will be able to heal him That's when James took matters into his own hands. 'I saw some pictures online and thought, "I could do this". So I decided to try it out,' he said. It took some time to figure out the best configuration of materials, but by the next day James had figured out Benny's custom-made ride. 'At first I tried using lawn mower wheels but they were too big and bulky. 'I couldve ordered them on the Internet but I didnt want to wait, so I went to find a scooter for $20 and took the wheels apart. 'This was something I wanted to do and for now so hes comfortable. 'Its a temporary fix until we can we get his surgery done and then hell be rocking and rolling again,' James said. Bennys doctors arent exactly sure what caused the sudden loss of usage in his hind legs, but James said they suspect its a problem with a disc in his back. 'The doctor said this can happen a lot in smaller dogs. 'The priority is trying to get him help. Advertisement House prices in Sydney may be cooling, but it's still more expensive to buy vacant land on the outskirts of the city than it is to buy a plush four bedroom home in Melbourne or Brisbane. Median prices for a patch of dirt in the north western suburb of Kellyville - the most expensive suburb in Sydney to buy vacant block - are $750,000, according to Domain. In Melbourne, where the median house price is $719,486, buyers can snap up a modern three-bedroom townhouse for roughly the same price. In Brisbane, a spacious four-bedroom home can be bought for just $100,000 more than the empty block in Sydney. Scroll down for video Median land prices in Kellyville are $750,000, but this 808 square metre block could be yours for between $900,000 and $990,000 Land prices are soaring in Kellyville, which is 36 kilometres north western of Sydney CBD. The asking price for this block is early $900,000s Domain's chief economist Dr Andrew Wilson described the prices for vacant blocks in Kellyville - which is 36 kilometres from Sydney CBD - as 'astonishing' 'Kellyville isn't first-home buyer territory,' Dr Wilson said. 'It's pitched towards the McMansion builder. So you are going to whack something for about $500,000 on top.' Land prices are booming in Kellyville, up 19 percent on the year previous, according to Domain statistics, and many vacant blocks (on average 700,000 square metres) are going for between $900,000 and $1 million. However, buyers could do much better in other Australian capital cities. In the inner Brisbane suburb of Chelmer, investors could spend $850,000 on a renovated four-bedroom home, with hardwood floors, high ceilings and timber catchment windows. For about $100,000 less, buyers could snap up a modern unit, with four bedrooms, two car garage in Doncaster, 15 kilometres east of the Melbourne CBD. This Brisbane house has a starting sale rate of $850,000. It has four bedrooms, has been completely renovated and is close to good schools and parks This house in Chelmer, an inner Brisbane suburb, has hardwood floors, a carved archway and timber catchment windows The median house price in Brisbane and Melbourne is $511,361 and $719,486, respectively. Prices in Sydney fell 3.1 per cent over the December quarter to 1,013,258, the first drop since June 2012 and the sharpest quarterly decline in house prices reported by the city on record, according to Domain's House Price Report. But Kellyville is bucking the trend, with median prices for units and houses soaring over the past five years. The area is tipped for high growth and the NSW Government is planning accordingly. The suburb will get a new station as part of the North West Rail link, which has been deemed a priority infrastructure programme by government, and the Kellyville plaza is being upgraded. Buyers could purchase this four bedrooms unit, with a two car garage in Doncaster, 15 kilometres east of the Melbourne CBD, for between $740,000 and $790,000 The Doncaster home has timber floors, two living areas, and a deck from which the skyline of the Melbourne CBD is visible This four-bedroom home in the Melbourne suburb of Croydon North, with a land area 1396 square kilometres, is going for $850,000 plus The mother of a Northern Arizona University student who was shot and killed on campus spoke out in court yesterday to keep the man charged with her son's murder behind bars. Colin Brough, 20, of Colorado died in October last year after he was shot by Steven Jones, 19, an NAU freshman. He was a member of the Delta Chi fraternity. Brough's mother, Claudia, talked about her son's death after a judge said Jones could be put in home confinement and placed in the custody of his parents, AZ Family reported. 'Every time I hear a siren go off, it doesn't matter if its in the morning, if its in the afternoon, at night, whenever, I think of my boy laying in that parking lot,' she said. Scroll down for video Steven Jones, 19, pictured in court with his attorney Joshua Davidson, has been charged with first-degree murder after shooting and killing a Delta Chi member on the Northern Arizona University Flagstaff campus in October last year Jones (left) says he acted in self-defense when he shot Colin Brough (right), 20. Brough's mother spoke out in court yesterday asking the judge to keep Jones behind bars, as the judge said Jones could be placed in home confinement in the custody of his parents 'We don't solve our problems with pulling out a gun. It's not an option,' she added, explaining what she thought her son would have said. Jones has been charged with first-degree murder after shooting and killing Brough after a fight on the Flagstaff campus. He was jailed on a $2 million bond shortly after his arrest on October 9 and has been charged with six counts of aggravated assault in addition to the murder charge. Jones says he acted in self-defense as the fight escalated and told campus police in October that he was punched in the face before he grabbed his gun. Nicholas Prato and Nicholas Piring, two of three Delta Chi brothers who were wounded in the shooting, also testified during Friday's hearing. Kyle Zientek, the third one, didn't attend as he is studying abroad. 'He attempted to take my life once. Please protect all of us. Keep him in police custody,' Prato said. 'As a victim and witness of this crime, I don't feel safe with him being released to his parents who have weapons in their home.' Piring said: 'His parents gave him the gun that shot me twice, that shot Nicholas Prato, that was up here in the neck that killed Colin that shot Kyle in the back twice. It's a no-brainer honestly.' Fellow Delta Chi members Kyle Zientek (left), Nicholas Prato (middle) and Nicholas Piring (right) were wounded during the shooting. Prato and Piring testified during Friday's hearing Jones's attorneys asked for him to be put in home confinement on Friday, saying he doesn't have a criminal history and doesn't want to flee. Judge Dan Slayton denied the motion but left open the option of home confinement. Slayton says he wants more information on round-the-clock monitoring, access to weapons and potential searches. Jones's attorneys said Friday that prosecutors presented a biased case to the grand jury, and downplayed Jones' injuries and self-defense claims. Prosecutors said none of the arguments made by the defense warranted a redetermination of the probable cause. Slayton denied the defense request. They want a judge to throw out the indictment on first-degree murder and six counts of aggravated assault. If not, they're asking for the case to go back to the grand jury. They also want Jones released or to have the bond reduced. As the 2016 presidential election further descended into reality show territory, Ted Cruz toured South Carolina on Friday alongside Duck Dynasty star Phil Robertson in a last-minute bid to win over voters before Saturday's primary election. 'How 'bout Phil Robertson,' Cruz said in his opening remarks at an event in Columbia. 'I love that man.' 'Talk about a man who loves Jesus and isn't afraid to admit it to anyone and everyone, to proclaim his name with no apology and with nothing but joy.' Robertson had just finished a lengthy diatribe on Hiter, ISIS, STDs and what he perceives as the ills of modern America. Reality TV's Duck Dynasty star Phil Robertson (L) holds his bible as he endorses Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz during a campaign rally in Charleston, South Carolina Friday The Duck Dynasty star became a millionaire for inventing a duck whistle. He has endorsed Ted Cruz for president Robertson, 69, spoke out against appointing others 'to determine for us what is right, what is wrong, what is good, and decide whats evil. Men decide what your life is worth, he said. Thats what Adolph Hitler was. Robertson said that Hitler looked at people and said, These people here, I dont think they're worth anything. He was famous for murder, South Carolina, right? You know why? There was no Jesus, right? No Jesus there. The Shintos Japanese didnt have Jesus, either. Then came the Communists, and the Cold War. Joseph Stalin, he slaughtered millions. The Shintos slaughtered millionsThis latest crops shows up, now its ISIS. ISIS, what are they famous for? he asked. MURDER, the crowd replied. No Jesus there either, Robertson declared. Do you not see a pattern? When you remove God almighty, the father, son Jesus and the Holy Spirit from out of your life, out of your society, out of your culture, out of your ideology, you get him out of the way, then look out because the murder is fixing to start. Every time. Because they determine, men do, you're not worth anything. Ted Cruz said Robertson 'loves Jesus and isn't afraid to admit it to anyone and everyone, to proclaim his name with no apology and with nothing but joy' Phil Robertson, pictured here at a Friday rally in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, traveled around the state to endorse Ted Cruz Shifting to the topic of abortion, Robertson said 60 million unborn children have died as a result, yet liberals say, "We have to do something about these guns." Moments later he said, God almighty says dont murder. God almighty says marriage is between a man and a woman, Robertson continued. It is nuts for even us to discuss what marriage is because we know what it is. You mess with that, you mess with that. Robertson proceeded to tick off facts about Sexually Transmitted Diseases in the United States. Incidence, prevalence, and cost of sexually transmitted infections in the United States. You want to legalized unnatural acts, sexual acts? he asked. 'What does the CDC say about morality?'' The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that 50.5 million men have STDs at any given time, and 59.5 million women are infected, he stated. That's a total of 110 million people in America. As he talked about the infection rate an audience member shouted, You reap what you sow! You reap what you sow the man said, Robertson parroted. 'Dont you get it? Thats fact. You want to argue with the Center for Disease Control? Go ahead.' Speaking about sex outside of marriage and HIV and AIDS, Robertson said, 'God says, don't do that. Clean woman, clean man, they marry, they keep their sex between the two of them, you wont get a sexually transmitted disease ever. Pandering to the reality TV vote: Robertson and Cruz on stage together in Charleston, South Carolina Friday Robertson admittedly wasnt as pious as he is now. He said people ask him. '"When did you repent?" 28. "How's life been?" I'm rich and famous now. Thank you. Cruz said one of the coolest things hes done during the campaign was a trip to Louisiana to go duck hunting with Robertson and his family. But I gotta tell you, that man shoot a shotgun. Listen, as a Texan, I know a lot of folks who can shoot. And for me, look, you know, I can hit a duck, particularly if it's nice and close. Maybe you got someone holding its feet so it doesn't move? You do that, I can drop a duck any time. But Phil would take out birds. I couldn't even see the bird. Im like, "Phil, what are you shooting at?"....He pulled out that shot gun. BOOM! Continuing with the story, Cruz said, the black lab would take off, heading to the horizon, and I'm like, "Phil, you lost your dog." Next thing he knew, the dog would come back with a duck, and Im like how on earth did you do it? But Phil is a man who is unafraid. During his speech, Cruz asked the crowd to imagine Robertson, who is known for his role on the reality show Duck Dynasty and for inventing a popular duck whistle, as the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. 'Now just let me ask you how much you would pay to see that,' the Texas senator said. Cruz laughed as he fantasized about Robertson interacting with the Russian ambassador. The senator said the reality TV star would look at the Russian diplomat, 'lean over and say, "Well that doesn't make any sense at all!"' As recently as Sunday, Cruz complained about the 'circus'-like nature of the 2016 White House race in a veiled jab at his main rival, reality star Donald Trump. Commenting on the passing of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, cruz said the 'entire contour' of the primary race should change. 'The time for the circus and the reality show is over,' Cruz said on ABC's This Week. '[Replacing Scalia] is a serious choice and we are talking about losing our basic liberty if we get this wrong.' By Friday he had embraced the current political climate and invited Robertson to stump for him at four rallies leading up to the South Carolina primary. Robertson has endorsed Cruz in a series of video messages. 'My qualifications for president of the United States are rather narrow. Is he or she godly? Does he or she love us? Can he or she do the job?' Robertson asked rhetorically. 'And finally, would they kill a duck and put him in a pot and make a good duck gumbo?' The message ends with the duck hunting millionaire concluding that Cruz is his 'man,' because 'he fits the bill here.' Robertson became controversial in 2013 for making inflammatory statements about homosexuality. 'Start with homosexual behavior and just morph out from there. Bestiality, sleeping around with this woman and that woman and that woman and those men,' he said in an interview with GQ. Robertson was briefly suspended from Duck Dynasty for his comments but allowed back after a large number of viewers protested to the network A&E. Robertson's son Willie Robertson has endorsed Trump in the race for the White House. JOHN STEVENS examines, hour by hour, how European leaders ganged up on David Cameron, turning the EU summit into a 30-hour farce THURSDAY 2.20pm (1.20pm GMT) David Cameron pledges to battle for Britain as he arrives on the red carpet at the European Councils Justus Lipsius building. It is much more important to get this right than to do anything in a rush, he tells reporters. Behind his limousine trails a line of people carriers transporting some of the 30 British diplomats and aides in Brussels for the talks. Lithuanian president Dalia Grybauskaite predicts: I think everybody will have their own drama and then well agree. 3pm European Council president Donald Tusk, who chairs meetings of all 28 EU leaders, holds a half-hour meeting with Cameron to explain how he plans to organise the summit talks. Pleading his case: David Cameron with Italian PM Matteo Renzi (left) and one of his aides yesterday 5.10pm On the 8th floor, Cameron walks alone into the summit room carrying a large red ringbinder filled with detailed notes. He makes small talk with the other 27 leaders before they sit down for business at a large circular table. European Parliament president Martin Schulz kicks off with a shocking warning that even if EU leaders agree to Camerons demands on migrant benefit curbs, he and his fellow MEPs will fight them and stop them coming into law. 5.45pm The 28 leaders pose for a group photo and return to the summit room for two hours of tense discussions. Tusk tells them he does not need to stress what is at stake. Cameron pleads for a better deal, admitting his modest package of proposed measures has been badly received at home and cannot be watered down any further. I am not asking for anything new or something impossible This is already a compromise on a compromise. Asking that Britain be allowed an emergency brake on curbing in-work benefits to EU migrants for up to 13 years and the promise of treaty change in the next few years, he promises to campaign for the UK to stay in the EU with all my mind and soul if they help him. French premier Francois Hollande warns Britain cannot be allowed a veto over reforms in the eurozone. The eastern Europeans, represented by Czech PM Bohuslav Sobotka, warn they will get a beatingat home if they accept cuts to child benefit for workers already in Britain. Collective: The 28 leaders posed for a group photo before returning to the summit room for two hours of tense discussions on Thursday evening Estonian prime minister Taavi Roivas asks that leaders conclude the deal at this summit as we dont need another crisis on top of the ones we already have. Belgian prime minister Charles Michel insists a clause is added to the deal making clear it is a final offer that cannot be improved if Britain votes to leave. Theres no second chances, he says. German chancellor Angela Merkel gives one of the most supportive interventions for Cameron, insisting we need to be generous enough so Cameron can go home and the people will support this, but leaders get the impression she is detached from the negotiations with her thoughts concentrated on the migrant crisis. Beata Szydlo, the Polish prime minister, says her biggest problem is with cuts to child benefits, before Portuguese prime minister Antonio Costa expresses a hope that Cameron gets a thumping victory, but criticises him for taking up EU leaders time with what should be a domestic issue. Stopping for a snack: Mrs Merkel is pictured tucking into a bag of fries with andalouse sauce mayonnaise spiced with pepper and tomato Irish taoiseach Enda Kenny tells the others this is the biggest challenge Cameron has faced as Prime Minister. His party and Cabinet are divided, we should give him the tools for this battle, he adds before quoting from Macbeth: If it were done when tis done, then twere well, it were done quickly. 7pm At the close of the session, Cameron desperately warns leaders it would be suicide if they do not give him a deal he could get past the Cabinet and win the referendum with. He insists he never came setting out ridiculous demands and has already made big concessions. Tusk tells the leaders he will hold one-on-one meetings before all meeting together for breakfast at 11am. 7.10pm Over a dinner of avocado and shrimp imparfait, cod loin with wheat beer emulsion and duo of potato, light mango mousse with caramelised pineapple and coffee, the leaders discuss the migrant crisis. Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras uses it as an opportunity to threaten to veto Camerons deal unless leaders stop criticising his countrys handling of the crisis. We need to help the UK, but the UK has only got a referendum in June and we have a crisis hitting us today. Shell-shocked British officials admit the negotiations have not gone well, one saying: We expected some push back, but it was worse than we thought. Everyone was playing bad cop. Ongoing discussion: Cameron attend the dinner on the second day of the extraordinary two-day EU summit FRIDAY 1.20am At the end of the dinner, Tusk emerges and warns: A lot remains to be done. In a room on the fifth floor, that resembles a police interview room, he and Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker sit down at a desk opposite Cameron, who asks: Do you want to start with the French issue? Through the night, Tusk holds meetings with Hollande to discuss his opposition to protections for the City, with Sobotka to talk about migrant benefit curbs and with Michel to go through resistance to clarifying an ever closer union. 5.40am A bleary eyed Cameron finally leaves the building after holding two further meetings with Tusk, between which he sat in the British delegation rooms snacking on Haribo sweets and wine gums. He is driven to the British embassy for three hours sleep. Tusk postpones the English breakfast scheduled for 11am, and says it will instead be a lunch at 1.30pm. 10am Arriving back at the summit, Cameron says: Im going to get in there, do some more work, and do all I can. He tells Tusk: Im happy to stay until Sunday. Ive told the wife and children. 12 noon After sitting down again with Hollande and Sobotka, Tusk warns that the lunch will not start until 2.30pm. An aide tells British reporters Tusk has been sustaining himself of croissants, adding: I hope that doesnt offend you. 1.20pm Leaders not involved in the one-to-one crisis talks walk the corridors as the lunch is postponed to 3.30pm. A candid Grybauskaite says: The timing, it all depends on the deepness of the drama some countries would like to perform. We would like to help the British make their decision, but no matter what we do here, no matter what face lifting or face saving we perform, its up to the British people to decide. Finally: Mr Cameron emerged from dinner to proclaim his deal at 11.10pm last night 2.20pm The planned lunch is pushed back to 4pm, before aides announce an hour later it will be a dinner. Cameron holds two meetings with the Polish PM as aides reveal the eastern Europeans are fiercely resisting a deal. One minister says: Theres still some way to go, we need some more hours. 5.30pm After further talks, Cameron tweets that he will not hold a Cabinet meeting that evening. English breakfast is delayed for a seventh time, to 8pm. Mrs Merkel is pictured tucking into a bag of fries with andalouse sauce mayonnaise spiced with pepper and tomato. The eastern Europeans have met in a war room to discuss tactics. 8.30pm All 28 leaders join together for aperitifs before finally sitting down to a dinner of crown of artichoke with goats cheese and rocket, fillet of veal with tarragon jus, wilted spinach and polenta, and passion fruit bavarois. 10.30pm Mr Tusk tweets from the dining room: Deal. Unanimous support for new settlement for #UKinEU. 11.10pm Mr Cameron emerges from dinner to proclaim his deal. Rival Republican candidates Ted Cruz and Ben Carson held a bizarre meeting about claims of dirty tricks in a storage closet with no chairs and reportedly no light - and spoke for 25 minutes. The two were revealed to have met on Thursday night by the Daily Beast, in a tiny room at the Conservative Review convention in Columbia, South Carolina. Cruz has been facing claims of dirty tricks against Carson since the Iowa caucus, when his campaign circulated part of a CNN report that the neurosurgeon was going home to Florida, without mentioning that the rest of the report made clear he was not quitting the race. The Texas senator had asked to meet Carson in private and the pair finally came face-to-face on Thursday night. Whether they could see each other remains in question however - and there were conflicting accounts for how long they spent in the dark together. Presidential maneuvers in the dark: Ben Carson spent as much as 25 minutes in an apparently lightless closet with Ted Cruz arguing over dirty tricks allegations The Daily Beast said it was five minutes, but CBS News reported that it was up to 25 minutes. The venue was chosen because Cruz's aides insisted that he would not go into Carson's green room and decided that it should take place on 'neutral territory'. Carson's Secret Service detail stood outside for the course of it. Regardless of the uncertainty over its duration, it was clear that it did not go well. Carson wanted Cruz to accept responsibility for the actions of his campaign at the first caucus. But Carson's spokesman, Jason Osborne told the Daily Beast that her had been informed at short notice about the meeting and added it 'did not go well'. 'We disagree on accountability and culpability,' was Carson's verdict, Osborne said. Towards the end of the meeting, Carson's staff were knocking on the door to get him to come out of the darkness and wrap up his talks with Cruz because he was due on stage. Rick Tyler, a Cruz campaign spokesman, gave a notably different assessment of the talks, telling the Daily Beast, 'yes, they had a good visit'. Cruz is increasingly under fire from his rivals over his campaign tactics. Ted talks: Cruz asked for the talks and insisted on not going to Carson's green room. Carson's aides knocked on the door to try to get him to come out to address the convention the two were both at Donald Trump has called him a liar and threatened to sue him and yesterday Marco Rubio expressed fury at a photoshopped image of the Florida senator. Rubiosaid yesterday the image is both 'disturbing' and 'startling.' 'The picture's fake and that alone tells you everything I've been saying for the last few days - he's making things up,' Rubio told reporters after a lunchtime event yesterday in Anderson, South Carolina. Rubio strategist Todd Harris told reporters earlier in the day, 'There is a culture of dishonesty, from top to bottom, in Cruz's presidential campaign. It's reflected in what Ted Cruz himself says. It's reflected by the phony, fake Facebook pages that his supporters put up. It's reflected by calls to Iowa voters saying Carson dropped out.' Cruz supporters this week circulated a Facebook page that claimed Gowdy was no longer supporting Rubio. Gowdy accused the Cruz campaign of contributing to the kerfuffle but the Texas senator said he had 'nothing to do with that.' A group of Tory MPs backing David Camerons Europe renegotiation were exposed last night for circulating a letter in support of the PMs deal before anything was agreed. The letter was drawn up with help from Conservatives for Reform in Europe, which is led by loyalist former Home Office minister Nick Herbert. CREs official position is it will support the PM on the condition his renegotiation is successful. The letter was drawn up with help from Conservatives for Reform in Europe, which is led by loyalist former Home Office minister Nick Herbert (pictured) But the letter signed by 60 activists, a copy of which was published by the BBC yesterday, hailed the PMs deal as the first time since 1975 a British Prime Minister has returned from a summit with more powers than when they arrived. It says: As Conservative activists... we fully support the deal the Prime Minister has negotiated. It concedes that there is clearly a need for further and continuing reform before adding: However, no one knows what Brexit would look like and few would wish to risk our economic and national security without being certain of the alternative. The letter was distributed by CRE executive director Charlotte Vere who insisted it was the voice of grassroots activists and not AstroTurf. CRE was founded by 36 MPs, including former cabinet minister Sir Eric Pickles. Ukip leader Nigel Farage said: These people are career crawlers. They would say anything to get promoted up the ministerial ladder. They like the EU, they want to stay in the EU, but what they really care about is their political careers. It follows the revelation on Thursday that a top Conservative Party official was organising a supportive letter from big business. Business leaders have been approached by the in campaign to sign an open letter endorsing Mr Camerons agreement with European leaders on our relationship with Brussels. Bosses likely to be asked to sign include those at BAE Systems, BT and the former chief of Diageo. Controversially, the letter was overseen by Baroness Rock, the Tories vice chairman for business who has taken leave of absence to help the In campaign. Kate Rock was elevated to the peerage by Mr Cameron in the summer following years of service to the party and is a long-standing friend of George Osborne. A separate letter from leading businesses will also back the In campaign. Representatives of more than 80 firms listed in the FTSE-100 index are expected to endorse the Remain campaign, regardless of whatever deal Mr Cameron obtains. Protesters in the Maldives yesterday chanted Cherie Blair, give us our money back after the Daily Mail revealed how she charged 420,000 to work for its autocratic government. Hundreds also shouted shame on Cherie and waved placards in the shape of cheques during the protest in the capital Male. At least half the cash her legal firm Omnia Strategy billed the repressive Maldives government was paid by a suspected conman who is now a fugitive. Outrage: Hundreds of protesters shouted shame on Cherie and waved placards in the shape of cheques during the protest in the capital Male Imthiyaz Fahmy, an MP for the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party, said the protesters were highlighting corruption in the country and human rights abuses by president Abdullah Yameen. He said: People called for Yameen to return our money. People called on Cherie Blair to return the money too. Meanwhile Mohamed Nasheed, the former democratically elected president, alleged Mrs Blairs firm initially offered to represent him but then jumped ship. He was deposed in 2012 and later jailed for 13 years. Shame: At least half the cash Cherie Blair's (pictured) legal firm Omnia Strategy billed the repressive Maldives government was paid by a suspected conman who is now a fugitive Omnia says it swiftly stopped working for the Maldives government after the unpredictable domestic events that occurred in October and November 2015 and was urgently reviewing the 210,000 payment. David Camerons referendum deal was deadlocked last night amid a ferocious row over the payment of State handouts to Eastern European migrants. Despite having only a limited list of demands, 24-hours of talks in Brussels failed to secure agreement from the rest of the Continent. The Prime Ministers carefully-choreographed plan to declare success yesterday was derailed by a furious clash over whether restrictions on the payment on child benefit and tax credits should apply across the EU. Originally, the new regime itself a watered-down compromise on two key Tory manifesto pledges would have applied only in the UK. The Prime Ministers carefully-choreographed plan to declare success yesterday was derailed by a furious clash over whether restrictions on the payment on child benefit and tax credits should apply across the EU But Germany, Sweden and Ireland all of which had large influx of eastern European workers demanded they should be able to impose the curbs too. This triggered an impasse with the Visegrad bloc of nations Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia which was last night threatening to scupper the entire deal, potentially throwing the PMs referendum plans into chaos. Mr Cameron is understood to have argued the eastern Europeans were making unreasonable demands. Amid scenes of farce, plans for a British breakfast to conclude the deal slipped repeatedly eventually becoming plans for an English dinner taking place in the evening. Mr Cameron was also struggling to secure an agreement on the length of his so-called emergency brake on migrant benefits. He had wanted the right to impose restrictions for up to 13 years but was likely to have to settle for seven. And there was a continuing row over whether the changes to child benefit payments made on behalf of children living abroad should come into force immediately. Eastern Europe said the rules which will see payments reduced if the children live in countries with a low cost of living should be phased in gradually. The deadlock threw the Prime Ministers timetable for the weekend into turmoil. He had planned to fly back to London to hold a Cabinet meeting yesterday afternoon with a deal in his pocket, but scrapped that when it became apparent that talks were dragging on. Germany, Sweden and Ireland all of which had large influx of eastern European workers demanded they should be able to impose the curbs too The row has triggered an impasse with the Visegrad bloc of nations Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia which was last night threatening to scupper the entire deal Number Ten also had to shelve plans for him to appear outside Downing Street to hail an agreement in the evening and announce that Britains historic referendum would take place on June 23. However insiders said there were no guarantees the issue would be settled during a dinner taking place late last night. They added that talks could easily run into today. In discussions on Thursday evening, Mr Cameron had pleaded with his fellow leaders to give him a deal saying it would be suicide not to hand him a credible package of proposals that he could put to his Cabinet. Eastern Europe said the rules which will see payments reduced if the children live in countries with a low cost of living should be phased in gradually. Pictured, Angela Merkel in Brussels The Prime Minister told EU leaders that his package of proposed measures had been badly received at home and cannot be watered down any further. According to EU sources, he said: I am not asking for anything new or something impossible. This is already a compromise on a compromise. But he was unable to secure an agreement in talks which dragged on until 5.30am yesterday. After three hours sleep, Mr Cameron returned to the summit but was unable to break the deadlock. Eastern European leaders dug in over Mr Camerons changes to child benefit rules, insisting other countries in the EU should not be allowed to take advantage. Lithuanian president Dalia Grybauskaite said that, in any event, the deal was political face saving for Mr Cameron. She said: We would like to help Britain make their decision, but no matter what we do here, no matter what face saving we perform, its up to the British people to decide. Meanwhile Tory MEP and leading out campaigner Daniel Hannan said: Other EU leaders are openly laughing at the idea that the changes are other than cosmetic. And Owen Paterson, a Tory MP and former cabinet minister, has dismissed the EU talks as a sideshow and a pantomime. Ex-Tory leadership contender David Davis added: This whole renegotiation process has highlighted the EUs undemocratic arrogance. It shows the utter disregard Brussels has for member states. It is the perfect example of how Britain is ruled by the EU. Greece threatened to veto the conclusions of the entire summit, torpedoing Mr Camerons deal in the process. Pictured, Mr Cameron with European Union leaders during an EU summit yesterday Tory MP Adam Afriyie said: What strikes me is the attitude of the European bureaucrats and the European leaders. Theyre looking at Britain, almost sniggering at us, saying oh, lets give them a few little morsels so theyll go away happy like children. Greece threatened to veto the conclusions of the entire summit, torpedoing Mr Camerons deal in the process. The countrys firebrand Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras warned he could take the drastic step in retaliation for a plan to put EU border guards on his countrys border to stop migrants flooding into the rest of the EU. He didn't ask for much - and got even less Analysis by James Slack, Political Editor in Brussels TAX CREDITS What he wanted: A ban on EU migrants being paid in-work benefits for their first four years in the UK. Sticking point: In a compromise, Britain is being granted an emergency brake which allows for benefits to be restricted for up to four years if Britains public services or welfare system is under pressure. However, the EU insisted that the limitation should be graduated, from an initial complete exclusion to gradually increasing access to such benefits. This was still the subject of a huge row yesterday. Mr Cameron wanted the brake to be in place for up to 13 years. Eastern Europe objected strongly. Eastern European countries also want a guarantee that the brake could be used by the UK only not nations such as Germany and Sweden, which have also experienced a huge influx of workers. CHILD BENEFIT What he wanted: The 2015 Tory manifesto promised that: If an EU migrants child is living abroad, then they should receive no child benefit, no matter how long they have worked in the UK and no matter how much tax they have paid. Sticking point: A watered down agreement that child benefit payments will be linked to the cost of living in the childs homeland has been agreed. But Eastern European countries insisted the rules should not apply to people who were already in the UK. The new regime is likely to be phased in over a number of years. Again, Eastern Europe does not want any other EU country to be able to apply the new rules. PROTECTION FROM THE EUROZONE What he wanted: A mechanism to ensure that Britain cannot be discriminated against because it is not part of the euro, cannot pick up the bill for eurozone bailouts and cannot have imposed on it changes the eurozone want to make without our consent. Sticking point: France spent days fiercely resisting the idea that Britain can interfere in the workings of the euro. Other EU countries were opposed to the idea that any agreement Mr Cameron secures should be enshrined in future treaties. EVER CLOSER UNION What he wanted: Exempt Britain from the commitment in the EUs founding treaty to move towards ever closer union. Sticking point: The EU said it was content to acknowledge that the United Kingdom, in the light of the specific situation it has under the treaties, is not committed to further political integration into the European Union. However, EU leaders were opposed to the idea of enshrining this in future EU treaties which is key if Mr Cameron is not to face accusations that his deal can be unpicked. AND THINGS HE ONCE PROMISED BUT NEVER ASKED FOR: Charter of Fundamental Rights. In 2009, Mr Cameron promised a complete opt-out of the charter, which further extends human rights laws. Social and employment laws. In 2010, Mr Cameron pledged to claw back powers from Brussels, but this was quietly dropped. Working time directive. In 2012, he promised to change the law that includes the contentious 48-hour maximum working week. Common Agricultural Policy. Repeated calls for reform of farming subsidies, but no sign of any change yet. Strategic town was a key railway junction and fighting intensified after a ceasefire had been agreed This haunting drone footage shows what is left in the war-scarred landscape of Debaltseve, in eastern Ukraine. Fighting raged in the town last year in what was one of the bloodiest and most violent clashes of the Ukrainian conflict. The strategic town was a key railway junction and fighting actually intensified in the days after a ceasefire deal had been agreed. The drone passes over the devastated town in eerie footage taken a year since the violent fighting A damaged Ukrainian army tank is left abandoned on the war-scarred landscape in the town Fighting over the city actually intensified in the days after a ceasefire deal, signed in Minsk on February 12, was meant to take effect on February 15 Rebels who had encircled Debaltseve launched a massive assault, routing all Ukrainian forces by February 18, three days after the truce was meant to come into force In the video, the drone drifts over blown-out military tanks, huge craters in the ground and decimated villages. The drone shows houses which were destroyed in the conflict that saw around 25,000 people evacuated from the area. As it moves over pockmarked shells that were once houses, it jumps to more battle-worn tanks that sit abandoned on the arid ground. Fighting ceased in Debaltsevo exactly a year ago. After a month of intense fighting, Ukrainian forces were forced to withdraw although some soldiers were left trapped inside the town. According to the Ukrainian Defence Ministry, the war claimed the lives of nearly 200 Ukrainian soldiers and left some 500 injured. However the precise number of casualties remains unknown, with self-defence forces' estimates suggesting more than 3,000 pro-Kiev fighters lost their lives in the skirmish. Speaking a year since the fighting, Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko said today: 'We remember every soldier who lost his life for the freedom of Ukraine. It is hard to believe that a year has passed already. Today, we live in absolutely different conditions. 'The army is different. Its combat capacity and equipment are much better. The only thing that remains the same is morale of Ukrainian warriors.' Most residential buildings in the town were damaged by shelling last year or burnt out Debaltseve was taken by a pro-Russian rebel assault ending on February 18 last year Relations between Russia and Ukraine broke down when the former annexed Crimea in 2014. Pro-Russian separatists have since been fighting Ukrainian forces in eastern Ukraine, in a conflict that has claimed more than 9,000 lives. Violence has flared recently despite the ceasefire agreed in Minsk last year. Wife said he raped her, saying sex was her duty because they were married If convicted, Lehmeier, 28, faces up to seven years in prison and/or a $14,000 fine A 28-year-old man has been accused of threatening to shoot his wife while she breastfed their baby in a string of abuse going back ten years, police say. Nicholas George Lehmeier, of Cold Springs, faces one felony count of second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon - a firearm - in connection to an incident in July last year, reported CBS Minnesota. The complaint against Legmeier was held by his wife Monday, who told police that she has been subjected to physical and verbal abuse for over ten years. Deputies were called to their home on 2900 block of 151st Avenue, in Collegeville Township after reports of child abuse on February 8, reported WJON. In her statement the wife also recalled the incident last year, when Legmeier allegedly took a 12-gauge shotgun, loaded it and pointed it at her while breastfeeding their four-month-old son. She said she remembered him cocking the gun and pulling the trigger about three to four feet from her, but it didnt go off, says CBS. She believed he was going to kill her but he then fired the gun out of a window. Lehmeier (eft) , of Cold Springs, faces one felony count of second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon - a firearm - in connection to an incident in July last year. Pictured right: Municipal Building, Cold Spring Village The incident allegedly happened the first night they were able to bring their child home after they had had their five children removed from their home due to a prior incident, where Lehmeier was charged and convicted with assaulting their seven-year-old child. The terrified mother says she hadn't told authorities before because she had been 'too afraid'. She added that he 'always' threatened to kill her or the children. He is also accused of raping her and after he told her 'because they were married she had to have sex with him'. If convicted, Lehmeier faces up to seven years in prison and/or a $14,000 fine Anna Wintour did the unthinkable this week - she wore a T-Shirt to a runway show. But it wasn't just any old thing, the T-Shirt sent out a strong political message - and there are no surprises about who it was in aid of. The T-Shirt in question was emblazoned with the face of old friend, Hillary Clinton as Wintour takes her championing of the presidential hopeful to a new level. Scroll down for video Anna Wintour (pictured here with daughter Bee Shaffer) wore the sequinned design by Marc Jacobs to show her support for friend and presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton The new tee collection (above) is described on Clinton's website as 'limited-edition collection from fashion's biggest names' as a tool designed to 'help elect the first woman president of the United States, and Democrats from coast to coast' Enduring relationship: The friends were happy to be seen together in 2003, when Clinton was the one-term junior senator from New York and they met at Cirpriani's, the elite restaurant in midtown Manhattan Wintour's sequinned tee was designed by Marc Jacobs and is one of three designs in a new collection launched by the Clinton campaign. Her website describes the 'limited-edition collection from fashion's biggest names' as a tool designed to 'help elect the first woman president of the United States, and Democrats from coast to coast'. One design, by Dao-Yi Chow & Maxwell Osborne Tee, has the message 'Make Herstory' on a black background, while the other is made by Tory Burch, with the words 'Woman's rights are human rights' across the front in multi-color. All three are on sale for $45. Jacobs, who wore a black sequinned version of the tee at his fashion week show, said his support for 'Hillary is grounded on our long-standing shared belief in equality. 'I am proud to share this t-shirt as a champion for equal rights, for the progress we have made and for the hope of continued progress with Hillary as president.' Marc Jacobs (pictured wearing a black sequined version of the Hillary T-Shirt) said his support for 'Hillary is grounded on our long-standing shared belief in equality. I am proud to share this t-shirt as a champion for equal rights, for the progress we have made and for the hope of continued progress with Hillary as president.' Lot of coverage: The 10-page glossy spread in the March edition lionizing Clinton features three portraits - one of them also including Huma Abedin, her right-hand woman Wintour's support for Clinton has been public from the very beginning. She took part in a fundraiser at Tory Burch's $38 million Hamptons home back in August, along with guests including Martha Stewart and Donna Karan. And now the Vogue editor has even devoted a ten-page spread in the latest issue of Vogue to Clinton's campaign. 'Will Hillary Clinton Make History?' comes complete with glossy portraits taken by top fashion photographer Mario Testino and goes on to paint her in highly flattering terms. Wintour, left, was photographed beaming up at Mrs Clinton at a summer 2015 fundraiser in Southampton held at designer Tory Burch's estate The endorsement includes quotes from supporters, such as: 'a decade younger than Hillary with a thick Midwestern accent' is further quoted as saying: 'So I want to say thank you to you because you're pleasant, you're joyous, you're happy.' The spread is entirely unbroken by adverts - highly unusual for the magazine. More recently, Wintour has spoken out publicly about her support for Clinton while also slamming Donald Trump's presidential aspirations, even though she also knows him socially and once cajoled him into letting designer Marc Jacobs use one of his properties for a fashion show free of charge. Last month, during an appearance at a student event at the University of York in England, she described the magnate's bid for the White House as 'unviable' and questioned 'whether he even knows where Syria is'. Wintour, who in 2013 declared that she 'looks forward to putting the first female US president on the cover', then said of her support for Clinton: 'It's not because she's a woman, it's because she's the best choice'. Kendall Jenner posted this selfie Thursday, making it clear who she is planning to vote for Actress Chloe Moretz is also a fan, tweeting that she believes Hilton would make 'real' progress if she were elected She continued: 'I think Hillary is running a very strong campaign; she feels very confident. Of course it would be wonderful for Hillary Clinton to be the first female president, but I think she would be the first to say that she wouldn't want people to vote for her just because she's a woman. 'I think that's a rather old fashioned way of thinking; people should vote for her because she's the best choice. And if you look at who's she's running against, there's no question that is the truth.' And Wintour is not the only female celebrity to throw her weight behind Clinton. Woman-of-the-moment Kendal Jenner took to Instagram Thursday to post a photo featuring herself in the Marc Jacobs T-shirt and adding the hashtags 'MadeForHistory' and 'ImWithHer'. While actress Chloe Moretz tweeted: @HillaryClinton will make direct investments in communities that get left behind, so we can make REAL progress' followed by the hashtag 'ImWithHer'. The Financial Conduct Authority is launching an investigation amid concerns that older people often get a poor deal (file image) Banks and insurers face a crackdown on ageism after the City watchdog warned that older people often get a poor deal. The Financial Conduct Authority is launching an investigation amid concerns that older people are routinely rejected for loans and are being forced to go online by their banks. Its probe, which begins on Monday, will also look into whether elderly people are ripped off when they buy travel insurance and car cover. A senior figure at the FCA said it would consider new rules against discrimination if banks failed to treat older customers more fairly. Christopher Woolard, director of strategy and competition at the regulator, said: In the UK the number of people aged over 65 already outnumbers those under 16 and it is critical our financial services markets are able to adapt to meet these needs. In some cases it might be a case of changing the rules, but it is too early to speculate. He said firms would initially be encouraged to find ways of solving any issues themselves. A report due to be published on Monday by the regulator questions whether banks are disadvantaging elderly customers who are unable to use computers. It is expected to say they banks are sometimes making the best deals online-only or demanding that customers remember lengthy passwords in order to access their bank accounts. The crackdown also throws a lifeline to older mortgage borrowers who have been denied home loans by banks on account of their age. Many are being forced to stay on more expensive deals or prevented from moving home. The FCA is also expected to investigate whether older customers face higher insurance premiums because of their age. James Daley, managing director of comparison site Fairer Finance said: The way banks and financial treat older people is an area that is ripe to be examined more closely. We often come across people who have stuck with a bank or home insurer for decades end up paying over the odds because they end up having their loyalty exploited. Others might be excluded because of bank branches closing or cheques being phased out. Financial firms have a social responsibility to help older people they provide essential services and its not fair to exclude customers on account of their age. A senior figure at the FCA said it would consider new rules against discrimination if banks failed to treat older customers more fairly (file image) Its probe, which begins on Monday, will also look into whether elderly people are ripped off when they buy travel insurance and car cover (file image) Jane Vass, head of public policy at charity Age UK ,said: Although many financial firms have realised that they need to radically change the way they treat older people in practice there is a very long way to go. Often there is a complete lack of understanding on the ground about the issues that affect older people. Meeting older peoples needs shouldnt be about firms merely providing a special product or two, it should be about a complete change to their approach. Banks and financial firms have been dogged with a series of controversies over the way they treat older people. Campaigners have warned that many older people have been particularly hard hit by a relentless stream of bank closures because they are less likely to conduct their affairs online. Financial firms have a social responsibility to help older people they provide essential services and its not fair to exclude customers on account of their age. James Daley, managing director of comparison site Fairer Finance In the past year 650 bank branches have closed, 144 more than last year, according to the Campaign for Community Banking. Of these, 177 were the last branch left in town. Just one in three of those aged 75 and over have recently used the internet, according to Age UK. Confusion among banks over tough new rules have led to lenders turning away mortgage borrowers purely on account of their age. Hardest hit are those with interest-only mortgages, where customer only repay their capital at the end of their deal. An estimated 425,000 homeowners many in their 50s and 60s will reach the end of their mortgage term in the next five years. If they try to extend their mortgage term they may find they are unable to do so because of their age. And insurers have also been caught exploiting older customers loyalty by hiking the price of home and motor cover by automatically rolling over policies. In addition many firms impose tight age limits of travel cover which mean policy prices cover soar, when a customer hits a certain age. In the most extreme cases these can be as low as 54. A spokesman at the British Bankers Association trade body said: The way we bank now is undergoing rapid change due to evolving consumer demographics, habits and preferences, and fast-changing technology. Looking out of the planes window, something felt very wrong. We were surely far too low in the sky. The tips of the wings were only yards from the jagged, snow-capped peaks of the Andes. What was the pilot thinking? The mood on board had been fantastic all my old rugby mates together on our way to a match in Chile, laughing and joking and singing, as young men do. But things had suddenly taken a terrifying turn. I felt the plane drop into a pocket of turbulence. Then another. It tried to pull up and gain altitude. Survivor: Roberto Canessa (left in 2008, and right in the aftermath of the crash) was a 19-year-old medical student travelling with his teammates from the Christian Brothers College rugby squad when their plane crashed over the Andes in October, 1972 But although the pilot had the engines at full thrust, they simply were not powerful enough. A moment later there was a hideous sound as a wing was lost to the mountain-top, followed by a shattering explosion, the sound of crumpling metal and a spinning descent. We were flung around as if in a hurricane. I felt stunned and dizzy and sick to my stomach as the body of the plane made contact with the snowy mountainside and began careering down it like a toboggan (I would later find out that wed been travelling at around 200mph). I was gripped by the realisation that I was going to die. I held on to my seat so fiercely that I tore off chunks of fabric with my bare hands. Bowing my head, I waited for the final blow that would send me into oblivion. But it didnt happen. We came to a violent stop. My seat, into which I was still strapped, ripped away from its moorings and ploughed into the one in front a chain reaction that didnt stop until all the seats were piled up against the cockpit. But I was still breathing. I was alive! All around me the air was filled with the moans and cries of the injured, along with the pungent fumes of jet fuel. The body of the plane was wide open, its fuselage torn apart and its tail section missing. There were mountains all around us where the rest of the plane should have been and a blizzard was whipping aside everything in its path, lashing us with cold. Desperate: Survivors by the crashed wreckage of the doomed plane. Only 16 of the 45 on board survived Like shadows from another world, heads and hands started to move about in their dislodged chairs. Someone behind me moved the tangle of seats and metal that was pinning me in. I turned round to see my old friend Gustavo Zerbino like me, a medical student. He looked at me as if to say: Youre alive, too! Wordlessly, we asked ourselves: Now what? Where do we begin? Together we clambered through the twisted and mangled wreckage of the plane. Many had lost their lives. Others were horribly maimed and injured. In the snow, I prayed to God for guidance An instinct to act kicked in, helping us to take our first steps. There was no time for doubts and questions. This ones alive . . . this ones dead, murmured Gustavo as we moved about the ruptured cabin. The cold was unimaginable. Instead of the 75 degrees it had been inside the cabin, it was now 10 degrees below zero. We opened luggage in search of jackets and sweaters, and T-shirts for bandages. Gustavo and I treated wounds, felt pulses, consoled. God, Im exhausted. Why is it so hard to breathe? The air was so thin I could barely function. For the first time I asked myself: Where the hell are we? How could a plane, filled with fuel, hit a mountain ridge and not explode? Darkness fell. Within minutes it was pitch black. We used a lighter to see, all the while fearing we might ignite the jet fuel that permeated the air. My hands were covered in the blood of the dying and the dead. Shattered, I curled up in a corner and tried to rest. Thinking how unlucky I was to be caught up in this unimaginable horror, I closed my eyes and, for the first time since the accident, checked all my senses. But as I moved my tired muscles and felt my body respond to each of my brains commands, I changed my mind. I was, by some miracle, completely unhurt. No one on earth was luckier than me. And for that, I am still daily grateful. At the time of that fateful accident Friday, October 13, 1972 I was a second-year medical student in Montevideo, Uruguay. I was also a rugby fanatic and the boyfriend of a beautiful doctors daughter, Lauri Surraco. Until that moment, my friends and I had been living in a predictable, privileged universe we were training to be lawyers, engineers, architects. Our rugby team veterans from our old school, the Christian Brothers College had chartered the 45-seater turboprop to carry us, with our families and fans, to a match in Santiago, Chile. We were young, healthy and happy. But in a split second all our expectations had been ripped apart. We had been cast into a hideous limbo. That first night seemed to last for ever. Then I woke up thinking I was in the middle of a nightmare, only to find it was real. Never the same again: The last eight survivors of an Uruguayan Air Force plane crash in the Andes huddle in the craft's fuselage on their final night before rescue What survived of the fuselage lay on its side in the snow, with eight cabin windows turned to the sky and five pressed against the ice below. Loose cables and wires dangled from the ceiling. Outside was a vast amphitheatre of open space. Argentina, I guessed, lay to the east while a huge, intractable wall of mountains hemmed us in on the western side. Several people had died overnight, including the co-pilot. My friend Nando Parrado, whom wed thought the previous day was dead, lay in a deep coma. Twelve of the passengers and crew had perished on impact. We laid the strips of flesh next to us. Then we ate them But despite our grief and shock, we did not despair. Although we had no radio or phone contact, we firmly believed that our rescue was imminent. The Chilean authorities knew before the plane had lost contact that we were in the foothills of their country, 100 miles from our destination. And our altimeter read only 7,000ft (we later learned this was wrong the needle had gone haywire in the crash. In fact our altitude was far higher). We rounded up whatever food we could find. Although there was very little, we rationed what we found equally, and shared the clothes in the luggage between us. The worst is behind us, we told ourselves. We must not panic. We must stay strong for those who were seriously injured. Together we formed an enormous cross in the snow with empty suitcases, and scratched out an SOS with our feet that might be visible from the air. But to our astonishment, no planes came. As night fell, we trudged back to the fuselage. The next morning we heard a jet flying high overhead, followed by a smaller propeller plane. Everybody swore we saw the first plane dip its wing, a clear message that it had seen us. We jumped and screamed and cried with joy. Fight to survive: The survivors rounded up whatever food they could find. Although there was very little, they rationed what they found equally, and shared the clothes in the luggage between them But help did not arrive that day, nor the next, nor the next. We lied to ourselves, to let ourselves down gently. Its not an easy rescue, we told each other; theyll need helicopters. Its only a matter of time before well see them. High above us we could see a commercial flight-path part of a world that was moving on without us. Gradually, as the days passed, the fractured cabin ceased to be the wreckage of a plane with a destination and became a refuge. Of the original 45 people on board, 12 had died in the crash and six more over the next few days. That left 27 of us, huddled inside the cabin. But we were no longer of this world. We had become like creatures from another planet. Storms in the Andes were keeping us trapped in the fuselage. Our rugby fraternity became a family, caring for each other unconditionally and learning to pool our best ideas. Our common goal was to survive but what we lacked was food. We had long since run out of the meagre pickings wed found on the plane, and there was no vegetation or animal life to be found After just a few days we were feeling the sensation of our own bodies consuming themselves just to remain alive. Before long we would become too weak to recover from starvation. We knew the answer, but it was too terrible to contemplate. For me, it was an honour to say that if my heart stopped beating, my arms and legs and muscles could still be part of our communal mission to get off the mountain The bodies of our friends and team-mates, preserved outside in the snow and ice, contained vital, life-giving protein that could help us survive. But could we do it? For a long time we agonised. I went out in the snow and prayed to God for guidance. Without His consent, I felt I would be violating the memory of my friends; that I would be stealing their souls. We wondered whether we were going mad even to contemplate such a thing. Had we turned into brute savages? Or was this the only sane thing to do? Truly, we were pushing the limits of our fear. Javier Methol, at 35 the oldest of our group, told us he, too, had prayed for help from above. He said that God told him to think of it like Holy Communion. Javier recited the New Testament verses to us: He who eats of my flesh and drinks of my blood will have eternal life. Take and eat, this is my body. Maybe a miracle might occur just in time to avoid what seemed to us a hideous transgression. Never had the consequences of time seemed so gruesome. But true hunger is atrocious, instinctive, primordial, and God witnessed the groaning of my insides. In time, a rational and loving answer emerged to calm my fears and give me inner peace. The words that several of us me included had said out loud in the aftermath of the crash came back to me: that if we died, the rest could use our bodies to survive. For me, it was an honour to say that if my heart stopped beating, my arms and legs and muscles could still be part of our communal mission to get off the mountain. I wanted to know Id still be playing my part. And now, as a doctor, I cannot help associating that event using a dead body to continue living with something that would be realised the world over in the coming decades: organ and tissue transplants. We were the ones to break the taboo. But the world would break it with us in the years to come, as what was once thought bizarre became a new way to honour the dead. Teammates: The rugby team veterans from their old school, the Christian Brothers College had chartered the 45-seater turboprop to carry them, with their families and fans, to a match in Santiago, Chile Gradually, each of us came to our own decision in our own time. And once we had done so, it was irreversible. It was our final goodbye to innocence. We were never the same again. I will never forget that first incision nine days after the crash, each man alone with his conscience on that infinite mountain-top, on a day colder and greyer than any before or since. Four of us Gustavo, Fito Strauch, my dear friend Daniel Maspons and me all of us with a razor-blade or shard of glass in his hand, carefully cutting the clothes off a body whose face we could not bear to look at. We laid the thin strips of frozen flesh aside on a piece of sheet metal. Each of us finally consumed our piece when we could bear to. A day later, on October 23, we heard on our tiny transistor radio that after more than 100 attempts to find us, the search had been called off. We matured fast, even though we had only recently left behind our adolescence. Those of us who were uninjured formed ourselves into reconnaissance parties and ventured out into the treacherous landscape; in part to look for a way out, in part simply to stop ourselves going mad. Towards the end of the first month, it snowed for days and the world seemed cloaked in grey. We huddled together, listening to the sound of avalanches in the distance. On October 29, it was my turn to sleep in the best part of the fuselage, near the cockpit away from the opening, alongside Daniel Maspons. Suddenly we heard an immense rumbling sound, like a terrible thunderstorm when its right on top of you. Before I could draw breath to wonder what was happening, I was smacked in the chest by a huge wall of ice and snow that became as hard as cement as it enveloped me. An avalanche. Death, surely, had come for me this time. I know I passed out. I have no idea for how long. I came round to find my friend Roy Harleys face in front of mine. He was frantically digging handfuls of snow away from my mouth. I gasped for breath and struggled out of my icy grave. The fuselage was filled with snow and ice. All of us were suffocating, and soaked. Suddenly, I remembered Daniel. He had been right next to me. Desperately I clawed through the icy snow, scraping at it until my nails bled. I dug and dug until I uncovered the face of my boyhood friend. Daniel, who had survived the crash without a scratch; who had set out fearlessly on our toughest hikes to try to find a way out. Waiting game: Survivors of the crash wait to be rescued. On December 8, they had heard on their radio that the search had been reinstated I swept the snow away from his face and out of his mouth, and leaned in to listen for his breath. But there was only silence. My beloved friend was dead. I continued digging until I fell over from exhaustion. One person emerged, then another. Some of them gasped for breath. Others did not. That night, the worst of my life, we lost eight more of our friends, along with everything that we had managed to construct: hammocks for the injured, the clothes on our backs, the ponchos and blankets wed made from seat covers. We had no food even the frozen bodies we were relying on to stay alive had been swept away By the bursts of flickering lighters that sputtered for lack of oxygen, we looked at one another as the reality of the situation dawned on us: we were entombed in an icy sarcophagus, God knows how many feet under snow. We had no food even the frozen bodies we were relying on to stay alive had been swept away. Everyone was waiting for someone to do something. Or for no one to do anything and just let the end come. Thats when I steeled myself to do what needed to be done: to use one of the bodies of the newly dead. I knew that if I didnt, it would be the end of us. I had already done things that I never in my darkest nightmares imagined Id have to do. I think studying medicine helped me to act like a surgeon, who manages to set aside his emotions while opening up a warm body and excising an organ. And so we took yet another step in the descent towards our ultimate indignity: to eat the body of the person lying next to us. Each of us would have to be stained with this blood if we were to keep the seed of life from withering. It took us three days to dig our way up to the cockpit. Finally we sat back in the captains chair, kicked out the front windscreen and crawled to the surface. We now knew our only hope of survival was for some of us to make a perilous journey into the unknown. Our hikes had initially been to help morale. Now they took on a deadly serious purpose: preparing us for the day when some of us would leave, possibly never to return. On November 17, during a practice expedition, we found the tail section and with it coats, cigarettes, batteries, a bottle of rum and a kilo of sugar. I also found my luggage, which was like stumbling across the person I used to be. It was redolent with the smell of my home, and a life before all this. Whatever it takes: After running out of food, the survivors had to make the agonising decision to eat the bodies of their dead teammates The discovery of the batteries gave us hope that we could repair the planes radio. But it was not to be. All we heard after days of trying was a garbled, hissing static that never became words. It looked as though Nando, my friend Antonio Vizintin and I would be the ones to go. And then something surprising happened. On December 8, we heard on our radio that the search for us had been reinstated. Even if it was only a mission to recover our bodies, we hadnt been forgotten. With that kind of news, I was filled with doubt about the wisdom of striking out on our own. With better weather, they might have a good chance of finding us. Three days later, Gustavo Zerbino came to speak to me privately. Numa is dead, he said. And in a couple of days Roy will be, too. If we wait any longer, were all going to die. Numa Turcatti had been the bravest of the brave. If he had succumbed, then it was only a matter of time before we all followed suit. If we were to survive this tragedy, it was up to us. I told Gustavo I was ready to start the next day. I felt like a man condemned to death, hoping against hope for something anything to stay his execution. That night I was unable to close my eyes. All I could think about, with terror in my head and heart, was the sheer walls of ice that lay between us and salvation. Professor Neena Modi's comments follow a string of blunders and the Mails revelation of a damning NHS report into the death of baby William Mead (pictured) One of Britains top childrens doctors has blasted the controversial 111 NHS out-of-hours hotline as not safe and effective. Professor Neena Modi, president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, said yesterday that even doctors find it difficult to diagnose serious illness in very small children, and it is much harder over the phone. She said it was very uncertain whether 111s call-handlers, who are not medically qualified, could safely deal with infants. Her comments follow a string of blunders and the Mails revelation of a damning NHS report into the death of baby William Mead, which also branded the hotline unsafe for seriously ill children. Professor Modi said: It is uncertain, because studies have not been adequately conducted, whether or not the telephone triage service such as NHS 111 is really going to be safe and effective for very small children. Even a clinician trying to make an assessment over the telephone would find it much more difficult in a smaller child than in an older child. Then when you add in the lack of clinical expertise, its going to be even more difficult. I feel really sorry for the call-handlers because they are being placed in a position that, really, its questionable that they should be placed in. Her concerns echo the findings of a damning report last month, which found serious failings by both 111 and an out-of-hours doctor in the case of baby William, who died of blood poisoning in December 2014. Both the call-handler and the doctor failed to spot that he was seriously ill with sepsis. The GP had to assess William on the phone without access to his medical records. Even more damningly, the report said that although there had been a string of blunders, the sepsis might still have been missed if the call had been handled properly. This was because the 111 system was not sensitive enough to spot key signs of serious illness in children. The Mail also revealed that chronic staff shortages mean that young call centre staff with just three weeks of training are being overwhelmed by calls. With no medical qualifications they have to follow computer prompts that often lead to a referral to a nurse. Professor Modi said it was very uncertain whether 111s call-handlers, who are not medically qualified, could safely deal with infants But few nurses are on standby and at times there is only one to serve 2.3million people. It is also thought that half a million calls to the helpline went unanswered over seven months. At the time Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt denied 111 was unsafe, and said reports it was overwhelmed suggested it was a victim of its own success. Professor Modi insists it should never happen that a doctor assesses a child over the phone with no access to records. The first thing a medical student is taught is to take the history, understand the background then do the examination, she said. When we try and take short cuts, things go wrong. And she criticised the lack of Government planning when the 111 service was launched. The time to do an evaluation is not after youve spent millions of pounds of money in introducing a system. You want to do that upfront, beforehand, she said. Professor Modi also deplored the decline of family doctors out-of-hours services. I think that has been a great, great loss for the country, she said. If you were to be able to speak to a general practitioner who knew your family, knew you and your kids, they would have a much better understanding and insight into the seriousness of the condition. Her comments were backed by Tory MP Dr Sarah Wollaston, chairman of the Health Select Committee, who said Williams death highlighted the risks when unqualified staff use a computer algorithm over the phone to try to assess the severity of a childs illness. She suggested that cases involving children and babies should be referred to a doctor or nurse at an earlier stage. Her concerns echo the findings of a damning report last month, which found serious failings by both 111 and an out-of-hours doctor in the case of baby William, who died of blood poisoning in December 2014 Williams mother Melissa, of Penryn in Cornwall, welcomed the professors comments. She said: I found the out-of-hours system that I used with William on the day before he died to be chaotic. I did not know that the call-handler wasnt assessing my call properly. I assume Im ringing a safe helpline that will signpost me in the right direction of care. George W. Bush was a bad president, but Bill Clinton was worse, Bernie Sanders' brother declared in an interview on Friday. Sanders' 80-year-old brother had some harsh words for former president Clinton, but didn't spare 2016 hopeful Hillary, either. Referring to media's handling of the Clinton couple's policies, Larry Sanders said: 'You don't get that detailed discussion. You get: "Is Hillary a nice person? Is Bill really such a terrible rapist or is he a nice rapist?"' 'It's at that level the discussionso you can imagine that people could have a pleasant opinion but not based on actual policies,' Sanders said in an interview with the Daily Beast. Scroll down for video George W. Bush was a bad president, but Bill Clinton was worse, Bernie Sanders' brother declared in an interview on Friday. Larry Sanders is pictured here in his kitchen in Oxford, England The Sanders brothers, Bernie and Larry, in an undated photograph. Larry, right, is six years older than Bernie Sanders accused former president Clinton of trying to 'make it personal' with his little brother. '[Clinton] was a dreadful presidentin generalfor poor people.' 'A lot of bad key policies didn't come in under the Bushes,' he said. 'The imprisonment stuff stems back to him, the breaking up of the welfare system stems back to him, which caused a lot of misery, the trade dealsthe NAFTA.' As for Hillary, Sanders deemed her moderate policies 'feeble.' 'I certainly dont dislike herBernard has been very clear to say he likes her and respects her but they have big differences on policy,' he said. 'Theyre not friends but theyre people who worked near each other for 20 years.' Sanders said his younger brother, whom he calls Bernard, is 'very socialist' in his political outlook. 'Bernard is a genuine socialist in his sense of class warfarethat he thinks there is not a national interest so much as there is an interest with sectors of the population,' he told the Daily Beast. 'In that sense, his passion and the sense of conflict between the major owners and the rest of the population is very socialist.' Sanders, who lives in the UK and works for the leftist Green Party, said he speaks to his brother every other Sunday. 'He'll say, "I'm tired. It's sooooo haaaard." So I say, "But it's going great?" and he says, "Yes, it's going great." I'm the outlet for thatI'm not sure he's even saying that to his wife.' Bernie Sanders is a 'genuine socialist in his sense of class warfare,' his brother Larry said As for the prospect of losing, Sanders said his little brother is not worried. 'What he said to me very clearly was: "I don't mind running and making a fool of myself, I've been humiliated beforeI'll go back to doing the job I love, no big sweat, but if I do badly then everyone will say: 'See, I told you, nobody is interested in that crap.'" And for a generation those ideas and the millions of people he thinks need those ideas will be wiped out,' Larry said. 'He would not have run if he thought he would damage the cause"I think I can make a respectable showing"that was his decision. Im not sure that he thought he could win.' But Sanders thinks there's a good chance that might happen. 'The nomination is the hard partif he wins the nomination it looks to me that he would win handily,' Sanders said. 'I think hes likely to win.' Larry Sanders, left, with little brother and future presidential candidate Bernie in an undated photograph In Larry Sanders' view, Bernie's switch from Independent to Democratic Party member in 2015 did not constitute a compromise. 'He's not selling outthere is nothing that he's conceded to the Democratic Party other than the label.' Speaking of the party establishment, Sanders said 'They must feel like they are up against a juggernaut at the momentit is astonishing with their huge array of elected officials, party officials, and so on.' 'And Bernie comes along and says they got it wrong. Not drastically, not as bad as the Republicans but they got it wrong. And people are saying: "Oh, yeah." And they must feelhow did that happen?' The Vermont senator has no plans to ditch the Democrats for a last-minute Independent run, Sanders said. 'He didn't want to go through all that bother and elect some right-wing terror. He thinks the Democratic Party should be like his policies.' An alleged stalking victim has slammed a senior police officer for 'victim shaming' after he said Australians should stop taking naked photos of themselves if they want to prevent revenge porn. Robyn Night, 37, of Brisbane, was forced to put a message on her house telling people to stay away after someone posing as her posted fake lewd photographs along with her address and an invitation for people to go there for sex. Her ordeal prompted her to start a petition to call out police who victim shame, and to introduce laws to combat revenge porn - when naked or sexual images of a person are shared without their consent to humiliate or embarrass them. Scroll down for video Mrs Night and her husband had to put up signs and security cameras in front of her house in response to dozens of visits from men expecting sex An Australian parliamentary inquiry being held into revenge porn has heard the act is an exponentially increasing crime. But authorities say they can't arrest their way out of the problem and must teach people to be more cautious about posting naked photos of themselves online. 'I'm devastated,' she wrote on her petition page, after hearing 'that the Australian Federal Police said that to stop revenge porn, people need to 'grow up' and stop sharing intimate photos.' Scroll down for video Pictured: Alleged stalking victim Robyn Night, 37, has slammed a senior police officer for 'victim shaming' Mrs Night alleged her persecutor photoshopped her head onto the body of naked woman, before impersonating her online and inviting them to her house for sex. She was described on sex site profiles as a 'gangbang slut' and 'no limit slave' who deserved 'extreme punishment' without her consent. Mrs Night then had to put up signs and security cameras in front of her house in response to dozens of visits from men expecting sex. 'I'm a married mother left frightened in my own home after my ex impersonated me online ten years down the line - I knew nothing about it. Over 50 strangers have knocked on my door demanding sex. 'We can't let police encourage victim shaming - please help me by telling the Minister for Women that Australia urgently needs revenge porn laws. 'Revenge porn has ruined my life - I feel so lonely, isolated and demoralised by the Australian Federal Police's comments. 'I'm determined to make sure perpetrators are punished,' Mrs Night wrote. Australians must 'grow up' and stop taking naked or explicit photos of themselves to curb the growing threat of revenge porn, Australian Federal Police Assistant Commissioner Shane Connelly said 'People just have to grow up in terms of what they're taking and loading on to the computer because the risk is so high,' Australian Federal Police Assistant Commissioner Shane Connelly told the inquiry in Sydney on Thursday. When asked whether he was victim-blaming, Assistant Commissioner Connelly denied he was, but said 'wicked' people would always try to take advantage of others and linked that to revenge porn, cyber-crime and online child abuse. '(They say) if you go out in the snow without clothes on you'll catch a cold - if you go on to the computer without your clothes on, you'll catch a virus,' he said. 'It's a wicked analogy but it's pretty realistic.' Police charged a 41-year-old Redland Bay man with stalking over the alleged offences against Mrs Night and he is due to appear in court again next month, The Brisbane Times reported. Revenge porn is when naked or sexual images of a person are shared without their consent to humiliate or embarrass them (stock image) An Australian parliamentary inquiry being held into revenge porn has heard the act is an exponentially increasing crime (stock image) He also stressed education plays a critical part in tackling the problem. Children's eSafety Commissioner Alastair MacGibbon said criminal sanctions will need to be teamed with education and prevention to tackle the problem. 'You can't just arrest (your way) out of a social problem,' he told the inquiry. Commissioner MacGibbon added that it needs to be made easier and faster for victims to have images removed. 'People just have to grow up in terms of what they're taking and loading on to the computer because the risk is so high,' Australian Federal Police Assistant Commissioner Shane Connelly said (stock image) Children's eSafety Commissioner Alastair MacGibbon said criminal sanctions will need to be teamed with education and prevention to tackle the problem South Australia and Victoria are the only Australian jurisdictions with laws targeting revenge porn, with a maximum penalty of two years' imprisonment. Tasmania Sexual Assault Support Service policy officer Alex Martin said national laws were need to send a strong message that revenge porn was not acceptable. The Attorney-General's Department is advising the government on whether new laws are required to deal with the growing issue. We've frozen our way through the first half of February. But were finally ready to thaw out as temperatures are set to rise to twice the average for this time of year making Britain hotter than Spain. Thermometers in the South East are likely to hit a balmy 15C (59F) tomorrow twice the usual 7C (45F) for this time of year. The rising sun reflects in the River Avon at Malmesbury, Wiltshire, on a frosty morning on Friday However, although we are set for Mediterranean temperatures, the sunshine is likely to be lacking as rain is also expected, particularly in Wales and the North West. Laura Caldwell, forecaster for MeteoGroup, said: Were expecting a mild weekend. Itll be several degrees above average for this time of the year. The westerly flow of mild air over the southern half of the country will bring warm temperatures but itll still be cold in the North and Scotland. The increase in temperature will be a welcome relief after the cold and icy start to the month. However, Miss Caldwell added that the latest cold snap has been more noticeable because of the mild start to the winter. Because we had such a mild January and December, it felt colder, and now comparatively warm this weekend. The weather has been very topsy turvy, she said. So while parts of the country will be hotter than Madrid this weekend, which will be 12C (54F), the mild weather will fail to reach Scotland and the North. There are weather warnings in place for rain in Wales and North West England, with heavy and persistent showers expected over high ground, as well as strong winds. You do start to wonder if Oxford University students ever have any time to study anything, given the amount of time they devote to arguing. Most British universities seem to be brimming with outrage these days. But Oxford is out in front. Theres been that furious campaign to topple the statue of Cecil Rhodes, the colonial adventurer who donated a fortune to his alma mater but is now accused of racism. There have been furious rows, schisms and resignations in Oxfords feminist, gay and transgender communities. Left, former Oxford University Labour Club co-chairman Alex Chalmers and right, Ed Miliband, who is among the club's old boys Last term, the militant lesbian in charge of racial awareness had to step down after accusations of sex that was not consensual. Everyone seems to be shouting about diversity. Dropping in at the Oxford Union one night this week, I find the illustrious debating society arguing whether to boycott the Oscars ceremony because of the absence of black faces among the main nominations. And the student Left is as strident as anyone can recall, invigorated by the election of Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader. But all of a sudden, amid all the posturing and foot-stomping about discrimination everywhere else in the world, comes a genuine and deeply disturbing racism scandal right here in Oxford. And it concerns the universitys main Left-wing organisation, the Oxford University Labour Club no less. For these commissars of political correctness now themselves stand accused of blatant anti-Semitism. This week, the British and Israeli governments along with several Labour MPs voiced serious concerns about a local dispute which raises some very big and awkward questions. For example, why does Britains student Left have a problem with Jews? And why is Britain at the forefront of a global movement which claims that the vile and brutal Zionist entity of Israel must be stopped at all costs? These are the disturbing allegations raised by Alex Chalmers who, until this week, had been the energetic co-chairman of the Oxford University Labour Club (OULC). Its an organisation which prides itself on being Britains biggest student Labour club and which has produced plenty of Cabinet ministers in its time, not least former Labour leader Ed Miliband and many of his cohorts. Senior members defend the killing of civilians But after this weeks foul-tempered meeting, during which members endorsed a movement which seeks to dismantle the state of Israel, Chalmers who is not Jewish decided that enough was enough. He resigned from OULC saying that the attitudes of certain members of the club towards certain disadvantaged groups was becoming poisonous. And he didnt hold back. He offered plenty of examples. He accused members of the executive of throwing around the term Zio (a term for Jews usually confined to websites run by the Ku Klux Klan) with casual abandon. He spoke of senior members of the club expressing their solidarity with Hamas [the terrorist organisation which controls the Palestinian enclave of Gaza] and explicitly defending their tactics of indiscriminately murdering civilians. Chalmers cited the example of a former co-chair claiming that most accusations of anti-Semitism are just the Zionists crying wolf. Most damning of all was his claim that a large proportion of both OULC and the student Left in Oxford more generally have some kind of problem with Jews. Role model: Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn joining his fellow campaigners an anti-Israel protest. Mr Corbyn and his party need to decide where their true loyalties lie Labour Party HQ might have hoped to put it all down to sour grapes and silly students and wait for the story to die. But it has not. Instead, the Labour Party has now had to instigate a formal investigation and fast. For the resignation of Alex Chalmers has prompted hitherto reluctant members of Oxfords Jewish community to come forward with alarming stories of the new form of anti-Semitism spreading across the campuses of Britain. For a long time, Jewish students have not wanted to make a fuss and just keep their heads down but now they feel its time to speak out, says Dave Rich, of the Community Security Trust which advises Jewish organisations on self-protection. If this can happen at the Labour club at our most important university, it cant be ignored. The Oxford Jewish Society has applauded Chalmers for speaking out and has produced a catalogue of recent allegations of anti-Semitism by Labour Club members. They range from singing Rockets Over Tel Aviv to a member who said it was not anti-Semitic to talk of a New York- Tel Aviv axis in world politics. These students could be future cabinet ministers This unnamed member also warned: We should be aware of the influence wielded over elections by high-net-worth Jewish individuals. More disturbingly, it reported that a Labour member had been formally disciplined by his college for organising a campaign of harassment against a Jewish student who was to be called a filthy Zionist. Pieced together, it will make uncomfortable reading for mainstream Labour Party supporters. To make matters worse, a senior member of the OULC, who is Jewish, has described some of the casual racism witnessed at recent Labour meetings. I am not used to eyes being rolled when I start a sentence with as a Jew, Ellie Taylor told the university newspaper, Cherwell. Last night, however, I witnessed a side to the club which was thoroughly unpleasant and I am increasingly becoming aware of some of the awful outbursts about Jews which have been made over the past 12 months. Tough words from a woman who has just been elected womens officer of the very same organisation. Unsurprisingly, some Labour figures have denounced the partys student branch. The protest for the removal of the statue of Cecil Rhodes which is in the front of Oriel College, Oxford Hugely embarrassing, says John Mann, MP for Bassetlaw. This is something Jeremy Corbyn should personally look into. Ed Miliband has pulled out of an OULC dinner which he was due to address next month. His office has said that he will wait until the results of the internal investigation. Alex Chalmerss resignation followed the Oxford University Labour Clubs vote to endorse an extremist worldwide anti-Zionist campaign which launches on Monday. Israeli Apartheid Week seeks not only to bolster the BDS movement (which calls for boycott, divestment and sanctions against all things Israeli). It also aims to portray Israel as a white supremacist pariah, like the apartheid-era South African government, because of its colonial treatment of Palestinian people. A glance at the campaigns map of events planned around the world show that by far the largest concentration is in Britain. The vile and brutal Zionist Israeli entity must be stopped at all costs, say the organisers of one London event, likening Israel to Nazi Germany. Their obscene intentions are now clear. They are intent on wiping out the Palestinian race. So the Oxford University branch of the Labour Party is now formally affiliated to a movement which wants to break up the state of Israel. Yesterday, former Labour Club officials joined forces with a cross-party alliance of Oxford students, urging the club to withdraw its support for Israeli apartheid. When I call the current chair, Noni Csogor, she tells me there are no plans for another vote on the matter. Beyond that, she has no comment. So where does the Labour leadership really stand on all this? An insidious, ugly attitude is taking root The disturbing answer is that you dont have to look hard to find links between organisations supporting Israeli Apartheid Week and Labour luminaries, including Jeremy Corbyn himself. What Jews find worrying is that were not talking about some fringe outfit. These people could be the ministers of tomorrow, says John, a third-year Jewish student who is a Labour Party supporter, though not one of its current leaders. Jeremy Corbyn has a track record of supporting organisations which create an atmosphere of anti-Semitism. He is the darling of these people. Like so many on the Left, they will say they deplore all forms of anti-Semitism, but were not talking about old-style anti-Semitism. Its not about Nazis running through the streets these days. Its more subtle. I am sitting in a cafe on Oxfords High Street with John and two other Jewish students. John is not his real name. Along with his friends, he asks me not to identify him as he says hes had his fill of furtive discrimination. Its got a great deal worse over the past year, says his friend, Simon. And the worst of it is on social media. They show me several alarming blogs and websites. One website for gay and transgender students recently banned anyone deemed to be Zio from its ranks, while one member went as far as advocating the removal of anyone with a Jewish-sounding name. What would make it all so laughable, if it wasnt so chillingly hypocritical, is that Israel is one of the only places in the Middle East where these oh-so-righteous custodians of the moral high ground could live without discrimination or worse. Indeed, Tel Aviv has been voted one of the most gay-friendly cities in the world. Also, the freedoms enjoyed by Israeli women defy comparison with the miserable lives of their counterparts in many of the Muslim countries which surround it. Anyone setting up an organisation like Oxfords Zio-hating forum for queer and trans students in most parts of the Middle East could expect a knock on the door in the middle of the night. And, in areas controlled by ISIS, theyd be flung from the nearest block of flats faster than they could shout Germaine Greer. It is true that Israel has serious questions to answer about its treatment of Palestinians within and without its borders. I have visited the Gaza Strip and seen the effects of the Israeli blockade on everything from health to education. But I have also seen the piles of shrapnel on the Israeli side where local residents have a matter of seconds to seek shelter every time Hamas fires a rocket at them. There can no longer be any doubt that an ugly, insidious and deeply disturbing new strain of anti-Semitism is taking root among the far-Left in Britains universities (stock image) For now, its a stalemate. But compared to many of its neighbours where human rights violations abound Israel is a beacon of democracy. It is these double standards which anger Oxfords Jewish students. Were not allowed to define our own oppression in the way that other minorities can, explains Simon. When someone complains about anti-Semitism, they are belittled and told its not anti-Semitism. Yet when someone complains about sexism or racism practised against other minorities, its instant gospel truth. The whole Israel-Palestine debate, he says, has less to do with concerns about Palestinians or Islamic identity and more about Left-wing ideology. Where you stand on Israel is now the litmus test of your political position on a whole range of issues. It is a view shared by political analysts such as Tom Gross, a Jewish writer and commentator who studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Oxford with David Cameron. There was none of this sort of stuff back then, he says. The Israel apartheid campaign is about demonising a small country which has done very well in protecting minority rights. If the Left focused their anger on human rights abuses in every country, they might have more of a point. You dont have to search hard for talk of Zionist conspiracies on Left-wing Oxford University online forums. But the other side of the debate is aired much less. For example, there is scant discussion of the way in which this global campaign to delegitimise Israel has been driven by the far Left in Britain. It is detailed at length in a study by Ehud Rosen of the Jerusalem-based Centre For Public Affairs. He has explored the rise of the so-called red/green alliance between red socialist and green Islamist pressure groups, charting the ever-closer relationship between radical British socialism and hardline Islamism. It includes a helpful diagram that links Jeremy Corbyns beloved Stop The War Coalition to the radical Muslim Brotherhood and terrorist organisations such as Hamas which Mr Corbyn once called friends. Perhaps as Israeli Apartheid Week gets going in the days ahead, Jeremy Corbyn will take the opportunity to clarify the situation: does the Labour Party have a problem with its students or with Jews? For there can no longer be any doubt that an ugly, insidious and deeply disturbing new strain of anti-Semitism is taking root among the far-Left in Britains universities. An 'independent' inquiry into sex abuse at the BBC has been branded a farce after it failed to interview the key whistleblower until more than three years of investigations had taken place. The BBC commissioned retired judge Dame Janet Smith to conduct a 'thorough' review in 2012 but she had no contact with Karin Ward until January just weeks before its publication next Thursday. Miss Ward, 57, was one of the first to publicly unmask Jimmy Savile as a serial paedophile and rapist a scandal which sparked the biggest crisis in the BBC's history. Miss Ward, 57, was one of the first to publicly unmask Jimmy Savile as a serial paedophile and rapist The mother of seven has told how she was forced to perform sex acts on the Jim'll Fix It star in the back of his Rolls-Royce, and saw Gary Glitter having sex with an underage girl in Savile's BBC dressing room, during the filming of his show Clunk Click. She also said she was 'groped' by Freddie Starr when she was just 15. Mr Starr was cleared after an 18-month investigation but lost a libel case against Miss Ward last year. Dame Janet finally interviewed Miss Ward on January 18 less than a month before the completed report was handed to the BBC and days after a leaked version showed that the review was already on track to exonerate the BBC for the decades of abuse on its premises. Miss Ward saw Gary Glitter (pictured) having sex with an underage girl in Savile's BBC dressing room Karin Ward told how she was forced to perform sex acts on the Jim'll Fix It star in the back of his Rolls-Royce DETECTIVES TO SIFT THROUGH 4,500 EDWARD HEATH BOXES Detectives investigating child sex claims against Edward Heath are planning to sift through 4,500 boxes containing his private papers. Wiltshire police are recruiting civilian investigators to examine the uncatalogued archive even though the former prime minister died more than a decade ago. The move comes after Scotland Yard was accused of wasting resources on Operation Midland, its 2million inquiry into claims of a paedophile ring in Westminster in the 1970s and 1980s. Advertisement The review had spoken to 107 witnesses who suspected Savile of molesting young girls but the leaked draft report said it was accepted that managers did nothing to stop him as they had no 'hard evidence'. Victims of his decades-long abuse have dismissed the inquiry as a 10million 'whitewash'. The revelation that it has only just questioned Miss Ward is likely to confirm their fears it had reached its conclusions before all the evidence was heard. It is not clear why the review took so long to interview her. Middle-class pension savers could be robbed of 8billion a year under dramatic plans being pored over by government officials. The Treasury is considering a move to pare back tax breaks on retirement funds in the Budget next month as the Chancellor tries to boost the public finances in the face of the struggling global economy. In the first indication of the size of the potential raid, the Daily Mail has learnt that savers could lose a quarter of the perks they are given for saving into a fund. Middle-class pension savers could be robbed of 8billion a year under dramatic plans being pored over by government officials (file image) Officials have held lengthy discussions about reducing the 34.3billion cost of tax relief by as much as a quarter 8billion. Currently, all savers get a full income tax refund of up to 45 per cent when they pay into a pension, meaning they pay no tax on the money put aside. Under the plans being discussed, anyone earning more than 42,385 would get only a partial refund. However, the Treasury insists it has yet to make a decision on which course of action to take. TAXES MAY GO UP TO CUT DEBT The Chancellor may need to raise taxes if he is to meet his target of putting Britain back in the black by 2020, experts warned yesterday. Bumper tax receipts in January helped deliver a surplus in public finances of 11.2billion. But while this was the largest surplus for any January since 2008, it was 1billion less than many forecasters predicted and therefore may not be enough to allow George Osborne to keep borrowing down to reduce the deficit. So far this financial year the nation has borrowed 66.9billion, a drop of 10.7billion or 13.7 per cent from the year before. But if it continues at the current rate, total borrowing for the year will come to 79billion, almost 6billion more than was forecast. City firm RBC Capital Markets said it will be a challenge for the Government not to exceed its deficit target this year. But there was some good news: January figures show that national debt fell slightly year-on-year for the first time since 2002. Advertisement The radical plans were drawn up by former government adviser and investment banker, Michael Johnson, who has had a series of meetings with the Treasury in the last two months. He said: When it comes to pensions tax relief now is the time to act decisively. If the Chancellor is to reform the matter in which he incentivises saving, he should focus on simplification, while also securing a substantial saving to the Exchequer to help address the deficit. Last night experts warned that an 8billion tax grab would deal a crushing blow to the middle-classes. Tom McPhail, head of retirement policy at investment firm Hargreaves Lansdown, said: This shows for the first time the true scale of the Chancellors ambitions when it comes to making savings from pensions. The danger is that this will hit workers earning between 45,000 and 50,000 year hardest and could put them off saving for retirement. George Osborne undoubtedly needs a lot of money but he has to make sure that he does not wreck savers retirements as a result. Jason Hollands, director at advice firm Tilney Bestinvest, said: Cutting tax relief seems to be a soft target for the Chancellor who might view it as a silver bullet that will boost the economy. But in reality it will be stealth tax on Middle England. Money Mail is campaigning against the tax raid. The world's busiest airport - Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport - has issued a warning to its TSA agents over too few screeners and growing passenger wait times at checkpoints. Hartsfield-Jackson general manager Miguel Southwell told TSA Administrator Peter Neffenger in a letter that the airport's security screening checkpoints are 'woefully understaffed' and 'things appear to be getting worse'. He goes on to write that if things don't change, private security personnel under the TSA's Screening Partnership Program would be brought in to replace the current staffers. The letter, which was sent on February 12 and published by WSB-TV, went on to discuss what both TSA and the airport were doing for checkpoint effectiveness and what could be changed. Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport told TSA that if things don't change, private security personnel under the TSA's Screening Partnership Program would be brought in (file photo of Hartsfield-Jackson Airport) The letter, which was sent on February 12, went on to discuss what both TSA and the airport were doing for checkpoint effectiveness and what could be changed (file photo of Hartsfield-Jackson Airport) Southwell writes in the letter that passengers have been waiting more than half at hour at checkpoints due to staffing shortages. He goes on to write that if things don't change, private security personnel under the TSA's Screening Partnership Program would be brought in to replace the current staffers. 'Several times throughout the day from May to October 2015, wait times (at TSA checkpoints) exceeding 35 minutes were not uncommon,' Southwell wrote. 'This is unacceptable as reflected in the customer service surveys of our hub carrier Delta Air Lines.' 'This morning as I write this letter, wait times up to 52 minutes were experienced between 6:00 am and 6:30 am,' he added. Though TSA's Atlanta airport team saw a 7.5 per cent staffing increase last year, Southwell claimed it was 'late an inadequate', because the airport saw a ten per cent increase in passenger traffic in the same period. Hartsfield-Jackson saw more than 96million passengers in 2014, with traffic only increasing. Southwell claimed in the letter that traffic increased by 14 per cent in the first quarter of this fiscal year and that he is 'dreading the outcome of of 2016'. Hartsfield-Jackson saw more than 96million passengers in 2014, and traffic at the airport has been increasing (file photo of Hartsfield-Jackson Airport) Airport management have initiated programs to expedite security programs, including that TSA Pre-Check or Global Entry and new screening technology (file photo of O'Hare Airport) TSA confirmed that it had received the letter and is currently reviewing it, according to AOL. Airport management have initiated programs to expedite security programs, including that TSA Pre-Check or Global Entry and new screening technology. Southwell doesn't believe, however, that these programs will bring much help. 'Even with all of our efforts, however, as the airport's experience demonstrates, things appear to be only getting worse,' Southwell said. Mike England, a spokesman for the TSA said in a statement to Business Insider that the issues raised by Southwell 'are a concern. 'We recognize that the issues raised in the letter are a concern, not just in Atlanta, which is fueled primarily by the rapid growth in travel volume combined with a renewed focus on our security mission,' He wrote in the email statement. Students who demand protection from controversial views are the product of a mollycoddled snowflake generation, the Governments behaviour tsar has warned. Tom Bennett said the problem began at school when too many children were protected from the harsher realities of the world and then had trouble coping with challenging ideas at university. Schools should do more to teach children not to feel scared that other people will disagree with them and instead encourage discussion and debate, he said. Pupils as young as four should be taught to confront difficult truths in life, including discussing prejudice against gay people. Students who demand protection from controversial views are the product of a mollycoddled snowflake generation, the Governments behaviour tsar has warned. Pictured is a protest for the removal of the statue of Cecil Rhodes in Oriel Square, Oxford Mr Bennetts comments come after a number of no-platforming incidents, in which students have campaigned to block controversial speakers appearing on campuses over their supposedly offensive views. Last month, it emerged that more than one in five universities including prestigious Russell Group institutions had a safe space policy, in order to protect students from mental harm at debates or events. And protesters at Oxford have demanded a statue of colonialist Cecil Rhodes be torn down. Mr Bennett, a teacher from Glasgow and former nightclub manager who advises Nicky Morgan, the Education Secretary, on classroom behaviour, said he was against no-platforming. If you want to create a healthy community of people who are liberally minded and prone towards compassion and democracy, you need to start encouraging those values quite early on and principally by role modelling, he said. Tom Bennett advises Education Secretary Nicky Morgan (pictured) Help them go to university, and encourage children not to be scared that other people will disagree with them. [With] generation snowflake, sometimes, there is an element of truth that children are a little bit inoculated perhaps against the harsher realities of the world. And then when they go to university they might then encounter a truth that may overwhelm them. No wonder they are seeking safe spaces, because they cant handle that truth. Speaking at a conference on free speech last week, Mr Bennett said that he had not seen no-platforming in schools, but some teachers were keen to steer clear of difficult topics. We need to help children develop to become more robust and to understand ideas that are contrary to their own by role modelling. He said it was irresponsible for adults to pretend that offensive views did not exist and instead should create a kind of healthy space not a safe space for debate to appear. Rory Feek wrote about Valentine's Day, the Grammy Awards, his new album and his daughter's birthday in a new blog post on This Life I Live in what he is calling a 'week to remember.' Those four major events are all happened this past week for Rory and his terminally-ill wife Joey, who has continued to defy the odds in her battle against stage IV cervical cancer. And even better than Rory's words were the photos he shared of Joey watching as her daughter blew out her candles, a smiling Indiana celebrating her second birthday and, most touching, an image of Rory and Joey laying in bed together for the first time since November. Scroll down for videos Touching: Rory Feek shared details of the past week which included a Valentine's Day where her and Joey got to lie in bed together for the first time in months (above) Happy day: Joey had said her only wish after being diagnosed with terminal cancer was to live long enough to see her daughter turn two (above) Big night: The couple were also nominated for their first Grammy on Monday, and watched the ceremony from their home in Indiana (above) 'Indy and I drove through what seemed like a blizzard on Sunday afternoon to pick up dinner for Joey for Valentines Day,' wrote Rory. 'My wife loves sushi and I had decided that morning that we could surprise her with some of her favorite rolls.' The sushi seemed to do the trick that night as well, with Rory saying of his wife; 'Starting that night, her appetite came back and she had the greatest time.' After dinner is when the couple were able to enjoy a special moment they had not experienced in months. 'When dinner was over, as I said goodnight and tucked the blankets around her in the little hospital bed she has been living in for months, she thanked me for the special night and then made one last request. If Jody helps me to scoot over to one sidecould you try to lay down with me and put your arms around me?' wrote Rory. 'I havent been able to be in the same bed with my wife or hold her in my arms since the beginning of November when she made her last trip to the hospital. 'But for one sweet half-an-hour that changed on Valentines day.' The next day was the Grammy Awards, and Rory revealed that after watching the ceremony he learned that it is not just an honor to be nominated. 'Instead, I would say that just being able to wake up and look into the eyes of the people we care about and tell them that we love them is enough,' said Rory. 'Everything else is just icing on the cake.' He also said that despite their loss the couple is still hoping to get nominated next year. 'The morning after the award show, Joey looked into my eyes and said, Im sorry we didnt win us a Grammy,'" wrote Rory. 'I smiled and said, thats okay. Then jokingly, I added, theres always next year. She smiled back at me and said, yes next year."' Rory shared a slew of photos of Indiana enjoying her birthday cake 'For the most part, Indianas big day was nothing but joy and more joy. She has a way of bringing even the most painful parts of life back into perspective,' wrote Rory. After learning last October that her stage 4 cervical cancer was terminal and she had six months to live at most, Joey's only wish was to live long enough to see her daughter have one more birthday. 'Joey barely slept the night before Indianas birthday. She was too excited,' said Rory 'When Joey woke up, a little before noon, I came in to see her and tears were flowing down her face,' wrote Rory on his blog Rory then added; 'I put my arms around her and asked, why are you crying honey? 'We made it, she softly answered. We made it."' The big event however was Indiana's second birthday. After learning last October that her stage 4 cervical cancer was terminal and she had six months to live at most, Joey's only wish was to live long enough to see her daughter have one more birthday. 'Joey barely slept the night before Indianas birthday. She was too excited. Jody said she didnt fall asleep until about 5 am, around the time that Indy and I woke up,' said Rory. 'When Joey woke up, a little before noon, I came in to see her and tears were flowing down her face. Again, I put my arms around her and asked, why are you crying honey? 'We made it, she softly answered. We made it."' Joey got to watch her daughter blow out her birthday candles and Indiana could be seen smiling from ear to ear in photos from the day, especially as she enjoyed her cake. 'For the most part, Indianas big day was nothing but joy and more joy. She has a way of bringing even the most painful parts of life back into perspective,' wrote Rory. And that was not all either, as the couple learned that their new album was selling out in some stores. 'Our manager Aaron called us yesterday morning and told us that lots of folks have been buying our new Hymns album and that stores across the country have had a hard time keeping them in stock since they went on sale earlier this week,' said Rory. 'I put it on speaker phone so Joey could listen and hear the wonderful news and say hi to Aaron. When we hung up, Joey and I sat there holding hands knowing that in time those sales could turn into some income for our family and that could really help, now that there are no more concerts or income from shows. 'We talked about what a blessing it was, and then she looked at me very seriously and said, I need you to do something for me." 'I told her I would be glad to. Then with all the sincerity in the world, she said, I need you to be generous God has blessed us so much. We need to bless others."' Gifts: Rory also shared a photo of Indiana opening some of her many birthday gifts (above) Big day: Joey got a special cake (above) for Valentine's Day Bigger day: And Indiana got a special cake (above) for her second birthday Romance: Rory shared a photo of Joey on Valentine's Day as the two enjoyed some sushi (above) Joey had appeared to be defying the odds after being given six months to live last October, making remarkable progress despite being told she would be bedridden for the remainder of her life in late November. She got out of bed in December and then began to walk again, all things that seemed impossible just weeks before. She even got to spend Christmas with her family near her childhood home in Alexandria, Indiana. Then, at the beginning of the year, things began to take a turn for the worse. Joey, 40, was diagnosed with cancer in June 2014, just a few months after she and Rory welcomed Indiana, who was born with Down's syndrome. The cancer eventually spread and in October doctors revealed there nothing they could do for Joey. Joey was as a restaurant owner when she met Rory, falling in love with him as he performed during a songwriter's night. He was also a single father with two daughters, another reason Joey has said she was first attracted to him. On June 15, 2002, the couple was married in a small ceremony. Joey shared how she first fell in love with Rory in an interview with People earlier this year, saying; 'Rory was singing In the Round at the Bluebird Cafe in Nashville with three other songwriters. 'I was just one of dozens of people in the audience that night. From the first song Rory sang, I fell head over heels for him.' She then added: 'I didn't even know him, but something inside me said, "You're going to marry that man and spend the rest of your lives together."' And while Rory was a noted songwriter who had penned hits for artists such as Blake Shelton, the couple got their big break in 2008 when they appeared on the reality show Can You Duet which aired on Country Music Television. They finished in third place on the show and signed a record contract soon after - and have been making music ever since right up until the release of their new album on Friday. 'Our music has taken us many incredible places and let us experience some amazing things in the past 8 years and people we meet have often asked if we had a plan to get to where we are. Ive always answered, yes, theres a master plan its just not ours,'" Rory wrote in a blog post last week. The State Department has released the latest batch of Hillary Clinton's emails indicating that at least 1,730 emails she sent or received contained classified material. None of the 562 documents released from the former Secretary of State's email account on Friday were upgraded to 'secret' or 'top secret.' The department said portions 64 of the documents were upgraded to the 'confidential' level, although none of the information was marked 'classified' at the time the emails were sent. Scroll down for video The State Department released the latest batch of Hillary Clinton's emails on Friday, indicating portions of 64 of the documents were upgraded to the 'confidential' level, although none of the information was classified at the time the emails were sent. Hillary and Bill Clinton pictured on Saturday in Nevada The 1,116 pages made public on Friday bring the total page count of released Clinton emails to 46,946. The State Department plans to finish making her emails public on February 29, a day before the critical Super Tuesday primaries. Earlier this month, the FBI formally confirmed it was investigating Clinton's private emails, giving fuel to a controversy that the frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination has been unable to put behind her. The FBI's investigation first became public in July. In January, the State Department said 22 of the documents found on the former First Lady's private server contained material considered 'top secret.' The 22 emails will not be released to the public, according to McClatchy DC. Clinton acknowledged in March that she exclusively used a private email account and private server from 2009 to 2013 while secretary of state, opting against a government account despite official recommendations. The department was ordered last year to have released all the emails it had from Clinton's private email server by January 29, but asked the court for an extension last month, saying it had forgotten to send about 7,000 pages of emails to other departments for internal reviews. More than 1,500 of her emails contain what the State Department said is classified information, and her critics have said she endangered government secrets and foiled government transparency laws. Clinton disputes this and says her arrangement was allowed under the rules in place at the time. She returned about 54,000 pages of her emails to the department in 2014, and her staff have said that an unknown number of her emails have been lost. Contreras ordered the State Department to release the emails to the public last year after Jason Leopold, a reporter for VICE News, sued the department under freedom of information laws. The State Department plans to finish making her emails public on February 29, a day before the critical Super Tuesday primaries Clinton has said she welcomes their release and her staff have said the department is over-classifying them. On Saturday, Democrats were holding a caucus in Nevada, the first test for Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders in a more racially diverse state. While Clinton's campaign once saw the Western battleground as an opportunity to start pulling away from Sanders, her team is nervously anticipating a close contest with the Vermont senator. New research shows if women really want to give others the impression they are good at their jobs, the answer is simple wear trousers, not a skirt In today's workplace, a woman's chances of success should be down to nothing more than sheer competence and dedication. But it seems there are more complex factors at play when women try to climb the career ladder. New research shows if women really want to give others the impression they are good at their jobs, the answer is simple wear trousers. A study published in the Journal of Social Psychology shows both men and other women are more likely to view female colleagues as professionally competent if they wear trousers, rather than a skirt. The same applies if they do their make-up rather than turn up bare-faced and adorn themselves in modest amounts of jewellery, such as a black pearl necklace and a small pair of earrings. The study, by psychologists at the University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany, also revealed women have more chance of being hired for a job if they have their hair down, rather than in a braid. It makes potential bosses and workmates see them as warmer and more friendly. The research is published against a background of male dominance in the boardrooms of the world's major companies. Only five per cent of Fortune 500 companies' CEOs, for example, are women. Yet there are more women graduates in the EU and US than men. Previous studies have shown workers tend to associate managers with what are considered male characteristics, such as confidence, rather than female traits, like warmth and friendliness. Psychologists call this the 'think-manager-think-male' phenomenon. Researchers wanted to see if these perceptions were also affected by what prospective female colleagues wore. They recruited 354 adults mostly female aged 18 to 55 and showed them photographs of models dressed as professional women. Each one was pictured 16 times wearing different combinations of clothes, cosmetics and jewellery. In some, they had loose hair, make-up, smart black trousers and a black pearl necklace with small matching earrings. In others, they wore their hair in a tight braid, no make-up or jewellery and a black skirt. The volunteers were asked to judge how competent they thought the women would be, according to their appearance. Also if they wear modest amounts of jewellery, apply make-up and let their hair down, they are seen as good in their jobs Women in trousers, make-up and jewellery fared significantly better than those in skirts. The recruits were then asked to score them in terms of whether they would hire them, with one 'under no circumstances' and five 'most certainly'. They were seen as much more employable when they had loose, flowing hair than when it was tied up. In a report on the findings researchers said: 'The results showed make-up, jewellery and trousers seem to have an enhancing effect on the perceived competence. 'Meanwhile, loose hair increased the likelihood of getting hired.' Professor Cary Cooper, an expert in organisational psychology at Manchester Business School, said women who dress like men are often perceived by others as more professional. 'But it begs the question why?,' he added. 'Women should be judged solely on what they deliver. It's a sad reflection on society's stereotypes about what's professional and what isn't. The Hon Jacob Rees-Mogg, Conservative MP for North-East Somerset The Hon Jacob Rees-Mogg, Conservative MP for North-East Somerset, never has breakfast. Why are you shocked? he asks. Did you think I would have an egg and my newspaper ironed? Well, yes, actually. Isnt the son of the late Lord Rees-Mogg Eurosceptic, libertarian, papist and imminently a father of five known as the Honourable Member for the 18th Century by sketch writers, and a backbench Bertie Wooster? Ha! he laughs, adjusting his frameless specs. Sorry to spoil your image but I get out of bed and go to the office. I eat nothing until lunch. Not even a Bath Oliver. In 17 years of knowing Rees-Mogg, 46, Ive never seen him nettled, let alone cross. Hes one of the most polite, kindest people Ive ever met. Today he looks as he has done always: pale and lean in a suit from Savile Row tailor Henry Poole, black hair neatly dissected by a chalk-white parting. He insists that he finds a bogus Twitter account set up to parody him with references to scullery maids, speaking Latin and Victorian bathing suits very funny. As for Ali G, the satirical creation of comedian Sasha Baron-Cohen, at whose hands he was mercilessly taunted, Rees-Mogg enthuses that hes exceptionally brilliant. But in the past month, Jacob has gained a reputation for disdain, as well as good humour. His acerbic rebukes of the Prime Minister are not just made in the Commons (where the rough and tumble is all part of the process), but on nightly TV news. He has accused David Cameron of asking for thin gruel in his negotiations with Brussels, and then two weeks ago said the thin gruel has been watered down further when outlines of Camerons proposed new deal with Europe were published. He dismissed the Prime Ministers explanations as flim flam. The gruel is thin because there is no meat to it, he explains now. If I remember, gruel is a sort of porridge made from things other than oats, with a bit of meat in it. But there doesnt seem to be any meat in this at all. Is his choice of metaphor deliberately evocative of an orphanage? Yes! he cries. The British people are the orphans of Europe! Family values: Jacob Rees-Mogg and his wife Helena de Chair (pictured) are expecting their fifth child. When they met, she was a financial journalist He continues in withering tones, saying Cameron now has the backing of the least trusted and most incompetent Prime Ministers in the post-war period Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. But his rancour with Cameron doesnt extend beyond Europe and he brightens when I ask what the Premier is like, saying an exceptional PM and very successful domestic leader. Were in the panelled sitting room of his Georgian townhouse in Mayfair. Theres a real fire and the soft click of a carriage clock. On the half-landing at the turn of the stairs is Veronica Crook, or Nanny, busily folding sheets. She has worked for the Rees-Moggs for over 50 years. Nanny even went canvassing with him in 1997 in Fife (he lost). She looked after all five Rees-Mogg siblings and now tends to Jacobs four children. Theres much about Rees-Mogg thats predictable: the manners, the grace, the full complement of newspapers on the fireside Ottoman. He drives around the high-hedged narrow roads of Somerset in a 1936 Bentley, kids spilling around in the back without seatbelts (you dont have to fuss about with car seats which are impossible, fiddly and annoying), and reads international treaties in his spare time (So much easier now theyre all online). Other things are unexpected Im amazed that he hasnt read the ultimate young fogey novel, Brideshead Revisited, but he did watch it on television, even collecting coupons from a newspaper and sending off for the box-set. His cross-party friendships also raise eyebrows. He has a photo of his children sitting on the lap of former Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls, who is dressed as Santa Claus. Im really sorry that Ed Balls is no longer in the front line, Rees-Mogg says. Its a loss to politics because hes a clever, amusing, capable man. The other party will always be in government at some point, and if it is, ideally you want it with people who are actually up to the job. Rees-Mogg enjoys lively debate and gentle teasing in the Chamber. Politics doesnt have to be an aggressive diatribe the whole time. It can be a discussion about the way things ought to go. He is a true Conservative in that he believes in choice. For example, he always keeps a box of cigarettes (and has silver ashtrays out today) in case a guest had the need despite never having smoked in his life. The young Jacob Rees-Mogg, the young investment manager pictured here as part of a feature on Eton boys Years ago I remember him sitting patiently in a fog of other peoples smoke. I remain completely relaxed about it, he says, and if people want to smoke happy for them to do so. Its not for me to enforce codes of behaviour on other people. To his mind, the naughtiest thing hes ever done is smuggle a roulette wheel into prep school (we played for pennies). However, you might argue that his whole persona is rebellious, from his determinedly out-dated fashion to his unstinting belief in the fundamentals of freedom and democracy. Friends say hes changed not a jot from their days at Eton, when he carried his belongings in a waxed Harrods bag bearing a Vote Conservative sticker and contemporaries tried to bribe him to swear. And he continues with a gamut of gently gallant conventions, including walking on the traffic side if accompanying a woman; in a restaurant giving his female companion the best seat and never congratulating a woman on her engagement (traditionally, you only congratulate the man for convincing a woman to say yes). One doesnt specifically know why one knows these things, they come through the ether somehow, he says. Hes lived in Mayfair since 1999. It was an astute time when property prices there lagged behind Notting Hill and he encouraged others to do the same. He has an interest in a number of other properties, including two apartments in Pall Mall and a grade II-listed manor house in his constituency in Somerset. Said country pile is stuffed with books and eccentric trinkets, such as a phial of the oil used to anoint Queen Victoria at her coronation, a childhood Christmas present. Previously hed had a set i.e. a set of rooms in The Albany, Piccadilly, where he held white-tie dinner parties attended by friends such as Dominic West, the actor and an Etonian contemporary, and Wests then girlfriend Polly Astor, granddaughter of Nancy Astor. Back then Rees-Mogg kept the tradition of women leaving the room while men had brandy. He says his wife Helena put a stop to this anachronistic practice. The late Baron William Rees Mogg, Jacob's father Has she modernised him in other ways too? He smiles. Just in that one way. I dont think Ive been redecorated unduly. That said, she does like to have flowers on St Valentines Day, even though Rees-Mogg finds the whole concept ghastly. This year they didnt arrive but I definitely ordered them. He is undeniably an eccentric. Until he was married he slept in a single bed (blankets, not a duvet), dressed in white pyjamas (not double breasted, Im sorry to say) underneath a large crucifix. I know this because years ago I got drunk with his sister Annunziata, who was living in his basement at the time, and we accidentally woke up Jacob at one oclock in the morning. He tolerated us sitting on his bed slurring away. Today, when I apologise, he says: Not at all. It was a great pleasure. I think you did wake me up it was very late. But I liked it. Bit of variety, you know. When he met his wife Helena de Chair, she was a financial journalist with a tongue piercing. She grew up amid the splendour of 18th-century estate Bourne Park in Kent, surrounded by a collection of Old Masters, including a large number of Van Dykes. Apparently wed met as children because our parents knew each other, but neither of us can remember, says Rees-Mogg. Rees-Mogg says Helenas mother is completely wonderful and he asked her permission for his daughters hand nine months after they started dating. Unsurprisingly, he proposed on bended knee. Was he nervous? I was very nervous, although there had been some sounding out in advance. I didnt have a ring thank heavens because I wouldve got completely the wrong type of ring, which Helena wouldnt have liked. If youre going to wear it every day, it better be something you like rather than something you have to be polite about. Helena was entirely onside when it came to having a big family, he says, a subject hed broached even before his proposal. Does he believe in contraception? The teachings of the Church are clear on this, he says, smiling. His own childhood sounds wonderful: it was spent between London and his parents country house in Somerset. He says his father, who was an editor of The Times, was utterly supportive. My parents werent pushy at all and I never felt the weight of disappointment the opposite. If I got bad school reports my father said the schoolteacher was an idiot. He was always on his childrens side, without question. Far from being a stern or distant figure, his father was fascinated by what children had to say. He was very open to ideas wherever they came from whether a three-year-old or an 83-year-old. He always thought childrens conversation should be listened to as much as adults. It was a very nice way to grow up, but it probably made me a bit too outspoken. But it may also have made me confident. After Oxford, Rees-Mogg worked in the City hes founder and a director of Somerset Capital Management, where two years ago he was said to be making 10,000 a month and though famed for utterances in Latin, says I dont know Latin really, I know the Dictionary Of Quotations. Off by heart? Not the whole thing. He returns to the subject of Cameron. In a leadership contest he says he would back somebody who supports Leave. Its Rees-Moggs view that Boris Johnson would win the leadership if he backed Leave, and if he doesnt, he wont. He needs to make up his mind. Other good leaders, he says, include Justice Secretary Michael Gove (hed be fantastic such a clever, interesting man), Employment Minister Priti Patel (wonderfully principled and bold as brass). cheered after he finished the story, saying each Muslim was shot and the last told to run off and share what happened Donald Trump shared a story about the murder of 49 Muslim prisoners during a speech in South Carolina on Friday. Trump told the audience about US Army General John Pershing and his killing of prisoners during the 'early 1900s.' 'He caught 50 terrorists that did tremendous damage and killed many people and he took the 50 terrorists and he took 50 men and he dipped 50 bullets in pig's blood, ' said Trump. 'And he had his men load his rifles, and he lined up the 50 people, and they shot 49 of those people, and the 50th person, he said; "You go back to your people and you tell them what happened,"' said Trump. 'And for 25 years, there wasnt a problem. For 25 years there wasnt a problem. All right? So we better start getting tough.' The South Carolina audience burst into applause as soon as he finished telling the story - which is not true according to Snopes. Scroll down for video Unbelievable: Donald Trump (above) told a story about the murder of 49 Muslim prisoners with bullets dipped in 'pig's blood' in a speech on Friday Captive audience: The audience in South Carolina (above) cheered after he finished the story, saying each Muslim was shot and the last told to run off and share what happened Trump told the audience - which included a woman in a shirt that read 'Make Racism Great Again' - that this was an example of how he would get 'tough' if he was president. 'We better start getting tough and we better start getting vigilant, and we better start using our heads or were not gonna have a country, folks,' said Trump. He also said of his tale; 'By the way, this is something you can read in the history books. Not a lot of history books, because they dont like teaching this.' The story seems to come from the time when General Pershing was stationed in the Philippines between 1909 and 1913 and was governor of the Moro Province. He had previously served as military governor of the Moro Province at the turn of the century. The Moros were Muslim and at the end of General Pershing's time in the Philippines the Battle of Bud Bagsak broke out, where Moro resistance fighters fought the Americans occupying the area. The Moros and their leader were ultimately defeated by Pershing and his army. Trump also spoke about waterboarding, labeling the practice as 'minimal, minimal, minimal torture.' After the speech one of his supporters, Eleanor Crume, spoke with MSNBC, saying; 'We need someone who can lead the country because people are scared to death. Subject: US Army General John Pershing (above) 'Its only a matter of time before terrorists come and start chopping Christian heads off in the United States.' Trump also took some time to talk about guns, and claimed that his numbers began to soar after the deadly massacre in Paris last November. 'When Paris happened, everyone started saying, "We want Trump!"' he claimed during his speech. 'The polls came in, 60 percent, 70 percent, 72 percent. This is 72 percent with 17 people running. Now were down to 6, we got rid of all these people. Its so great. Its so great.' He went on to say that if the 14 people who were killed in the San Bernardino shooting had guns there would have been less fatalities. Trump referenced this tragedy on the same day he called for a boycott of Apple because the company is refusing to allow the government to hack the phone of shooter Syed Farook. 'I use both an iPhone and a Samsung and if Apple doesn't give the information to the authorities on the radical Islamic terrorists I'll only be using a Samsung - until such time as they give the information,' he said during a speech earlier in the day. 'Hopefully others will follow suit. Our country needs and should demand security. It is time to get tough and be smart!' from Sydney back to Perth and denied bail last week A transgender sex worker accused of knowingly infecting a client with HIV appeared in court for the first time on Saturday and was formally charged with grievous bodily harm. Transgender escort Clayton James Palmer, who uses the name Sienna Fox, wore a grey dress to the Perth Magistrates Court and covered her face and body with a flannel blanket to avoid news cameras, Perth Now reported. It was the first time Ms Fox, 38, appeared in the West Australian court after she was extradited from New South Wales last week. Scroll down for video Transgender escort Clayton James Palmer, who uses the name Sienna Fox, (pictured) covered her face as she left the Perth Magistrates Court on Saturday Ms Fox (pictured) is charged with grievous bodily harm for allegedly had unprotected sex with a male client knowing she could infect him with HIV She has been held in police custody since she was arrested in Sydney on Tuesday and no application for bail has been requested in Perth. The case stems from a complaint made by a man who claims to have been diagnosed with HIV in September after hed allegedly had ongoing sex with Ms Fox, 7 News reported. Ms Fox was told she was infected with HIV almost a year earlier but continued having sex with the man for money, police allege. The 38-year-old (pictured) was extradited from Sydney to Western Australia to face the charge Despite the diagnoses and counselling about treatment options and disclosure obligations, the woman allegedly participated in unprotected sex with a male client from early 2015, WA police allege. The man said hed engaged in services with her through an adult website advertising transgender escorts from January last year, NSW police said. Palmer allegedly fled Perth when the man confronted her about the diagnoses. Detectives successfully applied for her to be returned to custody in WA. Police allege she had continued working in Redfern and that she was waiting to meet a client at a Surry Hills hotel in central Sydney when she was arrested on Tuesday afternoon. Sex crime squad detectives are investigating her activities in Sydney, police said. Anyone who may have engaged in unprotected sex with Ms Palmer should seek medical advice. A man, his sister and his mother were sentenced to life in prison for a cyberstalking campaign that led to the shooting death of the brother's former wife and her friend in 2013. David Matusiewicz, his sister Amy Gonzalez and his mother Lenore were convicted in U.S. District Court in Delaware last July of cyberstalking resulting in death. Matusiewicz's mother was sentenced to life at her bedside last week at Jefferson Medical Center in Philadelphia, federal prosecutors said. Family members said the 70-year-old woman is bedridden with only a few months left to live, according to NBC 10. Christine Belford (left) was killed by her ex-father-in-law in 2013 at a Delaware court house. Her friend Laura Mulford (right) also died in the shooting Matusiewicz, 48, and Gonzalez, 43, were sentenced to life by U.S. District Judge Gerald McHugh on Thursday, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Delaware said. It was the first successful application of federal law on that offense, prosecutors said. They were also found guilty of conspiracy. 'I cry for them every day, and I pray for them every single day,' Gonzales said after the sentencing, referring to those affected by the shooting, according to NBC 10. On Feb. 11, 2013, David Matusiewicz and his father Thomas went to confront David's ex-wife Christine Belford at New Castle County Courthouse when she arrived for a child support hearing in their custody case. David Matusiewicz and sister Amy Gonzalez (left, center) were sentenced to life Thursday for cyberstalking and conspiracy Lenore Matusiewicz (left) was sentenced to life at her bedside at a hospital last week. Thomas Matusiewitcz (right) murdered his son's ex-wife in 2013 and then committed suicide Thomas Matusiewicz then shot dead Belford and her friend Laura Mulford in the courthouse lobby and took his own life after exchanging gunfire with police. The shooting was the culmination of a four-year campaign of letters, websites and Internet postings to 'stalk, harass, and intimidate' Belford, the mother of David Matusiewicz's three children, according to U.S. prosecutors. The Matusiewicz family accused Belford online of sexually abusing her oldest daughter. The allegations were unproven and the daughter denied being abused in sworn testimony, according to NBC 10. Prosecutors said David Matusiewicz orchestrated the plan and recruited his parents and sister while serving a 48-month jail term for abducting his children and hiding out with them for 19 months in Nicaragua and other countries. 'This ground-breaking prosecution and investigation shows people who actively take part in planning crimes, even though they don't pull the trigger, will be held accountable,' said Kevin Perkins, special agent in charge of the FBI in Delaware. Christine Belford (center) was murdered by her ex-father-in-law in February 2013. The killing was the culmination of a bitter battle for custody over the three children (pictured) she had with ex-husband David Matusiewicz A bizarre deep sea creature with bug eyes and dozens of needle-like teeth has been pulled ahsore - the second sea monster to appear in Australian waters in less than a week. The outlandish creature was caught off the Victoria state coast by a fishing trawler, the South East Trawl Fishing Industry Association said. Experts said the animal may be an Endo's Goosefish - Lophiodes endoi, also known by some people as 'monkfish' - is a deepwater member of the anglerfish family. Scroll down for video The bizarre deep sea creature is the second in the past few weeks to be caught in Australian waters A fisherman/trawler opens its large mouth to reveal a set of razor sharp needle-like teeth Bearing a similar resemblance to the Devil himself: this is Endo's Goosefish (also known as monkfish) Growing to 38cm, this species can be found around the south-eastern and western margins of Australias continental shelf in waters ranging from 275-500m deep. Angler fishes possess some of the most impressive teeth and ensure that once prey enters their mouths, there is no chance of escape. Growing to 38cm, this species can be found around the south-eastern and western margins of Australia's continental shelf in waters ranging from 275-500m deep The fish face down reveals a flesh-toned back: Angler fishes possess some of the most impressive teeth and ensure that once prey enters their mouths, there is no chance of escape Last week, another peculiar deep sea creature which looks like a cross between a crocodile and a dolphin washed ashore on the banks of an Australian lake. Father Ethan Tipper snapped an image of the creature washed up off Lake Macquarie in NSW, before posting it online to see if anyone could identify it. The image has divided social media with some claiming it is a large hairtail and others suggesting the snap has either been photoshopped or captured outside of Lake Macquarie. Last week Ethan Tipper snapped a mysterious creature on Lake Macquarie, taking to social media to ask what it was WHAT IS A PIKE EEL? They are native to Australia's east coast Can travel 100 metres deep to feed Known to grow up to 1.8 metres in length Has an elongated body and long jaws Has large pointed teeth on lower jaw and the roof of its mouth Is nocturnal and difficult to catch The are not poisonous to eat, and are often sold in southeast Asia Advertisement But Australian Museum fish collector Mark McGrouther told Daily Mail Australia he suspects it is a pike eel, native to deep waters on the east coast of Australia. This is the first time I have ever seen one of them in the flesh,' he said. 'I suspect it was caught and discarded by fisherman who got more than they bargained for when they tried to reel it in. The pike eel is known to thrash around violently once hooked, damaging fishing equipment and forcing fishermen to cut their lines. Thei mage has divided social media with some claiming it is a large hairtail and others suggesting the image has been photoshopped Australian Museum fish expert Mark McGrouther told Daily Mail Australia he suspects it was a pike eel (pictured) which can grow up to 1.8 metres in length The pike eel has long slender jaws and large pointed teeth at the front of the lower jaw and on the roof of their mouth He said it was unclear how large the creature in the image was, but that the photography may have made it appear it deceptively large. They can grow up to 1.8 metres in length, but the angle of this photo makes it difficult to determine how large it is. The pike eel has an elongated body and slender jaws with razor sharp teeth on their lower jaw and the roof of their mouth. They are nocturnal and known to travel as far as 100 metres deep in search of fish and crustaceans to feed on. A group of fishermen pulled a terrifying prehistoric shark, known as the frill shark, from the water near Lakes Entrance in Victoria' last year The sighting at Lake Macquarie comes after a group of fishermen pulled a Goblin shark from waters off the coast of New South Wales in January last year. The species is elusive as it typically resides in waters near the ocean floor at around 1,200 metres below sea level. Later that month Victorian fishermen pulled a terrifying frilled shark, named for its six pairs of frill-like gills along with its dorsal fins, from Lakes Entrance. The shark's origin dates back 80 million years and it is only one of two species still alive from this period. They are planning a road trip to Nashville to reunite with Snow White An adorable two-year-old Texas dog who went missing in December has finally been found - 1,000 miles away from home. Snow White may have ended up in a cottage with seven dwarfs when she ran from home, but the Miniature Schnauzer who shares her moniker found her way to Tennessee instead. It was Paige Rogers, 23, who found out the pooch was missing after Snow White ran in front of her car in Bristol on Tuesday. This adorable two-year-old Miniature Schnauzer named Snow White was found 1,000 miles away from her Texas home on Tuesday in Bristol, Tennessee The pooch ran out in the street and was picked up by Paige Rogers, 23, who took her to the vet Rogers was already heading to the veterinarian with her own dog, and decided to pick up the stray Snow White and see if she had a microchip that could be scanned, she told ABC News. That's when a Lewisville, Texas phone number came up, along with an email address, and Rogers realized the beautiful pup was far away from home. Although the phone number was disconnected, Rogers sent an email to the provided address and just a few hours later received a phone call from Snow White's very excited owner Melissa Born. 'At first she thought I was in Texas and she was like, "Oh my gosh! I'm coming to get her!" But I told her I was in northern Tennessee, near the Virginia border, and she just couldn't believe it.' The news that Snow White, who went missing when a Born's friend left her front door open, had been found safe and sound brought the family to tears of joy. They found out Snow White had a microchip between her shoulders (pictured) and that's when they realized she belonged to a family in Louisville, Texas Although the phone number was disconnected, Rogers (left) sent an email to the provided email address and received a phone call from Snow White's very excited owner Melissa Born (right) 'She's been our world,' Born told WCYB. 'My kids were devastated to find out that she was missing. We posted flyers, we went out searching for her ourselves.' 'We contacted all of the animal shelters within 50 miles.' Born has relatives in Tennessee who picked up Snow White on Friday, and she and the family plan to take a road trip to meet them in Nashville so they can reunite with their beloved dog in person. No one is quite sure just how Snow White was able to travel so far away from home. 'I wish this dog could talk,' Rogers said. Bernice Jaumotte, 64, has been banned for life from running care home A care home boss who ignored sexual behaviour between elderly residents has been banned for life from running a care home. Bernice Jaumotte admitted misconduct in the running of Amber House care home in Abergele, North Wales. The 64-year-old confessed to a series of eight offences including not taking steps to prevent 'sexualised behaviour' between residents, a disciplinary hearing was told. She also admitted running an unclean home, ignoring residents' needs and not providing care plans or risk assessments for patients. Residents were found looking unclean and unkempt, some with torn clothes, beds were stained, while carpets, bed linen and crockery were unclean and of poor quality. Mrs Jaumotte, who qualified as a nurse in New Zealand in 1974, also allowed staff to use their hands to place medication in the mouths of patients. She appeared before a Care Council for Wales disciplinary hearing following her suspension from nursing at a Nursing and Midwifery hearing last August. The disciplinary hearings followed an investigation in December, 2013, by Care Social Service inspectors which found serious breaches of care. Mrs Jaumotte's lawyer Susan Cavenden told the Cardiff hearing: 'She admits misconduct and the facts of the case.' The Care Council conduct committee hearing was told that Mrs Jaumotte had taken over duties as the care home manager in May, 2013, after the previous manager left. Miss Cavenden said that some of the offences in the home occurred before Miss Jaumotte became the acting manager. Mrs Jaumotte told the hearing: 'People lied to me that things were being done. I had no reason to think that anything was wrong. 'You take your eye off the ball and things can go badly wrong very quickly.' Mrs Jaumotte, whose home is now closed, was ordered to be permanently removed from the social care register. Disciplinary hearing chair Dr Norma Barry told her: 'These matters came to light as a result of a series of inspections following concerns raised by members of the public. 'They were widespread and significant failings concerning the safety and well being of residents. 'The problems at the home were wide-ranging and significant and vulnerable residents were put at risk. 'The committee is not convinced that even now you accepted the failings were your responsibility. There is an ongoing failure to take full responsibility.' Advertisement Washington is mourning the late Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia for the second day with a funeral mass attended by thousands, including Vice President Joe Biden, Republican presidential hopeful Ted Cruz, and the remaining eight justices. One of Scalia's nine children, the Reverend Paul Scalia, led the procession on Saturday at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception with a highly personal tribute to his dad. President Barack Obama, who paid his respects while Scalia's casket was at the Supreme Court on Friday, did not attend the service despite criticism from some Republicans. Donald Trump tweeted: 'I wonder if President Obama would have attended the funeral of Justice Scalia if it were held in a Mosque? Very sad that he did not go!' Scalia's death has sparked a furor among politicians over Obama's constitutional right to appoint a replacement. The White House Press secretary said the president would spend a significant portion of his weekend reviewing possible nominees. Scroll down for video Washington mourned the late Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia on Saturday morning during a funeral mass attended by thousands Reverend Paul Scalia (center), one of the justice's nine children, led the service with a highly personal tribute to his father Widow Maureen McCarthy Scalia (center) walks behind the casket as it is is brought out of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington DC Scalia's casket was draped by an American flag. The 79-year-old died last weekend while he was staying at Cibolo Creek Ranch in the Big Bend region south of Marfa, Texas Republicans criticized President Obama, and saw his lack of attendance as a 'snub'. Presidential candidate Donald Trump tweeted: 'I wonder if President Obama would have attended the funeral of Justice Scalia if it were held in a Mosque? Very sad that he did not go!' Fellow Catholic, justice Clarence Thomas, read Romans 5:5-11 before Reverend Scalia revealed his father will be buried immediately following the funeral service. In his homily, the reverend said: 'Many have recounted what Dad did for them- but today we recount what God did for Dad. How he blessed him.' He went on to acknowledge his mother Maureen McCarthy Scalia, and his father's '55 years of marriage to the woman he loved'. He said: 'God blessed Dad with a deep Catholic faith. Dad understood that the deeper he went in his Catholic faith, the better a public servant he became.' Reverend Scalia also praised his father's intellect, but pointed out that more importantly, Antonin Scalia was a family man. His voice quivered when he said: 'God blessed Dad with a love for his family.' But he made room for laughs when he revealed: 'Sure, he forgot our names at times or mixed them up, but there are nine of us. He loved us and sought to show that love. 'To have each other for support - that's the greatest wealth parents can bestow. And right now we are particularly grateful for it. He also recalled how his father reacted once after accidentally standing in his confessional line. The justice said: 'Like heck if I'm confessing to you.' Paul Scalia joked that 'the Roman collar was not a shield against his criticism.' Former Vice President Dick Cheney, left, and Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas (upper right) take their seats at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception on Saturday Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz, pictured second from left, is leading the outcry that Obama should not elect Scalia's replacement Supreme Court justices Clarence Thomas (left), John Roberts (center), and Anthony Kennedy (right) attended the service. Thomas, a fellow Catholic whose views aligned most closely with Scalia's, read a passage from the book of Romans Scalia's more liberal leaning colleagues on the Supreme Court include justices Elena Kagan (left), Sonia Sotomayor (center) and Stephen Breyer (right). Breyer said the court will be a 'grayer place' without Scalia Ginsburg is now the longest-serving justice on the current Supreme Court following Scalia's death, which has sparked a furor among politicians over Obama's constitutional right to appoint a replacement Ruth Bader Ginsburg mourned her 'best buddy' Scalia. The two shared a very close friendship despite their ideological differences Scalia and Ginsburg (center) shared a number of memories together from riding an elephant in India to being extras for the Washington National Opera. Justice Samuel Alito is also pictured in the upper left with wife Martha Bomgardner Antonin Scalia, who was the longest-serving member of the current Supreme Court, died last weekend at the age of 79 at a remote Texas ranch from natural causes. His casket was delivered this morning at 11am, draped by an American flag which was removed as it entered the church. In addition to the eight justices sitting on the Supreme Court, retired justice John Paul Stevens attended the service with David H. Souter expected to appear as well. Sandra Day O'Connor, 85, is currently in frail health and did not make it to Saturday's mass. Early arrivals included former Vice President Dick Cheney and his daughter Liz and Republican Sens. John Cornyn of Texas and Mike Lee of Utah. Several federal judges who are considered possible replacements for Scalia were also present, including Judges Sri Srinivasan and Patricia Millett and Chief Judge Merrick Garland, all of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. President Barack Obama first lady Michelle Obama were among the more than 6,000 people who paid tribute to Scalia at the Supreme Court on Friday. Josh Earnest, Obama's White House Press Secretary, said the president will spend a significant portion of his weekend reviewing individuals who 'may be worthy of consideration'. He added: 'I would expect the president will spend a significant portion of his weekend digging into those materials'. Scalia's flag-draped casket rested on a funeral bier that first held President Abraham Lincoln's casket after his assassination. White House spokesman Josh Earnest pointed to Biden's personal relationship with Scalia's family and said Obama's decision about the Mass was a 'respectful arrangement' that took into account his large security detail. Scalia's casket remained at the Supreme Court until it was brought to the basilica on Saturday morning. In a court tradition, groups of his former law clerks took turns standing vigil. Barack and Michelle Obama paid their respects on Friday, but the president drew criticism for not attending the service on Saturday. The White House Press Secretary said Obama will be reviewing potential nominees this weekend Scalia's casket remained at the Supreme Court until it was brought to the basilica on Saturday morning and unloaded by pall bearers. In a court tradition, groups of his former law clerks took turns standing vigil Family members followed behind the late Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia as his casket was brought into the church, draped by an American flag The mass was led by his son, Reverend Paul Scalia (foreground, far right), who is just one of the late Supreme Court justice's nine children The crowd wiped away tears and laughed as Paul Scalia said: 'Sure, he forgot our names at times or mixed them up, but there are nine of us. He loved us and sought to show that love.' Reverend Paul Scalia paid a personal tribute to his dad, acknowledging the justice's marriage, love of family, intellect, and faith He said: 'God blessed Dad with a deep Catholic faith. Dad understood that the deeper he went in his Catholic faith, the better a public servant he became' Scalia's casket rested on a funeral bier that first held President Abraham Lincoln's casket after his assassination Paul Scalia shared that his father once accidentally stood in his confessional line. The justice said: 'Like heck if I'm confessing to you' This marks the second day of mourning for Washington, with more than 6,000 people paying tribute to Scalia at the Supreme Court on Friday A hearse carrying Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia's casket arrived at 11am on Saturday, with the burial immediately following the funeral mass Several federal judges who are considered possible replacements for Scalia also were at the Mass, including Judges Sri Srinivasan and Patricia Millett and Chief Judge Merrick Garland. Pictured, the basilica in DC GOP presidential hopeful Ted Cruz planned to interrupt his campaign ahead of Saturday's South Carolina primary to attend the Mass. The Texas senator has been among those urging the Senate not to consider replacing Scalia until after the November election. Obama has insisted that he will nominate a successor. Scheduled to give opening remarks at the Mass was Washington Archbishop Donald Cardinal Wuerl. Leonard Leo, executive director of the Federalist Society, a conservative legal group, was to read a passage from the Old Testament, while Justice Clarence Thomas planned to read from the New Testament. Never before has a funeral for a Supreme Court justice been held at the basilica. Advertisement David Cameron today confirmed the EU referendum that will determine the future of Britain and define his career will take place on June 23. Following a landmark Cabinet meeting that lasted more than two hours, the Prime Minister addressed the nation in Downing Street. But within minutes of the speech, six of Mr Cameron's Cabinet ministers appeared at a Vote Leave rally to sign on to the campaign against the Prime Minister. Commons leader Chris Grayling said Mr Cameron's deal had failed to secure power over Britain's borders or allow the Government to strike trade deals around the world - insisting a 'sovereign country should be able to do that'. And Justice Secretary Michael Gove said he had wrestled with his conscience but had to back Brexit despite the Prime Minister's view. Mr Cameron told Britain today: 'You will decide and whatever your decision I will do my best to deliver it. 'The choice is in your hands but my recommendation is clear: I believe that Britain will be safer, stronger and better off in a reformed European Union.' Scroll down for video Mr Cameron addressed the nation from Downing Street today and said Britain would be better off in a reformed European Union as he urged voters to back Remain in the referendum on June 23 Mr Cameron made his historic statement outside the famous black door of Downing Street today moment after concluding a Cabinet meeting inside But within minutes of Mr Cameron's announcement six of his most senior ministers were at a Vote Leave campaign rally signing onto the campaign against the EU. From left: Culture Secretary John Whittingdale, Northern Ireland Secretary Theresa Villiers, Justice Secretary Michael Gove, Commons Leader Chris Grayling, Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith and Employment Minister Priti Patel The Prime Minister announced after marathon talks last night that he believed he had secured a 'special status' for Britain in the EU - but the deal was immediately criticised by campaigners pursuing a Brexit at the crunch referendum. And in his speech today, Mr Cameron said: 'Last night in Brussels I set out Britain's new settlement with the European Union. This morning I have just chaired a meeting of the Cabinet in which I updated them on the special status we have secured for Britain. 'The Cabinet agreed the Government's position will be to recommend that Britain remains in a reformed European Union. 'Now I want to speak directly to the British people to explain why: We are approaching one of the biggest decisions this country will face in our lifetimes - whether to remain in a reformed European Union or to leave.' Mr Cameron said the decision would 'go to the heart of the kind of country we want to be and the future we want for our children'. He said: 'This is about how we trade with neighbouring countries, create jobs, prosperity and financial security for our families. 'And it's about how we cooperate to keep our people safe and our country strong.' Despite his plea, six of Mr Cameron's top team - Culture Secretary John Whittingdale, Northern Ireland Secretary Theresa Villiers, Justice Secretary Mr Gove, Commons Leader Mr Grayling, Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith and Employment Minister Priti Patel - went directly from Cabinet to the Vote Leave campaign headquarters. The group literally signed on to the Brexit campaign by autographing a huge Vote Leave placard. In his speech, Mr Cameron acknowledged there would be 'passionate arguments' over the months ahead and he confirmed his ministers would be allowed to campaign against him. But he continued: 'My responsibility as Prime Minister is to speak plainly about what I believe is right for our country. 'I do not love Brussels. I love Britain. I am the first to say that there are still many ways in which Europe needs to improve and that the task of reforming Europe does not end with todays agreement.' Mr Gove said he had wrestled with his conscience before announcing he would back Out but later posed with Vote Leave activists having deciding to make the leap away from his old friend Mr Cameron Following the Cabinet meeting, Mr Cameron emerged from Downing Street to make his case to the nation on why Britain should stay inside the European Union Mr Cameron continued: 'And I will never say that our country couldnt survive outside Europe. We are Great Britain we can achieve great things. That is not the question in this referendum. The question is will we be safer, stronger and better off working together in a reformed Europe or out on our own.' Mr Gove, pictured in Downing Street today, said the decision to oppose Mr Cameron had been the 'most difficult' of his political life Mr Gove released a statement running to more than 1,500 words explaining the reasons behind the 'most difficult decision of my political life'. He said: 'I believe that the decisions which govern all our lives, the laws we must all obey and the taxes we must all pay should be decided by people we choose and who we can throw out if we want change. 'If power is to be used wisely, if we are to avoid corruption and complacency in high office, then the public must have the right to change laws and Governments at election time. 'But our membership of the European Union prevents us being able to change huge swathes of law and stops us being able to choose who makes critical decisions which affect all our lives. 'Laws which govern citizens in this country are decided by politicians from other nations who we never elected and cant throw out.' Mr Gove continued: 'Far from providing security in an uncertain world, the EUs policies have become a source of instability and insecurity. 'Razor wire once more criss-crosses the continent, historic tensions between nations such as Greece and Germany have resurfaced in ugly ways and the EU is proving incapable of dealing with the current crises in Libya and Syria.' And he concluded: 'This chance may never come again in our lifetimes, which is why I will be true to my principles and take the opportunity this referendum provides to leave an EU mired in the past and embrace a better future.' In a BBC interview, Mr Grayling hit out at the deal secured by Mr Cameron insisting it failed to secure control of Britain's border and did not create a 'transformed' European Union. He said: '(Mr Cameron) and I disagree about the degree of change the European Union has been willing to give us.' He added: 'Above all, I do not believe we can take decisions in our national interest when were part of the European Union when weve given up so much control over what this country does. Mr Cameron last night struck a deal with the EU after he agreed to further water down his demands - putting Britain on course to hold an historic vote on June 23. The announcement was the latest stage in a choreographed series of events that will formally begin the referendum battle. On Monday, secondary legislation to set the referendum date in law will be tabled in Parliament and Mr Cameron will address MPs. Earlier, Chancellor George Osborne backed the deal and said: 'It's about the people now'. Mr Osborne today told the BBC: 'It delivers a special status for Britain in the EU where we have the best of both worlds - we get the benefits of free trade without the costs of the eurozone, we get the benefits of free movement and travel whilst at the same time dealing with the something for nothing culture in welfare.' Three Cabinet ministers opposing Mr Cameron's deal arrived at Cabinet today in quick succession. From left: Commons Leader Chris Grayling, Culture Secretary John Whittingdale and Justice Secretary Michael Gove Chancellor George Osborne, pictured left arriving in Downing Street today, has declared it was up to the people to decide on Britain's future. Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond, right today, will also be a key ally Home Secretary Theresa May, who revealed today she will be backing Mr Cameron was pictured as she arrived for the Cabinet meeting this morning Former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith was joined by his deputy, employment minister Priti Patel, as they arrived for the Cabinet meeting earlier today The positions of, from left today, International Development Secretary Justine Greening, Defence Secretary Michael Fallon and Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt have all been made clear in support of Mr Cameron today He added: 'The alternative is a huge leap in the dark with the risks that entails for our country, for our economy and for our security.' Mr Osborne said: 'The whole point of this referendum is we decide our country's future - you decide it, I decide it, everyone listening decides it. 'Then the country makes its decision. The people now - it's not about me or other member's of the Cabinet - it's about the country making a decision about its future.' Mr Osborne rejected claims that the deal failed to secure Britain's borders - insisting that control had never been lost. But he said the new reforms would 'address the concerns British people have' while retaining the benefits of free movement for workers. After 30 hours of gruelling talks in Brussels, the Prime Minister declared that he had secured a sufficiently strong agreement to allow him to campaign passionately for Britain to remain inside the Brussels club. Having flown back to Britain overnight, Mr Cameron began a Cabinet meeting at 10am. On arrival, Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin said it was a 'remarkable deal' and Oliver Letwin, a eurosceptic minister who is close to Mr Cameron, said it was a 'good deal'. Defence Secretary Michael Fallon refused to be drawn on his views while known EU opponents also kept their counsel. As the meeting began, Home Secretary Theresa May today issued a statement confirming she would back the In campaign on security grounds. Business Secretary Sajid Javid, a close ally of Mr Osborne, is now also backing Mr Cameron's camaign. Arriving ministers, including Philip Hammond, pictured, were confronted by an eager pack of photographers as they turned up for Cabinet today Attorney General Jeremy Wright, pictured left arriving today, was said this week to be mulling backing Brexit while Sajid Javid, the Business Secretary, is also known to have strongly eurosceptic views. Both today declared for Mr Cameron's campaign. Environment Secretary Liz Truss, Cabinet Office Minister Matt Hancock and Chief Secretary Greg Hands, pictured left to right, all arrived at Downing Street for Cabinet this morning In her statement, Mrs May said: 'This deal includes important reforms to prevent the abuse of free movement. It means we keep control of our right to decide which criminal justice measures we participate in. 'It strengthens our ability to deport dangerous foreign criminals. And while European countries must work together to tackle terrorism, it makes clear that our national security is ultimately our responsibility, not Europe's. 'The EU is far from perfect, and no one should be in any doubt that this deal must be part of an ongoing process of change and reform crucial if it is to succeed in a changing world. 'But in my view - for reasons of security, protection against crime and terrorism, trade with Europe, and access to markets around the world - it is in the national interest to remain a member of the European Union.' Immediately after today's Cabinet, Mr Cameron fired the starting gun on a referendum which will shape Britain's destiny for a generation. Putting a gloss on the climb down needed to secure his deal, the PM last night declared: 'I don't love Brussels. I love Britain.' Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn today repeated his jibe the agreement was 'largely irrelevant' to the main benefits of the EU - confirming again he would back the campaign to stay In. THE NEW DEAL: WHAT CAMERON ACHIEVED FOR THE UK IN BRUSSELS David Cameron says his new deal will give the UK special status in the EU, while Eurosceptics are already calling it a 'watered-down' agreement. But what did the Prime Minister actually achieve after 30 hours of negotiations? The Mail Online reveals what Mr Cameron got from the gruelling talks - and it was not necessarily what he wanted. David Cameron unveiled his proposals to the British media in a late night press conference in Brussels before flying back to Britain overnight An emergency brake on migrants claiming in work benefits in the UK - but only for seven years, not the 13 Mr Cameron had been seeking. Some protections for the City from new regulations created by the Eurozone - although it remains to be seen just how much protection will be offered. Restrictions on payment of child benefit to EU workers from 2020 - another compromise for the PM who wanted the block to be introduced immediately. British exemption from the EU's 'ever closer union' ideals - a potentially crucial boost for Mr Cameron in ensuring the UK is not dragged into further integration against its will. The Prime Minister promised his deal would be legally binding and written into a future treaty but at this stage it is unclear whether that will happen. Advertisement Mr Corbyn said today: 'Despite the fanfare, the deal that David Cameron has made in Brussels on Britain's relationship with the EU is a sideshow, and the changes he has negotiated are largely irrelevant to the problems most British people face and the decision we must now make. 'His priorities in these negotiations have been to appease his opponents in the Conservative Party. 'He has done nothing to promote secure jobs, protect our steel industry, or stop the spread of low pay and the undercutting of wages in Britain. 'Labour's priorities for reform in the EU would be different, and David Cameron's deal is a missed opportunity to make the real changes we need. 'We will be campaigning to keep Britain in Europe in the coming referendum, regardless of David Cameron's tinkering, because it brings investment, jobs and protection for British workers and consumers. 'Labour believes the EU is a vital framework for European trade and cooperation in the 21st century, and that a vote to remain in Europe is in the best interests of our people.' In order to secure his deal - which was already under attack from Eurosceptics as 'thin gruel' - Mr Cameron had to make further compromises to countries from Eastern Europe. Most controversially, restrictions on the payment of child benefits to EU workers already in Britain will not be introduced until 2020. This is a climb down on a policy that already fell short of a Tory manifesto commitment for an outright ban. A so-called emergency brake on migrants claiming in work benefits will last for only seven years. The PM had been seeking 13 years. Revealing he had a deal last night, Mr Cameron said he had secured Britain a 'special status' in the European Union But in a boost for No10, he secured an agreement the City will be offered some protection from new regulations devised by the Eurozone and a British exemption from the EU's commitment to 'ever closer union' will be written into future treaties. Eurosceptics said the deal was 'irrelevant' as he had not asked for any changes to freedom of movement or the repatriation of powers to the UK. They also said it did nothing to address the chaos raging across Europe. The Out camp was also boosted by news Cabinet big hitter Michael Gove is likely to campaign for out. The Prime Minister said he was 'disappointed, but not surprised' that he and his close friend would not be on the same side. But the deal was agreed on a day when the scale of the crisis engulfing Europe was starkly illustrated: Up to 5,000 Islamist jihadi fanatics are at large in the European Union, according to Europol Italy insisted that its borders must remain wide open allowing tens of thousands of refugees to flood into the mainland. In Greece, the authorities said 2,000 'refugees' are arriving on the Island of Lesbos every day, despite the bad weather. Austria defied EU bosses by saying it would refuse to accept any more than 80 asylum seekers every day and would close its border once the total was reached. Announcing the deal last night, Mr Cameron said: 'Britain will be permanently out of ever closer union, never part of a European super state there will be tough new restriction for access to our welfare system for migrants, no more something for nothing. 'Britain will never join the Euro and we have secured vital protections for our economy. And a full-say over the rules of the free-trade single market, while staying outside the Euro.' He added: 'It enables me to recommend that the UK remain in the EU with the best of both worlds. We will be influencing the decisions that affect us, with the ability to keep our people safe. 'We began the negotiation to address the concerns of the British people, and we have established concrete reforms in each of the four areas that we set out.' He added that the British people now decide whether to stay in a reformed European Union, or to leave. 'This will be a once in a generation opportunity to shape the destiny of our country. This is an historic moment for Britain and people must be free to make their own decisions,' he said. 'And in the end this will not be a decision for politicians, it will be a decision for the British people. And we'll need to look at all the facts and ask searching questions about what being in the EU really means.' Lithuanian president Dalia Grybauskaite broke the news in a tweet from the round-table discussions: 'Agreement UKinEU done. Drama over.' European Council President Donald Tusk confirmed that there is 'unanimous support for new settlement'. And Danish PM Lars Lokke Rasmussen said: 'David Cameron fought hard for Britain. Good deal for UK and for EU. Congrats!' Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka described the deal as a 'decent compromise' on Twitter. The European Union's two top figures, Donald Tusk and Jean-Claude Juncker, presented its leaders with draft proposals last night at a long-delayed dinner after hours of painstaking face-to-face talks. The leaders tucked into decidedly un-English fare at the much-delayed English dinner. On the menu was crown of artichoke with goat's cheese and rocket, followed by fillet of veal with tarragon juice, wilted spinach and polenta, and a dessert of passion fruit bavarois. Last night Matthew Elliott, chief executive of Vote Leave, said Mr Cameron's 'hollow' deal was bad for Britain. 'David Cameron always wanted to campaign to stay in the EU so he only ever asked for very minor changes,' he said. 'He will now declare victory but it is an entirely hollow one: the EU courts are still in control of our borders and our laws, we still send 350 million a week to the EU instead of spending it here on our priorities and we have not taken back any control. Ukip leader Nigel Farage dismissed Mr Cameron's renegotiation as proof substantial reform of the European Union was impossible 'Crucially, this deal is not legally binding and can be ripped up by EU politicians and unelected EU judges so it will have no more force than an unsigned contract. The only way to get real change is to Vote Leave and take back control - that is the safer choice.' Eurosceptic Labour MP Frank Field said, on the basis of the deal, he will be campaigning to leave. 'The government has failed to secure the key renegotiation requirement, namely, that we should regain control of our borders,' he said. 'The Prime Minister promised half a loaf, begged for a crust and came home with crumbs,' said Leave.EU co-chairman Richard Tice. Ukip MEP Daniel Hannan tweeted: 'Britain banged the table and aggressively demanded the status quo. The EU, after some mandatory faux-agonising, agreed.' Earlier, Mr Cameron's EU referendum talks in Brussels had appeared deadlocked in a bitter row over State handouts to eastern Europeans. Last night, he finally secured the agreement at just before 10pm but only after making still more concessions to the rest of the EU to a deal already dismissed as feeble by Eurosceptics. He is due to confirm today the referendum will take place on Thursday June 23. Tory MPs said the tumult on the continent showed his negotiations had been nothing more than a 'sideshow'. They pointed out not a single thing in the PM's package of proposals would limit free movement across the EU and Number Ten was 'fiddling while Rome burns'. Alarmingly, it emerged there are two alleged Isis terrorists under arrest in Austria and linked to the Paris terror attacks entered the EU through Greece posing as refugees. The two men, an 28-year-old Algerian and a 34-year-old Pakistani were arrested at a refugee shelter at the end of last year. Mr Cameron marched back into talks with EU leaders yesterday with little sign of a break in the deadlock over his proposed reforms for Britain's membership of the EU Yesterday, prosecutors said they accessed the continent through Greece, on a boat which also carried two of the Paris attackers. Tory MP Peter Bone, one of the leading figures in the campaign to leave the EU said the comments showed the futility of Mr Cameron's wrangling in Brussels. He told the Mail: 'People are not worrying about whether we can pay reduced child benefit or any of the other meaningless things Mr Cameron is asking for. 'They are worried about mass immigration of people coming into the continent. Some of those people coming in will be terrorists. 'The Prime Minister hasn't even asked the question that people want the answer to which is whether we can control free movement. 'It's a complete sideshow in Brussels. Unless we can control our borders any terrorist can walk in through the EU. We must be allowed to let in only the people we want to.' The Prime Minister is fiddling while Rome burns.' As splits appeared across the EU, the Austrian government enraged Brussels by imposing a daily cap on asylum seekers. It will process only 80 asylum claims every day and let just 3,200 migrants looking to travel through the country enter every day. Austrian ministers expect even stricter limits to be imposed in future and Slovenia is expected to introduce a similar policy. The limit was introduced on Friday after the country processed 11,000 asylum claims since the start of 2016. Austrian chancellor Werner Faymann told officials in Brussels he would 'stick with' the policy despite a furious reaction from EU officials. The European Commission warned the move was illegal under EU law and migration commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos ordered Mr Faymann to scrap the plan. As Mr Cameron's negotiations continued a new opinion poll from TNS suggested the Leave campaign would start the official referendum campaign in front - but with a large block of undecideds He said Austria had a 'legal obligation to accept any asylum application that is made on its territory or at its border'. A ceiling on asylum-seekers 'would be plainly incompatible with Austria's obligations' under EU and international law. But Mr Faymann told EU leaders: 'It is unthinkable for Austria to take on the asylum seekers for the whole of Europe. After 100,000 refugees, we can't tell the Austrian people that it will just continue like this. 'That's why I tell the EU: we set a good example but to think that you don't have to do anything, then I have to say it is time for the EU to act.' HE DIDN'T ASK FOR MUCH - AND HE GOT EVEN LESS Analysis by James Slack, Political Editor in Brussels TAX CREDITS What he wanted: A ban on EU migrants being paid in-work benefits for their first four years in the UK. Sticking point: In a compromise, Britain is being granted an emergency brake which allows for benefits to be restricted for up to four years if Britain's public services or welfare system is under pressure. However, the EU insisted that the 'limitation should be graduated, from an initial complete exclusion to gradually increasing access to such benefits'. This was still the subject of a huge row yesterday. Mr Cameron wanted the brake to be in place for up to 13 years. Eastern Europe objected strongly. Eastern European countries also want a guarantee that the brake could be used by the UK only not nations such as Germany and Sweden, which have also experienced a huge influx of workers. CHILD BENEFIT What he wanted: The 2015 Tory manifesto promised that: 'If an EU migrant's child is living abroad, then they should receive no child benefit, no matter how long they have worked in the UK and no matter how much tax they have paid.' Sticking point: A watered down agreement that child benefit payments will be linked to the cost of living in the child's homeland has been agreed. But Eastern European countries insisted the rules should not apply to people who were already in the UK. The new regime is likely to be phased in over a number of years. Again, Eastern Europe does not want any other EU country to be able to apply the new rules. PROTECTION FROM THE EUROZONE What he wanted: A mechanism to ensure that Britain cannot be discriminated against because it is not part of the euro, cannot pick up the bill for eurozone bailouts and cannot have imposed on it changes the eurozone want to make without our consent. Sticking point: France spent days fiercely resisting the idea that Britain can interfere in the workings of the euro. Other EU countries were opposed to the idea that any agreement Mr Cameron secures should be enshrined in future treaties. EVER CLOSER UNION What he wanted: Exempt Britain from the commitment in the EU's founding treaty to move towards 'ever closer union'. Sticking point: The EU said it was content to acknowledge 'that the United Kingdom, in the light of the specific situation it has under the treaties, is not committed to further political integration into the European Union'. However, EU leaders were opposed to the idea of enshrining this in future EU treaties which is key if Mr Cameron is not to face accusations that his deal can be unpicked. AND THINGS HE ONCE PROMISED BUT NEVER ASKED FOR: Charter of Fundamental Rights. In 2009, Mr Cameron promised a complete opt-out of the charter, which further extends human rights laws. Social and employment laws. In 2010, Mr Cameron pledged to claw back powers from Brussels, but this was quietly dropped. Working time directive. In 2012, he promised to change the law that includes the contentious 48-hour maximum working week. Common Agricultural Policy. Repeated calls for reform of farming subsidies, but no sign of any change yet. Waste. In 2009, he promised to end the European Parliament's 'absurd' practice of meeting in Strasbourg as well as Brussels. Advertisement More than 2,000 migrants are still arriving on the Greek island of Lesbos every day, according to the EU border agency Frontex. Large numbers of migrants are continuing to attempt the crossing despite cold weather and perilous conditions. At its peak in the summer some 7,000 migrants were attempting the crossing every day. European leaders have discussed a plan to seal off Greece from the rest of the continent, by strengthening controls on Greece's borders with Macedonia and Bulgaria. Eurosceptics poured scorn on the talks saying they did not amount to anything meaningful. Tory MEP and leading out campaigner Daniel Hannan said: 'Other EU leaders are openly laughing at the idea that the changes are other than cosmetic.' Owen Paterson, a Tory MP and former cabinet minister, has dismissed the EU talks as 'a sideshow and a pantomime'. He said he believed the Prime Minister is seeking 'thin gruel'. BANGING HIS HEAD AGAINST A WALL... PM'S TWO DAYS OF FRUSTRATION JOHN STEVENS examines, hour by hour, how European leaders ganged up on David Cameron, turning the EU summit into a 30-hour farce THURSDAY 2.20pm (1.20pm GMT) David Cameron pledges to 'battle for Britain' as he arrives on the red carpet at the European Council's Justus Lipsius building. 'It is much more important to get this right than to do anything in a rush,' he tells reporters. Behind his limousine trails a line of people carriers transporting some of the 30 British diplomats and aides in Brussels for the talks. Lithuanian president Dalia Grybauskaite predicts: 'I think everybody will have their own drama and then we'll agree.' 3pm European Council president Donald Tusk, who chairs meetings of all 28 EU leaders, holds a half-hour meeting with Cameron to explain how he plans to organise the summit talks. Pleading his case: David Cameron with Italian PM Matteo Renzi (left) and one of his aides yesterday 5.10pm On the 8th floor, Cameron walks alone into the summit room carrying a large red ringbinder filled with detailed notes. He makes small talk with the other 27 leaders before they sit down for business at a large circular table. European Parliament president Martin Schulz kicks off with a shocking warning that even if EU leaders agree to Cameron's demands on migrant benefit curbs, he and his fellow MEPs will 'fight' them and stop them coming into law. 5.45pm The 28 leaders pose for a group photo and return to the summit room for two hours of 'tense' discussions. Tusk tells them he does 'not need to stress what is at stake'. Cameron pleads for a better deal, admitting his modest package of proposed measures has 'been badly received' at home and cannot be 'watered down any further'. 'I am not asking for anything new or something impossible This is already a compromise on a compromise'. Asking that Britain be allowed an 'emergency brake' on curbing in-work benefits to EU migrants for up to 13 years and the promise of treaty change in the 'next few years', he promises to campaign for the UK to stay in the EU with 'all my mind and soul' if they help him. French premier Francois Hollande warns Britain cannot be allowed a veto over reforms in the eurozone. The eastern Europeans, represented by Czech PM Bohuslav Sobotka, warn they will get a 'beating'at home if they accept cuts to child benefit for workers already in Britain. Collective: The 28 leaders posed for a group photo before returning to the summit room for two hours of 'tense' discussions on Thursday evening Estonian prime minister Taavi Roivas asks that leaders 'conclude the deal at this summit as we don't need another crisis on top of the ones we already have'. Belgian prime minister Charles Michel insists a clause is added to the deal making clear it is a final offer that cannot be improved if Britain votes to leave. 'There's no second chances,' he says. German chancellor Angela Merkel gives one of the most supportive interventions for Cameron, insisting 'we need to be generous enough so Cameron can go home and the people will support this', but leaders get the impression she is 'detached' from the negotiations with her thoughts concentrated on the migrant crisis. Beata Szydlo, the Polish prime minister, says her 'biggest problem' is with cuts to child benefits, before Portuguese prime minister Antonio Costa expresses a hope that Cameron gets a 'thumping' victory, but criticises him for taking up EU leaders' time with what should be a 'domestic issue'. Irish taoiseach Enda Kenny tells the others 'this is the biggest challenge' Cameron has faced as Prime Minister. 'His party and Cabinet are divided, we should give him the tools for this battle,' he adds before quoting from Macbeth: 'If it were done when 'tis done, then 'twere well, it were done quickly.' 7pm At the close of the session, Cameron desperately warns leaders it 'would be suicide' if they do not give him a deal he could 'get past the Cabinet' and 'win the referendum with'. He insists he 'never came setting out ridiculous demands' and has already made 'big concessions'. Tusk tells the leaders he will hold one-on-one meetings before all meeting together for breakfast at 11am. 7.10pm Over a dinner of avocado and shrimp 'imparfait', cod loin with wheat beer emulsion and duo of potato, light mango mousse with caramelised pineapple and coffee, the leaders discuss the migrant crisis. Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras uses it as an opportunity to threaten to veto Cameron's deal unless leaders stop criticising his country's handling of the crisis. Finally: Mr Cameron emerged from dinner to proclaim his deal at 11.10pm last night 'We need to help the UK, but the UK has only got a referendum in June and we have a crisis hitting us today.' Shell-shocked British officials admit the negotiations have not gone well, one saying: 'We expected some push back, but it was worse than we thought. Everyone was playing bad cop.' FRIDAY 1.20am At the end of the dinner, Tusk emerges and warns: 'A lot remains to be done.' In a room on the fifth floor, that resembles a police interview room, he and Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker sit down at a desk opposite Cameron, who asks: 'Do you want to start with the French issue?' Through the night, Tusk holds meetings with Hollande to discuss his opposition to protections for the City, with Sobotka to talk about migrant benefit curbs and with Michel to go through resistance to clarifying 'an ever closer union'. 5.40am A bleary eyed Cameron finally leaves the building after holding two further meetings with Tusk, between which he sat in the British delegation rooms snacking on Haribo sweets and wine gums. He is driven to the British embassy for three hours' sleep. Tusk postpones the 'English breakfast' scheduled for 11am, and says it will instead be a lunch at 1.30pm. 10am Arriving back at the summit, Cameron says: 'I'm going to get in there, do some more work, and do all I can.' He tells Tusk: 'I'm happy to stay until Sunday. I've told the wife and children.' 12 noon After sitting down again with Hollande and Sobotka, Tusk warns that the lunch will not start until 2.30pm. An aide tells British reporters Tusk has been sustaining himself of croissants, adding: 'I hope that doesn't offend you.' 1.20pm Leaders not involved in the one-to-one crisis talks walk the corridors as the lunch is postponed to 3.30pm. A candid Grybauskaite says: 'The timing, it all depends on the deepness of the drama some countries would like to perform. We would like to help the British make their decision, but no matter what we do here, no matter what face lifting or face saving we perform, it's up to the British people to decide.' 2.20pm The planned lunch is pushed back to 4pm, before aides announce an hour later it will be a dinner. Cameron holds two meetings with the Polish PM as aides reveal the eastern Europeans are fiercely resisting a deal. One minister says: 'There's still some way to go, we need some more hours.' 5.30pm After further talks, Cameron tweets that he will not hold a Cabinet meeting that evening. 'English breakfast' is delayed for a seventh time, to 8pm. Mrs Merkel is pictured tucking into a bag of fries with andalouse sauce mayonnaise spiced with pepper and tomato. The eastern Europeans have met in a 'war room' to discuss tactics. 8.30pm All 28 leaders join together for aperitifs before finally sitting down to a dinner of crown of artichoke with goat's cheese and rocket, fillet of veal with tarragon jus, wilted spinach and polenta, and passion fruit bavarois. 10.30pm Mr Tusk tweets from the dining room: 'Deal. Unanimous support for new settlement for #UKinEU.' 11.10pm Mr Cameron emerges from dinner to proclaim his deal. Advertisement THOUSANDS OF MILES AND COUNTLESS HOURS ON THE ROAD: HOW DAVID CAMERON GOT HIS DEAL ON EU MEMBERSHIP Mr Cameron has met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on many occasions during his renegotiation, most recently at last week's annual Matthiae-Mahlzeit dinner at the city hall in Hamburg, pictured David Cameron was locked in the EU summit for more than 30 hours hammering out the final version of his deal. But before he even arrived in Brussels for the final time, the Prime Minister embarked on a gruelling tour of European capitals and diplomatic activity. He visited 20 European countries and met every one of his 27 fellow leaders during his renegotiation tour. As a deal inched closer to completion, Government sources spelled out the unprecedented diplomatic offensive embarked upon by Mr Cameron to get his agreement. The final document is the first attempt to 'fundamentally reform' a country's membership of the EU from inside. The source insisted no country had ever tried to renegotiate its membership before and pointed to successes secured on the single currency and sovereignty The source said: 'The Prime Minister has really led the charge on this. 'He's taken a very personal involvement from the moment he was re-elected to meet and engage with European leaders.' Mr Cameron has travelled far and wide during his talks, including to Hungary to meet Viktor Orban in January, left, and Portugal in September last year for talks with Pedro Passos Coelho Earlier this month, Mr Cameron visited Poland for talks with Prime Minister Beata Szydlo on his deal as he worked to finalise the details ahead of last night's summit Mr Cameron has trekked to 20 different EU states for talks - many more than once. The PM has met every EU leader twice during the talks, including 10 of them in Downing Street. The renegotiation has been raised at 13 different world summits - either as the main business or in the fringes of unrelated gatherings. And Mr Cameron has had talks on 'more than 26' occasions with the leaders of the European Commission, European Council and European Parliament. The source added: 'He was the first Prime Minister to go to Austria in over 30 years. The first to go to Bulgaria and Romania in over 16 years. The first ever British Prime Minister to visit an independent Slovenia.' Advertisement The horrifying moment a nurse was taken hostage by a crazed patient was caught on camera by other patients at the hospital who decided to use their phones to get pictures and not to call for help. The man believed to be in his 40s was on an intravenous drip in Nanjing Hospital Jiangsu province, China - when he launched his attack on the unsuspecting nurse. He was upset about a family argument and appeared to be in two minds during the attack according to the South China Morning Post. A patient who took a nurse hostage was telling the witnesses he didn't want to live He was a patient in a Chinese hospital and held the nurse hostage with a fruit knife He kept yelling I dont want to live anymore, someone is plotting against me!, one witness, a fellow patient, reportedly said. The back of the knifes blade was placed against the nurses neck according to witnesses. Before he seized the nurse, he called the police himself. The police came and left, maybe because they thought nothing was wrong. After he grabbed the nurse, he kept asking us to call the police and tell the police to come as soon as possible, another patient revealed. The nurse was not injured during the attack, and was freed with the assistance of police after thirty minutes. A photograph shows more than a dozen people filming and photographing the incident as it unfolded. An Egyptian court has sentenced a four-year-old boy to life in prison for committing four 'murders' when he was only one and a half years old. Ahmed Mansour Karni was convicted in absentia of four counts of murder, eight of attempted murder, vandalising property, disturbance of peace and threatening police officers. The boy was part of a list of 115 defendants who were all given life sentences at a military court in Cairo for crimes committed on 3 January 2014 in the province of Fayoum, 70km south of Cairo. Ahmed Mansour Karni was convicted in absentia of four counts of murder, eight of attempted murder, vandalising property, disturbance of peace and threatening police officers The boy's lawyers presented Ahmed's birth certificate to the court - but the judge did not review the case Ahmed's name was added to the list by mistake but the court refused to accept documents proving his age, according to the boy's lawyers. One of them, Faisal al-Sayd, said that he presented Ahmed's birth certificate to the court, which allegedly failed to transfer it to the judge. 'The child Ahmed Mansour Karni's birth certificate was presented after state security forces added his name to the list of accused, but then the case was transferred to the military court and the child was sentenced in absentia in an ensuing court hearing,' he told the Jerusalem Post. 'This proves that the judge did not read the case'. Another Egyptian lawyer Mohammed Abu Hurira said the case proves that 'the Egyptian scales of justice are not reversible' and 'there is no justice in Egypt.' 'Logic committed suicide a while ago. Egypt went crazy. Egypt is ruled by a bunch of lunatics,' he said. This is the moment a rebel sniper made an incredibly lucky hit after his target mistakenly moved into the kill zone. An unidentified shooter could be seen taking a shot with a sniper rifle in the released footage, thought to have been filmed in Aleppo, Syria, before a segment showed a person being hit. It's not known whether the target survived or who he was but the video had the watermark of the Mujahedeen Army. At the beginning of the video, the sniper team were seen to be crawling along the abandoned rubble of buildings The shooter steadied himself behind the sniper rifle before taking a shot (left) and then takes a second bullet from his team member (right) The footage surfaced on Funker530 on Friday. In the video, two people were seen moving among the abandoned rubbles of buildings. At a soil bank, the two of them crouched down and prepared to take a shot. The sniper could be heard speaking for several moments and gesturing to his partner, who was holding a walkie-talkie. The bullet, lit up in orange (top left), appears to miss but then the target moved left as well. He was struck as he hid, leaving a cloud of smoke (right) Then the footage cuts to the moment that the sniper takes his shot, with a loud bang reverberating across the empty grounds. In another frame, seemingly where his target is located, the shot could be heard before a figure in blue is seen dodging behind a wall. The person was crouched down when the lit bullet hit him, creating a cloud of smoke. From the footage, it was obvious that the sniper would have missed had the target not moved. Shocked diplomats caught a pair of European officials having sex in a toilet at the crucial summit where David Cameron was battling for a renegotiation of Britain's membership in the EU. It is claimed the couple were found locked in a cubicle at the Lex Building in Brussels while continental leaders were thrashing out the UK's future in the organisation. The elicit encounter apparently took place on Thursday night with rumours circulating around the Belgian capital yesterday that those involved were from Germany. Scroll down for video A pair of diplomats were spotted having sex in a toilet at the Lex Building, pictured, in Brussels, it was claimed According to The Sun, a source at the summit said Slovenian officials discovered the pair in the throes of passion. The source said: Everybody is asking each other, Do you know who it is? I guess they just fancied a bit of Hows your Fatherland. But Chancellor Angela Merkel will not be happy if she finds out who they are. At least someone enjoyed themselves because you could tell the leaders werent. The Lex Building is next door to where the crunch talks were taking place and is used by interpreters and translators. A source claimed the couple were from Germany and said Chancellor Angela Merkel, pictured, 'would not be happy' if she found out who they were The incident apparently happened at the same time as David Cameron, pictured right, with Slovenian Prime Minister Miro Cerar, left, was taking part in crunch talks over the UK's position in the EU It comes as Prime Minister David Cameron said he had secured 'special status' for the UK in the EU with his deal that was concluded after 30 hours of negotiations. He will hold a Cabinet meeting this morning and announce the date of an In/Out referendum afterwards. Mr Cameron said the deal, which will put a brake on migrants claiming in work benefits in the UK, was strong enough for him to campaign for Britain to remain a part of the organisation. Care officer Philip Houghton was jailed for five months after shining a blinding laser pen at a police helicopter A care officer who shone a blinding laser pen at a police helicopter has been jailed for five months. Philip Houghton bought the 9 gadget from China and targeted the helicopter because he was bored while waiting for a takeaway, Hull Magistrates' Court heard. The 25-year-old wept as the judge warned it was only a matter of time before a plane crash was caused by pilots being dazzled. His sentence was handed down just days after a London to New York flight carrying hundreds of passengers was forced to return to Heathrow when a pilot was hit by a beam. The court heard the helicopter crew Houghton targeted were at the time helping to hunt a suspect after a shooting. Houghton admitted endangering an aircraft or a person in an aircraft but claimed he was trying to see how far the light would reach. District Judge Frederick Rutherford told him: It is only a matter of time before a tragedy is caused by this type of behaviour. 'You deliberately targeted the helicopter with your laser... and by so doing you endangered the pilot. To do this as a man of your age and your responsibility is beyond belief. Amelia Woollen, defending, described Houghton as an 'extremely hard-working individual'. She added: 'He works as a care officer with people with severe learning difficulties and in a taxi office.' A spokesman for Humberside Police said: People should never shine laser pens at planes or helicopters as it compromises public safety. The mindless action can endanger the safety of an aircraft, those in it and the wider public. Those prosecuted face a prison sentence, as Phillip Houghton has discovered. The 25-year-old bought the 9 gadget from China and targeted the helicopter because he was bored while waiting for a takeaway, Hull Magistrates' Court heard Last Sunday a pilot on a Virgin Atlantic flight to New York was dazzled by a laser minutes after take-off from Heathrow. The captain put out a distress call, warning his co-pilot had suffered a medical issue. The Airbus 340 was carrying more than 260 people when it was targeted. A British Airways pilot suffered eye damage in an attack last year and a survey found half of airline pilots were targeted by lasers in a year. Lasers were shone at police helicopters 108 times last year and the British Airline Pilots Association has called for laser pens to be reclassified as offensive weapons due to the alarming rate at which planes are targeted. A father who believes his daughter was murdered by paedophile serial killer Robert Black in 1978 said he feels sorry for the fish after it emerged that the dead killer's ashes where dumped into the Irish Sea. John Tate, whose daughter Genette, 13, went missing from a rural lane in Aylesbeare, Devon in August 1978, believes the was murdered by killer Robert Black. Police began re-investigating her disappearance in 2014 assigning 10 officers to search for evidence. Convicted paedophile serial killer, left, who died in prison last month is the prime suspect in the disappearance and probable murder of missing schoolgirl Genette Tate, right, who vanished in Devon in August 1978 Shortly after her disappearance in Aylesbeare, Devon, police found Genette Tate's bicycle, pictured Black, pictured here being led away from Newcast Crown Court, had been convicted of murdering four girls It was likely that Black, who was convicted of the murders of Susan Maxwell, Caroline Hogg, Sarah Harper and Jennifer Cardy was going to be charged with Genette Tate's murder. However, the notorious paedophile, who was serving numerous life sentences, died last month in non-suspicious circumstances in Maghaberry high security jail in Lisburn, County Antrim. Genette Tate vanished from near her home in August 1978 while on her paper round. Her father John told the Daily Mirror he 'felt sorry for any fish that swallow his ashes'. He said: 'I hope they sank to the deepest, darkest, coldest part of the sea. That would be fitting for such a cold killer though if theres a hell thats where he should be. 'Decent people would have cut a grave of his out of the ground.' The Northern Ireland Prison Service said: 'No one claimed Robert Blacks ashes, which have now been scattered at sea without formal ceremony beyond these shores.' Speaking to ITV news before Black's death, Mr Tate said: 'It's hard [to grieve] because there's a tiny little bit of me that hopes she's alive somewhere. 'I basically hoped that we were going to find out what actually happened to her and to rule out once and for all that she is alive somewhere.' Mr Tate said he had also unsuccessfully attempted to visit the sex attacker in prison, adding: 'I never got an opportunity - he wouldn't see me and we dropped it in the end.' A reinvestigation into the disappearance began in 2014, after a court of appeal hearing a year earlier, and a team of 10 had been working 'extensively' on the case. Detective Superintendent Paul Burgan, of Devon and Cornwall Police said: 'We were in the process of submitting a full evidential file to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), which would have been submitted in February of this year.' Black died last month in non-suspicious circumstances inside Maghaberry prison in Lisburn, Co Antrim Black, pictured, was in Maghaberry prison after he was convicted of the August 1981 murder of Jennifer Cardy The CPS had previously indicated that Black would have been charged over the disappearance, he said, adding that the file would still be submitted. The Scottish-born sex attacker stalked the roads of the UK searching for victims. His reign of terror was ended in 1990 when he was caught red-handed by police with a barely-alive six-year-old girl hooded, bound, gagged and stuffed in a sleeping bag in the back of his van in the Scottish village of Stow. He had sexually assaulted her moments earlier. Once in custody detectives were able to link the predator to a series of unsolved crimes in the previous decade. There was new hope of a prosecution for Genette's murder after Black lost an appeal against his conviction for Jennifer's murder. Critically, the appeal court ruled that Black's offending was so unique that bad character evidence could be used to identify the offender at the scene - opening the door for detectives to revisit Genette's disappearance. Black first became a suspect in 1994 and was initially interviewed by officers about it in 1996. In 2002, a large scale investigation took place and was linked with one the Police Service of Northern Ireland were conducting into Jennifer's murder. Following the Court of Appeal decision in 2013, Devon and Cornwall Police launched a reinvestigation into Genette's murder. Officers have since identified potential witnesses in the case. Mr Burgan said Black's death came as a 'complete shock' and there was a provision in place to allow officers to speak to him about Genette's disappearance if he was in poor health. He added: 'From what we can ascertain he has just collapsed in prison.' A CPS spokesman said: 'This is a very large and complex case, with an extremely long history, and the CPS has worked closely with Devon and Cornwall Police. This is the disturbing moment a 11-year-old boy kneeled down to kiss his father's hand before blowing himself up in a truck laden with explosives. Footage of the child jihadi, identified as Abu Imara al Omri, was posted last month by ISIS supporters, who claimed the boy was used to help take the village of Ghazl near Aleppo, Syria from forces loyal to president Bashar al-Assad. Al-Omri is seen toting a gun and gazing wistfully into the fields, before he is given a prep talk by another ISIS militant. Scroll down for video Abu Imara al Omri is seen kissing his father goodbye before blowing himself up in a truck full of explosives Al-Omri is seen toting a gun and gazing wistfully into the desert, before he is given a prep talk by another ISIS militant Footage of the child jihadi, identified as Abu Imara al Omri, was posted last month by ISIS supporters The extremist group claimed the boy was used to help take the village of Ghazl near Aleppo, Syria The ISIS child suicide bomber is given a prep talk by a senior militant The final part shows young Abu, sitting inside the truck, kissing his father's hand as a blessing ahead of the suicide mission The youngster and his father then inspect the fortified truck, which would be packed with explosives, and the boy is taught how to ignite and drive the truck. The final part shows young Abu, sitting inside the truck, kissing his father's hand as a blessing ahead of the suicide mission. Daesh are increasingly using Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Device (VBIED) attacks against Assad's troops in Syria. ISIS propaganda has long boasted about raising the next generation of jihadists, calling them the 'cubs of the caliphate'. In a recent publication of Dabiq, their monthly English language magazine, the extremist group encourages mothers to sacrifice their sons for the caliphate. ISIS propaganda has long boasted about raising the next generation of jihadists, calling them the 'cubs of the caliphate' In a recent publication of Dabiq, their monthly English language magazine, the extremist group encourages mothers to sacrifice their sons for the caliphate The father of Abu Imara al-Omri speaks to the camera before his son embarks in the suicide mission The fortified truck which will be used to carry out the mission against Assad soldiers 'As for you, O mother of lion cubs. ... And what will make you know what the mother of lion cubs is? She is the teacher of generations and the producer of men,' the article reads. A new study published in the CTC Sentinel shows that child soldiers are treated no differently from adult militants under ISIS rule. Researchers have analysed the case of Omri and 88 other children in the past 13 months and found that 39% of them died detonating a vehicle born IED device. Most of the children are from Syria and 33% were killed as foot soldiers. Some 4% killed themselves while committing mass casualty attacks against civilians, and 6% died as propagandists embedded with brigades. An emerging ISIS tactic is also to employ children to carry so-called 'plunging attacks', a military operation in which a group of fighters attack an enemy position before blowing themselves up. The youngster and his father then inspect the fortified truck, which would be packed with explosives, and the boy is taught how to ignite and drive the truck Abu Imara al-Omri kisses his father goodbye before blowing himself up After the blessing, Abu Imara al Omri drives off for his suicide mission Dame Mary Archer has revealed she refused to quit on her husband Lord Jeffrey, even when he asked her if she wanted a divorce. The couple are about to celebrate their golden wedding anniversary despite a roller coaster of a marriage which has endured an affair and prison. Speaking from their home in Grantchester, Cambridgeshire, they said they are still very happy with each other after all the twists and turns over the years. Scroll down for video Lord Archer and wife Dame Mary, pictured left in 2015 and right earlier in their marriage, put down their long-lasting relationship to never getting bored of each other Dame Mary said she did not consider divorcing her husband during their troubles because she 'is not a quitter' One of their biggest challenges came when Lord Archer was imprisoned in 2001 after being convicted of perjury, serving two years behind bars. Speaking to the Telegraph, Dame Mary, 71, said: 'From Belmarsh [prison] Jeffrey wrote to me and said, 'Do you want to stay in this marriage? I feel I have let you down'. That was really the nearest we have ever come to talking about it [divorce]. 'A partnership is about helping your partner in time of difficulty. That is when it matters. I am just not a quitter.' Lord Archer, 75, added he knew his wife was the one for him from the beginning. He said: 'I fell in love with her immediately. She was stunningly beautiful. I discovered how bright she was later. I knew this was the woman I wanted to marry immediately. I think she took years, and still isn't sure.' The couple, who have two sons William and James, met in 1963 at a party in Oxford when a 23-year-old Jeffrey was doing a teacher-training course and Mary, then 19, was a chemistry student at St Anne's College. Dame Mary pictured with her children James, left, and William, right, shortly after Lord Archer was jailed Lord Archer pictured left and right at Hollesley Bay Prison in Suffolk in 2003 where he served part of his jail sentence for perjury after his 2001 conviction Their first date was to see Sean Connery as James Bond in Dr No with Lord Archer actually asking Dame Mary's then boyfriend permission to take her out. They married in 1966 and said the first sign of trouble came eight years later when Lord Archer was a Tory MP and his wife was doing a postdoctoral study in London. Lord Archer made an investment in a fraudulent scheme that threatened to leave them bankrupt and he ended up resigning his seat, leaving the family in debt. It led Dame Mary to become a lecturer in Chemistry at Cambridge for 10 years, becoming the main breadwinner of the family. But more difficult times were to come in 1986 when Lord Archer was forced to stand down as deputy chairman of the Conservative Party, after being accused of paying a prostitute 2,000 to leave the country. He sued the Daily Star for libel for saying he had slept with her, protesting that he was not a former client but had made the payment out of charity. Dame Mary and Lord Archer pictured in 1986 shortly after he won 500,000 in damages from a libel case against the Daily Star for accusing him of paying for sex Lord Archer is a former deputy chairman of the Conservative Party but stood down during the libel case He won 500,000 damages, but the evidence he gave in court came back to haunt him in 2000 when he was charged with perjury and perverting the course of justice, leading to his subsequent imprisonment. Lord Archer was accused of asking former friend Ted Francis to provide him with a false alibi, presenting a fake diary as evidence and lying on oath. Archer was running for Mayor of London at the time, but withdrew as a result of the charges. It was the second trial that riled his wife more, with Dame Mary stating she was angry because 'the judge treated me as if I were a liar'. When it comes to the matter of her husband's affairs, she said there was a lot of 'misinformation' out there but that 'lots of things go on in marriages that are less than ideal' and they should stay private. Dame Mary, a former lecturer at the University of Cambridge, said she would not be the same person without her husband's 'encouragement and support' But she puts the longevity of their relationship down to her husband's good qualities and said she relied upon his 'encouragement and support', while Lord Archer said they never get bored of each other. They have also both come through health scares when Dame Mary was diagnosed with bladder cancer in 2010 and Lord Archer developed prostate cancer in 2013. Dame Mary's has kept herself busy with a long career in boardrooms, including her current role as chairman of the National Science Museum in London and previous roles as director and chairman of the Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the world-renowned Addenbrooke's Hospital. After going bankrupt, Lord Archer embarked upon his writing career, using his wife as an editor, before 1979's Kane and Abel provided him with a big break that led to a long list of best-sellers and global sales of 330 million copies. Police want to fly to Vatican City to interview Cardinal George Pell who allegedly sexually abused up to 10 minors between 1978 and 2001, it has been reported. According to the Herald Sun the detectives involved in the Sano investigation want to fly to the Catholic state to interview the Cardinal, but need to wait for senior figures give them the go-ahead. Ballarat Survivors Group and Care Leavers Australasis Network are also calling for police to take their allegations to Pell. Cardinal George Pell is being investigated over claims that he sexually abused and groomed minors, it has been reported Pell has said he will co-operate with police if they decide to question him. The Herald Sun have reported the alleged abuse spanned over 23 years, and occurred both in Ballarat where he was a priest, and in Melbourne where he worked as the archbishop. Detectives have been working with the alleged victims for over a year it has been reported they are aged between their late 20s and early 50s. An earlier explosive Herald Sun report claimed Victoria Police is probing allegations about 'multiple offences' committed by the now 74-year-old. But Cardinal Pell has vehemently denied the allegations, saying they are 'without foundation and utterly false', according to a spokesman. The report said a taskforce is investigating claims that Cardinal Pell sexually abused minors by 'both grooming and opportunity'. Detectives have reportedly been working on the investigation, which has involved interviewing 'numerous' alleged victims, over the past year. Victoria Police told Daily Mail Australia they are aware of the report but 'cannot comment on any cases in which an individual has been named'. Cardinal Pell is due to give evidence to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sex Abuse in just over one week. He is currently in Rome and claims he is too ill to fly to front the commission, but will testify via video-link from Rome. A spokesman for the Cardinal said that he 'strongly denies' any wrongdoing. His office said police have not raised the allegations with Cardinal Pell and that he has never been interviewed over child sexual abuse claims. But Cardinal Pell said that if police wish to question him he will co-operate with any inquiry. 'The allegations are without foundation and utterly false,' his office said. A taskforce is investigating claims that Cardinal Pell (pictured at the Vatican) sexually abused minors by 'both grooming and opportunity' Cardinal Pelli s due to give evidence to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sex Abuse in just over one week 'He strongly denies any wrongdoing. If the police wish to question him he will co-operate, as he has with each and every public inquiry. 'The Cardinal is certain that the police will quickly reach the conclusion that the allegations are false.' His office said that previous 'false' allegations from a church camp at Victoria's Phillip Island, investigated by Justice Southwell, have been ignored by the police for over 15 years. 'The Phillip Island allegations have been on the public record for nearly 15 years. The Southwell Report which exonerated Cardinal Pell has been in the public domain since 2002.' The spokesman said the leak was timed to cause 'maximum damage' to the Cardinal and the Catholic Church and undermine the work of the Royal Commission. The Cardinal has called for a public inquiry into the leaking of the 'spurious claims', his spokesman said. 'Given the serious nature of this conduct, the Cardinal has called for a public inquiry to be conducted in relation to the actions of those elements of the Victorian Police who are undermining the Royal Commission's work,' a spokesman said. 'The Cardinal calls on the Premier and the Police Minister to immediately investigate the leaking of these baseless allegations.' Cardinal Pell is currently in Rome and claims he is too ill to fly to front the commission, but will testify via video-link from Rome A man has been arrested and charged with the murder of a five-month-old baby girl. Hayley Davidson was admitted to hospital after police attended a property in Buckhaven, Fife, on Sunday. They were responding to a call reporting concern for the child, who died at Edinburgh's Royal Hospital for Sick Children on Wednesday afternoon. A 36-year-old man is scheduled to appear at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court on Monday. Hayley lived with her Catherine Davidson (pictured), who also has two other daughters, in Buckhaven, Fife Hayley lived with her mother, Catherine Davidson, who also has older daughters aged five and three. In a statement issued through Police Scotland, Hayleys family said: Hayley was a beautiful baby girl loved by everyone who met her. We, as a family, wish to be left alone to grieve at this difficult and trying time. A spokesman for Police Scotland said: We can confirm that a five-month-old baby girl from Levenmouth has sadly died. Hayley Davidson passed away on Wednesday afternoon within the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh. Friends of the family yesterday paid tributes online to the little girl. Relative Kimberly Macartney wrote: Just had a phone [call that] baby Hayley Rose Davidson died today. Fly high angel you will never be forgotten. Amanda Doig-Sands posted a photograph of Hayley and wrote: Poor wee princess. RIP little one. Last night Mrs Davidsons friends lit candles in memory of Hayley and said they plan to hold a remembrance service for the infant. Friend of the family Nikki Ralph posted two pictures of her young daughter holding Hayley and said: RIP Hayley Rose Davidson. Fly high in the sky. Shine bright our angel. Julie Duncan said: Sleep tight little angel. RIP. No words can describe how heartbreaking this is. The friends of Mrs Davidson (pictured) lit candles in memory of Hayley and said they plan to hold a remembrance service for the infant Two other officers have non-life-threatening injuries, while the condition of a third is unknown A SWAT team stormed the property, where a woman and girl were also inside, before gunfire broke out Officers responded to a domestic incident on Friday afternoon before getting into a standoff with suspect Charles Lambert, 45 In Mississippi James Lee Tartt, 44, was killed in the early hours of Saturday Suspect Jamal Funes, 34, is in critical condition after also being shot Andrew Yurkiw was shot in the chest but survived thanks to his bullet-proof vest, while William Reddin was shot below the vest in the hip Two NYPD officers are in stable condition after being shot overnight Officer Andrew Yurkiw (pictured in college) was one of the two officers shot in Brooklyn today, and was saved after the bullet hit his protective vest Two New York City Police Department officers were shot in the early hours of Saturday morning while another was shot and killed in Mississippi after an standoff came to a bloody conclusion. In New York, Jamal Funes, 34, is accused of opening fire on officers William Reddin and Andrew Yurkiw at around 3.20am in Brooklyn after officers responded to reports of gunfire. Yurkiw was shot in the chest but survived because of his bullet-proof vest, while Reddin was hit in the hip below his vest, the New York Post reported. Meanwhile in Mississippi, officer James Lee Tartt, 44, was shot dead after cops responded to reports of a domestic incident Friday afternoon and got into a standoff with Charles Lambert, 45. A state SWAT team was brought to the property where they attempted to negotiate with Lambert, who was thought to have a woman and a girl in the house with him. After negotiations failed, officers stormed the house in the early hours of Saturday, sparking gunfire. Tartt, of Grenada, an agent with the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics, was shot dead in the exchange of fire, while two other officers received non-life-threatening injuries. A third officer, who was also wounded, was taken to hospital though his condition is unclear. Following the Brooklyn shooting, New York mayor Bill de Blasio revealed that Reddin is a nine-year veteran of the force and a father-of-two whose wife is also pregnant, while Yurkiw has served for three years. Two police officers are in stable condition and suspect Jamal Funes, 34, is in critical condition Saturday morning after a shooting in Brooklyn (pictured, victim, believed to be an officer, is loaded into an ambulance) Police say the officers were responding to a report of gunfire when Funes rammed their vehicle then shot at them, hitting one on his bullet-proof vest and the other in the hip (scene pictured) Officers were called to reports of gunfire shortly after 3am and saw Funes, who is accused of pointing a revolver at them before fleeing in his car. Cops pursued Funes before he pulled the wrong way up a one-way street, crashing into a vehicle containing plainclothes officers Yurkiw and Reddin before opening fire. The officers returned fire hitting Funes, who is believed to be from New Jersey, several times and leaving him in critical condition. At least 14 shell casing were discovered at the scene, while a .357 snub-nosed revolver was found inside Funes' car, along with five spent rounds. James Lee Tartt, 44 (pictured with his family), was killed in Mississippi in the early hours of this morning while storming a house following a standoff with armed suspect Charles Lambert Suspect: Charles Lee Lambert, 45, who was involved in the standoff with police Both of the officers were taken to Kings County Hospital in stable condition where Yurkiw was treated for blunt force trauma and released, while Reddin is undergoing surgery. According to the New York Daily News, Reddin had another near-miss in the same Brooklyn neighborhood back in 2011 when another man attempted to shoot him. However, Reddin's partner managed to jam his hand between the hammer and cylinder on the gun, preventing it from firing. Speaking at a press conference Saturday morning, De Balsio told how Yurkiw's father, a retired cop, was saved by a bullet-proof vest 27 years ago when he was also shot in the chest. He also praised the dedication of the men, saying that one had been talking about a gun bust he carried out just hours before the shooting. De Blasio said: 'He was telling me how proud he was. Just the day before he got another gun off the street. Amazing to see the devotion of these officers and the relief their families felt.' Funes has a 20-year rap sheet that includes at least 15 arrests including one for robbery and assault where he tried to steal a police officers gun in July 2007, officials said. Police said that Funes pointed a revolver at officers before fleeing in a car, then rammed another police car before the shoot-out started (pictured, Police Commissioner Bill Bratton talks to journalists) At least 14 shell casings were discovered at the scene, police said, five of which were recovered from Funes' vehicle along with this .357 snub-nosed revolver Lethal gun attacks on police officers has risen markedly over the last few years, with 42 shot dead in 2015, compared to 32 in 2013. This year has proved to be particularly bad for officers deaths by firearms, with nine shot dead since the start of the year, five of which happened in the last week alone. Addressing violence against police, Sheriff Paul Laney from Case County, North Dakota, said: 'People are hunting us. How do you think that sits with us? 'But yet we wear this badge with honor and pride and we're going to go out every day and protect our communities.' Chinese state media have urged their national military to fire warning shots and deliberately ram U.S. warships that sail too close to their footholds in the disputed South China Sea. U.S. ship Curtis Wilbur came within 12 nautical miles of Triton Island in the Paracels last month, catapulting tensions in the oil-rich region to an all-time high. The commentary article declared China must 'teach the US a lesson' if they continue intruding on China's rightful territory, reports SCMP. Scroll down for video Chinese state media have urged their national military to fire warning shots and deliberately ram U.S. warships in the South China Sea U.S satellite images surfaced this week showing advanced air defence missile system on the Chinese controlled Woody Island in the Paracels The Paracels have been under Chinese rule for over 40 years, deeming them the most fundamentally important foothold for China to defend, the article claimed. The author proposed the American presence in the Paracels was intended to 'oppose China for the sake of opposing' which called for 'proper toughness and deterrence.' It comes after U.S satellite images surfaced this week showing advanced air defence missile system on Woody Island in the Paracels, igniting concerns over China's militarisation. But Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei told reporters that patrols by U.S. military aircraft and Navy vessels, along with joint exercises involving regional partners were the true reason why concerns were escalating over stability. China has been embroiled in fierce territorial disputes in the region since laying claim to a vast swathe of land known as the 'nine-dash line.' They have further stroked tensions by linking islands in the region with runways in a process known as 'land reclamation.' The alleged ongoing land reclamation by China at Subi Reef, a disputed island in the South China Sea Germany says that NATO cannot 'pay the price for a war started by Turks' European diplomats have warned the Turkish government that it cannot count on the NATO support should the conflict with Russia escalate into an armed conflict, according to German media. Ankara has called for a joint ground operation in Syria with its international allies, insisting it is the only way to stop the country's five-year war. Saudi Arabia has said it would be ready to take part in an international force to be deployed in Syria. Turkey has called for a joint ground operation in Syria with its international allies, insisting it is the only way to stop the country's five-year war. Turkish tanks are pictured in action here in Kobane, Syria, in 2014 A protester holds a placard in 2015 reading 'Killer Russia! Get out from Syria' (L) while others shout slogans in front of the Russian Istanbul consulate during a demonstration against Russia's Syria policy in Istanbul Russian pilots stand outside their Su-30 jet fighter, armed with air-to-air missiles, before a take off at Hmeimim airbase in Syria last year But Russia, which has been carrying out air strikes in support of main regional ally Bashar al-Assad, has voiced its opposition to the operation. It also called on the Security Council to press Turkey to halt its shelling of Kurdish forces in northern Syria - but it was rejected. Turkey's plan was based on the assumption that, in case of conflict, the country could invoke Article 5 of the NATO treaty, the collective defence clause if any member state is attacked. But Luxembourg foreign minister Jean Asselborn told German magazine Der Spiegel that the Turkish government cannot count on Nato 'NATO cannot allow itself to be pulled into a military escalation with Russia as a result of the recent tensions between Russia and Turkey,' he said. Asselborn also stressed that Article 5 can only be invoked when a member state is clearly attacked. A German diplomat echoed Asselborn's stance and said: 'We are not going to pay the price for a war started by the Turks.' On Friday, French President Francois Hollande also said that Europe needs to prevent a conflict between the two nations. A young mom and her family have spoken of their horror after she became the victim of a horror viral hoax. Karena Bennet, 21, of Connecticut opened her Facebook on Thursday and discovered a photo of her and her newborn had been used in an article alleging she had 14 kids from different men. The post - which used her image, but gave her a different name - claimed a Detroit mother had been entered into the Guinness Book of World Records for giving birth to her 14th child fathered by a 14th man. Mother-of-one Bennet then watched in shock as the post went viral online according to the Detroit Free Press. Karena Bennet, 21, of Connecticut (pictured with her partner and their son) opened her Facebook on Thursday and discovered a photo of her had been used in an article alleging she had 14 kids from different men The post (one shared online shown above) claimed a Detroit mother by the name Anita Sullivan entered the Guinness Book of World Records for giving birth to her 14th child fathered by a 14th man but included Bennet's photo The picture that has been circulating online of Bennet was originally featured in an article a year ago, after Bennet's child was the first baby born in the year of 2015 in Milford, Connecticut. A Milford Mirror article includes a picture of proud parents Bennet and her partner, Elder Marroquin, with their son Damon after he was born at Milford Hospital. 'This is disgusting what's going on!,' Pauline Rindos, Bennet's grandmother, told the Detroit Free Press on Friday of the hoax. 'Are you kidding me? Since 10 o'clock the other morning this girl has been through the ceiling. I'm 80 years old, and I'm taking it, too.' Rindos said her granddaughter first learned of the hoax after someone shared the fake article to her Facebook page. The couple pictured with their son above. Bennet's grandmother, Pauline Rindos, called the hoax 'disgusting' 'When it got on Facebook, everybody and their uncle knew right away that it wasn't her,' Rindos told the Free Press. 'It was like, "Oh my God." I'm having a heart attack and a half. Where and how did they get this picture?' The fake article reportedly first appeared on the site Infamous Tribune but the very same article was also published on the site, World Daily News Report. The articles claim a 36-year-old woman with the name Anita Sullivan gave birth to her 14th child at Harper University Hospital in Detroit. They quote 'Sullivan' as saying she is 'extremely proud to have broken a world record' and that she has 'just accomplished something that no one had done before.' The articles also include a picture of a group of 13 children giving a thumbs up with a caption claiming the kids in the photo are her children and that they 'were all present at the hospital to meet their new sibling.' The family pictured in an earlier photo. Rindos said her granddaughter, who lives in Derby, has since contacted a lawyer following the ordeal. However, it is not immediately clear if she has any legal recourse The picture that has been circulating online of Bennet was originally featured in an article a year ago, after Bennet's child was the first baby born in the year of 2015 in Milford, Connecticut (shown above) On Facebook, some people unaware of the hoax shared negative remarks about 'Sullivan' but some noted that the story could be fake. 'What's crazy is I have seen the same story attached to three different women....probably fake,' one woman wrote. Meanwhile Bennet - who works as a waitress at a Derby, Connecticut restaurant where Marroquin works as a cook - has since contacted a lawyer, according to her grandmother. However it is not immediately clear if she has any legal recourse and cannot afford an attorney, according to the Detroit Free Press. A 22-year-old man is suing the federal government after an Australian Border Force officer confiscated his phone, sent secret text messages and then deleted them. The airline passenger claims to have been held for approximately four hours at Sydney International Airport in November 2014 despite customs not having any legitimate reason to do so, reported the Sydney Morning Herald. Since the incident, the young man who was flying to Turkey and Cyprus, has filed a writ in the District Court of NSW stating he was falsely imprisoned, harassed and unlawfully detained. A 22-year-old man is suing the the federal government for false imprisonment, unlawful detainment and harassment after he was stopped at Sydney airport for around four hours (stock photo) The incident resulted in the 22-year-old missing his flight. Lawyer Zali Burrows said her client's privacy had been breached. 'It is the unknown mischief of the text that is most concerning,' she said. 'My client was upset with the way he was treated, they searched his bag, they went through his phone, he missed his flight and the next day when he returned to the airport, it was Groundhog Day all over again.' Officers allegedly strip-searched the man against his will and demanded to know unnecessary information including questions about his religion and family and access codes to his computer and phone. It wasn't until the 22-year-old received a letter from the Integrity and Professional Standards branch of the department six months later did he realise an investigation was being undertaken over the 'inappropriate use' of his phone by the customs officer. The matter was also referred to the Australian Federal Police last year by Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young. 'The Department needs to explain exactly how it dealt with this incident and what happened to the offending officer, so that the Australian public can travel without fearing that their private conversations will be interfered with,' said Senator Hanson-Young. Advertisement One unsuspecting petrol head can rest easy knowing their used Jaguar had one very careful lady owner previously - The Queen herself. The monarch's X-type - which comes complete with heated seats, parking sensors and a dog grille to stop the corgis distracting the driver - sold for 15,000 after being offered online. London-based car firm Fletchdale Ltd was involved in the sale and said the new owner did not realise they were buying from Her Majesty herself. Scroll down for video The Queen pictured driving with a security guard in the Jaguar X-Type down Long Walk in Windsor Great Park last July The monarch is the only person permitted to drive down Long Walk and is also the only person allowed to drive without a licence in the UK Her Majesty had to move off the path in Windsor Great Park last year to avoid a young family, pictured, who were stunned when they realised who the driver was A spokesman for the company told The Sun: 'It went to a buyer unaware of its former owner. Someone unwittingly bought a slice of royalty.' The Queen was pictured driving the V6 Sovereign model around Windsor last year but decided to part with the vehicle, which has heated seats, parking sensors and a dog grille to stop her corgis distracting her. The three-litre automatic vehicle had just 7,600 miles on the clock at the time of the sale despite being seven years old and the sale was described as being the next-best thing to buying a top-of-the-range X-type. Her jaunt in the Jaguar in Windsor last year turned dramatic at one point when she had to swerve off a road to avoid a family out for a stroll. Oblivious that they were being approached by the monarch on the Long Walk in Windsor Great Park, Scarlett Vincent and Toby Core, out with 11-month-old son Teddy, were left stunned when they realised the identity of the passing driver. The three-litre automatic Sovereign model, pictured, has heated seats, parking sensors, a dog grille and just 7,600 miles on the clock The Queen is a keen motorist and has also been spotted on her Sandringham estate driving her Land Rover, pictured Miss Vincent, 23, a housewife from Buckinghamshire, said that she and Mr Core, 30, a company director, were left in fits of laughter when they realised they had been overtaken by the monarch. Despite her advancing years, the Queen remains a keen motorist, having spent time as a driver and mechanic in the Womens Auxillary Territorial Service during the Second World War. As well as regularly taking to the lanes of her Sandringham estate in a trusted Range Rover, she is often seen at the wheel on Sundays as she travels to the church near the Royal Lodge on the Windsor estate. Mystery surrounds the visit of Kim Jon-un and his wife Ri Sol-ju to the mausoleum where his late embalmed father lies. The state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) did not report Kim's presence at the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun when other top officials paid tribute to the corpse of Kim Jong Il. A few days later, the North's official Rodong Sinmun claimed the North Korean leader did visit the mausoleum and posted a picture of Kim walking down a corridor with his wife. North Korea's official Rodong Sinmun news agency insists Kim Jong-un did visit his late father's mausoleum and posted this picture of him walking down a corridor with his wife Ri Sol-ju to prove it But critics noted that Ri's hanbok, a traditional Korean dress, is the same she wore at a banquet last Saturday honouring the scientists behind the North's rocket launch The article did not specify the time of Kim's visit and showed only one photo of the North Korean leader 'Kim Jong Un entered the hall of immortality where Kim Jong Il lies in state. He, together with Ri Sol Ju, made bow to Kim Jong Il in the humblest reverence,' it said. 'He recollected with deep emotion the noble revolutionary career and immortal exploits Kim Jong Il performed by dedicating his all to the sacred cause for the prosperity of the country and happiness of the people.' However, the belated announcement triggered speculation. The article did not specify the time of Kim's visit and showed only one photo of the North Korean leader. The circumstances of the visit are also highly unusual, as Kim is normally accompanied by dozens of uniformed military officials at these events. Some observers noted that Ri's hanbok, a traditional Korean dress, is the same she wore at a banquet last Saturday honouring the scientists behind the North's rocket launch. During the ceremony, Kim declared he plans to conquer space and lavished praise on the 'patriots and admirable heroes' behind the test. He told the crowd: 'Conquering space is ... a fierce class struggle against the hostile forces seeking to usurp our peace and sovereignty. 'The advance toward space... is the DPRK's [North Korea's] strategic goal', he said. North Korea sparked international outrage with the launch of the Kwangmyongsong-4 satellite, which came just a month after its fourth nuclear test. The launch, which most in the international community viewed as a disguised ballistic missile test, violated multiple UN resolutions banning the nuclear-armed country from the use of ballistic technology. North Korea has been accused of doctoring images of events where Kim was in attendance, including a 2013 visit to a training exercise of Pyongyang's hovercraft. Two Serbian diplomats held hostage in Libya since November were among the dozens killed in Friday's US air strikes on an Islamic State camp, Serbian officials said. The raids targeted positions of the Islamic State group in the city of Sabratha, near the Tunisian border. A hospital in Sabratha has been tasked with the grim job of sorting out the bodies of those killed in the attack. Rows of bodies in plastic bags, some of which have already been labelled and identified, were pictured in the corridors of the hospital on the day following the attack. Scroll down for video Grim job: Bodies wrapped in plastic bags lie on the ground at a hospital in Sabratha, on February 20 Aftermath: Rows of bodies in plastic bags, some of which have already been labelled and identified, were pictured in the corridors of the hospital on the day following the attack Libyans gather next to debris at the site of a jihadist training camp, targeted in a US air strike The abducted Serbs - Sladjana Stankovic, a communications officer and Jovica Stepic, a driver - worked at the Serbian embassy in Libya. They were snatched in November after a diplomatic convoy, including the ambassador, came under attack near Sabratha. 'Apparently, the Americans were not aware that foreign citizens were being kept there,' Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic told reporters. Speaking at a news conference in Belgrade earlier, Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic said information about the deaths was given to Serbia by foreign officials but had not been confirmed by the Libyan government. 'We got the information, including photos, which clearly show that this is most probably true,' Dacic said. Dacic said Serbia had known where the hostages were and had been working to get them back, adding that Libyan troops were considering an operation to free them. 'I believe we had been close to the solution for them to be freed. Unfortunately, as a consequence of the attack against ISIS in Libya, the two of them lost their lives,' Dacic said. 'We will seek official explanation from both Libya and the United States about the available facts and the selection of targets.' Body bags containing victims of a US airstrike on an jihadist training camp lie inside the morgue of a hospital in Sabratha, Libya The abducted Serbs - Sladjana Stankovic, a communications officer and Jovica Stepic, a driver - worked at the Serbian embassy in Libya Dacic said Serbia had known where the hostages were and had been working to get them back, adding that Libyan troops were considering an operation to free them He said, according to the information received by the Serbian security services, a criminal group believed to be linked to IS had demanded ransom for the hostages, who they were holding at the site that was bombed. 'On the other hand, the American administration said it was an (ISIS) training camp,' Dacic said. 'This is information that has to be checked.' He did not specify the amount of ransom demanded of the families, saying only it was 'impossible to pay.' One of those killed in the US air strikes has been identified as Noureddine Couchane, the terrorist who plotted the Tunisian beach massacre that claimed the lives of 30 Britons. 'We took this action against Sabir [Noureddine Chouchan] in the training camp after determining that both he and the Isil [ISIS] fighters at these facilities were planning external attacks on US and other Western interests in the region,' Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said. Noureddine Chouchane, the senior ISIS militant believed to be behind two terror attacks in Tunisia last year, was 'likely' killed in the US air strikes in Libya The kidnapped Serbs - Sladjana Stankovic, a communications officer and Jovica Stepic, a driver - worked at the Serbian embassy in Libya 'It wasn't in the interests of the people who held them to kill them, because there were no other demands but financial,' Dacic said. A Libyan armed group calling itself the Special Deterrent Forces announced on Facebook that the two bodies had been delivered to Tripoli's Matiga Airport. The group posted pictures showing two green coffins inside a hearse, and another of one of the coffins sitting on a tarmac next to a small plane. The Special Deterrent Forces are loyal to the militia-backed government that now controls Tripoli. The group's posting did not indicate when the bodies would be flown to Serbia. In November, gunmen in Libya crashed into a convoy of vehicles taking Serbia's ambassador to neighboring Tunisia and then kidnapped the two embassy employees. Serbian ambassador Oliver Potezica escaped unharmed along with his wife and two sons. The raids targeted positions of the Islamic State group in the city of Sabratha, near the Tunisian border 'The attack happened when one of the embassy cars was hit from behind. When the driver came out to check what happened, he was dragged into one of the attackers' cars,' Potezica told Tanjug news agency at the time. Since the 2011 overthrow of Libya's longtime autocrat Moammar Gadhafi, the sprawling North African nation has fractured into warring camps backed by a loose array of militias, former rebels and tribes. Libya's internationally recognized government has been forced out of the capital, Tripoli, and now operates out of the eastern cities of Tobruk and Bayda. Another government, backed by Islamist-affiliated militias known as Libya Dawn, controls Tripoli and much of western Libya. U.N.-brokered efforts to form a unity government continue to falter. The chaos has provided fertile ground for Islamic extremist groups such as al-Qaida and the Islamic State group to flourish. Pimlico Plumbers avoids paying PAYE and national insurance for its tradesmen as the company hires them as 'self employed contractors' who are responsible for paying their own tax. The high-profile firm founded by Charlie Mullins, uses an entirely legal method of avoiding paying tax as the plumbers it sends out to fix leaks are not employed directly. Pimlico Plumbers made two donations to the Conservative Party in 2015 worth 8,500 and 14,235 according to figures published by the Electoral Commission. Charlie Mullins, owner of Pimlico Plumbers, pictured, made two donations to the Conservative Party in 2015 An Employment Appeal's Tribunal found the firm hired its plumbers on self-employed contracts so it was 'free of obligations in respect of PAYE and National Insurance Contributions' The Tribunal claims the company presented its contractors 'as an integral part of its workforce' An Employment Appeals Tribunal case from 2013 brought by Gary Smith revealed some of the inner workings of Pimlico Plumbers, who had an estimated turnover for 2015 of 30 million. The Tribunal heard Mr Smith worked for the firm between August 25, 2005 and April 28, 2011. Mr Smith, who suffered a heart attack in January 2011 and felt that he was going to be unable to work for some period of time and said he wanted to claim some disability. His contract with the firm said he must work a minimum of 40 hours a week. In his claim against the firm, his legal team argued he was unable to do this because of his heart attack. The Tribunal ruled Mr Smith was not an employee of Pimlico Plumbers, but he was a worker and protected by equality laws. This decision is being appealed by the company. The firm employs 270 people including 205 tradesmen and operates 170 vans, trucks and motorbikes. All of the firm's vehicles carry a very distinctive livery and all of the plumbers are wearing a Pimlico Plumbers uniform. The firm has 170 vans, truck and motorbikes and counts celebrities Dame Helen Mirren and James Bond star Daniel Craig among its clients. During the tribunal case it was claimed that 'operatives were required to wear Pimlico uniforms, to drive vans with the Pimlico logo and could only be contacted by customers through Pimlico. 'Contracts and estimates were issued in the name of Pimlico and payment was made to Pimlico. Pimlico monitored the movements of operatives through a GPS system on their vans.' It emerged that the plumbers were required to pay for their own tools and materials, accept personal liability for their work and provide insurance. They are also required to work a minimum of 40 hours over five days. As part of its defence at the Employment Appeal's Tribunal, the company's legal team cited the case of former Stringfellows lap dancer Nadine Quashie, pictured, who failed to prove she was an employee According to the tribunal's findings, the company wanted their customers to believe that the plumbers were working for the firm when in reality they were independent contractors. 'It is important to bear in mind that the Respondent [Pimlico Plumbers] saw that it was in its best commercial interests for its operatives to be treated as self-employed and in business on their own account for the purposes of its relations with HMRC and in relation to legal proceedings. 'At the same time it wished to present its operatives to the public as part of its workforce.' Later the tribunal found: 'From the Respondent's perspective, it was advantageous to set up an operating system whereby it was free of obligations in respect of PAYE and NIC and was (hopefully) able to avoid the obligations and protections made available to employees and workers under employment and equality law. This is not to say that at the same time the operating system did not appear to have advantages to operatives. ' The tribunal said the firm's business model was 'designed to create the impression, whether correct or not, with HMRC and courts and Tribunals that the operatives were in business on their own account while at the same time presenting a picture to the world at large that the operatives were an integral part of the Respondent's workforce.' As part of Pimlico's defence against the claim at the Tribunal, the company's lawyers cited the example of a 2012 case involving Nadine Quashie who had worked as a lap dancer at two of Peter Stringfellow's clubs. The Court of Appeal overturned an earlier decision which ruled that Ms Quashie was an employee of the club and had been unfairly dismissed. Similarly the tribunal here found that the plumber was not an employee of the company. The company, owned by Charlie Mullins, pictured, said it adhered to all UK tax and employment legislation In December Mullins complained that he was finding it difficult to find enough suitably qualified British staff to expand his firm. He said: 'If we dont get serious about training more quality tradespeople, productivity will be damaged, he said. If the time comes when skilled workers in the UK become too rare, then Ill consider actively recruiting workers in Europe, Australia and other Commonwealth countries.' In a statement issued by the company's legal team the firm said: 'Pimlico Plumbers [and Mr Mullins] takes its legal obligations seriously. It acts responsibly and complies with employment and tax laws and regulations at all times. Pimlico Plumbers has Dame Helen Mirren, left and Daniel Craig among its many customers 'We have acted appropriately and in accordance with both our legal duties and own internal procedures. Any suggestion of wrongdoing is denied and we look forward to successfully appealing the Tribunal decision.' A spokesman for the firm stressed that the company worked fully in accordance within HMRC rules. 'Having self-employed contractors is an industry standard. It is the way Pimlico Plumbers and many other company's work. 'Many of the plumbers arrive at the company as self-employed contractors. It does not alter the way their dealings with the HMRC. 'Most of them, if not all, prefer to be self-employed. Many of them were self-employed working for themselves beforehand. 'It is an industry standard. Nothing nefarious, illegal or underhanded. It is the way the construction industry has always operated. 'Nobody is trying to hoodwink anyone.' claiming he is out of jail He has posted several Facebook An alleged gangster has been penning ominous Facebook statuses despite being in jail for possessing firearms. Mohammad Qais Niazy is known for taunting police on social media with his cash-laden party lifestyle, and the latest posts from inside his cell are a further gibe towards the authorities. Niazy is in custody at Sydney's Long Bay Jail awaiting trial for charges that include possessing a shortened firearm, unregistered firearm and prohibited weapon, reports Daily Telegraph. Mohammad Qais Niazy is in custody at Sydney's Long Bay Jail awaiting trial for a string of gun charges But the alleged gangster has been updating his Facebook account with ominous messages from behind bars The Sydney bikie recently had his visa revoked meaning he will be deported to Afghanistan after his at the conclusion of his trial One of the statuses claimed he was being contacted by associates who thought he was stalking their homes. 'They think they can bring me down, to bring me down youse [sic] have to put me down. To put me down youse will be gone and done and dusted!,' another of the statuses reads. Several of his Facebook statuses claim he is now out of jail, despite sources confirming he remains in custody. The alleged ringleader of the Afghani Murderers gang recently had his visa revoked meaning he will be deported to Afghanistan at the conclusion of his trial. Mohammad Qais Niazy posted a photograph of himself snorting a white crystallised substance prior to being locked up The 23-year-old flaunted his wealth by posting an photo on Facebook with 'F*** all cop' written in $100 notes It comes after the 23-year-old's notoriously provocative social media activity when he was out of jail. Pictures on his social media accounts depict himself lewd messages written in $100 bills to police and numerous pictures of him snorting white powder. In a brash move, the 23-year-old shared a photo of himself excitedly posing with the leader of the Nomads gang, Simon Taijour. 'The head of AMF Nd the head of NOMADS!!,' Niazy gushed alongside the photograph. On two occasions the western Sydney man brazenly posted images of him appearing to snort a white substance alongside enormous piles of cash Late last year, Niazy was formally charged with several firearms offences, including possessing a shortened firearm and contravening a firearms prohibition order, according to News Limited. The young man, who also goes by the names Ace Niazy and Ali Gewad, is accused of keeping a shortened semi-automatic shot gun at a residence in Wentworthville, western Sydney. It's alleged he used tape around the barrel of the gun in an attempt to avoid leaving fingerprints. However, traces of his DNA were found on the weapon, according to police documents. In a brash move, Niazy (right) shared a photo of himself excitedly posing with the leader of the Nomads gang, Simon Taijour (left) Niazy has used social media to lash out at the law enforcement officers responsible for his arrest, including the Middle-Eastern Organised Crime Squad (MEOC). The MEOC has been set up to target the culture of crime that exists within the Middle Eastern community in western Sydney. 'F*** the meoc. f*** the gang squad. f*** the afp (Australian Federal Police). f*** the crime commision f*** them all hehehehehehehe... (sic)' he wrote on February 11, accompanied by the picture of his message written with his carefully positioned cash. Niazy has used Social Media to lash out at the law enforcement officers responsible for his arrest, including the Middle-Eastern Organised Crime Squad Niazy is accused of being a core member of the Afghani Murderers gang and having past association with notorious bikie gang, Hells Angels. Also known as the Afghani Mafia Family, the Afghani Murderers have been in existence for around two years and proclaim themselves to be the replacement for the now former gang, 'Brothers 4 Life'. Niazy's brother Mohammad Wais Niazy, also known as Cisco, is also accused of being involved with the gang. Niazy is accused of being a core member of the Afghani Murderers gang and having past association with notorious bikie gang, Hells Angels A 19-year-old man will spend as many as nine years in prison following a June 2013 incident which left a 4-year-old girl dead and her grandmother injured in New York City. Franklin Reyes Jr. was driving his parents' SUV without a license when he jumped a curb and slammed into a restaurant on the ground floor of an apartment building at West 97th Street and Amsterdam Avenue, pinning Ariel Russo and her grandmother, Katie Gutierrez. Reyes was fleeing from officers at the time who were trying to stop him from driving erratically. Scroll down for video Franklin Reyes Jr. (left) was driving his parents' SUV when he jumped a curb and slammed into a restaurant, pinning Ariel Russo (right) and her grandmother, Katie Gutierrez Family: Ariel's mother Sofia Russo (pictured) said in court Friday: 'Ariel died a violent death because of your reckless behavior, and you have not apologized' Reyes pleaded guilty to manslaughter, assault, unlawful fleeing of a police officer and escape in March 2015. Gutierrez said in court Friday, according to WABC: 'My heart is broken in a million pieces. 'I miss her more than words can ever describe.' Russo's mother Sofia Russo was filmed by WABC saying: 'Ariel died a violent death because of your reckless behavior, and you have not apologized.' She said: 'You brought harm, violence and death to my mother and daughter where they should have been safe. 'If there is someone you would give your life for, then you know what I had.' Reyes did not have a license at the time of the June 2013 incident Ariel Russo's parents Alan and Sofia Russo are seen together (left) after the Friday sentencing She was quoted by the New York Post as saying: 'All I can say is this: If you know what it is like to have a person who is a bright light in your life, if you know what it is like to love someone with all your heart, soul and every fiber of your being. 'If there is someone you would give your life for, then you know what I had.' According to the newspaper, Justice Gregory Carro told Sofia Russo: 'All I can say, mom, is that bright light you spoke of still shines from above.' Reyes' apology inside the courtroom was filmed by WABC. He said: 'I truly in my heart apologize to the entire Russo family. 'I am deeply sorry for the pain and suffering that I have caused. Court: Reyes' mother Lilia (left) is seen in the courtroom. Reyes (right, being led away) will spend as many as nine years in prison Apology: Reyes said that he 'will carry this tragic accident for the rest of my life, knowing that I took the life of an innocent child' 'I will carry this tragic accident for the rest of my life, knowing that I took the life of an innocent child.' Reyes was accused of robbing a dead woman's apartment alongside his father in June 2014. He was also arrested and charged over an August 2014 incident, in which he allegedly fled from a traffic stop and dragged an officer 100 feet. Advertisement An Oregon man who has already made a Boeing 727 airplane his home has set out to make a second home in Japan with a decommissioned 747 which can seat up to 660 passengers. Bruce Campbell, who spends half of the year in Japan, said he is looking for a retired 747-400 - used by airlines including United, British Airways and Delta - to make a second airplane home in the city of Miyazaki. For more than 15 years, he has been living inside of a retired Boeing 727 in Portland, converted into a home complete with a sleeping area with a cot, a kitchen, a laundry area and a bathroom - a project costing him roughly $220,000. Scroll down for video Bruce Campbell pictured mowing the lawn outside of a retired Boeing 727-200 commercial airliner that he converted into his home in Hillsboro, Oregon The former electrical engineer lounges on a seating area inside the airliner. He now wants to make a second home in Miyazaki, Japan with a retired 747-400 For more than 15 years, he has been living inside of a retired Boeing 727 in Portland, converted into a home. The project cos him roughly $220,000 'If a conventional home is a legacy age family Chevy or Ford, an airliner home is a fresh new Tesla or Porsche Carrera,' Campbell said in an interview with the San Antonio Express-News. In 1999, the former electrical engineer had a vision: to save retired jetliners from becoming scrap metal by reusing them. Campbell was in his early 20s when he paid around $23,000 for the 10 acres on which his 727 rests in the Portland woods. His original plan was to make a home from freight vans, but then he decided a plane would be better. He purchased the 727 for $100,000 after hearing about a Mississippi hairdresser who had done it. Campbell has since created a website with details on the progress he has made on renovating the plane's cabin, making into a suitable home with the cabin and cockpit providing 1,066 sqft. The airliner comes complete with a sleeping area with a cot, a kitchen, a laundry area and a bathroom Campbell was in his early 20s when he paid around $23,000 for the 10 acres on which his 727 rests in the Portland woods He said the plane is a 'reasonable-size home for an individual or small family, but not so large that it can't be transported over public roads' He told the Express-News that the plane is a 'reasonable-size home for an individual or small family, but not so large that it can't be transported over public roads.' Campbell also said airliners, free of passengers and the clutter of their seats, are a 'sheer thrill' to live in, adding they 'impart a near-science fiction aura to an otherwise ordinary life.' He previously said he sees the task of saving retired jetliners as part of his goal in life. 'Mine is to change humanity's behavior in this little niche,' he said in a 2014 interview. He also said airliners, free of passengers and the clutter of their seats, are a 'sheer thrill' to live in, adding they 'impart a near-science fiction aura to an otherwise ordinary life' Campbell is one of a small number of people worldwide who have transformed retired aircraft into a living space or other creative project, although it is not clear precisely how many planes are re-used this way Campbell is one of a small number of people worldwide who have transformed retired aircraft into a living space or other creative project, although it is not clear precisely how many planes are re-used this way. While Campbell has created a website with details on rebuilding planes, he is not the only one with such a vision as aircrafts have been made into homes in Texas, Costa Rica and the Netherlands. The third wife of cartel kingpin Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman says she fears for his life in jail after reports of harsh treatment at the hands of prison guards. Emma Coronel Aispuro, who married El Chapo in 2007 when she was 18 and he was 47, said guards at Altiplano jail where the Sinaloa cartel boss is being kept are punishing him for escaping. Speaking to Telemundo, Aispuro said: 'They say they are not punishing him, of course they are. They are with him all day, watching him in his cell. Scroll down for video Emma Coronel Aispuro, who married El Chapo in 2007 when she was 18 and he was 47, says she fears for her husband's life behind bars in Altiplano jail Aispuro complained that the Sinaloa Cartel boss is constantly watched by guards and is not allowed any privacy, even while using the bathroom 'They are there every hour, they will not let him sleep and give him no privacy, even to go to the bathroom. I think every person has the right to have at least the vital things that make them human.' Addressing El Chapo directly, she added: 'I fear for your life, I do not know if you are eating well. In general, we do not know what the situation is because we have not been allowed to seen him.' Her comments came days after it was reported that El Chapo is being turned into a 'zombie' by prison guards who will not let him sleep for more than two hours at a time. The drug baron's lawyer, Juan Pablo Badillo, said that El Chapo feels he is the victim of 'physical and mental torture'. El Chapo allegedly told Mr Badillo: 'They are turning me into a zombie, they won't let me sleep, now there is nothing else I want but for them to let me sleep.' Aispuro, a former beauty queen, also says she is worried her husband is not eating well and is being 'punished' for his previous escape The drugs lord had been serving a sentence at the prison when he escaped in July 2015 through a 1.2-mile tunnel which his cartel members dug from nearby land. With suspected help from the inside, he managed to climb through the bottom of his shower where there happened to be a blind spot in the cell. He was recaptured last month after seven months on the run. The authorities took him back to the maximum security jail the Altiplano prison in central Mexico while he waits to see if he will be extradited to the U.S. on drug trafficking charges. However, since his recapture, the authorities are taking no chances of him escaping again. The jail has reportedly installed 400 new cameras and they hope to add another 600 to that by April. According to local media reports, motion sensors also sense his every move, dogs have been trained to detect his scent, steel rods reinforce the floor and metal detectors stand outside the door. But according to his lawyer, what most concerns him is lack of sleep. Mr Badillo added: 'He describes it as a brutal torture, it is similar to what they did to Stalin in the 40s and 50s in Russia.' Mexican officials have said their main concern is making sure Guzman does not escape again before his extradition to the United States to face charges there. Last week, it was reported that he was willing to plead guilty in the United States - as long as he is not jailed in a maximum-security prison. The Sinaloa cartel leader believes he would enjoy better treatment in an American cell compared to the 'extreme freezing conditions' of his current Mexican lock-up where he 'fears for his life'. However, he will only plead guilty if US prosecutors promise to spare him from its most brutal institutions 'where he would not see the light of the sun for more than an hour a day'. Earlier this week El Chapo said he is being turned into a 'zombie' by guards who will not let him sleep for more than two hours at a time (pictured being recaptured in January this year) El Chapo has told his lawyer Juan Pablo Badillo, pictured, that he is the victim of 'physical and mental torture' Another lawyer Jose Refugio Rodriguez told Univision earlier this month: 'I fear for his life. 'If anyone is subjected to such cold temperatures - so cold, extremely cold - they could get very sick. 'We are going to work the extradition so that the United States doesn't find a man on his knees, begging for help. But Mr Badillo added he did not have much time to talk about possible extradition to the U.S. with El Chapo during a prison visit on Monday. John Kingscott shot his neighbour in the shoulder with a Smith & Wesson revolver after a drunken row. He has been jailed for 16 years A 'gun fanatic' who shot his neighbour in the shoulder with a Smith & Wesson revolver after a drunken row has been jailed for 16 years. John Kingscott tussled with Ben Milligan, 25, in an alleyway before going home to get the gun on Valentine's Day last year. The 62-year-old, who was a warden at a gun club, then went back and fired twice at the victim, hitting him in the shoulder on the second occasion. Kingscott, from Birmingham, then returned home to walked his dog, according to West Midlands Police. He was sentenced to wounding with intent and possessing illegal weapons on Friday and was sentenced to 11 and five years respectively, to run consecutively. It came after a Birmingham Crown Court trial cleared Kingscott of attempted murder in December. The court heard when armed police caught up with the gun collector at his home they uncovered an arsenal of more than 30 guns, of which eight were illegally-held. A search of the home found one of the guns on top of a fridge, another in a jacket pocket and a third in his bed. Kingscott, a firearms licence-holder, also had around 10,000 rounds of ammunition for weapons including AK-47 assault rifles. Explosives and bullet-making equipment were also discovered in the shed, detectives said. Detective Inspector Paul Joyce described Kingscott as a 'gun fanatic' and a 'skilled armourer'. He added: 'He was not known to the police and, in his own head, he was not doing anything wrong in owning this stash of firearms, despite many being illegal and not covered by his gun licence. The court heard when armed police caught up with the gun collector at his home they uncovered an arsenal of more than 30 guns, of which eight were illegally-held 'But the danger was highlighted in the early hours of February 14 last year. 'He lost his temper following a scuffle, went home to pick up one of his many guns, and shot a man in the shoulder.' A young woman from Miami has been in a coma for a week after her family said she was attacked by her roommate, a 35-year-old man she met on Craigslist. Byron Mitchell assaulted Danielle Jones, 23, just a week after he moved in with her in a downtown Miami apartment, Jones's mother, Aimee Nikolove, said. He strangled her and cut her up on the night of her 23rd birthday, NBC reported. Jones has a brain injury, multiple scars on her face and neck and Nikolove doesn't know if or when her daughter will wake up. Scroll down for video Danielle Jones (pictured before and after the assault), 23, was attached by her roommate, a 35-year-old man she met on Craigslist, just a week after he moved in with her in a downtown Miami apartment, her family said. She has been in a coma for a week and her mother doesn't know if or when her daughter will wake up 'I'm still in shock, I can't comprehend that someone can do this to someone, mutilate them in such a way and try to kill them,' she told NBC. 'My daughter's face is cut up like he was going to take her face off. She has a brain injury, no one knows what the prognosis is.' Kaitlin Cabot, Jones's cousin, said in a Go Fund Me post: 'She is in a coma, intubated and holding on to life... If and she wakes, she will need extensive care and rehabilitation.' Mitchell has been charged for attempted murder and told the police he acted in self-defense as Jones had a knife. He is now in custody without bond at Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, in Miami. Dynel Lane (pictured) reacts as a tape of her talking with a detective is played during her trial. She is being charged with the attempted murder of Michelle Wilkins after allegedly cutting the pregnant victim from 'hip to hip' and removing the fetus The Colorado woman, who faked her pregnancy before allegedly cutting a pregnant victim from 'hip to hip' and removing the fetus, was heard in court on Friday saying, 'I got a knife and I cut the baby out'. Dynel Lane, 35, is being charged with the attempted murder of Michelle Wilkins, 27, along with felony assault and unlawful termination of a pregnancy. A jury in Boulder recently heard the grisly and grim details of the moment Wilkins awoke to find herself in Lane's home after being hit over the head and stabbed in the neck with glass before she was cut open from 'hip to hip' and her fetus was removed from her body. Lane's version of the incident was shared in court on Friday in a 50-minute recording of her conversation with police after the gruesome attack. At the time of the incident, Lane had been faking her own pregnancy for a year. Wilkins went to Lane's home in response to Lane's Craigslist ad for free maternity clothes. Lane said she and Wilkins talked for more than an hour before she offered to give Wilkins a baby bath because she had received two, according to Times Call. After Wilkins said no, Lane told police the other woman attempted to stab her. During the interview with police, Lane said she was the victim, according to 9 News. Lane told detectives she asked why Wilkins wanted to hurt her. 'She just kept looking at me and staring at me,' she said. 'Everything just seemed mixed up.' Scroll down for video On Friday a court heard the 50-minute recorded conversation between Lane and the police. During the conversation with the detective she said that she was the victim and that Wilkins tried to stab her 'I was walking up the stairs and I just remember a scuffle, like she pushed my head, she pushed my head and like, I didn't hit my head. 'It was just completely like, I don't know. I'm trying to make sense of it all. ''It was a struggle. It was a big struggle. And I was yelling and I was trying to get my neighbors to maybe hear me. 'And I was trying to grab for her phone. But, I think she had a lock on it. I'm not sure, but I was like I need to call 9-1-1. And I strangled her because she wouldn't stop.' Lane (pictured) told police that she feared for the baby's life so 'I got the knife that she had and I tried to cut the baby out' In the recording Lane is also heard saying, 'When she [Wilkins] stopped moving, I just started thinking I didn't want the baby to die too. 'So, I got the knife that she had and I tried to cut the baby out.' When the officer asked Lane what happened to the baby, Lane cried harder, as she said she tried to revive the baby. Wilkins, who lost half her blood and was holding her own intestines while she called 911 for help, testified during the first day of the trial in Boulder, Colorado. Prosecutors in the case also showed the jury the bloody pillow and bedding from the crime scene. She said that she went to Lane's home after she posted an Craigslist ad saying that she was selling maternity clothes. Wilkins said after an hour she went to leave, but Lane convinced her to look at some baby clothes she had in the basement. That is when Wilkins said that Lane hit her over the head and attacked her, while she told the woman; 'I love you.' Wilkins had said she believed that might get Lane to stop the attack, but instead she responded by saying; If you love me, you'll let me do this.' Horrifying: A jury in Boulder, Colorado heard graphic and grisly details of the moment Michelle Wilkins awoke after her unborn baby was cut from her womb (the bloody pillow from the crime scene above) Silent: Lane (above on Thursday) has remained emotionless during the first two days of the trial, and her team has not cross examined most prosecution witnesses Heartbreaking: Wilkins (above on Wednesday) had lost half her blood and could feel her own intestines when she called 911 to report the attack at the home of Dynel Lane Happy: Wilkins (above) was just two months away from giving birth at the time of the attack When she awoke some time later, Wilkins said that she immediately noticed 'a really big cut across my stomach.' That is when she said that she tried to stand up but immediately fell down, too weak from the attack and loss of blood. 'I just felt the blood seeping through my pants and I could feel my intestines outside of my body,' she said. Wilkins somehow managed to call 911, where an operator kept her on the phone and urged her to hold a towel to her stomach in hopes of stopping the blood that was pouring out of her body. She also locked the door, not knowing at the time that Lane was no longer in the house but at the hospital with the baby she had just cut out of Wilkins, having told her boyfriend David Ridley that it was her child and she had suffered a miscarriage. Wilkins did not learn until the next morning, after doctors were miraculously able to save her life, that she had lost her unborn child - a girl she had named Aurora. Unreal: The prosecution showed jurors the bloody matress (above) nfrom lane's basement Evidence: Also shown was a bloody shirt (above) that was found in Lane's trash can Violent: The knife that was used to cut out Wilkins' unborn child at the scene of the crime (above) Wilkins broke down in tears on the stand while she recounted learning the horrible news. Prosecutors also showed the jury the pillow and mattress from the crime scene on Thursday, both soaked in blood. They also presented the blood-caked knife that was found at the scene and two bloody shirts that were found in Lane's trash. The defense has not examined many of the prosecution's witnesses and it appears that they may rest tomorrow. Lane's lawyers are arguing that the March 18 attack on Wilkins was not premeditated or planned but rather driven by impulse. She has pleaded not guilty to six felony counts including premeditated murder. She has not been charged with murder because a fetus is not considered a living person in the state of Colorado. There is also no evidence to suggest that the unborn child survived outside the womb. Faker: Lane had claimed to be pregnant for about 14 months at the time of the attack, and posted fake pregnancy photos (above) Weapn: The top of the lava lamp (above) that was broken and sued to attack Wilkins Awful: On Wednesday the prosecution showed photos of the bloody room where the attack took place (above) Early testimony seems to suggest that Lane - who had been claiming to be pregnant for around 14 months at that time - may have attacked Wilkins because of an ultimatum that was given to her by her boyfriend at the time. Ridley testified that Lane's due date kept shifting and she refused to see a doctor with him. Ridley says Lane told him in April 2014 she was expecting a boy. But when 10 months passed and she hadn't given birth, he told her he needed answers from a doctor about the baby or he would leave her. He had planned to meet her for a pre-natal appointment the day of the attack. But when he came to pick her up, she told him she had delivered the baby at home. He says he found the baby in a bathtub. Ridley also said during this time Lane had been sending him ultrasound images and photos of her distended belly. On Thursday social media messages Lane sent were also shared, and showed that she had told some people she gave birth to a baby boy and others that she was still pregnant. She had even had a baby shower in November 2014 and told people she wanted to name the baby James. A woman in her thirties was killed and others were left trapped under a vehicle after a 4x4 mounted the curb and ploughed into pedestrians in a busy town centre in Surrey. The Land Rover Defender came to rest entirely on the pavement, with 'pedestrians trapped' underneath, according to eyewitnesses who saw the crash at at around 1.30pm today. A man in his forties was rushed to hospital with serious pelvic injuries and a woman in her thirties also needed treatment after the shocking smash on Bridge Street, Guildford. Witnesses saw the people who were hurt in the collision being carried of in stretchers at round 1.30pm on Bridge Street (pictured) in Guildford today, killing a woman in her thirties A man in his forties was rushed to hospital with serious pelvic injuries and a woman in her thirties also needed treatment after the shocking smash The driver of the Land Rover Defender, a man in his forties, was also taken to hospital with minor injuries after hitting the group of pedestrians in the centre on a busy Saturday afternoon. Detectives say the woman who passed was in her thirties and officers have informed her family, and and they are now offering support after the shocking tragedy. The man in his forties is currently receiving treatment at at St George's Hospital in Tooting, and the woman in her thirties is believed to now be recovering from the scrape. Councillor Paul Spooner, who was elected to lead the council last December, tweeted: 'Terrible news. Thoughts with those affected today. I await a briefing.' A woman in her 30s was tragically declared dead at the roadside after she was struck by the dark silver 4x4, detectives said. Her next of kin have been informed and officers were providing support to her family As news of the fatality spread he added: 'News gets worse... confirmed fatal collision in Guildford town centre today.' A cordon remains in place as officers looked for clues following the crash that trapped pedestrians, according to witness Andy Holt and Surrey Fire and Rescue Service. It was the second such accident in Guildford, coming just four months after a car ploughed into a group of shoppers on a street around 300 yards away from today's tragedy. REPEAT OF CRASH 300 YARDS AWAY The crash echoed a similar one on October 23, when a woman in her 80s lost control of her car and mowed down seven people outside The Friary Centre shopping centre, Guildford. The silver Volkswagen Polo, containing two pensioners, veered onto the pavement outside The Friary and struck a family, including a two-year-old toddler and his one-year-old sister who were 'thrown into the air' from a buggy. All seven people were taken to hospital but survived their serious injuries. The incident, on North Street, was just 300 yards from where today's tragedy happened. Advertisement A spokesman for Surrey Police said: 'Officers from our Collision Investigation Unit are appealing for witness following a fatal collision in Bridge Street, Guildford earlier today (February 20). 'Shortly before 1.30pm a grey Land Rover Defender left the road and was involved in a collision with a number of pedestrians. Police and the other emergency services quickly attended and remain at the scene. 'Police can confirm that one of the pedestrians - a woman in her thirties - was sadly pronounced dead at the scene. 'Her next of kin have been informed and Surrey Police officers are providing support to her family at this extremely difficult time.' Other people commented online, with Paul Deach deeming the incident 'awful,' adding: 'There was an incident involving pedestrian/s not so long ago in Guildford I seem to recall.' Justin Robson tweeted: 'I've said it before and I'll say it again, drivers in Guildford are shocking. Another accident driving into pedestrians.' Lis Smith broke up with Eliot Spitzer because a $5,000-a-night Russian hooker was trying to extort money from him, one of her friends said - just days after the prostitute broke her silence on social media. Smith, 33, ended her relationship with Spitzer, 56, in December last year after he told her a woman he had been with before was threatening him, the New York Post reported. 'It seemed that this was someone who was mentally disturbed. He said the woman was "somebody hed seen a few times." She was somebody who was troubled and that shed come back from his past and was making threats and asking for money,' one of Smith's friends told the New York Post. Svetlana Travis, 25, accused Spitzer of choking her in a $1,000-a-night suite at the Plaza Hotel before flying to Moscow on Sunday evening. Scroll down for video Lis Smith (right), 33, broke up with former New York governor Eliot Spitzer (left), 56, after he told her a woman he had been with before was threatening him and asking for money, according to one of Smith's friends. The two met when Smith was Spitzer's campaign director in the 2013 New York comptroller race Svetlana Travis, 25, accused Spitzer of choking her in a suite at the Plaza Hotel before flying to Moscow on Sunday evening. She broke her silence earlier this week on social media platform VK (right), where she wrote under her maiden name Zakharova: 'The only things that are yours, are that about which you are silent' She broke her silence earlier this week on the social media platform VK, based in St Petersburg, where she wrote: 'The only things that are yours, are that about which you are silent'. The post, written under her maiden name Svetlana Zakharova, is a quote attributed to Russian childrens author Dmitry Yemets, the NY Daily News reported. It is accompanied by a photo of a black hand hovering about a mirror. According to Spitzer's lawyer, Adam Kaufmann, Travis called 911 after threatening suicide and making a superficial cut to her wrist, then made up the allegations about Spitzer choking her in order to avoid psychiatric treatment. Travis later apologized in an email and offered to send a statement to the police explaining she had tried to commit suicide, as she had previously done before, and wrote that Spitzer had tried to save her, Kaufmann said. She also said she had been to several mental institutions before. Earlier this week, Spitzer said in a statement that he had not been in a relationship with Travis. 'The woman who initially made the allegation was not my girlfriend. Lis Smith was my girlfriend, and I had and have deep affection for Lis. She is the love of my life,' he said. Spitzer called Smith the love of his life in a statement earlier this week. 'The woman who initially made the allegation was not my girlfriend. Lis Smith was my girlfriend, and I had and have deep affection for Lis,' he said Smith doesn't believe Spitzer was involved with Travis during their relationship, Smith's friend told the New York Post. 'Lis is confident Eliot wasnt with this woman Svetlana while they were dating, and she has never had any evidence that he was seeing other women or any hookers during their two years together,' the friend said. 'But shes smart enough to know that it is possible that he was seeing other women.' Smith broke up with Spitzer after the stress caused by Travis's threats took a toll on their relationship, the friend added. 'She asked a lot of questions and decided this wasnt something she wanted in her life. The knowledge that this was happening and could become public, created a lot of extra stress in the relationship and caused their breakup,' Smith's friend told the New York Post. Spitzer had agreed to meet up with Travis at the Plaza on Saturday and had an amicable conversation with her in the afternoon, Kaufmann said. Travis then asked Spitzer to return in the evening, at which point she was 'highly emotional' and 'threatening self-harm'. 'She dialed 911 and said she was having a breakdown. She then called 911 again and sought to cancel her prior call to 911. She was distraught and Mr. Spitzer sought to keep her calm,' Kaufmann said. 'There were no allegations to 911 or to the police - either in the 911 call or when they responded to the Plaza hotel - of any assault or physical contact.' Travis then stopped cooperating with the NYPD and declined to press charges. Spitzer resigned as New York governor in 2008 citing personal failings less than two days after it emerged he was a client at a high-end prostitution ring. Smith was his campaign manager when he tried to revive his political career by running for New York City comptroller. He was defeated by Scott Stringer in the Democratic primary. Six-part series thought to be the most expensive in the history of the BBC Celebrated author John Le Carre says he 'dearly wished' he'd written his book The Night Manager with a woman spymaster rather than a male one. As audiences gear up for the television adaptation of the 1993 book, set to air on BBC One tomorrow, the writer says he's glad his novel was made suitable for the 21st Century audience - who will see actress Olivia Colman in a part originally written for a man. The Night Manager boasts a starry cast including Neil Morrissey, Tom Hiddleston and Hugh Laurie, in a six-part series thought to be the most expensive in the history of the BBC; at a staggering 3million per episode. From left: Hugh Laurie, Tom Hiddleston, Elizabeth Debicki, Olivia Colman and Tom Hollander in The Night Manager, filmed in stunning locations in Majorca, Morocco, the Swiss Alps, Egypt and London Bafta-winning British actress Olivia Colman will star as Burr, a spymaster originally written by le Carre as a man. The writer charged with adapting the book, David Farr, said le Carre initially expressed reservations about changing the character's gender, but was now 'over the moon about it.' Le Carre told The Daily Telegraph he 'dearly wished' he had written Mrs Burr into the novel. Olivia Colman was expecting her third child during filming so her pregnancy was written into the script He added: 'In the novel, my chief British spook had been a man named Burr - a rough-cut, ponderous, no nonsense fellow, but a man for all that, and a throwback to my own distant days in the secret world, when female officers were, to say the very least, a rarity.' He said there were enough 'middle aged white men' so he welcomed the character being a woman. Intelligence officer Angela Burr, a no-nonsense northern woman in a posh man's world, has been after Roper for years but found herself thwarted at every turn. Pregnant throughout the filming, Colman describes Mrs Burr as a 'good egg'. She adds: 'She's very driven and very black-and-white. She has a strong sense of right and wrong that's why she's on an absolute mission to get Roper.' 'To her, it's personal. She knows the damage he's doing worldwide and she's determined to stop him. She's incredibly brave very unlike me but I really like her. 'This is my first spy drama and it could be my warm-up for Bond!' From left, John Le Carre, actor Amir El-Masry, actress Olivia Colman, British actor Hugh Laurie, French actress Elizabeth Debicki and British actor Tom Hiddleston, Danish director Susanne Bier and actor Tom Hollender at the premier for The Night Manager And it's not just the character's genders which have changed - the twisting, turning plot has been updated, with le Carre's blessing, to the time of the Arab Spring in Egypt in 2011. A gripping tale of love, loss, revenge and intrigue, the bestselling thriller is the story of a disillusioned former British soldier, Jonathan Pine, who changes his life completely by escaping to become the night manager of a luxury hotel in Cairo. With a 20million budget, this will be the first new TV adaptation of a le Carre work for 25 years since A Murder Of Quality on ITV. With the deal to help keep Britain in the EU secured, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has swiftly refocused her sights on pressing ahead with a joint EU solution to the refugee crisis. Tackling Europe's migrant crisis in collaboration with Turkey was a top priority for Merkel at a two-day EU summit in Brussels that ended late on Friday. With the approach of warmer weather, however, the problem in Europe is only predicted to get worse. Photographs from Greece and Macedonia today show that the tide of human suffering is far from waning. Scroll down for video Suffering: Syrian refugees aboard a dinghy arrive on the Greek northeastern island of Lesbos on February 20 Desperation: A Syrian refugee holds a child after her arrival on the Greek northeastern island of Lesbos Snapshots from the Greek island of Lesbos show volunteers helping boats to reach the shore, full of families wearing life jackets. On land, people are wrapped in blankets to stay warm after making the perilous crossing. Images from the port of Piraeus, near Athens, show a father, carrying as many of his family's worldly possessions as he can over his shoulder, while also clutching his small daughter's hand. Meanwhile, those further on in their journey across Europe walked towards Macedonia's border with Serbia. They are continuing their journey further north from the transit centre for refugees near the northern Macedonian village of Tabanovce. It comes as Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia, Macedonia and Austria have agreed that the main screening of the migrants and refugees would take place in Macedonia on the border with Greece. Aid: Volunteers help refugees and migrants to reach the shore at the Greek northeastern island of Lesbos Help: A volunteer, right, helps a Syrian refugee to get out of the sea after his arrival on the Greek northeastern island of Lesbos. Angela Merkel hopes to work with Turkey to create a joint solution Struggle: A Syrian makes his way out of the sea after his arrival along with other refugees and migrants at the northeastern island of Lesbos Relief: Syrian refugees pray after their arrival on a beach at the Greek northeastern island of Lesbos Housing: A convoy of military trucks carry container houses under heavy security measures by Greek authorities at the port of the southeastern Greek island of Kos Together: Migrants and refugees arrive at the port of Piraeus, near Athens. A father carries his family's possessions over his shoulder while clutching his daughter's hand Crowds: Refugees and migrants walk after disembarking from passenger ferry Blue Star1 at the port of Piraeus, near Athens, Greece Concern: A woman holding a baby waits outside a ferry after her arrival at the port of Piraeus, near Athens Those who pass the control will then be transported under police escort all the way to the Austrian border. But Merkel's efforts to press on with the EU-Turkey plan were frustrated when a pre-summit meeting on migration due to be held on Thursday between Turkey and 11 EU states was called off after a bombing in Ankara. A summit meeting with all 28 EU leaders has been scheduled for early March. 'The fact that we have decided a joint summit not just a summit of "the coalition of the willing", but a joint summit of 28 with the Turkish prime minister I think that is a very strong signal,' said Merkel. Stoking the frustration of many EU states, Austria, the last stop on the way to Germany for hundreds of thousands of migrants who have flocked to Europe, on Thursday vowed to press on with a plan to cap migrants flowing into the country. Journey: Refugees from Afghanistan walk towards Serbia, continuing their journey further north from the transit center for refugees near the northern Macedonian village of Tabanovce Arduous: Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia, Macedonia and Austria have agreed that the main screening of the migrants would take place in Macedonia on the border with Greece Hopes: Merkel, who wants to keep the EU's commitment to the free movement of people within its borders, is pinning her hopes on the EU-Turkey deal Austria's dispute with its peers is symptomatic of the rifts the massive flow of migrants into Europe has opened within the EU, with member states often ignoring calls from the European Commission to share the burden more evenly, and unilaterally reimposing barriers to movement over their borders. The Austrian move threatens to clog up the route for migrants leaving Greece to head for Germany and other wealthier EU nations, exacerbating the migration crisis in Greece, the point of entry into the EU for many migrants. Four sceptical eastern European members have floated a fallback policy of ring fencing Greece to keep the migrants they expect to land there from proceeding through Macedonia and Bulgaria to other EU countries to the north and west. Merkel, who wants to keep the EU's commitment to the free movement of people within its borders, is pinning her hopes on the EU-Turkey deal. 'The EU-Turkey plan ... is a priority for us,' she said, speaking for the EU as a whole. Group: The Austrian move threatens to clog up the route for migrants leaving Greece to head for Germany and other wealthier EU nations Warmth: Refugees from Afghanistan, who were not allowed to enter into Serbia through the night, wait for a permission to cross the border, at the transit center for refugees near northern Macedonian village of Tabanovce Con was only discovered a month later when Burke turned up for his visit Convinced a car dealership to give him a ride and a driver for the day, and almost got given a police escort after also tricking deputies Rearranged visit Burke was due to make at the school, was given a guided tour and allowed to speak to American Government students about politics An 18-year-old from Ohio who duped school officials and police into thinking he was a state senator was given a free hire car, allowed to tour a school and even gave a speech on politics to students. Izaha Akins, from Mohawk County, where he has attended school since kindergarten, duped officials at Mohawk High School by telling them real-life Senator David Burke had left office due to illness. Akins, who used his real name and ID during his con, told teachers he had been selected to replace Burke after the first-place candidate dropped out, making him the youngest senator in history. Izaha Akins, 18 (left), duped police, school officials and a car dealership into thinking he had been chosen to replace real-life Senator David Burke (right) after claiming he left office due to illness Akins, who is facing felony charges of impersonating a peace officer and telecommunications fraud, made the claim to teacher Henry Stobbs at Mohawk High, where Burke had been due to speak. According to the Toledo Blade, Stobbs was initially suspicious that he hadn't heard of Bruke's resignation, Akins managed to convince him he was genuine. Mohawk Schools Superintendent Ken Ratliff said that Stobbs is a 'very sharp' and veteran teacher who heard 'nothing to convince him' that Akins' account wasn't true. Mohawk Schools Superintendent Ken Ratliff (pictured) said Akins conned teacher Henry Stobbs before booking a date to speak at Mohawk High During the phone conversation, Akins convinced school authorities to move the date of Bruke's visit to December 15 instead of January 14, which they agreed to. Someone claiming to be an aide for Akins then called Wyandot County Sheriff Mike Hetzel to request an escort to the school, and an appointment was arranged, though Aikens didn't turn up. The same 'aide' then called Reineke Ford to request a hire car for the day and a driver, which the owners agreed to. On the day inquestion Aiken arrived at the school in the car alongside two 'aides' and was given a tour of the building by instructors, before being taken to an American Government class. There he was allowed to give a speech to students about politics, Ratliff confirmed. He said: 'The presentation was about being active in politics, political processes. Everyone thought it was legit, bought into it, including the teacher.' After giving the presentation Aiken left the school, and his con was not discovered until almost a month later when Burke arrived for his actual visit. A spokesman for Burke said: 'This was an extremely elaborate scheme and not a simple as walking through the door. 'When I learned about this, the school and I immediately began working with law enforcement.' Aikens also convinced a car dealership into giving him a ride for the day, and nearly got a police escort, before touring Mohawk High School (pictured) and speaking to an American Government class Defending his actions, Akins said he wanted to prove a point about small-town school security, and officials who believe they cannot be fooled. He said: 'I was duping to prove a point, that these kinds of things can happen. They could easily have Googled me and they didnt.' Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Harper Lee is being quietly laid to rest in a private funeral in her Alabama hometown. About three dozen family members and close friends attended a private Saturday afternoon service at First United Methodist Church in Monroeville. Her casket was taken by silver hearse to the adjacent cemetery where her father, AC Lee and sister, Alice Lee, are buried. Scroll down for video Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Harper Lee (pictured left in 2007 and in an undated photo), author of best-seller To Kill a Mockingbird, died on Friday age 89 Friends and family of author Harper Lee are pictured as they leave the First United Methodist Church after a private funeral service was held for her on Saturday afternoon in Monroeville, Alabama Harper Lee's casket was taken by silver hearse to the adjacent cemetery where her father, AC Lee and sister, Alice Lee, are buried A man rakes soil over a grave in the Lee family cemetery plot Soil is placed in a grave in the Lee family cemetery plot Two uniformed Monroeville police officers stood outside the church during the private service. Wayne Flynt, a longtime friend of Lee, said he delivered a eulogy that Lee specifically requested years ago. It was a 2006 speech, entitled, 'Atticus inside ourselves,' that he gave as a tribute when Lee won the Birmingham Pledge Foundation Award for racial justice. Flynt said Lee liked the speech so much that she wanted him to give it as her eulogy. 'I want you to say exactly that,' Flynt quoted Lee as saying at the time. 'Not one thing more, and not one thing less.' 'If I deviated one degree, I would hear this great booming voice from heaven, and it wouldn't be God,' Flynt said in an earlier interview. Lee, who passed away in her sleep on Friday age 89, drew inspiration from her hometown of Monroeville for the fictionalized Maycomb, the setting in her Pulitzer Prize-winning novel To Kill A Mockingbird. Tributes to Lee's Pulitzer Prize winning novel dot the southern town. Lee (pictured in 2015) drew inspiration from her hometown of Monroeville for the fictionalized Maycomb, the setting in her Pulitzer Prize-winning novel To Kill a Mockingbird Lee's 1960 book To Kill a Mockingbird is about racism and injustice in the U.S. South and is a classic of American literature. Her second-ever book, Go Set a Watchman, was released in July 2015 Flowers are placed on a statue of a girl reading Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird in memorial of Lee on Friday in Monroeville The courthouse is a museum that pays homage to her creation. There's the Mockingbird Inn on the edge of town and a statute of children reading, 'Mockingbird' in the courthouse square. Ann Mote, owner of the Ol' Curiosities & Book Shoppe in Monroeville, said she thinks the town will always be linked to Lee. On Friday, U.S. political and cultural figures mourned Lee's death, crediting her with helping to promote tolerance and quoting her with admiration in social media and formal statements. Lee's 1960 book To Kill a Mockingbird about racism and injustice in the U.S. South is a classic of American literature. 'Harper Lee was ahead of her time, and her masterpiece To 'Kill A Mockingbird' prodded America to catch up with her,' former President George W. Bush, whose wife Laura Bush is a librarian, said in a statement. Bush, who awarded Lee a Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2007, said she had been a voice for tolerance. Senator Rand Paul, a Republican from Kentucky, and Senator Richard Shelby, a Republican from Lee's home state of Alabama, both praised the Pulitzer Prize winning Lee as a great author. President Bush, left. pictured as he presents the Presidential Medal of Freedom to author Lee in 2007 Admirers of Lee also took to Twitter to post quotes from the author, with novelist Erica Jong and Apple Inc Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook joining the chorus Oprah Winfrey also paid tribute to Lee who she called her 'first favorite author' in a post on Twitter 'Oh no. The great Harper Lee has passed away,' actress Debra Messing said on Twitter. 'She changed the world with 'To Kill A Mockingbird' 'Today I join Alabamians and all Americans in mourning the passing of Harper Lee,' Shelby said in a statement. Alabama Governor Robert Bentley said that 'it is because of Harper Lee that the world knows about her special hometown of Monroeville.' The governor also noted in his statement the celebration in Alabama after the publication last year of Lee's second novel, Go Set a Watchman 55 years after the first. Admirers of Lee also took to Twitter to post quotes from the author, with novelist Erica Jong and Apple Inc Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook joining the chorus. Actor Gregory Peck and novelist Harper Lee on the movie set of the film To Kill A Mockingbird in 1962. Lee was so taken with Gregory Peck's portrayal of Atticus that she gifted him with her father's watch A billboard in Monroeville welcomes visitors and thanks the late novelist. Ann Mote, owner of the Ol' Curiosities & Book Shoppe in Monroeville, said she thinks the town will always be linked to Lee 'Rest in peace, Harper Lee. 'The one thing that doesn't abide by majority rule is a person's conscience,' Cook wrote. And Hollywood celebrities also expressed shock and sadness at Lee's death. 'Oh no. The great Harper Lee has passed away,' actress Debra Messing said on Twitter. 'She changed the world with 'To Kill A Mockingbird.' Funeral and memorial services have been set for the late reality TV star Angela Raiola, with estranged husband Neil Murphy pictured attending the first of the funeral services today. Raiola, known as 'Big Ang', passed away on Thursday from stage four brain and lung cancer at the age of 55. Four visitations, which are usually held with a closed casket, will take place this weekend at Scarpaci Funeral Home in Brooklyn. The official funeral service will be held at the Basilica of Regina Pacis before she is buried in Staten Island, New York Scroll down for video Funeral and memorial services have been set for the late reality TV star Angela Raiola, with estranged husband Neil Murphy pictured attending (right) the first of the funeral services today The first of memorial service was held at Scarpaci Funeral Home (pictured) Saturday Big Ang (pictured left) passed away in the early hours of Thursday morning at a Manhattan hospital, where she was surrounded by friends and family. Pictured right and left: A memorial card from Saturday's service shows poem called After Glow She was first diagnosed with throat cancer last year and learned in December that it had spread to her brain and lungs. She had admitted to smoking at least one pack of cigarettes a day for over 40 years prior to the cancer diagnosis. Big Ang appeared recently on Dr Oz in an episode that aired Monday, where she discussed how dire her situation was. Her Mob Wives costar and friend Carla Facciolo told People that she 'was rushed to the hospital Monday only days after being discharged'. Big Ang's son Anthony A.J. D'Onofrio (L) and Gabriela D'Onofrio attended the first of the four services on Saturday Reality TV star Angela Raiola, known as Big Ang, died on Thursday from stage four brain and lung cancer. Her estranged husband Neil Murphy appeared at the first visitation on Saturday There will be a total of four visitations this weekend, before her official funeral on Monday in Brooklyn, New York. Big Ang will then be buried in her native Staten Island (pictured: Murphy, (left), and a florist (right) Big Ang died at 55, and admitted to smoking at least one pack of cigarettes a day for over 40 years prior to her cancer diagnosis. Pictured: Janine Detore (center) and Dominick Detore (right) are seen at the Memorial Service held for Angela "Big Ang" Raiola on February 20, 2016 in New York City She passed away in the early hours of Thursday morning at a Manhattan hospital, where she was surrounded by friends and family, including her estranged husband Neil Murphy, who is said to have been at her bedside when she died. Facciolo told People that Murphy, who is a sanitation worker, was 'there the whole time'. 'He's part of her life,' Facciolo told People. 'He's still her husband, you know? I don't know if they got back together, but to Ang, when she throws somebody off her for a little bit, they're always back in. She takes in people.' Later in the afternoon Thursday, Big Ang's estranged husband shared a photo of him with Big Ang on Twitter and wrote: 'I will always love you forever please watch over the grandkids I know you will'. Tragic photos show Mob Wives star Angela 'Big Ang' Raiola on her deathbed being comforted by family before she passed away Thursday morning from stage four brain and lung cancer. Above her niece, Sonnie Detore, gently kisses her, as she lay in the hospital bed Her estranged husband, Neil Murphy, shared the above photo and message on Twitter Raiola announced on Dr. Oz that she and her husband, Neil Murphy (above in August), had separated after six years of marriage Tributes to the popular reality star have been pouring in from family members, fellow castmates, celebrities and fans. Several family members took to social media and shared photos of the late star in the hospital bed with her head completely shaven. Her niece, Sonnie Detorre, shared a photo to Instagram where she is seen leaning in to give Big Ang a gentle kiss, as the star lay with her face away from the camera. Another image shared by another niece, Jeannie Detore, shows mother Janine Detore laying next to Big Ang in the hospital bed with her arms wrapped around her as others reach out to touch her. A third photo shared by Jeannie Detore shows her holding Big Ang's hand, highlighting how well-manicured her nails were despite the tragic circumstances. The popular reality star had been fighting tumors since she was diagnosed late last year. Another niece, Jeannie Detore, shared the image above showing Big Ang in the hospital bed surrounded by family and friends She was surrounded by her family when she passed away in the early hours of Thursday morning at a Manhattan hospital aged 55. Above her niece, Sonnie Detore, holds her hand On Monday she gave an emotional interview on The Dr. Oz Show about her battle with cancer Janine Detore, the star's sister who also appeared on Mob Wives, is reported to have been helping to care for her while she was sick. She shared a heartbreaking tribute to her sister on Instagram, with a recent photo of her standing in front of their parent's tombs. She captioned it: 'At 3:01 my beautiful sister got her wings she's with our mom & dad. We would like to thank everyone for your prayers and support ... #myfriend #mysister till we meet again my love @bigangvh1'. Raiola's death was announced on her Twitter account and said she was surrounded by her family when she passed away Janine Detore, the star's sister who also appeared on Mob Wives, is reported to have been helping to care for her while she was sick. She shared a tribute (above) to her sister on Instagram A statement released by Big Ang's family after her death said: 'Ang's fans were some of the most special people in her world, and she loved you immensely' Big Ang's tragic death was confirmed on her Twitter page with a statement from her family early Thursday morning. It read: 'Ang's fans were some of the most special people in her world, and she loved you immensely. 'Thank you for your love, prayers, and unconditional support of Angela right to the very end. 'She truly went out richer than any monetary value could ever amount to. 'The family asks for privacy and peace during this most difficult time. In typical Big Ang fashion, we know she would say 'Love you my babies!'. 'This page will remain open as a celebration of who she was and will always be.' Tributes have poured in on social media from celebrities, including her castmates, about her tragic death. Above she is pictured on January 13 at a viewing party for the show in Staten Island Mob Wives star Renee Graziano sent the above tweet after learning about Big Ang's death Graziano also shared an image to Instagram with Big Ang smiling alongside other women. She wrote: 'We will always love you .. Forever and ever Angela. You are part of our family #rip #withtheangels #inabetterplace' Her fellow Mob Wives' castmates, other celebrities and fans have also flocked to social media to pay tribute to the beloved reality TV star. Mob Wives star Renee Graziano shared an image to Instagram of Big Ang smiling alongside other women and captioned it: 'We will always love you .. Forever and ever Angela. You are part of our family #rip #withtheangels #inabetterplace'. She also wrote on Twitter: 'RIP ANGELA .. FOREVER IN MY HEART'. Facciolo, who appeared on seasons one to three and returned season six, shared an image of her smiling next to Big Ang to Instagram. In the caption she wrote: 'My beautiful friend is with the Angels now . Angela u will be missed more than anyone I knw (sic) ! U were so loved by so many ppl.. May u rest in peace my friend . I love you & I will miss you #BigAng.' Marissa Jade also posted a photo featuring her with Big Ang to Instagram and shared how much she will be missed. Original Mob Wives cast-mate Carla Facciolo, who appeared on season one to three and returned season six, shared an image of her smiling next to Big Ang to Instagram Marissa Jade also posted a photo with her and Big Ang to Instagram sharing how much she will be missed Natalie Didonato wrote the above message on Twitter above the popular reality TV star's death Bravo's Andy Cohen also shared the above message about Big Ang on Twitter Real Housewives of New Jersey star Teresa Giudice wrote the above message on Twitter about Big Ang's death She captioned it: 'Heaven just gained another angel. (For all those who feel I didn't mention Angela last night, I did. 'But I also did not speak of her situation bc it is Not my business nor place to speak of it until the time was right. You have to know when to respect someone's privacy) You will be missed beautiful'. Fellow longtime Mob Wives castmate Karen Gravano shared a collage of photos to Instagram of her with Big Ang and other women and wrote about how 'heartbroken' she is about her pal's death. In part, Gravano captioned it: 'Completely heartbroken this has been an emotional roller coaster for you, your family and the people that love you but throughout it all you never let this f****** disease take your spirit ...you woke up every day and fought with amazing courage & dignity and looked beautiful doing it... nobody knows the true definition of being tough until they watch someone fight the battle you just did.' She shared that right up until her death, Big Ang, who had a larger than life personality, laughed and joked around in addition to making sure that everyone around her was okay. Former Jersey Shore cast member Pauly D wrote the above tweet about Big Ang Real Housewives of Atlanta star Sheree Whitfield wrote that Big Ang had 'an amazing spirit' Karen Gravano shared a collage of photos to Instagram of her with Big Ang and other women and wrote about how 'heartbroken' she is about her tragic death Dr Oz told Extra that he doesn't think she knew her death would come this soon, but she kept a brave face. 'I don't think Big Ang knew it was going to be so soon, but I think Big Ang was scared,' he said. 'She didn't want anybody to forget the anguish on her face when she acknowledged that cigarettes killed her, stripped her life from her, that she lost decades that she could have spent with people she loved. I think that's the number one thing that needs to get out about her legacy.' Other celebrities including Natalie Didonato, Andy Cohen, Sheree Whitfield, DJ Pauly D and more have shared their thoughts about her death to Twitter. In addition, the judge on fellow VH1 show Ru Paul's Drag Race, Michelle Visage took to Twitter and wrote: 'My heart goes out to the family... so so sad, she was awesome, I love big ang forever.' Big Ang's friend Vinnie Medugno, who appeared on several episodes of Mob Wives tweeted: 'Love and prayer are a pretty strong combination and weapon against anything. I love you my friend! @biggangVH1. Her death comes just days after she gave an emotional interview on The Dr. Oz Show. 'Sometimes I think I'm going to be fine and sometimes I just don't think I am,' Raiola said during her appearance on the show. 'First I thought I was cancer free. I was going to have a big party. Then a month later I was stage 4,' she explained. 'I can't make sense of this.' The Brooklyn-born star also announced during the interview that she and Murphy had separated after six years of marriage. 'I felt he never stepped up to the plate so I was done with it,' she said, wiping her eyes as she became emotional. 'I feel now it's too late. I'd rather be by myself. I'd rather be alone and that's what I did.' Raiola lived in Staten Island and became a cast member on Mob Wives as she was the niece of Salvatore 'Sally Dogs' Lombardi, a captain in the Genovese crime family. Throughout the years, she has owned and operated several popular mafia hangouts, including the bar 'Drunken Monkey' in Staten Island with her cousin, Sally Dogs' daughter, Sallyann Lombardi, the New York Daily News reported. She became so popular during the show's run that she earned two spin-offs on VH1 - Big Ang and Miami Monkey. Big Ang gave viewers a closer look at her life while Miami Monkey followed her as she opened an outpost of the Staten Island bar she owns, Drunken Monkey, in Miami. Her death was confirmed on her Twitter page with a statement from her family. It read: 'Ang's fans were some of the most special people in her world, and she loved you immensely Raiola lived in Staten Island and became a cast member on Mob Wives (above) due to her mob ties as she was the niece of Salvatore 'Sally Dogs' Lombardi Both shows ran for just one season. Doctors discovered a lump the size of a lemon in her throat last April after she had complained of severe neck pain. It was removed along with some of her lymph nodes in a grueling eight-hour procedure. After the surgery, she said that she loved smoking but had given it up. 'I don't regret it,' Big Ang told the Daily News. 'I love smoking. I still love the thought of smoking. But it's not worth it. I realize that now.' Then she learned in December that her cancer had spread and began undergoing chemotherapy. In a New Year's message to her fans she vowed to keep going strong 'with as positive an outlook as I can have'. Her sister Janice Detore set up a GoFundMe.com page last month to raise money to buy cannabis oil to alleviate Big Ang's discomfort and pain as an alternative treatment. Police in San Francisco are hunting for an officer's gun after the bungling cop lost it by leaving it on top of his car before driving off. The Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent reported the handgun missing in the city's southern Ingleside neighborhood at around 7pm on Friday, according to ABC 7. Dispatchers put out the following bulletin to all their officers: 'Regarding a lost or stolen loaded firearm. An ICE agent left his phone with a loaded weapon on top of his vehicle and drove off.' Police in San Francisco are searching for a loaded Heckler and Koch P2000sk .40 caliber handgun (file image) after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent left it on top of his car and drove away The weapon is reported to be a loaded Heckler and Koch P2000sk .40 caliber handgun. In the last eight months, two stolen service weapons were used in murders in San Francisco alone. In September last year artist Anotonio Ramos was gunned down while he worked on an anti-violence mural in Oakland using a stolen ICE agent's weapon. Last July Kate Steinle was also killed by a man using a weapon taken from a ranger with the Bureau of Land Management. An ICE spokesman said: 'A duty weapon belonging to a special agent with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was reported missing Friday morning in San Francisco.' Polands prime minister has claimed victory after David Cameron failed to stop EU migrants claiming benefits while in Britain. Beata Szydlo said the deal struck by European leaders would ensure Poles living and working in Britain could continue to receive welfare payments. Good agreement for Europe, we protected rights of Poles claiming social benefits across EU, she tweeted afterwards. Insiders say her resistance to Camerons demands had been one of the main reasons why the Brussels summit dragged on for 31 hours. Insiders say Beata Szydlo's resistance to Camerons demands had been one of the main reasons why the Brussels summit dragged on for 31 hours. Here the two are shown during a meeting in Warsaw Mr Cameron had wanted an emergency brake to stop migrant workers claiming benefits to last as long as 13 years, but after objections from Eastern European countries including Poland this was watered down to seven years. The Poles also fought against the proposal to stop migrant workers in Britain receiving generous Child Benefit for families in their homeland. Under the new agreement, existing claimants will not see any change until 2020. After that date the payments will be indexed to the cost of living in the individual countries, rather than being axed. It comes as critics slammed Cameron's 'special status' deal agreed with the EU claiming it failed to achieve key demands on welfare, borders and benefits. The Prime Minister said the agreement was strong enough to allow him to campaign for Britain to remain in the EU in a referendum expected to take place in June. But the overwhelming reaction has been scorn, with some within his own party labelling it 'thin gruel' while Labour and campaign groups have also criticised it as 'watered-down' and a failure. Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo arrives during the second day of the EU Summit between Cameron and other European leaders European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker gestures during a news conference after the second day of a European Union leaders' summit Eurosceptics said the deal was 'irrelevant' as he had not asked for any changes to freedom of movement or the repatriation of powers to the UK, while others said Cameron promised 'to get half a loaf but came back with crumbs'. They also said it did nothing to address the chaos raging across Europe. Cameron confirmed on Saturday that the EU referendum that will determine the future of Britain and define his career will take place on June 23. Following a landmark Cabinet meeting that lasted more than two hours, the Prime Minister addressed the nation in Downing Street. But within minutes of the speech, six of Mr Cameron's Cabinet ministers appeared at a Vote Leave rally to sign on to the campaign against the Prime Minister. Commons leader Chris Grayling said Mr Cameron's deal had failed to secure power over Britain's borders or allow the Government to strike trade deals around the world - insisting a 'sovereign country should be able to do that'. And Justice Secretary Michael Gove said he had wrestled with his conscience but had to back Brexit despite the Prime Minister's view. Rebel Cabinet Ministers who want Britain to quit the EU risk triggering an economic disaster and are playing into the hands of Vladimir Putin. Those were among the stark warnings delivered yesterday at the first Cabinet meeting to be held on a Saturday for more than 50 years. One by one, the six rebel Ministers who plan to defy David Cameron by campaigning for the UK to leave the EU told him to his face why his new, hard-fought deal with other member states was not good enough. Scroll down for video One by one, the six rebel Ministers who plan to defy David Cameron by campaigning for the UK to leave the EU, including Michael Gove, Chris Grayling, Priti Patel and Iain Duncan Smith (l-r) told him to his face why his new, hard-fought deal with other member states was not good enough They pledged they would not demand his resignation as Prime Minister if he loses but rejected his last-minute plea to change their minds and support him. However, they faced a backlash from Cabinet loyalists who rallied behind the Prime Minister. Chancellor George Osborne painted a picture of doom and gloom in the wake of any Brexit. We should bear in mind that the Governor of the Bank of England has said there will be a period of economic turmoil if we leave the EU, Mr Osborne said. Sterling is at a low point right now and there will be economic shocks if we leave. The rebels pledged they would not demand his resignation as Prime Minister if he loses but rejected his last-minute plea to change their minds and support him He was backed by Defence Secretary Michael Fallon, a one-time critic of Brussels, who banished rumours that he could join the rebels. Leaving the EU would put Britains security at risk, he said, adding provocatively: There are no prizes for guessing which way Putin wants us to vote. Some experts say the Russian president is hoping Britain will leave the EU, prompting a collapse in the union that would make it easier for him to pursue his expansionist policies. After Mr Cameron defended the deal he achieved in Brussels, he appealed to all Ministers to avoid personal attacks in the debate. Then Justice Secretary Michael Gove led the way for the rebels. He told Mr Cameron: It gives me no pleasure to say that I intend to vote to leave the EU and I do it with a heavy heart. He praised Mr Cameron for doing a brilliant job as PM and for calling the referendum, and said it was vital we all stay together when it is over. However, Mr Gove continued: The critical issue for me is that the EU has fundamentally changed in recent years; it is set on a particular course and it is not going to change. Ministers have lost so many powers. We cannot ignore it any longer. Commons Leader Chris Grayling told Mr Cameron: Any suggestion that what we doing is critical of you or that your position is in doubt depending on the result of the referendum is totally wrong. We will all support you regardless you will be Prime Minister come what may. The comments were greeted with hear, hears around the table. Veteran anti-EU campaigner Iain Duncan Smith started apologetically: When I was leader I did my best to avoid banging on about Europe. Now Im not leader I find I will be doing exactly that. I have not always been a leaver but the EU has gone too far. I regret having to make this decision but the country requires it. We have to be unshackled and build relationships with other countries, not just Europe. Culture Secretary John Whittingdale, a former aide to Margaret Thatcher, called for Britain to recover the powers we have lost. Employment Minister Priti Patel said: My experience in business is that organisations are only successful and efficient when they are accountable and flexible and the EU is neither. And Northern Ireland Secretary Theresa Villiers added: I made my mind up a long time ago: we must leave the EU. Mr Cameron ended with an emotional plea for unity: We should have a good debate but it must be conducted on good terms. We need to remember we are all still members of a Conservative Government. This is my team and it is a team I love. Chancellor George Osborne (left) painted a picture of doom and gloom in the wake of any 'Brexit'. He was backed by Defence Secretary Michael Fallon (right), a one-time critic of Brussels, who banished rumours that he could join the rebels Asylum seeker baby Asha could remain in Australian community detention in a deal struck between hospital and immigration staff, as protesters remain on the scene for the eighth day straight. The 12-month-old and family could be moved to detention in Brisbane, rather than returned to offshore detention on Nauru, unconfirmed reports suggest according to Nine News. Doctors and nurses at the Lady Cilento Childrens Hospital had refused to discharge the injured, now recovered, baby Asha over concerns for her wellbeing. It prompted refugee advocates to join at the Brisbane hospital for eight days around the clock to show their solidarity with hospital staff and attempt to keep immigration officials from having her removed. A Brisbane children's hospital is refusing to release a baby being treated for burns suffered while in detention on Nauru until a 'suitable' home is found Pop sister act The Veronicas Lisa and Jessica Origliasso made an appearance at the protests Some protesters have reportedly begun to leave the scene on Sunday, approving of the unconfirmed deal. However, Asylum Seeker Resource Centre CEO Kon Karapanagiotidis wrote on Twitter on Sunday morning that the peaceful vigil continues and that both Asha and mother were still at the hospital. Pop sister act The Veronicas Lisa and Jessica Origliasso made an appearance at the protests. Asha had been taken to the Lady Cilento Childrens Hospital after suffering burns she received from boiling water while in detention in Nauru. Refugee advocates have maintained a presence at the Lady Cilento Children's Hospital in Brisbane around the clock for eight days straight Protesters have been using the hashtag #LetThemStay to protest the removal of asylum seeker babies to Nauru Many Aboriginal Australians came out to say they welcomed asylum seekers on their land On Saturday, Ashas advocate said immigration police had banned her from seeing Ashas mother. Former Nauru detention centre caseworker and family advocate Natasha Blucher said something was wrong when she spoke with the mother on Saturday morning, as fears mounted Asha was to be removed. I called mum at 9am, and she told me that about 7am, some immigration officers had come to her room and told her she was leaving, Ms Blucher told AAP on Saturday. She said Asha's mother was told she would need to leave with plain-clothes officers waiting for her downstairs and that she needed to go quietly. When asked, where are you taking me, they declined to tell her, and said it was neither the community, Nauru or a detention centre, Ms Blucher said. But at 8am, a doctor came in and told Asha's mum that she was safe, as he would not be discharging her unless he was satisfied a safe home was waiting for Asha. That was the last Ms Blucher heard from the mother. When she called at 3.15pm, she said she was told by immigration officers that Asha's mum could no longer make or receive calls. Lady Cilento Children's Hospital: the 12-month-old's wounds have healed and she's in a stable condition The Serco officers said they had been informed by border police that she was not allowed any calls - not even from her lawyers, Ms Blucher told AAP. To hold someone incommunicado like that to me says you're about to do something that's not in their interest, she said. Refugee advocates then surrounded the hospital in hope of blocking any officers who attempted to take Asha away. GetUp Queensland spokeswoman Ellen Roberts said about 200 protesters were outside the hospital, and would maintain a 24-hour presence until they received confirmation about the family's plight. Human Rights Law Centre lawyer Daniel Webb confirmed the firm was denied access when they tried to speak to Asha's mother on Saturday. When we called, we were advised by a Serco guard that they have been directed by Border Force to prohibit all access today. At this time we can't contact our client - Asha's mother - and she can't contact us, he said in a statement. An Immigration Department spokesperson would neither deny nor confirm if the baby was being moved, only that she was still at hospital. of another political double-act which campaigned for 'Out' When Left-winger George Galloway appeared alongside Ukips Nigel Farage at a Brexit rally on Friday, he brought back memories of an another oddball political double-act which campaigned for Out in the last European referendum. Forty years ago, the toxic twins were firebrand Tony Benn and anti-immigration Enoch Powell, who teamed up to call for Britain to leave the EEC. The pairing of an ultra Left-winger with a notorious member of the Right during the 1975 vote allowed the pro-European camp to demonise them as mavericks whose protests were just the rantings of oddball extremists. Double act: Left-winger George Galloway (left) joined Ukip's Nigel Farage on stage at a 'Brexit' rally on Friday Galloway, who was expelled from Labour in 2003, invoked the precedent directly at the Grassroots Out rally, telling the crowd that he was picking up Mr Benns mantle. However, the surprise appearance of the former Respect MP backfired, with dozens of the mainly Right-leaning audience walking out in protest. Mr Galloway shares Mr Benns reputation as a powerful orator with wild views. Odd couple: At the last referendum in 1975, Left-wing firebrand Tony Benn (left) teamed up with the Right's Enoch Powell He earned notoriety after meeting Saddam Hussein and saying: Sir, I salute your courage, your strength, your indefatigability. Mr Powells notoriety came from his 1968 Rivers of Blood speech about the dangers of untrammelled immigration, a political cause which has been adopted by Mr Farages Ukip. There are believed to be 700 million trillion terrestrial planets in the known universe. Scientists have long believed that among them are worlds similar to our own. This is known as the 'Copernican principle', which states that our planet doesn't hold a privileged position in the cosmos. Now, a new study has turned that principle on its head by suggesting that Earth may well be one of a kind. There are believed to be 700 million trillion terrestrial planets in the known universe. Scientists have long believed that among them are worlds similar to our own. This is known as the 'Copernican principle', which states that our planet doesn't hold a privileged position in the cosmos Astronomer Erik Zackrisson from Uppsala University in Sweden has been using computer simulations to model all of the terrestrial planets likely to exist in the universe. According to an in-depth report in Scientific American, his computer model created a miniature digital copy of the early universe. He then inputed all the exoplanet data they had from probes such as Kepler, and modelled what would happen to these planets given the known laws of physics. The team discovered that if you bring the model forward 13.8 billion, none of the known 700 quintillion possible planets look like Earth. This is because most were far older, which led them to believe that Earth's relatively young age and position within the Milky Way makes it unique. The results have been published to the preprint server arXiv and submitted to The Astrophysical Journal. 'It's kind of mind-boggling that we're actually at a point where we can begin to do this,' co-author Andrew Benson from the Carnegie Observatories in California told Scientific American. Astronomer Erik Zackrisson from Uppsala University in Sweden has been using computer simulations to model all of the terrestrial planets likely to exist in the universe. Pictured is an artist's illustration of a planet-forming disk around a baby star 'It's certainly the case that there are a lot of uncertainties in a calculation like this. Our knowledge of all of these pieces is imperfect.' There are some drawbacks to the model. For instance, the team had to guess how planets might form around stars with fewer heavy elements. But despite these concerns, they say the conclusion is accurate. According to Scientific American, 'the researchers conclude that Earth stands as a mild violation of the Copernican principle'. It follows research last year, which found that Earth may be one of the first habitable planets in the universe. Scientists believe when the solar system formed 4.6 billion years ago, only eight per cent of the potentially habitable worlds that are destined to exist had formed. And the vast majority of planets are yet to be born and may not appear until after our sun burns itself out in another six billion years. Scientists believe when the solar system formed 4.6 billion years ago, only eight per cent of the potentially life-supporting worlds that are destined to exist had formed. And the vast majority of planets are yet to be born Astronomers came to the conclusion after studying data from Hubble and Kepler space telescopes. Lead researcher Dr Peter Behroozi, from the Space Telescope Science Institute said: 'Our main motivation was understanding the Earth's place in the context of the rest of the universe. 'Compared to all the planets that will ever form in the universe, the Earth is actually quite early.' Galaxy observations show that 10 billion years ago stars were forming rapidly, but the process used only a fraction of all the hydrogen and helium in the universe. Today, stars are being born at a much slower rate and, with the amount of raw material still available are likely to continue being created for a very long time to come. One advantage of coming early to the party is that powerful telescopes like Hubble can be used to trace the development of galaxies back to the Big Bang that created the universe. Because of the run-away expansion of the universe, such observable evidence will be virtually erased one trillion years from now. Any civilisation arising in the far-future will be left with no clue - from astronomy at least - to how the universe began and evolved. Advertisement Two Buddhist monks had been on the same trip, down below the Antarctic Circle, before our voyage. Why had they picked the coldest, driest and windiest spot on the world for their pilgrimage? I was told they wanted to witness the purity of the seventh continent in all its glory. After following in their footsteps, I can say that for anyone who goes to Antarctica it unintentionally becomes a sacred experience. Shades of blue: The seventh continent is spectacular and for anyone who visits, it unintentionally becomes a sacred experience Antarctica is made up of skyscraper icebergs rolling into the horizon, a whispering silence carried by the winds and pristine, and untouched snow glistening intermittently in the dewy light After a string of flights from London to Patagonia, Sadie boarded a Russian ship in Ushuaia then began a two-day sail down through some of the worlds roughest seas Eventually, on the fifth day it was announced that they had crossed the Antarctic Circle and hit 6633 46.1 south of the Equator Skyscraper icebergs rolling into the horizon, a whispering silence carried by the winds and pristine, untouched snow glistening intermittently in the dewy light. Like many pilgrimages, the journey to Antarctica isnt easy. For us, it started with a string of flights from London to Patagonia. Then, after finally boarding our solid-looking Russian ship in Ushuaia the southernmost city in the world we began a two-day sail down through some of the worlds roughest seas. Staff from the Canadian-based company running the expedition, One Ocean, had kindly lined the handrails on the ship with sick bags and the bar downstairs was decked out with non-slip mats. Lying in bed, the room appeared to spin around me (Id only had one glass of wine!) and showering with a razor suddenly became a potentially fatal exercise. Luckily my boyfriend, who I was travelling with, had managed to source some seasickness patches. The little plaster-like patches, which affix just behind the ear, really were a miracle and I managed to retain my appetite at mealtimes without emergency exits. To reach the home of numerous wildlife, including this seal, many of the holidaymakers on the expedition suffered from sea sickness Happy feet: The expedition were greeted by the sight of rocky hilltops lined with hundreds of penguins socialising An Adelie penguin leaps through the air, hopping over cracks and crevices in the ground For four days we bobbed around through a haze of mist and violent salt spray. Hit by cabin fever, I attempted using the gym treadmill one day but it proved to be quite a challenge with my legs unexpectedly levitating as we hit a big wave. Eventually, on the fifth day it was announced that we had crossed the Antarctic Circle and hit 6633 46.1 south of the Equator. With mulled wine to hand, all of the passengers gave a celebratory cheer on deck with the sun putting in a welcome appearance. In total there were 100 people on board hailing from all walks of life, from photographers and surfers to lawyers, bankers and retirees. Surprisingly there were lots of Brits on board, intermixed with Australians, Americans and Chinese. With the seas reducing to a gentle lilt, we marked the Antarctic Circle crossing with our first off-ship excursion. One Ocean offered a kayaking option for an extra cost, and luckily my boyfriend and I managed to secure a place as part of the group. Our first paddle into the glassy waters took us around Detaille Island, the site of a former British science base, which closed in 1959 and preserved as a historical visitor site. Peaceful surrounds: As they crossed the Antarctic Circle with mulled wine to hand, all of the passengers gave a celebratory cheer on deck with the sun putting in a welcome appearance. With it being summer in Antarctica, Sadie was blessed with ideal conditions; blue skies, bright sun and minimal wind During kayaking holidaymakers can whizz through the vast landscape weaving in and out of ice fields to get up-close to nature Sadie takes the dreaded polar plunge where it is tradition on Antarctic excursions to whip off your clothes and take a swim in the freezing waters (pictured left). The landscape provided an enchanting backdrop for Sadie to photograph (pictured right) With it being summer in Antarctica, we were blessed with ideal conditions; blue skies, bright sun and minimal wind. However, I later discovered that it was also the perfect weather for a nice bit of Antarctic sunburn, with my chin ripening to a painful shade of pink. Paddling through the chunks of ice on our first day, we spotted scores of Adelie penguins hopping overs cracks and crevices. Rocky hilltops were lined with hundreds of bobbling birds, crowing to their hearts content. One thing you dont learn from watching nature documentaries is what the cute animals smell like. Be warned, penguin poop is a pretty powerful odour. Similar to cigarette smoke, the eau de guano appeared to linger in my hair with a soapy shower being the only cure. Along with kayaking, we also went out in small groups aboard zodiac boats James Bond-style. Whizzing through the vast landscape, we would weave in and out of ice fields to get up-close to nature. Each day we saw an abundance of wildlife. Weddell seals napping incessantly, penguins ducking and diving and birds swooping through the crisp blue skies. One thing you dont learn from watching nature documentaries, says Sadie, is what the cute animals smell like. Penguin poop is a pretty powerful odour similar to cigarette smoke, she reveals Our kayak guides even plucked out a krill one day - a tiny translucent shrimp, which serves as the main food source for most species in the area. The one animal most people still hadnt ticked off their spotted list, was a whale. Shortly after crossing the Antarctic Circle a lucky few had spied a pack of Orcas in the distance before they descended into the deep but since then there had been little fin action. Keen to get up close to some of the worlds biggest mammals, we cruised towards Wilhelmina Bay. With a healthy krill population in this stretch of 100ft-deep-water, humpbacks are aplenty, along with other species of whale such as minkes and orcas. I felt a bit vulnerable heading out on to the water in my dinky kayak but the guides reassured us that the whales would keep their distance and not attempt any funny business. So the lot of us headed out in our vessels, with cameras strung around our necks to capture any action. Everything was still for several minutes and then all of a sudden we heard a triumphant blow of air as a whale surfaced somewhere nearby. Stopping to locate our friend we saw a dark grey mass of flesh gracefully move through the inky waters just meters away. It was incredible sitting so close to the whales and everyone appeared to have permanent smiles fixed to their faces. A mother and calf were next to appear just a few feet behind someones kayak and again we were all stunned into silence. At the end of the day, back in the boat bar for the daily happy hour, everyone shared their photographs with some incredible shots to boot; whale tails slipping into the ocean, humps rising and falling, spurts of water being fired into the sky. Up close and personal: A seal and penguin bask in the Antarctica sunshine. It was warmer than Sadie anticipated and as well as getting sunburned, she enjoyed a BBQ-style dinner out on deck Sadie spotted several Weddell seals whiling away their days napping on a vast blue chunks of ice When we werent out exploring the Antarctic wilds there was plenty of time on board our boat - the Akademik Ioffe to gather our thoughts. Each expedition day would start with a 7:30am wake-up call alerting us to the fact that breakfast would be served at 8:00am. The expeditions generally left at 9:00am, returning at 11:00am with lunch served at 12:00pm. The afternoon expeditions wouldnt leave until 3:00pm, so there was time to nap or upload the hundreds of photographs wed all been taking. A 7.30pm dinner was preceded by happy hour, where the legendary duo, Craig and Ian, would rustle up some warming cocktails. Everyones favourite social occurred on day eight when the weather was so beautiful dinner was served BBQ-style out on deck. The Australian chef even donned a short-sleeved Hawaiian shirt as he flipped shrimp on the grill. Snow-covered mountains, lining the banks of the Lemaire Channel, served as our backdrop as the sun slowly descended. Another highlight had to be an excursion to the working Ukrainian Antarctic station, the Vernadsky Research Base. The science base acquired from the British for 1 in 1996 - is home to the Southernmost bar in the World. And for the ladies, a bra will earn you a free drink. Testing the tradition, I purchased a pretty tasteless pink, diamante bustier in Ushuaia and whipped it out on my visit to Vernadsky. Confirming the ritual, the smiley barman swiftly served me up a glass of red wine. He then allowed me behind the bar to hang up my underwear with remnants from past visitors. We had been promised a Ukrainian moonshine vodka concoction but their homemade brew appeared to be out-of-stock the day we visited. With a healthy krill population in Wilhelmina Bay, humpbacks are aplenty, along with other species of whale such as minkes and orcas The expeditions generally left at 9:00am, returning at 11:00am with lunch served at 12:00pm. The afternoon expeditions wouldnt leave until 3:00pm, so there was time to nap or upload the hundreds of wildlife photographs that the group had been taking With the trip nearing an end there was still one thing on everyones minds, the dreaded polar plunge. Apparently its tradition on Antarctic excursions to whip off your clothes and take a swim in the freezing waters. Our turn came on day eleven during a visit to Deception Island one of four volcanoes in the world that you can actually sail into. It was rather surreal steering into the eerie bay, once home to a bustling whaling station, with mist rolling over the volcanic rocks. We moored up close to the rusting, derelict factory and made our way on shore. Before our frosty swim we went for a quick hike to get our hearts pounding. Unfortunately, a snow shower interrupted the sunny weather wed had for the majority of the trip and the thought of minus-degree water became increasingly less appealing. A paddle into the glassy waters took Sadie and her boyfriend around Detaille Island, the site of a former British science base, which closed in 1959 and preserved as a historical visitor site The destination is flooded by an abundance of wildlife including napping seals, penguins diving and birds swooping through the sky A visit to the 'frozen desert' is often life-changing for those who make the pilgrimage and find themselves yearning for a return to the ice and freezing winds. Pictured is a refuge hut built by Argentina in 1955 on Petermann Island The remains of a whaling station at Whalers Bay, Deception Island - one of the few places in the world where boats can sail directly into a volcano However, after a quick pep talk I was ready to tackle the polar plunge and readily stripped down to my bikini. To minimise exposure to the cold I quickly sprinted along the black sand beach and dived headfirst into the sea. It took me a good few seconds to get my breath back. Once Id got my bearings, I lumbered ashore and attempted to pull on my clothes with chattering teeth. It was then a quick zodiac ride back to the boat before I made a fervent expedition to the ships outdoor hot tub. That night, we started our voyage back through the Drake Passage towards Ushuaia and the sick bags silently reappeared. Speaking to people they all agreed it had been an incredible experience visiting the frozen desert. One woman said how insignificant shed felt in amongst the icebergs and another man told him the trip had made him feel humble a sentiment echoed by many. During our voyage one couple from the UK had chose to mark the occasion by getting married, another man from California had brought his mothers ashes to scatter in the endless blue. Now Ive got a reason to come back and visit, he told me, to see mum. The ships onboard photographer and BBC wildlife photographer of the year award winner, Ira Meyer, had warned me that Antarctica could be infectious. And now I see his point. Never did I think Id be hankering after ice and freezing winds. Vamizi is unsettling. Everything about this extraordinary island which, shaped like a whale, sits off the coast of Mozambique in the Indian Ocean is so seductive that you don't so much regain a sense of perspective about life as dabble with the idea of starting a whole new one. Mind you, it is something of a mission to get here. We fly from South Africa's largest city, Johannesburg, to Pemba Island in Mozambique, from where we think it will be a quick hop to Vamizi when, in fact, we fly in the opposite direction to drop off four men with a licence to kill. Refined: One of the villas at Vamizi, Mozambique, which can easily sleep several couples or a family There is not much game left in Mozambique, but these chaps look like they mean business. It is dark by the time we reach Vamizi, the landing strip lit by the headlights of a Land Rover (albeit with a constellation of stars looking on knowingly). The island is seven miles long and little more than a mile wide. There are about 1,500 inhabitants (many fled here during the Mozambican civil war that ended in 1992) who live in mud huts, fashioning a living of sorts from fishing. A sliver of sand: Vamizi has some 1,500 permanent inhabitants, many living in basic conditions They have close to nothing, and there is no fresh water on the island. So, Vamizi is a microcosm of the wider world. There is extreme poverty alongside great luxury in the form of six beautiful, privately owned villas, each with five or six bedrooms, available for rent. Until a year ago, there were also one-bedroom villas on the beach, but these are closed awaiting renovation which should happen shortly now tour firm andBeyond is running the island. This swish company employs as many locals as it can, and buys its fish from the villagers at better prices than on the mainland. Then there is the Friends of Vamizi Trust, set up by the villa owners, which has established a school and community clinic. Each villa is staffed by a host or hostess (other places would talk grandly of a butler), a chef, a housekeeper and a driver. Our crew is charming, especially Fiona, the hostess, who has a three-year-old son living back in Zimbabwe with her mother. One day, she hopes to return home and find work in the hospitality sector. We think she should be on the cover of Vogue. 'Yes, please' is her catch-all phrase. 'What a lovely day, Fiona.' 'Yes, please.' 'Can I have another four cans of lager?' 'Yes, please.' Friendly: Mark on the beach with his hostess Fiona (left) and the island's yellow-breasted weaver bird (right) To understand the glories of Vamizi is to know what there isn't. There is no restaurant (you eat in your villa and discuss the menu with your chef). There is no spa (but Tasmin, a charming young South African, will give you a personal yoga class at dawn or a massage at dusk). There is no air conditioning and there are no TVs in the bedrooms. The wifi is so slow that you tend not to bother, and there is not much of a telephone signal. When you arrive, you are told that Vamizi time is an hour ahead of what it should be to make days longer. The result? One of the most heart-warming and beautiful places I have ever experienced where you awake to duets from yellow-breasted weaver birds, the rustles of Samango monkeys, the sun rising above acres of mangrove trees and the turquoise sea gently ebbing and flowing over powdery white sand. It is the perfect honeymoon destination, but taking a whole villa for two people is prohibitively expensive unless you are Prince Albert of Monaco, who spent his honeymoon here, or Daniel Craig and his wife Rachel Weisz, who stayed recently. The style is boho chic, with lots of driftwood, copper basins, reclaimed metal, seagrass and African art with every effort made to bring the outside inside. It works best if you are a group of five or six couples or a large family ready to splash out on the holiday of a lifetime. And, I promise, it will be the holiday of a lifetime. Trip of a lifetime: Vamizi may be expensive, but it comes with a rare sense of calm and tranquility Vamizi harbours some of the most significant and endangered habitats and wildlife, with more than 180 species of unbleached coral and more than 400 varieties of reef fish. Which is to say that the diving here both deep sea and just bobbing about with a snorkel is some of the best in the world. And don't forget the turtles the largest recorded population of green turtles in Mozambique. Guests are encouraged to join an early-morning patrol or spend time with the resident marine biologist. Bob Dylan sings about spending time in Mozambique, where the 'sunny sky is aqua blue... and everybody likes to stop and speak... magic in a magical land'. But dear old Bob has never been to Vamizi. He will have to add a whole new verse if he does. Vamizi is high-end but low-impact. The water is heated by solar panels, and the island has its own generators. We remove our shoes on arrival and do not put them on again until leaving. It is quite possible not to see another guest if you're here for a week. Each villa is at least 200 yards from the next one and even within the villas themselves bedrooms are spaced out so that it feels completely private. This is understatement of a different kind. For example, when I ask a senior member of staff when Vamizi first opened, she says it was in 2006. And then drops into the conversation that the proverbial ribbon was cut by none other than Nelson Mandela whose third wife, Graca, hails from Mozambique. Any other resort would go to town on this, with plaques, framed photos et al. But that's not the Vamizi way, thank goodness. From watching her ex Geoffrey tie the knot with Gabi Grecko to being embroiled in a controversial drug scandal, last year proved to be an eventful 12 months for Brynne Edelsten. But it looks like the 33-year-old socialite is keen to kick off 2016 on a positive note, and has even consulted with a psychic medium to ensure the right vibes are in store for her. Taking to Instagram on Friday, the blonde beauty shared a photo of herself with celebrity psychic Harry T, along with the caption: 'Thank you @harrytmedium for doing a reading for me! Looking forward to what life has awaiting me! (sic)'. Scroll down for video Positive outlook: Taking to Instagram on Friday, Brynne Edelsten shared this photo and revealed she has consulted psychic medium Harry T If the caption is anything to go by, it seems the media personality is thrilled with what Harry had to tell her. And she certainly looked stoked when posing for the snap, dressed to impress in a baby pink singlet and printed skirt. Brynne divorce from Geoffrey Edelsten went through in April last year. The couple wed at Crown Casino in a lavish November 2009 ceremony MC'd by The Nanny star Fran Drescher and Seinfeld's Jason Alexander, who were flown in to entertain guests. Gracious: If the caption is anything to go by, it seems the media personality is thrilled with what Harry had to tell her Former flames: Brynne was famously married to businessman Geoffrey Edelsten However, in January 2014, it was announced their marriage was over, with Brynne alleging her husband had 'a dalliance' with another woman 18 months prior. Geoffrey subsequently married American model and reality star Gabi Grecko in a rushed ceremony just days after his divorce from Brynne came through and before Gabi's visa ran out. But the pair have since also called it quits. Brynne had also moved on with bodybuilder Cemre Volkan - also known as Big Red Ra -the pair reportedly having begun dating in June 2014. In March last year, Brynne confirmed to the Herald Sun that she and her man had called time on their ten-month relationship, but were recently spotted spending time together in Melbourne earlier this month. Calling it quits: The pair tied the knot in 2009, before their divorce finally went through last year Moving on: Geoffrey subsequently married American model and reality star Gabi Grecko in a rushed ceremony just days after his divorce from Brynne came through and before Gabi's visa ran out - the pair later called it quits More recently, police in Western Australia dropped a drug possession charge against Brynne. The reality TV star was accused of possessing an ecstasy tablet early last year and was due to stand trial over the incident on Christmas Eve, after pleading not guilty to the charge in July. According to ABC News Brynne, who arrived at the Perth Magistrates Court in December in a black lace shift dress and matching gloves, spoke to the waiting media outside, saying: 'I don't condone the use of drugs'. 'I don't use drugs and that's what's been proven today,' she said, adding: 'I'm happy to put this behind me and that the truth has come out. 'I'm proud of my choices as a person. I have two little sisters who are 15 an 16 and they mean the world to me and I try to set a good example for them, and even just for them, let alone anyone else.' New squeeze: Brynne has since moved on with Cemre Volkan, and while the pair seemed to have split last year, they were recently pictured together in Melbourne She was recently spotted hitting the nightlife with actor Chace Crawford. And just days later on Friday, newly single Nina Dobrev was busy making a stylish arrival in her sheer leggings and cosy sweater to Toronto Pearson International Airport in Canada. The Bulgaria-born 27-year-old had a wide smile on her face as she landed in Canada, the country she moved to when she was just two. Scroll down for video So fly: Nina Dobrev wore a pair of leggings and a cosy sweater when she arrived to Toronto Pearson International Airport in Toronto, Canada on Friday The actress also had her brunette hair slicked up into a no-fuss pony tail. She had her eyes concealed behind a pair of cat eye style sunglasses and looked glam with her white earrings and gold bracelet. Nina had a pair of white headphones in hand as she strolled through airport, which no doubt came in handy during the flight from Los Angeles to Canada. The actress shared a sped-up video of her view from the plane as she took off from LAX, which she captioned, 'As they say "On to the next". Onward and upward!' Tuned in: The actress' white headphones no doubt came in handy during the flight The finishing touches: She had her eyes concealed behind a pair of cat eye style sunglasses and looked glam with her white earrings and gold bracelet Nina's trip comes after she was seen leaving the Villa Lounge on Tuesday night with Chace Crawford. The two were later spotted walking to nightclub Bootsy Bellows for more revelry. This comes just after E! News reported the Vampire Diaries beauty had split from her boyfriend of seven months, Austin Stowell, inviting speculation she had moved on with the former Gossip Girl star. More than friends? Nina Dobrev was seen leaving the Lounge Villa in West Hollywood on Tuesday night with Chace Crawford But Crawford and Dobrev appear to have been friends since at least 2010, when they hung out at the Teen Choice Awards. In 2014 they were spotted at a Thanksgiving dinner with his sister Candice Crawford and her husband, NFL player Tony Romo (who used to date Jessica Simpson). Again in 2015 they were spotted with Candice and Tony, making it seem as if they are all in the same clique. Cute: For their outing, Nina looked casual in skinny jeans with a sheer white top, red Chanel purse, grey shirt boots and a key around her neck. The brunette held onto a lit cigarette and her cell phone For their outing, Nina looked casual in skinny jeans with a sheer white top, red Chanel purse, grey shirt boots and a key around her neck. The brunette held onto a lit cigarette and her cell phone. Chace, who last was on the series Blood & Oil, wore a grey sweatshirt and baseball cap with fitted jeans and rugged outdoor shoes. They go back: Crawford and Dobrev appear to have been friends since at least 2010, when they hung out at the Teen Choice Awards Split! Nina and her boyfriend Austin Stowell called it quits, E! reported on Tuesday (here they are pictured at the premiere of Bridge Of Spies in October in New York) On Tuesday news broke that Nina and Austin split. 'It started to get hard with both of their schedules,' a source told the website. The website added that the break-up occurred at some point during January or February. The couple took their relationship public in June 2015 during a getaway to St. Tropez after they became the focus of romance rumours. The way they were: Dobrev Instagrammed a snap of herself nuzzling with Stowell on the slopes in January Speculation sparked when, according to People, Nina and Austin were seen getting cozy at the Hallmark Shoebox relaunch in Hollywood on June 10. More recently Nina, 27, shared a snap of herself in January kissing the Whiplash actor during a winter holiday on the slopes. However, that image became one of the final ones that she has posted on her Instagram account of the actor. Fun in the sun! The actor gave the Let's Be Cops actress a piggyback ride during their St. Tropez trip in July 2015 She recently went on a Hawaiian holiday with gal pals Jessica Stam and Jessica Szhor, and her now former beau did not appear to be in attendance. On Valentine's Day, she posted a snap of herself surround with her girl friends, which contained the telling hashtag 'Happy GALantines day.' Austin was nowhere to be seen in the snaps. The actress previously dated Dancing With The Stars pro Derek Hough as well as her former on-screen leading man, Ian Somerhalder, who is now married to actress Nikki Reed. His performance art pieces have landed him in the centre of several debates. And Shia LaBeouf found himself involved in yet more controversy with his latest piece, after punching a fan in the face whilst spending the day standing inside an Oxford University lift. As part of the 29-year-old's latest art piece, entitled #Elevate, the star chose to spend 24 hours in the elevator. And when one overenthusiastic fan asked for a smack, Shia reluctantly obliged. Scroll down for video Feeling up and down: Shia LaBeouf found himself involved in more controversy with his latest art piece on Friday, after punching a fan in the face whilst spending the day inside an Oxford University lift After queuing for seven hours to meet the star, the student - who was wearing a cap and hoodie - said: 'Im a performance artist. Can you help me with completion of my next piece by punching me in the face?' Visibly taken aback by the request, Shia replied: 'Oh man, you want to punch me in the face?' Adding: 'I dont want to punch you very hard!' Stuck in an elevator: The student (second left) pleaded with Shia to punch him in the face, before the gang of fellow students goaded the star into making the hit harder as heard during the video livestream After being told not to be a 'p***y' by the student, Shia continued with his protests, claiming: 'I dont like doing it though.... I just met you.' Despite being behind closed doors, the punch was clearly audible, and whilst the giggling gang screamed at Shia to make it 'harder', the star didn't seem willing to give in. Changing tactics, the student then pleaded: 'Or a slap at least?' Mind the doors! The incident was caught on the live-stream channel and was broadcast in the union debating chamber, but the punch itself was not captured on camera as the lift doors had closed The incident was caught on the live-stream channel and was broadcast in the union debating chamber, but the punch itself was not captured on camera as the lift doors had closed. The 24-hour art piece was streamed, as Shia claimed that keeping the performance private meant that 'it becomes elitist'. Along with his friends and collaborators Nastja Sade Ronkko and Luke Turner, the star stepped into the elevator on Friday at 9am and will remain inside for 24 hours. Take a ride with me: As part of Shia LaBeouf's latest art piece, he stepped into an Oxford University lift on Friday at 9am and will not leave until the following morning The elevator is located at EC Oxford, an English language course centre in Gloucester Green. A statement from the Oxford Union said: 'Visitors will be able to join LaBeouf, Ronkko & Turner inside the elevator during this time, and are invited to address the artists, the debating chamber, and the internet, so that their collective voices may form an extended, expansive and egalitarian Oxford Union address.' As part of that lofty vision, students brought croissants to the trio as they quizzed Shia on his views, including his thoughts on politics, art and what he likes to do on the weekends. Ask me anything: Students queued up to speak with the Transformers actor, asking him about his views on art, politics and what he likes to do on weekends Anything goes: The 29-year-old screen star reportedly played a game of 'snog, marry, avoid' Insistent: The actor said it was important to live stream the entire 24-hour period because otherwise 'it becomes elitist' When asked about his views on Donald Trump, Shia said: 'He is a ridiculous person.' He also reportedly played a game of 'snog, marry, avoid'. In 2015, LaBeouf worked with the same collaborators on the 2015 piece #ALLMYMOVIES, which saw LaBeouf watch each of his films back-to-back over three days while being live-streamed. A year earlier, the trio worked on a piece entitled #IAMSORRY, in which the Surf's Up actor wore a paper bag over his head emblazoned with the phrase 'I am not famous any more'. Sitting in a Los Angeles art gallery, he received members of the public who were free to interact with him. Camera-ready: The audio and video of the performance is also being broadcast inside the Oxford Union debating chamber Veteran: Shia previously teamed with his collaborators on #ALLMYMOVIES, which saw him re-watch all of his films back-to-back over a period of three days while being live-streamed on the Internet He stoked controversy afterwards when he told Dazed Digital that a female visitor had 'raped' him. He said: 'One woman who came with her boyfriend, who was outside the door when this happened, whipped my legs for ten minutes and then stripped my clothing and proceeded to rape me. 'There were hundreds of people in line when she walked out with dishevelled hair and smudged lipstick. 'It was no good, not just for me but her man as well. On top of that my girl was in line to see me, because it was Valentines Day...so it really hurt her as well.' Ronkko and Turner later said they had intervened once learning the news. He was only recently announced as the new addition to Top Gear. But it already seems that Matt LeBlanc's contribution to the BBC series has hit the skids - after the car he was driving broke down, this week. The former Friends actor, 48, was seen being rescued from a motorway hard shoulder on Friday evening, where he was joined by a downbeat Chris Evans. Scroll down for video Awkward! Matt LeBlanc's contribution to Top Gear hit the skids after his car broke down on Friday The incident took place on the M1, ahead of rush-hour traffic, after the men had been spotted messing about with clapped out Reliant Rialtos. The victim of engine trouble, Matt was forced off the road after his vehicle spluttered to an unexpected stop during filming. Dressed in jeans and a wax jacket while sporting a US-themed crash helmet, he was clearly a bit embarrassed by the incident. See the latest Top Gear updates as Matt LeBlanc is rescued from motorway hard shoulder Help! The incident took place on the M1, ahead of rush-hour traffic, after the men had been spotted messing about with clapped out Reliant Rialtos Off to a bad start: The victim of engine trouble, Matt was forced off the road after his vehicle spluttered to an unexpected stop during filming Luckily for Matt, Evans didn't seem to take advantage, pulling over to help his co-star out before crew swarmed around the vehicle to take a closer look Not least because his co-host looked equally frustrated by the stalled filming schedule, which is just the latest impediment for the much-maligned series. Luckily, Evans didn't seem to take advantage, pulling over to help his co-star out before crew swarmed around the vehicle to take a closer look. Seen with his arms folded, Warrington-born Chris eventually saw the funny side when the pair tried to fix the vehicle themselves. Shoulder the burden: Dressed in jeans and a wax jacket while sporting a US-themed crash helmet, he was clearly a bit embarrassed by the incident Looking under the car bonnet, they found plenty to giggle at as drives passed them, tooting their horns Not impressed! Seen with his arms folded, Warrington-born Chris eventually saw the funny side when the pair tried to fix the vehicle themselves Showing off his more experimental sense of style, he rocked a pair of dark green cord trousers, a blue hoodie, a green leather flying jacket and some black lace-up boots. Looking under the car bonnet, they found plenty to giggle at as hordes of drives passed them by, tooting their horns. The car was pulled over twice after smoke could be seen coming from the vehicle. However, after tinkering in the bonnet to no avail, he ended up enlisting the help of some passer-bys to push it down the road. The car was pulled over twice after smoke could be seen coming from the vehicle. However, after tinkering in the bonnet to no avail, he ended up enlisting the help of some passer-bys to push it down the road No gear: Moments later, they were joined by two motorway rescue men in high-visibility jackets, who helped them repair the technical issues and resume production Delays: Together, the unintended interlude saw the cast and crew lose for than 90 minutes of filming time Moments later, they were joined by two motorway rescue men in high-visibility jackets, who helped them repair the technical issues and resume production. Together, the unintended interlude saw the cast and crew lose for than 90 minutes of filming time. For fans of the show, the scene will be similar to when James May was forced off the road when his Robin Reliant overheated. Deja-vu: For fans of the show, the scene will be similar to when James May was forced off the road when his Robin Reliant overheated At least he can laugh about it! Matt eventually shrugs-off the incident as he's surrounded by crew-members Back in gear? After some tinkering, Matt is allowed back on the road to complete the segment With the final safety checks complete it wasn't long before Matt and Chris were pictured cruising around the capital. Evans pootled ahead of the American actor as they both relished the leisurely drive in their open-top cars while the morning sun beat down on them. Later, they retreated to a Blackpool pub where the co-hosts enjoyed a very British pint of beer. They made it! The Top Gear team finally made it to their final destination of Blackpool as darkness fell Park it: Matt's car was attended to as he pulled up behind Chris' union jack themed ride Careful! The US and UK cars had a near collision as the journey came to an end Still smiling: Chris flashed a big grin after the harrowing journey Reward: Later, they retreated to a pub where the co-hosts enjoyed a very British pint of beer They made it! Chris and Matt arrive in Blackpool after racing their Reliant Robins Now that's a helping hand! Police officers and passers-by help the men out in their hour of need Cheers: The boys enjoyed a cold pint and a hot plate of traditional fish and chips Tuck in: US star Matt gamely tucked into the mushy peas as he chatted with Chris Time for a selfie? Matt posed with some fans for snaps outside the pit stop The hosts' sighting comes after they give their very first interview - along with Formula 1 pundit Eddie Jordan, German racing driver Sabine Schmitz, motoring journalist Chris Harris and car expert Rory Reid - as a panel in which they revealed their drives of their lives. Talking to Top Gear Magazine, Matt told how he crashed his motorbike while honeymooning in the Alps with his ex-wife Melissa McKnight in 2003. When asked about the best drive of his life, he explained: 'Going through the Alps on a motorcycle with my wife on the back on our honeymoon. 'We only crashed once, so all in all it was a great ride.' Good spirits: Chris broke into a big smile as he shared a picture with the fish and chip mascot Toot toot: Chris Evans and Matt LeBlanc were all smiles as they prepared to take to the streets of London The race is on: Matt, 48, and Chris, 49, took part in a just-for-fun America vs. the UK race in themed Reliant Rialto vehicle First day on the job: LeBlanc was pictured filming the first scenes for the new series of Top Gear with co-host Evans in London on Friday Welcome aboard: The Friends actor and the British broadcaster appeared to have formed a fond friendship as they posed outside the BBC studios at Portland Place Keeping their cool: The BBC presenters did a great job of hiding any signs of nervousness as they headed to face their very first challenge It's on: The pair chatted before jumping into their personalised three-wheeled motors Having second thoughts? Matt looked wildly unimpressed at one point as the safety team carried out their final checks Bring it on: Chris couldn't contain his excitement as he readied himself to dive head first into his new job Really? The Joey Tribbiani star strained as he pulled on his themed safety helmet All ears: The dynamic duo shared their motoring expertise with one another before climbing inside Meanwhile, Chris reminisced about learning to drive as a youngster, saying: 'I was fortunate to be taught by a rather beautiful mum of one of my friends. 'It was all very Mrs Robinson - in my head, not hers! I passed first time, not long after my 17th birthday.' Meanwhile Clarkson, May and Hammond's new show is expected to air sometime this year now filming is underway. Ride of his life? Matt recently admitted to crashing his motorbike while honeymooning in The Alps with his nw ex-wife Melissa McKnight in 2003 'It was all very Mrs Robinson': The TFI Friday host said of his experience of learning to drive as a youngster Stand-out stars: Matt and Chris are joined by Formula 1 pundit Eddie Jordan, German racing driver Sabine Schmitz, motoring journalist Chris Harris and car expert Rory Reid on the all-new Top Gear panel 'I passed first time': Chris gloated as he revealed he's been legally driving since the age of 17 Unlike Top Gear, the entire series will be available on the Amazon streaming service to 'binge watch', with the presenters signed up to make at least three series of 12 60-minute episodes. The format is said to be similar to Top Gear, with in-studio discussions and pre-filmed escapes. BBC bosses chose not to renew Clarkson's contract last year after he was involved in a fracas with a producer, allegedly over food. The all-new Top Gear series hits screens on May 8 Wacky racer: Matt certainly looked the part as he belted up ahead of the mini tour around London Team colours: He was coincidentally dressed in the colours of the American flag which provided the theme of the first on-screen challenge Viola Beach have not reached number one, despite a fan-led campaign to pay tribute to the band who were killed in a car crash at the weekend. The indie band made their official singles chart top 20 debut at number 11 with their song Swings and Waterslides, but failed to break the top 10. Kris Leonard, River Reeves, Tomas Lowe and Jack Dakin were killed alongside their manager Craig Tarry when their car plunged off a bridge into a canal in Sweden in the early hours of Saturday morning. The indie band made their official singles chart top 20 debut at number 11 with their song Swings & Waterslides, but failed to break the top 10 Musicians including Paloma Faith, Gabrielle Aplin, The Stone Roses, Kasabian and Liam Gallagher called on their followers to help with the campaign to get them to number one. Following news of the tragedy, Swings and Waterslides entered the official singles chart and had reached number nine by Wednesday, according to figures from the Official Charts Company - but it slipped down to 11 by the end of the week. However, the single remains at the top of the iTunes songs chart after reaching number one on Thursday. The bands record label Communion has confirmed that the proceeds from the sale of singles will go to the families of the band and their manager. Danish quartet Lukas Graham retained the top spot with their single, 7 years. Frontman Lukas Graham said: Were surprised, ecstatic, vibrant and exultant about the success of 7 years! Its very satisfying when you see your song at the top of the charts. 7 Years seems to have attracted a lot of age groups - people seem to see their own lives in the song and its great to see so many people reacting in that way to it. The single racked up 134,000 combined sales, including 5.18 million streams, to hold the top spot. This is almost 30,000 more than their total last week, which also earned them a number one. Adele has also reclaimed her spot at the top of the official albums chart, returning to number one with 25 after losing out to David Bowie and Coldplay in the last five weeks. This is 25s eighth non-consecutive week at number one. As a rockstar he's used to being chased around by hoards of fans. But Ronnie Wood proved that he never tires of chatting to a Rolling Stones enthusiast as he stopped to speak with a brunette beauty whilst in his hotel in Brazil. After spotting the girl attempting to surreptitiously take a selfie on Friday, the 68-year-old guitarist decided to come over and introduce himself, even treating the lucky fan to a kiss on the cheek. Scroll down for video Gimme shelter! Ronnie Wood proved that he never tires of chatting to Rolling Stones fans as he stopped to speak with a brunette beauty whilst sheltering from the sun in his hotel in Brazil Wearing a crisp white shirt and jeans, the Satisfaction hitmaker approached the Brazilian beauty and looked at the photo before stopping for a brief chat whilst they both smoked a cigarette. The bikini-clad beauty couldn't seem to believe her luck as she chatted with the legendary singer, unable to keep the smile off her face. Sharing a joke, the pair seemed to be getting on famously ahead of Ronnie's Saturday night concert at Maracana Stadium with his Rolling Stones bandmates. Satisfaction! After spotting the girl attempting to surreptitiously take a selfie on Friday, the 68-year-old guitarist decided to come over and introduce himself, even treating the lucky fan to a kiss on the cheek The star - who is expecting twins with his pregnant wife Sally, 38 - has been touring South America alongside Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Charlie Watts as part of the band's America Latina Ole Tour. According to The Mirror Ronnie has sent Sally home to London to prepare for the birth, amid fears the tour would be too stressful for her during the pregnancy. Sally was in Los Angeles with Ronnie for three weeks as the Stones rehearsed for their tour, but when the band set off on the road they reportedly decided it was best for her to remain at home. You can always get what you want! Wearing a crisp white shirt and jeans, Ronnie approached the Brazilian beauty and looked at the photo before stopping for a brief chat whilst they both smoked a cigarette Hello! He was later seen with his arms open while waving at adoring fans from his balcony A king looking over his kingdom? There was something decidedly regal about Ronnie's poise on the terrace A source has explained to The Mirror: 'Sally really wanted to go with him and was disappointed she couldnt but it made no sense. 'Its a full-on tour with a lot of travel involved. Her pregnancy comes first, so the decision was made some time ago. But now its a blessing. The Zika virus alone would have been a huge risk and they both recognised that. 'Also a lot of places on the tour are not that safe, even though the band have a great security team with them.' Doting dad-to-be: Ronnie reportedly sent Sally home to London to prepare for the birth whilst he is currently in South America amid fears the tour would be too stressful for her during the pregnancy After arriving in Chile earlier this month, the group have been performing across the continent with the energy and vigour of stars half their age. Following their performance in Rio on Saturday, they still have six shows to perform in Sao Paulo, Porto Alegre, Lima, Bogota and Mexico City, where their tour concludes on March 14. But whilst the band's performances have been pitch perfect, the tour itself has been shrouded in sadness. During the Buenos Aires leg, one of the workers supporting the tour was shot dead, reportedly prompting the band to travel under 24-hour armed guard and to travel in separate cars. The protection plan has been put in place after the man was killed in a foiled attempt to steal cash from the drinks vendors at the band's show at La Plata stadium. Let's spend the night together: The star has been touring South America alongside Mick Jagger, Charlie Watts and Keith Richards as part of The Rolling Stones America Latina Ole Tour Doing their thing! Mick looked just like his younger self as he hit the stage with his long-time bandmates Moves like Jagger: He pulled out all the stops as the Stones hit the stage at the at the Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro on Saturday night She's one of Australia's most popular comedians who has gone on to take Hollywood by storm. But Rebel Wilson certainly knows how to excel on screen in more ways than simply just cracking jokes. Speaking to Daily Mail Australia, the 35-year-old's Pitch Perfect 2 co-star Adam DeVine has revealed Rebel is an excellent kisser, so much so that he rates her 'a solid nine' out of 10. Scroll down for video She's a great kisser: Speaking to Daily Mail Australia, Rebel Wilson's Pitch Perfect 2 co-star Adam DeVine has revealed Rebel is an excellent kisser, so much so that he rates her 'a solid nine' out of 10 'I think I've had three smooches from Rebel,' 32-year-old Workaholics comedian Adam told Daily Mail Australia. 'She's got delicious soft, pillowy lips that you just want to dive into.' More than happy to rate her lip-locking technique, he said: 'She's a solid nine and the only reason I'm not giving her a 10 is because I think no one's a 10. I think we should all strive to be better'. In American musical comedy Pitch Perfect 2 released last year, both Rebel and Adam reprised their roles of Fat Amy and Bumper respectively. Tempting: Adam revealed Rebel has 'delicious soft, pillowy lips that you just want to dive into' Points for technique: More than happy to rate her lip-locking technique, he said: 'She's a solid nine and the only reason I'm not giving her a 10 is because I think no one's a 10. I think we should all strive to be better' And it didn't take long for the sexual tension to reach boiling point, with their characters eventually sharing a passionate onscreen embrace. Opening up about the kiss, Adam told Daily Mail Australia: 'She dominated me'. And his fondness of Australia certainly extends beyond just his famous co-star, as he and his Workaholics castmates are set to arrive Down Under next month for a stand-up show spectacular. Adam, along with Blake Anderson, Anders Holm and Kyle Newacheck, will be hitting the stage at Sydney's Big Top in The Domain for Comedy Central's A Night Of Stand Up With Workaholics and Special Guests event during the Spectrum Now Festival. Castmates: In American musical comedy Pitch Perfect 2 released last year, both Rebel and Adam reprised their roles of Fat Amy and Bumper respectively The boys will be bringing their signature wit and humour from their popular Comedy Central television show to the live stage on March 7 and 9, and were quick to reveal that even Rebel has Workaholics to thank for her international success. 'Rebel rules,' 34-year-old Anders told Daily Mail Australia. 'I just worked with her in a movie called How To Be Single and little known fact, the first project she ever worked on in America was Workaholics,' he revealed. Indeed the blonde media personality appeared in one episode during the first season of the show which aired back in 2011. She takes a no holds barred approach to her comedy subjects. And even Emilia Clarke wasn't immune to Rebel Wilson's playful teasing as the pair enjoyed each other's company at the BAFTAs after party on Monday. The hilarious 35-year-old posed for a photo with the stunning British actress, making a humorous reference to the beauty's plunging neckline. Scroll down for video 'Game of t***!' Rebel Wilson playfully teased Emilia Clarke's plunging neckline as the pair enjoyed the festivities at the BAFTAs after party on Monday 'Game of t***!' the comedienne wrote in the caption. 'Just found this from BAFTA's after party...Emilia is one cool bad-a** chick!' she added, having discovered the photo on her phone five days after the event. The Game of Thrones star wowed in a low-cut red gown by Victoria Beckham, looking as beautiful as ever as she flashed her warm smile for the camera. All black: Rebel meanwhile turned heads in a black, high-low skirt Lady in red! The Game of Thrones star wowed in a low-cut red gown by Victoria Beckham Rebel meanwhile turned heads in a black, high-low skirt and a embellished blazer by Mirina Rinaldi. The Pitch Perfect star took to the stage that evening to present the award for Best Supporting Actor. The bubbly star stunned the crowd as she jested: 'It's so great to be here at this really serious event. I have never been invited to the Oscars because as you know they are racist.' Having a laugh: Rebel made a joke concerning the diversity controversy surrounding the Oscars Just released: The bubbly blonde is celebrating the release of her latest comedy How To Be Single She continued: 'Five really attractive men have been nominated and I really look forward to congratulating the winner, although I'm looking forward even more to consoling the four losers.' Rebel is celebrating the release of her latest comedy How To Be Single, in which she stars alongside Fifty Shades of Grey star Dakota Johnson, Leslie Mann and Alison Brie. Emilia will star in the highly anticipated Game Of Thrones sixth season debuting in late April, as well as the heartwarming comedy-drama Me Before You. Erin Molan treated fans to a glimpse of her stunning figure while recently holidaying in Bali, uploading poolside shots online to the delight of followers. The Footy Show presenter stunned in two images shared on her Instagram account in which she was seen taking a dip in a pink patterned bikini. Wearing her blonde locks loose and shunning make-up, the 32-year-old's toned torso and endless legs were on full display in one image which showed her dipping her toes in the water. Scroll down for video On display: Erin Molan treated fans to a glimpse of her bikini body as she enjoyed some downtime in Bali Revealing her shamrock tattoo in the barely-there two-piece, Erin stood proudly on the water's edge in one of the photographs shared on Saturday. It is the second time blonde's tattoo has been put on display, with Erin revealing a glimpse of it in Sydney last week. A second, taken from behind, revealed her shining blonde hair as she submerged herself in the water. Cooling off: The 32-year-old shared another image of herself in which she was shown getting in to the water The beauty recently enjoyed a break with family to the Indonesian resort, taking to Instagram to share details of their trip. Captioning one of her bikini shots, she gushed over their time together. 'Had a great few days in Ubud with family... the Maya Hotel is amazing if you are looking for a more authentic, relaxed Bali experience,' she said of their accommodation. Having fun: Erin treated fans to other snaps from her trip after returning from Bali with family and friends 'Beautiful Villas, Pools and Great food and bev (sic). Tomorrow back to the real world,' she added. Erin spent her childhood growing up in Jakarta where she attended the city's International School. A fluent speaker of the native tongue, it comes as little surprise the star would choose to return to the country for a holiday. Downtime: Erin previously complained that a different holiday was unsuccessful after she fell ill She's a British beauty who no doubt has a plethora of admirers. But Suki Waterhouse, 24, appeared to have found the man for her after being spotted getting cosy with oil heir Brandon Davis in the back of a car leaving London's Toyroom nightclub on Friday. The model and Paris Hilton's close friend could be seen holding hands in the back of the vehicle and were joined by Suki's younger sister Immy, 21. Scroll down for video New beau? Suki Waterhouse, 24, appeared to have found the man for her after being spotted getting cosy with oil heir Brandon Davis in the back of a car after leaving London's Toyroom nightclub on Friday The attractive pair looked smitten as they prepared to head home in the early hours of the morning. Smiling and still looking fresh at 3.15am, they made no attempt to hide their interlocked fingers as they sat holding hands. Suki couldn't stop grinning as she sat between her beloved sister and the wealthy American. With her cream bag perched on her lap, the model laughed heartily as they prepared to depart. MailOnline has contacted a representative for Suki and is awaiting comment. Brandon previously dated Mischa Barton and has a colourful past which has seen him arrested for DUI, battery and cocaine offences as well as two stints in rehab. His late grandfather, the oil tycoon Marvin H. Davis, at one time owned 20th Century Fox and is worth $5.8 billion. Proudly on display: The model and Paris Hilton's pal could be seen holding hands in the back of the vehicle and were joined by Suki's younger sister Immy, 21 Having a laugh: The attractive pair looked smitten as they prepared to head home in the early hours of the morning. Three of a kind: Suki couldn't stop grinning as she sat between her beloved sister and the wealthy American Brandon infamously branded his nemesis Lindsay Lohan 'firecrotch' and called Mischa a 'fat heifer' after they split. Suki was in a well-publicised relationship with Hollywood heartthrob Bradley Cooper for two years before splitting last March. The former couple first met at the Elle Style Awards in London in 2013. 'We were introduced and hit it off almost immediately,' she previously said in an interview with Rollercoaster magazine. 'We were dancing at the after-party, and he asked me if I fancied going to a club. We went to Cirque Le Soir in London and he's a ridiculously good dancer.' The Waterhouse siblings will be joining the style elite on the front row at London Fashion Week's hottest shows over the weekend. Smitten: Suki couldn't take her eyes off of Brandon as he spoke in the backseat Great night: The trio certainly looked to have had fun and will no doubt be hoping the rest of London Fashion Week is equally as entertaining Laughing out loud: Suki raised her hand to her face as she creased with laughter Bakground: Brandon also previously dated Mischa Barton and has a colourful past which has seen him arrested for DUI, battery and cocaine offences as well as two stints in rehab They kicked proceedings off in style as they enjoyed a girls' night out at London's Chiltern Firehouse on Thursday evening. Leading a star-studded crowd at the popular Marylebone haunt, the striking sisters opted for low-key looks as they hit the town for a night of partying. Sister act: The stunning siblings were in sync on the night out, favouring a Tomboy style over out and out glam Girls' night out: Model siblings Suki and Immy Waterhouse kicked off London Fashion Week in style as they enjoyed a girls' night out at London's Chiltern Firehouse on Thursday evening Suki looked effortlessly elegant, teaming high-waisted blue trousers with a black scarf-neck blouse and a simple-but-chic dark blue jacket. The model - who previously dated Hollywood hunk Bradley Cooper - fought the chilly temperatures in the capital with a loosely-fitted black winter hat. The 5ft 9in beauty, who will no doubt be a fixture of London Fashion Week in the coming days, added height to her frame with a pair of black high heels. Effortless elegance: Suki, 24, looked effortlessly elegant, teaming high-waisted blue trousers with a black scarf-neck blouse and a simple-but-chic dark blue jacket 90s chic: Model Immy, who has slowly emerged from her sister's shadow in recent months, looked decidedly vintage with black-and-white sneakers Model Immy has slowly emerged from her sister's shadow in the past year. As well as signing up to Next Model Management - the same company that represents the likes of Karlie Kloss, Miranda Kerr and Milla Jovovich - she has also appeared on the cover of Tatler, been interviewed by Vogue and has a handful of top campaigns under her slender belt. Immy gave further proof she deserves it on Thursday as she worked a retro look consisting of a black jump suit, a denim jacket and a pair of black-and-white sneakers. Sharing Suki's stellar genes, she went make-up free to reveal a flawless complexion. It's party time: Leading a star-studded crowd at the popular Marylebone haunt, the striking sisters opted for low-key looks as they hit the town for a night of partying Golden girl: Suki's ombre locks fell straight and freely and were partially concealed by her black winter hat Radiant: Suki played a simple make-up game and her matte, wrinkle-free complexion had a natural glow So much to talk about: Just days ago the sisters were in New York City attending Fashion Week The sisters, who have been snapped at Chiltern Firehouse frequently since 2014, recently returned from New York City, where they took in the shows at New York Fashion Week. They seemed to have a particularly good time as special guests at Tommy Hilfiger's nautical-themed Fall 2016 presentation. Wearing contrasting stripy prints, they packed a major punch as they larked around back stage after the star-studded show. They played with sailor hats and telescopes, mixing fun and glamour while at the same time delivering killer high-fashion looks. A royally good night out: Princess Beatrice also hit the Chiltern Firehouse alongside the Waterhouse sisters and a rather star-studded crowd on Thursday night Here come the fashion pack! Male model David Gandy and catwalk queen Alexa Chung enjoyed a night out after attending the fashionista's Marks and Spencer pre-LFW party Standing in the way of control: The Gossip's Beth Ditto looked chic in a wide-legged jumpsuit and denim jacket as she hit the Firehouse after her clothing launch at the London Edition Hotel Date night delight: Comedian Jimmy Carr treated his girlfriend Karoline Copping, a commissioning editor for Channel 5, to a night at the Firehouse after catching a showing of the musical, Wicked Hollywood heavyweight: Fast and Furious star Michelle Rodriguez seemed to enjoy herself at the venue Peekaboo! The actress looked a little worse for wear as she larked around in the back of a cab on her way home from the Chiltern Firehouse Suki - real name Alice - and Immy are the eldest of four siblings, including 16-year-old twins Maddi, another budding model, and Charles The girls' father Norman Waterhouse is a plastic surgeon who built a Harley Street practice, which specialises in facelifts and he has operated on household names, some of them internationally famous throughout the course of his career. Also partying at the Chiltern Firehouse on Thursday night were the likes of Princess Beatrice, model Alexa Chung, singer Beth Ditto, male model David Gandy, Hollywood actress Michelle Rodriguez and comedian Jimmy Carr and his girlfriend, Karoline Copping. On the surface she looked nothing short of stunning as she made a stomping debut at London Fashion Week on the first day of proceedings on Friday. But Ashley James shared the secret behind her impeccable appearances as she stripped down to some figure-forgiving underwear in between outfit changes. The former Made In Chelsea star shared a candid snapshot of herself wearing nothing but a pair of slimming Spanx and a matching bra before stealing the style spotlight at at Julien Macdonald's catwalk show on Saturday. Scroll down for video From this to this: Ashley James stripped down to a pair of Spanx and a plunging bra as she revealed truth behind her impeccable London Fashion Week appearances Ashley, 27, paraded her svelte figure in the undergarments which she would be safe without as there wasn't an inch of body bulge visible. She shared the lingerie-clad snap on her Instagram page after calling it a day from the front row on Friday. 'I may have looked glamorous on the outside at #LFW but just know on the inside I was "holding it together" all day. Going to post PPQ pics tomorrow. #stretchingthetruth #pantsonfire,' the image was captioned. Meanwhile, it was back to business on Saturday as she hot-footed it from the shows which are scattered at venues all over the capital. From this to this: Ashley went on to turn heads in gothic gown at the Julien Macdonald show on Saturday Gothic and gorgeous: Ashley, 27, picked out a stunning floor-length number for the Welsh dress king's latest show Not feeling blue: The former Made In Chelsea star rocked the Victorian-inspired gown for the show at One Mayfair Sexy in sheer: Although the show-stopping frock mostly concealed her svelte figure Braving body-baring territory: Julien, 44, sent a bevy of models who dressed in glam barely-there ensembles down the runway Ashley put on a simply sensational display as she rocked up to Welsh designer Julien's catwalk show, which was held at One Mayfair, in a gorgeous navy gown. The billowing one-piece was Victorian in style, complete with frilled sleeves and neckline, while it was sexed up thanks to semi-sheer paneling, featuring tiny black polka dots. The rumoured flame of divorced David Walliams may have concealed every inch of her lean legs in the floor-length number but offered a sneaky peek at her ample assets thanks to the partially see-through top. All that glitters: Julien's latest collection was a sight to behold as he debuted new womenswear, menswear and kidswear designs Nothing can rain on their parade: Fashion fans Ashley and super-skinny Storm Keating seemed in high spirits despite the miserable weather Ashley and the rest of the star-studded guestlist - fellow Chelsea fashionistas Millie Mackintosh and Rosie Fortescue as well as Rochelle Humes and Storm Keating - certainly won't be forgetting Julien's new collections in a hurry as every creation was a thing of beauty. As well as his womenswear efforts, the former Britain's Next Top Model panelist also unveiled his new menswear and kidswear offerings. Clearly impressed with the stunning array of all-out glamorous partywear, Ashley took to social media to congratulate the designer. 'The best show ever. Congratulations @julienmacdonald - I want to wear everything. #lfw #JulienMacdonald,' she gushed. He returned the compliment by telling her: 'You look fabulous, Ashley!' IS leader targeted in Libya planned attacks on Western interests: US A US air strike targeting an Islamic State training camp in Libya on Friday "likely" killed an operative of the extremist group who was planning attacks on Western interests, US officials said. Noureddine Chouchane, who was also known as "Sabir," had been linked to two deadly attacks in Tunisia last year. He was believed killed when US warplanes and drones destroyed the training station in a rural area near Sabratha, outside Tripoli. "We took this action against Sabir in the training camp after determining that both he and the ISIL fighters at these facilities were planning external attacks on US and other Western interests in the region," Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said, without providing specifics. An image released by the Tunisian interior ministry on February 19, 2016 shows Noureddine Chouchane, targeted by a US air strike on a Libyan training camp "We see what's happening in Iraq and Syria and we believe that these fighters in Libya posed a threat to our national security interests," he said. Chouchane is suspected of being behind two IS-claimed assaults. The first, in March, saw an attack on the National Bardo Museum in Tunis that killed 21 tourists and a policeman. In July, an attack on a beach resort near the Tunisian city of Sousse killed 38 tourists -- including 30 Britons. Cook said officials were still assessing the results of the strike. The Sabratha council published pictures showing mattresses and blankets among the rubble and a piece of metal with the inscription "Islamic State." A US defense official said Chouchane was "likely" killed. Libyan officials said Friday's dawn raid killed more than 40 people. Cook would not confirm the figure but said a "significant" number was dead, and that as many as 60 people had been known to use the training camp. "Destruction of the camp and Chouchane's removal will eliminate an experienced facilitator and is expected to have an immediate impact on ISIL's ability to facilitate its activities in Libya, including recruiting new ISIL members, establishing bases in Libya, and potentially planning external attacks on US interests in the region," Cook said. He added the strike showed the United States will target the IS group "whenever it is necessary." The administration of President Barack Obama has faced criticism over the pace and scope of its anti-IS operations, and the US-led coalition that has been bombing IS targets in Iraq and Syria for the past 18 months has come under increasing pressure to expand beyond those two countries. While the campaign has seen some successes in Iraq and Syria, IS jihadists have increased their presence in Libya and established a stronghold in the Mediterranean coastal town of Sirte. The Pentagon estimates there to be some 5,000 IS fighters in Libya, many of whom come from neighboring Tunisia. The latest US strike in Libya comes after a November action that killed top IS leader Abu Nabil, an Iraqi also known as Wissam Najm Abd Zayd al-Zubaydi. US military kept nukes on Okinawa The US government has declassified the fact it held nuclear weapons on Okinawa in Japan during the Cold War, though the matter had long been an open secret. A Department of Defense website states the Pentagon has declassified "the fact that US nuclear weapons were deployed on Okinawa prior to Okinawa's reversion to Japan on May 15, 1972." The National Security Archive at George Washington University welcomed the disclosure, but pointed to US Air Force photos depicting nuclear weapons on the island that have been publicly available for more than 25 years. The US Marine Corps Futenma Air Base in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture in 2009 Kazuhiro Nogi (AFP/File) "However welcome the release may be, its significance is somewhat tempered by (that) astonishing fact," the non-governmental research group said in a statement Friday. The group added that the US government had wasted an "inordinate" amount of time and resources by delaying the declassification. Japan is the only nation to have been attacked with nuclear weapons. The United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, killing more than 210,000 people and leading to Japan's surrender in World War II. Japan has since campaigned to abolish the weapons. Former prime minister Eisaku Sato won the Nobel Peace Prize largely for his "three principles" -- that Japan will not possess, produce or allow nuclear weapons on its soil. Congo orders arrest of key candidate in presidential race Congolese authorities on Friday said they had ordered the arrest of a former army chief who is challenging President Denis Sassou Nguesso, in power for more than 30 years, in elections next month. Speaking on state television, public prosecutor Andre Oko Ngakala said he had given instructions for the "immediate arrest... and questioning" of Jean-Marie Michel Mokoko. The instructions were given on the basis of an inquiry "into information about statements made by Mr. Jean-Marie Michel Mokoko that have been widely disseminated on the street and social networks," he said, without giving immediate details. Congo's military chief from 1987 to 1993, Jean-Marie Michel Mokoko is currently special representative of the African Union Commission in the neighbouring Central African Republic Issouf Sanogo (AFP/File) An AFP journalist reported that all the roads leading to Mokoko's residence had been closed off by police. Congo's military chief from 1987 to 1993, Mokoko is currently special representative of the African Union Commission in the neighbouring Central African Republic. Mokoko is a longtime ally of Sassou Nguesso, but on February 3 he announced his resignation as the president's advisor on peace and security, a post he had held since 2005. On February 8 he announced plans to run in the March 20 election and challenge his former boss. Since February 13, when Mokoko held his first campaign rally, a video has been circulating on the Internet that appears to implicate him in an attempted coup d'etat. N. Korea fires artillery rounds near border with South North Korea fired a few artillery rounds during an apparent military drill near a frontline island on Saturday, a military spokesman from the South said, as tensions run high following nuclear and missile tests by Pyongyang. The incident also comes days after the South said it would conduct its largest-ever annual joint military exercises with the United States next month, which usually causes a spike in cross-border friction. "The North Korean army fired a few artillery rounds" at around 07:20 am (2220 GMT Friday) from an artillery battery at Jangsangot promontory on its southern coast near the disputed sea border between the two Koreas, a defence ministry statement said. South Korean marines arrive at the South Korea-controlled island of Yeonpyeong near the disputed waters of the Yellow Sea on April 12, 2013 Jung Yeon-Je (AFP/File) "North Korea is believed to have conducted a military drill" north of the sea border, it said. As a precautionary measure, however, the South urged residents on Baengnyeongdo island to prepare to go into shelters and fishing vessels at sea to return to nearby ports, it said. Currently, the North Korean army shows no signs of engaging in any further provocative activities, it added. Cruz, Rubio battle to best Trump in South Carolina Senators Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio mounted all-out efforts to topple Donald Trump in the war for the Republican presidential nomination, seeking to steal support from the billionaire frontrunner in South Carolina -- and each other. The state holds its crucial Republican primary on Saturday, and Trump is seeking a comprehensive win that would boost his claim that he is pulling away from his rivals, notably the two first-term senators eager to rein him in. It is the third state-wide contest in the race for the White House, with Republican hopefuls looking to be the party's candidate on November 8 in the general election. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is seeking a comprehensive win in South Carolina that would boost his claim that he is pulling away from his rivals Jim Watson (AFP) "This race will be decided friend to friend, neighbor to neighbor, pastor to pastor, South Carolinian to South Carolinian," Cruz told about 800 supporters and others at a theater in downtown Charleston, emphasizing the importance of the ground game. Locked in a fierce battle for second place with Rubio, Cruz is arguing that Rubio has more to lose in South Carolina, given that popular Governor Nikki Haley, conservative Senator Tim Scott, and prominent congressman Trey Gowdy have all endorsed him. Cruz advisor Alice Stewart, a veteran of several campaigns, told AFP that Rubio would be in "serious trouble" if he failed to pull out a victory in the Palmetto State given the backing from "those powerhouses." "The heat is on Marco Rubio to win South Carolina," Stewart said. Rubio, speaking at a rally with Haley and Scott at his side, urged voters to choose him because "I will win this election, (and) the Democrats would not want to run against me." "They know... that we have the ability to unite this country," Rubio told several hundred people at a high school in North Charleston, one of five scheduled stops on the eve of the primary. Delivering a stump speech in front of a huge American flag, Rubio called for a return to core conservative and Judeo-Christian values, as he lamented the wrong turn the country took seven years ago by electing Democrat Barack Obama. "You're seeing the American dream slipping away," he said. - Trump in command - For either Cruz or Rubio to snatch the state from Trump's grasp would be a dramatic upset, by all accounts. Trump leads with 28 percent support, but the ultra-conservative Cruz is not far behind with 23 percent, according to an NBC-Wall Street Journal poll released Friday. Rubio is in third at 15 percent. Highlighting the fierce battle over second-place scraps, and the blood-sport politics that have become a hallmark of South Carolina, Rubio's team warned of potential "primary day tricks" by Cruz. "We will not allow Ted Cruz to do to Marco in South Carolina what he did to Ben Carson in Iowa," Rubio communications director Alex Conant said Friday, referring to the Cruz team wrongly telling voters in Iowa that Carson, a retired neurosurgeon who like Cruz draws evangelical support, had dropped out of the race. Critics say Cruz's dirty tactics in Iowa propelled him to a first-place finish in the caucuses, and Conant warned South Carolinians to be "suspicious" of political reports or emails Saturday. "We fear the worst dirty tricks are yet to come" from Cruz's team, Conant said. Cruz and Rubio supporters alike argued that lower-polling candidates -- Carson, Ohio Governor John Kasich and former Florida governor Jeb Bush -- ought to drop out to give either Cruz or Rubio a shot of besting Trump. "At some point, if Trump's going to be stopped, if people want to look at it that way, there has to be a consolidation of the other candidates," Dan Brisker, 69, told AFP as he waited to enter the Cruz rally. "They've got to get out of the way." Cruz took a veiled swipe at Trump and his slogan. "It is easy to say Make America Great Again," he said. "But the question is, do you understand what it was that made America great in the first place?" Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz speaks with his wife Heidi during a campaign rally in Charleston, South Carolina Jim Watson (AFP) China to replace securities regulator head: state media China will replace the head of its securities regulator, state media reported on Saturday, as the country struggles to reassure global investors that it can effectively manage stock markets that have experienced massive turmoil. Xiao Gang, who was in charge during last year's crash, will be "dismissed" from his post at the China Securities Regulatory Commission and replaced by Liu Shiyu, chairman of the Agricultural Bank of China, the official Xinhua news agency said. As growth slows and stocks deflate, capital has flooded out of the country, leaving Beijing desperate to win back waning confidence in the once vaunted economic oversight that has made China the world's second-largest economy. In mid-2015, Xiao Gang oversaw a rout on China's exchanges, with the benchmark Shanghai index plummeting by almost a third Wang Zhao (AFP/File) Chinese stocks slumped 23 percent in January, their poorest month since the depths of the global financial crisis in 2008, a performance that made the Shanghai exchange the world's worst-performing major market. A series of moves intended to smooth dramatic swings in stock prices that began last June instead created panic, raising questions about Beijing's ability to manage a critical period of economic transition. Xiao, 57, took over as chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission in March 2013. He spent most of his career in China's banking system, including the central bank and the state-owned Bank of China, one of the country's "Big Four", which he headed for 10 years before moving to the CSRC. He was in charge of overseeing the market in mid-2015 when the benchmark Shanghai index plummeted by almost a third, wiping off trillions of dollars and jolting global markets. The plunge was triggered when regulators changed the rules on traders' use of borrowed money, bursting a debt-fuelled bubble that had seen Shanghai's benchmark index surge 150 percent in the year to mid-June. - 'Fools make decisions' - Calls for Xiao's departure, heard regularly since the debacle, heated up early in January after the CSRC's deployment of a "circuit breaker" closed the Shanghai and Shenzhen exchanges early twice in four days before it was scrapped. "Somebody needed to bear responsibility after the suspension of the circuit-breaker system," Zheng Chunming, a Shanghai-based analyst at Capital Securities Corp., told Bloomberg News. At the time, many angry investors took to the Twitter-like Sina Weibo to condemn Xiao's abilities as head of the regulator. One user wrote: "(I) strongly urge Xiao Gang to step down. The stock market's management is a mess and market disasters keep happening... Xiao Gang's ability is poor and he is incompetent." Another wrote: "I have never heard that the index could fall to a stop in five minutes. Why does China always let the fools make decisions?" Xiao himself revealed during a 2012 television interview that at school he preferred arts subjects such as writing poetry to mathematics. He also said he "didn't choose to learn finance" at college. Some financial analysts took a kinder view of his accomplishments. He did "a lot of work in market monitoring, increased market transparency and cracked down on market irregularities", Li Daxiao, chief analyst at Yingda Securities, told AFP. Nevertheless, he welcomed the news of the replacement, saying "the market has new hope now". - Favourable turn - Xiao's successor, Liu, has spent most of his career in banking. He served as a vice-governor of the People's Bank of China, the central bank, before being tapped as chairman of the Agricultural Bank of China, the country's third-largest lender. With his entrance, people may feel there will be some new ideas or a favourable turn for the market now. The market could rise for a short time after this", Qian Qimin, a broker with the Shenwan Hong Yuan Group, told AFP. But on Weibo Saturday, commentators, using a play on the new appointee's name, wondered if Liu's tenure would bring a "bull market" or leave behind a "dead fish". In recent years, Agricultural Bank has experienced its own share of troubles. In December the bank's president resigned for "personal reasons" amid reports that he had been questioned in connection with a corruption investigation. In January, Chinese media reported that two junior employees at a Beijing branch of the bank stole bills worth 3.9 billion yuan ($600 million), sold them, then used the proceeds to invest in the stock market -- sustaining huge losses during last year's crash. Mid-2015 Chinese stock market plunge was triggered when regulators changed the rules on traders' use of borrowed money, bursting a debt-fuelled bubble that had seen the Shanghai index surge 150% in the year to mid-June Johannes Eisele (AFP/File) S. Sudan journalist 'freed after months held without charge' South Sudanese security forces have released a journalist held for two months without charge, who had criticised the government's handling of a two-year civil war, reports said Saturday. The arrest of Joseph Afandy in December sparked condemnation from rights groups including Amnesty International and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). Colleagues and friends told Juba's Eye Radio and Radio Tamazuj that Afandy was now home. Rights groups have accused the security forces of cracking down on journalists, stifling debate on how to end a civil war in which tens of thousands of people have been killed since December 2013 Albert Gonzalez Farran (AFP/File) Rights groups have accused the security forces of cracking down on journalists, stifling debate on how to end a civil war in which tens of thousands of people have been killed since December 2013. Seven journalists were killed last year while covering the conflict. Some were caught up in the fighting but a reporter was also shot in August in an apparently targeted attack. Taliban blow up girls' school in Pakistani tribal area Militants said Saturday they had blown up a girls' school in Pakistan's restive northwest, the latest in a string of attacks on educational institutions. There were no casualties, but the bomb destroyed three out of five classrooms of the government girls' primary school in Tiarza village of tribal South Waziristan, a local security official told AFP. Azam Tariq, a spokesman for the "Sajna" arm of the Pakistani Taliban, claimed responsibility for the attack, saying the school had been targeted because it was run by the military and the group was opposed to female education. Since the Pakistan army moved into northwestern tribal areas to fight the Taliban in 2002, militants have blown up hundreds of schools A Majeed (AFP/File) Tariq told AFP that militants captured 18 people including school security guards and labourers before planting the explosive, but later released them. Since 2002, when the army moved into northwestern tribal areas to fight the Taliban, militants have blown up hundreds of schools. Pakistan's army stepped up its offensive in the region after the Taliban's massacre of 153 people, mostly school children, in Peshawar in December 2014, and killed or pushed hundreds of militants to Afghanistan. Last month Taliban gunmen stormed a university in the northwestern town of Charsadda, killing 21 people in a chilling reminder of their ongoing ability to carry out occasional high-profile and brazen attacks. Overall, levels of militant-linked violence have dropped dramatically, with 2015 seeing the fewest deaths among civilians and security forces since 2007 -- the year the Pakistani Taliban umbrella group was formed. But the threat posed by the Taliban remains, particularly in the northwest. Separately in the region on Saturday, Pakistani security forces killed at least five militants in a gunfight, the military said. Troops encountered the militants near Ghalanai, the main town of Mohmand, one of the seven tribal districts bordering Afghanistan which have been home to Al-Qaeda and Taliban-led militants. "Five terrorists were killed by security forces in Mohmand early morning today," a military statement said. The clash comes after Taliban militants killed at least nine policemen in two almost simultaneous attacks in Mohmand on Wednesday. Russia says 'regrets' UN rejection to rein in Turkey over Syria Russia on Saturday expressed regret that the United Nations Security Council rejected its bid to halt Turkey's military actions against Syria and vowed to continue supporting government forces against "terrorists." Western powers on Friday turned down a Russian draft resolution calling for an immediate end to cross-border shellings and plans -- supported by Turkey -- for foreign ground intervention in Syria. "We can only express regret that this draft resolution was rejected," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists. Western powers on Friday turned down a Russian draft United Nations Security Council resolution calling for an immediate end to cross-border shellings and plans -- supported by Turkey -- for foreign ground intervention in Syria Loey Felipe (UN Photo/AFP/File) He said Moscow was "concerned at the growing tension at the Syrian-Turkish border. "Russia considers such cross-border shelling that Turkey is carrying out as unacceptable." President Vladimir Putin held a "detailed discussion of the situation in Syria particularly due to the escalation in tensions on the Syrian-Turkish border," on Friday with his security council, the Kremlin said in a statement. Peskov stressed that Syrian government troops were coming under fire in the area being shelled by Turkey, as well as Kurdish fighters. The Kremlin spokesman underlined that Russia is set to continue its support for President Bashar al-Assad's ground offensive. "Russia is continuing a consistent line to provide assistance and help to the armed forces of Syria in their offensive actions against terrorists, against terrorist organisations," Peskov said. Obama says Cuba visit opens 'new chapter' in relationship President Barack Obama said Saturday that engaging Cuba -- the communist island he is set to visit in March -- is the best way "to advance American interests and values" and help the Cuban people. Obama seemed giddy when talking about his March 21-22 historic visit. The last US president to visit Cuba while in office was Calvin Coolidge in 1928. "Hi, everybody. This week, we made it official I'm going to Cuba," Obama said in his weekly radio address. Havana is gearing up for a visit from US President Barack Obama in March Yamil Lage (AFP/File) The trip follows a decision "to begin a new chapter in our relationship with the people of Cuba," Obama said. "I believe that the best way to advance American interests and values, and the best way to help the Cuban people improve their lives, is through engagement - by normalizing relations between our governments and increasing the contacts between our peoples," Obama said. While "change won't come to Cuba overnight," as the island "opens up, it will mean more opportunity and resources for ordinary Cubans," Obama said. Since coming to office Obama argued that engagement would do more to change Cuba than half a century of embargoes and isolation. In December 2014 Obama announced that he and President Raul Castro had engaged in secret rapprochement talks. Diplomatic relations were restored in July 2015. The White House is betting that opening Cuba to a flood of US tourists and business is the fastest way to bring change. For now Washington and Havana are treading cautiously, taking incremental steps to facilitate trade, investment and the movement of people. Obama promised to "speak candidly about our serious differences with the Cuban government, including on democracy and human rights. "I'll reaffirm that the United States will continue to stand up for universal values like freedom of speech and assembly and religion." Obama ended his address with a cheery "Thanks everybody. And to the people of Cuba nos vemos en La Habana." Translation: "I'll see you in Havana." Gunmen attack convoy in Indian Kashmir, two soldiers dead Gunmen attacked a paramilitary convoy in restive Indian Kashmir Saturday, killing two soldiers before entering a training centre for young entrepreneurs with more than 100 people inside, police said. The militants, believed to be rebels opposed to Indian rule, assaulted a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) convoy before paramilitaries engaged them in a firefight in the training complex on the outskirts of Srinagar. "Two CRPF personnel died in the initial assault on the convoy and ten others were injured," Javaid Gillani, inspector general of police for the region, told AFP, adding that militants then entered the complex, where they remain surrounded by police. Kashmiri residents run to safety after being rescued from a building taken over by suspected militants near Srinagar, on February 20, 2016 "All the civilians present inside the building have been evacuated," Gillani said. The attackers were "holed up" in the main building of the institute and surrounded by government forces, local police superintendent Mohammad Irshad said, adding it was unclear how many attackers were inside. The stand-off was likely to continue until day break, he said. At least 120 people, including trainees and staff, were in the building when the militants entered. Witnesses earlier said three heavily armed militants entered the complex, which houses the government-run Entrepreneurship Development Institute in the region's main city. They said the gunmen asked everyone inside to "save themselves" and move to a nearby hostel on the campus. "They (gunmen) barged into the reception area as CRPF soldiers were firing towards them. They asked everyone to save themselves and go to the next building," a witness who worked at the institute said, asking to remain anonymous. Another witness said the attackers made clear they did not want to harm the civilians as soon as they entered. "I saw them and everyone panicked. But they asked us to leave the building quickly and said only the soldiers were their enemies," the witness said after he was evacuated. The ten personnel who were injured in the convoy attack were shifted to a military hospital, CRPF spokesman Bhavesh Chaudhary said. Kashmir has been divided between rivals India and Pakistan since the two countries became independent in 1947, but both claim the territory in full. The region largely shut down last Monday as a general strike was called to protest against the killing of two civilians during a gunbattle between troops and suspected separatist militants. Authorities also imposed a curfew in parts of Srinagar, where hundreds of police and paramilitary troops patrolled deserted streets and erected checkpoints to halt any protests. Since 1989 several rebel groups have been fighting Indian soldiers deployed in the territory, demanding either independence or a merger of the region with Pakistan. The fighting has left tens of thousands, mostly civilians, dead. Overall violence has sharply declined during the last decade, but encounters between armed rebels and government forces occur regularly. Indian military personnel take up positions during the clashes with militants in the Sempora area of Pampore, on February 20, 2016 The attackers made it clear they did not want to harm civilians and allowed them to leave the building, witnesses said Thousands mourn Scalia as US Supreme Court battle brews Washington's elite put political differences aside on Saturday as thousands gathered to pay final respects to US Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, whose death last week ignited a fierce battle over his successor. Vice President Joe Biden and the court's Chief Justice John Roberts led a distinguished group of officials, dignitaries and family friends in attendance at the funeral mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. Scalia died a week ago of an apparent heart attack at age 79 while on a hunting trip in Texas. It was the first funeral for a sitting member of the US high court since 2005, when Chief Justice William Rehnquist died. The casket of US Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia arives at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC on February 20, 2016 Doug Mills (Pool/AFP) Scalia -- a conservative icon -- was a devout and tradition-bound Catholic. Cardinal Donald Wuerl, the archbishop of Washington, called him "an extraordinary man." His death plunged the Supreme Court into uncertainty, leaving what had been a conservative-dominated body evenly divided in a year of blockbuster cases -- on abortion, affirmative action, immigration and President Barack Obama's health care law. It also set off an epic election-year battle over Scalia's successor, whose appointment could tip the body to a liberal majority with the potential to reshape American life far into the future. Thousands of mourners filled the pews at the vast Romanesque-Byzantine basilica, the country's largest Catholic church -- where Pope Francis celebrated a mass in September. Dozens of white-robed priests were on hand -- so laughter ensued when Wuerl said that Scalia had expressed a desire for a "simple parish family mass." The mass was led by one of the justice's nine children, Paul Scalia, who is a priest in nearby Arlington, Virginia. Four other sons served as pallbearers. While the late justice preferred traditional Latin masses, his own was mostly in English. In words that to many seemed to refer to his father, Paul Scalia said: "We are gathered here because of one man. A man known personally to many of us, known only by reputation to even more, a man loved by many, scorned by others, a man known for great controversy, and for great compassion." He paused, then added, "That man, of course, is Jesus of Nazareth." It was because of Jesus, he went on, that "in confidence we commend Antonin Scalia to the mercy of God." - High-profile mourners - Scalia's fellow justices -- including Clarence Thomas, who offered a Bible reading -- joined several cabinet secretaries and many members of Congress at the mass. Former vice president Dick Cheney, former House speaker Newt Gingrich and Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, the papal nuncio to the United States, were also in attendance. Senator Ted Cruz, the conservative Southern Baptist who is seeking the Republican presidential nomination, broke away from the campaign trail to attend, CNN reported. A private burial followed the mass. The president and First Lady Michelle Obama were not present Saturday -- an absence sharply criticized by some Republicans. Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump tweeted during the mass: "I wonder if President Obama would have attended the funeral of Justice Scalia if it were held in a Mosque? Very sad that he did not go!" The Obamas paid their respects Friday when Scalia's flag-draped casket lay in repose in the Great Hall of the Supreme Court. A spokesman said the president did not want his presence at the basilica to be a distraction. While Obama and Scalia had deep political differences, the president had paid homage to Scalia's undeniable impact over nearly 30 years on the high court. "Justice Scalia and I had different political orientations," he said, while adding that "he was a giant on the Supreme Court." Within hours of Scalia's death, leading Republicans made clear that they had no intention of even considering any nominee Obama might put forward in the remaining 11 months of his presidency. But Obama said it was his constitutional duty to nominate a replacement, and the Senate's to provide his nominee a fair hearing. White House aides said Obama has been studying dossiers on several potential nominees; he is expected to name someone within weeks. Biden, in an interview Friday with The Washington Post, acknowledged that the nomination could be a "gigantic game changer," but said he thought Obama would make a relatively non-ideological pick. "We have to pick somebody, as the president will, who is intellectually competent, is a person of high moral character, is a person who is demonstrated to have an open mind, and is a person who doesnt come with a specific agenda," he said. Justice Clarence Thomas does a reading during the funeral mass for US Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC on February 20, 2016 Doug Mills (Pool/AFP) Maureen McCarthy Scalia (C) follows her husband's casket as it is lead out after the funeral mass for Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC on February 20, 2016 Nicholas Kamm (AFP) The casket of US Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia is carried out of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception after his funeral mass on February 20, 2016 in Washington, DC Nicholas Kamm (AFP) Fight over Ted Cruz's ballot eligibility moves to courtrooms CHICAGO (AP) The debate over whether Canadian-born Ted Cruz is eligible to be U.S. president is moving from the campaign trail to the courtroom. Lawsuits challenging the Texas Republican's eligibility for the ballot have been filed in states including Illinois, New York and Alabama. Fellow candidate Donald Trump also has threatened to sue over the issue. Republican presidential candidate, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas speaks during a campaign stop, Friday, Feb. 19, 2016, in Myrtle Beach, S.C. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke) Cruz and legal experts say he's eligible because his mother was a U.S. citizen when he was born. The Illinois plaintiff is pharmacist and lawyer Lawrence Joyce. He says he fears if Cruz becomes the Republican nominee, Democrats will get him kicked off the ballot in some states or Cruz will be forced to drop out and Republicans will replace him with a moderate candidate. Joyce says he's backing Ben Carson but is acting independently. A Cook County judge set a hearing for March 1 on a motion to dismiss the suit filed by Cruz's lawyer. By then, ballots for Illinois' March 15 primary will be printed and early voting under way. Asked about his eligibility during a CNN town hall this week, Cruz said by law he's been a U.S. citizen since the day he was born. The Indiana Election Commission on Friday rejected a challenge to whether Cruz may remain on the state's May 3 primary ballot. Cruz won a similar ballot challenge in New Hampshire in November. ___ Associated Press writer Tom Davies in Indianapolis contributed. ___ Mexican drug lord lawyers: prison guards won't let him sleep MEXICO CITY (AP) Lawyers for drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman said Friday he told them that guards at Mexico's Altiplano prison won't let him sleep, and that plans to make a movie about his life with actress Kate del Castillo are still on. Guzman's lawyer, Jose Refugio Rodriguez, said drug lord still wants the movie to be made but that the accused drug lord won't contribute money to it. "He wants it to be done," Rodriguez said, adding that Guzman's belief is that Del Castillo is still in charge of the project. Del Castillo has not commented directly on whether the movie plans are still on. FILE - In this Jan. 8, 2016 file photo, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman is made to face the press as he is escorted to a helicopter in handcuffs by Mexican soldiers and marines at a federal hangar in Mexico City, Mexico, following his recapture six months after escaping from a maximum security prison. Guzman's lawyers said Friday, Feb. 19, 2016 he told them that guards at Mexicos Altiplano prison wont let him sleep, and that plans to make a movie about his life with Mexican actress Kate del Castillo are still on. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo, File) "I know that Kate is Mr. Joaquin Guzman's representative ... she is authorized to do it," he said. "And he told me Monday that the movie has to go forward." Rodriguez said Guzman's involvement would be to authorize the use of his name and story. At an impromptu news conference outside the prison west of Mexico City, another of Guzman's lawyer said guards waken Guzman every two hours at night, and the practice is equivalent to torture. "He said 'what I want is for them to let me sleep. They are making me into a Zombie," Juan Pablo Badillo quoted Guzman as saying. Badillo compared Guzman's treatment to that of prisoners at the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. "This is the same torture they applied to prisoners of war there in Guantanamo," he said. Rodriguez gave The Associated Press a copy of Guzman's testimony in one of the cases against him, in which the jailed drug lord accuses prison authorities of torturing him and said "I feel like a sleepwalker," saying the practices had affected his health. "My head and my ears always hurt and I feel bad all over," Guzman said in the document. But the testimony also sheds light on the relatively permissive visitors' schedule Guzman enjoyed at the maximum-security prison before his escape in July. It has been reduced since he was recaptured in January. Guzman said he had been give an hour-and-a-half every day to talk to his lawyer, an hour in the sun in a prison patio, and a four-hour conjugal visit and a four-hour family visit every nine days. That regimen of visits few of which would occur in a U.S. top-security prison may explain why Guzman's lawyers are working so hard to prevent his extradition. Winds damage Chicago-area buildings, debris closes roads CHICAGO (AP) Powerful winds buffeted the Chicago area Friday damaging buildings, forcing flight delays, knocking out power and resulting in the shutdown of rapid transit service due to falling debris. The fire department shut down Chicago Transit Authority elevated train service on two lines because debris was falling onto the tracks. Authorities said debris, believed to be blowing from high-rise construction sites, forced the evacuation of two downtown office buildings. O'Hare International Airport reported delays of up to 50 minutes for incoming and outgoing flights and 160 flights canceled, mostly due to high winds. Midway Airport was not reporting delays. Gail Becker, of Lombard, Ill., struggles in the wind in the parking lot of Ultra Fresh Foods in Lombard, Ill., Friday, Feb. 19, 2016, as high winds impacted the suburbs of Chicago. (Bob Chwedyk/Daily Herald via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT; MAGS OUT, TV OUT MBI With gusts recorded at 60 mph in some places, Willis Tower closed its Skydeck attraction, saying its elevators couldn't operate in strong winds. A National Weather Service recording station three miles offshore in Lake Michigan recorded winds of 73 mph. ComEd said more than 105,000 people were without power due to high winds, mostly in Chicago and its northern and western suburbs. Some roadways were closed because of downed wires. Illinois State Police Sgt. Patrick Manno told the Chicago Tribune a "runaway stroller" was reported on Interstate 57 near the split with Interstate 80. "Thankfully, there was no baby inside," Manno said. The Chicago Fire Department said a car was crushed when a wall fell at a construction site. No injuries were reported. There also were no injuries at a building in Elk Grove Village where a roof partially collapsed. This photo provided by Debra Filcman shows parts of a buildings roof and debris that fell to the ground and damaged a car as high winds buffeted the Chicago area, Friday, Feb. 19, 2016. The winds caused damage to buildings, forced flight delays and resulted in the shutdown of rapid transit service due to falling debris. (Debra Filcman via AP) Mary Nilles, of Barrington ,walks near Palatine, Ill. High School Friday, Feb. 19, 2016, as high winds impacted the suburbs of Chicago. (Mark Welsh/Daily Herald via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT; MAGS OUT, TV OUT Pedestrians walk along a sidewalk littered with branches in Elgin, Ill., Friday, Feb. 19, 2016, as high winds impacted the suburbs of Chicago. (Brian Hill/Daily Herald via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT; MAGS OUT, TV OUT MBI The canopy in front of a Marathon gas station at 2800 E. Higgins Road in Elk Grove Village was toppled as high winds impacted Elk Grove Village, Ill. on Friday, Feb. 19, 2016. (Joe Lewnard/Daily Herald via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT; MAGS OUT, TV OUT The canopy in front of a Marathon gas station at 2800 E. Higgins Road in Elk Grove Village was toppled as high winds impacted Elk Grove Village, Ill. on Friday, Feb. 19, 2016. (Joe Lewnard/Daily Herald via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT; MAGS OUT, TV OUT The canopy in front of a Marathon gas station at 2800 E. Higgins Road in Elk Grove Village was toppled as high winds impacted Elk Grove Village, Ill. on Friday, Feb. 19, 2016. (Joe Lewnard/Daily Herald via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT; MAGS OUT, TV OUT What We Know: Thousands pay respects to late Justice Scalia Justice Antonin Scalia lay in repose at the Supreme Court, where the eight remaining justices, family members, former law clerks and members of the public passed by his flag-draped coffin Friday to pay their respects. What we know about the ceremony and funeral plans for Scalia, who died last week: Scalia's casket was placed on a funeral bier first used after President Abraham Lincoln's assassination. At a private ceremony, one of Scalia's sons, the Rev. Paul Scalia, recited prayers over the casket: "You have called your servant Antonin out of this world. Release him from the bonds of sin and welcome him into your presence." The body of Justice Antonin Scalia arrives at the Supreme Court in Washington, Friday, Feb. 19, 2016. Thousands of mourners will pay their respects Friday for Justice Antonin Scalia as his casket rests in the Great Hall of the Supreme Court, where he spent nearly three decades as one of its most influential members. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) Nearly 100 of Scalia's former law clerks returned to the courthouse, taking turns, four at a time, to stand alongside the casket. President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, paid their respects at the Supreme Court but did not plan to attend Saturday's funeral. Obama has said he would submit a nomination to replace Scalia, but Senate Republican leaders have said that should be left to the next president. A makeshift memorial outside the courthouse included jars of applesauce and fortune cookies, references to some of Scalia's sharp dissents in recent cases. Scalia's funeral is planned for Saturday morning at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington. Vice President Joe Biden and his wife, Jill, planned to attend. Burial plans have not been released. Father Paul Scalia leads a prayer during a private ceremony for his father Justice Antonin Scalia during a private ceremony in the Great Hall of the Supreme Court in Washington, Friday, Feb. 19, 2016,where late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia lies in repose. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, Pool) Father Paul Scalia, and other, watch as the body of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia arrives at the Supreme Court in Washington. Friday, Feb. 19, 2016. Thousands of mourners will pay their respects Friday for Justice Antonin Scalia as his casket rests in the Great Hall of the Supreme Court, where he spent nearly three decades as one of its most influential members. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) A small memorial is seen outside the Supreme Court in Washington, Friday, Feb. 19, 2016, where the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia lies in repose. Fans of the former justice created a small memorial at the bottom of the court steps, leaving two jars of applesauce, a package of paper bags and a pile of fortune cookies, a nod to his biting dissents last year in the court's gay marriage case and its ruling rejecting a challenge to President Barack Obama's health care law. (AP Photo/Jessica Gresko) Members of the public walk past a portrait of late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia in the Great Hall of the Supreme Court in Washington, Friday, Feb. 19, 2016, where the late Justice lies in repose. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) The body of Justice Antonin Scalia arrives at the Supreme Court in Washington, Friday, Feb. 19, 2016. Thousands of mourners will pay their respects Friday for Justice Antonin Scalia as his casket rests in the Great Hall of the Supreme Court, where he spent nearly three decades as one of its most influential members. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) Inmate who spent decades in solitary confinement is released ST. FRANCISVILLE, Louisiana (AP) The last inmate of a group known as the "Angola Three" pleaded no contest Friday to manslaughter in the 1972 death of a prison guard and was released after more than four decades in prison. Albert Woodfox and two other men became known as the "Angola Three" for their decades-long stays in isolation at the Louisiana Penitentiary at Angola and other prisons. Officials said they were kept in solitary confinement because their Black Panther Party activism would otherwise rile up inmates at the maximum-security prison farm in Angola. Woodfox consistently maintained his innocence in the killing of guard Brent Miller. He was being held at the West Feliciana Parish Detention Center in St. Francisville, about 30 miles (50 kilometers) north of Baton Rouge. He was awaiting a third trial in Miller's death after earlier convictions were thrown out by federal courts for reasons including racial bias in selecting a grand jury foreman. In this Feb 12, 2015 file photo made from video and released by WBRZ-TV in Baton Rouge, Albert Woodfox walks into a courthouse in Louisiana. Woodfox, the last inmate of a group known as the "Angola Three" has pleaded no contest to manslaughter and a lesser offense in the 1972 death of a prison guard and is expected to be released Friday after more than four decades in prison. (WBRZ-TV via AP, File) Woodfox, who turned 69 on the same day he was released from custody, spoke to reporters and supporters briefly outside the jail before driving off with his brother. Speaking of his future plans, he said he wanted to visit his mother's gravesite. She died while he was in prison, and Woodfox said he was not allowed to go to the funeral. As to whether he would have done anything differently back in 1972, Woodfox responded: "When forces are beyond your control, there's not a lot you can do. Angola was a very horrible place at the time and everybody was just fighting to survive from day to day." In a press release earlier Friday, Woodfox thanked his brother and other supporters who have lobbied over the years for his release. "Although I was looking forward to proving my innocence at a new trial, concerns about my health and my age have caused me to resolve this case now and obtain my release with this no contest plea to lesser charges. I hope the events of today will bring closure to many," he said. He had been twice convicted of murder and pleaded guilty Friday to manslaughter and aggravated burglary. At the time of Miller's killing, Woodfox was serving time for armed robbery and assault. Inmates identified him as the one who grabbed the guard from behind while others stabbed Miller with a lawnmower blade and a hand-sharpened prison knife. The star witness, a serial rapist who left death row and was pardoned by the Louisiana governor after his testimony, died before the second trial. Woodfox was placed in solitary immediately after Miller's body was found in an empty prison dormitory, and then was ordered kept on "extended lockdown" every 90 days for decades. The other Angola Three inmates were Herman Wallace, who died a free man in October 2013, just days after a judge granted him a new trial in Miller's death, and Robert King, who was released in 2001 after his conviction in the death of a fellow inmate was overturned. Woodfox appeared close to freedom in recent years. U.S. District Judge James Brady ordered his release in June and barred a third trial, saying the state could not try Woodfox fairly more than 40 years after Miller's death. Samsung mobile-pay service will expand, starting with China NEW YORK (AP) Samsung's mobile-payment service will expand beyond the U.S. and South Korea this year. The South Korean company said Friday that Samsung Pay is coming to China in March a month after rival Apple Pay. It will hit Australia, Brazil, Singapore, Spain and the U.K. later in the year. Samsung also plans to expand to Canada, though no timeframe was given. Samsung Pay works with certain Samsung phones. As with Apple Pay on iPhones and Google's Android Pay on a broader range of Android phones, users add their credit or debit cards and make payments at stores by tapping on a machine with a wireless technology called NFC. FILE - In this Aug. 6. 2015 file photo, a Samsung employee demonstrates Samsung Pay using a Galaxy S6 Edge Plus in New York. Samsungs mobile-payment service, Samsung Pay, will expand beyond the U.S. and Korea this year. The Korean company said Friday, Feb. 19, 2016, that its coming to China in March, a month after rival Apple Pay. Samsung Pay will hit Australia, Brazil, Singapore, Spain and the U.K. later in the year. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File) North Korea escalates war of words in standoff with Seoul PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) North Korea responded to an unusually harsh verbal attack by South Korea's president against the North's leader and its recent nuclear test and rocket launch with a characteristically colorful invective of its own Saturday, calling her policy traitorous and adding that Washington's newly enacted sanctions are "laughable." The North's official reaction including the insult "senile granny" was expected, though it took several days for Pyongyang to announce it through its state-run media. North Korea regularly condemns South Korean President Park Geun-hye through sexist and violent language, saying recently that she lives upon "the groin of her American boss." People and soldiers arrive from Baengnyeong island, at Incheon port, South Korea, Saturday, Feb. 20, 2016. Sounds of explosions caused South Korean residents of a front-line island to prepare to evacuate early Saturday, but it was later determined the noise came from a North Korean artillery drill across the rivals' disputed maritime border, officials said.(AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon) But the renewed war of words has some worried that the tensions could lead to real conflict. As evidence of heightened anxieties, sounds of explosions early Saturday caused South Korean residents of a front-line island to prepare to evacuate, but it was later determined that the noise came from a North Korean artillery drill across the rivals' disputed maritime border. No North Korean projectiles crossed into the south side of the border. Park has been backed up several high-profile demonstrations of U.S. military might that are seen by Pyongyang as deliberate provocations. A U.S. B-52 bomber flew over the Korean Peninsula after the North's Jan. 6 nuclear test and U.S. F-22 stealth fighters were deployed to a an air base in South Korea after the Feb. 8 rocket launch. Next month, the U.S. and South Korea are expected to hold larger-than-usual joint military drills. The annual war games are a major source of tensions, since Pyongyang sees them as evidence that Seoul and Washington, which are still technically at war with the North because the 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty, are planning an invasion. The latest round of verbal volleys began in a speech to South Korea's parliament on Tuesday a major holiday in North Korea marking the birthday of Kim Jong Un's late father, Kim Jong Il when Park warned that North Korea must either change its ways or face the collapse of its regime. The president added that Kim Jong Un's authoritarian government is an "extreme reign of terror" and used his name three times, something usually avoided at her level. It is believed that Kim has never referred to Park by name in his rare public speeches. In Saturday's dispatch, North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency, or KCNA, called Park a "tailless, old, insane bitch" though the phrase was toned down to "dog" in the English version, which came out later in the day. It also called her "a traitor for all times." Along with her pointed criticism of Kim Jong Un's regime, Park's government has also resumed cross-border propaganda broadcasts and shut down a factory park just north of the Demilitarized Zone that had been jointly run by the rivals. Seoul has also started preparatory talks with Washington on deploying a sophisticated missile defense system in South Korea, angering Beijing and Moscow, who feel they could be targeted by such a system as well. The North took special umbrage at the closure of the industrial zone, saying the decision will cost the South more than it will harm North Korea and calling the factory park a "symbol of hope that alleviates the pain of the nation resulting from division." Park and her deputies maintain that South Korean payments to North Korean workers at the park $110 million last year alone have gone in large part straight to the leaders who oversee the North's nuclear bomb and missile programs. "This only proves herself to be the worst imbecile and idiot unable to count even simple numbers," it said. "The shutdown of the zone will bring tremendous damages to the South Korean economy as a whole." In a separate report on Saturday, KCNA quoted an unnamed Foreign Ministry official as saying that despite the "laughable" U.S. sanctions, the North will stick to its official policy of simultaneously developing nuclear weapons and its economy. Washington's new sanctions against Pyongyang were signed into law by President Barack Obama on Thursday. The sanctions are aimed at denying the North the money to develop miniaturized warheads and the long-range missiles required to deliver them. Meanwhile, Seoul's Defense Ministry said the military completed its search operations for debris from the North Korean long-range rocket that was launched into orbit Feb. 7. South Korean officials believe the North deliberately blew up the rocket's first stage after burnout to prevent South Korea from retrieving debris. Some analysts said that claim may be premature and are studying what little evidence is available for more clues. North Korea said it launched an Earth observation satellite, which it has dubbed the Kwangmyongson-4, or Shining Star-4. The satellite has been confirmed to be in orbit, but it is not known if it has succeeded in transmitting signals back to Earth. "The DPRK's successes in H-bomb test and in the launch of satellite Kwangmyongsong-4 startled our planet," KCNA said. "But only Park Geun-hye behaved quite contrary to this," it added. "Writhing and wriggling, she sits up all night, spouting rubbish, invectives and vituperation." ___ Associated Press writer Tong-hyung Kim in Seoul, South Korea, contributed to this report. People arrive from Baengnyeong island, at Incheon port, South Korea, Saturday, Feb. 20, 2016. Sounds of explosions caused South Korean residents of a front-line island to prepare to evacuate early Saturday, but it was later determined the noise came from a North Korean artillery drill across the rivals' disputed maritime border, officials said.(AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon) People and soldiers arrive from Baengnyeong island, at Incheon port, South Korea, Saturday, Feb. 20, 2016. Sounds of explosions caused South Korean residents of a front-line island to prepare to evacuate early Saturday, but it was later determined the noise came from a North Korean artillery drill across the rivals' disputed maritime border, officials said.(AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon) South Korean army's armored vehicles conduct an annual exercise in Paju, near the border with North Korea, Saturday, Feb. 20, 2016. Sounds of explosions caused South Korean residents of a front-line island to prepare to evacuate early Saturday, but it was later determined the noise came from a North Korean artillery drill across the rivals' disputed maritime border, officials said.(AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon) South Korean army's armored vehicles conduct an annual exercise in Paju, near the border with North Korea, Saturday, Feb. 20, 2016. Sounds of explosions caused South Korean residents of a front-line island to prepare to evacuate early Saturday, but it was later determined the noise came from a North Korean artillery drill across the rivals' disputed maritime border, officials said.(AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon) In this Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2016, photo, men and women are silhouetted against the evening sun with the national flag of North Korea flying in the background, at the Pyongyang Indoor Stadium in Pyongyang, North Korea. North Korea responded to an unusually harsh verbal attack by South Korea's president on the North's leader and its recent nuclear test and rocket launch with a characteristically colorful invective of its own on Saturday, calling her policy traitorous and adding what Washington's newly enacted sanctions are "laughable." (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E) Umberto Eco, author of 'The Name of the Rose,' dead at 84 ROME (AP) Italian author Umberto Eco, who intrigued, puzzled and delighted readers worldwide with his best-selling historical novel "The Name of the Rose," has died. Spokeswoman Lori Glazer of Eco's American publisher, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, told The Associated Press that Eco died Friday at age 84. She could not immediately confirm the cause of death or where he died. Author of a wide range of books, Eco was fascinated with the obscure and the mundane, and his books were both engaging narratives and philosophical and intellectual exercises. The bearded, heavy-set scholar, critic and novelist took on the esoteric theory of semiotics, the study of signs and symbols in language; on popular culture icons like James Bond; and on the technical languages of the Internet. FILE - In a Sunday, Oct.31, 2010 file photo, Italian writer, medievalist, semiotician, philosopher, literary critic and novelists Umberto Eco waves to public during the Italian State RAI TV program in Milan, Italy. Eco, best known for the international best-seller The Name of the Rose, died Friday, Feb. 19, 2016, according to spokeswoman Lori Glazer of Ecos American publisher, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. He was 84. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno, File) "The Name of the Rose" transformed him from academic to international celebrity, especially after the medieval thriller set in a monastery was made into a film starring Sean Connery in 1986. "The Name of the Rose" sold millions of copies, a feat for a narrative filled with partially translated Latin quotes and puzzling musings on the nature of symbols. But Eco talked about his inspiration with characteristic irony: "I began writing ... prodded by a seminal idea: I felt like poisoning a monk." His second novel, the 1988 "Foucault's Pendulum," a byzantine tale of plotting publishers and secret sects also styled as a thriller, was successful, too though it was so complicated that an annotated guide accompanied it to help the reader follow the plot. In 2000, when awarding Eco Spain's prestigious Prince of Asturias Prize for communications, the jury praised his works "of universal distribution and profound effect that are already classics in contemporary thought." Eco was born Jan. 5, 1932 in Alessandria, a town east of Turin; he said the reserved culture there was a source for his "world vision: a skepticism and an aversion to rhetoric." He received a university degree in philosophy from the University of Turin in 1954, beginning his fascination with the Middle Ages and the aesthetics of text. He later defined semiotics as "a philosophy of language." He had always loved storytelling and as a teenager wrote comic books and fantasy novels. "I was a perfectionist and wanted to make them look as though they had been printed, so I wrote them in capital letters and made up title pages, summaries, illustrations," he told The Paris Review in 1988. "It was so tiring that I never finished any of them. I was at that time a great writer of unaccomplished masterpieces." Eco remained involved with academia, becoming the first professor of semiotics at the University of Bologna in 1971. He also lectured at institutions worldwide and was a fellow at elite colleges like Oxford University and Columbia University. Twenty-three institutions had awarded him honorary degrees by 2000. But Eco was also able to bridge the gap between popular and intellectual culture, publishing his musings in daily newspapers and Italy's leading weekly magazine L'Espresso. Eco started in journalism in the 1950s, working for the Italian state-owned television RAI. From the 1960s onwards, he wrote columns for several Italian dailies. He also wrote children's books, including "The Bomb and the General" ("La Bomba e il Generale"). In 2003, Eco published a collection of lectures on translations, "Mouse or Rat? Translation as Negotiation," and a year later he wrote the novel "The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana," a story about an antiquarian book dealer who loses his memory. Recent works include "From the Tree to the Labyrinth," an essay on semiology and language published in 2007 and "Turning Back the Clock," a collection of essays on various subjects, ranging from the recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, anti-Semitism and his staunch criticism of Silvio Berlusconi's conservative government. His most recent novel, "Numero Zero," came out last year and recalled a political scandal from the 1990s that helped lead to Berlusconi's rise. __ Associated Press writer Hillel Italie contributed to this report from New York. Luck was on Hillary Clinton's side today in Las Vegas as she surpassed rival Bernie Sanders in Nevada. An exuberant Clinton celebrated the win onstage at Caesars Palace, a fixture of the Las Vegas strip, giving a special thank you to hotel and casino workers 'who never wavered.' 'Some may have doubted us, but we never doubted each other,' Clinton told her supporters. 'And this one's for you.' With more than 80 percent of caucus sites reporting, Sanders was down by an irreconcilable five points to Clinton after losing blacks by more than 50 points, according to entrance polling - a statistic that does not bode well for him in states to come. The Vermont senator quickly called Clinton to concede. 'They ran a very aggressive, effective campaign and I applaud them for their efforts,' Sanders said once onstage with his own supporters, though suggested that he still has the Democratic 'momentum' after his gigantic New Hampshire win. Scroll down for video LUCK BE A LADY TONIGHT: A sigh of relief for Hillary Clinton as she bested Bernie Sanders by four points in today's Nevada caucuses as polls showed the race neck-and-neck in the first Western state to vote Bernie Sanders stuck with his usual script and said, despite the loss, that he had the 'momentum' in the Democratic race and expected to be the nominee Your browser does not support the iframe HTML tag. Try viewing this in a modern browser like Chrome, Safari, Firefox or Internet Explorer 9 or later. Clinton congratulated Sanders for a 'hard fought' race, though tried to grab a hold of some of his trademark stances. 'In the campaign you've heard a lot about Washington and Wall Street,' Clinton said, alluding to Sanders' complaints that she's too cozy with New York bankers. 'We all want to get secret unaccountable money out of politics that starts with appointing a new justice to the Supreme Court.' She also touted her own small dollar donors, which Sanders has noted has propelled his own campaign as he doesn't have a super PAC,, Clinton thanked the more than 750,000 people whove gone to HillaryClinton.com and contributed what you could the vast majority less than $100 and to the millions of people supporting our campaign.' 'We hear you, we see youwere in this together,' she added. Sanders downplayed his loss while addressing his own supporters in Las Vegas. The Vermont senator noted how far down in the polls he had been in Iowa, a state that Hillary Clinton barely won, and New Hampshire, a state that he easily defeated her in. 'And we were way behind here in Nevada,' he pointed out. Sanders talked about how he's been delivering a 'tough' message to voters: 'And that is the fact that we have a corrupt campaign finance system, which is undermining American democracy.' CNN reported that Sanders planned to deliver the same speech he would have had he been victorious in today's caucuses. It showed as he boldly proclaimed that he still expected to be the Democratic nominee. Hillary Clinton thanked her supporters - including casino and hotel workers - as she spoke onstage at Caesars Palace on the Las Vegas stripped Hillary Clinton was joined by her husband, former President Bill Clinton, as she thanked her supporters and touted her small donors too 'We hear you, we see youwere in this together,' Clinton shouted at supporters. She performed better with black voters, while Bernie Sanders did better with Latinos, which could spell trouble for Clinton in the future Victory is hers! Hillary Clinton spoke to supporters at Caesars Palace on the Las Vegas strip thanking casino workers and other supporters The Clintons celebrate on stage and wave to the crowd after Hillary Clinton was projected to be the winner of the caucus Hillary Clinton, stealing one of Bernie Sanders' prominent talking points, said she, too, wanted to get money out of politics Bill and Hillary Clinton embrace on stage as Clinton holds her victory rally after the results of the Nevada caucus 'It is clear to me and to most observers that the wind is at our backs, we have the momentum,' the democratic socialist said. 'And I believe that when Democrats assemble in Philadelphia in July at that convention we are going to see the results of one of the great political upsets in the history of the United States,' Sanders stated. Sanders also criticized Clinton's use of President Obama's former super PAC, though he didn't use his rival's name. 'But I also know that on Super Tuesday and before we are going to be taking on a very powerful and well-funded super PAC, a super PAC that receives a significant amount of money from Wall Street and wealthy special interests,' Sanders said. As networks and the Associated Press called the race for her, Clinton tweeted her gratitude to the state's voters. 'To everyone who turned out in every corner of Nevada with determination and heart: This is your win. Thank you,' the tweet, signed with her signature H to show she wrote it herself, said. Clinton also tweeted a photo of herself hugging a group of female supporters and her staff sent out a tweet asking for money in to her campaign. There to witness Clintons victory speech at Caesars Palace was Karla Ortiz. The ten year old girl caught Clintons heart and attention and became her poster child for immigration reform with the campaign ad Brave featuring a tearful Karla being comforted by Clinton as she shared her fear that her parents both illegal immigrants would be deported. Dressed in red, her long hair tied back in bunches a smiling Karla told Daily Mail Online: I think its all pretty exciting. I hope that Hillary will have more power and shell be higher up and help us. Bernie Sanders downplayed the defeat noting how far down he was in the polls in Nevada when his campaign began Sanders won the bulk of caucus participants 17-29 and 30-44. under the age of 45, Clinton bested him with voters in the next rung up and with seniors Sanders gave a concession speech at the Henderson Pavilion on Saturday after he lost to Clinton in the Nevada caucus Sanders greets supporters at a rally on the day of the Nevada Democratic caucus Saturday, which he lost to Hillary Clinton Karla was at the Clinton event with her mother, Fransisca Ortiz, 40. Speaking publicly for the first time through a friend, immigration reform activist Astrid Silva, who runs the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada at whose headquarters the event that led to Clintons encounter with Karla was held last weekend, Fransisca said: Im very proud of my daughter for being brave and asking a question that a lot of people have on their minds. Mrs Ortiz, who works as a cleaner in Las Vegas, revealed that she had met Clinton earlier that day and thanked her for coming and sharing her time but said that Clinton had not discussed the details of her and her husbands case. Instead, she said: I just hope to God that DAPA (Deferred Action for Parents of Americans) goes through. She and her husband, painter Milton, also 40, have lived in America since arriving illegally from Guatemala some 23 years ago and have, she admitted, lived with the constant fear of discovery and deportation. That fear became a reality in 2013 when they were served with a deportation order the letter about which Karla told Clinton during her meeting last weekend with the Las Vegas DREAMers This group of immigrants is known as DREAMers because it consists of individuals who meet the general requirements of the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act. Mrs Ortiz told of how she and her husband both suffer ill health she diabetes and he a blood disorder but are simply trying to get by with what they have and the jobs they can garner. She did not know if Clinton had any plans to pursue her and her husbands case individually but said she just hopes the former Secretary of State is elected, as she believes that her planned reforms will help her family. Karla Ortiz, 10, attends Hillary Clinton's Victory speech in Nevada with her Mother Fransisca. Karla has become Hillary Clinton's face for her approved commercial on Immigration Karla's mom spoke publicly for the first time through a friend on Saturday, where she said she is 'very proud of my daughter for being brave and asking a question that a lot of people have on their minds' Female supporters celebrate with Hillary Clinton as the race is called for her in Nevada this afternoon against Bernie Sanders Hillary Clinton signed this tweet sent out celebrating her win this afternoon in Nevada's caucuses against rival Bernie Sanders The campaign also quickly turned the celebration into an ask for donations to keep Hillary Clinton's campaign well-funded through the primary cycle The Clinton campaign sent out a flurry of tweets once her victory in Nevada was announced including this one asking supporters to text 'CONGRATS' to the former secretary of state Amid scenes of jubilation from other Clinton supporters Mrs Ortiz said quietly: I just pray Hillary is elected and that I can apply through the courts for citizenship. After Clinton had departed for her next stop on the campaign trail, her supporters continued celebrating the win that had, in truth, been far closer than they had once hoped. As camera crews and media outlets packed up and shipped out the supporters moved through the corridors of Caesars Palace erupting in spontaneous outburst of chanting Hillary! Hillary! Hillary! and drawing confused looks from tourists unaware of the scenes that had so recently unfolded in one of the hotels ballrooms above the casino floor. Entry polls take from the caucuses in Nevada show a breakdown among predictable lines. Sanders won the bulk of caucus participants 17-29 and 30-44. under the age of 45, Clinton bested him with voters in the next rung up and with seniors. Two-thirds of participants said it was their first time participating. This is a category that Sanders expected to do better in, but it ended up not mattering at all. Almost twice as many caucus goers as 2008 say they are very liberal - another good sign for Sanders, and still, he lost. On the other hand, just four in 10 Democratic voters said the next president should pursue more liberal polices than Obama. Nearly 50 percent said they wanted a general continuation of Obama's policies. Clinton has made the divide between Sanders and Obama on progressive issues a centerpiece of her strategy to defeat the Vermont senators and win over blacks before a string of contests with large blocks of minority voters. Following her Nevada victory, Hillary Clinton made her way to a rally at Texas Southern University late on Saturday Clinton speaks at a rally at Texas Southern University on Saturday in Houston after traveling from Nevada Clinton gives the crowd a thumbs up at a rally in Houston following her Nevada caucus win on Saturday More than a third of those who showed up to caucus today were black, Hispanic or non-white, NBC's entrance polling shows. Of those that were Hispanic, 19 percent, entrance polling showed Sanders with an 11-point advantage over Clinton, 54 percent to her 43 percent. They made up 20 percent of the electorate - an increase of five percent from 2008. That year Clinton handily won the demographic as she competed against fellow U.S. Senators Barack Obama and John Edwards. African-Americans constituted 13 percent of the vote. Clinton won over 76 percent of that demographic with 22 percent going to Sanders. In terms of their concerns, Democrats in Nevada were evenly split between a candidate who 'has the right experience' and one who is 'honest and trustworthy.' Half put themselves in one of those two categories while 28 percent picked 'cares about people like me' and 19 percent said they were worried about electability. The candidates' campaigning in the state this week has a significant effect on their vote totals. The entrance polls show 12 percent made up their minds in just the past few days. Another five percent said they arrived at their choice in the last week. That compares to the 13 percent who said they picked a side in the last month and the 68 percent who decided before that. Sanders now heads to South Carolina, which holds its primary Feb. 27. Clinton is off to delegate-rich Texas, which votes on March 1, Super Tuesday. With a slew of states expected to vote on that day, both candidates are expected to criss-cross the country in the coming days. Clinton will go on a fundraising swing after her Texas trip and end up in South Carolina on Wednesday. After his initial trip to the Palmetto State this weekend, Sanders goes to Norfolk, Virginia. Neither has said where they'll spend the evening of March 1, but Sanders' home state votes that day, so he's likely to spend the evening where it all began for him - Burlington, Vermont. Clinton likewise could end up in Arkansas, the state she spent more than a decade in and served as first lady. The first test for Hillary Clinton, seen her today at a Harrah's in Las Vegas, and Bernie Sanders in a more racially diverse state, the results of today's caucuses in the state provided a window into each candidate's strengths - and weaknesses - among core Democratic demographic groups Uganda's Yoweri Museveni wins disputed polls; rival detained KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) Long-time Ugandan leader Yoweri Museveni was on Saturday declared the winner of the country's disputed presidential election, but his main rival rejected the results as fraudulent and called for an independent audit of the count. Museveni got more than 60 percent of the votes, and his nearest rival Kizza Besigye got 35 percent, according to final results announced by the election commission. Besigye was under house arrest as Museveni was declared the winner, with heavily armed police standing guard near his residence on the outskirts of the capital, Kampala. In a video obtained by The Associated Press, Besigye said he rejects the results. Dejected opposition supporters who work as motorbike taxi drivers hold their heads in their hands shortly after the election result was announced, in downtown Kampala, Uganda Saturday, Feb. 20, 2016. Long-time Ugandan leader Yoweri Museveni was on Saturday declared the winner of the country's disputed presidential election, but the main opposition party rejected the results as fraudulent and called for an independent audit of the count. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis) "We knew right from the beginning the electoral commission that was organizing and managing these elections was a partisan, incompetent and discredited body as from the previous elections," Besigye said. "We knew that the military and security organizations were going to be engaged in a partisan and unfair way like they did in the past." Besigye urged the international community to reject the official tally. The capital was calm following the announcement of results amid a heavy security presence. Museveni's ruling party, the National Resistance Movement, urged "all candidates to respect the will of the people and the authority of the electoral commission and accept the result. We ask all Ugandans to remain calm and peaceful and not to engage in any public disruptions." The voting on Thursday was marred by lengthy delays in the delivery of polling materials, some incidents of violence as well as a government shutdown of social media sites like Twitter and Facebook, which remained inaccessible Saturday. The election was marked by an "intimidating atmosphere, which was mainly created by state actors," said the European Union observer mission. Uganda's election commission lacks independence and transparency and does not have the trust of all the parties, EU mission leader Eduard Kukan told reporters Saturday. Opposition supporters were harassed by law enforcement officials in more than 20 districts, according to the EU's preliminary report. Uganda's elections "fell short of meeting key democratic benchmarks," former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, the head of the Commonwealth observer mission, said, talking about his group's interim assessment. "The Ugandan people deserved better," said U.S. State Department deputy spokesman Mark Toner. "We encourage those who wish to contest the election results to do so peacefully and in accordance with Uganda's laws and judicial process, and urge the Ugandan government to respect the rights and freedoms of its people and refrain from interference in those processes," Toner said. Police on Friday surrounded the headquarters of the FDC opposition party as Besigye met with members and a helicopter fired tear gas at a crowd outside. Police then moved in and took away Besigye, a 59-year-old doctor. He was later taken to his house which was guarded by police who prevented access to journalists. After Besigye's arrest on Friday, his supporters took to the streets. Riot police lobbed tear gas and stun grenades at them and fired warning shots from automatic rifles, then chased them through narrow alleys, arresting some. Besigye's party is alleging massive vote rigging and accuses the government of deliberately stalling voting in opposition strongholds in Kampala and the neighboring Wakiso district. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry spoke by phone with Museveni "to underscore that Uganda's progress depends on adherence to democratic principles in the ongoing election process," the State Department said. Kerry urged Museveni to rein in the security forces. The 71-year-old Museveni took power by force in 1986 and pulled Uganda out of years of chaos after a guerrilla war. He is a key U.S. ally on security matters, especially in Somalia. Critics fear he may want to rule for life and they accuse him of using security forces to intimidate the opposition. Besigye was Museveni's personal physician during the bush war and served as deputy interior minister in his first Cabinet. He broke with the president in 1999, saying Museveni was no longer a democrat. ___ This story was corrected to show that the first name of EU observer mission head is spelled Eduard. Ugandan military police deploy on the streets shortly after the election result was announced, in downtown Kampala, Uganda Saturday, Feb. 20, 2016. Long-time Ugandan leader Yoweri Museveni was on Saturday declared the winner of the country's disputed presidential election, but the main opposition party rejected the results as fraudulent and called for an independent audit of the count. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis) Ugandans look down from a balcony as military police deploy, shortly after the election result was announced, in downtown Kampala, Uganda, Saturday, Feb. 20, 2016. Long-time Ugandan leader Yoweri Museveni was on Saturday declared the winner of the country's disputed presidential election, but the main opposition party rejected the results as fraudulent and called for an independent audit of the count. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis) An opposition supporter holds up a poster of opposition candidate Kizza Besigye, who remains under house arrest, shortly after the election result was announced, in downtown Kampala, Uganda, Saturday, Feb. 20, 2016. Long-time Ugandan leader Yoweri Museveni was on Saturday declared the winner of the country's disputed presidential election, but the main opposition party rejected the results as fraudulent and called for an independent audit of the count. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis) A convoy of armored personnel carriers is seen reflected in a shop window as a Ugandan soldier stands guard on a street corner, shortly after the election result was announced, in downtown Kampala, Uganda, Saturday, Feb. 20, 2016. Long-time Ugandan leader Yoweri Museveni was on Saturday declared the winner of the country's disputed presidential election, but the main opposition party rejected the results as fraudulent and called for an independent audit of the count. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis) Ugandan riot police stand close to dejected opposition supporters to prevent them from demonstrating, shortly after the election result was announced, in downtown Kampala, Uganda, aturday, Feb. 20, 2016. Long-time Ugandan leader Yoweri Museveni was on Saturday declared the winner of the country's disputed presidential election, but the main opposition party rejected the results as fraudulent and called for an independent audit of the count. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis) Opposition supporters who had attempted to gather, many of whom work as motorcycle taxi drivers, flee from police and soldiers as they chase them away, shortly after the election result was announced, in downtown Kampala, Uganda, Saturday, Feb. 20, 2016. Long-time Ugandan leader Yoweri Museveni was on Saturday declared the winner of the country's disputed presidential election, but the main opposition party rejected the results as fraudulent and called for an independent audit of the count. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis) Ugandan army soldiers deploy, after the election result was announced, in downtown Kampala, Uganda, Saturday, Feb. 20, 2016. Long-time Ugandan leader Yoweri Museveni was on Saturday declared the winner of the country's disputed presidential election, but the main opposition party rejected the results as fraudulent and called for an independent audit of the count. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis) FILE - In this Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2016 file photo, Uganda's long-time President Yoweri Museveni waves to supporters from the sunroof of his vehicle as he arrives for an election rally at Kololo Airstrip in Kampala, Uganda. Uganda election commission declared on Saturday, Feb. 20, 2016 President Yoweri Museveni the winner of elections, with more than 60 percent of vote. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis, File) FILE - In this Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2016 file photo, Uganda's long-time President Yoweri Museveni adjusts his hat, as he attends an election rally at Kololo Airstrip in Kampala, Uganda. Uganda election commission declared on Saturday, Feb. 20, 2016 President Yoweri Museveni the winner of elections, with more than 60 percent of vote. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis, File) Israel harnesses skills of soldiers on the autism spectrum TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) Pvt. E never thought he'd join the army. As someone on the autism spectrum, he struggled with certain social situations and would get easily distracted. Now, at 19, he is serving in a sensitive intelligence unit in the Israeli military, working in software quality assurance and defying what he and many of those around him thought he could accomplish. Israel has for decades exempted people on the spectrum from joining the military, a compulsory duty for most Israeli Jews. But in recent years it is increasingly enlisting them, harnessing their special capabilities for certain meticulous tasks and including them in an Israeli rite of passage that can boost their independence and open professional doors. "It gives me a chance. It gives me education, on-the-job education," said Pvt. E, whose name could not be published and whose face could not be photographed because he serves in a classified intelligence unit. "It's a beginning. It's a very solid beginning." In this photo taken Wednesday, Feb. 9, 2016, an Israeli soldier walks in an office in downtown Tel Aviv. A military program called seeing into the distance, provides training and assistance to Israelis on the autism spectrum who wish to enlist in the military. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner) Pvt. E. is part of a program called Roim Rachok, or "seeing into the distance," which provides training and assistance to Israelis on the autism spectrum who wish to enlist in the military. The program's founders saw the inclusion of people on the spectrum as a way to help usher them into a self-sufficient life once they are discharged. Until recently, people on the spectrum were largely sidelined from the military, allowed to volunteer but without a proper framework to ease them into the challenges of military life. Roim Rachok, and at least one other program that has sprouted up, is doing just that. The Israeli military serves as a great equalizer where youth from all walks intersect and those who do not enlist can find themselves at a handicap once they hit the job market. One's military career can often be a key determinant for employers and soldiers who served in intelligence units often land coveted jobs in Israel's booming tech sector. People on the spectrum are dealt another challenge once they reach 21, the age when state-funded programs and assistance are mostly cut off, leaving them to fend for themselves or depend on their parents for support. Roim Rachok hopes to provide its graduates with a softer landing through inclusion in the military. "Many sit at their parents' home and don't do anything. That is the painful reality," said Tal Vardi, a retired security official who is co-founder of the program. "This program gives every adult on the spectrum the opportunity to realize his full potential. And the moment we give them opportunity it puts them and us as a society in a different place." Dozens of people on the spectrum have participated in the program since 2013. They undergo a three-month training session at the Ono Academic College outside Tel Aviv that tests their skills and determines whether they could handle the military's rigid nature. They then serve in a civilian capacity in a military unit for another three months before they officially enlist. The program seizes on the participants' perceptive capabilities and their knack for precision or repetition and places them in the military's most elite and sensitive intelligence units, where they pour over satellite imagery or, like Pvt. E., serve in quality assurance roles, verifying that the software the military develops is flawless. The program is expanding to address people with skills other than heightened perception, training soldiers for roles in combat support as well. Once in the army, the soldiers are accompanied by an occupational therapist and a psychologist, lending support both to the people on the spectrum and their commanders and colleagues who may need guidance in their relationship with the soldiers. Unlike typical recruits, who serve close to three years, these soldiers have a basic, voluntary, service of one year. But they are allowed to extend their service and volunteer for an additional two years if they choose. Roim Rachok also provides guidance once they leave the military. Autism is a developmental disorder that can involve language and social impairments, affecting people to varying degrees. Many of the participants in Roim Rachom are considered "high functioning," meaning they have above-average intelligence but may have difficulties with social interaction and communication. Not all soldiers on the spectrum qualify for the program and of those who do, not all have gone on to serve in the military, Vardi said. He said that much of the soldiers' success depends on how tolerant and accepting the people they work with can be, which is why support staff are deployed to help. "Often the operational difficulty brings with it some sort of emotional difficulty," said Capt. Y., who commands six soldiers who are on the spectrum. "There may be a soldier who really struggles with the work and he isn't succeeding and you need to know how to deal with it." In the small office in downtown Tel Aviv where Pvt. E. and his fellow soldiers are based, they toil away on computers beneath pulled blinds, shielding their classified work from prying eyes outside. A corkboard spelling out the day's to-do list hangs on the wall beside a whiteboard, where the soldiers draw up mathematical equations during their spare time. "It's revolutionary," said Pvt. Y., a soldier who also works in quality assurance, of his military service. "It proves that even though others say we cannot, we can." ___ Follow Tia Goldenberg on Twitter at www.twitter.com/tgoldenberg In this photo taken Wednesday, Feb. 9, 2016, an Israeli soldier on the autism spectrum works on a computer in a small office in downtown Tel Aviv. The country, who for decades exempted people on the autism spectrum from military service, has increasingly enlisted them harnessing their special capabilities for some of the most meticulous tasks.(AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner) In this photo taken Wednesday, Feb. 9, 2016, an Israeli soldier on the autism spectrum works on a computer as his commander writes on a whiteboard in a small office in downtown Tel Aviv. A military program called seeing into the distance, provides training and assistance to Israelis on the autism spectrm who wish to enlist in the military. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner) In Pope Francis era, US candidates face new moral questions NEW YORK (AP) When politicians were confronted in recent years about how their policies fit their faith, the issue at hand was usually abortion and the targets were mostly Democrats. This week, Pope Francis managed to put the Republicans on the defensive by rebuking Donald Trump and doing so over a different issue: immigration. The censure roared through the entire field of GOP presidential candidates, who were all pressed about the morality of their approach to immigrants in the country illegally, during a primary dominated by increasingly tough rhetoric that has emphasized border security. FILE - In this Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2016 file photo, Pope Francis waves from his popemobile as he leaves the fairgrounds in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, where he celebrated an outdoor Mass. When politicians were confronted in recent years about how their policies fit their faith, the issue at hand was usually abortion and the targets were mostly Democrats. Flying back to Rome, the pontiff managed to put the Republicans on the defensive by rebuking Donald Trump on a different issue: immigration. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull) Analysts say the pope's remarks should serve as a wake-up call for Republicans about how public discussion of religion and policy is broadening under this popular pope who, through his gestures and speeches, has put a greater emphasis on helping the vulnerable than on divisive social issues. "The Democrats aren't off the hook. It's just the Republicans are on it, too, and this might be a new experience for them," said Cathleen Kaveny, a Boston College theologian and author of "Prophecy Without Contempt: Religious Discourse in the Public Square." Francis' comments came hours after he ended a visit to Mexico, where he prayed at the border for people who died trying to reach the U.S. While speaking to reporters on the papal plane Wednesday, he was asked about Trump's campaign pledge to build a wall along the entire length of the border and expel millions of people in the U.S. illegally. "A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian. This is not in the Gospel," he said. While Francis said he would "give the benefit of the doubt" because he had not heard Trump's border plans independently, he added, "I say only that this man is not a Christian if he has said things like that." On Friday, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, a Vatican spokesman, said the pope's remarks were "in no way a personal attack or an indication on how to vote." And during the same news conference, in response to a different question, Francis also made some of his toughest public comments to date against abortion, comparing the procedure to a Mafia hit and repeatedly calling abortion evil. "It is a crime, an absolute evil," Francis said. But the pope had made clear since his first trip as pontiff outside the Vatican praying at the Italian island of Lampedusa for migrants who died trying to cross the sea to reach Italy that generosity toward immigrants was one of his top concerns. "I think we're looking at the impact of the Francis era, where there are different points of contact and different aspects of the Catholic tradition are emphasized," said Mathew Schmalz, a religious studies professor at the College of the Holy Cross in Massachusetts. "Many prominent Catholic intellectuals have been swayed toward the Republicans in the last few decades. This is a jolt." Francis' immediate predecessors, Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI, also emphasized care for the poor and immigrants. But they prioritized greater adherence to doctrine, including on abortion, and appointed bishops who would do the same. Recent presidential elections have seen intensifying confrontations between church leaders and candidates. In 2004, Cardinal Raymond Burke, then the St. Louis archbishop, caused an uproar when said he would deny Communion to Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry, a Catholic who supports abortion rights. Some bishops followed suit by telling Catholic politicians who support abortion rights not to present themselves for the sacrament. In 2007, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a new version of their presidential-year guidance for Catholic voters that highlighted a range of issues, but said opposition to abortion should be Catholics' greatest concern. The bishops re-issued the guide for 2016 with only limited revisions, but several bishops individually have also been highlighting issues such as climate change, immigration and poverty. No one expects the pope's remarks on Trump to persuade voters to change candidates. But he can help shape public discussion of the issues, said Francis Rooney, who was U.S. ambassador to the Vatican under President George W. Bush, and now backs former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. "The pope's a soft-power player. His impact around the world comes from moral suasion and influence," Rooney said. "I think the pope has got such a strong moral voice that when he weighs in on immigration, I think it makes more people think about it." Bush, one of the few GOP candidates proposing a path to legal status for people already in the U.S. illegally, said Thursday he supports "walls and fencing where it's appropriate." He said he seeks guidance from the pope on being Catholic, but not on policy. Marco Rubio, another Catholic candidate for the GOP nomination, said he has "tremendous respect and admiration" for the pope, but he added, "There's no nation on Earth that's more compassionate on immigration than we are." John Carr, who served for more than two decades as the social justice director for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and for years helped write the bishops' election-year guide, said the pope is having some impact on American political life. Carr met last fall with some Democratic lawmakers soon after Francis made his first visit to the U.S. Carr asked them why they didn't follow Francis' lead and talk more about poverty. "Pope Francis doesn't fit our political prejudices," Carr said. "He appeals to our consciences and that's his most powerful contribution." First House GOP primaries will test anti-incumbent mood WASHINGTON (AP) When the calendar turns to March in this year of the irate voter, the first wave of congressional Republicans will find out whether they have their very own Dave Brat waiting for them. Brat was an underfunded, obscure college professor who shocked the political world in 2014 by ousting House Majority Leader Eric Cantor in what was supposed to be a no-contest Republican primary in Virginia. He now holds the Richmond-area seat and is one of the chamber's more conservative and recalcitrant members. Next month, GOP House members in a crescent curving from Texas to Illinois face the first congressional primaries in this incumbent-bashing, anti-establishment season of billionaire Donald Trump and Ted Cruz, the leading Republican presidential contenders. FILE - In this Dec. 11, 2013 file photo, Rep. John Shimkus, R-Ill. speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington. Next month, GOP House members in a crescent from Texas to North Carolina to Illinois face the first congressional primaries in this incumbent-bashing, anti-establishment year of Donald Trump and Ted Cruz. Most are expected to survive. But political operatives say a few are in contests worth watching for possible upsets. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File) Nearly all House members are expected to survive. But a few face contests being watched for possible upsets by conservative challengers. Among them: Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady of Texas, and Reps. Martha Roby and Bradley Byrne of Alabama and John Shimkus of Illinois. "It's an open question whether we'll see any serious candidates on the fringe right," said Rob Engstrom, national political director of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which has started TV advertising backing Roby and Byrne and could engage in other House races. He said that March 1, when Alabama, Arkansas and Texas have the initial House primaries, is "a very important day to measure and determine what the score is." Mississippi House primaries are March 8, followed by Ohio and Illinois a week later. March 15 House contests in North Carolina have been delayed until June because of a dispute over redrawing district boundaries. As usual, most incumbents have overwhelming financial and name-recognition advantages. In Texas, Brady's campaign raised $1.6 million last year, compared with $64,000 for the best financed of his three challengers, pool company owner and former state Rep. Steve Toth. That edge has long made most officeholders impossible to topple. In 2014, just five sitting House members were defeated in party primaries. But 2016 poses a new test, with voters' ill feelings toward Washington, fanned by Trump and Cruz, fueling conservatives' hopes of defeating Republicans deemed too willing to cut deals. "The frustration and anger that's out there would indicate that this is the year you get beat from the right," said Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., like Brat a member of the rebellious House Freedom Caucus that last year helped push House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, to resign from Congress. "If you don't get beat this year, you will be golden for a long time." The surly mood has prompted the conservative Club for Growth to run hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of TV ads attacking Shimkus and Rep. Renee Ellmers in a now-delayed North Carolina race. Club commercials also back conservative Warren Davidson's bid for Boehner's vacant seat in western Ohio, which if successful would be a symbolic coup. Other groups including FreedomWorks, Citizens United Political Victory Fund and the Senate Conservatives Fund are also helping conservative contenders. Brady is among 13 Texas GOP House incumbents facing primary opponents, challenges that are mostly considered long-shots. He's represented his district north of Houston for two decades and last fall became chairman of the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee, a combination that makes him a household name locally and a national magnet for political contributions. He also boasts endorsements from National Right to Life, the National Rifle Association and a sky-high 95 percent lifetime rating from the American Conservative Union. A primary defeat of a sitting Ways and Means chairman would be unprecedented, says Eric Ostermeier, research associate at the University of Minnesota's Center for the Study of Politics and Governance. "A lot of things get said during election season," Brady recently emailed supporters, "but the facts about my dedication to conservative, limited government principles are clear." Toth says Brady isn't conservative enough. He says anger toward establishment Republicans is "off the charts" and predicts he'll be helped by the Texas' March 1 presidential primary, the same day as the state's congressional primaries. "Seventy percent of the people who come to the polls here in Texas are going to be voting for either Trump or Cruz," said Toth. "And they're not going to pull the lever for Kevin Brady." Wally Wilkerson Jr., longtime Republican Party chairman in Montgomery County, the district's largest, cites a "very unusual" political climate with lots of unhappy voters. "The congressman is taking it seriously," Wilkerson says of his re-election race. "If I was advising him, that's what I'd tell him." In rural southern Illinois, the $1.3 million Shimkus reported raising last year was nearly 10 times what challenger Kyle McCarter reported collecting. But playing on anti-incumbent fever, a Club for Growth ad targeting the 10-term veteran lawmaker says, "A guy who's been in Washington 20 years ain't going to fix it." In a recent interview, Shimkus countered by citing his supporters. "If you're endorsed by the National Right to Life, by the NRA and the Farm Bureau, it's hard for anybody to say you're not representing the district," he said. FILE - In this Feb. 26, 2015 file photo, Rep. Dave Brat, R-Va. leaves a meeting of House Republicans, on Capitol Hill in Washington. Next month, GOP House members in a crescent from Texas to North Carolina to Illinois face the first congressional primaries in this incumbent-bashing, anti-establishment year of Donald Trump and Ted Cruz. Most are expected to survive. But political operatives say a few are in contests worth watching for possible upsets. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File) In this photo taken Feb. 11, 2016, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, right, talks with Rep. Bill Pascrell, D-N.J. on Capitol Hill in Washington. Next month, GOP House members in a crescent from Texas to North Carolina to Illinois face the first congressional primaries in this incumbent-bashing, anti-establishment year of Donald Trump and Ted Cruz. Most are expected to survive. But political operatives say a few are in contests worth watching for possible upsets, (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) All eyes on Iowa's Grassley for Supreme Court nominee's fate WASHINGTON (AP) Sen. Chuck Grassley farmer, onetime sheet metal shearer, six-term senator and Judiciary Committee chairman has a major say in whether President Barack Obama's Supreme Court nominee even gets a hearing. So far, the 82-year-old Iowa lawmaker has delivered a somewhat muddled message. Hours after Justice Antonin Scalia's death one week ago, Grassley issued a statement that echoed his Republican leader, Mitch McConnell. "It only makes sense that we defer to the American people who will elect a new president to select the next Supreme Court justice," Grassley said. In this Feb. 10, 2016, photo, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, speaks with reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington. Grassley has a major say on whether President Barack Obama's nominee to the Supreme Court even gets a hearing. In the past week, Grassley, who is seeking a seventh term, has delivered a muddled message about the fate of any pick. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) But three days later, Grassley said on a conference call with reporters that he would "wait until the nominee is made before I would make any decisions" on whether to hold a hearing. "In other words, take it a step at a time," he said. He's repeated the "step at a time" refrain throughout the week on his multiple stops in Iowa, part of his pledge to visit all of the state's 99 counties each year. By late Thursday, Grassley and McConnell had penned an op-ed in The Washington Post, saying the American people should have a chance to decide on the justice through voting in the next election, "rather than a lame-duck president whose priorities and policies they just rejected in the most-recent national election." The same day, Grassley and Obama discussed the nomination process over the phone, according to the White House. A Grassley spokeswoman would only describe the call as cordial, and would not say whether the committee will hold hearings. Obama also called McConnell. Obama has insisted he will fulfill his constitutional responsibility and send a nomination to the Senate. The White House may consider playing to Grassley's sympathies with its choice. Among the possible nominees is Judge Jane Kelly, a former Iowa public defender who was named to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit in 2013. Grassley backed Kelly's confirmation, in part because a longtime friend highly recommended her, he said at her confirmation hearing. Kelly once clerked for circuit court Judge David Hansen, a onetime county Republican chairman who campaigned for Grassley in first bid for the House, the senator told the committee. Grassley was laid up in the hospital at the time and never forgot Hansen's work helping him win. "He gets all the credit for it," Grassley said. Some of Grassley's GOP colleagues have argued against any hearing for Obama's nominee. The top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy, has called for Grassley to move forward. "I have served in the Senate for more than four decades, and on the Judiciary Committee for 36 years," Leahy said this week. "During that time, Supreme Court nominees have always been treated differently compared to other nominees they have always received a hearing and they have always been reported to the full Senate." Leahy presided over the panel in 2009 and 2010, when Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan were confirmed. Those nominations were an easier task for Obama, as the Senate was under Democratic control. Grassley voted against the nominations of both justices. Grassley, who is seeking his seventh term, is a veteran of intense, partisan battles in the Senate. He helped push through President George W. Bush's tax cuts 15 years ago and was the top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee as the panel considered health care overhaul in 2009 and 2010. Last year, he launched an investigation of former Secretary of State and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's use of a private email account and server. He also has worked well with Democrats. He and Leahy have combined forces on a criminal justice overhaul, despite opposition from some conservatives. Grassley's also known for his genial, folksy demeanor around the Senate, even if he's occasionally hard on witnesses and corporations or charities he sees as operating outside the law. In recent years he has taken to Twitter, often humorously and with misspellings. He tweets often, in the last week logging his various town hall visits and mentioning a North Korea sanctions bill "U can't trust the fat dictatr," he tweeted but he hasn't said much about what his committee will do with Obama's inevitable Supreme Court nomination. He saved those comments for his constituents. "I would say this isn't about a person at this point. This is about a process," Grassley said at a town hall in Muscatine, Iowa. ___ PICTURED: A selection of pictures from the past week Highlights from the weekly AP photo report, a gallery featuring a mix of front-page photography, the odd image you might have missed and lasting moments our editors think you should see. This week's gallery features North Koreans celebrating a revered national holiday, protests over Turkey's security actions against Kurdish rebels and mists rising from Lake Ontario on an extremely cold day in Toronto. ___ People stand near North Korean flags during a mass dance party as part of celebrations of the "Day of the Shining Star" or birthday anniversary of late North Korean leader Kim Jong Il on Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2016, in Pyongyang, North Korea. The celebrations for Kim's birthday, a revered national holiday, came as South Koreas president warned that North Korea faces collapse if it doesnt abandon its nuclear weapons program, amid an international outcry over Pyongyangs January nuclear test and the Feb. 7 rocket launch. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E) This gallery contains photos published Feb. 13-Feb. 20, 2016. See the latest AP photo galleries: http://apne.ws/TXeCBN The Archive: Top photo highlights from previous weeks: http://apne.ws/13QUFKJ ___ Follow AP photographers on Twitter: http://twitter.com/AP/lists/ap-photographers Follow AP Images on Twitter: http://twitter.com/AP_Images Visit AP Images online: http://www.apimages.com http://www.apimages.com/ ___ This gallery was produced by Patrick Sison in New York. Fernando Ravera uses a lighter to navigate the stairs of his apartment building that has been without electricity for four days in a row, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Thursday, Feb. 18, 2016. The city's energy system has been unable to cope with a summer heat wave, prompting some residents to block streets in protest. The government began rationing electricity on Thursday, affecting thousands of homes and businesses in the capital and surrounding towns. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko) Mourners take seats ahead of the funeral of former U.N. Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, in Al-Boutrossiya Church, in the main Coptic Cathedral complex in Cairo, Egypt, Thursday, Feb. 18, 2016. Boutros-Ghali, a veteran Egyptian diplomat who helped negotiate his country's landmark peace deal with Israel but then clashed with the United States when he served a single term as U.N. secretary-general, died Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2016, aged 93. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty) A protester launches firecrackers towards a Turkish police water cannon during clashes in Istanbul, Sunday, Feb. 14, 2016, between police forces and people protesting against security operations against Kurdish rebels in southeastern Turkey. Turkey imposed curfews in mainly Kurdish towns and districts in December while its security forces battled militants linked to the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, who set up barricades, dug trenches and primed explosives in the areas they have declared to be under Kurdish self-rule. (AP Photo/Cagdas Erdogan) A police officer struggles to keep hold of a box containing voting materials, as excited voters surround him after waiting over 7 hours without being able to vote, at a polling station in Ggaba, on the outskirts of Kampala, in Uganda Thursday, Feb. 18, 2016. As election returns showed a strong, early lead Friday for incumbent President Yoweri Museveni. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis) Emergency personnel work at the scene of a fatal crash near Fredericksburg, Pa., Saturday, Feb. 13, 2016. The pileup left tractor-trailers, box trucks and cars tangled together across several lanes of traffic and into the snow-covered median. (Daniel Zampogna/PennLive.com via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT; MAGS OUT Mist rises from Lake Ontario in front of the Toronto skyline during extreme cold weather on Saturday, Feb. 13, 2016. Environment Canada had issued extreme cold warnings for provinces from Manitoba to New Brunswick. (Mark Blinch/The Canadian Press via AP) A commercial jet takes off from McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas on Thursday, Feb. 18, 2016. City officials say more than 45 million people came through the airport in 2015. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong) China's top securities regulator steps down amid turmoil BEIJING (AP) China's top securities regulator will step down following months of turmoil in Chinese stock markets that have battered faith in Beijing's economic management. The departure of Xiao Gang, a legal expert with decades of experience in the finance industry, may help assuage public anger at the dramatic boom and bust, but doesn't address the market's underlying problems. The official Xinhua News Agency reported Saturday that Xiao would be replaced by Liu Shiyu, chairman of the Agricultural Bank of China and a former deputy governor of China's central bank. In this March 11, 2014, photo, then head of China Securities Regulatory Commission Xiao Gang, left, and Zhou Xiaochuan, governor of the People's Bank of China, attend a press conference in Beijing, China. Xiao who was appointed China's top securities regulator in March 2013 will step down following months of turmoil in the Chinese stock markets, the state-run news agency said Saturday, Feb. 20, 2016. (Chinatopix Via AP) CHINA OUT "Xiao Gang is worth no pity but he is destined to be a tragic figure, caught between pro-government and pro-market factions and left to take care of a mess from an unhealthy system," Beijing-based veteran financial commentator Shi Shusi said. "His departure will not bring a clean era for China's capital, but at most a belated consolation for investors who have been hurt." The capital market is where China's rivaling political forces have come into most intense clashes, Shi said. The unusual intervention by the Ministry of Public Security and investigations against securities firms following market meltdowns are proof that covert political forces within the Chinese government had made waves, Shi said. "As China transforms, the capital market is where political forces wrestle with each other and is where the conflicts play out," he said. Fueled by cheerleading in the state press after officials said Chinese stocks should rise, the Shanghai and Shenzhen markets vaulted from late 2014, reaching a peak in June last year, then crumbled in several waves of panic selling that sent shockwaves around the world. Officials prolonged the turmoil with draconian measures such as banning major shareholders in publicly traded companies from selling any shares and ordering state funds to buy. The bust hurt millions of neophyte Chinese investors who piled into the market when it was near its peak. Analysts say Beijing's moves on stocks, as well as its halting steps to ease currency controls, show the tension between the ruling Communist Party's desire for market-oriented reform and its overriding objective of retaining absolute political control. The Shanghai Composite Index closed at 2,860.02 on Friday, a decline of about 45 percent from its peak in June of about 5,178 and barely higher than late 2014, when the market started rising. Liu, the new chief securities regulator, was trained in engineering at the prestigious Tsinghua University and started a career in the state banking industry in the late 1980s. Xiao, who was appointed in March 2013, was particularly criticized for the mishandled introduction of a "circuit breaker" mechanism for the markets in January that halted trading when prices fall by a certain percentage. It was meant to help stabilize Chinese stocks as authorities gradually withdrew their emergency support measures, but only added to the turmoil. The Latest: Russia's Lavrov discusses Syria with Kerry DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) The Latest on the conflict in Syria (all times local): 6 p.m. Russia says Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry have held a telephone discussion on the Syrian conflict. In this photo taken on Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2016, a Syrian government soldier takes his position with an anti-tank rocket launcher, preparing to fire against Islamic State group positions in the province of Raqqa, Syria. In recent weeks, Syrian government forces captured dozens of villages and towns across the country. (Alexander Kots/Komsomolskaya Pravda via AP) A Foreign Ministry statement Saturday said the two "pointed to the progress made in humanitarian aid deliveries to the blocked areas on Syrian territory." Lavrov also "drew attention to the inadmissibility of Turkey's provocative actions violating Syria's territorial integrity." Russia has criticized Turkey's cross-border shelling of a Kurdish militia but was rebuffed in its attempt Friday to introduce a U.N. resolution against such artillery fire. ___ 5:15 p.m. A Syrian official says he "regrets" that Western countries rejected a U.N. draft resolution proposed by Russia aimed at halting cross-border shelling and preventing a foreign ground intervention in the Syrian conflict. Deputy Foreign Minister Faysal Mekdad says "we are not surprised" by the decision taken by Western countries "that have conspired against Syria and submitted all kinds of support for terrorists." He spoke Saturday in comments carried by the Syrian news agency SANA. The draft resolution was put forth by Russia Friday at an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council. It was turned down by France. It was clearly aimed at Turkey, a leading backer of Syrian rebels which has threatened ground action and is continuing cross-border artillery shelling against a U.S.-backed Kurdish militia in Syria. ___ 2:45 p.m. The main Syrian opposition group says it is ready "in principle" to implement a temporary truce in Syria The Saudi-backed group known as the High Negotiations Committee says however that the Syrian government must lift blockades off rebel-held communities in Syria and release detainees from prisons. The statement followed a meeting between opposition groups held in Riyadh Saturday, after a deadline set by world powers for a temporary pause in fighting passed. It says any truce must include all parties to the conflict including Russia and Iran, key supporters of President Bashar Assad's government. Russia has said that it would continue to strike those it considers "terrorists" in Syria even during a cease-fire. ___ 2:30 p.m. Saudi Arabia's foreign minister says he favors equipping Syrian rebels with surface-to-air missiles, arguing it would shift the balance of power. Saudi Arabia is a key backer of rebels against President Bashar Assad. Foreign Minister Adel el-Jubeir was quoted as telling German weekly Der Spiegel in an interview published Saturday: "We believe that introducing surface-to-air missiles in Syria is going to change the balance of power on the ground." He said the moderate opposition could "neutralize" helicopters and aircraft that have been bombing them. Al-Jubeir added that the move must be studied carefully, "because you don't want such weapons to fall into the wrong hands." He was quoted as saying: "This is a decision that the international coalition will have to make. This is not Saudi Arabia's decision." ___ 2:15 p.m. The main Saudi-backed Syrian opposition coalition is harshly criticizing both the Syrian government and Russia for the failure of an agreed-upon temporary cessation of hostilities to take hold on the ground. A statement Saturday from the High Negotiations Committee accused Damascus and Moscow of blatantly ignoring the temporary cessation of hostilities agreed upon last week during meetings in Munich, Germany. The statement from HNC spokesman Salem Al Meslet accused Syria and Russia of showing "disdain for the international community and disregard for the lives of Syrians." Al Meslet pronounced the Munich agreement a failure and called for "a new approach" that holds Damascus and Moscow accountable for their "continued murder and humanitarian crimes while falsely cloaked in the language of peace." ___ 1:30 p.m. Secretary of State John Kerry and British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond discussed the ongoing crisis in Syria and progress being made in Geneva by two U.N. task forces one working on a cease-fire and another focused on providing humanitarian aid to besieged areas. Kerry had breakfast with Hammond on Saturday morning in London en route to Amman, Jordan where he was to have a weekend meeting with King Abdullah II to further discuss the Syrian crisis and other issues. State Department spokesman John Kirby says Kerry thanked Britain for its help in the fight against the Islamic State militants. A Feb. 12 meeting in Munich of 18 key nations supporting opposing sides in Syria's five-year civil war agreed to a cessation of hostilities within a week, but that didn't happen because of intense fighting. U.N. envoy Staffan de Mistura had hoped for a resumption of talks on Feb. 25, but de Mistura announced on Friday that talks would not resume by that date. Jordan is one of a handful of Arab states that have taken part in a U.S.-led air campaign against IS, which last year seized swaths of Iraq and Syria. Jordan hosts about 635,000 Syrians registered with the U.N. refugee agency, out of more than 4.7 million Syrian war refugees in regional host countries. ___ 12:30 p.m. The spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin says the Kremlin is disappointed by the rejection of a proposed United Nations resolution aimed at stopping cross-border shelling and foreign ground intervention in the Syrian conflict. The draft resolution was put forth by Russia on Friday at an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council. It was turned down by France. It did not name Turkey but it was clearly aimed at the Turkish government, which has threatened ground action and is continuing a cross-border artillery shelling campaign against U.S.-backed Kurdish militia positions in Syria. On Saturday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said "Russia views such trans-border strikes by Turkish artillery and artillery strikes at Syrian territory as unacceptable," according to the state news agency Tass. "We can only express our regret that this draft resolution was not supported," he said. ___ 11 a.m. Syria's government says Turkish artillery shelling inside Syria is an "outrageous violation" of international law. In a statement published by the state-run SANA news agency Saturday, it accused Turkey of committing "crimes" against the Syrians by firing artillery shells at areas in the northern province of Aleppo. It added that a number of civilians were injured by the artillery fire that targeted Tel Rifaat, Malikiyeh and other towns. Turkey has in the past week kept up a cross-border artillery shelling campaign against U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish militia positions in Syria. It has also threatened ground action, saying it was exercising its right to self-defense and responding to fire from Syrian soil. The main Kurdish group in Syria has denied firing at Turkey from Syria. In this photo taken on Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2016, soldiers from the Syrian army carry a rocket to fire at Islamic State group positions in the province of Raqqa, Syria. In recent weeks, Syrian government forces captured dozens of villages and towns across the country. (Alexander Kots/Komsomolskaya Pravda via AP) Most suspects freed in Indonesia raid as tough law pending JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) Indonesian police on Sunday released most of the men detained while attending military-style training at a suspect jihadi camp, as officials lamented weaknesses in the current anti-terrorism legislation that is due to be significantly strengthened following last month's deadly attacks in Jakarta. The elite anti-terrorism squad early Saturday detained 38 men at a suspected militant camp on the remote slopes of Mount Sumbing in Central Java province, said provincial police spokesman Col. Liliek Darmanto. Police seized air rifles, knives, and jihadi books and flags in the raid. However, they were released early Sunday after 24-hour questioning as police were unable to prove a string of terrorism-related allegations, he said. Indonesian police officers stand guard outside the house of a suspected militant following a raid in Malang, Indonesia, Saturday, Feb. 20, 2016. The police arrested a number of people allegedly linked to Jan. 14 attack in Jakarta, in a series of raids in the East Java city Saturday. (AP Photo/H.Y. Prabowo) "This is the weakness of our laws," said Saud Usman Nasution, head of the anti-terrorism agency. "We cannot arrest before they have committed a crime even though we can detect a radical network." His agency has been pushing the government to strengthen the anti-terrorism law. It gained momentum following the Jan. 14 suicide and gun attacks in Jakarta, which left eight people dead, including four of the attackers. In response to the attacks, Indonesia's government submitted a new anti-terrorism law to parliament this past week. The draft bill, obtained by The Associated Press, says an individual suspected of plotting to carry out an act of terrorism could be detained for up to six months without charges. If approved, it would be the first time for such a tough measure to be enacted since the downfall of dictator Suharto in 1998. Luhut Pandjaitan, a Cabinet minister in charge of security and political affairs, said he expected lawmakers to pass the revisions within the next two months. The bill would also become an offense for Indonesians to join a militant group overseas such as the Islamic State group, or recruit others, with a maximum imprisonment of seven years. It would also authorize the anti-terrorism squad to execute raids and arrest suspects for interrogation based solely on intelligence reports. In addition to the Central Java raid, five other suspected militants were captured late Friday in Malang, a hilly city in East Java province, said local police chief Lt. Col. Yudho Nugroho. He said police were tipped about their whereabouts after interrogating alleged militants who were arrested on suspicion of links to the Jakarta attack. National police chief Gen. Badrodin Haiti told lawmakers last week that police had arrested a total of 33 people in connection with the attack. Among those arrested Friday was Nazarudin Mukhtar also known as Abu Ghar. He is believed to have planned the Jakarta attack with Muhammad Ali and Afif Sunakin, who was fatally shot by by police when the two were trying to detonate a bomb in front of a Starbucks cafe, said Lt. Col. Arif Makhfudiharto, head of the anti-terrorism squad unit in West Java province. Mukhtar, who had recently completed a prison sentence for his role in a deadly 2004 attack on a police station in Maluku province, "returned to his old ways," Arif said. He alleged Mukhtar joined a new militant cell after visiting Abu Bakar Bashir and Aman Abdurrahman, the country's most radical clerics who are now serving sentences on the Nusa Kambangan prison island. Kiev demonstrators attack Russian banks KIEV, Ukraine (AP) Nationalist demonstrators in Ukraine on Saturday attacked two offices of Russian banks in the capital amid observances of the second anniversary of the protests that brought down the Russia-friendly president. Demonstrators threw rocks through windows at the offices of Alfa Bank and Sberbank and damaged furniture and equipment inside. Protesters also vandalized the offices of the holding company of Ukraine's richest man, Rinat Akhmetov. Police did not intervene. Tens of thousands of people in the Ukrainian capital came to various observances of the "Day of the Heavenly Hundred." The term refers to those who died during the months of protests in Kiev that culminated with President Viktor Yanukovych fleeing. Commander of a volunteer battalion Mykola Kokhanivsky throws a stone against the window of an office that belongs to Ukraine tycoon Rinat Akhmetov in Kiev, Ukraine, Saturday, Feb. 20, 2016. The activists blame Akhmetov of supporting corruption and pro-russian separatists. The anniversary of a massacre in which more than 100 people were killed by sniper fire during massive protests two years ago. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky) Saturday was the second anniversary of the bloodiest day of the protests, when more than 50 people died from sniper fire. After the ousting of Yanukovych, Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine and Russian-speaking separatists in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions launched protests that escalated into a war that has killed more than 9,000 people. A cease-fire was called a year ago, but reports of violations are frequent. Russia, which Ukraine and Western countries claim has sent troops and equipment to back the insurgents, blames the Kiev authorities for keeping tensions high by failing to push through measures that would increase autonomy for the eastern regions and allow local elections. But nationalists vehemently reject any concessions to the east and are angered by authorities' failure to address Ukraine's endemic corruption. Akhmetov, whose wealth springs from mining and steel in the east, is a target of their anger. "We need to have a third Maidan," said Nikolai Kokhanovsky, a leader of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists, using the common term of the protests of 2014 and those of the 2004 Orange Revolution. New protests would "sweep away this corrupt government and pro-Russian oligarchs who have betrayed our revolution of dignity." "Russia and the oligarchs are guilty for life in Ukraine becoming worse and worse," said 21-year-old protester Ruslan Tymchuk, who was dressed in camouflage and wielding a bat. In recent weeks, political tensions have risen and President Petro Poroshenko this week urged Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, a key figure of the 2014 protests, to resign along with his government. But Yatsenyuk survived a parliamentary no-confidence vote. At the observances for those who died in the protests, Poroshenko vowed that efforts would continue to bring to justice the snipers who killed demonstrators and asserted that despite the eastern conflict and severe economic difficulties "nonetheless, the country is changing and moving forward." The head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church Patriarch Filaret conducts the memorial service for the "Heavenly hundred" in the Mikhaylivsky Cathedral in Kiev, Ukraine, Saturday, Feb. 20 2016. The "Heavenly Hundred" is what Ukrainians in Kiev call those who died during months of anti-government protests in 2013-14. (AP Photo/Sergei Chuzavkov) 6 held in Spain court probe into China's ICBC bank in Madrid MADRID (AP) A Spanish judge has ruled that six executives of China's state-owned ICBC bank in Madrid should be detained pending a judicial probe into suspected money laundering and tax fraud, a court statement said Saturday. Three Industrial and Commercial Bank of China officials were sent to jail while investigations continue. Three others were given the option of paying 100,000 euros ($111,300) bail, the statement said. Five executives were arrested Wednesday on suspicion of money laundering, crimes against Spain's tax authority and forgery. The sixth, who previously worked in ICBC's Madrid offices but now works in the Luxembourg branch, was nabbed Friday. Spanish Civil Guard policemen stand guard outside China's ICBC bank offices, in Madrid, Spain, Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2016. Spanish police searched offices of China's ICBC bank in downtown Madrid and arrested five people Wednesday as part of a money laundering and tax fraud probe. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco) All court interviews were held with interpreters present and all six waived their right not to testify. The court statement said the bank continued to operate normally and Wednesday's search of its Madrid premises "took place within the strict framework of pre-trial investigations." The Chinese embassy in Madrid said in a statement that the Chinese government "requires Chinese companies to maintain a strict compliance of the law." The statement said the bank was using "the latest anti-money-laundering system" which it said was provided by Spanish authorities. It said the head of ICBC Europe arrived in Madrid "to help" as soon as he had been informed of the search. Police said the tax agency's National Fraud Investigation Office and the European Union's EUROPOL agency were collaborating in the probe. The police said the operation was a follow-up on one in 2015 that targeted gangs using the bank to launder to China some 40 million euros ($45 million) proceeding from Chinese-run bargain stores in Spain. China's Deputy Foreign Minister Liu Xing spoke Friday with Spain's embassy official Jose Luis Garcia Galan to convey his government's hopes that the legal rights of Chinese businesses and personnel in Spain would be guaranteed. Spanish Civil Guards escort a detained woman while leaving China's ICBC bank offices in Madrid, Spain, Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2016. Spanish police searched offices of China's ICBC bank in downtown Madrid and arrested five people Wednesday as part of a money laundering and tax fraud probe. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco) A Spanish Civil Guard escorts a detained man while leaving China's ICBC bank offices in Madrid, Spain, Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2016. Spanish police searched offices of China's ICBC bank in downtown Madrid and arrested five people Wednesday as part of a money laundering and tax fraud probe. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco) People leave China's ICBC bank in Madrid, Spain, Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2016 after a police raid. Spain's Civil Guard police are searching offices of the bank in downtown Madrid as part of a money laundering and tax fraud probe. A police statement said Wednesday's search of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China was a follow-up on a police operation in 2015 that targeted gangs using the bank to launder to China some 40 million euros ($45 million) proceeding from Chinese-run bargain stores across Spain. (AP Photo/Paul White) 2 NYPD officers shot in confrontation with gunman NEW YORK (AP) Two police officers were shot in a confrontation with a gunman who slammed his car into a police vehicle early Saturday, in the second on-duty shooting of multiple officers in the nation's biggest city this month, police said. Officers William Reddin and Andrew Yurkiw were in stable condition after the 3:30 a.m. encounter, which happened as multiple officers converged and fired at an armed driver who had pointed a gun at some of the officers, fled and then rammed a police car, Police Commissioner William Bratton said. Police were investigating how many officers fired and the exact sequence of events, including whether police themselves fired any of the shots that injured their colleagues. It's standard for police shooting investigations to look into the possibility of what's known as "friendly fire," and Saturday's shooting unfolded in what Bratton described as "a complex crime scene" involving eight officers and suspect Jamal Funes. Jamal Funes, who used to use the name Frederick Funes, is seen in an undated photo provided by the New York State Department of Corrections. Two police officers were shot in a confrontation with Funes, early Saturday, Feb. 20, 2016, who slammed his car into a police vehicle. Funes had pointed a gun at some of the officers, fled and then rammed a police car, Bratton said. Funes, 34, was in critical condition with multiple gunshot wounds, Police Commissioner William Bratton said. Officers William Reddin and Andrew Yurkiw were in stable condition after the 3:30 a.m. encounter. (New York State Department of Corrections via AP) Mayor Bill de Blasio said Yurkiw and Reddin were alert and expected to recover. "These are very dedicated officers who were out there protecting us," de Blasio, a Democrat, said at a news conference. Funes, 34, was in critical condition with multiple gunshot wounds, Bratton said. Officers found a .357 Magnum revolver on the front seat of his car, with five spent shell casings in the gun, the police commissioner said. He said police were trying to determine what might have prompted Funes' conduct. A spokesman for the New York Police Department said investigators have notified the FBI's Joint Terrorist Task Force about the incident but are unaware of any ties Funes may have to terrorism. A spokeswoman for the FBI did not immediately return a call for comment Saturday night. It wasn't immediately clear whether Funes, who police said had previously used the name Fredrick Funes, had a lawyer who could comment on his behalf. No working telephone number for Funes' family could immediately be found. Records obtained by The Associated Press show Fredrick Funes was released from state prison in 2010 and has served about three years behind bars after being convicted of attempted assault in Brooklyn. A police spokesman confirmed the records are those of the man they have in custody. The shooting came a little more than two weeks after Officers Diara Cruz and Patrick Espeut were shot and wounded on patrol in a public housing stairwell by a gunman who killed himself soon after, police said. Last month, Officer Sherrod Stuart was wounded in the ankle in what police later determined was a friendly-fire shooting as another officer exchanged gunfire with a suspect in a Bronx street brawl. In October, Officer Randolph Holder was shot and killed by a suspected bicycle thief he was chasing. Yurkiw, an officer for three years, was hit in his bulletproof vest 27 years after such a vest also saved his father, former Officer Paul Yurkiw. "It's like I'm going through this all over again," Paul Yurkiw told the Daily News. "Without the vest, me or him and a lot of other police officers wouldn't be walking on this planet right now." Reddin, who participated in a gun arrest only Friday, was shot in the hip, authorities said. Reddin, a nine-year police veteran, was part of a harrowing arrest in the same part of Brooklyn in 2011, when his partner, Sgt. Michael Miller, struggled with a suspect over a gun. Miller's finger, wedged between the gun's hammer and cylinder, prevented the suspect from pulling the trigger, according to news reports at the time. Bratton said the confrontation started when two uniformed housing police officers not Yurkiw and Reddin heard gunfire near an intersection in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood. As they approached Funes, he pointed a revolver and fled, and they followed and radioed for help. Driving the wrong way down a street, Funes rammed a responding, marked police car, Bratton said. He said Reddin and Yurkiw, in plainclothes, were in another car on the scene as multiple officers opened fire. Funes was still in his car when he was shot, Bratton said. ___ This story has been corrected to show first name of the suspect is Jamal, not James, according to the New York Police Department. Philippine police insist its commandos killed terror suspect MANILA, Philippines (AP) Philippine police said Saturday that they stand by their statement their anti-terror commandos killed an elusive Malaysian terror suspect wanted by the U.S. after a group claimed that it was the militant's aide who shot him to death early last year. The January 2015 killing of Zulkifli bin Hir, also known as Marwan, sparked an outcry because 44 police Special Action Force members were gunned down in the highly secretive assault in southern Mamasapano town when they got drawn into clashes with different rebels. Outrage over the police deaths stalled a peace deal with a Muslim insurgent group that saw some of its members drawn into the fighting. Washington has offered up to $5 million for information leading to the capture and prosecution of Marwan, who has been linked to bombings and terror attacks in the southern Philippines. National police spokesman Chief Superintendent Wilben Mayor said police "stand firm" on their position that members of the Special Action Force killed Marwan. Unless "incontrovertible evidence" is presented showing otherwise, police will not veer away from what has been established by police, government and congressional investigations, Mayor said. President Benigno Aquino III has said that evidence given to him by the police, including pictures of a police commando cutting a finger of the slain Marwan for DNA tests, disprove speculations that the militant was killed by somebody else. A group of anti-war advocates told a news conference Friday that it could present civilian witnesses who were involved in a plan hatched with top police officials to kill Marwan in exchange for a huge reward. The witnesses have not testified in any government inquiry. Jose Agduma, who heads the Awat Partylist group, said the witnesses recruited a Filipino aide of Marwan, Datukan Singgagao, who shot the sleeping militant with an M203 rifle but was later killed as fighting broke out between the approaching police commandos and rebels allied with Marwan. Singgagao's group allegedly warned the police not to enter deep into the remote hinterland, where Marwan stayed in a hut, because of the dangerous presence of different rebel groups, Agduma said. Amid crisis, Puerto Rico cracks down on theft, tax cheats SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) Like many small business owners in this struggling U.S. territory, Luis Escribano was having a hard time paying the power bills. So, for at least five years, he did what many others have done: tampered with the electricity meter at his small cafe, illegally cutting his bill by tens of thousands of dollars. Then the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority, which is struggling to pay its own bills, decided to make an example of him. He was charged with theft and threatened with jail time if he didn't pay $40,000 in back bills and fines. The company not only persuaded the court to make restitution a condition of probation for the first time, but also alerted local media that Escribano was due in court last month to publicly shame him. "They have declared total war," said Michael Corona, a lawyer who represents Escribano. In this Feb. 4, 2016 photo, a worker from the Energy Theft Control Unit with Puerto Rico's Electric Power Authority holds an electric meter with busted glass during an inspection in Carolina, Puerto Rico. The workers said the counter showed a common sign of tampering. The island is cracking down on people who steal power, cheat on their taxes or don't pay other bills as the U.S. island territory struggles to raise money to make bond payments. (AP Photo/Carlos Giusti) While his case is extreme, it reflects a new approach by Puerto Rican public agencies that are desperate for money and no longer able to put up with theft and cheating that went unpunished in the past. The Puerto Rico government is teetering on the brink of financial collapse, burdened by $72 billion in public debt. Public agencies account for nearly 40 percent of that debt, including the power company, which recently reached a deal to restructure a portion of its $9 billion debt. The highway and transportation authority carries more than $7 billion of that debt while the water and sewer company have more than $5 billion. Amid the crisis, the Treasury Department is going after delinquent taxpayers like never before, even closing a business owned by the head of the Chamber of Commerce for non-payment of sales tax and temporarily shutting down Jose Enrique, a restaurant that had become a renowned culinary destination. The island's water utility has prevailed on the Justice Department to file criminal charges against people who have not paid their bills or have stolen service, a step only taken in drastic cases in the past. And a government agency that issues permits recently trumpeted the fact that it imposed a $34,000 fine against a company operating an electronic billboard without its permission. Such actions have surprised many on the island, where the government had often taken a laissez-faire approach to enforcement, among the qualities that made Puerto Rico more like a Latin American country and less like a U.S. state. "Everything used to be negotiable," said Treasury Secretary Juan Zaragoza, who is leading an effort to collect overdue tax revenue. That lax attitude thrived as Puerto Rico went through a period of relative prosperity thanks to a U.S. tax system that fostered the development of manufacturing on the island, mostly pharmaceuticals and medical equipment. But the incentives were phased out by 2006, and the economy began to slump. Unemployment rose higher than that of any U.S. state. Governor after governor borrowed money to help cover the growing deficit, tripling Puerto Rico's debt in just 15 years. The new crackdown on unpaid bills is praised by many who say they follow the law. "It's about time," said Hiram Colon, a 47-year-old event organizer. "They should have taken these measures a long time ago because we wouldn't be in the crisis we find ourselves now." But other Puerto Ricans believe the government is unfairly targeting the working class while making few improvements in how it operates. "Now they're giving us bad service coupled with the threat of jail," said Corona, who said that Escribano himself had declined to be interviewed. "I don't know where this is going to end." Delinquent power bills have been piling up for years and are one of the reasons cited by the electrical utility for its financial woes. It recently announced that it will cut subsidized power at public housing units starting next month because of $31 million in outstanding bills. Many impoverished Puerto Ricans say the crackdown is making life even more miserable for them. "It's not right that they are targeting Puerto Rico's working class," Wilma Rivera, a 46-year-old mother of three, said as she watched power company workers inspect her meter for evidence of tampering. "We're the ones paying for everyone else's mess." Despite the grumbling, the government has pledged to pursue those who have long gotten away with breaking the law. Zaragoza, the treasury secretary, says a lot of other people are fed up with widespread cheating. He says he's even had people praise him while he walks down the streets of the capital. "That's proof that this island has touched bottom, when suddenly a tax collector is a hero," he said. ___ Danica Coto on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danicacoto In this Feb. 4, 2016 photo, workers from the Energy Theft Control Unit of Puerto Rico's Electric Power Authority walk building to building in Carolina, Puerto Rico to inspect electric meters for signs of tampering and theft. Puerto Rican public agencies are desperate for money and no longer able to put up with theft and cheating that went unpunished in the past. This and other actions have caught many by surprise. (AP Photo/Carlos Giusti) In this Feb. 4, 2016 photo, a power unit is open to the elements in a building in Carolina, Puerto Rico. The unit shows an illegal bypass used to steal power, according to workers with the Energy Theft Control Unit of Puerto Rico's Electric Power Authority who were inspecting meters for tampering and power theft. (AP Photo/Carlos Giusti) In this Feb. 4, 2016 photo, workers from the Energy Theft Control Unit of Puerto Rico's Electric Power Authority inspect an electric meter in Carolina, Puerto Rico. Some Puerto Ricans believe the government is unfairly targeting the working class by cracking down on people who steal power, while making few improvements in how it operates. (AP Photo/Carlos Giusti) In this Feb. 4, 2016 photo, a worker from the Energy Theft Control Unit of Puerto Rico's Electric Power Authority stands by his vehicle in Carolina, Puerto Rico as he inspects electric meters in buildings for signs of tampering and theft. Despite grumblings from some Puerto Ricans, the government has pledged to pursue those who have long gotten away with breaking the law by stealing electricity instead of paying for it. (AP Photo/Carlos Giusti) Libya becoming new front in fight against Islamic State BENGHAZI, Libya (AP) Libya is rapidly turning into a new front in the fight against the Islamic State group, which is heavily recruiting militants from abroad and trying to exploit years of chaos to expand its foothold in the oil-rich North African nation. Washington and its European allies are seeking to end the interminable divisions among Libyan factions to form a unity government that the West can support in fighting the jihadis. U.S. airstrikes on Friday against an IS training camp, which killed more than 40 suspected militants including a prominent Tunisian leader, were a sign the U.S. is ready to move robustly even before a unity government is agreed upon. From their stronghold in the city of Sirte, the militants have lashed out in recent months with suicide bombings against police. They have made forays attacking Libya's vital oilfields and export facilities, setting back efforts to rebuild what is effectively its only money-making industry. In this picture released online by the Sabratha Municipal Council on Friday, Feb. 19, 2016 shows the site where U.S. warplanes struck an Islamic State training camp in Sabratha, Libya near the Tunisian border. (Sabratha Municipal Council via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT IS has so far been unable to take over large parts of Libya as it did in Syria and Iraq and the Libyan branch has suffered some setbacks in the past year. Rival militias drove its fighters out of one city, Darna, and a U.S. airstrike in December killed the leader of the affiliate. But it has recently launched a drive to build up its presence: U.S. officials say in past weeks and months, IS has been bringing in fighters from abroad, mainly from North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa. From around 3,000 fighters, they estimate it now has a total of about 5,000. Forging a unified Libyan government to fight the jihadis is a monumental task in what has effectively been a failed state since the 2011 ouster and death of longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi. After Gadhafi, Libya's military collapsed and the country fragmented, carved up by powerful militias. There are two governments: One, based in in the capital, Tripoli, is dominated by Islamists and backed by a coalition of militias known as Libya Dawn. The other is internationally recognized and based in the eastern city of Tobruk. It is backed by other militias and fragments of the military led by Gen. Khalifa Hifter. The two sides have been battling each other for the past year. U.N.-led efforts to build a unity government have split both sides, with some politicians and militias in each camp supporting, but others still deeply opposed. In a sign of how convoluted Libya's civil war has become, some militias backing the Tripoli government have been fighting the Islamic State group outside Sirte, while others have allied with the jihadis to fight Hifter's pro-Tobruk forces for control of Libya's second-largest city, Benghazi. If the U.S. and Europe can't get the militias to agree, efforts to fight IS won't succeed even if they manage to get the politicians in Tripoli and Tobruk on the same page, said Libyan political analyst Anas al-Gomati. Some militias will probably try to use international intervention whether airstrikes or military support to eliminate their rivals, fueling the war. "Without a deal among those militias, there will be a civil war that is muddled, confused, and distorted between those fighting ISIS and those fighting ISIS and other local players," al-Gomati said, using another acronym for the IS group. "The civil war will get out of control." On the map of Libya, the Islamic State group's physical presence is limited. It controls Sirte and several adjacent villages along the Mediterranean coast. But it has dangerous pockets around the country, including in Tripoli, but particularly around the western city of Sabratha, where the U.S. airstrikes took place Friday. Several IS training camps are outside Sabratha, and the jihadis appear to have been planning a move to take over the city itself, one local official told The Associated Press. He estimated there were up to 700 IS fighters in the area, most of them Tunisians, and that more militants were coming from Sirte to boost the effort. Late last year, IS jihadis made a show of strength in Sabratha, defying local authorities by parading openly in vehicles and waving black flags. They passed the ruins of a Roman-era city that is Libya's most dramatic antiquities site raising alarm that they planned to level it as they have done to ancient sites in Syria and Iraq. So far, the Sabratha ruins have not been targeted. Police have raided a number of IS hideouts in Sabratha in recent days, killing at least seven fighters and capturing others, the official said. In interrogations, many of the captured fighters some aged 17 or 18 said they had arrived in Libya in recent weeks, he said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the press. Another big fear is that the jihadis could capture Libya's oil facilities, largely located in the deserts east of Sirte. They have carried out attacks recently that have set back the industry, which has been struggling to rebuild since Gadhafi's fall. During his rule, Libya produced 1.6 million barrels per day. That plunged as low as 200,000 in 2014 and had slowly been building back up to about 430,000 last year. But since an IS attack on oil storage tanks in January, production has dropped again to about 350,000 barrels a day. The Islamic State group expanded into Libya in late 2014, seizing Darna, then Sirte. But the same chaos that opened the door for IS in Libya has also been a hindrance for the group's expansion. The field is already crowded with powerful, well-armed militias, which are tightly bound by local or tribal loyalties. That has made it difficult for IS to poach recruits. Also hurting recruitment, overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim Libya does not have the sectarian divisions that IS has exploited in Syria and Iraq, where it uses hatred of Shiites to bring Sunnis into its ranks. In November, the U.N. team that monitors IS reported to the Security Council that the militant group "seems limited in its ability to expand quickly from its current stronghold" because it doesn't have the numbers. It said it didn't seem capable of capturing the oil facilities. That may explain the turn to fighters from abroad. But the influx appears to be fueling divisions within IS as well. Three Libyans who said they had joined the Islamic State group told AP that they see most of the new recruits as lacking skills and as opportunists, looking to gain property and money confiscated from IS opponents in Sirte. The three, who claimed to be a military commander, a recruiter and a spiritual leader, all spoke to AP on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the difficulties within the group to the media. The recruiter complained that most newcomers lack "useful skills" and "obedience." ''They are simply not as qualified as the ones in Syria and Iraq." ___ Keath reported from Cairo. Associated Press writer Maggie Michael in Cairo and Nour Youssef contributed to this report. In this picture released online by the Sabratha Municipal Council on Friday, Feb. 19, 2016 shows a poster with partially-erased Arabic slogans supporting the Islamic State group found at the site where U.S. warplanes struck an Islamic State training camp in Sabratha, Libya near the Tunisian border. A Tunisian described as a key extremist operative probably was killed, the Pentagon announced. In Libya, local officials estimated that more than 40 people were killed with more wounded, some critically. (Sabratha Municipal Council via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT In this picture released online by the Sabratha Municipal Council on Friday, Feb. 19, 2016 a wounded man lies in a hospital after U.S. warplanes struck an Islamic State training camp in Sabratha, Libya near the Tunisian border. A Tunisian described as a key extremist operative probably was killed, the Pentagon announced. In Libya, local officials estimated that more than 40 people were killed with more wounded, some critically. (Sabratha Municipal Council via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT In this picture released online by the Sabratha Municipal Council on Friday, Feb. 19, 2016 shows the site where U.S. warplanes struck an Islamic State training camp in Sabratha, Libya near the Tunisian border. (Sabratha Municipal Council via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT In this picture released online by the Sabratha Municipal Council on Friday, Feb. 19, 2016 shows the site where U.S. warplanes struck an Islamic State training camp in Sabratha, Libya near the Tunisian border. ATunisian described as a key extremist operative probably was killed, the Pentagon announced. In Libya, local officials estimated that more than 40 people were killed with more wounded, some critically. (Sabratha Municipal Council via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT In this picture released online by the Sabratha Municipal Council on Friday, Feb. 19, 2016 shows bodies at a morgue after U.S. warplanes struck an Islamic State training camp in Sabratha, Libya near the Tunisian border. A Tunisian described as a key extremist operative probably was killed, the Pentagon announced. In Libya, local officials estimated that more than 40 people were killed with more wounded, some critically. (Sabratha Municipal Council via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT In this picture released online by the Sabratha Municipal Council on Friday, Feb. 19, 2016 wounded men lie in a hospital after U.S. warplanes struck an Islamic State training camp in Sabratha, Libya near the Tunisian border. A Tunisian described as a key extremist operative probably was killed, the Pentagon announced. In Libya, local officials estimated that more than 40 people were killed with more wounded, some critically. (Sabratha Municipal Council via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT California backs off easing standard for inmate firefighters SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) California's new corrections chief is backing off a plan to lower standards for inmate firefighters, focusing instead on persuading county sheriffs to send more jail prisoners to the state program. Scott Kernan, who took over last month as secretary of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, said in an interview with The Associated Press that he expects California will have enough inmate firefighters for this year's fire season despite a dwindling pool of candidates from state prisons. The state is using more inmates with violent or serious criminal histories because recent laws have sent less serious offenders to county jails instead of state prisons, he said. Kernan hopes to use more of those local prisoners to fill the gap. FILE -- In this Sept. 12, 2015, file photo, a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation inmate work crew builds a containment line ahead of flames from the Butte Fire, near Sheep Ranch, Calif. Scott Kernan, the newly appointed corrections secretary, said he is dropping, at least for now, a proposal to ease standards that would have allowed inmates with seven years left to serve on their sentences, an increase from the current five year limit.(AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File) He's dropping, at least for now, a proposal by former secretary Jeffrey Beard that would have let inmates participate if they have up to seven years to serve on their sentences, an increase from the current five-year limit. Kernan said an analysis showed that changing the limit wouldn't have produced a significant increase in the number of qualified inmates. Officials previously said they expected to ease the standard ahead of this year's fire season, but controversy erupted in October after Beard sought to expand the number of inmates who could qualify despite having violent histories. Officials first denied, then acknowledged that they have long used inmates with violent pasts in the nation's largest and oldest inmate firefighter program. Beard quickly withdrew his proposal. Kernan defended the use of those inmates as vital to a program that last year provided nearly 1 of 5 state, federal and local firefighters battling major blazes. About 40 percent of the roughly 3,700 inmate firefighters committed violent crimes including 59 manslaughters, more than 500 assaults or batteries, and more than 1,000 robberies, the department said in November. Lowering standards could have added inmates with more incentive to misbehave or escape, Stanford Criminal Justice Center co-director Robert Weisberg said. But Kernan noted that inmates are reviewed to see if they are dangerous before they are sent to live in the unfenced fire camps or dispatched to fight fires without supervision from correctional officers. "If you don't change the rules of the prison, (the alternative) is to get them from county jails because that's where a lot of inmates have shifted now," Weisberg said. Expanding inmates' eligibility would have been a calculated risk, said University of California, Berkeley, law professor Frank Zimring, who has studied California prisons for more than 30 years. He warned that recruiting in jails may be tougher because many prisoners there have shorter sentences and may have active drug or mental health problems. Weisberg and Zimring said they believe the program is worth the public safety risk. Inmates must be physically fit and complete firefighting classes. Arsonists, kidnappers, sex offenders, gang affiliates and those serving life sentences for murder and other crimes are excluded. Kernan said the state will have enough firefighters this year without changing its standards partly because the department has agreements with 12 county sheriffs, with four more in progress. They supply about 6 percent of the firefighters in the program, or 242 firefighters. Counties pay the state for taking jail prisoners, generally $81 a day during training, then $10 a day after they are certified. Los Angeles County trains its own inmates. Sheriffs initially said they couldn't afford the program when the department proposed charging counties a higher rate after jail prisoners were trained. California State Sheriffs' Association spokesman Cory Salzillo said more sheriffs seem to be interested after the state dropped its daily rate two years ago. State finance officials said that is enough to cover county inmates' food, clothing and pay so the state doesn't lose money. "I know that the sheriffs have challenges with their budget as well, but I think as we expand to the county level, I think it's going to be able to keep our fire camp population at a right, reasonable level," Kernan said. In this photo taken Thursday, Feb. 11, 2016, Scott Kernan, who recently took over as the secretary for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, poses in his Sacramento, Calif., office. Kernan said he is dropping, at least for now, a proposal to ease standards for inmate firefighters that would have allowed prisoners with seven years left to serve on their sentences, an increase from the current five year limit.(AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli) The Latest: Dead suspect was in house with wife, daughter IUKA, Mississippi (AP) The Latest on a standoff in northeastern Mississippi that ended with gunfire that killed the suspect and a law enforcement agent, and the wounding of three others (all times local). 12:25 p.m. Authorities say the gunfight that left a Mississippi law enforcement agent dead and three state troopers injured followed a six-hour standoff, during which a man holed up in his home with his wife and 10-year-old daughter. This is an undated photograph released by the Mississippi Department of Public Safety shows Lee Tartt, an agent with the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics. Tartt, was killed early Saturday, Feb. 20, 2016, after a hourslong standoff in rural north Mississippi ended in gunfire, authorities said. The man suspect was killed. Tishomingo County Coroner Mack Wilemon said the gunfire came after a standoff developed at a house where police had responded to some kind of domestic disturbance Friday afternoon. (Mississippi Department of Public Safety, via AP) Department of Public Safety spokesman Warren Strain says the woman and child were rescued, but the man was killed after he opened fire as tactical teams entered the home in rural northeastern Mississippi. The incident began Friday evening with a domestic dispute call and ended in gunfire sometime around midnight. Multiple police agencies remained on the scene Saturday afternoon at the one-story house in sparsely populated woods in Tishomingo County. Killed were 44-tear-old Mississippi narcotics agent James Lee Tartt and suspected gunman Charles Lee Lambert, who was 45. ___ 11:15 a.m. The aunt of a law enforcement officer shot and killed in northwest Mississippi says he wanted to "make the world a better place." Julia Criss Tartt, of Grenada, Mississippi,. says James Lee Tartt was dedicated to his job and battling the region's drug problems. Tartt was an officer with the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics. He was shot and killed early Saturday when the SWAT team he was part of forcibly entered a house after an hourslong standoff with a resident inside. Authorities say the resident opened fire on the team, killing Tartt and wounding three other officers. Tartt's aunt says when family members found out he was killed, the first thought was that they had "...lost a good man." ___ 10 a.m. Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant is calling on his state's residents to pray for the family of a state narcotics agent killed when a standoff at a Tishomingo County home ended in gunfire. Tishomingo Coroner Mack Wilemon says 44-year-old James Lee Tartt of Grenada was part of a SWAT team that was forcibly entering a home where a domestic dispute had resulted in an hourslong standoff. The man believed to have fired at police 45-year-old Charles Lee Lambert of Iuka also was killed. Both men had multiple gunshot wounds. Autopsies were planned. The shooting happened early Saturday. Of the three other law enforcement officials who were wounded, two had injuries that were not life-threatening. ___ 9:25 a.m. A coroner in Mississippi has identified a law enforcement agent and a suspected gunman who were killed when a standoff in the northeastern part of the state ended in gunfire. James Lee Tartt of Grenada, a 44-year-old Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics Agent, was killed. Also killed was the man said to have shot at police officers: 45-year-old Charles Lee Lambert of Iuka (eye-YOU'-kah). The shooting happened around 12:30 a.m. Saturday in rural Tishomingo County. Coroner Mack Wilemon says it followed an hour-long standoff that developed as a result of some kind of domestic dispute. Members of a state SWAT team had been called to the scene. Three other law enforcement agents were injured two with wounds that were not life threatening. ___ 8:30 a.m. Law enforcement authorities say one officer is dead and three are hospitalized with gunshot wounds after a standoff in northeastern Mississippi. Department of Public Safety spokesman Warren Strain says the standoff ended in gunfire early Saturday at a home near the town of Iuka, Mississippi. Strain says the man who shot at officers is also dead. The wounds of two of the officers are not life-threatening. A woman and a girl inside the house are alive. The state's SWAT team was called to the scene Friday evening by local authorities to respond to the standoff. Scalia remembered as man of faith, family and the law WASHINGTON (AP) Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia was remembered Saturday as a man of faith, family and the law in a funeral marked by church ritual and pageantry for the conservative jurist whose larger-than-life personality dominated the high court for nearly three decades. A who's who of the nation's political and legal elite was among more than 3,000 mourners at a funeral Mass for Scalia at the largest Catholic church in the United States. Vice President Joe Biden and 10 of the 11 living justices with whom Scalia served joined his wife of 55 years, their nine children and dozens of grandchildren on a balmy winter morning. President Barack Obama did not attend Scalia's funeral Mass, despite some criticism from Republicans. The White House said the decision is a "respectful arrangement" given the president's large security detail and Biden's personal relationship with Scalia's family. Widow Maureen McCarthy Scalia, center, and other family members, walk behind the casket as it is ushered out of the Bascilica following the funeral mass for the late Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia, at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, Saturday, Feb. 20, 2016. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais) Scalia was buried later Saturday in a private ceremony at an undisclosed location. He died unexpectedly last week at age 79 at a resort ranch in west Texas. He was the longest-serving among the current justices and the court's most outspoken conservative. His death has set off a tumultuous political fight over a replacement and is affecting the presidential campaign. One Republican candidate, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, interrupted his campaign ahead of Saturday's South Carolina primary to attend the Mass. The Rev. Paul Scalia, the justice's son and a Catholic priest, presided over a traditional service that lasted more than 1 1/2 hours and dispensed with eulogies that Scalia himself had said he did not like. Instead, his son spoke with reverence and humor about Scalia as a father and Catholic who saw "no conflict between faith and the love of one's country." Scalia regarded the founding of the United States as "a blessing a blessing quickly lost when faith is banned from the public square or when we refuse to bring it there," his son said. As a father, "he loved us and sought to show that love and sought to share the blessing of the faith he treasured," he said. "Sure he forgot our names at times or mixed them up, but there are nine of us," Paul Scalia said to laughter from the crowd at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. The Catholic priest assured the many lawyers in the audience who may have felt the sting of Scalia's barbed questions during Supreme Court arguments that he shared their pain. "The Roman collar was not a shield against his criticism," Paul Scalia said. During his homily, Scalia's son recalled how his father reacted once after accidentally standing in his son's confessional line. "He quickly departed it. As he put it later, 'Like heck if I'm confessing to you,'" the younger Scalia said. "The feeling was mutual." The younger Scalia also honored his mother, Maureen, as "a woman who could match him at every step and could even hold him accountable." Among the other participants in the Mass was Justice Clarence Thomas, who also is Catholic. Thomas read a passage from the New Testament's Book of Romans. Scalia was known as a champion of originalism interpreting the Constitution according to the meaning understood when it was adopted. He famously sparred with liberals who view the constitution as a "living document" and frequently declared in public speeches his view that the Constitution is "dead, dead, dead." His flag-draped casket was brought to the church from the Supreme Court, where more than 6,000 visitors, including President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama, paid their respects on Friday. Scalia's sons and sons-in-law served as pallbearers at the basilica, as did a Supreme Court police honor guard. They wheeled the casket up the center aisle of the church past dignitaries including Attorney General Loretta Lynch, former Vice President Dick Cheney, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, 95-year-old retired Justice John Paul Stevens and other federal judges. Among them were several mentioned as possible successors: Judges Sri Srinivasan and Patricia Millett and Chief Judge Merrick Garland, all of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Cruz, who planned to return to South Carolina Saturday, has been among Republican senators pledging to keep Scalia's seat empty until after the November election. Obama has insisted that he will nominate a successor. ___ Associated Press writer Jessica Gresko contributed to this report. ___ Online: Basilica: http://tinyurl.com/dxv6ub The casket containing the body of the late Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia leaves the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington following funeral mass services, Saturday, Feb. 20, 2016. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais) Supreme Court Chief Justice John G. Roberts, center, and Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, center rear, depart the funeral mass for the late Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia, at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, Saturday, Feb. 20, 2016. (Doug Mills/The New York Times via AP, Pool) Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, center, and Justice Samuel A. Alito, left, depart the funeral mass for the late Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia, at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, Saturday, Feb. 20, 2016. (Doug Mills/The New York Times via AP, Pool) The crucifix leads the recession out of the Basilica following the funeral depart the funeral mass for the late Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia, at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, Saturday, Feb. 20, 2016. (Doug Mills/The New York Times via AP, Pool) The Rev. Fr Paul Scalia, son of the late Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia, center, leads the funeral mass for Justice Scalia, at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, Saturday, Feb. 20, 2016. (Doug Mills/The New York Times via AP, Pool) The procession during the funeral mass for the late Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia, at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, Saturday, Feb. 20, 2016. (Doug Mills/The New York Times via AP, Pool) The casket containing the late Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia, arrives for a funeral mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, Saturday, Feb. 20, 2016. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais) Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas reads a passage from the New Testament during the funeral mass for the late Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, Saturday, Feb. 20, 2016. (Doug Mills/The New York Times via AP, Pool) The alter area is seen prior to a funeral mass for the late Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, Saturday, Feb. 20, 2016. (Doug Mills/The New York Times via AP, Pool) Ushers get ready for a funeral mass for the late Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, Saturday, Feb. 20, 2016. (Doug Mills/The New York Times via AP, Pool) States seek private financial help to fix social problems HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) A growing number of states and local governments are turning to an unconventional method of financing possible fixes to big social problems, motivated by tight budgets and little incentive to take a chance on initiatives without a guarantee of results. On Tuesday, officials in Connecticut, South Carolina and Colorado announced new public/private arrangements to fund so-called "pay for success" projects that aim to help families struggling with drug addiction, improve health outcomes for poor mothers and their children and reduce chronic homelessness. The concept, often referred to as "social impact bonds," involves a government entity teaming up with a private intermediary that develops the project, identifies effective programs already being used and raises the capital from philanthropic-minded investors. If the initiative produces specific results over multiple years, then the state or local government pays back the investment with a small rate of return. But if the project doesn't meet those results, the taxpayers typically are not on the hook financially. "It's critically important in this time, when, as our governor has said many times, we're facing a new reality a new reality of budget restrictions, but the same if not growing challenges in our communities and the need to invest even more," said Hartford, Connecticut Mayor Luke Bronin, at Tuesday's announcement of the "Connecticut Family Stability Pay for Success Project." The 4.5-year, $11.5-million initiative will fund teams of two clinicians and a family support worker that will make in-home visits several times each week to families struggling with drug abuse. Up to 500 families involved with the state's Department of Children and Families, with children age 6 and younger, will be targeted for the services which stress positive parent-child interactions. Social Finance, a Boston-based, nonprofit organization, will raise the money needed for the initiative. The group's sister organization, Social Finance UK, was founded in 2007 and launched the first social impact bond in 2010. The U.S. program was founded in 2011 and has been identifying programs that can help fix social problems, looking at best practices on how to affect change and securing funding to get it done. If the program meets specific goals, such as reducing the likelihood of children being removed from the home due to abuse and neglect, then the group's financial backers typically foundations, wealthy individuals and institutional investors will get their principal back with interest, enabling them to reinvest in other projects. If those benchmarks aren't reached, the Social Finance investors will pick up the tab. "Government wins, because they only pay for results. Investors win, because they get their money back and achieve a financial return and social impact. And nonprofits see it as a way to get capital to expand services," said Tracy Palandjian, co-founder and CEO of Social Finance U.S., which developed and raised capital for the South Carolina project. That project will pair 3,200 low-income, first-time mothers over six years with specially trained nurses who will make home visits to improve the health and well-being of the children and mothers. The concept of such "pay for success" projects is relatively new, beginning about five years ago in the United Kingdom. Including the three announced Tuesday, there are about dozen programs that are still underway in the U.S. and more in development. Projects in Colorado, Massachusetts, California and Ohio deal with homelessness issues, while other projects in Illinois and Utah address early childhood education. A second Massachusetts project tries to address recidivism among young male inmates. One project, the Rikers Island Recidivism Reduction Initiative, was canceled midway because it did not meet specific accountability benchmarks. Palandjian said she believes that cancelling the Rikers program because it wasn't hitting its goals marks a success for social impact bond projects, which she acknowledges is "a very young sector" that still hasn't seen the first project in the U.K. reach completion. Governments, she noted, typically continue funding programs whether they work or not. "This gives government a way to try new things," she said. "It's politically hard for government to cut a program." In Denver, there was some skepticism voiced about using private financing to help provide permanent housing and supportive services to at least 250 chronically homeless individuals. One City Council member raised concerns that it could ultimately cost more money than if Denver contracted with providers on its own. ___ Nevada's GOP governor honored by mention about high court WASHINGTON (AP) The prospect of President Barack Obama's nominating a Republican for the Supreme Court seems a long shot, but there's been some talk in Washington about Nevada's GOP governor, Brian Sandoval. Sandoval says he's honored to have his name mentioned as a potential successor for the late Justice Antonin Scalia, but says he's heard nothing to think the Democratic president is considering him. Sandoval a former federal judge who supports abortion rights isn't saying whether he thinks the Senate should act on a nominee from Obama. Senate Republican leaders have said it should be up to the next president who takes office in January 2017 to submit a nominee. Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval participates in the opening session of the National Governors Association Winter Meeting in Washington, Saturday, Feb. 20, 2016. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen) Turkey insists Syrian Kurdish militia behind Ankara attack ANKARA, Turkey (AP) Turkey's prime minister has dismissed a Turkey-based Kurdish militant group's claim of responsibility for an attack in Ankara that killed 28 people, insisting it was carried out by a U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish militia group. The Kurdistan Freedom Falcons, TAK, claimed the suicide car bomb attack on Friday, saying it was in retaliation for Turkish military operations against militants in southeast Turkey. The group is an offshoot of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK. But Ahmet Davutoglu told reporters Saturday that Turkey was certain that the Syrian Kurdish group was behind the bombing. He said TAK took responsibility to ensure the militia's "international legitimacy" was not harmed. Turkish prime minister Davutoglu again called on the United States not to back the group and to show solidarity with Turkey "without ifs or buts." Justice Scalia remembered for love of God, country, family WASHINGTON (AP) Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia was remembered Saturday as a man who loved God, country and family at a funeral Mass capping two days of mourning for a jurist who left a long and sometimes controversial legacy on the U.S. Scalia's son Paul a Catholic priest led the service and mixed humor and reverence for the conservative icon and father of nine who died unexpectedly last weekend. "Sure he forgot our names at times or mixed them up, but there are nine of us," Scalia told thousands of mourners at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. The casket containing the body of the late Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia leaves the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington following funeral mass services, Saturday, Feb. 20, 2016. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais) "He loved us and sought to show that love and sought to share the blessing of the faith he treasured," Scalia said. He recalled how his father reacted once after accidentally standing in his son's confessional line. The justice said: "'Like heck if I'm confessing to you.'" Paul Scalia joked that "the Roman collar was not a shield against his criticism." Dignitaries including Vice President Joe Biden, former Vice President Dick Cheney, members of Congress and all eight sitting justices of the Supreme Court were among those attending. Four of the five Catholic justices took communion. Scalia's flag-draped casket arrived at the basilica after he lay in repose at the Supreme Court on Friday, where thousands of visitors came to honor one of the country's most influential conservative voices. Scalia's sons and sons-in-law served as pallbearers to carry his flag-draped casket up the steps of the basilica. Leonard Leo, executive director of the Federalist Society, a conservative legal group, read a passage from the Old Testament's Book of Wisdom. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, who shared Scalia's conservative bent, read a passage from the New Testament's Book of Romans. Several federal judges who are considered possible replacements for Scalia also attended the funeral Mass, including Judges Sri Srinivasan and Patricia Millett and Chief Judge Merrick Garland, all of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. President Barack Obama did not attend Saturday's funeral Mass, despite criticism from some Republicans. He and first lady Michelle Obama were among the more than 6,000 people who paid tribute to Scalia at the Supreme Court on Friday. Scalia's flag-draped casket rested on a funeral bier that first held President Abraham Lincoln's casket after his assassination. Scalia, 79, died last weekend at a remote Texas ranch after spending nearly three decades on the high court. A private burial ceremony was to follow the Mass. Republican presidential hopeful Ted Cruz interrupted his campaign on the same day as South Carolina's primary to attend the Mass. The Texas senator has been among those urging the Senate not to consider replacing Scalia until after the November election. Obama has insisted that he will nominate a successor. Washington's archbishop Cardinal Donald Wuerl delivered opening remarks at the service. Three popes have visited the basilica: Pope John Paul II in 1979, Pope Benedict XVI in 2008 and Pope Francis last year. ___ Associated Press writer Mark Sherman contributed to this report. ___ Online: Basilica: http://tinyurl.com/dxv6ub The procession during the funeral mass for the late Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia, at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, Saturday, Feb. 20, 2016. (Doug Mills/The New York Times via AP, Pool) The casket containing the late Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia, arrives for a funeral mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, Saturday, Feb. 20, 2016. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais) Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas reads a passage from the New Testament during the funeral mass for the late Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, Saturday, Feb. 20, 2016. (Doug Mills/The New York Times via AP, Pool) The alter area is seen prior to a funeral mass for the late Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, Saturday, Feb. 20, 2016. (Doug Mills/The New York Times via AP, Pool) Ushers get ready for a funeral mass for the late Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, Saturday, Feb. 20, 2016. (Doug Mills/The New York Times via AP, Pool) People begin to arrive for a funeral mass for the late Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, Saturday, Feb. 20, 2016. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais) Members of the honor guard get into position as they prepare for the arrival of the casket containing the body of the late Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia, before the start of a funeral mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, Saturday, Feb. 20, 2016. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais) President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama pauses as they pay their respects beside the casket of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia as it lies in repose in the Great Hall of the Supreme Court in Washington, Friday, Feb. 19, 2016. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais) Forth Road Bridge to reopen to all traffic as repairs completed The Forth Road Bridge will fully reopen to all traffic this weekend - 11 weeks after the discovery of a crack forced its closure. The busy crossing had to be shut to all traffic early in December, although cars and light vehicles were allowed to use it again just before Christmas. Scottish Transport Minister Derek Mackay confirmed HGVs will be allowed to use the bridge at any time from 11pm on Saturday. The Forth Road Bridge will fully reopen to traffic 11 weeks after it was forced to close when a crack was found It comes after a phased re-introduction earlier this month saw 600 lorries able to travel northbound on the bridge for a limited period every night. Mr Mackay said on Friday: "The immediate repair work is in the final stage and no further structural defects have been identified during painstaking investigations by engineers. "I know that this is something that will be welcomed by the tens of thousands of drivers who use the bridge on a daily basis, especially the heavy goods vehicle drivers who have had to observe restricted crossing times in the past few weeks." The Road Haulage Association had previously complained that the closure of the bridge was costing firms 600,000. The 51-year-old crossing had been closed to all traffic from December 4 after a crack in a truss end link was discovered during a routine inspection. At the start of February, ministers said the storms which had battered Scotland had slowed the progress of repairs, and they warned it could be mid-March before HGVs could have unrestricted access to the bridge. But to speed up repairs, as much work as possible was done in the factory, lessening the impact of the weather and allowing the date to be brought forward. Mr Mackay said: "Tribute should be paid to the engineering team that has been relentless in its commitment to getting this structure reopened. "The team has worked tirelessly throughout, despite very challenging weather conditions, employing innovative approaches to the repairs and putting in place very effective solutions to complex problems." AA president Edmund King said: "It is wonderful news for all drivers in Scotland that this key bridge is to be fully reopened. "AA RoadWatch has been reporting the knock-on effects of the closure and diversions. It is a stark reminder to us of the importance of well-maintained road infrastructure." How people reacted to Britain's EU deal Reaction to the news that a deal on Britain's membership of the European Union had been reached in Brussels: David Cameron tweeted after talking to the world's media: "I believe Britain is stronger, safer and better off within a reformed European Union." In a series of tweets president of the European Council Donald Tusk wrote: "We have achieved a legally binding and irreversible deal decided on by all 28 leaders, strengthening Britain's special status in the EU. Latest politics news "The #UKinEU settlement addresses all of PM @David_Cameron 's concerns without compromising our fundamental values. "We didn't walk away from the negotiating table. We were willing to sacrifice part of our interests for the common good, to show our unity. "I deeply believe the UK needs Europe and Europe needs the UK. But the final decision is in the hands of the British people." Jean-Claude Juncker tweeted: "#UKinEU Deal done. Months of hard work w/ @eucopresident + cooperation w/ @europarl_en paid off. Happy. Fair for UK, fair for 27 #EU States.2" Lithuanian president Dalia Grybauskaite: "Agreement #UKinEU done. Drama over." The prime minister of Malta Joseph Muscat tweeted: "It's a deal, a fair deal. Best of luck to @david_cameron in his campaign to keep #UKinEU. It is now up to the British people to decide." Estonian prime minister Taavi Roivas tweeted "Official: After months of hard work, a good and fair deal offered to UK people. EU determined to be united with #UKinEU". Czech Republic prime minister Bohuslav Sobotka tweeted: "This is an important moment. Europe has demonstrated a huge will continue as a strong community. Perhaps it lasts in the solution of other problems. #EUCO." Irish Taoiseach Enda Kenny tweeted: "Pleased that European Council agreed package of reform that will allow @David_Cameron to put Brexit question to UK." Lib Dem leader Tim Farron tweeted: "The fight to keep #UKinEU starts now. Join @LibDems campaign to keep Britain #INtogether http://www.libdems.org.uk/europe ." Plaid Cymru's Jill Evans MEP said: "We have to see the big picture. There is a lot we would like to change about the EU but we can only do that from within." Labour MP for Birkenhead Frank Field said: "A vote to leave is the only way to achieve major EU reform" #LeaveEU co-chairman Richard Tice tweeted: "Cameron promised half a loaf, begged for a crust and brought home crumbs." #EUCO" Tory MEP Daniel Hannan tweeted: "Britain banged the table and aggressively demanded the status quo. The EU, after some mandatory faux-agonising, agreed. #EUCO #VoteLeave." Former Tory MP Louise Mensch tweeted: "All you need is Gove (and @JWhittingdale and @patel4witham and @sajidjavid) #Brexit let's go! Britain rising!" Bob Neill MP for Bromley & Chislehurst and Chairman of the Justice Select Committee tweeted: "Full say over single market rules whilst never joining Euro, no discrimination v UK financial services trading in big wins for London." Former Tory MP Louise Mensch tweeted: "All you need is Gove (and @JWhittingdale and @patel4witham and @sajidjavid) #Brexit let's go! Britain rising!" Hundreds of migrants and refugees based at the Jungle camp in Calais have been ordered to leave next week or face eviction, local aid workers said. State authorities have given them until 8pm local time (7pm UK-time) on Tuesday to leave their makeshift homes in the southern part of the squalid site. Up to 1,000 people who have fled war, poverty and persecution are reported to be affected by the plans, but local aid workers say the figure could be much higher. Refugees in the Jungle camp at Calais Pascal Froehly, who volunteers for the relief organisation Caritas, spoke of his concerns of heightened tensions being created if bulldozers move in to level the site. He said: "I find it extremely annoying and unfair to move these people away from what they have created, including churches, shops and restaurants." Mr Froehly said the plans to move them to heated containers elsewhere in the camp offered the migrants and refugees no chance to socialise, adding: "It's just a bed for them." Mayor of Calais Natacha Bouchart said the dismantling of the camp would keep migrants and refugees away from activists bent on causing disruption. She said it was a "sensitive situation" that required "necessary firmness". And she added the conditions endured at the Jungle were "unworthy of human nature". Plans to move people to heated containers in the camp and centres around France were announced by Prefect Fabienne Buccio, the top official in France's northern Pas-de-Calais region. Ms Buccio said this month: "It's time to tell the migrants of Calais who live in undignified conditions and give Calais an image that isn't dignified either, that we have a solution for each of you." An estimated 4,000 migrants and refugees from countries including Syria, Afghanistan, Eritrea and Iraq are currently based within the sprawling Jungle. This week 145 celebrities, including Idris Elba, Helena Bonham Carter and Benedict Cumberbatch, wrote an open letter calling on David Cameron to help save children based there. They want the Government to step in and allow unaccompanied children living in the camp to be reunited with their families in the UK. Meanwhile, Eurotunnel has asked the British and French governments to reimburse it 22 million (29 million euro) for lost revenue during the cross-Channel migrant crisis. Tunisia to issue 750 mln to 1 bln euros of bonds soon, official says By Tarek Amara TUNIS, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Tunisia is preparing to issue euro-denominated bonds worth as much as 1 billion euros ($1.12 billion) within a few weeks, a government official said on Friday, as it looks to cover part of its budget deficit. The North African state is struggling with dwindling tourism revenue after three militant attacks last year, protests over unemployment and slow progress on the economic reforms and cuts in public spending demanded by international lenders. "We will go to the international market in few weeks ... it should be between mid-March and May 2016, for between 750 million euros and 1 billion euros," the official told Reuters, asking not to be identified because he was not authorised to speak to the media. He said the financing would help cover part of the budget deficit and the Finance Ministry had asked the central bank to start with the technical procedures for the bond operation. Tunisia last went to the international market a year ago, with a $1 billion bond. Tunisia's economy has lagged since the 2011 uprising against autocrat Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali that sparked the Arab Spring revolutions across North Africa and the Middle East. Two attacks last year by Islamist militants targeted its tourism industry. Protests over a lack of jobs that erupted in several towns last month also underscored demands for more economic opportunities in under-developed areas and among disenfranchised youths who see the revolution brought them little benefit. Unemployment stood at 15.3 percent in 2015, up from 12 percent in 2010. Last October, the government said it expected the country's 2016 deficit was expected to narrow to 3.9 percent of gross domestic product from an estimated 4.4 percent in 2015. The Finance Ministry said at the time Tunisia needed around 6 billion dinars in total financing, including $1.53 billion, or 3 billion dinars, in external financing. Economic growth slipped to 0.8 percent last year mainly because of the impact of the militant attacks. An International Monetary Fund team began talks with Tunisia on Thursday over a new credit programme, tied to measures to strengthen its economy and finances and likely to be worth at least $1.7 billion over four years. U.S. air raid hits Islamic State in Libya, 43 dead By Ahmed Elumami and Aidan Lewis TRIPOLI, Feb 19 (Reuters) - U.S. warplanes launched air strikes against a suspected Islamic State training camp in western Libya on Friday, killing more than 40 people, likely including a militant connected to two deadly attacks last year in neighbouring Tunisia. It was the second U.S. air strike in three months against Islamic State in Libya, where the hardline Islamist militants have exploited years of chaos following Muammar Gaddafi's 2011 overthrow to build up a presence on the southern shores of the Mediterranean Sea. The Pentagon said it had targeted an Islamic State training camp. The facility in the city of Sabratha was linked to Noureddine Chouchane, a Tunisian blamed by his native country for attacks last year on a Tunis museum and the Sousse beach resort, which killed dozens of tourists. "Destruction of the camp and Chouchane's removal will eliminate an experienced facilitator and is expected to have an immediate impact on ISIL's ability to facilitate its activities in Libya, including recruiting new ISIL members, establishing bases in Libya, and potentially planning external attacks on U.S. interests in the region," the Pentagon said, using an acronym for Islamic State, also known as ISIS or Daesh. U.S. officials said Chouchane is most likely dead but White House spokesman Josh Earnest said he could not yet confirm the results of the air assault. He said the raid showed U.S. willingness to fight Islamic State. "It's an indication that the president will not hesitate to take these kinds of forceful, decisive actions," Earnest said. In Libya, photos released by the municipal authorities showed a massive crater in grey earth. Several wounded men lay bandaged in hospital. The mayor of Sabratha, Hussein al-Thwadi, told Reuters the planes hit a building in the city's Qasr Talil district, home to many foreigners. Locals officials said 43 people were killed. The strikes targeted a house in a residential district west of the centre, municipal authorities said in a statement. The house had been rented to foreigners including Tunisians suspected of belonging to Islamic State, and medium-calibre weapons including machineguns and rocket-propelled grenades had been found in the rubble, the statement said. The air strikes came just days after a warning by President Barack Obama that Washington intended to "take actions where we've got a clear operation and a clear target in mind" against Islamic State. Britain said it had authorised the use of its airbases to launch the attack. Islamic State runs a self-styled caliphate across swathes of Iraq and Syria, where it has faced air strikes from a U.S.-led coalition since 2014. DEEPER INTO CHAOS Since Gaddafi was overthrown five years ago by rebel forces backed by NATO air strikes, Libya has slipped deeper into chaos, with two rival governments each backed by competing factions of former rebel brigades. A U.N.-backed government of national accord is trying to win support, but is still awaiting parliamentary approval. It is opposed by factional hardliners and has yet to establish itself in the capital Tripoli. Islamic State has expanded, attacking oil ports and taking over Gaddafi's home city of Sirte, now the militant group's most important stronghold outside its main redoubts in Syria and Iraq. Calls have increased for a swift Western response to stop the group establishing itself more permanently and using Libya as a base for attacks on neighbours Tunisia and Egypt. Western officials and diplomats have said air strikes and special forces operations are possible as well as an Italian-led "security stabilisation" plan of training and advising. U.S. and European officials have in the past insisted Libyans must first form a united government and ask for help, but they also say they may still carry out unilateral action if needed. The United States estimates that the number of militants directly affiliated with Islamic State or sympathetic to it now operating in Libya is in the "low thousands," or less than 5,000, a U.S. government source said. Last November the United States carried out an air strike on the Libyan town of Derna, close to the Egyptian border, to kill Abu Nabil, an Iraqi commander in Islamic State. Islamic State fighters bombed in Libya posed threat to U.S. - Pentagon WASHINGTON, Feb 19 (Reuters) - The Islamic State fighters in Libya that were targeted by U.S. warplanes in an overnight strike posed a threat to the United States as well as its interests in the region, Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook told a news briefing on Friday. "We've made clear that we need to confront ISIL wherever it rears its head," Cook said, using an acronym for Islamic State. "They have posed a direct threat to the United States, they have encouraged attacks against the United States and our allies and we're going to continue to confront it to protect our national security," Cook added. U.S. warplanes carried out strikes targeting Islamic State militants at a training facility in Libya on Friday. The facility was linked to Noureddine Chouchane, a Tunisian blamed by his native country for attacks last year on a Tunis museum and the Sousse beach resort, which killed dozens of tourists. South Sudan rivals talk peace while killing civilians -U.N. By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS, Feb 19 (Reuters) - South Sudan's warring government and opposition are killing, abducting and displacing civilians and destroying property despite conciliatory rhetoric by both sides, the United Nations said on Friday. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is due to travel to South Sudan's capital, Juba, next Thursday to meet with President Salva Kiir. A political dispute between Kiir and his former deputy Riek Machar two years ago sparked a civil war and renewed hostilities between Kiir's Dinka and Machar's Nuer people. More than 10,000 people have been killed. After months of ineffective negotiations and failed ceasefires, both sides agreed in January to share positions in a transitional government, and earlier this month Kiir re-appointed Machar to his former post as vice president. "It cannot be tolerated that leaders make declarations in Juba, while the hostilities and attacks on the civilian population continue and intensify across the country," said U.N. Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights Ivan Simonovic. He told the U.N. Security Council that the conflict threatens stability in the entire region. Simonovic said that in the Greater Upper Nile region of South Sudan government forces had systematically razed villages and sexual violence and abuse of children's rights were rampant. "During an attack on Koch county, one woman described how soldiers killed her husband, then tied her to a tree and forced her to watch as her 15-year-old-daughter was raped by at least 10 soldiers," Simonovic said. U.N. peacekeepers are sheltering nearly 200,000 people at six protection sites in South Sudan and more than 2.3 million people have been displaced. Eighteen people were killed in fighting on Wednesday at one of those U.N. compounds and more than 90 were wounded, the U.N. Refugee Agency said. Two Medicins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) workers were among the dead, the international medical aid group said. President Barack Obama's national security adviser, Susan Rice, said in a statement that the United States was disturbed by "credible reports that a large group of South Sudanese Government soldiers entered the compound and opened fire on civilians seeking refuge within the camp." Australia resumes talks with six countries to resettle asylum seekers -report SYDNEY, Feb 20 (Reuters) - Australia is in talks with Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines, among six nations, to resettle asylum seekers detained in Papua New Guinea and the Pacific island nation of Nauru, the Sydney Morning Herald said on Saturday. The number of asylum seekers trying to reach Australia is small in comparison with those arriving in Europe, but border security is a hot-button political issue in Australia, which is scheduled to hold a national election later in the year. Negotiations with the governments of the three Southeast Asian countries focus on potentially settling 1,459 detainees, many of whom arrived during previous administrations, the newspaper said. Three other countries are also involved in preliminary stages of talks, it added, but did not identify them. A spokeswoman for Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull declined to confirm or deny the report. However, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop cautioned that it was "early days" for the talks, as pressing local issues would influence the discussions. "Some of them have domestic issues, like elections," Bishop said in a statement. The Philippines goes to the polls on May 9 to choose a new president and vice president, among other officials. Australia's tough immigration policies provide that anyone intercepted while trying to reach the country by boat is sent for processing to camps in Nauru and Papua New Guinea's Manus Island. They are never eligible to be resettled in Australia. Past Australian efforts to resettle asylum seekers elsewhere ran into hurdles. Last October, Philippine President Benigno Aquino said the country had "no capacity" to permanently relocate asylum seekers, adding that his government was "challenged to meet the needs of its own people right now". Australia had offered $150 million spread over five years in exchange for permanent relocation of some refugees. A deal struck with Cambodia was halted after only four asylum seekers were resettled. In 2011, the Australian high court ruled invalid a deal with Malaysia, as it was not a signatory to the United Nations Convention on Refugees. Australia has also received criticism from the United Nations and rights groups for its hardline policy. Democrat Sanders looks to prove minority appeal in Nevada By Luciana Lopez and Steve Holland LAS VEGAS/CHARLESTON, S.C., Feb 20 (Reuters) - Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders will test his appeal with minority voters in Nevada on Saturday, looking to puncture rival Hillary Clinton's argument that he is a one-note candidate whose support is limited to mostly white states. After routing Clinton in New Hampshire and finishing a strong second in Iowa, states with nearly all-white populations, Nevada's Democratic caucuses give Sanders his first chance to prove he can win over black and Hispanic voters and compete nationally as the race moves to states with more diverse populations. Republicans in South Carolina also vote on Saturday in the state-by-state contest to pick nominees for the Nov. 8 election, with opinion polls showing front-runner Donald Trump trying to solidify his spot at the top of the pack and rivals Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio fighting for a second-place finish. Behind them, Republican candidates Jeb Bush, John Kasich and Ben Carson could be vying in South Carolina to keep their campaigns alive before the presidential race rapidly picks up steam in March when dozens of states hold nominating contests. The long day of voting begins in South Carolina, where polls open for Republicans at 7 a.m. EST and close at 7 p.m. EST. Nevada's Democratic caucuses will begin at 2 p.m. EST, with results expected to begin rolling in a few hours later. Public opinion polling has been scarce in Nevada, where Latinos and African-Americans made up nearly one-third of the Democratic electorate in 2008 and are expected to account for more this time. A few recent surveys show a tight race, however. Clinton's campaign has argued she would assert control of the Democratic race once it moved to more diverse states with black and Hispanic populations who have traditionally backed Clinton and have been slow to warm to Sanders. But a Sanders win in Nevada would shatter that perception, fueling new questions about Clinton's strength in a campaign that was once considered a cakewalk for her. It would also raise the stakes for the next contest, in South Carolina on Feb. 27. A Clinton win, however, would halt the momentum Sanders has generated from his 22-point defeat of Clinton in New Hampshire and position her to begin rolling up wins and delegates in South Carolina and on "Super Tuesday" on March 1. COURTING HISPANICS Both campaigns aggressively courted Hispanics in Nevada, bulking up Latino and bilingual staff members, locating offices in Hispanic neighborhoods, launching bilingual phone banks and Spanish-language caucus training, and inviting Hispanic celebrities to help spread the word. "We have to build a culturally competent campaign," said Jorge Neri, Clinton's Nevada organizing director. For Clinton, that cultural competence sometimes could be found in small details - like the fact that "house party" does not translate well in Spanish. The Clinton campaign used the word "cafecito" instead to describe a potluck type event where people gather and talk politics. The Clinton campaign also built a strong text message list, reflecting the fact many Latinos primarily or only access the Internet by their phones. The Sanders campaign also targeted Latinos. At a phone bank event on Wednesday, volunteers chatted in Spanish and English to persuade them to turn out for Sanders. Mexican-American actor and television personality Marco Antonio Regil made calls for Sanders. "Bernie, he gets me," he said, in-between phone conversations. "We have gone so much to the right that we need someone who brings us a little bit to the left." Sanders, a U.S. senator from Vermont, is a self-described democratic socialist who has criticized Clinton's ties to Wall Street and generated enthusiasm among young voters with his call for breaking up the big banks and reducing income inequality. Clinton has said Sanders's emphasis on an anti-Wall Street agenda made him a one-issue candidate, and has questioned whether his proposals are politically viable in a gridlocked Washington. On the Repubican side, front-runner Trump created some last-minute drama in South Carolina after Pope Francis said on Thursday his views on U.S. immigration were "not Christian." Trump initially called Francis "disgraceful," but later called him "a wonderful guy." The Vatican later clarified the pope's remarks, saying they were "in no way" a personal attack and were not an indication how to vote. Trump also called for a boycott of Apple Inc products until the tech company agreed to help the U.S. government unlock the cellphone of one of the killers in last year's San Bernadino, California, shooting. Two abducted Serbs killed in U.S. Libya raids on Islamic State By Aleksandar Vasovic and Ahmed Elumami BELGRADE/TRIPOLI, Feb 20 (Reuters) - Two Serbian embassy staff members abducted in Libya in November were among nearly 50 people killed on Friday in U.S. air strikes on a suspected Islamic State training camp, Serbia's prime minister said. U.S. officials said the site targeted in the strikes in Sabratha, western Libya, was a camp used by up to 60 militants, including Tunisian Noureddine Chouchane, blamed for two attacks on tourists in Tunisia last year in which dozens were killed. Sladjana Stankovic, a Serbian communications officer, and Jovica Stepic, a driver, were taken hostage on Nov. 8 after their diplomatic convoy, including the ambassador, came under fire near Sabratha, a coastal city. "It is officially confirmed that the two embassy staff were killed in air raids," Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic told a news briefing in Belgrade. He described the deaths as "terrible collateral damage" and said Serbia had been close to securing their release. The Pentagon said it was aware of reports that the Serbs had been killed, but had "no information indicating that their deaths were a result of the strike" carried out by U.S. forces. The mayor of Sabratha, Hussein al-Thwadi, said the death toll from Friday's strikes had risen to 49. It was the second U.S. air raid in three months against Islamic State in Libya, where the militants have exploited chaos following Muammar Gaddafi's 2011 downfall to build up a presence on the southern shores of the Mediterranean Sea. 'FINANCIAL INTEREST' On Saturday, Libya's attorney general said one of six wounded survivors told prosecutors those in the building that was hit were "members of Islamic State who came to Libya recently for training and then to carry out terrorist acts in Tunisia". But Sabratha's mayor said the building was "just a house", adding: "The house was used for meetings and other acts but not training." Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic said Serbian authorities had been negotiating the release of the two staff and "the kidnappers had a financial interest". But he said the demands had been "impossible" to meet by either the families or the government. He said Serbia would send a protest note to Washington for not informing Serbian authorities of the raid. Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook said the circumstances in which the Serbs had died were "unclear". "Our forces watched this training camp for weeks leading up to the operation, and at the time of the strike there were no indications of any civilians present," he said in a statement. "We will share whatever information we can with the Serbian government." U.S. officials have said they gave advance warning of the strikes to Libyan authorities, without specifying who they contacted. Since 2014 Libya has had two competing governments, one based in Tripoli and the other, which has received international recognition, in the east. Both sides are supported by loose alliances of former rebels and armed brigades. A unity government has been nominated under a United Nations-backed plan but has yet to win approval or move to Libya. Western powers and the United Nations have been trying to reach out to armed factions to provide security for the unity government and tackle the threat from Islamic State militants. The ultra-hardline group took control of Gaddafi's home town of Sirte last year and has carried out attacks in several other towns and cities. Diplomats and foreign nationals have been targeted in the past for kidnappings, mostly for ransom or to demand the release of fighters being held by overseas governments. Islamist militants have also targeted foreigners. Egypt signs $500 mln facility agreement with Afreximbank to ease FX shortage CAIRO, Feb 20 (Reuters) - The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has agreed a $500 million facility with the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) to help Egyptian importers through a foreign currency crisis. Egypt, which needs to import much of its food and energy, has struggled to revive its economy since the 2011 uprising drove away its main sources of hard currency, foreign investors and tourists. The Afreximbank deal, signed on Friday, will provide a trade liquidity facility to Egyptian importers, focusing on imports considered strategic to the Egyptian economy. Egypt's central bank reserves dwindled from some $36 billion before 2011 to $16.48 billion at the end of January as the central bank helped finance imports and kept the exchange rate artificially strong at 7.7301 pounds per dollar. The black market rate hovered above 9 pounds per dollar on Thursday, up from around 8.8 pounds a week earlier. The facility from Cairo-based Afreximbank is part of a programme approved in December and worth more than $3.5 billion, aimed at helping member countries adjust to a collapse in commodities prices and the impact of political violence. Paracels build-up a pointer to China's broader South China Sea ambitions By Greg Torode and Megha Rajagopalan HONG KONG/BEIJING, Feb 21 (Reuters) - From listening posts to jet fighter deployments and now surface-to-air missiles, China's expanding facilities in the Paracel Islands are a signal of long-term plans to strengthen its military reach across the disputed South China Sea. Diplomats and security experts in contact with Chinese military strategists say Beijing's moves to arm and expand its long-established holdings in the Paracels will likely be replicated on its man-made islands in the more contentious Spratly archipelago, some 500 kms (300 miles) further south. Eventually, both disputed island groups are expected be used for jet fighter operations and constant surveillance, including anti-submarine patrols, while also housing significant civilian populations in a bid to buttress China's sovereign claims. Crucially, that would give Beijing the reach to try to enforce any effective air defence zone in the South China Sea, similar to the zone it created over the East China Sea in late 2013. U.S. officials confirmed on Thursday the "very recent" placement of surface-to-air missiles on Woody Island, the site of the largest Chinese presence on the Paracels, criticising the move as contrary to China's commitments not to militarise its claims in the South China Sea. Beijing says it is entitled to "limited defensive facilities" on its territory, and dismissed reports about the missile placement as media "hype". Ian Storey, a South China Sea expert at Singapore's ISEAS Yusof Ishak Institute, said he believed similar weapons could be deployed to China's holdings in the Spratlys within a year or two. "This would enable China to back up its warnings with real capabilities," he said. Bonnie Glaser, a military analyst at the Centre for Security and International Studies in Washington, said the Paracels build-up was a likely precursor to similar military deployments on China's recent reclamations in the Spratlys. While Chinese officials might use on-going U.S. operations in the South China Sea as justification, "there is a plan that has been in place for quite some time", Glaser said. The HQ-9 missile batteries, guided by radar tracking systems, have a range of 200 km (125 miles) and are the most significant defensive weapon China has yet placed on the Paracels, regional military attaches say. The move could complicate surveillance patrols carried out routinely by U.S. and Japanese aircraft as well as flights by U.S. B-52 long-range bombers, operations China objected to last November. It could also challenge operations by Vietnam's expanding fleet of Russian-built SU-30 jet fighters. STEADY EXPANSION China's expansion of the Paracels, which it has occupied since forcing the navy of the-then South Vietnam off the islands in 1974, pre-dates its moves to begin large-scale reclamations on seven reefs in the Spratlys three years ago. It landed fully-armed jet fighters on an expanded airstrip on Woody Island in November, and reinforced hangars have been completed, regional diplomats said. Coast guard and fishing facilities have also been expanded, along with fuel storage tanks and housing for more than 1,000 civilians in what was declared "Sansha City" in 2012, Chinese analysts say. Radar coverage and other electronic surveillance equipment has also been improved, and analysts expect the Paracels to play a key part in protecting China's nuclear armed submarine fleet on Hainan Island, 200 km to the north. Speaking privately, Vietnamese officials say it is now far more difficult for their fishing fleets and coast guard to get close to the Paracels as they try to assert their own sovereign claims. A similar build-up in the Spratlys would give China its first permanent military presence deep in the maritime heart of Southeast Asia, military attaches say. China claims most of the South China Sea and while Vietnam and Taiwan also claim both archipelagoes in their entirety, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei also claim part of the Spratlys. The waterway carries some $5 trillion in seaborne trade each year. HIGHER STAKES IN SPRATLYS Chinese officials have repeatedly stressed the civilian nature of the Spratlys expansion, including lighthouses, search and rescue bases and environment research stations. Three runways have recently been completed and China last month announced the first successful test landings of civilian airliners on the new 3,000-metre airstrip at Fiery Cross reef. Chinese analysts say the first military flights from the Spratlys could start within months. Wu Shicun, the head of China's National Institute for South China Sea Studies, said lessons learnt from the Paracels expansion could be transferred to the Spratlys, particularly to manage water supplies and waste. "There is no real dispute in the Paracels...so the development on the Paracels has been much faster and governance has also been more complete," he said. Yanmei Xie, a Beijing-based security analyst with the International Crisis Group think-tank, said China would seek to exploit dual-use facilities, such as radars and runways, on the Spratlys but would be cautious about openly deploying military assets. "The Spratly Islands are more complicated because they involve every claimant," she said. "It can be more costly to China diplomatically and geopolitically." Alexander Orokotan aspires to be a Renaissance man, and hes got a pretty good start on it. The Rocky Mountain College senior is on his college debate team, holds down a part-time job, and is double majoring in business management and small-business operations. And last month, he and some pals quietly put Rockys first FM radio station on the air. The radio idea had its roots in a late-night talk session between three friends at Rocky Orokotan, Nicolas Nico Cordero and Jack Jennaway. We got tired of how Billings, and Rocky in particular, had no culture, Orokotan said He and his friends coined the phrase, temporary people mentality, meaning that many college students limit their interactions because their setting is temporary. So we wanted to start a club where people could just come in, jam, and show who they really are without judgment. said Orokotan, who serves as the station's general manager. That idea morphed into Rocky Beats, which became the radio station KVRM 104.5, or as the students call it, the Cave Room. The studio is a far cry from a cave, though. It is located on second floor of one of Rocky's oldest buildings, Alden Hall. With two large wood-trimmed windows and white painted walls, it's a bright spot on a dreary Saturday in more ways than one. The campus community, all the way to the top President Bob Wilmouth got behind the station. Rocky art professors Mark Moak and Jim Baken gave up their photography studio to provide space for the radio station. Academic vice president Steve Germic pitched in to help lay carpeting and a team of about 15 students, educators and community members contributed playlists and ideas for programming, as well as finding funding to upgrade equipment. Two members of Rocky's IT staff, Dan Walters and Andrew Niemantsverdriet, found a transmitter and got the students set up with the required licensing to get the nonprofit, low-power station on the air in mid-January. Its range is two miles, but plans are to raise $2,500 this spring to purchase a newer, more powerful transmitter that would reach four miles. Under their license, KVRM can operate at a maximum of 100 watts in a noncommercial, educational setting. That means the station can seek program sponsors but not advertisers. Its the perfect setup to teach Rocky students how to run a radio station, from the programming to the business end. And hopes are high that the station will get students more engaged in Rocky activities, and intellectual and artistic conversations. What I have heard as a senator at Rocky is that we have a decline in activities, said Dan Murphy, a Rocky student from White Sulphur Springs. Students will be more likely to get involved if they can find out what is happening and we plan to keep them up to date with the station. Orokotan said another idea is to promote Rocky musicians on the air. We want to turn the closet in here into a recording studio, Orokotan said. All we lack is funding and experience. Vince Long, retired technology education teacher from Senior High, is providing valuable help setting up the station. The students dont lack for ideas or dedication. Jack Jennaway, a Rocky student who competes on the debate team with Orokotan, is working on creating talk shows. I really want the station to have an intellectual side, Jennaway said. We are a college station and we should be educational. I want to give everybody something to think about. Most of the students behind the radio station dont have radio experience, except for Cordero, who has a part-time job as a party deejay with Prince Productions and has read poetry on a radio station in his homeland of Ecuador. He wants to work some poetry, including poetry slams, into the programming at KVRM. We are reaching out to the English department and to our literary magazine staff at the Sandstone to do readings, Cordero said. In the meantime, the station is streaming music from every genre, with two notable exceptions, Top 40 and country. The radio club is right in considering that the Billings market is oversaturated with country and Top 40 and they want something else. Weekly programs featuring jazz and talk-show formats that highlight alumni or allow students to call in to talk about their college experience are in the works. Every Monday during lunch, the radio team operates a booth in the Bair Student Center to talk with students about the station and get ideas for programming. Want to get in on the ground floor of this new station? Send your ideas or offers to help to rockybeats@rocky.edu. This past fall, the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) adopted a new position on capital punishment, which points out troubling flaws in its application. The NAE had supported the death penalty for more than 40 years, but it now recognizes that there are also legitimate theological reasons for opposing it. As the Montana district superintendent of the Assemblies of God a member denomination of the NAE I applaud the NAE for taking this new position. It reflects a growing shift among evangelical Christians on this important issue a shift Ive witnessed in my own life. I used to be a staunch supporter of capital punishment. In fact, a little over five years ago I submitted testimony urging the Montana Legislature to maintain the death penalty. A fellow Christian challenged me to find support for my position in Scripture, which prompted me to prayerfully study those biblical passages relevant to the death penalty. I discovered that the biblical case for the death penalty is much weaker than I had thought. Often proponents of the death penalty cite passages such as Exodus 21:12-25 and Leviticus 24:13-21, which specify the death penalty for certain crimes. Inevitably, however, death penalty proponents rely on selective readings of these passages to justify their position. These passages call for the death penalty for a broad range of offenses beyond just murder for example, blasphemy and cursing ones parents. Another Old Testament passage, Exodus 31:14, lists death as the punishment for not keeping the Sabbath. I have yet to meet someone who supports the death penalty but is willing to apply the rest of those verses equally. Such selective use of Scripture is hardly persuasive. In the New Testament, specifically Matthew 5, Jesus lets us know that we are now held to a higher law. We are to love our enemies, forgive them, and recognize the possibility of redemption in everyone. If we apply the teachings of Jesus, we acknowledge that sin must have consequences, but that the purpose of these consequences is to correct and restore, not kill. I have difficulty squaring Christs message with a punishment that takes the life of those made in Gods image and can cut short the process of redemption, especially when the condemned are already incarcerated and no longer a threat to society. In addition to these scriptural considerations, it is important that injustices in the current application of the death penalty also inform our thinking on the issue. I am deeply troubled by the alarming frequency of post-conviction exonerations, as the NAEs new resolution on capital punishment puts it. Every few weeks or months, we hear of another innocent individual released from death row. A recent study estimated that 4 percent of those sentenced to death are innocent. For those who value life, it is unconscionable that our government continues to pursue a policy that puts innocent life at such grave risk. The death penaltys high cost also should concern us. Studies around the country consistently find that the death penalty costs states more than life in prison without parole, often millions of dollars more, because of the complex legal process in capital cases. States spend all this money despite the lack of evidence that the death penalty has any effect in deterring crime. Given this reality, its hard to think of a better example of misplaced priorities than the death penalty. As a case in point, Nebraska recently spent close to $55,000 trying to illegally obtain lethal injection drugs from India that it never received. The state may never recover this money. When there are so many needs in society, it makes little sense for governments to throw away money in often futile attempts to execute those already in prison. I hope that Montana will not exhibit such poor judgment, but instead will end its death penalty and focus on more important priorities. As a Christian, I for one will continue to advocate for policies that promote life and redemption, not death. The manner in which Jawaharal Nehru University Students' Union president Kanhaiya Kumar was roughed up in Patiala House Court premises, while being brought to be produced in the courtroom, in the presence of observers from the Supreme Court who were there to ensure the security of Kanhaiya and everybody else targeted by the RSS-BJP, has brought back memories of the 1992 Babri Masjid demolition incident. The people associated with Sangh Parivar are quick to accuse others who do not believe in their ideology, of being anti-national at the slightest pretext or sometimes even without any concrete evidence, but are themselves guilty of having scant regard for the Constitution of this country or any respect for law and order. At present the biggest threat to this nation is from the Sangh Parivar itself which is hurtling the country speedily towards anarchy. Those of Hindutva ideology feel that under the present dispensation they are free to beat up anybody or even kill without attracting any punishment, as the police is under one of their own, Rajnath Singh, the home minister, who was quick to point out that JNU incidents were instigated by Hafiz Saeed without providing any proof for this claim. Today, there is a raging debate in this country. People believing in Hindutva ideology claim to be patriots, accusing anyone who disagrees with them of being anti-national. The dubious actions of the RSS-associated people make us question their categorisation. Is it enough to be called a patriot if you hold a picture of Mother India, raise "Vande Mataram" slogans, wave the Indian Tricolour, hurl abuses at Pakistan and beat up anybody who disagrees with any of these things? The Delhi BJP MLA OP Sharma said that if he had a gun he would have shot the anti-national people. If we think that the violence perpetrated by terrorists or Naxalites is wrong, how is the violence by the Right wing justified? It is amazing that police and judiciary continue to be mute spectators of all their acts of vandalism. The policies made in this country are making the rich richer and increasingly distancing them from the poor. Half the children born in this country are malnourished. One-fourth of children are victims of child labour. Of the one thousand children born, 47 die at child birth and 14 more die before they reach the age of five years. When one lakh children are born, 200 mothers die during childbirth. Since the country has adopted the economic policies of liberalisation, privatisation and globalisation about three lakh farmers have committed suicide as they were not able to repay their loans. Shouldn't the people who make policies for this country, who are responsible for the abovementioned deaths and extreme levels of poverty in this country, be called anti-national? Some private corporations are in debt to the extent of a total of Rs 1.14 lakh crores to the banks of this country which have conveniently decided to call these unpaid loans as Non-Performing Assets. In a country where poor live in the shocking state described above, will it not be considered anti-national to simply write off the loans of private corporations in this manner? Should people who indulge in corruption and pocket public money for private gains not be called anti-national? BJP has always talked about bringing back the black money stashed in foreign banks but nobody likes to talk about the black money in our economy which helps the corrupt and criminal enter our legislatures. Are people using this black money not anti-national? Is seeking foreign capital to set up industrial units, which will be free to exploit our labour, not anti-national? Is giving rights over natural resources to national-multinational corporations to make profit and denying our own citizens access to them not anti-national? For example, Pepsi and Coca Cola are exploiting our underground water resources and taking away the profits to US. Should helping them set up units in India not be called anti-national? Is helping students cheat in examinations and thereby jeopardising their future not anti-national? On the other hand is it not patriotic to help the empowerment, in any way, of marginalised sections of this country? Is the act of enabling a child to attend school, who is otherwise unable to do so, not an act of patriotism? Is helping a needy person access medical help for treatment not a patriotic act? Does it not count as patriotism to organise socioeconomic weaker categories of people to fight for their basic rights so that they may improve their living conditions? Is it not patriotism to help any victim seek justice from the system? Will it not be considered a patriotic act to raise voice against injustice so that some people are not harmed and demand the right policies so that people are benefitted? Is it not patriotic to raise a voice against misuse of public money by the government so that the resources may be equitably distributed? For example, will it not be wise to demand reduction in defence budget and simultaneously work on resolving bilateral problems with neighbours whom we consider enemy so that the saved resources could be spent on education, health care, employment generation, etc, which will benefit citizens of our country as well as fellow deprived citizens of our enemy country, which too will reduce its defence budget in response. Is this not patriotism? In fact, this kind of patriotism is in the interest of our nation as well as our neighbours, who presently see us as a threat. If we examine carefully the idea of nation is as divisive as the ideas of religion and caste, all of which are artificial categories created by human beings. The concept of nation should meet the same fate as in Europe, where there are no armies on the borders and one can cross from one country into another without requiring a passport or a visa. We hope that one day we will be able to cross from one country into another just like we cross over from one district to another, in South Asia as well. In such a concept of nation the Right-wing people will not have an opportunity to practice their ideology because there will be no takers for it. ARCO, Idaho The Shell station shut down recently. Same with the drive-thru restaurant. Wells Fargo bank will close next month, and nearby storefronts sit mostly vacant. This steadily shrinking town of 900 undoubtedly has seen better days. Like so many other small Idaho communities, it has suffered from a weak rural economy and residents fleeing in search of jobs in more urban areas. But in Arco, there is a tightly knit group of residents who last year hatched a plan they say could turn things around. Led by Rose Bernal, a Butte County commissioner and gas station owner, and Helen Merrill, a chiropractor, the groups proposal is simple: change the name of Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve a 15 minute drive outside town to Craters of the Moon National Park. Not only would it be Idahoans first national park to call our own, the name-change backers say, but it would also bring a higher tourism profile to Craters unusual lava fields and, in turn, an influx of visitors to tiny towns such as Arco, Carey and Mackay. When you think of the word monument, what comes to your mind? Merrill said. Most people go, Well plaque, statute. So why would I get off a major highway to go see a monument? But if its a national park, then Im going to go. Merrill and others hope the name change will help spark a revitalization in a town historically dominated by agriculture and in close proximity to Idaho National Laboratorys desert site. And the movement is starting to gain steam, picking up backing from numerous counties and state legislators. Such a national park designation requires congressional approval, and Idahos delegation has indicated they will pursue the idea if they see widespread support, from both local governments and the state Legislature. They want us to thoroughly vet it out, Bernal said of the name change, adding that so far she has heard few concerns. Otherworldly landscape On a recent morning, Craters of the Moon is quiet and cold about 10 degrees. A thick layer of snow blankets the black basaltic rock for which the park is famous, and a few low-lying clouds are hung up on volcanic cones that once spewed lava. Encompassing more than 750,000 acres, the monument and preserve includes three lava fields formed by major eruptions between 2,000 and 15,000 years ago. Despite its otherworldly geology, Craters supports as many animal species as Yellowstone National Park, and puts on a stunning show of wildflowers in springtime. It also remains a frequent NASA research and training ground. Considering this beautiful and bizarre landscape, Bernal, Merrill and others argue Craters is more than deserving of national park status, economic benefits aside. And they point out that the national park designation would only apply to the original 54,000 acres proclaimed by President Calvin Coolidge in 1924 as a monument. Management of the rest of Craters roughly 700,000 acres, expanded by President Bill Clinton in 2000, would remain the same, with hunting and grazing still allowed in certain areas. It wouldnt make any practical difference in terms of how we manage the park or monument, said Craters spokesman Ted Stout. He said expenses for such a changeover would mostly entail switching out signs and park literature. Stout said the Park Service isnt allowed to take a position on the proposal. But he does have a sense for what the name change might mean, especially considering national parks figure more prominently than monuments on maps and in guide books. The public puts a lot more importance on areas called national parks, Stout said. A lot of our visitors kind of stumble into this place, and we certainly could use some more name recognition. There is data showing national park in the name does make a difference. Three national monuments that changed their designation to national parks since 2003 boosted visitation by an average of 28 percent. Craters has averaged around 200,000 visitors in recent decades, with last year reaching about 246,000. (Visitors) are really impressed with Craters of the Moon once they find us, Stout said. But were not the easiest place to find. Park politics Bernal, Merrill and other park advocates think 2016 is an ideal year to change the name. Craters would become the 60th national park at the same time the National Park Service celebrates it centennial. After a year of getting the word out, they point to widespread support theyve garnered for the idea. Commissions of the five counties touching the monument and preserve have passed resolutions supporting changing the name, as have five other regional counties. The Idaho Association of Counties, with representation from around the state, also has backed the proposal. But the hangup, at least for this year, could come in the state Legislature. Idahos U.S. congressional delegation wants support from state legislators before moving forward. Last year a resolution supporting the name change easily passed the Idaho Senate, but several concerns with the proposal arose at the tail end of the legislative session, and the House didnt have time to work them out. Rep. Merrill Beyeler, R-Leadore, whose district includes Custer and Lemhi counties, sponsored the House resolution last year. He said hes passionate about moving the proposal forward again, but he wants to be careful not to rush it. Beyeler met with Bernal and several legislative leaders on the subject this week, and said progress on the resolution was still in the educational phase. He said he wants to ensure no concerns about the name change arise that might catch him or other legislators off guard. The chances of it occurring this session Im not sure its going to get there, Beyeler said. Those involved in the effort are wary of previous failed efforts to change the name. In the late 1980s, then-U.S. Rep. Richard Stallings got so far as to introduce a bill that wouldve changed the monuments status to national park, and expand its size. But it died, in part due to concerns over added federal restrictions raised by hunting and grazing groups. So far, the Idaho Farm Bureau appears to be the primary group to raise concerns this time around about whether national park status would result in any added federal restrictions on access or grazing. John Thompson, the Farm Bureaus Pocatello-based spokesman, said those worries have mostly been appeased, however, including a concern that U.S. Highway 20/26 running through the park could become a toll road that would delay trucks carrying alfalfa from Jefferson County to the Magic Valley. Thompson said his organization holds reservations that once a Craters bill hits Congress, it might be amended, and then turn out to have provisions that somehow affect agriculture in or around the park. But he said while the Farm Bureau has decided it cant explicitly support any name change legislation, it also wont oppose it. They need an infusion of commerce out there, and if this does it for them, that would be great, Thompson said. U.S. Sen. Mike Crapo is one member of the Idaho delegation who has indicated he wants to see strong local and state support for the idea before introducing legislation. Crapo spokesman Lindsay Nothern said its possible progress could be made on such legislation later this year, but it would first require the state Legislature to sign off on the idea this session. These kind of bills are never easy, but they can be done, Nothern said. And Idaho has a lot of things in its favor, like not having a national park. Work for it Arco never became the hub it hoped to be for well-paid Idaho National Laboratory and cleanup workers, losing out from the beginning to bigger cities, such as Idaho Falls and Pocatello, with more amenities. Local farms have consolidated, employing fewer people over the years. The town also never fully benefited from its proximity to popular outdoor destinations such as Craters and the Lost River Range, said Chandos Gamett, 34, an Arco native and the Butte County director of Lost Rivers Economic Development. Its sad, because I feel like this little town has so much to offer, and were not capitalizing on it, she said. We need to sell our lifestyle. Receiving national park status for Craters is just the first step in order to bring more traffic and money through town, Gamett said. Then, she said, its our duty to get them to stop. Gamett, Merrill and Bernal all say they have ideas for what that will take. Part of their plan includes making brochures and building a better online presence promoting the town, with a website showing tourists other nearby sights and activities that might keep them around for a few extra days after they visit Craters. None of those promotional materials currently exist. Were so archaic down here, its unbelievable, said Merrill, 45, a native of Australia who serves as president of the local chamber of commerce. Its easy for Ron Paquette, who owns the Mountain View RV Park and Restaurant on the edge of Arco, to envision how more tourists and promotion from a nearby national park would help his business. He has 35 sites, and space to build as many as 25 more. But he has no reason to expand at this point. I have the room, he said. If I could double the size and keep it occupied if I had reason to increase in size I think it would be great. But I dont say, Sorry, were full, too many times. If more people stayed at the RV park it would directly translate to more revenue for other local businesses, Paquette said. That would include Bernals Sinclair gas station and Bargain Barn market. When they spend time with me, theyre going to the market, theyre going to get gas, theyre going to the liquor store, he said. The longer they stay, the more wealth gets spent in town. Paquette, who moved to Arco two years ago, is a rarity. Most residents are leaving. Arco has lost about 100 residents in the past five years, according to U.S. Census data, and Butte County as a whole is shedding residents at a faster clip than any other Idaho county but Clark. Merrill, Bernal and Gamett are also exceptions to the rule. All say they have no intentions of leaving, that they thrive on the small-town life and natural beauty that Arco offers. They want their kids to be able to live and work in Arco one day, if they so choose. The first step to a local economic revival, the women are convinced, is creating Craters of the Moon National Park. Doing nothing to promote Arco will have only one result, Bernal said. I think it will just end up dying more and more, she said. And I feel like thats the fate of many rural communities. The only way you stay viable and healthy is if you make an effort. It doesnt just happen. For a rural community to survive, you have to work for it, and you have to give it a reason to be there. MISSOULA Judges with the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals have denied a petition to rehear an appeal by Jordan Graham, the Kalispell woman who pushed her husband off a cliff and killed him Glacier National Park eight days after their wedding. In an order dated Feb. 5, 9th Circuit judges Paul Watford, Marsha Berzon and Raymond Fisher denied a petition filed by Grahams attorney in mid-January to rehear her appeal. The 9th Circuit also denied Graham a rehearing en banc, which would have happened before a larger panel of judges. Shortly before closing arguments during her December 2013 trial in U.S. District Court in Missoula, Graham pleaded guilty to second-degree murder as part of an agreement in which federal prosecutors dismissed a first-degree murder charge and a charge of making a false statement to law enforcement. In Grahams appeal, federal public defender Michael Donahoe, argued prosecutors unfairly claimed at sentencing that the murder was premeditated after agreeing to the second-degree charge. Graham was subsequently sentenced to 365 months in prison. In November 2015, a three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit upheld Grahams sentence, finding that neither federal prosecutors nor U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy erred the process. "The government did not breach the plea agreement by arguing premeditation at sentencing," the judges wrote, "because the agreement contained no provision, express or implied, limiting such arguments. "The government satisfied its obligations under the plea agreement when it dismissed the first-degree murder charge and the false statement charge in exchange for Graham's plea to second-degree murder." On July 7, 2013, Graham and her husband Cody Johnson scuffled and she pushed him backward off a cliff near the Loop trail along Glacier's Going-to-the-Sun Road. She then went home to Kalispell. It wasnt until July 11, after days of telling law enforcement that Johnson drove away from their house with friends, that Graham led a search party to his body. A week later, she confessed having murdered Johnson to an FBI agent. Graham is currently in federal prison in Aliceville, Alabama. Emphasizing attendance appears to be paying off for Billings schools so far this year, as students missed fewer days during the school years first semester than last year. Whether other outcomes like improved student performance will follow remains to be seen. But educators are optimistic theyre laying a strong foundation and doing a better job of reaching struggling students. Riverside Middle School, which serves a high proportion of students from low-income families, saw the biggest improvement in both district attendance measures, the average percentage of the student body attending school and the number of days that 10 percent or more of the student body missed school. In contrast, Senior High was the only school to have worse attendance by both measures. Last year, we were the worst in the district, essentially, said Riverside Principal Kevin Kirkman, who took over at the beginning of this school year. In the first semester of 2014, the school had 40 days in which more than 10 percent of students were gone horrible, in Kirkmans words. He credited a schoolwide attendance reward initiative, renewed emphasis by teachers and the addition of an attendance/behavior intervention specialist in helping turn figures around. During the second semester of last school year, absence-heavy days were down to 25. During first semester of this year, they fell to nine. Were just showing the kids that we want them here, every day, every class, Kirkman said. Attendance problems arent typically linked to family vacations or illness, but often to chronic absenteeism among students who may already struggle academically. Combating that has become a focus for SD2s Indian Education for All program. Home-to-school coordinators spend a massive amount of time trying to get kids to school, said SD2 Indian Education Coordinator Jen Smith. That takes away from their primary duty, providing in-school academic support for Native American students. The district has nine coordinators who are concentrated at the high school and middle school level. If I could solve one problem, it would be the attendance problem, Smith said. Coordinators will knock on doors, meet with students and parents, even pull covers off a students bed. Its easy to seem like the bad guy, said Senior High coordinator Brandon Covers Up. But that interaction helps build a relationship with kids and families. Theres not a playbook, he said. You kind of bridge that gap with the students. Then the kid buys in. In some cases, students live within SD2s three-mile busing radius but feel unsafe or unable to walk to school. Several coordinators give students rides, despite it being against transportation rules. I cant say no, Covers Up said. Riversides attendance specialist helps bring that approach to the entire student body. Riley Mayo was hired this year using Title I funds, federal money provided to schools with a high proportion of students from low-income families. He makes frequent home visits that administrators rarely have time for. Having somebody that has that flexibility in their schedule its awesome, Kirkman said. (Parents) see a face for the school. They understand that we want their kid here. Sometimes, older kids stay at home to take care of kids too young for school. Reasons can vary; parents might be working, ill, incarcerated or out of town. Often grandparents are filling the guardian role. Thats a reality, said Smith of parents who work relying on older kids for child care. It sounds like horrible parenting, but someones trying to make some money to pay a bill. Elementary years, when students are often reliant upon parents to get them ready for school, are crucial in developing students attendance habits. Its the kindergarten, first, second grade that those patterns are established, Smith said. That sets the groundwork for everything else thats going to happen. A major focus for schools and support specialists is to maintain a positive, not punitive, approach. Were really trying to put more of an emphasis on, this is Riverside, Kirkman said. This should be their second home. Charter College, a private, for-profit school, is bringing a medical assistant certification course to Billings. Medical assistants do both administrative and clinical tasks in physicians offices, clinics, hospitals and other medical settings. Construction workers are prepping a space in West Park Promenade, at 1603 Grand Ave., Suite 230, for the new 10-month course that is expected to begin April 11. The program includes a blend of classroom time, online studies and a five-week, 180-hour externship in a medical office. The hands-on teaching takes place in the classroom, while the reading requirements are fulfilled online, said Tracy McClenathan, in town to manage the start-up of whats called an education program on demand. We look for locations where we can be a resource to the community, McClenathan said Thursday. We want to educate students thats our role. We dont want to educate them in a community that wont serve them well. As part of the course, students also take a national competency test to become certified. The cost of the program is $23,115, which includes tuition and fees, books and supplies, according to the Charter College website. Additional sessions in Billings will begin every five weeks, including May 16 and June 20. A second Montana campus is set to open in Missoula in May. Billings Community and Adult Education also provides medical assistant training. The Billings Public Schools one-year program, which is housed at the Lincoln Education Center, has been in existence for about four years, said Brenda Segna, one of the course instructors. The course costs $3,700, which includes books. Some scholarships are available, Segna said. Other fees include $25 for drug testing, a $12 background check and $55 for a CPR course. Students in that program meet two nights a week, four hours each night, and spend eight hours one Saturday every two months to focus on the clinical aspects of their duties. Students also complete six-week internships and take the necessary testing to obtain their national certification. The program, which has several start dates during the year, can accommodate 15 students in each class. The next session begins March 1. The program is done in partnership with St. Vincent Healthcare, Billings Clinic and RiverStone Health. In addition, a separate online course is offered to medical assistants who want to obtain their national certification. 'Huge need' Charter College does advance scouting, looking for cities where the population could accommodate a small campus or learning site, McClenathan said, and where resources are available and the need is great for a particular program. Jobs must also be plentiful, since the school assists 70 to 80 percent of students in finding employment. The new course has already received a lot of of inquiries, McClenathan said. She did advance work for the Billings site and spoke to the medical community. She discovered that there is a very large need here for medical assistants. McClenathan arrived in Billings on Tuesday and will stay until next Thursday. During her stay in Billings, working out of a temporary office, she is introducing campus manager Emily Harris to local hospital and clinic officials. The school also is in the process of hiring course instructors. Like McClenathan, Segna said theres a huge need for new medical assistants. We cant get our students trained fast enough, she said. The Occupational Outlook Handbook, produced by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, indicates that in 2014, there were 591,300 medical assistant jobs in the U.S. and that number is projected to increase 23 percent to 138,900 by 2024, which is much faster than average. The average salary in the Mountain West area is $14.33 per hour, or $28,386, which is slightly less than the national average of $29,960 or $14.41 per hour. Megan Kongaika, public relations specialist with Billings Clinic, said the clinic presently has openings for medical assistants, among other positions. As we look at projections for our national health care workforce, we see many opportunities to educate and effectively prepare professionals to fill these needs, Kongaika said. We appreciate any program willing to train and graduate quality health care professionals, including MAs. Charter College, which exists under the umbrella of Prospect Education LLC, is accredited through the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools. It has 11 on-ground campuses in Alaska, Washington and California. Those are in addition to 30 different career-focused programs, both at the campuses and online. McClenahan said the possibility exists that Charter could expand its offerings over time, if it deems other needs exist in the area that the school could meet. Hal Haefer was in the U.S. Army from 1965 to 1968. He graduated from Montana State College. This is part of his Vietnam story. Haefer: "I had originally planned to go advanced Reserve Officer Training. I didn't pass the physical because of my eyesight (uncorrected 20/800 vision). I had been in the drill team at Bozeman for two years when ROTC was required. I had planned to become an officer with my commission in the Army. I had a predisposition to go into the Army. I studied psychology and sociology in college to include psychological tests and measurements, so when I took the entrance exam for the Army, I scored very, very high and I was told I was qualified in the general technical score for anything that I wanted. So, I was looking at two things, intelligence specialist and the people who run internets of spies. I asked the recruiter: What are these? He said, 'I can't tell you because they're classified.' So it's kind of like flipping a coin. I don't know what it's going to be. I had been told that if I became a 97B40, a special agent, I'd get $200 for civilian clothes, carry a pistol, never live on an Army fort and conduct background investigations and do security checks and oh, by the way, the recruiter said, these people never go to Vietnam. Where do I sign?" Gazette: Was Vietnam a concern for you, going into the Army? Haefer: "Well, these people never go to Vietnam. Where's the concern? I'm not going. I am going to be here in civilian clothes, helping people get their security checks done, get their clearances, or are they keeping the classified documents properly in the States? I originally thought I was going to be a second lieutenant, ROTC-wise, wind up in executive company of some company in Vietnam, and I wasn't upset about either one of those situations, really." Haefer went to basic training at Fort Ord, Calif. He did advance training at Fort Holabird in Baltimore, where the intelligence for the military were trained. Gazette: What was your training like? Haefer: "I learned to interview people, and I am looking for these following items LIDMAC which is the military acronym to remember loyalty, integrity, discretion, morals and character. When you apply for security you have to give some references. A special agent will come out and interview the references. From each reference, you want to get at least two character references from that reference and it goes on and on until the report you write, you assume you've covered those characteristics. Somebody has said something, 'Oh he's very loyal,' or 'He's got good character, has good morals, good integrity,' and you type those all up and somebody somewhere decides you either you get your clearance or you don't. To have that job, I had to have my own security clearance at the level of top secret. So you learn to interview. You learn how to secure classified documents what level of protection they need for what they are." "... As it happened, my class going through Fort Holabird, going through special agents, was the first class ever to have anybody assigned to a combat unit. There were five of us and I went to Fort Bragg, N.C. We were put into the 705th Intelligence Detachment, which is attached to the 3rd Special Forces, whose area of interest is Africa, south of the Sahara... I was put in a Special Forces unit, an airborne unit. I'm not airborne qualified, I'm not supposed to be in a combat unit and I get called into my commanding officer's office and he sits me down and he says, 'Private Haefer, would you like to go airborne?' and I said, 'Well, I tried back in basic training, but I have bad eyes. My corrected vision is fine, but my uncorrected vision is atrocious.' 'Ah, think nothing of it, Private Haefer.' He gets on the phone and calls down to the medical facility. He says, 'Captain so-and-so, this is Maj. Strauss, I am sending Private Haefer down to pass his airborne physical. Do you roger?' So I get my little paperwork and I go down to the medical people, put it on the desk, they stamp it and put it back to me, never examine my eyes at all.' But, airborne people have something about them, if you're not airborne, we don't need whatever you got. That's not true, but they'll call a non-airborne person 'a straight leg' or a 'leg' because he's not qualified." Haefer went to Fort Benning, Ga., for airborne qualification. He was assigned to the 101st Airborne Division in Vietnam in 1966. Gazette: Getting your orders for Vietnam, when you were told that weren't going to go, had to be scary for you. Haefer: "I didn't have any strong feelings at that point in time. It was still an adventure, you know? Life is unfolding and I am finding out stuff, and I am testing myself. I am seeing what I can do for someone else. I am pretty much satisfied with that process. "... I arrive (in Vietnam) like all the other GIs, just a plane full of people. When I get off the plane and start walking across the tarmac, this jeep comes racing up to me. There's 200 people walking across a tarmac. He comes driving up to me, because he's a Spec4 in the Special Forces. I am the only one on the plane wearing a green beret, which is no longer my unit, but you stay in the uniform of your old unit until you sign in with the new unit, so I am in a green beret, too. He comes and asks me, 'Where can I take you?' and I said, 'I'm looking for the 101st.' He said, 'Would you like us to change that?' Yeah, sure. Not that I have anything against the 101st, but I've started to buy into the myth, the romance, the status or prestige that this country had at that point in time with the green berets. John Wayne's movie hadn't quite come out yet." Haefer is assigned to the 5th Special Forces in Nha Trang. Haefer: "I arrive at the headquarters of special forces and they said, 'Private Haefer, we have two jobs you're qualified for. We've got this or that, which one do you want?' This is the Army. Which one do you want? What they had was the possibility of establishing the source control section. What had been happening was that you're paying your spies and I'm paying my spies, she's paying her spies and everybody is paying their spies, getting their information. But these people started selling their information to the French so they're getting pretty good at it by now. I would write one report and sell it to you, and you, and you, and you, and our government will end up paying five times for one report. So, what they want us to do, a combat unit, was register our sources. We've never done it before, but Gen. William Westmoreland gets what Westmoreland wants because he's Westmoreland. So, I get back into that airplane and fly back to headquarters and get their regulations which is not Special Forces and so since I do have a college education, it's like plagiarizing. I go back to Nha Trang, go back to my little desk, and rewrite the regulation into our speak. There's our regulation. It goes up the chain-of-command, back down, approved. My commander is pretty happy with me because he didn't have to do this. Then comes the implementing of our source control section. Our sources have to be photographed, fingerprinted, little ID cards sent off to the headquarters in Saigon and they'll decide who gets to have which source. Would you believe your very, very best sources get scarfed up by the CIA? There's my government in action. Our sources are wherever our A-teams are. They're out in the boondocks and not much interest to most agencies. Gazette: Was this interesting work or meaningful? Haefer: "It was a challenge. This has not been done before. They're expecting something out of you... Getting people out in the field to do what they needed to do was more challenging, but I also got to do a lot of going out chit-chatting with this guy over here, and this one out here, and this one here, seeing the country. It was seeing the country." Gazette: What were your impressions of the country? What was it like and what do you remember about it? Haefer: "I remember that I was seldom, if ever, dry. I would take a shower before going to bed, towel down a lot two towels in my little shorts and flip-flops, walk back to my hooch, lay down on my top sheet, under a fan, and for about five minutes, I was dry. A beautiful time, those five minutes. In 10 minutes, my own body heat and moisture, I'd be wet again. You're either wet internally going out into the field or it's raining on you and you're really wet." Gazette: It rains a lot there and comes down furiously? Haefer: "I was there for 18 months, two rainy seasons, one dry season. But, the dry season is pretty wet." Gazette: So you're going around to the different A-teams. What are those A-team camp conditions like? When Greg Gianforte recently appeared on Face the State with Dave Parker and Mike Dennison, he slipped up and let us in on his plans for undercutting middle-class workers. When asked about Right to Work, Gianfrote dodged the question and simply stated that imposing Right to Work on private sector unions wasnt one of his top priorities. That answer is very telling. Gianfortes response sounds very much like the answer Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker gave while running for re-election. He signed Right to Work into law the second he took office, of course. He had already pushed through and signed legislation that took away the collective bargaining rights of most public sector workers. What Gianforte didnt say is even more important, he didnt mention public sector unions: firefighters, police, teachers, snow plow drivers, county workers, school cooks, nurses the people who help hold together the fabric of communities. Public sector employees are in the crosshairs and should be on high alert. At least we now know where Gianforte stands when it comes to the rights of working Montanans. Its unfortunate, especially given the recent news regarding the National Right to Work Committees illegal activities in Montana elections. This would have been a perfect opportunity and time for Gianforte to disavow Right to Work and pledge never to sign any such extremist legislation. Right to Work laws hurt working middle class families. Right to Work laws lower the wages of everyone. Just compare Wisconsin to its neighbor Minnesota. Gianforte talks about raising wages in Montana, so why he supports an attack on private and public sector unions is beyond me. Montana doesnt need Right to Work and we dont need to elect someone to office who wont give us a straight answer even though his agenda is transparent. Those of us in the private sector should take no comfort in Gianfortes nonanswer. Keith Allen Business manager International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Helena Rome: Italian author Umberto Eco, who intrigued, puzzled and delighted readers worldwide with his best-selling historical novel "The Name of the Rose," has died. Spokeswoman Lori Glazer of Eco's American publisher, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, told The Associated Press that Eco died Friday at age 84. She could not immediately confirm the cause of death or where he died. Author of a wide range of books, Eco was fascinated with the obscure and the mundane, and his books were both engaging narratives and philosophical and intellectual exercises. The bearded, heavy-set scholar, critic and novelist took on the esoteric theory of semiotics, the study of signs and symbols in language; on popular culture icons like James Bond; and on the technical languages of the Internet. "The Name of the Rose" transformed him from an academic to international celebrity, especially after the medieval thriller set in a monastery was made into a film starring Sean Connery in 1986. "The Name of the Rose" sold millions of copies, a feat for a narrative filled with partially translated Latin quotes and puzzling musings on the nature of symbols. But Eco talked about his inspiration with characteristic irony: "I began writing ... prodded by a seminal idea: I felt like poisoning a monk." His second novel, the 1988 "Foucault's Pendulum," a byzantine tale of plotting publishers and secret sects also styled as a thriller, was successful, too -though it was so complicated that an annotated guide accompanied it to help the reader follow the plot. In 2000, when awarding Eco Spain's prestigious Prince of Asturias Prize for communications, the jury praised his works "of universal distribution and profound effect that are already classics in contemporary thought." Eco was born Jan. 5, 1932 in Alessandria, a town east of Turin; he said the reserved culture there was a source for his "world vision: a skepticism and an aversion to rhetoric." He received a university degree in philosophy from the University of Turin in 1954, beginning his fascination with the Middle Ages and the aesthetics of text. He later defined semiotics as "a philosophy of language." He had always loved storytelling and as a teenager wrote comic books and fantasy novels. "I was a perfectionist and wanted to make them look as though they had been printed, so I wrote them in capital letters and made up title pages, summaries, illustrations," he told The Paris Review in 1988. "It was so tiring that I never finished any of them. I was at that time a great writer of unaccomplished masterpieces." Eco remained involved with academia, becoming the first professor of semiotics at the University of Bologna in 1971. He also lectured at institutions worldwide and was a fellow at elite colleges like Oxford University and Columbia University. Twenty-three institutions had awarded him honorary degrees by 2000. But Eco was also able to bridge the gap between popular and intellectual culture, publishing his musings in daily newspapers and Italy's leading weekly magazine L'Espresso. Eco started in journalism in the 1950s, working for the Italian state-owned television RAI. From the 1960s onwards, he wrote columns for several Italian dailies. He also wrote children's books, including "The Bomb and the General" ("La Bomba e il Generale"). In 2003, Eco published a collection of lectures on translations, "Mouse or Rat? Translation as Negotiation," and a year later he wrote the novel "The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana," a story about an antiquarian book dealer who loses his memory. Recent works include "From the Tree to the Labyrinth," an essay on semiology and language published in 2007 and "Turning Back the Clock," a collection of essays on various subjects, ranging from the recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, anti-Semitism and his staunch criticism of Silvio Berlusconi's conservative government. His most recent novel, "Numero Zero," came out last year and recalled a political scandal from the 1990s that helped lead to Berlusconi's rise. In a 2011 interview with the Guardian newspaper, Eco explained how someone as "strongly anti-intellectual" as Berlusconi could become a political force in Italy, a cradle of Renaissance culture. "There was a fear of the intellectual as a critical power, and in this sense there was a clash between Berlusconi and the intellectual world," he said. "But Italy is not an intellectual country. On the subway in Tokyo everybody reads. In Italy, they don't. Don't evaluate Italy from the fact that it produced Raphael and Michelangelo." In the same interview, Eco shrugged off critics who found him "too erudite and philosophical, too difficult," saying he wrote "for masochists." "It's only publishers and some journalists who believe that people want simple things," Eco said. "People are tired of simple things. They want to be challenged." Abul Bajandar became a celebrity with people travelling to Khulna over the years to see the "Tree Man" and hundreds visiting him in hospital. (Photo: AFP) Dhaka: A Bangladeshi father dubbed "Tree Man" for massive bark-like warts on his hands and feet on Saturday underwent a successful operation to remove some of the growths, a hospital said. A nine-doctor team took three and a half hours to remove the giant warts from Abul Bajandar's right hand at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital, facility director Samanta Lal Sen told AFP. The 26-year-old was admitted last month for an operation to remove the growths weighing at least five kilogrammes (11 pounds) that first began appearing 10 years ago. "It was a successful operation. We removed warts from all five fingers of his right hand. He's now happy and was laughing," Sen said. "We'll now review his condition for the next three weeks before deciding whether to conduct more operations. It's a big challenge." Bajandar, from the southern district of Khulna, was diagnosed with epidermodysplasia verruciformis, an extremely rare genetic condition dubbed "tree-man disease" that causes the skin growths. He became a celebrity with people travelling to Khulna over the years to see the "Tree Man" and hundreds visiting him in hospital. He was given the all-clear for surgery after tests confirmed the warts were not cancerous. The Bangladesh government agreed to bear the costs of his treatment and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was given an update on his condition, Sen said. Bajandar's wife Halima Khatun saw her husband after the operation and said he looked "relaxed and happy". Hospital director Sen said there were only three known cases of epidermodysplasia verruciformis in the world and Bajandar's was the only one in Bangladesh. Bajandar told AFP last month that he initially thought that the warts were harmless but slowly as the growths covered his hands and feet, he was forced to quit working as a bicycle rickshaw puller. An Indonesian villager with massive warts all over his body underwent a string of operations in 2008 to remove them. Chennai: With greater telecom penetration, cases of missing mobile phones increased by 39 per cent last year in the city. Only 40 per cent of the instruments have been traced. This is due to lack of cooperation from mobile service operators (MSO) and owners to certain extent. When R. Harish (name changed) lost his phone costing more than Rs 75,000, he was confident of retrieving it. However, the instrument was never traced. This is because the probability of getting back a phone reduces, if its cost exceeds Rs 30,0000, says a police officer. He said high-end mobiles are often dismantled and sold. As the sum obtained after selling it in seconds is very low, the suspect makes profit by selling the spare parts. In such cases, the mobiles can never be traced, the officer said. Also, service providers indifference adds to the owners problems. Constant checking of IMEI number is usually not done. A lot of backlog will be cleared if a separate department is set up by mobile service providers for the cause, it is pointed out. Culprits are so shrewd that they switch off the stolen phone for more than three months, which adds to the delay in detection of the case. In such cases, blaming the police is unfair, said sources. As misplaced mobiles often land in unprofessional hands, police officers say they can be traced with less difficulty. While the misplaced phones are traced within a month, more time is taken to trace a stolen phone as the culprit is mostly professional, said another officer. Except for some Korean sets, changing the IMEI number is very difficult due to complex security elements, a police official explained. More than 50 per cent of stolen mobiles find their way to shops at Burma bazaar, Richie Street and Pallavaram Sandai (market). Insuring a mobile phone, especially high-end ones will reduce the distress, said police officers. The fact that more than 90 per cent of missing mobiles are uninsured explains lack of awareness on the subject. An insurance agent, G. Shiva, said an agent often pushes the customer for obtaining a mobile insurance policy. The store officials often make a deal with the insurance while selling a phone. However, many tend to be disinterested, he said. Though the insurance sum decreases during renewal, only 15 per cent of the insured renew their insurance periodically. Replacing a mobile at regular intervals is a reason for this, said Shiva. Chandigarh/New Delhi: The Jat agitation in Haryana turned violent on Friday after one person died when the BSF opened fire in self-defence in Rohtak. The state government has requisitioned Army deployment in eight districts while the Centre rushed 1,000 paramilitary personnel to the state. The protesters set a police post on fire in Jhajjhar when they went on the rampage, also setting on fire the house of state finance minister Captain Abhimanyu Sindhu as well as several vehicles in Rohtak. Union home minister Rajnath Singh, concerned over the turn of events, called up Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and took stock of the situation. Later in the evening shoot-at-sight orders were issued in the troubled districts of Rohtak and Bhiwani where curfew has also been imposed. The police reports stated that as many as 21 people were injured in violence. However, authorities at the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Science & Hospital, Rohtak, said 19 of the 25 injured people admitted there had bullet injuries, PTI reported. Shoot-at-sight orders in Haryana Army units are being rushed to Rohtak from the nearby cantonment at Hisar, about 50 km away, would be deployed immediately in Rohtak and Bhiwani areas. Army units are also being rushed from Jaipur for deployment in other badly affected areas of Haryana. Besides army being called in nine districts of Haryana, curfew imposed in two districts along with shoot-at-sight orders after one person died and 25 were injured during the Jat stir. One person who was critical has been operated upon and his condition is now stable, they were quoted as saying. One protester was killed when the paramilitary force opened fire in the city as a mob took a DSP and a few other policemen hostage and attacked the office and house of the Rohtak range IGP. Several vehicles were set on fire at the local circuit house. In Jhajjar, a police post was set ablaze at Dighal as rioting and arson gave a dangerously violent turn to the ongoing Jat agitation demanding reservation. State DGP Y.P. Singhal said their priority was to bring the situation under control in Rohtak. He said the Army was being called out in eight districts of Haryana in aid of the police as the police lines in Rohtak were also under threat. The situation got out of hand on Friday morning as Internet and mobile SMS services were suspended in six districts by the authorities to prevent spread of communally-sensitive messages. Jats have been blocking several roads in the state to press for their demand for reservation in government jobs and educational institutions under the OBC category. The situation turned riot-like after clashes between members of Jat and non-Jat communities here on Thursday evening. The Chief Minister, meanwhile, said on Friday that the state government is in favour of reservation for Jats. Jat community members torch motorcyles during their agitation for reservation in Rohtak. (Photo: PTI) Rohtak/New Delhi: With the pro-reservation agitation of Jats getting intensified in Haryana, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju held a meeting at Home Minister Rajnath Singh's residence on Saturday. Meanwhile, Bharatiya Janata Party leaders (BJP) Sanjeev Balyan,Om Prakash Dhankar, Anil Jain and Ram lal also held a meeting at party office. They will meet BJP president Amit Shah after the meeting. Read: Jat quota: Shoot-at-sight orders issued in Haryanas curfew-bound cities The Army has been called in the state to quell the ongoing Jat agitation in Haryana which took a violent turn. The Army conducted flag march in intense areas and used choppers to reach parts of Rohtak on Saturday as incidents of violence and arson by Jats demanding quota continued at several places despite authorities imposing curfew and issuing shoot at sight orders in two districts. Also read: BJP, RSS conspiring to divide Haryana on caste: Congress Normal life remained disrupted as protesting Jats continued to block roads and rail routes, affecting the supplies of essential commodities to Rohtak, Jind, Bhiwani and other parts of the state. Jats are protesting across the state seeking reservation in the government jobs under OBC category. A school, belonging to a state Minister Capt Abhimanyu, a shopping mall in the city and Budha Khera Railway Station were set on fire by the agitating Jat community members. Some unidentified persons set the Budha Khera Railway Station on fire. Furniture, record room and other articles were set on fire at the railway station, which falls on the Jind-Panipat rail section, police said. Police said the protesters set on fire a school, R N Mall and shops adjacent to it in the city. Earlier, the agitators had burnt the house of the Minister, who represents Jat community, and camp office of the local BJP MLA Manish Kumar Grover at his residence here. Read: Jat quota: Internet services blocked as Haryana CM Khattar calls all-party meet The minister, who holds key Finance portfolio in Manohar Lal Khattar-led government, said he was saddened by the arson across various places in the state. Appealing for peace, he said he was in favour of finding a solution to the issue and with the community members but opposed to arson. Read: Jat leaders reject Haryana governments offer, quota agitation to continue Agitators also pelted stones at a residence of local BJP MP Raj Kumar Saini in Kaithal, police said. Around 50 persons attacked the Saini's residence at Sector 19 here, damaging windowpanes. Some adjoining houses were also damaged in the stone pelting, police said. Read: Jat quota stir: Curfew imposed in Rohtak, Bhiwani city areas of Haryana Saini had earlier expressed objection over giving reservation to Jats and even threatened to resign if there was "any loss" to reservation quota for OBCs. No security personnel were deployed at the Saini's residence where he comes every few days to hear grievances since Kaithal falls in his Kurukshetra Parliamentary constituency. Read: Several trains cancelled in wake of agitation by Jats in Haryana Meanwhile, unidentified persons looted some weapons from a gun house (shop) at Rohtak, police said, adding that a search has been launched for the miscreants. The protesters also set on fire the roadways workshop here besides setting on blaze around four state owned transport buses. Rohtak is under curfew with authorities have ordered shoot at sight to maintain law and order. Top Union Ministers, Rajnath Singh, Manohar Parrikar, Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj on Friday night reviewed the prevailing law and order situation in Haryana. Read: Unable to get ventilator support on time, man dies amid Jat stir in Haryana The Union Ministers, along with NSA Ajit Doval, Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi, Director of Intelligence Bureau Dineswar Sharma besides others, took stock of the situation in Haryana where curfew has been imposed in several towns after violence broke out. The top government functionaries decided that all assistance will be given to the state government to tackle the situation arising out of the violence, official sources said. Army has already been deployed in several towns to deal with the volatile situation while 3,300 additional paramilitary personnel have also been sent to assist the state government. Read: Jat stir: 200 paramilitary personnel airlifted to Rohtak Army was called in on Friday in nine districts of Haryana and curfew was imposed in two districts along with shoot-at-sight orders after one person died and 25 were injured during the Jat stir for quota which turned violent with mobs resorting to widespread arson. Incidents of violence and arson continued at several places during the night even as prohibitory orders remained in place in many places including Hisar, Jhajjar, Jind, Kaithal and Panipat. In Bhiwani, a contingent of army took out a flag march this morning. The administration has asked people to stay at homes, official sources said. The Army could not enter Rohtak initially as protesters had put up blockades at several places, forcing the authorities to air drop them, the sources said. The agitation, which has been going on for last few days, escalated and turned violent soon after an all-party meeting held by Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar issued an appeal for calling off. Rail services are severely hampered on the Delhi-Ambala, Delhi-Amritsar, Delhi-Hisar-Fazilka route, and Hisar-Dhuri sections as agitating jats squatted on railway tracks at few places. As many as 37 trains have been cancelled, while 22 have been partially cancelled by the railway authorities. A number of passenger trains, long distance including super fast passing through or originating in Haryana will remain cancelled today, railway authorities said. The agitating Jats also squatted on the rail tracks in Gurgaon district today, affecting movement of trains. A Jat protester in Gurgaon said community members want a "written assurance from the government this time. We cannot be befooled with hollow promises every time". He said Jats did not believe in violence and it was "anti-social" elements who were indulging in such acts to defame the community and to derail their agitation. Governor Kaptan Singh Solanki had to cancel his function in Gurgaon today, where he was to address a group of women, with an official saying the decision was taken in view of the situation prevailing in the state. Meanwhile, Khattar made a fresh appeal to the people to maintain peace and harmony. "I appeal to all my fellow Haryanvis to maintain law & order in the State, and ensure that harmony is maintained in society," he tweeted. Khattar had recently held talks with Jat and Khap leaders here, but these failed to bear fruit as the protesters remained adamant on their main demand of OBC quota in government jobs and rejected his announcement of enhancement of the quota of reservation for Economically Backward Classes in the state from 10 to 20 per cent. This spring is the time for qualified Yellowstone bison to be transferred to the quarantine facility on Fort Peck Reservation in northeastern Montana. The tribe is ready and the buffalo are available. There is no reason to delay. To put this process off would mean unnecessary death by slaughter for up to 300 magnificent animals. These bison deserve a viable future made possible by test and transfer to quarantine. We must encourage and allow Yellowstone Park personnel and the Fort Peck Tribe to act now. As a veterinarian who has worked for cattle ranchers many years, it is my sincere belief ranchers do not hate bison. Ranchers are concerned with making a living and preserving their familys way of life. I have lots of respect for them and for the western range cattle business. Ranchers love the land and want to preserve it for their families and their animals. They are honest, practical people. Montana stockgrowers bring up important concerns regarding the recent bison quarantine environmental assessment. Ranchers' concerns The first Montana stockgrower concern is the quality of the science: Quarantine protocol has been successfully developed using a feasibility study conducted on Yellowstone bison by the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Services. As a result of that study, quarantine procedures are now scientifically proven and are available for use to qualify bison from our Yellowstone herd as free of brucellosis. This study has conclusively proven that all bison continued to be brucellosis-free over the course of the seven-year study after the initial screening period and through several calving cycles. Brucellosis in our public wildlife of the Yellowstone region originated with infected domestic cattle. That is a well-known fact. It is now also a proven fact that we can free these animals of this burdensome regulatory disease. We can take young bison from the infected Yellowstone population and, using the approved quarantine protocol published as a Federal Uniform Method and Rule, qualify them as brucellosis-free in less than three years. The second valid Montana stockgrower concern is the financial implications: Long-term success of this quarantine program depends upon its financial solvency. Contrary to what some environmentalists say, profit related to conservation is not a dirty word. I maintain that profit can actually be linked to preservation. That is why help from the tribes is so important. For hundreds of generations, native people of the Great Plains had a thriving buffalo economy. This once-successful economy can return and be integrated with modern agriculture. The present quarantine operation is financially sound. Investor confidence and outstanding efforts by tribal members and supporting tribal friends worldwide have paid off. Finances are available now to help make this initial project successful. Buffalo economy I am optimistic the quarantine process can ultimately be economically practical and self-sufficient, reducing or eliminating the need to slaughter valuable Yellowstone bison. Environmental factors and economic considerations of successful ongoing bison preservation are far from antagonistic; they are inseparable. I have recently visited the tribal bison quarantine operation on the Fort Peck Reservation. It is an impressive facility that is more than adequate for the job ahead. Access, fencing, water system, supplemental feed and animal handling equipment are ready to go. A management plan is in place, addressing day-to-day operations. Protocol has been formulated that describes how to deal with potential animal health issues and other problems or emergencies. One final point: It is irresponsible to neighbors and not beneficial for bison to let them roam wild and free. Allowing bison to roam without bounds, whether exposed to brucellosis or not, isnt in the best interest of either bison or man. Depending upon the specific landscape, actual fences are not always required. It is preferable to have them wide-ranging with distinct boundaries, not free-roaming. New Delhi: Condoling the demise of Indian student Raj Kumar Raja, who was found dead in Israel on Monday, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Saturday said that arrangements are being made to bring back his mortal remains to India. "There was a news item that an Indian student has been found dead in Israel. I asked for a report from the Embassy. The report says that an Indian student Raj Kumar Raja aged 27 and resident of Chittoor district, Andhra Pradesh was found dead in the hostel room of Tel Aviv University," Swaraj tweeted. There was a news item that an Indian student has been found dead in Israel. I asked for a report from the Embassy. The report says that /2 Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) February 19, 2016 an Indian student Raj Kumar Raja aged 27 and resident of Chittoor Distt (AP) was found dead in the hostel room of Tel Aviv University. /3 Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) February 19, 2016 We will fly his mortal remains to the family and follow up police investigation. Our heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family. Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) February 19, 2016 "We will fly his mortal remains to the family and follow up police investigation. Our heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family," she said in another tweet. Raj Kumar Raja, was a research student in cancer studies at the university. He was found dead in his dormitory room on Monday and the cause of his death is unknown. Raja hails from Kuppam in Andhra Pradesh. New Delhi: Reports in Pakistani media said the two PMs may meet in March in Washington on the sidelines of the nuclear security summit hosted by US President Barack Obama. Both Sharif and Modi have accepted Obamas invitation to attend the nuclear summit in Washington on March 31 and April 1, Dawn newspaper said. Reports from Islamabad said the FIR was filed against unknown persons after weeks of probe. It was filed on Thursday at the counter-terrorism department centre at Gujranwala, in Pakistans Punjab. An official said it was needed to start police and judicial proceedings. It has the telephone numbers contacted by the militants during the attack. With the FIR not naming either Pakistan based Jaish-e-Mohammed or Its chief Maulana Masood Azhar, Indian agencies are sceptical of Pakistans seriousness in probing the attack, even though the Indian government wants to give Pakistan a chance to probe the case thoroughly and is open to the idea of the visit of the Pakistani SIT now. Gao, Mali: At least one Malian soldier was killed by suspected jihadists on Friday in the country's restive north, hours before France's Prime Minister visited French troops deployed in the region to help quash the Sahel's Islamist threat. Military sources and a civilian witness said that in the assault on a Malian army post in the town of Menaka another soldier was wounded and at least one army vehicle stolen. The latest death highlights the tough security problem for Malian, French and UN forces as they attempt to maintain order over vast stretches of desert where extremist groups roam, after being ousted from key towns by a French-led military operation in January 2013. The area had fallen under the control of Tuareg-led rebels and jihadist groups linked to Al-Qaeda. French Prime Minister Manuel Valls on Friday morning met French troops stationed in the main town of Gao. The soldiers are part of the regional anti-insurgent Operation Barkhane, a follow-up mission to 2013's Operation Serval inside Mali. Accompanied by Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, Valls participated in a military ceremony on his second day in Mali, after describing the fight against Islamic militancy as a "battle against barbarity". Barkhane comprises at least 3,500 soldiers deployed across five countries (Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Chad and Burkina Faso) with a mandate to combat jihadist insurgencies in the region. Mali has concluded a landmark peace agreement between the government and Tuareg-led rebels, but jihadist violence has intensified on the ground and the handling of a return to peace has been criticised by the international community. Seven Guinean UN peacekeepers were killed and some 30 wounded a week ago when suspected Islamists attacked their base in northern Mali, while three Malian soldiers died in an ambush the same day. Valls is also due to meet the chief of the UN force, known as MINUSMA, on Friday along with the head of an EU training mission for Malian troops. Washington: The ISIS fighters in Libya that were targeted by US warplanes in an overnight strike posed a threat to the United States as well as its interests in the region, Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook told a news briefing on Friday. "We've made clear that we need to confront ISIS wherever it rears its head," Cook said, using an acronym for ISIS. "They have posed a direct threat to the United States, they have encouraged attacks against the United States and our allies and we're going to continue to confront it to protect our national security," Cook added. US warplanes carried out strikes targeting militants at a training facility in Libya on Friday. The facility was linked to Noureddine Chouchane, a Tunisian blamed by his native country for attacks last year on a Tunis museum and the Sousse beach resort, which killed dozens of tourists. Both manned and unmanned aircraft were involved in the strike, Cook said, declining to specify the type of planes used further. The training facility was in a rural area with some buildings nearby, Cook said, adding that the United States believes there are other similar training camps remaining in Libya. "When we see opportunities or the need to take this kind of action, we will be prepared to do so," Cook said. The strike was conducted under the 2001 authorization for the use of military force (AUMF), Cook said. President Barack Obama has sought a new authorization from Congress that would specifically cover the fight against ISIS. Cook said the United States has the legal authority to carry out the strikes, but a new authorization would be "helpful" and an indication of support for US troops. Cook thanked Britain for offering its airbases to launch the attack, but declined to say which bases the United States had used. As many as 60 fighters were being trained at the facility at times, Cook said, adding that a "significant number" of fighters were at the site at the time of the strike. Russia has urged the UN to press Turkey to halt its shelling of Kurdish forces in the country's north.(Photo: AFP) United Nations: Western powers Friday rejected a Russian bid at the United Nations to halt Turkey's military actions in Syria, as France warned of a dangerous escalation in the nearly five-year conflict. The emergency Security Council meeting came as US Secretary of State John Kerry cautioned there was "a lot more work to do" for a ceasefire to take hold in Syria, following talks in Geneva between American and Russian officials. Meanwhile President Barack Obama, in a phone call with Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, urged the Ankara government and Kurdish YPG forces to "show reciprocal restraint" in northern Syria. The elusive truce was meant to begin Friday, but failed to materialize as fighting raged in Syria with Kurdish-led forces backed by US-led air power seizing a key town from the Islamic State group. Russia, which has been carrying out air strikes in support of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad's forces, has urged the UN to press Turkey to halt its shelling of Kurdish forces in the country's north. Moscow presented a draft resolution that "strongly demands" an immediate end to cross-border shellings and plans -- supported by Turkey -- for foreign ground intervention in Syria. But the text failed to garner support from key council members with at least six countries including veto-wielding France and the United States rejecting it outright during a closed-door meeting, diplomats said. US Ambassador Samantha Power accused Moscow of trying to "distract the world" from its air campaign in support of the Syrian regime and urged it to abide by UN resolutions supporting a peace process. "Russia must understand that its unconditional support to Bashar al-Assad is a dead-end and a dead-end that could be extremely dangerous," French Ambassador Francois Delattre said. "We are facing a dangerous military escalation that could easily get out of control and lead us to uncharted territory," he said. Turkey is pressing for a joint ground operation in Syria with its international allies, insisting it is the only way to stop the war. Turkish Ambassador Yasar Halit Cevik said his country was facing "national security threats emanating from Syria" in reference to the Kurdish militias it is targeting in the country's north. Amid the surge in fighting, UN peace envoy Staffan de Mistura said a new round of peace talks scheduled for February 25 was unlikely. Kurds seize town from IS In his call with Erdogan, Obama stressed that Kurdish YPG forces "should not seek to exploit circumstances in this area to seize additional territory, and urged Turkey to show reciprocal restraint by ceasing artillery strikes in the area," a White House statement said. Obama, in an apparent reference to Russia, also "urgently called for a halt to actions that heighten tensions with Turkey and with moderate opposition forces in northern Syria, and undermine our collective efforts in northern Syria to degrade and defeat ISIL." French President Francois Hollande said Ankara's escalating involvement in the conflict was creating a risk of war between Turkey and Russia. "Turkey is involved in Syria... There, there is a risk of war," Hollande told France Inter radio. On the ground, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) alliance -- which groups the powerful Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) and smaller Arab groups -- seized the northeastern town of Al-Shadadi from IS, with backing from US-led air strikes, a monitor and Kurdish sources said. Al-Shadadi was the largest town controlled by IS in Hasake province, and the defeat extends earlier losses for the jihadists there. SDF forces earlier seized a nearby oilfield from IS and cut the routes from Al-Shadadi to Mosul in neighboring Iraq as well as IS's de facto Syrian capital Raqa. The SDF began a new operation in Hasakeh on Tuesday, following major advances by its forces in northern Aleppo province, where it has seized territory from Syrian rebel groups. Its advances in Aleppo have angered Turkey, which says the YPG is the Syrian affiliate of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), an outlawed group that has waged a decades-long insurgency against Ankara. Turkey has carried out nearly a week of shelling against SDF positions in Aleppo, intensifying its fire Friday and expanding it to target the Kurdish town of Afrin, where two civilians were killed, the Observatory said. Ankara fears the SDF advance in Aleppo province is intended to connect Kurdish-held areas in northern and northeastern Syria, creating an autonomous Kurdish region along much of its southern border. TAK claims Ankara bombing On Friday, Erdogan repeated accusations that the YPG was behind a Wednesday bombing in Ankara that killed 28 people. The YPG denied the charges. However the little-known Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK), a group linked to the PKK, claimed responsibility, saying it was revenge for military operations in southeast Turkey. The group warned foreign tourists not to visit the country. The PKK says the TAK is a splinter group over which it has no control. The TAK rose to prominence after it claimed that it fired mortar shells on Istanbul's Sabiha Gokcen airport on December 23. Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Jubeir meanwhile raised the prospect that Syrian rebels could be supplied with surface-to-air missiles, though he said it was not a decision Riyadh would take alone. Syria's conflict is now approaching its sixth year, with more than 260,000 people killed and half the population displaced. Asked about his comments, Geneva-based UN spokesman Michele Zaccheo told reporters: "I can't independently confirm it to you. At this stage, I would just take the special envoy at his word. "The special envoy has gone on the record and I am not sure how much more of a confirmation is needed." (Photo: AP) Stockholm: The UN special envoy for Syria has warned that the planned resumption of troubled peace talks next week was not realistic, a Swedish newspaper reported on Friday. "I cannot realistically call for new Geneva talks starting on February 25," Staffan de Mistura was quoted as telling the Svenska Dagbladet newspaper. "We need 10 days of preparations and invitations. But we will aim to do this soon," he said. Indirect talks in Geneva between the Syrian government and the opposition collapsed on February 3 after a Russian-backed regime onslaught on the northern city of Aleppo, and a second round was pencilled in for February 25. "We need real talks about peace, not just talks about talks," de Mistura said. "Now the Americans and Russians must sit down and agree on a concrete plan on a cessation of hostilities," he said. Asked about his comments, Geneva-based UN spokesman Michele Zaccheo told reporters: "I can't independently confirm it to you. At this stage, I would just take the special envoy at his word. "The special envoy has gone on the record and I am not sure how much more of a confirmation is needed." The arrival of more than a million refugees and migrants in Europe last year has caused a chain reaction of border clampdowns among several member states in European Union. (Photo: AP) Vienna: Austria on Friday introduced a daily cap on asylum-seekers, sparking EU fears of a domino effect along the Balkan migrant trail and a threat from Greece to veto an accord keeping Britain in the bloc. A maximum of 80 migrants per day are now being allowed to claim asylum in Austria, and Vienna is also limiting the daily number of people transiting through to seek asylum elsewhere to 3,200. The arrival of more than a million refugees and migrants in Europe last year has caused a chain reaction of border clampdowns among several member states. As the main gateway into the EU, Greece has been struggling to cope with the new arrivals and fears new restrictions by other members will leave tens of thousands of people stranded on its territory. But EU sources said Greece had reached an informal agreement with Austria to "cooperate better" on migration. Faced with being excluded from the EU's passport-free Schengen zone, Greece had pinned its hopes on the EU and Turkey firming up a deal to stem the migration flow at a special summit on March 6. "We are asking for a unanimous decision that until March 6, no state will unilaterally close its borders," a Greek government source told AFP Friday before the reform deal was reached. "If not, the Greek government will not approve the conclusion text," the source said. But EU sources said Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras's concerns eased after meeting with Austrian Chancellor Werner Feymann on the sidelines of an EU summit in Brussels. The pair reached "an agreement to cooperate better" on migration, an EU source told AFP on condition of anonymity. "Tsipras seemed happy with the outcome." Another EU source told that Austria would not close its borders before the EU-Turkey summit. Under a German-backed EU proposal to be discussed in March, Turkey would curb the flow of migrants and then fly refugees to Europe for resettlement in exchange for three billion euros ($3.3 billion). However, central European countries are opposing the resettlement scheme and are instead pushing to seal Greece off from the Schengen zone. Put the brakes on Deep rifts within the 28-nation EU have opened in the face of Europe's biggest migration crisis since World War II. More than 80,000 people many of them children have endured the perilous journey across the Aegean Sea since January, most fleeing war and violence in Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq. Brussels on Friday clinched a deal to keep Britain from potentially leaving the EU by giving it "special status" in the bloc, including allowing London to limit welfare payments for migrants. But Austria's move to cap migrant numbers has sparked an angry reaction from Brussels, which called it "incompatible" with EU law. Austria's Interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner warned on Friday the cap could be lowered even further, saying: "We need to put the brakes on." Following Austria's tighter measures, Slovenia, Croatia and Serbia have also tightened their borders. Austria announced last month it would only take in 37,500 asylum-seekers this year sharply down from the 90,000 it accepted in 2015, making it one of the bloc's highest recipients on a per-basis capita. Vienna has joined the so-called Visegrad Four (V4) group Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic in their call for tighter EU controls inside Schengen. Germany, which received more than one million asylum claims in 2015, acknowledged that the EU "must see quickly if measures (agreed with Turkey) work". A meeting with Turkey and the leaders of 11 EU countries had been planned before Thursday, but was cancelled when Turkey's premier Ahmet Davutoglu pulled out following a bomb attack in Ankara. Portugal said on Friday it had offered to take 5,800 extra asylum-seekers, on top of 4,500 already accepted, to help countries "where the migration pressure is strongest", including Austria, Sweden, Italy and Greece. Wilfred Souza onfessed to marrying a second time in London despite having a wife back in Goa. (Photo: Representational Image) London: An Indian-origin man has been found guilty of bigamy by a UK court after he confessed to marrying a second time in London despite having a wife back in Goa. Wilfred Souza admitted the bigamy charge at Feltham Magistrates' Court in west London yesterday and was handed a punishment of one-year conditional discharge and ordered to pay a fine of 100 pounds. Magistrate Chris Hack told the 35-year-old man that the offence was on the "lower end" of the scale. "We find that the circumstances surrounding this case of bigamy puts the offending at the lowest end," he said. "We accept an offence has been committed which involved some deceit but there has been little if any harm to either party and the deceit was limited," the magistrate added. "We note Mrs Souza's behaviour in this matter and the support being displayed by your partner," the judge said. According to the 'Hounslow Chronicle', Mr Souza married first wife Ms Ezmy in Goa in December 2012 but left to live in the UK in 2013 to study and look for work. He then started "ignoring" his wife's telephone calls after she kept asking him when he was "coming home". The court was told Mr Souza repeatedly dodged his first wife's calls and attempts to get in touch on social media. And on March 23, 2015, he got married to Sheiza Colaco who is also originally from Goa at the Hounslow Civic Centre without getting a divorce. His first wife found out about Mr Souza's marriage and alerted the authorities in the UK, saying she was still married to him leading to Mr Souza's arrest for bigamy. The prosecution told the court: "Mrs Souza states Mr Souza left India to go to England for work and on the second occasion failed to return and had been avoiding her calls." Mr Souza's defence lawyer, Stefan Baard, described how Miss Colaco, Souza's second wife knew all about his first wife in India. He said Mr Souza had "gone to great lengths" to try and resolve issues with his first wife, but that she had told him she was "not interested in a divorce or in joining him in England". He said Mr Souza and his second wife were "very keen to move on and try to get the divorce sorted out in India". Mr Baard said, "The reason for this second marriage taking place was that Miss Calico fell pregnant and there was huge pressure on him for cultural reasons to get married." "They're very keen to move on and try to get the divorce sorted out in India so they can marry properly this time around," he added. Under conditional discharge, the offender is released but his offence is registered on criminal record. No further action is taken unless they commit a further offence within a time frame of around three years. The cover showed a posed photo of a woman, wrapped in an EU flag, looking terrified as she is groped by hairy-armed men. (Photo: Twitter) Warsaw: A right-wing Polish magazine cover emblazoned with the headline "The Islamic rape of Europe" triggered a storm of criticism on social media on Thursday, with some comments comparing it to World War II fascist propaganda. The cover of the news weekly "wSieci" (In the net) showed a posed photo of a blue-eyed blonde woman, wrapped in an EU flag, looking terrified as she is groped by hairy-armed men. The magazine said the cover referred to a rash of sexual assaults against hundreds of women, allegedly by men of North African and Arab origin, during New Year's Eve celebrations in the German city of Cologne. But the publication drew fierce criticism on Twitter, with one user comparing it to what they described as a World War II-era Italian fascist propaganda poster vilifying Africans. Another Twitter user said the "sick cover" was fear-mongering. "'Islamic rape of Europe', screams Polish magazine. They obviously forget Nazi depictions of Poles in the 1930s," said one Twitter user. "w Sieci" makes no secret of its support for the Poland's new right-wing Law and Justice (PiS) government. At the end of 2015, it had a circulation of 76,000, a decline of 1.16 percent over 2014, according to the specialist website press.pl. In the category of news weeklies, it lay a distant third, with the top-selling title, Newsweek Polska, selling 120,000. The populist PiS won an unprecedented majority in October's General Election campaigning, among others, on an anti-migrant platform. Party leader and ex-premier Jaroslaw Kaczynski played up migrant fears before election day by claiming refugees were bringing "cholera to the Greek islands, dysentery to Vienna, various types of parasites" in comments that critics said recalled the Nazi era. The PiS government been among the staunchest opponents of an European Union quota plan to distribute refugees across the bloc. Surveys show a majority of Poles share this view. The Delhi Medical Council suspended a doctor from practising medicine after he was found involved in illegal sex determination during a decoy operation conducted by the Delhi Health Department. Dr A S Chauhan, a radiologist at MGS Super speciality Hospital in Punjabi Bagh, was found to be in connivance with a tout in and disclosing the sex of an unborn child to a 12-week pregnant woman. The health department had also recovered ultrasound machine from the doctors residence during an earlier raid. The doctor was later released on bail. The licence of Dr Chauhan has been suspended with immediate effect given the sensitive nature of the case. This means the doctor is barred from practising till further notice. The Delhi government had forwarded the report of the operation to us. The doctor was found guilty in an earlier case too. An FIR has already been registered against the doctor. Further investigation is pending now, said Dr Girish Tyagi, Registrar, Delhi Medical Council (DMC). The Health Department has also suspended the Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques registration of the private hospital and issued show cause notice seeking response on why its registration should not be cancelled. The hospital will not be able to conduct any ultrasonography tests now. The department has also sealed six machines at the hospital. Recovery of ultrasound machine from his house in the earlier case meant the machine was unregistered. This is an offence under the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PC & PNDT) Act, said Dr Shalley Kamra, State Programme Officer, PC & PNDT Act, state health department. An unregistered machine hints at illegal sex determination. Deccan Herald had reported last week on Dr Chauhan being caught red-handed when a raiding team conducted a decoy operation at the private hospital. The pregnant woman was charged Rs 11,000 for an ultrasonography at hospital. Another doctor involved in the case had drawn circles on the womans hand before she went to the hospital so that she could be easily identified. The radiologist then told the woman there is positive news as she would have a baby boy, according to the raiding team. Dr Chauhan was handed over to the police on the basis of evidence gathered at the spot. A rescue helicopter retrieved an injured snowmobile rider on Friday after he collided with a tree. The Gallatin County Sheriff's Office and West Yellowstone Search and Rescue division were dispatched to the Two Top trail system, about five miles west of West Yellowstone. The sheriff's office said that the rider, a 68-year-old man from Jacksonville, Fla., broke his femur and kneecap in the tree collision. Due to bumpy trail conditions, responders opted to use the helicopter to transport the man to a hospital in Idaho Falls, Idaho. At least three snowmobilers have been rescued in the area since December, and one man died after a Feb. 15 crash. Fresh incidents of violence were today reported in Haryana as the Jat stir for quota intensified with protestors torching a railway station in Jind even as the Army conducted a flag march in two curfew-bound districts and used helicopters to reach parts of the blocked Rohtak district. As the violence by Jat protestors demanding quota continued unabated, Chief Minister Manohar Khattar issued a fresh appeal to the people to maintain peace. Normal life was crippled in Rohtak, the epicentre of the ongoing agitation, and Bhiwani in the wake of violence which broke out yesterday during the stir, and many other parts of the state with rail and road traffic hit, and shops and commercial establishment and schools remaining closed. The Army conducted flag march in Rohtak and Bhiwani today where curfew remained in force. The Army could not enter Rohtak through road as protesters had put up blockades on Delhi, Hisar, Rohtak, and Fazilka highways, forcing the authorities to air drop them, official said. As the protest intensified, some unidentified persons set on fire the Budha Khera Railway Station in Jind district this morning. The furniture, record room and other articles were set on fire at the railway station, which falls in the Jind-Panipat rail section, police said. Sporadic incidents of violence and arson were reported at several places overnight despite authorities imposing curfew and issuing shoot at sight orders at Rohtak and Bhiwani besides prohibitory orders in Hisar, Jhajjar, Jind, Kaithal and Panipat. Haryana government had yesterday called the Army in nine districts while curfew was imposed in two districts along with shoot-at-sight orders after one person died and 25 were injured during the Jat stir for quota which turned violent with mobs resorting to widespread arson. The Centre has also rushed 3,300 personnel of paramilitary forces to control the rampaging mob. After the Jat reservation turned violent yesterday rampaging mobs had held some policemen captive besides setting ablaze the house of state's Finance Minister Abhimanyu and several government and private properties in Rohtak, Jhajjar, Hansi and several other parts of the state. Protesters had also targeted police and private vehicles, buildings housing offices, including two Toll Plazas at Hansi in Hisar district and near Rohtak, both located on the Delhi-Hisar-Fazilka National Highway. The agitating Jats also squatted on the rail tracks in Gurgaon district today, affecting movement of trains. A Jat protester in Gurgaon said community members want a "written assurance from the government this time. We cannot be befooled with hollow promises every time". He said Jats did not believe in violence and it was "anti-social" elements who were indulging in such acts to defame the community and to derail their agitation. Governor Kaptan Singh Solanki had to cancel his function in Gurgaon today, where he was to address a group of women, with an official saying the decision was taken in view of the situation prevailing in the state. Protesters have also blocked NH-1 near Nangal village in Sonipat district, affecting movement of traffic, which connects Punjab, HP, Chandigarh and J&K. The protesters have also set on fire a government office in Beri in Jhajjar district besides some vehicles in Safidon. Meanwhile, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar has made a fresh appeal to the people to maintain peace and harmony. "I appeal to all my fellow Haryanvis to maintain law & order in the State, and ensure that harmony is maintained in society," he tweeted. Khattar had recently held talks with Jat and Khap leaders here, but these failed to bear fruit as the protesters remained adamant on their main demand of OBC quota in government jobs and rejected his announcement of enhancement of the quota of reservation for Economically Backward Classes in the state from 10 to 20 per cent. Rail services remained badly affected with as many as 37 trains cancelled while 22 have been partially cancelled by the railway authorities. A number of passenger trains, long distance including super fast passing through or originating in Haryana will remain cancelled today, railway authorities said. Among the trains which have been cancelled from Chandigarh on Delhi route include the Shatabdi trains and the Himalayan Queen. Success of Nepal's new Constitution will depend on "consensus and dialogue" and India was for peace, stability and overall development of the Himalayan nation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said today after holding extensive talks with his Nepalese counterpart K P Sharma Oli. The two leaders deliberated on all aspects of the bilateral relationship, particularly the political situation in Nepal, following which Oli said "misunderstandings" that persisted in the last few months "no longer exist". The two sides inked nine MoUs to expand cooperation in a range of areas including in transport and power sectors. The relationship between the two countries had soured in the wake of agitation by the India-origin Madhesi community, which shares close family and cultural ties with Indians, opposing Nepal's Constitution. "The announcement of the new Constitution in Nepal came after decades of struggle in Nepal. It is a major achievement. I appreciate the contribution of the political leadership and people of Nepal for it. "But its success depends on consensus and dialogue. I am confident on the basis of these principles and through political dialogue and by taking all sections together, you (Oli) will be able to resolve all issues relating to the Constitution satisfactorily and take Nepal forward towards the path of development and stability," Modi said in his media statement, in presence of Oli. The Prime Minister said India always wanted peace, stability and prosperity of Nepal and that it would extend all possible help to ensure its all-round development. On combating terrorism, the Prime Minister said, "We will not allow terrorists and criminals to use our open border. In this regard the security agencies of the two countries will intensify cooperation." Oli on his part said India will remain a close friend of Nepal and that the "misunderstandings that persisted between the two countries in the last few months no longer exist." Modi said it was clear that "Nepal's stability is linked to India's security" and that the two sides agreed to fight growing extremism and terrorism. The two Prime Ministers also dedicated 400 KV Dhalkebar-Muzaffarpur transmission line via "tele-inauguration" from Hyderabad House. India will supply 80 mega watt of power through the line to Nepal now and it will be enhanced to 600 MW in the next two years. "India's assistance has always been constructive. Our actions have been in line with the priorities of people of Nepal," Modi said. The Prime Minister said both sides are working on a number of hydro-power projects in Nepal. He said trade and investment are strong pillars of relations between the two countries and mentioned about the joint initiatives to construct roads in Terai region which he said will boost trade and infrastructure. "The earthquake hit Nepal, but its pain was felt by every Indian. Our USD 1 billion assistance package will take forward our cooperation in this area," he said. The Nepalese Prime Minister thanked Modi and people of India for "spontaneous support" in aftermath of earthquake in Nepal last year. Earlier, Oli was accorded a ceremonial welcome at Rashtrapati Bhavan where Modi was also present. Before the talks between the Prime Ministers, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj called on Oli. During the meeting, he conveyed to her that Nepal is and will remain a "reliable" friend of India. Official sources said Oli told Swaraj that he wants to "move forward in the relationship which is not man-made but entirely natural and civilizational". Swaraj said the visit will deepen the trust between the two countries. Swaraj and Oli also discussed reconstruction efforts in Nepal which was hit by a devastating earthquake in April last year, sources said. "They discussed political issues, reconstruction assistance, SAARC satellite and bilateral cooperation," the sources said. Oli is accompanied by wife Radhika Shakya, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Kamal Thapa, Finance Minister Bishnu Poudyal, Energy Minister Top Bahadur Rayamaji and Home Minister Shakti Basnet among others. A team of Pakistani investigators is likely to visit India next month for collecting evidence on the involvement of Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorists in the Pathankot terror attack, a media report said today. "The team's visit is expected," a senior diplomat told Dawn News, adding that the dates for the trip were yet to be finalised. The registration of FIR by the Counter-Terrorism Department of Punjab police has paved the way for the visit of the six-member investigation team constituted by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif weeks after the attack on the Air Force base in Pathankot on January 2, the report said. The investigation team will visit the site of the attack and collect evidence on India's assertion that the terror strike was planned in Pakistan and executed by a group of four persons who had crossed the border into Pathankot, it said. The report said the visit is likely to take place next month. The investigators will also meet officials of India's National Investigating Agency probing the attack, it said. It also said the FIR will provide a legal basis for taking the investigation forward. A diplomatic source was quoted as saying that India was ready to receive the Pakistani team and facilitate it in investigations. Budha Khera Railway Station was set ablaze in Jind district resulting in damage to furniture and official records. The railway station falls on Jind-Panipat rail route. Despite fresh incidents of violence being reported, State Police chief Yashpal Singhal claimed that the situation had improved since yesterday. He said that one person was killed in an incident of violence at Rohtak yesterday. Prohibitory orders under section 144 CrPC banning assembly of five or more persons and taking out of processions have been clamped in more districts including Panipat, Hissar, Jhajjar, Jind and Kaithal. Army personnel could not enter Rohtak through road as protesters had put up blockades on Delhi, Hissar, Rohtak, and Fazilka highways, forcing the authorities to airdrop them from helicopters, an official said. In other incidents of arson and violence, vehicles were set on fire at Safidon (Jind) and a government office building set ablaze in Beri in Rohtak district. A private college was vandalized in Bhiwani and the private security guard beaten up, police said, adding that an Ayurvedic dispensary was also set on fire. A government vehicle was set on fire in Jhajjar district, a police Station in Uchana (Jind) vandalized by a mob, a motor cycle and two buses set ablaze in Kalayat (Kaithal) in Gohana (Jind) respectively. A convoy of army, moving towards Rohtak from Hissar, was stranded near Madankheri subdivision late last night for an hour as protesting Jats had "dug up" a stretch of road as part of their pro-quota agitation. Army personnel then repaired the road and moved on towards their destination. Normal life was crippled in Rohtak, the epicentre of the ongoing agitation, and Bhiwani in the wake of violence which broke out yesterday during the stir, and many other parts of the state with rail and road traffic hit, and shops and commercial establishment and schools remaining closed. Sporadic incidents of violence and arson were reported at several places overnight despite authorities imposing curfew. Haryana government had yesterday called the Army in nine districts while curfew was imposed in two districts along with shoot-at-sight orders after one person died and several others were injured during the Jat stir which turned violent with mobs resorting to widespread arson. The Centre has also rushed 3,300 personnel of paramilitary forces to control the rampaging mob. Agitating Jats squatted on the rail tracks in Gurgaon district today, affecting movement of trains. A Jat protester in Gurgaon said community members want a "written assurance from the government this time. We cannot be befooled with hollow promises every time". He said Jats did not believe in violence and it was "anti-social" elements who were indulging in such acts to defame the community and to derail their agitation. Governor Kaptan Singh Solanki had to cancel his function in Gurgaon today, where he was to address a group of women, with an official saying the decision was taken in view of the situation prevailing in the state. Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar earlier in the day made an appeal to the people to maintain peace and harmony. "I appeal to all my fellow Haryanvis to maintain law & order in the State, and ensure that harmony is maintained in society," he tweeted. Khattar had recently held talks with Jat and Khap leaders here, but these failed to bear fruit as the protesters remained adamant on their main demand of OBC quota in government jobs and rejected his announcement of enhancement of the quota of reservation for Economically Backward Classes in the state from 10 to 20 per cent. Haryana remained on the boil today as the Jat stir unleashed fresh incidents of violence and arson in which a railway station, a police station and some buildings were set ablaze even as the Army had to use choppers to reach parts of blocked Rohtak district.Curfew was clamped in three more towns--Sonipat, Gohana (Sonipat) and Jhajjar--today as sporadic incidents of arson continued during the night and later in the day in addition to Rohtak and Bhiwani districts where it is already in place and shoot-at-sight orders issued yesterday. Flag marches were conducted by Army in Rohtak and Bhiwani districts.Road and Railway traffic continued to be affected in the state due to blockades resulting in disruption of services from Delhi and beyond to Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Chandigarh through various National Highways, including NH 44 (Delhi Ambala) and NH 10 (Delhi-Hissar- Fazilka). Several trains were cancelled by Railway authorities.Police said some persons had pelted stones at the Jhajjar residence of Haryana Minister O P Dhankar, but no one was injured in the incident.As the violence by Jat protestors demanding quota continued unabated, Chief Minister Manohar Khattar issued a fresh appeal to the people to maintain peace and law and order, saying government would find a solution to the problem."Such incidents create disharmony," he said here after reviewing the situation with his ministerial colleagues and senior civil and police officers.Appealing to protestors to end their protest, Khattar said that nothing will be gained by destroying public property, as more central forces were rushed to the state.Normal life remained disrupted in large parts of the state with shops and commercial establishments besides schools remaining closed, mobile internet services being suspended in many districts, and transportation of essential commodities, including LPG, milk and vegetables, also being adversely affected.Protesters have also blocked NH-44 near Nangal village in Sonipat district and near Panipat affecting movement of traffic, which connects Punjab, HP, Chandigarh and J&K.Petrol pumps in various areas have gone dry as fresh supplies are not being received. In Meham. a police Station and some adjoining buildings were torched by the protestors. Delhi Police Chief B S Bassi today hit out at Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and a TV journalist terming them as "self-styled appraisers" following a tweet from a "parody account" ridiculing him. Bassi was responding to a tweet that questioned his "commitment" towards the khaki and wondered whether his loyalty was for the uniform or "knickers", a veiled reference to RSS. Kejriwal had retweeted the twitter message critical of Bassi from the handle @raviishNDTV, which is not run by TV journalist Ravish Kumar. "@ArvindKejriwal & @ravishndtv Committed to CONSTITUTION, NATION & TRUTH. SelfStyled Appraisers may better introspect," Bassi tweeted in response. The Commissioner, who is set to retire on February 29, has been facing intense flak for Delhi Police's alleged mishandling of the JNU row. The tweet in Hindi that irked the police chief read "When Bassi says that his commitment is towards the khaki, then it's not clear whether he is referring to the uniform or knicker." The last tweet from Kumar's verified account was on August 22 last year. He had stopped tweeting over the "silence" of liberals against online abuse. Bassi tagging Kejriwal in his response assumes importance in the light of the persistent animosity between the two and the Chief Minister's recent statements slamming police for "flouting" Supreme Court orders leading to violence inside court premises. Learning a new language has been an invigorating experience for Jhumpa Lahiri, but one that does not necessarily translate to the reader. Dwight Garner reviews In Other Words Jhumpa Lahiri is one of literatures linguistic nomads. Born in London to Indian immigrants, her first language was Bengali. She learned English while young and in it has written four authoritative works of fiction, including Interpreter of Maladies (1999), for which she won a Pulitzer Prize. In Other Words is Lahiris first non-fiction book. Its a slim memoir that examines her long sense of lexical displacement. Bravely, it does so from an outpost of further exile. She has written it in a third and only recently mastered language, Italian, and has had it rendered back into English by Ann Goldstein. For English-language readers, this book has taken the long way home. Learning to read and write in Italian has clearly been an invigorating experience for Lahiri; she speaks of it as one speaks of an intense sexual affair. When youre in love, you want to live forever, she writes. You want the emotion, the excitement you feel to last. Reading in Italian arouses a similar longing in me. I dont want to die, because my death would mean the end of my discovery of the language. Because every day there will be a new word to learn. Thus true love can represent eternity. In Other Words is, sadly, a less ecstatic experience for you and me. Its a soft, repetitive, self-dramatic and self-hobbled book, packed with watercolour observations like: There is pain in every joy. In every violent passion a dark side. That someone gets a lot out of writing something does not necessary mean anyone else will get a similar amount from reading that thing. If only literature worked that way. This book, which is presented in a dual-language format (Italian on the left-hand pages, English on the right), chronicles a long obsession. Lahiri first travelled to Italy in 1994, as a college student. She returned frequently over the years, often on trips to promote her books. She began to study Italian and, living in Brooklyn, hired a series of language tutors. Eventually she moved with her husband and children to Rome for what she calls a trial by fire. She stopped reading and speaking in English almost entirely; she also stopped writing in it. She achieved near-total immersion. In Other Words is an account of this process, and there are vivid things in it. Lahiri captures how, for example, the sounds other cultures make can tweak our synapses and linger in the mind. From the start my relationship with Italy is as auditory as it is visual, she writes about an early trip to Florence. Although there arent many cars, the city is humming. Im aware of a sound that I like, of conversations, phrases, words that I hear wherever I go. As if the whole city were a theatre in which a slightly restless audience is chatting before the show begins. She is incisive about being caught between Bengali and English when young, and not feeling entirely at ease in either. She considers, if only in passing, the work of writers who have composed successfully in a second language (Nabokov, Beckett, Conrad). She seems to agree with Beckett who, after he began writing in French, complained about his native English: Horrible language, which I still know too well. He spoke of his need to be ill equipped. Beckett downshifted into a new language and achieved a brilliant sort of estrangement. Lahiri, writing in Italian, at this point seems only a lesser version of herself, a full orchestra reduced to tentative woodwinds. Lahiri is humbly aware that she has turned homework exercises loose on the world. I know that my writing in Italian is something premature, reckless, always approximate, she says. She poses a question that has already formed in the readers mind: What does it mean, for a writer, to write without her own authority? It can mean many things. In the case of In Other Words it means that Lahiri delivers sentences she never would in her mostly sure-footed fiction, cliches teased out at great length. The authors writing about Venice is the windiest since the lesser moments in Erica Jongs novel Serenissima (1987). Lahiri writes about this city: Its devastating beauty pierces me, Im overwhelmed by the fragility of life. Im enveloped in a passionate dream that always seems about to dissolve. So many sentences in In Other Words are like these. They appear as if through a mist. Whatever sharpness and shrewdness Lahiri possesses seems to have been surgically removed. In an authors note, she remarks that Italian is the sole language in which I continue to write. I hope this is not permanently the case, and that her immersion in Italian will inform her English-language fiction and push it in new directions. In Other Words Jhumpa Lahiri Penguin 2016, pp 203, Rs. 399 Originally hailing from Delhi, Shah Rukh Khan always harboured a wish to play the city boy on screen and the superstar says he is happy that after 25 years of his career he got his desire fulfilled through 'Fan'. The Maneesh Sharma-directed movie will see Shah Rukh in double roles, one as a superstar and other his lookalike fan Gaurav, a Delhi boy. 'Fan' has been majorly shot in the capital. "I have known Maneesh for years now. I always wanted to play a Delhi boy in a film but I didn't get the chance. Over the years I saw a lot of actors playing Dilli ka munda and I used to envious of them. I would like to thank Maneesh for bringing me back to my roots," Shah Rukh told reporters here at the press conference held post launch of a song from 'Fan'. The 50-year-old actor said that having lived for more than two decades in Mumbai, he got out of touch of his "Dillliness", which came back after shooting for 'Fan'. "The irony is I have lived for so long in Mumbai that I forgot some 'Dilliness' (meaning typical Delhi-people mannerisms)," he said. Shah Rukh was also presented with his graduation degree, at the event. "Maneesh is also from Delhi. So we started our promotions also from Hansraj where we both studied. I got my degree too so I am an official graduate. Maneesh hasn't, so maybe they don't know if he passed or failed," the star joked. The actor-director launched the song 'Jabra Fan' at Hansraj college, Delhi University today. Produced by YRF, 'Fan' arrives in theatres on April 15. HELENA William "Bill" Hunt Sr., a former Montana Supreme Court justice and the state's first worker's compensation judge, has died at age 92. Hunt died Tuesday in Helena, son-in-law Charles S. Johnson confirmed Friday. The family did not give a cause of death. Hunt served two terms on the Supreme Court, from 1985 until 2001, where he was known for his liberal views. He described himself as a pro-abortion rights, anti-death penalty, personal privacy advocate and an environmentalist. "I'm a liberal, and you guys call me a liberal," he said in a newspaper interview in 2000. "I think a liberal is a person who has had a lot of experience and is not bound by what happens in the past, but understands the past." Hunt was born in Tacoma, Wash., in 1923. He dropped out of school and lied about his age to join the National Guard in 1939, according to his family. His unit was mobilized in 1941, and he served in Africa and Europe during World War II. He stormed Utah Beach in Normandy on D-Day. After he left active duty in 1950, he visited his mother in Butte, who introduced him to Montana's chief justice, Howard Johnson. Hunt told Johnson that he was thinking of going to law school, but he was worried there were already too many lawyers, Hunt told the Montana Historical Society in 1999. "He said, 'That's always been the story, but remember this: There's always room at the top,'" Hunt said. Hunt married his wife, Mary Fassler, in 1952, and graduated from the University of Montana School of Law three years later. The couple moved to Chester, where he was Liberty County attorney and the town's mayor. They moved to Helena in 1970, where was director of Montana Legal Services and then director of the state Aeronautics board, according to his family. Gov. Thomas Judge appointed Hunt as the state's first worker's compensation judge in 1975. "I asked Tom, Gov. Judge, 'What do you think this job is supposed to be?' And he said, 'I haven't the slightest idea. That's your problem," Hunt told the Historical Society interviewer in 1999. After Gov. Ted Schwinden declined to reappoint him in 1981, Hunt opened a private practice before running for the state Supreme Court in 1984. He acknowledged that he had conflicting feelings on some issues that came before him. He considered himself an environmentalist, but said it was difficult to see people's jobs threatened by environmental matters. He told the Historical Society interviewer he felt the same about abortion. "I'm an absolute believer if a woman and a doctor make that choice the courts or nobody else should interfere with it," he said. "At the same time, I hate to see it have to happen ever." Chief Justice Mike McGrath called Hunt a great public servant. "He dedicated his life to the people of Montana and we were all better for it," McGrath said. Hunt's wife died in 2009. They had five children. A funeral Mass will be held for Hunt Wednesday at noon in the Cathedral of St. Helena. With Jats in Haryana upping the ante renewing their old quota demand, the state government is facing an uphill task to carry on with its preparation works for the upcoming mega investor summit scheduled to be held two weeks later in Gurgaon. The agitation, which has been flared up in the last two days, is posing a major challenge for the BJP government in Haryana to make the investors' summit a big success. Days before the Jats started their protest, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar had been holding roadshows in various cities of the country including Mumbai and Chennai, seeking investments for his state. The state government had in recent days been making efforts to make the forthcoming "Happening Haryana Global Investors Summit-2016" scheduled for March 7-9 in Gurgaon, a grand success. However, the Jat quota stir came at a wrong time for the Khattar government which was going full steam to prepare for the first investors' summit and "Pravasi Haryana Divas" (on March 9) to woo domestic and international industrial investors. Chief Minister Khattar along with Finance Minister Capt Abhimanyu and senior officials had already undertaken two foreign trips -- the first to the US and Canada in August last year and the second one recently to Japan and China -- to attract investors. Besides, the state government has also held roadshows in five metros in the country. Notably, the current Jat agitation is the second major untoward event which has put the state government in a tight spot. The BJP government came to power in Haryana in October 2014. Immediately after taking oath as the Chief Minister, Khattar had to face the 'godman' Rampal issue. Opposition Congress had then even taken a dig at the government over its alleged inept handling of the Rampal issue, claiming that CM Khattar had failed to handle it as he was a person with no experience in administration and public life. In November 2014, there had been violent clashes at the Satlok ashram of the self-styled godman in Haryana and thousands of Rampal's followers had to be evacuated from his Ashram, before police finally arrested him. The incident had also caused a few casualties and left hundreds injured. Former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda while commenting on present Jat agitation, said it was not the right time to indulge in political speak over the handling of the Jat issue by the present government, "yet it is true that the situation has been allowed to come to such a pass because the BJP leaders had made tall promises to the Jat community before coming to power". "Even when they came to power, various leaders of the BJP have been speaking in different tones, which complicated things. At the same time, I want to make it clear that Congress strongly condemns any act of violence and we appeal to people to maintain peace and harmony," he said. "There may be an adverse impact on new investments in Haryana in the wake of ongoing Jat stir," said Sher Singh Sangwan, Professor at Centre for Research in Rural and Industrial Development (CRRID), Chandigarh. "The Jat agitation will also impact the image of the state if it prolongs,' he further said while adding, "the government should act fast to end the stir". Industry experts said new investors would not like to make fresh investment in the state which is facing lawlessness and violent protest in the wake of Jat stir. This is the first investors summit organised by the Khattar government in the state. Khattar government had even launched a new industrial policy to attract fresh investments in the state. Haryana is seeking investments in several fields including agro-based industry, electronics, footwear accessory, renewable energy, solar parks, auto, auto parts, defence, aerospace, pharma, textile etc. Khattar has even held roadshows in states such as Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai to invite investors to make investments in the state. Among the several spin-offs of the recently-concluded India Art Fair 2016 in Delhi is the touring exhibition Handcrafted Form: Traditions and Techniques, organised by the Japan Foundation at its premises in Delhi. Planned and supervised by Kazuko Todate of the Ibaraki Ceramic Art Museum, the show introduces handcrafted objects made from traditional materials using traditional techniques from all over Japan. It includes two groups of craft objects: one pieces of ceramics, textiles, metalwork, lacquerware, woodcraft, bamboo work and paper that have played an intimate role in the daily lives of people in Japan; two an assemblage of creative works of art made by craft artists using skills fostered in a workshop environment. Artisans and artists have influenced each other, says Todate, the curator of the world-travelling exhibition. This mutual influence has contributed to the depth and high quality of Japanese crafts as a whole. Representative objects designated as Traditional Craft Objects by the Japanese Government form the core of the exhibition, supplemented by works of craft artists. Watching the show pieces particularly the stoneware, porcelain and wooden objects, be they the decorated bowls, teapots, incense burners, or vases one is immediately struck by their colours, shapes and contours as well as the innate artistic talent of the makers who hail from different regions of Japan. Other objects like the iron kettle, wooden chest of draws and trick box attract attention thanks to their delicate designs and striking ornamentation. The show also includes a few but equally-alluring examples of colourful cut glass, decorated handmade paper, writing brushes and textiles. This is an exceptional show that provides a peek into the richness of Japanese handcrafted objects and the Japanese way of life. Simple yet effective display of items and soothing lighting add to the viewing pleasure. The exhibition concludes on February 26. (Admission is free. It remains closed on Sundays and public holidays.) The Narendra Modi-led governments focus on renewable energy has certainly opened up new avenues as far as insurance and reinsurance companies are concerned with companies like Bharat RE Insurance Brokers looking at offering warranty insurance for solar photovoltaic (PV) modules. We have started talking to international underwriters for warranty insurance for solar PV modules, Bharat RE Insurance Brokers director- global strategy and special projects TL Arunachalam told Deccan Herald. Insurance for solar PV modules is already available globally and since the current government has a huge thrust on renewable energy, we are planning to provide it to India with some of the overseas underwriters, Arunachalam added. Renewable sources India is looking to more than double the share of renewable sources in its energy basket to 15 per cent in a decade from around 6 per cent currently. Bharat-RE is a part of the Shriram conglomerate which has significant presence in transport finance, consumer finance, life insurance, general insurance, stock broking and distribution businesses. It provides corporate insurance and risk management consultancy and insurance broking services. It also provides re-insurance broking services for direct insurance companies on an international scale. According to Arunachalam, consumers may now have to pay higher premiums when it comes to flood insurance due to the increasing instances of floods and natural calamities recently. Storm, tempest, flood and inundation (STFI) premiums are likely to go up by 30-50 per cent when the policies come up for revival in April due to the high amount of floods and other natural disasters that happened recently in Chennai, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand and many other places, Arunachalam said. As far as the Budget expectations are concerned, Arunachalam said that the industry is looking forward to simplified regulations. Talks are on between the government and the industry to ensure that there is no tinkering as far as the commission structure is concerned, Arunachalam said. We also want insurance regulations to be simplified besides allowing sub-broking in the countrys direct insurance market, Arunachalam further added. Come March 23 and all roads will lead to Siddaramanahundi, the native village of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, in Mysuru district. The village, situated 21 km from Mysuru city, off T Narsipur Road, is preparing to host Siddarameshwara Jatra (fair). What assumes significance this time is, the fair is being held for the first time after Siddaramaiah took oath as the chief minister on May 13, 2013. The two-day event, scheduled to begin from March 23, will also witness the dedication of the renovated Sri Siddarameshwara Swamy and Chikkamma Thayi temples. Siddarameshwara is the family deity of the chief minister, who though an atheist never misses an opportunity to pay his obeisance to the deity whenever he visits the village. Most importantly, during the jatra, Siddaramaiah will dance to the beat of native drums. He has been dancing ever since a young boy and the dance form is called Veeramakkala Kunita. On Saturday, when the chief minister came to his native to cast his vote on account of Zilla and Taluk panchayat elections, he took time to inspect works, in final stages, of the temples, kitchen (to prepare prasada for the devotees), and community hall with a commercial complex having shops meant to sell puja items. Preparations made The chief minister, who was keen on giving a new look to the temple complex, had even postponed the jatra, that was scheduled to be held in 2015. The once in three years religious fete was previously held in 2012. After Siddaramaiah assumed office as chief minister, works on laying concrete roads at nine villages in Yadakola Gram Panchayat limits and under Suvarna Grama Yojane, along with temple works, were launched. While Karnataka Rural Infrastructure Development Limited (KRIDL) took up the works, the temple works were taken up with the help of philanthropists, including the chief minister himself. Hence, the chief minister was of the opinion that stopping works midway in the name of preparation for a religious event was uncalled for. So, the fair was postponed, while the works were continued. A 5.3-km stretch of road that connects the village with the main road is concretised, besides building a 7.3-km stormwater drain at an estimated cost of Rs 3.4 crore. The total works, in nine villages, were taken up at an estimated cost of Rs 9.4 crore. The villages include Siddaramanahundi, Yadakola, Kuppegala, Srinivasapura, Kadave- kattehundi, Anchehundi, Hosahalli and Devegowdana- hundi. NIV serves as a platform for struggling and upcoming artists When Shaji Mathew left Thrissur, Kerala, at the age of 16, he only knew he wanted to achieve something big. As a newcomer to Delhi in the 1980s, after multiple odd jobs and meeting different types of people, including artists, he soon partnered with a friend to set up a handlooms business that became his livelihood and also a source of support for his dream project -- NIV Art Centre, an art studio, gallery and residency space in Neb Sarai in 2007. Though I missed five years of college, I gained practical knowledge in those years. As a newcomer to the city in the 1980s, I had to find means of survival. Meanwhile, I met quite a few upcoming artists like Arpana Caur, Manjit Bawa, Himmat Shah, and became friends with them, he said. Knowingly or unknowingly, I was inspired by them and also understood the harsh realities that they faced. There were so many artists coming from outside Delhi, but their survival in the city was difficult. They couldn't afford a residential space and galleries were not willing to entertain them. So, it restrained them from thinking of exhibitions in a city like Delhi. That is how, the idea to make space for outstation artists, from across the country and the world, to come, stay, work and exhibit came to my mind and the aim was to promote career-artists, adds Mathew, who wanted to be an artist himself. Since the late 1990s, the art scene in the city and its environs have swelled from a handful of galleries to a thriving constellation of non-profit, residency programme and artist-run spaces. From eye-catching portraits to abstract art, from the black and white figures of owls and monkeys to colourful murals, the walls leading to Neb Sarai offer a wide canvas space for artists in and around the area. Till recently, this area was not a cool place or a hot property destination. But things are changing slowly. And you wont be surprised to know that artists who work from this area are the prime movers of the cultural value of the place. When we came here, there were hardly any artists. Now, there are 300 plus artists in Neb Sarai. Most of them have stepped out of the NIV. Our aim is not to make them permanently dependent on us. We just want to be a stepping stone, says Mathew, who is also the director of the NIV Art Centre. For struggling artists Situated on a busy road that leads to Indira Gandhi National Open University, the NIV which means foundation or base in Hindi, has served as a platform for struggling and upcoming artists by reaching out to creative talents, including painters, sculptors, street artists, caricaturists and even performance artistes from across the globe. With a focus on facilitating the fundamental necessities for advancement of each of the forms of art, besides regular activities, we curate individual and group shows, host international artists-in-residency programmes, organise seminars, lectures, discussions and talks that contextualise art within critical discourse, Mathew told Deccan Herald referring to their recent venture into film-making as well. The artist-in-residence programme brings artists, performing artistes, academicians, curators, and creative people for a time and space away from their usual environment and obligations. They provide time of reflection, research, presentation and production. They also allow an individual like me to explore her practice within another community; meet new people, use new materials, experience life in a new location. In fact, they emphasise the importance of meaningful and multi-layered cultural exchange and immersion into another culture, says visual artist Jason Miranda Bilbao. London-based Bilbao recently curated varied media-based art work show -- Ideas travel faster than light which saw nine artists from abroad collaborating with an equal number from India. When I came to India, I met people in the art field curators, critics, artists with whom I connected very well and I wanted to make art more than what it is now. Then, I thought that it would be really interesting to get them to meet each other and work on each others' ideas. I didnt have money to transport the works and that is when I decided to transport the ideas instead. It was to just see how ideas from one land are grown beautifully at another land, says Bilbao, who specialises in photography and sculpture. With challenging abstract art, lens-based works, and new directions in painterly practices, working periods differ enormously-- from two weeks to six months or sometimes even a year. According to Mathew, these artists are not worried about money. They can make their money by doing some commissioned works or taking up regular jobs. What they worry most is the lack of exhibition spaces. But now, we have found our own ways of doing it, he says. Visual artist B Ajay Sharma from Jharkhand, who joined the residency after graduating from Jamia Millia Islamia in 2009, describes: I trained as a pure painter. Slowly, due to my teacher, I also got inspired by analogue photography and I went on to understand sound as the interface between image and movement. His collaborative work Road to Home was a part of Bilbaos project documents the two sides of a coin through a woodcut installation at the centre. Many of them help the neighbourhood children in developing their artistic skills. These kids and artists have converted the whole village into a beautiful art gallery, where every wall narrates a story, says Phoolwati, a resident referring to the works of French artists who painted graffiti on the walls as part of their last visit. Artist Nishi Sharma, who lives nearby in Freedom Fighters Colony and works of the centre, says: Though Delhi is more famous for its rich history and historical monuments, art is also being appreciated. This sort of space is essential for artists to express their creative instincts and will only enhance the fields variety and reach. The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) has claimed lives of at least 25,000 people directly or indirectly, former member of National Security Advisory Board and Shillong Times Editor Patricia Mary Mukhim said. Addressing students of communication in a panel discussion on AFSPA organised as part of Article 19, the three-day communication festival organised by the School of Communication in Manipal University on Saturday, Patricia termed AFSPA as an undemocratic and Draconian act in democratic India. Stating that 1,528 cases of alleged fake encounters held in Manipur alone are pending before the Supreme Court, she said one has to visit northeastern states to understand the situation there. A number of innocent people are caught between the insurgents and the police/armed forces, she said and added that according to an estimate, more than 95,000 people continue to live in camps due to insurgency. Noting that militancy in the northeastern states is much evolved, Patricia claimed that the militants/insurgents have sophisticated weapons, including the rocket launchers which reach India via Mizoram from Myanmar. Its a very difficult task to monitor the open border which is about 1,600 km in length, she observed. Lauding the efforts of Tripura state government and Chief Minister Manik Sarkar for withdrawing AFSPA after 18 years (imposed in the state on February 16, 1997 following spurt of violence by the ultras), Patricia said all it requires is a political will. Another speaker, Dr Monish Tourangbam, who is currently Assistant Professor at the Department of Geopolitics and International Relations (Manipal University), who hails from Manipur, said he faced tough times when he was in Delhi during Diwali as it was difficult for him to differentiate the sound of crackers and bombs. Clarifying that he is not against the Indian Army, but only against a specific act (AFSPA), he was all praise for the armed forces, which were in the forefront to rush in any emergency, including to Chennai during the recent floods. He also regretted that AFSPA is becoming an object of hate (among some people) towards the Indian Army. Dr Venkata Bhusura Jagannadha Rao Chelikani, who has been associated with the UNESCO (in Paris) as the president of Association Internationale pour le Partenariat Enterprises, said the act may be needed in sprit, but depends on its application. Stressing on the need to discuss more on Article 21 (Right to Life) than Article 19 (Freedom of Speech and Expression) (incidentally the festival theme too is Article 19), he said there is a need to change or redefine certain old words such as Sovereignty and Nationalism. There is a dire need to defend human beings than to defend the territory, he observed and regretted that more number of people are killed in the name of religion than in war. In the concluding remarks, the moderator referred to the high-power commission headed by the Supreme Court retired judge Santosh Hegde (constituted in January 2013) to probe six encounter deaths in Manipur. Perhaps, the observation is applicable to other areas too, he said. The commission noted that AFSPA was an impediment to achieve peace in regions such as Jammu and Kashmir and the northeast. The commission also said the law needs to be reviewed every six months to see whether its implementation is actually necessary in states where it is being enforced. The Central Crime Branch (CCB) busted a high-end prostitution racket at RMV Extension on Friday and rescued five women, all natives of Thailand. They also arrested five men Chandrakanth, Sanjeev, Louis Ranjith Kumar, Anish R and Abhishek R, all residents of the City and recovered a few thousand rupees, seven mobile phones and an Apple iPad from them. Based on a tip-off, the CCB officers raided Kiyora Wellness and Thai Spa and arrested the five men and rescued the women. During interrogation, the suspects said Kumar and his wife Veena, who owned spa, brought women from Thailand after promising them lucrative jobs in the City. Later, the women pushed into prostitution, said the police. The jurisdictional Sadashivanagar police have booked the suspects under the Immoral Trafficking (Prevention) Act and IPC Section 370 (buying or disposing of any person as a slave). The Bengaluru International Airport police on Saturday arrested nine people for trying to travel abroad without valid visas and other documents. The arrested were identified as Ishaq Mohammad Aashiq, 12; Sadiq Pasha, 25; Eijaz Dastgir, 24; Irfan, 24; Mohammad Shoaib, 22; Saleem Pasha, 21; Ishabuddin, 38; Sanaullah, 22; and Azam, 28. Hailing from various places in and around Shivamogga and neighbouring districts, they were all planning to travel to Bahrain for employment. A man named Basheer, presumed to be a travel agent, had organised their trip to Bahrain. Basheer prepared fake visas, passports and other documents and collected huge sums from the suspects. He is absconding and efforts are on to nab, him said the police. The incident came to light during the verification of passports and visas. The staff at the airport grew suspicious as there were a few discrepancies in the documents and questioned them, but the suspects did not give satisfactory replies. The police rushed to the spot and detained them. The suspects told the police that Basheer had collected money from them promising jobs in Bahrain. They said Basheer have given them visas and passports and claimed they were innocent, said the police. The police booked them for cheating and violation of passport norms and produced them before the court, which remanded them in judicial custody. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday reassured his Nepalese counterpart K P Sharma Oli Indias commitment to support reconstruction of quake-ravaged Nepal, as the two nations sought to mend ties after the recent row over the new statute of the neighbouring country. The meeting between the two Prime Ministers in New Delhi on Saturday was followed by signing of eight pacts, including an MoU on utilization of $ 250 million grant, which is a component of Indias pledged assistance of $1 billion assistance for reconstruction of Nepal that was devastated by an earthquake on April 25 last year. Modi, however, made it clear to Oli that New Delhi would continue to prod Kathmandu to continue its recently-initiated move to make amendments in the new Constitution of Nepal, addressing the concerns of Madhesis and other disgruntled communities of the neighbouring country. The two Prime Ministers also remotely inaugurated a newly constituted 400 KV power transmission line Muzaffarpur at Bihar in India and Dhalkebar in Nepal. Oli arrived in New Delhi on Friday for his maiden visit to India after taking over as Prime Minister in October last year. His visit is also significant as it is the first high-level visit from Kathmandu to New Delhi, after relations between India and Nepal were strained due to row over the new constitution of the neighbouring country. The drafting and announcement of the new constitution after decades of struggle is a major achievement for Nepal. I appreciate the contribution of the political leadership and all sections of the society in Nepal in its making. But its success depends on consensus and dialogue, said Modi, when he and Oli jointly addressed media-persons after their meeting. Oli said that one of the main purposes of his visit to New Delhi was to clear misunderstandings that came up in India-Nepal ties over the last few months. A section of the Congress legislators on Saturday claimed that JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy owned several expensive watches, including Franck Muller and Rado, and his son Nikhil Gowda drove high-end cars such as Lamborghini, Range Rover and Infinity Ex35. Addressing a press conference in Bengaluru, as many as 10 Congress legislators, including V S Ugrappa and H M Revanna, claimed that Kumaraswamy had not declared these items in his election affidavit. In a late reaction to Kumaraswamys claim that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah wore a Rs 70-lakh Swiss-made Hublot wristwatch, the legislators at the Saturdays press conference released copies of photos of Kumaraswamy wearing what they claimed were Franck Muller and Rado watches worth Rs 25 lakh and Rs two lakh, respectively. However, the Congress legislators did not release any documents to support their arguments. Kumaraswamy should realise that people who live in glasshouses should not throw stones. From where did he get these expensive items? What favours did he do to get them? they asked. Ugrappa claimed that while Kumaraswamys son Nikhil had registered the Range Rover (worth Rs 50 lakh), the Lamborghini and Infinity Ex35 had not been registered with the RTO. They said Siddaramaiah still had the time to declare the gifts he had received (till March this year) or opt to hand over all the gifts to the government soon after completing his tenure. However, it was nearly 10 years since Kumaraswamy relinquished the office of chief minister but had not found the time to declare the gifts he had received, they said. Ugrappa accused Kumaraswamy of receiving a car worth Rs 6.7 crore and a watch worth Rs 1.3 crore from a Dubai-based businessman. He claimed the Lamborghini owned by Nikhil was worth Rs eight crore and Infinity Ex35 Rs 1.2 crore. (However, automobile website www.cardekho.com puts the ex-showroom price of these cars in India at Rs 5.22 crore and Rs 28 lakh, respectively). HDK refutes charges Rubbishing the charges, Kumaraswamy said that his son was not a public servant, but a private individual who can purchase cars of his choice. My son, being a private person, will buy a car worth Rs five crore, Rs 10 crore, or even Rs 50 crore. He is answerable to the IT department, and not Siddaramaiah, he said. He also argued that at no point he had mentioned the name of Siddaramaiahs son and the same should be reciprocated. Branding Ugrappa as the mouthpiece of Siddaramaiah, and one among the Siddaramaiah Protection Group (SPG), the JD(S) leader said he would be coming out with more details of Siddaramaiahs properties. The Karnataka Power Corporation Limited will dismantle the fire-ravaged control room of its Sharavathi generating station (SGP) and restore it in a phased manner. A massive fire which broke out at the unit on February 18, has reduced the control room into smithereens. The damage in the mishap could have been of a large scale as the multi-storied building that houses the power station had several imported electrical equipment worth crores of rupees. According to the officials of the KPCL, the power station had sophisticated machinery imported from the US, Canada, France, Japan and other counties. Fortunately, none of these equipment had been damaged in the fire. We should consider ourselves lucky as the expensive imported electrical equipment are safe. However, control panel, power and control cables are completely burnt. We have to dismantle the control room and restore it in a phased manner, K R Shivaji, Chief Engineer (Electrical), Sharavathi Hydro Electric Project, told Deccan Herald. He said that the KPCL had asked to shortlist companies that could execute the restoration work effectively. We are thinking of a few companies - ABB, (a multinational corporation headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland, operating mainly in robotics and the power and automation technology areas), Alstom India Limited, (AIL) which is engaged in the business of power generation, power transmission and rail infrastructure, Siemens, German based company which has its operation in energy and V-Tech Power Engineering Privated Limited, based in India. We are unlikely to invite global tenders as it would delay the restoration. The measures are being taken to make sure that the Sharavathi generating station starts functioning before the commencement of rainy season, Shivaji said. With an installed capacity of 1,035MW per day, the Sharavathi generation station has an annual yield of 5,000 million units. According to the KPCL website, during 2015-16, the SGP generated 261.5374 million units of power in the current financial year (till the fire accident) against the target of 5,341 mu. The power generation has come to a halt after the fire accident. Meanwhile, Energy Minister D K Shivakumar has written to Union Minister of State for Power, Coal, New and Renewable Energy, seeking allocation 1,000 MW from Central generating stations. He has said that the power generation has come down by 1,275 MW per day due to the fire mishap. K R Shivaji, Chief Engineer (Electrical), Sharavathi Hydro Electric Project: We are unlikely to invite global tender as it would delay the restoration. The measures are being taken to make sure that the Sharavathi generating station starts functioning before the commencement of rainy season. In trouble-torn areas of Rohtak, Jhajjar, Bhiwani, Gohana and many other places in Haryana, petrol pumps have dried out, schools shut and supply of essential commodities, including LPG, severely effected. Major roads connecting Delhi from all these areas have been blocked with Jats stepping up the agitation closer to the bounds of the national capital in Gurgaon, Sonipat and other parts. The Army used choppers to airlift its men on Saturday to trouble-torn areas in Rohtak and some other areas since road routes were all blocked. Over 500 trains have been disrupted, cancelled due to the ongoing agitation causing loss of several hundreds of crores of rupees. All buses from Chandigarh to New Delhi were suspended with commuters left in the lurch. Rail services are severely hampered on the Delhi-Ambala, Delhi-Amritsar, Delhi-Hisar-Fazilka route, and Hisar-Dhuri sections. Routes passing through Panipat, Rohtak and Rewari have been closed. The government has sought additional companies of Central Reserve Police Force and more columns of Army to be deployed in Haryana by Sunday morning to control the ongoing agitation in the state. At least 154 FIRs have been registered and those responsible for the violence are being identified. The second phase of polling for 15 zilla panchayats and 80 taluk panchayats concluded on Saturday, with the State Election Commission putting the voter turnout at 68 to 70 per cent. The exact figures will be declared by the SEC on Sunday. SEC Commissioner P N Sreenivasachari said that polling, which concluded at 5 pm, was by and large peaceful in the 15 districts. Barring minor skirmishes outside polling stations, there was no major incident inside the booths. These scuffles are common. In fact, this will go on for the next three to four days, owing to old rivalries. We see this happen during every panchayat election, he added. The commissioner said that this time, the first two phases so far had recorded a marginally higher polling percentage. The first phase, which saw 73.34 pc polling, had recorded a 3.3 pc increase. Last time, the second phase had recorded 66.35 pc polling. Going by the voting trend, I expect the turnout to have gone up in the second phase too, he added. In the first phase, 552 ZP seats and 1,945 TP seats in Bengaluru and Belagavi divisions went for polling on February 13. In the second phase, 531 ZP seats and 1,939 TP seats in Mysuru and Kalaburagi divisions, besides the Vijayapura district of Belagavi division, went to the polls. The polling received a lukewarm response in Chikkamagaluru district till afternoon, but picked up later. In the district, labourers left for work after exercising their franchise in the morning. Elections were held in 29 ZP and 50 TP constituencies in Kodagu district. There was a glitch in an electronic voting machine at Athooru polling station in Somwarpet taluk, which was rectified later. There was brisk polling since morning in the district. Bidar district recorded a voter turnout of 61.55 per cent. The voting began on a dull note, but picked up pace towards afternoon. Barring stray incidents, polling was peaceful in Raichur district. The polling percentage in the district was 66.9 per cent. The election was delayed by 20 minutes at Udamagal Khanapur in Kalmala constituency and by an hour at Hirenaganur in Gejjalaghatta seat due a faulty electronic voting machine (EVM). A couple of incidents of stone throwing were reported in Aland taluk. There have been some reports of boycotting elections and delayed start and disruption in voting due to snags in EVMs. Voting was peaceful in Ballari district, with a polling percentage of 64. Polling began late at a few places due to glitches in EVMs. Yadgir district recorded a polling percentage of 61. The election began two hours late due to a faulty EVM at Yarakihal in Surapur taluk. The voting was by and large peaceful in Koppal district, which recorded 50.5 per cent polling till 3 pm. Dakshina Kannada district recorded 69 per cent polling. Due to glitches in EVMs, polling commenced one hour late at some places in Sullia taluk. The elections took place peacefully, except minor untoward incidents, in Udupi district (polling percentage 68.17). The elections in Mysuru district witnessed a turnout of over 75 per cent as per initial estimates. Mandya district recorded 70.57 per cent voting. A total of 7,19,456 voters in seven taluks, including Mandya, exercised their franchise. In Hassan, a total of 12,70,648 voters exercised their franchise. The district recorded 71.04 per cent voting. A total of 6,76,795 voters cast their votes in Chamarajanagar district and the elections passed off peacefully. The poll percentage was 74.6. The escalating agitation over the Jat quota issue has exposed the state government's ineptness to deal with the crisis. The violent agitation is also been seen as an intelligence failure where the government faltered in assimilating the exact situation that has now spiraled out of control. The agitation has been underway since the beginning of the week in a limited way only in some parts of the state, essentially Rohtak which has been the epicentre. The state government on its side claimed they have managed to douse off the agitation after it sent Jat ministers to hold parleys with the protesters. In fact, just when the government claimed a success of sorts over resolving the issue, matters escalated to an all new high. Violence, arson and vandalism followed and continues to cripple normal life. A day before the agitation turned violent, the chief minister held talks at his residence in Chandigarh with over 150 Jat leaders. Talks fail The government claimed the talks had been successful, but it turned the other way round the very next day. The government failed to read the mood of the Jat leaders who walked out of the meeting disgruntled. The developments also indicate the failure of the government to connect with Jat leaders, which is perhaps why the government has not been able to put to rest the agitation despite the chief minister stating everything at his command to pacify the protestors. The Jat leaders say the government had only been assuring them of an outcome on the issue, but noting concrete took shape. They now want the government to promulgate an ordinance. The issue of Jat's verses non-Jats is back in focus. There have been several incidents in the last couple of days when there have been disturbances between the two factions on the issue of protest. Of the 10 chief ministers of Haryana, seven have been Jats. Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar is a Punjabi, a reason why a majority of Jats dont see him as the one who can pursue their cause with sincerity. The central BJP leaders on Saturday stepped in to douse the Jat reservation crisis, with Home Minister Rajnath Singh assigned the task of engaging community leaders to come up with a workable formula to end the standoff. Singh, who held meeting with senior ministers Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley at his residence during the day, will hear out demands of Jat leaders and Khap Chaudharys (Jat sub-caste leaders) from western Uttar Pradesh (UP) later in the evening. Search of solution Subsequently, community leaders from Haryana and other states will join the consultation process to examine a possible solution which became complex after the Supreme Court quashed a decision to include them in the OBC list and the High Court of Punjab and Haryana turned down the states move to bring them under the economically weaker section (EWS) quota. All India Jat Aarakshan Sangarsh Samiti national president Yashpal Malik insisted that for the community to withdraw agitation, the state government should bring an ordinance giving them reservation. With Khattar government unable to handle the lingering political turmoil, BJP chief Amit Shah held meetings with party Jat leaders Union ministers Chaudhary Birender Singh and Sanjeev Baliyan and state minister O P Dhankar and Haryana in-charge Anil Jain and decided that the central leadership will negotiate with agitating Jat leaders. Singh, Baliyan and Dhankad have been asked to assure the community that both the Centre and the state were keen to work out an affirmative plan for the land owning community in Haryana. In nine statessuch as Delhi, UP, Rajasthan and Bihar Jats are covered under the OBC list but for in Haryana. To quell rumours that the ruling party might have instigated protest, anti-Jat MP from Kurukshetra, Rajkumar Saini, will be issued a show-cause notice for his utterances, which triggered an outrage among Jat leaders, said BJP general secretary Ani Jain, while clarifying that the BJP is not against any community. As the Jats agitation has turned violent, the government seems to have no other option than to take a fresh look at the demand for their inclusion in the list of Other Backward Classes (OBC) to give them reservation in job and educational institutions. The politically organised community, largely land owning, has already been granted the benefit in Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. In the scenario, as the Jats stand excluded from special OBC category in Haryana after quashing of the decision by the Punjab and Haryana HC last year, the government has the option of passing a legislation or an ordinance. Earlier The community suffered a setback when the apex court last year quashed the hasty move, without substantiated by the data, taken by the previous UPA regime and later supported by the NDA to include them in the central list of the OBCs. Though the government promised a corrective measure, it could not do anything to mollify the community, forcing them to resort to agitation. In its judgment quashing the decision of March 4, 2014 to include Jats into OBC list, the Supreme Court noted that the move was made with an eye on election. The court had then noted the National Commission for Backward Classes set up in 1993 after the apex court verdict in Indira Sawhney (Mandal case) had rejected the idea after examining the issue and going through a report of an expert committee of Indian Council of Social Science Research. The government claimed that the NCBC had not adequately taken into account ground realities. Relying upon its statistics, the government also maintained that the NCBCs recommendation was not binding. However, the court rejected the argument, saying outdated statistics cannot provide accurate parameters for measuring backwardness for the purpose of inclusion in the OBC list. Articles 16(4) and 15(4) of the Constitution lay the foundation for affirmative action by the state to reach out to the most deserving only and the caste could not be the sole identification of a group as backward, the SC has said. The Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) executive committee will soon discuss threadbare the outcome of the results of the bypolls to three Assembly seats, particularly the defeat of the party candidate in the Hebbal constituency. Addressing a press conference in Bengaluru on Saturday, KPCC president G Parameshwara said the party had expected to win in Hebbal but the voters thinking was different. BJPs Y A Narayanaswamy won from the high-profile Hebbal constituency defeating C K Abdul Rahman Sharief of the Congress by a margin of 19,149 votes. Besides Hebbal, the Congress also lost in Bidar but won the Devadurga seat. Top State Congress leaders had campaigned extensively in Hebbal for nearly two weeks. We have sought reports from the local party units. We will analyse the results and infer the reason for the defeat, Parameshwara said and added that it could a combined effect of the choice of candidate, campaigning, development initiative among others. However, he rejected that theory that defeat in Hebbal was a conspiracy hatched by a section of the Congress leaders. The run-up to the February 13 bypoll for Hebbal had exposed several political undercurrents in Congress. The poll brought to fore the simmering discontent among the Congress old guard against Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who they consider an outsider. After an open tug-of-war, the party high command preferred Jaffer Shariefs grandson Rahaman over Siddaramaiah choices of independent MLC Byrathi Suresh as the candidate. Parameshwara said the developments in Jawaharlal Nehru University was a clear indication that the BJP was using the RSS and the ABVP for spreading hatred among people. The BJP wants to impose its views on the people, Parameshwara said. He said the party, on the pretext of anti-national protests was vitiating the environment in universities to saffronise the atmosphere. Former minister B K Chandrashekar sought to the silence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the JNU issue. He said the KPCC would support peaceful protests by college students on the misuse of state power by the BJP. Five people were killed when armed forces opened fire to quell violence as the Jat quota agitation in Haryana escalated and spilled over to other parts of the state on Saturday. A Haryana government release said that five people were killed when Armed Forces opened fire to quell arson and firing by the protesters. Fifteen people, including security personnel, were injured in Rohtak and Jhajjar on Saturday, the release added. As many as 15 companies of the India Reserve Battalion and Haryana Armed Police, three companies of paramilitary forces and two columns of the Army have already been deployed, the release said. At least 10 more columns of the Army are expected to arrive shortly. As Haryana remained on the boil, the Army had to use choppers to reach parts of blocked Rohtak district even as several Haryana Roadways buses, seven railway stations, a police station and some buildings were torched by pro-quota protesters. The civilian death toll mounted to seven since violence broke on Friday. One person was killed in firing on Friday and another person succumbed to injuries on Saturday. The government was forced to impose curfew in five more towns, the latest one being Jind, Hisar and Hansi. Earlier on Saturday, curfew was imposed in Sonipat and Gohana towns of Sonipat district. Curfew was clamped in Rohtak, Bhiwani and Jhajjar on Friday. The Army staged a flag march in many parts amid several incidents of loot and arson spreading panic and fear among residents. Various districts of the state, especially in close proximity to the national capital, were cut off from the rest of the world with traffic disruptions at many places on major highways, including the Chandigarh-Ambala-Delhi highway. Jat protestors remained defiant and came out with weapons in hordes blunting any attempt to restore peace in many areas. A petrol pump, a police station in Meham, a banquet hall and a railway station on the Jind-Panipat track were set on fire. Protesters robbed a shop dealing with arms and ammunition. There were also reports of rioters looting an ATM outlet. A day after the house of finance minister was set on fire, the residence of state Agriculture Minister O P Dhankar on the Jhajjar-Rohtak road was stoned by angry protesters. Jat leader Yashpal Malik, who is the president of the All India Jat Aarakshan Sangarsh Samiti, said they will not withdraw the agitation unless the state government brings an ordinance providing reservation to Jats. Winds equivalent to a Category 2 hurricane howled near Clark on Thursday night, when a weather station recorded a gust as fast as 103 mph, according to the National Weather Service. The town near the Montana-Wyoming border wasn't the only place in Wyoming to experience powerful winds. Strong gusts blew through much of the state Thursday and Friday. On Thursday, a 94 mph gust was recorded northwest of Cody. On Friday morning, winds between Cheyenne and Laramie gusted at 66 mph, while winds in Casper ranged from 45 to 50 mph. "Its not abnormal to get winds this strong across Wyoming at times," said meteorologist Mark Heuer of Day Weather in Cheyenne. "The reason why weve had this latest and current high wind event is that weve had a strong jet stream, or jet max, along with a cold front and a Pacific disturbance moving across the state. "In general, its our relatively high elevation, our topography of Wyoming and this immediate region that really helps facilitate these strong winds when we get the right atmospheric conditions." Winds were so strong in Evansville on Thursday that they took the roof off of a home. The displaced family of four is being assisted by the Red Cross. Sgt. David Wagener of the Wyoming Highway Patrol said there were several wind-related car crashes throughout the state on Thursday and Friday. Some trucks and trailers blew over, while one crash was caused when wood pieces blew out of a pickup and struck another truck. The crashes were concentrated in the southeast section of Interstate 80 between Rawlins and Cheyenne and on Interstate 25 south of Cheyenne, Wagener said. There were two blow-overs in the Casper area Thursday involving trailers. Both crashes took place in the morning on Wyoming Boulevard near McKinley Street. One crash injured the driver. There were wind advisories posted in the area at the time of those crashes, Wagener said. When they have those advisories up -- the no light trailers and no high-profile vehicles -- theyre up there for a reason, Wagener said. I just hope everybody follows that and keeps themselves safe and knows they dont have to be traveling when the winds are that high. Heuer expects the winds to decrease to a normal speed heading into the weekend. "This is a temporary wind event," Heuer said. "It will be subsiding as we head into the evening and overnight hours Friday. It will be breezy and windy across the state, but instead of winds 60 mph-plus, well be looking at more typical Wyoming wind." High winds on Friday closed a section of Interstate 25 south of Wheatland to light and high-profile vehicles due to blow-over risk, the Wyoming Department of Transportation reported. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Two paramilitary troopers and a civilian were killed when militants attacked a CRPF convoy on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway near Pampore in Pulwama district on Saturday evening. Reports said the militants, after attacking the convoy, stormed the multi-storey Entrepreneurship Development Institute (EDI) building in the area where around 20 people, including trainees and their trainers, were trapped. However, a senior police officer said at least 120 people, who were trapped in the building, have been evacuated from the EDI building which is barely seven km from the Armys 15-Corps headquarters. Superintendent Police (SP) Awantipora, Muhammad Irshad said: Three to four militants are hiding in the building and the exchange of fire was on when the last reports came in. Eyewitnesses told Deccan Herald over phone that before storming the EDI building, the militants fired at the CRPF convoy in which two paramilitary personnel lost their lives while another 12 were injured. Among those injured was a civilian who later succumbed to his injuries. He has been identified as Abdul Gani Mir, an employee of the EDI. Two slain troopers have been identified as head constable Bhula Singh of 144 Battalion CRPF and Constable RK Raina driver of the vehicle. The condition of two more troopers isalso stated to be critical. An employee of EDI who was evacuated described the scene inside the building as chaotic. There were women inside. They were crying and one could hear the sound of shrieks amid the gunfire, he said. Large contingents of Army and policemen rushed to the ambush spot and cordoned off entire area. Some locals said some youths pelted stones at security forces even as the men in uniform were engaged in a gunfight with the militants. Sorry, the page you are looking is no longer available. Click here to go to Home Students from the State, who fall under the PIO (Persons of Indian Origin) and the OCI (Overseas Citizens of India) categories, can now apply for the CET. The High Court on Friday directed the Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA) to grant permission to such students, based on an interim order it had issued on August 2015. S N Gangadhariah, administrative officer, KEA said: Based on the interim order we are allowing the students to apply for and write the CET. In case, the government files an appeal and court rules in its favour, we will take an appropriate decision. The next step depends on the government. A release from the KEA said that the application was subject to final order of the High Court in respective writ petitions. Dr Sreedhara Rajanna, one of the petitioners in the case said: Two set of petitioners had approached the court. Despite getting the interim order in August 2016, the KEA did not allow the students to write the test. On Friday, however, we approached the court again, and it directed the KEA to do the needful. A number of states like Kerala and Andhra Pradesh allow the PIO and the OCI students to write their CETs. Based on this directive, the KEA has already made changes to the online application form, said Rajanna. Earlier, in the section where an applicant indicated nationality, there was only one option, Indian. Now, there is an option to indicate PIO or OCI, he said. Editing Option The KEA is also giving Editing Option to candidates, who have already applied and made fee payment, from February 27 to February 29. Candidates, who have given incomplete information/wrong information can edit/ correct the entries made earlier. DH News Service Silverton leaders have agreed with the Environmental Protection Agency to consider 46 abandoned mines and mine-production sites that dot its surroundings for a potential Superfund cleanup, documents released Friday show. The locations are in three basins that drain into the Animas River and have long been blamed for contaminating the waterway with heavy metal runoff. The pollution has also been linked to damaging aquatic life. All of the locations identified for a federal cleanup are outside Silvertons town limits. Two study sites have also been identified for EPA evaluation. This would be one of the three biggest (mine Superfund) sites, in terms of area and scope, in the state of Colorado, Bill Murray, who directs the EPAs Superfund program in Colorado, told The Denver Post on Friday. In a letter to Gov. John Hickenlooper about the proposed Superfund designation, the EPA says the polluting mining sites include more than 248,000 cubic yards of waste rock and a cumulative wastewater drainage of 5.4 million gallons per day. Contaminants found in these sources and in the surface water include arsenic, cadmium, copper, manganese, zinc, lead and aluminum, the letter said. The document release comes ahead of a Monday meeting of Silverton and San Juan Countys elected leaders who are set to decide on whether to seek a Superfund designation. One of the documents showed the millions of private, state and federal dollars that have been spent in the past 25 years to remediate mine drainage in Silvertons surroundings. For two decades, Silverton rebuffed federal Superfund dollars, fearing economic harm, bureaucratic red tape and stigma. But now the town is finalizing a plan to embrace the controversial cleanup effort in the wake of the 3 million-gallon, EPA-triggered Gold King Mine spill in August. The town council and county commissioners need to send a letter seeking Superfund classification to Hickenlooper by Feb. 23 in order to be considered for the earliest possible designation. The governor has until Feb. 29 to request Superfund for Silverton with the EPA. Late last month, the leaders were set to vote on approving a letter to the governor but at the last minute rescheduled, citing lasting concerns. On Feb. 12, the EPA sent a letter to Silverton full of promises about any potential Superfund implementation, including assurances about local involvement throughout the process. The letter also said the town and San Juan County had agreed with the EPA to call any project area the Bonita Peak Mining District Site. Silvertons leaders worried that naming the cleanup after their community would scare away visitors and destroy their tourism-based economy. While there is still work to be done, many of the issues cannot be addressed until after a Superfund listing, officials wrote in one of the documents released Friday. Among those lasting worries are that a Superfund designation would be an empty and meaningless act and that the town and county will not be reimbursed for their Gold King spill expenses. Leaders say the EPA has assured them that the site will have the highest priority and that they will try to pay for at least some of the Gold King disasters costs. Jesse Paul: 303-954-1733, jpaul@ denverpost.com or @JesseAPaul GLENWOOD CANYON When a mass of rocks Monday night roared down toward motorists on Interstate 70, the tumbling boulders bounded past an array of nearby fences that might have halted the slide. Instead, chunks some as big as a car of Glenwood Canyons towering walls slammed into a passing tractor-trailer and punched holes in the pavement. One boulder even rolled across all four lanes of the interstate, through the Colorado River and up onto the adjacent wall of the gorge. Its not much you can do, said Spike Priestly of GeoStabilization International as he worked in the area Wednesday to prevent more slides and remove precarious rock. Its just a rarity. You cant tell when its going to happen. Colorado Department of Transportation workers tasked with keeping mountain highways safe have increasingly sophisticated technology at their disposal. But while officials can install webs of steel netting, use laser sensors and visually check potentially unstable slopes, they say its impossible to completely mitigate hidden dangers. CDOT has bolstered its rockfall mitigation by adding roughly $8.5 million in the past 15 years to its program targeting the issue and becoming nationally recognized for its efforts. Still, areas remain such as the part of Glenwood Canyon that broke free this week that simply appear to have a mind of their own, despite all efforts and monitoring. Major rock slides in Colorado are rare and account for less than 1 percent of crashes in the state each year. But over the years, slides from canyons and cliffs have killed motorists in high-profile events across the state. In 2009, a father from Missouri driving his family through Snowmass Canyon was killed when a boulder smashed through the windshield of their SUV. The next year, a 55-year-old Craig woman died when a rock crashed through the roof of her car near Steamboat Springs in an area not known for slides. One of Colorados most infamous rockfalls came in 1987 when seven people aboard a sightseeing bus were killed when a state worker dislodged a boulder that slammed into their vehicle on Berthoud Pass. Fifteen were injured. Gravity and other environmental factors such as water and changes in temperature are always working to weaken and loosen rocks, said Jonathan Godt, program coordinator for the U.S. Geological Surveys landslide hazards initiative. He explained all rock faces, cliffs, canyons and steep slopes are subject to rockfall and rock slides. We do everything humanly possible to mitigate the risk, said Tracy Tru love, a CDOT spokeswoman. Colorado has a roughly $9 million rockfall program that pays for remediation at the states 750 sites identified as most dangerous. Next year, that budget will increase to $10 million. In 2001, the program had just $1.5 million. Ty Ortiz, who manages CDOTs Geohazards Program, says his team is now using photographs to compare slopes and look for even the slightest changes in rock to discover problem areas. In the past few years, CDOT also has changed its policy to address prone corridors instead of just piece-meal remediation of sites. Ortiz says there are still spots, however, that escape detection. When youre in a place (like) Glenwood Canyon, its 13 miles of all rock, Ortiz said. What we cant see is hundreds to thousands of feet above you. Its not reasonable to have someone walk hundreds or thousands of feet above the slope. Its not possible. CDOT uses webs of netting to hold rocks in place and prevent them from sliding down onto roadways, but Ortiz likened the approach to trying to harness Mother Nature. You cant really put a rope around Mother Nature and expect to tame her, he said. We do the best that we can with the materials that are available to us. Some 160 feet of netting is being installed where the Monday slide happened. Repairs from the incident are expected to cost $2 million to $5 million. These mitigation efforts, no matter what they are, are really expensive, said Kevin Griffin, maintenance director for Utahs Department of Transportation, where there is no dedicated fund for dealing with rockfall. A lot of time you just dont have the money to do the rockfall mitigation because of the high cost. Griffin said Utah tries to tackle rock slide risk as they complete other construction. When they do, they look to their neighbor in the east for best-practice methods. I think its pretty well- known that Colorado is one of the leaders in the nation with rockfall mitigation, Griffin said. Jesse Paul: 303-954-1733, jpaul@denverpost.com or @JesseAPaul The I-70 closure: Interstate 70 likely will not reopen through Glenwood Canyon before Saturday as workers continue to deal with the fallout of a Monday night rock slide that left significant damage to the roadway. The Colorado Department of Transportation had initially hoped to allow travel on the major east-west route by Thursday afternoon, but bad weather slowed work and pushed that timetable back. Until then, drivers will continue to be forced onto a long, circuitous detour on U.S. 40 to the north or U.S. 50 to the south. RIVERTON, Wyo. State regulators said this week there is no firm timetable for moving forward with a series of recommendations on how to address lingering concerns about the source groundwater contamination near Pavillion. Those comments were delivered at the first Pavillion Working Group meeting in two years and followed the release of the Department of Environmental Quality's draft report into groundwater contamination in the area. Residents pressed state officials on whether DEQ would install groundwater monitoring wells, which industry experts have said are essential to identifying the source of pollution. Three state reports into the matter have said regulators should consider installing groundwater monitoring wells. But DEQ's $300,000 budget request for additional work in Pavillion does not call for the installation of such wells. It would instead pay for further water sampling. Kevin Frederick, director of DEQ's water quality division, said a decision on monitoring wells will be made after the department finalizes its report. There is no deadline on when that report will be finalized, he told residents. "That more than likely is going to take some time. I can't tell you how long it's going to take," Frederick said. "It's going to depend in large part on the extent of public comments we receive." The public comment period ends March 18. Pavillion rose to the fore of a national debate over the safety of fracking after a preliminary U.S. Environmental Protection Agency report in 2011 tentatively linked the practice of stimulating oil and gas wells to unsafe drinking water east of the central Wyoming community. EPA aborted its investigation in the face of intense political pressure in 2013, a Star-Tribune investigation found, turning over the inquiry to state regulators. The state subsequently released three reports examining the potential linkage. Each came to no firm conclusions and said more study was needed. The Pavillion Working Group is compromised of state officials, EPA representatives, local landowners and employees of Encana Corp. the operator of the Pavillion field. Wednesday's meeting was held to update the public on DEQ's findings. Encana officials were present but did not speak. The landowners in attendance were less than impressed. "It feels like 'Groundhog Day,'" said John Fenton, a working group member and outspoken critic of the state investigation. "My perspective on this is someone is telling DEQ this needs to go away. I don't know if these guys' hands are tied or if they're not investigating." Doyle Ward, whose Riverton well service company often worked in the Pavillion area, echoed the sentiment, recalling the first meeting on the subject in 2000. "Eleven years ago, at the first meeting, at least they'd say something," he said of state officials. A growing number of young women with breast cancer are being tested for the BRCA gene mutations that substantially raise the risks of breast and ovarian tumors, a new study shows. Researchers found that of nearly 900 women who developed breast cancer at age 40 or younger, most had undergone BRCA testing within a year of their diagnosis. And the percentage went up over time: By 2013, 95 percent had been tested, according to findings published online Feb. 11 in JAMA Oncology. Experts called the results good news, since BRCA testing has long been recommended for women diagnosed with breast cancer before the age of 50. This is great, its heartening, said Dr. Jeffrey Weitzel, director of clinical cancer genetics at City of Hope, in Duarte, Calif. But, he added, women in the study were largely white, well-educated and had health insurance and its unlikely that disadvantaged U.S. women would show the same high rate of BRCA testing. We need to keep working on extending the reach of genetic testing, said Weitzel, who co-wrote an editorial published with the study. Media coverage following actress Angelina Jolies disclosure that she carried the BRCA1 mutation has improved awareness about the testing and cancer preventive surgeries, previous research has suggested. Jolie had both of her breasts removed in 2013 after learning she has the BRCA mutation. And, in 2015, she had her ovaries and fallopian tubes removed due to the significantly increased risk of ovarian cancer that stems from having the BRCA1 mutation. But, the authors of the new study note that the rise in gene testing among patients in this study largely predated Jolies disclosure. Inherited mutations in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes account for 5 to 10 percent of all breast cancers, and about 15 percent of all ovarian cancers, according to the U.S. National Cancer Institute. Since the mutations raise the risk of early cancer, women who develop either disease at a young age have a relatively higher chance of harboring the flawed genes. So BRCA testing is recommended for women diagnosed with breast cancer before age 50. Thats, in part, to help guide their treatment decisions, explained Dr. Ann Partridge, the senior researcher on the new study, and an oncologist at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, in Boston. Women who carry the mutations have a high risk of developing a second cancer in the other breast, so some may want to opt for a double-mastectomy as a preventive measure. (Experts also advise women with BRCA mutations to have their ovaries removed by age 40, since there is no screening test for ovarian cancer, or any way to prevent it.) BRCA testing also gives families information, Partridge explained. On one hand, it could give them some peace of mind if the test is negative, she said. If its positive, then certain family members may want to be tested, too, she added. For the current study, Partridge and her colleagues surveyed 897 women whod been diagnosed with breast cancer at age 40 or younger, at some point between 2006 and 2013. All were treated at one of 11 hospitals in Massachusetts, Colorado and Minnesota. Of women diagnosed in 2006, 77 percent said theyd received BRCA testing. That went up to 95 percent among women diagnosed in 2013, the study reported. Overall, about 12 percent of women who were tested had a BRCA mutation. And most of those women 86 percent decided to have a double-mastectomy, the study showed. But half of the women who tested negative for a BRCA mutation also had a double-mastectomy, the researchers found. Thats concerning, both Partridge and Weitzel said. Women without the gene mutations have a low risk of developing a second cancer in the other breast, and theres no evidence that a double-mastectomy improves their long-term survival. We dont want to be doing procedures that arent medically indicated, Partridge said. Its not clear why so many women with negative test results opted for a double-mastectomy but its also not surprising, Partridge noted, since its consistent with past studies. Some women may do it for peace of mind, Partridge said, or because they do believe it will improve their survival, even though theres no evidence. At a time of high anxiety, she said, some women may not fully process the risk/benefit information theyre hearing. According to Weitzel, BRCA testing should ideally include genetic counseling, to help ensure that women understand their results. But in reality, that counseling does not always happen, he said. Under the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, BRCA testing is a covered preventive service for women at high risk of having a mutation. And, Weitzel said, Medicaid is now paying for testing, though the coverage varies by state. Theres still work to be done to improve underserved womens access to BRCA testing and counseling, Weitzel said including women in lower-income countries. Tulli called the units Ringing Bells has promised as a donation, and rubbished the economies of scale theory. Datawind CEO, Suneet Singh Tulli, branded the Freedom 251 smartphone as "a marketing promotion for an existing Chinese product that is already selling in Nehru Place". Talking about how the Freedom 251 differs from the Aakash tablet, Tulli said that there is no way someone can make a product like this, adding that "it is impossible". Tulli explained that making a phone with 1GB of RAM and 8GB of storage costs about $5.5 (approx. Rs. 380) for the memory alone, reiterating that the product is impossible to make. Tulli called the units that Ringing Bells has promised a donation, adding that the economies of scale theory is "not going to work". In addition, Tulli also said that Ashok Chadhas other claim, that crores of people will come to the Ringing Bells website, and then buy some other product, is also something that no one else has been able to do. Im sure they will deliver some, not that theyll not deliver any. Ive heard that the guys delivered 5 crore registrations and he will deliver 25 lakh units. He can deliver even 5 crore if he wants, but theres no way that he can make them at Rs. 251. Tulli said that the cost of the components for the device, at this time, would be around Rs. 2,000, which means that Ringing Bells is selling at nearly a tenth of the cost, which seems improbable to say the least. Further, Tulli explained that the market price of the product would ideally be more than the cost, which is evident from the fact that the fact that the Adcom Ikon 4 sells online for about Rs. 4,000. Tulli spoke about how the Aakash tablet was launched at the UN, and it wasnt somebody elses product with whitener on it, emphasising on the fact that there is no comparison between the Freedom 251 and the Aakash tablet. He also said that the Aakash tablet was a 1,00,000-unit deal with the government, and Datawind has sold its other product under the Ubislate brand, which is nothing like Ringing Bells initiative. Call for Australian Government to Lift Imprisonment Threat from Doctors Published: 2016-02-20 Author: BMJ | Contact: bmj.com Peer-Reviewed Publication: N/A Jump to: Main Digest | Publications Synopsis: Provisions of the Border Force Act that can imprison doctors for putting patients first must be removed, says expert. In The BMJ today, a doctor is calling on the Australian government to stop constraining doctors in the care of asylum seekers and refugees, and to adopt a humane stance to people seeking asylum. advertisements Main Digest In The BMJ today, a doctor is calling on the Australian government to stop constraining doctors in the care of asylum seekers and refugees, and to adopt a humane stance to people seeking asylum. David Berger, a doctor at Broome Hospital in Western Australia and a committee member of Doctors4Refugees, is making these calls following the high profile case at The Lady Cilento Hospital in Brisbane. Paediatricians are refusing to discharge a baby facing deportation to a detention camp after the girl, a daughter of asylum seekers, suffered serious burns at an immigration camp on Nauru island. The Lady Cilento Hospital says the girl will not be released "until a suitable home environment is identified". Dr Berger explains that despite seeking to ensure the safety of their patient and doing nothing more than following their own ethical code, these doctors risk facing up to two years imprisonment under the 2015 Border Force Act. Doctors have an ethical code since the time of the Hippocractic physicians nearly 2,500 years ago, he explains, yet this new law "compels them to follow the instructions of the Australian government, even if they believe this might be to the detriment of their patients." He says this case goes to the heart of the question of 'duty of the physician' versus 'law of the land', but argues that "compliance with the law can not inoculate the medical practitioner completely against the need to comply with their ethical code". He highlights the 2012 Derek Keilloh case in the UK that shows the "impossible ethical and legal position doctors now face in Australia... as they are caught between the profession's ethical code, which places patient welfare at the heart of their endeavours, and the law of the country which places unacceptable obstacles in the way of doing so." Dr Berger adds that the actions of the Brisbane doctors "are not simply a piece of political grandstanding, but the courageous stand of professionals seeking to do the right thing by their patient and to live up to the standards of an ethical code by which they are morally and legally bound and which places patient welfare at its pinnacle." "They are behaving according to the very highest standards of their profession," he adds, and calls on the government to repeal the relevant provisions of the Border Force Act and to adopt a "humane stance" towards people seeking asylum. Disabled World is an independent disability community established in 2004 to provide disability news and information to people with disabilities, seniors, their family and/or carers. See our homepage for informative news, reviews, sports, stories and how-tos. You can also connect with us on Twitter and Facebook or learn more about Disabled World on our about us page. advertisements Disabled World provides general information only. The materials presented are never meant to substitute for professional medical care by a qualified practitioner, nor should they be construed as such. Financial support is derived from advertisements or referral programs, where indicated. Any 3rd party offering or advertising does not constitute an endorsement. Cite This Page (APA): BMJ. (2016, February 20). Call for Australian Government to Lift Imprisonment Threat from Doctors. Disabled World. Retrieved October 21, 2022 from www.disabled-world.com/medical/healthcare/australia-medicare/nauru.php Permalink: Call for Australian Government to Lift Imprisonment Threat from Doctors Two Columbus-area solar farms could power 100,000 homes State regulators have signed off on turning a chunk of Darby Dan Farms into a solar farm in western Franklin County. LAMOURE Ronald G. Splitt, 82, LaMoure, passed away Feb. 17, 2016, at Oakes Community Hospital surrounded by his loving family. A Mass of Christian burial will be held at 11 a.m. Monday, Feb. 22, at Holy Rosary Catholic Church. A visitation will be held Sunday from 3 to 4 p.m. with a rosary starting at 4 p.m. followed by sharing of memories at the Holy Rosary Catholic Church, LaMoure. He was born in LaMoure on Feb. 4, 1934 to Reinholdt and Agnes (Welu) Splitt. He graduated from LaMoure High School and continued his education at the University of North Dakota graduating in 1958 with a degree in law. In 1957, Ron married Marlene Hodem and after graduation they moved to Bowman, where Ron started practicing law. In 1960, he returned to his hometown of LaMoure where he joined Theodore F. Kessel in the practice of law. He was an attorney for 55 years in LaMoure. He also had an office in Kulm, where he developed many close ties. Ron was elected States Attorney for LaMoure County and served proudly for 34 years before retiring from that office. He was president of the North Dakota States Attorney Association. In addition, he served as president of the former Third Judicial District and was a member and chairman of the Disciplinary Board of the North Dakota Supreme Court. He was also active in the LaMoure Lions Club and was a member of the LaMoure Fire Department. His greatest interest was in wildlife and wildlife conservation projects. His proudest achievement was securing the Lake LaMoure Recreation Area and the subsequent planting of hundreds of thousands of beautiful trees that we all enjoy today. Ron served as chairman of the LaMoure Recreation Board for over 35 years and was secretary of the James River Sportsmen's Club for 25 years. He has been the recipient of many state and local awards, including being named the North Dakota Wildlife Conservationist of the Year in 1971. He also received the North Dakota Community Leadership Award in 1989, the North Dakota Game & Fish Department Individual Distinguished Achievement Award in 1966, the North Dakota Tree Steward of the Year Award in 1993, and was honored with the LaMoure Community Person of the Year Award in 1996. Ron is survived by his wife, Marlene; their children, Anita (Ron) Klinge, Crookston, Minn., Emory (Beth), Bismarck, and Kelly (Sandra), Fargo; and six grandchildren, Robert and Rebecca Splitt, Kohlman and Lauren Klinge and Keith and Daniel Splitt. Ron was preceded in death by his parents, Reinholdt and Agnes Splitt. Online memories may be shared and viewed by visiting www.dahlstromfuneralhome.com. (Dahlstrom Funeral Home, LaMoure) Google setting up first Asia-focused hub in Singapore To better serve its users in Southeast Asia, Google is creating its first engineering team dedicated to the region. To kick off the recruitment drive it's acquired Pie, a startup in Singapore that was developing a service for workplace communications. Google says it's also on the lookout for new hires - both graduates and experienced engineers - to bulk up its team, and will be inviting its employees with "deep ties to Singapore" to consider relocating to the city. Students can also apply for a 12-week internship, although these will be taking place in Australia. With this initiative, Google recognises that internet "first-timers" in Southeast Asia are often different to those in the US. Many use a low-cost smartphone as their primary computing device, for instance, rather than a laptop or PC. Internet connectivity can also be a problem, either because of its cost, speed or reliability. It makes sense to build a team that's closer to these users and understands the cultural differences. A dedicated, local crew should be nimbler, reacting faster to the community and organically coming up with new, tailored ideas. "That's why we're building a new engineering team in Singapore," Google's Caesar Sengupta said in a blog post. "To get closer to the next billion users coming online and to develop products that will work for them." While developed markets take unlimited data for granted, a lot of the world is still struggling to get online. This latest Singapore hub joins those in Mountain View in the United States, Sydney in Australia, and Hyderabad in India. The gap between the modern and developed world is starkly illustrated by Singapore and its neighbours. The city-state of Singapore is as modern as it gets - a hyper-connected, business-driven metropolis. But its surrounding region is plagued with weaknesses; from cheap devices to low speed internet to language barriers. The internet is not friendly to the people of nearby Indonesia, Philippines, and India. Google has already increased accessibility, such as providing free high-speed Wi-Fi in India and enabling Google Maps and YouTube for offline use, but now it has to ensure ease of usage. Earlier this week, Google's parent company, Alphabet, reached a deal with the Indonesian and Sri Lankan governments to go forward with Project Loon. By leveraging on the talent of the region, Google will aim to address issues that hit closest to home. In fact it recently acquired an engineering startup. The tech giant is looking to train up to 100,000 Indonesian developers to focus especially on native language content development. To do so, they will work with local universities, conduct mentor-led study groups, and also translate Google's own free Udacity courses into Bahasa. The United States International Trade Commission (USITC) has launched anti-dumping investigations into certain category of tyres imported from India and Sri Lanka that, it says, could have a damaging effect on local industry. ''The United States International Trade Commission (USITC) today determined that there is a reasonable indication that a US industry is materially injured by reason of imports of certain new pneumatic off-the-road tires from India that are allegedly sold in the United States at less than fair value and subsidized by the governments of India and Sri Lanka,'' the agency said. The commission further determined that imports of these products from China are negligible and decided against any investigation into its imports from that country. USITC said all its six commissioners voted in the affirmative with respect to India and Sri Lanka and determined that imports under these investigations from China are negligible. The US Department of Commerce will continue to conduct its investigations on imports of these products from India and Sri Lanka, and is expected to determine preliminary countervailing duty on or about 4 April 2016, and decide on preliminary antidumping duty on or about 16 June 2016. As a result of the Commission's finding of negligibility, the investigations on imports of these products from China will be terminated. The products under investigation include new pneumatic off-the-road (OTR) tyres that are typically heavy-duty tyres of various types and sizes designed for use principally on vehicles and implements in the agricultural, mining and construction, and other industrial sectors. OTR tyres may be either tube-type or tubeless, radial, or non-radial in construction, and produced for sale in the original equipment and replacement markets, whether or not mounted to wheels or rims; however, only the tyre is covered by the investigative scope, the agency stated. The agency's report will be available after 28 March 2016, after which it can be accessed on the USITC website. While Chinese tyres have faced a similar probe in the past, this is for the first time that anti-dumping investigations have been launched into tyres coming to the US from India. A new community radio station which serves the Finn Valley is working to get a community radio licence which would allow it to broadcast on FM. A new community radio station which serves the Finn Valley is working to get a community radio licence which would allow it to broadcast on FM. Finn Valley FM has been broadcasting online since last autumn and has applied to the Broadcast Authority of Ireland (BAI) for a 100-day license. Eventually the station hopes to obtain a ten-year licence. The station is broadcasting most evenings. The schedule is mainly made up of music but it is hoped that it the programming will expand to include news and current affairs. Already there are about 15 people involved in the station which broadcasts from studios at Castlefinn Partnership Initiative. Managing Director of the station Pat Burn, who has been involved in Ham radio for years, said there has been a great response to the station which has been much-needed in the area for years. A new committee has been established recently to operate the station and it is currently recruiting more presenters and news readers. Via the internet there has been a great response on Facebook, by telephone and text and it is getting busier. We have people listening around Donegal, in Ireland, the UK and America with up to 500 listening at any one time. The response has been great and a lot of people were hoping it would go on. It is growing all the time and people are joining all the time to contribute and present shows, Pat said the content of the station intends to be very local and is aimed at promoting what it going on in the community. It will be a chance for community groups, sporting groups and charities to promote what they are doing, he said. The station is waiting to hear from the BAI about the application for the 100 day licence. Pat said the station may have to apply for more than one such license before it gets the chance to apply for the ten-year license. The license would allow the station to run as a not-for-profit venture and would operate on sponsorship and donations. A launch night for the station and an open day are to be held shortly. Anyone interested in getting involved in Finn Valley FM can ring 0877617522. To tune in online and for more information go to www.finnradio.com. dpa ElectionsData With dpa ElectionsData you get access to a unique collection of data. Via a programming interface (Rest-API), your developers can access detailed information, candidate profiles and live results for all national elections in the European Union and important international elections, like the US Midterm elections etc. The data pool also includes all heads of state and government as well as about 20,000 elected members of parliament throughout the EU. In addition to their data (name, party, constituency or list position), we collect social media profiles and official websites of individuals and parties. Its not going to take a genius to figure out what people want. Pierce County Commissioner Mike Christenson, on the reaction of people at a forum on a proposal for a deep borehole project near Rugby. Some fear its the first step toward nuclear waste disposal. q q q The story of this building has only just begun. The miracle of learning will go on in these walls for generations." State Superintendent Kirsten Baesler, at the dedication of the new Watford City High School. q q q The closer you are to the oil patch, the greater the impact. This is the impact of the oil patch. With these three main regions, were seeing both the greatest in-migration and the greatest counterflow. Kevin Iverson, director of the Census Bureau of the North Dakota Department of Commerce, on the exodus of people over 60 from the oil patch. q q q We truly believe arts are a viable career option and important for student development. We need a place that values that. Bismarck High School teacher Jennifer Bedard-Upgren, on the schools need for a new auditorium. q q q "This is a huge issue. Kids are feeling an immense amount of pressure from school sports, social issues and just trying to fit in." The Rev. Randy Upgren with Charity Lutheran Church. Upgren, along with the Rev. Ernie Hockett of Citylife Ministries and the Rev. Matt Anderson of Surprise Church, will host a teen talk called "The Pressure Zone" at Shiloh Christian School on Feb. 28. q q q Art, therapeutically, it has a lot to do with shading. Its such a stress reliever. Sarah Bashus, a social worker and therapist at Sanford Health in Bismarck, on the benefits of adult coloring books. q q q "You could go drive home today and someone goes through a red light and hits your car. Instead of being hooked up to machines in our intensive care unit for 100 days or however long it might be, you can make sure that your wishes are honored by having an advanced care planning conversation." Preston VanLoon, director of spiritual care at Sanford Health in Bismarck, on the benefits of preparing an advance directive document a legal document outlining the treatment someone would or would not like to receive at the end of their life. q q q The concern is if we get too far down the road and changes are made ... the work may have been for naught. David Glatt, head of the environmental section of the North Dakota Department of Health, on why the state stopped work on a state compliance plan for federal emissions rules a day after the U.S. Supreme Courts decision to halt implementation until court challenges are resolved. GRAND FORKS -- Medical bills can be jaw-dropping. A surgery might be anticipated to cost $1,500 but the bill could be for $3,000. A basic check-up might spur several tests, causing the bill to jump beyond a $25 copay. What happened? Health care and insurance providers say numerous factors can influence the final bill. A patient's health problems, unplanned testing, use of out-of-network providers and a host of other factors can all affect charges, including contract agreements between health insurers and health care providers, they said. "Billing for health services is complex, it's hard to understand," said Dan Trustem, vice president of revenue services for Fargo's Essentia Health. "For a lot of people, it's their first time (being confronted with an outstanding bill or big procedure) and they get confused. Many people believe if they have insurance, they won't have to pay more than the deductible, but that's not true, said Jill Cormier, patient advocacy supervisor at Altru Health System in Grand Forks. The cost of a gallbladder surgery, for instance, can change if a person requires a significant hospital stay, the use of an assistant surgeon or more testing. "It's important for patients to realize what happens during a visit or surgery can have an impact on the cost," she said. Generally, employer premiums in North Dakota are low. According to a 2013 survey published by The Commonwealth Fund, the annual employer-sponsored family premiums for North Dakotans are the 11th lowest in the country, while Minnesota ranked 10th lowest. Several health officials said their hospital systems make an effort to keep patients informed by services online or through calling centers. "We try to really excel at customer service and provide answers to all of their questions," said Trustem. Cost factors Costs are based on what services doctors provide, such as discussion of a patient's smoking habits, cholesterol problems or further testing, and this can change during the visit, health care providers said. For instance, a patient walking in with suspected strep throat may undergo further testing to reveal if the condition morphed into tonsillitis, said Bonita Kuntz, patient account manager at Altru. Each service a patient receives is represented by a code. For instance, At Altru, a 99202 code representing a 20-minute office visit for a new patient is $186. A 71020 code, which indicates a chest X-ray and includes the technical portion and reading done by a radiologist, totals $251. Providers use the same codes to document services, but the cost for each service depends on the provider. "It's hard to compare apples to apples," Kuntz said. This challenge was clear during an attempt to illustrate cost differences across three regional health care providers--Essentia Health, Sanford Health and Altru--for a new patient's first office visit. Altru estimates the visit might cost a patient $180.48, based on varying lengths of time for the visit and whether the patient had complicated health problems. What patients pay depends on whether they've met their deductible and other factors. A spokesman for Sanford Health in Fargo declined to provide estimates and referred to data from a 2015 Minnesota Community Measurement report, which analyzed medical costs in the state and neighboring communities. That data places the cost of a first-time doctor's visit for a new patient between $306 and $381, which includes the cost for both the patient and the health insurance provider. Essentia Health in Fargo provided the costs for each service--the charge for a first-time office visit could range from $92 to $424--but officials said each case is unique. "All prices are based on the physician's orders, so you may have variations there," Trustem said. "It really depends on individual patients. Do they have Medicare or Medicaid? Are they a self-pay patient?" Even then, health care providers said there are variables that might drive down costs. Essentia offers a 10 to 20 percent discount, depending on the facility, for self-pay patients, Trustem said. Furthermore, health care officials said not all estimated charges are passed on to the patient. Health insurance Health insurance coverage is so variable it's hard to make a general statement about coverage, said Chelsey Matter, director of provider partnerships at Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota. "Every benefit plan is a little different," she said. What procedures and policy standards are covered depends on several factors, including rates set by Medicare. BCBS might use Medicare as a reference point for setting their own rates, she said. In the example of the first-time office visit with a new patient, BCBS will pay anywhere from $80 to a few hundred dollars, based on the length of time spent with a physician, purpose and complexity of the visit, Matter said. In the event of an emergency room visit, even if someone waits for hours before an appointment, hospitals charge only for the time spent with the physician, said Cormier. Sanford Health Plan did not provide an estimate for the scenario, but CEO Jeff Sandene said they also consider factors such as whether the hospital is a critical access facility or an academic medical center for reimbursement. Sanford has community-based teaching hospitals in Fargo and Bismarck. Altru is considered one for Grand Forks. Sanford Health Plan also has contracts with facilities owned by Sanford Health, the dominant medical provider in North Dakota. Sandene said the insurance company is independent from the health care provider "When we contract with Blue Cross or Sanford, it's the same process," he said. "We have clients we collect premiums from and help manage their overall health care costs." Varied health insurance and provider costs are why patients can benefit by calling for estimates ahead of a visit or procedure, Cormier and others said. Altru maintains historical data so patients can get the best possible idea of the whole cost, Cormier said. "Ask if there's any physician not associated with Altru--or whoever their provider is--who would have separate costs," she said. If patients are told about a procedure that could be done immediately, they also have the right to stop it and say they'd like to talk to their insurance company, she said. But several officials said it's ultimately patients' responsibility to be more informed about their own health care. "Everything we're doing as far as estimating costs is a courtesy" to help them make decisions about their own health care, Cormier said. COOPERSTOWN -- Griggs County Central School Principal Timothy Stathis has been placed on paid administrative leave after officials said he was unwilling to do his job. The School Board made the unanimous decision Friday in a special meeting just eight days after voting unanimously in favor of not renewing Stathis' contract, which expires June 30. "He turned in his keys," Superintendent Meghan Brown said. During a Feb. 11 special meeting, Brown made the recommendation to not renew Stathis's contract because of his "unwillingness to fulfill the duties of the job he was hired and paid to fulfill and (his) unwillingness to take directives from his superior," according to a statement issued Tuesday. The School Board and Brown did not give further details on why Stathis would not be returning to the school as its principal. But Stathis has denied that he has been unwilling to do his job, adding, "It is wrong to have called my willingness to perform my duties into question." The district will not fill the position for the remainder of this term, and the School Board will initiate a search for a principal for the next school year, she said. Stathis, who was in the first year of his contract and has an annual salary of $80,000, made arrangements Friday to return to the school with a School Board member to clean out his office, she said. The board considered its three options, including continuing to have him work through the end of his contract, offering a buyout of his contract or being placed on paid leave until June 30, the last day of his contract. Friday's meeting lasted about 30 minutes, the superintendent said. News of the nonrenewal decision prompted a community outcry, spearheaded by a Facebook page, "Support for Principal Stathis," which drew more than 240 members over the past week. Reaction to the news was swift. Melissa Myers, who is co-administrator of the Facebook page with Mara Campbell, said she intends to seek election to the School Board. "Melissa and I were saddened but not surprised by the turn of events at the meeting this afternoon," Campbell wrote on page. She encouraged supporters to write letters to the editor to the Griggs County Courier, Cooperstown's weekly newspaper, as well as the Grand Forks newspaper, to voice their opinions. "We made our voices heard, and I know Tim and his family were grateful for our support," Campbell wrote. "The only way to bring about change and prevent this from happening in the future is to elect those who care first and foremost about our student's education. Melissa has proven herself a strong and eloquent voice of our community." The School Board also has been advised by the North Dakota School Board Association to write a letter to the editor to the Griggs County Courier, the local newspaper, to address the situation, Brown said. The newspaper published a front-page story this week about the contract nonrenewal. Stathis has spent most of his 30-year career working in Alaska school systems, he said. He also has worked in the Los Angeles area. Immediately before coming to Cooperstown, Stathis was superintendent of Fremont County School District 38 in Arapahoe, Wyo. However, he was fired from that position last April, after nine months on the job, according to articles in the Casper (Wyo.) Star Tribune and other Wyoming newspapers. Griggs County Central's enrollment this year is about 240, according to the North Dakota Department of Public Instruction. GRAND FORKS -- U.S. Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., says the clock is ticking. At a biotech industry summit this week at the University of North Dakota Center for Innovation, he called for federal lawmakers to create labeling standards for genetically modified foods before a Vermont law doing the same goes into effect on July 1--something he fears could lead to a patchwork of laws around the country and a headache for the agricultural industry. "We've got to come up with something that people feel generally covers the disclosure aspect, but you don't come up with different labeling in different states," he said, warning of the cost and confusion that could come with a slew of different labeling systems. Hoeven spoke to the annual gathering of BioND, a group that supports biotech and related organizations throughout the state. After a speech that touched on labeling for genetically modified organisms (GMOs), he offered praise for the biotechnology, software and aviation sectors of the state's economy, framing them as key parts of the North Dakota's future. "I feel the same kind of excitement now that I felt 10 years ago about oil," he said. "And I think 10 years from now, it's going to be pretty amazing." Hoeven responded to concerns that Vermont's law may go into effect before federal legislators take action, adding he hopes Congress will pass a bill that standardizes GMO labeling--and one that makes labeling voluntary--in the next several weeks. But matters as basic as what the labels would say haven't been agreed upon yet, Hoeven said, with items like the definition of a GMO still in need of clear consensus. If lawmakers can reach an agreement on it, he said, the federal government might have a chance to beat the activation date for the Vermont law. I just want to put it out there, some of my #3Things and for this post its all about my 3 Favorite and Best Beaches in the Philippines offering the best sea,sand, sun view; 3 of the Best Selfie Phone Camera I ever held and ; 3 of my favorite brand of Sunblock. 3 Favorite/ Best Beaches in the Philippines with the best sea/sun/sand for me can be found at Palawan Puerto Princesa / El Nido / Coron Bohol Panglao area Aklan Puka Beach While Boracay is one of the most favorite beach everyone like to visit, because it does have the best sunset you can see especially with those sails as backdrop, it is way too crowded for my taste. When I visit a beach, I want to enjoy the sea, sand, sun (not the people). If I want to rub elbows with people, I can go to a club or bar and dance or dink the night away. When Im at the beach I like to enjoy mother nature at its fullest. The beaches I mentioned above all have white sands, clear waters and awesome sunset and sunrise views. But if you want to experience one of the best New Years Eve fireworks, Boracay is the place to be! 3 Best Selfie Phone Camera Ive used The Samsung S6 Edge is the best smartphone Ive ever held so far, even if I have tried a number of them it is still the phone to beat for me. It takes awesome photos, selfie or not. Power is can last all day especially if you dont have data or Wifi on all day. Lenovo Vibe S1 impressed me with its great phone camera capabilities. My favorite feature of this selfie phone camera is the dual front camera that allows you to create a bokeh effect selfie (where the background is blurred and it looks like the photo was taken by someone else using a DSLR. (You may click on the links above to see the full review). Asus Zenfone Selfie, is another selfie phone camera to beat , most especially because of its 13MP front camera with flash. It takes true to color selfie and has a lot of beautifucation filters you can choose from. This is the selfie cam I was able to make a lot of beauty bloggers to buy! 3 Favorite/ Best Sunblock for me I am a forever user of Nivea Sun products , Ive been using it since I embraced using sunblock to protect my skin from the harmful UV rays, its not greasy, doesnt leave that white mask on and its very sheer and light like wearing nothing at all. Daylong is a new player from the makers of Cetaphil. I love it because its very light on the skin, has higher SPF protection up to SPF60 and I love the smell, it doesnt smell like sunblock. Out of all the Belo Sunexpert sunblock product, the Ultra Gentle Sheer Spray is the best, unlike the other ones that thick and smells like sunblock and sometimes leaves white mask on, this one is transparent and light and kinda cool on the skin. It makes your skin shimmer and glow a bit but not too shinny . I also like their facial sunblock its a good makeup base as well, just like Niveas facial sunblock. This is not a sponsored post. Its easier to write things that you believe in and are not forced down your throat. I hope you find my recommendations useful. How about you, what are your #3Things: Sea/Sun/Sand, Selfie Phone Cam and Sunblock, I would like to know as well! Let me know on the comment section below! Stay gorgeous everyone! New Year, New York with Jet2CityBreaks! Jet2CityBreaks has announced its hugely popular New York breaks are back for winter 2016, with more trips than ever before, plus the addition of New Year's Eve breaks all on sale. Due to overwhelming demand, Jet2CityBreaks is now offering 24 trips direct to the Big Apple from FIVE UK airports, with New Years Eve breaks launched to New York from Leeds, Manchester and Newcastle as well as more October half term packages. All breaks have been extended to four-nights, and there are even more iconic three to five star hotels to choose from, all with perfectly timed flights on our award-winning sister airline Jet2.com. Departures for 2016 are scheduled as follows: New - New Years Eve in the Big Apple Leeds and Newcastle: 29th December Manchester: 30th December Shopping Trips and Thanksgiving/Black Friday East Midlands Airport: 18th November and 8th December Glasgow Airport: 24th November, 1st December Leeds Bradford Airport and Manchester Airport: 17th November, 23rd November, 2nd December, 9th December Newcastle Airport: 18th November, 24thNovember, 1st December, 8th December October Half Term Glasgow Airport: 16th October Leeds Bradford Airport: 22nd October and 27th October additional flight for 2016 Manchester Airport: 23rd October new for 2016 Newcastle Airport: 23rd October Steve Heapy, CEO of Jet2.com and Jet2CityBreaks said: New York really is something to shout about, which is why we are thrilled to be able to offer customers this experience direct from five local airports. This is our most ambitious programme yet with more choice of flights and hotels than ever before. Im sure these breaks, be it shopping, October half term, Thanksgiving and the newly added New Year, packages will be a real cause for celebration! Whether its watching the sun rise from the top of the Empire State Building, cultured trips to the Metropolitan Museum of Art or seeing the bright lights of Broadway, a trip to New York is a must. And on New Years Eve itself, partygoers can watch the Times Square Ball drop at midnight and enjoy spectacular live performances for a night to remember! Packages with Jet2CityBreaks start from 749 per person, and they can be secured now for only 60pp deposit. Jet2.com flight only options are also available from 399 per person, including taxes. For further information or to book visit Jet2.com / jet2citybreaks.com Classic car clubs top the magical ton! Already, more than 100 car clubs have registered in record time to be part of spectacular infield displays at this summers Silverstone Classic (29-31 July), ensuring the massive three-day festival is once again the UKs biggest celebration of motoring history. Underlining the events ever-spiralling popularity, last years Silver Jubilee meeting attracted in excess of 100 clubs for the first time a figure that is set to be topped again in 2016 with increasing interest from across the UK and Europe. In 2015, a total of 120 clubs displayed an unprecedented array of 10,000 privately owned classic cars, providing 100,000 visitors with an unrivalled showcase of glittering automotive history. However, it was not until mid-March that the number of clubs registered topped the ton suggesting this years motoring multitude could raise the bar to even loftier heights. Whatever their marque or model, all car and bike clubs are invited to be part of this incredible showcase. Registration is absolutely free and gives members of registered access to fantastic deals that include two adult admission tickets plus a privileged infield vehicle display pass allowing attendees to park their pride and joy on the clubs designated stand right at the heart of the event. This years impressive line-up of clubs already includes a diverse mix of clubs from the Mini Cooper Register, Midget & Sprite Club and Bristol Owners Club through to regular glitterati who attend from across clubs such as Porsche, Maserati, Aston Martin and Ferrari. Its no surprise that more and more car clubs are now making the Classic their main national event as the sheer scale of their wonderful displays is itself one of the festivals major attractions, said Nick Wigley, CEO of organiser Goose Live Events. That more than 100 have signed up so early is great news for all those coming to Silverstone in July. With so much to see, the Silverstone Classic is the ultimate annual celebration of classic cars for enthusiasts and their families to enjoy. As tradition dictates, many of these car clubs will also be paying homage to their own landmarks with eye-catching track parades on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Among the many motoring milestones being honoured on the full Silverstone Grand Prix Circuit this year are 100 years of manufacturing at Bayerische Motoren Werke (BMW), 50 years of the Lamborghini Miura, 40 years of the Lotus Esprit and 20 years of the Jaguar XK8. A number of 80th anniversaries will also be celebrated this year including the launch of the first Allard Special, the introduction of the Morgan 4/4 the longest period of production of one single car model in the world and the formation of the Bentley Drivers Club. Those wanting to experience a real celebration of motoring through the ages can take advantage of Early Bird tickets. These are on sale until the end of March and offer significant savings of up to 17 per cent. There is also an all-new Family ticket available for 2016, encouraging more children to experience the thousands and thousands of wonderful racing and road cars up close while their parents relive their own childhoods. The Family ticket includes camping for two adults and two children across the whole weekend and gives a discount of more than 20 per cent on advance tickets than if bought individually. Full details of all tickets (which must be purchased in advance) as well as hospitality packages and weekend festival camping can be found on the event website at: silverstoneclassic.com. Archaeologists do not know the date or purpose of a wall in southern Jordan than is nearly 100 miles long. There are more photos here. Archaeologists have discovered a large underground silver mine in Greece. A Chalcolithic site was found in Shuafat north of ancient Jerusalem. The worlds oldest dress is from Egypt and dates to 3000 BC. On Monday Egypt will celebrate the golden jubilee of the Abu Simbel temple salvage operation. Egypts minister of antiquities and the director of Saqqaras archaeological galleries are accused of replacing 157 artifacts with replicas. Plans are afoot to build a Welcome Center in Hebron. Space archaeologist Sarah Parcak won a $1-million TED Prize which she plans to use in part to develop an online game-based application that will teach and reward viewers for identifying objects in satellite imagery that may point to archaeological sites. Italy has teamed up with the United Nations to create a task force whose goal is to protect ancient artworks, artifacts, and archaeological sites in conflict zones from extremists. The Smithsonian Magazine reports on how the tomb of Cyrus was discovered in 1928 by Ernst Herzfeld. Four recent lectures on King David by Professor Yair Zakkovitch are now available online. The New York Times doesnt like Risen. Another review is more positive. And heres another. The March/April issue of Biblical Archaeology Review features articles on the Hittites, Mount Ebal, the ivory pomegranate, Yoram Tsafrir, and Adam Zertal. The Biblical Archaeology Society is offering big discounts on books, DVDs, and CDs. The Petoskey News-Review profiles Owen Chesnut, the head archaeologist of excavations of Ashdod-Yam. Beersheba epitomizes the faith God required to live in the Holy Land. Wayne Stiles explains why. A 5-minute video shows the temple of Solomon from a model created using SketchUp 2016. Ferrell Jenkins shares photos of the fairy chimneys of Cappadocia and notes the two occurrences of the region in the New Testament. Luke Chandler explains the importance of the Merneptah Inscription. HT: Joseph Lauer, Agade, Charles Savelle, Mark Hoffman, ANE-2, Urban von Wahlde Gerald Jerry Diel entered into rest February 19, 2016.Born in Lockport June 18, 1939. Beloved husband of Kathleen Diel, whom he married on August 8, 1959; beloved father of James (late Denise) Diel, Dianne (Dave) Luckman, and Daniel Diel; grandfather of 12; brother of the late Jackie and William Diel; cherished dogs, Max and ScooterRelatives and friends may call from 4-8 pm on Tuesday at the TAYLOR & REYNOLDS FUNERAL HOME, 70 Niagara Street, where Prayers will be held at 10:30 AM on Wednesday. A mass of Christian Burial will follow at 11:00 am at All Saints Parish, 76 Church St.Please visit taylorandreynolds.com Author and entrepreneur Seth Godin says he credits his many successes to his abundance of failures. This concept helps me understand Bill Clinton who talks more and has accomplished more than most any other human being alive. But despite leading us through eight years of general peace and prosperity where 22 million jobs were created, his record is defined by many on the left not by his tax increases on the rich, the Motor Voter law, the Family and Medical Leave Act or the Childrens Health Insurance Program. For them, his legacy is defined by welfare reform and the 1994 Crime Bill. The Crime Bill didnt create the crisis of mass incarceration. But the spirit in which it was written definitely played a key role in over-policing and over-incarceration that has decimated generations of black men and families. Its difficult now to conjure the angst of the early 1990s thank the universe. And theres no excuse thats going to annul Clintons appropriation of tough-on-crime rhetoric of the period that veered toward racial dog whistling. But there are clear reasons why black voters tend to support the Clintons and have for more than twenty years with the exception of about eight months from 2007-2008. In this speech from 1993, you can see the president make the case that fighting crime was a natural extension of the civil rights movement from the pulpit where Martin Luther King Jr. gave his last sermon. You can see the crowd almost fully in sync with the president and note that Jesse Jackson echoed Clinton at the time calling the effort to confront violence in the black community the new frontier of the civil rights movement. Now, when someone talks as much as President Bill Clinton does, youre bound to say some pretty bad things, which leads me to as his oblique comparison of Bernie Sanders supporters to the Tea Party this week. Just as I wince when I hear Democrats recycle Fox Nation comments to smear Hillary Clinton or dismiss Bill Clintons legacy in its entirety, Im very protective of the Sanders movement, which I see as the most logical if a bit delayed response to the financial crisis. The notions that we need a better safety net, more regulation and a serious effort to stop to massive accumulation of wealth and power by the richest Americans are consistent in both the Sanders and Clinton campaigns. But the righteous indignation of the Sanders campaign strikes me as necessary and important. He gives voice to unnecessary agony that exists in an economy maimed by three decades of conservative economics and battered by the financial crisis agony that has only been hinted at before by the Occupy movement. While that movement helped reshape the argument heading into the 2012 election, it was purposely aimed to style out of electoral politics. Sanders decision to join the Democratic Party will likely reshape it for decade with policies that are necessary to confront the crisis of inequality. The Tea Party was the result of decades of a well financed effort to seed conservative framing in hopes of launching a populist movement around the idea that we are obligated by God to make life easier for billionaires and corporations. In the midst of the financial crisis, the conservative media and partys Southern Strategy had matured enough that a backlash to our first black president was almost inevitable with the help of millions of dollars of organizational support. The Sanders campaign is holistic, self-funding and has emerged from almost nothing but a sense that richest nation in the world shouldnt only work for those born rich. Whether America is ready to embrace social democratic policies without the decades of re-framing likely necessary to combat conservative domination of our political discourse is another question. And when I see people who are disappointed with the massive successes of Barack Obama put their hopes on accomplishing Medicare-for-All and free college without a massive redistricting of the House and the end of the Senate filibuster, I get a little shaky imagining the inevitable disillusionment. Sanders supporters argue that Bernie is eminently electable and label Democrats screeching about the danger of losing the chance to appoint up to four Supreme Court justices as blackmail. Im not so sure. If you spend a lot of time online, you may think the party is divided intractably but most Democrats really like both candidates and see themselves supporting the winner regardless. For me, and I imagine many of you, this campaign is forcing me to question my own beliefs as much as Im questioning the candidates. If you want to hear a great example of the internal debate many Democrats are experiencing, check out this great podcast from the New Republics Brian Beutler featuring a debate between Sanders supporter historian Rick Perlstein and Clinton backer Michelle Goldberg. Its much better than an argument about who would be better at building a wall on top of Muslims. [Photo by Chris Savage | Eclectablog] The U.S. government was shaken last year when theOffice of Personnel Management disclosed that employment records affecting 21.5 million people had been breached. The Obama administration acted quickly and initiated several comprehensive actions designed to shore up federal data protection including an immediate 30-day cybersecurity sprint. A parallel initiative that theAmerican Council for Technology and the Industry Advisory Council, or ACT-IAC, launched in July revealed that federal agencies still have a long way to go to strengthen cybersecurity performance. Despite decades of law and policy that require government to improve its security and privacy, many federal agencies still struggle to effectively defend themselves against a torrent of cybersecurity vulnerabilities and threats, according to an ACT-IAC report released last month. ACT-IAC is a forum for private sector and government cooperation on information technology issues. Until actions are taken that effectively counter these kinds of threats systematically across the government, agencies risk losing public confidence and trust in online activity that are key to delivering citizen and business services more efficiently through the use of technology, ACT-IAC said. Five Elements for Better Security ACT-IAC undertook its initiative not as an exercise critical of the government but as a project designed to provide recommendations to assist federal agencies in improving security. The cooperative effort included contributions from the private sector, academia and government. The organization functioned as a facilitator in developing recommendations. The report incorporates ideas or suggestions from a wide variety of sources, and as such it does not constitute recommendations or endorsement of those ideas by ACT-IAC, Michael Howell, senior director, Institute for Innovation and Special Projects at ACT-IAC, told the E-Commerce Times. The initiative generated 127 recommendations for strengthening federal cyber protections. In the process of gathering suggestions, a panel ACT-IAC assembled turned up five major factors at work in the federal cyber environment: Not rocket science: While improved technology is crucial, much of what is required for boosting protection is already known but hasnt been fully or properly implemented government-wide. Talk to each other: Cybersecurity experts and federal agency business executives need to improve communications more directly and diligently about the connection between cybersecurity and agency missions. Risk and IT connections: It seems logical, but ACT-IAC found that emerging cadres of executive-level risk managers such as chief risk officers and chief data officers need to work with their traditional counterparts in IT, such as agency CIOs. Boosting cyber IQ: Cybersecurity-related training in government is largely deficient. Greater emphasis is needed on competencies, practice sessions and drills, and shared cyber knowledge management. See something, say something: Enhanced and timely operational information sharing (threats, incidents, solutions and responses) between industry and government is critical to improving cyber safeguards, ACT-IAC found. Vendor Issues Addressed One section of the report deals with cybersecurity issues associated with IT vendors that compete for business in the federal market. The success of cybersecurity across the federal government depends on an acquisition process that is agile, dynamic, and responsive to procure goods, services, and capabilities consistent with the 21st century imperative to operate at the speed of the web, the report noted. One suggestion is to utilize a cyber-protection standard across all federal contracts, modeled on the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program, or FedRAMP, which is used to ensure security in the acquisition of cloud technologies. A CyberRAMP process would involve third-party certification administered on an acquisition-by-acquisition basis, or generally for all acquisitions where IT is involved. The General Services Administration could host the program. Recently, however, the FedRAMP process has led to excessive delays in the cloud acquisition process. Ensuring that adequate cybersecurity is built into information technology acquisitions, while simultaneously accelerating the acquisition process to deliver the best solutions available to meet mission requirements, is a big challenge, said David McClure, chief strategist ofVeris Group and a co-chair of the ACT-IAC initiative. Programs like FedRAMP have the potential to provide important, reliable assurance of cybersecurity in IT products in timely and cost-efficient ways. The federal government and industry have identified the need to accelerate the processing of FedRAMP certifications and are working on ways to do that, he told the E-Commerce Times. Based on the ideas contained in the report, we believe it is important and possible to accelerate IT acquisitions without sacrificing cybersecurity in the process, McClure said. Another acquisition-related suggestion involves the creation of a federal cybersecurity acquisition portal, which would be open to government and industry to help accelerate sharing, adoption, and implementation of best practices and tools. This portal could help address inconsistencies in how acquisition policies, rules, and regulation are implemented in the federal government, the report noted. Information available through the portal should include all current and proposed federal government contract requirements, as a minimum, as well as sample acquisition evaluation criteria and evaluation methodologies. A Role for the NIST Framework More generally, contributors to the report noted the potential value to government agencies of theNational Institute of Standards and Technologys Framework for Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity. Issued in 2014, the NIST framework has gotten traction in the private sector as a sound baseline reference for dealing with cyberthreats and it has relevance to government agencies as well. The NIST framework, along with other NIST publications and standards, was identified by multiple contributors to the ACT-IAC report as useful tools that could help strengthen federal agency cybersecurity programs. For example, it was suggested that metrics based on the NIST framework could help strengthen proactive defenses, noted ACT-IACs Howell. An underlying theme of the ACT-IAC report indicates that a more proactive approach to cybersecurity is in order, rather than a reactive, post-incident approach. However, prevention of cyberincidents should be just one element of a comprehensive strategy, according to Howell. The report recognizes that cybersecurity threats are rapidly evolving, and incidents with significant impacts are increasing, he said, noting that old, well-known methods of cyberattacks are still successful, while newer more sophisticated methods are increasing. Coping with these challenges requires a comprehensive understanding of vulnerabilities, threats and exploits that can come from both outside and inside the agencies, Howell added. A balanced combination of capabilities to address the full range of prevention, detection, response and recovery capabilities is required. Questions designed to spur ideas for improvement were drafted after consultation with senior government officials as to the types of recommendations that would be most useful. In August and September, ACT-IAC conducted an open public platform and established a process for people to submit their ideas and vote on ideas submitted by others. Kenneth Allen, executive director of ACT-IAC, sent the results of the project to federal CIO Tony Scott in late December. Male Sexual Health Tips and Advice The state of your sexual health affects your mental and physical well-being. Experts speculate that as many as one in ten males experience sexual problems. Communicating openly about sexuality with one's partner and healthcare providers is also important for your sexual health. It's also important to be able to have sexually satisfying and pleasurable intimate experiences with your partner whenever you want. Good sexual health is linked to improved health, both physical and mental. Either way, sexual problems can be a drag on your sex life as well as on your relationships. At LibidoMale, our goal is to give you accurate, expert, and verifiable information about how to improve your sexual performance as a man in general. Donald Trump has backtracked on some harsh criticism of Pope Francis for saying anyone pledging to build a wall along the Mexican border with the United States cannot claim to be a Christian. The Pope ignited a fierce response from U.S. Republican Party presidential candidate hopeful Trump when, without naming him, he questioned his Christian credentials. His comments immediately became part of the U.S. presidential debate. "Anyone, whoever he is, who only wants to build walls and not bridges is not a Christian," Francis said on the papal flight from Mexico in answer to a question from a journalist. "Vote, don't vote, I won't meddle. But I simply say, if he says these things, this man is not a Christian," Francis said. "We need to see if he really said them and for this I will give him the benefit of the doubt." On a campaign rally stop in South Carolina, which holds its Republican primary this weekend, Trump hit back saying, "For a religious leader to question a person's faith is disgraceful. "I'm proud to be a Christian, and as president I will not allow Christianity to be consistently attacked and weakened, unlike what is happening now with our current president," said Trump, who is a Presbyterian. Trump has littered his campaign with comments seen as derisive of women, Mexican immigrants and Muslims, most of whom are recent immigrants to the United States. During his speech Trump declared that "Mexico is the new China" and he used the Pope's concluded visit as an example. "The Pope was in Mexico. Do you know that? Does everyone know that? "He said negative things about me because the Mexican government convinced him that Trump is not a good guy because I want to have a strong border, I want to stop illegal immigration, I want to stop people from being killed." Trump added, "The Mexican government fed the Pope a tremendous amount of stuff about 'Trump is not a good person'.... Can you imagine that?" He argued that Mexican officials, were "using the Pope as a pawn," noting, "The Pope only heard one side of the story." Later the same day at a televised town hall meeting in Greenville, South Carolina, Trump toned down his comments on the pontiff. "I have a lot of respect for the Pope. He has a lot of personality and I think he's doing a very good job, he has a lot of energy." Trump said the Francis was misinformed when he criticized the proposed wall, because he was unaware of the drugs coming in and the other security problems. After the Pope's comments on Trump's immigration policy, Vice President Joe Biden said the feud is "not a hard call," NBC News online reported. "Pope Francis, Donald Trump? That's not a hard call for me, not even close," Biden said. "I am not a theologian nor am I priest or a minister, but I think that building walls is fundamentally contrary to what made this country what it is." IUKA, Mississippi -- The Latest on a standoff in northeastern Mississippi that ended with gunfire that killed the suspect and a law enforcement agent, and the wounding of three others (all times local). ___ 10 a.m. Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant is calling on his state's residents to pray for the family of a state narcotics agent killed when a standoff at a Tishomingo County home ended in gunfire. Tishomingo Coroner Mack Wilemon says 44-year-old James Lee Tartt of Grenada was part of a SWAT team that was forcibly entering a home where a domestic dispute had resulted in an hourslong standoff. The man believed to have fired at police -- 45-year-old Charles Lee Lambert of Iuka -- also was killed. Both men had multiple gunshot wounds. Autopsies were planned. The shooting happened early Saturday. Of the three other law enforcement officials who were wounded, two had injuries that were not life-threatening. ___ 9:25 a.m. A coroner in Mississippi has identified a law enforcement agent and a suspected gunman who were killed when a standoff in the northeastern part of the state ended in gunfire. James Lee Tartt of Grenada, a 44-year-old Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics Agent, was killed. Also killed was the man said to have shot at police officers: 45-year-old Charles Lee Lambert of Iuka (eye-YOU'-kah). The shooting happened around 12:30 a.m. Saturday in rural Tishomingo County. Coroner Mack Wilemon says it followed an hour-long standoff that developed as a result of some kind of domestic dispute. Members of a state SWAT team had been called to the scene. Three other law enforcement agents were injured -- two with wounds that were not life threatening. ___ 8:30 a.m. Law enforcement authorities say one officer is dead and three are hospitalized with gunshot wounds after a standoff in northeastern Mississippi. Department of Public Safety spokesman Warren Strain says the standoff ended in gunfire early Saturday at a home near the town of Iuka, Mississippi. Strain says the man who shot at officers is also dead. The wounds of two of the officers are not life-threatening. A woman and a girl inside the house are alive. The state's SWAT team was called to the scene Friday evening by local authorities to respond to the standoff. Strain declined to identify the officers and the suspect. He also did not identify the agency for whom the deceased officer worked. Even if Anthony had a year to analyze and dissect each piece...(he couldn't tell if it would)... stand the harsh light of public exposure. WUWT insider Willis Eschenbach tells you all you need to know about Anthony Watts and his blog, WattsUpWithThat (WUWT). As part of his scathing commentary , Wondering Willis accuses Anthony Watts of being clueless about the blog articles he posts. To paraphrase: Click here to read more. Ely, Cambridgeshire is best known for its majestic cathedral dubbed the 'Ship of the Fens' because it dominates the flat landscape. The city, which is the second smallest in England, is about 14 miles north-northeast of Cambridge and about 80 miles by road from London. 17:55, 17 OCT 2022 Roofer to stand trial over Mount Murray fire The boss of a roofing firm which is accused of causing a fire at Mount Murray in 2013 will stand trial. Committal proceedings against 64-year-old Roy Cross, on behalf of Roofcraft, took place at Douglas Courthouse yesterday. The Santon man has already denied three health and safety breaches before the lower court. At the Court of General Gaol Delivery he reiterated not guilty pleas to two counts of failing to discharge duty and one of failing to comply with regulations on November 7th. A pre-trial review will take place on March 18th when trial dates will be fixed - he's been bailed until then. Re: Moving to London, need advices Quote: Troublawesome Why not visit a few times first to see if you like it? Compared to Switzerland, it's a really bad place to raise a child. No, it's not. OP - get on a website called Remember that unlike Switzerland, houses/flats state how many bedrooms they have, not how many rooms you can live in (or whatever the definition is). Once you've found the school information, you'll be able to see their websites (in most cases) and also search for their last Ofsted report - a government report which explains the schools' strength and weaknesses. They are then rated. Try and avoid schools that are in "special measures" as that means their results haven't been that good. That having been said, there will then be a lot of time, money and effort then thrown at that school to bring it up to (and often better than) average standards. Yes, school places are allocated by "catchment area" as you've already been told, however, depending upon school numbers and individual circumstances there is often some wriggle room. The advantage of moving to a school in inner - or probably outer London as that's cheaper - is that there will be many languages spoken and there should be good linguistic support for your son. Again, London is expensive (I don't know how it compares to Zurich but I imagine it's close) and moving out a bit is a good idea. Commuter links are generally good. Berkshire may be an option too, it neighbours West London. He's four, so should just be starting infants - the equivalent (ish) of Swiss Kindergarten. Learning is probably more formalised at that age than it is here but don't worry, there is still a lot of playing. They're not made to write essays in week one! Good luck with your move. I see Sylvestre just pipped me! No, it's not.OP - get on a website called www.rightmove.co.uk You can search by properties for sale or rent, named area, postcode etc and add a radius to your search. You can specify price ranges and number of bedrooms etc. You may not find a place through there but it at least gives you a good idea of average prices etc. I believe Rightmove now also offer local amenities information, including the nearest schools.Remember that unlike Switzerland, houses/flats state how many bedrooms they have, not how many rooms you can live in (or whatever the definition is).Once you've found the school information, you'll be able to see their websites (in most cases) and also search for their last Ofsted report - a government report which explains the schools' strength and weaknesses. They are then rated. Try and avoid schools that are in "special measures" as that means their results haven't been that good. That having been said, there will then be a lot of time, money and effort then thrown at that school to bring it up to (and often better than) average standards.Yes, school places are allocated by "catchment area" as you've already been told, however, depending upon school numbers and individual circumstances there is often some wriggle room.The advantage of moving to a school in inner - or probably outer London as that's cheaper - is that there will be many languages spoken and there should be good linguistic support for your son.Again, London is expensive (I don't know how it compares to Zurich but I imagine it's close) and moving out a bit is a good idea. Commuter links are generally good. Berkshire may be an option too, it neighbours West London.He's four, so should just be starting infants - the equivalent (ish) of Swiss Kindergarten. Learning is probably more formalised at that age than it is here but don't worry, there is still a lot of playing. They're not made to write essays in week one!Good luck with your move.I see Sylvestre just pipped me! Re: Swiss Internet Piracy Laws? How Strict? In easy terms, the current situation is as so ; Under current Swiss law, you are permitted to download music, films, games etc , copy it and distribute to people, provided you do not sell the copied material for money. Swiss law at the moment views this as normal and reasonable part of promoting a product or service, therefore is deemed legal under the Swiss freedom of information act - at the moment. The logic being mainly related to Scientific (esp Chemical) research and the accessibility of information. Music, films, games and other products come under the same umbrella of 'free information / material' However, there is much pressure being put on the Swiss Authorities from the US & UK Governments and Copywrite agencies, for the Swiss to fall in line with the rest of Global Copywrite Policy. The Swiss are standing their ground at the moment and refusing to consider changing their policy, however with the kind of (mainly US) companies like AOL at the forefront of prosecuting nationals from outside their own borders, there is pressure to reach a compromise in the future. While my understanding is based on research in the past 6 months, I have read many news stories from around the world where people have been extradited to the US for trial. Pretty much all the worlds servers and service providers are US owned , including torrent sites , and are located on US territory. As such you may not be committing a 'crime' in Switzerland, but the fact a US server or provider is part of the chain you use, the American authorities view this as a crime committed on their territory. Hence their zeal in prosecuting people for copying Lady Gaga (e.g.) albums and giving it to their kid sister as a gift. I would like to say at this stage, I am not a copywrite lawyer and this is only research I / we have conducted for academic purposes. If you get a knock on your door from the FBI, I didn't tell you any of this Scotney x Mrs Scotney recently had to write a lengthy essay outlining the current situation regarding copywrite and the law in Switzerland, so this is kind of a hot topic for us.In easy terms, the current situation is as so ;Under current Swiss law, you are permitted to download music, films, games etc , copy it and distribute to people, provided you do not sell the copied material for money. Swiss law at the moment views this as normal and reasonable part of promoting a product or service, therefore is deemed legal under the Swiss freedom of information act - at the moment.The logic being mainly related to Scientific (esp Chemical) research and the accessibility of information. Music, films, games and other products come under the same umbrella of 'free information / material'However, there is much pressure being put on the Swiss Authorities from the US & UK Governments and Copywrite agencies, for the Swiss to fall in line with the rest of Global Copywrite Policy. The Swiss are standing their ground at the moment and refusing to consider changing their policy, however with the kind of (mainly US) companies like AOL at the forefront of prosecuting nationals from outside their own borders, there is pressure to reach a compromise in the future.While my understanding is based on research in the past 6 months, I have read many news stories from around the world where people have been extradited to the US for trial. Pretty much all the worlds servers and service providers are US owned , including torrent sites , and are located on US territory.As such you may not be committing a 'crime' in Switzerland, but the fact a US server or provider is part of the chain you use, the American authorities view this as a crime committed on their territory. Hence their zeal in prosecuting people for copying Lady Gaga (e.g.) albums and giving it to their kid sister as a gift.I would like to say at this stage, I am not a copywrite lawyer and this is only research I / we have conducted for academic purposes. If you get a knock on your door from the FBI, I didn't tell you any of thisScotney x By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy Your novels first page is the last chance you get to hook your reader. Writing your first page might be one ... A Montana police detective believes this notorious serial killer set up Steven Avery to take the fall for the murder of Teresa Halbach. How Has The Public Interacted With Steven Avery Following 'Making a Murderer'? Many viewers of Netflix's docuseries Making a Murderer have theories on what really went down in the Halbach case, but former police detective John Cameron has a particularly specific one. Cameron believes that serial killer Edward Wayne Edwards is behind the Halbach murder and set up Avery and Dassey. Why Was Steven Avery's Story Chosen For 'Making a Murderer'? "He set up Steven Avery and Brandon Dassey for the killings of Teresa Halbach in Wisconsin and that's what's kind of exploded the whole investigation," Cameron said in a new interview with KPAX-TV. Cameron continued, "During the time Teresa Halbach was killed on Halloween, there were several trials going on in the United States for other murders that Edwards had done on Halloween. They were convicting innocent men for these other killings. Edwards was a ritual killer and a revenge killer." The detective wrote a book two years ago called Its Me: The Serial Killer You Never Heard Of, which tells the story of Edwards, who murdered at least five people and is expected to be responsible for many more murders. Further explaining the dangers of Edwards, Cameron spoke of just how the infamous serial killer was able to set so many people up. "They don't even know who Ed Edwards was," he said. "What he would do is groom his way into their lives, unbeknownst to them, set them up, kill their wife, kill their husband, whoever it might be, and then just sit back and watch every day as he could read the paper about his murders and people are going to be executed. Mr. Edwards is dead now, but he's still killing in his afterlife because he set people up, and they're being executed." Edwards died in 2011 of natural causes at the Corrections Medical Center of Columbus, Ohio. Making a Murderer is available to stream in full on Netflix. Rohith Vemulas death is not a stray case of a life claimed by caste prejudice. Atrocities against Dalits have intensified with the rise of Hindutva forces. While the persecution of Dalit scholars in the recent past has gone relatively unnoticed, the spontaneous outburst at Rohiths death could portend a new movement against the saffron establishment. Rohith Vemulas dream of becoming a science writer like his idol, Carl Sagan, ended abruptly at the altar of caste. But his death has raised hopes of a peoples movement to prevent reoccurrence of the circumstances that led to the young scholars dreams being crushed. Rohith dropped out from the process of anointment by the casteist establishment as a doctor of philosophy, but his suicide note is nothing short of a philosophical commentary on what it means to be a Dalit. Although this 26-year old son of a landless Dalit mother blamed none, Rohiths death has exposed the criminality stemming from casteist mindsets. The agitation by Rohiths fellow students, the resolute support of their teachers, and national and international outrage have forced the conceited administration to revoke the suspension of Rohiths four comrades. The students have rejected the administrations awkward overture and declared their resolve to continue their struggle, until the people responsible, including Smriti Irani, are punished. It is not important if the students are ultimately able to withstand the fascist regimes might, but what is significant is that the protesting students have set forces in motion for the regimes decimation. The students, who, in their innocence, greatly contributed to the Bharatiya Janata Partys (BJP) win in the last elections have come together to say an emphatic no to its casteist and communal agenda. This has manifested in the complete isolation of the BJP student wing, Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), in campuses all over the country. Innovative membrane wings that work like artificial muscles have been successfully tested in-flight, paving the way for a new breed of unmanned Micro Air Vehicles (MAVs) that have improved aerodynamic properties, can fly over long distances and are more economical to run. Inspired by bats, the wings change shape in response to the forces they experience and have no mechanical parts, making MAVs incorporating them easier to maintain. The unique design of the wings incorporates electro-active polymers that make the wings stiffen and relax in response to an applied voltage and further enhances their performance. By changing the voltage input, the shape of the electroactive membrane and therefore aerodynamic characteristics can be altered during flight. The proof of concept wing will eventually enable flight over much longer distances than currently possible. The wings have been developed through a unique combination of hands-on experimental work at the University of Southampton and computational research at Imperial College London, with funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). The United States Air Force, through their European Office of Aerospace Research and Development (EOARD), provided additional support. Sometimes as small as 15cm across, MAVs are increasingly used in a wide variety of civil and military applications, such as surveying remote and dangerous areas. One emerging trend among MAV developers is to draw inspiration from the natural world to design vehicles that can achieve better flight performance and that offer similar levels of controllability to small drones but use the efficiency provided by wings to fly much further. The Southampton-Imperial team have focused on mimicking the physiology of bats - the only type of mammal naturally capable of genuine flight. To inform and speed up the design process, the Imperial team built innovative computational models and used them to aid the construction of a test MAV incorporating the pioneering 'bat wings'. Dr Rafael Palacios of Imperial's Department of Aeronautics, who led this aspect of the project, says: "No-one has tried to simulate the in-flight behaviour of actuated bat-like wings before, so we had to go back to fundamentals, develop the mathematical models and build the multiphysics simulation software we needed from scratch. We had to make sure it could model not only the wings themselves but also the aerodynamic flows around them and the effect of the electric field generated across them." The Southampton team incorporated some of these findings into a 0.5m-wide test vehicle, designed to skim over the sea's surface and, if necessary, land there safely. After extensive wind tunnel testing, the vehicle was put through its paces at a nearby coastal location. Professor Bharath Ganapathisubramani of the University of Southampton's Aerodynamics and Flight Mechanics Group, who has led the overall project, says: "We've successfully demonstrated the fundamental feasibility of MAVs incorporating wings that respond to their environment, just like those of the bats that have fuelled our thinking. We've also shown in laboratory trials that active wings can dramatically alter the performance. The combined computational and experimental approach that characterised the project is unique in the field of bio-inspired MAV design." The next step is to incorporate the active wings into typical MAV designs, with deployment in real-world applications potentially achievable over the next 5 years. "This is a paradigm shift in the approach to MAV design. Instead of a traditional approach of scaling down existing aircraft design methods, we constantly change the membrane shape under varying wind conditions to optimise its aerodynamic performance," says Dr Palacios, Imperial College London. ### For media enquiries and images/videos contact The EPSRC Press Office, Tel: 01793 444 404, e-mail: pressoffice@epsrc.ac.uk Professor Bharath Ganapathisubramani, Aerodynamics and Flight Mechanics Group, University of Southampton, Tel: 023 8059 2305, e-mail: G.Bharath@soton.ac.uk; Dr Rafael Palacios, Department of Aeronautics, Imperial College London, Tel: 020 7594 5075, e-mail: r.palacios@imperial.ac.uk; Notes for Editors: The 3.5 year research project 'Towards Biologically Inspired Active-Compliant-Wing Micro Air Vehicles' began in June 2012 and has received total EPSRC funding of around 249,000. Research Papers Buoso S., Palacios R., "Viscoelastic Effects in the Aeromechanics of Actuated Elastomeric Membrane Wings." Journal of Fluids and Structures, In print [http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jfluidstructs.2016.01.003] Buoso S., Palacios R., "Electro-Aeromechanical Modelling of Actuated Membrane Wings." Journal of Fluids and Structures, Vol. 58, pp. 188-202, October 2015 [http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jfluidstructs.2015.08.010] R. Bleischwitz, R. de Kat, and B. Ganapathisubramani. "Aspect-Ratio Effects on Aeromechanics of Membrane Wings at Moderate Reynolds Numbers", AIAA Journal, Vol. 53, No. 3 (2015), pp. 780-788. doi: 10.2514/1.J053522 A Barbu, R. de Kat, and B. Ganapathisubramani. "Aero-electro-mechanical Coupling of Electro-Active Membrane Wings", 24th AIAA/AHS Adaptive Structures Conference, AIAA SciTech, (AIAA 2016-0820). http://dx.doi.org/10.2514/6.2016-0820 The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) As the main funding agency for engineering and physical sciences research, our vision is for the UK to be the best place in the world to Research, Discover and Innovate. By investing 800 million a year in research and postgraduate training, we are building the knowledge and skills base needed to address the scientific and technological challenges facing the nation. Our portfolio covers a vast range of fields from healthcare technologies to structural engineering, manufacturing to mathematics, advanced materials to chemistry. The research we fund has impact across all sectors. It provides a platform for future economic development in the UK and improvements for everyone's health, lifestyle and culture. We work collectively with our partners and other Research Councils on issues of common concern via Research Councils UK. http://www.epsrc.ac.uk European Office of Aerospace Research & Development http://www.wpafb.af.mil/library/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=16662 About the University of Southampton Through world-leading research and enterprise activities, the University of Southampton connects with businesses to create real-world solutions to global issues. Through its educational offering, it works with partners around the world to offer relevant, flexible education, which trains students for jobs not even thought of. This connectivity is what sets Southampton apart from the rest; we make connections and change the world. http://www.southampton.ac.uk/ About Imperial College London Imperial College London is one of the world's leading universities. The College's 14,000 students and 7,500 staff are expanding the frontiers of knowledge in science, medicine, engineering and business, and translating their discoveries into benefits for society. Founded in 1907, Imperial builds on a distinguished past - having pioneered penicillin, holography and fibre optics - to shape the future. Imperial researchers work across disciplines to improve global health, tackle climate change, develop sustainable energy technology and address security challenges. This blend of academic excellence and its real-world application feeds into Imperial's exceptional learning environment, where students participate in research to push the limits of their degrees. Imperial nurtures a dynamic enterprise culture, where collaborations with industrial, healthcare and international partners are the norm. In 2007, Imperial College London and Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust formed the UK's first Academic Health Science Centre. This unique partnership aims to improve the quality of life of patients and populations by taking new discoveries and translating them into new therapies as quickly as possible. Imperial has nine London campuses, including its White City Campus: a 25 acre research and innovation centre in west London. At White City, researchers, businesses and higher education partners are co-locating to create value from ideas on a global scale. Imperial College London academic experts are available for interview via broadcast quality Globelynx TV facilities and an ISDN line for radio at our South Kensington Campus. To request an interview, please contact a member of the communications team http://www.imperial.ac.uk/communications/contacts/research-communications/. http://www.imperial.ac.uk COLUMBIA, Mo. - The Cambrian Period, which occurred between 541 million and 485 million years ago, is an important point in evolutionary history where most of the major groups of animals first appear in the fossil record. Often called the "Cambrian explosion," fossils from this time provide glimpses into evolutionary history as the world's ecosystems were rapidly diversifying. Most fossils preserve the physical remains of organisms and their structure; however, geologists and paleobiologists at the University of Missouri recently collaborated to study fossils that reveal the behaviors of predators preserved as traces in ancient sediments. Thus, fossils from southeast Missouri are helping scientists unlock clues about the behaviors of these predators and their interactions with their prey. Evidence shows that these ancient organisms were behaviorally sophisticated, tailoring their attacks for effectiveness. Trilobites are a fossil group of extinct marine invertebrate animals with external skeletons (see photo). As predators and scavengers, they flourished in the Cambrian period and were very prominent in the oceans that once were located in Missouri. "The Saint Francois Mountains in southeastern Missouri have been the focus of geological research for decades and were once islands in the Cambrian ocean," said Kevin Shelton, professor of geological sciences in the MU College of Arts and Science. "I've worked as a geologist studying ore deposits in the area for more than 30 years. In that time, I've run across thousands of fossilized trilobite burrows. It is rare that we get to study the activities of 500 million-year-old organisms, yet the fossils in this locality are helping us determine how these organisms behaved." The field area near the mountains is home to an abundance of trilobite trace and body fossils. James Schiffbauer and John Huntley, both assistant professors of geological sciences in the MU College of Arts and Science, worked with Shelton and Tara Selly, a graduate student in Schiffbauer's research group, to collect slabs of rocks from the site. Selly, then analyzed them in the lab at MU. Using sophisticated three-dimensional laser scanning and digital photograph analyses, sections of the rocks revealed burrows or trails left behind by trilobites and their prey -- often worm-like creatures -- in ocean sediments. To the scientists, these intersecting trails show how the predators caught their prey. Additionally, previous studies by former MU geology professor, James Stitt, revealed that the trilobites had very large eyes, so the researchers were looking for clues as to how their anatomy played into their feeding habits. Tracks from the site showed that the predators attacked from above, moving alongside to use their many legs for more effective grappling of their prey. Further, predators preferentially selected smaller prey, indicating that they attacked their food rather than randomly bumping into it. "Predation, or the action of attacking one's prey, is a significant factor in evolution; this discovery is extremely important in the study of how organisms evolved in the Cambrian Period," Schiffbauer said. "In this study, we provide evidence that these trilobites were likely visual predators, displaying selectivity in seeking and hunting their food." "Because we had an abundance of samples from the site, we were able to conduct more rigorous statistical analyses" Huntley said. "Our findings are important not only because of the large sample size, but because these early arthropods displayed such sophisticated predatory behavior." The study, "Ichnofossil record of selective predation by Cambrian trilobites," recently was published in the journal Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. ### Editor's Note: For more on the story, please see: https://coas.missouri.edu/news/early-trilobite-gets-worm UK supermarket group Tesco came under scrutiny earlier this year for its procedures in paying suppliers. An investigation by the Grocery Code Adjudicator, the supermarket industrys ombudsman, into Tesco plc found that the company had taken unreasonable amounts of time to pay suppliers. The adjudicator, Christine Tacon, stated that Tesco had delayed payments to its suppliers to improve its financial position during the period June 25 2013 to February 5 2015. In a statement released in response to the findings, Tesco chief executive Dave Lewis said the company had undertaken a review of its practices and made changes, stating that they had been unsustainable and harmful to suppliers. The changes included creating a dedicated supplier helpline to address issues within 48 hours, and introducing 14-day payment terms for UK-based SMEs. Enrico Camerinelli, Aite Group Enrico Camerinelli, senior analyst, Aite Group, says Tesco has already taken steps to recover, and reacted to the severity of the accusations. He notes that it has taken a stronger approach to its client relationship management, but this is only getting up to speed to match what is already seen in other sectors, such as electronics and the automotive industry. Camerinelli adds: The buyer-supplier tug-of-war will always exist, but sustainability of this rapport is what has changed the business scenario. Tesco instead (by their own admission) have until recent remained entrenched with the old-fashioned me big, you small: you do what I say or youre out. New solutions like reverse factoring and dynamic discounting both elements of the supply-chain finance family have been in place for years, with numerous examples of use cases and best practices that cannot be ignored. I think Tesco wanted to do it the old way and has been caught in the trap. Stephen Baseby, associate policy and technical director, Association of Corporate Treasurers, says that the buyer/supplier relationship is more complicated than paying for product by a specified date. Late payments are not as simple as the buyer refusing to hand over the money on time. There are multiple potential reasons for a payment to be delayed that are not instances of deliberate withholding of funds. Baseby says not all late payments are examples of a deliberate attempt to avoid paying: From the corporate treasurer's point of view it is just a matter of improving their working capital. What we are not aware of is the agreements Tesco had with its different suppliers. These agreements they have will vary, and possibly point to why the suppliers didnt do anything about late payments at the time. He points out that there are complex relationships in place between the supplier and the buyer, which go beyond simple buying and selling: Keep in mind that the nature of the contracts the adjudicator analyses, including those which did not lead to timely payment, may be those in which both supplier and buyer are trying to bind together in long-term arrangements to their mutual benefit. Both the buyer wants optimal price and quality, and the supplier wants the high-volume customer. Stephen Baseby, ACT Baseby suggests that, more generally, problems of late payment can be for multiple reasons, including issues on the suppliers side: It is common in a contract with multiple deliveries that there is a problem with one or more of them, and because of that the payments get held up. The procurement contract will always have lots of workable points inside to try to make it as flexible as can be. It just seems Tesco's may have been a bit too flexible. Since 2008, hundreds of UK companies have signed up to the Prompt Payment Code (PPC). This is a voluntary code, whereby signatories state they will ensure they pay their suppliers within 60 days, with 30 days stated as the ideal maximum. They also agree to provide information to their clients should there be any delay to payments. Tesco is a signatory, along with other large companies, including BT and Sainsburys. Baseby believes that rather than following a code of conduct like the PPC, updated technology will ensure more payments are made on time: We know that some companies have signed up to the PPC, but now many major companies have a SAP accounts-payable system installed anyway. The payments are made automatically once approved, so the money always goes on time. He notes that the report highlights inadequate processes for correcting data errors inputted for a payment. The adjudicator also refers to the benefits of better software: The common use of standardized AP systems helps both payments and credit but only once the right data is entered. Ultimately, the large retailers have to keep their suppliers on side. Baseby concludes: Retailers need to make sure the suppliers keep on supplying them. Whatever is happening for the company or in the market they cannot push it too far or it will create problems for the supplier and the buyer alike. Surprisingly, the answer is no, in most cases, if the meeting was recorded. The statute regulating most public meeting minutes in Oregon (ORS 192.650) states: (1) The governing body of a public body shall provide for the sound, video or digital recording or the taking of written minutes of all its meetings. Neither a full transcript nor a full recording of the meeting is required, except as otherwise provided by law, but the written minutes or recording must give a true reflection of the matters discussed at the meeting and the views of the participants. As shown above, the law only requires that either the written minutes or recording give a true reflection of the matters discussed at the meeting. This option permits public meeting minutes to be published with errors as long as the meeting was recorded. Also surprisingly, the State of Oregon is aware of this issue. In October 2010, Oregon's Attorney General published a government transparency report, which discussed several issues including this one. On page 10 the report states: "[c]urrently, public bodies can choose whether to keep written minutes or actual recordings of meetings." The report also noted that citizens complained of omissions in public meeting minutes. On page 12, the report states: "[c]itizens also complained that minutes of meetings frequently fail to reflect the substance of the meetings". Most of us do not have the time or resources available to listen to hearing recordings to ensure that public meeting minutes published online are accurate. In fact, I have found several instances of my own local government publishing meeting minutes with material errors. However, due to the current law concerning public meeting minutes, little to no recourse is available. I hope the Oregon Legislature can work together with the time left in this short session to help improve the transparency of our state by setting standards for public meeting minutes. But the ERA report pointed out that without an undertaking similar to that made by the Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) with the ACCC governing access to interstate lines east of Kalgoorlie, there was little difference between the WA and national access regimes. I am a huge science fiction fan and Midnight Special is one of the 2016 feature films that I am looking forward to the most the brand new UK poster for the film has been unveiled. Midnight Special Midnight Special premiered at the Berlin Film Festival but we are going to have to wait until the beginning of April until the film hits the big screen. The movie marks the return of Jeff Nichols to the director's chair and it really is exciting to see him back. Midnight Special is the fourth feature film of Nichols' directing career and comes after the success of Shotgun Stories, Take Shelter, and Mud. The movie also sees the filmmaker reunite with actor Michael Shannon, who he teamed up with for Take Shelter back in 2011. Shannon takes on the central role of desperate father Roy and is joined on the cast list by Adam Driver, Kirsten Dunst, Joel Egerton, Sean Bridgers, and Sam Shepard. Roy (Shannon) is a father desperate to protect his uniquely gifted, eight-year-old son in this genre-defying thriller, which proves once again that director Jeff Nichols is one of the most compelling storytellers of our time. As father and son go on the run, an intense chase ensues as they are hunted down by a mysterious cult and a clandestine government agency - the outcome of which could bring about a world-changing event. Midnight Special is one of the sci-fi films that I have been looking forward to every since it was announced that the film was in production it really does look like it is going to be a film that will not disappoint. Midnight Special is released 8th April. by Helen Earnshaw for www.femalefirst.co.uk find me on and follow me on Shraddha Kapoor, is surely one of the sweetest actress in Bollywood and has the most beautiful smile. Anyone could get lost in her smile as she looks, as pretty as an angel. The actress, debuted in Bollywood through the movie Teen Patti in 2010, and starrer alongside Amitabh Bachchan, Madhavan and Hollywood biggie Ben Kingsley. Teen Patti, fared moderately at the box office. The cute Shraddha Kapoor, is currently shooting for the sequel of Rock On, titled Rock On 2 in the breathtaking hilly regions of Shillong along with Farhan Akthar, Arjun Rampal, Purab Kohli and Prachi Desai. Also Read: 30 HOTTEST PICS Of Housefull 3 Babes Lisa Haydon, Jacqueline Fernandez & Nargis Fakhri The movie Rock On, released in the year 2008 and went on to be a superhit movie. The film, was based on Indian rock music and the struggles they face while forming a band. The movie, did not have typical Bollywood songs, but cartered to the heavy side of music. Also Read: 18 Classy, Rare & Unseen Pictures Of Deepika Padukone, No 15 Will Stun You! Shraddha Kapoor, is not paired opposite any actor in Rock On 2, and plays an important role in the rock band, Magik! A source close to the movie was quoted as saying, "Shraddha's role is more pivotal than Prachi's. The film will be more about the rock band and will feature more members, including these two." Also Read: 20 Beautiful & Gorgeous Pictures Of Aishwarya Rai, No 17 Will Mesmerize You! Rock On 2, would hit the theatres on November 11, 2016. Shraddha Kapoor, is also shooting for her upcoming movie Baaghi, and is paired opposite to Tiger Shroff. Shraddha, would showcase her fighting skills in Baaghi, and would not be seen as the 'girl next door' in the movie. Recently, Sharddha Kapoor was seen showing some daredevil stunts hanging on a high rise property in Mumbai. The actress, stunned onlookers by her dangerous acts, but Shraddha, looked relaxed and completed the shoot with ease. BOOK YOUR TICKETS NOW! The Very Talented Raghu Dixit To Perform In Bangalore On Feb 26! Ilayathalapathy Vijay's upcoming film Theri has managed to beat superstar Rajinikanth's Kabali in the battle of pre-release business between these two flicks in the state of Kerala. While the theatrical rights of the Pa Ranjith directorial Kabali has been bought for an impressive 6 Crore rupees by a leading distributor in Kerala, Vijay's Theri has fetched 6.5 Crore rupees in the God's own country. Interestingly, both Kabali and Theri has been bankrolled by Kalaipuli S Thanu and according to sources close to the well-known producer, Thanu is quite happy with the pre-release businesses of both the films in Kerala. Both Rajinikanth and Vijay have tremendous market in Kerala and hence, it will be fascinating to see which movie does better in the neighbouring state. While Theri will hit the big screen on April 14th, Kabali may release during the month of May. Book Your Tickets For Raghu Dixit Concert In Bangalore.. Call 8147529660/9482341141 Meanwhile, Kabali will be dubbed in Malay, according to a report. Since Rajinikanth's popularity has grown immensely over the last few years in Malaysia, Kabali will now become the first Tamil movie to be dubbed in Malay. Also Read: 'LADY SUPERSTAR' For A Reason: Nayantara's Incredible Feat In Kerala! Global organization calls for unfettered, sustained humanitarian access across Syria STATEMENT FROM NEAL KENY-GUYER, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER OF MERCY CORPS PORTLAND, Oregon, Feb. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --We are gravely concerned and disappointed that the partial cessation of hostilities in Syria - which was to commence yesterday - has been delayed, again. Instead, violence on all sides of the Syrian conflict has significantly escalated, threatening innocent civilians and jeopardizing the humanitarian operations assisting them. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110818/DC54665LOGO-a Over the past five years, in Syria we have too often witnessed humanitarian deliveries delayed or denied because of the routes aid agencies take, which organization is able to deliver them, or under whose control those in need are living. Thousands of families continue to flee bombs and bullets. Since February 1, our teams have witnessed some 72,000 people navigating battlefields to reach the relative safety of the border with Turkey; some have found shelter in camps there, but at least 27,000 others sleep in the open air. Many Mercy Corps team members have themselves escaped their homes and are now living in tents. Meanwhile, millions more innocent men, women and children across Syria remain trapped in the crossfire of this war. This week's United Nations aid convoys, while welcome, reached only a small fraction of the people in urgent need of lifesaving assistance. It is imperative that all humanitarian actors, including local Syrian aid associations, be able to reach communities in need throughout all of Syria swiftly, without restrictions and through the safest, most direct routes. Mercy Corps calls for unfettered, sustained humanitarian access for all Syrian civilians. Now. About Mercy Corps: Mercy Corps is a leading global organization powered by the belief that a better world is possible. In disaster, in hardship, in more than 40 countries around the world, we partner to put bold solutions into action - helping people triumph over adversity and build stronger communities from within. Now, and for the future. -- ALCATEL ONETOUCH will operate under the name ALCATEL, with a new logo and new focus -- The brand will increase its engagement with millennial customers -- ALCATEL will continue to create curated, carefully considered, fun devices at the right price point BARCELONA, Spain, Feb. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- ALCATEL ONETOUCH, a member of TCL Communication, announces that it will now be operating under the name ALCATEL. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160219/335138LOGO With its business in key segments and markets increasing, ALCATEL felt it was the right time to launch the new branding. In tune with its target market of millennials, ALCATEL is simplifying: simplifying its name, simplifying their message and streamlining their devices. Consumer focused devices and consumer focused marketing With the launch of its new branding, ALCATEL is also increasing its engagement with millennials, who are uncompromising in what they expect from brands in their everyday lives. ALCATEL seeks to offer the features and technology their customers need, but keep surprising the users with great experiences. Aimed at college students/young adults, young professionals and young parents, the brand's new lineup, currently being launched at Mobile World Congress, offers an array of personalized choices particularly suited to these markets, including fun customizable covers, DJ mixing software, amped-up audio systems and the innovative virtual reality experience. IDOL 4 series: The ALCATEL flagship augments the user experience with a Boom Key that enhances taking photos, listening to music, gaming and more The ALCATEL flagship augments the user experience with a Boom Key that enhances taking photos, listening to music, gaming and more POP 4 series: "Designed by you, inside and out," with vast collection of colors and styles, and optional technology upgrades "Designed by you, inside and out," with vast collection of colors and styles, and optional technology upgrades PIXI 4 series: Offers a comprehensive and reliable user experience at an affordable price Offers a comprehensive and reliable user experience at an affordable price PLUS 10: The brand's first connected 2-in-1 Windows device for unbeatable productivity on-the-move Fun, But Thoughtful "Millennials want to have fun, but they also want those experiences to be simple, meaningful and authentic," said Dan Dery, Chief Marketing Officer at ALCATEL. "Because both quality and price are important to millennials, we feel that ALCATEL-- with our DNA of making innovation accessible to everyone-- is uniquely in tune with their needs." Stop by our booth Hall 6, Stand 6C-30 at MWC. Visit ALCATEL PRESS ROOM Media Contacts Fran Tam - ALCATEL - GLOBAL +852 3180 2831 - fran.tam@tcl.com Jason Gerdon - ALCATEL - NORTH AMERICA +1 949 245 9913 - PR.NA@alcatelonetouch.com About ALCATEL ALCATEL is a member of TCL Communication, an international multicultural company which designs, develops and markets globally a growing range of mobile and Internet devices. TCL Communication is a public company listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (2618.HK) and part of TCL Corporation, one of the largest consumer electronics companies in the world. For more information, please visit ALCATEL's website. NEW DELHI Haryana chief minister on Saturday called on demonstrators demanding jobs and education to call off rioting which has spread to several towns in recent days and which has killed at least one person. Protesters in Haryana belonging to the Jats, a rural caste, attacked the homes of regional ministers, burned railway stations and blocked tracks. The authorities deployed troops and helicopters, jammed mobile internet and messaging services, imposed a curfew in some districts and blocked roads as the protests reached the capital New Delhi. On Friday, one man was shot dead by Border Security Force in the town of Rohtak after opening fire with a home-made gun, the state's police chief said. The protests echoed a similar movement last year in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home state of Gujarat, where the Patel community demanded that it get a greater share of scarce government jobs and college places that are now reserved for people from lower castes. Hardik Patel, the 22-year-old leader of the Gujarat unrest, became a national sensation after drawing half a million people to one rally. The authorities soon cracked down and he was held and charged with sedition in October. Both the Jats and Patels rank fairly highly in India's social hierarchy, but fast population growth and a lack of jobs is fueling discontent among them. Both Haryana and Gujarat are run by Modi's nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). "The incident of violence in certain parts of Haryana is very unfortunate. In a democracy solution to any problem lies in discussion and dialogue," Home Minister Rajnath Singh tweeted. "I appeal to my brothers and sisters of Haryana to maintain peace and order in the state." (Reporting by Reuters Television and Adnan Abidi; Writing by Douglas Busvine; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. A host of Congress leaders including Rahul Gandhi and former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Saturday appealed for peace in Haryana which remained on the boil as the Jat quota stir unleashed fresh incidents of violence and arson. "I appeal to people of Haryana to maintain peace and brotherhood. Mutual harmony and dialogue can alone resolve any issue," the Congress Vice President said on micro-blogging site Twitter. Speaking to reporters, Hooda spoke in similar vein but steered clear of questions as to who was responsible for the deteriorating situation. Appealing to Haryana government to find an early resolution to the crisis, he said some forces were bent on damaging the social fabric. "I do not want to speak on politics. The need of the hour is to bring peace. Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi are also keen for peace to return," he said. Meanwhile, curfew was clamped in Jind, Hisar and Hansi districts. The authorities clamped curfew in Jind in view of some violent incidents that included setting afire three Haryana Roadways buses int he district by agitating Jats. Army, paramilitary and police conducted a flag march in Jind, where incidents of violence were reported from various places including Julana, Uchana and Pilukhera. Curfew has been imposed from 8 PM to 6 AM in Hisar and Hansi as a precautionary measure. Earlier today, the Sonipat district administration had clamped curfew in the city and Gohana town of the district. Curfew has now been imposed in at least eight towns in Haryana in the wake of incidents of violence during agitation. Curfew had already been clamped in Rohtak, Bhiwani and Jhajjar towns. Haryana CLP leader Kiran Chaudhary also spoke in similar vein. She wanted the state government to open a dialogue with the agitators to calm down the situation. Surjerwala also attacked the BJP and the RSS for the situation, saying "I am pained to say that while the BJP and RSS are conspiring to divide the nation through communalism and regionalism, they are also engaged in an obnoxious conspiracy of dividing Haryana on caste lines." He said by making controversial and unnecessary statements everyday, the ministers, MPs and MLAs of BJP have created the current provocative situation. "The BJP government has totally failed to solve it after creating the problem," Surjewala alleged. Asking the BJP government in Haryana and Modi government at the Centre "to refrain from divisive politics", Surjewala called for effective steps, advising the government to follow its 'rajdharma'. As violence continued during Jat quota protests, the Centre on Saturday asked the Haryana government to provide security to people and property by ensuring law and order. This was conveyed by Cabinet Secretary P K Sinha to Haryana Chief Secretary DS Dhesi and DGP Yashpal Singhal at a meeting held through video conferencing. "The Cabinet Secretary reviewed the prevailing situation in Haryana and took inputs from the Chief Secretary and DGP. He asked them to ensure protection to people and property by maintaining law and order," a senior government official said. Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi and others senior officers were present in the meeting. Western Railway (WR) today announced cancellation of eight trains that were scheduled to pass through the affected region. Also, fifteen mail services were short-terminated and five other trains diverted today, a statement issued by WR said. The trains that were cancelled are: 12926 Amritsar-Bandra Paschim Express, 22926 Kalka-Bandra Terminus Paschim Express, 12472 Shrimata Vaishnodevi Katra-Bandra Terminus Swaraj Express, 12217 Kochuveli-Chandigarh Sampark Kranthi Express, 12450 Chandigarh-Madgaon Goa Sampark Kranti Express, 12920 Jammu Tavi-Indore Malwa Express, 12215 Delhi Sarai Rohilla-Bandra Terminus Garib Rath Express, 12957 Ahmedabad- New Delhi Swarna Jayanti Rajdhani Express. The trains that were short-terminated are: 12925 Bandra TerminusAmritsar Paschim Express, which had set off on February 19 terminated at Sonipat; 22451 Bandra Terminus-Chandigarh Superfast Express was terminated at Narela; 12449 Madgaon-Chandigarh Goa Sampark Kranti Express terminated at Hazrat Nizamuddin and 12471 Bandra Terminus-Jammu Tavi Swaraj Express terminated at New Delhi. Those diverted include: 12216 Bandra TerminusDelhi was diverted via Alwar-Mathura junction, 14322 Bhuj-Bareili diverted via Alwar-Mathura Junction, 14321 Bareili-Bhuj diverted via Old Delhi-New Delhi-Hazrat Nizamuddin-Mathura Junction route, the WR said in the statement. PTI Three years ago, in February of 2013, I spent five days at a conference around social justice, in Detroit. I wrote the next three blogs on what I saw and what I learned. I went back and re-read them today, in light of the recent events in Detroit. Have things gotten better in Detroit--or worse? Here (and over the next few days) are the edited blogs from 2013. Things have not gotten better, at all, under the most recent Emergency Manager, Darnell Earley (who also had a hand in the Flint water crisis). In addition to the lockstep teaching to the tests, the teachers have posted horrifying pictures of dirty, unsafe buildings on social media. Their own Emergency Manager threated them when they called in sick to stage a protest--and told them they had a professional duty to snitch if they overheard planning for additional sickouts . The legislatures going after them, too . Heres the view from 2013: Youve probably seen the fun--and enlightening--meme/hashtag:#FirstWorldProblems. Running out of hot water after a 10-minute shower? First world problem. Cant get the book youre dying to read on Kindle? First world problem. And so on. Most of our American problems end up being first world problems, including those in education. If you want proof, think back to the faces of children in Haiti after a devastating hurricane season, when makeshift schools were finally organized and they could spend part of their day sitting on benches, learning, with dozens of other children. Puts being reassigned to a portable in perspective, doesnt it? However. I just spent the last five days in Detroit. Im a firm believer in saying nice things about Detroit--much more about that later, in Part III--but if youve driven around in Detroit lately you know there are large chunks of the city where the term first world doesnt apply. A panelist at the North Dakota Study Group , meeting in Detroit over the weekend, gives us some horrifying statistics: There are 50,000 homeless people in the city. There are 30,000 houses with no running water, 10,000 occupied homes with no power, and 40,000 homes in foreclosure. One-third of the land in the city is empty, vacant--and theres no supermarket in the city limits, so 90% of purchased food comes from 7-11s, gas stations and fast food outlets. Burned-out houses are everywhere, and there are entire neighborhoods where unemployment is universal. How did Detroit go from being a vibrant, workingmans city full of large brick homes, ethnic neighborhoods, a place where the efforts of a growing and thriving middle class were visible everywhere--to a third world city in a first world nation? What impact has that had on public education in Detroit? And what can be done to educate students left in Detroit to believe in their own intellectual strengths and boundless creativity? I spent 30 years teaching at the edge of the suburban ring around Detroit. When I started teaching, in the early 1970s, Detroit Public Schools had resources suburban districts envied: rich, extensive programming, beautiful old school buildings with handcrafted tiling, libraries with fireplaces and glass-front bookcases, a well-organized and experienced teaching force. A strong (but threatened) tax base. Yes, I know about the checkered history of Detroit Public Schools--the slow slide from excellence to mismanagement. The strikes--and what happens when entire schools are filled with children born into deep poverty. I also know that for the past 14 years, a variety of power players, including three governors (one of them a Democrat), have decided that Detroit Public Schools cant handle their own affairs. And the alternative--heavily marketed start-up charters --havent shown that theyre the go-to answer , either. The teachers I admire most in the world teach in the DPS system. About half of the National Board Certified Teachers in Michigan teach or taught in Detroit, by far the largest group in a single district in Michigan. Many of them have been offered jobs in charter schools looking to advertise their teaching excellence, but they prefer to keep working in neighborhood schools, where theyre most needed. And its not about preserving their seniority rights or the fabulous salaries public schools offer veteran teachers, because all that went away with a succession of professionally humiliating decisions by emergency managers. Back in the 1960s, Detroit activist James Boggs wrote about work vs. jobs. Work is labor--intellectual and physical--that leads to social contribution. The lunch-bucket auto workers who performed the same tasks on the line, day after day, were also putting a great country on wheels, building a national image--Motor City--and sharing in the good life (the local exemplar of which is a cottage in northern Michigan). Honest work. A job, by contrast, is an economic exchange. You do what I want you to do, and I give you money, in return. Teachers in Detroit--teachers everywhere, in fact--have been shifted from the complex work of instruction and curriculum-building, to pursuit of targeted learning goals set by an outside management organization. A job, one that managers can fill with the lowest-cost employee available. Teaching somebody elses curriculum, based on nationally established standards, using predetermined instructional methods. Regular testing to evaluate efficacy. Following a pacing chart set by someone whos never met your students. Being accountable to a fidelity expert. These are first-world, technocratic problems , too. And theyre not amusing. Theyre a threat to democratic education, and perhaps democracy itself. In Part II, a visit to Catherine Ferguson Academy in Detroit, and more questions about the markers of a democratic education, and the ability of the people to uphold the nations best idea: a free, high-quality, fully public education for every child. New Delhi: A group of army veterans here will lead a protest march on Sunday against alleged anti-national activities in Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), which they charged was an "organised attempt" to "balkanize" India. Addressing a press conference, Major General (Retd) Dhruv C Katoch said the rally has been organised by an "apolitical" group 'People for Nation' which has "just been" established. ABVP, the student wing of RSS, has been actively promoting the event and has sent out invites to the media, which Katoch downplayed claiming political parties "across the spectrum" have been invited to the event. "We are completely for unfettered freedom of speech but there should not be debate on a few things. We will march against anti-national slogans raised during the event at the JNU campus. We simply want to initiate a counter-narrative through this," Katoch said. "This clearly is an organised attempt by disruptive forces, possibly with foreign funding, to attempt to balkanize India," a statement released by the group said, adding such "anti-India" slogans have found resonance in other universities as well as the Kashmir Valley. Air Marshall (Retd) P K Roy said "anti-national" slogans "demoralise" the soldiers guarding the country's frontiers. "A few unguided people resort to such activities. As elders, it is our responsibility to guide them," he said. The veterans also urged families of martyrs to be present at the 'March for unity to save the country' that will begin at Raj Ghat at 10.30 am and culminate with a public meeting at Parliament Street here. PTI Something good has been happening in India and it has to do with Rohith Vemula and Kanhaiya Kumar. Yes, good. Education in India, it seems, is working. Not just in elite institutions in the metros but in ordinary, ill-equipped, under-staffed, prejudice-ridden schools and colleges in villages and small towns of India too. If the purpose of education is not just to help one make a living but to hone language skills, inculcate critical thinking, creativity and the ability to make connections with disparate events and ideas, develop a sense of social responsibility and make good citizens, then Rohith and Kanhaiya show that our government-funded, much-derided schools and colleges are the way to go. The mastery over language displayed in Rohiths suicide note and Kanhaiyas speeches is quite spectacular. Kanhaiyas oratorical skills made him president of Jawaharlal Nehru Universitys students union. According to a report in DNA, It was Kanhaiyas rousing speech that drove AISF ahead of the powerful AISA, making him the first ever JNU president from the CPIs student wing. The ABVP, according to many of Kanhaiyas friends, was out of the race the moment Kanhaiya was done with his first sentence. He combined sense of humour, anger at injustice and poetry (he loved to quote his favourite poet Dushyant Kumar: Kaun Kehata Hai Aasman Mein Suraakh Nahi Ho Sakta, Ek Patthar Toh Tabiyat Se Uchalo Yaaro) to come up with a potent mix. He was, according to friends, always good at debates, even in college. That would mean College of Commerce affiliated to Magadh University, where Kanhaiya went from RKC High School in Barauni. We can glimpse his verbal skills, his ability to order his thoughts and marshal his arguments from the text of the speech he delivered on 10 February at JNU and from the non-fake video that has now surfaced where he is seen giving slogans that are not only foot-tappingly infectious but remarkable for the range of his vocabulary and his clear awareness of what he is talking about. Rohith from Guntur district wanted to be an author, a science writer like Carl Sagan. It was not an empty dream. His suicide note is spectacularly poetic. As IIT Delhi professor and critical theorist Rukmini Bhaya Nair has commented, Rohith Vemulas suicide note is remarkable because it embraces immortality at the very moment when death grips. This immortality consists in his having produced a document of unusual beauty and universal longing that is bound to become a classic in the literature of caste oppression and violence for the paradoxical reason that it goes well beyond caste. He faced horrendous social discrimination, he suffered extreme economic deprivation, yet Rohith learnt to express deep distress and disillusionment with words that can leave no reader unmoved. I loved Science, Stars, Nature, but then I loved people without knowing that people have long since divorced from nature. Our feelings are second handed. Our love is constructed. Our beliefs coloured. Our originality valid through artificial art. It has become truly difficult to love without getting hurt. There are several such paragraphs that not only bring a lump to your throat but make you marvel at the teachers and professors, poorly paid, with little recognition and little hope of reward, who lit this fire. With an illiterate population of 287 million, the worlds largest, singing paeans to our education system may sound ridiculous. And no one is claiming it is perfect. Everyone is quick to point that out too, not least our President who loves to bemoan our falling standards of education whenever he makes a school or college visit. At a programme at a private university in Delhi (technically Greater Noida) last month, President Pranab Mukherjee commended the proliferation of the private sector in education that has led to greater access, going on to add that if declining standards in our system as a whole are not reversed quickly then we will land ourselves in a scenario of having a large number of people with degrees but not enough manpower with proficiency to meet the emerging requirement of our industrial and other sectors. Maybe that is what he had to say. Going by her rap on the knuckles of university vice-chancellors this week, her repeated harping on he who pays the piper calls the tune theme since occupying the HRD ministers chair, it is clear that Smriti Irani, her bosses and their admirers believe that making money is the primary objective of any education. No wonder the demand for JNU students to shut up and study as they are being paid by us, i.e. taxpayers, the suggestion that the smartest way for the government to tackle the JNU kerfuffle would have been to starve the university of funds. They would happily delegate this task to the private sector but then there is the long-term objective of the BJP too: brainwashing young minds, shaping future citizens and moulding them in its own image. Hence the governments no-holds-barred bid to control our centres of learning. Even then, the docile students coming out of the assembly lines of these saffronised institutes are supposed to go straight into the business of wealth creation, the greatest contribution they can make to nation building. Confined to his bed since 2013 when the left side of his body was paralysed, Kanhaiyas 65-year-old father, Jaishankar Singh, also believes in the power of education, I could study only up to Class X but I ensured my children received good education. Education is the biggest capital for poor people like us, he told the Indian Express. And, despite all its failings, good education it was. It taught his son values, it taught him compassion, it taught him to think coherently and express his thoughts effectively. It taught him the power of words. Rohith and Kanhaiya have made headlines for wrong, tragic reasons. Nevertheless we can take solace from the fact that there are many others like them out there, products of a creaky education system that could certainly do with vast improvements but have nonetheless given us remarkable citizens with a deep love for their motherland. Men and women who can dream dreams, ask for more. That is what the BJP cant stomach. That is what the BJP wants to dismantle and replace with bootcamps that will produce Hindu robots for a resurgent India. That is what we cannot let happen. Politics of banal patriotism is easy to practice. It doesn't require a nuanced debate, a logical discussion, respectable IQ or the courage to face the enemy on the border. Anybody can becomes its practitioner by picking up a flag, shouting slogans and joining a mob to rail against imaginary enemies. Politics of slogan-shouting and flag-waving thrives on a thought process triggered by anxiety, fear and feeling of persecution. It is rooted in imagining an enemy, or, if one already exists, grossly exaggerating its threat and then coming up with an irrational response. To justify the irrational response, it is necessary to make it look like a manifestation of Newton's Law. So, fake accusations are made, slights are imagined and normal incidents or accidents are branded as conspiracies and planned affronts to justify it as an equal and opposite reaction. If politics of flag-waving, slogan-shouting and banal nationalism was to be put on a shrink's couch, it would come out with a prescription for paranoia. Bear this is mind as we dissect the two issues that have brought out banal nationalists out in the streets, made them scream, shout and shed copious amounts of tears in TV studios and violence in courts. Consider the case of Kanhaiya Kumar first and then the reaction to the HRD minister's decision to make hoisting of the national flag in central universities. At the risk of repetition it is important to ask, what exactly is the case against Kanhaiya Kumar? That some people shouted "anti-national" slogans at a canteen of a university in Delhi? Economist Surjeet Bhalla has deconstructed the entire episode in Friday's Indian Express. Since his take is, literally, the last word, it is impossible to add to it. The overblown reaction was a classic case of banal nationalism. Enemies were imagined (all JNU is anti-national); lies were propagated to justify the paranoid response (Hafiz Saeed is behind it), fake accusations were made through doctored videos, photoshopped images and media lapdogs and a minor incident was passed off a conspiracy against the nation. Once the "enormity" of the action was established, an irrational reaction was mounted by letting out cops on campuses, thugs in the streets with flags whose poles they used to bash others, evading serious questions through the subterfuge of raising the decibel levels of slogans and shouting down others as anti-nationals and traitors. (Sample this video.) It was made to look like, as Sanjay Singh rightly argued on Firstpost, that India was under a siege. The problem with paranoia is that the sickness is inside us. It is an internalised ghost, a personal demon whose shadow we see everywhere and start battling it. Even if you eradicate the original trigger, it will find some other excuse to manifest itself. Kanhaiya's case has traversed the entire spectrum. First he was an anti-national guilty of sedition (wrong), then he was a traitor who shouted anti-India slogan (wrong again) and now the outrage is over the "allegation" that he was with Umar Khalid. At this rate, we'll soon have somebody saying Kanhaiya is anti-national because he is named after our revered God. Khalid, meanwhile, has himself been elevated to the level of a dangerous Kashmiri (wrong again, and even if it wasn't it is not a crime to be a citizen of an Indian state), sympathiser (whatever that means) of a terror outfit (without any evidence) who had travelled to Pakistan (wrong again, he doesn't even have a passport). So many wrongs sold as truths to create the impression that Hafiz Saeed was about to invade an Indian varsity with the help of jihadists like Kanhaiya. How different is this phobia from the fear of the Islamic State jihadists waiting for the army of Rome for an Armageddon-like battle at Dabiq? Unfortunately, like a snake that keeps biting its own behind, the absurd fear doesn't end till it devours itself. When journalist Shekhar Gupta pointed out in a tweet that the video showing Kanhaiya raising anti-national slogans was doctored, the banal patriots refused to back off, arguing, what's the big deal when it has not been submitted in a court. As if the lynch mob had waited for the court's decision, even for rudimentary evidence, before demolishing Kanhaiya and JNU, shattering the country's calm . A similar imagined phobia is on display over the imagined resistance to the HRD minister's decision to fly the Tricolour at central universities. If hoisting a flag makes us all deshbhakts, then we are all for it. If you have the money, instead of stopping at just a few privileged varsities, make it made mandatory for every house, at every mall, square, public building and also the RSS headquarters, the repository of nationalism, where the Bhagwa inspires more patriotism than the Tricolour. Make it mandatory to wear it on the lapel or on the sleeve. If not patriotism, it will at least generate employment to flag weavers. But, using the Tricolour for petty politics, to divide the nation along an imaginary line of flag-wavers and flag-haters is a pervert parody of patriotism. As CP Bhambhri writes in DailyO, the fundamental principal of any propaganda machinery is to project a false reality and make the audience believe, with the help of media, that what they are seeing is the truth. And it is much easier to do than battling the demons inside. It is important to understand the difference. Real nationalism sees the country as a dynamic entity that must get better every day, every minute, it aims at erasing inequalities based on caste and religion, it is the courage to look inwards and address what is wrong, through dialogue, speech and discussion stripped of fear. But, politicians fear such freedoms, liberties and nationalists. They prefer banal nationalism because it is always easy to talk about the rape of motherland than to stop the rape of real mothers in the streets, easy to promise a Ram temple than a home and feast on paranoia than ensure that every Indian has enough to eat. In a blog that has gone viral, actor Twinkle Khanna wonders whether we are spending our money on the real Bharat Mata. "We have passed a proposal for building a 182-metre-tall Statue of Unity project that will cost Rs 2,979 crore, and are now trying to construct yet another statue in the Arabian Sea which is budgeted at around Rs 1,900 crore even though only 10 percent of our children have access to education beyond higher secondary schooling. Instead of spending money on education, that these are our priorities offends me a bit." Ideally, all this and the well-being of the banal nationalists should have been the concern of our political class. They should have either offered or arranged help for the prevalent paranoia. But then, if a large number of people were to be lined up for prescriptions, who will go to poll booths? Subject Rohtas, the College Dhaba and its continuity Dear Diljeet and Deepak, We write to you in your capacity as Trustees of the Alumni Foundation of St Stephens College, Members of the Governing Body of St Stephens College and you Diljeet as a Member of the Supreme Council of St. Stephens College. And we are writing in our capacity as former Trustees of the Alumni Foundation of St. Stephens College, as concerned alumni of the College and as your well-wishers. We would like to set a few facts on record so as to clarify any confusion about who acted to support Rohtas and who did not and when and how. The following annexures are attached to this email : Annexure 1 Note on the Rohtas issue by the Principal Reverend Valson Thampu as attached to an email sent to Justice Manmohan Sarin President of the Alumni Foundation dated November 18, 2012. The entire note is relevant for it outlines the reasons for the personal vendetta against Rohtas. Annexure 2 Email exchange between the undersigned of November 27 2012 upon perusal of the note mentioned in Annexure 1. The most relevant extract of this email exchange is Sanjeevs comment. No but I was listening when both DM and VT said that if we dont sack Rohtas now then VTs term will be over and then how will he get sacked. Annexure 3 Email exchange between Diljeet and Rohit with Deepak and Sanjeev being copied. The key learning from this is that Diljeet was unsympathetic to Rohtas plight, was unwilling to formalize his presence on campus and was hiding behind legal technicalities to defend his stand while referring to Rohtas as a trespasser. Annexure 4 Deepak Mukarjis email to the other trustees of the alumni foundation wherein you have described the dhaba as illegal and are loathe to formalize Rohtass presence on campus through a lease. Annexure 5 Note written by Raju Sharma and posted by Sangeeta Luthra Sharma on the Facebook Group Laal Sitara giving some details about how Rohtas was systematically persecuted in the last three years of his life Annexure 6 Appeal put out by Ms Nandita Narain on the Facebook Group Stephanians wherein she has alluded to several acts of persecution against Rohtas to financially ruin him including curtailing the products he is allowed to sell, restricting their prices etc. Annexure 7 Note put out by the Principal Reverend Valson Thampu on his facebook page wherein he makes disparaging remarks about Rohtas after he was dead. We write to express our concern about the treatment meted out to Rohtas by the College administration in the last three years of his life (Refer to Annexures 5 and 6 of this letter). You may recall that in 2012 the Principal and the two of you had wanted to evict Rohtas and the Dhaba from the college campus. The Alumni and faculty were up in arms (Refer to Annexures 1, 2 3 and 4 of this letter). It was due to the efforts of some of the Trustees of the Alumni foundation in 2012 that Rohtas had narrowly escaped being evicted from College after eight decades of service to College by him, and his father Sukhiya before him. An event that would have had catastrophic consequences for Rohtas and his family, who are actually quite poor no matter who says what to the contrary. In the run up to the settlement between Rohtas and The Principal and in the weeks after the settlement - the Alumni Foundation had had several meetings, phone calls and email exchanges. The Trustees of the Alumni Foundation had been divided vertically with Justice Sarin, Dr. S Y Quraishi, Bobby Kewalramani, Rohit Bansal and Sanjeev Bikhchandani in support of Rohtas and the Principal and the two of you opposed to providing any kind of relief to Rohtas. It was the pro Rohtas group of the Alumni Foundation under the leadership of Justice Manmohan Sarin and Dr. S Y Quraishi, ably supported by Bobby Kewalramani that had prevailed upon the Principal and the two of you to spare Rohtas and thus a settlement was reached. Fortunately we were able to save Rohtas at that time. After the settlement you, Deepak, had been assigned the responsibility to create and execute a plan that would enable Rohtas to run a financially viable business and continue in College. We thought you had done that. Certainly if this wasnt being done you did not tell the Alumni Foundation so. We were extremely disturbed when we read Mr. Raju Sharmas post on Laal Sitara after Rohtas passed away, wherein he revealed how Rohtas had been targeted even after we had had a settlement and how he had never been given an opportunity to attain financial viability. Not only was the settlement not honoured and a model for the financial model of Rohtas not worked out he was actually harassed and hounded. Surely the Governing Body member entrusted with helping Rohtas and the legal member of the Governing Body and member of the Supreme Council both of you must have been aware of what was happening. You will recall, Deepak, that Rohtas had approached me, Sanjeev Bikhchandani, a few days after the settlement and your appointment as the person who would resolve Rohtas problems. He had wanted permission to increase the width of his Dhaba by one and a half feet. He said that with this extra width he would be able to fit his charpoy inside the Dhaba at night when he slept. He wanted to do this before winter so that he was not exposed to the bitter Delhi cold in winter. I had brought Rohtas to you and explained the problem to you and you had said you would resolve it. Obviously it did not happen. Perhaps the Principal did not give permission do clarify. After reading what Raju Sharma has written I cannot help but think whether that simple act of kindness would have saved Rohtas life in 2016. Deepak, on your advice two days ago, we have done some digging into the identity of those who persecuted Rohtas. It appears that two of them are being awarded with five year employment contracts in the coming few days. Perhaps they did a good job. We understand that there is a Governing Body meeting in the next few days. If any such contracts come up for approval we do hope you will ask probing questions around the issue of Rohtass persecution by these two gentlemen and perhaps hold the contracts. During our inquiry we were told about other ways that Rohtas was harassed. Is it true that his bills for food supplied to the college have not been paid since September 2015? Is it true that College Societies and Clubs have been told that if they order food from the Dhaba for their events their bills would not be cleared by the College? Is it true that Rohtas helpers were not allowed into college to bring raw material for the Dhaba and so an ailing Rohtas at his age had to do hard labour from 5AM each morning carrying large sacks of material to the Dhaba? Is it true that to raise the price of a samosa by one rupee from the nine rupees he used to charge he had to plead for months while a cup of tea in the cafe sells for more than twice that price? Was this a deliberate strategy to drive him to financial ruin? Do clarify because these and other important questions need to be answered. The role of the Supreme Council is to protect the Christian character of the College. Tell us Diljeet, as Supreme Council member, was the persecution of Rohtas consistent with the values of Christianity? How does it help preserve the Christian character of college to target and victimize a poor defenceless person who you have power over? Anyhow Rohtas has gone, possibly before his time. Nothing will bring him back. Perhaps some appropriate competent authority will bring his tormentors to book we understand that some alumni are actively exploring remedies in this direction. If not then God will certainly punish them. Diljeet, we have heard that an eviction notice is ready and will be issued to Rohtas son the moment he returns from mourning. We understand he has been told this over the telephone by the Estate Officer. And we have heard from a Governing Body member that this is happening under your advice. We hope this is not true but if it is we would request you to not proceed with this course of action. What we are requesting today is that the two of you revise your opinion on the legitimacy and desirability of the continuance of the Dhaba under the ownership of Rohtas family and use your influence (and both of you have plenty of influence with the Principal) to allow Rohtas son to continue running the Dhaba. And to allow him to enlarge his product range and charge a fair price. We are sure you can do it if you decide to. Best Regards Rohit Bansal Sanjeev Bikhchandani by Abhishek Sikhwal Because Im terrible at planning holidays, my wife and I spent Christmas 2014 at the Killing Fields of Cambodia. We were on our honeymoon and even the most rudimentary research told us that we were in for an experience that would be anything but romantic. The Cambodians dont waste time with metaphors; when they promise you a killing field, they literally let you into a field where a lot of killing took place. The Khmer Rouge, led by Pol Pot, managed to execute over two million people in the area. The targets of this elaborate tyranny were primarily professionals and intellectuals and anyone suspected of having connections with foreign or former governments. Eventually, this target group was expanded to include Christians, Buddhist monks and ethnic Thai, Vietnamese and Chinese populations. I mention my Killing Fields experience because something about what is happening in India these days gives me the same lump in the throat. That day, as I listened to a survivor narrate the horrors of the torture camp on an audio guide, something he said really stuck with me: when the Khmer Rouge wanted to select their targets, they simply arrested people who read books or wore glasses. Intellectual curiosity and questioning the government was suddenly tantamount to sedition. As I took in the grisly sights and the morbid information, I wondered how a country could wage war on its own citizens. Can mass hysteria galvanize people enough to hurt their former neighbours, teachers and colleagues? The Milgram experiment was a psychological experiment conducted in 1961 by Stanley Milgram and set out to ascertain whether the Nazis were culpable for their crimes or if they were simply following orders to the point of hypnosis. The experiment featured an authority figure (Experimenter) who had the subject (Teacher) administer electric shocks to a fellow volunteer (Learner). Of course, the electric shocks werent real and the recipient Learner who was an actor all along faked extreme pain while complaining that he had a heart condition. However, the alarming takeaway from the experiment was how the subject blindly followed the Experimenters orders despite assuming that the pain he was administering was real. Prior to the experiment, each subject was given a sample electric shock of 15 volts in order to experience firsthand what the Learner would supposedly receive. Regardless of experiencing that shock themselves, a whopping 65% of the subjects disregarded the pleas of the Learners and administered up to 440 volts simply because the Experimenter egged them on. Milgram had two theories why the subjects followed orders despite their conscience telling them otherwise: (1) A subject who has neither ability nor expertise to make decisions, especially in a crisis, will leave decision making to the hierarchy of the group and (2) Obedience consists in the fact that a person comes to view themselves as the instrument for carrying out another persons wishes, and they therefore no longer see themselves as responsible for their actions. This ghost in the machine renders humans easy to manipulate. When a mob kills a man for alleged possession of beef or strips a Tanzanian woman due to racial bias or lynches an alleged rapist because of a rumour...what we witness is a whole trying to become greater than the sum of its parts. It is reprehensible that a group of lawyers (no less) mete out punishment to those deemed anti-national or leftist in broad daylight while the police look on with a bovine indifference. Like Milgrams subjects, BJP supporters are leaving decision making to their elected leaders while seeing themselves as instruments for helping these decisions take root. Increasingly, we appear to be living in a kakistocracy much like the Cambodia of 1975 (fun fact: the Khmer empire followed Hinduism which is why Angkor Wat is the biggest Hindu temple in the world). Every dictatorial regime across history came to power by painting dissent as sedition, protestors as anti-national and minorities as inferior. A popular quote by Hermann Goering from the Nuremberg Trials helps throw some light on the mechanics of fascism: "Naturally the common people don't want war but it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them that they are being attacked, and denounce the peacemakers for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in every country". I hope Arnab Goswami considers this before waxing lyrical on martyred soldiers. The constitutional rights of ordinary Indian citizens whether a Bollywood star or single woman or Dalit or a protesting student are being stripped away to make way for the clinquant patriotism of a violent few. To draw parallel to the Milgram experiment, the government has taken the role of the authoritative Experimenter and is urging the public to teach divisive lessons to the Learner. However, in this experiment, the shocks are real. Patna: Bihar Congress on Saturday said it would take out 'Aakrosh (Angst) march' across the state on Monday to protest against a BJP leader's alleged derogatory remarks about party vice president Rahul Gandhi. "We condemn the BJP leader's statements making derogatory remarks against our party leader Rahul Gandhi. Such utterances by RSS and BJP leaders are being made with an intention to bring war-like situation in the state... And hence the party has decided to take out 'Akrosh march' across the state on Monday," Bihar Congress chief Ashok Choudhary told reporters here. Choudhary, the state Education minister in the grand alliance government led by Nitish Kumar, alleged that BJP leaders are making below the belt statements against Congress leaders. "Congress leaders do not need any certificate of being nationalist from BJP or RSS. Indian National Congress is the only party whose leaders are nationalist," said Choudhary. On 18 February, a BJP MLA from Barmer, Kailash Choudhary had allegedly called Gandhi a "traitor" and said he should be hanged and shot for backing "anti-national" students of JNU. Choudhary, who represents Baytoo constituency, made the remarks at his residence in Barmer which invited sharp reaction from Congress. In response to a query about Union Government's decision to hoist national flag in all Central universities, he said the decision exhibited pseudo-nationalism of the BJP. "This is 'pseudo nationalism'. Any Indian can fly the national tri-colour anywhere in the country. There is no such ban at all. Court has given freedom to everyone to fly the tri-colour on his/her house. This is an effort just to show that they (BJP and RSS) are 'more nationalist'," Choudhary said. Choudhary said the RSS started hoisting the tri-colour at its headquarters after the orders from Supreme Court and High Court and now it has woken up to "nationalism" and "flag hoisting". The Human Resource Development Ministry on February 18 made mandatory hoisting of the tricolour in all central universities across the country. The decision, which came in the backdrop of the massive row over alleged anti-India protests in JNU, was taken at a meeting of Vice Chancellors in Surajkund and was convened by HRD Ministry led by Smriti Irani. The resolution is applicable to JNU too as it is a central university, the officials had said. Stating that there is complete freedom for exchange of ideas in the JNU, Choudhary said the BJP is making JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar's arrest an 'issue' to deflect people's attention from the twin major issues of checking price rise and strengthening the economy in past two years under. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has failed on both fronts in past two years, he said. This is being done deliberately keeping in mind the assembly elections of Uttar Pradesh and Assam, the stat Congress chief alleged. Referring to attack on Kanhaiya in court premises, he wondered at the behaviour of lawyers and suspected the lawyers may be RSS workers in black robes. "If they have evidence of sedition against Kanhaiya Kumar, then they must show some proof such as video etc," he said, adding why not a case of sedition be lodged against BJP and RSS leaders who not only admire and consider (Nathuram) Godse as their ideal but have also installed his idol. Asserting that RSS and BJP are trying to impose their ideology both on country and JNU, Choudhary said there is a conspiracy to destroy the institution. Congress would organise dharna and demonstration tomorrow in Patna to protest against the alleged derogatory remarks of Rajasthan BJP MLA against Rahul Gandhi, rising "intolerance" in the country and "efforts" to muzzle freedom of speech and expression, a release issued by Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee said. The demonstration would start with burning the effigy of the Prime Minister at Dak Bungalow roundabout in the state capital tomorrow, party state unit spokesman H K Verma said. He said the dharna and protest march would be organised in the district headquarters on Monday. PTI By Keshav Upadhye Some subjects are beyond the purview of politics. Certain hypocritical groups are indulging in slogans that call for inciting hatred for the ideas that constitute our nationhood. They call for ruining the morale of our people and yet passionately hide their true intentions behind the veil of freedom of expression. But these hypocrites forget that they will enjoy their freedom of expression and democracy will prevail in India only as long as the country survives. If someone sets out to destroy that basic idea of nationhood then should not such nihilistic attitude be confronted? The hue and cry raised all over the country by the incidents that began in Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) is not just unfortunate but also raises many questions. A programme was organised in the university to mark the anniversary of the hanging of Afzal Guru in which anti-India slogans were raised. Its video clippings spread over social media like wild fire across every nook and corner of the country. People across all sections of society felt outraged. From the time of these video clippings getting viral, groups of pseudo secularists and hypocritical intellectuals are finding it difficult to explain their doublespeak. Slogans of breaking up India and destroying India, and Pakistan zindabad cannot be defended by any amount of convoluted logic. Such activities need to be firmly confronted with strong approach. Any concerned citizen of the country will react in this manner alone. And yet the pseudo secularists and fuzzy headed intellectuals through their tortuous arguments are trying to divert this debate into an ineffectual topic. Lame explanations are being handed out such as: "Though the incident is unfortunate no action is needed and freedom of expression must be valued". Rahul Gandhi crowned futile efforts by announcing that he will agitate against the action taken by the authorities. Some intellectuals are not just trying to justify such incidents but also trying to confuse people by making specious arguments saying that they too are committed to constitutional democracy and the resentment of protesters is only against Hindu Rashtra. Are not the slogans of Ruining India and Ghar ghar se niklega Afzal against the Constitution of India? Why is Afzal needed in every home? Was Afzal hanged because he had planned an attack on a Hindu Parliament? He was hanged because he attacked the Parliament of sovereign India. And he was tried in a court of law providing him every opportunity to defend his case. How can these self-serving intellectuals who swear by the Indian Constitution forget the fact that the case was decided after following all legal procedures as prescribed by Indias Constitution? They also say that they dont need certificate of patriotism from organisations such as Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). No one needs to get certificate of patriotism from anyone. However, they should at least explain the criteria of patriotism in which the elements that raise the slogans of destroying India fit into. Such fundamental questions are met by inexplicable silence from these self serving ideologues. Truly speaking certain issues are beyond the scope of partisan politics. They must be addressed with an outlook that transcends the calculation of electoral gains. The people who raise slogans of breaking-up and ruining country and then slip into the argument of freedom of speech forget that only if the country survives will their democratic rights and freedom of speech prevail. If you set out to destroy the very same country that gives you those rights then should not such attitude be opposed tooth and nail? The differing views within the country must be respected, even if they are in opposition to each other. Unity in diversity is the hallmark of our country. That is exactly why so many differing thought systems have flourished here. Tolerance for different ideologies is ingrained in the ethos of this country. It is for that reason that prime importance is accorded to freedom of thought and expression in our country. But that does not imply that anyone can question the very idea and existence of the country. Rights come hand in hand with responsibilities. It can be debated whether there should be capital punishment or not. But the present status is that the Indian Constitution has accepted capital punishment under rarest of rare cases. How can these people describe the hanging of Afzal Guru and Yakub Memon as judicial killings when it was awarded by courts of law after fulfilling all provisions of constitution framed by Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar? We must not forget that judicial procedure for Yakub Memon continued all through the night till early dawn. Calling the sentence awarded to the Guru as judicial killings, despite the fact that all the judicial procedures as per the provisions of constitution had been fulfilled, is the hypocrisy of the highest order. What can one say about people raising slogan against violence and yet keeping studied silence when issues of Naxalite violence are raised? The argument that no serious harm is caused if a few helpless students raise slogans against the country is also hollow because such incidents are not happening for the first time. Basically this argument of poor helpless students is erroneous. For being poor does not give one licence to speak against ones country. There are many questions facing the country. And together we will solve them all. But the slogan of Pakistan Zindabad is certainly not an effective solution for them. Similar incidents have also occurred in JNU in the past. In 2011 this same Democratic Youth Federation had arranged a speech for Arundhati Roy. And in the same function she had issued a statement supporting the killing of Indian soldiers in Kashmir. Is the democracy and one-sided freedom of speech the monopoly of such hypocrite pseudo secularists and intellectuals alone? The incident of opposing Baba Ramdevs programme in JNU is still fresh. All its claims of intellectual openness and honesty fall flat by such incidents. Where were the protectors of freedom of speech at that time? A lone arrest in JNU reminded them of emergency. But how many people raised their voices when many repressive instances including the real emergency occurred in the country? How many people returned their awards? These people who raised a hue and cry for the solitary arrest in JNU did not feel it necessary to register even their simple protest against the murder of an RSS swayamsevak in the presence of his parents that took place in Kerala the other day. Truly speaking if you do not agree with the decisions being taken by Modi government then you should go and tell that to the people. But at least dont support anti-national activities for petty politics. Rahul Gandhi has no time to visit the family of the late Lance Naik Hanumanthappa Koppad, the soldier martyred in Siachen. But he feels it necessary to go and support people who indulge in activities that harm the countrys interests. He likened the government with that of Adolf Hitler and also criticised it, but conveniently forgot that his own grandmother had imposed emergency in the country. It is because the people have seen through such hypocritical secularism of these people that the society has rejected them. It seems that they have not come out of their make-believe world in which they can misguide people with their skewed propaganda spread through the debates conducted in the air-conditioned studios of the mainstream media. Frankly speaking, it is something else than meets the public eye that these people are worried about. The country has accepted the manifesto of BJP and has given it a clear mandate. People have voted for development. And these people cannot digest this fact. Hence the need to muddle the countrys political atmosphere with ever-new issues on daily basis. The government under Modi at the centre is working effectively for development. Modi by virtue of his dynamic leadership and speedy decisions has completely overhauled the functioning of the government that was trapped in the culture of redtape and corruption during the Congress reign. The governance has become truly effective and responsive to the needs of the country. The image of India as an attractive destination for investment has been firmly established amongst the international community. The investments are growing. The countrys growth rate bears witness to this fact. All this is going to lead to positive results for the country in coming years. And that gives these hypocritical pseudo-secularists reason to be upset and unsettled about. (The author is a spokesman of Maharashtra BJP) Flawed Drug Lab Tests Lead to False Confessions A confession can be a powerful piece of evidence against a criminal defendant, often negating the need for a trial entirely. And in the vast majority of criminal cases, a defendant will admit guilt to charges as part of a plea bargain. This is all well and good, assuming those confessions are true. But that's not always the case. Defendants give false confessions for a variety of reasons, mostly in the face of overwhelming evidence of their guilt. But what happens when that evidence is faulty? Harris County, Texas is finding out: the jurisdiction just released a report on dozens of exonerations after drug possession guilty pleas were based on inaccurate drug tests. So how is this happening? Faulty Field Tests Last year, Harris County overturned 43 criminal convictions, 42 of which were for drug possession. In each of those 42 cases lab tests later revealed that whatever people were possessing, it wasn't drugs. (The Washington Post's Radley Balko points out that notoriously error-prone field tests will return false positives for "chocolate cookies, motor oil, spearmint, soap, tortilla dough, deodorant, billiards chalk, patchouli, flour, eucalyptus, breath mints, Jolly Ranchers and, infamously, loose-leaf tea.") False positives from field drug tests led to 41 false confessions to drug possession over the last two years in Harris County. Possessing even trace amounts of drugs in Texas is a felony, and it appears that many defendants were pleading guilty to avoid lengthy prison sentences. Most of the people who had no prior record and pled guilty served no time in jail. Broken Crime Lab This is a good first step for Harris County, but it is by no means the end of the road. Problems with their crime lab results stretch back decades, with the most recent scandal in 2013 when an investigation found that a lab tech was fabricating the results of thousands of drug tests. And this latest report noted "200 additional guilty plea drug conviction cases with lab reports indicating no illegal drugs are still being processed." It may sound odd, but just because a person confessed doesn't mean they are guilty. Especially when that confession is based on invalid evidence. Before confessing to any crime, you should consult with an experienced criminal defense attorney first. Related Resources: New York: You dont want to miss this ! Shah Rukh Khan on Bollywood and Mukesh Ambani on oil prices and Reliance Jio headline by far the world's most respected global affairs show Sunday 10 am EST. Fareed Zakaria, host of CNNs flagship foreign affairs program Fareed Zakaria GPS interviews two Indian icons this Sunday, 21 February Indias richest man and Chairman of Reliance Industries Mukesh Ambani and Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan. 'Fareed Zakaria GPS' airs on CNN at 10 am and 1 pm EST Sunday in the United States and five times globally on CNN International. Zakaria, often described as the most influential foreign policy adviser of his generation and certainly one of a kind from Indian roots, speaks to Ambani on his massive investment in Reliance Jio and the single biggest economic opportunity of the moment. Ambani explains why he is betting big on Jio and why that is crucial for India which is on the threshold of a revolution never seen in a "100 years". Barely a few weeks ago, it was Shah Rukh Khans selfie with Mukesh Ambani during the #CelebratingJio launch in Mumbai which smashed records for retweets on Twitter. As we saw the year 2012-13, India is 150th in the world in mobile broadband penetration as well as quality. And Jio is really conceived to change this position, says Ambani in the exclusive interview that airs worldwide on CNN. Zakaria speaks at length with Mukesh Ambani on global oil prices too. Ambani said oil prices will remain "low for long, at least 3-5 years." Zakaria travelled from New York to Mumbai to meet Ambani at his residence Antilla, in Indias financial capital. Both these marquee interviews on the GPS show have made it into the must watch buzz across American broadsheets. Los Angeles Times lists the Mukesh Ambani interview in its television highlights for the weekend. The LA Times also speaks of Shah Rukh Khan as perhaps the worlds biggest movie star. Zakaria introduces Shah Rukh Khan to his audience this way: If you dont know him and his work, you should. Shah Rukh Khan, sporting a beard, talks about how Hollywood is competing to make a mark in India while Bollywood movies stand shoulder to shoulder in the global marketplace. If they dont have six songs, theyre not competing with us, Shah Rukh Khan begins before getting serious about strategy and stardom in the movies. It will be quite a while before international cinema becomes real competition, Shah Rukh tells Zakaria. Excerpts from the Mukesh Ambani interview: Fareed Zakaria: Your company generates huge amounts of cash. You have been pouring all of of this into one huge venture which is to provide the internet to people essentially on cellphones. Why do you think this is worth that massive investment? Mukesh Ambani: I believe that humanity is at the doorstep of massive change and we are just at the beginning of the information and digital age. And, in the next 20 years, in a networked society, we are going to have change much more than we have seen in the last 100 years. Its really digitisation and the digital world that is going to lead this. From an India point of viewIndia cannot be left behind in this revolution. As we saw the year 2012-13, India is 150th in the world in mobile broadband penetration as well as quality. And Jio is really concieved to change this position. Zakaria: Your company runs the largest oil refinery in the world. What do you think is the trajectory for oil prices going forward? Ambani: As we see the situation- its low for long. And its really the first time in the world that oil prices have gone down on incremental supply. Zakaria: What does that mean? Could you explain? Ambani: What it really means is that we have had oil price spikes but never has it been because of more supply than demand. Also because of innovation primarily in the US, we have large quantitues of oil. The US has gone from less than a million barrels per day to 9 million barrels a day and OPEC has lost control of supply. Zakaria: How long is long? Ambani: At least 3 to 5 years until we see a structural change, but ive always been wrong (smiles). Zakaria: This is indeed a dramatic situation Ambani: As we sit in India, consequence for India is very favourable as we are one of the largest importers of oil. It helps our forex bill, helps lower prices and in a certain sense it helps fiscal deficit of the government as they can mop up incremental revenue. For oil importing countries it is very good. On an overall economic basis, it is deflationary. All of us understand the dangers of deflation. -- Fareed Zakaria GPS was aired at 5.30 pm IST on Sunday (21 February) on CNN International. Vatican City: Pope Francis's hint that the Vatican could relax its ban on contraception in response to the Zika virus was hailed as a shift in Church thinking Friday - but not everyone was convinced it amounts to meaningful change. "Pope Francis signals openness to birth control for Zika," read a headline on the Boston Globe's Vatican-watching website www.cruxnow.com that reflected much media coverage around the world. "Francis says contraception can be used to slow Zika," trumpeted the New York Times while an online headline in Britain's The Guardian said: "Pope suggests contraception can be condoned in Zika crisis." Commentators however cautioned against reading too much into Francis's off-the-cuff comments and a pro-choice lobby within the Church said they amounted to "little or no change". Catholics for Choice also warned that Francis's simultaneous description of abortion as an "absolute evil" will result in women suffering from the virus dying in back-street terminations. Jon O'Brien, president of the US-based group, said Francis's comments were "profoundly disappointing and wrong," for women going through "terrifying ordeals" because of Zika, a mosquito-born virus which has been linked to serious birth defects and has spread throughout Latin America. O'Brien said: "It's a fact that when women who are desperate to end a pregnancy don't get access to safe and legal services, they can resort to unsafe abortions, whether by self-administering or going to an unqualified provider. "When women find themselves in these desperate situations, they suffer and they die. Pope Francis should be well aware of that." O'Brien argued that Francis's stance on reproductive rights was at odds with his concern for the world's poor. "So often, Francis addresses issues of poverty, but he doesn't recognise that it is poor women who suffer and die from restrictions to their reproductive health. The rich can always circumvent any restriction." Mixed signals While condemning abortion as akin to "what the mafia does, a crime, an absolute evil," Francis said during his flight back from a trip to Mexico that "avoiding a pregnancy is not an absolute evil." And by citing the example of one of his predecessors, Pope Paul VI, who authorised nuns at risk of being raped in Africa to use contraception, he appeared to open the door to tacit Church approval for its use to combat the spread of Zika. O'Brien said the pope's comments were comparable to his immediate predecessor Benedict's mixed signals on the use of condoms to prevent HIV infection in Africa. Benedict prompted furore in 2009 when he suggested distributing condoms could make Africa's AIDS crisis worse. But he later backtracked, accepting that they could be used to prevent infection in certain cases, notably by prostitutes. Francis's comments on Thursday seemed to be at odds with what some of his own officials have been saying lately. Bishops in Latin America have responded to the Zika crisis by reasserting Church opposition to abortion and artificial contraception, urging believers to either abstain from sex if there is a risk of infection or use natural family planning to avoid a risky pregnancy. On Wednesday, the Vatican's ambassador to the United Nations attacked the UN human rights agency's call for a liberalisation of abortion laws in a region where it is largely outlawed or restricted to cases where a mother's life is in danger. "A diagnosis of microcephaly (the defect most often linked to Zika), or the fear of such a diagnosis, should not warrant a death sentence," said the ambassador, Archbishop Bernadito Auza. Despite its upbeat headline, Cruxnow cautioned that Francis had not explicitly said he favoured the use of contraception for Zika, while the National Catholic Reporter recalled Francis's tetchy reaction to being asked in November about the use of condoms to prevent HIV transmission. Returning from a three-country African tour, Francis said that while condoms were "one of the ways" of preventing infection, sexual relations should always be open to procreation. AFP By Mrinal Rajaram Nelle Harper Lee passed away on the morning of 19 February. She died in her sleep in her hometown of Monroeville, Alabama. The year was 1960. The book was To Kill A Mockingbird. Met with instant commercial success and critical acclaim, this bittersweet novel about childhood innocence and innocence lost would transcend boundaries to make a place in our collective conscience. Told with a compassionate and insightful voice, its diminutive author from the American South would receive the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1961. But the novel, with its subject of racial tensions simmering at its core, would be the subject of some controversy. Not all reviews were favourable, either. At the time of its publication Flannery OConnor said, I think for a child's book it does all right. It's interesting that all the folks that are buying it don't know they're reading a child's book. Somebody ought to say what it is. Lees childhood friend and author, Truman Capote, would write fondly of her on the cover of Mockingbirds very first edition. Rumours, that he was in fact the driving force behind the masterpiece, have done the rounds for years. In spite of it all, the book has enjoyed a unique staying power. Like all great art, it gets more and more relevant as time wears on. More than half a century after it made its way into a number of living rooms across America and the world, To Kill a Mockingbird remains a true beacon of literature. What makes a writer great? Is it a combination of superlative art and high productivity? Should a writer aim to pen ten good books as opposed to one absolute masterpiece? There are no easy answers here, but I would argue that if you had one great book in you, it is worth far more than a hundred good ones. Up until last year, Lees only shot at authorship remained Mockingbird. For decades she claimed she would never write another book. Somewhere along the way, she attempted more fiction, but shelved the writing midway because she wasnt happy enough with the results. In 2015, Go Set a Watchman made it to the stands amid considerable controversy. At 88, nearly fifty-five years after her first book, the much awaited follow-up was upon the world. Some believe that the writer who shunned the public eye for most of her life may have been pressured into consenting to the books release. Though I have not read it yet, Go Set a Watchman is said to be, in many ways, the first draft of what would eventually become Mockingbird. I was a late bloomer when it came to reading. It was only when I turned seventeen that I began poring over rows upon rows of books that lined the varnished wooden shelves of my home. It didnt take me long to realise the things I had been missing out on for all this time. It was in the midst of this newfound love for literature that I picked up a book that would have a profound impact on me in the years to follow. Id heard of it time and time again, so its title and author were no strangers to me. As I commenced reading To Kill a Mockingbird, I was filled with a sense of immense wonder. In its first few chapters, we are introduced to the sleepy town of Maycomb, Alabama. The precocious six-year-old, Scout Finch, lives out her seemingly idyllic childhood with brother, Jem, and father, Atticus. The children fill their days by attempting to draw the reclusive and mysterious Boo Radley from out of his house. Calpurnia, the kids endearing black nanny, assumes the role of a mother-figure throughout the narrative. When Atticus defends a black man accused of raping a young white girl, Scout and Jem are exposed to the harsh realities of race and racial inequality. Abounding with much humour, infinite wisdom and unforgettable characters, Harper Lees moving tale offers readers great hope even while exploring some of mankinds darkest prejudices. In 1949, a young Lee moved to New York in the hopes of becoming a writer. In those early years of struggle she wrote in her spare time while supporting herself with a regular job. She found an agent in 1956 for a series of long stories that had been written along the way. But it was a stroke of genuine providence on Christmas that would seemingly alter the course of the young writers life. She received a gift of one years pay from friends, accompanied by a note that read, You have one year off from your job to write whatever you please. Merry Christmas. By the spring of 1957, Lee had already submitted the first draft of the iconic story to her agent. The editorial team of the J B Lippincott Company had warned Lee not to expect much in terms of sales at the time of the novels publication. Much to her surprise, Mockingbird became an instant success upon its release, throwing the young author into the spotlight. Millions of copies in sales, a number of translations and a Pulitzer meant she was one of the most sought after writers around. But Harper Lee was never one to embrace celebrity. She declined to speak at public events, reasoning that it was better to be silent than to be a fool. Within a few years of Mockingbirds publication, she would give up granting interviews altogether. Mockingbird Groupies continue to make the long trek to Monroeville in search of the elusive author, even to this day. 1962 would see the novel adapted to the screen. Lee was very pleased with the Academy Award-winning film that would go on to become a classic in its own right. Gregory Peck and Harper Lee would remain lifelong friends after first meeting on the sets of the movie. As much as I admire the film version, there are some elements of the book that fail to be captured on-screen. From the first few pages of her classic Bildungsroman to the memorable last lines, I was gaining an insight into Harper Lee the person. And I can say without a shadow of doubt, I was the better for it. The words of the immortal Atticus Finch still ring in my years: Courage is not a man with a gun in his hand. It's knowing you're licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do. This specific quote has great significance to me because (though uttered in very different context) it can so easily refer to struggling artists and writers. Based heavily on the memorable characters she grew up with, this superlative autobiographical novel continues to stand the test of time. Through her sensitive, honest and empathetic vision, her memory and her masterpiece will live on forever, inspiring countless generations to pick up that proverbial pen and set forth. Cliches are there for a reason. And the reason so many readers still mention To Kill a Mockingbird in their list of favourite books is because the creation and its author remain truly unforgettable entities. The author is a writer and freelance journalist from Chennai. His journalistic work has appeared in The Times of India, The Economic Times, Ritz Magazine and Score. His first short story was published in The Madras Mag in March 15. UNITED NATIONS Russia asked the United Nations Security Council on Friday to call for Syria's sovereignty to be respected, for cross-border shelling and incursions to be halted and for "attempts or plans for foreign ground intervention" to be abandoned. Russia circulated a short draft resolution to the 15-member council over concerns about an escalation in hostilities after Turkey this week said it and other countries could commit ground troops to Syria. The Security Council met on Friday afternoon to discuss the draft, but veto-powers the United States, France and Britain all said it had no future. "Rather than trying to distract the world with the resolution they just laid down, it would be really great if Russia implemented the resolution that's already agreed to," U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power, told reporters after the meeting. She was referring to a resolution unanimously agreed by the Security Council in December that endorsed an international road map for a Syria peace process. The Russian draft, seen by Reuters, would have the council express "its grave alarm at the reports of military buildup and preparatory activities aimed at launching foreign ground intervention into the territory of the Syrian Arab Republic." It also demands that states "refrain from provocative rhetoric and inflammatory statements inciting further violence and interference into internal affairs of the Syrian Arab Republic." Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told Reuters this week that his country, Saudi Arabia and some European powers wanted ground troops in Syria, though no serious plan had been debated. Russian air strikes have helped to bring the Syrian army to within 25 km (15 miles) of Turkey's borders, while Kurdish militia fighters, regarded by Ankara as hostile insurgents, have also gained ground, heightening the sense of urgency. Turkey has been shelling positions of the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia in response to what it says is hostile fire coming across the border into Turkey. Russia's relations with Turkey hit a low in November when Turkish warplanes downed a Russian bomber near the Syrian-Turkish border, a move described by Russian President Vladimir Putin as a "dastardly stab in the back." Syria's civil war was sparked by a Syrian government crackdown on a pro-democracy movement in early 2011. Islamic State militants have used the chaos to seize territory in Syria and Iraq, and some 4.3 million Syrians have fled the country. The U.N. says at least 250,000 people have been killed. A U.S.-led coalition has been bombing Islamic State targets since September 2014. Russia began air strikes in Syria in September 2015. (ADditional reporting by Dmitry Solovyov; Editing by Leslie Adler, Sandra Maler and Andrew Hay) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. By Kathy Gannon Kainat Soomro was 13 years old and on her way to buy a toy for her newborn niece when three men kidnapped her, held her for several days and repeatedly raped her. Eight years later, she is still battling for justice. She sits on a steel-framed bed in her parents' three-bedroom home, and holds her blue shawl tight around her body. When she describes the horror of her captivity her voice is barely a whisper, but it gains strength when she talks of the fight she has been waging: going to Pakistan's courts, holding protests, rejecting the rulings of the traditional Jirga council, taking on the powerful landlord and politician who she says are protecting her attackers. The Associated Press does not usually identify victims of sexual abuse, but Kainat has gone public with her case. Her battle for justice has inspired an award-winning 2014 movie, Outlawed in Pakistan. Malala Yousefzai, the Pakistani teenage Nobel Peace Prize winner who was shot by the Taliban, invited Kainat to the Nobel award ceremony, and her fund has given Kainat financial help. Yet Kainat's family has paid a high price for her bravery. One sister remains unmarried and another was divorced because her in-laws were ashamed to be associated with Kainat. In 2010, her brother was killed over his sister's refusal to stay silent. Clutching a gold-framed picture of his son, Ghulam Nabi Soomro spat out words of condemnation. "They know about our troubles thousands of miles away but here in the next street no-one is helping us get justice," he said. In Pakistan, women are often too fearful to report sexual violence, yet the independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan recorded 423 rapes and 304 gang rapes in 2015. It also said that in 2015, at least one woman a day was killed in the name of honour murdered for allegedly bringing shame on the family. "Each year a gamut of promises is made for the protection and development of women, but (they) remain unfulfilled by the year-end," the commission wrote in its 2014 annual report. Attackers are rarely jailed. Human rights workers say the police often refuse to even register a case involving attacks against women, and the powerful and rich are immune. The groups trying to advance women's rights in Pakistan's deeply traditional patriarchal society suffered a painful blow in January when the national parliament refused to pass laws banning child marriage. The parliament buckled to the dictates of the Islamic Ideology Council, a religiously right-wing advisory group with no legal authority. The same body has also said that taking DNA tests to identify a suspected rapist is against Islam. "Women's groups have been demanding that the Islamic Ideology Council be disbanded," says Uzma Noorani, an activist who also operates a women's shelter in Pakistan's port city of Karachi. She says rights advocates are fighting a war for change and occasionally battles are won. Southern Sindh province, of which Karachi is the capital, has passed legislation aimed at protecting women and banning underage marriages. But then the war begins again as they fight to convince police and judges to register cases and implement the laws, and to take authority away from the Islamic Ideology Council and other hard-line groups. "When you have a law it is like a weapon, when you need it you can use it," says one outspoken member of Sindh's legislature, Mahtab Akbar Rashdi. She says that the national government is pandering to those who adhere to a narrow and restrictive view of Islam, which mostly targets women. "It's as if women for them are the biggest problem in Islam," she says of the Islamic Ideology Council. One women's shelter in Karachi, surrounded by two walls and protected by guards, is home to around 40 women. Some have fled abusive husbands, some have been raped, others are being hunted down by families for choosing love. When Azra was 18, her family sold her for $5000 to an older man who passed her around to strangers. She ran away, and now she is fighting for a divorce and too afraid to leave the shelter's walls. The courts have yet to decide on her case and Azra who is just 20 wonders where she will go when the time comes to leave the shelter. Sidra Kamwal had left her abusive husband and moved back in with her mother when another man proposed to her. The man refused to take no for an answer. He pestered her and harassed her. And then one day he told her that if couldn't have her, no one could, and threw acid on her face. The months afterward were horrific. Her poverty meant doctors paid her little heed. One sent her home with only burn cream, but the pain and swelling were unbearable. Her nostrils had seared together. She returned to hospital and again, after three days, they sent her home. Her four-year-old son refused to come to her after her attack. "He didn't recognise me. My face scared him," she says, pulling her headscarf over her twisted mouth and nose. Nightmares haunt her sleep. Each time she closes her eyes his face appears. Sometimes he is hitting her, throwing more acid, pounding her. If her terror does not waken her, the small tube that runs between her burnt nostrils does. Without it, she struggles to breathe. It was not until she went to court that Noorani, the women's rights activist, saw her and she received treatment. According to the Human Rights Commission, 55 acid attacks took place in Pakistan in 2015. To date, only 17 arrests have been made. Unlike Kainat or Azra, Sidra's attacker is in jail, but his family has been embraced by the neighbours. The family jeers at her, and the neighbours applaud. Sidra, with her painfully disfigured face, is the outcast. AP Management Culture Is Crucial to Minimizing Employment Litigation Litigation may be a fact of life when you run a small business, but that doesn't mean small business owners don't want to avoid it as much as possible. The bad news is that the majority of the litigation risk comes from your own employees. The good news is that you can mitigate this risk with some common sense adjustments to your managerial style. Here's how your company's management culture can minimize your risk of employment litigation: Training Company culture comes from the top down, and it starts on the first day. How you train your managers will set the tone for your entire staff, and can either get you into a lot of trouble or keep you out of it. Most importantly, your managers need quality human resources training, including how to handle potential employee complaints. Managers need to be familiar with the basics of employment law as well as new trends in workplace harassment and discrimination law in order to properly handle any situation before it gets out of hand. Attitude Managers create your company culture not just with what they know, but with what they do. If your managers' misbehavior goes unpunished, employee morale and conduct will soon follow, opening up your business to more lawsuits. Managers should be positive and proactive ambassadors of your management culture, encouraging open communication in the workplace and instilling trust when it comes to employment issues. Managers should also remind employees that discrimination, harassment, and disrespect in the office of others will not be tolerated and that management will quickly address any such incidents. Documentation One of the best ways to create faith and accountability in your management culture is to create and implement consistent systems for making employment decisions, logging and responding to employee concerns, and remedying potential legal problems. Comprehensive documentation of employment issues can be your best defense to an employee lawsuit, and hopefully keep you out of litigation in the first place. If you have questions about minimizing your small business's litigation risk, you can consult with an experienced employment law attorney near you. Follow FindLaw for Consumers on Google+. Related Resources: In 2005, a former AT&T engineer named Mark Klein walked into the Electronic Frontier Foundation's offices and revealed that he had helped the phone company build a secret NSA surveillance outpost at the Folsom Street switching station, through which AT&T was helping the US government conduct mass, warrantless, domestic surveillance. EFF has been in court with the US government ever since, fighting round after round of attempts by DoJ lawyers to get the case thrown out, usually on the basis that since all the evidence of NSA wrongdoing was secret, EFF couldn't proceed. The Snowden revelations helped some, but it's been touch and go for more than a decade. Now, Judge Jeffrey White has ruled in Jewel, a case that's been underway since 2008, and given EFF leave to conduct discovery on the NSA, forcing the agency to produce documents that will answer key questions about their program of mass domestic spying. This marks the first time a party has been allowed to gather factual evidence from the NSA in a case involving the agency's warrantless surveillance. The government had fought all our requests to proceed with this lawsuit, arguing that the state secrets privilege protects it against both discovery and liability. Judge White previously rejected that argument for our statutory claims under the Wiretap Act, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, and the Stored Communications Act. This ruling affirms Judge White's previous decision and opens the door for discovery. This is an important step forward to lifting the cloak of secrecy that has thus far shielded the NSA from judicial scrutiny, and EFF looks forward to finally getting to the nuts and bolts of this extraordinarily important lawsuit. Big Victory: Judge Pushes Jewel v. NSA Forward [David Greene/EFF] In 2013, a hacktivist group calling itself Konstant kOS raided one of the government's most secure computer networks. Their target was a list of more than a million American citizens monitored as potential terrorist threats. The list was classified because it was feared that making it public could result in widespread violence. Konstant kOS, on other hand, believed information needed to be free. They thought citizens should know about potential terrorists amongst them. Also, they thought stealing and publishing the list would be fun. So they did. As a result, thousands of innocents were assaulted or even murdered. This didn't happen, of course; it's a small detail in my novel Written in Fire, the final book in the Brilliance Trilogy. The premise of the series is that since 1980, 1% of people have been born with extraordinary gifts, essentially a form of savantism that lets them see patterns the rest of us can't. Some spot rhythms in the stock market and amass vast fortunes; others read body language so minutely they can intuit your thoughts and fears. The stolen data was a nearly complete list of these "brilliants." While Konstant kOS is my invention, they're obviously based on hacker collectives like Anonymous, which fascinate me. Shadowy organizations of rogue anarchists waging private wars resulting in everything from surreal silliness to rough justice to reprehensible and mistargeted damage? Tell me more. At this point, I should say that while I'm tech-savvy, by the standards of this fine publication, I'm at best a journeyman. I haven't the vaguest notion how to use Tor, or conduct a denial of service attack. I don't even have an anti-RFID wallet. (Note to self: Get one.) The bulk of coverage on groups like Anonymous falls into two camps. The first is the Chicken Little crowd, which cherry-picks worst-case hypotheticals What if they take down the power grid?! and presents them as fear porn. The far more interesting side focuses on trying to parse them, to explore of origins and culture and mechanics and meaning. What's odd to me, though, is that you rarely see a piece openly weighing the potential positive nature of groups like Anonymous. For example, it could be argued that politically minded hackers may represent a modern version of the protection the second amendment was intended to offer. In 1791, the right to bear arms to defend against an over-reaching government wasn't theoretical. Today, it's hard to imagine physical weapons serving the same purpose. But it's easy to see how hacktivists might especially if you broaden the opponents to include hate groups and rapacious multinationals. Plus, much of the time they're targeting assholes. Hacktivists have shut down child porn sites and released personal information on the people who run them. They digitally raided the Westboro Baptist Church, an organization that enjoys picketing funerals with signs declaring "God Hates Fags." They've tangled with both Scientology and the Koch brothers, and it's hard not to delight in bloody noses on those faces. If it sounds like I'm rooting for Anonymous, it's because part of me is. They not only tend to punish shitheads, they do it with a sense of warped humor. It amuses me that their own description of their methods is "ultra-coordinated motherfuckery." They're rogues, an archetype no storyteller can resist. But on a more civilized level, I posit that there is real benefit derived from them, too. Their actions point out weaknesses in our systems, invaluable when you consider that in any future conflict digital superiority will be as important as air superiority is today. Of course, it's not that simple. Revealing personal data on people who trade in underage sexual exploitation is fine with me. But what if some of the names are included just to settle a grudge? Or if the situation isn't as clear-cut as child abuse? When Ashley Madison user data was released by The Impact Team, the stated reasons were disgust with infidelity and extortionary business practices. But even if that is the purest truthand it probably isn'tthe consequences were far messier, including several suicides. Making things more complicated, it's impossible to say what Anonymous is about, because there is no single Anonymous. It's not a company, or a government; it's a bunch of individuals of widely varied intentions that come together to work on the ops that amuse them. The purpose, philosophy, and capabilities shift moment to moment. For every "moralfag" out to right wrongs, there are others who just think it's hilarious to d0x people. That lack of structure is both a strength and a weakness. It makes them difficult to target and impossible to eradicate. But it also means that there is a limit to how effective they can be. As the Occupy Movement demonstrated, it's tough to change anything when you're talking about everything. Especially if your rhetoric involves cat pictures and your public appearances are in Guy Fawkes masks. At the end of the day, I'm glad that collectives like Anonymous exist. This is probably a personal failing. While I know that I shouldn't root for the Barefoot Bandit, the Washington teenager who stole airplanes he didn't know how to land, or be delighted by the tale of the Antwerp Diamond Heist, in which half a billion dollars in jewels were stolen without one injury, the stories are too good to not to enjoy. Plus, maybe it's naivete, but I'd like to believe that if the circumstances are dire enough, hacktivists will throttle back on pointless pranks and make a difference. Biella Coleman, an NYU professor and leading writer on Anonymous, compares the group to the mythological archetype of the Trickster. In mythology, the Trickster is the character with secret knowledge, the one who disdains rules and swears allegiance only to their own amusement. They're about chaos for chaos's sakeright up to the moment the best trick is to save the world. Marcus Sakey's thrillers have been nominated for more than fifteen awards, named New York Time's Editor's Picks, and selected among Esquire's Top 5 Books of The Year. His novel GOOD PEOPLE was made into a movie starring James Franco and Kate Hudson, and BRILLIANCE is currently in development with Legendary Pictures (Inception, The Dark Knight.) Marcus was also the host of the acclaimed television show "Hidden City" on Travel Channel, for which he was routinely pepper-sprayed and attacked by dogs. Correction: An earlier version of this article misidentified Biella Coleman as another journalist. A day before, we reported some concerns about Indias cheapest Android smartphone Freedom 251 and why it seems like more of a Publicity Stunt. We reached out to Ringing Bells with some of your FAQs (frequently asked questions) and companys President Ashok Chaddha has replied to many of them in an email statement. First and foremost, Ringing Bells has officially provided some data about number of registrations till Day 2 (19:49 hrs). company says that it received 3.70 Crore registrations on Day 1 (February 18) and 2.47 Crore on Day 2, which makes it 6.17 crores in total (over 60 millions). But thats different from how many Freedom 251 handsets have been sold so far,and it is only 30,000 plus officially. On Day 1, Payment Gateway crashed after 30,000 transactions and on Day 2 (February 19) company changed its policy and now people can register upfront but they will only get an email with payment link to process after 48 hours of registration. 1. There seems a problem with the payment gateway while ordering the phone from the freedom251.com website. Why? How soon will it be resolved? Has the sales stopped permanently? This problem occurred on first day morning (February 18) consequent to the pleasant deluge of viewers where even the high performance Servers of our Payment Gateway and our main Server Providers could not cope !! [There were 20 lakh requests on February 18 at the peak load and the total number of Registrations received on the day were 3,70,15,000] 2. How is Indian government partnering with a company with no proven track record? The Indian Government is not partnering the Company (Ringing Bells Pvt Ltd). 3. Why has Freedom 251 got Adcom branding on the front panel? Is it being manufactured by Adcom? And why was the branding covered by a whitener? What was that for? Even if it was just for demo and a sample phone why did the company fringe into other company products for that, why could not they just order fresh samples from where ever they were trading? We just wanted to show a sample/prototype of what the Handsets will look like. This is not the final piece Hence : We obviously wanted to provide Made in India Handsets as that is the core of our Vision. We did a quick and intensive search and located the components but re the Touch Plate, we faced a problem in view of the fragile nature in addition to the scratch-proof requirements of the piece. ADCOM is an India Company and we were able to source from them. In view of the shortage of time and given that these were to serve only as prototypes given FOC to a limited List of persons, we went ahead. We would clearly mention that the Final Freedom 251 manufactured/ assembled in India would be to identical specs i.e. no change ! There maybe some changes in curvature/ buttons placements for aesthetics, if at all. 4. If the actual phone is not ready why a rebranded different phone was given to the media. Is the much hyped Freedom 251 a concept in the air only? When we design a concept, we produce a Prototype to demonstrate. Then we test the acceptability from the Target Audience. Once this is accepted, we take this Prototype to the Design House to design the Chipset; the mold and then we decide on the actual add-ons like the buttons the colour screen quality etc. 5. Freedom 251 comes with 1 year warranty, but where are the service centres and how many? There are 604 service centres across country and check complete list with address, phone numbers and more here. 6. The phone is not listed on the BIS certifications page, why is this? Application is under filing and we expect to have the Certification in hand well before delivery commences. 7. The phone is running on Android, but is not showing in a list on Android partners either. Why is this? We are registered with Google Android Developers Platform. 8. What about the other handsets? People have been complaining about no delivery or even an order confirmation? Is this just a con game? We have delivered Rs 1.7 Crores worth of phones so far. In addition, PayU [Payment Gateway] has received Rs 1.75 Crores against our handset online bookings of Phase 1 and here, as we have committed, we will claim our money only after we complete delivery on Feb 25, 2016 and after we submit Proof of Delivery. While company has presented its defense against media scrutiny, we think it will still remain a question until they deliver. To remind you, BJP MP Kirit Somaiya has raised questions and written to both TRAI and Ministry of Telecom to investigate the issue (as we have reported earlier too). This follows mobile industry body Indian Cellular Association (ICA) letter to Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad yesterday to get into depth of the issue, saying the rate could not be below Rs 3,500 even after a subsidized sale. Scrambled eggs, omelets and fried egg can be delicious but can take its toll on your health if eaten regularly. If you are in a rush and lack cooking skills, and all you can prepare for breakfast is a hearty egg meal, fret not! We challenge you to do the 30-Day Bake Egg Challenge! Don't worry, the recipes are on us! Waking up will definitely be more egg-citing! Day 1: Baked Eggs with Potatoes and Pancetta This dish is perfect for sharing--or you can prepare a batch and eat it for later too. The instructions are simple; Fry the Pancetta until some of the fat are reduced. Then, add the garlic, rosemary and chili flakes. Stir in the tomatoes and the parmesan cheese. Let it simmer and season with salt and pepper. Transfer the contents into a baking dish and crack one egg on each dish. Bake it in a preheated oven and wait for the egg to cook, about 20-25 mins. Then you are good to go. Day 2: Quiche Lorraine With Hash Brown Crust As Pop Sugar describes it: ""This tastes like a cross between a hash brown, quiche and potato dauphinoise gratin. Match made in heaven." Get the recipe here. Day 3: Coddled Eggs If you want to call it the fancy way: "Oeufs en Cocotte". This dish is baked egg with cream and seasoned with salth and pepper. Make your own with the help of this recipe! Day 4: Cheesy Spinach Mini Frittatas You need not to use your frittata-flipping skills with this one because you can use a muffin tin or a ramekin as an alternative. And instead of frying, bake it! Because health reasons! Just imagine cheese and eggs and spinach in one power combo breakfast! Day 5: Indian-Style Baked Eggs With Green Harissa and Naan Since you survived your first work week with eggs for breakfast, it's now time to travel around the world with eggs! Try this Indian favorite, close your eyes and let your tastebuds take you to another country! Day 6: Egg Clouds Have you always thought of how clouds would taste like? Try out this recipe and find out! Day 7: Italian Baked Eggs After exploring south Asia, let's take our palate to Europe! This is how Italians make their egg breakfasts! Day 8: Cheddar, Bacon, and Leek Frittata It's time to reward yourself with a hearty meal since it's a Sunday. The fuss is worth it because there is bacon on it. Day 9: Baked Eggs on a Bed of Cherry Tomatoes It's a monday and you have to get out of bed!! Just look forward to a nice egg breakfast as a consolation instead! Now you can see that there are a lot of ways you can turn your breakfast staple into. Some of it even let you travel accross the globe while some look as if it came out of a classy restaurant! Continue the challenge and look for the succeeding recipes here! Starbucks along with several other eateries were recently under fire due to high sugar amounts in their drinks and foods. This update pushed Starbucks to reveal that they are working on reducing the sugar count on their drinks. According to reports from the UK-based Action on Sugar, a health advocacy group, several drinks of Starbucks contain as much sugar as a can of cola. Some of the hot drinks from famous eateries add as much as 20 teaspoons of sugar. "[It's] yet again another example of scandalous amounts of sugar added to our food and drink," said Graham MacGregor, Action on Sugar chairman. The list was topped by Starbucks, which included Starbucks' Orange and Cinnamon Hot Mulled Fruit and Venti Grape with Chai, which contains 99 grams of sugar, which is equivalent to 25 teaspoons per serving, according to CNBC. Additionally, the Starbucks Chai Latte Venti contains 13 teaspoons of sugar, according to the activist group. When asked about this, Starbucks mentioned that they are taking action to make their drinks healthier. "Earlier this year we committed to reduce added sugar in our indulgent drinks by 25 per cent by the end of 2020," a Starbucks spokesperson said. "We also offer a wide variety of lighter options, sugar-free syrups and sugar-free natural sweetener and we display all nutritional information in-store and online." However, the promise seems inadequate for the campaigners, as they suggest that UK government needs to put a new tax on sugar in food along with the formation of an independent agency that will oversee the reduction in fat and sugar content in processed drinks and foods. According to several health experts, the excessive intake of sugar from drinks might lead to several health problems like tooth decay, obesity and type 2 diabetes and many believe that the sugar in drink should be regulated. The survey by Action on Sugar covered 131 hot drinks sold in U.K. retail district outlets. In a move to minimize the negative impact on animal welfare, the Netherlands has imposed a ban on exporting kosher and halal meats. An announcement in this regard was made by the Dutch junior minister for economic affairs, Martijn van Dam, on Wednesday. The country is prepared to make the laws related to ritually-slaughtered meat stricter, Dutch News reported recently. According to the report, Dam is in favor of more stringent rules on meat obtained from animals that are killed with 'ritual' methods, rather than being stunned. He aims to lessen the sufferings of the animals. In a letter to the Members of Parliament, Dam wrote, "I find the current implementation unacceptable. Negative effects on animal welfare must be minimized." The letter further added that henceforth it will be mandatory to clearly label all meat from ritually killed animals, which are only available in some religious communities and not in the 'regular' meat chain. According to the Dutch minister, the government would not allow such meat to be exported. Dam clarified that he had already spoken to various Jewish and Muslim organizations in the country, besides the slaughterhouses. He said that he has urged them to agree to implement the new rules relating to meat export, Independent reported quoting the Dutch news website. The government has made agreements with these organizations for this purpose, Dam said. According to the provisions in the new rules, it will become mandatory for all abattoirs that want to continue with performing ritual slaughter to register themselves with the concerned authorities for the next year. Moreover, in order to avoid the animals from being stunned, it will be necessary to undertake their eye tests with a view to ensuring that all the animals are in an unconscious state before they are slaughtered. While the Dutch food and goods authority the NVWA will monitor the activities of the slaughter houses and the above-mentioned organizations, it will be mandatory for all slaughterhouses to record the number of animals slaughtered. Vale (NYSE: VALE) and Silver Wheaton (NYSE: SLW) both operate in the commodity markets and are facing some outside-the-norm troubles right now. At the same time. they are fundamentally different businesses and the risks are on a different scale. Here's the reason one is a better option. Commodity downturn Vale and Silver Wheaton are both tied to the commodity markets. But there's a key difference. Vale is a miner, which means it owns and operates mines, taking on all the risks and costs associated with that venture. Silver Wheaton is a streaming company, which means it provides cash up front to miners for the right to buy future silver and gold production at reduced costs. It doesn't do any of the dirty work or bear any of the risks of running a mine. In fact, while Silver Wheaton's results have been hurt by falling prices, it's still a profitable business because its silver and gold costs are so low (around $4 an ounce for silver and $400 an ounce for gold). The mining and streaming businesses are symbiotic. For example, Silver Wheaton actually provided Vale with $900 million last year, helping the miner shore up its balance sheet, in exchange for the right to buy gold from one of its mines at roughly $400 an ounce. That sounds like a bad deal for Vale, but the miner needs cash, so it's really a win/win for both companies -- and gold isn't one of Vale's major markets. Which brings up the first reason Silver Wheaton is a better option today than Vale. The commodity market downturn has put Vale in a precarious financial position. It's been selling assets and cutting spending to cope. Silver Wheaton has used this downturn to grow its business. It's getting better today, with no need to wait (perhaps hope) for a commodity upturn to save the day. Silver Wheaton may not be as profitable as it once was because of lower commodity prices, but that's a vastly different situation than Vale, which looks like it's simply trying to survive. Problems, problems, problems But merely surviving a commodity downturn isn't Vale's only trouble today. It's half owner of the Samarco Mine in Brazil, where mining waste broke through a containment dam. People died and there was material property damage. It's pretty bad, and it occurred at a time when Vale is trying to conserve cash. Although Samarco is, technically, a separate company, Brazil is holding Vale and 50% co-owner BHP Billiton (BHP -0.66%) responsible. Brazil is looking for $5 billion from the pair, but that number could simply be a starting point. So not only is Vale struggling in an out-of-favor mining industry, but it also has a big company-specific problem on its plate. That said, Silver Wheaton has some troubles of its own. Silver Wheaton is currently fighting the Canadian government over how much it owes in taxes. Canada says the streaming company owes it something on the order of $400 million in back taxes, interest, and fines. The company's net income was only $200 million in 2014 and $160 million (removing an impairment charge) through the first nine months of 2015. In other words, even though Silver Wheaton believes it doesn't owe any back taxes, this is a notable issue if Canada decides it does owe the money, which is one of the reasons Silver Wheaton's shares have been struggling of late, aside from falling silver and gold prices. But this problem is orders of magnitude less onerous than what's facing Vale and the Samarco Mine. In fact, even if Silver Wheaton loses its tax case, it should be able to come up with the cash without too much pain. (It could probably pay off that tab with its revolving credit facility, if it had to.) Vale, on the other hand, already in a position of weakness, might need some very expensive outside financial help to deal with the costs its facing. In the end, that could make an already bad industry downturn even worse for the giant iron ore miner. Going against the grain Vale and Silver Wheaton are most appropriate for contrarian investors. Both operate in the out of favor commodity markets, and each has its own company-specific cross to bear. But the combination of an industry downturn and a mining disaster make Vale a highly risky investment option today. Sure, there may be a lot of upside if everything works out in Vale's favor. But what if it doesn't? That's why Silver Wheaton is the better option today. It is getting stronger during the commodity downturn by expanding its low-cost and still sustainable businesses model. Even if it loses the Canadian tax case, it's still likely to be in a better position to handle the hit and move forward without too much pain. And that story only gets better if silver and gold prices continue to head higher, as they have been in the face of market turbulence in the early part of 2016. The numbers are finally out from Colorado's Department of Revenue for calendar year 2015, and marijuana sales (both recreational and medicinal) came in at $996,184,788, a 42% increase from the previous year's $699 million in cumulative sales. With Colorado generating more than $100 million in marijuana sales in August alone for the first month ever, there had been speculation that sales for the budding industry would top the $1 billion mark in 2015, but it appears we'll have to wait to 2016 for Colorado's marijuana industry to officially hit the billion-dollar mark. Nonetheless, this is quite the achievement for Colorado, which only began selling marijuana recreationally just over two years ago. The Denver Post points out that the real surge in sales came on the recreational side of the equation. Following nearly $386 million in medical marijuana sales in 2014, medicinal marijuana sales jumped by only 5.8% in 2015 to $408.4 million. Recreational sales, though, rose from $313.2 million in 2014 to a whopping $587.8 million in 2015, an 87.7% increase. This also included a record $62.9 million worth of recreational marijuana sold in December. As noted by The Huffington Post, the nearly $1 billion in sales also led to $135 million in taxes and licensing revenue being raised, of which at least $35 million has been earmarked for schools within the state. The education system, law enforcement, and drug programs seem to be the biggest financial beneficiaries of the tax revenue being generated from retail marijuana in the early going. Other states want in The revenue being successfully generated by Colorado highlights the primary reason why certain states are tinkering with the idea of legalizing marijuana at the state level. Although marijuana's legalization isn't going to fill large budget gaps, the tax revenue being raised is focused solely on those using the product and involved within the industry, and it's helping out a very costly education system in select states. Coming up in November, Nevada has already collected enough signatures to get a marijuana initiative in front of its residents. California and Ohio are also expected to collect enough signatures to get a recreational (or in Ohio's case, a recreational and medicinal) initiative in front of voters. Legislators in Vermont has been so pleased with the performance of the marijuana industry in states like Colorado that they're tinkering with the idea of bypassing a ballot initiative altogether and just using the legislative process to legalize recreational marijuana. In short, the marijuana legalization movement appears unstoppable in Colorado and around the country -- or so it seems. Colorado's success masks major issues While it's hard to ignore the initial successes of Colorado, Washington, and even to some degree Oregon in the early going (Oregon only began selling recreational marijuana legally in October), these successes only mask the many challenges that constrain growth within the marijuana industry. The state of Colorado offers numerous examples of these challenges. To begin with, even though voters approved legal marijuana in November 2012, nearly three-quarters of Colorado's jurisdictions still ban the substance. Drug enforcement of marijuana, even when it's decriminalized, can be a nightmare scenario that creates a Swiss cheese pattern of legal and illegal jurisdictions throughout the state. Another concern is the use of marijuana edibles. Although packaging regulations are toughening in Colorado, edibles still present a unique challenge for regulators. It's not too tough to regulate a green plant or buds, but when the drug is infused into food it can be potentially tricky to track. Regulators worry about edible marijuana products falling into the hands of minors, and they're also often concerned about the consistency of THC content (THC is the psychoactive component of marijuana) from one batch of product to the next. Another major issue we've seen unfold is that banks are mostly unwilling to work with marijuana-based businesses. In the few states where recreational marijuana has been legalized, work-arounds have been put in place for financial institutions to do business with marijuana shops, but most banks don't want to deal with the hassle of the work-arounds, or the potential legal implications of assisting a business that markets a substance still considered illegal by the federal government. This leaves most marijuana businesses to deal mostly in cash, which presents major security concerns. Financially, marijuana businesses are also drawing the short straw. Even though the federal government views the marijuana plant as illegal, it still requires businesses that sell marijuana products to pay federal income taxes. Yet, according to U.S. tax code 280E, these same businesses are not allowed to take normalized business deductions, such as rent, because they're selling a federally illegal substance. The end result is marijuana businesses are being overtaxed. An even bigger issue at play Of course, there's the granddaddy of all dilemmas that the marijuana industry still has to contend with: the inaction of the federal government regarding the issue. As long as there are no changes made to the scheduling of marijuana on Capitol Hill, then marijuana-based businesses will likely continue to deal with the same inherent disadvantages they've coped with over the past couple of years. Why won't Congress move on marijuana? Look no further than its safety. From its long-term psychological impact on the brain to what it might do to consumers when they're behind the wheel of a vehicle, legislators on Capitol Hill worry about making too rash of a judgment call on marijuana before substantive long-term data is at their disposal. So what's next for the marijuana industry? In 2016 it could be looking at its best year yet in terms of state-level expansion, but with President Obama signaling that marijuana isn't on his agenda in 2016, you can probably chalk up another year of inaction at the federal level. The reality is that there is no timetable on when, or if, lawmakers will ever seriously take up marijuana legislation in Washington, D.C. While that may not stop marijuana from expanding to new states, it most definitely puts hurdles in place that dramatically slows the industry's growth prospects. I believe this gives investors all the more reason to steer clear of this industry for the time being. With Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, Ted Cruz, and Donald Trump notching primary victories in Iowa and New Hampshire this month, legal marijuana proponents and opponents gained insight into whether the next commander in chief is likely to advance pro-pot legislation or enforce federal marijuana laws at the state level. What could be in store for the marijuana movement if Sanders, Clinton, Cruz, or Trump wins in November? Read on to find out. Hillary's wait-and-see approach When it comes to marijuana policy, Hillary believes that states can serve as a testing ground for national policy. Generally, the former Secretary of State advocates watchful waiting when it comes to marijuana legalization, but she does support shifting marijuana to a class II drug from a class I drug under the Controlled Substances Act. With marijuana designated as a class I drug, research on the substance highly restricted. Making the switch to class II could make it easier for researchers to study marijuana and gain greater insight into marijuana quality, dosing, and the prescription drugs to avoid when using it. Hillary also says we should stop imprisoning people for marijuana use, though declaring marijuana a class II drug wouldn't eliminate the risk that the federal government will intervene at the state level and enforce federal marijuana laws. Therefore it's uncertain how she plans to reduce imprisonment for marijuana use. Overall, Clinton may be best described as a cautious supporter of marijuana legalization. A failed policy When compared to Bernie Sanders' position, Clinton's marijuana stance appears downright conservative. The Vermont Senator argues that the war on drugs is a bust and that its failure is acutely evident when measuring its impact on marijuana users, especially minorities, who have been found to be incarcerated more frequently for marijuana possession than other Americans. "We have 2.2 million people in jail today, more than any other country. And we're spending $80 billion a year to lock people up. We need major changes in our criminal justice system -- including changes in drug laws," said Bernie Sanders at George Mason University in October. Sanders believes that treating nonviolent drug offenders for drug dependency is a far better policy than incarcerating them. To that end, he supports removing marijuana from the Controlled Substance Act altogether. In November, Sanders introduced legislation to do that, and if it's passed, states would gain greater freedom to make their own decisions regarding marijuana without fear of federal intervention. Sanders move would also remove obstacles to the marijuana industry's use of banking services caused by money-laundering laws. Overall, Sanders' opinions make him the most pro-marijuana presidential candidate. Not a fan Because Ted Cruz previously criticized President Obama for failing to enforce federal marijuana laws in states like Colorado with pro-pot laws, the Texas Senator may be the biggest skeptic of the marijuana movement out of these candidates. Cruz has since softened his stance on enforcing federal laws in pot-friendly states, saying that while he disagrees with their conclusion, he thinks the federal government should "recognize that the citizens of those states have made that decision." Cruz's willingness to allow states to determine their own marijuana laws is good news for pro marijuana advocates, but he's also said he'd vote against marijuana if it gets on the Texas ballot. That could mean he'll use his clout to convince people to vote against marijuana at the polls, but that's uncertain. State by state The Marijuana Policy Project gives Donald Trump a C+ rating for his marijuana policy, and while that's a bit higher than Cruz's C rating, Trump hasn't said a lot about the subject on the campaign trail. Back in the early 1990s, Trump said that legalization should be on the table because we were losing the war on drugs; however, last fall, he said he opposes legalizing recreational marijuana. Trump does, however, support medical marijuana, arguing that medical marijuana "should happen." Trump also agrees with Cruz that the matter is really up to the states. Tying it together Sanders is the strongest proponent of marijuana legalization, and Cruz is the biggest opponent. Generally speaking, the Democratic candidates appear more willing to decriminalize marijuana than the Republicans do, and Republicans seem more comfortable leaving marijuana decisions up to individual states. Based on what these candidates have said so far, it appears all of them are at least willing to keep the door open to more widespread legalization at the state level. If so, that would appear mostly in keeping with the average Joe's opinion: 58% of Americans favor legalization, 23 states have adopted medical marijuana laws, and four states have embraced recreational marijuana laws already. Umberto Eco, the Italian philosopher, writer and semiotics professor, is dead at 84, reports the BBC. Eco is most famous as the author of elaborate historical novels such as The Name of the Rose and Foucault's Pendulum, but my favorite is his book of shorts, Misreadings. From it, here is his summary of the Bible, presented as an internal memo at a publishing house written by an editor rejecting the manuscript. The Bible: I must say that the first few hundred pages of this manuscript really hooked me. Action-packed, they have everything today's reader wants in a good story. Sex (lots of it, including adultery, sodomy, incest), also murder, war, massacres, and so on. The Sodom and Gomorrah chapter, with the tranvestites putting the make on the angels, is worthy of Rabelais; the Noah stories are pure Jules Verne; the escape from Egypt cries out to be turned into a major motion picture . . . In other words, a real blockbuster, very well structured, with plenty of twists, full of invention, with just the right amount of piety, and never lapsing into tragedy. But as I kept on reading, I realized that this is actually an anthology, involving several writers, with manytoo manystretches of poetry, and passages that are downright mawkish and boring, and jeremiads that make no sense. The end result is a monster omnibus. It seems to have something for everybody, but ends up appealing to nobody. And acquiring the rights from all these different authors will mean big headaches, unless the editor takes care of that himself. The editor's name, by the way, doesn't appear anywhere on the manuscript, not even in the table of contents. Is there some reason for keeping his identity a secret? I'd suggest trying to get the rights only to the first five chapters. We're on sure ground there. Also come up with a better title. How about The Red Sea Desperadoes? By Stefan Blitz Theres no doubt that the boldest and most personal fashion statement, anyone can make is in ones selection of t-shirt. Personally, I love them. Its an opportunity to show the world what pop culture I care about, a wonderful flashback to the past and a fantastic way to initiate any nerd discussion. For this installment of Cool Shirts, I took a look at some of the shirts from our friends at SuperHeroStuff.com which is not only one of the industrys oldest superhero specialty shops, but also one of the best. SuperHeroStuff sells more than shirts. Among their wares are hats, hoodies, underwear, socks, action figures, stickers, buttons, belts wallets, cardboard standups, jewelry and much more including large selections for women and children. And if youre interested in staying up to date, they have plenty of Deadpool, Batman v Superman and Star Wars: The Force Awakens merchandise to satisfy any and all geek cravings. These are a few of my recent favorites. Star Wars Jedi Swag Ending T-Shirt So, a farm boy leaves a desert planet to save a princess, befriend a pirate and his furry alien co-pilot and fall under the tutelage of an old wizard against an evil empire who have created a weapon the size of a planet. The farm boy joins the princess rebel squadron and lands the near-impossible shot which destroys the almost indestructible planetoid weapon of destruction. And is rewarded with a ceremony where he and the pirate get a medal and the applause of the entire rebellion. He also gets a new jacket. #swag He also gets pretty horny for the princess, who later turns out to be his sister. #lovefail Firestorm Black Distressed T-Shirt For me, part of the appeal of Firestorm is the pure ridiculousness of the sleeves on his costume. His head is an open flame of nuclear energy and his his hands allow him to project pure energy. And he has puffy sleeves. Chances are hed drag those through the hummus when reaching for a chip. The fact that hes one of the more powerful beings on the planet and chooses to don a billowy shirt is a question for the ages. Not wearing this awesome shirt is an equal question that is likely going to haunt you for all of eternity. Wolverine Red Rage Distressed 30 Single T-Shirt Im Wolverine. Im the best there is at what I do. And what I do isnt very nice. When it comes to everyones favorite Canadian mutant, this image by Arthur Adams has become one the characters most iconic. New folks might think Hugh Jackman is Wolverine, but old school fans know that hes not much more than a 53 bad-ass with a berserker rage and a penchant for cheap beer and redheads, bub. SNIKT! Batman Vs Superman Bat Symbol T-Shirt Tell me, do you bleed? You will. In the upcoming Batman v. Superman well witness the first onscreen pairing of The Man of Steel with The Dark Knight. As someone who didnt love Man of Steel, and has been less than enthusiastic with Afflecks duct tape-esque costume, there is no doubt how fantastic this logo is. Plus, finally seeing Affleck kick ass as Batman (perhaps the best on-screen interpretation yet) has me giddy. I want you to remember, Clark, in all the years to comein your most private momentsI want you to remember my hand at your throat. I want you to remember the one man who beat you. For more details and to check out their entire selection, visit SuperHeroStuff.com! Share this: Twitter Facebook LinkedIn WhatsApp Skype Email Candy, costumes, and trick-or-treating, oh my! Halloween is one of the popular holidays with children, and it is creeping up fast. Trick-or-treating is not the only Halloween activity in... Though it attracts its share of detractors, the evidence is beyond dispute: Amazon.com is one of the most extraordinary companies in business today, perhaps even the greatest of its time. The results speak for themselves. AMZN data by YCharts Since its May 1997 IPO, Amazon's stock has trounced many of the companies whose names also surface in discussions of long-run corporate excellence. Share-price performances largely reflect specific winning strategies and traits that allow a select few companies to flourish, while most wilt. So understanding the strategies that drive winning companies can help aid investors in their search for new holdings. Keeping that in mind, let's examine the trait that has led to Amazon's outsized success over the past two decades. Inside Amazon's secret weapon Like many of the great companies throughout history, Amazon's operations strategy is guided by a handful of defining core principles, perhaps the best known of which is to "focus relentlessly on our customers." To achieve this goal, Amazon borrowed a strategic framework called the "flywheel" from strategy guru Jim Collins. Here's a rough sketch of how the flywheel concept works. Image source: Amazon.com via Benedict Evans. This concept, while not unique to Amazon, is the key to understanding how the e-commerce giant guides its operations. In his best-selling book The Everything Store, which I highly recommend, author Brad Stone summarizes Amazon's application of the flywheel strategy: A flywheel at standstill requires a substantial amount of effort to begin spinning. However, once in motion, the flywheel begins to develop a momentum of its own, which makes it increasingly easy to spin. This same idea of momentum applies to the business analogy as well. Each improvement Amazon's employees make to fuel the flywheel helps accelerate the company's cycle of growth. Equally important, the flywheel concept is enduring. As Jeff Bezos himself has noted, the technologies and services that Amazon provides might change over the course of several decades, but the core tenets, such as low prices, embedded in the flywheel framework should consistently resonate with Amazon's customers, regardless of the circumstance. No signs of letting up Fortunately for Amazon and its shareholders, all signs show that the company remains as focused as ever on finding new ways to spin its flywheel. Amazon delivery drone. Source: Amazon. In what could be the most exciting news to come out of the e-commerce giant in some time, word recently surfaced that Amazon has considered creating its own global logistics service, apparently under the name Global Supply Chain by Amazon. Leaked documents show that discussions of the service have reached the upper ranks of Amazon's management. If it happens, it would also serve as a perfect application of Amazon's long-term flywheel strategy. With global e-commerce still in its relative infancy, Amazon understands that a key component of its global fulfillment will involve shipping goods produced in countries such as India and China to the rest of the world. So the company that can create a responsive and highly efficient means of sourcing items from producers to consumers should gain a long-term cost advantage over the competition. And as it has done so with third-party sellers on its website and AWS, Amazon can in theory create a way of subsidizing its own global supply chain infrastructure by allowing third parties to pay for Amazon to also fulfill their orders. Of course, this service would require a tremendous amount of investment and effort on Amazon's part. However, with one sell-side analyst estimating that Global Supply Chain by Amazon could produce revenues of roughly $400 billion for the company, the risk could well be worth it. Ideas like these show that Amazon remains as committed as ever to accelerating its flywheel, a fact that positions the company to succeed for years to come. The article The 1 Key to Amazon.com Inc.'s Success That No One Talks About (but Everyone Should) originally appeared on Fool.com. Andrew Tonner has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Amazon.com. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. IMAGE SOURCE: PANERA. Panera Bread has been a successful fast-casual company that seems poised for big things in 2016 and beyond. Here are three questions I would like to ask its longtime CEO, Ron Shaich. Company owned or franchised?Panera has an almost even blend of company-owned and franchise-operated locations. In 2015, 112 new locations were opened, with 55 of them being franchised. Of 1,972 total locations, 1,071 are franchised. Some companies choose to franchise nearly exclusively, while others keep all of their locations corporately owned. Panera's choice to do both adds another layer of complexity to Shaich's job but might be a powerful tool. Franchised locations are cheaper to open, allow for faster growth, and provide revenue stream from royalties, fees, and product sales. These two sources accounted for about 12% of the company's total revenue in 2015. The downsides are having less control over day-to-day operations and not being able to retain the earnings from the franchised locations. Company-owned locations allow the business to retain all of the store-level earnings and have more direct control over the operation of the business. In Panera's case, the average weekly sales for both types of locations have been similar for the past few years, with company-owned stores delivering $49,090 in 2015 versus $47,680 for franchised locations. Comparable sales year over year were 3% and 1.9%, respectively. The CEO, as capital allocator, must decide how funds can best be deployed to maximize total shareholder return. In the right hands, this power can lead to outstanding performance. Similarly, Shaich must decide what the growth footprint of Panera should look like over the next five, 10, and 20 years. In 2014, 43% of new locations were franchised, and that number jumped to 49% the following year. In the Q4 conference call, he said that 2016 openings will skew toward company-owned. I would like more information about the broad strategy regarding new openings and where he sees the blend in 10 to 20 years. "Panera at Home" or delivery?In the Q4 conference call (transcript bySeeking Alpha), the CEO mentioned two initiatives that intrigued me as a shareholder. PANERA AT HOME. IMAGE SOURCE: PANERA. Panera at Home intends to sell Panera-branded products through other retailers. The company claims that it's a $150 million business, with a 50% compounded annual growth rate over the last three years, and with sales growth of more than 20% in the past year alone. Shaich hopes for this toeventually become a business with $1.3 billion in total revenue.Considering that the wholecompany had revenues of $2.66 billion in 2015, thepotential impact on the business is obvious. Delivery is currently in 25 cafes generates sales of $5,000 a week against a $3,000 breakeven point, says Shaich. One can expect the breakeven point tobecome lower as scale increases andinefficiencies are worked out, and for the AWS to increase as awareness of delivery increases. Even $2,000 a week in profit spread over 2,000 stores would mean an additional $208 million in profit. This could prove to be either a conservative or lofty set of expectations, but the deliveryopportunity remains asignificant one. My concern is that thecompany may be spreading itself too thin. Betweenreconfiguring its stores for Panera 2.0, expanding its loyalty program, and opening 90 to 100 new locations in 2016, I wonder if it has the resources to successfully capitalize on all of theseopportunities. They're all compelling in their own right, but I worry that the company may be too small to be focusing on so many newinitiatives. Starbucks has a line of branded goods and is experimenting with delivery, but its market capitalization is 16 times larger than Panera's. I hope management can pull all of this off, but I would like some reassurance from the team. Tatte Bakery & Cafe: Boulange or Locale?Panera acquired a 50.01% stake inTatte Bakery & Cafe, which "is a five-store urban craft bakery cafe concept ... offering breakfast and lunch." The company has options toacquire more of the brand in the future, and management views it as a "wonderful brand with significant growth potential in residential urban and upscale suburban markets."This seems like a low-risk move that the company can benefit from in a fewdifferent ways. It was only briefly mentioned on the conference call, and I would like some more color, not for Tatte specifically, but for how Panera views smallacquisitions as fitting into its future. TATTE LOCATION. BOSTON, CHARLES STREET. IMAGE SOURCE: TATTE. Starbucks acquired bakery chain Boulange in 2012 and began incorporating its food into Starbucks locations as a way to improve the (previously lackluster) offerings.Chipotle Mexican Grill made a similar investment in a small Pizza chain called Pizzeria Locale. The company continues to operate independently and is slowly expanding, and most people probably aren't even aware of the connection with the burrito purveyor. This seems to be the type of arrangement Panera has with Tatte. For a small investment, it retains the option of deploying this more up-market alternative around the country as it sees fit. Chipotle may never see meaningful returns from Locale, or it may become a meaningful contributor with thousands of stores throughout the world. I like that Panera is making small bets like this to diversify its future offerings, and it shows me that management is thinking about the very long term. The CFO, Michael Bufano, mentioned the investment on the earnings call. I'd like to hear from Shaich about what role he sees for Tatte, and other investments like it, in Panera's future. The article 3 Questions for Panera Bread Co. CEO Ron Shaich in 2016 originally appeared on Fool.com. James Sullivan owns shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill, Panera Bread, and Starbucks. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Chipotle Mexican Grill, Panera Bread, and Starbucks. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Times are tough for the cable industry, not that they deserve much sympathy. Faced with a dizzying array of online entertainment options, it's never been easier for consumers to drop cable providers such as Comcast or Time Warner Cable like a bad habit and never look back. However, amid this changing climate, U.S. cable leader Comcast, aside from its recent surprise earnings beat, made waves by announcing its intentions to follow the likes of AT&T and DISH Network into what appears to be the future of the telecom industry. Comcast crosses the spectrum? In a move few saw coming, Comcast recently disclosed that it plans to participate in the FCC's wireless spectrum auction to be held later this year. As Comcast CFO Michael Cavanaugh said: "We will be filing to participate in the upcoming forward spectrum auction. But I want to be clear that the $5 billion in planned 2016 buybacks will not be reduced in the event that we acquire some spectrum in the auction." Comcast, however, declined to provide much in the way of guidance on the matter. Depending on the outcome of the auction, Comcast could become the latest major telecom or cable distributor to hold an appreciable amount of spectrum. The analyst community believes Comcast could spend as much as $5 billion to acquire spectrum, though it would probably need to raise $1 billion to $2 billion of that total by divesting non-core assets. Either way, its shareholders should take solace that Comcast is aware that mobile subscribers are likely to drive the future of cable. Industry in transitionWith the explosion of mobile data consumption ushered in by 4G deployment across the U.S., wireless spectrum has become arguably the most valuable asset for telecom, and, increasingly, cable distributors. In today's market, mobile operators have used cable and wireless bundles as an incentive to drive subscriber growth. Here, AT&Tserves as the shining example, after closing on its megadeal to acquire satellite-TV provider DirecTV last year. AT&T only recently began packaging different incentives around its TV and wireless services to drive subscriber growth. For example, it recently unveiled a limited-time plan in which new subscribers can purchase unlimited-data plans from AT&T, so long as they also subscribe to either its U-verse or DirecTV television services. Depending on the quality and quantity of the spectrum Comcast could secure, the company could create a similar offer, though deploying that spectrum independently would require massive capital expenditures on Comcast's part. But there's also a longer-term opportunity Comcast could have in mind. Though the logistics would require some potential partnerships, there's a case to be made that the future of video content consumption could flow through cellular services such as AT&T's. If the industry heads in that direction, then the cable companies with spectrum on their balance sheets will be the ones positioned to win, or at least not lose. To that end, Comcast CEO Brian Roberts stated on the recent conference call: "Our definition of broadband is totally different today than it was five years ago for what you get as a consumer. ... I think that goes back into whether we can do something creative in the future, whether that's involving spectrum or Wi-Fi or some of the existing relationships we've got." It's also worth noting that Comcast competitor DISH Network also owns sizable spectrum assets, though the company has yet to elaborate on its strategy. However, with Comcast increasingly eyeing mobile spectrum, it appears the coming years could see a number of interesting changes as mobile looms increasingly large among consumers. The article Comcast Joins AT&T and Dish to Create the Future of TV originally appeared on Fool.com. Andrew Tonner has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Image: Jefferies Group. Shares of Leucadia National have had a tough time during the past few years, losing more than half their value since mid-2013. Part of the trouble has to do with its exposure to investment management through its Jefferies Group arm, and along with peer WisdomTree Investments , the potential threat to investments under management has helped contribute to the most-recent steep drop in stock prices throughout the sector. Coming into Friday's fourth-quarter financial report, Leucadia investors were hoping to see signs that the company might finally be starting to turn things around, but Leucadia couldn't issue the all-clear just yet. Let's look more closely at exactly how Leucadia did, and what's next for the company going forward. Leucadia finished 2015 on a down noteLeucadia's fourth-quarter results didn't give investors everything they'd hoped to see, although the company avoided the loss that it posted in the previous quarter. Revenue declined another 7%, to $2.50 billion, which was a steeper drop than the consensus forecast had anticipated. On the bottom line, Leucadia reversed a year-ago loss, posting net income of $55.6 million. That translated to adjusted net earnings of $0.18 per share when you exclude the operating results of the Bache business under Jefferies. Including those figures yielded GAAP earnings of $0.15 per share, which was roughly in line with what investors were expecting. Once again, the details of Leucadia's results included some negative charges. The company took a $40.7 million non-cash charge to make a voluntary lump-sum offer to pension participants in the WilTel pension plan. Leucadia also took a $20 million impairment to write down asset values at its Juneau Energy unit. More importantly, Leucadia said that conditions at its Jefferies and National Beef units continued to be difficult. For Jefferies, the volatility and falling prices in a wide variety of asset classes have created challenging conditions for the asset manager, although Leucadia said that the measures it took toward the end of 2015 have started to pay off for the division. The cattle market hasn't been kind to National Beef, but Leucadia is seeing some signs of a turnaround as industry players rebuild their herds. The company said that its Berkadia, Garcadia, Conwed, and Idaho Timber units are performing well, but its FXCM foreign-exchange trading unit and its investment in HRG will continue to produce volatile fair-value adjustments. What's next for Leucadia?CEO Rich Handler pointed to the many headwinds facing Leucadia. "New issue capital markets are barely open," Handler said, "and Investment Banking deal flow is sparse, as many transactions are being delayed due to market conditions." The CEO also noted how Jefferies has had to take some markdowns on the equity positions that it holds as part of its inventory. The key thing that investors need to remember about Leucadia is that its biggest businesses don't necessarily generate the largest profits. National Beef is responsible for two-thirds of Leucadia's revenue, but it has lost money in each of the past three years. Jefferies has been more consistently profitable with its 20% to 25% share of sales, but a lot of the profits came from Leucadia's other financial and merchant-banking businesses. As long as markets remain uncertain, Jefferies will weigh on Leucadia. Investors in WisdomTree Investments have had similar concerns, as the ETF provider has experienced outflows in recent quarters that would potentially threaten its business model if they persist. WisdomTree has worked to diversify its offerings to investors to capture changing trends, but whether WisdomTree will be successful remains to be seen. For Leucadia, the exposure to the financial industry through both Jefferies and FXCM and other businesses represents an even bigger challenge. Investors weren't happy with Leucadia's report, sending the stock down about 2% in after-hours trading following the announcement. Until the company finds a way to shore up its ailing major segments, Leucadia could have a hard time bouncing back. The article Leucadia Keeps Working Through Tough Conditions originally appeared on Fool.com. Dan Caplinger has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Leucadia National. The Motley Fool recommends WisdomTree Investments. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Ahead of Apple's rumored iPhone launch on March 15, investors are hoping the revamped smaller iPhone can help beef up the company's top line, and potentially save the tech giant from a possible year-over-year decline in sales during fiscal 2016. According to one Apple analyst's projections (via AppleInsider), the new mid-cycle iPhone may, indeed, give the company's sales a solid boost. iPhone 5c. Image source: Apple. In need of a catalystFor Apple's current quarter, the company is guiding for revenue to decline about 11% compared to the year-ago quarter. This is a huge change from the company's 18% year-over-year revenue growth during the trailing-12-month period. The bleak outlook has some investors concerned that the company's sales have peaked; hence, the stock's wildly conservative price-to-earnings ratio of 10 -- a valuation that basically assumes Apple's business will no longer grow. With this guidance it mind, it's no surprise that Apple is reportedly planning to launch an iPhone about six months before it normally does. Management is likely hoping the new iPhone can reinvigorate iPhone sales growth, and help it resume revenue growth after the current quarter. If you've missed the rumors, this expected iPhone launch is aimed at replacing the company's iPhone 5s, which Apple CEO Tim Cook said during the company's most-recent earnings call is still selling well, even despite being two-years old. Expected to sport a four-inch display like the iPhone 5, 5c, and 5s, the phone will likely attempt to strengthen Apple's position at a lower price point. Apple is still expected to introduce new flagship iPhones in the fall, as it usually does. While the phone is rumored to be introduced on March 15th, and to go on sale as early as March 18, investors shouldn't expect the phone to play a key role in boosting iPhone sales for the current quarter, as the current quarter closes at the end of March -- though an impact on the rest of the year is likely. The path to $5.5 billionApple's new, four-inch iPhone could help the company sell an additional 10 million iPhone units in fiscal 2016, adding $5.5 billion incremental sales, according to RBC Capital Markets analyst Amit Daryanani. These expectations -- for incremental iPhone unit sales and revenue -- factor in potential cannibalization of flagship phones, according to the analyst. iPhone 5s. With Apple's annual revenue currently at $235 billion, $5.5 billion in sales could add more than 2% to Apple's top line -- potentially enough to help the company avoid a year-over-year decline in fiscal 2016. Daryanani believes the new iPhone, which is rumored to have a starting price of $450, could boast an average selling price of $550 -- only $140 behind Apple's average selling price for iPhone sales across all of its models. At this average selling price, the analyst estimates the new iPhone could contribute 2% of incremental EPS for Apple in fiscal 2016. Some of the primary buyers of the new, smaller iPhone, according to Daryanani, will include those who currently use an iPhone three more years older, and India. Cook did give a nod to India in the company's most-recent earnings call. Discussing the current environment leading to Apple's guidance for a year-over-year decline in revenue, Cook said, "We've also seen these times as opportunities to invest in new markets, just as we're doing now in areas such as India and other emerging markets." Given that iPhone sales account for more than 60% of Apple's total revenue, a mid-cycle iPhone would almost certainly be accretive to the tech giant's business. And Daryanani's estimate that the phone could add about 2% to the company's bottom line does seem conservative. Even more, these estimates for what a refreshed three-year-old iPhone can contribute to earnings highlights just how important the segment is to the company. The article Will Apple, Inc.'s New iPhone Add $5.5 Billion in Sales? originally appeared on Fool.com. Daniel Sparks owns shares of Apple. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Apple. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. There's a hard-fought lawsuit underway about whether California schools failed in their duty to provide special ed to students, and as a part of that, the court has ordered disclosure of the school records of every California so the plaintiffs can analyze them. Regardless of the merits of the suit and the precautions the court has ordered in the handling of the data, this is a potentially massive breach of student privacy, and if the worst should happen and that data should spill online, it would be a disaster of epic proportions for young people in California. The dump will include kids' SSNs, medical and mental health information, and disciplinary records. If you the parent of a student who has attended a California school since 2008, or if you're over 18 and were a California student after 2008, you can ask to have your records withheld from the dump by mailing a simple, one-page objection to the court, before April 1. The plaintiffs allege the California Department of Education has violated the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act ("IDEA"), among other related laws, by failing to monitor, investigate, provide services to, and enforce the rights of children with disabilities consistent with its obligations under the law, and have requested access to these records in order to prove their case. The Defendant denies these allegations. The request is for the personal information of children, including children with disabilities, children who requested an assessment or who were assessed for special education eligibility, and children who are attending, or who have attended, a California school at any time since January 1, 2008. This includes name, Social Security number, home address, behavior and discipline information, special education assessments/evaluations, records pertaining to health, mental health and medical information and other demographic information. OBJECTION TO DISCLOSURE OF STUDENT INFORMATION AND RECORDS [CA.gov] Alert for California Parents of School-Age Children [Identity Theft Resource Center] (Image: The old filing cabinets. All gone now, Mcfarlandmo, CC-BY) Source: Flickr user Garry Knight This year's crop of presidential candidates have different plans for how America should deal with the risk of Social Security insolvency, and most of these strategies include less-than-desirable changes. Democratic Presidential candidates Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton think the best way to shore up the program is by broadening the amount of people's income that is subject to Social Security taxes, while Republican candidates, including Ted Cruz and Jeb Bush, prefer approaches that reduce Social Security benefits. No. 1: Increase taxes on the richCurrently, Social Security is funded by a 12.4% payroll tax on wages below $118,500, half of which is paid by employees, and half by their employers. Sanders and Clinton believe that income cap needs to change if payroll tax revenue is going to keep up with Social Security payments to beneficiaries in the future, though they disagree on the details. Baby boomers are turning 65 at a pace of 10,000 people per day and as a result, the proportion of workers to retirees is shrinking. As a result, government watchdogs estimate that Social Security tax revenue will begin coming up shy in 2034, forcing a widespread cut to benefits. To prevent that from happening, Sanders suggests that the payroll tax should be applied to income above $250,000. (He would leave income between $118,500 and $250,000 exempt from payroll taxes.) Sanders asserts that imposing the payroll tax on income above $250,000 would keep Social Security solvent for an additional 50 years, and provide the program with enough money to increase Social Security payments by an average of $65 per month. Like Sanders, Clinton also believes that it makes sense to tax high income earners. Clinton wouldn't apply the payroll tax to income between $118,500 and $200,000, but she would tax income north of $200,000. Clinton has also discussed applying the payroll tax to other sources of income, such as dividends and capital gains. Clinton believesthose moves will both keep the program solvent and provide enough funding to increase benefits for widows, the poor, and women who took time out of their career to raise children, and thus, often receive smaller benefit checks in retirement. Source: Bernie Sanders No. 2: Raise the retirement ageSadly, nearly one quarter of all married Social Security recipients rely on Social Security for 90% of their retirement income. In2016, the average monthly Social Security payment to a retired worker is $1,341. If that doesn't sound like a lot of money, it isn't. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average retiree spent $41,403 in 2013, and that's far more than $16,000 or so in Social Security income that millions of American seniors will collect this year. To keep the program viable, Republican candidates Jeb Bush,Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, and Ben Carson agree that the full retirement age, currently 67 for Americans born after 1960, must be increased. As the argument goes, bumping up the age at which Americans can file and receive Social Security reduces the program's spending, freeing up money that can be used to keep the average benefit from being reduced. These candidates haven't said what "magic" number they would increase the full retirement age to, but Bush has mentioned that an age as high as 70 could be on the table. Regardless, all of these candidates do agree that current retirees and those near retirement shouldn't be affected by any change in the full retirement age. No. 3: Reducing benefitsChanging the formula used to calculate how much in benefits recipients are able to receive is another way Ted Cruz and Chris Christie think they can reduce Social Security spending and keep the program solvent. Currently, the annual cost of living adjustments to benefits are calculated using the consumer price index, a common measure of inflation. Cruz and Christie argue that shifting to another inflation measure that historically hasn't grown as quickly as CPI -- a figure known as chained-CPI -- would slow the rate of increase in benefits. A Congressional Budget Office analysis of a 2014 proposal to shift to chained-CPI by President Obama found that chained-CPI grew by 0.3% less than traditional CPI between 1999 and 2011 andswitching to chained-CPI would result in retired workers receiving $30 less per month in benefits by 2023.{%sfr} The article 3 Terrible Ways Presidential Candidates Want to 'Fix' Social Security originally appeared on Fool.com. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Over the past decade, aftermarket auto parts retailers enjoyed phenomenal success from industry trends that favored their businesses. Even so, the rewards weren't equally bestowed, with some like AutoZone wildly succeeding and some such as Pep Boys stumbling hard. Most of the other major players largely fell somewhere in between those extremes. Looking at how the markets responded, we can see two clear winners emerge: AutoZone and O'Reilly Automotive . AZO data by YCharts. That's not happenstance, either. There are some very good reasons why, when comparing AutoZone and O'Reilly to competitors Advance Auto Parts and Genuine Parts , the former two excel. The aftermarket auto parts market is primarily comprised of two components: people who want to fix their own cars themselves (the do-it-yourselfers) and those who want someone else to do the work (or the do-it-for-mes). Both AutoZone and O'Reilly cater to the DIY portion of the market, though to varying degrees. AutoZone is the king of the DIY retailers, operating more than 5,600 retail stores in the U.S., Puerto Rico, Mexico, and Brazil selling automotive replacement parts and accessories for cars, SUVs, vans, and light trucks. While it has a commercial business that distributes parts to garages, dealers, and service stations who cater to DIFMs, AutoZone generates no money from repairing vehicles itself. O'Reilly Automotive also serves both the DIY and DIFM markets, and like AutoZone, it has no repair shops. Instead, it operates 4,523 stores in 43 states and supplies those shops that do repair services.But where O'Reilly skews slightly in favor of DIYers, generating 58% of its revenue from that market, AutoZone realizes some 82% of its revenue from them. AutoZone DIYCreate pie charts In comparison, Advance Auto Parts falls the other way, getting 57% of its revenue from DIFMers, just like Pep Boys, which obtains about 56% of its revenue from the segment. That both of those aftermarket auto parts companies have lagged the industry is not surprising. Although hedge fund Starboard Value views the DIFM market as having the best growth potential because of the growing complexity of cars making it more difficult for people to do their own repairs, the sagging economy and dour prospects for the future suggest people will continue trying to fix their own vehicles while they can. AutoZone's heavy exposure to the DIY segment has translated into industry-leading market share. Although the marketplace is highly fragmented when including car dealerships, independent auto parts stores, and the like, one company rises to the top. Although Advance Auto Parts has an equal slice of the pie, because it skews to the DIFM side of the equation, its prospects don't shine as brightly as AutoZone's. Auto Parts IndustryCreate pie charts Data source: Chart by author from data provided by Starboard Value from Morgan Stanley And if you look at which company's stock valuation is most attractive compared to its earnings, AutoZone is again favorably positioned. AZO P/E Ratio (TTM) data by YCharts. Although it's true that an economic downturn could make it difficult on the aftermarket auto parts industry as customers could be put in financial straits that make auto repair take a backseat to other priorities, it's also a fact that cars are essential, particularly in a downturn, to get and keep jobs. The industry has proven remarkably resilient in good times and bad, and Starboard Value notes there have only been three quarters in the past decade where one of the players reported declining same-store sales. Generally, business is always going up, and that should give investors encouragement that AutoZone will remain the leading aftermarket auto parts retailer. The article AutoZone Inc. Stock in 4 Charts originally appeared on Fool.com. Rich Duprey has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Image source: Pixabay. The numbers are finally out from Colorado's Department of Revenue for calendar year 2015, and marijuana sales (both recreational and medicinal) came in at $996,184,788, a 42% increase from the previous year's $699 million in cumulative sales. With Colorado generating more than $100 million in marijuana sales in August alone for the first month ever, there had been speculation that sales for the budding industry would top the $1 billion mark in 2015, but it appears we'll have to wait to 2016 for Colorado's marijuana industry to officially hit the billion-dollar mark. Nonetheless, this is quite the achievement for Colorado, which only began selling marijuana recreationally just over two years ago. The Denver Post points out that the real surge in sales came on the recreational side of the equation. Following nearly $386 million in medical marijuana sales in 2014, medicinal marijuana sales jumped by only 5.8% in 2015 to $408.4 million. Recreational sales, though, rose from $313.2 million in 2014 to a whopping $587.8 million in 2015, an 87.7% increase. This also included a record $62.9 million worth of recreational marijuana sold in December. As noted by The Huffington Post, the nearly $1 billion in sales also led to $135 million in taxes and licensing revenue being raised, of which at least $35 million has been earmarked for schools within the state. The education system, law enforcement, and drug programs seem to be the biggest financial beneficiaries of the tax revenue being generated from retail marijuana in the early going. Image source: Flickr user FutureAtlas.com. Other states want in The revenue being successfully generated by Colorado highlights the primary reason why certain states are tinkering with the idea of legalizing marijuana at the state level. Although marijuana's legalization isn't going to fill large budget gaps, the tax revenue being raised is focused solely on those using the product and involved within the industry, and it's helping out a very costly education system in select states. Coming up in November, Nevada has already collected enough signatures to get a marijuana initiative in front of its residents. California and Ohio are also expected to collect enough signatures to get a recreational (or in Ohio's case, a recreational and medicinal) initiative in front of voters. Legislators in Vermont has been so pleased with the performance of the marijuana industry in states like Colorado that they're tinkering with the idea of bypassing a ballot initiative altogether and just using the legislative process to legalize recreational marijuana. In short, the marijuana legalization movement appears unstoppable in Colorado and around the country -- or so it seems. Image source: Office of Public Affairs via Flickr. Colorado's success masks major issuesWhile it's hard to ignore the initial successes of Colorado, Washington, and even to some degree Oregon in the early going (Oregon only began selling recreational marijuana legally in October), these successes only mask the many challenges that constrain growth within the marijuana industry. The state of Colorado offers numerous examples of these challenges. To begin with, even though voters approved legal marijuana in November 2012, nearly three-quarters of Colorado's jurisdictions still ban the substance. Drug enforcement of marijuana, even when it's decriminalized, can be a nightmare scenario that creates a Swiss cheese pattern of legal and illegal jurisdictions throughout the state. Another concern is the use of marijuana edibles. Although packaging regulations are toughening in Colorado, edibles still present a unique challenge for regulators. It's not too tough to regulate a green plant or buds, but when the drug is infused into food it can be potentially tricky to track. Regulators worry about edible marijuana products falling into the hands of minors, and they're also often concerned about the consistency of THC content (THC is the psychoactive component of marijuana) from one batch of product to the next. Another major issue we've seen unfold is that banks are mostly unwilling to work with marijuana-based businesses. In the few states where recreational marijuana has been legalized, work-arounds have been put in place for financial institutions to do business with marijuana shops, but most banks don't want to deal with the hassle of the work-arounds, or the potential legal implications of assisting a business that markets a substance still considered illegal by the federal government. This leaves most marijuana businesses to deal mostly in cash, which presents major security concerns. Financially, marijuana businesses are also drawing the short straw. Even though the federal government views the marijuana plant as illegal, it still requires businesses that sell marijuana products to pay federal income taxes. Yet, according to U.S. tax code 280E, these same businesses are not allowed to take normalized business deductions, such as rent, because they're selling a federally illegal substance. The end result is marijuana businesses are being overtaxed. Image source: White House on Flickr. An even bigger issue at playOf course, there's the granddaddy of all dilemmas that the marijuana industry still has to contend with: the inaction of the federal government regarding the issue. As long as there are no changes made to the scheduling of marijuana on Capitol Hill, then marijuana-based businesses will likely continue to deal with the same inherent disadvantages they've coped with over the past couple of years. Why won't Congress move on marijuana? Look no further than its safety. From its long-term psychological impact on the brain to what it might do to consumers when they're behind the wheel of a vehicle, legislators on Capitol Hill worry about making too rash of a judgment call on marijuana before substantive long-term data is at their disposal. So what's next for the marijuana industry? In 2016 it could be looking at its best year yet in terms of state-level expansion, but with President Obama signaling that marijuana isn't on his agenda in 2016, you can probably chalk up another year of inaction at the federal level. The reality is that there is no timetable on when, or if, lawmakers will ever seriously take up marijuana legislation in Washington, D.C. While that may not stop marijuana from expanding to new states, it most definitely puts hurdles in place that dramatically slows the industry's growth prospects. I believe this gives investors all the more reason to steer clear of this industry for the time being. The article Colorado's Marijuana Sales Narrowly Miss a Major Milestone in 2015 originally appeared on Fool.com. Sean Williamshas no material interest in any companies mentioned in this article. You can follow him on CAPS under the screen nameTMFUltraLong, track every pick he makes under the screen name TrackUltraLong, and check him out on Twitter, where he goes by the handle@TMFUltraLong.The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter servicesfree for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe thatconsidering a diverse range of insightsmakes us better investors. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Verizon and AT&T have based their marketing on the idea that they have better networks than Sprint and T-Mobile . Ads like the current "A Better Network As Explained By Colorful Balls" from Verizon tout network superiority citing the twice-annual survey done by RootMetrics. This is not the only national report on wireless networks -- OpenSignal does one using real-world user data rather than its own testing -- but it's the one which generally garners the most attention. That's probably becauseRootMetrics actually declares a winner. For the last four reports that winner has been Verizon with AT&T coming in a clear second. The latest report, which was released Feb. 18 shows the same two companies on top -- something they will almost certainly crow about in ads -- but who won does not really tell the whole story. Source: Verizon What the report saysThe Mobile Network Performance in the United States for the 2nd Half of 2015 found that Verizon still leads but T&T has become a clear number two. Verizon took first place Network Reliability, Network Speed, Data Performance, and Call Performance while AT&T scratched out a small win in Text Performance. "Other networks are making improvements in an effort to close the gap, but Verizon continues to lead the pack," wrote RootMetrics. Overall performance was a win for Verizon again. Source RootMetrics Putting the results in perspectiveWhile Verizon and AT&T can continue to justifiably claim network superiority, the reality is that their lead is actually not as impressive as it seems because all four networks have improved dramatically. RootMetrics Vice President Julie Dey explained some of the results in an email to The Motley Fool. "The data in our latest National Report reveals meaningful changes to the mobile landscape: Carriers have continued to add capacity, and expand their LTE footprints, which in turn is resulting in improved reliability and speed for consumers," she wrote."Verizon and AT&T continue to lead the rankings but all four networks are getting better, especially when it comes to data speed and reliability where we've seen improvements across the board. Particularly in metro areas...This is excellent news for consumers as these are two factors that have a big impact on the day-in and day-out mobile experience for consumers." Dey's most interesting observation might be calling Verizon and AT&T "largely neck-and-neck at the national level" while also praising T-Mobile and Sprint. "Sprint and T-Mobile continue to trail the top two during this round of testing but are showing real improvements," she wrote. "For instance, Sprint won second place outright in call performance at the national level and increased its call performance awards at the state and metro levels over the previous half. Furthermore, T-Mobile improved in speed and reliability, gaining more speed and data awards especially at the metro level. These improvements, combined with expanded LTE coverage, suggest we could see real changes in the first half of 2016." Unlike previous years when the third and fourth place carriers were well behind, this is more a case where there are leaders, but there is no shame in coming in last. It's probably worth nothing that T-Mobile CEO John Legere does not agree with that (or the RooMetrics testing methodology) and he sent an email to media on the day the report was released detailing his problems with it. How it worksRootMetrics does its own testing. According to the report, that involved driving over "231,000 miles while testing performance on highways and in big cities, small towns, and rural areas across the U.S." To compose the study researchers collected approximately "3.8 million test samples while testing performance while driving, at stationary outdoor locations, and at more than 6,600 indoor locations." The company calls its findings "comprehensive, unbiased results that you can trust to give you a complete and accurate picture of mobile network performance across the entirety of the United States." It also noted that the report is weighted by population density so "results from more populous states like California carry far more weight in our national results than those from less populous states like Rhode Island. In addition within a state large metro areas carry more weight than small towns or connecting highways. See the full methodology here. What does it all mean?Verizon and AT&T can continue to base their ads around having the top-rated networks according to RootMetrics. But, while those claims are accurate, Verizon's "Better Matters," slogan has never been less true. For someone who travels extensively, especially in less-populated areas, an argument can be made that going with Verizon or AT&T makes sense. But, since most people don't do that and most live in heavily populated areas, in reality Sprint and T-Mobile are usually good enough. The overall quality of wireless networks has improved so dramatically that for the majority of Americans, these results have become shades of difference that do not matter. All four companies are pushing to meet the increasing data demands of consumers and they are mostly succeeding. Yes, Verizon still has the most balls, but this is not a race where only first place counts. Ranking numbers one is nice, but if third or fourth comes pretty close while charging less, well, in wireless networks that's a victory too. The article Which Carrier Has the Best Wireless Network? originally appeared on Fool.com. Daniel Kline has no position in any stocks mentioned. He is a T-Mobile customer who only has coverage problems when he visits rural New Hampshire. The Motley Fool recommends Verizon Communications. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. South Carolinas military community is a major force for the states economy and way of life. It is home to eight military installations employing more than 100,000 personnel and stimulates the economy with $19.3 billion annually, according to a report from the University of South Carolina. Military issues will play a key role for voters in the Palmetto state leading up to the first-in-the-South Republican primary on Saturday. When asked which issue mattered most to them in the presidential race, 41% of South Carolina voters said defeating ISIS and terrorism was their top concern, according to the Emerson College Polling Society. Veterans in South Carolina make up 11% of the voting-age population, which totals more than 391,000 people, according to Census data. The military vote is important in South Carolina but what difference it will make in the primary is very difficult to say. All the Republican candidates are really trying to outdo themselves in terms of making the case that they would be the strongest in building up the defense budget and fighting against ISIS, said Robert Oldendick, political science professor at the University of South Carolina. I think that Donald Trump gets some support in terms of his overall campaign and how strong he would be. In fact in a recent Fox News poll, GOP frontrunner Donald Trump ranks first place among veteran Republican primary voters with 37%. Texas Senator Ted Cruz is in second place with 22% and Florida Senator Marco Rubio rounds out the top three with 15%. Oldendick says Trumps tough talk such as vowing to cut the heads off ISIS members and ability to show leadership has been working to his advantage. In a CNN/ORC poll, the real estate mogul has 44% support from voters who believe he is best to handle the war on terror against ISIS. On Wednesday during a Trump rally in South Carolina, Thomas Andrews, a veteran that served two tours in Iraq was called up on stage after breaking up a fight with a protester. Standing next to Mr. Trump he told the crowd, This is the only man thats going to really bring America back - he understands what it means for me and my people out here, who have been to war, said Andrews. Its not the first time the billionaire businessman is making an appeal to veterans. In January, he held a veterans fundraiser in Iowa instead of attending the Fox News Republican primary debate. Trump announced his event raised $6 million for veterans. That make America strong again militarily and economically message is resonating even though there is no political track record to go on obviously. Trump has said look, I am extremely successful, I know what Im doing, I can take what I know about business and apply it in politics and people at this point are willing to give it chance, said Oldendick. Florida Senator Marco Rubio, who has been rising in recent South Carolina polls, is also working hard for the military vote. With a day left before the South Carolina primary, Rubio hit the campaign trail with U.S. Army veteran Sean Parnell, who served in Afghanistan and authored the book, Outlaw Platoon. In Afghanistan we faced annihilation pretty much every day and because we were unified we were able to make it through. I think Marco Rubio has that unifying voice, that message of hope that the country needs right now, said Parnell. He says Rubio has proved his commitment to the military with the Department of Veteran Affairs Accountability Act of 2014, a bill he wrote and got passed with bi-partisan support. This act helps veterans by giving the VA secretary the authority to fire employees who are not performing their jobs, therefore creating the most effective team to treat and respond to veterans needs with accountability. This was during the time of the Veteran Affairs scandal in Phoenix which exposed veterans dying while they waited for treatment. Senator Rubios actions did a lot of good for veterans, said Parnell. Rubio and Parnell split the day campaigning together in Charleston and Columbia, South Carolina on Friday. He says veterans in the Palmetto state have expressed their excitement about Rubios message in strengthening the military. When he talks about the military, he is saying we have a moral obligation to win the war we get involved in. Otherwise you have an entire generation of veterans wondering what it was all for, said Parnell. Anybody that has any interest in strengthening our military and putting veterans healthcare benefits before bureaucracy should be supporting Marco Rubio, he added. Oldendick says Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush has also been promoting his endorsements from high-ranking former military personnel in addition to tag teaming the campaign trail with his brother, former President George W. Bush. Jeb Bush has been running ads down here for a couple weeks now with several generals and military officers, saying he is ready on day one to be president. Obviously all the candidates recognize it is important and have been trying to do different things to get that support, said Oldendick. According to a 2012 Fox News South Carolina GOP Primary Exit Poll, 21% of voters served in the U.S. military. South Carolina Republican primary voters head to the polls on Saturday, February 20. Between taking childbirth classes, choosing a name and preparing the nursery, theres so much to do before your babys arrival. But along with choosing a provider and creating your birth plan, taking a tour of the hospital is one of the most important things you can do to ensure you and your baby will be healthy and safe. Knowing the right questions to ask and what to look for can ensure that the hospital you choose is the best fit for you and your baby. Here are 10 to start with. 1. What level NICU do you have? Each hospitals neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) has designated levels of care, which are set forth by the American Academy of Pediatrics. If you have a high-risk pregnancy, its important that you deliver at a level III (subspecialty) NICU. If you already know that your baby will require special services or will need surgery a few days after being born, for example, its a given that youll be at a hospital that has the appropriate medical team and services in place. Even if your pregnancy is healthy however, you should make sure that if the hospital you plan to deliver in is a level I or level II NICU, they can still transfer your baby to a higher level NICU if necessary. 2. What amenities are available? Its important to know what the hospital provides to help you manage labor. For example, youll want to know if they provide squatting bars and birthing balls or if youll need to bring your own. You might also want to ask if you can bring in your own music or aromatherapy. Some hospitals also offer bathtubs for pain relief while others may only allow you to stand in the shower. If youre planning to have a water birth, ask if birthing tubs are available, if you can arrange for one to be brought in or if you will need to give birth in a birthing center instead. 3. What type of fetal monitoring is available? Once youre admitted into the hospital, your baby will be monitored for about 20 to 30 minutes. As long as youre OK, your baby doesnt show signs of distress, and you havent received any medication, you can walk around and have intermittent fetal monitoring until you deliver, said Michele Mayer, a certified nurse midwife at Huntington Hospital in Huntington, N.Y. Your hospital may also offer portable fetal monitors, so be sure to ask. 4. Do you have doulas? Studies show women who have doulas during pregnancy, labor and delivery are less likely to have interventions and cesarean sections. Plus, moms are more satisfied with their birthing experiences. Some hospitals offer doulas on staff while at others, you will need to hire an independent doula. Although some hospitals will provide doulas if you decide to have one after youre admitted into the hospital, its a good idea to choose a doula beforehand so you can make sure you feel supported by her. Its a relationship thats established during pregnancy, its not a last-minute decision, said Dr. Sherry Ross, an OB-GYN and womens health expert at Providence Saint Johns Health Center in Santa Monica, Calif. 5. Can I eat? If youre admitted into the hospital during early labor, your provider may allow you to eat something small. In fact, research presented at the American Society for Anesthesiologists last fall suggests that eating a light meal during labor is a good idea. Once youre in active labor however, chances are you may not feel much like eating and you may even be nauseated. Once youve received medication or an epidural you wont be allowed to eat, since theres a small chance you could aspirate food or liquid into your lungs if you have a cesarean section and need to be intubated, Ross said. 6. What are my pain relief options? Its important to ask the hospital what your pain relief options are, including an epidural, analgesic medications, nitrous oxide, hydrotherapy or acupuncture, if there are any restrictions and if they will always be accessible. 7. Who can attend the birth? If you wish to have more than one person in the delivery room, be sure to ask the hospital how many people are allowed to attend. Depending on the size of the room and the unique circumstances of your delivery, it may end up being a collaborative decision made between you, your partner and the doctors and nurses, Ross said. 8. Can we videotape the birth? For legal reasons, its unlikely that the hospital will allow you to videotape. But once the baby is born, video, photos and FaceTime are probably OK. 9. Whats your security procedure? After your baby is born, a security bracelet will be placed on your newborns ankle to protect him, but ask about other security measures the hospital takes as well. 10. Do you offer lactation consultants? Breast-feeding may be natural, but it isnt always easy. In fact, more than 10 percent of women worry about learning how to breast-feed, according to a survey by Lansinoh. One of the keys to success is to have support from the very beginning. So its a good idea to ask if youll have access to a lactation consultant on staff or if you should get a referral from an independent lactation consultant to come in. Although your labor and delivery may not go exactly as you planned, knowledge is always power. Do your homework, keep an open mind and be flexible all things that will also serve you well when you become a mom! Syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer told viewers Friday on Special Report with Bret Baier that Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump will be the victor by a wide margin in Saturdays South Carolina GOP primary. I think the odds are that Trump is going to win, probably big. That's expected, Krauthammer said. [But] I think the real key is going to be what the distance is between the one who comes in third, and the bottom three. Those are the results that might help determine the eventual Republican nominee, Krauthammer said. In other words, if you get Trump, [Sen. Ted] Cruz, [Sen. Marco] Rubio, in that order, and then the bottom three are in single digits it would be a seminal event. If the race is a three way race, then it really is a toss-up, who of the top three will get it, Krauthammer said. If it remains a six man race [or] a five man race that means that Trump will romp all the way to the nomination, because he will dominate if the so-called establishment vote is split, he said. Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump said Friday that Pope Francis did not understand the gravity of the crime problem caused by illegal immigrants crossing the US-Mexican border when the pontiff appeared to criticize Trumps plan for a border wall. Trump, in an interview with Fox News Greta Van Susteren, also maintained his stated opposition to the war in Iraq, which he has used in recent days to hammer presidential primary opponent Jeb Bush. Hes a terrific person, Trump said of the pope, the leader of the worlds 1.2 billion Catholics. To me its [about] illegal immigration. I dont think the pope really understood in terms of the crime problem and the problems of illegal immigration. "A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian," Pope Francis said Thursday. A Vatican spokesman clarified the Popes remarks Friday, saying he in no way [made] a personal attack on the New York businessman. "Without borders we don't have a country, and that [Mexican] border is just like a piece of Swiss cheese; people pour over," Trump told Van Susteren on "On the Record." Trump also discussed a 2002 clip from the Howard Stern radio program in which he appeared to endorse the United States invasion of Iraq. He asserted he was only a supporter of action against Iraq long before the war started. By the time the war started, I had goneI was absolutely opposed to it. I always thought it was a destabilization of the Middle East, Trump said. It was the worst decision ever made in the history of our country, Trump said. [The war cost] $2 trillion and thousands of lives. Had [Iraqi dictator] Saddam Hussein livedhe was a bad guy, but he killed terrorists, Trump said, adding that if former President George W. Bush went to the beach and gone swimming [instead of engaging with Iraq], wed be better off. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and her supporters breathed a sigh of relief Saturday following a narrow win in the Nevada caucuses. I am so, so thrilled and so grateful to all of my supporters out there, Clinton told a crowd of cheering supporters in Las Vegas. Some may have doubted us but we never doubted each other. Clintons Nevada win comes just a week-and-a-half after she lost to Bernie Sanders by double-digits in New Hampshire. Her campaign is hoping the win will serve to undercut Sanders momentum as they head next into several delegate-heavy contest. "To everyone who turned out in every corner of Nevada with determination and heart: This is your win. Thank you," Clinton tweeted after the race was called. With 85 percent of precincts reporting in Nevada, Clinton has 53 percent to Sanders' 47 percent. CLICK HERE FOR ALL CAUCUS RESULTS. Sanders congratulated Clinton on her victory in Nevadas closely-contested caucuses, and said he looked forward to the primaries and caucuses ahead. I am very proud of the campaign we ran," Sanders said. "Five weeks ago we were 25 points behind and we ended up in a very close election. And we probably will leave Nevada with a solid share of the delegates." The balloting in Nevada coincides with the Republican primary Saturday in South Carolina, where front-runner Donald Trump was projected the night's winner. In Nevada, Clinton was looking to rebound after losing big to Sanders in the party's New Hampshire primary, and only narrowly winning the Iowa caucuses. The candidates spent their final hours before the caucuses furiously trying to drive up turnout among their supporters. Significant spending by Sanders on paid media and staff helped his campaign make inroads into the Latino and African-American communities, which make up a significant portion of the Democratic electorate in the state. It wasn't enough to edge out Clinton. But each candidate benefited from a different set of constituencies. Entrance polls showed Clinton held the lead among the states influential union voters, with 56 percent going for Clinton and 43 percent going for Sanders. But the breakdown was flipped among first-time caucus-goers, with 54 percent backing Sanders and 43 percent backing Clinton. Clinton also held the lead among women, but Sanders held a massive lead among caucus-goers under 45. Clinton had until recent weeks held a double-digit polling lead in Nevada, but that narrowed considerably in the closing days of the race. "The fact Bernie Sanders has shown the ability to compete anywhere on the map says as much about Democrats' dissatisfaction with Hillary Clinton and her weaknesses as a candidate as it does about the sharp left turn their party has taken," Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus said in a written statement. The Associated Press contributed to this report. In an effort to keep Florida's death penalty from a barrage of legal attacks after a Supreme Court decision halted executions, state lawmakers have reached a compromise that would allow the Sunshine State to continue executions. The Supreme Court ruled in January that the states method of sentencing people to death was unconstitutional because it weighed power too heavily toward judges over juries. The nations highest court found the state's sentencing procedure was flawed because juries play only an advisory role, while the judge makes the key decisions and can find differently from the jury. The court found this was a violation of the Sixth Amendment which guarantees a right to trial by jury. Justice Sonia Sotomayor said in the majority opinion the system allows a sentencing judge to find aggravating factors "independent of a jury's fact-finding." The court ruled 8-1 against the states sentencing procedure Under the new deal passed overwhelmingly Thursday night in a 93-20 vote in the Florida House, at least 10 out of 12 jurors would need to agree to impose a death sentence, according to The Miami Herald. Currently, a simple majority is needed to recommend the death sentence. The compromise was reached between those who wanted as few as nine jurors to be able to recommend death, and death penalty critics who wanted to require a unanimous jury decision a standard required in most states. The new method is currently only used in Alabama. The Senate offered that as a solution, and were agreeable to that, Republican Rep. Charles McBurney, told The Herald before the vote. We need to provide a remedy to the courts ruling. It didnt meet with approval from all in the House, however. This bill is cloaked in procedure, but soaked in a hateful policy, Rep. Darryl Rouson, a Democrat, told The Florida Times-Union. This bill is cloaked in process, but soaked in the cries of innocents and the exonerated. The proposal, to become law, requires approval approval from the Senate, then needs the signature of Republican Governor Rick Scott. Florida's American Civil Liberties Union has called for state officials to re-examine the sentences of all death row inmates. A review by the Florida Supreme Court of all 320 death sentences from 2000 to 2012 found that nearly half of the sentences came after fewer than 10 jurors recommended death. In only one-fifth of the cases, or 60, were jury recommendations unanimous, The Herald reports. It isnt the first time the death penalty has been in jeopardy in Florida. In 2006 Jeb Bush suspended the practice after a botched execution. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Donald Trump swept to victory in the South Carolina Republican primary on Saturday, putting him in a commanding position as the race shifts to a slew of delegate-rich contests. Jeb Bush, though, abruptly suspended his campaign after a distant finish, leaving unclear to whom his supporters will gravitate. But Trump, at his victory rally, seemed to dismiss the notion that other candidates would benefit from Bush's exit. "[The pundits] don't understand that as people drop out, I'm going to get a lot of those votes," Trump said. He said the primary race lately has been "mean" and "vicious" but: "When you win, it's beautiful." He closed by saying, "Lets put this thing away, and lets make America great again." Trump's victory is not by the big double-digit margin that pre-election polls had suggested. Still, this makes back-to-back victories for Trump, who more than doubled the vote of his closest competitor in New Hampshire last week. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio remain locked in a battle for second place. With 99 percent of precincts reporting, Rubio is narrowly leading Cruz with just over 22 percent. Trump leads with 33 percent. Both candidates were staying confident. "After tonight, this has become a three-person race, and we will win the nomination, Rubio told supporters. Rubio placed third in Iowa, but stumbled in New Hampshire following a rough debate performance. He vowed to bounce back, and entered the South Carolina contest enjoying support from the state's popular governor, Nikki Haley, and other state leaders. Senior Cruz aides maintained the Texas senator remains well-positioned going into looming Southern state primaries, since he won Iowa and placed third in New Hampshire. Lagging far behind Saturday were the three other candidates Ohio Gov. John Kasich, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson and Bush, all of whom appear to be stuck in single digits. While Bush suspended his campaign, Carson vowed to stay in, as did Kasich. The GOP race heads next to Nevada and after that to Super Tuesday, representing a delegate gold mine. Even South Carolina, with 50 delegates, is the most valuable GOP primary to date. As the winner, Trump would get the lion's share. South Carolina, historically, also is a prized contest for Republican candidates as it has a knack for picking the eventual nominee the primary winner has gone on to claim the nomination in every race since 1980, except for 2012 when Newt Gingrich won. The state has a reputation as well for bringing out bare-knuckle campaign tactics, and this year was no exception. Charges of dirty politics flew on all sides in the lead-up to Saturdays primary, with robo-calls and misleading websites surfacing about the candidates. The race tightened in the final days, but not enough to shake Trump's long-time advantage there. Trump had enjoyed a 13-point lead in the latest average of pre-election polls by Real Clear Politics. Fox News exit polls indicate significant numbers of late-deciding voters ended up supporting Cruz and Rubio, causing both candidates to perform more strongly than pre-election polling suggested. Trump, according to exit polls, was still the overwhelming favorite among voters who said theyre angry with the federal government. Cruz, though, had the edge among voters who said their top issue is terrorism. But of the three other candidates, only Kasich has made it onto the leaderboard in the three opening contests. With Bush out, he's the last governor standing in the race. Bush, the former Florida governor, entered the 2016 presidential race as an early favorite, but fell in the polls steadily, despite having had a couple strong debate performances in recent weeks. The presidency is bigger than any one person. It is certainly bigger than any candidate, he said in suspending his campaign. SOUTH CAROLINA GOP PRIMARY RESULTS Kasich, who placed second in New Hampshire, had low expectations in South Carolina. He is looking toward more moderate states that vote later in March. Trump's victory, meanwhile, could foreshadow a solid performance in the collection of Southern states that vote on March 1. Victories in those Super Tuesday contests could put the billionaire in a commanding position in the delegate count, which determines the nomination. Trump won in South Carolina after the Democrats held caucuses earlier in the day in Nevada, where Hillary Clinton was projected the winner. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Thousands of people paid their final respects on Saturday to Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, in a funeral Mass in Washington that celebrated the conservative leaders devotion to his faith and family. God bless dad for his faith, said the Rev. Paul Scalia, one of Justice Scalia's nine children, who led the service at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington. The deeper he went in his faith, the better public servant he was. God bless dad for his love of his family. The roughly two-hour-long service was attended by such leaders in government and law as Vice President Joe Biden, former GOP Vice President Dick Cheney, Attorney General Loretta Lynch, former GOP House Speaker Newt Gingrich, 95-year-old retired Justice John Paul Stevens and the remaining eight high court justices. Among them were Justice Clarence Thomas who read from the New Testament. There was no eulogy in a service free of bipartisan politics. However, the Rev. Scalia, a Catholic priest serving the diocese of Arlington, Va., shared some personal moments from his fathers life. Scalia said his father once unknowingly stood in his line to confess sins, a Roman Catholic sacrament. Like heck Im confessing to you, Scalia recalled his father later saying. The feeling was mutual. Scalia, 79, died unexpectedly last weekend at a remote Texas ranch. He had spent nearly three decades on the high court. The service, which began on an overcast day, concluded with the funeral procession headed to a private burial amid sunlight breaking through a grey sky. Scalias flag-draped casket was brought to the church Saturday morning, in a short trip from the Supreme Court building on Capitol Hill. Scalia's other sons and his sons-in-law served as pallbearers, carrying the casket into and out of the basilica, the countrys largest Roman Catholic church. In additon to Scalia's wife of 55 years and their nine children and dozens of grandchildren, other dignitaries at the service included members of Congress and several federal judges who are considered possible replacements for Scalia. Among them were Judges Sri Srinivasan and Patricia Millett and Chief Judge Merrick Garland, all of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. President Obama did not attend, despite criticism from some Republicans. However, the president and first lady Michelle Obama were among the more than 6,000 people who paid tribute to Scalia at the Supreme Court building on Friday. His casket rested on a funeral bier that first held President Abraham Lincoln's casket after his assassination. White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Obama's decision about the Mass was a "respectful arrangement" that took into account his large security detail. Cardinal Donald Wuerl, the Archbishop of Washington, who also participated in the service, acknowledged the Scalia familys desire for a simple, parish-family mass, as much as possible. Scalias unexpected death has touched off a sharp debate in Washington and across the country about whether Obama should nominate a replacement in his final roughly 10 months of office and whether he would attempt to make recess appointment -- appoint somebody to the high court while Congress is in recess over the extended Presidents Day weekend or during future recesses. Republicans and others say the next president, who takes office in January 2017, should submit the nomination to the Congress. GOP presidential hopeful Ted Cruz interrupted his campaign ahead of Saturday's South Carolina primary to attend the Mass. The Texas senator has been among those urging the Senate not to consider replacing Scalia until after the November election. The GOP-led Senate is not expected to approve any appointment by Obama, who said after Scalias death he would make a consideration in time due. Obama said Tuesday that he would not make a recess appointment full stop. But he said he would nominate somebody who would be indisputably qualified and whom any fair-minded person -- even somebody who disagreed with my politics -- would say would serve with honor and integrity on the court. Never before had a funeral for a Supreme Court justice been held at the basilica. Three popes have visited the basilica: Pope John Paul II in 1979, Pope Benedict XVI in 2008 and Pope Francis last year. The Associated Press contributed to this report. 1 What do Beyonce and Jay Z have in common with Walmart's Walton family, Dr. Dre and Nike's Phil Knight? Love them or hate them, as American billionaires, they are a target on the campaign trail. "You've got CEOs making 300 times what the average worker is making. The deck is stacked in favor of those at the top," says a pro-Hillary Clinton political advertisement. "Millionaires and billionaires do not pay their fair share," fellow Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders said in a recent speech, claiming the wealthy created a "corrupt" political system and a "rigged" economy. But billionaire Jean Paul DeJoria, founder of Patron Tequila, says most wealthy Americans did not get rich because of handouts or a rigged economy. "If there is a CEO who creates value for shareholders and wealth for the economy, the value they create is so much greater than their compensation." Sydney Finkelstein, author of "Superbosses" and a professor at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College "We look (at) it as stupid politics," DeJoria said in an interview from his home in Austin, Texas. "That's what people say to get other people to vote for them, but it's not accurate." Wealthy Americans create jobs, according to DeJoria, who began selling papers at 10 and was once so broke he lived out of his car in the parking lot of a Mexican restaurant. A study by the National Bureau of Economic Research found successful entrepreneurs realize just 3 pertcent of the value of what they produce, while consumers reap the rest, either directly through employment or by social benefit. "If there is a CEO who creates value for shareholders and wealth for the economy, the value they create is so much greater than their compensation," said Sydney Finkelstein, author of "Superbosses" and a professor at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College. Given the blame directed at America's millionaire class for inequality, the U.S. economic meltdown and our slow recovery, Fox News spent a week analyzing the Forbes list of 400 wealthiest Americans. Admission to the list starts at a record $1.7 billion. In total, the top 400 created or controlled more than 10 million jobs across the country. The top 100 founded companies that employed, on average, 40,000 workers. "These are people giving us jobs. To demonize them is to damage the underlying force of this country," said management consultant Eric Schiffer. "We are only as good as our people and we don't want to put our best players on another team. If you tax them, they will leave." Sanders has proposed a top federal tax income rate of roughly 54 percent, with a capital gains tax rate to match, up from the current 25 percent. The combined federal and state rate for the highest earners would top 76 percent in California and New York. "When you are working 7 or 8 months a year just to pay taxes, what kind of incentive is that?" asks DeJoria. If that were to occur, DeJoria and others predict one of three things will happen. The wealthy will either leave, park their income offshore like many U.S corporations or they will hire the nation's best tax lawyers to get around the rules. In any case, the U.S. government could very well end up with less, not more revenue. "They'll look for loopholes or they'll take their money to another place," said Finkelstein. "Companies and wealthy individuals have been successful in finding completely legitimate legal ways to minimize tax regulations." Being jealous of wealthy people is a "very human tendency," acknowledged Finkelstein. Yet, DeJoria says many young progressive voters don't see the irony, voicing their antipathy for 'millionaires and billionaires' on Bill Gates software or Mark Zuckerberg's Facebook using an IPhone developed by the late Steve Jobs. The Republican battle for South Carolina turned deeply personal on the eve of Saturday's high-stakes presidential primary, as New York businessman Donald Trump eyed a delegate sweep and his Republican rivals fought for a southern surprise. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, the son of a pastor, evoked "the body of Christ" in his closing message while fending off allegations of campaign misconduct in a state where most Republicans identify as evangelical Christians. At the same time, Trump allies took subtle shots at Pope Francis for questioning the Republican front-runner's devotion to Christian principles. Ohio Gov. John Kasich opened up about the death of his parents. And Jeb Bush turned to his mother to help revive his underdog campaign. Friday marked an emotionally charged day in the campaign, with 50 delegates up for grabs in Saturday's primary contest. Candidates were also trying to stoke some badly needed momentum heading into the next phase of the campaign: March 1's Super Tuesday. Trump appeared to hold a commanding lead less than 24 hours before voting began in South Carolina. With a big win, the billionaire businessman could take home most, if not all, of the state's 50 delegates. Such a victory would mark a particularly painful blow to Cruz, whose consistent focus on Christian values and southern roots should have given him a distinct advantage here. As the undisputed Republican front-runner, Trump was a popular target in the final-hours' scramble for votes. "Trump values are not South Carolina values," the state's senior senator, Lindsey Graham, charged during a Charleston rally for Bush. Former first lady Barbara Bush offered a positive contrast with her son's values: "He's steady. He's honest. He is modest. He is kind, and he is good." Trump's campaign continued trying to brush off an extraordinary criticism from Pope Francis the day before. When asked about Trump's call to build a massive wall on the U.S.-Mexican border, the leader of the Roman Catholic Church said those who seek to build walls instead of bridges are not Christian. "I say only that this man is not Christian if he has said things like that," Francis said aboard the Papal plane. Trump called the Pope's words "disgraceful" on Thursday, but offered a distinctly softer jab as he courted South Carolina voters on Friday. "Yesterday, the Pope was great," Trump told an audience in Myrtle Beach. "They had him convinced that illegal immigration was like a wonderful thing. Not wonderful for us. It's wonderful for Mexico." Added Trump supporter, pastor Mark Burns: "We respect and honor the Pope. But I don't know ... The walls that are around the Vatican are pretty big walls." Campaigning in the same city, Cruz tried to take advantage of the spiritual spat by highlighting his own religious devotion. "Every minute that you're not on the phone calling friends and loved ones, spend beseeching God, praying for this country, that this spirit of revival that is sweeping this country continue and grow, and that we awaken the body of Christ," the Texas senator said. Cruz also took a veiled shot at Trump's campaign motto, featured on hats, T-shirts and bumper stickers. "It's easy to say, 'Let's Make America Great Again,'" he said. But, he asked, "Do you understand what made America great in the first place?" While Cruz wanted to be on offense, his campaign faced new questions about a website it created this week attacking Rubio's record. The site features a photo of Rubio shaking hands with President Barack Obama. After Rubio's team complained, Cruz's campaign acknowledged that the photo was manufactured using a computer program. "Every picture in a political campaign is photoshopped," Cruz spokesman Rick Tyler told FOX News when pressed to explain the tactic. Meanwhile, the lesser-known Kasich continued to highlight his compassionate side. In a television ad broadcast across the state, he spoke of his parents' deaths at the hands of a drunk driver. "I was transformed. I discovered my purpose by discovering the Lord," Kasich says in the ad. The day before, the Ohio governor hugged for several moments a teary supporter who opened up about his own personal struggles. Speaking to reporters Friday, Kasich recalled a New Hampshire woman who told him about her child's fight for sobriety and another in South Carolina who talked about her medical problems. "For some reason people feel safe in telling me stuff," Kasich said. "There's a bigger message than about me. Forget me, it's about all of us having to pay more attention to some other people." The personal and religious appeals come in a state where religious conservatives typically play an outsized role. In South Carolina's 2012 Republican primary election, two-thirds of the voters identified themselves as born-again or evangelical Christian. ___ Barrow reported from Myrtle Beach. Associated Press writers Thomas Beaumont in Charleston, Kathleen Ronayne in Columbia and Jill Colvin in Myrtle Beach contributed to this report. Two New York City police officers were wounded in a shootout early Saturday with a suspect who crashed his car into a police vehicle. Police Officer William Reddin was struck in the hip and Police Officer Andrew Yurkiw was hit in his vest at point-blank range, sources told the New York Post. Reddin underwent surgery at Kings County Hospital in Brooklyn. He was in stable condition. Yurkin was treated for a blunt-force injury and released. Yurkiw was shot in his bulletproof vest -- 27 years after a vest saved his father, Officer Paul Yurkiw. The officers, part of a plainclothes anti-crime unit, were shot in a confrontation in Brooklyns Bushwick section just before 3:30 a.m. Saturday, according to NYPD Commissioner William Bratton. The suspect, 34-year-old James Funes, was shot multiple times. He was taken to Brookdale Hospital. He was listed in critical condition, the Post reported. The officers spotted Funes with a gun in his vehicle, the paper reported. He took off when the cops tried to stop him. The paper reported that Funes drove the wrong way on a one-way street, slammed into a marked patrol car and then faced-off against Reddin, Yurkiw and six other officers. The NYPD said a 357 revolver was recovered from the suspect at the scene. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Click for more from The New York Post. The White House appears to be willing to compromise with Apple in its fight with the tech giant to comply with a federal court order to provide reasonable technical assistance in the governments investigation of the locked iPhone belonging to one of the San Bernardino gunmen. The Obama administration told a magistrate judge Friday it would be willing to allow Apple to retain possession of and later destroy specialized software it was ordered to create to help federal authorities hack into the encrypted iPhone belong to Syed Rizwan Farook. "Apple may maintain custody of the software, destroy it after its purpose under the order has been served, refuse to disseminate it outside of Apple and make clear to the world that it does not apply to other devices or users without lawful court orders," the Justice Department told Judge Sheri Pym. "No one outside Apple would have access to the software required by the order unless Apple itself chose to share it." On Tuesday, a federal judge ordered Apple to help the FBI hack into the phone used by Farook, who along with his wife, Tashfeen Malik, killed 14 people in December. Although the judge instructed Apple to create the software for the FBI, she said it could be loaded onto the phone at an Apple facility. The Justice Department made explicit Friday that Apple could retain custody of the software at all times. That's a good "compromise position" because "they're giving all the power to Apple," Jason Healey, a former director on cyber policy at the White House, told the Associated Press. "They're telling Apple, 'You hold the software, we're not asking you to put a backdoor in the encryption, we just want to be able to brute force this thing,'" Healey said. "If the precedent is this, that they deliver the phone to Apple and Apple does it, I think that's a pretty good precedent that can't be done en masse on the next thousand iPhones." Authorities want Apple to bypass a self-destruct feature that erases the phone's data after too many unsuccessful attempts to guess the passcode. Apple has helped the government before in this and previous cases, but this time Apple CEO Tim Cook said no and Apple is appealing the order. The Justice Department filed a motion earlier Friday to compel Apple to comply with the court order. "Apple has attempted to design and market its products to allow technology, rather than the law, to control access to data which has been found by this Court to be warranted for an important investigation. Despite its efforts, Apple nonetheless retains the technical ability to comply with the order, and so should be required to obey it," the motion states. While the judge on the case says the government is only asking for help unlocking one, single iPhone, Apple says the case is much bigger than that and sets a dangerous precedent. Cook says the company doesn't have a system to bypass the self-destruct one. "Once created, the technique could be used over and over again, on any number of devices. In the physical world, it would be the equivalent of a master key, capable of opening hundreds of millions of locks from restaurants and banks to stores and homes," Cook said. The company has an additional three days to file its opposition to Tuesday's court order which is now due on Feb. 26, a law enforcement official tells Fox News. Fox News Matt Dean, Catherine Herridge and the Associated Press contributed to this report. The Latest on the 2016 presidential election and two crucial contests Saturday: South Carolina's Republican primary and Nevada's Democratic caucuses (all times are Eastern Standard Time): 2:30 p.m. A major Muslim civil rights group says Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's telling of a discredited story about a U.S. general shooting Muslims with bullets dipped in pigs' blood could incite violence. The Council on American-Islamic Relations National Executive Director Nihad Awad says in a statement that Trump's "inflammatory rhetoric has crossed the line from spreading hatred to inciting violence." Trump was defending his support of waterboarding and other enhanced interrogation techniques at a rally in South Carolina Friday night when he told the largely unsubstantiated tale of Gen. John Pershing allegedly halting Muslim attacks in the Philippines in the early 1900s by shooting them with bullets dipped in pigs' blood. Pigs are considered unclean by Muslims and some other religious groups. ___ 2:15 p.m. Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump is questioning whether President Barack Obama would have attended Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia's funeral Mass "if it were held in a mosque." Trump says on Twitter that it's "very sad" that Obama didn't attend Saturday's service in Washington. Vice President Joe Biden represented the administration. Obama visited the court on Friday to view Scalia's flag-draped casket. The White House says Obama's decision about the Mass was a "respectful arrangement" that took into account his large security detail. Trump has raised questions about Obama's birthplace and religion, falsely suggesting that Obama was born outside the United States and is a Muslim. Trump's tweet came as South Carolina was holding its GOP primary. ___ 2 p.m. Close call. Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders almost crossed paths just before Nevada's Democratic caucuses get underway. First it was Sanders who stopped by an employee cafeteria at Harrah's casino in Las Vegas. Just minutes after he left, Hillary Clinton came in and was greeted with cheers. Unionized casino workers are an important constituency in the caucuses. Their union has ensured that a room at each casino is open for employees to caucus in during special, two-hour paid breaks. ___ 1 p.m. Bernie Sanders is kicking off his caucus day in Nevada with culinary workers at the MGM Grand casino in Las Vegas. Sanders tells reporters that "if there's a large turnout I think we're going to do just fine. If it's a low turnout, that may be another story." Sanders drew cheers from union workers at the casino hotel's cafeteria. He shook hands and posed for photos and asked workers if they planned to attend the caucuses. ___ 11:40 a.m. John Kasich's presidential campaign is already claiming a victory of sorts in South Carolina. A top strategist, John Weaver, tells reporters that however the Republican candidate does in Saturday's primary, Kasich's showing will be enough to "drive somebody else out of the race." Weaver says he's expecting two candidates to drop out over the next week including Jeb Bush. Weaver says that "for all practical purposes, there's no path forward" for the former Florida governor. Kasich finished second in the New Hampshire primary, but the expectations are lower for his performance in South Carolina. The Ohio governor hasn't ignored South Carolina, but he has focused resources on states in the Midwest and Northeast that host contests in March. ___ 10:45 a.m. Ted Cruz has taken time away from campaigning in South Carolina to attend the funeral Mass in Washington for the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. The Republican presidential candidate plans to be back in South Carolina later Saturday to await the results. Voting ends at 7 p.m. The Texas senator has a personal connection to the high court: In the late 1990s, he served as a law clerk for a year to then-Chief Justice William Rehnquist. ___ 10:10 a.m. Jeb Bush says he's "excited where we stand" as he faces a critically important test in South Carolina's Republican presidential primary. Bush says he's going to "work hard for the day" and await results after the polls close at 7 p.m. He says "it's interesting that a lot of people claim they're undecided this late." The former Florida governor entered the 2016 presidential race as an early favorite. But he may need a third-place finish if not better in South Carolina in order to remain a viable candidate. Bush tells reporters outside a polling location in Greenville that "to be able to beat expectations would be helpful. I think we'll do that." And his take on the prospects of a President Donald Trump? Bush says the billionaire businessman "can't win, plain and simple." ___ 9:15 a.m. Will there by a "Haley effect" in South Carolina' Republican presidential primary? Jason Sims a teacher from Mount Pleasant says he made a last-minute decision to vote for Marco Rubio, and that Gov. Nikki Haley's endorsement was "a big deal." Sims say he was "kind of riding the fence" until Haley said she was backing the Florida senator. Rubio is trying to rebound after a disappointing fifth-place finish in New Hampshire and he's hoping the popular governor's endorsement will be a big boost. Rubio wants to emerge as the go-to candidate for mainstream Republicans and the chief alternative to Donald Trump and Ted Cruz in the race. ___ 8:40 a.m. There's a lot of attention on Jeb Bush as South Carolina Republican vote in their presidential primary. The former Florida governor entered the 2016 presidential race as an early favorite. But he may need a third-place finish if not better on Saturday in order to remain viable in the race. Bush finished sixth in Iowa's leadoff caucuses and fourth in New Hampshire. He's trying to break out as the establishment alternative to Donald Trump and Ted Cruz. But Bush has competition on that front, chiefly from Marco Rubio and John Kasich. Without a strong showing in South Carolina, the Bush campaign may have a hard time competing in Nevada next week and then in the large number of states voting on March 1. A Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics law enforcement officer assigned to a SWAT team was killed early Saturday after an hours-long standoff in rural north Mississippi ended in gunfire, authorities said. Officials said James Lee Tartt, 44, of Grenada, was killed in the line of duty in the standoff situation at a home near the town of Iuka in Tishomingo County. Three state troopers with the SWAT team were wounded in the shootout and taken to area hospitals. Two of the wounded had wounds that were not considered life-threatening. The condition of the third was unclear Saturday morning. Tishomingo County Coroner Mack Wilemon said the gunfire came after a standoff developed at a house where police had responded to some kind of domestic disturbance Friday evening. A state SWAT team was summoned and six hours later around midnight was forcing its way into the house when the gunfire erupted, Wilemon said. "They negotiated. They must have decided it wasn't going too well. The SWAT team stormed the house," Wilemon said. Wilemon identified the suspected gunman as Charles Lambert of Iuka, 45. Lambert had holed up in the house with his wife and 10-year-old daughter. Neither was injured. Tartt had been with the narcotics bureau for 16 years, according to Fox affiliate MS News Now. In 2011 he was named the bureaus Agent of the Year award and and in 2012 he received the H. Lane Caldwell Award of Valor. He is survived by his wife and two children, the station reported. Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant expressed his condolences to Tartts family, according to the Jackson Clarion-Ledger. "Our men and women in law enforcement put themselves in harm's way every hour of every shift, Bryant said. This is a tragic reminder that their willingness to serve can exact the highest price." The Associated Press contributed to this report. U.S. regulators sent a letter to manufacturers, importers and retailers Thursday, saying they will seize or recall any hoverboards if they fail to meet recently-released safety requirements. The Consumer Product Safety Commission noted 52 reports of fires that users of the holiday favorite say were caused by hoverboards in 24 states. Those fires led to $2 million in property damage, including the destruction of two homes and an automobile. Regulators said the incidents wouldnt have happened if the hoverboards met the new safety standards. Since its release to consumer households, the Internet has been littered with photos and videos of hoverboards on fire and spewing with black smoke. In one case, investigators determined a hoverboard was to blame for a January house fire in Tennessee. Two children managed to escape the flames and jump from the second floor of their home to safety. It was a hoverboard that destroyed out house, Brian Fox, the childrens father, told The Tennessean earlier this month. It started as just a toy. The CPSC said it wants the hoverboard industry to follow requirements set earlier this month by UL, an independent company that tests the safety of products for manufacturers. Concerns that lithium-ion batteries inside the hoverboards could spark a fire have led to bans by several airlines and college campuses. The CPSC revealed last month that it was investigating hoverboard makers and sellers. Amazon also offered full refunds for customers who bought a hoverboard through the site. The Associated Press contributed to this report. A Texas couple is being sued for posting a negative Yelp review of a pet sitting company that allegedly didnt take proper care of their dogs and fish. Robert and Michelle Duchouquette, of Plano, used Yelp last October to find the company Prestigious Pets in Dallas, according to KTVT-TV. Michelle Duchouquette said she chose the company because of the positive reviews. However, she didnt like some of the businesss policies for handling pets but decided to sign a contract with them because she had a trip coming up shortly. The Dallas Morning News reported the Duchouquettes checked into their fish tanks live video feed and saw the tank looked dirty. Michelle Duchouquette said the billing also got messed up so she decided to post a negative review on Yelp. My usual pet sitter/walking company, Great Paws was closed to I decided to try Prestigious Pets based on all of the good reviews. We have 2 dogs and a fish that were being cared for while we were gone a Friday through Tuesday evening, the review read. I knew in the initial meeting that I did not think the company was a good fit. The walker would not shre her phone number and said any communications had to be emailed through the company. Since their hours are M-F 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. or Sat. 11 p.m. to 3 p.m. and closed Sunday, this leaves a lot of time where you cannot contact your walker if needed. We would have liked to contact her when we saw the alarm was not set and also when we saw the fish bowl ad gone from clear to cloudy. I also did not like their fee and the services you receive. In the initial meeting, our walker told us it was $20 to come to the house, but that did not include a walk. She told us that was $5 extra. Granted they invoiced and charged us $10 and it took multiple emails to get that credited back on my card. The request was made on 10/6 and I did not receive the credit until 10/14. Their initial quote said the visit included 10-15 minutes of a walk to backyard time so I was confused that our walker was telling us something different. In response to the negative review, the pet sitting company filed a lawsuit against the couple, according to KTVT-TV. Prestigious Pets is seeking more than $6,700 in damages, alleging the Duchouquettes violated a non-disparagement clause in the contract they signed. The owner of the company also maintains that much of Michelle Duchouquettes concerns were addressed in the meet-and-greet interview. We are honest people seeking protection from dishonest individuals, not other honest ones. Fair and honest feedback is not the issue here, the company said in an emailed statement to KTVT-TV. Click for more from the Dallas Morning News. A Utah woman received a startling surprise when she found a severed snake head in a can of green beans on Wednesday. The discovery was made at a Mormon church in Farmington, Utah, while women and youth were preparing a meal for older members of the congregation. The find has led an Oregon food distribution company to halt further shipments of the green beans. Troy Walker told KSL-TV in Salt Lake City she was taking beans out of a slow cooker when she spotted something out of place. "It looked pretty much like a burnt bean, and then as I got closer to lift it off the spoon, I saw eyes," Walker said. "That's when I just dropped it and screamed." Chris Smith, who was also cooking at the church, told the Associated Press it was a very small snake head that had clearly been cut up and when the kids came to see it, they threw out several other large pots of string beans that were also cooking before looking inside. "Who knows where the other parts of that snake were?" Smith told the AP Friday. Walker said she took the snake head and empty can back to the grocery store where she bought the food. She took a picture of the snake head to send to Western Family, an Oregon-based food distribution company whose label was on the can. Sharon McFadden, vice president of quality control for Western Family, said that the company takes the matter seriously and is working with the supplier that produced the green beans to find out what happened and how many cans came from the batch. McFadden said shipments of canned green beans from the batch that came from this specific supplier are on hold. McFadden declined to disclose the supplier, saying only that it's based in the Pacific Northwest. The company is investigating where cans from the batch were shipped. Once the cans are located, they will be taken off the shelves, McFadden said. Walker said she couldn't eat the next day because she was queasy but that she's not mad. She just hopes nobody else finds other parts of the snake in their canned green beans. She said she's trying to have a sense of humor about events that are already becoming a fun little story for her and others. Youth leaders from her church helping prepare the meals thought the snake head was "kind of cool and fun," Walker said. She's hosting a family dinner this weekend, and had to be clear in her texts about what will be on the menu. "I said, 'I promise I am not going to serve green beans. We are not having green beans,'" Walker said with a laugh. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Up to 5,000 Europeans have returned to the continent after being trained at terrorist camps, the head of Europol has reportedly said. Rob Wainwright claimed Europe is facing its biggest terror threat in more than 10 years and has warned of large-scale attacks by IS and other groups. The head of the EU law enforcement agency said: "The growing number of foreign fighters presents the EU countries with completely new challenges." At least 700 people from the UK have travelled to support or fight for jihadist groups in Syria and Iraq, according to police, and about half have since returned. Mr Wainwright's comments to Germany's Neue Osnabrucker Zeitung newspaper come after November's Paris attacks in which 130 people were killed. He claimed 3,000-5,000 Europeans had returned from terror training, and said further attacks in Europe were expected, with more civilian casualties. He said: "It is expected that IS or other religious terrorist groups will carry out an attack somewhere in Europe, with the aim of achieving high losses among the civilian population." He added that not only groups of militants, but also individuals could be expected to carry out strikes. But the Europol boss claimed that attackers were not trying to use Europe's refugee crisis as a "systematic" cover to come in unnoticed. He told the German newspaper: "There is no concrete evidence that terrorists are systematically using the flow of refugees to arrive undetected in Europe." However, after the Paris attacks, the French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said some of the gunmen had exploited Europe's refugee crisis to "slip in" to the country unnoticed. Click for more from Sky News. North Korea conducted an artillery drill near the sea border with South Korea, startling South Koreans and making them prepare for a possible evacuation, officials said Saturday. Later, North Koreans official Korean Central News Agency hurled insults at South Korean President Park Geun-hye, calling her a tailless, old, insane bitch as it denounced her hardline response to the Norths recent long-range rocket launch and nuclear test. South Korea shut down a factory park in North Korea that had been jointly run by the rivals. Seaoul also has started preparatory talks with the U.S. on deploying an advanced missile defense system in South Korea in attempts to tighten the screws on Pyongyang. South Korean soldiers near the northwest island of Baengnyeong heard several explosions and also saw flashes from what the military believes were shells fired from North Korean coastal guns early Saturday morning, an unnamed South Korea Defense Ministry official told the Associated Press. According to Reuters, Baengnyeong is a few miles from the disputed Northern Limit Line border and less than 12 miles from the North Korean shore. Meanwhile, Seoul's Defense Ministry said Saturday that the military completed its search operations for debris from the North Korean long-range rocket that was launched into orbit Feb. 7. The military said it was unlikely that there were any more crucial parts left to be found in South Korean seas. The ministry said that the navy recovered two pieces of debris presumed to be from the launch at an island off the country's western coast on Thursday and Friday. South Korean officials believe the North deliberately blew up the rocket's first stage after burnout to prevent South Korea from retrieving debris. North Korea said it launched an Earth observation satellite, but South Korea, the U.S. and the U.N. said it violated a ban on Pyongyang's missile technology. The Associated Press contributed to this report. An honest essay has numerous characteristics: original thinking, a good structure, balanced arguments, and plenty more. But one aspect often overlooked is that an honest essay should be interesting. It should spark the readers curiosity, keep them absorbed, make them want to stay reading and learn more. An uneventful article risks losing the readers attention; whether or not the points you create are excellent, a flat style, or poor handling of a dry subject material can undermine the positive aspects of the essay. The matter is that a lot of students think that essays should be like this: they believe that a flat, dry style is suited to the needs of educational writing and dont even consider that the teacher reading their essay wants to search out the essay interesting. You might want to have online essay editor service to boost your confidence in writing with an error-free output. Academic writing doesnt need to be and shouldnt be bland. The excellent news is that there is much stuff you can do to create your essay more attractive, while youll be able only to do such a lot while remaining within the formal confines of educational writing. Lets study what theyre. Have an interest in what youre writing about Dont go overboard, but youll be able to let your passion for your subject show. If theres one thing bound to inject interest into your writing, its being fascinated by what youre writing about. Passion for a subject matter comes across naturally in your essay, typically making it more lively and fascinating and infusing an infectious enthusiasm into your words within the same way that its easy to talk knowledgeably to someone about something you discover fascinating. Include fascinating details Another factor that may make an essay boring maybe a dry material. Some topic areas are naturally dry, and it falls to you to form the article more interesting through your written style and by trying to seek out fascinating snippets of knowledge to incorporate, which will liven it up a small amount and make the data easier to relate to. A way of doing this with a dry subject is to create what youre talking about that seems relevant to the critical world, as this is often easier for the reader to relate to. Emulate the fashion of writers you discover interesting When you read lots, you subconsciously start emulating the fashion of the writers you have read. Reading benefits you a lot, as this exposes you to a spread of designs, and youll start to require the characteristics of these you discover interesting to read. Borrow some creative writing techniques Theres a limit to the quantity of actual story-telling youll do when youre writing an essay; in the end, essays should be objective, factual and balanced, which doesnt, initially glance, feel considerably like story-telling. However, youll apply a number of the principles of story-telling to create your writing more interesting. consider your own opinion Take the time to figure out what its that you think instead of regurgitating the opinions of others. Cut the waffle Rambling on and on is dull and almost bound to lose the interest of your reader. Youre in danger of waffling if youre not completely clear about what you wish to mention or havent thought carefully about how youre visiting structure your argument. Doing all your research correctly and writing an essay plan before you begin will help prevent this problem. Editing is a vital part of the essay-writing process, so edit the waffle once youve done a primary draft. Read through your essay objectively and eliminate the bits that arent relevant to the argument or labor the purpose. employing a thesaurus isnt always a decent thing Avoid using unfamiliar words in an essay; theres too great a likelihood that youre misusing them. You may think that employing a thesaurus to seek out more complicated words will make your writing more exciting or sound more academic, but using overly high-brow language can have the incorrect effect. Avoid repetitive phrasing Please avoid using the identical phrase structure again and again: its a recipe for dullness! Instead, use a variety of syntax that demonstrates your writing capabilities and makes your writing more interesting. Mix simple, compound, and complicated sentences to avoid your paper becoming predictable. Use some figurative language Using analogies with nature can often make concepts more accessible for readers to know. As weve already seen, its easy to finish up rambling when youre explaining complex concepts mainly after you dont know it yourself. One way of forcing yourself to think about a couple of pictures, present it more simply and engagingly is to form figurative language. This implies explaining something by comparing it with something else, as in an analogy. Employ rhetorical questions Anticipate the questions your reader might ask. One of the ways ancient orators held the eye of their audiences and increased the dramatic effect of their speeches was by using the statement. A decent place to use a statement is at the top of a paragraph, to steer into the following one, or at the start of a replacement section to introduce a brand new area for exploration. Proofread Finally, you may write the top interesting essay an instructor has ever read. Still, youll undermine your good work if its plagued by errors, which distract the reader from the particular content and can probably annoy them. Mary Ann Kozuch, 75, widow of retired Master Sgt. Gerald Kozuch, passed away at her Fredericksburg home due to cancer. She had lived in the Virginia area for more than 30 years, with the last 14 years in Fredericksburg. Mary was retired from the MCX and remained active with the Marine Corps League Ladies Auxiliary. She was also a former volunteer at the Spotsylvania Regional Medical Center. Mary will be laid to rest with her husband in Quantico National Cemetery, section 28, grave 576. Interment is private. She is survived by two sisters, Sally and Donna; four children, Gayle, Georgia, Jeffery and Nicholas; eight grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren. Her immediate family appreciates the support they have received from Mary's closest friends, neighbors and the local community. Her kindness is reflected in the memories everyone has shared this past week, as well as, in her final request. In lieu of services and flowers, Mary Kozuch requested a college fund be set up for her oldest great-granddaughter, Anisah Nichole Thomas. Donations may be made at https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s- xclick&hosted_button_id =HENP4UGXTGVE8. Condolences may be sent at mullinsthompsonfredericksburg.com. Preliminary steps are being taken to construct a 664m pig production cluster in the far east of Russia to target the Chinese market. Two Russian companies are behind separate proposals to target Chinas growing meat demand and saturate local markets in Primorskiy Krai, an outlying region between China, North Korea and the Sea of Japan. The Rusagro group and Mercy Trade developments will include feed milling, animal slaughtering and pork production facilities, extending to soya processing and produce 120,000t of pork meat a year, Russian and global media has reported. See also: EU spells out 35bn effect of Russias pigmeat ban Rusagro is expected to invest over 480m in 10 pig farms handling 700,000 pigs by 2017 and Mercy Trade will drive close to 180m in a 540,000 pig operation across seven facilities. A statement from Rusagro, one of Russias largest agro-industrial companies, confirmed an agreement with a regional development corporation for the construction of road and electricity infrastructure to the proposed site in December 2015. Russian media reported agriculture minister Lexandr Tkacchev as granting priority territory for development, paraphrased by journalists as simplified administration procedures and a beneficial tax regime. Professor John Strak of Nottingham University and editor of the Whole Hog (porkinfo.com) told Farmers Weekly that the sites proposed scale and location indicated that Rusagro was targeting the Chinese domestic market. He said: Its easy to understand why they would target the Chinese market. The Russian population is relatively small and the northern Chinese market is on Russias doorstep but you have to question where they are getting the money from as the last available accounts (Q1-Q3 2015) showed big losses in the meat segment. However, he ruled out any market impact from the development this year, labelling the scheme a medium- to long-term project. This is an interesting development but it has no short-term implications for the UK or Western Europe, he added. It is a case of watching to see if and when any investment is actually made. There will be roads and infrastructure needed, which is only just taking place now, according to media reports. More than 40 Gaffney High students will compete for titles in the 2023 Miss Cherokeean Pageant being held this Saturday, Oct. 22. The pageant will begin at 6 p.m. in ... How should you pay for short-term financial goals? As you go through life, you will likely have longand short-term financial goals. But how will your strategies for meeting your long-term goals differ from those needed for your short-term... gamershell.com expired on 08/21/2022 and is pending renewal or deletion. Backorder Domain A Pinch of Salt: To vote now or to vote later that is the question Drug dealing scene : Area around City Administration Building to become safer Dem grunen Wildwuchs am Fue des Stadthauses will die Verwaltung jetzt Einhalt gebieten. Gestern hat eine Gartenbaufirma damit begonnen, die Grunflachen an der Maxstrae zu roden. So soll das Areal fur Passanten ubersichtlicher werden. Foto: Barbara Frommann Bonn The City of Bonn is trying to clean up the drug dealing scene around the City Administration Building to create a safer environment for visitors. Teilen Teilen Weiterleiten Weiterleiten Tweeten Tweeten Weiterleiten Weiterleiten Drucken Residents new to Bonn or those who have lived here for a while might be familiar with the gray on gray City Administration Building in Bonn at Maxstrae. This is where driving licenses, marriage licenses and all sorts of permits are obtained and registrations take place. But it has also become a meeting place for young drug dealers. Overgrown and unattended bushes and trees have provided cover, and people passing by say they have been offered drugs by dealers. Bullying is also not unheard of. A local business owner says Saturday mornings find the area littered with trash from the night before. Police were interviewed in November and said they were aware of the situation concerning small drug dealers and drug couriers in that area. Some of the offenders have already appeared in court, not that this has changed the situation. In terms of security, a video camera at the start of Maxstrae leading into the main entrance has been broken for a long time, as have other video cameras in the area. Not only the business owner was weary of the situation, but a customer as well. My wife will not even walk the steps alone in the evening anymore says a retired citizen. He wrote to the Mayor of Bonn, Ashok Sridharan about the problem and got a quick response saying the city will take action. Since the start of the year, a private security firm has been hired to patrol the area regularly. On Friday, work began cutting down overgrown scrub and brush in the area so there is no more room for cover. The goal is to keep the green areas entirely visible from the road. Remembering Harper Lee Today we mourn the death of brilliant author Harper Lee. She passed away at the age of 89 in her hometown of Monroeville, Alabama. The beloved author of To Kill a Mockingbird was revered by many who grew up reading her classic novel. In honor of her passing, we take a look back at her life. 1. Nelle Harper Lee was the youngest of four children born to Frances Cunningham (Finch) and Amasa Coleman Lee. Her first name was her maternal grandmothers name, Ellen, spelled backwards. She would use Harper Lee as her pen name, but used her first name in life. Image: The Lee family in the 1930 U.S. census, MyHeritage SuperSearch (click to see full record) 2. She was born and raised in Monroeville, Alabama. The town would serve as the template for To Kill a Mockingbirds Depression-era town of Maycomb, Alabama. In 1997, the town was designated the Literary Capital of Alabama. Image: Library of Congress 3. In 1960, Lee published To Kill a Mockingbird. The book was both a commercial and critical success and earned her the Pulitzer Prize. Today, it remains one of the most widely read books in America. Image: Harper Lee and Mary Badham, Library of Congress 4. Much of To Kill a Mockingbirds plot and characters stemmed from her own experiences growing up in her small southern town. She based the novels young narrator, Scout, on herself and modeled the characters father, Atticus Finch, after he own father. Her father was also a lawyer and once defended two black men accused of murder. Image: Truman Capote, Library of Congress 5. Lee grew up alongside fellow writer Truman Capote. The pair were best friends and neighbors in the small town. She drew on their childhood friendship when creating the characters of Scout and Dill in To Kill a Mockingbird. As children, Lee and Capote bonded over their love of reading and would often sit in during trials at the courthouse together. However, as adults, the once-close friends became increasingly distant as their professional careers flourished. Image: In Cold Blood, Library of Congress 6. Lee accompanied Capote to Kansas as he was conducting research for what would become his best-selling book, In Cold Blood. She proved Capote with much assistance in the research and even compiled over a hundred pages of notes for her friend. After six yeas of research, the book was finally published in 1966. Image: Gregory Peck, Wikimedia Commons 7. The film adaptation of To Kill a Mockingbird is often considered one of the greatest films ever made. The movie was nominated for eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Gregory Peck won the Oscar for Best Actor for his memorable portrayal of Atticus Finch. On that Oscar night, Peck wore the pocket watch Lee had given to him, which had once belonged to her father. The pair remained close friends after the film. His grandson, Harper Peck Voll, was named after her. Image: NARA 8. Throughout her life, Lee was recognized many times for her talent. In 2007, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President George W. Bush. 9. In 2015, Lee published Go Set a Watchman, which was promoted as a sequel to her iconic novel. The manuscript was originally written as a first draft of To Kill a Mockingbird and takes place 20 years after the events of the first novel. The news of Watchmans publication was met with some controversy, especially because Lee had vowed to never write another book. Many skeptics questioned the timing of its publication so close after her sisters death. 10. Lee lived most of her post-Mockingbird life in private. For the last years of her life, she resided in an assisted living facility in her hometown of Monroeville, Alabama. She passed in her sleep on February 19, 2016 at the age of 89. Rest in peace, Harper Lee (1926-2016). The content you are looking for has either been removed or requires you to login to view Please login below or register for an account With Naijapals.com #1 It seems evident from rumors that Samsung will launch the Samsung Galaxy S7 or the Galaxy S7 Edge. While the Samsung Galaxy S7 is expected to have a 5.1-inch screen, the Galaxy S7 Edge will come be slightly bigger at 5.5-inch. There are rumors that there is also a 6-inch model. The phones will come in both flat as well as well as edge variant.It seems to be a development on the Galaxy S6 edge+. It is most likely to be powered by an Exynos 8890 chip-set. In all likelihood, it could also be waterproof. A Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 line could also be unveiled at the MWC. This too could come in two variants of 8 inches and a 9.7-inch. #2 LG is expected to introduce a new flagship at the MWC 2016. The new smartphone is likely to come with a new design. LG might remove the Power and Volume keys from the back. The new flagship could come in a new design. It could also come with a removable battery. The smartphone will have a Snapdragon 820 SoC, 4GB RAM and 64GB of storage with microSD card slot. It might also come with a 5.6" QHD display and an Always On Feature. The phone might also come with a secondary display. As for Camera, we can expect a dual sensor setup on the back (16 MP + 8MP) wih 2 LED's. #3 Xiaomi has not previously announced devices at the MWC. So an announement this time is unexpected.However, it is expected that Xiaomi Mi 5 will debut a device on February 24. The Xiaomi Mi5 will have a display of 1080p with 2.5D glass along with a variant of the same phone with a QHD display. There are also likely to be differences in the memory like 3GB RAM + 32GB Storage and a 4GB with 64GB storage variant. It is likely to have a 5.2 inch screen. The Mi 5 is expected to come with Snapdragon 820 SoC powered by a 3,600 mAh battery. The main camera will also have 16MP rear camera and a 13MP front shooter. There is also going to be a fingerprint scanner on the home button. #4 There are not still many rumors about what Sony might unveil at the MWC 2016. It seems possible that an Xperia Z5 Tablet seems possible and it is likely that we can see the Xperia C6 Ultra. HTC: HTC is yet to announce any official event at the MWC 2016. HTC has been a frequenter at the MWC and this time, the company might give it a miss. The HTC One M10 is the phone that is most likely to be unveiled at the MWC 2016. The HTC M10 is likely to 5.1 inch QHD, AMOLED Display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 SoC, 4GB of RAM and 32GB of storage. The highlight of the HTC One M10 seems to be its front camera which comes with "Ultra Pixel" #5 Huawei is most likely to come out with the Huawei P9. Not much is known about the P9 smartphone other than the fact that the smartphone is expected to come in three variants. The P9 will come in three variants - P9 Lite, P9 Max and a P9. There also seems to be a fourth variant with larger display and more RAM. Another leak suggests that the phone might also come with a Dual-Camera set up. #6 Some time back, Alcatel leaked its own phones.The Alcatel OneTouch Idol 4 and 4S, were recently leaked along with their full specs sheets on the manufacturer's website.The phones also include support for 4G LTE. Alcatel will also come out with a Pop 4 Series - Pop 4S, Pop 4 Plus, and Pop 4. #7 We can expect Gionee to launch the Gionee Elife S8 this year at the MWC 2016. This should have a 4.6-inch Display, will be powered by a Mediatek Helio P10 chipset.It is rumored that the phone will have a 4GB RAM and an internal memory of 64GB. The smartphone will also have a 16MP rear camera and a 8MP front camera. #8 The Oppo f1 was launched in Mumbai only a few days ago. Later Oppo released a Teaser indicating it might launch the Oppo F1 Plus model. The teaser was for the MWC 2016 event. So its most likely that the F1 Plus phone will be unveiled at Barcelona. Military Strikes Continue Against ISIL Terrorists in Syria, Iraq From a Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve News Release SOUTHWEST ASIA, February 19, 2016 U.S. and coalition military forces have continued to attack Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant terrorists in Syria and Iraq, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today. Officials reported details of the latest strikes, noting that assessments of results are based on initial reports. Strikes in Syria Attack, ground-attack, fighter and remotely piloted aircraft conducted nine strikes in Syria: -- Near Abu Kamal, one strike destroyed an ISIL workover rig. -- Near Hasakah, four strikes struck two separate ISIL tactical units and destroyed five ISIL vehicles and two ISIL fighting positions. -- Near Hawl, one strike struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL vehicle. -- Near Raqqah, one strike struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL vehicle. -- Near Manbij, two strikes struck a large ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL vehicle. Strikes in Iraq Rocket artillery and fighter, attack and remotely piloted aircraft conducted 13 strikes in Iraq, coordinated with and in support of Iraq's government: -- Near Baghdadi, one strike destroyed eight ISIL rocket rails. -- Near Albu Hayat, one strike destroyed 13 ISIL rocket rails. -- Near Hit, one strike struck an ISIL tactical unit. -- Near Mosul, four strikes struck an ISIL tactical unit and an ISIL weapons storage facility and destroyed 12 ISIL fighting positions, an ISIL excavator, and an ISIL vehicle. -- Near Ramadi, four strikes struck two separate ISIL tactical units and destroyed four ISIL staging areas. -- Near Sinjar, two strikes struck an ISIL tactical unit and suppressed an ISIL rocket position. Task force officials define a strike as one or more kinetic events that occur in roughly the same geographic location to produce a single, sometimes cumulative, effect. Therefore, officials explained, a single aircraft delivering a single weapon against a lone ISIL vehicle is one strike, but so is multiple aircraft delivering dozens of weapons against buildings, vehicles and weapon systems in a compound, for example, having the cumulative effect of making those targets harder or impossible for ISIL to use. Accordingly, officials said, they do not report the number or type of aircraft employed in a strike, the number of munitions dropped in each strike, or the number of individual munition impact points against a target. Part of Operation Inherent Resolve The strikes were conducted as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, the operation to eliminate the ISIL terrorist group and the threat they pose to Iraq, Syria, and the wider international community. The destruction of ISIL targets in Syria and Iraq further limits the group's ability to project terror and conduct operations. Coalition nations conducting strikes in Iraq include the United States, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Jordan, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Coalition nations conducting strikes in Syria include the United States, Australia, Bahrain, Canada, France, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address U.S. Department of Defense Press Operations News Release No. NR-058-16 February 19, 2016 Statement from Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook on Libya Airstrike Early this morning the U.S. military conducted an airstrike in Libya targeting an ISIL training camp near Sabratha and Noureddine Chouchane, a.k.a. 'Sabir,' a Tunisian national who was an ISIL senior facilitator in Libya associated with the training camp. In May 2015, Tunisian authorities named Chouchane as a suspect in the March 18, 2015, deadly attack on the Bardo Museum in Tunis. He facilitated the movement of potential ISIL-affiliated foreign fighters from Tunisia to Libya and onward to other countries. Destruction of the camp and Chouchane's removal will eliminate an experienced facilitator and is expected to have an immediate impact on ISIL's ability to facilitate its activities in Libya, including recruiting new ISIL members, establishing bases in Libya, and potentially planning external attacks on U.S. interests in the region. We are assessing the results of the operation and will provide additional information as and when appropriate. This strike demonstrates we will go after ISIL whenever it is necessary, using the full range of tools at our disposal. http://www.defense.gov/News/News-Releases/News-Release-View/Article/658458/ NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address U.S. Department of Defense Press Operations News Transcript Presenter: Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook February 19, 2016 Department of Defense Press Briefing by Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook in the Pentagon Briefing Room PETER COOK: Afternoon, everybody. I wanted to start today by addressing the airstrike in Libya that we issued a statement on earlier today. I'm sure you all saw that statement, but just to reiterate -- overnight, we conducted an airstrike in Libya, targeting an ISIL training camp near Sabratha and Noureddine Chouchane, aka Sabir, a Tunisian national who was an ISIL senior facilitator in Libya and associated with that training camp. We took this action against Sabir in the training camp after determining that both he and the ISIL fighters at these facilities were planning external attacks on U.S. and other Western interests in the region. Of note, Sabir was named a suspect in the March 18, 2015 deadly attack on the Bardo Museum in Tunis and had facilitated the movement of potential ISIL-affiliated foreign fighters from Tunisia to Libya, and on to other countries. This action is a clear demonstration of the secretary's continued commitment to go after ISIL's metastases wherever they emerge. It is fully consistent with our broader campaign plan to counter ISIL and prevent any efforts to establish new safe havens. As you know, this is not the first time we've taken direct action in Libya or against other high-value ISIL targets and it may not be the last. We will continue to target ISIL and its infrastructure wherever it exists and when opportunities such as this emerge, we will exploit them. We will continue to work with and through our partners when possible as part of our overall counter-ISIL coalition effort. In this particular strike, the U.K. offered the use of its bases for our air assets. We appreciate their support and continued contributions from all of our coalition partners to destroy ISIL. And with that, I'd be happy to take your questions. Bob? Q: Peter, could you tell us a bit more about this training camp? What kind of training was going on there, how long it had been established? And when you say they were planning external attacks, I think you said against U.S. interests, could you be more specific about on that continent or somewhere else that's in Europe, in the U.S.? MR. COOK: Bob, I'm not going to go into too many details in terms of intelligence gathering, as you can imagine. But this was a facility that we'd had our eye on for some time and we determined that there were ISIL fighters and folks in training at this facility, and specifically that Chouchane was associated with this facility in particular. And we saw that this -- we believe that they posed a threat. Q: What type of training were you talking about? Just -- like can you describe it in any other way? MR. COOK: I'm going to leave it -- we saw them conducting training. We, again, have been watching it for some time and -- Q: Months or weeks? MR. COOK: I'll say order of weeks that we'd had eyes on this particular facility. Yes, Jim? Q: Peter, without getting too specific about the -- what those Western and U.S. interests were, can define U.S. interests? In other words, these apparently were not U.S. or maybe even Western targets, but they were interests. What does that -- what does that mean? MR. COOK: Jim, we have a national security interest in confronting the threat that ISIL poses, the metastasis of ISIL, as we've talked about. And we've been -- we've shown a willingness to go after ISIL in Libya in the past and we did so in this instance because we felt that, again, this group and this particular individual who had -- was named as a suspect previously in an attack in Tunisia posed, again, a threat to Libya specifically, to interests in the region and posed a national security threat to the United States. Q: How so? MR. COOK: We see ISIL -- we can hear ISIL every single day threatening the United States. We see what's happening in Iraq and Syria and we believe that these fighters in Libya posed a threat to our national security interests. Q: So in other words, wherever ISIS lives, breaths and trains, they are a target for possible U.S. airstrikes. MR. COOK: We've made clear that we need to confront ISIL wherever it rears its head. They have posted direct threat to United States. They have encouraged attacks against the United States and our -- and our allies, and we're going to continue to confront it to protect our national security. And this was an instance where we saw an opportunity to strike at ISIL in Libya, and we carried out that strike. And we feel -- we feel confident this was a successful strike. Q: But Peter, under what authority was this strike carried out? There is no AUMF for ISIS in Libya, no Americans were killed in the two attacks in Tunisia. Under what authority? MR. COOK: Well, again, we've struck in Libya previously, under the existing use of force, the authorization for the use of military force. Q: In 2001, against Al Qaida? MR. COOK: Yes, specifically. And this -- in our targeting of Chouchane in this instance. And we believe that this was based on -- was legal under international law. Q: But you're saying that you're using the 2001 AUMF against Al Qaida to go after ISIS in Libya? MR. COOK: Specifically, again, as a -- the use of military force against ISIL is authorized by the 2001 authorization for the use of military force, specifically. Just as it was -- as we used it in our previous strike in Libya. Q: And who in Libya authorized the strike? MR. COOK: Again, specifically here, we believe that this was carried out under international law, and also specifically, that this operation was consistent with domestic and international law, and that this operation was conducted with the knowledge of Libya authorities. Q: Peter? MR. COOK: Yes, (Jamie ?). Q: This strike comes as there has been broad discussion about whether the United States should expand its bombing campaign against ISIL from just Iraq and Syria into Libya. Also comes at a time when others are suggesting that that's not something that the U.S. is interested in doing, and rather have -- be kind of more limited high-value target strike, as we've seen. Can you help us understand where the thinking is about, to what extent the United States is going to continue the campaign against ISIL in Libya? Is it going to be -- is it heading towards something similar to what we're seeing say, in Syria? Or are we still talking about something that's much more limited? MR. COOK: Again, Jamie, I'm going to point back that we, as the secretary has talked about, we see that the parent tumor of ISIL is in Iraq and Syria, and that remains primary focus for us. But as we see ISIL metastasize and spread to other parts of the world, we're going to continue to keep a very close eye on it. And when we feel the need to strike, we'll be prepared to do, using all of the tools at our disposal. And also -- obviously, also working with our coalition partners, our allies and partners around the region. So, this -- in this particular instance, we saw this opportunity to strike here, and we took that -- we took that step. And again, we feel confident that this was a successful strike, and again, that these particular fighters posed a threat to interests in the region, to Libya, and to -- to the United States over all. Q: Is there any serious consideration, though, of conducting the kind of bombing campaign on the scale that we're seeing in Iraq and Syria? Where we see almost daily coalition strikes, as opposed to this occasional sort of military action that we've seen in the last 24 hours? MR. COOK: Jamie, I'm not going to look ahead into the future. We're going to continue to respond to the ISIL threat as it develops. We are carrying out a significant campaign against ISIL in Iraq and Syria, and we are prepared -- as we have demonstrated in the last 24 hours -- to strike ISIL in other parts of the world, as they pose a threat. Yes, Tara? Q: Thanks, Peter. This would represent a fourth front of U.S. airstrikes (inaudible) ISIS in Afghanistan and Iraq and Syria. Is this an expansion to the point where we're stretching U.S. asset -- air assets too thin? At what point is the operations tempo against the Islamic State too much for the air power that we have to bear? Just yesterday, we were talking about how the B-1s have been rotated out, and they were one of the heaviest lifters out there. MR. COOK: Tara, we -- at this point, we don't see any gap in capabilities on our part. We have other coalition members who have offered additional contributions to the air campaign. You heard Gen. Brown talk about that yesterday. We don't see a lack of capabilities limiting us in the fight against ISIL at this point. Obviously, this is something we'll continue to watch. We'll work with Congress in terms of -- of the budget that's just been submitted and the additional funding that we're getting for ISIL. And obviously, we'll be keeping a very close eye on the operational tempo and what, if any, capability gaps could be out there in the future, but right now, we feel confident we can carry out this war. Q: Just one clarification on the strikes, could you confirm that there were F-15s that were used? And can you tell were they Italy-based or England-based? MR. COOK: I'm not going to get into details. I can tell you that there were manned and unmanned aircraft involved in this effort. Kevin? Q: Quickly, were there any other countries beside Brits and Americans involved? Beyond that, can you give us more about the state of ISIS in Libya right now? Is the rate of fighters flowing into Libya still increasing, as it has been in the last couple of months or so? And on this strike, what's the -- put in a bigger context of what's the significance of this fella we hit? And -- (inaudible) -- the rest of the impact of the strike itself? How many other fighters were there, the size of this camp? I mean, who was this person in the larger family tree of ISIS in Libya? MR. COOK: Let me sort of tackle that first. This was someone, again, who had been named as a suspect as -- in this very high-profile attack on the museum in Tunisia and someone that had been identified as a -- as a facilitator, someone who was a leader of -- for ISIL in Libya and someone who was playing a role in, again, moving foreign fighters to outside of the region perhaps and someone that we had identified as a -- as someone in the leadership that -- that his removal would make a difference to the organization of ISIL in Libya. And that was one of the reasons, again, that he was targeted in this way. As for the bigger picture in Libya, we continue to monitor ISIL as a threat within Libya, the movement of -- of fighters. I don't think anything's dramatically changed on that front from our perspective, but we are watching it very closely, as we've indicated for some time. And we will do that in conjunction with our partners in the region who also have a sincere interest in making sure that ISIL does not -- is not able to -- to establish more of a foothold in Libya than it already has and we're going to continue to work to try and reduce the threat that Libya poses in in -- that ISIL poses in Libya and in other parts of the region. Q: Other nations? Were the French involved? They've had, you know, a big interest in Libya. MR. COOK: I'm not going to talk about other cooperation. We, again, appreciate the -- the air bases that the U.K. offered up and there were -- I'll say that there were other countries that -- that supported this effort and we appreciate their contributions. Nancy? MR. COOK: I want to know if you could take the question about what aircraft we used? I'm not clear why we can't know when we've known about what kind of aircraft we used in the past, one including the strike on -- in November of Abu Nabil. So could you please take that question rather than say we can't know? MR. COOK: I'll try and answer as best I can. I'll take it further, but one of the reasons we may not identify all the aircraft involved is, again, to help protect the safety and security of all those crews that may have been involved. So -- Q: Why does it matter what kind of aircraft it is? I mean, as far as the safety of the crew -- MR. COOK: I'm just -- I'm going -- we're going to be very cautious here about maintaining the safety and security of our crews, and doing everything we can to minimize them, provided the information I can -- I'll take the question, but I'm not sure I'll be able to go further for that reason. Q: I think it would be better to get a clear answer on what it was if it's about protecting the crews, than having people speculate, because that would put others in danger. MR. COOK: Okay. Q: So, that would just be my offering. MR. COOK: A fair point. Q: The other question I had was, who authorized the strike? Was it the secretary, was it the president, who authorized it? MR. COOK: This was recommended by the secretary to the president. The president authorized this strike. Q: But on the -- the aircraft for a second. You said that they were unmanned -- MR. COOK: They were unmanned and manned. Q: Unmanned. What was their role? What kind of aircraft were involved in that? You know, I'm talking about (safety ?) -- MR. COOK: Jim, I'm -- again, I'd prefer not to get into the details of that. If we can provide more details, I will. But at this point, I'd just characterize it again: unmanned and manned aircraft. So, yes, Jim. Q: Peter, I think you mentioned that the Libyan authorities had knowledge of the strike, but the government is very divided. Which -- which authorities were notified? MR. COOK: Again, Jim, I'd just leave it that this was conducted, again, with the knowledge of Libyan authorities, and we believe this was consistent with domestic and international law. Q: And just to follow that more broadly, clearly, one of the limits in Libya is a lack of a ground partner there. Is -- are you any closer to developing sort of -- either links with certain organizations or tribes in the country to provide some sort of a ground partner operating in Libya? MR. COOK: Let me just characterize it this way: that you have identified something that we've talked previously is a goal of ours to try to get a better sense of a very complicated picture in Libya. We're making efforts towards that end; we believe we've made some strides, some progress in that area. But it's going to continue to be a challenge for us, and one we're trying to overcome as best we can, again, with a very complicated picture in Libya. Joe. Q: Peter, a followup on Kevin's question. How influential is ISIL in Libya? Do you have an estimate about the size of the group in all of Libya? MR. COOK: Yeah. I know that there have been some estimates that have been put forward, recently. Let me get back to you on the exact number; I don't have those at my fingertips right here. But I want to say just clearly, we believe that ISIL is a threat in Libya, and we want to do everything we can -- and I think the secretary has talked about a -- the glide slope for ISIL in Libya. We want to do everything we can to deter that glide slope, to alter that glide slope, so that they can't have the ability to gain a foothold in this -- in the country. And particularly as we continue to challenge them in Iraq and Syria, we do not want other safe havens to emerge for ISIL. And that strike overnight is a reflection of that effort. Barbara. Q: You said a couple of -- at one point, you said, 'These fighters at this camp posed a threat to the U.S.' You didn't actually say U.S. interests, but you said, 'posed a threat to the U.S.,' and then you said, the operative that was killed was moving foreign fighters outside of the region. So, if the camp posed a threat to the U.S. and he was moving foreign fighters outside of the region, it seems as though we should conclude from what you're saying, this camp and these fighters and ISIS in Libya has the capability to strike the U.S. Is that correct? Because it is hard to see what else you could have meant when you say, 'posed a threat to the U.S. and were moving foreign fighters outside of the region.' MR. COOK: Barbara, this was a camp, again, with fighters -- and ISIL has made clear that it, itself has declared an interest in going after the United States and U.S. interests around the world. They have demonstrated that, a willingness to do that. We believe these fighters, these -- this training facility was part of that effort to -- that posed a threat to -- again, to the United States and to our Western interests, particularly in the region. We think, in all likelihood, that the immediate region was the area of most focus for these fighters. But that, again, we believe that this was a group that had ill intent on its mind. They were training to do harm. And we wanted to do what we can to end that effort as efficiently as we could. Q: Let me just follow up, if I may. When you say the immediate region, two questions. MR. COOK: Sure. Q: Are you speaking solely of Tunisia, or when you said the immediate -- when the Pentagon says the immediate region, do you include Europe, Southern Europe, possibly? MR. COOK: You know, Barbara, again, I can't go into all of our intelligence, but I think it's fair to say that we believe this group and this training facility posed a threat in the region and perhaps beyond in the short-term. And as a result, we wanted to move quickly, so. Q: But in the short-term, does that mean that you saw evidence -- when you say that, are you telling us that there was evidence of something fairly imminent, and the bottom line is, can you tell us, does ISIS in Libya have the capability to stage an attack against the U.S. -- in the U.S.? MR. COOK: Barbara, I think it's fair to say that we assessed that this facility -- relatively new facility, but we have been watching the last few weeks, that we were able to strike this facility before they posed an even more significant threat. And so, we acted quickly here to try and get out ahead, if you will. And I'm not going to get into exactly what their capabilities or motives were; we may be able to learn more over time. But we are confident that they did -- that they did pose a -- that they had ill intent on their mind. And that was the reason we targeted them in this way. Q: But this -- I'm sorry, I didn't mean them in particular. MR. COOK: Sure. Q: But does -- does ISIS in Libya have the capability -- it may have the intent -- do they, today, have the capability to strike in the United States or U.S. interests abroad? Do they? MR. COOK: We've seen their ability to promote and encourage attacks here in the United States, and we are doing everything we can, Barbara, to make sure that they do not have the capability to strike in the United States. And this strike overnight is a clear evidence of that. Bill? Q: Can you describe the camp itself? I mean, was there a lot of facilities there? What kind of training went on there? And about how many fighters do you estimate came through that camp? MR. COOK: I'm going to describe it in rough terms, as a rural area with a number of buildings nearby. And that there were some number of ISIL recruits and trainees, and ISIL members at the site itself. And I'm just going to, Bill, characterize it that we feel confident that this was a very successful strike. Q: What kind of tactics were being trained there -- were they getting trained on? MR. COOK: I'm not going to go into details. But this was a group -- at times, there were as many as 60 people involved in training at this facility. And again, I won't go into details there, but we were able to determine, over the course of some period of time, what they were doing, how many people were at this facility. (CROSSTALK) Q: Is there any estimate on how many people were killed in the strike? MR. COOK: We're still getting our full assessment. But there were -- there were a significant amount of fighters there at the time. Q: And what are the local reports that describe this as a farmhouse or a farm? Is that -- was that an an accurate description? You said it was in a rural area? MR. COOK: I'm not going to characterize it just other -- beyond there was a rural area. It was not an urban environment. Q: Lastly, with the SOF [special operation forces] teams that you've mentioned that have come through there before, was -- the work that they've done, was that -- was that in any way useful in this strike, and can you kind of characterize the progress that's been made with the SOF teams. Have they identified groups that we can possibly -- the U.S. can possibly work with? MR. COOK: The second part of your question, I'll just say is a reference to -- to Jim's question that our ability to get a better sense of the -- the playing field, if you will, and the players on the ground. We are -- we have a better sense today than we did some time ago. But we still -- it's a challenge for us. And I would say that they have a made a difference. They've made progress for us on that front. I'm not going to characterize the intelligence or anything that went into this particular strike other than to say, again that we were able to -- to have -- able to watch this facility over a period of time. And that gave us the confidence that allowed us to carry out the strike over there. Yes, Thomas? Q: Hi, Peter. Just kind of shifting gears to Russia/Syria. Russia claimed today that U.S. Military and Russia military met in Geneva. U.S. denied it. Can you just clear that up? MR. COOK: Yeah, this -- there's a -- the cochairs of the Munich discussions, as I think the State Department's pointed out -- United States and Russia in the meeting today ahead of the -- the wider group meeting was U.S. diplomats and Russian diplomats and there were -- we had military folks represented as well. Q: And then kind of shifting gears back to Libya. Just to kind of tease this out, the -- (kill ?) that we killed an HVI in the strike, or supposedly did, we also hit a camp, which was the primary objective? Or were they both primary objectives? Attacking the camp or killing the HVI? MR. COOK: I think -- let me just say that at this point we feel -- we feel good that both were taken out in this strike. And we feel specifically that this individual that was targeted for the reasons I stated earlier, his past role, his being identified as a suspect in the Bardo Museum, made him a particularly valuable target. And he had demonstrated previously the ability to facilitate ISIL and play a role in the movement of foreign fighters, and that's why he was in particular -- particular value -- high value target. Q: Right. But striking camps is kind of a new -- would be a new part of the strategy in Libya. Striking HVIs would be keeping with the old strategy of just hitting these guys where they pop up. So I'm just trying to figure out is this something we're going to keep doing going forward that we see 60 person camps pop up in rural Libya, are we going to blow them up? MR. COOK: Again, we're going to assess targets and opportunities as we see them, Thomas. This should indicate to everyone our willingness to strike ISIL in Libya and elsewhere where we see them posing a threat. And where we see the metastasis spreading. And this is an effort to confront ISIL beyond the confines of Iraq and Syria because we see that threat has spread and this is just one way in which we're going to confront that challenge. Gordon? Q: One is, just to clarify, the secretary made a recommendation to the president who actually had the authority and signed off on the authority, or did he notify him? That's one question. Second thing, just to kind of follow up on the -- (inaudible), so if there was a training camp at no higher value target there necessarily, but a bunch of bad guys, would you guys have the authority to strike it? And then I have one other question. MR. COOK: Your first point, again, the president approved this strike. You know, that's -- president -- this was the president's call. And again, we're going to be prepared to strike ISIL where we see those opportunities and we believe we have the legal authorities to do it. And in this case, we feel we did. Q: And then third thing kind of related, but different. Afghanistan, as you know, the authority came that you can legally strike against Islamic State targets in Afghanistan now. Forgive me if you've announced this somewhere and I've missed, but can you guys say how many strikes you've made against ISIS targets in Afghanistan as you do in Iraq and Syria routinely? And if you don't know the answer, that's fine. But if you could take the question because I think if you're going to start striking those guys there then we should be able to have that number. MR. COOK: I'll take the question and make clear to you that we would like to be as transparent as possible in our operations in Afghanistan and elsewhere and so -- but I'll take the question specifically. Andrew Q: Peter, a few weeks or a couple months ago there was a designation of the ISIS faction in Afghanistan that made it easier to make strikes on -- on them there. I'm wondering has -- in the past several months has there been any change in the authorities related to the ISIS faction in Libya that changes the whole process for approving a strike like this? MR. COOK: Andrew, let me -- we will continue to assess the ISIL threat and if there's a need to adjust -- adjust in any way, we'll be prepared to do so. And -- Q: (inaudible) but has there been any adjustment that you can point to as a result or are they legally considered the same ISIS as Iraq and Syria? MR. COOK: We -- we again feel that this -- this -- we are able -- Abu Nabil previously and this attack we feel is consistent with the authorities we have and consistent with domestic and international law. Yes. Q: Peter, you said the U.K. -- we thank the U.K. for offering bases for this -- for this action. Can you -- can you say which bases they were? Did they -- did we actually use them? Was it not -- did it go beyond an offer? Did we -- did we fly out of U.K. bases? Was it Malta? Was it Cypress? MR. COOK: I'm going to leave it -- leave it where it is. Again, we appreciate the -- the U.K.'s support for this effort. Yes. Q: Peter, I have a quick question. What is the -- the operation or plan five data one five -- (inaudible) -- North Korea, and does the United States have any preemptive strikes against the North Korea (sic)? MR. COOK: I'm going to -- you know our position well with regard to the defense of South Korea. Our commitments to the defense of South Korea and I'm just going to maintain what we -- what you've heard from this podium many times. Our iron-clad commitment to -- to the South Koreans. There should be no doubt -- mine of anyone in the Korean Peninsula or in the region -- about our willingness to stand with South Korea and our other allies in that region against the threat posed by North Korea. Q: But now the (inaudible) option is now behind the military -- (inaudible) -- MR. COOK: The Department of Defense, our role will be to continue to maintain the strength of our alliance. Our commitment to our alliance partner, South Korea. And also to our other allies and partners in the region. And we will continue to be ready as the secretary's talked about -- ready to fight tonight with the hope that we never have to. MR. COOK: But we have to respond along with out alliance partner to the challenges and the provocations that we've seen from North Korea, and we'll continue to do so. Carla. Q: Just a quick follow up on Gordon. Does the Pentagon plan on releasing all of the strikes that it conducts in Libya to the public? MR. COOK: We've just -- shared this one with you. We will continue to share with you and be as transparent as we can about the strikes we're conducting. And we're going to do so and try to maintain operational security and try to make sure that when we do so, that we aren't preventing ourselves from being able to conduct additional effective action against ISIL in the future. And those are the things we have to balance and weigh. We'll continue to do that. Q: And also in Africa, Boko Haram has pledged its allegiance to the Islamic State with the recent strikes in Libya. Is that -- does that affect the U.S. role against Boko Haram? Are they going to be more involved in that? MR. COOK: We continue to assess the threat posed by -- by Boko Haram with our partners in -- in Africa. And I think, again, we continue to watch carefully every single -- any group that chooses to affiliate itself with ISIL. As you would expect us to. We see the potential threat from ISIL spreading beyond Iraq and Syria. We've seen that for some time and we're keeping pace with that threat. And I think, again, the overnight action should be a reflection of that. Jennifer. Q: Just to clarify, Peter, how many air strikes were there? How many bombs were dropped, and how many training bases do you assess there are in Libya right now for ISIS? MR. COOK: First off, again, as -- in our parlance we will consider this an airstrike but there were, again, unmanned and manned aircraft involved. I'm not going to get into the details of -- of ordnance and that sort of thing. And we do believe that there are other training camps in Libya similar to this. And we're going to continue to -- to monitor those carefully and when we see opportunities or the need to take this kind of action, we will be prepared to do so. Because we want to prevent, once again, ISIL from being able to get a foothold in Libya and prevent them from getting a foothold anywhere else. Yes, and then I've got -- I'll take three more and then I got to run. Q: Thank you. Since yesterday or this morning's strike was conducted under the 2001 authorization, does the Pentagon even need a new AUMF anymore? Is there any point to Congress negotiating a new AUMF if all of these expanded strikes can be covered under the 2001 vote? MR. COOK: I think the secretary has made this point previously that, obviously, we feel like we have the legal authorities to carry these out, but another Authorization for the Use of Military Force along the lines of what the president proposed sometime back he thinks would be constructive, would be helpful and if nothing else, would be an indication of support from the Congress on behalf of the American people for our troops who are carrying out this very important mission. Q: But beyond the -- the symbolic show of support, is there any legal authority that you currently lack that you would need from Congress right now in order to carry out this expanded war against the Islamic State? MR. COOK: We feel we have the existing legal authorities we need, but again, if Congress were to move forward with an Authorization for the Use of Military Force along the lines that the secretary and the president have mentioned previously, they the secretary believes that would be a positive step. Q: Can you update us on what's going on with this cessation of hostilities agreement? It was a week ago that agreement was announced. The expectation was that within a week -- as soon as a week -- there could be a cessation of hostilities in Syria. What's the status of that? What should -- when should we look for something to -- MR. COOK: I'm chuckling, only because I said three questions. I was going right to Kevin, and you stunk right in there, Jim. It was very -- expertly done. Q: It's a very important question. MR. COOK: I grant you, it is an important question. And it's also a question that, at this point, from our vantage point here, these talks are taking place in Geneva, being led by our State Department colleagues. My understanding is that the conversations are continuing. And I'm going to defer to them in terms of characterizing exactly where things stand. But the fact that the conversations are continuing, and that there is still the prospect for a cessation of hostilities, we think is a good thing, given, in particular, the humanitarian situation that is playing out in Syria. But I don't have a particular update from here. I think best to get that vantage point from Geneva and from my colleagues at the State Department. Q: So, it's not going in to effect today? MR. COOK: Again, I'll leave it to the -- to the folks who are negotiating the agreement, negotiating the terms of the cease-fire, and that includes, you know, top diplomats from the State Department who are leading that effort. So, let me go back -- I'll go Kevin, and then Barbara. Q: On Congress. Yesterday, House Speaker Ryan put out a statement blasting the Pentagon for not sending its -- for the president's ISIL plan. Have you sent the plan yet? Are you planning to send the plan? Why haven't you sent the plan? What's your reaction to the charge that there's no plan? MR. COOK: Yeah. We continue to work with Congress on this particular request that was spelled out. There was a short time -- (inaudible) -- to get this plan completed, it requires coordination. It's not just a Department of Defense plan, but the plan also needs to be -- there's a State Department component to it. So, we continue to work with Congress on trying to respond to this particular request as quickly and as efficiently as possible, giving them the answers that they want. In the meantime, I think, Kevin, you and others in this room know full well that the secretary and this department has been very public about our campaign plan to take on ISIL in Iraq and Syria to deal with the metastasis of ISIL and to do our part of working within the inter-agency to protect the homeland. I think any -- anyone who has followed the secretary and his travels over the last few weeks should have a very clear understanding of what it is we're doing to try and defeat -- deliver a lasting defeat to ISIL, and in particular, in Iraq and Syria first. But again, we will do everything we can to work with Congress to try and satisfy this request. Barbara. Q: Very briefly, go back over one more point. You mentioned that you had continued to do strikes in Libya, where you see the opportunity and the need. On the question of need, what is, exactly -- can you explain -- that standard of judgment? When do you need to do them? Is it when you see a threat to U.S. or U.S. interests? What's -- what's that standard of judgment on need? MR. COOK: We're -- we're acting here, Barbara, as we did overnight out of concern for U.S. national security, the security of our partners and allies in the region, and because we want to confront ISIL where ever it -- where ever it pops up. And we have seen the threat that they pose in Libya, specifically, their efforts to try to organize and become a more coherent group, if you will, in Libya, as they have in Syria and Iraq. And we're doing everything we can to prevent that from happening. Q: So, you don't -- you don't need to see a direct threat to the U.S. or U.S. interests? MR. COOK: We're going to continue working with our partners. And obviously, the ultimate concern here is the threat to -- is our U.S. national security interests, both a threat to the homeland and a threat to our interests around the world. And ISIL poses a threat. And we've seen that -- we have seen that demonstrated firsthand in Iraq and Syria. We've seen that demonstrated in Libya. And we're going to do everything we can to prevent the group from gaining traction, gaining a foothold, gaining momentum, and this -- again, this effort overnight should be a direct reflection of our concern about ISIL and our willingness to take them on where ever they may be. Thanks, everybody. Q: One -- one question. MR. COOK: Yes, okay. Q: The Chinese -- the missiles that were deployed in the Paracels, at Woody Island. The Chinese have said that they have had missiles there in the past. Does that square with your understanding of the situation there? And then, with the missiles there now, does that in any way alter your planning in terms of choosing locations or how you execute Freedom of Navigation or flights in the future? MR. COOK: Second part of your question, we will continue to fly, sail and operate where ever international law allows, and that includes in the South China Sea in that part of the world. It does not alter our own operations, and it will not. And with regard to your -- your other question, my understanding is, that in the past, we have seen them conduct training in that part of the Paracels that have involved this kind of equipment in the past. But obviously, we still have a significant concern about this particular placement at this particular moment in time. And we will obviously watch it very closely. We think it only adds to greater instability in the region and destabilizes what -- a situation that already we have seen tensions rise in recent weeks and months because of Chinese actions, and we think that the placement of this particular -- this particular system, at this particular moment in time only makes that situation worse. So. With that, thanks, everybody. http://www.defense.gov/News/News-Transcripts/Transcript-View/Article/659088/ NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address US accuses China of deploying missiles to S. China Sea island Iran Press TV Fri Feb 19, 2016 1:1PM The United States has accused China of deploying surface-to-air missiles on an island in the South China Sea, claiming the deployment has raised tensions in the Asia-Pacific region. US State Department spokesman John Kirby claimed on Thursday American satellite imagery showed 'very recent' placement of missiles on Woody Island in the Paracel island chain, and blamed Beijing for militarizing the South China Sea. 'The Chinese have said one thing, and yet appear to be doing another,' Kirby told reporters in Washington, DC 'We see no indication that ... this militarization effort, has stopped. And it's doing nothing ... to make the situation there more stable and more secure. In fact, it's having quite the opposite effect,' he added. On Wednesday, US Secretary of State John Kerry said the United States would have 'very serious conversation' with China about what he called militarization of the South China Sea. Kerry did not confirm American media reports of China's alleged deployment of missiles to Woody Island. 'We have said repeatedly with respect to China that the standard that should be applied to all countries with respect to the South China Sea is no militarization," he noted. US media outlets had reported that Beijing had deployed surface-to-air missile launchers to Woody Island, citing satellite imagery confirmed by US officials. "The imagery from ImageSat International (ISI) shows two batteries of eight surface-to-air missile launchers as well as a radar system on Woody Island, part of the Paracel Island chain in the South China Sea," Fox News reported Tuesday. China has accused the US-led Western media of 'hyping up' reports about the missile deployment and said Beijing had a legitimate right to establish military facilities on territory it views as its own. "China has been deploying national defense facilities on Xisha Island for decades, it is nothing new," Chinese Global Times paper quoted Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei as saying on Thursday. China claims sovereignty over nearly all of the South China Sea, through which more than $5 trillion in global trade passes every year. Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, the Philippines and Taiwan have rival claims. Washington has sided with China's rivals in the territorial dispute, with Beijing accusing the US of meddling in the regional issues and deliberately stirring up tensions in the South China Sea. Earlier this week, US President Barack Obama hosted leaders from the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) at a summit which was aimed to counter what Washington calls China's increasingly assertiveness in the South China Sea. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Vietnam Protests China's Paracels Missile Deployment by Tra Mi February 19, 2016 Vietnam lodged a formal protest Friday against China's deployment of surface-to-air missiles to the disputed Paracel Islands chain in the South China Sea. Citing 'serious infringements of Vietnam's sovereignty over the Paracels,' Hanoi's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Le Hai Binh released a statement describing letters his department issued to China's Vietnamese embassy and United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. China's state-run Global Times newspaper on Thursday confirmed the presence of unspecified weapons on Woody Island, part of the Paracels chain. Vietnam is calling on the UN to condemn Beijing's move, saying it 'threatens peace and stability in the region as well as security, safety and freedom of navigation and flight.' The call comes a day after Vietnamese officials were criticized for not responding quickly to Beijing's revelation about the weapons. The Chinese government claims a legitimate right to military facilities on the territory, which it views as its own. Although Woody Island is also claimed by Taiwan and Vietnam, in 1974, the then-South Vietnamese government suffered a naval loss to China in a battle over the Paracels. China's long-standing control of the Paracels contrasts with other disputed territories in the region, such as the Spratly Islands, which lie some 740 kilometers southeast of Woody Island. 'Vietnam's reaction is not strong enough amid China's assertion and militarization within Vietnam's sovereignty,' Professor Tuong Lai, a South China Sea analyst who served as an adviser to the late prime minister Vo Van Kiet, told VOA Vietnamese on Friday. 'Washington's role in the South China Sea issue is very important. The U.S. needs to bolster its military presence in the region to help maintain peace and stability,' he added. 'Vietnam has to rally support from ASEAN, the U.S. and the international community against Chinese aggression rather than verbal protests.' During a recent meeting with President Barack Obama on the sidelines of this week's ASEAN summit in California, Vietnam's Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung urged Washington to play a greater role in preventing militarization and island-building in the South China Sea, the government said Tuesday. This report was produced in collaboration with VOA's Vietnamese Service. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Ugandan Opposition Leader Re-arrested; Museveni Leading Poll by Lizabeth Paulat, Jill Craig February 19, 2016 Uganda's main opposition leader, Kizza Besigye, was arrested for the second time in two days Friday as election results showed him running a distant second in the presidential poll to incumbent Yoweri Museveni. Witnesses said police took Besigye and other top members of his party, the Forum for Democratic Change, away from their headquarters in Kampala. Police had fired tear gas into the building as party leaders tried to hold a news conference to talk about alleged election fraud by authorities. Police said Besigye was detained because he planned to announce election results, in violation of electoral laws. A police spokesman, Fred Enanga, told the Associated Press that Besigye has been taken to his home and said his movements were not restricted. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry voiced concern about the detention of Besigye and urged Museveni to rein in his security forces. Kerry spoke on the phone Friday with Museveni, saying the police actions 'call into question Uganda's commitment to a transparent and credible election process free from intimidation,' the State Department said in a statement. Kerry also urged Museveni to end the shutdown of popular social media sites and money mobile services. The head of Uganda's Communications Commission said the social media sites were blocked for security reasons. Provisional results released by Uganda's electoral commission Friday showed Museveni leading with about 63 percent of the vote, followed by Besigye with 33 percent. The tally included results from just under half of the 28,000 polling stations nationwide. Another presidential challenger, former Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi, left his house with a police escort Friday. Earlier, he had released a statement saying police were arresting people outside his residence, and he posted video of officers patrolling the streets. Besigye alleged that Thursday's election was subject to vote rigging, rendering it 'unfree and unfair.' His statement came after police briefly arrested him Thursday when he tried to enter a house he said was being used for the alleged rigging operation. Police said the house was a security facility and that Besigye was arrested for trespassing. Some polling stations did not open on time Thursday because election materials had not been delivered. The delay frustrated many would-be voters, some of whom spent hours waiting in line in the heat for their chance to cast a ballot. At one station in Kampala, police fired tear gas to disperse angry voters who had waited seven hours in line, only to find there were no ballots for the poll. Voting continued Friday in some parts of Kampala and the Wakiso district to make up for Thursday's delays. About 15 million Ugandans were eligible to vote in these elections for president, parliament and local government seats. Museveni faced a challenge from seven opponents, most prominently Besigye, who has lost to him in three previous elections. Besigye has accused Museveni and the ruling NRM party of using poll-rigging and intimidation of voters to secure victory in those polls. VOA reporter James Butty contributed to this report. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address US airstrikes kill 40 people in Libyan city: Mayor Iran Press TV Fri Feb 19, 2016 10:56AM US aircraft carried out airstrikes early Friday on the city of Sabratha, northwestern Libya, killing over 40 people, the city's mayor said. Hussein al-Thwadi said the airstrikes were carried out at about 3:30 a.m. local time (0130 GMT). A building, where foreign workers were living, was hit in the Qasr Talil district. The mayor said 41 people were killed and six others were wounded in the strikes. Other officials have not confirmed the death toll. Some Tunisians, a Jordanian citizen and two women were among the dead, the mayor said. According to Colonel Mark Cheadle, a spokesman for the Pentagon's Africa Command, the airstrikes targeted a senior Tunisian militant, Noureddine Chouchane, linked to the attacks of 2015 in Tunisia: one on a resort hotel in the city of Sousse and the other on a museum in the capital, Tunis. 'We are assessing the results of the operation and will provide additional information as and when appropriate,' Cheadle stated. The Takfiri Daesh terrorists claimed the attacks in Tunisia last year. Daesh terrorists from Tunisia are believed to have been trained in camps near Sabratha, which is located close to the border, according to Tunisian security sources. Libya has been in chaos since dictator Muammar Gaddafi was toppled and later killed in 2011. The Daesh Takfiri terrorists have exploited the situation in the North African country to set up strongholds there. Last November, the US also carried out another unilateral action in Libya under the pretext of fighting Daesh militants. The US has already been conducting airstrikes in other countries, including Syria and Iraq, allegedly for targeting Daesh militants; however, civilians and the countries' infrastructure have borne the brunt of deadly attacks. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Official Source: Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Stops Aid to Arm Lebanese Army and Internal Security Forces Saudi Press Agency Riyadh, Jumada I 10, 1437, Feb 19, 2016, SPA -- An official source said that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has consistently provided, throughout its history, the support to Arab and Islamic countries and that the Lebanese Republic has always had the large share of this support and assistance. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia stood by Lebanon in all its difficult stages and supported it without any discrimination among its sects and groups, a matter is well known by all Lebanese people and we do not need to prove that. The last aid which was recently announced by the Kingdom was a support to the Lebanese army and internal security forces to ensure achieving security and stability of Lebanon and maintain its sovereignty. In spite of these honorable stances, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was countered by anti Lebanese stances at Arab, regional and international levels in light of so-called Hezbollah's confiscation of the Lebanese state's will, as happened in the Arab League Council and the Organizations of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) regarding Lebanon's non-condemnation of the blatant attacks against the Saudi Embassy in Tehran and its Consulate General in Mash-had which are contrary to international law and diplomatic norms. These assaults were denounced by all countries across the world, the UN Security Council and other international organizations in addition to the political and media positions led by the so-called (Hezbollah in Lebanon) against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and its terrorist practices against the Arab and Islamic nation. The source added that the Kingdom Saudi Arabia considers these positions as regrettable and unjustified and are inconsistent with the fraternal relations between the two countries and they are not taking into account their interests and ignoring all the Kingdom's historical and supportive stances towards Lebanon during its economic and political crises. The official source added that given these facts, the Kingdom has carried out a comprehensive review of its relations with the Republic of Lebanon in line with these positions and protection of the Kingdom's interests. The Kingdom has taken a number of decisions as follows: First: Stopping the Saudi scheduled aid to arm the Lebanese army through the French Republic amounted to $ three billion. Second: Stopping the rest of the Kingdom's planned assistance of $ one billion to the Lebanese Internal Security Forces. The source added that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has exerted utmost efforts to prevent matters from reaching to the current status, confirming, at the same time, the Kingdom's stand by the Lebanese people with all its sects, and the Kingdom will not give the Lebanese people up and continue to support them, stressing that these positions do not represent the Lebanese people. The source concluded that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia appreciates the positions issued by some Lebanese officials and dignitaries, including Lebanese Prime Minister Tammam Salam, who expressed their stand by and solidarity with the Kingdom as well as their pride of the distinguished relations binding the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Lebanese people where the Kingdom is always keen to strengthen and enhance these relations. --SPA 17:27 LOCAL TIME 14:27 GMT NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address UAE fully Supports Saudi Decision on Lebanon Saudi Press Agency Saturday 1437/5/11 - 2016/02/20 ABU DHABI, Jumada I 10, 1437, February 19, 2016, SPA -- United Arab Emirates (UAE) Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, announced the UAE's full support for Saudi Arabia's decision to conduct a comprehensive review of its relations with Lebanon, and halt its arms deals for the Lebanese Armed Forces and Internal Security Forces due to Lebanon's recent official positions, including its failure to condemn Iran's aggression against the Saudi Embassy and Consulate in Iran. The statement of the ministry noted that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's decision came after Lebanon repeatedly took negative offensive and bizarre positions against pan-Arab consensus, despite contacts with the relevant Lebanese authorities. 'Lebanon's official position has been hijacked and turned against the interests of Lebanon itself and the interests of Arabs, something evident in the so-called Hezbollah's domineering and hijacking of Lebanon's official decision, which led Lebanon to taking a incongruous position that is against the pan-Arab interests,' the statement stated. 'Despite the historic and traditional support extended to Lebanon by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and other members states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), as well as hosting a large number of Lebanese people and despite the fact that these states stood by Lebanon, during the hard circumstances it went through, we regret to see these negative trends that are not representing of the majority of the Lebanese people,' the statement added. UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation remarked that in light of all these facts, UAE fully supports the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's decision to halt its aid to the Lebanese army as well as security forces, and at the same time calls upon Lebanon and its people to restore Lebanon to the Arab Nation fold, where it belongs, away from the Iranian influences adopted by the so-called Hezbollah. --SPA 01:37 LOCAL TIME 22:37 GMT NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Northern Region Commander: 'Raad Al-Shamal' Maneuvers Represent Quantum Leap in Using all Forces in Field Saudi Press Agency Friday 1437/5/10 - 2016/02/19 Hafr Al-Batin, Northeastern Saudi Arabia, Jumada I 10, 1437, Feb 19, 2016, SPA -- Commander of the Northern region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Maj. Gen. Fahd bin Abdullah Al-Mutair has inspected the forces participating in 'Raad Al-Shamal' maneuvers and ensured the stages of their preparation and readiness in the largest military exercise in the history of the Middle East region. He was briefed on the most significant tasks to be carried out by the participating armed forces according to schedule, expressing optimism that the exercises would achieve the identified goals in the exchange of experiences and to raise the level of military coordination. During his inspection tour, the northern region commander Major General Fahd Al-Mutair confirmed that 'Raad Al-Shamal' drills represent a quantum leap in terms of the use of all the forces in the field, where it will employ all available capacity, according to the latest expertise and combat tactics to double performance degree in light of the integration of potential among all the forces involved. He further said that all the concerned agencies provided all the administrative and logistic capabilities for the success of the maneuvers, stressing that King Khalid Military City in Hafr Al-Batin is able to accommodate the huge forces that have already arrived in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. At the end of his tour, Major General Al-Mutair welcomed the forces of Muslim countries, pointing out that 'Raad Al-Shamal' exercises embody the keenness of these countries to reach the highest degree of force required to save the balance of stability and combating terrorism. 'Raad Al-Shamal' maneuvers combine forces representing countries of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Bahrain, Senegal, Sudan, Kuwait, Maldives, Morocco, Pakistan, Chad, Tunisia, Comoros, Djibouti, Oman, Qatar, Malaysia, Egypt, Mauritania and Mauritius as well as the Peninsula Shield forces. --SPA 15:53 LOCAL TIME 12:53 GMT NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Syria no-fly zone, repeat blunder, says Iran diplomat Iran Press TV Fri Feb 19, 2016 3:2PM A senior Iranian official has criticized Germany-backed Turkish initiative for a no-fly zone in Syria, saying such a measure would be the continuation of previous mistakes. "Undoubtedly, rehashing the notion of a no-fly zone [in Syria] will fail to help security and stability in the region," Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Amir-Abdollahian told IRIB on Friday. He added that the issue of Syria, which has affected security in the entire Middle East region, should be settled only through political solutions. German Chancellor Angela Merkel on February 17 denounced the humanitarian situation in Syria as 'unacceptable' and renewed her call for a no-fly zone in the war-stricken country. The idea of no-fly zone was first raised by Turkey. Merkel's suggestion came in the context of an agreement reached at the Munich Security Conference (MSC) last week. On Thursday, a source in the Syrian Foreign Ministry told the country's official news agency, SANA, that the government flatly rejects proposals for a no-fly zone. The Syrian government "completely rejects" such proposals as they "constitute a violation of Syria's sovereignty and territorial integrity and contravene the rules of the international law and the UN Charter," SANA cited the source as saying. "The aim of these statements would only lead to prolonging the crisis in Syria instead of contributing to finding a solution," it added. Amir-Abdollahian further lashed out at certain countries involved in Syria peace talks, but they are actually pursuing the 'incorrect military approach' for the war-hit country. He underscored the importance of controlling border areas in Syria's neighboring states and preventing the inflow of terrorists to find a political solution to the crisis. "We support the delivery of humanitarian aid and implementation of a ceasefire all across Syria except for regions where terrorists are present," the Iranian diplomat said. He warned that the 'continued use of terrorism' as a pretext for intervention in Syria, Yemen and Iraq would further undermine regional security and stability. Syria has been gripped by foreign-backed militancy since March 2011. According to a new report by the Syrian Center for Policy Research, the conflict has claimed the lives of over 470,000 people, injured 1.9 million others, and displaced nearly half of the country's pre-war population of about 23 million within or beyond its borders. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address US tells Russia not to bomb American special forces in Syria Iran Press TV Fri Feb 19, 2016 6:27AM The United States has given Russia information on the location of its special forces in Syria so that American troops do not get bombed by mistake. Washington has told Moscow broad areas where US special forces are operating in Syria and asked Russia not to strike there, US military officials said on Thursday. The move marks a step up in US-Russia military coordination in Syria, which the United States had previously said was limited to a mechanism to avoid accidents in the air as both countries undertake bombing campaigns there, according to Reuters. Lieutenant General Charles Brown, the head of US Air Forces Central Command, disclosed the request at a Thursday news briefing at the Pentagon. 'We told them (the Russians) these are ... general areas where we have coalition forces that we don't want them to strike there, because all it's going to do is escalate things,' Brown said. 'It's really just to maintain the safety for our forces that are both in the air and in this case on the ground.' The United States announced in October it would deploy dozens of special operators in northern Syria to 'advise opposition forces' in their fight against the militant group, Daesh (ISIL). A senior US defense official said at the time that the United States had not notified Russia of the special forces' location in Syria, but was open to doing so in order to keep the troops safe. The United States has not shared with the Russians specific locations or times of the US special operators' movements, Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said on Thursday. 'We provided (the Russians) a geographical area that we asked them to stay out of because of the risk to US forces,' Cook said. 'Up to this point they have honored this request.' Since September 2014, the US along with some of its allies has been conducting airstrikes against the alleged Daesh elements without any authorization from Damascus or the UN, but the strikes have failed to disband the terrorists. On the contrary, Russia launched its own campaign against Daesh and other terrorist groups in Syria last September upon a request from the Damascus government. The airstrikes have expedited the advances of Syrian forces against militants. Syria has been gripped by foreign-backed militancy since March 2011. According to a recent report by the Syrian Center for Policy Research, the conflict has claimed the lives of over 470,000 people, injured 1.9 million others, and displaced nearly half of the country's pre-war population of about 23 million within or beyond its borders. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Syrian Kurds Claim 2,000 Islamists Enter North Syria's Azaz From Turkey Sputnik News 21:04 19.02.2016 Rodi Osman, the head of the Syrian Kurds' representative office in Moscow said that out 2,000 fighters belonging to different Islimist militant groups crossed into the Syrian city of Azaz from Turkey in order not to allow Kurdish forces capture the city. MOSCOW (Sputnik) Around 2,000 Islamist fighters have crossed into the northwestern Syrian city of Azaz from Turkey to prevent its siege by Kurdish forces, the head of the Syrian Kurds' representative office in Moscow said Friday. 'In recent days, about 2,000 fighters belonging to Sultan Murad [Aleppo branch of the Syrian Turkmen Brigades], Ahrar ash-Sham and the Nusra Front, have crossed into Azaz from Turkey,' Rodi Osman told RIA Novosti. Turkish leaders have repeatedly stressed that they would not allow Kurdish forces capture Azaz to connect other northern Syrian areas under their control. Osman, who asserted that the mass deployment was carried out to prevent the siege of Azaz, said it would be 'naive' to assume that Turkish leadership is unaware of the move. Turkish forces began shelling positions held in Aleppo by the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), a military branch of the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), on February 13. Ankara views YPG and PYD as offshoots of the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and has recently began a push to force the United States recognize PYD a terrorist organization. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Syrian Democratic Forces Liberate 47 Villages From Daesh Sputnik News 14:48 19.02.2016(updated 14:58 19.02.2016) Russian-backed Syrian Democratic Forces have advanced against Daesh positions in Eastern Syria, and have moved to cut the group off from access to strategically important roads to Deir ez-Zor. Units of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which Russia backs with airstrikes, have retaken some 47 villages in an advance on the city of ash-Shaddadi in northeastern Syria, a source told al-Mayadeen television. Ash-Shaddadi is a key town for Daesh, which allows the group to transport forces to fight both Syrian army and SDF positions in Hasakah province, and transfer more forces to Deir ez-Zor, where the Syrian army battles Daesh with Russian support. It is also a major oil-producing area. 'Syrian Democratic Forces liberated 47 villages in southern al-Hasakah province and are nearing ash-Shadadi,' the source said. The SDF has continued battling Syrian rebels, particularly al-Nusra Front and Ahrar al-Sham in western Syria. The Turkish military has attacked the SDF positions with artillery, particularly in the town of Afrin, the group's local capital. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address US, Russia Launch Cease-fire Talks; No UN Action on Turkey by Pamela Dockins, Margaret Besheer February 19, 2016 The U.S. and Russia have launched talks on brokering a cease-fire in Syria after failing to make Friday's scheduled deadline for a pause in fighting. Officials from the two countries sat down for talks in Geneva late Friday to try to find a way for a long-term cessation of hostilities that would help efforts to deliver humanitarian aid to besieged areas. The 17-nation International Syria Support Group agreed to form a Syria cease-fire task force, under the auspices of the U.N., during a meeting last Friday in Munich. The group agreed that Russia and the U.S. would co-chair the task force. Under the group's plan, an initial cessation of hostilities would begin in one week, while the task force worked out the mechanics of a broader cease-fire plan. Complex endeavor Secretary of State John Kerry acknowledged the challenges for reaching a deal. 'Everyone recognizes the complexity of this endeavor, and there is certainly a lot more work to do,' he said during a stop in London en route to Amman, where he planned to discuss Syria's crisis with Jordanian officials. The Syrian opposition has said it wants a cease-fire and an expansion of humanitarian aid to besieged areas before it resumes U.N.-facilitated talks with the Syrian government. Those proximity talks, which were due to resume February 25, have now been delayed. State Department spokesman Mark Toner said the U.S. agrees with the Syrian opposition that a cessation of hostilities and delivery of humanitarian assistance would be 'helpful,' but believes the talks should resume with no preconditions. Russian rejection Meanwhile, a Russian effort to muster U.N. Security Council condemnation of Turkey's actions on the Syrian-Turkish border appeared to fail Friday. Russia called for an urgent meeting of the council to discuss its concerns that Turkey may be planning to send ground troops into Syria. The Russian delegation presented a one-page draft resolution that would condemn such a move. It also 'strongly' condemned cross-border shelling, the flow of terrorist fighters and the illegal movement of weapons from Syria's 'neighbors.' 'The main elements of this Russian draft resolution are to demand all parties all parties refrain from interfering in internal affairs of Syria, to fully respect sovereignty and independence, stop incursions, and abandon plans of ground operations,' Russia's deputy U.N. envoy, Vladimir Safronkov, told reporters after the closed-door meeting. But diplomats said at least six of the 15 council members rejected the resolution outright when it was presented and only one member Venezuela expressed support. One diplomat said that even China which normally allies its position with Russia on many council issues expressed reluctance, saying it would have to wait for instructions from Beijing before expressing an opinion. Current resolution 'What's really important is that, rather than trying to distract the world with the resolution they just laid down, it would be really great if Russia would implement the resolution it's already agreed to,' U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power said in a reference to Resolution 2254, which the council adopted in December. That resolution lays out a framework for starting political talks and, in parallel, establishing a nationwide cease-fire in Syria. So far, attempts to implement the resolution have failed. 'We have a resolution on the books. It's the right resolution. We've committed ourselves to it, and we need Russia to do the same,' Power added. Turkey's U.N. envoy, Yasar Halit Cevik, dismissed Russian allegations that Ankara is planning on launching a ground operation in Syria. 'Our political leaders are quite open in saying that Turkey will not be going into Syria with boots on the ground if it is not a collective action,' he told reporters. He said Turkey would consider military intervention only if the Security Council or the international coalition called for it. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Turkey Has Levers to Push US to Recognize Kurdish PYD as Terrorist Group Sputnik News 16:20 19.02.2016 Seref Malkoc, an adviser to Turkey's president said that if the Unites States is really Turkey's friend and ally, then they should recognize the PYD, a Syrian branch of the PKK, as a terrorist organization. ANKARA (Sputnik) Ankara could take certain measures against Washington, including changing the terms of United States' use of the Turkish Incirlik Airbase, if it fails to declare Syria's Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) to be a terrorist organization, an adviser to Turkey's president said Friday. On February 9, the Turkish Foreign Ministry summoned US Ambassador John Bass to register its dissatisfaction with the US refusal to add the PYD to its list of terrorist organizations. Ankara claims that Syrian Kurds have links to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which is fighting for Kurdish independence from Turkey and is considered a terrorist organization by Ankara. At the same time the PKK denies having any ties to the PYD. 'If the Unites States is really Turkey's friend and ally, then they should recognize the PYD a Syrian branch of the PKK as a terrorist organization. If a friend acts as an enemy, then measures should be taken, and they will not be limited to the Incirlik Airbase, Turkey has significant capabilities,' Seref Malkoc was quoted as saying by the Turkish Bugun newspaper. Over the past month, Turkish forces have repeatedly attacked Kurdish positions in Syria, claiming that they threaten Turkish security. Both Moscow and Washington has called on Ankara to cease its artillery strikes. The United States uses the Turkish Incirlik airbase to conduct manned and unmanned air strikes on Islamic State (ISIL or Daesh) militant group positions in Syria. Daesh is outlawed in many countries, including the United States and Russia. Moscow is conducting a separate aerial campaign against terrorists in Syria at Damascus' request. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address VANCOUVER, Feb. 19, 2016 - Catalyst Copper Corporation (TSX-V: CCY) ("Catalyst" or the "Company") announces the resignation of Ian Telfer from the board of directors of the Company. The Company thanks Mr. Telfer for his contributions and wishes him well in his future endeavors.The Company also announces, Augusta Investments Inc., a company owned and controlled by Richard Warke, the Chairman and CEO of the Company, acquired from Mr. Telfer, 3,044,583 common shares of the Company (each a "Share") at a price of $0.09445 per Share, representing 8.77% of the issued and outstanding Shares. In addition, a company 50% beneficially owned by Richard Warke acquired 6,275,000 warrants of which 3,137,500 warrants (50% of 6,275,000) represent 12.07% of the issued and outstanding warrants of the Company. As a result of the acquisition of securities described above, Mr. Warke owns in aggregate, 12,530,772 Shares of Catalyst, representing 36.10% of the current issued and outstanding Shares of Catalyst and would own 25,011,128 Shares, representing 53% on a partially diluted basis, assuming the exercise of 12,480,356 warrants.The Company further announces that Fiore Financial Corporation, a company owned and controlled by Frank Giustra, acquired from Mr. Telfer, 2,544,583 Shares at a price of $0.09445 per Share representing 7.33% of the issued and outstanding common shares. In addition, a company 50% beneficially owned by Frank Giustra, acquired 6,275,000 warrants of which 3,137,500 (50% of 6,275,000) represents 12.07% of the issued and outstanding warrants of the Company. As a result of the acquisition of securities described above, Mr. Giustra owns and/or controls 8,868,706 Shares of Catalyst representing 25.55% of the current issued and outstanding shares of Catalyst and would own and/or control 16,880,044 Shares, representing 39.51% on a partially diluted basis, assuming the exercise of 7,963,671 warrants and 47,667 options.The Company has been advised that Frank Giustra and his related entities, Richard Warke and his related entities, have acquired these securities for investment purposes and have no present intention to acquire further securities of the Company, although they may in the future acquire or dispose of securities of the Company, through the market, privately or otherwise, as circumstances or market conditions warrant. Catalyst Copper Corp. is a copper and base metal company with a focus on copper mining projects in Mexico. The Company's 60%-owned La Verde Copper Project (remaining 40%-owned indirectly by Teck Resources Ltd. ) is situated in the Sierra Madre del Sur approximately 320 kilometres west of Mexico City in Michoacan State and has excellent infrastructure. The amended September 30, 2012 Preliminary Economic Assessment contemplates La Verde to be an open pit producing over 200 million pounds of copper per year over a 20 year mine life.Certain information contained in this press release constitutes forward-looking statements. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, are forward looking statements including statements with respect to the Company's intentions for the use of the non-brokered private placement and the La Verde Copper project in Michoacan State, Mexico including, without limitation, expected future mineral production and mine life. Forward-looking statements are often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as may, will, seek, anticipate, believe, plan, estimate, budget, schedule, forecast, project, expect, intend, or similar expressions.The forward-looking statements are based on a number of assumptions which, while considered reasonable by Catalyst, are subject to risks and uncertainties. In addition to the assumptions herein, these assumptions include the assumptions described in Catalyst's management's discussion and analysis for the year ended December 31, 2014 ("MD&A"). Catalyst cautions readers that forward-looking statements involve and are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed in or implied by such forward-looking statements and forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future results, performance or achievement. These risks, uncertainties and factors include general business, economic, competitive, political, regulatory and social uncertainties; actual results of exploration activities and economic evaluations; fluctuations in currency exchange rates; changes in project parameters; changes in costs, including labour, infrastructure, operating and production costs; future prices of copper and other minerals; variations of mineral grade or recovery rates; operating or technical difficulties in connection with exploration, development or mining activities, including the failure of plant, equipment or processes to operate as anticipated; delays in completion of exploration, development or construction activities; changes in government legislation and regulation; the ability to maintain and renew existing licenses and permits or obtain required licenses and permits in a timely manner; the ability to obtain financing on acceptable terms in a timely manner; contests over title to properties; employee relations and shortages of skilled personnel and contractors; the speculative nature of, and the risks involved in, the exploration, development and mining business; and the factors discussed in the section entitled "Risk Factors" in the MD&A.Although Catalyst has attempted to identify important risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual performance, achievements, actions, events, results or conditions to differ materially from those expressed in or implied by the forward-looking information, there may be other risks, uncertainties and other factors that cause performance, achievements, actions, events, results or conditions to differ from those anticipated, estimated or intended. Unless otherwise indicated, forward-looking statements contained herein are as of the date hereof and Catalyst disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise, except as required by applicable law.Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.Paul Ireland, CFO604-687-1717Email: info@catalystcopper.comwww.catalystcopper.com Texas Congressman Joe Barton, chairman emeritus of the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee, made that proclamation on Feb. 17 in an interview with CNN. Barton is considered by many as a leading expert on energy issues, and he has served on the Energy and Commerce Committee some 30 years. Barton led the effort to lift the nation's oil export ban recently, and he said the ability of U.S. producers to export crude oil hurts OPEC even more. Obviously, Barton doesn't think that OPEC will dissolve as an organization, but the days of OPEC setting the price of crude oil are gone. Barton's comments came after representatives of the governments of Saudi Arabia, Russia, Venezuela, Kuwait and Qatar agreed to "freeze" their production in an effort to prevent any further increase in oil surplus, which would put more pressure on prices sliding even more. "What we've done by repealing the export ban is put the U.S. producer in the driver's seat. Quite frankly OPEC and Russia literally don't know what to do," he told CNN. "So we've killed OPEC. It's gone." Saudi Arabia publicly stated in November 2014 it was not going to reduce production, because it was losing market share to U.S. oil production. Saudi Arabia's Ali al-Naimi said its strategy is to drive oil prices down until U.S. production declines and Saudi Arabia will regain its market share. Oil production in the U.S. during the last 18 months has declined only 500,000 barrels per day out of total production of 9.3 million barrels per day (5 percent) and is still ahead of 2015 production levels. The decline in price has been painful for U.S. oil producers. However, oil exporting countries rely on oil sales to fund their governments and to create jobs and economic wealth. Price staying low for an extended period of time causes political pressure to mount. OPEC countries feel the political and economic pain, too. Barton pointed out that the U.S. is in a more powerful position today than it has been when OPEC tried to run domestic oil producers out of business previously. New technology developed in drilling and hydraulic fracturing allows for prolific production of oil and natural gas from plentiful shale formations in Texas, North Dakota, Pennsylvania and throughout the U.S. The technology and oil and gas reserves will be here for a long time. Barton said production could go as high as 15 million to 20 million barrels a day in coming years. "Not only will the U.S. industry survive, it will flourish," he said. "The Saudis can't increase production like that. The Russians can't, the Chinese can't. Only the U.S. can." Is OPEC dead? Probably not, but it is not the 800-pound gorilla everyone once feared, either. Alex Mills is President of the Texas Alliance of Energy Producers. Kimberley Parker/Standard-Times Doug and Judy Vaubel pour mesquite beans into a 5-gallon container to be weighed. Dorothy Morrison, of Brady, brought in about 28 pounds of clean mesquite beans to be ground into flour. Mesquite bean flour is a healthy alternative to traditional flour and has a light cinnamon, sweet taste. shot/archived 08.16.12 SHARE Turns out those mesquite trees aren't all bad By Rick Smith Selling mesquite bean pods: Pods may be harvested from the ground or branches but must be ripe. If they can easily be pulled off branches, they're ripe. Pods must not have even a hint of green coloring or black mold spots, but pods with small holes are OK. Do not gather pods from polluted ground near preservative-treated wooden utility poles or from areas with animal waste. Containers full of pods must be clean and free of dirt, twigs, grass or rocks. Do not go onto private property to pick pods without permission. Information: 325-227-6468 Most West Texans call mesquite trees "pests." Doug and Judy Vaubel call them "paychecks" ? and so can you. The San Angelo couple needs your help. It's mesquite bean-harvesting season, and they're buying bean pods to use in their Texas Mesquite Flour Company. "The response has been overwhelmingly enthusiastic," said Judy, a former newspaperwoman who now proudly promotes the benefits of flour ground from mesquite bean pods. Judy said the gluten-free, high-protein flour is a low glycemic carbohydrate that acts as an appetite suppressant, and it's tasty, with a "sweet, light cinnamon flavor." She uses the flour in everything from bread and pancakes to pastries. It took only one of her mesquite bean cookies to make me a believer. Judy and her husband, Doug, a retired FAA inspector, Alaska bush pilot and helicopter mechanic, have set up a mesquite bean milling operation in their home workshop, just southeast of Goodfellow Air Force Base. They harvest ripe mesquite beans from around the area, separate the beans from "trash" like grass, rocks and dirt, then run the beans through a heavy duty hammermill. The result? A lovely flour from an otherwise unloved tree. Their goal is to sell the flour locally, at events around the area, by mail order and online. They don't have a lot of nearby competition. Judy said their operation is the only one in Texas selling mesquite flour directly to customers. Now this is where you come in: To fill orders, the Vaubels need more mesquite bean pods. The couple will pay you 25 cents per pound for clean, ripe pods. "You can make a pretty good chunk of money," she told me, estimating an 8-foot pickup bed filled completely full would bring about $150. When I visited with the Vaubels last week at their flour mill, Kenneth Wiley, who lives north of the city, brought in 100 pounds of pods and collected $25. Was it worth it? "I didn't make minimum wage," he said, grinning, "but I'd do it again." Interested in selling your mesquite bean pods? They must be free of grass, rocks and dirt. They should also be ripe, meaning not even a hint of green coloring. Pods with small holes in them are fine, but those with black mold spots cannot be used. Pods can be picked up from the ground or pulled from the trees. When pods are ripe they can easily be pulled off branches. If they resist, they're not ripe. Want them to grind you flour from your beans? The Vaubels will grind your pods into flour for you at $10 per 5-gallon bucket of pods. That many pods will produce a gallon (4 to 5 pounds) of flour, Judy said. For the adventurous, mesquite bean-milling couple, their new business sounds like a labor of love. "Everyone around here hates mesquite trees, but I think it's cool that they produce something really beneficial," Judy told me. "They kept native Indians alive for thousands of years. Our grandmothers or great-grandmothers used to grind their own beans and cooked with them. It was a ready source of food when living in the wilderness. "Modern man has forgotten about using the mesquite bean," she said. "We're bringing it back." Jerry Lackey to sign "Homestead" books Standard-Times columnist Jerry Lackey will sign copies of his newest book, "Homestead: Pioneers of Texas' Frontier," from 1-4 p.m. Saturday at Cactus Book Shop, 6 E. Concho Ave. The very interesting 368-page softcover book includes 85 stories about area ranches and ranchers and will be passed from reader to reader for generations. Rick Smith is a local news and community affairs columnist. Contact Rick at rsmith@gosanangelo.com or 325-659-8248. SHARE '13 Hours' "13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi," adapted from Mitchell Zuckoff's book, is about many things, but it tries to zero in on that moment when six contract soldiers who knew the country and the threats more keenly than anyone tried to do the right thing in a difficult situation. It's a bombastic and often thrilling exercise in patriotic machismo that relies too much on video game aesthetics and sentimentality to be a great film. Rated: R for combat violence, bloody images and language Grade: B- 'The Choice' In this adaptation of a Nicholas Sparks novel, Gabby (Teresa Palmer), a medical school student focused on her career, and Travis (Benjamin Walker), who lives life to the fullest, meet as neighbors. Sparks fly. While most of the story looks at the small choices people make that lead them to a moment in time, it's a major decision that serves as the cornerstone of the movie. The final act reaches melodramatic levels as the story moves toward its finale. Rated: PG-13 for sexual content Grade: C+ 'Deadpool' Wiseguy mercenary Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) agreed to lend his body to some off-the-books scientific experiments in the hopes that it might cure his cancer. It does, and it gives him super healing powers, too, but his good looks are the casualty. "Deadpool" is essentially a revenge story from a dude who is too vain to return to his beautiful stripper girlfriend Vanessa (Morena Baccarin) looking like a burn victim. So he hunts down the guy who transformed him in the first place, Ajax (Ed Skrein), to fix his skin. The pervasive, toxic juvenileness suffocates even the more clever aspects of the film. Rated: R for strong violence and language, sexual content and graphic nudity Grade: C- 'How to be Single' Alice (Dakota Johnson), a law firm employee, is coming out of a failed relationship. Her best friend, Robin (Rebel Wilson), decides to help her navigate the choppy waters of dating. Alice is also dealing with her single sister, Meg (Leslie Mann), whose relationship with a younger man leads to a pregnancy. The last piece of the puzzle is Lucy (Allison Brie), a woman using logic, statistics and strategy to find the right mate. "How To Be Single" is a wonderful surprise. It takes a high road in both comedy and story that makes it work on multiple levels. Rated: R for sexual content, strong language Grade: B 'Kung Fu Panda 3' A bull named Kai (J.K. Simmons) banished to the spirit realm is on a mission to steal the chi energy of all the kung fu masters in China. Simultaneously, goofy panda Po (Jack Black) is being promoted to kung fu teacher. While he struggles with his new role, a mysterious panda, Li (Bryan Cranston), appears in town, and the two discover that Po is Li's son. The only one who can best Kai must be a master of chi, so Po and Li set off for the secret panda village for chi, and panda, lessons. The engaging and heartfelt story, coupled with eye-popping animation, makes "Kung Fu Panda 3" a total knockout. Grade: B+ 'The Revenant' Frontiersman Hugh Glass (Leonardo DiCaprio) guides trappers through hostile and uncompromising territory for beaver pelts circa 1823. Arrows from all around sail into them before Ree tribesmen, searching for a stolen daughter, stream into their camp. The throbbing intensity of survival is played out across harsh, wintry terrain in a series of flights and pursuits between men seeking a variety of vengeances. Rated: R for strong violence including gory images, a sexual assault, language and brief nudity Grade: B 'Ride Along 2' Detective James Patton (Ice Cube) heads south after uncovering a USB drive from a drug dealer with a hacker's calling card leading him to Miami. His sister's beau (Kevin Hart), now a police academy graduate, begs to go along. The plot itself is run-of-the-mill cop comedy stuff, but it has its moments, particularly when Hart hits the gas on his signature zingers. Rated: PG-13 for violence, sexual content, language and drug material Grade: C+ 'Zoolander 2' When Derek (Ben Stiller) and Hansel (Owen Wilson) are coaxed out of hiding into walking a show for fashion icon Alexanya Atoz (Kristen Wiig) and designer Don Atari (Kyle Mooney), they find themselves out of date and out of style. This conflict between old and new is jettisoned in favor of a clunky, poorly executed, spy action plot wherein Derek and Hansel join up with an agent from Fashion Interpol, Valentina (Penelope Cruz) to figure out who's killing all the pop stars, and rescue his son from the clutches of evil Mugatu (Will Ferrell). "Zoolander 2" is a really, really, ridiculously hot mess. Rated: PG-13 for crude and sexual content, a scene of exaggerated violence, and language Grade: D+ SHARE By Michelle Gaitan of the San Angelo Standard-Times Angelo Catholic School is reaching out to older students and their families in the San Angelo and surrounding areas by expanding its academics to include seventh and eighth graders. ACS is expanding by adding a middle school to its campus scheduled for completion in the spring of 2017. Conversation about the expansion started in August after the school received a lot of interest for a seventh and eighth grade from parents and families who currently attend, said Letisia Lopez, development director at ACS. Beginning in the fall, ACS is adding a seventh grade with a groundbreaking to be held in May and will add an eighth grade in the fall of 2017. ACS serves 104 students in 3K through six grade, she said. San Angelo once had six Catholic schools that over time were either closed or consolidated. In the 1970s, a major consolidation took place when Holy Angels School combined with Sacred Heart School and formed ACS, which celebrated its 125th anniversary in 2013, according to the school's history page on its website. "We're very blessed to have a seventh and eighth grade and that we are able to do this," Lopez said. The cost of the expansion is $2 million that was funded to the school by an anonymous donor, but the school will have to raise funds for furniture, she said. Lopez said there is no critera for applying and the school will accept students from San Angelo and the surrounding area. Student to teacher ratio is 10 to 1 with eight full-time teachers and part-time music and physical education teachers. Cost of tuition is $3,950 per year, but ACS provides tuition assistance based on financial income, and tuition is broken down into monthly payments, Lopez said. Principal Becky Trojcak said the school is going "full speed ahead" with the expansion plans and are excited to offer the two middle school grades for students. "We predict it will grow as we add the classrooms," she said. "What we like to see at Angelo Catholic is an excellent curriculum with faith infused into the text." An open house will be held from 5-7 p.m. April 13 at the ACS campus, 2315 A&M Ave. for prospective students. For interested students and parents, registration is available online at Angelocatholicschool.org or call Angelo Catholic School at 325-949-1747 to schedule a tour. SHARE By Staff Report Angelo State University will host the 2016 Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival for Region 6 at various venues on campus, including the ASU Auditorium, Modular Theatre and C.J. Davidson Conference Center Wednesday through Feb. 27. About 800 theater students, faculty, staff and invited guests will be on campus from across Region 6, which includes college theater programs at schools in Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Missouri, New Mexico and Oklahoma. The festival will include full-length presentations, a play reading and student competitions. A cellphone app guidebook of the festival schedule can be found on the Region 6 website, kcactf6.org. Tickets for the public are $10 at the door. Seating is limited. For more information, contact Mike Burnett, assistant director of University Theatre and Region 6 vice chair, at 325-942-2146 or michael.burnett@angelo.edu. SHARE To paraphrase former Sen. Lloyd Bentsen's famous line, Bernie Sanders is no Barack Obama. While younger voters seem to have taken a shine to him, his presidential prospects remain less than bright. The initial Democratic presidential tests indicate the 74-year-old Vermont senator is matching the former Illinois senator's 2008 achievement against Hillary Clinton by winning substantial majorities from younger Democratic voters. And if he extends the support he received from the predominantly white voters of Iowa and New Hampshire to the more diverse electorates in Nevada and South Carolina, he could upset Clinton's hope of using those forthcoming contests as a springboard to restore her lost momentum. The reasons for the senator's appeal are pretty evident when one talks to younger voters. They like his advocacy of free tuition at state universities and guaranteed medical care for all. Others cite his pledge to increase the minimum wage. But some are making an illogical leap of faith: One female student at Iowa State University told me she thought Sanders had a better chance of achieving equal rights for women than Clinton. Meanwhile, Sanders might have a greater chance of benefiting from enthusiasm among younger voters in Nevada, which holds its caucuses Saturday, than in South Carolina, where Democrats vote Feb. 27. Tad Devine, Sanders' top political strategist, signaled that thinking when he told reporters the campaign senses growing support among younger Nevada Hispanics. In 2008, exit polls from Democratic primaries showed Hispanic voters were relatively younger than other groups. Still, they only represented about 15 percent of the Nevada electorate, about the same proportion as its African-American voters. In South Carolina, moreover, younger voters represented a smaller proportion of African-Americans and, while there are already signs Sanders will make inroads among them, Clinton is counting on solid majorities from middle-aged and older black voters. And as a recent Reuters/Ipsos poll showed, while Sanders does better among 18-to-29-year-old South Carolina African-Americans than among older ones, he still trails Clinton in that younger group. Indeed, along with the elected officials who are automatic "super delegates," African-Americans remain the closest thing that Clinton has to a "firewall" that will help her withstand the momentum Sanders gained in New Hampshire. It's likely that more than half of South Carolina Democratic voters who turn out will be black, and African-Americans also will account for a large portion in some states voting on March 1. Unless Sanders wins enough of that vote and replicates his New Hampshire showing among whites, he will have difficulty winning the bulk of their delegates. An interesting footnote: the fact that Nevada and South Carolina are in position to help Clinton restore her tattered front-runner status is the result of a decision several elections back to make the early nominating process more representative. Democratic Party leaders decided the way to balance the impact of the nontypical, overwhelmingly white states of Iowa and New Hampshire was to schedule early tests in two states with more diverse populations. They added South Carolina, because of its large African-American population, and Nevada, because it has a substantial number of both Hispanics and labor union members. Taken as a group, party leaders felt, the four states would provide a more accurate picture of how Democratic Party voters felt as a whole than just Iowa and New Hampshire. This year, they will have the added impact of showing whether the strong Sanders showing, especially in New Hampshire, was unique or represents broader sentiment among Democrats. If Sanders can make the kind of inroads among the younger minority voters of Nevada and South Carolina that he did among the white voters of Iowa and New Hampshire, it will show that Clinton's candidacy is in greater trouble than most analysts ever imagined was possible. Carl P. Leubsdorf is the former Washington bureau chief of The Dallas Morning News. Contact him at carl.p.leubsdorf@gmail.com. SHARE WASHINGTON At first, in the summer of 2015, it seemed like a joke. Then a novelty. Then a bubble that must surely burst. Then a spectacle, overshadowing all the earnestness and experience of the Republican presidential field. Now Donald Trump seems on the verge of primary victories concentrated in the South that would establish him as a formidable front-runner. And this has happened in spite of a series of disqualifying comments ridiculing a war hero, employing misogynist humor, mocking a disabled reporter, displaying ignorance on basic policy matters, slandering the last Republican president that were not disqualifying at all. Why has this happened? Trump is not leading because he has masked his ideas, which have been consistent and forthright. He would (he says) build a Mexican-funded wall across the continent, expel 11 million undocumented immigrants, blow up the global trading order, send Syrian refugees back into a war zone, ban the immigration of Muslims to America and consider a Muslim registry. No one who supports Trump can say they didn't know the ethnically and religiously charged content of Trumpism. Yet it is Trump's style, his defiance of convention and political correctness, which seems to explain the intensity of his support. "We're voting with our middle finger," explains a Trump supporter in South Carolina. All the institutions that have failed failed to stop Barack Obama, failed to save America from adulteration, corruption and destruction should be overturned. Burn, baby, burn. This approach to politics has not normally been associated with conservatism, which teaches prudence, proportion and respect for institutions, even if they require reform. Stepping back a moment, it is necessary to say that America, even after seven years of Obama as president, is not North Korea. And American political structures have not failed like those of Weimar Germany. Even as there is much to improve about our country, there is much more to love. And there is much to fear in faces that would appear eager and exhilarated when lighted by the bonfire of American institutions. The political philosophy of the middle finger captured by Trump in all its vulgar, taunting, divisive glory requires an ethical leap. It assumes that practices we know are wrong in our private lives contempt, mockery, cruelty, prejudice are somehow justified in our political lives. It requires us to embrace views and tactics that we would never teach our children but do, in fact, teach them through an ethically degraded politics. Imagine your teenage son (or daughter, for that matter) calling a woman a "fat pig," "dog," "disgusting animal" or "bimbo." Imagine your child labeling someone he or she knows as a "loser," "moron" or "dummy." This is the evidence of poor character, in any context. For Christians, the price of entry to the Trump movement is to abandon their commitments to kindness and love of neighbor. Which would mean their faith has no public consequence at all. And Trumpism is an existential threat to conservatism. It is not a theory of limited government. It would use government, with augmented powers, to enforce a vision of ethnic nationalism, constructing a wall visible from space and conducting one of the largest forced expulsions in history. Our circumstance is sometimes compared to William F. Buckley Jr.'s public shunning of the John Birch Society the extreme conservatives of their day. But we have moved well beyond that precedent. No Bircher contended seriously for the Republican nomination. Until recently, nativists such as Tom Tancredo (who referred to Miami as a "Third World Country" and proposed to send Obama back to "his homeland" in Kenya) seemed like a fringe element. Now this extreme threatens to become the dominant voice and face of the Republican Party. Many Trump supporters believe that Obama has changed the country in destructive ways which I believe is true. But they also would change our country, in ways that should make us sick to the heart. For all our faults, we are a nation that prizes civility and respect. We give our neighbor the benefit of the doubt. We stand up for the little guy. We are grateful for our flawed and wonderful country. And we know our flag stands for shared ideals, not someone's idea of shared bloodlines. All this is now at stake. It is time to stand up, to leave nothing that is necessary unsaid or undone, and to give our children an example of braveness and boldness in defending the decent, honorable, generous soul of our nation. Michael Gerson is a Washington Post columnist. Contact him at michaelgerson@washpost.com. How Governments Can Protect Themselves In Southern California, Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center paid a ransom of 40 bitcoin nearly $17,000 to regain access to its electronic medical records system, the hospital announced Feb. 17. For cybersecurity experts, the news highlights the importance of strong endpoint protection and demonstrates a growing trend in the word of cybersecurity.The center was without access to its information for 10 days following initial detection on Feb. 5, when hospital employees reported lack of access the network. The source of the malwares entry is yet undetermined, but Ars Technica reported that the leading suspect is an email phishing attack. During the time the hospital lost access, hospital staff reverted to paperwork and fax machines to process patients, and some emergency patients were diverted to other hospitals. The hospital maintains that no personal information was stolen from the network.Theres two things it says about a company that gets breached and has to make a payment, said Gartner Research Director Lawrence Pingree. One, they dont have a good backup and recovery strategy. Two, they got breached by ransomware and they dont have adequate protection on the endpoint for defeating and thwarting ransomware. And there are technologies out there now that are capable of doing that in some of the endpoint protection products now, like Malwarebytes and Trend Micro.A recent survey by Cloud Security Alliance revealed that those distributing ransomware have a captive audience. Of 209 technology professionals surveyed, nearly a quarter said they would be willing to pay a ransom to prevent a cyberattack, and 14 percent said they would pay a ransom of more than $1 million to stop hackers from releasing sensitive information.I think were going to see increasing numbers of these types of attacks over 2016, Pingree said, echoing similar warning by the FBI in 2015 . It used to be more effective to go after ransoming end users, and now I think attackers are wise that organizations large and small will pay if they dont have the proper controls in place.Ransomware starts the same as any other malware attack, said John Pescatore, director of emerging security trends at the SANS Institute.First the bad guys have to penetrate your system, so you do have to worry about it because its definitely happening, Pescatore said. The best way to try to prevent it is do all the things we tell people to do to prevent malware from getting in: Limit peoples privileges, patch systems, train people about phishing and so on.The difference with ransomware, however, is that it's much less effective against organizations that back up their data.If someone says, Hey, we have your database, you can say, Ha-ha, I just backed it up last night. I can keep doing business, Pescatore said. In a ransomware attack, theyre exposing the fact that a lot of especially mid-sized companies dont do backups very regularly.The choice of whether to pay the ransom is simply a business decision, Pescatore said, but once an organization has been exposed, patching those vulnerabilities is critical because the bad guys will surely sell the information about the vulnerabilities to others, increasing the likelihood of future attacks.The thing that sets ransomware apart from other types of malware attacks is the urgency, said David OBerry, worldwide technical strategist with Intel Security.Theres no time once ransomware hits, he said. It can just happen so quickly, whereas [in other types of attacks] there may be more time to handle the situation. Once it happens, theres hardly a way back from it. The only real way back is a very solid backup schedule, very solid network operations and data center operations aspect, and even then it gets very, very hairy. So the only way to get in front of this is to eradicate it on the front line in as close to real time as possible.A spokesperson for the Center for Internet Security (CIS) said that because of their groups involvement with certain organizations on cyberattack responses, they could not comment on this issue, but urged organizations to look at the CIS primer on ransomware as a starting point to keep themselves protected.An FBI spokesperson said they couldnt comment except to say that the service is investigating the incident. (TNS) Los Angeles -- The heads of Google and WhatsApp Thursday threw their support behind Apple as it takes on a US government order to hack its own iPhone security, even as other leading tech voices remained silent in the debate.In a series of Twitter posts overnight Thursday, Google chief executive Sundar Pichai agreed that "forcing companies to enable hacking could compromise users' privacy."Pichai acknowledged the "significant challenges" faced by law enforcement fighting crime and terrorism. But he drew a line between tech companies giving up data in compliance with court orders and requiring them to enable hacking of customer devices and data."Could be a troubling precedent," he wrote.WhatsApp chief executive Jan Koum agreed, writing on Facebook that "we must not allow this dangerous precedent to be set. Today our freedom and our liberty is at stake."A US federal judge on Tuesday ordered Apple to help the FBI crack the encryption on an iPhone linked to the San Bernardino, California, terror attack. The FBI believes there may be data encrypted on the device that could help their investigation.Apple chief executive Tim Cook refused the judge's order in an open letter posted on the company's website Tuesday."The US government has asked us for something we simply do not have, and something we consider too dangerous to create. They have asked us to build a backdoor to the iPhone," Cook wrote. Such a move would "undermine the very freedoms and liberty our government is meant to protect."The December 2 attack in San Bernardino was carried out by Syed Rizwan Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, at a holiday party at the county office where Farook worked. Fourteen people were killed.Police killed Farook and Malik later that same day in a shoot-out.The FBI wants Apple to help it hack into Farook's iPhone by disabling a security feature that destroys data stored on the device after ten failed password entries, so that the agency can program a computer to try all possible passwords until it finds the right one.The White House Wednesday called the case an "important national priority." Spokesman Josh Earnest downplayed the request, saying investigators were simply asking for a way in to this single device.But Cook said there was no way to guarantee those limits, and that cracking this device "would undeniably create a backdoor" to all iPhones and other encrypted Apple devices.The digital privacy group Electronic Frontier Foundation and the leading rights group American Civil Liberties Union said it would help Apple in its legal fight against the order.Executives from Facebook, Microsoft, and Twitter had yet to comment publicly. Mick Schumacher's team switch within the lower-tier categories of Formula 4 has now been confirmed. In early January, we reported that the 16-year-old son of F1 legend Michael Schumacher was looking to switch from his Van Amersfoort team to the top Ferrari-linked outfit Prema for 2016. The move was announced officially on Friday, and Kolner Express, a German tabloid, claims it will mean Schumacher will contest races in both the German and Italian F4 series this year. Schumacher finished the full German series tenth overall on his 2015 single-seater debut. "Prema for me is the perfect next step on my way to go for the best performance and to become a complete driver," said the teenager. (GMM) Total petroleum deliveries, a measure of US demand, rose 0.8% in January from the prior year to 19.4 million barrels per day, according to data from the American Petroleum Institute (API). These were the highest January deliveries in eight years, since 2008. Total motor gasoline deliveries, a measure of consumer gasoline demand, rose 1.4% from January 2015 to average 8.8 million barrels per day, the highest January demand since 2007. At nearly 3.6 million barrels per day, distillate deliveries decreased by 14.5% compared with January 2015. Crude oil production decreased 1.4% from January 2015 to average 9.2 million barrels per day. Texas continued with high production, posting the highest ever January production. However, North Dakota year over year production continued to decline for the fifth consecutive month from record high levels. US total petroleum imports averaged 9.9 million barrels per day, up 5.3% from the prior year. Crude oil imports increased 8% from January 2015 to 7.7 million barrels per day. Refined product imports in January declined by 3.3% from the prior year to just under 2.2 million barrels per day. Refinery gross inputs rose 2.5% from January 2015 to reach a new high for the month, averaging 16.2 million barrels per day. Production of all four major productsgasoline, distillate, jet fuel and residual fuelswas higher than demand for those products. Exports of refined petroleum products increased by 0.8% in January 2016 compared to January 2015 to average 4.6 million barrels per day. This was the highest January export level ever. Gasoline production averaged nearly 9.5 million barrels per day, up 1.6% from the prior year. However, distillate fuel production declined by 4.8% from January 2015. Refinery capacity utilization rate averaged 89.3% in January, up 0.9 percentage points from the prior year. This was the highest rate for the month in 11 years. APIs latest refinery operable capacity was 18.130 million barrels per day. Crude oil stocks ended in January at 501.6 million barrelsthe highest January inventory level in 86 years, since 1930. Motor gasoline stocks rose 5.5% from year ago levels to their highest inventories in 34 years at 252.7 million barrels. Distillate fuel oil stocks ended at 161.5 million barrels, up 22.4% from year ago levels. Jet fuel stocks were up from year ago levels, rising by 8.4% to 41.7 million barrels. Stocks of other oils were also up. Total inventories of all oils were up 13.7% from year ago levels. GREENWICH The financial state of affairs in Connecticut and what it means to the taxpayer was on the minds of many this week for meetings with two members of the towns delegation to Hartford. State Reps. Michael Bocchino (R-150) and Fred Camillo (R-151) held office hours with constituents, taking questions and giving status reports as work begins on the state budget. The recent departure of GE from Fairfield to Massachusetts, according to Camillo, showed how the states taxation policies have become too much. Bocchino said GE representatives told him taxes were just one concern. The company also wanted access to Bostons student base. So Bocchino went back to his alma mater, Sacred Heart University, to get insight. I asked them, what are we doing wrong? Bocchino said. Im not in their field so I needed to hear from them. They had a great partnership with GE. They flat out told me that while were supportive of our state schools, but were not as supportive of our private institutions. Private institutions are the ones giving the four year degrees in technology in the areas GE was looking for. The state of Connecticut needs to get more in tune with whats going on in these campuses. Camillo said he saw positive signs in Gov. Dannel Malloys recent budget address that did not include new taxes or spending. While he said the budget did not address what he saw as structural problems for the long term, it was a welcome speech that recognized the state cannot keep going as it is. He outlined a budget in a new direction for the state, Camillo said. Its a lot of the things that for the last 10 years (state Republicans) have been advocating for including a state spending cap that needs to be enforced. Camillo said the state cant push increased spending in the face of declining tax revenues. Some Republicans were on social media ripping Malloy asking Where was this guy five years ago? but I dont think thats productive, Camillo said. I think we are where we are right now and we have to deal with it. Hes recognized these deficiencies in how we address things. A member of the Higher Education and Employment Advancement Committee in the legislature, Bocchino stressed the need for education, including private colleges and community colleges, as a way to keep companies like GE in the state. Both Camillo and Bocchino focused on the weigh station by Exit 2 on Interstate 95. Residents at both meetings complained that it is rarely open and preferred when it was run by the Connecticut State Police, as opposed to its current management by the state Department of Motor Vehicles. We really need the state polices presence around here not only just for weigh station safety but even just patrolling I-95 with all the accidents we have and all the illegal things going on with these truckers and road rage and things, Christopher Semmes said at Bocchinos meeting. People were also concerned about the cost of living in the state. Greenwich Democrat Christine Edwards, who went to speak with Camillo, said people were having trouble living in Fairfield County because of how expensive it is. Unlike almost every other state, we tax on the gross for personal income, Edwards said. Ive been saying this for years. We really need to stop this. That makes us effectively higher than New York in our taxes and thats crazy. Everybody else taxes on the net. Her husband, Nick Edwards, said he wanted to see Democrats and Republicans working on the issue. We have to get our house in order because the prospect of what were facing is really sad, Nick Edwards said. We have a great state. We have to keep it moving forward so I appreciate that there seems to be collaboration. Camillo met with residents in Cos Cob on Tuesday night. Originally the event was supposed to take place at Cos Cob Library, but Camillo and his constituents found the building locked when they arrived. Tod Laudonia, president of the St. Lawrence Society, offered up the nearby St. Lawrence Club for use. Camillo said he will hold office hours again, likely in May after the legislative session is over. Bocchinos event at the Byram Shubert Library went off without any issues. Bocchino said details are being finalized for another event in Old Greenwich at First Congregational Church. I think one of the most important parts of being a good leader is to make sure youre also a good listener, Bocchino said. Were up in Hartford representing you, our constituents, and if we dont know whats going on in your minds and dont have that contact with you, we really cant do our jobs to the best of our abilities. kborsuk@scni.com GREENWICH When Greenwich students take Connecticuts standardized tests this spring, they will be aiming to reach the states benchmarks. But teachers and administrators will be using another, new measure to gauge their progress. For the first time, educators will use a system that compares students results with their predicted performance. They will be looking for all students to show noticeable growth a buzzword among educators that refers to the difference between actual and expected scores. To make the growth model work, administrators are implementing new data systems and tests so that teachers and principals have meaningful numbers that are easy to access. These initiatives represent a major focus for Superintendent of Schools William McKersie and Board of Education members, who argue that the changes are essential for educators to help students excel in and out of the classroom. Now, school board members and administrators are working on hammering out the details of the new initiatives. The board is set to vote March 31 on a proposed set of categories and goals for measuring students progress. Greenwich has to have a growth model, McKersie said at a Feb. 4 Board of Education meeting. Its a best practice its a gold standard. The state is going to require it. Weve got to get there. New initiatives During the past two years, school officials have changed how the district uses data an area in which the school system has fallen short, McKersie has repeatedly said. In a 2014 open letter, he wrote that much of the data on students performance was not readily accessible and that the district's systems limit ability to track students progress from grade to grade or subject to subject. To help them improve the data infrastructure, administrators last year hired a Rosemont, Ill.-based consulting firm, ECRA. The growth model is at the core of the new strategies. Administrators favor it because they say it will help them better understand how individual students, groups of students and schools are performing. Instead of just comparing all students to the same state standards, educators will use the growth system for more personalized analysis. The new system will be used to predict and compare students performances on the states Smarter Balanced tests against their own past results and those of their peers with similar academic records. The growth model would help us gauge if we are succeeding at narrowing the achievement gap which will occur if academically at risk students are demonstrating higher than expected growth," said Board of Education Chairman Laura Erickson. It also helps to ensure that students in the higher ability levels who have met or exceeded achievement targets are continuing to reach their academic potential. To support the growth model, the district has changed its roster of assessments. This school year, it rolled out the nationally recognized STAR assessment in kindergarten through ninth grade in reading and math. Administrators are using data from the STAR tests as part of their calculations for predicting students performances on the Smarter Balanced exams. But they said that the STAR assessments by themselves provide valuable information about students progress. STAR has been a quick win for us, said Assistant Superintendent Irene Parisi. It was the right tool for us as we build out a comprehensive assessment system. The school board also has adopted a long-term strategic plan that aims to set more meaningful measures of students academic performance and social and emotional development. Defining goals The plans define specific goals which are supposed to work together to give a comprehensive picture of how students are performing. Among academic objectives, administrators want to set benchmarks for the number of students reaching state standards on standardized tests and earning passing scores on Advanced Placement exams. Administrators also want board members to endorse categories for assessing students in non-academic areas including their involvement in extracurricular activities and their level of engagement at school. They are also proposing to use other metrics that would gauge district staffs satisfaction and other community members views of the school system. Educators will be able to see those data sets in a new digital dashboard system that launched in December. School board members said that they support the changes but they want to make sure they are using the right data - with meaningful comparisons as well. Instead of all this data confined to the state of Connecticut, in which we know we are one of the highest-achieving districts, how do we move off that paradigm and look at it more like a STAR assessment? school board member Jennifer Dayton asked at the Feb. 4 meeting. Educators can compare students STAR scores to national averages, but at the moment they can only measure students Smarter Balanced scores against other Connecticut students. Eventually, though, they expect to be able to compare Greenwichs results with those in other states that administer the Smarter Balanced tests. Id be really interested in are we getting more growth than 10 other districts that are like us, said board member Peter Sherr. While they move ahead, administrators said that they are also making sure that they do not jettison tests and informal measures of students progress that have already proven successful. They said that they are also being careful not to stake too much on the new initiatives. They do not have any plans to use the growth model to predict scores for any exams except the Smarter Balanced tests. Students growth scores will not factor into teacher evaluations, either. The plan right now is to help teachers better understand how their students are doing, said Phil Dunn, the districts chief information officer. Were trying to give another indication of student learning, in addition to many other indicators of student learning, including observations and even anecdotes. You cant just distill anything into one data point. pschott@scni.com; 203-625-4439; twitter: @paulschott Peter Quigley moved to Greenwich 16 years ago, a refugee from New Canaan who had built a successful advertising business and wanted to be closer to Long Island Sound where he could continue his lifelong passion for sailing. His immediate neighbor was Bernie Yudain, a longtime editor and columnist for this newspaper. With Yudains encouragement, the new Greenwich resident ran for a 7th district seat on the Representative Town Meeting and discovered a new passion: public service. He served terms on the RTM Budget Oversight Committee and then the Land Use panel; he developed a good working knowledge of the towns storm water drainage problems, environmental issues and zoning regulations. Essentially everything we do with water or to a piece of land has an impact on Long Island Sound, is how Quigley describes his hard-earned perspective on water management. Quigley left the RTM several years ago, but was one of seven people appointed to the towns first Harbor Management Commission (HMC) two years ago. He saw it as a perfect fit. As a lifelong sailor, he knew the importance of safety on the water and what a well-run harbor looks like. And with his knowledge of how the land affects the water, he was well prepared to help incorporate the towns conservation, planning and land-use agencies into the new Harbor Management Plan. Quigley is too circumspect to complain, but his service so far on the HMC has to have been very frustrating to a man who says he is very principled when it comes to running committees and meetings, and keeping things focused on the issues, away from the personal. That must come from his work for a graduate degree from the Tufts University Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, a leading training ground for diplomats and international lawyers. When I read the draft minutes from the HMCs January meeting, this line struck me as odd, not to mention incredibly petty and juvenile: When he did not get his way, Peter Quigley walked out of the meeting. The strong proponent of meeting protocol had asked HMC Chairman Frank Mazza to rule out of order further discussion of an issue on which the committee had just voted. A vote closes the issue under meeting rules, but Mazza and the committee secretary, Bruce The Litigious Angiolillo, had planned an ambush of harbormaster Ian Macmillan, so Mazza ruled against Quigley. According to several people at the meeting, after the ruling Quigley simply gathered his materials and exited the meeting. It was left to recording secretary Penny Monahan and Chairman Frank Mazza to infer that Peter picked up his marbles and left because he did not get his way. He more likely left because he believed the meeting proceedings had strayed and were now violating Freedom of Information laws. Most HMC meetings have violated Freedom of Information Laws or Roberts Rules of Order in a number of ways. Dissatisfaction with Mazzas running of meetings grew so strong last year that when it came time to elect the HMC chairman, there was considerable opposition to keeping Mazza in that office. Opponents were ready to vote him out, but First Selectman Peter Tesei intervened behind the scenes and assured key members that Mazza would run a tighter ship. Well, the ship is leaking badly. The committee is wrapping up its second year, and there is no harbor management plan, which was the primary impetus for creating the group in the first place. At the February meeting, Quigley presented a well-written document that demonstrated how the January meeting minutes were inaccurate, switching the order of discussion to make it appear that Mazza and Angiolillos slanderous screed against Macmillan was in order. There is another vote for HMC officers scheduled for April. This is another chance for First Selectman Peter Tesei to find a chairman who will effectively lead a group that is charged with writing the governing principles for the most active recreational harbor in Connecticut. Several key town department heads have said in writing that they have not had sufficient input or information about the harbor plan. The chairman rules by whim while the parliamentarian sits silently. It is time for a change in leadership, but I expect instead that Tesei will replace committee members whose terms are up with people who share Mazzas seat of the pants style. So we will go at least another year with a dysfunctional group. Bob Horton can be reached at bobhorton@yahoo.com. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate I was cruising around barren Greenwich Point in single-digit temperatures last Sunday when my 4-year-old thrust my iPhone into the front seat in hopes I could crack the code so he could return to his regular programming of Tayo the Little Bus. Alas, his failed security breach temporarily locked the device, so we pulled over to kill the mandated five minutes by sliding on the frozen surf. Had The Kid made 10 failed attempts, our data could have been wiped out. This function has surely enraged a legion of distracted and weary moms and dads. I mentioned this while discussing more somber security matters involving the iPhone with U.S. Rep. Jim Himes Thursday. His communications director, Patrick Malone, interjected to note that I have a 3-year-old. My phone gets erased twice a week. I have a hard backup. That same security feature is at the core of the Apple showdown with the FBI. The Justice Department has ordered the company to create software that would unlock the phone of one of the two attackers who killed 14 people in San Bernardino, Calif., in December. The FBI reportedly could have let this play out behind the scenes by filing its request under seal, but certainly understood the likely verdict in the court of public opinion over matters concerning dead terrorist Syed Rizwan Farook. Apple chief Tim Cook strode into this legal trap with open eyes, and an awareness of how privacy resonates with customers who transform their devices into attics of precious personal information. As a ranking member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligences NSA and Cybersecurity Subcommittee, Himes welcomes the discourse. The key word in that hefty title is cybersecurity. I am glad that Apple is going to fight this and I want to be really clear about where I come down, he said, acknowledging that a lack of clarity could be transmogrified into a headline along the lines of Himes hates the FBI. To the contrary, Himes, a Democrat who lives in Greenwich, said he appreciates that the FBI did not keep the matter in its own lockbox . As a solution, he says he would be comfortable with Apple turning over the unencrypted data while retaining the technology. Himes compared the phone to a vault for which law enforcement is seeking help from a locksmith, and echoed Cooks shorthand that the government is asking his company to create a master key. If they were going to have that key, (it) becomes the target for Russia, for China, for Iran, and, by the way, for the Mafia, for al-Qaida and ISIS. If it exists, its out there in nature and it becomes a high-security liability, Himes said. Himes makes it sound like the next Mission Impossible plot, with multiple characters scrambling for the technology that could unleash everyones personal information. An action film would not include plodding congressional hearings, but this real-life story-line deserves public discourse. The smartphone is just the new kid on the block as these arguments go. Connecticut First Amendment Attorney Daniel J. Klau likes to reboot every semester of his University of Connecticut Law School privacy course with a discussion of how law always has to play catch-up with technology. Klau sounds like a professor sharing his favorite legal chestnut as he points to the most famous (Harvard) Law Review article ever written, the 1890 piece The Right to Privacy by future Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis and Samuel Warren that responded to the rise of yellow journalism and the scandalous surge of society photos in newspapers. George Eastmans introduction of the portable Kodak camera two years earlier had everyone in an uproar over their image being swiped. Instantaneous photographs and newspaper enterprise have invaded the sacred precincts of private and domestic life; and numerous mechanical devices threaten to make good the prediction that what is whispered in the closet shall be proclaimed from the house-top, Brandeis and Warren wrote. More than 125 years later, Klau traces the latest argument to the post-9/11 cooperation between some tech firms and the government. Since then, tech companies have become more conscious of their responsibility to the public, particularly the privacy components, Klau said. What Apple is trying to explain in this very public debate is that the notion of crafting, or writing special software just for this one particular phone is really just opening up a Pandoras box, said Klau, a self-described total Apple dude, in terms of his tech toys of choice. What were really doing is letting the genie out of the bottle. And the security of everybodys (operating system) is potentially at risk. Complicating the issue for every congressman, attorney, judge and FBI agent is to what degree software is entitled to First Amendment protections. The interesting question is this: Is code speech within the First Amendment? Klau asked. If the answer to that is yes, the follow-up question is: Does the First Amendment forbid the government from compelling Apple to engage in speech by writing code? Thats the argument in its simplest form. Himes and Klau shared their musings in measured tones, clearly grappling to unravel the knotty issue. The Justice Department countered Cooks resistance Friday by declaring it a marketing ploy and demanding a judge compel the company to create the key. Responding to a locked phone with a tantrum wont get it to work. Even my 4-year-old understands that. John Breunig is editorial page editor of The Advocate and Greenwich Time. He can be reached at John.breunig@scni.com; 203-964-2281; twitter.com/johnbreunig. Motorola says no Lollipop for DROID Ultra/Mini/Maxx, compensates by offering discounts on Turbo 2 and Maxx 2 Back in October last year, Motorola announced a list of devices that the company said will receive the Android Lollipop update. The list included the DROID Ultra/Mini/Maxx. However, it has now been announced that these handsets won't be receiving the update. The announcement was made by Motorola's senior director of software product management David Schuster on Google+. "We know how important software upgrades are to our customers, and we're very sorry that we are unable to provide the upgrade," he said in the post. Schuster, however, said that the company is compensating for this by offering DROID Ultra/Mini/Maxx users discounts on the Droid Turbo 2 and Maxx 2 - the former will be available for $524 ($100 off), while the latter will cost $334 ($50 off). The offer expires on Thursday, May 19, and the promo code must be redeemed by Thursday, June 2. For more details, head to the Source 2 link below. Source 1 | Source 2 Haiti - Politic : Consultations of Jocelerme Privert are continuing Friday at the National Palace, the President a.i. Jocelerme Privert, announced at his press conference that after having met the RDNP, the JISTIS platform, Pitit Dessalines, the MONOP, Fanmi Lavalas and the OPL, he intended to continue his consultations with the same day : the PHTK and INITE and as of Monday with the Economic Forum, the Haiti Cherie group, the Civil Society, for the person who will be appointed as Prime Minister, have the legitimacy of a general consensus, capable of uniting all the forces of the nation towards a common goal. "We will continue with the meetings and we hope that Tuesday or Wednesday we will be able to invite the Presidents of the Chambers for consultation on the proposed list of potential ministers prime [open list] https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-16654-haiti-flash-6-candidates-for-prime-minister.html and that the Parliament in its composition with minority and majority bloc, can tell us which of these personalities is most fortunate to have the confidence of Parliament and it is at that moment that the appointment will be officially completed. I take this opportunity to say that today the Senate deprived of its President in my person, is able to form a new office to appoint a new President of the Senate, the absence of a President can represent a handicap if by Tuesday the Senate does not have a President, this may delay the process. What I am trying to do is to take all steps to ensure that the points in the agreement https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-16533-haiti-politic-the-details-of-the-agreement-from-a-to-z.html with the calendar that was presented [no period is specified in the agreement on the appointment of a PM] I respect to the letter because the mandate is 90 to 120 days, I intend to do everything in my power, everything that depends on me, everything that depends on my ability to meet the deadline and act in strict compliance with the deadline of 120 days." It should be noted that the battle for the Senate presidency is far from won and looks to be animated, the G9 minority with as candidate Youri Latortue (AAA) hopes to win the Presidency of an office whose all the positions are in the hands of the opposition. For its part, the majority G15 intends to maintain control over the entire office and nominate Senator Evaliere Beauplan (PONT). SL/ HaitiLibre By William Schwartz | Published on 2016/02/19 It's hard to take Hye-rim and Soo-hyeon's lovey dovey scenes all that seriously considering that Soo-hyeon is still conducting his mostly unscientific experiment. Why he's even bothering with that pretense at that point isn't clear- I'm pretty sure that for all the problems uncovered so far, taking an MRI test at the subject's demand seems pretty useless. This much is especially true considering that Hye-rim obviously has the ability to manipulate the results for whatever arbitrary outcome she wants. Advertisement With this kind of backdrop there really isn't anywhere for "Madame Antoine" to go except for a very slow approach toward Hye-rim inevitably figuring out what's really going on. For this reason all there really is to enjoy in "Madame Antoine" at the moment are the little flourishes. I like the little flourishes. Hye-rim's mythology surrounding Marie Antoinette is fascinating, and I never get tired of her mystical pronunciation of travel guide book French as if it is somehow relevant to whatever the request is. Yet this mythology is not given a great deal of depth. Even the psychological aspects of "Madame Antoine" aren't explored with much due rigor. I was irritated to find that the current psychological patient is a child who...acts like a child, and apparently this is grounds for some sort of psychological trauma. I mean really. Every Korean Church I've ever seen has daycare during the service precisely to avoid this kind of situation from coming up. Although admittedly I've never been to a Catholic Church, I rather doubt that policy differs much in that regard there. But as usual there's little focus in the case, and more on the generic romantic adventures between the three main couples, as we slowly build up to all three budding relationships collapsing because of the big lie that is the experiment finally being exposed. It's troublesome that this far into the drama, I still can't come up with very many compelling reasons for why any of these couples should stay couples. Given how the foundation of all these relationships is a lie, that doesn't leave a whole lot of options. This is especially true in the case of Hye-rim and Soo-hyeon, because that lie is rather mean-spirited. What's more, Soo-hyeon has made such a strong point of aggressively furthering lies that I don't see how Soo-hyeon could plausibly recant. The cute moments with the child patient are the closest we get to humanization but after the initial scenes we never even see this kid so..."Madame Antoine" is struggling for purpose. Review by William Schwartz "Madame Antoine" is directed by Kim Yoon-cheol, written by Hong Jin-ah and features Han Ye-seul, Sung Joon and Jeong Jinwoon Watch on Viki Login or sign up to follow actresses, movies & dramas and get specific updates and news Login Sign Up New Ad-free Subscriber Login Email Password Password Username Your E-mail will only be used to retrieve a lost password. Stay logged in Help Harlow is a former New Town in Essex with a population of 86,000. Located in the upper Stort Valley, it was built in the decades after the Second World War to ease overcrowding and London and provide homes for people bombed out during the Blitz. It includes Britain's first pedestrian precinct and first modern residential tower block, The Lawn. Old Harlow, the historic part of the town, was mentioned in the Domesday Book. David and Victoria Beckham's former home, Rowneybury House, nicknamed 'Beckingham Palace', is nearby. 15:19, 20 OCT 2022 Finland could find itself stuck in a negative spiral that poses a serious threat to national and public security unless it succeeds in the development of its immigration and integration policies, warns a report published online by the Police University College . The authors of the report argue that the lack of an immigration policy that takes into consideration the security dimension is already evident in growing residential segregation, pronounced inequalities between immigrants of different national backgrounds and the heightened risk of social alienation among second-generation immigrants. Finland has to develop its integration policy efficiently especially due to its partial failure to integrate and support the well-being of second-generation immigrants, the authors state. They also acknowledge that the outlook for implementing the necessary reforms is not particularly bright. It is difficult to gauge how one could be more successful in promoting integration in the future as the outlook for the national and regional economies has already been bleak for a couple of years, they state. Kari Laitinen, a senior researcher at the Police University College, acted as the director of the research project, titled Immigration, Security and Foresight. The report was co-authored by researchers Henrik Boberg and Pirjo Jukarinen. Laitinen, Boberg and Jukarinen estimate that the influx of asylum seekers to the country in the latter half of last year has demonstrated that the co-operation between the various authorities responsible for immigration affairs should be strengthened and that the ownership of many of the related processes remains unclear. They predict that international religious-political conflicts, especially the animosity between Shia and Sunni Muslims, will spread to Finland along with the immigrants. The ramifications for the security situation are not limited to the border-crossing formalities, but they are reflected in various sectors of the society presently as violent unrest and criminal activities at reception centres, they write. The national border control and law enforcement officials are barely coping with the current situation, according to the report. The worst-case scenario of the refugee crisis is that tens if not hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants will seek entry to Finland. That would have considerable ramifications for the security situation in Finland. The authors remind that the integration of immigrants from Afghanistan, Iraq and Somalia has hardly been a complete success story. Iraqi and Somali households, they point out, are struggling to escape the low-income bracket. They also point out that the disparities between various immigrant population groups are notable in Finland, with income equality being higher than in any other member state of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. (OECD). The report draws attention to a disconcerting characteristic associated with the second-generation of immigrants in Finland: the share of second-generation immigrants of the 1524-year-old population without post-primary education qualifications is the highest among the member states of the OECD. The researchers estimate that the concentration of economic hardship and the related security challenges is a particular concern for Finland. They refer to a number of regions in Southern and Central Sweden with a high concentration of immigrants as examples of regions where a local criminal network is creating a sense of insecurity in various sectors of the society. Jukarinen and Laitinen identified Sweden as a cautionary example already in October when urging Finland not to undermine the risks associated with immigration. Finland must do its utmost to prevent such development, according to the report. Aleksi Teivainen HT Photo: Vesa Moilanen Lehtikuva Source: Uusi Suomi Laura Joyce is charged with more than 80 counts of theft A woman accused of stealing more than 14,000 in Jobseeker's Allowance has been sent forward for trial. Laura Joyce (34) is alleged to have stolen the money over a three-year period. The accused, of Wotton Bridge, Ashbourne Road, Co Dublin, appeared before Blanchardstown District Court charged with more than 80 counts of theft. The thefts allegedly took place at Ashbourne Post Office on various dates between 2009 and 2012. A state solicitor said the DPP has directed trial on indictment in the Circuit Court, where the penalties on conviction are potentially greater. The court heard the book of evidence was ready and had been served on the accused, who goes forward to the present sittings of Dublin Circuit Criminal Court. Judge David McHugh gave Ms Joyce the formal alibi caution, warning her that she had 14 days to provide to the State details of anyone she proposed calling as a witness in her defence. Video Judge McHugh ordered that a video copy of an interview gardai conducted with the accused be furnished to her legal team. The judge assigned solicitor Terence Hanahoe and one junior counsel on free legal aid. Ms Joyce has not yet entered a plea to the charges. She was remanded on bail to appear before Dublin Circuit Court later this month. An inquest into the death of a 21-year-old man who was stabbed to death at Halloween has heard he was killed by a single knife wound. The revelation came as it emerged that gardai are almost ready to arrest the 15-year-old chief suspect in the case after he returned to Ireland just over a fortnight ago after spending a number of weeks in Holland. Lorcan O'Reilly, of Robert Emmet Close, Dublin 8, died in St James's Hospital last November 1. His aunt, Patricia Rooney, wept in the witness box while her deposition was read out as an inquest opened at Dublin Coroner's Court. Ms Rooney had formally identified her nephew's body to Gda Nathan McKenna of Kilmainham Garda Station at St James's Hospital. She said she and Lorcan's uncle Paul were appearing in court on behalf of the family. Gda McKenna identified the body to pathology staff, and a post-mortem was carried out by Deputy State Pathologist Dr Margaret Bolster. The cause of death was cardiac haemorrhage due to a stab wound to the thorax. Insp Paul Cleary applied to coroner Dr Brian Farrell for a six-month adjournment of the inquest proceedings to allow for further investigation. Sympathies "This is a homicide, the investigation is active and ongoing and a file is being prepared for the DPP," Insp Cleary said. Dr Farrell offered his sympathies to the family. "I'm very sorry. I don't know all of the circumstances and I can't make any further comment today," he said. The young man was stabbed at the Oliver Bond flats complex in Dublin. It is thought he was in the process of trying to stop a fight when he was stabbed at approximately 2.30am. He was rushed to St James's Hospital where he was later pronounced dead. The inquest was adjourned until September 2. A chief suspect quickly emerged, and he presented himself for questioning at Kevin Street Garda Station with his two grandmothers a number of days after the knife attack. He was not arrested at that time. He fled Dublin only hours after he had to be hospitalised as the result of a severe beating in the early hours of New Year's Day. A number of youths attacked the then 15-year-old in the south inner city and he suffered a number of serious kicks and punches to the head. In the weeks after the murder, gardai arrested up to 16 people including a number of women and juveniles for withholding information. Several key witnesses have come forward, leading gardai to feel confident they can press charges, with an arrest expected within weeks. Thousands of people have weighed in on the proposed changes to bye-laws for buskers in the capital - but their submissions may not all be valid. Dublin band Key West and the Dublin City Buskers, an organisation which formed to lobby for less restrictive rules, have led a successful media campaign to urge the public to have their say on the bye-laws during a six-week consultation period. The first ever rules governing street performance were introduced by Dublin City Council last year and they now face further tweaking after undergoing a six-month review. A report was presented to local representatives which suggested adding to the rules, including a limit of one-hour performance time at one location and expanding restricted areas. It also included rules that buskers will have to pay extra for an amp permit if they want to use them, and only dance acts and circus performers will be allowed to use backing tracks. The public consultation on the rules ended on Friday, February 12 and council officials are now sifting through the large volumes of emails received. However, some of those submitted came from abroad and the council will now have to determine if people who live outside Ireland are entitled to have their say on a local law. Work is underway to compile those submissions which are considered valid to prepare a report for councillors on the Arts Strategic Policy Committee of the council. Any changes to the law will also have to go to an upcoming full council meeting to be agreed. This is expected to take place in April. In a statement the Dublin City Buskers group welcomed more than 5,500 submissions made during the consultation. Overwhelming "The volume of submissions to Dublin City Council in support of Dublin City Buskers and fair, equitable and dignified treatment for street performers in Dublin has been overwhelming," they said. "This backing from everyday citizens and visitors has solidified, spurned action, and raised hopes of more than 300 members of Dublin City Buskers." "We're going through a process and it's good that everyone has their say," Labour councillor Mary Freehill, who oversaw the implementation of the rules in 2015, told the Herald. Dublin City Council previously emphasised that the council has no intention of banning busking or other street performances. "We are committed to encouraging and preserving street performance and we recognise the vibrancy it brings to the city," it said. This weekend might be the last warm one we have in awhile HICKORY Lt. Vidal Sipe, Hickory Police Departments Support Services commander, remembers seeing police harassment as a child. Instead of fostering a dislike of police officers, it encouraged him to become one. I can remember looking out of my front door, and seeing cops hitting minorities, Sipe said. You dont really understand that as a kid. I always thought I wanted to be the one to make a change. Sipe, 43, began as the support services commander at the beginning of February and settled into his new role quickly. He is the first African-American division commander in the history of the Hickory Police Department. Its a change I am used to being at the street level, Sipe said. I am thankful the chief has given me this opportunity and let me stay involved with the Ridgeview community. Formerly, Sipe worked for two years as the commander of the David PACT (Police and Community Together) zone, which includes the Ridgeview neighborhood. He is still active there, attending community meetings and receiving phone calls from residents, a holdover from his time in the PACT. I understand whats going on with them it is a good relationship, Sipe said. Support services include code enforcement, special investigations and inspections, communications, vehicle management, record keeping, animal control, parking enforcement and recruitment, according to the Hickory Police Departments website. Sipe said it also includes management of the uniforms and equipment used by Hickory police officers, including firearms and body cameras. Anything to support the department falls under the support services division, Sipe said. This position is basically what I did in the military. Sipe is a veteran of the Army, where he served as a Military Police Sergeant. He was enlisted in 1990 until 1998, when he entered the reserves. While serving in the reserves in North Carolina, he worked in logistics. He was mobilized three times over five years. There was never a break in policing for me. Most of my adult life has been as a police officer, Sipe said. Its a response you get from a lot of officers that they want to help people, but thats truly my passion. Sipe has worked in several roles in the Hickory PD prior to the command level, ranging from patrol officer to supervisory roles. He has worked in the department for more than 16 years, and in all five of the citys PACTs. Sipe moved to North Carolina with his wife, who works as an USDA microbiologist, when she got a job in Lenoir. They have three sons and a daughter, ages 13 to 23. Sipe and his wife met during their high school years in Pennsylvania. Out of all of my kids, the only one who I think would become a cop or join the army is my little girl, Sipe said. Sipe and his family regularly attend services at the Greater Faith Missionary Baptist church as well, and attended Friendship Missionary Baptist church while he was the Ridgeview PACT commander. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree with honors in criminal justice from the American Military University, and an Associates degree in criminal justice technology from Catawba Valley Community College. I dont think there is any reason people should be afraid of the Hickory Police. In general, the people who say they are afraid of the police are the ones committing the crimes, Sipe said. He elaborated, stating that he thinks 98 percent of citizens are good, law abiding, people. As a police officer, you do the job. That is number one. You do that by helping people. As the Emergency ended and India headed for elections in 1977, the opposition including the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, the predecessor of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came together to form the Janata party. There was an effort to merge their student wings, and it was expected that the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) given its association with Jan Sangh - would join. But the outfit said no, for it claimed that it was not a wing of any party and would not run according to party command. It maintained its distinct identity. Eventually, over the question of dual membership could members of Janata Party also be members of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh the Janata split, and BJP was born in 1980. The ABVP stayed immune to the churning. The incident perhaps illustrates an important fact about the student group. ABVP is not a wing of the BJP. Its loyalties are entirely to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and the larger ideological project of the Sangh. Given that BJP also is a part of the same parivar, the connections are obvious. But ABVP reports straight to Nagpur, not Ashoka Road. The Parishad, as ABVP insiders call it, has become central to Indias recent public debates, in the wake of the Rohith Vemula suicide and the Kanhaiya Kumar arrest. What is the history of the group? What are its beliefs? HT explores. Evolution The ABVP precedes the Jana Sangh, and was formally registered in 1949 to organize students. Its initial demands hovered around declaring Hindi as the national language, writing the constitution in Hindi, declaring Vande Matram as the national song. In an apartment in Delhis Ashok Vihar, Raj Kumar Bhatia explained his 42-year long long association with the Parishad, as most ABVP activists call it. Bhatia joined DU as an undergraduate in 1964, went on to do his masters, and taught in a DU college in parallel, he became the Delhi secretary of the Parishad, and eventually its national general secretary and president in the 90s. Bhatia told HT that ABVPs real growth happened after 1967 for three reasons. One, the Sangh decided to pay more attention and give it an organizational impetus. Two, the group actively began participating in student union elections. For instance, we started winning in Delhi University Students Union in 1971. And three, this was the time of student movements all over the world. ABVP was active in the anti-corruption and anti price rise movements in Gujarat and Bihar in 1974, which eventually led to the anti Emergency struggle. Like any student organisation, ABVPs primary challenge is being a permanent organisation for a floating population since students enter and pass out. (Sanjeev Verma/Hindustan Times) For a few years, between 1977 and 1981, ABVP did not participate in union elections. The groups international engagement grew in the 80s. In the Parishad pantheon, two men in particular Yashwantrao Kelkar and Madandas Devi are given credit for its growth and expansion, but Bhatia says that the emphasis is always on teamwork. Like any student organisation, ABVPs primary challenge is being a permanent organisation for a floating population since students enter and pass out. To ensure continuity, it organizes regular ideological training camps. Office bearers say the Parishad now has 32 lakh members, with 5000 city units, 9000 campus units, and it works in some capacity in 20,000 out of the countrys 35,000 colleges. Its relationship with the RSS leadership is navigated through the national organizing secretary currently Sunil Ambekar. Ambekar presents Parishad reports to the RSS decision making body annually. The post was previously held by Dattatreya Hosbale, currently the joint general secretary of the Sangh and someone billed to rise higher up. Anbekar told HT that while the group is inspired by the Sangh and part of the parivar, there is functional freedom in day-to-day affairs. As a part of the larger parivar, there is movement of personnel from the ABVP to other parts, including the BJP. This explains how the top echelons of the party and the cabinet today is dominated by those who cut their teeth in the ABVP. For instance, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, for instance, was a top ABVP leader during his student years, and headed the Delhi University Students Union (DUSU) in 1974. When asked if the Parishad serves as a recruiting ground for BJP, an official said, Our aim is ideological. Any benefit to the party is incidental. Ideological core An early slogan of ABVP was that the student is a citizen of today and thus he needs to be engaged with larger national issues, and have political thought. A key form in which the student community engages with larger politics is on the issue of nationalism. A glance at ABVPs activities over the last few decades reveal its focus - hoisting the national flag in Kashmir or a campaign against foreign infiltration with the slogan Save Assam today to save India tomorrow. But critics allege that the entire problem lies in the ABVPs conception of nationalism; that it is steeped in Hindu symbols; it paints minorities as sources of anti national activities. The Parishad of course denies the charges. For instance, if it is an attempt to organize students, why is it almost entirely Hindu students? Bhatia claims that there are some Muslims too, but admits, Because of politics, Muslims are mentally indoctrinated in a way that they are scared to come to us, or are actively discouraged to do so. I feel that politics in this country solely revolves around this Muslim vote. He adds that while they may be weak on Muslim participation, all other sections are represented. The other critique - particularly in the wake of Hyderabad and JNU - is the ABVPs lack of tolerance for alternative viewpoints. A former activist who used to write pamphlets for the group in JNU recalls how some of his seniors had then told him he was wasting his time writing pamphlets - instead, he should tear down left pamphlets. Is it the case that since JNU has been dominated the left, the ABVP would rather attack and undermine the institution than debate ideas constructively and expand its space? Ajit Kumar, who spent almost a decade and a half in ABVP and remains a sympathiser, rejects the charge. He says, It is the left which has been most ideologically intolerant. In West Bengal, for decades, we were not able to even organise seminars and activities. We have always been politically flexible - our only stand is there can be no compromise with national unity and integrity. ABVP supporters light candles to pay homage to the Siachin avalanche martyrs at JNU campus. (Vipin Kumar/ Hindustan Times) Sunil Ambekar, the powerful organising secretary of the parishad, reiterated the point in a recent interview and claimed that democratic rights were being misused in the name of freedom, human rights, feminism, secularism and freedom of expression. When pointed out that while ABVP had been a part of the democratic struggle during the Emergency but was now seen as wanting to curtail democratic rights, Ambekar said, How are rights being curtailed? Even under a Modi government, the SC opens at night for Yakub...even after such anti national slogans, there is such a debate and it finds space on the media. I sometimes feel there are excessive rights. People have been misusing these rights and this has to be stopped. Proximity to the state But at the core of both the Hyderabad and JNU incident is the perception that ABVP has used its proximity to the ruling party to intervene in campus issues. The letters from cabinet ministers putting pressure in the case of Rohith Vemula are in the public domain. The manner in which Delhi MP Mahesh Girri and then Home Minister Rajnath Singh intervened in the JNU case is also cited. Ambekar claims that in the case of Hyderabad, it was court intervention rather than letters by cabinet ministers that prompted the university administration to act. In the case of JNU, he claims that they followed the correct procedure - and first went to the university and then the police rather than the political leadership. Supporters of ABVP carry placards during protest. (Vipin Kumar/ Hindustan Times) The Sangh appears to believe that the recent controversy in JNU has benefited them, both ideologically and politically. Post Hyderabad, there was a perception that Dalits had been victimised by the ABVP; post JNU, the message that they hope will percolate is that the university was a den of anti national activists who ABVP countered. An activist said that RSS had created a political alternative in the country despite three bans and the criticism does not deter them. Polarisation, in some ways, suits them - though it is debatable whether this scale of liberal and left opposition, with international solidarity, was anticipated. But why is it that ABVPs role has become so central now? What is different in the current NDA regime that wasnt present in the last NDA regime? Bhatia, the veteran ABVP activist, says there is a more vigorous ideological battle being fought. And this is because, he says, the BJP has a majority and PM Narendra Modi is an ideologically-driven leader. If this is correct, we will hear more of the Parishad - footsoldiers in this ideological battle - in the months and years to come. Read: Ayodhya to JNU, history repeats itself; will Modi meet Advanis fate? Look-out notice issued for 3 JNU students over Afzal Guru event SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Delicate white porcelain with cobalt underglaze, ceramic bowls in soothing colours and a glossy finish, kimono-length cloth pieces, and even a wooden chest of drawers the exhibits at the Japan Foundations show entitled Handcrafted Form seem deceptively ordinary. But as one begins to unravel the history of these everyday objects from Japan, their true value becomes more apparent. For instance, the pioneers of Japanese porcelain were actually Korean potters who arrived in Japan in the 1590s, according to Anna Willmann of the Department of Asian Art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Consequently, Japanese porcelain was inspired by Chinese styles. It is not until the mid-17th century, however, that Japanese porcelain gained prominence in the international market. According to Willmann, with a fall in porcelain production in China, Dutch traders encouraged the export of Japanese porcelain to Europe. This porcelain is also known as Imari/Arita ware (the former is the name of the port from which the porcelain was shipped to the rest of the country and beyond, and the latter is the name of the district where it was manufactured in kilns), according to Willmanns essay on the subject on the Museums website. Art work of the Handcrafted form Traditional and techniques display in Exhibition at Japan Foundation in New Delhi. (Raj K Raj / Hindustan Times) In an interesting insight, Willmann reveals how the technique and designs of one of the finest varieties of Japanese porcelain were kept secret by the controller of the Arita kilns, and the exclusive goods were used to curry favour with the feudal lords and nobility at the time. Speaking of secrets, theres also the deceptively simple wooden box actually a trick box that can only be opened by following a complex sequence of moving its different parts. Close to this is a wooden chest of drawers crafted by a cabinetmaker without using nails, insects carved out of wood that almost appear real, flat ceramic cups and plates with iron glaze trimmings. All of these provide an insight into Japanese art history and the skills of its artisans. There are objects from different periods in history, and in some of the exhibits, even the raw material different types of clay that are used in combination to achieve varied results is on display. Each of these clay types, we learn, is used to achieve different results. A brochure available at the venue familiarises visitors with the complex techniques used. Descriptive signage also accompanies the pieces. Just dont expect it all to make sense at first glance. Craft show What: Handcrafted Form: Traditions and Techniques When: 11 am-7pm. Till February 26 Where: Japan Foundation, Near Moolchand metro station, Lajpat Nagar 4, New Delhi Follow @htlifeandstyle for more. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Neerja Bhanots father Harish Bhanot wrote a moving piece about his brave daughter Neerja in The Hindustan Times of October 5, 1986. Neerja died onboard a Pan Am flight on September 5, 1986 while saving the lives of 359 passengers. She was 23. She posthumously received Ashoka Chakra, Indias highest peacetime gallantry award. Neerja, an eponymous biopic, released this Friday, starring Sonam Kapoor in the lead role. Harish Bhanot died in 2007. We reproduce the article here... Neerja, the vivacious and valiant senior flight purser of Pan Am was felled by hijackers bullets during the Pan Am holdup at Karachi airport on September 5 1986 - barely 25 hours before her birthday. A year ago, she had written to me, I will do you proud and the brave girl has kept her word. Read: Neerja review Of late, Neerja was doing a lot of modelling. She had returned from Frankfurt on Tuesday (September 2) morning. She spent all of Wednesday shooting. On Thursday, she had yet another prestigious assignment. She reported for shooting at 9 a.m. and returned home only around 8 p.m. The hard day did not tell on her, she bounced about saying that she had the most satisfying shooting day ever with director Ayesha Sayani, whom she described as a highly talented professional. She had a light dinner and went to sleep after telling her mother to wake her up 90 minutes before the pick-up call from Pan Am. Her mother was keen that she should telephone Pan Am to get excused because she had a hard day. But a highly duty conscious Neerja did not oblige her mother. Neerjas mother was keen that she should telephone Pan Am to get excused from the flight but a highly duty conscious Neerja did not oblige her mother. (Fox) Pan Am informed that the pickup time will be 1.15 a.m. (Sept 5). Her mother had to knock the door really hard to wake up Neerja. She had the usual cold bath. While she was getting ready, we talked. I asked her, how many friends had she invited to her birthday on Sept. 7. She replied, None because she would be returning only on Sunday morning. She wished the birthday party to be just a family affair. I learnt of the Pan Am plane hijacking at Karachi, at a press conference. I felt uneasy. As I reached my own office, I had a telephone call from Mr. Irfan Khan of Hindustan Lever. He advised me to be with him, mainly because his office had better facilities to get the latest information from Karachi. A file picture of Neerjas parents, Harish and Rama, at their home. (Twitter) What happened at Karachi airport? As the terrorists rushed up the letter to capture the aircraft, Neerja dashed to inform the captain in the cockpit. A terrorist, however, caught her by her handy ponytail but she was able to shout the hijack code. Another flight attendant who got her code conveyed it to the cockpit. Obviously, the cabin crew, including the two pursers, did not know the action the cockpit crew takes on hearing the hijack code. It is now known that the 3 member cockpit crew - pilot, co-pilot and flight engineer - slipped away, leaving the aircraft, 400 passengers and the 13 member cabin-crew at the mercy of an emotionally surcharged 4 member team of burly terrorists. Since Neerja was the cabin-crew leader, she took over the command, as soon as she found that the three seniors (cockpit crew) had deserted them. Sonam Kapoor with Rama Bhanot, Neerjas mother. Rama, who passed away recently, famously told Sonam that her daughter was prettier. (Instagram) Neerjas notes say that she had to follow up the hijacking warning with 6 steps. In the Karachi situation, she was required to communicate with the hijackers. Her smiles, even in deep distress, won a response. She looked after the passengers, within permissible limits. Her smiles were taken as an assurance by the passengers and crew members that the worst was over. The power generator was running out of fuel and voltage was falling. Then something happened. Neerja was standing close to the leader of the terrorists. The light had become very dim. Suddenly, guns began vomiting fire within the aircraft. Neerja jumped to the emergency exit and threw it open. Sonam Kapoor in a still from Neerja. According to Mrs. Malti Krishnaswamy and other eyewitnesses, Neerja was caught by the leader of the terrorists and shot point blank. In the dead body I saw bullets had hit her in the abdomen, on the shoulder near the neck and in the arm. When she opened the emergency exit, she could have herself been the first to slide down the chute. But she was the captain, who believed that she had to be the last person to quit - alive or dead. The terrorists guns became silent only after spitting out the last bullet. The cabin crew got together on the tarmac and found the leader missing. Two crew members ran back to the aircraft to find a profusely bleeding Neerja at her post of duty. The shock of being hit by bullets did not stop her heart-beat. She had been bleeding, from at least two bullet wounds, for nearly 15 minutes. But she was in her full senses and told her 2 colleagues to take care of her bullet-hit arm. With a little assistance, she slid down the chute to be received at the other end by another member of the crew. She was helped to walk to the ambulance. But she became a martyr before any medical assistance could help her to survive. Read: I remember her as a joyful person, complete music freak, says Neerjas brother In the normal course of events, Neerja would have been back in Bombay on Sunday, September 7, her birthday. But instead of that we collected her coffin from the airport. She, who died so that others could live, was cremated the following day at 11 am amidst chanting of her favourite mantras as we said Goodbye darling, please keep coming. The young model has set a model for her class the world over. Neerja was a fruit of our long prayers for a daughter. We had two sons and were longing for a daughter. It was Sept. 7, 1962 at Chandigarh - where I was posted at that time. The maternity ward matron rang up to inform me that we had been blessed with a baby-girl. I was very happy to hear this and gave her a double thanks. She thought I had got her wrong and so she repeated It is a daughter. I explained to her the daughter had already 2 brothers and that is why it was an occasion for double thanks. Neerja was a no problem child, right from day one. She was a no nonsense girl right from the start. She went to Sacred Heart School (Chandigarh). Her family name was Lado and I do not think I had called her Neerja more than a score of times in her 23 years. Listen to Neerjas last announcement in her own voice We came to Bombay in March 1974. She was a student of sixth standard. I took her to Bombay Scottish High School for admission. Everybody had told me that admission would be impossible. But one look at her and that great principal gave a lie to canards that entry into the school was linked with the size of donation. Neerja was a very sensitive, deeply affectionate and an extremely decent person who believed in sharing with her people all her joys but not the jolts. She had well defined principles and there was little room for compromise in that area. Of the 23 years of her life, she had lived 22 years and 10 months under bracing sunshine. The two month long ugly patch was a dowry cloud. Following her ad-based arranged marriage in March 1985, she had gone to the Gulf to join her husband to set up a happy home. But the marriage went sour within two months. She was starved off finance and food in a foreign land and the bright girl lost five kg of weight in two months. She had to borrow money from the husband even to make a telephone call. Read: Sonam Kapoor says Neerja is not a Bollywood product Before the marriage, it was made clear that it would be a dowry less marriage. But when she reached the ordained home she was told that even a very poor man gives something to his daughter in marriage. She came back to Bombay to honour a modelling contract. An ugly letter followed, listing terms for her return, which no person with self-respect could accept. The letter listed a straight formula: accept the humiliating terms without a whimper and return at your own cost or we will separate. The worst was that the letter asked her as to what was she? You are just a graduate. The young girl could not pocket this. She applied for a flight attendants job with Pam Am. There were nearly 10,000 applications but Neerja Harish easily found place among the top 80. Some of her close friends in Pan Am knew of her marriage mishap. They say that Neerja had been clearly stating that if one day something happened to her, please see that even his shadow did not fall on her dead body. The girl with sinews of steel accepted the challenge what are you and has told what she was. The Pan Am job was a great success from day one. She went to Miami for training as a flight attendant but she returned home as a Purser. Nothing can, possibly, state her Pan Am stature better than a letter received from her instructor (at Miami), Mr. Keith D. Smith saying: The courageous manner in which she lived was very evident in the courageous manner in which she died. Shielding 3 small children from danger was a bold, daring and brave act that so dignified Neerjas personality. She was a wonderful human being. All those who were concerned with her Miami training, including the local mother, have expressed similar assessment of Neerja. Actor Sonakshi Sinha says she is too scared to read her father Shatrughan Sinhas biography till the end. Anything But Khamosh: The Shatrughan Sinha Biography by Bharathi S Pradhan was launched in Mumbai on Friday. I am too scared to read the book. There are certain things in a parents life that the child just should not know, Sonakshi told reporters. One of the chapters in the book reportedly has the Shotgun talking about his off-screen intimacy with co-actor Reena Roy and how the relationship continued for sometime even after his marriage with Poonam. Sonakshi said she has read the book till the point Sinha is about to become an actor, but doesnt wish to read on. I have read a few chapters in the start of the book that talk about his younger days, his childhood and certain things you skip out in a conversation which we didnt know. Now I am holding back from reading any further... Ive reached the struggling days and the college and him becoming an actor. Thats it. I am okay till there, Sonakshi added. Read: In Shatrughan Sinhas biography, he is Anything but Khamosh Read: When Shatrughan Sinha was anything but khamosh about Sachin Biographer Pradhan took seven years and a series of interviews with the actor-turned-MP and the people who have known him to write the book. Sinhas wife, Poonam, said she had to read the book to understand her actor-husband more. It was necessary to read the book because after reading it I felt I dont know this man... I wish I had known a lot of this....`The Man I Didnt Know would be a sequel to Anything But Khaamosh, she said. Sinha, who has worked with Amitabh Bachchan in films like Bombay to Goa, Parwana and Dostana, has written about his bitter-sweet but strong friendship with his co-star in his book. The experiences Ive written are of our past.... if I wouldnt have mentioned, it wouldnt have been an honest biography. But that doesnt mean that I have anything against him. It was our youth, we were mesmerised by stardom...Were friends so we have the right to fight and differ too. It is democracy, Sinha told reporters at the launch of the book. Read: I have never succumbed to any pressure, says Sonakshi Sinha Read: Sonakshi, Shatrughan Sinha in Murugadoss next Hindi venture In 2007, Sinha had returned the boxes of sweet that had come from Big Bs house after the wedding of Abhishek and Aishwarya, stating, if he wasnt invited then why send sweets. Bachchan had reportedly responded by saying those who were not invited were not friends to begin with. The 70-year-old actor-politician said he holds Big B in high esteem and considers the Paa star personality of the millennium. If today you ask me, Ill tell you that I hold him in high esteem. In true sense I believe he is the personality of the millennium. He is a great actor, greater star and further greater human being. Actor Sonakshi with her mother Poonam Sinha. (HT) Bachchan who was present at the event, said as Sinha is younger to him, he has the right to say what he wants. Shatrughan is younger to me, and I believe those who are younger have the right to say whatever they want to about the elders. If this relationship of friendship wouldnt have been there then there wouldve been no give and take which is very necessary between friends...Getting upset, giving abuses, all these keep going on, the 73-year-old legend said. Follow @htshowbiz for more. The NDA government on Saturday indicated the possibility of its exit from Air India and from the hospital sector, a month after a committee of secretaries recommended that it start planning to get out of air services. In times to come, the DoPT will chalk out a possible plan for exit of government sectors from hospitals, air services, etc, and a sunset clause will be attached to every new scheme, minister of state in the prime ministers office Jitendra Singh said on Saturday, according to an official press release. The release was issued after Singh addressed a meeting of the department of personnel and training to review the action plan for the year. Sources in the ministries of health and civil aviation maintained they were not aware of the governments privatisation plans, as disclosed by the minister. Singh later told HT, There is no decision on privatisation of these sectors. What the government is looking at is what its optimum participation in these sectors should be. These are issues that will be thrashed out later. But Public Health Foundation of India president Dr K Srinath Reddy said it was absolutely necessary for the government to stay significantly involved in the healthcare sector. AIIMS, PGIs and other such (institutes) provide quality healthcare without commercial motives. These hospitals are also major training centres for doctors. Institutes like AIIMS, PGIMER have benefitted the private sector as well as the best doctors in private hospitals come from there, he said. Last month, a group of 12 secretaries including S Jaishankar (foreign), Rajiv Mehrishi (home), Shaktikanta Das (economic affairs) and PK Malhotra (law) had recommended that the government start planning to get out of sectors like air services, hotels and travel agencies to bring Prime Minister Narendra Modis mantra of minimum government, maximum governance to fruition. It was one of eight such groups constituted by Modi to come up with ideas for transformative changes in good governance opportunities and challenges. At the review meeting, Singh also said the DoPT proposed to reduce the number of tribunals from 36 to 17 and reduce or restructure 685 autonomous bodies/institutions. He said a mechanism would also be worked out to ensure information available on official websites or portals are not sought under the Right To Information Act, a move to reduce pendency and workload accruing from such queries. The countrys biggest car-maker Maruti Suzuki on Saturday halted production at its Manesar and Gurgaon plants in Haryana citing disruption in supply of components due to a violent agitation by Jats seeking reservation in jobs and educational institutions. The two facilities produce close to 5,000 cars per day. The last time Maruti had shut down these facilities was in 2012 due to labour unrest which had led to the killing of one officer by workers. Owing to the agitation in Rohtak and nearby areas, supplies of certain components have been disrupted. As a consequence, the company has had to temporarily suspend manufacture of cars at its facilities in Manesar and Gurgaon, starting Saturday (February 20) second half, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd (MSI) said in a press statement. The statement added that it was trying to procure supplies through alternative routes and sources. Once the supply of components is restored, normal operations will resume, the company said. The agitation by the Jat community, into the 7th day on Saturday, has seen thousands of protesters blocking major roads and railway tracks across the state, disrupting surface communication for a week. Government officials said hundreds of trucks are stranded in different places of the state and on Haryanas borders with other states. Authorities have imposed restrictions in Gurgaon under section 144 of CrPc to maintain law and order as protesters have blocked railway tracks and roads. While the Manesar plant has 1,700 robots to make a car every 12 seconds, the Gurgaon unit manufactures the K-series engines that drive the hatchbacks like Alto K10, Swift, Celerio and Swift Dzire. Production at the Manesar plant was affected in 2011 due to a tussle between the workers union and the automaker over various demands. Then in 2012, a general manager of the companys Gurgaon plant, Awanish Kumar Dev, was killed and nearly 100 people were injured in the violent clash on the plant premises. Some 147 workers were also charged with murder in this case by a Gurgaon court. The top carmaker has close to 50% share in the passenger vehicles market in the country and sold 116,606 units in January 2016. What do you think of a feature-rich smartphone available for only Rs 251 championed by a previously unheard of commodities trader from small-town Uttar Pradesh? If you think it is too good to be true, you are in a majority. Bookings have stopped for Freedom 251, the phone promised by Ringing Bells Pvt Ltd and unveiled by former science and technology minister Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi. Deliveries are due by June. The booking site temporarily crashed under popular demand. Clearly, there are millions who think it is worth a gamble, though a technology writer messages to say It is a major scam! The only bells ringing out loud now seem to be alarm bells. Newspaper reports have it that alongside wannabe customers, income-tax officials and police are keeping a close eye on the entrepreneur, Mohit Goel, whose Facebook name is Cutemohit. Not everybody thinks his ideas are cute. We have the president of the Indian Cellular Association, a handset lobby, Pankaj Mohindroo saying , This pricing is not possible under any circumstances, even if the components are made in India But, despite all this, I say that it is possible to sell a smartphone at Rs 251 in India --- but let me add that it is not easily probable. Certainly not through Cutemohit -- unless he is such a genius that a previous track record is not necessary to execute a complex task. Mohit Goel of Ringing Bells during the launch of Freedom 251 mobile phones, in New Delhi. (Saumya Khandelwal/Hindustan Times) Look for clues, not in manufacturing but in services and the business model. A complex set of relationships can make a Rs 251 smartphone possible to sell profitably and in fact, it is an easy trick in theory. But in practice, such a venture can resemble a Ponzi scheme when more and more people are needed to make it a hit. Let us first give the benefit of the doubt to the company and understand the plan that might make it work which has been outlined by the companys president Ashok Chadha in an interview to NDTV. With a ruling party MP revealing the handset and praise showered on Prime Minister Narendra Modis Digital India and Make In India schemes, the sellers of Freedom 251 (Hold your breath, they are not yet the makers), say that they will pass on the cost cuts resulting from reduced imports, make the phones in large quantities to reduce fixed costs, lower selling costs by doing it mostly online and then cut the price further through marketing tie-ups. Pay attention to the last of these factors, marketing tie-ups and that is where the real secret sauce of the Freedom 251 phone lines. It is still a secret because Chadha explains there will be revenue from other partners. He adds, We will unfurl this as we go along, as if that is a national tricolour flag. Read: Whats the catch? We answer your 10 interesting questions on Freedom 251 There are, Chadha explains in the presence of Mohit Goel, NDAs (non-disclosure agreements) that they have signed with partners. Who could these partners be? To get that let us understand some newspaper economics first. The Hindu, Chennai-based national daily, costs Rs 8 per copy. The Hindustan Times, with many more pages including huge colour supplements, has a cover price of only Rs 5. This is possible because HT gets more revenues from advertisers and marketers who help subsidise the cost of producing a newspaper. In 2009, Business Insider explained this beautifully as it discussed The New York Times. Printing The NYT Costs Twice As Much As Sending Every Subscriber A Free Kindle, its headline said for a story explaining the economics. It is apparent that if there is a legitimate way for Freedom 251 to make money and sell a cool smartphone at Rs 251, it is through advertisements and marketing links. This is theoretically very much possible because the smartphone screen is now like a newspaper page into which you can push ads, apps and marketing offers from the Internet. The question now: What is the chance that Messers Ashok Chadha and Mohit Goel pull it off? In principle, you cannot object to them, but thus far they have only garnered Rs 17-odd crore from bookings. And early indications show that the phone they have unveiled resembles the Ikon 4 made by Adcom, whose price on Flipkart is Rs 3,999. Freedom 251 resembles the Ikon 4 made by Adcom. (Sanchit Khanna/ Hindustan Times) So what we are talking about is a scenario where an imported white-label phone re-branded as Freedom 251 is sold and then Ringing Bells begins local manufacture under government patronage. This resembles the UPA-government-backed Aakash tablet made by DataWind and sold under the UbiSlate to the general public. DataWind now sells smartphones at Rs 1,999. It is entirely possible for Ringing Bells to sell a phone at Rs 251 if, like newspaper publishers, it has loads of advertisers and marketers to put their money where the users eyeballs are. I have argued more than once in my columns that some initiatives like this are possible. In 2010, I had said localised apps can create value for Indian customers. In 2012, I argued that the Aadhar card could actually be turned into a Rs 1,000 smart feature phone and given free by the government and this could actually pay for itself by cutting the cost of government services. In 2013, I had said that India was headed for free phones linked to data plans. As I see it, the Freedom 251 seems to be based on ideas that I have discussed and it has government service apps built in suitably. So, if the government and marketers come together to offer services and sales/promotion links, the Freedom 251 phone is actually feasible at that price based on the simple rule of cross-subsidisation. Read: Freedom 251 booking closed, company to deliver 7.35 crore phones in 2016 Will it actually happen? Can Mohit Goel emerge out of the woodworks like Micromax founder Rahul Sharma and turn a multi-millionaire or more? Ringing Bells has promised to deliver 5 million phones by June 30. Mohit Goel, replying to critics, quotes Sachin Tendulkar: My bat will reply to them! The hard questions: # Has Goel ever been seen batting before, the way Tendulkar was before he played international matches? # If the NDA government helps Freedom 251 get revenues under its Digital India scheme, will they be transparent enough not to attract charges of favouring one company? # Are there big brands whose names can be revealed which are promising marketing-linked revenues for Freedom 251? With questions like this, the answer to those who wonder if Ringing Bells will pull it off is: The stuff is possible, but does not look probable. If there is one thing we must fear, it is the complete lack of fear on the part of the rogue dramatis personae in the fast-deteriorating JNU case. Even by our somewhat elastic standards of public probity and conduct, the recent events have been appalling and the very antithesis of what a democratic nation should be all about. A former AAP luminary hit the nail on the head when he said in a television show that had the government been mature enough to leave well alone and let the university deal with the issue, it would have got its 15 minutes of fame. But now, as he put it, millions of people have got to hear of it and it has sharply polarised society into those who are with the nationalists and those who are against them. I have rarely heard anything more chilling than officers of the court, in this case lawyers, lying in wait in a court and belabouring a person in custody, Kanhaiya Kumar, the student leader charged with sedition. If that were not enough to shock the daylights out of you, one of the lawyers taunted the media, asking them to take pictures of him, and boasted of how he hit the hapless student on the face and got in a few kicks. Earlier, these vile people set about thrashing political activists and mediapersons. At each step they seemed to have no compunctions about the fact that their actions were being captured on camera; in fact, they wore their infamy as a badge of honour. Later one of the offending lawyers was pictured being garlanded by colleagues. And in all this, you might well ask, where were the Delhi Police? They were right there, watching indulgently as the lawyers ran amuck. The police commissioner seems to have become a master of evasive answers, telling people that the student leader was actually jostled and not beaten. Pull the other one, Mr Bassi, its got bells on. I am staggered at how the police have conducted themselves in all this. It is either extremely incompetent or extremely partisan or both. And then we have pictures of the Union home minister, the overlord of the police, in a cosy pose with the ghastly lawyer who led an earlier assault within the court precincts. In all this, the central government appears quite unrepentant barring the finance minister, who expressed regret in the strongest terms over the assault on mediapersons. As the days have gone by since the unfortunate incidents in JNU, the rhetoric has got ever uglier. One BJP MLA has gone so far as to say that the Congress vice-president is guilty of sedition, a charge which has been levelled against the JNU student leader without any factual evidence, and that he, the Congress vice-president, should be hanged. In any civilised society, the MLA would be behind bars, but he is roaming about quite happily, giving vile soundbites to anyone who cares to listen. Another MLA OP Sharma, who bashed up a political activist, spoke on camera to inform us that he restricted himself to using his fists, but had he had a gun, he would have shot the offender. He was fair bristling with rage at the insult to Bharat Mata. The lawyer in the latest assault also felt that he could not remain impassive while a dagger was being thrust through Mother Indias heart. I have rarely in all my years in the media seen so much visceral anger towards and intolerance of dissenting points of view. In recent times, any attempt to express an opinion contrary to some twisted majoritarian one is to invite criticism of ones patriotic credentials. I am a patriot and a nationalist. But I do not need to wear it on my sleeve nor do I need to make anyone conform to my ideas. What is happening today brings to mind the immortal lines from Shakespeares Julius Caesar: O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts/And men have lost their reason. Bear with me. Which brings me to how the government of the day has handled the whole thing. In one word, disastrously. In the first place, it should have left the whole thing to be resolved by the university, using internal mechanisms. It should have stepped in only if the university expressed its inability to do so. But instead the police went clomping in and arrested people with the less than articulate police chief offering all sorts of wild explanations. Had the government deployed savvy political managers to handle the issue with finesse instead of in this amateurish and dangerous manner, it could have come out looking progressive and student-friendly. Instead we have the home minister speaking of how Pakistani terrorist Hafiz Saeed is behind the whole thing, based on a tweet which now turns out to be fake. The matter has now spun so much out of control that other universities are also in ferment. Please remember that this comes on the heels of the suicide of Rohith Vemula, a Dalit student in Hyderabad Central University. In that unfortunate event also, minister for labour and employment Bandaru Dattatreya played an ignoble role as did an over-eager HRD minister. And I thought this was a government that had its finger on the pulse of the people. I know that all the anguish expressed by academics from India and across the world and the voices of civil society leaders and students dont matter to the thugs who have taken the law into their own fists. The media can write and broadcast till the cows come home but they are convinced of the righteousness of their execrable actions. Not for them any reasoned debate and discussion, it is hit first and ask questions later. We are at a stage when we are hoping to make a splash on the world stage with Make in India, a foreign policy-savvy prime minister leading the global outreach charge. What kind of impression are we conveying about ourselves if lumpen elements are allowed to run riot? I want to know if they are the arbiters of nationalism. If so, I want no part of it. India has withstood many trials and tribulations in its history. It is not likely to collapse at the first sign of a dissent. India does not need the protection of thuggish lawyers but it certainly could do with the police doing its job instead of the commissioner holding forth on television channels defending the indefensible. However this pans out, the damage has been done. Calls to shut down a great institution of learning, slurs against the highest court in the land, a rabid intolerance of differing points of view, an ineffective or complicit police force, a political establishment that does not react in time or at all, these are all things which will not go away easily. It has damaged our image, our body politic, our democracy. It has served to encourage the loony fringe and rogue elements in our society. The healing process can begin only when these self-styled violent patriots feel the full force of the law and the police are made accountable for their spectacular inaction. But I am not really holding my breath on this. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON I have long suspected that we, as a people, are prone to hyperbole and overreaction. Rarely, if ever, do we strike the right balance, hit the proper note or come up with the mot juste. When discretion and judgement are required we have a knack of ending up in extreme positions. To put it bluntly, we often get difficult calls wrong. The incident at Jawaharlal Nehru University has convinced me Im correct. It called for deft handling. We responded with a blunderbuss. In the process the government and the police embarrassed themselves whilst some of my colleagues on television ended up looking plain silly. First, however, let me make a little qualification. India is not Europe or America and slogans proclaiming Bharat ki Barbadi tak Kashmir ki Azadi tak jung karenge jung karenge or Bharat tere tukade honge InsaAllah InsaAllah cross a desi redline and are considered wrong. The key question is: What should you do about them? I would say three factors need to be borne in mind when you consider your response. First, students tend to be anti-establishment and defiant of authority. Revolt and reaction is part of the process of growing up. Weve all gone through it. More importantly, the challenge this poses often forces a valuable rethink. If nothing else, its how society evolves. This is one reason for tolerating what you might consider the unspeakable. Second, university campuses are places where debate and dissent is to be encouraged not quashed. And encouragement means permitting, at times even encouraging, the unlikeable and, possibly, also the offensive. Otherwise you could undermine the raison detre of a university. Third, how much criticism a government or State can tolerate is an indication of their self-confidence and maturity. Cracking down on dissidence suggests weakness even if for some it seems like a tough response. Here appearances actually deceive. Unfortunately, disregarding the above, the Delhi Police responded with charges of sedition, leading to arrest and custodial detention. Thats like swinging a battle-axe to crack a nut. There were better, subtler and more refined alternatives they did not consider. The astute move would have been to ignore the slogans after forcefully criticising them. When American university students rose in protest against the Vietnam War, including rallies in support of Ho Chi Minh and the burning of the Stars and Stripes, Lyndon Johnson didnt charge them with sedition or arrest them. Instead he let them spend their passion, knowing it would eventually diminish. Similarly, in 1968, when Tariq Ali, then a Pakistani citizen, claimed he was leading a revolution, the British didnt slap sedition charges or even deport him. They simply advised him against travelling to France, where the authorities might not have been so tolerant! A few years later they made him a British citizen. Our authorities unwisely opted to charge the students with sedition. Not only is that defiance of Supreme Court judgments which say sedition can apply only when there is a clear and immediate incitement to violence which definitely was not the case its also a section of our penal code which wise leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru hoped would be scrapped or, at least, never enforced. Of course, the BJP government is not the first to misuse sedition. The Congress was equally guilty of such abuse. So too a host of different state governments. But that only proves my point: As a people we are prone to hyperbole and overreaction. We dont know how to strike the right balance. The views expressed are personal SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Teachers at Indian Institute of Technology- Delhi (IIT-D) have written a letter of support to the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) students to expressed solidarity with them. The teachers, mostly from the department of humanities and from different science and core engineering courses, have sent the solidarity letter. The new vice-chancellor of JNU, M Jagadesh Kumar, was formerly a member of the faculty at IIT-D. We condemn the increasingly narrow definition of nationalism that are being imposed on the citizens of India and used as instruments for the closing of the Indian mind. We choose to embrace a nationalism which celebrates our plurality as a country, and which is not threatened by dissent and disagreement. We stand with all those who share this vision, said the letter from IIT-D. Gerard Depardieu lambasted the Hollywood star system for playing it too safe, and chided George Clooney for getting involved in politics, as the veteran French actor appeared at the Berlin film festival on Friday to promote his new movie. Depardieu, who was speaking at a press conference for his film Saint Amour in which he plays a bull farmer, noted that Clooney had met German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin last week to discuss the refugee crisis. I saw that Mr George Clooney wanted to see Mrs Merkel. I worry that it went badly, he said, adding: Its good that now you can be an actor and a ecologist and a politician, you can do everything. German Chancellor Angela Merkel met George Clooney and wife, lawyer Amal Clooney, to discuss refugee crisis. Depardieu also took a potshot at The Revenant, starring Leonardo DiCaprio as a frontiersman who survives a mauling by a bear and makes a superhuman trek in the snowy wilderness. The film is considered a strong entry in the Academy Awards and the vehicle that may win DiCaprio his first Oscar for best actor. Thats a bit different from what you get in general in cinema at the moment, Depardieu said, referring to the gritty setting for the film and reports that the actors had to work in very trying conditions. Read: The curse of Leonardo DiCaprio Because if I take the Oscars, The Revenant, with the production crew behind and the heating (on set) and all that go and cover yourself in shit - but Im sure the shit is perfumed - and youre in this mud, which is perfumed and isnt cold, its heated, Depardieu said. Leonardo DiCaprio famously ate raw bison liver and slept in a horse carcass while shooting for his Oscar-nominated survival drama, The Revenant. Asked about his having accepted Russian citizenship granted to him by President Vladimir Putin in 2013 at a time when Depardieu was chafing at the prospect of higher French taxes, the actor said these days when he travels he feels that he is Russian. I feel very Russian even abroad because I am outside of France, a lot, he said. How would one not feel more Russian than French with the president that we have in France?, Depardieu said, referring to President Francois Hollande. Since he got his Russian passport, Depardieu has defended Russias international policies in interviews with French and other media. Its true that I have a lot of admiration for Putin and what he does and for the Russian population. Some French intellectuals dont like that sometimes - including my friends and I am not reproaching them, I dont want anything to do with that because me, I know what I live. Benoit Delepine, who directs the film in which Depardieus character Jean takes his son Bruno, played by Benoit Poelvoorde, on a tour of the French wine country, said the parts had been written with the two actors in mind, having seen them work together in the 2010 film, Mammuth. We already realised that they had a sort of absolute and volcanic rapport, so we tried to show that in a film, it should show something, Delepine said. An intelligence input on December 30 from the Punjab border warned New Delhi that six terrorists, with the intention to strike at critical military installations, had infiltrated the country. But as the input was being deciphered, two of the terrorists had already entered the Indian Air Force (IAF) base at Pathankot, said police sources. Investigations into the January 2 terror attack on the base revealed two of the six terrorists all killed in a multi-agency response had entered the premises at least two days before the terror attack began. Sources in the ministry of home affairs (MHA) said the National Investigation Agency (NIA) is probing the role of an insider who not only helped the terrorists by cutting a portion of the fence covering the air base, but also supplied ammunition to the two terrorists who entered first. Read | Fifth and Sixth Pathankot attackers still a missing piece in probe The two terrorists did not move and hid in the thickly forested area at the base, and waited for the four other operatives to enter, said police sources. On January 2 when the four terrorists climbed the wall and entered the base, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) of the IAF had picked up their entry into the base on its thermal imager. The UAV was operational because the air base was on high alert after receiving the intelligence input. The visuals from the UAV were a key input that the National Security Guards (NSG) received, which helped them pin down the four terrorists away from the technical and operational area of the air base, said police sources. Read | NIA unsure if 4 or 6 terrorists were killed at Pathankot base None of the forces involved in the counter-terrorist response knew about the two other terrorists, who were hiding. This was one of the reasons why the Union home minister had declared the operation a success after the NSG gunned down four terrorists. It was only after the four terrorists were killed that the other two began attacking, sources said. The terrorists were carrying a corrosive powder in their rucksacks. If the terrorists had thrown this into the hangars or the stationed aircraft and ignited it, authorities would have found it difficult to control the fire, said police sources. Investigations also pointed to the arrested airmen KK Ranjith, Sunil Kumar Bhatti, who had given out specific technical and minute operational details, including the number of hangars, operational aircrafts and helicopters. Ranjith had given out the details to a woman named Damini McNaught, who gave him Rs 30,000 for the information, said police sources. Read | Pathankot airbase head transferred, IAF calls it routine SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Tribal activist and Aam Aadmi Party leader Soni Sori was admitted to a hospital on Saturday after unidentified men threw acid-like chemical at her in Chhattisgarhs Dantewada district, police said The incident took place near Jawanga village under Geedam police station at around 10:40pm when Sori along with her two associates was heading towards Geedam from Jagdalpur on a motorcycle, a senior police official told PTI. As per the statement of the victim, three youths on a motorcycle stopped them after crossing Bastanar Ghat and asked them to alight from their vehicle. One of them immediately hurled the liquid at her face following which the trio fled from the spot, he added. Subsequently her associates rushed her to Geedam hospital and informed police. Though the chemical did not disfigure her face Sori said she suffered from a burning sensation, the official said. According to doctors the alleged liquid seemed to be grease diluted with chemical. The woman (Sori) was further shifted to Jagdalpur hospital and kept under observation as she has complained of burning sensation in her face, he added. A case has been registered, the official said adding that further probe was on. Sori also serves as the warden of a government-run school in Jabeli where she teaches tribal children. Sori has been accused of being a Maoist conduit and of receiving protection money from the Essar group for rebels. Sori was arrested on October 4 in south Delhi by a Chhattisgarh police team and taken to Dantewada for interrogation. Essar has denied giving funds to Maoists. Sori has denied all the accusations mad against her. A day after a freelance journalist who reported from Bastar was evicted, two human rights lawyers were forcibly asked to vacate their residence on Saturday, allegedly at the behest of the Bastar police. We were forced to pack-up. Will leave Bastar tonight. Its sad. Our landlord was twice summoned to the police station. Under pressure, he asked us to move out of his house, one of the lawyers, Isha Khandelwal, told HT. Khandelwal and her colleague Shalini Gere worked for the Legal Aid Group in Jagdalpur (JagLAG), which was formed in July 2013 in Bastar district and comprises women lawyers who assist tribals and others who are falsely implicated in Maoist-related cases for free. Earlier, journalist Malini Subramaniam, who contributed articles to online portal Scroll.in and, over the past one year, wrote extensively on alleged fake surrenders, arrests of journalists and tribal protests, was also evicted from her house. Taking cognisance of the alleged intimidation of the lawyers, Human rights NGO Amnesty International India urged the Chhattisgarh government to ensure the lawyers are able to carry out their professional duties without intimidation, harassment or improper interference. The Chhattisgarh government must recognise the crucial role that human rights lawyers play in upholding the rule of law, and investigate any threats they may face, said Makepeace Sitlhou, campaigner at Amnesty International India. The deadlock over government formation in Jammu and Kashmir may end next week with the BJP and PDP narrowing their differences on certain contentious issues. Sources privy to the deliberations told HT that the BJP has agreed to positively consider three demands of the PDP, including smart city status to Srinagar. PDP emissary Haseeb Drabu, finance minister in the previous government, held a closed door meeting with BJP chief Amit Shah in Delhi last evening to discuss implementation of some of the demands of Mehbooba Mufti, who will take over as CM in case the two sides decide to form government. Restricting of relief package for Jammu and Kashmir besides return of two NHPC power projects to the state government was also discussed between Shah and Drabu, sources said. Lifting of AFSPA was not discussed in this meeting, the source claimed. The BJP considers the three demands put forth by the PDP as doable and is working out the modalities to execute them. Center may provide monetary assistance to a future state government to raise stakes in the two power projects, effectively giving it control of them. New Delhi will also loosen its purse strings to provide more money under the flood relief package that prime minister has earlier announced. A smart city status for Kashmir is also a certainty. BJP general secretary Ram Madhav is negotiating government formation with Mehbooba mufti in Kashmir and will return to Delhi tomorrow with a clearer picture. We hope the deadlock to end in a couple of days from now. As and when the new government takes over, it will discuss with New Delhi other issues, including a timeline for the implementation of the promises made in the common minimum programme, a BJP leader said. J-K has slipped into a state of political uncertainty following death of chief minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed on January 7 and the subsequent refusal by Mehbooba to take over. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Chhattisgarh was once dubbed a backward state and unsafe for business due to its long-running Maoist insurgency. But for chief minister Raman Singh, the states strength lies in its ability to turn apparent disadvantages into opportunities. In a candid interview to Hindustan Times, the 63-year-old three-time chief minister lays out his road map for the states progress Q: Chhattisgarh faces stiff competition from other smaller states to attract investment. How are you coping with that? A: Chhattisgarh is not engaged in any competition with small or big states. We all are partners in Indias growth story, as Team India. Every state has certain specific value propositions, which need to be leveraged in the countrys best interests. In the case of Chhattisgarh, its advantages are: central and strategic location (very important, post-GST); surplus, economical and high quality power; easy availability of land; low cost of doing business; ease of doing business; availability of abundant and skilled workforce. We have also created a large land bank for hassle-free land allotment for industries. Land allotment is now done online as part of the new rules in force since 2015. Plenty of minerals and other natural resources make this state a preferred choice, on principles of optimality and value maximisation for given investment, over other areas/regions. Q: How helpful are schemes like Make In India in promoting industrialisation? A: Make in India has given us ample opportunities and a platform to promote manufacturing-led industrialisation to attract new investment in our state. I have been the chief minister of Chhattisgarh since 2004 and can confidently say that this is one of the best initiatives by the central government to promote industrialisation, which would not only generate new employment opportunities for our youth but also provide more resources for the state in the form of higher tax collections. The increased resources may be used for customised integrated development, as per each states unique requirements, till the last mile. We are seeing that India has emerged as the next big investment destination for the world. We have just experienced it during the Make in India week in Mumbai where business delegations from the US, China, Japan, Germany and other countries showed significant interest in Chhattisgarh. They all want to be part of Indias growth story and states need to leverage this unique opportunity to position themselves so as to attract the investment borne out of this heightened interest in India. To that extent, Make in India is very helpful not only for India as a whole but also for states that utilise this opportunity to channelise investment into their areas. Q: Which are the areas in which Chhattisgarh wants to attract investment? A: We have been able to attract large investments in core sector like coal, steel, cement and aluminium, which have made Chhattisgarh an established investment destination for the core sector. Now we are focusing on other sectors as well, like information technology, electronics manufacturing, capital & engineering goods, new and renewable energy equipment manufacturing, urban development infrastructure components, food and agriculture, food processing, data centres (server farms), textiles and apparel. We are also looking at attracting investment in the defence equipment manufacturing sector, due to the offset policy of the central government for big-ticket defence contracts. Q: A new land acquisition policy is caught in the Parliament logjam. Is it hurting growth of your state? A: Chhattisgarh has already set an example in peaceful acquisition of large tracts of land. In addition, we have already created Naya Raipur, the first 21st century greenfield capitol city, through hassle-free land aggregation methods, which include land acquisition and land pooling. As such, whatever form the new land acquisition policy finally takes, we in Chhattisgarh will fully integrate it into our existing processes and proceed accordingly. The important thing is for its quick finalisation and passage into an Act, so that uncertainty is removed and a clear roadmap for execution is present. In any case, we have a huge land bank with us that can be quickly leveraged to meet the existing needs of any interested industrial unit in the state. Q: Chhattisgarh faces a Maoist problem. Is it not an impediment in attracting investment? A: Not at all. Instead, we are getting big investments in Bastar. The National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) is building and nearing completion a big steel plant there. We are working on the Rowghat rail project on a PPP model, which connects Bastar with the rest of Chhattisgarh and India. We have already laid 18 km railway line and started operating train on that line. The Surguja region (northern Chhattisgarh) is fully peaceful and more than 90% of Bastar also has become peaceful. People in Bastar want education, health and employment. They want to be part of the mainstream development. The government is committed to meeting these needs of the people and dispelling the myths regarding extent of Maoist influence in that region. In fact, NMDC has been operating in Bastar area for the last 50 years and is one of the most profitable PSUs. Q: You complained about step-motherly treatment by the previous UPA government. Has the new regime solved those issues? A: The new regime has newer energy and a co-operative federalist approach that is more conducive to state partnership in overall growth efforts of the country. Previous central governments talked about federalism but this new central government under the leadership of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi have actually made it possible. Now states get more share in revenue, more freedom in crafting and enacting schemes according to local needs. Mineral-rich states like Chhattisgarh are getting more royalty on its own resources. This is a huge benefit. Now, we have more money to spend on the development of backward districts. So, we are seeing very positive steps in the current times. Q: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is visiting the state on Sunday. What do you expect out of it? A: Narendra Modi has been a long-standing friend of the people of Chhattisgarh and has understood the real needs of the state and its people, better than anyone else. He has already announced a plethora of schemes for Chhattisgarh. He is coming to lay the foundation stone for an electronic manufacturing cluster, which will open the door of opportunity for the youth of Chhattisgarh. He will also lay the foundation stone for construction of 40,000 houses under the Housing for All scheme. I am thankful to him that he has decided to launch Shyama Prasad Mukherjee (Rural-urban) RURBAN mission from Chhattisgarh, which will be a path breaking scheme in the development of rural areas of the country. A Delhi court kept pending on Saturday BJP leader Subramanian Swamys application against Congress president Sonia Gandhi and party vice-president Rahul Gandhi in the National Herald case as some party leaders said Swamy would have to satisfy that the documents he was seeking were relevant. The decision came after Congress leaders told metropolitan magistrate Loveleen that Swamy would have to satisfy the court on whether the documents he was seeking were of any relevance to the matter at hand. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the Gandhis, told the court that the order had been challenged before the HC by Motilal Vora, an accused in the case, and the HC has issued a notice to Swamy on the plea. The lawyers representing the accused also told the court that these documents should be kept in a sealed cover till the issue is decided by the high court. Opposing the contentions, Swamy told the court that the documents, which were placed before the magistrate on Saturday, were related to AJL and they were required for the case. Only the Congress can defeat the Congress in Kerala, party vice-president Rahul Gandhi said this month at an election rally, an observation that also holds true for Puducherry. The party seemingly shot itself in the foot during the 2011 polls in the Union Territory administered by the Centre that also has its own elected government. N Rangasamy, one of the Congresss tallest local leaders, rebelled, formed his own outfit and defeated his erstwhile party, with a little help from J Jayalalithaas AIADMK. Rangasamy won 15 of the 17 seats he contested and formed the government with the help of an independent MLA in the 30-member house. But once he achieved majority, Rangasamy ditched Jayalalithaa, refusing to share power as was widely anticipated during alliance talks, triggering an angry diatribe from the Tamil Nadu chief minister. But an indifferent Rangasamy befriended the BJP and central government, entered into a tie-up for the general elections under the NDA umbrella, an arrangement that still holds at the Centre. However, when the Puducherry CM faced a political crisis in getting his nominee elected to the Rajya Sabha last year, he managed to get the support of five AIADMK MLAs. Four legislators from his own party, the All India N R Congress (AINRC), revolted and said they would not support the CMs candidate. It was then that Jayalalithaa co-opted Rangasamys nominee as her partys candidate for the Rajya Sabha from Puducherry and thats how N Gokulkrishnan was elected. The political situation in this former French colony that was once a Congress bastion is fluid with parties still waiting for alliances to firm up. The Congress has tied up with the DMK, following a deal in Tamil Nadu, but with a difference in Puducherry, the Congress is the dominant partner. DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi is keen that the Congress ropes in the Pattali Makkal Katchi outfit in Puducherry to take on Rangasamy who may come to an understanding with the AIADMK. Unlike in some other states, in Puducherry, the Congress is seen as a functioning opposition party that is ready to take up peoples issues. Whether it is pursuing a file in the secretariat or help with a government scheme, people are getting assistance from a few Congress leaders, said S Ramanthan, a private sector executive. There is some disappointment among locals over the five-year rule of Rangasamy, which the Congress hopes to exploit in the election campaign. The administration has collapsed, theres all-round failure of the government, increase in joblessness and rise in prices. The common man is groaning under a heavy burden and the government is not performing, said senior Congress leader and former Union minister V Narayansamy, a possible CM candidate with the partys state chief A Namachivayam also in the race. The Congress will highlight all the negatives under development, poor infrastructure, closure of industries on the economic front and prevailing lawlessness, he said. The ruling AINRC does not face a leadership challenge with Rangasamy firmly holding the reins. Admitting that there were administrative constraints as well as financial issues since Puducherry is not a full state, senior party leader and Lok Sabha lawmaker R Radhakrishnan said the chief minister had achieved remarkable progress working within the limitations. Yes, we have tried our best to achieve full statehood for Puducherry, but so far efforts have not succeeded, he said. We are in the NDA. We do not have a confrontation with the Centre, which is a good thing as far as central help for the UT is concerned. He dismissed Opposition charges and said people were aware of what the government was doing. There is even free medical education for the weaker sections, which is not available anywhere else in India, he pointed out. Prof NK Jha of Puducherry University said voters too would consider the ruling partys ties with the coalition in power at the Centre. But the two major rivals, the Congress and AINRC, are also wary of a clutch of smaller parties that have come together to form a coalition, some of them contesting the polls here for the first time. Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Saturday appealed to the people of the state to maintain peace and harmony. I appeal to the people especially the youth to stop the protests. Nothing will be gained by destroying property, he said. The chief minister added that he had already agreed to the demands made by the agitators for reservation in education and jobs. Khattar held a key meeting with his ministers and top officials to take stock of the situation in the state which has been witnessing violence since Friday when three people were killed. I appeal to all my fellow Haryanvis to maintain law & order in the State, and ensure that harmony is maintained in the society. Manohar Lal Khattar (@mlkhattar) February 19, 2016 As violence spread to more areas in Haryana over the Jat quota row, the district administrations on Saturday clamped curfew in Sonipat city and Gohana town of the district. Sonipat city and Gohana town have been brought under curfew today, Sonipats Deputy Commissioner Rajiv Rattan told PTI. Curfew had already been clamped in Rohtak, Bhiwani and Jhajjar towns in the wake of incidents of violence during the Jat agitation. Earlier in the day, violence escalated in different parts of the state after a mob in Rohtak districts Meham area set a police station, a petrol pump and a government building on fire. Khattar had recently held talks with Jat and Khap leaders in Chandigarh, but these failed as the protesters remain adamant on their main demand of OBC quota in government jobs and rejected his announcement of enhancement of the quota of reservation for Economically Backward Classes in the state from 10 to 20%. (With inputs from PTI) As the Jat stir for quota continued, some unidentified persons set on fire the Budha Khera Railway Station in this district on Saturday. Furniture, record room and other articles were set on fire at the railway station, which falls on the Jind-Panipat rail section, police said. The Indian Army is conducting a flag march in Haryanas violence-hit Rohtak, where three people were allegedly killed and 78 others injured in firing and clash between security personnel and Jats demanding reservation in jobs and education. The army could not enter Rohtak initially as protesters had put up blockades at several places, forcing the authorities to air drop them. The army issued a warning asking people to remain inside their homes following the shoot-at-sight orders issued on Friday night in the tension-gripped city, where several private and government properties and vehicles were set ablaze by protesters. Jat protesters blocked the railway tracks during their agitation in Sonipat on Saturday. (PTI) Also Read | All you need to know about Jat quota demand, protests Sources said the army will conduct its flag march in the peaceful areas of the city and will later reach the violence-affected areas near Delhi Road, D Park and Sector 14. A contingent of the army also took out a flag march on Saturday morning in Bhiwani. The administration has asked people to stay at homes, official sources said. Incidents of violence and arson continued at several places during the night even as prohibitory orders remained in place in many places including Hisar, Jhajjar, Jind, Kaithal and Panipat. Also Read | Jat agitation: Lack of influential leaders on ground did BJP in Road, rail blockade continues Normal life remained disrupted as protesting Jats continued to block roads and rail routes, affecting the supplies of essential commodities to Rohtak, Jind, Bhiwani and other parts of the state. Members of the Jat community blocked the Rohtak-Jhajjar road as about 600 people gathered at the demonstration site near Sampla. The protesters also set afire a Haryana roadways bus near Kalanaur town of the district early in the morning. Reports said they have also started blocking roads in several parts of the northern districts including Radaur at Yamunanagar, Indiri at Karnal and Ladwa at Kurukshetra. Also Read | BJP worried as Jat quota stir intensifies, ex-CM Hooda blames party Rail services are severely hampered on the Delhi-Ambala, Delhi-Amritsar, Delhi-Hisar-Fazilka route, and Hisar-Dhuri sections as agitating Jats squatted on railway tracks at few places. As many as 72 trains have been cancelled while 22 have been partially cancelled by the railway authorities. A number of passenger trains, long distance including super fast passing through or originating in Haryana will remain cancelled on Saturday, railway authorities said. Jat protesters smashed a vehicle during their agitation in Rohtak on Friday. (PTI) Northern Railways chief public relations officer Neeraj Sharma told ANI that routes passing through Panipat, Rohtak and Rewadi have been closed. He said there have been fire incidents at Jhajjar station and at a halt near Sonipat adding that tracks have been damaged at some places. Nearly 550 trains were either cancelled or diverted since the agitation began a week ago. Read | Jat stir in Haryana: Army deployed, shoot-at-sight orders after 3 killed Curfew, shoot-at-sight orders The agitation escalated and turned violent soon after an all-party meeting held by chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Friday issued an appeal for calling off the stir. After the meeting, Khattar had said the state government will prepare a draft bill for giving reservation to Jats and that suggestions have also been sought from all parties in this regard. Jat leaders rejected the offer made by the state government and said that the stir would continue till their demand is met. There is no solid offer made by Haryana government. BJP government is just trying to befool Jats as its intentions with regard to giving reservation to Jats is not clean, Jat leader Yashapal Malik said on Friday. Also Read | We are prepared to fight for our rights: Jat agitation spreads to UP The government should first bring an ordinance and then bring a bill in Haryana Vidhan Sabha for giving reservation to Jats. If the government does it, then it will be acceptable to us, he said. The Haryana government had called the army in nine districts and imposed curfew and shoot-at-sight orders in Bhiwani and Rohtak districts after protests by the Jat community turned violent on Friday. The protestor was killed in Rohtak when Border Security Force (BSF) personnel had opened fire in self-defence after someone from the mob fired at and injured a BSF jawan. The Centre also sent in 3,300 paramilitary personnel as rampaging mobs held policemen captive, vandalised a mall and set ablaze several government and private properties including the houses of a minister and an MLA from the ruling BJP. Protesters block the Gurgaon- Alwar National Highway near Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Chowk in Gurgaon during their agitation. (PTI) Also Read | Haryana OBC quota bill for Jats may hit a legal speed breaker Mobs had held some policemen captive and set on fire the house of states finance minister Abhimanyu and several government and private properties in Rohtak, Jhajjar, Hansi and several other parts of the state. Protestors pelted stones at the residence of a BJP MP Raj Kumar Saini in Kaithal on Friday evening, police said. Around 50 persons attacked Sainis residence, damaging window panes. The BJP parliamentarian had earlier expressed objection over giving reservation to Jats and even threatened to resign if there was any loss to reservation quota for OBCs. Protesters had also targeted police and private vehicles, buildings housing offices, including two toll plazas at Hansi in Hissar district and near Rohtak, both located on the Delhi-Hisar-Fazilka National Highway. Schools were ordered to be closed across the state and mobile internet services were suspended in almost all the districts. (With inputs from agencies) Addressing a meet on Hindu-Buddhist initiative on conflict avoidance in Delhi in September, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said, It is my firm belief that the solution to all problems lies in dialogue Ideologies which close the gates for dialogue have the propensity for violence Instead of pursuing the path of a dialogue, Modis government used police action in the JNU and bureaucratic methods in the Hyderabad Central University (HCU) to tackle ideological conflicts. And the PM maintained silence on both the incidents also during protests by students of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) against imposition of an artist as the director. The government had directed HCU authorities to curb anti-national and casteist forces on the campus leading to suspension of five Dalit students from the hostel and this later drove Rohit Vemula to commit suicide. In the JNU, police arrested students union president Kanhaiya Kumar and launched a hunt for some others over anti-national activities. The BJP could have taken a moral high ground by asking for a dialogue with the Congress, Left and other parties to tackle what it called anti-national activities in JNU and HCU. It could have asked the media to come along and investigate the alleged anti-national and terror activities, said Arun K Patnaik, a professor at the Hyderabad University. Patnaik was among a few academics and activists who attempted at HCU to engage the ABVP and the Ambedkar Students Association, accused of anti-national and casteist activities, in a dialogue. Neither the new vice chancellor (of HCU) nor NDA ministers believe in dialogue for they have gone for an easy method of legal solutions to an ideological dispute, said Patnaik, emphasising that legal measures or use of force to settle ideological and political disputes would not work in India which had fought against the draconian Emergency rule. From FTII to HCU to JNU, the ruling partys response shows a pattern: It is rash and provocative to democratic-minded individuals and organisations. The sangh parivars combative approach to opponents exposes its culture of intolerance. The attack on JNU is aimed at striking terror at anyone who does not accept a particular set of ideas acceptable to the party in power, said Biswamoy Pati, a professor of history at Delhi University. The happenings at Patiala House demonstrate storm-trooping action where a student leader is beaten up inside a temple of justice. The double standards of the party in power and the police are responsible for this. It appears that you can get away with whatever you want with the national flag and slogans of Bharat Mata ki Jai, Pati said. The action of alarmist NDA managers in HCU and JNU helped non-ABVP students organisations and non-BJP parties come together. A united opposition demanded justice to a Dalit student who ended life and it is now raising pitch in the JNU battlefield for the right to dissent and against a monolithic Hindutva nationalism. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON After days of GT Road not being affected by Jats agitating for reservation, the protesters finally blocked even the National Highway 1 at several points near Sonepat on Saturday. Virtually tens of thousands of road users were thus stranded since morning as the protesters set up the blockades by diagonally parking vehicles or using trees staring around 10am. Though there were said to be more than half a dozen such points, the major blockades were put up near Nangal, Murthal and Kundali villages. With this, the movement of all types of vehicles including buses came to a standstill on both sides, virtually cutting off Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Jammu and Kashmir from the national capital via what is a historically important road of all of South Asia. Haryana Roadways also put total halt to all its buses in Panipat, Sonepat, Hisar, Jind, Narnaul, while Rohtak, Jhajjar and Bhiwani had already been under curfew since Friday. Read: Jat agitation brings Rohtak to a standstill Though the police and a few units of the army had reached the spots, there was no action for want of strength. Admitting it, the director general of police, YP Singal, held that more army and paramilitary force was being airlifted to these spots and dialogue with the protesters was on. Since the force could not be rushed to the spots by road (that are dug up or blocked), some units are being airlifted and are on the way, he told HT in the afetrnoon. Back on the spots, according to available information here, utter chaos prevailed as the protesters had also deflated the tyres of heavy vehicles, which would mean that removing them and restoring traffic on the highway would be an uphill task. Meanwhile, the state government continued to parrot that it is trying to dissuade the protesters from the agitation through dialogue. Read: Shatabdi among 24 trains cancelled from Chandigarh, no relief in sight Violence raged across Haryana for a second day as Jat protesters demanding reservation in jobs and colleges burned government offices and railway stations, attacked shops and clashed with security forces, leaving five more people dead on Saturday. Authorities used helicopters to bring in army and paramilitary soldiers after angry mobs dug up roads and used trucks and buses to seal off the districts of Bhiwani, Jhajjar and the epicentre of the protests, Rohtak. The violence appeared to take on caste colours with protesters looting and damaging non-Jat property in Rohtak, where incidents of firing between the two communities were also reported. A Jat guesthouse was set on fire in Bhiwani. Curfews were clamped on Sonepat, Jind and Jhajjar towns. Four deaths were reported from Jhajjar, where police opened fire after being attacked, while the fifth was reported from Kaithal, taking the toll in the week-long protests to eight. Delhi University students from the Jat community protested at Kingsway Camp crossing near North Campus. (Mohd Zakir/ Hindustan Times) Reports of violence came in from almost every part of the state, especially Rohtak where, witnesses said, about 8,000-10,000 Jats had virtually captured the town. Protesters went on the rampage, setting fire to state buses and a couple of government offices and looting some 500 shops. Stick-and-gun wielding mobs damaged railway tracks and started fires at three railway stations leading 600 trains to be cancelled since Friday, said Indian Railways spokesman Neeraj Sharma. A private college and an ayurvedic dispensary were also torched. In Jhajjar, angry protesters torched two banks and a petrol pump, defying the security clamp down. Life was hit in most parts of the state with shops, offices and schools closed. Fuel pumps in many places went dry as transport through the state virtually broke down. Mobile internet services remained suspended in many districts for a second day. The Delhi-Lahore bus service was also stopped. Read: BJP worried as Jat quota stir intensifies, ex-CM Hooda blames party Thousands of protesters, including women, tried to stop an army flag march in Rohtak town where, police said, Jats from neighbouring villages were arriving in large numbers. Jat community members during the protest demanding reservation in Bahadurgarh in Haryana. (Ravi Choudhary/ Hindustan Times) Top ministers and senior security officials, including national security advisor Ajit Doval and army chief Dalbir Singh Suhag, met on Saturday to discuss the states violent lockdown. There are reports that some extreme violence has taken place in Rohtak, said a senior government official in New Delhi requesting anonymity and without elaborating. Jat leaders have rejected the governments offer to accept all demands of the community, which accounts for 26% of the states 2.64-crore population. The protesting Jat community members demand reservation in government services in Bahadurgarh in Haryana. (Ravi Choudhary/ Hindustan Times) We will not withdraw our agitation unless the state government brings an ordinance for giving reservation to Jats, said Yashpal Malik, president of the All India Jat Aarakshan Sangarsh Samiti. Although the Jats rank fairly highly in caste hierarchy, fast population growth and a lack of opportunity are fueling their demand for reservation in jobs and colleges. In 2014, the UPA government tried to allot quotas to them but the Supreme Court rejected the plan, saying it violated rules around quotas. The Jat protests echo violence by Patidars or Patels making similar demands in Gujarat last August, which left several dead. (With inputs from Rajesh Ahuja in New Delhi) Read| We are prepared to fight for our rights: Jat agitation spreads to UP Jat protests demanding reservation under OBC category have taken on a caste colour with violence erupting across Haryana. Reports from Rohtak indicate that Jat protestors looted and vandalised properties owned by people from other castes, while counter-protests launched by other communities set a Jat dharamshala on fire in Bhiwani. With protests becoming increasingly violent, residents particularly those from non-Jat communities such as Punjabis, Banias and Brahmins were forced to confine themselves to their homes for safety. One of my family friends in Rohtak, who comes from a non-Jat caste, was hysterical on the phone today. He sought my advice as to whether his family should vacate their house and take refuge outside Haryana. Such is the panic in the region, said a senior IPS officer deputed in the district. The single largest community in the state, Jats are reportedly incensed over being sidelined in 2014, when Manohar Lal Khattar, a Punjabi, was elevated as chief minister, bringing to an end their 18-year reign in Haryana. The aggression was there but it was a controlled one since there were always prudent faces who tried to tone down the diatribe. However, once the youngsters took things in their own hands, there was no stopping them. The fact is that the agitation has become leaderless and directionless. Unemployed youth, miscreants and hoodlums have taken over things, said an official. Seeds of discontent in the community can be traced back to the 2014 elections, when the BJP came to power for the first time in the state by registering massive wins in parts where non-Jat communities wielded power. It won 21 of 23 seats in six districts in northern Haryana and all 11 seats in southern Haryana, where Jats were a minority. Congress, on the other hand, won 10 out of its tally of 15 from the Deswali belt of Rohtak, Jhajjar and Sonepat, primarily due to the influence of former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda. Similarly, another Jat-centric party, the Indian National Lok Dal too did well in Jat-dominated areas. It was actually a fight between Jats and non-Jats in 2014. And it has been given...a violent colour now, said a former Haryana minister. In a series of tweets, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Saturday that both home minister Rajnath Singh and his Haryana counterpart Manohar Lal Khattar have assured him that the army is being sent to Munak canal, which supplies water to south Delhi. Delhis water supply may take a hit as some of the Jat community members, who are demanding quota in government jobs, have blocked the Munak canal. Water treatment plants in Dwarka, Bawana, Nangloi, Haiderpur and Okhla may get affected if water supply is hindered. Spoke to Rajnath ji also and apprised him of grave situation. He has assured that army is being sent to Munak canal, Kejriwal tweeted on Saturday. Many passenger trains going from Delhi to Haryana, Rajasthan, Punjab and Jammu have been affected due to the on-going stir. The Delhi chief minster also spoke to Khattar regarding the ongoing agitation in Haryana. Earlier, army and para-military personnel were deployed in eight districts of Haryana after three persons were killed and 21 injured in police action as the protest for quota turned violent in the state. Reportedly, protesters also got hold of some police personnel besides going on a rampage at many places including Rohtak, Jhajjar and Hansi, targeting police and private vehicles and office buildings. They also set fire to the state finance ministers house. The controversy surrounding Delhis JNU on Saturday spilled over on Twitter as a war of words on the Universitys students union (JNUSU) vice president Shehla Rashid Shora between former chief minister Omar Abdullah and Censor board member Ashoke Pandit. Pandit in a tweet demanded that Shora, a girl from downtown Srinagar and prominent leader of the ongoing agitation at JNU, be interrogated and mentioned that she is a Kashmiri Muslim. Firebrand speeches against the incumbent government by the twenty-seven-year-old Shora has been doing the rounds on social media and she has emerged as a prominent voice of the ongoing agitation in Delhi after the JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar was put behind bars on charges of sedition. Late on Friday night, Pandit had tweeted, Shiela Rashid #VicePresident #JNU who is a #KashmiriMuslim shld be interrogated She had also opposed #BabaRamdev in #JNU.#Nationfirst. Pandit waded into controversy last year when during the controversy surrounding the stand-up comic group AIB, he had tweeted on filmmaker Karan Johar, who had participated in a roast with the group, Karan Johar could have easily shown his position while performing sex to his mom at home instead of making it public.#AIB Porn Show. Abdullah on Saturday afternoon quoted that tweet and replied, Now being a Kashmiri Muslim is crime enough to warrant interrogation. BTW its Shehla not Sheila but what the hell!! Did I say that being KM is a crime? Ur thinking is communal, not mine. Interrogation for organizing #AnyiIndiaRally. https://t.co/kRuowBxJKb Ashoke Pandit (@ashokepandit) February 20, 2016 Pandit defended himself against Abdullahs comments and replied, Did I say that being KM is a crime? Ur thinking is communal, not mine. Interrogation for organizing #AnyiIndiaRally. And Abdullah was quick to react, too. Im a Kashmir Muslim AND Im not a Ramdev supporter/follower. Id better prepare for my interrogation. But then, Pandit took the debate to a whole new angle, bringing in the issue of the Kashmiri Pandits and their exodus during early 1990s. Pandit wrote to Abdullah: But U & your dad are def.rspnsbl for the genocide & ethnic cleanising of #KashmiriPandits.Hence shld b interrogated. (sic) On the other hand, Pandit took on prominent journalist Sankarshan Thakur also, head on. Thakur had responded to Pandits tweet on Shora and expressed his shock. He wrote, What?? Because she is a Kashmiri Muslim and opposed Ramdev? Bhaiyon, Behnon, *Deshbhakt* #ShehlaRashid #JNU In response to Thakurs tweet, Pandit wrote, Is she not a #KashmiriMuslim who organised #AntiIndiaRally wth her #KashmiriMuslimfriends? Bhaiyon,Behno AntiIndia Thakur quoted this tweet and wrote, Bhakt Alert. Bhakt being a popular word used on social media to refer to those who vehemently tend to support the BJP or the RSS. In response, Pandit called Thakur a fraud liberal whose shops have been shut. We can understand your shops are shut under the new regime & hence the frustration.We pity the fraud liberals. https://t.co/C29PZzpzZI Ashoke Pandit (@ashokepandit) February 20, 2016 We can understand your shops are shut under the new regime & hence the frustration. We pity the fraud liberals. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The violence against JNU students and journalists allegedly by lawyers at Patiala House Courts in the heart of the capital has turned the spotlight back on the conduct of men in black who often hit headlines for wrong reasons. What happened at Patiala House Courts during this week is not an isolated incident of advocates venting their ire in a manner that does not behove a profession that is dedicated to upholding the rule of law. Lawyers were at the forefront of Indias freedom struggle. Mahatma Gandhi, Rajendra Prasad, Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Patel, to name a few. Even today, lawyers are holding prominent positions in the government at the Centre and in various states. But some of the recent incidents involving advocates give a somewhat different impression. JNU students union president Kanhaiya Kumar is accused of sedition in connection with a protest on the university campus where anti-India slogans were raised. The rule of law demands that he is given a fair trial in an atmosphere free from fear. But the advocates who allegedly attacked him seem to have forgotten the most important mantra of criminal jurisprudence, i.e. an accused is innocent until proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt. Such violent incidents are not new to Delhi. On February 17, 1988, a 2000-strong mob, including lawyers, turned violent at the Tis Hazari Courts after IPS officer Kiran Bedi arrested a lawyer. But the disturbing trend has been witnessed elsewhere as well. Earlier this month, lawyers in Lucknow went on a rampage, burning vehicles and attacking police, public and journalists during their protest against the alleged murder of a colleague. Last year, the degree of violence by lawyers demanding Tamil to be allowed as the medium at the Madras High Court was such that the judges over there were finding it difficult to conduct court proceedings. Finally, the High Court ordered deployment of CISF personnel to replace state police at the court complex in Chennai. The Supreme Court refused to interfere with the HC order saying, The Chief Justice (of the High Court) and judges are entitled to say that the police are ineffective. You cannot allow the institution to be held to ransom. We will not allow this to happen. A bench headed by Justice TS Thakur (now CJI) said: They (judges) felt they are totally insecure with the local police. They have asked CISF to step in. If CISF also fails then other forces may be asked to be called. Then CJI HL Dattu had said: There is a fear psychosis in the court halls as the judges are on constant lookout for the mob to come in. This is very strange since Madras high court in the past is known to have set high traditions for lawyers. The Bar Council of India (BCI) had to suspend licences of 24 lawyers and transfer the disciplinary proceedings against them to Karnataka State Bar Council as the atmosphere was not conducive in Tamil Nadu. BCI chairman Manan Kumar Mishra has ordered a probe and promised to take stern action against those found guilty. Last year, Mishra had said that 30% of all lawyers in India were fake, holding fraudulent law degrees. The probe against former Delhi law minister Jitendra Tomar for holding a fake law degree could be just a tip of the iceberg. To weed out criminal elements from the legal profession, Mishra said, BCI has framed Verification Rules 2015 under which educational certificates of lawyers and their criminal antecedents were being checked and action taken. Read: State cant dictate meanings of being Indian: IIT-Bombay on JNU row Let go of colonial era: Sedition law is inconsistent with free speech Lawyers take out protest march in Delhi against anti-nationals Kalikho Pul, the eighth chief minister of Arunachal Pradesh, has a few firsts. He is the first Congress CM in India to be installed with support from arch rivals BJP, and the first from south-eastern Arunachal Pradesh belonging to one of the smallest ethnic groups Kaman Mishmi. He is also the first CM with many members of his tribe living in China. Anjaw, Puls home district bordering China, has ethnic groups such as Zakhring whose population is barely 1,000. The Kamans are thrice this number but fewer than the Idus and Digarus, the other two in the greater Mishmi group with an estimated total population of more than 30,000. Across the border, in southern Tibet, the Kamans are called Geman Dengs. Numbering some 1,500, the Dengs are one of several ethnic groups not recognised by Beijing. Arunachal Pradesh has 26 major tribes and 100 sub-groups, and among the smallest are the Sherdukpens who practise Buddhism. Prem Khandu Thungon, the states first CM from 1975-79, was a member of this community that numbered around 2,000 then. But, considering the frontier states average decadal population growth of 26%, Puls community is believed to have fewer members. According to the Indigenous Faith and Cultural Society of Arunachal Pradesh, Pul is a minority among minorities on the religious count too. The Kamans follow Amik Matai, an indigenous faith distinct from the Nani Inyata faith of the Idus and Jab Malo of the Digarus. Adherents of these and other faiths such as Donyi-Polo, Rangfrah and Nyezi-no are 26.2% of the population in Arunachal Pradesh (2011 census), the largest religion being Christianity at 30.26%. Miniscule nature-worshipping communities are in the true sense Indias minorities, though the term is invariably used for mainstream religious groups, Assam-based Ramkui Newme, head of an indigenous faith called Heraka, told Hindustan Times. Some 200,000 Zeliangrongs comprising Zeme, Liangmai and Rongmei Nagas in Assam, Manipur and Nagaland follow Heraka. Like the Monpas of Tawang, the Kaman Mishmis had borne the brunt of the Chinese attack in the Walong (Anjaw) sector in 1962. Many played the ethnic card some Chinese soldiers were Mishmis to save themselves as well as help the Indian army. Nabam Tuki, the man Pul ousted to become CM, had in 2010 honoured a septuagenarian named Alorno Pul as recognition of his role in saving Indian lives and property in the 1962 war. I helped carry guns and ammunition to our soldiers on hill tops by managing a Chinese commander who was a Mishmi, the old man had said. He also said Mishmis on either side cross the border often to meet up and exchange farm produce. Read: Arunachal CM with BJP support, Kalikho Pul still Congressman at heart SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Jailed JNU student union president Kanhaiya Kumars Facebook account saw some mysterious activity on Saturday. The profile picture of the student leaders Facebook account was changed to an image of soldiers hoisting the national flag late at night even the Kumar himself is currently lodged in Tihar Jail. Kumars original profile picture feature him standing infront of a logo of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M). Even his cover image a photo of the Martyrs Memorial in Patna, it was changed to a scenery painted in the tri-colour hue. Closer examination of the profile photo shows it has clearly been doctored. The original image used is a photo of American soldiers raising their nations flag after the Battle of Iwo Jima; one of the most iconic shots of the Second World War. The American flag has been photoshopped out and has been replaced with an Indian one. On the left is the original image of American soldiers at Iwo Jima, on the right is the photoshopped image that has been used on Kanhaiyas account allegedly by hackers. Members of the students council, who are agitating demanding Kanhaiyas release, claimed, His (Kanhaiya) account has been hacked purposely to aggravate the situation. We will report the matter to Delhi Police Cyber Cell. Jawaharlal Nehru University is caught in a row over an event in the campus against the hanging of parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, where anti-national slogans were allegedly raised. The varsitys students union president Kanhaiya is in judicial custody in a sedition case over the incident. (With inputs from PTI) A contempt petition has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking action against those JNU students, including student leader Kanhaiya Kumar, who allegedly raised anti-India slogans during an event and also condemned the judiciary for the hanging of 2001 Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru. Filed by a lawyer, the petition was mentioned on Friday before the court of Chief Justice TS Thakur. Advocate JP Dhanda, petitioners counsel, urged the bench to hear the petition on February 22, which was declined. Dhanda told the court the matter should be heard soon because the protests had spread all over the country and students of various universities were out on the streets. On his insistence, the court agreed to hear the matter next week but did not specify the date. The event was organised by a group of Jawaharlal Nehru University students, including Kumar and Umar Khalid, a former Democratic Students Union (DSU) member and the main organiser of the event on February 9. Kanhaiya was arrested on February 11 after police registered a case of sedition and criminal conspiracy against him and he was remanded to police custody for three days on February 12. On February 17, the metropolitan magistrate sent him to 14 days judicial custody. Kumar had moved the apex court seeking bail on Thursday, claiming a threat to his life in Tihar Jail. He was directed by the SC to move Delhi high court. Read | Media projecting Kanhaiya as hero: Ravi Shankar Prasad Shehla Rashid, vice president of JNU Students Union addressing the media about the recent activites at JNU Campus in New Delhi on Friday (Sushil Kumar/HT Photo) The petitioner has also sought the initiation of contempt proceedings against former DU professor SAR Geelani who too has been arrested on sedition charges for arranging an event at a city convention centre as a mark to protest Gurus hanging. The petition states the students have crossed every limit of freedom of speech and expression by the calling the Epitome of Justice as judicial killers (Honble Supreme Court judges). It says the top court had upheld Gurus conviction and sent him to the gallows. He was hanged at the top courts direction. Read | JNU row: Kanhaiya subjected to psychological pressure, says NHRC It said the main topic of the so-called cultural event organised inside the university was judicial killing of Guru which outright tantamount to criminal contempt because those involved in it projected the SC judges as killers. One of the participants, Umar Khalid, has even gone to the extent of calling the judgement against Afzal as shameless, it said. The young generation who is looked upon as becoming the future of our country by this incident has crossed all the limits and misused the Fundamental Right of Freedom to speech and Expression, the petition read. Click here for full coverage of JNU protests At least one person was killed and 20 others were injured on Saturday in Haryanas Jhajjar after Indian Army personnel fired on Jat protestors, demanding reservation in jobs and education, turned violent and tried to set government buildings on fire. The protesters, who were trying to set the block development and panchayat office ablaze, fired back at the army using the weapons stolen on Friday night. Eight people have been admitted to various hospitals so far. A mob of around 10,000 people carrying weapons from the surrounding villages of Rohtak were also seen vandalising private property. Police and army have not been able to reach the area as yet. District administrations have clamped curfew in Jind, Sonipat and Gohana as violence spread to more areas in Haryana over the Jat quota row. Curfew was already in place in Rohtak, Bhiwani and Jhajjar in the wake of incidents of violence during the Jat agitation. Watch | Flag march after Jat agitators turn violent Haryana chief minister ML Khattar has made a fresh appeal to the people to maintain peace and harmony. I appeal to all my fellow Haryanvis to maintain law & order in the State, and ensure that harmony is maintained in society, he tweeted. Earlier in the day, a mob in Rohtak districts Meham area set a police station, a petrol pump and a government building on fire. Jat protesters blocked the railway tracks during their agitation in Sonipat on Saturday. (PTI) Also Read | All you need to know about Jat quota demand, protests The police station has been set on fire by a group of about 2000-2500 people. They went on a rampage today and also set on fire a petrol pump, a government building and a banquet hall, Rajender Singh, sub-inspector and SHO of Meham police station, said. Also Read | Jat agitation: Lack of influential leaders on ground did BJP in Singh said the situation was tense in the area and additional forces have been summoned to bring the situation under control. The army is already out in the district, which has been worst hit by the stir, to bring the situation under control. In another incident in Jhajjar district, a mob pelted stones at the house of senior Haryana minister OP Dhankar, one of the prominent Jat politicians in the state, on Saturday afternoon. The mob threw stones at Dhankars house, but no one was injured, a police official said. The Budha Khera Railway Station in Jind district was also set on fire by some unidentified people as the Jat stir continued for the seventh day. The record room, furniture and other articles were set on fire at the railway station, which falls on the Jind-Panipat rail section, police said. The army conducted a flag march in violence-hit Rohtak, where three people were allegedly killed and 78 others injured in firing and clash between security personnel and Jats on Friday. The army could not enter Rohtak initially as protesters had put up blockades at several places, forcing the authorities to air drop them using helicopters. A contingent of the army also took out a flag march on Saturday morning in Bhiwani. The administration has asked people to stay at homes, official sources said. Agitation in Delhi The agitation reached the national capital with Delhi University students from the Jat community protesting in the North Campus, leading to traffic jams on the Mall Road. The agitating students sat on the road demanding reservation for their community, even as police were deployed to control the situation. Injustice is being done to us. This is our protest against the BJP government, one of the protestors said. Also Read | BJP worried as Jat quota stir intensifies, ex-CM Hooda blames party Union finance minister Arun Jaitley, defence minister Manohar Parrikar and minister of state for home affairs Kiren Rijiju held a meeting at home minister Rajnath Singhs residence in Delhi. Bharatiya Janata Party leaders (BJP) Sanjeev Balyan, Om Prakash Dhankar, Anil Jain and Ram Lal also held a meeting at the party office. They will meet BJP president Amit Shah after the meeting. Buses, trains suspended All inter-state trains and buses plying between Jammu and Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine base camp town of Katra were suspended in view of the Jats stir in Haryana, leaving hundreds of passengers stranded, an official said. Except for two early morning trains that arrived here, all inter-state trains have been suspended to and from Jammu city and Katra town today (Saturday), a senior Indian Railways officer told IANS. Jat protesters smashed a vehicle during their agitation in Rohtak on Friday. (PTI) As many as 72 trains have been cancelled while 22 have been partially cancelled by the railway authorities. A number of passenger trains, long distance including super fast passing through or originating in Haryana will remain cancelled on Saturday, railway authorities said. Northern Railways chief public relations officer Neeraj Sharma told ANI that routes passing through Panipat, Rohtak and Rewadi have been closed. He said there have been fire incidents at Jhajjar station and at a halt near Sonipat adding that tracks have been damaged at some places. Read | Jat stir in Haryana: Army deployed, shoot-at-sight orders after 3 killed Nearly 550 trains were either cancelled or diverted since the agitation began a week ago. Buses from Punjab, Rajasthan, Delhi and other state were also suspended after members of the Jat community blocked roads across the state. The protesters also set afire a Haryana roadways bus near Kalanaur town of the district early in the morning. Curfew, shoot-at-sight orders The agitation escalated and turned violent soon after an all-party meeting held by chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Friday issued an appeal for calling off the stir. After the meeting, Khattar had said the state government will prepare a draft bill for giving reservation to Jats and that suggestions have also been sought from all parties in this regard. Also Read | We are prepared to fight for our rights: Jat agitation spreads to UP Jat leaders rejected the offer made by the state government and said that the stir would continue till their demand is met. The Haryana government had called the army in nine districts and imposed curfew and shoot-at-sight orders in Bhiwani and Rohtak districts. Protesters block the Gurgaon- Alwar National Highway near Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Chowk in Gurgaon during their agitation. (PTI) Also Read | Haryana OBC quota bill for Jats may hit a legal speed breaker The Centre also sent in 3,300 paramilitary personnel as rampaging mobs held policemen captive, vandalised a mall, set ablaze several government and private properties including the houses of a minister and pelted stones at the residence of an MLA from the ruling BJP. Schools were ordered to be closed across the state and mobile internet services were suspended in almost all the districts. (With agency inputs) Pakistani envoy Abdul Basit on Saturday called off a planned visit to Chennai, with officials saying the external affairs ministry had not given clearance for the trip. Basit was scheduled to visit Chennai during February 21-23. He was expected to meet the governor and chief minister of Tamil Nadu and interact with representatives of a think tank, business organisations, media groups and Chennai Press Club. Officials of the Pakistan high commission said it was unfortunate the envoy and other officials were not given clearance for the visit. We do not know whether permission (and) clearances will come through or not, therefore the high commissioner has called off the visit. As this is his first visit to Chennai, he would not like to leave New Delhi amidst uncertainty, an official said. The external affairs ministry spokesperson could not be reached for comment. In July last year, Basit had cancelled a visit to Chandigarh after the chief ministers of Punjab and Haryana called off their meetings with him in the wake of a terror attack in Gurdaspur that was blamed on Pakistan-based militants. India and Pakistan called off a planned meeting of their foreign secretaries after the terror attack on Pathankot airbase on January 2 that Indian officials said was carried out by the Jaish-e-Mohammed. Condemning the overreach of the state in various educational institutions and alleged attempts to stifle dissent and suppress differences, IIT Bombay faculty has come out in support of agitating JNU students, saying the State should not dictate meaning of nationalism. The State cannot dictate on the many meanings of what it is to be Indian or mandate the meaning of nationalism. Rather, the State should be the one that makes sure that multiple ways of imagining ones relationship with the nation are allowed to flourish especially when it might contradict dominant ways of thinking, the faculty members said. We are deeply concerned with the recent events that have undermined the autonomy of institutions of higher education in this country. We believe that these institutions are spaces of critical thinking. Matters of contention that might arise in the conduct of intellectual and social engagements need to be addressed democratically, it said. An official statement, signed by 42 teachers said, These methods in turn should be within the purview of institutional procedures that are responsible and accountable. We condemn the overreach of the State in the recent incidents in a number of institutions and the attempts of the right-wing to stifle dissent and suppress differences. It reflects the stand of the signatory teachers and not the institution, it said. Students and teachers of various educational institutions have been demanding release of JNU students union president Kanhaiya Kumar. He was arrested last week in a sedition case that was registered following an event on the varsity campus to protest against the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru where anti-India slogans were allegedly raised. The family of a Chembur resident who was declared brain dead agreed to donate all his organs and his hip and rib bones too, marking Maharashtras first cadaver bone donation. Donated bones are usually used for orthopaedic surgeries and dental procedures. The 64-year-old donor Vinayak Mhaskes organs were retrieved at Sion Hospital after the family came forward. I had read about cadaver donations. So when the doctors told us he was brain dead, I asked the family if they were willing to donate, said Uttam Ambore, Mhaskes son-in-law. Mhaske was admitted to a private hospital in Chembur after he fell unconscious on February 11. After treating him for a week, doctors declared him brain dead. The Chembur hospital is not recognised to retrieve organs, so the family allowed us to shift the donor to Sion Hospital, said an official from the Zonal Transplant Coordination Committee ( ZTCC), the government agency that allocates organs. Mhaskes liver was donated to a 65-year-old woman in Thanes Jupiter Hospital. His kidneys were transplanted to two men a 26-year-old in Sion Hospital and a 35-year-old admitted at Jaslok Hospital. His corneas were donated to Sion Hospital. This is the first time we have received bones from a donor. Bones, like corneas, can be donated even after cardiac death, said Bharat Solanki, the transplant coordinator at the Tata Memorial Centre at Parel, which has a bone and tissue bank. Jalandhar City police have announced Rs 5 lakh cash award for anyone who provides information about two unidentified motorcycle-borne men, who shot at district in-charge of Shiv Sena (Uttar Bharat), Deepak Kamboj, outside the Shiv Jyoti Public School in Deen Dayal Upadhyay Nagar of the city on February 16. Police have so far failed to get any clue about the accused persons who had come on a Yamaha FZ silver-red coloured motorbike and left Deepak seriously injured after opening fire on him. Police have appealed that anyone who has vital information about the assailants can call on 99157-43922 or 82840-14140. Clear CCTV footage of the incident is available with the police, in which even the face of one of the assailants is clearly visible. In the footage, one of the accused, who was driving the bike, can also be seen talking on a mobile phone. Police said a .315-bore pistol was used in the attack on Deepak by the accused as a shell was also recovered from the site. Claiming that his son had received threats from Khalistani outfits earlier this month, including a call from Pakistan, chief of the Shiv Sena faction and father of Deepak, Vinay Jalandhari, said they had lodged complaints with police against the threats. He said eight months ago, police had withdrawn the escort vehicle provided to the family. It was the third such incident in Punjab when leaders belonging to right wing political parties or organisations were targeted. On January 18, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) activist Naresh Kumar had a lucky escape after being targeted by unidentified gunmen in Ludhiana during the morning shakha of the RSS. On February 3, Shiv Sena Punjab youth wing chief Amit Arora was attacked by two motorcycle-borne assailants near Basti Jodhewal Chowk in Ludhiana. A bullet had hit Arora in the neck. Ludhiana cops told to solve pending cases Ludhiana: A day after announcing a cash reward of Rs 5 lakh for anyone giving information about those opening fire at RSS leader Naresh Kumar and Shiv Sena (Punjab) youth leader Amit Arora, additional director general of police (ADGP, law and order) Hardeep Singh Dhillon held a meeting of top brass of Ludhiana police at police lines here and asked them to solve both cases soon. The ADGP, here to get action taken reports, asked officials about the progress in important pending cases. Commissioner of police Paramraj Singh Umranangal said special teams had been formed. Read: Shiv Sena faction district chief shot at in Jalandhar Continuing its crackdown in the multi-crore Bhola drug racket, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday attached two prime properties worth more than Rs 12 crore, owned by a prime accused, Sukhjeet Singh alias Sukha Soosan Wala. The properties attached by ED sleuths include around 16-acre land at Soos village (Hoshiarpur district), owned by Sukhas mother Gurmeet Kaur. This land was purchased between 2004 and 2010 for a cash payment of Rs 58.69 lakh, as per the registered value of the land. Its current market value is at least Rs 7 crore. A playground named after Sukhas father Hardev Singh, built on a portion of this land by the accused and one of his NRI friends, has also been attached. The ED has already taken possession of the land. Sukha, who earlier used to live in Canada, had shifted to his native village, Soos, a few years ago before he was arrested in 2013 by the Patiala police in a drug smuggling case. He is presently lodged in the high-security Nabha jail. Another property attached by ED sleuths includes 4 acres and 3 kanals of agricultural land purchased by Sukha at Sandham village in Jalandhar district. It was purchased in 2010-11 by the accused at a registered value of more than Rs 1 crore. Its current market value is more than Rs 5 crore. The agency is yet to take possession of this land. During this week, ED officials have attached properties worth more than Rs 30 crore, including a house of drug lord Jagdish Singh Bhola in SAS Nagar. The action was taken under Section 8(4) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002. Punjab Congress president Captain Amarinder Singh on Friday blasted deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badals claims that the state had only 0.06% (around 16,000 in a population of 2.7 crore) drug addicts, saying that SAD-BJP government had admitted a much higher figure in the high court only about seven months ago. Sukhbir wrong: Punjab indeed has a drug problem, worse than India, world Reacting after HT reported how Sukhbir was wrong in his claim, the former CM asked Sukhbir to refer to his own governments affidavit submitted to the Punjab and Haryana high court on July 13, 2015, whereby it had admitted to having identified more than 3 lakh drug abusers. And within seven months of that the deputy CM says there are just 16,620 drug addicts in Punjab, which is an outright lie, he remarked. Amarinder said, Although I dont even agree with the figures in the affidavit; the number of addicts is much more than that as an entire generation has been destroyed by drugs. He claimed, the government had even provided wrong information about the treatment by saying 13,000 addicts were being treated in OPD as the drug addicts have to be admitted indoors. This is the characteristic attitude of Badals to deny the very existence of a problem. Mann calls Sukhbir a compulsive lair Meanwhile, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Sangrur MP, Bhagwant Mann also lambasted Sukhbir for allegedly distorting the recent study of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) to subvert the widespread menace of drugs in the state. Mann said instead of tackling the peril of extensive drug abuse in Punjab especially among the youth, Sukhbir juggled with the figures of the AIIMS study released in the month of January, which clearly found that opioids and other synthetic derivatives worth Rs 7,500 crore were being consumed in the state every year. And of the drug consumption, the share of heroin was pegged at massive Rs 6,500 crore, AIIMS had pointed in the study, said Mann. Mann was referring to the claim made by Sukhbir on Thursday in Jalandhar that only 16,000 people of Punjab, which constitutes just 0.06 per cent, were hooked on to the drugs and the problem was more severe in Mumbai and Delhi. Read: Only 16,000 drug addicts in Punjab, AAP-ruled Delhi worse off: Sukhbir Terming Sukhbir a compulsive liar, Mann said either Sukhbir himself was ignorant of the massive drug problem or was hoodwinking the people of Punjab. The deputy CM should not forget his alliance partner BJPs brand ambassador, Baba Ramdev, who had said in the month of May last year that 80 per cent of youths in Punjab have fallen prey to the drug menace. Mann said the AIIMS study had also pointed that 2.3 lakh people in Punjab were opioid dependent and more than 8.6 lakhs were estimated to be opioid and users of synthetic drugs. Mann said, Instead of presenting manipulative figures before the media and the people of Punjab, Sukhbir by now should have taken some concrete steps to tackle the drug problem in the state, which unfortunately his government had failed to do during the last 9 years of tenure. Read: Punjabs struggle with drugs A neighbour of Australian-born six-year- old Mehram Sandhu was convicted by a local court for his murder, here on Saturday. Mehrams body was found decomposed in Sector 69 here on November 7, 2014. The court would pronounce the quantum of sentence on February 24 against the convict, Tejinder Singh alias Ganju (28), who has been held guilty of kidnapping and killing the child for extortion. The child had gone missing from outside his house on October 28, 2014. Initially the police, on a complaint by Mehrams maternal grandfather Balwinder Singh, a resident of Phase 9, had booked the childs father, Varinder Pal Singh, a resident of Australia, and other relatives. The child was living with his mother in Mohali after his parents separated. Mehram had been born on December 5, 2008, in Sydney. Six months after his birth, his mother had come back to India along with him and had been staying with her parents. On November 19, several days after the body was found, the police arrested Ganju, who worked as a driver-on-call without any regular job at the time. He was charged under sections 364A (kidnapping for ransom), 364 (kidnapping or abducting in order to murder), 302 (murder) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). He was charged with having murdered the child by strangling him with a piece of cloth within two hours of his kidnapping from a park near the victims house at Phase 9 on October 28 evening. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The drivers welfare association of the civil secretariat and mini-secretariat went on an indefinite statewide strike on Friday after the Punjab government cancelled its scheduled meeting with agitating drivers. In an attempt to persuade the protesters to call off their stir, the government had on Wednesday announced that chief secretary Sarvesh Kaushal would meet the drivers on Friday. However, the government decided to act tough after the association went on a two-day strike from Thursday even on being officially informed on Wednesday night about Fridays meeting. The drivers are seeking the removal of pay anomalies, besides benefits such as travel and risk allowance, promotion and insurance cover. Read: Protesting drivers deflate tyres of ADCS vehicle in Bathinda On Friday, they raised slogans while gheraoing the chief secretarys official vehicle in the parking area of the secretariat. Security officials had to intervene after the drivers insisted that they would not let the chief secretary use the vehicle. Also, they took into possession the vehicle of SK Sandhu, principal secretary to the CM. The drivers are free to hold a protest as it is their democratic right. But they resorted to undemocratic means by snatching the car keys of some senior officers, a government functionary said. Among the protesting drivers, 76 are under the general administration department (GAD), while 16 report to the financial commissioner, revenue. Read: Act tough on striking drivers, Punjab govt tells UT admn Read: Fund-starved Badal regime buying 14 Land Cruisers, 100 Innovas Around 100 assistant professors at Panjab University (PU), who completed their PhD degree without course work before 2009, have been waiting to receive their higher qualification benefits in terms of increments, for the past six years. Though varsity authorities had issued orders to release their increments last year, it hasnt been implemented yet. Panjab University Teachers Association( PUT A) has approached the higher authorities, demanding the release of qualification benefits to those who acquired PhD before 2009, but no action has been taken yet. Vishal Gupta, assistant professor at University Institute of Engineering and Technology (UIET), said, Four-five months ago, all of us who had applied for the increments, the university had issued orders by our names, stating that the increments be released for all those who had completed their PhD without coursework, when the new regulation was not introduced. But then later, the auditor put an objection saying that there lies no mention in the UGC guidelines that the assistant professors who completed PhD without coursework are entitled for any increment. Similarly, Dr Rajeev Kumar, assistant professor at Environment department at Panjab University (PU) said, When the syndicate and senate can take decisions in regard to our jobs then why cannot our increments be paid, pending for last six years. We have a right to receive the higher qualification benefits and despite the fact that the university has no problem in giving away the increments, we have received none. However, Amrinder Pal Singh, secretary of Panjab University Teachers Association (PUTA) said they had earlier given in writing to the university authorities to take care of the matter, since the assistant professors who completed their PhD before 2009 had no option of course work then, which is why there was no reason to cut down their increments. He added, We had sent a letter to the ministry of human resource development (MHRD) as well to consider the issue since assistant professors who did their PhD degree without course work have been receiving their higher education qualification benefits in other universities, then why not PU. Surprisingly, senate had also approved the matter, but the auditor had raised an objection without clarifying what is required in particular. Also, the university officials do not reply on time, so that inconvenience faced by young teachers can be avoided at earliest. Singh said. PUTA had sent a reminder to the union MHRD in 2014 about the increments, but so far no action is taken. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal on Friday approved the modalities to establish farmers advisory body, Punjab Kisan Vikas Chamber (PKVC), on the pattern of industrial organisations so that farmers can have a say in the policies and programmes related to agricultural and allied activities. Presiding over a meeting with progressive farmers associated with horticulture, floriculture, vegetables and fruits, mushroom and allied activities of dairy, fishery, poultry, piggery and beekeeping, Badal said this would be a non-political forum exclusively dedicated to the cause of farmers. He also announced to nominate Punjab State Farmers Commission chair man GS Kalkat as the patron of the PKVC. Badal also gave nod for registering the society that would run from Mandi Bhawan, Punjab Mandi Board, SAS Nagar, till the chambers building was constructed. Badal said the entire construction cost of the chambers complex would be borne by the state government and adequate land would be provided by Greater Mohali Area Development Authority. The state government would initially give funds to run the chamber till it became fully self-sustainable. The CM said it was high time such an organisation was set up to provide an interactive platform to farmers. Badal said the chamber would engage the services of renowned experts for seeking their advice on matters related to agriculture. This would help the chamber contest their claims vigorously with the central and state governments in a meaningful and result-oriented manner. Kalkat said the funds by way of admission fee of members and their annual subscriptions would be raised and the chamber would be at liberty to accept funds by way of grants, loans, donations, gifts, advances and any other mode from the government, institutes, firms, companies, and people both from India and abroad. Read: Punjab CM Badal lauds HTs Futuristic Farmers series In a rare intervention, vice-president Hamid Ansari has called an all-party meeting on Saturday in a bid to develop a consensus among political parties ahead of the Budget session after near washouts of successive parliamentary sessions crippled the Rajya Sabhas functioning. The vice-presidents meeting is significant as the Upper House, where the government is in minority, had been held hostage by maximum disruptions. In the 2015 winter session that Ansari dubbed as the singularly unproductive in terms of legislative work, he called upon leaders to introspect and avoid approaches that demean the Rajya Sabhas stature. The tussle between the ruling and the Opposition parties has been escalating in the past few weeks over a Dalit scholars suicide in Hyderabad and allegations of sedition at an event hosted in the national capitals Jawaharlal Nehru University. The move by Ansari, who is also the chairman of the Parliaments upper house, comes barely three days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi invited 31 party leaders to appeal for an undisrupted Parliament session. Parliamentary affairs minister Venkaiah Naidu said almost all parties had overwhelmingly favoured a smooth functioning. Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, Sitaram Yechury of CPI(M), Sharad Yadav of JD(U) , Trinamools Derek OBrien and others are expected to attend. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON A deal on Britains future membership of the EU was trashed out by leaders of the 28 member states of the grouping after more than 30 hours of intense talks in Brussels, with Prime Minister David Cameron claiming victory but Eurosceptics back home rubbishing it. Despite misgivings, each member-state in the end agreed to give up some of their interests for the larger good of keeping Britain one of the largest contributors to Brussels inside the European Union. Many leaders later said they could not envisage a EU without Britain in it. The deal, which Cameron claimed meets all his demands and gives Britain a special status in the EU following months of tough negotiations, will be implemented only if the British people vote to remain in the EU in the forthcoming referendum. Cameron said he would campaign with his heart and soul for Britain to remain in the EU. The opposition Labour party has already made known that its pro-EU stand. Two cross-party camps Remain or Leave will campaign before the referendum. Cameron is due to hold a special cabinet meeting on Saturday and possibly announce the date of the referendum. But the day was already queered for Cameron by his justice secretary and close ally, Michael Gove, making it known that he would campaign for the Leave EU camp. Eurosceptics remained opposed to the deal, claiming that it did not change anything on the ground: did not ensure any less migration from within the EU, nor prevent Britain being forced to implements any less EU laws and directives, nor allow Britain to block unwanted EU laws. Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the Vote Leave campaign, said Cameron will now declare victory but it is an entirely hollow one, and disputed his claim that the deal was legally binding, saying it can be ripped up by EU politicians and unelected EU judges. The European Union (EU) heads of state dinner during an EU summit in Brussels on Friday. The EU leaders agreed on a deal on British PM David Cameron's controversial reform demands to keep his country in the EU. (AFP) Cameron has lifted the obligation of collective responsibility on his council of ministers, which means that even though he and his government favour Britain remaining in the EU, individuals ministers will be free to campaign on the opposing side. Speaking at a lengthy press conference in Brussels after announcing details of the agreement, Cameron appeared to have launched the Remain in EU campaign, claiming that the reforms he had secured would put the UK in the driving seat of one of the worlds biggest markets and create a more flexible EU. The British people must now decide whether to stay in this reformed European Union or to leave. This will be a once-in-a-generation moment to shape the destiny of our country, Cameron said. His party MP, David Davis, said it was time for Britain to take control of its own destiny, while UK Independence Party leader Nigel Farage said the cross-party campaign was absolutely united in fighting to get back our democracy. The issue of Britains EU membership is important for India and to the more than 800 Indian companies who use their base in London and other parts of Britain as a gateway to Europe. A vote to leave the EU will have implications for their continued presence in Britain. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Prime Minister David Cameron on Saturday announced a referendum on June 23 on Britains membership of the European Union, describing it as a historic opportunity to settle the question of the countrys future in the 28-member bloc. The announcement came hours after Cameron secured a controversial deal from the EU on Britains special status following two days of intense negotiations in Brussels. Campaigning began right away, with Cameron outlining his governments pro-EU stance, while Brexit supporters rubbished the deal that, they alleged, was not legally binding or irreversible. Britains minister of state for employment, Priti Patel, also the Indian diaspora champion, is known for her views against the European Union and predictably joined the Brexit camp. She joined several ministers in the Cameron government who will campaign for Britain to leave the European Union. British Employment Minister at the Department for Work and Pensions Priti Patel has vocally sided with the Brexit camp (AFP Photo) The question on the referendum paper and other details were finalised in an act of parliament in 2015. Cameron held a specially convened cabinet meeting the first on a Saturday since the 1982 Falklands war and appealed to people to vote to stay in the EU. The issue of Britains EU membership is important for India and to more than 800 Indian companies who use their base in London and other parts of Britain as a gateway to Europe. A vote to leave the EU will have implications for their continued presence in Britain. There were carping comments in eastern Europe and other countries over the two-day European Council meeting in Brussels giving in to Britains blackmail and for going out of the way to accommodate richer EU nations while making it impossible for others to secure any concessions. There was much wrangling and bargaining in return for agreeing to Britains demands. For example, Greece wanted Britains support in dealing with challenges it faces while coping with the large number of Syrian migrants who first reach its shores on the way to Europe. Read | British PM Cameron wins deal for special status in EU Poland and three east European countries wanted Britains support and secured it for stationing NATO forces, a demand that has engaged European leaders for some time. Despite misgivings, each member-state agreed in the end to give up some of their interests for the larger good of keeping Britain one of the largest financial contributors to Brussels inside the EU. Many leaders later said they could not envisage an EU without Britain in it. The deal, which Cameron claimed meets all his demands and gives Britain a special status in the EU following months of tough negotiations, will be implemented only if the British people vote to remain in the EU in the referendum. The demands related to economic governance, immigration, competitiveness, and sovereignty. Cameron said he would campaign with his heart and soul for Britain to remain in the grouping. The opposition Labour party has already made known its pro-EU stand. Two cross-party camps Remain and Leave will campaign before the referendum. Camerons justice secretary and close ally, Michael Gove, made it known he would campaign for the Leave EU camp, but home secretary Theresa May extended her support to the pro-EU camp. Employment minister Priti Patel is expected to be in the Brexit camp. Eurosceptics remained opposed to the deal, claiming it did not change anything on the ground. They said it did not ensure any less migration from within the EU, or prevent Britain being forced to implements fewer EU laws and directives, or allow Britain to block unwanted EU laws. Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the Vote Leave campaign, said Cameron will now declare victory but it is an entirely hollow one, and disputed his claim the deal was legally binding, saying it can be ripped up by EU politicians and unelected EU judges. Read | The disintegration of Europe: How the EU is falling apart Speaking at a lengthy news conference in Brussels after announcing details of the agreement, Cameron launched the Remain in EU campaign, claiming the reforms he had secured would put the UK in the driving seat of one of the worlds biggest markets and create a more flexible EU. The British people must now decide whether to stay in this reformed European Union or to leave. This will be a once-in-a-generation moment to shape the destiny of our country, Cameron said. His party MP, David Davis, said it was time for Britain to take control of its own destiny, while UK Independence Party leader Nigel Farage said the cross-party campaign was absolutely united in fighting to get back our democracy. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON American academics of Indian descent on Saturday condemned the police action against JNU students and accused the BJP government of attacking democratic freedoms. The arrest of Kanhaiya Kumar, the student union president, and the charges of sedition against him, Umar Khalid, and other students are emblematic of the continued attempts to muzzle dissenting voices, they said in a statement. The academics planned to read this statement at a solidarity rally they are holding at Columbia University later Saturday, to be attended by Brown, City University of New York, Princeton, New York University, University of Massachusetts-Amherst, University of Pennsylvania, and Yale. Professors Partha Chatterjee and Anupama Rao of Columbia, and Rohit De of Yale are expected to address the rally. When we stand with JNU, we also stand with what the protests there symbolise. The attacks on JNU are only the latest of the several assaults by the BJP government and its allies on democracy, constitutionally guaranteed rights, and academic freedoms, the statement said. The academics said they salute student protests at the Film and Television Institute of India, Hyderabad Central University, Jadavpur University, Allahabad University and others. They said, We believe that it is the duty of citizens to be critical of their governments. Sedition laws or charges of anti-nationalism have no place in democratic societies. We believe it is the right of people to dissent and to voice their opinions, however much these opinions may run counter to the views of the majority. We believe that debates and protests are the life-blood of a democracy. A local court in Islamabad on Saturday issued a non-bailable warrant for former Pakistani military ruler Pervez Musharraf in connection with the murder case of Lal Masjid cleric Abdul Rashid Ghazi who was killed in a military crackdown in 2007. The court directed the authorities to produce Musharraf before it on March 16 rejecting his plea seeking permanent exemption from appearing in the case and issued the warrants. Musharrafs counsel said they would challenge the order, Geo News reported. The 72-year-old former president has never appeared before the court during the previous 55 hearings. This is the fourth non-bailable arrest warrant against Musharraf in the case. The clerics family filed a case in 2013 against Musharraf over his alleged involvement in the killing of Rashid during a 2007 operation when military commandos stormed the mosque in the heart of Islamabad on his orders. The three-day seige in July 2007 at the Lal Masjid claimed scores of lives, including of students and security personnel. Last month, Musharraf was acquitted by an anti-terrorism court in the 2006 murder case of Baloch nationalist leader Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, the first major relief to the ex-military ruler entangled in several high-profile cases. Musharraf came to power in a bloodless coup in 1999, deposing then prime minister Nawaz Sharif. Facing impeachment following elections in 2008, Musharraf resigned as president and went into self-imposed exile in Dubai. The ex-army chief is facing a slew of court cases after returning from Dubai to contest the general elections in 2013. He lost the polls. He is also facing trial in a treason case for abrogating the constitution in 2007 and illegal detention of judges the same year. Musharraf has also been charged in connection with the 2007 assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto. A Pakistani court has banned his foreign travels. After Apple Inc. decided not to comply with a judge's order to unlock an encrypted iPhone belonging to one of the San Bernardino, Calif., shooters, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a motion on Friday compelling Apple to cooperate with the order and even branded the tech giant's refusal as a form of "marketing strategy." "Apple has attempted to design and market its products to allow technology, rather than the law, to control access to data which has been found by this court to be warranted for an important investigation," the filing states, according to ABC News. The Federal Bureau of Investigation has asked for Apple's help in accessing an iPhone owned by Syed Rizwan Farook, one of the suspects of the San Bernardino shooting. Raising its concerns about the order, the company was able to ask for three days before it will be required to respond to the order, according to Reuters. In an open letter to its customers, Apple CEO Tim Cook explained that his company's hesitation to comply with the investigation is due to fear that the software for decrypting the iPhone could possibly end up as a "master key" that can unlock all iPhones, thus endangering the privacy of all its customers. And while the new order from the U.S. Justice Department is "not legally necessary" because the company has not yet responded to the initial order, the DOJ brought down the filing to relay to Apple that it can keep custody of any and all software that will be produced in the process of unlocking the encrypted iPhone. "The order does not, as Apple's public statement alleges, require Apple to create or provide a 'back door' to every iPhone. It does not provide 'hackers and criminals' access to iPhones; it does not require Apple to 'hack (its) own users' or to 'decrypt' its own phones," said the motion filed in a federal court in California, according to AFP. The motion did not state anything specific about what possible penalties Apple faces should it not give in to the request. @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Two robbers got more than what they bargained for Tuesday when an 81-year-old Pennsylvania woman chased them down in her car after they stole her purse and taught them the hard way that you are never to old to fight crime, according to authorities. The incident occurred Tuesday as Alice Makla was sitting in her car in the driveway of her Mount Pocono home when she was approached by a man and woman, reported Newsoxy. The woman had reportedly asked Makla for $10 to buy some gas, but since Makia didn't have any change, she gave the woman a $20 bill instead. That was when they took advantage of Makla's kidness, reached through the open car window and stole her purse. After stealing the purse, the pair ran to a nearby red vehicle and sped off. "She didn't realize they were following her until she actually got in the driveway and they pulled in behind her," Lt. Steven Williams of Pocono Mountain Regional Police said, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Not one to take the robbery lying down, Makla decided to give chase. The pair managed to escape, but not before she rammed the vehicle, leaving behind evidence that authorities could use to track down the vehicle and the culprits inside it. Police were notified of the incident and using the information, as well as the reported damage, they were able to find the damaged car in a nearby Shop Rite parking lot a short time later. She rammed their car, left some marks on it, and police had at least something to go on and they were apprehended today," Makla's neighbor Steve Jabara said. In the meantime, the culprits, William Hayhurst, 34, and Erin Vanmatre, 30, were arrested and arraigned Wednesday on robbery and other charges, according to the Associated Press. The two are being held on $50,000 bail and had a preliminary hearing Thursday. "Good for her! I honestly think, good for her!" said local Maria DePinto. "Honestly, they actually picked on that wrong person, so wrong day to pick on her." Police say Hayhurst and Vanmatre chose as Makla as their mark after seeing her with cash at a local pharmacy. @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. A senior Russian diplomat warned Syrian President about his plans to recapture all of Syria, saying that he must follow Kremlin's advice in order to end deadly conflict in the country. "Russia has invested very seriously in this crisis, politically, diplomatically, and now also in the military sense. Therefore we of course would like that Bashar Al-Assad take account of that," Moscow' envoy to the United Nations Vitaly Churkin said in an interview with Russian newspaper Konnersant on Thursday, according to Middle East Monitor. "We shouldn't assign too much importance to some of the statements, dramatize them... This is my personal point of view. I heard on TV President Assad's statement. It obviously contradicts Russia's diplomatic efforts. There is the Vienna process, the latest agreements with the International Syria Support Group reached in Munich that include the ceasefire, the cessation of military activity in the foreseeable future. We are working on this now," Churkin added, according to RBTH. The Russian warning comes as a response to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's recent statements regarding recapturing all of Syria. "Regardless of whether we can do that or not, this is a goal we are seeking to achieve without any hesitation. It makes no sense for us to say that we will give up any part," Assad told AFP news agency last week. The embattled Syrian President is a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Russia began airstrikes in Syria at locations of Islamic State group and Al-Nusra front on Sept. 30 last year. More than 220,000 people were killed and millions displaced since the start of Syrian conflict in 2011. @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. After months of promotion, which included an in-depth interview with us at HNHH (read here), buzzing Toronto artist, Lais, finally releases his new EP 114. Laced with only 7 records, the EP contains a lonely feature from Skizzy Mars and focuses around the dark, gritty R&B sound thats been coming out of Toronto lately. Heres what Lais had to say about his new EP, 114 is the home I moved to when I first moved to Canada from Virginia, and this EP chronicles the lifestyle I lived out here and the things I experienced while I was at this address, from the relationships and parties to the drugs. I want this EP to be the end of this chapter, the end of this address and bringing through a new phase of my life. Stream the new EP below and let us know what you think! If youre a fan, be sure to show your support on iTunes! Yet another busy week at the Capitol has come and gone while my fellow senators and I had our first 13-hour, all-night debate of the Second Session of the 98th General Assembly this past Tuesday. The big focus of this week was ethics reform and tort reform for Missouri legislators, and Im happy to say that the Senate perfected and passed this years first piece of ethics legislation and is looking forward to debating even more in the weeks to come. I would like to use this weeks column to answer some questions that many of my constituents and District 33 residents have been asking about the National Popular Vote Bill and the electoral vote process. With this bill making headlines over the past year and with the presidential primary elections underway, Id like to set the record straight over what it means for concerned Missourians. The Electoral College is a collection of 538 electors who cast votes to decide who will become the next president and vice-president of the United States. Every four years, when voters go the polls and cast their votes, whichever candidate receives the majority of the popular vote will win that states electoral vote as well. This is known as the winner-take-all system. The National Popular Vote Bill would guarantee the presidency to whichever candidate receives the most popular votes in all 50 states and D.C. Where currently a candidate wins each state individually, paying attention to some states more than others, this Bill would lump all of the states together to reflect the national popular vote, rather than 50 separate popular votes. Currently, the bill has been enacted by 11 jurisdictions, which possess 165 electoral votes just over 60 percent of the total electoral votes necessary to activate it. In 22 states, the bill has passed a total of 33 legislative chambers. The Bill would do away with battleground states like Florida, Iowa and Ohio, and instead force the candidates to focus on every state as part of a whole: Each as important as the last. Hopefully this explanation has answered some of your concerns, and please visit the following website for more information: http://www.nationalpopularvote.com/. There is one more thing I would like to mention briefly today, and that is the update presented to the Missouri Board of Education on state learning standards during the boards Feb. 16 meeting. The updated standards will be taking the place of Common Core, and the entire proposal can be viewed online on the State Boards meeting page: http://dese.mo.gov/state-board-education/agendas-minutes/february-2016-agenda. Mike Cunningham is a Republican member of the Missouri State Senate, representing District 33. Contact him at 573-751-1882 or www.senate.mo.gov/cunningham Subscribing to our services is a three step process. First you have to create an account and then you have to pick if you want to subscribe to digital and or print. Some people only want to be a digital subscriber to get access online and others want to also receive the print edition. If you are already a print subscriber and want online access, it is free, you simply have to create an online account and then attach your print subscription account number to the online account you create. As an existing print subscriber it is easy to get FREE access to all our online content. When you click get started below it will walk you through creating an online account to attach your print subscription number to. After your account is created it will ask you to either add a subscription for online access or click on the print subscriber button. Click the print subscriber button header and it will open a dropdown, now click on get started. The page will reload and you will be prompted to enter an account number and a zip code. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO USE THE NUMBER OFF OF THE MOST RECENT ISSUE OR ANYTHING AFTER JANUARY 28, 2019 TO GAIN ACCESS! OLD ACCOUNT NUMBERS WILL NOT WORK The account number and zip code are easily available on your most recent issue of the High Plains Journal or Midwest Ag Journal in the address fields as is shown here. Sometimes the account number has extra zero's in front of it, just ignore those. Dave Beninger/Periscope A movement calling itself Albertans First Plebiscite Warriors has a plan to overthrow the provincial NDP. And, according to an announcement made by the group today, that revolution will come from the inside. At 1:00 p.m., Albertans First held a press conference, consisting of about eight supporters rallied around a fifth-wheel trailer in a Walmart parking lot, just outside Westbrook Mall in southwest Calgary. The brief event was livestreamed on Periscope. Advertisement Group leader George Clark told gathered reporters that his new plan was to convince 500,000 Albertans who want to remove Alberta Premier Rachel Notley from power to join the NDP. Yes, you read that correctly. So #kudatah was to get people to join #abndp. Does he know party doesn't control legislature, MLA's do? Kayle Clark (@kaclk) February 19, 2016 The coup d'etat, which one supporter previously referred to as a "kudatah" a term the group seems to have claimed for its own, was to happen by plebiscite. The plebiscite, Clark insisted on Facebook, would be triggered once enough Albertans signed a petition to signal their dissatisfaction with the Alberta government's handling of a controversial bill. "I will make the announcement at 12:15, we will be back in control of the government by 12:30," Clark said in a Facebook post that has since been deleted, as reported by Vice. Advertisement The group was set to hold an event on March 8, but Clark abruptly changed his mind early Friday morning, posting "KUDATAH right now? Today?" on Facebook. At Walmart, Clark read a statement and answered questions from press. He also provided an opportunity for attendees to sign his petition in the parking lot. Clark provided more context for his actions in a Facebook post following the rally. Albertans First - February 19th, 20161:00PM MST - George Clark FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Over the past two months I have... Posted by George Clark on Friday, 19 February 2016 The Albertans First group has been making headlines ever since Clark claimed that he had a plan to take control of the Alberta government in January. Clark gained followers for his cause by posting diatribes on Facebook about the NDP. His concerns include fears that immigrants or temporary foreign workers will take jobs from other Albertans, the province's increased use of wind power and farmers' rights. Advertisement One supporter, Trevor Marr, told gathered reporters on Friday the event had to be moved up due to "loss of life" in Alberta. He did not elaborate. Some Hope for all of us ! Posted by Colin Douglas Gunn on Friday, 19 February 2016 "Alberta is being ignored by the government and the only way in, according to our own premier, is to be a member of her party," Clark said, shortly before being interrupted by the rattle of shopping carts going through the parking lot. Livestream viewers weighed in with their thoughts. Seriously, what I wouldnt give to hear the giggling going on in the Premiers office today. #ableg#kudatah Farmer Ted (@_FarmerTed) February 19, 2016 The plan has upset some of the groups members, with one posting on Facebook "No thanks. Dancing with the devil is not my style", and another adding "I cannot join due to making my skin crawl never a communist." Advertisement The move also has members of the NDP feeling a bit perplexed. Wait, I already have an NDP membership. Does that mean I'm now a participant in the #kudatah? Sally Poulsen (@SallyPoulsen) February 19, 2016 Clark said his group will present their petitions to the premier and lieutenant governor as members of the Alberta NDP on March 8. And, if the premier and lieutenant governor don't respond by hosting a plebiscite, he'll bypass them and contact the Queen. Unfortunately for the group, there's no legislation set up to allow politicians to be recalled in Alberta by plebiscite. If you're still confused, here are some handy recaps from Twitter. So to recap: the #kudatah happened. Out of a 5th wheel. In a Wal Mart parking lot. They all vowed to join the NDP. #ableg#yyc Nick Taylor (@nickandhislens) February 19, 2016 @JessChapmanTO It's a polite, Canadian version of the #Oregonstandoff: less actual poop, same crazy shit #kudatah Dr. Cristina Stasia (@CristinaStasia) February 19, 2016 Advertisement It's unclear exactly how many supporters Albertans First has Clark has yet to release how many have signed the petitions, and the organization takes place through scattered Facebook groups and pages but as of Friday morning Clark's GoFundMe has over $25,000 in donations. I'm still sitting in my office, so I'll guess that it's harder to overthrow a government from a Walmart parking lot than it seems. #Kudatah Michael Connolly (@NDPMikeC) February 19, 2016 Also on HuffPost: Imilian via Getty Images businessmans hand holding up small sign i quit Canadian millennials are so dissatisfied with their jobs that more than half want to change course this year, according to a survey from human resources firm ADP Canada. Fifty-five per cent of millennial respondents, aged 18 to 34, said they want a career change this year, be it a new job, starting a business or going back to school. Advertisement Among other age groups, 31 per cent said they want a career change this year. That wanderlust is making it difficult for businesses to retain talent, ADP said. Canadian workers are restless, particularly millennials, and this makes a strong case for investing in a great employer brand, built on culture, opportunity and leadership," Virginia Brailey, vice-president of marketing and strategy at ADP, said in a statement. "HR teams are under tremendous pressure to keep the right people in the right jobs and to build a strong funnel of talent so they can respond to changing business needs." Advertisement Among all respondents, 27 per cent said they would like to find a new job, while 11 per cent said they want to start their own business and 10 per cent said they would like to go back to school. Brailey added the survey shows a diversity of ambitions around looking for more money, more responsibility, more training and greater flexibility around how work is done." Fifteen per cent said they would like more flexible hours, while 8 per cent said they hoped to be able to work remotely. Millennials desire to find new work may simply stem from the fact that younger demographics are more ambitious. Among those aged 18 to 44, nearly half (46 per cent) are focused on career-building activities, such as getting a raise, taking on more responsibility or getting a promotion, the survey found. Advertisement Muslims have made friendly gestures to passers-by during a rally and march by far right group the English Defence League, amid a heavy police presence. Around 200 EDL supporters gathered in Preston for their first event of 2016, the Press Association reported, and a photo from the National Police Air Service showed a group in the street holding St George's Cross flags. The group said Saturday's protest in Preston, which has a large Asian population, was to highlight "another creeping Sharia city". Advertisement But while EDL supporters chanted anti-Muslim slogans, a counter demonstration was held at the same time, with local Muslims handing out free food and hot drinks to passers-by. "Is this the most ridiculous moment from the EDL protest?" asked the local site Blog Preston, which covered both protests. Its writer Luke Beardsworth said it came across a sign being held by a woman at the EDL protest, which said: One community, one Preston. Thats what Preston was like before Islam divided us. Advertisement But on questioning the woman, Beardsworth claims the was actually from Liverpool, and admitted she did not know what Preston had been like "before Islam". Billed as a 'One Community' event to promote diversity, the counter protest attracted a few hundred visitors, including Youth Parliament member Connor Dwyer who said he was "so proud" of people in the city for opposing the EDL march. So proud of Preston coming out in numbers to oppose the EDL today. So much support for @UKYP anti-racism campaign! pic.twitter.com/XquHCEYuFg Connor Dwyer MYP (@ConnorD291) February 20, 2016 The two protests were kept apart by steel barriers, and both were warned of arrest under the Public Order Act if they left their designated areas. Both passed off peacefully. Police leave was cancelled and around 400 officers were on duty, with mounted officers and riot vans swamping Preston city centre. Advertisement It is believed no arrests were made during the hour long EDL event, where supporters chanted anti-Muslim slogans and went on a short march and rally before dispersing. > Now David Cameron has secured his deal for a new relationship for Britain inside the European Union, cabinet ministers are free to campaign either to remain or leave. Soon after the announcement that the referendum will be on 23 June, Justice Secretary Michael Gove became the first cabinet member to set himself against Cameron's call for the country to stay in the union, calling his move to back Brexit "the most difficult decision of my political life". Gove said it "pained" him to oppose Cameron, but argued that the EU "prevents us being able to change huge swaths of law and stops us being able to choose who makes critical decisions which affect all our lives." Advertisement He was followed by others who also officially joined the 'Leave' campaign. Johnson has yet to come off the fence Downing Street is now reportedly waiting nervously for Mayor of London Boris Johnson to declare which side he will be on, in an announcement expected on Sunday. Sources close to Johnson said he was still genuinely torn on the matter, The Guardian reported, and would continue to assess the offer of a new relationship with Europe from Cameron over the weekend. Cameron said in his historic speech: "I do not love Brussels, I love Britain". "We are Great Britain we can achieve great things. That is not the question in this referendum," he said. "The question is will we be safer, stronger and better off working together in a reformed Europe or out on our own. I believe we will be safer in a reformed Europe, because we can work with our European partners to fight cross border crime and terrorism. Advertisement "I believe Britain will be stronger in a reformed Europe because we can play a leading role in one of the worlds largest organisations from within, helping to make the big decisions on trade and security that determine our future. "And I believe we will be better off in a reformed Europe because British businesses will have full access to the free trade single market, bringing jobs, investment and lower prices. Let me be clear. Leaving Europe would threaten our economic and our national security." Organisers of Glastonbury festival also called on the event's attendees to sign up for a postal vote in the referendum after it was revealed the date clashes with the five-day music event. Though some cabinet members expected to back Brexit have declared support for Britain staying in the EU this weekend, not all of Cameron's top team are on side. Here's the list so far of who is 'in' and who is 'out': British Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt arrives at Downing Street in London on February 20 , 2016 for a meeting of the cabinet following Prime Minister David Cameron's return from EU negotiations in Brussels. Prime Minister David Cameron takes a deal giving Britain 'special status' in the EU back to London on February 20 hoping it will be enough to keep his country in the bloc as campaigning begins for a crucial in-out referendum. The British premier is expected to announce a date for the vote, lik JUSTIN TALLIS via Getty Images Jeremy Hunt's attendance at a so-called "extraordinary" Cabinet meeting on Saturday morning simply constitutes "normal working hours," junior doctors have quipped. The health secretary joined fellow ministers for the meeting, called by David Cameron after his mammoth negotiations for a better deal for Britain in the EU closed with an agreement last night. Advertisement Junior doctors were quick to point out the irony of the Cabinet's first meeting on a Saturday - as they echoed the furore over Hunt's imposition of a new contract to enforce a seven-day NHS. Jeremy Hunt outside Downing Street on Saturday morning Many compared Hunt's insistence that weekends are "normal working hours" for medics with the reported "extraordinary" nature of a Saturday Cabinet session. Jeremy Hunt is going to work today. There is a cabinet meeting. Last time they met on Saturday it was 1982 #juniordoctors#normalworkingday heather kitt (@heatherkitt) February 20, 2016 Advertisement Cameron working overnight? Just like a Junior Doctor? Cabinet meeting on Saturday? 1st time in 30 yr No consecutive weekends for them I see! Howard Smart (@howard_smart) February 20, 2016 @SophyRidgeSky@juliamacfarlane perhaps @Jeremy_Hunt has also persuaded the cabinet that Saturday is a normal working day? #juniorcontract Duncan Bew (@duncanbew) February 20, 2016 @Jeremy_Hunt Love the news pointing out the enormity of cabinet meeting on a Saturday. Get a grip you lot its a 'normal working day'! Karen Russell-Hunt (@kcxxx) February 20, 2016 Wow. First cabinet meeting on a Saturday since Falklands War but I thought Saturday was a normal working day? @Jeremy_Hunt#juniordoctors Anneka Ruff (@AnnekaSawhney) February 20, 2016 Poor @Jeremy_Hunt having special cabinet meeting on a Saturday! Still, at least a leisurely 10am start for him #doasIsaynotasIdo Nadine Coull (@nadinecoull) February 20, 2016 Advertisement The cabinet have a meeting scheduled in a couple of minutes. My heart bleeds for Jeremy Hunt having to work on a Saturday. #JuniorDoctors No-Coffee Hero (@nocoffeehero) February 20, 2016 First Saturday cabinet meeting since the 1980s, remember Mr. Hunt, those are "normal working hours". No overtime for you The Clear (@vayerism) February 20, 2016 A Saturday cabinet. First since the Falklands. They'll be working on a Sunday next, just like doctors. StephenFKelly (@sfkelly2) February 20, 2016 So, the Tories want a 7 day NHS. Today they r having the 1st cabinet meeting on a Saturday since the Falklands War. Workshy fops! #EUSummit antony manners (@cornishant) February 20, 2016 Cameron calls a cabinet meeting at 10:00 on Saturday morning. Jeremy Hunt isn't going to like... https://t.co/BuiGtA5nnG via @Melbara (@anahorrah) February 20, 2016 Advertisement Hundreds of refugees who are living in makeshift tents in the Calais camp nicknamed the 'Jungle' have been told that they have to leave within the next four days or face eviction. French authorities have given between 800 to 1,000 people until Tuesday evening (7pm UK time) to leave the southern part of the French site which has become home to thousands of refugees and migrants. Advertisement There are an estimated 4,000 people living in the 'Jungle' at the moment, many of whom have fled war, poverty and persecution, in war-torn states such as Syria and Iraq. Hundreds of refugees are facing eviction from the Calais 'jungle' Pascal Froehly, who volunteers for the relief organisation Caritas, spoke of his concerns of heightened tensions being created if bulldozers move in to level the site. He said: "I find it extremely annoying and unfair to move these people away from what they have created, including churches, shops and restaurants," the Press Association reports. Advertisement Froehly said the plans to move them to heated containers elsewhere in the camp offered the migrants and refugees no chance to socialise, adding: "It's just a bed for them." Mayor of Calais Natacha Bouchart said the dismantling of the camp would keep migrants and refugees away from activists bent on causing disruption. She said it was a "sensitive situation" that required "necessary firmness". And she added the conditions endured at the Jungle were "unworthy of human nature". Plans to move people to heated containers in the camp and centres around France were announced by Prefect Fabienne Buccio, the top official in France's northern Pas-de-Calais region. Buccio said this month: "It's time to tell the migrants of Calais who live in undignified conditions and give Calais an image that isn't dignified either, that we have a solution for each of you." Advertisement The news comes just days after 145 celebrities called up David Cameron to help save the children based at the 'jungle' camp. Actors Idris Elba, Helena Bonham Carter, and Benedict Cumberbatch are among the stars to sign an open letter to the Prime Minister asking the Government to step in and allow unaccompanied children living in the Jungle to be reunited with their families in the UK. Michael Gove's statement in full: For weeks now I have been wrestling with the most difficult decision of my political life. But taking difficult decisions is what politicians are paid to do. No-one is forced to stand for Parliament, no-one is compelled to become a minister. If you take on those roles, which are great privileges, you also take on big responsibilities. I was encouraged to stand for Parliament by David Cameron and he has given me the opportunity to serve in what I believe is a great, reforming Government. I think he is an outstanding Prime Minister. There is, as far as I can see, only one significant issue on which we have differed. And that is the future of the UK in the European Union. It pains me to have to disagree with the Prime Minister on any issue. My instinct is to support him through good times and bad. But I cannot duck the choice which the Prime Minister has given every one of us. In a few months time we will all have the opportunity to decide whether Britain should stay in the European Union or leave. I believe our country would be freer, fairer and better off outside the EU. And if, at this moment of decision, I didnt say what I believe I would not be true to my convictions or my country. I dont want to take anything away from the Prime Ministers dedicated efforts to get a better deal for Britain. He has negotiated with courage and tenacity. But I think Britain would be stronger outside the EU. My starting point is simple. I believe that the decisions which govern all our lives, the laws we must all obey and the taxes we must all pay should be decided by people we choose and who we can throw out if we want change. If power is to be used wisely, if we are to avoid corruption and complacency in high office, then the public must have the right to change laws and Governments at election time. But our membership of the European Union prevents us being able to change huge swathes of law and stops us being able to choose who makes critical decisions which affect all our lives. Laws which govern citizens in this country are decided by politicians from other nations who we never elected and cant throw out. We can take out our anger on elected representatives in Westminster but whoever is in Government in London cannot remove or reduce VAT, cannot support a steel plant through troubled times, cannot build the houses we need where theyre needed and cannot deport all the individuals who shouldnt be in this country. I believe that needs to change. And I believe that both the lessons of our past and the shape of the future make the case for change compelling. The ability to choose who governs us, and the freedom to change laws we do not like, were secured for us in the past by radicals and liberals who took power from unaccountable elites and placed it in the hands of the people. As a result of their efforts we developed, and exported to nations like the US, India, Canada and Australia a system of democratic self-government which has brought prosperity and peace to millions. Our democracy stood the test of time. We showed the world what a free people could achieve if they were allowed to govern themselves. In Britain we established trial by jury in the modern world, we set up the first free parliament, we ensured no-one could be arbitrarily detained at the behest of the Government, we forced our rulers to recognise they ruled by consent not by right, we led the world in abolishing slavery, we established free education for all, national insurance, the National Health Service and a national broadcaster respected across the world. By way of contrast, the European Union, despite the undoubted idealism of its founders and the good intentions of so many leaders, has proved a failure on so many fronts. The euro has created economic misery for Europes poorest people. European Union regulation has entrenched mass unemployment. EU immigration policies have encouraged people traffickers and brought desperate refugee camps to our borders. Far from providing security in an uncertain world, the EUs policies have become a source of instability and insecurity. Razor wire once more criss-crosses the continent, historic tensions between nations such as Greece and Germany have resurfaced in ugly ways and the EU is proving incapable of dealing with the current crises in Libya and Syria. The former head of Interpol says the EUs internal borders policy is like hanging a sign welcoming terrorists to Europe and Scandinavian nations which once prided themselves on their openness are now turning in on themselves. All of these factors, combined with popular anger at the lack of political accountability, has encouraged extremism, to the extent that far-right parties are stronger across the continent than at any time since the 1930s. The EU is an institution rooted in the past and is proving incapable of reforming to meet the big technological, demographic and economic challenges of our time. It was developed in the 1950s and 1960s and like other institutions which seemed modern then, from tower blocks to telexes, it is now hopelessly out of date. The EU tries to standardise and regulate rather than encourage diversity and innovation. It is an analogue union in a digital age. The EU is built to keep power and control with the elites rather than the people. Even though we are outside the euro we are still subject to an unelected EU commission which is generating new laws every day and an unaccountable European Court in Luxembourg which is extending its reach every week, increasingly using the Charter of Fundamental Rights which in many ways gives the EU more power and reach than ever before. This growing EU bureaucracy holds us back in every area. EU rules dictate everything from the maximum size of containers in which olive oil may be sold (five litres) to the distance houses have to be from heathland to prevent cats chasing birds (five kilometres). Individually these rules may be comical. Collectively, and there are tens of thousands of them, they are inimical to creativity, growth and progress. Rules like the EU clinical trials directive have slowed down the creation of new drugs to cure terrible diseases and ECJ judgements on data protection issues hobble the growth of internet companies. As a minister Ive seen hundreds of new EU rules cross my desk, none of which were requested by the UK Parliament, none of which I or any other British politician could alter in any way and none of which made us freer, richer or fairer. It is hard to overstate the degree to which the EU is a constraint on ministers' ability to do the things they were elected to do, or to use their judgment about the right course of action for the people of this country. I have long had concerns about our membership of the EU but the experience of Government has only deepened my conviction that we need change. Every single day, every single minister is told: 'Yes Minister, I understand, but I'm afraid that's against EU rules'. I know it. My colleagues in government know it. And the British people ought to know it too: your government is not, ultimately, in control in hundreds of areas that matter. But by leaving the EU we can take control. Indeed we can show the rest of Europe the way to flourish. Instead of grumbling and complaining about the things we cant change and growing resentful and bitter, we can shape an optimistic, forward-looking and genuinely internationalist alternative to the path the EU is going down. We can show leadership. Like the Americans who declared their independence and never looked back, we can become an exemplar of what an inclusive, open and innovative democracy can achieve. We can take back the billions we give to the EU, the money which is squandered on grand parliamentary buildings and bureaucratic follies, and invest it in science and technology, schools and apprenticeships. We can get rid of the regulations which big business uses to crush competition and instead support new start-up businesses and creative talent. We can forge trade deals and partnerships with nations across the globe, helping developing countries to grow and benefiting from faster and better access to new markets. We are the worlds fifth largest economy, with the best armed forces of any nation, more Nobel Prizes than any European country and more world-leading universities than any European country. Our economy is more dynamic than the Eurozone, we have the most attractive capital city on the globe, the greatest soft power and global influence of any state and a leadership role in NATO and the UN. Are we really too small, too weak and too powerless to make a success of self-rule? On the contrary, the reason the EUs bureaucrats oppose us leaving is they fear that our success outside will only underline the scale of their failure. This chance may never come again in our lifetimes, which is why I will be true to my principles and take the opportunity this referendum provides to leave an EU mired in the past and embrace a better future. The revelation that Nigel Farage and George Galloway are to work together on the European Union referendum has been mercilessly mocked, with the unlikely pact described as an "unholy alliance". The Ukip and Respect party leaders appeared together at a rally for the Grassroots Out campaign on Friday, launching the campaign to persuade voters to end Britain's membership of the EU. Advertisement Yet instead of being welcomed, Galloway's appearance prompted a mass walkout at the event, and the party leaders' partnership is now the subject of intense scrutiny - and mockery. Nigel Farage and George Galloway stand with other Grassroots Out leaders on Friday Rather than persuading voters of a cross-spectrum rationale for Brexit, many said that Farage and Galloway's pact was helping them choose to remain within the EU. I was thinking of abstaining on the EU referendum but the unholy alliance of Farage & Galloway is nudging me to stay pic.twitter.com/b7QkW7KZiu Peter George Owen (@pgo1980) February 20, 2016 Advertisement Farage Galloway Grayling. Enough to convince me to vote remain Jeffrey Gruder QC (@JeffreyGruderQC) February 19, 2016 Personally, we probably get screwed either way with EU Ref. But I'll vote the opposite of Farage, Galloway, Daily Mail + Express #UKinEU Dr Paul Teed (@DrPaulTeed) February 20, 2016 When you have Farage & Galloway working together on something serious questions need to be asked. https://t.co/VV707Z5Ire Gareth Soye (@GarethSoye) February 8, 2016 This Farage-Galloway bromance can only boost the Remain campaign #eurefhttps://t.co/pCnbqVXmGP Louis Gill (@Louisjsgill) February 7, 2016 However, it wasn't only the pair's ability to persuade voters that was the subject of discussion online. Advertisement Previous statements made by Galloway quickly came to light, including his criticism of Farage's reference to HIV/Aids treatment costs during a General Election debate. Farage's Aids smear should disqualify him from any civilised company henceforth. George Galloway (@georgegalloway) April 2, 2015 Galloway also appeared to liken his pact with Farage to that of Soviet leader Stalin and Winston Churchill's during World War II. George Galloway, likening Farage to Churchill and himself to Stalin. Or perhaps the other way round. Via @trewloypic.twitter.com/bmVlDys3Pe Michael Deacon (@MichaelPDeacon) February 20, 2016 And there's been plenty of jibes after the tie-up was revealed. Farage, Galloway, Cash, Bone on the same bill. Move over Dante we've found the eighth circle of hell.... Sam Freedman (@Samfr) February 19, 2016 Advertisement Carl Barat and Pete Doherty made up one half of iconic noughties indie rock band, The Libertines. pic.twitter.com/skbAgWzY09 @ (@twlldun) February 19, 2016 Farage, Galloway and Gove walk into a bar, and immediately decide to leave. Everyone else is happy Dean Burnett (@garwboy) February 20, 2016 I'm hoping someone will be printing Farage-Galloway posters for window displays. And T shirts. David Aaronovitch (@DAaronovitch) February 19, 2016 Despite the walkout at Friday's Grassroots Out rally, the more than 1,500 people who stayed in the hall for Mr Galloways speech gave him a rousing reception as he called for the UK to leave the EU. He talked up reconnecting with the Commonwealth, access to more trade markets and the reassertion of sovereignty as the key reasons for Brexit. Advertisement Labour MP Kate Hoey, former Shadow Home Secretary David Davis, Tory MPs Peter Bone and Tom Pursglove and economist Ruth Lea were among those to speak at the rally. Yemenis inspect the damage at a sewing workshop that was hit by a Saudi-led coalition air strike in the capital Sanaa, on February 14, 2016.The factory owner, Faisal al-Musaabi, told AFP that two employees, including a 14-year-old boy, were killed and 15 others wounded in the overnight air raid. / AFP / MOHAMMED HUWAIS (Photo credit should read MOHAMMED HUWAIS/AFP/Getty Images) Why does the United States continue to support the Saudi intervention in Yemen? Although the Saudis have promised a high-level committee to investigate civilian deaths from their airstrikes in Yemen, they continue to strike civilian targets with countless deaths and destructions. For instance, among those recently killed in an airstrike on an abandon cement factory were "people in parked cars, a grocery store owner, a pharmacist and shoppers." The nationalist insurgents, the Houthis, have also unfortunately contributed to the increased casualties as they try to repel the invaders and defeat the local groups opposed to them. Advertisement The civil war in Yemen, compounded by the Saudi invasion, has so far displaced 2.3 million people. It has left 5,700 dead, among them 2,500 civilians. Two thirds of the deaths have resulted from airstrikes. And 82 percent of the population requires assistance and medical supplies. The United States fears that 14.4 million Yemenis are at risk of "severe hunger." To add to the misery of the Yemeni people, the United States just approved the sale of weapons to the Saudis worth $1.3 billion. Among the weaponry are air-to-ground ordinances that included 22,000 bombs. From 2010 to 2014, the United States sold $90 billion worth of weapons to Saudi Arabia. Initially, among the U.S. weapons sold to the Saudis were the internationally banned cluster bombs. The Saudis have feared Yemen for a long time. They worry that the Houthis and their allies will destabilize the Saudi regime and export revolutionary zeal to the Saudi people. The fear of losing their power is why the Saudi royals, with the help of the majority Sunni regimes in the Gulf, launched an air and ground war against Yemen. Riyadh hopes to reinstate the former government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansoor Hadi and make Yemen a satellite country of Saudi Arabia. Facing an onslaught by the highly equipped Saudi forces with American help, the Houthis were obliged to ally with the unsavory former president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, to defend Yemen. Although calls for talks have gone nowhere, a new effort is underway to hold negotiations in Europe under the auspices of the UN. The Saudis have made the poorly supported claim that they are fighting a proxy war with Iran in Yemen. Unfortunately, the Obama administration parrots these lies in its official statements, which the major media then repeat. The Saudis and the Gulf States have conjured up Iranian's involvement in order to justify their war on Yemen. In the meantime, al-Qaeda is deepening its roots and widening its reach in and around the country. Advertisement US support for the Saudi regime has continued despite the invasion and the resulting humanitarian disaster. The United States provides the Saudis with intelligence and helps to enforce the current naval blockade. Moreover, in January, Secretary John Kerry said, "We have as solid a relationship, as clear an alliance, and as strong a friendship with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as we ever had, and nothing has changed." Kerry's level of support for the Saudis contrasts sharply with the U.S. claims of supporting freedom, democracy, and human rights worldwide. Yemen is one of the poorest countries in the world. The Saudis and the Gulf states are some of the richest countries in the world. And yet the Saudis, the Gulf States, and the United States are destroying Yemen, which had been a potential outpost of democracy in the region. Again, the United States derailed a potential democracy to serve a totalitarian regime, the Saudi Arabia. February is Black History Month - and along with it comes the inevitable onslaught of facepalm-worthy comments on the Internet from certain white people. These usually start with "I'm not racist, but..." and end, ironically, with something inherently racist. ("I'm not racist, but slavery ended a long time ago - get over it already, black people!" "I'm not racist, but why don't we have a White History Month?" Utterly cringe-inducing.) Below are some of the most common problematic statements - and what you can say (or not say) instead. 1. "I Don't See Color." On the surface, this might seem like a harmless statement affirming that race doesn't matter to you one way or another. But what it's really doing is claiming that all of us are the same - which isn't true. Because even though we are all human and are all made of the same stuff, it is our responsibility to acknowledge that, since we do exist within a societal system of racism, the color of our skin can and does dictate the way each of us experiences life. Advertisement To state that there is no difference between a white person and a black person is to completely erase the black person's experience of oppression in today's society - and that's not helpful. What to say instead: "Though I believe every human deserves equal rights, I recognize that people of color have had very different experiences of life than I have, due to the struggles they have endured based on the color of their skin." 2. "All Lives Matter." Technically, yes - all lives do matter, and if you were to say this as a stand-alone statement, you'd be correct. However, the problem is that most of the time, this statement is uttered as a rebuttal to the unfortunately controversial Black Lives Matter movement. Here's why it's problematic: by responding to a pro-black statement with an all-inclusive statement, you are effectively derailing the conversation and turning it into something it's not. By pretending that pro-black equates to anti-white, you are taking a discussion about empowering a marginalized group and making it about you. Advertisement Look, everyone already knows that white lives matter; that wasn't ever called into question, because our society is set up to recognize white people as the cultural norm. People of color, on the other hand, are most definitely not the norm, and they need these shoutouts. They need the social momentum that the Black Lives Matter movement is gathering. They need a platform upon which to discuss these issues. Would you respond to someone trying to raise awareness about paraplegia-inducing spinal cord injuries by asking, "But what about the people who can walk?" Enough. Just stop. What to say instead: "Yes, black lives matter." And leave it at that. No 'but's. 3. "If racism is still a problem, how come we have a black president?" This is basically an assumption that just because conditions have improved for the black community over the course of several hundred years, no one has any right to complain about the status quo. And that is utterly ridiculous. It's equivalent to time traveling back to the 1950's and telling the people fighting to end segregation to quit bitching already, because slavery has already been outlawed - isn't that good enough? While there's no denying that we've made a lot of headway since the back-of-the-bus days, there is also no denying that systemic racism still exists in modern society. All you have to do to see it is open your eyes, look past your own privilege, and listen to what the marginalized groups of people have been trying to tell you all along. Oppression is a spectrum - not an either-or. Just because we have a black president and some high-profile black celebrities and cultural icons does not mean racism is over - and it does not give you license to discount the stories of black folks who have spent their entire lives experiencing racism in its many forms. Advertisement We have absolutely no business telling oppressed people what's "good enough" in terms of their equality. After all, the level of racism in this country won't be "good enough" until it's gone. What to say instead: Nothing - listen instead of speaking. People of color have something to say, and until you can hear it without writing it off because their experience of life doesn't match your own, you have nothing of value to contribute to this conversation. 4. "Reverse racism is real." No, it's not - and here's why. Look at it as an equation: racism = prejudice + power. While it's true that anyone can hold a set of prejudices against anyone else, racism specifically implies oppression - and white people as a whole are not oppressed. Prejudice generalizes; it makes judgments that are often premature or unjust. Racism, on the other hand, is a whole system of oppression - a cultural ideology that begins from a position of privilege. Race-related societal privilege is something black people simply do not have. Therefore, reverse racism is nothing but a myth, created by white people who are unwilling to examine their own privilege - privilege society has afforded them simply because of the color of their skin. Advertisement To recap, because this is very, very important: black people can be prejudiced against white people, but they cannot be racist toward white people. Say it with me - reverse racism is not a thing. What to say instead: Nothing. There is no good way to say this, because the statement is false and inherently damaging. WASHINGTON, USA - FEBRUARY 11: Senator Orrin Hatch speaks during a press conference on the Internet Tax Ban and Customs Report in Washington, USA on February 11, 2016. (Photo by Samuel Corum/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images) It's not often during a presidential election season that the campaigns get shoved aside in the political universe because something bigger happened, but that is what took place last week with the unexpected death of sitting Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. The implications for the future of America run deep, which is why it has already become a monumental and historical political fight. The immediate ramifications are obvious. We will have only eight justices voting on all of this year's cases, and probably most of next year's as well, if the Republicans follow through with their plans of obstructing anyone Obama names. The only other way out of this mess is if President Obama were to make a recess appointment some time this weekend, which is a longshot at best (although the White House notably hasn't completely ruled such a thing out). Advertisement However, we're only going to mention the political fray over the upcoming nomination and confirmation fight in passing, because we are devoting our talking points section this week to a full-on rant about the Republican position espoused most inanely by Senator Orrin Hatch (who really should know better). Also, we devoted two articles earlier this week (on Monday and Tuesday) to how we think all of this is going to play out politically. We'll have many weeks to hash the whole situation over, precisely because this is such a political earthquake. A lot else happened in the political world (and the presidential campaign) this week, so much so that we're going to have to resort to incredibly condensing it all here. Any other week, these stories would have merited more attention, but this week the best we can do is to just mention them all in passing. So buckle your seatbelts, because we're going to have to move quickly. President Barack Obama announced he would be travelling to Cuba next month, to get the photo op he deserves after thawing the half-century freeze in diplomatic relations. Republicans' heads everywhere exploded, right on cue. On the Republican side of the presidential race, Jim Gilmore formally dropped out a week ago, becoming the eleventh candidate to do so (leaving only six). Much to our embarrassment, we didn't even realize Gilmore had ended his run until this week, when Stephen Colbert mentioned him in his "Hunger Games" parody (saluting "the fallen"). We immediately checked, and Gilmore had indeed withdrawn. That is the ultimate statement about his entire campaign, in fact -- when it ended, hardly anybody even noticed. We certainly didn't, at the very least. Advertisement The Republican campaign week began with an absolute knife-fight of a debate last Saturday, one of the more vicious examples of Republican-on-Republican violence ever televised, at least in our memory. By week's end, Donald Trump was threatening to sue Ted Cruz and Cruz responded with: "Bring it on -- I'll depose you myself, Donald!" It was rather hilarious to see all the Republicans get the question: "If you become president and a Supreme Court nomination opened up in your final year in office, would you nominate someone?" It really put the lie to everything else Republicans are saying about the situation, in fact, sometimes in hilarious fashion. Marco Rubio tacked even further to the right on immigration, announcing he'd end the deferred children policy of President Obama on his first day in office. No matter who emerges as the Republican nominee, he's going to have the same problem Mitt Romney had four years ago, as the primary season forces all the GOP candidates further and further towards the extremes. Rubio also released an ad this week copying Ronald Reagan's famous "morning in America" ad, but inexplicably used film footage of Vancouver in the middle of it (hint to Marco: morning in Canada, maybe?). It was also revealed this week that Rubio skipped almost half the meetings a special Florida committee held after 9/11 -- something which is sure to come up in the next Republican debate when Rubio tries to claim he's got more foreign policy chops than anyone else. Jeb Bush is about to crash and burn in South Carolina, which might even be the end of the road for his campaign. He's in a tight race (no, really) for fourth place right now, trying to edge out the "surging" John Kasich. After failing for the third time to even crack the top three, the pressure on him to get out of the race is going to become enormous, so he might exit even before Nevada votes. Or he might hang in there, he's certainly still got the money to do so. Advertisement Ted Cruz is fighting hard to remove the horrors of gluten-free meals for our troops. Seriously, you just can't make this stuff up, folks. And to cap off Republican campaign news, Donald Trump and the Pope got into a fracas. So much ink has already been spilled over this fight, though, that we're just going to mention it in passing and move along. In a bit of rare crossover election news, a supporter of Bernie Sanders is auctioning off a copy of Das Kapital by Karl Marx signed by Carly Fiorina. Again, you couldn't make this stuff up if you tried! Seems the owner of the book went to school a long time ago with Fiorina and had her sign it years ago, as a kind of joke. Now he's going to sell it and send the profits to Bernie Sanders. How ironic! Bidding was up to $690, as of this writing. In other bizarre "Who are you, and what have you done with...?" news, Charles Koch penned an op-ed for the Washington Post which (are you sitting down?) agreed with Bernie Sanders that our political system is being bought and sold and is thus rigged against the little guy. No, really! There's a war being waged among economists who support Hillary Clinton and those who support Bernie Sanders, and it's getting pretty vicious. The Clintonistas trashed an economic analysis that said Bernie's economic plans would work great for America, but they didn't actually rebut any of the analysis with specifics, which led to some bad blood. On Bernie's side, renowned (and popular, among liberals) economist Thomas Piketty came out strongly for Bernie's vision of the future. Advertisement On the Democratic side, Nevada votes tomorrow night, and the results are absolutely unpredictable (mostly because pollsters ignore Nevada so there is not much data to go on, and it could easily be wrong). Bernie is either tied, down one point, or down six points -- that is the sum total of all the polling that has taken place in Nevada all year (more polls were released in a single day for Iowa or New Hampshire, by comparison). Nevada could swell Bernie's momentum, or it could be the beginning of Hillary's firewall, so it'll be a closely-watched caucus night. Turnout is going to be key, but even the locals have a hard time predicting what'll happen. And finally, the Democratic side has its lighter moments as well. In Nevada (where such things are legal, we might add), a "Hookers for Hillary" website has appeared. But even this constituency isn't assured, as not all Nevada hookers are on board with the effort. In other (perhaps) Valentine's Day related news, there is now a website called BernieSingles.com for supporters of Sanders to meet each other, but the site reportedly keeps crashing because it's getting so many visitors, so make of that what you will. This is an odd one, we fully admit before we even begin. Representative Alan Grayson has always been known for pushing the boundaries of political thought. Whether you agree with him or not, he certainly is interesting to watch in action. This week, he let it be known that his "superdelegate" vote in the Democratic National Convention is up for grabs and will go to whichever candidate wins his online poll. A good idea? A bad idea? Well, it's certainly a radical idea, that's for sure! But then we'd expect no less from Grayson, really. Advertisement Superdelegates are about to be big news, once again. The last time they were big news was the last time Democrats underwent a hard-fought primary fight. They are, inherently, a corruption of what is supposed to be a (small-D) democratic process. All the Democratic voters in all the states only get 85 percent of the decision at the national convention. The other 15 percent goes to "superdelegates" -- all the officeholders and party stalwarts that get a free vote in the nominating process. Republicans don't use this system, making them (say it quietly) actually more democratic than the Democratic Party. Grayson isn't a fan of this state of affairs, so he's making a point. He's democratically offering up his vote to whoever is more successful stuffing his online ballot box. OK, that's a cynical way to put it, but then again we've seen how lopsided such online voting can get at times (anybody remember Ron Paul's online legions?). Even with that caveat, though, Grayson certainly is drawing attention to the problem long before it becomes a big battleground between Team Hillary and the Bernie revolution. For creatively drawing attention to the issue, and for his attempt at making his one superdelegate vote somewhat accountable to the democratic process (as naive as that attempt may be, with online voting), we have to give the Most Impressive Democrat Of The Week award for sheer creativity to Representative Grayson. [Congratulate Representative Alan Grayson on his House contact page, to let him know you appreciate his efforts.] Last week, we handed out the Most Disappointing Democrat Of The Week award to a Hillary Clinton surrogate. This week, we're awarding the MDDOTW to a Bernie Sanders surrogate. Advertisement The rapper "Killer Mike" is a big Bernie supporter. In a speech to a crowd recently, he used a word that many have taken him to task for. No, it's not an obscenity. It's not even a bad word in any way, in fact. The word he used was "uterus." The context wasn't as awful as many immediately claimed, but the optics were bad enough. Here is the full text of what Killer Mike said that got him into so much trouble: I talked to Jane Elliott a few weeks ago and Jane said, "Michael, a uterus doesn't qualify you to be President of the United States. You have to have policy that's reflective of social justice." Paying women a fair wage is social justice. Making sure minorities have jobs is social justice. Ending a bullshit drug war is social justice. Making sure our children can go to college is social justice. He's making a point, and he's using a quote from a feminist to do it. He's saying gender politics shouldn't be valid -- women shouldn't feel they have to vote for the Democratic woman running, just as they wouldn't have felt they had to vote for Carly Fiorina if she had won the Republican nomination. Gender politics, Killer Mike (and Jane Elliott) is saying, is not enough. By extension, the core argument is that Bernie Sanders is stronger on social justice than Hillary Clinton. Killer Mike is a Bernie supporter, so that's the argument he was attempting to make. Now, we're going to have to split hairs on this one. Killer Mike was immediately raked over the coals for "being sexist." The only way you can intellectually make this argument, however, is to say that Jane Elliott is a sexist, since she's the one who brought up uteri in the first place. To make it a non-sexist argument it would have to be parsed to something like "having a uterus does not qualify you -- and certainly does not disqualify you -- to be President of the United States." Gender just should not matter, in other words. In fact, when Elliott was asked about the reaction, that's exactly what she said: I think the reaction is because a man said what I said. If a woman had made that statement there would have been no problem, but because a man said it, it becomes a sexist statement. It's a ridiculous thing to be upset about. It should be a fact of life that neither gender nor skin color should determine whether you are appropriate for leadership of the government of the United States of America. However, it does indeed depend who is making this argument, for the same reason why African-Americans feel that the "n-word" should never be used by people who are not black. People within the group get to decide the allowable language. People outside the group do not. Killer Mike didn't say anything sexist, he merely repeated what a woman said to him. Jane Elliott may or may not have said something sexist, but we leave that for women to decide. Which is entirely our point. This entire fracas -- really an extension of the fracas from last week involving Madeline Albright and Gloria Steinem -- should be hashed out among women. This is the reason Killer Mike wins this week's Most Disappointing Democrat Of The Week -- because he was guilty of "mansplaining" an issue to women. Not for using "uterus" (which is ridiculous on the face of it), and not for somehow demeaning all women or reducing them to anatomical terms. If either of those things were done in sexist fashion, then the only person guilty of doing so is Jane Elliott herself. But by repeating the quote -- when he could have made the argument in other ways -- Killer Mike is guilty of wading into a fray that he really should have kept out of. For mansplaining the issue, Killer Mike is our Most Disappointing Democrat Of The Week. [Killer Mike is not a political figure, so we suggest you contact the Bernie Sanders campaign if you'd like to let them know what you thought of Killer Mike's phrasing.] Volume 379 (2/19/16) As previously mentioned, we are pre-empting our talking points this week to present to you a rant, instead. Every so often the mood strikes us to make a more cohesive argument than can fit inside the confines of one (or even seven) talking points. This is one of those weeks. Advertisement The death of Justice Scalia has prompted much idiocy on the Republican side of the aisle, which was to be expected, really. The conservatives see the horrific (for them) possibility of losing their decades-long edge on the court and facing the nightmarish (again, for them) possibility of all those 5-4 decisions suddenly going in the liberal direction instead. So they panicked. Even Republicans who are normally a lot more thoughtful about such things have already joined the obstructionist ranks demanding that the Senate not even hold hearings on any Obama nominee. The worst of these came from Senator Orrin Hatch, which was what prompted this rant. Without further introduction, here's what we have to say in response. My Supreme Court nomination rant, in response to Orrin Hatch This was a monumental week in American politics, due to the death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. For the first time in decades, the balance of power truly hangs in the balance of the next appointment to the court. Instead of a liberal president replacing a liberal judge or a conservative president replacing a conservative judge, we have the prospect of a true shift in the ideological makeup of the highest court in the land. This could have repercussions which last for the next generation, and that's (if anything) understating its importance. I noticed this possibility about two years ago, when the Democrats were facing the prospect of losing control in the Senate in the 2014 midterm elections (which did come to pass). At the time, some were pushing Ruth Bader Ginsburg to immediately resign, so President Obama could replace her with a liberal and get the Democratic Senate to confirm his choice. At the time, I pointed out that it would be the next few Supreme Court picks which would really matter -- making the 2016 presidential election critical. Now that we've reached this juncture, I'm reminded of a science fiction novel about a legal system on an alien world. The book is The Dosadi Experiment, written by Frank Herbert (of Dune fame). He defined his alien legal system in bizarre fashion (just one fun fact: everyone in the "courtarena" spoke at risk of their life -- even a judge could be executed, if the proper legal forms had been followed). But one bit has always stuck with me -- the fine distinction between "bias" and "prejudice." Here's the relevant passage, describing what "Gowachin Law" allowed: Advertisement The interpretation of bias was: "If I can rule for a particular side I will do so." For prejudgment: "No matter what happens in the arena I will rule for a particular side." Bias was permitted, but not prejudgment. There are two reasons I was reminded of this in all the aftermath of Scalia's death. The first is that not everyone is celebrating Scalia for being some sort of intellectual and moral giant on the Supreme Court. Far from it. Some, in fact, put Scalia in the worst three justices in all of American history. Some "memorialized" him by pointing out some of the worst things he's ever said or written. Justice Scalia was, to be blunt, biased. Even his admirers would have to admit that, at least if they're honest with themselves. Scalia would rule for the conservative argument without regard to any "original intent" -- in fact, he would bend his concept of "original intent" to fit whatever judgment he deemed the correct one. His detractors would go further, and state that Scalia also fit the Gowachin description of being prejudiced as well. Either way, the concept that Scalia was some paragon of fairness is pretty laughable on the face of it. His replacement will be political, because the Supreme Court is a political battleground, and has been for as long as I've been alive. Even since long before my birth -- check out the history behind the slogan "Impeach Earl Warren" if you don't believe me. The Supreme Court is the final arbiter of all the nastiest and ugliest political fights of the day, so of course it is political. 'Twas always thus. What is stunning, however, is the argument Republicans are now making -- that somehow President Obama is not really entitled to appoint Scalia's replacement, since we are nine months away from an election. The stunning part is that this is a naked attempt to reinterpret the Constitution, something Scalia supposedly lived his whole life fighting against. Advertisement In even making the argument that no nominee from the sitting United States President will even be considered by the Senate, the Republicans have firmly placed themselves on the side of prejudice. They are literally pre-judging that any Obama nominee will be unacceptable. By doing so, they have made the leap to politicizing not just the Supreme Court, but the very process used to seat supposedly neutral arbiters of the law. They are dragging down the entire process into the swamp of politics and stripping bare any notion of allowing the elected president to -- as the Constitution states -- have his choice of seating a well-qualified candidate, no matter what his or her political leanings may be. My rant today was inspired by much of the nonsense being spouted by Republicans at the moment, but most especially by Senator Orrin Hatch, who is normally a little more in touch with reality (as opposed to, in Scalia's own charming terminology, spouting "pure applesauce"). Here is Hatch, a powerful member of the Judiciary Committee, being interviewed on the PBS NewsHour recently: And so I do support Sen. McConnell in saying, but, look, let's get it out of this terrible presidential brouhaha that is going on, and let's get it over to the next year, and be fair to both sides, because what would happen is whoever wins the presidency is going to be able to make this nomination. Usually, you never nominate anyone during the last year of a president. And the reason for that is because -- well, there are many reasons, but one reason is because there's always a very contested Senate primaries and also election, and, secondly, generally, one side or the other is going to get very, very upset about it. Well, I'm saying the Republicans shouldn't act on it, because the proper way is to get this done in a way that cools the whole process around electing judges, and in particular justices to the United States Supreme Court. I just don't want the court politicized. And this would be the biggest politicization the court in history. And that is saying something, because there have been some other times that certainly would come close to matching this. But, in all honesty, I just don't want to see the court denigrated any further than it would be in this very caustic election year with the way things are going right now. There is such a mountain of nonsense contained within these statements, it's going to take some serious unpacking. We'll do so one section at a time, by addressing Hatch directly, point by point. Advertisement First off, what in the Constitution gives you the right to move a Supreme Court justice selection "out of this terrible presidential brouhaha"? Seriously, what gives you that right? Supreme Court nominations and confirmation battles in the final year of a president's term have happened literally dozens of times in our history. Sure, it's fairly rare for it to happen -- it doesn't happen for every president. But it has happened plenty of times before. Sometimes the nominees were confirmed, sometimes they weren't, but nobody ever before argued that they flat-out shouldn't happen because of an upcoming election. Second, how is punting a Supreme Court nomination "over to the next year" -- really meaning "over to the next president" -- supposed to be "fair to both sides"? In fact, it is fair to neither side. Court nominations are almost always inherently unfair to one party the other. Please name even one Supreme Court appointment that was in any way "fair to both sides." And are you so confident that America is going to elect President Trump? What happens if President Clinton or President Sanders is sworn in next January? Are you going to then say "let's be fair and confirm anyone the new president selects who is legally qualified"? I truly doubt that. In fact, Democrats have a good chance of taking the Senate back -- are you going to call the process "fair" when they then remove the filibuster for Supreme Court justices? Your delaying tactics now are pretty much going to guarantee that will happen, if control of the Senate switches. So are you going to side with the voters who elected more Democrats to the Senate then, as you now seem to be suggesting you'll cheerfully do? Don't make me laugh. Your second paragraph is also pure applesauce. The main reason presidents "usually" never make Supreme Court nominations during their last year is that they usually don't get the opportunity. That's it, plain and simple. Why has no president done so for decades? Because there have been no court vacancies during a final presidential year for decades -- that is the only reason. Period. You can even turn this around. Name me one president -- in all of American history -- who said "I am going to defer nominating a Supreme Court justice to the next president, because I think it's only fair to do so" or anything even remotely similar. I'm not exactly going to hold my breath waiting for you to come up with an example, to put it mildly, because such a thing has never actually happened. Advertisement As for "one side or the other is going to get very, very upset about it," see my previous comments on the inherent unfairness of one political party watching a president from the other party make any Supreme Court nomination. As the lawyers say, "Asked and answered." Half the country is going to be very upset indeed over whomever replaces Justice Scalia -- that's just a fact of American political life. Deal with it. Your third paragraph is just downright laughable, Senator. Your proposal that "cools the whole process" of Supreme Court nominations is to throw it completely into the white-hot political heat of a presidential election? Really? That's supposed to cool things down? In what universe, precisely? Your biggest glaring disrespect and disregard for the United States Constitution slips out in your own language, too. You use the phrase "the whole process around electing judges." Maybe you should check that Constitution all good Republicans are supposed to carry around in their pockets, because I've actually read the document and you know what it says? Judges are not elected in the United States of America. Federal judges -- all of them, up to and most certainly including the Supreme Court -- are appointed by the president, and confirmed by the Senate. The voters have zero direct input into the process at all -- by design. The original intent -- remember this concept? -- is that the voters have only an indirect say, in the election of the president. Originally, they only had a twice-removed say in the Senate, because originally senators were selected by state legislatures -- the voters didn't even get a vote on them at all. The selection of judges was never meant to be at the whim of the voters, which you could tell if you ever actually thumbed through the Constitution itself. You obviously don't know much about the history of the Constitution or of the Supreme Court. You display your profound ignorance by your statement that having a sitting president nominate a Supreme Court justice in the final year of his term (something that's happened repeatedly) "would be the biggest politicization of the court in history." This is just balderdash. Depending on how you define your terms, the biggest politicization of the Supreme Court was either Marbury v. Madison, Andrew Jackson's naked defiance of the court, or Franklin Roosevelt's court-packing fight. This doesn't even come close to the impact of any one of those three events. It's not even in the same ballpark. In fact, the only thing I could think of which would indeed be "the biggest politicization" of the Supreme Court ever would be the abdication of the nomination and confirmation of Supreme Court justices to the presidential election. By definition, this would be "politicizing" the nomination. From this point on, whichever political party holds the Senate would argue that they'd have to wait until a president of their party was in office before confirming anybody -- no matter when they were nominated. Republicans refusing to even consider President Obama's nominee would politicize the confirmation process for all time in a way it has never been before. So you're doing exactly what you're arguing should not be done. Advertisement Finally, to even suggest that the process the Constitution lays out somehow "denigrates" the court is absurd, because what you are suggesting is replacing what should be a few months of a confirmation battle with the issue being front and center for the entire nine months of the election, plus all the months it'll take after the new president is sworn in before the process finishes. And be careful about your final thought, too. "The way things are going right now" is that your party seems on the brink of nominating Donald Trump. Ask yourself this: would a Trump nominee get confirmed any easier than an Obama nominee? Or how about a Clinton nominee or a Sanders nominee? Think that might be easier to swallow than doing your constitutional duty right now and holding a confirmation hearing on the sitting president's choice? Because that is indeed the way things are going right now. So you certainly better be ready for such outcomes if you're going to roll those particular dice. Chris Weigant blogs at: Follow Chris on Twitter: @ChrisWeigant Full archives of FTP columns: FridayTalkingPoints.com I recently learned that Ronald Reagan and I had something in common: Our all-time favorite film was "Casablanca" (1943). By conservative estimate, I've probably seen it 10 times (and wept on every occasion), and Reagan, according to reports, not only loved this movie, he was once considered for the part of Rick Blaine, which ultimately went to Humphrey Bogart. With a screenplay written by brothers Julius and Philip Epstein (from a play by Murray Burnett and Joan Allison), "Casablanca" not only walked away with the Best Picture Oscar in 1943, but its romantic song, "As Time Goes By" became an instant American classic, and the wonderful quote, "Play again, Sam," went on to be part of our cultural vernacular. Alas, a couple of misconceptions need to be clarified. People think that besides winning Best Picture, "As Time Goes By," won for Best Song. Wrong. Not only didn't it win, it wasn't even nominated, which, frankly, was an outrageous snub, one that still pisses me off. As for that iconic line, "Play it again, Sam," wrong again. Those precise words were never uttered in the movie. Oops. Advertisement But the biggest misconception concerns the validity of the premise itself. As much as I love this magnificently sappy movie (I'm fighting back tears thinking about it), I can't deny that its thematic basis is about as illogical and absurd as it gets. In fact, the more one analyzes its premise, the more ridiculous it appears, which is why I try not to think about it. In a word, the storyline is preposterous. Victor Laszlo (Paul Henreid) is the heroic Czech national who happens to be both the charismatic leader of the European Resistance, and the Third Reich's most wanted man. The Germans hate him, and have been hunting this son of a bitch with a vengeance, drooling over the prospect of getting their dirty Nazi hands on him. As coincidence would have it, Laszlo, his wife Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman), and the world-weary American expatriate and Ilsa's former lover, Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart), along with a contingent of highly motivated Nazis, all wind up together in Morocco, right smack in the middle of World War II. There's a scene in the film where a German officer, the sinister Major Strasser (Conrad Veidt), tells the corrupt chief of police, the unctuous Captain Renault (Claude Rains), that, although Laszlo has "slipped through our fingers three times," this time they intend to grab him. Strasser makes it chillingly clear that this manhunt is going to end right here, right now, in exotic Casablanca. But here's the absurd part. Laszlo spends his days walking arm-in-arm with Ilsa, and spends his evenings drinking at Rick's chic Cafe Americain, with the Nazis making no effort to snatch him. The couple casually strolls the city as if those pesky Nazis pose no threat whatever. Indeed, Major Strasser shows up at Rick's club one evening, and does nothing more menacing than give Laszlo the stink-eye from across the room. Advertisement Mind you, these are Nazis. The same Nazis who invaded and occupied a good portion of Europe, the same Nazis who engaged in the extermination of the Jews, the same Nazis who plotted to assassinate Winston Churchill. Clearly, international law means nothing to them. Treaties mean nothing. Geographical borders mean nothing. Yet, we are asked to believe that if Laszlo can somehow obtain two "letters of transit," which are mysteriously floating around the city, he and Ilsa can leave Casablanca unimpeded, with no fear of being detained. And how could they be guaranteed to leave with no hassle? Because these "letters of transit" are signed by Charles De Gaulle, Free France's president in exile. No joke. We're asked to believe that a document bearing Charles DeGaulle's signature is enough to render the Third Reich helpless, to bring it to its knees. Even more preposterous is the fact that these "letters" aren't even made out to Laszlo himself, but are blank--with the name of some lucky traveler to be filled in later. Again, we're asked to believe that anyone who gains possession of them (in this backwater town in North Africa) cannot be hindered, even by Adolf Hitler himself. While no one is suggesting that movies need be "realistic," there should be some semblance of reality when purporting to depict historical events. Every movie has the right to be far-fetched in some fashion, but this "letters of transit" gimmick clearly abuses the privilege. After being thumped in New Hampshire last week by Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton returned to Illinois on Wednesday only to see that her edge over the Vermont senator has eroded. A February 11 survey commissioned by The Illinois Observer's e-newsletter, The Insider, of 560 likely Democratic primary voters finds that Clinton leads Sanders 57.9 percent - 24.5 percent. 18.6 percent were undecided. Among women, Clinton leads 57.9 percent - 21.4 percent with 20.7 percent. The gap between the two candidates closes slightly among men, 57.0 percent - 27.9 percent. 15.1 percent were undecided. The automated poll, conducted on February 11 by Chicago-based Ogden & Fry, had a +/- 4.23 percent margin of error. Advertisement While Clinton can bag bragging rights for a 33-point advantage, her lead over Sanders has shrunk 8-points since fall, dropping from a 65.7 percent - 19.5 percent edge in an October 24, 2015 Ogden & Fry poll commissioned by The Insider of 595 Democratic primary voters. In that survey, ex-Governor Martin O'Malley was still in the race and he took 1 percent. 13.8 percent were undecided. Nevertheless, her current score is nearly identical to the 59.8 percent lead she held one-year ago in a February 14, 2015 Ogden & Fry poll. In that survey, Clinton was paired against U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (13.7 percent), Vice President Joe Biden (11.9), and O'Malley (1.3 percent). "Someone else" took 13.8 percent. Her current slippage in Illinois also corresponds to a lackluster general election match-up in Illinois against Donald Trump, which according to a January 9, 2016 Ogden & Fry poll, she leads the reality TV star 36.5 percent - 27.5 percent. 36.0 percent were undecided. Clinton came to Chicago for a "get-out-the-vote" event in the City's Bronzeville neighborhood, aiming to rally African-American voters. This was Clinton's second visit to Bronzeville since announcing her candidacy. Last year, she held a roundtable with child care workers to discuss child care costs and paid family leave. Advertisement In her recent Milwaukee debate against Sanders, Clinton demonstrated that she wasn't shy about taking a swipe at that state's GOP Governor, Scott Walker, saying, "Sen. Sanders' [higher education] plan rests on governors like Scott Walker contributing $23 billion on the first day. I'm a little skeptical about your governor actually caring enough about higher education to make any kind of commitment like that." Amid Illinois' current budget stalemate, Clinton, who grew up in suburban Park Ridge, sought to score local points by also going after Governor Bruce Rauner, who is deeply unpopular in Chicago. "The governor has refused to start budget negotiations unless his so-called 'turnaround agenda' gets passed first," said Clinton. "Now, his plan will turn Illinois around, all right. All the way back to the time of the robber barons of the 19th century." But Rauner spokesman Lance Trover punched back noting that Clinton's remarks were "quite ironic, coming from someone who cashed a $280,000 check for a paid speech to GTCR less than two years ago." Ouch. It's that type of unwelcome irony that's undermining Clinton's campaign against Sanders in Illinois and elsewhere. Advertisement davidormsby@davidormsby.com (Photo: Miles Holden courtesy of New Zealand Tourism Board) Imagine a country where a third of households own a boat. Where the biggest political controversy is whether to change the country's flag (it looks too much like Australia's, is the problem). Where the immigration officer at the airport, instead of grunting "Passport!" asks an incoming visitor, "How was your flight?" and then thanks you for coming. Eye contact included. Where walking down a narrow sidewalk in Christ Church (a city that has seen more than its share of woe), a pedestrian thanks you for squeezing by. Not gonna happen in my beloved New York City. Where, on my first visit 20 years ago, an Air New Zealand flight attendant wouldn't let me stuff my carry-on bag in the overhead bin. "That's my job!" he announced. What planet had I landed on? Advertisement On a recent four-day visit, I asked people why New Zealand seems to be such a happy, polite country, besides, of course, the natural beauty, temperate climate, and Auckland's Giapo Ice Cream and Gelato. And every time I asked I got the same answer: we have a prosperous middle class. The highest paid executive in New Zealand made a whopping $4 million last year (that not so princely sum went to the CEO of Air New Zealand). Four million. In New Zealand dollars, by the way, which is a lot less than U.S. dollars. That wouldn't even count as expense report money for just a run-of-the-mill U.S. oligarch. So the ratio of the highest paid employee to the average wage is a lot lower in New Zealand than in the United States and in many other countries. I just happen to think that that sort of relative equality makes people less on edge, less dog-eat-dog. And probably less envious and greedy, too. So when my cab driver brought me to the city from the airport and I asked him about the happy thing, perhaps he said it best: "I used to work in London. The fares would say hurry up! Go faster or I'll miss my flight. Here in Auckland, my last fare at the end of the trip said, 'Thank you so much for delivering us safely and in good time.' I would never want to live anywhere else." Advertisement As a travel writer, I also noted that although there are some comfortable hotels here, such as The George in Christ Church (shout out to George Bear!), you won't find any Four Seasons, Ritz Carltons, Amans or other luxury chains. Why? Too fancy for this middle class country. Which brings me to Bernie Sanders. If he were president or prime minister of New Zealand, he wouldn't have a soapbox to stand on. There's no billionaire class here. There's barely even a millionaire class. Just a very large middle class enjoying weekends on their boats and hiking in some of the most beautiful scenery on earth. Come visit. It'll make you happy. Major progressive economists are protesting Bernie Sanders predictions of robust economic growth and jobs if his policies are enacted. What are his policies? Policies he claims will give Americans what the other developed countries already offer to their citizens, including a higher minimum wage, tuition-free public university education, universal health care, and better retirement benefits. Then why are progressive economists protesting, who presumably have similar goals? Because we are not like other developed countries, and so shouldn't be exaggerating the benefits of such assertions, said Paul Krugman. "On Wednesday four former Democratic chairmen and chairwomen of the president's Council of Economic Advisers -- three who served under Barack Obama, one who served under Bill Clinton -- released a stinging open letter to Bernie Sanders and Gerald Friedman, a University of Massachusetts professor who has been a major source of the Sanders campaign's numbers," according to Krugman. "The economists called out the campaign for citing "extreme claims" by Mr. Friedman that "exceed even the most grandiose predictions by Republicans" and could "undermine the credibility of the progressive economic agenda." Why are the Sanders-Friedman claims so extreme? Because Dr. Friedman claims he can achieve those goals in just ten years, if the body politic will back Bernie. The late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia's 30 years on the high court led conservative attempts to turn the clock back at least one century to a time when the white male patriarchy still ruled. Whereas Senator Sanders wants to move the economic clock into the next century. "Like the New Deal of the 1930s, Senator Sanders' program is designed to do more than merely increase economic activity: the expenditure, regulatory, and tax programs will increase economic activity and employment and promote a more just prosperity, "broadly-based" with a narrowing of economic inequality," says Professor Friedman in his economic analysis. The increase in income concentration since the 1970s reverses the prior, long-term downward trend in concentration, asserts the non-partisan Center For Budget Policies and Priorities. "After peaking in 1928, the share of income held by households at the very top of the income ladder declined through the 1930s and 1940s. Consistent with the shared prosperity found in the Census data on average family income, the share of income received by those at the very top changed little over the 1950s, 1960s, and early 1970s. The sharp rise in income concentration at the top of the distribution since the late 1970s was interrupted briefly by the dot-com collapse in the early 2000s and again in 2008 with the onset of the financial crisis and deep recession." So Sanders and Friedman have a point -- what economic policies will catch US up to those benefits that the citizens of all other developed countries have? In fact, but for the record income and wealth inequality, we could already offer many of those same benefits. We still have the worst income inequality since 1929, the beginning of the Great Depression, and it has not improved since the end of our Great Recession. Can we blame our young for supporting his vision? It could take more than ten years, as the so-called Reagan trickle-down revolution prevailed for more than 30 years, policies that created the record income inequality by the massive transfer of wealth upward; via the combination of lower tax rates with higher deficit spending that caused major cutbacks in government benefits and programs. German troops advancing during the Battle for Verdun The Western Front 1916: The Battle for Verdun The initial German invasion of France had been stopped at the First Battle of the Marne in September 1914. The attempt of each side to outflank the other ended at the Battle of the Yser and the First Battle of Ypres. As 1914 came to a close each side dug in behind an extensive system of trenches and field fortifications. A series of Allied offensives beginning with the Battle of Neuve Chapelle and including the Second Battle of Ypres, the Second Battle of Artois and finally the Second Battle of Champagne, failed to change the frontlines in any meaningful way. During 1915, the Germans focused on achieving a decisive breakthrough on the Eastern Front in an attempt to knock Russia out of the war. The Russian advance in the Carpathians was initially successful, capturing the Austrian fortress of Przemysl and advancing deep into Galicia. The advance proved to be short-lived, however, as the German-Austrian led Gorlice-Tarnow offensive halted the Russian advance and then broke through the Russian lines precipitating a general Russian retreat from Poland and Galicia. By the end of the summer, German troops had occupied Warsaw and Vilnius and had crossed into Ukraine. Russian forces ended the year bloodied but still standing. As 1916 dawned, unable to achieve any kind of decisive breakthrough on either the Western or Eastern Fronts, the German General Staff developed a new plan. The Chief-of-Staff, Erich von Falkenhayn, insisted, in a purported Christmas Day letter to the Kaiser, that the way to victory in the war lay not in the east, against Russia, but in the west, against France. In order to starve Britain and force it out of the war, he argued, a policy of unrestricted submarine warfare (which he acknowledged ran the risk of drawing the United States into the war) should be conducted against merchant shipping. At the same time, a major set-piece victory against the French would either bring the Allies to the negotiating table or ensure their defeat. The Kaiser was persuaded by von Falkenhayn's reasoning, and thus set in train the events that led to the Battle of Verdun. It was a battle that would eventually cost von Falkenhayn his job and result in the deaths of some 700,000 German and Allied soldiers. Advertisement Map of the Verdun battlefield, February to December, 1916 Verdun, on the banks of the River Meuse, held a special, symbolic place in the hearts of the French people. A role it retains to this day. A fortress since Roman times, it had been the last fortification to fall to the enemy in the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-71. Since then, it had become part of a defensive line running from Belfort through Epinal, Verdun and Toul across the Belfort gap. The gap, nicknamed the Burgundian gate, was a 30-mile wide zone between the Jura and Vosges mountains that had been the traditional invasion route from Germany into eastern France. Twenty forts garrisoned by 20,000 troops now protected Verdun, at the center of the Belfort gap. Von Falkenhayn believed that that French Army would attempt to hold the east bank of the Meuse at all costs. Once defeated, they would commit their strategic reserve to recapture that terrain. The combination of precise and massive German artillery fire and well defended, entrenched German infantry would inflict catastrophic losses on the French. Falkenhayn's plan was simple and terrifying. Knowing that France would not allow Verdun to fall, he proposed to "bleed France white" by drawing troops from an enormous area to the defense of the fortress town. In his favor was the fact that Verdun formed a salient into German lines, allowing it to be attacked on three sides with an unrelenting bombardment. With its strategic reserve destroyed, France would have no choice but to seek a negotiated peace or risk a German breakthrough and a humiliating defeat. Advertisement Postponed because of freezing weather from its original proposed start date of February 12 to February 21, the assault was to be preceded by a 21-hour bombardment. Marshal Joffre, apprised of the imminent attack, duly rushed reinforcements to the French Second Army, while the fortress commander, Lieutenant-Colonel Emile Driant, attempted to strengthen Verdun's defenses. His 200,000 defenders, on the east bank of the Meuse River, faced a formidable foe: a million German troops of the German 5th Army under Crown Prince Wilhelm. French 87th Regiment at Verdun The Prince's opening gambit--100,000 shells fired every hour from 1,400 guns along an 8-mile front--was intended to wipe out the French defense before the infantry started their advance. It failed. Miraculously, half of the defenders remained in place. In response, Wilhelm renewed the bombardment, but by the end of the first day the Germans had succeeded only in taking the French frontline trenches. Meanwhile, French counter-attackers had been met for the first time by German flame-throwers. They were horrifying weapons but capable of only a short firing time and useless when empty. On the second day the next line of trenches was overrun and the defenders had been forced back to within five miles of Verdun itself, although the outlying forts were still holding out and more reinforcements were on their way. When one of those forts fell, Joffre reminded his commanders that any man who ceded ground to the Germans would be court-martialed. To surrender Verdun was unthinkable. Joffre appointed Philippe Petain--later to achieve notoriety as the Chief of State of Vichy France during World War II--to command the defense. "Ils ne passeront pas!" Petain assured Joffre. "They shall not pass!" It was a significant appointment. Petain, determined to inflict as many casualties on the Germans as possible while conceding the inevitability of enormous French losses, reorganized the use of artillery and ensured an effective supply route remained open. The next German offensive, on March 6, met with stern resistance as French reinforcements continued to arrive. Of the 330 infantry regiments the French army possessed, 259 saw service at Verdun. On April 9 the third major German offensive started, again Petain's defenses held and again attacks were met by counterattacks. The desolation of the Verdun battlefield As the weeks wore on, Petain was promoted and replaced by General Robert Nivelle. The Germans also started to use a deadly new chemical: diphosgene gas. Denser than chlorine gas, phosgene hugged the ground spilling over into the trenches with deadly effectiveness. But French forces still held. Their losses were horrendous, but so were the German ones. The German General Staff had other worries as well. The British were starting a major offensive in the Somme. It had been brought forward from its intended date as a means of diverting German manpower away from Verdun. In addition, a Russian offensive in the east was a further drain on resources. Advertisement At first glance, this film might seem to simply be about a bunch of kids entertaining themselves on winter school break with a major snowball fight. But, it is packed with some very powerful life lessons and messages. The characters are entertaining and their resourcefulness quite amazing. The film starts out on a frivolous note but takes a serious turn and has some consequences. However, this is when the characters learn about friendship and even more important messages. KIDS FIRST! Film Critic Ryan R. comments, "I appreciate this film because I love how it shows a beautiful, snowy village and the kids in this village having fun in the snow." Morgan B. adds, "...there is a message and everyone will get it. It is one, which we should all know." See their full reviews below. Snowtime By Ryan R. KIDS First Film Critic, Age 12 I loved watching the new film Snowtime. This film is one to watch. In this film, it is winter break and Luke (voiced by Angela Galuppo) and his friends prepare for an epic snowball fight. They divide themselves into two teams. One team builds an amazing snow fort and the other team wants to win the snowball fight to claim ownership of the fort. Watch these two teams go head to head in this snowball fight to see who gets to win and claim the snow fort. Who will win? Who will lose? Advertisement I appreciate this film because I love how it shows a beautiful, snowy village and the kids in this village having fun in the snow. I also like the fort the kids make in this movie. I love the characters. They are silly, quirky and sometimes bashful. I also liked their appearance and how they are drawn. The jokes are also funny; this is another great film for kids. I really enjoyed the scenery too. The moral theme in this film is an important one. Basically, there are no winners when it comes to war. The kids end up learning this lesson. Their friendly snowball fight soon takes an ugly turn which leads to some serious conflicts and a surprise. I think there are other life lessons in this film but that is the main one that stands out for me. My favorite character is Nicky (voiced by Liz MacRae). When Nicky shares his ideas with his friends, they underestimate him and knock his ideas down. I love that he doesn't allow what they say to discourage him and he continues on his own and accomplishes his idea. I respect his persistence and how he collaborates so well with his friends. I enjoyed how he makes things and they turn out well. I appreciate his imagination. I can relate to him because people sometimes knock down some of my ideas too. But I continue to go forward with my ideas and prove them wrong. I give this movie 4 out of 5 stars because the animation is great and it has an important message. I recommend this to kids ages 3 to 18. I think adults might like this as well. I also recommend this to people who like family, comedy, adventure and action movies. Mark your calendars for February 19, 2016 when Snowtime opens in theaters. Advertisement Snowtime By Morgan B., KIDS FIRST! Film Critic, Age 11 It is 90 degrees in Los Angeles California and 48 degrees in Colorado and it is winter for another month, with snow falling in other states. What is a group of kids to do over winter break? Have a snowball fight, of course. The group splits into two teams and away we go. The story line is great. We got a glimpse of the backstory of characters and learn what motivates them and makes them who they are. I have two favorite characters. The first is Sophie voiced by Luchina Paris. She is the older sister and is always coming up with a plan to defeat the other team. My second is Four Eyes because of his crazy glasses. Many of the best parts of the movie are due to his ingenious inventions he makes to keep the fort in his team's control. They are creative and awesome. I would have picked his team just to see the inventions he made - slides, escape hatches, automated snowball throws and traps to keep the other team on their toes. The story line has a bit of a love story angle but seems to fizzle out and is not completed. If they make a part two I hope they continue this story line and leave it with a better conclusion. The hardest part of having two teams is the fact that they are all really good friends. There are many moments when you see them struggle because they are fighting their friends. It is all in fun but still there is a goal, which is to take the fort from the other team I loved the graphics and animation. It is believable and easy to watch. You forget the characters are animated and look at them as if they are real people. The fort, well let's say it is the most awesome snow castle ever and I would love to play in it. Advertisement Most children's movies are fun, cute and quirky and leave you feeling upbeat. This movie left me feeling sad. I loved the movie but I did not like the ending. No spoilers, but I wish they had added more to the ending of the movie. But, there is a message and everyone will get it. It is one, which we should all know, but not one that makes you laugh or smile. I recommend this movie for ages 6 and up. Younger kids might not totally grasp the story line but they will love the graphics and a good snowball fight. I give this movie 4 1/2 out of 5 shooting snowballs. This movie is brought to you by Shout! Factory and opens in theaters March 29th. The DVD will be out in the fall of 2016 just in time for the next winter snow fun. Ryan R., KIDS FIRST! Film Critic, age 12 I've run off to Florence, Italy for a couple of months. This seems to be the kind of thing I do lately. I'm OK with it. The last several years have been tough, I got hit hard square in the midlife. Turns out the wounds weren't fatal (though at times it felt like they were), and I'm determined to have a happy ending. Not the kind of happy ending you get at a sketchy Asian massage parlor, but the kind of happy ending you that you can tell your grandkids about so they think you're cool. Advertisement As I was shoveling snow about a month ago in my hometown of Incline Village at Lake Tahoe, I thought that maybe I could find something more exciting to do for the next few months. Enter Florence. This is my front door for the next couple of months. You'll notice the obvious lack of snow. Much to my surprise, my apartment is just down the street from the Duomo, and right next door to a newly opened gourmet pastry shop. I'm not sure which thrills me more. Some say that travel is really about finding yourself. I've been finding myself in love with the food. I'd like to say that I ran into the Duomo on the first day, or threw myself at the Uffizi -- but that's just not the case. Having studied art in college, fine art major, art history minor, with a semester here in Italy studying the masters, I can say that I've seen a lot of art. This trip, I've yet to walk into a church or gallery, but I've been in about 50 food shops. Does this mean I came for the food? I'm finding myself swooning over the incredible tastes and the intoxicating smells more than I remember. Maybe it's an age thing. Or maybe I'm just thrilled to experience vegetables that taste as they should. Remember how a carrot used to taste before it became a bland, woody stick stuck in a plastic bag? I do now. Advertisement Every day is a foot journey out the front door and into the neighborhood. I walk for hours daily. Sometimes there's a plan, sometimes just a direction. Down small side streets with tiny shops, and onto main streets with crowds and large display windows, into alleys with walk up focaccia selections. There are cafe menus to read, tiny shops to investigate (this shop sells door knobs), and so many gelato vendors to consider visiting. Two months may not be enough. I will get to the Uffizi, the David, the Pieta, and tour the Duomo. They will wait for me because they understand too well my intoxication with just being here. I'm solo on this trip, so I hope you'll join me. I would enjoy the company. You can follow along on social media, particularly Instagram where I'm posting pics regularly. You can also connect with me on my blog -- I'd love to hear from you! Ciao! Kimberly Montgomery is the creator of the Choices Notebook and blogger at FiftyJewels.com, where she encourages people to use their powers for good. Hop on over there to grab your FREE copy of the Choices Notebook Mini Kit. Earlier on Huff/Post50: The Supreme Court ruled that same-sex couples can marry nationwide. Outside the Supreme Court building a large crowd gathered to celebrate and protest the controversial ruling. In South Dakota, Governor Dennis Daugaard is right this moment mulling over a bill sent to his desk by the legislature that would bar transgender students -- kids often facing bullying and discrimination -- from using bathrooms or locker rooms that correspond with their gender identity. The bill defines such facilities as "designated for and used only by students of the same biological sex" and federal officials say it violates federal law, specifically Title IX of the Civil Rights Act. South Dakota would be the first place to pass such a law, but it certainly doesn't look like the last. In Georgia and Mississippi, new "religious liberties" bills that would allow government workers, taxpayer-funded groups and businesses whose owners or operators oppose gay marriage to discriminate againt gays, have advanced. Legislators in over twenty other states are pursuing similar actions. And in Texas, a new Kim Davis is on the horizon, as Molly Criner, the clerk of rural Irion County, says she may not give out marriage licenses to gay couples (no couples have apparently yet come to get one). She testified last week before a Texas legislative committee. "This is going to be something that violates my oath," she claimed. Advertisement A backlash against LGBT equality is in full swing, eight months after marriage equality came to the entire nation, and it's not just happening in very conservative places. In Houston, a city which had a lesbian mayor and prided itself on inclusiveness, a ballot measure rescinded the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance with an overwhelming majority last November, as opponents targeted transgender people with a campaign of hate and "bathroom panic" via television ads. LGBT leaders not only didn't have a plan then, they've still not figured out how to deal with bathroom panic and the right's age-old tactic of exploiting people's fears about their children with regard to the presence of gay or transgender people. More than that, some gay leaders even thought that "compromise" on civil rights was the answer, only to be duped. In Utah, a "compromise" with Mormon leaders and Mormon politicians on an LGBT rights bill -- much criticized by many grass roots LGBT activists -- was agreed upon last year. It included broad religious exemptions, and did not include protections in public accommodations at all, but was hailed by the governor and the ACLU. This supposedly was about making peace with the LDS church. But months later the church instituted a policy which condemned children of same-sex couples who are Mormon and targeted the parents for excommunication. Now Mormon politicians are embarking on a "marriage sovereignty" bill which would prevent gay couples from adopting within the state, clearly not abiding by any "compromise." Advertisement In Indiana, lawmakers last month already tried to emulate the Utah "compromise" -- a supposed LGBT bill rights bill with broad, offensive religious exemptions -- and when LGBT advocates rightly stood their ground and refused, the bill was killed altogether. That was less than a year after everyone was hailing the Indiana "turning point," when big business supposedly was going to save the day after Governor Mike Pence was forced to backtrack on a Religious Restoration Freedom Act, and bring full equality to the state. It's as if none of that had actually happened last year -- except, it did, but it was momentary and meant very little, because both the media and big business are fair weather friends. And more importantly, LGBT leaders were overcome with victory blindness, heady over the marriage equality win that was believed to be coming down. But perhaps they're still overcome because they still don't have a strategy, though after Houston, Chad Griffin, president of the largest LGBT group, the Human Rights Campaign -- which went to Houston to spearhead the battle which they lost badly -- promised they'd have one. In subsequent interviews, however, he still hasn't adequately articulated it. What has the group done lately about the backlash? They've sent out a lot of press releases and written a lot of blog posts, from what I can see. Has Griffin gone to South Dakota to try to talk with the governor, legislators or even hold a press conference? Did he head to Mississippi to consult with activists and bring attention to the issue? Maybe he could have led a contingent of activists to Kansas, where anti-gay Governor Sam Brownback in recent days hailed the largest anti-gay religious freedom rally that Brownback said he could ever recall at the statehouse. No, last we saw Griffin he was in Davos, Switzerland for the World Economic Forum, then on the campaign trail in Iowa with Hillary Clinton (and the group had organized its members to campaign in Nevada), whom his group endorsed even before there were any primaries. Yes, while all of this is happening in the states the leader of the country's largest LGBT group is on the campaign trail for a politician rather than heading to those states. At the very least, the Human Rights Campaign should be pressuring the Democratic candidates for president -- both of them -- to speak out fervently and specifically about these bills in Utah, Georgia, Mississippi and many other states. And the candidates, in debates and elsewhere, should be talking about how transgender kids, children who are trying to make their way in a hostile world, are under fervent attack in South Dakota. Instead, Hillary Clinton has spoken in general terms about "LGBT rights" (to her credit, however, it's been at just every debate and during other speeches), while Sanders mentioned "gay rights" in his New Hampshire victory speech while he's not gotten into the specifics of the all-out assault on LGBT rights in the states. Advertisement Because the Human Rights Campaign mistakenly endorsed a candidate (Clinton) early -- the group has in the past few elections waited until after the primaries to endorse -- many believe there's no leverage, no incentive for the candidates to speak out. There's no endorsement to compete for. But that of course shouldn't stop the candidates from being more vocal and more specific. From the minimal data available, Sanders may be getting a large chunk of the LGBT vote, over 40 percent of a constituency that has influence larger than its numbers because of its loyalty, its donors and how those in the grass roots inspire others to get out to vote. He could pull in more from a group many had taken for granted would turn out big for Clinton. And of course, Sanders should speak on these issues in specifics not just to get voters out, but to stand against bigotry. But with gay leaders kind of clueless about what to do, or still heady after the Supreme Court win, they've not organized the community. Many LGBT Americans aren't even aware of what's playing out. And the national media, too, appears to have blocked it out almost entirely, as these stories play under the radar. It's not surprising then that national politicians aren't talking about these alarming bills. They're not getting any direction from a community that seems itself not to even notice how anti-LGBT bigots continue their crusade against equality right before our eyes. Meanwhile, as Democrats continue to become more deeply and angrily divided over their candidates, a new poll shows Republicans ready and willing -- 86 percent -- to vote for Donald Trump if he wins the nomination. With GOP Senate leaders hellbent on preventing President Obama from replacing Justice Scalia on the Supreme Court, it's quite possible the next president will do that. If it's Donald Trump, he's indicated he'd appoint the most extreme judges, putting up names of some with horribly anti-gay records. And it goes without saying that if anyone in the rest of the field of GOP candidates wins, the judges won't be any better. We may then see one or two other Supreme Court justices step down or die, with a GOP president replacing them, too, with anti-gay judges who will certainly uphold these religious liberty bills and possibly could ensconce anti-LGBT laws for decades. That is the nightmare scenario. But unless people wake up, it could begin to become a reality in just a matter of months. Laughter, solidarity, and conviviality were in the air at a quietly remarkable event in a Nairobi hotel on February 12. Yet the subject matter discussed at the event was anything but light: depression and suicide, public stripping and rape. The Gay and Lesbian Coalition of Kenya (GALCK) was presenting its new report, " Research on the Lived Realities of Lesbian, Bisexual and Queer Women in Kenya." The report addresses the often overlooked experiences of queer women. In much human rights reporting, violations against queer women, which often occur in the private sphere of the home, are overshadowed by violations in the public sphere. And our ears are attuned to the loudest voices - usually, men's - while women too frequently suffer human rights abuses in silence. The women of GALCK, trading in trust built among LBQ communities, transcended those barriers and elevated the voices of Kenyan women, bringing their experiences front and center. Many of the stories center around family, including abuse when families discover queer women's sexuality. Rose, in Kisumu, described how her brother literally threw her out of the house, grabbing her by the throat and accusing her of being Satanic. Another brother threatened to turn her in to the police. Crimes as grave as rape may also take place in the family sanctum: in a 2012 case, a woman committed suicide "after her parents had held her hostage and had organized to have an older male family member rape her repeatedly in an effort to impregnate her and 'cure' her." Advertisement Meanwhile, LBQ women cope with familial and societal pressures around creating their own families. Some are pushed into marriage with men. Others struggle to find creative ways to bear or raise children with their female partners in a context in which adoption is prohibited by law to anyone who is "a homosexual," and medically-supported artificial insemination is out of economic reach for most women. The more public abuses tend to be tied to social policing of rigid gender norms in Kenya, and GALCK found that women who are "masculine presenting" are most at risk of violence. So are women living "in lower middle class and lower class neighborhoods where people interact more intensively with each other than in high-class areas, and where social ties are geared more towards cohesion and control." The story of Leila, a butch lesbian, in the Kasarani neighborhood of Nairobi, is illustrative. She was publicly stripped by motorcycle taxi ("boda boda") drivers while walking to school--an abuse that has also been inflicted on straight women deemed to be dressed inappropriately, including women wearing trousers or short skirts. Leila said: "I found the motorists at the stage, they were always there, and some were even my friends. I knew their faces and would sometimes say hi as I passed them. That day they just started shouting at me, asking if I was a boy or girl...they were many...they surrounded me and started grabbing me and tearing [off] my clothes. They were laughing. They tore off my shirt and were pulling my trousers....This happened in broad daylight." One impact of rights abuses among LBQ women is high levels of "stress-related problems, such as depression, insomnia and anxiety." GALCK found that that as a result of accumulated stress and depression, "a large part of 'lesbian culture' in the larger cities in Kenya consists of heavy drinking and drug abuse." Mental health and substance abuse services are scarce and difficult to access for all Kenyans, and LBQ women face the additional burden of identifying the rare providers who will help them without judging their sexuality or gender identity. Advertisement Presidential Candidate, Senator Bernie Sanders (VT-I) (photo:Image Source) Perhaps it's because he keeps saying whomever is President, nothing will change because the system is rigged by Wall Street. Perhaps it's the disbelief that anyone running for President just comes out and says that. Perhaps it's because he began drawing the largest crowds to political rallies, and still does, breaking Obama's record for crowds in 2008. Perhaps it's that he won the New Hampshire Primary by the most votes ever given to a candidate of either party in history. Advertisement Perhaps it's his endless energy to re-direct the talking points away from negative slurs and sensational headlines back to the vanishing middle class, impoverished seniors, struggling families, vast student debt, imprisoned African American and Latino youths at a much higher percentage than white, that war needs to be a 'last' option and the lack of regulation on the pharmaceutical industry's pricing is a crisis. Perhaps it's because that list just went up against some of the biggest and strongest lobbyist groups in Washington D.C. Perhaps it's because he's not taking any of biggest and strongest lobbyist groups' money during this campaign. Perhaps it's his shock when he points out Goldman Sachs received a $5 billion fine for improprieties leading to the housing crisis recession, but how not one executive in the bank has gone to prison. Perhaps it's because he then points out one teenager caught smoking marijuana will have a prison record the rest of their lives. Perhaps it's because people say candidates get to 'change' and 'mature' and Hillary is a good example of that, which makes you wonder about the maturity of the guy who's been saying the same thing for 30 years and how he's suddenly on the right side of the issues after sticking to his beliefs when few supported them. That sounds pretty mature to me. Advertisement Perhaps it's his ideas that you haven't heard a political candidate say out loud in over two generations like "free public college", and '$15 minimum wage," and "breaking up the banks" and "tax Wall Street". Perhaps it's not just rhetoric but that he's proposed bills for each of these goals. I still remember members of the media laughing out loud when Sanders proposed taxing Wall Street in his first interviews, and then Sanders telling them now. Perhaps it's because the same members of the media are not laughing now. Perhaps it's the way he stays on message and stays positive as his opponent swing negative. Perhaps it's his fundraising, not from corporations and banks into a SuperPac, but from individual donations. Perhaps it's how he's broken records fundraising all through last year and out-paced Hillary by $5 million in donations just this January even though she has the support of corporations and banks. Perhaps it's his request for donations the night he won the New Hampshire Primary, saying he was going to New York City: "but not for a fundraiser." In the next 24 hours 26,000 people donated $6.4 million in average donations of $34, breaking another record. Perhaps it because he's gone to the people, because he believed in them, and it turns out the people believe in him in return. Perhaps it's because he doesn't stop insightful and passionate speeches on how to improve, revitalize, equalize and financially secure the country. Perhaps it's because he doesn't have a fear of not being liked. Perhaps it's because he's said more confrontational things to more people over the course of his career unwavering in his convictions in support of the people. Advertisement Perhaps it's because these speeches have set the talking points for every other campaign from the moment he entered the race, because everyone had to have a response to Sander's position. Perhaps it's that he said when he saw Joyce Behar backstage at The View "here comes my stalker." Perhaps it's because Hillary wants to be liked, and is clearly afraid about saying the wrong thing. Perhaps the proof of that is her aligning herself with Sanders positions all through last fall, positions which she had avoided or was against for years. These include Gay Marriage, against it from 2000 until the Supreme Court upheld it in 2015 and then she came out for it, (matching Sanders position from 1972). She supported the Trans Pacific Partnership calling it the 'gold standard' in trade deals as Secretary of State for years until this October when she came out against it, as Sanders has always been. She supported the Keystone XL Pipeline for years until this October when she came out against it, as Sanders has always been. Perhaps it's because the list goes on and this list is long. Perhaps it's because he just doesn't stop telling the truth. Perhaps it's because Sanders has always said the banks were crooks and caused the financial crisis and collapse and in 2007 Hillary was preaching the corporate line and blaming home owners. Perhaps it's because John Lewis, a civil rights hero, came out against Sanders saying he was never part of the civil rights movement and in the same day 100s of pictures went viral on the web showing Sanders at marches throughout the 60s at civil rights events as a member of C.O.R.E., and Hillary was at the Republican convention in 1964 working for Barry Goldwater. Perhaps Sanders choice not to have a SuperPac is so stunning, in the new world of Citizen's United where corporate support of campaigns can exceed $500 million. Perhaps it's because Sanders says he's committed to overturn Citizens United if elected President. Perhaps it's because I think we're seeing an old story unfold before our eyes. A story so old it goes back before our own country was born, and back before previous empires rose and fell. I'm thinking as far back as Rome, at the height of its empire, rich and corrupted by wealth and power, where the ruling class and noble elite controlled all the wealth, commanded the armies and the citizens were impoverished. In the written history of those times, only a handful of Senators, over centuries, were recorded as campaigning for a return to the Republic and support of the people. These men decried the imbalances of wealth and power in the ruling class and preached for the return of equality and social justice. Cheered by the citizens, they took their lives in their hands, as any threat to the entrenched power structure was to risk death. And, in the end, the few who tried, and even fewer who achieved power were killed. Advertisement The Empire endlessly protected its corrupt and morally bankrupt ruling class until it all collapsed. I always wondered what kind of courage it took to stand up in the face of impossible odds like that and speak the truth, knowing how impossible the odds for change was. I always wondered what that would look life if we could see that history come alive today. I think we're seeing it in Sanders. To have someone fight for the people in the face of impossible odds, to say dangerously idealistic things in such a corrupt society which should be political suicide because they are really intending to make real changes. These moments in the grand course of societies can not be taken for granted. The voices of change that lead through sheer will and integrity of character don't come every year, or even once in a generation, but sometimes only once in a lifetime. Leaders like these aren't born to an age, they are burned in the fire of their upbringing causing some chemical change that forces them to care as much for others as for themselves. They become fearless and truthful and nd suddenly, impossibly, they become the agents of change that can bring about a new age. Perhaps that's why Sanders says what he believes, not what he thinks you want him to say. Perhaps it's because Sanders wants to fix the country and doesn't care if you don't like it. He's not telling you what you want to hear. He's telling you what he feels you need to know. And if you want real change, for the first time in several generations, it's nice to know that for once, there's someone who's really ready to stand up and fight, right now, for the rest of us. Advertisement And perhaps that's the guy you want to vote for. Trump argued he was protected as president to verbally attack journalist who accused him of rape. Then he bizarrely repeated the attacks as a private citizen. I drove by the building one day where the establishment was located and then I noticed it -- the sign for "Mekong Restaurant" had been taken down. I was surprised, if not shocked. The Mekong Restaurant had become a favorite for my wife and me. We would have dinner there two to three times per week. The cuisine was Vietnamese, Thai and Chinese. Our favorite was the Vietnamese dishes, Pho, Curry Tofu or Curry Chicken with Vegetables, Shrimp with Vegetables. All of this delicious food was meticulously prepared with the freshest ingredients. The proprietor and chef was Mr. Van. He had immigrated to the United States back in the 1970s from Vietnam. He told us that he still has family members, including his sister, who live in Vietnam. Most evenings, when we would eat at the restaurant, we would have the dining room to ourselves. The flat screen television would be broadcasting Vietnamese programs via satellite from a television station in Orange County, California. Other times Mr. Van would have Vietnamese music playing on his CD player. I was always concerned if the restaurant would be financially sustainable. We would ask Mr. Van, "How is business? Did you have a lot of customers today?" He would say with pride that he served a lot of people for lunch and then he would point to the long receipt trail from the cash register and say "this was all take-out business." Mr. Van became like family to us. He would give us tangerines and special cookies. He would always tell you as we left the restaurant, "Sleep well tonight." All of this makes Mr. Van's disappearance that much more mysterious. Where did he go? He didn't tell us that he was going to close the restaurant. There was never a hint that he was exploring moving to a new location. Advertisement One night, during dinner, Mr. Van started to talk about Vietnam. He mentioned that his sister was still living there. He also indicated that he was thinking about making a trip to Vietnam to visit his family. He said, "if I go I will probably want to stay at least ten days," but then he added "I'm not sure if I will go right now, maybe later especially regarding all the trouble concerning possible terrorism." This all sounded reasonable to my wife and I, and we thought "well, we will see Mr. Van when he returns from Vietnam and we will hear about his trip." I wondered if Mr. Van had in fact returned to Vietnam, either for good or if he was now being prevented from returning to the United States. This saga could be the beginning of an interesting novel. I know that people will enter and depart from your life. Some people, of course, being more pleasant, special, and memorable than others. Lent is a time where you can reflect upon the meaning of your life, and of all that you cherish in terms of people and relationships. What makes abrupt departures of people unnerving is not knowing what happened to them. I miss Mr. Van's smile, his warm greeting, his generous hospitality and his goodbye "sleep well tonight. " I always did sleep well after I ate at Mekong Restaurant, but I can't help but wonder what has become of Mr. Van? I hope that if he went back to Vietnam that he had a good homecoming, that he is safe and that he is with his family and that he will continue to be prosperous. Buddhist tradition talks about birth and death, birth and death and eventually transcending to nothingness and being happy and content in the present moment. Christian tradition speaks about resurrection in spite of the reality of death and about transcendence to a new and more abundant and fulfilling life. Advertisement My prayer is that all of us can find peace and reassurance even in those moments where there is disturbance, and when relationships with others are altered or if they come to an end. May we find ourselves like T.S. in the Four Quartets: "We shall not cease from exploration. And the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time." Robert Scheer sits down with Vietnam veteran, author and peace activist Ron Kovic to discuss what we have learned and not learned about the lessons of war since his time in combat in Vietnam. While serving as a Marine in the Vietnam War, Ron Kovic suffered a spinal cord injury that left him paralyzed from the chest down. Kovic's book, Born on the Fourth of July, published 40 years ago, discusses his time on the battlefield as well as the fight after coming home to end the war and get better treatment for veterans. In their conversation, Scheer and Kovic talk about the decades-long struggle to get his book made into an unflinching movie directed by Oliver Stone and starring Tom Cruise. In addition, Kovic delves into the 17-day hunger strike in which he and other veterans took part in 1974 that led to changes in care for veterans and which inspired his forthcoming book, Hurricane Street. Advertisement Adapted from KCRW.com Also available in iTunes Click, subscribe, and share. Read the full interview below: Robert Scheer: Hi, this is Robert Scheer in another edition of Scheer Intelligence, where I interview people that have been produced by this crazy quilt of American culture, with all its national backgrounds, religions, regional prejudices, racial differences and complex history in this great American experiment in democracy, and has produced some individuals who stand out for their courage, their wisdom, their insight. And my guest today, Ron Kovic, is certainly a great American original. He's someone who as a young man was living in Massapequa, Long Island; I should pronounce that better, I'm probably getting it wrong-- Ron Kovic: Massapequa. RS: Massapequa, but I know the place, 'cause I used to fish nearby as a kid from the Bronx. We'd go out in Freeport, Long Island-- RK: Yeah, Freeport, yeah. RS: We've reminisced about this. And Ron Kovic, in 1964--how old were you then? RK: I was 18 years old, and I had just turned 18 on the Fourth of July; the independence day is my birthday. And I joined the Marines out of high school in the fall of 1964. Advertisement RS: So you were at Massapequa High School. And the movie, that I'm sure people, some people are familiar, if not, they should know about it, Born on the Fourth of July, directed by Oliver Stone; Tom Cruise plays Ron Kovic in a brilliant performance based on your book, Born on the Fourth of July. Published, amazingly enough, 40 years ago. But let me just back off onto this history a little bit. After being in high school, and you joined the Marines and hit that training-- RK: Yeah, I went to book camp; I went to Paris Island, South Carolina, Marine Corps boot camp in September of '64. RS: Yeah. And then when were you first sent to Vietnam? RK: Well, I volunteered, Bob. I volunteered to go to Vietnam; I had never flown across the country before in my life, and I flew across the country, and I spent about a month and a half at something called staging battalion in Camp Pendleton, California. And it was my first experience with California, and about a month later, in December, I went to Vietnam for the first time in December of 1965. I remember standing around a pool table in the recreation room in Camp Lejeune; I was stationed there for a while after boot camp. That's on the--Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. And I was standing around a pool table with a bunch of Marines, and the television was on. And all of a sudden it became very quiet, and they started talking about--Marines, young Marines started saying, 'We're going to war, we're going to war.' And that was during the Gulf of Tonkin incident. RS: Yeah, and for people unfamiliar with that history, we were already at war; I mean, we'd actually been involved in South Vietnam, supposedly protecting it against North Vietnam, a country that had been occupied by the French. And there'd been a war against the French, a war for independence; but there were supposed to be elections; they didn't happen. Back in the fifties, 1956, when the election was supposed to happen, the French got out but the U.S. got in; and we got in basically under John Kennedy sending people that he said were flood control advisors, but they ended up being CIA people and troops and so forth. And we kept along, but then there was turmoil in South Vietnam; we had a leader in power, Ngo Dinh Diem, who was a Catholic but 90 percent of the country was Buddhist, and he had come from New Jersey where he was--so it was a whole sordid history. And my own connection with this is I went to Vietnam in '64, just about the time when you were joining the Marines, and published about this, and went there actually several times before you did, but I'm familiar with that. And at the time of the Gulf of Tonkin attack, in August of '64, it was assumed that, yes, there had been a second attack on American ships by North Vietnamese, VC boats. And it was only 20 years later I was sitting at the LA Times, and we got ahold of documents that were finally declassified, that showed that the U.S. government, from President Johnson down through Secretary of Defense McNamara and on out to the admirals in the Navy and the captain of the ship, knew that there was no evidence of an attack. And as it turned out, they had new radar on the ship, the Maddox, and they picked up the zigzagging movements of their radar. And they knew that in real time, but the president of the United States, the record is quite clear, lied to the American people about this attack. And it became an excuse for broadening the war, and bombing North Vietnam, extending the war. And we were off to this big involvement. You were this young high school kid who was swept up in these events. Advertisement RK: Very, very patriotic; inspired by John F. Kennedy's call to service, 'Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.' I remember how tremendously inspired I was watching John F. Kennedy's speech that day; I couldn't wait to serve my country. My father and mother had both served in the Navy during World War II; both of my uncles had served in the Navy during World War II, or were Marines. I remember having the Marine Corps Guidebook when I was nine years old, practicing saluting in front of a mirror when I was ten, eleven years old. I had grown up with John Wayne movies, Sgt. Rock comic books, and a whole romanticizing of war. And I couldn't wait to go to Vietnam. And I volunteered several times, and finally I was sent to Vietnam in December of 1965. And my first duty station was at a place called Chu Lai, Vietnam. And I was there for 13 months; that was the tour of duty for the Marines back then, 13 months. And in January of 1967, I finally returned to the United States. During my first tour, by the way, I volunteered for a reconnaissance battalion, and I did 22 long-range reconnaissance patrols in enemy territory. And finally came home--I, at the time, I believed in the war and, just like our fathers before us who had won the great victory of World War II, I wanted to win in Vietnam at the time. And I had no idea that I would eventually end up joining the peace movement and being arrested many times for protesting the very war that at one time I was so committed to participating in. RS: And then what happened was you volunteered to go back for a second tour. RK: Yeah, I came back from Vietnam in January of '67. I spent a couple of weeks in Massapequa; I had a couple of weeks' leave. It was great to be home after 13 months in Vietnam. But I remember I was sent to Cherry Point, North Carolina, the Marine Corps air wing. And I was there for a couple of months, and I remember seeing a picture in the newspaper one Sunday of demonstrators burning the American flag. I believe it was called [Sheep] Meadow park in New York. They were protesting the war and burning the flag, and it upset me greatly. It was not long after that I volunteered to go back to Vietnam a second time, because I wanted to--I wanted to show that there was another side to this country; there was a commitment to the war and winning the war. And so I volunteered and I went back to Vietnam a second time. I lasted a couple of months, and on January 20th, 1968, while leading my squad across an open area, I was shot first through the right, my right foot, and it blew out the back of my heel. And then I went down on my hands and knees and tried to return fire with my M14 rifle, and just as I was--my rifle jammed, and just as I was getting up, I took a bullet through my right shoulder. It went through my lung, collapsed my right lung, hit my spine, and paralyzed me from my mid-chest down. The first Marine who came up to try to save me was shot almost immediately in the heart and killed instantly. And a few minutes later, a second Marine came up from behind, picked me up and carried me back under heavy fire, and saved my life. I found out many, many years later, nearly 30 years after the fact, that that Marine was killed later that day in an artillery attack. RS: When I first met you--you know these dates better than I do--we were both at a demonstration-- RK: It was Memorial Day, 1971. RS: Memorial Day, 1971. And we were at the veterans' cemetery in Westwood, near UCLA in Los Angeles. And I'd been in Vietnam a few times as a journalist, and written quite a bit about it. And I had spoken, and you spoke at this rally. It was a whole bunch of us went to pay our respect-- RK: At the graveyard. RS: At the graveyard, and there were all these crosses all over the place. And then the night came--maybe you could describe that scene, because it--it ended up being just the two of us in the dark. RK: Everybody left, and you know, the night came on. And I remember just a sea of not only crosses, but a sea of American flags, if you can imagine that; hundreds and hundreds of American flags above the graves of those who had died in different wars--not just Vietnam, but many, many of our country's wars. And we sat there in the dark, and that was, my God, how many years ago? Forty some-odd years ago, right? RS: Right. And then-- RK: We sat there for quite a while. RS: Everyone else left, and the two of us-- RK: Alone in the graveyard, yeah. RS: Yeah, alone in the graveyard. [Laughs] And we started a, began a friendship that has continued. And so let's talk about your book, because that, in a way, saved you. You went through a very rough time. What had been done to you, and then not believing in the war, and trying to get that message across. And you were thrown out of your wheelchair by police; you were arrested as an anti-war person. And in fact you have a new book out now called 'Hurricane Street.' It's coming out on the 40th anniversary of your incredible classic, 'Born on the Fourth of July.' It's Akashic books. And it's a story that really takes place in '74. And when you and a bunch of wounded, basically wounded-- RK: In wheelchairs, yeah. RS: In wheelchairs, sat in at the office--I guess you had to sit, you were in the wheelchair-- RK: Yeah, yes. RS: And you had your wheelchairs, and you were in the office of a fairly liberal senator, Alan Cranston. And you were demanding better treatment for vets. Why don't you tell the-- Advertisement RK: Better treatment for veterans, not only on the spinal cord injury wards in Long Beach, where most of us came from at the time, but we were demanding better treatment for returning veterans all over the country. And I had already been to the Bronx VA; the Life Magazine article, May 1970, 'Our Forgotten Wounded,' had depicted the slumlike conditions at the Bronx VA hospital. When I came out to California I was hoping that things would have changed, thousands of miles away from the Bronx; but what I experienced at the Long Beach VA, in particular the spinal cord injury wards back in the early seventies, were as bad if not worse than the Bronx VA. And these were some of the most catastrophic wounds, some of the most severely injured; we were all in our twenties, we were very young back then; it was the spring of 1974, the war was ending, the last American troops were coming home from Vietnam, if I could set the particular time period. Many of these men that I was around in the hospital felt defeated. They felt that they had lost the war, but they felt defeated physically, emotionally, psychologically. Somehow, some way, we were able to organize a bunch of them and go down to Senator Cranston's office that day, and take over the office. And that sit-in, which was supposed to last just one night, quickly escalated into a hunger strike, which would eventually touch the entire nation. For years, I thought after the strike ended--and it lasted 17 days; we went 17 days without food. Paralyzed veterans who sacrificed their bodies in Vietnam, had to, had to go on a hunger strike to demand to be treated like human beings. We called it a national veterans' crisis at the time. We had gone to Vietnam, we had believed in what they told us, and we had lost a great deal of our bodies. And here we were in a senator, United States senator's office, demanding to be treated with respect, to be treated like human beings. RS: You know, knowing you in all this time, your struggle as a peace advocate, for veterans' rights, has really been the greatest therapy. Because when I met you in that cemetery back there in, you know--it was '71, you said? Your memory is much better than mine-- RK: Yeah, Memorial Day '71, yeah. RS: Yeah, you--you really were going through, as is to be expected, a really hard time. I mean, I was worried about not only would you make it physically, whether you would make it mentally. RK: Oh no, I mean, Bob, I was going through--like so many veterans who came home from that war--post-traumatic stress disorder. I was going through--I was having nightmares, anxiety attacks, it was a very shaky time, a very difficult time for me. Advertisement RS: Writing 'Born on the Fourth of July,' which is now 40 years ago it was published; it was published with, and received an incredibly positive review on the front page of the book section of the New York Times. And it went on to be made many years later into a movie. And it became, for you, just witnessing this as a friend, a great life-affirming activity. Your political, your peace activism--I wouldn't call it political, because you're really a peace activist--your travels, and it's difficult for you to travel; you know, find accommodations where you can-- RK: No, there's no doubt about it, writing that book changed my life. RS: Why don't you just tell, you know, how did you come to write that book? You hadn't written a book before--you hadn't gone to college except for a few-- RK: I was living in--no, I was, I had never, I had gone to college for about two years. And I came out to the West coast; I was just so restless. I just didn't have the discipline at the time. I came out to California, I tried to go to a couple of junior colleges; I kept getting thrown out of the schools because I kept taking over the buildings, because by then I had already joined the Veterans against the War, and I was protesting against the war. I had been arrested numerous times. When it was all said and done, I had been, I was arrested 12 times for protesting the war. I went through a particular period when I was exhausted, and I was living alone along the ocean, along the beach in Marina Del Rey at 24 Hurricane Street. That was the name of the street I was living on, and it was during that period--that was the first attempt to write the book. RS: That's where 'Hurricane Street,' the name of your most, your current book-- RK: Yeah, that's where it comes from. RS: Yeah. I should point out to people who have read your original book, you have now written what I think is another classic-to-be, 'Hurricane Street'. And it's going to be published on July 4th along with the 40th anniversary edition-- Advertisement RK: --anniversary edition, a special edition of 'Born on the Fourth of July.' But I wrote 'Fourth of July,' very quickly, I wrote it in a 42-dollar manual typewriter that I bought at Sears and Roebuck in Santa Monica. And I remember I bought 500 blank sheets of paper, and I remember the guy at the counter saying, 'What are you going to do, what are you doing, you going to write a book?' And I said, 'I'm going to try.' So I remember writing every night. And I had never written a book before in my life. But I knew the story, and I had been speaking--I had been giving a lot of speeches, a few in New York, but a lot in California--I was speaking everywhere after I finally decided to make a full commitment against the war and I joined the Veterans against the War. I was in and out of jail; I was on trial; I was speaking out against the war, whether it was at high schools, at churches, or in the streets, every day was so important. Because my feeling was that this was a life-and-death issue. I didn't want to see another young man have to come home paralyzed like me. I didn't want to have to see another mother grieve because her son had been killed in a war that made no sense, a war that we should have never been involved in to begin with. RS: And unfortunately, we've had a few since then. And you've traveled very widely, even to Europe and other places, to challenge the wars in Iraq and elsewhere. RK: Yeah, to London; to London, we marched on Trafalgar Square with thousands of people during the weekday, one of the biggest weekday demonstrations against the war. We protested-- RS: Against the Iraq war. I should remind people that this has been a lifetime commitment on your part. Advertisement RK: I'm committed to peace and nonviolence, and I know there's an alternative to war and violence and bombing and killing and shooting and guns. I know we're creative people, we're dynamic, we're intelligent, we can solve these problems; and no doubt in my mind that there are alternatives to brute force, alternatives to violence as a way of solving these problems. We need to approach things more diplomatically; we need to see creative solutions; we need to be innovative. There's got to be an alternative to what I saw as a young man in the intensive care ward. Those wounded bodies--what I saw in the VA hospitals. I mean, I saw it, I lived amongst it every day for weeks and months at a time. And I know that war is not the answer; there's got to be an alternative to this approach. RS: Oliver Stone really played a critical role in getting your story told as a movie that has had tremendous impact. And why don't you tell that story? Because you wrote the book, and amazingly enough it got printed, and a very good book agent-- RK: Well, McGraw-Hill book company published the book-- RS: But Joyce Johnson, who-- RK: Joyce Johnson was my editor, and Lynn Nesbit, at International Creative-- RS: Famous agent-- RK: Yeah, great agent, I was fortunate enough to work with her. And she--at International Creative Management, yeah. RS: But despite the book getting an incredible reception, you know, and rave reviews everywhere; seen as a really important work of literature, Hollywood didn't want to touch it. RK: No. RS: And then you went through, what, how many years with different people in Hollywood saying 'We'll make it, we got this star, we got that star'-- Advertisement RK: Well, you know, we initially, we tried to make it with Al Pacino. And that was, that was I believe in the late eighties. And we came close, within a couple days of principal photography-- RS: So the late eighties is already two decades, ah-- RK: Oh, no, there was a tremendous--yeah, absolutely, there was a tremendous resistance to Vietnam movies, even Vietnam books. I mean, there was--when I went to McGraw-Hill, there was a resistance to Born on the Fourth of July. People just, people didn't want to hear about it; they didn't want to talk about it. I think it was a national--I'm thinking of Gore Vidal's expression, 'a national amnesia.' There was a desire to forget, I believe, because it was so traumatizing; because it was such a horrible thing, such a shock to the heart and soul of the nation. I mean, this war is still among us; this war is still a part of us. That's why I think this book that I just completed, 'Hurricane Street,' is relevant; because I think it's--I think because we repeat certain patterns. And it's clear to me that we're continuing to not learn the lessons of that particular disastrous foreign policy decision, and that we are repeating the mistakes of the past again and again and again, in other foreign policy decisions. And young men and women now are needlessly being maimed and killed in wars that we need not be involved in. RS: When you came out against the war, and you know, other veterans and so forth, your patriotism was challenged; your knowledge of history was challenged. And the argument that came down from people who had a much more extensive education than you--Robert McNamara, who after all was supposed to have been some kind of whiz-kid from Ford, and genius and everything, was our Secretary of Defense. And it was all about the necessity of this war: 'If we don't stop 'em there, we'll have to stop these communists in San Diego. There's an international communist conspiracy, it's going to take over the world. We have to--Vietnam is just an expression of that. Chinese communists are at our throat.' So we lose in the most ignominious defeat the United States has ever had; we have to lift people off an embassy in the building next to it; and what happens? What happens? Red Vietnam, communist Vietnam doesn't invade San Diego; what they do is they go to war with communist China over border disputes. And they're still at odds with communist China; two communist countries, communist Vietnam, communist China, over some islands that they're fighting about. And we are now allied with communist Vietnam, and communist China is underwriting our economy. So here you were sent off to a war in which you sacrificed three-quarters of your body; you're here, you've got to keep lifting yourself into chairs so your body can function; I visited you in the veterans' hospitals. You know, you've constructed a great life; I'm trying to get people to feel sorry for you. You know, you really are a great survivor, you've got a great life force. But the idea that no one--no one with a straight face now could say that war was necessary, was important to our national security--it was a tissue of lies, a hoax from the beginning. And yet none of those people, as far as I can see, have really expressed any great shame. And by the way, in addition to the 59,000 American troops that got killed, there were three and a half million--by McNamara's own estimate--three and a half million Indochinese people got killed in what really are war crimes, civilian people being blasted and carpet-bombed and all that. But the reason I bring you in, again, dealing with media and society, is why didn't Hollywood want to tell that story? And I think the great thing about bringing your book out now, and maybe more people will watch the movie--I think it's a great teaching tool, educational tool--but that movie did get made. And Hollywood didn't want to make it. First they made Platoon, which was a-- RK: It got made because of the courage of one man, Oliver Stone. RS: And Tom Cruise-- RK: And Tom Cruise. RS: --who has been maligned quite a bit-- RK: And I must say, even though they dragged their feet initially, Universal Pictures came along, too. So slowly but surely, they came along. And they were absolutely--I think they were surprised, and they were a bit shocked when the film did so well. And they realized the American people actually were willing to watch this, were waiting for a film like this; they needed to hear this truth. And it was because of Tom Cruise, it was because of Oliver Stone that this film was made. You know, the film fell through the first time, and I must say--that that was in the late seventies, with Al Pacino--and when it was clear to us that the film was not going to happen, Marty Bregman in New York, Martin Bregman, was the producer and Al Pacino was to portray me. And Oliver and I spent quite a bit of time with Al Pacino in New York, and it looked very, you know, very hopeful; even my mom and dad had come into New York City, met with the entire cast. So we had cast everyone; we were ready to go, and it fell apart for a number of reasons. I had been involved a few, about a year before with 'Coming Home' and with Jane Fonda, making the movie Coming Home. But I left that project to work on 'Fourth of July' with Bregman and Pacino in New York. That fell apart. And when it did, I remember Oliver Stone was virtually unknown at that time; he was a struggling screenwriter. He had been to Vietnam; he had been wounded in Vietnam, like myself. He also had a screenplay at the time; it was called 'Platoon,' which was eventually to become a phenomenal success. Oliver had been hired after, you know, they had hired the first screenwriter; Pacino was unhappy with that screenplay. And then Oliver Stone had just come back from London, from writing, adapting the book 'Midnight Express' in London, which was eventually to become a very, a very powerful and moving film and it-- RS: He won the Academy Award for that, gave him a lot of leverage. RK: He won the Academy Award and a Golden Globe for that as well. Oliver and I were very, we were depressed; we were broken-hearted over the fact that the film had fallen through, 'Born on the Fourth of July.' And Oliver was still trying to get 'Platoon' done at the time; he had, nobody was, nobody wanted to do that either. And now 'Fourth of July' had just fallen through. Well, it was in an elevator in New York at Marty Bregman's building; we were going down in the elevator, and I mean, we were really going down at the time. And I remember Oliver made a promise to me: 'If I ever make it in Hollywood, if I ever break through and make it as a producer, as a director in Hollywood, I'll come back for you; I'll come back for you, Ron, and I'll make 'Born on the Fourth of July.'' And Oliver Stone kept his promise. He came back, and right after completing the movie 'Wall Street'--this was after 'Platoon,' and the success of 'Platoon'--he came back and-- RS: He won the Academy Award. RK: Yeah, that's right. But he came back, and one thing led to another. We met with several actors; Charlie Sheen was the first actor we met with at a, we met him at an Italian restaurant in Santa Monica. I remember meeting with Oliver. And then the next, at Oliver's house, where he was living at the time in Santa Monica, the next actor that we met with was Sean Penn. And then that didn't work out for one reason or another. And it looked like the film was not going to be made again. And then just out of nowhere, Tom Cruise came into the picture. Oliver Stone and Tom Cruise shared the same agent; she actually gave Tom the original script of 'Born on the Fourth of July.' He read it, and he was looking for a role where he could, a solo performance. Advertisement RS: But it was also, in a way, an answer to a movie that he'd made about being a pilot. RK: Well, 'Top Gun,' yeah, it was the opposite of that. RS: The opposite of 'Born on the Fourth of July.' Sometimes Hollywood doesn't get the credit it deserves, and people like Tom Cruise and Oliver Stone. The fact is, this was a gutsy move to make. And you know, you came to respect both of those guys-- RK: Oh, yeah. RS: --for their commitment to details that were not going to help make this movie more palatable. I mean, Tom Cruise learned to live in a wheelchair, and-- RK: Oh, he gave a hundred percent. Tom gave everything he had. I was there on the set and I watched him, and I have nothing but, and will always have, just a tremendous amount of admiration for his commitment to this film and his courage. His courage, and also Oliver Stone's courage; watching them, watching them work together is something I'll never forget. RS: People are going to have a chance, hopefully, to watch the movie now. It's available. But maybe they'll be inspired because Akashic Books is bringing out the 40th anniversary edition of your book. But you've also got a book that I've read, 'Hurricane Street'; I've actually given a blurb for it, full disclosure. And I was blown away that you would write this book here, now, so many years later-- RK: Forty years. RS: Forty years later. And let me just make that my last question. What prompted you to--you know, we all know it's hard to sit down and write books; it's hard for you, I can see, it's hard for you even to sit to be in an interview. You've got to keep picking yourself up, and sometimes you've got pain, sometimes you're back in the veterans hospital; these wounds don't go away. What prompted you to sit down and write 'Hurricane Street.' Advertisement RK: It was a story that I always wanted to tell. There were several attempts to write the book over the years, and I just couldn't do it each time. And I don't know, I have-- RS: And then this rock musician, Johnny Temple [laughter], who, full disclosure, he's published a book of mine--but here's a guy who, you know, is a rock-and-roller, got a little bit of money from an album, and he started a book publishing company. And he's been your publisher now. He's kept 'Born on the Fourth of July' alive, in print. RK: He's a terrific editor as well. And I just know, even during the strike, this was something I wanted, I knew I had to write about this someday. And I hoped that someday I would be able to finally write this story. I, to tell you the truth, I met a wonderful woman; I finally had some stability in my life-- RS: You can give her name. She's right here. RK: TerriAnn Ferren, my sweetheart. And I finally had stability in my life, and I--and it took three and a half years, a lot longer than writing 'Fourth of July'; I wrote that a lot faster than 'Hurricane Street.' But I just knew I had to tell the story, and I knew it was an important story. And I wanted people to know that there was another war going on here, not just the one thousands of miles away in Vietnam, but here within our own country. And young men who had sacrificed most of their bodies in that war were forced to fight once again for their dignity as human beings. And this story just had to be told. RS: And you tell it well. And it's available now, or will be this July, the Fourth, on the 40th anniversary of your classic book, 'Born on the Fourth of July.' Thank you, Ron Kovic. Advertisement RK: Thank you so much. RS: This is another edition of Scheer Intelligence. It should be called 'Kovic Intelligence,' and all the other people I interview. RK: No, Scheer Intelligence! I love the name. Syria is a European problem. It was one before the influx of millions of refugees. The carnage meted out by Bashar-al-Assad and his Iranian proxies was a blot on the European conscience. After all, this was a continent that experienced first-hand the horrors of sieges, carpet bombing and mass starvation campaigns. Still, Europe had the luxury to look the other way. The once distant, abominable state-sponsored terrorism has become an existential crisis for the European Union. Britain is already contemplating a departure while others are calling for border controls. Denmark is enacting repressive laws, jettisoning the reputation of being one of the most liberal-humanitarian states in the world. All things considered, Europe can still tackle this challenge and emerge stronger. And it could do it without assistance from the United States. The Obama administration's self-inflicted impotence on Syria has reached epic proportions. There was never a genuine empathy for the embattled Syrians. The mounting death toll, which is now estimated to be as high as 470,000, was but another ignorable statistic. The intransigence also hindered European plans for a greater role in resolving the Syrian crisis. The Turkish proposal of imposing a no-fly zone and safe havens for displaced persons was a novel idea. Obama ensured the plan bite the dust and didn't offer any alternatives. Russia was only bolstered by the inaction to enforce its own agenda. American appeasement of Iran, which has the lion's share of committing atrocities in Syria, further complicated the situation. Advertisement Unlike U.S., Europe doesn't have the luxury to stay indifferent. It's not shielded by two expansive oceans and is facing the dual barrage of refugee influx and Russian provocations. The yet-to-be-implemented ceasefire is destined for failure given the Russian high-handedness and the mounting human toll. Thousands more are pouring into Turkey as Russia bombs hospitals, schools and other civilian targets. Many of them will try to sneak into Europe - with dozens of more drownings expected in the Mediterranean. Europe has to act. It can do three things to counter the crisis. First, it can work with Turkey and other willing partners to impose a no-fly zone around Aleppo and the areas adjoining the Turkish border. This will help stem the tide of refugees while also allowing for setting up of relief camps inside Syria. It could be done though not on as varied scale as was possible before the Russian intervention. This will essentially call for the presence of some ground troops. The EU can work out the details where it can provide the aerial support while the rest of the tab picked up by Turkey and Persian Gulf states. This can also help in targeting the ISIS holdouts in eastern Syria, which, ironically, have been largely spared by the Russians. The same enclaves can be used to relocate the refugees stranded in different parts of Europe. Second, the EU needs to curtail its rapprochement with Iran. The state midwifed the rise of ISIS by using pervasive oppression of Sunnis in Iraq and later in Syria. Iran-backed Shiite militias -- and increasingly the Revolutionary Guards -- have unleashed waves upon waves of terror in support of the Assad regime. The same actors are now engulfing Aleppo, creating more human misery and multiplying the refugee population. EU should not ease the sanctions as long as Iran continues committing war crimes in the region. Advertisement Third, and the more important step is to strengthen the security architecture that was shaped by the Cold War. Nato needs to be revitalized and Europe should go for a last-ditch effort to rally the US behind its cause. This is not to say Europe will falter without US aid. Things are not as grim as they were after the Second World War. Germany, France and UK make formidable powers if they genuinely work towards safeguarding their interests. The unraveling of the trusted transaltantic partnership will still be very tragic with significant consequences for all the parties involved. Russia is using diplomacy in the service of military aggression and Europe has to answer in kind. Russian plans of fracturing the EU by inundating it with refugees and instigating chaos should not be allowed to succeed. Syria has become intrinsically linked with the future of the Union. There has been a tacit realization of this grim reality. Germany is coming up with educational programs to instruct the young male refugees on how to behave responsibly in Europe. A better alternative will be to train this demographic -- after serious vetting -- to go back and fight the regime and ISIS. Although fraught with challenges, this remains a viable option. By Elly Benson Benicia is a small waterside city near San Francisco that is perhaps best known for briefly serving as the California state capital in the 1800s. But last week, six planning commissioners in this quiet community dealt a blow to the oil industry when they unanimously rejected oil giant Valero's proposal to transport crude to its local refinery in dangerous oil trains. Valero's plan to receive two 50-tanker oil trains each day at the Benicia refinery is emblematic of broader industry efforts to ramp up transport of oil -- including dirty tar sands crude from Canada and explosive Bakken crude from North Dakota -- in mile-long trains to refineries along the West Coast. The 6-0 vote came shortly before midnight on Thursday, February 11th -- after four consecutive nights of public hearings that lasted until 11 pm or later. When the hearings began at Benicia City Hall on Monday evening, more than 150 people had signed up to speak and the crowd filled the hearing room, several overflow rooms, and the building's courtyard. The commissioners heard from scores of concerned Benicia residents -- and also from residents of "up-rail" towns and cities (including Sacramento and Davis) who would be endangered by the oil trains rolling through their communities on the way to the Valero refinery. Oil train derailments and explosions have increased dramatically in recent years -- including the July 2013 oil train derailment in Lac-Megantic, Canada that tragically killed 47 people. Advertisement Benicia City Hall was still packed at 11:30pm on night 3 of of the Planning Commission hearings. In denying the project, the commissioners went against City planning staff's recommendation to approve Valero's proposal. Staff recommended approval despite concluding that the benefits do not outweigh the numerous "significant and unavoidable" impacts on up-rail communities (including derailments, oil spills, and explosions). The staff report insisted that federal regulation of railroads means that the legal doctrine of preemption prohibits the City from mitigating -- or even considering -- any of the serious risks that oil trains pose to communities and sensitive environments along the rail line. During the public hearing, the contract attorney hired by the City repeatedly told the commissioners that they unquestionably lack any authority to deny the permit based on these rail impacts -- and went so far as to say that mere disclosure of these impacts could be unlawful. Attorneys from the Sierra Club, Natural Resources Defense Council, and the Stanford Law School clinic testified at the hearing, refuting this expansive interpretation of the preemption doctrine and urging the commissioners to reject it. Before voting to deny the project, several commissioners expressed skepticism that they are legally required to turn a blind eye to the grave dangers that oil trains pose to up-rail communities. One commissioner told the contract attorney that his interpretation of the preemption issue is "180 degrees different" from the view expressed by other attorneys. (Using more colorful language, another commissioner noted: "I don't want to be the planning commissioner in the one city that said 'screw you' to up-rail cities.") Linda Maio, Vice Mayor of the City of Berkeley, California, speaking to the Benicia Planning Commission. Advertisement For years, the Sierra Club and our partners have pushed back against Valero's attempts to conceal the true impacts of its oil train proposal. The City initially tried to approve the project without conducting full environmental review. In 2013, we submitted comments challenging that course of action, which contributed to the City's decision to circulate an "environmental impact report" (EIR) for the project. We then submitted comment letters identifying major flaws in the the draft EIR (2014), revised draft EIR (2015), and final EIR (2016). Our allies in these efforts include Benicians for a Safe and Healthy Community, NRDC, ForestEthics, Communities for a Better Environment, Center for Biological Diversity, Sunflower Alliance, and SF Baykeeper, among others. The Attorney General also weighed in on the inadequacies of the City's environmental review -- specifically noting the failure to adequately analyze impacts on up-rail communities. And the Sacramento Area Council of Governments, which represents 6 counties and 22 cities, characterized the City's environmental review as "a non-response" to its public safety concerns about oil trains traversing the Sacramento area. After voting to deny the project, the Planning Commission issued a resolution identifying 14 deficiencies in the final environmental impact report. The resolution also concluded that "Staff's interpretation of preemption is too broad...." (Notably, just a few days before the Benicia hearings, hundreds of people converged on San Luis Obispo to urge county planning commissioners to reject a similar oil train proposal at a Phillips 66 refinery. In direct contrast to the position adopted by the Benicia planning staff, the San Luis Obispo county planning staff recommended denial of the project -- due in large part to the environmental and health impacts along the rail line. The San Luis Obispo planning commissioners are expected to vote on the Phillips 66 proposal in March.) Valero has until February 29th to appeal the Planning Commission's decision to the Benicia City Council. Rubio (second from left) waves along with South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (second from right), U.S. Rep. Trey Gowdy (far left) and U.S. Sen. Tim Scott (far right). REUTERS/Chris Keane Saturday's Republican primary in South Carolina looks likely to boost the state's reputation as a hard-fought political battleground. The best description of Palmetto State politics came from James L. Petigru, a politician who in 1860 declared that "South Carolina is too small to be a republic, and too large to be an insane asylum." Things have changed since that characterization, but it still captures the passion and impulse of the place. Advertisement The political division in South Carolina breaks along a line that divides the "low country" of Charleston, with its privilege and past allegiance to Europe, from the "up country" of tradesmen and merchants, who once listened to the call for revolution from Virginia. The up country thought the low country haughty, and the lowlands saw the upstate as backward. Regional animosity softened in the glow of Ronald Reagan's Republican popularity. In 1980, the former California governor came to South Carolina and mangled the GOP field in the presidential primary, taking 54 percent of the vote - more than 20 points ahead of the runner-up. After Reagan's victory that fall, party regulars bragged, telling the press, "We pick presidents." South Carolina's "First in the South" primary position became permanent, and it satisfied the state's longing for prominence and visibility. So which candidate will South Carolina's Republicans pick on Saturday? The latest Clemson University Palmetto Poll, which I founded and oversee with fellow professor Bruce Ransom, shows Donald Trump leading, with Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio fighting for second. Our poll of 650 frequent voters also shows a close race for fourth between Jeb Bush and John Kasich. A state that bleeds red Former state Republican Party Chairman Henry McMaster boasted: "We hunt Democrats with dogs down here." Advertisement The culture of the state remains something different from the Deep South picture of "moonlight and magnolias." Politicians embrace a traditional southern value: the protection of local interests from government intrusion, especially those by the federal government. Today, the GOP is the majority party in the state, owning six of seven congressional seats, the gubernatorial office, both U.S. Senate seats, and every statewide elective office, including attorney general and secretary of state, plus a majority in both houses of the state legislature. In the 1970s, South Carolina had the highest percentage of a state's native population still in residence as adults years later. Multinational companies and interstate highways have changed that in more recent decades, but the new arrivals seemed to adapt to the traditional ways rather quickly. The population might live for the present, with a host of international companies and worldwide imports, but their values remained embedded in what went before. South Carolina has the only African-American Republican U.S. senator. Conservative to his core, Tim Scott garnered more votes in the 2014 general election than senior Senator Lindsey Graham or Governor Nikki Haley. Still a resident of Charleston, Scott likes to say, "My grandfather is 92 years old ... he looks at South Carolina and he says, 'Wow, what an amazing state.'" In a century, South Carolina went from segregation to integration, manufacturing to international business and backwater politics to national leadership. The "First in the South" designation means more than geography or race. South Carolina is a "base" Republican state. That means any winner in the presidential primary faces an energetic electorate full of questions and opinions. The victor must pacify them all, knowing that a win in S.C. can lead to the party nomination. Advertisement Picking presidents That's what happened to George H.W. "Poppy" Bush in 1988. He'd served as Ronald Reagan's popular vice president, but finished third, behind Bob Dole and Pat Robertson, in the Iowa primary. The conventional wisdom at the time gave the South Carolina race to Robertson because of his "Christian Coalition" and organization advantages. That didn't happen. Bush beat Dole by 28 points, and Robertson by even more. The veep then waltzed through that year's "Super Tuesday" election to the nomination. In 1992, with Bill Clinton nipping at his heels, the incumbent president clobbered upstart challenger Pat Robertson by 40 points in the South Carolina primary. The state's reputation as a guardian of conservative values, with an ability to pick a winner, stayed intact when in 1996 Bob Dole returned as an "establishment" candidate. The 2000 election featured a showdown between Texan George W. Bush and Arizona Senator John McCain. Bush desperately needed a win. He quoted Mark Twain as he began campaigning: "Reports of my death are greatly exaggerated." The candidate reworked his campaign around his time as governor, "a leader with a record." It worked, and Bush won the South Carolina primary by 11 points. Few states embody the combination of social and economic conservatism to the degree of South Carolina, yet the voters always seemed to pick an establishment Republican winner. John McCain appeared as the GOP frontrunner in 2008, converted more to the Washington ways of the U.S. Senate than his opponent, Arkansas governor and Baptist minister Mike Huckabee. The preacher won 24 counties, 13 of them in the upstate, while McCain took the remaining 22 in the downstate and eked out a 3-point victory. Between 1980 and 2008, South Carolina voted in six contested Republican presidential primaries, and picked the party nominee each time, and three presidents. It seemed like a good record, one worthy of the "We pick presidents" label, until 2012. Advertisement That year, Mitt Romney seemed to have the Republican nomination wrapped up after being awarded victories in the primary states of Iowa and New Hampshire. Upstart candidate Newt Gingrich, who won only one other primary state that election cycle, openly clashed with a television moderator in a debate. He subsequently outstripped the field on primary day, and conquered Romney 40 percent to 28 percent. The state didn't pick the GOP nominee that year because a one week quarrel over Gingrich's personal life shifted voter attention away from national issues. Not so establishment REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst A Clemson University polls finds Trump leading in South Carolina. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst What does it look like in 2016? At a rally outside Clemson, South Carolina last week, a middle-aged woman appeared in a red, white and blue sequined miniskirt with her husband, who sported a sombrero and the words, "Donald Trump" emblazoned on the front. "We're here to support an American hero," she said. Will Trump rule the day on Saturday as our poll predicts? Rubio has been endorsed by popular state politicians like Senator Tim Scott, Representative Trey Gowdy and Gov. Nikki Haley, but Ted Cruz has an effective "ground game" with lots of volunteers making phone calls across the state. Jeb Bush is struggling to keep up, and both John Kasich and Ben Carson are back in the pack. The press rumor is that John Kasich might beat Jeb Bush. For the next few days at least, the state has reverted to Petigru's asylum status. That's how South Carolina goes about picking a president. David Woodard, Thurmond Professor of Political Science, Clemson University This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article. By Amanda Zeidan The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) is the best-funded terrorist organization in the world. ISIL presents a policy and intelligence challenge because it derives its financial strength largely from internal sources. This non-state actor's ability to survive and grow independent of external funding and exploitation of ungoverned spaces make it difficult for the U.S.-led coalition to target the group's funding using traditional measures. To date, U.S. policy to counter ISIL financially has focused on disrupting the group's main sources of funding, restricting access to the international financial system and imposing sanctions on its senior leadership and financial facilitators. However, with no concrete metrics in place to measure the effectiveness of counter threat finance, it is difficult to gauge the need and appropriate tools required to dismantle ISIL. As a result, the United States should focus on forming a concerted effort among international partners to identify key nodes within ISIL's financial system. When financial choke points are identified, local law enforcement efforts can help to dismantle entire networks of criminal activity. After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the United States sought to enhance its national security through military interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan, strengthen its surveillance laws, and strong arm diplomacy. The United States Department of the Treasury also embraced new powers and tools as means of undermining security threats. Many of these tools have proven remarkably effective in isolating rogue actors in the international arena. However, ISIL has shown the ability to adapt and it is becoming increasingly necessary to make full use of current national security tools in order to identify financial choke points and dismantle ISIL movements. Advertisement An effective counter-threat finance strategy includes not only cutting off funding to terrorist organizations, but also understanding the financial architecture, relationships, and expenditures terrorist entities use to achieve their goals. Who are the sympathizers and purchasers of ISIL goods in trade-based money laundering? Who turns a blind eye at the border to movements of oil, antiquities, and body parts for sale by ISIL? Such analyses require a broad agreement among law enforcement agencies and information sharing partners in different countries. However, questions arise as to how to enforce such efforts effectively. Post 9/11, the Department of the Treasury - empowered by new financial tools and legal structures - intensified its efforts to undermine terrorist financing. The first financial strike on the 'global war on terror' came in the form of Executive Order 13224, which targeted the financial bases of 27 terrorist-related entities. These led to over 315 entities designated as actively funding terrorist activities, and ultimately resulted in the seizure of over $136 million dollars in assets from over 1,400 accounts worldwide. When President Bush signed the USA PATRIOT Act into law in 2001, as former Treasury official Juan Zarate noted in his book Treasury's War, the Act "ushered the most sweeping expansion of anti-money laundering regime since the 1970 Bank Secrecy Act." Moreover, new legal guidelines outlined in the Anti-Terror Act, Bank Secrecy Act and USA PATRIOT Act augment these partnerships. Sections 326, 238, and 300 of the USA PATRIOT Act broaden and deepen information sharing and the regulatory net for the United States financial system through the Egmont Group, an informal gathering of financial intelligence units, and Financial Action Task Force, an inter-governmental body made up of ministers from member districts tasked with setting standards and promoting effective implementation of legal, regulatory, and operational measures for combating money laundering, terrorist financing, and other related threats to the integrity of the international financial system. The civil lawsuit in the U.S. district court for the Eastern District of New York, Linde v. Arab Bank, marked the first time a financial institution was held liable for aiding terrorist activities. On September 22, 2014, a jury found Arab Bank liable for knowingly providing financial services for Hamas. The case is largely responsible for setting a legal precedent for cases involving terror financing and the obligations banks have to monitor their clients. The case resulted in a settlement of over a billion dollars. Advertisement Cooperation among criminal groups and terrorist groups is a multifaceted threat to global security. In a broad sense, terrorists are just a certain type of criminal--they will use illegal methods to achieve their goals. The distinction lies in the ultimate purpose of each group. Entities engaged in terrorist activities may borrow methods from criminal enterprises, but ultimately the two groups have different aims. Criminal networks aim to maximize profit, relying on a relatively stable, functioning state to provide a consumer base. Terrorist entities seek to undermine that stability to achieve a new status-quo. They tend to be more political than their traditional criminal counterparts. Though the interaction between traditional criminal networks and terrorist groups is mostly ad hoc and short-term, understanding the point where that collaboration stops is crucial to creating more effective targeting methods. After 9/11, according to Dr. Nikos Passas, Professor of Criminal Justice at Northeastern University, "we shifted away from ordinary crime prevention and specialized in terrorism--- this kind of over specialization leads to missing things that can otherwise be captured. The London Bombings, where terrorists were originally screened as merely criminals, is an example of this." On December 17, 2015 for the first time in the United Nations' 70-year history, the U.N. Security Council brought together finance ministers to bolster and encourage efforts to disrupt ISIL's revenue and further isolate the terrorist organization from the formal global financial system. These efforts, led by the United States, culminated in a strategy that focuses on four points: 1) Ensure ISIL cannot procure goods. 2) Separate ISIL from its source of wealth. 3) Destroy oil reserves and cash reserves. 4) Track cross border financial flows to ISIL affiliates through The Counter ISIL Finance Group. Despite actions taken by the United States to date, questions remain as to whether the United States is exercising its resources, mainly data collection/analysis and partnerships, to full potential. Dr. Passas claims, "despite rhetoric, not everyone is on board with going after the same target." Currently, information collected on ISIL, be it financial intelligence or human intelligence, is fragmented and dispersed among different countries and jurisdictions. To do this effectively, enemies of ISIL need to collaborate and contribute to efforts. If there is sufficient political will between the United States and partners in the region, enforcement should illustrate this. Political will manifests itself in the form of a concerted effort to ensure data points are collected and analyzed to avoid prematurely going after the target. Without meaningful political will and a coalesced database of private sector financial intelligence and human intelligence, ISIL will continue to grow in power. The economic assets in ISIL-held areas include banks, natural resources such as oil and phosphates, agriculture, and historic and antiquities sites. Clearly, degrading ISIL's financial strength requires cross-national intelligence-sharing. And the United States has also pursued collaboration with international partners through international intelligence sharing. The key difference between the financial activities of ISIL and its predecessors is not the type of revenue accrued, but rather the scale of financial activities. There is still a need to better identify the origin, middlemen, buyers, carriers, traders, and routers through which oil produced in ISIL- held territory is trafficked. This can only be achieved through multiagency cooperation. Financial measures such as regulation of banks and seizing assets of actors and institutions conducting shady deals dismantled Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan, the group responsible for the 9/11 attacks. In 2004, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) cracked down on illicit cigarette smuggling across state lines by Hezbollah operatives. Cigarette diversion, where traffickers purchase a large volume of cigarettes in states where tax is low and drive it across state lines to sell for a profit, accounts for millions of dollars directly funding the Iranian-backed Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah. The DEA continues to tackle illegal trade and funding of terrorist networks with significant arrests of Hezbollah officials linked to South American drug cartels, but the success of enforcement is dependent on the United States' partners' ability to collect, share, and implement counter terrorism strategy. In the age of ISIL, a coalition of intelligence sharing units, backed by political will, and local law enforcement partners are key to identifying and dismantling the network that provides ISIL revenue. By Karlijn Jans On February 4th, Dutch Defense Minister Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert and German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen signed a new deal paving the way for the full integration of their countries' naval units. When this agreement enters into force, it will push Germany and the Netherlands further towards a pioneering model for European defense cooperation. While these are perhaps small steps in the bigger picture, both countries are making an effort in consciously maintaining, expanding or gaining some of their military capabilities. Is this the way forward for Europe? Some might find it odd: a tiny country such as the Netherlands not only cooperating with but also integrating units within the larger German Armed Forces and vice versa. While both countries are EU and NATO members, it has been a mere 76 years since the German forces occupied the Netherlands during the Second World War. European history aside, a long track record of diminishing defense budgets and shortfalls in European military capabilities are an uncomfortable reality in 2016. And although spending will grow by an estimated average of 8.3% in 2016 compared to 2015, the financial crisis that began in 2007 has exacerbated these problems, with European members of NATO spending on average 1.69% of their GDP on defense in 2008, in contrast to 1.43% in 2015 (the NATO defense spending pledge aims at 2% GDP). With the United States focusing elsewhere, Europeans need to do more to keep their own defense assets in order. European defense cooperation is the only effective way to combat shortfalls in European military capabilities, since no single European country, especially smaller ones, can afford to maintain a full-spectrum of military capabilities on their own. Advertisement European defense cooperation is not an easy matter. Institutions like the European Union and NATO are instrumental but do not always succeed in pushing member states to cooperate more. The challenge to greater defense cooperation remains national sovereignty, with the military at its core. Yet as the Dutch Defense Minister recently noted: "Each and every European nation shares responsibility for our collective security. [...] And it is important to realize that enhanced defense cooperation does not mean giving up sovereignty: it is all about enhancing our collective ability to act." Nonetheless, as was noted in a report for the European Parliament, "there is a significant gap between the cooperation rhetoric of governments' joint declarations within the EU and what they deliver." Many politicians talk the talk but do not necessarily walk the walk of defense cooperation and only sporadically sign up to detailed cooperation programs on a practical level. Most cooperation efforts have been focused on 'low-hanging fruit': education and training. The Dutch-German initiatives seem to be an exception to the rule, with both states engaging in real and far-reaching initiatives. Their close military friendship dates back to the 1960s, with a long track record of joint training exercises and deployments. To put things into perspective, the Netherlands currently works with 41,900 military service personnel, as compared to Germany's 177,069 military service personnel. Nevertheless, both armed forces have managed to make meaningful steps forward in defense cooperation and integration. During earlier agreements in 2014 and 2015, the Dutch and Germans agreed to integrate two army units and further enhance cooperation between a wide range of military branches. For example, the Dutch Air-Mobile Brigade was put under command of the German Rapid Forces Division. This was the first time a Dutch unit was placed under foreign command, the most far-reaching form of military integration in Europe to date. Moreover, by reinforcing a Dutch mechanized brigade with a German tank capability and integrating it into a German tank division, the Netherlands is able to re-introduce the tank-capability it infamously lost in 2011. The latest naval agreement foresees the full integration of the German Naval Force Protection Battalion into the Royal Netherlands Marine Corps. It will be the first time that German armed forces will be placed under foreign command. In turn, Germany gets access to the Joint Logistic Support Ship Karel Doorman, thereby gaining access to a transport capability it currently is in need of. With these deals, both countries have been able to maintain, expand, and rebuild their military capabilities and operational knowledge. Advertisement The Dutch-German efforts encompass fundamental steps in European defense cooperation. As understood by military leaders, international defense cooperation is all about complementing each other's capabilities, creating more with less. With initiatives such as the Dutch-German agreements, Europeans could work towards maintaining and (re-)building a full-spectrum of military capabilities on their own, independent of the United States. The Dutch-German initiatives may be limited in their scope, but they (along with other bilateral agreements) are a good start towards broader European defense cooperation. Bilateral initiatives should not halt any progress on maintaining and improving Europe's military capabilities in a wider sense. To deal with the current financial and security situation facing European states, every meaningful effort of cooperation and possible integration is of importance. Small steps, as taken by the Dutch and Germans, guarantee steady progress. As fragmented and slow such developments might be, if Europeans had to wait until all 28 EU member states were on board for a goal as lofty as a pan-European army, no progress would be made at all. With their initiatives, Germany and the Netherlands are true pioneers in European defense cooperation. Both states have opted for far-reaching integration of forces and capabilities. Similar and coordinated initiatives in the future could go far in alleviating the pressures placed on European defense budgets due to economic shortfalls, shifting U.S. interests, and capability shortfalls at home. Karlijn Jans specializes in defense and German politics. She received an LL.M in European Law from Maastricht University and MA in European Studies from King's College London. Karlijn is a part-time modular student at the Netherlands Defence Academy and chairs the Netherlands Atlantic Youth Association. She is also a Europe Fellow at Young Professionals in Foreign Policy. Advertisement Hindustan Times via Getty Images NEW DELHI, INDIA - OCTOBER 21: (Editors Note: This is an exclusive shoot of Hindustan Times) Delhi Police Commissioner B.S. Bassi during an interview with Hindustan Times, on October 21, 2015 in New Delhi, India. Bassi on Tuesday announced a reward of Rs. 25,000 for anyone helping expose corrupt practices by the police. He also said that he will quit if Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal proves that he is involved in corruption. (Photo by Ravi Choudhary/Hindustan Times via Getty Images) NEW DELHI -- A petition filed in Delhi High Court yesterday accused city police commissioner B S Bassi of "influencing" the probe in the sedition case against JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar and alleged that the police chief was "playing at the hands" of certain political parties. The petition, which is likely to come up for hearing on Monday, alleged that Bassi's statement to media that the police would not oppose Kanhaiya's bail plea, may influence fair and transparent investigation in the matter as well as court proceedings. Advertisement It also claimed that police was "playing at the hands of some political parties under whom Delhi Police is working" and said Bassi should be directed to clear his views on the statements given by him to the media on 16 and 17 February. In his petition, city lawyer Satish Pandey claimed that the investigating officer cannot probe the case fairly in such a case when "undue influential pressure" is imposed by a high -ranking official like the police commissioner. It also referred to Bassi's statement in which the police chief has said they were not giving a clean chit to Kanhaiya. Seeking a direction to prohibit Bassi from influencing the probe, Pandey said the police should not be allowed to not oppose Kanhaiya's bail plea as other co-accused, who are on the run, may not be brought before the court if he gets bail. Advertisement "The charge of sedition and criminal conspiracy against the accused is not an individual offence but it is a public offence and every citizen of the nation are affected," he claimed. Besides Bassi, Pandey has made Kanhaiya, the Centre and Delhi government as respondents. Contact HuffPost India Also see on HuffPost: Anadolu Agency via Getty Images NEW DELHI - INDIA - FEBRUARY 20: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (R) welcomes Nepalese Prime Minister, Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli ,during a ceremonial reception in New Delhi on February 2016. Prime minister K. P Oli is on his first bilateral visit to India after assuming charge as Prime Minister. He is scheduled to meet with top Indian politicians during his 6 days long visit. (Photo by Imtiyaz khan/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images) India and Nepal held extensive talks on Saturday with a focus on repairing ties soured in the wake of a four-month -long agitation by the Indian-origin Madhesi community. India told Nepal that success of its new constitution will depend on resolution of contentious issues through "consensus and dialogue" in a time-bound manner. Advertisement "India is for peace, stability and overall development of Nepal," Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserted after meeting his Nepalese counterpart K P Sharma Oli, who on his part said the main reason for his visit was to clear "misunderstandings" in ties that persisted in the last few months and that they "no longer exist". The two sides signed nine agreements including one on utilisation of Indian grant of USD 250 million to Nepal for post-earthquake reconstruction and another on improving of road infrastructure in Nepal's Terai region bordering India. Calling finalisation of Constitution a major achievement for Nepal, Modi expressed the hope that all political parties will come together to successfully resolve "remaining" Constitutional issues satisfactorily, taking in considerations aspirations of all sections of the society. "The drafting and announcement of the new Constitution after decades of struggle in Nepal is a major achievement. I appreciate the contribution of the political leadership and all sections of the society in Nepal in its making. Advertisement ""But its success depends on consensus and dialogue. I am confident on the basis of these principles and through political dialogue and by taking all sections together, you (Oli) will be able to resolve all issues relating to the Constitution satisfactorily and take Nepal forward towards the path of development and stability," Modi said in his media statement, in presence of Oli. In the meeting, Modi stressed that Nepal's stability was linked to India's security. On combating terrorism, he said, "We will not allow terrorists and criminals to use our open border. In this regard the security agencies of the two countries will intensify cooperation." Asked if the Nepalese Prime Minister could address India's concerns, Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar said the "tone and tenor" of the visit was forward-looking, adding assurances given on addressing grievances within Nepal if left unaddressed may "detract" the country from stability. "This was not a recriminatory visit. This was a forward- looking visit. It was a visit in a cooperative sense," he said, replying to a barrage of questions on whether India was satisfied with Nepal's assurance on issues relating to the new Constitution. He said Modi expressed the hope that all the outstanding issues in the Constitution will be resolved in a time-bound manner. Advertisement On whether India was worried about Nepal getting closer to China, Jaishankar rejected such apprehensions saying the word China did not come up in the talks. In his statement, Oli, who arrived here yesterday on his first foreign visit after becoming Prime Minister in October last year, said he came to clear misunderstandings and "have done so". Ties between the two countries had soured in the wake of agitation by the Madhesi community, which shares close family and cultural ties with Indians, saying it failed to address their concerns over representation and homeland. The agitators had blocked trading points for almost four months crippling supply of petroleum products, medicines and other commodities by India to that country. The blockade was lifted this month. . Advertisement Contact HuffPost India Also See On HuffPost: PTI Chandigarh--Fresh incidents of violence were reported today in Haryana as the Jat stir for quota intensified. Protestors torched a railway station in Jind even as the Army conducted a flag march in two curfew-bound districts and used helicopters to reach parts of the blocked Rohtak district. As the violence by Jat protestors demanding quota continued unabated, Chief Minister Manohar Khattar issued yet another to maintain peace. Advertisement Life was crippled in Rohtak, the epicentre of the ongoing agitation, and Bhiwani. Traffic was hit and shops, commercial establishments and schools remained closed. A report on The Indian Express says, "In order to deal with any situation of clashes with the security agencies or Army, Jats have put women and children as their shield. Women, too armed, are shouting slogans in various parts of Rohtak." Haryana DGP holds a press conference on the crisis. The Army conducted flag march in Rohtak and Bhiwani today where curfew remained in force. The Army could not enter Rohtak through road as protesters had put up blockades on Delhi, Hisar, Rohtak, and Fazilka highways, forcing the authorities to air drop them, official said. Roads had been dug up preventing Army trucks from entering. Advertisement As the protest intensified, some unidentified persons set the Budha Khera Railway Station on fire in Jind district this morning. The furniture, record room and other articles were set on fire at the railway station, which falls in the Jind-Panipat rail section, police said. Haryana DGP Yashpal Singhal said, "I accept there may have been some lapses which could have been avoided. Forces may not have been deployed in the right manner. We will inquire that later. Jat protesters in Haryana. IBN Live reports, "The police chief also made an appeal to khaps in Haryana to avoid meetings so that it would be easier for security forces to control the situation.He also requested elders in the family not to allow young men to move towards cities to take part in the agitation. He said it is "sad" that the agitation is "leaderless" as it makes it more difficult for the administration to communicate with them. Singhal also said he would not rule out the involvement of "outsiders" in fomenting trouble in the state." Advertisement Sporadic incidents of violence and arson were reported at several places overnight despite authorities imposing curfew and issuing shoot at sight orders at Rohtak and Bhiwani besides prohibitory orders in Hisar, Jhajjar, Jind, Kaithal and Panipat. Haryana government had yesterday called the Army in nine districts while curfew was imposed in two districts along with shoot-at-sight orders after one person died and 25 were injured during the Jat stir for quota which turned violent with mobs resorting to widespread arson. The Centre has also rushed 3,300 personnel of paramilitary forces to control the rampaging mob. With inputs from PTI Advertisement Contact HuffPost India Also see on HuffPost: INDRANIL MUKHERJEE via Getty Images An Indian student checks her mobile phone in Mumbai on May 1, 2015. India raised a record USD17.6 billion during intense bidding on a government auction of wireless spectrum recently in one of the world's largest smartphone markets. The new spectrums for traditional voice and faster data services are seen as crucial for companies competing in the cut-throat Indian market, which has around 952 million mobile subscribers, according to figures released by India's telecoms regulator, TRAI. AFP PHOTO/ Indranil MUKHERJEE (Photo credit should read INDRANIL MUKHERJEE/AFP/Getty Images) The Morning Wrap is HuffPost India's selection of interesting news and opinion from the day's newspapers. Subscribe here to receive it in your inbox each weekday morning. Essential HuffPost Delhi Police chief BS Bassi, who is set to retire this month, is no more in the running to be a commissioner at the Central Information Commission. Doesn't bother me at all, Bassi was quoted saying. During the recent standoff in JNU, he strongly backed the Modi government's stand on the issue and faced much criticism for it. Advertisement In a diktat, the head of Suraj village in Narendra Modis native district Mehsana in Gujarat has banned unmarried women from using mobile phones, even as the countrys prime minister continues to promote his Digital India drive. If you are planning to place an order for the world's cheapest smartphone, at 251, you should reconsider it. The website of the company, which is the sole interface for purchasing the phone, has abysmal security and compromises user data,including the shipping address. In Mumbai, considered one of the safest cities in the country, two children under 12 years of age get sexually abused every day. Data collected from the police and four hospitals authorised under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) to treat such cases, revealed the dismal state of affairs. Pakistani authorities have lodged an FIR into the Pathankot terror attack case, officials said, after weeks of probe into the assault that led to the postponement of Indo-Pak Foreign Secretary-level talks. The FIR was needed to start police and judicial proceedings on the basis of evidence collected. Advertisement Main News The army was deployed in eight districts of Haryana, with curfew and shoot-at-sight orders imposed in two of them, after protests by the Jat community for quotas in jobs and education turned violent, leaving three people dead and dozens injured. Harper Lee, who wrote one of America's most loved literary classics, To Kill a Mockingbird, and surprised readers with a second book about racial injustice in the US South after living a largely reclusive life for decades, died at the age of 89. Congress dissident leader Kalikho Pul was sworn in as the ninth chief minister of Arunachal Pradesh soon after Presidents Rule was formally lifted from the state. The swearing-in after 10pm coincided with the 30th Statehood Day of the state bordering China. Rural distress seems to be taking a toll on jobs with all religious groups registering an increase in unemployment, according to the latest edition of a biennial survey conducted by the Ministry of Statistics. Unemployment rate is 1.7 per cent in rural and 3.4 per cent in urban areas. Indian Space Research Organisations bid to acquire the capability to launch heavier satellites into orbit received a boost with the successful hotbed test of the cryogenic engine for the upper stage of the GSLV Mark 3 rocket. Advertisement Off The Front Page Vigyan Gadodias romance with rural India began in 2005 when he, as head of the micro-finance vertical of YES Bank, began exploring opportunities in villages. In 2012, this biochemical engineer from IIT-Delhi set up a 1.72 hectare dairy farm in a village near Jaipur, to sell fresh cow milk and prove that dairy farming was a viable business proposition. Shouting "I am Prithviraj Chauhan", Mahavir, armed with a sword and pistol, burst into a wedding venue in UP and tried to carry away the bride by force. But since he was not the historical Rajput warrior he believed he was, locals beat him up and the police filed an FIR against him. A dog was allegedly sexually assaulted by a man who is believed to be from Kerala, with the incident coming to light after a video of the act surfaced on WhatsApp, an animal rights organisation claimed. The Humane Society International India has offered a reward of up to Rs 1 lakh for information leading to the conviction of the person responsible for the assault. A fortnight after five Jet Airways flight attendants were benched for aiding an impromptu Sonu Nigam concert inflight, the countrys aviation regulator is now probing a complaint against Indigo Airlines for promoting a movie. The Organization for Rare Diseases India is holding a 7km race in Bengaluru to commemorate Rare Disease Day and draw attention to the needs of patients with rare diseases. The 7km run will be flagged off on February 28. Advertisement Opinion Is India so weak that it is threatened by a handful of twenty-somethings shouting bharat ki barbaadi at a dhaba in one corner of a very large campus, asks Shivam Vij in HuffPost India. From 9 February onwards, the government and its supporters have been busy proving them right, bringing India global infamy, as a place where intolerance and vigilantism are rising. A clutch of films in the past year has tried to break the mould in more ways than one even as the shock value associated with homosexuality refuses to go, writes Namrata Joshi in The Hindu. Karan Johar says the world of arts is a liberal zone but society is still not. We are stuck with moralities and censorship. People still associate shock value with homosexuality. We filmmakers will keep pushing the envelope, he says. The key is whether it will get delivered in the right size and shape. The death of US Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia has created a vacancy in an institution that is truly the US ubergovernment, when it comes to delivering the final verdict on social policy. That leaves plenty of room for an appointment with speculation. Among the nominee names that have been noted is 48-year-old appeals court judge Indian-American Srikanth Srinivasan. Hes a likely candidate, but the very reasons that qualify him could also make him unlikely, writes Anirudh Bhattacharyya in the Hindustan Times. Advertisement Hutchinson's Orscheln Farm store has become a Bomgaars location The Hutchinson store was one of 73 the FTC said Tractor Supply could not own due to anti-trust concerns. Transition to new store could take 15 months. Four More Shots Please S3 Review: This Old Wine In New Bottle Doesn't Get You Drunk As Easily Anymore , , , , . WRAPPING UP THE YEAR For our last weeks of the business year, Dog Ears Books will be open Wednesdays through Sundays, 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. -- that is, Wednesday, Oct. 19, through Saturday, Oct. 22, and then Wednesday, Oct. 26, through Saturday, Oct. 29 -- and will re-open before Memorial Day 2023 for our 30th anniversary year!!! 180216 Polytechnic School Contractor appeals to Land Owners for project to be completed. By Joe Elijah A special appeal has been made to the Land owners of the portion of land where the Polytechnic School will be located at Hahela, here on Buka Island. The Management Contractor, who have been awarded the project ATIHA Management Services, is strongly calling on the people of Bougainville to stand together and support the project for the people of Bougainville, because this project once completed will save many parents, time, money and resources to send their children to other Provinces to get an education.. Managing Director of ATIHA Management Services Mr. Dominic Eiso told New Dawn FM Station today that, in two weeks time the next shipment of building materials will arrive from Australia, if nothing is done about the Land issue, there will be another delay in completing the project, or worst still we may not have another project like this in 6the future for our children if the project is scrapped. Mr. Eiso said, the Land owners must be proud and happy about the project, because their children and Buka Islanders will be the first to benefit from the project once completed, because it will be day school and the neighboring students will have access to the institution. End Imperial Valley News Center How Refreshing: NIST's Natural Air Standards Support Accurate Greenhouse Gas Measurements Washington, DC - When it comes to tallying emissions of greenhouse gases, there is no better substitute than directly measuring the atmosphere. But this important accounting can be obscured, and even confused, if measurements of the air-borne heat-trapping chemicals are inaccurate or cant be compared from one instrument or data set to the next. To help ensure reliably accurate Measurements of the big three long-lived greenhouse gases, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has issued two new Standard Reference Materials (SRMs) that are puffs of naturally occurring air from far-flung parts of the globe. The new NIST-certified referencesSouthern Oceanic Air (SRM 1721) and Northern Continental Air (SRM 1720)contain painstakingly measured concentrations of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide. They respond to the growing need for greenhouse gas calibration standards that extends beyond organizations participating in the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Global Atmosphere Watch Program, including its North American network. This program is served by a dedicated set of calibration laboratories. A variety of other organizations outside these official monitoring networks also measure greenhouse gases and need tools for ensuring accuracy. They include state and local agencies that track emissions and atmospheric concentrations of the gases; automobile manufacturers, which are particularly interested in leaks and other unintended emissions of nitrous oxide from vehicles; and so-called megacities projects that inventory sources and levels of the gases in large metropolitan areas. To ensure measurement accuracy, these and other types of organizations can first use their instruments to measure concentrations of the three gases in a NIST natural-air SRM. If the results differ from the SRMs certified values, they can adjustor calibratetheir instruments accordingly before measuring gas levels in the local atmosphere. The two natural air benchmarks hold the NIST record for lowest uncertainties assigned to components in the agencys more than 60 primary gas SRMs. The southern oceanic air hails from Baring Head, New Zealand, site of an air-monitoring station situated on a coastal cliff 79 meters above the Pacific Ocean. Samples were gathered in New Zealand at times in which prevailing winds originated from Antarctica. Samples of northern continental air were collected during late winter and early spring seasons in the Rocky Mountains at Niwot Ridge, Colo., a forested area more than 3,500 meters (almost 11,500 feet) above sea level. For nearly four decades, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has been siphoning the sites pristine air for its monitoring program and, more recently, for supplying calibrated reference samples to organizations participating in the WMOs atmospheric monitoring network and NOAAs tracking system. NIST and NOAA independently measured concentrations of the three greenhouse gases in the volumes of northern continental air contained in aluminum gas cylinders. While the NIST and NOAA measurements were in close agreement, the SRMs certified concentrations are taken from the actual NIST assigned values. The NOAA values are included for those users who need to use the WMO-accepted calibration. Among long-lived greenhouse gases, the three compounds account for about 90 percent of what is known as radiative forcinga measure of the compounds influence on the balance of incoming and outgoing energy in the Earth-atmosphere system. Carbon dioxide, the most abundant greenhouse gas, accounts for 65 percent of radiative forcing. Molecule for molecule, methane (at 17 percent) and nitrous oxide (6 percent) are much stronger absorbers of the Earths reradiated energy, but they are less abundant in the atmosphere. Accurate measurements of known and suspected influences on climate change require a sophisticated, underpinning infrastructure. NIST research chemist George Rhoderick says certifying concentrations of the three greenhouse gases in both natural air SRMs first required developing a set of even more exacting primary standards for each gas. The NIST Gas Sensing Metrology Group, he explains, spent five years developing suites of these primary standard mixtures so that measured NIST-certified concentrations of each gas in the SRMs is linked to the global measurement system. For both natural-air SRMs, pressurized canisters containing the mixture have been calibrated individually. Average values are 390.1 parts per million for carbon dioxide and 0.32 parts per million for nitrous oxide. Average methane values differ by about 6 percent1.7 parts per million for the southern ocean air mixture and 1.8 parts per million for cylinders of northern continental air. To learn more about the new SRMs, visit their pages at SRM 1720-Northern Continental Air and SRM-1721-Southern Oceanic Air. Imperial Valley News Center FTC Requires Drug Marketer Hikma Pharmaceuticals PLC to Divest Rights to Five Generic Injectable Drugs as a Condition of Acquiring Certain Drug Products from Ben Venue Laboratories, Inc. Washington, DC - The Federal Trade Commission will require generic drug marketer Hikma Pharmaceuticals PLC to divest its rights and interests in five generic injectable pharmaceuticals, as part of a settlement resolving charges that Hikmas $5 million acquisition of the rights to various drug products and related assets from Ben Venue Laboratories, Inc. would likely be anticompetitive. Under the terms of the proposed settlement, Hikma is required to divest the five generic injectable drug assets to Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a California-based specialty pharmaceutical company that sells generic injectable and inhalation products. According to the complaint, without a remedy, Hikmas purchase of certain generic injectables from Ben Venue, a U.S. subsidiary of Boehringer Ingelheim Corporation, would likely harm future competition in the U.S. markets for these products: Acyclovir sodium injection: an antiviral drug used to treat chicken pox, herpes, and other related infections. Diltiazem hydrochloride injection: a calcium channel blocker and antihypertensive used to treat hypertension, angina, and arrhythmias. Famotidine injection: a treatment for ulcers and gastroesophageal reflux disease. Prochlorperazine edisylate injection: an antipsychotic drug used to treat schizophrenia and nausea. Valproate sodium injection: a treatment for epilepsy, seizures, bipolar disorder, anxiety, and migraine headaches. The complaint also alleges that entry into the market from new competitors would not be timely, likely, or sufficient in magnitude to deter or counteract the anticompetitive effects of the acquisition. Drug development and FDA approval requirements are sufficiently time consuming that it would take at least two years for a new competitor to enter the market, according to the complaint. Details about the case are set forth in the analysis to aid public comment for this matter. The Commission vote to issue the complaint and accept the proposed consent order for public comment was 4-0. The FTC will publish the consent package in the Federal Register shortly. The agreement will be subject to public comment for 30 days, beginning today and continuing through March 22, 2016, after which the Commission will decide whether to make the proposed consent order final. Comments can be filed electronically or in paper form by following the instructions in the Supplementary Information section of the Federal Register notice. Imperial Valley News Center ICE removes man suspected of human rights violations to Bosnia Washington, DC - U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers yesterday removed from the United States a Bosnian-born Vermont man who surrendered his U.S. citizenship because he lied about his military service during the Bosnian War. These actions resulted from an investigation by ICEs Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the FBI. The U.S. Attorneys Office for the District of Vermont and the Department of Justice Human Rights and Special Prosecution Section prosecuted the case. Edin Sakoc, 55, of Burlington, Vermont, stipulated to the courts order of denaturalization and loss of citizenship based on a civil complaint alleging that he illegally and fraudulently obtained U.S. citizenship by giving false or misleading information to a U.S. official. According to court documents, when Sakoc sought status in the United States in 2001, he misrepresented his wartime service by denying he served in the Croatian Defense Council (HVO). HVO forces committed numerous serious human rights violations during the 1992-1995 Bosnian War. ICE's Human Rights Violators and War Crimes Center (HRVWCC) investigates human rights violators who try to evade justice by seeking shelter in the United States, including those who are known or suspected to have participated in persecution, war crimes, genocide, torture, extrajudicial killings, and the use or recruitment of child soldiers. These individuals may use fraudulent identities to enter the country and attempt to blend into communities in the United States. Since fiscal year 2004, ICE has arrested more than 360 individuals for human rights-related violations under various criminal and/or immigration statutes. During that same period, ICE obtained deportation orders and physically removed more than 780 known or suspected human rights violators from the United States. Currently, ICEs Homeland Security Investigations has more than 125 active investigations into suspected human rights violators and is pursuing more than 1,750 leads and removal cases involving suspected human rights violators from 97 different countries. Over the last four years, ICEs Human Rights Violators and War Crimes Center has issued more than 70,100 lookouts for individuals from more than 111 countries and stopped 193 human rights violators or war crime suspects from entering the United States. Members of the public who have information about foreign nationals suspected of engaging in human rights abuses or war crimes are urged to contact ICE by calling the toll-free ICE tip line at 1-866-347-2423 or internationally at 001-1802-872-6199. They can also email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or complete ICEs online tip form. VFA-113, NAS Lemoore Say Goodbye to the F/A-18C Hornet Lemoore, California - The "Stingers" of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 113 conducted the last flight of a fleet F/A-18C Hornet based at Naval Air Station (NAS) Lemoore February 17. The flight was conducted by VFA-113's Maintenance Officer Lt. Cmdr. Kristen "Dragon" Hansen. VFA-113 completed the transition from the A-7E Corsair II to the F/A-18A Hornet Dec. 14, 1983, making the Stinger's the Navy's first fleet operational combat ready strike fighter squadron, and establishing the squadron motto of "First and Finest." In 1989, VFA-113 accepted delivery of the upgraded F/A-18C hornet. In March, VFA-113 will begin transitioning to the F/A-18E Super Hornet. In August 2014, the squadron embarked on its final combat deployment with the F/A-18C and Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 17 aboard USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70). The Stingers performed exceptionally on deployment, flying 367 combat missions in support of Operation Inherent Resolve. "The legacy F/A-18 has served the Navy brilliantly as a supersonic fighter for over 30 years," said Cmdr. Eric C. Doyle, the commanding officer of the Stingers. "While we remain proud of all the good work we have done with the F/A-18C, we are excited to begin transitioning to some brand new F/A-18E super hornets." "It has been an honor and a privilege to fly the F/A-18C Hornet across the Lemoore flight line for the last 10 years," said Hansen. "Although I am excited about receiving our new jets, the 'Charlie' has served me and the majority of the Lemoore Hornet community well over the course of our careers. Our maintainers have done a spectacular job of keeping these aging aircraft combat ready despite the many challenges associated with high-flight hour jets. I'll appreciate the extra gas, but admit that I'll be a little sad when I have to say 'Rhino Ball' vice 'Hornet Ball' behind the boat!" After the completion of carrier qualifications for the pilots of VFA-113, the final step in the transition process to the F/A-18E being certified as "Safe-for-Flight." Part of that process involves the loading and delivery of live ordnance. Strike Fighter Weapons School Pacific will conduct the Conventional Weapons Technical Proficiency Inspection (CWTPI) for VFA-113 at the beginning of June. Following the completion of CWTPI, the Stingers will become the newest member of the Super Hornet community, making NAS Lemoore an all super hornet flight line. Aviation Electrician's Mate Second Class David Shimizu is looking forward to the benefits of the transition as well. "As we think of the word 'transition,' we think of strenuous and difficult times, but in reality, it is our opportunity to purge and rethink our priorities and be intentional about new habits," said Shimizu. "As individuals we set out new goals to be our personal best whether if it is in the work environment, or life in general. We as a team have always pushed ourselves to strive to be the best at any task put forth. Now as we close one chapter of our lives and open a new one, we have the opportunity to make our new normal anything we want." Best Desert Wildflower Bloom in a Decade Death Valley, California - There are unusually dense displays of wildflowers in several areas of Death Valley National Park. Triggered by a series of storms in October, the current flower display is the best the park has experienced in a decade. Death Valley is the hottest place on Earth and the driest place in North America, averaging about two inches of rain per year. These extreme conditions make it difficult for most plants to survive. Most of the time, the lower elevations in the park appear stark: a landscape of salt flats, sand dunes and rocky mountains vegetated by a few hardy shrubs and small trees. Rain in cooler months triggers wildflower seeds to sprout, some of which may lay dormant for years until just the right conditions occur. Wildflowers bloom each spring in Death Valley, but the density of flowers, extent of the area covered by flowers, and variety of plants varies a lot based on rainfall and temperature. A series of unusual storms in October dropped locally heavy rainfall in several areas of the park. The most rain fell in places without official rain gauges, but the National Weather Service estimated that over 3 inches of rain fell in just 5 hours in one area of the park. This autumn soaking was followed by enough winter rain to cause a large-scale wildflower bloom. October's storms also caused flash floods which damaged park roads and the historic district at Scotty's Castle. Most roads have been repaired and re-opened, including most recently the very scenic Twenty Mule Team Road. Major roads that remain closed are: Scotty's Castle Road (8 miles in Grapevine Canyon), Badwater Road (from Ashford Mill to Shoshone over Jubilee Pass) and Lower Wildrose Road. Repairs to utilities and historic structures at Scotty's Castle could take a few years. The current bloom in Death Valley exceeds anything park staff has seen since the 2005. Some people are calling it a "super bloom," which is not an official term. Park Ranger Alan Van Valkenburg has lived in Death Valley for 25 years and said, "I'm not really sure where the term "super bloom" originated, but when I first came to work here in the early 1990s I kept hearing the old timers talk about super blooms as a near mythical thingthe ultimate possibility of what a desert wildflower bloom could be. I saw several impressive displays of wildflowers over the years and always wondered how anything could beat them, until I saw my first super bloom in 1998. Then I understood. I never imagined that so much life could exist here in such staggering abundance and intense beauty." The previous super blooms of 1998 and 2005 occurred in El Nino years. El Nino can affect Death Valley by shifting the track of winter and spring storms into the area, increasing rainfall during flower season. Matching previous patterns, this year's wildflower bloom started in elevations below 1,000 feet in the southern end of the park. Typically, the peak of the bloom will move northward and upwards in elevation over the course of the spring. The bloom in lower elevations is likely to continue at least through mid-March, with flowers at higher elevations possible later in the spring. One area that is currently particularly spectacular is about 10 miles south of Badwater on Badwater Road, where Desert Gold is growing so thickly it appears as if the alluvial fan were painted yellow. Nice displays of white and purple flowers are visible along the Beatty Cutoff Road. Park Ranger Alan Van Valkenburg described the bloom, "The hills and alluvial fans that normally have just rocks and gravel are transformed by huge swaths of yellow, white, pink, and purple. At first glance you are blown away by the sheer numbers of flowers, then on closer inspection the diversity of species will draw you in." While broad areas of color can be viewed from the road, another way to appreciate the flowers is to walk among them. Some flowers are commonly called "belly flowers" because it is easiest to appreciate their beauty by getting down to ground level. With over twenty species of flower in bloom currently, everyone can find their favorites. Many park employees identify the beautiful Desert Five-Spot as their favorite, an elusive flower that consists of five pink-purple petals in a cup-shape, with a large red spot on each petal. Another engaging flower is the Gravel Ghost, which has leaves that blend in flat against the gravel and has a white flower that appears to float about a foot or two above the ground on a very thin stalk. Superintendent Mike Reynolds said, "Right now is the best time to visit Death Valley in over a decade! The flower display is astounding and this is a rare time to experience one of the most incredible displays Death Valley has to offer. We don't know how long the bloom will last so come now!" Park roads, campgrounds and hotels are all busy currently with the increase in visitation triggered by the wildflowers, so visitors should plan accordingly. All flowers should be enjoyed in place, as picking wildflowers or removing them from the park is illegal and reduces other visitors' enjoyment. Park rangers are posting regular updates about wildflowers to Three Family Members Receive Life Sentences for Courthouse Murder Conspiracy New Castle, Delaware - David T. Matusiewicz, Lenore Matusiewicz and Amy Gonzalez were sentenced yesterday in federal court in Delaware to life in prison for the February 2013 murder of David Matusiewiczs ex-wife and a friend at the New Castle County Courthouse, announced Acting U.S. Attorney David C. Weiss for the District of Delaware, Special Agent in Charge Kevin L. Perkins for the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) Baltimore Division and Colonel Nathaniel McQueen Jr. for the Delaware State Police. Following a five week jury trial this past summer, the defendants were convicted of conspiracy, interstate stalking resulting in death and cyberstalking resulting in death. This was the first case in the nation where defendants were convicted of cyberstalking resulting in death. After a lengthy sentencing hearing in Delaware, Judge McHugh concluded that David Matusiewicz and his father, Thomas Matusiewicz, acted with premeditated intent in the February 11, 2013, murder of his ex-wife, Christine Belford, at the New Castle County Courthouse. Thomas Matusiewicz also shot and killed Laura Beth Mulford, who accompanied Belford to the courthouse that morning. Judge McHugh determined that, based on defendants repeated criminal conduct and the serious nature of the offense, which included contempt for the law, only a life sentence would protect the community and Belfords children. Lenore Matusiewicz and Gonzalez likewise received life sentences from Judge McHugh. Lenore Matusiewicz was sentenced at her bedside last week at Jefferson Medical Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Gonzalez was sentenced after her brothers sentence was imposed. Judge McHugh concluded that Gonzalezs overall stalking conduct was inextricably intertwined with the conduct of her family members and that it was reasonably foreseeable to Gonzalez that an act of violence would occur when her brother, mother and father left for Delaware in early February 2013. The life sentences imposed by Judge McHugh were necessary to punish the defendants and to protect Christine Belfords children and our community, said Acting U.S. Attorney Weiss. We hope that these sentences provide some comfort to the victims families and we thank the law enforcement and legal communities for their contributions to the successful prosecution of this case. The Matusiewicz family caused a lot of unnecessary harm in this case, killing and injuring innocent people for no reason, said Special Agent in Charge Perkins. This ground-breaking prosecution and investigation shows people who actively take part in planning crimes, even though they don't pull the trigger, will be held accountable. The Delaware State Police supports the decision of the jury and the judge for holding all defendants in this case fully accountable for their actions, said Colonel McQueen Jr. The successful prosecution and sentencing of the defendants responsible in the first federal conviction of cyber-stalking resulting in death is truly welcomed news for all federal, state and local law enforcement involved in the investigation. This investigation is a landmark case that emphasizes the impact and benefit to the community when all agencies are working together. According to the evidence presented at trial and sentencing, David Matusiewicz and Belford were involved in divorce and child custody proceedings in the family court of Delaware in 2007. In August 2007, David Matusiewicz and his mother, Lenore Matusiewicz, kidnapped the three young children born of his marriage to Belford and fled to South America. In March 2009, David and Lenore Matusiewicz and the young children were found living in a motor home in Nicaragua. David and Lenore Matusiewicz were arrested and prosecuted in Delaware and the children were returned to the care of their mother. In September 2009, David and Lenore Matusiewicz each pleaded guilty to crimes relating to their kidnapping of the children. In December 2009, David Matusiewicz was sentenced in federal court to 48 months in prison, to be followed by five years of supervision by the U.S. Probation Office. In the days following his December 2009 sentencing, David Matusiewicz began to orchestrate, from his prison cell, a course of conduct designed to stalk, harass and intimidate Belford and her children. He enlisted his father, mother, sister and various other persons in this effort, which stretched from December 2009 to February 2013. The Matusiewicz familys stalking campaign included broad dissemination -- by mail, email, websites, Internet postings and other means of false and defamatory allegations against Belford. After his release from federal custody, David Matusiewicz resided in southern Texas. On Jan. 8, 2013, David Matusiewicz sought and received permission from the U.S. Probation Office in Texas to travel to Delaware to attend a child support arrearage hearing he had requested. That hearing was scheduled for Feb. 11, 2013. David Matusiewicz never informed the probation officer that he intended to travel to Delaware with Thomas and Lenore Matusiewicz. On the morning of Feb. 11, 2013, David and Thomas Matusiewicz drove to a hotel parking garage near the New Castle County Courthouse in a Honda CRV, which contained ammunition, a military style knife, three sets of restraints of progressively smaller sizes, a bullet proof vest, an electric shock device, binoculars and photographs of Belfords children and residence. After entering the courthouse lobby at approximately 7:30 a.m., David Matusiewicz entered and stayed in the security screening line, while Thomas Matusiewicz moved around the lobby, occasionally approaching and talking to David Matusiewicz. Shortly before 8:00 a.m., David Matusiewicz passed through courthouse security screening and walked to another floor of the building. Thomas Matusiewicz remained in the lobby, where he shot Belford multiple times as she entered the courthouse lobby, killing her. He then shot Mulford multiple times as she attempted to flee. After a shootout during which he shot and injured two Capitol Police officers, Thomas Matusiewicz died on the sidewalk of the courthouse of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. This case was investigated by the FBI and the Delaware State Police and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jamie M. McCall and Shawn A. Weede. FTC: Stratfords advertising failed the honesty test Washington, DC - The FTC says a distance learning company failed the truthful advertising test by marketing its high school diploma as equivalent to a diploma from a traditional high school and claiming it could lead to better jobs, higher pay, and acceptance at schools of higher education. People paid Stratford Career Institute as much as $989 to enroll in its high school diploma program, only to learn after completing it that many employers and educational institutions, including community colleges, rejected the diplomas as invalid high school equivalency credentials, the complaint said. Why wasnt the diploma accepted? The FTC says Stratfords program did not meet most states basic educational requirements for a high school diploma, including requirements for total credit hours and mandatory classes. Stratford advertised the program using print, television, and online ads that depicted its diploma as equivalent to diplomas offered by traditional high schools and able to open up doors to job and career opportunities that were closed to you before. According to one ad, With a diploma in hand, you can qualify for better jobs, faster promotions, and higher pay. Just imagine what you can achieve! To steer online shoppers to its website, Stratford purchased online advertising tied to search terms like official high school diploma, real high school diploma online, and high school equivalency diploma, the complaint said. But the FTC says Stratfords own records, including consumer complaints, survey responses, and other documents, showed that prospective employers and school admissions counselors rejected Stratfords diploma when people tried to submit it to apply for jobs, community college, or other purposes. If you have clients in the vocational school business, you may want to review the FTCs Vocational School Guides, which are designed to protect potential enrollees from deceptive statements about educational programs that claim to qualify people for certain occupations or trades. And, if an adult employee, friend or family member has expressed an interest in getting a high school diploma, suggest they read about high school diploma scams before signing on the dotted line. Death of American Citizen in West Bank Attack Washington, DC - We condemn in the strongest possible terms the attack that took place yesterday in the West Bank that resulted in the death of U.S. citizen Tuvya Weisman. There is no justification for terrorism. This horrific incident again underscores the need for all sides to reject violence, and urgently take steps to restore calm, reduce tensions, and bring an immediate end to the violence. We extend our deepest condolences to his family and friends, and stand ready to provide all appropriate consular assistance. Privacy considerations prevent us from commenting further. President Obamas Call with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey Washington, DC - The President spoke today by phone with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan about the situation in Syria and U.S.-Turkish cooperation in the fight against terrorism. The President condemned and offered condolences for the February 17 terrorist attack in Ankara, which killed and wounded both military personnel and civilians, and the February 18 terrorist attack against a Turkish military convoy in Diyarbakir Province. President Obama expressed concern about recent Syrian regime advances in northwest Syria and urgently called for a halt to actions that heighten tensions with Turkey and with moderate opposition forces in northern Syria, and undermine our collective efforts in northern Syria to degrade and defeat ISIL. President Obama stressed that YPG forces should not seek to exploit circumstances in this area to seize additional territory, and urged Turkey to show reciprocal restraint by ceasing artillery strikes in the area. He emphasized the unwavering commitment of the United States to Turkeys national security as a NATO Ally. The two leaders expressed their support for the understanding reached in Munich last week on the cessation of hostilities in Syria and called on Russia and the Assad regime to halt airstrikes against moderate opposition forces. The leaders pledged to deepen cooperation in the fight against all forms of terrorism, including the PKK, and reiterated their shared goal of degrading and ultimately destroying ISIL. Watch: This Video Of Woman Failing At Archery, Hitting Arrow On Head Is Hilarious Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter for all the latest entertainment news and reviews Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the IndyArts email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Im an unreconstructed 1980s New Yorker I always wanted to live in an industrial loft apartment. And now, at last, I do. Weve just moved from Highbury, in north London, to Borough, south of the river, into a huge old photographic studio, 5m-high ceilings, big windows. I love it. When my daughters home from university, she sleeps in the darkroom. The advertising game isnt for wimps I was a 32-year-old woman from New York, living in London, and working in a boys profession. The sexism was incredible. People would have been in jail if they had treated women like that in New York; it was that bad. I answered back, and was fired every 18 months, basically for insubordination. Quit your job! The day I quit my job was the best day of my life. I wanted to be a writer. It took me four months, and resulted in How I Live Now. I found my fame and fortune with it, and I thought, Publishing people are so friendly! But they arent, not always! Despite that book being a big success, my second, Just In Case, was turned down flat by both my UK and US editors. My agent, who is smart, told me not to listen to them, just to keep working on it. I did. After it came out, it won the Carnegie [the UKs most prestigious childrens book award]. Culture news in pictures Show all 33 1 /33 Culture news in pictures Culture news in pictures 30 September 2016 An employee hangs works of art with "Grand Teatro" by Marino Marini (R) and bronze sculpture "Sfera N.3" by Arnaldo Pomodoro seen ahead of a Contemporary Art auction on 7 October, at Sotheby's in London REUTERS Culture news in pictures 29 September 2016 Street art by Portuguese artist Odeith is seen in Dresden, during an exhibition "Magic City - art of the streets" AFP/Getty Images Culture news in pictures 28 September 2016 Dancers attend a photocall for the new "THE ONE Grand Show" at Friedrichstadt-Palast in Berlin, Germany REUTERS Culture news in pictures 28 September 2016 With an array of thrift store china, humorous souvenirs and handmade tile adorning its walls and floors, the Mosaic Tile House in Venice stands as a monument to two decades of artistic collaboration between Cheri Pann and husband Gonzalo Duran REUTERS Culture news in pictures 27 September 2016 A gallery assistant poses amongst work by Anthea Hamilton from her nominated show "Lichen! Libido!(London!) Chastity!" at a preview of the Turner Prize in London REUTERS Culture news in pictures 27 September 2016 A technician wearing virtual reality glasses checks his installation in three British public telephone booths, set up outside the Mauritshuis museum in The Hague, Netherlands. The installation allows visitors a 3-D look into the museum which has twenty-two paintings belonging to the British Royal Collection, on loan for an exhibit from 29 September 2016 till 8 January 2017 AP Culture news in pictures 26 September 2016 An Indian artist dressed as Hindu god Shiva performs on a chariot as he participates in a religious procession 'Ravan ki Barat' held to mark the forthcoming Dussehra festival in Allahabad AFP/Getty Images Culture news in pictures 26 September 2016 Jean-Michel Basquiat's 'Air Power', 1984, is displayed at the Bowie/Collector media preview at Sotheby's in New York AFP/Getty Culture news in pictures 25 September 2016 A woman looks at an untitled painting by Albert Oehlen during the opening of an exhibition of works by German artists Georg Baselitz and Albert Oehlen in Reutlingen, Germany. The exhibition runs at the Kunstverein (art society) Reutlingen until 15 January 2017 EPA Culture news in pictures 24 September 2016 Fan BingBing (C) attends the closing ceremony of the 64th San Sebastian Film Festival at Kursaal in San Sebastian, Spain Getty Images Culture news in pictures 23 September 2016 A view of the artwork 'You Are Metamorphosing' (1964) as part of the exhibition 'Retrospektive' of Japanese artist Tetsumi Kudo at Fridericianum in Kassel, Germany. The exhibition runs from 25 September 2016 to 1 January 2017 EPA Culture news in pictures 22 September 2016 Jo Applin from the Courtauld Institute of Art looks at Green Tilework in Live Flesh by Adriana Vareja, which features in a new exhibition, Flesh, at York Art Gallery. The new exhibition features works by Degas, Chardin, Francis Bacon and Sarah Lucas, showing how flesh has been portrayed by artists over the last 600 years PA Culture news in pictures 21 September 2016 Performers Sean Atkins and Sally Miller standing in for the characters played by Asa Butterfield and Ella Purnell during a photocall for Tim Burton's "Miss Peregrines Home For Peculiar Children" at Potters Field Park in London Getty Images Culture news in pictures 20 September 2016 A detail from the blanket 'Alpine Cattle Drive' from 1926 by artist Ernst Ludwig Kirchner is displayed at the 'Hamburger Bahnhof - Museum for Contemporary Arts' in Berlin. The exhibition named 'Ernst Ludwig Kirchner - Hieroglyphen' showing the complete collection of Berlin's Nationalgallerie works of the German artist Ernst Ludwig Kirchner and will run from 23 September 2016 until 26 February 2017 AP Culture news in pictures 20 September 2016 A man looks at portrait photos by US photographer Bruce Gilden in the exhibition 'Masters of Photography' at the photokina in Cologne, Germany. The trade fair on photography, photokina, schowcases some 1,000 exhibitors from 40 countries and runs from 20 to 25 September. The event also features various photo exhibitions EPA Culture news in pictures 20 September 2016 A woman looks at 'Blue Poles', 1952 by Jackson Pollock during a photocall at the Royal Academy of Arts, London PA Culture news in pictures 19 September 2016 Art installation The Refusal of Time, a collaboration with Philip Miller, Catherine Meyburgh and Peter Galison, which features as part of the William Kentridge exhibition Thick Time, showing from 21 September to 15 January at the Whitechapel Gallery in London PA Culture news in pictures 18 September 2016 Artists creating one off designs at the Mm6 Maison Margiela presentation during London Fashion Week Spring/Summer collections 2017 in London Getty Images Culture news in pictures 18 September 2016 Bethenny Frankel attends the special screening of Disney's "Beauty and the Beast" to celebrate the 25th Anniversary Edition release on Blu-Ray and DVD in New York City Getty Images for Walt Disney Stu Culture news in pictures 17 September 2016 Visitors attend the 2016 Oktoberfest beer festival at Theresienwiese in Munich, Germany Getty Images Culture news in pictures 16 September 2016 Visitors looks at British artist Damien Hirst work of art 'The Incomplete Truth', during the 13th Yalta Annual Meeting entitled 'The World, Europe and Ukraine: storms of changes', organised by the Yalta European Strategy (YES) in partnership with the Victor Pinchuk Foundation at the Mystetsky Arsenal Art Center in Kiev AP Culture news in pictures 16 September 2016 Tracey Emin's "My Bed" is exhibited at the Tate Liverpool as part of the exhibition Tracey Emin And William Blake In Focus, which highlights surprising links between the two artists Getty Images Culture news in pictures 15 September 2016 Musician Dave Grohl (L) joins musician Tom Morello of Prophets of Rage onstage at the Forum in Inglewood, California Getty Images Culture news in pictures 14 September 2016 Model feebee poses as part of art installation "Narcissism : Dazzle room" made by artist Shigeki Matsuyama at rooms33 fashion and design exhibition in Tokyo. Matsuyama's installation features a strong contrast of black and white, which he learned from dazzle camouflage used mainly in World War I AP Culture news in pictures 13 September 2016 Visitors look at artworks by Chinese painter Cui Ruzhuo during the exhibition 'Glossiness of Uncarved Jade' held at the exhibition hall 'Manezh' in St. Petersburg, Russia. More than 200 paintings by the Chinese artist are presented until 25 September EPA Culture news in pictures 12 September 2016 A visitor looks at Raphael's painting 'Extase de Sainte Cecile', 1515, from the Uffizi Gallery in Florence during the opening of a Raphael exhibition at the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts in Moscow, Russia. The first Russian exhibition of the works of the Italian Renaissance artist Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino includes eight paintings and three drawings which come from Italy. Th exhibit opens to the public from 13 September to 11 December EPA Culture news in pictures 11 September 2016 Steve Cropper and Eddie Floyd perform during Otis Redding 75th Birthday Celebration - Rehearsals at the Macon City Auditorium in Macon, Georgia Getty Images for Otis Redding 75 Culture news in pictures 10 September 2016 Sakari Oramo conducting the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Symphony Chorus and the BBC Singers at the Last Night of the Proms 2016 at the Royal Albert Hall in London PA Culture news in pictures 9 September 2016 A visitor walks past a piece entitled "Fruitcake" by Joana Vasconcelo, during the Beyond Limits selling exhibition at Chatsworth House near Bakewell REUTERS Culture news in pictures 8 September 2016 A sculpture of a crescent standing on the 2,140 meters high mountain 'Freiheit' (German for 'freedom'), in the Alpstein region of the Appenzell alps, eastern Switzerland. The sculpture is lighted during the nights by means of solar panels. The 38-year-old Swiss artist and atheist Christian Meier set the crescent on the peak to start a debate on the meaning of religious symbols - as summit crosses - on mountains. 'Because so many peaks have crosses on them, it struck me as a great idea to put up an equally absurd contrast'. 'Naturally I wanted to provoke in a fun way. But it goes beyond that. The actions of an artist should be food for thought, both visually and in content' EPA Culture news in pictures Culture news in pictures Culture news in pictures A writer doesnt always just write People think writing is all about sitting at your computer and writing. But of course its not. Its about the quality of your thoughts. A writer thinks. I got breast cancer the same year I first got published My daughter was seven at the time, and traumatised by it for good reason; her aunt, my sister, had already died from cancer. My daughter started getting night terrors, so we took her to a shrink who said: No problem. Send her to a private school, and get a dog. So we did. We wanted one dog, but ended up with two The breeders were keen to keep two of the litter together. They offered us the second one half-price. Me being Jewish, I was like: Half price? Ill take it! I love my dogs lurchers to distraction, but they are killers: foxes, cats, rabbits. I never set out to write books for children; they just got marketed that way My subject has always been how to become a person. That starts early in life, and doesnt end when you are 19. It just goes on and on. Humour is natures balm I had a vague sense that the world was getting so depressing that it needed a comedy. Jonathan Unleashed, my new book, is a comedy about the advertising industry. I waited 12 years to write about the advertising industry because I was still so enraged by my career in it. But Ive now managed to compost it all down into something funny. You cannot write a book while enraged. It doesnt work. Ive always been a pessimist and a bit of a depressive, expecting the worst. In a way, Im trying to inoculate myself against the next terrible thing that is going to happen by facing it all the time. Im happiest in the country We have a tiny, former MoD house on a beach in Suffolk, very cheap, overlooks the sea. Ive lived in cities all my life and used to be frightened to be by myself, but now I need to live inside my head more. I take the dogs, no change of clothes, we dont wash except in the sea at night, and we go for long walks in the forest. The rhythm of my solitude there is unbelievably appealing to me. Meg Rosoff, 59, has written several award-winning books for children, including How I Live Now and Just In Case. Her latest novel, Jonathan Unleashed, is her first for adults (14.99, Bloomsbury) Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter for all the latest entertainment news and reviews Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the IndyArts email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Ailment: Constipation Cure: Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts If you don't eat enough apples, or your digestive functions tend to be on the sluggish side, this unpleasant affliction can leave you spending way too much time in the loo. Get things moving with this sprawling epic about an ex-bankrobber making a new life for himself in the poverty-stricken slums of Bombay. It will act as a lexical laxative, sweeping you along with its unstoppable momentum from the grabbing opening line. Our narrator, Lin, arrives in Bombay on a forged New Zealand passport he's on the run from prison, and hungry for a bite at freedom. He meets Prabaker, whose musically accented English and disarming smile endear him to Lin. And in this cacophonous city of 60 million (counting the animals and rats) with its choking heat and the sense that all of life is right in front of your eyes, Prabaker becomes his guide. "Everything is allow no problem here," says Prabaker. "Smoking, drinking, dancing, music, sexy business" Lin plunges headfirst into Prabaker's India, living like him among the slum-dwellers, speaking Marathi, running a medical clinic, and falling for green-eyed Karla. There's a lot to enjoy in this novel its warmth, its beauty, its profusion of soft fruits: paw paw, papaya, melon, mango And Prabaker's description of the male slum-dwellers' daily ritual of going en masse to the jetty for their "motions". Men and boys squat side by side, buttocks dangling over the ocean below, able to watch one another's progress, or lack of it, in convivial harmony. "Oh yes!" says Prabaker, urging Lin to come along. "They are a fascinating for you. You are like a movie hero for them. They are dying to see how you will make your motions." All of which will make you grateful for the privacy of your own toilet. And if, while there, the long-awaited "motions" fail to transpire, this doorstopper of a novel will keep you entertained for pretty much however long it takes. thenovelcure.com Sign up to the Independent Climate email for the latest advice on saving the planet Get our free Climate email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Independent Climate email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The Government should follow the example of the US and ban tiny plastic "microbeads" from cosmetics in the face of escalating public concern about the risk they pose to the environment, campaigners have said. A new campaigning coalition has been launched as a Greenpeace petition to ban the tiny plastic fragments - used to texturise products such as toothpaste and face scrubs - reaches 180,000 signatures after just a month. Microbeads are so small that they frequently evade water filtration systems. And because they are made from polyethylene, they don't break down, meaning that they add to the mountain of plastic already flowing into rivers and seas. Recommended Read more The US just banned polluting microbeads in cosmetic products "These tiny plastics are a big problem for consumers and our oceans. The Government needs to take responsibility and ban them outright," said Louise Edge, Greenpeace's senior oceans campaigner. The fragments are heavily used across in a wide range of toiletries. A single helping of some toothpastes can result in 100,000 of them being washed down the sink - while the US is estimated to flush 8 trillion a day into its water system. Microbeads are also highly absorbent, making them magnets for pesticides and other chemicals which leach out of the beads as they pass along the waterways or find their way into any fish or animals that ingest them. Once they are in the food chain, they can even find their way into the fish and meat on our plates. Pictures that show we are killing our planet Show all 21 1 /21 Pictures that show we are killing our planet Pictures that show we are killing our planet Pollution Getty Pictures that show we are killing our planet Plastic pollution Getty Pictures that show we are killing our planet Melting icebergs Getty Pictures that show we are killing our planet Human overpopulation Getty Pictures that show we are killing our planet Sea level rise Getty Pictures that show we are killing our planet Severe drought Getty Pictures that show we are killing our planet Mudslides Getty Pictures that show we are killing our planet Lake shrinking Getty Pictures that show we are killing our planet Food and water crisis caused by drought Getty Pictures that show we are killing our planet Water crisis Getty Pictures that show we are killing our planet Rainforest logging Getty Pictures that show we are killing our planet Habitat destruction Getty Pictures that show we are killing our planet Fracking Getty Pictures that show we are killing our planet Wildfires Getty Pictures that show we are killing our planet Rubbish dump Pope Francis said a 'throwaway culture' was damaging the environment and the world's social fabric Getty Pictures that show we are killing our planet Hunger Getty Pictures that show we are killing our planet Illegal poaching Getty Pictures that show we are killing our planet Unsafe water Getty Pictures that show we are killing our planet Scrap and metal waste Getty Pictures that show we are killing our planet Smog Getty Pictures that show we are killing our planet Oil spill Getty The coalition includes Greenpeace, the Marine Conservation Society, the Environmental Investigation Agency and Fauna & Flora International. It will use the recent bans on microbeads in the US and Canada to argue that microbeads pose a serious threat and that banning them is practical and commercially viable. A spokesman for the Department for the Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, said: "Protecting our marine environment is vital both for people's enjoyment of our seas and the businesses which rely on healthy fish stocks. "That's why we are continuing to monitor the marine environment." Sweden, Austria, Belgium, Italy and Luxembourg have all lobbied the EU to impose a ban across the bloc, while other countries, most notably the UK, favour a voluntary approach. Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Lifestyle Edit email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} In the century or so since Chanel founded her eponymous label in Paris, the city has remained the centre of the fashion world. Today its Fashion Week boasts a schedule bursting with big-budget brands and heavyweight heritage houses, and so is generally not the ideal home for designers making their debut. But Vanessa Seward is not a typical designer in that respect, and when presenting her first solo collection last March, she could not have chosen any city in which to do so other than the one that has been her home for more than 30 years. Born in Buenos Aires in 1969 to an Argentinian diplomat and his wife, Seward spent her formative years in St John's Wood, the leafy enclave of north-west London to which she was transplanted aged two. Here she attended St Mary's convent school and, once free from the school gates and the nuns' ever-watchful gaze, she was captivated by the style of the 1970s and that of her glamorous mother in particular. "She was a very exuberant character," recalls Seward, at home in the 17th arrondissement neighbourhood of Batignolles where she lives with her musician husband and five-year-old daughter. "She used to go out nearly every night: she loved dressing and she used to make herself these hats with veils. She had a vast amount of clothes, vast! And a vast amount of shoes she was obsessed with fashion." Seward says: 'A woman looks good when she wears something that won't mask her own personality' (AFP/Getty Images) The Ossie Clark, Gina Fratini and John Marks by Anne Tyrrell that made up her mother's wardrobe made a lasting impression on the designer. As did the spirit of creativity and freedom that gripped London during her youth, and there is a retro characteristic, an almost sepia tint, to her collections today. "I don't do it on purpose," she says. "It's just something that has always stuck it was a very happy time in my life. I love the Seventies, the idea of it as well as the glamour." That era was a big trend last year, which no doubt helped Seward's label gain traction. Seward has long been a bit of a rebel, albeit a quiet one. The life of a diplomat is a nomadic one, and, in 1983, after a two-year stint back in Argentina, her family, including her two older sisters, moved to Paris. Here she was once again sent to "a posh girls' school with nuns and uniform" the requisite ingredients for stirring up a bit of teenage rebellion. And rebel she did: "I started going out in Paris when I was 15. I guess it was the Catholic-girl thing. I don't think my mother knew at all about it because I used to make up very good stories. I had a very intense nightlife. It was Le Palace, Les Bains Douches period, and I realised quite young that I could get noticed by dressing up." Seward says that she was actually an extremely shy young woman and that she was fortified by the sense of confidence and even power that the right clothing could instil in her and the attention her clubbing clobber would garner. Regularly photographed for magazines, she began to realise that her style was setting her apart. Distilling it into a career became her instinctive next step. After completing her studies at Parisian design school Studio Bercot, her first job was in the accessories studio of Chanel the dream job for a young woman, or so you might think. "My fantasy at the time was going to work for someone like Martine Sitbon, somebody cool," laughs Seward. "I thought if I go to Chanel I'm going back to my nuns. But I had a great time once I started, it was a lot of fun. It was the time of the supermodels, of Claudia, Linda and Christy. There were 200 outfits per show and piles of accessories. You didn't think too much about prices when you were working on something. But I think I was a bit dazed I thought it was normal to see Anna Wintour all the time." In 2000 Seward joined Yves Saint Laurent under the direction of Tom Ford, later moving to the French couture label Azzaro, where she took over the reins when the house's founder died in 2003. After leaving her role as artistic director in 2011, Seward collaborated with APC, that quintessentially French brand which occupies the sweet spot between hot and cool that so many others now attempt to emulate. In fact it was with APC founder Jean Touitou's partnership that she was able to start her own label. "I'm very lucky," says Seward of the arrangement. "I'm not in the same position as young designers who are just starting. It's like I had a seven-year head-start and it's incredible what we have achieved." There is a retro characteristic, an almost sepia tint, to Seward's collections (AFP/Getty Images) While her prices are not low, her clothes are within reach of the average working woman who wants to invest in a classic wardrobe. As with so many female designers, she has in mind her own wardrobe needs, and those of her friends, when she approaches her drawing board. As such there is a maturity to her designs, an assuredness that is enhanced by her attention to fit and flattering cuts. "I found it was very difficult for women to relate to the everyday fashion, especially in Paris where everything has the same sort of boho or rock-chic imprint and it has become a kind of uniform. A woman looks good when she wears something that won't mask her own personality." After such a peripatetic childhood, Seward says she "feels Parisian but not completely French even if I am now 'officially' French". Of the tragedy that struck the city in November she is philosophical: "Maybe the good thing that came out of it is that people are more solidaire. I know Parisians have a reputation of being a bit grumpy and not so smiley, but we all had to pull together and that's kind of nice. But it is a difficult period; fewer people are coming to Paris, and Parisians are going out less to the cinema, to the theatre to restaurants. It's a time when we have to support each other. In the grand scheme of things fashion isn't important but it just makes life sweeter. C'est bon." Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Lifestyle Edit email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} On the first floor of the Cafe de Flore, the Left Bank Paris restaurant once beloved of Existentialists and now of the fashion establishment, there is a fairly discreet table by a pillar. Looking out on to the Boulevard Saint-Germain, it is known as Madame Rykiel's in honour of the French fashion designer Sonia Rykiel, who used to prop it up. She's also leant her name to a sandwich, at Flore. It comes without pain no pain, no gain, they say, and Rykiel, as if to prove it, is still beanpole-skinny at 85. She is no longer designing she retired in 2009, passing the reins to a series of successors. If you sit at Madame's table on the top floor of Flore, and crane your head to the right, up towards the Rue de Bac, you'll see the current Rykiel boutique at 175 Boulevard Saint-Germain, round the corner from the original one opened in May 1968, amidst rioting students. Above 175 is the studio where Rykiel's latest, and many would argue closest, successor, Julie de Libran, creates her collection. De Libran calls the store "our home". For her first show in 2014, she called in the cafe to serve champagne. It's De Libran that I'm meeting at Flore, at Madame Rykiel's table. "Tres chic, non?" demurs her head of press. Mais oui. Rykiels Spring/Summer 2016 collection (Angelo Pennetta) De Libran herself is also chic aged 43 (she'll turn 44 in three days, two weeks before her autumn/winter 2016 show), she has long, perfectly imperfect tousled blonde hair and blue eyes. Her accent is slightly American she moved from Aix-en-Provence to California when she was eight, spending her teens there before moving to Italy to study fashion. But her perfect French attests not only to her birthplace in the south, but to trips back and forth throughout her formative years and a period spent at the Chambre Syndicale's fashion school in the 1990s. She's lived in Paris since 2008, although this is her first move to the Rive Gauche. Prior to joining Rykiel in 2014, she worked for six years as right-hand woman to Marc Jacobs at Louis Vuitton, in a studio in the shadow of the Louvre museum. Today she's decidedly left-bank, wearing a shaggy Mongolian lambswool cape, a dead ringer for one Madame Rykiel sported in a publicity shot in 1984, scowling from under her kinked block of Klimt auburn hair. It looked modern then; it still does. De Libran may be blonde, but otherwise she's very much Rykiel's contemporary counterpart. That's why she's seen as the closest inheritor of the Rykiel mantle: her clothes, like Rykiel's, are focused on practicality, as well as the art of French chic. That's the clothes she wears as well as those she creates. Sonia Rykiel began designing in 1962 because she simply couldn't find the clothes she wanted. She was pregnant, and wanted soft, easy clothes to wear. So she designed a sweater; it ended up on the cover of Elle and shifted in its thousands. Skinny cut, with high armholes and the flat, boyish silhouette that suited both Rykiel and the emerging Sixties styles, it sold in droves and made the Rykiel name. It also garnered the moniker "Queen of Knits". For a few shared characteristics practicality and comfort ahead of aesthetic, dressing legion women who share her ethos, a love of the ease of knits and jersey and simple boyish shapes Rykiel is frequently compared to Gabrielle Chanel. De Libran is also wearing a Chanel jacket. Below it are blue jeans, which reminds me of the fact that denim was actually first dubbed serge de Nimes because of the French city it originated in. It was exported to the New World co-opted as workwear, and exported back as a high-fashion must have, gaining something from the journey. Label founder Sonia Rykiel in 2013 (AFP/Getty Images) The same feels true of De Libran, whose aesthetic is coloured by an American sense of ease, practicality and cool, the product of growing up in San Diego, immersed in her mother's (thankfully good) wardrobe as a way of linking back to Europe. "My mother was a role-model," says De Libran, softly. "She was very into fashion she was wearing Rykiel. She was wearing Saint Laurent, she was wearing Kenzo. That already created a certain attraction for me, a certain desire my mother's closet was a memory, for me, of France. Because she had those things from France. It was like travelling to France, when I went into her closet." It was a while before De Libran wound up back in France, bar childhood holidays. With the encouragement of her parents, keen to pin down their flibbertigibbet teen who spent hours on her clothes, she went to study in Milan at the Istituto Marangoni. She then worked for the Italian designer Gianfranco Ferre, later moving to Paris to study at the Chambre Syndicale school. "I wanted to come to France, direct," she says, simply "But my father wanted me to go to Italy first he wanted me to learn Italian, he thought the Italians were so good with fabrics and colours." It worked: after her studies in France, there was another 12 years in Milan, first with Versace, then Prada. "Both Leo," De Libran comments of those labels' respective leaders, Donatella and Miuccia. Coco Chanel was one too. "Different style, different taste, but that strength that they both have." There's a similar strength to Rykiel and, quietly, to De Libran too. "It was important," she says. "Having those examples of women who are strong they do their thing, they do what they believe in. Creative, but having a life." De Libran's accent comes through heavy and Gallic when she says words like France ("Fronz") and Rykiel ("Rheekeel"). Her clothes aren't so heavily accented, though. They carry a whiff of France, of Rykiel's past the founder had a love of skinny knitwear dubbed "poor boy", frequently with the seams turned inside-out and of couture-quality finishing. De Libran's latest show, her best, fused casual with couture, knitting holographic sequins into T-shirt shapes or the slinky, easy jumpsuits De Libran favours as evening options. Aesthetics though aren't De Libran's most fascinating link with Rykiel although her shows generally riff on the Seventies groove Rykiel helped originate. It's the notion of Rykiel as her own best client, as a designer who creates clothes to please herself. De Libran does that. She's done that before, too her decade at Prada in Milan, for instance, where the fashion pace was and still is set. De Libran focused on dressing celebrities, real women who demanded a lot from their clothes. When she joined Louis Vuitton, she single-handedly headed the house's pre-collections. Those form the commercial meat and potatoes of any fashion brand, accounting for between 60 and 80 per cent of sales. Jacobs may have created the catwalk magic, but like Rykiel before her, De Libran designed clothes that ended up on womens' backs. She continues to do so today. Her collections are easily tugged apart into composite pieces sweaters, leathers, wide-legged trousers with a Seventies swing. A wardrobe. "What I'm doing today I want to adapt it to the life of today, the women of today. For it to be feminine, but also surprising," says De Libran. The stuff Rykiel was always known for is still there the knitwear, the stripes, even down to crimped and blown-out hair and the fact De Libran stages her shows in the slightly cramped Paris boutique, like Rykiel 40 years ago. But it's been given a twist, a reboot. "I don't feel at all stuck in a box," says De Libran of her work at Rykiel. "I don't feel like I need to reference anything. Rykiel was all about what was going on in the street, what was going on in culture, what was going on in art, what was surrounding her that was inspiring. It was also the joie de vivre, it was Saint Germain, it was la Parisienne. It was about bringing Paris to every corner of the world that je ne sais quoi." Rykiels Spring/Summer 2016 collection (Angelo Pennetta) Rykiel is still about exporting that sense of Frenchness. The label has over 50 stand-alone points-of-sale, including department store "corners" tramlined with the signature Rykiel Breton stripes in regions as disparate as Taipei, Kazakhstan and Daegu. Turnover is modest, around 70m at the time of its acquisition by Hong Kong-based Fung Brands in 2012. And yet in 2009 Rykiel joined the H&M bandwagon, creating a collection that sold out near-instantly and trounced rivals with bigger brands. Rykiel, as a name, has instant recognition as De Libran says, a je ne said quoi. Although it sounds better when she says it. Sonia Rykiel is still around: she lives on the Left Bank, up the street from the Flore. That could feel daunting particularly as the Rykiel family are still embedded in the business. "Nathalie is the vice-president one of her daughters works in the press office in New York," says De Libran. "It's always been a family brand. But now it's a bigger family. De Libran went to see Rykiel herself, titular head of the family. "When I went to see Sonia, she gave me some advice," says De Libran. Rykiel approved of De Libran's decision to mix menswear and womenswear in her shows, and showered her with anecdotes as a how-to for steering the business forward. De Libran didn't mind the backseat driving. "I like to know the story, I like when there's history." The history could be the challenging thing about Rykiel it's seen as part of the fabric of French culture, particularly by the French, who related from the start to a young Frenchwoman dressing young Frenchwomen in her clothes, and redefining the notion of elegance. That's why they took quite so lastingly to Gabrielle Chanel too. "Is it difficult to take on a brand that's so part of culture?" asks De Libran. "Of course it is. But I'm at Rykiel because I respect what she has done, and I want to continue her heritage. But do it my way." Did the Californian-raised De Libran clock that terribly appropriate Sinatra insinuation? I hope so. Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Lifestyle Edit email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} When it comes to cosmetics our continental cousins appear to favour the au naturel approach.But skincare? That's a whole different kettle of poisson. It makes sense all that smoking and scowling can't be good for the complexion. Some of the biggest beauty brands in the business are French Clarins, for example while others just have French-sounding names Clinique, I'm looking at you. In Britain we are fortunate to be able to get our hands on these Gallic lotions and potions without a trip across the Channel, because high street stores like Boots and Marks & Spencer have comprehensive ranges to should suit every budget. It is in the pharmacy where a lot of beauty rituals begin, and many brands have a clean and almost clinical aesthetic. Thermal water from various regional springs each of which has its own benefits is a popular ingredient, and many women regularly visit thermal spas for treatments. The 5 best French beauty brands Show all 5 1 /5 The 5 best French beauty brands The 5 best French beauty brands Night balm 26, Avene, escentual.com A little of this creamy serum boosts your usual routine thanks to the thermal water that enriches much of the brand's offering The 5 best French beauty brands Instant detox mask 22, uk.caudalie.com A gentle acid exfoliant to refine skin texture. Use it before bed and the lavender will soothe and your usual night- time products will really sink in The 5 best French beauty brands Neovadiol compensating complex 29.75, Vichy, boots.com This range is designed specifically to counteract the effects of the menopause on mature skin, leaving it fresh and radiant even after prolonged use The 5 best French beauty brands Beauty revealing eye and lip contour cream 50, darphin.co.uk The lips inevitably thin as we age and the skin can become feathered with wrinkles, so targeting this area (and quitting smoking) is a smart idea The 5 best French beauty brands Multi-active night 44, clarins.co.uk Nobody gets enough sleep so instead of worrying about the effects, tackle the first sign of fine lines with this revitalising night cream Night balm 26, Avene, escentual.com A little of this creamy serum boosts your usual routine thanks to the thermal water that enriches much of the brand's offering. Neovadiol compensating complex 29.75, Vichy, boots.com This range is designed specifically to counteract the effects of the menopause on mature skin, leaving it fresh and radiant even after prolonged use. Instant detox mask 22, uk.caudalie.com A gentle acid exfoliant to refine skin texture. Use it before bed and the lavender will soothe and your usual night- time products will really sink in. Recommended Read more The 5 best beauty products for gradual results Multi-active night 44, clarins.co.uk Nobody gets enough sleep so instead of worrying about the effects, tackle the first sign of fine lines with this revitalising night cream. Beauty revealing eye and lip contour cream 50, darphin.co.uk The lips inevitably thin as we age and the skin can become feathered with wrinkles, so targeting this area (and quitting smoking) is a smart idea. Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Lifestyle Edit email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Yves Saint Laurent's 1971 spring haute couture Forties show the collection which at the time was the subject of critical carnage is so embedded in fashion consciousness that I'm racking my brains to think of any show that's been more continuously influential in the intervening 45 years. It hit me yet again when Sarah Burton showed me around her Alexander McQueen pre-fall collection a few weeks ago: there on her rail was a short green fur chubby jacket, a dress embroidered with lip-prints, a line-up of strappy velvet platform sandals. It's there, too, in Alessandro Michele's Gucci collection: a dress with a trompe l'oeil gold sequin ribbon in the shape of a bow sewn into the bodice, one of his most photographed hits for spring. Not to mention the endless glittery glamour that Hedi Slimane has been requoting to such commercial success at Saint Laurent. None of it could exist without the scandal that erupted at Yves Saint Laurent's salon at the Rue Spontini in Paris on 28 January 1971. It was an event which crossed a cultural rubicon, dividing the generations. There was no doubt on which side the ladies of the establishment press belonged, as they watched the 84 looks flirt by. What they saw, among the sexy crepe draped dresses, the wide-shouldered tailoring, satin jackets, boxy dyed fox fur shrugs, turbans and four-inch platforms was a bunch of tarts from the Rue Saint Denis; their own memories of occupied Paris being hurled back in their middle-aged faces. Yves Saint Laurent and friends in the early 1970s (Getty Images) Eugenia Sheppard of the International Herald Tribune went for the jugular. "What a relief at last to write about a collection which is frankly, definitively and completely hideous," she fulminated. "I'd say it's suicidal." Alison Adburgham, The Guardian's fashion editor, opined: "Nothing could exceed the horror of this exercise in kitsch." Paris Jour condemned "these... deliberate, sad and demoralising excesses". Vitriolic headlines rained down: "Yves Saint Laurent Insults Fashion"; " Press Scandalised by Saint Laurent Show". And, most tellingly of all: "Sad Reminder of Nazi Days". It didn't look like that to the 22-year-old girl who was sitting in the front row dressed in a Forties crepe dress she'd picked up from Portobello Market, a shaggy black, second-hand fur, a red velvet turban and platforms. " I almost felt like I was opening my own closets and those of the girls who shared my taste," Paloma Picasso remembered. Saint Laurent had recently met Picasso and was mesmerised by her put-together flea-market style. As it turned out, she was the key to the whole thing the link between Yves Saint Laurent and a rising pop-culture which was being generated by kids too young to remember the war. Picasso sat there astonished to see her cheap finds sublimated into an incredible haute couture collection. "I was amazed. I wasn't really thinking in terms of fashion. As far as I was concerned [dressing in Forties style] was just a spontaneous, almost crazy urge. I never imagined there would be any consequences." At 35, Saint Laurent had spent his childhood in Oran in Algeria and had no memory of life in occupied France. Faced with a critical disaster, accused of bad taste, and panned for being derivative, he fought back. He called his attackers "narrow-minded petty people paralysed by taboos. But I am also stimulated because that which shocks is new. Perhaps it did not please certain press or American buyers but it pleased youth, and that is what counts for me. Fashion is a reflection of its time." And then he never said another word about it. The collection went on display in Paris last year (Getty Images) Looking back, it's interesting to analyse just how much Saint Laurent's collection really was a conduit of the times. Fashion critics normally parse collections through the prism of the quality of techniques and the originality of the inspiration as if the designer is a sequestered genius, drawing down visions from on high. That was certainly the way Paris haute couture was always judged, with the added condition that the visionary should also act as service-person to the requirements of a rich clientele. But the reason Saint Laurent's collection stood out was that it connected knowingly or not with a wave of youth reaction against the bleak times which had just hit, escaping into the glamour of Hollywood movies of the 1930s and 40s. Paloma Picasso wasn't an eccentric lone muse, but part of something which was already happening against the god-awful backdrop of 1971. That she was hopping across the Channel, buying her inspirational clothes at Portobello market, and going to art-house showings of classic movies was no coincidence. London kids, art students and designers were already deep into "retro". A whole year earlier, Ossie Clark had shown his 1940 "Tarts" collection for Quorum all puffed sleeves and bias-cut mini-florals on a wildly dancing group of models including Amanda Lear, Patti Boyd, and Gala Mitchell at Chelsea Town Hall. Barbara Hulanicki, pioneer of alluring fashion-kitsch, had built her entire Biba teen empire on nostalgia for the 1930s and 40s. Marc Bolan was out there vamping on Top of the Pops to "Hot Love" in silver satin suits and feather boas. When David Bowie released his film-clip for "Life on Mars" in December 1971, he dressed in the ice-blue Forties suit with platform shoes which fashion has never stopped venerating. The look was designed by Freddi Burretti, but it might almost have stepped straight out of Saint Laurent's collection. The collection included sexy crepe draped dresses, wide-shouldered tailoring, and boxy dyed fox fur shrugs (Getty Images) It's debatable: did the British children of glam-rock know anything about what Yves Saint Laurent was doing in 1971, or vice-versa? What's certain is that the women who were horrified by Saint Laurent's collection that fateful day were completely oblivious to the new world that had captured the imagination of a generation. It was they who belonged to an old world, on the way out. Saint Laurent had captured that zeitgeist so accurately that he was vindicated within months. Francine Crescent, editor-in-chief of Paris Vogue, gave the collection to Helmut Newton to photograph forging images that have been indelibly burned into the mind's eye of every fashion photographer, editor, designer and fashion-lover since. The collection changed the direction of fashion, feeding ideas that had come up from what we now call "kids on the street" into the rarefied world of haute couture, and thence into the mainstream. It's a flow which has never been reversed. Nor has the way that the contents of that controversial collection have cascaded through the hands of designers down the decades: Miuccia Prada, Tom Ford and Marc Jacobs in the 1990s and 2000s; Sarah Burton, Alessandro Michele and Hedi Slimane now. Has there ever been a collection in history which has lasted that long? Sarah Mower is chief critic of US Vogue.com Sign up to IndyEat's free newsletter for weekly recipes, foodie features and cookbook releases Get our Now Hear This email for free Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the IndyEats email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} It was the early 1990s, and I was barely off the plane when Terry Dunleavy, the then New Zealand head wine honcho, accosted me. "Should we stick to sauvignon or diversify?" Too jetlagged to think, I muttered something inane along the lines of if-it-ain't-broke-don't-fix-it. Now, 25 years on, sauvignon blanc remains New Zealand's bread and butter at more than 20,000 hectares planted but 14,000 hectares of pinot noir, chardonnay, syrah, cabernet sauvignon, merlot and aromatic white grapes testify to a much tastier wedge of jam in the sandwich. Allied to an impressive consistency of quality, it's not surprising that New Zealand, although relatively small, sells more wine at over 7 a bottle than any other country except France. At its 35th annual New Zealand tasting in London, one of the more recent sauvignon blanc styles on show was its oaked version, which seems to be achieving mixed success. Apart from a few overoaked wines, the most successful examples I tasted were a creamy-textured Clos Marguerite Sauvignon Blanc 2015, 18.50, Swig, and a subtle oak-polished, nutty Graves-style 2013 Churton Best End Sauvignon Blanc 2013, 21.95, Tanners. In the pungently zingy style, I enjoyed a grapefruit zesty fresh 2015 Yealands Estate Sauvignon Blanc 11.95, Great Western Wine, and intense, tongue-tingling 2015 Brancott Estate Awatere Valley Terroir Series Sauvignon Blanc, 13.49, multibuy 11.99, Majestic. Recommended Read more The Australian wine success story has remained consistent Syrah is rightly so called not just to distinguish it from Australia's shiraz, but because the Hawke's Bay style comes with the spice and pepper beloved of Northern Rhone devotees, and there were excellent examples in the richly dark-fruited and subtly oaked 2013 Craggy Range Gimblett Gravels Syrah, 17.50, The Wine Society, and perfumed, spicy and concentrated 2013 Elephant Hill Syrah, Field & Fawcett. It was once thought that pinot noir in New Zealand (of which more soon) was only good for sparkling wine, and although it's been all change on that score, pinot noir still works beautifully in such excellent fizzes as the rich and toasty 2009 Huia Brut, 20.99, Sustainable Wines, Bibendum, and the tangy, delicately biscuity Cloudy Bay Pelorus, 20, Morrisons. Sign up to IndyEat's free newsletter for weekly recipes, foodie features and cookbook releases Get our Now Hear This email for free Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the IndyEats email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Ah, the importance of a good address! And in the memories of London baby boomers, few addresses make your heart thud like No 90 Wardour Street, old home of the Marquee Club. The venerable great-grandaddy of rock venues has had more homes in the last half-century than Zsa Zsa Gabor, but from 1964 to 1988, it was in the heart of the Soho grid, playing host to the cream of Sixties rock'n'roll and their descendants. Literally (the) Cream plus The Who, Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix, the Moody Blues, Led Zeppelin and later David Bowie and the Sex Pistols. If everybody who later claimed to have been in The Marquee for the appearance of the Sex Pistols in 1976 had actually been in the club, it would have collapsed long before 1988, when the vibration of thousand-watts speakers over the years made the building's facade finally subside; it had to be demolished. Three new outlets rose, phoenix-like, from the rubble. The main clubroom became Terence Conran's enormous Meza restaurant, the basement morphed into the Floridita bar, and whatever remained became the entrance to Soho Lofts. But why the blazes, I hear you cry, are you telling us the history of No 90 while purporting to review No 100 Wardour Street? Because, by some environmental legerdemain, in knocking down and rebuilding the former, it came back as the latter. There's still confusion when you arrive today, as you count the door-numbers in Wardour Street, but finally you see the "100" sign high up on the wall. It's the newest thing from the D&D group. The initials conceal the names of Des Gunewardena and David Loewi, who bought the Conran chain in 2006 and now own 35 major restaurants in London. Finding this one isn't easy, though. First you try the warm-looking bar left of the sign that's the Cigar Lounge. You join the queue on the main staircase but it's for a corporate thing downstairs to which you're not invited. Finally you ask the smiling skinny girl at the lectern and learn that the restaurant is right over there. You approach it across a large echoey space. Some drinkers are ranged around a glum-looking bar that's angled so you don't get any dazzle of friendly bottles. The tables are set against an oxblood leather banquette. The walls are black recovered wood with a moire veneer. The main design innovation is, where you'd expect to see a dangling light, a dangling flex with a three-pin plug socket, so you can charge your laptop whenever. What a boon that is for the kind of people who have working breakfasts on their laptops at Soho House. Looking around, the decor looks familiar: leather armchairs, batik ruggery, black fireplaces and standard lamps with tasselly/frondy shades. It's school of Soho House, for people who can't become members. In a side-room, the TV plays black-and-white footage from the Marquee's heyday before a full-sized pool table, while volumes of reference books line the walls. It doesn't evoke the Marquee Club; it suggests that two unusually convincing salesmen, from Lillywhites and Encyclopaedia Britannica, arrived at the door of No 100 while the designers were wondering what to do with the space. What of the food? The Lounge menu is surprisingly ordinary "all-day" hotel room-service dining for visitors tired of their hotels. Although the food was well cooked. Mini-snack skewers of chicken were marinated in tarragon, garlic, thyme and green chilli, and were tender and juicy. Crispy fried squid offered more palate-scythingly sharp batter than actual squid, but were satisfying. Grilled chorizo with roquette and tomato was fresh and softly spicy, but nothing to blow up your skirt. Angie's fish stew was a welcome blast of comfort food on a cold night the cod, cuttlefish and monkfish all tight and supple in the dense liquid, the chorizo (I know it turns up everywhere at No 100) giving the butter beans an embracing smokiness. My crispy pork belly arrived in a geometrically perfect rectangle, as if cut from a school-meals catering tray but again, it was well cooked, crunchy and rich, fatly tender, and given a wake-up smack of salsa verde and a sensationally huge braised endive. A blueberrypoached pineapple pudding looked as if it had been dropped on the floor and the ingredients reassembled. It added to a feeling that the new owners don't quite know what they're doing with this noble address. Treating the ground-floor lounge like a fine-dining area rather than an airport dining facility would be a start, as would lighting the bar area and losing the encyclopaedias. Messrs D and D might usefully ask themselves: would any of the stars of the old Marquee want to eat here if they returned from obscurity (or death?) Would Eric Clapton? Would David Bowie? It really isn't a place for Heroes. Food *** Ambience ** Service *** 100 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1 (0208 022 9539). Around 32 a head, before wine and service Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Lifestyle Edit email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} It was a grey dawn on 13 August 2013 when a midwife in Watford General hospital told me that this was it. "Baby's heart rate is dropping, let's get this baby out fast," she said. "You've got to push." I'd been up all night, had fainted twice, wanted this hell over, and did what I was told. Five minutes later, I felt a terrible stretching. My partner and the midwife were cheering. One more push and he was out. When they put my tiny son on my chest, I cried with relief that it was over. He was there and he was whole and he looked amazing. This moment was also significant in another way. Not only was I incredibly grateful that my son had arrived healthily, safely and free of charge in an NHS hospital supported by modern medical care and with the pain somewhat soothed by powerful drugs, I had come to understand how extraordinarily fortunate I was to have this care, and why. At that time, I was deep into researching a book about a remarkable series of scientific studies that have tracked generations of children growing up in Britain since the end of the war. The results fed into the foundation of the NHS, changed the way women give birth in Britain and established much of the advice given to expectant parents, as well as changing the way we are educated, parent our children and how we understand our employment, health, illness and death. These studies have touched the lives of almost everyone in Britain. Today, my son Edwin is an obstreperous two-and-a-half-year-old, and that book has changed the way I view myself, my family and my place in society. Health news in pictures Show all 40 1 /40 Health news in pictures Health news in pictures Coronavirus outbreak The coronavirus Covid-19 has hit the UK leading to the deaths of two people so far and prompting warnings from the Department of Health AFP via Getty Health news in pictures Thousands of emergency patients told to take taxi to hospital Thousands of 999 patients in England are being told to get a taxi to hospital, figures have showed. The number of patients outside London who were refused an ambulance rose by 83 per cent in the past year as demand for services grows Getty Health news in pictures Vape related deaths spike A vaping-related lung disease has claimed the lives of 11 people in the US in recent weeks. The US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention has more than 100 officials investigating the cause of the mystery illness, and has warned citizens against smoking e-cigarette products until more is known, particularly if modified or bought off the street Getty Health news in pictures Baldness cure looks to be a step closer Researchers in the US claim to have overcome one of the major hurdles to cultivating human follicles from stem cells. The new system allows cells to grow in a structured tuft and emerge from the skin Sanford Burnham Preybs Health news in pictures Two hours a week spent in nature can improve health A study in the journal Scientific Reports suggests that a dose of nature of just two hours a week is associated with better health and psychological wellbeing Shutterstock Health news in pictures Air pollution linked to fertility issues in women Exposure to air from traffic-clogged streets could leave women with fewer years to have children, a study has found. Italian researchers found women living in the most polluted areas were three times more likely to show signs they were running low on eggs than those who lived in cleaner surroundings, potentially triggering an earlier menopause Getty/iStock Health news in pictures Junk food ads could be banned before watershed Junk food adverts on TV and online could be banned before 9pm as part of Government plans to fight the "epidemic" of childhood obesity. Plans for the new watershed have been put out for public consultation in a bid to combat the growing crisis, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said PA Health news in pictures Breeding with neanderthals helped humans fight diseases On migrating from Africa around 70,000 years ago, humans bumped into the neanderthals of Eurasia. While humans were weak to the diseases of the new lands, breeding with the resident neanderthals made for a better equipped immune system PA Health news in pictures Cancer breath test to be trialled in Britain The breath biopsy device is designed to detect cancer hallmarks in molecules exhaled by patients Getty Health news in pictures Average 10 year old has consumed the recommended amount of sugar for an adult By their 10th birthdy, children have on average already eaten more sugar than the recommended amount for an 18 year old. The average 10 year old consumes the equivalent to 13 sugar cubes a day, 8 more than is recommended PA Health news in pictures Child health experts advise switching off screens an hour before bed While there is not enough evidence of harm to recommend UK-wide limits on screen use, the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health have advised that children should avoid screens for an hour before bed time to avoid disrupting their sleep Getty Health news in pictures Daily aspirin is unnecessary for older people in good health, study finds A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine has found that many elderly people are taking daily aspirin to little or no avail Getty Health news in pictures Vaping could lead to cancer, US study finds A study by the University of Minnesota's Masonic Cancer Centre has found that the carcinogenic chemicals formaldehyde, acrolein, and methylglyoxal are present in the saliva of E-cigarette users Reuters Health news in pictures More children are obese and diabetic There has been a 41% increase in children with type 2 diabetes since 2014, the National Paediatric Diabetes Audit has found. Obesity is a leading cause Reuters Health news in pictures Most child antidepressants are ineffective and can lead to suicidal thoughts The majority of antidepressants are ineffective and may be unsafe, for children and teenager with major depression, experts have warned. In what is the most comprehensive comparison of 14 commonly prescribed antidepressant drugs to date, researchers found that only one brand was more effective at relieving symptoms of depression than a placebo. Another popular drug, venlafaxine, was shown increase the risk users engaging in suicidal thoughts and attempts at suicide Getty Health news in pictures Gay, lesbian and bisexual adults at higher risk of heart disease, study claims Researchers at the Baptist Health South Florida Clinic in Miami focused on seven areas of controllable heart health and found these minority groups were particularly likely to be smokers and to have poorly controlled blood sugar iStock Health news in pictures Breakfast cereals targeted at children contain 'steadily high' sugar levels since 1992 despite producer claims A major pressure group has issued a fresh warning about perilously high amounts of sugar in breakfast cereals, specifically those designed for children, and has said that levels have barely been cut at all in the last two and a half decades Getty Health news in pictures Potholes are making us fat, NHS watchdog warns New guidance by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), the body which determines what treatment the NHS should fund, said lax road repairs and car-dominated streets were contributing to the obesity epidemic by preventing members of the public from keeping active PA Health news in pictures New menopause drugs offer women relief from 'debilitating' hot flushes A new class of treatments for women going through the menopause is able to reduce numbers of debilitating hot flushes by as much as three quarters in a matter of days, a trial has found. The drug used in the trial belongs to a group known as NKB antagonists (blockers), which were developed as a treatment for schizophrenia but have been sitting on a shelf unused, according to Professor Waljit Dhillo, a professor of endocrinology and metabolism REX Health news in pictures Doctors should prescribe more antidepressants for people with mental health problems, study finds Research from Oxford University found that more than one million extra people suffering from mental health problems would benefit from being prescribed drugs and criticised ideological reasons doctors use to avoid doing so. Getty Health news in pictures Student dies of flu after NHS advice to stay at home and avoid A&E The family of a teenager who died from flu has urged people not to delay going to A&E if they are worried about their symptoms. Melissa Whiteley, an 18-year-old engineering student from Hanford in Stoke-on-Trent, fell ill at Christmas and died in hospital a month later. Just Giving Health news in pictures Government to review thousands of harmful vaginal mesh implants The Government has pledged to review tens of thousands of cases where women have been given harmful vaginal mesh implants. Getty Health news in pictures Jeremy Hunt announces 'zero suicides ambition' for the NHS The NHS will be asked to go further to prevent the deaths of patients in its care as part of a zero suicide ambition being launched today Getty Health news in pictures Human trials start with cancer treatment that primes immune system to kill off tumours Human trials have begun with a new cancer therapy that can prime the immune system to eradicate tumours. The treatment, that works similarly to a vaccine, is a combination of two existing drugs, of which tiny amounts are injected into the solid bulk of a tumour. Nephron Health news in pictures Babies' health suffers from being born near fracking sites, finds major study Mothers living within a kilometre of a fracking site were 25 per cent more likely to have a child born at low birth weight, which increase their chances of asthma, ADHD and other issues Getty Health news in pictures NHS reviewing thousands of cervical cancer smear tests after women wrongly given all-clear Thousands of cervical cancer screening results are under review after failings at a laboratory meant some women were incorrectly given the all-clear. A number of women have already been told to contact their doctors following the identification of procedural issues in the service provided by Pathology First Laboratory. Rex Health news in pictures Potential key to halting breast cancer's spread discovered by scientists Most breast cancer patients do not die from their initial tumour, but from secondary malignant growths (metastases), where cancer cells are able to enter the blood and survive to invade new sites. Asparagine, a molecule named after asparagus where it was first identified in high quantities, has now been shown to be an essential ingredient for tumour cells to gain these migratory properties. Getty Health news in pictures NHS nursing vacancies at record high with more than 34,000 roles advertised A record number of nursing and midwifery positions are currently being advertised by the NHS, with more than 34,000 positions currently vacant, according to the latest data. Demand for nurses was 19 per cent higher between July and September 2017 than the same period two years ago. REX Health news in pictures Cannabis extract could provide new class of treatment for psychosis CBD has a broadly opposite effect to delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main active component in cannabis and the substance that causes paranoia and anxiety. Getty Health news in pictures Over 75,000 sign petition calling for Richard Branson's Virgin Care to hand settlement money back to NHS Mr Bransons company sued the NHS last year after it lost out on an 82m contract to provide childrens health services across Surrey, citing concerns over serious flaws in the way the contract was awarded PA Health news in pictures More than 700 fewer nurses training in England in first year after NHS bursary scrapped The numbers of people accepted to study nursing in England fell 3 per cent in 2017, while the numbers accepted in Wales and Scotland, where the bursaries were kept, increased 8.4 per cent and 8 per cent respectively Getty Health news in pictures Landmark study links Tory austerity to 120,000 deaths The paper found that there were 45,000 more deaths in the first four years of Tory-led efficiencies than would have been expected if funding had stayed at pre-election levels. On this trajectory that could rise to nearly 200,000 excess deaths by the end of 2020, even with the extra funding that has been earmarked for public sector services this year. Reuters Health news in pictures Long commutes carry health risks Hours of commuting may be mind-numbingly dull, but new research shows that it might also be having an adverse effect on both your health and performance at work. Longer commutes also appear to have a significant impact on mental wellbeing, with those commuting longer 33 per cent more likely to suffer from depression Shutterstock Health news in pictures You cannot be fit and fat It is not possible to be overweight and healthy, a major new study has concluded. The study of 3.5 million Britons found that even metabolically healthy obese people are still at a higher risk of heart disease or a stroke than those with a normal weight range Getty Health news in pictures Sleep deprivation When you feel particularly exhausted, it can definitely feel like you are also lacking in brain capacity. Now, a new study has suggested this could be because chronic sleep deprivation can actually cause the brain to eat itself Shutterstock Health news in pictures Exercise classes offering 45 minute naps launch David Lloyd Gyms have launched a new health and fitness class which is essentially a bunch of people taking a nap for 45 minutes. The fitness group was spurred to launch the napercise class after research revealed 86 per cent of parents said they were fatigued. The class is therefore predominantly aimed at parents but you actually do not have to have children to take part Getty Health news in pictures 'Fundamental right to health' to be axed after Brexit, lawyers warn Tobacco and alcohol companies could win more easily in court cases such as the recent battle over plain cigarette packaging if the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights is abandoned, a barrister and public health professor have said Getty Health news in pictures 'Thousands dying' due to fear over non-existent statin side-effects A major new study into the side effects of the cholesterol-lowering medicine suggests common symptoms such as muscle pain and weakness are not caused by the drugs themselves Getty Health news in pictures Babies born to fathers aged under 25 have higher risk of autism New research has found that babies born to fathers under the age of 25 or over 51 are at higher risk of developing autism and other social disorders. The study, conducted by the Seaver Autism Center for Research and Treatment at Mount Sinai, found that these children are actually more advanced than their peers as infants, but then fall behind by the time they hit their teenage years Getty Health news in pictures Cycling to work could halve risk of cancer and heart disease Commuters who swap their car or bus pass for a bike could cut their risk of developing heart disease and cancer by almost half, new research suggests but campaigners have warned there is still an urgent need to improve road conditions for cyclists. Cycling to work is linked to a lower risk of developing cancer by 45 per cent and cardiovascular disease by 46 per cent, according to a study of a quarter of a million people. Walking to work also brought health benefits, the University of Glasgow researchers found, but not to the same degree as cycling. Getty The story of these extraordinary studies starts 70 years ago, when scientists decided to collect information on almost every baby born in one cold week in March 1946. It seemed crazily ambitious but they pulled it off with post-war panache, by dispatching an army of health visitors to interview all mothers across the country. Were you able to get your full extra ration of a pint of milk a day, mothers were asked. Who looked after your husband while you were in bed with this baby? How much did you spend on vests, petticoats, bootees, bonnets, shawls and rubber sheets for baby? And how much did you spend on smocks, corsets, nightdresses, knickers and brassieres for yourself? Scientists have been following several thousand of those children ever since, in what has become the longest-running major study of human development in the world. So successful was this effort to trace people through their lives called a birth cohort study that scientists also began to track groups of children born in 1958, 1970, the early 1990s and at the turn of the millennium. Altogether, these studies have enrolled more than 70,000 people across the five generations. They have become some of the best-studied people on the planet, and the amount of information collected on them is vast. Scientists have amassed mountains of questionnaires, terabytes of computer data, boxes stuffed with baby teeth, nail clippings, tufts of hair and umbilical cord slices. (They even collected 9,000 placentas, which are stored in buckets in a secure barn in Bristol.) The studies have produced more than 6,000 academic papers and fed into a slew of policies regarding pregnancy, birth, childcare, schooling, chronic disease, social mobility, adult education and much more. No other country in the world has a series of cradle-to-grave studies like this; they are considered a jewel in the crown of British science, the envy of researchers around the world, and have woven themselves quietly into our lives. Yet, beyond the dedicated team of scientists who run them, few even know they exist. I learnt that amazing things happen when you do something as simple as watching people live their lives. First, I came to realise how much mine and my children's lives had already been silently shaped by these studies. In the 1940s, results from the project shocked the nation by exposing the dismal conditions in which working-class women were giving birth many more lower-class babies died than did those of the well-off. These results appeared just in time to shape maternity services in the fledgling NHS; when it started in 1948, the medical care associated with pregnancy and birth became free and more generous maternity allowances were introduced, laying the groundwork for the maternity care and benefits we receive today. The study also revealed how few women received pain relief at birth, and helped establish the right of women to receive it from that point on. Scientists decided to collect information on almost every baby born in March 1946 (Getty Images file photo) (Getty Images) It may sound obvious now that we shouldn't smoke during pregnancy, but that wasn't widely accepted until a 1972 paper from one of the cohort studies showed definitively that smoking during pregnancy was linked to reduced birth weight and a higher risk of infant mortality. When I avoided alcohol, ate fish during pregnancy, breastfed my children and put them to sleep on their backs to reduce the risk of sudden infant death syndrome, all of it was partly because results from the cohort studies have contributed to much of today's essential prenatal and postnatal advice. Cohort studies also changed my approach to my kids. They have shown that relatively simple acts of parenting reading to children every day, teaching them the alphabet and numbers, talking to them about what they are learning in school, expressing ambitions for their future are all associated with improved academic achievement and other good outcomes in life. From all this, I came to think that what I was doing at home with my three boys was probably more important than moving into the catchment area for the perfect school. (On a practical level, we introduced "talking time" in the evening, when we would attempt to have a somewhat meaningful conversation with the children about their day.) Of course, most of these things are just parenting common sense but when you're battling with your children to put down the iPad and pick up a book, it really helps to have the scientific literature on your side. And importantly, I learnt that there are no guarantees of success: not every child who is read to will shine at school. And it's not like I have all the answers: there are plenty of evenings when I'm to be found screaming with frustration at the children, or wondering how my son's spelling can be that bad. But with the cohort studies behind me, at least I feel more confident that I'm trying to do the right thing. It was hard to escape the horrible irony that I was learning from my book how important it was to spend time with my children, just as writing the book robbed me of any time to spend. But the cohorts helped me here, too, because they showed that I was far from alone. Just under half of women born in the first cohort study, in 1946, were working when they were 26, a number that had risen to more than three- quarters of women from the 1970 cohort, which is my generation. (I was born in 1973). But the cohort scientists have investigated whether children of working mothers suffer any adverse consequences and generally find that they don't. I find this a source of immense relief. The results appeared just in time to shape maternity services in the fledgling NHS (Getty Images) Again and again, I found myself drawn to the cohort that most closely reflected my own life. The studies showed that this generation is having children later. (I had my last at 40.) In one recent survey it showed that more than half of them are often worried, 40 per cent are tired most of the time, and many drink more often than they should. I confess to all of these things. They also showed that nearly half of women are overweight or obese far more than the previous generation. In this case, thankfully, I am not one. So the studies became an illuminating frame of reference in which to view my life to understand how I fit into my generation and to sometimes find reassurance when I do not. By the time I neared the end of writing my book, I had become convinced that birth cohort studies cast a potent spell. They hold the same fascination as watching your own children grow up: you just want to know how they'll turn out. It is only because of the scientists' belief, commitment, stubbornness, charm and eccentricities that the studies have got this far. (One scientist threw one of the biggest birthday parties in the world for the cohort members at Alton Towers, and recruited Mrs Thatcher, Cliff Richard, Twiggy and 600 more of the country's great and good to a charity to help keep the studies funded.) But my story came with an unexpected twist, because a recent effort to track a new generation recently failed. Last year, scientists launched the biggest, most ambitious study in the series, with the aim of recording the lives of 80,000 children born into the modern world. They wanted to explore a ream of pressing questions, such as the lifelong impacts on these children of exposure to pollution, rising income inequality, and whether children born by Caesarean section end up more at risk of allergies, as some now think. But just a few months after it started, the government funding bodies announced that it would close. One problem was that women weren't signing up: today's busy women are a lot less willing to take part than those just after the war. The other is that these studies are now extremely complicated, expensive and bureaucratic to run. Scientists estimate staggeringly that a third of all babies born today will live to 100. It's difficult for politicians and science funders to agree to pay for a long-lasting, expensive study when it probably won't come to full fruition until they're dead. This opportunity to track my son's generation, and to compare it with previous ones, has been lost. Back in August 2013, with my two-day-old baby asleep in the kitchen and my eyes slits from lack of sleep, the doorbell rang. It was a health visitor, there to find out how baby and I were doing. It struck me as a wonderful circle just as all those mothers saw health visitors at the start of that very first survey, in 1946, I was, too. (Needless to say, the questions are different now. How was breastfeeding going? Was baby sleeping on his back? Was I doing my pelvic floor exercises?) When she had gone, there was a spell of August quiet that comes when everyone is away on holiday. Once baby was asleep, I went back to writing my book. If I'd been asked by scientists if they could watch him grow up, I wouldn't have hesitated to say yes. Let's hope someone finds the cash and the determination to sign up a new generation of children to join the most extraordinary club in the world. Helen Pearson is a journalist and editor for the science journal 'Nature' and the author of 'The Life Project: The Extraordinary Story of our Ordinary Lives' (20, Allen Lane), out now How the cohort studies have shaped our lives At school In the 1960s, one cohort influentially revealed that bright, working-class children were less likely to pass the 11+ and enter grammar school than well-off ones, which helped sweep in comprehensive education. As adults Cohort studies revealed the surprising proportion of adults in Britain who struggled with reading and maths, inspiring a major adult-education programme in the early 2000s. One study showed that adult education was linked to better cognitive ability in later life. As we age Cohort studies are helping understand the ageing population. Middle-aged adults who struggled to grip strongly, stand up from a chair and balance on one leg had a higher mortality rate over the subsequent 13 years than those who could manage all three tests. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Crooks who target the elderly could not be more unscrupulous or callous. Seeing them as easy victims, they deliberately seek out people in their 70s and 80s who are more likely to be trusting and fall for cons. A gang of fraudsters were this week jailed for 32 years at Birmingham Crown Court for ripping off pensioners. That may sound like a sizable term, but collectively it was nowhere near enough. Up to 38 older people were swindled out of cash in the despicable two-year timeshare con, including one victim who lost 250,000 and another who was left suicidal after being tricked. The scam was nothing particularly new. It involved the setting up of two dodgy companies, Sun Property Solutions and Avon Client Services, in 2011. The victims owned timeshare properties and the crooks, pretending to be from a legitimate firm, cold-called them with an offer to buy them out. For many older people left with timeshare homes that may have become increasingly expensive but hard to make use of, offers like this can seem a godsend. The fraudsters preyed on their victims' hopes of finally being free of their financial commitment but told them they had to pay tax and legal fees, while at the same time promising an increased payout on their investments. The whole thing was bogus but the crooks persuaded one victim to hand over 165,000 after giving him "promise after promise" that he would get his timeshare sale. His mistake lost him his life savings and he later separated from his wife after 28 years of marriage. The biggest loser was a woman who was wheelchair-bound. She had suffered from multiple sclerosis since 1983 and could not get out of bed without help. She told the gang about her illness but the fraudsters had been "utterly ruthless" in pursuing her, ignoring her requests for them to stop, the court heard. Judge Roderick Henderson said: "The majority of advance-fee frauds exploit the greed of the victims, but in this case the victims already owned their timeshares and simply wanted to sell them on at a reasonable price. "It involved the skilful and deliberate manipulation of vulnerable people. It is difficult to understate the cynicism and ruthlessness of this operation." In short, the greedy crooks manipulated elderly people for financial gain and, in many cases, ruined their lives in the process. But with a network of rogues recruited to allow their bank accounts to be used to launder the cash, the bulk of the proceeds remain hidden. And with individual sentences ranging up to a maximum of eight years, those behind the scam will probably be out of jail in less than four years while their victims will still be trying to cope with the results of the fraud. Justice sometimes doesn't seem heavy enough. But the case should send a reminder to all of us that cold-callers are almost always crooks who prey on the elderly. If you have older family or neighbours, take the time to warn them to be wary. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Q. I booked a truck for three days in New York, through Avis. It charged me twice. After I enquired about this, it cancelled the booking. But Avis still has my money which has "maxed out" my credit card. DH, London A. When we took this up with he company, it claimed everything had already been sorted out. Its spokeswoman explained: "Avis can confirm that [the reader] made an online reservation on Avis.com, and our records show that he cancelled this at a later date. Following the cancellation, a full refund of $426.33 [around 300] was issued. No duplicate charge was made to [the reader]. However, we did over-refund an amount of $401.33, which we have since billed to recover." Given the discrepancy between your version of events and that of Avis, we checked this with you. You responded: "That's not correct at all. It did get resolved, but what happened was that when I made the booking, their system charged me twice. Avis had recorded two bookings for me, yet I had only made one. "After more than 30 phone calls to the US and UK offices I eventually got the duplicate booking cancelled and the charge refunded. However, a $20 cancellation fee was deducted and I paid nearly 100 in phone costs." We went back to Avis. On this occasion, the spokeswoman answered: "Avis can confirm that two charges were applied for the cancelled reservation and both have now been refunded. We would like to apologise for any confusion caused by this. "Following direct correspondence, [the reader] has advised the Avis customer services team that he is taking the query up with his credit card company. We are happy to continue to work with both [the reader] and his credit card company to reach a satisfactory resolution." We are happy to contact the card issuer on your behalf if you do not obtain full payment recovery. Dressing down at house of fraser Q. I bought an expensive branded dress online from House of Fraser, but it had a mark on the waistband and faults on the beading. It was on a non-branded hanger, which made me suspect it was a returned item even though I was promised by House of Fraser that it never resold a returned item. I took the dress to one of its stores, but was told I could not get a refund as one had already been processed. So it was a wasted journey. I asked for 15 to cover my costs, but it will only offer me an e-voucher for this amount, which is not acceptable as I will not use House of Fraser again. MS, by email A. We contacted House of Fraser, which has now sent you a payment of 15. Will Icelandair show a touch of class? Q. I booked with Icelandair to fly from Glasgow to Keflavik on 20 December last year departure at 13.20. I received an email and text on 19 December saying that the departure time had been changed to 19.20. This meant my wife and I would miss our connecting Icelandair flight to New York, which was due to leave Keflavik at 17.05. We had to leave our family Christmas party to phone Icelandair's UK office. I was placed in a queue for over 70 minutes before speaking to a representative. She explained that there was a technical issue with the plane, which caused the delay. She was sympathetic and offered us the options of either flying the following day, or travelling with BA from Glasgow to Heathrow at 06.50, to catch a BA flight from Heathrow to Keflavik at 11.20. We could then catch our intended flight from Keflavik to New York. This was far from ideal, but was the best of the two options offered. As we had to fly first thing the next day, we left the party early to take our dog to a kennel a day sooner than planned, meaning an extra day in kennel fees. We also had to pay for a taxi to the airport, as we could not ask a friend to take us that early in the morning. And we had to buy breakfast at Heathrow, which was another expense. I had participated in Icelandair's "Class Up" scheme, paying 80 per person to upgrade on the Glasgow to Keflavik leg. When we got to Keflavik, I asked if the upgrade could be transferred to the flight to New York; I was told this was not possible. I also asked if we could use its Saga lounge, as we'd had very little sleep the night before; again I was told this was not possible. As we could not use the Class Up arrangement that I had paid for, we also had to buy food at Keflavik airport. I asked Icelandair's staff for a refund and was told bluntly that this was "not our problem" and to contact customer services. On the return trip, we were again told we could not have a seat upgrade. I would like a refund of the upgrade charges and our additional expenses. DS, Glasgow A. Icelandair says it did not receive your original refund claim. You have now received compensation of 596.33. A spokeswoman said: "We sincerely apologise for all the inconvenience [the reader] and the other passengers booked on the Glasgow flight had. Unfortunately, situations like this can always occur in aviation and are always frustrating for the affected passengers. We have now refunded the Class Up fee, and other expenses related to the flight delay, directly to [the reader] and also the European Union cash compensation he is entitled to." Questions of Cash cannot give individual advice. But well do our best to help if you have a financial dilemma. Email us at: questionsofcash@independent.co.uk Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UK Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Brexit and beyond email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} City heavyweight Sir Gerry Grimstone threw Standard Lifes support behind the In referendum campaign yesterday, warning that Brexit will shut customers out of Europe and spark turmoil for the British economy. As David Cameron worked furiously to negotiate a new settlement in Brussels, the chairman of the insurance giant warned that leaving the EU single market would sap business confidence, in a move reflecting growing alarm about the threat of Brexit. Sir Richard Branson, the billionaire Virgin founder, also added his voice to an In vote yesterday, saying it would be a very, very, very, very sad day if Britons voted to leave. I just hope sense will prevail, he added. Standard Life played a pivotal role in the Scottish referendum and was widely seen as helping swing the debate towards a No vote. It had threatened to move its headquarters from Edinburgh in the event of a Yes . The FTSE 100 giant is keen to air its views on the EU referendum despite stressing it is an apolitical organisation. Sir Gerry, an influential voice in Westminster due to his time spent advising Margaret Thatcher on privatisations, is a key ally of Mr Cameron. The Prime Minister has been urging business leaders to speak up more on the threat of Brexit. It would be potentially damaging to the UK economy, and therefore to companies such as Standard Life, if the UK were to leave it, Sir Gerry argued. Its important to use our voice to drive improvements within our industry. Business news: In pictures Show all 13 1 /13 Business news: In pictures Business news: In pictures Flybe collapses Airline Flybe has collapsed. All future flights on the Exeter-based airline have been cancelled leaving more than 2,300 staff facing an uncertain future, and wrecking the travel plans of hundreds of thousands of passengers. The chief executive, Mark Anderson, said: Europes largest independent regional airline has been unable to overcome significant funding challenges to its business. AFP via Getty Business news: In pictures Future product placement will be 'tailored to individual viewers' Marketing executives say that product placement in films and televison shows on streaming services such as Netflix may be tailored to individuals in future. For instance, if data shows that a viewer is a fan of pepsi, a billboard in the background of a shot would host an advert for pepsi, while for a viewer known to have different tastes it could be for Coca-Cola Paramount Business news: In pictures Corbyn wishes Amazon a happy birthday In a card sent to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos on the company's 25th birthday, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn writes: "You owe the British people millions in taxes that pay for the public services that we all rely on. Please pay your fair share" Business news: In pictures No deal, no tariffs The government has announced that it would slash almost all tariffs in the event of a no-deal Brexit. Notable exceptions include cars and meat, which will see tariffs in place to protect British farmers Getty Business news: In pictures Fingerprint payment NatWest is trialling a new bank card that will allow people to touch their hand to the card when paying rather than typing in a PIN number. The card will work by recognising the user's fingerprint NatWest/PA Wire Business news: In pictures Mahabis bust High-end slipper retailer Mahabis has gone into administration. 2 Jan 2019 Mahabis Business news: In pictures Costa Cola Coca-Cola has paid 3.9bn for Costa Coffee. A cafe chain is a new venture for the global soft drinks giant PA Business news: In pictures RIP Payday Loans A funeral procession for payday loans was held in London on September 2. The future of pay day lenders is in doubt after Wonga, Britain's biggest, went into administration on August 30 PA Business news: In pictures Musk irks investors and directors Elon Musk has concluded that Tesla will remain public. Investors and company directors were angry at Musk for tweeting unexpectedly that he was considering taking Tesla private and share prices had taken a tumble in the following weeks Getty Business news: In pictures Jaguar warning Iconic British car maker Jaguar Land Rover warned on July 5, 2018 that a "bad" Brexit deal could jeopardise planned investment of more than $100 billion, upping corporate pressure as the government heads into crucial talks AFP/Getty Business news: In pictures Spotif-IPO Spotify traded publically for the first time on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday. However, the company isn't issuing shares, but rather, shares held by Spotify's private investors will be sold AFP/Getty Business news: In pictures French blue passports The deadline to award a contract to make blue British passports after Brexit has been extended by two weeks following a request by bidder De La Rue. The move comes after anger at the announcement British passports would be produced by Franco-Dutch firm Gemalto when De La Rues contract ends in July. The British firm said Gemalto was chosen only because it undercut the competition, but the UK company also admitted that it was not the cheapest choice in the tendering process. Business news: In pictures Beast from the east economic impact The Beast from the East wiped 4m off of Flybes revenues due to flight cancellations, airport closures and delays, according to the budget airlines estimates. Flybe said it cancelled 994 flights in the three months to 31 March, compared to 372 in the same period last year. The insurer is working on a contingency plan if the UK leaves the EU, according to Standard Lifes chief executive Keith Skeoch. He said the impact on the insurer would involve deeply, deeply technical stuff related to currency movements and settling trades. Its in the best interests of customers and clients that we benefit from access to the single market, and we should want to benefit from everything capital markets can bring, he said. The critical thing on fund management is that we can continue to operate European vehicles. The company receives around 10 per cent of its fee- based revenue from European investors but has a big presence managing money invested in continental European stock markets. Standard Life is still firing on all cylinders despite the political turmoil and choppy investment markets. Mr Skeoch said its flagship Global Absolute Return Strategies (Gars) fund had slipped recently, but that 88 per cent of its funds were surmounting their performance benchmark hurdles. We are in reasonably good shape, said Mr Skeoch. Markets driven by geopolitics will remain choppy yet. The group attracted a further 6.3bn from customers in the year ending December 2015, helping to drive fee-based revenues to 1.58bn, from 1.43bn last year, thanks to a boost in workplace pensions. Pre-tax operating profits were 665m, up from 608m and the full year dividend was also 7.8 per cent higher at 18.36p. Standard Life also disclosed a solvency ratio of 162 per cent with a surplus of 2.1bn as it complied with new rules from Europe on capital buffers, called Solvency II It became the latest insurance company to reveal its capital position after its competitor Prudential said that its solvency position was 190 per cent with a surplus of 9.2bn. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The Italian Prime Minister, Matteo Renzi has lead tributes to Umberto Eco, the Italian scholar, journalist and author of best-selling novels author of The Name of the Rose, whose death at the age of 84 was announced yesterday. Mr Renzi described Eco as an outstanding example of a European intellectual, a single intelligence with an untiring ability to anticipate the future. He said, Its a huge loss for culture, which will miss his writing and his voice, sharp and vivid thought and his humanity. Eco, who died on Friday after suffering from cancer, was one of the great novelists and scholars of our time, said Bruce Nichols of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, which published some of the writers works. The author would be remembered for his exuberance, his vitality, his intense loyalties, and his wonderful company. The Italian Prime Minister described Eco as an outstanding example of a European intellectual, a single intelligence with an untiring ability to anticipate the future (AFP) Born in 1932 to Giulio and Giovanna, Eco spent his formative years in his birthplace, Alessandria, a small city in Piedmont, northern Italy, before moving to a village on the Piedmontese mountainside when his father was drafted into the armed forces in the Second World War. His father urged him to study law, but Eco enrolled at the University of Turin to study medieval philosophy and literature. During the course of his studies he lost his early faith in God and the Roman Catholic church, he told Time magazine in 2005. After finishing his doctorate in 1954, Eco began working for the recently established national broadcasting network RAI. He prepared cultural programmes and gained a lasting interest in mass communication. He also lectured at Turin. Two years later he published his first book, Il problema estetico in San Tommaso, or The Aesthetics of Thomas Aquinas an extension of his doctoral thesis. In 1962 Eco married the German academic and art teacher Renate Ramge, with whom he had a son and a daughter. Sean Connery, left, and a young Christian Slater, in The Name of the Rose (Alamy) He went on to become a leading figure in the field of semiotics, seeking to interpret cultures through their signs and symbols, be they words, religious icons, banners, clothing, musical scores, even cartoons. While teaching at the University of Bologna, Europes oldest university, he published more than 20 non-fiction books on these subjects. He was one of those people who actually brought in the study of popular culture, one of the inaugurators, said Dr Alan OLeary, an associate professor in Italian at the University of Leeds. He was able to do this because he was recognised already as a tremendous intellectual, an expert on medieval culture and philosophy. So he had that kudos which meant he couldnt be ignored by the Italian and international academic world even when he was talking about things that were perceived to be trivial. While articles had been written before about popular culture, Eco was one of the first to analyse it critically and structurally, Dr OLeary said. He added that one of the ways Eco was able to institutionalise the study of popular culture was by offering it as a kind of scientific framework, and this was semiotics. People news in pictures Show all 18 1 /18 People news in pictures People news in pictures 7 October 2015 Russian President Vladimir Putin takes part in an ice hockey match between former NHL stars and officials at the Shayba Arena in the Black Sea resort of Sochi. Vladimir Putin spent his 63rd birthday on the ice, playing hockey with NHL stars against Russian officials and tycoons EPA People news in pictures 6 October 2015 German designer Karl Lagerfeld (R) and model Cara Delevingne (C) appear at the end of his Spring/Summer 2016 women's ready-to-wear collection for fashion house Chanel at the Grand Palais which is transformed into a Chanel airport during the Fashion Week in Paris, France Reuters People news in pictures 5 October 2015 Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne addresses the Conservative party conference in Manchester. The Chancellor argued that reducing the payments to people in low paid jobs would give them economic security by reducing the Governments spending deficit Getty Images People news in pictures 4 October 2015 Cowboys captain Johnathan Thurston takes a moment in the centre of the field with his daughter Frankie Thurston, holding dark-skinned doll, after winning the 2015 NRL Grand Final match between the Brisbane Broncos and the North Queensland Cowboys at ANZ Stadium in Sydney. The image quickly became the talking point of Australias National Rugby League Final and provoked a strong reaction on social media, with many praising Thurston for giving his child a toy that promotes inclusiveness and diversity Getty Images People news in pictures 3 October 2015 Pope Francis gives a thumbs-up as he greets people at the end of an audience to the participants of a meeting organized by the "Food Bank" at the Paul VI audience hall in Vatican Getty Images People news in pictures 2 October 2015 Britain's Finance Minister George Osborne (L) throws an American football as he meets with former American football players Dan Marino (2nd R) and Curtis Martin (not pictured) at 11 Downing Street in London, ahead of the New York Jets playing against the Miami Dolphins at London's Wembley Stadium on 4 October Getty Images People news in pictures 1 October 2015 An honor guard opens the door as Russian President Vladimir Putin enters a hall to attend a meeting with members of the Presidential Council for Civil Society and Human Rights at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia People news in pictures 30 September 2015 Former Mrs America Lisa Christie, who alleges misconduct by Bill Cosby, holds up photos of her younger self during a news conference at the law office of attorney Gloria Allred in Los Angeles People news in pictures 29 September 2015 Matt Damon has defended himself against claims that he instructed gay actors to remain in the closet. He had said I think youre a better actor the less people know about you and sexuality is a huge part of that. Whether youre straight or gay, people shouldnt know anything about your sexuality but an appearance on the Ellen DeGeneres show said, I was just trying to say actors are more effective when theyre a mystery. Right? Getty People news in pictures 29 September 2015 Actor Marion Cotillard has said that there is no place for feminism in Hollywood. Speaking to Porter magazine, she saidFilm-making is not about gender/ You cannot ask a president in a festival like Cannes to have, like, five movies directed by women and five by men. For me it doesnt create equality, it creates separation. I mean, I dont qualify myself as a feminist." Getty People news in pictures 29 September 2015 Actor Paul Walkers daughter, Meadow, is suing Porsche over her fathers death in a lawsuit that claims he was trapped in the burning car because of design flaws and the seat belt. The Fast and Furious star was killed when the Porsche Carrera GT he was a passenger in hit a pole in California in 2013. The driver, his friend Roger Rodas, also died when the vehicle burst into flames. AP People news in pictures 28 September 2015 Robert Mugabe waits to address the United Nations General Assembly. The leader of Zimbabwe reportedly exclaimed 'We are not gay!' as he criticised Western nation's "double standards and attempts to prescribe new rights that are contrary to our values, norms, traditions and beliefs. In 2013 he described homosexuals as worse than pigs, goats and birds. Reuters People news in pictures 28 September 2015 South African comedian Trevor Noah hosts the first 'Daily Show' since taking over from Jon Stewart as host. Stewart had presented the US satirical news show since 1999 and was described by Noah during the show as a 'Political father' 2015 Getty Images People news in pictures 25 September 2015 Sir Elton John may have received a phone call from the real Vladimir Putin. Mr Putin's spokesman announced he had made contact weeks after the singer was duped by pranksters pretending to be the Russian President. Getty People news in pictures 25 September 2015 Actor Leonardo DiCaprio was mistakenly declared as the artist who produced the Mona Lisa by Fox News anchor Shepard Smith. It was in fact Leonardo da Vinci. People news in pictures 24 September 2015 A new biography claims Donald Trump expected to be dead by 40 and never marry. The Guardian says the a new book also claims that in 1980, Mr Trump manufactured a fake vice-president of his real estate conglomerate, whom he called John Baron. People news in pictures 24 September 2015 The Dalai Lama has said that Britain's policy towards China is just about 'Money, money, money.' And asked 'Where is morality?' People news in pictures 24 September 2015 Puff Daddy secured the number-one spot on the Forbes Hip Hop Cash Kings list, with the publication calculating he made an estimated $60million (39m) between June 2014 and June 2015. Eco also lectured at institutions worldwide and was a fellow at Oxford and Columbia universities. By 2000, 23 institutions had awarded him honorary degrees. But he only became an international celebrity in middle age, when at 48 he published The Name of the Rose, his first novel. The unorthodox detective story set in a medieval monastery follows Brother William of Baskerville as he investigates a series of suspicious deaths. Combining a detailed description of gloomy life in a 14th-century monastery with accounts of the philosophical and religious disputes of the time, its clever plotline captured imaginations. It sold more than 14 million copies worldwide, was translated into dozens of languages and was later turned into a film, released in 1986, starring Sean Connery as Brother William. Eco would go on to pen other novels, including Foucaults Pendulum in 1988. His most recent work, Numero Zero, was published last year and recalled a political scandal from the 1990s that helped lead to the rise of media mogul and three-times Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi. A final novel will be released later this year. None of Ecos books were as successful as The Name of the Rose and the writer acknowledged he was not an easy read in a 2011 interview with The Guardian, admitting that he wrote for masochists. Its only publishers and some journalists who believe that people want simple things, he said. People are tired of simple things. They want to be challenged. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A man arrested by police on suspicion of murder following the death of an imam in Manchester has been released. The 31 year-old was arrested on Friday, but has now been completely eliminated from police enquiries. Jalal Udin was found by members of the public with serious head injuries in a playground in South Street, Wardleworth, Rochdale. He later died in hospital. Mr Udin was a Qari a person who recites the Quran - at the Jalalia Jame Mosque in Rochdale. It is believed that he was attacked on his way home from a friends house. It is currently unknown whether the attack was racially motivated. A message posted on the mosque's Facebook page reads: "It is with deep sadness we inform you that our dear Qari Jalal Uddin Saab passed away last night." "The cause of his death is yet to be confirmed, we recommend that you do not speculate but rather wait for the facts to be established by the police." The Jalalia Jame Mosque in Rochdale, Manchester (Google) Greater Manchester Police said: Following the death of a male, who had been found with serious injuries at Wardleworth on Thursday 18th February, a 31 year old male was arrested and interviewed by Greater Manchester Police. This male has now been completely eliminated from enquiries and it is confirmed has had no involvement whatsoever in the tragic death of the deceased. Specialist resources from the Major Incident Team have been tasked with the continued investigation. Dr Shuja Shafi, secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain, said to the Guardian: We pay our deepest condolences to his family, friends and the community in Rochdale for the loss of a man who played a significant role within the community and will be sorely missed. It is not the first time that an imam has been murdered whilst on the way home from a mosque, and we would urge the community to be vigilant and offer support and assistance whilst travelling. UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 20 October 2022 Britains Prime Minister Liz Truss delivers a speech outside of 10 Downing Street in central London to announce her resignation AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 19 October 2022 Salmon leap up Stainforth Force on the River Ribble in the Yorkshire Dales as they swim upriver to their spawning grounds during the annual Salmon migration PA UK news in pictures 18 October 2022 Just Stop Oil protesters continue their protest for a second day on the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, which links Kent and Essex and which remains closed for traffic, after it was scaled by two climbers from the group PA UK news in pictures 17 October 2022 Hundreds of students take part in the traditional Raisin Monday foam fight on St Salvator's Lower College Lawn at the University of St Andrews in Fife PA UK news in pictures 16 October 2022 A protester holds a placard during a march into central London at a demonstration by the climate change protest group Extinction Rebellion AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 15 October 2022 A member of the public drags an activist who is blocking the road during a "Just Stop Oil" protest, in London, Britain REUTERS UK news in pictures 14 October 2022 Germanys Womens double skulls during day one of the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals at Saundersfoot beach, Pembrokeshire PA UK news in pictures 13 October 2022 Family and mourners arrive at St Michael's Church, in Creeslough, for the funeral mass of 49-year-old mother of four Martina Martin, who died following an explosion at the Applegreen service station in the village of Creeslough in Co Donegal on Friday PA UK news in pictures 12 October 2022 Motorists in Coventry pass trees showing autumnal colour PA UK news in pictures 11 October 2022 A woman and her dog in the the North Sea at Tynemouth Longsands beach before sunrise PA UK news in pictures 10 October 2022 Police officers remove a campaigner from a Just Stop Oil protest on The Mall, near Buckingham Palace, London PA UK news in pictures 9 October 2022 A drummer plays during the Diwali on the Square celebration, in Trafalgar Square, London PA UK news in pictures 8 October 2022 Timothee Chalamet attending the UK premiere of Bones and All during the BFI London Film Festival 2022 at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London PA UK news in pictures 7 October 2022 Two young male fallow deer lock antlers in Dublins Phoenix park as rutting season begins PA UK news in pictures 6 October 2022 The Princess of Wales during a cocktail making competition during a visit to Trademarket, a new outdoor street-food and retail market situated in Belfast city centre, as part of the royal visit to Northern Ireland PA UK news in pictures 5 October 2022 Greenpeace protesters interrupt Prime Minister Liz Truss as she delivers her keynote speech to the Conservative Party annual conference PA UK news in pictures 4 October 2022 Prime Minister Liz Truss and Britains Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng wearing hard hats and hi-vis jackets, visit a construction site for a medical innovation campus in Birmingham AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 3 October 2022 British artist Sam Cox, aka Mr Doodle, reveals the Doodle House, a twelve-room mansion at Tenterden, in Kent, which has been covered, inside and out in the artist's trademark monochrome, cartoonish hand-drawn doodles PA UK news in pictures 2 October 2022 Erling Haaland celebrates after scoring Manchester City's second goal against Manchester United at Etihad Stadium. Haaland went on to score a hattrick, his third of the season in the Premier League. City beat United 6-3. Manchester City FC/Getty UK news in pictures 1 October 2022 Protesters hold up flags and placards at a protest in London. A variety of protest groups including Enough is Enough, Don't Pay and Just Stop Oil all demonstrated on the day AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 September 2022 British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who has not been seen in days, leaves the back of Downing Street after a meeting with Office For Budget Responsibility following the release of her governments mini-budget Getty UK news in pictures 29 September 2022 The Virginia creeper foliage on the Tu Hwnt i'r Bont (Beyond the Bridge) Llanwrst, Conwy North Wales, has changed colour from green to red in at the start of Autumn. The building was built in 1480 as a residential dwelling but has been a tearoom for over 50 years PA UK news in pictures 28 September 2022 Criminal barristers from the Criminal Bar Association (CBA), demonstrates outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, as part of their ongoing pay row with the Government PA UK news in pictures 27 September 2022 David White, Garter King of Arms, poses with an envelope franked with the new cypher of King Charles III 'CIIIR', after it was printed in the Court Post Office at Buckingham Palace in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 26 September 2022 A gallery staff member poses next to a painting by Lucian Freud - Self-portrait (Fragment), 1956 - on show at a photocall for the Credit Suisse exhibition - Lucian Freud: New Perspectives at the National Gallery in London PA UK news in pictures 25 September 2022 Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer is interviewed by Laura Kuenssberg in Liverpool before the start of the Labour Party annual Conference which he opened with a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II and sang the national anthem PA UK news in pictures 24 September 2022 Handout photo issued by Buckingham Palace of the ledger stone at the King George VI Memorial Chapel, St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle PA UK news in pictures 23 September 2022 A climate change activist protests against UK private jets while lighting his right arm on fire during the Laver Cup tennis tournament at the O2 Arena in London EPA UK news in pictures 22 September 2022 Woody Woodmansey, Lee Bennett, Kevin Armstrong, Nick Moran and Clifford Slapper attend the unveiling of a stone for David Bowie on the Music Walk of Fame at Camden, north London PA UK news in pictures 21 September 2022 A flock of birds in the sky as the sun rises over Dungeness in Kent PA UK news in pictures 20 September 2022 Flowers which were laid by members of the public in tribute to Queen Elizabeth II at Hillsborough Castle in Northern Ireland are collected by the Hillsborough Gardening Team and volunteers to be replanted for those that can be saved or composted PA UK news in pictures 19 September 2022 The ceremonial procession of the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II travels down the long walk as it arrives at Windsor Castle for the committal service at St Georges Chapel AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 18 September 2022 A man stands among campers on The Mall ahead of the Queens funeral Reuters UK news in pictures 17 September 2022 Wolverhampton Wanderers Nathan Collins fouls Manchester Citys Jack Grealish leading to a red card. City went on to win the match at Molineux Stadium three goals to nil. Action Images/Reuters UK news in pictures 16 September 2022 Members of the public stand in the queue near Tower Bridge, and opposite the Tower of London, as they wait in line to pay their respects to the late Queen Elizabeth II, in London AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 15 September 2022 Members of the public in the queue on in Potters Fields Park, central London, as they wait to view Queen Elizabeth II lying in state ahead of her funeral on Monday PA UK news in pictures 14 September 2022 The first members of the public pay their respects as the vigil begins around the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II in Westminster Hall, London, where it will lie in state ahead of her funeral on Monday PA UK news in pictures 13 September 2022 Crowds cheer as King Charles III and Camilla, Queen Consort arrive for a visit to Hillsborough Castle Getty UK news in pictures 12 September 2022 Crowds line the Royal Mile, Edinburgh, as King Charles III joins a procession from the Palace of Holyroodhouse to St Giles Cathedral following the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II Katielee Arrowsmith/SWNS UK news in pictures 11 September 2022 Members of the Public pay their respects as the hearse carrying the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II, draped in the Royal Standard of Scotland, is driven through Ballater AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 10 September 2022 Britain's Prince William, Prince of Wales, Britain's Catherine, Princess of Wales, Britain's Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, Britain's Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, wave at well-wishers on the Long walk at Windsor Castle AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 9 September 2022 King Charles III and Camilla, Queen Consort wave after viewing floral tributes to the late Queen Elizabeth II outside Buckingham Palace Getty UK news in pictures 8 September 2022 A screen commemorating Britain's Queen Elizabeth II in Piccadilly Circus, London Britain EPA UK news in pictures 7 September 2022 Police officers stand guard after Animal Rebellion activists threw paint on the walls and road outside the Houses of Parliament in protest, in London, Britain Reuters UK news in pictures 6 September 2022 Queen Elizabeth II welcomes Liz Truss during an audience at Balmoral, Scotland, where she invited the newly elected leader of the Conservative party to become Prime Minister and form a new government PA UK news in pictures 5 September 2022 Visitors at the PoliNations garden in Victoria Square, Birmingham, which is made up of five 40ft high tree installations and over 6,000 plants. The PoliNations programme aims to explore how migration and cross-pollination have shaped the UKs gardens and culture PA UK news in pictures 4 September 2022 Undergraduates at the University of St Andrews take part in the traditional Pier Walk along the harbour walls of St Andrews before the start of the new academic year PA UK news in pictures 3 September 2022 The Massed Pipes and Drums parade during the Braemar Highland Gathering at the Princess Royal and Duke of Fife Memorial Park PA UK news in pictures 2 September 2022 Number 12 Company Irish Guards at Wellington Barracks, central London, before commencing their first Guard Mount at Buckingham Palace PA UK news in pictures 1 September 2022 A salmon leaps up the weir at Hexham in Northumberland, despite the drought warnings and low water levels, the River Tyne is still flowing well allowing the salmon and sea trout to head up river to spawn. Every year tens of thousands of salmon make the once-in-a-lifetime journey along the Tyne to spawn, having been out a sea PA Detective Chief Inspector Terry Crompton, from Greater Manchester Polices Serious Crime Division, said to Manchester Evening News: We have carried out a significant number of enquiries since Thursday evening to establish what happened to Jalal that led to his tragic death, and we are providing support to his family. We are still working to establish the exact circumstances surrounding how Jalal came to suffer his injuries and we are keeping an open mind as to the motivation behind this attack, with a number of lines of enquiry currently being investigated. Understandably, news of this attack has caused concern in the local area and we have extra patrols in place to try and reassure the community. There has been a lot of speculation on social media about what happened and what may have been the reason for this attack, but I would urge people to refrain from making assumptions and please contact us with any information they have which may assist us. Anyone with information can call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Update. In May 2016 the Charity Commission concluded that there was no conflict of interest in the decision made to appoint Sophro Ltd to undertake a research project, because the appointment (like all research appointments) were made by RGT's independent trustees only. It noted that minutes of the trustees' meetings were made public and that RGT published a regularly-updated list of conflicts on its website. The Charity Commission therefore rejected the complaint it had received about the alleged conflicts of interest described in the report below. 6/6/18 Britains leading gambling charity has been accused of a conflict of interest after the husband of a senior executive was awarded a lucrative research contract, The Independent can reveal. The Responsible Gambling Trust (RGT), which is funded by bookmakers to the tune of about 5m a year, is already facing claims it is too close to the gambling industry. It could now face an inquiry by the Charity Commission amid criticism that Sophro Ltd. a firm owned by the husband of RGT director of commissioning Jane Rigbye, was awarded a major research contract as part of a 750,000 initiative to study problem gambling online. Sophro Ltd is owned by Ms Rigbyes husband, Jonathan Parke. Mr Parke previously worked for the RGT in the role his wife now occupies and stepped down from the charity in 2014. Mr Parke is an expert in self-regulation in gambling. Before his role at the RGT he was a lecturer in consumer behaviour at Salford Business School, and provided consultancy services to regulators, charities and the gambling industry. His firms contracts with the RGT have prompted allegations of a conflict of interest, which Ms Rigbye denies. This follows criticism that there is a revolving door between staff at the RGT and the wider gambling industry. Lib Dem leader Tim Farron said the case raises serious questions about the industry (Getty) (Getty Images) The research contract, which was awarded in December last year and was followed by a second contract last month, is being run in conjunction with the online gambling firm Unibet. The RGT said that Ms Rigbye has no responsibility for commissioning research. It has been claimed that RGT downplays the damage caused by online gambling and highly addictive betting machines. Who is Neil Goulden? Neil Goulden, the outgoing chairman of the Responsible Gambling Trust (RGT), is seen by many as the face of the gambling industry. He has said the evidence is clear that problem gambling is about the individual and not any specific gambling product or products, in the face of fierce criticism from gambling charities. He stills owns shares in bookmakers Gala Coral, the firm he used to work for, and along with more than half of the RGT trustees he retains close links to the industry. The depth of the problems involving gambling addiction in Britain was underlined earlier this week, when it was revealed that doctors are having to offer drugs normally prescribed to alcohol and drug dependency to help the worst addicts. Figures show there are more half a million problem gamblers in the UK and calls to the countrys leading gambling helpline rose by a third last year. Until last year Sophro Ltd, which is registered at the couples home in Nottinghamshire, was known as The Gambling Lab. It listed both Mr Parke and his wife as directors. At the time, they were both employed by the RGT. Ms Rigbye stepped down from the role after she was appointed to a senior position at the RGT but two months later the firms name was changed and it bid for a share in the 750,000 research project. Last night the RGT insisted it had put the contract out to tender and it followed proper procedure after careful scutiny. The Independent can also reveal that the Responsible Gambling Strategy Board, the board that oversees the RGTs research, had raised concerns that both Mr Parke and Ms Rigbye had been appointed to roles within the charity without their posts being advertised. The RGT says it is not unusual to promote people internally and that Ms Rigbye is eminently well-qualified. Last night Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron told The Independent that the case raised serious questions. Labours Clive Efford, shadow gambling minister, said that the RGT should be disbanded if its research was found to protect the interests of the industry at the expense of people with gambling problems. Simon Perfitt, founder of Rethink Gambling, said: We are extremely concerned that the RGT has appointed Directors of Commissioning who had clear conflicts of interest without even advertising the posts. UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 19 October 2022 Salmon leap up Stainforth Force on the River Ribble in the Yorkshire Dales as they swim upriver to their spawning grounds during the annual Salmon migration PA UK news in pictures 18 October 2022 Just Stop Oil protesters continue their protest for a second day on the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, which links Kent and Essex and which remains closed for traffic, after it was scaled by two climbers from the group PA UK news in pictures 17 October 2022 Hundreds of students take part in the traditional Raisin Monday foam fight on St Salvator's Lower College Lawn at the University of St Andrews in Fife PA UK news in pictures 16 October 2022 A protester holds a placard during a march into central London at a demonstration by the climate change protest group Extinction Rebellion AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 15 October 2022 A member of the public drags an activist who is blocking the road during a "Just Stop Oil" protest, in London, Britain REUTERS UK news in pictures 14 October 2022 Germanys Womens double skulls during day one of the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals at Saundersfoot beach, Pembrokeshire PA UK news in pictures 13 October 2022 Family and mourners arrive at St Michael's Church, in Creeslough, for the funeral mass of 49-year-old mother of four Martina Martin, who died following an explosion at the Applegreen service station in the village of Creeslough in Co Donegal on Friday PA UK news in pictures 12 October 2022 Motorists in Coventry pass trees showing autumnal colour PA UK news in pictures 11 October 2022 A woman and her dog in the the North Sea at Tynemouth Longsands beach before sunrise PA UK news in pictures 10 October 2022 Police officers remove a campaigner from a Just Stop Oil protest on The Mall, near Buckingham Palace, London PA UK news in pictures 9 October 2022 A drummer plays during the Diwali on the Square celebration, in Trafalgar Square, London PA UK news in pictures 8 October 2022 Timothee Chalamet attending the UK premiere of Bones and All during the BFI London Film Festival 2022 at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London PA UK news in pictures 7 October 2022 Two young male fallow deer lock antlers in Dublins Phoenix park as rutting season begins PA UK news in pictures 6 October 2022 The Princess of Wales during a cocktail making competition during a visit to Trademarket, a new outdoor street-food and retail market situated in Belfast city centre, as part of the royal visit to Northern Ireland PA UK news in pictures 5 October 2022 Greenpeace protesters interrupt Prime Minister Liz Truss as she delivers her keynote speech to the Conservative Party annual conference PA UK news in pictures 4 October 2022 Prime Minister Liz Truss and Britains Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng wearing hard hats and hi-vis jackets, visit a construction site for a medical innovation campus in Birmingham AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 3 October 2022 British artist Sam Cox, aka Mr Doodle, reveals the Doodle House, a twelve-room mansion at Tenterden, in Kent, which has been covered, inside and out in the artist's trademark monochrome, cartoonish hand-drawn doodles PA UK news in pictures 2 October 2022 Erling Haaland celebrates after scoring Manchester City's second goal against Manchester United at Etihad Stadium. Haaland went on to score a hattrick, his third of the season in the Premier League. City beat United 6-3. Manchester City FC/Getty UK news in pictures 1 October 2022 Protesters hold up flags and placards at a protest in London. A variety of protest groups including Enough is Enough, Don't Pay and Just Stop Oil all demonstrated on the day AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 September 2022 British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who has not been seen in days, leaves the back of Downing Street after a meeting with Office For Budget Responsibility following the release of her governments mini-budget Getty UK news in pictures 29 September 2022 The Virginia creeper foliage on the Tu Hwnt i'r Bont (Beyond the Bridge) Llanwrst, Conwy North Wales, has changed colour from green to red in at the start of Autumn. The building was built in 1480 as a residential dwelling but has been a tearoom for over 50 years PA UK news in pictures 28 September 2022 Criminal barristers from the Criminal Bar Association (CBA), demonstrates outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, as part of their ongoing pay row with the Government PA UK news in pictures 27 September 2022 David White, Garter King of Arms, poses with an envelope franked with the new cypher of King Charles III 'CIIIR', after it was printed in the Court Post Office at Buckingham Palace in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 26 September 2022 A gallery staff member poses next to a painting by Lucian Freud - Self-portrait (Fragment), 1956 - on show at a photocall for the Credit Suisse exhibition - Lucian Freud: New Perspectives at the National Gallery in London PA UK news in pictures 25 September 2022 Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer is interviewed by Laura Kuenssberg in Liverpool before the start of the Labour Party annual Conference which he opened with a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II and sang the national anthem PA UK news in pictures 24 September 2022 Handout photo issued by Buckingham Palace of the ledger stone at the King George VI Memorial Chapel, St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle PA UK news in pictures 23 September 2022 A climate change activist protests against UK private jets while lighting his right arm on fire during the Laver Cup tennis tournament at the O2 Arena in London EPA UK news in pictures 22 September 2022 Woody Woodmansey, Lee Bennett, Kevin Armstrong, Nick Moran and Clifford Slapper attend the unveiling of a stone for David Bowie on the Music Walk of Fame at Camden, north London PA UK news in pictures 21 September 2022 A flock of birds in the sky as the sun rises over Dungeness in Kent PA UK news in pictures 20 September 2022 Flowers which were laid by members of the public in tribute to Queen Elizabeth II at Hillsborough Castle in Northern Ireland are collected by the Hillsborough Gardening Team and volunteers to be replanted for those that can be saved or composted PA UK news in pictures 19 September 2022 The ceremonial procession of the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II travels down the long walk as it arrives at Windsor Castle for the committal service at St Georges Chapel AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 18 September 2022 A man stands among campers on The Mall ahead of the Queens funeral Reuters UK news in pictures 17 September 2022 Wolverhampton Wanderers Nathan Collins fouls Manchester Citys Jack Grealish leading to a red card. City went on to win the match at Molineux Stadium three goals to nil. Action Images/Reuters UK news in pictures 16 September 2022 Members of the public stand in the queue near Tower Bridge, and opposite the Tower of London, as they wait in line to pay their respects to the late Queen Elizabeth II, in London AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 15 September 2022 Members of the public in the queue on in Potters Fields Park, central London, as they wait to view Queen Elizabeth II lying in state ahead of her funeral on Monday PA UK news in pictures 14 September 2022 The first members of the public pay their respects as the vigil begins around the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II in Westminster Hall, London, where it will lie in state ahead of her funeral on Monday PA UK news in pictures 13 September 2022 Crowds cheer as King Charles III and Camilla, Queen Consort arrive for a visit to Hillsborough Castle Getty UK news in pictures 12 September 2022 Crowds line the Royal Mile, Edinburgh, as King Charles III joins a procession from the Palace of Holyroodhouse to St Giles Cathedral following the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II Katielee Arrowsmith/SWNS UK news in pictures 11 September 2022 Members of the Public pay their respects as the hearse carrying the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II, draped in the Royal Standard of Scotland, is driven through Ballater AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 10 September 2022 Britain's Prince William, Prince of Wales, Britain's Catherine, Princess of Wales, Britain's Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, Britain's Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, wave at well-wishers on the Long walk at Windsor Castle AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 9 September 2022 King Charles III and Camilla, Queen Consort wave after viewing floral tributes to the late Queen Elizabeth II outside Buckingham Palace Getty UK news in pictures 8 September 2022 A screen commemorating Britain's Queen Elizabeth II in Piccadilly Circus, London Britain EPA UK news in pictures 7 September 2022 Police officers stand guard after Animal Rebellion activists threw paint on the walls and road outside the Houses of Parliament in protest, in London, Britain Reuters UK news in pictures 6 September 2022 Queen Elizabeth II welcomes Liz Truss during an audience at Balmoral, Scotland, where she invited the newly elected leader of the Conservative party to become Prime Minister and form a new government PA UK news in pictures 5 September 2022 Visitors at the PoliNations garden in Victoria Square, Birmingham, which is made up of five 40ft high tree installations and over 6,000 plants. The PoliNations programme aims to explore how migration and cross-pollination have shaped the UKs gardens and culture PA UK news in pictures 4 September 2022 Undergraduates at the University of St Andrews take part in the traditional Pier Walk along the harbour walls of St Andrews before the start of the new academic year PA UK news in pictures 3 September 2022 The Massed Pipes and Drums parade during the Braemar Highland Gathering at the Princess Royal and Duke of Fife Memorial Park PA UK news in pictures 2 September 2022 Number 12 Company Irish Guards at Wellington Barracks, central London, before commencing their first Guard Mount at Buckingham Palace PA UK news in pictures 1 September 2022 A salmon leaps up the weir at Hexham in Northumberland, despite the drought warnings and low water levels, the River Tyne is still flowing well allowing the salmon and sea trout to head up river to spawn. Every year tens of thousands of salmon make the once-in-a-lifetime journey along the Tyne to spawn, having been out a sea PA UK news in pictures 31 August 2022 Flowers are placed at the gates outside Kensington Palace, London, the former home of Diana, Princess of Wales, on the 25th anniversary of her death PA Rethink Gambling has now made a formal complaint to the Charity Commission over the alleged conflict of interest. Last night Ms Rigbye said allegations that there was a conflict of interest were ridiculous. Shesaid: We are very open that he runs the company [Sophro Ltd]. Our field of interest is a small one so its not unusual for people to be working together. I am the director of commissioning but I am not responsible for any of the research commissioning. In a statement the RGT said: The RGT has robust procedures in place and we are a fully independent charity committed to minimising gambling-related harm. Our research committee is chaired by Professor Jo Wolff and oversees all research matters. Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Gordon Browns former spin doctor Damian McBride is to make a surprise return to frontline politics working for Labours Shadow Defence Secretary Emily Thornberry. Mr McBride, who resigned from No10 in 2009 following attempts to smear Conservative politicians, will act as a communications advisor for the duration of Labours high-stakes defence policy review, which will determine the party leaderships stance on the Trident nuclear weapons system. The issue is one of most divisive facing the Labour Party, with leader Jeremy Corbyn staunchly backing unilateral nuclear disarmament, while many of his cabinet and MPs back the Governments plans to replace the Trident system. According to the Huffington Post, Mr McBride responded to a Labour advert for the post, and will be on a fixed contract that ends before the Labour party conference this autumn, when Trident is set to be debated. Mr McBride has publicly backed Mr Corbyns anti-Trident stance, but has also accused the Labour leader of being incapable of persuading a single non-Labour voter to back him on Trident and other key issues. Ms Thornberry, who has supported unilateralism, has already faced severe criticism from fellow Labour MPs since being appointed to the defence post in a New Year reshuffle, most recently during a heated Parliamentary Labour Party meeting. UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 20 October 2022 Britains Prime Minister Liz Truss delivers a speech outside of 10 Downing Street in central London to announce her resignation AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 19 October 2022 Salmon leap up Stainforth Force on the River Ribble in the Yorkshire Dales as they swim upriver to their spawning grounds during the annual Salmon migration PA UK news in pictures 18 October 2022 Just Stop Oil protesters continue their protest for a second day on the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, which links Kent and Essex and which remains closed for traffic, after it was scaled by two climbers from the group PA UK news in pictures 17 October 2022 Hundreds of students take part in the traditional Raisin Monday foam fight on St Salvator's Lower College Lawn at the University of St Andrews in Fife PA UK news in pictures 16 October 2022 A protester holds a placard during a march into central London at a demonstration by the climate change protest group Extinction Rebellion AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 15 October 2022 A member of the public drags an activist who is blocking the road during a "Just Stop Oil" protest, in London, Britain REUTERS UK news in pictures 14 October 2022 Germanys Womens double skulls during day one of the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals at Saundersfoot beach, Pembrokeshire PA UK news in pictures 13 October 2022 Family and mourners arrive at St Michael's Church, in Creeslough, for the funeral mass of 49-year-old mother of four Martina Martin, who died following an explosion at the Applegreen service station in the village of Creeslough in Co Donegal on Friday PA UK news in pictures 12 October 2022 Motorists in Coventry pass trees showing autumnal colour PA UK news in pictures 11 October 2022 A woman and her dog in the the North Sea at Tynemouth Longsands beach before sunrise PA UK news in pictures 10 October 2022 Police officers remove a campaigner from a Just Stop Oil protest on The Mall, near Buckingham Palace, London PA UK news in pictures 9 October 2022 A drummer plays during the Diwali on the Square celebration, in Trafalgar Square, London PA UK news in pictures 8 October 2022 Timothee Chalamet attending the UK premiere of Bones and All during the BFI London Film Festival 2022 at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London PA UK news in pictures 7 October 2022 Two young male fallow deer lock antlers in Dublins Phoenix park as rutting season begins PA UK news in pictures 6 October 2022 The Princess of Wales during a cocktail making competition during a visit to Trademarket, a new outdoor street-food and retail market situated in Belfast city centre, as part of the royal visit to Northern Ireland PA UK news in pictures 5 October 2022 Greenpeace protesters interrupt Prime Minister Liz Truss as she delivers her keynote speech to the Conservative Party annual conference PA UK news in pictures 4 October 2022 Prime Minister Liz Truss and Britains Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng wearing hard hats and hi-vis jackets, visit a construction site for a medical innovation campus in Birmingham AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 3 October 2022 British artist Sam Cox, aka Mr Doodle, reveals the Doodle House, a twelve-room mansion at Tenterden, in Kent, which has been covered, inside and out in the artist's trademark monochrome, cartoonish hand-drawn doodles PA UK news in pictures 2 October 2022 Erling Haaland celebrates after scoring Manchester City's second goal against Manchester United at Etihad Stadium. Haaland went on to score a hattrick, his third of the season in the Premier League. City beat United 6-3. Manchester City FC/Getty UK news in pictures 1 October 2022 Protesters hold up flags and placards at a protest in London. A variety of protest groups including Enough is Enough, Don't Pay and Just Stop Oil all demonstrated on the day AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 September 2022 British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who has not been seen in days, leaves the back of Downing Street after a meeting with Office For Budget Responsibility following the release of her governments mini-budget Getty UK news in pictures 29 September 2022 The Virginia creeper foliage on the Tu Hwnt i'r Bont (Beyond the Bridge) Llanwrst, Conwy North Wales, has changed colour from green to red in at the start of Autumn. The building was built in 1480 as a residential dwelling but has been a tearoom for over 50 years PA UK news in pictures 28 September 2022 Criminal barristers from the Criminal Bar Association (CBA), demonstrates outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, as part of their ongoing pay row with the Government PA UK news in pictures 27 September 2022 David White, Garter King of Arms, poses with an envelope franked with the new cypher of King Charles III 'CIIIR', after it was printed in the Court Post Office at Buckingham Palace in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 26 September 2022 A gallery staff member poses next to a painting by Lucian Freud - Self-portrait (Fragment), 1956 - on show at a photocall for the Credit Suisse exhibition - Lucian Freud: New Perspectives at the National Gallery in London PA UK news in pictures 25 September 2022 Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer is interviewed by Laura Kuenssberg in Liverpool before the start of the Labour Party annual Conference which he opened with a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II and sang the national anthem PA UK news in pictures 24 September 2022 Handout photo issued by Buckingham Palace of the ledger stone at the King George VI Memorial Chapel, St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle PA UK news in pictures 23 September 2022 A climate change activist protests against UK private jets while lighting his right arm on fire during the Laver Cup tennis tournament at the O2 Arena in London EPA UK news in pictures 22 September 2022 Woody Woodmansey, Lee Bennett, Kevin Armstrong, Nick Moran and Clifford Slapper attend the unveiling of a stone for David Bowie on the Music Walk of Fame at Camden, north London PA UK news in pictures 21 September 2022 A flock of birds in the sky as the sun rises over Dungeness in Kent PA UK news in pictures 20 September 2022 Flowers which were laid by members of the public in tribute to Queen Elizabeth II at Hillsborough Castle in Northern Ireland are collected by the Hillsborough Gardening Team and volunteers to be replanted for those that can be saved or composted PA UK news in pictures 19 September 2022 The ceremonial procession of the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II travels down the long walk as it arrives at Windsor Castle for the committal service at St Georges Chapel AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 18 September 2022 A man stands among campers on The Mall ahead of the Queens funeral Reuters UK news in pictures 17 September 2022 Wolverhampton Wanderers Nathan Collins fouls Manchester Citys Jack Grealish leading to a red card. City went on to win the match at Molineux Stadium three goals to nil. Action Images/Reuters UK news in pictures 16 September 2022 Members of the public stand in the queue near Tower Bridge, and opposite the Tower of London, as they wait in line to pay their respects to the late Queen Elizabeth II, in London AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 15 September 2022 Members of the public in the queue on in Potters Fields Park, central London, as they wait to view Queen Elizabeth II lying in state ahead of her funeral on Monday PA UK news in pictures 14 September 2022 The first members of the public pay their respects as the vigil begins around the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II in Westminster Hall, London, where it will lie in state ahead of her funeral on Monday PA UK news in pictures 13 September 2022 Crowds cheer as King Charles III and Camilla, Queen Consort arrive for a visit to Hillsborough Castle Getty UK news in pictures 12 September 2022 Crowds line the Royal Mile, Edinburgh, as King Charles III joins a procession from the Palace of Holyroodhouse to St Giles Cathedral following the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II Katielee Arrowsmith/SWNS UK news in pictures 11 September 2022 Members of the Public pay their respects as the hearse carrying the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II, draped in the Royal Standard of Scotland, is driven through Ballater AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 10 September 2022 Britain's Prince William, Prince of Wales, Britain's Catherine, Princess of Wales, Britain's Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, Britain's Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, wave at well-wishers on the Long walk at Windsor Castle AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 9 September 2022 King Charles III and Camilla, Queen Consort wave after viewing floral tributes to the late Queen Elizabeth II outside Buckingham Palace Getty UK news in pictures 8 September 2022 A screen commemorating Britain's Queen Elizabeth II in Piccadilly Circus, London Britain EPA UK news in pictures 7 September 2022 Police officers stand guard after Animal Rebellion activists threw paint on the walls and road outside the Houses of Parliament in protest, in London, Britain Reuters UK news in pictures 6 September 2022 Queen Elizabeth II welcomes Liz Truss during an audience at Balmoral, Scotland, where she invited the newly elected leader of the Conservative party to become Prime Minister and form a new government PA UK news in pictures 5 September 2022 Visitors at the PoliNations garden in Victoria Square, Birmingham, which is made up of five 40ft high tree installations and over 6,000 plants. The PoliNations programme aims to explore how migration and cross-pollination have shaped the UKs gardens and culture PA UK news in pictures 4 September 2022 Undergraduates at the University of St Andrews take part in the traditional Pier Walk along the harbour walls of St Andrews before the start of the new academic year PA UK news in pictures 3 September 2022 The Massed Pipes and Drums parade during the Braemar Highland Gathering at the Princess Royal and Duke of Fife Memorial Park PA UK news in pictures 2 September 2022 Number 12 Company Irish Guards at Wellington Barracks, central London, before commencing their first Guard Mount at Buckingham Palace PA UK news in pictures 1 September 2022 A salmon leaps up the weir at Hexham in Northumberland, despite the drought warnings and low water levels, the River Tyne is still flowing well allowing the salmon and sea trout to head up river to spawn. Every year tens of thousands of salmon make the once-in-a-lifetime journey along the Tyne to spawn, having been out a sea PA Mr McBrides resignation from Downing Street followed revelations that he had discussed plans to use an attack blog to spread false rumours about the personal lives of David Cameron, George Osborne and other Tory MPs. Downing Street apologised at the time and Mr McBride has kept out of frontline politics since. He has however, maintained a public profile and said in September that there were alternative nuclear deterrents systems that could be cheaper than Trident. Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} David Cameron finally struck his long-negotiated EU deal late last night. It includes changes on benefits to EU immigrants, stronger British sovereignty and protections surrounding the Eurozone. Heres a rundown of the key points: Immigration There are new powers to exclude people believed to be a security risk even if they dont have prior convictions, and stronger powers to ban and deport criminals. The deal will also deny free movement to nationals of countries outside the EU who marry EU nationals, in a bid to stop so-called sham marriages. Migrant benefits The deal includes a watered-down version of the emergency brake Mr Cameron had been seeking throughout the negotiations. Rather than a four-year ban on in-work benefits, its allows benefits to be phased in over four years. This compromise followed heavy resistance from eastern European states. To apply the brake, Britain would need EU approval to apply the brake. But it has already received confirmation it can apply with full expectation of approval. What has the EU ever done for us? Show all 7 1 /7 What has the EU ever done for us? What has the EU ever done for us? 1. It gives you freedom to live, work and retire anywhere in Europe As a member of the EU, UK citizens benefit from freedom of movement across the continent. Considered one of the so-called four pillars of the European Union, this freedom allows all EU citizens to live, work and travel in other member states. What has the EU ever done for us? 2. It sustains millions of jobs A report by the Centre for Economics and Business Research, released in October 2015, suggested 3.1 million British jobs were linked to the UKs exports to the EU. What has the EU ever done for us? 3. Your holiday is much easier - and safer Freedom to travel is one of the most exercised benefits of EU membership, with Britons having made 31 million visits to the EU in 2014 alone. But a lot of the benefits of being an EU citizen are either taken for granted or go unnoticed. What has the EU ever done for us? 4. It means you're less likely to get ripped off Consumer protection is a key benefit of the EUs single market, and ensures members of the British public receive equal consumer rights when shopping anywhere in Europe. What has the EU ever done for us? 5. It offers greater protection from terrorists, paedophiles, people traffickers and cyber-crime Another example of a lesser-known advantage of EU membership is the benefit of cross-country coordination and cooperation in the fight against crime. What has the EU ever done for us? 6. Our businesses depend on it According to 71% of all members of the Confederation of British Influence (CBI), and 67 per cent of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the EU has had an overall positive impact on their business. What has the EU ever done for us? 7. We have greater influence Robin Niblett, Director of think-tank Chatham House, stated in a report published last year: For a mid-sized country like the UK, which will never again be economically dominant either globally or regionally, and whose diplomatic and military resources are declining in relative terms, being a major player in a strong regional institution can offer a critical lever for international influence. If approved, the brake would last for seven years with no option for renewal, less than the 13 years David Cameron originally sought. Child benefits Mr Cameron wanted to stop migrant workers claiming benefits for children in other EU countries. He didnt get that but he has secured an agreement to index the rate to the childs home country. In most cases, thats a lower rate than the UK. Eurozone The deal means that countries not in the euro will not be called on to fund euro bailouts, like those paid to Greece in recent years. It will also see them reimbursed for central EU funds used to prop up the euro. Mr Camerons deal also outlaws discrimination against companies and individuals on the basis of their home currency, which he hopes will help British companies trade in Europe. Sovereignty Mr Cameron wanted a recognition that ever closer union didnt mean political integration. He didnt get that, but he did secure an agreement to amend existing treaties to make it clear that the references to ever closer union "do not apply to the United Kingdom". The deal also introduces a red card system, where EU legislation can be reconsidered with support of 55 per cent of the 28 member nations. Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} 1) In-work benefits Conservative 2015 manifesto: We will insist that EU migrants who want to claim tax credits and child benefit must live here and contribute to our country for a minimum of four years. Draft deal: Agreed, but: a) as an emergency provision for an unspecified length of time; b) rights to benefits must phase in over the four years; and c) the change to EU law has to be approved by the European Parliament. Final deal: Emergency brake would last for seven years (David Cameron wanted 13), benefits would phase in (UK Government to propose how), but Martin Schulz, President of the European Parliament, said he that could not guarantee approval. Verdict: David Cameron has broadly got what he promised, but has to phase some benefits back in and the deal isnt as watertight as he wanted. 2) Child benefit Conservative 2015 manifesto: If an EU migrants child is living abroad, then they should receive no child benefit or child tax credit, no matter how long they have worked in the UK and no matter how much tax they have paid. Draft deal: Child benefit would continue to be paid, but at the rate applying in the childs country. Final deal: This reduction would apply to new claimants straight away, but to existing claimants only after 2020. Verdict: David Cameron has conceded ground, partly because he accepted that cutting child benefit altogether would increase the incentive for EU workers to bring their children with them to the UK. What has the EU ever done for us? Show all 7 1 /7 What has the EU ever done for us? What has the EU ever done for us? 1. It gives you freedom to live, work and retire anywhere in Europe As a member of the EU, UK citizens benefit from freedom of movement across the continent. Considered one of the so-called four pillars of the European Union, this freedom allows all EU citizens to live, work and travel in other member states. What has the EU ever done for us? 2. It sustains millions of jobs A report by the Centre for Economics and Business Research, released in October 2015, suggested 3.1 million British jobs were linked to the UKs exports to the EU. What has the EU ever done for us? 3. Your holiday is much easier - and safer Freedom to travel is one of the most exercised benefits of EU membership, with Britons having made 31 million visits to the EU in 2014 alone. But a lot of the benefits of being an EU citizen are either taken for granted or go unnoticed. What has the EU ever done for us? 4. It means you're less likely to get ripped off Consumer protection is a key benefit of the EUs single market, and ensures members of the British public receive equal consumer rights when shopping anywhere in Europe. What has the EU ever done for us? 5. It offers greater protection from terrorists, paedophiles, people traffickers and cyber-crime Another example of a lesser-known advantage of EU membership is the benefit of cross-country coordination and cooperation in the fight against crime. What has the EU ever done for us? 6. Our businesses depend on it According to 71% of all members of the Confederation of British Influence (CBI), and 67 per cent of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the EU has had an overall positive impact on their business. What has the EU ever done for us? 7. We have greater influence Robin Niblett, Director of think-tank Chatham House, stated in a report published last year: For a mid-sized country like the UK, which will never again be economically dominant either globally or regionally, and whose diplomatic and military resources are declining in relative terms, being a major player in a strong regional institution can offer a critical lever for international influence. 3) Protection for non-euro countries Conservative 2015 manifesto: We will protect our economy from any further integration of the eurozone. Draft deal: Measures taken by euro countries shall respect the competences, rights and obligations of member states whose currency is not the euro. Final deal: Despite last-minute French objections, Cameron secured additional right for just one country, such as the UK, to raise objections at EU Council. Verdict: Promise delivered. 4) Ever closer union Conservative 2015 manifesto: We want an end to our commitment to an ever closer union, as enshrined in the treaty to which every EU country has to sign up. Draft deal: It is recognised that the United Kingdom is not committed to further political integration into the European Union. And EU leaders promise that this exclusion will be written into future treaties. Final deal: Just to be sure, it adds: References to ever closer union do not apply to the United Kingdom. Verdict: It was never clear whether this would have any legal effect, but the promise has been delivered. 5) More power for national parliaments Conservative 2015 manifesto: We want national parliaments to be able to work together to block unwanted European legislation. Draft deal: Red card system whereby national parliaments representing 55 per cent of EU population can block new EU law. Final deal: Confirmed. Verdict: Hardline Outs wanted a veto for the UK Parliament, but that was never possible. Promise delivered. 6) Sovereignty Separately from the Brussels negotiations, the Prime Minister has promised a Sovereignty Act that would grant the UK Supreme Court the power, like that of the German constitutional court, to assess whether EU law lies within the scope of EU treaties. Draft deal: Boris Johnson met Cameron on Thursday and was said to be not yet convinced by the proposal. Verdict: Waiting for Boris. Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The chances of Britain leaving Europe decreased marginally following David Camerons EU deal, according to leading bookmakers. Ladbrokes shifted its 15/8 odds on a leave vote to 2/1 this morning after David Camerons deal was announced last night. It said it believed the deal meant the chance of a leave vote fell by just 2 per cent, reaching 31 per cent down from 33 per cent. What has the EU ever done for us? Show all 7 1 /7 What has the EU ever done for us? What has the EU ever done for us? 1. It gives you freedom to live, work and retire anywhere in Europe As a member of the EU, UK citizens benefit from freedom of movement across the continent. Considered one of the so-called four pillars of the European Union, this freedom allows all EU citizens to live, work and travel in other member states. What has the EU ever done for us? 2. It sustains millions of jobs A report by the Centre for Economics and Business Research, released in October 2015, suggested 3.1 million British jobs were linked to the UKs exports to the EU. What has the EU ever done for us? 3. Your holiday is much easier - and safer Freedom to travel is one of the most exercised benefits of EU membership, with Britons having made 31 million visits to the EU in 2014 alone. But a lot of the benefits of being an EU citizen are either taken for granted or go unnoticed. What has the EU ever done for us? 4. It means you're less likely to get ripped off Consumer protection is a key benefit of the EUs single market, and ensures members of the British public receive equal consumer rights when shopping anywhere in Europe. What has the EU ever done for us? 5. It offers greater protection from terrorists, paedophiles, people traffickers and cyber-crime Another example of a lesser-known advantage of EU membership is the benefit of cross-country coordination and cooperation in the fight against crime. What has the EU ever done for us? 6. Our businesses depend on it According to 71% of all members of the Confederation of British Influence (CBI), and 67 per cent of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the EU has had an overall positive impact on their business. What has the EU ever done for us? 7. We have greater influence Robin Niblett, Director of think-tank Chatham House, stated in a report published last year: For a mid-sized country like the UK, which will never again be economically dominant either globally or regionally, and whose diplomatic and military resources are declining in relative terms, being a major player in a strong regional institution can offer a critical lever for international influence. The betting market is still heavily backing success for the remain campaign with Ladbrokes offering odds of 4/11 compared to 2/5 before the deal. However, William Hill said that while the odds were currently stacked in favour of a remain vote, they could change rapidly if high profile figures such as Boris Johnson supported a leave vote. The Mayor of London is yet to decide which side to take in the campaign. Graham Sharpe, a spokesperson for the bookmaker, said: It looks at the minute as if a vote to remain in the EU is the hot favourite. But it's not impossible that that is the reaction to the fact that all of the publicity has been with David Cameron securing his deal. A decision by prominent figures such as Boris Johnson to campaign to leave the EU could turn the odds upside down, he said. Current William Hill odds are 2/7 for Britain to remain in the EU, and 5/2 to leave. Similar odds are reflected across most of the major bookmakers. Punters have reportedly been placing bets worth up to 5,000 on success for the remain campaign. Mr Cameron announced today that the referendum will be held on June 23. In 2014, a punter netted more than 35,000 after placing a 200,000 bet on Scotland rejecting independence at referendum. Mr Camerons deal, which has been long negotiated, provides powers to limit migrant benefits and protect the UKs sovereignty. Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UK Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Brexit and beyond email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The battle over Britains future in the European Union has exploded into life after Michael Gove attacked David Camerons central claim that the countrys national security would be endangered by a vote to leave. In a strongly worded statement released minutes after an emergency Cabinet meeting, Mr Gove warned that the EUs policies were allowing terrorists to roam freely on the Continent, fuelling the rise of neo-Nazi parties and opening up historic tensions between rival European powers. It came after Mr Cameron, addressing the country outside No 10, warned that leaving Europe was a threat to national security. He also confirmed the in/out referendum would take place on Thursday 23 June firing the starting gun on a four-month campaign. The Prime Minister was backed by Theresa May and George Osborne during the historic Cabinet meeting the first to be called on a Saturday since 1939 exposing a rift over national security at the heart of the Government. Mr Goves intervention came on a day of fast-moving events after Mr Cameron secured his landmark EU renegotiation late on Friday night after 31 hours of talks in Brussels. After briefing the Cabinet on his agreement for just over two hours on Saturday morning, Mr Cameron suspended collective government responsibility to allow ministers to campaign against his reforms. Five full Cabinet ministers John Whittingdale, Theresa Villiers, Michael Gove, Chris Grayling and Iain Duncan Smith immediately took advantage, leaving Downing Street by the back entrance and boarding a waiting car which took them to the Vote Leave campaign HQ. They were joined by the employment minister Priti Patel tipped as a future leadership contender. However, the London Mayor, Boris Johnson, is refusing to reveal his position leaving the Prime Minister to sweat until he reveals proposals to guarantee Parliaments sovereignty over Brussels. Mr Johnson is understood to be leaning towards backing the Leave campaign and could make a statement tonight. During Cabinet, Mr Duncan Smith made a plea for Tory unity admitting his own leadership had been torn apart by rows over Europe. However, in an exclusive interview with The Independent on Sunday an hour after Cabinet finished, Energy Secretary Amber Rudd took a swipe at the Mr Johnson suggesting he had a responsibility to back the remain campaign so as to maintain the capitals position as the worlds leading financial centre. Ms Rudd said, as London Mayor, Mr Johnson needed to consider the economic security of the capital. I hope hell think about what is best for families, for consumers, for London, for businesses. It came as doubts emerged over Mr Camerons EU reform package. The IoS can reveal that the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, warned the Prime Minister that his pledge to change the EU treaties to lock in his reforms may never happen. A leaked diplomatic report of the Brussels talks reveals that Ms Merkel told fellow EU leaders not to be overly concerned about Mr Camerons demand for treaty changes because on the question of amending the Treaties, we do not know if we ever will have a change of them. The revelation undermines a key claim of Mr Camerons renegotiation. The Prime Minister boasted that Britain would get a special exemption from ever closer union and protections for the City of London guaranteed in treaty change. It also emerged that Mr Camerons success in negotiating an emergency brake on benefits for EU citizens which is unlikely to come into force until mid 2017 could lead to a spike in migration as workers attempt to move to the UK before the new rules apply. What has the EU ever done for us? Show all 7 1 /7 What has the EU ever done for us? What has the EU ever done for us? 1. It gives you freedom to live, work and retire anywhere in Europe As a member of the EU, UK citizens benefit from freedom of movement across the continent. Considered one of the so-called four pillars of the European Union, this freedom allows all EU citizens to live, work and travel in other member states. What has the EU ever done for us? 2. It sustains millions of jobs A report by the Centre for Economics and Business Research, released in October 2015, suggested 3.1 million British jobs were linked to the UKs exports to the EU. What has the EU ever done for us? 3. Your holiday is much easier - and safer Freedom to travel is one of the most exercised benefits of EU membership, with Britons having made 31 million visits to the EU in 2014 alone. But a lot of the benefits of being an EU citizen are either taken for granted or go unnoticed. What has the EU ever done for us? 4. It means you're less likely to get ripped off Consumer protection is a key benefit of the EUs single market, and ensures members of the British public receive equal consumer rights when shopping anywhere in Europe. What has the EU ever done for us? 5. It offers greater protection from terrorists, paedophiles, people traffickers and cyber-crime Another example of a lesser-known advantage of EU membership is the benefit of cross-country coordination and cooperation in the fight against crime. What has the EU ever done for us? 6. Our businesses depend on it According to 71% of all members of the Confederation of British Influence (CBI), and 67 per cent of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the EU has had an overall positive impact on their business. What has the EU ever done for us? 7. We have greater influence Robin Niblett, Director of think-tank Chatham House, stated in a report published last year: For a mid-sized country like the UK, which will never again be economically dominant either globally or regionally, and whose diplomatic and military resources are declining in relative terms, being a major player in a strong regional institution can offer a critical lever for international influence. Speaking outside No 10 at 12.10pm on Saturday, the Prime Minister insisted the deal gave Britain a special status in the EU and urged voters to back Britains continued membership. He announced that the Cabinet agreed that the Governments official position was to recommend that Britain remain in the EU. Mr Cameron described the choice as one of the biggest decisions this country will face in our lifetimes. He said: The question is, will we be safer, stronger and better off working together in a reformed Europe or out on our own? I believe we will be safer in a reformed Europe, because we can work with our European partners to fight cross-border crime and terrorism. He added: Let me be clear. Leaving Europe would threaten our economic and our national security. Those who want to leave Europe cannot tell you if British businesses would be able to access Europes free trade single market or if working peoples jobs are safe, or how much prices would rise. All they are offering is risk at a time of uncertainty a leap in the dark. But he added: The choice is in your hands. Mr Camerons warning about the threat to national security of pulling out of the EU was echoed by a series of senior Tory figures. Rob Halfon, deputy chairman of the Conservative Party, said he supported the in campaign because of the threats of Islamism, terrorism, Syria and the emergent Russia. Former Foreign Secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind, claimed they would be dancing in the Kremlin if Britain left the EU. But Mr Gove, the Justice Secretary, insisted Britains national security was under threat from the EU. He said the EU had been a failure on so many fronts, including the euro and migration. He added: Far from providing security in an uncertain world, the EUs policies have become a source of instability and insecurity. Razor wire once more criss-crosses the Continent, historic tensions between nations such as Greece and Germany have resurfaced in ugly ways, and the EU is proving incapable of dealing with the current crises in Libya and Syria. The former head of Interpol says the EUs internal borders policy is like hanging a sign welcoming terrorists to Europe, and Scandinavian nations which once prided themselves on their openness are now turning in on themselves. Who's IN and Who's OUT All of these factors, combined with popular anger at the lack of political accountability, has encouraged extremism to the extent that far-right parties are stronger across the Continent than at any time since the 1930s. But speaking to The IoS, Ms Rudd dismissed his claim and said national security would be a key issue in the campaign. That wider impact on security in an unfriendly world, where there are groups who really want to attack our values, who want to try and bomb us on the streets of London what does the EU do for us there? I would say quite a lot. Ms Rudd revealed that every member of the Cabinet spoke at yesterdays meeting. Over Murray Mints and water, Mrs May, the Home Secretary, told her colleagues that security was a paramount issue and that the UK benefited from the European Arrest Warrant to extradite wanted criminals from other member states. Ministers spoke without notes and, largely, without pre-prepared speeches to make sure their arguments were seen as heartfelt. Ms Rudd, whose PR supremo brother Roland is one of the main architects of the Remain campaign, said the meeting was respectful, with the Government trying to make sure the Tories do not risk the sort of splits over Europe that blighted John Majors premiership in the 1990s. She said: It was affectionate and quite emotional really The tone was unequivocally supportive. Ms Rudd also insisted that Mr Cameron retains sufficient support among even his Eurosceptic colleagues that he would not resign in the event of losing the referendum, saying, hes hugely respected by both sides. Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The six ministers backing the Vote Leave campaign have launched their campaign, just minutes after David Cameron announced the EU referendum will be held in June. Ministers Iain Duncan Smith, Michael Gove, Chris Grayling, John Whittingdale, Theresa Villiers and Priti Patel posed for their first campaign photo, which was tweeted out this morning. The six ministers are the most high profile Tory MPs to publically declare support for a leave vote in the referendum which will be held on June 23 this year. Boris Johnson, the mayor of London and a member of the political cabinet is yet to formally back a side. The Vote Leave campaign tweeted the picture with the caption: The safe option is to #VoteLeave. It has criticised David Camerons EU Deal, announced late last night, for not going far enough to protect Britains interests. Michael Gove, secretary of state for justice and former education secretary and chief whip, and Iain Duncan Smith, former Tory leader and secretary of state for work and pensions, are the highest profile out campaigners. Mr Gove explained his reasons for backing a leave vote in a 1,500-word essay, published online. In it, he called the move "the most difficult decision of my political life". He added: "I believe our country would be freer, fairer and better off outside the EU. And if, at this moment of decision, I didnt say what I believe I would not be true to my convictions or my country." Chris Grayling is the current leader of the House of Commons and former justice secretary, while Priti Patel is minister for employment. Speaking at the launch event Mr Grayling said: The six of us who stand here today are committed to campaign for Britain to leave the European Union. This is going to be a team effort. It is not going to be Conservative effort, it is going to be a cross-party effort, it is going to involve people of all parties and none." Theresa Villiers is minister for Northern Ireland, while John Whittingdale is secretary of state for culture, media and sport. Andrea Leadsome, minister of state for energy and climate change, also said she would vote against staying in the EU. Seventeen Tory cabinet members have so far declared support for the remain campaign, including George Osborne, Theresa May, Sajid Javid and Jeremy Hunt. Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The in campaign is likely to lean heavily on David Camerons hard-fought deal as it argues Britain is better off in the EU. But the immediate response of Labour was to dismiss the deal as a sideshow and largely irrelevant to the problems most British people face. So how will the public view it? And does it actually address the issues people care about most with regard to the EU? Migrant benefits reduction Government rules say benefit claimants should not lose housing benefit if they are sanctioned (Getty) The flagship concession under the deal, will see immigrants' in-work benefits phased in over four years if an "emergency brake" is applied, and a limit placed on child benefit sent back to other countries. The measure is of course aimed at reducing immigration, which is a top political issue according to polling (see below). It should also cut spending on benefits, which is a priority for 75 per cent of voters according to a Populus poll in April last year. A poll for The Times newspaper by YouGov last week, found 62 per cent of backers supported the idea of an emergency brake on benefits. The problem for Mr Cameron is that this measure is far from a migration control. Most experts say the actual impact on migration will be marginal, as higher wages will still provide a pull for migration. Immigration The study found that experienced passport control officers are no better than untrained amateurs at accurately recognising faces (Getty) Immigration currently tops Ipsos Moris issues index, which ranks political issues by how important they are to the public, with 46 per cent selecting it as the most important, or a very important, political issue in January. In fact, immigration very frequently tops this monthly poll having knocked the economy off the top spot in January 2014 as the country exited recession, and only being trumped by defence last month in the aftermath of terrorist attacks in Paris. But the deal only provides powers to prevent married couples from outside the EU entering Britain, and scaling up powers to deport criminals. It will not stop the free movement of workers, which drives most migration. According to a YouGov poll from December, 48 per cent of Britons, the second highest number of any member state, think this should be limited. Eurozone Barclays chairman has warned that the City of London would end up in a significantly worse position if Britain votes to leave the European Union (Getty) The YouGov/Times poll showed support (69 per cent) for protecting Britain from issues in the Eurozone. Despite this, it may be where the deal really start sinking into sideshow territory. The Eurozone sits eighth on the Ipsos Mori issues list, with just 5 per cent selecting it as the most important issue. Protecting the pound doesnt have the clout it once did either, with currency issues selected as important by just 1 per cent in the Ipsos Mori poll putting it on a level with animal welfare and just one step above foot and mouth disease. Sovereignty Cameron managed to secure a deal to exempt Britain from the "ever closer union" in Europe. Again, this might not resonate hugely with the public. The YouGov poll for The Times showed this was the least popular of his deal proposals, with just 47 per cent support, compared to 72 per cent for proposed cuts to EU red tape. Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The Labour Party has risked a fresh row over Irish Republicanism after agreeing to attend Sinn Feins annual party conference in Dublin on the centenary of the Easter Rising. The shadow Northern Ireland Secretary, Vernon Coaker, will travel to the Irish capital on 22 April to attend the partys special Ard Fheis gathering, The Independent on Sunday can reveal. However, he will not be involved in any of the commemoration services for the uprising and has also been to the other Northern Irish political party conferences this year, including the DUP, UUP and SDLP. He will be attending the Alliance gathering in March. The Sinn Fein conference marks the anniversary of the bloody 1916 uprising, which was put down by the British Army at the cost of 450 lives and sparked an armed insurrection that eventually led to Irelands independence from the UK. Mr Coakers attendance at the event will raise fresh concern among Loyalists in Northern Ireland about Jeremy Corbyns leadership of the Labour Party. After he was elected leader last year Mr Corbyn was condemned in Parliament over his support for Sinn Fein during the 1980s, when the IRA carried out bombing campaigns in mainland Britain. Recommended Read more Jeremy Corbyn pulls out of Sinn Fein event at Labour party conference In 2003 John McDonnell, now the shadow Chancellor, said members of the IRA should be honoured for their bravery in bringing the government to the negotiating table. He has a copy of the iconic 1916 proclamation of Irish independence, Poblacht na hEireann, on his constituency office wall. The commemorations for the 1916 uprising began in Ireland last year and will continue until August but the main event takes place on Easter Sunday outside the General Post Office in Dublin. It will begin with the reading of the 1916 Proclamation by a Defence Forces officer. A 1939 march to mark the Easter Rising (Getty) The Irish president Michael D Higgins will lay a wreath on behalf of the people of Ireland, followed by a minutes silence for all those who have died taking up arms against Britain. The national flag will be raised to full mast and the national anthem played before a parade led by the Defence Forces in full military display. The ceremony will end with an Air Corps flypast and a 21-gun salute. On 23 April, Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams is due to deliver a televised address to the Irish nation followed by a ceremonial reading of the proclamation of independence from Britain. The Easter Rising, which has been described as the foundation stone of Irelands independence, lasted for six days before being crushed by British forces. It led to a landslide victory for Sinn Fein in the December 1918 general election to Westminster, the war of independence against Britain and the creation of the Irish Free State in 1922. Mr Coaker said: As shadow Secretary of State I am invited to and attend all the party conferences of the main political parties in Northern Ireland. DUP MP Jeffrey Donaldson said it was a matter for Mr Coakers judgement. He added: The DUP has made its position clear: we will not be attending this event but we will be at events of a discursive rather than celebratory [nature]. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Two Serbian embassy employees who were being held hostage by Isis were killed in an air strike targeting the group in Libya. Serbias Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said there was no doubt that Sladjana Stankovic, a communications officer, and Jovica Stepic, a driver, died in the bombing in the early hours on Friday morning. They had been abducted by militants in November after their diplomatic convoy, including the ambassador, came under fire near the coastal Libyan city of Sabratha. Deaths reported in US raids on 'ISIL camp' in Libya They were being kept in a building outside the same city when it was hit by American air strikes targeting a senior Isis facilitator linked to terror attacks in neighbouring Tunisia. Apparently, the Americans were not aware that foreign citizens were being kept there, Mr Vucic told reporters. Ivica Dacic, the Serbian foreign minister, said they were told of the deaths by foreign officials but that had no confirmation from the Libyan government. We got the information, including photos, which clearly show that this is most probably true, he added. Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic speaks during a news conference in Belgrade, Serbia, Saturday, Feb. 20, 2016. (AP) The US sent F-15E fighter jets on the operation, which is believed to have killed up to 40 Isis militants including Noureddine Chouchane, who had been linked to Junes hotel attack in Sousse, which killed 38 people, and the massacre that killed 22 people at the Bardo National Museum in Tunis. He said Serbian authorities knew where Ms Stankovic and Mr Stepic were being held and had been working to get them back, adding that Libyan troops were considering an operation to free them. I believe we had been close to the solution for them to be freed. Unfortunately, as a consequence of the attack against Isis in Libya, the two of them lost their lives, Mr Dacic told reporters. We will seek official explanation from both Libya and the United States about the available facts and the selection of targets. Bloodstains are seen on debris at the site of a jihadist training camp, targeted in a US air strike, near the Libyan city of Sabratha on February 19, 2016. (AFP/Getty Images) According to the information received by the Serbian security services, a criminal group believed to be linked to Isis had demanded an impossible ransom for the hostages, who they were holding at the site that was bombed. American defence officials said the building hit was an Isis training camp but Mr Dacic said the information has to be checked. Peter Cook, the Pentagon's press secretary, spoke on Friday to hail the removal of Chouchane, making no mention of the Serbians killed. Destruction of the camp and Chouchane's removal will eliminate an experienced facilitator and is expected to have an immediate impact on Isil's ability to facilitate its activities in Libya, including recruiting new Isil (Isis) members, establishing bases in Libya, and potentially planning external attacks on US interests in the region, he added. A piece of metal with Arabic writing and an illustration of the black flag of the Islamic State group, right hand corner, after an air strike on a house and training camp belonging to IS extremists, west of Sabratha, Libya. (AP) "This strike demonstrates we will go after Isil whenever it is necessary, using the full range of tools at our disposal." A spokesperson for the Pentagon told the Independent it could not confirm the deaths of Ms Stankovic and Mr Stepic. "We are aware of the reports, but, at this time, have no indications that confirm this reporting," she said. "We are still assessing the results of the strike and we will make further statements if and when appropriate." A Libyan armed group calling itself the Special Deterrent Forces announced on Facebook that the two bodies had been delivered to Tripoli's Matiga Airport and posted photos showing green coffins inside a hearse and sitting on a tarmac. Bodies wrapped in plastic bags lie on the ground at a hospital in Sabratha, on February 20, 2016, a day after a US air strike targeted a jihadist training camp near the Libyan coastal city. (AP) The Special Deterrent Forces are loyal to the militia-backed government that now controls Tripoli. Ms Stankovic and Mr Stepic were part of a Serbian diplomatic convoy journeying to Tunisia when it was attacked by gunmen in November. They were kidnapped but Serbian ambassador Oliver Potezica escaped unharmed along with his wife and two sons. The attack happened when one of the embassy cars was hit from behind. When the driver came out to check what happened, he was dragged into one of the attackers' cars, Mr Potezica told Tanjug news agency at the time. Isis expansion into Libya, which largely remains in a state of chaos following the overthrow of the Gaddafi regime, has raised alarm in the West because of its proximity to Europe and use by people smugglers sending refugees to Italy. Timeline: The emergence of Isis Show all 40 1 /40 Timeline: The emergence of Isis Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2000 Abu Musab al-Zarqawi (pictured here) forms an al-Qaeda splinter group in Iraq, al-Qaeda in Iraq. Its brutality from the beginning alienates Iraqis and many al-Qaeda leaders. Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2006 Al-Zarqawi is killed in a U.S. strike. Al-Zarqawis successor, Abu Ayyub al-Masri, announces the creation of the Islamic State in Iraq (ISI). Reuters Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2009 Still al-Qaeda-linked ISI claims responsibility for suicide bombings that killed 155 in Baghdad, as well as attacks in August and October killing 240, as President Obama announces troop withdrawal from Iraq in March. Getty Images Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2010 Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi becomes head of ISI, at lowest ebb of Islamist militancy in Iraq, which sees last U.S. combat brigade depart. Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2012 In Syria, protests (pictured here starting in Daree) have morphed into what president Assad labelled a real war with emergence of a coalition of forces opposed to Assads regime. Syria group Jabhat al-Nusra are among rebel groups who refuse to join, denouncing it as a conspiracy. Bombings targeting Shia areas, killing more than 500 people, spark fears of new sectarian conflict. Sunni Muslims stage protests across country against what they see as increasingly marginalisation by Shia-led government. AP Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2013 Al-Baghdadi renames ISI as the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, or Isis, as the group absorbs Syrian al-Nusra, gaining a foothold in Syria. In response, al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri (Bin Ladens successor) concerned about Isis expansion orders that Isis be dissolved and ISI operations should be confined to Iraq. This order is rejected by al-Baghdadi. AFP Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2014 - January Isis fighters capture the Iraqi cities of Fallujah and Ramadi, giving them base to launch slew of attacks further south. AP Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2014 - June Isis declares itself the Caliphate, calling itself Islamic State (IS). The group captures Mosul, Iraqs second largest city; Tal Afar, just 93 miles from Syrian border; and the central Iraqi city of Tikrit. These advances sent shockwaves around the world. Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2014 - June Around the same time Isis releases a video calling for western Muslims to join the Caliphate and fight, prompting new evaluations of extremists groups social media understanding. Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2014 - June Isis take Baiji oil fields in Iraq - giving them access to huge amounts of possible revenue. EPA Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2014 - August James Foley is executed by the group as concerns grow for second American prisoner, fellow reporter Steven Sotloff. AP Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2014 - August Obama authorises U.S. airstrikes in Iraq, helping to stall Isis along with action by Kurdish forces following the deaths of hundreds of Yazidi people on Mount Sinjar. Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2014 - September Isis release video showing Steven Sotloffs murder prompting Western speculation his executioner is same man who killed Mr Foley. EPA Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2014 - September Obama tells us that America will hunt down terrorists who threaten our country EPA Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2014 - September Isis release a video appearing to show David Haines, who was captured by militants in Syria in 2013, wearing an orange jumpsuit and kneeling in the desert while he reads a pre-prepared script. It later shows what appears to be the aid worker's body. Rex Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2014 - September Peshmerga fighters scrabble to hold positions in the Diyala province (a gateway to Baghdad) as Isis fighters continue to advance on Iraqi capital. AFP Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2014 - October Aid worker Alan Henning is killed. Self-imposed media blackout refuses to show images of him in final moments, instead focuses upon humanitarian care. AP Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2014 - October Isis raise their flag in Kobani, which had been strongly defended by Kurdish troops. The victory goes against hopeful western analysis Isis had overextended itself, while alienating much of the Muslim population through the murder of Henning. Victory causes fresh waves of Kurdish refugees arriving in Turkey. Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2014 - November American hostage, who embarced values of Islam, Peter Kassig and 14 Syrian soldiers are shown meeting the same fate as other captives. But intelligence agencies will be poring over the apparently significant discrepancies between this and previous films. Seramedig.org.uk Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - February Isis has released a video revealing the murder by burning to death of a Jordanian pilot held by the group since the end of December 2014. Reuters Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - February Isis militants have released videos which appear to show the beheading of Japanese hostages Haruna Yukawa and Kenji Goto. Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - February American aid worker, Kayla Mueller was the last American hostage known to be held by Isis. She died, according to her captors, in an airstrike by the Jordanian air force on the city of Raqqa in Syria, though US authorities disputed this. AP Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - February Isis militants have posted a gruesome video online in which they force 21 Egyptian Coptic Christian hostages to kneel on a beach in Libya before beheading them. Egypt vowed to avenge the beheading and launched air strikes on Isis positions. AP Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - February The British Isis militant suspected of appearing in videos showing the beheading of Western hostages has been named in reports as Mohammed Emwazi from London. Rex Features Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - March Isis triple suicide attack has killed more than 100 worshippers and hundreds of others were injured after the group members targeted two mosques in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa. AP Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - April Iraqi forces have claimed victory over Isis in battle for Tikrit and raised the flag in the city. EPA/STR Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - April Isis has claimed responsibility for a suicide bomb attack in Afghanistan that killed at least 35 people queuing to collect their wages and injured 100 more. EPA Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - April Isis media arm released a 29-minute video purporting to show militants executing Ethiopian Christians captives. The footage bore the extremist groups al-Furqan media logo and showed the destruction of churches and desecration of religious symbols. A masked fighter made a statement threatening Christians who did not convert to Islam or pay a special tax. Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - May Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of Isis has been "incapacitated" by a spinal injuries sustained in a US air strike in Iraq. He is being treated in a hideout by two doctors from Isis stronghold of Mosul who are said to be "strong ideological supporters of the group". Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - May Isis has also claimed responsibility for killing 300 of Yazidi captives, including women, children and elderly people in Iraq AP Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - May Isis attack on Prophet Mohamed cartoon contest in Texas was its first action on US soil. Two gunmen were shot and killed after launching the attack at the exhibition. Elton Simpson and Nadir Soofi have been named as the attackers at the Curtis Culwell Centre arena in Garland. Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - May Isiss deputy leader, Abu Alaa Afri, a former physics teacher who was thought to have taken charge of the deadly terrorist group, has been killed in a US-led coalition airstrike. Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - May US special forces have killed a senior Isis leader named as Abu Sayyaf in an operation aiming to capture him and his wife in Syria. Getty Images Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - May Iran-backed militias are sent to Ramadi by the Iraqi government to fight Isis militants who completed their capture of the city. Government soldiers and civilians were reportedly massacred by extremists as they took control and the army fled. Charred bodies were left littering the city streets as troops clung on to trucks speeding away from the city. Ramadi is the latest government stronghold to fall to the so-called Islamic State, despite air strikes by a US-led international coalition aiming to stop its advance in Iraq and Syria. AFP Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - May Isis rounded up civilians trapped in Palmyra and forced them to watch 20 people being executed in the historic citys ancient amphitheatre. The Unesco World Heritage site was overrun by militants, threatening the future of 2,000 year-old monuments and ruins. Thousands of Palmyras residents fled but many are still living within the city walls, while the UN human rights office in Geneva said it had received reports of Syrian government forces preventing people from leaving until they retreated from the city. Getty Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - May A group of Isis-affiliated fighters have captured a key airport in central Libya. The militants took control of the al-Qardabiya airbase in Sirte after a local militia tasked with defending the facility withdrew from their positions. Affiliates of Isis, already control large parts of Sirte, the birthplace of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and a former stronghold of his supporters. Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - June The US Air Force has destroyed an Isis stronghold after an extremist let slip their location on social media. According the Air Force Times, General Herbert "Hawk" Carlisle, commander of Air Combat Command, said that Airmen at Hulburt Field, Florida, used images shared by jihadists to track the location of their headquarters before destroying it in an airstrike. Reuters Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - June Kurdish forces captured a key military base in a significant victory in Raqqa as well as town of Tell Abyad. YPG fighters, backed by US-led airstrikes and other rebels, consolidated their gains, when they seized the key town on the Syria-Turkey border. They are now just 30 miles to the north of Raqqa and have cut off a major supply route deep inside Isis-held territory. Ahmet Silk/Getty Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - June Isis has released gruesome footage claiming to show the murder of more than a dozen men by drowning, decapitation and using a rocket-propelled grenade as it seeks to boost morale among its fanatical supporters. Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - June Isis has begun carrying out its threat to destroy structures in the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra, blowing up at least two monuments at the Unesco-protected site as Syrian government troops made advances on the Islamists positions. AFP The terrorist group was known to control a swathe of territory along the central coast around Sirte, but Sabratha lies far to the West, in a region previously split between forces loyal to Libyas two competing governments. Libya's internationally recognised government has been forced out of the capital, Tripoli, and now operates out of the eastern cities of Tobruk and Bayda. A rival government, backed by Islamist-affiliated militias known as Libya Dawn, controls Tripoli and much of western Libya, while UN-brokered efforts to form a unity government continue to falter. The chaos has provided fertile ground for Islamic extremist groups such as Isis and al-Qaeda to flourish. British, American and European intelligence services are believed to keeping a close eye on extremist networks in the country and a previous American strike killed Abu Nabil, who the US described as a senior Isis leader. Additional reporting by Reuters For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Incumbent Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has won the election, allowing him to extend his 30-year rule after the leading contender was arrested and social media was shutdown. Mr Museveni claimed more than 60 per cent of the vote ahead of his opposition, Kizza Besigye, who had secured 35 per cent. Besigye himself was under house arrest when Museveni was declared the winner, with heavily armed police standing guard near his residence on the outskirts of the capital, Kampala. Museveni's ruling party, the National Resistance Movement (NRM), urged "all candidates to respect the will of the people and the authority of the electoral commission and accept the result. We ask all Ugandans to remain calm and peaceful and not to engage in any public disruptions." The party released the statement shortly after the results were announced. Mr Museveni, 71, has faced growing accusations from home and abroad for oppresing dissent and failing to stop extensive corruption. Mr Besigye's arrest, his third of the week, contributed to violent confrontations in parts of the capital Kampala on Friday. Police in riot gear had set off stun grenades and fired tear gas at Mr Besigye's supporters, who responded by hurling rocks and erecting street barricades. The streets were calm on Saturday morning. Riot police try to lock supporters of Kizza Besigye, the leader of the main opposition inside Besigye's party headquarters in Kampala (EPA) US Secretary of State John Kerry called Mr Museveni on Friday to voice concern over Mr Besigye's detention, harassment of opposition figures and the shutdown of social media such as Facebook and Twitter. The US State Department said in a statement: "(Mr Kerry) urged President Museveni to rein in the police and security forces, noting that such action calls into question Uganda's commitment to a transparent and credible election process free from intimidation." Mr Besigye was arrested as he tried to hold a press conference at the headquarters of his Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) party to release their own poll results. A senior FDC official said there were "glaring discrepancies" with official figures. Incumbent Uganda President Yoweri Museveni (Reuters) Another Museveni rival, former prime minister Amama Mbabazi, was put under house arrest, according to his spokesperson. A NRM campaign spokesman for NRM said: "It appears as if our message that Uganda should maintain its path of steady progress for all, and not risk an untried and untested opposition, has resonated with the majority of Ugandan voters." Brenda, 23, from Kampala said: "I have never seen another president and it seems it will be like that until he dies." She refused to give her second name out of fears for her security. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Albert Woodfox, the last of the Angola Three, has been released in prison after 43 years of solitary confinement. Mr Woodfox and two other men spent decades in solitary confinement after being convicted of murdering prison guard Brent Miller, who was killed at the Louisiana Penitentiary where they were being held. The 69-year-old, who was initially imprisoned for armed robbery, has maintained his innocence in the killing since his charge in 1972, and is the last of the Angola Three to be released after accepting the lesser charge of manslaughter with no contest. At the time of Millers killing, inmates identified Mr Woodfox as the one who grabbed the guard from behind while others stabbed Miller with a lawnmower blade and a hand-sharpened prison knife. The star witness, a serial rapist, left death row and was pardoned by the Louisiana Governor after his testimony. He died before the second trial. Mr Woodfox had been awaiting a third trial in Miller's death after earlier convictions were thrown out by federal courts for reasons including racial bias in selecting a grand jury foreman. Mr Woodfox was the longest-serving prisoner to be kept in solitary confinement. Officials said that Mr Woodfox and the other members of the Three Robert King and Herman Wallace - were kept in solitary confinement due to their Black Panther activism, which was riling up inmates in the Angola prison. As part of their activism, the three are said to have petitioned an end to segregation in the prison, as well as protecting new inmates from sexual assault. Mr Woodfox described the prison in 1972 as a horrible place and said everybody was just fighting to survive from day to day. Expressing gratitude at the supporters who have lobbied for his release over the years, Mr Woodfox said: "Although I was looking forward to proving my innocence at a new trial, concerns about my health and my age have caused me to resolve this case now and obtain my release with this no contest plea to lesser charges. I hope the events of today will bring closure to many." Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The broadcast of a secretly shot video in which a prominent Colombian politician discusses sexual encounters with other men is prompting a fierce debate about homophobia and journalistic ethics in this conservative South American country. President Juan Manuel Santos and other figures have sharply criticized radio station La FM for broadcasting an eight-minute excerpt of a video recording in which former Senator Carlos Ferro and a police captain discuss sex in crude details and trade kisses while driving together in a car in Bogota. On Wednesday, General Rodolfo Palomino resigned as head of the police over allegations of misconduct that included a subaltern's accusation that the chief, high-ranking officers and even members of congress abused their positions to demand sexual favors with young cadets. In announcing an administrative investigation into the allegations, Inspector General Alejandro Ordonez cited the hidden-camera video as evidence in the case. Palomino's name is never mentioned in the recording and there is no apparent discussion of the alleged male prostitution ring inside the police force, which Colombian media have dubbed the Community of the Ring. Ferro, who resigned as deputy Interior minister as soon as the video went viral on Tuesday, has denied any wrongdoing or abuse of his political position. In an interview on Wednesday with Blu Radio, Ferro sidestepped questions about the video's content but blasted La FM's star anchor, Vicky Davila, saying she irresponsibly aired a private conversation that he had no idea was being recorded and is now part of judicial investigation. He also accused the captain behind the recording of laying a trap. Santos, whose family used to own Colombia's largest newspaper, expressed disgust over the media's handling of the matter, saying it should prompt a deep reflection of when a journalist's job of informing invades upon an individual's good name. Asked by CNN en Espanol's Patricia Janiot if he would have broadcast the video, Santos responded: I'll return the question to you. Do you think divulging this video is good journalism? On Thursday, the parent company of La FM issued a statement saying Davila had resigned. It gave no reason and did not mention the recording. AP Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} In October of 2014, Steven Pratt was supposed to begin his life anew. He had served out a 30-year prison sentence and gone home to Atlantic City, New Jersey, where his family held a party to welcome him. But a violent history would repeat itself all too soon. Pratt was 15 when he got into an argument with his next door neighbor, Michael Anderson. Court records show that Anderson was a father figure of sorts to Pratt. On October 11, 1984, he asked Pratt and his friends to vacate a hallway in their apartment building where they were noisily hanging out and smoking marijuana. Angered by Andersons request, Pratt retrieved a lead pipe from his apartment and approached Anderson with it in hand. Anderson wrestled the pipe from Pratts grasp, striking him on the face. Then Pratts mother entered the room, and Anderson left. Hours later, Pratt knocked on the door of Andersons apartment. When the neighbor appeared, Pratt asked him if he recalled their fight earlier that day, then shot him dead. Pratt was tried as an adult for the murder and began serving his sentence at a maximum security prison. Thirty years later, things should have been different. Pratt was 45 when he got out, and he returned to the Atlantic City neighborhood where his 64-year-old mother resided, the Press of Atlantic City reported. It was a quiet part of town, the kind of place where kids carved hearts around their initials in wet cement on the sidewalk. Neighbours told the Press of Atlantic City that Gwendolyn Pratt was "kind and impeccably dressed." She took a 6am bus to work every day without fail. No one guessed that she would lose her life less than two days after her son got his freedom. On the Sunday morning after Pratts release, police found Gwendolyn dead from blunt injuries to the head. Pratt was charged, and at his initial court appearance, he wept. "I have failed," Pratt told the judge, his voice barely audible, the Press of Atlantic City reported. "I dont want a trial. Im guilty." He officially pleaded guilty to manslaughter this week. He is expected to be sentenced to 25 years in prison, according to the Associated Press. A 2014 Bureau of Justice Statistics report found that about 77 per cent of released prisoners were arrested for a new crime within five years. Among convicted murderers, however, the recidivism rate is much lower, especially when it comes to those who commit murder again. Nancy Mullane, author of the book Life after Murder, studied the patterns of 988 convicted murderers who were released from California prisons, none of whom were rearrested for murder. The timing and gruesome repetition of Pratts crimes make him an anomaly one that led many to ask whether he had been destroyed by juvenile incarceration. "If anybodys been in prison 30 years in the adult system, theyre no sweethearts," Ronald Gruen, a psychologist who has evaluated juvenile criminals for decades, told the Press of Atlantic City. "Theyre probably a very angry, very paranoid individual. Probably very upset with the world." Copyright: Washington Post Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Republicans in South Carolina hoped theyd make it to voting day without disturbing the states most gnarly scab, the proper place for the Confederate flag. After a mass shooting in a black church in Charleston in June it was removed from the grounds of the State Capitol in Columbia. That was that. But as the candidates for the Republican nomination wooed voters all across the Palmetto State ahead of Saturdays primary election, the fate of the rebel banner was always simmering just beneath the surface and finally burst into the open in the final hours before voting as an outside political action group, or super PAC, unleashed a tirade against Donald Trump accusing him of supporting the flags removal. The barrage of radio spots on Friday and direct taped-message phone calls, known as robocalls, to about 180,000 homes came courtesy of the Courageous Conservatives PAC, which has been supporting Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, just as he was showing signs of catching up with Mr Trump in the state. GOP candidates battle for survival in South Carolina People like Donald Trump are always butting their noses into other people's business," an announcer says over ominous music. But Trump talks about our flag, like its a social disease." It included small snippets of Mr Trump answering a question about the flag. Put it in a museum, he is heard saying. Let it go. A survey suggested that 70 per cent of Trump supporters disapprove of the flags removal (Getty) Ironically, it is to Mr Trump in particular that South Carolinians angered by the flags removal from a memorial outside the Capitol building have mostly flocked. The lowering of it, after a contentious vote in the state legislature, came in July, one month after a white supremacist opened fire inside a historic black church in Charleston, killing nine people at a Bible class, including a State senator and a pastor. Recommended Read more Campaign trail reaches critical milestone in South Carolina and Nevada In spite of his comments about the flag, Mr Trump has drawn his supporters in part with his derision of political correctness, which defenders of the flag precisely blame for its demise. A survey by Public Policy Polling last week suggested that 70 per cent of his supporters disapprove of flags removal. Proponents of it saw the flag as symbol of bigotry that had for decades cast shame on their state. Among those who see it differently is Edwin Darrell Sanders, 60. That was part of our history that really has nothing to do with political incorrectness, he said, attending a Trump rally in Myrtle Beach on Friday. I wasnt opposed necessarily to the flag going down, but what I object to is everyone running it into the ground. The flag doesnt stand for racism, it stands for the Confederacy. In pictures: US Elections 2016 Show all 15 1 /15 In pictures: US Elections 2016 In pictures: US Elections 2016 Democratic U.S. presidential candidate Bernie Sanders speaks to supporters after rival candidate Hillary Clinton was projected as the winner in the Nevada Democratic caucuses Reuters In pictures: US Elections 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton takes photos with workers at her campaign office in Des Moines, Iowa AP In pictures: US Elections 2016 Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, second from left, prays before lunch with supporters at Drake Diner in Des Moines, Iowa Reuters In pictures: US Elections 2016 Democratic presidential candidate and former Maryland Governor. Martin O'Malley, speaks during a campaign stop in Waterloo, Iowa AP In pictures: US Elections 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders speaks, as his wife Jane OMeara Sanders looks on, at a campaign event at Iowa State University Getty In pictures: US Elections 2016 Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio speaks at St. Ambrose University in Davenport, Iowa Reuters In pictures: US Elections 2016 Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson speaks at a campaign event at Fireside Pub and Steak House in Manchester, Iowa. Getty In pictures: US Elections 2016 Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum visiting supporters at a house party in West Des Moines, Iowa Reuters In pictures: US Elections 2016 Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at a campaign event in Cedar Rapids, Iowa AP In pictures: US Elections 2016 Republican candidate Ted Cruz campaigns at Greene County Community Centre in Jefferson, Iowa AP In pictures: US Elections 2016 Senator Rand Paul speaks during a Caucus rally at his Des Moines headquarters in Iowa Getty In pictures: US Elections 2016 Republican candidate Jeb Bush speaks at a campaign event in Des Moines, Iowa AFP In pictures: US Elections 2016 Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin introducing the arrival of Donald Trump during a campaign rally in Cedar Rapids, Iowa Reuters In pictures: US Elections 2016 A portrait of Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders at his campaign headquarters in Des Moines, Iowa Getty In pictures: US Elections 2016 Campaign badges on sale ahead of a Trump rally at the Ramada Waterloo Hotel and Convention Centre in Waterloo, Iowa Getty You cant destroy history, you have to learn from history, and our children have to have it in their history books added his wife, Theresa Darrell Sanders, nodding vigorously. Its getting to the point where cant call a dog a dog any more, you have to call it by its breed or something, The final decision to take the flag away it is now in storage at an undisclosed location was taken by the Governor of South Carolina, Nikki Haley, drawing widespread anger from many conservatives in the state who accused of her of buckling to pressure from Washington and Republican Party leaders. Ms Haley last week endorsed Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, who like two others in the race - Jeb Bush and Ohio Governor John Kasich - has strived to emerge as the preferred establishment alternative to Messrs Trump and Cruz, has kept far away from the flag debate. The flag feud indeed speaks directly to an unresolved and vital tension within the Republican Party the nativist populism of Messrs Trump and Cruz which relies on stirring white anger over immigration and race issues versus the desire of the establishment to end the alienation of minority voters, especially Hispanics, whose support they will need to stand a chance of retaking the White House. Hollice McCollie, an African American, was doing brisk business with Mr Trumps supporters in Myrtle Beach selling political flotsam, especially Hillary for Prison badges with an image of her stricken face behind bars. But he was not about to side with his customers about the flag. It should have come down as soon as the Confederacy was over, thats what should have happened, but this is South Carolina and you know how they are. This state is still racist. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Going full bore for a better result in South Carolinas crucial Republican primary, Senator Marco Rubio barnstormed across almost all the corners of the state on Friday, portraying himself as a consensus conservative who will unite his party and the country and defend it from its enemies. We can bring this party together, he told an overflow crowd in a school gym in North Charleston on Friday evening. We are going to take our conservative principles and put them into action. Attempting an inspiration tone he added: If you are President of the United States you have to love all the people even the ones who dont love you back. Recommended Read more Trump uses Pope fight to whip up support in South Carolina In a state with large numbers of military families, Mr Rubio, who placed a disappointing fourth place in New Hampshire, has been emphasising what he says have been the failures of President Barack Obama on foreign policy, including the embrace of our enemies in Iran. He singled out North Korea as a threat that America has failed to face up to. The most important job of the federal government is to keep us safe, he said. North Korea is governed by a son of a dictator who has never had a time-out in his lifeit is governed by a lunatic, a lunatic. He is not a normal person. And that nation, he added, had long-range missiles that may potentially reach the US West Coast. In pictures: US Elections 2016 Show all 15 1 /15 In pictures: US Elections 2016 In pictures: US Elections 2016 Democratic U.S. presidential candidate Bernie Sanders speaks to supporters after rival candidate Hillary Clinton was projected as the winner in the Nevada Democratic caucuses Reuters In pictures: US Elections 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton takes photos with workers at her campaign office in Des Moines, Iowa AP In pictures: US Elections 2016 Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, second from left, prays before lunch with supporters at Drake Diner in Des Moines, Iowa Reuters In pictures: US Elections 2016 Democratic presidential candidate and former Maryland Governor. Martin O'Malley, speaks during a campaign stop in Waterloo, Iowa AP In pictures: US Elections 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders speaks, as his wife Jane OMeara Sanders looks on, at a campaign event at Iowa State University Getty In pictures: US Elections 2016 Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio speaks at St. Ambrose University in Davenport, Iowa Reuters In pictures: US Elections 2016 Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson speaks at a campaign event at Fireside Pub and Steak House in Manchester, Iowa. Getty In pictures: US Elections 2016 Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum visiting supporters at a house party in West Des Moines, Iowa Reuters In pictures: US Elections 2016 Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at a campaign event in Cedar Rapids, Iowa AP In pictures: US Elections 2016 Republican candidate Ted Cruz campaigns at Greene County Community Centre in Jefferson, Iowa AP In pictures: US Elections 2016 Senator Rand Paul speaks during a Caucus rally at his Des Moines headquarters in Iowa Getty In pictures: US Elections 2016 Republican candidate Jeb Bush speaks at a campaign event in Des Moines, Iowa AFP In pictures: US Elections 2016 Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin introducing the arrival of Donald Trump during a campaign rally in Cedar Rapids, Iowa Reuters In pictures: US Elections 2016 A portrait of Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders at his campaign headquarters in Des Moines, Iowa Getty In pictures: US Elections 2016 Campaign badges on sale ahead of a Trump rally at the Ramada Waterloo Hotel and Convention Centre in Waterloo, Iowa Getty Accompanied throughout the day by the popular governor of South Carolina, Nikki Haley, the 44-year-old Senator declined to attack any of his rivals directly. He is battling with Jeb Bush and John Kasich, the former and serving Governors of Florida and Ohio respectively, to emerge after Saturdays Palmetto State primary as the establishment alternative to Donald Trump, who polls say should win the state, and Senator Ted Cruz who may be very close behind. We have our differences, I respect that, but we are blessed because we have some incredible people competing for the Republican nomination in 2016, he averred. He did, however, open fire on the two Democrat candidates who will battle it out in the same state in their primary on 27 February. Bernie Sanders is a socialistHe has a right to be a socialist, but we dont want to be a socialist country. If you want to live in a socialist country then move to a socialist country, he declared. We want to be the United States of America. But he earned the loudest applause vowing to reverse what he claimed has been the dwindling of the US armed forces. When I am president we are going to undertake a Reagan-style rebuilding of the United States military he said, adding that the average age of the aircraft in the US Air Force is 27 years old. This means the pilots are younger than their planes. This is reckless. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Petrol prices in Venezuela will rise by almost 6,000 per cent after an announcement from President Nicolas Maduro. The price of a litre of high-quality gas is currently approximately one US cent and will be increasing to 60 US cents. The move has been described as "aggressive" by some, as Venezuela tries to battle triple-digit inflation and the country's deepest recession in a decade. "That's an aggressive hike in fuel prices and it's still the cheapest in the world," Edward Glossop, an economist at Capital Economics who covers Venezuela, told CNN Money. The increase is the first in almost two decades, with the last change in prices sparking vast protests throughout the country. "Venezuela has the cheapest gasoline in the world. This is a necessary measure, I assume the responsibility," Mr Maduro is reported to have said before the announcement, according to Bloomberg. World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty Mr Maduro also announced a new structure for the exchange rate. One bolivar went from being worth 6 US cents to 10 US cents. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The Dawnlight, a steel-hulled bulk carrier with large grey cranes, looks no different from the other container ships that ply East Asias busy shipping lanes, heading in and out of the bustling port of Singapore. But it is not just any container ship: the Dawnlight has been suspected of illegal dealings with North Korea. It was blacklisted by the US last year because it was previously owned by a Singapore company alleged to have helped Pyongyang with its weapons programme, but it still shuttles between Singapore and the Korean peninsula, with occasional diversions to China. Its ultimate destinations were unclear, though, because even on trips when the crew logged a North Korean port as its goal, radar and satellite data showed it appearing to turn around off the coast of South Korea and return without having called at a port. The Dawnlights previous owners insist the ship has carried only commercial cargo. The new Hong Kong-based owner could not be reached. Recommended Read more North Korea looks to future as the South fears terror attacks While international sanctions against North Korea prohibit trade involving goods such as those that could be used in weapons programmes, general commercial trade is permitted. And with its nascent market economy, the country has much reason to do business abroad. But inspection regimes in the regions busy ports are selective, making it hard to determine what is being shipped to North Korea. As the global community considers how to punish Pyongyang for last months nuclear test and this months long-range rocket launch by further isolating it from the outside world, and specifically by cutting off its access to outside nuclear and missile technology, shipping is emerging as a focal point. Japan has barred North Korean ships from its ports. South Korea, which already bans North Korean-flagged ships, is also considering extending this blockade to include vessels that have recently called at the northern half of the peninsula. Doing this would also be for our own protection, said Chun Yung-woo, former national security adviser. Ships are the best way North Korea has for delivering nuclear weapons. But the difficulty of monitoring the Dawnlight underlines the limits of sanctions. The ship could be operating entirely legitimately. But the questions remain: what is it carrying? Where is it going? And who owns it? China is by far North Koreas largest trading partner. But most of the goods heading to North Korea come through South-east Asian trans-shipment hubs. Singapore, one of the biggest, relies on speed to maintain its competitive edge. Cargo lists are not publicly available, and inspections are generally conducted only when there is intelligence to suggest a breach of international sanctions. United Nations condemns Pyongyang for rocket launch Tracking ships travelling to North Korea is inherently challenging, because the North does not have radar stations that feed into international tracking systems. Although it is against international regulations, a ships crew can turn off satellite systems, ensuring that it will not be tracked. On some of its voyages, the Dawnlight generated extremely limited data even in areas far from the Korean peninsula with reliable radar and satellite coverage. We generally ignore unilateral sanctions, said a former Singaporean official. The Washington Post For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A leading Japanese television anchor has been replaced, the latest in a line of journalists ousted as Shinzo Abes government seeks to silence criticism, critics fear. Hiroko Kuniya, an anchor known for her tough questioning style, will be replaced in April after 23 years hosting a social affairs show on public broadcaster NHK. NHK has not disclosed why Ms Kuniya is leaving. It may be as a result of a probing interview last year with prime minster Shinzo Abes close advisor Yoshihide Suga, in which Ms Kuniya challenged new security legislation, The Economist reports. Other broadcasters to have lost their jobs include Ichiro Furutachi and Shigetada Kishii, who both frequently criticised the government on air. Newscasters at times represent the voices against the powers that be, Mr Furutachi said in a press conference announcing his departure last year. Internal Affairs and Communications Minister Sanae Takaichi said recently that broadcasters could be forced to suspend operating if they continue to air programmes deemed politically biased, the Japan Times reported. Japanese law requires that broadcast content must be politically neutral. But Ms Kuniyas show, Close-up Gendai, was a challenge to the well-managed official version of reality that appears on NHKs own regular newscasts, former New York Times bureau chief and journalist in residence at the Rebuild Japan Initiative Foundation Martin Fackler told the Japan Times. It was one of the few effortsto do anything remotely approaching investigative, public-interest journalism. Japan has fallen from 11th to 61st place in Reporters without Borders World Press Freedom Index of 180 countries since 2010. Marking five years since Japan's tsunami Stringent security laws were introduced in 2013, under which journalists could be jailed for up to five years for obtaining classified information. In 2014, the government reportedly instructed mainstream television stations on how to select news topics and interview subjects, according to independent watchdog Freedom House. The networks were also requested to avoid one-sided coverage. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} An expulsion order has been issued for migrants and refugees living in the Calais Jungle, as French authorities prepare to demolish the camp. The order gives those living in a huge swath of the camp until 8pm local time on Tuesday to remove themselves and their belongings. It warns anyone who does not comply will be forcibly removed by police. It is estimated that between 800 and 1,000 live in that sector of the camp and will be affected. Many of those living in the Jungle are refugees and asylum seekers flying violence and political oppression in Syria, Iraq, Sudan and Afghanistan. The camp has swollen in size in recent years to an estimated population of 4,000. It has developed a considerable community and makeshift infrastructure, including homes, mosques and shops. Theatre groups and restaurants have also featured. Cramped living conditions have prompted health concerns and been accused of lacking basic hygiene and human dignity requirements. World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty Those in the camp have now been told to move to nearby containers or welcome centres located throughout France. On Thursday, eight associations working in the camp sent a protest letter to the French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve denouncing the move and arguing that the proposal was very far from answering the needs of the problems encountered. However, Mr Cazeneuve responded to confirm that the proposal would proceed regardless. With additional reporting by AP For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Sylvaine Vaudron is the Mayor of Douaumont even though Douaumont ceased to exist 100 years ago this Sunday. Every summer we have a fete at the site of the old village, she told The Independent. It is a wonderful occasion but unfortunately, as the years go by, there are fewer and fewer of us. The number of people who can claim a connection to Douaumont is shrinking all the time. On 21 February 1916, the German army fired more than a million shells in a single day along a bleak ridge in Lorraine in eastern France the greatest orgy of man-made destruction ever seen (until then). Douaumont and eight neighbouring villages were obliterated. In the following 10 months the ridge was hacked and ploughed by 32 million French and German shells. More than 300,000 French and German soldiers died. At the end of the battle still the longest battle in recorded history the two armies stood a few hundred yards from where they had started, just north of the small town of Verdun. The nine martyr villages of the Verdun ridge were never rebuilt. They were declared Mort pour la France and given the Croix de la Guerre. Officially, however, the villages live on. Their beautiful names Beaumont-en-Verdunois, Bezonvaux, Cumieres-le-Mort-Homme, Fleury-devant-Douaumont, Haumont-pres-Samogneux, Louvemont-Cote-du-Poivre, Ornes and Vaux-devant-Damloup are still in the dictionnaire national of French communes. They have mayors and village councils, mostly drawn from the descendants of the pre-1916 villagers. The Verdun centenary this weekend is important for everyone because it is a reminder of the sacrifice and brutality of war, said Ms Vaudron, who runs a restaurant near the site of the original Douaumont village. It is also important for the martyr villages because it will help us to reach out to younger people. We want to preserve the memory of those who lived here for 1,000 years, all their joys and their sufferings. We dont want Douaumont to die a second time. Verdun has emerged as the emblematic French battle of the First World War to the point of almost of blotting out Frances memories of the rest of the war. The Germans attacked on 21 February 1916; the French counter-attacked and a patch of 50 square miles was fought over with desperate and brutal intensity for 10 months. It is estimated that in places 10 shells fell on every square centimetre of land. The Verdun memorial in Fleury-devant-Douaumont has been renovated for the centenary (Getty) (Getty Images) When the battle ended on 18 December 1916, the front lines were back where they started and France claimed a great victory. More than 700,000 French and German soldiers were wounded, captured or killed. French deaths were put at 163,000. Verdun was the longest single battle in human history but not the most murderous. The Somme, which started four months later and ended a month earlier, caused 1.2 million casualties and 400,000 deaths. The battle of Stalingrad in the Second World War was even more bloody. If you look at any war memorial in France, you will see a longer list of deaths for 1915 than for 1916. The real destruction of young French manhood came before Verdun, in a series of blundering, poorly planned offensives in Champagne, Artois and the Vosges. But these battles have largely disappeared from French popular memory. WW1 map: How Europe changed in just one minute Jean-Yves Le Naour, one of the brightest of a new generation of French historians of the First World War, told The Independent: To remember those battles would have been to convict the French military leadership of stupidity and heartlessness. Instead, Verdun was erected into the great symbol of the war because it was a defensive battle which France could claim to have won. Another myth is that Verdun was a psychologically and strategically vital stronghold in the French lines. Mr Le Naour points out that Verdun was within a lightly defended and strategically meaningless salient or bump in the trenches which ran from the Channel to Switzerland. Its claim to fame pre-1914 was that it was the sugared almond capital of the world. (It still is.) French troops under shellfire during the Battle of Verdun (Getty) (Getty Images) Verduns strategic importance was invented after the war, Mr Le Naour says, because so much national prestige and blood had been expended on it. A French retreat would not have been disastrous. Nor was French resistance decisive, he said. But between them, Verdun and the Somme ensured that the Germans could not win a military victory on the Western Front. The 700,000 German casualties in the two overlapping battles of 1916 fell short, all the same, of allowing the French and British to win. That took another two exterminatory years and American intervention. Mr Le Naour says, however, that Verdun is important for two reasons. The 1914-18 war brought human slaughter to an industrial pitch of intensity not seen before. The new technologies of the 19th and early 20th centuries barbed wire, machine-guns, powerful artillery and canned food combined to allow huge armies to smash the life out of one another for weeks and months at a time. Figurines of soldiers on display at the exhibition commemorating the 1916 Battle of Verdun (Getty) (Getty Images) At Verdun, the sheer weight of firepower exceeded anything seen even in the murderous campaigns of 1914 and 1915. Artillery was assembled by the Germans, and later the French, on an unimagined scale. Tactical warplanes, flame-throwers and new, more efficient forms of poison gas joined the worlds arsenal of butchery. The ultimate logic of industrial warfare, of warfare as annihilation, the logic of Hiroshima, began at Verdun, Mr Le Naour said. Verdun myth or reality has also become an important symbol of peace and of Franco-German reconciliation. The moment in 1984 when President [Francois] Mitterrand and Chancellor [Helmut] Kohl walked hand in hand in Verdun not just shaking hands but holding hands changed everything, Mr Le Naour said. Verdun ceased being a symbol of military resistance and nationalist pride. It became a symbol of peace and the stupidity of war. On 29 May President Francois Hollande and Chancellor Angela Merkel will attend an international ceremony on the Verdun battlefield. They are almost certain, again, to walk hand in hand. And what of Douaumont and the other eight martyr villages? France has 36,896 communes, ranging from Paris with a population of two million to battlefield villages with an official population of 0. A drive began last year to save money by forcing smaller French communes to merge. The virtual communes of the Verdun ridge will be exempt. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Update, 9 June: Mr Wainwright has since stated he was misquoted in the original article by Neue Osnabrucker Zeitung. Europol estimates that between 3,000 and 5,000 EU nationals have fought abroad but it is not clear how many have returned to the EU. Read more here Up to 5,000 jihadists are feared to be in Europe after returning from terrorist training camps, the head of Europol has said. Rob Wainwright, director of the EU-wide law enforcement agency, predicted further attacks by Isis following the massacres in Paris that killed 130 people in November. Europe is currently facing its biggest terror threat in more than a decade, he told Germanys Neue Osnabrucker Zeitung newspaper. Terror threat to UK is grave One can expect Islamic State (Isis) or other religious terror groups to stage an attack somewhere in Europe with the aim of achieving many casualties among the civilian population. Additionally, there is the risk of individual attackers this has not reduced. Europol estimates that there are between 3,000 and 5,000 Europeans who have travelled to terrorist training camps abroad, including those run by Isis in its territories in Iraq and Syria, and returned home. Several of the Paris attackers slipped back into the continent by using fake documents to pose as refugees, travelling along the well-trodden route via Turkey, Greek islands and up through the Balkans, raising fears that Isis was using the crisis to traffic its fighters. In pictures: Paris attacks Show all 25 1 /25 In pictures: Paris attacks In pictures: Paris attacks Paris attacks French police with protective shields walk in line near the Bataclan concert hall Reuters In pictures: Paris attacks Paris attacks Rescuers evacuate an injured person on Boulevard des Filles du Calvaire AFP In pictures: Paris attacks Paris attacks French Vigipirate troops mobilize next to Place de la Bastille AFP In pictures: Paris attacks Paris attacks French soldiers mobilize near to the Place de la Bastille AFP In pictures: Paris attacks Paris attacks Wounded people are evacuated outside the scene of a hostage situation at the Bataclan theatre EPA In pictures: Paris attacks Paris attacks People react as they gather to watch the scene near the Bataclan concert hall Reuters In pictures: Paris attacks Paris attacks French police secure the area outside a cafe near the Bataclan concert hall Reuters In pictures: Paris attacks Paris attacks Rescuers workers evacuate victims near the Bataclan concert hall AFP In pictures: Paris attacks Paris attacks French Prime Minister Manuel Valls and French President Francois Hollande attending an emergency meeting at the Interior Ministry AFP In pictures: Paris attacks Paris attacks Spectators invade the pitch of the Stade de France after explosions were heard outside AP In pictures: Paris attacks Paris attacks A man lies on the ground as French police check his identity near the Bataclan concert hall Reuters In pictures: Paris attacks Paris attacks Police officers man a position close to the Bataclan theatre AFP In pictures: Paris attacks Paris attacks Wounded people are evacuated from the Stade de France in Paris EPA In pictures: Paris attacks Paris attacks Two men evacuate the Place de la Republique square in Paris as a police officer looks on AFP In pictures: Paris attacks Paris attacks Football fans are evacuated from the Stade de France stadium In pictures: Paris attacks Paris attacks An armed police officer Dan Gabriel In pictures: Paris attacks Paris attacks The Stade de France is evacuated after reports of an explosion In pictures: Paris attacks Paris attacks A member of the French fire brigade aids an injured individual near the Bataclan concert hall In pictures: Paris attacks Paris attacks Wounded people are evacuated from the Stade de France in Paris In pictures: Paris attacks Paris attacks Police are seen outside a cafe in 10th arrondissement of the French capital Paris, In pictures: Paris attacks Paris attacks Rescuers assist an injured man on Boulevard des Filles du Calvaire, close to the Bataclan concert hall AFP In pictures: Paris attacks Paris attacks The scene at a restaurant in 10th arrondissement In pictures: Paris attacks Paris attacks The Bataclan theatre - where around 100 people are thought be held hostage In pictures: Paris attacks Paris attacks The Stade de France as it was evacuated In pictures: Paris attacks Paris attacks Forensic experts inspect the site of an attack outside the Stade de France stadium in Saint-Denis AFP "The growing number of these foreign fighters presents new challenges for EU countries, Mr Wainwright said. But he confirmed that there was no concrete evidence of the group systematically using the refugee crisis to infiltrate the continent, adding that Europols new European Counter Terrorism Centre to boost intelligence co-operation. At least 700 people from the UK have travelled to support or fight for jihadist groups in Syria and Iraq, according to police, and about half have since returned. A senior British intelligence official said last month that it had become virtually impossible for security officials to detect potential terrorists among refugees as the use of fake passport continues. The fake Syrian passport left by one of the Paris attackers at the Stade de France (AFP/Getty Images) Isis is known to hand out counterfeit Syrian and Iraqi documents to disguise its recruits as they enter the continent, often via Turkey and Greece. That was the route taken by at least two of the Paris attackers, including one whose fake Syrian passport was left at the scene of the Stade de France suicide bombings. All members of the terror cell who carried out the massacres are believed to have trained with Isis at its stronghold of Raqqa before making their way into Europe. The suspected ringleader, Abdelhamid Abaaoud, used Isis propaganda magazine to boast of his travels between Belgium and Syria despite being chased after by so many intelligence agencies, although the article did not specify the method. A suicide bomber who killed 10 German tourists in Istanbul on 12 January had also entered Turkey from Syria as an ordinary migrant, the countrys Prime Minister said. Police investigate the area after an explosion in central Istanbul The man, carrying documents claiming he was Syrian and born in 1988, had registered with a refugee agency and provided fingerprints Manuel Valls, the French Prime Minister, said Isis was taking advantage of the refugee crisis and called for the EUs external borders to be strengthened. The UNs former High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres, has urged countries not to use the threat of terrorism to turn their back on the hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers continuing to flee conflict and persecution. It is not the refugee outflows that cause terrorism, it is terrorism, tyranny and war that create refugees, he said. It is clear that the Daesh (Isis) strategy is not only to set Europeans against refugees, but within Europe, to set citizen against citizen within communities, community against community within countries, and country against country in the Union. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Vladimir Putin has praised the Russian air force for protecting civilians with air strikes in Syria, despite allegations that indiscriminate bombing has hit hospitals and schools. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which relies on information from rebels, alleged that more than 1,000 civilians have been killed in air strikes since Russias intervention started in September but the Kremlin has persistently denied allegations. Mr Putin, who as President is also the Supreme Commander of Russian armed forces, said they deserved the highest praise on Saturday. Alleged bombing of Syrian hospital They are helping the Syrian army and other forces fight terrorists in very harsh conditions, protect civilians from violence and hostilities, he added, according to the state-owned Sputnik news website. We have always sought to resolve any disputed issues solely through political and diplomatic means, we have repeatedly contributed to stabilizing the situation in different countries, helped resolve serious conflicts. Russia joined the Syrian civil war at the request of Bashar al-Assad and is supporting the regimes ground forces. Mr Putin has vowed to fight Isis but his forces have been accused of targeting moderate opposition groups and civilians while following Syrian intelligence on what the government defines as terrorists. Turkey has been particularly outspoken in its criticism, while itself being heavily reprimanded for shelling Kurdish groups, and accused Russia of acting like a terrorist organisation last week. In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Show all 19 1 /19 In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Syrian boys cry following Russian air strikes on the rebel-held Fardous neighbourhood of the northern embattled Syrian city of Aleppo Getty In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Russian defense ministry spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov speaks to the media in Moscow, Russia. Konashenkov strongly warned the United States against striking Syrian government forces and issued a thinly-veiled threat to use Russian air defense assets to protect them AP In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Syrians wait to receive treatment at a hospital following Russian air strikes on the rebel-held Fardous neighbourhood of the northern embattled Syrian city of Alepp Getty In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Russian Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov speaks at a briefing in the Defense Ministry in Moscow, Russia. Antonov said the Russian air strikes in Syria have killed about 35,000 militants, including about 2,700 residents of Russia AP In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Jameel Mustafa Habboush, receives oxygen from civil defence volunteers, known as the white helmets, as they rescue him from under the rubble of a building following Russian air strikes on the rebel-held Fardous neighbourhood of the northern embattled Syrian city of Aleppo Getty In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Civil defence members rest amidst rubble in a site hit by what activists said were airstrikes carried out by the Russian air force in the town of Douma, eastern Ghouta in Damascus, Syria Reuters In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria A girl carrying a baby inspects damage in a site hit by what activists said were airstrikes carried out by the Russian air force in the town of Douma, eastern Ghouta in Damascus, Syria Reuters In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Civilians and civil defence members look for survivors at a site damaged after Russian air strikes on the Syrian rebel-held city of Idlib, Syria Reuters In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Civilians and civil defence members carry an injured woman on a stretcher at a site damaged after Russian air strikes on the Syrian rebel-held city of Idlib, Syria Reuters In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Volunteers from Syria Civil Defence, also known as the White Helmets, help civilians after Russia carried out its first airstrikes in Syria In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria The aftermath of Russian airstrike in Talbiseh, Syria In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Smoke billows from buildings in Talbiseh, in Homs province, western Syria, after airstrikes by Russian warplanes AP In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Russian Air Forces carry out an air strike in the ISIS controlled Al-Raqqah Governorate. Russia's KAB-500s bombs completely destroy the Liwa al-Haqq command unit In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Caspian Flotilla of the Russian Navy firing Kalibr cruise missiles against remote Isis targets in Syria A TASS/ITAR-TASS Photo/Corbis In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Russia claimed it hit eight Isis targets, including a "terrorist HQ and co-ordination centre" that was completely destroyed In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria A video grab taken from the footage made available on the Russian Defence Ministry's official website, purporting to show an airstrike in Syria In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria A release from the Russian defence ministry purportedly showing targets in Syria being hit In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Russia launched air strikes in war-torn Syria, its first military engagement outside the former Soviet Union since the occupation of Afghanistan in 1979. Russian warplanes carried out strikes in three Syrian provinces along with regime aircraft as Putin seeks to steal US President Barack Obama's thunder by pushing a rival plan to defeat Isis militants in Syria In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Caspian Flotilla of the Russian Navy firing Kalibr cruise missiles against remote Isis targets in Syria, a thousand kilometres away. The targets include ammunition factories, ammunition and fuel depots, command centres, and training camps A TASS/ITAR-TASS Photo/Corbis Almost 50 civilians were killed when missiles hit several medical facilities and two schools in rebel-held areas of Syria on Monday, according to the United Nations, which called the attacks a blatant violation of international law. At least 14 were killed in the northern town of Azaz, the last rebel stronghold before the border with Turkey, where missiles hit a children's hospital and a school sheltering refugees, while 15 were feared dead at a Doctors Without Borders (MSF) hospital in Maarat Al Numan, Idlib province. Russian Health Minister Veronika Skvortsova said air strikes were targeting Isis infrastructure and she had no reason to believe that Russian planes had bombed civilian sites. But Syrian National Coalition, which represents a broad base of rebel groups fighting the Assad regime, urged the international community to act. Bashar al-Assad and Vladimir Putin (GETTY IMAGES) Its representative to the EU, Mouaffaq Nyrabia, welcomed the European Councils call for an immediate halt to attacks against civilians and moderate opposition groups on Saturday as efforts to secure a ceasefire continued. Indiscriminate aerial attacks by the Assad regime and Russia, in particular their recent escalation in Aleppo, continue to undermine peace efforts, hinder humanitarian access, and fuel the refugee crisis, he added. A cessation of hostilities will only be viable when the EU and wider international community bring forward credible options to stop Assad and Russia's military onslaught, including intensifying targeted sanctions, and a guarantee on unilateral steps to protect civilians. Russias foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, and the US Secretary of State John Kerry discussed the delivery of humanitarian aid to besieged areas today. The two nations were among 18 countries who agreed a cessation of hostilities in Munich on 12 February but intense fighting and bombing has continued by all sides. Talks were planned to resume on 25 February but UN envoy Staffan de Mistura announced yesterday that they had been delayed. Additional reporting by agencies For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The most right-wing government in Israeli history has waged a campaign to discredit human rights groups, criticism, or even just moderate views. It has depicted those who espouse them as undermining the countrys security or image during its bitter confrontation with the Palestinians. But now a more measured criticism is beginning to be heard from an unlikely source, one whose security credentials cannot be impugned: the army Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Gadi Eisenkot, who some suggest is emerging as a moderate voice unafraid to be out of sync with Israels more militant politicians. This week, the 55-year-old General Eisenkot, who has fought or commanded in all of Israels conflicts since the 1982 invasion of Lebanon, raised eyebrows by implying that Israeli security forces were at least in some instances using unnecessary lethal force against young Palestinians carrying out stabbing attacks during the current wave of violence that started in October. Referring to a stabbing carried out by two scissors-wielding Palestinian teens in Jerusalem in November, in which both were shot by police, one fatally, Mr Eisenkot said: When there is a 13-year-old girl holding scissors or a knife and there is some distance between her and the soldiers, I dont want to see a soldier empty his magazine at a girl like that even if she is committing a very serious act. Rather he should use the force necessary to fulfil the objective. His comments fall far short of Palestinian charges of a shoot to kill policy among Israeli forces, but they do, perhaps inadvertently, back up the criticism by human rights groups that assailants who could be disarmed are being shot dead. Mr Eisenkot, an unflamboyant speaker with a down to earth personal style who is the son of Moroccan Jewish immigrants, was lambasted by the Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely saying he was damaging Israels image abroad. The conduct of Israeli security forces has been exemplary, Ms Hotovely insisted. Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Gadi Eisenkot has raised eyebrows with his views (Getty) (Getty Images) The wave of violence carried out by individual assailants has been Mr Eisenkots biggest challenge since taking over as chief of staff a year ago after a career that included being commander of the revered Golani infantry battalion; West Bank commander during Israels crushing of the second Palestinian intifada, which raged from 2000 to 2005; and a key planner in Israels devastating 2006 war against Hezbollah in Lebanon. The scale of the challenge facing General Eisenkot was starkly illustrated on Friday when two border police officers and a Palestinian bystander were wounded and a Palestinian assailant shot dead during an attack at East Jerusalems Damascus Gate. It is thought that Mr Eisenkots experience during the second intifada, when massive force used against the Palestinians backfired by enlarging the conflict, may be prompting him to try and keep the flames lower this time around. A 2014 profile of Mr Eisenkot in Maariv newspaper described him as stubborn and not afraid to clash with his superiors. He appeared to demonstrate that quality last month by deviating from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus line of portraying the nuclear deal between Iran and the six world powers as a disaster. Mr Eisenkot acknowledged that the deal contains many risks but added that it also contains opportunities for the Jewish state. In the same speech, Mr Eisenkot stressed that Israel needs to separate between Palestinian assailants and the rest of the population, saying it would be a bitter mistake to impose curfews and closures. Yossi Alpher, former head of the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies, said of Mr Eisenkot: Hes independent, courageous from a political standpoint and takes a more moderate, cautious and calibrated set of positions than those handed to him by the government. But Gideon Levy, a writer for Haaretz said that despite his statements, Mr Eisenkots track record in the West Bank is such that he may end up being indicted in international court as a war criminal. Hardly a day goes by in which soldiers dont empty their magazines on youth[s], Mr Levy wrote. This is a policy-to kill, kill and kill. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Saudi Arabias foreign minister has said Syrian rebels should be armed with surface-to-air missiles to change the balance of power against Bashar al-Assad. Adel al-Jubeir repeated his countrys offer to send ground troops to fight Isis in an interview with Der Spiegel, but did not specify whether they would directly battle the regime. He claimed that Assad will not feature in Syrias future, whether the conflict is resolved through peace talks or battle. In the long term, it will be a Syria without Bashar Assad, Mr al-Jubeir added. The longer it takes, the worse it will get. Cameron on arms trading with Saudi Arabia.mp4 But the Syrian President has gained the upper hand in the conflict in recent months, with regime troops gaining swathes of territory from rebels in Aleppo province backed controversial Russian air strikes. As well as alleged civilian deaths, the advance has raised fears that diminishing the ranks of anti-government rebels who have been fighting could help the terror group hold territory in its so-called Islamic State. Mr al-Jubeir told Der Spiegel that giving moderate fighters surface-to-air missiles would change the balance of power on the ground. It will allow the moderate opposition to be able to neutralise the helicopters and aircraft that are dropping chemicals and have been carpet-bombing them, he added. Syrian rebels return fire at Syrian army positions south of the highway town of Maraat al-Numan (AFP) This has to be studied very carefully, however, because you don't want such weapons to fall into the wrong hands. But the minister did not specify how that possibility would be prevented as Isis continues to battle for more territory and other Islamist groups, including those affiliated with al-Qaeda, mingle with the Free Syrian Army in an ever-shifting network of alliances. Saudi Arabia is still ready to support the US-led coalition against Isis with special forces on the ground, he said before angrily rejecting similarities between the terrorist group and his countrys own Wahhabist ideology. Like Isis, Saudi Arabia bases its legal system on an interpretation of Sharia law that punishes blasphemy, apostasy, homosexuality and adultery with death, beheadings and stonings. Dismissing comparisons as an oversimplification, Mr al-Jubeir said the groups psychopaths were trying to destroy his country. 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses Show all 10 1 /10 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses In October 2014, three lawyers, Dr Abdulrahman al-Subaihi, Bander al-Nogaithan and Abdulrahman al-Rumaih , were sentenced to up to eight years in prison for using Twitter to criticize the Ministry of Justice. AFP/Getty Images 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses In March 2015, Yemens Sunni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi was forced into exile after a Shia-led insurgency. A Saudi Arabia-led coalition has responded with air strikes in order to reinstate Mr Hadi. It has since been accused of committing war crimes in the country. Getty Images 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses Women who supported the Women2Drive campaign, launched in 2011 to challenge the ban on women driving vehicles, faced harassment and intimidation by the authorities. The government warned that women drivers would face arrest. Getty Images 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses Members of the Kingdoms Shia minority, most of whom live in the oil-rich Eastern Province, continue to face discrimination that limits their access to government services and employment. Activists have received death sentences or long prison terms for their alleged participation in protests in 2011 and 2012. Getty Images 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses All public gatherings are prohibited under an order issued by the Interior Ministry in 2011. Those defy the ban face arrest, prosecution and imprisonment on charges such as inciting people against the authorities. Getty Images 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses In March 2014, the Interior Ministry stated that authorities had deported over 370,000 foreign migrants and that 18,000 others were in detention. Thousands of workers were returned to Somalia and other states where they were at risk of human rights abuses, with large numbers also returned to Yemen, in order to open more jobs to Saudi Arabians. Many migrants reported that prior to their deportation they had been packed into overcrowded makeshift detention facilities where they received little food and water and were abused by guards. Getty Images 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses The Saudi Arabian authorities continue to deny access to independent human rights organisations like Amnesty International, and they have been known to take punitive action, including through the courts, against activists and family members of victims who contact Amnesty. Getty Images 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses Raif Badawi was sentenced to 1000 lashes and 10 years in prison for using his liberal blog to criticise Saudi Arabias clerics. He has already received 50 lashes, which have reportedly left him in poor health. Carsten Koall/Getty Images 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses Dawood al-Marhoon was arrested aged 17 for participating in an anti-government protest. After refusing to spy on his fellow protestors, he was tortured and forced to sign a blank document that would later contain his confession. At Dawoods trial, the prosecution requested death by crucifixion while refusing him a lawyer. Getty Images 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses Ali Mohammed al-Nimr was arrested in 2012 aged either 16 or 17 for participating in protests during the Arab spring. His sentence includes beheading and crucifixion. The international community has spoken out against the punishment and has called on Saudi Arabia to stop. He is the nephew of a prominent government dissident. Getty Daesh (Isis) members wear shoes - does this mean everybody who wears shoes is Daesh? he added. Isis is as much an Islamic organisation as the KKK in America is a Christian organisation. Saudi Arabia is carrying out air strikes as part of the US-led coalition in Syria and is also embroiled in another intervention in Yemen, where it is bombing Houthi rebels fighting the government. That conflict looks to continue and there is little hope for a long-term ceasefire in Syria, despite preparations for a meeting between a multi-nation task force led by Russia and the United States. Saudi Arabia is among 17 nations invited to talks to be held in Geneva aiming to force a temporary truce in Syria's five-year civil war that has killed at least 250,000 people and displaced at least 11 million more. Additional reporting by Reuters Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} It is not often that you see a party of government splitting before your eyes. What is extraordinary is that the last time it happened, in 2003, we werent fully aware of it. When the House of Commons voted in favour of military action in Iraq all attention was on the strength of Tony Blairs mandate across the House. With the support of the Conservative leadership, MPs supported the Government by a comfortable majority of 263. We realised that 139 Labour MPs had voted against their own Prime Minister the biggest parliamentary rebellion since 1846 but we hadnt fully appreciated that the Labour Party had split down the middle. It was a whipped vote: ministers voted for military action unless they were one of the few who resigned with Robin Cook. But exactly half of backbench Labour MPs voted against. Unlike Iraq, there will be no vote in Parliament on David Camerons reformed EU. But the vote in the country on 23 June will be just as divisive and MPs will not be able to avoid declaring where they stand. Blair stayed on in the top job for four years after the Iraq vote, so it wasnt terminal, and David Cameron only wants to stay for another three and a bit. But the division now opening up in the Tory party doesnt augur well. I got the great split among Conservative MPs wrong. I thought that only a few more than the hard core of known Outers would oppose Camerons deal in the end. There were surprisingly few of these publicly declared anti-EUers until the past couple of weeks, not more than 30. Recommended Read more EU referendum date set for 23 June after reforms secured On the other hand, there were lots of MPs who called themselves Eurosceptics and who said they would wait to see what the deal was before deciding on In or Out. I thought they were like Cameron himself. He had long been impatient with the EU as a special adviser to ministers and thought of himself as a Eurosceptic, not least because he was staunchly opposed to Britain adopting the euro. For him, leaving the EU was not unthinkable. On the contrary, it was quite tempting. But he had never actually gone over the brow of that hill. It turns out that a lot of Tory MPs are not like Cameron at all. They were not waiting and seeing so that they could stay in, they were waiting and seeing so that they could finally announce that they wanted to get out without automatically terminating their ministerial careers. What has the EU ever done for us? Show all 7 1 /7 What has the EU ever done for us? What has the EU ever done for us? 1. It gives you freedom to live, work and retire anywhere in Europe As a member of the EU, UK citizens benefit from freedom of movement across the continent. Considered one of the so-called four pillars of the European Union, this freedom allows all EU citizens to live, work and travel in other member states. What has the EU ever done for us? 2. It sustains millions of jobs A report by the Centre for Economics and Business Research, released in October 2015, suggested 3.1 million British jobs were linked to the UKs exports to the EU. What has the EU ever done for us? 3. Your holiday is much easier - and safer Freedom to travel is one of the most exercised benefits of EU membership, with Britons having made 31 million visits to the EU in 2014 alone. But a lot of the benefits of being an EU citizen are either taken for granted or go unnoticed. What has the EU ever done for us? 4. It means you're less likely to get ripped off Consumer protection is a key benefit of the EUs single market, and ensures members of the British public receive equal consumer rights when shopping anywhere in Europe. What has the EU ever done for us? 5. It offers greater protection from terrorists, paedophiles, people traffickers and cyber-crime Another example of a lesser-known advantage of EU membership is the benefit of cross-country coordination and cooperation in the fight against crime. What has the EU ever done for us? 6. Our businesses depend on it According to 71% of all members of the Confederation of British Influence (CBI), and 67 per cent of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the EU has had an overall positive impact on their business. What has the EU ever done for us? 7. We have greater influence Robin Niblett, Director of think-tank Chatham House, stated in a report published last year: For a mid-sized country like the UK, which will never again be economically dominant either globally or regionally, and whose diplomatic and military resources are declining in relative terms, being a major player in a strong regional institution can offer a critical lever for international influence. Instead of a small minority of Tory MPs arguing for Leave, it could well be half. The numbers are quite finely balanced: there are 330 Tory MPs, not including the Speaker, John Bercow. On Saturday the running tallies kept by Guido Fawkes and The Spectator had identified 142 of them as Outers. Some of them may be persuaded, as some of their Cabinet colleagues such as Sajid Javid have been. But some of the undeclared will join them many of them are ministers and have so far been limited in what they can say. It looks as if the Leave total will be close to half of the Parliamentary Conservative Party. Thats 165 MPs. This is not how Cameron hoped it would be. He thought his party and the country was looking for excuses to stick with the status quo. Instead, one of the unintended consequences of renegotiation has been to remind people who think of themselves as vaguely pro-EU of the things about EU membership that they dont like. The European Parliament, the Brussels bureaucracy and Michael Gove telling us that hundreds of new EU rules cross my desk, none of which were requested by the UK Parliament, none of which I or any other British politician could alter in any way. Oddly, most of Goves ministerial colleagues dont share his frustration enough to want to turn their desks over. The split in the Conservative Party does not run in a perpendicular line. The top leans towards staying in the EU, MPs are split down the middle and the grassroots want to leave. That is the fault line with consequences. If Cameron wins this referendum he will be hobbled by his party. Within moments of the result, the anti-EU Tory party will be looking towards the next referendum. At some point the EU treaties will have to be rewritten and it will be hard to resist demands for another referendum. Far from settling the European question, this referendum could ensure that Europe will dominate the Tory partys choice of Camerons successor. Which is at least partly why Boris Johnson is making such an extended song and dance about his fence-dismounting: he wants to be the more Eurosceptic candidate if he faces George Osborne in the vote between the final two. If Cameron loses the referendum, forget all his hints about staying on. His time would be over. His party would not countenance Brexit negotiations being handled by a leader who wanted to stay in. One way or the other, this is the end of his premiership: we just dont know how or exactly when. Twitter: @JohnRentoul Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} As life unfolds, the term "party" takes on different meanings. The best-case scenario is the type of party that happens in your teenage years and involves shouting, snogging in bushes, neat vermouth, and a boy from a rival school chucking a box of cat kibbles around the living room. Add to which, someone getting pregnant in the downstairs loo, and a shutdown order from the police at 1am. Post-the age of 17, parties never again reach this level of wild abandon. More's the pity. In your twenties you can still chuck around cat kibbles, but you'll have half a mind on wastage and whether the host owns a Dyson. Post-30, all parties are either work-related or themed. The former, obviously, is not a party. Think of it as an extra, unpaid work project at which the task is to affably drink p**s-shade oaked chardonnay with people who won't sign off on your pay rise. The latter category of party any party which requires fancy dress is more insidious. The idea sounds like fun, but it is fun preceded by 17 days of wondering where to source a 1920s flapper outfit, followed by an anxious journey to the do on a Network SouthEast train while wearing an ostrich-feather headband. To my mind, the world divides neatly into two types of people: on one side, those who love fancy dress and don't think you've earned your right to drink wine in their kitchen unless you've spent two weeks gluing egg boxes into a lacklustre Godzilla costume, and on the other side, sane people who RSVP thanks but no. Of the handful of fancy-dress parties I've ever agreed to attend, at least two have resulted in punch-ups. This is because of the heavy drinking involved in settling one's nerves enough just to get through the front door, and which led to one occasion when, dressed as Wonder Woman, I had to stop a man dressed as Elvis from throttling a bloke dressed as Queen Boadicea because the bloke was looking at his wife. For her part, Elvis's wife was dressed as a "sexy nurse", clad in one of those outfits off eBay that have been shipped over from China. The truth is it was hard to look anywhere else. And as a woman, the temptation with fancy dress is to go as a "sexy" version of something cat, traffic warden, Star Wars character with the result that you suffer a light peppering of unwanted erections over the guacamole. The drab alternative is to choose something daft, grotesque or unrecognisable and then be ignored all night because everyone's gaze is on the pert 19-year-old who's shown up on a hobby horse as Lady Godiva. I don't care if people are covering their children's eyes or that your grandmother has a heart murmur. A leotard and odour-eaters is how I do Flopsy Bunny Rabbit. You made this party Beatrix Potter-themed you reap what you sow. Zookeepers dress as pandas to comfort animals Despite all this, fancy dress is on the increase for 30th birthdays, for summer barbecues, for Halloween, for silver wedding anniversary drinks. The modern invite should skip the B&B suggestions and instead come up with a list of drive-thru haberdasheries and 24-hour wig suppliers. How else can one fit in a day job and life's admin when one is expected to be in Cleethorpes at seven this coming Saturday for Doug's Eighties TV-theme party? "Gentle Reminder: No Mr T from The A-Team please. Not after Shirley's 40th went viral on Facebook." A guest causing offence to people who aren't actually at the party but might see pictures of it on Twitter is such a serious concern now that most themed bashes should come with a news blackout order. Your costume should be unique and noteworthy but above all ethical, and inoffensive in all conceivable contexts. No more bunging on a white medic's coat and covering it in ketchup: that is offensive to the mad, to friends of the mad, to friends of the NHS, to haemophobics, and to any OCD sufferers who might dwell on the stainage. In the days before Facebook, one of my friends had us purple with hysteria by showing up at a fancy-dress party as infamous fraudster Karen Matthews mother of fake-abducted child Shannon Mathews. He arrived nonchalant in tracksuit bottoms, top-knot and a T-shirt bearing the legend, "Have You Seen Shannon?" The outfit blew all the sexy cats and naughty nurses out of the park, and even now I only have to think of it and I go all shallow-breathed, swivel-eyed and giddy. Nowadays there are at least 19 ways that this outfit is, as the kids say, problematic. I am lost in a sea of wow-just-wows that float perilousy towards can't-even-deal-with-mageddon. The wisest party outfit as all sensible people know is your own pyjamas, settled into at 8 o'clock in the evening while you enjoy a plate of cream crackers and Primula and stay in by the fire watching Taggart re-runs on ITV Encore. And if you pour yourself a small glass of sherry, well it's pretty fancy, too. @gracedent Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Just at this moment fifty-something Howard and his girlfriend Miggy are living on a caravan site in Hornsea, East Yorkshire. It is not, as he occasionally concedes, an ideal location the paraffin heater reeks and the wind blows in off the sea with astonishing virulence but is probably superior to their previous port of call, a tumbledown terraced house in nearby Bridlington. Happily, the postman continues to deliver copies of the various literary magazines to which Howard subscribes, along with the alumni newsletters from his old Cambridge college, which lie around on the caravan's floor next to the trays of cat litter and the fish-and-chip wrappers. Howard's friends from the old days are dispersed around the world now, teaching Sanskrit at Harvard or on archaeological digs in the Baltic. On the rare occasions that they are assembled together, someone some Professor of the Humanities, some Fellow of the British Academy will invariably ask, "Whatever happened to old Howard?" For this was a man who, 30 years ago, obtained the most superlative degree ever awarded by the Cambridge history faculty and wrote a thesis, later published by the University Press, entitled "Early Irish Kingship: Mosaics of Hegemony", described by the English Historical Review as "altogether seminal". What did happen to old Howard, and why did he end up red-faced, badger-haired and three stone overweight, sequestered in a mobile home with an elderly cat named Aethelred and a woman 20 years younger than him with several convictions for shoplifting for company? Nobody knows. He taught at a Midlands university for a bit then unexpectedly left it. There was talk of nervous breakdowns and, somewhat later, a good deal of spiky, incomprehensible post-modernist poetry, a fragment or two of which appeared in print. Every so often someone decides to do something about "poor old Howard", as he is now generally known. The potential remedies range from a month's guest-lecturing to reading manuscripts for an academic publisher. They are never any good. The manuscripts get lost in the piles of newspapers, and the institutions hosting the lectures wait in vain for their guest. Most baffling, however, is Howard's apparent acceptance of his lot. A friend who trekked up to the caravan site at Christmas reported him "perfectly happy, still writing poetry, but rather worried about Aethelred". Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UK Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Brexit and beyond email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Yesterday was a very bad day for the out campaign. Here's why. David Cameron officially became the head of the 'in' campaign and he was impressive Cameron may only have had three hours sleep in the last 36 hours but when he emerged to sell his EU renegotiation deal after marathon talks in Brussels he was impassioned, articulate and made the case for Britain to remain in the EU in a manner that no other pro-European has yet managed to achieve. His rhetoric was soaring as he made the 'big picture' arguments of security, economic prosperity and history to explain why he would be putting his heart and soul into the campaign to stay in. Even cynical journalists who've followed him for years were impressed. The new deal that Cameron struck is not perfect - but it is not to be dismissed either Forget about 'emergency brakes' or benefit reform - the important parts of the agreement reached in Brussels yesterday were about protecting Britain's future interests in Europe and here Cameron achieved a significant win. Britain will be able to stay in the single market but no longer have to fight off attempts to sign up to further political integration. London's interests as the financial capital of the EU have been protected while the agreement to put 'competitiveness' at the heart of the EU is an important concession from more protectionist countries like France, Spain and Italy that should help British companies expand. Overall this was a respectable outcome for Cameron - and one which will allow him, with some justification, to claim that some of the long standing problems Britain has had with the EU have been addressed. Michael Gove came out as an 'outer' Michael Gove is set to back the Out campaign (Reuters) Most Westminster journalists know and like the Justice Secretary so wrote up his decision to campaign for 'out' as a blow to Mr Cameron and a triumph for the leave campaign. But outside of the bubble the former Education Secretary is not a popular man and it is hard to see many ordinary voters saying 'oh Michael Gove is saying we should leave - I think I should reconsider'. Just remember that Cameron dumped his friend as Education Secretary before the last election because he was so unpopular with parents and teachers. Overall his defection is very good news for the in campaign. Nigel Farage was still the face of the 'leave' campaign and he is looking and sounding weirder than ever Nigel Farage at the Grassroots Out event (Reuters) If Cameron yesterday became the face of the stay campaign Nigel Farage spent yesterday in front of every camera and microphone at the summit centre that would have him ensuring that he remained the face of the leave campaign. Resplendent in the horrible, garish green, nylon tie that has become an unfortunate symbol of the leavers Farage sounded increasingly odd. Some voters like his 'good bloke' 'straight talking' persona - but as the election showed us - they are in a minority. He is not the man to convince floating voters to come out in favour of leave. Meanwhile, other members of the leave campaign all hate each other - and will probably implode As Cameron was looking statesmanlike in Brussels across the Channel back home the leave campaign were holding a rally of the faithful in London. But when it turned out that in the spirit of cross party unity the organisers had invited George Galloway as a 'special guest' to speak all hell broke lose. A hundred or so Tory Eurosceptics led a walk out while Mr Galloway's address was met by loud boos from the audience. The incident was symbolic of the wider internecine fighting among the various leave campaigns. Eurosceptics have always tended to be idiosyncratic eccentrics and this is becoming increasingly apparent and public as time goes on. Boris will be taking a huge political risk throwing in his lot with this crowd. Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} It would be a pity if the European referendum campaign were to become a contest of fear. The Prime Minister used the words safe, safer and security nine times in his short statement after Saturdays Cabinet meeting to describe the benefits of staying in a reformed European Union. Michael Gove, the Justice Secretary, newly liberated to speak his mind on the subject, contradicted him by saying: The EUs policies have become a source of instability and insecurity razor wire once more criss-crosses the continent. Everyone always says that they dislike negative campaigning, and yet politicians continue to use fear as a motivator because it works. It would be unrealistic, therefore, to hope that the referendum would be fought between competing soft-focus visions of European harmony or bucolic British insularity. We should, however, try to be clear what there is to be afraid of. David Cameron, somewhat to his credit, seemed uncertain. First he suggested that leaving the EU was a perfectly reasonable decision that he might have arrived at himself if he had got out of bed on the other side. I will never say that our country couldnt survive outside Europe, he said. We are Great Britain we can achieve great things. But then he said that to leave would be a leap in the dark, a risk at a time of uncertainty and a threat to our national and economic security. The Independent on Sunday supports our continued membership of the EU not because we are fearful of a life outside the bloc but because we are optimistic about the prospects for European unity. Life outside the EU would not be frightening, but it would be smaller. We would be a poorer, less important country. Many of the arguments about security are unconvincing. Mr Cameron spoke of being better able to work with our European partners to fight cross-border crime and terrorism. Up to a point. The European arrest warrant is certainly an effective instrument, which is why Theresa May, the Home Secretary, who is no open-borders dreamer, has opted back into it. But we are not in Europe to fight crime. Nor would we be less well-defended against our enemies if we left. Mr Cameron is trying to conflate an argument about our long-term geopolitical interests with one about national defence. Rather to our surprise, it was an argument that the hesitating Hamlet of last weeks drama, Boris Johnson, made well. Writing recently about how the arguments for In and Out were contending in his tousled head, he said: Leaving would be widely read as a very negative signal for Europe. It would dismay some of our closest friends, not least the eastern Europeans for whom the EU has been a force for good: stability, openness, and prosperity. The Mayor of London was so persuasive that it would be most embarrassing for him to come out for Leave now. When it comes to scaremongering, however, Mr Cameron is no match for the strange bedfellows of the Out cause. Mr Gove, who can be an intelligent and compassionate Conservative, and whose ambition to reform our prison system we have praised, sounds too much like Nigel Farage, the leader of Ukip, in conjuring up a vision of a continent teeming with desperate refugees from which we must cut ourselves off. (In passing, it is worth noting the irony that the anti-EU cause has reunited Mr Gove with his much-repudiated predecessor as Justice Secretary, Chris Grayling.) Europes refugee problem is one that demands co-operation, not separatism. It should not be the basis on which you make your decision on 23 June. The question of Britains membership of the EU should be decided not by fear but by hope for a better future. Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} One in three people has reduced meat consumption in the past year, according to the British Social Attitudes survey. Reading that, I recalled an article I wrote for The Independent on Sunday in December 1994, which began: In the all-time rankings of bad jobs to have, that of turkey masturbator must come fairly high. The piece concerned a campaign against the practice whereby a male turkey is manually stimulated to obtain his semen for breeding. After publication, I received a message from Britains most famous vegetarian: Paul McCartney. Would I like to write something about my own vegetarianism for his fanclub magazine? I had to admit that, in spite of turkey masturbation, I was not a vegetarian, but it was agreed I would write about how I was thinking of becoming one. I am still thinking about it. The arguments on health grounds are getting stronger, but I resist them out of superstition. (The excessively clean eater is inviting a piano to fall on her head, I think.) I do find the humanitarian and environmental arguments highly persuasive, but while they dictate the direction of travel, its smaller things that nudge me forwards. Recommended Read more 5 reasons a vegetarian diet is good for you Twenty years ago I read an article by Craig Brown in which he described consuming a full English breakfast as being like eating a carpet. The sheer rightness of this prompted me to begin asking, when breakfasting in hotels, You dont have a kipper, do you? which has the added benefit of making me feel like a rather epicurean character. I still eat bacon, but less of it after spending a week in France, eating oeufs au plat every morning. This came with a sliver of ham and two or even three fried eggs. So now there are more eggs than bacon rashers on my plate, an inversion of the formula I had thought set in stone. Recommended Read more A third of vegetarians own up to eating meat on nights out Ive also veered away from pate ever since the proprietor of the deli where I used to by my lunch diagnosed my tastes. You like soft things, dont you? she said, after years of serving me liver pate sandwiches. It seemed a damning verdict, especially since I was being advised, for unmentionable reasons, to eat more roughage; so I began to buy paper cupfuls of three-bean salad. A few years later that shop closed, but it occurred to me that the nearby kebab shop was open at lunchtimes, and that you dont have to be drunk to eat a kebab as long as its a vegetarian kebab. I now frequently have hummus and salad in pitta, although I dont think the kebab man approves. He always has to ask his colleague the price, and he never calls me boss, whereas any bloke who walks in and asks for a large doner is rewarded with a Coming up, boss. I speculate, Sir Paul, that I will be vegetarian within a decade which is a fat lot of good, I know, to the animals I will eat in the meantime. Andrew Martins latest novel is 'The Yellow Diamond', published by Faber Traders work inside a post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Photo: Reuters A SLIDE in banking shares pulled European stocks from a two-week high, while investors assessed valuations and corporate earnings after the recent rally stalled amid falling oil prices. By the close in Dublin, the ISEQ Overall Index was down 0.08pc, or 4.67 points, to end the trading week at 6,125.37. The leaders on the Dublin market included insulation group Kingspan, which increased 2.9pc to 23.34, while drinks group C&C rose 0.1pc to 3.49. On the other side of the board, the laggards included building materials group CRH, which slipped 1.4pc to 22.99, while insurance group FBD dropped 1.1pc to 6.35. Elsewhere, the Stoxx 600 slipped 0.8pc to 326.08 at the close of trading, after earlier falling as much as 1.5pc and rising 0.3pc. The measure is down 11pc this year amid concerns ranging from global growth and the deepening oil slump, to the capital strength of lenders and dissipating faith in central-bank support. Banco Santander fell 3.2pc and Deutsche Bank lost 2pc, with concerns over the health of lenders reigniting as the European Central Bank said that five institutions under its supervision missed a key capital ratio in 2015. Credit Suisse Group lost 2pc after Milan prosecutors were said to be probing the institution over certain past transactions. Allianz weighed on insurers, falling 1.3pc after quarterly profit missed estimates. Seadrill led a retreat in energy stocks as oil slid. "The banking sector is still under stress," said John Plassard, senior equity-sales trader at Mirabaud Securities in Geneva. "I'm not sure the market is convinced until they see the results of the stress test that the system is solid. "People that benefited from the strong rally are taking a bit of profit and the barrel is going a bit lower and impacting the energy sector." Additional reporting by Bloomberg British utility giant Centrica, which owns Bord Gais Energy, has failed to make the cut in the second round of the 1bn-plus auction of Irish power firm Viridian, which operates as Energia here. Bahrain private equity fund Arcapita put Viridian up for sale last year. In Northern Ireland, Viridian owns Power NI, where it supplies electricity to about 610,000 homes and businesses. In the Republic, Viridian owns Energia, which supplies electricity to the domestic and commercial market. A sale would include two power stations in north county Dublin, and an extensive windfarm portfolio. Centrica, which bought Bord Gais Energy in 2014 for 1.1bn and is headed by Iain Conn, was perceived to be a prime candidate for acquiring Viridian. Industry publication 'SparkSpread' has revealed that Centrica is now out of the running, having failed to submit a high enough bid for Viridian in the second round of the auction process and has been eliminated. A spokeswoman for Centrica declined to comment. Other groups still in the running are AES, EQT, I Squared Capital, AMP and Goldman Sachs Infrastructure, according to 'SparkSpread'. Ryanair's billionaire chairman, David Bonderman, has handed over nearly 700,000 worth of the airline's shares to his US charitable foundation that helps combat poaching in Africa. Mr Bonderman transferred 46,800 Ryanair shares to the Wildcat Foundation this week from an entity controlled by him, 1996 Air GP Inc. Based on Ryanair's share price of 14.31 yesterday in Dublin, the shares he handed over to the charity are worth 670,000. The Wildcat Foundation supports wildlife conservation across Africa, in countries including Kenya, Tanzania and Cameroon. Between 2013 and 2014, the charity approved over $16m in support of projects in Africa. News agency Reuters reported earlier this month that Mr Bonderman's foundation provided funding of $1.5m to help Tanzania's National and Transnational Serious Crimes Investigation Unit (NTSCIU) hunt down poachers who have been annihilating the country's elephant population. Mr Bonderman has been chairman of Ryanair since 1996, when he and associates invested in the airline. "It was a small investment which turned out nicely," Mr Bonderman told the Irish Independent in an interview last year. Eddie Cullen, managing director of commercial banking at Ulster Bank; Transport Minister Paschal Donohoe; Dell Ireland managing director Niamh Townsend; and Aidan Lynch, president of the British Irish Chamber of Commerce and vice president and general manager of GSK Ireland. Photo: Maxwells The debate around whether or not Britain should pull out of the EU is so close to call that an unexpected event could tip the balance in favour of withdrawal, the President of the UK's biggest business body has warned. Paul Drechsler of the Confederation of British Industry said complacency was his big concern and he said there could be a so-called "braccident", where the country votes to leave without really intending to. He said the UK population was a "long, long way away" from understanding the EU issue in the broader sense. "I think it is very close to call and I think it is for sure at risk of an unintended outcome because of an unplanned or unexpected event," Mr Drechsler told the British-Irish Chamber of Commerce conference in Dublin yesterday. He said the message to the business community in the UK and in Ireland was to talk to your employees, customers and suppliers and make sure they understand what being part of the EU means for their business. It was a view echoed by the Scottish Minister for Europe and International Development, Humza Yousaf, who said Irish businesses have an important role to play in the debate. "Not only to speak out themselves, but you have contacts in Scottish businesses," he said. "You have a great number of links to Scottish businesses, Scottish suppliers, you have your business set up in Scotland. Making those connections and encouraging people to speak about the benefits of the European Union I think would be very welcome indeed. And then there's the not insignificant number of Irish citizens across the UK." Howard Beggs, chief executive of the Clanwilliam Group, said Brexit hasn't been on the radar for the company yet, and that it was "business as usual". "It hasn't necessarily hit the radar and the full implications are not that known and the risks around this is that the debate has been a little bit hijacked by the issues like immigration. That's the worry for the business people," Mr Beggs said. Ellvena Graham, chair of the ESB, said the issue has been debated in the company's boardroom and that it is "well on our radar". But Ms Graham said as the single electricity market is underpinned by the two governments rather than EU legislation, she doesn't see this changing. "In the short to medium term I don't have massive concerns around a Brexit," she said. The Irish Independent has received a prestigious national planning award for its 'Future Proof - Planning Where We Live' series. Environment Editor Paul Melia and Political Correspondent Philip Ryan were awarded a Planning and Media Communications award at the Irish Planning Institute's annual awards ceremony in Dublin Castle last night. Judges said the series, which ran in the Irish Independent for seven days with online polls, video and social media engagement on independent.ie, broke down complex issues and presented them in a manner which could be easily understood by the general public, "enabling them to contribute to the debate on planning in an informed manner". It used data from the Department of the Environment, which allowed users to see the land zoned in their area for housing purposes. The judges commended the series as "robust and factual", adding that use of polls and social media was "particularly useful" in engaging readers. "The level of reader engagement showed that quality journalism can effect change in policy and attitudes for the better," they added. The series is available at www.independent.ie/futureproof. The FBI promises that this software would be used just this once. Photo: Bloomberg It's a battle of Goliath against Goliath - the world's most powerful company vs the world's most powerful government. It's a clash over matters of fundamental principle, which could have enormous consequences. And it all boils down to a few simple digits on an iPhone. In December last year, Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik, a married couple from San Bernadino, California, went on a shooting spree that left 14 people dead. To find out more about how he became radicalised, and who he was in contact with, the FBI would like to get into Farook's iPhone. The problem is that he was killed in a shootout with police, taking the password with him. To crack the phone open, the FBI can't simply type in random numbers: that would not only take too long, but might wipe the phone clean. So they want Apple to create and install a special version of the phone's operating software which will enable them to make as many guesses as they like, as quickly as they like. The FBI promises that this software would be used just this once. Apple claim that the same code, once written, could be used to crack open any other iPhone, or at least to give people who want to do so a good head start. Apple CEO Tim Cook has now published an extraordinary open letter outlining why he is refusing to allow the code to be created, despite a judicial order. Despite Cook's line-in-the-sand rhetoric, the case isn't clear-cut. Farook's phone is an old model; newer iPhones have tougher security, which some believe would prevent such a hack (though Apple denies this). It's also been claimed that Apple has complied with previous requests to unlock criminals' phones, meaning that taking a stand now is as much about PR as principle. Yet while Apple's stand might not be that popular - Donald Trump is accusing the firm of putting the rights of an Islamist murderer above the public's safety - it's the right one to take. Not because of the details of this particular case, but because of the wider issues at stake. The US government believes that its security depends on it having access, even if only as a last resort and with the appropriate legal safeguards, to any form of encrypted communication. The tech firms, on the other hand, believe that their users' privacy must ultimately be paramount. This resistance is motivated by both principle and pragmatism. On the principle front, the logic of surveillance, in a society that feels itself under threat, is always towards more: a back door, once opened, is never closed. And snooping that starts as exceptional inevitably becomes banal. Just look at the abuse of Britain's Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act, for instance, which was touted as an anti-terrorist measure but became a tool for council jobsworths. Yet taking a pro-privacy stance is also good business sense. In the wake of Edward Snowden's revelations, the tech firms are determined to prove to their users that they can be trusted with their data. Apple, for example, wants to have an iPhone in the pocket of every customer in the world. For that to happen, those customers need to know that their governments - many an awful lot nastier than ours - won't be able to see their private thoughts. It's not just emails and text messages that are at stake here. Devices such as the Apple Watch, and its successors, could soon be accumulating data about our blood pressure, sleeping habits, even our genetic make-up. On the face of it, this is as much of a threat to our privacy as government surveillance, if not more. Yet Apple and Facebook and Google know we will only trust them with our lives if we feel we can trust them full stop. What keeps them in line is commercial imperative. The tug-of-war between governments and technology companies - over privacy, taxation and so much more - is one of the emerging themes of our age. Neither will have right on their side all the time. But on this issue, Apple is acting in its own best interests - and ours. ( Daily Telegraph, London) Robert Colvile is the author of 'The Great Acceleration: How the World is Getting Faster, Faster' (Bloomsbury, April 2016) Harper Lee, the American novelist, who has died aged 89, won the Pulitzer Prize in 1961 for her first published work, 'To Kill a Mockingbird'; more than 50 years later, however, the literary world was stunned by the revelation that the manuscript of an earlier novel, featuring many of the same characters, had been discovered. 'To Kill a Mockingbird', which was made into an Oscar-winning film in 1962, sold more than 30 million copies and has never been out of print. But Lee, whether from a desire for privacy, a terminal case of writer's block or a sense that she could not repeat the critical and commercial success of her debut, never completed another book. After a couple of interviews in the early 1960s, she withdrew from public view, joining the pantheon of great American literary recluses headed by Thomas Pynchon and JD Salinger. In 'To Kill a Mockingbird' Scout Finch looks back on her childhood growing up in the 1930s in Maycomb, a fictional small town in Alabama identifiable both geographically and by its characters as Monroeville, where Lee was raised. Lee's years of silence left her book - a searing indictment of racism in the Deep South of America - to echo in her absence. "A hundred pounds of sermons on tolerance, or an equal measure of invective deploring the lack of it," stated 'The Washington Post' on the novel's publication, "will weigh far less in the scale of enlightenment than a mere 18 ounces of new fiction bearing the title 'To Kill a Mockingbird'." Half a century later, in a bizarre turn of events which, as Gaby Wood wrote in The Telegraph, appeared to have "something of the quality of a hoax", the typescript of a second novel was found - in a safe-deposit box kept by Lee's older sister Alice. Titled 'Go Set a Watchman' (from Isaiah 21:6), and written before 'To Kill a Mockingbird', the newly unearthed novel was published in July 2015. "It's not a sequel," insisted Lee, who was by now infirm, nearly blind and living in sheltered accommodation. "It's the parent." In 1957 she had submitted the draft of 'Go Set a Watchman' to her editor, Tay Hohoff, who responded that "there were many things wrong about it" including "dangling threads of a plot", and after several years of redrafting, what emerged was 'To Kill a Mockingbird'. 'Go Set a Watchman' puzzled critics, many of whom felt it to be a work-in-progress, uneven in quality and tone, and with inconsistencies of plotting. Set 20 years after the time period of 'Mockingbird' and narrated in the third person, the novel follows Jean-Louise Finch (Scout as an adult) as she returns to Maycomb in the years when the civil rights movement was building momentum. Most alarmingly, the revered figure of Atticus, now an arthritic septuagenarian, has been transformed into a racist who was once a member of the Ku Klux Klan. Nelle Harper Lee was born in Monroeville, Alabama, on April 28, 1926. "In my home town, a remote village in the early 1930s, youngsters had little to do but read," she recalled. "We're talking unpaved streets here, and the Depression." Harper was the youngest of three children born to wildly different parents. Her mother Frances was mentally unstable, while her father was a source of pride. Amasa Coleman 'AC' Lee was a lawyer and a descendant of the Confederate general Robert E Lee, and is often said to be the inspiration for Atticus. Growing up in Monroeville, the tomboyish Harper found a kindred spirit in her friend Truman Capote, later the celebrated novelist and social butterfly, whom she portrayed in 'To Kill a Mockingbird' as the precocious Dill Harris. Lee was educated locally and studied law at the University of Alabama. In 1949, she spent a year at Oxford as an exchange student, after which she felt unable to return to Alabama. She left university without a degree and moved to New York to further her ambition to be a writer. While writing essays and short stories, she supported herself by working as an airline reservation clerk. Having received encouragement from the literary agent Maurice Crain, who suggested she work one of her short stories into a novel, Lee gave up her job and devoted herself to writing. Harper Lee's second novel came out almost six decades after her first. In spite of numerous entreaties, she made few public pronouncements after the mid-1960s. In 2013, she sued an agent who, she claimed, duped her into signing over the copyright on her Pulitzer Prize-winning novel (the case was settled out of court). More welcome attention arose from her attendance at luncheons held at the University of Alabama for finalists of an annual student essay contest on 'To Kill a Mockingbird'. She delighted in how "they always see new things in it". ( Daily Telegraph London) Video of the Day Telegraph Media Group Limited [2022] Shia LaBoeuf occupies a lift at Oxford University where one man asked him to punch him in the face for an art project. Hollywood star Shia LaBoeuf allegedly slapped a man during his 24 hour lift stunt at Oxford University. The stunt is a performance art project which was being streamed live on YouTube until 9am Saturday morning. The 29-year-old actor was joined by friends and collaborators Nastja Ronkko and Luke Turner as well as visitors who queued for hours to spend time inside. One man, who described himself as a performance artist, reportedly asked LaBoeuf to punch him in the face as part of his act. However, the Hollywood star was reluctant, "Ah man you want me to punch you in the face? he said, before adding: I dont want to punch you very hard. Eventually he reportedly agreed to slap the man after he was labelled a "p****". The occupants of the lift can be heard laughing at an audible slap, but the hit itself was not seen as the elevator doors were closed. A statement from Oxford's Union said the trio were permitted to leave the elevator when nature calls and at 8pm to deliver a speech to the Oxford Union. The project, called #ELEVATE, was the brainchild of the president of the union who had seen LaBoeuf's art piece in Liverpool last year in which he set up his own call centre. According to the BBC LaBeouf said: Stuart the president said, Do you want to stand in the same spot as Malcolm X? Who [...] am I to argue with that? Reports say that during the "enforced act of intimacy" the actor was asked a range of questions including whats your favourite Saturday? and has played a game of snog, marry, avoid. The Transformers actor has been involved in a number of live art installations, most notably in 2014 when he wore a bag over his head with the message "I am not famous any more" written on it. Video of the Day During the piece, called #IAMSORRY, LaBeouf sat in a room in a Los Angeles art gallery where members of the public were allowed to interact with him. He also took part in a live stream of him watching all of his own movies back to back. Michael Collins might not be very pleased with the current crop of Irish politicians, according a star of the 1996 hit film that tells his story. Irish-American actor Aidan Quinn, who was raised in both Dublin and Offaly, said the Irish icon would have split feelings when it comes to modern politicians. Expand Close MICHAEL COLLINS, Julia Roberts, Liam Neeson, Aiden Quinn, 1996 / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp MICHAEL COLLINS, Julia Roberts, Liam Neeson, Aiden Quinn, 1996 "A part of him would be proud and part of him would be dismayed and pissed off, like the rest of us," he said. The 'Elementary' star admitted he's not as familiar with Irish politics as he used to be, since he spends most of his time living and working in America. Quinn joined a variety of cast and crew members from 'Michael Collins' to mark 20 years since the film debuted, as part of the part of the Audi Dublin International Film Festival. Director Neil Jordan was among the crowd celebrating the film's anniversary and agreed that Collins would be no fan of contemporary politicians. Expand Close Actors in the Michael Collins film, Aidan Quinn, Julia Roberts, Liam Neeson, and Alan Rickman. / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Actors in the Michael Collins film, Aidan Quinn, Julia Roberts, Liam Neeson, and Alan Rickman. "I think it's lucky he's not around actually. The landscape has changed so much really," he said. The Sligo native said he was fond of People Before Profit Alliance candidate Richard Boyd Barrett. "He's not Michael Collins either," he added. The movie, which will be released on Blu Ray for the first time next month, also starred Alan Rickman, who died last month after a battle with cancer at the age of 69. The English actor, who played Eamon DeValera, made his final public appearance in Ireland at last year's film festival. Quinn, who played republican politician Harry Boland, said Rickman's Irish roots were very important to him. "Year's after filming, I met [Alan] in Whelan's at a concert and I realised he had a huge affinity for all things Irish that he loved. Video of the Day "He was a lovely man and an incredible talent and he'll be missed." Jordan, who also directed 'Interview With The Vampire' and 'Crying Game' said both the film and playing DeValera on screen were very important to Rickman. Michael Collins, will receive a welcome release for the first time on Blu Ray on March 4th, followed by a re-release in cinemas on March 18th. The Audi Dublin International Film Festival runs until the 28 February. She may have only started her maternity leave today, but the hunt is well and truly on for Karen Koster's replacement on Xpose. The Herald can reveal that the daughters of Panto star Twink - Chloe Agnew and younger sister Naomi - have TV3 bosses talking. The show is also set to get a new face in the shape of David Walliams' glamorous girlfiend Ashley James - although the nature of her role has yet to be decided by production bosses. The former Made in Chelsea star is said to be signed up to take on a role with Xpose, but it has yet to be decided whether she is the right fit for the six-month position. Expand Close Ashley James / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Ashley James Xpose stawlart Karen will be off screens for six months as she goes on materntiy leave ahead of the arrival of her second child with husband John McGuire. With Karen's absence and the impending departure of Aisling O'Loughlin on her own maternity leave, TV3 are now keen to whittle down the main contenders for the role. Expand Close Karen Koster / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Karen Koster Twink's daughter Naomi, who currently works as a waitress on food critic show The Restaurant, has impressed with her professionalism and on-screen charisma. "Naomi is definitely one they are interested in, but she has pointed out that she is more interested in the production side of things," a source told the Herald. "Her older sister Chloe is a natural on TV and has made contacts around the world, so that is another option for them - depending on her availability." It is a busy time for Celtic Woman star Chloe, who has launched her solo career and is currently shooting for her part in an independent film in the US. While the official application for the six-month Xpose reporter role closed two weeks ago, TV3 are still whittling down the candidates for their "major casting round". Meanwhile, host Karen is looking forward to meeting her new arrival, but was not expecting much rest and relaxation as she finished up with TV3. Video of the Day "I learned with my son Finn that I won't be getting a break, but I can't wait to meet the newbie," she told the Herald. "Finn is getting more and more fun so I am looking forward to adding to the chaos. "I've been told I'll have my hands full so I just want to get stuck in now because the waiting is worse." It's true that in politics, eaten bread is soon forgotten, but people have been through too much to pay the price for the pie in the sky that is now making up so much of the political menu. The Coalition planned to present the voters with an irresistible, mouth-watering selection. Fine Gael would have the top tier, but there would be a few choice soft centres for Joan Burton's party. Labour could then tie it all up in a red bow. But the voters aren't biting; after at least six polls, it looks instead like we are going to get a mixed bag of dolly mixtures and Allsorts. It won't be the first time this has happened and it won't be the last. And we have had perfectly good governments made up with the help of smaller parties and Independents. And it's not over yet. In the final week of the campaign, the last set piece is the debate on Tuesday. I believe that it should be a straight shoot-out between Enda Kenny and Micheal Martin, the only two leaders with a prospect of becoming Taoiseach. A four-way free-for-all, including Joan Burton and Gerry Adams, is too distracting. It will make it harder to examine policies in detail. You need to see potential Taoisigh put under pressure as the strength of manifestos is tested. In 2007, a week before the last debate, Fianna Fail was almost written off and expected to shed 20 seats. But that's not how it played out; well over a million people tuned in and the debate proved a game-changer. When the dust settles and Mr Kenny has a chance to review the campaign, I feel the flaws will be obvious enough. It has all the hallmarks of a 'here's one we prepared earlier' effort - most likely last October. In my view, the 'recovery story' was premature and over-played. Working people are relieved to acknowledge that the national finances are in a better state. But they still find themselves frozen in an austerity climate, where they work longer hours, often on contracts, and they are being hit with all those extra taxes. Young people struggle to rent, let alone buy a home. So a 'recovery', which they believe will merely result in more of the same, hardly adds up to the delivery of 'the promised land'. Offering more of the same does not sound all that appealing. The sacrifices made by working people were not reflected enough in the 'recovery' story; too many feel that it has passed them by. Had they focused on hard issues, like the delivery of more jobs, better health, housing and education, the public might have come on board. Then there is the dangerous fixation with giving away surpluses which have yet to be earned. The national debt is coming down, but it's still too high. All the emphasis is on either abolishing the USC or else easing it out on a phased basis, which presumes that growth will be stable and all will be right with the world. We know, sadly too well, that international downturns make short work of even the best-laid plans. In our post-crash world, terms and conditions need always apply. And here again is another hugely disappointing aspect of the campaign; Sinn Fein, some of the smaller parties and many of the Independents have dominated too much of the debate, focusing on what can't be done. The negativity sucked the energy out of discussions and drained the patience of the public. At dangerously high decibel levels, we've been lectured on what couldn't, can't or won't be done. I would much prefer to have heard a greater interrogation of this motley crew's ideas on how they might power the economy ahead and drive things on. There has been a reflex response, whereby too many appear too ready to be against everything; but as to what precisely they are actually for, that is left hanging. According to Noel Whelan's 'Tallyman's Campaign Handbook', Ireland already became the first country in the western world to return more than 10pc of its parliament as Independents in 2011. Given that Independents are coming in at a steady 25pc, we are on course to break our own record. Even so, it's very important to point out that we have a solid and impressive history in forming governments of various hues. To say that the current situation is unprecedented isn't true. As far back as the 1948 general election, when Sean McBride's Clann na Poblachta won only 10 seats, it fell in with the Labour Party, the National Labour Party, Clann na Talmhan and a clutch of Independents to form the first inter-party government, with Fine Gael's John A Costello as Taoiseach. Frank Sherwin, as an Independent TD for Dublin North Central, helped keep the ground-breaking and dynamic Sean Lemass-led government in power in the 1960s. Sherwin was one of a number of Independent deputies who offered conditional support to Lemass after he had failed to win an overall majority in the 1961 and 1965 general elections. Back then, unlike modern arrangements, there were no formal deals. In the 1981 general election, Fine Gael formed a minority coalition government under Garret FitzGerald with the Labour Party and the support of a number of Independent TDs. When the government collapsed the following year, FitzGerald was back in power in a coalition with Labour. In 1982, Charlie Haughey cobbled a government together with the support of the Independent Socialist TD Tony Gregory, the Independent Fianna Fail TD Neil Blaney and the three Sinn Fein the Workers Party deputies, and so was appointed Taoiseach. Then, in 1989, Charlie Haughey was famously forced to swallow hard and lead Fianna Fail into government with the Progressive Democrats. I also led coalition governments with the PDs in 1997 and 2002 and with the PDs and the Greens in 2007. That a government can be formed is not an issue; but just how long it will last may well be. It may be a bit presumptuous to speak of another general election before the present one is even completed, but I can see the ballot boxes coming out of cold storage well inside the forthcoming five year-term. Sinn Fein deputy leader Mary Lou McDonald was tackled by a businessman on her partys pension policy on Grafton Street yesterday. Photo: Tom Burke Sinn Fein deputy leader Mary Lou McDonald is tackled by a businessman on her partys pension policy on Grafton Street yesterday. Photo: Tom Burke There was one question on the lips of reporters at Sinn Fein deputy leader Mary Lou McDonald's press conference - who was the mystery man who hijacked the whole thing? It all started in the usual way. Ms McDonald was on Grafton Street outlining how her party would scrap water charges, and she was asked about Gerry Adams's two 'car crash' RTE interviews. "Anybody can fumble a figure," was her take on Mr Adams's apparent difficulty outlining his party's plans for extra tax on those paid more than 100,000. It was then that the mystery man made his move. "You're going to kill pensions for middle income people," he claimed. "No, we won't," Ms McDonald replied. "Have you seen the figures or can your leader do the maths?" he asked. She asked who he was and he replied: "A concerned citizen." "I'm apolitical but I won't be voting for Sinn Fein," he added. "That's fine. That's your prerogative," Ms McDonald said. He accused the Dublin Central candidate of wanting to "punish" people "who work hard and try and make a life for themselves". "No I don't," she replied. "You certainly do. Where the State loses more when someone is made unemployed than the person loses, there's something wrong there. When you pay 59pc tax?" the man countered. Ms McDonald replied: "What I am saying to you is you have to look at the proposals in the round. I understand that not all of our proposals will be universally popular. It's not universally popular to say that you want a third tax band." It was then that she had a 'figure fumble' herself, saying there would be an "additional 7 in every cent over the hundred grand for people who earn that". She meant an additional 7c on every euro. "Our position is people with deeper pockets, people who have a greater ability to pay, yes, have to pay a bit more and I'm sorry if that upsets you but I'm being honest and I'm telling you that that is the lie of the land. "If other political parties were honest they would tell you the same thing." The man said: "The best way for this country is to give young people opportunities." "Absolutely," Ms McDonald said. It was perhaps the only thing they agreed on but it didn't last long. The man said he didn't support any political party. "Really?" Ms McDonald asked. "Yeah, really," he replied. He said he "probably will be voting Fine Gael" because of their policy on USC. "They're abolishing it," Ms McDonald said, adding: "It's 4bn off the balance sheet so good luck when you go to your local hospital." "You want to talk about the hospitals? You're talking about someone whose had personal experience and I can't see Sinn Fein sorting that out," the man replied. He declined to give his name when asked by reporters, saying: "I've no interest in talking" but said he runs a small business. "Sinn Fein annoy me by the way they go around and I just felt so incensed about it," he said and stalked off down Grafton Street. Ms McDonald returned to her press conference. "We had a lively exchange there with a citizen," she said wryly. "And it comes as no surprise that somebody who is a Fine Gael voter, supporter or who thinks that way, won't be voting for Sinn Fein. I don't think that's any great surprise." As she brushed off the encounter, everyone else was left wondering: who was that mystery man? Noel Gregory brother of the late Tony Gregory has criticised Independent TD Maureen OSullivan over a claim contained in her election literature. Photo: Tom Burke 2/5/13 The brother of the late Tony Gregory has criticised Independent TD Maureen O'Sullivan over a claim contained in her election literature. Ms O'Sullivan, a Dublin Central TD, has told voters she served as Mr Gregory's director of elections prior to his death. She admitted last night that this is incorrect and she in fact served as an election agent for Mr Gregory. But the claim has infuriated the late TD's brother, Noel Gregory, who is supporting Independent councillor Christy Burke ahead of next week's election. "She never served as Tony's director of elections. It is disingenuous. It is a case of mendacious duplicity," Mr Gregory, right, said. Ms O'Sullivan accused Mr Gregory of "splitting hairs", saying that the row is over a choice of words. "What Noel is doing here is unnecessary and upsetting," Ms O'Sullivan added. Taoiseach Enda Kenny leaves at the end of the European Summit in Brussels. Photo: Getty Images The Taoiseach has said that no Irish workers in Britain will be affected by the UK's EU reform bid. British Prime Minister David Cameron yesterday secured concessions from Brussels that he said gave his country a "special status" in Europe. "I do not love Brussels, I love Britain," Mr Cameron said after a two-day summit of EU leaders in Brussels, adding the deal hammered out over the two days of meetings gave Britain "the best of both worlds". He needed the concessions to help him win a referendum on EU membership that he intends to hold by the end of June. One of his key demands was to limit tax credits for non-British EU workers for four years, a provision which the Taoiseach says will not apply to Irish workers because of our special relationship with the UK. Ireland and the UK have had a common travel area in place since the 1920s, with shared visa agreements and border controls. The relationship was recognised in EU law in 1997. Enda Kenny said that Ireland would also be looking at introducing another British ask: limiting child benefit payments for non-resident children of EU workers. The measure can only be applied once EU legislation is amended, which will need the approval of the European Parliament and would only immediately apply to new claimants. It would apply to existing child benefit claimants as of 2020. Mr Kenny met privately with Mr Cameron last night to plead Ireland's case, which had riled Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia, whose citizens would be most affected by the welfare curbs and were keen to limit them to the UK. But Mr Kenny said he had spoken to Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo last night and that she was "happy with the text". Mr Kenny missed out on a second day's electioneering yesterday to help seal a deal at the EU summit. "It is very much in Ireland's interest that Britain would remain a central part of the European Union," Mr Kenny told reporters after the meeting, which had foundered on Thursday night over Mr Cameron's demands on welfare. Mr Cameron also won a brake on eurozone financial decisions affecting the City of London, despite vociferous opposition from France. And he secured pledges on sovereignty, including a red card that a group of national parliaments can pull to halt unwanted EU laws, and a UK-specific opt-out of the principle of "ever closer union". The measures will be written into an EU treaty some time in the future. Mr Cameron now begins a months-long referendum campaign to keep Britain in the EU, which he said he would be fighting to win. "Turning our back on the EU is no solution at all," he said. "This is a time to stick together, a time for strength in numbers," he said. Mr Cameron added that he will campaign with his "heart and soul" to stay in the union. Mr Kenny said it was his "constitutional duty" to stay in Brussels yesterday, even though it meant he missed a second day of canvassing for next week's General Election. Public Expenditure Minister Brendan Howlin has said there absolutely no way the Labour Party are at just 4pc in the polls. The minister admitted that he would like to see his party doing better but believes many people will switch away from a dolly mixture Dail as polling day approaches. Ive knocked on thousands of doors and talked to all of our candidates across the country to get feedback and talked to other parties as well, the lack of movement in public opinion, that seems to be something that is almost unique in my 30 years of campaigning. There is very little actual movement in public opinion. The one thing Im certain of is that we are not on 4pc or anything even in the ballpark of 4pc. Im absolutely sure of that. If you ask me what figure were on I dont know, he said. Mr Howlin also hit out at Fianna Fail and Sinn Fein today, saying they were not fit to lead the next government. He said the Right to Change movement which is staging an anti-water protest in Dublin today was a fig leaf and a way of distraction from the question of whether Sinn Fein actually want to be in government. He said Gerry Adams is far more comfortable talking about 1916 than 2016. On Fianna Fail, he said Micheal Martin is running away from the hard question. The minister said the Fianna Fail leader gets aggressive whenever he is asked about how he would form a coalition. If you look at Fianna Fail they are basically at the same point they were five years ago. They had imploded as a party and as a government. We barely had a constitutional government because they had to ring around on the final night to say stop resigning theres only seven of us left, if one more goes we wont actually have a constitutional government to make any decision. Youd imagine they could never reach that awful point again but they havent progressed away from that, Mr Howlin said. Earlier today, Tanaiste Joan Burton said she's a fighter after the Labour Party's disastrous drop in the latest opinion poll. Labour's support more than halved in the Sunday Times poll, showing the party with 4 per cent. However, sources within the Labour Party have said that the poll may be a so-called outlier - an extreme value of a variable set. The Sunday Times poll was prepared by Behaviour and Attitudes and appeared online late yesterday. Read More The newspaper said it is investigating how it came to be published. The poll indicates that Labour party as low as 4per cent , with Fine Gael at 30 per cent , Fianna Fail at 22 per cent, Sinn Fein at 15 per cent and Independents and Others at 30 per cent. Unaligned Independents are at 10 per cent. Read More Ms Burton said that she doesn't normally comment on polls but said that the party would rebound, in Waterford today. I'm up for a fight, I've never stood down from a fight, she said. People are thinking very seriously about how to use their vote. The key thing is Labour is to lead making people's lives better, Ms Burton reminded that every vote would count, as the margins are so small, while speaking to voters today. Alan Kelly, left, and Michael Lowry during the debate on Tipp FM. Photo: Pat Moore There came a point, dangerously early in the proceedings, when Alan Kelly came close to snapping his pen in two. Properly, like when the main character in a TV mini series comes under extreme pressure. The plastic flexed precariously. But then he suddenly remembered that he was before the people who really mattered - no, not the nation at large, of course. His constituents. Alan dropped the pen. And smiled. It was pistols at dawn - and beyond joy for the audience - who only regretted that there had to be anybody else muddying up the field for this gunfight at the 'AK' Corral between the outgoing Environment Minister and his deadliest rival, Michael Lowry, as they met for a Tipp FM election debate, live on air from the Horse and Jockey hotel in Thurles, Co Tipperary. Poor Sinead Ambrose of Fianna Fail, Noel Coonan of Fine Gael, Independent Seamus Healy and Sinn Fein's Seamus Morris were only there to make this duel look respectable. Both men were armed. Kelly had flooded the local papers with good news stories about job announcements. Lowry's weapon of choice was unveiled with a devastating flourish - those dashed grandiose plans for a casino right there at the Horse and Jockey? They are back on the table. This was probably the most important election in many decades, said Kelly, adding: "I represent the Labour Party, the party of work," before launching into an on-song message about the recovery. Michael Lowry was wilier. "As I travel around the Premier County, I listen and learn," he said, talking of the families in "financial and emotional turmoil", the need to have cuts reversed for special needs children and saying that he wants to see "the rural way of life cherished and nourished". Broadcaster Fran Curry put a question to Kelly. "Alan, you've been criticised over the last number of months. Brash, arrogant, smug, egotistical, not a team player - even within your own party. You have stated publicly that power suits you." It was at this point that Alan's pen nearly became the first victim of the day. "Fran, I've read all of those myself. I don't think personality politics is what people really want to hear," he said. Fran put it to Lowry that his past continues to dog him. Lowry reminded him of his tax-clearance cert, of the ongoing legal matters and said it was not up to any of the media to decide whether or not he should get elected. "It is up to the people," he declared grandly. It took an hour and-a-half for things to really hot up. Lowry accused Kelly of making misleading and unconfirmed job promises for Tipperary. Kelly replied that he found such accusations "incredible - but then again, not surprising from the type of person they were coming from." He then brought up the issue of the casino. "We're sitting here in the Horse and Jockey, where a big fanfare was made about a certain casino announced by the person who just spoke before me. "But it's not here. I went around, I looked around while I was driving here this morning and obviously its not here," he said in bewilderment. Lowry said: "Alan, you made two bogus promises in 2010, you made a bogus promise about a million for entrepreneurs that never materialised. Address those two issues." "You address the casino," replied the minister. The master craftsman had a surprise for him. "The casino and the project here... it is very much alive," he dramatically announced. But then he added bitterly: "The casino element of it is not involved." The original plans had full approval, a middle eastern investor and would have created 2,000 jobs. And why did it not go ahead? "Because Alan Kelly's Labour pulled the plug." "Rubbish," snorted Kelly. "The good news is that progress has been made, we've a new investor, contracts arranged to be exchanged and a very bright future," said Lowry. And the timescale? "It could have been last week," Lowry slowly relished. We almost felt pity for the outgoing minister. How could you compete with that? Raiders disguised as Garda armed with AK47 Assault Rifles enter the front door of the Regency Hotel Eddie Hutchs murder was in response to the attack at the Regency Hotel. Photo: Niall Carson/PA Wire Gardai investigating the Regency Hotel gun attack have seized three cars - including a taxi - which are connected to the mob that carried out the brutal murder of crime figure David Byrne. Forensic testing is being carried out on the vehicles which may have been used as part of the attack in which two of Byrne's pals were also shot. Sources have revealed that the vehicles are connected to north inner city associates of Gary Hutch, who was shot dead by the Kinahan cartel last September. "The seizure of these cars is considered to be significant," a senior source explained. Read More It has also emerged that gardai are investigating whether a series of armed pub robberies in Dublin before Christmas may have been used to provide funding for the audacious hotel attack on Friday, February 5. Terrorised Sources have revealed that a suspect in the pub robbery cases, in which staff were terrorised with a gun, has very close connections to the mob who carried out the deadly attack in the Drumcondra hotel two weeks ago. "It is being looked at whether money which was stolen in these raids ultimately went towards funding the hotel gun attack," the source pointed out. Read More Meanwhile, the bitter feud between associates of Gary Hutch and the Christy Kinahan mob has led to a shortage of drugs on the streets. Sources say the saturation armed policing across the capital over the past fortnight, coupled with the fact that the Kinahan mob have been busy dealing with the bitter feud, has led to the drought. "The Kinahan cartel are supplying between 80 to 90pc of the drugs on the Irish market, but if they have to be looking over their shoulder all the time it means that they have taken their eye off their main business of drugs trafficking," a source explained. It is understood that the temporary drugs drought in the capital is one of the most significant since the garda clampdown after the murder of crime reporter Veronica Guerin in 1996. Read More "With all the armed units on the streets in both the north and south inner city, it has been making it much more difficult for dealers to move their product," the source added. Tensions remain extremely high in the capital this weekend, with gardai fearful of further revenge attacks after the murders of Eddie Hutch Snr and David Byrne. It is understood that Gerry 'The Monk' Hutch, who attended his murdered brother Eddie's funeral yesterday in disguise, remained in the capital last night after family and friends of the gangland victim held a reception in a pub in the Summerhill area of the city after the burial. 'The Monk' was visited at his Clontarf home earlier this week where he was officially warned by gardai about an active threat on his life. Upmarket It is also believed that Christy Kinahan's sons Daniel and Christopher are still in the capital and have been staying in an upmarket hotel in the Grafton Street area. There have been no arrests in either murder case, but sources say that gardai expect to begin picking up suspects as early as next week. Most of the six-man gang who were involved in the hotel attack have been identified, including two criminals whose faces were caught by a press photographer. One of these is a man aged in his 20's who was disguised as woman. He was a very close associate of slain Gary Hutch and is from Dublin's north inner city, while the older suspect is a former Continuity IRA man from Co Tyrone who was booted out of that organisation. It emerged yesterday that the PSNI raided his home in the North on Wednesday but the criminal was not at home. Sources say that gardai have also made good progress in the Eddie Hutch murder investigation with the four-man gang involved in that killing also identified. Two of this gang have been formally notified by gardai of an imminent threat against their lives. One of these gangsters who is suspected of twice trying to murder exiled crimelord John Gilligan is said to be "in hiding". It has emerged that innocent family members of the notorious criminal have also been warned of a threat against their lives. An Irish undertaker has offered to bury free of charge two elderly twins from Cork who face a paupers gave in London after they passed away within days of each other. The bodies of reclusive twin brothers Bill and John Kelly (77) lay unclaimed in separate morgues in the UK after the pair died weeks apart in January. An appeal by the Irish community to trace their family lead to a first cousin living in Cork City, who has since come forward to say it is his wish to give the brothers a proper burial in Ireland hopefully in the family plot in Glasheen. Speaking on air to C103FM this week, Sean Kelly said he plans to repatriate the bodies of Bill and John to Cork and lay their bodies to rest alongside their father Dennis Kelly in St. Finbarrs cemetery. Touched by the gesture, local funeral director John Keohane reached out to the Kelly family and offered to cover the costs of burying the twins in Ireland. Their story struck a chord there isnt a family in this country who doesnt know someone who left to find work. How many of those who went to work in the UK during the 50s and 60s never came home. Mr Keohane told Independent.ie that that his company, Keohanes Cork Funeral Directors, was ready to help with transport and logistics of bring the twins back to Cork but added that there had been no word yet from the Kelly family. Were in limbo at the moment as we havent heard from [them] yet but that is completely understandable because there is still a lot to do before we talk about bringing the brothers home. Were not even sure there is room in the family plot [here in Cork], he said. Asked about the costs involve in repatriating the brothers, Mr Keohane said it was not about the money. There is no value on something like this. I wouldnt put a cost on it its not about money, its about helping a family. Independent.ie understands that Bill Turners remains are being held at Whittington Hospitals mortuary, while his brother Johns remains are still in Hornsey Coroners Office. Elsewhere 8,074 has been donated to a fund set up by The Irish Post to help with the brothers funeral costs. Three men were arrested after what is believed to have been a gang rape in west Belfast in the early hours of yesterday. It is understood the attack occurred at a Traveller site at Glen Road. Two caravans remained sealed off by police yesterday. The men were arrested in the same area of the city. A PSNI spokeswoman said: "Three men have been arrested following a serious sexual assault on a woman in her 30s in the Glen Road area of west Belfast early on Friday morning." One of the men was later released unconditionally Local Sinn Fein MLA Pat Sheehan said the news was very concerning. Mr Sheehan added: "This has been a very serious sexual attack in west Belfast and I want to advise anyone with any information regarding the attack to contact the PSNI." Eileen Kelly, a former volunteer with the now defunct Rape Crisis Centre, said that while these kind of attacks were extremely rare, the incident was very worrying. Ms Kelly, who is still a counsellor for victims of sex abuse, added: "It's concerning for any woman who was confronted by three men in this way. "It must have been extremely frightening for the lady. These types of attacks are extremely rare, but even if there is only one of them, it heightens women's fear of going out and being able to move around freely. "Thankfully, she is alive, but this is a very concerning development. "We have heard of these types of attacks happening in other countries, and quite recently during the New Year (in Cologne, Germany) when women were attacked by groups of men who appeared to be travelling in gangs." There are a number of organisations which can provide specialist support to victims of sexual violence and abuse in Northern Ireland. These include Nexus NI, which offers counselling and support to survivors of sexual abuse and victims of sexual violence, including those who have experienced rape and sexual assault. The Northern Ireland's Women's Aid Federation also provides advice, support and safe accommodation for women - and their children - who have been abused either mentally, physically or sexually. Hot on the heels of finding out that the salmon we're eating might not be what we think it is, a new scandal has rocked the food world. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has warned that Parmesan fraud is on the rise after tests revealed that products described as '100 per cent Parmesan' are often enhanced with things such as cellulose - a byproduct of wood pulp - and cheaper products like cheddar, Swiss, and mozzarella cheese. The FDA even went as far as to accuse some companies of selling '100 per cent Parmesan' products that don't actually contain any Parmesan at all. The worst offender was 'Castle Cheese', who have been accused of knowingly supplying Parmesan that is not actually Parmesan at all to other retailers for 30 years. The allegation was made by a fired factory worker to the FDA. Expand Close Parmesan / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Parmesan The president of the company, Michelle Myrter, is now facing criminal charges and, if convicted, faces a year-long prison sentence and a $100,000 fine. An investigation from Bloomberg News tested Parmesan cheese from various stores for cellulose content. They found that "Essential Everyday 100 per cent Grated Parmesan Cheese, from Jewel-Osco, was 8.8 percent cellulose, while Wal-Mart Stores Inc.s Great Value 100 per cent Grated Parmesan Cheese registered 7.8 per cent, according to test results. "Whole Foods 365 brand didnt list cellulose as an ingredient on the label, but still tested at 0.3 per cent. Kraft had 3.8 per cent." Expand Close Pasta Pronto: Pasta with broccoli and chicken / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Pasta Pronto: Pasta with broccoli and chicken According to Dean Sommer, a cheese technologist at the Center for Dairy Research, an acceptable level of cellulose in our food is between two and four per cent. A Kraft Heinz spokesman told Bloomberg: "We remain committed to the quality of our products," while WalMart questioned the reliability of the testing sample and said they would look into the findings. Speaking to The Independent, WalMart spokesperson John Forrest Ales added: "We know earning customer trust starts with high standards, both inside the package and out. Our repeated testing of this item proves it meets federal regulations for its standard of identity. "Even though using anti-caking aids is common across the industry and approved by the FDA, and testing a single sample is statistically unreliable, our compliance team is looking into these findings with the supplier. We never waiver on quality and will continue to ensure our product specifications are being met." Telegraph Media Group Limited [2022] There's only one week to go, and I'm delighted to see all our leaders achieving their targets. The biggest moment for us this week was getting Mayo leader John Conmy back on track. John actually has a really competitive background. Years ago, he was a Gaelic player at school and he has that instinct and that drive in him. I took very much that style of approach in our resistance session this week and I pushed him to get the old competitive John out. He'd been using the same weights and the water bottles for weeks, so we changed everything. I'd never seen him train like that before, and afterwards you could see he was really motivated by himself. He just needed to realise what he could do. John also revealed the source of his stress and his problems with Revenue. That kind of stress has a huge impact, and like all Irish men, he bottled it up. Part of the beauty of getting Dr Eddie Murphy out to talk to him was that John could get it off his chest and begin to focus on himself. It's very hard to do that when things build up in your head, and if anything it shows the power of speaking to somebody and letting that out. It shows the men of Ireland that they need to talk a bit more. Limerick leader Clare Scanlan also opened up this week, and the whole country bawled when we saw her. She's gone through something few people have to go through, but she's ready to change and get her life back together, and thankfully we could help her with that. You couldn't not be moved by Clare's journey. Some people have compared us to 'The X Factor' and said we rely too much on backstories, but it's nothing to do with that. You have to be able to see why people are there. People around the country can relate to the leaders and it means more people are getting on board with the plan and more people are getting the results from it. Westmeath leader Noeleen Lynam got back on track this week. She's very matter-of-fact: she admitted she wasn't working hard enough last week, she knew she had to sort it out and she did. Our youngest leader Lucy Dillon has finally become the 24-year-old that she had lost sight of. She took the plan by the scruff and has come out looking fresh, vibrant and happy. Lucy is proof that giving up smoking doesn't have to lead to weight gain. If you give it up and sit on the couch snacking, you will put on weight, but if you replace smoking with something that fills your time, you can lose weight and get your life back. We saw our leaders return to Niall Moyna at DCU's School of Health and Human Performance, and you can't but be impressed with the transformation. It has to be noted this is all natural, this is all the result of good exercise and good food. In a short time frame, this is what you can achieve. Today, our leaders will be taking part in the 5k run in the Phoenix Park. But we're not finished yet. We still have a weigh-in left to do, so the leaders have to keep knuckling down. And it's up to me to push them and make sure they're happy with their numbers when it comes to that final weigh-in. The carnival costumes were exceedingly fancy and eye-poppingly flimsy when Tom Sweeney joined hit the streets of Santa Cruz de Tenerife. The pope was getting the pints in while half-a-dozen Snow Whites with hairy chests began dancing to Oh, Macarena! in the sizzling February sunshine. Countless zombies, Zorros, Peter Pans, Elvis Presleys and bearded 'senoritas' in flouncy flamenco frocks joined in as the party got under way. It was midday last Sunday week, and Santa Cruz was going carnival-crazy, with 180,000 people on the streets. Most of them seemed to be queuing for drinks in Plaza San Francisco, which is probably why His Holiness was taking so long coming back with the beers. Overlooking the festivities with a frown was the bronze bust of journalist and publisher Patricio Estevanez y Murphy (1850-1926), Tenerife-born but with a mammy of Irish descent. You could almost hear the life-long teetotaller tut-tutting as revellers set down their cervezas on his stone plinth to take photos or top-up their inflatable boobs with big blasts of boozy breath. Shedding inhibitions - and clothes Many people hire costumes from pop-up fancy dress shops. Disney characters and superheroes were among the most popular this year, as always, but many more carnival-goers - they come from all over the world - had put great thought, time and effort into creating their own eye-catching ensembles. Expand Close Carnaval / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Carnaval One guy wandering around in a pink bathrobe was rigged up as a mobile power-shower. Above him, attached to a pole, was a hula-hoop rail to which he'd fixed a shower head. Hanging from the hoop was a see-through plastic curtain that encircled him. Every now and then, he'd squeeze a rubber ball with a tube attached to it and water would squirt on to his head. I'd say he was a plumber. Proving very popular with photographers and TV crews were Mama and Papa Patata and their four children, all of them clad in hessian spud sacks and wearing potato crowns. Nearby, a woman in a silver leotard and leggings and with a lampshade on her head was dancing to La Cucaracha with a caveman who kept walloping her across the backside with his club. Next to them, Wonder Woman (a man) was eating the face off Spongebob Squarepants (a woman). It was surreal, and an absolute hoot. With the weather being so warm (22C to 24C for five days in a row, which isn't unusual for February), more than a few people had chosen to dress down rather than up, shedding their inhibitions along with their clothes. There was no shortage of party animals wearing G-strings and little else - and that was only the fellas - which made Plaza San Francisco look like the venue for this year's Eurovision Thong Contest. The blow-out they tried to ban Expand Close Carnaval / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Carnaval Those who take part in the spectacular day and night-time parades along the waterfront (6,000 people on the opening evening) spend 12 months preparing for the highlight of their year. Community groups and social clubs provide most of the flamboyant floats (which can cost up to 20,000 to decorate), marching bands and dancers who take nearly three hours to cover the 2km course as they sashay, sway and samba their way past cheering crowds. The carnival, which dates from the early 1600s, is outrageous and ostentatious, and of course the Catholic Church never missed a chance to denounce it. Old fusspot Franco briefly succeeded in driving it underground, but it re-emerged bigger and brasher than ever. Today, it's second only in size and reputation to the daddy of them all in Rio de Janeiro, with which Santa Cruz is twinned. Only Fools and Holidaymakers While all of this was going on in the north of the island, holidaymakers in Puerto Colon in the southwest were busying themselves watching re-runs of Only Fools And Horses on pub terraces. If they'd only bothered to jump on the bus for the 40-minute journey to Santa Cruz, they'd have discovered there's a lot more to a winter sun holiday than watching Del Boy Trotter toppling sideways through a hole in a bartop that wasn't there a second ago - a helluva lot more. Get there Ryanair (ryanair.com) and Aer Lingus (aerlingus.com) fly to Tenerife year-round from Dublin. The five-star Grand Hotel Mencey in Santa Cruz (grandhotelmencey.com) is a 10-minute stroll from the carnival action and has a spa and one of the best-equipped hotel gyms in Europe. See also spain.info. Premium John Downing Opinion Pension reforms are dicey territory but grand plan by minister Heather Humphreys just might win through Pension system changes all across the western world have a great propensity to infuriate those most feared by politicians: the grey brigade. And when the oldies take to the streets, they usually play for keeps. Premium What will it take to unite Ireland? Opinions are divided There are those for whom Northern Ireland is a geographical fragment of the UK holding true to empire on its western flanks, and those for whom partition is a century-old wrong that must be overturned. Somewhere in the middle are the persuadables people willing to accept either unity or union, so long as the justification is logical. One way or another, the unity conversation is in the air. Mayo deputies such as Enda Kenny should help this woman in need. Photo: Niall Carson/PA Wire A courageous young single woman in Co Mayo wrote an article (Irish Independent, February 18) on what life is like for her and her young son. She lives some 15 minutes away from the Taoiseach, and moved with her son from her family home to be near a college in order to study. What really adds to the pressures she is experiencing is how she was refused rent supplement. She finds it very difficult to live as a result, which led to her breakdown and depression, for which she travels a good distance to get counselling support to help her through. She wrote: I will tell them [canvassing General Election TDs if they call to her home] how I have been juggling single motherhood and my education for the last seven years and how I am now qualified with a CV packed with voluntary work and community involvement... Ill show them my awards and professional references to prove that I am not the lazy, single mother the media paints us as, when discussing welfare. What I think could be worth trying again, if she has tried it already, is to contact the Taoiseach Enda Kennys constituency office regarding her not qualifying for rent supplement and to ask his team to help. It is deeply unfair that she cant get the supplement in the circumstances she is currently dealing with. Fine Gael TDs for Co Mayo need to step up to the plate for this. In Cork, sometimes the City Council has some leeway in helping to pay rent, depending on a persons circumstances. Mayo County Council may have similar discretion. Everything is worth trying. I would like to tell her not to give up hope. I hope Enda Kennys constituency office would help her, if she makes contact. Perhaps as a last option she might consider moving to Galway, where it might be a little easier for her to access rent supplement and so forth. Name and address with editor Moving letter shames TDs This is my first time writing an email to a newspaper. However, I feel I had to after reading that letter by the anonymous person from Mayo in your paper (Irish Independent, February 18). I am a professional from the west of Ireland living in the UK, doing OK for myself. That someone from home is going through this at the moment, and that politicians from the current Government talk about recovery, is disgraceful when people have to endure this hardship. I wonder where the communication from the local politicians really is why they cant reach out to those people who need support and help in life. They have, after all, been given public office for their constituents. I really hope something changes, that the Irish public vote for change and I really hope that family get the support that they need and deserve. Name and address with editor Fianna Fail and the deficit In 2010, Fianna Fail left our country with an annual deficit of 18.7bn. Here we are now a week from an election and practically none of the electorate are aware of this try asking someone. We are in a position where a lot of voters are turning towards smaller parties because they now wrongly blame Fine Gael/Labour for the cuts and measures to reduce this deficit to just 4bn. This lack of understanding by the electorate, especially young voters, will result in a costly error in voting that will follow them for the rest of their lives. Simon OConnor Co Kerry South American connection The four leading Republican candidates for the United States presidency include two Cuban-Americans and one with a Mexican wife. Is it wise for a Latin American Pope to attack the other one? Dr John Doherty Operngasse 28/5, Vienna Bishops can criticise parties Your article (Irish Independent, February 18) that covered Archbishop Diarmuid Martins advice to Catholic voters was revealing and perplexing. The Archbishop adopted a somewhat absurd fence-sitting position with respect to his comment about bishops being unable to direct voters for or against a political party. Where would that moral timidity have served the people of Germany during the rise of the National Socialists? Indeed the Archbishop is deeply out of step with his own tradition, as can be seen by Pope Pius XIs searing intervention against a political party in his encyclical Mit Brennender Sorge. David Mullins Knockmore, Arklow, Co Wicklow Making the criminals pay Here we go again. Government promises covering all the big headings forgetting, of course, the inescapable fact that they have been in power for the last five years and made little impact on big-ticket items such as crime and health. Colour brochures and star-studded presentations are a far cry from the common sense approach the public is crying out for. The public look on in disbelief as the equivalent of a State funeral takes place in Dublin, policed by the Garda. In modern-day Ireland, our elderly, having worked hard all their lives, need to go through an intrusive, vigorous means test to get a place in a retirement home, while criminals, with all their wealth, can enter the prison system (if caught) without being means tested and exit the other end with all that wealth intact. It beggars belief. Criminals, as part of their sentencing, should be means tested and made pay the cost of their own incarceration, not the taxpayers. In the event that they cannot pay, a payment order for all or a percentage, depending on means should be attached to that criminal until it is paid. If an individual or business owner owes the Revenue, they pay and these criminals should be no different. Common sense measures like this may not turn the tide, but they will strengthen the current and hit criminals where it hurts most, in their pockets. Eugene McGuinness Bishop Birch Place, Kilkenny On Friday night I headed for Kennedys bar where the local branch of the Order Of Malta (cadets) were hosting a fund raising Table Quiz and by the time we got there a good crowd were there ready to do battle. I wasn't too long in the door when I met up with the order's PRO David Caldwell from Cedarwood Park who was chatting to the two main organisers of the night cadet leaders Gemma Sharkey from Kilkerley and Denice Nixon from Wolfe Tone who told me the night was a fund raiser for the cadets and yes they are still on the lookout for anyone who wants to become a Cadet, saying they meet every Monday night between 6.00 and 7.30 in their hall in Mill Street. I then decided to have a look round to see who was there for a night of puzzlement and at the nearest table I got a word with Clare Murphy from Greenacres who told me she was there to support her cuz Gemma who was one of the organisers and she was with the girls known far and wide as the 'Two Bronaghs' and all girls felt quietly confident of taking away some of the major prizes on offer n the night. After this I caught up with a team who included Orla Sheridan from Mary Street North, Linda Murtagh from Laurels Grove, Leanne Prescott who had travelled all the way from the Isle of Man specially for the quiz, Jessica Fisher who had come from the People's republic of Cooley and Keane Hoey from the principality that is the Laurels and they were all on for a mad night, and very possibly to answer a few questions while they were at it. Not too long later I then caught up with Nicola Mulholland from Ravensdale who was there with Sheila, May and Barney Sharkey all from Kilkerley who were also there to support Gemma and when I asked if they were in with a chance they replied 'we didn't come here to lose!' I then made my way over to the team who were going by the name the Sugar Babes and they included Rose Murray from Avondale Park, Phillis and Shannon Murray from Glenmore Park, Kim McGuinness from O'Hanlon Park Marian and Craig Callan from Wolfe Tone Terrace who said they were definitely going to finish well within the prizes. Seated close by I then got talking to possibly one of the most numerically challenged teams and they were Robbie Waller from Carrick Road and Sheila Murnaghan from Cooley who told me that after eventually asking the correct questions, better still, giving the correct answers. Easily the quietest team on the pub had to include Keith Thompson from Leitrim, Liam Doheny from Galway, Sean Cumiskey from Cooley and Ciaran Carey from Knockbridge who were silently partaking in some banter, but nothing too loud. Seated beside them and straining their ears to hear what the lads had to say were Edel Nolan from Carlow, Padhraic Staunton from Willow Grove, Emma O'Brien from Carrick Road, and Francis Meehan from Bridge Street who told me they were there to make a major impression and win loads of prizes too. Seated in the snug behind the bar I then got talking to Anthony, Jane and Anita Gonnelly from Belfry Avenue who were with Danielle Monahan and Kay Burns both form Hill Street who were playing the 'quietly confident' card. Beside them were Bernie, Vincent and Kellie Reid from Blakely Close who said they'd be relying on the friendship of their neighbours for the quiz but were looking forward to an excellent night too. On Saturday night we headed for the Ballymascanlon Hotel for the Oriel Harriers Valentines Hunt Ball and the place was packed with party revellers by the time I eventually got there. I wasn't too long in the door when I met up with Master of Oriel Harriers Hunt Michael and Lucy Bishop from Kilcurry who assured me the night would be up to its usual standards and would be far from quiet or short! Not too long later I then got talking to Jessica Malone from Faughart who was there with Andrew Rafferty from Dublin Road and they assured me they were up for making it a real night to remember. After this I headed over for a quick word with James McGrane from Carlingford and Orna Macartain from Gyles Quay who told me they don't hunt but were there to support the night and were really looking forward to it. Not too long later I met up with Colm and Bernie McConville from Kilcurry who told me they were there with the Bishops and were having a laugh with Eamonn from Mill Road and Andy Dillon from Dublin who assured me they were on their best behaviour and were going to remain that way all night long. Just in the door were Liam and Irene Woods from Castletowncooley who were also there to support the night and to make the best of the festivities as well. After this I met up with Pat and Briege Grant from Newry who were up for making it a real night to remember with all their friends there. Next I caught up with Master of the Hunt Gerry and Maria Mulligan from Point Road who were in great form and ready to party the night away. I then headed for a table where I met up with Cyril sand Breda Roddy from Bellurgan who told me they aren't part of the hunt, but just gatecrashers just like me! Making my way over to one of the table I then caught up with Phyllis and Gary Mulligan from Kingswood who were up for an epic night with Linda Mulligan and Owen Armstrong both from Point Road and they just looked at each other and laughed when I asked if it was going to be a quiet night. I then got talking to two ex hunters who were Jo Reilly and Eamonn McMasters both from Carlingford who were in great form and ready to make the best of the Valentines party. Seated close by were Dale Lockhart from Newry and Paul and Linda Nulty from Castlebellingham who are also ex hunters and said this is always an excellent night and they couldn't see any reason for a change to this format. I then headed over for a chat with my old mate Paddy Bishop from Carrickasticken Road who was with his wife Geraldine and he introduced me to Greg and Kate McCloskey from Newry who were also with Pat and Briege Grant whom I'd met earlier. Just after arriving in the door, where my old friends Hughie and Mary Keating from Muchgrange with their daughter Roisin and she was having a laugh with Kayleigh Brady from Whitestown. The two ladies do hunt and were looking forward to meeting up the all their mates on the night. They were standing chatting to Eavan Brady from Whitestown who was doing some running repairs on Kayleigh's dress while her friends Kristine Woods and Oksana Brady both from Carlingford and Fidelma Brady from Cooley looked on. Making a big and bold entrance, as he always does was Michael, Ciana, Naoise and Keelin Rogers from Ardee Road who was with Helen Lawrence from The Laurels who were with Eugene, James and Eugene Larkin Jnr. from Thomastown Cross who were with Sophia McQuillan from Belfry Drive and Eugene told me he is the Grand Master of the Hunt and couldn't wait to make his speech later on! The Connection is on in the studio theatre, town hall on Tuesday, 23 February at 8.30pm. The true story behind the The French Connection is told from the European perspective in this exciting police drama. This tough, fascinating film recounts the little known story of how a drug syndicate came undone.2 Table quiz in McGeough's bar, Roden Place on Friday at 9pm. Cost per table, 40. In aid of Plan International's 'cycle for girls' to Vietnam. Lots of prizes. 3 The Juicebox Comedy Club - The Spirit Store on Friday - is a free show featuring emerging talent from Ireland's comedy underground. 6 The Old Dundalk Society present a second 2016 centenary lecture in the county museum on Wednesday at 8pm. It is entitled 'Dublin Castle and Irish Sedition 1915-1916', by Professor Eunan O'Halpin. 5 Warsaw Radio and guests Della Lupa, Kev Minney and Pierce Quinn are in the Spirit Store tonight (Tuesday). Warsaw Radio play a unique folk/rock infused style which has attracted a lot of attention. 1 Tommy Tiernan performs to sell-out crowds in the Spirit Store on Wednesday and Saturday. Now entering his 20th year as a stand-up comedian, having won every award going and still as passionate as ever about the adventure of storytelling and comedy, Tommy is also starting to take some very exciting risks. Mannerless, profound, dark, and silly too, his performance mesmerises in a way that is joyful, uplifting, inspirational and most importantly always breathtakingly funny. 4 The Connection is on in the studio theatre, town hall on Tuesday, 23 February at 8.30pm. The true story behind the The French Connection is told from the European perspective in this exciting police drama. This tough, fascinating film recounts the little known story of how a drug syndicate came undone. The Make a Wish Foundation launched their annual 'Louth Wish' fundraising day with the stories of more than 40 local children who realised their dreams with the help of the national charity To date, 44 children from Louth have had their wishes come through with Make-A-Wish Ireland since the organisation started in Ireland in 1992. Each year, Make-A-Wish ensures that wishes are granted to children who are battling life threatening medical conditions such as cancer, brain tumours, cystic fibrosis, heart disease, muscular dystrophy, cerebral palsy and many others. Make-A-Wish is 100% funded through donations and fundraising and to support the ongoing work with children from Louth and throughout Ireland, Make-A-Wish need the help of volunteers in Louth to keep the great work going. Wish Day will take place on Friday 8th April and Make-A-Wish is seeking the help of 100 volunteers throughout Louth to give just a few hours of their time to support Make-A-Wish. Irene Timmins Head of Fundraising for Make-A-Wish said, 'On Wish Day, Friday April 8th, volunteers throughout Louth will be raising awareness for the work of Make-A-Wish while also helping to raise funds through the sale of beautifully designed badges. A successful Wish Day will enable us to grant more wishes to children living with life-threatening medical conditions. We have brave children on our waiting list from Louth and with the support of people from throughout the community, Make-A-Wish can grant the wishes to these deserving children.' Wish Day will take place across Ireland on Friday 8th April and Make-A-Wish volunteers will be located throughout Louth. To sign up to volunteer visit www.makeawish.ie or contact Barbara Kilbride on (01) 2052012 / barbara@makeawish.ie Make-A-Wish is a Children's Charity which grants the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions to give hope, strength and joy. Since its inception in 1992, Make-A-Wish in Ireland has granted wishes for over 1,800 children and realised their greatest wish and experienced the hope, strength and joy each wish provides. 'In all possible cases Make-A-Wish grants the child's first wish ensuring that all immediate family members participate,' said Irene Timmins. 'In doing so it provides long-lasting and happy memories for those relatives, whatever the future may hold.' In order to continue with its work and succeed in its aims, Make-A-Wish rely overwhelmingly on the kindness of the general public as they receive no government funding. Make-A-Wish confirms that their organisation complies with the Governance Code for the Community, Voluntary and Charitable Sector in Ireland. The park committee was delighted to receive a generous donation of 350 from St. Oliver Plunkett NS' small change collection. The presentation was made by members of the schools green committee along with Valerie Mernagh, chairperson of the Parents Committee (who did all the counting!). "We are so grateful for this show of kindness from St. Oliver Plunkett school, their support is a great boost to our volunteers. We have quite a few plans for the park this year and this donation is ear marked for our biodiversity projects, as we're going for a green flag this year" said Karen Coan committee chairperson. The collection was instigated to help re- instate the damage that was caused to the village park at Halloween and drew an overwhelming response from the community. A large bottle was placed inside the front door of the school for anybody who wished to donate coins soon to go out of circulation. A Dundalk student made the trip of a lifetime to South Korea for the Global Youth Eco Leadership Summit at the end of January. Rudie Sweetnam, from Dundalk Grammar School, was one of six worldwide delegates selected to attend the Global Youth for Environment Leadership Summit (GYELS) in Seoul, South Korea. Thrilled to have been selected to represent Ireland, Dundalk and the Grammar School, Rudie told how the summit took place in one of the world's best known cities. 'We went to Seoul University on Tuesday 26th and Wednesday 27th to attend lectures and workgroups.' Speakers at the summit included some of the world's most influential figures including Dr Sunjin Yun, Vice Dean of Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Prof Myoungiu Lee, Professor of Myongji University, the EU Ambassador, Gerhard Sabahil and the Danish ambassador Thomas Lehmann. 'We were put in teams and I was selected as the leader for my group. We drafted a resolution on 'How Stakeholders Can Eliminate Global Warming,' explained Rudie. Having just returned home last week, he added: My week in Seoul was one I will remember for a very long time. I made new friends from many parts of the world including South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Myanmar, India, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Kenya, United Araba Emirates, Mexico, Thailand and Bahrain.' The Dundalk student was one of a limited number of non-Korean's invited to the major global summit which 'aimed to grow future eco-leaders around the world.' The summit included three major activities: the Global Youth for the Environment Forum, GYELS MUN and trips to help encourage the growth of future eco-leaders around the world. It's Friday afternoon in Dundalk and Sinn Fein president, and 2011 election poll-topper in Louth, Gerry Adams, is waiting in the party's Crowe Street office for a heavy passing shower to subside. Outside, political correspondents from the national press, along with cameras from RTE, TV3 and UTV wait in their cars close by. It was meant to be the day that Tom Murphy was to discover his fate at the Special Criminal Court and the media is here to see Adams's reaction to the sentence. Shortly after 1pm, the shower passes, Adams puts his coat on and heads out to Crowe Street. There is barely room on the pavement for the cameras and journalists as one of the most photographed politicians in the country heads out for a short canvass at Market Square and down Clanbrassil Street. He is joined by the party's longest-serving Louth councillor, Kevin Meenan, for the walkabout, every inch of which is filmed. The first person he encounters on the street, a young man in his twenties, shakes hands with him and immediately asks for, and gets, a 'selfie'. It's the first of many for the Louth TD who is, according to one of the party members accompanying him on the canvass, 'the most recognisable politician on the island'. Ten steps later, he's accosted again, this time by a sprightly pensioner, who, while not asking for a selfie, offers him a proposition of sorts: 'Are you coming to the dancing with me tonight?' He politely declines, but gives her a peck on the cheek after she pretends to be offended. She's delighted. Moments later, a party worker tells Adams simply: 'The case has been put back, it's adjourned'. Adams doesn't lose a step and sweeps into McEvoys where he speaks to one of the women who works there. She tells him how business is going and how they are determined to hang on to their staff. He thanks her 'for all you're doing'. Outside, he talks about town centre retail, how business owners are still finding it difficult to get credit, unable to improve their cash flow, but continue to remain dedicated to their staff and the town they live and work in, until his phone rings (the tone is a dog barking). Crossing over to the other side of Clanbrassil Street, the counter workers at Isle de France call him over after a crowd of school students beckon him into the takeaway. Getting himself elected was the goal at the last general election he tells me; now the focus is on getting the historic second seat for SF in Louth, while also electing the constituency's first female TD, Imelda Munster. It's now that the runners he's wearing, poking from the end of his suit trousers are noticed. Adams doesn't think it strange to be striding about with trainers on the end of a suit. 'When you're doing this much walking, you need them - they're comfy and most importantly, waterproof'. Marist College students, by the dozen it seems, shout his name from behind him and run towards him. They crowd around him like they know him, asking for autographs, shaking hands and posing for a massive 12 person 'selfie'. On Earl Street, the media pack gathers around him as he's asked again about Tom Murphy and the Special Criminal Court. The patience he has shown with the people of Dundalk is wearing with the scrum as journalists' questions rain down. He answers them, says goodbye and continues walking, in his trainers. It takes patience to be an election candidate and it also takes patience to be a teacher. So Senator Mary Moran, who is both, was completely unruffled when we arrive a full 20 minutes late to her when she is canvassing in Blackrock. 'It's not a problem', she says cheerily, and introduces her canvassing team that includes the mother of recently born twins, motivated by Mary's message and her record in the Oireachtas to help her get elected to the Dail on the second time of asking. The canvassers are people she has met over the last five years, who support her and what she's trying to do. They come from all different backgrounds and many of them are surprisingly young. Mary, who was a teacher in St Vincent's Secondary School before politics and the Labour Party beckoned, was the surprise first-time candidate in 2011, almost pipping Peter Fitzpatrick to the last seat. Over the last five years, she has 'learned an awful lot', having been thrown into the deep end in Leinster House in the first few weeks of the new Dail in 2011, 'shown the desk and the phone and that's it'. It takes a little time to learn who to talk to, where to go to get help for the constituents who come to your door days after you have got elected, seeking your assistance. 'I was never on the council, I didn't have that training ground and I had to learn the system on a local and national level in order to help the people who came to me'. The main difference between 2011 and 2016 is, she says, that she doesn't have to introduce herself as much as she did five years ago. She has been a vocal advocate on a number of issues, most particularly disabilities, particularly children with disabilities. She has also been active in the Save the Dominican Church campaign in Drogheda, and one of the canvassers with her on this occasion was involved in that too. 'It's different this time around for me, as when I call to people's doors now, even outside my own area, they know the name, the face, they know a little about what I have done, and that's certainly an advantage. 'The last time, I was a complete unknown outside a small area, but it's different this time'. Health, disability services and education dominate on the doorsteps in 2016, Mary says. What about the water charges? 'A year ago, that was definitely something people were asking about but for the past few months, I haven't heard a lot about it from people at their houses. 'People are a lot more positive than they were 12 months ago. Having spoken to businesses all over Louth and East Meath, retailers are telling me that Christmas was busier and better for them in 2015'. In Blackrock, it's women who come to answer the knock on the door. One young woman, with three children, is washing the dishes before we arrive, but seems delighted to have Mary Moran on her doorstep. The candidate certainly has a good way with kids, they smile and respond to her, while giving 'the quare one with the notebook' - me - suspicious looks. The mum of three reminds Mary of a card she sent her when she had completed her course. The senator may not immediately remember the gesture, but it certainly seems to have had a positive impact on this voter. At the next door, an older woman is well-versed on the issues and tells Mary straight off that she's sceptical about voting for a government party, as she had done so in the past, but is not sure now. She's worried about her grown-up children; revealing how, as a gran, she sometimes has to subsidise her kids, even though they are working. They're struggling with the USC, with water charges. Mary doesn't back away, but listens and tells her the Labour party has already cut the USC and wants to eliminate it altogether for people under a certain income threshold. And she agrees the way the water charges were introduced has not worked. And she asks the voter to look at her, as a person, from the area, and to look at the record she has of raising issues. They part on good terms. Walking back towards the green, two young lads run at full pelt towards her. They want her autograph, and she's happy, if a little embarrassed, to oblige. A Garda had to jump out of the way of a speeding BMW at a checkpoint set up two weeks after Garda Tony Golden was murdered in Omeath, the district court heard last week. Shane McMahon, (21), whose address was given as 59 Garrybawn, Tom Bellew Avenue, admitted a number of offences arising out of the incident which happened at Grange Cross, Carlingford on October 25. Gda. Golden was murdered as he assisted a young woman who was leaving her violent partner, Adrian Crevan Mackin, on October 11. Extra Garda resources were deployed to North Louth in the wake of the murder and on October 25, Gardai had mounted the checkpoint at Grange Cross. Shortly before 10.30pm, a BMW approached at speed and didn't appear to slow down. Gardai signalled to the driver to stop, but McMahon didn't and an officer had to jump out of the way to avoid being hit. The car sped off in the direction of Carlingford and was stopped a short time later by members of the Emergency Response Unit (ERU) who had been contacted by their colleagues following the incident. McMahon was found to be driving, and was with a number of passengers, and when he was searched, he was found to have a knife on him. McMahon, who has 29 previous convictions, is currently serving a sentence of three years for stealing a teenager's phone at knifepoint on April 15 2013. Dundalk Circuit Court was told how the 17-year-old victim saw McMahon running behind him before he was grabbed by his top and a knife was put to his throat. His pockets were searched and McMahon stole his phone. The defendant also has convictions for assault and criminal damage. His barrister told Judge Flann Brennan last week that the death of his client's father, Seamus McMahon, who was murdered in 2010, 'seems to be at the root of all his problems'. The barrister said that while McMahon had completed his education at secondary school he couldn't continue further but that is something that he hopes to do in prison, having been told that 'if he manages his behaviour, he will get onto an education course'. The barrister added that McMahon wanted to apologise for the offence and said 'he wasn't in his right state of mind as he was on a mixture of various things he shouldn't have been on'. McMahon had already served four months on remand in relation to these offences. Judge Brennan imposed a two month sentence on all the matters before him and disqualified McMahon from driving for two years. The 21-year-old Dundalk man accused of a series of terrorist offences including making and possessing explosives at the South Armagh home he shared with his girlfriend last week claimed he deliberately sabotaged efforts to make a bomb. Keith McConnan - who is originally from Kilcurry - said that when he realised it was to be used for making explosives and not fuel laundering as he initially believed, he sabotaged two attempts as he did not want to be involved. Both McConnan and his 20-year old girlfriend Orla O'Hanlon were arrested in December 2013 after their Forkhill home was searched by PSNI officers. The couple are facing charges linked to the discovery in their rented bungalow of an industrial grinder, a Timer Power Unit and a quantity of crushed ammonium nitrate fertiliser - which the prosecution claims has been 'encountered in improvised explosive substances' in the past in the North. McConnan and O'Hanlon, from Church Road Forkhill, both deny the charges. Giving evidence at the non-jury trial at Belfast Crown Court, the former Dundalk Grammar School pupil and one-time personal trainer claimed he was acting under the instructions of a man he would name only as Mr X. He said he was acting under duress as he had been threatened by him and feared for his family's safety. McConnan refused several times to name Mr X but said he ran a gym in Dundalk, offered him a job working there and that at that time Mr X was a friend of his brother's. He told the court that in August 2013 a group of armed men called at his parents' home in Dundalk and threatened his brother, accusing him of being involved in the theft of cigarettes from a local smuggler. McConnan confirmed that around the same time he was asked by Mr X to buy a grinder, which he suspected was to be used to facilitate fuel laundering. McConnan said he agreed to buy the grinder due to fear that the threat to shoot his brother would be carried out. He didn't use his own name to buy the grinder, and according to the accused, the grinder was then brought to a shed on Forkhill Road. McConnan said he was handed a black bin liner containing a substance and told to 'make sure everything worked'. The Dundalk man claimed that when he opened the bag, he knew the substance was fertiliser and not something associated with fuel laundering. When he realised it was explosives, he said: 'I panicked initially. I was very scared. This was material which could kill people. I felt completely sick, I didn't know what to do'. He then worked out ways to ensure the grinder didn't work properly and threw what had been ground down away. Asked why he went along with it, McConnan said: "Because at the time, a lot of things were going through my head. I realised how serious this was, and I also realised my brother and my family would have been under threat if I didn't do what I had been told'. McConnan later claimed he overloaded the grinder and that Mr X was angry. A second grinder was then purchased and brought to the bungalow by McConnan under the orders of Mr X, who instructed McConnan to test the machine to make sure it worked. He said he was also given 'a small box of fertiliser' by Mr X which was to be ground down. McConnan said he did what was asked of him 'because I feared if I didn't do it what he might do or what he could do. I contemplated suicide at the time'. He said that working with Mr X and following his orders was a 'juggling act'. After being told to use the second grinder, he came up with a plan to add pinhead oats to the mix to render it useless and non-explosive. McConnan said he then called to Mr X's home with the grounded substance in a bag and was told by the other man to take it away with him. He poured it down the toilet later. The police arrived later that evening and both McConnan and O'Hanlon were arrested, and a powdery substance - which was later analysed and found to be crushed ammonium nitrate based fertilizer - was located on the surface of the grinder as well as at several other locations in the house. McConnan gave a 'no comment' interview to police, which he said was on the advice of the custody solicitor. When asked whether he had ever supported dissident republicans, or facilitated any acts of terrorism, the accused replied 'absolutely not'. Under cross examination by prosecution barrister Terence Mooney QC, McConnan was asked several times to reveal the identity of Mr X, and the consistent refusals were branded a 'charade' by the barrister. McConnan said his refusal was on the grounds that both he and his family were at risk, promoting Mr Mooney to ask McConnan: 'Do you think Mr X does not know why you are here? The whole of South Armagh knows why you are here'. Mr Mooney accused McConnan of lying about the 'true relationship' between him and Mr X, saying that instead of being 'the young innocent man' caught up he was in fact an 'integral part' of the team. When Mr Mooney said to McConnan: 'you are a terrorist who was quite willing to test his equipment to see if it would work to make a bomb', McConnan rejected this and said 'I am not a terrorist'. The trial at Belfast Crown Court continues this week. Tom 'Slab' Murphy will be sentenced on election day, February 26, after the Special Criminal Court adjourned proceedings last Friday following submissions from the defence and prosecution teams. Murphy, (66) from Ballybinaby, Hackballscross was found guilty in December on nine counts of failing to file tax returns between 1996 and 2004 and is on bail ahead of Friday week's sentencing hearing. Murphy's barrister, John Kearney QC, told last Friday's hearing there were 'blurred lines and grey areas' surrounding the Murphy family and the farming unit. He said a distinction has to be made between offences of commission and omission and he said Murphy's were of omission when he did not make tax returns. He also suggested that the loss to the State arising from the nine counts was not as great as the prosecution suggested and said that cheques in Murphy's name that were seized had been cashed by the State. His pension had been seized and tax had been paid by his brother in relation to a number of the charges. Murphy, a single man, has no previous convictions and has had his case 'hanging over him for nine or 10 years'. The barrister also said he is currently working as a yards man at a company in Crossmaglen where is a PAYE employee. The Special Criminal Court was told the Criminal Assets Bureau has issued tax assessments to Murphy for 5,344,027. Evidence was heard about ten previous cases involving similar offences, where people convicted were fined and or given suspended and custodial sentences. In each case where a person had pleaded not guilty they were sent to prison, the court heard, including Paul Begley, who was convicted of evading tax by labelling imported garlic shipments as apples. There was a wide spectrum of sentences and it was a matter for the court. A detective inspector said he would not object to any sentences imposed being made concurrently. The judges were also told the Criminal Assets Bureau found over almost 1m, sterling and cheques hidden in bales in a cattle shed on Murphy's farm. The officer said that more than 250,000 and 111,000 in cash was found during a raid at the farm in March 2006 with comprised hundreds of Gardai and members of the PSNI. Black bags hidden in bales in a cattle shed also contained two computers, ledgers, documents and over 579,000 worth of cheques. Separately, Murphy was also assessed as owing over 189,000 in taxes and interest related to income of 15,000 a year for the years 1996 to 2004. He faces a maximum of five years or a fine of up to 127,000 for each offence. The court was also told Murphy has not put any arrangements in place for repayment of the money. Murphy's lawyer asked the court to consider 'the impact of a prison sentence on a man approaching 67' before arriving at a decision and added it was 'in fact an unusual case'. He questioned the figure produced by the State as potential loss of revenue, saying: 'it rather looks like it's nowhere near the figures that have been guessed'. Mr Kearney said he accepted fully the verdict of the court but asked the judges to take into account the 'blurred lines and grey areas' surrounding the family unit and the farming unit or units. Mr Kearney said Murphy's farm had been a generally loss-making business with a 'trickle' of animal activity in terms of numbers entering and leaving the herds. He said the cases, including the Begley garlic one, put before the court were 'clearly much more serious' and a 'suspended sentence was not out of the question'. Mr Kearney said in other cases, there was a clear sentencing distinction depending on whether it was a case where a false return had been made or no return made at all. On the issue of restitution, there were 'matters which had not been finalised' and 'there is some money out there'. Taoiseach Enda Kenny made a whistlestop tour of Dundalk on Tuesday. As the election cavalcade swung into Louth, the Paypal centre became the backdrop for the Fine Gael leader. Paypal's Vice President of Global operations, Louise Phelan spoke about the progress the company has made, now employing 900 people in Dundalk, and a further 1,500 in Dublin. She highlighted one of the major indicators of economic recovery - recruitment. 'In the last 10 days alone we have recruited 51 local people. But we have gone from a situation where we had a flood of applications for each position to having to fight for the talent.' With a focus on jobs and the economy, the Taoiseach highlighted Paypal as 'an outstanding example of a foreign direct investment coming in here and growing with the community.' Facing a broad range of questions on national and local issues, he said: 'Every constituency is a challenge, and every seat is a battlefield.' On Fine Gael's campaign in Louth, he said this was being led by Peter Fitzpatrick in Dundalk and Fergus O'Dowd in Drogheda, adding: 'both stand for the principles of Fine Gael, business, more jobs, and making work pay.' 'They are well separated within the constituency and are working very well together in the sense of retaining our two seats. That's our challenge. I hope to see Peter and Fergus returned to the Dail, contributing to the Dail, and to the work of the government which is in the interest of the country.' Asked about the rise of Sinn Fein in Louth, and in particular the presence of Gerry Adams as a contender, the Taoiseach said: 'Gerry Adams is one deputy, and no more of a challenge than anybody else. Obviously Gerry Adams has a lot of questions to answer about where he has come from, and his background. He seems to not want to answer these questions.' But I don't direct the people of Louth or anywhere else to vote. I would ask them to vote for the government parties in respect of the track record we've shown and what we can do.' The transferring of Garda ERU members, moved to Louth after the murder of Garda Tony Golden, back to Dublin, was also raised with the Taoiseach. The border unit came out of the Stormont House agreement which we concluded last Christmas, and we are very happy to support that. This escalation of gangland crime has been quite provocative.' He said that dealing with 'hardened criminals' required experienced gardai. 'That's why you would draw from experience, and some of those who are in the border unit will serve in Dublin. But I would say to the people in the border area that we are very conscious of this, and we will continue to fund the force in terms of facilities and personnel.' Asked about murder cases which remain unsolved, the Taoiseach added: 'Clearly the gardai have a lot of information about the Donohoe and Golden murders. But they need proof. I would encourage anyone who has information about these murders to come forward.' 'We can't have a situation where gardai protecting the public are shot down like this. But there will be movement of garda ERU between Dublin and the border, and we will remain committed to it as we did following the Stormont House agreement.' The first nationally co-ordinated 'Local Enterprise Week' takes place around the country from March 7 to 13, 2016, and Wicklow Local Enterprise Office will be coordinating a wide array of events for the local established business community and those seeking to embark on new ventures. Aimed at anyone thinking of starting a business, new start-ups and growing SMEs, over 300 events are being planned across every county in Ireland including workshops, seminars, networking evenings and business advice clinics. More than ten separate events will be running at various venues throughout Wicklow during the week-long initiative. The first-ever Local Enterprise Week will also showcase the wide range of supports available to the local small business community, from grants to mentoring and from training to business advice. In Wicklow, the Local Enterprise Office, which is the first-stop-shop for small businesses, is the driving force behind Local Enterprise Week, working in partnership with other state bodies and agencies. The full calendar of countrywide events for Local Enterprise Week will be available through www.localenterprise.ie and by searching #localenterprise on social media. Most events are free of charge and all local businesses and aspiring entrepreneurs are invited to take part. Organisers have ensured that a varied list of events will take place as follows: On Monday, March 7 there will be a live tweeting session with a business advisor by tweeting @LEOWicklow and using the hashtag #localenterprise and the Glenview Hotel will host Business Advice Clinics. On Tuesday, March 8 the Student Enterprise Awards will take place at the Wicklow County Campus. On the same day, the campus will also host a Start your own Business course. The Start your own Business course will run at the Parkview Hotel, Newtownmountkennedy on Wednesday, March 9 while business advice clinics will run at Wicklow County Campus. On Thursday, March 10 a seminar entitled 'The internet of things' will take place at the Parkview Hotel and a Meet the Patents office will also be in operation. On Friday, March 11 a seminar about How to trade online and hwo to apply for a trading online voucher takes place at Wicklow County Campus and there will also be an EURES Advisor on hand to meet with business owners. For more information or to book a place go to www.localenterprise.ie/wicklow or call (0404) 30800. Churchtown born author Denis J Hickey, who gave the talk on the life of fellow native, Jacobite Poet Sean Clarach Mac Domhnaill, at the annual function held recently in the village to mark the death of the poet, which occurred in 1754, has himself led a chequered career in London to where he emigrated after completing his education here. Reared by the O'Sullivan family in Churchtown following the death of his young mother, Denis attended the local St. Mary's National School in the village before completing his education at Colaiste Croi Naofa, Buttevant. In London from 1954, he continued his education through Night Classes, including twice weekly Gaelic League classes. He worked at a variety of jobs including London Transport (with Churchtown pal, the late Jim Bowe), as a Compositor, Trainee Chef and the Post Office, before transferring to the P. O's Overseas Telegraph Department. He became editor of both the in-house magazine E.T.E.S.S.A and the local Post Office Workers' Union Magazine, Mercury. He founded at Quiz team at the latter employment and was a founder-member of the Mount Pleasant Quiz League which involved teams from the Daily Mirror, Daily Express, two from the Post Office as well as his own team, and a branch of the Pioneer Association (that included fellow-Churchtown man, Denis Costelloe). He also featured in the Corkman's Association Quiz Team. As Secretary of St. Patrick's Branch of the London Transport Catholic Guild, Denis raised several thousand pounds towards the building of St. Gabriel's Church, Holloway Road, (of which Newtown-born Fr. Tom McNamara was Parish Priest). He also produced a souvenir booklet to mark the opening of the church. He returned to Ireland in 1973 and found employment with the Department of Posts and Telegraphs (later Telecom Eireann), and worked in Dublin and Cork prior to settling in Limerick where he founded a popular weekly in-house magazine Live Wire and introduced the Table Quiz to Limerick quiz aficionados in 1974 as a fund-raising venture for Limerick Youth Service. He later became a Telephone Officer and was working as a PRO when he took early retirement in 1997. Denis is author of a number of a number of general knowledge quiz books (several 'ghosted' for TV personalities). He is co-author with his friend James Doherty, of A Dictionary of Irish History Since 1800 (1980), A Chorology of Irish History Since 1500 (1989) and A New Dictionary of Irish History from 1800 (2003). His magnum opus, The Annals of Churchtown, appeared in 2005 and his biography of Churchtown's Fr. Michael Tierney MSC in 2010. He has also published short-stories, children's stories and poetry. Denis lives in Limerick and is a past-President and active member of Limerick Treaty Probus. He has spoken to various groupings on topics as varied as Dr. Vincent O'Brien, the Hedge School and Jacobite Poetry. He married Doneraile woman Anna Horgan in 1963. They have two sons, John and Michael, a daughter Michelle and seven grandchildren. He sees his particular brief as a founder-member of the Churchtown Historical and Heritage Society with friends Gerry Murphy and Noel Linehan, as a means to heighten awareness of one of Churchtown's most famous sons, the Jacobite poet, Sean Clarach MacDomhnaill. He is currently engaged in an exciting new project which he hopes to have published in the foreseeable future. Farmers are reminded the law of the lands provides for their defence in the event of having to shoot dogs to protect their livestock. This reminder comes amid warnings to dog owners to keep their pets firmly under control at all times as lambing season gets underway. The IFA estimate that upwards of 3,000 livestock are lost each year to dog attacks. It's an estimate based on the average annual incidence of dog-on-sheep attacks of 300 - 400 as an average of ten sheep are killed in each attack. IFA National Sheep Chairman John Lynskey said farmers can defend any shooting of dogs in the courts if they prove the dog was shot while worrying, or about to worry, livestock and that there were no other reasonable ways of preventing the worrying, among other legal areas of defence. Teagasc recently hosted two National Sheep Conferences in Ballinasloe and Gorey. A number of topics were discussed including the acceleration of sheep genetic improvement in Ireland. The presentation on this topic was given by Noirin McHugh, Teagasc where she compared the slow progress of genetic improvement in sheep in Ireland with the rapid improvements in the dairy and beef industries. She further compared Irish sheep genetics with those of New Zealand where the sheep population declined from 68 million in 1985 to 30 million in 2014 yet the kg lamb per ewe rose from 9.8 kg to 16.8kg in the same period. Even with the drastic reduction in sheep numbers New Zealand only had a small reduction in lamb meat production during the same period. Improved genetics have played a large part in these production gains with the rate of genetic improvement in sheep in New Zealand being about three times higher than the Irish sheep industry. In comparison with Ireland over 90% of rams sold in New Zealand are sold based on their genetic evaluations. Outside of STAP discussion groups Irish sheep farmers have been slow to recognise the value of Sheep Ireland Star ratings of rams and there may be considerable scope for flock improvement given the New Zealand experience. To further examine the possibility of genetic improvement in the Irish national flock Teagasc has imported 180 top genetic merit Kiwi ewes in 2015 for comparison trials on performance traits with Irish top genetic merit ewes. The trial will last for four years and will allow an assessment of the suitability of NZ genetics for the Irish sheep industry. Sheep Ireland is responsible for the establishment of genetic indices for rams in Ireland. Star rating are assigned for different traits with 1 star rating being in the lower 20% for a given trait and a 5 star rating being in the top 20%. These sheep values indices are split into two groups - Terminal and Replacement indices. Rams with good terminal indices should produce live, quick maturing lambs with little lambing difficulty. Rams with good replacement indices will have an emphasis placed on maternal traits such as milk yield, lamb survivability and ease of lambing. Star rating genetic indices should be used as a selection tool when selecting rams but care should be taken when selecting the traits of importance to the management of a flock. The accuracy of the index is important as well - as the higher the accuracy/reliability of the rams assessment the more likely the required results will be achieved when using a ram. There is great potential for improvement in efficiency in sheep production through genetics in Ireland. The Government has "failed miserably" with their delivery of high speed broadband. That was the view of FF spokesperson on communications, Michael Moynihan. He outlined how on This Weeks in Politics which was aired on December 20, 2015, Minister Simon Coveney said that the Government's approach to broadband is that, 'we've lost patience with the pace of roll out, particularly in isolated rural areas." Deputy Moynihan said it was a "stunning admission" by a minister that his Government has "failed miserably" with their delivery of high speed broadband. Deputy Moynihan outlined in 2011, the Government had promised that by 2015 to make significant investments in next generation broadband and to deliver fibre to 90% of homes and businesses. "The facts don't lie - Ireland ranks 42 in global rankings for the distribution of high-speed broadband, while 40% of the population - and 96% of the country, geographically - still lack commercial or fibre coverage," said Deputy Moynihan. He said FF has a plan which they can implement immediately with the roll out to all households and businesses of access of fibre optic broadband capable of providing up to 1000 mega bites per second in download speeds. A victim of an assault by a North Corkman died from traumatic brain injury due to a fall during the incident in Cork city centre last year, an inquest into the man's death has heard. Vincent Morgain (37) died from traumatic brain injury following a fall with complications due to liver disease and low platelets, Assistant State Pathologist Dr Margaret Bolster told the inquest. Det Insp Declan O'Sullivan told Cork City Coroner's Court that criminal proceedings had begun in the case and he applied to have the inquest adjourned until they have concluded. Cork City Coroner, Dr Myra Cullinane granted the application under Section 25 of the Coroner's Act and adjourned the inquest into the death of Mr Morgain, a French national, until April 28 next. Earlier this month, a 22 year old North Corkman was remanded in custody for sentence after he pleaded guilty at Cork Circuit Criminal Court to the manslaughter of Mr Morgain. Daniel O'Sullivan with an address at Carrowkeel in Mallow pleaded guilty to unlawfully killing Mr Morgain at Lower Oliver Plunkett St in Cork city on September 10, 2015. A native of Brittany, Mr Morgain died in the Mercy University Hospital on September 15, 2015 following injuries sustained in the assault on Lower Oliver Plunkett Street some five days earlier. Mr Morgain, who had worked as a chef in Killarney until he fell on hard times, had moved to Cork and was staying at the Simon Hostel on Anderson Quay in Cork city at the time of his death. O'Sullivan's barrister, Elizabeth O'Connell BL, told the court that her client was anxious to be sentenced for the crime at the current criminal sittings which continue until February 26. However, prosecution barrister Donal O'Sullivan BL told Judge Sean O'Donnabhain that it would not be possible for logistical reasons to finalise the matter during the current criminal sittings. The court required a Victim Impact Statement from Mr Morgain's family, who live in France, and arrangements must be put in place to allow them travel to Cork for the sentencing hearing, he said. Judge O Donnabhain adjourned the matter until April 21st for sentence and he remanded O'Sullivan, in custody to appear again on that date when it is expected to finalise the criminal proceedings. He also recommended that O'Sullivan receive whatever counselling is deemed necessary while in prison on foot of an application by Ms O'Connell who said her client was finding prison difficult. A judge told a man who was the principal organiser of staged car accidents that had he not pleaded guilty, he would have faced a five year jail sentence. At Cork Circuit Criminal, Judge Sean O'Donnabhain jailed Tommy Maher (51) of Scarteen, Newmarket for his role in staged car accidents which cost insurance companies 200,000 in false insurance claims. Judge O'Donnabhain said a continuous campaign of deception against insurance companies through fake accidents would end up being paid for by "Sean Citizen." Mr Maher had one year of a three-year jail sentence suspended for his role in organising six fraudulent car crashes at the centre of a garda investigation - code-named Operation Nascar. As reported in The Irish Examiner, the same modus operandi was used in each case. Eight or nine people met up before an accident, travelled to the scene in two cars, everyone got out except the driver of one car who crashed into an empty car in front. The passengers then jumped in and calls were made to gardai and the ambulance service and complaints of soft tissue injuries such as whiplash were reported to the emergency services who arrived at the scene. This was followed up by claims against insurance companies including, Axa, Aviva and Quinn (Liberty). Judge Sean O Donnabhain, at Cork Circuit Criminal Court, said Maher was deeply and continuously involved so there was no option other than impose a custodial sentence. "His plea of guilty has to be taken into account. These cases, if they went on would have been particularly difficult to prove, they would have been long and complex cases. All of that did not have to happen because of his admission of guilt. He is entitled to a significant deduction for that. "He has expressed considerable remorse. He has put meat on that bone by providing 25,000 from his own resources by way of compensation. "Had he not pleaded guilty then I think a sentence of five years would certainly be in order. He has been involved in another set of offences, of which the sergeant gave me video evidence of this man bringing people to the scene, collecting people before that," he said. Mr Maher put his knowledge of the insurance industry into the organisation of the fake car accidents and one time was seen directing a rogue driver to reverse and drive into the car ahead a second time to cause more damage. Det Sgt Sean Leahy said there were staged accidents at Redbarn Cross in Youghal on April 20, 2011, at Clash West in Leamlara on June 18, 2011 and at Model Farm Road in Cork city on February 17, 2011. Sgt Noel Madden gave evidence of staged accidents at Monastery Hill, Rochestown, Cork, on December 6, 2011; Carrigane, Mitchelstown, on August 28, 2012, and at Clyda Bridge, Mallow, on September 26, 2012. As soon as the insurers agreed to settle the cases and pay out various sums rather than having the cases contested in court the passengers were advised to take what was offered and pass it on to the organisers who would give them a percentage of the payment. "They were recruited prior to the traffic accident and told to go to the scene where the cars would collide and they would hop in after the accident," Det Sgt Leahy said. Donal O'Sullivan, defending, said Maher was not saying he was a foot soldier in the crimes, he was admitting to playing a role as an organiser but did so with others who also organised the crimes. Character evidence on Maher's behalf came from former curate at Doneraile, Anthony Sheehan. There were 50 arrests made in the investigation. Robert Smyth, head of fraud at Aviva General Insurance said they have a duty to their customers to "fight fraud" relentlessly and they will continue to collaborate with Gardai in tackling the problem. It was his view in court that they key to reducing insurance fraud is to eliminate the financial incentive. " This can be achieved by replacing monetary compensation with medical care for whiplash type injuries.These criminals are clearly not injured and have no interest in receiving medical attention. We estimate that fraudulent claims cost our customers at least 50 per private motor insurance policy," he said. Judge said he would have jailed Maher him for five years if he hadn't pleaded guilty Players taking part in a Soccer game on the Beach during the Blackrock Seaside Festival. South West tourism got a boost this week as a three-page article highlighting the delights of Cork and Kerry appeared in a recent edition of daily Swedish newspaper, Svenska Dagbladet, profiling the region to some 370,000 readers. Tourism Ireland and Failte Ireland took the initiative of inviting journalist Emma V Larsson to visit here last autumn and following her trip, she wrote a wonderfully complimentary piece under the headline 'Nine Must-dos in Ireland's South West'. The editorial featured stunning views of Cork and Kerry, including panoramic vistas of the Gap of Dunloe and suggested the best way to experience its splendour might be a horse-back ride through it. The article recommended hiking on Carrauntoohil, and encouraged folk to embark on a dolphin and whale watching-trip to Baltimore. It said that few places are as beautiful as Inch Beach and described Dingle as this charming gem and stated Kinsale is a postcard perfect town, as well as been renowned for its culinary excellence. Aileen Hickey, Tourism Ireland's Manager for the Nordic Region, was delighted with the positive exposure. "This was an excellent way of showcasing the South West to a large audience of potential holidaymakers in Sweden. Publicity is an important element of our overall promotional programme, helping to raise awareness through the Swedish media of the many things to see and do on a holiday in Ireland." A benefit Night in aid of Premature Babies takes place in McHugh's Venue on April 1 from 8pm. All proceeds will be divided between the Neonatal Unit in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda, Irish Premature Babies and The Ride Out for Prems. A night sure to be filled with music and laughter and a fantastic raffle on the night. Up for grabs is Concert tickets, restaurant vouchers, beauty hampers and many many more Tickets can be purchased from McHughes or contact Jacqui on 0877165046 - jacquioshaugh@hotmail.com Irish Premature Babies are a charity that help families of prem babies by way of providing a breast pump at a very reduced rate, to providing free lactation support and when families are away from home to be with their baby IPB do their utmost to take some off the financial burden away from these families. The Ride Out for Prems is an annual motorbike ride around Ireland to raise money for vital life saving equipment for the NICU Units. Sun, sea, sex and skulduggery are the key ingredients of writer-director Luca Guadagnino's spicy cinematic cocktail, which elegantly updates the erotically charged 1969 thriller La Piscine from St Tropez to the rugged Sicilian island of Pantelleria. Simmering sexual tensions of the original have been turned up to a furious boil in A Bigger Splash, which demands full-frontal nudity from almost the entire cast as the battle of the sexes claims at least one casualty. The striking backdrop of a volcanic Mediterranean island is an apt metaphor for the dormant desires of morally conflicted characters, who threaten to erupt under sustained provocation. The four protagonists all seem capable of inflicting a fatal blow and breaking the heady spell of the untamed idyll. It's this air of uncertainty and impending doom which electrifies every frame of Guadagnino's stylistically specific vision. Once again, the filmmaker collaborates with Oscar-winning British actress Tilda Swinton and gifts her a plum role as a David Bowie-esque glam rock doyenne called Marianne Lane, who is recuperating from surgery on her vocal chords. Medically enforced silence forces Swinton to convey tortuous emotions through movement rather than words, allowing her co-stars to inflict damage with their well-placed verbal grenades. Marianne has retreated to a villa on Pantelleria with her boyfriend, documentary filmmaker Paul De Smedt (Matthias Schoenaerts), who has tamed her wild, drug-crazed excesses while shaking himself free of alcoholism. During a lazy afternoon on a secluded beach, Marianne receives a telephone call from her old flame, boorish record producer Harry Hawkes (Ralph Fiennes), who has arrived unexpectedly on the island. It's clear that Harry has arrived with an ulterior motive - to drive a wedge between the couple - and he has brought along his alluring teenage daughter, Penelope (Dakota Johnson), to distract Paul. 'Underneath, she's a lovely bitch like her mother,' jokes Harry. Worming his way into the guest room at Marianne's secluded villa, Harry charms housekeeper Clara (Elena Bucci) and wallows in nostalgia to remind the hostess of happy times with him. Marianne remains by Paul's side until the two men finally lock horns. 'You have no idea of the stuff I got her off,' rages Harry. 'I got her off you,' counters Paul bluntly. Sharing its title with a 1967 David Hockney painting, A Bigger Splash is energized by Fiennes' unflinching portrayal of an emotional wrecking ball. A centrepiece sequence of the actor gyrating wildly to The Rolling Stones' hit Emotional Rescue - an ironic musical choice - truly smacks our gobs. Swinton is in imperious form and on-screen chemistry with Schoenaerts is molten like freshly spewed lava. Johnson is scorched by her co-stars, but shows greater depth than Fifty Shades Of Grey afforded her. Writer-director Guadagnino repeatedly turns up the heat until we're itching for a cooling dip in the ominously blue waters of Marianne's pool. The late Sister Andrea was born Annie Kelly in Glasgow, Scotland in 1922. She trained as a nurse-midwife and worked in Glasgow as a midwife and health visitor before joining the Medical Missionaries of Mary in 1959. After profession she was assigned to Kenya, where she first served for 4 years, initially helping with famine relief in the Turkana Desert. This involved coordination of food transportation and distribution. After 6 years back in Ireland in various nursing duties, Sister Andrea returned to Kenya in 1973. She was to spend 20 years there, mainly in remote missions in the Turkana region. Services were started according to the needs and Andrea worked in health education, nursing, administration, and in a nursery school. She served as MMM bursar and provided hospitality for visitors. She spent her last few years in Kenya as a hospice nurse in Nairobi. She also helped with mission awareness work in England. Sister Andrea returned to Ireland in 1999 and helped as sacristan and telephonist in the Motherhouse. She learned to play the organ and provided music for community ceremonies. Because of deteriorating health she moved to the nursing facility, Aras Mhuire in January 2016. She died there peacefully on 6 February 2016. "Be Irish in thought, word and deed. Never forget your Irish heritage or traditions and remember that everything you have today you owe to the 1916 leaders who went out and risked their lives for us." If ever a man had the right to echo such words it was Larry Grogan. He was speaking to pupils of St. Brigid's Girl's school, Drogheda as part of the 50th anniversary of the Rising. Mr. Grogan was vice-chairman of the 1916 commination committee which had organised an essay and question competition among Drogheda schoolchildren. The students of St. Brigid's School showed such outstanding ability and such a wide knowledge of the 1916 period that the committee decided that they deserved recognition for their meritorious efforts. They were presented with a beautifully inscribed scroll, signed on behalf of the committee by Bean Ui Cairbre, Mrs. Detta Martin and Mr Patrick Carr. On the platform for the ceremony were Colr.Carr, Mr. Grogan, Mrs. Martin, Mr. Joseph Keenan and Miss Dowling, Principal of St. Brigid's. Mr. Grogan apologised for addressing the children in English. "I am getting on in years" he said, "and when I was your age, the Irish language was taboo. Now, thank God, it is not". He said that this was a very happy occasion for him, as he loved to see the children getting the culture they deserved- Irish Culture. He told the students that they were very fortunate in their teaching staff and urged them to appreciate this fact. "You are the future mothers of the race and on you a lot depends," he added. Mrs. Martin, having paid tribute to Miss Dowling and her staff, told the children that they has done wonderfully well in the essay and Question Time contests. Amongst the students of St. Brigid's who helped the school in its achievements were: Question Time Contestants- Cepta Kellett, Marion McKenna, Valerie Kelly and Mary McCormack. Essay Writers - Mary McCormack, Valerie Kelly, Colette Victory, Mary Clinton and Margaret Carr. Launch of Drogheda Young Innovators. Breanndain Casey of The Mill, Eddie Carey of Coca Cola, Geoff Fitzpatrick of Fitz Scientific and representatives from Scoil Ui Mhuiri, Dunleer Drogheda's Transition Year Students have the chance to come up with the next great invention that will change the world, make them famous, or even enable them to become multi-billionaires. The 2016 "Drogheda Young Innovators" Competition was launched on 8th February, and applications are now being accepted from all seven secondary schools in Drogheda, and from schools in Dunleer and Laytown. Organised by a voluntary group of teachers, and local business people, the competition challenges Drogheda's students to think about an innovating career in science, social enterprise, or business. "The Drogheda Young Innovators competition has been a great success over the past few years, and highlights the incredible talent that is in the region", said Breanndan Casey, the BDM of The Mill Enterprise Centre. Breanndan continued "This year the programme is being supported by some innovative local companies, such as State Street, Coca-Cola International Services, East Coast Bakehouse, Fitz Scientific, Paycheck Plus, and Mor Solutions. It is great to see local companies showing their support to youth entrepreneurship projects in Drogheda, and fantastic that we can highlight innovation that is taking place every day in our community". Anna Keller of Coca-Cola International Services commented "We're delighted to be hosting an innovation workshop at Coca-Cola for all the participating students on 3rd March. 'We are confident that it will open students to new ways of thinking, and act as an idea generator for applying to the DYI Competition. Coca-Cola is 130 years old, and it's critical that we maintain our original focus on innovation in order to meet and exceed the demands of our customers, suppliers, and partners". Le Cheile STUDENTS at Le Cheile's had a great experience with storyteller, Niall De Burca, organised as part of their Erasmus+ project, Magic and Myths Unite Europe. From morning to evening, Niall had the pupils (and teachers!) mesmerised by his talents. He pitched his stories perfectly for each grouping, from Fionn and the Giant for the Infants session to Banshees for the Senior classes. His delivery of each story was entertaining and captivating, he had each of his audiences in the palm of his hands. Niall was invited to Le Cheile as part of work on Activity Two of the Magic and Myths Unite Europe project. Activity Two requires each partner school to examine myths and legends in their own country. In Le Cheile, each class group has selected a myth, legend or story from Ireland to take a closer look at. Some classes are looking at familiar stories such as The Salmon of Knowledge and The Children of Lir. Others are checking out less known stories like Boann-The Story of the Boyne. Other classes are looking at mythical characters and the stories connected with them, such as Leprechauns. Children have produced digital projects, comic strips, artwork, dramas and plays and stop go animations to name but a few! All work created will be presented to the other project participants later this week in Finland. After school, Niall gave a short workshop on the art of storytelling for the teachers. He provided sources for other myths, legends and folklore. He also gifted the school some CDs of the myths and legends he told during the day. Niall's entertaining, yet educational and informative, style was the perfect addition to this activity of the project. He praised the work done on the project to date and encouraged all in Le Cheile to become storytellers in our own right. Work on Activity Two of Le Cheile's Magic and Myths Unite Europe project also included a film day, where senior children in the school were treated to a showing of myths that had been made into films. Sixth and Fifth class watched The Song of the Sea, while Fourth and Third class viewed The Secret of Kells. Later this week, three teachers and Le Cheile principal, Fiona Rock, will travel to Hameenlinna, Finland to meet their European partner school representatives. Here they will hold the project's second Transnational Project Meeting. Work on Activity Two will be presented and ideas to organise Activity Three of the project will be discussed. To find out more about Le Cheile's Erasmus+ project please check out the school website www.lecheileetns.com or the project's website www.magicandmythsuniteeurope.weebly.com . Greenhills TY Mini-Company As part of their school business plan, four TY students, under the guidance of Ms Grimes, from Our Lady's College, Greenhills, proposed the idea of producing and selling hoodies for their school business plan. The hoodies were of a high quality and had the school crest on the front and the TY logo on the back with the signatures of all 96 TY students. The hoodies were very good value at 25 euro and the profit from the sale was donated to the local Gary Kelly Centre. The project was a great success and the students were delighted when Ann Tracey arrived to collect the cheque from the students. BELOW: Greenhills crew, Ms Grimes, Tammy Whelan, Emma Loughran, Britney Omosigho, Olivia Morgan and Ann Tracey. On Thursday next eight entrepreneurs will go head-to-head in the final of the New Frontiers Programme Pitch Competition. Over the past 12 months each finalist has set out to create and grow their own business, giving up full-time jobs in the process, to follow their dreams. They've received a lot of support along the way from Enterprise Ireland, the Local Enterprise Offices, the Regional Development Centre (RDC) in DkIT and from Invent DCU. But now, it all comes down to a 5-minute pitch and the chance to pick up the 15,000 prize sponsored by AIB, PKF-FPM, the RDC, Everian IT and the Dundalk Argus. To reach the final, they've already beaten off the challenge from 45 other start-ups from all over the North East region. Competition is fundamental in business. It's what entrepreneurs live for. The cut and thrust of business means getting one over the competition this time, perhaps losing out the next. It's the uncertainty of it all that makes it so interesting. For these eight entrepreneurs, the competition has just gotten a lot hotter. New Frontiers is Ireland's national entrepreneur development programme, delivered at local level by institutes of technology and funded by Enterprise Ireland. If you have an innovative business idea and are planning to establish and run your own company, the New Frontiers Programme can provide you with help and support to accelerate your business development and to equip you with the skills and contacts that you need to successfully start and grow your company. Launched in February 2012, the programme's primary purpose is to accelerate the development of sustainable new businesses that have strong employment and growth potential and contribute to job creation and economic activity in regional locations. This week there was great excitement in St Mary's Diocesan School as the Eastern Regional Finalists of The Junk Kouture Competition where announced, and the King of Kingz costume became the only finalist to hail from a Drogheda School. The competition is launched annually in September with information packs being sent to all secondary schools across the country. Students are challenged to create a wearable couture design and submit the photos of their finished outfit online by midnight on January 29th, 2016. A maximum of three students can work on a single design. The rules stipulate that designs must be made from reworked trash or other used materials that are beyond their intended purpose. The next step involves the judges whittling the submitted designs down to just 80 per region - north, south, east and west. The successful designs are the semi-finalists and subsequently the students must choreograph a performance to showcase their outfit on the catwalk in one of four regional semi-finals held in theatres across the country. The chosen model has 90 seconds to impress the judging panel on the catwalk and if successful he/ she will be one of the twenty designs progressing to the glamorous grand final of the competition. So now the hard work begins, as "The King of Kingz" Luke Kelly and his fellow designers Dylan Murphy, Sam Kelly, and Robert O Donnell prepare for the Final in the Helix on Monday 7th March. Accompanied by their Woodwork teacher, Roisin Curtis, and their fellow classmates, they are hoping to wow the judges and give a regal and memorable performance. With 10% of the overall judging going on voting alone, please like the TY CRAFTS facebook page to see how you can help vote and support these magnificent guys on their Junk Kouture journey. There were jigs and reels aplenty as an incredible 500 Irish Dancers descended on Naul GAA Club for the annual Balbriggan Feis which was held to raise funds for the Balbriggan and North County Branch of Irish Guide Dogs. The branch extended its sincerest thanks to Damien O'Shaughnessy and Anne McFadden for organising such a wonderful weekend which all who took part in enjoyed. This year, Andrew Green, a new guide dog owner to Balbriggan and a member of the local branch spoke on what his guide dog Nico has meant to him since he got him in November 2014. Unfortunately for Andrew, Nico sustained a cruciate ligament injury and went back to head office of guide dogs Cork in February 2015. But there was a happy ending when after receiving wonderful medical treatment in Cork, he made a full recovery. Andrew's mobility was restored once again to him when he picked up Nico in August 2015 and as he said at the Feis, it was a wonderful day for the second time getting Nico back and starting to enjoy the huge freedom he gets from his guide dog. It was a great event for an even better cause and if you would like to volunteer to help out at the local branch of Irish Guide Dogs, you can find out more and even volunteer your services send an email to guidedogsbalbriggan@gmail.com or ring 085 7663107. A team of 96 volunteers and students from Portmarnock Community School has headed off to Lesotho once again to lend a hand and strengthen ties with the region ever deeper through their work with the Action Ireland Trust. This year's mission is a celebration of 10 years work in South Africa and Lesotho. Action Ireland Trust CEO, Fran Whelan recently explained that over the 10 years over 500 transition year students and 800 volunteers had travelled and carried out great work including building feeding centres, creches and early learning centres for Friends in Ireland wherby they now feed over 1000 children daily in the Eastern Cape. Fran told of Action Ireland Trust's work across a wide range of skill exchange programmes. Primary Healthcare at St. Joseph's Hospital in Roma, Lesotho, with very busy out patients department and assisting local medical teams in remote villages. The Teacher Training Programme has now under the guidance of Niall Fitzgerald, Chairman of Action Ireland Trust and Michael McGlynn have expanded to 10 schools in remote villages. Dublin Fire Brigade continue to support fire training in the capital Maseru and Country Crest also continue to work closely with the co-op established at Ha Hlalele and advise on better planting techniques and resultant better yields. It has also been highlighted by Fran that Fingal County Council's work in supporting Planning and Development in Lesotho was immeasurable and the success of the Map Lesotho will yield great results for years to come. The more recent partnership with UNICEF was also mentioned and the commencement of the first Early Childhood Development Centre will take place this month. This is one of the first of its kind in Sub Saharan Africa and will be of significant assistance in getting children into the educational system early. Each February, Portmarnock Community School sends more than 50 transition year students, parents, teachers and friends with a cross section of skills in construction, health and education to engage in a program of work in impoverished areas in countries in Southern Africa. The project enjoys the support of the Lesotho government, Fingal County Council, Dublin Fire Brigade and most importantly the generosity of the communities of Portmarnock, Malahide and surrounding areas who have now been backing this annual venture for a decade and it shows no signs of slowing. Members of several sea angling clubs in the Fingal area are up in arms over a bollard which has been placed at the slip way at Rush Harbour calling it 'ridiculous' and 'an inconvenience.' The demountable bollard, which was put in place by Fingal County Council in recent weeks, as it received a number of complaints from harbour users of obstructive parking on the slipway. However, a Rush resident and regular user of the water at the harbour, Peter Warren told the Fingal Independent, that no harbour users have been complaining of obstructive parking. Peter, who is a member of Howth Sea Angling Club, said: 'It's now a crazy inconvenience. The council have now obstructed the slipway and we want them to take it away. I can assure you I have spoken to many harbour users and members of the angling clubs who use it and no-one complained of obstructive parking.' He said the slipway, which is used to launch boats into the sea, has been used for many years by members sea angling clubs in Rush, Loughshinny, Balbriggan and Howth as well as regular users of the harbour. 'The members of these clubs have criticised the placing of this bollard here,' said Peter. 'We are all harbour users and none of us have made complaints. I walk the harbour regularly and have never seen the slipway being obstructed or blocked. Ironically, it's the Council now who have blocked it. So now we have to phone a Berthing Master when we want to gain access to the slipway. I just hope he works seven days a week, 24 hours a day - otherwise we could be sitting there for hours waiting on him to come along and unlock the bollard to allow us access to the slipway.' Reiterating Mr Warren's comments, Bob Byrne, Secretary of Howth Sea Angling Club said 'The sea angling clubs in North Dublin all use this slipway on a regular basis, for leisure and for competitions in aid of charities. Because of the bollard being placed there, this area is now out for us. It's also a concern for us on a safety aspect. We now have to phone a Berthing Master, who may not be around for several hours, to unlock the bollard. But what happens if a boat breaks down and we can't get out to it? I've never seen a slipway having a bollard blocking it before. It's a huge concern for us.' Mr Warren explained that for the past 200 to 300 years the slipway has been used - without it being blocked with a bollard. 'It's a right-of-way and many, many years ago farmers used it to collect seaweed to fertilise their land. No-one can use it now and I just think the Council don't want people to enjoy this facility we have here. We get anglers coming over from the UK to use the harbour and now this is just going to hinder our tourist industry.' Fingal County Council confirmed that access to the slipway can be arranged by contacting Sean Mooney, Berthing Master at 087-281 7505, who can unlock the demountable bollard. An attempt to effectively ban the practice of 'fracking' in Fingal has been described as 'premature' by the council executive who argued that the local authority should wait for a national policy on the issue before deciding whether or not, fracking should be allowed in Fingal. Fracking is the process of drilling down into the earth before a high-pressure water mixture is directed at the rock to release the gas inside. Water, sand and chemicals are injected into the rock at high pressure which allows the gas to flow out to the head of the well. The process is hugely controversial and has given rise to environmental concerns and has even been linked to earth tremors. Cllr Darragh Butler (FF) sought to effectively outlaw the practice in Fingal in a motion suggesting an amendment to the new Fingal County Development Plan to 'prohibit the process of hydraulic fracturing or fracking, within Fingal'. In a written response to Cllr Butler's proposal, the county executive explained that there is 'no current Government policy on the process of 'fracking' in Ireland'. The council report states: 'However, the Government has noted that it won't consider issuing the relevant exploration licences to permit such activity until a major study on fracking is completed by the EPA to enable informed decision making. 'This study is not completed to date, so the future potential of fracking in Ireland is therefore uncertain.' The council said that the EPA has commissioned a research programme into the potential impacts of unconventional gas exploration and extraction on the environment and human health. This all-island programme of research, which is being administered by the EPA, involves field studies as well as an extensive desk-based literature review of unconventional gas exploration and extraction practices and regulations worldwide. This scientific research programme considers existing baseline data with respect to groundwater, air and seismicity, and the potential implications and mitigations that are required to be considered to understand the environmental impacts of using this technology and whether it can be undertaken in an environmentally protective manner. The council executive, argued in the light of all that work that still has to be completed: 'The outcome of this EPA study will provide the scientific basis to inform decision makers and until such time as Government Policy surrounding the fracking process is prepared, it would be inappropriate to insert an objective into the Development Plan to prohibit such activity at this time.' Cllr Butler withdrew his motion pending the results of those studies. Up to 100 jobs could be at risk at Hertz in Swords after the company confirmed to the media that it is beginning a consultation process on a restructuring programme with its Dublin staff, 900 of whom are based in Swords. The company has not confirmed how many jobs will be lost but it is estimated that as many as 100 jobs could be at risk in its Irish workforce, a considerable chunk of which, is in its Swords operation. The company called a meeting of the affected workers last Wednesday afternoon. It is understood that the company plans to outsource a number of roles within the company and similar moves are happening elsewhere in the car hire firm's global operations. In a statement, the company said that it was 'embarking on a modernisation initiative that will transform certain functional areas within its service centres in 2016'. But it held out some hope for the Swords workers in its statement, insisting that its European Service Centre, based in the Fingal capital was 'strategically important' in its global operations and that the workforce at is Swords base was 'highly valued'. Criminals suspected of involvement in the brutal killing of a young mother in Swords, almost a decade ago, are now being linked to the recent killing of Eddie Hutch Snr. The normally quiet Holywell estate in Swords was rocked by the brutal murder of Latvian mother, Baiba Saulite, back in 2006 when she was gunned down at her home. Residents awoke to the sight of a crime scene and a handful of reporters and cameramen gathered as the Garda Technical Bureau carried out forensic tests in and around the Holywell Square house. At the time, one resident told the Fingal Independent at the time: 'I know everyone to see and it's generally a safe area, but it shows you never really know what's going on next door. The way Ireland is going it seems there's on average a murder a week. No matter where you are you aren't safe.' Members of the gang suspected of being involved in the murder of taxi driver, Eddie Hutch Snr last week, are also suspected for the shooting dead of the young mother on the Swords estate. Baiba Saulite was gunned down in November 2006 as she smoked a cigarette at her front door while her two young sons slept inside, in a crime that shocked the nation. Her suspected killers were associated with a Dublin crime boss who was subsequently executed. Several media reports now claim that Gardai suspect the same pair were among the four-member hit team sent to kill Eddie Hutch Snr, the older brother of Gerry 'The Monk' Hutch, last week. The hit team were allegedly carrying out a revenge attack for the execution of David Byrne in the Regency Hotel attack, the previous week. The worrying escalation in gangland violence in recent weeks has shocked the country but Taoiseach, Enda Kenny has said he has full confidence in Garda Commissioner, Noirin O'Sullivan's ability to tackle gangland crime. He also said he did not think new laws were necessary to deal with the issue. 'The gardai and the special units - the emergency response unit - have dealt with this on other occasions,' he said. News of the extension of the Enniscorthy bypass beyond Oylegate was greeted at the meeting by Cllr Paddy Kavanagh. County Manager Tom Enright said he received approval from Transport Infrastructure Ireland that the project could proceed beyond Oylegate. Cllr Kavanagh welcomed the news, describing the decision as logical as otherwise drivers coming from Bray to Rosslare would be held up in a bottleneck in the village. 'The word is out that this is happening. We need an information meeting,' he said. Mr Enright said a 200 metre wide corridor will be built east of Oylegate, adding that it is unlikely to be completed until after the bypass is finished. 'We have to CPO the lands and go to tender for the contractor. The fact that we have two big bypass contracts we should get a competitive price,' he added. A Wexford man has been found guilty to two charges of sexual assault, in which a woman claimed she was assaulted in her hotel bedroom, by majority verdict. Following deliberations at Wexford Circuit Court from Wednesday to Saturday and Monday, the jury of seven men and five women came back with a majority verdict mid-morning yesterday (Monday) having failed to reach a unanimous verdict. The man cannot be named for legal reasons. The defendant had pleaded not guilty to sexual assault on October 11, 2008, at a Wexford hotel. He had also pleaded not guilty to burglary. Following the verdict, Defence Counsel John Peart asked for sentencing to be adjourned to a future date to allow time for a victim impact report and a Probation and Welfare report. Prosecuting Counsel Sinead Gleeson said there was no objection to the application on condition that the defendant lodged his passport with a County Wexford garda station. Remanding the defendant on continuing bail, Judge Barry Hickson adjourned sentencing in the trial, which yesterday entered its fourth week, to April 19. In her closing speech on Friday, Ms Gleeson told the jury that this was a very straightforward case and described the victim as a very credible witness who was consistent in giving her evidence in the trial. She said: 'Why would she come and tell lies in the witness box? She complained to her sister immediately.. she was distraught on the bed with her knees up to her chest.' Ms Gleeson said her client was digitally assaulted by the man, adding that it was a strange and unusual case, 'but these things do happen'. She said it was no secret that the hotel room door was open and the defendant verified every detail her client outlined, except for the alleged offending behaviour. Ms Gleeson said two lower vaginal swabs showed blood, according to the evidence of a witness. Ms Gleeson said the defendant varied his account of what happened in his Garda statements, asking: 'Why didn't he go to his parents? The golden thread right throughout is inconsistency. He gives one explanation and then he gives another.. he had the opportunity and he took it.' She said the defendant said he drank ten pints and four or five shots on the night. In his closing speech, defending barrister John Peart said a medical expert in the trial said there was no injury. He said there was no forensic evidence in the case due to a 'shambles' in the transmission of test samples. 'This is a case where there is really only a complaint.' He questioned the evidence given by the complainant and her sister, adding that the jury can expect to find inconsistencies in his client's evidence as statements were given months after the alleged offence occurred. On Thursday, Garda Inspector Denis Whelan, now based in Bray but working as a sergeant in Wexford at the time of the events being reviewed by the court, was called as witness. He told how he attended the hotel in response to the call received on the morning from the lady in question. Inspector Whelan left his colleague Mark Whitty there as he decided to investigate by going from door to door along the hotel corridor. In a room next door to the victim's, he met two young persons, the then 17-year-old defendant and his younger brother. He asked the defendant to fetch his parents from an adjoining room as he started questioning the older boy. The youth said it was after 3 a.m. when he and his sibling left the wedding reception they had been attending in the hotel He recalled that the next door room door was open. The defendant told him he went in and shook the 'girl' (in fact an adult woman) who was there in the bed in an attempt to wake her up. He then left to go to his own accommodation with his brother. The youth told the then-sergeant that he did not feel sound of mind and said he went back to the woman's room and continued trying to wake her. He insisted that he did not touch her anywhere but around the shoulders and head. When she did wake up, she was very upset and told him to get the f*** out. The defendant repeated this version of events with some variations over the course of several interviews. 'I wanted to see if she was all right,' he told investigators at one stage in explanation of why he went into the wrong room. He was concerned that she might have been drinking, he suggested, and did not like the way she was lying on the bed. In several interviews, he stated that he had drunk ten pints of beer during the day and several shots of a spirit he believed was whiskey. This was enough to make him 'tipsy, going on drunk' but not, he felt, paralytic. He denied taking any of the women's clothes, touching her breast or her private parts. No evidence was heard last Tuesday because one of the jurors was unwell, but on Wednesday the case resumed, with the jury hearing cross examination of Garda Whitty by Mr Peart. Garda Whitty confirmed that samples taken by Doctor Mary Hooper from the victim had been sent to the forensic laboratory in the Phoenix Park. Also dispatched to the lab were saliva samples taken with the consent of the man while he was in garda custody for questioning in February of 2009, some months after the date of the incident in the hotel during October of 2008. The garda confirmed that clothing was sent too, including a striped shirt, black shoes, a pair of underpants, pyjamas, socks and a jacket. He told Mr Peart that no swabs were taken from the hands and fingernails of the man at the time that the allegation of molestation came to light. Dr Maureen Smyth, a former director of DNA services at the Forensic Science Laboratory, who retired in 2014, was called to the witness box to recall that she reviewed the file on the material referred to the lab. She said that, as it was accepted that there had been close contact between the complainant and the defendant, she did not recommend DNA profiling. The presence of DNA on any of the material would not differentiate between the different types of contact: 'forensics can be misinterpreted,' she remarked. In reply to questions from defence counsel, she confirmed that her colleagues in toxicology department did not test for alcohol. Drink was not considered an issue in the case as the woman reported clear recollections of what happened. The barrister recalled that the complainant accepted that she had consumed half a bottle of white wine, four bottles of Ritz, a Sambuca and a drink called a 'B52'. Mr Peart pointed out that it was alleged that his client had put his finger in the woman's private parts and he wondered whether this, if true, would leave DNA. The scientist assured him that any such DNA would be undetectable and, therefore, the profiling was not recommended. The third witness of the day was Doctor Hooper, a GP attached to the sexual assault treatment unit in Waterford Regional. She was on duty early on the afternoon of October 11, 2008 when Garda Caroline Coffey arrived with the complainant who had no external injuries when examined from head to toe. However, blood showed up on vaginal swabs, though she was not menstruating at the time. Garda Coffey now based in Cahir, County Tipperary, told how she joined Garda Whitty, then-sergeant Whelan and student garda Pat Doyle at the hotel. She said she went to the hotel room where she found the victim and her sister, the former is an extremely upset condition. Earlier in the hearing, the victim of the assault told the court she had arrived at the hotel on the Friday night accompanied by her sister. Following a meal at the hotel they went to a nightclub. At the end of the night they shared a taxi back to the hotel with several other people going in the same direction. The woman said she went straight to bed. The woman told the court how she woke up to find a stranger on her bed touching her. She shouted at him to get out. She said he left but returned some time later knocking at the door. He subsequently got his trousers off the bed, before she locked the door and rang her sister. The hotel manager was called and a short time later, the gardai arrived. Hit film Brooklyn scooped a coveted BAFTA on Sunday night for Outstanding British Film. The film which is based on Colm Toibin's book of the same name and stars Saoirse Ronan is riding on the crest of a wave since its release late last year. Much of the filming for the movie took place in Enniscorthy where it was set. Brookyln beat off stiff competition from The Danish Girl, Ex Machina, The Lobster, Amy and 45 Years at the ceremony which took place in the Royal Opera House, London on Valentine's night. The film, which tells the tale of immigration from Ireland to the US in the early 1950s, is directed by John Crowley. 'Brooklyn' received six Bafta nominations, including Outstanding British Film, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Adapted Screenplay, Costume Design and Make Up and Hair for Irish team Morna Ferguson and Lorraine Glynn. Carlow actress Saoirse Ronan was nominated for the Best Actress award for her role as Eilis Lacey but lost out to Brie Larson for her role in 'Room', directed by Dubliner Lenny Abrahamson. Ronan who paused to take selfies with fans upon her arrival on the red carpet was joined by her Brooklyn co-star Eileen O'Higgins, who plays Nancy. They both agreed that the movie was a universal tale, with 21-year-old Ronan saying she was surprised by the success of the film. 'I think there is a universality to just someone leaving home and even though it's quite a beautifully simple story, it's one that everyone can relate to - because everyone has gone through that experience regardless of where you came from and where you went to. 'We didn't expect it to become quite as big as it has done but I can understand why people relate to it in the way they do.' Enniscorthy's Brookyln Committee has picked a design for the Enniscorthy Home of Brooklyn logo competition. The new logo will appear on stickers for shop windows, shopping bags and other promotional material. The committee is also hosting an Enniscorthy Home of Brooklyn Oscar Night for locals who were extras in the film and the general public on March 16 in the Riverside Park Hotel. Following the BAFTA win, those involved in the film will now be pinning their hopes on repeating that success on Oscars night on February 28 as the BAFTA's are often viewed as a good indicator of Oscar wins. Grab a pen and jot down this name - Ferdia Walsh Peelo. He's going to be the next big thing in the film industry and with his good looks and charm Colin Farrell and Michael Fassbender should watch their backs as this teen looks set to steal their crown. The son of a Wexford town woman, born and reared in County Wicklow, Ferdia has a very unique claim to fame in that he was actually born in Ashford in the family home in a planned home birth. Of course this pales in significance to his latest claim to fame which is as a budding film star. Ferdia is fresh from the success of his first film role and a lead role no less. Not for him waiter number 1 in the crowded restaurant scene that ended up on the cutting room floor. Instead the talented lad walked into an open audition and impressed the socks off director John Carney who was looking for a musical teen to take on the lead role of his new film Sing Street. The film, which is set in 1980s recession-ridden Dublin, has been described as 'a semi-autobiographical tale inspired by the filmmaker's love of music'. Sing Street tells the story of a fourteen-year-old named Cosmo (played by Ferdia) who finds life at home difficult after a change in circumstances force the family to downsize. A loner at his new tough inner city school, his only friend is his music-obsessed elder brother played by fellow Wicklow man Jack Reynor. When he spots a mysterious girl across the playground he asks her to star in a music video for his band. The only problem is, he has yet to find his bandmates or his own musical style. Young Cosmo decides to form a band with school mates, with whom he writes songs and shoots videos. When family trouble strikes, he runs away to London with his fifteen-year-old girlfriend who aspires to be a model. The film, which is set to open the Audi Dublin International Film Festival this Thursday, February 18, got its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah last month. It has been receiving rave reviews and has been hailed as a 'wonderfully authentic and sweet natured tale of how music can save your life'. Although he was born and reared in Wicklow Ferdia has strong links with Wexford town as his mother Toni Walsh is a native of Fisher's Row. The daughter of Rose and the late Tony Walsh, Toni went to St John of God School before attending the Loreto. She then moved to Dublin where she met her husband Mick Peelo and the couple and their first two children, Tadhg and Oisin moved to Milltown Lane in Ashford. The couple's third and fourth child Ferdia and Siofradh were born following the move. The entire Walsh Peelo clan would make anyone ashamed to have packed in whatever musical instrument you played as a child. Music seeps out of their very pores. It's an innate gift, one that many would give their right arm for. Toni herself is a soprano and also teaches at her former alma mater, the DIT Conservatory of Music and Drama. Sons Tadgh and Oisin are also talented musicians while youngest Siofradh was just leaving a violin lesson when we spoke. Ferdia himself started studying as a boy soprano when he was seven years old, winning all sorts of plaudits for his voice, appearing on the Late Late Toy Show and singing solo at Wexford Opera House. At the mere age of 12 he secured his first professional contract with Ireland's national touring opera, the Opera Theatre Company. He is also a classically trained pianist. Toni said that having grown up in Wexford in a house that was always filled with music it was only natural for her to pass on her great love of music to her children. 'Both Mick and I have a great love of music. Music is very important to us and all four of the children were sent for formal musical training from a young age. We didn't know if they would keep it up but you throw them a line and hope they bite and they all did. 'In fact they've taken it to a whole new level. We didn't want to impose music on them but they really took to it.' Toni said that the hype around Ferdia's role in Sing Street is really increasing now in advance of its Irish release. 'He riding on the crest of a wave right now. He never did any formal acting training but was obviously used to being on stage and performing. The film thing was a real fluke. 'He walked into an open casting because he heard they were looking for a musical teen and he fit the bill. You have to have a bit of luck and indeed a look. He suited the look what the director John Carney had in mind for the role of Cosmo. 'Musically he had no problem because when his voice broke he started branching out into his own stuff.' Ferdia, who is now 16 years old, was just 14 when he shot the majority of Sing Street, turning 15 while on location filming in Dublin. He attended Wicklow's Educate Together as a child and is currently on a year out from Colaiste Raithin in Bray. During the filming of Sing Street Ferdia had a tutor which helped prepare him for his Junior Cert which he completed last June. Last week he jetted across to London to do a photoshoot with Vogue magazine and from there he flew to Toronto to do some publicity for Sing Street at the New Wave Film Festival in Toronto. Despite his young age, Toni said that Ferdia has taken it all in his stride. However she said that the cast and crew of Sing Street had been very mindful of his age. 'I was on set with him and the people there were just so lovely. Everyone had a great bond and they were just really a great bunch of people. People were so, so positive especially John Carney, the director. When Ferdia and all the younger actors were on set everyone was very mindful of their age and it was really a wonderful experience.' For Ferdia international stardom is 'great craic'. 'It's been really amazing. A lot of the hype hasn't really kicked off yet because it's not on release here. When we were over at Sundance [Film Festival] it was really quite surreal. There was a great buzz over there. Even in the airport people were asking for photos and that. 'Park City is such a lovely little town and they had snow which was quite unusual for us to see.' 'It's all very new to me but so far it's been absolutely the best craic. Mark [McKenna, Eamon in Sing Street] and John [Carney] have become great friends. Being on set every day was so much fun. There was such a good atmosphere there. The vibe was really good. It was great and you knew that everyone was there because they love making films. It created such a lovely atmosphere on set. 'For my first ever film it was just one big laugh all the time. Everyone was always laughing.' Ferdia is nonchalant about scoring a lead role in what looks certain to be a hit film both here in Ireland and also internationally, but is aware of just how lucky he was. 'I heard about the open audition and went to it. I was queueing for hours but even that was fun. I wasn't really expecting anything to come out of it - especially not the lead role - but I felt it was worth going along. 'After a couple of auditions it was in my mind but I tried to put it out of it. At one stage I was on set and I had gotten the role but I was the only person there who didn't know! I couldn't understand why they kept getting me in to read with different girls but they were looking for the right female lead. 'I know I was very lucky. I happened to be the right person at the right time. If I had been a year older or younger it probably wouldn't have happened. It's all been very jammy', he said laughing. 'I'm just really enjoying this time. This whole process is very new to me. I'm not thinking of the future really. I will be busy with Sing Street until the summer probably and I'm auditioning for stuff. I still have a huge interest in music. 'I'm only 16. I'm really just living in the now'. His former Colaiste Raithin schoolmates are starting to feel the excitement in the lead-up to the film's release. But he said that he has also made some great friends through his role in Sing Street. 'I made some really good friends on set. We've all become really close. We are all so different yet we have acting in common.' Despite being very handsome, Ferdia laughs off any suggestion that he is gaining a lot of female attention and says he doesn't have a girlfriend. 'I haven't noticed any attention. I'm the same as normal. When we were at Sundance Mark and I went to this after party and we were just playing music 'til about 2 a.m.. We were just totally exhausted but still playing away.' Ferdia is taking to the mantle of responsibility that his new found stardom is bringing with it with aplomb. He said the fashion shoot with Vogue in London was very exciting while going to Toronto would be his first time in Canada. 'It will be a totally new experience and I will be dealing with the press on my own. I'm the only person from the movie going over and I'm looking forward to it. The New Wave Film Festival is aimed at younger movie buffs so it should be fun.' Although destined for stardom Ferdia is like a lot of 16-year-olds and isn't a massive fan of school. 'I don't know what's happening school wise. I don't think I'm going back to Colaiste Raithin. School was never really for me. It wasn't because it wasn't a good school, it's just I seem to be the one who couldn't handle it. It drove me nuts going back, especially after Sing Street. It hit me really hard. 'I felt like an adult. I have had my own apartment in Dublin. I might go and study a few subjects that I like. I've plenty of time to decide.' Although clearly gifted musically and in the acting field, Ferdia is keen not to pigeon-hole himself or any future career. 'I love doing what I'm doing and just want to live in the moment. It would be so tough having to choose between music or acting so I'm not going to. I love different things about them both. Music is something I will always do. Acting is all new to me but I love it. I've really gotten into it. When I went back to do the Sing Street reshoots I really loved it. You could get so into character. 'I love lots of things, music, acting, painting, poetry. Hopefully I'm going to do it all.' Sing Street hits Irish cinemas on St. Patrick's Day. An Abbeyfeale schoolgirl who died in a crash in June 2014 when she was just eight years old will be the inspiration for a host of fundraisers in her native town this summer. Little Zoe Scannell's mom Alisha has decided to follow in the success of last year's 'Remembering Zoe' weekend with a number of fundraising initiatives including a Back 2 School themed party at The Railway Bar on Easter Sunday Night; a Remembering Zoe Cycle on May 15; a family fun day at Fr Casey's GAA Club on June 19 and three-day Relay Run to Dublin from July 29. Last May's commemorative weekend raised an incredible 28,000 for First Light, Bru Columbanus and the Hope Foundation and this year the beneficiaries will be Make a Wish Foundation, Community Games, Hope Foundation and the playground in Abbeyfeale Town Park. Pupils from the Mercy National School in Moyderwell, Tralee lined out at the unveiling ceremony in 1916 period costume They may be almost 100 years late but the Aud's anchors finally set down in Tralee on Friday. The Aud, under German Navy Captain Karl Spindler, was intercepted in Tralee bay in April 1916 as it attempted to smuggle 20,000 rifles and a million rounds of ammunition to the rebels preparing for the Easter Rising. Under a British naval escort The Aud, in reality the disguised SMS Libau, was sailed into Cork harbour where Spindler and his crew scuttled the vessel. In 2012, the ship having lain largely undisturbed for 96 years, a salvage operation raised the boat's anchor from the seabed. The Centenary Conservation Project was an initiative of the Tralee Bay Heritage Association with Kerry County Council and in conjunction with other interested individuals and divers from Kerry, Cork and Waterford. On their recovery the anchors were brought to Tralee for restoration. That extensive conservation programme, which took four years to complete, was undertaken by Laurence Dunne Archaeology in Tralee under licence from the National Museum of Ireland. On Friday the association at last showed off the fruits of their labour when they unveiled the two fully restored anchors at a ceremony in Tralee's Brandon Conference Centre. Diaspora Minister Jimmy Deenihan, who was arts minister when the plan to raise the anchors was instigated, was joined by German Ambassador to Ireland Matthias Hopfner for the unveiling ceremony. A crowd of several hundred, including pupils from numerous primary and secondary schools, attended the memorable unveiling. The unveiling is the culmination of almost five year's work including planning, licensed dive recovery and licensed conservation. For more on the Aud anchor conservation project readers can look forward to The Kerryman's second 1916 centenary supplement which will be on sale in early March. A Kerry resident who slit his housemate's throat in a random attack warned his victim before the assault that 'it would end badly.' Paul Lestrange (40), who was jailed for seven years for the attack, also told his victim to write a Will prior to cutting the man's throat with a bread knife. He stopped his housemate and neighbours from helping the injured man until he was overpowered and disarmed. Mr Lestrange, of Rossdara, Killarney pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to assault causing serious harm to James McGuirk and production of a kitchen knife at North Circular Road, Dublin on January 15, 2015. Judge Martin Nolan said Mr Lestrange had "bizarrely developed an animus" towards Mr McGuirk and slit his throat. He said it was lucky for the defendant that his victim did not die but that Mr McGuirk no doubt thought he was going to die. He said there appeared to be no particular motivation and noted that the defendant had a small number of previous convictions, all involving alcohol. He also noted Mr Lestrange's remorse. Judge Nolan said this was a very serious assault and that the only possible intention was to kill. He said the attack left Mr McGuirk with a severely disfiguring scar. Garda Joseph Gavin told Maurice Coffey BL, prosecuting, that Mr McGuirk shared his house with both Mr Lestrange and Martin Roche who rented rooms from him. He said they appeared to get on but alcohol was a daily feature. That night his housemates had noticed Mr Lestrange in an agitated state. He began speaking "gibberish" and making threats. Gda Gavin said that nothing had seemed to lead up to the incident and it seemed to be a random attack. Mr Lestrange stuck the knife in Mr McGuirk's neck and pulled it across his throat, telling him: "I told you it would end badly". Mr McGuirk said he could feel blood pouring out of the wound. Mr Roche heard the noise and came downstairs to find Mr McGuirk in a chair and Mr Lestrange standing over him with the knife in his hand. Mr Roche alerted the gardai and ambulance. Mr McGuirk said he suffered post-traumatic stress syndrome. Kieran Kelly BL, defending, said Mr Lestrange has not come to any garda attention since, regretted the offence and offered an apology. Mr Kelly said Mr Lestrange had grown up in Dublin but currently lived with his parents in Kerry. He had worked for a time in Australia and had a management position in a hotel on his return. Tralee's Fels Point Hotel, which is currently undergoing and extensive refurbishment, has received a top industry award for the quality of its facilities. Recently the hotel received a Gold Award from the Irish Accommodation Services Institute (IASI).In order to achieve the Gold Award Fels Point Hotel had to achieve a minimum score of 97 per cent during the inspection which examines bedrooms, public areas and bathrooms. Fels Point was also a runner up in the Supreme Award category. This is the first time the hotel has won the ISAI Gold Award, and the owners Dick and Eibhlin Henggeler paid tribute to Accommodation Manager Cathy Rael and her team. The hotel is currently under refurbishment and it will be re-branded as The Rose Hotel in April. Renovations are ahead of schedule and the new look reception and lobby will open early February with the bar and restaurant to be fully refurbished by mid-March. "We are absolutely thrilled to have received the award and we are looking forward to a very exciting year as we relaunch this Spring," said Manager Mark Sullivan. tourism in the south west received a welcome boost this week as a three-page article highlighting the delights of Kerry and Cork appeared in a recent edition of daily Swedish newspaper, Svenska Dagbladet, profiling the region to some 370,000 readers. Tourism Ireland and Failte Ireland invited journalist Emma Larsson to the south west last autumn and she duly wrote a wonderfully complimentary piece under the headline 'Nine 'must-dos' in Ireland's south west'. The editorial featured stunning views of the Kingdom, including panoramic vistas of the Gap of Dunloe and suggested the best way to experience its splendour might be on horse-back . The article recommended hiking on Carrauntoohil, and encouraged folk to embark on a dolphin and whale watching-trip to Baltimore. It said that few places are as beautiful as Inch Beach and described Dingle as this charming gem. Aileen Hickey, Tourism Ireland's Manager for the Nordic Region, was delighted with the positive exposure. "This was an excellent way of showcasing the south west to a large audience of potential holidaymakers in Sweden," she said. "Publicity is an important element of our overall promotional programme, helping to raise awareness through the Swedish media of the many things to see and do on a holiday in Ireland," she added. A proposal to convene a meeting on the morning of Easter Sunday by Cathaoirleach Cllr Michael Sheehan was rejected as several councillors are away on the day at national commemoration events. Fianna Fail Cllr Sheehan said the members could pass a special resolution on the morning of Easter Sunday, March 27, commemorating the men who died fighting for Irish freedom. He suggested having the meeting before mass and for all members to attend mass afterwards, having received an invitation to do so from the FCA. Fine Gael Cllr Larry O'Brien said an event commemorating Michael O'Hanrahan is being organised, adding that it would be advisable not to detract from this. 'I would be concerned as we have our own special day down the road. I am going to be in Dublin at celebrations there.' Fianna Fail Cllr Michael Whelan said he would be unable to attend as he is in Dublin that day also. Cllr Sheehan said given that the New Ross Municipal District is the premier body in the area a simple, dignified ceremony would be important on the centenary of such an historic date. Fine Gael Cllr Willie Fitzharris said: 'There is so much going on. We are not going to fit everything in here on Easter Sunday. I may not be around either.' In commending the idea Sinn Fein Cllr Oisin O'Connell said an alternate date close to Easter Sunday could be agreed to meet to honour such an important centenary event. Cllr Sheehan said the 90th anniversary was commemorated by members a decade ago. 'It's a once in a lifetime event and an amazing career opportunity.' Wexford based Drew Fox Brewing scooped a silver medal prize for their Clever Man Ejector Seat Turf Smoked Stout at the Alltech Beer and Food Fair held in Dublin earlier this month. The judges said: 'It's hard to be innovative in an industry as ancient as making beer, but that's what Drew Fox Brewing has done with their Turf Smoked Stout. The stout has a big complex, smoky, chocolate flavour with reminders of a turf fire.' The Dublin Craft Beer Cup is a unique competition, which allows craft brewers to showcase their brews to have them rated, tasted and analysed by an expert, international panel of judges. Entrants are critiqued based on appearance, aroma, flavour, body, style and quality. Local brewery owners Malcolm and Andrea Molloy are delighted with their win and celebrated with their head brewer Lee Farling. In a double coup, Georgina Campbell's Ireland guide featured Clever Man Ejector Seat Turf Smoked Stout as their beer of the month. Kristen Jensen, co-author of Slainte! The complete Guide To Irish Craft Beers and Ciders wrote about their award winning stout. The Molloys, who are Wexford Food Family members, are very excited about the reviews and success they are having with beers. Simon McGinley, the man convicted of the murder of retired telecoms worker Eugene Gillespie in Sligo town three years ago has appealed his conviction. 32-year old McGinley, of Connaughton Road car park, Sligo, appeared before the Court of Appeal at the Criminal Courts of Justice in Dublin on Friday February 5th. He's being represented by Dublin-based solicitor Mr Phelim O'Neill. A spokesperson for the Courts Service told The Sligo Champion that papers had already been lodged and McGinley's appeal was "in the early stages" of the appeals process. His case has been added to the appeals list but it is likely to be at least a year before a hearing takes place. The Sligo Traveller was jailed for life on April 3rd 2014. He had denied murder but admitted the manslaughter of 67-year-old Eugene on September 22nd , 2012. He had pleaded guilty to the false imprisonment of Mr Gillespie and trespass to commit robbery at his home in Old Market Street. His trial at the Central Criminal Court heard the manslaughter plea was not accepted by the State and his trial began on March 25th. Mr Gillespie was a retired telecoms broker who also worked in the family shop and lived alone with his dog Tiny, only a stone's throw away from Sligo Garda Station on Pearse Road. The antique car lover was found tied up in the hallway of his home by his nephew and his brother, two days after McGinley assaulted him. McGinley, who said he only knew the deceased to see, had called 999 the day after the assault to say a man was tied up in the house. But gardai went to the wrong house and Mr Gillespie was not found until the following day. Mr Gillespie died in hospital from his injuries. Mr Justice Garrett Sheehan sentenced McGinley to life imprisonment, backdating it to September 29, 2012 for time spent in custody. Lily Finn of Scoil Chaoimhin Naofa has a nervous wait until March to find out how she fared as a finalist in the Doodle 4 Google competition. It is the second time a student from the Laragh/Glendalough located school has reached the final. In her own words Lily's colourful 'doodle' represents Ireland's nature, history and old fables and stories. 'I love Ireland's nature so I drew a hedgehog, an owl, a fox and a hare. I also love Ireland's history and old stories so I drew the round tower at Glendalough where I live and the salmon of knowledge leaping over a magical rainbow,' says Lily. Voting was open from February 7 but closed on Sunday. The presentation night takes place in the Google Headquarters, Dublin on March 7. This year's Doodle 4 Google competition is particularly special as the winning doodle will feature on the Google Ireland homepage on Easter Monday, March 28. The talented artist selected as the winner will not only see their artwork feature on the Google page, they will also receive a 5,000 college scholarship and a 10,000 technology grant for their school as well as a Chromebook for themselves and their teacher. Cllr Pat Casey has accused the IDA of ignoring Wicklow when it comes to trying to attract jobs to the county. The Fianna Fail candidate has expressed concerns over the lack of support for local businesses, especially in Wicklow town, north Wicklow and Arklow. 'The chronic neglect of Wicklow by the IDA under this government is no doubt one of the reasons for the lack of employment growth in this county,' said Cllr Casey. 'A task force is urgently needed to boost the economy of Wicklow and to address the two-tier recovery taking place under this government. Wicklow and other areas should not be left behind, with all growth centred in Dublin.' Wicklow lost 129 IDA jobs in 2015. St Catherine's decision welcomed Anna Doyle, People Before Profit, has welcomed the decision of the Patron of St Catherine's Special School not to go ahead with the proposed building of a new school in Kilmullen lane. 'There are serious planning difficulties associated with Kilmullen which we are unlikely to overcome. as well as its proximity to a National Adult Psychiatric Hospital and not being consistent with National Educational Policy of being integrated with mainstream education, in the community and inclusive. 'A letter sent to parents highlighted concerns regarding the inadequacies of the current school building concerning lack of space, facilities and health and safety concerns. It has become a matter of urgency to seek an alternative interim site for the children until a new school can be built,' she said. Labour 'failed' on housing issues Sinn Fein General Election candidate Cllr John Brady has accused the Labour party of failing the people of Wicklow on housing issues. Speaking in response to housing proposals launched by Minister Alan Kelly, Cllr Brady accused the party of towing the Fine Gael line and turning the housing crisis 'into a housing emergency'. Among the issues he placed firmly at Labour's door are the surge in social housing waiting lists, increased homelessness, soaring rents and the rise in families in mortgage distress. 'At the moment in Wicklow alone, there are nearly 3,600 families on the housing list; within the last year over 130 families, consisting of 165 adults and 220 children, were presented as homeless,' he said. If elected, Cllr Brady said his party would commit 5bn in capital spending to deliver 36,500 social and affordable houses between 2016 and 2021. Broadband needs 'neglected' Fianna Fail candidate Jennifer Cuffe has blasted the Government's broadband plans for the county, accusing it of 'persistent neglect' of the county and 'damaging employment growth'. 'Businesses across the county have been hindered by the poor quality broadband that is not up to suitable modern standards. Wicklow is one of the most beautiful counties in Ireland and hotels, B&Bs and guesthouses rely on modern broadband networks to operate and attract tourists to the county,' she said. Cllr Cuffe said that over 16,500 homes and business in the county, or over 26 per cent of total premises, will have to wait up until 2021 for next generation broadband service via the National Broadband Plan and promised that, if elected, her party will prioritise investment in broadband. Varadkar slammed for comments Sharon Briggs, a People Before Profit General Election candidate, believes that Minister Leo Varadkar has shown that he should never be in charge of the health portfolio again. Ms Briggs believes that the Minister's comments about more beds 'slowing down' hospitals shows that 'he wants to keep the public health system under pressure so that staff are worked to the bone and there is a carry-over for private hospitals.' While she pointed to the Government's 2001 "Health Strategy" wanting to increase beds to 15,000, Ms Briggs said that there is now something in the region of just 10,500 beds available. 'Increasing the number of beds crucially means employing the staff to care for the people in them. Varadkar wants to keep up the embargo on public sector numbers to help create Fine Gael's imaginary "fiscal space",' said Ms Briggs. Social Democrats lead the way The Social Democrats, the party co-founded by Greystones Deputy Stephen Donnelly, has claimed that the party is fielding the highest proportion of female candidates in the upcoming General Election. Of the 14 party candidates, six (just over 40 per cent) are women - three of which are standing in Dublin constituencies and one each in Limerick City, Meath East and Kildare North. 'It shouldn't take gender quotas to compel parties to draw from the talent and commitment that women offer,' a Party spokeswoman said. Among the large national parties, Fine Gael is believed to have the most female candidates, with 27, Fianna Fail has 22, Sinn Fein has 18 while Labour has 13 women seeking a seat in the Dail. All parties have met the new gender quota of having at least 30 per cent female candidates. Taoiseach Enda Kenny got a taste of the enterprising nature of Wicklow food producers as he paid a visit to Newmarket Kitchen in Bray last week. The Taoiseach, who was joined on his visit by Fine Gael General Election candidates Minister of State Simon Harris, Deputy Andrew Doyle and Avril Cronin, paid a brief visit to the county on Tuesday, February 9, and visited Deputy Doyle's Wicklow town office earlier in the day. Newmarket Kitchen was set up by Shane Bonner in April of last year and now houses 16 separate start-up companies, which provide employment for 33 people, including two employed by Shane himself. Members of the various companies had an opportunity to meet the Taoiseach on Tuesday and, as actions speak louder than words, let him sample the fruits of their labour. Minister Harris said that he wanted Mr Kenny to see for himself how enterprising and resilient the business community is in Bray. 'What Shane has achieved through this very new venture, is very promising. He has managed to set up an innovative new business and in the process he has enabled start-up food companies to flourish with minimal overheads,' he said. 'The Taoiseach was very impressed by the wide range of food businesses operating from the kitchen and the contribution which they are making to their local communities. Minister Harris also praised the 'fantastic' Local Enterprise Office in the county which provides support and advice to new start-up businesses. Gardai are trying to determine whether a series of car break-ins on Saturday afternoon at Ballinastoe and Glendalough were linked. It is believed the thieves involved in the incidents used a 'code grabber' to illegally gain access to some of the vehicles as there was no noticeable damage to a number of the vehicles targeted. The break-ins all occurred between the times of 1.30 p.m. and 4.30 p.m.. Two cars were broken into in Glendalough and another three at Ballinastoe. One car owner returned to his vehicle parked at Glendalough and found a number of items kept in the vehicle were missing, despite the fact there was no evidence of entry having been gained to the vehicle, such as a smashed window or damaged door. Among the items stolen from the Dublin visitor were a computer tablet and cash. There was also no sign of any forced entry involving the second car from which a gym bag and gym gear was all stolen while it was parked at the Visitors Centre. In Ballianstoe another tourist was only absent from their parked car for about 15 minutes but upon their return they found a side window had been smashed and a number of items stolen. A bag and clothing were also stolen from another parked car after entry was gained by smashing the back window. A phone charger, wallet and drivers license were all missing. There was no sign of any forced entry in the third incident which involved the theft of a gym bag and other items. Gardai also received reports of a dark green Skoda spotted driving away from Ballinastoe at speed heading toward the Sally Gap. The sole occupant was a lone male. Gardai believe a 'code grabber' was used in at least three of the break-ins which allows thieves to break into cars by recording signals sent by keyless entry devices. Opening occurs without a trace and without the use of any pick tools. Anyone who witnessed the break-ins or who has any information is asked to contact gardai. Threatened to kill a garda: An Arklow man who threatened to kill a guard was fined at the district court in Gorey. Bernard McDonagh (19), 7, Woodland Green, Lamberton, Arklow, was charged with being intoxicated in a public place and engaging in threatening, abusive and insulting behaviour at Main Street, Gorey on October 25, 2015. The court heard McDonagh was highly intoxicated and was abusive to members of the public and the gardai. He threatened to kill one of the gardai attending the scene. He has three previous convictions. Judge Haughton fined him 150 for being drunk in public and a further 250 for engaging in threatening, abusive and insulting behaviour. Rates owed to county council A woman who used to run the Purple Sage cafe in Gorey owes Wexford County Council 2,135.79 in rates, the district court in Gorey was told last Thursday. The case of Suzanne O'Leary, T/A Purple Sage, 12, Strand Street Lower, Wicklow, was before the court in respect of unpaid rates. She was not in court to answer the charge. Michelle Browne, rates collector with Wexford County Council said that a six day notice for outstanding rates of 2,135.79 was served on O'Leary on July 6, 2015. She said the contact she has had with O'Leary has mainly been by email. O'Leary, the court heard, is no longer the current operator of the premises. O'Leary told the council that she was going into protection insolvency but the council had not received any detail on this. Judge Haughton made an order against O'Leary for the full outstanding amount and for 160 costs. Bench warrant A bench warrant was issued at last Thursday's sitting of the district court in Gorey for Thomas Connors (19), 3, Ballyhenry, Ashford. The warrant was issued when Connors failed to appear in court to answer a charge of driving off without paying for 20 worth of petrol at Applegreen Service Station in Ferns on January 23, 2016. Drove while Intoxicated A man who drove without insurance and while over the legal alcohol limit has been fined and disqualified at Arklow District Court. Rafal Klanaszuwki of School House Lane, Laragh, was also charged with no licence and failure to produce documents at Main Street, Arklow on July 29, 2015. A reading of 72 mcg to 100 ml breath was given in court. It was outlined that the defendant was going through a difficult period at the time having 'been on the wrong end of a robbery' a few weeks before the offences. The court heard that he was supported in court by his employers. Judge Kennedy imposed 600 in fines and a three year driving ban. Eddie Redmayne said marrying Hannah Bagshawe in 2014 was the best thing he has ever done Leonardo DiCaprio is "definitely going to win and should win" the Oscar for Best Actor next weekend, according to Eddie Redmayne. "I feel excited just to be invited to the party, frankly," the actor said. Redmayne, who was born in London, is nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in The Danish Girl. He played Lili Elbe in the film, one of the first recipients of sex reassignment surgery. Redmayne, 34, won the award last year for his portrayal of Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything. "That was extraordinary," Redmayne said of his first Oscar win, i n an interview with the Telegraph magazine. This year however, Redmayne wants to see the award go to DiCaprio at the awards ceremony on Sunday February 28. The actor, who has famously never won an Oscar, is nominated for the sixth time, this time for his role in The Revenant. DiCaprio faced sub-zero temperatures to play Hugh Glass, a frontiersman who faces a grim battle for survival after being attacked by a bear. "For me to be considered in the group of nominees, with (Matt) Damon, DiCaprio, Michael Fassbender and Bryan Cranston... It feels amazing," Redmayne said. The actor is currently working on JK Rowling's Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them, a spin-off from the Harry Potter films. Set 70 years before Harry Potter begins, Redmayne plays Newt Scamander, a "magizoologist" who travels the world finding magical creatures. To prepare for the role, Redmayne spent time at London Zoo and Port Lympne Reserve in Kent, where he met animal handlers. Video of the Day "Some of them sleep with baby tigers when they're born. What was important for me here was to see how people with such a close relationship with animals communicate with them, because Newt has that," he said. Shooting for the film requires long days and many 5am finishes at the Leavesden Studios in London. Redmayne said his wife Hannah Bagshawe, who gave up her job as an art dealer so she could travel with Redmayne, has been "an absolute wonder". Marrying her at the end of 2014 was "the most wonderful thing I've ever done," he added. British director Michael Caton-Jones has described working on his new release Urban Hymn as "one of the best film making experiences I've had." Caton-Jones, whose films include Rob Roy and The Jackal, returned to the UK to shoot the coming of age drama set against the backdrop of the 2011 London riots. It stars Letitia Wright as a vulnerable teenager whose loyalties are split between the care worker trying to help her secure a better future and her volatile best friend, played by Isabella Laughland. After making its debut at the Toronto Film Festival in September, Urban Hymn received its UK premiere at the Glasgow Film Festival on Friday. Speaking on the red carpet, Caton-Jones said it took something special for him to return to film-making almost a decade after his last feature, 2006's Basic Instinct 2. Asked what attracted him to the project, he said: " It's always the screenplay, but it was really the stuff that was in it that I thought I could do a decent job with. "I had three lead women of different emotional colours. "There was a lot of music in it, and i t was about a social issue but not beating you over the head with it. It had a load of elements. "I really felt that I didn't want to get back in the saddle making something unless it was going to be emotionally worth my while. "I'm really glad I did because it became one of the best film making experiences I've had." Video of the Day The film was shot at various locations in the capital including former prison Latchmere House in south east London and includes a cameo by musician and activist Billy Bragg and his initiative Jail Guitar Doors, which donates instruments to aid prisoners' rehabilitation. Shirley Henderson, familiar as Moaning Myrtle in the Harry Potter series, plays social worker Kate who is called to work with troubled young people after suffering a loss and makes an attachment to Wright's character Jamie. She said: "T heir worlds are very different. "The way they see life at the beginning is very different, but ultimately it's the same - they are both looking for the same thing, to feel that they belong, that there's a reason to keep going, and that there's something more. "It's quite an interesting journey, she is setting Jamie up for some kind of future." Laughland said of her character's relationship with Wright's: " They are more like sisters, really. "My character feels incredibly protective over Letitia's character Jamie. They are all they've got. "They've never really had any love and they meet each other in the care home and they gel. "Their relationship is everything, especially to my character." Wright said of working on the film: " It was a lot of hard work. I realised that in order to play a lead role, you have to be there on time, every single day, and y ou have to be on it. "It took a lot of work from all of us. I leant a lot about what it takes to really dedicate yourself to a story." Funny what inspiration you can find on a long-haul flight to Vietnam. Designer Paul Costelloe watched the 'Mad Max Fury' movie - and out of that grew the inspiration for his warrior woman, who he introduced to us in a number of very different guises in his autumn/winter 16 collection, which was launched at the opening day of London Fashion Week. Two packed-out, back-to-back teatime shows studded with a heavy sprinkling of celebrity gals all wearing his last collection were testimony to the enduring appeal of the Dubliner's skill at tailoring and sourcing unusual fabrics. But this show turned heads around and around. Expand Close AW16 Paul Costelloe / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp AW16 Paul Costelloe It was Paul Costelloe as we have never seen him before, not just for the evolving silhouettes but for the fabrics too. Ultra-sheer tops with pantaloons, sexy tiered dresses, some nipped in with deep leather corsets, grey pleather cut into a red carpet-style long dress with thigh-high slit, and a knobbly, boucle, monochrome tweed with exaggerated wide cuffs. In fact, everything was exaggerated - from the short dresses with over-the-knee socks to the mermaid-like, high-gloss patent dresses, finishing with a high-gloss maxi coat. A burnt-through wool transformed into a stunning navy military jacket sparked a chorus of "I want" at the spontaneous after-show party in the bar of Le Meridien hotel in Piccadilly, where Storm Keating and Vogue Williams were in attendance. I loved the funnel-necked, flared navy jacket, worn over a short skirt that replicated the flared silhouette, only longer. Expand Close AW16 Paul Costelloe / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp AW16 Paul Costelloe Paul excelled with his Italian 'memory' techno fabric, with three layers -including foil -which means once you roll it up, or tweak it into place, it doesn't move. If only life was like that. Genius. Styling included over-the-knee schoolgirl socks. Video of the Day Backstage, Costelloe confessed a fondness for the olive check dress with voile, accessorised with brown leather bag and long black gloves: "I hope this collection conveys my aspirations in moving the Paul Costelloe brand forward in an exciting and unconventional manner," said the designer. Protesters in Germany chanting for refugees to go home Credit: janboehm A video has emerged showing a hundreds of men blocking a bus full of visibly shaken refugees in Germany, chanting we are the people and demanding that those on-board go home. German officials have condemned the incident, with many saying they are ashamed of the behaviour of the 100 strong anti-refugee protesters. The mob began chanting slogans as the bus loaded with refugees arrived in the town of Clausnitz in Saxony. Women and children can be seen in the bus, and one young boy appears to be crying as he looks out at the crowd. Read More It is understood that some 100 anti-refugee protesters gathered on Thursday evening outside the asylum seekers accommodation in the village of Clausnitz, 19 miles south of Dresden. A number of vehicles were used to block access to the building, forcing those inside the bus to get off and walk through the crowd of protesters. Read More We were able to prevent it coming to physical confrontations or injuries," they wrote. "The terrible images and video reached us this morning via social media. As the police we have to remain neutral during our deployments. "That is difficult for us in this situation. We are all people in blue uniforms, who feel just the same as you when we watch the video." Read More The slogan we are the people was used during protests calling for the reunification of West and East Germany in the 1980s and 1990s. The phase however has been recently picked up by anti-refugee movements in Germany and by the group PEGIDA (Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamization of the West). British Prime Minister David Cameron leaves a European Union leaders summit in Brussels February 20, 2016. Cameron said on Friday he would campaign with all his "heart and soul" for Britain to stay in the European Union after he won a deal about the so-called Brexit, in Brussels which offered his country "special status". REUTERS/Yves Herman UK Prime Minister David Cameron will announce the date of the in/out referendum on EU membership after gathering his Cabinet to discuss the newly-secured reform deal. The meeting - the first to be held on a Saturday since the Falklands War - will effectively fire the starting gun on the campaign, expected to culminate in a vote on June 23. After lengthy talks with his fellow EU leaders in Brussels finally produced a package of changes, the Prime Minister declared late last night that he would campaign "with all my heart and soul" for the UK to stay in the 28-nation bloc. He said the changes - including curbs on EU workers' benefits, protections for non-euro nations and an opt-out from "ever closer union" - cemented Britain's "special status" despite a series of compromises. But Eurosceptics - including many within Mr Cameron's Conservative Party - dismissed the package as meaningless and said only withdrawal could restore sufficient powers to the country from Brussels. Read More "The Cabinet will this morning discuss the UK's new special status in the EU - afterwards I'll announce the planned referendum date," the PM wrote on Twitter as senior colleagues made their way to 10 Downing Street. Among them are a number who favour Brexit - including Iain Duncan Smith and Chris Grayling - who will be free afterwards to publicly back the "Leave" camp. Mr Cameron has said he is "disappointed but not surprised" that they are set to be joined by his long-time political ally - but consistent advocate of withdrawal - Justice Secretary Michael Gove. Ukip leader Nigel Farage dismissed the "truly pathetic deal" and urged voters to seize the "golden opportunity" to show that Britain would be better off being fully independent of Brussels. The new deal will allow host nations to cut migrants' child benefit payments for children living overseas to the rate paid in their home countries - usually far lower than those received by UK parents. A compromise will allow existing claimants to carry on receiving child benefit in full for offspring living overseas until 2020, and all member states will then be able to pay them at the rate of their home country. It falls well short of the outright ban on sending child benefit abroad initially demanded by Mr Cameron, and marks a compromise with eastern European states who had insisted that existing claimants should continue to receive the full payment until their sons and daughters reach adulthood. An "emergency brake" on in-work welfare payments for future migrant workers will be made available for seven years - with no option for extensions - in cases where member states are facing excessive strain from new arrivals. The seven-year period is shorter than the 13 years put forward by Mr Cameron in negotiations, but considerably longer than eastern European nations had argued for. The new deal also says EU treaties will be amended to state explicitly that references to the requirement to seek ever-closer union "do not apply to the United Kingdom". Shadow foreign secretary Hilary Benn said the renegotiation was purely designed to deal with Conservative dissent, but welcomed elements of the deal and said Labour stood solidly behind continued EU membership. Mr Cameron "has done what he decided he had to do because he was too weak to stand up to his political party", he told BBC Radio 4's Today - saying the "red card" and protections for non-euro countries had been Labour demands. "The vast majority of Labour MPs, the Labour movement, the Labour Party conference, the trade union movement, supports our continued membership. "Why? Because being in the EU has given us jobs, investment, growth. It gives us security and it gives us influence in the world. "Why would we want to exchange all of that for a leap into the unknown?" Chancellor George Osborne insisted the deal represented a "substantial, fundamental change" to Britain's relationship with the EU that delivered "the best of both worlds". "We have addressed the major concerns that many people have had about Britain being on a ratchet to ever-closer union, that Britain is somehow going to have to take decisions imposed on it by the eurozone, that Britain can't make sure that migrants contribute to our economy before they get welfare, that the EU isn't being competitive enough," he told Today. "We are stronger, safer and better off in the EU and the alternative is a huge leap in the dark with the risks that entails for our country, for its economy and for our security." Mr Osborne said he respected Mr Gove's long-held view but believed "the majority of people want to be in a reformed EU" and most cabinet ministers would stick to the Government line. "One of our great challenges ... is that we respect people's opinions, we have a fair and free debate and then, as Conservatives - and this is something I will particularly focus on - we make sure at the end of the day we come together as Conservatives to build the stronger Britain that we believe in and to keep Jeremy Corbyn out of power." Mr Osborne confirmed that proposed domestic legislation to assert the sovereignty of the UK Parliament would be set out shortly - with the Prime Minister expected to set out details when he appears on BBC1's Andrew Marr Show on Sunday. The issue is important to London Mayor Boris Johnson, an influential voice within the Conservative Party who is yet to declare on which side he will campaign. "Boris will take his own decision like everyone else in the country," the Chancellor said. "Boris and I each have one vote in this contest and there are millions of people listening who can make their own decisions and they have an equal vote too." While Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn dismissed Mr Cameron's re-negotiation as a "missed opportunity", he confirmed his party would be campaigning for an "in" vote. "Despite the fanfare, the deal that David Cameron has made in Brussels on Britain's relationship with the EU is a sideshow, and the changes he has negotiated are largely irrelevant to the problems most British people face and the decision we must now make," he said. "We will be campaigning to keep Britain in Europe in the coming referendum, regardless of David Cameron's tinkering, because it brings investment, jobs and protection for British workers and consumers." An Isil fighter waves a flag on a street in the city of Mosul, Iraq. Photo: Reuters UP to 5,000 jihadists could be at large in Europe after training with Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil), the EU's police chief has warned. Europol estimates the number of EU citizens who have slipped back after training in the Middle East as between 3,000 and 5,000, Rob Wainwright, the British head of Europol, the EU's police agency, said. "Europe is currently facing the highest terror threat in more than 10 years," Mr Wainwright said. "We can expect Isil or other religious terror groups to stage an attack somewhere in Europe, with the aim of achieving mass casualties among the civilian population." Before becoming head of Europol in 2009, Mr Wainwright served in senior roles at the UK's National Criminal Intelligence Service (NCIS) and Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA). The growing number of Isil terrorists in Europe "presents EU member states with completely new challenges", he told Germany's 'Neue Osnabrucker Zeitung' newspaper. His comments come after new information emerged about two suspects being held in Austria in connection with the Paris attacks. Prosecutors in Salzburg for the first time confirmed reports that the two men, a 28-year-old Algerian and a 34-year-old Pakistani, who have not been named, entered Europe posing as refugees. The two suspects, who were arrested at a refugee shelter on December 10, have admitted arriving in Greece with some of the Paris attackers, prosecutors said in a statement. But they denied reports that the suspects had admitted they had been supposed to take part in the Paris attacks. It has also emerged that a further two suspects are being held by Austrian in connection with the Paris attacks. A 25-year-old Moroccan and a 40-year-old Algerian, who were arrested around a week later, on December 18, were held because they were in close contact with the first two suspects. "It can be assumed that all four are members of Isil," the prosecutors' statement said. The two men held in the original arrest have confessed that they arrived in Greece in October in a boat packed with 30 to 40 asylum seekers, including two of the Paris attackers. While the attackers travelled on to France, the two arrested men were held up after officials noticed that they were travelling with false passports. They were held by the Greek authorities for 25 days, but later allowed to continue their journey. It has led to speculation that they were supposed to take part in the Paris attacks but arrived too late. ( Daily Telegraph, London) Telegraph Media Group Limited [2022] The winner of a national transgender beauty pageant has been stripped of her title amid accusations she was a drag queen and "not transgender enough". Jai Dara Latto, 22, was named Miss Transgender UK in a glittering ceremony in London in last September. But six months on she has had her title removed after organiser Rachael Bailey claimed she was shown footage of the model in boxer shorts. The pageant runner branded Jai a 'drag queen' and accused her of not living full-time as a woman. She is set to give her crown to another beauty queen, Daisy Bell. The footage which made her change her mind showed Jai wearing a pair of boxer shorts. It also reportedly shows Jai working out at the gym in a T-shirt and shorts. It was taken as part of a BBC Three documentary called Miss Transgender to be shown next month. Jai, from Walkerburn in Peeblesshire, Scotland, insisted: "I am transgender. "It seems to me that Rachael has based [her claims] on her subjective opinion from having viewed the documentary Miss Transgender, which is yet to be aired. "I gave consideration to sharing a letter from my doctor on my gender dysphoria [the feeling your psychological identity as male or female is opposite to your biological sex] but decided against it. "The documentary clearly shows me living full time in my community functioning on a daily basis interacting with family, friends and others in my desired gender role. "Being transgender is not some exclusive club. There are many of us in it and we are all different from one another." Rachael said: "When Jai entered the competition, she said she was full time and she is not - she is a drag queen. "The documentary showed her living as a gay male in her boxer shorts. "Underwear is very important to transgender females - one of the first thing people do is change their underwear as it makes us feel like we are finally a woman. "When I confronted her, she just said that I didn't have a leg to stand on and it is difficult. "It is basically one transgender person saying to another 'You're not transgender enough to be in our competition'. It sounds daft when you put it like that." The main prize for the competition, which sparked controversy when it was awarded last year, was to have 10,000 worth of surgery in India. But Jai says she has returned the prize and is instead awaiting gender reassignment treatment in Scotland. There was also a 5,000 cash prize for the winner, as well as a 3,000 modelling contract which has now been awarded to Daisy, 23. She plans to hike 30 miles in high heels to highlight the issues faced by those awaiting gender transition. She said Rachael had claimed she had broken terms and conditions by "not being 'full time'". She said she had severed all ties with the pageant, which she claims forces transgender women into a female 'stereotype'. Telegraph Media Group Limited [2022] Six million Jews are thought to have died in the Holocaust Samuel Willenberg, the last survivor of Treblinka, the Nazi death camp where 875,000 people were systematically murdered, has died in Israel at the age of 93. Only 67 people are known to have survived the camp, fleeing in a revolt shortly before it was destroyed. Treblinka holds a notorious place in history as perhaps the most vivid example of the Final Solution, the Nazi plan to exterminate Europe's Jews. Unlike at other camps, where some Jews were assigned to forced labour before being killed, nearly all Jews brought to Treblinka were immediately gassed to death. Only a select few - mostly young, strong men like Mr Willenberg, who was 20 at the time- were spared from immediate death and assigned to maintenance work instead. On August 2, 1943, a group of Jews stole some weapons, set fire to the camp and headed to the woods. Hundreds fled, but most were shot and killed by Nazi troops in the surrounding mine fields or captured by Polish villagers who returned them to Treblinka. "The world cannot forget Treblinka," Mr Willenberg said. He described how he was shot in the leg as he climbed over bodies piled at the barbed wire fence and catapulted over. He kept running, ignoring dead friends in his path. He said his blue eyes and "non-Jewish" look allowed him to survive in the countryside before arriving in Warsaw and joining the Polish underground. After the war Mr Willenberg moved to Israel and became a surveyor for the Housing Ministry. Later in life, he took up sculpting to describe his experiences. His bronze statues depicted Jews standing on a train platform, a father removing his son's shoes before entering the gas chambers, a young girl having her head shaved, and prisoners removing bodies. "I live two lives, one is here and now and the other is what happened there," Mr Willenberg said. "It never leaves me. It stays in my head. It goes with me always." His two sisters were killed at Treblinka. He described his survival as "chance, sheer chance". The Nazis and their collaborators killed about six million Jews during the Holocaust. The death toll at Treblinka was second only to Auschwitz - a prison camp where more than a million people died in gas chambers or from starvation, disease and forced labour. His daughter said he died on Friday. He is survived by a daughter and grandchildren. Foreign tourists are evacuated from the site of the attack carried out by two gunmen at Tuniss famed Bardo Museum on March 18, 2015 One of the masterminds behind last summer's massacre of tourists in Tunisia is believed to have been killed in a US bombing raid on an Isil camp in Libya. US warplanes targeted Noureddine Chouchane, a Tunisian terrorist who helped organise the attack that killed 38 people at a beach hotel in June. US intelligence is still trying to confirm whether Chouchane was killed but more than 30 other Isil fighters died in the bombing, according to the 'New York Times'. One US official said it was "likely" Chouchane was among the dead. The raid is symbolic of growing Western alarm at how Isil has expanded its control over swathes of Libya even as it faces setbacks in Iraq and Syria. Both Britain and the US have stepped up reconnaissance and special forces operations in Libya and President Barack Obama said this week that America would target Isil "wherever it appears". US F-15 Strike Eagle jets carried out the raid from RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk. Michael Fallon, the UK Defence Secretary, authorised the use of a British base on Thursday, while travelling back from the Falklands. Mr Fallon said: "I welcome this strike that has taken out a Daesh training camp being used to train terrorists to carry out attacks. I was satisfied that its destruction makes us all safer, and I personally authorised the US use of our bases." Daesh is an Arabic name for Isil. A Pentagon spokesman said confirmation of Chouchane's death would "eliminate an experienced facilitator and is expected to have an immediate impact on Isil's ability to facilitate its activities in Libya". Chouchane (36) allegedly helped plan the mass shooting at a beachfront hotel in the Tunisian resort town of Sousse. A gunman disguised as a tourist opened fire on holiday makers and killed 38 people, of whom three were Irish and 30 were British. Chouchane was also reportedly involved in the attack on a Tunisian museum three months earlier. The shooting killed 22 people, most of whom were foreigners. Tunisia was one of the only countries to emerge from the Arab Spring with hopes of reaching democracy but its confidence was rocked by the twin attacks on its vital tourism sector. A warrant was issued for Chouchane's arrest but he is believed to have slipped over the border to Libya and found refuge in the chaos there. The US airstrikes, launched at dawn yesterday, struck a farm house outside of the Libyan coastal city of Sabratha, around 60km west of Tripoli. The house was a well-known training ground for Isil fighters of several nationalities. "The US conducted an air strike early this morning (Libya time) against an Isil training camp near Sabratha, Libya, that likely killed Isil operative Noureddine Chouchane," a US official said. Hussein al-Dawadi, a local mayor, said 41 people were killed in the bombing and "the vast majority of those killed were Tunisians who were probably members of Isil." Despite political progress in Tunisia, it has been one of the main sources of foreign fighters for Isil. Around 7,000 Tunisians have joined the group in Iraq and Syria, making them the largest foreign nationality in the so-called caliphate, according to figures from the US Congress. Sabratha is just 100km from the border with Tunisia and has emerged as a stronghold for Isil along with Sirte, the hometown of deposed Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi. Mr Obama was asked this week if Western militaries should intervene again in Libya, five years after Nato airpower helped Libyan rebels overthrow the Gaddafi regime. "With respect to Libya, I have been clear from the outset that we will go after Isil wherever it appears, the same way that we went after al-Qa'ida wherever they appeared," Mr Obama said. "We will continue to take actions where we've got a clear operation and a clear target in mind." The US began striking Isil leaders in Libya in November last year. An American strike killed Abu Nabil, an Iraqi Isil leader who was transferred to Libya to help lead the group's efforts there. Several months earlier, US jets bombed a site near Ajdabiya in eastern Libya in an effort to kill Mokhtar Belmokhtar, a one-eyed militant behind a 2013 attack on a gas plant in Algeria. Isil sees Belmokhtar as a rival and have called for his death. It remains unclear if he was killed in the US raid. ( Daily Telegraph London) Telegraph Media Group Limited [2022] A tourist examines flowers left in tribute at the scene of the Isil massacre of holidaymakers, three of them Irish, in Sousse, Tunisia last year The American warplanes came around dawn, striking a farmhouse near Sabratha, a picturesque coastal town which is home to some of Libya's most renowned classical ruins. In recent years, however, Sabratha's Unesco-recognised sites have been considered off limits by foreigners due to extremist camps that had sprung up around the town. Over the last year, Isil had built a presence in Sabratha's hinterland, with many Tunisian militants coalescing there. The US airstrikes yesterday morning targeted a senior Tunisian operative named Noureddine Chouchane. He is believed to have been involved in organising two attacks in his home country last year, including one in the coastal resort of Sousse which claimed the lives of 38 people, including three Irish tourists. The air strikes yesterday reportedly killed more than 30 Isil fighters at the compound, most of them believed to be Tunisian. It is still not clear whether Chouchane was among the dead. The bombings were the third publicly acknowledged strikes carried out by the US against extremists in Libya over the past year. Late last summer, US warplanes targeted al-Qa'ida-linked militants in the eastern town of Ajdabiya. Months later, the Americans swooped on Isil sites around the town of Derna, later claiming to have killed Abu Nabil, an Iraqi who was a senior figure in the group's Libyan affiliate. These latest strikes by the US come as the drumbeats of a possible broader intervention against Isil in Libya have grown increasingly loud in certain Western capitals. President Barack Obama had recently tasked security advisers to weigh up options, including an expanded aerial campaign accompanied by special forces operations on the ground. US and European special forces have been inside Libya for months, carrying out reconnaissance work and trying to identify possible targets. Earlier this month, Italy's defence minister declared that the West could not afford to allow spring to come and go without taking action. French officials have echoed this. But others have been more cautious, arguing that a UN-brokered unity government that is currently taking shape needs to establish itself first. They say any intervention against Isil should have the imprimatur of the Libyan authorities. Patience is wearing thin in some Western capitals, however, as Libyan political squabbling delays the formation of such a government. Yesterday's air strikes show that some Western powers consider the threat from Isil to be such that tackling it takes priority over the twists and turns of Libya's fragile political process. Estimates vary as to the number of Isil fighters in Libya. Earlier this month, the Pentagon said it believed Isil's strength in Libya amounted to over 6,000 militants. Hundreds of Libyans went to fight in Syria in recent years and many of them joined Isil there, later returning home to help set up affiliates. The group also includes a large cohort of foreigners, including at leadership level. The first Isil affiliate in Libya declared itself in late 2014 in the eastern town of Derna. Last year, they were routed from the town by a mix of local Islamist militias and residents. Isil's stronghold in Libya is the coastal town of Sirte, which was Muammar Ghadaffi's hometown. After taking over a number of institutions there last year, Isil has consolidated control, snuffing out an attempted uprising and carrying out public executions. It also abducted and later beheaded 21 Egyptian Copts near the town last year. Since the beginning of this year, Libya has experienced an unprecedented wave of attacks by Isil. Fanning eastwards from their base in Sirte, their fighters mounted a series of raids on facilities in Libya's oil crescent last month, setting tanks alight in what the National Oil Corporation described as an environmental catastrophe. While they were eventually repelled by local militias, the attacks indicate Isil's determination to disrupt Libya's hydrocarbons sector, if not seize control of its infrastructure. Also in January, Isil carried out a suicide truck bombing which killed over 60 people at a police training centre in the western town of Zliten - by far the bloodiest attack Libya has witnessed since 2011. It is no coincidence that Isil's ramping up of activity is happening at the same time that the UN-brokered unity government is struggling to get up and running. Since summer 2014, Libya has been locked in a political power struggle that has divided the country between rival administrations and parliaments. The ensuing security vacuum has created an ideal space for Isil to grow. Libya's political factions have so far appeared to be more interested in prevailing over their opponents than taking on Isil. The US strikes on Sabratha yesterday indicate that Washington feels that it can no longer wait for the Libyans to finally get their act together. Russia has warned Syria's President Bashar al-Assad against trying to use ceasefire and peace talks to stall for time as he tries to reconquer the whole of his divided country. The warning came in an interview with the 'Kommersant' newspaper with Moscow's representative at the United Nations, Vitaly Churkin. Mr Churkin has been the public face of Russia's backing for Mr Assad since the start of the Syrian crisis, so his words, if they reflect Moscow's real thinking, have some weight. "Russia has invested very seriously in this crisis, politically, diplomatically and now also militarily," he told the newspaper. "Therefore we would like Assad also to respond to this. "If they proceed on the basis that no ceasefire is necessary and they need to fight to a victorious end, then this conflict will last a very long time and that is terrifying to imagine." Mr Assad last week said he was determined to try to regain control over all the country - something that looks remote but less so since Russia's air campaign forced the non-Isil rebels into retreat across much of the north. His words were seen as rejecting a ceasefire that had been negotiated between the United States, Russia and regional powers. At the same time, regime forces, thanks to the air strikes and Iranian support, managed to cut off rebel-held parts of the city of Aleppo from the border with Turkey to the north, a key supply route. Mr Churkin said Mr Assad now had to "follow Russia's leadership" in resolving the crisis, which it could still do in a "dignified way". Russia has always insisted it is not "wedded" to the idea of Mr Assad staying in power, only to preserving the Syrian state. This has repeatedly led to hopes that President Vladimir Putin is open to a deal under which Mr Assad would be replaced but Russian interests in the country, including a naval base on the Mediterranean, would be honoured. Mr Putin has never actually proposed an alternative to Mr Assad, however. In the light of the fighting, Staffan de Mistura, the UN envoy on Syria, said on Thursday it was unlikely peace talks would resume as planned in Geneva on February 25. Mr Churkin's apparent reassurance that Russia will not back Mr Assad in a fight to the death will be of little comfort to the rebels. They are now facing a powerful new enemy - one backed by the United States, which they had been hoping would come to their rescue. The Kurdish YPG militia, fighting under a new flag of convenience as the Syrian Democratic Forces, has pushed back the rebels north-west of Aleppo, some of their heartland territory. The YPG, an offshoot of the Turkish guerrilla organisation the PKK, has been shelled by Turkish forces keen to stop them getting an even greater foothold. But the YPG on Thursday said it was making good ground on its eastern front against Isil thanks to air support from the US. Turkey said the US was sending "mixed messages" over the YPG. In another example, the Obama administration said it "had not determined" who carried out a suicide bomb attack on a Turkish military convoy in Ankara that killed 28 people on Wednesday. Turkey has already blamed the attack on the YPG and the PKK. ( Daily Telegraph London) Telegraph Media Group Limited [2022] People carry medical supplies found under the rubble of a destroyed Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) supported hospital hit by missiles in Marat Numan, Idlib province, Syria. Photo: Reuters On Monday, four missiles struck a Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF)-supported hospital in Ma'arat Al-Numan, in northern Syria's Idlib province, in an attack lasting two minutes. The hospital was destroyed. Forty minutes later, when the first rescuers had arrived on the scene, it was bombed again. An hour later, a nearby hospital receiving many of the wounded was hit. Twenty-five people were killed - 16 patients and nine medical staff. 'Double tap' bombing - aimed at maximising the number of casualties by targeting rescue services - is becomingly increasingly commonplace in Syria. Brutal and targeted attacks on civilians, civil infrastructure and even medical facilities are now routine: in 2015, 63 hospital and clinics supported by MSF in Syria were bombed or shelled - and this does not include the bombing of medical facilities not supported by us. Medical staff have been targeted since the beginning of the war. MSF has heard many accounts of Syrian medics being arrested and tortured for treating patients. As one orthopaedic surgeon told us: "Being caught with patients is like being caught with a weapon." Monday's attack on Ma'arat Al-Numan echoes a broader reality. MSF has collected medical data from 70 of the clinics and hospitals it supports in Syria, which it published yesterday in a shocking report. Some 154,000 war-wounded patients were treated in these facilities in 2015. Of these, more than one third were women and children. Children under five - babies and toddlers - made up 19pc of all those killed by the conflict in parts of northwestern Syria. The figures are staggering. Yet they are only a snapshot of a larger toll. Those injured or dying beyond health facilities supported by MSF remain uncounted. Sustained sieges have also trapped more than 1.5 million people in communities across Syria. Men, women and children in these areas are being deprived of food, fuel and medical supplies, and medical evacuations are rarely authorised. We have seen the repercussions of these siege and starvation tactics most vividly in Madaya, where 49 people starved to death in December and January alone. And Madaya is just one of 70 besieged areas in the country. The increases in deaths and injuries recorded in the hospitals and clinics we support correlate with major military offensives, and with Russian, French and British air forces joining the bombing campaigns over Syria. In Damascus governorate, there was a clear peak of violence last August, represented by a sharp increase in war-related deaths - attacks likely to have been carried out by the Syrian-led coalition. In the west and north of Syria - including Aleppo, Homs and Idlib governorates - there was a clear increase in war victims from October onwards, all caused by aerial attacks. Both the US-led coalition and the Syrian-led coalition are active in these regions. Four of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council are involved in military operations in Syria. These states have made binding commitments by signing up to multiple UN Security Council resolutions which prohibit attacks on civilians, attacks on medical facilities, and siege and starvation tactics. This war is being waged with the active participation of UN Security Council. Yet what concrete actions are France, Russia, the UK and the US taking to avoid civilian casualties and suffering, and what are they doing to push their allies to avoid civilian deaths and injuries? Attacks on civilian targets and infrastructure must stop. Bombings in areas under siege must stop. Using starvation as a method of combat must stop. Allowing these tactics to become normalised is intolerable. Jane-Ann McKenna is director of Medecins Sans Frontieres in Ireland SC Supreme Court hears challenge to 6-week abortion law The SC law, temporarily blocked until the court considers its fate, is being challenged on the grounds that it violates privacy rights in constitution. SHARE By Independent Mail Anderson University has been listed as one of the 20 fastest-growing private undergraduate universities in the country between 2002 and 2012. The Chronicle of Higher Education, an education news magazine, listed Anderson University as the 18th-fastest-growing private, four-year undergraduate school. During that time, the school grew by about 78 percent, said university spokesman Barry Ray. Between 2002 and 2012, Anderson Universitys student body grew from about 1,639 to 2,922, according to the magazine. The schools largest freshman class ever, with 657 students, began the school year Wednesday. Total enrollment for the school is expected to be about 3,100 students during the fall semester, which is nearly double the schools 2002 enrollment, Ray said. The fastest-growing school in Anderson Universitys category was Keiser University in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education. Enrollment at the school more than tripled during the 10-year time frame examined by the Chronicle. At nine schools in Anderson Universitys category, enrollment more than double during that time. Other schools listed among the 20 fastest-growing private undergraduate schools included Mid-America Christian University in Oklahoma, Bryan College in Tennessee and Morningside College in Iowa. SHARE Bernard Elliott Bee's grave is behind St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Pendleton. Bee is credited with giving Gen. T. J. Jackson the nickname "Stonewall". By Ray Chandler Barnard Elliot Bee Jr. was a war hero long before the first shots of the Civil War were fired, but he isnt really remembered by many for that. Instead, the man who might be the Anderson areas most famous Civil War soldier is remembered for what he is supposed to have said right before he was mortally wounded in his first battle as a Confederate general. His exact words have been disputed, but when he spoke in the midst of July 1861s Battle of First Manassas, a Confederate legend was born. Referring to Brig. Gen. Thomas Jonathan Jackson and his brigade, he described Jackson as standing like a stone wall, giving the famous general a nickname that has survived a century and a half. They will always be linked by that event, Barnard Bee and Stonewall Jackson, but where one became a legend in both life and death, the other became something of an enigma. Barnard Bee was born in Charleston in February 1824, scion of a prominent Lowcountry family. In 1833 the family relocated to a farm outside of Pendleton that they called The Bee Hive, according to Betsy Johnson, curator of collections with the Pendleton District Commission. In 1836 Bees parents moved to Texas, where his father came to hold several cabinet posts in the new Republic of Texas, but young Barnard stayed behind with his three aunts and attended Pendleton Academy. Like many sons of patrician Southern families, he pursued a military career, graduating the U.S. military academy at West Point in 1845, a year ahead of underclassman Thomas Jackson. His first posting as a newly minted infantry lieutenant was in the military occupation of Texas, which was annexed into the United States the same year. The Mexican War, 1846-1848, gave Bee a chance to test his mettle in the white heat of combat. He twice gained brevet promotions for gallantry, first at the Battle of Cerro Gordo, where he was wounded, and then at the storming of Chapultepec. In the attack on Mexico City that came next, the young lieutenant and about 40 men outran a courier carrying an order to fall back and found themselves almost a mile ahead of the American advance, in danger of being cut off. To their rescue came a two-gun artillery battery commanded by Thomas Jackson that laid down a fighting retreat that enabled Bees infantry to reach safety. Bee stayed in the army until the beginning of the Civil War, reaching the rank of brevet lieutenant colonel. Jackson left the army not long after the Mexican War to teach at the Virginia Military Institute. Both men, however, came out of Mexico with heros laurels, with Bee in some ways the most celebrated and well known. This history has led some historians to speculate what Bee would have become had he survived the Battle of First Manassas. The what if leaves a big question mark hanging over Bees name. Christopher Hamner, a professor of history at George Mason University in Virginia, postulates that the qualities Bee had demonstrated might have led him to become one of the wars greatest generals. Bee was one of the most experienced soldiers in the Confederate Army at the outbreak of the war, Hamner said. In Bees case, there are a number of plausible commands he might have assumed, said Hamner. An officer with both professional training and military experience in an army short of both assets (particularly at the outset of the war), it is not unlikely that he would have continued to rise through the ranks had he lived. The fortunes of the other brigade commanders in the Army of the Shenandoah are instructive in this case. Both the surviving brigade commanders of the Army of the Shenandoah, Jackson and Kirby Smith, were eventually promoted to lieutenant general. Smith would eventually command the Confederacys Trans-Mississippi Department from 1863 until the end of the war. All that might have been. But that wasnt Bees fate. Manassas, Virginia, July 21, 1861, was the first major battle of the war. Union forces began a flanking movement against the Confederate position. Bees and another brigade of the Army of the Shenandoah, one of the two small Confederate armies on the field, were sent to reinforce a thin line commanded by another South Carolinian, Col. Nathan Shanks Evans. But when the attack began, the gray line was outnumbered. On a hill overlooking the field, Jacksons brigade held a line. Bee sought out Jackson and told him his own men were being driven back. Jackson, according to witnesses, gave no indication he was willing to move forward in support. The most commonly accepted reason is that he saw the first line of Confederates could not hold and that a strong line would be needed to rally behind and for the Union advance to break itself on. In any case, Bee returned to rally his own men. And then he said it There is Jackson standing like a stone wall. Let us determine to die here, and we will conquer. Rally behind the Virginians. Or did he say, Look at Jackson; there he stands like a stone wall. I rally behind the Virginians! as Jacksons widow, primed no doubt by talks with Jacksons aides, recounted in her memoirs of her husband? Or did Bee say, Look at Jacksons brigade! It stands there like a stone wall! as Gen. Pierre Beauregard recounted? Or was it, See Jackson standing like a stone wall. Rally behind the Virginians! as the Georgian artillerist Brig. Gen. Edward Porter Alexander related in his memoirs? None of the three Mrs. Jackson, Beauregard or Alexander were eyewitnesses to what Bee said. There is Jackson standing like a stone wall. Let us determine to die here, and we will conquer. Rally behind the Virginians first saw print in newspaper accounts after the battle and found its way into one of Jacksons first biographies written by R.L. Dabney, a minister who was also Jacksons chief of staff. Or did Bee say, as according to one account, There is Jackson standing like a damned stone wall? This version holds Bees exclamation as a criticism of Jacksons not moving forward to bolster Bees position. Jackson biographer James Robertson, a history professor at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, accepts Bees traditional utterance. He dismisses the pejorative version as the handiwork of two staff officers, Maj. Thomas G. Rhett and Maj. Chase Whiting, who did not personally like Jackson. Both had attended West Point with him, and Rhett had graduated with Bee. No established facts, according to Robertson, support the negative interpretation. Jackson himself always said the label belonged more to his brigade than to him. Bee himself could not clear up any controversy, of course. Shortly after uttering whatever he said he was mortally wounded, dying the next day. His body was brought back to Pendleton and he was buried in the family plot at St. Pauls Episcopal Church on Queen Street. And so it was that the luster of Barnard Bees own name was forever tied to that of one of the Confederacys greatest icons. Officials put in a new machine at McCants Middle School polling place in Anderson. Voters were waiting for more than an hour to cast ballots Saturday at the site. SHARE With a long line of voters waiting in the background, poll worker Pamela McConnell assists at Palmetto Middle School in Williamston. Problems with voting machines and a lack of poll workers led to long lines for voters in Anderson County in the South Carolina presidential primary. Poll worker Sue Campbell gives I voted stickers to voters as they leave Central Presbyterian Church in Anderson after casting their ballots. By Nikie Mayo of the Independent Mail Long lines, equipment problems and struggling poll workers plagued some of Anderson County's busiest precincts Saturday in the South Carolina Republican primary. Voters at McCants Middle School in Anderson were particularly angry, with many saying they waited in line up to an hour and 45 minutes to cast their ballots. Voters said that for a long period Saturday, only one voting machine was working in the school's gymnasium. Four voting machines were working at the school by late Saturday afternoon, but there were only three poll workers. "It is sort of ridiculous," said Daniel Edwards, as he left the building. Cheryl Lane blamed the wait on "total incompetence." "It is discouraging for people who are voting for the first time," she said. "It also makes me wonder if our votes are going to be handled correctly." Thomas Pounds had a message for Anderson County's elections director. "You tell Katy Smith this is a total mess," he said. Responding to questions from the Independent Mail, Smith said turnout at some precincts was larger than it had been in at least two previous presidential primaries. She also said she had trouble recruiting poll workers, and that some of the workers she did have were "slower on the laptops than others." Poll workers use those laptops to verify voters' names and addresses. Chris Whitmire, a spokesman for the State Election Commission, said Saturday afternoon that Anderson County appeared to be in a class by itself. He said he had heard of a few minor issues throughout the state that were quickly resolved, but had not heard anything about Anderson County's problems. "I have also not heard of lines like that anywhere else in the state," he said. At Central Presbyterian Church in Anderson, about 350 people had cast ballots by 11:30 a.m. This year marked the first time the church has been used as a precinct, and on Saturday it was the spot for people who normally cast ballots at the Anderson County Museum or at Concord Elementary School. State law allows for precincts to be combined as a money-saving measure. Poll workers at the church said many voters had come there after first going to the school. A line stretched outside the church. Poll workers had only one computer to check people in, creating a slowdown at several tables. "The turnout has been great so far," said poll worker John Morris. "This is the kind of thing you would see for a general election." In multiple precincts, voter turnout was more than 30 percent. At the Brushy Creek precinct polling place in Wren Middle School, voter turnout was 41 percent, according to preliminary numbers released by the county elections office Saturday night. Smith said that because of the turnout, the elections office sent extra laptops to some precincts in an attempt to get voters through the lines faster. Voter Tommy Walker decided he would drive back home instead of standing in a line at Palmetto Middle School in Williamston that he estimated had 100 to 150 people in it. "I'm in my 80s," Walker said. "I don't stand in a line that long to vote for nobody. I may try to come back, but I don't know. This is an absolute disaster." The turnout wasn't overwhelming early at Anderson Recreation Center on Murray Avenue, which had seen only about 30 registered voters as of 10:30 a.m. But poll workers there still had problems. Two people waited to use the only voting machine that was functioning properly then. "Two of our machines don't like us," said poll worker Virginia Jenkins. "They aren't working. We hope that we can get them switched out before things get too busy." Smith said that as of shortly after 2 p.m., a poll worker there told her they had all their voting machines working. More than two hours after the polls closed Saturday night, there were still no vote totals or turnout figures available from the McCants, Central Presbyterian or Palmetto precincts. When the numbers did come in, they showed a turnout averaging 26.5 percent at McCants, turnout above 30 percent at Central Presbyterian and turnout of about 25 percent at Palmetto. Anderson County Republican Party Chairman Dan Harvell said "obviously, there were not enough voting machines out in some precincts." Smith wrote in an email that it would not do any good to send more equipment to precincts without having more poll workers available to help. "My hope is that some of our voters out there will see the lack of volunteer election workers and will step up to the plate to volunteer," she said. "This truly will help alleviate some, if not most, of these problems." Smith did not respond to questions about how she recruits poll workers or to questions about whether they are truly volunteers who are unpaid. According to Anderson County's website, poll managers are paid $120 and precinct clerks are paid $180 for each election they work. Follow Nikie Mayo on Twitter @NikieMayo. Sefton Ipock/Independent Mail Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump recently spoke in the T. Ed Garrison Arena. SHARE By Kirk Brown of the Independent Mail Barring a surprise, Donald Trump is expected to win today's South Carolina Republican primary. But the pastor of South Carolina's largest church is not on the Trump bandwagon. NewSpring Church Senior Pastor Perry Noble took to social media this week to urge members of his Anderson-based church and other evangelicals to not vote for Trump. An average of 32,000 people attend weekly services at his church's 17 campuses throughout South Carolina. In a post on his Twitter account Monday, Noble expressed "serious concern" that Trump may win the "First in the South" GOP primary. "C'mon y'all we are better than that!!!!!" Noble tweeted. Noble also tweeted that Trump is not "the best choice among the current candidates." On Thursday, Noble referred to Trump's campaign slogan when he tweeted, "Let's be honest only the church can make America great again!!!" Noble is urging his followers to choose among U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz or Jeb Bush, the former governor of Florida. Noble said on social media that he spoke personally with each of those candidates this week. Noble was unavailable Friday, and a NewSpring spokeswoman did not return a phone message or email. David Woodard, a political science professor at Clemson University, said he doubts Noble's comments or Thursday's criticism of Trump by Pope Francis will hurt the billionaire businessman's chances of winning Saturday's primary. Woodard said he believes most of NewSpring's congregation will vote for Cruz, the first-term senator from Texas who is counting on strong support from South Carolina evangelicals. The results of a Clemson University Palmetto Poll released Friday morning showed that Trump is leading among South Carolina voters who have cast ballots in two of the last three presidential primaries. The poll, which was overseen by Woodard and fellow professor Bruce Ransom, indicated that Cruz was in second place, followed by Rubio, Bush, Ohio Gov. John Kasich and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson. Woodard and most other political observers believe the drama Saturday will involve the battle for second place in the South Carolina GOP primary. Rubio, a first-term senator from Florida, appears to have picked up momentum after receiving Gov. Nikki Haley's endorsement on Wednesday. He also was endorsed Friday by R. Marshall Blalock, senior pastor of First Baptist Church of Charleston, which was founded in 1682. "Rubio is surging," Woodard said. Based on the latest average of recent polls calculated by RealClearPolitics.com, Trump is ahead by nearly 15 percentage points in South Carolina, while a single percentage point separates Rubio and Cruz. Polls indicate that Bush and Kasich are waging a close fight for fifth place, with Carson mired in last. Both Cruz and Rubio campaigned hard this week in the Upstate, which is considered to be the most conservative part of South Carolina. Cruz had a rally at the Civic Center of Anderson on Tuesday with former Texas Gov. Rick Perry and U.S. Rep. Jeff Duncan. Rubio was in town Thursday with Haley, U.S. Sen. Tim Scott and U.S. Rep. Trey Gowdy. Although he has held a comfortable lead in South Carolina polls for months, one sign of potential trouble for Trump surfaced Friday. An NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Marist poll indicated that his lead over Cruz in the state had shrunk to 5 percentage points. Earlier this month, polls indicated that Trump held a narrow lead over Cruz in Iowa, but Cruz managed to win that state's caucuses, which served as the kickoff in the race for White House. Trump rebounded in the New Hampshire primary. Follow Kirk Brown on Twitter @KirkBrown_AIM The Bosch Group is ready to supply components conforming to Bharat Stage-VI emission norms, reports a financial newspaper.The German auto component giant is ready with its new range of products for both diesel and petrol engines, a top company executive from Germany has been quoted as saying.Bosch currently runs three plants in Bengaluru.We are ready to supply engine control unit for single and two-cylinder engines to Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) so that they can meet BS-VI emission standards," Werner Philipp, Executive VP for Gasoline Systems, Electronic Control for Diesel & Gasoline Systems, Robert Bosch GmbH, told the paper."We are waiting for the OEMs to come out with their specific requirements based on the standards being released by the Indian Government, he adds.Bosch has manufactured capability in ten countries including India for components that meet new emission standards, according to Philipp.The German company recently enhanced the capability at its Naganathapura manufacturing plant to produce BS-VI compliant components near Bengaluru.Bosch is currently exporting Euro-VI compliant engine control units to six countries, including Europe, Philipp told the daily. Heritage Foods Ltd. is reportedly exploring multiple options to turn its retail operations profitable in the next two years with the help of new investors and strategic partners.The company has appointed KPMG to restructure its retail operations, reports a business daily.Heritage Foods now plans to invest up to INR 20 crore every year to expand its retail stores across cities such as Bengaluru, Chennai and Hyderabad, according to the paper.All options, including equity dilution, are being explored by KPMG who is advising us as we need new investors who can grow with us," COO of Retail & Bakery, Heritage Foods Dharmendar Matai has been quoted as saying."We would like to add 6 lakh square feet of trading space with 25-30 stores which would require an investment up to INR 20 crore every year. Our aim is to take our turnover from Rs. 550 crore to Rs. 1,000 crore in the next two years," Matai adds.The company's retail business has 105 operational stores occupying 4 lakh sq ft of trading space across cities.It is a challenge to open new stores but once we have turned EBITA positive, only then can we look at expanding into other cities which may take another two years," says Matai. We met JSW Energy (JSWE) yesterday at IIFLs India Investor Conference in Mumbai. Management shared that: 1) it would continue to pursue inorganic growth opportunities; 2) it does not expect significant fall in short-term power prices; and 3) it intends to sign long-term PPA for its 1.2GW merchant capacity. We believe JSWE is well positioned to benefit from M&A in the sector, given its robust free cash flows (Rs13-15bn pa) and a strong balance sheet (D/E of 1.7x).JSWE has not been able to sign long-term PPA for its Vijaynagar plant (860MW) given that until date SEBs have not been differentiating on source of fuel while procuring power. However, management shared that recently the Andhra Pradesh SEB has come up with a tender to procure 1000MW from imported coal-based projects under long-term PPA (12 years). Additionally, other southern region SEBs Telangana, Karnataka, and Kerala are also planning to come out with similar tenders over the next 6-12 months. We believe JSWE is well placed vis-s-vis its peer given advantage of location (situated in Karnataka) and competitive capital cost (Rs35-40mn/MW vs. Rs50-70mn/MW for others).: JSWE successfully acquired 1.4GW hydro assets from JPVL and increased its capacity to 4.5GW (up 45%). Despite the acquisition, JSWE has one of the strongest balance sheets across the sector (net D/E at 1.7x). This coupled with strong operating cash flows (Rs22-25bn pa) should allow JSWE to benefit from the inorganic opportunities available in the sector. JSWE has already signed MOU with JPVL and Monnet Ispat to acquire 500MW Bina and 1050MW Angul project respectively. Though JSWE did not share any timeline for conclusion of deal, it assured investors of a prudent capital allocation that would ensure reasonable ROEs.No major risk to ST power prices: In the near term, JSWE does not see any major risk to merchant realisation (Rs4.25-4.50/unit maintained) and is confident of operating its merchant plants at 80-100% PLFs (based on ST PPAs). However, in medium-to-long term it remains confident of pruning down its merchant exposure given signing of long term PPA and higher off-take from JSW Steel post the ramp-up of their operations in Maharashtra. Freedom 251 mobile is priced at a Rs. 251 by Ringing Bells company. Earlier Ringing Bells claimed to have received nearly 5 crore registrations in just 2 days of opening up for online pre-orders, says report. Established in 2015, Ringing Bells Pvt. Ltd. is one of the fastest growing smartphone company in India. The companys website states that Ringing Bells Pvt Ltd has a complete in-house product testing set-up in India. With best-in-class features, BELL is the Indian smartphone brand at highly affordable prices. Telecom Ministry has ordered probe on Ringing Bells, according to reports.Report says that Telecom Ministry will investigate The Veracity Of World's Cheapest Mobile Phone 'Freedom251'. 1978 blockbuster Don has much more to it than Amitabh Bachchan. The film, which will complete 38 years now, did not become a cult for no reason. It had the best casting, an action-packed plot and the most intriguing story-telling. And why not? After all, it inspired director Farhan Akhtar so much that he came out with its remake in 2006, and a sequel later in 2011. Surely that's proof enough why the original Don remains etched in our minds forever. But we bet there's a lot you didn't know about the film. Read on to find out. 1. Writers Salim-Javed were not able to sell one particular script for a long time after it was rejected by everyone from Dev Anand to Prakash Mehra and Jeetendra. Producer Nariman Irani was in debt and hence he approached writer Salim. Salim said "hamare paas ek breakfast script padi hai jo koi nahi le raha." Nariman said "chalega". It was the story about one particular Don! 2. The film's iconic song "Khaike Paan Banaraswala" was never meant for Don. It was written for Dev Anand film Banarasi Babu. The song was shot after the entire filming was complete and added post interval to balance the action-packed pace of the film. Actor Manoj Kumar, who saw the rushes, said the film was so gripping that even taking a "toilet break" was difficult. Hence, the song was included on his recommendation. During its recording Kishore Kumar actually chewed paan and spat it on a plastic sheet to make it seem natural. 3. Producer Nariman died in a mishap while the shooting of Don was underway. 4. Pran was paid more than Amitabh Bachchan. In fact, his character Jasjit in the original script walked straight. But the makers altered the story and introduced a stick for him because Pran had had an accident just before the film's shooting began, because of which he couldn't walk without support. 5. Amitabh's role of Vijay was inspired by one of the avatars Sanjeev Kumar portrayed in his film Naya Din Nayi Raat. He played a masterji who ate paan and had oily hair. Amitabh ate at least 40 paans to get those red lips. But the "chuna" ended up burning the actor's lips and he was in pain for many days. 6. Music directors Kalyanji-Anandji used Barry White's 1974 classic theme from Together Brothers as one of the main background scores in Don. The film's background music was in turn used in the commentary part of the 1987 film Mr. X. So successful was its music that rapper Prodigy sampled "Yeh Mera Dil" for his song "Real Power is People". Even the James Brown song "I Can't Stand It" is featured in a club sequence. A side-actor is singing it while Amitabh and Zeenat Aman are sitting and talking. 7. Actress Farida Jalal shot for a 5 minutes scene at the Bombay airport. But later the makers felt her character wasn't adding anything to the film but only increasing the duration. Her entire role was hence deleted from the film. 8. Saroj Khan, who was in her struggling days and was just a background dancer, used to watch Don everyday at a particular Bombay theatre, just to watch "Khaike Paan Banaraswala". The theatre authorities started recognising her and later asked her not to purchase any ticket. They instead reserved a seat for her during a particular show. 9. Pran, Amitabh and Zeenat Aman did not charge a penny for the film. But after its success, they were given their share. The remaining amount went to the wife of late producer Nariman. 10. The theme of Don was released in the international dance album 'Bombay The Hardway; Guns Cars and Sitars'. 11. We hear actor Rajendra Kumar was keen on playing the role of ACP D'Silva which ultimately went to Ifthekar. Actor Ifthekar who mostly played a police officer had many police uniforms. Hence, his casting saved the film's cost on police costumes. 12. The film was in the making for four long years and made on a very low budget. Its shooting began with the filming of "Yeh Mera Dil", that starred Helen. A sample from the song "Yeh Mera Dil" was used by The Black Eyed Peas for their hit "Don't Phunk with My Heart" in 2005. The track won the band its first Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance, while Kalyanji-Anandji, were awarded the BMI Award for being the originators of the melody. 13. The climax was to be shot at a real Catholic Cemetery but to cut down on costs, a set was created. In many scenes, one can see that the graves don't have any names. However, the graves that came in focus were given names of crew members like cameraman and assistants. 14. Amitabh Bachchan while receiving the Filmfare Best Actor award for the film, dedicated it to producer Nariman Irani, and asked his widow to come up and take the award. 15. Don has elements of 1962's film China Town which had Shammi Kapoor playing the double roles of both a gangster and his lookalike - a common man turned informer. Don, in turn had several remakes and adaptations in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam. The 2007 Hollywood movie The Death and Life of Bobby Z had a similar premise to this movie too. Pat yourself on the back if you have seen the film and remember all the connecting sequences we just told you. And if you still haven't, pack your bags, and leave for the Himalayas! Because "Don ko pakadna mushkil hi nahi namumkin hai." Here is a song from the film to bring a smile on your face! :) imdb First of all, I am so glad that the web series culture has finally arrived in India. Thankfully, it's doing great too! And why not? It has everything going for it. These web series are super urban, they're short and snappy, they're extremely relatable, and are nothing like what you'd get on the big screen or on Indian TV (thank god for that!). But the most amazing thing about these web series? The new breed of actors working in them. Yes! One look at these actors, and you'd know they look so refreshing and are damn fine at their art. None of them look like the super manicured and brushed up Bollywood actors, or the characters on the Indian TV who glue layers of make up on their faces (How else would you justify the non-stop crying, without the heroine smearing her eye liner?). Even though this culture is just in a nascent stage, these actors have brought about such a refreshing change with their realistic acting skills and natural looks. And mind you, most of them are pretty versatile - whether it's serious acting or comic scenes, they can do it all! Check out these 10 actors from various Indian web series who are really showing Bollywood how it's done! 1. Angira Dhar pixgood I remember first spotting her as the cutesy, bespectacled girl in one of the Cadbury ads. And back then I never thought she could pull off a lead role, let alone on a web series. She came into notice with YRF's Bang Baaja Baaraat, and surprised us all. It was quite a transformation from her Cadbury ad's avatar! She looked like a total bombshell, but again, that was the part she was playing in the series, and she did a pretty good job of it. Let's just hope we get to see more of her soon! 2. Naveen Kasturia tvf This guy had me at "I am stunned"! Remember, one of the first few TVF videos that spoofed Roadies, where he pulled off a Rannvijay probably better than Rannvijay himself! But that's just about his comic timing. The dude can act, and act pretty damn well. Currently, you'd better know him as Naveen Bansal from TVF Pitchers. Yeah, he's nailing that one too, right? BTW, you also need to catch him in the indie flick Sulemani Keeda which earned a ton of appreciation, including from the co-writer of Pulp Fiction! Maybe he's good at his craft because he is an ex engineer and has been an AD in some major Bollywood flicks. Which is precisely why my heart breaks when he has to play roles in utterly forgettable films like Loveshuda (Don't ask me what movie that is). He definitely deserves much more than that, and probably Pitchers' second season will be it! 3. Gaurav Pandey youtube Now, his is a pretty familiar face. You must have seen him in some TV ads, and he has even done sidey roles in some Bollywood flicks. Remember Varun Dhawan's friend from Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhaniya? Rings a bell? Yeah, that's him. But he proved his mettle as an actor with YRF's first web series, Man's World. For anyone who has seen it, they'd know it was a tough role to pull off. The story revolved around gender role reversal in our society, and there was a scene where he even acted pregnant. Yes! But like I said, it's these actors' subtle acting skills and their very real looks that make them relatable to you and me, the urban youth. And Gaurav certainly falls in that category. 4. Jeetendra Kumar youtube Okay. So this guy is the personification of the idiom 'big things come in small packages'. He's short, petite, and looks nothing close to the ideal hero-like image we all have in our minds. But boy, can he act! You must recognise him by face, from the various web series he has done. And he's also one of the leads in TVF's most popular series, Pitchers. In fact, he recently also starred in a spoof video of none other than Shahrukh Khan and Kajol! But you know, one his most memorable characters will always remain 'Arjun Kejriwal', where he copies, yes, Arvind Kejriwal! You simply can't miss that one! And looking at this chap's versatility, we can only see good things happening for him in the future. BTW, he's an ex IITian! 5. Sumeet Vyas twitter I am one of those few people who simply has to watch each and every Bollywood movie, no matter how crappy it may be. Which is why the moment I saw Mikesh Chaudhary on TVF's Permanent Roommates, I knew I had seen this chap before in Arjun Kapoor's dud, Aurangzeb. But thankfully, I was immediately also reminded that he had done a small, yet nice enough role in Sridevi's English Vinglish. But whoever has seen him act in the web series Permanent Roommates, would know what this guy brings to the table. There is something extremely likable about his personality, which reflects on screen as well. Which is why, again, I felt sad watching him do a lame role in Kunal Khemu's (yes!) movie Guddu Ki Gun (Again, don't ask). But now that season 2 of the series has begun, I couldn't be more excited to see him on my laptop screen yet again! 6. Biswapati Sarkar tvf This guy is simply a genius. I think he does Arnab better than Arnab himself! He first emerged on the web series scene with TVF's Chai Sutta Chronicles, and totally stole the show with his act of Arnub, where he did a mindblasting job at spoofing journalist Arnab Goswami. Yes, yes, he is an ex IITian as well! In fact, apart from being an awesome actor, he also writes comedy, and has even written the first season of TVF Pitchers. 7. Nidhi Bisht youtube What do you say about a lawyer turned writer-director and actress who also happens to have ridiculously amazing comic timing? Well, you shut up and watch her do her thing. She has starred in various web series from TVF, including Permanent Roommates and Chai Sutta Chronicles. She has something totally goofy and mischievous about herself, which again, reflects in the kind of roles she plays. One of the gems from her remains the spoof where she played Ekta Kapoor, and really nailed the part! While she can pull off a serious character, she has done a brilliant job at each and every comedy series she has ever worked in. 8. Anandeshwar Dwivedi youtube Say hello to web series ke Salman Bhai! Yes! Anandeshwar Dwivedi is the certified Salman Khan of the web series world. He can spoof him like nobody's business, and he does a damn fine job at it. But that's not his only skill set. Like other TVF products, he can nail any comic character out there. And what works for him is the subtlety with which he carries off any role. In fact his character in Permanent Roommates is short and nothing extraordinary. Yet, he does it with such ease that you can't help but relate to it. But besides that, there's no doubt that all of his comic characters are simply flawless. 9. Abhay Mahajan tvf Okay, his is probably the most relatable character I have seen on any of the web series. If you've seen Pitchers, you know him as Mandal, aka the most annoying guy in any group. Yet, he has a pure heart and is still a great friend. Yes. That's Abhay Mahajan as Mandal in the series. And he plays his part so convincingly that you'd actually think he is seriously irritating in real life as well! You know, sitting in an office, you could look to your right, and you could easily spot the Mandal of your life sitting two bays across from you. That's how realistic his character appears to be. Now that Pitchers season 2 is in the pipeline, I'm sure he's all set to create some more ruckus, of course, in a good way! 10. Nidhi Singh youtube You might know her as Tanya from TVF's Permanent Roommates series. But let's jog your memory a little bit. She actually broke onto scene with this super hilarious video that depicted the stereotypical Delhi girl. Yeah, remember now? Good thing that she went on to become the lead in Permanent Roommates. Her portrayal of an independent, practical, and non-mushy urban girl is just spot on. Of course, it doesn't hurt that the girl is equally good at comedy as well. And now that her series' second season is here, I am sure she'll do a fine job yet again! After a fellow passenger in the Nauchandi Express misbehaved with a woman, she called up her nephew, who in turn quickly tweeted the matter to @RailMinIndia. Within minutes, a team of Railway Police Force (RPF) from Meerut city station reached out to help the woman, Anu Agarwal. Seeing the cops, the passenger fled. madelearningdesigns "I was onboard the Nauchandi Express when a man boarded the train and sat on my seat. Initially, I did not mind, thinking that he might be having a seat somewhere else in the compartment and would eventually go there. But then he started getting close to me. When I told him to return to his seat, he started using abusive language and refused to budge. Sadly, no one in the train intervened despite seeing that I was travelling with my kids," said Agarwal. She added that the man continued to issue threats even after he changed his seat. The man supposedly did not have a ticket. youtube It was then that Agarwal called up her nephew, Prakhar Goyal, and informed him about the incident. Goyal immediately tweeted the matter to the ministry of railways for help. Prakhar's tweet read, "@RailMinIndia S- 1, 17-18. A Man is misbehaving with a lady Name:- Anu Agarwal. Help asap. Train No- 14512" (sic). He also shared his aunt's contact number with the ministry in the tweet @RailMinIndia replied immediately to Goyal's tweet, "@karan9560 Please call 182 or 1800111322 passenger security help line @ir_igcni." Railway Board further replied to the tweet, "@RailMinIndia @karan9560 @NRRPF plz make conversation with complainant if required, take action & intimate to this office (sic)." Soon after the series of tweets, a team of Railway Protection Force (RPF) boarded the train at Meerut City railway station to find out what was happening. In no time the passenger beat a hasty retreat. "I was assured by the RPF team that if he returns -- which was very unlikely -- I can inform them and they will ensure my safety," said Agarwal. George Mikes, the British humourist who was born in Hungary, claimed, tongue in cheek, that everyone in the world was of Hungarian origin. The Indian Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR) might take exception to such a pronouncement by making the counterclaim that everyone or at least almost everyone is actually of Indian descent. myheritage At its recent three-day Delhi conference attended by international scholars and ministers Sushma Swaraj and Mahesh Sharma the ICCR raised an old theory which traces the origins of the globally scattered community of the Romany folk variously known as Roma, gypsies, tinkers and Zingari to India where this nomadic tribe is said to be represented by the Banjaras. The language of the Roma who are believed to have migrated from India to Europe 2,500 years ago is said to have a number of words in common with Hindustani and many of the Romany people worship a deity said to be akin to goddess Kali. Celebrities such as king of rocknroll Elvis Presley, paint maestro Pablo Picasso, and film actors Yul Brynner, Michael Caine and Bob Hoskins are, according to the ICCR director general, of Roma stock, and as such could technically be subsumed under the generic classification of PIOs, or People of Indian Origin. slideshare If ICCRs assertion were to be taken at face value or race value it adds an entirely new dimension to the already much-vaunted Indian diaspora and its global reach. The diaspora has become the darling of our current prime minister and vice versa and the supposition that thanks to the Romany connection he could have a far larger potential fan following abroad could well spur NaMo to undertake even more foreign forays than he already does. Indeed, thanks to his itinerant ways, the PM could himself claim to be part wandering gypsy, by inclination if nothing else. The suggestion that all roads lead to Roma and by implication back to India could well find enthusiastic support from advocates of Akhand Bharat, whose super-patriotic zeal knows literally no boundaries. realhistoryww Such ethnic expansionism might also find favour with BJPs ideological mentor RSS, which has launched an ambitious outreach programme to woo Indian minorities such as Muslims and Christians to join its so-far exclusivist Hindu flock. After all, with only slight modification the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh could become the Romany Swayamsevak Sangh. However, sceptics who tend to look gift horses in the mouth, and thereby could be described as persistent naysayers, could dismiss all such conjecture as having a decidedly odd odour. Or what might be called a fishy a-Roma. United States space agency NASA are being overwhelmed with job applications. According to them, NASA has received over 18,300 applications for its astronaut class in 2017. That's three times the number it received in 2012. NASA Administrator and former astronaut Charlie Bolden says, "Its not at all surprising to me that so many Americans from diverse backgrounds want to personally contribute to blazing the trail on our journey to Mars, said NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden, himself a former astronaut." wikimedia | NASA class of A few exceptionally talented men and women will become the astronauts chosen in this group who will once again launch to space from U.S. soil on American-made spacecraft. The application window for the program opened on December 14th and closed on 18th February. Now, an 18-month-long grueling process will start where these 18,000-odd need to be shortlisted to 8 to 14 individuals. The names of the selected individuals will be announced in mid-2017. The chosen ones would then go through two years of initial training on spacecraft systems, space walking skills and team work. They will also be learning the Russian language among other requisite skills. pddnet.com According to NASA, those who manage to complete the training will be assigned to one of the following spacecrafts - the International Space Station, NASAs Orion spacecraft for deep space exploration, or one of two American-made commercial crew spacecrafts currently in development - Boeings CST-100 Starliner or the SpaceX Crew Dragon, NASA added. The previous record of the highest number of applicants in NASA was 8,000 back in 1978. Cover image from wired.co.uk. The Islamic State has been increasingly using children in their suicide missions. Children no older than twelve would be brain-washed into climbing the armoured vehicle packed with explosives. Before getting on that vehicle, the child would wish his father good-bye, a few minutes later, there would be nothing left of him. Washington Post The image above released by the Islamic State is only one of the many insights into how the organisation has been resorting to kids for their combat operations and suicide attacks in Iraq and Syria. There have been 89 cases in the last year where the Islamic State has resorted to using teenagers on suicide missions. ISIS has started sending more and more kids to their deaths according to a new research. The first comprehensive study, ISIS' use of children in suicide attacks are a part of their strategy to instill their ideologies and brand of violence in them. Apparently children are also being used to shock outsiders with their attacks. Just last month, a video released showed a child wearing an ISIS headband detonating a bomb by pressing a remote control. The car also had three accused spies strapped to the seats with the child. theepochtimes.com Roughly, around 60% of the suicide missions being carried out are done with the help of adolescent kids in the age group for 12 to 16. Some were even as young as 8 or 9 but none of them above the age of 18. The report titled, "Depictions of Children and Youth in the Islamic State's 'Martyrdom' Propaganda." says there were 11 children killed in Islamic State operations in January compared to six in the same month in 2015. But researchers don't feel children are being forced to join because of the fading belief from the adults. Instead, they are doing so because kids generally avoid being detected. It also adds to their values that believe even children's lives can be sacrificed to re-establish a caliphate. Charlie Winter, a senior research associate at Georgia State and co-author of the report believes "As the military situation becomes more difficult for ISIS in the months and years to come, we'll see more instances of youths being used on the battlefield." theflyingcameldotorg.files.wordpress.com Although most of these kids are from Iraq or Syria, there are others who have come from the Middle East, North Africa, Britain. France and even Australia. Cover image from vocativ.com. Follow us on freedom 251 booking ends deliveries to begin april onwards New Delhi: The online booking of Freedom 251, notable the world's cheapest smartphone, has ended on Saturday, a little before its intended date of February 21 as declared by the Noida-based company Ringing Bells. Till 11am on Saturday, a total of 7.35 crore people have booked the Rs 251 smartphone. We had to shut down online bookings because we are prepared to deliver only this much handsets. However, only 30,000 people have paid the amount, including shipping charges, so far. Rest of the buyers will pay once the phone is delivered, told Mohit Kumar Goel, founder of the company to a leading newspaper. The company expects to start the smartphone's delivery by April onwards and plans to deliver 7.35 crore phones by this year's end. A breakdown of the booking actions revealed that the company received its maximum orders of 3.7 crore handsets on February 18, first day of the phone's sale, itself, claimed Ringing Bells' officials. It received 2.8 crore orders on the second day and 85 lakhs on Saturday, company officials added. As the Rs. 251 smartphone's website remained ridden with technical issues, prospective buyers showed agitation over being unable to book the phone well in time. Why did the website not run smoothly since the bookings opened?, questioned Vipin Chauhan, a prospective buyer who failed to place an order online. Besides the faulty website, Freedom 251 manufacturers have also managed to rope in much inquiry from various political, financial and market-regulatory sectors. On Friday, the Ringing Bells Company was visited by a three member team from the income-tax department who had sought to question the employees of the sector-63 office. This was in relation to a remark made by BJP lawmaker Kirti Somaiya accusing the company of being a ponzi bogus company scam'. Somaiya, in a previous report, mentioned that he has taken this matter up with a list of regulatory bodies such as the telecom ministry, telecom regulator, consumer ministry, market regulatory Sebi, corporate ministry, finance ministry and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to look deeper into the smartphone company's offering. The BJP MP has also asked the Uttar Pradesh government to probe further into Freedom 251's intentions in the telecom industry. Goel claimed that his intention behind all the fiasco is to enable the poor section of the Indian society with an affordable smartphone. Latest Business News Follow us on from rangoon sets kareena s hubby saif and ex flame shahid aren t getting along well New Delhi: Filmmaker Vishal Bhardwaj raised many eyebrows when he announced that his next Rangoon' will star Shahid Kapoor and Saif Ali Khan in leading roles. It was quite surprising for cine buffs when they learnt that actress Kareena Kapoor's husband and ex flame will share screen space. The two seemed pretty excited for the project too as reflected by their statements. But seems their enthusiasm has withered away and they are not comfortable around each other. Insiders from the film's sets reveal that both actors don't see eye to eye with each other. The two don't talk to each other at all. Once they arrive on the sets, they straight away head towards the van, get ready, do the shoot and zoom off. They aren't even cordial to each other, the insider told a leading daily. It doesn't escape one's notice that Kareena Kapoor Khan could be the reason for this cold behaviour between the two. Shahid dated Kareena for some years and now she is married to Saif. It was speculated that sparks will fly off when Shahid and Saif will work together. But the way the two have been talking about each other in public domain put these speculations to bed. But looks like it is easier said than done and there is bad blood between them. Set in the era of World War 2, Rangoon has Kangana Ranaut as the lead actress. Latest Bollywood News Follow us on 21 madhesis detained before reaching pm modi s residence to protest nepal pm s india visit New Delhi: Delhi Police detained 21 Madhesis, who were on their way to the Prime Minister's residence in Race Course Road here today to protest against the visit of Nepal Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli. According to police, all the detained persons are Madhesis. They were detained in the morning when they were marching towards the Prime Minister's residence. In his first overseas trip after assuming charge of the top office, Oli arrived in New Delhi yesterday on a six-day visit during which he will hold extensive talks with the Indian leadership with a major focus on mending ties hit by issues relating to the Himalayan nation's new Constitution. It is expected that India will ask Nepal to complete the "unfinished task" of making the Constitution more inclusive to address the concerns of the Madhesi community which share close family and cultural ties with Indians. Latest India News Follow us on elements trying to disturb modi govt s development plans baba ramdev New Delhi: Yoga guru Ramdev Friday accused some "unsocial elements" of trying to disturb the development plans of the Narendra Modi government by raising anti-national slogans. "There are a few unsocial elements in the country who are trying to disturb the Modi government's developmental plans by raising anti-national slogans at JNU recently," said Ramdev, who had come to attend Bhartiya Kisan Sangh's Agri Expo-2016 at Muhana Mandi. These elements were trying to divert the Modi government's sanklap (mission) of development, he said, adding that those who will raise anti-national slogans would not be tolerated. Speaking on the issue of farmer suicide, Ramdev also said the killing of one Muslim in India causes mayhem across the world. Similarly, if one farmer committed suicide, all farmers should stand united with them. He said while the government had set up several pay commissions for the welfare of government employees, there had not been any aayog (commission) for farmers. Everyone has benefitted from themfrom peon to PM everyone. Has there been any aayog for farmers? It is time that you get your rights from the government while Narendra Modi is there, The Indian Express quoted Ramdev as saying. Government will not listen to you on a priority if you don't pull its nose a bit (build pressure). Latest India News Follow us on jammu and kashmir police arrest former assistant of asaram Indore: The Jammu and Kashmir police on friday arrested a former assistant of the controversial godman Asaram Bapu in a case registered in 2013 in that state. Satish Wadhawani (38), was produced before a magistrate here who granted the J and K police his transit remand. Wadhwani is facing a case under sections 120-B, 153 A, 194, 195, 295 and 383 of the Ranbir Penal Code at Navabad police station in Jammu and Kashmir. Wadhawani, who worked as driver and bodyguard for Asaram and his son Narayan Sai from 1994 to 2009, later fell out with them and made some public statements against the father-son duo. He had also taken police protection in Indore saying he was getting threats. Latest India News Follow us on what s wrong in prosecuting those who insult the idea of india New Delhi: We all agree that India is one of the worst victims of terrorism in the world. We also agree that this terrorism is aided and abetted from across the border. Yet, we have a section of people in our country which believes that those who publically advocate dismemberment of India should be treated with kid-gloves. Can we afford to be so ignorant that we would allow these people to create an environment that gives the impression of an unjust Indian state which would make gullible Indian youth cannon-fodder for our enemies sitting across the border? There are people who say that at least students calling for balkanisation of India should be treated as juveniles and pardoned. There is another section of self-anointed intellectuals who believe that even adults who publically rant about destroying India should not be touched even with a barge pole because they are just using the right to freedom and expression as enshrined under fundamental rights of Indian constitution. Let's evaluate both these arguments judiciously. How can a person who openly challenges the unity and integrity be given the benefit of not being old enough to be charged under relevant sections of Indian Penal code (IPC) and Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC)? Just look at the nature of slogans that were raised at JNU leading to the arrest of JNUSU President Kanhaiya Kumar - Kashmir ki Azaadi tak, jung rahegi, jung rahegi; India ki barbaadi tak, jung rahegi, jung rahegi; Bharat tere tukde honge...inshaallah inshaallah; Afzal tere khoon se...inqilaab aayega; Afzal ham sharminda hain...tere qatil zinda hain etc. Read more: Umar Khalid will surrender if PM guarantees his security, says his father Will such sloganeering not vitiate the minds of more and more young people of this country? How can a person having Indian passport even dare to talk about the destruction of India? Can we turn a blind eye to those who threaten to smear India into pieces chanting religious slogans? And how can you question hanging of Afzal Guru? Questioning his hanging means you are questioning the Supreme Court. Who will have a final say in such cases? Will criminal cases in India be decided by Kangaroo courts or courts of law? Should the Indian state not bring to book those, irrespective of their caste, creed, religion and of course age, who challenge the very idea of India? And what is this idea of India? If our constitution is read properly, the idea of India clearly rests on three fundamental pillars belief in democracy, respect for judiciary and unflinching commitment to unity, integrity and diversity of this country. Those who raised these obnoxious slogans in JNU have clearly insulted this idea of India and they must be booked under the provisions of law of the land. You have every right to criticise a political party including BJP and a cultural organisation including RSS but how can you be allowed to use derogatory language against the nation? As far as charging Kanhaiya under sedition' is concerned, it remains debatable because it has been pointed out that there is no clear proof that he chanted those slogans. Advocate DB Goswami, Supreme Court lawyer, however, believes that there is nothing wrong in imposing sedition charges against Kanhaiya Kumar even if he did not chant those objectionable comments himself. Even if he did not make these statements, how did it matter? Section 34 of the IPC talks about common intention. For example, if a dacoity is committed in the house of a person and one person stands outside, he is equally liable. Apart from that there is a section 149 that deals with unlawful assembly. Even if you don't have an intention but you have the knowledge that some people are doing an unlawful act, you are equally liable. Where is the scope for going out of this person? Advocate Goswami said. Unfortunately, the people who are against the imposition of sedition' charges against Kanhaiya Kumar under section 124(A) have very less knowledge about IPC and CrPC. The question is not whether he made those statements, even if he was part of that assembly, he is equally responsible. I have cited all these points from the previous judgements of Supreme Court, he added. However, those who actually raised these slogans can't be spared under any circumstance. There are enough laws other than sedition under IPC and CrPC that can be used against these people and Police has every right to exercise these legal provisions. We have an independent judiciary and therefore, if anybody believes that he or she is being victimised then that person can challenge the actions of the state and police in a court of law. Our constitution gives us this right. Let's cherish it, respect it. Here it must be added that the attack on Kanhaiya Kumar by lawyers of Patiala House Court is equally condemnable. Those who did that have clearly committed a criminal offence and must be punished in accordance with the law of the land. Let's come to that section which believes that one has the right to say anything and everything because Indian constitution provides us with the fundamental right of freedom to speech and expression. These intellectuals always tend to forget that under Indian Constitution, right to freedom of speech and expression is not absolute. It comes with clear-cut restrictions. Let's first understand what does Article 19 of Indian constitution says. Article 19 (1)(a) says All citizens shall have the right to freedom of speech and expression. However, Article 19(2) makes it clear that this article doesn't stop the state from making any law that imposes reasonable restrictions on the exercise of the right conferred in the interests of the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the State, friendly relations with foreign States, public order, decency or morality or in relation to contempt of court, defamation or incitement to an offence. Obviously, the right to freedom and speech is not absolute. The constitution itself empowers the state to frame laws to stop misuse of this fundamental right and IPC and CrPC have many such laws already in place. Whether imposition of sedition charges against Kanhaiya Kumar is right or not is something that will be decided by the courts. There are many other laws, equally stringent, under which these people can be tried. In addition to section 34 and 149, there is another section 153 that deals with giving provocation with intention to cause riots. Suppose you are making a provocation on another party and if the other party comes and starts doing the rampage, you will be responsible for that, Advocate Goswami points out. Under no circumstance, one should be allowed to create a frenzy demonising the Indian state for initiating legal action against those who called for destruction of the country. They have created a criminal offence and they must be tried under relevant laws, not necessarily sedition. Latest India News Follow us on no mobile phone for unmarried women gujarat village diktat Ahmedabad: While Prime Minister Narendra Modi is making all out effort to make his Digital Indian campaign a success, a village in his native district of Mehsana has banned unmarried women from using mobile phones. Unmarried women caught with mobile phones will be fined Rs 2,100 while informers will be rewarded with Rs 200 in the village, situated 100 kilometres from the state's financial capital Ahmedabad, according to a report. Why do girls need cell phone? Internet is a waste of time and money for a middle-class community like ours. Girls should better utilise their time for study and other works, Suraj village sarpanch Devshi Vankar was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times. He added, that there are no restrictions when it comes to unmarried women talking to relatives using their parents' phone. Their parents can pass on their phones for conversation to the girl if any relative wants to talk to them. Suraj village imposed the ban on February 12 but it may spread to other parts of north Gujarat as the politically influential Thakor community initiated a drive to extend the restriction, with support of other OBC communities such as the Rabari and Vankar, has decided to bring more villages under this rule. Vankar said that the entire village of 2,500 inhabitants, comprising of various castes, welcomed his decision. It all started with an alcohol de-addiction campaign for men started by the Thakors, which gradually extended to women's lifestyle after community heads observed that the use of mobile phones by unmarried women was as much a 'nuisance' to the society as alcoholic men. Latest India News Follow us on purpose of my visit is to clear misunderstanding with india nepal pm New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi met his Nepalese counterpart K.P. Sharma Oli on Saturday, the second day of the latter's six-day visit to India, during which a range of issues of mutual interest, including trade and political situation in Nepal, figured. The two leaders met at Hyderabad House here ahead of delegation-level talks and stressed on the importance of good relations between the people of the two countries. Addressing the media, the Nepalese PM said, "The main reason for my visit is to clear the misunderstandings that have settled in last few months." He also thanked PM Modi and the people of India for their spontaneous support in the aftermath of the earthquake that hit Nepal on Aril 25 last year. While praising Nepal's noteworthy progress in the last few years as far as democracy and federalism is concerned, the Indian Prime Minister called for a consensus on Nepal's constitution. Success of Nepal's constitution will depend on consensus and dialogue, PM Modi said. Nepalese PM K P Oli also briefed PM Modi on developments in Nepal after adoption of constitution. "India's security is related to Nepal's stability," the PM said. Earleir India signed nine agreements with Nepal following delegation-level talks led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Nepalese counterpart K.P. Sharma Oli. These include agreements on utilisation of Indian grant of $250 million for post-earthquake reconstruction, improving of road infrasxtructure in Nepal's Terai area, cultural cooperation, transit between Nepal and Bagladesh through Kakarbitta-Banglabandh corridor, operationalisation of Vishakapatnam port and rail transport to and from Vishakapatnam. The visit of Oli, who arrived here on Friday, is the first bilateral visit by a prime minister from the Himalayan nation since 2011 when Baburam Bhattarai visited India. "India and Nepal exchange nine agreements for partnership and progress," Fireign Secretary S Jaishanker later said at a press briefing, adding that both leaders discussed a range of topics during their meeting. China, he said, did not come up during discussions. Both sides have reaffirmed their stand not to allow anti-social elements to exploit the open border against the two countries, the Foreign Secretary said. In 2014, then prime minister Sushil Koirala visited India for the swearing-in ceremony of the Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government. In August 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi went on a bilateral visit to Nepal which was the first by an Indian prime minister in 17 years. Modi again went in November 2014 to attend the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) summit in Kathmandu. Earlier on Saturday, Oli was accorded a ceremonial welcome at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, where he inspected a guard of honour. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj thereafter called on the visiting dignitary. During the meeting, Oli told Sushma Swaraj that India and Nepal have a natural and civilisational relationship, according to Swarup. Oli's visit assumes significance as ties between the two South Asian neighbours in the last few months soured after the adoption of a new constitution in the Himalayan nation sparked violent protests in the country's southern plains. "While some problems related to the Nepal Constitution have been solved, some issues remain to be addressed. A commiitee including the deputy PM and finance minister of Nepal Kamal Thapa has been formed to look into this. We are waiting for its Terms of Reference," the Foreign Secretary said. Latest India News Follow us on plea in hc against bs bassi for influencing jnu case probe New Delhi: A petition was filed in Delhi High Court Friday accusing city police commissioner B S Bassi of "influencing" the probe in the sedition case against JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar. The plea, which is likely to come up for hearing on Monday, also alleged that the police chief was "playing at the hands" of certain political parties. The petition alleged that Bassi's statement to media that the police would not oppose Kanhaiya's bail plea, may influence fair and transparent investigation in the matter as well as court proceedings. It also claimed that police was "playing at the hands of some political parties under whom Delhi Police is working" and said Bassi should be directed to clear his views on the statements given by him to the media on February 16 and 17. In his petition, city lawyer Satish Pandey claimed that the investigating officer cannot probe the case fairly in such a case when "undue influential pressure" is imposed by a high -ranking official like the police commissioner. It also referred to Bassi's statement in which the police chief has said they were not giving a clean chit to Kanhaiya. Seeking a direction to prohibit Bassi from influencing the probe, Pandey said the police should not be allowed to not oppose Kanhaiya's bail plea as other co-accused, who are on the run, may not be brought before the court if he gets bail. "The charge of sedition and criminal conspiracy against the accused is not an individual offence but it is a public offence and every citizen of the nation are affected," he claimed. Besides Bassi, Pandey has made Kanhaiya, the Centre and Delhi government as respondents. (PTI) Latest India News Follow us on jat stir protesters seek quota ordinance to end agitation Chandigarh: Jat protesters today overtunrned an offer of truce by Haryana chief minister Manohar Khattar, saying they will only withdraw their agitation when the government brings in an ordinance to include the Jat community within OBCs. Khattar had today said that the government was willing to accept all their demands and urged them to end their protests which has thrown normal life completely out of gear. Chaos reigned in Haryana on Saturday with escalated violence in several areas as hooligans, who have joined ranks of jat protestors, ran amok, setting afire government and private property and vehicles, blocking roads and highways, disrupting trains and uprooting tracks and indulging in looting. Curfew was imposed in Hisar, Sonipat and Jind towns after violence. Violence was also reported from Kaithal. The death toll in the violence in past 36 hours has reached four with over 100 people being injured. One person was killed when soldiers opened fire on an unruly mob in Jhajjar. Here is an account of the events as they unfolded through the day: * Jat protesters deny Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar's offer of truce. The Haryana CM today said the government was willing to accept all their demands. * "We will not withdraw our agitation unless the state government brings an ordinance for giving reservation to Jats. We will not accept mere statements issued by Khattar. The government will have to promulgate ordinance first. The government should pass a bill in this regard in the (state) assembly," All India Jat Aarakshan Sangarsh Samiti's national president Yashapal Malik told PTI. * Jat protestors set Coopoerative bank on fire in Fatehabad. * "Situation comparatively improved. 129 cases have so far been registered against those agitating," says Haryana DGP Y.P.Singhal. * Meeting underway at Home Minister Rajnath Singh's residence in Delhi. Army Chief, NSA Ajit Doval, Defence Minister Parrikar present * Shoot at sight orders issued by Deputy commissioner in areas of Hissar and Hansi areas of Haryana. * Four people reported killed in Haryana's Jhajjar in Army firing after protesters tried to defy curfew. * Reservation protests reach Delhi with agitations on the Delhi University north campus and at the Delhi-Sonepat border blocking the National Highway 1, which connects the national capital with Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir. * Nine Delhi-bound trains cancelled as a result of the Jat reservation agitation. * Maruti Suzuki Plant in Manesar (Gurgaon, Haryana) temporarily closed as a precautionary measure following Jat reservation protests. * BJP to issue showcause notice to party MP Raj kumar Saini for his alleged comments opposing Jat reservation * Jat leaders from Uttar Pradesh to meet Home Minister Rajnath Singh at 8 pm today * BJP says it will issue showcause notice to party MP Raj Kumar Saini for his alleged comments opposing Jat reservation * Chaudhary Birender Singh, Sanjeev Balyan & O.P. Dhankar to jointly hold a press today at 4:15 PM at BJP heaquarters * Curfew imposed in Jind as protestors set railway station on fire * I appeal to the people especially the youth to stop the protests, nothing will be gained by destroying property-Haryana CM ML Khattar * A mob in Rohtak district's Meham area set a police station, a petrol pump and a government building on fire. The police station has been set on fire by a group of about 2000-2500 people. They went on rampage today and also set on fire a petrol pump, a government building and a banquet hall, Rajender Singh, sub-inspector and SHO of Meham police station, said. * Curfew imposed in Sonipat district of Haryana: SSP Abhishek Garg * Appeal to protesters to return to their homes and maintain peace-Sanjeev Baliyan,Union Minister * All inter-state trains and buses plying between Jammu and Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine basecamp town of Katra were suspended today in view of the Jats` stir in Haryana, leaving hundreds of passengers * Meeting underway between BJP leaders Sanjeev Baliyan, OP Dhankar,Chaudhary Birendra Singh,Ram Lal and Anil Jain * Rohtak, Bhiwani, Jhajjar are the places where curfew has been imposed: YP Singhal, Haryana DGP * It is false that IG's residence has not been vandalised, house gate was burnt & stones were pelted at his house:YP Singhal, Haryana DGP * Whatever cases we have registered, strict action will be taken in those * There was stone pelting at Saini ji's(BJP MP) house,but the police reached the spot instantly and dispersed the protesters * Want to appeal that the elderly advise the younger people to not take part in such protests: YP Singhal (Haryana DGP) * Haryana Home Secretary and Director General of Police YP Singhal to address media at 12 pm in Chandigarh. * Students from Jat community protest outside North Campus, Delhi University (Mall Road) * Railway station set on fire in Jind. Some unidentified persons set on fire the Budha Khera Railway Station in this district today * Agitators block roads and railway tracks at many places across #Haryana. * Meeting underway at HM Rajnath Singh's residence.Defence Minister, Finance Minister & MoS Home Kiren Rijiju also present. * BJP President Amit Shah asks Jat leaders of the party to talk to protesters and sort out the issue soon * Around 150 trains have been cancelled, some trains have been short-terminated. * The army staged a flag march at Bhiwani and used helicopters to drop troops at Rohtak where curfew remained. * Jat protesters torched a station master's office at railway station in Jind in the wee hours of Saturday. Chandigarh: Three people were killed and dozens injured even as the army was called in eight districts of the state with curfew and shoot-at-sight orders imposed in in Biwani and Rohtak to rein in the worsening law and order situation in the state The train services have been badly hit in the state in the wake of the pro-reservation agitation. Passenger trains going from Delhi to Haryana, Rajasthan, Punjab and Jammu have been affected. "Around 150 trains have been cancelled, some trains have been short-terminated," Neeraj Sharma, PRO Northern Railway, said. AK Singh, a special officer, appointed with magisterial powers for Rohtak, Sonipat and Jhajjar districts, along with DGP rank officer BS Sandhu, also left for Rohtak in a government chopper. According to reports, schools will remain shut on Saturday in the eight districts racked by violence. Authorities have already blocked internet and SMS services in the affected areas. Reports also say, the protesters set RN Mall in Rohtak on fire and also looted a private armoury. Top Union ministers Rajnath Singh, Manohar Parrikar, Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj reviewed the law and order situation in the state along with NSA Ajit Doval and Intelligence Bureau chief Dineswar Sharma. Jat leaders reject Government's offer Demanding the inclusion of the Jats in the OBC category, agitating Jat leaders today rejected the offer made by Haryana government and asserted that their agitation would continue till their demand is met. There is no solid offer made by Haryana government. BJP government is just trying to befool Jats as its intentions with regard to giving reservation to Jats is not clean, All India Jat Aarakshan Sangarsh Samiti's national president, Yashapal Malik said. After holding an all party meeting here, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said the state government will prepare a draft Bill for giving reservation to Jats and suggestions have also been sought from all parties in this regard. Khattar, earlier in the day, said the Government has positive approach on Jats' demand and if all parties agree, then the government would bring a Bill in the ensuing session of Haryana Vidhan Sabha. Reacting to it, Mailk said, the government should first bring an ordinance and then bring a Bill in Haryana Vidhan Sabha for giving reservation to Jats. If government does it, then it will be acceptable to us, he said. Over the death of one person in firing in Rohtak, Malik said It is the government which indulged in violence. Jats are very angry with the BJP government over the death of one person. Our agitation will continue till our demand is met. Earlier in the day, Mailk had threatened to intensify agitation in other parts of the state including Panchkula and Yamunanagar. We want BJP government in Haryana to bring legislation in the upcoming budget session to include Jats in OBC category, he said. Only Haryana CM has problem in giving reservation to Jats. Rest of leaders in BJP is in favour of giving reservation, he said. Malik also accused Khattar of having castiest mentality. Khattar has jatiwadi mansikta (casteist mentality) because he is not a Jat. He is trying to prove himself as a leader of non-Jat people in the state by way of not giving reservation to Jats as was done by former Haryana CM Bhajan Lal in the past. His (Khattar) stand is against party line. The problem in Haryana today arose because of his mentality, Malik said. (With agencies) Latest India News Follow us on vietnam lodges formal complaint to un against china Hanoi: Vietnam has lodged a formal complaint to the UN over China's placement of a surface to air missile battery on a disputed island in the South China Sea. The country's foreign ministry said Friday that these are serious infringements of Vietnam's sovereignty over the Paracels, threatening peace and stability in the region as well as security, safety and freedom of navigation and flight. The statement said diplomatic notes had been issued to China's embassy in Hanoi and to Ban Ki-moon, the UN Chief, to condemn China's activities. China claims nearly all of the South China Sea, including small islands such as the Paracels. Earlier, China had deployed long-range anti- aircraft missiles on a disputed South China Sea island also claimed by Taiwan and Vietnam, a media report said on Wednesday, even as US President Barack Obama called for "tangible steps" to settle territorial disputes in the resource-rich region Satellite images showed two batteries of eight surface-to- air HQ-9 missile launchers as well as a radar system on Woody Island, part of the Paracel Island chain in the South China Sea, Fox News reported According to the images, a beach on the island was empty on February 3, but the missiles were visible by February 14 A US official said the imagery showed the HQ-9 air defence system with a range of over 200 kilometres, which would pose a threat to any civilian or military airplane flying close by, the report said It is the same island where a US Navy destroyer sailed close to another contested island a few weeks ago. Woody Island is part of the Paracels chain, under Chinese control for more than 40 years also claimed by Taiwan and Vietnam. The missiles arrived over the past week The move comes as President Obama hosts 10 Asian leaders in California, many of those concerned over China's recent activity in the South China Sea The US will continue to fly, sail and operate wherever international law allows, and will support the right of all countries to do the same, Obama said on Tuesday, as he called for "tangible steps" to reduce tensions in the disputed and natural resource-rich South China Sea The Pentagon was watching the developments closely, a defence official told the news channel "The US continues to call on all claimants to halt land reclamation, construction, and militarisation of features in the South China Sea," the official said In the past two years, China has built over 3,000 acres of territory atop seven reefs in the area. There are a total of three runways built on three of the artificial islands, the report said China has said that it has a historical right to all of the South China Sea. Taiwan and ASEAN members Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines also claim land features in these potentially resource-rich international shipping lanes. Latest World News Follow us on drug abuse in punjab amarinder singh lashes out at sukhbir singh badal Chandigarh: Amarinder Singh on Friday slammed Deputy Chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal's claims that the state had only 16,620 drug addicts, saying that SAD-BJP government had admitted a much higher figure in the High Court, only about seven months ago. He asked the Deputy CM to refer to his own government's affidavit submitted to the Punjab and Haryana High Court on July 13, 2015 on behalf of the Chief Secretary whereby it had admitted to having identified more than three lakh drug abusers. The former Chief Minister said that in response to a PIL in the High Court, the affidavit was filed on behalf of the Punjab Chief Secretary Sarvesh Kaushal. "This is just about 7 months ago and now the Deputy CM says there are just 16,620 drug addicts in Punjab which is an outright lie,"he remarked. Amarinder said although he did not agree with the figure in the affidavit as the number of addicts was "much more as an entire generation has been destroyed by drugs." He claimed, the government had even provided wrong information about the treatment by saying 13,000 addicts were being treated in OPD as the drug addicts have to be admitted indoor. "This is the characteristic attitude of the Badals to deny the very existence of a problem," he remarked. Meanwhile, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Sangrur MP, Bhagwant Mann also lambasted Sukhbir for allegedly distorting the recent study of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) to "subvert the widespread menace of drugs in the state." Mann said instead of tackling the peril of extensive drug abuse in Punjab especially among the youth, Sukhbir juggled with the figures of the AIIMS study released in the month of January which clearly found that opioids and other synthetic derivatives worth Rs 7,500 crore were being consumed in the state every year. "And of the drug consumption the share of heroin was pegged at massive Rs 6,500 crore, AIIMS had pointed in the study," said Mann. Mann was referring to the claim made by Sukhbir yesterday in Jalandhar that only 16,000 people of Punjab which constitutes just 0.06 per cent were hooked on to the drugs and the problem was more severe in Mumbai and Delhi. Terming Sukhbir a "compulsive liar", Mann said either Sukhbir himself was ignorant of the massive drug problem or hoodwinking the people of Punjab. The deputy CM should not forget his "alliance partner BJP's brand ambassador, Baba Ramdev, who had said in the month of May last year that 80 per cent of youths in Punjab have fallen prey to the drug menace." Mann said the AIIMS study had also pointed that 2.3 lakh people in Punjab were opioid dependent and more than 8.6 lakhs were estimated to be opioid and users of synthetic drugs. Follow us on know the reasons behind violent jat agitation in haryana New Delhi: Jats of Haryana have resorted to violence which reflects both their desperation as well as frustration over getting them included in the OBC Other Backward Classes (OBC) list. Honestly speaking, the crass opportunism practiced by Political parties of all hues made things murkier in Haryana and as a result, frustration started creeping in the Jat community which now gets manifested at regular intervals. Let's first understand what is agitating the minds of Jats in Haryana. Despite considered economically affluent and socially powerful, Jats of Haryana want to be included in the OBC list so that they become eligible for reservation in government jobs as well as admission in educational institutions. Jats constitute around 29% of Haryana population and it makes them politically very powerful in the state. Out of 90 Assembly seats in Haryana, almost one-third constituencies are dominated by Jats alone. That's one reason why no political party gathers the courage to resist their demand for inclusion in OBC list. Read Also: Shoot-at-sight ordered, curfew imposed, Army called in as Jat protesters go on rampage in Haryana In fact, Jats are agitating for OBC quota since 1991 when Mandal Commission recommendations were implemented. In 1997, National Commission for Backward Classes rejected their demand for inclusion in OBC list. In 2002, owing to tremendous pressure from the Jat community, National Commission for Backward Classes once again conducted a survey to review their backwardness in 6 states including Haryana. The survey came to a conclusion that on socio-economic parameters, Haryana's Jats were actually comparable to higher castes and not the lower castes. Jats were left disappointed once again. In March 2014, just ahead of Lok Sabha elections, the UPA government brought Jats under the OBC list in Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and the National Capital Territory of Delhi, Bharatpur and Dholpur districts of Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. The UPA government did so ignoring the fact that National Commission for Backward Castes (NCBC) had submitted a report on 26 February 2014 clearly stating that the Jat Community had not fulfilled the criteria for inclusion in the Central List of OBCs. As expected, the decision was challenged in the courts and finally, this decision was set aside by the Supreme Court in March 2015. In desperation to keep Jats on its side in 2014 Assembly elections, B S Hooda, Congress Chief Minister of Haryana, included Jats and 4 other castes in Specially Backward Class (SBC) and gave them a 10% reservation. Even this decision was termed null and void by Punjab and Haryana High Court in July 2015 after the Supreme Court rejected the decision of UPA govt to include Jats in OBC list in 9 states. Like every other political party, the BJP also promised Jats reservation in jobs and educational institutuins in the run up to October 2015 Assembly elections. Once the BJP won Assembly elections, the Jats of Haryana started pushing their case for inclusion in OBC list. Now the BJP has come up with a new proposal which is somewhat similar to the decision of Hooda government which was rejected by the High Court. The only difference is that the BJP has offered to increase the quota from 10% to 20% for Economically Backward Persons (EBP), a category that includes Jats and 4 other castes namely Jat Sikhs, Ror, Tyagi and Bishnoi. The BJP's proposal also calls for increasing the annual income ceiling under EBP from Rs 2.5 lakh to Rs 6 lakh so that maximum people can be covered under this category. Unfortunately for BJP and its state chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar, the Jat leaders have rejected even this offer. The Jat leaders don't want to be clubbed with any other caste, they are adamant on separate reservation for Jats. And an overwhelming majority of them want nothing less than OBC status for the community. The desperation of Jat leaders which is fast turning into frustration has led to a situation where the they have perhaps come to the conclusion that their voice will not be heard unless they do something that becomes media headlines and that explains they are orchestrating mindless violence all across the state. They tried to even put BJP Minister Captain Abhimany's house on fire. In India, unfortunately, acts of violence make for best of media headlines and Jats have perhaps understood it better. There is another aspect that can't be ignored for long as it is fraught with grave danger. The insistence of Jats on inclusion in OBC list has made those wary who are already parts of that list. Murmurs of dissent are already coming out from the OBCs of Haryana who are not in favour of including Jats under OBC list. Even a BJP minister from Khattar cabinet belonging to OBC community has threatened to launch an agitation against Jat leaders if they continue to indulge in violence pressing for a demand, which he believes, is totally unjustified. The Jats are not ready to accept anything less than the OBC tag and a nervous state government does not know how to handle this. In the meantime, the state is bearing the brunt of mindless violence. Follow us on kanhaiya did not say anything anti national azam khan Rampur (UP): Coming out in support of JNUSU President Kanhaiya Kumar, senior Samajawadi Party leader Azam Khan today said he did not utter anything which may be termed "anti-national". "Versions of Kumar's speech that appeared in various telecasts did not show what the Union government has been saying," he said. Speaking at a function at government's post graduate college Azam accused Modi government of conspiring to "saffronise" JNU. Wherever dissenting voice is raised, it is being crushed. This is the crux of anti-democratic intentions of the government, he added. Supporting Shiv Sena's demand to demolish Taj Mahal, he said, "If it is demolished, we shall celebrate." Earlier, he had said the money spent on building the Taj Mahal was "unjustified" and he would have led the mob had it decided to bring it down stating that Shah Jahan had no right to squander crores of public money in the memory of his wife. He also asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, "You visited Pakistan hurriedly, what were the circumstances that compelled you to fly to Pakistan ignoring security protocol?" At another PG girls' college, Azam alleged his phone is under surveillance 24 hours. Hillary Clinton, Vows to Embrace an Extremist Agenda on Israel By Glenn Greenwald February 19, 2016 " Information Clearing House " - " The Intercept " - Former President Bill Clinton on Monday met in secret (no press allowed) with roughly 100 leaders of South Floridas Jewish community, and, as the Times of Israel reports, He vowed that, if elected, Hillary Clinton would make it one of her top priorities to strengthen the U.S.-Israel alliance. He also stressed the close bond that he and his wife have with the State of Israel. It may be tempting to dismiss this as standard, vapid Clintonian politicking: adeptly telling everyone what they want to hear and making them believe it. After all, is it even physically possible to strengthen the U.S.-Israel alliance beyond what it already entails: billions of dollars in American taxpayer money transferred every year, sophisticated weapons fed to Israel as it bombs its defenseless neighbors, blindly loyal diplomatic support and protection for everything it does? But Bill Clintons vow of even greater support for Israel is completely consistent with what Hillary Clinton herself has been telling American Jewish audiences for months. In November, she published an op-ed in The Forward in which she vowed to strengthen relations not only with Israel, but also with its extremist prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. I have stood with Israel my entire career, she proclaimed. Indeed, as secretary of state, [she] requested more assistance for Israel every year. Moreover, she added, I defended Israel from isolation and attacks at the United Nations and other international settings, including opposing the biased Goldstone report [which documented widespread Israeli war crimes in Gaza]. Clinton media operatives such as Jonathan Alter have tried to undermine the Sanders campaign by claiming that only Sanders, but not Clinton, has committed the sin of criticizing Obama: Hillary stopped criticizing Obama in 2008, when [Obama] was nominee; Sanders stopped in 2015, so he could run as Dem. Aside from being creepy its actually healthy to criticize a president and pathological to refuse to do so this framework is also blatantly false. Clinton, in her book and in interviews, has often criticized Obama for being insufficiently hawkish: making clear that she wanted to be more militaristic than the Democratic president who has literally bombed seven predominantly Muslim countries (thus far). Her comments on Israel have similarly contained implicit criticisms of Obamas foreign policy: namely, that he has created or at least allowed too much animosity with Netanyahu. In her Forward op-ed, she wrote that the Israeli prime ministers upcoming visit to Washington is an opportunity to reaffirm the unbreakable bonds of friendship and unity between the people and governments of the United States and Israel. She pointedly added: The alliance between our two nations transcends politics. It is and should always be a commitment that unites us, not a wedge that divides us. And in case her message is unclear, she added this campaign promise: I would also invite the Israeli prime minister to the White House in my first month in office. Last month, Clinton wrote an even more extreme op-ed in the Jewish Journal, one that made even clearer that she intends to change Obamas policy to make it even more pro-Israel. It begins: In this time of terrorism and turmoil, the alliance between the United States and Israel is more important than ever. To meet the many challenges we face, we have to take our relationship to the next level. With every passing year, we must tie the bonds tighter, she wrote. Tie those bonds tighter. Thus: As part of this effort, we need to ensure that Israel continues to maintain its qualitative military edge. The United States should further bolster Israeli air defenses and help develop better tunnel detection technology to prevent arms smuggling and kidnapping. We should also expand high-level U.S.-Israel strategic consultations. As always, there is not a word about the oppression and brutality imposed on Palestinians as part of Israels decadeslong occupation. She does not even acknowledge, let alone express opposition to, Israels repeated, civilian-slaughtering bombing of the open-air prison in Gaza. Thats because for Clinton like the progressive establishment that supports her the suffering and violence imposed on Palestinians literally do not exist. None of this is mentioned, even in passing, in the endless parade of pro-Clinton articles pouring forth from progressive media outlets. Beyond progressive indifference, Clinton has been able to spout such extremist rhetoric with little notice because Bernie Sanders views on Israel/Palestine (like his foreign policy views generally) are, at best, unclear. Like many American Jews, particularly of his generation, he has long viewed Israel favorably, as a crucial protective refuge after the Holocaust. But while he is far from radical on these matters, he at least has been more willing than the standard Democrat, and certainly more willing than Clinton, to express criticisms of Israel. Still, his demonstrated preference for focusing on domestic issues at the expense of foreign policy has unfortunately enabled Clinton to get away with all sorts of extremism and pandering in this area. Clinton partisans being Clinton partisans would, if they ever did deign to address Israel/Palestine, undoubtedly justify Clintons hawkishness on the ground of political necessity: that she could never win if she did not demonstrate steadfast devotion to the Israeli government. But for all his foreign policy excesses, including on Israel, Obama has proven that a national politician can be at least mildly more adversarial to Israeli leaders and still retain support. And notably, there is at least one politician who rejects the view that one must cling to standard pro-Israel orthodoxy in order to win; just yesterday, Donald Trump vowed neutrality on Israel/Palestine. Russian Intelligence Report On Turkeys Current Assistance To Daesh Recruitment of foreign terrorist fighters, facilitation of their cross-border movement into Syria and the supply of weapons to the terrorist groups active there. By Voltaire Network February 19, 2016 " Information Clearing House " - " Voltaire Network " - Reportedly, representatives of ISIL with help from the Turkish intelligence services have established an extensive network in Antalya for the recruitment of individuals who have arrived in Turkey from the post-Soviet States, to enable their participation in the Syrian conflict and possible transfer to Russia. The group of recruiters consists of a Kyrgyzstan national named Abdullah; a native of Adygea named Azmet; a native of Tatarstan named Elnar; a Russian Federation national named Ilyas; an Azerbaijan national named Adil Aliev; and a native of Karachay-Cherkessia named Nizam. They are led by a Russian Federation national, Ruslan Rastyamovich Khaibullov (also known as Baris Abdul or by the pseudonym The Teacher), born on 1 April 1978 in Tatarstan. He lives with his family in Antalya. He has a Turkish permanent residence permit. Recruitment takes place with the knowledge of the temporary detention centre administration. If a detainee agrees to accept Islam and engage in terrorist activity, the recruiters promise to do a deal with the Turkish law enforcement agencies and offer, free of charge, the services of a Turkish lawyer, Tahir Tosolar. Sultan Kekhursaev, a Chechen who is a Turkish national, has also made visits for the same purpose to detention centres where foreigners are held. In September 2015 a group of more than 1,000 ISIL fighters who had come from countries in Europe and Central Asia were taken from Turkey to Syria through the border crossing at Alikaila (Gaziantep). The routes for the movement of fighters pass very close to the Turkish-Syrian border through Antakya, Reyhanl, Topaz, Sanlurfa and Hatay. In March 2014 the head of the Turkish National Intelligence Organization (MIT), Mr. H. Fidan, coordinated the transfer of a large ISIL unit headed by Mahdi al-Kharati, a Libyan national [1]. The fighters were taken by sea from Libya to Syria through the Barsai crossing on the Turkish-Syrian border. Since late December 2015, with the assistance of the Turkish intelligence services, arrangements have been made for an air route for moving ISIL fighters from Syria through Turkey to Yemen using Turkish military air transport. An alternative means of transporting fighters is by sea to the Yemeni port of Aden. Russian Federation nationals who maintain contact with representatives of the security, police and administrative authorities in a number of Turkish cities, including Istanbul, are involved in recruitment through Turkish madrasas. It is well known that wounded ISIL fighters are being provided with places to rest and receive treatment in areas of Turkey bordering Syria. At least 700 fighters were recuperating in Gaziantep in 2014. Reportedly, beginning in 2015, Turkish intelligence services assisted in the removal from Antalya to Eskisehir of what was termed a Tatar Village, which houses ethnic Tatar fighters and accomplices of the terrorist group Jabhat al-Nusrah who are natives of Tatarstan, Bashkortostan and Mordovia. Some of them are dual Russian-Turkish nationals. One of the people actively involved in the Village is Timur Maunirovich Bichurin, a Russian national born on 15 December 1969 who is a native of Kazan and since January 2014 has been acting as an accomplice, helping Islamists fighting in Syria. In December 2014, Turkish intelligence services helped to set up camps in Turkey, particularly in Hatay Province, to gather illegal migrants and provide training in preparation for the dispatch of extremist gangs to Syria. In January 2015, the Turkish MIT was involved in the operation to merge three terrorist bands, Osman Gazi, Omer bin Abdulaziz and Omer Mukhtar, into a group called the Sultan Abdulhamid Brigade, of which Omer Abdullah was appointed commander. The members of this group are trained in a camp in Bayr-Bucak in Turkey under the leadership of instructors from special operations units of the Turkish Armed Forces general command and MIT personnel. The activities of the Sultan Abdulhamid Brigade are coordinated with the activities of Jabhat al-Nusrah fighters in the north of the Syrian province of Latakia. It is well known that on 21 September 2015, in the Syrian town of Tell Rifaat, representatives of the Syrian opposition who had received military training at a camp in Krsehir in Turkey had delivered weapons to Jabhat al-Nusrah fighters. Deliveries of weapons to terrorist groups in Syria are reportedly still taking place, profiting from the facilities of Turkish-based foundations Insan Hak ve Hurriyetleri ve Insani Yardm Vakf (IHH Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief), Imkander and Oncu Nesil Insani Yardm Dernegi. Supplies of various forms of weapons, military equipment and ammunition are arriving from abroad via the Turkish port of Iskenderun. Military equipment and supplies are transported from there through Hatay Province (Oncupinar border crossing) to Aleppo and Idlib in Syria using vehicles belonging to IHH, Imkander and Oncu Nesil with the following Turkish registrations: 33 SU 317, 06 DY 7807, 33 SU 540, 33 SU 960, 42 GL 074 and 31 R 5487. Within Syria, the weapons and ammunition are distributed to Turkmen gangs and Jabhat al-Nusrah units. On 15 September 2014, representatives of IHH brought supplies of weapons and medicines from Bursa through the Ceylanpnar border crossing (Reyhanl district) by vehicle into Syria for ISIL groups. This shipment was followed and escorted through Turkey by a vehicle carrying MIT personnel. This report is dated February 10, 2016. [1] Probably Mahdi al-Harati, the famous CIA spy with double nationaly from Libya and Ireland, Note by the Voltaire Network. Voltaire Network Home Sign up for our FREE Daily Email Newsletter How Scalias Absence Will Affect Pending Supreme Court Cases By Marjorie Cohn February 19, 2016 " Information Clearing House " - The death of Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia raises a number of questions: What will be Scalias legacy? What will happen to the cases pending in the Supreme Court? Will President Obama successfully fill Scalias seat on the high court? And how will Scalias death affect the 2016 presidential election? Scalias Record on the Court Scalia, who was appointed to the Supreme Court by President Ronald Reagan in 1986, was a radical right-wing ideologue who called himself an originalist, purporting to interpret the US Constitution the way its framers did. He eschewed the idea that the Constitution is a living document that keeps pace with the times. And when voting to allow capital punishment for crimes committed by juveniles, he rejected the Supreme Courts precedent that the Eighth Amendments banning of cruel and unusual punishments should be interpreted in light of the evolving standards of human decency that mark the progress of a maturing society. Scalia favored unlimited corporate election spending and he wrote that the Second Amendment grants an individual the right to bear arms. He opposed reproductive rights, universal health care, same-sex marriage, affirmative action, voting rights, immigrants rights, labor rights, LGBT rights and environmental protection. When questioned about his vote to anoint George W. Bush president in Bush v. Gore, Scalia barked, Get over it. During the oral arguments in Fisher v. University of Texas, the affirmative action case pending in the high court, Scalia said he was not impressed by the fact that the University of Texas may have fewer Black students. He added, Maybe it ought to have fewer. I dont think it stands to reason that its a good thing for the University of Texas to admit as many Blacks as possible. Many of Scalias opinions demonstrate how out of touch he was with ordinary people. Authoring an opinion that created the right of police officers to chase people without probable cause or reasonable suspicion, Scalia quoted Proverbs: The wicked flee when no man pursueth. He could not imagine why an innocent young person of color might run when he sees a police officer. And when voting to repeal Miranda rights, Scalia wrote in dissent, Counsels presence is not required to tell the suspect that he need not speak. The interrogators can do that. As if a police officer would be looking out for the rights of a suspect. Scalia opposed televising Supreme Court arguments. He once sanctimoniously declared, Law is a specialized field, fully comprehensible only to the expert. The Pending Cases Several cases to be decided this term have already been argued and the justices have likely voted on them. Opinions are being written. So what will happen now? Even if Obama were to nominate a replacement, he or she would not be confirmed before the current term ends in June. Cases in which Scalia was assigned to author the majority opinion will probably be set for re-argument next term, which starts in October, hopefully with a new justice. If Scalia was part of a five-justice majority, the court will now be divided 4-4. In cases in which there is no majority, the lower court decision will be affirmed by an equally divided court. It will create no binding Supreme Court precedent. Some cases may be decided on narrow procedural grounds in order to avoid equally divided rulings. Nine of the 13 US Courts of Appeals have a majority of judges who were appointed by Democrats. Thus, many cases in which the court is evenly divided and the lower court decision stands will have liberal outcomes. In Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association, it appeared that public sector unions would lose the right to collect mandatory dues from their members in order to fund collective bargaining. Now it appears the case will result in a tie, leaving the lower court decision in place. That means unions in California and 22 other states would retain their right to collect dues. Evenwel v. Abbott is a voting rights case. The issue is who should be included when creating voting districts: all who reside in them or only eligible voters? A 4-4 tie would leave the lower court decision in place, which upheld the counting of everybody. People who are not eligible to vote include children, non-citizens, people formerly convicted of felonies and prisoners. With the exception of prisoners, most of these people deemed ineligible to vote live in urban areas that are largely Democratic. As a result, a tie in this case would also have a liberal outcome. Zubik v. Burwell is a religious liberty challenge to a regulation under the Affordable Care Act that requires some employers to provide birth control to women workers if they dont sign a form opting out. The case will be argued next month and the lower courts are divided on the issue. A 4-4 tie would result in no decision. Most lower courts across the country have upheld the contraceptive mandate. Whole Womans Health v. Hellerstedt is perhaps the biggest threat to Roe v. Wadeto reach the Supreme Court. Texas imposed onerous restrictions on clinics that perform abortions. If there were a 4-4 tie, the lower court decision would stand, resulting in the closure of most clinics in Texas, but not elsewhere. Where a woman lives would determine whether she could obtain an abortion. Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy might vote with the liberals to overturn the restrictions placed on womens health clinics. But even if Kennedy does not vote with the liberals, Scalias absence still eliminates a broader risk that previously existed: If Scalia had participated in that decision, the court may well have allowed states to impose restrictions. Fisher v. University of Texas is an affirmative action case about whether the University of Texas can maintain a race-conscious admissions plan. Since Associate Justice Elena Kagan recused herself because she had worked on the case when she was solicitor general, only seven justices can vote on it. Kennedy will be the swing vote. If he swings to the right, the universitys affirmative action program will be struck down. Scalias death eliminates the possibility of a tie vote. United States v. Texas is a challenge to Obamas plan to defer deportation for nearly 5 million undocumented immigrants. A 4-4 split would defeat the program in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, but the US Justice Department could secure authorizations to go forward with the plan in other circuits. Had Scalia not died, the Supreme Court would probably have imposed broader limitations on Obamas authority to issue executive orders. A critical climate change decision is also pending before the high court. Obama has charged the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with reducing carbon emissions by 32 percent by 2030. In a highly unusual recent move, the Supreme Court issued a 5-4 emergency order blocking the plan, which was put on hold pending a decision by the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit. The circuit court, which is generally liberal, refused to grant the stay before the high court did so. The DC circuit court will hear the case this summer. The EPA could change the plan slightly and expect the circuit court to allow it to proceed. What Happens Next? Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell vowed to block anyone Obama might choose to nominate to fill the vacancy on the court. The GOP candidates piled on, reiterating that Obama should refrain from nominating someone to fill Scalias seat so the next president could make the nomination. They know that Obama has an opportunity to change the balance of what has been a conservative court for four decades. But Obama does not have the discretion to refrain from nominating a replacement for Scalia. The US Constitution says that when a vacancy occurs on the Supreme Court, the president shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Judges of the supreme Court. The language is mandatory, not permissive. There is no exception for vacancies that occur near the end of a presidents term. Interestingly, McConnell wrote in 1970 that the Senate should discount the philosophy of the nominee and that the president is presumably elected by the people to carry out a program and altering the ideological direction of the Supreme Court would seem to be a perfectly legitimate part of a presidential platform. If no justice is appointed until the next president takes office, there will be a vacancy on the high court for nearly a year, hobbling its ability to carry out its constitutional function. Republicans disingenuously claim that no Supreme Court nominee has been confirmed in an election year. But Justice Anthony Kennedy was nominated by President Reagan and confirmed in 1988, with nearly unanimous support from Democrats. And in 11 of the 13 times a vacancy occurred during a presidential election year, the Senate acted on the presidents nomination. For the most part, the Senate has deferred to presidents choices for Supreme Court nominees. Obama will probably nominate a moderate such as Srikanth Srinivasan. In 2013, on a 97-0 vote, the Senate unanimously confirmed Srinivasan, an Indian-American judge, to the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit. He had served as principal deputy solicitor general, arguing some 20 cases on behalf of both the George W. Bush and Obama administrations. Although he doesnt have a long paper trail, Srinivasan would probably vote with the liberal justices. It appears that anyone Obama nominates will not get a vote in the Senate. A presidents nomination is referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee, which is currently comprised of 11 Republicans and 9 Democrats. That committee should investigate the nominees background and hold a hearing at which the nominee is interrogated. The committee should then vote on the nominee. If the committee votes against the nominee, the nomination will not reach the Senate floor for a decision. If it does reach the Senate floor, a simple majority is required to confirm a nominee. But Republicans can filibuster the nomination, which means 60 votes would be necessary for confirmation. The Senate has 54 Republicans and 44 Democrats. Although filibusters of Supreme Court nominations are rare, a filibuster seems possible in this case because the political system is unusually polarized. If McConnell stands by his threat to block Obama from carrying out his constitutional duty to nominate someone to the vacant seat, there could be a standoff until the election. The Democrats are likely to take back the Senate, and it would fall to the next president to fill the vacancy. Although Obama can make a recess appointment until the Senate resumes on February 22, he is much more likely to nominate a candidate in due course, and wait for the Republicans to hoist themselves on their own petard, knowing that Independents and moderate Republicans would bridle at such blatant obstructionism. Marjorie Cohn is a professor at Thomas Jefferson School of Law and former president of the National Lawyers Guild. This article first appeared on Truthout. Click for Spanish , German , Dutch , Danish , French , translation- Note- Translation may take a moment to load. What's your response? - Scroll down to add / read comments Sign up for our FREE Daily Email Newsletter For Email Marketing you can trust Donate Please read our Comment Policy before posting - It is unacceptable to slander, smear or engage in personal attacks on authors of articles posted on ICH. Those engaging in that behavior will be banned from the comment section. Terror in Turkey: Is Erdogan Playing Washington? By Finian Cunningham February 19, 2016 " Information Clearing House " - " RT " - A massive apparent terror attack in Turkeys capital comes at a crucial time just when the Erdogan government is trying to woo Washingtons support for its military intervention in Syria. The Turkish capital Ankara on Wednesday was hit with a deadly car bomb outside its military headquarters. Reports put the dead at 28 with more than 60 injured in what appears to have been a highly sophisticated attack during evening rush hour. The powerful blast went off just as two buses ferrying military personnel stopped at traffic lights outside the army headquarters at a busy intersection which is also near ministerial and parliament buildings. This part of the capital is normally kept under tight security. Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has accused forces linked with the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia of the terrorist attack. The Turkish military have been shelling YPG units across the border in northern Syria. Erdogan and Davutoglu had issued several statements prior to the Wednesday bombing in Ankara denouncing the YPG as terrorists owing to their links to separatist Kurdish militants in Turkey belonging to the PKK. This was at least the fourth major apparent terror attack inside Turkey over the past seven months. In January this year, a suicide bomber killed 10, mainly German tourists, in the city of Istanbul. Last October, a blast at a Kurdish peace rally in Ankara killed nearly 100 people. Both attacks were blamed on the Islamic State (IS) terror group, although Kurdish activists accused Turkish state intelligence agents of clandestine involvement in the October atrocity. Turkish military intelligence, MIT, has been implicated in colluding with the IS group - from gun-running and oil smuggling across the Syrian border, to facilitating the jihadists access to chemical weapons. Several Turkish opposition lawmakers have openly accused the Erdogan government of complicity in criminal activities and sponsoring extremists in Syria for the purpose of regime change in Damascus. Can Dundar, the editor of Cumhuriyet, as well as several other Turkish journalists have been arrested in recent months for publishing newspaper articles that exposed the MIT in providing weapons to terror groups in Syria. Those claims corroborate extensive information gathered by Russian military surveillance since its intervention in Syria last September, implicating Turkish state involvement in cross-border terror supply routes. The notion that IS or some other Al Qaeda-linked network would carry out the latest attack in Ankara does not therefore seem plausible. The Erdogan government may publicly claim to be part of the US-led coalition fighting against Islamist terrorism, but, as noted, there is more evidence to implicate the Ankara authorities in covertly liaising with the very same terrorists. Why would the terror group then bite the Turkish hand that feeds it? As for the speculation that the Ankara car bombing could have been carried out by Kurdish militants, that doesnt make sense either. The YPG have gained a lot of favorable international media attention recently from their effective fight against IS and related jihadist terror brigades in northern Syria, including Jabhat al Nusra and Ahrar al Shams. Working with Russian warplanes and Syrian army forces, the YPG has captured several key villages and towns north of the strategically important city of Aleppo. The Kurdish fighters are this week set to close in on the jihadist stronghold of Azaz, a town on the Syrian-Turkish border. Azaz is a major supply route for the regime-change insurgents, which the MIT has been implicated in facilitating. In a complex situation, the YPG is also backed by the United States, even though Washington has given its support covertly to the anti-government militants in Syria. Washington labels this latter group moderate rebels. But there is evidence that weapons supplied by the US have ended up in the hands of hardline al-Qaeda brigades, like IS and Nusra. This has led to the bizarre scenario where US-backed militants are fighting against other US-backed militants in northern Syria. Voice of America news outlet quoted one US-based analyst this week as saying: Its a complete wreck. There are literally US-backed groups fighting other US-backed groups right now. Specifically, the US-backed opposition in northern Aleppo is fighting the US-backed YPG. I have never seen a situation where one CIA-backed group is fighting another with this kind of intensity. The Turkish government has become almost apoplectic over Washingtons support for the Kurdish militants in Syria. Erdogan this week repeated an ultimatum to US President Barack Obama to back us, not the terrorists referring to the YPG. Ankara fears that the emboldened Syrian Kurds might eventually carve out a separatist state with their PKK comrades in southeast Turkey. In the dirty business of covert war for regime change, it seems reasonable to claim, as the Syrian government has, that the Turkish military are shelling across the border in order to give their jihadist assets cover from the combined assault of Russian air power, the Syrian army and the YPG. Meanwhile, Ankara has come in for sharp criticism from the United Nations, Washington and Paris for its cross-border artillery fire, which, on the face of it, constitutes an act of aggression against a sovereign state. The US has even called on Ankara to cease firing. Erdogan snubbed the appeal and vowed to continue the cross-border shelling. In this context, it would seem entirely stupid of the YPG or its Kurdish affiliates in Turkey to carry out a terror attack in the capital. The Kurds would only be squandering valuable international political support by committing such an atrocity. However, if the terror attack can be pinned on the YPG, that would serve Erdogan very conveniently. Which raises the question: who really did pull it off? The sophisticated style, in the heart of Ankara, with precision timing strongly suggests a state military agency. In short, a false flag terror attack. The political consequences play to Erdogans advantage. It bolsters his claims that the Kurdish militants are terrorists and unworthy of Washingtons support. At the same time, it allows the Turks to step up their military campaign in Syria, calling for a no-fly zone and, furthermore, to solicit the go-ahead from Obama for a ground invasion. But we need to keep in mind the bigger picture here. Turkey wants to go into Syria not to fight terrorism, as claimed, but rather to assist their covert brothers-in-arms among the regime-change jihadist terror brigades. That would inevitably bring NATO member Turkey into a head-on confrontation with the Syrian army and Russia. Does Washington really want to go there? Finian Cunningham (born 1963) has worked as an editor and writer in major news media organizations, including The Mirror, Irish Times and Independent. Now a freelance journalist based in East Africa, his columns appear on RT, Sputnik, Strategic Culture Foundation and Press TV. The Media are Misleading the Public on Syria By Stephen Kinzer February 19, 2016 " Information Clearing House " - " Boston Globe " - Coverage of the Syrian war will be remembered as one of the most shameful episodes in the history of the American press. Reporting about carnage in the ancient city of Aleppo is the latest reason why. For three years, violent militants have run Aleppo. Their rule began with a wave of repression. They posted notices warning residents: Dont send your children to school. If you do, we will get the backpack and you will get the coffin. Then they destroyed factories, hoping that unemployed workers would have no recourse other than to become fighters. They trucked looted machinery to Turkey and sold it. This month, people in Aleppo have finally seen glimmers of hope. The Syrian army and its allies have been pushing militants out of the city. Last week they reclaimed the main power plant. Regular electricity may soon be restored. The militants hold on the city could be ending. Militants, true to form, are wreaking havoc as they are pushed out of the city by Russian and Syrian Army forces. Turkish-Saudi backed moderate rebels showered the residential neighborhoods of Aleppo with unguided rockets and gas jars, one Aleppo resident wrote on social media. The Beirut-based analyst Marwa Osma asked, The Syrian Arab Army, which is led by President Bashar Assad, is the only force on the ground, along with their allies, who are fighting ISIS so you want to weaken the only system that is fighting ISIS? This does not fit with Washingtons narrative. As a result, much of the American press is reporting the opposite of what is actually happening. Many news reports suggest that Aleppo has been a liberated zone for three years but is now being pulled back into misery. Americans are being told that the virtuous course in Syria is to fight the Assad regime and its Russian and Iranian partners. We are supposed to hope that a righteous coalition of Americans, Turks, Saudis, Kurds, and the moderate opposition will win. This is convoluted nonsense, but Americans cannot be blamed for believing it. We have almost no real information about the combatants, their goals, or their tactics. Much blame for this lies with our media. Under intense financial pressure, most American newspapers, magazines, and broadcast networks have drastically reduced their corps of foreign correspondents. Much important news about the world now comes from reporters based in Washington. In that environment, access and credibility depend on acceptance of official paradigms. Reporters who cover Syria check with the Pentagon, the State Department, the White House, and think tank experts. After a spin on that soiled carousel, they feel they have covered all sides of the story. This form of stenography produces the pabulum that passes for news about Syria. Inevitably, this kind of disinformation has bled into the American presidential campaign. At the recent debate in Milwaukee, Hillary Clinton claimed that United Nations peace efforts in Syria were based on an agreement I negotiated in June of 2012 in Geneva. The precise opposite is true. In 2012 Secretary of State Clinton joined Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Israel in a successful effort to kill Kofi Annans UN peace plan because it would have accommodated Iran and kept Assad in power, at least temporarily. No one on the Milwaukee stage knew enough to challenge her. Politicians may be forgiven for distorting their past actions. Governments may also be excused for promoting whatever narrative they believe best suits them. Journalism, however, is supposed to remain apart from the power elite and its inbred mendacity. In this crisis it has failed miserably. Americans are said to be ignorant of the world. We are, but so are people in other countries. If people in Bhutan or Bolivia misunderstand Syria, however, that has no real effect. Our ignorance is more dangerous, because we act on it. The United States has the power to decree the death of nations. It can do so with popular support because many Americans and many journalists are content with the official story. In Syria, it is: Fight Assad, Russia, and Iran! Join with our Turkish, Saudi, and Kurdish friends to support peace! This is appallingly distant from reality. It is also likely to prolong the war and condemn more Syrians to suffering and death. Stephen Kinzer is a senior fellow at the Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown University. Follow him on Twitter @stephenkinzer. Could a Bomb Blast in Ankara Change the Outcome of the War in Syria? By Mike Whitney February 19, 2016 " Information Clearing House " - " Counterpunch " - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan seems to think so. In fact, Erdogan is acting like Wednesdays explosion in the capital was a gift from God. You see, Erdogan and his fellow Islamists think that if they pin the blame for the bombing on luckless patsy, Salih Neccar, who has links to the Kurdish YPG, then theyll be able to convince Washington that the YPG is a terrorist organization. And if they can convince Washington that the YPG a terrorist organization, then Obama will have to break off relations with the YPG even though the Kurdish militia has been helping the US defeat ISIS in Syria. And if Obama breaks off relations with the YPG, then hell have to depend more on good old Turkey for his footsoldiers which is just hunky-dory with Erdogan provided that Washington meet his numerous demands, that is. So, could a bomb blast in Ankara change the outcome of the 5 year-long war in Syria? It certainly could, if Obama is stupid enough to fall into Erdogans trap. But so far that looks unlikely. The problem with Erdogans rationale is that the Obama administration is not convinced that the YPG is a terrorist organization. Nor are they certain that Neccar is guilty. More important, the US maintains a crucial alliance with the YPG in Syria which has helped them recapture strategic cities and territory from ISIS in the northern part of the country. The militia has provided the boots on the ground the US needs to prosecute its war in Syria. Naturally, they are not going to end a relationship like that without solid evidence that the charges are true. And there are plenty of reasons to believe the charges arent true. For example, the head of the Syrian PYD, Salih Muslim, has not only denied all responsibility for the Ankara bombing, but also stated that neither he nor any of his lieutenants have any idea who the perpetrator is. (The PYD is the political wing of the YPG) We have never heard of this person Salih Necar, said Muslim, after which he added, These accusations are clearly related to Turkish attempts to intervene in Syria. Of course, Muslim could be lying, but you have to ask yourself whether or not the bombing achieves its political objectives if the perpetrators deny responsibility? And the answer is No, it doesnt. So why lie? Heres more from the New York Times: some analysts questioned the plausibility of (Erdogans) accusation, since mounting such an attack would jeopardize the groups American support. These allegations are unfounded lies with no truth to them, Redur Xelil, a spokesman for the group said via WhatsApp from Qamishli, Syria. We are not enemies of Turkey, and our goal is to fight Daesh inside the Syrian borders, he added, using an Arabic acronym for the Islamic State. We have no interest in being enemies with Turkey. Sponsoring or being involved with car bombings in Turkish cities would break its alliance structure with the U.S. and Russia, said Michael Stephens, research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute for Defense and Security. Neither of which the P.Y.D.-Y.P.G. wants. In short, the Y.P.G. have nothing to gain and everything to lose by being involved in this. (Turkey Blames Kurdish Militia for Ankara Attack, Challenging U.S., New York Times) So who is responsible for Wednesdays terrorist attack? While no one knows for sure, many people think the Turkish government itself might have been involved which isnt too far fetched when you consider that this same administration was implicated in a similar incident in 2014 when the foreign minister (who is currently the Prime Minister) was caught on tape cooking up a false flag operation with the head of Turkish Intel to create a pretext for invading Syria. Sound familiar? (See here for more.) The fact that the Erdogan administration has been involved in this type of skullduggery before suggests that they might have gone to the well one time too often.. In any event, given what we know of their past, the members of the Turkish government should, at the very least, feature very prominently on any list of probable suspects. Add to that the fact that theres now tons of evidence showing that the government has been arming, training and funding terrorists in Syria, and the only conclusion a reasonable person can draw is that Turkey is governed by a thoroughly untrustworthy lot of fanatical miscreants whose spurious accusations should be taken with a very large grain of salt.. Heres more from yesterdays Hurriyet: Although the PKK and the PYD are denying it, the information from the Interior Ministry and intelligence show that they are behind [the attack], said Erdogan, referring to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and the Democratic Union Party (PYD). This process will convince our friends in the international community to understand how tight the PYD and YPGs connection to the PKK is, Erdogan said, repeating that Turkey had insisted on the link, submitting documents. (Hurriyet) See? This is all about convincing Washington that theyve backed the wrong horse. Erdogan wants to muscle-out the Kurds, so he can take their place as place. That way, he can achieve his dream of annexing a 10-by-70 mile-wide strip of Syrian territory just south of the Turkish border that he wants to convert into a safe zone to provide a sanctuary for Sunni militants. The plan will prevent the Kurds from creating a contiguous state on the Syrian side of the border and, also, it will help keep open vital supply lines for jihadist allies conducting military operations in other parts of the Syria. The Obama administration was sympathetic to this plan at one time, but Russias entry into the war in late September changed everything. Now the Syrian Arab Army (SAA), Iranian Quds Forces and Hezbollah are closing in on the Turkish border which has dashed any chance Turkey might have had to seize and hold Syrian territory without a direct confrontation with Russia, which Washington definitely does not want. Bottom line: Washington has adjusted its strategy to the new reality on the ground while Turkey and the Saudis are still grasping at straws thinking the war can be won. Sealing the border is a top priority for Moscow which pins its hopes for ending the war largely on its ability to stop the flow of Sunni fighters crossing over from Turkey. According to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov: The key point for the ceasefire to work is a task of blocking illegal trafficking across the Turkish-Syrian border, which supports the militants. Without closing the border it is difficult to expect the ceasefire to take place. (The ceasefire is scheduled to begin on Friday) So Russia is going to persist in its plan to close the border regardless of what Turkey does. At the same time, it has tried to signal to Turkey that if it goes ahead with its plan to invade Syria, there will be hell to pay. Check this out from Todays Zaman: A senior Russian official threatened Turkey, saying that it will face Russia and Iran if carries out a ground intervention in Syria.. Russia proved in Syria how powerful its weapons are and showed everybody that it will not hesitate to use them if necessary. (Official: Turkey to face Russia, Iran if intervenes in Syria) Interestingly, the Russian foreign ministry delivered another chilly warning early Friday after receiving reports that Turkish military vehicles had crossed into an area in Syria controlled by the Kurds and were starting to dig trenches near Meidan Ekbis, a town in Aleppo province. Dozens of Turkish military vehicles advanced 200 meters into the Syrian Kurdish region in Aleppo province on Thursday. (ANHA news agency) According to AMN News: Asked about the implications of any ground incursion into Syria, Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters: We view Syrias territory as the territory of a sovereign state. Any incursion into the territory of a sovereign state is illegal. (AMN News) The question is whether Putin will engage the Turkish military in a full-blown war just to recapture a few hundred meters of Syrian sovereign territory. I expect Putin will let the incident slide and chalk it up to frustration on Turkeys part. If thats the only victory that Erdogan requires, then its a price thats worth paying. Putin has to stay focused on the big picture, and not get diverted by trivialities. Of course, if Erdogan plans to push further into Syria, then theres going to be trouble. After all, Moscows hands are tied. The only way it can hope to extricate itself from the conflict in Syria is by defeating the jihadists as quickly as possible, clearing out the hotbeds of resistance, and reestablishing security. If Turkey enters the war, that throws a wrench in everything. The tit-for-tat fighting will drag on for years, and there will probably never be a clear winner. This is exactly what Putin hopes to avoid. So, if Turkey launches an invasion and sends in ground troops, Putin will be forced to strike with everything-hes-got to see if one, big shock and awe display of raw military power is enough to reverse the trend and send Erdogans legions packing. If it doesnt work, and Turkey digs in, Syria could devolve into the mother of all quagmires, which is why were a little surprised that Obama is not pursuing a plan that would draw Turkey deeper into the fray, after all, Washington gains nothing strategically from its support for the YPG. In a way, the alliance makes no sense. Does Washington care about Kurdish aspirations for a homeland? No. Does Obama want to help Putin clear the area North of Aleppo of jihadists, militants and opposition forces? Of course not. Then what does Washington get? Nothing. An alliance with Erdogan, on the other hand, provides Washington with the footsoldiers it needs to fight its proxy war with Russia. It also creates a situation where Russia could get bogged down for years in a conflict that could drain its resources, undermine morale, and precipitate social unrest at home. Isnt that exactly what Washington wants? Indeed, it is, but theres one glitch to the strategy that obviously has US ruling elites so worried that they have abandoned their support for any Turkish-led invasion into Syria. What is that glitch? Its the fact that Turkish ground troops would require US air-cover and that, in turn, would pave the way for a military confrontation between Washington and Moscow. And thats why Obama and Co. have scrapped the idea and moved on to Plan B. So as reckless as one might think US foreign policy is, Washington still does not want to mix-it-up with Russia. We can all be thankful for that. Mike Whitney lives in Washington state. He is a contributor to Hopeless: Barack Obama and the Politics of Illusion (AK Press). Hopeless is also available in a Kindle edition. He can be reached at fergiewhitney@msn.com. Cotton Futures Weaker Into Friday Barchart - 1 hour ago Cotton prices are working with AM losses of 108 to 127 points so far for Friday. At the Thursday close futures were 18 to 89 points lower, extending the big decline from Wednesday. The 2023 crop closed... CTZ22 : 78.20 (+1.03%) CTH23 : 77.95 (+0.89%) CTK23 : 77.73 (+0.90%) Cash Market Led Thursday Cattle Trade Barchart - 1 hour ago Live cattle futures kept a tight range on Thursday, ending the session mixed with nearby contracts higher up by 27 to 60 cents. USDA confirmed $148 trades in the South on Thursday, with Northern cattle... LEV22 : 149.675 (-0.07%) LEZ22 : 151.150 (-0.35%) LEG23 : 154.525 (-0.21%) GFV22 : 175.350 (-0.13%) GFX22 : 177.600 (+0.03%) Hogs Higher WTD through Thursday Barchart - 1 hour ago Following 4 consecutive up days, December hogs cooled off with a 35 cent pullback on Thursday. Dec has seen 8 green candles of the past 12 sessions for a net $12.60 gain since 10/4. The other front months... HEZ22 : 88.225 (+1.38%) HEJ23 : 93.275 (+0.16%) KMZ22 : 97.775 (+0.93%) Weakness for Corn Futures Barchart - 1 hour ago Fridays day session is starting with corn prices down by 3 3/4 to 4 1/2 cents. Overnight the market was mostly downward. Corn futures found buyers on Thursday, pushing the market back up by 4 1/2 to... ZCZ22 : 682-2 (-0.26%) ZCPAUS.CM : 6.7137 (-0.38%) ZCH23 : 688-0 (-0.29%) ZCK23 : 688-0 (-0.29%) Bean Futures Lower for Friday Barchart - 1 hour ago The soy futures market is red so far into the last trade day of the week. Soybean futures bounced on Thursday with double digit gains taking the back months back above $14. November closed 19 cents higher... ZSX22 : 1384-2 (-0.52%) ZSPAUS.CM : 13.3850 (-0.58%) ZSF23 : 1393-0 (-0.50%) ZSH23 : 1400-6 (-0.50%) Morning Weakness into Friday Wheat Market Barchart - 1 hour ago Morning wheat prices are trading lower into the Friday session. Thursday wheat futures bounced back to mitigate some of early week weakness. CBT SRW futures closed 8 to 13 cents higher in the front months.... ZWZ22 : 838-4 (-1.27%) ZWH23 : 857-2 (-1.24%) ZWPAES.CM : 7.7308 (-1.33%) KEZ22 : 936-2 (-1.42%) KEPAWS.CM : 8.9378 (-1.49%) MWZ22 : 951-4 (-1.14%) Late last year, Google asked its userswhich is basically the world populationto open their wallets and support organizations providing desperately needed aid to the worlds refugees. The promise was this: Google would match whatever its online platform raised, dollar for dollar, up to $5.5 million. In just over 48 hours, people all over the world donated that $5.5 million. Related: Google Foundation: Grants for Global Development True to its promise, Google matched it and split the total $11 million take between Doctors Without Borders, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, International Rescue Committee, and Save the Children. Googles $5.5 million give wasnt the tech giants first foray into helping the 60 million or so refugees around the world. It had previously dipped its toe into the turbulent waters of the global refugee crisis by giving over $1 million to various charities. Well, score another one for the good guys, because Google.org is at it again. But this time, its changing tack a bit in its funding. The global refugee crisis is incredibly complex. Naturally, emergency needs such as food and shelter receive a lot of consideration from the comparatively few funders that are paying attention. While the tide is still rising here, and those critical, basic needs are woefully underfunded, this crisis has dragged on for years. So the mid- and long-term needs of refugees are now coming into sharper focus. And Google is paying close attention. Google.org recently made a $5.3 million grant to launch NetHopes Project Reconnect. The project's target population is refugees landing in Germany. The goal is restoring a semblance of the lives they once knew before they fled their home countries. The project is providing 25,000 centrally administered Chromebooks to NGOs supporting refugees in Germany with the hope of helping them rebuild their lives by facilitating access to education and other important information resourceslike how to file for asylum and language lessons. Are Chromebooks going to solve the refugee crisis? Well, no. And while those Chromebooks arent providing food, water or shelter, they are meeting another critical need for refugees in Germanythe need for a new normal. This starts with learning to speak a different language, filing for asylum or other official status, and developing the skills necessary to get a job in a new economy. NGOs working with refugees in Germany can apply for a Project Reconnect grant on NetHopes website. Interested parties need to hop to it, though: The first application deadline has already passed and the second deadline is March 8, 2016. Finally, its worth mentioning that although Google.org is no longer matching donations, its giving platform is still up, allowing donors to give directly to Doctors Without Borders, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, International Rescue Committee, and Save the Children. Brigitte Alepin is a new entry this year Brigitte Alepin is the Canadian writer and tax specialist whose book La Crise Fiscale Qui Vient, or The Coming Fiscal Crisis, inspired the film The Price We Pay, which came out in 2015. The film looked at "big-business tax avoidance, which has seen multinationals depriving governments of trillions of dollars in tax revenues by harbouring profits in offshore havens", interviewing tax policy leaders, activists, academics and business people, such as Pascal Saint-Amans, Nick Shaxson, Thomas Piketty and Stuart Fraser, formerly of the City of London Corporation. La Crise Fiscale Qui Vient emerged from her work on how to adapt the tax system to globalisation, which she did for a research contract at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. "I graduated at 40 and had time to think more," she says. "The book was about the urgency of adapting the tax system to the fiscal crisis. I felt it should not just be read by tax policymakers but also by taxpayers. Then I thought about doing a film and it didn't take long to get the investment." Harold Crooks directed The Price We Pay and wrote the script with Alepin. The film was produced by Nathalie Barton, who felt she had to after reading the book one weekend. "It is the story of MNCs who pay nothing or almost nothing," says Alepin. The film has been shown all over the world since its first screening at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2014 and was voted the best Canadian documentary of that year by the Vancouver Film Critics' Circle. It had its New York premiere in October 2015. The OECD, the World Bank and UN have highlighted and spoken about the movie, and a presentation to the US Senate is in the offing. But in case anyone thinks this is a flight of fancy by someone more interested in the drama rather than the facts, Alepin has a serious tax pedigree. She has a master's degree in public administration from Harvard and a master's degree in taxation law from Sherbrooke University. She is also the founder of TAXCOOP, an international conference on tax competition, which was first held in Montreal in November. And another film is coming from the team behind The Price We Pay. Alepin revealed to International Tax Review that funding has been secured for a movie about the use by the ultra-rich of private foundations, which Alepin covered in a chapter of La Crise Fiscale Qui Vient, but had to be left out of the The Price We Pay. What Is Path to Profitability (P2P)? The path to profitability (P2P) is a clearly defined route to profitability that is often described in a business plan. The P2P concept has become a focus for venture capitalists and other early-stage investors such as angel investors. It is used to assess whether a start-up should receive funding since the ultimate goal of any investment is to recognize a return. In the P2P, pricing is the most powerful component because it determines revenues, the first line on the profit and loss statement. The P2P is often outlined in a business plan or the company vision. The P2P often uses forecasted or projected figures and milestone markers that the firm is aiming to achieve. The P2P may be visualized for stakeholders as a roadmap that plots the past and future progress of the company relative to pre-set milestones and how the company has fared (or is expected to fare) in the future. This term is not to be confused with the other term P2P, or peer-to-peer (computing, networking, or transactions involving the sharing economy). Understanding Path to Profitability (P2P) The P2P is typically interwoven throughout a company's business plan with elements contained in various sections of the marketing strategy, strategic planning, and financial projections. The actual numbers are contained in the projected financial statements such as the income statement and the statement of cash flows. Key Takeaways The P2P outlines how long it will take a company to reach profitability. The P2P outlines the means by which a company will reach profitability. Investors want to see a company's P2P before they provide funding to help them assess the potential return on their investment. The P2P is often a component of a company's business plan. A critical consideration of the P2P is that the assumptions and forecasts contained in the plan should be achievable and backed by solid data and analysis rather than wildly optimistic targets that may be impossible to meet. The P2P timeframe will also vary significantly from one company to the next depending on the sector to which it belongs. While an early-stage technology company may have a P2P horizon of five years, a biotechnology start-up may be in no position to achieve profitability even after a decade. Fast Fact Since the dot-com crash, investors are much more cautious when it comes to providing funding to startups, and today, investors want to see a well-organized business plan with a clear P2P. Special Considerations The newfound emphasis on P2P is evident from the initial public offerings (IPOs) that have occurred in the bull market since 2009, particularly in the technology sector. Technology companies that have gone public in the second tech boom have done so at a relatively advanced stage when they were either already profitability or on the cusp of profitability. The IPO market represents a marked contrast to the numerous technology start-ups that went public in the first dot-com boom of the 1990s. During the 1990s, business plans emphasized website traffic rather than profits. These companies burned through billions of dollars in capital before going belly-up. The new focus on P2P is a direct outcome of the 1990s dot-com boom-and-bust. On June 26, 2018, General Electric's (GE) more than 100-year run on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) came to an end: the last remaining original component of the index was gone. The index publisher was merely confirming GE's diminished state: by the time it was kicked out of the Dow, GE's slumping share price had left it with an weighting of just 0.36% in the blue-chip average. And while many stocks recently removed from the Dow have rallied over the next year GE shares continued to slump in 2018 and more recently, prompting a 1-for-8 reverse share split in 2021. Later that year GE announced plans to split itself into three independent companies, yet the stock soon resumed its decline. By May 4, 2022, the stock was down 65% from six years earlier. How did this happen to one of America's leading corporations for more than a century, with the bluest of blue-chip stocks? Below, we take a closer look at the rise and fall of a company that has come to define American industry and corporate culture. Key Takeaways Jack Welch transformed GE into a diversified conglomerate and stock-market winner, while instilling a focus on short-term performance and financial engineering. GE's decline accelerated during the Great Recession, as the financial crisis revealed it to be overstretched. In 2018, GEthe last original component of the DJIAwas dropped from the index, after years of poor performance and declining revenues. In 2021, the conglomerate announced plans to split into three independent companies specializing in aircraft engines, medical equipment, and power turbines. 1892: GE and the Birth of American Innovation When most Americans think GE, they probably think about light bulbs, televisions, and washing machines. GE was born out of the race to provide affordable light and electricity to fuel the growth of industrial America and quickly became a household name. It was incorporated in 1892 as a result of a merger between the Thomson-Houston Company and Thomas Edison's Edison General Electric Company. GEs earliest products were incandescent light bulbs, an electric locomotive, early x-ray machines, and an electric stove. The company began mass-producing electric home appliances in the 1920s and was soon credited for changing the look and function of the American home. In the years that followed, GE introduced the vacuum tube technology, which enabled the subsequent development of radar tracking systems. GE supplied the military with equipment and executives during World War II, and in 1949 launched the popular J-47 jet engine. In the 1960s and 70s, GE was a pioneer in laser technology and medical imaging. Date Source: Yahoo! Finance 1981: 'Neutron Jack' Welch Takes Over Under the leadership of former chemical engineer John F. 'Jack' Welch Jr. over two decades starting in 1981, GE acquired RCA and NBC and expanded into the financial services sector. Welch initially moved aggressively to streamline GE, divesting 117 business units and slashing more than a quarter of the company's jobs during his first four years as chief executive. The job cuts earned him the Neutron Jack nickname suggesting that, like a neutron bomb, he eliminated GE's people while sparing its physical assets. Welch pioneered the practice of annually firing the 10% of the employees with the lowest ratings on internal reviews, which has since been adopted by other companies including Amazon.com (AMZN). His use of aggressive financial targets to evaluate executive performance led to a focus on short-term results across GE managerial ranks. The company became widely known for "managing" its reported earnings: manipulating the accounting to consistently top Wall Street's consensus earnings estimates by $0,01 per share quarter after quarter in its heyday. While the share price continued to soar Welch was celebrated in the business press and his managerial strategies and teachings widely copied. At his death in 2020, General Electric noted that the company's market capitalization increased from around $14 billion to more than $410 billion during Welch's tenure. That market capitalization, however, proved to be predicated on overly optimistic assessments of about the sustainability of GE's earnings and the value of GE's financial assets. Jeffrey R. Immelt, the successor Welch chose, continued the aggressive shuffling of businesses Welch popularized, but never managed to arrest the stock's descent. In 2004, GE settled a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) probe that concluded the company failed to properly disclose Welch's retirement benefits valued at $2.5 million annually, including the free use of a corporate jet and a multi-million dollar New York City residence. In 2009, GE paid a $50 million penalty to settle a wide-ranging SEC accounting probe that alleged the company "used improper accounting methods to increase its reported earnings or revenues and avoid reporting negative financial results." The SEC cited four such instances in 2002-2003. In 2020 GE paid $200 million to settle SEC allegations it misled investors about the underlying profitability of its long-term health care and power units in 2016-2017. 2008: GE in Crisis The 2008 financial crisis hit GE hard. The companys stock fell 42% during the year, and after Welchs departure, it became clear that GE was overstretched and bloated. Losses by the GE Capital financial segment nearly sank the company during the Great Recession. Warren Buffett stepped with a preferred investment lending his reputation to GEs operations, at a price. But GEs troubles didnt end with the financial crisis. Its $9.5 billion purchase of French transportation company Alstoms power business in 2015 was widely considered a flop. $3 billion The sum Warren Buffett invested to stabilize GEs operations in 2008. Under Immelt, previously head of GE Medical Systems, the company was forced to strip down GE Capital and return to its roots in manufacturing. GE also divested billions of dollars in loans and real estate while jettisoning NBCUniversal, GE Plastics, GE Water, and GE Appliances. In 2009, the company slashed its yearly dividend from $1.24 to $0.82 per share. Dividends fell even further in 2010. Immelt served as CEO of General Electric for 16 years and stepped down earlier than expected in 2017. He later accepted the position of chair at Athenahealth. 2017-2019: GE Tries to Weather the Storm The General Electric Company commemorated its 125th anniversary in 2017. But there was little to celebrate. In January 2017 the company announced it would cut 12,000 jobs, and the stock fell 45% in the course of the year. In November 2017, GE unveiled a broad restructuring and halved its quarterly dividend from 24 cents to 12 cents a share. In December 2018, the company cut the dividend to 1 cent per share. In November and December 2017, GE laid off thousands of employees across all divisions. On Oct. 1, 2018, GE said H. Lawrence Culp would replace John Flannery as chair and CEO of the company effective immediately. Culp moved aggressively to reduce GE's debt and divest unwanted stakes and subsidiaries, including GE's stake in oil field services company Baker Hughes and the transportation unit, which merged with Wabtec. Both divestitures raised significant capital. The share price rose 53% in 2019. 2020: COVID-19 Impact The arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic cut short the rebound in the share price. On May 15, 2020, the stock fell to $43.92, a 28-year low. GE's aviation unit was especially hard hit by the pandemic. The business segment makes airplane engines for Boeing (BA) and Airbus, and had been GE's most profitable unit. The aircraft engines business generated $32.9 billion in revenue in 2019, more than 34% of GE's total. Amid pandemic travel curbs, demand for aircraft engines and related maintenance plummeted. GE's aviation unit began laying off 10% of its U.S. workforce in March 2020. 2021: Plans to Split GE shares rose 9.3% in 2021 amid a tentative global recovery. In March, GE announced a deal merging its GE Capital Aviation Services (GECAS) aircraft leasing unit with AerCap Holdings (AER). The transaction was completed in November, netting GE about $23 billion in cash proceeds in addition to a 46% stake in the combined business. GE also announced in September 2021 and completed in December a $1.45 billion acquisition of ultrasound technology developer BK Medical by GE's health care unit. In November 2021, GE unveiled a plan to split into three independent public companies. One will comprise the company's aviation business, one the medical equipment unit and the third the power turbines business. The health care spinoff is planned for early 2023. In early 2024, the businesses that manufacture turbines for power plants and for wind farms will separate. GE will then focus on its remaining aviation business. On April 26, 2022, GE's share price fell more than 10% to a 17-month low after the company warned fiscal 2022 annual earnings were "trending toward the low end" of the range GE set three months earlier as a result of "inflation and other evolving pressures." The Bottom Line Despite GEs well-publicized decline it remains a force in its three main business sectors, employing 175,000 worldwide and operating in 130 countries. But its size hasn't worked in GE's favor in a long time. Perhaps breaking up will help, though GE investors should know by now restructuring is no panacea. In 1958, Cuba was an investment powerhouse. Their workers were paid the eighth highest wages in the world, and the country's per-capita income exceeded that of Austria and Japan. It was such a hot expat destination that more Americans lived there than Cubans in America. The golden days passed, however, when Fidel seized power, and it wasn't until President Obama lifted sanctions against the island nation that investors became interested in Cuba's potential. The Trade Embargo Prior to Fidel Castro coming to power, Cuba was a popular tourist destination for Americans. The original goal of the trade embargo was to get rid of Fidel Castro, but that didnt happen. Instead, Cuba implemented socialist policies. In Dec. 2014, 80%-85% of the economy was controlled by the government. In 2014, former President of the United States Barack Obama initiated measures to ease (not eliminate) the U.S. trade embargo with Cuba. However, three years later, then-President Donald Trump re-enacted steeper embargo measures, seeking to eradicate the "open door" policy of Obama. President Trump's plan was to cut U.S. aid to Cuban companies that funneled money into the military, but it worried investors about the overall effect the tightening will have on Cuba's trajectory. According to Peterson Institute of International Economics, U.S. exports to Cuba ranged from $330 million to $510 million over the five years preceding June 2015. In 2017, exports totaled more than $291 million. If the trade embargo were to be eliminated, that number could increase to as high as $4.3 billion. However, as stated above, there are headwinds in both the political and military landscape. Further Complications Venezuela is one of the largest suppliers of Cubas oil. As oil prices decline, Venezuela finds itself in a delicate situation. Another factor is demographics. Theres a reason why China and the United States are the strongest economies in the world: They have the most consumers. It goes deeper than that, of course, but population is a big factor. To put things in perspective, when it comes to emerging markets, China has a 2020 population of 1.43 billion; Cuba has just 11.32 million people, and it would be safe to say that there's a dearth of disposable income. At the same time, if Cuba experiences a cultural resurgence as it did in the 1950s, then there would be ample opportunity to get in on the ground floor. Investing in Cuba What you have likely read about most is the Herzfeld Caribbean Basin Fund (CUBA), which is comprised of about 44 securities of non-Cuban companies that have exposure to growth in Cuba. Its a closed-end fund. Therefore, theres a fixed number of shares. This limited supply can lead to parabolic price-per-share moves when demand increases. You might have missed a big move in 2016 when news broke of Fidel Castro's death, but that doesnt mean CUBA will soon head back in the other direction. In October 2020, the Herzfeld Fund was trading at a low of $3.82 and was experiencing a downward trend due to the COVID-19 pandemic. For some, they would consider the long slide in price as an opportunity to buy long, collecting dividend distributions along the way. Still, with the recent policy change, there might be more upside potential than downside risk. Thats for you to decide, but you need more information prior to making that decision. The largest holdings for Herzfeld Caribbean Basin Fund are: MasTec Inc. (MTZ) Popular, Inc. (BPOP) Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (RC8.SG) NextEra Energy, Inc. (NEE) First BanCorp. (FBPRO) All of the above companies stand to benefit from the elimination of the trade embargo, whether due to increased tourism, consumer consumption, agriculture, or construction. Of course, you can invest in these companies all in one place by using the Herzfeld Caribbean Basin Fund, but you can also invest on a pick-and-choose basis. If the latter is the case, then lets look at some key metrics. The Bottom Line If you do choose to invest, it might be wise to limit exposure. Cuba's significant risks, not to mention the politics that are involved, make Cuban investment speculative at best. If youre correct, you make a little money that has the potential to compound on itself over the long haul with the aid of dividend payments, but there appear to be smarter emerging market plays as of Oct. 2020. Estee Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE: EL) has been at the forefront of health, beauty, and wellness for more than 50 years. Analysts at Ernst & Young released the 2019 edition report on the luxury and cosmetics sector, indicating that Estee Lauders sales growth was ranked fourth on a global list of highest sales growth among cosmetic companies from 2014 through 2017. The 10-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for the company was 8%. The companys success is due largely to a strong and efficient business model and focuses on long-term growth. Estee Lauder has also placed a growing emphasis on cultivating relationships and sales in emerging markets. The company designs strategic marketing campaigns to boost sales in emerging-market economies, targeting affluent populations in such markets. Key emerging countries where the majority of the company's focus lies include Mexico, Russia, and China. Estee Lauder's portfolio of companies offers a mix of high-end luxury brands like La Mer to more affordable skincare products, like Clinique. Estee Lauder has a massive portfolio of brands and a variety of companies and subsidiaries under its ownership. All of these companies are responsible for boosting Estee Lauders profit, and they add diversity and overall value to the companys securities. Clinique Clinique is one of Estee Lauders most successful and profitable subsidiaries. The company was founded in 1968 and offered the first-ever brand of upscale cosmetics created by a dermatologist. Its goal was to offer consumers high-quality beauty with health and wellness in mind. Clinique has developed an approach to cosmetics that is customized for various types of skin and features, and innovative products that make it a leader among global skin care authorities. Clinique products are sold in more than 100 countries and generate millions of dollars in revenue each year for its parent company. Key Takeaways Estee Lauder was founded in 1946 and continues to be a leading beauty and skincare company. Estee Lauder owns a large portfolio of both luxury and affordable brands and a variety of companies and subsidiaries. Some of Estee Lauder's most popular subsidiaries are Clinique, La Mer, and Bobby Brown cosmetics. La Mer is one of Estee Lauder's most profitable brands. Bobbi Brown Cosmetics Bobbi Brown Cosmetics, another subsidiary of Estee Lauder, is an exclusively priced line of beauty products developed by Bobbi Brown, a world-renowned makeup artist. Estee Lauder acquired Bobbi Brown Cosmetics in 1995, just four years after it's founding in 1991. Since then, the line of products has boomed in popularity. Bobbi Brown products can be found in 80+ countries and territories at specially selected retailers. The goal of this line, according to Bobbi Brown, was to offer prestigious beauty products to clients around the world. The price of these cosmetics makes them available to a very specific clientele. La Mer La Mer joined Estee Lauder in 1995 and has since then become one of Estee Lauder's most coveted and profitable skincare brands in the world. Miracle broth, the key component of the brand's star product: Creme de La Mer, was first discovered by Dr. Max Huber, an aerospace physicist, after a healing request from a lab accident in the 1950s. MAC Cosmetics Known around the world for its professional quality of cosmetic products, Mac Cosmetics branded as MAC was developed in Canada in 1984. Estee Lauder's acquisition of the company in 1994 was a strategic move to add a line of makeup products that would be suitable for makeup artists as well as standard clients. Makeup artists endorsed the company's products through word of mouth, sharing the line with clients, photographers, and models, and MAC has become one of the most popular and well-known professional makeup brands available. The company's products are now sold in more than 120 countries around the world. MAC added to Estee Lauder's bottom line and has expanded the parent company's social and consumer network. Tom Ford Beauty Tom Ford Beauty was developed, in concert with Estee Lauder experts, by Tom Ford, a leading beauty and fashion designer and expert. Tom Ford's line includes a collection of fragrances and cosmetics, all designed to complement the vision of his fashion line. Ford's line emphasizes craftsmanship, modernity, and quality. The product prices in this line make it another exclusive brand sold to a high-brow clientele. August 1973 saw a strange and dramatic headline about a group of Satanists who had sailed to Belfast Loughs Copeland Islands island in the middle of the night to conjure up a demon and perform sexual rituals. Four dead sheep were found as evidence of sinister sacrifice. Just weeks later, the burned and mutilated body of ten-year-old Brian McDermott was found in Belfasts Lagan River, sparking rumors of black magic and ritual killing in all the newspapers in Northern Ireland. Black Magic and Bogeymen by Northern Irish author Richard Jenkins explores this chilling episode, and all of the sinister actions occurring across Northern Ireland during The Troubles. Jenkins spent forty years researching and collecting his information. Our understanding of The Troubles will never be quite the same again, Jenkins told IrishCentral in an interview. The book peels back the veneer of the things we know and exposes so much weirdness, sheer weirdness, he said. Banshees in the middle of Belfast, protestant preachers preaching that the end of the world was nigh. In a recent press release, Jenkins said that the British Sunday papers regularly printed stories about Satanism and similar shenanigans across the water, and any good bookshop had more books on the occult than you could shake a broomstick at. The British Army apparently had a secret black propaganda unit as well, based in Lisburn, that tried to put the fear of God into the masses by mocking up black mass sites in Newry and in north Belfast. Jenkinss book, published last year by Cork University Press, explores the strange world of folk belief, religion, fear and manipulation that went on during the Troubles. A time when occultists and evildoers ran rampant in the streets, and soon swept under the rug. In addition to black magic, bogeymen and political upset, a massive cultural change was occurring as well: Sex, drugs and rock and roll, Jenkins said. Im looking at the Troubles in another context. To learn more about "Black Magic and Bogeymen," visit the Cork University Press website. * Originally published in 2015. When Rosalind Lipsett got to New York at 18-years-old with a dream to make it as a model, she had a lot to learn. Living in New York has been the most overwhelming and educational experience of my life so far. The first time I saw the New York skyline, on arrival from JFK airport, was at the age of 18, fresh off the plane from Ireland. I remember I immediately could feel the energy was different the second I landed and my heart began to beat the same vibrant beat of the city. Having only been to Florida with my family, I had no idea what New York entailed. It's hard to describe New York, which I can only say is a feeling. A feeling of ambition, accomplishment and most of all, passion. It's the capital of the world, the Europe of America, in my opinion. I had won a modeling contract in Ireland at my university and was advised to come to New York to take a bite out of the big apple. Alongside my momager, (manager and mother) we had big plans to take on the city that never sleeps. We booked to stay for the week at the Hilton midtown along with all the other out-of-towners. I had a number of interviews with top modeling agencies set up that week in hopes of being signed with one of the big ones. While my mom was fascinated by the 24 hour breakfast spots and getting the Sunday papers on a Saturday night, I had gotten a crick in my neck from looking up at the biggest skyscrapers I had ever seen. Having traveled only throughout Europe, the vastness of New York fascinated me. Endless possibilities, the land of opportunity, the city that never sleeps. In a city so condensed with people there was a huge sense of anonymity and freedom. There were more people on the Island of Manhattan, than the whole population of Ireland. One hundred and eighty six different languages are spoken here every day. It was mind blowing and a huge culture shock for a girl coming from Dublin. I remember waving at the stretch limos that drove by us, thinking that Tom Cruise or Brad Pitt maybe in them. Little did I know, it was most likely a businessman or tourist going to the airport. After settling in, it was time to visit the top modeling agencies in Manhattan. Having only modeled a few jobs in Ireland for the local paper, you could say I was pretty clueless. I put on a bright red, off the shoulder, cocktail dress, red lipstick, red 5 inch heels and curled my hair. I was more Irish pageant princess than Kate moss. I thought however, I looked very high fashion, obviously being encouraged by my overzealous mother. I held a folder with my cut out pictures from the Irish newspapers I had featured in. I felt I was ready to take on the New York fashion world. As I walked through midtown my mother walked a few feet behind, giggling and watching me. I called to her to catch up as we were running late. She explained to me it was like a scene from Billy Joel's 'Pretty Woman' as I walked down sixth avenue and she enjoyed watching the bankers bend their heads at this completely naive lady in red, obviously fresh off the boat, pranced by. First stop was at a very prominent New York agency. I sat in the lobby area anxiously waiting to meet with one of the agencies head model bookers, clicking my red heels together, slightly wishing I was in the comforts of my home town. He came out with a measuring tape. After measuring me from head to toe, he told me that I wasn't currently what they are looking for. I left feeling very inferior as my heartbroken mother looked on at her 18 year old daughters hopes and dreams being torn apart. After two other agency meetings said no and we'll call you, I was ready to give up. I had one last appointment, with a top agency called New York Models. I was brought into the waiting room and met with an assistant who simply took my photo and said "we'll call you". Disheartened again, I lowered my head, to walk out of the agency, thinking they'll never call me. My dreams were quickly fading before my eyes. If you can make it here you'll make it anywhere. Who was I to think that I could take on this big city with little to no experience. As I walked towards the door to the elevator I hear a voice behind me saying "wait a minute". I turned around to see a lady who looked very important walking by. "Please come back tomorrow, no red dress, no makeup, no big hair, just natural in jeans and a white t shirt. You've got a great look", She said. I couldn't believe it! I had a chance! I went back the next day, exactly the opposite girl from the pageant queen, big haired, lady in red, just off the boat. Having grown up in Ireland loving my black eyeliner and fake tan, I felt completely naked with no makeup and a white tank top. I waited back in the same waiting room anxiously and met with the lady from the day before. Her name was Melissa, and she was the top model booker at New York Models. She signed me straight away on a three year contract and visa. Little did I know, she would be my agent for eight years of modeling success in New York City and my life was about to change forever. --- Rosalind Lipsett is an Irish-born model and actress from Dublin. She has been featured in numerous magazines, such as Sports Illustrated, FHM, Tattler and "Allure Magazine" and has been a fashion ambassador for many brands such as Prada, Versace, and Burberry. Shes been represented by top agencies such as Elite, Wilhelmina, and New York Models. Rosalind graduated with an honors degree from University College of Dublin, majoring in Art History. She is actively involved in the New York art scene and is also pursuing acting studies, ranging from comedy at the Groundlings theatre LA, to dramatic studies at Ivanna Chubbick studios. She currently lives in New York. The children murdered during the 1916 Easter Rising each have a tale and they deserve to be remembered as part of history. Editors Note: Author Joe Duffy takes time to examine the impact that the 1916 Easter Rising in Dublin had on children in his 2015 book 'Children of the Rising: The untold story of the young lives lost during Easter 1916.' It takes less than a minute to recite the names of the forty children killed in the six-day 1916 Easter Rising - but this is the first time in one hundred years that it has been possible to do so. Hard to believe that in Dublin city center as we know it now - between the North Circular and South Circular roads - from Heuston Station to the Custom House, 500 people lost their lives in that seminal week in our history a century ago. Even today there is still not a full and accurate list of all those who died In the historic foundation of our state. The majority of casualties were civilians - not surprising given that over 20,000 rifle carrying combatants battled it out in the warren of streets, lanes, alleyways of a bustling city center - where over 75% of the population of Dublin lived at the time. Where the ILAC [Dublins northside city center shopping mall] stands now, in 1916 there were nearly 20 narrow, teeming streets, a bustling, smelly bazaar of abattoirs, pubs, second-hand clothes shops, third-hand furniture stores, vegetable stalls, bakeries, and butchers. Hardly surprising also that children who owned the streets of Dublin as their playground - that the wide-open welcoming spaces were a liberation from the cramped one-roomed conditions many of them lived in with their large families. School was out that Easter week, so were the rebels, British soldiers, and the bemused population of a dull grey and poor city. Out the children poured on that glorious Easter Monday morning, April 24, 1916, as 300 rebels marched from Liberty Hall, proudly past Wynns hotel, right turn into Sackville Street (even then many people called it O'Connell street) where, as the Angelus bell peeled from the nearby Pro-Cathedral, it signaled the start of the revolution. The most exciting day in Dublin in a lifetime. As Connolly said to Pearse as they headed to the front door of the GPO - "did we ever think we'd live to see this day ? Read more Dublin still bears the scars of the 1916 Easter Rising over a century later But the sound of breaking glass, shouts, screams, roars, and confusion was a magnet to the children; by weeks end, six of them would lie dead within 500 yards of the GPO, 34 of them within a few miles. Within two hours, the iron clattering sound of galloping horses hooves on cobblestones echoed as the British Lancers, from the Linenhall barracks in nearby Bolton Street, charged headlong towards the GPO followed closely by barefooted waifs as they skittered, tore, and careered with their steel-wheeled homemade boxcars towards the excitement. Sparks flew from their boxcars as they belted towards the excitement - after all a few scraps of wood, paper, coal, or stale bread was a daily treasure trove for poverty-stricken families. Imagine the excitement as the confusion and fighting was breached by the crashing collapse of the front window of Noblett's sweet shop, in North Earl Street - suddenly a lifetime of longing for an Easter egg - or even the taste of sweet chocolate was within reach. And in they poured for the sole gorge of their lives - grabbing bonbons, jellies, licorice, and even the "hammer'' used to break up the shiny slabs of Cleeves creamy toffee, as the bewildered shopkeeper could only look on in shock. I have no doubt that some of the children shot and killed that week fell with the first sweet taste of chocolate in their young mouths. Nor were all the children from the tenements of Dublin, at least ten of the forty who died violently were from a well-off background. The family of William Lionel Sweny, in Lincoln Place, no doubt used their valuable and rare telephone - Dublin 1199 - to search for their missing 14-year-old, to no avail. From nearby North Cumberland, John Kirwan went missing on Easter Monday. His distraught mother Annie pleaded on the front page of the Evening Herald nearly a month later on May 20 under the heading this boy is lost for information about her 15-year-old son last seen on Easter Monday afternoon, 100 yards from the GPO. He had laid, unrecognizable on a mortuary slab in Jervis Street Hospital for a month. His mother only identifying him by the lucky coin in his pocket he had gotten for his confirmation. Each child has a story, a family an unfulfilled life - they deserve to be remembered. They are part of our history. One of the surprising results of the project to name, reclaim, and remember the children I have been engaged in for the past three years is being able to bring together relatives of the same child, who had never met before. The project is driven in part by the poetic words of songwriter Declan O'Rouke who has proclaimed in his moving song on the children: Nor Pearse, nor Clarke, MacDonagh, or the Connolly we knew, would rest were they remembered on a pedestal alone. Are they not the fathers of our nation proud and free? And our sister and our brothers then, the Children of '16. *'Children of the Rising: The untold story of the young lives lost during Easter 1916' by Joe Duffy is published by Hachette Ireland and is available from online retailers and as an ebook. * Originally published in February 2016, updated in April 2022. IrishCentral History Love Irish history? Share your favorite stories with other history buffs in the IrishCentral History Facebook group. Worries about the health of the banks will raise doubts about whether any new government here will be able to sell the first 25% stake in AIB this year after all. Stock-market indices have sunk this year amid concerns that the global economic slowdown has meant that markets have over-valued company shares. Markets have been particularly spooked that the tumbling price of crude oil will destabilise emerging nations, with their debt ending up in the hands of western banks such as Deutsche Bank and Societe Generale. Deutsche Bank shares, which had steadied during the week, have nonetheless lost a third of their value since the start of the year. That shares of a leading bank in the eurozone should be facing pressure after all that had happened during the financial crash and new oversight of the banks and their capital reserves has been alarming. Shares in Societe Generale, which also eased yesterday, have lost over 29% this year. In a sobering report published this week, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development warned that emerging markets were particularly at risk exchange rate movements and to mounting debt. It warned: A pick-up in global growth remains elusive. Despite not being particularly exposed to China, UK bank shares have tumbled too. Barclays shares are down 26% this year; Lloyds has lost 16% of their value; and shares in Ulster Banks owner, Royal Bank of Scotland, have dropped by 19.5% since the start of the year. One of the main areas of concern in markets in recent weeks has been the banking sector, both in the UK and overseas, said Capital Economics in London yesterday. It believes, however, that the pessimism regarding the British banking sector is overdone, saying that the UK banks exposures to China were, at any rate, very small. For now, it does not look as though the banking sector is set to trigger a renewed economic downturn in the UK, said the economists. Indeed, bank lending growth has been recovering slowly but steadily since 2013 and at a rather healthier pace than in the eurozone, where concerns about the banking sector are arguably more justified, they said. Back home, amid the international carnage of banking shares, doubts are growing about whether the next government could be brave enough to set a date for an IPO to sell the first tranche of shares in AIB to the market. The outgoing Fine Gael/Labour coalition had recently appointed Rothschild to advise it on the timing of any potential sale, and Finance Minister Michael Noonan, just weeks before the start of the campaign, had pledged to set in train the sale of AIB the day the government got back into office. The proxy for the prospects of an AIB sale are Bank of Ireland shares. Bank of Ireland, which closed at 25c this weekend, is worth 8.2bn. The shares, which were trading at 34c on the first trading day of the year, have therefore lost about 3bn in value in a few weeks. They are down from a peak of of 39c last April. The developer in recent days submitted plans to Dublin City Council for the 200m office block in the suburb. Mr Ronan last year acquired four vacant office blocks and surrounding land close to AIBs Bankcentre building for 67.5m. The near four-acre site was sold by a receiver on behalf of Nama and Ulster Bank. It had been acquired in 2006 by Carlow property developer Sean Dunne for a reported 200m. The new plan lodged with Dublin City Council shows that the office block development would be six storeys high over three levels of a basement. The total gross floor area of the Henry J Lyons designed development would be 52,247 sq m more than five times the floor area of the existing four office blocks that are going to be demolished. The planning consultants for Mr Ronans RGRE Ballsbridge Developments Ltd, John Spain & Associates, have told the council that the site is suitable for intensive development because of its access to public transport. It claims that this meets the demands for larger offices in the area. The planning consultants claim the scheme is modest in scale and say the development will be of high quality appropriate to the setting and character of Merrion Rd and adjacent residential areas. The documentation reveals that the initial design study focused on the potential to refurbish and re-use the existing buildings on site. However, this was ruled out because the significant costs made it impractical because of costs. The development is being financed by Cardinal Capital and Jefferies Loancore. In addition, Mr Ronan is developing an office block on Burlington Rd, also in Ballsbridge, and plans to build a 22-storey tower at Tara St in central Dublin, in partnership with the State-owned CIE. Expectations for price swings in the pound against the euro over the next six months climbed to the highest since 2011 as sterling whipsawed yesterday. With traders already pushing back bets on the timing of a Bank of England interest-rate increase, the prospect of a vote on leaving the worlds largest trading bloc is causing further concern. That helped push down the UK currency against all but one of its Group of 10 peers in 2016. Mr Cameron had appeared late evening to be close to sealing a deal at the talks, setting him up to announce a referendum for as soon as June 23 on his countrys place in the EU. With the possibility of negotiations dragging into the weekend, sterling held a three-week slide against the euro. Mr Cameron cancelled a meeting of the UK cabinet to hold further meetings with his European counterparts as talks continued into yesterday evening. Its likely well still get something that gets us a referendum on this in June but that there will be enough questions within the agreement to encourage the out camp, said Kit Juckes, a global strategist at Societe Generale in London. I cant imagine it becoming clear who will win, so Ive got another four months of uncertainty on the currency. Is the market now bearish enough on sterling? My bias is still negative. Sterling dropped 1.2% this week to $1.4329 late yesterday in Europe. It was little changed at 77.62p per euro after reaching 78.98 just over a week ago, the weakest since December 2014. Six-month implied volatility for the pound versus the euro, a measure of price swings based on options, reached the highest level since October 2011. On the effects of stock markets, IG market analyst Joshua Mahony said that the fall once again in oil prices yesterday clipped the ambitions of the market bulls who believe that the stocks rout since the start of the year has gone too far. The rally in gold over the past 24 hours highlights the fact that many are donning their tin hats in anticipation of yet another rout for risk assets. The resilience of gold, in the face of booming markets earlier this week, points towards a growing feeling that gold is fast becoming a go-to investment to express risk-aversion in a low interest environment, he said. Analysts say that even after any deal that the concerns over a British referendum on Brexit will weigh on sterling for some time. Much like the Scottish referendum, the divisive nature of the issue at hand means grievances are unlikely to disappear upon obtaining any token concession from the European summit, Mr Mahony said. In Dublin, Transport Minister Paschal Donohoe told the annual conference of the British-Irish Chamber of Commerce that Irelands and the EUs interests are for the UK to stay in. Paul Drechsler, president of the Confederation of British Industry, said the alternatives to full [UK] membership would also mean a period of dislocation. The move comes two days after Bloomberg reported activist investor Starboard Value was taking initial steps toward a potential proxy fight with Yahoo. Starboard, which owns about 0.75% of Yahoo, has been pushing for changes at the internet company since 2014, asking it to separate its Asian assets and sell the core business. Yahoo and its chief executive Marissa Mayer are under growing pressure from impatient shareholders to turn the web pioneers flailing internet business around. Yahoo announced, this month, it was considering strategic alternatives for its core internet business, and said it would cut about 15% of its workforce. In December, Yahoo shelved plans to spin off its stake in Chinese ecommerce giant Alibaba and said it would create a separate company that would house Yahoos internet business and its stake in Yahoo Japan. Separating our Alibaba stake from Yahoos operating business is essential to maximising value for our shareholders, Ms Mayer said in a statement, while emphasising that everyone at Yahoo wanted to return the iconic company to greatness. The committee and its advisers are working on a process for reaching out to and engaging with potentially interested strategic and financial parties, the company said yesterday. Yahoo had earlier this month engaged with interested parties individually, but had yet to run a formal auction process, according to sources. The committee will recommend any proposed transaction to the board which it feels is in the best interests of Yahoo and its shareholders. Verizon is among the technology, media and telecommunications companies seen as potential buyers of Yahoos core business. Verizons chief financial officer said in December such a sale could make sense though it was premature to discuss it. The committee engaged Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, and PJT Partners as financial advisers. Cork Business Association (CBA) and Cork Chamber were united yesterday in their calls for increased and sustained government efforts to persaude the US authorities to rubber-stamp Norwegian Airlines Irish subsidiarys application a foreign carrier permit. The airlines plans to launch a Cork to Boston service in May have been deferred because of the unprecedented two-year delay in the licensing process. Its Cork to Barcelona route is also deferred. The airline, which plans to operate a Cork to New York service next year, says despite the delays, it remains committed to introducing the services. CBA president Pat OConnell said he plans to contact the Taoiseachs office to stress the flights importance to the city and the region. The deferral is disappointing but we remain optimistic, he said. It is the US authorities who are dragging their heels. I think its time for some heavy-hitting phone calls. Just days after Cork was named as one of the top regional cities in Europe for attracting foreign direct investment, Mr OConnell said Cork-based companies like Apple, EMC, and Tyco need connectivity to the US. Cork Chamber chief executive Conor Healy said Norwegians deferral was not unexpected, given the licensing delays. It highlights the need for renewed efforts across all Irish diplomatic levels, to secure this service, he said. The government needs to take the opportunity provided by the annual St Patricks Day visit to Washington and the White House to outline their real concerns. This week, the European Commission invoked an arbitration process to break the licence impasse. It could take up to four months. Eugene OSullivan, aged 59, of Dun Orga, Dunmanway, Co Cork, was given a five-year prison sentence yesterday which, in effect, he will serve in his own home. Judge Donagh McDonagh yesterday said it was with reluctance that he was suspending the five-year sentence but was doing so on the mans undertaking to stay within the curtilage of his home for the next five years. I will suspend it on his entering a bond to have no contact of any nature with the injured party or her family, that he remain within the curtilage of his dwelling for the period of five years, the judge said, adding OSullivan could leave his home for all medical appointments and hospital treatment. If it crosses his mind to attend church, chapel, or meeting house he would be permitted so do do, Judge McDonagh said. These terms are to replace his home for a prison cell. Any deviation should immediately be reported to the court and I will impose the prison sentence. The judge said the victim impact statement, which the complainant did not want to have read in public, was the most articulate, eloquent and moving he had even seen outlining how crimes of this nature affected innocent children through their childhood and into adult life. The accused was remanded in custody a fortnight ago following his pleas of guilty to indecently assaulting a girl in West Cork when she was six years old and he was 25. OSullivans name will also go on the sex offenders register. Sergeant Aidan Moynihan said at Cork Circuit Criminal Court that the incident assault occurred on an afternoon in the early 1980s. The girl asked OSullivan to get something for her. He said he would but produced his penis and told her to put it in her mouth first and the child did so. It was not until the injured party was 19 that she felt she could tell an aunt and it was some further time before she told her mother. Sgt Moynihan said she was in counselling from 1995 to 2012, when she went to her local garda station and made a complaint of indecent assault. The injured party said she did not want any of the parties identified and did not want the accused to be jailed. Brian McInerney, defending, said the accused now suffered serious ill health. He is deeply ashamed of his actions, he has had to live with this in the back of his mind, he said. He accepts there is a certain degree of fate seeking to even the scales in terms of injuries which have befallen him. Mr McInerney said he was flabbergasted by the extraordinary Christian attitude taken by the complainant. One could understand feelings of revenge or vengeance but she fails to see how it would achieve anything other than letting a sick man die in prison, Mr McInerney said. He quoted the complainant asking what justice there would be in jailing OSullivan at this stage. Aaron Murray has been offered a place in the course for gifted children, but mum Lorraine fears they might be made homeless before the April start date. Weve been in the same house in Blanchardstown for the last eight years, said Lorraine, a mother of six. Last year the landlord said the house was going to be re- possessed so he needed to increase the rent by nearly 600 a month. We just cant afford that increase. The family live in a small three-bed house which is riddled with damp and has no washing machine. The walls of the house are covered in mould, said Lorraine. We cant keep clothes in the house because the mould eats through them. Its riddled with damp. I used to get bleach and clear off the mould in the kids room, but now it wont budge, its turning black and the kids have to go to hospital all the time. Aaron shares a room with his brothers as Lorraine and partner Denis sleep in a box room out the front. We sleep in the front room because the windows dont close properly and were worried that burglars could just push the windows in, she said. Despite the perpetual fear of eviction, Aaron scored off the chart on his Sten test, which compares students to the rest of the population. The teachers already knew he was good but when they did the Sten test, they said he got everything right. After that, he did the DCU test in 2014, where he got accepted for the programme the school paid for. We were so proud, Lorraine said. In 2015, Aaron got accepted to DCU again but his baby brother Jason, one, was diagnosed with respiratory syncytial virus which led to a series of hospitalisations. Jason was in hospital five times last year, said Lorraine. The consultants say its because of the damp and have written to Fingal County Council about it. It was heartbreaking for us because we were so worried about Jason and couldnt bring Aaron to his course. The family were served with an eviction notice in December but have remained in the house, as they are worried they will be separated. We are worried they will break us up and move us far away from the kids school, Lorraine said. We have to send back the form to DCU by March 18 but we dont know where were going to be and we dont have money to insure or tax the car. The reality is we might not be able to bring Aaron to DCU and that is breaking my heart. I want my little boy to have a chance. With many people commuting into Cork City each day, traffic congestion and the road network in general are among the concerns on the doorsteps. The citys Dunkettle roundabout is a major source of grief for approaching commuters. Likewise, a motorway between Cork and Limerick is nowhere in sight and the bypass of Mallow has been delayed. Agriculture is a major industry, with Dairygold headquartered in the constituency and a Glanbia presence. As always, the price of milk and grain will be among the rural issues of debate. Although schools and the quality of school buildings were a major issue in 2011, much has been done to replace prefab classrooms and build extensions, as well as new schools, so anger around this issue in the main has subsided. With two candidates Tom Barry and Noel McCarthy in the northern end of the constituency, and David Stanton in the south, Fine Gael will be hoping to retain at least two seats. Although Mr Stanton is likely to be elected early, securing a second seat may involve more of a fight, but is still very likely. Minister of state Sean Sherlock, who was first elected in 2007, will also be confident of holding a seat for Labour. The final seat is likely to end in a battle between current and former Fianna Fail members, with Sinn Fein or a strong independent also posing a threat. Fianna Fail has put forward two candidates in Barbara Ahern and Kevin OKeeffe, with the pair hoping to follow in the footsteps of their fathers, both former junior ministers. Long-serving county councillor OKeeffe is likely to have the edge over political newcomer Ms Ahern as FF hope to reclaim a seat. But former Fianna Fail member Mary Linehan-Foley, now running as an Independent, is likely to cause some damage to the party vote. She could grab votes too from Sinn Fein, as Youghal-based sitting TD Sandra McLellan is not standing this time around, leaving Ms Linehan-Foley as the harbour towns only local candidate. Sinn Fein has been weakened in the constituency over rumoured disputes and bullying. Allegations that Ms McLellan, who last year announced she will not to stand again, was bullied by elements within the party, have caused some division at grassroots level, with a number of people leaving or being asked to leave. However, many believe a traditional Sinn Fein vote still exists, which will put candidate Pat Buckley firmly in the fight for the final seat, possibly with FG. Kieran McCarthy, who quit the party, has the higher profile, being a longer serving public representative but his elimination, if early, could bolster Buckleys chances. John Keohane, the owner of Keohanes Cork Funeral Directors on Copley St, Cork City, said he was moved by the story of Bill and John Kelly, 77, who were facing burial in a paupers grave in the English capital until an appeal saw an Irish cousin coming forward. They were part of a generation of Irish people who went to England and it just struck a chord, said Mr Keohane. People are emotional at times like this, and I just thought I would offer to help the family along and provide our services. Mr Keohane added that his company stands ready to help with transport and logistics. Longford-based undertaker Frank Kilbride has also offered his services for free should the brothers be buried in Ireland. William, known as Bill, originally from the Turners Cross area of Cork, died on January 29 in Muswell Hill, north London. It was only when his friend, Margaret Deeney, went in search of his relatives to inform them of his death that it was discovered his estranged twin, John, who lived in Archway, had also died. With their bodies lying unclaimed in separate morgues, the Irish community in North London launched an appeal through The Irish Post newspaper to find their next of kin. Bweeng man Sean Kelly heard the story on Thursday on Patricia Messengers Cork Today on C103FM. He got in touch with Padraig Grennan of genealogy specialists Finders, who had been engaged to trace Bills relatives. Mr Grennan said their researchers used a marriage cert for the twins parents, Denis Kelly from Dromohane and Katherine Murphy from Banteer, dated January 22, 1929, to confirm Sean as the twins first cousin. Sean said his wish now is that the two men be buried in a proper grave. Their father is buried in St Finbarrs Cemetery in the city, and if he cant establish the twins wishes, he will try to arrange for their burial in the family plot. The twins were born on August 27, 1938. It is believed that, after the death of their father, the family moved to London, possibly in 1947. They were described as quite reclusive, and Bill suffered from mental health issues for a number of years. Meanwhile, 6,240 (8,040) has been donated to a fund set up by The Irish Post to cover funeral costs. Some 3,240 was raised by readers; the newspapers CEO, Elgin Loane, donated 1,000, while London-Irish firm ODonovan Waste gave 2,000. They also heard evidence of a statement made by the accused to the gardai, in which he said that he heard his wife falling down the stairs when he was sitting on a couch in the sitting room, also witnessed her falling and hitting her head in the utility room, and on a previous holiday to Dingle, he said, his wife fell against a wall and injured her ribs. Anthony Kelleher told Detective Garda Thomas OSullivan his wife smoked an occasional cigarette but got dizzy when she did. Mr Kelleher, aged 42, denies a charge of assaulting his wife, Siobhan Kelleher, causing her serious harm at the family home in Curraheen, Raleigh North, Macroom, Co Cork, on June 12, 2014. Earlier in the trial, Ms Kelleher replied to every question: I am not giving evidence, judge. She said in two statements that her husband pulled her out of bed by her hair and threw her and kicked her down the stairs and she woke up in hospital with a tube down her throat. In a third statement, she said that she must have slipped or tripped hanging out clothes and that her husband called the ambulance, and in this statement she apologised to him. Yesterday, at Cork Circuit Criminal Court, Alan McGee of Forensic Science Ireland said that he was given background information about the case in which it was alleged that Ms Kelleher had been pulled out of bed by the hair and thrown down stairs by her husband. Dr McGee was also told it was alleged by the injured partys husband that she had fallen down stairs and had fallen a second time in the utility room. A clump of hair which was a DNA match for Ms Kelleher was found in a bin in the bathroom at the family home. Dr McGee examined the clump of hair under a microscope and concluded that it had been pulled out, rather than having been shed naturally. Tom Creed, defending, suggested to the court that there was something that looked like white chewing gum attached to the clump, which might have explained why the clump of hair was pulled out. Dr McGee said of the white substance, which he did not analyse: It is loosely associated with the clump, it is not embedded in the clump. On June 13, 2014, Mr Kelleher told Det Gda Thomas OSullivan that his wife suffered from depression following a birth and had been prescribed anti-depressants for three months. In notes read yesterday to the jury, Mr Kelleher said: I believed she had a drink problem. Siobhan fell down the stairs at our home. This happened at about 8pm. She fell half way to the landing. I was able to pick her up and put her to bed. She slept for a few hours and got up. She smokes an odd cigarette now and again. She would get very unsteady on her feet if she has a cigarette. Siobhan said she was going to bed. She was after drinking or smoking. I heard a bang, an almighty bang followed by thud, thud, thud. I went out to look. I couldnt believe it. I did lift her up by the arm. She said: I am alright. She fell against the wall, about two and a half feet up from the ground she caught the side of her head. She was bleeding from the head I found her lying on the floor She was completely lifeless. I put her in the recovery position. I immediately rang 999. Siobhan fell in Dingle and hurt herself against a wall. She was after buying a naggin of vodka. I believe she damaged her ribs that time. Judge Sean O Donnabhain instructed the jury not to read media reports of the trial or articles about domestic violence or anything like that, and to return to Cork Circuit Criminal Court for the fourth day of the trial on Monday. John Benedict Butalid de Lara, of Ballyfermot, who cared for elderly patients as a staff nurse at the Royal Hospital Donnybrook from 2003 until 2014, was facing allegations relating to the possession of crystal meth, of ordering Sudafed using the names of several colleagues, and of failing to inform his employer that he was under Garda investigation. Sanctions will be determined at a later date. The disciplinary inquiry at the Nursing Board headquarters in Blackrock, Co Dublin, heard in December that an ingredient in Sudafed, pseudoephedrine, can be used in the making of crystal meth. During the inquiry yesterday, two healthcare assistants said they were shocked that de Lara ordered Sudafed in their names. An expert witness told the inquiry yesterday that ordering medications in somebody elses name without their consent was wholly inappropriate. She said a nurse who knowingly breaks the law brings the whole profession into disrepute. Two healthcare assistants who worked with de Lara, aged 45, yesterday said they were shocked when they were told by their manager that de Lara had used their names to order Sudafed on May 23, 2013. Edwin Palaez, who was out of the country in May 2013, said he was upset and shocked to find out that de Lara had used his name to order Sudafed. I was upset because I knew John on the ward, said Mr Palaez. I liked him as a colleague. So I was upset and shocked that my name was being used. Nicholas Mallari said he was shocked and surprised to find out his name had been used to order Sudafed. Referring to de Lara, Mr Mallari said: Hes a nice person. Hes a good colleague. Hes a good nurse. As far as I know, hes a good man. Expert witness Rita Gallagher, a director of nursing who chairs the Irish National Extended Care Medicine Association, said trust is a key aspect of working with colleagues and providing care to patients, and that using colleagues names to order Sudafed without their consent constituted a breach of trust. Trust is a very important aspect of nursing, said Ms Gallagher. In the professional code of conduct, trust is a core value. If trust is broken, it constitutes a serious falling short of the conduct expected of a nurse. A staff nurse should be a role model instead of breaching trust. Reflecting on the allegations relating to de Laras arrest on charges of possession of crystal meth, Ms Gallagher told the inquiry: Nurses who knowingly break the law bring the nursing profession into disrepute. De Lara chose to not give evidence yesterday, and his counsel, John McGuigan, said he would not be calling any further witnesses. In his closing arguments, Mr McGuigan said de Lara came to Ireland to work as a nurse, and that he has cared throughout those years for some of the most elderly and vulnerable patients in the State. He said de Lara was popular with colleagues and effective with patients. Following the verdict, de Lara exited the side of the building, and ran down the road in an apparent attempt to avoid reporters and camera crews. Defence Minister Simon Coveney announced details of the first pilot scheme to help 18- to 24-year-olds which will be held in conjunction with the Dublin and Dun Laoghaire Education and Training Board. The Defence Forces are teaming up with the Department of Social Protection to provide the first 30 places on a 10-week course, which will take place at Gormanstown Camp in June. Mr OGorman, aged 39, was killed by his Italian flatmate, Saverio Bellante, who admitted killing him and eating his body parts. Mr Bellante was found not guilty by reason of insanity at the Central Criminal Court in July. Mr OGormans family have grave concerns about Mr Bellantes treatment and dangers attached to his treatment in the lead-up to the killing, Dublin Coroners Court heard. At a resumed inquest into Mr OGormans death before coroner Brian Farrell, barrister Aisling Mulligan made a formal request for a full inquest hearing in order to fully examine the circumstances of his death. The family feel the matter was not fully ventilated at the trial, she said. There was no guilt attached to Mr Bellantes actions. He was found not guilty by reason of insanity but large elements of the case were not ventilated because of the type of case that was run. The family hopes to have the full circumstances of Mr Bellantes psychiatric treatment and its connection to the killing of Mr OGorman aired in court. The family have grave concerns in relation to the background of Mr Bellantes treatment, on the grounds of a danger attached to his treatment and how that led to his death, said Ms Mulligan. Mr OGorman, a journalist and researcher at the Iona Institute, died as a result of blunt force trauma to the head and stab wounds to the chest at his home in Beech Park Avenue, Castleknock, Dublin 15, in January 2014. The inquest was opened on March 26, 2014, and adjourned to allow for an investigation and trial at the Central Criminal Court. Inspector Colm Murphy said a full trial had taken place and matters relating to the killing had been finalised, but he said he had no objection to a full inquest hearing going ahead. Dr Farrell said he would reach a decision and give reasons for that decision early next month. Charles Colthurst, who owns the world-famous visitor attraction on the outskirts of Cork City, said it is still not too late for Enda Kenny to pick up the phone to US president Barack Obama as part of efforts to save the proposed Cork to Boston service. He spoke out yesterday after low-cost giant Norwegian Airlines announced that it was deferring the May launch of its proposed Cork to Boston flights blaming it on the unprecedented two-year delay by the US Department of Transportation on its foreign carrier permit application. I feel the people of Cork have been let down badly. This should have been an election issue and my fear now is that this is dead in the water, Mr Colthurst said. It is terribly disappointing. These opportunities come along once in a lifetime and I fear weve missed the boat. If there is still a chance that a phone call would work, the Taoiseach needs to lift the phone before he meets Barack Obama on St Patricks Day. Securing the flights would be the best St Patricks Day news we could get. While Blarney Castle attracted just over 400,000 visitors last year 200,000 of them Americans Mr Colthurst said securing transatlantic flights from Cork was of regional importance. Not every American wants to fly in to Dublin Airport, and I know from my own contacts in the US that there was huge support for the proposed Cork to Boston flights, he said. Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin criticised the Government for not doing enough to secure the route. This is a matter the Government has not put enough time into, he said. The permits that need to be issued by the American Department of Transportation form part of the Open Skies agreement negotiated between the EU and US when Fianna Fail was in government. The Government needs to have a more hands-on role in this process and use our positive ties with the US to help move this issue along. Education spokesman Charlie McConalogue made the commitment to cap the contribution at the launch of the partys education policy document yesterday, insisting the move is achievable if additional taxpayer funds are used instead. The Donegal TD said the contribution has doubled to 3,000 since 2012 and is now preventing some families from sending their children to college. He said there is absolutely no justification for increasing fees for the foreseeable future and that registration costs would be frozen at their current levels for at least five years if Fianna Fail is elected. The commitment follows the announcement by Education Minister Jan O Sullivan on Tuesday that her party, Labour, will cut the student contribution fee by 500 if elected. While Fianna Fail has committed to increasing third-level funding by 500m, neither party has clarified if a separate student fees or loans system will be set up if it is recommended by an independent report commissioned by the Department of Education this summer. The independent report, being undertaken by former Ictu general secretary Peter Cassell, is expected to say a new fees system is one of a number of options that must be considered as third-level budgets are about 500m to 1bn short of demand. This means parties may have to choose between further general taxation or a new system to bypass pre-election promises to keep funding the institutions. The Fianna Fail education policy document includes plans to increase the number of primary school teachers by 5,500 over the next five years; reduce class sizes to 23 pupils or fewer by 2021; and to increase teacher numbers for small rural schools an issue likely to be a pressure point between the coalition and the opposition party. The incident was reported to authorities by air traffic controllers following a complaint from the crew of a flight on approach to Shannon on Thursday. The TNT Airways flight TAY-1461 from Amsterdam was descending from 4,250m over Co Wexford when the crew reported a green laser had been pointed at their jet. The incident happened at about 10.15pm as the British Aerospace 146 jet was south of Enniscorthy, Co Wexford, from where the laser is believed to have originated. The crew of flight 1461 had been in contact with air traffic controllers in Shannon at the time and reported the incident to them. The pilot said the beam appeared to have come from a built-up area in the vicinity of Enniscorthy. Controllers contacted gardai in Wexford and made a report to them. The crew continued to Shannon for a safe landing and did not report being injured or adversely affected by the laser. The Irish Aviation Authority takes such incidents very seriously and reports dozens of incidents to the gardai every year, the authority said. Shining a laser at an aircraft can affect the safety of an aircraft, especially if the aircraft is at a critical phase, such as landing. While the majority of reported incidents have been found to have a low-safety impact, pilots have reported flash blindness, glare and being distracted from lasers. Last Sunday, a transatlantic flight turned around north of Donegal and returned to London Heathrow after one of the pilots was affected by a laser. The woman, who states that she lives in Mayo, just 15 minutes from Taoiseach Enda Kenny, gained national attention in an online post in which she describes how she would greet the first election canvasser to come to her door. I have maybe four tea-bags in my cupboard and no coffee, so I hope if someone comes they will be content to drink tap water while I show them how the tagline Lets Keep the Recovery Going is simply a fantasy for those living on the poverty line, the woman wrote. I will tell them how my young child went to bed last night with two pairs of socks on and a hat; while I wore my scarf under a hoody because we had no oil or coal to heat the house. I will show them how draughty my rented accommodation is and let them see their own breath as fog as they speak to me. I will tell them how Ive been juggling single motherhood and my education for the last seven years and how I am now qualified with a CV packed with voluntary work and community involvement. Ill show them my awards and professional references to prove that I am not the lazy single mother the media paints us as when discussing welfare. I will outline how I would stay awake until daylight calculating how I would make 217.80 stretch far enough to pay rent, childcare, petrol costs, heating, food and bills. It never did. Ill tell them how those barriers and slammed doors caused so much stress and pressure I inevitably had a mental breakdown and fell into a state of immobilisation and minimum functioning. The woman also details how she believes the nations mental health services have failed her, and how she had attempted suicide. I will then tell the local candidate how I was left on a trolley in a corridor in Mayo General Hospital for hours, going in and out of consciousness, only to be sent wobbling out the door late that night and told not to do it again, she wrote. Ill show them the pile of unpaid bills and open my purse to show them the 40c to get me to the end of the week. She further outlines her even scarier problem, how her son is starting to display mental health issues. Ill tell them that our GP has identified a need for him to speak to a professional regarding his feelings immediately for effective early intervention, but that the public system again has long waiting lists for his age. Ill tell them that I have rang over 20 private practitioners in the county and how each of them charge amounts that I can certainly not afford while living on the poverty line. And that in order for us to do so, we will have to cut our grocery shopping costs in half and say goodbye to heat entirely. Ill then ask them to explain to me how the slogan Lets Keep the Recovery Going is justifiable when the people on the ground in the Taoiseachs own constituency are being denied access to basic heath recovery. But then again. Will anyone even knock at all? A fundraising site has been set up by campaigner Ruairi McKiernan, who said that he knows the woman and can vouch for her story. Mr McKiernan, a member of the Council of State, raised over 1,400 as of last night via www.youcaring.com/young-woman-in-castlebar-mayo-524563 It is believed the man is Niall Dennehy, a Cork-based musician. It is understood that he fell into water while in Portugal last week and that he was rescued by friends. The man was then rushed to hospital, where, it is understood, he was placed in an induced coma. His family were informed and his parents have been at his hospital bedside. The Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed that it was aware of a case involving an Irish national in Portugal and that it was providing consular assistance to the family. Among family members at the Irishmans bedside is his father, the well-known Cork publican Con Dennehy. Con Dennehy is at his son's bedside in Portugal The exact details of the incident have not been made known, but it is understood that the Irishman may have fallen into a swimming pool. Niall Dennehy is drummer and percussionist with the Art Crimes Band, an acclaimed jazz and RnB group which is based in Cork. The groups debut album, Radio, was released just a few months ago, having launched at the most recent Guinness Cork Jazz Festival. According to the Irish Travel Agents Association (ITAA), recent terror attacks in places such as Egypt and Tunisia have resulted in Irish people rushing to book alternatives such as the Canary Islands and the Iberian Peninsula, which have seen a large increase in bookings during the winter period. The ITAA said 75% of its members expect Spain to be their most popular destination this year, while Portugal has also seen a large portion of family holiday bookings. With advance bookings at some of the highest levels in years, some travel agents have warned it could lead to higher holiday prices for those who dont book early. Earlier this month, British travel company TUI, which owns operators Thomson and First Choice, said summer holiday bookings to Turkey had fallen by 40% after recent terrorist attacks. TUI also said holiday bookings to Tunisia and Egypt had also been hit by terrorism fears, and that even Paris had been affected due to the IS attacks carried out there last November. The threat of IS has influenced Irish tourists and they are heeding the advice of the Department of Foreign Affairs, which advised tourists to exercise caution if visiting Turkey, as the threat from terrorism there remains high. It has advised against all non-essential travel to Tunisia and Egypt. It also warned of a heightened threat of terrorist incidents, including targeted attacks against foreigners, and a continuing threat of civil unrest in Egypt. Two attacks in March and June in Tunisia last year left almost 60 people dead, including three Irish people. Thousands of tourists left the region in the aftermath of the attacks which were claimed by IS. In October, a Russian plane which had taken off from the resort of Sharm el-Sheikh crashed killing 224 people in what was a suspected terrorist attack. The resort has been described as a ghost town in the months since. In the last two months there have been explosions in the Turkish capital Ankara and Istanbul. ITAA CEO Pat Dawson said it was clear that Irish holidaymakers were uneasy about travelling to regions that have been affected by terrorist attacks in recent months. All our members are saying Turkey is slow to move at present, said Mr Dawson. The Sunway Cork to Turkey charter is gone for example. There is nothing to Tunisia thats not going to happen. However, that part of the world and, in particular Turkey, is often a late-seller also, which can lead to good prices. However, theres no doubt that people are uneasy. As a result, people are flocking to Spain. We expect 1.5m Irish people to go there this year, thats up from 1.3m last year. Editor of Travel Extra, Eoghan Corry, said if German tourists abandon their traditional summer destination of Turkey and head for Spain, it could put pressure on prices Irish customers pay. The key is not what we do but what could happen if 25m Germans decide they dont want to go to Turkey as they usually do and go and throw their beach towels over the whole of Spain, he said. Suddenly, you have a big displacement problem and the pressure on places for Irish holidaymakers. Aer Lingus and Ryanair have both told me that advance bookings to Spain are the highest theyve seen. Ivor Callely, aged, 57, of St Lawrence, Clontarf, had pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to four counts of using invoices believing them to be false instruments at Leinster House, Kildare St, between November 2007 and December 2009 while he was a member of the Seanad. He was sentencted to five months imprisonment by Judge Mary Ellen Ring on July 28, 2014. Callely had lodged an appeal against the severity of his sentence in person in 2014. However, the office of the Court of Appeal recently received a letter from him, in person, notifying the court of his intention to withdraw his appeal. Kevin Mulvey, director general of the Workplace Relations Commission, said: I am not enamoured at the idea of a gun being put to our heads in the context of negotiations particularly around St Patricks Day. St Patricks Day is our national holiday and it does not behove trade unionists of any kind or any description... to be involved in a national dispute on our national holiday involving a vital element of public transport in our city. He has invited both sides in the dispute over pay to meet separately with the commission next week. I will be saying to the unions that if this [a strike on St Patricks Day] is a hearts and minds operation, you are not going to win the hearts and minds of the public on this one. He also said he will be telling the operators of the Luas, Transdev, and Siptu which represents the drivers that it is about time now people started getting real about this dispute and getting down to business about negotiating a settlement. Mr Mulvey, in an interview with RTEs Morning Ireland programme, stopped short of openly criticising the workers claim for pay increases of 8% to 53%. However, he did say the claim was unusual to be blunt and frank about it. No one is winning, everybody is losing [through the strikes], he said. Workers have lost four days pay. The company has effectively lost revenue and incurred penalties and the 90,000 commuters, some of whom are struggling to get to work cant get about their daily business. There is no win here. Owen Reidy of Siptu said his members would welcome the opportunity to enter exploratory talks at the commission next week. He said in relation to Mr Mulveys comments on the pay claim that the union had been saying the claim was ambitious and it was willing to enter negotiations on it. On the commission chiefs comments on the plans for action on St Patricks Day, he said Mr Mulvey was entitled to his opinion. Mr Reidy said there are two weeks until the next day of action on March 8 and he said it behoves everyone involved to seek a resolution before that day comes. Meanwhile, Kieran Mulvey has rejected calls for Transport Minister Paschal Donohoe to intervene directly in the Luas dispute. That would leave the State open to litigation of an enormous level, that he was seen to interfere in what was a European procurement contract by, in any way, changing the nature of that contract. It is the role of the WRC to assist in resolving this dispute. At a Sinn Fein event against water charges, Ms McDonald was interrupted as the concerned citizen fired out criticisms against its tax plans and Gerry Adams blunders on financial matters. A Right2Change anti-water charges march takes place in Dublin today. Organisers will highlight 106 election candidates backing the call to scrap charges. At the Grafton St event yesterday, Ms McDonald faced questions about Mr Adams recent handling of tax matters, especially his message about taking 7% extra tax from those earning over 100,000. Mr Adams had seemed to suggest this is the only rate at which higher earners would be charged, while the actual rate would be in addition to current income tax levels. Ms McDonald conceded that anybody can fumble a figure in an interview. The Dublin Central TD was then confronted by Fergus Crawford, the CEO of the Irish branch of Swiss investment firm Sarasin and brother of ex-Fine Gael TD Seymour Crawford, who berated her about the tax plans: For middle-income people, youre going to kill their pensions. Have you seen the figures or can your leader do the maths?. An unsuspecting Mary Lou McDonald engages in a not so brief encounter with a member of the public on Grafton Sthttps://t.co/XBplNKFvvN RTE News (@rtenews) February 19, 2016 Asked by Ms McDonald why he would not vote for her party, Mr Crawford said: Because youre going to strip the poor people of this country, middle-income people. My children dont want to aspire to 69,000 a year, where you bring in this USC [sic]. Its appalling. Ms McDonald said half the workforce in Ireland earned 28,000 or less, and Sinn Feins package is not about punishing people. He replied: And people who want to work hard and make a life for themselves here, you want to punish them. Where the State loses more when someones made unemployed than the person loses theres something wrong there, when you pay 59% tax. Sinn Fein, if elected, would implement this level of tax on high earners. Ms McDonald said the majority of workers do not earn 69,000. Mr Crawford fired back: The best way for this country is to give young people opportunities. And taxing them out of existence is not the way. Telling them that they can earn 69,000, youre going to lamp them for whatever percent you have on USC. What about their pensions, have you looked at your numbers? I dont think your party leader has because he didnt seem to know what was going on [during an interview]. Sinn Feins Mary Lou McDonald made the claim as she said Mr Noonans response to a series of questions over the case falls far short of what is required. As reported by the Irish Examiner, Mr Noonan repeatedly refused to fully respond to allegations he failed to act on concerns of child abuse at a Waterford foster care home when he was informed of the situation two decades ago. The case has subsequently led to a State commission of investigation announced last month, amid claims of sexual abuse and a cover-up by the health service. After meeting with relatives of alleged victims, he organised a meeting with Mr Noonan at the partys ard fheis in Dublin that year. Mr OHalloran claims Mr Noonan, who was the health minister at the time, did a runner when he saw him, leaving then junior health minister Austin Currie to meet the individuals. While Mr OHalloran says he was raising serious abuse allegations which, two decades later, have caused a national scandal no action was taken, leading the former councillor to resign from the party. Despite the issues being raised with Fine Gael, the Department of Finance, and Mr Noonan repeatedly in recent days, the finance minister would only say on Thursday that he rejected the version of events; that the case still needs to be examined fully; and that he was not going to provide further details to satisfy public curiosity. Speaking to reporters at a Sinn Fein election event yesterday, Ms McDonald said questions over what exactly happened must be answered. I think it is very troubling, said Ms McDonald. I am familiar with the circumstances in respect of Waterford and a number of people who have had a very traumatic experience and who were let down by the State and who were let down by government. I do think that Michael Noonan needs to come out and make a full statement on the matter, to set out exactly what happened, the timeline, and who was involved. Its very important that Michael Noonan puts all those matters on the record. I note that even former colleagues of his are very concerned and very angry at what they regard to have been the disregard, the mishandling, the indifference of Michael Noonan to the issue of the time. The Public Accounts Committee, of which Ms McDonald is a member, repeatedly highlighted the case last year. On whether the committee should ask Mr Noonan or Mr Currie to appear and give their accounts on the matter, Ms McDonald said this must now be considered. Were it not for PAC, the issues would not have come to light, said Ms McDonald. I think it is something in the next Dail that has to be pursued. It is always preferable that Michael Noonan would come forward on his own initiative. I think he should do so today. They have designed a solar cell that produces a record-breaking voltage, bringing the possibility for electricity generated solely from sunlight a step closer. Scientists from Tyndall National Institute in Cork, Queens University in Belfast, and Stanford University in Californias Silicon Valley have worked together on the project, tackling the challenge of developing a non-corrosive solar cell that can split water molecules without an outside power source. A process called artificial photosynthesis can be used to split water into its constituent elements of pure oxygen and hydrogen. Hydrogen is a clean fuel that produces only water when burned. It can also be used to produce methane and methanol from reactions involving carbon dioxide. Funneling carbon dioxide into reactors for transformation into fuel instead of releasing it into the atmosphere reduces its harmful effect on the global climate. In 2011, researchers at Stanford University added a thin layer of titanium dioxide to the anode part of the solar cell to protect its surface from corrosion. A problem emerged because the protective layer meant that less light-induced voltage was generated by the silicone-based cell beneath. Paul Hurley from Tyndall Institute found a way of boosting the voltage and a prototype that he made exceeded all expectations when it was sent to Stanford University for testing. The holy grail of water-splitting using solar cells is that you put them into water and just use solar energy to split the water molecules, said Dr Hurley. At Tyndall, we suggested adding a new layer of silicon doped with an excess positive charge between the original silicon cell and the protective layer. He said they wanted to create just a little more photo-voltage than what was achieved with one type of silicone. Not only was it found to be much better, it broke the record for the voltage produced by this type of anode. While the voltage from the newly-designed cell is not yet enough to split water, the record-breaking voltage opens the way for cells using the new design principles to be tested. At Tyndall, we are now examining different materials that can protect silicon, conduct electricity and be transparent enough to transmit light, he said. Dr Hurley believes it could take at least 10 years before the cell would be available commercially: I think people should be very excited about the project. If you can just use sunlight to create oxygen and hydrogen, then you have a totally clean source of fuel. Carbon dioxide creates global warming and, if you can react hydrogen with carbon dioxide you can make natural gas another source of energy. The impact of the development has been recognised in the peer-reviewed scientific journal Nature Materials. The Renew project (Research into Emerging Nanostructured Electrodes for the Splitting of Water), which will run until 2017, is partly funded by Science Foundation Ireland. Joe Keegan-Grant cannot speak but goes to mainstream school and is doing well, the High Court heard yesterday. He was delivered by caesarean section on January 17, 2008 after a scan had shown a cyst near the base of the babys brain. Joe Keegan-Grant, of Rushfield, Creggs, Co Roscommon, had through his mother, Patricia Keegan, sued the HSE and a consultant paediatrician at Mount Carmel Hospital, Dublin, Dr Vladka Vilimkova. It was claimed there was an alleged failure to exercise any or any proper or adequate care for the safety and well being of the baby. It was further claimed there was an alleged failure on the part of public health nurses to plot the babys head circumference on a centile chart on a number of occasions. It was also claimed there was an alleged failure on the part of Dr Vilimkova following the seven-month developmental assessment to take any adequate steps in the management of the babys care by referring him to specialist brain scans or for further assessment. All claims were denied by both defendants. Counsel Bruce Antoniotti told the court public health nurses saw the baby on January 28, 2008, and on a number of occasions up to August 2008 but his head measurements were not plotted on a chart. In April 2008, counsel said the public health nurse found his head circumference to be one measurement and three weeks later the consultant found it to be 4.5cm bigger. Counsel said it it appears nobody knew the head of the baby was growing too quickly. Counsel said the mother brought developmental delays to the attention of the public heatlh nurse in August but the nurse may have taken comfort in the fact that the baby was being seen by Dr Vilimkova 10 days later. At that appointment, the baby was referred for physiotherapy and advised to reattend for a further review at a later date. In October 2008, the baby had a chest complaint and was brought to a GP who, concerned about the the babys head circumference referred the child back to Dr Vilimkova. Counsel said the babys parents when referred back to the paediatrician insisted on a scan. Counsel said it was found the baby had hydrocephalus. Approving the settlement Mr Justice Kevin Cross wished Joe and his family well in the future. It is a splendid event featuring tastings and masterclasses, hosted by one of The Menus favourite sommeliers Nick Faujours, and the wonderful Sinead Cabot of Cabot & Co wine importers. Add sumptuous food from the talented chef Seamus Commons and The Menu can think of no place hed rather be, lounging around the Library bar with one of its splendid cocktails. ( www.knockrannyhousehotel.ie ) FAIRTRADE FORTNIGHT Fairtrade Fortnight 2016 (February 29 to March 13) is an annual event from Fairtrade Ireland, now operational here for 20 years, that turns the focus on the Fairtrade farmers of the developing world and their achievements and opportunities in the face of myriad challenges, not least the ongoing battle to ensure they are paid a fair price. The programme includes opportunities to meet some of these farmers visiting Ireland to take part in events in Fairtrade towns, schools and colleges throughout the land ( www.fairtrade.ie ). Dine in Dublin (February 22-28) Food Festival taking place throughout the Big Smoke and involving 50 of Dublins finer restaurants includes live demos from top chefs and deals for some fine eating opportunities ( www.dineindublin.ie ) ALIS KITCHEN Granted, Connollys Bookstore wasnt devoted to culinary literature though The Menu acquired many an epicurean tome there and he was greatly saddened when his good friend Adrian Connolly announced its closure. However, if any news could heal those wounds it was hearing that the new tenant of one of Cork citys lovelier commercial premises was to be Alis Kitchen, brainchild of chef/proprietor Ali Honour, one of the more considered culinary creatives in the country and a baker of the highest order. The Menu recommends especially her sourdough bread and predicts her ginormous sticky buns will become one of the food stories of 2016 ( www.aliskitchencork.com ). The Community Foundation of Ireland has opened applications for a number of 250 grants to bolster your Street Feast party next June, community and neighbourhood gatherings designed organised by the citizens themselves ( www.streetfeast.ie ). Howth Castle Cookery School host Fiona Uyema, author of Japanese Food Made Easy, for hands-on classes/demos (February 25/26) ( www.fionauyema.com & www.howthcastle.com ). The Limerick branch of the Hook & Ladder Cookery School presents an ongoing series of cookery classes incorporating a five-course meal, the event (February 26) focusing on Fermented Foods and hosted by Val OConnor (email sarah@hookandladder.ie ). The Sternview Gallery at Nash 19 is hosting an excellent exhibition of primitive masks from the private collection of Arbutus Bread maestro Declan Ryan ( www.nash19.com ) TODAYS SPECIAL On Thursdays, at Mahon Point Farmers Market, one of the longest queues is always to be found at Lolos steak sandwich stall, noses a-twitching at the aromas of beef sizzling on the hotplate, but longterm fans come to realise that Lolos menu is a fluid affair and keep their eyes peeled for the appearance of random outliers, such as the creation Lolo concocted for The Menu one cold, damp morning. www.facebook.com/LeLoloKitchen BEER OF THE WEEK Powers Three Swallows, Single Pot Still Whiskey, 40% ABV, 70cl 44.95 Stockists: ODonovans, Bradleys, No. 21 Group, 1601 Kinsale, widely available. After years allowing Powers to take a back seat to the other Irish Distillers brands Powers Gold Label was re-launched late in 2015. Gold Label is still excellent with a solid spicy pot-still character, but even better is the new Three Swallows Release. Three Swallows is aged in Bourbon and a small portion of Oloroso casks and is said to be a revival of the original style (so contains no age statement). I found a distinct vanilla and spice character with citrus and green apple and a hit of caramel on the finish. Leslie Williams There can be alarm when someone gives up the perceived security of a good steady job to do something creative but where would we be without the crafty creative types among us? Without chairs, tables and other necessary, and sometimes covetable, paraphernalia of domestic life, is where. Its easy to take it all for granted but at some stage the pieces you sit on or use, are the result of the designer/maker signing up for a furniture design and construction course, where they learned how to draw and make a scale model, how to source and use materials and, of course, how to make a piece of furniture. This very thought is prompted by a visit to Corks Colaiste Stiofan Naofa, where I met some of the furniture makers of the future, (the online video shows it all), led by co-ordinator Fergus Somers, a trained furniture maker who, incidentally, gave up a career in IT where he worked for the company that invented text messaging. There was something in my head about making furniture, he says, so I took a leap. That leap included working for Nest Design whose work has an international following and can be seen in the Irish National Collection. Fergus OCallaghans desk has a modern aesthetic in ash with walnut detailing. But while Fergus still makes furniture when time allows, (and he is a superb furniture-maker), he is now helping to shape the makers of the future who, like him, have come from other sectors and disciplines. The course has always attracted retrainers, he explains. Some of the younger ones are on the higher education track to get on degree courses in Letterfrack, [National Centre for Excellence in Furniture and Technology] or to go on to architecture in UCC. Recession has also brought interest in the course. The sector has been depressed, so its been difficult to find an apprenticeship in workshops, says Fergus. Others are looking to start their own business. Ray Bluett with his coffee table. Sitting at desks in a light-filled space, students are focussed on their final projects. Its a surprisingly peaceful environment the only sound being the quiet murmur of participants as they draw, design, model, and assemble their work. But its not all desk work and making things that absorbs their time. The students are also exposed to the business end of the sector which includes a visit to Showcase at the RDS, the annual international market selling Irish crafted products. We took the students to the RDS so they can see whats for sale, says Fergus. And to Cork Craft and Designs shop where the manager explained how to price products. Roger Deasy has made a striking vertical wine rack with horizontal slots in American cherry wood. Theres also engagement with established designers which includes guest lecturers like Nest Design, and others who have achieved success and are willing to share. The design community is very accommodating, says Fergus. We were invited to visit Joseph Walshs studio in Riverstick and the students spent an afternoon seeing how furniture is made at Imago in Cork. At the end of the course, graduates gain a QQI Level 6 certificate which is the equivalent qualification of a carpenter or joiner, but while past pupils include working furniture-makers, there are others who service the sector in other ways. Emer Hurleys hall console table is constructed of walnut with a glass top and maple wood drawer inserts. One is a lecturer in GMIT Letterfrack; another is a forester who runs a sawmill in Ballincollig, Co Cork, from where the course sources its timber. Among the pupils who will qualify this year is Ross Geoghegan who is working on a table that turns into a bed perfect for a compact home, or where theres a shortage of space for an overnight guest. Ex-arts and crafts teacher Peter Keane is making a butsudan which is a Buddhist altar, but this version is an intriguing combination that draws on traditional making skills hes been taught on the course, with Japanese influences like sliding doors made with paper screens and pattern. He refers to it as traditional Japanese furniture for a western setting. Liam Murray with his side table Musician turned furniture student Tom Healy is working with a detailed layering process to construct a table that requires precision and, it seems, a good deal of patience too. But nearby sits another of his pieces, a table with a copper piping framework. Copper doesnt have much strength, he explains, its quite soft. But hes resolved this by crafting it into a complex structure which is topped with teak salvaged from a discarded window frame. The result is inventive, attractive, and useful all at once. Tom Healy with his copper desk. Next week: Shopping on-line. When it comes to city breaks, Luxembourg is quite probably not on your wish list. What could be interesting about a banking and business city, regarded as a tax haven, unless youre minted? Its glass-fronted buildings in the Kirchberg area are the headquarters of a number of European Union regional offices including the European Court of Justice. Is there more to this small city than workaday matters? Just what makes the Grand Duchys capital tick beneath the veneer of efficiency and affluence? As I ambled along an elegant street having just checked in at the city centre four-star Hotel Simoncini ( www.hotelsimoncini.lu ), I said something very strange to one of my travelling companions, a travel writer whom I met for the first time, on the flight out of Dublin recently, with Luxair. I feel the need for a church, I blurted. What was that about? A reaction to the well-to-do young Eurocrats and financial types surrounding us? An approaching middle-aged conversion in a city of mammon? And this was even before we saw designer stores such as Gucci and Louis Vuitton. Soulless is a word that initially comes to mind when you first encounter the city of Luxembourg. With a population of just 110,000, it is primarily made up of non-natives (about 67% of the population) who move here to work, constituting a largely transient population, on their career trajectories. But once you get the lowdown on Luxembourg (founded in 963 by Siegfried, Count of the Ardennes) its not just a story of high finance, EU administration, and former Eurovision glory. Luxembourg is an attractive city, a mixture of ancient fortresses and cutting-edge architecture. It has a number of Unesco-listed World Heritage sites including the Old Town comprising fine old buildings and smart restaurants. (There are four Michelin star restaurants in the city; La Cristallerie, Mosconi, Clairefontaine, and Le Patin dOr.) The Grund area lies below the Old Town. Here, you can stroll along the pedestrian lanes and relax in one of the many cafes. The Corniche is Europes most beautiful balcony, from where you can see the citys ramparts and the Neumunster Abbey which is now a cultural centre with a brasserie. (It has had a number of incarnations including a prison.) Head down to the Casemates which is an extraordinary 14.2 mile-network of underground galleries. Just 10% of the sand rock structures are visible today. It took 16 years to dismantle the rest of these subterranean caves. During troubled times, they sheltered defenders and their horses. They were also used as artillery workshops, kitchens, and bakeries. During WW1 and WW11, they were a refuge for 35,000 locals. Luxembourg is a representative democracy with a constitutional monarch headed by Henri, Grand Duke. The centre-city royal palace, built in 1573, houses the Grand Dukes office with parliament using its 1859 annex. Voting is compulsory for citizens between 18-75 years. Luxembourgs prime minister, Xavier Bettel, married his same-sex partner in May. The Grand Duke and his family dont live in the palace. The reason it is so central is because it used to be the City Hall. The royal family lives 30km away. The palace is only open for guided tours during a brief period in the summer. It wasnt open during our stay. We wondered how the soldier on duty, armed with a rifle, puts up with the tedium of patrolling the building. There is a changing of the guard every two hours. On a livelier front, the citys concert hall, Philharmonie ( www.philharmonie.lu ) is hugely popular. This modernist building in Kirchberg hosts opera, jazz, and classical music events. It opened in 2005 and boasts 460 events annually. The number of visitors to the venue comes in around 160,000 every year which is massive considering the population of the city. When we called, the Orchestra Philharmonic Luxembourg was rehearsing Madam Butterfly. Seating in the main auditorium is for 1,450 people. The buildings smaller chamber orchestra theatre seats 300. Nearby is Mudam, the museum of modern art. Designed by Chinese American architect Ieoh Ming Pei, better known for the Louvre pyramid in Paris, the building combines stone and glass with sweeping staircases. The museum, which exhibits modern and experiential art, houses a collection that includes photography, design, multi-media and fashion. Dining out in Luxembourg is not cheap but doesnt necessarily have to break the bank. At Am Tiirmschen, on Rue de lEau, main courses cost between 20-35. Here, you can sample typical Luxembourg dishes but there are also French and fish options. I had veal sausages with mustard sauce, mashed potatoes and salad. Theres a vegetarian option with dumplings. Its tasty fare. My companions enjoyed the national dish, Judd mat Gaardebounen, which is smoked collar of pork, beans in mustard sauce, and potatoes. We also dined at Brasserie Guillaume where dishes range in price from 10 to 120. Here, you can order seafood including lobster and oysters or steaks which veer towards rare, even if you ask for yours to be well done. The Chocolate House, which faces onto the palace, does a good line in quiche lorraine and cream-laden desserts. Sitting on the terrace for lunch, we enjoyed the warm weather. Here, you can buy sellophane-wrapped hotchocspoons or any amount of beautifully presented chocolates as gifts at reasonable prices. We went for drinks in the Grand Ducal Palace area. At Urban Bar, a popular after work spot, where we sat outside, a glass of Pinot Grigio cost 5.60 while a pint of beer was 5. (Cremant, a sparkling wine from the Moselle district, is a popular local drink.) Not sated enough to go back to our funky hotel with its contemporary art gallery and free wifi, we headed to King Wilma, a karaoke club in Rives de Clausen. There was no admission fee, just a willingness to get up on stage and sing at least for the more extroverted warblers among us. A stunning creature, who looked like a model, tried to chat up one of our party. The stunner turned out to be a lady boy. We made our excuses and left and headed to the swanky White House exclusive lounge on Rue des Bains. It was a Wednesday night and the club was open until 3am. (Its open on Fridays and Saturdays until 6am.) The revellers comprised young suited men and glamorous young women teetering in stilettos. While we were not charged at the door, the price of drink was saucy. A round of four drinks, including a bottle of water, came in around 44. As for my need for a church, I forgot all about it until we entered the dark Notre Dame Cathedral. The architecture is late Gothic with a Renaissance element. The church has a small revered Madonna and child statue. The Virgin Mary is the patron saint of Luxembourg. This comforter of the afflicted is an antidote to the moneyed people on the streets. I saw just one beggar on the streets of Luxembourg city and one homeless man over a two-night stay. Its certainly a wealthy place, not exactly soulful, although the urban pianos scattered outdoors around the city, inviting the public to play them, are a lovely touch. The city is a delight for history buffs interested in what was once one of Europes greatest fortified sites. There is plenty of contemporary culture as well and a lively midweek social scene. The language of business is French while German is the media language. Natives speak Luxembourgish among themselves. English is spoken by most people. While Luxembourg is expensive, you can purchase a Luxembourg Card in tourist offices, hotels, train stations, and on www.visitluxembourg.com for 13 for one day per person, going up to 28 for three days. (There are also family cards.) The card gives free access to trains and buses and over 70 tourist attractions. Luxair ( www.luxair.lu ) serves Dublin every day except Saturday. Flight duration is one hour and 45 minutes. Return fares start at 130.60 including tax. THERE, large as life, was Alfred Hitchcock, his head in characteristic silhouette filling up most of the billboard space. Could the Master of Suspense really be standing for election to the 32nd Dail? What else was a floating voter to think? From a distance, it was impossible to make out his election slogan, but it must surely be something like: Give them what they want a fright. Close, but no cigar. In fact, the head in profile belonged to Renua candidate Frank Cronin and his slogan read: Put business in the Dail we have enough teachers. When asked to explain the message behind the Hitchcockian poster campaign, he replied with a light, humorous touch: Enjoy a thriller. And, to be fair to the man standing in Dun Laoghaires four-seater, his poster is one of the very few with any sense of wit, imagination or mystery in the sea of wallpaper now plastered on every post and pillar in pre-election Ireland. Many have justifiably called for a ban on election posters including, ironically enough, Cronin himself but what a terrible loss that would be. True, the arguments against them are solid. Frank Cronin says he would not have produced any posters if other candidates had agreed to do likewise. He says hed prefer to see the money spent an estimated 5,000 per candidate go on better causes such as social housing. Its hard, too, to disagree with those who say they are an eyesore, a pollutant, even dangerous, as drivers say they can obscure the road. But what about all that election posters reveal? They give us an unrivalled insight into the mind of the candidate, disclosing how they see themselves and, in turn, how they want us to see them. One candidate is using a picture from 2007 on his election posters. Others have taken the miracles of Photoshop and used them to iron out the rough spots. A little well-placed vanity is hardly a sin but it does become an issue when the poster persona and the real person dont look even like distant cousins. Its fascinating to study how the shots are framed, too. A picture taken from below can make its subject appear to be on higher ground than us mere mortals: Look at me, I am here to lead. Or maybe they are staking a claim to the moral high ground. Though the angle has to be just so you dont want to show too much flaring nostril as that comes across as condescending. Micheal Martins portrait of softly-lit carefree confidence gets the angle just right, though its hard to ignore the fact that he is missing a sliver from the top of his head. His supporters might see that as proof that Martin needs only a portion of his brain power to run the country, while the detractors might get in a dig about a receding hairline or worse. Who knows how people will interpret what is put in front of them? What we can say with certainty is that any poster image is consciously chosen to give us a particular idea of who the candidate is and what they stand for. Dont think the people standing for election dont think about this. The wonder is that we dont talk about it more. Its not as if spin and the image myth-making machine are anything new. In 1957, critic Roland Barthes offered a penetrating analysis of popular cultures most potent symbols in his ground-booking book, Mythologies. In one of its essays, Photography and Electoral Appeal, he said that the political propaganda transmitted through the electoral photograph was designed to bait the viewer into seeing the subject in a particular way. Always interrogate the falsely obvious, the what-goes-without-saying, he wrote. Thats a very familiar message today, particularly to those canny users and abusers of social media. What is remarkable in this election, though, is that the photographs persuasive power seems to have been completely forgotten. What were Fine Gael thinking? The current poster of leader Enda replaced an earlier version reportedly described by one party member as the Shroud of Turin. The new version is little better. Kenny is so pallid, it looks as if he stepped out of the waxworks. Even the most committed Fine Gaeler would be challenged to read a positive message in that. In this age of selfies and Instagram, the average voter has become an incisive decrypter of the sales image, though there are few codes to crack in the lacklustre offerings of 2016. Veteran election-poster collector Alan Kinsella thinks posters started to become much more corporate and bland since the last election in 2011. Promises, Promises... Political Ephemera, an exhibition featuring some of his vast collection, opened at the Kenny Gallery in Galway this week. Its content makes you wonder where the rousing slogans of yore went to from Fianna Fails Speed the Plough in 1938, through to the clever 2007 formulation: A Lot Done, More to Do. Fine Gaels Alan Shatter made ripples in 1997 when he dressed up as Captain Kirk alongside a shot of William Shatner and told voters: Only one of these men needs your number one vote. This time round, his posters are more po-faced but hes still distributing bouncy balls emblazoned with the slogan Shatter is on the ball, something hes done since the 1980s. There are signs of other bursts of creativity too, particularly among the independents. Mick Wallace has a lively series of posters which and he should take this as a compliment have inspired some witty vandals. One saboteur has tied a real tie around Wallaces neck on a poster proudly announcing No ties. Indeed, its the cynical, poster-altering public that is proving more adept at manipulating the message in this election. And they have the technical edge. Forget the scribbled taches and Magoo glasses (though there are a few), one, lets say doodling commentator, has produced a mash-up of the FF leader and Lord Voldemort along with the caption: Obliviate. Scary. Maybe its all quite Hitchcockian after all. However, it was not only the people on the stage of the second leaders debate that had a point to make. From living rooms, bedrooms, and pubs across the country, the watching public hurled thousands upon thousands of tweets about the debate into the digital crossfire. At its peak, Twitter was a gushing deluge: Seven tweets a second; around 420 per minute; almost 70,000 tweets about the debate itself. Monday was no average day on the digital campaign trail. Well over twice as many tweets, 28,000, mentioned a candidate standing in the election as on an average day of the campaign trail so far. The debate was by some distance the single largest digital moment of the campaign so far. Twitter has become an important digital battleground in the race for political power, and candidates have sent more than 51,000 tweets so far. The political parties were ready for the debate, of course, and Monday was also the day that digital electioneering reached its peak, as candidates went into overdrive to use Twitter to skewer their opponents leaders, and try to defend their own. Fianna Fail candidates sent more than 200; Sinn Fein 267; and Fine Gael 365. So, with barbs and arrows flying from all corners, how did the public respond? Demos has teamed up with the Irish Examiner to use new technology to listen to all the cheers, jeers, boos, and catcalls of the digital arena. Twitter is, in general, a hostile environment for politicians and a swarm of angry hashtags buzzed around the debate #realitycheck, #finegaelscum, #brokenpromises. The losers were easier to spot than the winners and they were the incumbents. The most critical spotlight shone on Enda Kenny 2,821 tweets mentioned him, and 82% were boos. Joan Burton didnt fare much better, with 72% of tweets mentioning her being boos. Only Gerry Adams, Lucinda Creighton, and Stephen Donnelly survived a digital mauling, with a greater proportion of tweets cheering and urging them on than criticising them. However, and especially for Mr Adams, this is a sign of an active and engaged group of digital supporters rather than a broader base of public support. If a winner had to be found, it was the joint leader of the Social Democrats, Stephen Donnelley, who was mentioned more on Twitter than his more famous competitors, and most of it was good. However, among all the boos and cheers, we heard something else on Twitter too: A giant, collective yawn. Many people took to Twitter not out of enthusiasm for the debate. They were tweeting simply to liven up the viewing. Some of the loudest messages swirling around the digital ecosystem during the most important digital moment of the campaign so far were whether satire, pastiche, or irony just trying to make things a bit more interesting. The third most shared message on Twitter that mentioned a candidate was an image of Homer Simpson silently disappearing into a hedge. Naturally, the Photoshop satirists went into overdrive, and a cloud of images rapidly began to swirl around Twitter poking fun at the candidates on the stage. Fun Fact: During #leadersdebate @DonnellyStephen gained more new followers than all other leaders combined pic.twitter.com/atv5OCXdeC Social Democrats (@SocDems) February 16, 2016 It is not surprising, then, that a Twitter poll in the aftermath of the debate handed victory to the moderator, Claire Byrne. Yet all the yawns and anger on Twitter during the debate point to something that has been true since the beginning of the campaign, both online and offline: The mainstream parties, and especially the incumbents, have flatly failed to electrify the election or excite the electorate. Is anyone else wishing Claire Byrne was the next Taoiseach? #leadersdebate pic.twitter.com/cdfeKGjBa2 Living dEd Smith (@EdTodayFM) February 15, 2016 Kennys message has been a simple one: There is no reasonable alternative. His vision of Irelands future comes drenched with warnings of capital flight, job losses, and tax hikes in the wake of a Fianna Fail or Sinn Fein victory. Prudence, economic competence and gradual economic recovery might squeak Kenny the election, but it is hardly the stuff to get delighted crowds out onto the streets. Kennys strategy also doesnt seem to be working. A poll by Red C, conducted shortly before the debate and released shortly afterwards, puts Fine Gael on 26% down five percentage points from the beginning of the year. And while Fine Gael is dropping, none of the other mainstream parties has managed to break through the melee of the campaign and get in front. Fianna Fail continues to hover at 17%; Sinn Fein about the same; and Labour around 10%. The two real winners over the last week were not standing on the stage in Limerick on Monday. The same poll that put Fine Gael on a new low, showed support for Independents (together with the Greens) at 29%, greater than any single party. If they come close to this on election day, that will be an astonishing increase on the 12% of first preference votes Independents won in 2011 and 5.1% in 2007. The Greens and Independents have also been scoring real digital successes since the campaign began. Independent candidates have been, by far, the most avid users of Twitter. Over the campaign, they have sent thousands more tweets than any party. And while the Independents are noisiest, the Greens are the most popular. They have received a warmer reaction than anyone else on Twitter. Over the last week, 82% of tweets sent about them were supportive, in comparison to only 40% about Fine Gael. Independent candidates were close behind the Greens with 76% of tweets mentioning them supportive. After a week of high-stakes primetime clashes and unprecedented digital electioneering, it was the people not on the stage, not in the debate, that came out stronger and more popular. However, this is not as surprising as it would once have been. True to form, on the night of the debate itself, the Independents and the Greens were louder on Twitter than anyone else. Thanks to platforms such as Twitter, debate stages, TV cameras, and newspaper column inches matter a little less than they once did. The debate is happening in the digital world now, too, and anyone can join it. Its a class and sensibility thing, he says, explaining how at a dinner party a number of years ago he was chatting across the table to a woman from a well-known Fine Gael family. The conversation ranged from life in general to the arts and literature. After a while he mentioned his connection to Fianna Fail. Oh my goodness, she said, you dont seem to me to be a typical Fianna Failer. To which he replied: Well you are a typical Fine Gaeler. We may not have a class system in Irish society but when it comes to the difference between our two main political parties, a class difference certainly exists in the minds of those involved. This is all the more fascinating now that the election campaign has cemented the notion of these two warhorses possibly entering a coalition together. What seemed utterly unimaginable not so long ago, may be a distinct reality this day next week as the votes are being counted. If youve hung around politics long enough it is usually, though not always, easy to spot the difference between the two species. Remember how the rugby match in London next Saturday was seen as having a possible impact on the Fine Gael vote? The fear was that their boys might have missed a voting opportunity by flying out early to the match. Fianna Fail would be seen as much more the party of Croke Park. One even imagines that the picnic eaten by both sides from the boot of the car on match day would have a different class of sandwich. I remember as a young political journalist always being happier to go to a Fianna Fail event such as a party think-in, or an ard fheis because they were always more fun socially. The Fine Gaelers were more aloof and buttoned-up. They might justifiably argue that they have needed to be over the years, as they regularly had to come in and clean up the mess left behind by those Fianna Fail muckers. Former minister Mary ORourke, in The Sunday Times last week, suggested her party should enter a partnership coalition with Fine Gael, even if Fianna Fail is the smaller party. However, Fine Gael would have to take on Fianna Fail as an equal partner, she said. Her list of demands include a 50:50 share of seats around the cabinet table and equal billing when it comes to deciding on policy. Mrs ORourkes take on the innate differences between Fine Gael and Fianna Fail people is that the Fine Gaelers are usually more arrogant and more confident and I suppose Fianna Fail people are more ordinary. I suppose it comes from the landed gentry thing. But I have to say I have loads of Fine Gael friends. A long-time Fine Gaelers views on the issue pretty much confirm the suspicions of the Fianna Fail side. The Fine Gaeler pointed out that their view was fixed decades ago around Garrett FitzGeralds time when we were better educated and more sophisticated. But that no longer holds true since everybody is better educated now. Im giving the city perspective here and the country lads would have completely different reasons, all to do with land. Fine Gaelers would see the Fianna Failers as being totally populist and not looking to the national interest except when it coincided with their own interest. Then we (FG) get elected when there is a hard job to do, to clean up the mess they (FF) left behind. We could parse the manifestos of the two parties at this point to highlight policy differences between them, but there is nothing in either which could not be surmounted if it needed to be. Taoiseach Enda Kenny appeared to definitely rule out Fianna Fail during the week, but last Sunday at the launch of the Fine Gael election manifesto he didnt appear quite so sure. Asked to outline any ideological differences which might keep the two apart, he failed to do so in any remotely real way. Thats no great surprise considering none exist, and both are essentially centrist parties. He did point out that as far as he is concerned the hangover from Civil War politics no longer exists. Whats funny about this election campaign is how Fianna Fail is presenting itself as the fiscally responsible one, saying it will resolutely remain above the negative attack campaigning being thrown about by Fine Gael. Apparently it is going to spend the next week being relentlessly positive. Its hilarious. There is no you know what, like a reformed you know what. I reckon the electorate found themselves confused at the start of the campaign with all the Fine Gael talk of extra dosh being thrown about. It was wonderfully reminiscent of Fianna Fail in its heyday. Once you threw in the Taoiseachs lengthy delay in ruling Michael Lowry out as a possible government support, you hardly had to close your eyes to tell the difference between the two parties. There are much bigger issues at play here than personality, sensibility, and similarities. Fine Gael, if it confirmed an interest in coalescing with Fianna Fail, would risk the votes borrowed from Fianna Fail in 2011 returning to that party, ahead of voting day. In the longer term, Fianna Fail fears being cannibalised by Fine Gael after entering a coalition in which it was the smaller party. There may well be a late surge to Fine Gael and Labour in the next week. However, right now, what seemed utterly unthinkable just a little while ago seems far more tangible now. What still doesnt quite roll off the tongue though is the phrase: Our Taoiseach Enda Kenny and our Tanaiste Micheal Martin. The victim, named locally as Jalal Uddin, a religious leader in Rochdale, was found critically injured in a childrens play area on South St in the Wardleworth area of the town on Thursday night. Locals say he had been to evening prayers at a mosque before visiting a friend. It is believed he was taking a short cut through the playground on his way home, after eating dinner at a friends house. A US magistrate has ordered Apple to produce software that would give investigators access to the iPhone at issue. Apple has until Tuesday to challenge the order, setting the stage for a legal clash that experts say could change the relationship between tech companies and government authorities in the US and around the world. Syed Farook and his wife Tashfeen Malik killed 14 people in a December 2 shooting at a holiday lunch for Farooks co-workers. The couple later died in a gun battle with police in San Bernardino, California. Twitters chief executive Jack Dorsey tweeted that the microblogging site stands with Apple and its chief executive Tim Cook and thanked Mr Cook for his leadership. Facebook said it condemns terrorism and appreciates the essential work of law enforcement in keeping people safe. But it said it will fight aggressively against requirements for companies to weaken the security of their systems. These demands would create a chilling precedent and obstruct companies efforts to secure their products, it said. The US government is not asking Apple to help break the iPhones encryption directly, but to disable other security measures that prevent attempts to guess the phones passcode. Mr Cook argues once such a tool is available, the technique could be used over and over again, on any number of devices, even as law enforcement insists safeguards could be employed to limit its use to that particular phone. He has posted a 1,117-word open letter on how the FBIs request might have implications far beyond the legal case at hand. Civil liberties groups warned the fallout from the San Bernardino dispute could extend beyond Apple. This is asking a company to build a digital defect, a design flaw, into their products, said Nuala OConnor of the Centre for Democracy and Technology, a group that has criticised government surveillance. The Washington-based centre warned that other companies could face similar orders in the future. Others said a government victory could encourage regimes in China and other countries to make similar requests for access to smartphone data. The debate over whether New Zealand should take Australias unwanted asylum seekers, from the Middle East and Asia, comes amid uproar over what will happen to 267 asylum seekers who are expected to be transferred from Australia to the Pacific atoll of Nauru. The issue of their fate was raised amid annual talks between Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and his visiting New Zealand counterpart John Key. Fr Lombardi told Vatican Radio the Popes comments, made to reporters during a flight back from Mexico in response to a specific question on Mr Trump, were simply an affirmation of his long-standing belief that migrants should be helped rather than shut off behind walls. In no way was this a personal attack, nor an indication of how to vote, Fr Lombardi said. Mr Trump, the Republican front-runner, dismissed the Pope as disgraceful for questioning his faith. He has said that if elected president in November, he would build a wall along the US-Mexico border to keep out immigrants who enter illegally. Fr Lombardi said the Pope believed people should build bridges, not walls. He added: This is his general view, which is very consistent with courageously following the indications of the gospel on offering welcome and solidarity. Hours after attacking the Popes comments, Mr Trump heaped praise on the pontiff. Oh, the Pope is a wonderful guy, he said, suggesting the media had hyped and exaggerated the tone of his earlier statement. I have a lot of respect for the Pope. I think hes got a lot of personality, hes very different, a great guy, and I think hes doing a very good job, he has a lot of energy. Mr Trump said the pontiff was misinformed, unaware of the impact of the drugs coming into the US, and a range of security issues that make it necessary to build a wall. He also said he would welcome an opportunity to meet the Pope. Police released the photo that had uploaded automatically to the owners cloud account. It showed a photo of a man and a woman who apparently visited a church on Ash Wednesday because she had a smudge of ash on her forehead. Police say a few hours later the 26-year-old man in the picture returned the Kindle. The woman in the photo was the mans mother, who police say had nothing to do with the theft. Police captain Paul Vernon says there was family pressure on the man to return the tablet because his mother was in the picture. Tweeting officer reinstated USA: A San Jose police officer who was fired after posting Twitter messages that seemed to ridicule protests over police killings has been reinstated. Police said an independent arbitrator reinstated officer Phil White. Acting Police Chief Eddie Garcia says the department disagree with the decision but will honour it. White has been assigned to administrative duties. The 20-year veteran was fired last autumn after he tweeted: Threaten me or my family and I will use my God given and law appointed right and duty to kill you. Catsuit dominates auction ENGLAND: A leather dominatrix catsuit handed down for generations is up for auction. The 1960s black leather outfit features buckles, chains, a collar, and in-built high heels as well as lacing and zips. The item, which belonged to the owners grandmother, will be up for auction online with an estimated price of 200-300 (257-386). Prospective buyers will be able to bid on the item on February 23 via the-saleroom.com, a marketplace for art and antiques auctions. Prickly twins born ENGLAND: Keepers are celebrating the birth of twin porcupines. The baby African crested porcupines, known as porcupettes, were born on February 14 and are yet to be named. They were born to mother Afryea and father Koho at Woodlands Family Theme Park in Devon. Michaela Newham, head keeper at Woodlands Zoo Farm, described the twins as very sweet but prickly. The African crested porcupine is the largest rodent in Africa and gestates for 112 days. It lives in hilly, rocky habitats in Africa and Italy. Pensioner leaves her mark USA: An 81-year-old woman chased down robbers who stole her purse, ramming their car and leaving damage which helped officers apprehend them. The woman was sitting in her car in her drive in Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania, when she was approached by a man and woman. As she talked to them through an open window, one grabbed her purse and they fled in a car. Police said the woman took off after them and hit their car. The duo drove off, but officers found the damaged vehicle in a grocery store car park. A couple in their 30s have been charged. Turkeys go wild USA: An audio recording captured the moment a postmaster made a call to get help for a postman who was trapped inside his truck by wild turkeys. The dumbfounded postmaster initially tells police Youre not going to believe this, before providing details about the attack, noting that similar events have happened before. Authorities said about seven turkeys accosted the postman in Hillsdale, New Jersey, but he was not injured. Two officers scared off the turkeys so he could continue his route. US warplanes carried out air strikes against Islamic State-linked militants in western Libya, killing 41 people and injuring six. The operation was targeting a suspect linked to two deadly attacks last year in neighbouring Tunisia. It was the second US air strike in three months against Islamic State in Libya, where the hardline Islamist militants have exploited years of chaos, following Muammar Gaddafis 2011 overthrow. They have built up a presence on the southern shores of the Mediterranean Sea. The mayor of the Libyan city of Sabratha, Hussein al-Thwadi, said the planes struck at 3:30am, hitting a building in the citys Qasr Talil district, where foreign workers were living. Tunisian security sources have said they believe Tunisian Islamic State fighters have been trained in camps near Sabratha, which is close to the Tunisian border. A US military officer said among those targeted in the air strikes was senior Tunisian operative, Noureddine Chouchane, believed to be a mastermind of the attacks last year on a Tunis museum and on the Souse beach resort, which killed dozens of people. Officials have said those two attacks, both claimed by Islamic State, were carried out by gunmen who trained in Libya. We are assessing the results of the operation, said Col. Mark Cheadle, spokesman for the Pentagons Africa Command. Thwadi, the Sabratha mayor, said officials visited the site of the strike and found weapons in the building. Some Tunisians, a Jordanian, and two women were among the dead, he said, and several Tunisians who had recently arrived in Sabratha were among survivors. He gave no further details. Since Gaddafi was overthrown five years ago, Libya has slipped deeper into chaos, with two rival governments each backed by competing factions of former rebel brigades. As Islamic State has expanded in the north African country, taking over the city of Sirte and attacking oil ports, calls have increased for a swift Western response to stop the group establishing itself outside its territory in Iraq and Syria. Western officials and diplomats have said air strikes and special forces operations are possible, as well as an Italian-led security stabilisation plan of training and advising. US and European officials insist Libyans must invite help through a united government, but say they may still carry out unilateral action, if needed. Last November, the United States said it carried out an air strike on Libyas Derna, to target Abu Nabil, also known as Wissam Najm Abd Zayd al Zubaydi, an Iraqi commander in Islamic State. Burma Mon State Cement Plant Nearing Completion amid Ongoing Opposition A Thai-backed cement factory in Mon State is due to begin operations soon, despite local opposition over the presence of a coal-fired power plant onsite. RANGOON A Thai-backed cement factory under construction in Mon State is on track to begin operations in mid-2016, the company said this week, despite ongoing opposition from locals over the presence of a coal-fired power plant on the site. The factory in Kyaikmayaw Township, situated near the Zami Riveran important water source for at least five villages in the areais owned by Mawlamyine Cement Limited (MCL), a subsidiary of Siam Cement Group (SCG). Once operations begin, it is expected to produce 1.8 million tons of cement per year and the plant will create more than 300 direct jobs, MCL said in a statement dated Feb. 17. The cement factory is 65 percent complete, the company said, explaining that US$400 million had been invested in the undertaking that was approved by the Myanmar Investment Commission (MIC) in 2013. Locals from nearby villages, however, contend they were not consulted before a coal-fired power plant was built on the site to power the cement plant. MCL said in a separate statement released earlier this month that an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) was conducted in 2013 and submitted to the MIC. The Kyaikmayaw CSOs network said it had handed a letter to MCL representatives during a meeting arranged by the firm on Feb. 10, requesting to see the EIA report. The whole country does not accept coal, said Aye Thein, the coordinator of Kyaikmayaw CSOs network. We dont need to reject [the project] if they run it with other [energy sources], but not coal. In a statement on Feb. 5, MCL set out details of the project, including the coal-fired plant. Outlined in the EIA, our facility includes an integrated cement plant consisting of a small self-use electricity utility that generates 40-megawatt energy power from coal and biomass and a 9-megawatt Waste Heat Generator (WHG) to assist in producing power, the company said. The WHG system helps lessen the dependency on electricity as well as reduces greenhouse gas emissions. However, Aye Thein said the company had not properly explained the impact of a coal-power plant, instead only emphasizing the positives of the project. He said the company informed stakeholders about some measures, including that smoke from the coal plant would be absorbed, but locals remained unconvinced. We use premium quality coal with low sulfur, standardize all processes and strictly abide by the law. In the manufacturing process, MCL utilizes technology to ensure very low emissions, meeting the highest international standards, said MCL managing director Wijit Terasarun in the Feb. 5 statement. During storage, the coal is protected from exposure to water, accounting for flood conditions. We also provide indoor storage and closed-system water management. Coal is considered an essential energy source in the industry and is well accepted as the global standard, utilized in markets across the globe. MCL said unofficial visits were made to the plant by Mon State ministers, Kyaikmayaw Township administrators and other government officials, as well as village heads, last year. The firm also said they hosted four open houses for community members to learn about the facility during 2015meetings that Aye Thein said were not widely publicized. The company invited a group of monks to Thailand for a study tour to explain the project this month. In February 2016, MCL invited 14 monks from the local community to visit The Groups cement plant in Lampang, Thailand, with similar technology and environmental preservation as the MCL plant in Myanmar, the company said. Sandar Non, a central committee member of the Mon National Party, said local villagers only found out about the coal plant when local monks were invited to preach at the site. The villagers told us [the company] never explained [about the coal plant]. They dont want this coal-power plant in their region. The company can use gas to run their plant. They will not agree to the coal-power plant, she said. A local committee from pya-taung, or Bee Mountain, region, comprised of village representatives, including local monks, has been formed to oppose the plant. The villagers are now trying to get consensus from all villages to oppose the plant, Sandar Non told The Irrawaddy. Kyi Maung Win, the general manager of MCL in Kyaikmayaw Township, would not speak over the phone when contacted by The Irrawaddy this week. Htun Naing, director general of the Mon State general administration office, said all approvals for the project had come from the national government and state authorities had no role. Burma Ye Htuts Take on 59(f) Criticized as Conjecture over Presidency Rolls On The information minister suggested this week that Suu Kyis sons seek Burmese citizenship to resolve presidential issue in comments dismissed by the NLD. RANGOON Until March 17, when the Union Parliament is finally scheduled to consider nominations for Burmas next president, speculation will continue as to possible contenders and, more specifically, whether Aung San Suu Kyi will be among them. With the National League for Democracy (NLD) chairwoman constitutionally barred from the role, supporters continue to hold out hope, however faint, that the offending clause, Article 59(f), may somehow be sidestepped. The article in part bars anyone with a foreign spouse or children from assuming the presidency, disqualifying Suu Kyi as her two children are British nationals, as was her late husband. As negotiations between the NLD and the military continue behind closed doors, one notion first floated late last year centers on the possible suspension of the clause. Opinions are divided on whether this has currency, with several military representatives expressing their opposition to such a move. Burmas outgoing information minister Ye Htut had a different take on the much-debated issue when speaking to Voice of America this week. In my point of view, if her two sons and their spouses seek Burmese citizenship, everything will be alright. If her children want her to become the president, all they have to do is apply for citizenship according to the 1982 Citizenship Law, Ye Htut told VOA on Tuesday. Asked if it was fair to suggest that Suu Kyis children renounce their British citizenship, Ye Htut replied: If they dont want to live in a country their mum governs or seek citizenship [of that country], its their family matter, not a constitutional problem. In fact Ye Htuts suggestionthe sincerity of which may be questionablehas been referred to by Suu Kyi herself in the past, including during a rally for constitutional change in mid-2014. Some suggested that I could be president if my two sons seek Burmese citizenship, Suu Kyi said at the rally in Pakokku, Magwe Division. Let me say this: it doesnt matter whether I become president or not. We want to change it as it is not fair from a legal point of view. Suu Kyi explained that her two sons were registered as Burmese citizens when they were born, a classification revoked by the military regime following the nationwide pro-democracy uprising in 1988. What I dont like about the clause is that it is trying to bar someone if their children or relatives are foreigners. I dont care about being the president or not, the pro-democracy leader told supporters. The NLDs Tun Tun Hein was quick to criticize Ye Htuts comments on the matter this week, labeling them flippant in an interview with the Myanmar Times. If we carefully read the constitutions section 59(f), its limitation includes even the spouses of the daughters and sons of the president. And the citizenship application is not an easy process in such a situation, the NLD central committee member, told the Myanmar Times on Friday. Khin Zaw Win of the Tampadipa Institute think-tank said the NLD should be wary of suspending the clause, given the militarys apparent reticence. They should explore legally liable alternatives, including something like reinstating her childrens citizenship, rather than rushing aheadthat could lead to a constitutional crisis as the 25 percent of military representatives in the Parliament will have final say on the issue, he said. For newly minted NLD lawmaker Nay Phone Latt, whether Suu Kyi formally leads the country is immaterial. She has already said she will be above the president, he said. Amending or suspending the clause is something that is uncertain. But what is sure is that she will lead the government. Economy The Irrawaddy Business Roundup (Feb. 20, 2015) Power development could fall short, analysts say; Thai-made food imports up almost 25 percent; Woodside and Daewoo strike gas off the Arakan State coast. Power Development Could Fall Short, Say Analysts Delays and suspensions to hydropower dams and coal power developments mean that Burma will not realize its energy-producing potential in the next decade, according to analysis by BMI Research that will raise concerns about continued power shortages. With state media this week predicting serious droughts as the effects of the El Nino cyclical weather events hit the country in coming months, some fear that annual power shortages could worsen. Hydropower dams, which are relied upon to provide energy to the major cities, cannot run at full capacity toward the end of Burmas long dry season. BMI Research, in an industry trend analysis sent out this week, predicts that electricity consumption in Burma will grow by an average of 8.5 percent a year until 2025. But while this creates a big opportunity for companies to come in and offer power supply options to the state-run power supply company, the analysts noted that many projects are currently being delayed by suspensions or even canceled. Numerous hydropower projects have been announced on rivers around the country, with many not progressing past the planning stage. The Chinese-backed Myitsone dam in Kachin State, which was suspended in a highly political move by President Thein Sein in 2011, remains in limbo. Local conglomerate Asia World recently said it was divesting entirely from a project to build a coal-fired power plant at Kyun Gyan Gon in Rangoon Division. BMI Research said that power projects with an electricity-producing potential of 18.56 gigawatts were technically in the pipeline. However, it said, there are still a number of barriers to project realisation, and if projects that are currently suspended or cancelled are not accounted for, the project pipeline shrinks to 6.4GW. This aligns with our view that the potential in Myanmars power sector will not be fully realised, based on regulatory hurdles, limited financing availability, local opposition to projects and grid infrastructure inefficiencies. The outlook was better for gas-powered power generation, it said, adding that a slowdown was expected in new investment in coal and hydropower. Myanmar is significantly ramping up its domestic gas usage, the analysis said. [A]lthough we believe natural gas reserves will decline strongly over the next decade, as low oil prices slow investment in upstream activitieswe expect gas to gradually gain share in Myanmars power mix, rising to a 36% contribution in 2025, from a current level of just below 30%. Nissan to Assemble the Sunny Sedan at New Pegu Plant Japanese auto company Nissan Motor Co Ltd announced this week that it will soon be assembling as many as 10,000 Sunny compact sedans at a new factory in Pegu Division. The move was announced in a company statement issued after a ceremony with local government officials and Nissans Malaysian partner Tan Chong Motor Group. Nissan will initially use an existing Tan Chong facility to assemble the Sunny compact sedan, before transferring production to the new plant with a work force of approximately 300 and a production capacity of 10,000 units at full production, the statement said. Nissan was already training 200 employees at a Tan Chong factory in Malaysia, it said. Nissans expansion in Myanmar forms part of the companys wider growth in emerging markets, which includes production in countries including India, Brazil, Russia and Nigeria, the statement said. Demand in Myanmar is expected to grow rapidly following economic and political reforms in the country. Food Imports From Thailand Up By Almost a Quarter Burmas imports of foodstuffs from Thailand increased by 24 percent last year, according to figures quoted in a report in The Nation newspaper, which said Thai companies were being encouraged to target Burma as a growth market. The statistic came from Thailands National Food Institute, a quasi-autonomous body under the countrys Ministry of Industry. The report said the increase makes Burma the fourth largest importer of Thai food products, after Japan, the United States and China. In August, the Federation of Thai Industrys club of food processors cut its growth target for 2015 by almost 2 percentage points to 6.9 percent, citing ongoing drought, currency volatility and the poor global economic outlook, according to the Bangkok Post. The Thai food industry has also been hit by a series of scandals of late about the abuse of labor in supply chains, particularly in the fishing industry. An investigation by the Associated Press last year revealed that migrant workers from Burma and Cambodia were regularly employed in slave-like conditions on Thai fishing boats. Other labor abuses have also been alleged in other parts of the food-production industry that also rely on migrant workers. Regardless of these concerns, Burma is importing more and more Thai-made foodstuffs. The Thai institute predicted that the imports would continue to grow as Burmas economy grows. Thai small- and medium-sized enterprises producing food should look to the Burmese market for more growth, The Nation quoted National Food Institute President Yongvut Saovapruk as saying, citing data purportedly from London-based market research firm Euromonitor International. Euromonitor predicted that the average growth of the market for processing foods in Myanmar between 2014 and 2018 will be about 15 per cent per annum, Yongvut told The Nation. However, the market growth of non-alcohol beverages in Myanmar is as high as 23 per cent per year over the period. Woodside and Daewoo Strike Gas off Arakan Coast Australian and South Korean partners Woodside and Daewoo have discovered gas in one of Burmas offshore exploration blocks, according to a statement. An announcement to the Australian Stock Exchange from Woodside Petroleum this week said that a gas column approximately 64 meters long had been found in Block AD-7, off the coast of Arakan State. The discovery came in an area where the sea is some 836 meters deep, the statement said. The firms had drilled to a total depth of more than 3 kilometers, it said, where the presence of natural gas was confirmed by pressure measurements and gas sampling. Woodside is a minority partner in the project, holding 40 percent to Daewoo International Corporations 60 percent interest. Woodside announced a separate discovery just last month in a different exploration block, A-6, in which it is working with local firm MPRL E&P and Frances Total. Woodside CEO Peter Coleman said in the announcement that the two finds were very encouraging for the companys chances of finding significant amounts of gas in Burmese waters. These discoveries provide evidence of the high quality of offshore Myanmar as an exploration focus area, he was quoted saying. Siam Cement Group Investing in Burma Concrete Business Thai cement giant the Siam Cement Group is reportedly setting up a concrete production business in Rangoon, putting some $5.8 million into the project. Citing the Burmese governments Directorate of Investment and Company Administration, the website Deal Street Asia reports that SCG Myanmar Concrete and Aggregate Co Ltd, a local subsidiary of the large Thai conglomerate, could begin production by the end of the year. The investment is in the production and marketing of concrete including readily mixed concrete, precast, reinforced and pre-stressed concrete as well as post-tensioned products of SCG brand, a government spokesperson told Deal Street Asia. Interview Dateline Irrawaddy: Its Unacceptable That the Ministry Competes with Private Newspapers Using the State Budget This week, the panel discusses the role of the media in a new political order, with the National League for Democracy set to govern from April 1. Thalun Zaung Htet: Welcome to Dateline Irrawaddy. This week, well discuss the role of the media and the challenges facing it as the National League for Democracy (NLD) prepares to come to power. Ko Zaw Thet Htwe from the Myanmar Journalist Union and Ko Thiha Thway from NHK will join me for the discussion. Im Irrawaddy Burmese editor Thalun Zaung Htet. Before talking about the role of the media in a new political order, I want to note one pointthe media has been restricted in covering the new Parliament session that convened on Feb 1. I myself was there to cover the session and found too many no media access areas and no interview areas across the Parliament building, which were nonexistent in the first Parliament. The NLD government has not yet come to power, but we have started to see signs of restrictions on media. Ko Thiha Thway, you also covered the Parliament session. What do you think of it? Thiha Thway: The problem can be divided into two partsone is the problem between Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the media, and the other, between the Parliament and the media. These two problems are intertwined. But in fact, they should be handled separately. The problem between the Parliament and the media has existed since the time of the first Parliament when Global Post Journal presented a photo in which a military representative was casting a proxy vote. Then, reporters were no longer allowed to enter the interpreter booth from which they monitored and covered the Parliament session over the past three, four years. TZH: The restriction was in response to the article Multi-Handed Persons [featured in Global Post] TT: Since then, we havent been able to monitor the inside of the Parliament chamber. We havent been allowed to use the interpreter booth and have had to cover the session through TV. Still, we can freely interview [ministers] outside the chamber. Usually, it is difficult for journalists to meet ministers. But ministers have to come to the Parliament when asked to do so. So the Parliament is a very important place for us since we can meet, interview and take photos of ministers there. Regarding the problem between Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the media, during the election period, reporters crammed into the polling station where Daw Aung San Suu Kyi cast her vote and that was a mess. Ive noticed that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has tended to avoid the media since then. She cant stand the light from flashguns and seems to be worried that she might be harmed in the crowd. And she tries to regulate the media for fear that exaggerated speculation [on the post for president] by journalists may harm the political path she is taking. Since the new Parliament convened, journalists have tried to interview and take photos of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi because of their interest [in what shape her government might take]. But she does not want to reveal any information to the media for the time being, and the new military representatives are not yet ready to talk to the media. Because of these factors, the Parliament has imposed restrictions. A space is designated for media personnel to interview [lawmakers and ministers]. However, it is difficult to get someone you want to interview to that box. It is even more difficult to get ministers to that box. They wouldnt be happy to be there. So weve lost a chance to carry out some reporting. We dont know how to solve this. TZH: Designation of such areas has largely affected reporting. The NLD said that there are also restricted areas in other international parliaments. But the media have complained that hundreds of journalists now have to cover Parliament through a TV, thereby restricting their ability to interview freely. Is this because the NLD does not understand the nature of media very well, or because it does not know how to handle the media? Zaw Thet Htwe: It seems that the NLD does not even have a strategic plan for media flow. The Parliament is an integral part of the country. There should at least be a media center in the Parliament. In international parliaments, there is a well-equipped media center with Internet access and a power supply. Generally speaking, the NLD needs something like this to facilitate the flow of information. The fact that it has restricted the news is a negative political sign. In [Burma], there has hardly been an institutionalized system, and usually, the lower-level workers take actions that hinge on the feelings of the top leader. For instance, in the time of the late General Ne Win, his subordinates would issue instructions and regulations based on his feelings. This also happened in the time of General Than Shwe and President U Thein Sein. The democratic government is said to have emerged now. But then, instructions and regulations emerge depending on the feelings of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. It is natural that she might be annoyed being followed by so many journalists. However, a responsible NLD would understand that the media cant be restricted. Once they adopt rules and regulations for the flow of information and the managing of the media, this problem will be solved. If no action is taken, because Daw Aung San Suu Kyi refuses to say something, this would likely breed problems. I think the NLD should handle this and also set up a media center in the Parliament. TZH: The NLD government has not yet officially taken power, but the media has started to lose their rights after an NLD-dominated Parliament convened. At present, NLD lawmakers do not answer questions posed by the media. They evade it. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has released a statement that no one other than her is allowed to talk about the transfer of power. So lawmakers dare not answer these sorts of questions. It has therefore been very difficult for the media to get news. Yet the media represent the people, and they ask questions on behalf of the people on issues that people want to know about. So the problems we have mentioned during this conversation will continue if the NLD does not understand that journalists are working on behalf of people. Lets talk about the role of the Ministry of Information in the new government. To start, there have been suggestions that ministry should be abolished. What do you think about this, Ko Thiha Thway, about whether the Ministry of Information should be abolished? TT: In fact, every government should keep a propaganda department. When industries were nationalized during the time of the Socialist Program Party, newspapers were also nationalized, so all the newspapers became government-run newspapers. Since then the government has used newspapers for propaganda. Consequently, the Ministry of Information has gradually grown up. I think those newspaper houses should be privatized. If no private businessman is willing to take them, those propaganda newspapers should be downgradedthe budget and workforce of those newspaper houses should be reconsidered. The [new] government can reduce unnecessary things, just keep the required workforce and change the ministry into an information department, because those newspapers spend a huge amount of budgets. At a time when free media is about to be established, its unacceptable that the ministry competes with private newspapers using the state budget, rather than encouraging them. Private media outlets are having a hard time. They are also facing other challenges. At a time when print media is declining and online media has become more popular, it is hard for print media to compete with government-run newspapers, which are invulnerable to financial loss. When the NLD government comes to power, I think it will reduce all the unnecessary things and just keep an appropriate workforce for an information department. TZH: So, shouldnt the Information Ministry be abolished? ZTH: I have found two facts regarding the question of if Ministry of Information should be abolished. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has said that there should not be government-run newspapers in a democratic country. And Information Minister U Ye Htut said that the Ministry of Information has been in existence since the time of the government Anti-Fascist Peoples Freedom League. These two views are different. But as Ko Thiha has said, if government-run newspapers would operate with a state budget as a [profit-making] business, it is unacceptable. If they are to run as a business, they should not take money from the state, but operate on their own. If they take money from the state, they should not run as a business, but provide the service of sharing information to the people for free. So the NLD government, led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, has to choose one of these two options. Regarding the abolishment of Ministry of Information, a ministry can be abolished in principle, but there are consequences we have to consider. Where will we use the staff and infrastructure of the ministry if it is abolished? There are branches of newspaper houses in divisions and states. If the Ministry of Information is abolished, capital investment in those facilities would be wasted. If the next government abolishes the things done by the previous government, and this pattern will repeat ad nauseam, our country would end in grinding poverty. I like what the senior members of the NLD have suggested. Theyve suggested combining three or two ministries into one. It is realistic. For example, it is realistic to combine the Ministry of National Planning and Economic Development and Ministry of Commerce like the combination of Ministry of Health with Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement. It is doable that the Ministry of Information can be changed into a department. TZH: There is no Ministry of Information in democracies. But surely they have an information department from the government. Lets discuss the role of private media. The role private media is playing is very limited in our country. There is no purely private broadcast media and they have to work in partnership with the government. There is no private independent broadcast media. The role of the media to criticize the government is therefore restricted. State-run media like Myanma Alinn, Kyemon and Myanma Radio and Television [MRTV] are commercially sustainable as they get advertisement orders. But private media is facing a hard time as they do not get advertisement orders. What is your view on this, Ko Thiha Thway? TT: As government-run newspapers have stood as the official papers for a long time, people think that by only putting ads in them, [their ads] will reach the entire country or that [putting notifications in them] will legitimate them. We need to get rid of such thought. So as I have said before, the government-run newspapers should provide information to people for near free without accepting commercials. If that happens, private media will be able to sustain itself with commercials. TZH: What do you think, Ko Zaw Thet Htwe? ZTH: It seems that obituaries, weddings and notifications about land [ownership] can be legitimate only when they are put in government-run newspapers. So people do not put ads in private newspapers. The government-run newspapers therefore earn up to millions in advertisement revenues a day. If they no longer accept ads and those wishing to put ads switch to private media, it will create a breathing space for private media. And they [government-run newspapers] will become as good as their words to transform themselves into public service media. The U.S. Dept. of Justice has ended its investigation into Southern California Edison over its replacement of IT workers, a utility executive said in a memo sent Friday to employees. "I wanted to pass along some good news," said Pedro Pizarro, SCE president, in the email. "The Department of Justice's investigation into whether SCE discriminated against American workers in its IT outsourcing practices has closed with no adverse findings against the company," wrote Pizarro. About 500 IT workers at SCE were cut, mostly through a layoff. Some of the IT workers complained of having to train foreign replacements on an H-1B visa to remain eligible for a severance package. The cuts followed a decision by the utility to hire Infosys and Tata Consultancy Services to take over some its IT work. Both firms are major users of visa workers. The layoff of the Edison workers struck a nerve in Washington. After learning that SCE had brought in the two India-based contractors, 10 U.S. senators signed a letter last April asking several federal agencies to investigate. They asked three agencies -- the Department of Labor, Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice (DOJ) -- to conduct a probe. The senators who signed the letter wanted an investigation into the use of the H-1B program "to replace large numbers of American workers" at SCE and other employers. The senators included Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), the chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), the chair of the Senate's immigration subcommittee and Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.). IT workers were contacted by the DOJ and interviewed last year. The DOJ, at the time, didn't respond to a request by Computerworld for comment. Pizarro's email to utility employees, obtained by Computerworld and authenticated by a company spokeswoman, said, "We couldn't acknowledge the investigation while it was active, but now that the Department of Justice has completed its investigation, I thought you would like to know the outcome." SCE's letter to employees was met with anger by one Edison employee who was laid off after training his replacement. "It's just another betrayal by our government," said this former SCE IT worker, who asked that his name not be used. "The government seems to be taking an active position in allowing companies to outsource" IT jobs, this worker said. The memo sent to SCE employees speaks only to the SCE's actions. It's unknown, at this point, if the DOJ continues to investigate this issue apart from the utility's role. The Senate immigration subcommittee is planning to hold a hearing Thursday, titled, "The Impact of High-Skilled Immigration on U.S. Workers." The H-1B visa is routinely used to displace U.S. workers, and this practice is being increasingly challenged, particularly in lawsuits. The IEEE-USA has been urging to the DOJ to take a more active role, and is encouraging affected IT workers to file complaints . Next week's hearing will likely be an opportunity to vent frustrations about the H-1B program. "Gods of Egypt," an action-fantasy film, is scheduled to hit theaters on Feb. 26, but Chicago gets an early preview - and for free! Director Alex Proyas have listed a cast that includes Gerard Butler and Chadwick Boseman. Plus, there are tons of CGI in the film where viewers will get to see flying Anubis creatures and over-sized beetles. Proyas did issue a statement apologizing for the casting because the actors enlisted were non-Egyptian but the production team still hopes that people will see the film anyway. The film is written by Burk Sharpless and Matt Sazama. The story behind the title revolves around a common thief played by Brenton Thwaites. His character Bek undertakes a mystical journey that will require him to save the world and rescue his one true love from the evil god of darkness - Set - played by Gerard Butler. Would a mortal thief stand a chance against a god? Of course not. Which is why he enlists the help of Horus - played by Nikolaj Coster-Waldau. Like all fictional and mystical movies - there's romance and tests of courage and strength. If the story and CGI is not enough to get fans going, then maybe seeing Gerard Butler's chiseled "300" features again would? But if you can't wait to see the movie on Feb. 26, The A.V. Club and Lionsgate may have something in mind that will fit your fancy. Viewers can get the chance to see "Gods of Egypt" early on Feb. 24, free of charge at the AMC River East 21 in Chicago, Illinois. All you need to do is follow this link and enter the information necessary. The A.V. Club advises viewers to arrive early to guarantee seats as it may be overbooked. Are Tom Hiddleston and Elizabeth Olsen igniting romance once again? The most rumored co-stars in 2015 are still keeping fans nosing on what the real score is between them. After starring in a movie together in "I Saw The Light," the two actors are hinting again what could have been actually made "real" in real life. For once, the rumors for Hiddleston and Olsen "dating status" started when they were captured together by the paparazzi heading over to a restaurant in London. E! Online detailed that the 34-year-old actor and the "Avengers" actress were seen together sharing a cab and grabbing dinner in a nearby restaurant at The Wolseley in London last July 2015. Although both actors looked crisp and casual in their prime suits, the pair obviously stole many hearts of fans that are looming for them to come out as a couple in real life. The movie "I Saw The Light" was another surefire hit that made rumors growing for Olsen and Hiddleston. In the film, the actors played the husband and wife pair of the country musician Hank Williams and Audrey Williams. In many facets, the film showed different angles of both actors in a strong loving relationship and even shared some sensual scenes together. The movie was based on the real life biography of country music sensation Hank Williams and his rise to fame becoming the legendary figure in music. Olsen on the other hand plays Audrey Williams, the wife of Hank who is also an important figure of the late artist' success in the industry. Apart from "I Saw The Light," Hiddleston and Olsen also shared a connection in the superhero film, "Avengers." Hiddleston played the part of the nemesis brother of Thor named "Loki" while Olsen on the other hand appeared in the movie as "Scarlet Witch." But once and for all, Olsen clarified and spoke about the rumor in JustJared saying that, she and Hiddleston are indeed not dating. "I mean, we definitely are friends and we've known each other for about four years. And we happened to be at a restaurant at a wrong time having dinner. We all go out to dinner," Olsen commented based on Refinery29. By of the Two times during the past four decades, Mequon money manager Harry Banzhaf watched energy prices drop precipitously, then recover. Each time, investors who were willing to buy in the depths of the decline were eventually rewarded, said Banzhaf, president of Harry B. Banzhaf & Co. Now, with oil prices down more than 70% since June 2014, it feels to Banzhaf like another one of those times. "The energy play is compelling now because the price of oil is so low that production is already being cut," Banzhaf said. "Once that inertia gets going, it's pretty difficult to stop the cutting." The risk in buying energy now is best summed up by the old Wall Street adage about trying to catch a falling knife: Things might get bloodier. One of the biggest wild cards is Iran, with questions about how much oil that country has to dump on the market, Banzhaf said. However, "this is not a dot-com bust energy is going to be around," he said. Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE, $56.81) seeks to track the performance of the Energy Select Sector Index. The index includes securities of companies in the oil, gas and consumable fuels, and energy equipment and services industries. Exxon and Chevron represent 30% of the approximately 40 stocks in the index. What Banzhaf finds intriguing is that the fund has been cut in half from its all-time high of more than $100 in the summer of 2014. "In my vast experience, I've seen this before," Banzhaf said. "And I've closed my eyes and held my breath and bought at 50% down and it works." The fund has a healthy 3.5% dividend yield, although some of the smaller companies in the index are cutting their dividends, he said. The biggest risks are that energy prices could stay low for a sustained period of time, or that there could be more bankruptcies than anticipated among the smaller companies, Banzhaf said. The fund could reasonably be expected to outperform the Standard & Poor's 500 index by at least 20% in an environment where oil prices are rising, Banzhaf said. Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM, $82.50), Irving, Texas, is the world's largest integrated oil company. "They aren't just in the oil business; they are the largest refiner in the world and also a very large chemical producer," Banzhaf said. This creates a good balance: When Exxon is losing on the commodity side, its margins on the chemical side tend to compensate, and vice versa, he said. Buying the stock is probably less risky than buying into an energy index fund, Banzhaf said, because Exxon is not as vulnerable as many smaller companies in the index to the fluctuating price of oil and higher costs. Exxon is about 20% less volatile than the overall market and less volatile than most stocks in its industry, Banzhaf said. The company has very little debt and pays a 3.6% dividend, far higher than the 2.4% average for the S&P 500, he said. It hasn't cut its dividend in 50 years. "Exxon is for investors who want the conservative, safe play on an industry recovery," Banzhaf said. One of the biggest risks is geopolitical: The company has operations in Russia and Nigeria, he said. Also, Exxon, which hasn't handled public relations in a stellar manner, is a target for environmentalists and has made some mistakes in its acquisition strategy, he said. ABOUT THIS The Journal Sentinel focuses on one Wisconsin money manager or analyst in this weekly feature, looking at a trend that helps investment pros make their decisions. SHARE By of the For someone living in a rural Wisconsin area where high-speed Internet access has not arrived, the best chance for getting the service could come in 2017 from a technology called fixed wireless. Starting next year, AT&T Inc. plans to offer fixed-wireless Internet connections to roughly 24,000 homes in Wisconsin mostly in rural areas where it's too expensive to install miles of fiber-optic cable or copper wire that carries an Internet signal. Fixed wireless enables a customer to go online with a connection to a cellular tower instead of cables strung to the home. An antenna about the size of a pizza box, mounted on the customer's house, receives the signal from the tower. AT&T will get $54 million, or $9 million per year, from the federal Connect America Fund II to bring high-speed Internet service to rural Wisconsin through 2020. The company plans to use fixed-wireless technology to reach homes and businesses where, otherwise, there's little choice in Internet access besides satellite service. AT&T is conducting field trials with 200 customers in Alabama, Georgia, Kansas and Virginia. The user experience is similar to having a fast wired connection, according to the company. Under the terms of the Connect America Fund, companies taking the money must offer Internet connections of at least 10 megabits per second for downloads and at least 1 megabit per second for uploads. Fixed wireless is capable of delivering even faster speeds, such as 25 megabit per second downloads, according to AT&T. "The outdoor antenna (on the customer's home) gives us a significant improvement in the strength of the signal, compared with a smartphone," said Ross Clark, assistant vice president for AT&T's fixed-wireless Internet strategy and planning. Unlike satellite service, where the signal is sometimes dropped in bad weather, fixed wireless should not have that issue because the signal comes from a nearby tower. In the customer trials, which began in February, the signal remained "rock solid" even in a heavy snowstorm, Clark said. Fixed wireless operates on a 4G LTE platform commonly used for the fastest cellphone data connections. "That technology is very appropriate for providing a wireless Internet connection to the home," Clark said. It's still unknown how much a customer would have to pay for fixed-wireless service, whether there will be data caps on usage and where it will be offered. Under the terms of the Connect America Fund II program, companies taking the money must build 40% of their expansion commitments by the end of 2017, and all of them by the end of 2020. AT&T, Sprint and other telecoms launched fixed-wireless systems in the past, but 15 years ago the technology was not up to the task. "The wireless speed wasn't there and, at that time, wired companies had the edge," said Brian Kirsch, an information technology instructor at Milwaukee Area Technical College. "Now the coin has flipped. It's much easier for wireless to deploy some of this technology. If the pricing is reasonable, I think it's a great alternative." Some experts, though, question whether fixed wireless will be enough as people demand more from the Internet, including high-definition videos and interactive services. It's probably fine for watching a Netflix movie, but the service could struggle if other people in the home were online at the same time, said Barry Orton, a recently retired telecommunications professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. "It's a Band-Aid approach, at best, and it's an awfully expensive Band-Aid," Orton said. In Missouri, fixed-wireless networks have been criticized by U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II, who says the networks are not a good use of the Connect America Fund, which is administered by the FCC. "Satellite or fixed-wireless access will not meet the needs of our rural residents, either now or in the future," Cleaver said in a statement. The technology has been deployed successfully in some parts of Wisconsin, such as Sauk County, where it's offered by WiConnect Wireless. WiConnect has fixed-wireless transmitters mounted on farm silos and other buildings that send an Internet signal to more than 1,000 homes. WiConnect owner Dave Bangert has built the system over 10 years, mostly using his own money and goodwill from farmers who let him use their barns and silos as transmitter sites. In exchange, they get free or low-cost Internet service. Bangert says he worries about being able to compete against AT&T and other large telecoms backed by millions of dollars in government grants. He continually offers more bandwidth and emphasizes personal service to attract and keep customers. One cold morning last week, he climbed up a barn silo to repair a transmitter. He makes customer calls as late as 9 p.m. "If we keep people happy ... maybe we will survive the storm, I hope," Bangert said. It's easy to conclude politics have become the Land of the Endlessly Shrill. Presidential candidates are verbally sniping at one another, Congress is daring President Barack Obama to nominate a Supreme Court justice, and the Wisconsin Legislature's session has been dominated by deeply partisan votes on most major issues. Thank goodness Pope Francis and Donald Trump are getting along so famously. Oh ... I forgot, they're trading barbs, too. Meanwhile, the hard work of governing continues in cities, states and Washington, D.C., where the spectacle of a rancorous presidential campaign has yet to fully supersede the necessity to get some work done. That's why representatives of two dozen state-based technology groups including the Wisconsin Technology Council joined with industry leaders in Washington earlier this month to trade ideas and "talk tech" with members of the Senate and House of Representatives. The agenda included updating a 1986 law to better protect personal electronic records from warrantless searches; better sharing of cybersecurity threat data; freeing unlicensed wireless spectrum for rural broadband and Wi-Fi; helping keep highly skilled immigrants in the United States; and providing incentives for research, development and private investment. Republicans hold strong majorities in the House and the Senate, but lack the supermajorities needed to ignore Democrats and Obama still holds a veto pen in the White House. That means this spring and early summer could be the last chance for bipartisanship before the November election sucks most of the air out of the marbled rooms of Congress. "The polarization of the two parties in Congress and the upcoming elections will make it difficult to pass bills that lack broad consensus now," said Elizabeth Hyman, executive vice president of CompTIA, an industry coalition that worked to bring various state tech groups and associations to Capitol Hill. One item high on the tech industry's "to-do" list was passed Feb. 11. The Senate placed a permanent ban on the ability of states to tax Internet access, voting 75-20 to send the bill to Obama for signing into law. A temporary ban was passed in 1998 to keep an array of governments from taxing Internet access or assessing multiple taxes on electronic commerce. The rise of the Internet as the defining economic disrupter of our time is proof enough of how well the moratorium has worked. The ban had been extended six times, most recently last year. The law will affect Wisconsin, in time. When the original law was passed, more than a dozen states were allowed to continue charging taxes for online access. In the intervening years, many opted to drop these taxes. Today, only Hawaii, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Texas and Wisconsin still collect taxes for going online. Those states must stop doing so by June 30, 2020. The legislation does not resolve the hotly contested issue of taxes for online purchases. While the retail industry has pushed for a federal law that would resolve state-by-state sales tax rules, that "bricks" vs. "clicks" argument must wait for another day. Likely to pass this year is the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, which was enacted 30 years ago when email was a curiosity and texting was unknown. The 1986 law deemed all stored electronic communications more than 180 days old to be "abandoned," which means law enforcement and civil government agencies can acquire older messages from a service provider without a warrant. About 310 members of the House have signed on to a bill (H.R. 699) that would require agencies to obtain a warrant before asking service providers to disclose the contents of stored emails, text messages and other private communications. That's the largest number of co-sponsors of any bill yet to see a floor vote this session, and committee action is scheduled for March as a precursor to a floor vote. The Connect America Fund II, which is run by the Federal Communications Commission, was authorized by Congress a few years ago. It now appears Wisconsin will be one of the biggest winners under the fund, with three telecom companies getting more than $570 million to expand fast Internet service in rural Wisconsin. Only California among the 50 states will receive more help than Wisconsin over the next five years, it was announced this month. The fund is intended to expand advanced broadband coverage in parts of rural Wisconsin where download and upload connections can be spotty, inhibiting economic growth and more. Unlikely to see action this year are bills dealing with immigration reform, data breach notification in the event of cyberattacks and patent reform. Look for the elections to better define those issues and many more before the next president and Congress take office in 2017. Perhaps the political decibel level will subside by then ... with an equal chance Trump will convert. Tom Still is president of the Wisconsin Technology Council. Its Wisconsin Innovation Network meets in Wauwatosa. Contact him at news@wisconsintechnologycouncil.com. Mark Corkins performs in Michael Nevilles play Lamps for My Family. Credit: Ryan Blomquist SHARE By , The title of Michael Neville's semi-autobiographical "Lamps for My Family" the one-actor show now on stage at In Tandem Theatre, featuring Mark Corkins and directed by Chris Flieller is explained early. "My grandfather," relates Corkins' Jack Duddy, "believed that no one ever got anywhere in this world without a proper lamp to read by." Re-creating the living room of the Milwaukee house in which Jack (read Neville) was raised, Flieller's scenic design includes a lamp for each of nearly two dozen Duddys who once lived there. Lighting designer Joey Welden ensures that each lamp lights up and then goes dark at the right time, as Corkins relays the life's stories of individuals now long gone. Given that "Lamps" clocks in at less than 90 minutes, many of the departed get short shrift before their lights flicker out. But Corkins channels their voices with an integrity that skips the attention-grabbing pyrotechnics of many one-person shows. This being an Irish family and story, there's plenty of humor along the way, all the more effective for Corkins' straightforward delivery, which skips the shamrocks and stereotypes. Excepting one cliche-ridden diversion involving a sadistic nun, so does Neville. That's because the lives being commemorated here give us the flip side of Irish humor: the melancholic brooding over a darkening world, against which these lamps can look lonely and lost even though Flieller has clustered them in brave little groups, denoting thematic subsets composed of nuclear families or the siblings within them. Before the night is through, we'll hear about executions, murders and amputations. Drunks, suicides and soldiers who never come home. A dog who gets run over twice. A host of family members who never marry or, in one case, even leave the house. And many shades of crazy. All of this is bound to affect someone like Jack; he's a psychiatrist. For all that, the key missing portrait in this family gallery is that of Jack himself. Jack tells us he's come home to Milwaukee as a refugee, fleeing a failed marriage and floundering career to care for a mother with Alzheimer's. But we're clearly meant to understand that the family ghosts in which Jack only half believes are also embodying his own inner demons, as he wrestles with the past so that he might inhabit his present. While Neville's script largely fails to dramatize this struggle or give it an arc, never underestimate the formidable Corkins. Given the challenges involved in getting the Duddys down and keeping them straight, he isn't yet as relaxed as he'll become and gone as deep as he'll go. Give this piece another week and Jack's own lamp will offer even more light to read by. IF YOU GO "Lamps for My Family" continues through March 13 at the Tenth Street Theatre, 628 N. 10th St. For tickets, visit www.intandemtheatre.org/. Read more about this production at TapMilwaukee.com. TAKEAWAYS Remembering the Milwaukee That Was: While the tone of "Lamps" is light years removed from the tales of another Irish family refracted through John McGivern's nostalgically soft and fuzzy memories of growing up on the east side, both pieces invoke names and places from Milwaukee's past, prompting the same sort of knowing nods among audience members that one is used to seeing when McGivern takes us back to yesteryear. At one point, for example, differences between lace-curtain Irish and Gaelic Irish are explained through the distinction in the radio programs they like: the corny but beloved Joe Szot and the Hot Shots on WTMJ for the genteel Irish and the legendary O.C. White on WAWA, spinning the blues for the supposed riffraff. Bushville Wins: Jack's most vivid trip into Milwaukee's past brings back the 1957 Braves on the day they vanquished the mighty Yankees by winning Game 7 of that year's World Series, triggering delirious celebrations in Milwaukee. True to the hold our greatest game once had on the American mind, Neville uses this iconic event to showcase how much of a community this family could be and how much fun they could have together. True to this play, that shining highlight immediately gives way to Jack's memories of the Braves' ensuing flight to Atlanta. Feelings of love and fellowship in "Lamps" are genuine. But they're also frequently tenuous. "My Feelings About My Family Are Ambivalent": So Jack tells us early on and, indirectly, throughout this piece. Much like that big family we call Milwaukee, the same fellowship that results in a wild, celebratory lovefest following the Braves' victory can also be provincial, exclusionary and consequently claustrophobic. We see this most clearly in the Duddy sisters' sectarian, racially inflected hostility toward their younger brother's divorced, Native American girlfriend. Conversely, we also see how inspiring families large and small can be as we witness the Duddys overcome such noxious parochialism when mourning the death of a Jewish in-law. Names and Places: As "Lamps" begins, the radio in the Duddy living room really, an additional player in its own right, in this piece is filled with the Roches' "Each of Us Has a Name," which suggests that who we are is a product of the choices we make, themselves conditioned by the parents who named us, the people who surround us and the places in which we live. Jack's exit at play's end is serenaded by the Beatles' "In My Life," which opens with a loving commemoration of the sort of people and places the Roches' song mentions before, crucially, moving beyond them, with a recognition that new loves and new life beckon. These bookends capture the shape of Jack's own journey as well as a related, universal paradox involving family itself, which always walks the line between shaping and distorting who we are. The Ghost of John Steinbeck: At its best, Neville's re-creation of Jack's Irish family recalls the underrated, marvelously drawn portraits of the Hamilton clan John Steinbeck's maternal ancestors in "East of Eden." In placing his Irish ancestors within this sprawling novel, Steinbeck has the luxury of a much larger canvas than Neville works with in creating this play an exercise in similarly fictionalized autobiography involving Neville's own real-life ancestors. But as Steinbeck does in "Eden," Neville here resists the saccharine sentimentality that frequently afflicts portraits of the Irish. "Lamps" reaches instead for something which, while funny and disarmingly simple, is ultimately both deeper and darker. The fate of the Milwaukee County executive election between left Sen. Chris Larson (left) and incumbent Chris Abele (right) will have implications for the work of education commissioner Demond Means (center) in Milwaukee. Credit: Journal Sentinel files There are so many questions for which I don't have answers. These are just a few of them: What will happen to the school reform idea put under the control of the Milwaukee County executive officially known as the Opportunity Schools Partnership Program if state Sen. Chris Larson wins election to the office in April? Larson is adamantly opposed to cooperating with the effort, which was created by Republicans in the state Legislature. What will happen to the idea if Chris Abele wins re-election as county executive? He's sort of gone along with the idea and named Mequon-Thiensville Superintendent Demond Means as commissioner of education for Milwaukee. But, three months after the appointment, I don't know what, if anything, is going to result. Means has made it clear he's not going to do dramatic stuff like take schools away from the Milwaukee Public Schools system. Are we just waiting until after the April election or maybe the November election to see what, if anything, the "opportunity schools" idea will bring? Will the politicians who thought this was a way to kick a few MPS schools into some kind of higher gear want to see more or different action? Is the "opportunity schools" idea so flawed that we're better off if nothing happens? If the title of "education commissioner" doesn't really mean anything, can I have it, just for kicks? It would look good on a business card. A whole different front: What am I supposed to think of the change being made in who runs Community High School? This is a small school and maybe a small matter, but it's much on my mind. Community was created in 2004 as a charter school within the MPS system. It has been led by two MPS teachers, Jason O'Brien and Roxane Mayeur, and its aim has been to offer "a safe, supportive, and personalized high school experience" that included partnerships with community groups to get students involved in helping people. I've visited the school a few times and I've rooted for it to succeed. MPS officials moved the school's location several times and haven't always been so helpful to the school. For several years, the school has been in the former Burroughs Middle School building, 6700 N. 80th St. Its 250 or so students are mostly kids who entered ninth grade not on-grade academically. Test scores and some other measures point to serious concerns about the school. How serious? Last year, none of the 11th-graders were rated proficient in reading or math by state standards. Attendance and graduation rates haven't been so good either. O'Brien has pointed to test results in recent years that showed Community students making more progress than students at many other MPS high schools. But that still left them behind the district as a whole and the school was required to "meet or beat" the MPS scores to keep its charter and its independence. Last Tuesday, a School Board committee voted unanimously to take away the charter and put Community under conventional MPS control. Everyone involved said they only wanted to improve the school and get better results. "This is a model we believe in," said Superintendent Darienne Driver, referring to the "service learning" program. Even O'Brien and Mayeur, who have fought so long for the school, accepted the change, which may or may not leave them involved in the future. So why has Community High not succeeded? It's not for lack of dedicated teachers. Was the school not doing something right? To what degree are the roots of the problem in the students' home lives or surrounding circumstances or earlier school experiences? Are there ways to get more success with students who arrive in high school with weak prospects? Oh, and one more: Will being part of the main MPS system lead to better things for Community? On to another perplexing subject. I received a lengthy email recently from someone who has worked in schools since the 1960s. "Back then, I had absolutely no problem with student behaviors in class," she wrote. "Since the '80s, I've seen a steady increase in student behavior issues. In the past two years, I've seen an enormous increase of the same. Without exaggeration, I can say it is now a crisis." This person, whom I agreed not to identify, is not from an urban or low-income area. Central Wisconsin that's where she's from. I hear this quite often from teachers and others involved in schools. There's something different about the kids now than in the past. Behavior is deteriorating. Some say the number of kids with major emotional issues is much higher. Many schools don't have adequate staffing to handle them well. Some say school policies aimed at minimizing punishments and keeping kids in classrooms are at fault. And poor parenting comes up often. Is there really a change? Is this just grumpy and aging adults complaining about today's kids, which has been going on for the last few thousand years? What is there to learn about teachers, students, parents, administrators, policies and laws in this regard? I'd be interested to read thoughts on this, especially from teachers, parents, and kids. Might make another column out of that. My email is below. I've got lots more questions. What's the sweet spot in school spending not too little to hurt success, not more than can be considered productive? What would a good answer to that mean in terms of public spending? How do we get great learning cultures in schools that don't have them now? Or great principals in every school? Is there a way to get more parents to step up to being better allies of their children's education and future? If I can just come up with answers, maybe I can earn that title as commissioner. Alan J. Borsuk is senior fellow in law and public policy at Marquette University Law School. Reach him at alan.borsuk@marquette.edu. SHARE By of the "Know Your History," the 18-wheel, mobile black history museum created by New York-based American Legacy Magazine is in Milwaukee Saturday, as part of a three stop swing through Wisconsin this weekend. The semi trailer is parked at The Friendship Club, 2245 W. Fond du Lac Ave., in Milwaukee until 3 p.m. today, where Molina will also be offering free health and dental screenings. The rolling history exhibit stopped at Oakhill Correctional Facility in Oregon on Friday, and will wrap up its Wisconsin tour at Lincoln Hills School for Boys noon-5 p.m. Sunday. Lincoln Hills has been the subject of a state and federal investigation into possible criminal wrongdoing, which has chronicled by the Journal Sentinel. The "Know your History" exhibit visit was organized by Wisconsin Sen. Lena Taylor (D-Milwaukee), WNOV 860, Molina Helath Care and others. Brian Gertz stands by his truck and trailer where it's kept in South Milwaukee. Gertz places a two-line ad every day in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel classifieds to move items to Florida. Credit: Mike De Sisti Considering that it's listed under "Personals" in the Journal Sentinel classified ads, Brian Gertz's pitch should say something like: "DWM in search of short-term, moving relationship. OK if you have some baggage. Relocation a must." Instead, it reads this way: "Florida bound empty truck can move household; Florida, local. 414-520-1612." The exact same wording runs every single day and is usually the only so-called personal ad, which suggests newspapers can't begin to compete with Tinder in the hooking up game. When there is another personal message, typically it's someone thanking a saint for blessings received. I called the number last week and Brian picked up. He told me he pays about $600 a month for the two-line ad, and it has been appearing daily for maybe 14 years. He wanted it under the personals because that heading is on the more visible first page of the classified ads. We can debate how personal it is to drag people's furniture across the country, but that's where it runs. Actually, Brian hears many personal stories of why people want or need to move death, divorce, lost jobs, retirement, illness, a desire to leave the past behind and start over. "People move for a lot of different reasons. There's every kind of lifestyle you can imagine out there. One lady lost her husband. Another person wants to get back to their grandkids. You just never know what the situation is going to be," Brian said. "You should be getting some post-traumatic stress money sometimes from hearing these stories. I feel sorry for people. I experience a lot of life here in a short period of time doing this thing. It's a tough business. My friends say I'm living the dream. I say, 'Yeah, right until the time I wake up.'" He's been at it for 26 years now, running back and forth to Florida once a month during the off season and more like four times a month when demand peaks in summer. His business comes with a name and a slogan: "Strong Like Bull. Three large Polish boys move you fast and cheap." It's two most of the time, Brian and his business partner and friend, Curt Ray. They pack you up, drive to where you want to be, and unpack it all. They draw customers from all over Wisconsin and northern Illinois and plop their belongings in Ocala, Tampa, Sarasota, Bradenton, Fort Myers, Cape Coral, Port Charlotte, really anywhere along Florida's west coast. Then, with help from advertising in Florida, they find customers there who want their stuff relocated to Wisconsin. I didn't meet Curt, but Brian is friendly and unguarded when he talks. He's 60 but strong like, well, bull, from hefting so much furniture for so long. He's a twice-divorced father of three who lives in Greenfield at the moment, but I met him on the edge of a bowling alley parking lot in South Milwaukee where he has a storage garage and keeps a truck and 40-foot trailer that holds up to 21,000 pounds. Why Florida? "I started the business and that's where I want to go," Brian said. He logs about 120,000 miles a year and in 2015 burned through $18,000 in fuel. He charges customers based on volume. For every 10 feet of trailer space you need, it's $2,500. He expects to put three customers' loads in the trailer including a pickup truck for the next trip south. Raised in Chicago, Brian moved to Milwaukee at age 19. He mentioned at least one regular job he had, as a machinist at Harnischfeger. But it got interesting when he talked about selling cigarette lighters and generic condoms in taverns, peddling sunglasses in grocery stores, and supplying fuzzy dice, stuffed animals and other prizes to roving carnivals. His many trips to carnival trade shows in Florida led to his business today. He's ruined now for more traditional work. If he had to toil even one day in an office, he said, he would have somebody in a headlock before noon. He's happiest meeting people at a crossroads in life, hearing their stories and hauling their stuff. Brian Gertz knocks on wood when I ask about mishaps. So far, he and his partner have avoided injuries and highway mayhem and, except for a ding here and there, they haven't had to hand customers' their precious possessions in Glad bags. You might start noticing his personal ad now and in years to come. Brian is hoping to keep on trucking. "It's all I do," he said. "It's how I make my living. I'll do it as long as I can. I'll probably die trying." Call Jim Stingl at (414) 224-2017 or email at jstingl@jrn.com U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson (right) is interviewed by Mike Gousha in a program at the Marquette University Law School recently. Credit: Michael Sears In 2012, U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) took off on a barnstorming tour of his district to explain his new "Pathway to Prosperity" plan, which he argued would move America to more sound fiscal footing. The plan gradually reduced America's debt largely by reforming Medicare and Medicaid, eliminating tax loopholes and lowering the tax rate. At the time, Ryan said failing to reform these deficit-driving entitlement programs "would rank among history's most infamous episodes of political malpractice." Yet the plan had one significant flaw: Only Ryan himself could actually explain it in a way regular people could understand. Soon after Ryan began his own town hall tour, video began cropping up on the Internet showing his congressional colleagues struggling to explain the plan, stumped by constituent questions in their own meetings. As it turned out, in order to sell Ryan's plan, you had to actually be Paul Ryan. Once again, a body of Congress is tasked with explaining a complicated plan to the American people, and in order for it to fly, some politicians not exactly known for their lexical alacrity will need to carry the load. With the death of the legendary Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, a handful of vulnerable U.S. senators will have to argue publicly why they support holding the seat open for a year for the next president ideally, a Republican to choose. And some have argued the nomination issue has made some purple-state senators' underwear just a bit tighter this election season. Of course, explaining complicated judicial procedure is difficult for even the most seasoned politicians. And it could get dicey for senators such as Wisconsin's Ron Johnson, who never has been known for his erudite verbal flair. When Johnson speaks about public policy, his syntax almost sounds as if his words have been run through the Google English-to-Portuguese translator, then back to English. But in practice, Johnson is a good senator and a tough, no-nonsense guy. And on the issue of Scalia's replacement, he also happens to be entirely right. When the issue first surfaced, Johnson said he "strongly agreed" with holding the nomination for the next president. But then he made a dog's dinner of his position, appearing to backtrack in an interview with radio talk show host Jerry Bader. "I've never said that I wouldn't vote, or that we shouldn't vote," Johnson told Bader. "I have no idea how the process plays out, I'm not in control of it. I'm not the majority leader, I'm not chairman of the Judiciary. By the time I would actually take the vote, if it comes to that, I'll take a vote," he said. But such position-hedging is unnecessary in this case. According to an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, the public is evenly split on whether the Senate should take up an Obama court nomination. And the idea that a lame-duck president shouldn't be allowed to pick a justice that could change the face of the court for the next 30 years is a sound one. Conservatives should be entirely comfortable with the composition of the court being a presidential campaign issue; voters most likely will appreciate being trusted with a say in how their judiciary is constructed. Further, it's not as if Johnson's Democratic opponent, Russ Feingold, is pure on the issue of judicial nominees. While Feingold said there should "absolutely" be a vote on an Obama nominee, Feingold supported filibustering to prevent a vote on George W. Bush nominee Samuel Alito in early 2006. Johnson should stick to his guns; this issue won't damage his re-election efforts if he's able to articulate it effectively. More democracy is never a bad thing; now's the chance to inject a little into the nation's highest court. Christian Schneider is a Journal Sentinel columnist and blogger. Email cschneider@jrn.com. Twitter: @Schneider_CM SHARE I-94 expansion hurts city Steve Baas of the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce advocates for gouging out more of the city of Milwaukee's neighborhoods, businesses and final resting places of our ancestors for the promise of more jobs ("Let's finish what we started in the Interstate 94 corridor," Opinions, Feb. 10). The project would be done by condemning lots of private properties, expanding the existing footprint of I-94 between 16th St. and 76th St. Anyone who drives this stretch of interstate regularly knows there are only two daily congestion episodes during which I-94 is above capacity. Otherwise, passage is largely trouble free. Why this gigantic investment and sacrifice for a stinky, noisy concrete vehicle canyon providing, maybe, six hours a day of freeway clear sailing? Baas says it is for bettering commerce. Yet former Gov. Tommy Thompson's 1990s train between downtown Milwaukee and Oconomowoc reducing I-94 traffic during an earlier rebuild is not mentioned. Only road expansion. Opposed to accepting $810 million of our tax money from the federal government for a fast train in 2010, Baas now says nothing about the billion dollars plus to wipe out even more of the city's quality of life by expanding freeways. It's hard to imagine Baas is doing anything except advocating for the benefit of road builders not in the city and against the neighborhoods that make the city of Milwaukee an attractive place for families and businesses. Just look at what happened when the massive destruction of Milwaukee's classic neighborhoods and businesses for freeways built and unbuilt led to "white flight" to get away from noisy, smelly freeways. The city of Milwaukee began being victimized by problems that are the subject of constant complaining today, mostly by self-righteous people who don't live in the city. Longtime users of this stretch have seen numerous resurfacings and redeckings of this stretch of freeway, so the potholes can be fixed on the current framing. Suggestions have been made that design criteria for a rebuild of this stretch be done within the current footprint so that no residences or businesses are destroyed, preserving the city's business even stacked lanes. Towers suspending city street crossing bridges, such as the 6th St. viaduct, would facilitate adjustable freeway lanes without interference by mid-span support structures, allowing movable "Jersey barriers" for rush hour traffic, like those now used on the Hoan Bridge. Design discipline is needed, not fuzzy license to destroy more of the city of Milwaukee. Gregory Francis Bird Milwaukee Bad information on road budget In his Feb. 14 column on state road spending, Steve Hiniker of 1000 Friends of Wisconsin made several inaccurate statements about the state transportation budget ("The future of state roads / Say 'no' to more of them," Crossroads). The Legislature's budget committee did approve $350 million in bonding in December, but that merely replaced $350 million that was cut from the state highway program in last year's budget. Except for the Zoo Interchange, there is no net increase in highway spending in this budget compared to the previous budget. Hiniker also wants readers to believe that this $350 million is being used to "build new highways." Wrong again. Forty-three percent of that money is allocated to repairing existing roads, while the remainder will address safety and congestion in existing corridors. Not a single new highway. Hiniker also wants to pit local road needs against state highways by suggesting that legislators have been "reallocating money intended for local roads to highway expansion projects." This also is an outrageously false statement. I get it that Hiniker is no fan of highway construction, but making his point with such inaccuracies does the public an extreme disservice on this important issue. Patrick Goss Executive Director Wisconsin Transportation Builders Association Madison Socialism is never the cure Those of us who grew up laughing at "Trabi" jokes that contrasted stunningly junky Trabants, built by East German socialists, with well-engineered BMWs, built by West German capitalists, didn't find the victory of an old socialist in the New Hampshire primary too funny. Those of us whose fathers fought the National Socialists to the death and then turned around to battle the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the People's Republic of China in the Cold War weren't laughing much either. Some of us still remember the delirious days when the "evil empire" collapsed, the wall came down and people on both sides of the iron curtain could breathe free. We were so happy that we didn't pay much attention to the bitter old Marxists who retreated to America's ivory towers to propagandize a new generation with old platitudes about class warfare, redistribution of wealth, hatred for the family and Chairman Mao's blather that everything, even truth itself, must be sacrificed for a politically correct revolution. It is no accident that the young people feeling the Bern today are blissfully unaware of the hundred million lives more or less (What's a million or two for a good cause?) that the old socialists sacrificed to usher in their one world Utopia. It is, therefore, ironic that it is the youngest presidential candidates who best understand that the battle has never been between the socialists on the left and the crony capitalists on the right but between individual liberty and the tyranny of both the right and the left. The fact that both families of these two candidates experienced the grim reality of socialism in Cuba seems to have inoculated them against the socialist delusions of America's ivory tower. These two young candidates understand that this election is not about whether Republicans or Democrats control the levers of power. Like the generations of Americans before them, they know that socialism, which sacrifices the individual to the collective, is both a symptom and cause of our malaise, never its cure. Art DeJong Sheboygan Clinton's low blow One should not be surprised at the "low blow" thrown at Sen. Bernie Sanders at the Feb. 11 debate ("Obama's presidency looms large among issues"). For years, the mighty Clinton machine has become very adept at this type of political strategy. The objective of Hillary Clinton's one-two punch was obvious. By cherry-picking a few words here and a few words there and throwing them out at the debate in an attempt to portray Bernie Sanders as being anti-Obama, she made clear that this was an overt strategic attempt to secure the black vote. Of course it was more than a low blow, it was an insult to the intelligence of America's black communities. If this is the gauge Clinton wants Americans to use to determine who they will vote for, then all Americans black, Latino, Asian, Native Americans, Mid-Easterners and whites should hop on the net and check out the details of what was said against President Barack Obama by the Clintons when Hillary was running against him in the former Democratic primary race. It's shocking that she would even consider using this cheap tactic after the terrible things she and Bill threw out at Obama during that campaign. Especially since it backfired on them. Patricia Mitchell Waukesha Focus on what's really needed At last! For decades, I have refused to join my husband and sons in their annual hunting excursions simply because blaze orange doesn't go with my complexion. And now we "girls" have the option of wearing pink! I can't wait for the catalogs to arrive. I hope I can get a pink gun to match my new ensembles! Hey, Wisconsin legislators, how about doing something that truly benefits hunters and fishers, such as stopping the bill that allows wealthy lake property owners to dredge our lakes, which can potentially impact the ecological system? Or vote against the bill that was virtually written by a private company that wants to allow our cities to sell water and sewer systems to out-of-state companies without a community vote? By the way, that company, Aqua America, has an abysmal record. Or how about a statewide initiative that would inform the public of the new voter requirements before the next big election? After all, we don't want any voter to be turned away because he was not aware of the new regulations, do we? Anne Sesing Campbellsport Referendums and retirees Throughout Wisconsin, school referendums are scheduled for this year's voting. While education for our children is important, so is fairness and the right of all people to live life to the best of their ability. Referendums attach themselves to property taxes, and many who pay property taxes already have struggled to put their children through school and provide for all their necessities. School officials should ask themselves if burdening these people, now retired and elderly, is the right thing to do. If money is tight for schools, then money should be budgeted and innovative means found to compensate for additional funds. Budgeting is not only for families outside of the school systems we pay taxes already to cover school expenses and we still budget the funds we have left to live on. Wouldn't schools find it more beneficial to join with their students and their families to find ways to boost their income without involving people of limited means? Can you imagine allowing their students to think and be creative in order to achieve what is important to them or do teachers want quick results, no cuts in pay or perk packages? Do teachers have no concern for those who no longer are able to work to once again carry a burden that they did years ago, one that showed their kids what can be accomplished if you face your problem and seek solutions that you can do instead of turning around and placing it on the property taxes of people who don't deserve a cut in their living needs? Many senior citizens have no means to raise their income levels sadly, we can't have a referendum for this purpose. Arleen M. Schindler Solon Springs Liberals at fault In the article "Economic risks remain," it states "banks were the epicenter of the 2007-'09 crisis, which started over excessive loans to homeowners with shaky credit." (Feb. 17). Ergo, bankers are to blame for the crisis, as virtually all liberals claim. I'd amend that to: bankers were complicit in the crisis by engaging in risky behavior but the start of the crisis occurred in the Clinton administration. In 1993, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Andrew Cuomo announced HUD would "encourage" Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to have half their loan portfolios in "affordable-housing" loans. And in September 1999, the Clinton administration finally put it into action. Soon, too many loans were made to people who would eventually default. Banks made lots of money and tons more people got to own houses. It would not last. I never once heard or read about any liberals taking ownership for their part in the crisis. They just blame the financial institutions that provided the credit. Dale Sievert Waukesha Muslims and Ariens It seems that immigrants today are different from those who arrived just two generations ago. I am only the second generation of my family born in America. When my grandparents arrived, the very first order of business for them was to lose their Swedish and German. They did this to avoid standing out and as a humble, respectful gesture to be accepted. Still maintaining their own heritage and customs, these immigrants did not feel diminished in any way. Knowing full well that America had a lot more to offer them that they had to offer America, they were glad just to be here. Certainly, they never would have been so presumptuous as to demand anything from someone who was gracious enough to give them a job. In a time when many other companies are moving jobs elsewhere for cheaper labor and fewer regulations, the Ariens Co. is doing the right thing and building its machines here in the United States ("Muslims plan bias complaint vs. Ariens," Feb. 16). As such, Muslim employees need to realize what they have. They should support that effort and pitch in with efficiencies to make their company as competitive as possible not by making Ariens less competitive with their personal demands. Finally, there is no such thing as a "five-minute" break. It takes five minutes just to get to the prayer room. Washing up, actual prayers and then travel back to the factory would take at least 15 minutes. Plus, then add in the time it takes to get back up to task on their job, and you may be looking at 20 minutes of total downtime or more if someone is delayed. David Peterson Madison How to cut spending In answer to the letter from Ray Hannula on Feb. 14, I do agree that we should stop spending, but I think it starts with birth control ("Cut spending," Letters). We have many methods of birth control and many are free. A person should not have a child if he or she cannot support that child or are not willing to spend time with the child's education. Free phones are not necessary in most cases. If you make everything too easy, people will sit back and let you support them. We should pay for free education for a student who has good grades and wants to get a good education. But if he or she does not do well in the first year, the student should be dropped. If this country is to grow, we need more educated people and skilled workers in the trades. Parents need to learn how to make inexpensive and nutritious meals for their children. Children who are not shown a good example of parenting and given help with school work may not grow up to be good citizens. Then the pattern of poverty and neglect will continue and responsible people will have to pay for this. Lupe Donovan Saukville One American, one vote With nearly a year of election season pomp and bluster before us, I have but one wish: I wish that we would adhere to the principle of one American, one vote. Not one dollar, one vote. Karen Wagner Wautoma Reddit Email 0 Shares TeleSur | The French president said Russia and Turkey could engage in war over Turkish involvement in Syria as Russia called for an urgent U.N. Security Council. There is risk of a Turkish-Russian war as a result of Ankaras involvement in Syria, French President Francois Hollande warned Friday, as Russia called for a United Nations Security Council meeting over Turkeys actions in the war-torn country. Turkey is involved in Syria There, there is a risk of war That is why the (U.N.) Security Council is meeting, Hollande told France Inter radio. I do not want to exclude Russia from the solution. I went myself to Moscow to tell Vladimir Putin, All of us have to work together to make this political transition but I cannot accept that at the same time that people are negotiating, they are bombing civilian populations. His comments came a few hours after the Russian Foreign Ministry called for an urgent U.N. Security Council meeting in order to submit a draft council resolution calling on Turkey to cease any actions that undermine Syrias sovereignty and territorial integrity. Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said Moscow is concerned about the escalation of tensions on the Syria-Turkey border and Turkeys plans to put boots on the ground in northern Syria. It undercuts efforts to launch a political settlement in the Syrian Arab Republic, Zakharova said. The news comes as the Turkish military has recently conducted almost daily airstrikes in northern Syria against the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) and their military wing in order to stop them from securing more areas in the Kurdish Rojava region and advancing against the Islamic State group. Last week, Turkey and Saudi Arabia said they were ready to deploy ground troops in Syria as part of an international operation against the Islamic State group in Syria. Saudi jets have also been deployed in the southern Turkish Incirlik air base. TeleSur Related video added by Juan Cole: RT from last week: Damascus confirms its army targeted by Turkish shelling, complains to UN Cenk Uygur, John Iadarola, Ana Kasparian & Ben Mankiewicz | (The Young Turks Video) | This is the election where were finally focusing on the corrosive affect of money in politics, we now have one more issue that we can add to that list and once again it involves the Koch brothers. A Koch Industries back advocacy group is declaring war on electric cars. Cenk Uygur, John Iadarola, Ana Kasparian and Ben Mankiewicz of The Young Turks break down the war on electric cars, and the real reasons for it . . . The oil and gas industry may have thought it had killed the electric car, but sales boosted by generous government subsidies rose dramatically between 2010 and 2014, and energy giants are worried the thing may have come back to life. Time to kill it again. A new group thats being cobbled together with fossil fuel backing hopes to spend about $10 million dollars per year to boost petroleum-based transportation fuels and attack government subsidies for electric vehicles, according to refining industry sources familiar with the plan. A Koch Industries board member and a veteran Washington energy lobbyist are working quietly to fund and launch the new advocacy outfit. Koch Industries, the nations second-largest privately held corporation, is an energy and industrial conglomerate with $115 billion in annual revenues that is controlled by the multibillionaire brothers and prolific conservative donors Charles and David Koch. James Mahoney, a confidante of the brothers and member of their companys board, has teamed up with lobbyist Charlie Drevna, who until last year helmed the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers, for preliminary talks with several energy giants about funding the new pro-petroleum fuels group. Reddit Email 0 Shares By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | Bad news came out of Syria for Daesh (ISIS, ISIL) on two fronts Friday: Aleppo and, in Syrias far east, Hasakah. This has been a war with a lot of seesawing, so it is premature to make any decisive pronouncements. But this is an election year, and if (I say if) ISIL or Daesh as it is locally known were to be defeated in Syria in 2016, it would vindicate President Obamas strategy and would inevitably bolster the credentials of the Democratic Party on security. When we last attended to the dramatic advances of the Syrian Arab Army of Bashar al-Assad and its coalition just north of the countrys largest city, Aleppo, the forces being rolled back were al-Qaeda in Syria (the Nusra Front) and its political and tactical allies. In the last week, the Syrian military has raced east, right into Daesh territory. SAA liberate Jebb Ghabishah in East #Aleppo from ISIS. Since the beginning SAA has been fighting ISIS non stop! #map pic.twitter.com/duYxYKoD9K The 'Nimr' Tiger (@Souria4Syrians) February 18, 2016 On Friday, it was announced that the army, supported by Iranian and Iraqi militias, was closing in on the regional center of al-Bab, northeast of Aleppo, which is held by Daesh. Just 7 km to its southwest lie Jab Ghabisha and al-Sin, and these two towns have now fallen to the Syrian Arab Army. The SAA had come into al-Sin, then some of its troops were car-bombed by Daesh, provoking fierce gun battles and intense aerial bombardment by the Russian air force, and when the smoke cleared Daesh had been forced to withdraw. At the same time that the Syrian military and its allies have secured the entire area just north of Aleppo, the Kurdish YPG militia has taken a belt just to the north of Syrian Arab Army positions. Both strips of territory north of Aleppo are now bounded to the east by Daesh territory. The implications of these developments are that the rebel forces that hold east Aleppo are now completely cut off from resupply routes coming down from Turkey. Latest Aleppo control map by the excellent Agathocles of Syracuse sitehttps://t.co/rQiKgUGGZq pic.twitter.com/iS6SDB1jpv The War Nerd (@TheWarNerd) February 17, 2016 There is danger that the Syrian regime will subject east Aleppo to a horrific siege, in which non-combatants will face starvation, as has happened elsewhere in the country. While it is true, as Steven Kinzer points out, that the US press has an odd blind spot to the danger of al-Qaeda in Syria, it is unfair to see everyone in east Aleppo as al-Qaeda. Many are Syrians who rose up against a horrible, oppressive, one-party state notorious for spying on its citizens and its routine use of torture. In the far northeast of Syria, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces took the key town of al-Shaddadi, south of the city of Hasakah. The predominant force within the SDF is the YPG Kurdish militia. The Kurds of this region are attempting to carve out a semi-autonomous Kurdish ethnic province in Syria, which they call Rojava, and al-Shaddadi may mark its southern extent. The town was notorious as a slave market for Daesh, where Yazidi girls were sold. It also sits astride the main road link between Raqqa and Mosul, the Syrian and Iraqi capitals of the phony caliphate, respectively. Losing it may also make it harder for Daesh to supply its fighters in Deir al-Zor to the south. The SDF advance was made possible by intensive US bombing of Daesh positions in al-Shaddadi, just as the SAA advances toward al-Bab to the west were made possible by intensive Russian bombardment. The lesson once again that bombing is useless unless there are ground forces willing and able to take advantage of it. H/t U of Texas Maps Two wrinkles to this story of the roll-back of Daesh, which ought to be good news. First, Turkeys President Tayyip Erdogan is apoplectic about the Kurdish advances, both north of Aleppo and in Hasakah, and President Obama had a 90-minute telephone conversation with him Friday trying to reassure him that the US isnt screwing him over. Erdogan blamed Thursdays bombing in Ankara on the Syrian YPG (almost certainly an error or propaganda), and in turn blamed US-provided munitions. But the bottom line is that, as I mentioned at the beginning, it is an election year in the US, and the Democratic Party would benefit from a roll-up of Daesh this year, and the YPG is volunteering for the job (Turkey never did). So the US alliance with the YPG is likely to continue. In fact, there are 50 US spec ops warriors embedded with the YPG in the east, and the US has shared their positions with Russia so they there arent any accidental bombings of them. Me, I will regret the fall of east Aleppo, if it happens, because the Baath secret police will wreak a horrific revenge on the rebellious population. Likewise, I would have regretted the rebel capture of east Aleppo, where regime loyalists predominate, since they would have been massacred by al-Qaeda. (East Aleppo was cut off from food and had begun to starve in October before Russian intervention allowed the Syrian army to regain control of the supply routes). And, it would have been a nightmare for Syria and for the world if the al-Qaeda-led Army of Conquest had taken the western province of Latakia, whose some 2 million inhabitants are predominantly Alawites or other groups favorable to Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad. (See Robert Fisks first-hand report from Latakia, which is now back under regime control, and from which al-Qaeda has been expelled over the border into Turkey). The best thing would have been if the Munich cease-fire were implemented and positions frozen, forestalling reprisals, and if Syria could then move toward elections in which east Aleppo could just vote for a party that represented them, other than the Baath. Related video: YPG liberate Shaddadi City & Al-Jabseh Gas Field from ISIS TORONTO, Feb. 19, 2016 /CNW/ - Jaguar Mining Inc. ("Jaguar" or the "Company") (TSXV: JAG) today announced that, effective immediately, Hashim Ahmed, Vice President of Finance, has been appointed Interim Chief Financial Officer. Derrick Weyrauch, Chief Financial Officer, has stepped down to pursue other opportunities. Mr. Ahmed will oversee Jaguar's accounting functions and financial controls until the Company completes its search for a new permanent Chief Financial Officer. "With a strong background in finance in the mining sector, Hashim has a valuable understanding of our Company and I am confident he is the right leader to take on the role of Interim CFO as we initiate our search for a permanent CFO," stated Rodney Lamond, President and Chief Executive Officer of Jaguar Mining. "On behalf of the Board and myself, I want to thank Derrick for his contributions to Jaguar Mining over the past three years. We wish him well in his future endeavors." The Company has initiated its search for a new Chief Financial Officer and continues to be led by Rodney Lamond, Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Lamond is a seasoned mining professional and engineer with more than 27 years of experience in mine operations, development, exploration and executive management. About Jaguar Mining Inc. Jaguar is a gold producer with mining operations in a prolific greenstone belt in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. Additionally, Jaguar wholly owns the large-scale Gurupi Development Project in the state of Maranhao, Brazil. In total, the Company owns mineral claims covering an area of approximate 197,000-hectares. Additional information is available on the Company's website at www.jaguarmining.com. FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS Certain statements in this press release constitute "Forward-Looking Statements" within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, management's assessment of Jaguar's future plans and operation. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "are expected", "is forecast", "is targeted", "approximately", "plans", "anticipates" "projects", "anticipates", "continue", "estimate", "believe" or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might", or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. In this news release, information contained in forward-looking statements is based on current expectations that involve a number of known and unknown risks and uncertainties, including, among others, uncertainties with respect to the availability of qualified personnel or management and uncertainties inherent to capital markets in general, which, if incorrect, may cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated by Jaguar and described herein. For additional information with respect to these and other factors and assumptions underlying the forward-looking statements made in this news release, see the Company's most recent annual information form and management's discussion and analysis, as well as other public disclosure documents that can be accessed under the issuer profile of "Jaguar Mining Inc." on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. The forward-looking statements set forth herein reflect Jaguar's expectations as at the date of this news release and is subject to change after such date. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, other than as required by law. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulations Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. SOURCE Jaguar Mining Inc. MONTREAL, QUEBEC--(Marketwired - Feb. 19, 2016) - Beaufield Resources Inc. ("Beaufield") (TSX VENTURE:BFD) is pleased to announce the results of voting at its Annual General Meeting of Shareholders ("AGM") held on Thursday February 18, 2016 in Montreal, Canada. The shareholders approved the appointment of the three directors with Bernard Deluce, James Gervais and Jens Hansen with a 99% approval. Shareholders also voted in favour of appointing Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton LLP, as auditors of the Corporation for the ensuing year and authorizing the directors to fix their remuneration. A total of 29,785,774 Beaufield common shares were voted, representing approximately 26% of total shares issued and outstanding as at the record date of the meeting. Following the AGM the Board of Directors (the "Board") met and confirmed the appointment of the following Corporation executive officers: Jens Hansen: President and Chief Executive Officer; Vatche Tchakmakian: Chief Financial Officer and Secretary; and Mathieu Stephens: Vice President Exploration and Corporate Development And the appointment of the following members to the Corporation's Audit Committee: James C. Gervais (Chairman), Bernard Deluce and Jens E. Hansen The Board would like to thank the shareholders for their ongoing support. About Beaufield: Beaufield is a mineral exploration company with its exploration activity focused in Quebec. Beaufield is well positioned to advance its portfolio of exploration properties and identify other potential opportunities in the mineral exploration or development stage. The Corporation is actively exploring, well financed with approximately $2.5 million in cash, has no debt and has excess work credits on its properties. The information set forth in this press release includes certain forward-looking statements. Such statements are based on assumptions exposed to major risks and uncertainties. Although Beaufield deems the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements to be reasonable, the Corporation cannot provide any guarantee as to the materialization of the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements. The Corporation expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) has reviewed or accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this Release. LONGUEUIL, CANADA--(Marketwired - Feb. 19, 2016) - Reunion Gold Corporation (TSX VENTURE:RGD) (the "Company") announces that it has filed its interim consolidated financial statements and management's discussion and analysis for the third quarter ended December 31, 2015 on SEDAR (www.sedar.com). The Company's Matthews Ridge manganese project continues to be on care and maintenance as commodity prices, including manganese prices, remain weak. The Company has applied for an extension of its Matthews Ridge prospecting licenses, which extension can be granted at the discretion of the Minister responsible for the Guyana Mining Act. The decision on the extension application is still pending. The Company is evaluating various options to fund ongoing obligations and settle its negative working capital. The Company also announces that Mr. James Crombie has resigned as President, CEO and director of the Company. On behalf of the Company, Mr David Fennell wishes to thank Mr. Crombie for his past services and wishes him well in his future projects. Mr. Fennell will serve as Interim President and CEO of the Company in addition to his role as executive chairman. Forward looking statements This press release contains statements that are 'forward-looking information' under Canadian securities laws. Forward looking information refers to statements about possible events, conditions or results of operations that are based on assumptions about future economic conditions and courses of action. Forward-looking information is subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may result in actual events differing materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking information. Forward looking information in this news release includes statements about the renewal of the prospecting licenses and obtaining funds to continue its operations. A variety of risks and uncertainties could have an impact on the achievement of these objectives. There can be no assurance that the licenses will be renewed or that additional funds will be available on terms acceptable to the Company, or at all. The statements containing forward-looking information in this press release are made as of the date hereof and the Company undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking information, unless required to do so by applicable securities laws. About Reunion Gold Reunion Gold Corporation, an exploration stage company, has assembled a large, strategic land position to conduct exploration and development activities for manganese in the North West District of Guyana, South America. Additional information about the Company is available on SEDAR and on the Company's website (www.reuniongold.com). Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release. TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Feb. 19, 2016) - Rubicon Minerals Corporation (TSX:RMX)(OTC PINK:RBYCF) ("Rubicon" or the "Company") announces its intention to terminate, under both Section 12(g) and Section 15(d) of the United States Securities Exchange Act of 1934 as amended (the "Exchange Act"), the registration of its common shares and its obligation to file or furnish reports required by Section 13(a) and Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act. For this purpose, and pursuant to Rule 12h-6 of the Exchange Act, the Company will file a Form 15F with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") on February 22, 2016. The termination of the registration of its common shares under Section 12(g), and the termination of its reporting obligations under Section 13(a) and Section 15(d), of the Exchange Act, will become effective 90 days after its Form 15F is filed with the SEC. The Company's reporting obligations with the SEC, including its obligation to file annual reports on Form 20-F and furnish reports on Form 6-K, will be suspended immediately. Rubicon's common shares will continue to be listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange ("TSX"), one of the world's premier stock exchanges for mining and exploration companies. In addition, the Company's common shares will continue to be quoted on the U.S. over-the-counter ("OTC") markets under its ticker symbol on the OTC Pink. Rubicon's reporting obligations will continue to be met in accordance with Canadian securities regulations and filed on SEDAR under the Company's profile at www.sedar.com, as well as www.otcmarkets.com, and on the Company's website, www.rubiconminerals.com. RUBICON MINERALS CORPORATION Michael Winship, Interim President and Chief Executive Officer Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information This announcement contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking statements include expressions such as "believe," "anticipate," "expect," "estimate," "intend," "may," "plan," "predict," "will" and similar terms and expressions. These forward-looking statements are made based on expectations and beliefs concerning future events affecting Rubicon and are subject to various risks, uncertainties and factors relating to Rubicon's operations and business environment, all of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond Rubicon's control, which could cause Rubicon's actual results to differ materially from those matters expressed in or implied by these forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements, including Rubicon's expectation that its common shares will continue to be quoted on the TSX and the OTC markets, are based on assumptions management believes to be reasonable at the time such statements are made. Although Rubicon has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from expected results described in forward-looking statements include, but are not limited those risk factors set out in the Company's current Annual Information Form, Management's Discussion and Analysis and other disclosure documents available under the Company's profile at www.SEDAR.com. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Such forward-looking statements have been provided for the purpose of assisting investors in understanding the Company's plans and objectives and may not be appropriate for other purposes. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements contained herein are made as of the date of this release and Rubicon disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Toronto Stock Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. May you live in interesting times, says a Chinese curse. Yet, reaching adulthood in interesting times might be an even grimmer fate. Jan Gassmanns documentary Europe, She Loves pays a tribute to European youths lost years. Each year feels historic. Were used to that by now. Europes incessant crises layer one upon the other like archaeological strata. One such layer is the youth unemployment crisis. It has been menacing the future of the continents unification project, threatening to turn many current political visions into fossils of extinct hopes. When the crisis broke out in the media, the youth unemployment in the EUs peripheral countries such as Greece, Spain and the newest member state, Croatia, was around 50 per cent. There also have been dramatic differences between the centre and the periphery. Only 7 per cent of young Germans are currently unemployed. Against this general background, Jan Gassmann (born 1983) came up with an idea for Europe, She Loves. The idea came to me in the shower, he says. The films premiere-screening opened the Berlinales Panorama Documentary section. Of all places in Europe, Gassmann comes from Switzerland an island of relative stability in a vortex of EU-crises. However, even though Switzerland is not a part of the EU, I consider myself European, said Gassmann during the Q&A. I portrayed my generation people who, in a way, missed several years of their lives due to the economic crisis. This film could not have been made elsewhere. Gassmanns team sets out to the four corners of the European Union Tallinn, Thessaloniki, Seville and Dublin to film the life of young couples there, to take the pulse of Europe in crisis from its youngest. Gassmanns cameraman, Ramon Giger (born 1982) follows the life of four couples as they struggle with the unpromising reality around them and fail to dream of a better future, as they make love and do drugs. In Tallinn, Veronika dances in a Russian nightclub to make ends meet, while, during the day, she struggles to maintain her patchwork familys cohesion. In Thessaloniki, Penny plans to try her luck in Italy, while her friend Niko seems to have contented himself with his job as a pizza deliverer. Still living with her mother in Sevilla, Caro is refused admission to Masters studies and puts aside money to move to Barcelona, while her boyfriend Juan cant really complain after finding a job as a night-shift watchman. In Dublin, Siobhan and Terry make music and fight their drug addiction and hopelessness. Filming for ten days in each city, Gassmann and Giger gained the full trust of their protagonists. Yet, they also cut the edge of the documentary genre formally. The films soundscape is embedded with archival audio-samples, crackling like radio-waves, carrying an ethereal mix of worrisome news, passionate speeches of Brussels leading politicians, foreboding analyses of national media pundits, etc. Contrasting this ghostly soundscape with the concrete lives of Europes youngest adults is both a test of the reality behind the European idea and a restitution of reality, usurped by the virtual sphere of institutionalized politics and media, back to those lives. The unabashed sex scenes made with such a lightness, as if the ban on frontal-male-nudity had never existed are laboured but also inevitable and almost obsessive. In one such scene, in the thick of it, so to speak, Veronika complains that sex seems to her a replacement for something else. However, the sexuality in Europe, She Loves is not entirely escapist. Arguably, the very fabric of contemporary existence has been affected by the logic of crisis, which the philosopher Zygmunt Bauman recently described as follows: Anything can happen, but nothing can be done. Hence, sex often seems the only feasible possibility to actually do something, to once again make something happen. Even the drugs have got boring. Well, sex is still good when you get it, sings Kate Tempest in her song Europe Is Lost during the film credits. The song could well function as the hymn of Gassmanns BoredOfItAll generation a generation that is usually called Millennial or Generation Y as a reference to the previous post-baby-boom generation that received the letter X. Instead, I would call it Generation XXX. The triple X would allude to this generations three crossed-out expectations: of economic participation, of European democratisation and of European unity. It would also refer to the fact that this generation grew up with live porn streamed to their pre-teens bedrooms. The films visual language is the fruit of porns self-evident ubiquitousness, and this fruit is not at all rotten. Nevertheless, Europe, She Loves is a typical festival-film that is almost predestined not to reach wider audiences. Full of distressing beauty, it is too groundbreaking. Its honesty at times amusingly insane, at other times unpleasant makes it a film about which one says: Im not sure I liked it, but I truly appreciate having watched it. Critics complain that the film is lacking a perceptible thesis. Conservatives see it as an accurate portrayal of contemporary youth disinterested in politics, killing time with hedonistic and individualistic pursuits, with sex and drugs. Indeed, the films message visual statement dissolves into a dark premonition marked by a lonely figure walking tiredly though dry fields under a cloudy dusk sky scattered with flocks of aimlessly circling black birds. But isnt precisely this premonition the very aesthetic and political thesis of the film? Were going nowhere, faster than a speeding bullet, sings Siobhan and strums decisively a minor chord. In these interesting times, new hopes will probably be conceived in the dark. Berlinale 2016 Live Coverage & Opening article by Daniel Tkatch Katoikos.eu exclusive! We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form FILE - In this April 9, 2014 file photo, Elizabeth and Richard Jones, flip through photos of their daughter Sarah Jones, the 27-year-old camera assistant killed Feb. 20 by a freight train while filming a movie in southeast Georgia, as they sit in their attorney's office, in Atlanta. Jones' parents of Columbia, S.C., have been meeting with film industry executives and workers in Los Angeles in advance of the two year anniversary of their daughter's death, which occurred on a Georgia film set. The Jones' spoke to film workers on a Los Angeles film set on Thursday, Feb. 18, 2016, delivering a simple but powerful message - that future set fatalities could be prevented if they looked out for one another. (AP Photo/David Goldman, File) SHARE Karen Maria James of Bainbridge Island Feb. 27, 1939 to Jan. 31, 2016 Bainbridge Island resident and respected cultural anthropologist, Karen James, age 76, died unexpectedly on Jan. 31, 2016. Karen was beloved by her family, many friends, and generations of animals who were attracted to her warm, caring spirit. Born in Tacoma, Washington on Feb. 27, 1939, to David and Maria James, Karen was a descendant of the James family who emigrated from Cornwall in 1852 and settled on Ground Mound Prairie in southwest Washington. On her mother's side, she was a descendant of the Finnish Heikkinen family. With her parents and younger brother, Evan, Karen lived in Lakewood, Seattle, and Union, Washington. She finished high school at Annie Wright in Tacoma, and attended Mills College and the University of Edinburgh. She then returned to the University of Washington where she completed her graduate work in cultural anthropology. Karen held lifelong commitments to social justice, women's rights, peace and preserving the natural environment. Karen was an active cultural anthropologist for nearly 50 years. Her life's work included archival and community-based research with many NW tribes. Karen, her spouse, Dex McCulloch, and their children moved to Bainbridge Island in 1978, near her parents' home. For decades, the James and McCulloch homes were the welcoming center of holiday celebrations for family and a diverse group of friends who were included as full members of Karen's extended family. As years passed, "Aiti" delighted in spending time teaching her grandchildren about the habits of crows, the wonders of the seashore and the joy and responsibilities of caring for animals and plants. Karen always sought to understand the world and its diverse peoples. She enjoyed good conversations, daily newspapers, a variety of music and travel. Karen's thoughtfulness, sincerity, great sense of humor and full engagement with the people she was around will be greatly missed. She is survived by her sons, Matt and Neal McCulloch, Dexter McCulloch; her two grandchildren, Alex and Hailey McCulloch; many friends and extended family. The Herald reports: Thousands of Kiwis who arrived in Australia after it tightened its immigration rules in 2001 will now be given an easier path to seek Australian citizenship under certain conditions. If they earned A$53,000 over five consecutive years ($57,000) between 2001 and today, they will eventually be able to apply for permanent residence and eventually apply for citizenship. Mr Key estimates that up to 100,000 of the 305,000 Kiwis who arrived to live in Australia between 2001 and today could meet the criteria and get a new pathway to citizenship. Thats the best solution for Kiwis in Australia who dont get the same rights as Australians allow them to become Australians. Tracy Watkins notes how rare this is: Leverage its that thing Australia has got in spades in the trans-Tasman relationship, and something that has always been in short supply on our side. So whether its thanks to Pyjama diplomacy, trans-Tasman arm wrestling or the Anzac spirit, Malcolm Turnbulls move to open the door wider to Kiwis across the Tasman is the first real instance of an Australian leader backing up his words about our special relationship with action on the expat front. Actions, not words. The most important plus is the reversal in trans-Tasman flows to a small net gain in people crossing the ditch from Australia to New Zealand, rather than the other way. It would have been much harder to sell the deal if there were still 35,000 Kiwis a year flooding Australias borders, as there were when the Key government first took power. It helps also that in the Australian business community at least, New Zealand is no longer seen as a basket case economy in fact, most look across the Tasman with envy and ask their Government why things are not so good in Australia. Our economic strength made this possible. But there is also a personal dimension to the win. Key and Turnbull clearly have a warm relationship something that took Australian media by surprise when they learned Turnbull was hosting John and Bronagh Key overnight at his Sydney waterfront mansion. They were dubbing it Pyjama diplomacy, noting that it was unprecedented for an Australian leader to host a visiting foreign leader at their own home. And relationships count. Share this: Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Reddit WhatsApp More Pinterest Print Tumblr CBS reports: Most of the suspects identified in connection with a series of robberies and sexual assaults in Cologne during New Years celebrations are refugees, prosecutors said Monday. The crimes, described as unprecedented by authorities, sparked uproar in Germany and a heated debate about the countrys ability to integrate almost 1.1 million people who sought asylum there last year. The incident has led to both a political and a personal backlash against the mostly Middle Eastern and North African asylum seekers that flooded the country last year. Cologne prosecutor Ulrich Bremer said 73 suspects have been identified so far most of them from North Africa. A total of 1,075 criminal complaints have been filed, including 467 alleging crimes of a sexual nature ranging from insults to rape. The overwhelming majority of persons fall into the general category of refugees, Bremer told The Associated Press, saying recent reports describing only three of the suspects as refugees were total nonsense. Initially, authorities in Cologne were accused of downplaying the fact that the attackers included many asylum-seekers because of the political sensitivity of the issue. The suspects included 30 Moroccan nationals, 27 Algerians, four Iraqis, three Germans, three Syrians, three Tunisians, and one each from Libya, Iran and Montenegro, Bremer said. They have various legal statuses, including illegal entry, asylum-seekers and asylum applicants, he said of the foreign suspects. That covers the overwhelming majority of suspects. SHARE AMY SMOTHERMAN BURGESS/NEWS SENTINEL More than 300 solar panels have been installed on the roof of the Knox County Central Building on Central Street. Ameresco is installing solar arrays at 11 Knox County schools and several other facilities, a $12.45 million project scheduled to be completed this year. LEE INGRAM/SPECIAL TO THE NEWS SENTINEL/FILE PHOTO In this December 2014 file photo, church member Rick Rawe shows the solar panels installed at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Knoxville. Rawe was the lead person for the solar installation and other energy efficiency improvements at the church. By Sophie Quinton T he Rev. Nelson Johnson knows regulators don't like the $20,000 solar panel system on the roof of his Faith Community Church in Greensboro, N.C. But the minister says he's willing to go to court to protect it. "This is something that just makes moral sense, spiritual sense and financial sense," Johnson said. The sun, which God has given everybody, shouldn't just enrich powerful utility companies, he said. Sunny Southern states have plenty of solar energy potential, and utilities across the region have begun to build large solar projects as the technology's price has dropped. But few homes and businesses sport solar panel systems largely because many states in the region haven't embraced policies that support a residential market. That's not the case in Tennessee, where TVA has piloted programs to incentivize residential and commercial solar, but other state utility companies still say residential solar systems like Johnson's cost them money because solar owners pay less in monthly electricity bills yet expect their utility to step in and deliver power whenever their system doesn't. Solar advocates, on the other hand, say residential solar systems save utilities money by taking pressure off the electrical grid. The solar system on the broad, flat roof of the nondenominational Faith Community Church was put there by NC WARN, an environmental advocacy group, to challenge state regulators. The group owns the system and charges the church for the electricity it produces an ownership structure that is popular in other states but illegal in North Carolina. Just seven states, all below the Mason-Dixon Line Alabama, Florida, Kentucky, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina and West Virginia ban such third-party power purchase agreements, according to the North Carolina Clean Energy Technology Center at N.C. State University. Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi and Tennessee don't have rules governing how utilities reimburse customers for the excess electricity they generate. TVA's offering, Green Power Providers, targets residential and commercial customers who wish to install small-scale renewable generation systems of 50 kilowatts or less and participants are paid for every kWh generated by their renewable energy system generally through a credit on their utility bill. Advocates like Johnson are pushing policymakers to create a similarly friendly environment for solar power, and several states have begun to do so. But some utilities, worried that they may be crowded out, are pushing back. "It's not really about solar at all," Duke Energy Corp. spokesman Randy Wheeless said of the partnership between Faith Community Church and NC WARN. "It's more about someone trying to set themselves up to be an electric utility when they're not." Less than half a percent of the United States' electricity comes from solar power. However, the sector is growing rapidly. Two-thirds of all solar photovoltaic installations in the country went online in the past three years, according to the latest data from the Solar Energy Industries Association and GTM Research, a firm that analyzes the electricity industry. Utility-scale solar farms and solar thermal projects comprise about 60 percent of the nation's solar capacity. But small-scale solar is also catching on. By the end of 2014, some 600,000 U.S. homes and businesses had a solar system, according to GTM Research. And the South is a good place for solar. Thanks to proximity to the equator and lack of cloud and snow cover, more radiation from the sun hits states like North Carolina and Georgia than, say, upstate New York (although less than the desert Southwest). The U.S. Department of Energy calculates that both states receive 5-5.5 kilowatt hours of solar energy per meter per day, compared with upstate New York's 4-4.5. Solar power only recently became low-cost enough to compete with other energy sources in the South, said Lauren "Bubba" McDonald, a member of the Georgia Public Service Commission. "What's making it happen is the technological advancement in solar energy the panels, the price. That's what's making the difference." In 2013, McDonald and his fellow regulators asked Georgia's major investor-owned utility, Georgia Power, to start planning more solar projects. Nationwide, policymakers have used financial incentives and regulation to propel utility-scale construction and create a rooftop solar market. Federal and state tax credits, for instance, have made solar investments attractive. As of October, 29 states required utilities to generate a certain share of their electricity from renewable sources such as solar power, hydropower and biomass, according to the N.C. State clean energy center. North Carolina is the only Southern state to have such a requirement, excluding Texas in the Southwest. It requires that by calendar year 2018 at least 0.2 percent of electricity sales to retail customers must come from solar. While utility-scale solar is spreading in the South, residential solar isn't. Just 7 percent of North Carolina's solar capacity comes from small-scale installations. Small systems remain too expensive for most homeowners and businesses. Cheap electricity from fossil fuels and nuclear power gives property owners less reason to buy a system, and most states' laws haven't opened the door to the kinds of third-party ownership arrangements offered by companies like SolarCity Corp. and Sunrun Inc. An analysis of data from solar panels representing four-fifths of U.S. solar capacity in 2014 found that almost two-thirds of residential solar systems were owned by a third party. SolarCity's most popular option is called a power purchase agreement, and it works like this: The company installs a solar system on a customer's property, for no money down, and commits to maintaining the system over the length of the 20-year contract. The company pockets tax credits for the installations, sells the customers the electricity (usually at a lower rate than they would pay their utility) and sells excess electricity back to the grid. If all goes well, the customer saves money and the company makes money. "It's the kind of business that people in business school dream about," said Richard Sedano of the Regulatory Assistance Project, a nonprofit that advises public officials on the power sector. But no Southern state has lined up all the incentives and regulations needed for the model to work, said SolarCity spokeswoman Suzanne Merkelson. "It all has to be economically efficient. So you sort of have to have the right recipe to get the meal cooking," she said. Looking north to the North Acropolis SHARE Doug Paul, right, and travel companions Gavin Moore, John Baker and Sam Bolton, from left, atop Temple II overlooking the central plaza of Tikal. Howler monkeys raise a terrible noise in the jungle, especially eerie as night falls. The view from atop Temple IV looking over the jungle and waiting for sunset. The masterfully carved Jade Mask is appropriately protected in a steel vault at the Museum of Archeology in Guatemala City. By Doug Paul Okay, so the world didn't end in 2012 nor did the Maya ever say it would, despite the hype about their calendar. Over the past 10 years, I have visited a number of their enormous stone cities that extend over vast reaches of Guatemala, Mexico, Honduras and Belize. The most recent adventure found me with three good friends trekking over the vast Mayan cities of Tikal, Yaxha and the barely excavated and barely accessible Naranjo. Our journey began with a flight to Guatemala City and a day spent exploring the immense and well-tended Museum of Archaeology. With exhibits well explained in both Spanish and English, the greatest treasures of the Mayan world are housed there, defined by era. It's a "don't miss" venue for any who crave a cultural experience exceeding that of the mere tourist. The masterfully carved Jade Mask featured on the cover of the Sept. 1987 issue of National Geographic is appropriately protected there in a steel vault that would make Wells Fargo proud. In the Mayan world, the value of jade exceeded that of gold. The group, consisting of myself, Sam Bolton, John Baker and Dr. Gavin Moore from South Africa, arrived in Flores, the jump-off point in the heart of the Maya's jungle kingdoms. This picturesque city is located on a small peninsula in Lake Peten Itza. From here we had prearranged transport to the best known Maya metropolis, the city of Tikal. Tikal is one of the largest Mayan sites, covering over six square miles mapped and the central ceremonial center well excavated. The grounds are dutifully maintained and exist in a wondrous jungle setting inhabited by howler monkeys, raccoon-like coatl mundis and more bird species than one could count. There are also snakes of the venomous variety, almost never seen, but the potential hazard kept us aware that we are invading their domain, albeit with the best of intentions. Advancing from the comfort of the Tikal Inn, we approached Tikal's central acropolis on a wide path that meanders through the suburbs of the early inhabitants. Soon we encountered the massive rear wall of Temple I that rises 170 feet above the main plaza. Far too steep to climb, we ascended the accommodating wooden stairs of Temple II that opposes its bigger brother but still offers a breathtaking view of the central acropolis. Tikal boasts five major temples as well as over 200 other stone structures composed of temples, stelae and altars. A stone's throw beyond the excavated structures are massive green hills; but they are not hills, they are themselves temples awaiting the excavator's trowel. Continuing west, we passed Temple III, 180 feet high and only partially excavated. As resources dictate, it will one day reveal even more of the history of Tikal. Temple V, my personal favorite for its massive symmetry, tops III at 190 feet. Lastly, after a 20-minute jaunt at a brisk pace, is Temple IV. At 212 feet, this massive structure stands higher than any other building known in Pre-Columbian America! As dusk descended on the jungle, the four of us made the arduous climb up the wooden staircase and gazed over the dense green jungle blanket punctured only by the other Temple peaks. We thrilled to the raucous calls of the howler monkeys, easily imagined as roaring lions, and marveled at the people who constructed this Oz-worthy city. Night fell and we were alone, save for a few workers, the tourists having long since departed. Armed with our battery-powered torches, we attempted to retrace our steps along trails through the darkness. Those awe-inspiring temples became the dearest of friends, guiding us with their bulk through what was transformed into a city of the dead. We were a bit less sure of ourselves as some primordial instinct reminded us that we were participants in "the law of the jungle" in a very real sense. It wouldn't do to get lost. Thirty minutes and a few miscues later, we emerged into our world of electric lights, a good meal and a warm bed. Our weary foursome traveled the next morning to Yaxha, the site used by "Survivor Guatemala" in 2005. Sam and I had visited the impressive ruins six months before the TV series and were amazed by how the income generated had contributed to further excavation and preservation. It is an impressive city in its own right, sort of a Knoxville compared to a Tikal Los Angleles. Our guide at Yaxha, Juan Carlo De La Hoz, offered us a unique adventure the following day. With his home-built 4-wheel-drive vehicle that I named The Beast, we jolted our way to a lesser known but equally impressive Mayan city, Naranjo. With excavators currently engaged in unwrapping the pyramids, temples and tombs from their tangled green cloaks, we were able to see for ourselves how 1,000 years of jungle growth could hide an entire city from the modern world. The two-hour trip was worth the bruises and an unforeseen highlight of our jungle journey. After four days of posing as Ramar, Jungle Jim, and Tarzan, we decided we deserved a little vacation time. About an hour west of Guatemala City lies a tranquil Lake Atitlan guarded by three currently dormant volcanoes. We boated across the expanse to visit several native villages where we were greeted by the chaos of the local market day. Clad in a multitude of blazing colors, vendors of every sort vied for their share of business from both tourist and local shoppers. Having survived that gauntlet, we concluded the evening by watching a magnificent sunset put on a performance that couldn't be custom ordered. Alas all good things must end and my companions and I found ourselves following different threads home, three to Tennessee and one to Boksburg, South Africa. I read somewhere that the world is like a book, and if you don't travel you never got off the first page. I have been fortunate to have read many chapters in that wondrous volume but it's a BIG book. Doug Paul is a Knoxville resident and an avid traveler. SHARE Joseph Dillon French / BLOUNT COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE By News Sentinel Staff Blount County Sheriff's Office deputies are searching for a teenage inmate who escaped from the juvenile detention center with a weapon Friday evening, authorities said. Joseph Dillon French, 16, of Friendsville was taken into custody Sunday after he was reported missing for weeks in January. Around 8:15 p.m. Friday, he attacked a Blount County corrections officer, took her weapon and escaped from the detention center on Court Street in Maryville, according to a Sheriff's Office spokeswoman. French is 5 feet, 6 inches tall and weighs 180 pounds. He has brown hair and brown eyes and was wearing a tan jumpsuit. Deputies are asking people to call E-911 if they see someone matching his description. "Public safety is our primary concern," Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Marian O'Briant said. "Thank God it occurred at night." More details as they develop online and in Saturday's News Sentinel. Knox County Schools Logo SHARE By Jamie Satterfield of the Knoxville News Sentinel If Tennessee's teachers want to change the way they are evaluated, they need to vote, not sue, a federal judge said in a ruling this week striking down a Knox County case that challenged the constitutionality of the state's evaluation scheme. U.S. District Judge Harry S. Mattice Jr., in a ruling made public Wednesday, has tossed out of court lawsuits filed by two Knox County teachers and later adopted by the Tennessee Education Association challenging the use of test scores from the Tennessee Value Added Assessment System, or TVAAS, in evaluations that determine such things as bonuses. The lawsuits, filed in 2014 by teachers Lisa Trout and Mark Taylor, were said to be test cases for the entire state, but Mattice ruled the teachers flunked because they could not show either through their situations or relevant case law the state's evaluation process violates teachers' constitutional rights. At most, Mattice said, the teachers could make a case for breach of contract, but that is a state court claim best left for the state judicial system. In striking down the lawsuit, Mattice was not unsympathetic to the teachers' claims the evaluation process, particularly with its use of TVAAS scores measuring student growth not teacher performance using an algorithm that is not fail proof. "The court notes that (teachers') criticism of the statistic methods of TVAAS are not unfounded," he wrote. But their beef, the judge ruled, is not with the constitution, but the Tennessee Legislature. "In addressing (the educators') constitutional claims this court's role is extremely limited," Mattice wrote. "The judiciary is not empowered to second-guess the wisdom of the Tennessee Legislature's approach to solving the problems facing public education but rather must determine whether the policy at issue is rationally related to a legitimate government interest. "While the court expresses no opinion as to whether the Tennessee Legislature has enacted sound public policy, it finds that the use of TVAAS as a means to measure teacher efficacy survives minimal constitutional scrutiny. If this policy proves to be unworkable in practice, plaintiffs are not to be vindicated by judicial intervention but rather by democratic process." At issue in the lawsuits was a key component of the evaluation apparatus created by the state to garner funding for education under the federal "Race to the Top" initiative and its most controversial provision. In the lawsuits, Trout and Taylor claimed using tests scores from TVAAS of students they don't even teach or subject areas in which they are not certified was unfair, unreliable and a violation of their constitutional due process rights. Only certain grade levels take those tests, and not every teacher taught those students who take the tests. But the scores make up 35 percent of a teacher's evaluation score, which the legal action by the pair says affects bonuses, promotions, firing decisions and improvement requirements. Trout filed suit against Knox County Schools after she was denied a bonus tied to the state scores while a teacher at the Richard Yoakley School, an alternative school for struggling students. The tests involved algebra II. Trout is certified in algebra I. Taylor, a science teacher, sued when his evaluation score dipped below the level needed to garner a bonus because of scores of students he did not teach. Both tried to appeal to Schools Superintendent Jim McIntyre and the Knox County school board, but court records show their requests were shot down. The lawsuit alleged the TVAAS model was itself flawed and the state's reliance on it to judge teachers wrong. Former Gov. Phil Bredesen was the driving force behind the state's bid in 2010 to garner "Race to the Top" funding. McIntyre helped draft the grant proposal. Mattice dismissed the federal constitutional claims portions of the lawsuit "with prejudice," which means it cannot be resurrected with new facts or legal claims or in another court. His decision can be appealed, though, to the 6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. No appeal notice had been filed Friday. Mattice dismissed the state breach of contract claims without prejudice, giving the teachers the opportunity to mount a challenge through the state court system. SHARE Chris Graves Attendees at the 2014 wild game dinner help themselves to wild game fare ranging from roast duck to barbecued beaver and bear at the University of Tennessee. The annual fundraising event is hosted by the UT student chapter of the Wildlife and Fisheries Society. The event is open to the public at the Brehm Animal Science Arena on the UT agricultural campus, 2506 River Drive. (HEATHER INMAN/SPECIAL TO THE NEWS SENTINEL) Attendees at the 2014 wild game dinner help themselves to wild game fare ranging from roast duck to barbecued beaver and bear at the University of Tennessee. The annual fund raising event is hosted by the UT student chapter of the Wildlife and Fisheries Society. The event is open to the public at the Brehm Animal Science Arena on the UT agricultural campus, 2506 River Drive. (HEATHER INMAN/SPECIAL TO THE NEWS SENTINEL) By Morgan Simmons of the Knoxville News Sentinel How does bear meat compare to wild boar? Should beaver be cooked tail on or tail off? And if you really had to "eat crow" after admitting you're wrong, would it taste all that bad? These and other thought-provoking culinary questions will be laid to rest at today's wild game banquet that gets underway at 5:30 p.m. at the Brehm Animal Science Arena on the University of Tennessee agricultural campus. Hosted by the student chapter of the Wildlife and Fisheries Society at the University of Tennessee, the potluck dinner is open to the public for a $10 donation (uniformed officers, military personnel and children 12 and under eat free). Everyone is asked to bring their favorite dish if not wild game or fish, then vegetables or a dessert and there's a $5 discount for each dish brought to the banquet. The wild game dinner has been ongoing since 1969. The event is run by students with help from faculty advisers like Chris Graves, UT wildlife instructor, who attributes the banquet's growing success to the students' ability to come up with fresh recipes and new ideas. "Beaver is a popular item," Graves said. "The backstraps taste as good as fine beef. Our students generally cook beaver whole and leave the tail attached, just for fun." The cooking begins the night before the banquet. The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency brings a team that specializes in Dutch oven cooking, and in the hours leading up to the event, a section of the parking area outside the Brehm Animal Science Arena is filled with commercial-grade smokers, tow-behind barbecue grills and propane burners. Throughout the year the students procure the wild game through donations or by hunting and trapping it themselves. Last year more than 400 guests attended the wild game dinner, bringing with them everything from catfish and walleye to baked quail and barbecued bear meat. Moose and caribou are regular buffet items, and so is venison chili. "One year a student cooked a whole bobcat on a smoker, and it was delicious," Graves said. "But the best I've ever tasted was ruffed grouse. Hands down, that was better than any domestic bird or wild fowl I've ever had." Proceeds from the wild game dinner benefit the student chapter of the Wildlife and Fisheries Society at UT. Last year the students won the Southeastern Wildlife Conclave held at Virginia Tech, beating out 20 colleges in competitions ranging from a quiz bowl to field events that tested the students' knowledge of animal tracks and wildlife behavior. This year's president of the UT student chapter of the Wildlife and Fisheries Society is Ethan Newman, a senior from Beech Bluff, Tenn. After he graduates, Newman hopes to get a job as a private lands biologist focusing on vegetative management. In the past he has cooked beaver and possum, but at this year's banquet, he'll be preparing raccoon. "I plan on using a dry rub, and I'll be cooking it whole," Newman said. "There won't be anything outside the tail that won't be grilled." For the last two years Newman has taken care of the cooking crews and overseen the process of setting up for the banquet. He said most of the wild meat will be marinated and slow-cooked on grills or smokers. "We like to experiment with recipes that change people's mind on wild game," he said. "We want to expand their taste buds beyond turkey and deer." Tennessee historian Dr. Carroll Van West gives comments as a new Civil War Trails marker was dedicated between the old Knox County courthouse and the City County building Friday, Dec. 5, 2014 in Knoxville, TN. The marker was presented by the Knox County Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission and the East Tennessee Historical Society. (AMY SMOTHERMAN BURGESS/NEWS SENTINEL) SHARE By Richard Locker NASHVILLE A proposed new state historical marker in Memphis will have both "Memphis Race Riot of 1866" and "The Memphis Massacre" as its titles, under revised wording approved Friday by the Tennessee Historical Commission. The 29-member state commission has spent hours discussing and revising the text for the new marker and particularly whether the title should refer to the "1866 Memphis Massacre" as proposed by the NAACP's Memphis branch, or the "Memphis Race Riot of 1866," which the commission approved in October. Friday's vote would put both names in a two-line title, with the race riot wording on top. The official marker is to be erected at Army-Navy Parks, two small parks separated by South 2nd Street at G.E. Patterson Avenue in South Memphis, in time for a sesquicentennial commemoration of the events in May. The Memphis branch of the NAACP, which requested the marker and would fund most or all of its costs, must sign off on the new wording. The state's official historical markers, which are topped by the tri-star of the state flag, are erected by the Tennessee Historical Commission. But because of inadequate state funding, the markers are usually requested and subsidized by local sponsors, often with suggested wording. This one was proposed by the NAACP's local branch, which also submitted language. But the commission has authority to approve the final wording, with a focus on accuracy. The proposed text would describe the events as follows: "On May 1, 2, and 3, 1866, an estimated 200-300 white people, the great majority of whom were Irish immigrants, including many policemen, attacked recently emancipated black people. At least 40 blacks were murdered, dozens more wounded, several black women were raped and many others robbed. Rioters burned numerous black churches, schools and houses. Federal troops still stationed in the city restored order on May 3. No one was prosecuted in connection with the riot, which was characterized by several newspaper accounts and a Congressional committee report as a 'massacre.' "The Memphis riot was a rallying cry in the momentous battle over the nation's reconstruction following the Civil War. Ultimately, it helped ensure Congress' passage and submission to the states of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution." There was a lengthy discussion at the commission's last quarterly meeting in October, when NAACP representatives objected to a virtually complete rewrite of their original wording, including changing the title from "1866 Memphis Massacre" to "Memphis Race Riot of 1866." After the October meeting, University of Tennessee history professor emeritus Stephen V. Ash expressed concerns about the accuracy of the commission's revised language in an email to Phyllis Aluko, a Memphis lawyer who drafted the NAACP's original text and who spoke at length on the NAACP's behalf at the October meeting in Jonesborough, Tenn. Ash specializes in Tennessee's Reconstruction period; he researched and wrote "A Massacre in Memphis" about the events. Ash's email was forwarded earlier to members of the Historical Commission. Friday's four-hour meeting was held in Jubilee Hall at Fisk University, the historically black college in Nashville founded in the same year as the Memphis events 150 years ago. At the meeting, commission member Sam Elliott, a Chattanooga lawyer, moved to rescind the commission's October action on the marker and replace it with a new version that he said incorporates the UT professor's suggestions and most of the NAACP's. Elliott's revision was originally titled, "Memphis Race Riot of 1866" but after more give and take, the commission approved the new wording with both names in the title. It also changed several words and phrases at Aluko's urging. Madeline Taylor, executive director of the NAACP's Memphis branch, told the commission she lacks authority to approve the new wording unilaterally and must take the revision back to leaders of the Memphis branch for further discussion and approval before the group agrees to funding the marker. Much of the talk focused on what the events were called over time. Aluko said some early accounts sought to whitewash the events, but the congressional committee appointed to investigate called it a massacre. "Turning one's aggression systematically on other people to me meets the definition of a massacre ... That is backed up by language used by Congress at the time. In my mind's eye of what happened, it would occur to me to call it a massacre rather than a riot," said commission member Bill Lyons, deputy to Knoxville Mayor Madeline Rogero and former UT political science professor. Memphis Race Riot of 1866 The Memphis Massacre On May 1, 2, and 3, 1866, an estimated 200-300 white people, the great majority of whom were Irish immigrants, including many policemen, attacked recently emancipated black people. At least 40 blacks were murdered, dozens more wounded, several black women were raped, and many others robbed. Rioters burned numerous black churches, schools, and houses. Federal troops still stationed in the city restored order on May 3. No one was prosecuted in connection with the riot, which was characterized by several newspaper accounts and a Congressional committee report as a massacre. The Memphis riot was a rallying cry in the momentous battle over the nations reconstruction following the Civil War. Ultimately, it helped ensure Congress passage and submission to the states of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. SHARE Nearly one in four Tennesseans smokes cigarettes, and too many are sick or dying because of it. Smoking contributes to heart disease, stroke and lung cancer, and is the leading cause of preventable death in the state. Yet, the smoking rate in Tennessee is 24.3 percent, exceeding the national rate of 18 percent. And sadly, the average age to start smoking in Tennessee is just 11. What's most troubling is so many people want to stop smoking but can't quit. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 70 percent of smokers want to quit at any given time, but it can take six to 11 attempts before a smoker is successful at ending the addiction. That's why Gov. Bill Haslam has proclaimed Feb. 22-26 as "Tennessee Quit Week." Health care organizations across the state are supporting a new smoking cessation campaign led by the Tennessee Department of Health's Statewide Tobacco-Free Coalition titled "It's Quittin' Time in Tennessee." As it is across the state, smoking is a prevalent issue in East Tennessee, where Summit Medical Group serves more than 250,000 patients. Approximately 12 percent, or 30,000, of these patients are reported smokers. Fortunately, 21,000 of them say they are interested in quitting. We must give them the tools and resources they need. The tobacco cessation campaign emphasizes the importance of teamwork with health professionals to help smokers quit. There is a 66 percent higher rate of success when the health care provider encourages the patient to attend a cessation program, and just three minutes of provider counseling can increase the quit rate by 30 percent. Through our business partner, Summit Strategic Solutions, Summit Medical Group offers our patients free registration in the Freedom From Smoking class led by American Lung Association-certified instructors. This six-week series has produced a cessation rate three times higher than the national average. "It's Quittin' Time in Tennessee" launches Monday in conjunction with "Tennessee Quit Week" to celebrate Tennesseans who have quit tobacco and inspire more people to join them. It also raises awareness of the Tennessee Tobacco QuitLine and other free resources. In the spirit of this effort, Summit Strategic Solutions will extend the free registration of its smoking cessation classes to non-patients in our area. This initiative is critical to the health of our state. Smokers who quit can add up to 10 years to their life expectancy, while currently tobacco claims 30 lives every day in Tennessee. If the smoking rate continues as is, 125,000 Tennessee children alive today will die prematurely because of smoking. Tobacco use also puts a financial strain on smokers and the state's health care system. A pack-per-day smoker spends about $1,900 annually on cigarettes. Each smoker accounts for an additional $2,056 in annual health care costs. If every physician at Summit Medical Group gets just one smoker to quit, the potential cost savings to the system would be $340,000 a year. That's just in the Summit network in East Tennessee. In 2009, the annual health care costs across the state directly linked to smoking equaled $2.67 billion. The financial toll is outweighed by the cost in lives. Quit today. If you're not a smoker, encourage a family member, friend or colleague to stop. To learn more about "It's Quittin' Time in Tennessee," call the Tennessee Tobacco QuitLine at 1-800-QUIT-NOW to speak with a counselor or visit www.tnquitline.org. For information about smoking cessation classes in East Tennessee, visit www.summitmedical.com or call 865-212-2281. It's time to stop. SHARE A look at recent events in the news that pleased us ... Gateway plans: The Aslan Foundation and the city of Knoxville are joining forces to create an eye-pleasing gateway to Fort Dickerson Park in South Knoxville. Plans include a circular lawn, stone pillars, signs and a decorative stone face for the retaining wall, which was installed when the city realigned the park's entrance with Woodlawn Pike. The Aslan Foundation donated the land for the gateway, and is paying most of the cost. City officials will hold a pubic meeting at 5:30 p.m. on Feb. 24 at Flenniken Landing to present renderings and gather public input. Enhanced penalties: Two Middle Tennessee poachers are receiving harsher penalties for illegally killing 40 deer thanks to legislation that went into effect last June. After pleading guilty to poaching, Densibel Calzada and Eddy Albert are banned from hunting in Tennessee and 43 other states for the rest of their lives. They also must pay fines totaling $5,000 each and $1,000 in court costs. The financial penalties, the Tennessean reported, are steeper than before under a new law that increased fines for poaching big game animals. Zoo makeover: Site preparation began Thursday for the Knoxville Zoo's Tiger Forest Malayan tiger habitat. Workers razed the 40-year-old rhino barn to make way for the $10 million state-of-the-art immersive exhibit near the zoo's entrance. Two rare Malayan tigers will be the first residents of the habitat. According to zoo spokesperson Tina Rolen, there are only 300 to 400 Malayan tigers left in the wild and about 50 in zoos. The exhibit is designed to be a breeding facility, and officials hope to increase the population to six. The project should be completed next year. Spreading hate: Tennessee ranks fourth among all states in the number of hate groups within its borders, according to a new report from the Southern Poverty Law Center. There were 892 hate groups operating in the United States in 2015, an increase of 14 percent over the prior year. Forty-one hate groups have a presence in Tennessee, according to the organization,with four located in and around Knoxville. An interactive map on the SPLC's website identifies the groups as the Supreme White Alliance in Oak Ridge; and in Knoxville the Ku Klos Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, the Traditionalist Worker Party and South Knox Ten Milers. By Choi Sung-jin Global home electronics makers are jumping into the organic light-emitting diode (OLED) TV business and expanding the market rapidly, industry sources said Friday. The OLED TV market size is estimated to exceed $10 billion worldwide in 2019 with its share also expected to rise from the current 1 percent of the entire TV market to nearly 10 percent by then, they said. Samsung Electronics will reportedly begin to market its products in 2018, and in Europe, Philips has just announced its entry into the business. In Asia, some Chinese makers are already releasing new products using OLED display panels made by LG Electronics, the front-runner in this business. Japanese makers, such as Panasonic and Sony, are also likely to announce their participation. Before long, all of the world's 10 major electronic makers will jump into the OLED TV fray, the sources said. Philips announced in Brussels Thursday that the company would put to market its first OLED TV in the latter half of this year. At a demonstration, the Dutch electronics giant said it would market OLED TV sets made by its own technology, which will have better pictures, if a little more expensive, than LG's products. Currently, the most active players are a few Chinese makers. Skyworth began to market its OLED TV sets in 2014, and Changhong followed its example in 2015. Other major makers, such as High Sense, TCL and Haier, are also weighing their timing for entry. Skyworth, formerly the No. 2 home appliance maker in China, has emerged as the industry leader thanks to its success in the OLED TV business. In Japan, Panasonic took the lead with its 4K OLED TV. Its biggest rival Sony made an even earlier start by marketing a 15-inch OLED TV back in 2010. The growing interest in OLED TV is because it will dominate the next-generation TV market. OLED panels emit their own light when an electric current is passed through them, whereas cells in an LCD display require an external light source, like a giant backlight, for brightness. OLED is rated at around 1,000 (some say higher) times faster than a standard LED-backlit LCD panel. According to market research company IHS, the OLED TV market is expected to expand to $10 billion by 2019, growing at an annual average rate of 144 percent between 2013 and 2019. The overall TV market may undergo contraction throughout the world but the OLED TV market will increase sharply to emerge as a new growth engine. Actually, the market, which remained at $43.58 million in 2013, soared to $1.3 billion last year. Its share in the TV market is expected to grow from 0.1 percent in 2014 to 3.8 percent this year and to 9.6 percent three years from now. The OLED TV market provides a sharp contrast to the contraction of the existing LCD TV market. If Samsung joins the competition in earnest, the market will expand even more rapidly, the sources said. Samsung officially is denying any plans to release OLED TV sets. "We are conducting research and development efforts in related technology but have no plan yet to produce and market OLED TVs," a Samsung official said. Industry watchers say, however, Samsung's entry will be inevitable and that few can tell how the market landscape will change then. Currently, LG has 91 percent of market share, which is expected to shrink as the number of its competitors increases. Scenes from tvN's "Youth over Flowers" in Africa /Courtesy of tvN By Kwon Ji-youn The first episode of cable channel tvN's "Youth over Flowers in Africa" registered a national rating of 12.7 percent Friday, a record among all of tvN's "Flower" series. These include "Youth over Flowers in Iceland," which posted 6.0 percent in viewership when its last episode aired on Feb. 12. The third season of "Youth over Flowers" takes Ryu Jun-yeol, Ko Kyung-pyo, Park Bo-gum and Ahn Jae-hong -- the four male leads of "Reply 1988" -- to Namibia, a country on the southwest coast of Africa that shares borders with Zambia, Angola, Botswana and South Africa. In the first episode, Ryu, Ko and Ahn are kidnapped by the producers during a vacation in Phuket, Thailand, and are jetted off to Africa, where they experience difficulties renting a car. Park is put back on a plane shortly after arriving in Seoul from Thailand, but misses his transfer flight. "Youth over Flowers in Africa" airs on tvN on Friday evenings at 9:45 p.m. / Yonhap By Kwon Ji-youn The South Korean military confirmed that the North conducted a firing drill on its western coast after an explosive sound was heard Saturday near the northernmost frontline island of Baengnyeong, causing unease among residents. A military official said "several artillery rounds" were likely fired at around 7:20 a.m. from the North's shore as part of a drill. An announcement was made immediately to the island's residents. / Yonhap The official added that the none of the rounds crossed the Northern Limit Line (NLL), a maritime border in the Yellow Sea, and that the military will continue to closely monitor the North. Residents were requested to remain alert for a possible evacuation. North Korea conducted what it called a successful test of a hydrogen bomb on Jan. 6, and followed with a rocket launch carrying what it claimed was a satellite on Feb. 7, but is viewed by many as a cover for testing its intercontinental ballistic missile technology. / Yonhap South Korea shut down the inter-Korean industrial zone in the North Korean border city of Gaeseong earlier this month in response to the North's provocations. North Korea pledged Saturday to further strengthen its nuclear program in response to tougher U.S. sanctions on Pyongyang over its recent nuclear test and long-range rocket launch. North Korea claimed that the U.S. moving to hold in check its policy of developing its economy and nuclear arsenal in tandem is "as foolish as trying to get the sun eclipsed by (your) palms." "The harsher the U.S. becomes in its hostile policy, the more firmly the (North) will stick to its line of simultaneously pushing forward economic construction and the building of nuclear force," an unidentified spokesman for North Korea's Foreign Ministry said in an English-language statement carried by the country's official Korean Central News Agency. The North's stance is not new, but the latest comment came just days after U.S. President Barack Obama signed into law a package of tough sanctions on North Korea to punish the communist country over its recent provocations. The legislation calls for imposing mandatory sanctions on those assisting Pyongyang over its nuclear and missile programs, cyberattacks, human rights abuses and imports of luxury goods. It is also aimed at choking off sources of cash for the regime by sanctioning trade in coal, minerals and precious metals, and blacklisting those helping with Pyongyang's money laundering, counterfeiting, cash smuggling and narcotics trafficking. Separately, the U.N. Security Council has been working on a resolution to impose sanctions on North Korea over its nuclear test and long-range rocket launch. Earlier this month, President Park Geun-hye told Obama in a phone conversation that the international community needs to take specific actions to get North Korea to recognize that its policy of developing its economy and nuclear arsenal in tandem will never succeed. Seoul and Washington have repeatedly warned that the North's dual-track policy is a dead end for the country. Still, the North has repeatedly pledged to boost its nuclear capability, viewing its nuclear program as a powerful deterrent against what it claims is Washington's hostile policy towards it. Separately, the U.S. plans to provide assistance to North Korean defectors in South Korea as part of its efforts to bring about substantial change in North Korea, according to defectors. The U.S. State Department informed four major North Korean defectors of its plan during their visit to Washington earlier this month. South Korea is home to more than 28,000 North Korean defectors. Some of them are believed to have close contacts with North Koreans, a rare channel to spread outside news to the North and bring inside information to the outside world. Park has recently vowed to transform the North Korean regime, though she did not elaborate.(Yonhap) By Choi Sung-jin "Like the MERS turmoil of last year, the Zika virus could emerge as a serious social risk in Korea this year. The problem is that Korea has few researchers of Flavivirus, a group of viruses transmitted by mosquitoes. This country is a blind spot as far as basic virus research is concerned." So said Professor Ryu Wang-shik of Yonsei University at a workshop on zoonoses, or communicable diseases between humans and animals, organized by Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology Thursday. At the public meeting, about 100 participants discussed various pending issues, such as prediction, diagnosis and monitoring of zoonoses, basic research for developing remedies and vaccines, and establishing infrastructure to cope with such diseases. Experts pointed out the lack of Fravivirus researchers and the urgency in establishing an international network for joint research, while calling for redefining the roles and missions of related agencies. Ryu said if the Zika virus should flow into Korea, it will cause uncontrollable confusion in the nation. "With Fraviviruses, like the Zika virus, it is difficult to predict how and to what extent the spread of infection might be," he said. "To enhance the chances of prediction, basic researchers are necessary but there are few experts in the nation." In order to develop the diagnostic apparatus, vaccines and treatments, it is necessary to inquire into the biological traits of viruses. That in turn requires scientists to proliferate and cultivate the viruses, and then have the adequate facilities so they can conduct their work. But Korea lacks in both, the biochemist noted. South Korea said Friday it will expand programs to help growing numbers of North Korean students better adapt to a new life in the capitalist South. The education ministry said it will offer psychological counseling to North Korean students soon after their arrival in South Korea while expanding a mentoring program for them. The decision released by the education ministry underscored South Korea's efforts to better embrace young North Koreans who fled their communist homeland. The ministry said it will increase the number of mentors for North Korean students to 2,500 this year, up from 2,200 last year. Under the program, South Korea can provide a one-on-one mentoring program to North Korean students. The number of North Korean students attending elementary, middle and high schools in South Korea came to 2,475 last year, compared with 1,143 in 2009. The dropout rate for youth defectors declined to 2.2 percent in 2015, compared with 10.8 percent in 2009, according to the data provided by the ministry. The ministry also said it plans to allocate teachers -- who are bilingual in Korean and Chinese -- to a high school tailored for North Korean defectors, citing the growing number of students whose Korean language proficiency is low. The number of student defectors who were born in third countries, including China, more than doubled from 608 in 2011 to 1,249 in 2015, according to data. Currently, South Korea is home to more than 28,000 North Korean defectors, including students. (Yonhap) South Korea and the United States on Friday conducted a joint drill aimed at promptly dispatching American troops to the Korean Peninsula on the occasion of contingency, the South's Army said. Heightened tensions on the divided peninsula remain following North Korea's latest nuclear test and long-range rocket launch. The drill between South Korea's 2nd Operations Command and the 8th U.S. Army called for the South's Army to provide support for Washington's expedited dispatch of its soldiers to the peninsula at the case of war, it said. In 1994, the exercise, known as the "RSOI" drill, kicked off as a simulation-driven drill aimed at upgrading the allied forces' capabilities. Since 2014, it has been conducted as a field exercise. RSOI is an acronym for "Reception, Staging, Onward Movement and Integration." "The exercise would help check how the U.S. could promptly send its troops to the front lines on the occasion of war on the peninsula," said an official in the South Korean Army. About 28,500 U.S. troops are stationed in South Korea as a deterrent against North Korea, a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War that ended in a truce, not in a peace treaty. (Yonhap) The South Korean government said Friday it would provide a package of measures, such as lending factory sites free of charge for a year, to minimize damage to more than 100 South Korean firms withdrawn from the joint industrial park across the border. A special government task team, headed by Lee Suk-joon, the top official in charge of government policy coordination at the Prime Minister's Office, came up with support measures for 124 South Korean companies, which had to leave behind their production lines earlier this month after Pyongyang's decision to deport them all from the Gaesong Industrial Complex. The government said it would provide companies with factory sites in the South if they are struggling to find alternative ones free of charge for the first one year and will provide such sites at a 50 percent discount for the next two years. "The government has been responding to companies' difficulties through one-on-one support services in a timely manner," said Lee during the task team's third meeting on assisting the companies. The official said the government had received 291 cases of complaints from the companies and had so far resolved 133 of them. "The government is working actively to resolve the rest," added Lee. Another support measure allows the companies to hire additional foreign workers, 40 percent more than the legal quota. The South Korean government decided to at least temporarily shut down the operation of the joint industrial complex in North Korea on Feb. 10 in response to Pyongyang's nuclear test and long-range rocket launch. A day after Seoul's decision, Pyongyang expelled all 124 South Korean firms from the joint industrial park in Gaesong. The joint industrial park was the last remaining vestige of inter-Korean business cooperation until its closure earlier this month. Around 54,000 North Korean workers were employed by 124 South Korean firms with production facilities in Gaesong. When the industrial park was closed for 160 days in 2013 in North Korea's protest against a joint military exercise between South Korean and U.S. forces here, the South Korean firms reported a combined loss of 1.05 trillion won. The firms claim their damage will be greater this time considering the growth of their business operations over the years, saying that they may even seek a lawsuit if the government refuses to compensate them for their losses. (Yonhap) The SLFP does not condone the continuation of the Emergency Regulations (The Public Security Ordinance) more than a day necessary Read more PRESS RELEASE German Industry Demands End to Sanctions, Russia Must Be Part of Solving Middle East Crisis WIESBADEN, Feb. 18, 2016 (EIRNS)The Chambers of Commerce and Industry (IHK) in Saxony are loudly demanding sanctions against Russia must be ended this year. In a position paper made public Feb. 15 in Dresden, they also emphasized: "It is clear that we need Russia as an important economic and strategic partner for the solution of global challenges. The conflict situation in the Near East, to name only one example, cannot be solved without Russia. A new Cold War serves neither the solution of current conflicts, nor free trade and the Saxon economy. Russia is and remains an integral part of the European economic space and the European security architecture." Underlining the potential damage to Saxon machine-tool production facilities, given the Mittelstands longstanding ties with Russia, the IHK heads of Leipzig, Dresden, and Chemnitz are demanding that the Saxon state government immediately start an initiative for ending sanctions in the Bundesrat, the upper house of Parliament which is comprised of all the state governments. Saxonys exports to Russia, much of it machine-tool goods, have collapsed by 25%. Throughout Germany, industry is demanding the sanctions be ended, not merely because of obvious business interests, but also to establish strategic cooperation with Russia. After Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeubles Jan. 21 call at Davos for Marshall Plan-scale investments in the Middle East and Africa, he gave an interview days later calling for closer cooperation with Russia. Also on Feb. 15, Mario Ohoven, head of the German Association for Small and Medium-Sized Business (BVMW) addressed 3,000 guests in Berlin at the BVMW New Year reception, where he called the sanctions against Russia "utterly false." Gerd Mueller, Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, who is spearheading the Marshall Plan initiative, also spoke at the event. PRESS RELEASE Russias UN Ambassador Churkin Details How Turkey Is Recruiting and Harboring Terrorists Feb. 18, 2016 (EIRNS)In a letter posted in the UN Official Documents System Search, Russias Permanent Representative to the UN, Vitaly Churkin, has provided detailed information on Turkish intelligences role in recruiting individuals from Russia, who have gone over to fight against the Assad government, to push them into the Syrian conflict and later to carry out terrorist acts within Russia, a TASS report said today. "Reportedly, representatives of [the Islamic State] ISIL with the help from the Turkish intelligence serviceshave established an extensive network in Antalya for the recruitment of individuals who have arrived in Turkey from the post-Soviet States, to enable their participation in the Syrian conflict and possible transfer to Russia," says the Feb. 17 letter. Churkin provided names of recruiters, among them, natives of Russia and Azerbaijan. "They are led by a Russian Federation national, Ruslan Rastyamovich Khaibullov (also known as Baris Abdul or by the pseudonym: The Teacher), born on 1 April 1978 in Tatarstan. He lives with his family in Antalya. He has a Turkish permanent residence permit," wrote Churkin. Recruitment "takes place with the knowledge of the temporary detention center administration" in Antalya, Tass quoted the letter. Churkin also made clear the route through which these terrorists are being pushed into Syria by the Turkish intelligence personnel. He said in September 2014, a group of over 1,000 fighters from the Islamic State terrorists, "who had come from countries in Europe and Central Asia," were allowed to cross into Syria from Turkey in the locality of Alikaila (Gaziantep). The routes where militants cross, pass in the vicinity of the Turkish-Syrian border through Antakya, Reyhanli, Topaz, Sanliurfa, and Hatay. In addition, Churkin noted that since last December, the Turkish intelligence services have organized "an air route for moving ISIL fighters from Syria through Turkey to Yemen using Turkish military air transport," the letter says. Supplies of weapons, military hardware, and ammunition "are arriving from abroad via the Turkish port of Iskenderun," he said. "Then the military equipment is transported from there through Hatay Province (Oncupinar border crossing) to the Syrian cities of Aleppo and Idlib on trucks belonging to these Turkish ["charity"] funds," including the IHH, which is sometimes called a "governmental non-governmental organization" because of its close ties to Turkish President Erdogan. Churkin listed the vehicle registration plates in his letter. Later, once in Syria, the weapons and ammunition are distributed among Turkmen fighters, TASS reported. Literary giant Umberto Eco left behind a rich legacy of works, including The Name of the Rose and Foucaults Pendulum. In 2005, he sat down with the Los Angeles Times to discuss his latest novel, The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana. This story originally appeared in The Times on June 13, 2005. Umberto Eco settles into a couch in the second-floor den of Midtown Manhattans Morgans Hotel and pulls the stub of an unlit cigar from his mouth. After smoking for most of his adult life, he began cutting back about six months ago yet cant quite leave the habit of touch behind. Hes not even sure he wants to leave smoking behind, having read somewhere that those with Alzheimers are disproportionately nonsmokers, suggesting nicotine as a guarantor of memory. And memory, Eco believes, defines the human soul. Stop smoking, he jokes, and risk losing yourself. If there is something that we call soul, thats memory -- it makes up your identity, Eco, 73, says, his voice twisted by a thick Italian accent and interrupted by quick, explosive chortles. All your befores, all your afters -- without memory you are an animal. You have no human soul. Even for a believer, you cannot go to hell without memory. Why to suffer so much if you dont know why you suffer? It doesnt make sense. If, in time, you lose your memory, theres no meaning in paradise and no meaning in hell. Advertisement See more of our top stories on Facebook >> Memory lies at the heart of Ecos new novel, The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana, which has brought him from his Milan home to New York for the start of a book tour that includes stops in L.A. this weekend. In the novel, Eco explores the nature of a life separated from its context. Antiquarian book dealer Giambattista Yambo Bodoni suffers a stroke and awakens from the fog of a coma to discover he has lost the part of his memory that holds personal experiences. He has no idea who he is; his wife and two daughters are strangers, and the route from the hospital to his own house is a tourists adventurous trek. He recalls quotations from books -- he initially tells his doctor he is Arthur Gordon Pym, an Edgar Allan Poe character -- but cant discern which women he encounters are lovers from what his wife assures him was a licentious past. Yambos wife, a psychologist, suggests he return to his childhood home, an estate in a rural village in northwest Italy, and use the archives of his youth to re-establish himself. So begins a reconstruction that cannot work because Yambo is now building a life from the outside rather than living it from the inside; its like the difference between observing life and experiencing it. Still, memories revive and the strain of encountering a past he had repressed -- a youthful moral test during World War II -- bring him both to revelation and a renewed darkness that might or might not be death. In the process, Eco slowly builds a fictional biography not of a character but of a generation, and illustrates it with youthful literary touchstones from the 1930s -- Flash Gordon and Ming the Merciless, Queen Loana and Mandrake the Magician, the Phantom and Mickey Mouse. Disneys Mickey Mouse Runs His Own Newspaper slipped past the Italian Fascist censors, and Mickeys pronouncements about the freedom of the press alerted the young Yambo (and Eco) that the written word had more potential than simple propaganda. The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana is Ecos fifth novel, and like the others it comprises both traditional narrative storytelling and inventive discourses on arcane subjects while drawing on philosophy, history and literature. The approach was cast in Ecos 1983 debut, The Name of the Rose, in which he used a murder mystery to explore the medieval Roman Catholic Church. The Middle Ages also gave rise to Foucaults Pendulum, in which contemporary characters uncover centuries-old plots by the Knights Templar, and to Baudolino, about the days of Barbarossa, who fought the papacy in central Europe in the 12th century. Eco advanced to the 1600s for the The Island of the Day Before, which imagined the race among navigators to establish longitude, and thus measure distance and time, which would give the discovering country an advantage in the battle to build colonial empires. In the new novel, Eco stays in the relative present, reaching only back to the 1930s for his tale of a childhood lived in war. The research was more personal -- Eco spent World War II in a small village near Turin. They were not dropping bombs, but the partisan war was going on so we got to avoid the bullets going around us, not from above, Eco says. Eco dipped into his own reassembled library of childrens books, antiquarian volumes and Fascist propaganda for the mementos included in the book. All during my adult life, every time I could in a flea market I re-set up my original library, Eco says, adding that more recent Internet searches helped him fill the gaps. Through the Internet, I succeeded in reconstructing my stamp collection of 1943. More or less I have found exactly the same stamps I had in my collection.... I have spent all my adult years continuously going back to my childhood Other elements of the novel, he says, were borrowed from the lives of friends, including a crucial and harrowing story line about Yambos involvement in an encounter between German soldiers and Italian partisans. The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana began with a flameout. Eco had contemplated writing an autobiography about growing up in Mussolinis Italy but found five years ago that a friend had beaten him to the punch. I said, I hate you! You have stopped me, I cant do the same, Eco says a few days after the hotel interview, speaking to a packed house at Manhattans 92nd Street Y. An encounter with another friend, though, jump-started the idea when the concept of memory came up in the conversation. I started to muse, that could be the start -- a man who loses his memory, Eco says. Not an autobiography but an objective biography of somebody else, and maybe of a generation. Eco viewed the project as the inverse of Marcel Prousts Remembrance of Things Past, in which memory propels the narrative. The very fact that I couldnt, like Proust, return to my personal memory laid the groundwork. That the character has to deal only with the objective memories makes his a reconstruction that is collective and generational. Ecos physique has the soft roundness of a life well lived, his eyes sharp behind large-frame glasses. He is known primarily as a novelist and freely spices his conversation with literary references. But he is also a highly regarded and widely published expert on semiotics, the study of symbols and signs, which he teaches at Italys University of Bologna. Sitting in the hotel den, with its genteel decor of leather and wood, Eco says he was surprised that the novel had even been translated after it first appeared in Italy last year. It speaks of Italy and a generation of memories, Eco says, adding that he told his foreign publishers he would not be offended if they passed on the book. They didnt. The foreign publishers loved the book, and in the three countries in which it has been published -- Germany, France and Spain -- the reaction has been very, very positive. Eco hopes the universality of memory, and curiosity about other cultures, may give the book a boost in the U.S. Through the book, foreign readers discover the story of another country, Eco says. After all, we had never been to Macondo but when Gabriel Garcia Marquez wrote 100 Years of Solitude, we learned something about Macondo. Yet the sense of nostalgia for lost childhood, lost innocence, may prove more significant. Like Vladimir Nabokov, whose memoir Speak, Memory, begins with equating life as a candle flicker between two abysses of darkness, Eco writes in his new novel of life as a song. Without memory, the notes follow no path, each existing in its own moment, and the song is no longer a song. And without memory, each moment of life just a free-floating note. Literature, like philosophy, is always a meditation on death, Eco says, still toying with the unlit cigar. Otherwise, why to write? Bestselling young-adult writer Margaret Stohls Beautiful Creatures, co-written with Kami Garcia, is about supernatural teens who read To Kill a Mockingbird. Here she writes about the significance of Harper Lees book. I first read Harper Lees To Kill a Mockingbird as a teen in school, like you did. I read the book alone, eating lunch at my locker, neatly scored oranges my mother divided into five lines with a circle at the top, so my fingers could dig more easily into the orange skin. To this day, the smell of oranges reminds me of Mockingbird. What impact did To Kill a Mockingbird have on you? Join the conversation on Facebook Advertisement As Scout Finch discovered that she had to find her own way within the town of Maycomb, Ala. that the world was not fair, that justice was racially coded, that innocents could be found guilty of nothing but the color of their skin, that children could be the targets of adult violence I saw the world laid bare, and with it my world. While I could accept that the frightening Boo Radley could be a hero, or that crabby old ladies could be suffering addicts, I could not accept that the heroic Atticus Finch might not be able to save Tom. I was not used to unhappy endings, except for one: Jesus on a cross. I closed Mockingbird and thought that cant be how it ends. But beyond the injustice of Toms death, what I really felt was jealousy. How badly I wanted an Atticus Finch of my own. Because, as I read, an idea had been fighting its way up from my own darkest, most secret places. An idea, a recognition I knew that town: My family was Maycomb. I was raised in a community of Christian orthodoxy that had traveled with my parents to Los Angeles when they moved there for my fathers job. People who might get married at 18, who believed men governed the family and that women were put on Earth to be mothers, just like my five aunts and their seven and eight children each. In Sunday school I had been taught that the reason some people had dark skin was because they were the descendants of Cain. We were fed prejudice, just like Maycomb, in 1970s West Los Angeles. There was no Atticus Finch in my world, but now there was a Harper Lee. It felt like she knew me, and what it was like to live in my Maycomb. She was a flawed white girl discovering the racial, socioeconomic, generational and gendered complexities of the world she was born into, and choosing for herself how she would connect to it. This is what Harper Lee gives the young people who read Mockingbird that sense of choice, of agency. And I learned something more: Reading Harper Lee, I understood that you could write a book like that, even when you lived in a town like that. You could build your own version of that town, one line at a time. You could feel at home, really at home, and reconcile things that could never be reconciled, even if only in a book. And in that realization, Mockingbird changed my life, and I began to plot my own course through the world, even if still only in secret. I became a writer. Later, after I was married and with three daughters, my eldest read Mockingbird in school and said she thought it was boring and irrelevant; I was crushed. It was the most important book of my life, and it mattered more than anything else she would ever read, in school or out. Then I sat down with my friend (and my daughters former teacher) Kami Garcia and set out to prove it. We wrote our debut young-adult novel, Beautiful Creatures, about a group of teens also reading To Kill a Mockingbird in a small town in South Carolina, where being different was a crime. The book was published by Little, Brown in 2009 and has now been released in 50 countries, spawned a series and adapted into a film. But 50 years after publication, its really Harper Lees book that adapts itself, reader by reader. Scouts story becomes an empowering message to all outsiders. Voices are raised, now: #blacklivesmatter, #yesallwomen, #lovewins. After a recent panel about Mockingbird in Barnes & Noble at the Grove, where I spoke about how scary it was not to have Atticus Finch in your family, it was a gay Latino boy who came up to hug me and tell me how he related to me and to Scout. His family felt like Maycomb too. He felt powerless. I told him to write it down. Everyone reads Harper Lee personally. For me, Mockingbird was about admitting my own hyphenated identity about loving and hating my world, about both belonging and not belonging to the community I came from. It was about this orange I am eating now, my token of love from my mother, even though I cant help but dig deeper to see what lies beneath the skin. In Mockingbird, Harper Lee wrote a young-adult anthem, something everyone can sing along to, like Changes. Harper Lee was my David Bowie, and I feel her loss in my bones. Stohl is the bestselling author of nine young adult novels and a co-founder of YALLWEST and YALLFEST book festivals. MORE ON HARPER LEE: A deeper look at the mystery of Harper Lee 46 times To Kill a Mockingbird echoed through pop culture No third novel from Harper Lee, expert says after examining manuscript Rereading To Kill a Mockingbird: It lingers, but not in the way he expected The consumer technology industry and the law enforcement community have been on a collision course over consumer privacy for years. Now, in the confrontation between Apple and the FBI over unlocking the iPhone of one of the San Bernardino attackers, that collision finally has happened. The details of the case are by now well known. Acting on a motion by the FBI, U.S. Magistrate Sheri Pym of Riverside ordered Apple to help the FBI break into the iPhone used by Syed Rizwan Farook, one of the perpetrators of the San Bernardino terrorist attack on Dec. 2, which left 14 people dead. The FBI says it has been unable to bypass the phones password protection of Farooks iPhone because hes assumed to have taken advantage of device settings designed to thwart such unauthorized access. This is part of a battle over strong encryption and law-enforcement access that goes back 25 years. Marc Rotenberg, Electronic Privacy Information Center Advertisement The case raises the intertwined issues of how far manufacturers should go in protecting their customers from privacy invasions, and how far government authorities should go in gaining access to peoples private data. These are not new issues. This is part of a battle over strong encryption and law-enforcement access that goes back 25 years, Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, or EPIC, told me. I had hoped that the government had reached the conclusion that it was better to encourage strong encryption to protect American consumers and American businesses than to go down the path of broken encryption. The harvest of our failure to install strong encryption in consumer and business systems, he says, is the repeated occurrence of data breaches that compromise peoples personal data. Its really quite dangerous and were paying an enormous price for it. American consumers are becoming more sensitive to the potential for technological invasions of their privacy. Revelations of government spying on phone conversations, made by whistleblowers such as Edward Snowden, and of prosecutors overreaching have sharpened the tech communitys sense that weakened security threatens the privacy of the average citizen more than it aids law-enforcementand also sharpened suspicions of government motivations. How much of the data the FBI wants [in the San Bernardino case] is really on the phone, and how much of this is really about the FBI just wanting into the phone? asks David Auerbach, a software expert at the think tank New America and frequent contributor to Slate.com. The FBI and federal prosecutors argue that allowing wrongdoers to conceal their intentions or evade detection by hiding behind strong encryption is a threat to the public. At one fraught 2014 meeting with Apple executives, a high-ranking federal prosecutor reportedly predicted that the day would come that a child would die because police couldnt penetrate the security on a killers phone. In the San Bernardino case, the government argued in a motion Friday that Apples assistance in helping the FBI crack Farooks password should be compelled because of the urgency of this investigation. Yet assertions that constitutional and legal protections for individual privacy give aid chiefly to criminals or traitors have been common over the decades, as when Abraham Lincoln suspended the writ of habeas corpus during the Civil War. But such erosions of civil rights often have been regarded with remorse in retrospect. Apple and its defenders are right to doubt the FBIs assertions that the San Bernardino case represents a one-time-only request mandated by the exigencies of a terrorism investigation. History tells us that once granted an investigative tool, law enforcement is reluctant to give it up. Apple CEO Tim Cook made that point in his public statement about the assistance the FBI is seeking, published on Apples website: While the government may argue that its use would be limited to this case, there is no way to guarantee such control. Its hard to avoid the conclusion that in recent years, Americans privacy has become immeasurably less secure, and that has made us anything but safer. The list of data breaches affecting ordinary consumers and employees revealed in 2015 alone is stunning. They include the theft of data from personnel records of 21.5 million federal workers, including fingerprints of 5.6 million workers, on file with the governments office of Personnel Management; the exposure of personal data of 80 million persons held by the health insurer Anthem; and records of 330,000 taxpayers vacuumed up from the Internal Revenue Service and used to collect bogus refunds. Thats on top of such publicity-garnering hacks as the 2014 invasion of computers at Sony Pictures, which forced the company to shut down its computer systems and resulted in the release of thousands of compromising and embarrassing emails, among other data. Apple has taken an increasingly firm stand on user privacy, banking its reputation not merely on its elegant hardware but on its image as a champion of customer privacy. In opposing an order similar to Pyms in a New York case last year, the company asserted that public sensitivity to issues regarding digital privacy and security is at an unprecedented level, including in the area of government accessboth disclosed and covert. It stated that it has taken a leadership role in the protection of its customers personal data against any form of improper access. Helping prosecutors break a defendants password, it said then, could substantially tarnish the Apple brand. In a statement published on the companys website, CEO Tim Cook has vowed to challenge Pyms order, which he labeled an unprecedented step which threatens the security of our customers. (The companys formal response is due in court by the end of this week.) Cook went further in a speech last June upon accepting EPICs 2015 Champions of Freedom Award: Weakening encryption, he said then, has a chilling effect on our First Amendment rights and undermines our countrys founding principles. On the other side of the argument is FBI Director James Comey, who has been campaigning to require tech companies to provide law enforcement with back doors allowing authorities to penetrate even the strongest consumer privacy protections. Comey complained as early as 2014 about the strong encryption being installed in the newest generation of consumer devices. We have the legal authority to intercept and access communications and information pursuant to court order, he said, but we often lack the technical ability to do so. That appears to be true of Farooks iPhone, which the FBI has been unable to crack to obtain data from the last weeks before he and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, staged the massacre. They died in the aftermath. Among the material locked away could be messages, emails, photos, contacts, call records and travel routes the FBI says could be crucial to its investigation of the attack. Apple plainly knew it was heading toward a confrontation with the government, and tried to inoculate itself by reducing its own ability to break its users privacy and giving them more power to control their own passwords. Its iOS 9 operating system is what gave Farook the ability to block password-breaking efforts. The company may simply not have gone far enough to take itself out of the loop; although Apple has hinted in at least one previous case that the access sought by the government is technically unfeasible, there are other indications that the company could meet the magistrates order if it wished. In his posted statement, for instance, Cook observed that the new version of the iPhones operating system requested by the FBI could theoretically be created: Once created, the technique could be used over and over again, on any number of devices....In the wrong hands, this software which does not exist today would have the potential to unlock any iPhone in someones physical possession. The U.S. is not the only place where Apple and other tech companies are fighting for privacy safeguards. China last December passed a law requiring companies such as Apple to provide technical interfaces, decryption and other technical support assistance to Chinese authorities in anti-terrorism cases. The law places Apple in a delicate position, since the company obtains some 25% of its revenue from greater China, which includes Hong Kong and Taiwan and is its fastest-growing market. Chinese authorities backed away from their most stringent original proposals, including a requirement that device makers provide a backdoor to allow the government to decode encrypted information, but many experts predict that a confrontation between Apple and the Chinese over the law is only a matter of time. That said, Apples stance against providing user information to government authorities is anything but absolute. The company accepts that data from iPhones and iPads backed up to its iCloud servers are subject to search warrants, and Apple routinely cooperates with such orders. Indeed, the FBI says it collected via a warrant all iCloud data associated with Farooks iPhone up to Oct. 19, when he apparently stopped backing it up to keep subsequent data concealed. (Apples Cook also acknowledged that the company has complied with valid subpoenas and search warrants...in the San Bernardino case.) Ones opinion about how to balance privacy and prosecution depends on how one weighs the threat to privacy against the threat from secrecy. But Cook is surely correct in maintaining that consumers want and need more protection from unauthorized snooping, not less. By challenging Magistrate Pyms order, Apple may at least force the government to state outright where it thinks the balance should be struck, and why. Keep up to date with Michael Hiltzik. Follow @hiltzikm on Twitter, see our Facebook page, or email michael.hiltzik@latimes.com. Senior Apple executives underscored Friday that they have no intention of backing down in a high-stakes fight with the FBI over an iPhone used by one of the shooters in Decembers San Bernardino terror attack. Separately on Friday, federal prosecutors and senior Apple executives also disclosed new details about what transpired privately in the weeks leading up to their very public legal battle this week. Speaking with reporters on condition of anonymity Friday afternoon, the Apple officials reiterated their position that providing the FBI with software to potentially help unlock the iPhone would be damaging to the interests of its customers and of the country. Advertisement See more of our top stories on Facebook >> In a court filing Friday, federal prosecutors denounced Apples stance, calling it a marketing ploy that shunned the way courts have always operated. The Apple executives said that the filing was redundant and that federal officials were just applying more public pressure on Apple in hopes the company would cave. The back-and-forth came as the two sides also revealed new details about their previous efforts to access the phones contents. Apple said that in early January it provided four alternatives to access data from the iPhone besides the controversial method the FBI is now proposing. But one of the most encouraging options was ruled out because within 24 hours of the shooting rampage, the phones owner possibly gunman Syed Rizwan Farooks employer, the San Bernardino County public health department reset the password to Farooks iCloud account to access data from the backup, according to Apple and federal officials. That means the iCloud password on the iPhone itself is now wrong, and it wont back up unless someone can get past the phones passcode and change it. The issue was discovered after Apple engineers sent to Southern California to work with the FBI struggled to trigger an automatic backup, Apple said. When iCloud is enabled, iPhones automatically sync with the cloud if they are charging and are connected to a familiar Wi-Fi network. Prosecutors still contend that unlocking the iPhone is crucial because some data does not sync to iCloud. They said the FBI has retrieved Farooks iCloud backups up to Oct. 19, about six weeks before the attack, and an FBI affidavit suggested that Farook deliberately disabled the sync feature. Apple executives and Jonathan Zdziarski, a top expert on iPhone security, said that other issues could have cropped up and that the FBIs assertion may not be true. Among the possibilities: An iPhone operating system update Oct. 21 could have disrupted iCloud settings; the iCloud storage space could have been full; or Farook may never have returned to a location where the automatic backup would have been activated. Zdziarski said Apple may be able to reset the iCloud password so that it matches the one saved on the iPhone. Apple did not immediately comment. Apple deliberately changed its iPhone software in 2014 to make it nearly impossible for anyone besides a devices user to unlock it. Its now refusing to weaken some of the security measures to provide the government with an easier route in. The company has said allowing even one exception to that policy, including for a terrorism case, would open the floodgates for authorities to seek the same workaround in all types of investigations. Chat with me on Twitter @peard33 MORE Apple-FBI battle terrorists iPhone: All the details Why Apples fight with the FBI could reverberate in China Tim Cooks stance on privacy could define his Apple legacy Culture shock, like grief, progresses through distinct stages: Theres the honeymoon period, when an expatriate is enchanted by a new country. Bliss gives way to withdrawal and hostility, the adjustment and, ultimately, acceptance. This journey happens to have a pleasing narrative structure that works well onstage. Giovanni Ortegas Criers for Hire, in its world premiere at East West Players, tells the kind of fish-out-of-water story weve heard before, but its one we cant resist. Its told humorously and movingly, with fresh colors and details. A Filipina woman named Baby (Joan Almedilla) has finally earned enough money to bring her 14-year-old daughter, Gaya (Nicole Barredo), to live with her in Los Angeles. Raised in the Philippines, Gaya knows her mother primarily through her loving but vague letters about life in America. Advertisement One detail Baby has left out is that she works part-time as a mourner, crying for pay at Chinese funerals. Babys boss, Meding (Giselle G Tongi), runs a company called Criers for Hire, which in its heyday employed 20 women to sob on command. But lately her staff has shrunk to Baby and a younger, American-born Filipina called Henny (Samantha Cutaran). In need of a fourth mourner, the criers ask Gaya to fill in; but having been raised to keep her sorrows to herself, she claims not to know how. The women try to teach her, letting her in on the tricks of their trade. Their escalatingly ridiculous techniques for faking grief send the audience into hysterics; they have the same effect on Gaya, who cant keep a straight face. Gayas unquenchable pluck is endearing, especially because she could find reasons to cry if she wanted to. At school, her classmates belittle her and make fun of her accent; her only friends are the characters on TVs Saved by the Bell. (The story is set in the early 1990s.) Her loneliness is evoked even by the set, a series of small spaces revealed and hidden by designer Christopher Scott Murillos sliding panels. At the bus stop, Gaya finally makes a real friend, a Mexican teenager named Narciso (Rudy Martinez) who has a morose air from listening continuously to Morrissey and Tears for Fears on his Walkman. Beneath the glum mien, though, hes sweet and energetic, and he persuades Gaya to sneak out to clubs with him while Baby works late at a nursing home called, absurdly, Live Long & Prosper. When Baby discovers Gayas deception, the inevitable conflict exposes the customary hidden truths. The effective resolution provoked audible sniffles and moist eyes on opening night. Jon Lawrence Rivera directs the sweet comedy with an occasionally heavy hand, encouraging the criers, especially, to ham it up even between bouts of false anguish. They perform in a combination of Tagalog and English, with supertitles sometimes providing English translations, and possibly the anxiety of not being understood is behind some of the mugging. We could follow even if they toned things down a bit; the story they have to tell, of homesickness and yearning to fit in, of mothers and daughters growing up together and apart, is universal. ------------ Criers for Hire Where: David Henry Hwang Theatre at the Union Center for the Arts, 120 Judge John Aiso St., Los Angeles When: 8 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays. Ends March 13 Tickets: $28-$38 Info: (213) 625-7000 or www.eastwestplayers.org Running time: 1 hour, 30 minutes Follow The Times arts team @culturemonster. Miss Julie, August Strindbergs 1888 classic, has inspired so many high-profile adaptations the work has been relocated to Britain, Ireland, America, Russia and (most effectively) South Africa that I was tempted to call for a moratorium on new versions of the play out of fear that Antarctica might be next. Luckily, I held off. Christiane Jatahy, a Brazilian artist who has had similar dealings with Chekhov, transports Miss Julie to contemporary Brazil in Julia, a stunning multimedia riff on the Swedish playwrights combustible tale of an aristocrats tragically consequential dalliance with her fathers servant. See more of Entertainments top stories on Facebook >> Advertisement The 70-minute production, which ends its brief run at REDCAT on Sunday, gracefully interweaves film, live video and carnal performance to tell its story. (The work is performed in Portuguese with English supertitles displayed in a way that encourages the audience to stay focused on the propulsive rhythm of the dialogue rather than on the word-for-word translation.) An ingenious stage design of sliding panels and screens (by Marcelo Lipiani and Jatahy) sets up a warren of different playing areas, one room discretely giving way to another as Rodrigo Marcals music drives the action with a playful yet somberly insistent blend of acoustic piano and strings. A cameraman (Paulo Camacho) follows the two performers, Julia Bernat (who plays Julia) and Rodrigo dos Santos (who plays the unnamed chauffeur), as they dance outside, flirt in the pool, drink some beer and wine in the modern kitchen and wonder how theyre going to recover any sense of normalcy in their lives after making heated love in a house in which the hired help are always watching. The cook (Tatiana Tiburcio, appearing only on film) is especially furious at this breach of propriety. She cant countenance working for a mistress who acts like a nymphomaniac with the staff. (Her own relationship to the good-lucking driver adds a sharp edge to her moralizing.) The sex scene between Julia and the chauffeur is boldly presented. While Strindberg leaves the sex to the audiences imagination, Jatahy, who wrote and directed the adaptation, incorporates much of the original post-coital dialogue into the characters dirty talk. The brutal eroticism theatrically heightens the power dynamics of two characters bitterly divided not just by social class but by gender. (For the notoriously misogynistic Strindberg, Julies economic advantages are undercut by her inherent inferiority as a woman.) Jatahy begins with a more or less straightforward reworking of the original before chipping way at the fourth wall to interrogate what it means to revisit Miss Julie from her cultural and historical vantage. This starts off gently with the onstage cameraman saying cut after a significant moment. But as the crisis grows more intense for the characters, the performers step out of their roles to share their harried thoughts. At one point, the actress playing Julia, not wanting to reach the suicidal finish line, runs offstage and into the Walt Disney Concert Hall parking structure. Dos Santos, who feels compelled to complete the drama as originally written, eventually retrieves Bernat outside on 2nd Street and lures her back inside the theater. Jatahys interest in the content of the play is ultimately matched by her fascination with the plays status as a cultural artifact. This is a natural development of reckoning with this landmark work of modern drama. In Miss Julie, Strindberg formulated a new approach to character, scenic design and plot by tapping into late 19th century developments in psychology, economics, biology, aesthetics and philosophy. The playwrights aim, as expressed in his brilliant preface to the play, was to modernize the form according to what he believed were the demands a contemporary audience would make of this art. Jatahy follows suit in her rethinking of the meaning of naturalism for 21st century theatergoers. (Her canny use of film allows her to challenge assumptions of what is real onstage.) She brings a racial dimension to the struggle of the characters (the servants are black) and updates the terms of the gender battle, which, while far from over, is not what it was in 19th century Sweden. But the success of this production hinges on the moment-to-moment precision of Bernat and Dos Santos, both of whom bring flavorful specificity to their characterizations. Their passion hits like a summer storm, and the actors seem by the end as devastated by the impact as their characters. Their work is so authentic that in the famous scene in which Julias bird is slaughtered by her servant, the fiction is interrupted to assure the audience that the creature wasnt at all harmed. Its one of the many original touches that enable Jatahy to reinvent this naturalistic tragedy for a new age. ------------------- Julia Where: REDCAT, 631 W. 2nd St., L.A. When: 8:30 p.m. Saturday, 7 p.m. Sunday. Ends Sundays Tickets: $20-$25 Info: (213) 237-2800, www.redcat.org Running time: 1 hour, 10 minutes When the artist, poet, activist and educator Jose Montoya died in 2013, he left a treasure trove of drawings in his Sacramento studio. The sketches some 4,000 of them, accumulated over more than half a century of travels around California and beyond were created on just about any material the artist could lay his hands on. There are sketches of dogs on stationery from a Hilton Hotel in Oregon. There are self-portraits on 8-by-10 copy paper. And there are pachucos and homeboys, elegantly rendered on paper towels and restaurant napkins in their zoot suits and bandannas, figures who stare down authority with style and swagger. Over the course of his life, Montoya repeatedly drew pachucos in their zoot suits capturing the flamboyant elegance of a fashion that was also rooted in resistance. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times) Advertisement There isnt a scrap of paper that didnt serve as canvas for Montoya. One drawing, a portrait of a man and a woman, their thoughtful profiles rendered in red ink, was sketched onto an expense list for an ethnic studies symposium at some unnamed institution. Chances are it was Cal State Sacramento, where Montoya was a longtime professor of art, photography and education. All of these were in his studio in Sacramento, boxed and stacked away, says his son Richard Montoya, the actor, director and cofounder of the performance group Culture Clash. We always knew they were there, but we didnt know how many. For the past two years, Montoya, along with independent curator Selene Preciado, have been dutifully going through the pile for an exhibition of Montoyas drawings at the Fowler Museum at UCLA. Upon his death, Jose Montoya left thousands of drawings in his studio. The artists son, Richard (above), who co-curated the show at the Fowler, helped sort them all. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times) Jose Montoyas Abundant Harvest: Works on Paper, Works on Life, which opens this weekend, is the Chicano artists first solo museum exhibition and the first ever to gather the staggering breadth of his drawings into a single show. (Abundant Harvest will display roughly 2,000 of his sketches.) The only way to get through all of it was to just dive in, says Richard. Theres a method to the madness and a madness to the method. I just had to embrace that in order to do this. Jose Montoya was born in 1932 on a ranch outside Albuquerque and moved to Californias San Joaquin Valley as a young boy. By the time he was 9, he was working in the fields alongside his relatives picking, among other things, grapes, the fruit that would become the symbol of the farmworkers struggle in the 1960s. For the display, the Fowlers curators have organized Montoyas voluminous drawings into a series of fruit boxes on the gallery floor. These pay tribute to the artists agricultural roots. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times) Members of the family, known for its work ethic, were dubbed quinienteros (roughly of the five hundreds) for their ability to pick 500 trays of grapes a day. The exhibition honors this history by presenting Montoyas drawings in tidy rows of cardboard fruit boxes (which also has the effect of cleverly breaking up what could be an overwhelming number of works). Its a metaphor for the fields, says Fowler director Marla Berns. Wherever he was, he seemed to have a pen in his pocket to capture the moment. He made so many drawings. So the notion of abundance is apt. It relates to a harvest. Despite the grueling nature of life in the fields, Montoyas mother nonetheless found ways to inspire artistic interests in her children. Back then, the fruit would be laid out on these long sheets of butcher-type paper in the boxes, says Richard. My grandmother would roll up several pieces of paper and shed take it back to the tent or whatever space they were living in and teach the kids how to draw. Rows of Montoyas studies of female heads grace one wall at the Fowler. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times) From an early age, Montoya seemed destined to work in something other than agriculture. In Resonant Valley, a poem he wrote in 1969, he describes himself as ill-suited to the task more conscious of the tiny creatures that might die along the way than in keeping up with the harvest: I was quick to / Sadden at the sight / Of the green, iridescent worm / Scorching itself in the / Hot, planned-for-tray, sand. / And knowing I had something / To do with its death / I wept. Montoya became the first in his family to go to high school. And after a stint in the Korean War, where he served on a U.S. Navy minesweeper, he attended the California College of Arts and Crafts in San Francisco and later Cal State Sacramento, where he earned a masters of fine arts. He worked as a teacher and professor, but was best known for being a cultural polymath who seamlessly united activism, art and writing. He penned lyrical stanzas about the Mexican American condition in English, Spanish and Spanglish. One of his best known poems, El Louie, tells the story of a zoot suiter who struggles to reassimilate after serving in the Korean War: And on leave, jump boots shainadas and ribbons, cocky from the war, strutting to early mass on Sunday morning. / Wow, is that el Louie. Montoya also campaigned tirelessly for the cause of Chicano civil rights and the rights of farmworkers. (Richard recalls watching his father sketch Cesar Chavez at the dinner table on one occasion.) To this end, the artist and several colleagues founded the Royal Chicano Air Force, an art collective that created posters and staged actions in support of la causa. As with so many things that Montoya touched, it was infused with humor. The group had begun life as the Rebel Chicano Art Front, or R.C.A.F. until one day someone asked them why they were referring to themselves as the Royal Canadian Air Force. They loved that idea of the pilots and the regalia, so they began calling themselves the Royal Chicano Air Force, says Richard. They would travel in this fleet of Volkswagen buses wearing pilot regalia. It was so theatrical. When they would go into places like Delano, they would just rout law enforcement and the Teamsters. They were fearless. Throughout all of these adventures, Montoya sketched, drawing images of agricultural buildings, farmworker cantinas, stylish lowriders, activist meetings, zoot suiters, sexy pachucas, friends, family, pilots and Aztec warriors. One of the oldest images in the exhibition, from 1959, shows Montoyas car broken down on the side of the Grapevine a testament to his playfulness, even in moments of mechanical frustration. Richard Montoya, with Fowler Museum director Marla Berns, reviewing some of his fathers drawings of pachucos on napkins. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times) In the immediate wake of his fathers death, Richard says the first drawing he came upon was an image of a man on his hands and knees. Its an ambivalent work impossible to tell if the figure is standing up or falling down. I thought of it as a figure that is getting back up, says Richard. Thats what saved me. Preciado, who, with Richard, spent the better part of two years sifting through Montoyas thousands of drawings, the majority of which were undated, says they offer an intimate view of the artists world. The practice of drawing is so personal and intimate, she says, you see the thinking process. And theres this humanity, adds Preciado. You can identify yourself in them, regardless of background .... He was making a portrait of the community and his people and the struggle. Montoya, inadvertently or not through drawings, poetry and his writings was recording the daily life of Mexican America during turbulent times, capturing the ordinary, the beautiful and the sublime from within a community that is often invisible in mainstream media and arts institutions. The storytelling is so relevant in his work, says Richard. He was dialoguing with farmworkers, with [John] Steinbeck, with the Beats, with [Mexican essayist] Octavio Paz .... He is telling the story of his people. Berns, who met the artist through a show of Chicano graphic posters at UC Santa Barbara in 2001, says she is happy to see someone like Montoya get his due. Drawings are such an important way of seeing an artist, of understanding their thought process, she says. He was so observant. He always had a sense of humor. But he was also quite subtle. Richard, in the meantime, is excited to have the public interact with work that had long lain in boxes. Theres a bit of the brilliant madman to my dad, he says. This, in a way, is my tribute to him. Jose Montoyas Abundant Harvest: Works on Paper, Works on Life opens at the Fowler Museum on Sunday and runs through July 17. UCLA, 308 Charles E. Young Dr. North, Westwood, Los Angeles, fowler.ucla.edu. Find me on Twitter @cmonstah. Like Batman v. Superman, this presidential campaign has two key players that should make it a Hollywood dream come true. The nonpolitician in the White House and the first female president are both staples of political film and television, enduring symbols of a deep-held desire to see a figure of democratic idealism and everyday common sense straighten out the byzantine shenanigans of our nations capital. On paper, the prospect of both making their way to November is fraught with dramatic possibilities: Dave by way of Commander in Chief, Mr. Smith meets Madam Secretary, and they are both on the hustings. Advertisement In reality, we have the campaigns of Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. With his plans for walls, international smack-downs, increased deportation and a vaguely defined return to America winning, Trump is as far from the common-touch humanity imagined by films like Dave, Head of State or Man of the Year as he could get without calling for an actual coup d'etat. He is not a humble regular guy, nor does he claim to be. Clinton, meanwhile, is not bogged down by the issues faced by fictional female leaders: that she isnt experienced enough or isnt tough enough to make the big calls, that shell be distracted when her kid breaks an arm or gets into trouble at school. Neither is she victim to hostile sexual attacks by conservative opponents like those faced by the vice presidential nominee of The Contender. 1 / 14 President Clinton, First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton and their daughter, Chelsea, leave the Foundry Methodist Church in Washington after services on Dec. 24, 1995. (Greg Gibson / Associated Press ) 2 / 14 President-elect Bill Clinton and Vice President-elect Al Gore are joined by their families as they greet a cheering crowd in front of the Old State House in Little Rock, Ark., on election night 1992. (Susan Ragan / Associated Press ) 3 / 14 Bill Clinton, flanked by Hillary and daughter Chelsea, greets the Washington crowd at his 1993 inauguration. (Jim Bourg / Reuters) 4 / 14 The Clintons at an event at the University of Illinois Circle Campus in August 1996. (Alex Garcia / Los Angeles Times ) 5 / 14 Hillary, Chelsea and Bill Clinton at the convocation ceremony at Stanford University on Chelseas first day at the university on Sept. 19, l997. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) 6 / 14 The Clintons attend a prayer service at Chongwenmen Protestant Church in Beijing in June 1998. (Vincent Thian / Associated Press) 7 / 14 The Clintons walk with the family dog, Buddy, as they leave the White House for Marthas Vineyard, Mass., in August 1998. (Roberto Borea / Associated Press) 8 / 14 The Clintons aboard a sailboat with former newscaster Walter Cronkite near Edgartown, Mass., on Aug. 25, 1998. (Charles Krupa / Associated Press) 9 / 14 President Clinton embraces Hillary and Chelsea after his address at the Democratic National Convention at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on Aug. 14, 2000. (Bob Galbraith / Associated Press) 10 / 14 President George W. Bush with the Clintons during the inauguration of the Clinton Presidential Center in Little Rock, Ark., in November 2004. (Roberto Schmidt / AFP/Getty Images ) 11 / 14 The Clintons in New York in October 2007. (Frank Franklin II / Associated Press ) 12 / 14 Hillary Rodham Clinton hugs daughter Chelsea after an address to supporters at Manhattan Center Studios in New York in February 2007. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) 13 / 14 Hillary Rodham Clinton at a primary election night rally on May 6, 2008, in Indianapolis when she was seeking the Democratic presidential nomination. (Scott Olson / Getty Images) 14 / 14 Chelsea and Bill Clinton applaud as Hillary Rodham Clinton announces the end of her presidential campaign in June 2008 at the National Building Museum in Washington. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) Instead its Clintons wide-ranging experience and her lack of maternal softness that draws the criticism. She is plagued by the appearance of being smart to the point of smug; far from threatening to turn the American government into some sort of cooperative collective, she is seen by some as too Business as Usual. Even the historic nature of her potential election is divisive, especially among young women who dont want to feel pressured by history. To be fair, few of our more idealized versions of leadership are ever seen campaigning; Hollywood leaves the grim realities of getting and staying in office to the Francis Underwoods (House of Cards) and Fitzgerald Grants (Scandal) of the world. The citizen politician ideal usually comes courtesy of deus ex machina. Chris Rock campaigns in Head of State but only after his partys presidential and vice presidential candidates die; in Man of the Year, Robin Williams satirical talk show host becomes a viable candidate via computer glitch. Since neither expects to win, each is free from the fetters of realpolitik. Most of the female presidents were vice presidents who took office after a shocking death, and even Mr. Smith went to Washington as the result of a coin toss, not an election. And Kevin Klines Dave was a part-time presidential impersonator who winds up a fill-in for the real thing. Hillary Clinton does not fit the typical female leader template in part because she is not beset by career ambivalence. Mary McNamara, Los Angeles Times Television Critic Still, even taking the demands of narrative expediency into consideration, theres a remarkably wide gap between repeated fiction and current fact. Trumps blunt speech and billionaire status has gained him many supporters who admire both his refusal to be politically correct and his insistence that, as a rich man, he is beholden to no one. But his penchant for personal insult and repeated vows to create a federal government so big and intrusive it can literally wall off another country while deporting millions of U.S. residents is at complete odds, both politically and emotionally, with the tolerance and Good Samaritan populism we inevitably celebrate in our fictitious presidents. Openly hostile to the press, political opponents, the disenfranchised and other nations, Trump speaks to those Americans angry at a government they feel ignores their needs and/or pussyfoots around certain issues. His idea of American greatness is unapologetically a model of international comparison a desire to be the dominant nation rather than the more essential, often spiritual grandeur sought by the more humanist, and often liberal, outlier presidents beloved by Hollywood. Indeed, if Trump were a figure in a movie or television series, hed be the antagonist, not the protagonist. More the bullying president in, say, Love Actually who stands in frozen rage while Hugh Grants nice-guy prime minister sticks up for a nation defined by Shakespeare and David Beckhams left foot than Dave with his focus on homeless shelters and jobs programs. 1 / 5 Hello, Donald. OK, so it doesnt quite have the same ring to it as Hello, Newman, the greeting the fictional Jerry Seinfeld gave to his arch-nemesis, played by Wayne Knight , on the comedians popular sitcom. But Seinfelds verbal bout with Trump was unscripted -- and seemingly largely one-sided -- so imperfect phrasing can be forgiven. Yet should one cross Trump, dont expect a shrug and a handshake. Instead, Seinfeld received a rant after the comedian backed out of a charity benefit hosted by one of Trumps sons, supposedly because of the birther issue. Seinfelds camp has been relatively quiet, but Trump was quoted as taking a swing at Seinfelds TV credits. No, not the beloved Seinfeld, but instead the unscripted show The Marriage Ref. Said Trump, What I do feel badly about is that I agreed to do, and did, your failed show, The Marriage Ref, even though I thought it was absolutely terrible. (Getty Images / Los Angeles Times) 2 / 5 Trump started it at the Conservative Political Action Conference, boasting that he was well acquainted with winning and saying that Ron Paul has zero chance of getting elected president. Paul shot back that Trumps birther battle showed the Donald was desperate. (Getty Images / Associated Press) 3 / 5 The Donald doesnt take failure well, and when, in 2006, The Apprentice showed signs of ratings weakness, he went after Martha Stewart . Her show, The Apprentice: Martha Stewart, was not highly rated, and Trump believed the spinoff dragged down his own show. He blamed her; she was upset and blamed him; then he wrote a scathing letter telling Stewart to take full responsibility for the failed show, talking about her ImClone fiasco, her daughters one-word statements and more. Later, in 2008, though the event seemed to have simmered down, Stewart said Trumps actions were unforgivable. (Getty Images / Los Angeles Times) 4 / 5 In 2007, Trump put his reputation -- and his hair -- on the line to start a fued with WWE Chairman Vince McMahon . In a dramatized dust-up reported on by major media outlets, their storied hair versus hair match during Wrestlemania 23 had both men pick a pro-wrestling representative to fight for them in the ring. The loser had to shave his head. Obviously, we know who came out on top in that challenge. In addition to keeping his golden quaff, Trump made an appearance in the WWE match titled Battle of the Billionaires that garnered solid gold ratings. (Getty Images / Associated Press) 5 / 5 In the Donalds defense, Cher fired first. The openly Democratic Turn Back Time singer took to Twitter in November 2012 (on the heels of Trump hounding President Obama during his 2012 campaign) to bash clothing retailer Macys for carrying Trumps line in its stores and take jabs at his famous do. Ill NEVER GO TO MACYS AGAIN! Cher tweeted. I didnt know they sold Donald Trumps Line! If they dont care that they sell products from a LOUDMOUTH. But Trump didnt take the tirade sitting down, firing back about the singers surgical procedures. Cher-- I dont wear a rug'--its mine. And I promise not to talk about your massive plastic surgeries that didnt work. (Getty Images / Los Angeles Times) Though she has certainly benefited from the growing number of fictional female leaders on television and in film, Clinton is just as many miles away from her cinematic counterparts as Trump. Fictitious female leaders are often initially reluctant Geena Davis Commander in Chief was dragged out of academe to become vice president and almost agrees to resign when her president dies and all are preoccupied by family. In 24, Cherry Jones Allison Taylor was actually elected president, but the woman couldnt make a move without one family member or another dragging her down. At the end of one season she divorced, at the end of the next, she resigned. With one grown daughter and an enduring marriage to a man who would like nothing more than to move back into the White House, Clinton has none of these concerns. Or, for that matter, any of those attractions. Try as she might to portray herself as a doting grandmother, shes no who, me? Everywoman. Shes a lifer, a career politician and public servant. Far from being reluctant about assuming power, Clinton has been immersed in presidential politics, one way or another, for most of her adult life. (In fact, the first episode of Commander in Chief includes a rather sniffy list of the many ways in which Clinton overreached as first lady.) She does not propose to act from her gut, she proposes to act from her brain and her years of experience. She is such an insider that Bernie Sanders, a man who has also been a politician for most of his life and in Congress for 25 years, is able to seem like the new guy with the fresh ideas. Often huffy, sometimes preachy and as removed from domestic details as her male counterparts when she ordered for herself at Chipotle, it went viral Clinton does not fit the typical female leader template in part because she is not beset by career ambivalence. Though Madam Secretary has been accused of promoting a Clinton presidency, a truer reflection is the often obsessive determination of Parks and Recreations Leslie Knope (played by Amy Poehler), though its hard to envision Hillary Clinton stress-eating her weight in waffles or lamenting the death of Lil Sebastian. Even more accurate, perhaps, was Samantha Bees recent reference to Hermione Clinton. If this were a scripted drama (or if her campaign had any sense of whimsy), Clinton would have taken that comparison and run with it. Who doesnt love Hermione? When dark outside forces threatened to destroy Harry and the wizarding world, it was Hermione who did the reading, learned the spells, packed the necessary items and figured out what actually had to be done to save the world. Clinton should have shown up at her next event in full Gryffindor regalia. Heaven knows Trump would have. The minute someone compares Donald Trump to any J.K. Rowling hero, hell pull out a wand and say accio presidency. Then hell explain why Hogwarts needs an additional moat and all the Muggles really do have to go. mary.mcnamara@latimes.com Good morning. I'm Paul Thornton, The Times' letters editor, and it is Saturday, Feb. 20. Here's a look back at the week in Opinion. It's a sign of the times that a substantial portion of American voters and a major political party are fine with allowing a vacancy on the Supreme Court to go unfilled for perhaps a year. But columnist Jonah Goldberg has a solution that could break the deadlock and allow President Obama and the Senate to replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia: Nominate and confirm a conservative, possibly even (yes) Sen. Ted Cruz. Goldberg acknowledges this won't happen: Scalia was not only one of the more gifted writers and intellectuals to ever don the robe, he was also a founding father of the originalist counterrevolution and the elder statesman of the court's conservative wing. So it is no wonder that conservatives should grow instantly queasy at the thought that Obama will replace him with yet another high priest of the cult of the "living Constitution." Already, partisans are sharpening their spears for what could easily be the meanest and most-polarizing nomination battle in modern American history. It will get ugly, very ugly. Congress will grind to a halt. Interest groups will pour millions into the effort on both sides. Careers will be ruined. Public trust will plunge even deeper, if that's even possible. Some commentators have already moved to DEFCON 1. Within 48 hours of the news that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell would block any nominee Obama sent his way, New York Times editorial writer Brent Staples opined on Twitter, In a nation built on slavery, white men propose denying the first black president his Constitutional right to name Supreme Court nominee. Never mind that this would be Obama's third such appointment; Staples' tweet is but a drop in the river of poison to come. Obama could prevent all this strife. He could say that he will leave this appointment up to his successor. Or he could appoint a conservative during the Senate recess (Sen. Ted Cruz, anyone?) who would serve only until the end of the following session. That would preserve the power balance on the court for the time being. Such diplomacy would go a long way to reduce or at least prevent further polarization and meanness in our politics. Chances Obama will go this route? Zero. Instead he'll pick a liberal whom he'll call a moderate and insist on an up-or-down vote. And I don't blame him. If I were president, I would seize the opportunity to appoint a like-minded justice. So would pretty much any Republican or any other Democratic president. On the other hand, I don't fetishize bipartisanship and unity the way Obama does if only rhetorically. Click here to read more. Here's what an honest debate on replacing Scalia would look like. Jon Healey imagines a world in which Democrats and Republicans dispense with the spin and speak frankly about their intentions. Here's what McConnell, the Senate majority leader, would say: "We will be slow-rolling this one because we don't want to be accused of stonewalling even though we simply won't allow this nomination to reach the Senate floor." Obama: "I knew the Senate wouldnt give my pick a vote because of the politics of the situation. So I cast about for someone who not only would make a fine justice, but also raise the electoral stakes." L.A. Times "A dumb political move": Michael McGough scolds the president for passing on Scalia's funeral Mass today, noting that George W. Bush eulogized Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist at his funeral in 2005. Given their political differences, Obama shouldn't be expected to participate in Scalia's funeral, but attending it would send a badly needed message about nonpartisanship when it comes to the Supreme Court. L.A. Times Scalia might be dead, but his originalism lives on. David B. Rivkin Jr. and Lee A. Casey say, "Scalia was a stout conservative who transformed American jurisprudence in 34 years on the bench." The Times editorial board reminds Republicans that it is Obama's constitutional duty to nominate and the Senate's to consider and vote on Scalia's successor. In a separate editorial, the board notices cracks in the Republican wall of obstruction. In an op-ed article, Akhil Amar and Vikram Amar find precedence for Obama in Ronald Reagan's end-of-term nomination of Anthony Kennedy to the Supreme Court. Fight on, Apple. A court order forcing the company to develop software that would effectively allow the FBI to bypass the security features of San Bernardino shooter Syed Rizwan Farook's iPhone 5c would set a dangerous precedent if Apple were to comply, and the company is right to appeal the ruling, says a Times editorial. L.A. Times Francis has said something about contraception you thought you'd never hear from a pope: It's OK to use birth control. (But only for women who fear they have been exposed to the Zika virus and whose babies might be stricken with severe birth defects as a result.) From the moment this pope was elected in 2013 and refused to ride in the papal limousine, Francis has indicated that he would do things differently from his predecessors. His apparent flexibility on contraception is a major example, writes Carla Hall. L.A. Times When a Rockefeller gives up on Big Oil, it's a big deal. Writing on the op-ed page, Neva Rockefeller Goodwin great-granddaughter of John D. Rockefeller Sr., who created the Standard Oil Co. writes that she dumped her inherited Exxon Mobil shares, which were liquidated and the proceeds donated to fight global warming. She explains: "I lost faith in Exxon Mobil's future value. A prime reason is that Exxon's valuation is based largely on the immense untapped reserves of oil and gas it owns. And yet if future generations are to inherit a livable world, most of those reserves must stay in the ground." L.A. Times Let me know what you think about this newsletter. Email paul.thornton@latimes.com. Good morning. It is Saturday, Feb. 20. Heres what you dont want to miss this weekend: TOP STORIES Getting tough with Apple: Federal authorities escalated their battle with Apple over their demand the tech giant help unlock a phone owned by the one of the San Bernardino terrorists. Prosecutors alleged Apple could easily unlock the phone and is refusing based on its concern for its business model and public brand marketing strategy. Fair Assn. salaries: The group that runs Los Angeles County Fair paid its top executive more than $1 million in total compensation in 2014, the fifth straight year the organization reported financial losses, newly obtained records show. Advertisement A mild case: Why is this flu season so much better than last years? Experts cite several factors including the available vaccine is a good match for the flu strains going around and the virus may not be spreading rapidly because of unusually warm weather. But they also warn the outbreak might not have peaked yet. A nuisance or a savior? Can stormwater be part of Californias drought recovery? A robbery with bite: In a brazen daytime attack, muggers punched a man in San Franciscos Financial District Thursday and stole two of his gold teeth. Legal drama: Actor Jonathan Goldsmith is known to millions as The Most Interesting Man in the World, but the bearded pitchman for Dos Equis beer has been given a very different label by his former manager: The Least Honorable Man in the Entertainment Business. Hanging it up: Its the end of the line for Knotts Berry Farms Riptide thrill ride. Are you a real foodie? Test your knowledge of Los Angeles food porn. Gridlock alert: Getting between the Inland Empire and Orange County is going to be a nightmare this weekend. Is this the Carmageddon that really lives up to its name? Criminal intent: L.A. mystery writer Michael Connelly pays tribute to the original master, Raymond Chandler. ICYMI, HERE ARE THIS WEEKS GREAT READS A rush to save a life: Inside the futile fight to save Autumn, a 1-year-old girl whose death in a gang-related shooting became a symbol of despair in Compton. A Times investigation: Police in six Southern California counties have shot more than 2,000 suspects since 2004. Only one officer was prosecuted and he was acquitted. Not neighborly: How an epic neighborhood feud in suburban Garden Grove ended in a murder trial. The golden generation: Chinas rich kids hit Los Angeles and yes, it feels like reality TV. An L.A. parrot story: The unlikely bond between damaged birds and veterans traumatized by war. Political influence: A new state bill would require lobbyists to disclose what they do to influence members of the California Coastal Commission. Columnist Steve Lopez thinks thats a good idea since right now transparency and objectivity are hard to come by. Its all too cozy and too shady at the same time, he writes. THIS WEEKS MOST POPULAR STORIES IN ESSENTIAL CALIFORNIA 1. An Orange County designer is working on what may be the most expensive home in America. The giga-mansion would be 104,000 square feet in Bel-Air with a price tag of $500 million. Orange County Register 2. Hes one of the biggest names in television and hes $17 million in debt thanks to a gambling addiction. Hollywood Reporter 3. Times are tough when even Paul McCartney cant get into a Grammys after-party. How VIP do we gotta get? We need another hit, the legend said. Vanity Fair 4. The evolution of Pamela Anderson: She invented herself in the first place. She was a flat-chested brunette from Canada who evolved into a blond bombshell American icon. Vice 5. LACMA is acquiring an iconic home designed by John Lautner. Los Angeles Times LOOKING AHEAD Tuesday: The Orange County Board of Supervisors discusses a major overhaul of the aging civic center in Santa Ana. Tuesday: Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti will celebrate African American Heritage Month with authors Pamela Samuels Young, Attica Locke, Victoria Christopher Murray and Louis Gossett Jr.; Cal State Northridge will host a conversation with former Gov. Michael Dukakis. Friday: Film composer Ennio Morricone gets a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Please let us know what we can do to make this newsletter more useful to you. Send comments, complaints and ideas to Alice Walton or Shelby Grad. Eighth-grader Daisy Vetter dropped to the floor and curled up in a ball when news of Harper Lees death came over the intercom at Walter Reed Middle School in North Hollywood on Friday morning. Her friends asked what was wrong. They just didnt understand, Daisy said, why To Kill a Mockingbird, the 1960 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel that made Lee famous, is so important to her. Narrated by a sympathetic tomboy just a bit younger than Daisy, the book has helped generations grapple with questions of race and justice. Advertisement Its such a grabbing book, said Daisy, 13. It literally keeps me up at night. I dont sleep. Few books have shaped the countrys literary landscape more than Lees tale of a black man falsely accused of raping a white woman in the small fictional Southern town Lee fashioned after Monroeville, Ala., where she lived and died. When she needed help during her first year as a teacher, Leah Bass-Baylis turned to the books themes of acceptance and determination. She had been assigned a class of fourth- and fifth-grade students with disabilities who had gone through a rotating array of teachers and substitutes. Bass-Baylis said she leaned on excerpts from the book and movie, combining it with The Diary of a Young Girl, the account of Anne Frank, who died in the Holocaust, and Biko, the Donald Wood biography about the black South African activist Steve Biko, who died in police custody in 1977. I used the books and the movies to talk about mans inhumanity to man, said Bass-Baylis, now the principal at Santana Elementary in North Hills. While you feel youre having it tough, a lot of people have it tougher, she said. Then theres that next step of ... how can we be kind to each other? The novel became a staple in classrooms across the country, as people of all ages found resonance in its timeless characters, including Scout, the precocious narrator who gives us her account of the wrongly accused Tom Robinson and his defense by her trial attorney father, Atticus Finch. At Reed Middle School on Friday, teachers said that decades after its release, the lessons not judging someone before walking in their shoes and that fairness is elusive remained poignant. Students seemed to get that. Its interesting seeing the point of view from a little girl with all the racism and how she handles it, said Eleana Toscano, 13. Her dad is defending a black person in court even though he knows he wont win and the kids at Scouts school are making fun of her, but she knows better than to listen to them. To Kill A Mockingbird is not required reading in district schools. Teachers are given discretion to choose the books they believe best work in their classrooms. As Lees novel ages, some have opted for newer books that deal with similar topics, said Dharma Hernandez, secondary literacy coordinator for the Los Angeles Unified School District. Still, Hernandez said, the issues explored in the novel continue to endure as groups such as Black Lives Matter, formed in response to high-profile police killings of black men, have helped bring national attention to racial inequalities. It still addresses themes and issues that we are grappling with today in our society, Hernandez said. Harper Lee gave us a great gift in Mockingbird, and I think its a gift that will continue to live on. It encourages our students and society to explore these issues. Some scholars have suggested that Lees book too easily neglects the level of racial violence African Americans were forced to endure. In an essay published last year, Stephen Goodwin, a novelist and professor at George Mason University in Virginia argued that To Kill a Mockingbird created too rosy a picture of the South during those violent times. Even though the plot turns on the death of an innocent black man, the tone is jarringly cheerful, Goodwin said. Take out the trial and death of Tom Robinson, and the book is like The Little Rascals, all about the pranks and high jinks of a bunch of lovable kids. For Shalonda Ward, a student at Washington Preparatory High School, the novel is outdated. The setting is too old-fashioned and the vocabulary too difficult, she said. It was really boring, Shalonda said. Id much rather read The Hunger Games. Eighth-grader Jacob Ramer, on the other hand, said the lessons of the novel challenge him to consider how much progress has been made in achieving equality for all. Its amazing considering how much has changed and how little has changed at the same time, Jacob said. People are saying, Look how far weve come ... but there are still so many instances of racism happening. But Scott Braxton, who oversees alternative schools for L.A. Unified, said the novel pushed him to do better for his students. Braxton, who is black, saw the movie when he was 7. He recalls how moved he was by the storyline of a white attorney who defies his white Southern neighbors to stand up for justice. I would say I was emotionally struck, Braxton said. While I learned about the kind of lives the generation before me lived, it restored my sense that we were going in the right direction as a nation. zahira.torres@latimes.com Twitter: @zahiratorres howard.blume@latimes.com Twitter: @howardblume Times staff writer Teresa Watanabe contributed to this report. When hackers took control of a small Boston-area police departments computer system last year, officials decided to pay $500 to get back control. A sheriffs department in Maine paid a $300 ransom when its system was hijacked. But when it comes to malware ransoms, Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center paid a much bigger price. The hospital said it paid a $17,000 ransom in bitcoin to the hacker who seized control of the hospitals computer systems. Advertisement Law enforcement officials and cybersecurity companies say they are seeing an uptick in these cyberattacks on both private businesses and public institutions. While some like the hospital case make national headlines, many attacks occur without any publicity and with the victims ultimately agreeing to pay. Often, businesses conclude paying the ransom is the quickest and most efficient way to get their data back. People dont like to talk about it. Its happening across all industries, banking, small businesses and other places, said Phil Lieberman, a cybersecurity consultant. This troubles some in law enforcement. We dont ever recommended paying a ransom in any criminal investigation, said LAPD Capt. Andrew Neiman. It is a personal choice. Paying a ransom doesnt ensure anything. Neiman said the cyberattack at the hospital was reported Feb. 6, the day after the attack, to the Los Angeles Police Department and then the FBI became involved. Hackers tend to target smaller companies and government agencies that are less likely to have sophisticated computer protections. Katherine Keefe, Global Head of Breach Response Services for Beazley, a specialty risk insurer, said her clients have seen an increase in ransomware attacks targeting a variety of fields, including higher education, finance, government, hospitality, retail, real estate and law. Join the conversation on Facebook >> Those attacks are made when a malware program engages as soon as a victim clicks on a compromised website or opens an email sent by hackers. The malware then locks the victims computer to prevent access to the data, or starts to spread the virus to the institutions computers and lock them all. It installs a piece of software that encrypts everything in the machine and sends the key to the server run by the hacker, Lieberman said. They will send you that key when you pay up. FBI officials say computers sometimes display a fake message purporting to be from a law enforcement agency, claiming that the users Internet address has been associated with child pornography sites or other illegal activity. But more often the malware program displays a screen that tells users they can unlock their computers by making a payment through a money service. In the Hollywood hospital case, the digital extortionist demanded 40 bitcoin, a cybercurrency, be paid to an exchange. The payoff was made before the hospital notified authorities, according to two law enforcement sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case. The Feb. 5 attack on Hollywood Presbyterian infected the hospitals computers and quickly locked the staff out of the communication and patient systems, said Chief Executive Allen Stefanek. The quickest and most efficient way to restore our systems and administrative functions was to pay the ransom and obtain the decryption key, Stefanek said. The patient data was never compromised, he said. The goal of these hackers, Lieberman said, is not to steal data but to merely lock it in place and take away the key. Many of the extortionists are just franchisees, typically based in Eastern Europe. These are a like McDonalds or Subways. They get all the technical know-how for a price. All they have to do is get a list of targets, Lieberman said. They even get updates of the malware. Basically, it is an electronic stickup. State Sen. Bob Hertzberg (D-Van Nuys) The use of ransomware escalated in 2013 with the malware program known as CryptoLocker, which infected more than half a million computers and generated millions of dollars for its operators before the FBI neutralized its command and control. It was the CryptoLocker software that struck the Yuma Sun newspaper in 2013 and the Swansea Police Department in Massachusetts. The Sun received a demand for $300 after the malware was downloaded. It was very tough, said Lisa Reilly, the publisher. Its the worst of timing. We had just been bought by new owners and were installing a new computer system. Many corporations now have software installed in their computer systems to prevent such malware from ever running on their devices. Lieberman said the more modern your computer, the less likely an attack will succeed. Newer operating systems like Windows 10 make it harder for programs like CryptoLocker to work. Keefe said companies need to have backup plans to restore data so they can simple erase the infected machines and start over. Experts say that is becoming easier with the use of cloud storage. Still, some officials believe more needs to be done. When the cybersecurity firm Symantec got access to one ransomware operation, it was bringing in $34,000 a day. Basically, it is an electronic stickup, said state Sen. Bob Hertzberg (D-Van Nuys), who this week proposed legislation to make infecting a computer with ransomware a crime equivalent to extortion. "$17,000 for the hospital, with patients who could be endangered, is something they are going to pay, he said. richard.winton@latimes.com ALSO More than $1 million paid to head of L.A. County Fair Assn. as financial losses mount Man whose felonies were reduced by Prop. 47 arraigned on attempted murder charges Southern California Gas Co. opposes legislation to require new tests of all Aliso Canyon wells The battle between the FBI and Apple Inc. over whether the tech giant should help open the locked cellphone of one of the San Bernardino shooters took a decidedly more heated tone Friday. Federal prosecutors issued a strongly worded court filing attacking Apple -- and questioning its motives. Apple executives, meanwhile, vowed not to back down and accused the government of trying to use public pressure against it. The FBI wants to hack into that Apple iPhone 5C, which was issued to Syed Rizwan Farook by his employer, the San Bernardino County Department of Health. Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, killed 14 people and wounded 22 in the attack at the Inland Regional Center in Riverside on Dec. 2. Both died in a firefight with police hours later. Advertisement See the most-read stories this hour >> Heres Maura Dolans breakdown of the government filing. And heres Paresh Daves reporting on Apples new information. Here are some main points from The Times reporting. What did the government say it its filing? Using strong language, federal prosecutors claimed: --That Apple can easily help the government unlock a terrorists iPhone without undermining anyone elses privacy. --That Apple is exaggerating what the court order demands. The order does not, as Apples public statement alleges, require Apple to create or provide a back door to every iPhone, the filing said. It does not provide hackers and criminals access to iPhones. See more of our top stories on Facebook >> --That Apple has less-than-pure motives in fighting the order. Apples current refusal to comply with the court orders order, despite the technical feasibility of doing so, instead appears to be based on its concern for its business model and public brand marketing strategy, prosecutors wrote. What was Apples response? Senior Apple executives, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that Fridays government motion was redundant and aimed at applying more public pressure on the company so that it would give in. Graphic: How Apple security works The executives said they had no intention of backing down, reiterating that their position was in the best interest of Apple customers and the country. One of the executives said Friday that the governments request for software to change the iPhones operating system would take the company several weeks or months to develop and validate. It would not involve a mere matter of hours or days, he said. The executive also disputed the governments argument that only the terrorists iPhone would be affected by the court order. If Apple complied with the order, prosecutors around the country would ask for the same technology, the executive said. What are the next step in the case? That was laid out in a court filing, which offers a timeline on the case: 1. Apple Inc. (Apple) has informed the government and the Court that it will seek relief from the Courts February 16, 2016 Order Compelling Apple to Assist Agents in Search (the Order). Interested in the stories shaping California? Sign up for the free Essential California newsletter >> 2. On February 18, 2016, the Court held a telephonic status conference in this matter and heard the positions of the government and Apple with respect to an appropriate briefing schedule for Apples application for relief. 3. On February 19, 2016, the government filed a Motion to Compel Apple Inc. to Comply with this Courts February 16, 2016 Order Compelling Assistance in Search. 4. The Court will hear Apples application for relief and the governments motion to compel on March 22, 2016, at 1:00 p.m., and sets the following briefing schedule: Apple shall file its application for relief/opposition to the governments motion by not later than February 26, 2016; Any amicus brief shall be filed by not later than March 3, 2016, along with an appropriate request seeking leave of the Court to file such brief; The governments opposition to Apples application for relief/reply to the governments motion shall be filed by not later than March 10, 2016; Apple shall file any reply with respect to its application for relief by not later than March 15, 2016. 5. Apple shall have 35 pages for its application for relief/opposition to the governments motion, and the government shall have 35 pages for its opposition to Apples application for relief/reply to the governments motion. All other filings shall conform to the page limits set forth in the Local Rules. 6. The Order currently imposes a five-day deadline by which Apple must seek relief from the Court. In light of the schedule set forth herein, that deadline is vacated; Apple shall seek relief from the Court by February 26, 2016. How long has this dispute been doing on? Soon after the Dec. 2 terror attack, the FBI said it was trying to access the couples personal electronics. Prosecutors and senior Apple executives disclosed Friday that the company in early January provided four alternatives to access data from the iPhone. But one of the most encouraging options was ruled out because the phones owner, presumably the San Bernardino County Department of Health, reset the password to Farooks iCloud account within 24 hours of the attack to access data from the backup. The iCloud password on the iPhone itself is therefore now out of date, and it wont perform an automatic backup unless the phones passcode can be ascertained and changed. The issue was discovered after Apple engineers sent to Southern California to work with the FBI were unable to trigger an automatic backup. When iCloud is enabled, iPhones automatically sync with the cloud if charging and connected to a familiar Wi-Fi network. ALSO Apple-FBI encryption fight shifts to the court of public opinion Feds slam Apple, saying it could easily help unlock iPhone and is not above the law The conflict between Apple and the FBI has a long history--and your privacy is at stake Hundreds of demonstrators gathered in downtown Los Angeles on Saturday, carrying signs and chanting in support of a New York City police officer convicted in a deadly shooting. The crowd, which was predominantly Chinese American, was one of many that rallied in cities across the U.S. on Saturday to protest the conviction of Peter Liang, who is also Chinese American. Liang was found guilty of manslaughter earlier this month in the 2014 killing of Akai Gurley, an unarmed black man who died from a ricochet bullet that the rookie cop fired in the stairwell of a Brooklyn housing project. Advertisement The deadly encounter was one of many in recent months that drew heightened scrutiny amid the heated national debate over how police officers use force, particularly against African American men. In Los Angeles, demonstrators chanted Liangs name Saturday as they circled the sidewalks in front of City Hall. Cars drove slowly down the surrounding streets, horns honking as supporters held signs out of the windows. At one point, a black-and-white LAPD cruiser whooped its siren in front of the crowd, drawing cheers. Supporters held signs plastered with slogans written in English and Chinese: Save Peter Liang, Accident not crime and All lives matter. Fliers handed out by demonstrators expressed the deepest condolences for Gurleys family. But, supporters wrote, they were equally saddened by the selective and unjust prosecution of Peter Liang, who is made the scapegoat of the police brutality that has long troubled our society. See more of our top stories on Facebook >> Xiayi Shirley Zhang, a 27-year-old who lives downtown, stood in front of the LAPDs headquarters, watching the larger group across the street. Scapegoat was written in Chinese on one side of her sign. Zhang questioned why Liang was convicted when so many other high-profile police shootings were far more obviously questionable. She also wondered why the NYPD put the inexperienced officer in a high-crime neighborhood. It is a tragedy, she said of the fatal shooting. But to us, with the criminal conviction, the system let us down, let Peter down. Zhang said she was glad to see the Asian community showing our muscle, but emphasized that their goal was to promote fairness for everyone, regardless of race. It should matter for anyone. It shouldnt just matter for Asians, she said. Really, all of us are fighting for a fair and just system. See the most-read stories this hour >> Ken Jun Meng, who lives in Rowland Heights, agreed that Gurleys death was a tragedy, especially for the mans family. But convicting Liang, he said, only made the situation worse. Dont make another tragedy. Dont make another sad story, he said. We came down here for justice. Follow @katemather for more LAPD news. ALSO 95-year-old driver killed in Irvine crash Woman who drove 2 miles with man embedded in windshield has case overturned Man killed in drive-by shooting; off-duty LAPD officer exchanges gunfire with suspect Actor Jonathan Goldsmith is known to millions as The Most Interesting Man in the World, but the bearded pitchman for Dos Equis beer has been given a very different label by his former manager: The Least Honorable Man in the Entertainment Business. In papers filed recently in Los Angeles County Superior Court, Goldsmith fired back at his former advisors, calling one agent in particular a failed C-list actor who appears in D movies and a failed personal manager. The name-calling stems from a breach of contract lawsuit filed against Goldsmith by the Gold Levin Talent agency in October. Advertisement Join the conversation on Facebook >> Goldsmith hired Gold Levin in 2002 to manage his career and he agreed to pay the company a commission each year, the lawsuit says. Goldsmith paid commissions to the company from 2006 to 2009, but by November 2014 had stopped making payments to the management company. Apparently Goldsmiths preference for Dos Equis intoxicated him into believing that he could ignore his promises and obligations, the lawsuit said. The agency claims it is entitled to 10% of Goldsmiths $2 million in earnings for 2015 and 2016. But in a counter suit filed by the actor Feb. 9, Goldsmith alleges that Gold Levin and agent Butch Klein wrongfully disclosed the terms of a 2012 contract with the beer company. The defendants, the counter suit claims, had no role in connection with securing or managing Goldsmiths deals with the beer company. Interested in the stories shaping California? Sign up for the free Essential California newsletter >> Their willful and malicious decision to disclose the terms of the confidential 2012 agreement has badly damaged Jonathans business relationship with advertiser and jeopardized his future as the spokesman for Dos Equis beer, according to the actors counter suit. Bryan Freedman, attorney for Gold Levin, said the countersuit is baseless. He is not the most interesting man in the world, Freedman said of Goldsmith. He is just an average guy who doesnt bother to pay his bills, which isnt very interesting. William Briggs, attorney for Goldsmith, described the lawsuits as a small business dispute. Its no more than that, and we know it will be resolved, Briggs said. This thing is not long in the tooth whatsoever. ben.poston@latimes.com Follow @bposton on Twitter. ALSO L.A. city attorney sues to stop Speed Weed from delivering marijuana Predator may been targeting college-age Asian women near UC Berkeley, police say Porn condom requirement is killed, but adult film industry faces more safety measures Albert Woodfox, the final member of the Angola 3 who supporters say spent more time in solitary confinement than any prisoner in U.S. history, was freed in Louisiana on Friday after spending more than four decades in isolation. In a plea deal Friday that secured his freedom, Woodfox pleaded no contest to charges related to the 1972 killing of corrections officer Brent Miller, which Woodfox long contended he didnt commit. Millers death had sent Woodfox down a decades-long odyssey of murder trials, overturned convictions and seemingly endless solitude in a 6-by-9 foot cell as human rights groups campaigned for his release. Advertisement All that ended Friday with little ceremony. Accompanied by his brother, Woodfox lifted his fist in the air and smiled as he walked out of the West Feliciana Parish Detention Center, where he was being held during his appeals. It was Woodfoxs 69th birthday, and the first time he has been a free man since entering the Louisiana State Penitentiary, nicknamed Angola, on a robbery charge in 1971. Most of his sentence was spent in solitary confinement. Albert, how does it feel? a reporter asked him after he got into a car waiting to take him away, according to local news video of his release. Woodfox sat silent for a moment, and then spoke slowly: Uh, I really havent decided yet. The smile that tugged at the corners of Woodfoxs mouth faded when he was asked what he planned to do next. I need to go say goodbye to my mother, Woodfox said. I wasnt allowed to go to her funeral while I was in Angola. And my sister as well. Woodfoxs case was celebrated among prison-reform advocates who have maintained his innocence and equated long-term solitary confinement with torture. Along with Herman Wallace, who was also accused of killing Miller; and another inmate also in long-term isolation, Robert King; the trio became known the Angola 3. The three men, all of them African American, organized a chapter of the Black Panthers black-nationalist group to campaign for better prison conditions. In the mid-20th century, Angola was as much a symbol of despair as it was a prison. A former plantation that got its nickname from the origin of its slaves, the penitentiary was known for its brutality, where rape flourished and 31 inmates once severed their own Achilles tendons in protest in 1952. NEWSLETTER: Get the days top headlines from Times Editor Davan Maharaj >> As Times staff writer Miguel Bustillo wrote in 2008: The Louisiana State Penitentiary was infamous in the 60s and 70s as the bloodiest in the South, a place where guards routinely beat prisoners and inmates killed one another with crude knives. New Orleans musicians sang ominously about it like Greek poets evoking the underworld of Hades. It was inside the prison where Miller, a white guard, was found on Feb. 5, 1972, stabbed 32 times. The scene was so gruesome that another guard said it looked like Miller was wearing a red shirt, and he promptly quit his job. Woodfox was convicted of Millers murder in 1973, but the verdict was overturned because of discrimination in the grand jury process. Woodfox was convicted again in 1998, but the verdict was again overturned in 2014. State prosecutors had hoped to try him a third time, but a federal judge had signaled opposition to keeping Woodfox in prison. Woodfoxs attorneys -- who said that no forensic evidence links Woodfox or Wallace to the killing and that officials had plied inmates with incentives to testify -- said the remaining witnesses in the case were all dead. There were serious questions about whether a conviction would be viable, one of Woodfoxs attorneys, Katherine Kimpel of Washington, told the Los Angeles Times on Friday. Under Woodfoxs plea Friday to lesser charges of manslaughter and aggravated burglary, he does not admit guilt but also gives up his right to appeal the conviction. In return, he was credited with time served. Although I was looking forward to proving my innocence at a new trial, concerns about my health and my age have caused me to resolve this case now and obtain my release with this no-contest plea to lesser charges. I hope the events of today will bring closure to many, Woodfox said in a statement released through his attorneys. Calling Fridays plea deal a very difficult decision, Louisiana Atty. Gen. Jeff Landry said the agreement was in the best interest of justice and also cited a need for closure. Todays plea brings closure to the family of Brent Miller, justice for the people of Louisiana, and finality to this decades-long prosecution, Landry said in a statement. Albert Woodfox, by his own plea, stands convicted of the homicide of Brent Miller. Of the other Angola 3 members, King was released after an appeal overturned his conviction in 2001, and Wallace died at 71 mere days after an appeal secured his release in 2013, unaware that a grand jury had already re-indicted him for Millers death. Woodfoxs first priority is getting his health back, Kimpel said. Next, Woodfox plans to do what he can to help bring about reform, particularly as it surrounds solitary confinement and the excessive use and abuse of it, the attorney said. @MattDPearce ALSO The most interesting man in the world goes to court More than $1 million paid to head of L.A. County Fair Assn. as financial losses mount Police in six Southern California counties have shot more than 2,000 suspects since 2004. Only one officer was prosecuted he was acquitted. The battle over Apples refusal to give the FBI the tools to unlock a terrorists smartphone escalated sharply Friday when the government urged a federal judge to immediately compel the tech giant to comply, arguing that it appears more concerned with marketing strategy than national security. In a 35-page filing aimed at public opinion as much as the judge, Justice Department lawyers questioned Apples motivation for defying U.S. Magistrate Judge Sheri Pyms order this week to help the FBI open Syed Rizwan Farooks encrypted iPhone 5c. The government argued Friday that Apple Chief Executive Tim Cooks public Feb. 16 letter declaring, We oppose this order, should be taken as the companys response. Advertisement Apples refusal, they wrote, appears to be based on its concern for its business model and public brand marketing strategy, not a legal rationale. Apple technicians told investigators they could write the software the FBI wants to unlock Farooks phone, and technology providers previously have written code to comply with subpoenas and court orders, according to the filing. Apple rejected the governments request, although it conceded that it had the technical ability to help, the filing states. It also says Apples public statements have been misleading. Pym gave Apple until next Friday to respond, and set a hearing for March 22 in U.S. District Court for Central District of California in Riverside. In a conference call with reporters, senior Apple executives, speaking on condition that they not be identified or quoted, said the governments motion was designed to get media attention. They described the FBIs request as overreaching by the government. The executives denied that the decision to fight Pyms order was about marketing, insisting they are acting to protect customers privacy. Complying, they said, would create a back door to breach the iPhones security features. Its unclear what help, if any, the contents of Farooks phone might provide investigators. Nearly seven weeks of potential messages, texts, photos and data are missing from Oct. 19, when Farook last uploaded his phone to iCloud, to Dec. 2, when he carried out a shooting rampage at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino. No evidence has surfaced so far to indicate Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, were in contact with terrorists, or had received outside support, before the attack, which left 14 people dead. The couple were later killed in a shootout with police. Apple and its supporters say the dispute isnt over the unknown contents of one phone, but about the government trying to establish a precedent that it can force a company to hack its customers devices. That could open floodgates for requests from local, state and federal prosecutors, they warn, and cripple customers confidence in Apple products, especially in lucrative overseas markets where distrust of government surveillance is higher. Apples advocates fear that giving in to the FBI now ultimately would help criminal hackers and authoritarian governments, which might use the software to trace secret communications of political opponents and human rights activists. The issue inevitably landed in the presidential race, as GOP candidate Donald Trump said Americans should not buy Apple products until the company agrees to help the FBI unlock Farooks phone. What I think you ought to do is boycott Apple until such time as they give that security number, he said Friday. More broadly, the escalating dispute with Silicon Valley reflects the governments struggle to keep up with the challenge of obtaining evidence from encrypted cellphones and apps. Both have grown far more popular since the 2013 disclosures of widespread government surveillance by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden. Apple began encrypting new cellphones by default in September 2014. The case also revealed a rift inside the Obama administration over how to balance privacy and national security when it comes to high tech. For more than a year, in meetings in the Situation Room in the basement of the West Wing, FBI Director James B. Comey pleaded with White House officials to pressure Silicon Valley to do more to help investigators decode encrypted messages in criminal and terrorism cases. The response: more closed-door meetings with Apple, Google and other high tech companies, but little apparent progress. NEWSLETTER: Get the days top headlines from Times Editor Davan Maharaj >> Comeys frustration was clear when the Justice Department decided on its own to go to court in the San Bernardino case. What you are seeing here is a unilateral act to get done what they think they need to get done, said an administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the deliberations. It is a milestone moment. It is a break from the dialogue and the desire to keep it friendly. On one side of the debate inside the administration were White House advisors who favored using quiet pressure to persuade Cook and other tech executives to cooperate. That approach has borne fruit, they say. Over the last year, tech companies have shut down social media accounts used by Islamic State, handed over subpoenaed material that suspects had loaded on cloud servers, and given other crucial help. But members of President Obamas national security team wanted more. What is being asked to be done here on the scale of things is pretty invasive. Ryan Calo, assistant law professor at the University of Washington in Seattle Together with state and federal prosecutors around the country, they viewed tech companies as making money while protecting terrorists, kidnappers, pornographers and others who use encryption to hide illegal schemes. Comey warned the Senate Judiciary Committee last fall that the FBI was in danger of going dark, noting that investigators could not read 109 encrypted messages that a gunman had sent to an overseas terrorist hours before he tried to attack a prophet Muhammad cartoon contest in Garland, Texas, last May. On Jan. 8, top tech executives heard pleas for help on encryption during a meeting in San Jose attended by White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough, Atty. Gen. Loretta Lynch, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and Comey. When Apple and its allies refused to budge, Comey hinted at a congressional hearing that the FBIs patience had frayed. We still have one of [the San Bernardino] killers phones that we have not been able to open, he told the Senate Intelligence Committee last week. Its been over two months now, and were still working on it. The new details were intended to warn Apple that the FBI might go further if Apple didnt give more help in the case. I would like people to comply with court orders, and thats the conversation were trying to have, he said. Other critics soon chimed in. In New York, the Manhattan district attorneys office said its investigators are locked out of more than 175 Apple devices that could provide crucial evidence in criminal cases. The problem is getting worse over time, said Joan Vollero, spokeswoman for Cyrus R. Vance Jr., the district attorney. After the San Bernardino shooting, Apple provided the FBI with data from Farooks work iPhone that he had backed up remotely. But he did not save to iCloud for weeks before the shooting, and investigators believed he may have sought to hide location data, photos or messages. For weeks, Apple technicians worked with the FBIs Orange County Regional Computer Forensics Laboratory to explain the password protection on the phone, and the feature that would automatically erase its memory after 10 incorrect password attempts. Apple recommended trying to back up to Farooks iCloud account over the Internet, but investigators could not. Shortly after the attack, a San Bernardino County employee apparently had reset the password remotely. That made it impossible to initiate the auto-backup feature later, according to a footnote in Fridays filing. With that pathway closed, FBI officials concluded Apple could write software to disable the auto-erase setting, and make it possible to try password combinations until the phone opened. Apple refused. Join the conversation on Facebook >> In January, federal prosecutors drafted a motion to compel Apple to act but held back on filing it in court, hoping Apple would comply. They also feared making the request public would alert would-be criminals to the FBIs limitations and the phones encryption. The court filing Friday made clear prosecutors have overridden those concerns even if their legal argument remains untested. In the court of public opinion, a dead terrorist whose phone might have connections to more terrorists is pretty attractive from the standpoint of prosecution, but the legal question is not made easier because of that, Ryan Calo, an assistant law professor at the University of Washington in Seattle and an expert on privacy law, said in a phone interview. No court has ruled on whether a tech company could be forced to find a way around its own security features, Calo said. What is being asked to be done here on the scale of things is pretty invasive, Calo said. They are asking for a lot, not a little. brian.bennett@latimes.com Times staff writers Paresh Dave and Maura Dolan in Los Angeles contributed to this report. ALSO Why Apples fight with the FBI could have reverberations in China Commercial carpooling (although its illegal) is growing in L.A., Uber and Lyft say Trend of ransom payoffs to unlock malware from electronic stickups troubles law enforcement In life and in death, Antonin Scalia was lauded as a giant of the law and the most influential justice of his era. But his is a complex legacy of a legal thinker who inspired and shaped a generation of conservatives, even though his landmark rulings were few. Scalia, who will be buried Saturday following a funeral mass in Washington, enjoyed an outsized role at the Supreme Court. His sharp questioning, biting criticisms and searing wit transformed the once-staid tone of oral arguments, and he set a new standard for the art of the dissent. His well-known commitment to originalism forced lawyers to pay more attention to the words and history of the Constitution. Advertisement See more of our top stories on Facebook >> But in other ways Scalias impact was surprisingly limited. By one common measure of success writing majority opinions in important cases that reshaped the law Scalia fell somewhat short given his standing as the courts strongest conservative and, at the end, its senior justice. Despite nearly 30 years on the bench and being surrounded by Republican appointees, he was often unable to reshape the law in line with his conservative views. He came to the court determined to roll back liberal rulings on abortion, school prayer and Miranda warnings. Instead he watched each of those rulings survive legal challenge, despite his vehement and eloquent dissents. A breaking point came in 1992, when his fellow Republican appointees Justices Sandra Day OConnor, Anthony M. Kennedy and David Souter shocked Scalia by writing an opinion that upheld the right to abortion. Scalia considered it a betrayal and from then on, relentlessly mocked and belittled their opinions. The same qualities that made Scalia such a transformational figure -- intellectual purity, supreme self-confidence and uncompromising positions -- at times made him a less effective justice. Scalia has been compared in the last week to Justice William Brennan, a liberal champion who was hailed as the most influential justice of his time when he stepped down in 1990. Brennan had helped drive the effort in the 1960s and 1970s to desegregate America and extend the Constitutions protections to police encounters on the street, to jailhouses, to public schools and much more. His quotable opinions were few because he often left the writing to clerks, but he was a master at aligning with other justices and putting together a five-member majority to change the law, and therefore history. Scalia was never an affable playmaker like Brennan. His rigidity and scornful manner often alienated justices who might have been his allies. And his willingness -- sometimes eagerness, it seemed -- to go it alone explains why he was not often picked by the chief justice for the honor of writing important majority opinions. Instead that job often went to former Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, OConnor, Kennedy or current Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. Unlike Brennan, Scalia drew his power and influence from his clear writing and logical analysis, even if they were dissents. Brennan was the consummate inside deal-maker, deftly able to patch together compromises, said New York University law professor Richard Pildes. Scalias influence came from the outside, from his philosophical clarity as well as his gift of analysis and language. Through his opinions, he exerted a gravitational pull on the law, even when he lost. Through his opinions, he exerted a gravitational pull on the law, even when he lost. Richard Pildes, New York University law professor And Scalia frequently found himself on the losing side. A few years after losing the abortion case, Rehnquist, the most solid of conservatives, wrote an opinion upholding the Miranda rule requiring police to warn suspects of their right to remain silent. Scalia angrily dissented. Then over the last decade, Scalia stood by helplessly as the gay rights movement gained strength in the courts, culminating in last years landmark high court ruling upholding a constitutional right to same-sex marriage. Of course Scalia had his share of victories. His 2008 opinion in District of Columbia vs. Heller declared for the first time that the 2nd Amendment gave individuals a right to keep a handgun for self-defense. Before that, the court had said the right to bear arms was mostly about militias. He also pressed the view that the 1st Amendments freedom of speech barred the government from limiting political spending. His viewpoint prevailed in a 5-4 ruling in the Citizens United case, which struck down the campaign spending limits for corporations (though the opinion was given to Kennedy to write). Scalia also was proud of his opinions that went against his tendencies. He joined a 5-4 opinion by Brennan in 1989 that upheld a protesters right to burn an American flag. And he wrote the 2004 opinion in Crawford vs. Washington that strengthened the right of criminal defendants to confront their accusers in court. 1 / 11 Ferom left; Supreme Court Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr.,; Ginny Thomas, Justice Clarence Thomas, Justice Stephen G. Breyer, and Justice Sonia Sotomayor attend a private ceremony in the Great Hall of the Supreme Court where late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia lies in repose in Washington, DC. (JACQUELYN MARTIN / AFP/Getty Images) 2 / 11 Members of the public view a 2007 portrait by Nelson Shanks of late Associate Justice Antonin Scalia, as he lies in repose in the Great Hall of the Supreme Court, in Washington, DC. (MICHAEL REYNOLDS / EPA) 3 / 11 President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama pay their respects as Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalias body lies in repose at the Supreme Court in Washington, DC. (BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI / AFP/Getty Images) 4 / 11 Law clerks are relieved by the next team of law clerks as they stand vigil while members of the public walk through the Great Hall of the Supreme Court in Washington, where late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia lies in repose. (Jacquelyn Martin / Associated Press) 5 / 11 The casket of Justice Antonin Scalia is carried by pallbearers between two lines of law clerks, up the steps of the Supreme Court, where the late justice will lie in repose. (Michael Reynolds / EPA) 6 / 11 The casket of Justice Antonin Scalia is carried by U.S. Supreme Court police officers, at the Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C. Scalia will lie in repose in the Great Hall, where visitors can pay their respects. (Mark Wilson / Getty Images) 7 / 11 Law clerks, past and present line the steps as the casket of Justice Antonin Scalia is carried by U.S. Supreme Court police officers up the steps of the Supreme Court building. (Mark Wilson / Getty Images) 8 / 11 One hundred and eighty law clerks line the stairs in front of the U.S. Supreme Court, awaiting the arrival of Justice Antonin Scalias casket at the court building in Washington, D.C. (Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images) 9 / 11 People watch as the casket of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia arrives at the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. (Evan Vucci / Associated Press) 10 / 11 A private memorial service will be held for Justice Antonin Scalia at the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. (Drew Angerer / Getty Images) 11 / 11 Justice Antonin Scalia will lie in repose at the U.S. Supreme Court, where a private memorial service will be held for the late justice. (Drew Angerer / Getty Images) Scalias many admirers say he was devoted to getting the law right. By sheer force of intellect and personality, Scalia helped move the court from a sloppy, results-oriented center-left institution to a more intellectually rigorous center-right court, said Stanford law professor Michael McConnell, a conservative former appeals court judge. In his later years, Scalia, however, seemed to have given up on persuading his colleagues and said he was writing for the future, hoping his views on how to read the Constitution and the proper role of judges would influence the next generation of lawyers and law students. He traveled the country and delighted in confronting liberal audiences on college campuses with his harsh take-down of the freewheeling liberalism that held sway in the early 1970s when he came to Washington. His prime target was the Roe vs. Wade decision of 1973. The Constitution says nothing about abortion, he told audiences. You think there ought be a right to abortion? No problem. Persuade your fellow citizens its a good idea and pass a law. Students regularly reported theyd expected to hear a right-wing ogre and came away from his speeches either agreeing with Scalia or at least a little shaken in their beliefs. Despite his reputation for legal brilliance, Scalia may have undercut his influence by becoming a predictable vote for conservative causes, including for the Republican Party. His critics would never forget the Bush vs. Gore decision, where Scalia declared that trying to count the remaining ballots would risk irreparable harm to then-Gov. George W. Bushs extremely narrow lead. He also had a blind spot at times when it came to civil rights laws. Three years ago, when Southern Republicans challenged a key part of the Voting Rights Act, Scalia raised eyebrows by describing the historic law as a racial entitlement. A justice who adhered to the words and history of the Constitution might have seen this as what Scalia liked to call an easy case. The law was based on the 15th Amendment, which said that the right to vote shall not be denied or abridged because of race and that Congress shall have the power to enforce this article through appropriate legislation. Instead, Scalia cast his vote with a 5-4 majority to strike down the law because the courts conservatives concluded it was no longer needed. His critics said he was engaging in exactly the kind of judicial legislating that he had often railed against. Scalia is destined to join the small group of the courts best writers, including Justices Oliver Wendell Holmes, Louis Brandeis and Robert H. Jackson, who live on through their quotable opinions. In his 2001 opinion in a dense regulation case, Scalia said major changes in law do not arise from minor, vague provisions. Congress does not hide elephants in mouse holes, he wrote. It has become one of the most quoted comments in legal briefs and judicial opinions. Justice Scalia was an influential justice not because he was right, but because he could write, quipped Pamela Karlan, a liberal Stanford University law professor who is seen as a long-shot to become Scalias replacement on the court. She said she often disagreed with his conclusions, but acknowledged his arguments forced her and other liberals to sharpen their own. The force of his personality and the power of his pen changed the terms of the central legal debates. On Twitter: @DavidGSavage MORE Antonin Scalia: In his own unforgettable words Meghan Daum: Scalia and Ginsburg: The end of a beautiful friendship Scalias last moments on a Texas ranch quail hunting to being found in perfect repose Donald Trump rode a week of insults directed at a popular pope and a GOP president to trounce his opponents in South Carolinas Republican presidential primary Saturday, the most convincing evidence to date that his establishment-smashing campaign is on track to win him the nomination. None of Trumps rivals came close to knocking him off, despite or perhaps because of his position at the center of one of the most polarizing campaign weeks in recent history. Theres nothing easy about running for president, Trump told a cheering crowd in Spartanburg, S.C. Its tough. Its nasty. Its mean. Its vicious. Its beautiful. When you win, its beautiful, and we are going to start winning for our country. Advertisement He added, Lets put this thing away. The biggest casualty of the night was the epitome of the establishment, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, the onetime front-runner who dropped out after voters in a third consecutive state rejected his brand of mainstream conservatism. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who like Trump is running as a party agitator, was jostling for second place with Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, himself viewed by many party elites as the last man standing between traditional GOP values and the restive forces that have come to upend them in the 2016 campaign. Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who finished in the single digits like Bush, will try to make the case that he can emerge as a stronger challenger when the race heads to Midwestern states near his home. Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson vowed to fight on despite his similarly poor finish. Evangelicals dominated the primary electorate, accounting for about 3 in 4 voters, according to an exit poll conducted by Edison Research for the Associated Press and the major television networks. Though Cruz and Rubio competed intensely for their votes, and Trump has stumbled in talking about religion, Trump nonetheless won the largest share of their support. Trump won nearly every group of GOP voters: military, nonmilitary, moderates, conservatives, men and women. Only among more educated voters did Trump split votes with his rivals, losing to Rubio among voters with postgraduate education. Trump ran up his totals by winning big among voters who wanted an outsider and someone who tells it like it is. Though Cruz also positioned himself as an outsider, Trump badly beat him among those voters, winning about 6 in 10 of them, four times as many as Cruz. Im fed up with politicians. I dont care what stripe Democrat, Republican, independent theyre all the same, said Howard Winslow, a 74-year-old cab driver and Vietnam War veteran from Columbia, who said he voted for Trump. Such voters were bad news for Bush, who entered the race last year as the front-runner and immediately attracted more funding and high-profile endorsements than any other candidate in what was once a field of more than a dozen. In this campaign, I have stood my ground, Bush said in announcing his exit. Despite what you have heard, ideas matter. Policy matters. South Carolina not only ended Bushs candidacy, it may also signal the end of his familys long hold on the Republican Party. Trump shattered taboos during last weekends debate when he accused Bushs brother, former President George W. Bush, of lying to bring the country to war in Iraq and failing to keep the country safe from the Sept. 11 attacks. The Bush family had long counted on South Carolina voters to hoist them in tough times, and Jeb Bush campaigned throughout the week with both his 90-year-old mother, Barbara, and his brother, the former president. I feel sorry for Bush, said Rick Arkell of Columbia, a retired weather forecaster. He has the wrong last name. In addition to the Bush family, Trump took on Pope Francis over immigration and Trumps oft-stated goal of building a border wall to stop illegal immigration from Mexico. Francis had asserted to reporters, A person who only thinks about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian. Trump did not come close to backing down, calling Francis comments disgraceful and insisting that the pontiff would pray for a Trump presidency if and when the Vatican is attacked by ISIS, another name for the Islamic State militant group. Trumps voters seemed to lap it all up, becoming more devoted to him with each fight. As one of them said this week, Were voting with our middle finger. Enough bull, said another supporter, Wayne Wates, a retired butcher on his way in to vote for Trump in Edgefield. Despite racking up another win, Trump continues to alienate large groups of voters 40% of those surveyed in a national Fox News poll conducted this week said Trump was the candidate they would most dread watching on television for the next four years. Yet he maintains seemingly unflappable support from about a third of the Republican electorate. Challengers are hoping that gives them a one-on-one opening. But two factors could conspire to give Trump the nomination. First, his challengers continue to find reasons to remain in the race, and the longer the field remains crowded, the harder it is for any one of them to attract more voters than Trump in a given state. In fact, one of Rubios main arguments is that the longer this goes on, the worse its going to be, and therefore he is the candidate who can unify the party. A Bush aide said he dropped out in part to help the party unite behind an alternative. Trump himself mocked pundits for saying his opponents votes combined could defeat him if some of them drop out. These geniuses, he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. They dont understand that as people drop out, Im going to get a lot of those votes also. You dont just add them together. Second, polls show an increasing number of Republicans have become comfortable with Trump leading the partys ticket in the November general election. In the Fox poll, 74% of Republicans said they would be at least somewhat satisfied with Trump as president. That number was far smaller (43%) among all voters. To beat back Trump, Cruz, who won the Iowa caucuses, will need to pick up wins in a slew of Southern state primaries held March 1, and hope other contenders drop out. But the Texas senator ultimately will have to persuade more voters to embrace his pure form of conservatism and reject Trump as a phony, a case he has been trying to make for weeks. If you are conservative, this is where you belong, Cruz told supporters Saturday. Because only one strong conservative is in a position to win this race. Rubio, who may have been helped by his endorsement this week from South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, has a different challenge. The Florida senator will have to begin winning states and hope that a majority of Republicans decide they want a more mainstream candidate, despite polls showing voters are looking to back those who have not served in government. Rubio did well among GOP primary voters who said they wanted to vote for the best general election candidate, but only about 15% of South Carolina voters said that was a priority. If it is Gods will that we should win this election, Rubio said Saturday night, then history will say, on this night in South Carolina, we took the first step forward to the beginning of a new American century. seema.mehta@latimes.com lisa.mascaro@latimes.com noah.bierman@latimes.com Mehta and Mascaro reported from Columbia and Bierman from Washington. Times staff writers Chris Megerian and Michael Finnegan contributed to this report. ALSO: Hillary Clinton narrowly defeats Bernie Sanders in Nevada caucuses Jeb Bush, after disappointing finish in South Carolina, ends his campaign for president Latinos seek answers from Sanders and Clinton at Democratic forum in Las Vegas To the editor: Apple, Microsoft and other technology companies have created new ways to share information that benefit us all. But just like every other technological improvement that comes along, what those companies have made has caused new problems. The simple fact is that Apple has created the perfect vehicle for worldwide terrorist movements to plan attacks and enlist fighters. It owes the world an effort to fight back against this. (The FBI wants Apple to pry into your iPhone, editorial, Feb. 17) While I am very liberal and applaud Apple Chief Executive Tim Cooks concern for privacy over a court order requiring his company to help the FBI unlock the iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino terrorists, I would advise him that this is not the time for a firm stand based on rigid ideology. Every belief should have exceptions. Look at the Republican Party, which has fought progress like the use of embryonic stem-cell research based on rigid moral principles. Yes, its possible that bending on this issue will increase privacy violations by the government, but terrorist groups are doing far worse to us right now. I wouldnt be happy if someone stole my credit card or hacked into my Facebook page, but Id be really unhappy if I was dead. Cook should give the world a hand and help unlock this phone. Advertisement Vince Scully, Long Beach .. To the editor: I wonder how the government and courts will force Apple engineers to create their back-door key. Will federal agents occupy the cubicles of Cupertino and stare intently at programmers through dark sunglasses, demanding progress? Or, perhaps the FBI and judges will borrow the tactics used by the CIA, kidnapping Apple employees and moving them to black sites (or Guantanamo Bay) where theyll face daily waterboarding sessions until they produce a method to eliminate iPhone privacy. Torture in the name of fighting terrorism has produced mainly false information from those tortured and moral disgrace for America. But maybe it would make Apple engineers betray the trust of their customers. I dont think so. Hang tough, Apple. Jay Lynch, Pittsburgh .. To the editor: Thanks to Apples encryption software and additional security features, terrorists can conspire to commit another 9/11 attack with little fear of discovery. Those who support Apple are saying that, for them, invasion of privacy is literally a fate worse than death. Most of us disagree. Those of us for whom human lives matter, including the lives lost in San Bernardino, should boycott Apple. Scott McKenzie, La Canada Flintridge .. To the editor: How about a comprise? The FBI gives Apple the phone. Apple, in private, unlocks the phone and retrieves information. Apple then the re-locks the phone and returns it and what it found to the FBI. Apple would do its part in helping with this specific terrorism-related issue but without compromising its position on privacy in general. The FBI would have any information that the phone may contain with any possible benefits for finding more terrorist activity in the future. Bruce Fischer, Huntington Beach .. To the editor: I wonder if Cook would be so resistant if the attack had occurred at Apples headquarters. We should boycott Apple until the company cooperates. Jim Rueff, Fountain Valley Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook The president was speaking. And from the gymnasium nosebleed seats came a perfectly timed shout: Liar, liar, pants on fire. I dont think it was from Donald Trump. Probably not Sens. Ted Cruz or Marco Rubio either. It was 32 years ago, and when President Reagan paused between sentences, the outburst penetrated the silence. It was shocking. Advertisement But I also remember being a little amused, in a head-shaking way, at the absurd incivility and disrespect. The American people dont like bad manners rude, disorderly bad manners, commented Reagan spokesman James Lake. But that was then a more mannerly era, before all the cultural coarseness nurtured by the impersonal Web and social media. Reagan was on a reelection campaign swing through Oregon, speaking at the University of Portland. I was The Times White House correspondent. The pants on fire guy, I assumed, was some longhaired, pot-smoking hippie type. But today, he could be a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination. Trump often acts like the most immature 69-year-old in America. Cruz or Rubio? They frequently soil along with their colleagues the Senates historic reputation as the worlds greatest deliberative body. The pair not only have been tossing campaign invectives at each other, they and their GOP cohorts are balking at deliberating over any Supreme Court nominee offered by President Obama. The Republican candidates called one another liars 22 times in a debate Saturday night. My favorite L-bomb came Monday, however, when Trump said this about Cruz: Hes a lying guy. A really lying guy. Some people misrepresent. This guy is just a plain-out liar. In fact, I felt better because Marco Rubio called him a liar the other night on stage. I felt so much better. I said, Good, a politician called a politician. Now I can call him a liar. Guess thats what some Trump fans call telling it like it is. I call it classless and scary. Most Republican candidates like to equate themselves to Reagan. Well, maybe not Trump. Hes his own icon. Reagan would never call an opponent a liar, at least not without smiling. The only time I ever heard the word from his lips was in a gentle jab at President Carter in 1980: Anyone who says he likes cold showers will lie about other things too. In 1988, Sen. Bob Dole stunned TV viewers after losing the New Hampshire Republican presidential primary to then-Vice President George H.W. Bush. Asked whether he had a message for Bush, Dole responded: Yeah, stop lying about my record. Fast forward to 2009. As Obama delivered a healthcare speech to Congress, Republican Rep. Joe Wilson shouted: You lie. The South Carolinian later apologized for his lack of civility. Are just Republican politicians addicted to the word? Democrats must call their adversaries liars. But offhand, I dont know of any case. Hillary Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders are waging a relatively polite scuffle. Can someone as uncouth as Trump and maybe one or two rivals chasing him actually be elected president? It would say plenty about the modern American voter. Were voting with our middle finger, a Greenville, S.C., used car dealer told a Times reporter this week. I hope he drops an F-bomb, a Trump fan commented on the way into a campaign rally. Electability came to mind after Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia died over the weekend. Americans not only will be electing a new president in November, theyll be deciding which ideology controls the court. Now on the bench are four liberals, three conservatives and one right-leaning swing vote: Anthony Kennedy of Sacramento. Thats the formula for a lot of 4-4 ties. Not only is Scalias seat vacant, but three justices are age 77 or more. Two others are at least 65. The next president could shape the court for decades. Shame on Cruz and Rubio for falsely claiming during the debate, and in the days since, that there was an 80-year precedent of the Senate not confirming a lame-duck presidents Supreme Court nominee during an election year. It wasnt really a lie just a crock of ignorance. Kennedy, a Reagan nominee, was confirmed in 1988, the presidents last year in office. In fact, there are several examples since 1900 of justices being confirmed during a presidential election year. The Supreme Courts vital importance to California is demonstrated by one particular case, which seems to have been upended by Scalias death. The court, experts believe, was on the verge of prohibiting the California Teachers Assn., and therefore other unions, from hitting up nonmembers for collective-bargaining fees. This would have weakened the unions political power. But now the court is expected to wind up in a 4-4 tie, leaving the current law in place. Controversial issues involving abortion, immigration, affirmative action and the composition of legislative districts also are pending before the court. Voters dont normally choose candidates in primaries based on their electability in November. People mostly look for candidates they agree with, like and trust. This year, they should think more about who will pick the court. Too bad Californians wont be allowed to vote until June. Odds are, the nominations by then already will be sewed up. Meanwhile, Ill be waiting for the first candidate to add to his rhetorical repertoire: Pants on fire. george.skelton@latimes.com Twitter: @LATimesSkelton Southern California Gas Co. is pressing to defeat state legislation to require new testing of all wells at its closed Aliso Canyon gas storage field before operations can restart at the field. The gas company has argued for months that it could restart operations without testing all 115 active injection wells. A bill pending in the state Assembly would require those tests and other steps before operations are restarted. Public files show the company told regulators in December that 73 wells were safe to resume gas injections into the underground reservoir. The statement came two months before the utility plugged a methane leak that had set back state efforts to reduce greenhouse gases and forced about 5,300 households in the Porter Ranch area to relocate. Advertisement There was no mention in the files how the company determined those wells were safe. The list included nine wells drilled in 1945 or earlier, including three that have records of underground leak repairs. In January, the gas company sought a permit for major reworking of one of those wells. In February, it sought a permit to rework a second of those safe wells. Four other wells in Aliso Canyon have also required major work since October. Permits show those include a newer well, drilled in 1978, even though the primary focus by the company and regulators has been on the condition of much older wells. Gas company records show that a test on that well in September found temperature changes sometimes indicative of a leak. In an interview earlier this week, company executives were unsure of what work was being done on the seven wells. California requires permits only for permanent changes to a wells outer structure, suggesting the work is major. State oil and gas regulators ordered the utility in December to stop injections because of the massive leak, which began in October. Gov. Jerry Brown repeated the dictate in an executive order in January. On Wednesday, the state Division of Oil Gas & Geothermal Resources released recommendations it received from experts calling for extensive testing of all wells before operations resume. The agency has not yet acted on the recommendations and gas company executives this week said they were not certain if they would challenge such rules. The pending legislation, authored by Sen. Fran Pavley (D-Agoura Hills), also would require extensive testing but it would go further, making the process public and requiring agreement by multiple regulatory agencies before operations are allowed to resume. Pavley said concurrence by other agencies is vital. Residents should ask themselves whether they believe regulations from the Division of Oil Gas & Geothermal Resources or a statute would provide the most certainty. Her concern is that once the leak is stopped, we would quickly go back to business as usual, Pavley said. Southern California Gas said it has taken no formal position on the bill. Ill tell you we will be supportive of any new regulation that comes out from the legislative side or it comes out from the regulatory side, Chief Executive Dennis Arriola said in an interview Thursday. However, records and interviews show the company has actively recruited others to oppose the bill, which has been approved by the Senate and faces a critical hearing in the Assembly on Monday. Those surrogates argue that if Aliso Canyon is not put back into use soon, the utility will be unable to provide sufficient natural gas this summer to gas-fired electric power plants. They also say the inability to buy and inject gas when it is cheapest during the summer may mean price hikes next winter. Their arguments include warnings of brownouts. Seniors need to be able to cook and heat their homes now and face the summer knowing they will have a dependable supply of electricity... said a letter opposing the bill filed by Congress of California Seniors President Hank Lacayo. Phone calls to the seniors organization were not returned. Annual reports show Southern California Gas parent Sempra Energy is a financial backer of the Sacramento-based organization and the gas company is a major sponsor of a business institute named after Lacayo. His letter followed a form-letter template circulated by Southern California Gas, as did others lodged in opposition to Pavleys bill. Interested in the stories shaping California? Sign up for the free Essential California newsletter >> Brad Jensen, public policy director for the San Gabriel Valley Economic Partnership, a business development agency, said that without Aliso Canyons fields in use, I dont think there is enough storage capacity for the gas company to fuel power plants during peak demand periods. Jensen said he was asked by the gas company to oppose Pavleys bill. The utility has a representative on the development agencys board of directors. Though the state Public Utilities Commission and other agencies raised concern about such shortages last month, no official reports say Southern California Gas cannot meet energy demands in the Los Angeles Basin without Aliso Canyon. The U.S. Energy Information Administration is doing that research, staff at the federal agency said, but a draft report is not available. Monthly reports on underground gas storage in California collected by the federal energy administration show the gas company has more storage capacity beyond what it uses to supply core customers. The utility sells a third of its storage space in Aliso Canyon and three smaller fields to non-core customers, including market traders, according to documents made public. The amount of gas stored in Aliso Canyon that had been sold to that secondary market was blacked out. paige.stjohn@latimes.com Times staff writer Alice Walton contributed to this report. ALSO Apartment teetering on the edge of a ocean cliff is demolished Coronageddon has begun: 91 Freeway closed in Corona for 55 hours California couple pleads guilty to smuggling 911 sea turtle eggs from Mexico Batman has been a character of many faces over the decades, from his hard-boiled birth in 1939 to his evolution into a campy crime fighter of 1960s pop, then his subsequent return to brooding urban vigilante in a bat suit. That legacy has come through the efforts of generations of creators at DC Comics, but none have had a more lasting impact than writer-artist Frank Miller. In 1986, his four-issue comic The Dark Knight Returns imagined a middle-aged Bruce Wayne bruised and hardened in a society gone mad and a world on the verge of war, as Batman returns from retirement to battle Mutant street gangs and a Superman who has become a blind servant of the U.S. political class. It was dark and controversial, and it pushed the boundaries of what a Batman story could be. Its impact could also be seen in Batman film adaptations by Tim Burton and Christopher Nolan and now in movie trailers for the upcoming Superman v Batman: Dawn of Justice. NEWSLETTER: Stay up to date with whats going on in the 818 >> Batman is smarter than anyone else. Hes got the best toys in the world. And hes the angriest man on the planet, Miller said in an interview with Marquee this week. Hes enjoyed success with his original comics, including Sin City and 300, and hes become a film director, but Batman and DC keep calling him back. All these characters bring a terrific joy in the wish fulfillment that they offer. Any good dream is a wish, and any good superhero still is a wish come true. The Dark Knight has now been reissued in a 30th anniversary edition, which Miller will be signing at noon Saturday, Feb. 20, at Legacy Comics in Glendale. Hell be joined there by Andy Kubert, the artist collaborating with Miller on Dark Knight III: The Master Race, the authors third in the series. (Later on Saturday evening, Miller will also appear at the Barnes & Noble at the Grove in Los Angeles.) Marquee: Batman is a character that you never quite get way from. There must be a reason for that. Frank Miller: I suppose there is. Maybe I think like a bat or something. Ive always had an affinity for the character because my imagination runs into some pretty dark corners. And Batman, of all the superheroes, has always been the scary one. Because you could imagine him actually existing? Thats part of the reason. As conceivable as he is I could dress up like a bat and do what he does the thing that makes him most exciting to me is that at the same time that hes much scarier than the rest, hes mythic. He seems ageless. He comes out of the shadows and attacks. Hes not like Superman, where he flies around dressed as a flag and is easy to see. You dont know where Batmans going to come from or what hes going to do. How would you distinguish what you do under the Dark Knight title and other Batman comics that youve done? The Dark Knight was my ticket to freedom. I was able to do Batman as Ive seen him. When I do Batman now its my version. Im given a lot of leeway. The character is wonderfully adaptable to the times. Theres the version from the 1940s compared to the 50s and compared to the 60s and the Adam West show. Theyre altogether different. Mine was just updated for the 80s and 90s. My relationship with DC has always been very, very good. When I first did Dark Knight it was turbulent trying some new things out, but thats the normal tension that happens between your publisher and the writer. Theres bound to be give and take as you hash things out. There has been about a 15-year gap between each of your Dark Knight series. It takes me a while to get as angry as he is. The character is one I can redo any old time. Its about finding the right time and everybodys schedules being open, and having the right people in place who want to get more daring. All these things have to combine at the right time. First of all, the story has to pop into my head. The Dark Knight stories arent just about Batman but are really also your chance to deal with Superman in a different way. I loved Superman ever since I was a little boy and watched the old World War II Fleischer cartoons on black and white TV. Those were my first exposure to superheroes ever. I love Superman. In the world of Batman I give Superman an extremely hard time, and I love playing with the DC superhero trilogy, which is Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman. They form a trio of gods that mortals have to deal with. Trailers for the upcoming Superman v Batman show a Batman wearing armor in his battle with the Man of Steel. A lot of comics fans know that image originated in your The Dark Knight. He had to, didnt he? In Dark Knight, for obvious reasons, if he was going to take on Superman he better gear up a bit. Whenever I work on DC characters, its part of the understanding that Im doing a collective work, and its one that had people before me and people after me, and when I add something to it, it becomes fair game for them to use in their stories, which they obviously do. Your original The Dark Knight Returns is being celebrated with a new edition for its 30th anniversary, as it was for the 20th. Its among a select few that receive that kind of ongoing recognition. When did you realize interest in the work would live on? You cant predict this sort of thing. You get lucky. You just do the best job you can, and if people like it youre overjoyed, and you make lots of money from it ... and if they like [it] enough to come back again in this new edition, then youre like a kid at Christmas. What do you hear from fans when you do a signing? If I try something new, Ill hear a variety of reactions, good and bad. The one thing everyone seemed to like right off the bat was the fact that Id turned Robin into a girl. That was real popular. Making Batman meaner, that was something a lot of the audience didnt like at first, and then came to like later. My work tends to be a little extreme to a lot of people they either like it a lot or they dont. You often bring the culture and politics of the time into the storytelling back in the 80s the talking head on TV was Ted Koppel, now its Bill OReilly. Comics are first and foremost a lot of fun. It can be applied to anything. And one thing comics are very, very good at is politics. Editorial cartoons in newspapers are proof of this. I love to read about politics and I love to write satire. Naturally politics plays into my stories. Do you foresee returning again in the future to Batman? You know, each time Ive thought that this is it. Now I know that its not. Ill be back. -- What: Frank Miller with Andy Kubert Where: Legacy Comics and Cards, 123 W. Wilson Ave., Glendale When: Saturday, Feb. 20, noon to 2 p.m. More info: (818) 247-8803, legacycomics.com -- What: Frank Miller, signing and discussion Where: Barnes & Noble at The Grove, 189 The Grove Drive, Los Angeles When: Sat., Feb. 20, 7 p.m. More info: (323) 525-0270 -- Steve Appleford, steve.appleford@latimes.com Twitter: @SteveAppleford Glendale school officials will hold three community meetings next month to gather community input on how Glendale Unifieds new voting districts should be drawn, a move that school officials are required to take after they were sued for allegedly violating the states voting rights act. With four drafts of maps drawn up, school officials are most concerned about getting the word out to residents, hoping that they will give school officials their opinions and preferences about them. NEWSLETTER: Get the latest headlines from the 818 straight to your inbox >> Theyve posted the four proposed maps online for the public to review. The drafts were drawn according to federal and state requirements, which mandate that each district have about the same number of residents. The maps also take into consideration the attendance boundaries of Glendales elementary schools. One of the four maps would allow two residents of north Glendale or La Crescenta to win a seat on the school board. These are four very different approaches, all of which meet all the criteria, just in different ways, said Doug Johnson, president of National Demographics Corp. who was brought on to draft several maps for the publics consideration as part of the districts lawsuit settlement,. Johnson is a Glendale resident who previously guided Glendale Community College through a similar process. Both the colleges and school districts voting districts are expected to take effect by the April 2017 election. These are the maps to get the discussion going, Johnson said during a school meeting this week. Well emphasize this a lot at the forums its not so much, Which map do you like best? Its Why? I think that community input is just really important, said school board member Jennifer Freemon. However, the topic doesnt always draw crowds. I think we need to be realistic about you can do everything and still not capture what a sufficient amount of input would be, said co-interim Supt. Joel Shawn. To some degree, a lack of interest is because its a weird issue, Johnson said, who has drawn maps for cities and school districts throughout California and other states The three community meetings will occur at 6 p.m. on March 10 at Roosevelt Middle School at 222 E. Acacia Avenue in Glendale, March 16 at Crescenta Valley High School, located at 2900 Community Avenue in La Crescenta, and March 17 at Toll Middle School at 700 Glenwood Road in Glendale. School officials also seek input from residents through email. Any comments or suggestions about the maps can be emailed to trusteeareas@gusd.net. -- Kelly Corrigan, kelly.corrigan@latimes.com Twitter: @kellymcorrigan Many have heard the story of George Washington confessing that he had chopped down the cherry tree because I cannot tell a lie, but most do not know of the many achievements and the honorable character of this amazing person! As a young 17-year-old, Washington began his adult life as part of a survey team sent to explore the wild and unexplored western lands of colonial Virginia. This assignment was an educational and maturing experience for Washington, who, four years later, in 1753, was sent by Virginia Gov. Robert Dinwiddie to lead group to ask the French to leave Fort Duquesqne (now Pittsburgh). On the way, however, Washington accidentally intercepted a troop of French soldiers; a skirmish ensued. Unfortunately, Washingtons hastily built fortification, Fort Necessity, did not offer enough protection, and he was obliged to surrender. This humiliating defeat marked the beginning of the conflict between the French and the British for domination in North America known as the French and Indian War. Then, in 1755, the British then sent a large force under the command of Gen. Edward Braddock to again confront the French. Another battle ensued in which Washington exhibited extreme courage and leadership when two horses were shot out from under him and four bullet holes were found in his coat. Because Braddock was mortally wounded, Washington assumed command and led the remaining soldiers to safety. After this period of exploring, soldiering and leading, Washington returned to his beloved home, Mount Vernon, where he enjoyed the social and political life of Virginia. He sat in the Virginia House of Burgesses as an elected representative. Dedicated to the successful operation of his farm, he experimented with new farming techniques, such as crop rotation, to make it more productive and profitable. He switched from growing tobacco to growing wheat as his cash crop. He built a Gristmill to grind the wheat. He experimented with livestock breeding. He also experimented with producing a high-quality whiskey and ultimately had one of the largest distilleries in North America. Washington was an entrepreneur. He was also a man of infinite curiosity and talent. When the Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776, Washington was commissioned to become the commander-in-chief of the Continental Army. He endured many battles in which he failed to achieve victory, but every battle was a learning experience for him. At Valley Forge, the Armys winter camp in 1777, the citizen soldiers drilled and perfected their skills to become a capable army. When the war was over, Washington resigned as commander-in-chief. This was very unusual. Even today a leader of a successful army usually assumes the role of dictator, but Washington had a vision of a free and self-governing nation, so he returned to his beloved Mount Vernon to resume his life as an ordinary citizen. It is easy to forget that the leaders of the American Revolution were marked men. If caught, they would be hung as traitors. They had given their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor to achieve and fight for freedom. Today we dont give much thought to the sacrifice these men and their families made; we dont even question the inevitability of their success, but there was no certainty that the American Revolution would be won. Meanwhile, the leaders of Europe were certain that the new country, the United States of America, would stumble and fail. And it almost did! The Articles of Confederation was the first Constitution. It was a loose confederation of the original 13 colonies, and it turned out to be very ineffectual. It needed to be changed. In May 1787, a Constitutional Convention convened in Philadelphia. Washington was elected to preside. By September 1787, our present Constitution was written, and then it needed to by ratified by the colonies. The obvious and unanimous choice for the first leader of the nation was Washington, so in March 1789, at the age of 57, he took the oath of office with his hand on the Bible and the words of promise, so help me God. Would he be called Your Excellency? Your Highness? or perhaps Your Most Illustrious and Exalted President? Washington, quick to avoid any pretense, preferred to be called Mr. President. He led the country with fairness and integrity throughout his two terms which became the norm for others to follow. Washington did not want a free people to become too dependent on one man for leadership, and he also knew that power can be addictive and destructive. Once again Washington returned to Mount Vernon to spend his last years working at his home. He was very involved with all of the affairs of his estate. It was after one of his inspection rounds in the cold of December that he came home wet and chilled. He died a few days later, at the age of 69, of pneumonia. The nation honored him as the man who was first in war, first in peace, first in the hearts of his countrymen. It is such a humble, dedicated, courageous, and hardworking man that we honor on his birth date, Feb. 22, 1732. -- SHERRY MORGAN has a doctorate in American studies. How much greenhouse gas do La Canadans create in the course of their daily activities, and where might reductions be made? City officials are drafting a climate action plan to answer those questions and are asking for residents help. Between now and May, city staff will be working, thanks to a $70,998 grant offered through the Southern California Assn. of Governments, to inventory the citys collective greenhouse gas emissions in order to develop a suite of measures and regulations to reduce citywide pollution rates. NEWSLETTER: Stay up to date with whats going on in the 818 >> Officials are seeking input from the public to help draft the plan, which will eventually be adopted by the La Canada Flintridge City Council and used to guide future policy decisions regarding emissions reductions. At a public kickoff meeting held last Thursday, members of Rincon Consultants, a Riverside planning, engineering and environmental science firm, explained how state and federal laws have mandated significant reductions in emissions in the coming decades. California Assembly Bill 32, for example, calls on local governments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions at least 15% from 2005 levels by 2020. Senate Bill 97 similarly requires municipalities to mitigate climate change by enacting plans. Creating a climate plan to set reduction targets and timelines is a good way for municipalities to engage with the issues and meet mandates through policies that work best for them, explained Christina McAdams, a Rincon environmental scientist who addressed the small audience. A CAP is really a good opportunity to implement the citys vision, she said. Anything the community is looking to improve additional trees, improved bike lanes, transportation, public transit systems can be pulled into this climate action plan. Susan Koleda, the citys deputy director of community development, said officials became interested in developing a climate plan after an air-quality element was added to the citys general plan in 2013. Join the conversation on Facebook >> One of the goals we had in the air-quality element was the preparation of this climate action plan to look at the community as a whole and look at what actions we could take to reach this goal of improving our city, Koleda said at the kickoff meeting. Its also better for us as a community to decide what works for us before its mandated. City officials will hold monthly public workshops through May. Next month, at a meeting yet to be scheduled, residents will hear findings and results on the citys existing emissions levels and learn what progress has been made in recent years. In April, organizers will work with the public to identify potential areas of concern, reduction strategies and financial incentives available. Among the handful of residents who turned out for the discussion was Mark Adler, a Jet Propulsion Laboratory employee and bicyclist who stopped by City Hall on his way home from work, and Judy Trumbo, a Sagebrush area resident who came with concerns about La Canadas multiple waste haulers and the excess pollution created by extra trash truck routes. Gould Avenue resident J. Jason Amodeo counted traffic signal synchronization problems and big-rig trips along the Foothill (210) Freeway among his chief environmental worries. He said he hoped other La Canadans would join the cause as planning efforts moved forward. This is one way to get the community involved in helping reduce emissions, Amodeo said. Its a voluntary activity and, if you really appreciate where you live, I think its instinctive to want to work on something that needs to be addressed. -- Sara Cardine, sara.cardine@latimes.com Twitter: @SaraCardine At the end of two long, fraught days of negotiations, European Union leaders agreed unanimously to a new deal that will pave the way for a referendum on Britains continued membership in the 28-member bloc. The news was announced late Friday night after a series of drawn-out meetings that highlighted deep divisions between the different European nations. European Council President Donald Tusk announced on Twitter that a deal had finally been achieved. Advertisement Deal, he declared. Unanimous support for new settlement for #UKinEU. I have negotiated a deal to give the UK special status in the EU. I will be recommending it to Cabinet tomorrow. Press conference shortly. David Cameron (@David_Cameron) February 19, 2016 David Cameron sent a tweet shortly thereafter saying: I have negotiated a deal to give the UK special status in the EU. I will be recommending it to Cabinet tomorrow. At a news conference shortly after the deal was signed, Cameron said he would fly back to London on Friday night and meet with his Cabinet members in the morning to inform them in person. He is likely to also announce a date for the referendum, which is widely expected to be in June. This deal has delivered on the commitments I made at the beginning of this renegotiation process, Cameron said. I believe this is enough for me to recommend the United Kingdom remain in the EU, having the best of both worlds. Cameron achieved several of his key aims going into the summit, while having to compromise on some of the fine details. The deal allowed Britain to impose a seven-year break on in-work welfare payments to EU migrants. Child benefits will also be curbed for new migrants arriving in Britain, but existing EU arrivals will not be affected until 2020. There will be tough new restrictions on access to our welfare state for EU migrants, Cameron said. No more something for nothing. Britain also secured an opt out from the key EU ideal of ever closer union and Cameron secured protections for non-eurozone members. We will be in the parts of Europe that work for us, Cameron said. And we will be out of the parts that dont work for us. Cameron said he was addressing the concerns of the British people by pushing for the reforms, but they did not come easily. The future unity of the European Union had hung precariously in the balance on Friday. With only a few hours of sleep under their belts, Europes politicians spent a long and frustrating day locked in intense conversation inside conference rooms. But the talks seemed to shine a spotlight on the deep divisions that exist between the different countries, instead of their shared goals. The Brussels summit began Thursday and Britains so-called Brexit was top of the agenda, even ahead of a discussion about the continuing migrant crisis. Thursdays daytime meetings turned into an all-nighter but still failed to produce a deal. On Friday, an early EU-wide English breakfast, where leaders were due to fine-tune the deal, was soon pushed back turned into lunch and then dinner. Still no deal appeared. Many leaders are fearful that a British exit could have devastating effects for the rest of the region, but any eagerness to give Britain key concessions was tempered by a desire to protect their own national interests. As darkness fell in Brussels, aides were told to book a second nights hotel room for their teams and Cameron issued a tweet saying negotiations are continuing into this evening. Cameron had spent Friday in back-to-back meetings with the Italian prime minister, the German chancellor, the Czech prime minister and his Dutch and Danish counterparts, among others. There was also simmering frustration that Cameron was hijacking so much attention when there were pressing issues to deal with, such as the refugee crisis. Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras arrived at the summit on Friday and threatened to veto Camerons entire deal if EU countries did not help him deal with the ever-growing numbers of refugees and migrants arriving on Greek shores. And despite all the energy being expended on coming up with a deal, Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite delivered a sobering reminder that it could all be in vain because of the upcoming vote in the U.K. Speaking before the deal was announced, he said, No matter what we do here, no matter what face-lifting or face-saving we perform here, it is up to the British people to decide. Boyle is a special correspondent. MORE FROM WORLD Russian premier: We have slid into ... a new Cold War At 15 cents a gallon, its the cheapest gas in the world -- yet Venezuela worries Letters reveal Pope John Paul IIs intensely emotional relationship with a married woman Teething Doesn't Really Cause High-Grade Fever, New Study Reveals media@latinoshealth.com By Christon Jervil Feb 20, 2016 07:58 AM EST High-grade fevers as a sign of teething is one of the widely held old wives' tales, giving a lot of parents the notion that it has, in fact, some scientific backing. But, according to new findings from the Journal of Pediatrics, high-grade fevers and teething have no established causal relationship. And, such fevers could actually be a warning sign for other health conditions. "If a child has a really high fever, or is in significant discomfort, or won't eat or drink anything for days, that's a red flag for concern," said Dr. Paul Casamassimo, director of the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry's Pediatric Oral Health and Research and Policy Center. The researchers said that the most common symptoms of teething include swollen gums, drooling and crankiness. And while it could take longer in some cases, the signs and symptoms of teething should only last between three to five days, on average. Dr. Casamassimo recommends a cold rag or a teething toy to help ease babies' discomfort. He also cited infant pain relievers as another option, but was quick to add that parents should exercise more caution when using them. The regular intake of these pain relievers could cause tooth decay or even liver disease in children. He also advised against topical anesthetics that may contain benzocaine, which could result in a rare, but serious, and sometimes fatal condition called methemoglobinemia. "By and large, symptoms are not a chronic thing. They come and go, and the job of the parent is to comfort the child, and keep their finger on the pulse of their child. Is the child eating? Staying hydrated?" Casamassimo also added. He said that the signs of teething vary among children. Parents must be aware of it and should find ways to alleviate the discomfort brought about by the symptoms. And, if things take a turn for the worse, parents should call their doctor. According to the Mayo Clinic, for infants between the ages 6 to 24 months, parents should seek medical help when experiencing unexplained fever of a temperature higher than 102 F (38.9 C) that lasts longer than one day but who shows no other symptoms. Infants with a fever who also show other signs and symptoms, such as a cold, cough or diarrhea, should also be a concern for parents. In this case, they should call the doctor sooner, especially when the conditions are severe. Subscribe to the latinos health newsletter! In 2004, current Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, lobbied for a Democratic presidential caucus out west, where the amalgam of Latino, African-American and Asian-American voters could join the early-voting process. Democrat lawmakers successfully made Nevada one of four country-wide testing grounds ahead of the 2008 "Super Tuesday" primaries, indelibly streamlining the role minorities play in the general election. According to U.S. census data, 15 percent of the state's Latino population caucused that year, equal to the African-American turnout. In 2012, Latinos made up 19 percent of the electorate, 10 percentage points ahead of the black electorate but still well below the number of white participants. Nearly 200,000 more Latinos live in the Silver State now than eight years ago, potentially giving registered Spanish-speaking voters a louder voice than ever. Come Feb. 20, Latinos, the country's fastest-growing demographic, will have another chance to be among the first and most ardent to select the next president, choosing first among Democratic candidates, then Republicans three days later. "With our vibrant Latino, African American and Asian American/Pacific Islander communities and the strong presence of organized labor here, no other early state comes close to matching our demographic, regional and cultural diversity," Nevada State Democratic Party Chair Roberta Lange said in a press statement. "Nevada reflects a strong Western voice in the Democratic Party and the diverse electorate we need to mobilize to win in 2016." The Ever-Adapting Latino Voter Iowa caucuses began in the early 1970s as a homey, intimate way of selecting presidential candidates. Caucus-goers gather in public areas like libraries, farms and grade schools, where they either shuffle into different corners of a room if they are registered Democrats or scribble names on pieces of paper if they're Republicans. The New Hampshire first-in-the-nation primary earned a reputation for important predictions after several successful early measurements as to how White House hopefuls would fare. Former U.S. General Dwight D. Eisenhower won 50 percent of the vote there in 1952 despite never visiting the state. Relatively unknown Georgia Gov. Jimmy Carter won in 1976. And Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton used his second-place finish in New Hampshire to quell rumors about marital infidelities en route to winning the 1992 Democratic nomination. New Hampshire has transformed the election process from a winner-take-all beauty contest to a stately division of delegates. Unlike Iowa, primary voters in the Granite State make a choice the old fashioned way by casting private ballots. Nevada isn't much different from Iowa in how its caucuses work. Democrats gather in groups, weeding out those with less than 15 percent of the room until all 39 delegates are allocated. GOPers split their 30 delegates proportionally based on paper ballot results. However, Nevada is different from Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina in that the state better represents the ever-adapting American voter ethnically. "I fought for Nevada as an early state because it reflects the diversity that makes our nation great. I look forward to the caucus on February 20th as Nevada Democrats will choose between three stellar candidates," Reid said in a statement released on Jan. 4. "Each of these candidates -- Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders and Martin O'Malley -- would do far more for this country in their first 100 days in office than any Republican would do in their entire tenure." Of course, following the Feb. 1 Iowa caucus, O'Malley suspended his presidential campaign. Influencing 2008 and 2012 Results The Pew Research Center estimates about 738,000 Latinos -- nearly twice the population of Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina combined -- called Nevada home in 2011, yet only a fraction of them were eligible to caucus. The Hispanic population, now reaching 800,000 residents, makes up about 30 percent of the state's population. Latinos overwhelmingly favored Clinton over Barack Obama by a two-to-one margin during the 2008 Nevada caucus, but switched their support once Obama won the Democratic nomination. By the time Obama ran unopposed four years later, the Hispanic share of voters in the general election nearly doubled. They made up 10 percent of the presidential electorate in 2008 and 18 percent in 2012. The Hispanic voter doesn't have much of an influence in Midwest and East Coast events, but their fledgling influence in Nevada may make the difference of which Democratic candidate -- Clinton or Sanders -- earns the party's support. Low Turnouts There is no reliable polling data for any previous Nevada caucus because so few people show up. While democratic in intent, caucuses and primaries in states with predominately white populations don't appeal to minorities. They're held in regions that either lean conservative or, in New Hampshire's case, are considered swing states. It's not just a problem with demographics. A majority of eligible citizens don't caucus simply because they don't know what's required. Many are unaware of voter ID laws allowing one to vote without physical identification or that states offer voter IDs free of charge. In Nevada's case, it's a mix of all of the above, though Democratic candidates aren't affected as much as their Republican counterparts. Low participation rates during the last two general elections prompted GOP lawmakers to push legislation that would convert the caucus into a primary, potentially leading to bigger turnout. But the Republican-controlled Nevada Assembly couldn't get the votes in time for this year's election. Less than 33,000 of the state's 400,000 registered GOP voters caucused in 2012. "The Nevada Republican Party just hasn't been able to get organized enough to get everyone out to vote; and as a result, with these factions able to fill the void, a lot of those who have voted felt the will of the public has been ignored," said David McKeon, the Clark County GOP chairman, last June. "This would have provided equal opportunity for all of the candidates." The National Association of Latino Elected Officials expects a large percentage of the 194,000 registered Latino voters to participate in caucuses over the next week. By their calculations, the Hispanic population will compose 13 percent of Nevada's electorate. In a statement sent to Latin Post, the organization's executive director Arturo Vargas said the Latino population "will play a decisive role in electing our nation's next president," adding that engaging Latinos means more than just translating an ad into Spanish. No other early-voting state has the potential to give Latinos the limelight. Even if Feb. 20 and Feb. 23 caucuses bring in more of the same in terms of turnout, Hispanic voters have a chance to stand out. They can draw distinctions between Sanders, Clinton and Republican candidates that have lasting consequences. Pope Francis stated this week that Donald Trump's proposal of building a wall along the US-Mexico border to address illegal immigration is "not Christian." Trump fired back saying that the pope would wish he were president if the Islamic State attacked the Vatican. "If and when the Vatican is attacked by the ISIS, which as everyone knows is ISIS's ultimate trophy, I can promise you that the pope would have only wished and prayed that Donald Trump would have been president," he said. The pope was asked about his thoughts on Trump's proposal to keep illegal immigrants out if he becomes president. "A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian," Pope Francis said. "This is not in the Gospel." Trump added that it was "disgraceful" of Francis to question his beliefs. He adds that he is a Christian and, if elected, he "will not allow Christianity to be consistently attacked and weakened." When asked if American Catholics should vote for Trump, the pope did not want to get involved. He reiterates that it is un-Christian of the presidential candidate to release such statements. Their exchange continued with Trump saying the pope is a "political person." He adds that he not knowledgeable of the problems of the country and that there are dangers with the open borders the U.S. have with Mexico. Pope Francis responded by saying: "Thank God he said I was a politician because Aristotle defined the human person as 'animal politicus'. So at least I am a human person." Trump accused the Mexicans of turning the pope against him because their government allegedly wants to "continually rip off" the U.S. He was dismissive of the pope's remarks and does not take it personally. Francis was on his way to Rome after a six-day visit to Mexico. The statement came up during the news conference to which he also addressed the Roman Catholic Church's stance on abortion and birth control in the wake of the Zika virus outbreak in Latin America. The pope made his thoughts clear by saying abortion and birth control are different. He condones abortion, saying it is "a crime, an absolute evil" but considers avoiding pregnancy via contraception less evil. He was open to allow exception for contraception in cases like these and called for doctors to do their best to produce vaccines against the virus. Responding to the EU referendum announcement, Lib Dem leader Tim Farron has written to all party members as follows: When we launched our national campaign last week to keep Britain in Europe, we didnt know when the Referendum was going to be. Now we do: June 23rd. That gives us just less than four months to identify millions of pro-Europeans and convince them to vote. We can do it! We are looking for pro-European, outward facing, open and tolerant voters: the people who think that Britain and Europe should work together. In short, were looking for liberals like you and me. But to do that we need to run an enormous ground campaign. We need to knock on millions of doors, print millions more leaflets and make tens of thousands of phone calls. A group of donors have offered to match 35,000 of donations to help run our campaign. Help win the referendum by making a donation and these donors will match it, pound for pound. Together we will win the Referendum and ensure Britain remains in Europe. Our opponents are going to do everything they can to take Britain out of Europe. If they succeed it will be harder for us to tackle climate change, fight terrorism, or become a more prosperous nation. Britain is better in Europe and Europe is better with Britain in it. We cant let them win. So, just minutes before the 10 oclock news, it was announced that A Deal Had Been Struck. Fancy that. It had been a bit like the day the BBC camped outside the maternity hospital when William and Kate had their first child except the outcome was not quite as joyful. In news which will surprise precisely nobody, I can reveal that I will be voting to remain in Europe despite Camerons deal, rather than because of it. I suppose we should just be grateful he didnt sell our hard-won employment rights down the river in the process of reaching this rather mean-spirited agreement. So, Ive not changed my vote, the Outers are not satisfied with the deal, as if that were ever possible, so was there a point? Maybe. I do have to admit that someone has tweeted me to say that they are now more sympathetic to the Remain cause. Theres a bit of me whod have liked to have seen a PM face down the critics and argue just to stay in on principle. I look at Obama facing down the Republicans on equal marriage and gun control and wish we had a PM who wasnt scared of the Daily Fail, Boris, Michael Gove and George Galloway. Well, maybe the first three. But the deal is now done, the starting gun is about to be fired, the Cabinet is about to see if it can survive being split and I have to take my place and campaign like a dervish to stay in the EU. But what has Tim Farron said? Well, not a lot about the substance of the deal, but a brief statement of why the UK needs to stay in the EU: Now the referendum campaign begins in earnest. It is the biggest vote in a generation and it will settle not only Britains relations with Europe but also our place in the world. The Liberal Democrats are the only party completely united around the case to remain. Together the EU has created the worlds largest free trade area, delivered peace, and continues to give the British people the opportunity to live, work and travel freely. History shows that Britain is better when it is united with Europe. Theres a long way to go till June. The Remain side needs to make sure it wins the campaign as well as the referendum. Look at the still-divided Scotland to see a real life example of where failure to do that leads. * Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings Nigel Farage told the media last year, I am saying that if we have an Australian-style points system, immigration would not be a problem. He made the point again earlier this month, speaking to Sky News. The fact that inside the European Union we cant adopt a more restrictive Australian-style points immigration system is for many the single biggest reason there is to leave the EU. Rid ourselves of the shackles of Brussels, crack down, and, as Farage himself said, immigration would not be a problem. Its a point summed up by their migration spokesman, Stephen Woolfe MEP: To restore Britains borders, we need to leave the EU & implement a fair & ethical Australian style points based system. Well, Im on holiday in Australia this week, and Ive been reading the papers. And one thing I can definitely say is that an Australian-style points system is no silver bullet when it comes to immigration. This week the countrys population topped 24 million. This was reported in Wednesdays Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) under the headline, Cut immigration to preserve our way of life: Carr. Bob Carr is an Australian former foreign affairs minister. Another newspaper, the Daily Telegraph (the Australian one) quoted Carr, People wonder why their youngsters cant get housing in the big cities. And yet another newspaper, the Australian, quotes him as referring to Australias breakneck immigration growth. The next days letters pages picked up where Carr left off. William Bourke, from Wollstonecraft, wrote to the Daily Telegraph about the economic, environmental and social disaster that is unfolding because of the level of immigration. In the letters section of the SMH, under the heading, Swelling population has too high a price, DArcy Hardy of North Turramurra called for a review of the real cost of immigration on public services. And Terry Daly, from Randwick, wrote to complain about overburdened schools, hospitals, transport, high property prices, and a corresponding stagnation in wages. There is clearly deep disquiet in some quarters about the level of immigration, despite this being the home of the Australian-style points system. So, if those Australians who dont like immigration are left unsatisfied by it, why should it be enough for British people who dont like immigration? Some people just dont like immigration, and no system that lets in even a single people will ever be acceptable to them. Last October even saw the launch of new political party here, the Australian Liberty Alliance, dedicated to campaigning against the impact as they see it of immigration on Australia. They launched with the help of Geert Wilders. Writing in the Daily Telegraph on Friday, one of the partys Senate candidates for New South Wales, Kirralie Smith, quoted messages shed received that complained about political correctness and sharia law. The same newspaper earlier in the week ran a front-page story about halal-certified rations for the Australian Army. That article also triggered a torrent of angry letters. This all sounds more than a little familiar, doesnt it? Its like an average day in the Daily Mail or Daily Express. Easy access to Europes single market is linked to free movement of people. You cannot have one without the other. The price of bringing in an Australian-style system would not only be Britains exit from the EU; it would also mean new barriers between British businesses and the rest of Europe as we left the single market too. That would put us in a worse position than Norway or Switzerland, both of which accept free movement in exchange for selling their stuff freely and easily in Europe. Worst of all nobody seems able to say how long this would take to sort out or what the trade-offs would be. An Australian-style points system is no panacea. It doesnt seem to satisfy those Australians who dont like immigration, and I am sure it wouldnt satisfy Brits who dont like immigration either. And to decide to leave Europe so that we can implement this system is just crazy massive cost, massive disruption and massive risk, all for a system that wont make a prickly political topic any less prickly. * Stuart Bonar was the Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate in Plymouth Moor View. LAST week, it was Bruce Springsteen. But as the Taoiseach Enda Kenny arrived at UL on Monday night, the soundtrack was somehow less The Boss and more Bette Midler. Everybodys got a hungry heart, the Taoiseach sang to voters on national radio as he canvassed in Connacht last week. But weekend polls had shown that Fine Gael was caught in a kind of voter doldrums and Enda, anxious to make history as the only Fine Gael Taoiseach to return to power, needed a bit of wind in his sails. You are the wind beneath my wings, he needed to croon, along with Bette, to the countrys somewhat reluctant voters. But he arrived in jaunty mood, the last but one of the seven party leaders taking part in the RTE live debate to pull up at the concert hall. And as he strode confidently, jacket slung over the shoulder in uber-relaxed style, towards the phalanx of reporters, photographers and camera people waiting to doorstep him on his way in, there was no sign of concern. That came later when the cameras rolled and he found himself sandwiched between Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin and Labours Joan Burton and with the formidable Claire Byrne running the show. Presidential, some commentators said of the Taoiseach. But from where I sat, Enda looked anxious and a bit spooked. Admittedly, the stakes were high and not just for Enda. Every party leader was hoping to break out of the doldrums and hoping the debate would help them to do that. You are everything, everything I wish I could be. There was that pesky Bette Midler soundtrack again. Was that Micheal singing along? Or Lucinda? It certainly wasnt Gerry. He had decided to do his three amigos routine and stick to it. Earlier in the evening, the 350 or so audience members had queued patiently, going through strict security before making it into the concourse where tea and sandwiches were abundantly available. These were no ordinary folk. They had been selected, we were told, by the Red C polling company, to ensure balance. And, we were also told, they were making a small bit of broadcasting history. This was the first time ever that the leaders debate had been held outside Dublin and was a huge logistical undertaking by RTE. Up to 100 RTE staff were involved, including reporters, presenters, technicians, sound and camera people and make-up staff. And on top of that, another two dozen or so reporters and photographers from other media organisations were also in UL for the debate. The university, keen to make the most of their PR coup, had also invited its own guests to watch the debate on a feeder screen adjacent to the concert hall. Unfettered by any RTE protocols, we could have cheered and sneered to our hearts content. But we were a quiet lot, who didnt even clap along with the studio audience, where Richard Boyd Barrett was winning the clapometer contest. There were a few light moments but not many. Gerry Adams three amigos digs got a few amused snorts. And some people were entertained by the sight of a page floating from Micheal Martin to land at Endas feet. A billet doux? An invitation to make up? As the two hour debate moved along, and attention wavered, we began to notice the little things Joans wagging finger, Gerry trying desperately not to point the finger and Lucindas straight-ahead stare. And mercifully, the expected ding-dongs between Enda and Micheal, between Micheal and Gerry and Gerry and Joan, were few enough and short-lived. The debate, punctuated by searing supplementary questions from Claire Byrne, ranged over jobs, emigration, homelessness, crime, rural decline, health and broken promises. It seemed however that for long periods of time, the Taoiseach was not in the debate at all. Afterwards, Fine Gael supporters were reluctant to admit he had not entered the fray. And some of them complained that moderator Claire Byrne had been less than respectful to the man who was the countrys Taoiseach. She was truculent and very biased against the three main leaders, was one mans take. I enjoyed it, one woman who had travelled from Cork for the debate said. There was not too much shouting over one another. Nationally, some 1.063m people tuned in for at least part of the debate while a massive 586,000 stayed for the entire two hours. Its far from over yet though. Other debates are planned. And with just a little over a week to go, things do appear to be moving, at long last. But the future remains to be decided. EDUCATION Minister Jan OSullivan has criticised An Taisces narrow objection to LITs proposed new campus at Coonagh Cross. Our sister newspaper the Limerick Chronicle this week revealed the heritage bodys Limerick branch had lodged a comprehensive objection to the Limerick Institute of Technology (LIT)s proposal to open another out-of-town campus. The group fears that if LIT is allowed open a centre on the periphery of the city, it will have a negative impact on the centre, and possibly put the Moylish-based colleges plans to be part of a third-level higher education campus at the former Opera Centre site in jeapordy. However, Ms OSullivan said: I have great respect for An Taisce, but I think they are wrong in this case. She said she believes LIT remains committed to Limerick city centre, stating: Look at LITs contribution to the city centre, you have the most recent development being the fashion incubation centre, which will bring world renowned fashion practitioners into Limerick to engage with students and provide jobs. Look at what they have done in Clare Street to the School of Art and Design. They have plans to bring students to live in the city centre with UL. The Education Minister believes An Taisces objection represents a very narrow vision of what LIT is about. LIT which received the green light from the Higher Education Authority to buy the site on the northside last year had hoped to move its precision engineering students on site by September, with the college saying 234 jobs would be created 100 permanent. But this objection is likely to at least place this timeframe in doubt, with An Taisce Limerick likely to appeal LITs planning application to An Bord Pleanala should the local authority grant it. Local An Taisce spokesperson Thomas Bibby said if developments like these continue to be granted we are sounding the death knell for the city centre. In its submission, the group has pointed out LITs plan contravenes both the Limerick City Development Plan and the much vaunted Limerick 2030 strategy. LIT in a statement said it has submitted a planning application for a new Higher Education Campus at Coonagh. It is part of LITs Campus 2030 development plan, which provides for the coherent delivery of new and enhanced education facilities across all our campus locations. A JUDGE has said he wants to give some deep thought to the case of a young man who fled the jurisdiction following a violent incident in Rathkeale almost three years ago. Last month, Michael Ryan, aged 24, who is originally from Fairgreen, Fairhill, Rathkeale pleaded guilty to three charges relating to the incident, which happened shortly after midnight on June 7, 2013. Garda Tom Flavin told Michael Collins BL, prosecuting, a bench warrant was issued on February 25, 2014 after the defendant failed to appear in court in accordance with his bail. He said Ryan fled to the UK and only recently returned to Limerick having served a prison sentence in England for a burglary offence. Judge Tom ODonnell was told the incident unfolded after gardai responded to reports of a house fire in Rathkeale. When Garda Patrick Cronin and Garda Lesley Maloney arrived to investigate the reports, they observed a high-powered Ford Mondeo, which was occupied by a number men wearing balaclavas. When they attempted to stop the vehicle, the driver tried to reverse at high speed into a yard adjoining the Mr Ryans home. However, after the car crashed into a pillar at the gate, the occupants retreated into the house before re-emerging a short time later when the two gardai tried to seize the Mondeo. Tensions escalated and at one point a group of around 14 or 15 people emerged from the Ryans home. Garda Flavin said the defendants mother Brigid Ryan was roaring and shouting at the others to get them (the gardai) out, kill them while her son could be heard shouting get the f*** off my property or I will f****** kill you,. The two gardai requested assistance as they feared for their safety due to the number of people present and the nature of the threats. They thought they were going to be killed, he said. At one point after both gardai had retreated to the front of their patrol car, another man, whose case was previously dealt with drove at the two gardai forcing one of them to jump out of the way. Garda Flavin said one of colleagues heard a pipe-bomb being mentioned during the disturbance but being cross-examined by Jack Nicholas BL, Garda Flavin he accepted it was not mentioned by Ryan. He also agreed nothing sinister was found during a subsequent search of the vehicle and house and that neither of the two gardai were injured. Mr Nicholas said no weapons were used by his client and he submitted he had been overcome by a mob mentality on the night. Judge ODonnell adjourned the case to May 3, next. DRAMA has been rich on the ground in West Limerick for the past month or more and this wealth of local talent continues this weekend with a visit to the west by the Charleville-based Shoestring Theatre Company. Shoestring will perform the John B Keane drama, Sharons Grave for one night only, when it takes to the stage in the hall in Castlemahon this Sunday night at 8pm. It will be a chance to see a very powerful production of a play that incorporates tragedy, comedy and romance, says Brendan Normile, a member of the Feoghanagh Castlemahon hall committee. But it will also be an opportunity to see some well-known local amateur actors in action, he adds. Ger Liston, who has won many awards for his acting, is taking part in the Shoestring production, as also is Catherine Woods, both of whom have had a long association also with the Ardagh Drama Group. This Sundays performance in Castlemahon will be Shoestrings only performance in Limerick prior to embarking on their nationwide tour as they compete in the RTE All-Ireland Drama festival circuit. Last year the group qualified for the All-Ireland finals in Athlone with their production of Trad. They won the prestigious Abbey Award and Ger Liston won Best Supporting actor for his role as Fr. Rice. Directed by Kevin OShea, Shoestring will be pushing hard again this year in their bid for All-Ireland glory. Sharons Grave, centres on Trassie Conlee who is a single woman living on a small farm with her ailing father and childlike brother. With the passing of her father Trassies manipulative cousin Dinsie attempts to take over the farm as he feels that if he has land he will eventually win the affection of a woman. The play develops into a battle between good and evil. The curtain goes up at 8pm and admission is 12 for adults and 5 for children. The Martha Washington Pageant and Ball is one of those traditions thats been around longer than Ive been on this Earth. Its a bit strange when viewed in a vacuum, but it remains one of the most trademark events of the WBCA celebration. During the presentation, a selection of young debutantes don striking gowns some of which can weigh around 50 pounds each, emblazoned with ornate designs that cost enough to put a dent in even the largest of student loan debts. Tickets to the pageant run anywhere from $35-45 dollars, with a ball immediately following the presentation of the debutantes. The Society of Martha Washington Colonial Pageant & Ball Feb 19 @ 8 P.M. LISD Civic Center Auditorium, 2400 San Bernardo Ave. The Laredo Energy Arena parking lot will play host to funnel cakes, turkey legs and more than 40 thrilling rides as the WBCA carnival continues through this Monday. The carnival includes all the old favorites the Ferris wheel, roller coasters and carousels but also promises thrills with rides new to WBCA including Ali Baba, the Flipper and Remix. For the less adventurous types, the carnival will have a number of stands on hand selling novelties, but most importantly, theyll have oodles of great food on hand with the usual carnival fare including corn dogs, cotton candy, roasted corn and caramel apples on sale. Carnival grounds open at noon each day from Friday till Monday, with admission to the grounds running $2. WBCA Carnival Feb 19-22 @ Noon Laredo Energy Arena Parking Lot, 6700 Arena Blvd. The Washingtons Birthday Parade is another of the crown jewels of the WBCA celebration bringing dozens of local organizations to San Bernardo street out on fanciful floats that are a sight to behold. The parade takes place along San Bernardo street and includes sights and sounds that vary from the Budweiser Clydesdales, to high school bands , to the shiners squeezed into tiny cars topped with their classic red fezzes. Even the Martha Washington debutantes will be on hand, pleasing the crowd when theyre asked to show off the shoes underneath their jewel-encrusted gowns. Free general seating is available anywhere on the parade route, with bleacher seating also available for $5 near the parade routes end. Washingtons Birthday Parade Feb 20 @ 9 A.M. San Bernardo St. WBCA season is capped off every year with a pyrotechnic display courtesy of the folks at H-E-B. The fairgrounds will open at 2 P.M. for revelers who want to pick out their space or get some carne asada going before the show begins. Guests are encouraged to bring out lawn chairs and blankets. The fireworks spectacular begins at 8 P.M. H-E-B Fireworks Extravaganza Feb 21 @ 8 P.M. LIFE Downs, US Highway 59 East Detailing all of the pop-up restaurants, pop-up bars, pop-up shops, pop-up galleries, and pop-up gigs in London, complete with maps. Please send any tips to dan.calladine@londonpopups.com or via twitter - I'm @LondonPopups Magical Music of the Emerald Isle: Live Music Events on Long Island for St. Patrick's Day 2016 Family & Parenting, Music, Movies & Entertainment, Arts & Culture, Seasonal & Current Events By Kelly Tenny Published: February 20 2016 Give a listen to the eclectic sounds of Irish music this St. Patricks Day at a performance on L.I.! Lend your ears this St. Patrick's Day to listen to some Irish music! Looking for something fun and festive to do in celebration of St. Patricks Day that isnt going to a local parade? Then why not learn all about Irish tradition, culture and history by heading out to listen to an Irish musical performance on Long Island! Although many of these performances do not take place on the actual day, what better way is there to learn a thing or two about St. Patricks Day and Irish culture than through the beauty of song! Save the date, pre-order your tickets beforehand if required, and get out there to enjoy the sweet sounds of the Irish! 760 Ocean Avenue, Bohemia, NY 11716 631-567-5079 Wednesday, February 24th, 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM Free Event Come learn about Irish history as folksinger John Corr performs Irish rebel ballads from various eras. Mike McCormack, the National Historian of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, will also be introducing each song with insightful background information. 760 Ocean Avenue, Bohemia, NY 11716 631-567-5079 Sunday, February 28th, 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM Free Event Don't miss out on hearing Ireland's own Willie Lynch and his band play during this musical St. Patrick's Day celebration at the Connetquot Public Library! Corner of Oak and John Streets, Amityville, NY 11701 631-264-0567 Saturday, March 5th, 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM Free event Listen to composer/pianist Paul Joseph and his jazz quartet as they perform instrumental jazz renditions of Irish musical favorites like, Danny Boy, When Irish Eyes are Smiling, Red Is the Rose, The Minstrel Boy and others. 1000 Fulton Avenue, Hempstead, NY 11550 516-463-5067 Sunday, March 6th, 11:00 AM - 5:00 PM $6 for Adults; $5 for Seniors 65 & Older; Free for Children under 12 or with Hofstra ID Celebrate the Irish gifts of food, music and culture during the Hofstra 18th Annual Irish Festival! With dances, musical performances and activities for children, there's a little something for everyone! 3232 Railroad Avenue, Wantagh, NY 11793 516-783-7500 Saturday, March 12th at 8 PM $12 - $15 Head out to Mulcahy's Pub & Concert Hall to hear the baddest Irish band in town! Opening Act: Matt Wahl and Plunge! One South Avenue, Garden City, NY 11530 516-877-4000 Sunday, March 13th, 3:00 PM $30/35 Per Person Make your way over to the Adelphi University Performing Arts Center to listen to critically acclaimed traditional Irish music band, the Alan Kelly Gang! 3232 Railroad Avenue, Wantagh, NY 11793 516-783-7500 Thursday, March 17th, 5:00 PM See Listing For Pricing Looking to stay up to date about all of the news stories and local headlines that are important to Long Islanders? We've rounded up the top coverage for all of the important topics from multiple sources around Long Island, so you can be sure you've got the most recent update on the top stories for Long Island. Have an idea for a news story? Email us at news@longisland.com Columnists Press Releases Map detailing Taliban-controlled or contested districts. Click colored district for information. Map created by Bill Roggio, Caleb Weiss, and Patrick Megahan. The Afghan military withdrew its remaining combat forces from the district of Musa Qala in Helmand province today after battling the Taliban there for nearly a year. The district is now firmly under the control of the Taliban. The Afghan Army commander in charge of the fighting in Helmand characterized the Armys withdrawal from Musa Qala as a redeployment of forces. Their presence in the area [in Musa Qala] did not mean anything, Mohammad Moeen Faqir, the commander of 215th Corps told Reuters. We will use them in battle with enemies in other parts of Helmand province. According to Reuters, Faqir said the beleaguered troops who were based in Musa Qala will be relocated to the town of Gereshk in Nahr-i-Sarraj district in Helmand, where the Taliban is pressing an offensive to take over the central part of the province. The Afghan militarys retreat from Helmand means the Taliban is now fully in control of the district. The Long War Journal previously assessed Musa Qala as being under Taliban control, as Afghan forces were confined to a few bases and according to Afghan press reports, the Taliban was controlling and administering key areas of the district, including government buildings and the bazaar. Musa Qala has switched hands between Coalition and Afghan forces and the Taliban several times over the past decade. In September 2006, the British made a secret deal with the Taliban that ultimately led to the Taliban controlling the district. The district center switched hands several times between 2007 up until US forces surged in Helmand in late 2009. [See LWJ report, The checkered history of Musa Qala.] When US forces began withdrawing from Helmand in 2011, the Taliban immediately restarted offensive operations in Musa Qala and the surrounding districts. Security in Helmand has spiraled out of control as the Taliban has pressed its offensive to regain the ground lost there between 2009-2011. Of Helmands 13 districts, five are known to be controlled by the Taliban (Nowzad, Musa Qala, Baghran, Dishu, and Khanashin), and another five are heavily contested (Nahr-i-Sarraj, Kajaki, Nad Ali, Garmsir and Sangin). Of the remaining three districts, The Long War Journal believes two (Washir and Nawa-i-Barak) are contested, but the situation is unclear. Only Lashkar Gah, the district that hosts the provincial capital, has not seen significant Taliban activity. US and British special operations forces have been deployed to Helmand since the summer of 2015 to support the struggling Afghan forces. Most recently, the US deployed an additional 500 Special Forces advisers to oppose the Taliban. However, the reintroduction of US and British forces in Helmand has not prevented the districts of Nowzad and Musa Qala from falling to the Taliban. Outside of Helmand, the Taliban has significantly expanded its influence in the past year. The Taliban now controls 38 districts in Afghanistan and contests another 40, according to data compiled by The Long War Journal. These numbers may be low given the methodology used to assess control in contested districts. Bill Roggio is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Editor of FDD's Long War Journal. Are you a dedicated reader of FDD's Long War Journal? Has our research benefitted you or your team over the years? Support our independent reporting and analysis today by considering a one-time or monthly donation. Thanks for reading! You can make a tax-deductible donation here. Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsulas (AQAP) fighters reportedly seized the southern Yemeni town of Ahwar earlier today. A Twitter feed maintained by AQAPs political and military front, Ansar al Sharia, posted a short message saying that the jihadists have stormed Ahwar and sent their opposition fleeing. The town is located in the Abyan province, where AQAPs forces have surged in recent months. According to Reuters, Ahwar and the surrounding areas are home to more than 30,000 people and an important geographic link that connects areas under AQAPs control along the coast. Jihadists and others have tweeted and retweeted several images from Ahwar. The photos were not produced by AQAPs official propaganda arm, but show ruins of a vehicle allegedly operated by a gang that resisted al Qaedas men. The leader of this supposed gang has also been executed. Agence France-Presse reported earlier this month that Ahwar had fallen to AQAP, but it appears the operations were ongoing at the time. It is often difficult to determine whether or not territory is under AQAPs full control. Southern Yemen is a chaotic war zone and, therefore, reports from the front lines are necessarily uncertain. Reuters cites residents in Ahwar who say that it has fallen to AQAP. In early April 2015, AQAP seized Mukallah, the capital of Yemens eastern province of Hadramout. The jihadists overran Zinjibar, the capital of the Abyan province, and the nearby town of Jaar in December. Then the al Qaeda branch seized the town of Azzan in Yemens southeastern Shabwa province earlier this year. AQAP controls other towns and villages in the south as well, while regularly launching operations in other parts of the country. [For more on the populated areas captured by AQAP see LWJ report, Al Qaeda seizes more territory in southern Yemen.] AQAP has begun to advertise its control over territory. The group is eager to let followers and others know that it is slowly implementing its harsh version of sharia law on the local populace in various areas. AQAP also wants people to know that it is providing rudimentary governance and social services to the residents. This makes it easier to determine which towns and cities are actually in al Qaedas possession. As The Long War Journal previously reported, a Twitter feed for Al Ather news agency began publishing photos and videos of Ansar al Sharias supposed good works on Jan. 23. The first photos showed food baskets that were handed out to the needy in Mukallah, the port city that fell to AQAP last year. Al Ather has continued to post pictures and videos from southern Yemen in the weeks since then. [See LWJ report, AQAP provides social services, implements sharia while advancing in southern Yemen.] Although AQAP has lost several key leaders in American drone strikes since early 2015, this has not slowed al Qaedas guerrilla war. Among those killed was AQAPs emir, Nasir al Wuhayshi, who also served as a top official in al Qaedas global organization. Not only has AQAP continued to gain ground, it also quickly introduced new leaders to serve as public faces for the organization. AQAP remains openly loyal to Ayman al Zawahiri, al Qaedas global emir. Wuhayshis successor as the groups top leader, Qasim al Raymi, reaffirmed his allegiance to Zawahiri shortly after Wuhayshis death. Thomas Joscelyn is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Senior Editor for FDD's Long War Journal. Are you a dedicated reader of FDD's Long War Journal? Has our research benefitted you or your team over the years? Support our independent reporting and analysis today by considering a one-time or monthly donation. Thanks for reading! You can make a tax-deductible donation here. Rebel groups in Aleppo have united behind Hashem al Sheikh, who led Ahrar al Sham from Sept. 2014 to Sept. 2015. Several rebel groups based in and around the Syrian city of Aleppo have reportedly united their military efforts under the leadership of Hashem al Sheikh, the former emir of Ahrar al Sham, an al Qaeda-linked jihadist group. The new alliance is purportedly named Jaysh Halab. However, none of its constituents appear to be using that name yet. And The Long War Journal cannot independently verify that the coalition has become operational, as reported by multiple sources. In addition to Ahrar al Sham, it reportedly includes five groups from the loosely organized Free Syrian Army (FSA), as well as the Islamist Nur al-Din al-Zanki Movement. According to NOW, the FSA factions that have joined are: the 101st Division, the 16th Division, the First Regiment, the Mountain Falcons Brigade and the Sultan Murad Division. Al Nusrah Front, al Qaedas official branch in Syria, is not a named member of the military alliance. But if it begins to launch operations the new coalition will almost certainly cooperate with Al Nusrah, as some of its constituents, especially Ahrar al Sham and the Nur al-Din al-Zanki Movement, have long fought side-by-side with al Qaedas men on the battlefield. The rebel formations in Aleppo have been reshuffled numerous times during the course of the war, making it difficult to track without firsthand sources. Jaysh Halab is just the latest such military configuration, supposedly formed in response to an offensive launched by Bashar al Assads regime and its allies. Russian airstrikes have provided cover for Iranian-backed Shiite militias and Assads fighters as theyve gained ground in the Aleppo province since earlier this year. A veteran jihadist Hashem al Sheikh, also known as Abu Jaber, is a veteran jihadist and a high-profile leader. Al Sheikh took over as the emir of Ahrar al Sham in September 2014, after the groups leadership cadre was wiped out in a mysterious explosion. He continued in that role for one year before voluntarily stepping down in September 2015. In April 2015, Al Jazeera broadcast a lengthy interview with Al Sheikh, who complained about Al Nusrah Fronts role as a branch of al Qaeda. Al Sheikh argued that Al Nusrahs allegiance to al Qaeda hurt the Syrian revolution. Other Ahrar al Sham commanders have made the same argument, claiming that al Qaedas overt presence in the rebellion hinders the effort to topple Assad by bringing unwanted scrutiny from the international community. These same Ahrar al Sham commanders likely realize that the Gulf nations opposed to Assad will not provide as much assistance as they could as long as al Qaeda, an international pariah, is recognized as a strong player on the battlefield. Indeed, al Qaedas senior leaders tried to hide their affiliation with Al Nusrah at first for precisely this reason. Al Qaeda wanted to avoid the unwanted attention that comes with the al Qaeda brand name as it built up its paramilitary army and focused on toppling Assad. As a result of an open dispute with the Islamic States Abu Bakr al Baghdadi in April 2013, however, Al Nusrah Front leader Abu Muhammad al Julani revealed his allegiance to Ayman al Zawahiri. The al Qaeda chieftain criticized Julanis decision, noting that al Qaeda had not given him permission to announce his fealty or reveal his connections. None of this stopped Ahrar al Sham from cooperating with Al Nusrah on a daily basis during Al Sheikhs tenure, or after he stepped down. Ahrar al Sham and Al Nusrah established a series of coalitions throughout 2015. The most successful of these is Jaysh al Fateh, which overran Assads forces in the province of Idlib. In May 2015, while Al Sheikh was still Ahrars overall leader, they also jointly created Ansar al Sharia in Aleppo. This military alliance appears to be defunct, as neither group produces propaganda that includes the Ansar al Sharia watermark. [For more on Ansar al Sharia and the jihadists other coalitions throughout Syria, see LWJ report: Al Nusrah Front, allies form new coalition for battle in Aleppo.] Al Sheikh has eulogized fallen jihadists, including Al Nusrah Front members, as martyrs on his Twitter feed. In one tweet on Feb. 26, 2015, for instance, he asked Allah to comfort our dear brothers in the #Al Nusrah Front regarding three slain fighters, including one who was the emir of the Syrian Desert. More recently, in early January, Al Sheikh honored a deceased Ahrar al Sham commander known as Abu Rateb al Homsi, whom Al Nusrah Front identified in its own eulogy as a jihadist who had fought in Afghanistan. In an article published in November 2015, As Safir (a Beirut-based publication) described Al Sheikh as a former fighter in Iraq under the leadership of Abu Musab al Zarqawi, who founded al Qaeda in Iraq. Other sources corroborate this description, saying Al Sheikh was a jihadist facilitator who coordinated the movements of mujahideen traveling through Syria on their way to Iraq, where they fought American soldiers and their Iraqi allies. Al Sheikh was arrested in 2005 and sentenced to several years in Bashar al Assads notorious Sednaya prison. He was released after the uprisings began in Syria in 2011, becoming a senior rebel commander in the years since. While under his leadership, Ahrar al Sham openly praised the Taliban and its deceased leader Mullah Omar for showing jihadists how to build the [Islamic] Emirate in the hearts of the people before it becomes a reality on the ground. Nur al-Din al-Zanki Movement One of the strongest rebel groups in the new Jaysh Halab alliance is the Nur al-Din al-Zanki Movement, an Islamist organization that has received American-made anti-tank TOW missiles. Zanki, as it is commonly known, has maintained relations with regional actors interested in toppling Assads regime. In 2014, the Beirut-based Al Akhbar reported that the group was aligned with Turkey, but had shifted its allegiance to Qatar after its leader, Sheikh Tawfiq Shihab al Din, returned from a visit to Doha. However, it is likely that Zanki has maintained relations with both Turkey and Qatar. The TOW missiles it has received have been supplied via a Military Operational Center (MOC) in Turkey. The MOC is reportedly staffed with personnel from multiple countries, including CIA officials. Zanki documented its use of TOWs well into 2015, but one commander told Voice of America in October that the group currently did not have any. In addition to Turkey and Qatar, Zanki has maintained relations with Saudi Arabia. Zanki sent representatives to a Saudi-hosted conference for anti-Assad rebels in December and praised Saudi Arabias decision to cut diplomatic ties with Iran in January. Even though Zanki has been described as a CIA-vetted rebel group and has received TOW missiles made in the USA, it has worked with Al Nusrah. Zanki leader Sheikh Tawfiq Shihab al Din defended Al Nusrahs decision to fight the Syrian Revolutionaries Front (SRF), which also received support from the West, in late 2014. Despite the fact that the SRF itself cooperated with Al Nusrah, the al Qaeda branch decided the group and its leader, Jamal Maarouf, stood in its way in northwestern Syria. Sheikh Din faulted the SRF, not al Qaedas arm, for the conflict. The corruption of the Syrian Revolutionaries Front, which is led by Jamal Maarouf, is the cause that has given legitimacy to Al Nusrah Front to fight it, Din told Al-Quds al-Arabi in November 2014. Al Nusrah, Ahrar al Sham, and Zanki have long been allied against the Kurds in Aleppo. In May 2015, 15 factions signed a pact to help the oppressed people of the Sheikh Maqsud neighborhood in Aleppo and to repel aggression either by peaceful means or by war. The signatories, which included Nusrah, Ahrar and Zanki, blamed the Peoples Defense Units (YPG) for committing repeated attacks in the neighborhood, which was populated by a mix of Kurdish and Arab ethnicities. Although Al Nusrah and Zanki were not formally part of the same coalition in Aleppo at the time, the agreement demonstrated that they were cooperating with one another against Kurdish forces, who are among Americas key allies in the war against the Islamic State in northern Syria. In August 2015, a senior al Qaeda operative in Syria defended the jihadists relationship with Zanki, arguing it is one of the Free Syrian Army (FSA)-affiliated groups that should be counted as an ally in the fight against the Assad regime. In an interview with On the Ground News, Abu Firas al Suri (seen on the right) discussed Al Nusrahs rivalry with the Islamic State at length. Suri, a longtime al Qaeda member who sits on Al Nusrahs elite shura council, explained that the so-called caliphate had criticized Al Nusrah for cooperating with the FSA. Suri found the Islamic States complaints to be misguided, because the FSA factions allied with Al Nusrah had no ideological project of their own, were willing to adjudicate any disputes in common sharia courts, and were fighting Assad. The Free Syrian Army groups said they were ready for anything according to the Islamic sharia and that we are delegated to apply the rulings of the sharia on them, Suri explained. The Islamic State rejected cooperation, however, branding the FSA factions as infidels. We told them to stop playing games, Suri said he and others informed the Islamic State during their talks. The FSA is a very wide sector, it is not an organized group. The FSA is composed of many groups. He then listed FSA member organizations that were acceptable allies, including Al-Zinky, meaning the Nur al-Din al-Zanki Movement. The FSA doesnt have an ideology that can be applied on its followers, Suri surmised. The important thing is they fight the regime. As The Long War Journal has previously reported, members of Zanki and Al Nusrah clashed at a checkpoint in late September and early October of 2015. Zankis political bureau then denounced Al Nusrah in tweets that were published in both English and Arabic. However, the infighting did not lead to a permanent rift between the two. Instead, Zanki complied with Al Nusrahs demands and quickly apologized. In a statement written in Arabic and released on social media, Zanki said its criticism of Al Nusrah did not represent the [Zanki] movements official positionand we owe [an] exoneration of our brothers from what was attributed to them accusations, insinuations, and slander [libel] to God Almighty, and we only think properly of them. The relationship between us and our [Nusrah] brothers is proceeding on even better terms than what it was in the past, and this incident which occurred between us and our [Nusrah] brothers will not deter us from vigorously continuing to strengthen the bond of Islamic brotherhood between us and them, and which obligates us religiously to cooperate and combine efforts and fight off the aggressor enemy, Zankis apology continued. The statement ended with a call for both Zanki and Al Nusrah to [ensure] that the only judgment in any dispute between us should be based on religious law. Given the brotherly relations between Al Nusrah, Ahrar al Sham and Zanki, it is likely that they will all continue to cooperate, even if they do not advertise this fact. Thomas Joscelyn is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Senior Editor for FDD's Long War Journal. Are you a dedicated reader of FDD's Long War Journal? Has our research benefitted you or your team over the years? Support our independent reporting and analysis today by considering a one-time or monthly donation. Thanks for reading! You can make a tax-deductible donation here. Luton is a large town, borough and unitary authority area of Bedfordshire. Luton and its near neighbours, Dunstable and Houghton Regis, form the Luton/Dunstable Urban Area with a population of about 258,000. Luton is home to Championship team Luton Town Football Club, London Luton Airport and The University of Bedfordshire. You can find us on Facebook and Twitter. For all the latest news from Luton sign up to our newsletter here. Nourish Yoga Retreat at Whiteface Lodge, Feb 28 Led by the area's renowned yoga instructor Mimi Franz and Whiteface Lodge's own Executive Chef David Haick, the retreat will include a series of yoga and culinary sessions to reinforce the importance of mind-body wellness. Retreat participants will also receive 25 percent off same-day spa treatments at The Spa at Whiteface Lodge and 25 percent off same-day meals, including the breakfast buffet. Priced at $40, the Nourish Yoga Retreat schedule is as follows: 2 p.m. A yoga-based workshop with a special focus on poses and form to revitalize, boost energy and metabolism 3:30 p.m. Culinary instruction by Executive Chef David Haick on preparing simple, clean and nourishing meals and snacks 4:30 p.m. Restorative yoga sessionOvernight rates start at $316. To reserve a space at the Nourish Yoga Retreat please call 518-523-0515.Whiteface Lodge is situated adjacent to the alpine village of Lake Placid, New York, home to two Winter Olympics games. Conceived by a former Olympian and modeled after the Adirondack Great Camp, this rustic resort was completed in 2005. Whiteface Lodge is an all-suite property boasting 94 guestrooms, a three-story great room, KANU, a fine dining restaurant, Kanu Lounge, Spa Cafe, 24-hour room service, a grab-and-go retail outlet featuring regional specialties, Lake Placid's only resort spa and two hand-crafted, luxury lean-tos, unique to the Adirondacks. For reservations or additional information, visitor call 518-523-0500. Piedmont Arts is planning to honor the late amateur astronomer Michael Schottland, better known as Big Mike, with an asteroid dedication ceremony on March 4. Piedmont Arts has long had a close connection to Big Mike, with its current location, 215 Starling Avenue, sitting on the same piece of land that Big Mike housed the countrys largest privately owned telescope from the 1940s to the 1950s. It was a conversation with several of the Schottland heirs, Kathy Rogers, executive director of Piedmont Arts, said of how the idea for the event came about. Rogers explained that Big Mikes family and friends are planning to attend the event, coming into town for a Virginia Mirror Company board meeting the same week of the event. The March 4 event will celebrate the 25940 Mikeschottland asteroid, an asteroid that was discovered using Big Mikes telescope. The naming of the asteroid in honor of Big Mike was made by the Minor Planet Center of the International Astronomical Union, during June of 2015. Rob Schottland, Big Mikes nephew, worked for nearly 10 years tracking down the telescope, explaining that it was first donated to the Perkins Observatory of Ohio Wesleyan University. Following the telescopes stint in Ohio, it was later given to the Lowell Observatory in Arizona. When I traced it to Lowell it turned out that they didnt even know where it had come from originally, Schottland said of the telescope. Im very excited to bring a story back to Martinsville that we discovered about Mike Schottlands telescope. Schottland explained that the telescope was refurbished in the 1990s and is still in use, now as an asteroid hunter. It turns out that its been a very important telescope in the astronomical community, Schottland said. Schottland is scheduled to speak about his efforts in tracking down the telescope and the hidden treasures that he found along the way. Schottland currently resides in Sedona, AZ. It appears as though Schottland wasnt the only person who was affected by Big Mike and his infamous telescope. Ron Crouch, a Martinsville native, will speak about his memories of going to Big Mikes observatory as a child. Crouch said that regular trips to Big Mikes telescope lit up a love for fine optics which survives to this day. Crouch puts the love of fine optics that was instilled in him as a child to good use as an adult, working as a magnetic resonance applications consultant for Japan Opto Electronics Limited. Crouch says that inspired by Big Mikes telescope, he now owns his own at his home in Loveland, Colorado. Rogers explained that Big Mike passed away in the 1960s, having founded the Virginia Mirror Company. Rogers explained that 100 percent of monies collected at the event will go towards the Kathryn Ascough Smith Arts Education Fund, a fund which benefits educational outreach. Rogers added that another through line for the Schottland family emphasis is that Big Mikes granddaughter, Julie Work started the fund to honor her sister Kay Smith. The March 4 event will offer guests intergalactic themed alcoholic beverages with Cosmopolitans cocktails and Blue Moon beers being served. Guests will also enjoy sounds provided by local musicians, with a cellists, flutist and violinist scheduled to perform. The event will run from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Piedmont Arts, with tickets costing $50. Rogers noted that the day following the Under the Stars event, Purnell Schottland Hearn Pettyjohn, Big Mikes daughter will be in town from Lynchburg to present a watercolor exhibit at the Historic Little Post Office on March 5 from 1 to 3 p.m. It will really be a wonderful family affair, Rogers said of the overlapping of Schottland family events. Jeff Crews the co-founder of Beyond the Chalk and his partner Dean Phillips, travel to schools across Montana, showing teachers how they can use Google tech to supplement learning. Transforming Learning Experiences Beyond the Chalk was co-founded by two educators who believe in the power of education and the need to continuously provide transformational learning experiences for our teachers and students. Good news for those who like a drink after a hard days work: consuming three to five drinks a week could lower the risk of heart attack and heart failure. This is according to two new studies by researchers from Sweden and Norway. Share on Pinterest Drinking three to five alcohol beverages weekly may benefit heart health. According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), almost 87% of adults in the US have consumed alcohol at some point in their lifetime, and more than 56% have had a drink in the past month. While there is no doubt that excessive alcohol use is detrimental to health, studies are increasingly suggesting that moderate drinking may have its benefits. In December 2015, for example, Medical News Today reported on a study suggesting moderate alcohol intake may lower death rates from early-stage Alzheimers, while another study suggested that consuming up to seven drinks weekly may lower heart failure risk. The two new studies further support the link between moderate alcohol intake and better heart health, after finding that drinking three to five alcohol beverages a week may reduce the risk of heart attack and heart failure. 33% lower heart failure risk with moderate drinking Both studies were conducted by the same team, including Imre Janszky, a professor of social medicine at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). For the first study, published in the International Journal of Cardiology, the team analyzed the data of 60,665 individuals free of heart failure who were enrolled in the longitudinal HUNT 2 Nord-Trndelag Health Study between 1995-1997. The researchers assessed the self-reported drinking habits of the participants and assessed the incidence of heart failure up until 2008. During follow-up, 1,588 of the participants developed heart failure. The team found that compared with participants who never or rarely consumed alcohol, those who consumed around three to five drinks a week had a 33% lower risk of heart failure. Additionally, the researchers found that heart failure risk was reduced with more frequent drinking; subjects who drank alcohol five times or more a month had a 21% lower risk of heart failure, compared with non-drinkers and those who rarely drank, while participants who drank one to five times monthly had a 2% lower risk of heart failure. But there is no need to drink daily to have a healthy heart In the second study, published in the Journal of Internal Medicine, Janszky assessed the data of 58,827 participants who were also part of the HUNT study and enrolled between 1995-1997. None of the subjects had a history of heart attack. Once again, the team assessed the participants self-reported drinking habits and monitored their incidence of heart attack up until 2008. During follow-up, 2,966 subjects had a heart attack. Compared with non-drinkers and rare drinkers, those who consumed three to five drinks a week had the lowest heart attack risk, with the risk reducing by around 28% with every additional drink consumed, up to five drinks. However, the researchers note that they did observe an increased risk of death from certain forms of cardiovascular disease with the consumption of at least five drinks weekly, and high alcohol consumption was also linked to greater risk of death from liver disease. As such, the authors recommend against high alcohol intake and stress that their findings do not suggest people should take up frequent drinking in order to improve their heart health. Janszky says: Im not encouraging people to drink alcohol all the time. Weve only been studying the heart, and its important to emphasize that a little alcohol every day can be healthy for the heart. But that doesnt mean its necessary to drink alcohol every day to have a healthy heart. But for those who do like to indulge in a drink, Janszky recommends that it is best to consume moderate amounts relatively often, noting that drinking larger amounts in one sitting can raise blood pressure. A new medication reverses the blood-thinning effects of the anticoagulant dabigatran in patients suffering a brain bleed, potentially limiting the extent of bleeding, according to research presented at the American Stroke Association's International Stroke Conference 2016. Dabigitran is prescribed to people with atrial fibrillation to prevent blood clots from forming in the heart and traveling to the brain causing a stroke. Patients on blood-thinning drugs, such as dabigatran (Pradaxa), who suffer a type of bleeding that occurs inside the skull (intracranial hemorrhage) are at high risk of complications or disability. Idarucizumab (Praxbind) is an antibody that chemically binds and neutralizes the blood-thinning effects of dabigatran. An interim analysis of the first 90 patients in a study called RE-VERSE AD (REVERSal Effects of idarucizumab in patients on Active Dabigatran) showed that idarucizumab effectively reversed dabigatran's anticoagulant effects, said Richard A. Bernstein, M.D., Ph.D., lead study author and director of the stroke program at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, Illinois. Bernstein presented the results of 90 brain hemorrhage patients enrolled in the REVERSE-AD study. This included 11 men and seven women (average age 79). In patients who received two 2.5-gram of idarucizumab infusions in a 15-minute period, blood tests revealed that dabigatran's blood-thinning effect was 100 percent reversed in all 18 patients with brain bleed. "This is definitely good news," Bernstein said. "Idarucizumab rapidly and completely reverses the effect of dabigatran in patients with brain hemorrhage. Once the dabigatran is reversed, we can focus on taking care of the patient without worrying about the blood thinner." The new results are part of a large on-going phase III study testing idarucizumab in a range of patients who take dabigatran and have dangerous bleeding or need urgent surgery or other procedures that carry serious bleeding risks. Idarucizumab was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in October 2015 as the first medicine designed to reverse dabigatran. Researchers say before idarucizumab was available, patients on dabigatran who needed emergency surgery were given purified clotting factors, which carry the risk of patients' clotting systems forming dangerous blood clots. "Idarucizumab gets rid of the dabigatran, but doesn't seem to carry with it any tendency to increase clotting. This should make perioperative management easier and safer," Bernstein said. Idarucizumab's success so far might persuade more people to take a blood thinner when their doctors recommend it. "The biggest problem we face in preventing stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation is that almost half of patients don't take any blood thinner at all," Bernstein said. "I see the biggest impact of idarucizumab as providing reassurance to patients that if bleeding while taking dabigatran does occur, we can quickly reverse the dabigatran. This reassurance could lead to more strokes prevented by increasing the use of an effective blood thinner." Please complete this form and we'll send you a personalised information that is requested You may use this for your own reference or forward it to your friends. Please use the information prudently. If you are not a medical doctor please remember to consult your healthcare provider as this information is not a substitute for professional advice. HURON COUNTY A year after a special agent with the state interviewed local officials, the Michigan Attorney Generals Office says it is still investigating whether an alleged deal or cover-up was made between prosecutors and a former judge, whose son was arrested. The state probe stems from a letter Huron County Sheriff Kelly J. Hanson sent to Criminal Division Chief Richard Cunningham dated Nov. 10, 2014. The letter highlights alleged irregularities in the June 2014 arrest and charges of Michael A. Knoblock, the son of former Huron County Circuit Judge M. Richard Knoblock. Michael Knoblock, of Ubly, was booked in the Huron County Jail after being arrested for operating while intoxicated, speeding and child endangerment. According to an Ubly police report, his blood alcohol level was 0.21, a level that Michigan law classifies as super drunk. Police say there were three children in the vehicle at the time one was the 3-year-old daughter of Michael Knoblock, another was a friends 9-year-old son and the third was a 9-year-old son of a female passenger. The Attorney Generals Office assigned Sanilac County to prosecute the case. The Tribune sent a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to Sanilac County prosecutors for records in the case. The documents did not include the warrant request for child endangerment charges, which Ubly police say they filed. Michael Knoblock pleaded guilty in September 2014 to impaired driving and was sentenced by Bay County District Court Judge Timothy J. Kelly to probation, one day in jail already served, and fines. For first-time offenders, Michigan law imposes a maximum fine of up to $700 and 180 days in jail if a drivers blood alcohol content is 0.17 and higher. The charge includes up to a one-year license suspension and 360 hours of community service. The child endangerment charges carry a maximum of $200 to $1,000 in fines and five days to one year in prison, up to 30 to 90 days of community service and revocation of drivers license. The sheriff questioned whether a deal was made between the former judge and Huron County prosecutor, citing knowledgeable and creditable sources who told him that former Judge Knoblock made a remark about making a deal with our county prosecutor to plead guilty to a lesser charge of (operating while visibly impaired) and all other charges would be dismissed. Later, in a separate sheriffs office investigation, one of Hansons knowledgeable and creditable sources county attorney and public guardian Stephen Allen claimed Prosecutor Rutkowski was retaliating against him. Allen told the Tribune in August 2015 he was hooked into the investigation after seeing a newspaper article in October 2014. The Attorney Generals Office told the Tribune in November 2014 that Hansons letter was under review. In February 2015, David Dwyre, a special agent with the office, interviewed county officials. In a phone call, Dwyre told the Tribune there is an allegation of public corruption and Im following up on it. In August 2015, Andrea Bitely, director of communications at the states Attorney Generals Office, said we dont confirm or deny any ongoing investigations. But the office confirmed the case was still open after the Tribune filed a FOIA request on Jan. 21. Because the investigation is open, your item Nos. 1 through 3 requesting, respectively, [c]opies of all documents related to the ... investigation; [a]ll documents, including emails ... that relate to the investigation; and [a]ll documents, reports and correspondence ... must be denied, Assistant FOIA Coordinator Christy Wendling-Richards said in a letter to the Tribune dated Feb. 16. Public disclosure of investigative material at this time would interfere with the investigation because it would release information preliminary to any prosecutorial determinations yet to be made, compromise the thoroughness of the investigation and result in a chilling effect on the Departments ability to undertake an unhindered investigation. The office cited an exemption allowed under FOIA laws that states public bodies may exempt from disclosure as a public record investigating records compiled for law enforcement purposes to the extent that disclosure as a public record would interfere with law enforcement proceedings. HARBOR BEACH Fireworks aside, the last thing people expect to see at the beach are things blowing up. Thats what happened in Rhode Island at a crowded beach last summer when an explosion injured a woman. Scientists told the Associated Press it was probably caused by hydrogen that built up around corroded copper on a Coast Guard cable under sand. A list the U.S. Coast Guard provided the Associated Press in response to a records request shows 21 sites in Michigan in lighthouses, buoys or other beacons could house similar potentially dangerous hidden cables. Lighthouses in Ludington, Muskegon and Marquette appear on the list. The Harbor Beach lighthouse is also on the list. The cables presence in the database indicates they are probably still there, though theres no way of knowing for sure without digging, the Associated Presss Jan. 8 story states. Skip Kadar, president of the Harbor Beach Lighthouse Preservation Society, says the cables listed in Harbor Beach are still there. Its just like having an extension cord underwater a four-mile extension cord, Kadar told the Tribune on Thursday. I dont know how anything would explode. The city owns the lighthouse and the Preservation Society operates it. Kadar says the lighthouse hasnt had electricity for five or six years, and now it runs on solar power. The remaining cable, which is insulated and not grounded, was shut off on shore. Its not connected to the lighthouse and theres no electricity running through it, he said. Theres no safety issue, Kadar said. However there was years ago, when Kadar says a fisherman pulled an anchor up that damaged the cable. A separate incident also caused a break in the line, but Kadar said he didnt know how it happened. Basically they (Coast Guard) did come in and repair it twice, he said, adding the Coast Guard held public hearings on the matter. We just didnt worry about it. The Coast Guard told the Associated Press that it follows utility and construction industry practice of leaving disconnected cables in place, and that its policies dont require inspections of these cables. There are, however, hazards associated with partially submerged electrical cables that rest on the lake bottom, according to Peter J. Brown of the U.S. Coast Guard Station in Harbor Beach. That includes the ones buried in the sand of the harbor in Harbor Beach. A National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association map Brown provided to the Tribune shows what he said are cables that follow the portion of the breakwall in Harbor Beach leading to the lighthouse. From the lighthouse, the cables snake south, cut west across the lake and connect back onshore near public docks at Trescott and Court streets. The cables trace right against the breakwall, Brown said. The cables likely provided power to the building, shed and lighthouse in the past, he said. What the map doesnt show: the other end of the cable. It wraps around the portion of the breakwall that leads to the lighthouse, zigzagging away to the north. Brown said he doesnt know where the cables connect at the other end, but it likely feeds into a power source on land. Brown says he hasnt heard of any explosions caused by solely electrical cables that arent paired with natural gas or other cables. Fluctuating water levels and silt may leave part of the cable exposed, Brown said, adding the sharp part of an anchor could catch the cable, as Kadar referenced with a past fisherman. But common sense says boaters dont anchor so close to the breakwall, Brown said. So is there still concern for explosions in Harbor Beach like the one in Rhode Island? No, Brown said. They shouldnt be dealing with any natural gases or anything causing explosions. The cables that are running (under the sand) are just electrical cables. Environment and Climate Change Minister Catherine McKenna had been scheduled to make an announcement by March 1, but instead told Ontario Power Generation to answer further questions and conduct more studies one of which would examine the technical and economic feasibility of putting the waste elsewhere. She set an April 18 deadline for the publicly owned company to say when it could provide the answers. OPG said in a statement it "understands the sensitivity of decisions around nuclear waste and respects the minister's request for further information to inform a science-based decision." The company wants to bury 7.1 million cubic feet of low- and intermediate-level waste such as discarded parts from reactor cores and ashes from incinerated floor sweepings about 2,230 feet below the earth's surface at the Bruce Power generating station near Kincardine, Ontario. The company says it's the safest way to deal with radioactive material that has been stored above ground since the late 1960s and needs a permanent resting place. Officials say it would be entombed in impermeable rock chambers far below Lake Huron's greatest depths in the vicinity. More than 92,000 people have signed a petition against the project, contending it poses too great a risk. Some members of Congress have spoken against it, while resolutions of opposition have been approved by cities including Toronto, Detroit, Chicago and Milwaukee. "Given what is at stake, a closer examination of the serious environmental and public health risks of this site is imperative and will hopefully lead our Canadian neighbors to make the right decision to shelve plans for this site once and for all," said U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, a Michigan Democrat. A Canadian advisory panel endorsed the project in 2015 following lengthy hearings, and a federal decision was expected last fall. But after the election of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in October, the ruling was postponed. Beverly Fernandez, a spokeswoman for a group called Stop the Great Lakes Nuclear Dump, said McKenna should have simply rejected the plan. "No matter what process is followed, burying and abandoning radioactive nuclear waste in the Great Lakes Basin will always be a bad idea," she said. Jeff Barnes, a former Army officer, had led the agency since its creation in 2013 before submitting his resignation. Barnes was previously Snyder's deputy chief of staff and managed his 2010 political campaign. An audit made public Thursday said workers at the Grand Rapids Home for Veterans falsely claimed they were checking on patients, failed to properly investigate allegations of abuse and neglect, and took too long to fill prescriptions. Auditors also said the 415-resident facility provided insufficient care and continued with inadequate staffing levels even as the state filed four complaints over a 1 -year period against a company hired to supply nursing aides. Snyder said veterans deserve higher standards of care, and legislators have promised hearings. "A new leadership team is in place, which I am relying on to address the audit," the governor said in a statement released before a formal announcement was made by other top veterans administrators during a news conference in Grand Rapids. The audit covered events from October 2013 through August 2015. James Redford, Snyder's chief legal counsel and a former judge, will lead the agency for now. He served in the Navy as part of the Judge Advocate General's Corps. Barnes will be reassigned within the Michigan Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, which oversees the agency. The agency oversees the new Michigan Veteran Health System, which has supervised the home since last fall. "Jeff is passionate about helping his fellow veterans," Snyder said. "I know he is as troubled by these findings as I am." The agency, which agreed with the audit conclusions, said it was making changes to comply with recommendations and bring the home in line with industry best practices. "I apologize to any veterans that their quality of care was below standard. These findings are unacceptable, and we're committed to fixing the problems highlighted in the report," said Major General Gregory Vadnais, director of the Military and Veterans Affairs Department. He said top administrators at the home were replaced beginning in October. Leslie Shanlian was appointed as chief executive officer of the Michigan Veteran Health System to coordinate operations in Grand Rapids and at the D.J. Jacobetti Home for Veterans in Marquette. Officials said the Grand Rapids home has begun implementing electronic medical records and making updates to document residents' activities. Shanlian said policy has been revised so complaints are investigated quickly, and she has asked a state ombudsman to provide outside oversight. Democratic lawmakers and unions said the problems at the facility, which opened in 1886, show the failure of contracting government jobs to the private sector. In 2011, Snyder and the Republican-controlled Legislature decided to privatize about 170 care aide positions at the home to save money. J2S Group-HealthForce in Grand Rapids, which supplies the employees, filed a complaint against the state after the state complained for a fourth time in October about the firm not meeting required staffing. Shanlian told The Associated Press on Thursday that the home has 275 fewer residents than when the contract began. She said that while staffing has been short of contracted levels, the facility is exceeding federal standards. "The state needs to stop shortchanging these brave men and women, and take immediate action by terminating its contract with J2S, which has proven to be totally inadequate and incompetent," Michigan AFL-CIO President Ron Bieber said. "Our veterans deserve nothing less." A message seeking comment from a representative for J2S on Friday wasn't immediately returned. The state will get about $74.5 million immediately and must apply for the rest. The money from the federal Hardest Hit Fund was announced Friday by U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee and U.S. Sens. Debbie Stabenow and Gary Peters. The trio helped lead an effort to allow the Treasury Department to transfer $2 billion to the Hardest Hit Fund. The $74.5 million is part of $1 billion headed to 18 states and the District of Columbia. States have to apply by March for a share of the remaining $1 billion, but will not be able to apply for more than either $250 million or half of the money they have already received from the fund. Announcements on how much each state will receive are expected in April. "Millions of dollars in additional federal funds will make a huge difference in removing blight across Michigan, including in Flint and Saginaw," said Kildee, who represents Michigan's 5th Congressional District. "Getting rid of blight will help to raise property values, decrease crime and unlock greater opportunity for all homeowners." Since 2010, 16 Michigan cities used $440 million from the Hardest Hit Fund to provide homeowner assistance, remove blight and support other efforts to revitalize neighborhoods. Michigan divided more than $75 million in late 2014 among 12 cities, with Detroit getting $50 million. "Blight removal is making a real difference by making neighborhoods safe and spurring economic growth," Stabenow said. "Thousands of blighted properties have already been demolished and this funding will keep this momentum going." The money is for residential blight removal and can't be used to replace old pipes in Flint homes where lead has leached into the drinking water, Kildee spokesman Mitchell Rivard told The Associated Press Friday in an email. Flint stopped using treated water from Detroit and switched to the Flint River in 2014 to save money when the city was under state emergency financial management, an interim measure while a new pipeline to Lake Huron is built. Failure to deploy corrosion controls after the switch enabled lead to leach from aging pipes and reach some Flint homes. Tests have shown high levels of lead in some Flint children. Gov. Rick Snyder wants service line replacements to begin promptly and has said his goal is to have old pipes replaced. U.S. Special Operations teams on the ground in Libya in recent weeks aided in the preparations for the U.S. airstrike that hit an ISIS training camp and reportedly killed a top operative, the Pentagon said Friday. The meetings in recent weeks of the special ops teams with Libyan officials improved "our ability to get a better sense of the playing field" in the North African country rife with factional fighting, Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook said. The special operators were not believed to have been on the ground to direct the airstrike, but their previous contacts with the Libyans "gave us the confidence that allowed us to carry out the strike," Cook said. Army Gen. James Votel, head of U.S. Special Operations Command, said last month that his troops would become more active in Libya to prevent the country from becoming a new front for the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. "There is a concern about Libya" and ISIS' growing presence there, Votel said at the Special Operations/Low Intensity Conflict conference in Washington last month. "It can't all be about Iraq and Syria," said Votel, who has been nominated to replace Army Gen. Lloyd Austin as head of U.S. Central Command. To meet the threat, "we do have to do activities and pursue objectives that allow us to tamp down on it -- prevent it, and destroy it in areas where it is not wholly grown or beginning to metastasize so that we can bring that area back to legitimate local control," Votel said. At a Pentagon news conference, Cook said that the airstrike on an ISIS training facility in a rural area was believed have killed Noureddine Chouchane, a Tunisian who allegedly organized attacks last year on a Tunis museum and the Sousse beach resort which killed dozens of tourists. Cook declined to give a casualty estimate for the airstrike, which reportedly killed at least 40 fighters training at the facility. Cook also declined to disclose the type of aircraft used, beyond saying that manned and unmanned aircraft were involved. Several news outlets said strikes were carried out by F-15s. Cook twice thanked the British, saying the British "offered" the use of their airfields in the region to launch the airstrikes. He declined to say whether the U.S. took up the British offer, or whether airfields in Malta or Cyprus were involved. The airstrike was the second in three months by the U.S. against the Islamic State in Libya, which has been in chaos since the 2011 overthrown of Moammar Gadhafii. Last November, the United States carried out an airstrike on the Libyan town of Derna, close to the Egyptian border, to kill ISIS operative Abu Nabil. In a statement, the Pentagon said that the "destruction of the camp and Chouchane's removal will eliminate an experienced facilitator and is expected to have an immediate impact on ISIL's ability to facilitate its activities in Libya, including recruiting new ISIL members, establishing bases in Libya, and potentially planning external attacks on U.S. interests in the region." Cook said that the airstrikes were carried out under international law and the Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF) passed by Congress shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter recommended the strike and it was approved by President Obama, Cook said. At the White House, Press Secretary Josh Earnest said that the airstrikes were "an indication that the president will not hesitate to take these kinds of forceful, decisive actions." -- Richard Sisk can be reached at richard.sisk@military.com. Related video: Air Force Gets Its Own Combat Dive Badge After Using the Navy's for Years Air Force officials said there is a notable distinction between Navy divers and their divers, which was a key reason for... The deadline for a "cessation of hostilities" in Syria came and passed on Feb. 19, but instead of any ceasefire, Turkish troops and Kurdish forces launched new attacks as planned peace talks hit stumbling blocks. Still, Kurdish fighters battling the Islamic State captured a major terror stronghold in the country's northeast. Talal Sillo, spokesman for the Syria Democratic Forces, says their forces captured the town of Shaddadeh after sunset Friday, and the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights corroborated his report. Sillo told The Associated Press by telephone that "we have fully liberated Shaddadeh" adding that the next step is to remove booby traps and explosives left behind by extremists. He also said Turkish troops were bombing border areas Friday, killing civilians. A UN special envoy said there was no way he "realistically" could get all parties to return to the bargaining table by Feb. 25 as he had hoped. "We intend to do so soon," Staffan de Mistura told Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet. Secretary of State John Kerry said Friday discussions with Russia have been "constructive," adding, "there is certainly a lot more work to do." The planned "cessation of hostilities," negotiated by the United States, Russia and other countries, does not include groups that the United Nations has designated as terrorists, according to Foreign Policy. Airstrikes targeting groups such as the Al Qaida-linked Al Nusra Front and ISIS were expected to continue. Meantime, the International Committee of the Red Cross said it was "deeply alarmed' by the situation in the northern Syrian province of Aleppo where intensified fighting has forced 70,000 people to flee their homes and left many without water or electricity. ICRC says two hospitals hit earlier this week in Aleppo are now out of service. They had provided thousands of consultations, surgeries and delivered hundreds of babies per month. The Red Cross also says that the hospitals which are still standing are struggling to function. Also on Friday, Russia's President Vladimir Putin discussed the Syrian crisis in a telephone call with Saudi King Salman. The Kremlin said Putin and the king "expressed interest in settling the Syrian crisis and ensuring stability and security in the entire region of the Middle East and North Africa." Putin also reaffirmed his invitation for the king to visit Russia at a time that would be convenient for him. The state-run Saudi Press Agency simply said that "diplomatic relations were discussed in addition to the review of the latest developments in the region." Moscow and Shiite power Iran back embattled Syrian President Bashar Assad. The Sunni-ruled kingdom of Saudi Arabia has supported Assad's foes throughout the five-year conflict and says it is ready to send ground forces into the country. The World Food Program said Friday that it hopes aid deliveries to besieged areas of Syria were "not a one-off" convoy and will continue, as the UN agency prepares an airdrop to reach 200,000 in a city surrounded by ISIS. WFP spokeswoman Bettina Luescher made the comments a day after the UN announced 114 trucks had delivered life-saving supplies over the previous 24 hours for 80,000 people in five besieged areas of Syria. She said the WFP is preparing a "high-altitude" airdrop into the city of Deir el-Zour, whose residents are being besieged by ISIS fighters, in coordination with Syrian Arab Red Crescent operatives on the ground. Luescher said Friday that "a WFP registered company" with experience in airdrops was expected to leave from as as-yet-undetermined country in the region. The Associated Press contributed to this report. The Angels announced (Twitter link) that their waiver claim of left-hander Christian Friedrich has been reversed and he has been returned to the Rockies based on medical evaluation. The Rockies announced that Friedrich, who had been designated for assignment prior to being claimed by the Rockies, has subsequently been released. The Angels announcement includes the following statement: Based on Friedrichs initial medical evaluation, the Angels raised a concern with the Commissioners Office about Friedrichs ability to play at his accustomed level. Upon evaluation of the circumstances by the Commissioners Office, it was determined that Friedrich would be returned to the Rockies. Friedrich, 28, was selected 25th overall out of Eastern Kentucky University back in 2008, but hes struggled for much of his pro career, amassing an ERA north of 5.00 at both the Triple-A level and in the Major Leagues. This past season, Friedrich posted a 5.25 ERA with 6.9 K/9, 3.9 BB/9 and a 47.4 percent ground-ball rate in 58 1/3 innings of work. Hes typically performed considerably better away from Coors Field, however, and has also posted stronger numbers against lefties than against right-handed hitters. While the Friedrich situation is rather uncommon, its not unprecedented and has even happened somewhat recently, when the Rangers returned left-hander Edgar Olmos to the Mariners after claiming him last spring just under one year ago. The entire situation stings for the Angels, who claimed Friedrich and designated infielder Taylor Featherston for assignment in order to clear a spot on the 40-man roster for Friedrichs arrival. Featherston was subsequently traded to the Phillies Philadelphia GM Matt Klentak, a former assistant GM with the Halos, clearly seems to be a fan and theyll now effectively lose Featherston for nothing, as he was traded for cash considerations or a player to be named later. Considering the fact that the Halos carried Featherston, a Rule 5 Draft pick prior to the 2015 season, on their roster the entire year but used him incredibly sparingly in a season where they missed the postseason by a single game, the entire process will probably leave a bad taste in the mouths of fans. Sorry, we can't find the content you're looking for at this URL. Juba (AFP) - South Sudanese security forces have released a journalist held for two months without charge, who had criticised the government's handling of a two-year civil war, reports said Saturday. The arrest of Joseph Afandy in December sparked condemnation from rights groups including Amnesty International and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). Colleagues and friends told Juba's Eye Radio and Radio Tamazuj that Afandy was now home. Rights groups have accused the security forces of cracking down on journalists, stifling debate on how to end a civil war in which tens of thousands of people have been killed since December 2013. Seven journalists were killed last year while covering the conflict. Some were caught up in the fighting but a reporter was also shot in August in an apparently targeted attack. International press freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders ranks South Sudan as the 125th worst nation out of 180. 20.02.2016 LISTEN The Takoradi Port is undergoing transforming as part of an expansion programme to meet modern requirements of services to become the preferred destination port in the West African sub-region. The port is, therefore, expected to reclaim 53 hectares of land to create space to handle larger vessels and accommodate about 100,000 metric tons of cargo, while increasing its revenue generation. Mr Ebenezer Afadzi, acting Director of Takoradi Port, said this at a press briefing to give update on the expansion programme, which is entering its second phase. The first phase of the expansion, which started in November 2014, is expected to be completed by the end of May this year. The Port was constructed in 1928 during the colonial era, purposely for exporting timber and logs. Mr. Afadzi said the project, being undertaken by a Belgian contractor, Jan De Nul, involves dredging and extending the breakwaters, constructing new oil and gas jetty and bulk container terminals. The completion of the expansion works would generate employment and eliminate double loading, improve the turnaround time and reduce the cost of doing business at the port. Mr Afadzi said the port had also instituted top-notch security measures with competitive tariffs that had made the port more attractive for larger vessels in the West Africa sub-region to berth there. He pointed out that the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) and Government of Ghana secured an initial loan facility of 197 million Euros from the Belgian Government. In January this year, Parliament also approved another loan facility of 160 million Euros for the continuation of the project and the second phase of the expansion works is expected to be complete within two to three years. Mr. Afadzi said both local and foreign investors would be attracted to operate at the port and revealed that Mr Aliko Dangote, a Nigerian entrepreneur and billionaire, had expressed interest in establishing a cement factory at the port. Alhaji Huseini Suleiman, Project Manager at the Takoradi Port, said current global port operations demands deeper berth hence extension of the breakwaters by 1,080 metres with 14 metres depth that would accommodate larger vessels. Mr. Lynacc Stly, Project Manager for Jan De Nul, told the GNA in an interview that the Belgian contractor had employed 95 percent indigenes to undertake field works while 50 percent of the management staffs were Ghanaians in compliance with the local content regulations. He said he was impressed with the work attitudes of the Ghanaian workers, saying it will help in transferring knowledge and technology from the expatriates to their local counterparts. GNA 20.02.2016 LISTEN Plans by the Mahama-led National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration to enact a new legislation that would enable it eavesdrop or intercept messages of telecommunication users in the country has been met with strong opposition from key personalities in the country. Personalities such as Franklin Cudjoe -Founding President and CEO for IMANI Ghana and Sulemana Braimah -Executive Director of Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), who have major stakes in the communication sector of the country, have raised serious concerns over the move. Both personalities have agreed the government's decision to enact such legislation comes in the wake of the uproar against international terror, which has become every government's headache across the globe. But, while Franklin Cudjoe is arguing that instead of government thinking of coming up with such a legislation, it should rather focus on tackling the root causes of terrorism, which is poverty, Sulemana Braimah is of the opinion that this NDC regime is silently murdering the culture of freedom of expression and press freedom that we've been enjoying over the years. The bill, Interception of Postal Packets and Telecommunication Messages Bill, 2016, which is currently before parliament, when passed into law may be in breach of sections of the 1992 constitution. The Chronicle gathered that last week that the Speaker of Parliament, Edward Doe Adjaho, referred the draft bill to the Defense and Interior Committee to commence the legislative processes. Minority New Patriotic Party (NPP) Members of Parliament (MP) have also indicated that the new bill may allow the national security and by extension government to have the legal right to tap, listen, record and monitor the telecommunication messages of members of the public. The aim of the new Bill is to fight crime, including money laundering, terrorism, narcotic trafficking and identity theft for the general protection of Ghanaians. Concerns about invasion of privacy, a possible infringement of the constitutional provision on privacy and confidentiality agreement between telecom service providers and their customers are up for debate. There are also fears the new law may be abused by the government if not well scrutinized. Sharing his view on the issue in a telephone interview with the paper yesterday, Mr. Cudjoe called for a broader consultation among major stakeholders before the bill could be passed into law. The Founding President of IMANI Ghana said: I want to believe that our representatives in parliament would do a thorough job before even contemplating this particular bill. He said the most important thing for government to do is that instead of passing legislation to suppress people who want to express themselves either violently or negatively, it should rather be seen and engaged in debates that will uproot causes of this canker. According to him, it is the untold economic hardship and poverty that lead people in this part of the world into terrorism and that the government should focus its attention to ensuring that poverty is reduced to the barest minimum if not eradicated. So instead of sitting round and at leisure, trying to listen to suspicious peoples' conversation, it will be a waste of time, it will be a waste of resources and it will be an affront on our civil liberties and I think that also ought to be made clearer, he noted. To him, the solution for us as a nation to deal with the issue is by engaging in conversations about how best we can, as a nation discover what leads people to involve themselves in acts of terrorism. We have to stop corruption, we have to make sure unemployment is decreased, we have to make sure there is the opportunity for people not to get into the mood of trying to do evil, he explained. On his part, Sulemana Briamah called on civil society groups and Ghanaians to wake up and oppose the passage of the bill because it could stifle the nation's democratic process if not checked. So there is persistent attempt to roll back the freedoms that we had, which I think has contributed in no small way towards the development of our democracy and I think that civil societies and Ghanaians must keenly follow this development and oppose this kind of things the government is intending to do. Ghanaians have to wake up, particularly the developments in the communication sector. We are not done with Afriwave. NMC introduces a law that now makes provision for people to go to jail if they commit certain offences. And then we have this interception, whatever bill that is coming up. We have journalists who have been abused and nothing happens to them, and so on and so forth, and the creeping culture of impunity, he noted. Continuing, Mr. Braimah said we have finished dealing with the issue of Interconnect Clearing House, which many of us has said that if it happens, what it means is that it is going to give government that latitude to do whatever it wants in the communications ecosystem in Ghana. And then we have this whole thing, Interception of Postal Packets and Telecommunication Messages Bill, 2016 coming up; when not too long ago we've all had this Edward Snoody development in the US. Even the US government has come out openly to say that it is stopping that kind of practice as part of its national security operations and then all we hear is that government is trying to introduce another piece of legislation that would empower national security to intercept whatever calls, whatever emails and so on. He continued I think that it is a very bad development and perhaps the government should take a second look at whatever is happening within the freedom of expression environment.This is a backdoor introduction of the criminal libel law. By Richard Kofi Attenkah 20.02.2016 LISTEN Police in Uganda say they have arrested the main opposition presidential candidate to prevent him from announcing his own election results. Kizza Besigye was detained during a raid on his partys headquarters in the capital, Kampala, following Thursdays tightly contested elections. Police also fired tear gas, as clashes broke out with his supporters. With official results for nearly half of the polling stations declared, President Yoweri Museveni is leading. He is running for a fifth term, after 30 years in power. This is the third time in the space of a week that Mr Besigye has been detained. He was released on the two previous occasions without being charged. His latest arrest came as he was about to hold a press conference. The US embassy in Uganda condemned the crackdown in a post on its Twitter account. After Mr Besigye was briefly detained on Thursday, the US State Department said the arrest called into question Ugandas commitment to a transparent and free election process. . It also criticised a temporary shutdown of social media, chat apps and mobile money services. President Museveni said the decision had been taken for security reasons, and to prevent people from telling lies. There is a heavy deployment of police and soldiers in neighbourhoods around the headquarters of Mr Besigyes Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) party, reports the BBCs Catherine Byaruhanga from Kampala. President Museveni currently leads with 62% of the vote, while Mr Beisgye has 33%, according to provisional results released by the electoral commission. Voting is still taking place in a handful of places where the late arrival of election materials meant that polling stations did not open on Thursday. Commonwealth election observer mission head, Nigerias former President Olusegun Obasanjo, condemned the failure of voting stations to open on time. Delays of three, four, five and even six hours, especially in Kampala, are absolutely inexcusable and will not inspire trust and confidence in the system and the process, he said. A candidate needs to secure more than 50% of the vote to avoid a run-off with the second-ranked contender. Ugandans also voted in parliamentary and local elections. Final results are expected by Saturday -bbc 20.02.2016 LISTEN Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said he will tell President Barack Obama that US weapons have helped Syrian Kurds, blamed by Turkey for Wednesdays Ankara bombing. He said he had no doubt the Syrian PYD and its military wing were behind the rush-hour blast which killed 28 people. The bombing came as Syrian Kurds threatened to extend their control of territory along Turkeys border. The US backs the PYD in the fight against so-called Islamic State (IS). And yet it sees the Kurdish militant PKK inside Turkey as a terrorist organisation, even though it is affiliated to the PYD and its military arm, the Peoples Protection Units (YPG). Continued American support for Syrian Kurds, reiterated by a state department spokesman this week, is threatening to cause a rift between the two Nato allies. Mr Erdogan told reporters there was no doubt about the fact that those who carried out this attack are the YPG and the PYD. He planned to tell Mr Obama later on Friday over the phone to consider how and where those weapons you provided were fired., Turkey has already named the man who detonated the Ankara bomb as Salih Necar, a Syrian national and member of the YPG. A convoy of five military vehicles were targeted as they passed close to government offices while workers were going home. The PYD has denied involvement in the attack and the US has said it is unable to confirm or deny the Turkish allegation. . Mr Erdogan said he was saddened by the Wests reluctance not to link the YPG to the Turkish-based Kurdistan Workers Party, viewed as a terror group by both the EU and the United States. He pointed out that he had told President Obama months before that after three plane-loads of US weapons arrived, half ended up in the hands of fighters of so-called Islamic State and the rest with the PYD. They were used against civilians there and caused their deaths, he complained. The Turkish leader appeared to refer to a US air drop of military supplies in late 2014 meant for Iraqi Kurdish forces during the battle for the town of Kobane, Reuters reported. Tunnels As the Syrian army, backed by Russian air power, has targeted Syrian opposition forces and pushed further north in Aleppo province, the Syrian Kurdish militia has made gains from the rebels close to the Turkish border. Turkey fears they could seize a 100km-stretch (62 miles) as far as Jarablus to create a large zone along the border. The army has continued to shell YPG targets across the border near the rebel-held town of Azaz. Turkey also has concerns that the PKK is being given support by the Syrian Kurdish militia in its battle with security forces in south-east Turkey. Theres close integration and theres talk of tunnels for the flow of weapons, Burhanettin Duran of the pro-government Seta research institute told the BBC. 20.02.2016 LISTEN US warplanes have carried out attacks on militants from the so-called Islamic State (IS) in Libya, killing at least 38 people. The strikes hit an IS camp in Sabratha, around 70km (43 miles) west of Tripoli. US officials said it was likely that the strikes had killed senior Tunisian extremist, Noureddine Chouchane. Chouchane has been linked to two attacks that took place in Tunisia last year, including an attack that killed 30 Britons. The IS group has been active in Libya for over a year, and the US estimates it has up to 6,000 fighters there. Libya remains in chaos more than four years after the overthrow of former leader Muammar Gaddafi, and is being fought over by a number of groups, including the self-styled IS. The Pentagon described Chouchane as an experienced facilitator who had helped move IS fighters across the Tunisia-Libya border. The BBC understands that British bases were involved in the attack but that no British assets, such as warplanes, were involved. UK Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said that he welcomed the strike and that he had personally authorised the use of British bases. . The mayor of Sabratha put the death toll at 41, and said the majority of those killed were Tunisians. A statement on the council website said that weapons such as machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades had been found at the site. Search teams were still trying to find bodies under the rubble, the statement said. US Defence Secretary Ash Carter last week said the US would continue to target militants in Libya. We always keep open the option to do things unilaterally, he told the BBC. In November, a US strike in Derna reportedly killed Iraqi IS commander Abu Nabil, also known as Wissam Najm Abd Zayd al-Zubaydi, who was said to be the groups leader in Libya. The US has launched several unilateral raids and operations in the country since it helped oust Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. Noureddine Chouchane is also believed to have been behind the attack on the Bardo Museum in Tunis last year, which left 19 people dead. The gunmen in both the Sousse and Bardo attacks are believed to have trained in Libya, which shares a border with Tunisia. Brazzaville (AFP) - Congolese authorities on Friday said they had ordered the arrest of a former army chief who is challenging President Denis Sassou Nguesso, in power for more than 30 years, in elections next month. Speaking on state television, public prosecutor Andre Oko Ngakala said he had given instructions for the "immediate arrest... and questioning" of Jean-Marie Michel Mokoko. The instructions were given on the basis of an inquiry "into information about statements made by Mr. Jean-Marie Michel Mokoko that have been widely disseminated on the street and social networks," he said, without giving immediate details. An AFP journalist reported that all the roads leading to Mokoko's residence had been closed off by police. Congo's military chief from 1987 to 1993, Mokoko is currently special representative of the African Union Commission in the neighbouring Central African Republic. Mokoko is a longtime ally of Sassou Nguesso, but on February 3 he announced his resignation as the president's advisor on peace and security, a post he had held since 2005. On February 8 he announced plans to run in the March 20 election and challenge his former boss. Since February 13, when Mokoko held his first campaign rally, a video has been circulating on the Internet that appears to implicate him in an attempted coup d'etat. The video, which dates to the start of the last decade, has been denounced as a fraud by Mokoko's campaign. Ghana's mPedigree has been adjudged by Fast Company, a leading progressive business media brand, as the 5th most innovative company in Africa in 2016. The innovative company was acknowledged for its role in fighting counterfeit products and piracy across the world. mPedigree was named together with other global giants including Samsung electronics, African Leadership University and Protect Worldwide CIC. Citing its competitive advantage, Fastcompany said mPedigree, which is based in Ghana but with other branches across the world, "is one of the few anti-counterfeiting companies based in Africa which has expanded its technology to cover not just medicine, but agricultural products, makeup, textiles, and electric cables as well." The success of mPedigree notwithstanding, Fastcompany is anticipating a stiff challenge for the Ghanaian owned company from other competitors like Sproxil. "Moreover they face the fact that investors are more drawn to countries like Nigeria, Kenya, and South Africa than Ghana," Fastcompany said. mPedigree is a company that seeks to build innovations that have a giant footprints on the social sphere. Right from 2007 when the company was birthed, mPedigree has been instrumental in the fight against counterfeit products. It started with fighting counterfeit medicine but has since moved into textiles and other products. It has attained global recognition and won numerous awards. CEO of the company Bright Simons told Myjoyonline.com they are happy with the new feat but are still working tirelessly to be number one innovative company across the globe. A HUGE baby has weighed in at a whopping over 13 lb 8 oz at birth. 20.02.2016 LISTEN Super baby, Olivia, had to be delivered by caesarean and measured 55cm (21 inches) in length. She had set a new record at the Argentine region of Rio Negro after being born at the Cipolletti Clinic. Proud mum Maria Fernanda Basly said: We knew it was going to be a big baby but we didn't know it was going to be a super-big baby.44 Maria said her eight-year-old son was 50 cm when he was born and added: They're big babies but Olivia is extremely big. While almost twice the size of a normal baby at 7 lb 8 oz the supersized tot has plenty of competition in the big baby stakes. Last June, an unnamed Liverpool mum have birth to the UK's biggest baby who weighed in at a massive 15lb 10oz. . In 2013, British mum Maxime Marin had the heaviest natural birth in Spain, when 13lb 7oz Maria Lorena was born. According to the Guinness World Book of Records the record for the heaviest baby in the world is shared. Canadian woman Anna Haining Bates, who herself was a massive 7 ft. 11 in., gave birth to an unnamed baby boy weighing 22 lbs in 1879. The baby, like his mother, was also very large, measuring 71.12 centimetres (28 in.). Her baby was not officially named and unfortunately died 11 hours after it was born. In 1955, the heaviest baby born to a healthy mother, Italian Carmelina Fedele, weighed 22lbs 8oz. -thesun Does this man deserve a second chance? 20.02.2016 LISTEN Ghanaians have always complained about their politicians and rulers. And they are right to do so. No government in this Fourth Republic has escaped the bitter complaints of the citizens. The gripes have always been mainly of two kinds: the government is incompetent and it is also corrupt. But it seems the present government has, arguably, attracted the loudest and most vehement complaints ever directed against any government in our history. Why is this so? A few hypothetical reasons can be adduced for this development. The first may be that the Mahama government is, in absolute and relative terms, truly and actually incompetent. They have been unable to adequately solve the numerous problems facing Ghanaians. They stumble from one bad policy to another. They are also corrupt more than any government we have had. A second reason for the high-pitched complaints may be that Ghanaians have now become more aware than ever before and are exercising their rights to cry out against what they perceive as bad governance. The middle class (often the wellspring of the more informed criticisms) is expanding and with it the number of complaints. Another important reason for the increase in complaints is that there are, these days, more avenues than ever to complain and make ones dissatisfaction known to everyone. At no time in our history have we had so many privately owned FM stations. Many Ghanaians have cellular phones from which they call in to these radio stations to fulminate against the government. These call-ins are often the most listened to programmes on these radio stations. The availability of local stations means the complaints can be made in local languages. You do not have to be fluent in English to pour your venom on the government. There are also many television stations doing much the same things as the radio stations. The talk show has become an important avenue for expressing discontent. There are numerous newspapers publishing all kinds of news. Then there is the internet and the blogosphere, where anybody can write anything. There are also social media that can be used to spread complaints about the government Facebook, whatsapp, YouTube, twitter, Instagram, etc. It is human nature that where there is an opportunity to complain about something, people will complain! It is also possible that the government is facing so many complaints because the opposition, led by the NPP, is simply doing a very effective job in painting the government black. The NPP, in particular, with Muhamadu Bawumia as the attack dog, has based its campaign strategy on convincing Ghanaians to believe that the government is not doing well koraa. It is not necessary for them to tell us how they intend to do better. The NPP has its own media to spew its venom. Indeed, it does seem there are more opposition controlled media outlets than the ones owned and controlled by the ruling party. The other side of this argument is that the government is not quite succeeding in defending its record and trumpeting its achievements, if there are any to boast of. But we all know that bad news is easier to spread than good ones. No matter whether or not you believe all the complaints about the present government, there does, indeed, seem to be some interesting reasons why one will want Mahama and his gang to go. Some of these are just of theoretical interest. In a situation where we have the chance to change leaders, we should seize every opportunity to do so. Sometimes, even if a leader is not exactly a disaster, we can still vote him out. Indeed, I dare say that we can vote out a leadership, just because we can do so! This may sound petty, or even mean, but it can keep our leaders on their toes and prevent some people from thinking they have any divine rights to leadership. It will be good for our democracy if we show our rulers that we can punish them. This means we should not wait until Mahama completes a second term before we vote his gang out. We made that mistake when we allowed Kufuor to do a second term before voting out his gang when we ought to have done it four years earlier. There is absolutely no reason why we should establish a pattern where one of the two big parties is allowed to do their normal eight years. They must go after four years if they are not doing well, and they can stay on for longer than eight years in the very rare event that they are doing well. So far in the Fourth Republic, the pattern has been more of voting out a government than of actually voting in one. When Kufuor won the first time in 2000, it was not so much that Ghanaians thought he was going to do well (they knew he was not going to). They were simply fed up with the ancien regime. When Mills piped Akufo-Addo at the tape, Ghanaians were simply more content on punishing the ruling regime than on any hope that Mills was going to be any different. Now, Ghanaians should try to vote for somebody they believe in rather than just trying to punish an incumbent. So, Mahama must not be given another chance. Some of us cannot wait to see the long faces of the likes of Ablakwa, Hanna Tettey, Anyidoho, and the other arrogant ones, as they contemplate their fall from power. These are the ones who, knowing the richness of the pickings of political office, are expending every effort, fair and foul, to be returned to power. We should frustrate them at every turn. Having made the decision to kick out Mahama, we should seriously think of who will take his place. The first mistake we should avoid in this endeavour is assuming, or taking it for granted, that the alternative to Mahama is Akufo-Addo and the NPP. This is a pattern we should break. There is absolutely no reason why we should fly from one frying pan to another one. We need a new kind of politics, and the silverback, steeped in the old ways, can only offer us a variant of the old stuff the very thing we should be exerting ourselves to avoid. It is now time for us to consider the fact that we do not have to be trapped between two parties that are different sides of the same coin both of which are playing a hideous type of politics that is unattractive to the decent and the truly talented who are being kept away from the corridors of power. Even though the time seems short, all is not lost for a credible alternative to the duopoly we have so far had in the Fourth Republic. Success in this effort will depend a lot on what the other parties do. There will be an urgent need for them to come together to devise a plan to squash the status quo. The best thing that has happened on the Nkrumaist front of late is the choice of a leader other than someone bearing Nkrumahs name. After all, it is the core values of Nkrumahs ideas (in the cause of Ghana and Africa with a little less emphasis on the latter), wrapped in a modern package, that can have a real appeal, especially to the youth. Anybody who can genuinely represent those ideas and has leadership qualities should lead the assault on the dominant parties. But the Nkrumaist fraternity is still fragmented with everybody wanting to be the one in charge. There is still time for them to come together, though. The other opposition parties have to team up with a united Nkrumaist front to break the stranglehold of the big two. The goal, for now, will be to get enough votes to deny the big two an outright victory in November. Such a united front should win, at least, twenty seats in the coming parliament. Will the real opposition stand up and be counted on to achieve this very modest goal? Kofi Amenyo ([email protected]) 20.02.2016 LISTEN In the past, I have written diplomatically about the perennial Fulani Menace when I was of the view that our leaders were serious about our national security, especially in the predominantly Akan-populated areas whose residents have suffered a disproportionate brunt of the predatory activities of Fulani herdsmen. I have been particularly enraged by the high spate of destruction of cultivated farmlands and the widely reported sexual assault, largely the unprovoked raping and brutal murdering of our womenfolk on their farms and in the forest, both of which primitive acts in Akan culture constitute the most abominable of crimes against the sanctity of the Earth Goddess-Mother. Let to me, there would be massive and summary expulsion of these Fulani cattle herdsmen who are also known to routinely indulge in cattle rustling or violent thefts among themselves. These are nomadic people whose cultural values are very different from our own and must be regarded as such. Their generally Darwinian scale of values necessitate that they are not ceded any quarters among us. They belong in the High Savannah and Sahel regions of West Africa and must be strictly contained therein. They have no superior right to burden us with their predatory existence; and the governments of the countries of which they are indigenous must be called upon to take charge of their responsibilities. This is the one aspect of ECOWAS which Ghanaians must not be forced to partake in. In the past, I have observed the need for ECOWAS governments to confer over the Fulani Menace in order to demarcate Safe Areas for these marauders and their livestock to freely range devoid of the sort of carnage and depredation being wreaked upon Ghanaian humanity and, indeed, sedentary or non-nomadic, West Africans at large. The Agogo Menace has been allowed to fester because the most powerful operatives of the present government do not seem to give a hoot, perhaps because their own tribesmen and women or natal localities are not under any imminent threat by Fulani cattle herdsmen and rustlers the way ours are. We need to also clearly define and lay down strict rules of conduct for any group of Fulani herdsmen desirous of taking abode among us, such as being accompanied by their womenfolk. Now, those chiefs who have reportedly been striking deals with or offering concessions to these human plagues, without due consultations with their people or putting the interests of their people first and foremost, must desist from such reckless and irresponsible practices forthwith. Failure to hearken to the needs and concerns of their people ought to earn these chiefs summary destoolment or even considerable time behind bars. In the case of Agogo, for instance, we have been told that some of these Fulani herdsmen have signed a 50-year residential contract with the local rulers. If such information has validity, then what needs to be done is to have the various regional houses of chiefs revisit these contracts and where feasible renegotiate the terms of the same or even summarily abrogate them, if these Fulani herdsmen are found not to have abided by the terms of these contractual pacts. Even more significantly, absolutely no contracts with Fulani herdsmen ought to be allowed to be ratified without the express approval of the relevant regional houses of chiefs. To be certain, the most appropriate way to go at it is to have the National House of Chiefs take up the matter and codify any dealings that any traditional rulers may decide to contract with the Fulani herdsmen. *Visit my blog at: kwameokoampaahoofe.wordpress.com Ghanaffairs 20.02.2016 LISTEN National Youth Organizer for the Progressive People's Party PPP, Divine Nkrumah, has lashed at the New Patriotic Party NPP for making too much noise over national decisions taken which to them doesnt meet their idiosyncrasies. According to him, Some people, NPP, are behaving like small school children! If they ask their father they want a car and their father doesnt buy the car for them, then they want to burn the house -- that should not be allowed to happen. In an interview with GhanaPoliticsOnline.Com, Nkrumah said that, some people are trying to create fear and panic and making it look as if Ghana will burn if a decision is taken that doesnt go in their favour. Earlier on this afternoon, the Youth Organizer also lamented bitterly on Montie FM in an interview with Mugabe - what makes him mad is the impression he get; that, some people feel like they are extremely important than other Ghanaians. Commenting on how the New Patriotic Party has gone about with the electoral commissions Steering Committee, he said that it doesnt matter who will be appointed rather, what matters is the electoral commissions steadfastness in working with the laws of the country. Many people have attacked the EC boss and disgraced her which is not right. Some people are trying to paint a bad picture about our institution Mr. Nkrumah added. 20.02.2016 LISTEN I write to debunk the untrue and fabricated story captioned 'ASHANTI NPP BOILING', published in the page 3 of the 'rented newspaper-palaver on Tuesday, 16th Feburary, 2016. As the Regional Treasurer of the Ashanti Region, NPP, I wish to state it clearly that, the said confrontation as published had never and will never happen. We share a good relationship as Regional Executives and very much as well with the Regional chairman, 'wontumi', so I've been shocked with such publication In that regard, I ask the general public to ignore such irresponsible publication. We know that, in the wake to the general elections, we shall see more of these lies and 'cooked' stories from 'rented newspapers' such as the palaver, because, that is what they have been paid to do! I want to stress that, as Regional Executives of the Ashanti region, we are poised to maximize the 80% votes target. The palaver and the other rented newspapers should know that, no forms of disruptions, fabrications and lies can stop us from working together and tirelessly to rescue Ghana from the incompetent hand of president Mahama. Signed........... Zeinabu Sallow Ashanti Regional Treasurer, NPP Member of Parliament for Manhyia South, Mathew Opoku-Prempeh, has accused Foreign Affairs Minister, Hanna Tetteh, of withholding information on governments decision to shelter the two ex-Guantanamo Bay detainees in Ghana. The Minister had briefed Members of Parliament in-camera and indicated that government signed a memorandum of understanding with the United States government before the detainees were airlifted to Ghana. Joy News understands Hanna Tetteh was unable to disclose details of that agreement. Dr. Opoku-Prempeh told Joy News the Minister did not respond to all the issues put before her during the briefing. Hanna Tetteh never spoke about the [Rwandan refugees] and the Syrians who are also in town; neither did she speak about the Yemenis who are also in town with fake and visas, the NPP MP told Joy News Parliamentary Correspondent Elton John Brobbey. The MP said the Minority is also unhappy that the Minister failed to speak about a man believed to be dangerous who was bound for Abidjan but could not be traced after entering Ghana through the Kotoka International Airport. These are all serious security threats to our nation, he notes. Mathew Opoku-Prempeh however says the House will continue to push for answers to the key issues. Click the audio link for more. The two former detainees - Mahmud Umar Muhammad Bin Atef and Khalid Muhammad Salih Al-Dhuby - have been in detention in Guantanamo Bay in Cuba for 14 years after being picked up in Afghanistan and suspected to have been linked to the terrorist group Al-Qaeda. Member of Parliament for Manhyia South, Dr. Mathew Opoku Prempeh. Most commentators including the clergy have demanded the two suspects be repatriated to their home country, Yemen, because they pose a threat to Ghanaians. Government has however sternly defended its decision, saying the ex-prisoners pose no threat to the country's security. The saddest and most annoying thing about Christianity is that its leaders are either stark ignorant, spiritually, or are willfully wicked to those they lead! Either way, they mislead themselves, and all who follow them, away from the truths of Elohiym to ultimately land in perpetual doom and damnation! It must be told to all that the English Bible, whose teachings are used as the basis of Christianity, does not even mention the word Christianity in a single page of its entire volume of pages! What this means is that the English Bible neither teaches nor has even one word of instruction for mankind on anything that can be related to or termed as Christianity! So then, Christianity is an illegality, as far as the English Bible is concerned!! And yet, all the big leaders of Christianityarchbishops, apostles, evangelists, pastors, prophets, etc,take their inspiration to teach whatever they teach to their followers from this book, even when none of its countless verses gives them a hint on what Christianity is supposed to mean! But, of course, Christianity exists because the world has been tricked into believing that the Savior, who was promised by Elohiym to come from Him through the lineage of Yisroel to save mankind from the effects of the sin of mankinds first parents, was called JESUS CHRIST throughout his life on Earth! But, that is the biggest lie ever told to mankind; the Savior, who was born in Yisroel to Ivri (Hebrew) parents, was never named JESUS CHRIST!! At the time the Savior-son of Elohiym was born to Earth, ca. 4 BCE (i.e. Before Common Era), no one in the entire world spoke any English; the language from which the words JESUS CHRIST are derived! In fact, the English race, and the crudest form of its language, came only in the seventh century of Common Era (CE), and this was long after the death of the Savior! And so, the Savior could not have been named JESUS CHRIST by his Ivri parents when he was born, as all publishers of English bibles would have readers believe! For the Savior, who was born ca. 4 BCE, to later on become known and accepted worldwide by a seventh century name that emerged from a non-Ivri culture, it would mean that he was given that name [or re-named] posthumously! And if re-named posthumously, for what intent other than to hide his true name, which was given to him at his birth and by which, he lived and performed whatever deeds he did in his lifetime?? By such a posthumous re-naming, will it not cause his true and genuine name that was delivered by a malak (angel) from Elohiym to his would-be parents, and given to him at birth by them, to be forever forgotten and thus rendered irrelevant throughout mankinds history?? And if irrelevant to history, who, in times past, present or future, would even know this true name to ever desire inspiration from or be saved by it?? It is sad that even the most zealous adherents of Christianity do not and may never know the genuine name of the Savior to believe in it for their deliverance from the power of sin and Lucifer!! The true and genuine name of the Savior, which must be of Ivrit (Hebrew tongue), is effectively kept from every Christian; and this is done on purpose! And yet, even the English Bible reveals that there is ONLY one particular name by which any mortal can be saved from sin, its consequences, and Lucifercf. Maasim (Acts) 4:10-12!! So, what name is saving Christians?? Think seriously about this! Obviously, the beneficiary in this camouflaging of the Saviors true Ivrit name is neither the paid leaders of Christianity who zealously preach to popularize the name JESUS CHRIST of Goyim (Gentile) originall of who are, in fact, blind-folded and being misled by the arch enemy of Elohiym to ultimately be burned in firenor the highly gullible and ignorant people who follow these blinded leaders; doing so, zealously and without revelation knowledge, unto doom!! The only beneficiary in this scam is Lucifer, who hates Elohiym to bits, and whose only unrelenting ambition is to usurp the worship due Elohiym from His Creation to himself (Lucifer)! Hence, the mission assigned me by the Most High One to write this article in order to bare the facts of Lucifers deceptions and usurpation of worship due Elohiym in and by the name JESUS CHRIST! You see, Lucifer is yet to give up on his long-held ambition to usurp the Throne of Elohiym; to sit on it, and to seek the worship meant for the Most High One from His Creation! This inordinate ambition first led him to mutiny with a third of the number of malakim (angels) in Shamayim (Heaven), but he lost in his attempt to topple Elohiym from His Throne in order to occupy it and receive worship from His Creation!! As a result of his defeat, Elohiym cast him down to Earth together with all his loyal malakim! Not long after their landing, Lucifer decided that he would establish a parallel kingdom on Earthwith his own throne, a corrupted breed of human worshippers and his loyal malakimto that of Shamayim by making himself the ruler over Earth! Lucifer must have, at that point in time, deemed it foolhardiness to continue to fight the Invincible ElElyon in an attempt to usurp His reign in Shamayim above; and so, would be content if he had rule of the Earth! But then, his plan was to face an immediate snag; for, Adam, the first father of mankind, had already been granted the Earth as his possession by Elohiym to have dominion and rule over it! So then, for Lucifer to be able to have the Earth, he needed to wrestle the dominion and rule over it from Adam, to whom Elohiym had given chargecf. Beresheet (Genesis) 1:26! Eventually, Lucifer succeeded in his plan by first getting Adam to disobey the instructions of Elohiym! When Adam disobeyed Elohiym, which meant he had become disloyal to Him but loyal to Lucifer, he of course lost the good relationship he enjoyed with Elohiym. There and then, Lucifer became Adams Boss; a tyrannical Master to mankinds first parents! And because whatever a slave owns is indeed the property of his Master, the dominion and rule that Elohiym gave to Adam over all Creation immediately became legally transferred to Lucifer by Adams disobedience and disloyalty to Elohiym! Lucifer thus became the de facto ruler of Earth and mankind; and thereafter, he swore by himself never to relinquish his hard-won position as Earths ruler back to man! Now, because Lucifer knew that his possession of Earth was only temporalfor he knew of a Savior who was promised to the seed of Adam by Elohiym to deliver him (seed of Adam) from his (Lucifers) enslavementhe (Lucifer) schemed and made plans so as to ensure these promises of Elohiym never became fulfilled! Again displaying foolhardiness in these plans, Lucifer put himself in readiness to work against the coming Savior by continually rehearsing his plans so he would stop the fulfillment of these promises of Elohiym! Part II When, eventually, the Savior was born, Lucifer immediately kick-started the execution of his plans by stirring up an evil spirit of jealousy in King Herod, wanting him to get the baby-Savior murdered. Well, Herod did try to do the bidding of Lucifer, but only succeeded in killing all the male children of two years old and below in the area of Beit Lechem (name of a town that means House of Bread) where the Savior was borncf. MattitYahu (Matthew?) 2:16while Elohiym kept the baby-Savior safe and well, far away in Mitzrayim in the bosom of his parentscf. MattitYahu 2:13-15. Failing in this first plan of his against the will of Elohiym, Lucifer waited patiently till the Savior grew up, was introduced by YahuKhanan Ben ZekharYahu (John the Baptist?) to Yisroel, and afterwards underwent a forty-day fast in the wilderness in preparation to start to accomplish his mission to Earth. Immediately the Savior completed his fasting, Lucifer surfaced and tempted him to sin in order to make him unsuitable or unqualified to accomplish the mission his Abba (Father) had assigned him to save mankind from sin and from him (Lucifer)cf. Luq (Luke) 4 4:1-13. For, no sinner is worthy before Elohiym for His use to save a fellow sinner; the savior of sinners must himself never have sinned!! Each of the three temptations mentioned in these verses was enough to derail, forever, the plan of Elohiym for the deliverance of mankind from the dominion of Lucifer, if the Savior had fallen victim to any! For, just as the first Adam made himself a slave to Lucifer by obeying him, so also would the Second AdamYahushua HaBen HaElohiym [Yahushua the Son of Elohiym], the Saviorand all other mankind have become slaves if he had obeyed Lucifer instead of Elohim. Can you imagine the Second Adam also becoming Lucifers slave eternally!! So, after failing to achieve his ambition of tempting Yahushua to sin, Lucifer began to look at his other options. In much fury, he instigated the religious leaders of Yisroel to hate the Savior throughout his days on Earth, so they would kill him; but they were unsuccessful in all their attemptscf. MattitYahu (Matthew) 12:14, Markos (Mark) 14:1, Luq (Luke) 6:11, 19:47, YahuKhanan (John) 5:16, 7:1, 10:30,39, 11:8,47-53. At a certain time, Lucifer even thought he could kill the Savior himself by sinking a ship that he and his talmidim (disciples?) were travelling in; and did all he could in this, but to no availcf. MattitYahu 4:36-41 and Luq 8:22-25. Later on, by the scheming of Lucifer, he was to claim responsibility for the Saviors death by hanging on Mt. Gulgotha, only to be later on irked by this death after a short jubilation, because he became aware he could not stop the Saviors resurrection from death which was scheduled to happen on the third day after his burial! Upon realizing his inability to stop the Saviors resurrection, Lucifer again schemed to make the accounts of that resurrection incredulous to mankind when it happened by trying to distort the facts about itcf. MattitYahu 28:11-15! It is sad that his distortions of the truth about the resurrection of the Savior remain as strongholds in the minds of some people, even onto this day! Well, the resurrection of the Savior is a glaring truth of history. The Savior was killed, buried, and rose from the dead on the third day after his burial, and he ascended bodily to Shamayim (Heaven) to the full glare of human witnesses!! These human witnesses were given the mandate of Shamayim to preach the message of salvation in the name of the Savior. As they did, evil spirits under the control of Lucifer departed from the bodies of mankind and sick people were healed, all by the power of the name of the Savior! In effect, what work that was earlier on done against Lucifer and his cohorts by the Savior himself, and a handful of his followers, was now being done by multitudes! The kingdom of Lucifer was brought down under the unction and power of the true Ivrit nameYahushuaof the Savior. The only way Lucifer could counteract the successful work that was being done by the followers of the Savior was to attack the name Yahushua, since the power of this name gave them their success and victory over him (Lucifer)! Lucifer was patient in this! He waited till the last of the men who walked, talked, ate and slept with the Savior had died, before beginning to fake the true and genuine name of the Savior which was collapsing his rule of Earth. With all true witnesses of the name Yahushua now dead, Lucifer had a field day in his diabolical plans!! Despite this advantage of the non-existence of truthful witnesses, Lucifer still had to adopt a clever and rather circuitous route to achieve his goal! The name Yahushua was cleverly made to become JESUS by replacement theologians under the behest of Lucifer. It is clearly revealed in the Holy Hebrew Scriptures that Yisroel is the bride of Yahushuacf. MattitYahu (Matthew) 25: 1-11, Second Corinthians 11:2, Hisgalus (Revelation) 21:2, 9, 22:17. So, in romancing with her Yahushua-Groom, Yisroel progressively shortened the name Yahushua to fit into her prose, poetry, sing-song literature and slangs; becoming Yeshua as a result! The name Yeshua came about in much the same way that any bride today and close pals of her groom may, in romanticizing and fraternizing with him, affectionately call him by a shortened name, Steve, instead of by his official, fuller or longer name, Stephen. But then, all other people outside this circle of lovers may even be deemed discourteous in calling him Steve! They are expected to show him respect and address him only by his formal name, Stephen. Also, even though friends may affectionately address him as Steve, it is only Stephen that is permitted on all official documents and records; never is Steve permitted officially!! Early in the First Century, when faith in the name Yahushuathe only Shamayim-approved or official name in and by which the ritual of tevilah (baptism?) is commanded to be received by anyone for his initiation into the salvation of Elohiym (cf. YahuKhanan [John] 3:5, Acts 2:38-39)began spreading out of Yisroel, the sing-song Groom-Yahushua name, Yeshua, also spread with it, becoming popular even among Goyim converts to the faith in Yahushua. It must be stated that the name Yahushua is derived from the name of the Most High OneYAHUWAHand so, within Yahushua is found the substance of what is in Yahuwah! In fact, all the DNA of YAHUWAH can be found in the DNA of Yahushua. Like Father, like Son!! And so, replacement theologians reasoned to craft a name derived from that of the greatest Greek deity, ZEUS (their equivalent of the Hebrew Creator, YAHUWAH), and therefore came up with the name IZEUS. In Greek thought and mythology, IZEUS is the son of ZEUS!! And so, by this feat, IZEUS must have in his DNA everything within the DNA of ZEUS his father! Part III In coming up with the name IZEUS as the son of ZEUS, and, subsequently, trying to equate YAHUSHUA to IZEUS, replacement theologians determined they had to their advantage the sing-song name Yeshua, common to First Century followers of the Savior (Yahushua), at least, sound-wise. This advantage, they exploited! But before they could complete their forgery, they needed to go one step further. They had to transpose YESHUA into Greek alphabets to obtain IESOUS, which sounded very pleasant to the ears of Latin-loving theologians who adapted the Greek IESOUS to the Latin IESUS and from thence to JESUS by Englishmen! Waaow! Very brilliant!! So then, because JESUS is begotten from IESUS, through IESOUS, (or IZEUS) and ZEUS, it must also have in it everything that is within the DNA of ZEUS!! Therefore, worship of JESUS is simply, worship of ZEUS through the back door!! Moving or changing faith from YAHUSHUA (aka YESHUA) to JESUS would and should, obviously, land mankind right into the lap of ZEUS and LUCIFER!! See the destructive outcome of Replacement Theology and the power and effect of ignorance in all of this?? I hope Christians get to see the harm they have caused themselves by believing in the name JESUS in their quest for the salvation of the Most High One!! Elohim has strictly commanded all His children never to mention the names of deities of Goyimcf. Yehoshua (Joshua) 23:7but by this trickery of Lucifer, people seeking Elohiyms salvation are unknowingly compelled to call on the name of the infamous Greek deity, ZEUS, in and by their faith in and profession of the name JESUS!! Sad that today's people of the Earth greatly relish their faith in the name JESUS, ignorant of the harm and dangers it portends for them!! Since the name JESUS CHRIST has come from Lucifer to mankind, it is only a product of his deception techniques!! Worship of the name JESUS CHRIST is simply worship of Lucifer. Prayers made in the name JESUS CHRIST are, contrary to the expectation of CHRISTIANS, not directed to Shamayim, but rather to LUCIFER!! In all this, we must remember the fourth beast in DaniEls end-time nevuah (prophecy), which says of this beast, thus: and think to change times and lawscf. DaniEl 7:25, Orthodox Jewish Bible (OJB) and thereby seek to overturn all what Elohiym has made and set by His authority. That this beast has long been at this work is simply frightening!! Now that the whole world has been tricked to worship JESUS CHRIST as if he is the Son of Elohiym, Lucifer is happy and beaming with smiles while receiving praise and worship from all inhabitants of the Earth in the name JESUS CHRIST! For, his dreams of usurping worship meant for Elohiym to himself have, thus, come true!!cf. Second Thessalonians 2:3-9. In his position and power of having one-third of the original number of loyal malakim of Shamayim with him in his fallen state on Earth, and in being the de facto ruler of it, Lucifer can do a lot of things for CHRISTIANS that every one of them, in their various denominations of differing beliefs and practices, crave forwhich are wealth, health, and fame. In fact, Lucifer, as the de facto ruler of the Earth [also aptly called the God of this world], can and does give these three main cravings of all CHRISTIANS easily to them, in counterfeit miracles and prayers they make in the name JESUS which he (Lucifer) readily answers, while making them seem to be goodies handed to CHRISTIANS by and from Elohiym!! Remember that, the core mandate given to Yahushua by Elohiym, in his coming to Earth as its Savior, is to bring salvation or deliverance from the dominion of LUCIFER and sin to all the inhabitants of the Earth; and this salvation is what all men ought to crave for. But alas, faith and comfort in the name JESUS CHRIST will not bring salvation to even one single CHRISTIAN, as they have been misled to believe that it wouldthe very obvious reason why NO single CHRISTIAN is delivered from the power of the committing of sin!! Ultimately, all CHRISTIANS would be proven to be, after all, tares, and not wheat, and therefore only worthy of Hell firecf. Mattityahu (Matthew) 13:24-30, 36-43!! If CHRISTIANS ever go knocking on Shaarei HaShamayim (Gates of Heaven) shouting out the name JESUS CHRIST in quest for admission, then will the Prince of ShamayimYahushua HaMashakhYahucome out to tell them to leave his gates because they are workers of iniquitycf. Mattityahu (Matthew) 7:21-27and that no JESUS CHRIST resides within his gates. As these disappointed CHRISTIAN faithful are turned away from the face of the Prince of Shamayim, they slip effortlessly into the waiting arms of LUCIFER to be escorted into Hell to begin their life sentences throughout Eternity!! In all of this state of evil intrigue that Christians are caught in, I suppose that whenever the powers that be permit The Restored Names King James Version Bible (RNKJVB) of 1999the latest edition which admits that many errors exist in all previously published KJV Biblesto be fully published and popularized, even in its current raw state, it will heal Christians of their spiritual blindness to the name JESUS CHRIST and forcefully deliver many of them from the deception of Lucifer and the inevitable soon-coming disappointment and doom as a result of this name! This is because the RNKJVB of 1999 has expunged from it the Goyim word of offence, Jesus, that is found in its predecessor Old and New King James Version Bibles, and has restored in its place the true Ivrit (Hebrew) name of the Savior, Yahushua, which was known to all first century worshippers of Elohiym. Also, the RNKJVB has struck out the words God, Christ, Christian and Christians that are found in all previous editions of the KJV Bible, and has replaced them with Elohiym, Messiah, Messianic and Messianics, respectively!! No doubt, whenever salvation seekers take on board their beliefs, these changes of the RNKJVB, it will eventually consign the worship of a JESUS CHRIST, the religion called Christianity, and the Christian personality to total oblivion! I can confidently say that whenever the Earth becomes fully aware of the true name [Yahushua] of the Savior and thereby corrects itself to render worship to Elohiym in and by the name of His Ben (Son), Lucifer will be put on trial for all his folly and judged for all his evil deeds against his Maker and mankind!! As a shofar (ram-horn trumpet) blower of Elohiym, I am by this article dutifully warning mankind according to His Word in YechezkEl (Ezekiel?) 33:6-7; and this, I do in love for my readers. Will this generation heed the Word of Elohiym? Dear reader, my prayer is that your spiritual eyes become opened to the truth so you may be delivered from the deception of Lucifer in and by the name JESUS CHRIST. Shalom aleikhem. PS: Should readers of this and any of my articles have serious questions or suggestions, they may contact me via e-mail by clicking on Contact on the Home Page of my website, http://sbprabooks.com/BongleBapuohyele. You may also purchase a copy of my bookBeware of This False Doctrine: Of Reciting the Sinners' Prayer for Salvationvia the same web address so, together, we walk the narrow way to the presence of Elohiym. Shalom. Accra, Feb. 20, GNA - The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is deploying 130 observers to monitor the general election to be held on Sunday, February 21, in Niger. The main objective of the mission deployed by the regional organisation, as per its Supplementary Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance, would be to ensure the smooth running of the electoral process for free, transparent, and credible election. According to a statement, issued by the ECOWAS Commission, on Friday, the Mission would comprise 15 long-term and 115 short-term observers. The short-term observers would come from ECOWAS Member States, (with the exception of Niger), the ECOWAS Court of Justice, the Council of Elders of the regional organisation, and the Community Parliament. The short-term mission would also comprise representatives of the region's national electoral commissions and experts trained at the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Centre, in Accra, Ghana. Amos Sawyer, a former interim President of the Liberia's National Unity Government, would lead the short-term Election Observation Mission. The Commission said the 15 long-term observers, were experts in security, Gender, Electoral Operations, Constitutional Law and Communication Experts. The long and short-term missions would be supported on the ground by an ECOWAS Commission Technical Support Team, comprising the President of the Commission, KadrA DAsirA OuAdraogo, as well as the Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security, Mrs Salamatu Hussaini Suleiman. The Director in-charge of political Affairs of the Commission, Dr Remi Ajibewa and other officials of the Institution would be part of the team. The Commission said observers would be deployed to all the regions of the country to observe and monitor all the pre-electoral, electoral and post-electoral operations and to comment on the outcome of the elections. The observation would be on the regularity, transparency, equity and smooth conduct of the legislative and presidential elections. At the end of the elections, the ECOWAS Election Observation Mission would express its opinion and, if necessary, give recommendations to different stakeholders in the electoral process. Fifteen (15) candidates would contest in the first round of the Presidential Election on February 21, 2016. The candidates are the incumbent president, Mahamadou Issoufou, who has been in power since 2011, Abdou Labo, Ibrahim Yacouba, Mahamane Ousmane, Seini Oumarou and Adal Rhoubeid. The others are: Mahamane Jean Padonou, Kassoum Moctar, Laouan Magagi, Tahirou Guimba as well as Cheiffou Amadou are also on the start line for the presidential election. The rest are: Mahamane Hamissou, Abdoulaye TraorA, Hama Amadou and Amadou Boubacar. In addition to electing their president for the next five years, the people of Niger cast their ballot on the same day to elect their 171 parliamentarians. 'ECOWAS calls on the candidates, political party leaders and their supporters to maintain peace, tranquility and national unity during the double election,' the Commission said. GNA Accra, Feb.19 GNA - Vice President Kwesi Amissah-Arthur has charged the military to collaborate with the other security agencies to assuage the anxiety of the public over the November General Election. He stated that in an election year many minor issues were usually magnified out of proportion by politicians and the media to create the apprehension among the people. Vice President Amissah-Arthur made the call when he attended the 2015 West African Soldiers Social Activity (WASSA) durbar at Burma Camp. WASSA is an annual ceremony observed by all units of the Ghana Armed Forces to promote socialisation among military personnel, and to serve as an opportunity to take stock of the working year, to strategise for the coming year. Beside from being an event to have fun, it is also an avenue for renewing camaraderie among officers, other ranks and the civilian employees of the military. Vice President Amissah-Arthur said so early in the year, the country had witnessed a high profile attack on a Member of Parliament, as well as the horrific accident that occurred on the Kintampo Road, this week. He said in such situations, the military were always there to support the civilian authorities to provide safety and relief to the people. He cited the June 3, 2015 flood-fire incident at Nkrumah Circle, in which the military were at hand to protect the citizens from the ravages of the water and fire. That tragedy claimed more than 150 lives and destroyed property valued at millions of Ghana cedis. Vice President Amissah-Arthur commended the Ghana Armed Forces, especially the Airforce, for helping to airlift injured persons from Kintampo to Sunyani and other specialist hospitals for treatment. He urged the Military High Command to integrate their forces with that of the Police to enhance the security situation in the country. He urged the military to continue to support the public. He said this year being an election, one the country needed all the support it could mobilise to help Ghana retain its stability and peaceful nature. Air Vice Marshal Michael Samson-Oje, the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), assured of the military's resolve to work professionally to enhance the peace and security in the country. He said the military would continue to provide support for the public in national emergencies and crisis. Awards were presented to two civilian employees and two military officials who excelled at their various fields of endeovour. GNA 20.02.2016 LISTEN Adum Domenase (WR), Feb. 20, GNA - The Project Maji, a non-governmental organisation interested in providing sustainable and affordable potable water, aims to cover more than one million people in rural communities by 2025. The move is necessitated by the current global statistics, which reveals that 2. 8 billion people have no access to basic sanitation and about one billion are without access to clean water. Mr. Sunil Lalvani, the Founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the NGO, at the inauguration of a water plant at Adum Domenase in the Mpohor District of the Western Region, on Friday, said it was motivated to construct the facility because many rural dwellers were plagued with various diseases and ailments due to lack of access to quality drinking water. In this vein, he said, the NGO headquartered in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, developed a solar-powered technology that could pump filtered water 100 metres below the surface of the earth. Mr. Lalvani pointed out that access to sustainable water would ensure more healthier and prosperous lives for rural folks in Ghana and the rest of Africa. 'We intend to extend these services to Malawi, Angola, Uganda and other African countries in the coming years,' he said. The NGO, he said, received a sponsorship package of US$50,000 from Shalina Healthcare, a pharmaceutical company based in Dubai, towards the construction of the water plant, which would supply 10,000 litres of clean water per day to over 5,000 people in the community. So far, he said, it had constructed three other water facilities: an orphanage in the Greater Accra Region and for Atentun, near Assin Fosu and the Ando Clinic, near Cape Coast, both in the Central Region. Mr. Samuel Yaw Edusie, a Deputy Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing, stated that the Government had planned to ensure that all Ghanaian households had access to potable water by 2025. In view of this, he said, the Government had started a strategic plan of providing safe and sustainable water to rural households in six regions: the Northern, Upper East, Brong Ahafo, Eastern, Western and Volta. The 2014 water statistics show that 77 per cent of urban dwellers and 67 per cent rural settlers have access to potable water and expressed the hope to extend potable water to more Ghanaians in the next eight years. The Deputy Minister warned individuals engaged in illegal small-scale mining in water bodies to desist from the practice before the law caught up with them. The Country Director of Shalina Healthcare, Mr. Prashant Kumar Gaur, said the pharmaceutical company was committed to providing the Ghanaian population with access to essential medicines at affordable prices. He said the company was delighted in funding the water facility for the community in line with its Corporate Social Responsibility. The Chief of Adum Domenase, Nana Adisah II, expressed his appreciation to the NGO for making the water facility available in the town and appealed to the NGO to sell the water at an affordable rate so that the people could patronise it. The GNA gathered that 20 litres, which is equivalent to a bucket of water, would be sold at 20 pesewas so that the NGO could maintain the facility when it breaks down. GNA The Kintampo Government Hospital authorities are threatening mass burial for unidentified bodies at the hospitals morgue. Some unclaimed bodies from last Wednesdays road tragedy that claimed 63 lives, are going bad according to Dr. Owusu Fosu, the Medical Superintendent of the hospital. Inadequate space in a mortuary with a capacity of 15 persons, weak refrigeration system, low voltage and the resultant stench has forced the Hospital to arrive at this decision. Photo: A survived victim waiting for the body of his nephew Bereaved families had begun moving to various mortuaries in the Brong Ahafo Region to find deceased family members. According to Adom FMs Wiafe Akenteng, as at Thursday most families were unable to convey the bodies of their identified relations, as it was late in the night to complete the necessary paperwork. Photo: Some relatives at the mortuary Last week, 35 accident victims of another road accident were admitted at the Hospital, which has contributed to stretching the Hospitals emergency drugs. Dr. Fosu said the Hospitals National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) indebtedness is also to blame for the Hospitals inability to get emergency drugs. A non-governmental organisation, IQRA Foundation, was on hand to offer relief by donating some items to the Hospital. The Foundation also promised to engage their sponsors in Saudi Arabia to secure an ambulance for the Hospital. The current ambulance used was donated by Alhaji Asuma Banda in 2006 and has no siren and in deplorable condition. Family of the brothers shot dead by the police at the Mampong Midwifery Training School in the Ashanti region threatening to sue the Ghana Police Service. The two brothers, Francis Gbeneh 33, and Timothy Gbeneh 28 were shot by the police when a distress call by a female teacher got them to the scene of their untimely death on February 10. Wife of Francis disclosed to Joy News Mahmud Mohammed-Nurudeen reporter that, the Police Service has been slow with investigation since the shooting. She expressed disappointment with the police in the manner they shot her husband and his brother with the two begging for their lives telling the policemen they were teachers of the School. If a policeman runs into an armed robber, who then claims he is a teacher, what stops the policeman from asking people around to that effect? she asked. Also, she seeks answers to why the police delayed in rushing the two brothers to the hospital after they had been shot. According to her, an eye-witness told her Francis and his brother, "begged them [police] to send them to the hospital, but they refused. Bangui (Central African Republic) (AFP) - Faustin-Archange Touadera, a former prime minister and maths professor, was on Saturday declared the winner of a presidential election in the Central African Republic seen as crucial to turning the page on years of sectarian violence. Touadera won 62.71 percent of the hotly contested run-off vote compared with 37.29 for his rival Anicet-Georges Dologuele, a former banker nicknamed "Mr Clean" who had won the first round on December 30, the country's national electoral authority (ANE) announced. Voter turnout was a lower-than-expected 61 percent, the ANE said. The results still have to be confirmed by the constitutional court. Touadera, 58, who ran as an independent, surprised everyone when he took second place in the first round vote. The well-respected former mathematics professor served as the last premier of ex-president Francois Bozize, a Christian, who was ousted from power in 2013. The coup by the mostly Muslim Seleka rebels unleashed a spiral of violence between Muslim and Christian militias that left thousands dead, and many voters expressed a strong desire for peace when they cast their ballots last Sunday. Touadera's team hailed his victory as the start of a new chapter for the chronically unstable nation, which has been run by a transitional government since 2014. "It warms your heart. It shows the desire of the Central African people to end the transition and the serious crisis that has gripped our country since 2013," Touadera's campaign manager Simplice Sarandji told reports. Touadera's rival Dologuele, also 58, accepted his defeat and said he would not challenge the results. "I respect the decision of the national election authority and congratulate the new president-elect," he said during a press briefing at his home. - 'He stayed' - Touadera's jubilant supporters took to the streets of Bangui carrying his portraits and cheering for their so-called "candidate of the people". "Touadera has the calm force of teachers," said one of them, who gave his name as Elyse. Edouard Pounawala, a motorcycle taxi driver, said he admired Touadera because he stayed in the country after the coup "while others gorged on roasted chicken and red wine in France and in other European countries". "We are going to support him to the end," he added. A softly-spoken academic, Touadera campaigned on promises to restore security and boost the economy in the mineral-rich but dirt-poor nation. Many say his popularity stems from a grassroots measure during his 2008-2013 premiership, namely the payment of salaries of government officials directly into bank accounts and thereby ending decades of pay arrears and unpaid wages. "He will be remembered as someone who paid civil servants and he is greatly appreciated for that," said a diplomatic source in Bangui before the run-off vote. Touadera also demonstrated impressive diplomatic skills in 2008, leading tortuous talks involving the government, the opposition and rebel groups which led to several peace accords being signed with insurgent groups. Even during his stint in government, Touadera -- who studied in France and Cameroon -- clung to his academic roots and continued to teach at the University of Bangui. "He has never run after a career in politics. It's more politics that sought him out for his qualities," a source close to him recently told AFP. The bloodshed that followed the 2013 coup triggered the country's worst humanitarian crisis since it gained independence from France in 1960. As well as leaving thousands dead, the atrocities drove about a tenth of the population of 4.8 million people from their homes. you are here: A trailing stop is the best way I know to manage exits. It can give you both the discipline and confidence to stay the course. What does it take to make a super profit in a single stock? Many people will tell you its all about the research. Theyll say big returns require expert analysis to buy at the right time. Others say you need a whiz bang technical indicatora secret formula that can identify turning points and get you in at the bottom. But do you know what? Theyre wrong. You see, both of these methods centre on when to buy this is where many traders focus their attention. They believe the entry point is the most important part of the trade. Sure, entries matter. But theyre not the most critical factor. The key to making super profits revolves around your strategy to sell. This has the greatest impact on your results. Its the swing factor that separates the best traders from the pack. I talk a lot about letting winners run and cutting losses. Its a simple concept. But it can be hard to do. In fact, many traders find it easier to do the opposite cut profits and run losses. And the research supports this. One study examined 78,000 accounts at a US discount broker. It found that, between 1991 and 1996, traders were 1.8 times more likely to sell a stock that was up 20%, versus one down by 20%. Another study, using data from 10,000 accounts between 1987 and 1993, backs this up. It found traders lock in profits at a 50% greater rate than losses. Then theres a study on 4,330 accounts at an Israeli brokerage. It found the holding period for losing trades was roughly double that of winning trades. Local researchers had similar findings. They looked at trading volume after a company listing. It turns out volume was lighter when shares opened below the offering price in other words, people were hesitant to sell at a loss. I could go on. But Im sure you get the point. People find it easier selling their best stocks, while holding their worst performing ones. And its a key reason why they dont make the profits they otherwise could. Quite simply, selling winners, and holding losers, is a fatal mistake. I wrote about cutting losses two weeks ago. You can review that update here just look for my article. This week, Im going to talk about letting winning trades run. Riding a mega trend Okay, lets get started. Im going to use Quant Traders best live signal as an example. It was also the ASX 200s top performing stock in 2015. The companys name is Blackmores [ASX:BKL]. Have a look at this Source: Quant Trader Click to enlarge Blackmores is a pin-up stock for trend following. It shows why Quant Trader doesnt take profits. The strategy is about letting profitable trades run as long as possible. The first signal was at $33.93 on 23 December 2014. There were two subsequent signals at $39, and $44. BKL is currently $179.28 the respective gains are 428%, 359%, and 307%. Yes, the entry points were good. But that alone isnt enough. The key to catching super trends comes down to one thing resisting the urge to take an early profit. Ask yourself this. Have you ever had a 20% gain and took it? I know I have. A quick-fire profit can be hard to turn down. But heres the thing. Traders who take small gains never get a Blackmores. Its impossible. They cut every stock with the potential to run before its barely off the ground. Theres only one way to get 100% plus gains you have to let your winners run . The number one reason people cite for cutting winners early? Fear. People worry about giving back their profits. And I understand this its no fun watching a profit whittle away. But you know what? Theres no other way to stay in a trade. You have to accept giving back some of your gains. This is the price of riding a trend like Blackmores. Quant Trader uses a trailing stop to exit a trade. You can see it on Blackmores trade chart. Its the dotted red line below the share price. A protective flaw Blackmores exit stop is currently at $153.81 thats about 11% below the current share price. People sometimes ask why Quant Trader risks giving back so much. They say it would be better to increase the exit point to protect the large profit. This sounds reasonable, but theres a flaw. You see, just about every trend zigs and zags its way to the top. That means you need to give a stock room to move. Bringing your stop in too close increases the odds of an early exit. Take Blackmores for instance. Its a top performerbut it hasnt traded higher with each and every day. There have been pullbacks along the way. And these have a habit of shaking out many traders. Here are a few of Blackmores corrections: 18%, 15%, 19%, and 22%. Many people find these hard to sit through. They worry theyll give back their gains, so they sell. Think of it like a rodeo. The bull is always trying to buck the cowboy off. Its about making the ride as unpleasant as possible. The winner is the cowboy who stays on the longest. Stocks are no different. Successful traders have a knack for holding. They dont flinch at moderate corrections. Their aim is to stay with the trend as long as they can. Blackmores is still an open trade. Its impossible to say how much further, if at all, the shares will run. And thats okay. We have a strategy for that keep holding until the price hits the trailing stop. Good research and robust technical indicators will only get you so far. Its your decision on when to sell that determines how much you make or lose. A trailing stop is the best way I know to manage exits. It can give you both the discipline and confidence to stay the course. Thats how you catch the mega trends. Until next week, Jason Editors note: When an out of favour stock (like Blackmores once was) trends higher, alert traders can make an absolute fortune. Thats why Jasons Quant Trader system scans practically every ASX listing for opportunities. Dont miss the next Blackmores. Gain access to Quant Trader with a 100% money back trial subscription. Click here to learn more. February 20, 2016 U.S. Ignores Own UNSC Resolution - Tells Russia "Stop Bombing Al-Qaeda!" UN Security Council Resolution 2254 calls for a "ceasefire" in Syria. A "ceasefire", unconditioned according to the resolution, would be for the whole country but would exclude certain groups: [r]eiterates its call in resolution 2249 (2015) for Member States to prevent and suppress terrorist acts committed specifically by Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as Daesh), Al-Nusra Front (ANF), and all other individuals, groups, undertakings, and entities associated with Al Qaeda or ISIL, and other terrorist groups, [...] and to eradicate the safe haven they have established over significant parts of Syria, and notes that the aforementioned ceasefire will not apply to offensive or defensive actions against these individuals, groups, undertakings and entities, as set forth in the 14 November 2015 ISSG Statement; The resolution also underlines Syria's sovereignty. The UNSC is: Reaffirming its strong commitment to the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic, and to the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations, ... The whole UNSC, including the U.S., France and Britain, agreed to this resolution. But the U.S., France and the UK now want to erase these significant parts of the resolution. They no longer want a ceasefire but only a "cessation of hostilities". They demand that under such a "cessation" all bombing of al-Nusra/al-Qaeda and its associated entities should stop. They now want to ignore Syria's just reaffirmed sovereignty. The Saudis and its puppies in the Syrian opposition disagreed with the UNSC resolution. U.S. Secretary of State Kerry promptly blamed them for preventing a ceasefire but was then pulled back. In last weeks negotiations in Geneva Kerry took the Saudi position and thereby sabotaged any real ceasefire talk which would include much more than just a stop of firing. Kerry agreed only to a lower level "cessation of hostilities". As the former Indian ambassador to Turkey M K Bhadrakumar remarks: Whereas a ceasefire brings in legal obligations, which would commit the US to sit across the table and meet the Russian and, more importantly, Syrian military counterparts and draw up detailed modalities of implementation, UN Security Council supervision and so on, the cessation of hostilities can be punctuated at will without breaking international law. Meanwhile, US and its allies are keen to gain access to all nooks and corners of Syrian territory, which will eventually help to mobilize any military operations under Plan B, especially ground operations. The humanitarian missions provide the cover for reconnaissance and ground work. The West has let loose a massive propaganda barrage against the Russian operations. Equally, the refugee crisis moulds the western opinion. The NATO is inching towards the conflict zone. ... At any rate, a humanitarian intervention in Syria may be just what President Barrack Obama needs to salvage his reputation. Bhadrakumar quotes Lavrov who was livid over this foul play which ignored the agreed upon UNSC Resolution. U.S. rhetoric and propaganda over alleged Russian human rights violations in the war has since increased. Despite Russia's concern over the low level of a "cessation of hostilities", it insisted on common meetings at the working level to lay out the rules for the "cessation". The first meeting only took place yesterday, the day the "cessation" was originally supposed to begin. It was the U.S., especially the Pentagon, that had dragged out the start of the talks. At the meeting the U.S. inserted a new condition, copied from the Saudis string puppet opposition, into the talks. The U.S. now demands, contrary to the UNSC resolution, that the terrorist group al-Qaeda in Syria should no longer be fought. The Washington Post reports of yesterday's meeting: The deadline for a cease-fire in Syrias civil war came and went Friday, as joint diplomatic and military teams from the United States and Russia tried to agree on rules covering where the shooting would stop and where it would be allowed to continue. ... Everyone recognizes the complexity of this endeavor, and there is certainly a lot more work to do, Kerry said in a statement. These discussions have been serious and so far constructive, with a few tough issues still to resolve. Translation of Kerry's diplomatese: "Let's drag this out as looooong as possible." Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter was said to have opposed the high-level contact with the Russians, at least initially. But Kerry and others in the administration argued that the subject matter demanded military expertise. ... Under the terms of the Munich deal, the United States and Russia are co-chairs of a task force to work out the terms of a cease-fire, including where airstrikes against terrorist groups are permitted to continue and how to resolve violations. ... One of the many problems to be overcome is a differing definition of what constitutes a terrorist group. In addition to the Islamic State and Jabhat al-Nusra, al-Qaedas affiliate in Syria, Russia and Syria have labeled the entire opposition as terrorists. Jabhat al-Nusra, whose forces are intermingled with moderate rebel groups in the northwest near the Turkish border, is particularly problematic. Russia was said to have rejected a U.S. proposal to leave Jabhat al-Nusra off-limits to bombing as part of a cease-fire, at least temporarily, until the groups can be sorted out. Read that again. The U.S. supports opposition that "intermingles" with al-Qaeda? Are these not "entities associated with Al Qaeda" which the UNSC 2254 explicitly excludes from any ceasefire? And the U.S., which over the years killed thousands of civilians while droning alleged al-Qaeda personal, now demands that all bombing of al-Qaeda in Syria stops? The breathtaking new U.S. condition to let al-Qaeda continue its slaughtering without interference is directly based on demands by the Saudis submitted through the Saudi controlled opposition. That opposition today presented "new conditions" under which it would agree to the ceasefire. Hala Jaber, Sunday Times journalist in the Middle East, noted: Hala Jaber Verified account @HalaJaber #HNC leader #RiadHijab reached consent with rebel groups 4 "temporary ceasefires",but only if certain conditions met 2/ New statement being made to sound as a break through when, in effect, it's the same stance as pre #Geneva talks. 3/ Conditions entail: 1-Ceasefire 2 kickstart simultaneously by all sides 2-End of all siege 3-Provision of aid 4-Release of all prisoners. Reuters later added: A source close to peace talks earlier on Saturday told Reuters Syria's opposition had agreed to a two- to three-week truce. The truce would be renewable and supported by all parties except Islamic State, the source said. It would also be conditional on the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front no longer being targeted, at least to start with, the source said. The Nusra Front is considered a terrorist organization by the U.N. Security Council and banned. Asked if the opposition's insistence on the Nusra Front no longer being targeted was the main stumbling block, he described it as "the elephant in the room". These are of course unacceptable pre-conditions which are not in line with UNSC 2254 which calls for a political process "in parallel" to a full ceasefire, not as precondition for a "temporary" "cessation". The foreign sponsored terrorists in Syria are on the run and need a pause to resupply and reorganize. At the time they and their sponsors introduce demands that make any truce or "cessation of hostilities" impossible. That the U.S. demand to stop bombing al-Qaeda is also hypocrisy squared. It yesterday bombed, without any base in international law, some houses in Libya and killed some 50 people including two Serbian diplomats. It alleges that some of these people belong to the Islamic State, formerly named al-Qaeda in Iraq. Russia yesterday introduced a new resolution at the UNSC as a counteract to Turkish artillery fire which is hitting the Syrian Kurdish groups YPG which is also supported by the U.S.: The Russian draft, seen by Reuters, would have the council express "its grave alarm at the reports of military buildup and preparatory activities aimed at launching foreign ground intervention into the territory of the Syrian Arab Republic." It also demands that states "refrain from provocative rhetoric and inflammatory statements inciting further violence and interference into internal affairs of the Syrian Arab Republic." The Russian one page paper only restated basic sovereignty principle of the United Nations Charter which were also reconfirmed in UNSC 2254. But now the U.S., France and UK rejected those statements and no new resolution was adopted. The U.S. is now ignoring or even contradicting the UNSC 2254 resolution it had endorsed just a weeks ago. It no longer wants a ceasefire in Syria. It wants al-Qaeda off the terrorist list on which it was put on demand of the U.S. It wants to ignore Syria's sovereignty. This is a quite amazing turn away from the earlier positions. But do not expect any U.S. mainstream media to point that out. That would require some real reporting about the impetus for these moves and the intent behind them. Posted by b on February 20, 2016 at 15:24 UTC | Permalink Comments next page next page RALEIGH The North Carolina Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special Olympics has kicked off its 2016 campaign of raising funds and awareness for Special Olympics North Carolina. In 2015, law enforcement agencies from throughout North Carolina raised $1.2 million for Special Olympics North Carolina, and our goal in 2016 is to eclipse $1.3 million dollars, said Co-Director of NC Torch Run, Claudia Morgan of the Winston-Salem Police Department. The Winston-Salem Police Department led the way in the fundraising efforts in 2015 with more than $46,500 raised. Megan ODonnell with the Special Olympics said the run usually makes it to Burke County in May, and thats when Burke County Sheriffs Office will take the torch. Their (BCSO) Torch Run Relay dates are not set just yet but will likely be a Friday in May and they will likely again hand the Torch off to the Hickory Police Department, she said in an email. The North Carolina Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special Olympics unites officers in the law enforcement field from across the state in an effort to raise funds and awareness for Special Olympics North Carolina. The Torch Run efforts to raise funds include securing corporate sponsorships, collecting donations for T-shirts and hats, and hosting unique fundraising events such as building sits, polar plunges, Over the Edge and golf tournaments. ODonnell said BCSO will hold their annual golf tournament at Silver Creek Plantation on Aug. 12. Along with the fundraiser, a unique T-shirt design is created each year for two types of shirts and made available for donations of $15 for a traditional cotton T-shirt and $20 for a tech running-style shirt. A baseball hat is also available at $15 each. A Torch Run kickoff conference was held in January in Kernersville for law enforcement personnel from across the state to learn about the 2016 campaign and provide ideas for conducting a successful Torch Run. Each summer, law enforcement officials carry the Flame of Hope across the state in the N.C. Torch Run Final Leg, culminating in the lighting of the cauldron to officially open the Special Olympics North Carolina Summer Games in Raleigh. The 2,000-mile, month-long Torch Run Relay involves more than 2,500 law enforcement officers and personnel representing more than 200 law enforcement agencies across North Carolina. The 2016 SONC Summer Games will be June 35 in Raleigh and Cary. Globally, the Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special Olympics is an annual fundraising and public education campaign conducted by law enforcement personnel that raises millions of dollars for Special Olympics in 35 countries, with the strongest support being in the United States and Canada. Since its inception in 1981, more than $500 million has been raised. Well over 85,000 law enforcement officers make the Torch Run efforts a success which helps Special Olympics fulfill its philosophy of never requiring its athletes to pay registration costs for their participation. The NC Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special Olympics is officially endorsed by the International Association of Chiefs of Police, North Carolina Association of Chiefs of Police, the National Sheriffs Association, the North Carolina Sheriffs Association, International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators, NC Department of Public Safety, NC Department of Justice, National Association of School Resource Officers, and the North Carolina Association of School Resource Officers. For more information about the NCLETR, visit www.nctorchrun.com. . About Special Olympics North Carolina Special Olympics North Carolina offers year-round sports training and competition for nearly 40,000 children and adults with intellectual disabilities. These athletes inspire greatness through their success and provide motivation to the thousands of coaches, sports officials, local program committee members and event organizers involved in Special Olympics statewide. SONC offers Olympic-type competition in 19 sports on local and state levels. Visit Special Olympics North Carolina at www.specialolympicsnc.com. Midland County continues to lead the nation in rig count, finishing this week unchanged at 33, according to weekly rotary rig count data released Friday by Houston-based oilfield services company Baker Hughes. This week marked the third straight for Midland County to finish with 33 rigs. It has maintained 30 or more rigs every week this year. The last time Midland County had fewer than 30 rigs was the week ending Dec. 31, 2015, when 29 were recorded. Despite Midland County's strong numbers, the Permian Basin as a whole continued its decline, closing the week with 165 rigs, down seven. The nation's most-active basin, which encompasses West Texas and parts of eastern New Mexico, is down 21.05 percent on the year, having shed 44 rigs since Jan. 8, the first recording period of 2016. Nearly one-third of all rigs in the U.S. operate in the Permian, with just more than 6 percent in Midland County alone. The Permian's second most-active county is Reeves, which finished the week with 22 rigs, down three. The rig counts in Midland and Reeves counties combined represent nearly 11 percent of all active rigs in the U.S. and a third of all activity in the Permian. For areas with active rigs in the Permian, there were 24 in District 7C, up one; 116 in District 8, down five; five in District 8, down two; and 20 in New Mexico, down one. The Texas total was 145, down six. Districts 1 and 7B were inactive this week. There were 362 rigs in the Permian at this time last year. TEXAS & NEW MEXICO Texas closed the week at 236 rigs, down 12. In Texas' major basins, there were 54 in the Eagle Ford, down four; 15 in the Haynesville, unchanged; 10 in the Granite Wash, up two; and three in the Barnett, down one. The Lone Star State's offshore rig count was unchanged at three and its inland waters count held steady at one. New Mexico's count fell to 21 after one rig was idled. A year ago this week, there were 576 rigs in Texas and 72 in New Mexico. UNITED STATES The number of oil rigs nationwide plummeted 26 this week to 413, while the number of natural gas rigs fell one to 101. In total, the U.S. had 514 rigs, down 27. All losses were on land, where 487 rigs were exploring. There were two rigs in inland waters and 25 rigs offshore, all in the Gulf of Mexico. By drilling trajectory, there were 50 vertical rigs, down nine; 416 horizontal rigs, down 17; and 48 directional rigs, down one. The U.S. had 1,310 rigs at this time last year. TOP 5s The top counties in District 8 this week were Midland; Reeves; Loving with 15, up one; Culberson with nine, down one; and Andrews and Howard with eight each. Andrews was unchanged, and Howard added one rig. The top five counties in Permian were Midland; Reeves; Loving; Lea (New Mexico) with 14, down two; and Upton (7C) with 10, up one. The top five basins nationwide were the Permian; the Eagle Ford; the Williston with 36, down three; the Cana Woodford with 33, down one; and the Marcellus with 29, unchanged. The top five states were Texas; Oklahoma with 73, down three; Louisiana with 45, down two; North Dakota with 36, down three; and New Mexico. CANADA AND NORTH AMERICA Canada idled 16 rigs this week, bringing its nationwide count to 206. It had 109 oil rigs, down nine. The tally for natural gas rigs was 97, down seven. Canada had 360 rigs at this time last year. The total number of rigs in the North America region fell 43 to 720. A year ago this week, there were 1,670 rig in North America. MORE ENERGY NEWS Don't miss this week's Oil Report in Sunday's Reporter-Telegram. This week's big six stories: -- Permian Rail Park opens to serve Midland Basin and the eastern region. -- Midland College says oil downturn shouldn't slow down safety training. -- Industry advances outpace industry's ability to update production sharing. -- Occidental shows off its new training center. -- Anti-fossil-fuel movement gains momentum. -- OPEC unable to broker a deal in Texas. More energy news is also available online at mrt.com/business/oil. For more information about this week's rig counts, visit the Baker Hughes website at bakerhughes.com. Follow Trevor on Twitter at @HowdyHawes. *** The following are Permian Basin rig counts by county for the week ending Feb. 19, with changes in parentheses: District 7C Crockett 2 Irion 2 Menard 1 Regan 9 Upton 10 (+1) Total 24 (+1) District 8 Andrew 8 Culberson 9 Glasscock 2 Howard 8 Loving 15 Martin 6 (-1) Midland 33 Mitchell 1 (-1) Pecos 3 (+1) Reeves 22 (-3) Ward 4 (-2) Winkler 5 Total 116 (-5) District 8A Dawson 0 (-1) Scurry 2 Terry 0 (-1) Yoakum 3 Total 5 (-2) New Mexico Eddy 6 (+1) Lea 14 (-2) Total 20 (-1) Miss Jean-Louise, stand up. Your fathers passin. Following these words, readers and movie-watchers alike saw Atticus Finch, a tall man with glasses, leave a courtroom as several black people and three white children stood in salute. On Friday, a similar sentiment of respect took place when To Kill a Mockingbird author Harper Lee died. She was 89. Her death was confirmed by City Hall in her hometown of Monroeville, Alabama. Lees novel about justice, inequality and coming of age in the 1930s South immortalized Lee as one of those definitive great American authors, according to Midland County Director of Libraries John Trischitti III. Lee was the first white author to write about race relations in the South, making the book important not only from a literature standpoint but a societal standpoint, he said. I think thats why its stood the test of time and still resonates today with people, Trischitti said. Its one of those books that isnt fully appreciated when youre young and forced to read it in school. I think with age comes a little more valuing of the topics that are covered. Genevra Miller, who teaches English at Early College High School at Midland College, has required her freshman students to read To Kill a Mockingbird since the school opened in 2009. We told our kids this afternoon and they were upset, Miller said Friday. A lot of them were very saddened by the news. They identify with the novel still several months later. The novel gives students more of a foothold as serious issues are explored through the eyes of a child, Jean-Louise Scout Finch, rather than an adult, Miller said. Theyre not being preached to by an adult voice in the novel, Miller said. Its a little girl and she kind of gets to the heart of a lot of the issues in the novel in the same way that the students would see them, and I think that helps them approach the really serious topics that shes addressing in the books. Themes such as racism, inequality, justice and poverty are why To Kill a Mockingbird is still taught in schools, according to Miller and Midland High School English teacher Mark Teel. Theres still issues that kids are dealing with every day, especially early college where so many kids are coming from minority households or situations of poverty and it gives the kids a safe environment to explore their feelings on those topics and I think helps to give historical context, Miller said. Teel said his students in one class discussed Lees passing, considering it especially sad since last years release of a prequel Go Set a Watchman. Theres the deeper theme of justice and that people have the question of what is right with justice and what is justice, and I think that novel scores those themes a lot more that are almost moral, and are a lot more than simply (the theme of) racism, Teel said. While not teaching Lees classic, Midland College assistant professor of English Stacy Egan remembered reading it as a high school sophomore and playing a role in the stage adaptation her junior year of high school. I think its a book that will probably be taught for a long, long time to come, Egan said. I think it's a great American novel that made people think deeply about ideas of inequality and injustice and whether or not our legal system is protecting the people that it should, and I think that many generations of people have really related to the protagonist of Scout. ... Im very sorry to hear about (Lees) death but I think her work is going to live on. Follow Cassie on Twitter at @Cassie_Burton51 Sarkodie should have been bigger than ... CAL FIRE Image of Drought and Insect-impacted trees in the Sierra Nevada View Photos Sonora, CA Tuolumne Utilities District (TUD) will be able to tap significant state funding to tackle dead and dying tree removals. TUD received that good news yesterday, according to the utility districts general manager, Tom Haglund. The state-provided monies, which cover 75 percent of the costs and require a 25 percent match by TUD, were made available under the California Disaster Assistance Act (CDAA) to help combat the rapidly compounding tree mortality issues that are rampant across the Sierra Nevada. Haglund says the funding will likely be retroactive back to when Governor Jerry Brown first declared the state of emergency last fall. Since then, Haglund explains, We have been doing just that type of tree removal that representeda clear and present danger to our facilitiesbecause the funding source was still unclear With more than a hint of relief, he adds, It was not until we received word yesterday that we had any sort of assurance at all that we would be receiving funding from the state. TUDs survey of all its facilities, which includes 71 miles of ditch, has indicated that more than 500 trees now need to be removed. Haglund estimates that more than an equal number might succumb to drought-related tree death and insect infestations over the next two years. On average, TUD estimates removal costs around a thousand dollars a tree, depending on size, location and risk. As it moves forward with the districts Hazard Tree Removal Plan, Haglund details, as next steps, We will also be looking to remove trees that are within falling distance of our facilitiesas far as 200 feet awaythat means they might be located on private property, and so we are looking to look with private property owners. He points out that landowners working with TUD will be able to free themselves from any liability as well as help cover their own related costs. Haglund encourages property owners who think they may have trees at risk near TUD facilities to contact the district office. San Francisco, CA California voters target unhealthy eating and a lack of physical activity as the single greatest health risk facing the states children, according to a new Field Poll. More than seven in ten see a link between a child regularly drinking sugary beverages and developing long-term health conditions like Type-2 diabetes. There is also broad consensus among voters that government should be taking actions to address the problem. 79% are in favor of requiring restaurants to serve water or milk instead of sugary drinks. 78% support health-warning labels, while 70% favor banning the drinks in cafeterias and vending machines at childrens facilities, such as schools. Additionally, 68% want a sales tax on the drinks with the money used for school nutrition and physical activity programs. Finally, a majority of voters want beverage companies to change their marketing practices, such as advertising during kids shows on television and on internet websites. The California Endowment, a private health foundation, solicited the poll. Daniel Zingale, the groups senior vice president warned, Big Soda take notice: Californians from every region and background want you to stop making our kids sick. He added, Elected officials who serve the people should listen to the majority of Californians who want to end the Type-2 diabetes epidemic. One in three children are now projected to develop Type 2 diabetes. More than half of those polled (57% to 41%) believe soda companies should pay a share of the public health costs associated with treating Type-2 diabetes and tooth decay. Trash clearing at Sonor bridge by Stockton Road View Photos Sonora, CA The CHP reports Mother Lode Fairground officials alerted them to heaps of garbage under a bridge next to a creek running through Sonora, which raised water contamination concerns. The lot off Stockton Road is used by the fairgrounds for extra parking but belongs to the state, according to Officer Nick Norton, who indicates that is why the CHP oversaw the cleanup. He notes it appeared that people were living under the bridge but no one could be found during the cleaning. Pictures in the upper left-hand image box show the junk left behind. Tuolumne County Sheriffs Department inmate crews helped to pick up the trash. It filled up three quarters of a Caltrans dump truck, shared Norton, who added that it was a grueling job requiring feces to be disposed of properly. Sourly he states, There was a bucket that had some stuff in it that was taken care of and also we found some used needles and drug paraphernalia. Norton was relieved that crews were able to clear the site this week before more rain, explaining, Especially with the way the storms have been, if the rain would have continued. I would say that the water would have come up easily and taken all that [trash] out of there. So, weve stopped that process and kept the waterways clear. The cleanup paid off as California Fish and Wildlife tested the water and determined no pollutants had reached the creek, according to Norton. Donald Trump claimed a big victory in South Carolina's Republican primary Saturday, deepening his hold on the GOP presidential field as the contest moved into the South. Out West, Hillary Clinton pulled out a crucial win in Nevada's Democratic caucuses. The victories put Clinton and Trump in strong positions as the 2016 presidential election barreled toward the March 1 Super Tuesday contests, a delegate-rich voting bonanza. But South Carolina marked the end for Jeb Bush, the one-time Republican front-runner and member of a prominent political family, who withdrew from the race. "I firmly believe the American people must entrust this office to someone who understands that whoever holds it is a servant, not the master," Bush told supporters in an emotional speech. FLORIDA DECIDES ELECTION 2016: Latest Headlines, Candidate Profiles, Voting Resources Latest Headlines, Candidate Profiles, Voting Resources FLORIDA PRIMARY: Watch live coverage of presidential and local results March 15 starting at 5 p.m. Clinton's roughly 5-point win eased the rising anxieties of her backers, who feared a growing challenge from Bernie Sanders. At a raucous victory rally in Las Vegas, she lavished praise on her supporters and declared, "This one is for you." Trump's strong showing in South Carolina marked his second straight victory in the Republican primaries and strengthened his unexpected claim on the GOP nomination. No Republican in recent times has won New Hampshire and South Carolina and then failed to win the nomination. "There's nothing easy about running for president," Trump said at his victory rally. "It's tough, it's nasty, it's mean, it's vicious. It's beautiful when you win it's beautiful." Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, a pair of freshman senators, were fighting for second place. Bush and other candidates lagged far behind. For both parties, the 2016 election has laid bare voters' anger with the political establishment and the influence of big money in the political system. The public mood has upended the usual political order, giving Sanders and Trump openings while leaving more traditional candidates scrambling to find their footing. Trump's victory comes after a week in which he threatened to sue one rival, accused former President George W. Bush of lying about the Iraq war and even tussled with Pope Francis on immigration. His victory was another sign that the conventional rules of politics often don't apply to the brash billionaire. Trump was backed by nearly 4 in 10 of those who were angry at the federal government, and a third of those who felt betrayed by politicians in the Republican Party. For Cruz, even a second-place finish in South Carolina would be something of a disappointment. The state was his first test of whether his expensive, sophisticated get-out-the-vote operation could overtake Trump in a Southern state, where the electorate is tailor-made for the uncompromising conservative Texas senator. Data curated by InsideGov Florida's Rubio was seeking to position himself as the more mainstream alternative to Trump and Cruz, candidates many GOP leaders believe are unelectable in November. Rubio scored the endorsements of several prominent South Carolina politicians, including Gov. Nikki Haley, overcoming a dismal debate performance two weeks ago that raised serious questions about his candidacy. South Carolina was a bitter disappointment for Bush, who campaigned alongside members of his famous political family, which remains popular in the state. Though Bush was once considered a well-funded front-runner for the GOP nomination, new fundraising reports out Saturday showed that donations to his super PAC had largely stalled. Also in the mix was Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who had low expectations in South Carolina. He was looking toward more moderate states that vote later in March. Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson vowed to stay in the race, despite a single-digit showing. The crowded Republican contest was a contrast to the head-to-head face-off among Democrats. Clinton has emerged a favorite of those seeking an experienced political hand, while Sanders is emerging young voters and others drawn to his call of a political and economic revolution. The Nevada results highlighted Clinton's strength with black voters, a crucial Democratic electorate in several Super Tuesday states. The Hispanic vote was closely divided between Sanders and Clinton. According to the entrance polls of voters, Clinton was backed by a majority of women, college-educated voters, those with annual incomes over $100,000, moderates, voters aged 45 and older and non-white voters. Sanders did best with men, voters under 45 and those less affluent and educated. The former secretary of state also captured the backing of voters who said electability and experience were important in their vote. But in a continuing sign of her vulnerability, Sanders did best with voters looking for a candidate who is caring and honest. Sanders congratulated Clinton on her victory, but then declared that "the wind is at our backs. We have the momentum." With a vast network of small donors, Sanders has the financial resources to stay in the race for months. Clinton's win means she will pick up at least 19 of Nevada's 35 delegates. She already holds a sizeable lead in the delegate count based largely on her support from superdelegates the party leaders who can support the candidate of their choice, no matter the outcome of primaries and caucuses. Trump won a majority of the delegates in South Carolina and he has a chance to win them all. With votes still being tabulated, the real estate mogul was projected to win at least 38 of the 50 at stake. Democrats and Republicans will swap locations in the coming days. The GOP holds its caucus in Nevada on Tuesday, while Democrats face off in South Carolina on Feb. 27. The polling of voters in Nevada and South Carolina was conducted for The Associated Press and the television networks by Edison Research as voters arrived at 25 randomly selected caucus sites. ___ Pace reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Ken Thomas in Las Vegas, Alex Sanz in Greenville, Hope Yen in Washington and AP News Survey Specialist Emily Swanson contributed to this report. Here's what you need to know about Central Florida's weather for Saturday and the rest of the weekend: Dry weather will stick around Patchy fog possible tonight Sunday will be gorgeous We had a gorgeous start to the weekend with plenty of sunshine and high temperatures in the mid to low 70s. Dry weather will stick around for the next couple of days as temperatures continue to climb. Mostly clear skies are in the forecast through the overnight hours. As winds weaken, some patchy fog will be possible as we head toward daybreak on Sunday. The fog could be dense, reducing visibility on your morning commute. Temperatures to start the day will be cool, in the mid to upper 50s. WEATHER ON THE GO: Download the News 13+ app and get StormTracker 13 and Safety Net alerts wherever you are. GET WEATHER ALERTS: Sign up to receive weather text alerts from News 13. Sunday will remain gorgeous with mostly sunny skies and no chance for rain. Temperatures will increase even more with upper 70s inland and mid-70s along the coast. Highs will reach the 80s early next work week and stay warm through Wednesday. We do have a couple of systems that will bring a chance for showers and storms starting Tuesday and continuing through early Thursday. Big drop in temperatures following these systems. The Daytona 500 looks good Sunday with only a few passing clouds and temperatures in the mid-70s. StormTracker 13 Radar View LIVE Interactive StormTracker 13 Radar Map We want your pictures! Show us what the weather looks like in your neighborhood. Your photo could end up on News 13 and mynews13.com/weatherpics. Plainview Lions Club Local feline of the 12 o'clock pride mustered at the civic center for the weekly caucus for fodder, fun and fellowship. Vice President Jim Tirey presided, assisted by Queen Madi Rossi. Pledges were led by Paul Drager, singing led by Larry McNutt and Tirey, and the invocation was offered by Shayla Whalen. Guest of Bill Cross was Jim Goble, retired employee of BNSF Railway. Rector Rey Rodriquez lit council fires with his rendition of thrill of victory or agony of defeat recitation of words of wisdom to fellow Lionsmen and Lionswomen. Welcome to new cub Lion Tim Crosswhite, employed by the City of Plainview, who was awarded membership into the pride. He was sponsored by Sarianne Beversdorf. The weekly raffle of feline, which continues to raise shackles for FISH, fetched a record sum of $102. Winnings were shared by three lucky recipients. We serve - Ron White Plainview Kiwanis Club Members gathered at noon Thursday at Plainview Country Club. Thirteen members were present. Following the Pledge of Allegiance, Kent Bearden offered a prayer. Glenda Bearden informed members that it is Kent's 76th birthday. Members signed a card for him and Kent fielded several congratulatory phone calls. J Pat Manning gave a report on the club's first flag day of the year on Monday in honor of President's Day. Representatives from the club's five partner organizations will be on hand next week. After review of the district's bylaws by secretary/treasurer Mark Warren, a motion for adoption was made by J Pat and seconded by Jonathan Petty. The motion passed. February program chair Mike Finley reviewed the club's Vial of Life program. Graciously headed by Andrea Ingram, the Vial of Life is a program in which Plainview residents can write down their emergency medical information (medicines, allergies, contact info., etc.) and place it in a vial in their refrigerator or freezer. In case of emergency and the victim (or anyone else at the home) cannot answer those emergency questions, EMS personnel - alerted by a sticker on the front door - can find what they need inside the vial. Anyone who would like a vial can pick one up free of charge at Independent Insurance Agents of Plainview, 716 Broadway. - Kevin Lewis Plainview Rotary Club The Plainview Rotary Club met Tuesday at the Plainview Country Club. Stan DeMerritt called the meeting to order. Kenneth Hooper led the invocation and Ross Owen led the Pledge of Allegiance. Visitors were Kako Sague, Rotary Club Exchange Student; Rachel Roberts and Kathryn Holloway. Beverly Wall introduced the day's speaker. Charles Garrett, of the National Resource branch of Agriculture Services. It is part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. He told the club that NRCS began as a conservation service, which is a service agency to work and help the community and encourage to community to work together. The agency encourages everyone to care for the land as the farmers work to get the crops to market. Garrett told the group that farmers are great to work with every day. Programs are designed to help farmers. Because of the different climates in Texas, it has subdivisions that agents with the farmers. CSP (Conversation Stewardship Program) is a five-year program to help farmers with their conservation efforts. He stressed again that farmers are great people to work with every day. Ross led the Four-Way-Test and Stan DeMerritt dismissed the group. Be a Light for the World -- Cynthia Gregory Plainview police are searching for a male, a female, and possibly an older male who stole nearly $2,400 worth of merchandise from the Walmart Supercenter. Plainview Police captain of investigations Manual Balderas said the department is looking for tips that could lead to the arrest of a Hispanic male and female that were caught on tape stealing 97 items worth $2,379.41. According to police reports, on Feb. 3 Walmarts loss prevention staff contacted the police department to report the theft. Staff told police that the suspects fled the scene in a maroon SUV believed to be a Tahoe. A manager was able to get a partial license plate number with the last four digits being 4854. The manager said that the suspects had selected several items from the store and went to the self-checkout and began scanning and bagging items. The two started fill a basket and then the male proceeded to push it out to their vehicle while the female stayed behind and continued scanning and bagging items. The manager said that as the male subject was walking away from the checkout he advised one of the employees that the female was paying for all the items. The employee let the male subject proceed out of the store. The manager said that a few minutes later the female finished scanning the items and ran her credit/debit card, which was declined. The female then walked out of the store and got into the maroon vehicle and fled the scene. Both suspects appear to be in their 20s. The male has short hair and the female has long brown-blondish hair. Police also believe an older Hispanic male may have taken part in the theft. He also was pictured in the video. Anyone having information on the above crimes or any other crimes occurring in Plainview or Hale County can contact the Crimestoppers Hotline at 293-8477 (293-TIPS). All calls will be kept confidential. Hale County Commissioners appear ready to join the Plainview City Council in endorsing a $7.7 million project to renovate Plainviews Hilton Hotel to create 27 loft apartments along with spaces for commercial and retail businesses. Commissioners got a look at a resolution supporting the project at their Friday work session, and are scheduled to take formal action at Mondays regular session. This company has a good track record with projects of this nature, Mike Fox, executive director of the Plainview/Hale County Economic Development Corp. told commissioners Friday. They have a real passion for historical buildings. Probably their closest project to Plainview is Guymon, Oklahoma, while one most similar to what they plan here is at Pratt, Kansas. In Guymon, MRE Capital LLC restored an old building into 45-multi-family units for the Dale Apartments. In Pratt, an old hotel is now the 23-unit Parrish Lofts. In Claremore, Oklahoma, the Will Rogers Hotel is now a 38-unit complex. We have nothing to lose and everything to gain in approving this project, County Judge Bill Coleman added. I dont see a downside since we are not being asked to put up any money, and the project will put this building back into use. Officials from MRE Capital are seeking a resolution of support from the county to go along with the citys resolution approved earlier this month. Coleman said local support could prove instrumental in gaining a similar endorsement from State Rep. Ken King. The supportive letters translate into valuable points in the competitive grant process. This project is two points ahead of all the other projects, and a unanimous show of support could be a determining factor with the Texas Department of Housing, Coleman said. Plainview Assistant City Manager Andrew Freeman, in a response to a question, noted that it would likely cost $1 million and $2 million for the city to demolish the 87-year-old structure if it comes to that point. The building itself is very sound, added Ranada Jack. Their engineers said that its perhaps more sound than any other building in town. They want to preserve the history of the building, and get rid of those ugly things (microwave relays) on top. It would really be uplifting to downtown. She adds that the Hilton Hotel, which has been vacant since the mid-1980s, is about 10 years away from a point of no return when it comes to restoration. As it stands now, I consider the Hilton Hotel economic undevelopment, Fox adds. It being in such disrepair is a bad reflection on Plainview in general, and the citizens out there want something done. MRE Capital LLC has applied for Housing Tax Credit Financing from the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs. As now envisioned, the Conrad Lofts will include about 27 units ranging from one to three bedrooms, and between 410 and 2,281 square-feet, along with space for retail businesses. Also Monday, commissioners will be asked to approve current accounts payable, including $514,199.43 from the 2015 budget. According to County Auditor Maretta Smithson, a sweep of accounts for unexpended funds in the 2015 budget will allow the county to reimburse the City of Plainview $105,425.40 for the countys 50 percent share of land costs for a new industrial park adjacent to the former Jimmy Dean Meat Company plant, along with $57,594 as a local match for a two-year mental health peace officer grant. The county also will shift $242,000 from unexpended payroll funds into the countys employee health insurance benefits account. Also included under the 2015 budget payments is the purchase of three pickups, ordered last year for later delivery. Current accounts payable for Feb. 8-22, according to Treasurer Ida Tyler, is $137,690.83. Tyler also will report Monday that the countys closing balance at the end of January was $18,579,303.93. Also Friday, Coleman asked Commissioners Harold King and Benny Cantwell to look into maintenance issues at the Ollie Liner Center after OLC Manager Lynn Barton reported that the foam under the metal ridgecap on the buildings roof has deteriorated, flooring and the exhaust fans in the kitchen need to be repaired and the parking lot should to be rebuilt following the recent blizzard. On Monday, commissioners are scheduled to: --Formally accept Bartons resignation, which is effective May 1. --Receive activity reports from Hale Center EMS and Abernathy Fire Department. Cantwell reported Friday that Abernathy firefighters had 62 runs during 2015, including 24 inside the city, 26 in Hale County and 12 in Lubbock County. --Hear a request from Crisis Center of the Plains to use the courthouse square from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. April 2 for its annual Walk-A-Mile-In-Her-Shoes event. --Authorize three more employees to attend computer software training hosted by Tyler Technologies. --Hear Sheriff David Mull review his departments annual racial profiling report. --Authorize Precinct 3 Constable Terry Timms to apply for a grant through the Criminal Justice Division of the Texas Governors Office to purchase and equip a patrol vehicle. --Renew a one-year contract with the Linebarger Law Firm to collect outstanding fines for the countys justice courts. --Approve the appointment of Myra Chapa as court reporter for 64th District Court. Mondays regular session begins at 9 a.m. in the Hale County Courthouse, 500 Broadway. It is open to the public. Feb. 21, 1946: Technical Sgt. Tom J. Wheeler was discharged Feb. 8 at McClellan Field, Calif., after serving for 37 months in the flight records division of the Army Air Forces. He and his wife are visiting here in the home of his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Newt Wheeler. --Carthal Niehaus, Navy petty officer, has been discharged and expects to resume his former position with the Herald on Monday. Niehaus, his wife and their son are visiting here and in Amarillo. He entered active Navy duty in August 1944. --J.B. Wheeler is employed in the Hale County State Bank bookkeeping department. The WWII veteran and Plainview native assumed his post a week ago. Feb. 21, 1956: Richard Tye, Kress FFA and the son of Mr. and Mrs. Ben Tye, showed the first place light weight Poland-China barrow in the San Antonio Livestock Show. He also had the champion pen of three Poland Chinas in the Junior Show. The animals were selected, fitted and shown under the director of J.C. Christenson, vocational agriculture teacher at Kress. --The Yardstick, completing moving operations, will be open at its new location at 610 Broadway on Monday. For the past six years, it has been at 717 Broadway. The business is owned by Bill Hamman. --The Plainview First Presbyterian Church on Sunday regretfully accepted the resignation of its pastor, Dr. G.K. Rogers. The 66-year-old Rogers has been pastor here since 1942, and has been in the ministry for 41 years. Feb. 21, 1966: Homer Garrison, vice president of City National Bank, has been elected to be a director of the West Texas Chamber of Commerce. He will serve a three-year term and replaces Wilmot Eaton of Eaton Stationary Company, who is going off the board as Plainviews representative. --Beverly Blaine and Susan Meriwether of Plainview have been named to the honor roll for the fall semester at West Texas State University at Canyon. Blaine, senior Spanish major, is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Blaine. Meriwether, freshman English major, is the daughter of Doris Thomas. --Mrs. Bob (Jenny Lynn) Allford was named Oltons first Woman of the Year and Postmaster I.B. Doc Holt received the Citizen of the Year Award at the ninth annual Olton Chamber of Commerce Banquet on Friday. Feb. 21, 1986: Frank Bearden donated two deer head mounts to the Wayland Biology Mammal Collection on Monday. One is a whitetail with a 10-point, 18 1/2-inch rack that was taken south of Lorraine. The other is a mule deer with an 11-point, 26-inch rack that was taken 17 miles north of Carizozo, N.M. An elk and antelope are needed to complete the collection. --With the help of the Plainview Industrial Foundation and interim financing from Hale County State Bank, Truxmore, Inc., of Richmond, Va., acquired the assets of EMCO Corp., during Federal Bankruptcy Court proceedings in Dallas. Truxmore plans to recall employees and reopen the Plainview facility that manufactures refuse handing equipment. It closed last week after being under Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings since July. It was owned by a group of investors headed by Richard Holmes. --Jan Hamilton has been elected secretary of the Limouselles, a national auxiliary group of the Limousin breed of cattle. Her selection came during the 1986 National Western Stock Show and Rodeo in Denver. Compiled by Doug McDonough During the run-up to its IPO in late 2014, Virgin America made no secret of its interest in flying to Hawaii as soon as it got the right airplanes. Last April, the chic low-cost carrier followed through, announcing daily flights from its main base in San Francisco to both Honolulu and Maui. Virgin America now flies to Hawaii. Image source: Virgin America. Virgin America started the San Francisco-Honolulu route in early November. The San Francisco-Maui route followed in early December. Not surprisingly, demand for Virgin America's Hawaii service has been strong. As a result, Hawaii is likely to be a key component of the company's capacity growth in the next few years. Virgin America announces new Hawaii routes Back in August, Virgin America CEO David Cush told me that the company was expecting good results out of the gate in Hawaii. Earlier this month, the carrier gave a strong signal that it hadn't been disappointed. At that time, Virgin America announced plans to expand its Hawaii footprint by starting daily flights from Los Angeles (its other main focus city) to Honolulu and Maui in May and June, respectively. It wouldn't be growing so quickly in Hawaii unless it saw a big opportunity. In fact, Virgin America's new Los Angeles routes come at a great time. Market leader Hawaiian Holdings recently revealed that capacity in the West Coast-Hawaii market is scheduled to decline during Q2, when Virgin America's new flights will begin. For the Los Angeles-Hawaii market in particular, the capacity declines have already begun. Hawaiian Airlines expects West Coast-Hawaii industry capacity to decline next quarter. Image source: Wikimedia Commons. Virgin America will still face plenty of competition there from Hawaiian, United Continental , and the other legacy carriers. But industry capacity discipline should support high fares. Management confirms the strong trajectory On Virgin America's Q4 earnings call this week, management confirmed the strong start in Hawaii. Cush stated that Virgin America has had more empty seats than planned, but this was more than offset by higher-than-expected fare levels. Furthermore, Cush noted that early bookings for the next several months look very good. Demand for travel to Hawaii appears to be rising. Given the high fares prevailing in the market, this bodes well for the profitability of Virgin America's Hawaii routes during the spring and summer. More flights could be coming Following Virgin America's earnings call, I had a chance to speak directly to David Cush about the company's future plans in Hawaii. Cush said Virgin America would likely expand beyond the two most popular islands eventually. He noted that the smaller Kona and Lihue markets are somewhat underserved from San Francisco. United Airlines has a monopoly on flights from San Francisco to Kona and Lihue. Image source: The Motley Fool. Sure enough, while Honolulu and Maui accounted for 76% of the capacity from Los Angeles to Hawaii during December -- the last month for which data is available -- they accounted for 84% of capacity from San Francisco. In fact, United Continental is currently the only airline flying to Kona and Lihue from San Francisco. By contrast, United has several competitors from Los Angeles to Kona and Lihue. Long runway for growth Virgin America has already allocated all of its capacity for 2016, so further growth in Hawaii will have to wait until next year. At that point, it could have several opportunities. Aside from starting flights from San Francsico to Kona or Lihue, Virgin America could also add flights on the four routes it has already announced. In fact, Cush stated that all else being equal, he would prefer to grow in existing markets, as that is usually more predictable and the extra flights mature faster than brand new routes. Longer-term, if Virgin America enters Kona or Lihue, it would likely be able to support flights from Los Angeles as well as San Francisco. Bottom line: By 2020, Virgin America could easily double or triple its capacity in Hawaii relative to the four flights already announced. It's never going to match market leaders like Hawaiian Holdings and United Continental. But Virgin America should be able to carve out a highly profitable niche in the West Coast-Hawaii air travel market. The next billion-dollar iSecret The world's biggest tech company forgot to show you something at its recent event, but a few Wall Street analysts and the Fool didn't miss a beat: There's a small company that's powering their brand-new gadgets and the coming revolution in technology. And we think its stock price has nearly unlimited room to run for early in-the-know investors! To be one of them, just click here. The article What's Virgin America, Inc.'s Next Move in Hawaii? originally appeared on Fool.com. Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Given Irans recent nuclear deal with the West, the lifting of economic sanctions and political maneuvering before the parliamentary elections (in which hard-liners have tried to disqualify large numbers of moderates and reformists from running), Laura Secors new book about Iran since its 1979 Islamic Revolution could not be more timely. In Children of Paradise, Secor who has written about Iran for The New Yorker, The New York Times and Foreign Affairs, among other publications indelibly portrays the journalists, dissidents, reformers and student activists who have fought bravely for their ideals in a country where voicing ones beliefs has often led to imprisonment, torture and death. As described by Secor, their ordeals often read like Kafkaesque nightmares in which nearly every Iranian was guilty of something that could carry a prison sentence or worse, be punished by death (apostasy, alcohol consumption and crimes against chastity). Or like monstrous fairy tales, complete with secret prisons and miracle rooms, where torture (savage beatings, sexual humiliation, sleep deprivation and mock executions) was used to extract forced confessions. Some of those profiled began as anti-Western militants involved in the taking of American hostages and evolved into proponents of democratic reform. Some began as revolutionaries with the highest hopes of creating a new Islamic state with room for liberal, humanist ideas, only to find themselves in the crosshairs of extremists, intent on cementing their own power and crushing all dissent. More Information Children of Paradise: The Struggle for the Soul of Iran By Laura Secor Riverhead Books, $30 See More Collapse Some tried to maintain political viability by trying to triangulate among the many factions in Iranian politics. And some were killed or forced into exile after excruciating stints in prison and threats against their relatives and friends. Secors portraits create an impressionistic montage of Iranian life during the last 37 years, which is hugely valuable in helping us understand Irans complex back story. Indeed, as this book underscores, todays battles between hard-liners and more moderate and reformist forces are part of a historical clash between political and religious principles, as well as tensions between nationalistic yearnings for authenticity and a philosophical openness to (even fascination with) Western ideas and ideals. Drawing parallels between Irans revolution and the classic template of revolution described by the historian Crane Brinton in The Anatomy of Revolution, Secor points out that revolutionary Irans first political leaders like Mehdi Bazargan and Abolhassan Bani-Sadr were moderates, but that they were soon driven out of government by radicals, who consolidated power and put into effect what Brinton would have called a reign of terror and virtue. So many enemies of God were executed in the summer of 1988, following a fatwa issued by the Ayatollah Khomeini, she writes, that executioners complained of overwork and asked to use firing squads, but silence and secrecy were of the essence. According to one former official, she says, prisoners were loaded onto forklifts and lifted onto six cranes from which they were hanged for some two months, this reportedly went on every half hour from 7:30 in the morning until 5 oclock in the evening. The problem with Children of Paradise is that it can feel haphazardly assembled, hopping and skipping around, and sometimes providing only a fuzzy sense of political context. What Secor does do in this book with intense emotion is convey the often harrowing stories of her subjects lives: their hopes, their aspirations and the often terrible prices they paid for dissent. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Two weeks after a former Judson ISD employee was accused of trafficking a homeless 15-year-old prostitute, a woman arrested Friday is now facing charges of compelling prostitution of the same girl. According to an affidavit, the girl met Marcelina Adame, 35, several months ago when she was homeless, and Adame told the minor she knew of a way the girl could make money. The affidavit said Adame took the girl to various locations to "pimp her out," and arranged for the 15-year-old to meet Matthew John Turner, 34, a Judson ISD employee. RELATED: Ex-Judson ISD employee accused of trafficking homeless underage prostitute Turner was arrested less than two weeks ago and faces charges of trafficking of a person less than 18 years of age and sexual performance by a child, according to an arrest affidavit. The 15-year-old homeless girl told investigators at the time she met Turner while she was being "pimped out" by Adame who was trying to help her make money, according to an affidavit. After multiple meetings with him during which she was handcuffed and choked, the girl told investigators that Turner asked for someone younger than she. RELATED: Two sexual assaults reported at Texas State University Turner, whom the minor called "Cuffs," offered $200 after the teen suggested she could have Adame's 9-year-old female relative meet with him, the affidavit said. The teen told investigators that she was so disgusted that Turner would even ask and pay for a girl that young that she and two other men robbed and beat him up when he arrived to meet the girl at a motel room, the affidavit said. Adame used her credit card to rent motel rooms for the homeless girl for the purpose of prostitution, the affidavit said. Further investigation revealed that another 15-year-old female relative of Adame's was also prostituting herself out of these rooms to "try and buy new stuff," according to the affidavit. RELATED: Police: Former Judson High School teacher sexually assaulted 2 minors During Adame's interview with Child Protective Services, she tested positive for methamphetamine, the affidavit said. Adame is at the Bexar County Jail pending magistration. MMedina@mySA.com Jacob Beltran contributed to this report. Bruce Selcraig / San Antonio Express-News A convoluted, 20-year-old civil case that resulted in the jailing of community activist George Alejos, 65, last Sunday for contempt of court grew more bizarre Friday when the judge who ordered his release first had an impromptu meeting with him in a hallway outside his chambers. Alejos, unshaven and in a faded, orange-and-white striped jail uniform, was sweeping and mopping in the Bexar County courthouse on a jail work detail while his attorney, Kenneth Grubbs, met with state District Judge Peter Sakai. The judge needed to verify his identity so deputies quickly fetched him. Alejos was in good spirits when he greeted Sakai. Crescenciana Hernandez Gutierrez believed everyone should dance, and taught generations of children and adults ballet, tap, folklorico and classical Spanish over four decades. My mother just loved children and the art of dance, her daughter Adriana Gutierrez-Worthey said. She wanted everybody to dance wanted them to love it the same way she did. Gutierrez died Feb. 17 at 88. Born in Mission, her family migrated to Mexico when Gutierrez was a young girl, raising her in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon. Taking dancing lessons at the Sociedad Cuauhtemoc y Famosa Academy, a recreational program offered through her fathers employer, Gutierrez was soon spending all of her time there. She was always creative and loved music, Gutierrez-Worthey said. They offered free classes, dance, art and music; she studied dance five days a week, all day long. More Information Crescenciana Hernandez Gutierrez Born: May 5, 1927, Mission Died: Feb. 17, 2016, San Antonio Preceded by: Husband Robert Gutierrez. Survived by: Son Robert Gutierrez Jr.; daughters Norma Gutierrez, Ana Maria Baez, Adriana Gutierrez-Worthey, Maria Amparo Gutierrez; eight grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. Services: Celebration of life from noon to 3 p.m. Sunday at Mission Park Funeral Home, 3401 Cherry Ridge Drive. See More Collapse Hired as the director of the program at 17, Gutierrez continued there until marrying, deciding at that time she wanted to return to the U.S. She wanted her children to be born here, Gutierrez-Worthey said. After living in Brownsville and Corpus Christi, Gutierrez and her growing family settled in San Antonio, where she started teaching at the Alameda Theater in the late 1950s. Taking the bus to and from the studio, it started to become a hardship for her with the children, Gutierrez-Worthey said. Deciding it was time to stay at home, Gutierrez was approached by a number of her students who told her that if she offered classes at her home, they would take them. It was a perfect solution. She could still be the housewife and mother and be able to teach class when it was convenient for her, Gutierrez-Worthey said. She began teaching each of her children before they started school. We all loved performing, Gutierrez-Worthey said. Everybody in the family, at one point or another, has been taught by my mom. In addition to teaching, Gutierrez also composed music, wrote lyrics, designed and sewed the costumes for performances and did the choreography. Ive never met someone who had so much talent, her daughter said. She was more that just my teacher, said granddaughter Merlot Visocaro, who is studying Flamenco dance at the University of New Mexico-Albuquerque. We talked about dance like friends, and understood the passion. I owe everything to her. mheidbrink@express-news.net In the blink of an eye, weve gone from opening combat jobs to women to Republican presidential candidates endorsing registering women for a draft. Hide your daughters our deluded and cowardly political elites are a clear and present danger to common sense. A proposal from the chief of staff of the Army and the commandant of the Marine Corps to require that women register with Selective Service seemed at first like an effort to highlight the absurd endpoint of the rush to women in combat, but top Republicans duly saluted and fell in line. Asked about the proposal at the recent Republican debate, Marco Rubio said that (the) Selective Service should be opened up for both men and women in case a draft is ever instituted. He makes it sound as though women would completely miss out should a large-scale conventional war break out and they not be compelled to fight in it through the coercive power of the state. Chris Christie agreed. So did Jeb Bush, who gamely and cluelessly added that we should not impose any kind of political agenda on the military. Of course, a political agenda namely the insistence there is no meaningful difference between men and women, even when it comes to military combat is the entire point. The same people who tend to think that college girls need safe spaces to protect them from unwelcome speech profess to believe that their ranks are bristling with the likes of Lyudmila Pavlichenko, the legendary Soviet World War II sniper. They are indulged in this illusion by men with ribbons on their chests who should know better. The U.S. military doesnt exist to satisfy the whims of the board of directors of the Ms. Foundation. Its job is to field a force that is most effective at winning the nations wars. In an extensive study, the U.S. Marine Corps concluded that mixed-gender units fail by that test, although no one is inclined to take note. The Marine study compared all-male and mixed-gender units and concluded that women in mixed-gender units were injured twice as often as men, less accurate with infantry weapons, and not as good at removing wounded troops from the battlefield. The physical capacity of the sexes is different, and top-end females tend to be only as capable as the lower-end males. The males in the Marine study averaged 178 pounds, with 20 percent body fat, whereas females were 142 pounds, with 24 percent body fat. The top 25 percent of females in anaerobic power overlapped with the bottom 25 percent of males; the top 10 percent of females in anaerobic capacity overlapped with the bottom 50 percent of males. The physical disadvantage meant that women were more likely to be fatigued and suffer stress fractures. Women were six times more likely to be injured in entry-level training than males. The rejoinder to such inconvenient facts is always that the Russians and the Israelis deployed or deploy women in combat. But this is much too simplistic. Lyudmila the sniper was an exception. According to a study for the School of Advanced Military Studies at Fort Leavenworth, even under the extreme pressure of the Nazi invasion, women were only 8 percent of the Red Army, and largely served as medics or otherwise in medical care. As for the Israelis, women initially fought with the Haganah guerrilla force prior to the creation of the Jewish state. But they were pulled back over time. Generally, the Fort Leavenworth study notes, because of their comparative lack of physical strength, commanders employed women in defensive operations whenever possible. Today, as The New York Times notes in a report on gender integration of the Israeli Defense Forces, it remains rare for women to kill or be killed. It is evidently too much to ask that reality intrude on the polite fictions of this countrys policymakers. comments.lowry@nationalreview.com I left my job at a top digital agency about a year ago to pursue my entrepreneurial dreams. It was exciting and scary. Making the transition from a stable job with a steady paycheck to the world of freelance work and contracted pay was not easy, and it took time to find support. I am offering this experience for the benefit of those who are considering transitioning to an independent or freelance work-life. This decision comes with many challenges, but San Antonio has a growing number of supportive people and communities who can help you be successful. For the first few months, I found myself working alone with lots of time on my hands. I began to question the decision. My friends, family and former co-workers were skeptical, too. What are you going to do? You dont have another job? How are you going to pay your bills? I had considered these questions and had a plan. But there was still plenty of uncertainty and risk. For the first six months of self-employment, I was working mostly part time. My schedule was flexible; I worked from home; I did things my way. It was what I wanted, but financially I was digging myself into a hole. I had money coming in, but not enough to avoid dipping into savings. I had no health insurance, no paid time off, and no guarantee that I could survive the next month. I considered going back to full-time employment. The fear of imminent financial debt and failure eventually motivated me to start connecting with more people. I took a minimum-wage, part-time job to help pay the bills. I contacted everyone I knew about finding work. I even took unpaid work just to build a portfolio and relationships. The biggest support came from independent working friends and local entrepreneurial communities. A good friend and talented photographer, Jayna Finucane, took the leap into independent working around the same time I did. It was reassuring to have a friend who understood the challenges I was facing. We worked on a few projects together, shared tables at coffee shops, and built a relationship that was supportive of our work-life. I started going to CafeCommerce, a city-funded space at the downtown public library. It holds a weekly meeting, called 1 Million Cups, of entrepreneurs who present business ideas to each other. It was a great space for collaboration and networking. The most impactful source of motivation and income came from Mari Aguirre-Rodriguez and her invitation to join Opt Ins team of experts. This group of talented independent workers provided community and a source of clients to serve. Mari and her business partner, Sally Roberts, also opened The Workery, a co-working space near downtown that has given me a home for my independent work. Its a nontraditional environment that is casual and professional. A network of about 50 people use The Workery to get work done, hold meetings and be social. The community is highly supportive of independent working women and mothers, a rapidly growing niche in the freelance world. I love my life as an independent worker. Every day I wake up with the task of providing value to my clients. I dont get paid to be physically located somewhere, and I have to contribute and constantly prove myself every day. I can be fired at any time for any reason, but I also have the same freedom to leave a client if its not working out. I dont have bosses any more. I have clients who treat me like a partner. This past year has had plenty of ups and downs. I almost gave up. I made 50 percent less income than the previous year as a full-time employee. But with the support of family, clients, fellow independent workers and entrepreneurial communities, I feel confident about 2016 and my ability to survive and grow as an independent worker in San Antonio. Paul DiGiovanni is a Web marketing consultant and online community expert in San Antonio. Twitter: @PaulieDiGi Texas cases on affirmative action, redistricting, abortion and immigration almost surely will be the major cases of this term of the U.S. Supreme Court. Though Texas has been a frequent litigant before the high court, this term will be more Texas-based than any in the past. Texas cases have been the centerpieces of the Supreme Court docket many times in the past. The 1972-73 term was especially Texas-centered and very instructive about the cases before the court this 2015-16 term. In 1973, the Supreme Court decided Texas cases on abortion, redistricting and school finance. In 1982, the court decided a Texas case on rights to a public education for undocumented children. A discussion of these cases should help us both understand the 2016 cases and predict their outcomes. The unexpected death of Justice Antonin Scalia means these cases will be watched even more closely as the Supreme Court vacancy looms over the U.S. Senate and the presidential campaign. Roe vs. Wade, the 1973 abortion case, is certainly one of the best-known and most intensely disputed Supreme Court opinions. Roe held that it is unconstitutional for Texas to outlaw abortions. Roe created the basic structure for analyzing the permissible reach of state regulation during each phase of a pregnancy and state rules on the procedure itself. White vs. Regester, the 1973 redistricting case, was the first Supreme Court case striking down multimember districts because of their negative effects on minority voting strength. The White vs. Regester record became the basis for the application of the Voting Rights Act to Texas in 1975. It also set the basic structure for the hundreds of single-member district and redistricting cases since then. In San Antonio ISD vs. Rodriguez, the Supreme Court upheld the Texas school finance system 5-4, but it was a close case, under the lowest standard of review. The Texas Supreme Court has since found the Texas school finance system unconstitutional several times, but the Rodriguez case still determines the limited scope of review of school finance systems by the federal courts. In 1982, in Plyler vs. Doe, the U.S. Supreme Court threw out Texas laws preventing undocumented children from attending public school. States still may not prevent undocumented children from attending schools; the case is well-known for its very sensitive and perceptive view of the lives of undocumented in the United States and the states interests in educating them. Two of the Texas cases this term have been argued, and two remain to be argued. In Fisher vs. University of Texas, the court will address the issue of affirmative action in college admissions. The court could use this case to hold unconstitutional any affirmative action plan that considers race or national origin. On the other hand, the Supreme Court could decide this case by affirming the lower courts that have upheld the University of Texas very limited use of race and national origin as a plus factor in part of it admissions process. Texas redistricting is again before the court in Evenwel vs. Abbott case. Plaintiffs seek to force Texas to redraw all its districts based on the number of actual voters in the district rather than on the total population. Total population is the basis for almost all the electoral districts drawn in Texas, from Congress to school districts. Opponents argue that the plaintiffs position would deny representation to children and others not entitled to vote. The court taking the case surprised many observers. The court could use the case to clarify that total population is the proper method to determine districts, except in some very special circumstances. On the other hand, the court might decide that districts should be drawn on the basis of actual voters in a district. If the Supreme Court decides that the number of actual voters is the right metric, almost every district in every state, county and city in the United States will have to be redistricted. The abortion case, Whole Womans Health vs. Cole, could be used to define what the Supreme Court means when it uses the term undue burden. States may prevent abortions during the latter part of a pregnancy, and regulate the facilities and practices used in abortions unless those policies place an undue burden on a womans rights. On the other hand, the case could be the vehicle for a reversal of Roe vs. Wade and a return to leaving the control of abortions to the states. In the immigration case, Texas vs. U.S., Texas was one of many states that sought a court injunction of the presidents rules on the immigration rights of so-called Dreamers young people who were born outside the country and brought here as children and their families. The court could determine the present actions to be unconstitutional or violations of federal laws and procedures, or it could uphold the presidents policies. Of the four Texas cases, Texas vs. U.S. presents the longest list of difficult issues for the Supreme Court standing to sue, powers of the presidency, determining damages to the states, prosecutorial discretion and a host of others. I have practiced constitutional law for decades and taught constitutional law many times. None of us can predict accurately what the Supreme Court will do. However though it is probably foolish I offer my opinions. I think the Supreme Court will put even further limitations on affirmative action plans, but will not take the final action of outlawing any consideration or use of race and national origin in college admissions. The court will give the states some rights to determine the method of counting persons, but will put upon states a very heavy burden to use anything other than total population. The court will further define undue burden and uphold the basic principles of Roe vs. Wade, but clarify the limits of state powers to control the abortion process. The immigration case is the hardest to read. I think the high court will take some middle ground here allowing prosecutorial discretion to determine individual cases and some types of cases, but will probably not allow the broad and clear standards of the presidents policies. These are not necessarily my opinions on the proper decisions for the Supreme Court. I might well bat 0-4 in these predictions and have future constitutional law students remind me of it. But I do hope that by considering Texas history at the Supreme Court and the issues before the court this term, we will better understand some of the options and possible results of its actions. Al Kauffman is a professor of law at St. Marys University School of Law. At first, in the summer of 2015, it seemed like a joke. Then a novelty. Then a bubble that must surely burst. Then a spectacle, overshadowing all the earnestness and experience of the Republican presidential field. Now Donald Trump seems on the verge of primary victories concentrated in the South that would establish him as a formidable front-runner. And this has happened in spite of a series of disqualifying comments ridiculing a war hero, employing misogynist humor, mocking a disabled reporter, displaying ignorance on basic policy matters, slandering the last Republican president that were not disqualifying at all. Why has this happened? Trump is not leading because he has masked his ideas, which have been consistent and forthright. He would (he says) build a Mexican-funded wall across the continent, expel 11 million undocumented immigrants, blow up the global trading order, send Syrian refugees back into a war zone, ban the immigration of Muslims to America and consider a Muslim registry. No one who supports Trump can say they didnt know the ethnically and religiously charged content of Trumpism. Yet it is Trumps style, his defiance of convention and political correctness, which seems to explain the intensity of his support. Were voting with our middle finger, explains a Trump supporter in South Carolina. All the institutions that have failed failed to stop Barack Obama, failed to save America from adulteration, corruption and destruction should be overturned. Burn, baby, burn. This approach to politics has not normally been associated with conservatism, which teaches prudence, proportion and respect for institutions, even if they require reform. Stepping back a moment, it is necessary to say that America, even after seven years of Obama as president, is not North Korea. And American political structures have not failed like those of Weimar Germany. Even as there is much to improve about our country, there is much more to love. And there is much to fear in faces that would appear eager and exhilarated when lighted by the bonfire of American institutions. The political philosophy of the middle finger captured by Trump in all its vulgar, taunting, divisive glory requires an ethical leap. It assumes that practices we know are wrong in our private lives contempt, mockery, cruelty, prejudice are somehow justified in our political lives. It requires us to embrace views and tactics that we would never teach our children but do, in fact, teach them through an ethically degraded politics. Imagine your teenage son (or daughter, for that matter) calling a woman a fat pig, dog, disgusting animal or bimbo. Imagine your child labeling someone he or she knows as a loser, moron or dummy. This is the evidence of poor character, in any context. For Christians, the price of entry to the Trump movement is to abandon their commitments to kindness and love of neighbor. Which would mean their faith has no public consequence at all. And Trumpism is an existential threat to conservatism. It is not a theory of limited government. It would use government, with augmented powers, to enforce a vision of ethnic nationalism, constructing a wall visible from space and conducting one of the largest forced expulsions in history. Our circumstance is sometimes compared to William F. Buckley Jr.s public shunning of the John Birch Society the extreme conservatives of their day. But we have moved well beyond that precedent. No Bircher contended seriously for the Republican nomination. Until recently, nativists like Tom Tancredo (who referred to Miami as a Third World Country and proposed to send Obama back to his homeland in Kenya) seemed like a fringe element. Now this extreme threatens to become the dominant voice and face of the Republican Party. Many Trump supporters believe that Obama has changed the country in destructive ways which I believe is true. But they also would change our country, in ways that should make us sick to the heart. For all our faults, we are a nation that prizes civility and respect. We give our neighbor the benefit of the doubt. We stand up for the little guy. We are grateful for our flawed and wonderful country. And we know our flag stands for shared ideals, not someones idea of shared bloodlines. All this is now at stake. It is time to stand up, to leave nothing that is necessary unsaid or undone, and to give our children an example of braveness and boldness in defending the decent, honorable, generous soul of our nation. michaelgerson@washpost.com In 2015, Texas still led the nation in exonerations, many of them coming from Harris County and its Conviction Integrity Unit. All major metropolitan areas in Texas have such a unit, including Bexar County. But heres the sad truth about the units and about exonerations generally: There simply arent enough of either. Legislatures have failed to help in significant ways. The circumstances under which these exonerations occur point to deep flaws in how defendants are prosecuted. This is made clear in a sobering report by the National Registry of Exonerations. The group is a project of the University of Michigan Law School. Last year, says the report, was a record one for exonerations 149, with Texas producing 54. Forty-three of these came from Harris County and two from Bexar assault and sexual assault cases. Most of the Harris exonerations were for drug convictions, but they also included one homicide. In Texas, 81.4 percent of those exonerated were minorities nearly 60 percent black. Of the record homicide exonerations nationally, half of the defendants were black. And nationally, exonerees served an average of 14 years in prison. Some problems are clear. Conviction integrity units So far, only about 15 percent of the national population lives in jurisdictions with CIUs, and over 60 percent of counties with populations over one million have no CIUs, says the report. It defies logic to reason that wrongful convictions occur only in urban areas with large district attorney staffs. Only large counties can devote the resources to such units. That means smaller counties in Texas should be pooling resources to create units or The state can step in In the last session, the Legislature created a commission to review all exoneration cases since 2010. But it sunsets Dec. 1, and its job is to recommend how future wrongful convictions can be avoided. A worthy endeavor, but in those jurisdictions without conviction integrity units, this leaves unscrutinized the cases of wrongful convictions that are virtually certain to exist elsewhere in Texas. According to the report, only one state North Carolina has formed a commission to investigate and evaluate post-conviction claims of innocence. The North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission is independent and makes recommendations to a review board, which can refer cases to a judicial tribunal that can exonerate. This has produced nine exonerations. Texas should either help counties with funding to create their own units or create such a commission. The number of Texas exonerations uncovered so far is surely the tip of the iceberg. The flaws Here are the characteristics of the wrongful convictions reported by the registry: False confessions (16 percent), mostly involving homicides or defendants who are younger than 18 or who have mental health issues, or both; Official misconduct (43.6 percent), three-quarters of these involving homicides; Guilty pleas (43.6 percent), mostly drug cases; Finally, cases in which no crime actually occurred (about half). Two-thirds of these no-crime cases involved drug possession. Lab tests revealed no illegal substances. The report authors logically ask, In 2014 and 2015, 73 innocent defendants who pled guilty to low level drug crimes in Harris County, Texas, were exonerated by lab drug tests and more to come. But how many innocent defendants have pled guilty in Harris County in cases for which no lab tests are available? And how many thousands more in the thousands of other counties across the country? Got that? People were arrested for carrying perfectly legal substances and then entered guilty pleas to either get out of jail quickly or because, perhaps with previous records, they had no confidence in the system, feared convictions and were offered a plea bargain. The same circumstances obviously help drive false confessions. In those drug cases, police were conducting notoriously unreliable field tests on substances to make arrests. This is likely happening all over Texas. Yes, the sentences for the drug defendants in Texas amounted to days or months, rather than years. Still, police records for individuals were created that would have dogged them the rest of their lives. And please note the high percentage of official misconduct cited by this report. The path is clear. Uncovering all cases of wrongful convictions should be a priority when the Legislature returns in 2017. Re: Catholics awaiting message of hope during papal visit, front page, Feb. 13: It is abundantly clear why Pope Francis wanted to celebrate Mass at the El Paso/Juarez border on his visit to Mexico. Pure and simple, he is promoting open borders while subliminally suggesting U.S. taxpayers absorb the cost. Never mind that uninterrupted entry will attract dope peddlers, murderers, rapists, the uneducated or perhaps even terrorists into the U.S. Once they cross, they will vanish like snow under a summer sun, and discreetly demand and receive government welfare. As a Catholic, I am distressed immeasurably with his motive. I suggest the pope, instead, use his influence to help root out the immense cesspool of corruption by the Mexican government, a practice that has existed for centuries against a suffering humanity. It is time for all American Catholics like myself to force those exporting countries and their unprincipled leaders to care for their own citizenry. We cannot accommodate every person who wants to come here. I am sorry, but we simply cannot afford it. Mike Gonzales, Houston Smith no scientist Re: Smith right to doubt, Your Turn, Feb. 12: Scientists do have their work checked. They publish their findings to prove or disprove those findings. Last I heard, Rep. Lamar Smith was trying to get their email communications. The only purpose I can see for this is to find something to embarrass or discredit the scientists. If he can do this, it allows him to call into question their work. It does not, however, prove or disprove their theories. Only proper scientific research can do that. Mr. Smith needs to let scientists do their work. As the vast majority of the research on global warming is in agreement, I dont believe he is qualified to interpret scientific data. Hugo Flores Pastor right-on Re: Invocation seen having message of us vs. them, front page, Feb. 12: It seems as if some of those attending the council meeting had their feelings hurt. Face facts. Pastor Theo Wolmarans just told it as it is, nothing more, nothing less. Those offended arent students of the Bible or dont know what it says. Christians know exactly what the pastor was saying, and most agree with him. The Bible is very clear on the us vs. them argument. Matthew 7:12-14 says that there are two ways out of this life, heaven or hell. Your choice. The road to heaven is narrow and difficult to follow. Being a Christian, or even believing, is not all that God requires of us. Jesus says we must do the will of God. Obviously, there are those who cant see the writing on the wall. Larry Lewis Founders right-on Re: Invocation seen having message of us us vs. them, front page, Feb. 12: I like that Mayor Ivy Taylor found nothing wrong with the prayer delivered at the beginning of the council meeting. I also agree and respect the fact that there are many people, beliefs, religions and customs that make up the core of this country. With all the controversy, disagreement and political rhetoric among some of the council members concerning this invocation, I can see why our Founding Fathers decreed that there should be a division between church and state. God bless this country, state and all those within it. Harold Green Mayor not right-on Re: Invocation seen having message of us us vs. them, front page, Feb. 12: Apparently, Mayor Ivy Taylor believes I am going to rot in fire and brimstone for eternity if I do not accept her religious catechism. I would like to assure her I have no intention of suffering that fate. Furthermore, I deeply resent the fact that she is using the government of my favorite city of all time to send me that message. I also believe strongly the pastor has filled her head with ideas about Jesus that are, in fact, not true. Both of them should be ashamed for expressing these outlandish ideas anywhere, especially in an official government function. Finally, I deeply resent her stomping on the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Caron Richard Waits Blind Democrats Who is doing the most celebrating for Bernie Sanders big win in New Hampshire? Republicans are ecstatic. They know that Sanders could not win in November almost any Republican nominee could beat him and his socialist pie-in-the-sky ideas. That one word socialist has doomed Sanders, and Republicans would make sure by crucifying him as socialist Bernie Sanders. Why cant the Democrats figure this out? Ron Lowe, Harlingen No, many scandals Re: Well miss Obamas elegance, integrity, David Brooks, Other Views, Feb. 11: The author is either delusional or has been asleep for quite some time. He claims the current administration has been scandal-free. Really? Mr. Brooks, what about Fast and Furious, IRS, Benghazi, phone-record snooping and the problems with the Veterans Administration? And those are ones that the country is most aware of. I am sure Mr. Brooks would claim that someone else was responsible, but President Barack Obama is the leader, and the leader is always held responsible. The reality is that most of the media are reticent in accusing the current administration of anything. So everyone views it as Camelot, but even the first Camelot was rife with scandal, although, fortunately, the mass media were not as pervasive in the 60s. Mr. Brooks needs to go back and do a little research rather than make a claim that everyone else is chuckling about. Scott Franks Should Gov. Greg Abbott be disbarred because of his actions after the U.S. Supreme Courts historic ruling on gay marriage last year? Its a fair question given that the State Bar, according to reports, is investigating Attorney General Ken Paxtons possible violation of its rules of professional conduct for what he did after the ruling. An adverse ruling could result in disbarment. He is already facing criminal charges stemming from claims that he misled investors in another job before he took office. Paxton issued an opinion in June that pretty much told county clerks that they could ignore the high courts ruling if they were acting on their religious beliefs. Most of the media reports said clerks who were initially reluctant or confused after the ruling were awaiting legal guidance. Paxton gave it to them, warning them, however, that because each case differs, they might face fines and other legal actions for following his sage counsel. In other words, go ahead and do it, but be prepared for legal consequences. At the time, I thought the top legal guy in the state was telling public officials that they dont have to follow the law, though couching it in fail-safe language. But the same can be said of Abbott. Two sides of the same coin. Paxton was telling individual officials what he thought they could get away with. Abbott was telling his state agencies that no public employee should be sanctioned if that employee was acting on religious beliefs. The State Bar cant comment on specific, pending disciplinary cases. So, to determine which parts might have been violated, lets go directly to the code. A section about misleading legal argument states a pretty basic notion: Legal argument based on a knowingly false representation of the law constitutes dishonesty. But this appears to cover matters being adjudicated, and Abbott and Paxton can say that no pun intended good-faith differences of legal opinion do not constitute misleading argument. There is a portion of the code that says, a lawyer shall not willfully, in connection with an adjudicatory proceeding manifest by words or conduct, bias or prejudice based on race, color, national origin, religion, disability, age, sex, or sexual orientation towards any person involved in that proceeding in any capacity. Theres adjudicatory again. And Abbott and Paxton were saying they were fighting bias against people of faith. But Ive not seen opinions from them that public employees, on account of their religion, can deny services because someone is, say, divorced or living in sin or an atheist, practices a faith in which Allah and the Prophet are central (except if its a matter of refusing them entry as refugees), or had an abortion or wants birth control through Medicaid funds. Seems clear: Their target was specifically gay people. Everyone else gets a marriage license. But, perhaps, the provision that might fit best when pondering whether the two violated the code: A lawyer shall not engage in conduct constituting obstruction of justice. The highest court in the land had just legalized gay marriage, and the Texas governor and attorney general were pretty much urging public employees to ignore that. They argued that religious beliefs (separation of church and state, anyone?) trumped the ruling. That sounds like obstruction and a slippery slope. So, can a public employee who is an atheist deny a marriage license to a couple because the vows will take place in a church? No, that would be demonstrating clear hostility toward religion just as denying marriage licenses expresses hostility toward same-sex couples. After the ruling, Abbott said, No Texan is required by the Supreme Courts decision to act contrary to his or her religious beliefs regarding marriage. So, if Paxton merits investigation, arguably, so does Abbott. Opening the door for public employees to deny marriage licenses to same-sex couples stands out as a clear indicator of anti-gay bias, and this is no more palatable coming from a churchgoer than from a raving homophobe. o.ricardo.pimentel@express-news.net Twitter: @oricardopimente Posted on 02/20/2016, 11:31 am, by mySteinbach A group of five seniors organizations, representing tens of thousands of Manitobans, have come together to ensure issues facing older adults are central to the current provincial election campaign. We have come together because we need to make sure the next government understands the issues that are important to us, said Marvin Krawec, President of the Retired Teachers Association of Manitoba, who announced the coalition today against the backdrop of Pembina Active Living (55+). We have helped build this province and this country. With Seniors Vote 2016, we intend to continue that work by talking directly to both voters and politicians. Called Seniors Vote 2016, the coalitions goal is to raise awareness of six main issues: Retirement Income Security Affordable Housing Health Care Transportation Social Engagement and Participation Healthy Aging, Quality of Life The coalition consists of the Retired Teachers Association of Manitoba, Manitoba Association of Seniors Centres, Active Living Coalition for Older Adults (MB), Transportation Options Network for Seniors, and the Canadian Association for Retired Persons (CARP) West Winnipeg. Together these groups have a collective membership of more than 30,000. The coalition plans to take part in the public debate during the election by talking directly to its membership bases, speaking through the media and by encouraging the public to get to know these issues. It will use the hashtag #seniorsvote2016 to draw attention to the campaign on social media. We have sent a list of questions to each of the three largest political parties, said Krawec. We will be sharing their responses with our memberships in the days ahead and with the public to ensure we all know where the parties stand on these issues. Social Engagement for Older Adults is Vital Tom Farrell, President of the Manitoba Association of Senior Centres used the launch to highlight the need for government to encourage more social engagement among older adults. We know that older adults who continue to participate socially as they age have enhanced quality of life and better overall health. There are many centres catering to older adults across Manitoba, but most operate on a shoestring budget with little public funding or support. We need to change that. The coalition will highlight other issues during the course of the campaign. There are 185,300 adults aged 65 and older or about 14.5 per cent of Manitobas population, according to the Manitoba Government website. There are an additional 157,000 aged 55 to 64 (12.3 per cent). Together those groups make up more than a quarter of the population and they tend to vote in high numbers. Adults aged 55 and older vote more than younger age groups. According to Elections Canada, adults aged 65 to 74 are most likely to vote, with a 75 per cent turnout during the 2011 federal election. Mockingbird author Harper Lee dies BC Umberto Eco, Italian Scholar and Novelist, Dies at 84 New York Times Yosemite firefall has hikers transfixed BBC (David L) Male Sellers on eBay Have an Edge Over Women, Study Finds New York Times. Um, why used a gendered handle on eBay? The study did say they asked users to guess the gender of the seller where the name did not reveal gender, and they were correct a very high percent of the time. However, at least on the very few parts of eBay that I look at, the vendor pages are heavily decorated, and often in colors and typefaces that scream female. So a lot of vendors seem to find it necessary or desirable to reveal their gender. Nevertheless, the results part of a predictable and disheartening pattern. North Koreas Air Koryo: Why You Should Fly With the Worlds Worst Airline Bloomberg (resilc) All the Ways Humans Have Smuggled Drugs Inside Food Vice (resilc) Cold-weather friends Economist. From December, but still germane. Looks to explain winter weight gain. Argentine and Brazilian doctors name larvicide as potential cause of microcephaly GMWatch (guurst) China? Sensitive financial data missing from central bank report on capital flowing out of Chinas slowing economy South China Morning Post Brexit? Syraqistan Big Brother is Watching You Watch Trade Traitors Lobby-occupied bureaucrats attempt to bypass the enormous popular opposition against ISDS failed evolution 2016 Black Injustice Tipping Point Fannie Mae at risk of needing a bailout Financial Times (David L) Trust Busting: The Effect of Fraud on Investor Behavior CorpGov Look on my NIM, ye Mighty, and despair! FT Alphaville The Stressed-Out Oil Industry Faces an Existential Crisis Bloomberg Siding With Foreclosure Victim, California Court Exposes Law Enforcement Failure Dave Dayen, Intercept (Glenn F) Class Warfare Antidote du jour. Sharon S: A pair has lived on her lake for 20 years, raises a brood every summer, then chases them off when they mature. See yesterdays Links and Antidote du Jour here. Naples' fast-paced luxury home market has put it on a list of top 20 cities for top-end listings and sales. 'The time is right for Naples,' said Nancy MacDonald, managing broker of the Coldwell Banker office on Fifth Avenue South in downtown Naples. She cited tight supply, a robust stock market, exceptionally good weather and an influx of international buyers from India, China and South America for the high rankings. Michael Polly, vice president of real estate operations covering of Royal Shell Real Estate, covering the Southwest Florida region, wasn't surprised by the findings. 'It's the warmth, the water and the way of life,' he said, adding that the area increasingly is attracting wealthy executives. Coldwell Banker Preview International's 2014 Luxury Market Report ranked cities nationwide based on listings and sales in three categories: above $1 million, $5 million, and $10 million. The real estate group looked at statistics for the 12 months ending in June. In terms of listings, Naples ranked seventh in both the $1 million and up and $5 million and up categories, and eighth in the $10 million and up range. For closed luxury sales, the city was seventh in the $1 million and up range, sixth in the $5 million and up range, and 13th in the $10 million and up range. During the time studied, the highest priced sale was a mansion at 45 32nd Ave. S., sold in October 2013 for $17.7 million to 32nd Avenue Investment Holdings. The seller was a trust for industrialist Randal Bellestri. The highest-priced listing is currently a record-setting $69 million mega home at 3100 Gordon Drive, also owned by a trust for Bellestri. It was put on the market in mid-September, shortly before Bellestri was sentenced to a year and a day in federal prison for tax fraud. Both properties are in the 34102 ZIP code, which encompasses some of the city's swankiest neighborhoods, such as Port Royal and Aqualane Shores. Compared to other tony ZIP codes nationwide, 34102 fared well. It ranked 20th in the $5 million and up range, and 19th in the $10 million and up range for active listings, and 20th for closed sales in the $1 million and up range. Coldwell Banker did not disclose how many cities or ZIP codes were studied. SHARE By Katy Torralbas A pesticide commonly used on Florida's tomato crops is being banned by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Endosulfan "can pose unacceptable neurological and reproductive risks to farmworkers and wildlife and can persist in the environment," according to an EPA release. The pesticide is bioaccumulative, which means it accumulates in the fatty tissue of organisms and concentrates higher in the food chain. Use has ranged from 43 percent of tomato fields in 2002 to 86 percent in 2008, according to the Farmworker Association of Florida. The farmworker advocacy group celebrated the planned ban, citing the pesticide's widespread use on tomatoes, as well as cabbage, cucumbers, bell peppers, squash and eggplant. "We are all breathing a bit easier, now that EPA will be at last phasing out endosulfan," said Jeannie Economos, the association's pesticide health and safety project coordinator. Here is a link to the EPA release, and below is the farmworker association release: HEALTH OF FARMWORKERS AND WILDLIFE CONSIDERED BY EPA Agency Moves Closer Toward Elimination of a Toxic Pesticide Florida tomato pickers have one less thing to worry about, now that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has announced that it is taking steps to "end all uses of the insecticide endosulfan in the United States." The announcement, posted today on the EPA website, has farmworker and pesticide alternatives advocates, and Arctic indigenous communities around the country celebrating the decision. Long a target of nationwide campaigns calling for a ban on it, endosulfan had been falling in disfavor with the agency as increasing evidence of the health risks to farmworkers and the impacts to birds and mammals could no longer be ignored. For Florida's farmworkers and fragile ecosystems, the end of this highly toxic insecticide is very good new, indeed. In Florida, endosulfan has a history of use on vegetable crops ranging from cabbage, cucumbers, bell peppers, squash and eggplant, though it is used most extensively in the state's important tomato crop production. Usage on tomato fields has ranged anywhere from 43% in 2002 of acreage in production to 86% in 2008. One estimate is as high as 73,900 pounds of endosulfan used on tomatoes in Florida. The Farmworker Association of Florida, an organization with a 27-year history of working on pesticide health and safety of farmworkers and advocating for agricultural pesticide use reduction and transitions toward alternatives, has long been concerned about the long-term health effects of farmworkers' exposure to endosulfan. An organochlorine pesticide that is bioaccumulative - that is, that accumulates in the fatty tissue of organisms and in higher concentrations up the food chain - endosulfan has been linked to neurological and reproductive health problems, including birth defects and delayed puberty. It has already been banned in 60 other countries around the globe and has been targeted by the Stockholm Convention for possible inclusion on its list of Persistent Organic Pollutants. "We are all breathing a bit easier, now that EPA will be at last phasing out endosulfan," said Jeannie Economos, Pesticide Health and Safety Project Coordinator of the Farmworker Association of Florida. "We have waited for this day for a long time and it has finally come. And, while we are very grateful that the EPA has taken this bold and significant step, we cannot help but wonder how many farmworker families, especially children, have been harmed by chronic exposure to this pesticide over countless years. This decision has come none too soon for farmworkers across the state and in our country." The class of pesticides known as organochlorines, including endosulfan, has been a special concern of FWAF for many years. Some organochlorines, specifically DDT, toxaphene, dieldrin, endrin, and aldrin, are names all too familiar to the farmworkers who used to work on the vegetable muck farms on the north shore of Lake Apopka in Central Florida. Generations of farmworkers who worked these fields were exposed to these pesticides, most of which were banned in the 1960's and 70's because of their toxicity and threats to wildlife. So persistent are these chemicals in the environment that the planned restoration of Lake Apopka had to be halted over 10 years ago, when a massive bird death in 1998-1999 led U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials to finally conclude that the bird mortality was linked to lingering pesticides in the soil, years after they had been banned from use. With one scientific study finding endosulfan detected in 100% of water samples taken in South Florida, many former farmworkers felt that the South Florida Everglades Restoration was just another Lake Apopka disaster just waiting to happen. Now, perhaps both the farmworkers and the wildlife will stand a fighting chance. That is, if it is not too late. The Farmworker Association of Florida would like to thank its allies, including the Pesticide Action Network North America, for their work over many years to help to influence this decision. "This long overdue decision is an important victory for the farmworkers who have worked with this poison, the families that live near fields where it's sprayed, and the Indigenous communities in the Arctic who are exposed to this persistent organic pollutant in their traditional foods," said Karl Tupper, Staff Scientist with PANNA. "Our work has finally paid off." For more information: Pesticide Action Network North America resource page on endosulfan: http://www.panna.org/campaigns/endosulfan EPA information on endosulfan cancellation: http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/reregistration/endosulfan/endosulfan-cancl-fs.html SHARE The city of Isfahan, Iran, is depicted in watercolor by Arsenault. Corey Perrine/Staff (2) Eileen Arsenault works recently at the Arsenault Gallery at Third Street South and 12th Avenue South in Naples. The signature of Paul Arsenault is shown Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2016 at the Arsenault Gallery at the corner of 3rd Street South and 12th Avenue South in Naples, Fla. Arsenault's latest work features scenes from Iran in hopes to preserve the "cradle of civilization" from civil unrest in the region. (Corey Perrine/Staff) Paul Arsenault is shown in portrait Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2016 at the Arsenault Gallery at the corner of 3rd Street South and 12th Avenue South in Naples, Fla. Arsenault's latest work features scenes from Iran in hopes to preserve the "cradle of civilization" from civil unrest in the region. (Corey Perrine/Staff) Related Photos New Paul Arsenault Gallery and Paintings from Iran By Harriet Howard Heithaus of the Naples Daily News You're about to tell Paul Arsenault this isn't a gallery it's a club, his new two-floor exhibition space on Third Street South, with its deep wood walls and identically paneled side rooms for tete a tetes. The second floor only lacks overstuffed leather chairs and a mastiff to loll near a fragrant fireplace. But Arsenault is ahead of you, discussing the Gordon River Greenway social and the one-night photography exhibition for the Audubon Society that have been here since he and his wife, Eileen, moved their gallery from the City Dock in November. He's excited, as Arsenault is always excited and always for a good reason. This gallery brings him back to the block where he started selling his paintings in 1974 in the small Swan Court courtyard that has become outdoor seating for Campiello's restaurant. The Arsenault Gallery is here because its building at Crayton Cove is on the demolition block to make way for newer, bigger, taller enterprises. But the fortuitous move has given him nearly double the space, including 2,500 square feet over three rooms upstairs that was home most recently to the Darvish Collection, which quietly closed last summer. Arsenault sings the praises of his landlord, Dale Chlumsky, who chose him for the space over "national galleries who were ready to sign checks," he said soberly, digesting the space around him with a grateful countenance. The red brick, pillared building has held everything from lawyers' offices to a dentistry. In fact, staff member Leslie Vega remembers her orthodontist's practice being here for a time. The karma is overwhelming. "I wish I had a recording of everyone who's here and said, 'We came here for ...' what it was at that time," Arsenault said. "I think it's fabulous. I pinch myself every time I come into work," declared Eileen Arsenault, who handles the gallery's business and administrative work. She is about to get more work, with her own acquiescence. The couple is expanding the gallery-cum-gathering place well beyond Arsenault's own art, bringing in artists who are colleagues, currently or from years past. Thus its new name, the Arsenault Studio and Banyan Arts Gallery. The latter half of the name comes from Banyan Arts Social & Pleasure Club, the playful name given to the multitude of artists who have stayed in the Arsenaults' historic home in Old Naples. The artwork that comprises the Banyan Arts part of the gallery, upstairs in rooms name for famous or Florida authors, spans a wide range of genres, from realist to abstract. "We're looking at artists to see where they fit in," Arsenault explained during a stroll from the Marjory Stoneman Douglas room to the Robert Louis Stevenson room. There's still a room to name, and he and Eileen are mulling the fun possibilities. They are also in the planning stages of a Caribbean art exhibition that will bring together some of the artists he taught in Dominique. Before that, a show of the color- banded art fishing rods a cottage wall's best friends created by former Naples architect Dale Beatty. The latter opens March 11. It's a heady future but can only compete neck and neck with Arsenault's own latest painting excursion: to the largely forbidden country of Iran. Arsenault, a student of architecture, went with an international friendship tour from Philadelphia touring the sights of ancient cities. He was, by his own admission, the bad boy of the group, sneaking away to paint. "It was so exciting at the end of the day to see your world there unfold," he said. He recalled such serendipity as walking into a fountain-centered, stone-tiled square just before a band came to serenade visitors with local music. It was a magic moment. He recalled hearing, to his amazement, about functioning synagogues there were 20 in Istahan, his travelmates told him in a country at such odds with Israel. He was also amazed to have visitors come up and, learning he was from the U.S., stop to greet him. "They were saying, 'Thank you for coming to my country,' 'I'm so glad you're here,' " he reflected, visibly moved. Arsenault's impressions have come back in water colors of near mosaic style, happy pairings of blues and fuchsias, teals and reds with white spaces. The works are on the ground floor of the new gallery, and just try to stop Arsenault from talking about them. Arsenault said his secret dream had been to travel to Syria, to commit to paper its ancient architecture before insurgent groups such as ISIS bombed them. But the day his organization arrived in Tehran, ISIS captured one of his intended destinations, the historic Silk Road city of Palmyra, Syria. Arsenault the artist takes it as a personal tragedy. "I've lost Syria," he lamented. --- If you go: Arsenault Studio and Banyan Arts Gallery Where: 1199 Third St. S., Naples Hours: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Mondays to Wednesdays; 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 1-5 p.m. Sundays, or by appointment, 808-344-3493 Information: 239-263-1214 Coming: Big Cypress To The Gulf Stream, Florida-inspired folk art by Dale Beatty; opening reception 5-7 p.m. March 11 Large fishing boat going out for a sunset cruise in Destin, Florida SHARE By Capt. Bill Walsh dawnpatrolmarco@cs.com BACKWATER: Factor in Okeechobee release on water quality for entire Southwest coast. Weather conditions ease with warming trend. Wind moderate easterly; some mid to late week gusty periods. Tides strengthen to full moon Monday. Water temp inches up to 63-65. Sheepshead spawn inshore migration still on hold. Few stragglers show on Naples Bay docks taking shrimp, crabs worked tight to barnacle laden structure. Also reasonable action on east edges Sea Oat Island for marginal size sheepshead and borderline mangrove snapper. Sea trout action hangs in there with fair action Rookery Bay's Henderson Creek flats; Johnson Bay entry channels and flats; north end Canon Island with shrimp, touts worked on moving incoming water over seagrass. NEARSHORE: Couple reports of a few mega sheepshead finally showing on Gordon Five Mile and Santa Lucia wreck. Work with either cut crabs ' shrimp on a vertical soft lift technique. Chance for some mega snapper, triggerfish et al on same bait in these uncertain conditions. OFFSHORE: The mainstay through all these tough weather conditions has been the red grouper bite, action and results. . Little deeper now in 60-plus feet but still worked with the live pinfish tight to the hard bottom outcroppings. Can keep two per day. By Daily News Staff Jimmy Rodgers, one of the suspects in the killing of Bonita Springs doctor Teresa Sievers, is scheduled to be released from a federal prison in Illinois on Monday, and is expected to arrive in Florida soon. Rodgers, 25, had to serve a six-month sentence for a probation violation before he could be brought to Lee County to face the murder charge. Federal prosecutors and probation officials said Rodgers violated his probation by visiting a Fort Myers Walmart store on June 28, the day before Sievers was found dead. The other suspect charged with the Sievers slaying, Curtis Wright, is in a Lee County jail awaiting trial after he pleaded not guilty. No one else has yet been charged in the case. By Maryann Batlle of the Naples Daily News Lee County wants a judge to throw out a lawsuit filed by the Estero Council of Community Leaders. In a circuit court motion, the county argues the ECCL has no legal right to challenge its approval of up to 1,325 homes along east Corkscrew Road. DOCUMENT: Read Lee county's motion. Cameratta Companies proposed the gated community that is the subject of the ECCL lawsuit. The project is often referred to as "Corkscrew Farms." Cameratta Companies has since named it "The Place at Corkscrew." Lee County claims the ECCL missed a 30-day window to file its lawsuit. The county also argues the lawsuit fails to provide any proof the new homes would have an adverse impact on the ECCL that would outweigh the public good. The lawsuit's complaints about increased traffic are weak in court, according to Lee County's motion. "Nearly the entire Village of Estero uses part of Corkscrew Road. Any resident or guests can use Corkscrew Road," the county argues. "If increased traffic is sufficient to provide standing to challenge the consistency of a development order, every rezoning could be challenged because a resident or corporation shares a road with a project that increases traffic." Cameratta Companies filed its own motion to dismiss, which came before Circuit Court Judge Alane Laboda on Feb. 1. Laboda has yet to rule on it. The ECCL is a nonprofit with a membership comprised of at least 35 of Estero's gated communities. In December, the Responsible Growth Management Coalition, also based in Lee, joined with the ECCL to sue the county. Cameratta Companies added itself to the lawsuit as a defendant. At issue is future growth in a rural area considered vital for the county's water supply. Cameratta's land sits within a density restricted area, called "DRGR" for short, that the county identified as a drinking water and flood protection resource. (The acronym stands for Density Reduction/Groundwater Resource.) Lee County once considered Cameratta's 1,361-acre property as a high priority for conservation, or "Tier 1." Cameratta has promised environmental perks in the project for the county, such as 700 acres of preservation land and a few acres for a new fire district station. But the ECCL contends Cameratta's project would forever harm prime Florida Panther habitat, disrupt the county's plan for the DRGR and jump-start a new wave of urban sprawl. The Place at Corkscrew "is 'leap frog development,'" said Ralf Brookes, the private lawyer representing the ECCL and RGMC in the lawsuit. "It's really out in the middle of nowhere, and it's certainly not appropriate to put all that development out there." John Sorey, Bill Barnett and Teresa Heitmann By Joseph Cranney of the Naples Daily News Mayor John Sorey's re-election campaign raised close to $26,000 in the first two weeks of February, nearly twice the combined contributions received during the same span by his opponents, Bill Barnett and Teresa Heitmann, according to campaign finance reports released Friday. From Feb. 1 to Feb. 12, more than half of the 36 businesses and individuals who contributed to Sorey gave the maximum-allowed donation of $1,000. Most of the big money was donated by individuals who identified themselves as retirees, but about $4,200 came from real estate professionals. Another $3,800 came from the food service industry. DATABASE: View a database of donations to candidates for Naples mayor. It was a continuation of the robust fundraising effort Sorey has led since January 2015, when he filed to run for a second term. Since then, Sorey has raised more than $163,000, the most money of any Naples mayoral candidate on record. Barnett has raised more than $94,000, most of which has come since his September announcement that he would forgo his campaign for the City Council to run against Sorey. By the end of business hours Friday, Barnett had not turned in his February reports, which could cause him to be fined, said City Clerk Pat Rambosk. Rambosk said it was up to her to determine if Barnett should be penalized, which she said wouldn't come until after he submits his reports. Barnett, who described the delay as a scheduling mix-up, said he planned to send them to Rambosk in an email Saturday. Barnett said he raised $13,700 from Feb. 1 to Feb. 12 and spent $19,500 on yard signs and advertisements. That would bring the amount of money Barnett has, in hand, to about $38,000. Sorey has about $72,000 in hand. Barnett, noting Sorey's monthslong head start, said he isn't concerned about the fundraising deficit. "I don't think it's a matter of buying the election," Barnett said. "I think it's a matter of the support you get." Heitmann, who entered the race on Jan. 7, has raised $7,900. She has said she doesn't plan to launch a major fundraising effort before Election Day on March 15. Sorey's campaign spent more than $57,000 in the past three months. So far in February, Sorey has spent $11,300 on advertisements in the Naples Daily News. Sorey spent another $5,000 on a radio advertisement he said will air soon. Barnett also said his campaign is planning radio and TV ads. From Feb. 1 to Feb. 12, Barnett's campaign held two fundraisers at residences in Coquina Sands and Park Shore, Barnett said. He guessed the fundraisers netted more than $3,000. For his part, Sorey says most of his fundraising efforts have come through one-on-one meetings. There was a campaign reception hosted by a family in Port Royal at the end of January, but Sorey said it wasn't well attended due to bad weather. Most of Sorey's donations, he said, don't come on the same day he asks for them. "I'm asking them for their vote, asking them to support me, asking for financial support," Sorey said. "I usually get a check in a PO Box later." SHARE By Yanan Wang, The Washington Post Monkeys just want to have fun - and brandish dangerous weapons. At least that's what a group of bar patrons in Patos, Brazil, learned earlier this month, when a capuchin monkey ambled inside and proceeded to sample leftover rum on the tables, UPI and the Brazilian news website aRede reported. After the long-tailed creature had guzzled its fill, it somehow came into possession of a kitchen knife almost as long as its body. With the powerful weapon in hand, it began chasing the men in the establishment; according to local fire Lt. Col. Saul Laurentino, it left the women alone. "It was a bar staff oversight that ended with the monkey drinking some rum and taking the knife," Laurentino told aRede. Video footage captured on the scene shows the monkey on a roof with the knife, indiscriminately stabbing at shingles. UPI reported that firefighters were able to capture the monkey and release it back into the wild. Its antics soon attracted attention and alarm a second time, however, when residents living near the woods reported that it was behaving aggressively towards them. Local authorities are now in the process of determining whether the monkey should be permanently kept in captivity. SHARE Dick Murphy, Golden Gate Estates Act on it It was sad to read about the tragedy of the loss of two innocent children who fell victim to a husband and wife who chose to extinguish their lives rather than seek urgent help to mend an obviously unstable mind. Perhaps a worse tragedy occurred when those who noticed something not right did not act to remedy their intuition regarding the sweetheart who forlornly was peeking out that window of the home. I myself witnessed just such an event many years ago when I was young and newly married. There was a little girl, quiet and sad-looking, living below on the first floor of our apartment. She never talked and never smiled and never accepted candy or acknowledged our kind words. Not long after, we learned through the media the parents were convicted and sentenced for murder. They both died in prison serving life terms. You see something not quite right? Act on it! The neighbors didn't and we didn't. Don't you make the same mistake. Guess who these monsters murdered many years ago? I will never forget it. SHARE George P. Ahearn, Naples Fracking denier Too bad letter writer Dianne Rhodes, an ardent fracking denier and critic of yours truly, will never accept the benefits of fracking to the country and our economy. She continues to seek reasons to scare the public into thinking fossil fuels are a menace to the environment, when historians point to its development as the primary reason for our emergence as the world's leading economic power and benefit to the environment. She even denies the obvious in the New York-Pennsylvania border region example that sits atop the Marcellus shale formation. That invisible border reveals a stark contrast between the lives of residents on each side. One side is dying a slow death while the other is thriving and the only difference between them is government policy. In the rural Pennsylvania county across the border, taxes have been cut and property values have risen. The county budget is balanced and the schools and roads have been expanded and improved. Meanwhile in Broome County, New York, the population has dropped more than 2 percent in the last five years, and unemployment has remained at 8 percent, while in neighboring Bradford County it dropped to 5.5 percent and continues to fall over that period. And constant monitoring shows there is no evidence of contamination to the drinking water. This decline in Broome County can be placed squarely at the feet of Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the state Democratic Party, who listened to people like Ms. Rhodes. Still, our president takes credit for the drop in prices at the pump, when all along it was fracking and the oil industry that saved his backside and improved the environment to boot. SHARE Bert Heyder, Naples Getting up there It's hell to get old. A late January edition of the Daily News placed the space shuttle Challenger tragedy event on the front page. Twenty years ago, in 1996 when it happened, I said to a co-worker at the Dorchester Condo in Pelican Bay, "You'll remember this event for the rest of your life, like the day President Kennedy was shot in Texas." He said, "President who?" I stated, "Dallas Texas, 1963, John F. Kennedy." He replied, "Hey, I wasn't born until 1965." I'm sure he's not aware that gasoline was once 22 cents a gallon either. Yes, it's hell to get old, but what's the other choice? SHARE James F. Lally, Naples Supreme Court Following the recent death of Antonin Scalia, Republican leaders announced their intention to delay the selection of an associate Supreme Court justice until after the upcoming presidential elections. Democratic leaders were reflexively perturbed. Hillary Clinton called it "outrageous" and Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid said it was a "shameful abdication of ... constitutional responsibility." Pundits and media commentators observed that the Supreme Court nominating process, which should be aloof from the usual partisan bickering in Washington, was now politicized. They have short memories and forgot what transpired after President Reagan nominated Judge Robert Bork to be an associate justice. Cynics and those still bitter over the outcome will proclaim that it's payback time. Bork, a former Yale Law School professor and solicitor general, was widely recognized as a pre-eminent American legal scholar. The tendentious actions of the Democratic majority in the Senate during Bork's 1986 hearings set the tone for future partisan political battles in the vetting of any president's nominee to the high court. The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, then- Sen. Joe Biden, and his ally the late Sen. Ted Kennedy, launched an unprecedented personal attack that sullied and slandered Bork's character and reputation. Their justification: Bork's judicial philosophy (originalism) was not in tune with their interpretation of the Constitution. Thereafter, the verb "bork" entered our political lexicon. It's defined as: "to defame or defile a person to prevent his or her appointment to public office." For those wanting to know why the Supreme Court confirmation process is so dysfunctional, they should ask Biden. Larson on Wallace incident: 'It is what it is' Kyle Larson responds to his wreck with Bubba Wallace and Wallace's retaliation at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Abbott has been recognised at the Irish Institute of Training and Development (IITD) National Training Awards 2011, which acknowledges best-in-class performance and outstanding achievements in organisational learning and development. The company was honoured for its approach to evaluation and measurement of training effectiveness, which was described as best in class. Three participants in Abbotts innovative Professional Development Programme (PDP) programme also were awarded Outstanding Achievement Awards for their exceptional contributions to the companys PDP programme. Abbott has been recognised at the Irish Institute of Training and Development (IITD) National Training Awards 2011, which acknowledges best-in-class performance and outstanding achievements in organisational learning and development. The company was honoured for its approach to evaluation and measurement of training effectiveness, which was described as best in class. Three participants in Abbotts innovative Professional Development Programme (PDP) programme also were awarded Outstanding Achievement Awards for their exceptional contributions to the companys PDP programme. A key focus for Abbott is helping people realise their full potential, and we are thrilled to receive these awards in recognition of our efforts to foster organisational learning and development in all aspects of our business. The awards are testament to the very strong training and development culture that is integrated through all our facilities around the country, said Una Hassett, HR Director, Abbott Vascular. The awards were presented by Ray Bonar, former President of International Federation of Training and Development Organisations, and John Gorman, President of IITD at an evening reception in Killashee House Hotel, Naas recently. One example is Abbotts Vascular facility in Clonmel, which was recognised for its Training Effectiveness Initiative, the purpose of which is to demonstrate the value of learning to the organisation. The facility was able to improve training and development requirements by incorporating evaluation planning at the inception of each training programme. This innovative programme changes the focus of evaluation from activities to results, thereby increasing the return on investment of learning and development. As another example, Abbott also was commended for its Personal Guarantee Programme, a site-wide initiative in Clonmel which seeks to foster and maintain a culture of personal accountability and compliance at the facility, and recognises that small changes at an individual level can result in major changes at an enterprise level. The focus on accountability means that human error is reduced and confidence is inspired in areas such as environmental health and safety and quality control. The three Abbott PDP employees who won the individual Outstanding Achievement Awards in the Work Placement Category are: Jean Lynham, Quality Engineer in Abbotts Vascular facility in Clonmel, Patrick McEleney, Process Engineer in Abbotts Diabetes Care facility in Donegal and Maria Delaney, Quality Specialist/Project Coordinator in Abbotts pharmaceutical commercial operations in Citywest, Dublin. Launched in July 2007, this country-wide PDP programme identifies key talent from the pool of candidates at graduate level from a variety of disciplines including science, engineering, HR, IT, finance and supply chain management. In Ireland to date, more than 23 candidates have participated in this highly selective and personalised development experience which is targeted at the highest-achieving graduates in Irelands third level institutions. Abbott receives more than 700 applications for the programme each year. Successful applicants are offered structured and defined development opportunities and apply their skills in different business divisions over a two-year period, which gives them a broad breadth of experience in different operations and locations. On completion, graduates have a sound understanding of Abbott as a company, in addition to developing management, technical and interpersonal skills along the way. Attracting, developing and retaining skilled employees are of critical importance to Abbotts business success. We create and implement innovative programmes that help people realise their full potential, said Hassett. Our dedicated Learning and Development team execute comprehensive programmes that provide support and advancement opportunities for our employees, and we are delighted these programmes have been recognised at this years awards. The IITD National Training Awards 2011 recognise engagement, collaboration, participative management, excellence in training initiatives, transparency, innovation and learning and development of both individuals and organisations. In 2009-2010, Abbott received IITDs Overall Multinational Sector Award for outstanding training and development practices. Abbott prides itself on being an employer of choice around the world. In Ireland, the company has received numerous additional local, national and international accolades for workplace excellence: Around 200 people marched through the streets of Carrick-on-Suir last Saturday afternoon in solidarity with the nationwide campaign against the Governments household, water, septic tank taxes and education cuts. Around 200 people marched through the streets of Carrick-on-Suir last Saturday afternoon in solidarity with the nationwide campaign against the Governments household, water, septic tank taxes and education cuts. The protesters, including teachers, parents and students of Carrick-on-Suirs Presentation National School and Newtown Upper National School that are facing cuts in teaching staff, gathered outside Carrick-on-Suir Town Hall with banners and posters held high. The march, led by Carrick-on-Suir Republican Flute Band, proceeded down Main Street to Sean Kelly Square where the crowd listened to speeches from Independent TDs Seamus Healy and Mattie McGrath, Sinn Fein Senator David Cullinane, local councillors Sylvia Cooney-Sheehan and Pierce OLoughlin, Newtown NS parent Denis OConnor and Cork campaigner Vanessa OSullivan. Many of the protesters were older people who wholeheartedly support the campaign. Deputy Healy of the Workers & Unemployment Action Group spoke about the millions of euro being paid back to bond holders out of public money and he quoted figures in relation to the staggering profit these bond holders have made. He declared that if the public people refused to register and pay the Household Tax by the deadline of March 31, it would show the Government that people are united and refusing to accept any more austerity or cutbacks. Deputy Healy also condemned the cutbacks in teaching staff in primary schools throughout the country including the Presentation Primary School in the town, which faces the loss of seven teachers. Its disgraceful, he said. Young people are being made to pay for a recession they had no hand in. Newtown NS parent Denis OConnor appealed to every man and woman to get out on the streets and protest. We are here to speak for the children, he said. Deputy Mattie McGrath, Cllr. Sylvia Cooney-Sheehan and Cllr. Pierce OLoughlin all spoke on the cant pay wont pay strategy of the national campaign offering their support and urging people to stick together to resist and defeat the Governments tax burdens and threats. We cant pay that money back, we will stand together and fight and win, declared Deputy McGrath. Show me the money (NaturalNews)decided to offer some lame information and speculation regarding charities and who donates the most. Thefocused on average citizen contributors instead of the charities themselves and found that the well-off don't contribute as much as folks who don't make as much.The two annual household income levels that were compared were over $200,000 and under $100,000. The data for the's report came from, a fundraising industry newspaper, which analyzed 2012 taxpayers' IRS data and census reports.Theserves over 100,000 readers among fundraising groups with information that provides clues for more efficient methods of raising money and locating the deepest pockets.The over 200K annual earners were reported as giving lower percentages of their incomes then the under 100K group. The percentage of upscale income donated for charities went down 4.6 percent from 2006 to 2012, while the percentage of under 100K income for charities went up 4.5 percent over the same period.But the upscale income folks still donated $4.6 billion more during that six year period, hitting $77.5 billion in 2012. Theeditor offered a major difference based on demographic portraits throughout the nation: Churchgoers give more. But there was no mention of a survey to collect numbers of churchgoers and where they lived.Instead, Utah with its large Mormon population was cited as an example because its residents far and above had the highest percentages of income contributed to charities, while New England residents who don't attend church as much, according to theeditor. The overall percentage of giving among all income levels and regions remains the same as it has been, 3 percent.But though the report gives an indication of different demographic and income levels, there is little mentioned of how many charities really relay most of the funds they collect toward the needy. Charitable organizations often usetelemarketing groups as fundraisers, sometimes paying for their services at a loss.And sometimes some of those telemarketing fundraisers include felons, increasing the odds of credit card identity theft. Some charities tend to keep a lot of the money they raise without contracting telemarketing services or other for profit groups to raise funds.Two suspects who exploit their non-profit status for living "high off the hog" are major cancer industry groups, Susan G. Komen for the Cure and the American Cancer Society (ACS). The ACS was created in 1913 by John D. Rockefeller, who gutted alternative medical schools and made sure that medicine was controlled by the pharmaceutical industry, of which he was becoming a major player.The point is that both groups are raising money on the premise that a cancer cure is on the horizon, yet to be found, while helping create Big Pharma's illusion that they are the only ones working hard for a cure.Every dollar and every bit of energy, such as a run- or walk-for-the-cure Komen adventures, that goes into ACS and Komen coffers goes first to their administrative costs and comfortable quarters and then to pad their six-figure annual incomes, sometimes over a half-million per year.The little that's left goes toward promoting scans and tests that often create cancer, with a bit going for the boys in the lab who are intent on making sure that whatever they find contributes to Big Pharma and the Cancer Industry's wealth.Actually, the Cancer Industry needs cancer to seem incurable, at least by mainstream medicine, while maintaining the carrot on a stick of future hope.And they have enough medical suckers from which they profit without needing charitable contributions.So what do we call raising money for a non-product or investment without return? Can anyone spell Post-traumatic stress disorder is usually associated with soldiers returning home from war. But experts in psychological trauma say they now see the condition in residents of Oakland and other American cities with high rates of gun violence. Unlike soldiers returning home from the battlefield to relative safety, though, there is no safe place to escape for those traumatized by violence in their own community. While business may be thriving downtown, now home to high tech tenants such as Uber and Pandora, residents living in marginalized Oakland neighborhoods east and west of downtown say their communities are seeing little of that economic growth, and worry a lack of opportunity means no escape from the cycle of violence and trauma. "Its absolutely true that people [in Oakland] have PTSD, but its not the same as a soldier," said Anne Marks, the executive director at the Oakland non-profit Youth Alive! "A soldier goes to war and they come home and theyve left the battlefield. We work with young people who get shot, go to the hospital, get their treatment, and go back to the same community, maybe the same home they were shot in front of. Maybe there are bullet holes in the door. So theres no post in the traumatic stress. Its continuing traumatic stress disorder, and thats unique." NBC Bay Areas Investigative Unit spent six months in Oakland visiting with residents, interviewing health experts and speaking with the perpetrators and survivors of violence, finding the effects of this trauma have had a profound impact on many Oakland neighborhoods and the people who live there. The consensus was that gun violence has touched far too many lives in Oakland, but those affected by violence have the most power to break the cycle for a new generation of Oakland youth. "I absolutely have PTSD John Jones, 41, stands in front of the former headquarters for the Safeway supermarket chain at International Boulevard and Seminary Avenue. The building, now more or less abandoned and tagged with graffiti, is where Jones grandparents worked in the 1960s. They owned a home three blocks away and raised a family with the income those jobs provided. Jones says those job opportunities dried up a long time ago. "There was money here," Jones said. "It moved out. This part of town they call deep East Oakland, the further removed you are from downtown, the further East you go. The deeper east [it gets], youll see the transition in these neighborhoods." Jones works as an outreach coordinator at the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights in Oakland. But years ago, his life used to be much different. Jones said that when he was younger and growing up on these streets, he got involved with drugs and guns, eventually serving time for his involvement in a gun homicide when he was still a teen. "I never fathomed the idea that I could go to college," Jones said. "Never thought about that. What was in front of us was drugs." The psychological toll of growing up in a neighborhood with few opportunities and a lot of violence began early for Jones. He can still vividly recount the time, as a kid, seeing a dead body lying in the street outside his apartment for eight hours before anyone removed it. "When you see a human being lying in the street dead for eight hours, talk about just being devalued," Jones said. "I cant imagine a dog lying there for eight hours without somebody coming to scoop the dog up. So when you start seeing that, you start to make connections in your young, but still forming mind, about this idea of being black in America." Stephen Stock tours East Oakland with longtime resident John Jones. When crack cocaine hit the streets in the 1980s, Jones said drug dealers were the only ones making any money, becoming larger than life figures for the kids growing up there. He remembers watching the funeral procession for one of the citys most notorious drug kingpins. "I was 12 years old," Jones said. "And you would have thought that this was the funeral of the president or a movie star or something. He had a clear casket and he had all of these black horses pulling the casket." But when the drugs came, the violence took on a new intensity. Gun fire was so common that Jones and his friends could identify weapons based on their sound alone. It didnt take long to become a target himself, Jones said, describing several close calls where he was almost shot. As Jones looks back on all of those traumatic experiences, he doesnt hesitate when asked if he suffers from PTSD today. "Absolutely, without a doubt," Jones said. "If I got into a restaurant or a store or business, I cant sit with my back turned to the door. I cant sit with my back to a window. Even when Im out on the streets now, Im looking around, I dont like having my back to traffic. Just too many stories about people getting shot in the head." While Jones walked through his East Oakland neighborhood, he ran into Tim Smith, who also went from being in a gang to becoming a community organizer in Oakland. Smiths family grew up in East Oakland too and he now raises 8-year-old son there. He worries about the violence his son has already been exposed to. "Hes seen five dead bodies now in East Oakland," Smith said. "My little guy, and hes eight. I mean you come out of the store and the body is on the ground and youre telling your guy, Hey, look over there. Its unescapable." Signs of PTSD Mental health experts who spoke at length to NBC Bay Area for this series, say they see clear evidence of PTSD among Oakland residents. Its a common phenomenon in many of Americas more violent cities. As NBC Bay Areas Investigative Unit reported in 2014 in a partnership with the independent investigative group, ProPublica, researchers in Chicago reported more than half of all gunshot wound victims treated at Cook County Hospital had signs of PTSD. And a federally funded study of nearly 8,000 residents living in Atlantas most violent neighborhoods found about 30 percent had symptoms consistent with PTSD, a rate as high as or higher than veterans returning from war. The evidence shows that this issue is also divided along racial lines. According to a 2013 Kaiser Family Foundation health tracking poll, African Americans are far more likely to know a victim of gun violence or be personally worried about gun violence than white respondents. The poll found 42 percent of African Americans personally knew someone who has been the victim of gun violence, compared to only 15 percent of white respondents. African Americans were also more than twice as likely to be personally worried about gun violence, the research found. Behind the scenes look into the challenges that come along with raising children in East Oakland. Jones said trauma begins at a young age for kids living in Oaklands violent neighborhoods. "It doesnt start when youre 18," Jones said. "It starts when youre six, seven, eight [years old]. Because by the time youre 18, youve had teen years experience of what its like to not be valued as a person. And Im talking from every institution in your community, from the corner store to your school. So theres two things you can do. You can either turn it inwardly, maybe do drugs or commit suicide, or you do it outwardly and then you begin to hurt other people." Data shows that gun violence is a daily occurrence in Oakland. The gunfire detection system ShotSpotter captured, on average, nearly ten incidents of gun shots fired per day in the first nine months of 2015, which is the most recent data available. Of the 30 homicides in Oakland between August 2015, and February 4, 2016, all but five occurred in east Oakland or west Oakland. In east Oakland, the vast majority of those murders happened along or near the International Boulevard corridor where Jones grew up. The clusters for other gun crimes and assaults are very similar. According to data from the US Centers for Disease Control, homicide by firearm is the leading cause of death for African American men between the ages of 15 and 34. 2015. Heat Map of Gun Crime in Oakland Not the same as a soldier Staff at the Oakland non-profit group Youth Alive frequently sees the effects of trauma on Oakland residents. The organization has a crisis response team that visits every family victimized by gun violence in Oakland, often before police finish their investigation. Marks, the organizations executive director, says the kind of continuing PTSD suffered by some inner city residents is different than the PTSD suffered by a soldier returning from war. Marks says that some of the symptoms and results of this trauma seen in Oaklands victims includes impulse control, the ability to focus and the ability to differentiate between real and perceived threats. Marks said she sees a direct connection between trauma and the violence on Oaklands streets. "People talk about trauma as something thats really interconnected to violence and some people talk about it as the result of violence," Marks said. "But I would say that trauma is really the root of violence in many ways." Prolonged exposure to violence is not something that the human mind is built to withstand, Marks said, although its something many growing up in Oakland are forced to deal with. "We had a young man that worked with us who did a couple tours in Afghanistan in the army," Marks said. "Came back unharmed, got shot here in Oakland. So it can be really upsetting to be in these communities where things like that can happen to you and the psychological toll it takes, but the kind of work were doing really helps." Despite the data and the reality of these communities, Marks said she isnt discouraged. She said she doesnt subscribe to the notion that solving inner city gun violence is an exercise in futility. "Hurt people hurt people," she said. But, its equally true that "healed people heal people," Marks said. "So, I dont feel discouraged, I feel hopeful," Marks said. "I mean I wish there was less violence, I wish young people had less adversity to deal with, but I think we are more equipped than ever and more willing than ever to address those things." Healed people heal people Lorrain Taylor is one of those healed people, although she says shell never fully recover from losing her twin sons to gun violence on the same day in 2000. "I sat on my bed the other day and I just broke down because I miss them so much," Taylor said. But Taylor has channeled her grief into organizing and creating the non-profit 1000 Mothers to Prevent Violence. Through 1000 Mothers, Taylor works with other families who have lost loved ones to gun violence, often bringing over groceries or just being there for grieving families to talk to. She offers support for as long as families need it, and each year holds the PURPLE Gala, an event to remember victims of violence and honor their families. In some cases, Taylor has remained connected to families of victims of gun violence for a decade or longer. Taylor said PTSD is very real for people and families touched by violence, and said she strives to get families support before that trauma causes them to hurt themselves or someone else. "Support is what most people need and thats what they were not finding," Taylor said. "1000 Mothers to Prevent Violence offers ongoing compassionate support and services." While Taylor is dismayed that more than 1,000 people have been gunned down in Oakland since her two boys were killed, her passion for helping surviving families hasnt diminished. "Every day I get a call," Taylor said. "Last night I was on the phone with a father who just cant handle it." Lorrain hopes one day her services wont be needed, but until then, shell continue to help families with their grief while at the same time dealing with her own. Apple supporters plan to rally on Tuesday in front of the Apple store in downtown San Francisco in support of the company's decision to appeal a federal magistrate's order to help the FBI hack into an encrypted iPhone belonging to one of the shooters in the December attack in San Bernardino. Nonprofit Internet rights organization Fight for the Future has organized the event, which will be taking place at Apple stores across the country. Thirty people rallied in front of the same San Francisco store on Wednesday to tell the FBI to "keep your hands and your eyes off my iPhone." "I don't think it's worth compromising hundreds of millions of iPhone users around the world just to extract the data from this one phone," said Jacob Hoffman-Andrews of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital rights group based in San Francisco. Apple Inc. CEO Tim Cook responded to the order on Wednesday with a letter to customers stating that complying with the order would have broad implications for the digital privacy of millions of users as well as for national security at large. "In the wrong hands, this software which does not exist today would have the potential to unlock any iPhone in someone's physical possession," Cook wrote. "The FBI may use different words to describe this tool, but make no mistake: Building a version of iOS that bypasses security in this way would undeniably create a back door. And while the government may argue that its use would be limited to this case, there is no way to guarantee such control." In a new motion Friday, federal prosecutors say the company has chosen to repudiate a judge's order instead of following it. Police are looking for a pair of men who assaulted a San Francisco man then removed his gold teeth from his mouth Thursday afternoon in the Financial District. At around 3:35 p.m., police responded to a robbery near the corner of California and Kearny streets, according to police. When officers arrived, they learned the man, who was sitting in a park, was approached from behind by two other men. One of the two suspects then punched the victim in the face, knocking him to the ground, police said. Both suspects kicked the victim several times. One of the suspects took the victim's gold teeth while another took the victim's cellphone, according to police. Aside from missing teeth, the victim also suffered a swollen eye and abrasions to the knee. He was taken to a hospital with injuries that are not considered life-threatening, police said. Both suspects, described as men in their 20s, fled on foot. Police were unable to locate the suspects and no arrests have been made. Police said the victim has a San Francisco address. Sen. Chuck Grassley farmer, onetime sheet metal shearer, six-term senator and Judiciary Committee chairman has a major say in whether President Barack Obama's Supreme Court nominee even gets a hearing. So far, the 82-year-old Iowa lawmaker has delivered a somewhat muddled message. Hours after Justice Antonin Scalia's death one week ago, Grassley issued a statement that echoed his Republican leader, Mitch McConnell. "It only makes sense that we defer to the American people who will elect a new president to select the next Supreme Court justice," Grassley said. But three days later, Grassley said on a conference call with reporters that he would "wait until the nominee is made before I would make any decisions" on whether to hold a hearing. "In other words, take it a step at a time," he said. He's repeated the "step at a time" refrain throughout the week on his multiple stops in Iowa, part of his pledge to visit all of the state's 99 counties each year. By late Thursday, Grassley and McConnell had penned an op-ed in The Washington Post, saying the American people should have a chance to decide on the justice through voting in the next election, "rather than a lame-duck president whose priorities and policies they just rejected in the most-recent national election." The same day, Grassley and Obama discussed the nomination process over the phone, according to the White House. A Grassley spokeswoman would only describe the call as cordial, and would not say whether the committee will hold hearings. Obama also called McConnell. Obama has insisted he will fulfill his constitutional responsibility and send a nomination to the Senate. The White House may consider playing to Grassley's sympathies with its choice. Among the possible nominees is Judge Jane Kelly, a former Iowa public defender who was named to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit in 2013. Grassley backed Kelly's confirmation, in part because a longtime friend highly recommended her, he said at her confirmation hearing. Kelly once clerked for circuit court Judge David Hansen, a onetime county Republican chairman who campaigned for Grassley in first bid for the House, the senator told the committee. Grassley was laid up in the hospital at the time and never forgot Hansen's work helping him win. "He gets all the credit for it," Grassley said. Some of Grassley's GOP colleagues have argued against any hearing for Obama's nominee. The top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy, has called for Grassley to move forward. "I have served in the Senate for more than four decades, and on the Judiciary Committee for 36 years," Leahy said this week. "During that time, Supreme Court nominees have always been treated differently compared to other nominees they have always received a hearing and they have always been reported to the full Senate." Leahy presided over the panel in 2009 and 2010, when Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan were confirmed. Those nominations were an easier task for Obama, as the Senate was under Democratic control. Grassley voted against the nominations of both justices. Grassley, who is seeking his seventh term, is a veteran of intense, partisan battles in the Senate. He helped push through President George W. Bush's tax cuts 15 years ago and was the top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee as the panel considered health care overhaul in 2009 and 2010. Last year, he launched an investigation of former Secretary of State and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's use of a private email account and server. He also has worked well with Democrats. He and Leahy have combined forces on a criminal justice overhaul, despite opposition from some conservatives. Grassley's also known for his genial, folksy demeanor around the Senate, even if he's occasionally hard on witnesses and corporations or charities he sees as operating outside the law. In recent years he has taken to Twitter, often humorously and with misspellings. He tweets often, in the last week logging his various town hall visits and mentioning a North Korea sanctions bill "U can't trust the fat dictatr," he tweeted but he hasn't said much about what his committee will do with Obama's inevitable Supreme Court nomination. He saved those comments for his constituents. "I would say this isn't about a person at this point. This is about a process," Grassley said at a town hall in Muscatine, Iowa. Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Chicago issued a bulletin to priests and parishes this week asking voters to reach out to their elected officials to express concern over how the states budget impasse is affecting social services. The State of Illinois has been without an official budget since July of last year. The stalemate has been typified by a battle between Gov. Bruce Rauner and the Democrat-controlled legislature. The battle hinges on Rauner's Turnaround Agenda. Rauner introduced a plan for 2017's budget Wednesday. Please lend your voice to advocate for the State of Illinois to end its budget stalemate and pass a budget that cares for the poor and most vulnerable in our communities, the bulletin reads. The state is accruing billions of dollars in debt as a result of court-mandated spending and floundering revenue. According to the bulletin, Illinois currently owes Catholic Charities more than $25 million. That number is set to grow by $2 million every month. Please take time today to call your state elected officials with this simple message, I am a voter in your district. I am contacting you on behalf of the poor and vulnerable people who depend on our state's safety net of human services, especially the more than 1 million people served by Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Chicago, the bulletin reads. Catholic Charities combats poverty through advocacy and providing basic needs to individuals. This includes health services, housing and disaster relief, among other services. Catholic Charities had $4.7 billion in revenues in 2010. $2.9 billion of this was supplemented by the federal government. In January, Lutheran Social Services, the states largest provider of social services, announced they would cut 30 programs and 750 jobs as a result of the state's budget impasse. State universities and community colleges have also been strained due to a lack of state funding in the wake of the budget stalemate. A cessation in Monetary Award Program (MAP) grants has led to student's losing tuition assistance. Jacob Meister, a Democratic candidate for Cook County Clerk of the Circuit Court, called out fellow Democratic hopeful Ald. Michelle Harris Friday for her lack of involvement in the race. Harris was endorsed by the Cook County Democratic party but has failed to attend crucial endorsement sessions at the Daily Herald and Chicago Tribune. Ald. Harris lack of respect for voters and her indifference toward the office she seeks is astounding, Meister said in a press release. The Clerk of the Circuit Courts office has a direct impact on peoples lives. This is not a game. Harris told Ward Room that she doesnt seek the approval of the Tribune editorial board because she doesnt agree with some of the newspapers editorial decisions. A member of the Chicago Tribune editorial board wrote a column last year wishing that Chicago would have the destruction visited upon it that Hurricane Katrina brought to New Orleans, Harris told Ward Room. That editorial board member refused to apologize or even recognize how deeply offensive and immoral it was to hope for something that left hundreds of people dead, ruined countless lives and caused billions of dollars in economic damages. Harris also noted that she doesnt agree with the Tribunes endorsement of Gov. Bruce Rauner. She had similar concerns with the Daily Herald. The Daily Herald has been fully on board for the Rauner program from day one, Harris said. Seeking the endorsement of a newspaper editorial board that supports the chaos and hurt that Governor Rauner is visiting upon our state and Cook County in the service of a radical right wing ideology is not of interest to me. The release also claims Harris failed to attend a January 9 candidate forum in her own 8th Ward. I have attended many voters forums and meet-the-candidates events across Cook County during this campaign, Harris said. Jacob has not been at all of them himself. Obviously, scheduling conflicts occur, but I wouldn't issue a press release condemning someone for not being able to be in two places at once. Martin Durkan, a Democratic candidate for the water reclamation board, recently spent $50,000 on a mailer campaign supporting Harris run for clerk. Meister and Harris will face incumbent Clerk of the Circuit Court Dorothy Brown in the March 15 Democratic primary. Brown, who has served as county clerk for 15 years, lost the endorsement of the Cook County Democratic Party after her cell phone was seized by the FBI as part of a federal investigation of her office. Unlike both of my opponents, I have spent the past 25 years of my legal career fighting for justice. Meister said. I am the only candidate in this race with the credentials, credibility and independence needed to change to operations and atmosphere of the Clerks office. Meister was endorsed by the Chicago Sun-Times Friday. A teenager posing as a state senator toured a high school and spoke to a class, and school officials didn't realize they were fooled until weeks later, authorities in Ohio said. Mohawk Local School District officials said Izaha Akins, of Marion, Ohio, visited the high school in December and claimed to be a lawmaker replacing another senator. They realized they'd been duped when Republican Sen. David Burke, of Marysville, showed up to speak weeks later, as scheduled. Burke said in an email Friday that when he learned about the hoax, he and the school immediately began working with law enforcement. He said, "This was an extremely elaborate scheme and not as simple as walking through the door." The Blade newspaper of Toledo reported that Akins said he was making a point about school security in small communities. He was charged recently with felony counts of telecommunications fraud and impersonating a peace officer. "These country schools think it can't happen to them," Akins told The Blade in a brief interview. He said he wanted to "prove a point that these kinds of things can happen. They could easily have Googled me, and they didn't." School officials say Akins knew that Burke was scheduled to speak to a class Jan. 14, and called to bill himself as Burke's replacement as senator and available to speak earlier. He arranged to visit Dec. 15, provided his real name, presented his driver's license at the school that afternoon, got a tour of the school from the principal, then gave his presentation and left, Mohawk Schools Superintendent Ken Ratliff said. "The presentation was about being active in politics, political processes," Ratliff said. "Everyone thought it was legit; bought into it, including the teacher." Authorities said Reineke Ford provided a car and driver for the day to the supposed legislator. The Blade said Reineke Motors general manager Tony Flood said it's not unusual for the dealership to help the nearby school district. Wyandot County Sheriff Mike Hetzel said no one at the school was in any danger, and a sheriff's deputy was at the school during the time of the visit. Ratliff said, though, that the district now takes extra steps to verify visitors' identities. As expected, Governor Bruce Rauner vetoed a bill Friday that would have funded higher education for low-income students in Illinois. Rauner explained his reasoning for vetoing Senate Bill 2043, citing concerns over the states deficit spending and social services. [The bill] would explode the States budget deficit, exacerbate the States cash flow crisis, and place further strain on social service providers and recipients who are already suffering from the States deficit spending, Rauner said in a statement. On Tuesday, Rauner aide Catherine Kelly told Ward Room that Rauner would veto the bill. Rauner faults the General Assembly for not devising a plan that aligns with a balanced budget for the state. Despite its constitutional obligation to balance the budget, the General Assembly has not put forward a plan to pay for these programs, whether through spending reductions, revenue, or cost-saving reforms. The state of Illinois has been without a budget since July of last year. The impasse has been typified by Rauners battle with the Democrat-controlled legislature over his Turnaround Agenda. Senate President John Cullerton, one of Rauner's most staunch opponents during the stalemate, seemed bewildered by the governor's decision. Im disappointed in the governor," Cullerton said. "I dont understand how he can propose funding student financial aid on Wednesday, and then turn around and veto it on Friday. Democratic Presidential candidate slammed Rauner over his agenda during a speech on the south side Wednesday. The governor has refused to start budget negotiations unless his so-called turnaround agenda gets passed first, Clinton said. Now, his plan will turn Illinois around, all right. All the way back to the time of the robber barons of the 19th century. Rauner defended his agenda during a radio address Thursday. What were trying to do with our agenda is actually have the government working for the families here again and growing our economy so we got more jobs and putting more money into our schools so we have the best schools in america, Rauner said. Thats the right thing to do. The impasse has caused huge problems for state universities and community colleges, including funding of scholarships and grants. Institutions of higher education in Illinois are unsure if they will be able to continue to front money for MAP grants. A group of hundreds of students from across Illinois rallied Wednesday in Springfield to call for a higher education budget that would bring an end to the economic uncertainty surrounding the states universities and community colleges. Two men have been arrested in connection to selling tainted heroin and cocaine, Town of Groton Police said. Herbert Villarini, 25, of New London, and Daquan A. Lancaster, 20, of Uncasville, were both placed under arrest after an investigation was launched into tainted heroin being sold in southeastern Connecticut. When officers seized Villarini's home, they found 10 grams of packaged heroin, cash and two cell phones. Police said they later discovered the heroin was laced with fentanyl which has been reported to be the cause of recent overdoses in the area. Villarini is already a convicted felon involved in four pending cases, police said. At Lancaster's home, police found 3.5 grams of cocaine, cash and a cell phone. Lancaster is a convicted felon already under probation for second degree assault, police said. Villarini is accused of possession of heroin, intent to sell and possession of a half an ounce of marijuana. Lancaster faces charges including possession of cocaine, intent to sell, possession of narcotics and failure to keep narcotic in proper container. It is not clear if either have attorneys. An NBC Connecticut Troubleshooters investigation has led to a public hearing at the state capitol over the growing crisis of crumbling foundations. The Troubleshooters broke the story last summer and today is an important step to get help for struggling homeowners. Dozens of people, like Don Poulin of Manchester, stepped to the microphone and told their stories to the General Assemblys Planning And Development Committee with an eye toward getting some relief from a financially devastating dilemma. The foundation of the Poulins' Manchester home is failing, and when they realized they had a major problem, their first line of defense failed them as well. "I filed a claim with my insurance company over the phone rejected my claim and canceled my policy," Poulin said. He was able to find another insurer, but he is still looking for relief from a problem that experts say cannot be fixed. Contractor Don Childree says replacing a crumbling foundation costs at least 150 thousand dollars. Childree was among the dozens of people who came to Hartford Friday testify before state lawmakers. He believes there are aren't just hundreds,. but thousands of affected homes in eastern Connecticut. "There's homes from '98 where the cracking is so small at this time. It's very hard to see, especially as a homeowner with no idea what you're looking for, you won't know that it's starting," Childree said. Consumer Protection Commissioner Jonathan Harris described the ongoing state investigation to homeowners and lawmakers alike in Hearing Room 2A. Democratic State Representative Kelly Luxenberg of Manchester sponsored a bill to start the legislative fix, with an eye toward preventing more foundation problems in the future.. "I want to be able to go into town hall and see who poured the foundation, the date it was poured and what were the conditions. None of that exists now," Luxenberg said. That solution wouldn't help Don Poulin, but he's encouraged by the activity at the State Capitol. "This is good first step. I think there's a lot that needs to happen. A lot of legislation has to happen, but it has to happen in the succinct order," Poulin said. Commissioner Harris said that he is expecting a preliminary report in the next month or so, but he warned homeowners and lawmakers that he does not expect any conclusions from the investigation until the fall at the soonest. A Denton woman turned the tables on a scammer who was pretending to work for the Internal Revenue Service. She called him back and recorded the entire conversation. "I guess he thought that I wasn't going to do anything about it. Surprise to him, I did something about it," said Haley Cunningam. For three days, Cunningham received calls and messages from a man claiming to be from the "Investigation Bureau, IRS." The caller stated she owed the agency money and that a warrant had been issued for her arrest. "I don't owe money," Cunningham said. "I didn't think it was legitimate." And when she returned the call, her suspicions were confirmed. Over the course of a four-minute recording, Cunningham questioned the man about his work, and he quickly admitted he was part of an IRS scam. WARNING GRAPHIC LANGUAGE: Haley Cunningham recorded a phone conversation with a man who admits to perpetuating an IRS phone scam. Throughout the call the man makes inappropriate comments and uses graphic language. "Aren't you a representative of the IRS?" she asked the man. "No," he responded. "This is the way I work. I have a million dollars. I'm working this way and getting money." But that was only the beginning of an exchange that Cunningham said left her in shock. Referring to himself as Jack Pearson, the man then began to solicit Cunningham for sexual favors, at one point offering to pay her for them. "How could a person be this disgusting?" Cunningham asked. "How could someone think that this was OK?" According to the IRS, Cunningham is one of many people to receive calls like this during the tax season. Since 2013, officials report 393 Texans have been duped by a scammer claiming to work for the IRS. The losses total $1.7 million. However, this particular type of scam is easy to spot. "You would get notices in the mail, and probably several notices, before you would ever get a phone call from us. And we certainly don't ask for credit card numbers or checking account numbers," said IRS spokesman Clay Sanford. But that hasn't stopped scammers from trying and succeeding. A warning about a phone call claiming to be from the Internal Revenue Service that North Texans are getting. After several minutes of talking with the man, Cunningham said she could not stay on the phone and listen to him any longer. Their conversation ended abruptly. "I told him to go to hell. He can't speak to me in that way or anybody in that way," Cunningham said. "Or scam anybody like that and get away with it." Following the call, Cunningham reported what happened to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration. The agency provides an avenue for victims of scams to report their cases. For more information, visit the Treasury website. Working without snow makes things so much easier. We have really been able to get around South Carolina, and as a bonus, Friday was a sunny, beautiful day. Julie Fine My partner on this journey is NBC 5 photographer Mike Heimbuch. The man is impeccable with directions, oh, and a great photojournalist. He's very calm and will always take me to get a coffee. We try to focus on Texas during the trips, so on Friday we stopped by Sen. Ted Cruz's headquarters in Greenville to meet some Texas volunteers. They said they are doing this because they believe in Cruz and think he is the most conservative candidate in the race. Sondra Ziegler, from Lubbock, whom we also talked to in Iowa, was out with a group knocking on doors. They hoped to get to 400 homes by the end of the day. She said she has met some undecided voters, with the primary just a day away. Julie Fine From there, we headed to an event for former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. He is on the road with his mother, former first lady Barbara Bush, and she gets a huge reaction from the crowd. Bush is fourth in most polls right now, but seemed very positive Friday. Cruz was holding a rally Friday night with Phil Robertson from Duck Dynasty. And Saturday, it is off to Columbia. That is where Cruz will be watching the election results. Texas Ted Cruz supporters pack the house for the South Carolina Primary. A 23-year-old web developer accused of trying to join a terrorist organization has been in solitary confinement for two months in Oakland because he was caught with a notebook containing writings and doodles that "appeared to support terrorism," court documents state. But Adam Shafi's lawyers are vigorously arguing in federal court that the notebook writings of their Fremont, California client were not "contraband" or terrorist-related as a jail lieutenant claimed. Rather, the defense attorneys contend, the notes contained private information about the case that he was sending to his attorneys, which should have not been confiscated in the first place, and certainly not turned over to the FBI, which is what happened. Shafi has been in custody since July 2015 and in solitary since Dec. 17, 2015. Federal court documents The matter is of extreme importance not only because the material in the notebook contains what Shafi's attorneys, Joshua Dratel of New York and Erik Levin of Oakland, say is protected under attorney-client privilege. But the defense also argues the notebook in question landed Shafi in isolation, an "onerous and psychologically debilitating" situation where he kept alone in his jail cell for 24 hours a day, except for five hours of exercise a week. But even when he exercises, his lawyers argue, he is still kept apart from everyone else. "They're punishing him for no reason," Dratel said on Friday. "He's suffering in solitary and it takes a toll. We're very concerned." In all his years as a lawyer, Dratel said he's never had a client sent to isolation for such a matter. His legal argument also brings up President Barack Obama's recent opinion in the Washington Post that asked the country to rethink solitary confinement as it is seen by many as cruel and unusual punishment. What was written in the notebook was never described in detail in court documents. But Dratel said that some of the writings were notes pertaining to his legal case, as well as "doodles" that he didn't describe. Dratel and Levin are asking that Shafi be released on $1 million bond at a court hearing scheduled for Feb. 25, despite a judge's denial of such a request on Dec. 22. The judge feared Shafi would be a flight risk. Dratel would only say that he and Levin are arguing for Shafi's full release on bond, and would not state whether they would be satisfied if the young man was returned to the general jail population at the Glenn E. Dyer Jail in Oakland, which has space for federal inmates. "One step at a time," he said. A federal grand jury has indicted a 22-year-old Fremont web developer with one count of attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization, though the young man told authorities he only wanted to move away to help Muslim refugees overseas. Cheryl Hurd reports. Alameda County counsel Donna Ziegler and David Nefouse countered in their court arguments that Shafi is still allowed visitors, access to jail services and is certainly allowed to prepare for his legal case. They wrote they feel that Shafi would not be better off in "mainline custody" with other inmates aware of the terrorist-linked allegations against him. And, the county counsel argued, there has been no court ruling that the materials are "privileged" as contended by defense counsel. Asst. U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Shih is also opposed Shafi's motion to reconsider his detention order, citing he is a flight risk, in his court papers. Shih added that even "assuming that the seized materials are privileged, there is no legal basis to release the defendant." A spokesman for the department had no further comment on the issue when asked on Friday. Independent legal analyst Steven Clark said that ultimately, the jail is tasked with deciding what the best safety options are for inmates. But he said it's very "troubling" that jail guards took the notebook and turned it over to the FBI without any judicial oversight. Gang members have had their writings in jail seized, Clark said, but usually only with proper search warrants, which didn't occur in this case. "The attorney-client privilege is sacred," said Clark, a former prosecutor and now defense attorney in San Jose, California. Shafi is one of 75 inmates at Glenn E. Dyer Jail in Oakland in what is called "administrative isolation," though his lawyers refer to the practice of being locked up alone as "solitary confinement," a point of semantic debate between the two sides. Solitary is usually a punishment meted out to inmates who have exhibited violent behavior and pose a threat to themselves or others. Federal court documents. The isolation began after Alameda County Sheriff's Lt. Dan Brodie said deputies put Shafi alone in a cell for his own "safety" on Dec. 17, after guard found the notebook, and were worried that other inmates might want to harm him, court documents state. Shafi was indicted in December by a federal grand jury with one count of attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization, specifically al-Nusrah Front, or ANF. Until six months ago, Shafi had been mixed with the general jail population. Shafi, a 2011 Mission San Jose High graduate, has entered a not guilty plea. Shafi's father, in court papers, had indeed worried that his son might have traveled to Syria, Iraq, Gaza or elsewhere to "defend Muslims" and was disturbed because his son was "always grieving about what is happening to Muslims." His father also worried that his son may have been following extreme imams online, and that some of his "high school friends were of the same mindset," according to the FBI affidavit. But his father had also been trying to get help for his son, who he characterized as an idealistic young man who wanted to help brethren in distress. A planned 55-hour closure of both sides of the 91 Freeway continued Saturday between Interstate 15 and the 71 Expressway to accommodate construction activity. The closure of the approximately six-mile stretch of the freeway is set to end at 4 a.m. Monday, according to the Riverside County Transportation Commission. Media briefings on the closure are scheduled this morning and Sunday morning. "We had considered performing this work over a series of 20 consecutive night closures, but we know how important it is for Corona commuters to get on the road very early each morning," commission Director Anne Mayer said Wednesday. "By consolidating this work into one weekend, we are able to create a safer working environment for our crews and the motoring public." The commission has been promoting its "91 Steer Clear'' campaign since last month to make drivers aware of the closure and how to prepare. During the shutdown, all westbound traffic attempting to transit the Riverside Freeway through Corona will be diverted onto Interstate 15, and all eastbound vehicles will be detoured onto the Corona Expressway. Officials anticipated major backups on Interstate 15 and the Corona Expressway, as well as on surface streets in Riverside and west Corona. Riverside officials have warned of lengthy travel delays throughout the west end of the city, particularly along La Sierra Avenue and Pierce Street. Commuters trying to go east or west via inland or Orange County freeways were encouraged to utilize Interstate 10, state Route 60 or state Route 210 through the weekend. Mayer predicted Interstate 15, the 71 Expressway and Riverside Freeway will be clogged around the closure zone, with delays stretching three to four hours. CHP officers, Riverside County sheriff's deputies, as well as Riverside and Corona police officers will be out in force for traffic control and to respond to emergencies during the shutdown. All road work on detour routes in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and San Diego counties will be halted this weekend to spare motorists added delays, according to RCTC. Metrolink announced it will offer a two-for-one promotion for commuters and will double the number of trains Saturday and Sunday between Riverside, San Bernardino and Los Angeles, providing another travel option for commuters. The freeway closure will enable crews to tackle three major components of the "91 Project Fast Forward'' without traffic conflicts. Mayer said that the westbound side of the Maple Street bridge at the 91 will be demolished, and crews will install support beams at the flyover ramp connected to the bridge, as well as pave a portion of the eastbound Riverside Freeway under Interstate 15. Several mini projects will also take place, such as filling potholes, painting K-rails and patching ramps and bridges along the heavily used corridor. According to Mayer, the shutdown will not settle all construction needs, noting that future overnight closures will be necessary at various locations in the project area -- though nothing approaching the magnitude of this weekend. The $1.3 billion 91 expansion project, which began in early 2014, involves widening the east-west corridor between the Orange County line and Interstate 15, with new traffic lanes and ramps, as well as additional shoulder space and enlarged surface streets in the vicinity of the freeway. More information is available at http://sr91project.info/ or by calling (877) 770-9191. City News Service contributed to this report. Police arrested a city sanitation worker Thursday after he allegedly threw garbage at a crucifix, mashed flowers by another religious statue and then led police on a slow-speed chase in a street sweeper. Someone at St. Frances de Chantal Church in Borough Park recorded Roman Protas, 38, throwing garbage on a crucifix at the church Thursday morning, according to police. Later, the man returned in his street sweeper, gets out and destroys flowers surrounding a statue of Pope John Paul II, surveillance video obtained by NBC 4 New York shows. After the destruction, he took off in his vehicle. Police were alerted to the vandalism and tried to stop the man's vehicle, but he wouldn't stop. The surveillance footage from the neighborhood shows the street sweeper weaving through traffic and -- slowly -- blowing through a red light as cops creep behind his vehicle. Cops finally pulled the man over, and he was arrested. The drug Aripiprazole, which is used to treat disorders like schizophrenia and Tourettes, was found on him, police said. Protas faces a slew of charges in the incident, among them criminal possession of a controlled substance, reckless endangerment, fleeing an officer in a motor vehicle, reckless driving, criminal trespassing and running a red light. He also faces a hate crime charge, police said. The sanitation worker had been arrested eight times before Friday's bizarre chain of events. Eight days ago, he was booked for allegedly stealing money from a charity box. No one answered the door at Protas' house Friday afternoon. Congregants at the church said Friday they were outraged by the church vandalism. "This is horrible," said parishioner Alice Wodnick. "I think it's very disrespectful," said Kathy Castaldo of Borough Park. "You shouldn't do that anywhere. Any religion." The debate over whether Canadian-born Ted Cruz is eligible to be president is moving from the campaign trail to the courtroom. Lawsuits challenging the Texas Republican's eligibility for the ballot have been filed in recent weeks by residents in states including Illinois, New York and Alabama who argue Cruz can't be president because he's not a natural-born citizen. Fellow GOP candidate Donald Trump also has threatened to sue over the issue. Cruz and some legal experts say he's eligible because his mother was a U.S. citizen when he was born. Lawrence Joyce, a pharmacist and lawyer from Poplar Grove, Illinois, said Friday he filed suit in Chicago because he wants to avoid what he called a potential "nightmare scenario." He said he fears if Cruz becomes the GOP nominee, Democrats will get him kicked off the ballot in some states or Cruz will be forced to drop out, and establishment Republicans will replace him with a more moderate candidate, such as Jeb Bush or Chris Christie. Joyce said he's backing Ben Carson but is acting "strictly on my own." Cook County Judge Maureen Ward Kirby set a hearing on a motion to dismiss the suit filed by Cruz's lawyer for March 1 the first day Joyce said he'd be able to get off work to return to court. By then, ballots for Illinois' March 15 primary will be printed and early voting underway. Asked about his eligibility during a CNN town hall this week, Cruz said by law he's been a U.S. citizen since the day he was born. "There will still be some that try to work political mischief on it, but as a legal matter, this is clear and straightforward," Cruz said. The Indiana Election Commission on Friday rejected a challenge to whether Cruz may remain on the state's May 3 primary ballot. Cruz won a similar ballot challenge in New Hampshire in November. Associated Press writer Tom Davies in Indianapolis contributed. Around 1,000 people rallied in Philadelphias Chinatown section Saturday in support of a former police officer who was convicted of manslaughter for shooting an unarmed man in the stairwell of a housing project in Brooklyn. The protesters marched from 10th and Arch streets to 11th and Market streets. It was one of many rallies that took place in cities nationwide, including New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco, Saturday to protest the conviction of former NYPD officer Peter Liang. Liang, 28, could be sentenced to 5 to 15 years for shooting Akai Gurley, an unarmed man, in the stairwell of a housing project in Brooklyn back in 2014. Liang was patrolling a public housing high-rise with his gun drawn when he fired. The bullet ricocheted off a wall and hit Gurley on a lower floor. Gurley, 28, was taken to the hospital where he died from his injuries. Liang testified that the shooting was an accident. He said he had been holding his weapon safely, with his finger on the side and not the trigger, when a sudden sound jarred him and his body tensed. "I just turned, and the gun went off," he testified. Prosecutors said Liang handled his gun recklessly, must have realized from the noise that someone was nearby and did almost nothing to help Gurley. Liang said he initially looked with his flashlight, saw no one and didn't immediately report the shot, instead quarreling with his partner about who would call their sergeant. Liang thought he might get fired. But then, he said, he went to look for the bullet, heard cries and found the wounded Gurley and his distraught girlfriend. Liang then radioed for an ambulance, but he acknowledged not helping Gurley's girlfriend as she tried to revive him. Liang explained he thought it was wiser to wait for professional medical aid. "I was panicking. I was shocked and in disbelief that someone was hit," Liang said. Liang's partner, who was not charged criminally and testified in the case, was fired by NYPD. Many of Liang's supporters say they believe he is being scapegoated because of anger over other police shootings. Some also say he has been treated unfairly because he is Asian-American. We mourn the accidental death of African American Akai Gurley and we understand the furor left by the thousands of police shooting-related deaths in the last decade, an organizer for Saturdays rally wrote. Mr. Gurley is a victim, but Peter Liang is another. We believe Peter Liangs selective prosecution and conviction will leave a shameful mark in our nations collective consciousness because of its blatant unfairness to a rookie cop from a minority group. The organizer also criticized the New York Police Department. NYPD is evading criticism for its inadequate training and for sending teams comprised solely of inexperienced rookie cops to highly dangerous neighborhoods, the organizer wrote. The government wants to avoid further racial tension and riots. Some communities want revenge after what happened in Ferguson. But what about Peter Liang's individual rights? The blame should not rest on one person, the indictment should be levied against the entire system fraught with bias, prejudice, and inadequacy, which fails everyone from the police officers to the citizens they are entrusted to protect. Donald Trump barreled to victory in South Carolina's Republican primary Saturday, deepening his hold on the GOP presidential field as the race headed into the South. "Let's put this thing away," he shouted to cheering supporters. Out West, Hillary Clinton pulled out a crucial win over Bernie Sanders in Nevada's Democratic caucuses, easing the rising anxieties of her backers. At a raucous victory rally in Las Vegas, she lavished praise on her supporters and declared, "This one is for you." The victories put Clinton and Trump in strong positions as the 2016 presidential election advanced toward the March 1 Super Tuesday contests, a delegate-rich voting bonanza. But South Carolina marked the end for Jeb Bush, the one-time Republican front-runner and member of a prominent political family, who withdrew from the race. "I firmly believe the American people must entrust this office to someone who understands that whoever holds it is a servant, not the master," Bush told supporters in an emotional speech. South Carolina marked Trump's second straight victory this one by 10 points and strengthened his unexpected claim on the GOP nomination. No Republican in recent times has won New Hampshire and South Carolina and then failed to win the nomination. "There's nothing easy about running for president," Trump said at his victory rally. "It's tough, it's nasty, it's mean, it's vicious. It's beautiful when you win it's beautiful." Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz, a pair of freshman senators, were fighting for second place, while Bush and others lagged far behind. "This has become a three-person race," Rubio declared. Cruz harked back to his win in the leadoff Iowa caucuses as a sign he was best positioned to take down Trump. He urged conservatives to rally around his campaign, saying pointedly, "We are the only candidate who has beaten and can beat Donald Trump." For both parties, the 2016 election has laid bare voters' anger with the political establishment. The public mood has upended the usual political order, giving Sanders and Trump openings while leaving more traditional candidates scrambling to find their footing. Trump's victory comes after a week in which he threatened to sue one rival, accused former President George W. Bush of lying about the Iraq war and even tussled with Pope Francis on immigration. His victory was another sign that the conventional rules of politics often don't apply to the brash billionaire. He was backed by nearly 4 in 10 of those who were angry at the federal government, and a third of those who felt betrayed by politicians in the Republican Party. For Cruz, despite his confident words, South Carolina must have been something of a disappointment. The state was his first test of whether his expensive, sophisticated get-out-the-vote operation could overtake Trump in a Southern state, where the electorate seemed tailor-made for the Texas senator. Florida's Rubio used his top-tier finish to bill himself as the mainstream alternative to Trump and Cruz, candidates many GOP leaders believe are unelectable in November. South Carolina was the final disappointment for Bush, who campaigned alongside members of his famous family, which remains popular in the state. Though he was once considered the front-runner for the GOP nomination, new fundraising reports out Saturday showed that donations to his super PAC had largely stalled. Also in the mix was Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who had low expectations in South Carolina and was looking toward more moderate states that vote later in March. Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson vowed to stay in the race, despite a single-digit showing. The crowded Republican contest was a contrast to the head-to-head face-off among Democrats. Clinton has emerged as a favorite of those seeking an experienced political hand, while Sanders is attracting young voters and others drawn to his call of a political and economic revolution. The Nevada results highlighted Clinton's strength with black voters, a crucial Democratic electorate in the next contest in South Carolina, as well as several Super Tuesday states. The Hispanic vote was closely divided between Sanders and Clinton. According to the entrance polls, Clinton was backed by a majority of women, college-educated voters, those with annual incomes over $100,000, moderates, voters aged 45 and older and non-white voters. Sanders did best with men, voters under 45 and those less affluent and educated. The former secretary of state captured the backing of voters who said electability and experience were important. But in a continuing sign of her vulnerability, Sanders did best with voters looking for a candidate who is caring and honest. Sanders congratulated Clinton on her victory, but then declared that "the wind is at our backs. We have the momentum." With a vast network of small donors, Sanders has the financial resources to stay in the race for months. Clinton's win means she will pick up at least 19 of Nevada's 35 delegates. She already holds a sizeable lead in the delegate count based largely on her support from superdelegates the party leaders who can support the candidate of their choice, no matter the primaries and caucuses. Trump won a majority of the delegates in South Carolina and he had a chance to win them all. With votes still being tabulated, he was projected to win at least 38 of the 50 at stake. Democrats and Republicans will swap locations in the coming days. The GOP holds its caucus in Nevada on Tuesday, while Democrats face off in South Carolina on Feb. 27. The polling of voters in Nevada and South Carolina was conducted for The Associated Press and the television networks by Edison Research as voters arrived at 25 randomly selected caucus sites. Hillary Clinton was the projected winner of Nevada's Democratic caucus Saturday, overcoming an unexpectedly strong surge by Bernie Sanders and potentially easing the anxiety of some of her supporters. Donald Trump was projected to win the Republican primary in South Carolina, according to NBC News. Trump emerged after early results showed him in a fight with Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio. Clinton's win eased the rising anxieties of her backers, who feared a growing challenge from Bernie Sanders. At a raucous victory rally in Las Vegas, she lavished praise on her supporters and declared, "This one is for you." Trump's strong showing in South Carolina marked his second straight victory in the Republican primaries and strengthened his unexpected claim on the Republican nomination. Underscoring the electorate's frustration with Washington, he was backed by nearly 4 in 10 of those who were angry at the federal government, and a third of those who felt betrayed by politicians in the Republican Party. Trump addressed his overjoyed supporters just before 9 p.m. He thanked his family, saying, Its been not easy for them. They dont see me anymore Im making speeches all the time! Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, a pair of freshman senators, were locked in a race for second place. Other candidates lagged behind, including Jeb Bush, who announced Saturday evening he was suspending his campaign. "Thank you for the opportunity to run for the greatest office on earth. I love you all and God bless you," Bush said. Cruz opened his speech by paying tribute to Bush as well as late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. He then got down to the evening's race. Right now we are effectively tied for second place, he told his supporters. We are the only campaign that has beaten and can beat Donald Trump. Rubio, speaking to his supporters, said he was confident he would emerge from the crowded GOP field. "After tonight, this has become a three-person race, and we will win the nomination, he said. For both parties, the 2016 election has laid bare voters' anger with the political establishment and the influence of big money in the political system. The public mood has upended the usual political order, giving Sanders and Trump openings while leaving more traditional candidates scrambling to find their footing. Trump's victory comes after a week in which he threatened to sue one rival, accused former President George W. Bush of lying about the Iraq war and even tussled with Pope Francis on immigration. His victory was another sign that the conventional rules of politics often don't apply to the brash billionaire. For Cruz, even a second-place finish in South Carolina would be something of a disappointment. The state was his first test of whether his expensive, sophisticated get-out-the-vote operation could overtake Trump in a Southern state, where the electorate is tailor-made for the conservative Texas senator. Florida's Rubio was hoping a top-tier finish in South Carolina could help establish him as the mainstream alternative to Trump and Cruz. Many GOP leaders believe neither Trump nor Cruz could win in the general election. Rubio scored the endorsements of several prominent South Carolina politicians, including Gov. Nikki Haley, and seemed to have rebounded after a dismal debate performance two weeks ago. Bush hoped his deep family ties to South Carolina his brother and father each won two primaries here would be a lifeline for his struggling campaign. But if Bush was unable to stay close to the leaders, he was sure to face pressure to end his campaign. Also in the mix was Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who had low expectations in South Carolina. He was looking toward more moderate states that vote later in March. Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson had a small but loyal cadre of followers. The crowded Republican contest was a contrast to the head-to-head face-off among Democrats. Sanders, backed by a powerful network of small financial donors, has plenty of money to stay in the race for months. Clinton's victory came as a relief to her campaign, particularly after her blowout loss to Sanders in the previous New Hampshire contest. "Some may have doubted us, but we never doubted each other," Clinton said during her victory rally. The former secretary of state captured the backing of voters who said electability and experience were important in their vote. But in a continuing sign of her vulnerability, Sanders did best with voters looking for a candidate who is caring and honest. Sanders congratulated Clinton on her victory, but then declared that "the wind is at our backs. We have the momentum." Clinton and Sanders split the first two voting contests, revealing the Vermont senator's appeal with young people drawn to his impassioned calls for breaking up Wall Street banks and providing free tuition at public colleges and universities. According to the entrance polls of voters, Clinton was backed by a majority of women, college-educated voters, those with annual incomes over $100,000, moderates, voters aged 45 and older and non-white voters. Sanders did best with men, voters under 45 and those less affluent and educated. Clinton's win means she will pick up at least 19 of Nevada's 35 delegates. She already holds a sizeable lead in the delegate count based largely on her support from superdelegates the party leaders who can support the candidate of their choice, no matter the outcome of primaries and caucuses. Democrats and Republicans will swap locations in the coming days. The GOP holds its caucus in Nevada on Tuesday, while Democrats face off in South Carolina on Feb. 27. The polling of voters in Nevada and South Carolina was conducted for The Associated Press and the television networks by Edison Research as voters arrived at 25 randomly selected caucus sites. A few days after starting his new job at San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) headquarters, a man was arrested for trespassing in a violent encounter with MTS security officers, even after his supervisor confirmed he had a right to be there, according to a lawsuit. Two of the MTS officers involved have been accused of violence before and remain on the job, a joint investigation by NBC 7 Investigates and Voice of San Diego (VOSD) found. When Allen Koka started a new job cleaning buses and trolleys at MTS headquarters, he said his employers told him theyd wait a bit before issuing him an ID badge because it was a tough gig and there was no reason to go through the motions if he ended up quitting after a day or two, he said. The 28-year-old Iraqi immigrant was a few days into the job when he reported to work one night in November 2014. According to his complaint, Koka left a short time later in an ambulance, following an altercation with a team of security guards who worked there too. MTS officers said Koka had been trespassing because he did not have an ID. All charges against him were eventually dropped. Now, MTS is in court trying to defend itself from a lawsuit filed by Koka. Body cameras worn by MTS security officers caught a portion of the incident. The video shows Koka arriving to work that night without an identification badge, prompting MTS officers to stop him and tell him he is trespassing. As shown in the videos, a team of security officers surrounds Koka, who is 5-foot-4 and about 145 pounds, and presses him about his identity for several minutes. In the video, Koka said he worked there; the security team said they were going to give him a citation for trespassing. The video shows, Koka's brother, also a night janitor at MTS, and the brothers supervisor showing up to vouch for him. This guy and this guy work with me, the supervisor told the officers in the video, pointing to Koka and his brother. After previously agreeing to let Koka call his supervisor to clear things up, the officers then tell him they dont care about the supervisor once he shows up. The boss could not convince the officers to let Koka be, the videos show. OK, well were going to hang onto him for a little bit, MTS Officer Chris Miner told the supervisor. Hes not being very cooperative. When Koka declined to put his hands behind his back to be handcuffed, MTS officer Bill Buck, with the assistance of other MTS officers, is seen taking Koka down, according to the lawsuit. Its unclear what exactly happened to Koka at that point the video becomes a jumble of darkness and flashes of light but Koka is heard screaming in pain. He screams My face! repeatedly, then tells the officers hes recently had surgery on his stomach. Kokas attorney said Koka had visited Turkey several months earlier. There, he was robbed, stabbed and hospitalized for a number of weeks before he could return to America. Koka said he doesnt remember the MTS tussle. An ER doctor wrote in his emergency record that MTS employees told him Koka lost consciousness for approximately 30 seconds, according to Kokas lawsuit. Mark Arabo, who is politically active within the regions Iraqi community, said the incident should shake up the MTS security apparatus. Those two officers should be fired immediately, he told NBC 7 Investigates and VOSD. Whoever at the time decided not to fire them should also be fired. Mark Arabo, who is politically active within the regions Iraqi community, said the incident should shake up the MTS security apparatus. NBC 7 Investigates and VOSD discovered, before the incident with Koko, two of those officers Buck and Miner -- were accused of improper use of force and both men are still working for MTS. Court records show MTS had settled the lawsuit over an earlier incident involving both Buck and Miner, days before the incident with Koka. In that settlement and in response to Kokas lawsuit, MTS, the officers and other parties named do not admit liability and have denied any wrongdoing. That previous settlement was the result of a 2011 incident in which Buck and Miner stopped a Mexican couple traveling on the trolley for fare evasion, according to the couple's lawsuit filed in 2012. While writing the ticket, the officers called the Mexican man, Fernando Alcocer, a piece of sh-- and a f------ Jew and said they hoped he and his wife were sent back to Mexico, the lawsuit claims. When Alcocer said he was going to record the officers with his phone, Buck punched him in the head, according to the lawsuit. Buck and Miner then took him to the ground and proceeded to beat him, the lawsuit claims. The lawsuit settled for $25,000 a sum that was split between MTS and Universal Protection Service, a private security firm that contracts with MTS. Buck was an employee of Universal Protection Service at the time. MTS later hired Buck as one of its employees. Miner has been the subject of two other complaints MTS paid to settle in the last 10 years. MTS and Miner have admitted no liability and deny any wrongdoing in those cases as well. MTS and Universal Protection Service split a $7,500 settlement in one of those incidents. In that case, according to court documents, a woman named Detris Phiffer alleged in a lawsuit that she was forced out of her car at the Euclid Avenue Trolley Station in February 2012, thrown to the ground and punched and kicked by a few officers, including Miner. In October 2012, a handicapped woman named Linda Li alleged in a formal complaint with MTS that she had a run-in with Miner and another security officer at the El Cajon Transit Center. In the complaint, Li claimed the incident left her with bruises and dislocated wrists. MTS paid $20,000 to settle that case, according to a document obtained from MTS. Through an MTS spokesman, Buck and Miner declined to comment for this story. MTS Security Officer Training According to MTS, over 200 officers patrol trolleys, buses and transit system property. Most of them 175 are private security guards from Universal Protection Service. They can have guns but do not have powers of arrest and cannot write tickets. The other 35 or so officers, including Buck and Miner, are employed directly by MTS. They have no guns but can write tickets and briefly detain people, but they cannot send someone to jail without the help of police. None of the officers are required to attend a police academy, according to MTS. Instead, they get 160 hours of on-the-job training and must take a state training course. To learn more about the role of MTS security personnel, watch the video below. If you are using our app, click here. [[369207631, C]] In September 2014, just two months before the Koka incident, MTS outfitted all of its 35 or so officers with body cameras. The agency still doesnt have a written policy for how its officers should use their body cameras, but Manny Guaderrama, MTSs head of security, told NBC 7 Investigates and VOSD, officers are supposed to turn their cameras on for all enforcement actions. MTS also doesnt have a policy for releasing body-camera footage to the public. NBC 7 Investigates and VOSD received copies of the body camera footage from Kokas attorney. MTS directly released some video as well, in response to a California Public Records Act request. MTS told NBC 7 Investigates and VOSD it plans to have all of the private security officers wear body cameras. Its part of a contract extension between MTS and the company approved by the MTS board last week, Universal Protection Service. According to the approved contract, MTS will pay UPS up to $39 million over the next five years. According to MTS, the agency does not have a written policy for judging whether its officers have used excessive fource. Guaderrama or another member of MTS security leadership looks into each incident to determine if force was appropriate. If it wasnt, Guaderrama can dole out a punishment ranging from a reprimand to dismissal. Kokas case is still pending, but the MTS board discussed it last week during a closed session. San Diego City Councilman David Alvarez, a member of the MTS board, watched the body camera video of the Koka incident, and told NBC 7 Investigates and VOSD his impression was there was a miscommunication that could have been resolved peacefully. There should be corrective measures that are serious corrective measures not just a slap on the wrist or a write-up, he said. Koka said another MTS officer resolved the same situation peacefully just a few days earlier. He said, he showed up and was stopped by an MTS officer for not having his ID. Together, they walked to Kokas bosss office where the boss confirmed Koka worked there, and the situation was resolved, he said. Its an interesting paradox here, or Catch-22, Dale Dixon, Kokas attorney, said. Because if the position is, MTS did exactly what they were supposed to do, then they have created policies that allow this ridiculous amount of force to be used when its absolutely unnecessary. And if they say, These officers were doing something that they shouldnt have done, well there are a dozen to 14 of them standing around, somebody with authority should have stepped in and said, This isnt appropriate. And nobody did that. In a legal filing last summer, MTSs attorney wrote that Koka was properly taken to the ground and handcuffed where his legs were bound to keep him from kicking. MTS also filed a complaint against the cleaning service Koka worked for, NMS Management, for failing to give Koka an ID badge before he started work. Koka now works at a gas station in Escondido. Asked if he likes his new job, Koka replied, Yeah, nobody beats me. A mother of three young children was tied up at gunpoint and sexually assaulted by multiple suspected armed robbers during a string of home invasions, prosecutors revealed in court Friday. The five suspects, one of whom worked at the San Diego Unified School District, appeared in court for their arraignment, all entering not guilty pleas. Stephen Gomez, 20; Thomas Smith Jr., 24; Aaron Rico III, 20; and Aaron Rico V, 17, were ordered to be held on a $1 million bail each. A judge ordered the fifth suspect, Robin Shawvner, 20, be held on $550,000. The Ricos are brothers, and though Aaron Rico V is a minor, he is being charged as an adult. According to the SDUSD spokeswoman, Smith was employed with the school district from July 2012 to September 2013, working as a workability trainee in career and translation services. Deputy District Attorney Jalyn Wang said on Jan. 31 at about 2:15 a.m., the suspects got into a victims home in Sorrento Valley through an unlocked door. The five people barged into the mothers room and demanded to know where the safe was, threatening to shoot her, the prosecutor said. At gunpoint, the men allegedly tied the woman and sexually assaulted her. At least one of her three children woke up during the crime, according to Wang. They pointed a gun at her, threatened to shoot her, assaulted [her], bound her hands and fled her house with a lot of her property, she said. Gomez, Smith and the Ricos were charged with conspiracy to commit a crime, sex with a foreign object, assault during a first-degree burglary, robbery and burglary. Shawvner faces robbery and conspiracy to commit a crime charges. Police said they had tied the group to at least three other home invasions across the North County, but the charges read in court only stem from the Sorrento Valley case. Its ongoing, said Wang. Additional charges thats left to the Sam Diego police to do their investigation. Smith, who has a previous residential burglary conviction on his record, faces 60 years to life in prison if convicted. The other men face 25 years to life. One of the most high-profile crimes ever in the D.C. region dominated headlines for years, yet most people have never even heard about it. The Car Barn Murders is the Montgomery County Police Departments oldest cold case, and detectives hope you might have the clue to solving it. Detective Brian Stafford showed the News4 I-Team an 81-year-old photo of a wooden desk covered in paper. "There's a couple of things that might be bullet holes," he said, pointing to indentations on the desk. Staffords job is to look for the tiny details detectives before him might have missed. Ninety percent of the time the answer to who did this is already in the case file, he explained. The case gets its name from the huge car barn that used to sit at the intersection of Connecticut Avenue and the old B&O Railroad tracks (now the Capital Crescent Trail) in Chevy Chase, Maryland. In 1935, the Capital Transit trolley had a turn-around at that spot and parked the trolleys inside the car barn, which sat next to Chevy Chase Lake on a spot now occupied by a large office building. Photos from the Chevy Chase Historical Society show the area used to be heavily wooded, with only the lake, a pool and a small amusement park built by developers in an attempt to lure city-dwellers to build homes that far out of town. Despite the name of the case, Detective Stafford said the murders didnt actually happen inside the car barn. They took place across the street, near where a dry cleaner now stands, where a small residential-looking building sat next to the pools entrance. That's where people waited for the trolley, employees stashed their belongings and conductors handed over the fares they collected to the trolley clerk. The clerks name was James Mitchell, and he kept a meticulous list of exactly how much money he collected that day. In 1935 dollars, it was $1,229, Stafford read from the file. So, over $20,000 in today's money. He was actually waiting for the armored car to come and pick up all this money. Instead, someone stole it all, including $60 in quarters, $31 in dimes and a single $20 bill. Mitchell was found in his locked office, shot through the head. The night watchman, Emory Smith, was discovered a mile north, floating in Rock Creek just below what is now the Kensington Parkway Bridge. Evidence From the Car Barn Murders Detective Stafford showed the I-Team one of the most critical pieces of evidence in the file: A circular piece of paper with black concentric circles printed on it. It was made by the American Watchmens Time Detector Company, according to small print in the middle of the circle. Stafford pointed to a tiny pinprick in the aging paper, between markings for 4 a.m. and 5 a.m. This is the last time Mr. Smith punched in on his time clock, Stafford explained. He was making his rounds. Thats how they narrowed down the time of the crime. He said evidence like that might be old, but it can all still hold up in court. The evidence includes photos of footprints in the snow. Somebody was walking around there barefooted, Stafford said while pointing to a corresponding map that shows where detectives at the time tracked the prints from the from the office to the car barn. There are bullets recovered from both mens bodies, carefully stored in envelopes supplied by Pumphrey Funeral Home. They did the autopsies, Stafford explained. Police never found the murder weapon, but Stafford showed the I-Team how the FBI did a ballistics report in 1935 that tells Stafford what to look for today. A Colt model 1903 semi-automatic pistol." The report contains original Western Union telegrams and 81-year-old police notebooks filled with references to bootlegging gangs, stick-ups and getting rid of people before they squawk. It's all kept on the back shelf of the departments Cold Case Evidence Room, the first in a line of boxes filled with stories of families who never got closure. Looking around at the boxes, Detective Stafford said, I think they're all solvable." But hes realistic about the Car Barn Murders. It's not a case we're actively investigating, he said. We do have to focus our cases on where we have victims who are still alive, victims families that are still alive, and where suspects might still be out there and could be brought to justice." He said all of the suspects in the Car Barn Murders are long gone they would all be more than 100 years old today. But he thinks the missing link may still be living among us. "If you've ever heard stories about how your old grandpa was the old bootlegger back in the '30s or some stories about a robbery at the car barn that he might be involved in, or he knew who did it, anything like that, give us a call, Stafford said. He promised you wont get in trouble, recognizing most of us werent even born at the time of the murders. Stafford said its even possible the gun could be long-forgotten in someones attic, waiting to be rediscovered. Which is why every so often, he opens the file and continues to search for what may be hidden in plain sight. It is an open murder, Stafford explained. And we don't close murders and we don't forget about them." Reported by Tisha Thompson, produced by Rick Yarborough, and shot and edited by Steve Jones. A local family planned to raise money for their 3-year-old child's medical bills, but on Friday night they said they will open a foundation in her memory after the little girl's recent death. A packed crowd, including Washington Capitals players, paid tribute to little Emma Hensel in Arlington, Virginia. Emma died Jan. 31 of an inoperable brain tumor and is survived by her parents, older sister and many relatives. Hensel's mother, Teal, said she had mixed emotions Friday night at the fundraiser. "[I'm] overwhelmed, grateful, sad that Emma couldn't be here," she said. Using the slogan "Emma Strong," the Hensels, of Frostburg, Maryland, previously had arranged to hold a fundraiser to help support the family as the child fought for her life. Now, they need help covering more than $100,000 in medical bills. Also, they say they will start a foundation called Emma's Wish, to raise money for the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. "I feel like my daughter was such a fighter. She would want me to continue to fight and love people who were helping us," Teal Hensel said. Capitals players held a raffle to help the effort. "Such a bright spirit, a little girl that had lots of energy," player Karl Alzner said. "The four of us here all have young kids, so, I think it probably hits you a little harder," player Brooks Orpik said. The athletes all said they want to honor a precious little girl, whose legacy will continue. "We plan on helping and keeping her going," Emma's mother said. To contribute to the Hensel family's fund, visit this webpage. In the epic privacy-versus-security battle as the FBI pressures Apple to crack the iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino terrorists, U.S. Sen. Ed Markey sided with the government on Friday. Despite a judge's order, Apple says it does not believe it has the technological capabilities to overcome the password protection for the phone carried by jihadist terrorist Syed Rezwan Farook, who, along with his wife, killed 14 people and injured 22 in the Dec. 22 gun attacks. Apple CEO Tim Cook has also expressed concern about establishing what would be in effect a "back door" to the millions of iPhones that, in time, thieves, hackers and repressive governments could exploit. Markey, who's been a leading voice in Congress on Internet and digital privacy issues, said in a Boston appearance Friday: "Apple should try to find a way to work with law enforcement to open that Apple iPhone, without causing a breach in every other Apple iPhone in the U.S. We have to find a way to ensure that law enforcement has the capacity to be able to open individual cellphones, while simultaneously protecting every other cellphone." "I think it's a balance that can be struck," Markey added. "We have to prove in America that you can be tough on privacy and tough on security simultaneously." Apple has until next Friday to formally respond to the order to crack the Farook phone's security. Police have charged a foster mother with cruelty to persons and risk of injury to a minor after a toddler in her care who was severely malnourished, scarred and had broken bones, was taken to the hospital. Groton police began an investigation on Nov. 11 after family members brought the 18-month-old boy to the Pequot Health Center. Doctors there said the child was seriously underweight and was unable to walk, talk or feed himself, according to an arrest warrant application. The boy also had an apparent injury to his elbow, scars on his neck, chest and arms, and what looked like a burn mark on his wrist, according to police. Officers arrested Crystal Magee, 32, of Groton, on Feb. 4 after a months-long investigation. Magee, who plead not guilty before a judge, told police that the toddler only began losing weight about two weeks before police arrived at her home in November. Doctors told police the child was severely malnourished over a longer period of time, according to the arrest warrant application. Police also said Magee skipped several doctors appointments for the boy. The boy was removed from Magee's home by the Department of Children and Families in November and placed with an aunt. It was the aunt who then brought the toddler to see doctors. The boy began to show marked improvement after being removed from Magee's home, police said. DCF released a statement about the investigation on Thursday: "The Department is deeply concerned about the treatment of this boy while in the care of a relative foster parent. Thankfully the boy is doing well and receiving all appropriate care and treatment at this time. We are appalled by what happened in the home of the woman who was arrested. Our foster parents and relative foster parents -- with only the rarest exceptions -- provide outstanding care for children, and accordingly, we have high standards and expectations for them. Clearly that trust was violated in this instance," the statement read. Magees brother, Charles Church, spoke exclusively with NBC Connecticut and said his sister should have never agreed to care for the child, but she did not hurt him. DCF took the baby from the home, brought him to my sister and pretty much begged my sister to care for the baby. My sister, who is chronically ill, said yes, Church said. Church denies the abuse and said any injuries to the toddler had to have come before he was in her care. My sister took care of him as best she could. I was over there numerous times and I never saw any burn marks, Church said. A DCF spokesperson said the agency is conducting its own investigation into the case. A Vermont man was sentenced to 40 years to life in prison for shooting and killing a total stranger on Main Street in St. Albans in September of 2013. Investigators said Matthew Webster of Swanton killed Anna Alger of Highgate during a roadside dispute that stemmed from Webster's bad driving. "I'm sorry for the tears and broken hearts," Webster told the loved ones of Alger who attended Friday's sentencing hearing. "For the family, friends and coworkers who will never get to hear her laugh again." Last year, a jury convicted Webster of second-degree murder and lesser charges related to the killing of the 31-year-old mother after police said he ran a red light and cut her off. When Alger confronted Webster, he exploded, shooting her seven times, investigators said. Webster's defense asked for a compassionate sentence, saying he is deeply remorseful. They had explained the shooter had a handgun on him that day and was not in control, because he was contemplating suicide after a long history of mental health problems and drug abuse. "We will never forgive you, Matthew, for what you put on us," said Alger's then-fiance, Patrick Dalley, addressing Webster at the sentencing hearing. "We no longer have Anna. When Anna died, a piece of me did, too." In sentencing Webster, Judge Alison Arms said he was solely responsible, directing his own rage and hopelessness that day at a truly innocent person. Arms said tense disputes or angry gestures between drivers are not unusual following roadway infractions, but Alger did not provoke that level of violence, because she had "no idea what she was walking into." "We weren't sure what was going to happen," the victim's step-mother, Ann Morris, told necn after the sentencing hearing. "We're very satisfied. We can finally put Anna to rest." Webster can appeal the sentence. Three teenage women were arrested on weapons-related charges after a fight among friends in Dorchester Friday night, Boston Police said. Erukinia Philogene, 19, was charged with assault by means of a dangerous weapon, a knife. A 17-year-old Dorchester girl and a 16-year-old Mattapan girl were charged with delinquency charges of unlawful possession of a firearm and unlawful possession of ammunition. Police responded at 8 p.m. to a call for a gun in the area of 8 Theodore St. Three women told police they were visiting two friends when an argument occurred. One of the women threatened others with a gun, and Philogene showed a knife, police said. Last month I met with the security team at a major bank to discuss their detection capabilities. The head of the banks security operation center claimed that his organizations security stack could detect certain threats but he was worried about them missing other attack vectors. He asked his team to figure out how to close this security gap and, during our meeting, they were listing the pros and cons of buying a solution and building their own system. As the security team debated the merits and drawbacks of each method, I surprised them by saying their whole approach was wrong. For years, practicing security meant building a fence to keep adversaries out, plugging any holes that appeared and fortifying the fence as the attacks grew more advanced. This approach has failed to keep companies safe: no matter how many fences a security team constructs or what defensive measures are implemented, they will still be the underdog compared to the sophisticated enemies theyre facing. Cyber attacks are constantly evolving and increasing in complexity. It is virtually impossible for the defenders to keep up with the pace of change. Stopping every threat is simply impossible and unrealistic. To meet this security reality, I presented the banks security team with an alternative approach: the house of cards paradigm. Successful defense doesnt mean stopping every attack Even the most sophisticated hacking operations can be compared to a house of cards. While likening the serious task of protecting a company from attackers to a card trick may seem frivolous, its actually very accurate. A house of cards is an elaborate construction comprised of many connected components. But when you remove a few cards, the entire house falls down. Now, apply that thinking to detecting a cyber attack: find one or just a few components of the hack and, over time, the entire operation can collapse. To reach their goal, hackers must complete a series of actions in a companys environment that are linked together. Fortunately for the defenders, carrying out each of these steps makes the attackers vulnerable and provides the good guys with a great opportunity to intervene. The house of cards theory in action: the Kohls Cash scam Earlier this month, Brian Krebs reported on a scam in which criminals used hacked Kohls customer accounts to order hard-to-return items to rack up reward points called Kohls Cash, which theyd redeem for gift cards or cash before the items were returned. A KrebsOnSecuirty reader noted that she received an email from Kohls stating that the email address on her account had been changed. A common enough scenario, but a single action on her part caused the whole scam to unravel. She logged in with the updated email address and her existing password, which the thieves didnt change. After checking her order history, she discovered that two fraudulent orders totaling $700 had been placed in the 20 minutes since she received the notification email. She then alerted Kohls, which resolved the issue and acknowledged that the retailer was aware of the scam. While this is not an enterprise security example, the same theory applies to companies with security teams that are hunting for anomalies within their complex IT environments. With the combination of the right data and advanced analytics, security teams just need to catch one of these activities to link it to other actions and discover the entire campaign. With that approach, defending against an attack is no longer a losing proposition. If a hacker gets through the perimeter defenses, the security game isnt lost. In fact, it is just starting. Moving away from the IT mindset to security Finding the slightest trace of an attack can undo the whole campaign, and security teams should approach detection in this manner. They must proactively search for single parts of an attack and develop the ability to link these components to a larger operation. Following this trail of evidence will reveal the entire hacking campaign. In other words, finding the slightest trace of an attack can undo the whole campaign. For example, catch one instance of lateral movement or a command-and-control communication attempt, and an analyst could start piecing together a complete attack picture. The house of cards approach requires moving away from the IT mindset that encourages analysts to quickly close incidents. Instead, it calls for an investigative mentality with every incident considered a potential piece of a bigger puzzle. The house of cards approach brings a fresh take to security. And, perhaps most importantly, it shifts the odds in favor of the defenders. The attackers, on the other hand, now become the vulnerable ones. They have to evade every possible detection mechanism and be totally invisible to win. With the house of cards framework, the defender has to win once and the attacker has to win 100 percent of the time, returning power to the security teams. To protect her identity, lets call her Dee. Dee describes herself as an ethical hacker. She is young, attractive, speaks with an Eastern European accent and has fiery red-purple hair. She reminds me of Mila Jovovich in the sci-fi movie, The Fifth Element. We were eating lunch at the Hack-in-the-Box conference in Amsterdam. So what would it take to make you go black hat? I asked. Would you hack for a million dollars, if you knew you wouldnt get caught? She responded immediately and firmly. No. For me it is an ethical issue. OK, how about a billion dollars? Now she paused. Dee is one of three-dozen white hat hackers I interviewed over the last year, specifically on the subject of what keeps them on the right side. A white hat hacker is one who uses computer security skills in service of good. The white hat knows how to penetrate systems, but applies that knowledge to defend networks rather than attack them. The interviews started informally among my colleagues when we were exposed to a vulnerability at a large retail financial firm. It occurred to us that someone with inside information could leverage the vulnerability to heist a substantial amount of money from the firm. Over lunch we discussed exactly how much money it would take. Not just to complete the heist, but to support ourselves for the rest of our lives, because after a job that big, there could be no going back as a white hat. Like many professions, the white hat role goes unnoticed when all is well. But when theres a high-profile data breach, it means the dark side has won the battle. Take the Sony Pictures breach in November 2014. In that hack, a group of black hats named GOP is said to have penetrated the Sony network and ex-filtrated terabytes of sensitive data. The white hats at Sony, if there were any, were clearly outmatched. //74% assert no amount of money could turn them. The good news is 3 of 4 white hats would not turn to the dark side for any amount of money. A talented white hat hacker could be a wealthy black hat hacker. So why arent they? Of those that would turn, $10 million seems to be their self-admitted price. Money is a factor, but it isnt the North Star that guides these white hats. Ben, another Eastern European hacker, explains: I hack for glory and self-satisfaction. Not for money. But he claims a moral core as well, If someone drops their wallet walking in front of you, it would be easy to grab it and walk away, but you do the right thing and give it back to them. In the world of hacking, the slope can be a slippery one. Take the example of noted hacktivist, and self-proclaimed American patriot, J3st3r, who claims responsibility for attacks on sites such as 4chan, WikiLeaks, Islamist recruitment pages, and others. According to cybersecurity expert Brian McHenry, no one walks away clean. Is the J3st3r a black hat? Hes committed crimes, but for a cause he believes inIs that a life worth leading? //As a white hat, you stand to make decent money without any risk that comes along with the black hat. But I don't think this holds in all societies. There are countries in the developing world where one can definitely make money as a black hat, but not as a white hat. But there are other reasons people will turn besides money. Dee could see herself as a hacktivist. But then, she grew up with a repressive government that stifled political speech. The respondents on the other side of the argument think defacement is puerile. Political discourse should be out in public. Defaming or taking down a site is an act of cowardice. A more typical response is simply that when it comes to defacing a website the risk/reward is really not there. If the perpetrators of the Ashley Madison hack are to be believed, their motivation for the breach was a moral statement against the principles of the affair-enabling company. Ultimately the member list was leaked, though no one knows if the leak was on purpose. If it was a moral protest against Ashley Madison, it certainly was a costly one, resulting in divorces, at least three suicides and an estimated 400 church leader resignations (according to Christianity Today). //One in four white hats would hack for revenge. The rules of moral engagement change for many people when considering revenge. And that is the case for white hats as well - double the rate of theoretical hacktivists. Perhaps this is due to the personal nature of revenge versus the social nature of activism. JoeUnu could see himself hacking for revenge, but it would have to be a strange revenge scenario where I'm avenging my family's death by hacking a rogue nation or unscrupulous billionaire. Citing an extreme case is common for respondents. But lets step back for a second here. Most white hats have a moral core, but some of them are willing (in theory) to step over the line for political or personal reasons, or even if the reward was high enough. Are we eventually going to see a tide of them turning, like Jedi-knights becoming Siths? Probably not, but as with any walk of life, its a matter of degree. One anonymous white hat used their hacking skills to retrieve and view the financial statement of their boss. Is that black hat? Absolutely (invasion of privacy). It was years ago, they said, and they dont really remember why they did it. Or thats what they claim anyway. Another admits to hacking more recently, Ive forcefully browsed many sites and programmatically downloaded files for personal use. This is what [white hat hacker and Reddit co-founder] Aaron Swartz was effectively prosecuted for. They also shared, I've probed retail sites for ways to compromise coupon and promo code fields, gaining discounts that were clearly unintended, and the product of business logic flaws in the web app. Ironically, the same respondent ultimately gained empathy with the teams that should have been better-protecting these resources: //I have a greater appreciation of the jobs of people who must attempt to secure that mess. As a society, we probably dont have to worry about a mass-defection of white hats (at least in the industrialized world). Ultimately, white hats are probably just like any other group of tax-paying, job-holding citizens. Sure, theyre not angels, but most of them wouldnt turn for any amount of money. Not even a billion dollars. Yes, there will be some apostates, but thats true of any group: law-enforcement, intelligence agencies or organized religion. So there you have it: a nice tidy morality tale about human decency, right? Not so fast. It turns out that the majority of white hats have, and continue to let off steam by hacking their friends and colleagues for laughs. Thats right, 56% of whitehats will prank for laughs. Theres a white hat who sends his friends rude reminders to keep earpieces away when theyre not being used: I have pranked a few friends by taking over their bluetooth earpieces and sending Daffy Duck audio files directly into their ears. Even the famous Jeremiah Grossman, founder of White Hat Security, isnt above hacking as a prank: I once 'killed off' a friend of mine -- on Facebook -- more as a prank than revenge. //Share some support for the "good guys. In the end, the cyber security world is different than any other tech industry because of bad guys. The concept of battling malicious folks is so fundamental to the human experience that you can ask any 2 year old about bad guys and its clear they know all about the concept. The cyber security world needs a lot more good guys. Were looking at a generation deficit of white hats: a 25-year gap before we have enough good guys to battle all the bad guys. There are organizations and gatherings that can develop cyber skills for the young people who have the inclination to join the white hats: The Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP) is one of them, and there are chapters that meet all over the world. Is there a larger truth that we can gleam from knowing the people defending us and our infrastructure are more likely to prank us than not? Actually we should probably take comfort in the fact that theyre only looking for laughs, and hope that between their day jobs and their pranking, they arent working on a billion dollar heist on the side. The government today filed a motion in federal court asking a judge to immediately compel Apple to assist the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in accessing the iPhone 5C used by Syed Rizwan Farook, one of the people accused of killing 14 in San Bernardino, Calif. two months ago. "Rather than assist the effort to fully investigate a deadly terrorist attack by obeying this Court's Order of February 16, 2016, Apple has responded by publicly repudiating that order," the government's motion stated. "Apple has attempted to design and market its product to allow technology, rather than the law, to control access to data which has been found by this Court to be warranted for an important investigation." The Department of Justice (DOJ), whose attorneys filed today's motion, seized on Apple's public comments earlier this week as it asked the court to make the firm follow the court's command. On Tuesday, Apple CEO Tim Cook published an open letter on the company's website. "We are challenging the FBI's demands with the deepest respect for American democracy and a love of our country," Cook wrote. "We believe it would be in the best interest of everyone to step back and consider the implications." + ALSO ON NETWORK WORLD 5 facts about Apple and the terrorists iPhone+ Under the decision reached Tuesday, Apple had until Feb. 26 to rebut the order by arguing that it would be "unreasonably burdensome." Essentially, the government now wants the court to pick up the pace. "Apple's public statement makes clear that Apple will not comply with the Court's Order," today's motion by the DOJ said. "The urgency of this investigation requires this motion now that Apple has made its intention not to comply patently clear. This aspect of the investigation into the December 2, 2015 terrorist attack must move forward." In the 35-page filing, government lawyers argued that forcing Apple to assist in accessing Farook's iPhone would not be a burden to the company -- a preemptive strike against what Apple will almost certainly spell out in its rebuttal -- and along the way, took a swipe at many of Cook's rationales for challenging the court order. "To the extent that Apple objects on the grounds that it would undermine its marketing strategy to comply with this Court's Order, or that it has an overall objection to anything that enables lawful access by the government to encrypted information, the government believes these objections are irrelevant and not legally cognizable before this Court," the DOJ's motion read. In his Tuesday letter, Cook made reference to factors that the DOJ may have interpreted as "marketing strategy." "Customers expect Apple and other technology companies to do everything in our power to protect their personal information, and at Apple we are deeply committed to safeguarding their data," Cook said. The DOJ also rejected Cook's use of words like "back door" and "hack" in his letter when he said, "[The FBI has] asked us to build a backdoor to the iPhone" and "The government is asking Apple to hack our own users...." "That is an unwarranted and inaccurate characterization," the government said. Elsewhere in the motion, the government noted that Apple had told authorities that the company could assist, as several security experts had concluded this week, but that it chose not to. "[Apple] conceded that it had the technical capability to help," the motion stated. This story, "DOJ ups ante: New motion asks court to force Apple to help FBI crack attacker's iPhone" was originally published by Computerworld . Take a look at the plan for significant upgrades at Easton's Beach The city's consultants presented conceptual renderings of how possible replacements for the snack bar and carousel buildings might look. Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. Reporter Noelle McGee is a Danville-based reporter at The News-Gazette. Her email is nmcgee@news-gazette.com, and you can follow her on Twitter (@n_mcgee). Reporter Debra Pressey is a reporter covering health care at The News-Gazette. Her email is dpressey@news-gazette.com, and you can follow her on Twitter (@DLPressey). One of Editor & Publishers 10 That Do It Right 2021 Liberty Universitys latest production includes a touch of Broadway literally. Art professor Ron Sumner, who worked on both film and theater sets during his professional career, painted the backdrops for Brigadoon, which opened in Libertys Tower Theater Friday and continues with performances at 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, 3 p.m. Sunday and throughout next weekend (see box for more information). There is often confusion about what a scenic artist actually does, says Sumner, who has worked on backdrops for everything from the Broadway revival of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, starring Sarah Jessica Parker and Nathan Lane, to the European tour of The Phantom of the Opera to a London revival of West Side Story. They essentially work under the set designer, who creates renderings of what the sets backdrops, called drops, should look like and relies on the artist to bring them to life. The designer creates a small 24-by-36 [inch] painting, those are called elevations, and then we turn them into 35-foot by 50-foot backdrops, Sumner says. Some of them want it to be a photographic enlargement and then others will just kind of give [us] a lot of leeway in how its executed. Theyll do a sketch and say, This is what Im thinking about, these are the resources. And its up to the scenic designer to polish it. Ive actually had both on Broadway. Some that wanted it exactly stroke for stroke, and others who just say, This is the direction I want to go, go for it. And for the scenic artist, its a lot more fun when they say, This is the direction, go for it. In the case of Brigadoon, he was working from the renderings of set designer and fellow professor Connie Hecker. As an artist, when youre given something like that, you have to [interpret], because the designer cant put in the detail that you can put in at full scale, Hecker says. Thats the part thats very interesting to watch, how he took his Broadway skills and how he took that very musical Broadway look on, say, the renderings for the town. The musical follows two New Yorkers who, while hiking in Scotland, stumble upon the enchanted village of Brigadoon, which materializes for one day each century. Its this place thats outside of time, Hecker says. Theres a little bit of a difference in style from the drops that are painted that are real Scotland and the town, which has a bit more of that musical theater world. It takes us into, is it real [or] isnt it real? That was one of the things we talked about, to try to differentiate where we are and when we are, and how are the two worlds blending. Sumner painted them on his own during Libertys winter break, texting photos to Hecker as he went along. During his career, he says hes worked on some drops solo, and others as part of a team. On the really big shows, where it had to be cranked out, theyd bring in a team of scenic artists, he says. When that happens, you always have to make sure that the look of the painting is even. So a lot of times you have to switch artists around so that nobody is working on one spot for too long because everybody has a little bit of a different style and that can creep into the look if youre not careful. Sumners own style goes back to childhood. He began drawing as a kid and painting in high school, which is also when he became interested in theater. Probably my first experience with theater was in high school, and I went to a high school production that I thought was pretty cool, he says. And thats probably one of the things that inspired me to want to get involved with it in college. While working toward his degree in painting at Indiana Universitys Herron School of Art, Sumner also did some acting that eventually led to him helping build and paint sets. Im kind of a church kid, so I did a lot of singing for church, he says. I started doing solos when I was 9. And so the music side of it, singing and acting in theater, was something that I enjoyed doing and the art side of it was just something that I got pulled into largely because that was my background. It became clear that was probably where my forte was. He went on to earn his masters degree in painting from Miami University in Ohio and started teaching in the Huntington/Fort Wayne, Indiana, area, while also continuing to do community theater work, both on and offstage. It was after he began designing and painting sets for an opera company that Sumner joined the United Scenic Artists union. He later spent 10 years in Chicago, where he worked as a full-time scenic artist and also earned his masters in art history from the University of Chicago, before moving to New York City. The union card was my foot in the door to show my portfolio when I got there, he says. And then the portfolio is what gets you work. So then once I started working for different shops after awhile, I got to the point where I could work when I wanted to. Sumner also did some film and TV work, including painting sets for soap operas and the 1994 Woody Allen movie Bullets Over Broadway; 1998s Youve Got Mail, starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, was the last project he worked on before moving to Jacksonville, Florida. I joke about those commercials that say if you can make it in New York, you can make it anywhere, Sumner says. Theres a little asterisk there that if you look down in the fine print, [it says] as long as the same skill set is needed. Because theres not a lot of Broadway or feature film going on in Jacksonville. So he worked in graphic design instead and eventually returned to teaching. He came to Lynchburg in 2008 to work at Liberty, where he currently teaches drawing, art history and 3-D animation. Brigadoon marks the first time Sumner has painted a set for the theater department. Musical theater and opera are really wonderful in how they bring artists together, he says. As you go up the chain, everybody gets more and more specialized. And if those artists do their jobs right, Hecker says, the magic of theater is realized. If we make a mistake, then youre aware of it, she says. If it goes right you, the audience member, are just caught up in the story. And only if youve had some experience [with] what goes on backstage [do you know it] is very dependent on all the artisans and craftspeople who make a show come together. Hillary Clinton picked up key endorsements Friday from minority lawmakers in her bid to secure victory in Virginias March 1 Democratic presidential primary. Most members of the General Assemblys Legislative Black Caucus endorsed the former secretary of state over rival Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. After carefully studying the candidates positions on issues that impact my constituents in Hampton, Im proud to join many of my colleagues in the Legislative Black Caucus to announce my endorsement of Hillary Clinton for president, Sen. Mamie Locke, D-Hampton, chairwoman of the caucus, said in a statement issued by the campaign. Hillary will build on President Obamas progress by fixing our broken criminal justice system, fighting systemic racism, and breaking down the barriers that are holding families back from economic success, Locke added, saying Clinton is the only candidate who will protect and build on the Affordable Care Act. Hillary has spent her whole career fighting for communities like ours and I know shell continue that fight as president. Clinton picked up the endorsements of state Sens. Kenny Alexander, D-Norfolk; Locke; Donald McEachin, D- Richmond and Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth. Also endorsing Clinton are Dels. Lashrecse Aird, D-Petersburg; Lamont Bagby, D-Henrico; Daun Sessoms Hester, D-Norfolk; Matthew James, D-Portsmouth; Joseph Lindsey, D-Norfolk; Jennifer McClellan, D-Richmond; Delores McQuinn, D-Chesterfield; Lionell Spruill , D-Chesapeake; Luke Torian, D-Prince William; Roslyn Tyler, D-Sussex; and Jeion Ward, D-Hampton. Four members of the Black Caucus are not on the list: Sen. Rosalyn Dance, D-Richmond; and Dels. Charniele Herring, D-Alexandria, Sam Rasoul, D-Roanoke, and Marcia Price, D-Newport News the niece of Rep. Robert Bobby Scott, D-Newport News. Scott is on Clintons Virginia leadership team. Clinton also has the support of the top elected Democrats in Virginia, including Gov. Terry McAuliffe, who led her 2008 bid for the Democratic presidential nomination; U.S. Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner; Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam and Attorney General Mark Herring. Underscoring the importance of Virginia, Clinton and Sanders are up with ads airing in the commonwealth appealing to African-American voters. Clintons is a Virginia ad buy; Sanders is part of a national cable TV ad buy. Clinton led Sanders among likely Democratic primary voters, 52 percent to 40 percent in a Virginia poll that Christopher Newport University released Tuesday. Earlier this week Clinton spoke at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem, New York, and outlined the steps she would take to bring what her campaign terms more equity and opportunity to African-American communities. She said she would end the school-to-prison pipeline by investing $2 billion of support to school districts to reform their school discipline practices and expand behavioral support programs. Clinton also addressed mass incarceration and the disparity in sentencing between crack and cocaine, and said she would invest $125 billion to revitalize the economy with jobs, re-entry programs and small business incentives in affected communities. Sanders says on his website that the U.S. must pursue policies to transform this country into a nation that affirms the value of its people of color, beginning by addressing the five central types of violence waged against black, brown and indigenous Americans: physical, political, legal, economic and environmental. Home News Sports Social Obituaries Events Letters Looking Back Health Jewels Stitch in Time Idaho Department of Lands to give presentations, answer questions at Open House February 20, 2016 Here is your chance to meet and talk directly with Idaho Department of Lands staff who help to manage the forests located all around us in North Idaho. The Idaho Department of Lands (IDL) Pend Oreille Area will hold an open house Tuesday, February 23 at the IDL Sandpoint office and Thursday, February 25 at the IDL Bonners Ferry office. Everyone is invited to take part in this opportunity to meet and talk with staff, attend presentations, and learn about the various programs managed by the Department of Lands. Personnel in Forest Management, Fire Management, Forest Legacy, Navigable Waters, Forest Stewardship, and Log Scaling will showcase their tools of the trade and answer questions. Both open house location schedules will take place from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. Refreshments will be served. Presentations will follow this schedule: 4:00 p.m. Welcome and Introductions 4:15 4:30 p.m. Forestry Assistance 4:40 4:55 p.m. Navigable Waters 5:10 5:25 p.m. Endowment Management 5:35 5:50 p.m. Forest Assessment what is this on your tax bill? The offices are located at: Sandpoint Meeting, Tuesday, February 23 Pend Oreille Forest Protective District 2550 Hwy 2 W Sandpoint, ID 83864 208-263-5104 Bonners Ferry Meeting, Thursday, February 25 Kootenai Valley Forest Protective District 6327 Main Bonners Ferry, ID 83805 208-267-5577 IDLs duties are broad and diverse. IDL manages approximately 973,000 acres of timbered endowment land for long-term sustainable harvest. IDL manages a total of 2.4 million surface acres of endowment lands across the state and leases the lands for several different activities. We protect 6.3 million acres of mostly State and privately owned timbered land from fire, focusing on initial attack and suppressing fires as quickly as possible to protect lives, property, and important timber assets. IDL also manages the lands beneath Idahos navigable lakes and rivers. We have several regulatory responsibilities such as administering the Oil and Gas Conservation Act; the Surface Mining Act, Dredge and Placer Mining Act, and Abandoned Mine Reclamation Act; and the Forest Practices Act. IDL assists Idahoans through several Forestry Assistance programs. We work with large and small forest landowners with Forest Stewardship Plans; work to keep Idaho forests healthy, minimizing insect and disease risk; administer the Forest Legacy conservation easements; oversee grants to communities for wildfire mitigation; and engage the Forest Service on federal forest management issues in Idaho as part of the National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy. We also house the Idaho Board of Scaling Practices. To learn more about these and other IDL issues and resources, and to participate in our discussion and have your questions answered, plan to attend our open house at the times and locations noted above. Refreshments will be served! Questions or comments about this article? Click here to e-mail! Three persons tested for Zika This comes just days after Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh announced the first official, lab confirmed case of the virus in Trinidad. A 61-year-old woman from Diego Martin had tested positive to the virus days after her return to Trinidad from New Zealand on January 25. The woman had presented with the symptoms of joint pain, fever and rash, after which her doctor sent a blood sample to be tested. Since dengue, Chikungunya and Zika have similar characteristics, all three tests were carried out. The woman tested positive for Zika. The residents around that case would have been interviewed and, if necessary, blood samples would be sent to the lab if symptomatic. Four out of five patients will not have symptoms...and this is also done for malaria, Dr Tilluckdharry said. Tilluckdharry said neighbours in the immediate vicinity were being monitored. Now, a teacher and her two sons were being tested for the virus. She had presented with the symptoms last Saturday. One of her sons had to be treated intravenously, and was said to be doing well. The woman had recently been to Chile, a South American country. Brazil, another South American country, has had thousands of cases of the Zika virus. Zika has been linked to microcephaly, a condition where babies were born with small heads and brains and suffered neurological conditions. Tilluckdharry said the woman had gone to her doctor with acute pain, rash and weakness. One of her sons had experienced the symptoms, accompanied by vomiting. He said when there were incidents where three and four members were presenting with these symptoms, one had to investigate the source. Where did that person get the Zika virus...from another person so there must be other cases, the CMO said. Tilluckdharry said that preventative measures were important and citizens had to ensure that their environment was not conducive for mosquitoes to breed. SWRHA PREPARED Meanwhile, the South West Regional Health Authority (SWRHA) has not reported any cases of the Zika virus thus far, following the revelation last Wednesday that the first case was confirmed in the Diego Martin area. SWRHA Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Anil Gosine yesterday said the RHA and all medical institutions under its remit are prepared and equipped to combat an outbreak of the virus. We havent had any cases in the region as yet. But we are on the alert for any cases coming in to report and to deal with it. Its no different from any other disease or virus that is coming in. So the staff is well aware, and they are prepared, Gosine said. For his part, medical director of the San Fernando Hospital Dr Anand Chattoorgoon confirmed the southern general hospital is prepared to deal with any outbreak of the virus. He has stated, however, that to his knowledge, there have been no reported cases. Dr Chattoorgoon continued, most Zika cases dont even come to the hospital. You can be treated at home, you dont necessarily have to come to a hospital for treatment. The Zika Virus has been linked to microcephaly, a condition which causes foetuses to develop abnormally small brains. In fact, pregnant women have been deemed a high risk group because of the link between the virus and Microcephaly. PM: No reshuffle talk On February 7, the Prime Minister told Newsday that the Cabinet will meet at the Magdalena Grand Hotel in Tobago on March 3. He said following that meeting, Government will go into retreat at the same venue from March 4 to 5. Rowley explained the Cabinets meeting in Tobago was part of an arrangement between Central Government and the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) to foster closer ties between both entities. In this regard, Rowley said Cabinet will meet in Tobago at least twice per year, and this was the first part of that arrangement. While he did not rule out the possibility of a Cabinet reshuffle sometime in the future, Rowley said this was not on the cards next month. I dont know that we are talking about reshuffle. What we are talking about is getting a hold of the job that we have taken an undertaking to do, Recalling the plethora of changes which Persad-Bissessar made to her administration, Rowley said one thing the PNM offered the country in last September was, good governance and stability. He said unlike the former Peoples Partnership government, we are not operating by vaps. Rowley added, You will have observed that the Office of the Prime Minister is not a ten-day show. Acknowledging that, from the day you are appointed, you are open to changes, Rowley said. We would say we have done reasonably well, but there is room for improvement. The Prime Minister reminded reporters that the PNM assumed office, in a particularly difficult period. He said, We came in after a rampage. We also came in when our revenue stream was heading downwards. Recalling that Government took the decision to have a smaller Cabinet, and knew this meant more work for government ministers, Rowley said most government ministers, are new to Cabinet responsibility. Rowley, Colm Imbert, Marlene McDonald, Camille Robinson- Regis, Franklin Khan and Paula Gopee- Scoon are the only persons in the current administration with previous Cabinet experience under former prime minister Patrick Manning. The Prime Minister disclosed that one of the biggest challenges his government is facing is the absence of a cadre of experienced permanent secretaries, and deputy permanent secretaries. Attributing this situation to what happened over the last five years under the PP, Rowley said, It has been quite a challenge to rebuild the Public Service after a period of rampage, and to put in place persons who can discharge the public service aspect of governance. However Rowley said progress is being made on this issue, and he was confident this challenge will recede over time. There Were Rules on Handling Asbestos. They Were Ignored (Newser) Bettina Cuce Rodriguez, a dog lover who volunteers in animal rescue, heard that a pit bill mix had been chained outside a mobile home in a rural community near Virginia Beach in bad weather and without food or water. The dog was said to be near death, and the county animal control was not responding to reports of the situation. So Rodriguez and two others took the dogand got charged with dog larceny, a felony, after the dog was reported stolen on Jan. 11, 2015. Rodriguez's trial began Wednesday, the Virginian-Pilot reports, and she faces up to 10 years in prison if found guilty. But the trial was continued for a month after odd circumstances Thursday: The alleged owner of the dog showed up at the courthouse but left before it was his turn to testify, WAVY reports. Rodriguez and her cohorts were turned in by a passerby who saw three people take the chained dog, then flee when he confronted them. Animal lovers in Virginia Beach say this is just one of many incidents in which a dog is left in poor conditions. "Have we reached the point where people from outside the area feel the need to come and steal a dog because they think things are that bad and that nothing is being done?" says one man who formed a volunteer organization to help struggling pet owners after this incident. "Theres a right way and a wrong way to rescue dogs," he adds. What Rodriguez allegedly did "was the wrong way." The other two defendants, Charlene Boyajian and Gordon Shell, are scheduled to be tried in March and May, respectively. As for the dog, it's not clear what happened to it. (Read more animal welfare stories.) (Newser) For the first time, we know what "severe mental disease or defect" Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl may have been suffering from when he decided to walk away from an Army base in Afghanistan in 2009, the Washington Post reports. The condition is known as schizotypal personality disorder. It's similar to schizophrenia, but less severe. According to Military.com, symptoms include "paranoia, incorrect perception of and interpretation of events, magical thinking, eccentric dress and speech, and extreme social anxiety." It can also include delusions and hallucinations, though unlike with schizophrenia, the person with the condition can be made to understand the difference between those and reality. An episode of the podcast Serial released on Friday reveals Bergdahl was diagnosed with schizotypal personality disorder by an Army forensics psychiatrist last year. People with schizotypal personality disorder are prone to psychotic episodes, especially while stressed. Bergdahl claims he believed his commander was going to send his platoon on a suicide mission to purposefully get them killed when he left the base unarmed in the middle of the night. He says he planned to walk to another base and report his commander. Instead, he was captured by militants and held for five years before being freed in a prisoner swap. He's been charged with desertion and misbehavior before the enemy. Prior to enlisting in the Army, Bergdahl had failed in the Coast Guard because of his inability to "adjust." One psychologist who met with him after he was freed tells Military.com "the ball was dropped" in allowing Bergdahl to enlist in the Army. His court-martial is scheduled for August. (Read more Bowe Bergdahl stories.) (Newser) Two Serbian embassy staffers who had been held hostage in Libya since November are believed to have been killed in Friday's US airstrikes on an ISIS camp in western Libya, Serbia's foreign minister said Saturday. The minister identified the two as Sladjana Stankovic, a communications officer, and Jovica Stepic, a driver. They were snatched in November after their diplomatic convoy, including the ambassador, came under fire near the coastal city of Sabratha. Speaking at a news conference in Belgrade, the minister said information about the deaths was given to Serbia by foreign officials but had not yet been confirmed by the Libyan government. "We got the information, including photos, which clearly show that this is most probably true," he said. In November, gunmen in Libya crashed into a convoy of vehicles taking Serbia's ambassador to neighboring Tunisia and then kidnapped two embassy employees. Serbian ambassador Oliver Potezica, who escaped unharmed and was traveling in the three-vehicle convoy with his wife and two sons aged 8 and 14, later recounted the attack. "It happened like in a movie," Potezica told Tanjug news agency from Tunisia. "The attack happened when one of the embassy cars was hit from behind. When the driver came out to check what happened, he was dragged into one of the attackers' cars." (Read more Libya stories.) (Newser) Is Donald Trump getting campaign material from email forwards? On Friday, he fired up a crowd at an event in South Carolina with a dubious tale of how General John Pershing allegedly treated Muslim terrorists when the US was fighting insurgents in the Philippines early last century, NBC reports. Pershing "took the 50 terrorists, and he took 50 men, and he dipped 50 bullets in pigs blood," Trump said. The general then "had his men load his rifles and he lined up the 50 people, and they shot 49 of those people," Trump continued "And the 50th person he said: you go back to your people and you tell them what happened. And for 25 years there wasn't a problem." Trump told the crowd that "this is something you can read in the history books," the Guardian reports, though Snopes has found no evidence for it. Trump also told supporters that they should boycott Apple until the company complies with a federal request to help the FBI break into the iPhone of San Bernardino shooter Syed Farook. Apple CEO "Tim Cook is looking to do a big number, probably to show how liberal he is," Trump complained. CNN reports that while Trump was speaking, his Twitter account tweeted a pollfrom an iPhone. He later tweeted: "I use both iPhone & Samsung. If Apple doesn't give info to authorities on the terrorists I'll only be using Samsung until they give info." (A Canadian island is fielding queries from Americans who fear a Trump presidency.) (Newser) One gung-ho Bernie Sanders supporter got himself a call from the Secret Service on Friday after submitting an obituary for Hillary Clinton to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. According to the Review-Journal, a man named Don Schubertwho had previously called the newsroom to complain about the coin flips in the Iowa caucuscame in and filled out an obituary form for Clinton, giving the date of death as Saturday, the day of the Nevada Democratic caucus. Security asked him to leave the building and contacted the Secret Service. He was seen driving away in a Toyota Prius "bearing several Bernie Sanders campaign stickers." Schubert later told the Review-Journal that the Secret Service had called him. He explained he was attempting "political humor," with the obituary meant as a prediction of a Clinton loss in the Nevada caucus. He says the Secret Service told him they couldbut likely would notarrest him. Sanders' website lists a "Don Schubert's House" in Long Beach, California, as the site of a volunteer phone bank. It seems there's just something about Hillary Clinton and obituaries, though. The Washington Post gives examples of six different obituaries in five states all requesting people not vote for Clinton ("In lieu of flowers, please don't vote for Hillary"). A similar sentiment was included in the obituary of a Kansas woman just last week, the Topeka Capital-Journal reports. (Read more Hillary Clinton stories.) (Newser) Bernie Sanders was arrested. Well, he was arrested 53 years ago, anyway. The Chicago Tribune discovered photographic evidence of Sanders' involvement in the fight for racial equality this week in the form of a negative from its archives showing a bespectacled Sanders being hauled away by police during a 1963 protest in Chicago's South Side. The New York Times reports there's also video from the same incident that was released Monday by Kartemquin Films, which is making a documentary about the protests. "Bernie identified it himself," a senior Sanders advisor tells the Tribune regarding the photo. "He looked at itand he said, 'Yes, that indeed is (me).'" He also specifically remembered the watch he was wearing in the video of the arrest. Sanders was 21 and a student at the University of Chicago, where he would graduate with a degree in political science, at the time. He was charged with resisting arrest and fined $25. The protest was part of many against Chicago's practice of sending black students to school in trailers rather than putting them into white schools. The Times states Sanders has faced attacks from Clinton's campaign over his civil rights bonafides. And the Tribune believes this new evidence "bolsters the candidate's narrative about his civil rights activism." The photo and video could end up helping Sanders in the upcoming South Carolina primary, where he needs more support among black voters, according to Time. Sanders was a leader with the Congress of Racial Equality while at the University of Chicago and led a number of protests against inequality. (Read more Bernie Sanders stories.) (Newser) Former Subway pitchman Jared Fogle wants his child pornography sentence reduced, claiming that the judge who sentenced him was, in part, punishing him for his fantasies, TMZ reports. According to the New York Daily News, Fogle's plea deal called for a maximum sentence of 12.5 years; the judge ended up giving him more than 15. His lawyers claim that longer sentence was partly based on fantasies Fogle had but never acted on. As evidence, they quote the judge: "This defendant is obsessed with child pornography and having sex with minors. He fantasized about it in telephone conversations." Fogle filed an appeal for a new sentencing on Friday. His appeal calls his current sentence "unreasonable" and says the judge "abused her authority." Fogle admitted to paying for sex with girls who were 16 and 17, as well as receiving child pornography made by the head of his charity. But he also talked about more sexual contact with minors and getting pornography featuring children as young as 6. Fogle's lawyers argue it's those conversations about things he was never charged with that led to the longer sentence. Fogle's sentence is still much shorter that the 50 years the judge could have legally given him. (Read more Jared Fogle stories.) (Newser) One of two officers shot early Saturday morning in New York City was saved by his bulletproof vest27 years after a bulletproof vest saved his father's life, the New York Daily News reports. Officers Andrew Yurkiw and William Reddin exchanged fire with Jamal Funes, who the New York Post describes as a "career criminal," around 3:30am in Brooklyn. Reddin was struck in the hip, but Yurkiw was hit directly in the chest. Both are in stable condition, according to Newsday. Its like Im going through this all over again, Yurkiw's father Paul tells the Daily News. Thank God for his vest." Paul Yurkiw was working as an NYPD detective 27 years ago when he stopped to help a motorist who appeared to be stranded. The driver shot Yurkiw three times. Without the vest, me or [my son] and a lot of other police officers wouldnt be walking on this planet right now, he tells the Daily News. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio credited the bulletproof vest for saving Andrew Yurkiw's life on Saturday. However, it could be the bullets that hit both Yurkiw and Reddin came not from Funes but from their fellow officers. Its quite possible both officers may have been struck by bullets from other officers and possibly deflected bullets, a police official tells the Post.There were eight officers total involved in the "wild shootout." Funes is in critical condition. (Read more police stories.) Hillary Clinton still has more support from the Democratic Party but Bernie Sanders is not far behind, a new Associated Press-GfK poll found. Although democratic registered voters continue to believe that Clinton represents them the most in regards to her position on certain issues (73 percent vs. 63 percent), more of them are starting to view Sanders, the Vermont senator, as the more honest candidate. Sanders received 64 percent support on the honesty front whereas Clinton got 55 percent. Overall, about 75 percent of the voters have a favorable view about Clinton, where as around 66 percent of them said the same thing about Sanders. The poll found that the gap between the two candidates, which has been narrowing, was mainly due to the fact that some voters believed that they did not know enough about Sanders to express support. The poll findings for Sanders included: -72 percent believes that he can win the general election. -60 percent said he is somewhat decisive. -64 percent said he is at least somewhat competent. All three percentages represent increases from the percentages recorded in the December poll. However, these numbers are still lower than the numbers recorded for Clinton. In terms of winning the general election, Clinton received the support of nine out of 10 voters. She also had a 13-point lead in the decisive category and a 15-percent lead in competence over Sanders. For information on the findings from the poll, click here. The AP-GfK poll reached 1,033 adults from Feb. 11-15. The Polish magazine "W Sieci" is current under fire for fueling a hate-based controversy after publishing its latest release with a cover picture featuring a white woman clothed in EU flag while being dragged by three dark-skinned hands with a bold sensational headline that reads: "The Islamic Rape of Europe". The controversial magazine cover triggered a surge of fiery comments from the left and the right with many social media users comparing the magazine to Fascist-like propaganda reminiscent of Hitler's Nazi. Apart from the controversial cover picture, the right-leaning magazine also contained anti-migrant articles with brazen titles like "Does Europe Want to Commit Suicide?" and "The Hell of Europe" according to a report by the International Business Times. Writing for the said Polish magazine, Aleksandra Rybinska reported about numerous but often under-reported stories of rape of European women since the arrival of the refugees mostly from war-torn Islamic nations in the Middle East. "The people of old Europe after the events of New Year's Eve in Cologne painfully realized the problems arising from the massive influx of immigrants. The first signs that things were going wrong, however, were there a lot earlier. They were still ignored or were minimized in significance in the name of tolerance and political correctness," wrote Rybinska as quoted by The Guardian. However, critics point to the misleading and overblown narrative of the so-called threat arising from the refugees being played by right-wing propaganda. "That's precisely what wSieci's cover image aimed to achieve: Fear. It did so, moreover, by borrowing from a long-established set of racial codes... The Polish magazine's rendition of a young white woman, violated by hairy, dark-skinned men, carries immediate echoes to nationalist propaganda of an uglier historical moment," wrote Ishaan Tharoor in his article published by The Washington Post. Cape Town: For the second week in a row all-rounder Chris Morris conjured a victory for South Africa, taking the hosts to a three-wicket win over England off the last ball of the first Twenty20 international at Newlands. England looked set to defend a modest total as Reece Topley started the last over, with South Africa needing 15 runs to win. Kyle Abbott stole a single to get Morris on strike. The tall Morris struck the next two balls for four and six. After a dot delivery, he hit twos off the last two balls. Topley had a chance to run out Abbott to force a tie and a super over but fumbled a throw from long-off. Morris finished with 17 not out off seven balls. A week earlier his 62 off 38 balls was a match-winner in the fourth one-day international. The man of the match, though, was leg-spinner Imran Tahir, who took four for 21 to restrict England to 134 for eight after the tourists were sent in to bat. England looked set for a big total as opening batsmen Jason Roy and the in-form Alex Hales hit 38 off the first 3.3 overs before Roy clipped Kagiso Rabada to Hashim Amla at mid-wicket. Tahir came on to bowl after the six-over power play had yielded 50 runs for Roys wicket. He struck with his fourth ball when Hales top-edged a sweep to backward square leg. JP Duminy held the catch despite being knocked to the ground by Rabada, who was also running for the ball. Tahir followed up by dismissing Ben Stokes, Eoin Morgan and Moeen Ali. The latter two wickets were off successive balls and he narrowly missed a hat-trick when a googly went over Chris Jordans middle stump. South Africa made a confident start, with Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers putting on 31 for the first wicket. But England bowled well on a slow pitch and no batsman was able to dominate. All-rounder Ben Stokes and leg-spinner Adil Rashid were impressive in the middle overs, taking one for 19 and one for 24 respectively. It seemed to be Englands match when Chris Jordan dismissed David Miller and David Wiese in the penultimate over. But that merely set the stage for Morris. The Delhi Daredevils, who paid over USD 1 million for his services in the 2016 Indian Premier League, will feel they have made a good purchase. New Delhi: Delhi Police on Saturday issued look out notice against three JNU students who are suspected to be a part of group responsible for raising anti-India slogans during an event on February 9. All immigration authorities in the country have been informed about the absconding students. Several teams, including Delhi Police cell, have initiated search and is questioning their close ones. According to several reports, the cops have also collected call detail records (CDR) from the mobile phones of the three students. JNUSU President Kanhaiya Kumar is currently in judicial custody in Tihar Jail. Police have so far recorded statements of 17 eyewitnesses, including university students, JNU security staff and staff members in this regard. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Washington: US airstrikes against ISIS in Iraq and Syria have reportedly destroyed more than USD 500 million cash reserves and 20 kilogrammes of gold stored by the terror group. The estimate comes amid reports that the terror group is facing cash shortage in its so-called caliphate, slashing the perks and salaries of its fighters across the region. Recent reports have stated that the extremist group has started accepting only dollars for tax payments, water and electric bills. The US believes that airstrikes in Iraq and Syria have destroyed more than USD 500 million in cash that ISIS used to pay its fighters and fund its terror and military operations, ABC News reported. That is probably a low estimate, a US official was quoted as saying. The official said the figure is in the high hundreds of millions of dollars. An additional 20 kilogrammes of gold is also believed to have been destroyed by the airstrikes, the report said. As part of the effort to weaken ISIS, the US military has struck at the terror groups finances, particularly its lucrative oil smuggling enterprise in Syria that provides revenue for its operations. The US also began targeting ISIS cash distribution centres in Syria where it stored hard cash used for its operations. Ten strikes have been conducted since then with the most high profile being two airstrikes in Mosul, in northern Iraq, targeting facilities that American officials characterised as ISIS banks. As proof of their successful targeting the US-led coalition released video of one of the Mosul airstrikes that showed what appeared to be large amounts of bills fluttering in the air after the airstrike. American officials believe the strikes have had an impact on ISIS operations often citing anecdotal reports that ISIS fighters are now being paid half what they had been receiving prior to the airstrikes. Its a significant amount of cash that we believe was in those various collection points before we struck them, Colonel Steve Warren, the US military spokesman in Baghdad, told reporters this week at a Pentagon briefing. According to Warren, the US now estimates that hundreds of millions of dollars in cash has been destroyed by airstrikes targeting ISIS financial centers. The official said five airstrikes near Mosul this weekend targeted two ISIS financial distribution centers and two ISIS financial storage centers. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: National capital also faced the heat of Jat reservation protests after protesters blocked Munak Canal, which is one of the primary sources of raw water for Delhi. As per reports, some of the protesters forcibly shut the gates at the inlet of the Munak Canal for a few hours. This partially affected supply to five of the DJBs water treatment plants at Haiderpur (210 million gallons per day capacity), Nangloi (40 MGD), Okhla (20 MGD), Bawana (15 MGD) and Dwarka (40 MGD). Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal showed his disappointment over the act and tweeted: Am worried about impact of Jat agitation on Delhi esp Delhi's water supply. Sought time from Rajnath ji. Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) February 20, 2016 Spoke to Haryana CM. He has assured that he will immediately send army to ensure safety of munak canal Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) February 20, 2016 Spoke to Rajnath ji also and apprised him of grave situation. He has assured that army is being sent to munak canal Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) February 20, 2016 The situation has been turning violent in Haryana with people showing their anger on public properties like mall, railway stations and transport vehicles. Fresh incidents of violence were reported in Haryana as the Jat stir for quota intensified with protestors torching a railway station in Jind even as the Army conducted a flag march in two curfew-bound districts and used helicopters to reach parts of the blocked Rohtak district. As the violence by Jat protestors demanding quota continued unabated, Chief Minister Manohar Khattar issued a fresh appeal to the people to maintain peace. Normal life was crippled in Rohtak, the epicentre of the ongoing agitation, and Bhiwani in the wake of violence which broke out yesterday during the stir, and many other parts of the state with rail and road traffic hit, and shops and commercial establishment and schools remaining closed. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: There is no doubt that Shahid Kapoor and Mira Rajput are smitten by each other, and their Instagram accounts are the live example which are filled with countless pictures showing their love for each other. They have many reasons to celebrate their love but this one seems to be the biggest one, according to a report in zoom, the couple is expecting their first child. While, we are still awaiting for an official confirmation to the report, this comes as a pleasant surprise for all their fans. The couple had tied knot in a low-key affair at a Gurudwara in New Delhi on July 7, 2015. Other celebrities who are likely to become proud parents this year are Genelia D Souza and Arpita Khan Sharma. For all the Latest Entertainment News, Bollywood News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: The Jat protest in Haryana demanding reservation in jobs has turned violent leading to a tense situation in the state. Here is all you need to know about the Jat protest in Haryana: Who are the Jats? Jats belong to a north Indian martial and farming community, which is not traditionally considered as backward. Economically and politically well off, Jats make 29% of Haryana's total population. What are they demanding? Jats want to be declared OBC (other backward class). This will help them secure 27% OBC reservation in government jobs. What did Haryana govt offer the Jat community? The Haryana Chief Minister offered the Jat community a special backward class quota but they rejected it citing their economic status. What the SC says on Jat reservation? According to Supreme Court, caste alone cannot the reason to provide reservation for any community. It said social backwardness is the key to determine backwardness. If jat quota is added to the existing 27% for OBC plus 22.5% for SC & ST, it will flout Supreme Courts cap of 50% reservations. History of Jat quota demand: 1991: Jats have been protesting to be on the OBC list of the Union government and other states since 1991, when the Mandal Commission report was implemented. 1997: The National Commission for Backward Classes had rejected their demand in Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh to be in central OBC list. 2005: Bhupinder Singh Hooda promised them a quota. He became Chief Minister. 2014: Jats and four other castes were included under 10% Specially Backward Class (SBC) quota 2015: High Court had set aside Specially Backward Class quota after recommendations were rejected by the Supreme Court. March 2015: The Centres decision to include Jats from 9 states Haryana, Bihar, Gujarat, Himachal, MP, Delhi, Rajasthan, UP & Uttarakhand was rejected by the Supreme Court. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Two army personnel were reported killed when some unidentified armed men opened fire at a bus carrying CRPF men in Jammu and Kashmir's Pampore today. The incident took place near the Entrepreneurship Development Institute (EDI). As per reports, at least two CRPF men have been injured in the firing. At least two more attackers are believed to be holed up inside the EDI building, which has been cordoned off. A possible hostage situation was avoided when CRPF and local police managed to evacuate civilians who were holed up inside Entrepreneurship Development Institute (EDI) building located at Pampore, in the outskirts of the Srinagar city. We have been successful in evacuating the civilians from the building, Director General of Jammu and Kashmir Police K Rajendra told PTI. One of those evacuated claimed that they were asked by militants to leave because they did not mean any harm to civilians. Personnel of the Army, whose elite 15 Corps headquarters is located barely 10 kms from the encounter site, were rushed to the encounter site to assist the local police and the CRPF. The number of militants, according to the eyewitness accounts, ranges from three to five. Before storming the EDI campus, militants fired upon a CRPF convoy on Srinagar-Jammu road just outside the campus, officials said, adding, two para-military personnel lost their lives while another 10 were injured. Among those injured includes a civilian whose condition is reported to be critical. Intermittent exchange of fire has been reported from the spot and the security personnel were ensuring a proper cordon and lighting arrangement at the encounter site to prevent the militants from escaping. With PTI Inputs For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Chandigarh: Jat reservation protest continued on Saturday and incidents of violence and arson were reported. A railway station, a police station and some buildings were set ablaze. Here are the 10 developments on the big story: 1. 7 persons have been reported killed in Jhajjar (Haryana) and 1 in Kalayat in Kaithal district (Haryana) after army columns open fire. 2. Departmental examinations have been postponed due to disruption of roads and rails in Haryana. 3. Meeting was held at HM Rajnath Singh's residence on Haryana crisis in Delhi. Army Chief, NSA Ajit Doval, Defence Minister Parrikar were present in the meeting. 4. Shoot at sight orders have been issued by Deputy commissioner in areas of Hissar and Hansi areas of Haryana. 5. Curfew has been imposed in three more townsSonipat, Gohana (Sonipat) and Jhajjaron Saturday. Flag marches were conducted by Army in Rohtak and Bhiwani districts. 6. Jat leaders have refused to call off the agitation unless the government promulgates an ordinance to include the community in the OBC category. 7. Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar had appealing to protesters to end their stir and asked them to "return to their homes as the Government has accepted their demands", but did not elaborate. 8. Maruti Suzuki India has suspended operations at its two plants in Gurgaon and Manesar in the wake of Jat reservation stir. 9. Road transport and rail services have badly been hit due to Jat reservation protest. Buses remained off the road, while protesters have blocked rail tracks at multiple points. 10. Wholesale prices of vegetables have risen marginally in Delhi NCR. Milk supply has hit due to disruption in transportation. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Delhi government Saturday night moved the Supreme Court, seeking a direction to the Centre to intervene and ensure water supply to the national capital from Munak Canal in neighbouring Haryana which has been affected due to the Jat stir. Delhi government moves SC on water crisis. Petition accepted. Likely to be heard on Sunday morning(sic), Delhi Water Minister Kapil Mishra tweeted. Earlier, Delhi governments senior standing counsel Rahul Mehra said a petition is being moved before the apex court, seeking urgent hearing on the issue and a plea is being made that the Centre should deploy army to ensure supply of water from Munak Canal. The Registrar of the Supreme Court said it will be known tomorrow whether the Delhi governments petition would be taken up on Sunday or Monday. Water should be supplied immediately to Delhi as it is lifeline of people, he said, adding all water plants in Delhi are shut as the protesters have taken over the canal. Mehra said that capitals Lutyens zone and several other areas are not getting water. The army should ensure that Delhi gets water immediately, he said. Delhi is staring at huge water shortage in next one or two days with 60 per cent of water supply affected due to the Jat stir. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Investment in businesses is drying up and Uncle Sams regulatory regime is largely to blame (BigGovernment.news) Its been said time and again but unfortunately, few in Washington are listening: The federal bureaucracy is crushing the nations capitalistic spirit and with it, the chance to grow the economy and expand opportunities for all Americans. As reported by The Wall Street Journal recently, companies are increasingly reluctant to increase spending on basic infrastructure like machines, new buildings and computers all of which would also boost productivity. According to Commerce Department data, the broadest measure of American business investment advanced a mere 2.2 percent from a year earlier in the third quarter, marking one of the worse [sic] performances of the six-year-old economic expansion, WSJ reported. There are other measures that produce an even grimmer picture. A raft of capital expenditure such as orders for nondefense capital goods excluding aircraft fell 3.8 percent through the first 10 months of 2015 compared to the same period a year ago, government estimates show. Instead of revamping infrastructure to boost productivity and profits, companies are increasingly spending money on dividends and stock buybacks. Some analysts say the buybacks are evidence companies see little prospect of achieving good returns through capital investments, WSJ reported. Whats to blame? A number of things, including, of course, government regulation: Many factors have conspired to limit growth in investments during this economic expansion. Businesses hesitated to commit to projects amid uneven consumer demand and concerns about the regulatory environment. Changes in market conditions and consumer habits, such as the way Americans shop, are also forcing retailers to scale back. Macys has announced it will close 35-40 stores in the coming year, joining J.C. Penny Co. and Abercrombie & Fitch, which have also announced closures. But government regulation remains a top concern of businesses. As noted by Neal Asbury in May 2014, writing in Newsmax, other countries have figured out that in order for their citizens to become more innovative, government has to cut regulatory burdens that stifle innovation and opportunity. According to the 2013 Global Innovation Index, released by Cornell University, INSEAD and the World Intellectual Property Organization, the United States ranks as the fifth most innovative country, behind Switzerland, Sweden, the United Kingdom and The Netherlands. While this is an improvement from 2012, when the United States was 10th, there is one root cause for Americas failure to be crowned the top country in innovation: this nations lack of support for entrepreneurs. Why can Sweden excel in innovation when the United States cannot? The answer is that Sweden understands the burden that regulations have on business and innovation. Theres a feeling in this country right now that nobody really knows where were headed on tax policy and regulation in particular, and so that tends to dampen the enthusiasm to invest, National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) President and CEO Jay Timmons told The Washington Times a year ago, adding that currently, federal regulations impose a staggering $2.02 trillion per year in outsized costs on the U.S. economy every year. There are hundreds of billions of dollars, even trillions of dollars, that could be used for investment, that could be used for job creation, he added. But I think job creators are just kind of afraid to see whats next. The Obama administration has answered that question: More regulations. Thousands of them, in fact. No wonder companies arent expanding. See also: The Wall Street Journal Newsmax The Washington Times The Daily Caller BigGovernment.news is part of the USA Features Media network of sites. For advertising opportunities, click here. Submit a correction >> President Muhammadu Buhari has reiterated his opposition to the devaluation of the naira. He said Nigeria cannot compete with developed c... According to a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, the President spoke on Saturday while contributing to a Presidential Panel Roundtable on Investment and Growth Opportunities at the opening of the Africa 2016: Business for Africa, Egypt and the World at Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt.Buhari was quoted as saying that Nigeria could not afford to devalue its currency because the country imports everything, including toothpicks.He said, Developed countries are competing among themselves and when they devalue they compete better and manufacture and export more.But we are not competing and exporting but importing everything including toothpicks. So, why should we devalue our currency?We want to be more productive and self-sufficient in food and other basic things such as clothing.For our government, we like to encourage local production and efficiency.The President added that those who have developed taste for foreign luxury goods should continue to pay for them rather than pressure government to devalue the naira.He added that the priority of his administration is to ensure national food security before export of food products.He stressed that Nigeria being a mono-economy dependent on oil, and with a teeming unemployed youth population, the way out of the current slump in the global oil market, is for the administration to focus on agriculture and solid minerals development.The land is there and we need machinery inputs, fertiliser and insecticides, he said.Buhari expressed optimism that Nigeria would get out of its current economic downturn.He noted that another major problem militating against economic revival is the huge resources deployed towards fighting insurgency and international terrorism.He, however, commended the support being received from the international community in the administrations fight against terrorism as well as cooperation in tracing looted funds stashed away in foreign countries.Responding to a question on his performance since he assumed office, the President said that his administration has been quite focused on three fundamental issues of securing the country, reviving the economy and stamping out corruption.The message on corruption has been driven home vividly and Nigerians are very acceptable to the message, he said.He added that those accused of stealing public funds are co-operating by voluntarily providing useful information while investigations and prosecutions are ongoing.In his opening address at the Forum, the Egyptian President, Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, said Africa needs to concentrate on transforming into knowledge societies using innovation and research.The Presidents of Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Sudan and the Prime Minister of Ethiopia also participated at the Roundtable.In his opening message, the President of the African Development Bank, Akinwumi Adesina, said that Africa must think big, act big and develop big.Before departing Egypt, Buhari and his Egyptian host, had a bilateral discussion on security, military cooperation, agriculture and solid minerals development The Central Bank of Nigeria on Saturday said it has recovered about N6.2bn from Deposit Money Banks as excessive charges imposed on thei... The Central Bank of Nigeria on Saturday said it has recovered about N6.2bn from Deposit Money Banks as excessive charges imposed on their customers in 2015.The apex bank in a statement issued by the Director,Corporate Communications Department, CBN, Alh Muazu Ibrahim warned banks against imposing illegal charges on their customers.The CBN in the statement said it was concerned about the rising number of complaints bordering on excessive bank charges, noting that in 2015 alone, the apex bank investigated about 6,000 of such cases.It said the apex bank would continue to enforce the revised guidelines on bank charges, stating that any customer who has been illegally charged should complain at the Consumer Protection Department of the CBNThe statement reads in part, The Central Bank of Nigeria has received series of complaints from customers of Deposit Money Banks alleging excessive and in some cases illegal charges from their respective banks.The Revised Guide to Bank Charges clearly specifies allowable charges for all banking services and the CBN does not in any way condone the fleecing of banking customers under any guise.It was in the quest to provide a strong voice to banks customers and moderate the arbitrary charges that the CBN in 2012, established its Consumer Protection Department.For the avoidance of doubt, the CBN has investigated over 6000 complaints relating to unauthorised bank charges brought to its notice, following which banks have been compelled to refund the sum of over N6.2bn to affected customers in 2015 alone.The CBN wishes to reiterate its resolve to continuously enforce the provision of the Revised Guide to Bank Charges and urges members of the public to report cases of infringement to enable it investigate and apply sanctions on any erring Deposit Money Bank. Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo has said Federal Government is committed to the rebuilding of the North-Eastern states that have been ravage... Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo has said Federal Government is committed to the rebuilding of the North-Eastern states that have been ravaged by the Boko Haram sect.He said on Friday that the government would rebuild the affected communities and make them safe and habitable.According to a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mr. Laolu Akande, the Vice-President spoke during a meeting with a delegation from the United Nations High Commission for Refugees at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. While commending the UNHCR for its assistance so far, Osinbajo was quoted to have requested for more assistance to enable the government to achieve its aim.We are looking forward to more assistance from the UNHCR, the vice-president told the team led by the UNHCR Assistant High Commissioner, Mr. Volker Turk.He said although the commission had done a lot, there is still a long way to go.He listed some of the initiatives put in place to address the situation of the North-East to include the Safe Schools Initiative, Victims Support Fund and the Presidential Initiative on North-East, among others.Osinbajo said the initiatives were now structured under the Presidential Committee on the North-East Initiatives for which President Muhammadu Buhari had appointed Gen. Theophilus Danjuma (retd.) to lead.While noting that the situation in the North-East presented an enormous challenge, the VP said the UNHCR is peculiarly equipped to deal with this kind of situation.He said, We urge the UNHCR to work with us as closely as possible on the resettlement and rehabilitation of Internally Displaced People.Osinbajo also commended Nigerians in the North-East for accommodating the IDPs in their own homes and communities.In his remarks, Turk said it is the aim of the UNHCR to support and assist the Federal Government. National Leader of the Odua Peoples Congress (OPC), Otunba Gani Adams has denied allegations by some members of his group that he collec... National Leader of the Odua Peoples Congress (OPC), Otunba Gani Adams has denied allegations by some members of his group that he collected the sum of $22 million from late Libyan President, Muammar Gaddafi, N9 billion from former President of Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan and N1.6 billion from former Minister of State, Defence, Musiliu Obanikoro.He also denied that he disrespected Yoruba traditional rulers or acted against the laws of the land. Gani Adams It will be recalled that some former State Coordinators of the group were recently dismissed from the Congress for acts bordering on indiscipline, anti-congress activities and outright corruption.The expelled State Coordinators include Maruff Olanrewaju Salami of Kwara State as well as Chief Adeagbo Musediq and Rotimi Akinsonwon Oyo and Ondo coordinators respectively.The members, who accused Adams of financial immodesty, also called on the EFCC to investigate some aides of Adams such as Ogunshola Olugbade and Femi Felix, who they referred to as his fronts. He explained that he had never set his foot on the soil of Libya, neither had he met late Gaddafi or his agent at any time.Let me state here that when this issue first came up, I took it upon myself to write a petition to the State Security Service, SSS, informing them of the allegation and pleading with the Service to help investigate its source in order to get to the root of the matter. As I speak with you, I am still awaiting the response to my petition.Having said that, I want to once again plead with the SSS to, as a matter of urgency, make sure that these people who made these grievous allegations against me are made to prove the source of their allegations, and if they are not able to do so, then they should be made to face the law. It is important to explain this, because, by my understanding, it is more than four years now that the Libyan leader died.They should explain what the money was meant for and how it was sent to me. Such huge amount of money could not be transferred to an individual secretly, so they need to explain how I received the money, he said.On the N9 billion, he said he had earlier been accused by the then APC Spokesperson, Lai Mohammed, that, former President Jonathan gave him N9 billion as payment for the pipeline surveillance contract and support for election. According to him, It is on record that we have not received any money from the government as payment for the pipeline contract. Such allegation coming from a person who today occupies the office of the nations Minister of Information is rather unfortunate and sad. Mr. Samuel Oki, a nephew of former President Goodluck Jonathan, was today found dead in a creek in Otuoke community, Ogbia Local Governme... The 35-year-old was reportedly kidnapped on Wednesday alongside the 72-year-old foster father of Jonathan, Chief Inengite Nitabai.It was learnt that some fishermen from the former Presidents community in Otuoke, discovered Okis decomposing body floating on Otuoke river while fishing, two days after the abduction.Some indigenes of the community said though many were not aware of Okis whereabouts during the abduction of Nitabai, the discovery of his body in the creek has, however, heightened their fears of Nitabais safety.Some community members claimed that the sound of gunshot heard during the abduction of the septuagenarian might have been targeted at the deceased.A community source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said We are worried about the safety of our uncle, Chief Inengite Nitabai. The men that abducted them have killed Oki and we pray they dont touch our uncle.The deceased, community sources said, was always seen in company with Nitabai.The villagers, who were reportedly seen discussing the sad incident, alleged that the young man (Oki) tried to resist the kidnappers.According to them, divers and local fishermen had recovered the body and anchored it by the riverside to prevent the body from being washed away.This is the second time Nitabai has been kidnapped. He was first kidnapped On February 28, 2014 and later freed by security forces on March 10, 2014. A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mr. Rickey Tarfa, has described as untrue the allegation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission t... A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mr. Rickey Tarfa, has described as untrue the allegation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission that he gave a bribe of N225,000 to Justice Mohammed Yunusa of the Federal High Court.Tarfa said this in a further affidavit filed on Friday before the court and deposed to by the head of his chambers, John OdubelaThe EFCC had, in a counter-affidavit to a N2.5bn fundamental rights enforcement suit filed against it by Tarfa, alleged that the senior advocate bribed Justice Yunusa with N225, 000 on January 7, 2014.But Odubela said though it was true that Tarfa sent N225,000 to Justice Yunusa as EFCC had said, the money was not a bribe but a donation made by some friends of Justice Yunusa towards the funeral rites of his father-in-law, Alhaji Audi Damasa.Tarfa, through Odubela, also described as untrue the claim by the EFCC that Justice Yunusa acknowledged the receipt of the alleged bribe by a text message which read, Thank you, my senior advocate.He said, Contrary to paragraphs 31, 54 and 55 of Moses Awolusis (EFCC operative) counter-affidavit, the access to the applicants firms Access Bank account details was done by the respondents after the arrest and detention of the applicant on February 5, 2016 without consent and authority of the applicant.That the applicant did not, January 7, 2014, bribe Justice M.N. Yunusa with N225,000 or any other sum at all.That it was common knowledge in the legal circles that Justice M.N. Yunusa lost his father-in-law, Alhaji Audi Garba Damasa on December 28, 2013 in Maiduguri and travelled there to attend to the funeral rites.Tarfa had sued the EFCC to protest his alleged unlawful arrest and detention by the commission on the premises of the Lagos State High Court in Igbosere.He is seeking N2.5bn as compensation for exemplary and aggravated damages as well as a public apology occasioned by his alleged unlawful arrest and detention.Tarfa is being represented by no fewer than 34 Senior Advocates of Nigeria, led by Chief Bolaji Ayorinde (SAN).While arguing Tarfas suit on Friday, his counsel, Ayorinde, claimed that his rights were violated.The EFCC, through its lawyer, Mr. Wahab Shittu, however urged the court to dismiss Tarfas suit with a substantive punitive cost for lacking in merit.Shittu said Tarfas arrest was not unlawful because the EFCC arrested him on reasonable suspicion and had already charged him to court, where he had already been arraigned with trial fixed for March.He said, Exemplary and aggravated damages can only be granted if it is established that the action of the respondents is high-handed; the applicant has to also show that the action of the respondent is wanton. But in this case, it is clear that the respondents were carrying out their statutory duty.After listening to both parties, Justice Idris fixed February 29 for judgement.The EFCC arrested Tarfa on February 5 on the premises of the Lagos State High Court for allegedly obstructing operatives of the EFCC from arresting two suspects of economic and financial crimes by allegedly hiding the said suspects in his jeep. Heavy surf, high winds cause beach erosion The men earlier admitted that they duped timeshare owners into giving them thousands of dollars to pay off their mortgages. (Andrew Mills | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com) (Andrew Mills) CAMDEN -- Two more people will soon begin prison terms after being sentenced in a South Jersey timeshare scam that tricked hundreds of mortgage-holders into paying thousands of dollars for phony settlements of their debts -- and then saddling many of them with new mortgages on top of that, authorities said. U.S. District Judge Noel Hillman Friday sentenced Alfred Giordano, 36, of Belmar to 18 months in prison and Francis Santore, 56, of Northfield, to 12 months in prison for their roles in the scam. Both will have three years of probation following their prison terms and be required to make restitution. Families that held timeshare mortgages for properties along the Atlantic coast lost approximately $3 million in the scam run by the Vacation Ownership Group, court records indicate. Federal investigators interviewed 225 people, many of them elderly, who were victimized, court records show. According to those records, Egg Harbor Township residents Adam Lacerda, founder of the company, and his wife Ashley, directed the sales team at Vacation Ownership to tell timeshare owners that the company "worked with" the banks that held the notes to their timeshare mortgages. They assured the property owners that they could settle their mortgages for half or even less than what they owed. Timeshare owners turned over a few thousand dollars to more than $42,000 to Vacation Ownership Group, even though the company had no control over the existing mortgages, court records show. In addition, using web tools that the timeshare owners thought were part of the process, the company had them sign for new mortgages that the timeshare owners did not want, according to records. Giordano and Santore both started working for the company in 2010, according to the U.S. Attorney's office. Giordano was responsible for more than $120,000 in losses, the office said. Santore admitted to causing more than $70,000 in losses, it said. Adam Lacerda was convicted last year in federal court and sentenced to 27 years in jail for leading the scam. Ashley Lacerda is scheduled to be sentenced in March. In all, 16 company employees from New Jersey, South Carolina, Florida, Virginia and the U.S. Virgin Islands were charged. At least five pleaded guilty or were convicted thus far. Tim Darragh may be reached at tdarragh@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @timdarragh. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield and Holy Name and Valley hospitals are continuing their war of words over the two Bergen County hospital's being left off the list of tier 1 hospitals in Horizon's Omnia Health Care Alliance. (Frank H. Conlon | For The Star-Ledger) NEWARK -- The billboards might be down, but the war of words between two north Jersey hospitals and the state's largest health insurance company is heating up. Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield Friday asked a federal judge to approve its request for a preliminary injunction to stop what it calls a "smear campaign" against the company and its Omnia Health Care Alliance. Omnia is new insurance plan launched by Horizon last year which offers lower premiums in partnerships with certain hospitals. The plan puts some hospitals in two tiers, with Tier 1 hospitals able to give patients discounts not available to those that use Tier 2 hospitals. Valley Health System in Ridgewood and Holy Name Medical Center in Teaneck objected to being left out of Tier 1, claiming it is part of an effort to squeeze them out of business. The two hospitals in recent months started an advertising campaign, saying Horizon "couldn't care less" about patients. The billboard campaign ran its course, but the advertising campaign lives on a website, saynotohorizon.com, and can be seen in a banner advertisement on Holy Name's web site. Valley and Holy Name argue that being classified as Tier 2 hospitals would harm their patients by making them choose between their facilities and hospitals elsewhere that are in Tier 1. That, they argue, effectively reduces their access to care. But Horizon, which has 3.8 million members, says it's not denying access at all, since the two hospitals still accept its coverage. Omnia designates 22 hospitals as Tier 1 hospitals; 14 are Tier 2, according to court records. The fight over the ad campaign intensified this week in an exchange of letters between the two sides filed in federal court in Newark. Horizon attorney Andrew L. Hamelsky said Valley and Holy Name offered assurances that they would remove the advertisements and would suggest language at a later conference that would be acceptable to both sides. They instead ramped up their "maliciously false" advertising campaign, he said. "It is apparent that the Hospitals' pattern and practice is to agree to remove false or misleading advertisements only to replace them with different false advertisements," he wrote this week. "This game of "Whack-a-Mole" cannot and should not be tolerated." Bruce Rosen, representing both hospitals, replied that Hamelsky's letter was a "bullying tactic," adding that it was part of Horizon's campaign to align itself with the state's largest hospital networks and reduce competition in the state. Reached Friday, Rosen said all of the statements made in the ad campaign were true and defensible. "There is nothing my clients have said or done that is not true or an expression of opinion protected by the First Amendment in reaction to Horizon's efforts to undermine and destroy what it calls 'Tier Two' hospitals in its OMNIA insurance plan," he said. Seven hospitals, including Valley and Holy Name, sued Horizon in Bergen County Superior Court in December, saying its advertising of Omnia Tier 1 hospitals unfairly maligned them. The two sides will meet next week to discuss a schedule for the next steps in the case. Tim Darragh may be reached at tdarragh@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @timdarragh. Find NJ.com on Facebook. VINELAND -- Inspira Health Network failed to inform a health care worker's union about changes to the hospital that affect the employment of 105 employees, according to the union. In response, Inspira promises to find new positions for the employees in the transition. Inspira Health Network and Bayada Home Care, a private company that provides home care for patients, are working out a joint venture where Bayada will handle the hospital's hospice services for Cumberland, Gloucester and Salem counties. The changes are expected to go into effect by mid-April and the 105 employees involved in Inspira's hospice services will either work for Bayada or find new employment in the health network. According to the Health Professionals and Allied Employees (HPAE) union, the organization was not informed of the transfer of the network's home license to Bayada or that the transfer would affect 105 employees. According to Inspira, the health network and Bayda have already discussed the change with the nurse staff and hospice program members. HPAE represents 1,300 nurses at Inspira, including 31 nurses involved in hospice care. "We demand that nurses' jobs and union rights be protected in any change of ownership," said Michelle Silvio, president of the local union, in a statement. "Inspira home care nurses provide quality, continuity of care in this community, and requiring nurses to reapply for their job puts patient care at risk." Inspira Health Network filed a notice with the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development about the 105 employees, per the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN Act). "Inspira is committed to assisting all of their home care and hospice employees to identify positions available within the new joint venture," reads a statement by Inspira. "The network believes that nearly all of its home care and hospice employees will be offered positions. If any employees are not offered positions within the new joint venture, Inspira will work with them to find employment in other departments within the network." Bayada will manage the joint venture from its offices in Millville and Woodbury. Don E. Woods may be reached at dwoods@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @donewoods1. Find the South Jersey Times on Facebook. NEWARK -- Officials announced Friday that they would not prevent ride-sharing firms from operating at Newark Liberty International Airport, days before a ban announced by the city prosecutor was due to take effect. "All taxis and limos will be treated fairly and we will not single out Uber for violations only," Anthony Ambrose, Newark's public safety director, said Friday night. There would be no towing of vehicles or arrests until a meeting is held with the prosecutor, Evans C. Anyanwu, and the corporation counsel, Ambrose added. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the airport, also said it would refrain from carrying out the prohibition on the services, which are seen as a threat by the city's medallioned cab drivers. "We have received numerous inquiries over the past few days about the policy of this agency with regard to utilization of ridesharing firms such as Uber and Lyft at Newark Liberty International Airport. The Port Authority Police Department will not take steps to prevent access to such services by passengers or others on the premises owned or leased by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey," the agency said. Yet another agency, NJ Transit, said it too would refrain from ticketing Uber and Lyft drivers operating at Newark Penn Station and other hubs it oversees. The announcements come as Uber New Jersey issued a plea to Anyanwu to reconsider its decision, which the company said would adversely affect thousands of travelers and drivers. Last month Anyanwu sent a letter to Uber warning that the company was in violation of the city's taxi ordinances and that continued violations "would result in criminal and civil penalties" effective Feb. 22. Ride-share services operating in the city have reduced business for traditional taxis by as much as 80 percent in Newark, according to unions and other organizations representing drivers. Paul Milo may be reached at pmilo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter@PaulMilo2. Find NJ.com on Facebook. GLASSBORO -- A fundraising campaign has been started for a Pennsylvania corrections officer whose lawyer says he faces years in prison for carrying a gun in the state without a state permit. Raymond Hughes, a sergeant in the Pennsylvania corrections system and a 13-year veteran, said his car was struck by a drunk driver while he and his wife were travelling home from a night out in Atlantic City last month, according to an account on his GoGetFunding page. When police arrived to investigate, Hughes, 46, who has a Pennsylvania carry permit, told officers he had a gun under the seat. He was charged with unlawful possession of a weapon days later because he did not possess a New Jersey permit and now faces between 3 and a half and five years in prison. Hughes believed that as a law enforcement officer, he was allowed to carry in New Jersey under laws granting him statutory powers of arrest, according to the statement on his page. The charges are being reviewed by the Gloucester County Prosecutor's Office, which could dismiss the case or send it to a county grand jury, the Associated Press reported. Hughes is represented by Evan Nappen, who represented Steffon Josey-Davis, a North Brunswick man who was charged for illegally transporting his registered firearm in the glove compartment of his car. Josey-Davis was one of several New Jerseyans to receive a pardon for a weapons-related offense last year from Gov. Chris Christie. Christie's pardons came as he was in the midst of his now-suspended campaign for the Republican presidential nomination and as the National Rifle Association continued to sharply criticize the state for its strict gun laws. Paul Milo may be reached at pmilo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter@PaulMilo2. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Feet were flying Thursday at the annual Happy Hearts Dance Competition at Jersey City Medical Center - Barnabas Health. The event featured hospital employees from 10 different departments competing against each other to raise money and awareness for the American Heart Association. Participants included physicians, nurses, administrators, therapists, and others. "It's a fun way to get the word out about the importance of a healthy lifestyle in promoting good heart health," said Joseph Scott, the hospital's President/CEO, in a statement. Members of the AHA were on hand to judge the dancers in areas of creativity, quality of performance, crowd response, and of course, dance moves. One of every three deaths in the U.S. are from heart disease, stroke and other cardiovascular diseases. The American Heart Association is the nation's leader in CPR education training, helps people understand the importance of healthy lifestyle choices, and offers science-based treatment guidelines to healthcare professionals to help them provide quality care to their patients. Oscars 2016 predictions: And the winners in all 24 Academy Award categories will be ... WASHINGTON (AP) The House Jan. 6 committee plans to unveil "surprising" details at its next public hearing about the 2021 attack at the U.S. Capitol. The session Thursday afternoon is likely to be the last public hearing before midterm elections next month. The panel is expected to include new evidence from the U.S. Secret Service about its actions with Donald Trump that day. Ahead of a report later this year, the panel is summing up its findings. The committee says Trump, after he lost the 2020 presidential election, launched an unprecedented attempt to stop Congress from certifying Joe Biden's victory. They say the result was the deadly mob siege of the Capitol. Brandon Fisher, the president and CEO of American mining supply company Center Rock, will be at Cambrian College March 23 to talk about how his company's drills famously helped rescue 33 Chileans in October 2010. On Aug. Brandon Fisher, the president and CEO of American mining supply company Center Rock, will be at Cambrian College March 23 to talk about how his company's drills famously helped rescue 33 Chileans in October 2010.On Aug. 5, 2010, a mine collapse in Copiapo, Chile, left 33 miners trapped underground for 69 days, before their heroic rescue on Oct. 13, 2010.Fisher's company pioneered a drilling system that allowed rescuers to reach the 33 men.The daring rescue was later depicted in the 2015 film The 33.Cambrian alumna, author and crisis management consultant Suzanne Bernier will join Fisher on stage.Bernier has been professionally involved in numerous crises such as the 1998 Ice Storm of the Century in Eastern Canada, the 2003 Northeast Blackout, SARS, Hurricane Katrina, the H1N1 pandemic, Hurricane Sandy, as well as numerous floods, fires and severe storms.The talk will take place at Cambrian's eDome, and will start at 7 p.m. Admission is free with a donation to the Cambrian Student Food Bank. Seating is limited, and spots can be reserved online Ontario works with Airbnb to tax rental income Ontario will become the first province to work with the popular website Airbnb to educate its users about their tax obligations. Airbnb is one of the more popular websites associated with the so-called sharing economy. The province will invest more than $224,000 through the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation to support four projects in Sudbury. File photo. Ontario will become the first province to work with the popular website Airbnb to educate its users about their tax obligations. Airbnb is one of the more popular websites associated with the so-called sharing economy. The service allows people to rent out their homes, apartments, cabins, or any other properties to tourists and visitors to their city. But many of the sites users in Ontario have apparently not reported the income theyve earned from renting out their property to the Canada Revenue Agency. The provincial pilot program will inform Airbnb users how to follow tax laws, such as reporting rental income, and will also provide information on consumer protection rights under contracts, such as cancellations or refund, and accessibility requirements, such as allowing service animals on rental property. Through the program Airbnb will send its hosts email notifications during tax season to remind them of their tax obligations. Harnessing the benefits of the sharing economy while protecting Ontario consumers and workers is part of the government's plan to build Ontario up and deliver on its number-one priority to grow the economy and create jobs, said a press release from the province. Airbnb is especially popular in larger cities that receive a large influx of tourists. As of Feb. 20 there were around a dozen properties in Greater Sudbury available on Airbnb. Expanded spring bear hunt a done deal After several months of public consultations the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry approved plans to expand Ontario's spring bear hunt pilot project to five years. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry has approved plans to expand Ontario's spring bear hung pilot project by five years. File photo. After several months of public consultations the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry approved plans to expand Ontario's spring bear hunt pilot project to five years. The five-year pilot expands on a previous two-year pilot program that allowed for a spring bear hunt in eight of Ontario's wildlife management units. The new five-year pilot will expand the hunt to all 88 wildlife management units in the province. The two-year pilot was also limited to Ontario residents, while the expanded pilot program allows non-residents to take part in the spring bear hunt, as long as they go through a recognized outfitter a potential boon for outfitters in Northern Ontario. This is great news for Sudbury, and for the North. I am pleased that our government has listened to the concerns expressed by Northern Ontarians, and has taken concrete measures to help communities dealing with issues related to human-bear interactions, said Sudbury MPP Glenn Thibeault in a press release. Over the course of last spring and summer, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry's Bear Wise Hotline received 3,900 calls from the entire province, but one third 1,300 calls were from Greater Sudbury. There are an estimated 105,000 black bears in Ontario. Every province and territory in Canada has a spring bear hunt except for Ontario and Nova Scotia, which both have fall hunts, and Prince Edward Island, which does not have any black bears. It will be illegal for hunters to kill bear cubs or sows with cubs. Hunters convicted of the offence could face a fine up to $25,000 and up to one year imprisonment. Baiting of bears during all bear hunting seasons will be regulated to help address public safety concerns. According to the regulations: Bait must not be placed within 500 metres of a residence unless written permission is obtained from the residence's owner; Bait must not be placed within 500 metres of a public building; And bait must not be placed within 200 metres of a right of way for public vehicle traffic or a marked public recreational trail. EVANSTON, Ill. --- Two Northwestern University professors -- chemist Elad Harel and materials scientist and engineer James Rondinelli -- have been awarded the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE). President Barack Obama announced the recipients of the prestigious honor yesterday (Feb. 18). The PECASE is the highest honor bestowed by the United States government on science and engineering professionals in the early stages of their independent research careers. A total of 105 researchers across the country are being honored. Harel is being recognized for his pioneering work on the development of powerful optical techniques to probe the structure and dynamics of complex chemical systems at the extremes of time, space and energy in order to tackle some of the most pressing and challenging problems in chemical physics as well as for his commitment to cross-disciplinary research and education, his unwavering support of undergraduate and graduate students and his overall leadership in the scientific community. Rondinelli is being recognized for his seminal research contributions in computational condensed matter physics and novel materials design approaches. He has transformed the scientific communitys approach to designing materials using broken inversion symmetry at interfaces and provided the first-ever methodology for predicting the relationship between strain and octahedral rotations in complex oxides, paving the way for the design of many-body quantum properties in ways previously not considered possible. Harel and Rondinelli will be invited to the White House this spring to meet President Obama and attend an awards ceremony. These early-career scientists are leading the way in our efforts to confront and understand challenges from climate change to our health and wellness, President Obama said. We congratulate these accomplished individuals and encourage them to continue to serve as an example of the incredible promise and ingenuity of the American people. Elad Harel I am so thankful to the Department of Defense and the White House for recognizing the importance of supporting young scientists and their research groups at such a critical stage in their careers, said Harel, an assistant professor of chemistry in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences. Without this type of support, we could not take the bold risks necessary to make breakthroughs in science. Harels highly interdisciplinary research crosses boundaries into biology, materials chemistry, mathematics and engineering. He is a recognized leader in the field of spectroscopy and imaging of condensed phase chemical and biological systems. Harels work in magnetic resonance and optics has enabled him to develop new methods that allow deep insights into how energy flows in materials at the extremes of time and space. He is poised to become a major contributor to the study of the structure and dynamics of complex systems. These systems are the basis for the next generation of materials that will enable a faster, more efficient military. His proposed research is aimed at measuring and controlling energy flow in engineered nanoscale materials. Understanding how energy is captured and transported in materials is of fundamental importance to the multi-disciplinary energy sciences. Harel plans to develop a new suite of methods that can unambiguously measure energy flow at the nanoscale. The methods could have major implications for the Department of Defense to develop the next generation of devices that efficiently transform energy sources (e.g. sunlight) to do useful work in possibly unpredictable environments. James Rondinelli Its a great honor to receive such recognition at this stage of my scientific career, where Ive focused on creating new knowledge and training a new generation of scientists and engineers to solve 21st-century problems, said Rondinelli, an assistant professor of materials science and engineering in the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science. The award is particularly gratifying because it recognizes the importance of fundamental theoretical and computational science research to the nations priorities. Rondinellis passion is to manipulate materials at their fundamental electronic level, pushing electrons to do new things in materials and to realize new functionalities -- by designing materials atom by atom. His work focuses on the theory, design and applications of complex ternary/quaternary metal oxide and fluoride ceramics, including crystals and thin films, for low-power electronics, high-temperature applications, non-linear optical and oxidation-resistant systems and devices. Rondinelli formulates novel theories to address contradictory property-performance challenges by employing first principles approaches based on quantum mechanical calculations and computational science tools, including data informatics. By understanding the material physics and chemistry of known compounds, Rondinelli is able to predict the behavior of yet-to-be-synthesized materials, accelerating the discovery of new structurally and chemically complex compounds. The PECASE award will enable Rondinelli to apply his expertise in engineering physical phenomena with interfaces to devise multifunctional materials that exhibit antithetical behavior -- high conductivity and broken inversion symmetry -- which present an opportunity to deeply impact technology. The fundamental work in this program will allow us to move this emerging class of materials forward as a platform for the next generation of logic, memory and security devices, Rondinelli said. PECASE The Presidential Early Career Awards highlight the key role the administration places in encouraging and accelerating American innovation to grow the U.S. economy and tackle the countrys greatest challenges. Twelve federal departments and agencies join together annually to nominate young scientists and engineers whose work is of greatest benefit to the nominating agencys mission. Harel and Rondinelli were nominated by the Department of Defense, which funds their research. Awardees are selected for their pursuit of innovative research at the frontiers of science and technology and their commitment to community service as demonstrated through scientific leadership, public education or community outreach. Harper Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird" is classic literature. I know this because schoolchildren are forced to read the book and they're lucky to do so. The novel opens eyes to what conditions were like in the South, of course, but it's a message not limited to that region of the country. What happened there could just as easily happen here. The book has prompted many important conversations. After hearing of author Harper Lee's death Friday, at age 89, I took a quick zip through our archives to see what I could offer you. There's the official "To Kill a Mockingbird" trailer from 1962. It's a classic movie everyone should see at least once. It's not a good date movie, but it's a good one to prompt conversation afterward. Reading the book puts pictures in your head, but watching Gregory Peck somehow makes the book's message even stronger. There's another film worth seeing. It's the short "I Am Not A Stereotype" film put together last year by a teacher at Thornton Fractional North High School in Calumet City. The discussion of what it meant for Atticus Finch to be a man sparked the idea of the teacher's video. I became aware that many students believed in the stereotypical views of what society believes a man should be and how a man should act. That's where the idea about disproving stereotypes came from, freshman English teacher Christin Passarelli told a Times correspondent in May 2015. The aspect of racial stereotypes and various prejudices came from Atticus' closing arguments in the court scene. He points out that the general beliefs about African-American men at the time are stereotypical and do not apply to everyone. Harper Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird" has inspired countless local stage adaptations. I've linked to stories about a few of the recent ones. Lee wrote a follow-up book, "Go Set a Watchman," released last year. I haven't read it yet, but I'll bet sales will spike for that book, too. And now her death Friday is sparking even more conversations about the importance of her writing. NIPSCO and some customer groups have cut a deal to reduce the utility's overall proposed 11 percent rate increase to 5.4 percent. In a settlement agreement submitted to state regulators Friday, NIPSCO also agreed to back off on a request to hike its fixed customer charge to $20 and replaced it with a $14 one. The charge is currently $11. "Since the last change in electric base rates, NIPSCO has made considerable investments to improve service to customers while effectively managing costs," said NIPSCO Executive Vice President Violet Sistovaris. "This outcome strikes the right balance to help ensure that our customers continue to have the affordable, reliable and environmentally sustainable energy they need now and in the future." The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission will now have to examine the settlement and give its approval before it can go into effect. The commission can approve it as is, modify it, or reject it. A decision is not expected until the second half of this year. Also pending is a NIPSCO request to undertake $1.3 billion in electric improvement projects, which if approved would hike customer bills by about a cumulative 6 percent by 2022. The settlement in the base rate case was reached between the Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor, NIPSCOs industrial customers, the Indiana Municipal Utility Group and the United Steelworkers, with no opposition from LaPorte County, according to NIPSCO. Those groups make up the bulk of the intervenors in the case. The settlement was submitted Friday and groups not a party to it had no time to review it. One of those, the Citizens Action Coalition, protested the process that led to the it, again stressing that it was not invited to the settlement negotiations and not at the table when it was hammered out. "You basically have the OUCC (state Office of Utility Consumer Counselor) and the large industrial customers setting utility rates with the utility companies behind closed doors," said Kerwin Olson, executive director of Citizens Action Coalition. NIPSCO's calculations its original proposal would lead to an 11.5 bill increase for a typical customer included the hike in the fixed customer charge. The same goes for the new 5.4 percent hike calculated for the settlement. Evidentiary hearings start March 2 before the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission in Indianapolis. The hearing is still required even though a settlement has been filed, but the date could be pushed back, according to the IURC. Parties to the settlement are expected to present a united front in support of it while those not party to it can challenge its terms. On Friday, NIPSCO stated the change in rates for individual commercial and industrial customers would vary depending on usage, but on average, rates for overall commercial and smaller industrial customers would increase less than the original proposal. NIPSCO has 460,000 electric customers spread across 32 counties in northern Indiana. It also has 810,000 natural gas customers. Natural gas bills would not be affected by NIPSCO's request. WASHINGTON A U.S. magistrate judge has ordered Apple to help the FBI break into a work-issued iPhone used by a gunman in the mass shooting in San Bernardino, California. Apple CEO Tim Cook immediately objected, setting the stage for a high-stakes legal fight between Silicon Valley and the federal government. Here's a look at the case so far: Q: What did the judge decide? A: Magistrate Judge Sheri Pym, a former federal prosecutor, ordered Apple Inc. to help the FBI hack into an encrypted iPhone used by Syed Farook, who along with his wife, Tashfeen Malik, killed 14 people in December in the worst terror attack on U.S. soil since Sept. 11, 2001. The phone was provided to him by San Bernardino County, where he worked as a government health inspector. Prosecutors say they don't know whether anything relevant is on the phone but can't access the information because they don't know the password and Apple won't cooperate. Q: What makes this ruling so important? A: Federal law enforcement and leading technology companies have long been at an impasse about how to balance digital privacy for consumers against the responsibility of federal agents and police to investigate crimes or terrorism. The Obama administration has acknowledged encryption as valuable for privacy protection but, until now, had struggled to identify a major case that shows how Apple's encryption can hobble their investigations. Q: How is Apple suppose to help? A: The judge's order forces Apple to create and supply highly specialized software that the FBI can load onto the iPhone. That software would bypass a self-destruct feature that erases the phone's data after too many unsuccessful attempts to guess the passcode. The FBI wants to be able to try different combinations in rapid sequence until it finds the right one. Q: What impact will this have on Apple's users? A: The Justice Department said it's asking Apple only to help unlock the iPhone used by Farook. The judge said the software should include a "unique identifier" so that it can't be used to unlock other iPhones. But it's unclear how readily the software could be adapted to work against other phones. And the FBI would likely share its new tool with U.S. intelligence agencies and possibly foreign allies that are investigating global terrorism. Cook warned, "Once created, the technique could be used over and over again, on any number of devices. In the physical world, it would be the equivalent of a master key, capable of opening hundreds of millions of locks from restaurants and banks to stores and homes." Q: Why do the Feds want information off the phone? A: Prosecutors say they think the device could hold clues about who the couple communicated with while planning the shootings and about where they traveled before and after the attack. Investigators are still working to piece together what happened during 18 minutes on Dec. 2, between the time of the attacks and the moment they were killed in a police shootout. Q: What did Apple say? A: The government asked the judge to rule in its favor in a 40-page court filing submitted without Apple's participation. After Pym's order, in a strongly worded message to its customers early Wednesday, Cook warned that the judge's order would set a "dangerous precedent." He said the company was being asked to take an "unprecedented step" that would threaten the security of Apple's customers. The company defended its use of encryption as the only way to keep its customers' personal data their music, private conversations and photos from being hacked. The statement foreshadows a fierce legal fight. Q: How is this legal? A: Pym relied on the 1789 All Writs Act, which has been used many times in the past by the government to require a third party to aid law enforcement in its investigation. Apple's CEO said the government was trying to dangerously expand what the law requires a third party to do. He said the government could require Apple to build surveillance software or more to help law enforcement. In a months-long federal case in New York, another federal judge has delayed ruling on whether the law can compel Apple to help the government break the security on its devices. That case remains pending. Q: Does Apple have anyone on its side? A: The tech industry is starting to line up with Apple in its fight against the federal government over the encryption it uses to keep iPhones secure. "We stand with @tim_cook and Apple (and thank him for his leadership)!" Twitter chief executive Jack Dorsey wrote in a tweet Thursday afternoon. In a statement late Thursday, Facebook said it condemns terrorism and also appreciates the essential work of law enforcement in keeping people safe. But it said it will "fight aggressively" against requirements for companies to weaken the security of their systems. Google CEO Sundar Pichai had earlier voiced support for Apple in a series of tweets. "Forcing companies to enable hacking could compromise users' privacy," Pichai wrote on Wednesday, adding that the case "could be a troubling precedent." Yahoo's chief information security officer, Bob Lord, chimed in with his support of Apple, although there was no word from that company's embattled CEO, Marissa Mayer. "Ordering a company to hack one targeted system is clearly the first step to ordering them to backdoor them all," Lord tweeted Friday with the hashtags "slipperyslope" and "usersfirst." CROWN POINT A Gary man facing a murder charge will only be allowed to communicate with his defense attorney and the public defenders office while his case is pending. Lake Criminal Judge Salvador Vasquez further limited Anthony T. Williams jail privileges Thursday following a hearing. Williams, 30, is accused of shooting to death Damian Reedus, 34, while the men were in a van Dec. 2, 2013, in Gary, according to court records. The driver of the van was shot but survived the shooting. In 2014, Vasquez stripped Williams of mail and phone privileges in the jail after a letter emerged that hinted at Williams instructing someone to convince a witness to not testify at trial. Last year, Williams was found in contempt of court and was sentenced to three months in prison following a hearing that determined he tried to mail a letter out of the jail using another inmates information. Vasquez had allowed Williams to continue communicating with his grandmother. Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Michelle Jatkiewicz filed a motion this month asking to again find Williams in contempt of Vasquezs order. The motion states Williams tried to mail a latter earlier this year using another inmates information. He also on at least four occasions made calls that were made to someone other than his grandmother, the motion stated. In one of the letters attached to the motion, Williams asks someone to send him money for hygiene products. Williams is scheduled to stand trial April 4, and his next court hearing is scheduled for March 3. He had accepted a plea agreement last year that would have called for him to spend 55 years in prison. Vasquez rejected the plea agreement after hearing from the person who survived the shooting during a hearing. The woman told Vasquez the terms of the agreement angered her, because it gave Williams hope he would one day be released from prison. INDIANAPOLIS U.S. Rep. Todd Young, R-Bloomington, will face U.S. Rep. Marlin Stutzman, R-Howe, in the May 3 Republican primary election for U.S. Senate. On Friday, the Indiana Election Commission twice deadlocked on the question of whether Young submitted the 500 required signatures from Northwest Indiana necessary to qualify for the ballot. The panel's two Republican members rejected challenges brought by Stutzman and the Indiana Democratic Party that claimed Young turned in either 497 or 498 signatures. The two Democratic commissioners voted to sustain the challenges. As a result, Young remains on the ballot because state law requires at least three commissioners agree to remove a candidate. Attorneys for Young, Stutzman and the Democratic Party agreed the petitions before the commission that were signed by voters and certified by county clerks contained fewer than 500 valid signatures. However, in what appears to be a deviation from state law, the Republican commissioners accepted from Young an uncertified list of 501 voters compiled on a state-owned, but unofficial, computer program used by campaigns to track their petition signature count. Stutzman attorney James Bopp Jr. insisted the only documents the commission could consider were the actual signed and certified petitions, not some list generated by the Indiana State Voter Registration System. "It's voluntary, non-statutory tracking software that simply gives the candidate some idea," Bopp said. "The need then is to rely upon the actual certified petitions themselves that the law requires to be filed with the candidacy." Young's attorney, David Brooks, persuaded at least the Republican commissioners that three individuals on the computer list signed a written petition that was certified by a county clerk because the clerk entered their names on the computer list. Brooks said he's certain there were missing signatures because the Lake County Board of Elections and Voter Registration numbered all 53 pages of Young's petitions and there was no Page 51 in the commissioners' documents. "It all meshes in except for the mystery of where the missing page disappeared to," Brooks said. "When you've been through a few elections you get, occasionally, things that fall into the category of 'stuff happens' sometimes more colorfully put." Astoundingly, Brooks admitted the Young campaign also did not have Page 51 because it did not copy its petitions before submitting them to the secretary of state. After the Republican commissioners agreed Young had at least 500 signatures they refused to reduce the total, despite the Democratic Party identifying a petition signer who was not registered to vote at the time she signed Young's petition. Instead, in an apparent process breach, they permitted Brooks to shower the commission with dozens of pages of documents he claimed showed voter signatures that election clerks in Lake, Porter and LaPorte counties mistakenly failed to certify. The commission finally declined to remove Young from the ballot after nearly five hours of presentations and discussion. Their decision can be appealed to a state court; a move Democratic Chairman John Zody said he is considering. "Todd Young did not have the requisite number of petition signatures certified by the counties in the First Congressional District," Zody said. "I think the Republican commissioners looked the other way here." Young spokesman Cam Savage said the campaign always had enough signatures and the entire challenge was about Stutzman and the Democrats trying to knock off the strongest candidate in the race. "They engaged in these tactics and dragged us into this process because they know they can't beat Todd in an election," Savage said. Following the Young hearing, the Election Commission unanimously voted to remove from the ballot Republican John Meyer, allegedly of Ogden Dunes, who had filed to challenge U.S. Rep. Pete Visclosky, D-Merrillville, in November. The commissioners agreed that Meyer's failure to ever vote in a Republican primary, prove he lives in Indiana or show up for the hearing warranted his removal. MERRILLVILLE Town leaders support proposed state legislation that could prevent the assessed values of big-box stores from dropping dramatically. The Town Council has unanimously approved a resolution backing Senate Bill 308. Merrillville also sent letters to state lawmakers asking them to support it. Merrillville officials are concerned about recent decisions of the Indiana Tax Court and Indiana Board of Tax Review that permitted large retailers in other areas of the state to reduce their assessed values by comparing their properties to other vacant buildings. In some cases, it has been a reduction of 45 percent, Town Attorney John Bushemi said. Merrillville officials don't want to see the same thing happen in the town because it has several tax increment financing districts which rely on the assessed value of big-box stores. The resolution adopted by the council states Senate Bill 308 would reform how big-box stores are assessed and narrow the list of comparable properties for valuation by looking at only those properties that are similarly situated in the market place of real estate transactions. Councilman Shawn Pettit said there are bonds associated with Merrillville's TIF districts. If assessed values of big-box stores in those districts are reduced, it could dramatically impact the debt service for those bonds. Pettit said there also are multiple major road projects scheduled to be paid from TIF districts, including the extension of 86th Avenue and the remainder of improvements on 73rd Avenue and Madison Street. The tax-paying citizens do not realize how big of an impact this is actually going to be until this happens because we're not going to have money to pave roads like we have right now, Councilwoman Chrissy Barron said. Merrillville's Redevelopment Commission will have its consultants examine the financial affect potential reassessments of big-box stores could have on Merrillville's TIF districts. The commission also could approve a resolution similar to what was approved by the council and send additional letters to state legislators explaining the results from the consultants. WHITING State and county police searched unsuccessfully Saturday for a woman who went missing in Lake Michigan near Whihala Beach Friday night and is presumed dead. "We really thought we'd find her," Indiana Department of Natural Resources Conservation Officer Shawn Brown said. Thalia Rodriguez, 20, of Whiting, was walking on the pier around 10 p.m. Friday at Wihala Beach with a friend after the two went out to eat, Brown said. "It was a nice night, really warm out, so they wanted to be outside," he said. "Her friend turned around and she was in the water." Emergency crews arrived a short time later and could hear Rodriguez, but could not see her, Brown said. Whether Rodriguez jumped in the water, was pushed by wind gusts or accidentally fell in is not known, he said. A U.S. Coast Guard helicopter searched for Rodriguez for several hours Friday night but was unable to locate her. Crews suspended their search just before 3 a.m. Saturday and came back several hours later to search by air and by boat. On Saturday, conservation officers and the Lake County Sheriff's Department's marine unit used side-scan sonar in an effort to find Rodriguez's body, but were unsuccessful, Brown said. Crews will re-evaluate the case with investigators from the Whiting Police Department and determine whether to resume air and water searches Sunday, he said. VALPARAISO A spin-off of the popular TED Talks that have been viewed and heard by more than 1 billion people around the globe via YouTube, radio and podcast is coming to Valparaiso University. TEDxValparaisoUniversitys inaugural community-inspired event is from 4 to 9 p.m. Wednesday at the Center for the Arts. The locally organized event is themed The power of &. TEDxValparaisoUniversity is a student-driven initiative designed to explore the power of & and its capacity to bring together a diversity of people, cultures and concepts to create real-world change. Presentations will explore how through the power of & we are able to bridge, extend, develop and enhance our community, both locally and globally. TED talks are usually delivered in the form of short, powerful talks (18 minutes or fewer) and in VU's case will feature 10 diverse speakers, including a student, faculty, residents and Gary Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson, whose topic is "How Public Servants Can Re-Engage The Public." "I love the format," the mayor said. "It really allows you to connect with the audience." Freeman-Wilson said TED talks offer an opportunity to talk about something you're passionate about. "And I'm very passionate about the community being engaged in government and receiving feedback about what's important to them," she said. Amanda Zelechoski, an assistant professor of psychology at VU, will discuss how a concept in psychology applies to the criminal justice system. "I love TED talks," she said. "I use them in my class all the time." Her husband, Steve Zelechoski, a training and coaching executive, is also one of the speakers. Another speaker, Robert Ordway, owner of the men's clothier Rusted Oak in downtown Valparaiso, will discuss why Millennials matter in elections. "I applied to TEDx because I felt I had an idea worth spreading," Ordway said. "I think TED Talks are neat because they cover a range of interesting subjects presented by creative speakers. At the end of the day, I think each speaker is trying to motivate, inspire and empower those in the audience through a call to action. In my case, it's about the importance of Millennials turning out in the election this spring and fall." Scheduled speakers include VU President Mark A. Heckler, Tom Cedel, distinguished visiting professor; Anton Lewis, assistant professor of accounting; Mac MacElhaney, pastor and product specialist for Kendall Electric; Elyse Smith, meteorology major; and Nathan Young, founder and chief analyst of Turnkey Concepts. Admission to TEDxValparisoUniversity is free, but pre-registration is required. Tickets are available to students, faculty and staff, with a portion open to the general public. Ticket availability is limited and attendees will be selected on a first-come, first-served basis. Those who wish to attend should register at tedxvalparaisouniversity.com. The event is sponsored in part by Valparaiso University's Graduate School, College of Arts and Sciences and College of Engineering. MUNSTER At the midpoint of his first term, U.S. Sen. Joe Donnelly, D-Ind., arrived in this corner of the state attacking foreign steel and crumbling roads. "Steel is an industry in significant challenge right now. (Foreign steelmakers) all love to dump their stuff here and it's killing us," Donnelly said Friday. As co-chairman of the Senate Steel Caucus, he said he is working with U.S. Rep. Pete Visclosky, D-Merrillville. "Both of us have been pushing very hard to turn the tide with several pieces of legislation, which helps with tariffs and currency manipulation. I've always believed that fair trade is what we need, not trade agreements that ship our jobs oversees," he said. Donnelly, a Granger resident, served three terms in the U.S. House before defeating Republican Richard Mourdock in 2012 to become Indiana's junior senator. He said he intends to run for re-election in 2018. He said he has delivered on promises to return to Indiana frequently, visiting all 92 counties again this year. He said helping move to completion a $174 million Gary/Chicago International Airport runway expansion is "one of the things I'm proudest of. "I've tried to work hard to make sure Indianapolis knows and Washington knows and everybody knows we need better infrastructure here." Donnelly said it is urgent to rebuild Cline Avenue, but opposes it becoming a toll road. "I've never been able to rationalize why a steelworker going to work should have to pay $2.50 to conveniently get to their place of employment." Donnelly said he was part of a bipartisan push to provide annual mental health assessments for all service members. "We are losing 22 veterans a day to suicides. Five of them have worked with the VA at some time or another, but 17, over three quarters, never have so we don't know they are struggling. This upcoming year we will put an emphasis on finding our vets and telling them we are there and to give us a call and let us know how we can be of assistance," he said. Donnelly said he expects President Obama to nominate a middle-of-the-road replacement to the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia in about three weeks. He said he rejects a Republican push to delay a vote until the next president is elected. "I intend to deal with this, to not, is a dereliction in duty." Donnelly said he supports Democrat Hillary Clinton for president, but said the Senate, now closely split between the two parties, will step to the fore if one of the more controversial candidates are elected. "There is a pretty significant core of moderate senators on both sides. You don't always know it by watching cable news at night. What the Senate has been able to do is to make sure the legislation that moves is pretty moderate and common sense. I think that is what would happen with a Republican or a Democratic president who comes in and tries to push a radical agenda. Neither will have success with that." NEW YORK A U.S. Air Force veteran and former airplane mechanic charged with trying to join the Islamic State will be among the first Americans to go on trial as a result of the U.S. government's pursuit of dozens of suspected sympathizers of the militant group. Tairod Nathan Webster Pugh, 48, was stopped at a Turkish airport in January 2015. He told investigators he was just on a vacation, but an indictment alleged that he was carrying 180 jihadist propaganda videos, including one featuring the beheading of an Islamic State prisoner. Later, prosecutors said they found a letter on his computer in which he told his wife he wanted to join the Islamic State. Jury selection in Pugh's trial at a federal court in New York City is scheduled to begin in earnest this week. Pugh has pleaded not guilty to charges that he tried to provide material support to a terrorist group and obstructed justice. The Justice Department said it has pressed criminal charges against more than 70 Islamic State sympathizers, though some published reports have put that figure higher. Karen J. Greenberg, director of the Fordham Law School's Center on National Security, which tracks terrorism cases, said the U.S. government has charged 78 people in connection with the group. Of those, two dozen have pleaded guilty. Opening statements began last week in Phoenix in the trial Abdul Malik Abdul Kareem, a moving company owner charged with plotting to attack a Prophet Muhammad cartoon contest in Texas. Authorities said two of Kareem's associates were killed when they brought semiautomatic rifles, bulletproof vests and an Islamic State flag to the event. Kareem's lawyer, blaming the government's "overactive imagination," told jurors Kareem had no knowledge the attack was to occur. Other cases are moving closer to trial, including in Minneapolis, where several members of Minnesota's Somali community are scheduled for trial in May on charges that they plotted to join Islamic State fighters. Another trial scheduled for this month has been put off after charges were upgraded against a North Carolina 19-year-old accused of killing a neighbor and stealing his money so he could buy an assault rifle to carry out an Islamic State-inspired shooting at a concert or club. Authorities said the Morganton man thought he could kill as many as 1,000 people. Pugh served in the Air Force from 1986 to 1990 after being trained to install and maintain aircraft engines and navigation and weapons systems. The airman first class worked in July 1987 at the Woodbridge Air Base in England before moving to the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona in July 1989. After leaving the military, he worked as an avionics specialist and mechanic for companies in the Middle East and U.S. According to court papers, the FBI was tipped in 2001 that Pugh had expressed sympathy for Osama bin Laden. In 2002, an associate of Pugh's again told the FBI that Pugh was interested in traveling to Chechnya to wage war, the indictment said. Part of the case against Pugh has focused on a letter prosecutors said he wrote to his wife, an Egyptian citizen who speaks and reads Egyptian Arabic. The two met and married in the spring of 2014, even though they didn't speak the other's language. To communicate, they rely on Internet translation services or multilingual friends or relatives. According to court papers, Pugh declared in his letter to his wife: "I will use the talents and skills given to me by Allah to establish and defend the Islamic States." Court papers said Pugh also said in the letter: "There is only two possible outcomes for me: Victory or martyr." A week ago, U.S. District Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis ruled that the letter could be shown to jurors along with some Islamic State propaganda videos. The uncertain Syria ceasefire announced on Feb.12 may fail, but the cooperation among the nations involved will almost certainly continue. Russia and the United States, with conflicting interests, values and world outlooks, nevertheless are collaborating in efforts to bring some stability and restraint to the brutal killing ground. At least over the short term, Moscow has greatly increased the staying power of the beleaguered regime of Syria President Bashar al-Assad. Russian air power is crucial. A constellation of rebel groups, which includes the Islamic State, had been slowly gaining the offensive. Syria has grown increasingly isolated in the international community. Russia has a long history of involvement in the Middle East, including with Syria. The 1950s were an especially turbulent time, with new nationalist regimes appearing to succeed European colonies and clients. The profoundly serious Suez Crisis of 1956 resulted in sharp rupture among western allies, as the Eisenhower administration refused to support a combined military assault by Britain, France and Israel to retake the Suez Canal and seize the Sinai Peninsula from nationalist Egypt. From that time until the end of the Cold War, Moscow exploited opportunities to expand influence in the region. Hafez al-Assad, father of the current president, was part of a 1963 coup bringing his faction of the nationalist Baath Party to power. By 1970, after extensive internal struggle, he consolidated his position and ruled until 2000. Ironically given developments today, he was regarded as relatively moderate and an economic modernizer, though in the context of a dictatorship. Syria developed close military partnership with Egypt, and the two nations went to war together against Israel in 1973. President Jimmy Carter brokered a durable peace treaty between Egypt and Israel in 1978-79. Jordan later reached a treaty with Israel. Syria remains hostile. The 1973 war between Arab states and Israel provides another instructive example of positive cooperation. The lessons of that conflict remain germane. First, President Richard Nixon aggressively pursued the essential need to get aid to Israel. At the same time, Israel was pressured successfully to show restraint regarding encircled Egyptian forces. In short, vital U.S. interests in the region were recognized clearly and protected. Second, visible actions were taken to demonstrate U.S. military resolve: B-52 bombers were recalled from Guam to the U.S., the Armys 82nd Airborne Division was placed on alert. Third, the U.S. ultimately did not pursue a proposed joint condominium with the Soviet Union. Interests were too divergent on both sides. That was during the Cold War. Todays more fluid international relations makes cooperation easier. Historically, Moscow has been preoccupied with secure national borders, especially in Eastern Europe, and has generally abstained from sending military forces long distances. This traditional approach has now been abandoned by Putin, who is proving to be an aggressive military gambler in the Middle East. In the current context, that change may ultimately prove beneficial to both U.S. national interests and regional stability. If the Assad regime were overthrown, the successor would not be democracy but rather the sort of chaos which characterizes Iraq and Libya. Collaboration between Moscow and Washington provides the possibility of a transition toward greater stability and an eventual end to the brutal killing. The destruction of Syrias chemical weapons, completed in 2014 under UN supervision, is an encouraging example of what can be achieved. Given current developments, foreign policy should be U.S. voters priority in evaluating our presidential candidates. We cannot afford irresponsibility. All around us is the ironic dichotomy of joy and loss. We love one and loathe the other, but it's heartbreak that makes jubilation so precious. This was driven home recently as I flashed back to boyhood memories of time spent fishing with my Uncle Bill and the agony of knowing he died a painful death from esophageal cancer last week. I was reminded of a series of articles I reported two years ago this past week, showing cancer as the second-leading cause of Northwest Indiana deaths. It all highlighted the need for doctors and researchers to continue a vigilant quest for both cure and prevention. As Uncle Bill's life drew to a close, I recalled casting lines for bass on his boat in northern Illinois' Apple Canyon Lake. Uncle Bill was of the breed who believe anything worth doing must be done starting no later than 4 a.m. During trips to the home he shared with my grandparents in small-town Nora, Illinois, Uncle Bill would brew coffee and shake me awake from the goose-feather sleeping bag on their living room floor. Within 20 minutes, and still earlier than the sun rose, we'd be trolling for bass and gnawing on a beef jerky breakfast, compliments of a local butcher. I would always bill these fishing trips as a competition, promising to pull in twice the fish, which in turn would be twice the size of anything my uncle would catch. But the opposite always came to pass. Uncle Bill would reel in a 20-inch large-mouth bass, while I'd be lucky to land a sardine-sized bluegill. He never rubbed it in, though. I remember him hoisting a Moby Dick of a bass over the side of the boat and dangling it next to an 11-year-old boy so I'd be in the shot when he photographed the trophy before releasing it. He had a quiet, rare kindness about him that both welcomed and reassured. I heard these qualities in his voice last Sunday during a family gathering at my Winfield Township home. We were celebrating the first birthday of my youngest son, Aidan, who actually came into our lives a year ago this past Thursday. By that time, Uncle Bill was confined to a hospital bed and couldn't be there. So we put him on an iPhone speaker, passing it among a dozen family members. For each new person who said hello to him, Uncle Bill asked how they were doing. It was a pretty selfless question for a man who was in pain and wondering aloud why doctors couldn't fix him. I had planned to visit him the following Saturday, but by Wednesday he was gone. Most of us have our Uncle Bill stories in life, the kind folks we meet who enrich our lives with indelible, happy memories and then fade from our physical presence all too early. Very similar human stories were highlighted in my cause-of-death series two years ago with cancer being the second-leading reason why folks in our Northwest Indiana communities have to prematurely say goodbye to loved ones. These deaths are a reminder how far, despite incredible breakthroughs, our medicine and science still must travel. But they also highlight the importance the meaningful and precious value of the people who bless our lives. On Thursday morning, the day after Uncle Bill died, I was able to hoist my son Aidan from his crib on his first birthday one of life's true trophies. Someday, when I teach Aidan how to troll for bass or explain the finer points of eating beef jerky at 4 a.m., Uncle Bill's life lessons will come full circle. By then, perhaps through science and support of research, cancer won't be the same killing culprit that forces such a balance between joy and sorrow. Residents of the small town of Hoosick Falls in upstate New York are trying to cope with a polluted water supply. While Governor Andrew Cuomo has finally taken steps this week to address the issue, villagers say they first discovered the problem a year and a half ago, and every level of government failed to properly respond for months. Zack Fink filed the following report. Since last November, the residents of the tiny upstate village of Hoosick Falls have been using bottled water for drinking and cooking after contamination was discovered in its local water supply. But some residents had sounded a warning bell to state and local officials that went unanswered more than a year earlier. Today, residents now stock up on water at the local supermarket, where it's provided at no cost to the roughly 3,500 residents. Hoosick Falls is located about 30 miles from the state Capitol, not far from the Vermont border in rural Rensselaer County. Recent concerns about the water began with Michael Hickey, a lifelong resident. In February of 2013, Michael's father, John, died of kidney cancer. Since a factory was built on McCaffery street in the village nearly 50 years ago, there had been talk of elevated levels of cancer in the village. The rumor was that there was something in the water. Getting no cooperation initially from the Hoosick Falls mayor, Hickey decided to test the water himself. In late summer 2014, he found something. "Two weeks later, the samples came back, and sure enough, we were positive," Hickey said. There were positive readings for a hazardous chemical known as PFOA. The federal guideline for it in 2014 was less than 400 parts per trillion. One of Michael's samples was more than 150 parts above that. He began working with Albany attorney David Engel, whose firm practices environmental law. "PFOA is an extraordinarily persistent chemical," Engel said. "It does not break down in the environment. Doesn't biodegrade. Once it is in the environment, it is going to stay there. It's going to move around because it's highly soluable." According to the state, one of the sources of contamination is the Saint Gobain plant, which manufactures plastics, and other chemicals, including PFOA. Saint Gobain is a French company that traces its origins back to 1665, during the reign of King Louis XIV. It was originally a producer of glass but later branched out into other materials. The company acquired the Hoosick Falls facility in 1999. The main drinking water well for the village is located just 400 yards from the plant, and the company's own well tests in the summer of 2015 revealed hightened levels of PFOA, including one well that was dug adjacent to the plant where the level of PFOA in the water was 18,000 parts per trillion, 45 times higher than the recommended level. "The longterm exposure is what has been shown to be toxic with this chemical. So even with low levels, if you had a long-term exposure, you are more likely to have health effects with it," said Dr. Marcus Martinez, a family practician and a cancer survivor himself. Martinez says PFOA has been shown to cause higher levels of testicular cancer, thyroid disease and kidney cancer, which is what claimed the life of John Hickey. "Certainly, if you just look at our area over the last 10 years, 20 years, 30 years, we certainly seem to have a high incidence of cancers of all types. They seem to be higher than what you would expect," Martinez said. Engel contacted Saint Gobain in October of 2015, and after a meeting, the company agreed to begin paying for bottled water for all residents of Hoosick Falls. A month later, the EPA wrote a letter to Hoosick Falls Mayor David Borge recommending "an alternate drinking water source" for all residents. On November 29, the bottled water program was put into place. But in December, the State Health Department issued a fact sheet telling residents that "health effects are not expected to occur from normal use of the water." The state said this depsite its own tests that showed PFOA levels for at least four water wells in the 600s parts per trillion, well over the EPA guideline of 400 parts. "That was a conclusion that we thought was categorically incorrect and inappropriate," Engel said. "And that was in December, and since that time, thankfully, the Department of Health seems to have modified its view." State officials maintain that long-term health studies haven't yet been completed. It was not until January 27 of this year that the state Department of Environmental Protection and state health officials finally issued emergency regulations. "Today, Governor Cuomo directed the DEC and DOH to come up with a series of actions to restore the public's confidence on Hoosick Falls," said DEC Commissioner Basil Seggos. It was at this same press conference last month that Health Commissioner Howard Zucker claimed the state was first alerted to the contamination problem only six months ago, even though records show his department was informed as early as November 2014, and multiple times since then. "Six months ago, we were approached by the community. We started to measure the levels," Zucker said. Some local residents were not eager to go public with the water contamination story, worried that their property values could plunge and the factory could leave, costing them jobs. And any concerns people might have had about the water story getting out have actually come to fruition. For example, banks have stopped lending, so people who may want to buy in this town can no longer get a mortgage." Responding to fears about the local economy and home values, the state has deployed representatives from the Department of Financial Services to the village this week to meet with residents. And last Friday, after students at the local high school held a forum and press conference to discuss the water contamination issue, they asked Governor Andrew Cuomo to make plans for a brand new water supply. Anna Wysocki, 17, was one of the leading student voices. "It's unsettling, to say the least," Wyspclo. "A lot of my friends and I who live in the village - over half the kids at Hoosick Falls Central High School live in the village - and it's definitely been like, 'What? We've been drinking poison water all of our lives?'" A few hours after the student press conference, the governor's office responded, saying it would install water flitration systems for roughly 1,500 homes in Hoosick Falls. This comes on top of the longterm carbon filtration system Saint Gobain had already promised to provide. Cuomo also said the state would begin planning for an entirely new source of fresh drinking water. State officials were in Hoosick Falls this past weekend, offering blood tests to concerned residents. The governor has been asked about the state response several times this month. "The environmental agencies, particularly on the federal side, are now re-evaluating what are the acceptable levels and what chemicals should be tested for and what chemicals should regulated," Cuomo said. However, the governor has also shown signs of not being totally up to speed on the issue. Cuomo: I just don't know the facts. Now, you get a lot of suggestions that there is something in the water. That complaint is a growing complaint. Reporter: I think these were tests by the DOH that confirmed there was PFOA in the water. Reporter: The initial tests were 14 months ago, actually. Cuomo: Yeah, and you are saying the tests showed an issue? Q: They showed PFOA, which is the chemical in question here, had a concentration in some cases above 400 parts per trillion, which is the EPA threshold. Cuomo: Well, those would, we need to know the facts, and I don't know those as the facts. For Michael Hickey and those who've lost loved ones, the response from the state is welcome, even if their initial concerns to local officials went unheeded. "You know, we are seeing response now. But we are also a year and a half later from the confirmation of what we actually had here. So that was a little bit of the discouraging part of what we had here," Hickey said. In bridging these two worlds, he was never more successful than he was with The Name of the Rose, his first novel, which was originally published in Europe in 1980. It sold more than 10 million copies in about 30 languages. (A 1986 Hollywood adaptation directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud and starring Sean Connery received only a lukewarm reception.) The book is set in a 14th-century Italian monastery where monks are being murdered by their co-religionists bent on concealing a long-lost philosophical treatise by Aristotle. Despite devoting whole chapters to discussions of Christian theology and heresies, Mr. Eco managed to enthrall a mass audience with the book, a rollicking detective thriller. His subsequent novels with protagonists like a clairvoyant crusader in the Middle Ages, a shipwrecked adventurer in the 1600s and a 19th-century physicist also demanded that readers absorb heavy doses of semiotic ruminations along with compelling fictional tales. In a 1995 interview with Vogue, Mr. Eco acknowledged that he was not an easy read. People always ask me, How is it that your novels, which are so difficult, have a certain success? he said. I am offended by the question. Its as if they asked a woman, How can it be that men are interested in you? Then, with typical irony, Mr. Eco added, I myself like easy books that put me to sleep immediately. Image Mr. Umbertos first novel, The Name of the Rose, sold more than 10 million copies. Credit... Harvest Books While Mr. Eco had many defenders in academia and the literary world, critics in both realms sometimes dismissed him for lacking either scholarly gravitas or novelistic talent. No cultural artifact is too lowly or trivial for Ecos analysis, Ian Thomson, a literary biographer, wrote in The Guardian in 1999 in a review of Serendipities: Language and Lunacy, Mr. Ecos collection of essays on how false beliefs had changed history. The first time the sociologist Matthew Desmond rode along during an eviction, he was shocked by the suddenness of seeing your house turn into not your house in seconds. You see the mover reach past someone to turn on the lights without asking, then open the fridge, open the cupboards, he recalled recently. Touches of home are obliterated instantly and often just piled up on the curb. And it doesnt just happen once. The movers can be out from 8 a.m. until sundown, he continued. You see one eviction and youre overcome, but then theres another one and another one and another one. Whereas Mockingbird was set in the 1930s and was seen through the eyes of Scout as a girl (she is almost 6 when that novel begins), Watchman takes place in the 1950s around the time of the Brown v. Board of Education decision and depicts an adult Scouts dismay when she returns to Alabama from New York City for a visit and is forced to reckon with her fathers ugly views on race. Readers of Mockingbird, who remembered Atticus as an idealistic progressive, could not help but share Scouts trauma: We, too, were shocked and dismayed to learn that Atticus was first conceived as an opponent of integration, who said things like the Negroes down here are still in their childhood as a people and asks Scout if she wants Negroes by the carload in our schools and churches and theaters? Different as the two novels are, they both attest to Ms. Lees professed ambition to be the Jane Austen of South Alabama her eye for small, telling details; her ear for small-town chatter (and the emotional subtext beneath), and her natural storytelling instincts. Mockingbird reflects the astute advice of Ms. Lees editor to move the story back two decades and to focus on Scouts girlhood. And its a more polished and mature performance: The language is looser and more poetic, and the crucial decision to make Scout the narrator results in a voice that possesses both immediacy and retrospective wisdom, evoking, in Chimamanda Ngozi Adichies words, the universal mysteries of childhood. Compared with the movie version, Mockingbird the novel spends less time on the trial of Tom Robinson and more on conjuring the day-to-day rhythms of small-town life in ways more reminiscent of Austen or Barbara Pym than many of Ms. Lees fellow Southern writers. It captures the intertwined relationships of residents in this hermetic world, as seen from the unfiltered point of view of a feisty and precocious girl easily one of the most memorable children in contemporary American literature. HONG KONG Chinas top securities regulator, Xiao Gang, has been forced out, the official Xinhua News Agency announced on Saturday, after facing stinging criticism for amplifying the countrys stock market turbulence. The move reflects the increasing pressure on the Chinese leadership to bolster confidence at home, as questions mount about Beijings ability to manage the economy, the currency and the markets. Just days ago, Prime Minister Li Keqiang castigated the countrys financial regulators for their handling of a steep plunge in stocks since last June and an erosion in the value of Chinas currency. The China Securities Regulatory Commission, led by Mr. Xiao, 57, has taken a big dose of blame for the problems. China is taking another step to restrict what can be posted on the Internet in its country by issuing new rules barring foreign companies or their affiliates from engaging in publishing online content there without government approval. The rules, which were jointly released this week by the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said that beginning March 10, foreign companies or foreign joint ventures will be restricted from disseminating a wide range of content online, including text, maps, games, animation, audio and video. The rules also apply to digitized books, art, literature and science. The new regulations would allow foreign-owned companies to cooperate with a Chinese partner to publish content on the Web in China, but they must get government approval. China already has some of the worlds most restrictive policies on the dissemination of information. Chinese TV and the news media are censored; the government has censors monitoring popular social media platforms, like WeChat; and American Internet giants, like Google, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter, have been blocked in China for years. Mother Nature bows to no one: Its a truth that fashion week congregants rediscovered this week when New York City fluctuated between snow, slush and icebox just as the runway show calendar picked up heat. Bare legs? Strappy heels? Slinky dresses? Not for the savviest of stylistas. Below, their tips, tricks and cautionary tales to staying fashionable while freezing. 1. Invest in a Coat You Love (Youll Be Spending a Lot of Time With It) If you have a good coat, youre covered every day, literally and stylewise. The coat I love isnt super warm, so I just layer underneath. Tavi Gevinson, actress and writer I wear a coat like everyone else. I try to wear fun coats. I try to make the best out of this horrible weather. Giovanna Battaglia, fashion editor 2. Remember: More Layers = More Style Opportunities I wear a lot of layers. A few days ago, I wore a pair of fleece tights and over them a pair of wool tights and I doubled up on Heattech shirts. The Brooklyn-Queens streetcar proposed by Mayor Bill de Blasio could require the construction of two new bridges, one over Newtown Creek and a second over the Gowanus Canal, a top administration official said on Friday. At a briefing for reporters, the official, Deputy Mayor Alicia Glen, and other administration leaders made public new details about the streetcar proposal, with the potential need for the two bridges among the most notable and expensive elements of the planned system, which would run between Sunset Park, Brooklyn, and Astoria, Queens. While the exact route has not been finalized, Ms. Glen said, planners have determined that the Pulaski Bridge, between Greenpoint, Brooklyn, and Long Island City, Queens, and the bridge that traverses the Gowanus Canal at Hamilton Avenue near Red Hook, Brooklyn, may not be able to accommodate streetcars. The new bridges, which would be covered under the projects estimated $2.5 billion cost, could also include paths for bicyclists and pedestrians, Ms. Glen said. 1. How one-sided, political and unfair this Pope is. When will the Pope also reach out to the millions of Americans who suffer from illegal immigration? For example, those millions of Americans who are out of work because illegal immigrants have taken their jobs and driven their wages down? Or those Americans who now walk into an ER and find its overfilled because illegal immigrants have flooded ERs throughout the U.S.? Emmanuel S in Charleston, S.C., reacting to Pope Francis suggestion that Donald Trump is not Christian because of his stance against illegal immigration. More than 2,400 reader comments were published in response to the article. 2. I respect the Pope so want to give his opinions some consideration. Maybe enforcing borders is in fact anti-Christian. But then again, maybe so is capitalism and private property. I suppose thats why its best to keep religion beliefs out of politics, because religion has been used for so long to justify horrible deeds by the state. MMm in New York London FOR me, learning French a quarter-century ago at high school in Scotland, the circumflex that perched atop certain vowels (e) was an enigma. It lacked the flamboyance of the accent aigu (e) or accent grave (e), modifying pronunciation so subtly I could barely discern it. Nor did it possess the utility of the trema, which divided vowel sounds in two (ai). When I finally found out that the circumflex stood in for a discarded letter S, everything clicked into place: Opaque words like bete, cout and huitre now morphed into their English equivalents before my eyes, resolving themselves into beast, cost and oyster. Aha, I thought. Thats handy. As I stumbled onward through my French textbook, on the other side of the English Channel the venerable Academie Francaise was in the throes of a rather more significant exercise. Guardian of the French language since 1635, the academy in recent times has gained a reputation as being out of touch and so, when it approved recommendations in 1990 for the rectification of about 2,400 words, they did not stick. Week-end should become weekend, said the academy to anyone who would listen. Oignon (onion) would be better off as ognon. Paraitre (to appear) had no need for its silent circumflex. But no one was listening, and all of this was quickly forgotten. Now, though, the reform has surged back to life. In November, the French government belatedly decided to revive the 1990 proposals, prompting educational publishers to announce new editions of their standard works; from there, the story snowballed into the biggest French language controversy since the advent of freedom fries. And though the tone-deaf spelling changes and hyphen cull have raised hackles, what has become most apparent is that the French really, really love the circumflex. Aptly for a mark that commemorates lost letters, the circumflex started life as a mnemonic for the ancient Greeks. Sometime during the third century B.C., Aristophanes of Byzantium, chief scholar at the library of Alexandria, created a series of marks with which to record the complex intonations of spoken Greek. His acute () and grave (`) accents signaled rising and falling tones respectively, while a third mark, a combination of the first two (), marked either a longer vowel or a rise and fall in pitch. Aristophanes called it the perispomenos (bent around), after its shape. The Romans translated that to circumflexus. The massacre of nine black citizens at a church in Charleston last summer exposed decades of dissembling by South Carolina politicians who had pretended that the Confederate flag was not an emblem of hate or slavery but a neutral symbol of Southern pride. Still, the decision to banish the flag from the state Capitol grounds brought forth aging Klansmen and sparked a kind of segregationist nostalgia that echoes periods in the late 19th and early 20th centuries when South Carolinians became maniacally obsessed with segregation and racial purity. This strain of South Carolina politics runs from the end of Reconstruction through the Dixiecrat 40s, when Gov. Strom Thurmond ran for the presidency as a segregationist, into the civil rights era in the 60s, when South Carolina reacted to a Supreme Court decision that struck down segregation on public transportation by embracing Jim Crow more tightly and lifting the Confederate flag to a place of pride above the state house. This week, a survey released by Public Policy Polling suggests that South Carolinas segregationist nostalgia has accrued to the benefit of Donald Trump, the race-baiting front-runner in Saturdays primary. First, the poll found that 70 percent of likely Trump voters believe that the flag should still be flying over the state capitol. And a plurality of Mr. Trumps supporters wish that the South had won the Civil War. Even after Bernie Sanderss overwhelming popular victory in New Hampshire on Feb. 9, some of his supporters began fretting about a new menace to his candidacy: superdelegates who at least in theory could deliver the nomination to Hillary Clinton in Julys convention. Superdelegates are party bigwigs 712 Democratic leaders, legislators, governors and the like. They can vote for any candidate at the nominating convention, regardless of whether that candidate won the popular vote. These unpledged delegates make up 30 percent of the 2,382 delegates whose votes are needed to win the nomination, and could thus make all the difference. The status of Hillary and Bill Clinton as senior figures in the Democratic Party has allowed Mrs. Clinton to secure public endorsements from many more superdelegates than Mr. Sanders. Late last year, The Associated Press surveyed 80 percent of the Democratic superdelegates and found that 359 had endorsed Mrs. Clinton, versus eight for Mr. Sanders. The rest remained uncommitted. In the New Hampshire primary last week, which Mrs. Clinton lost by 22 percentage points, Mr. Sanders won 15 of the states 24 pledged delegates, and Mrs. Clinton won nine. But because she has the support of six of the states eight unpledged superdelegates, including Senator Jeanne Shaheen and Gov. Maggie Hassan, she is virtually tied with Mr. Sanders in the New Hampshire delegate count. Faustine Steinmetz, a French designer who presented at London Fashion Week today, has never been interested in runway shows. Fashion became a little bit too much about the front row, and whos sitting there, and whos modeling, and that kind of crap, she told T earlier this week. And I think a presentation really brings it back to objets dart. Steinmetz, who grew up in Paris before training at Central Saint Martins, is one of the much-discussed young designers being incubated by the British Fashion Councils NEWGEN scheme. She has been running her own label since 2013, and is always looking for the perfect, contemplative way of showing it. Her show today was held at the Tate Britain gallery, which she described in her accented English as majestious. Her set designer built a series of cubes, inside each of which was a group of models, visible only through peepholes in the walls; guests were given headphones on which they could listen to Steinmetz explaining the collection. Because my inspiration was quite artistic, I really wanted it to feel like youre going to an exhibition, she said. That inspiration is the work of the German artist Franz Erhard Walther, who caught her imagination with his use of fabric forms and bright colors. Steinmetz is best known for hand-weaving her own denims using recycled yarns; for fall/winter 2016, she created what she described as sculpted embroidery, by weaving large loops of yarn densely together and then trimming them with scissors to create a thick, ruglike fabric. The effect runs throughout her collection, alongside fluffy, mohair jeans and fine, transparent knits. Its all really in the textiles, she said of her latest work. Because I feel like this is where I can be the most expressive. The drawback of focusing the brand around homemade fabrics is that it is impractical to produce them in large quantities at Steinmetzs studio and home a shedlike structure that she built with her partner, Michael Hawkins. (Were a bit too DIY, she said of the ramshackle, drafty building in Seven Sisters, London, where, until fairly recently, they slept on a mattress on the floor. We always want to start everything from scratch, but I feel like I got so many wrinkles out of this place.) Republicans said they were making a good-faith effort to comply with the law. But in its Feb. 5 ruling, a three-judge panel of the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina sided with the plaintiffs, finding strong evidence that race was the only nonnegotiable criterion and that traditional redistricting principles were subordinated to race. The court ordered the legislature to redraw the maps, and this week, lawmakers set about their work in a special session. But this time, there would be a key difference: Race would not be factored into the mapmaking at all. Race was not considered, and is not present in these reports, State Representative David R. Lewis, a Republican and co-chairman of the redistricting committee, told his colleagues on the House floor Friday. But Democrats argued that Republicans erred in ignoring race altogether. Representative G. K. Butterfield, an African-American, wrote to state legislative leaders, saying that the court stated that race should not be the predominant factor in drawing the districts. However, the court did not say that race should not be a factor at all. Mr. Butterfield added that drawing districts that do not protect the voting interest of African-American communities was a violation of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. In an interview Friday, Mr. Butterfield said the proposed new boundaries for his district, which covers most of urban Durham County, had not changed so much that he would have to seriously alter his election strategy. Under the proposal, the district would still have a large number of African-American voters. House Democrats on Friday also assailed Republicans for stating that the new map was drawn up to ensure that they would enjoy a partisan advantage. While Democrats also acknowledged that their party had engaged in its share of partisan gerrymandering in the many decades that it controlled the legislature, they argued that Democrats did not engage in the practice to the same degree. State Senator Josh Stein, a Democratic candidate for attorney general, noted that North Carolina was the state that President Obama most narrowly won in 2008 and most narrowly lost in 2012. North Carolina is a 50-50 state, and yet this map all but guarantees 10 out of our 13 congressional delegations will be Republican, he said. We live in North Carolina, not North Korea. The voters should choose their representatives, not the other way around. The State Supreme Court on Friday set an execution date for a killer over the objection of two justices who question establishing dates when Ohio does not have any lethal drugs. The court ruled 5 to 2 to schedule James Frazier to die on Oct. 17, 2019, for the 2004 slaying of a Toledo woman. Ohio now has 25 death row inmates with execution dates beginning early next year and no drugs for the executions. It last executed a prisoner in January 2014, when Dennis McGuire gasped and snorted over 26 minutes during the administration of a two-drug combination that had never been tried before and the state later abandoned. The prisons agency changed its policies to allow for single doses of two alternative drugs, neither of which is available in the United States since their manufacturers put them off-limits for executions. Gov. John Kasich, a Republican running for president, ruled out looking for alternative methods, such as the firing squad or hanging. Landmark legislation that propels the states minimum wage for all workers to the highest rank in the United States through an unparalleled tiered system based on geography is headed to Gov. Kate Brown, who has said she will sign it. The plan, passed by the House on Thursday, imposes increases over six years. By 2022, the states current $9.25 an hour minimum already one of the highest in the nation would be $14.75 in metro Portland, $13.50 in smaller cities such as Salem and Eugene, and $12.50 in rural communities. The minimums would drop Massachusetts where the statewide rate will climb to $11 an hour next year from the top spot, according to the Economic Policy Institute, which tracks wage laws. Oregon is divided west to east by economic, cultural and political differences. The goal of the approach is to balance the needs of the more urban west where living costs have soared in rapidly growing Portland and struggling farming communities in the east. He has broken with many Republicans on taxing the rich, threatening trade wars and keeping Planned Parenthood alive. On Friday, Donald J. Trump faced criticism for an even bolder act of conservative heresy: embracing the core tenet of the Affordable Care Act. Mr. Trump has to date offered only bits and pieces of his health agenda, generally presenting a vow to repeal Obamacare and replace it with something great. In a town-hall meeting hosted by CNN on Thursday night, he shared some more expansive views on the subject, and unlike most Republicans he did not call for removing the individual mandate that requires Americans to have health insurance. Asked how people with pre-existing medical conditions would purchase insurance if the health law and the mandate were eliminated, Mr. Trump said, I like the mandate. I fully understand why some go so far as to argue that we should have tactical nuclear weapons, she told a news conference last month. But I have emphasized many times that a nuclear-free world should start in the Korean Peninsula and that there should be no nuclear weapons there. South Korean officials and analysts alike have long said that the country had too much to lose if it decided to go nuclear. Its exports-dependent economy would founder under international sanctions if it left the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. And it could trigger an arms race in the region. It would be a profoundly wrongheaded and even tragic move that would seriously undermine South Koreas alliance with the United States and make it less secure, said Jonathan D. Pollack, a senior fellow at the Center for East Asia Policy Studies at the Brookings Institution. Such warnings aside, the fear of being abandoned by the Americans has deep roots here. From an early age, South Koreans are taught that Korea was betrayed by the former Soviet Union and the United States after World War II, leading to a divided Korean Peninsula. In the 1970s, when South Korea feared the United States might withdraw troops from Asia after its pullout from Vietnam, its then-dictator, Park Chung-hee, Ms. Parks father, set out to build nuclear arms. He recruited expatriate Korean scientists from the United States and signed a contract with France to build a nuclear reprocessing plant to make bomb fuel. Washington learned of the program and forced Mr. Park to give it up, warning that his nuclear ambitions jeopardized the alliance and American aid. Although Mr. Park reportedly vowed to build a nuclear weapon by 1981, it remained unclear how far South Korea had gotten before it abandoned that goal. BAGHDAD An obscure Kurdish militant group that is an offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers Party, which has long waged an insurgency inside Turkey, claimed responsibility on Friday for a car bombing this week in Ankara that killed 28 people. The group said the attack was in revenge for the Turkish Armys campaign against Kurdish insurgents in the countrys southeast. The group, known as the Kurdistan Freedom Hawks, made its claim as Turkish leaders continued to lay blame for the attack on a different group: a Syrian Kurdish militia that is supported by the United States in the battle against the Islamic State. Turkey and the United States, two NATO allies, have cooperated in some ways against the Islamic State, but they have diverged over the role of the Kurds. The United States has seen them as a reliable ally within Syria in combating the Islamic State, while the Turks have seen them as a national security threat, complicating American efforts in that campaign. In blaming the Syrian Kurdish group, known as the Peoples Protection Units, for the bombing in Ankara, the capital, Turkey was putting pressure on the United States to cut off support for the group, an outcome that analysts and American officials have said is unlikely given the groups success against the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL. BEIRUT, Lebanon The Committee to Protect Journalists called on the Turkish authorities on Friday to free Rami Jarrah, a prominent Syrian citizen-journalist, who it said had been detained for unclear reasons after a recent reporting trip to Syria. The committee said that Mr. Jarrah, who runs ANA Press, an organization that provides footage to international media, had been questioned about his reporting activities. The arrest came amid heightened tensions on the Turkish-Syrian border during an intense battle in Aleppo Province, where Mr. Jarrah had recently traveled. Mr. Jarrahs reporting has been sharply critical of both the Syrian government and the Islamic State. He left Syria in 2011, fearing that he would face reprisals for his role in reporting on the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad. But he returned to report, and on the most recent trip had documented the impact on civilians of bombardments in insurgent-held city of Aleppo. Friends of Mr. Jarrah said Friday that he had been detained this week while applying for a residency permit in the southern city of Gaziantep. They said that he was being held in a cell with suspected Islamic State members and feared for his safety. BEIRUT, Lebanon Saudi Arabia said Friday that it was stopping payment on $4 billion worth of military aid and other support for the army and security services of Lebanon because the country did not condemn attacks on Saudi diplomatic missions in Iran. The decision was a new step in the proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran, who are on opposing sides in the wars in Yemen and Syria and competing for influence elsewhere across the Middle East. Lebanon, with its diverse sectarian composition, has long been a battleground for the two regional powers, with Shiite Iran bankrolling Hezbollah, the Lebanese militia, and Sunni Saudi Arabia supporting opposing political parties and figures. But Saudi influence has waned in recent years as its preferred politicians have lost influence in Lebanon, and Hezbollah has emerged as the countrys most powerful military force. One afternoon in late January, prominent New York restaurateurs, including Danny Meyer and Tom Colicchio, took the stage at the Ford Foundation to celebrate the release of a new book by Saru Jayaraman, an outspoken leader in the food labor movement. It was not an obvious pairing. Forked: A New Standard for American Dining, paints a grim picture of the food business today: Millions of service industry employees live in poverty, most big restaurants are not great employers, and many still pay servers $2.13 an hour, the federal minimum for workers who receive tips. But the book also makes the case that restaurants can survive and even prosper while paying workers well and offering them generous benefits. Mr. Meyer, the entrepreneur behind Shake Shack, the Modern and Blue Smoke, has recently embraced this cause, pledging to do away with tipping at his restaurants, as a means to combat income inequality. He contends that paying workers well is not only the right thing to do, but is also good for business well-compensated employees, the thinking goes, will be happy, loyal and hard-working. That big-name restaurant owners are today willing to stand side by side with Ms. Jayaraman shows just how far she has come after 15 years of organizing. Even a few years ago, her message was falling on deaf ears. Renato Bialetti, a businessman who put the Moka Express, an aluminum stovetop coffee maker, into nearly every kitchen in Italy and sold it to tens of millions of customers around the world, died on Feb. 11, in Ascona, Switzerland. He was 93. His death was announced by Bialetti Industries. Mr. Bialetti did not invent the Moka. That honor goes to his father, Alfonso, who in 1933 came up with a coffee maker that would let Italians brew espresso at home. With an octagonal, Art Deco-influenced design, the Moka Express was made in aluminum, because the dictator Benito Mussolini had embargoed imports of stainless steel in favor of the national metal. Alfonso Bialetti offered his invention at local markets, and did well enough, selling about 10,000 annually in the years leading up to World War II. But Renato had bigger ideas. Returning from a German prisoner of war camp in 1946, he unpacked his fathers machinery, mothballed during the war, resumed production and advertised the Moka Express nationally on billboards, newspapers, magazines and radio, and eventually on television. The blitz was spectacularly successful. Almost immediately, the Bialetti factory was receiving 1,000 orders a day. After a moving to a new factory in 1956, the company began turning out 18,000 coffee makers every day, or four million a year. Over the next 60 years, according to the company, more than 200 million were sold internationally. In the 1960s, the Defense Departments Advanced Research Projects Agency undertook a program called the ARPAnet. The idea, a precursor to the Internet, was to let Pentagon labs and contractors share data and research on the same network. Just before the programs rollout, in April 1967, an engineer named Willis Ware wrote a paper called Security and Privacy in Computer Systems. A computer pioneer dating back to the 40s, Mr. Ware headed the computer science department at the RAND Corporation, the think tank in Santa Monica, Calif. In his paper, he lauded the goals of the ARPAnet but explained some risks of what he called on-line networks. As long as computers sat in isolated chambers, security wasnt a problem. But once multiple users could gain access to data from unprotected locations, anyone with certain skills could hack into the network and, once inside, roam at will, pilfering unclassified and secret files alike. Mr. Wares warnings went unheeded for decades, though he remained a frequent consultant. (He died in 2013, at the age of 93.) In 1980, Lawrence Lasker and Walter Parkes, former Yale classmates in their late 20s, were writing the screenplay for WarGames. (It would be nominated for an Oscar but would lose to Horton Footes Tender Mercies.) A hacker friend had told them about demon-dialing, in which a telephone modem searched for other modems by automatically dialing each phone number in an area code and letting it ring twice before proceeding to the next number. If a modem answered, it would squawk; the demon-dialing software would record the number, so the hacker could call back later. In their screenplay, this was how their hero broke into NORAD. But they wondered if this was plausible: Didnt the military close off its computers to public telephone lines? Mr. Lasker lived in Santa Monica, a few blocks from RAND. Figuring someone there might be helpful, he called the public affairs office, which put him in touch with Mr. Ware, who invited the pair to his office. Theyd come to the right man. Not only had he long known about the vulnerability of computer networks, but hed also helped design the software for the real NORAD computer. And Mr. Ware proved remarkably open, even friendly. Listening to the writers questions, he waved off their worries. Yes, he told them, the computer was supposed to be closed, but some officers wanted to work from home on weekends, so theyd leave a port open. Anyone could get in, if the right number was dialed. On the vast lawn of the plaza near the courthouse in Brooklyn where Peter Liang, a former New York City police officer, was convicted in the fatal shooting of an unarmed black man just over a week ago, a crowd of several thousand people gathered on Saturday. They chanted, No scapegoat! No scapegoat! and carried signs bearing the same message. Some said they had never had a reason to protest before, while others said they had taken the day off from work or had come by train and bus from across the city or as far as New Jersey and Connecticut to take part in the demonstration at Cadman Plaza Park to show their support for Officer Liang. Prosecutors had described Officer Liangs behavior as reckless when he fired his gun inside a public housing complex, and argued that after the man, Akai Gurley, had been shot, the officer seemed more concerned about his career than in helping Mr. Gurley, who was 28. Yet Officer Liangs conviction has gripped many in the citys Chinese-American community, who believe that he had been targeted for prosecution because of his race. They followed the case closely and have been denouncing the jurys verdict, arguing that Officer Liang, 28, was a victim himself. Two plainclothes New York City police officers were shot in Brooklyn early Saturday during an exchange of fire with a gunman who had led officers on a brief car chase, officials said. The shooting happened around 3:20 a.m. after the suspect, Jamal Funes, 34, drove his car head-on into a marked patrol vehicle as he was driving the wrong way on Lexington Avenue near Malcolm X Boulevard in Bedford-Stuyvesant, the police said. Mr. Funes was shot and was in stable condition at Brookdale University Hospital and Medical Center. Officer Andrew Yurkiw, 29, was shot in the chest and suffered blunt-force trauma after the bullet was stopped by his bullet-resistant vest, the police said. Officer William Reddin, 33, was shot in the right hip. The officers were taken to Kings County Hospital Center, where they were listed in stable condition, the police said. Investigators were trying to determine on Saturday afternoon if the officers had been shot by the suspect or by other officers, the police said. Why many millennials are attracted to Bernie Sanders and European social democracy. To the Editor: Re Livin the Danish Dream (column, Feb. 12): David Brooks is aghast at Bernie Sanderss rise. Mr. Brooks fears that young Americans are forsaking the virtues of economic dynamism in their desire for greater economic security. He suggests that this is not the American way. But he doesnt grapple with why so many Americans have soured on our economic order. Too many American cities indeed whole regions have been devastated by mass job losses. More thriving metropolitan areas are increasingly unaffordable places to live. Real suffering accompanies our galloping inequality: Note the shocking uptick in drug- and despair-induced mortality among middle-age white Americans. Mr. Brooks wants to protect the conditions that nurture disruptive dynamos like Walmart and Google. But as globalization and new technologies disrupt our economy, we need government to ensure that the gains arent all going straight to the top, with American workers left behind paying the price. One need not be a Sanders-style democratic socialist to be nostalgic for the higher top marginal tax rates, more modest college costs and the broader union membership not of Denmark but of Eisenhower-era America. The obvious drama of the collision lay in the contrasts between the two men: The celibate and the lecher, the ascetic and the billionaire, the mystic and the frank materialist. But their similarites are also fascinating. For all the ways in which Francis and Trump differ, as figures on the global stage theyre also strangely alike in the forces that theyre channeling, their style of public salesmanship, and their relationship to the institutions they either head or aspire to lead. This resemblance begins, as Matthew Schmitz pointed out in The Washington Post, with their status as outsiders bent on shaking up their establishments, which they (and many others) deem sclerotic and corrupt. When Trump attacks Republican elites and breaks with party orthodoxy on trade or foreign policy or campaign finance, Schmitz notes, hes mirroring the way that Francis challenges a hidebound Vatican bureaucracy and flirts with revising settled Catholic doctrine. Both messages appeal to the same exhaustion with institutions, the same desire to somehow make a mess (as Francis likes to put it) and start anew. This mirroring extends to their rhetoric, where both men have a fondness for, well, name-calling thats rare among presidential candidates and popes. The insults differ: Trump calls people low energy, liar and loser, while Francis prefers Pharisee and self-absorbed Promethean neo-Pelagian (though hes not above whiner and sourpuss as well). But their pungent language reflects a shared mastery of the contemporary media environment, in which controversy and unpredictability are the great currencies, and having people constantly asking Did he really just say that? is the surest ticket to the worlds attention. The public style that produces these say what? moments can get them both into a kind of trouble. But the billionaire and the pontiff both seem to believe on some evidence that a little troublemaking is the best way to make the disaffected pay attention. And by reaching people who usually tune out churchmen and politicians, they have become leading populists in our increasingly populist moment. The popular constituencies they speak for are very different, of course. Trump is a nationalist, speaking on behalf of the unhappy Western working class, while Francis is a Latin American and a globalist, speaking for the developing worlds poor which is why immigration policy naturally puts them at loggerheads. They took the stage one right after the other, Rubio followed by Cruz, and it was night and day. Or, rather, day and night. With a sunny voice, Rubio presented himself as an instrument of hope. With a gloomy one, Cruz played the vessel of dread. Rubios smiles were frequent and expansive. Cruzs were rarer and clenched. The two of them emerged more clearly than ever as the Kennedy and Nixon of the Republican race, one counting on charisma, the other on voters fears that all that stands between them and ruin is a warrior whose stridency proves his mettle. Rubio, granted, had more immediate cause for mirth: Hed just won the formal backing of Gov. Nikki Haley of South Carolina. But the way he discussed that perfectly illustrated his campaigns timbre and emotional underpinnings. Cooper asked him whether he himself had ever felt the sting of racism, and his answer was about how good America can be, not how bad. He encouraged Cooper and the audience to look at how far weve come as a country since the 1960s and mentioned not just Haley but also Tim Scott, one of South Carolinas two United States senators, who is black. I got the endorsement of a governor of Indian descent, who endorsed a presidential candidate of Cuban descent and tomorrow will be campaigning alongside an African-American Republican senator, Rubio said. All three are doing that here in South Carolina. On the subject of tensions between police officers and African-Americans, he began with a tribute to the integrity of most men and women in blue. But he pivoted quickly to the observation that black men are singled out for suspicion, and said that whether Americans accept that or not, If a significant percentage of the American family believes that they are being treated differently than everyone else, we have a problem. Whats a politician to do after his ballyhooed campaign for the Republican presidential nomination flames out before the first vote is cast? In the case of Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin, it means returning home to the anti-labor obsession that got him noticed in the first place and signing into law, less than two weeks ago, a reform plan that promises to gut much of the states historic Civil Service system. Gone are objective Civil Service examinations; instead, as of July, hiring for state jobs will be based on resumes and the impressions they leave on administrators perusing them. Gone, too, is seniority as a bulwark for job protection; administrators will now be able to do layoffs based on subjective evaluations of a workers job performance. New hires who had six months probation will now be under a two-year watch in which to please their masters. And should anyone wonder where the power lies in this streamlined system, the law centralizes hiring decisions firmly in the governors administrative office, with a new system of merit bonuses at the ready. In one project, revealed in October 2013 by journalists tipped off by Edward Snowden, the N.S.A., along with its British counterpart, essentially hacked into fiber-optic cables that connected the data centers of Google and Yahoo outside the United States. Under American law, the agency already had access to some of the information, but it tapped the lines anyway. Silicon Valley companies love to celebrate the hacker spirit, but they dont like being on the receiving end. By November 2013, both Google and Yahoo announced that they were encrypting data traveling between its server centers. By the following September, Apple announced that its new phones would by default encrypt data stored on the device in such a way that even the company itself couldnt get at it. At the time, this seemed like a hopelessly geeky version of Mad magazines Spy vs. Spy, with opponents one-upped with algorithms rather than cartoon bombs. But the fight led directly to Tuesdays ruling by a federal magistrate judge in California that Apple must help the F.B.I. unlock Mr. Farooks phone. The laws governing online privacy are woefully out-of-date. To compel Apple to help execute a warrant, the judge cited the All Writs Act of 1789, enacted before there was electricity. In Apples public response, the company said it was fighting the F.B.I.s demands not because it objected to the government unlocking Mr. Farooks phone but because the government could then ask Apple to undermine the security of other iPhones and because such software could potentially help criminals and repressive governments hack iPhones. By analogy, the company doesnt have a key to the phone so the government is asking it to make the lock weaker. Apple is being asked to undermine not only the security of its products but also potentially its corporate reputation and even its business. The company is especially concerned that a victory for the government would set an informal precedent for other countries to demand that Apple unlock encrypted data. Its hard to have any sympathy for Mr. Farook, but the line between terrorism and criticism of the government can be far fuzzier in other countries, like China, where Apple sold tens of millions of iPhones in the last quarter of 2015. Apples phones are also sold in Pakistan, where homosexual acts can send people to prison, and in Saudi Arabia, where adultery is punishable by lashing or stoning and apostasy punishable by death. WHENEVER a Muslim carries out a terror attack in the West, the question arises: Why do they hate us? Provocative answers come from my friend Rafiullah Kakar, who has lived a more astonishing life than almost anyone I know. Rafi is a young Pakistani who used to hate the United States and support the Taliban. His brother joined the Taliban for a time, but now I worry that the Taliban might try to kill Rafi ah, but Im getting ahead of myself. One of 13 children, Rafi is a Pashtun who grew up in a mud home close to the Afghan border, in an area notorious for tribal feuds and violent clashes. His parents are illiterate farmers, and it looked as if Rafis education would end in the fifth grade, when he was sent to a madrasa. His mom wanted him to become a hafiz, someone who has memorized the entire Quran. One reason people send kids to madrasa is that a hafiz can get to paradise and take 10 other people along, Rafi notes, explaining a local belief about getting to heaven. My mother wanted me to be a hafiz, so I could be her ticket to paradise. Ultimately, Rafis life was transformed because his eldest brother, Akhtar, pinched pennies and sent Rafi to the best public school in the familys home province, Balochistan. Rafi had an outstanding mind and rocketed to the top of his class. But he also fell under the spell of political Islam. A charismatic Islamic studies teacher turned Rafi into a Taliban sympathizer who despised the West. YOU might have noticed that even when using a lightning-fast Internet connection, it takes a few beats, enough time to drum your fingers, for web pages to load. Its likely because of online advertising, which bogs down your browser, drains your battery and jacks up mobile charges not to mention collects private data. So its little wonder that the use of ad-blocking software grew 41 percent last year, with 198 million active users worldwide, according to a study conducted by Adobe and PageFair. This represents an existential threat to the $50 billion online advertising industry and has ignited a bitter feud between advertisers and developers of ad-blocking apps. On the sidelines, privacy advocates are pumping their fists for consumer choice while web publishers wring their hands over lost revenue. The fight became public last month when Randall Rothenberg, the president and chief executive of the Interactive Advertising Bureau, lobbed several verbal grenades at developers of ad blockers during his keynote address to his groups annual leadership meeting. He called them an unethical, immoral, mendacious coven of techie wannabes. His venom was directed particularly at for-profit ad blockers who, for a fee, will unblock advertisers who meet certain standards of nonintrusiveness. Rothenberg called the practice extortion. Ad blockers fired right back. We are as motivated to protect consumers as advertisers are to abuse them, said Roi Carthy, the chief marketing officer for Shine, an Israeli company that recently began offering ad-blocking software to wireless carriers, which are increasingly weary of the burden data-intensive ads place on their networks. Heretofore, ad blockers were mainly sold or given away to individuals. This is a holy war for us, Mr. Carthy said. The staggering problem of chronic unemployment among minority men was starkly presented in a report from the Great Cities Institute at the University of Illinois at Chicago. It found that in Los Angeles and New York City about 30 percent of 20- to 24-year-old black men were out of work and out of school in 2014. The situation is even more extreme in Chicago, where nearly half of black men in this age group were neither working nor in school; the rate was 20 percent for Hispanic men and 10 percent for white men in the same age group. In Chicago, as elsewhere, the crisis of permanent joblessness is concentrated in minority neighborhoods where it feeds street violence, despondency, health problems and a socially corrosive brand of hopelessness among the young. The problem extracts a heavy social cost in those neighborhoods and threatens the viability of entire cities. The outrage is that there are strategies, which Congress has rejected, that could help rescue a generation of young men from failure and oblivion. Among these is the employment subsidy program that was passed as part of the Recovery Act in 2009. It created more than 260,000 temporary jobs for young people and adults. Governors and employers were ecstatic. But Republicans in Congress denounced the program as useless a year later and blocked proposals that would have extended it. With that rejection, the country missed a crucial opportunity. The Economic Mobility Corporation, a nonprofit organization, released an analysis in 2013 that looked at the programs outcomes in California, Florida, Mississippi and Wisconsin. By subsidizing the hiring of temporary employees, the federal government lowered labor costs and kept some employers afloat through the recession. The program made a measurable difference in the lives of workers, 37 percent of whom performed so well that they were hired permanently after the subsidy period ended. DURING World War II, Elaine Danforth Harmon was stationed at an Army air base in Las Vegas. Her job was to fly a two-seat aircraft with men who had been overseas and needed a refresher course in instrument flying navigating by compass and altimeter, instead of by the landscape. Ms. Harmon served as a lookout to make sure that we didnt run into any other airplanes, she told me. She died last year at age 95, and when her family sought to have her ashes placed at Arlington National Cemetery, they were turned away. Apparently, earlier in the year, the Army had quietly decided to prevent female pilots who served in World War II from having their ashes laid to rest alongside their fellow veterans. These Women Airforce Service Pilots, known as WASPs, flew wingtip to wingtip with their male counterparts and were just as vital to the war effort. They deserve this military honor. In 1942, as the country reeled from the attack on Pearl Harbor, qualified male pilots were in short supply. So female pilots stepped in, initially to fly small aircraft. Eventually, skilled WASPs flew fighter planes from factories to docks in Newark, where they would be shipped to England. Those planes, primarily new P-51s, had the range to escort B-17s and B-24s on bombing runs to Berlin and back. On the matter of The Times being slower to send out an alert about the justices death, the executive editor, Dean Baquet, told me that he had believed unusual caution was called for. I was nervous about alerting it; there was something about what we had that worried me, he said. And thats one where if you get it wrong you can never come back. Mr. Baquet first heard about the justices death from a senior editor, Marc Lacey, at 4:53. Around 10 minutes earlier, The San Antonio Express News had broken the story, and several other news organizations soon followed suit, some attributing the news to the Texas daily. The Guardian tweeted out the news at 5:04 p.m.; CNN at 5:20. The Times was among the latest, at 5:39 p.m. Bob Swofford was one reader who was disappointed by that. I wanted to get an immediate, authoritative story from The Times in short order, he wrote, but had to rely on other sources. Adam Liptaks fine obituary for Justice Scalia, written about two years ago, was a key element in the coverage, but it didnt appear in its entirety right away. A few paragraphs posted with the news alert. But even though the 4,700-word obit was essentially ready, because of the need for updates, it was about an hour before a full version was posted. I breathed a sigh of relief knowing that we had pre-written an enormous Scalia obituary a couple of years ago, Mr. Liptak told me. (The Times often has obituaries in hand for public figures.) Still, having a prepared obituary does not do much good for print readers if a prominent figure happens to die at the wrong time of day, and some subscribers were unhappy, among them Don Noel of Connecticut, a former newspaper editor who wrote to register his dissatisfaction. At 5:44 Saturday afternoon, I got a breaking news notification from The Times on my iPhone reporting the death of Antonin Scalia, he wrote. More than 12 hours later, my Sunday Times was delivered to my doorstep in Hartford with not a single word about Scalias death. He wrote: Maybe print journalism is deader than Id thought. Ask Real Estate is a weekly column that answers questions from across the New York region. Submit yours to realestateqa@nytimes.com. Watching the Electric Bill The president of our co-op board has a string of 40 ornamental lights hanging on his terrace colored during the holidays and white the rest of the year. He leaves them on every evening and sometimes during the day. Because the buildings electricity usage is included in our monthly maintenance, shareholders collectively pay for this light show. I complained to the board and received a stern letter from the co-ops lawyer stating that the board president is not required to sit on his terrace in darkness. It seems wrong that shareholders must pay for this. What recourse do we have? Woodside, Queens Your board president sounds like a festive fellow, although not a particularly diplomatic one. To light a string of 50 incandescent ornamental bulbs 12 hours a day for 40 days costs around $10, according to the United States Department of Energy. For a string of LED bulbs, that figure would plummet to $0.27. So if your board president is using incandescent bulbs, this dispute could have been resolved with a trip to CVS. Instead, your co-ops lawyer escalated it with a nasty missive. The lawyers response smacks of favoritism (to the president) and might violate the presidents fiduciary duty to treat all shareholders equally and act in good faith. Courts take a dim view of board actions that are made in bad faith or with self-dealing, said Andrew I. Bart, a Manhattan real estate lawyer. In fact, Apple has not made a point of advertising data security and privacy. The company has quietly built privacy features into its mobile operating system, known as iOS, over time. By late 2013, when Apple released its iOS 7 system, the company was encrypting by default all third-party data stored on customers phones. And iOS8, which became available in 2014, made it basically impossible for the companys engineers to extract any data from mobile phones and tablets. Mr. Cook has also been vocal about how Apple is pro-privacy, a message that he discussed more widely after revelations from the former intelligence contractor Edward J. Snowden about government surveillance. Mr. Cook argued that the company sold hardware phones, tablets and laptops and did not depend on the mass collection of consumer data as some Silicon Valley behemoths, such as Google and Facebook, do for their advertising-oriented businesses. At a conference in October, Mr. Cook called privacy a key value at Apple and said, We think that it will become increasingly important to more and more people over time as they realize that intimate parts of their lives are sort of in the open and being used for all sorts of things. For Apple, cooperating with the United States government now could quickly lead to murkier situations internationally. In China, for example, Apple like any other foreign company selling smartphones hands over devices for import checks by Chinese regulators. Apple also maintains server computers in China, but Apple has previously said that Beijing cannot view the data and that the keys to the servers are not stored in China. In practice and according to Chinese law, Beijing typically has access to any data stored in China. If Apple accedes to American law enforcement demands for opening the iPhone in the San Bernardino case and Beijing asks for a similar tool, it is unlikely Apple would be able to control Chinas use of it. Yet if Apple were to refuse Beijing, it would potentially face a battery of penalties. It allows them to set immediate goals, says Preston Silverman, chief executive and co-founder of Raise.me, and we give them feedback that lets them see their progress as they go. The start-ups approach is a mash-up of two popular economic concepts. One is nudging, that is designing systems to influence the choices people make, ideally for their own good. The other is microfinance incremental loans for entrepreneurs who would not otherwise have access to funding. Mr. Silverman calls Raise.mes tuition grants microscholarships. Raise.me charges participating institutions annual fees of $4,000 to $20,000 based on a colleges size and scholarship program. Each college sets its own criteria. Penn State has made its Raise.me program available to students at five high schools in Philadelphia, as well as six rural Pennsylvania high schools. Those students may earn scholarships of up to $4,000 a year for four years. Among other awards, the university offers them $120 for each A grade in a core course, $400 for each advanced placement course, $100 for each year of perfect attendance, $100 for a leadership role in a sport or extracurricular activity and $5 for each hour of community service, up to $500. Jacqueline Edmondson, Penn States associate dean for undergraduate education, says the scholarship program is intended to motivate high school students to default to choices that better prepare them to succeed in college. Well be following to see if the criteria we set up made a difference, Ms. Edmondson said. Since many high school students take jobs to help with their familys household expenses, she said Penn State may soon recognize them for working as well: Maybe we change the criteria to fit the students. The hope is that, by highlighting and rewarding certain academic and extracurricular activities, Raise.me helps level the college playing and paying field for low-income students who may not receive the same kind of parental advice at home as their higher-income peers. The potential risk is that introducing monetary rewards could curb students intrinsic motivation to succeed in school, or their innate enjoyment of activities like reading, in favor of striving for scholarship dollars. Highlights and analysis of the Republican South Carolina primary and Democratic Nevada caucuses. _____ After two contests in mostly white and rural Iowa and New Hampshire, the presidential primaries finally turn today to contests that are more representative of the national electorate. For the Democrats, Nevada is the first contest with a meaningful nonwhite and urban population. South Carolina offers an ideologically balanced contest for Republicans, with a far more typical number of self-described moderate and very conservative voters than in Iowa or New Hampshire. To many, the Nevada caucuses can be seen as a referendum on Hillary Clinton; the South Carolina primary could help clarify the Republican field. Here are some ways to look at the results as they roll in. The Nevada Democratic Caucuses Let me start by admitting that I dont have a good read on whats going to happen in the Democrats Nevada caucus Saturday. And Im not sure how much we should read into the result, either. There has been nearly no public polling. And Nevada has a caucus system, which means low turnout and which can result in unrepresentative outcomes. Of course, that wont stop people from trying to make sense of the result. The conventional wisdom holds that Nevada should be a pretty good state for Hillary Clinton, and its not hard to see why. She excels among nonwhite voters, and Nevada is the sixth-most diverse state in the country. But the states demographics arent quite as good for Mrs. Clinton as many assume. Theres even a reasonable argument that it should be considered a slightly better than average state for Bernie Sanders. How could that be, given Mrs. Clintons strength among nonwhite voters and Nevadas diversity? The Democratic Electorate Isnt That Diverse Nevada has a population thats 52 percent white, according to census data. But the Democratic electorate in Nevada is no more diverse than the national average. In 2008, the entrance polls found that white voters were 65 percent of the Democratic electorate, compared with 62 percent in a compilation of national exit poll data (the latter figure may overstate the diversity of the national electorate in 2008, because it did not include data for a host of Western, mostly white caucus states). Similarly, about 57 percent of Nevada voters who supported President Obama in 2012 were white, compared with 59 percent nationally, according to Upshot estimates based on census and polling data. How could Democratic voters in Nevada be no more diverse than Democratic voters nationally? Its because Nevadas nonwhite residents and voters are far more likely to be Hispanic or Asian-American than the national nonwhite population. Hispanic and Asian-American voters are less likely to be eligible to vote, either as a result of their age or their citizenship, than black voters. Black residents arent just likelier to be eligible to vote; black adult citizens are also vastly more likely to vote than Hispanic or Asian-American adult citizens. Asian-Americans and Hispanics also tend to vote less uniformly Democratic than black voters, who vote nearly unanimously for Democrats. The combination of these three factors means that many more black residents end up as Democratic primary voters than other nonwhite residents. Black voters punch far above their share of the population in Democratic primaries, while other nonwhite voters do not. Theres one other factor at play: Nevadas white voters are slightly more Democratic than white voters nationwide. Many of the nations most diverse states, especially in the South, have white voters who lean extremely Republican. In those states, fewer Democratic white voters means a more diverse Democratic electorate. In Nevada, more Democratic white voters means a less diverse Democratic electorate. In the end, the Nevada Democratic electorate winds up as white as the national average. Does that make the state a perfectly fair demographic test? Not necessarily. Mr. Sanders and Mrs. Clinton can each count on a demographic advantage beyond the simple, fair split between nonwhite and white voters. It Has Lots of Older White Voters One thing that helps Mrs. Clinton is that the states white voters are relatively old. The states white population, measured by median age, is the seventh oldest in the country. It has the third-lowest percentage of 18-to-29-year-old whites, leading only Florida and New Mexico at 16.1 percent. This should help Mrs. Clinton do a bit better among white voters, since theres a huge generational split in that group. In Iowa and New Hampshire, Mr. Sanders won greater than 80 percent of white voters who were 18 to 29, so a younger white electorate can make a difference. When you combine the slightly older population with a more diverse electorate, the voting power of young white voters plummets by as much as two-thirds compared with those early states. But the difference between the age of the white population in Nevada and the rest of the country isnt huge. Nationwide, those who are 18 to 29 represent 18.6 percent of white adults just 2.5 points more than Nevadas 16.1 percent. Theres not much variance in the age of populations across the country, so being the oldest state doesnt necessarily make a state that much older than the others. It gives her an advantage, but not a big one. But Not So Many Black Voters Mrs. Clinton does have a potential disadvantage: the small number of black voters in Nevada. According to Upshot estimates, black voters represented about 15 percent of Mr. Obamas voters in Nevada in 2012, compared with 24 percent nationally. Similarly, the exit polls put the black share of the caucus in 2008 at 15 percent, compared with 19 percent in the national exit polls. Whether that means Nevadas a tough state for Mrs. Clinton hinges on an important question: Is she strong among all nonwhite voters or just black voters? We know Mrs. Clinton leads among black voters by a huge margin in polls. Shes up by at least 40 points among black voters in South Carolina, for instance. But its less clear whether she holds a similar edge among other groups of nonwhite voters. Most national polls dont include a large enough sample of Hispanic voters to report it separately, and there have been few polls of states with a large Hispanic population. We know even less about the Asian-American vote, which is also larger in Nevada than the national average. If her edge among nonwhite voters is mainly among black voters and theres some, admittedly inconclusive, evidence to support that view then theres a pretty decent argument that Mrs. Clinton should fare slightly worse in Nevada than she would in most states. If her strength among nonwhite voters is broad, then the state should basically reflect the national electorate, with perhaps a slight edge to Mrs. Clinton from the states slightly older white electorate. How to Read the Hispanic Vote This has some interesting implications for how to interpret the results on Saturday. The better Mrs. Clinton does among Hispanic voters, the harder it will be to argue that she should have been expected to fare worse in Nevada than nationally. If she nonetheless finds herself in a tight race, presumably by losing big among white voters, there wont be much of an excuse for her disappointing performance. If she does worse among Hispanic voters, it will obviously be good news for Mr. Sanders. We will have learned that Hispanics, a key voting bloc, are less favorable to Mrs. Clinton than some people assumed. But if it winds up being a tight race because of limited support from Hispanic voters, her campaign managers could argue that her core advantage black voters is still to come. The morning of April 17, 1972, Mr. Woodfox said, he was on his way back from picking up some papers from an inmate paralegal when rumors began spreading that a white corrections officer had been murdered. Guards pulled Mr. Woodfox and other inmates into a room where they were strip-searched. After a night in a solitary cell called the dungeon, Mr. Woodfox and a fellow Black Panther, Herman Wallace, were charged with murder and sent to the one-man cells where they would spend the next four decades. The officer who had been killed was Brent Miller, a former standout high school wide receiver who had just turned 23. At the time, his father also worked at Angola, overseeing the crops and livestock and his brother was a corrections officer at the prison. Brent Miller knew the prison was overcrowded, understaffed and dangerous another officer had been set on fire the day before. When Brent Miller was found on the morning of the 17th, he had been stabbed 32 times. Do I believe he did it? Stan A. Miller, another of Brent Millers brothers who at one time worked at the prison, too, said when asked about Mr. Woodfox. Hell yeah, I believe he did it. Mr. Miller said an eyewitness told him as much in 1995. Still, that witness, Leonard Turner, testified in 1998 that he had not seen the murder and then in 2002 signed a statement for Mr. Woodfoxs lawyers saying that he did see the murder but that he knew for an absolute fact that Mr. Woodfox had not been involved. Mr. Turners is only one of the problematic witness accounts on which the case rested; no forensic evidence was found that tied Mr. Woodfox or Mr. Wallace to the murder. Mr. Woodfoxs lawyers highlighted not only the inconsistency of the accounts but also incentives that in some cases were undisclosed by prosecutors before trial: an unusual furlough for one witness, a governors pardon for another and for one, a transfer to a custody situation with such minimal security that he was able to rob three banks while still under state supervision. Mr. Millers widow eventually came to doubt the guilt of Mr. Woodfox and Mr. Wallace, creating something of a break with her former in-laws, who remain convinced that he did it. At a 1973 trial, Mr. Woodfox was convicted. Mr. Wallace was convicted the next year. And so they sat, alone. Mr. Morgan was joined by Joseph Basalla, 19, and Alex Cranstoun, 18. All are members of the Knights of Columbus, a Catholic fraternal organization that counted Justice Scalia as a member. The three stood in line for nearly three hours on Friday evening to see Justice Scalias coffin in the Great Hall of the Supreme Court. Last year, they had waited for hours to see Pope Francis. The three said they felt fortunate to have been part of such major events for Catholics in the United States. Mr. Basalla said the day was historic not only because of the funeral but because he was wearing a tie by 7 a.m. on a Saturday. Mr. Morgan said he appreciated the bipartisan respect shown for Justice Scalia. There will be disagreement about things, but when it comes to his death and funeral, things have calmed down, and everyone seemed to agree about what a great man he was, Mr. Morgan said. Jane Palladino, 91, of Springfield, Va., also came to pay her respects. One of Justice Scalias sons, the Rev. Paul D. Scalia, the episcopal vicar for clergy in the Diocese of Arlington, Va., had offered Mass at Ms. Palladinos church, so she felt connected to the family. She said she admired how Justice Scalia had managed to remain friends with those, such as Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, with whom he disagreed passionately. Ive come to pay respects, pray for the repose of his soul and pray for consoling graces for the family, Ms. Palladino said. Mr. Sanders has continued to assail Mrs. Clinton for taking six-figure speaking fees from Wall Street banks and firms. If Mr. Sanders wins Nevada and a good share of black voters, some allies of Mrs. Clinton say her campaign surrogates including former President Bill Clinton could turn sharply negative against Mr. Sanders and try out a stronger message to galvanize black support for Mrs. Clinton in South Carolina and the Southern states that vote on Super Tuesday, March 1. If Mr. Sanders loses Nevada, he may increase his own attacks in the days ahead because his path to the Democratic nomination will be narrower without a win in the caucuses. Trump and evangelical voters Mr. Trump is a thrice-married Democrat-turned-Republican who once supported abortion rights, a billionaire casino owner who, he says, has never asked God for forgiveness. Yet some national polls show him leading among evangelical voters. If Mr. Trump wins a healthy share of the religious vote in the South Carolina Republican primary, as he thinks he can, it would be a stunning triumph that shows he could compete vigorously across the South on Super Tuesday. Evangelical voters made up 65 percent of the voters in South Carolinas Republican primary in 2012. Solid evangelical support would also increase Mr. Trumps chances of capturing most or all of South Carolinas 50 delegates. The winner of the primary will receive 29 delegates; the other 21 will be allocated among the candidates who win in each of the states seven congressional districts. Mr. Trump simply needs to get a plurality of the vote in every district to win all the delegates, a task made easier by having five other Republicans competing in the state. While some South Carolina polls have shown a tightening race, Mr. Trump said in a recent interview that he is confident of a strong victory, which political analysts believe could put the nomination within his grasp. If Trump proves the pollsters wrong and gets over 30 percent of the vote, I think hes unstoppable. Hell bulldoze his way through the South on Super Tuesday and start cleaning up winner-take-all states in mid-March, said Brent F. Nelsen, a political scientist at Furman University in South Carolina. But if he falters and loses to Cruzor wins by 2 or 3 percentthis will be a tight race going forward. A course for Cruz Mr. Cruzs path to the Republican nomination is through the South and Americas heartland. He won a narrow victory over Mr. Trump in the Iowa caucuses, but he has been trailing in South Carolina and trying to beat back Mr. Rubio, who is aiming for a second-place finish. If Mr. Cruz loses the primary and a good number of evangelical voters turn to Mr. Trump, he could leave with few if any delegates and shaky prospects in several Super Tuesday states where the electorate is similar to South Carolina. Mr. Cruz needs to pick up sizable numbers of delegates in the South because his opportunities may be more limited in delegate-rich states in the Northeast, the Midwest and the West Coast where many Republican voters are more moderate than he is. BANGUI, Central African Republic A former prime minister who placed second in the first round of balloting has won the Central African Republics presidential runoff vote, the national election body announced on Saturday. The winner, Faustin-Archange Touadera, inherits the enormous task of trying to restore order in a country where heavily armed rebel groups still control much territory. Mr. Touadera, 58, earned nearly 63 percent of the vote held Feb. 14, according to provisional results announced Saturday by Marie-Madeleine Hoornaert NKouet, president of the national election authority. He beat Anicet-Georges Dologuele, another former prime minister, who earned the most votes in the first round and had been endorsed by the third-place finisher. The turnout for the runoff, which was paired with legislative elections, was 61 percent, Ms. NKouet said. The constitutional court has a week to validate the results. At a news conference on Saturday night, Mr. Dologuele said he would accept the results and recognize Mr. Touadera as president, although he expressed concern about irregularities. MAHENDRAGARH, India This is what family planning in India often looks like: Women in their 20s, mostly farmers wives, gather at dawn on the stairs of a district hospital. Hours later, a surgeon arrives. His time is short. He asks the women to sit in a row on the floor of the operating room and then, in operations lasting a few minutes apiece, uses a laparoscope to sever their fallopian tubes, ensuring they will never again bear a child. For decades, India has relied on female sterilization as its primary mode of contraception, funding about four million tubal ligations every year, more than any other country. This year, the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi will take a major step toward modernizing that system, introducing injectable contraceptives free of charge in government facilities. The World Health Organization recommends their use without restriction for women of childbearing age. New birth control options have long been advocated by international organizations, among them the United States Agency for International Development and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. They say Indian women often worn out, anemic and at higher risk of death because they bear children young and often urgently need methods to delay or space pregnancies. The number of lives touched by such policies is enormous and growing. India will soon surpass China as the worlds most populous nation, and by 2050 it is expected to gain 400 million new citizens, more than the population of the United States. HONG KONG As Chinas economic woes intensified, the nations top securities regulator appeared to have the support of the Communist Party leadership, even when his efforts to stabilize the stock markets faltered and in some cases made matters worse. Just weeks ago, he issued a lengthy defense of his record and the securities agency aggressively denied reports he had offered to resign. But on Saturday, Beijing abruptly fired the securities chief, bowing to criticism of the countrys bungled attempts to stem a market rout that started last summer. The dismissal of Xiao Gang, coming in the form of a terse statement from state-run news media, represents a rare public reversal for the Communist Party and a gamble by its leader, Xi Jinping, whose management of the economy has come under growing scrutiny. Underperforming officials in China often get shuffled to less-influential jobs or are allowed to resign quietly. Most officials who have been fired of late have been ensnared by the broad crackdown on corruption by Mr. Xi. Mr. Xi appears to be betting now that in heeding public opinion and replacing Mr. Xiao in such a high-profile fashion he can buy time to limit damage to the partys reputation from the stock market mess and the broader economic slowdown. But if the problems continue, he risks further undermining faith in his leadership and his governments ability to navigate a difficult economic transition. LONDON Britons will vote on June 23 on whether to stay in the European Union or to quit, Prime Minister David Cameron said on Saturday, announcing the date of a referendum that could have momentous consequences for a divided Britain, and for the rest of Europe. Mr. Cameron made the announcement after presiding over a meeting of his cabinet which is itself split over Europe and hours after securing a hard-fought deal, which he said gave Britain special status in the 28-nation bloc. We are approaching one of the biggest decisions this country will face in our lifetimes, Mr. Cameron said outside his office on Downing Street, adding that he would recommend a vote to stay. Leaving Europe would threaten our economic and national security, he added. Highlighting the historic nature of the decision facing Britain, the cabinet met for the first time on a Saturday in more than three decades, and talked for more than two hours. CAIRO Two Serbian hostages died in American airstrikes on an Islamic State training camp in western Libya on Friday, Serbian leaders said on Saturday in statements that criticized a military operation that had been presented as a clean strike against extremism. The strikes by American F-15 jets against a compound in Sabratha, 50 miles west of Tripoli, the capital, killed at least 43 people, according to Libyan officials. The Pentagon said that it was likely that the dead included the principal target of the attacks, Noureddine Chouchane, a Tunisian militant who was accused of facilitating two major attacks on Western tourists in Tunisia last year. But the deaths of the hostages, both Serbian Embassy employees, drew protests from Serbia and raised questions about the quality of the American intelligence that led to the strikes. A Pentagon spokesman, Peter Cook, said that American forces had watched the site for weeks before the strikes and found no indications of any civilians present. But, he said, the military offered its condolences to the bereaved families and undertook to share whatever information we can with the Serbian government. NEW YORK On Wednesday, a federal judge ordered Apple Inc. to help the FBI hack into an encrypted iPhone used by Syed Farook, who along with his wife, Tashfeen Malik, killed 14 people in December. Specifically, the government wants Apple to bypass a self-destruct feature that erases the phones data after too many unsuccessful attempts to guess the passcode. Apple has helped the government before in this and previous cases, but this time Apple CEO Tim Cook said no and Apple is appealing the order. Whats the big deal? Why isnt Apple cooperating, and what does this mean for ordinary iPhone users? AP explains: WHY ALL THE FUSS? The clash brings to a head a long-simmering debate between technology companies whose business relies on protecting digital privacy (except, ahem, where advertising is concerned) and law enforcement agencies who say they need the ability to recover evidence or eavesdrop on the communications of terrorists or criminals to do their job. This is the first major case that requires the two sides to present their arguments in court, so it could ultimately affect millions of smartphone users. ITS JUST ONE IPHONE. AND THIS COULD HELP CATCH TERRORISTS. SO WHATS THE BIG DEAL? While the judge on the case says the government is only asking for help unlocking one, single iPhone, Apple says the case is much bigger than that and sets a dangerous precedent. Cook says the company doesnt have a system to bypass the self-destruct one. And if it creates one, the technology it creates could eventually be used to work against other iPhones. Then everyones iPhone would potentially be less secure. As Apple CEO Cook said, Once created, the technique could be used over and over again, on any number of devices. In the physical world, it would be the equivalent of a master key, capable of opening hundreds of millions of locks from restaurants and banks to stores and homes. IS MY IPHONE STILL SECURE? Yes. The technology being debated doesnt even exist yet. So what does this mean for your iPhone? In the short term, nothing. The case is likely to drag on for months even years, if it works its way through appeals to the Supreme Court. But ultimately, the case could set the standard for just who has access to private data the private message, photos and other data you store on your phone and could cause millions of smartphones users to rethink what they store on their phones. WILL MY DISGRUNTLED EX OR FORMER BOSS BE ABLE TO HACK INTO MY PHONE? Not likely. Even if the technology is ultimately built and ruled legal, it would only be used by governments, or maybe cybercriminal masterminds. But probably not the average Joe next door though you might want to watch out for his brilliant, disaffected hacker kid. (Also, all bets are off if youre talking about a phone provided by your employer, who already has the right to any information stored there.) WASHINGTON The Obama administration told a U.S. magistrate judge on Friday it would be willing to allow Apple Inc. to retain possession of and later destroy specialized software it has been ordered to design to help the FBI hack into an encrypted iPhone used by the gunman in Decembers mass shootings in California. The government made clear that it was open to less intrusive options in a new legal filing intended to blunt public criticism by Apples chief executive, Tim Cook, who said the software would be too dangerous to create because it would threaten the digital privacy of millions of iPhone customers worldwide. Apple may maintain custody of the software, destroy it after its purpose under the order has been served, refuse to disseminate it outside of Apple and make clear to the world that it does not apply to other devices or users without lawful court orders, the Justice Department told Judge Sheri Pym. No one outside Apple would have access to the software required by the order unless Apple itself chose to share it. Meanwhile, the legal fight continued to reverberate on the presidential campaign trail as Republican candidate Donald Trump called on Americans to boycott Apple until it complies with the court order. Trump made the comment during a question-and-answer session in Pawleys Island, South Carolina, where hes campaigning ahead of Saturdays first-in-the-South Republican presidential primary. Trump says Cook wants to prove how liberal he is and told the crowd to boycott Apple until such time as they give up that security. In the latest volley between the federal government and one of the worlds most respected companies, the Justice Department argued that Apple has the technical ability to comply with a court order issued this week but wont do so because of its marketing strategy. Apple has attempted to design and market its products to allow technology, rather than the law, to control access to data which has been found by this court to be warranted for an important investigation, the filing states. The Justice Departments motion, which seeks to force Apple to comply with Pyms order, appears aimed at rebutting some of the key objections of Apple and its supporters. It says that the software the government seeks, contrary to Apples assertions, is not akin to a master key, capable of opening hundreds of millions of locks. And it also rejects the idea that the court order placed an unreasonable burden on the company, saying Apple already has the technical wherewithal to satisfy it. To the extent that Apple claims that the order is unreasonably burdensome because it undermines Apples marketing strategies or because it fears criticism for providing lawful access to the government, these concerns do not establish an undue burden, the government wrote. Apples written objection, already signaled by Cook in a message to Apple customers, is due next Friday. Senior Apple executives said during a phone call with reporters Friday that the company had worked for hours, even days, with federal officials and investigators to try to gain access to Farooks iPhone. The executives, who insisted on anonymity to speak freely amid ongoing legal proceedings, said they went to the FBI in early January with four suggestions, including a workaround using iCloud. Prosecutors noted the four methods and their deficiencies in a footnote in their Friday court filing. The magistrate on Tuesday ordered Apple to provide the FBI with highly specialized software that could be loaded onto the work-issued iPhone 5C used by Syed Farook, who died with his wife in a gun battle with police after killing 14 people in December in San Bernardino, California. The U.S. has said the attacks were partly inspired by the Islamic State terror group. Although the judge instructed Apple to create the software for the FBI, she said it could be loaded onto the phone at an Apple facility. But the Justice Department made explicit Friday that Apple could retain custody of the software at all times. The specialized software would bypass a security time delay and self-destruct feature that erases all data after 10 consecutive, unsuccessful attempts to guess the unlocking passcode. This would allow the FBI to use technology to rapidly and repeatedly test numbers in whats known as a brute force attack. In their filing Friday, prosecutors explained that investigators would be willing to work remotely to test passcodes, while Apple retained both possession of the phone and the technology itself. Thats a good compromise position because theyre giving all the power to Apple, said Jason Healey, a former director on cyber policy at the White House. Theyre telling Apple, You hold the software, were not asking you to put a backdoor in the encryption, we just want to be able to brute force this thing, Healey said. If the precedent is this, that they deliver the phone to Apple and Apple does it, I think thats a pretty good precedent that cant be done en masse on the next thousand iPhones. The government said the county-owned phone could be valuable as evidence because Farook appeared to use the device to communicate with his wife in the months before the shootings as well as with some of his co-workers who were killed in the attacks. Two other personal phones were found crushed beyond investigative value in the trash behind the couples home. The House Energy and Commerce Committee on Friday invited Cook and FBI Director James Comey to appear before it to discuss encryption technologies and issues of privacy and national security, asking both to tell Americans how they plan to move forward. A hearing in the federal case has been set for March 22 in Riverside, California. WASHINGTON The Obama administration has told a U.S. magistrate judge it would be willing to allow Apple Inc. to retain possession of and later destroy specialized software it has been ordered to design to help the FBI hack into an encrypted iPhone used by the gunman in Decembers mass shootings in San Bernardino. The government made clear that it was open to less intrusive options in a new legal filing intended to blunt public criticism by Apples chief executive, Tim Cook, who said the software would be too dangerous to create because it would threaten the digital privacy of millions of iPhone customers worldwide. Apple may maintain custody of the software, destroy it after its purpose under the order has been served, refuse to disseminate it outside of Apple and make clear to the world that it does not apply to other devices or users without lawful court orders, the Justice Department told Judge Sheri Pym on Friday. No one outside Apple would have access to the software required by the order unless Apple itself chose to share it. Meanwhile, the legal fight continued to reverberate on the presidential campaign trail as Republican candidate Donald Trump called on Americans to boycott Apple until it complies with the court order. Trump made the comment during a question-and-answer session in Pawleys Island, South Carolina, where hes campaigning ahead of Saturdays first-in-the-South Republican presidential primary. Trump says Cook wants to prove how liberal he is and told the crowd to boycott Apple until such time as they give up that security. In the latest volley between the federal government and one of the worlds most respected companies, the Justice Department argued that Apple has the technical ability to comply with a court order issued this week but wont do so because of its marketing strategy. Apple has attempted to design and market its products to allow technology, rather than the law, to control access to data which has been found by this court to be warranted for an important investigation, the filing states. The Justice Departments motion, which seeks to force Apple to comply with Pyms order, appears aimed at rebutting some of the key objections of Apple and its supporters. It says that the software the government seeks, contrary to Apples assertions, is not akin to a master key, capable of opening hundreds of millions of locks. And it also rejects the idea that the court order placed an unreasonable burden on the company, saying Apple already has the technical wherewithal to satisfy it. To the extent that Apple claims that the order is unreasonably burdensome because it undermines Apples marketing strategies or because it fears criticism for providing lawful access to the government, these concerns do not establish an undue burden, the government wrote. Apples written objection, already signaled by Cook in a message to Apple customers, is due next Friday. Senior Apple executives said during a phone call with reporters Friday that the company had worked for hours, even days, with federal officials and investigators to try to gain access to Farooks iPhone. The executives, who insisted on anonymity to speak freely amid ongoing legal proceedings, said they went to the FBI in early January with four suggestions, including a workaround using iCloud. Prosecutors noted the four methods and their deficiencies in a footnote in their Friday court filing. The magistrate on Tuesday ordered Apple to provide the FBI with highly specialized software that could be loaded onto the work-issued iPhone 5C used by Syed Farook, who died with his wife in a gun battle with police after killing 14 people in December in San Bernardino. The U.S. has said the attacks were partly inspired by the Islamic State terror group. Although the judge instructed Apple to create the software for the FBI, she said it could be loaded onto the phone at an Apple facility. But the Justice Department made explicit Friday that Apple could retain custody of the software at all times. The specialized software would bypass a security time delay and self-destruct feature that erases all data after 10 consecutive, unsuccessful attempts to guess the unlocking passcode. This would allow the FBI to use technology to rapidly and repeatedly test numbers in whats known as a brute force attack. In their filing Friday, prosecutors explained that investigators would be willing to work remotely to test passcodes, while Apple retained both possession of the phone and the technology itself. Thats a good compromise position because theyre giving all the power to Apple, said Jason Healey, a former director on cyber policy at the White House. Theyre telling Apple, You hold the software, were not asking you to put a backdoor in the encryption, we just want to be able to brute force this thing, Healey said. If the precedent is this, that they deliver the phone to Apple and Apple does it, I think thats a pretty good precedent that cant be done en masse on the next thousand iPhones. The government said the county-owned phone could be valuable as evidence because Farook appeared to use the device to communicate with his wife in the months before the shootings as well as with some of his co-workers who were killed in the attacks. Two other personal phones were found crushed beyond investigative value in the trash behind the couples home. The House Energy and Commerce Committee on Friday invited Cook and FBI Director James Comey to appear before it to discuss encryption technologies and issues of privacy and national security, asking both to tell Americans how they plan to move forward. A hearing in the federal case has been set for March 22 in Riverside. BUENOS AIRES, Argentina The Argentine human rights group Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo on Friday rejected the timing of President Barack Obamas visit to Argentina. Obama is set to arrive on March 23 for a two-day visit where he will meet with President Mauricio Macri. The following day marks the 40th anniversary of the military coup that began Argentinas 1976-1983 military dictatorship, in which thousands of suspected leftists were seized, tortured and secretly killed. Nora Cortinas is a founding member of the group that has campaigned to find people forcibly disappeared by the dictatorship. She told local radio Friday that shes not amused that Obamas visit will coincide with the coup anniversary because the U.S. facilitated dictatorships in South America during the 1970s. The visit will only bring back the most haunting memories, to those who lost children in the military crackdown, said Cortinas. Her son was disappeared during Argentinas so-called Dirty War. Human rights groups say about 30,000 people died or disappeared under Argentinas dictatorship. Imagine driving north on Pacific Coast Highway with your surfboards strapped to the roof of your car, cruising through Surf City and the quiet community of Surfside, then breezing past surfers catching waves in Seal Beach. The surf safari destination: Long Beach. As it stands today, Long Beach isnt on anyones list of hot surfing spots. The reason is simple: There rarely are any surfable waves. But could that change? Mayor Robert Garcia and a representative from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers recently signed an agreement to begin a $3 million study to find out how to spruce up the waters off Long Beach. It has taken 15 years and countless meetings and discussions to launch the three-year study. The focus of the East San Pedro Bay Ecosystem Restoration Study is to figure out whether altering or removing a rock wall breakwater would improve ocean quality to see if kelp, eel grass and wetlands could thrive in the area with better water circulation. Any work to make changes in the breakwater which some oppose over fears it might lead to coastal erosion wouldnt occur for several years. One intriguing element of the study for surfers at least involves looking at surface wave effects, or how waves may form if the breakwater is changed or removed. Garcia said the return of robust surf to Long Beach could turn out to be an added benefit of the project. I know that the recreational piece and the wave-action piece is important, especially for the people who would want to see surf, Garcia said. He noted that surfable waves could bring added economic perks, including increasing property values near the beach. Theres a lot of positives, he said. A study called Surfonomics, by Surfrider CEO Chad Nelsen, showed that surfers drawn to waves can result in a big economic boost. While the study focused specifically on Trestles south of San Clemente, it highlighted the fact that people are willing to spend a lot of money for quality surf. The survey found that, on average, surfers spent from $25 to $40 per visit to Trestles with a total of about 330,000 trips in 2006, generating $8 million to $13 million of revenue per year. Had the breakwater not been built, Long Beach could have been a world-class surf destination drawing enthusiasts to the town. It was once one of the most pristine surf spots on the coast, considered the Waikiki of Southern California in its heyday in the 1930s. The rock wall was put in place in 1949 as part of the port project, and the breakwater was used by the U.S Navy. With it, the stellar surf disappeared. It was one of several local examples of man-made structures destroying a surf spot, similar to what happened to so-called Killer Dana when the Dana Point Harbor was built. Or the waves Duke Kahanamoku used to ride in Corona del Mar, which were flattened when a jetty was put in for the growing boating industry. The movement to resurrect Long Beach as a surf spot has been led by Surfriders Sink the Breakwater, Restore the Shore campaign. The Surfrider campaign and the Ecosystem Restoration Study involves only the Long Beach breakwater, and not the San Pedro and middle breakwaters that protect the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach. Surfers such as Kelli Koller, owner of Seventh Wave Surf Shop in Long Beach and a board member for Surfriders Long Beach chapter, have been following the issue closely. For her, a surfable wave in Long Beach cant come soon enough. Its been a long-time coming, she said of the study. Im ridiculously excited. Koller has witnessed the potential of Long Beachs waves, surfing small peelers along the shore when the swell direction aligns just right. But that only happens once every few years. It would be an old wave coming back. It was one of the best on the coast at one point, she said. Most days, she packs up her boards in her van and heads to Newport or Huntington. But if waves showed up in her town: Id never leave. It would be a dream come true, she said. But before surfers start daydreaming about a new surf spot a short drive from Orange Countys overcrowded waves, Garcia quickly warned that the city wouldnt risk damaging beachfront homes or the port to make Long Beach a surf town. Issues like sea levels rising and king tides which can bring water levels close to homes, especially during big swells also will be studied. We want to know whats possible and not possible, Garcia said. We need to be driven by science. Those who oppose breakwater changes worry about erosion to the peninsula. Hurricane Marie, which brought massive surf to the coastline in 2014, threatened beachfront homes, and workers scrambled day and night to pile up sand to avoid damage. Its pretty dangerous to be close to the water with the waves coming in. When the surf got really big, it was just insane, peninsula resident Makenzie Hendrix said in an interview during the Hurricane Marie swell. Garcia hopes the results of the study will ultimately mean more people will enjoy Long Beachs cleaned-up coastline with or without waves. The coast is such a big part of our city, and the coastline has been changed dramatically because of the breakwater, he said. At the end of this, well definitely know what we can or cant do. What I can envision is making enough restorations and improving water quality, where you can have more folks enjoy the coast. Contact the writer: lconnelly@ocregister.com KAMPALA, Uganda Long-time Ugandan leader Yoweri Museveni was on Saturday declared the winner of the countrys disputed presidential election, but his main rival rejected the results as fraudulent and called for an independent audit of the count. Museveni got more than 60 percent of the votes, and his nearest rival Kizza Besigye got 35 percent, according to final results announced by the election commission. Besigye was under house arrest as Museveni was declared the winner, with heavily armed police standing guard near his residence on the outskirts of the capital, Kampala. In a video obtained by The Associated Press, Besigye said he rejects the results. We knew right from the beginning the electoral commission that was organizing and managing these elections was a partisan, incompetent and discredited body as from the previous elections, Besigye said. We knew that the military and security organizations were going to be engaged in a partisan and unfair way like they did in the past. Besigye urged the international community to reject the official tally. The capital was calm following the announcement of results amid a heavy security presence. Musevenis ruling party, the National Resistance Movement, urged all candidates to respect the will of the people and the authority of the electoral commission and accept the result. We ask all Ugandans to remain calm and peaceful and not to engage in any public disruptions. The voting on Thursday was marred by lengthy delays in the delivery of polling materials, some incidents of violence as well as a government shutdown of social media sites like Twitter and Facebook, which remained inaccessible Saturday. The election was marked by an intimidating atmosphere, which was mainly created by state actors, said the European Union observer mission. Ugandas election commission lacks independence and transparency and does not have the trust of all the parties, EU mission leader Eduard Kukan told reporters Saturday. Opposition supporters were harassed by law enforcement officials in more than 20 districts, according to the EUs preliminary report. Ugandas elections fell short of meeting key democratic benchmarks, former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, the head of the Commonwealth observer mission, said, talking about his groups interim assessment. The Ugandan people deserved better, said U.S. State Department deputy spokesman Mark Toner. We encourage those who wish to contest the election results to do so peacefully and in accordance with Ugandas laws and judicial process, and urge the Ugandan government to respect the rights and freedoms of its people and refrain from interference in those processes, Toner said. Police on Friday surrounded the headquarters of the FDC opposition party as Besigye met with members and a helicopter fired tear gas at a crowd outside. Police then moved in and took away Besigye, a 59-year-old doctor. He was later taken to his house which was guarded by police who prevented access to journalists. After Besigyes arrest on Friday, his supporters took to the streets. Riot police lobbed tear gas and stun grenades at them and fired warning shots from automatic rifles, then chased them through narrow alleys, arresting some. Besigyes party is alleging massive vote rigging and accuses the government of deliberately stalling voting in opposition strongholds in Kampala and the neighboring Wakiso district. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry spoke by phone with Museveni to underscore that Ugandas progress depends on adherence to democratic principles in the ongoing election process, the State Department said. Kerry urged Museveni to rein in the security forces. The 71-year-old Museveni took power by force in 1986 and pulled Uganda out of years of chaos after a guerrilla war. He is a key U.S. ally on security matters, especially in Somalia. Critics fear he may want to rule for life and they accuse him of using security forces to intimidate the opposition. Besigye was Musevenis personal physician during the bush war and served as deputy interior minister in his first Cabinet. He broke with the president in 1999, saying Museveni was no longer a democrat. We all know what a French bistro is supposed to look like. And its clear that South Coast Collections Bistro Papillote, owned and operated by French-born Laurent Brazier in the malls OC Mix gallery, is the real deal. (Youd know it even with your eyes closed. One bite of his croque monsieur will convince you.) But what, exactly, is bistro decor? And how does Brazier, who designed the space himself, play off those familiar visual cues in his clever and comfortable environment? I basically duplicated the traditional Paris bistro, Brazier said. You know: white tablecloth, red banquette, gray walls, red accents. But Brazier went local for his fixtures, textures and colors. His place is surrounded by some of Orange Countys smartest and most au courant design and home furnishing stores. Peinture, the shop across from me, did the faux finish on the fireplace. I got the chandeliers from HD Buttercup, and the wallpaper was donated from a paper company nearby, Brazier said. Brazier also added a few SoCal twists to the look. His bistro, in the light-filled space formerly occupied by the Seventh Tea Bar, is the bulls eye of a culinary hot spot. The OC Mix was one of the first modern-concept food halls to open in Orange County. Nearby are Carlos Salgados highly praised Taco Maria and Pueblo, a popular and stylishly designed tapas bar. When youre up against that kind of competition, its important to make a good first impression. Its not every day that you run across a French chef who can double as an interior designer, but Brazier was born into the profession. My mom is an interior decorator in France, and I have learned a lot from her, he said. I have always done my own decor and color palette for all my restaurants. Brazier designed La Cuisine Culinary Arts, his cooking school at Macys Home Store in Costa Mesa. Get the look Here are some elements of classic French bistro design and an assessment of Braziers adaptations. A black-and-white overall color scheme, often achieved with white walls, black accents such as countertops and cabinets. Bistro Papillote has black chairs, white tablecloths, a predominately black floor, and a black-and-white fireplace. Light-colored marble accents. Bistro Papillotes service counter adds that elegant touch. A chalkboard for daily specials. Bistro Papillote has a faux chalkboard menu behind the counter. Vintage artwork and accents. Ornate wrought-iron screens and leaded-glass windows adorn the exterior walls of Bistro Papillote. The wallpaper is Farrow & Balls Silvergate, a gray pattern based on an early 19th-century English damask design very classy and Continental. The chandeliers look like they could have come from a bathroom at Versailles. Early 20th-century industrial-style lighting fixtures complement the chandeliers. Bistro chairs. While theyre not the classic, round-back chairs seen in Paris, Bistro Papillotes look suitably bistrolike. Checkerboard black-and-white tile flooring. Brazier has come up with a fascinating twist on the familiar pattern: a black tile floor with small white hexagonal accents. A single primary color as an accent. At Bistro Papillote, deep red is used dramatically in the banquettes and napkins. Each table is often adorned with a small vase containing a single red flower. A classy old-school logo. Ooh la la! Bistro Papillotes is executed in vintage typeface surrounded by a filigree of curlicues. Contact the writer: 714-796-7979 or phodgins@ocregister.com Convicted killer Kenneth Clair, whose death sentence was overturned last year, is seeking the ability to apply for parole. Clair, 57, returned Friday to Orange County from San Quentin prison for a hearing to be formally resentenced to life without parole for the 1984 killing of a Santa Ana nanny. Local prosecutors previously agreed not to fight the appellate court ruling last March to spare Clairs life because of errors by his trial lawyer. But Clairs attorney, John Grele, asked Orange County Superior Court Judge Thomas Goethals to go one step further and sentence Clair to 25 years to life. That would make him immediately eligible for parole. Unsure that he had the authority to make such a ruling, Goethals postponed the hearing until March 18. In recent months, Clairs supporters launched an online petition that has gathered 160,000 signatures calling for his exoneration. Conflicting DNA evidence and waffling witnesses are among the problems that dog the case more than 30 years after the slaying. The victim, Linda Faye Rodgers, 25, was found dead in the bed of her employers home. She had been beaten, stabbed and choked with clothing. Clair, also 25, was homeless and living in a vacant house next door. Clair is black. A child at the scene described the attacker as a white man but later changed his statement. DNA evidence taken from Rodgers body could not be analyzed until 2008. The semen did not match Clairs, but the DNA contained one marker shared by a recent arrestee who was a child at the time of the murder, prosecutors said. That same marker is shared by at least one male relative of the child, say Clairs supporters. Contact the writer: tsaavedra@ocregister.com In Melissa Clicks view, one of her worst moments happened to be caught on video and seen by millions of people. Click, a University of Missouri communications professor, was taking part in a student protest over racial issues in November when she grabbed at a student journalists camera and enlisted other activists to help her with a call that ricocheted across social media: I need some muscle over here! She has since apologized, and she has since been suspended by the university. Click has heeded advice to remain silent on social media and decline interview requests even as she was excoriated for what was viewed as an outrageous display by a member of academia. Some conservatives saw her as a thuggish symbol of speech-intolerant higher education, while journalists protested her attempt to restrict the ability to document events in a public area. A petition to fire her attracted more than 3,500 signatures, while more than 100 Republican lawmakers in Missouri called for her ouster. Now, nearly three months later, she has emerged to tell her side, backed by a public relations and reputation management firm, Status Labs, based in Texas. Her message: She didnt like the person she saw in the video, either. When I watch it, I am embarrassed and sorry, she said in a telephone interview. I see someone dealing with a high-stress situation who gets flustered. I see a moment where I feel like Im not representing my best self, and I see somebody whos trying to do her best to help marginalized students. I try to remember thats only one moment of a full day, and only one moment in a 12-year career, she said. Attempts by ordinary people to recover their reputations after spectacular downward spirals as public villains du jour is an emerging art form and business opportunity. Status Labs has worked pro bono to arrange Clicks interviews and distribute professional head shots to replace the more commonly known image of her: a blurry, mid-yell frame from the YouTube video. Mark Schierbecker, the student behind the camera who described himself as an independent journalist, said he had intended to upload his video to Wikipedia, which he often edits, and was not on assignment for any student or professional organization the day of the protests. He said he interpreted Clicks call for muscle as a threat that he would be physically removed, and that her grabbing at his camera led him to wonder how far she would go. He said when other protesters put their hands on him to escort him away, he left. I decided the story just wasnt worth getting hurt over. The backlash put Click in legal and professional hot water. In January, she agreed to 20 hours of community service for the misdemeanor third-degree assault charge against her. The university suspended her in January pending its own investigation. Few have publicly come to her defense, and her lack of public statements left only one narrative to swirl in the news and on social media. When she stays silent, everyone assumes that she was guilty of something, and the vacuum gets filled by, often times, trolls, detractors and people who dislike her, said Darius Fisher, president of Status Labs. In the recent interview, Click acknowledged making mistakes, painting herself as passionate for the cause but saying she was unprepared for crowd-control duties. She said she was first drawn to Concerned Student 1950, the group that gathered to protest racial issues on campus, at the universitys homecoming parade in October, when she witnessed an angry crowd respond to them. I didnt want them to feel alone, she said. The November day she was filmed in the YouTube video, the atmosphere on campus was tense. Racial incidents had unfolded throughout the semester, she said, and the black student group was protesting from a tent encampment in the center of campus. The night before, a truck with a Confederate flag had driven around near the campsite, which the students interpreted as an intimidation tactic. The morning the video was shot, the universitys president, Timothy Wolfe, had stepped down. The protesting students had spent hours talking to the news media, Click said, but asked for a break so they could prepare for a news conference. At that point, a human wall formed around the campsite to keep reporters out. When Click spotted Schierbecker, she said, she was suspicious of him and didnt believe he was with the media. The students protocol for perceived threats was to involve some of the bigger protesters to defuse the situation, she said, hence her call for muscle. I wasnt prepared for that interaction, she said, adding that she wished she had taken the time to respectfully converse with the student. I certainly didnt mean what I said to be a call for violence, she said. Schierbecker, in a telephone interview, said he had watched and read most of Clicks recent interviews, but was not sold on her explanation. I think she still has a lot to own up to, he said. I dont believe her when she says I caught her in an odd moment. Clicks efforts to recast her narrative have been further complicated by the release last week of a video from the October homecoming parade that shows her cursing at a police officer trying to move protesters off a road. She defended that reaction as most likely being fairly common for people pushed by police unexpectedly in the middle of an angry crowd. In a statement, however, the interim university chancellor, Hank Foley, said, Like many in our community, I watched newly released footage of Dr. Melissa Click directing a verbal assault against members of the Columbia Police Department during the homecoming parade in October 2015. Her conduct and behavior are appalling. He described her actions as just another example of a pattern of misconduct by Dr. Click, adding, We must have high expectations of members of our community. Click, a mother of three, said she was nevertheless surprised and disappointed that she became the national focus, instead of the protests or the racial issues. Her goal, she said, is to continue working for the university. I love my job, she said. Im good at it, and yeah, I think I have a lot of good left to do with the University of Missouri. ELKO, Nev. Hillary Clinton worked to pull out a victory in Nevadas caucuses on Saturday, seeking to undercut the headway of rival Bernie Sanders and boost her presidential bid as the campaign broadens to primary contests across the country. Though Clinton installed staff on the ground last spring, Sanders message of combating income inequality appeared to find fertile ground in recent weeks in a state where many voters are still struggling to rebound after years of double-digit unemployment. And significant spending on paid media and staff helped his campaign make inroads into the Latino and African-American communities, which make up a significant portion of the Democratic electorate in the state. A Sanders victory would undercut one of Clintons major campaign arguments: that the Vermont senators insurgent campaign largely appeals to white liberals, a relatively narrow swath of the Democratic Party. Eight years ago, one-third of Democratic caucus-goers in Nevada were minority voters, a percentage thats far more representative of the country as a whole than mostly white Iowa and New Hampshire. The candidates spent their final hours before the caucuses furiously trying to drive up turnout among their supporters. Clinton made her way through a college campus, a youth employment program, a town-hall event with high school students and casino workers at Planet Hollywood in hopes of motivating the Las Vegas-area minority voters and union members who could give her the edge over Sanders. I need your help, Clinton told a supportive crowd on the eve of the caucuses. Sanders jetted across the more sparsely populated northern region of the state on Friday a strategy designed to pick up more of the states 23 delegates at stake Saturday. In 2008, Clinton won the popular vote in the state but then Illinois Sen. Barack Obama picked up one more delegate, due to the quirky nature of the caucuses. Ending his night in suburban Las Vegas with a rally and concert featuring the band Cold War Kids, Sanders projected confidence, telling supporters, I have a feeling, folks, we are going to make history tomorrow! He said 10, 20, 30 years from now, people may well look back at what happened in Nevada and say this was the start of the political revolution. Clintons campaign has tried to lower expectations for her performance in the caucuses, which are notoriously difficult to predict due to the transient nature of the states population and the fact that voters do not need to be registered as Democrats in advance to participate. Clintons campaign manager, Robby Mook, ran her 2008 effort in Nevada. Clinton locked down some of the states most experienced political hands even before announcing her campaign in April. In recent months, Sanders has caught up: Hes spent slightly more than Clinton on television and radio ads in the state, investing $4 million to her $3.6 million, according to advertising tracker Kantar Medias CMAG, and has more staff on the ground. After Nevada, the primary moves into South Carolina, which votes Feb. 27, and then into several Southern contests three days later, among other states voting on Super Tuesday. With Clinton holding a commanding lead among superdelegates, the party insiders who are influential in picking the nominee, Sanders must rack up some significant wins in the remaining contests to catch up. ROME Italian author Umberto Eco, who intrigued, puzzled and delighted readers worldwide with his best-selling historical novel The Name of the Rose, has died. Spokeswoman Lori Glazer of Ecos American publisher, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, told The Associated Press that Eco died Friday at age 84. She could not immediately confirm the cause of death or where he died. Author of a wide range of books, Eco was fascinated with the obscure and the mundane, and his books were both engaging narratives and philosophical and intellectual exercises. The bearded, heavy-set scholar, critic and novelist took on the esoteric theory of semiotics, the study of signs and symbols in language; on popular culture icons like James Bond; and on the technical languages of the Internet. The Name of the Rose transformed him from academic to international celebrity, especially after the medieval thriller set in a monastery was made into a film starring Sean Connery in 1986. The Name of the Rose sold millions of copies, a feat for a narrative filled with partially translated Latin quotes and puzzling musings on the nature of symbols. But Eco talked about his inspiration with characteristic irony: I began writing prodded by a seminal idea: I felt like poisoning a monk. His second novel, the 1988 Foucaults Pendulum, a byzantine tale of plotting publishers and secret sects also styled as a thriller, was successful, too though it was so complicated that an annotated guide accompanied it to help the reader follow the plot. In 2000, a jury awarding Spains prestigious Prince of Asturias Prize for communications to Eco praised his works of universal distribution and profound effect that are already classics in contemporary thought. Eco was born Jan. 5, 1932 in Alessandria, a town east of Turin; he said the reserved culture there was a source for his world vision: a skepticism and an aversion to rhetoric. He received a university degree in philosophy from the University of Turin in 1954, beginning his fascination with the Middle Ages and the aesthetics of text. He later defined semiotics as a philosophy of language. He had always loved storytelling and as a teenager wrote comic books and fantasy novels. I was a perfectionist and wanted to make them look as though they had been printed, so I wrote them in capital letters and made up title pages, summaries, illustrations, he told The Paris Review in 1988. It was so tiring that I never finished any of them. I was at that time a great writer of unaccomplished masterpieces. Eco remained involved with academia, becoming the first professor of semiotics at the University of Bologna in 1971. He also lectured at institutions worldwide and was a fellow at elite colleges like Oxford University and Columbia University. Twenty-three institutions had awarded him honorary degrees by 2000. But Eco was also able to bridge the gap between popular and intellectual culture, publishing his musings in daily newspapers and Italys leading weekly magazine LEspresso. Eco started in journalism in the 1950s, working for the Italian state-owned television RAI. From the 1960s onwards, he wrote columns for several Italian dailies. He also wrote childrens books, including The Bomb and the General (La Bomba e il Generale). In 2003, Eco published a collection of lectures on translations, Mouse or Rat? Translation as Negotiation, and a year later he wrote the novel The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana, a story about an antiquarian book dealer who loses his memory. Recent works include From the Tree to the Labyrinth, an essay on semiology and language published in 2007 and Turning Back the Clock, a collection of essays on various subjects, ranging from the recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, anti-Semitism and his staunch criticism of Silvio Berlusconis conservative government. His most recent novel, Numero Zero, came out last year and recalled a political scandal from the 1990s that helped lead to Berlusconis rise. BELGRADE, Serbia Two Serbian embassy staffers held hostage since November died in Fridays U.S. airstrikes on an Islamic State camp in western Libya that killed dozens, Serbian officials said Saturday, questioning why the Americans did not appear to know that foreign captives were at the site. A U.S. official said American forces had no information indicating that their deaths were a result of the airstrikes. Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said there was no doubt that Sladjana Stankovic, a communications officer, and Jovica Stepic, a driver, were killed in the American bombing. They were snatched in November after their diplomatic convoy, including the ambassador, came under fire near the coastal Libyan city of Sabratha. Apparently, the Americans were not aware that foreign citizens were being kept there, Vucic told reporters, adding: But that will always remain an unknown fact to us. American F-15E fighter-bombers on Friday struck an Islamic State group training camp in rural Libya near the Tunisian border, killing at least 40 people, probably including an IS operative considered responsible for deadly attacks in Tunisia last year, U.S. and local officials said. Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said the U.S. is determined to stop IS from gaining traction in Libya. Cook said the training camp was relatively new. Our forces watched this training camp for weeks leading up to the operation, and at the time of the strike there were no indications of any civilians present, Cook said. While the circumstances of their deaths remain unclear, we, nevertheless, express our deepest condolences to the Serbian government and the families of those killed. We will share whatever information we can with the Serbian government, Cook said. Serbian Foreign Minister Dacic said Serbia had known for a while the exact location where the Serb hostages were being held and had been working to get them back, adding that Libyan troops were considering an operation to free them. I believe we had been close to the solution for them to be freed. Unfortunately, as a consequence of the attack against ISIS in Libya, the two of them lost their lives, Dacic said, using another acronym for the Islamic State group. He said there may have been no communication between Libyan and U.S. security services in organizing the attack and on whether the Americans were informed that the hostages were in the base. We will seek official explanation from both Libya and the United States about the available facts and the selection of targets, he said. No one had informed us that the attack will take place. According to the information received by the Serbian security services, a criminal group believed to be linked to IS had demanded ransom for the hostages and were holding them at the targeted site, he said. On the other hand, the American administration said it was a (IS) training camp, Dacic said. This is information that has to be checked. He did not specify the amount of ransom demanded of the families, saying only it was impossible to pay. It wasnt in the interests of the people who held them to kill them, because there were no other demands but financial, Dacic said. A Libyan armed group calling itself the Special Deterrent Forces announced on Facebook that the two bodies had been delivered to Tripolis Matiga Airport. The group posted pictures showing two green coffins inside a hearse, and another of one of the coffins sitting on a tarmac next to a small plane. The Special Deterrent Forces are loyal to the militia-backed government that now controls Tripoli. The Serbian officials said the bodies would be flown to Serbia on Monday. In November, gunmen in Libya crashed into a convoy of vehicles taking Serbias ambassador to neighboring Tunisia and then kidnapped the two embassy employees. Serbian ambassador Oliver Potezica escaped unharmed along with his wife and two sons. The attack happened when one of the embassy cars was hit from behind. When the driver came out to check what happened, he was dragged into one of the attackers cars, Potezica told Tanjug news agency at the time. Since the 2011 overthrow of Libyas longtime autocrat Moammar Gadhafi, the sprawling North African nation has fractured into warring camps backed by a loose array of militias, former rebels and tribes. Libyas internationally recognized government has been forced out of the capital, Tripoli, and now operates out of the eastern cities of Tobruk and Bayda. Another government, backed by Islamist-affiliated militias known as Libya Dawn, controls Tripoli and much of western Libya. U.N.-brokered efforts to form a unity government continue to falter. The chaos has provided fertile ground for Islamic extremist groups such as al-Qaida and the Islamic State group to flourish. In the latest sign that Orange County is shifting away from its famously conservative roots, Democratic voters now outnumber Republicans in Irvine. That gives Democrats the advantage in the countys three biggest cities, although Republicans still have a 39.9 percent to 31.9 percent edge countywide. Also significant is the growth of independent voters in Irvine, which has become the first and only city in the county to have more unaffiliated voters than either Democrats or Republicans. Democrats are 31.8 percent of the citys electorate, Republicans are 31.7 percent and those with no party preference make up 32.4 percent. The citys ambivalence with party politics is reflected in its electoral behavior, with voters there favoring Barack Obama in 2012 while voting in a GOP City Council at the same time. While the council is officially non-partisan, the parties have long battled for control. I think the population is more independent, said Fullerton College political scientist Jodi Balma, pointing to the citys burgeoning Asian population, high-education level and highly-ranked schools as contributing factors. A lot of it is Republicans becoming independents and independents moving in who might have registered as Republicans in the past. The shift in Irvine is the most dramatic of any of the countys largest cities over the past 16 years. In 2000, Republicans were 48 percent of Irvines registered voters, Democrats were 30 percent and independents were 18 percent. Republican registration in the county peaked in 1990, when the GOP had a 22-point advantage. Its share of the electorate has been slowly shrinking ever since a phenomenon attributed first and foremost to the growing Latino electorate, which heavily favors Democrats. But in Irvine, the biggest demographic change has been the growing Asian community. In the 2000 census, non-Latino whites were 61 percent of the citys population. Thats shrunk to 45 percent, while the Asian population has increased from 30 percent to 39 percent over that period. Latinos are 9 percent of the population. Nationwide, more than half of Asian voters are foreign born. In Orange County, 73 percent of Asians are foreign born, according to Political Data Inc. Because the population is relatively new to the electoral system in this country, it hasnt developed the strong partisan allegiances seen in other ethnic communities, according to political scientists. Irvine is notable for having the highest percentage of masters degrees in the county, with 28 percent of those 25 and over holding a graduate-level sheepskin. Henry Vandermeir, chairman of the Democratic Party of Orange County, thinks recent rhetoric by Republican presidential candidates has helped his partys cause in Irvine. I cant take full credit, he quipped. The GOP has helped us. Irvine has become the eighth of the countys 34 cities to have more Democrats than Republicans, though Vandermeir was quick to acknowledge the strong independent streak of the electorate. He thinks that ethnic integration has played a role in that, as has ongoing frustration with partisan politics in Washington. Irvine is a special city because theres a lot of diversity and its not concentrated in one section of town, he said. Thats contributed to people being more open and tolerant. And theyre separating themselves from both parties. Fred Whitaker, chairman of the Republican Party of Orange County, noted that while his side has lost market share of the citys electorate, theyve had growing success in local races there in recent years. He added that GOP voter outreach will be gearing up in the coming months. We have an active voter registration program and it will become more active as we get closer to the election, Whitaker said. However, he stopped short of promising that the GOP would regain the edge among the citys voters. Contact the writer: mwisckol@ocregister.com ANAHEIM A 25-year-old man was hospitalized Friday morning after he told police a bald man shot him in the foot. A gang members sister called Anaheim police around 11:30 a.m. Friday after her 25-year-old brother was shot in the 1700 block of West Orange Avenue, police Sgt. Daron Wyatt said. When police arrived, the man had already left the neighborhood and checked himself in at Anaheim Global Medical Center. A witness gave police a vague description of his shooter, which they said was a bald man in dark clothing, Wyatt said. The victim was not named, although police said hes a documented gang member. Hes expected to survive. Anyone who witnessed the shooting has been asked to call the Orange County Crime Stoppers at 1-855-TIP-OCCS. Contact the writer: 714-796-7802 or aduranty@ocregister.com HILLSBORO, Ohio Sen. Rob Portman, a mild-mannered Republican seeking re-election in the era of Donald Trump, has long pitched himself as a voice of reason in Washington. He points to his ability to work with Democrats, and even crossed party lines in voting to confirm Loretta E. Lynch as President Barack Obamas attorney general. Now the death of Justice Antonin Scalia has him in a bind. Like other endangered Republicans in swing states including Kelly Ayotte in New Hampshire, Patrick J. Toomey in Pennsylvania and Ron Johnson in Wisconsin Portman, who is from Ohio, has vowed to block Senate consideration of any nominee to fill Scalias seat. It is a stance that has put Portman, 60, whose earnest demeanor sometimes earns him plaudits even from Democrats here, in the kind of ideological showdown he usually tries to avoid. Many Democrats, Ohio newspaper editorialists and independents are outraged. But his conservative Republican base is pressing him to stand firm. Please, have a backbone like steel, Helen Hiestand, 72, who years ago worked for Portman, urged the other night, as he greeted fellow Republicans in a church gymnasium here. The senator, with characteristic understatement, replied: Im getting guff. In lining up behind the Senate Republican leader, Mitch McConnell, who insists that the next president should pick Scalias successor, Portman says voters deserve a chance to weigh in. He says it is common practice for the Senate not to consider lifetime appointments in the last year of a presidents term; Democrats disagree. Were in the last 8 1/2 months before a major election, Portman said Wednesday in an interview. We have candidates out there on both sides making their case for the direction of the country, and this seat is a critical seat. Scalias death leaves the court evenly divided; his replacement could shape its decisions for a generation or more. But while Republicans have effectively told Obama not to bother sending the Senate a nominee, in interviews, many Ohio voters seemed to disagree. And Democrats are pouncing. I think Senator Portman will pay a heavy price for his irresponsible behavior, the senators likely Democratic opponent, Ted Strickland, a former Ohio governor, said in an interview. I think its a violation of his constitutional duty. In Ohio, Portman is clearly weighing a complex calculation. He is a former House member who served as trade representative and budget director under President George W. Bush, and his efforts at bipartisanship help him at home. But he is seeking a second term amid a raucous Republican presidential primary campaign; a nominee like Trump, or Sen. Ted Cruz, the conservative Texan, could hurt him badly in Ohio, whose voters twice backed Obama. He must court independents, yet still satisfy his conservative base. This is a hard one, and Portmans not the only one with a problem, said Jennifer E. Duffy, who analyzes Senate races for the nonpartisan Cook Political Report. Hes keeping his base intact, but it could create a larger problem for him in the general election by alienating some moderates and independents. Here in Hillsboro, a city of about 6,600 people surrounded by snow-blanketed farmland east of Cincinnati, his mandate from the base seems clear. Nearly 200 enthusiastic conservatives, many wearing red, white and blue, turned out for Portman at the Highland County Republican Partys Lincoln Day dinner. The presidential campaign was on everyones mind; attendees voted in a straw poll by dropping corn kernels in Mason jars with photos of the candidates. (Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida won, with 44 kernels, followed by Trump and John R. Kasich, the Ohio governor, who tied with 36 each.) But the court was on everyones mind, too. The Constitution says he should, and he should, said Kay Ayres, 78, a retired cattle farmer and the county partys executive chairwoman, when asked if Obama would be right to nominate someone. The Constitution doesnt say that the Senate has to hurry on and get it done. But two hours away in the small Ohio city of Delaware, sentiments were more muddled. Delaware, birthplace of the nations 19th president, Rutherford B. Hayes, is heavily Republican though not Portman territory; many voters said they had not heard of the senator. As for the court, some saw no reason to delay. And some were just disgusted with Washington. Its not like this is Obamas last day; this is just political, said Genti Koci, an Albanian-American, who admired Scalia and likes Kasich for president, but voted for Obama in 2012. I dont see any good reason to wait another year, when were not even sure whos going to win. For Portman, a Supreme Court hearing could be particularly problematic. He was among a handful of Senate Republicans including Ayotte and Johnson who voted to confirm Lynch, who is said to be on Obamas short list for the Supreme Court. She would make history as the first black female nominee, and it could be deeply uncomfortable for swing state Republicans to vote against her. So while Strickland, the former governor, faces a primary challenge, he is hammering away at Portmans stance on replacing Scalia. Youd better believe Im talking about this, he said. Portman is trying not to take the bait. In Hillsboro, he emphasized other issues, among them jobs, the threat from the Islamic State and Ohios heroin epidemic, never once mentioning the justices death. Reminded that Democrats say he is playing politics with the court, Portman bristled, insisting no one knows how the presidential election will turn out. I think its best for the country, he said. Let the politics fall where they might. There are many important legal issues on which the Supreme Court is split 4-to-4 and where Justice Antonin Scalias vote would have decided the outcome. Had Scalia lived, the University of Texas decision to choose its students based on factors including race would have been stopped on a 5-3 vote (Justice Elena Kagan is recused). Its also likely he would have created a 5-4 majority against President Obamas executive action allowing millions of people who entered our country illegally to stay here. Its even possible that his very likely vote in favor of the Little Sisters of the Poor, who oppose having to file a paper to get an exemption from the presidents health care law regarding contraception, would have constituted a majority holding. (Though Chief Justice John Roberts unbroken record of upholding Obamacare will probably result in a fifth vote for the liberal side, anyway.) In this election year, however, nowhere will Scalias death matter more than in Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association, involving public sector unions and their massive political activity and spending. In oral arguments, Scalia had strongly signaled opposition to those unions ability to extract dues from nonmembers. Scalias reasoning was: 1) virtually everything that comes up in collective bargaining with a unit of government is a political matter; 2) government employers take deductions out of their employees paychecks to support the union; but 3) Americans cannot be compelled by government to support political views they might not share. Such a holding would mean that many current union members would likely withdraw from the unions to avoid having to pay dues. The case had already been argued; the decision could have been announced any day. Now, however, since the lower court (our own 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals) ruled for the unions, the result of the likely 4-4 tie will allow the public sector unions power to continue undiminished in this election cycle. The issue, of course, remains; and its possible that some court decision will diminish public sector unions clout before the 2018 elections. By then, of course, we will have a new justice; possibly more than one. For the Democrats, who receive almost 100 percent of such union contributions, however, the immediate brush with calamity in 2016 has been averted, and this will allow President Obama to do something his party might not have allowed him to do otherwise. If it mattered for the 2016 elections, Democratic partisans would press for a liberal, pro-union nominee. The Senate majority leader, Republican Mitch McConnell, has said the vacancy should remain unfilled, awaiting the new president. It might be good politics for the Democrats to demand a vote on the presidents nominee, even knowing any vote would be futile, to make the Republicans appear intransigent. Suppose, however, that President Obama nominated an individual whose record of nonpartisanship and reputation for giving a fair hearing to all points of view prevented anyone from predicting her or his vote on any of the highly controversial issues before the court. We used to have such Supreme Court nominees. President John F. Kennedy nominated Byron R. White to the court on April 2, 1962. On April 11, White was confirmed unanimously by the Senate after a hearing that lasted 90 minutes. Professor Dennis Hutchinsons excellent biography of White relates that, when asked what the role of the Supreme Court was, White replied, To decide cases. He was chosen for who he was, not as a safe vote on any particular issue. He would serve 31 years and confound liberals and conservatives alike in his doggedness to decide each case on its own, rather than in keeping with an overarching political philosophy. President Obama should nominate such a person and defy Sen. Mitch McConnell to refuse a hearing. If, however, President Obamas nominee is chosen as a predictably safe liberal vote, such a political choice is appropriately met by a political response from the Senate in not holding a vote, or in voting no. A nonpolitical appointee would be so welcome at this time in our country. President Obama can choose to do so; or he can choose to exclude himself from having any influence on who is the next Supreme Court Justice. Tom Campbell is a professor at the Fowler School of Law, Chapman University. He clerked for Supreme Court Justice Byron R. White. He served in Congress, the California Senate and was Director of Finance of California under Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. These views are his own. SANTA ANA A 50-year-old man was sentenced Friday to time served in jail and ordered to pay $16,000 in restitution to the family of a bicyclist he ran over and killed while driving a truck in Anaheim. Filemon Reynaga, of Sylmar, was convicted in August of felony hit-and- run causing death and a misdemeanor count of vehicular manslaughter stemming from the Oct. 30, 2013, crash at 125 E. Orangethorpe Ave., that killed 19-year-old Manuel Rodriguez. Orange County Superior Court Judge Patrick Donahue had earlier indicated he would hand down a two-year sentence, meaning Reynaga would have to do another five months, starting Friday, according to Deputy District Attorney Stephen Cornwell. Instead, however, Donahue let Reynaga go based on an appeal from the victims family, the prosecutor said. They said they didnt want (Renaga) to have to serve any more time because they didnt want his family to have to go through the way they missed their nephew, Cornwell said. The $16,000 in restitution is to help Rodriguezs family pay for his burial in Mexico, Cornwell said. It was really touching, Cornwell said of the mercy from Rodriguezs family. The family was going through so much pain, but it was really heartfelt and genuine the way they reached out to the defendants family. They felt a lot of compassion for what the family was going through missing their dad. The sentence was also structured so Donahue could put Reynaga on probation for three years, Cornwell said. If Reynaga does not pay the restitution within that time the judge may extend probation, the prosecutor said. If Reynaga otherwise violates the terms of probation he could face up to four years in prison, Cornwell said. Reynaga expressed some remorse for his crime to probation officials, Cornwell said. Reynaga was making deliveries when he pulled out of a driveway on Missile Way onto Orangethorpe about 5:35 a.m. and struck Rodriguez, according to Cornwell. A second vehicle also struck the victim, but unlike Reynaga, that driver remained on the scene to speak with authorities, the prosecutor said. The owner and general manager of the heating and air conditioning company that employed Reynaga told investigators that when he contacted the defendant about the collision, he was still making deliveries, Cornwell said. Reynagas boss told him to go back to the scene and wait for officers, the prosecutor said. A police inspection of the truck showed damage to the front end and fresh scuff marks beneath the cab and tires, Cornwell said. A broken fog light found at the scene matched where one was missing on the truck, he said. Reynagas attorney, Chaim Magnum, told jurors that either Mr. Reynaga didnt cause the accident or someone else hit this individual. He also suggested his client may not have been aware of striking the victim. A witness, Michael Villareal, testified that he was on his way to work when he saw a body in the road along with a banged up bicycle before he came across the truck with its hazard lights blinking. Villareal testified he pulled over to call 911, and then he saw the driver of the truck walk back toward the body. Villareal said he saw the company name Casco in red lettering on the side of the truck and noticed the driver get within a few feet of the body. The witness said was still on the phone with a 911 dispatcher and had lost sight of the truck driver when he heard tires screeching and looked up to see the victim get struck by a car. That driver got out of his vehicle, looked underneath to see the body stuck there, and then I saw him put his hands on his head, Villareal testified. In recent days, Hillary Clintons campaign has questioned Sen. Bernie Sanders commitment to civil rights, trying to cement her support among black voters who could be crucial in upcoming primaries such as South Carolinas. A lifeline has now arrived for the Sanders campaign, in the form of film more than half a century old. On Monday, Kartemquin Films uploaded footage of a young man, wearing thick glasses, surrounded by police officers who grabbed him by his arms and carried him away. The man looked as if he could be Sanders, so the company asked the public and Sanders to help confirm whether it was. On Friday, Michael Briggs, a spokesman for Sanders campaign, and Tad Devine, a senior adviser to the campaign, said Sanders had said it was him. What sealed it was the watch the man was wearing; Sanders recalled owning a watch like that, Devine said. Sanders, then a 21-year-old student at the University of Chicago, was arrested Aug. 12, 1963, while protesting segregation in Englewood, where Chicago Public Schools was planning to build a school. The footage was shot by Jerry Temaner, one of the co-founders of Kartemquin Films. Sanders was charged with resisting arrest. Cadet Austin Fu laughs at the weight of a firefighter's gear as Waail Sabri of the Brea Fire Department lets him try on his helmet and coat during Civil Servants Recognition Day at St. Catherine's Academy on Friday. Keith Matassa held his binoculars steady and zoomed in on a group of California sea lions resting on rocks at the mouth of the harbor jetty in the early morning. He scanned seven sea lions lounging on the rocks, a trio huddled by the waterline and others, including an adult with a pair of small pups, looking for any with an orange tag on their flippers. And then Matassa spotted what he hoped to find a sea lion with an orange tag on its left flipper, which showed it was male. He also saw numbers shaved into its silvery-brown coat. The pup likely born last year in June or July looked healthy. Red fecal matter on the rocks below indicated the animal was eating squid. Its good that hes here with the others, said Matassa, executive director of the Pacific Marine Mammal Center in Laguna Beach. It shows hes competing. Matassas trip aboard the mammal centers inflatable boat on Wednesday was the first of four excursions planned this year to check on the health of sea lions that have been rescued and released. The tags indicate the animal once stranded was rehabilitated at the Pacific Marine center or one of the four other centers along the coast from San Diego to Sausalito. The pup was likely among more than 4,400 sea lions that came ashore dying or dead last year, taxing response centers along Californias coast. Finding the tagged sea lion indicated to Matassa the rehabilitation was successful and the animal was making it in the wild. But if a sea lion is found on the beach stranded again, the tag provides valuable information about previous rehabilitation efforts and dates and the location of release. Going out and seeing what shape theyre in is important for us to know, he said. We want a better understanding of how sea lions are using their habitat. The Laguna Beach center is part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrations marine mammal stranding network in San Diego, Laguna Beach, Palos Verde, the Channel Islands and Sausalito. The center spends about $3,000 to rehabilitate each pup. Pacific Marine Mammal Center has rescued more than 60 sea lions since December. Across the network, there were 140 rescues in January and 115 so far this month, said Justin Greenman, an NOAA stranding coordinator. In January 2015, centers had rescued 373 sea lions. In February it was 1,078. In the nearly three-hour trip, Matassa and Rob Capobianco, a battalion chief for the Orange County Fire Authority and volunteer at the marine center, saw more than 20 sea lions off Dana Point and Laguna Beach. Although Matassa found only one with a tag, he said there could have been more that werent visible. This year he said he hopes to persuade NOAA officials to allow tagging of both flippers to help them more easily spot the released animals. NOAA and the National Marine Fisheries organize the trips as a way to determine which factors contribute to successful releases and to prevent the animals from stranding again. Additional trips later this year will track all of Orange Countys shoreline from San Clemente to Seal Beach. Information on how sea lions are coping after release is a key factor in developing protocols for ongoing rescues. Some animals are released and do fine. Others are rehabilitated only to strand again. Some strand time after time and eventually center staff decides the animal should be placed in captivity, Greenman said. In December, NOAA experts predicted that reports of record low weights among sea lion yearlings on the Channel Island breeding grounds and the effects of warmer ocean temperatures could again bring record strandings to California. So far the stranding numbers among the five marine mammal centers have been manageable. But Greenman expects those numbers to increase over the next two months. In comparison to last year, when sea lions strandings were 10 times higher than normal, this years numbers look like they will be twice as high as what would be expected in a normal year, Greenman said. Will we reach capacity sometime this season? Were preparing for that, he said. For 12 years, Matassa rehabilitated marine mammals along 3,400 miles of coastline in Maine. He said he never spotted a rehabilitated animal that had been tagged. To come here and go out in the Zodiac (inflatable boat) and re-sight just one animal means our efforts are working, he said. Contact the writer: 714-796-2254 or eritchie@ocregister.com or Twitter:@lagunaini When I was a smart-aleck college student, I had a sign on my dorm-room door that read: Reality is for those who cant handle drugs. Maybe the 2016 version should go like this: Bernie Sanders and socialism are for those who cant handle reality. Socialisms comeback is mystifying to most clear-thinking people. Do people who support Sanders and socialism walk around with shutters over their eyes so they dont have to observe the reality of what is happening in the world around them? The remarkable thing about the rise of Bernie Sanders is that his popularity runs in the counter-direction to how socialism is actually working. Liberals used to point to places like France, Italy, Greece and even Cuba as workers paradises that offer citizens lots of free things: child care, health care, higher education, food, housing, a guaranteed income with high minimum wages. Today they are basket cases and in many of these nations the government bonds are given junk status. Greece, of course, is modern socialism on steroids. The nation is in de facto bankruptcy because Athens cant cover the runaway costs of all the free things the government offers: pensions, paychecks, medical exams and welfare benefits. Fifty percent of young people dont have a job, and more than half of Greeks retire before age 60. The wagon is full, and no one is left to pull it. Greece isnt alone. Argentina, Italy, Spain, Portugal and France as well as the United States experimented with quasisocialist governments in the past decade. Almost all these countries are in recession or have anemic growth. The comeback of socialism and the obsession with redistributing income and wealth through confiscatory tax rates helps explain why so many of the wealth producers and employers are on strike. Who wants to invest when the political leaders are threatening to take most of the earnings away to spend on the common good? Bernie Sanders points to socialist success stories like Sweden and Denmark, but even they have been mugged by a reality that free things for those who dont work for it can be a recipe for disaster. Now they are moving away from pure-bred Bernie Sanders socialism as we move toward it. Sweden, for example, has cut its corporate income tax and eliminated its inheritance tax positive steps. As refugees pour into Sweden, the voters are wondering whether the nation can continue to provide so many free services without running out of money. Here, we have a progressive president who has presided over an economic mess, and now all the Democrats can say as voters rage against the cascade of false promises of hope and change is that we didnt go far enough in the socialist direction. Mr. Sanders proclaims that the economic system is rigged a talking point that Hillary Clinton is now shouting out herself. The rich arent rich because theyve achieved things as the narrative goes they are rich because theyve cheated. Its a perverse way to denigrate accomplishment, risk taking and work. If theres any rigging going on, its in Washington. Consider Hillary Clinton, whos never achieved much of anything outside of politics but has become a multimillionaire. The Heritage Foundation released its Economic Freedom of the World index last week. It should be required reading in every high school and college. Economic freedom is, of course, the opposite of socialism. Nations that are economically free have freer trade, smaller welfare states, lower taxes, a lighter hand with regulation, private ownership of the means of production and the rule of law. Countries that are economically free have five times the per capita average annual income ($55,000) of countries that are the least-free ($9,000). Not only that, economic freedom is also highly correlated with better education, improved health and a cleaner environment. The poor do better in nations that are economically free and worse in Bernie Sanders land. In short, countries that are economically free are healthy, wealthy and wise. This reality seems to be lost on those high on the drug of socialism. Stephen Moore is a Fox News contributor and an economic consultant with Freedom Works. BEIRUT In another setback to international efforts to resolve Syrias devastating civil war, peace talks are not to resume next week in Geneva, a U.N. envoy announced as Turkey on Friday intensified cross-border artillery shelling on areas dominated by Syrias U.S.-backed, mostly Kurdish militia. But reinforcing its image as a key force battling the Islamic State group on the ground, the predominantly Kurdish coalition, known as the Syria Democratic Forces, on Friday captured the town of Shaddadeh in the countrys northeast. The town was one of the biggest strongholds of the extremists. Meanwhile, Russia called for an urgent Security Council meeting over the deteriorating border situation. A statement posted on the Russian foreign ministrys website said it intends to submit a draft council resolution calling on Turkey to cease any actions that undermine Syrias sovereignty and territorial integrity. In comments to Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet, U.N. Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura, said the Syria talks wont resume in Geneva on Feb. 25 as he had previously hoped. He said that he cannot realistically get the parties in the Syrian conflict back to the table by then, but we intend to do so soon. Fighting has fighting intensified in Syria over the past weeks and a deadline to cease military activities has not been observed. The United States, Russia and other world powers agreed Feb. 12 on a deal calling for the ceasing of hostilities within a week, the delivery of urgently needed aid to besieged areas of Syria and a return to peace talks in Geneva. De Mistura halted the latest Syria talks on Feb. 3, because of major differences between the two sides, exacerbated by increased aerial bombings and a wide military offensive by Syrian troops and their allies under the cover of Russian airstrikes. In an interview published late Thursday on the Swedish dailys website, he said, We need real talks about peace, not just talks about talks. En route to Jordan for talks about Syria and other issues, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Friday he is still hopeful about a ceasefire and peace talks for Syria, even though Geneva talks will not resume next week. Kerry said tough and complex issues remain and there is more work to do to resolve them. He added that the U.S. wants the process to be sustainable so that hostilities can be halted. In recent weeks, Syrian government forces captured dozens of villages and towns across the country while the SDF evicted opposition fighters and militants from areas near the border with Turkey in Aleppo province. Ankara strongly opposes the SDF, which is composed mostly of Kurdish fighters and has become one of the most effective forces on the ground fighting the Islamic State group. The International Committee of the Red Cross expressed deep alarm, over the situation Aleppo, saying the intensified fighting there has forced 70,000 people to flee their homes and left many without water or electricity. ICRC said in a statement Friday that two hospitals hit earlier this week in Aleppo left them out of service. The clinics had provided thousands of consultations, surgeries and delivered hundreds of babies per month. The Red Cross also said the remaining hospitals that work in the area are struggling to function. In yet another blow, international rights group Amnesty International said Turkish authorities have denied entry to wounded Syrian civilians in need of immediate medical care after they fled the intense bombardment of the Aleppo countryside over the past two weeks. Amnesty said it has also documented how Turkish security forces have shot and wounded civilians, including children, who out of desperation have attempted to cross the border unofficially with the help of smugglers. People we spoke to painted a tragic picture of the desperate situation for the civilians who remain trapped between daily airstrikes and dire humanitarian conditions, said Tirana Hassan, Crisis Response Director at Amnesty International. Turkeys highly selective practice is appalling only severely injured people are allowed entry to seek medical treatment while everyone else fleeing the violence is left unprotected. Amnesty said the border must remain open to all those fleeing conflict in Syria especially the injured and sick civilians being targeted by daily airstrikes on their homes, hospitals, and schools. Earlier Friday, a rebel commander in the northwestern province of Idlib said Turkey was facilitating the movement of other rebel factions specifically in order to weaken the SDF. The commander, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to reveal military secrets, said a mixed coalition of rebel fighters were permitted to pass into Turkey and enter Syria again in order to prevent the city of Azaz from falling into SDF hands. Azaz is currently held by Turkish-backed rebel factions and is surrounded by both SDF forces and Islamic State group fighters. SDF gains in the area south of Azaz triggered several days of Turkish shelling, mainly targeting areas recently captured by the group. On Thursday night, Turkish troops intensified the shelling with ongoing barrages that lasted until early Friday. An SDF official said Turkish troops were bombing their positions in border areas, inflicting casualties among civilians. Ahmad al-Omar said the shelling hit several areas, including the town of Jandairis on Friday. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the shelling on areas on northern Syria lasted seven hours, killing two and wounding several people. The SDF is dominated by the main Kurdish militia known as YPG. Turkey blames both the YPG and its own domestic Kurdish rebels for Wednesdays bomb attack in Ankara that killed 28 people. Late Friday, the Turkey-based Kurdistan Freedom Falcons an offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK claimed responsibility for the Ankara attack. In Syria, the taking of Shaddadeh in the northeastern province of Hassakeh from the IS hands a two-day SDF offensive in the area, according to the Observatory and SDF spokesman Talal Sillo. The towns capture is a blow to the Islamic State and would further boost the SDF, which sees the extremist IS group as its primary enemy on the battlefield in Syrias complex and multi-layered civil war. Sillo said SDF cut all supply lines to Shaddadeh, which was surrounded from all sides, before storming it. He said the mostly Kurdish forces lost six fighters and claimed that dozens of bodies of killed IS fighters were strewn on the ground in villages and roads near the town. We have fully liberated Shaddadeh Sillo said by telephone from northern Syria. BEIRUT The main Syrian opposition group said Saturday it is ready in principle to implement a provisional truce, slamming Russia and the Syrian government after a deadline set for a temporary cessation of hostilities passed. The Saudi-backed group, known as the High Negotiations Committee, said any potential truce would require the Syrian government to first lift blockades from rebel-held communities and release thousands of detainees. The statement followed a meeting among opposition groups held in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, on Saturday to discuss the situation after the passing of a deadline set by world powers, including Russia and the U.S. A Feb. 12 meeting in Munich of 18 nations supporting opposing sides in Syrias five-year civil war agreed to bring about a cessation of hostilities within a week to allow for peace talks to resume in Geneva. But the truce never took hold amid intense fighting, including a massive Russian-backed government offensive near the Turkish border. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry spoke with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Saturday to discuss the progress made by two U.N. task forces meeting in Geneva this week to discuss humanitarian assistance and a cessation of hostilities, according to State Department spokesman John Kirby. Kerry expressed his hope that a full cessation of hostilities could be achieved in the shortest time frame possible, Kirby said. The HNC said any truce must include all parties to the conflict, notably Russia and Iran, key supporters of President Bashar Assads government. Russia has said that it would continue to strike terrorists in Syria even during a cease-fire. Saudi Arabias foreign minister, meanwhile, said he favors equipping Syrian rebels with surface-to-air missiles. The U.S. has long opposed equipping rebels with such weapons, fearing they could end up in the hands of extremist groups, which could potentially use them to shoot down passenger planes. SHENSHAN VILLAGE, China Sharing snacks with a ruddy-faced farming couple as a portrait of Mao Zedong presides from their mantel. Pounding rice into a doughy holiday treat with a giant wooden mallet. Warmly shaking hands with an elderly woman as an enthusiastic crowd gathers. Those were some of the images of President Xi Jinping as he swept into this village for his annual Lunar New Year pilgrimage to meet with ordinary Chinese. The bucolic scenes, shown on Chinese state television, cast Xi as a paternal leader in the footsteps of Mao, at home with the rustic virtues that once made this mountainous region of southeast China a birthplace of the Communist Partys rural revolution. But those images conflict with contemporary reality here. Within days, this struggling community of 250 souls will be nearly empty. Like an increasing number of villages across China, most of its people have left to find work or attend school elsewhere, returning to their ancestral home only for the New Year holidays. The rest of the year, only 50 or so people live here, most of them elderly, usually fending for themselves. Our village is an empty nest village, said Xiong Jifu, 63, a retired village bookkeeper, who said he lives alone while his son works 250 miles away. This is a very, very hard problem. If you dont go out to work, theres no income for the family. If you all leave, theres nobody left in the village. The contrast between the lyrical village life as seen on TV and the realities of rural social fragmentation is stark, even in this hamlet that was handpicked to greet Chinas top leader. It is a pattern repeated across much of China, where many rural parents, children and grandparents often live scattered at great distances. Basically, rural society is in a state of collapse. Villagers come together only for the New Year, said Zhang Ming, a historian at Renmin University in Beijing who has written widely about rural issues and politics. Villages have become empty shells. While Communist Party leaders rural pilgrimages every Lunar New Year holiday are a staple of party propaganda, Chinas recent economic slowdown has made rural life even more difficult, magnifying the mismatch between image and reality. Xis hourlong visit was partly to promote his promises to lift more people out of poverty through local relief programs. But villages like this one, whose terraced rice fields are crumbling from neglect, depend on the economy far beyond its borders. Remittances from the men and women who work in factories and menial jobs far away pay for new homes, televisions, refrigerators and other improvements here. Villagers said that Chinas slowed growth, especially in manufacturing and building, had hurt their confidence in the future. Factory shutdowns are a concern, many said. Were worried about the factories, said Peng Qinglian, a 43-year-old resident. He said he was jobless for six months last year when the auto-parts factory where he worked in southern China closed. The pressure was intense. I had to find work, and it was hard for month after month. The sunny portrayal of a village in crisis was just one of the ways Xis visit to this part of China was cast and choreographed to fit his zealous ideological agenda. The village sits in the Jinggangshan region of Jiangxi province, a place saturated with the communist traditions that Xi has sought to revive. Jinggangshan was a base for embattled revolutionaries in the 1920s and 1930s, and party history credits it as the birthplace of Maos path to rural revolution while airbrushing out the gruesome purges that tore apart the Jinggangshan uprising in the early 1930s. Until Xis visit this month, Shenshan (the name means spirit mountain) Village nestled in obscurity in the hills above the monuments venerating Mao and the revolution. The village, reached by a one-lane concrete road winding 2 miles through bamboo and trees, was unknown even to many residents of the region. Still, officials took care to ensure that Xis visit was free of any discord. About a week before he arrived, security officers encamped here to check homes, weed out troublemakers, and, according to several villagers, tell people not to say anything irresponsible to an unnamed senior leader who would soon visit. We were told not to talk about bad things, said Wu Guilan, a sprightly 67-year-old woman. We wouldnt dare say anything like that anyway. I was afraid it would look bad to say something about our own problems in front of so many people. One problem that she did not mention, for instance, was how the courts had failed to deliver promised compensation to her son after his wife was killed by a reckless driver in 2013. But we wouldnt dare raise our personal problems, said the son, Luo Linhui. We cant spoil a leaders visit. Officials also blocked residents of the back part of the village, where dozens of members of the Hakka ethnic minority live, from glimpsing Xi, residents said. The Hakka have long had tensions with other people in this region, and there have been feuds over land and forests. There was to be no risk of Xi seeing any such flare-ups. We werent allowed to go to see him, said Lai Yuanlong, a 40-year-old Hakka farmer, leaning over a smoky wood fire in his drafty home. Nobody here was on the list. But hes also our leader. To be sure, many villagers said they admired Xi, especially for his stinging campaign against corruption and recent promises to eradicate poverty. Hes the emperor of 1.3 billion people, said Xiong, the retired bookkeeper. Without him, the problem of corruption would have kept getting worse and worse. After Xis visit, officials promised to expand the road into the village to lure more visitors. Some tourists, led by guides excitedly recounting Papa Xis visit, have already appeared. But Luo Lingeng, a worker in a ceramics factory who had the privilege of briefly chatting with Xi about his life, said Shenshan might become a ghost village before it benefits from its new fame and the attention of local officials. Now everyone knows about Shenshan Village, he said. But soon almost nobody will be here. Coronageddon has arrived. The weekends 55-hour closure of the 91 in Corona began as planned at 9 p.m. Friday. All lanes were to be shut down by 11 p.m. and the main connection between Orange and Riverside counties is expected to be open by 4 a.m. Monday. Patterned after the so-called Carmageddon all-weekend closure of I-405 in Los Angeles in 2011, officials will shut all lanes of the 91 in both directions from I-15 to the 71. The shutdown affects every interchange in the 6-mile stretch. Detours will direct motorists north on I-15 and the 71 to the 60. Officials say drivers could face delays of three to four hours if they venture near the closure zone. Matt Olsen, a west Corona resident who coordinates a Facebook chat page about traffic, said the closure started smoothly, but it remains to be seen what the rest of the weekend will bring. I think Saturday after 11a.m. will be the real measure, Olsen said. That will certainly dictate whether I plan outings on Sunday. For now, it appears to me that the outreach effort namely the persistent messaging on the freeway signs across four counties has made a significant impact. Certainly, Olsen said, his Orange County friends have seen them. And even to the point that they have been lecturing him. My co-workers in O.C. cited the signage several times and often felt the need to inform me of what would be happening this weekend, he said. Manicurists working Friday night at a Vietnamese nail salon on McKinley Street in Corona applauded the weekend closure. With all the houses being built, the area needs more lanes as well as exits and entrances onto the 91, said Julan Chung, manager of Nail Expo in Country Side Center. Right now, were stuck a little bit. But in the future, its better, she said. Chung drives to the salon each day from Orange County and said her commute can turn from one hour into two if theres an crash on 91, so she favors the construction. An hour before the closure, business was already slower than normal at Countryside Market Liquor, two doors down from Nail Expo. Employee David Hernandez, 37, of Riverside said sales are likely to drop all weekend because the eastbound McKinley Street exit will be closed. A lot customers stop by on their way home from Orange County or Corona. Theyll be taking some other route to get home, he said as people bought cigarettes and lottery tickets. Abe Dahi, who lives in Corona and commutes weekdays via the 91 to his jewelry design job in Mission Viejo, was relaxing with at a shop off Green River Road with a friend Friday evening. Dahi said he was glad the closure is limited to the weekend, when hes off. But his friend, Yousif Shar of Corona, has an appointment in Anaheim today that he cant cancel. So hes hoping Green River wont be too backed up as he heads west around the closure zone. The shutdown is part of a massive, $1.4 billion makeover, which is adding toll lanes, all-purpose lanes and sweeping connector ramps. The project is on schedule, and lanes could open in early 2017. The Riverside County Transportation Commission, which is financing and directing the project, is looking to complete three tasks at once: demolishing the west side of Maple Street bridge, erecting a support structure over the freeway to allow for building a ramp from Maple to the westbound 91, and paving eastbound lanes at I-15. Staff writers Gabriel Rizk and Landon Negri contributed to this report. Fake currency- More arrests from Malda, West Bengal India oi-Vicky By Vicky Malda, Feb 20: The National Investigation Agency has arrested three persons on charges that they were smuggling Fake Indian Currency Notes at West Bengal. While in the first operation the NIA arrested Anikul and his associate, in another operation a person called Jahir Shailh was picked up. All the arrests were made at Malda in West Bengal.Information was received that 2 persons are coming to a particular location riding on Red Colour Bajaj Discover bike which was intercepted. NIA along with Murshidabad police conducted the operation. Cash amount of 2.49 Lac seized from their possession. 02 mobile phones were also seized from their possession. NIA had earlier obtained Non Bailable Warrants already against them. The two were arrested for their involvement in the case related to seizure of 64.5 Lac FICN on Indo-Bangladesh border last year, in which NIA had already arrested 2 persons viz. -Barkat Ali and Dalim from Malda. In another operation, the NIA arrested Jahir Shaikh from Malda and seized Rs. 8.94 Lakh of Fake Indian currency. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Saturday, February 20, 2016, 11:10 [IST] JNU row: 800 phone calls relating to Afzal Guru event under scanner India oi-Vicky New Delhi, Feb 20: Where is Umar Khalid, the student alleged to have made 800 calls to Kashmir and Bangladesh? Khalid a student in the JNU is absconding and the Delhi police say that he was one of the organisers of the Afzal Guru event at the JNU. The Delhi police even detained a journalist and questioned him about the whereabouts of Khalid. The question about him making 800 calls is not being confirmed by anyone in the Delhi police. When asked officials informed that there is no confirmation about the calls, but what they are sure of is that he is the one who had played a lead role in organising the protest at the JNU. We need to question him Delhi police officials say that his name had cropped up during the questioning of Kanaihya Kumar, the JNU student union leader who is facing sedition charges. Kumar has applied for bail in the Delhi High Court and the hearing is likely to come up next week. Coming back to Khalid, the Delhi police say that there is evidence to suggest that he was one of the organisers of the event. However about the 800 calls that has been reported in a section of the media, there is no confirmation and it is under investigation. Meanwhile Khalid's father, S Q R Ilyas says that his son is innocent (My son is not a traitor, says father of Umer Khalid, alleged organiser of Afzal Guru event). He told OneIndia that he has no clue where his son is. He however said that now with this case going on he has been getting threat calls. The police have been probing the complaint about Ilyas getting a threat call. They said that it was a call made using the VoIP. The police have also booked a case of criminal intimidation under Section 506 of the Indian Penal Code. OneIndia News JU woman student gets death threat for backing Kanhaiya Kumar India oi-PTI Kolkata, Feb 19: A Jadavpur University student today visited the cyber crime section of the Kolkata Police to complaint that unknown right wing supporters have been threatening her with dire consequence on Facebook as she has joined a protest demanding release of arrested JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar. Triparna Sarkar, an Arts faculty student of Jadavpur University, had lodged a complaint with Jadavpur police station yesterday regarding the threat. She was asked by the police to meet the cyber crime section with a copy of the complaint. "Cyber crime section officers have taken my complaint. I have submitted screen shots of my Facebook account and links to those groups who have been threatening me since yesterday. Officers said they will take quick action," Sarkar told PTI. Sarkar, a member of Arts faculty students union, said threats continue to appear on her Facebook wall even after lodging complaint with the police. The threats began from Tuesday night when a protest rally of JU students was organised and more threat messages were posted on her Facebook wall the next day, she alleged. "I did not join the protest rally to support any kind of secession nor I questioned why Afzal Guru was hanged. I have full trust in the Constitution of my country and I don't know why I am being called anti-national. I want the police to ensure my security," she said. Asked if she was part of any right wing forum that she claims are threatening her, she said she does not know them and "I don't believe they know me personally." Asked if she would close her Facebook account, she said she will not as "I have done nothing wrong". "We have received a complaint from Triparna Sarkar. We are looking into it," a cyber crime section officer said. PTI Arvind Kejriwal concerned over Jat stir; talks to Rajnath, Haryana CM India oi-IANS By Ians English New Delhi, Feb 20: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday expressed concern over the ongoing Jat agitation in Haryana and discussed the issue with Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar. The Delhi chief minister had said in a tweet that he is worried about water supply to the national capital. Later, in a series of tweets, Kejriwal said both Singh and Khattar have assured him that the army is being sent to Munak canal, which supplies water to south Delhi. "Spoke to Rajnath ji also and apprised him of grave situation. He has assured that army is being sent to Munak canal," the Delhi chief minister tweeted. Spoke to Rajnath ji also and apprised him of grave situation. He has assured that army is being sent to munak canal Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) February 20, 2016 Kejriwal also spoke to Khattar, who gave a similar assurance. "He (Khattar) has assured that he will immediately send army to ensure safety of Munak canal," Kejriwal said. Spoke to Haryana CM. He has assured that he will immediately send army to ensure safety of munak canal Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) February 20, 2016 Haryana has been on boil with Jat community agitating demanding reservations in government jobs and educational institutions. In worst hit Rohtak, looting and arson continued in the town through Friday night with unruly mobs targeting malls, shops and other buildings and many of them were set on fire. IANS Kokhrajar attack- NIA continues crackdown on NDFB(S) militants India oi-Vicky By Vicky New Delhi, Feb 20: Continuing its crackdown on the cadres of the dreaded NDFB(S) operating in North East, the NIA has told a court that it needs to further investigate the role of these operatives. The NIA has filed a supplementary chargesheet naming three persons who were behind the horrific killing of 30 adivasis at Assam. On December 23 2014, cadres of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (Songbijit faction) had killed 30 adivasis including women and children. While filing a supplementary chargesheet, the NIA's Guwahati branch said that the matter needed to be investigated further. The chargesheet named three persons- Ananta Swagiary, Gojen Narzary and Julius Basumatary. All have been charged under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act and the arms act apart from section under the Indian Penal Code. All the charged sheeted accused persons were hard-core members of banned terrorist organization, National Democratic Front of Bodoland (Songbijit faction) and they had active role in the terrorist attack, the NIA says. Will probe further: The case was registered after the horrifying terrorist attack on 23.12.2014 by NDFB(S) militants upon innocent people of Adivasi/Santhal community at Sonajuli village under Biswanath Chariali Police Station, Assam, resulting in death of 30 (Thirty) villagers including women and children and injuring four others. The killings and injuries resulted from indiscriminate firing with sophisticated weapons. The National Investigation Agency during the course of investigation has been able to collect evidences on the basis of field investigation as well as technical and forensic evidences, which have been made use of in the chargesheet submitted in the NIA, Special Court, Guwahati. The NIA has opted to continue further investigation of the case, since certain hard-core NDFB(S) cadres are yet to be apprehended. Meanwhile in another case the NIA has arrested Sibiary @ Sansuma @ Daoka Basumatary, a trained cadre of National Democratic Front of Bodoland (Songbijit faction) at Guwahati in connection with the same case. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Saturday, February 20, 2016, 11:06 [IST] Pathankot attack: Pak will book Masood Azhar as more evidence crops up India oi-Vicky New Delhi, Feb 20: Pakistan has been slow when it comes to the investigation into the Pathankot attack. On Friday an FIR was filed against unknown persons in Pakistan. However the name of Maulana Masood Azhar was not mentioned. Following the filing of the FIR, Pakistan officials have been in touch with then National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and have told him that Azhar has been questioned and as and when evidence crops up, his name would be included. Doval was also told that a team of Pakistan investigators would visit India in March. They would visit Pathankot and also meet with officials of the National Investigation Agency. This would be an important exercise as it would help agencies of both countries to gather information. Pakistan has filed a case of murder, attempt to murder. punishment for acts of terror and abetment. The NSA was informed that the probe is being carried out in the right direction. The NSA was assured that around 20 persons have been detained in Pakistan for questioning. Further several officers of the Jaish-e-Mohammad have been sealed and Maulana Masood Azhar also has been questioned. Pakistan has made it clear to India that it is not shielding anyone. The country however added that when evidence crops up, they will include the name of Azhar in the case. Pakistan has been probing the case base on the information that India has shared. They are still verifying the numbers India has shared to find out if it belonged to Jaish-e-Mohammad operatives. Pakistan's investigation team led by Rai Tahir, Inspector General of Police and five other officers will visit India in March. OneIndia News Prashant Kishor claims Nitish Kumar in touch with BJP says don't be surprised if he joins hands with it again Rape charge on RJD MLA: BJP mocks Nitish's 'rule of law' claim India oi-PTI Patna, Feb 20: With suspended RJD MLA Raj Ballabh Yadav yet to be nabbed 10 days after an arrest order was issued against him in a case of alleged rape of a minor girl, the BJP today questioned Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's claims of 'rule of law' in the state. "Even after lapse of 10 days, neither the MLA nor anybody else has been arrested. The CM who used 'jumla' like 'where will he (the MLA) run as rule of law prevails in the state' should answer under whose pressure he remains at large?" senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi asked. On Monday last the CM had made the "rule of law" comment after his 'Janata ke Darbar me Mukhya Mantri' programme. In a blistering attack on Kumar, Sushil Modi described him as a "bechara mukhya mantri (helpless CM)" who does not have any control over ruling coalition legislators. "The 'rule of law' claim of the CM is nothing but a 'jumla'," he added. Earlier today a Biharsharif court rejected an anticipatory bail petition of the MLA, who the RJD has suspended from the party already. Sushil Modi, leader of opposition in Legislative Council, said, "RJD President of Nalanda Mahendra Yadav had made a public announcement that Raj Bhallabh Yadav will surrender on February 18. RJD MLA Prakash Bir and other legislators made statements in favour of Nawada MLA, but why police did not take any action against them?" The MLA's son was detained yesterday but was let off from police station itself. "If the outgoing SP of Nalanda (Vivekanand) was helping the accused due to which he has been removed then is the punishment for him can only be a transfer?" he asked. "Who is the white-collared man who is trying to broker a compromise between the victim girl's family and the MLA and why is he not arrested by the police?" he asked. PTI At UNSC, US calls on world to tell Russia to stop its nuclear threats 60 injured American soldiers to get new penises in first-ever transplants in US International oi-Shubham Baltimore, Feb 20: Doctors will give 60 soldiers new penises in the US in the country's first-ever transplants of this kind, a report in Daily Mail has said. The first patient lost a major part of his organ and sustained serious groin injuries in an explosion while reportedly serving in Afghanistan, the report said. He was, however, not named. Surgeons at John Hopkins Hospital here will carry out the surgery, the first of its kind in an American hospital. The surgeons hoped that an organ from a man who died recently will be functional in urination and sex. Following it, dozens of other injured American veterans will undergo the surgery so that they can plan families, the report said. It has been found that loss of the penis emotionally shatters the injured soldiers since it affects their sense of manhood and put men aspiring to be fathers in depression, the Daily Mail report added. There have been two cases of penis transplants in the world till date. The first one in China in 2006 was not successful but the second one held in South Africa last year was successful and it gave hope for the future. Oneindia News EU 'did not believe' US warnings over Russian invasion David Cameron wins deal for 'special status' in EU International oi-PTI Brussels, Feb 20: British Prime Minister David Cameron has sealed a deal for "special status" in the EU after a marathon summit, paving the way for him to campaign to stay in the bloc in a historic referendum. The unanimous agreement came after two days and nights of intense negotiations in Brussels, despite European leaders digging in their heels on all the major reforms Cameron sought. The British premier will hold an emergency cabinet meeting today as he embarks on the difficult process of selling the deal at home ahead of the referendum, expected on June 23. "I've negotiated a deal to give the UK special status in the European Union," Cameron told a press conference. "I will be campaigning with all my heart and soul to persuade the British people to remain in the reformed European Union that we have secured today." He said the deal contained a seven-year "emergency brake" on welfare payments for EU migrants and meant Britain would be "permanently out of ever closer union". While Britain's place in the EU now rests in the hands of the British public, the deal removes one major headache for the bloc as it faces the biggest migration crisis in Europe's history. EU president Donald Tusk - the man who brokered the deal - said the "unanimous" agreement "strengthens Britain's special status in the EU" and was "legally binding and irreversible". German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Europe's most powerful leader, said the accord was a "fair compromise". "I do not think that we gave too much to Great Britain," she said. French President Francois Hollande, meanwhile, insisted that the British deal contained "no exceptions to the rules" of the EU. Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite, the first to break the news of the agreement, tweeted: "Drama over." Yet the drama is only just beginning for Cameron, as he battles eurosceptic members of his own Conservative Party and a hostile popular media. Britain's newspapers went to press shortly before the deal was officially announced, and most of today's editions focussed on the expected announcement that Cameron's long-time ally Michael Gove was to support a "Brexit". The Guardian, Daily Telegraph, and Independent all carried front-page pictures of the former education secretary while the eurosceptic Daily Express ran with headline: "Gove to lead us out of EU." PTI D-Syndicate raises its ugly head again: This time on the target are Hindu leaders 4 Pak addresses, 25 alias, 4 passports: Here's all on Dawood Ibrahim, terrorist on NIA radar Dawoods nephew held in US for narcoterrorism International oi-Jagriti Washington, Feb 20: India's most wanted don Dawood Ibrahim's nephew has been arrested by authorities in US for his involvement in narcoterrorism, media reported. According to reports, 36-years-old Sohail Kaskar,alias Ali Danish, is elder son of Dawood's deceased brother Noora. If convicted Kaskar can face a maximum sentence of life in jail and a mandatory minim-um term of 25 years in prison. Sohail and the Pakistani nationals, identified as Pirzada Hameed Chisti, alias Benny, and Abdul Wahab Chisti, alias Angel, were arrested in Spain in June 2014 on the request of the US government. Government rubbishes Azam Khan's claim of PM Modi, Dawood meet After extradition, they were taken into custody by the DEA's New York Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Strike Force. Kaskar and two of his Pakistani associates conspired to import heroin into the US, to distribute the drug, and to support Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), reported the Times of India. The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People's Army is a guerrilla movement involved in the continuing Colombian armed conflict since 1964. OneIndia News Frozen ocean caused Pluto's moon to stretch like 'Hulk': NASA International oi-PTI Washington, Feb 20: Pluto's largest moon Charon once had a subsurface ocean which has frozen long ago and expanded, pushing and stretching the natural satellite's surface like 'Hulk' while causing massive fractures, a new NASA image has shown. The new image from NASA's New Horizons spacecraft suggest that Charon's tectonic landscape shows that, somehow, the moon expanded in its past, and like the fictional superhero Bruce Banner tearing his shirt as he becomes the Incredible Hulk Charon's surface fractured as it stretched, researchers said. The side of Pluto's largest moon viewed by NASA's passing New Horizons in July 2015 is characterised by a system of "pull apart" tectonic faults, which are expressed as ridges, scarps and valleys the latter sometimes reaching more than 6.5 kilometres deep. The outer layer of Charon is primarily water ice. This layer was kept warm when Charon was young by heat provided by the decay of radioactive elements, as well as Charon's own internal heat formation. Scientists said Charon could have been warm enough to cause the water ice to melt deep down, creating a subsurface ocean. However, as Charon cooled over time, this ocean would have frozen and expanded (as happens when water freezes), lifting the outermost layers of the moon and producing the massive chasms we see today. The image released by NASA shows part of the feature informally named Serenity Chasma, part of a vast equatorial belt of chasms on Charon. This system of faults and fractures runs at least 1,800 kilometres long and in places there are chasms 7.5 kilometres deep. By comparison, the Grand Canyon is 446 kilometres long and just over 1.6 kilometres deep. Using measurements of shape of this feature, scientists suggest that Charon's water ice layer may have been at least partially liquid in its early history, and has since refrozen. The image was obtained by the Long-Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) on the New Horizons spacecraft. The image resolution is about 394 meters per pixel. It measures 386 kilometres long and 175 kilometres wide. It was obtained at a range of approximately 78,700 kilometres from Charon, about an hour and 40 minutes before New Horizons' closest approach to Charon on July 14 last year. PTI Prosecutions story may be attractive but should be backed by evidence IS commander behind Tunisia attacks likely killed in US strike International oi-PTI Washington, Feb 20: A US air strike targeting ISIS training camp in Libya likely killed a senior militant who was linked to two major attacks in Tunisia last year in which nearly 60 people lost their lives, the Pentagon said. ISIS operative Noureddine Chouchane alias Sabir, a Tunisian national and senior facilitator of the group in Libya, likely killed in the attack. The US military conducted the air strike in Libya's Sabratha and destroyed an ISIS training camp. Chouchane was associated with the training camp which was wiped out in the air strike, Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook said. "Destruction of the camp and Chouchane's removal will eliminate an experienced facilitator and is expected to have an immediate impact on ISIL's ability to facilitate its activities in Libya, including recruiting new ISIL members, establishing bases in Libya, and potentially planning external attacks on US interests in the region," Cook said. ISIS chief Baghdadi 'surfaces' after 18 months: Report In May 2015, Tunisian authorities named Chouchane as a suspect in the March 18, 2015, deadly attack on the Bardo Museum in Tunis. Chouchane was also linked to June's hotel attack in Sousse, which killed 38 people, and the massacre that killed 22 people at the Bardo National Museum in Tunis. "We are assessing the results of the operation and will provide additional information as and when appropriate," Cook said, adding the strike demonstrates the US will go after ISIS whenever it is necessary, using the full range of tools at our disposal. PTI For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Saturday, February 20, 2016, 9:05 [IST] Security at all time high as Lashkar, JeM look to strike at heartland Jaish-e-Mohammed training to carry out underwater attack, forces on alert: Navy chief Death keeps no calendar: The writing on the truck that JeM terrorists came in JeM inducts retired defence personnel to attack India: Report International oi-Jagriti New Delhi, Feb 20: If reports are to be believed then terror group Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) based in Pakistan has started inducting retired defence personnel in its camp to conduct attack military assets in India. This has been emerged in latest intelligence inputs. According to Zee News, JeM, led by Maulana Masood Azhar, the alleged mastermind of deadly Pathankot attack, has come up with a plan to recruit retired Pakistani army officials to targets defence installations in India. This alert has come when an FIR against JeM chief Maulana Masood Azhar has been recommended by a Pakistani panel in connection with Pathankot attack. Pathankot strike: India 'disappointed' as Pak FIR omits JeM, Masood Azhar names Authorities in Pakistan lodged an FIR against unknown persons into the Pathankot terror attack case. Despite recommendation, Pakistani police did not mention the names of JeM, its chief in the FIR. The Indain air base in Pathankot was attacked on 2 January 2016. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Saturday, February 20, 2016, 9:44 [IST] My party-BJP have different ideologies but common aim of uplifting poor: Nepal ex-PM Prachanda Former Nepal PM says removed from office for including Kalapani Main aim of India visit to clear misunderstandings: Nepal PM International oi-IANS By Ians English New Delhi, Feb 20: Nepal Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli on Saturday said the relations of his country with India were very important, and he was here to clear "misunderstandings" that surfaced in the recent past. "The main mission of my visit is to clear misunderstandings that surfaced in the last few months and to take back our relations to the same level of enthusiasm when Modi ji visited Nepal in August 2014," Oli said at a joint press conference with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Hyderabad House here. The first prime minister of Nepal to visit India after the new Constitution came into being in the Himalayan country, Oli said the two countries have a lot in common and their relations were beyond formality. He thanked India for all the support it provided to Nepal over the years for its developmental work in various fields. Oli thanked Modi for providing spontaneous support to Nepal after the earthquake in April last year that killed 8,800 people and destroyed property worth crores. "The support and solidarity shown by our friends from India turns the heads of Nepalese people," he said. "We are equally appreciate of the support of India in our reconstruction drive." Earlier in the day, the two prime ministers signed nine agreements following delegation-level talks. IANS Fact Check: Old video from Poland showing train of lights shared as one from UP Outrage over polish magazines ant-migrant cover page International oi-Jagriti London, Feb 20: A polish magazine has sparked controversy with its latest cover page. It has triggered a storm of criticism on social media. The weekly magazine wSieci (The Network) criticised for its anti-migrant cover titled "The Islamic rape of Europe". The cover page features a woman drapped in European Union flag being groped and sexually assaulted by a group of men. The cover page refers the rape and sexual assault of hundreds of women in the German city of Cologne on New Year's Eve. Most of those arrested in connection with the attacks were recent migrants from north Africa. Several migrants attacked by mob in Cologne: German police wSieci is known for its controversial front covers, one depicting Angela Merkel as Mother Teresa and another portraying their then Prime Minister Ewa Kopacz wearing a burqa and carrying bombs. One is from a centre-right mainstream Australian newspaper; the other is a far right Polish magazine. pic.twitter.com/QrWHuPcAb8 Evan Smith (@Hatfulofhistory) February 20, 2016 Polish magazine wSieci shockingly graphic article, "Islamic rape of Europe" draws attention https://t.co/KMS2lDLUn1 pic.twitter.com/kgzmV609oE June151775 (@InviolableOne) February 17, 2016 At least there's one unafraid European publication trying to wake people up. https://t.co/VXZIqo6A8J Joe Walsh (@WalshFreedom) February 17, 2016 OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Saturday, February 20, 2016, 15:58 [IST] Golden intelligence rule: When your cover is blown, you are on your own Spoke in Punjabi dialect, posed as Army men, the mystery behind the missing Innova After a brief hysteria, Pakistan dials down the aggression Pathankot attack: Pakistani probe team likely to visit India in March International oi-Jagriti Islamabad, Feb 20: A six-member investigation team constituted by Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is likely to visit India next month. The date of the visit is yet to be decided, reported Dawn online citing a senior diplomat as saying. The investigation team will visit the Pathankot attack to collect evidence related to Indian claim that the terrorist strike was planned in Pakistan and executed by a group of four persons who had crossed the border into Pathankot. They will also meet National Investigating Agency (NIA) investigating the attack. At least seven soldiers martyred and six terrorists were killed in the predawn attack on January 2 at the air force base in Pathankot. India on Wednesday expressed disappointment that neither terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed nor its chief Masood Azhar were named in an FIR registered in Pakistan to probe the Pathankot terror strike. Pathankot strike: India 'disappointed' as Pak FIR omits JeM, Masood Azhar names The FIR has been registered at the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) in Gujranwala in the Pakistan's Punjab province. OneIndia News South Sudan journalist freed after months held without charge International oi-PTI Juba, Feb 20: South Sudanese security forces have released a journalist held for two months without charge, who had criticised the government's handling of a two-year civil war, reports said today. The arrest of Joseph Afandy in December sparked condemnation from rights groups including Amnesty International and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). Colleagues and friends told Juba's Eye Radio and Radio Tamazuj that Afandy was now home. Rights groups have accused the security forces of cracking down on journalists, stifling debate on how to end a civil war in which tens of thousands of people have been killed since December 2013. Seven journalists were killed last year while covering the conflict. Some were caught up in the fighting but a reporter was also shot in August in an apparently targeted attack. International press freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders ranks South Sudan as the 125th worst nation out of 180. PTI Stop charging Kanhaiya with sedition: HRW International oi-PTI Washington, Feb 19: A top American human rights body today asked Indian authorities to stop charging peaceful activists, including JNU students' union leader Kanhaiya Kumar, with sedition. The Indian authorities should immediately drop all charges that violate the right to free expression, and fully investigate the attack inside the court and fairly prosecute those responsible, including any ruling party supporters, Human Rights Watch said. "The BJP government seems eager to punish peaceful speech but less willing to investigate supporters who commit violence in the name of nationalism," alleged Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "The authorities not only need to find out why BJP supporters were apparently involved in an assault inside a court, but also why the police did nothing," she said. HRW said the case has highlighted the urgent need for India's parliament to repeal the countrys sedition law. Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code prohibits any words, spoken or written, or any signs or visible representation that can cause "hatred or contempt, or excites or attempts to excite disaffection," toward the government. The Supreme Court has imposed limits on the use of the sedition law, making incitement to violence a necessary element, but police continue to file sedition charges even in cases where this requirement is not met, it said. Observing that repeated use of the law to silence peaceful speech is a violation of Indias international human rights obligations, HRW said the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which India ratified in 1979, prohibits restrictions on freedom of expression on national security grounds unless they are provided by law, strictly construed, and necessary and proportionate to address a legitimate threat. Such laws cannot put the right itself in jeopardy, it said. "Prime Minister Narendra Modi is promoting Indian democracy around the world as an attractive market, and yet back home, his administration is cracking down on peaceful dissent. Failing to uphold basic human rights is not a good global message," Ganguly said. PTI Trump is convinced Russia didnt interfere in 2016 polls; blames US for sour ties with Moscow US midterm polls: American media houses remember 2016, to go slow this time Hillary Clinton writes to 8-yr-old girl who lost to a boy in class president election Trump leads in South Carolina; Clinton faces tough fight in Nevada International oi-IANS By Ians English Washington, Feb 20: Donald Trump is leading the Republican pack ahead of Saturday's crucial primary in South Carolina while Hillary Clinton is facing a tough challenge from Bernie Sanders in the Democratic contest in Nevada. With the real estate mogul leading with 31.8 percent support in Real Clear Politics average of polls widely expected to win in Indian-American governor Nikki Haley's home state, the focus is on who would get the second place. While Texas senator Ted Cruz, who scored a surprise win in the first Republican caucus in Iowa, has the backing of 18.4 percent Republican voters, Florida senator Marco Rubio snapping at his heels with 17.8 percent, has been endorsed by Haley. Trump, who Thursday took on Pope Francis for suggesting he is not Christian because of his plans to build a wall on the US-Mexican border and deport illegal immigrants and Rubio are both attacking Cruz calling him a liar and dishonest. "He holds up the Bible and then he lies," Trump said of Cruz Thursday. "I think it's very inappropriate." Cruz is fighting back and dared Trump to sue him after the billionaire sent a letter urging Cruz to stop. The remaining three candidates are also hoping for a good performance in South Carolina to keep their campaigns going. Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson thinks he'll perform better in South Carlolina than many expect. "It's a very important state," he said in Charleston. "It can have an effect of redirecting things. I think there is a lot of potential here." US Prez poll: Nevada (D) Caucus, South Carliona (R) Primary today: 5 questions John Kasich, the Ohio governor, is hoping his strong New Hampshire second-place finish will lead to unexpected gains in future primaries. Former Florida governor Jeb Bush, after losing the coveted endorsement of Haley to Rubio, is running low on cash. His efforts this week have included campaigning with his brother, former president George W. Bush, and his mother, former First Lady Barbara Bush. Meanwhile, self styled Democratic Socialist Bernie Sanders is posing a tough challenge to Clinton in the Democratic caucus in Nevada. In her first run for the White House in 2008, Clinton won the popular vote in Nevada over then Sen. Barack Obama. The question is whether after a drubbing in New Hampshire, would she be able to repeat the feat and put a stop to the "Bern-mentum." Both campaigns have invested heavily in caucus training geared toward Spanish speakers, including the Clinton campaign's training, "Caucus Conmigo." Clinton reiterated Friday that she'll release the transcripts of the infamously expensive speeches she gave to Wall Street firms including Goldman Sachs if other politicians start releasing transcripts of their past speeches to private groups. "I'm happy to release anything I have when everybody else does the same, because every other candidate in this race has given speeches to private groups, including Senator Sanders," she said at an event in Las Vegas. Bernie Sanders' campaign quickly "accept[ed] Clinton's challenge" with a tongue in cheek press release: "Sen. Sanders accepts Clinton's challenge. He will release all of the transcripts of all of his Wall Street speeches. That's easy. The fact is, there weren't any. Bernie gave no speeches to Wall Street firms." IANS JNU row: Look out circular and no fly order against 3 students New Delhi oi-Vicky New Delhi, Feb 20: The Delhi Police which has issued a Look our Circular (LoC) against three students has also sought permission from the Vice Chancellor of JNU to question ten students. The police are currently looking out for three students as they are alleged to have organised the Afzal Guru event at the JNU. A circular has also been issued to airports with the details of these students to ensure that none of them leave the country. Also read: JNU row: 800 phone calls relating to Afzal Guru event under scanner The police is basing their investigation based on some of the media clips regarding the event. These clips are also being send to the forensic sciences laboratory to check if they had been doctored or not. There have been questions raised about the authenticity of these clips in which students are seen shouting anti India slogans. No flying out The Delhi Police suspects that some of these suspects may try and leave the country. Hence we have written to the Foreign Regional Registration Office (FRRO) so that the airport authorities are alerted. We suspect that some may leave the country, a Delhi police official informed. The Delhi police has also questioned 17 persons in connection with the case. It wants to question ten more persons believed to be friends of the three students. The Delhi police is seeking the permission of the Vice Chancellor so that it could question the friends of the accused for further information about their whereabouts. OneIndia News Community Its now easier than ever to connect and chat with others in your local area. You can connect with your community by asking general questions, give area updates and recommendations and even let your community know about local events that are taking place. 2008-2022 One News Page Ltd. All rights reserved. One News is a registered trademark of One News Page Ltd. Darkness dawns at the break of noon, sirens blare, red alerts convulse -- and it feels like we're 30 seconds from the 9th circle of hell. The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of demented intensity. Is this the end, beautiful friend? Well, not really. It's a bluff. So let's invoke Dada -- the original internet -- to put this hellhole in perspective. Dada was born a century ago at the Cabaret Voltaire in Zurich -- smack in the middle of WWI. *Dada was not only a revolution in art; it's a revolution still in progress. Dada is a state of mind -- pretty much the ideal antidote to manifestations of Cold War 2.0; it is all about destabilizing pomposity; search and destroy symbols; dislocation of language. So with multiple intimations of doom shaping the onset of (fake) WWIII, what's best than to keep on truckin' fueled by impertinence and fantasy? After all, "Life is a Cabaret"(Voltaire). Come to the cabaret. Cut to a gaggle of rollicking Wahhabis making a cabaret entrance, complete with jets overflying Incirlik. They seem to be getting ready for "boo hoo! Ground operations in Syria!" They desire it. Utterly. But, alas, there's no plan. Listen to ringmaster Adel al-Jubeir in all his transgender glory; they may eventually add a "ground component"! But it all depends on "His Master's Voice" issuing his permission. And the permission is not forthcoming. "The timing is not up to us,"moan the Wahhabis. So, thirsty for the limelight, and adding to the suspense, enter... the Turks! "The best time to enter Syria is now," howl the pro-AKP hordes from Ankara to Antalya. How can we possibly allow those seedy YPG Kurds to concoct a buffer state along our border and, moreover, one that is controlled by the Yankees and the Russkies? Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) Terrorists! Off with their heads -- like the Red Queen said, inspiring Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Our destiny is to set up a "secure" refugee enclave 10 kilometers inside Syria. And forbid these refugees -- by all means necessary -- to cross into Turkey. Onwards to the Jarablus pocket, north of the Azaz-Munbij line! It's Kurd-shelling time! Oops! They did it again. The neo-Ottomans forgot to register that "His Master's Voice" does not regard the PYD and the YPG as "terrorists." After all, they are gallantly battling ISIS/ISIL/Daesh. And they are not connected to "moderate rebel" Jabhat Al-Nusra, a.k.a. Al-Qaeda in Syria, while all the favorite Wahhabi/neo-Ottoman-linked goons are excited Nusra lovers. How Dada is that? And the Dada-o-meter spectacularly explodes into interstellar space as we add the serious possibility that no less than US Special Forces may be giving a little help to their Kurdish friends. While all hell is (moderately) breaking loose, everyone seems to have forgotten that Russia has (discreetly) imposed a de facto no-fly zone over virtually all of northern Syria. Not even squalid crows fly along the border, not to mention Turkish F-16s and copters. Turkish planes know that if they enter Syrian airspace, it's an Ashes to Ashes scenario (Bowie dubbed in Cyrillic). So what is Washington to do? Provide "air support" to the neo-Ottomans and risk WWIII? Obviously not. The Kremlin totally gets Dada but plays constructivism. The secret: to win against ISIS/ISIL/Daesh and assorted Salafi-jihadi terror gangs is impossible without sealing the same Syria-Turkish border the neo-Ottomans are itching to trespass. After all, that's the highway from where the Jihadi/Weaponizing flows in and smuggled oil flows out. Russia, constructively, is willing to strike deals with anyone who's not Salafi-jihadi. But there's the rub. The Russian guest list does not match the American guest list. So how do you get into the club? And once inside, whose tune will you be dancing to? Israel, Egypt, Jordan and even the Emirates -- that profitable marriage between Abu Dhabi oil and Dubai smuggling rackets -- are in close touch with the Russian game in Syria. They want closure. Not exactly the Wahhabi/neo-Ottoman game. But even if the double down desperadoes might be "supported"by Qatar and Bahrain in that notoriously elusive "ground operation," the notion they would dare to confront both Russia and the US head to head is nothing but prime Dada. So no wonder selected neo-Ottoman heads are doing more spinning than dervishes in Konya. We hate everybody! But we can't declare war against ISIS/ISIL/Daesh, the PYD and that regime-unchanged ingrate Bashar Assad all at the same time! To mollify their unspeakable chagrin, the neo-Ottomans dutifully persist in their offensive against" more Kurds -- those of the PKK in Anatolia. But should they strike harder on the PYD in Syria, expect the PKK in Turkey to mastermind a lethal counterpunch. And then, amidst such mayhem, whose head is held high as a portrait of moderation? The TSK (Turkish Armed Forces)! Picture proud Turkish generals resisting to play the (fake) prologue for a possible WWIII. How Dada is that? Common sense though has not prevailed -- yet; that would have been so un-Dada. Re-enter "Northern Thunder!" Wahhabi General Ahmed Asseri continues to insist the notorious ground operation is "irreversible." Sorry, eventually reversible if the green light from "The Masters" never shines. Still, never underestimate a frantically fearful Wahhabi for superior Dada effect. Jubeir, at the Munich Security Conference, said with a straight face that Assad is the "single most effective magnet for extremists and terrorists" in the whole Middle East. So it's regime change or what, self-beheading en masse? Now that would be some performance art worthy of the Dadaist Manifesto. Russia, meanwhile, behaves as placidly as Malevich's White on White. Moscow certainly does not want to wallow into a Syrian swamp. And yet Russia is already firmly placed in Syria -- and is not going anywhere apart from expanding its geopolitical footprint even further. That's called Mediterranean projection. Everyone else, live with it. We keep ragin', ragin' against the dying of the (Southwest Asian) light... And then, in a flash, we might even glimpse the possibility of the big powers, Russia and the US, reaching an ersatz of symbiosis in Syria, which may eventually translate into that "peace process" Kerry and Lavrov are so fond of. Who wants WWIII if not the mentally disabled? Oops, we Dada-it again. Tell it to "Sultan" Erdogan and warrior Prince Mohammed bin Salman. *Dada was an art movement that surfaced during World War I in Zurich in negative reaction to the war. The art, poetry and performances of the Dada artists is often nonsensical in order to convey their message. Judge Robert Owen (Image by Russia Insider) Details DMCA Sir Robert Owen appears to have lacked the legal qualifications to chair the recently-concluded Inquiry in London's 2006 Alexander Litvinenko death case. His report released on January 21 sparked international controversy when he concluded the murder was likely ordered by Vladimir Putin himself. Now Britain is faced with deciding what to do with Owen's hopelessly flawed final Inquiry report. (See London Guardian, "Six reasons you can't take the Litvinenko report seriously) The consequences of this botched report are grave. Tensions have seriously risen between Russia and the UK. Some even plead that more sanctions be imposed upon Russia. That hands Prime Minister David Cameron a hot potato. Will he continue to bluff his way through, contending that Owen's report is legitimate? Or will he do the right thing and recall the bogus document? I hadn't even changed money when a guy in a military jacket approached me for a donation for Ukraine's war efforts, and he was quite persistent too. This happened in Maidan Square, now turned into a death shrine, with photos of sacrificed soldiers scattered all over. Of different sizes, many were draped with rosary beads and/or accompanied by a flag, flowers, votive candles and/or pine twig. Many of the dead had faded or bled smearily. Some posed with pets, guns or cars. In his tent, a red bearded, smiling dude gave a thumb up. A chubby, bespectacled man hugged a tree, while a suited fellow appeared to be singing karaoke. Baby faced or wizened, all these men and a few women have died in a hopeless war with no objective save the American imperative to harass Russia. As for their government, it is US-installed and seeded throughout with foreigners. Remember the tie-biting President of Georgia? He contributed 2,000 troops to the US invasion of Iraq then, egged on by Bush, decided to trade blows with Russia over South Ossetia, with predictably calamitous results. Mikheil Saakashvili is now head of Ukraine's International Advisory Council on Reforms, as well as the Governor of Odessa Oblast, having been granted Ukrainian citizenship just the day before. Only a wrecked nation would recruit the wrecker of another to join its wrecking crew. Mikheil was plucked right out of Brooklyn, where he was moping to escape prosecution back home. The just-resigned Minister of Economy and Trade, Aivaras Abromavicius, was born in Lithuania and does not speak Ukrainian. Minister of Finance Natalie Jaresko retains her American citizenship, wisely, it must be said, so she can quickly jump off this sinking ship. Taking the bus from Leipzig to Kiev, I crossed all of Poland and half of Ukraine. This took nearly 24 hours of sitting stiffly, with over 2 spent at the Polish/Ukrainian border. All of the 61 passengers but me and two others were Ukrainian. One was a World Bank financial advisor in her 60's. Half Russian by blood and born in Tennessee, Carol, not her real name, has spent most of her adult life in Europe, working in Frankfurt, Moscow and now Kiev, with brief assignments to Manila and Banjul. Her father was a chemist on the Manhattan Project. Out the windows, villages passed by, their houses humble and somewhat dilapidated, though a few were quite grand. Colorful churches cheered up the grim winter landscape, as did decorated wooden crucifixes. Here and there, a Madonna shrine. Stores and hotels also stood out. A cheeky motel mimicked a castle with turrets. Peddling seven heads of cabbage, a forlorn man displayed them on the hood of his rusty Lada. I spotted vehicles I didn't know were still extant. Inside cement bus stops, well-bundled folks waited stoically. One shelter had a painted helicopter. Black coated women under flowery babushkas waddled down frozen paths. I even saw three horse-drawn carts. "You'll see more off the main road," Carol informed. "You know Adidas has saved many lives here. Their clothes and shoes often have these reflectors. Before, you had all these people getting run over because they were walking on these dirt roads at night, drunk." Next Page 1 | 2 | 3 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). After an 18 month i nvestigation into the high cost of Gilead's hepatitis C drug Sovaldi--initially listed at $84,000 for a course of treatment or $1,000 per pill--the Senate Finance Committee said the prices did not reflect the cost of research and development and that Gilead cared about "revenue" not "affordability and accessibility." That sounds like an understatement. Sovaldi and the related pill Harvoni cost Medicare and Medicaid more than $5 billion in 2014 charged senators. There are more Pharma lobbyists than members of Congress (Image by Martha Rosenberg) Details DMCA But Gilead is far from the only drug company camping out on our tax dollars. In the 2000's, atypical antipsychotics were widely prescribed to children with behavior problems enrolled in Medicaid programs provoking lawsuits from states as their budgets were sacked. In 2008, the Texas attorney general's office charged Risperdal maker Janssen (Johnson & Johnson's psychiatric drug unit) with defrauding the state of millions "with [its] sophisticated and fraudulent marketing scheme," to "secure a spot for the drug, Risperdal, on the state's Medicaid preferred drug list and on controversial medical protocols that determine which drugs are given to adults and children in state custody." The same year Alaska won a $15 million settlement from Eli Lilly in a suit to recoup medical costs generated by Medicaid patients who developed diabetes while taking Zyprexa. Taxpayer dollars are also churned by drug companies in military health programs. The Department of Veterans Affairs spent $717 million on five million prescriptions of Risperdal to treat posttraumatic stress disorder in troops deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq only to discover after nine years that the drug worked no better than a placebo reported the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) in 2011. Sorry about that. Drug companies have devised elaborate schemes for drug sales to states. The Texas attorney general's office charged Janssen with bribing Texas's mental health officials with trips, perks, and kickbacks. Janssen also paid drug company funded front groups, disguised to look like patients, to "give state mental health officials and lawmakers the perception that the drug had widespread support," reported Bloomberg. Many alleged patient groups agitating for approval of expensive new drugs or fighting so-called "barriers" to treatment and mental illness "stigma" are actually slick drug company marketing creations. Many are entrenched in schools and on college campuses to capture "psychiatric patients" at an early age, often ensuring decades of sales. In Texas, a Medicaid "decision tree" called the Texas Medical Algorithm Project was instituted that mandates that doctors prescribe the newest and most expensive psychiatric drugs first. The program was funded, not surprisingly, by the Johnson & Johnson-linked Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Another tactic that drug companies use is "helping" states buy their own, brand name drugs. No conflict of interest there! An Eli Lilly--backed company named Comprehensive Neuroscience "helped" 24 states use Zyprexa "properly," reported the New York Times. "Doctors who veer from guidelines on dosage strengths and combinations of medications for Medicaid patients are sent 'Dear Doctor' letters pointing out that their prescribing patterns fall outside the norm," it reports. Doctors are also notified if patients "are renewing prescriptions," lest they have "setbacks in their condition." One such program sends registered nurses to the homes of patients who are on expensive brand drugs to ensure "compliance"--that they have not stopped taking the drugs. Just trying to help. According to New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof, the drug industry spent $272,000 in campaign donations per member of Congress last year. He reports that there are more drug company lobbyists than members of Congress. Even before Gilead's $1000 a pill hepatitis drug, the result of this unsavory lobbying is a $50 billion annual taxpayer gift to the drug industry--a fact that should outrage every taxpayer. Next Page 1 | 2 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). Reprinted from Paul Craig Roberts Website This morning [Feb 19] I was stuck in front of a Fox "News" broadcast for a short period and then with a NPR news program. It was enough to convince me that Nazi propaganda during Hitler's Third Reich was very mild compared to the constant stream of dangerous lies that are pumped out constantly by the American media. The New York Times, Washington Post, and a couple of think-tank types were represented on NPR. They delivered the most crude propaganda imaginable and questioned no US government statement. Did you know that all the trouble in Syria is due to the Russians and Assad? The US has no blame whatsoever. The US is trying to fight ISIS (which the US created, aids and abets), but the evil Russians and Assad are fighting the innocent "democratic rebels" who are trying to bring democracy to Syria as a replacement for a "brutal dictator" (elected by a large majority vote). The Russians are also bombing schools and hospitals, "collateral damage" when the US does it but war crimes when the Russians are accused of doing it. The accusers had no evidence for their accusations against Russia beyond the unverified claims of the US government. Despite nonexistent Iraqi "weapons of mass destruction," nonexistent Iranian nukes, and nonexistent use of chemical weapons by Assad "against his own people," the talking heads continue to accept without question whatever the US government says. I was especially disappointed in Karen DeYoung. As a young reporter she aggressively covered the neoconservatives' misadventures in Nicaragua. However, to become the Washington Post's senior foreign affairs reporter she had to give up and join the presstitutes. Did you know that China was militarizing the South China Sea by building up atolls to accommodate runways and by placing weapons on the site? It is not militarization when the "exceptional country" allocates 60% of its large fleet to the Pacific, declares the South China Sea, which is thousands of miles from America, to be an area of "American national interest," and sends warships to patrol the sea. That's simply "countering the Chinese threat." Did you know that the clamor by the British people for UK exit from the European Union has nothing to do with preserving UK national sovereignty and the legal protections of British civil liberty? It is all to do with rejecting refugees, a sign of racism. Fox "News" informed us that due to his great service to our nation, Justice Antonin Scalia was lying in state in the Supreme Court to be paid homage by both the government representatives and public victims of the police state of which he was an architect. Under Republican leadership the Supreme Court has helped the executive branch elevate its authority above that of the US Constitution, refusing to even hear challenges to indefinite detention. Among Scalia's accomplishments are: -- Stopping the Florida vote recount in order to install George W. Bush as President -- Kentucky v. King: police should have greater leeway to break into homes without a warrant -- Florence v. Burlington: allowing jail officials freedom of action is more important than protecting American citizens from debasing strip searches. Like the Supreme Court, the presstitutes have aligned themselves with the rich and powerful. Fox "News" reported that Marco Rubio, a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, declared that to make the poor rich requires making the rich poor and we shouldn't make the rich poor. Apparently, Fox "News" believes that aligning Rubio with the One Percent is helpful to his political career. Fox showed Rubio's audience cheering and applauding his defense of the One Percent. This is "democratic America" where the people have no representation. A massive apparent terror attack in Turkey's capital comes at a crucial time just when the Erdogan government is trying to woo Washington's support for its military intervention in Syria. The Turkish capital Ankara on Wednesday was hit with a deadly car bomb outside its military headquarters. Reports put the dead at 28 with more than 60 injured in what appears to have been a highly sophisticated attack during evening rush hour. The powerful blast went off just as two buses ferrying military personnel stopped at traffic lights outside the army headquarters at a busy intersection which is also near ministerial and parliament buildings. This part of the capital is normally kept under tight security. At least 28 dead, 61 injured as blast hits military bus in Turkish capital Ankara https://t.co/x7wBAPWTf6pic.twitter.com/uFcTLBg96K -- RT (@RT_com) February 18, 2016 Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has accused forces linked with the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia of the terrorist attack. The Turkish military have been shelling YPG units across the border in northern Syria. Erdogan and Davutoglu had issued several statements prior to the Wednesday bombing in Ankara denouncing the YPG as "terrorists" owing to their links to separatist Kurdish militants in Turkey belonging to the PKK. This was at least the fourth major apparent terror attack inside Turkey over the past seven months. In January this year, a suicide bomber killed 10, mainly German tourists, in the city of Istanbul. Last October, a blast at a Kurdish peace rally in Ankara killed nearly 100 people. Both attacks were blamed on the Islamic State (IS) terror group, although Kurdish activists accused Turkish state intelligence agents of clandestine involvement in the October atrocity. Turkish military intelligence, MIT, has been implicated in colluding with the IS group -- from gun-running and oil smuggling across the Syrian border, to facilitating the jihadists access to chemical weapons. Several Turkish opposition lawmakers have openly accused the Erdogan government of complicity in criminal activities and sponsoring extremists in Syria for the purpose of regime change in Damascus. Can Dundar, the editor of Cumhuriyet, as well as several other Turkish journalists, have been arrested in recent months for publishing newspaper articles that exposed the MIT in providing weapons to terror groups in Syria. Those claims corroborate extensive information gathered by Russian military surveillance since its intervention in Syria last September, implicating Turkish state involvement in cross-border terror supply routes. Ankara blast: Convenient excuse for Erdogan to hunt Kurds 'everywhere'?https://t.co/Z6KyTLguB1pic.twitter.com/hVODMxd2wP -- RT (@RT_com) February 18, 2016 The notion that IS or some other Al Qaeda-linked network would carry out the latest attack in Ankara does not therefore seem plausible. The Erdogan government may publicly claim to be part of the US-led coalition fighting against Islamist terrorism, but, as noted, there is more evidence to implicate the Ankara authorities in covertly liaising with the very same terrorists. Why would the terror group then bite the Turkish hand that feeds it? As for the speculation that the Ankara car bombing could have been carried out by Kurdish militants, that doesn't make sense either. The YPG have gained a lot of favorable international media attention recently from their effective fight against IS and related jihadist terror brigades in northern Syria, including Jabhat al Nusra and Ahrar al Shams. Working with Russian warplanes and Syrian army forces, the YPG has captured several key villages and towns north of the strategically important city of Aleppo. The Kurdish fighters are this week set to close in on the jihadist stronghold of Azaz, a town on the Syrian-Turkish border. Azaz is a major supply route for the regime-change insurgents, which the MIT has been implicated in facilitating. In a complex situation, the YPG is also backed by the United States, even though Washington has given its support covertly to the anti-government militants in Syria. Washington labels this latter group "moderate rebels." But there is evidence that weapons supplied by the US have ended up in the hands of hardline al-Qaeda brigades, like IS and Nusra. This has led to the bizarre scenario where US-backed militants are fighting against other US-backed militants in northern Syria. Support MacDonald, Bohnyak on Nov. 8 We will be voting for Mark MacDonald for Orange County Senator for many reasons. Here are just a few: Mark recognizes climate change as one of our biggest challenges, and... Admires Graham As House Rep. This note is to say how much I admired State Representative Rodney Grahams classic Vermont style when I served with him in the Vermont House. Long days alone in his... BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) Authorities say a man who carried one of his children out of a burning western New York apartment house and went back inside to rescue others was one of two people to die in the fire. Buffalo fire officials say the blaze broke out around 4 a.m. Friday in a two-story home shared by members of the same family. Authorities say a man living in the downstairs apartment carried his 8-year-old daughter outside before going back in for his wife and two other children, who made it out safely. DETROIT (AP) Michigan is eligible for $323 million in federal funds to allow cities to demolish vacant structures and remove other forms of blight. The state will get about $74.5 million immediately and must apply for the rest. The money from the federal Hardest Hit Fund was announced Friday by U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee and U.S. Sens. Debbie Stabenow and Gary Peters. The trio helped lead an effort to allow the Treasury Department to transfer $2 billion to the Hardest Hit Fund. The $74.5 million is part of $1 billion headed to 18 states and the District of Columbia. States have to apply by March for a share of the remaining $1 billion, but will not be able to apply for more than either $250 million or half of the money they have already received from the fund. Announcements on how much each state will receive are expected in April. "Millions of dollars in additional federal funds will make a huge difference in removing blight across Michigan, including in Flint and Saginaw," said Kildee, who represents Michigan's 5th Congressional District. "Getting rid of blight will help to raise property values, decrease crime and unlock greater opportunity for all homeowners." Since 2010, 16 Michigan cities used $440 million from the Hardest Hit Fund to provide homeowner assistance, remove blight and support other efforts to revitalize neighborhoods. Michigan divided more than $75 million in late 2014 among 12 cities, with Detroit getting $50 million. "Blight removal is making a real difference by making neighborhoods safe and spurring economic growth," Stabenow said. "Thousands of blighted properties have already been demolished and this funding will keep this momentum going." The money is for residential blight removal and can't be used to replace old pipes in Flint homes where lead has leached into the drinking water, Kildee spokesman Mitchell Rivard told The Associated Press Friday in an email. Flint stopped using treated water from Detroit and switched to the Flint River in 2014 to save money when the city was under state emergency financial management, an interim measure while a new pipeline to Lake Huron is built. Failure to deploy corrosion controls after the switch enabled lead to leach from aging pipes and reach some Flint homes. Tests have shown high levels of lead in some Flint children. Gov. Rick Snyder wants service line replacements to begin promptly and has said his goal is to have old pipes replaced. DETROIT (AP) The bodies of a girl and a woman found in an abandoned, burned Detroit home could be connected to the notification issued to find a missing 4-year-old girl, authorities said Saturday. Police Chief James Craig told reporters that investigators were working to determine whether the bodies discovered in the east side home appear to be those of Savannah Walker and her mother. The Amber Alert about Savannah was issued earlier in the morning and she was reported missing on Tuesday to authorities in Livingston County. Craig said the connection between the cases is possible but not confirmed at this point. He also couldn't account for the delay between the initial report to Livingston County sheriff's officials and the Amber Alert but expressed concern that law enforcement action wasn't taken earlier. Livingston Sheriff Bob Bezotte told WDIV-TV a deputy responded to a 911 call and advised the family member of the missing mother and daughter to file an Amber Alert with the Michigan State Police, the only agency authorized to issue one. The deputy also located the last activity on the missing woman's cellphone to Detroit's east side, and told the relative to contact Detroit police, Bezotte said. Craig said city and state officials became involved when the relatives went to the state police post in Brighton. Authorities say the person last seen with Savannah, a 33-year-old Detroit man, has been in a relationship with the mother. He's described as a person of interest and considered armed and dangerous, and Craig said he is on parole after serving time for assault with intent to commit murder. There is a history of domestic violence between the man and missing woman, he added. Craig said it wasn't clear if the woman and girl were killed in the home or taken there afterward, but the fire is considered suspicious. "It's not uncommon where a suspect will commit a crime like murder and try to cover their tracks by setting a fire," he said. "It appears to be intentionally set (in an) abandoned house." The suspect in the shooting of a police officer in Bay City is engaging police in an armed standoff and roads in the area remain closed. North Sherman and Sheridan streets are on lockdown from Center Avenue to Ninth Street, and MLive is reporting police have asked residents to leave those homes so they can survey the scene more closely. Streets in between remain blocked to motorists. Police have identified the suspect in the shooting as Leroi D. Kocsis, 38, of Bay City. Negotiations were taking place between Kocsis and police, and Bay City Public Safety Director Michael J. Cecchini said police hope to get Kocsis to surrender peaceably. Nearby schools went into lockdown due to the standoff, including Bay City Academy and Immanuel Lutheran School. Academy Spokesman Brian Lynch told MLive the school, four blocks from the standoff, was in secure mode, with parents required to pick up their children from the school. McLaren Bay Region hospital was in lockdown for about 2 1/2 hours until 3 p.m., said Magen Samyn, vice president of marketing and public relations. Bay County Central Dispatch has advised people in the neighborhood to stay inside. Video posted online by the Bay City Times shows vehicles passing blockades, and residents standing nearby. A Michigan State Police Emergency Support Team was on scene. An MLive reports said Kocsis mother was speaking to her son on her cellphone at the scene and tried handing the phone to a Bay City Times reporter who has previously written about Kocsis. Cecchini advised the reporter not to communicate with the suspect. Earlier today, it appeared that Kocsis was posting on Facebook from the scene. I love everybody n my daughter n corrupt police have forced my hand, a public post on Kocsis Facebook page stated on Friday afternoon. Other people posting on Kocsis Facebook wall sent their prayers and urged him to make the right decision. In January, Kocsis was arraigned on two counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct with a relation between the ages of 13 and 16. The charge is punishable by up to life imprisonment. Police said the officer was shot after they tried to serve a felony arrest warrant near North Sherman and Sixth streets. Cecchini told MLive that shortly before noon, the subject fled from police into a house and opened fire on them. One of the officers was struck by at least one bullet and was taken to McLaren Bay Region hospital, but his wounds dont appear life threatening, Cecchini told MLive. To read the full article, click here: http://bit.ly/1KZV6h6. SALT LAKE CITY (AP) An Oregon food distribution company has halted some shipments of canned green beans after a Utah woman said she found a snake head in a can. Troy Walker of Farmington, Utah, said she made the unsettling discovery while she and fellow church members were preparing meals Wednesday night for neighbors. Walker said she was taking beans out of a slow cooker when she spotted something odd, KSL-TV in Salt Lake City reports. It looked pretty much like a burnt bean, and then as I got closer to lift it off the spoon, I saw eyes, Walker said. Thats when I just dropped it and screamed. Walker said she took the snake head and empty can back to the grocery store where she bought the food. She took a picture first of the snake head to send to Western Family, a food distribution company based in Oregon. Western Family vice president of quality control Sharon McFadden said that the company takes the matter seriously and is working with the supplier that produced the green beans to find out what happened and how many cans came from the batch. Shipments of canned green beans from the batch that came from this specific supplier are on hold, McFadden said. She declined to disclose the supplier, saying only its based in the Pacific Northwest. Western Family is working to find out how many cans were in the batch and where they were shipped. Once those cans are located, they will be taken off store shelves, McFadden said. The company also promises to address whatever caused the problem. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Russel will travel to Apia, Samoa; Nuku'alofa, Tonga; and Koror, Palau, February 20-25, for bilateral meetings and regional consultations. Commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet Admiral Scott Swift will accompany Assistant Secretary Russel. This high-level trip demonstrates the United States enduring commitment to the Pacific Islands region and the whole-of-government approach to enhancing our bilateral political, economic, and security relations in the Pacific. The trip also underscores continued U.S. support to the issues that are of utmost importance to the Pacific Islands, including climate change, the ocean, maritime security, womens empowerment, sustainable development, and health. In Apia, Samoa, Assistant Secretary Russel will meet with Samoan government officials and visit U.S. Government-supported projects that bolster security, womens empowerment, and environmental protection. In Tonga, Assistant Secretary Russel will meet with Tongan government officials in Nuku'alofa and visit a USAID coastal community adaptation project site in Popua. In Koror, Palau, Assistant Secretary Russel will meet with the president of Palau and senior officials, make a televised address to a joint session of the Palauan legislature, and have bilateral meetings with the presidents of the Republic of the Marshall Islands and the Federated States of Micronesia who will be in Palau for the Micronesian Chief Executives Summit. New Era of US, ROK Navy Alliance Begins in Busan By Naval Forces Korea Public Affairs Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Korea BUSAN, Republic of Korea - Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Korea (CNFK) conducted a ribbon-cutting ceremony Feb. 19, officially opening its headquarters in Busan and ushering in a new era of U.S. and Republic of Korea Navy (ROKN) alliance. The ceremony, attended by dignitaries and senior U.S. and ROK military leaders, marked the completion of CNFKs relocation to Busan making it the only U.S. military headquarters in Korea located on a ROK base. Five years in the planning, but 59 years in the making, Commander Naval Forces Korea is home in Busan, Rear Adm. Bill Byrne, the commander of CNFK, said. We are where we belong, shoulder-to-shoulder with the Republic of Korea Navy. The relocation from Seoul to Busan enhances the alliance between the ROK and U.S. navies by enabling closer collaboration and communication and reinforces the strong relationship between the partner navies. Together we will continue to serve this nation, strengthen our friendship, and nurture this alliance. This partnership, like this building, will stand the test of time, Byrne said. ROKN Vice Adm. Lee, Ki-sik, the commander of the ROK Fleet in Busan highlighted the importance of the partnership and the role this move will play in future operations. There is no doubt in my mind that by working together, face-to-face, in the same location in such critical times, we will further solidify the ROK and U.S. alliance, and our combined naval operations capability, said Lee. [This move] will play a crucial role in the ROK-U.S. alliance's maintenance of peace on the Korean peninsula. Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti, the commander of U.S. Forces Korea, took the opportunity to emphasize the tight bond between the U.S. and ROK combined forces. Todays ribbon cutting truly represents a new chapter in our alliance, Scaparrotti said. Five years of planning has become reality as our two Naval Commands join in one location, an act that symbolizes the traits that make our combined force great; open communication, mutual values, and constant collaboration that were founded right here so many years ago. U.S. Ambassador, the Honorable Mark Lippert, closed the ceremony by stressing that CNFK personnel were now part of the Busan community and echoed the overall sentiment that Busan is the new home for the U.S. Navy in Korea. This [Busan] is our new home, said Lippert. We live here among our friends and neighbors. Our families live here intimately tied in with our local Busan community. Our children go to school here growing up together and shaping our futures together. We are here at our new home fully committed to this alliance. CNFK is the regional commander for the U.S. Navy in the Republic of Korea and provides expertise on naval matters to area military commanders, including the Commander of the United Nations Command, the Combined Forces Command, and Commander, U.S. Forces Korea. BLOOMINGTON Members of the McLean County agriculture and business communities honored some of their own Friday during an annual agriculture awards dinner. Hundreds attended the event at DoubleTree by Hilton, hosted by the McLean County Chamber of Commerce. Honored were: Scott Clement, Outstanding Conservationist; Ross Fogle, Emerging Leader in Agriculture; Brett Haas, Outstanding Young Farmer; Pat Bane, McLean County Farmer of the Year; Sheri Bane, Outstanding Person in Agribusiness; and Curt Kimmel, Outstanding Service to Agriculture. In another presentation, the chamber gave Ed and Judy Laskowski a copy of the Farmer of the Year award they won in 2005. The original plaque was destroyed during a January fire at the couple's rural Carlock home. Clement was raised on a small grain and livestock farm in western Illinois and started farming in 1996. He has experimented with form, timing and nutrient management programs to develop methods of leaving land in better condition than he received it. Fogle, of Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever, was recognized for his work in advancing conservation and habitat in McLean County. He is an active board member for the McLean County Pheasants Forever, McLean County Sportsmens Club, and leader of the Quality Deer Management Association. Haas, of Haas Family Farms, has been active in farming all of his life and has a passion for precision agriculture with more than 1,000 UAV flights logged. He is a Cultivating Master Farmer graduate and involved with the McLean County Young Farmers program. He farms and helps operate Haas Family Farms with his father and grandfather, and works as a Channel Seed sales representative with Haas Seed Sales. Pat Bane started with a small grain, hay, cow, calf operation in 1981 and now is a partner in a multi-million-dollar breed to wean hog operation. Sheri Bane, vice president of commercial/agribusiness operations at Country Financial, was recognized for her work in agriculture and the business community. She lives and works on a large hog farm. If you take a close look at Seth Uphoff's entire record, and not just what he reports to the press, it is clear to me that he is not the prosecutor we need. In 2015, about 45 percent of all felony charges he filed were either dismissed, reduced to lesser crimes or found not guilty. He lost a Class X felony arson jury trial costing the county more than $10,000. Further, his office recently lost felony jury trials for aggravated criminal sexual abuse and delivery of drugs. This is all public record. Being children to famous parents has its pros and cons. Doors of opportunities are always in sight, but then when you get there you need to strive extra hard to prove that you are where you are because of your talent and not because of your family's connections. Tiffany Trump, the second youngest child of business mogul and presidential candidate, Donald Trump made her appearance strutting off the runway during New York Fashion Week. She walked at the Just Drew event for designer Andrew Warren's fall 2016 line with her mom, Marla Maples sitting front row to cheer her. The blonde beauty walked in a navy blue blazer and tights, Yahoo Parenting reported. In an interview with Oprah, Tiffany described how she and her mom are very close since she was the one who raised her after her parents divorced in 1999. "My friends and everyone I know are like, 'Wow, you guys really have a really good relationship.' She's with me a lot of the time, so people find that kind of shocking." She said. Looks like people will see more of the youngest trump daughter since she not only walked the Just Drew runway, she is also doing a print campaign and ad video for the brand. The University of Pennsylvania double major also landed an internship at Vogue, kudos to half-sister Ivanka who took her under her wing. According to People.com, the young model also said that older sister Ivanka may have given her younger sister pointers on her catwalk technique since she's been there before. Tiffany also described her sister to be someone who is always there for her when she needs to and giving her advice about almost everything she need. From girly stuff, to education to just about everything, she can always count on her big sister to be there for her. And well the younger Trump daughter actually decides to follow big sissy's footsteps, we can expect she will most likely be popping up in the press more often in the coming days. Video Credit: youtube.com/uncensored Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton is not conceiving another child nor twins, the palace confirmed. This was after rumors swirled that she is again pregnant and this time, expecting twins. According to Gossip Cop, the 34-year-old mom of two is not pregnant and that the palace never confirmed such to anybody. The report claimed that the Buckingham Palace exclusively gave them this update. Citing an OK! Magazine report, Celebrity Dirty Laundry said that the Duchess of Cambridge is now expecting twin girls with husband Prince William. It, however, noted that the elder son of Prince Charles did not want to divulge the good news for now. It was also highlighted that Middleton already had a sonogram to check on her pregnancy and that she immediately informed her husband about it. But an OK! source claimed that Prince William could not believe the news at first. "You're joking aren't you? We're not really having a baby right now," OK!'s informant quoted the prince as saying. But there was bigger news for Prince William as Middleton reportedly told him that they were not only expecting a third child but also a fourth one. OK! Magazine said the Buckingham Palace confirmed this report -- noting that Prince William's family will be transferring to the Anmer Hall soon from their residence at the Kensington Palace. In addition, Hollywood Life also noted that the buzz of the pregnancy is already known by close friends and family members. "This time, she's got not one but two buns in the over. They weren't even trying," OK! Magazine source added. However, Gossip Cop disputed this noting that the pregnancy and twin rumors could not be true. It claimed that the couple is even preparing for an official travel to India and Bhutan this coming spring. This trip signals that Middleton is still in a perfect shape to travel. Where modern age advocates for equality between the two sexes, such is not part of the teachings of this North London School. The Beis Aharon School has lately been the subject of controversy following the expose concerning the things that it teaches to its all-boys student population. As reported by She Knows, this Jewish school teaches its students sexist principles. One teaching that drew a lot of raised eyebrows was that the role of women was to cook, clean the house, and look after the children. They are saying that women's basic duty is to stay at home and do the chores. The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (OFSTED) immediately sprang into action after such teachings were made known to the public. The office reported that the school was charging exorbitant annual tuition fees at 2,860. Aside from this, it seemed that it was propagating its faith more than training the students to become academically competitive. According to the report, "In discussions, the majority of pupils still express views about the roles of women and men that indicate that the school does not prepare them for the reality of life in modern British society." The report also stated that generally, "Pupils universally consider that the role of women is to 'look after children, clean the house and cook', while men 'go to work'." Aside from the abhorrent sexist views propagated by the school, OFSTED also found that many students struggle with the alphabet. In addition, students have a "limited knowledge" of the beliefs and cultures of other people. In a previous report by the Huffington Post, Clarissa Farr, St. Paul's Girls School's head mistresss said, "Private boys' schools produce sexist lads." She also emphasized that a number of her former pupils left big companies in the U.K. because of sexism. With the way that Beis Aharon School came under fire because of its sexist teachings, schools will be more careful this time. Hopefully, when sexist views are eradicated, there would be equal opportunities for men and women. Just like Farr said, "Firms need to build a reputation for taking women seriously and giving them equal opportunities to be ahead of the pack." This service applies to you if your subscription has not yet expired on our old site. You will have continued access until your subscription expires; then you will need to purchase an ongoing subscription through our new system. Please contact the Parsons Sun office at (620) 421-2000 if you have any questions Each week, Dom plumbs the depths of podcast nation to bring you the best in cinema-related chats and programs. If writing about music is like dancing about architecture, then writing about movie podcasts is like listening to someone describe someone dancing about architecture. It was a week of bounty for movie podcasts. When your Monday opens with an especially heated debate between Devin and Amy over at The Canon, you can bet youve already tapped into an especially rich vein of Jungian cinematic quibbling. The co-hosts disagreed fundamentally over James L. Brooks Broadcast News, which meant Devinwho adores the filmdismissed Amy outright, while, in turn, she repeatedly insisted the movie was mediocre at best, partly due to the fact that in their Working Girl episode, which served as the foundation for this discussion, Devin seemed to make points that in the case of Broadcast News he rescinded through the auspices of a movie he really likes. Regardless, once the two hosts began to touch on the films relevance todaypinging news websites like the .gif-laden Buzzfeedthey seemed to totally forget that they are both employed by websites (MTV and Birth.Movies.Death) which tread in the exact same world of loose definitions of what constitutes news. Thats not meant to be a dig on either website whatsoeverI deeply respect writers at bothbut the weird lack of self-awareness in their talk derails way too many of their otherwise salient points. On KCRWs The Treatment, Quentin Tarantino stops by to talk to everyones best friend Elvis Mitchell, revealing that Mitchell was instrumental in the early stages of Hateful Eight development, talking shit out with Tarantino to take the original story from a potential Django episode to something entirely different. The two cover a lot of ground in a half hourhelped, no doubt, by Tarantinos limitless penchant for speed-mythologizingfrom their love for Samuel L. Jackson, to issues of race in Tarantinos recent films, to a protracted discussion of samurai and Yakuza films influencing Reservoir Dogs. (When QT shouts out Sydney Pollacks The Yakuza for bringing him to tears, I almost fell in love with the director all over again.) Even when Tarantino describes beat-for-beat the first half hour of Hateful Eight, spurred on only by Mitchells small request to give listeners a short synopsis, Tarantinos natural gift as a storyteller genuinely excited about the stories he tells carries an otherwise totally unnecessary bit of conversation. We Hate Movies, as always, had a worthwhile week ripping on Keanu Reeves serial killer movie The Watcher, which prominently features Rob Zombie song Dragula, which holds a special place in my heart because I got my first tattoo with that song as a soundtrack, blasted to the point of incomprehensibility by the tattoo artist who, when questioned at what age he got his first tattoo, responded, Eight, on my front porch with a needle, thread and ink pen. My first tattoo is definitely my worst tattoo. So together lets dig through the ditches, burn through the witches, and slam in the back of my picks for the three best podcast episodes of the week: Max Mon Amour In 1986, only three years after tapping Ryuichi Sakamoto to play a Japanese Captain enamored with David Bowie in the worlds sexiest WWII POW camp, Nagisa Oshima disappeared completely up his own anal cavity, apparently convinced he had full license to do whatever he wanted to do. And whatever he wanted to do was to make Max Mon Amour, a film in which Charlotte Rampling falls for, and carries on a sexual relationship with, a chimpanzee. On the latest episode of her podcast devoted to celebrating the animals of film, Wendy Mays invites Alamo Drafthouse creative manager Cristina Cacioppo and director Caroline Golum to figure out what exactly Oshima was thinking. But rather than succumb to the tendencies of most podcasts of its ilk, which would be to pretty much just point to wacky plot points and declare how wacky they are (cough, How Did This Get Made?, cough), the trio delve into issues of masculinity, fantasy and sexual mores, dissecting the entirely goofy-ass world Oshima constructedall the while never resisting to point out wacky plot points, but never missing a chance to attempt to explicate why theyre wacky. Plus, extra props for making sure all plaudits go to Alisa Berk, the 1980s proto-Andy Serkis, the woman who dressed up in a chimp suit to play Max. Raiders of the Lost Ark with Martin Casella Former Steven Spielberg assistant Martin Casella returns to Matt Gourleys podcast to basically just tell a bunch of stories about one of Gourleys favorite movie of all time, 1981s Raider of the Lost Ark. From inception to near-completion, Casella was intimately involved in almost all of the films production, going straight from Used Cars (starring Gerrit Graham, who Mike White talked to on one of last weeks favorite podcast episodes) to cast auditions, where seemingly every actress in Hollywood had a shot, including Sean Young, for whom Casella has a story he cannot repeat on-air, that tease. The episode as a whole is dripping with gossip and tidbits, all of which are too many to list (Tom Selleck, Tunisian water poisoning, screenwriter Melissa Mathison and a $75 roast beef sandwich all make appearances), but what helps the conversation transcend simply a shitstorm of namedropping is Gourleys giddiness for the film, which allows anecdotes to become arbitrations on the Hollywood machine, and celebrities to retain their humanity during a time when the blockbuster was transforming famous actors into unattainable icons. Meet the Woman Who Tells Leonardo DiCaprio Who Will Win the Oscars The most fascinating aspect of Vanity Fairs Little Gold Men podcast is how willingly it delves into the politics of the Oscars while retaining some semblance of unadulterated love for the unaffected brilliance of the films themselves. That dichotomythe Hollywood machine vs. film as pure artcomes to a sharp point when the hosts welcome awards season powerhouse Peggy Siegal, a publicist and, I suppose, consultant to hopeful award-winners. Most of what she wildly muses upon is pretty gross, if unsurprising: that nominees have to campaign to get Academy votes, that so much of the awards are based on a broken numbers system and weird nepotism rather than anything all that meritorious. But when confronted with the controversy over diversity in the Academy, she bristlesthey are not racists, she insists, even if they are a bunch of old white men. Which is fine, because, like W. Kamau Bell put it so succinctly, theyre probably not racistor sexist, or ableist, etc.they just have, as very white men, a very white, male perspective. But this is where Siegals attempts at justifying her livelihood completely fall apart: Instead of worrying about defending old rich white men from the mean, angry Other, she should be advocating for introducing new voices and perspectives to an Academy which cant seem to pull its head out of the sand long enough to realize that its perspective is indelibly limited. Its like when Charlotte Rampling (yes, the aforementioned woman above who was in a movie about having sex with a chimpanzee) castigates Oscar boycotters for their stance, claiming that the Oscars are chosen from great artists, period, regardless of race, and so that must only mean that there are just, by default on any given year, better performances or films from white people. She stupidly misses the point: Its not that there arent good films made by non-white, cisgender people, its that there arent enough films being made and successively being consumed by people with non-white, cisgender perspectives. Siegal goes on to tell a story about the campaign by Fox Searchlight to win 12 Years a Slave its Oscars, which capitalized on how so many Academy voters werent watching the movies because it was too violent. Fox, she recalled, attached a tagline to the campaign (Its Time) to play to old white men guilt over doing the right thing as opposed to voting for the movie they liked the best, even admitting that many people who voted for it hadnt actually seen it, and thats what Fox was betting on. Siegal doesnt seem to see how absolutely revolting that reality is, indirectly pointing to why the Oscar boycott may be the only resort some people see as a way to not just fix a broken system, but to dissolve it completely. Remember that, come Oscar night, Leo wont win the Oscar because he has the best performancehell win because he kissed enough ancient, fusty, prune-y ass. Dom Sinacola is Assistant Movies Editor at Paste and a Portland-based writer. Like everyone on this planet, he co-hosts his own podcast, Pretty Little Grown Men, which is sometimes about movies but mostly about Pretty Little Liars. You can follow him on Twitter. Yesterday afternoon we posted a report titled "The DOJ's War with Apple Escalates with a New Court Filing." We noted in the report that the "Justice Department (DOJ) is pushing forward with its legal fight against Apple, urging a federal judge to compel the tech giant to help the FBI crack open a cellphone left behind by one of the San Bernardino, California, shooters. Prosecutors wrote in a new filing that 'Rather than assist the effort to fully investigate a deadly terrorist attack by obeying this court's [previous order], Apple has responded by publicly repudiating that order.'" Considering that this war is being fought by Apple, in some ways as a PR war, we wanted to provide you with the actual court document that the Government filed with the court yesterday so that you could read the facts for yourself. This case will be back in Court on March 22, 2016. Notes from the 'Authorities Introduction' The following are random notes from the Government's Authorities Introduction: "Rather than assist the effort to fully investigate a deadly terrorist attack by obeying this Court's Order of February 16, 2016, Apple has responded by publicly repudiating that Order. See Exhibit Apple has attempted to design and market its products to allow technology, rather than the law, to control access to data which has been found by this Court to be warranted for an important investigation. Despite its efforts, Apple nonetheless retains the technical ability to comply with the Order, and so should be required to obey it. Apple left the government with no option other than to apply to this Court for the Order issued on February 16, 2016. The Order requires Apple to assist the FBI with respect to this single iPhone used by Farook by providing the FBI with the opportunity to determine the passcode. The Order does not, as Apple's public statement alleges, require Apple to create or provide a "back door to every iPhone; it does not provide "hackers and criminals access to iPhones; it does not require Apple to "hack [its] own users" or to "decrypt" its own phones; it does not give the government "the power to reach into anyone's device" without a warrant or court authorization; and it does not compromise the security of personal information. To the contrary, the Order allows Apple to retain custody of its software at all times and it gives Apple flexibility in the manner in which it provides assistance. In fact, the software never has to come into the government's custody. Based on Apple 1 s recent public statement and other statements by Apple / Apple' s current refusal to comply with the Court's Order, despite the technical feasibility of doing so, instead appears to be based on its concern for its business model and public brand marketing strategy The government does not seek to deny Apple its right to be heard, and expects these issues to be fully briefed before the Court; however, the urgency of this investigation requires this motion now that Apple has made its intention not to comply patently clear. This aspect of the investigation into the December 2, 2015 terrorist attack must move forward. In the government's filing they note that Apple has built into iPhones a feature whereby if more than 10 attempts are made at opening the iPhone aren't successful there's an auto-erase function whereby all data could become permanently inaccessible. "The information and data contained on the SUBJECT DEVICE is of particular concern to the government because, while evidence found on the iCloud account associated with the SUBJECT DEVICE indicates that Farook communicated with victims who were later killed during the shootings on December 2, 2015, the backup iCloud data which the government has been able to obtain for the account ends on October 19, 2015." "In addition, toll records for the SUBJECT DEVICE establish that Farook communicated with Malik using the SUBJECT "DEVICE between July and November 2015, but this information is not found in the backup iCloud data. Accordingly, there may be critical communications and data prior to and around the time of the shooting that thus far has not been accessed, may reside solely on the SUBJECT DEVICE; and cannot be accessed by any other means known to either the government or Apple." "Apple appears to object [to the court order] based on a combination of: a perceived negative impact on its reputation and marketing strategy were it to provide the ordered assistance to the government, numerous mischaracterizations of the requirements of the Order, and an incorrect understanding of the All Writs Act." The filing then goes into presenting facts of the 'All Writs Act' and why it's relevant in this case. They further explain why compelling Apple to write new code in a discrete and limited manner isn't an unreasonable burden for Apple who writes code as part of its regular business. In their conclusion they note the following: "This Court issued a valid Order pursuant to the All Writs Act requiring Apple to assist the United States in enabling the search for evidence pursuant to a lawful search warrant. Apple has publicly stated that it will oppose this Order, and has not agreed to comply. For the foregoing reasons, the government respectfully requests that this Court issue an Order compelling Apple to comply." The Government's Motion to Compel Apple to comply with Court's February 16, 2016 order compelling Assistance in Search was filed yesterday, Feb. 20, 2016 in Riverside California. The hearing date is noted as being March 22, 2016. The Government's Motion in Full Patently Apple - Feb.19, 2016 - Government's Motion-To-Compel-Apple-Compliance The two sides will be back in court on March 22. About Making Comments on our Site: Patently Apple reserves the right to post, dismiss or edit any comments. Comments are reviewed daily from 4am to 6pm PST and sporadically over the weekend. Before Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or YouTube made their entry in the media market, the PatnaDaily had already registered its presence in... News and commentary on organized crime, street crime, white collar crime, cyber crime, sex crime, crime fiction, crime prevention, espionage and terrorism. As this issue goes to press, Apple is under a court order to unlock an iPhone 5c for the FBI. The phone belonged to the now-deceased Syed Farook, who was one of the shooters in the San Bernardino killings from December of last year. According to law enforcement, unlocking this phone could save lives by revealing the communications and contacts of a known murderer. Apple has five days to respond to the order, but the company's CEO, Tim Cook, has made it clear that he does not want to comply. Is unlocking this one phone really that big of a deal? Absolutely. This is a big new problem, and it requires a new debate. Farook's phone is running iOS 9. This latest version of Apple's mobile operating system requires a passcode to unlock; without it, all of the information on the phone remains encrypted. In the past, law enforcement could get around even strong encryption systems by using brute force. With iOS 9, however, the phone will automatically erase all the information it contains if the wrong password is entered too many times. The government's only hope of cracking this one is to have Apple write custom code to bypass this feature, which one assumes the company could be capable of doing. That's the technical background. The legal foundation for the request comes from the All Writs Act, a version of which was originally passed in 1789. It allows courts to issue warrants and subpoenas to enforce the law. Obviously, there is nothing in the Act that specifically applies to forcing a company to modify software code to make it less secure. Subscribe today to the PC Magazine Digital Edition for iOS devices.(Opens in a new window) On Tuesday, February 16, Tim Cook posted a message to Apple customers calling for a public debate on the issue. Part of his post reads, "The implications of the government's demands are chilling. If the government can use the All Writs Act to make it easier to unlock your iPhone, it would have the power to reach into anyone's device to capture their data. The government could extend this breach of privacy and demand that Apple builds surveillance software to intercept your messages, access your health records or financial data, track your location, or even access your phone's microphone or camera without your knowledge." This is not hyperbole. The precedent at stake here isn't just about mobile phones. It will also apply to your desktop computer, email account, Tinder profile, Snapchats, text messages, and any other form of digital communication. If a company builds a communication channel, it will have to build a backdoor for it. Insecure by design. Insecure by government fiat. In the time since the court order, Apple has garnered a lot of support. Of course, the ACLU, Electronic Frontier Foundation, and Amnesty International came out on Apple's side, but its support in the tech industry is just as complete. "I have always admired Tim Cook for his stance on privacy and Apple's efforts to protect user data, and couldn't agree more with everything said in their customer letter today," wrote Jan Koum, one of the cofounders of WhatsApp. "Technology companies should not be required to build in backdoors to the technologies that keep their users' information secure," wrote Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. "We build secure products to keep your information safe and we give law enforcement access to data based on valid legal orders," wrote Google CEO, Sundar Pichai, "But that's wholly different than requiring companies to enable hacking of customer devices & data." In fact, I couldn't find a single tech industry leader who supports the FBI's claim, although I'm sure some exist. After all, the FBI makes a fair point. The encryption on Farook's phone is unquestionably making it harder for law enforcement officials to investigate this case. But there is no way to provide them with that access without also giving them access to your iPhone, my iPad, and every other iOS device on the planet. It gets worse. Once the backdoor is opened, there's no way to control who gets to walk through it. Thanks to Edward Snowden, we also have ample evidence that the United States government maximizes every opportunity to intercept communications in the name of national security. A lot of Americans don't have a problem with that, especially after events like 9/11, the November attacks in Paris, and yes, the San Bernardino shootings. But once these backdoors are opened, they are not easily closed again. This particular case may involve just the FBI, but the NSA could use the technology. It could also be taken advantage of by the bad guys as well as the good guys: corporations, foreign governments and intelligence agencies, hackers, ISISand anyone else with a modicum of technical knowledge. And they won't need a warrant from an American judge to do it. I truly want the FBI to have access to Farook's iPhone. I also wish there were a way to accomplish that without creating a backdoor that, by definition, makes all of our digital communications vulnerable to hackers, thieves, and overreaching governments of all kinds. Unfortunately, I can't have both. And neither can you. Ex-BuzzFeed president Jon Steinberg is launching a new startup, Cheddar(Opens in a new window), a video-centric media company that focuses on business content for the 18-34 marketeven going so far as to broadcast live from the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange for around one to two hours each day. As reported by Business Insider(Opens in a new window), Cheddar doesn't have a firm launch date just yet, though Steinberg told the site that the company should have a preview of its daily live show ready to go by May. Though it's just a few weeks old, Cheddar is already starting to think about how it might approach the elephant in the room: money. As in, how the service will make money in order to keep its operations going. It seems as if Cheddar is going to avoid the traditional "pack advertising around shows" approach, and instead focus on distribution deals with existing video platforms. That'll give Cheddar a consistent source of revenue and, more importantly, a way to get its shows on media-streaming hardware and related streaming services. "We're making a big bet on connected televisions, and I don't think the Apple TV market is as big as the phone market or the desktop market. But nobody is doing programming right now for people without cable boxes that have TVs on their walls, in offices, and have Rokus, Apple TVs and Chromecast connected to them ... I take the belief that no one coming out of college is going to get a cable box," Steinberg told Business Insider. Steinberg has already raised just shy of $3 million in an initial funding round, and he seems to be acting smart about how he spends it. Rather than outfit Cheddar with a giant, expensive control room for the fledgling media company, he's instead working with the production company Live X to minimize the initial hardware costs for equipment that can handle 4K shooting and editing. It remains to be seen whether this coveted "millennials" age group will flock to Steinberg's take on financial news, even if it's packaged into the same clips and quick hits one might watch for a favorite late-night show or daily political satire. BARCELONAThe Alcatel brand is commonly associated with midrange and budget smartphones and tablets, but that's set to change with the Idol 4 seriesjust announced here at MWC 2016. Alcatel is dropping the Onetouch from its name, simplifying the brand, and changing its logo. The Alcatel Idol 4 and Idol 4S are the two main representatives of this brand revamp, and both are unaplogetically premium. They boast metal-and-glass builds, with dual front- and rear-facing JBL speakers, and Android 6.0 Marshmallow. Their internals aren't necessarily up to par with anticipated flagships like the Samsung Galaxy S7 or LG G5; the hardware is more similar to devices like the Huawei Honor 5X . But the Idol 4 and 4S are two of the most intriguing phones we've seen at MWC so far, offering solid hardware, with a great design, and a number of innovative features that boost audio, camera performance, and integrate a VR experience. There's a lot to sink into in terms of features, so lets start with the nitty grittty. Idol 4 Design and Hardware The Idol 4 is the smaller and more modest of the two devices announced today, though that doesn't mean there's any compromise in the build quality. It has an attractive metal frame, holding together two contoured pieces of glass on its front and back. The design is reminiscent of the Samsung Galaxy S6 and OnePlus X ($199.00 at Plusnet Mobile)(Opens in a new window) in aesthetics and feel. The glass is slick, though not slippery and a bit prone to picking up fingerprints. That said, it is very light and thin at 0.27 inches. It has a crisp 5.2-inch, Full HD (1,920-by-1,080) InPlane Switching display with good viewing angles, Snapdragon 617 octa-core processor clocked at 1.7GHz, 3GB of RAM, and a 2,610mAh battery. I didn't get to test out its performance or battery much (there were about 5 million people backed in behind me), but the display seems to have good color reproduction. The camera is a respectable 13-megapixel rearfacing sensor with 1080p video at 30fpsthe standard midrange offering. The front-facing camera is an 8-megapixel shooter with front flash. The device ships with 16GB of internal storage; Alcatel claims that 10GB should be available. There's a microSD card slot capable of taking a card up to 512GB. There's also some nice bells and whistles you wouldn't normally expect from a device like this, including dual-band Wi-Fi, NFC, quick charging (one hour to full), and Bluetooth 4.2. The device comes unlocked, with LTE bands 1/3/7/8/20/29/38/40. Idol 4S Design and Hardware The larger, more powerful Alcatel offering is the Idol 4S. The design isn't fundamentally different from the Idol 4, except when it comes to size. It has a 5.5-inch Quad HD (2,560-by-1,440) AMOLED display that looked quite rich in the dimly lit showroom. It has a Snapdragon 652 octa-core processor clocked at 1.8GHz, 3GB of RAM, and a 3,000mAh battery. Again, it wasn't really possible to test any of these in the showroom, so we'll reserve judgment until our full review. The camera seems to be no slouch; there's a 16-megapixel rear-facing sensor, an 8-megapixel front-facing sensor with front flash and a wide angle lens. From the brief moments I had with it, it did well in low-light settings and took some crisp shots, but a more thorough analysis in our photo studio will give us a better idea of how it performs. The device is capable of 2K video capture at 30fps and 1080p video at 60fps. It comes with 32GB of internal storage, which should leave 25GB available, and supports a microSD card up to 512GB. Like the Idol 4, the 4S also has dual-band Wi-Fi, NFC, Bluetooth 4.2, and quick charging (a little over 1.5 hours). It will come unlocked, supporting LTE bands 1/3/7/8/20/28. Shared Features For starters, the 4 and 4S have dual front- and rear-facing speakers. Stereo sound is reversible left to right, and so is the display, meaning you can use the phone upside down and the interface quickly rights itself. Camera and audio performance have gotten a heavier focus, the devices have ultra-fast autofocus, better low-light shooting and 360-degree photo and selfie capability. The speakers are 3.6 watts and Hi-Fi surround sound is supported for headsets (JBL audio earphones are included with the Idol 4 and Idol 4S). Alcatel is also getting into VR, by having the packaging of the Idol 4 and 4S transform into a pair of Google Cardboard-style VR goggles. The Idol 4 and 4S will include a VR launcher and various pre-loaded VR games and apps. Hopefully that doesn't mean bloatware, but I did see a few more pre-installed apps than the Idol 3 ($92.05 at Amazon)(Opens in a new window) . Boom Key More interesting is the addition of a hardware key called "Boom Key," which offers a range of photo, video, and music functionality. Essentially, it's a context-aware, physical button that performs different tasks depending on what you are doing on the phone at the time. If you are in the camera is will take an instant shot, doubling as a shutter button. If you are in a phone call, it will boost call volume. If you are listening to music, it will boost audio and bass. If you are playing Asphalt 8, it will give you a literal in-game nitrous boost. If you use the included VR headset, then you can use it to take you from standby mode straight to VR. This is by far one of the most innovative implementations of a hardware button I've seen, and serves to show that a phone doesn't necessarily have to check off all the spec boxes if it has an intriguing selling point. The inclusion of touchless interaction, with a 3D dynamic homescreen that modifies itself as your finger approaches and withdraws seems like icing on the cake, though how functional it is outside of demos will be the real test. Release Date, Launch, and Availability Alcatel plans to launch the Idol 4 is 50 countries over the next three months and ship as early as April as it eyes more market share in the U.S., Western Europe, Korea, and Japan. Fifty retail, carrier, and online partners have signed up to launch the Idol 4. Both the Idol 4 and 4S will be available with Gold, Dark Gray, Rose Gold, and Metal Silver-colored metal frames. The company plans to offer four different configurations globally, including all color variants. Price is expected to range between 279 euros to 449 euros. North American price isn't known yet and we advise against directly converting from euros since there are a lot of different factors that can affect phone pricing in different market. Overall, Alcatel sought to distinguish itself at MWC with a thorough rebrand and my preliminary thoughts are that it really succeeded in that. I've never seen this much interest, let alone excitement in an Alcatel device. Alcatel hopes to become the fifth-largest smartphone and tablet manufacturer in market this year, and how well the Idol 4 and 4S do will determine that. Stay tuned for our full review of both devices. A California assemblymans bill could apply to an ongoing legal battle between Apple Inc. and federal authorities who want the techno-giant to unlocked the iPhone used by one of the assailants in the Dec. 2 San Bernardino terror attack. The bill introduced last month by Assemblyman Jim Cooper, D-Elk Grove, would require smartphones sold in California and made after Jan. 1, 2017 to be capable of being unlocked by the manufacturer. Phone makers would face fines of $2,500 for each smartphone that cant be decrypted. A federal judge has ordered Apple to help authorities decrypt the contents of Syed Rizwan Farooks iPhone. Rizwan Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, killed 14 and wounded 22 in a mass shooting before dying the same day in a firefight with police. The U.S. Department of Justice maintains Apples cooperation is needed so authorities can learn critical information about the attack. But Apple CEO Tim Cook says the federal government wants his company to create a back door that could jeopardize iPhone users privacy and security if the tool got into the wrong hands. While Rizwan Farooks iPhone is owned by San Bernardino County, which has consented to the FBIs request to inspect it. Rizwan Farook created the devices passcode, which Apple does not record. In a telephone interview, Cooper said his bill applies directly to the Rizwan Farook iPhone. He added investigations into homicides, child pornography and human trafficking are hampered because detectives cant access smartphones. Cooper criticized Apple for not working with law enforcement. As a Sacramento County Sheriffs Department captain overseeing a high tech crimes unit, Apple routinely downloaded information from iPhones for investigators, he said. I understand the need for personal privacy, he said. But when you have serious criminal cases, why cant you send phone to Apple along with a search warrant, have Apple download the information and send it back to law enforcement? Cooper predicted his bill will face a tough fight in the Legislature. People are that really in the know support it and some folks in the tech world dont support it, he said. Contact the writer: 951-368-9547 or jhorseman@pressenterprise.com Church to host guest speaker CALIMESA Richard Bewes, who served as rector of All Souls Evangelical Church in London, England for 22 years, will preach at Calimesa Seventh-day Adventist Church on Saturday, Feb. 27. He will be the guest speaker at the 11:15 a.m. worship service. His sermon topic is When Foundations Are Shaking. Calimesa Seventh-day Adventist Church is located at 391 Myrtlewood Drive. Information: 909-795-9741. Staff report REDLANDS The Farm at Luther Glen suffered a loss on Feb. 5 when coyotes killed four of its goats. A news release says Pastor Kim Eifert Krogstad of First Evangelical Lutheran Church in Redlands presented The Farm with a check for $1,000 on Sunday, Feb. 14 to help pay for new goats and to strengthen security for the farms livestock, which includes a pig, sheep, chickens and four surviving goats. The funds were donated by the congregation. Luther Glen is a Lutheran retreat and conference center. Additional donations can be made at lrcchome.com or by mailing a check to Luther Glen, 39136 Harris Road, Oak Glen, CA. 92399 with farm in the note section. Information: 661-245-3519. Staff report Contact the writer: community@pressenterprise.com Since the Dec. 2 San Bernardino terrorist attack, mosques have been firebombed. Theyve received threatening phone calls. Muslims have faced stereotyping. But for 17 years, a clinic on mosque property run by Muslim doctors donating their time has been serving one of San Bernardino Countys poorest areas. Its called the Al-Shifa clinic. In Arabic, the name means healing path. Al-Shifa began as an act of faith in 1999, when Muslim doctors came together to discuss opening a free clinic in Muscoy, an unincorporated area near San Bernardino. The clinic offered a chance for physicians many of them immigrants who had done well in their fields to give back. It opened in March 2000 to help the many who cant afford basic health care. Doctors always want to give back to their community for free, said Dr. Talat Khan, a Rancho Cucamonga resident who worked as a physician and surgeon at Patton State Hospital in Highland and is chairwoman of the clinic board. They feel an inner satisfaction that theyve done something rather than earning money. The clinic is in a small, white and green portable building on land leased from the Dar Al Uloom Al Islamiyah of America mosque, which attracted national media scrutiny after the San Bernardino shooting. One of the attackers, Syed Rizwan Farooq, sometimes attended prayer there during lunch breaks from his job as a county health inspector. He and his wife killed 14 people at a gathering of his fellow county employees. Following the mass shooting, mosque leaders, who condemned the attack, reported threatening phone calls. But the clinic, which is overseen by a separate board, hasnt faced any backlash, its operators say. Clinic Manager Muhammad Safwatullah said the community was protective of Al-Shifa because of the goodwill it has built over the past 16 years. They came to check to see if everything was fine with us, he said. SHOWING THE WORLD He and Khan say the clinics work reflects Islams true teachings especially the religious obligation to help the less fortunate. This is a way to show to the world that Muslims do good work too, Khan said. Safwatullah cited a verse from the Quran: If you save one human life its as you saved all humanity. The clinic has more than 30 volunteer doctors and dentists mostly Muslim who see 500 patients a month, Safwatullah said. More than 80 percent of those who walk inside arent Muslim and are predominantly Hispanic, he said. We dont deny medical care to anyone, he said. Anyone is welcome. On a recent Saturday morning, the waiting room was nearly full with about dozen people. Leon Ramos, a 41-year-old Fontana resident, showed up to get a tooth capped, a procedure he couldnt afford. The service they offer is really good, he said. Lake Forest resident Asad Toori heard about the clinic from friends and came with his mother, Atiya Toori, to see if a doctor could help her. She had recently arrived from Pakistan and was suffering from pain and nausea. But she had no insurance and couldnt get a medical appointment at a hospital. In the meantime shes in distress and this is the only place I could find, he said. SPECIAL NICHE The 4,000-square-foot building has 10 examining rooms with dental appointments on one side and medical ones on the other. With equipment donated by area hospitals such as Kaiser Permanente, clinic physicians can take X-rays, administer EKGs and run blood tests in its procedure room and lab. The clinic mainly offers primary health care but also has specialists in cardiology, chiropractic, gynecology, internal medicine, nephrology, pediatrics and psychiatry. Recently, it started free weight and wellness classes to offer patients tips for eating and living healthier. Dr. Hasan Syed, an orthopedic surgeon at Loma Linda University Medical Center who lives in Redlands, began volunteering at the clinic two years ago after a fellow physician mentioned the clinic lacked orthopedic services. He said its been rewarding. Its nice to see there are services provided that are really needed in one of the most critically needed areas in San Bernardino, Syed said. The operators rely on grants and fundraisers and have received community block grant funding from the county to meet its annual operating cost of $200,000. San Bernardino County Supervisor Josie Gonzales, whose district includes Muscoy, said the clinic is vital to the area, especially for low-income women. I know without the clinic many of the women would not have access to health care, she said. Gonzales praised the dedication of its volunteers, adding that the clinic plays an important role in the lives of the community. Contact the writer: 951-368-9558 or ighori@pressenterprise.com The death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia continues to ripple across the legal and political worlds. The courts eight members are expected to produce 4-4 deadlocks on several important cases. For that reason, Republicans want President Obama to hold off on nominating a replacement so that the next president, who could be a Republican, could do so. Democrats seek a replacement now who, if confirmed, would be more likely to be an activist on the bench in the mold of confirmed Obama nominees Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan. The court still is deciding important cases on abortion, gun rights, free speech and Obamacare. But for Californians, probably the most important case is Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association, in which the lead plaintiff is Orange County teacher Rebecca Friedrichs. She and the nine other teacher-plaintiffs contend the CTA and other public-employee unions should not force employees to pay union fees for collective bargaining. A defeat for the unions greatly would reduce their power in the states, such as California, where they are the dominant force in politics. (The case would not affect private-sector union members.) Any preliminary court votes or drafts of opinions by Mr. Scalia now are void, Ilya Shapiro told us; hes a senior fellow in constitutional studies at the libertarian Cato Institute. The Friedrichs case is the biggest loss from my perspective, he said. Other big cases either affirm correct lower court rulings 4-4 or Scalia wouldve been in dissent, anyway. But were unlikely to know till June, when the court hands down its final cases for the current term. In Friedrichs case, the Supreme Court could decide to delay a decision until the next court term, after the next president offers a replacement for Mr. Scalia. But a 4-4 decision by June would let stand the ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which sided with the CTA. However, even that wouldnt be the end of the case. On Wednesday the Center for Individual Rights, which is representing Ms. Friedrichs and the other teachers, released a statement that promised it would file a motion for rehearing by the full court if a 4-4 decision is handed down. We have backed Ms. Friedrichs and hope the court puts off a decision until the voters have their say on what sort of president they want nominating new justices. For decades, business owners throughout the country have run through a checklist of labor laws and regulations they need to follow to maintain a productive workplace and avoid liability. Now, through the coordinated actions of several federal agencies, many law-abiding business owners are facing a new reality they may be held liable as a joint employer for lawsuits involving employees that they do not directly control. The sweeping revisions to the various joint employer standards began in the National Labor Relations Boards matter of Browning-Ferris Industries of California Inc. Previously, the board only considered an employer to be a joint employer under the National Labor Relations Act if there was evidence of a significant or substantial degree of direct and immediate control over the hiring, firing, discipline, supervision and direction of employment of another companys employees. Claiming that a new, broader standard was needed to encourage collective bargaining, the board abandoned that old standard. Specifically, the board held that an employer may now be jointly responsible, even if it only has the unexercised ability to indirectly control even through an intermediary any terms and conditions of employment of another companys employees. Around the same time as the Browning-Ferris decision, an internal memo from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration surfaced. According to that memo, OSHA directed its inspectors to vet the relationships between companies and franchises to find evidence of joint employer standing under a broader interpretation of their own joint employer standard. Most recently, on Jan. 20, the Wage and Hour Division of the U.S. Department of Labor issued an administrator interpretation to construe joint employment under the Fair Labor Standards Act, the federal law establishing minimum wage and overtime requirements, among other things, as broad as possible. To that end, the division will now consider the prospect of joint employment where: The employee works for two employers who are associated or related in some way with respect to the employee (horizontal joint employment) or, Where the employee has an employment relationship with one employer and the economic realities show that he or she is economically dependent on, and thus employed by, another entity involved in the work (vertical joint employment). Significantly, in analyzing whether a joint employment relationship exists, the relationship agreed upon by the potential joint employers is not relevant to the divisions determination of joint employment status. What Does This Mean For Employers? Going forward, employers should expect to see a trend of federal agencies pursuing a greater number of companies with allegations under a theory of joint employer. Indeed, the Browning-Ferris decision and Wage and Hour Divisions administrative interpretation mention employers in construction, agriculture, janitorial, warehouse and logistics, staffing and hospitality industries, among others, as potential joint employers. In response to these joint employer standards, all employers should review their business-to-business relationships and practices to assess and minimize their risks in this area. Some concrete steps for businesses to take immediately are: Review existing written contracts with other businesses to see whether one party reserves any right to control the working conditions of the other partys employees, even if that authority is never exercised. Determine whether it makes sense to include an express disavowal of any control over another partys employees in that written contract. Review the actual relationships between the parties to see whether one is exercising control over the working conditions of the others employees, keeping in mind that, under the new standards, a suggestion that one party take certain actions could be viewed as a requirement that the party must take those actions. Thomas OConnell is an attorney with Best Best & Krieger LLP in Riverside, focusing on business and labor and employment litigation. He can be reached at thomas.oconnell@bbklaw.com Roger Crawford is a partner with Best Best & Krieger LLP in Ontario, where he advises and represents public and private sector employers in all aspects of labor and employment law. He can be reached at roger.crawford@bbklaw.com One-room school houses were scattered all over Riverside County in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Anywhere enough families were living to provide approximately 15-25 students, the County Superintendent of Schools could be petitioned to form a school district and allocate money for hiring a teacher and buying supplies. The one-room school that served the western end of San Jacinto Valley had the particularly pretty name of Harmony. The school was apparently named for the road on which it was located. Harmony Road was later renamed Warren Road, in honor of Earl Warren, former governor of California. Besides its name, Harmony School had the distinction of employing a teacher who later became a critically acclaimed author. Mary Jessamyn West attended Whitter College in the early 1920s. There she met fellow student Harry Maxwell Max McPherson, whose parents owned an apricot ranch south of Hemet. They married the summer after she graduated in 1923. The young couple moved to the McPherson ranch after their honeymoon. On Sept. 14, 1923, the Hemet News reported on the couples move to the area and said, Both Mr. and Mrs. McPherson are charming young people, and will be a happy addition to the valleys younger set. Initially, it appears that Max came home to work on the family ranch. Mary got a job as a school secretary. In 1925, Harry became a teacher at Hemet Junior High school and Mary became the teacher at Harmony School, where she stayed for four years. Mary later said the principal was glad, after that one year, to give me a job as a teacher. In 1929, Max and Mary left for UC Berkeley, where Mary attended school to work on her doctorate in English Literature. Max took a teaching position in that area. Unfortunately, in 1932 Mary was diagnosed with tuberculosis and in August of that year was sent to a sanitarium. Two years later she was sent home to live with her mother because she was not expected to survive much longer. Instead she slowly began to recover. During this time, her mother, who came from a Quaker family, told her stories of growing up as a Quaker farm girl in Indiana. Mary began passing the time by writing, incorporating the stories her mother had told her. Beginning in 1939, Mary began publishing short stories in literary journals. She wrote under her middle name, Jessamyn, and her maiden name, West. Her most well-known novel was The Friendly Persuasion, published in 1945. It was adapted by her into the 1956 movie of the same name. The movie starred Gary Cooper, was directed by William Wyler and was nominated for a number of Academy Awards, including Best Picture. The McPhersons moved to Napa in 1940, where Max was superintendent of schools. There, the writer and former Harmony school teacher lived out the rest of her life. If you have an idea for a future Back in the Day column about a local historic person, place, or event, contact Steve Lech and Kim Jarrell Johnson at backinthedaype@gmail.com. A dozen Inland divers are almost ready to pack their bags and scuba gear for Roatan. To their relief, the tropical island off Honduras famous for its spectacular coral reef diving and nearby whale sharks isnt known as a Zika virus hotspot. From divers preparing for Caribbean scuba trips to honeymooners planning a Belize adventure, Zika is on Inland travelers minds. Yet that doesnt mean theyre cancelling their plans. Dive instructor-trainer Tony Wiley, owner of Wileys SCUBA Locker in Riverside, said the divers hes leading on two trips to the Central American island in late April and early May want the trips to go ahead as planned. Theyre all seasoned explorers who have traveled with the former U.S. Navy diver to other exotic dive spots. None of my customers hesitated one second, Wiley said. When youre going to a Third World country, youre subject to dengue and Montezumas revenge and any number of things. PRECAUTIONS URGED The World Health Organization declared Zika to be a global health emergency earlier this month. Nine deaths believed to be Zika-related have been reported since early February in Brazil, Venezuela and Colombia. The virus is believed to be spread primarily by mosquitoes. Zika is suspected of causing microcephaly in babies, leaving them with small heads and brains, and Guillain-Barre syndrome, which can cause paralysis. The number of Guillain-Barre cases are climbing in Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela, El Salvador and Suriname, countries with Zika outbreaks. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the European organization advise pregnant women to delay travel to any of the 32 countries and territories with active Zika. The virus may be transmitted from a pregnant woman to her fetus. The Centers have given South and Central America, the Caribbean, Mexico, Pacific Islands and Africas Cape Verde an Alert Level 2, advising travelers to guard against mosquito bites and use condoms after the disease has been passed from men to women during sex at least twice in the U.S. Not wanting to put customers at risk, Wiley researched the virus and its prevalence in Honduras, then called a doctor and two Roatan resorts before talking to the divers. Honduras appears to be fifth-highest among countries with Zika, behind Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela and El Salvador, according to the Pan American Health Organizations Feb. 18 report. Mosquitoes arent usually an issue on the windy side of Roatan, where the group will stay in over-the-water bungalows with screened windows and air conditioning. There are no known Zika cases there, and none of the divers is pregnant or planning to be, Wiley said. On the island, it doesnt seem to be a problem, he said. About 1 in 5 people infected with Zika virus get sick. In most cases, symptoms are mild. Wiley said he understands Zika isnt usually as bad as people think. If you get bit, and you get infected, you might get a rash. You might get a fever. And you might get a little pink eye for a day or two, he said. He tells divers that Roatan, a former pirates lair, is a buggy island with mosquitoes and sand fleas. He suggested people bring long-sleeved shirts and bug repellent. For the divers, the Zika virus has had a positive side. It saved us about 300 bucks each, he said. The airfare went from $800 to $500 in two weeks. Helicopter mechanic Jerry Randolph, who grew up in Riverside, said there are about 300 Zika cases in the Honduran city of Comayagua, where he now lives with his wife. On Thursday, Feb. 18, during a visit home, Randolph said hes not worried about returning to Honduras after being gone several months. The only mosquito trouble spots in the city by the river have stagnant water. There isnt any in their townhouse community. His wife isnt so confident. Shes staying inside, said Randolph, 55. Concerns about Zika wont stop Belize native Nicole Davis, a 31-year-old Riverside resident, from going home to Belize City to visit family next year. Belize is the only Central American nation with no reported Zika cases. While eating at the Salvadoran restaurant Pupuseria La Sierra in Riverside, Davis said she will go even if Zika arrives in Belize. The city sprays for mosquitoes morning and night. The bugs only bother her in the jungle, she added. Just thinking about it makes me wonder how these diseases move so fast, she said Wednesday, Feb. 17. Outside, Riverside resident Dorna Ruiz said the only way to survive in her native Honduras is to wear repellent constantly. They have wooo! a lot of mosquitoes there, she said. WERE GOING ANYWAY World Bank officials say Zikas impact on Latin American economies will be small $3.6 billion, or about .6 percent of the regions gross domestic product, the Associated Press reported. Many people say theyre going to affected areas, despite Zika. Riverside travel agency owner Sonia Robledo tells clients booking packages to Mexico, the Caribbean, or Central or South American about the virus. No one has changed plans. She advised honeymooners escaping to Belize to avoid pregnancy until returning home from the trip in July just to be safe. I said if youre going to start a family, lets not start it before the honeymoon, said Robledo, who runs Traveling with Sonia. A large family considered not going to Cancun in March because one woman wants to get pregnant. Robledo, who watches Mexican TV newscasts and has family living in Central Mexico, said she doubts official Mexican reports that Zika was eradicated there. The family still wants to go. They have travel insurance if any change their minds. A couple in their late 20s is heading to Argentina in August even after their travel agent, Romie Gavion of Lauras Travel in Redlands, told them about the virus. Others who knew about Zika booked cruises to Jamaica, Barbados and St. Thomas. Ive had a few that said, Were going anyway, she said. But not everybody knows about the virus. Davis sister, 27-year-old Corona resident Simone Dubose, said shed never heard of Zika before Wednesday. Bob Romano, who manages Canyon Crest Travel in Riverside, said hes been telling clients about Zika for a month. None have postponed travel. When I mention this to people that are booking now, a lot of people dont even know what Im talking about, he said. Hes helping people arrange a vacation to Brazil this summer. Those people said they dont think Zika will be a problem then. Romano and Robledo advise people to protect themselves against mosquito bites by bringing pants, long-sleeved shirts and repellent. They recommend that women who are pregnant, or want to be, not go. You cant not travel and stay locked up in your house, Robledo said. More or less, what Im doing is alerting them to the fact that this is out there, and then let them make their own decision. Contact the writer: 951-368-9444 or shurt@pressenterprise.com Around the clock for over a week, protesters have stood watch outside Brisbanes Lady Cilento Childrens Hospital. Until now, the number gathered outside had been there to convince the federal government to reconsider their stance on deporting the refugee Baby Asha to Nauru. Tonight, after refugee advocates said Department of Immigration guards were gearing up to remove the baby from the hospital, the protest group adopted the more practical interpretation of standing watch, and actively surrounded the hospitals exit points. As word spread, numbers on-site swelled. ABC reports that a handful of protesters ballooned to over 200. #LadyCilento on guard 2nite after threats to deport Baby Asha. Huge crowds staffing checkpoints around hospital pic.twitter.com/uwsqwHY5wp Abraham ONeill (@AbeONeill) February 20, 2016 Natasha Blucher, who has been in close contact with Ashas family as an advocate, says the childs mother was informed by immigration officials Asha would be taken from the hospital today. Since then, Ashas mother was apparently told the hospital wouldnt be discharging her child; Blucher has been unable to contact her since then. She told Brisbane Times her concern is because theyre holding her incommunicado, it could be part of that transfer process but it could also be just to deny her the right to speak to people who are providing support to her. Queensland Health also said they dont believe the child will be removed in the immediate future. We understand baby Asha will remain in LCCH overnight at least. We ask those outside the hospital to respect other patients & staff. Queensland Health (@qldhealthnews) February 20, 2016 Regardless, the confusion seems to have only reinvigorated the protests, with increased numbers planning to stay through the night. Protesters have also been gifted with pizzas by donors elsewhere, in an attempt to sustain the group on-site. Nothing like a pizza-powered protest. From everyone here at #LadyCilento, thank you for feeding us!! pic.twitter.com/N0cDY7QVRj Alycia Gawthorne (@AlyciaGawthorne) February 20, 2016 The latest developments come after hospital staff refused to release the baby over fears the government would place her in detention. Darwin-born Asha was brought back to Australian shores for medical treatment after suffering accidental burns while in detention with her Nepalese asylum-seeking parents. Well update this story as it develops. Source: ABC / Brisbane Times / Twitter. Photo: Alycia Gawthorne / Twitter. Umberto eco Italian writer, medievalist, semiotician, philosopher, literary critic and novelists Umberto Eco waves to the public during the Italian State RAI TV program in Milan. Eco, best known for the international best-seller "The Name of the Rose," died Friday, Feb. 19, 2016, according to spokeswoman Lori Glazer. He was 84. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno, 2010) MILAN (AP) -- Umberto Eco catapulted to global literary fame three decades ago with "The Name of the Rose," a novel in which professorial erudition underpinned a medieval thriller that sold some 30 million copies in more than 40 languages. The Italian author and academic who became one of Italy's best-known cultural exports and keenest cultural critics, died at home in Milan on Friday evening after a battle with cancer, according to a family member who asked not to be identified. His death was earlier confirmed by his American publisher, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Eco's contribution to Italian literature was lauded by political and cultural figures alike. A memorial service will be held on Tuesday at Milan's Sforza Castle, a grand citadel which is overlooked by Eco's book-filled house. French President Francois Hollande remembered Eco as "an immense humanist," adding that "libraries have lost an insatiable reader, universities a dazzling professor and literature a passionate writer." Italian Premier Matteo Renzi said Eco "united a unique intelligence of the past and an inexhaustible capacity to anticipate the future." Italian author Elisabetta Scarbi, who founded a publishing house last year with Eco and other Italian writers, called him "a great living encyclopedia" who taught young people "the capacity to love discoveries and marvels." Author of books ranging from novels to scholarly tomes to essay collections, Eco was fascinated with the obscure and the mundane, and his books were both engaging narratives and philosophical and intellectual exercises. The bearded, heavy-set scholar, critic and novelist took on the esoteric theory of semiotics, the study of signs and symbols in language; popular culture icons like James Bond; and the technical languages of the Internet. "The Name of the Rose" made an international celebrity, especially after the medieval thriller set in a monastery was made into a film starring Sean Connery in 1986. "The Name of the Rose" sold millions of copies, a feat for a narrative filled with partially translated Latin quotes and puzzling musings on the nature of symbols. Eco said his work on the novel was "prodded by a seminal idea: I felt like poisoning a monk." The book sparkled with references to his intellectual preoccupations. "Books are not made to be believed, but to be subjected to inquiry," he wrote. "When we consider a book, we mustn't ask ourselves what it says but what it means, a precept that the commentators of the holy books had very clearly in mind." The last line of the book says, in Latin: "Yesterday's rose endures in its name; we hold empty names." That meant, Eco said that ideas are the only imperishable things. Eco retouched the thriller in 2012, telling Corriere della Sera that he wanted to change "certain expressions and repetitions that annoyed me," while also lightening up some of the Latin citations to help readers, "even if I could have forgotten the readers, seeing as the book has sold 30 million copies." Eco told the newspaper that the official publishing numbers may have been off by a large margin, explaining that when "The Name of the Rose" was published there were no deals with publishing houses in Eastern Europe and Asia, which published their own translations without obtaining rights or paying royalties. His second novel, the 1988 "Foucault's Pendulum," a byzantine tale of plotting publishers and secret sects also styled as a thriller, was successful, too -- and so complicated that an annotated guide accompanied it to help the reader follow the plot. In 2000, when awarding Eco Spain's prestigious Prince of Asturias Prize for communications, the jury praised his works "of universal distribution and profound effect that are already classics in contemporary thought." Eco was born Jan. 5, 1932, in Alessandria, a town east of Turin. Eco, whose family name is supposedly a Latin acronym of ex caelis oblatus, or gift from heaven, given to his foundling grandfather by a city official, said the insular culture there was a source for his "world vision: a skepticism and an aversion to rhetoric." He earned a degree in philosophy from the University of Turin in 1954, beginning his fascination with the Middle Ages and the aesthetics of text. He later defined semiotics as a "philosophy of language." He suffered a crisis of faith during this period, abandoning the Roman Catholic Church. He had always loved storytelling and as a teenager wrote comic books and fantasy novels. "I was a perfectionist and wanted to make them look as though they had been printed, so I wrote them in capital letters and made up title pages, summaries, illustrations," he told The Paris Review in 1988. "It was so tiring that I never finished any of them. I was at that time a great writer of unaccomplished masterpieces." Eco remained involved with academia, becoming the first professor of semiotics at the University of Bologna in 1971. He also lectured at institutions worldwide and was a fellow at elite institutions including Oxford University and Columbia University. His website listed 34 institutions that had awarded him honorary degrees by 2008. But Eco was also able to bridge the gap between popular and intellectual culture, publishing his musings in daily newspapers and Italy's leading weekly magazine L'Espresso. Eco started in journalism in the 1950s, working for the Italian state-owned television RAI. From the 1960s onwards, he wrote columns for several Italian dailies. He also wrote children's books, including "The Bomb and the General" ("La Bomba e il Generale"). In 2003, Eco published a collection of lectures on translations, "Mouse or Rat? Translation as Negotiation." A year later he wrote a novel, "The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana," about an antiquarian book dealer who loses his memory. Recent works include "From the Tree to the Labyrinth," an essay on semiology and language published in 2007, and "Turning Back the Clock," a collection of essays on various subjects, ranging from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to anti-Semitism and to staunch criticism of Silvio Berlusconi's conservative government in Italy. His last novel, "Numero Zero," came out last year. It recalled a political scandal from the 1990s that helped lead to Berlusconi's rise, focusing on the role of the media as what Eco called "instruments to delegitimize the enemy." His last book, a collection of essays, is set to be published next week by a new house he helped found with other authors last year. "He worked a couple of days ago on the last corrections, and he chose the cover," Sgarbi, co-founder of "La Nave di Tesoro" publishing house, told Sky TG24. In a 2011 interview with the Guardian newspaper, Eco explained how someone as "strongly anti-intellectual" as Berlusconi could become a political force in Italy, a cradle of Renaissance culture. "There was a fear of the intellectual as a critical power, and in this sense there was a clash between Berlusconi and the intellectual world," he said. "But Italy is not an intellectual country. On the subway in Tokyo everybody reads. In Italy, they don't. Don't evaluate Italy from the fact that it produced Raphael and Michelangelo." In the same interview, Eco shrugged off critics who found him "too erudite and philosophical, too difficult," saying he wrote "for masochists." "It's only publishers and some journalists who believe that people want simple things," Eco said. "People are tired of simple things. They want to be challenged." Eco is survived by his wife of 43 years, Renate Ramge, a son and a daughter. A 17-year-old Huntingdon County boy has been charged with possessing child pornography, according to state police. From Dec. 2015 to Feb. 2016, state police said they received numerous tips from around the country about the boy's activity on various social media sites. A woman from Kansas contacted state police in Huntingdon County and told them her 13-year-old daughter was inappropriately contacted by the boy through Facebook and Snapchat, investigators said. State police said they received similar complaints from parents of teenage girls in Colorado and Texas. Police did not provide details about the contact between the boy and girls. The name of the boy was not released because he is a minor. On Feb. 10, investigators served search warrants at the boy's home in Shirley Township and seized several computers and phones, police said. "Images of young females were discovered on several of the devices," according to a news release from the police. Charges against the boy were referred to Huntingdon County juvenile probation. A man is facing charges after police in Lancaster County said he shot a man with a BB gun replica of a pistol and robbed him during a fight to get his money back during a drug deal. The incident took place just before 9 p.m. Friday at a home along the 100 block of West Main Street in New Holland, according to borough police. Shaiqueze J. Stewart, 18, of New Holland, has been charged with two counts of aggravated assault, one count of robbery and theft by unlawful taking, police said. Investigators said Stewart told them he went to a home in the area to buy drugs from a 19-year-old man. "During the interaction with the 19-year-old male, Stewart demanded his money back and pulled out a CO2 BB gun replica of a semi automatic pistol. A fight occurred and Stewart fired the BB gun 5 times striking the male in the head," according to a news release from the police. Police said the victim was shot twice in head and that his injuries do not appear to be life-threatening. Stewart is being held in the Lancaster County Prison on $200,000 bail. Senate democrats U.S. Senate candidates John Fetterman, Katie McGinty and Joe Sestak will debate Friday in advance of the April Democratic primary. (File photos) HARRISBURG -- Friday's debate revealed far more commonalities than differences among the three Democrats vying for the chance to face incumbent Republican Sen. Pat Toomey in November. John Fetterman, Katie McGinty and Joe Sestak all agreed with the position of most Democrats on key issues like abortion rights, climate change, minimum wage and reducing the influence of money on elections. When they diverged, it tended to be a matter of degree or specificity. Fetterman, the 6-foot-8 mayor of Braddock, called for a $15 minimum wage for all workers. The others did not provide a specific figure, but called for an increase. "That's the floor and not the ceiling," he said. Each of the candidates in the April 26 primary disagree with the Trans-Pacific Partnership brokered by the Obama administration and supported by Toomey. That trade agreement, which is expected to come to a Senate vote this year, would strengthen connections between the U.S. and a number of key nations around the Pacific Ocean. But Sestak, a retired Navy admiral and former congressman, said it would create unfair competition for American businesses with no protection for intellectual property. He called for a "retooling" of the partnership, while he colleagues stated outright opposition. On the environment, Katie McGinty, a former state environmental secretary and chief of staff to Gov. Tom Wolf, said there's a disconnect among Republicans who claim not to be experts in the field. "It's funny," she said. "When it comes to climate, (they say) 'we can't do anything,' but when it comes to womens' health, they're an M.D. and a Ph.D." U.S. Senate candidates John Fetterman, Katie McGinty and Joe Sestak will debate Friday in advance of the April Democratic primary. The debate began with a question about what factors would be key to deciding upon a potential replacement for Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, whose death last week promptly led to debate over whether President Barack Obama should appoint a replacement at all. Toomey has said he agrees with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, that the decision should be left to the next president. On Friday, the Democrats agreed upon key issues, such as abortion rights and limits on campaign donations, that may end up the Supreme Court in the near future. Sestak also argued for more diversity and the ability to work civilly with the sitting justices. Friday's debate, which was sponsored Keystone Progress Summit at the Harrisburg Hilton, hewed close to policy issues. A few barbs were aimed at Toomey, particularly stances on the Supreme Court and TPP issues, but the candidates generally stuck to their campaign messages. The three Democrats also avoided direct attacks on each other, with Sestak making an oblique reference earlier in the debate about politicians who use the "revolving door" to consulting and lobbyist jobs. After serving as environmental secrety under Gov. Ed Rendell, McGinty served on the boards of several energy companies and founded a consulting firm that was part of the Marcellus Shale Coalition. McGinty, whose father was a Philadelphia police officer, said she would fight for Pennsylvania workers and collective bargaining. "The union had his back," she said, of her father. "I am proud, in this race, to be supported by organized labor." In a nod to his Navy background, Sestak said he would always have Pennsylvania's "six," miltiary speak for having one's back. "I want to have this country, (and) Pennsylvania's, six," he said. "I want to serve." Fetterman, meanwhile, ended with one of the night's loudest laugh lines. Two possible constituents recently recognized him on the street, he told the crowd. Two others, however, crossed the street "because they thought I was going to mug them." A York man has been extradited back to the United States to face charges for the 2011 death of his infant son, according to the U.S. Marshals Service. Johann Ramirez-Herrera, 31, was arrested in El Seibo, a town in the Dominican Republic, on March 15, 2015. His extradition took place on Feb. 20 of this year. Ramirez-Herrera was originally charged on Oct. 7, 2011 in the death of his 11-month-old son. The son died six days earlier from injuries that indicated he was beaten and strangled, according to the marshals service. The child died at Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, and was brain dead, Dauphin County Coroner Graham Hetrick told the Patriot-News in 2011. According to travel records, Ramirez-Herrera fled to his native Dominican Republic the same day his son died. York City Police requested assistance from the U.S. Marshals Service to help locate Ramirez-Herrera. "This arrest is a direct result of cooperation between U.S. and Dominican law enforcement authorities, to include the U.S. Marshals Service's International Branch," said U.S. Marshal Martin J. Pane in a news release. "Additionally, the persistence of the personnel assigned to the Marshals Service Fugitive Task Force in the Middle District of Pennsylvania working together with our partners in in the York City Police Department and the York County District Attorney's Office ensured this man was brought to justice." License plates PennLive file photo By Leslie S. Richards PennDOT is pleased to see Pennsylvania's positive reception to our announcement that we will stop issuing vehicle registration stickers beginning Jan 1, 2017. PennDOT Secretary Leslie S. Richards (PennLive file) This enhancement to customer service was enabled by Act 89, the state's transportation plan. While customers must still register their vehicles, we estimate a $3.1 million annual savings in product and mailing costs. The elimination of the registration sticker was evaluated as part of a Penn State University research study that concluded eliminating the registration sticker would have no impact on compliance with vehicle registration laws. It will also eliminate the practice of scofflaws stealing stickers from properly registered vehicles or counterfeiting and selling stickers. While our counterparts in New Jersey and Connecticut are among the states who have already eliminated registration stickers, we are unique in our proposal to help our law enforcement partners. We propose to use the annual savings for a multi-year grant program for law enforcement to purchase and maintain Automated License Plate Reader (ALPR) technology, which would allow local and state police officers to check thousands of plates in a single shift to identify expired vehicle registrations and insurance coverage. This is a true force multiplier. Though some concerns have been reported regarding police enforcement of Vehicle Code laws, choosing to participate in the grant program in order to add ALPR technology to an agency's enforcement tool box will help to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of officers in the field. Today's visual detection of registration stickers is an outdated tool and does not account for, by itself, improperly used or counterfeit stickers. We look forward to working with our legislative and safety partners to implement the customer-service measures set forth in Act 89 while providing a unique opportunity to enhance law enforcement tools across the state. Leslie Richards is Secretary of the Pennsylvania Dept. of Transportation. She writes from Harrisburg. SpaceShipTwo starts a flight attached to the belly of its mothership, WhiteKnightTwo. The duo ascend to an altitude of about 14 kilometers (45,000 feetroughly the cruising altitude of a passenger jet). SpaceShipTwo detaches, free-falls, and ignites its single, hybrid-fuel rocket motor a few seconds later. It blasts its way up to an altitude of more than 100 kilometers, reaching the internationally recognized boundary of space. Passengers get a few minutes of weightlessness before the spacecraft glides back to a runway landing. The new SpaceShipTwo is, from a structural standpoint, virtually identical to its predecessor. Several new safety features have been added, including a mechanical inhibit system designed to prevent the vehicles tail boomswhich swivel upward to slow the vehicle during reentryfrom unlocking prematurely. An early tail boom deployment destroyed the first SpaceShipTwo on October 31, 2014. On that day, pilots Peter Siebold and Michael Asbury were aboard the vehicle for a powered test flight high above the Mojave Desert. WhiteKnightTwo released SpaceShipTwo, Asbury and Siebold ignited the engine, and the vehicle began accelerating normally. Just before the SpaceShipTwo reached the speed of sound, Asbury, the co-pilot, unlocked the spacecrafts tail booms, which were not supposed to be released until Mach 1.4. At that phase of flight, as the vehicle transitioned to supersonic speeds, the loads imposed on the vehicle caused the tail booms to deploy. The premature deployment tore the vehicle apart, killing Asbury and seriously injuring Seibold. In a subsuquent investigation, the National Transportation Safety Board found that Scaled CompositesVirgins prime contractorfailed to properly consider that a single human mistake could potentially destroy the vehicle. Shortly after the accident, it wasnt clear how easily Virgin Galactic would be able to bounce back. It had already been a decade since Scaled Composites sent the first commercial spaceplane, SpaceShipOne, into space. But Virgin already had a second SpaceShipTwo under construction at the time of the accident, and by July 2015, when the NTSB wrapped up its investigation, Virgin announced that a mechanical inhibit system was already in place to prohibit future premature tail boom deployments. Todays debut in Mojave marks the VSS Unity's transition to full system testing. A series of ground tests will be followed by captive carry flights beneath WhiteKnightTwo. Next comes glide tests, and finally, powered flight. Virgin has decided not to set a public timetable for testing. Heres a look back at the construction of SpaceShipTwo: Samuel Panzica Wins EPT Dublin 10,300 High Roller for 375,770 February 20, 2016 Christian Zetzsche Contributor The third and final day of the 2016 PokerStars European Poker Tour 10,300 High Roller saw 13 hopefuls from a 185-entry field return to the tables at the Royal Dublin Society. With the top 27 spots reaching the money, the remaining field was well into the money with Sergey Lebedev in the lead, but the Russian wasn't the man walking away with the title. That accomplishment was fulfilled by American Samuel Panzica to the tune of 375,770. Lebedev ultimately settled for third place after having already finished 10th in the 10,200 Single-Day High Roller a few days ago. Panzica and Akin Tuna cut a deal before heads-up play started and left 65,770 and the trophy up for grabs. In the end it was Panzica who emerged victorious and shattered his previous biggest cash of $109,326. Tuna finished second for 290,000 and more than quadrupled his live earnings to date. EPT Dublin 10,300 High Roller Final Results Place Winner Country Prize 1 Samuel Panzica USA 375,770 2 Akin Tuna Germany 290,000 3 Sergey Lebedev Russia 184,650 4 Emil Patel Finland 150,550 5 Davidi Kitai Belgium 120,050 6 Ryan Riess USA 92,240 7 Timothy Adams Canada 67,120 8 William Arruda Brazil 48,630 Diego Ventura was the shortest stack coming back for Day 3, and the Peruvian first doubled up with pocket aces against the pocket sevens of Ryan Riess before he saw his pocket queens getting cracked one hand later by the ace-ten of Lebedev when an ace appeared on the river. EPT regular Sam Chartier finished 12th after defending his big blind with jack-six suited. The French Canadian found middle pair on a queen-high flop and check-raised all in. Tuna called with the superior pocket tens and held up to bust Chartier. Christoph Vogelsang also fell victim to the early run of Tuna, who jumped into the lead by sending his fellow German to the rail in 11th place. Vogelsang defended his big blind with eight-five suited and found a five-high flop that prompted him to check-raise all in. Tuna had an overpair with pocket sixes, called, and won the hand. The unofficial final table was set with the elimination of Jerry Odeen in 10th, and, wouldn't you know, he also sent his stack over to Tuna. The story was exactly the same with Odeen defending the queen-jack suited from the big blind and finding top pair on a jack-high flop, only to check-shove right into the pocket kings of his opponent. Panzica then scored a huge double up after flopping a set of fours in a four-way pot. Lebedev paid off his check-shove with pocket tens and didn't get there. It was this pot that really helped propel Panzica forward, and he gained plenty of momentum. It was then Rocco Palumbo who fell in ninth place when his three-bet shove with ace-king was snap-called by Panzica, who held pocket aces to jump into the top spot. Then it was William Arruda who exited in eighth place, Timothy Adams who finished in seventh, and Riess who took sixth. For Riess, the 2013 World Series of Poker Main Event champion, he recorded his second high roller cash during the Dublin festival after finishing 13th in the 10,200 Single-Day High Roller. He was eliminated when his pocket sevens ran into the pocket eights of Davidi Kitai. Despite scoring that knockout of Riess, Kitati was the next to go. He got his stack into the middle of the table by three-bet shoving with ace-seven. Tuna called with ace-six and made a straight on the river. Emil Patel's run came to an end in fourth place. The American, now based in Finland, was at risk with ace-ten and had hopes of a comeback when Panzica turned over the ace-eight in the all-in showdown. However, an eight hit on the turn, and that was all she wrote. Down to the last three, Lebedev was the shortest stack. After a passive start, the Russian then open-shoved for 24 big blinds from the button with pocket threes. Panzica called with pocket nines in the small blind, and no miracle happened for Lebedev. After a quick discussion, the two remaining title contenders agreed to a deal that saw Panzica lock up 310,000 and Tuna 290,000. Tuna got off to an early lead, but then surrendered two bigger pots to become a 2-1 underdog. On the final hand between the two, a board with three kings on the flop saw Tuna fire all three streets with jack-ten. A ten appeared on the river, and Panzica shoved over the third barrel from Tuna, who called it off with a full house only to get shown quads by Panzica holding king-five. That's it from the PokerNews Live Reporting team reporting on the Dublin 10,300 High Roller, but there will be plenty more high-stakes poker action from the next stop of the European Poker Tour, the EPT Grand Final in Monaco starting at the end of April. Qualify for the Next EPT Event Think you've got what it takes to go deep in an EPT event? Qualify through PokerStars today and it could be your name PokerNews is writing about next! Check out the PokerStars review page on PokerNews to get started today. Get all the latest PokerNews updates on your social media outlets. Follow us on Twitter and find us on both Facebook and Google+! Sharelines Samuel Panzica won the European Poker Tour Dublin 10,300 High Roller for 375,770. A man who was arrested then questioned about a deadly ambush at a Pennsylvania State Police barracks has sued claiming he was traumatized by overzealous troopers who detained him based on mere speculation. Jeffrey Hudak, 49, of Clarks Summit, PA, contends he was arrested and handcuffed about 12 hours after Cpl. Bryon Dickson was killed and Trooper Alex Douglass was wounded outside the Blooming Grove barracks on Sept. 12, 2014. The alleged gunman, Eric Frein, was eventually captured after a 48-day manhunt and is jailed awaiting trial, ABC News reports. But on the day after the shooting Hudak contends he was a prime suspect merely because his estranged wife had a relationship with Douglass. Hudak was arrested without explanation by troopers in SWAT gear who surrounded his mother's home, the lawsuit said. "Pennsylvania State Police had absolutely no legal basis for the warrantless arrest," according to the lawsuit filed in Thursday in U.S. District Court in Scranton. Hudak alleges he was questioned for hours and denied an attorney even though one showed up at the barracks where he was being questioned. He was kept from using the restroom until he agreed to give a DNA sample and undergo testing for gunpowder residue, the lawsuit said. South Carolina state senators gave unanimous key approval Thursday for a bill that would require all law enforcement agencies in the state to have a written policy on how to handle officer-involved deaths. Sen. Gerald Malloy, D-Hartsville, introduced the bill 10 days after Walter Scott was shot and killed in North Charleston by police officer Michael Slager last April. Malloy said the bill isnt in direct response to the shooting, but rather the need for good public policy. We want to have something that gives the public confidence, Malloy told the Charleston Post and Courier. People will know what is going to happen, in certain circumstances, so were not trying to create it as were going along. Were going to know in advance. Officers from an outside agency would be required to investigate any officer-involved death. The bill would apply to deaths resulting from the actions or inactions of on- or off-duty law enforcement officers acting within the scope of their duties. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print The South Carolina primary is about to get under way today, so of course Ted Cruz is up to his last minute shenanigans. You remember Iowa, of course, where he told voters Ben Carson was dropping out of the race and lied that the news came from CNN. This time, according to Schuyler Kropf at The Post and Courier, a Ted Cruz super pac, the Courageous Conservative Political Action Committee, has a new robocall going out to South Carolina voters that the Confederate flag is Our flag. Yes, it is your flag, and the first time you ran her up the flagpole, federal troops stormed ashore and yanked her down again. That is, after your flag started the bloodiest war in American history over your imagined right to own other human beings black slavery. In the call, you hear Trumps voice say, Put it in a museum, let it go. Another voice then says, Thats Donald Trump supporting Nikki Haley removing the battle flag from the Confederate memorial in Columbia, and goes on to tell voters that people like Donald Trump are always butting their noses into other peoples business, and that Trump talks about our flag like its a social disease. The thought that you can own other human beings is a social disease. And if thats your culture, is a rotten culture. The call tells voters He Ridicules Our Values. I did not know owning black people was a value. Nikki Haley, of course, removed the flag. She also, on Wednesday, announced her endorsement of Marco Rubio, which no doubt got her on Cruzs shortlist. Now naturally, Cruz spokesperson Alice Stewart says Ted Cruz has nothing to do with it: This is from someone not affiliated in any way with our campaign. A spokesperson for Trump, who is leading Cruz in the Palmetto State 32 to 18 percent, responded with equal predictability, calling the robocall the same old trash and more signs of desperation. Interestingly, The Washington Post tell us that 70 percent of Trump supporters and 62 percent of Cruz oppose the flags removal. Another robocall by the same group went out Friday night attacking Trump over the marriage equality issue, saying in response to Trumps voice saying We have to bring all people together that bringing all people together is tearing down our Judeo-Christian values and tearing down America. NPRs Domenico Montanaro says It wouldnt be South Carolina without stuff like this. Hes talking about the robocalls, but really its a vile Trump leading the way and an equally vile Cruz doing whatever it takes, no matter how low-brow, to catch up. So the Confederate flag is Cruzs flag. Cant say its a real surprise given his views of the United States Constitution. Just remember voters, when you go to the polls, that casting a vote for Cruz is casting a vote for the old Confederacy and for black slavery. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print Nothing says ready for presidency like using the funeral of Justice Scalia to accuse the sitting President of being a Muslim, when he is a well-established Christian. So naturally that is exactly what Republican front-runner Donald Trump did today: I wonder if President Obama would have attended the funeral of Justice Scalia if it were held in a Mosque? Very sad that he did not go! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 20, 2016 Donald Trumps statements make it clear that Sarah Palin was just the test run for how many lies and craziness one person could pack into a few sentences. There is nothing wrong with being a Muslim, so thats number one. Any person running for the highest office in this country should know that, its fundamental to the founding of this country that there is no established religion and there is freedom of and from religion. Number two, President Obama is not a Muslim. He is a Christian. Everyone who has paid even the slightest attention to current events knows this. The President, who has been a scandal-free moral leader of the highest order, often references his faith when addressing tragedies. During his eulogy for Reverend and Democratic state Senator Clementa Pinckney, who was shot down in an act of racial terrorism during an attack on a church in Charleston, Obama burst into a spontaneous rendition of Amazing Grace. If Trump were on this planet at the time, its hard to see how he could have missed this. Number three, Trump just wished an ISIL attack on the Pope after the Pope suggested that Christians do not focus only on walls but also on bridges. Trump took this as an attack on his Christianity and in his Trumptrum he scolded the Pope saying a leader doesnt question a another mans faith. So Then Donald Trump questions President Obamas faith, just two days later. Its fair to say Donald Trump doesnt do self-reflection, personal responsibility, or values. He does two-year-old scream fests and everything is about him and its okay when he does it but not when anyone else does it. The good news here is this means Donald Trump is calling Donald Trump a person who is not a leader. I am sure many of us can agree with Mr. Trump on this point. Here is a photo of President Obama and the First Lady paying their respects to Justice Antonin Scalia in the Great Hall of the Supreme Court yesterday afternoon: Real leaders dont throw gasoline on conspiracy theories, and grown ups try not to throw a fit in public over something and then turn around and do it to someone else in public, just two days later. Donald Trump is a puffy reality TV show walking dramafest who belongs on TMZ, he is not a world leader. Minnesota party leaders are bracing for massive turnout during the March 1 caucuses as presidential candidates on both sides of the aisle continue to slug it out for their party's nomination. Raising the stakes in this year's caucuses is its location on the calendar. For the first time that party leaders can recall, Minnesota's caucuses fall on Super Tuesday. It will be one of 13 states holding presidential primaries and caucuses that day. Both Democratic presidential candidates, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, paid a visit to the state earlier this month in advance of the vote. "Given how tight the race has become nationally, Super Tuesday is becoming a really critical date for both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders," said Minnesota DFL Party Chairman Ken Martin. Republican Party of Minnesota Chairman Keith Downey said he expects Republican candidates will turn their attention to Minnesota after the upcoming South Carolina primary and Nevada caucuses. He said campaigns are starting to bring in paid staffers and build up their grassroots operations. GOP presidential candidate Marco Rubio already has announced plans to visit Minnesota next month, and Downey expects other candidates to follow suit. "The excitement and the energy and the attention being paid to Super Tuesday, especially in the media, I think will help drive attendance and interest and participation," he said. ADVERTISEMENT A record turnout for Republicans? Downey said Republicans are expecting caucus night turnout to surpass the record of 65,000 caucusgoers set in 2008. Helping to fuel a bigger turnout is that for the first time ever, the results of the caucus presidential preference poll are binding. That means delegates will be awarded based on the March 1 results. As such, Downey is warning local party leaders to prepare for up to twice as many voters showing up than in 2008. "We are doing everything we possibly can on the assumption we will have record turnout. Whether we do or not remains to seen. I can't believe the race would get any less interesting or any less exciting between now and then," Downey said. New York real estate mogul Donald Trump won the recent New Hampshire primary. Coming in second was Ohio Gov. John Kasich, followed by Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush finished fourth, and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio nabbed the fifth spot. Democrats predict high turnout On the Democratic side, party officials say they expect turnout to be high but not exceed the record-breaking turnout of 2008. Martin predicts 150,000 to 175,000 caucusgoers on March 1 compared to 220,000 attendees in 2008. He expects turnout will be based at least in part on what happens in South Carolina and Nevada. Clinton won the Iowa Caucuses but Sanders won the New Hampshire primary. For Democrats, Minnesota's caucuses are significant because the state has the second largest caucus in the nation when it comes to delegates. "We are a very rich prize when it comes to the nominating process," Martin said. Volunteers key to pulling off caucuses ADVERTISEMENT The political parties rely heavily on volunteers to pull off the caucuses. Martin estimates statewide 5,000 volunteers will be working March 1. It's the job of local party leaders to help find and train these critical volunteers. "It's clearly the second biggest task other than the general election," said Senate District 26 DFL Chairman Mark Liebow. He said he expects about 2,000 Democrats to turn out in Senate District 26, which is 55 percent of Olmsted County. That's slightly less than the record breaking turnout in 2008. Liebow said he is not hearing "as much buzz" about going to caucus this year as compared to eight years ago. Still, Liebow said, "I expect a fair number of people to show up." There are 40 precincts in the district, and every one of those precincts needs a volunteer convener, who gets the 7 p.m. caucus meeting started. Other volunteers are needed to help answer questions, provide directions, tally the presidential preference ballots and make sure things are running smoothly. To cut down on confusion, Senate District 26 is sending postcards to previous caucusgoers to let them know where they will be voting on March 1. Even so, Liebow said having volunteers on the ground is critical, and finding and training them isn't easy. "The hardest thing, clearly, is recruiting conveners. It's a lot of people," he said. Republican Party of Olmsted County Chairman Aaron Miller agrees. There are 84 precincts in the county and, as is the case for Democrats, conveners are needed to start the meeting in each precinct. Adding to the pressure is the increased importance of the presidential preference poll. "That straw poll used to just be interesting, fun. But now it's binding," Miller said. ADVERTISEMENT As such, the party is tightening up its process for tallying those votes. At this point, Miller said he is preparing to turnout that tops 1,500 the record-breaking number of caucusgoers in 2008. "I don't know what to expect, "Miller said. "We are preparing for the heavy side and that that means is we are going to have one ballot for everybody that will potentially show up." Yes, at the GEC voting center at the Westin. Yes, at one of the satellite voting centers open on Saturdays. No; I'm voting on Nov. 8. No; I'm not voting in the general election. Vote View Results Hillary Clinton is false in everything, a gold-plated phony seemingly incapable of uttering a true word. She lies with abandon. She lies with the ease of a pathological liar. Everyone knows it. Everyone sees it. Examples could be multiplied endlessly. Think only of the various statements she has made about her email arrangement. Has any of them stood the test of time? I dont think so. She has told so many whoppers its hard to keep track of them all. The editors of the New York Post compiled Hillary Clintons five email lies this past August, but she keeps at it. Shannen Coffin noted in late September, Hillary now blames her lawyers. Churchill famously observed of the Gallipoli operation in World War I that the terrible ifs accumulate. In Clintons case, the terrible lies accumulate. It is probably her most notable feature. CBS Newss Scott Pelley must be feeling the Bern. He must be feeling it big time. How else explain his question to Clinton slyly asking if she has always told the truth to the American people? The truthful answer, of course, is: Youve got to be kidding. Surely you jest. Is this some kind of a joke? Or: What is truth? This video excerpt of Pelleys interview must be something like an instant classic. Well, I have to tell you, I have tried in every way I know how, literally from my years as a young lawyer all the way through my time as Secretary of State, to level with the American people, Clinton said to Pelley. Pelley then asks: You talk about leveling with the American people. Have you always told the truth? Ive always tried to, Clinton responds. Always, always. Pelley contemplates Clintons evasion of a direct answer. He wonders whether he should fasten on it. He follows up: Some people are going to call that wiggle room that you just gave yourself. Always tried to. Jimmy Carter said, I will never lie to you. No, Ive always tried to, Clinton responds. You know, youre asking me to say have I ever. I dont believe I ever have. I dont believe I ever have. I dont believe I ever will. Im going to do the best I can to level with the American people. Via CBS News (complete video and transcript) & Aaron Kliegman/Washington Free Beacon. Three words anguish, fear and helplessness best described the atmosphere in Omoku in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area of Rivers state on Monday when PREMIUM TIMES visited the town. It had been about a week since armed men suspected to be cultists invaded it, killed some residents and chopped off their heads. Some streets in the town looked deserted as at 2:30 pm. when our reporter visited. Security agencies were not seen around the community. Some residents had fled the town while those who remained locked themselves up in their homes, peeping through windows to see who was passing by. In Ndoni Street, a distraught old man, Benedict Ajie, narrated what happened that fateful night. He said he heard gunshots on the street at about 9 pm, and by dawn he found that at a house opposite his own, two of his kinsmen, two young brothers, had been shot dead. Mr. Ijie gave the names of the victims as Nwaudo Ijie and Ahiakwo Ijie. He said in Ndoni Street alone, eight persons were shot dead that night. It was at about 10 am that some policemen from Ahoda arrived Omoku, claiming they were responding to distress calls, Mr. Ijie said. On Samuel Osere Street, two persons, including a Junior Secondary School class 3 student, were said to have been beheaded. We cant run away from our home, we dont have anywhere to go to, a female resident of Samuel Osere Street told PREMIUM TIMES. We are afraid. At 19 Umu-Imeci Street, a handful of old men and women visited a bereaved family member on condolence. The invaders had descended on the home of Martin Uge, a retired civil servant, killing three persons, including his 31-year old son, Elechukwu. Elechukwu was killed inside his bedroom, right on his bed. The other two victims, who were tenants in Mr. Uges compound, were dragged from their bedrooms, and shot dead in the street that night, residents said. Mr. Uge, 71, said his daughter-in-law received gunshot wound. Because of fear, I couldnt look at them (the assailants) because recognising their faces could lead to another thing, he said of his encounter with the assailants. Mr. Uge said his son wasnt involved in active politics, and that he didnt know why they killed him. He said the government could stop the killings if they really wanted to. In Umu-Eyike Street, two brothers, Eze Izeh and Oge Izeh, were also gunned down. Late Oge, the older of the brothers, left behind a wife and two sons. Near Umu-Imeci Street, Eleanya Ugorji, a bishop at Gods Victorious Church, said he noticed the corpses of his younger brother, Ekwela, and the wife, Victoria, outside in the morning after several hours of gunshots around their home the previous night. He (Ekwela) was a politician, thats all I know about him, the bishop said. The wife was a trader. In Umuchikere Street, Omoku, one of those beheaded, Emeka, was buried in a grave right in front of his house. There are video clips currently in circulation on Facebook and other social media sites, showing the headless bodies of the victims of the killings. In one of the videos, three corpses are on the floor, two of them beheaded, while people, apparently the victims relatives, are seen crying helplessly. They shot him 11 times, one of the mourners was heard saying, pointing at a corpse. A radio presenter in Port Harcourt said of the Omoku killings, If you google the world ONELGA on the Internet today, the results youll get is killing, killing, killing. ONELGA is the acronym for Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area in Rivers state. Meanwhile, the All Progressives Congress has claimed that those killed in Omoku were its members. The party said, Tuesday, that by its own count, 26 persons were killed, and some of them beheaded. The chairman of the APC, Davies Ikanya, said a cult group, Icelanders, invaded the town at night and picked on the partys members in the town. Mr. Ikanya said the party publicly alerted the police, several weeks before the killing, of a plan to kill its members in the area. Our evidence was that following security operations carried out by the military on 11/1/2016 at the house of one Igwe Ejima Dibia alias Don Wannie at Aligu village in ONELGA, members of Icelander cult and their PDP collaborators held a meeting at about 2300hrs at Obohia in Omoku and concluded that prominent members of the APC will be eliminated irrespective of whether they live in ONELGA or Port Harcourt and other locations in the State as long as they are of ONELGA origin, he said. The party said less than 24 hours after the alert, its chairman in Ward 6, simply identified as Owotor, was shot dead on his street. The police are yet to make public the outcome of their investigation into the killing of Mr. Owotor till date, Mr. Ikanya said. He also recalled the recent killing of a former member of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Monday Eleanya, who was shot dead while driving out of his residence on Ada George Road, Port Harcourt. The late Mr. Eleanya represented ONELGA constituency in the Rivers State House of Assembly between 1999 and 2003 on the ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party. He recently decamped to the APC. The APC accused the police of failing to provide security for the people of Omoku when the gruesome killings took place. It also accused the police of covering those responsible for the killings. The party said it was most bizarre for the police to hurriedly blame the killings on a supremacy fight between two rival cult groups. We are convinced beyond doubt that the Rivers State Police Command has resorted to a policy of drawing hasty conclusions for the purpose of either hiding their incompetence or protecting the interests of sponsors of the killers or both, the party said in a statement. But when contacted by PREMIUM TIMES, Ahmad Mohammad, the Police Public Relations Officer in the state insisted that the killings arose from a deadly fight by two rival cult groups in the area. When asked how the police came by the information that it was a battle between two cult groups that led to the killings, the police spokesperson said Omoku had an age-long history of cult violence. Mr. Mohammad however said he did not know the names of the cult groups that were involved in the battle for supremacy in Omoku. He also said the police saw 12 corpses, not 26, and that none was beheaded. Some bereaved family members had told this newspaper that the victims were beheaded. But when our reporter gave the police spokesperson that information, he responded, What we have not seen, we cannot account for (it). The police said two suspects had so far been arrested, and that investigation into the incident was ongoing. The Rivers State Commissioner for Information, Austin Tam-George, declined to respond to the allegation that the PDP collaborated with the cultists. To comment on this (allegation) would mean to dishonour the dead. No, I cant do such, Mr. Tam-George told PREMIUM TIMES, while adding that the Rivers State governor, Nyesom Nwike had urged the people of Omoku to work with the security agencies to improve security in the area. Unfortunately, the police commissioner he (Governor Wike) was working with was transferred out of the state at a time the state government was about organizing a security summit in the state, Mr. Tam-George said. The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, said on Saturday that the 2016 budget was not padded because the total figure voted for all ministries had not exceeded N6.08 trillion which was the official sum proposed by the government. Briefing journalists in Lagos, he said: The total for every ministry has remained exactly the same as what was submitted to the National Assembly. A lot has been said about the budget. Let make clear that nobody can ever accuse this government of padding any budget. The total of all ministries put together has not exceeded N6.08 trillion that was submitted. It is factually incorrect to say that the budget was padded. This is the first time in the history of this country that a government will embark on what is called zero-based budget. Before now, the budget system was what was called an envelope system. In an envelope system, there is no justification as to why we need N30 billion for a structure. This year, we decide that every ministry must have a zero-based budget. In other word, you must justify and explain why you need N100 billion. This is very good system, the software for it was also very different. The personnel were not used to it. Now, in the process we got to National Assembly. What the ministers do is to have a broad overview of the budget. The template used by the Budget Office is uniform for all ministers. The minister also said exports, balance of trade, Gross Domestic Product were responsible for currency appreciation and depreciation. Before now we use to sell crude for about 100 dollar per barrel which means if we produce two million barrels per day, you have something in the region of 200 million dollar less the expenditure of production and others. But today for the same two million barrels, you have less than 60 million dollar less the cost of production. Clearly if your major source of exchange is crude and it has gone down from 100 per cent, you have lost 70 per cent of your source. Secondly, if your balance of trade is surplus, in other word, if you export more than you import, then you are going to have less money to settle other countries. What the government is doing is to ensure that the little resources we have are properly managed. Part of decision we took was Treasury Single Account. Others include blocking all sort form of corruption and diversify economy so that we can get foreign exchange for other sources, he said. (NAN) Lack of funds is stalling Nigerias effort to trace and recover its stolen monies, and prosecute former government officials responsible for the heist, the presidency has said. A letter by the Presidential Advisory Committee on Corruption (PACC) to a United Kingdom-based anti-corruption organisation, Global Witness, soliciting assistance in raising funds, revealed that due to the fall in crude oil prices and the general economic downturn, the government lacked the needed funds to pursue recovery of loots. The letter, dated February 15, 2016, was signed by the Executive Secretary of PACC, Bolaji Owasanoye, and directed to the Director of Global Witness, Simon Taylor. It stated that the commitment of the government to tackle Boko Haram insurgency, fight corruption and improve the livelihood of Nigerians through job creation, was being hampered by dwindling oil revenue and mounting debts. Mr. Owasanoye, a professor, argued that the economy could not be revived simply by improving revenue generation, without wiping out corruption and recovering money stolen former officials. He said ongoing investigations into the diversion of arms funds by the former National Security Adviser (NSA), Sambo Dasuki, and ex-military chiefs, show that significant amount of the money needed by the government to alleviate poverty were still in the pockets and bank accounts of looters of public funds. He said intelligence reports and court rulings elsewhere have shown that there were more funds to be recovered from the immediate past Petroleum Minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke, the fraudulent sale of OPL 245 by Malabu Oil and Gas, a company owned by a well-known money launderer, Dan Etete, assets traced to former Delta State Governor, James Ibori, and former military ruler, Sani Abacha. He however explained that due to the multi-jurisdiction of the cases, and the exorbitant charges of professionals such as lawyers, forensic financial investigators, and the ability of the suspected officials to use part of the alleged stolen fund to challenge the recovery of the fund, the government needed huge flow of resources. However, this poses a major problem. An empty treasury means that the money is not currently available for the government to engage these professionals due to the high fee that they charge. Even in cases where service will be given on contingency basis the initial seed fund required to start the process is not affordable. As a result, the action the government urgently seeks to take is being stymied, Mr. Owasanoye wrote. He argued that the governments capacity to pursue all potential cases would be greatly boosted by the creation of an Assets Tracing, Recovery and Litigation Fund from which lawyers, investigators and forensic auditors will be paid. He added that the government was also working on an arrangement where professionals engaged would be paid only on successes recorded. Once engaged, government can negotiate with the professionals to earn only success fees. Each professional engaged will secure its own litigation funders to support their briefs, he stated. Mr. Owasanoye further revealed that government would not have got as much traction as it does in its drive to prosecute ex-officials, and in the recovery of funds, if it had not received a combined financial lifeline of $5 million from international organisations such as the Ford foundation, MacArthur Foundation and the Foundation to Promote Open Society. This fund is supporting the mandate of the Presidency Advisory Committee on Corruption which is co-ordinating the anti-corruption effort of the government and promoting improved criminal justice administration. In light of the very dire economic situation of the moment this support and the proposed Assets Tracing, Recovery and Litigation Fund, is crucial to government ability to get recovery assets to support social welfare projects for the impoverished majority of Nigerians. Furthermore, funding support will enable government to use money that would have otherwise gone to professionals for assets recovery for other social protection projects, he wrote. Gov. Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom says the state will soon implement the one teacher one subject policy in public primary schools in Akwa Ibom. Mr. Emmanuel stated this in Eket at the inauguration of five renovated classrooms block at St. Pauls Lutheran School in Ikot Ibiok, Eket, on Saturday. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Andrew Okon renovated and donated five classroom blocks with 60 dual desks as well as five tables and five chairs to the school. The governor, who was represented by the Commissioner for Education, Aniekan Akpan, said that the policy was to ensure quality education. Government is coming up with a policy of ensuring that we utilise effectively our own teachers who have specialised in different areas starting from next year. We want to gradually move from the old Teachers Training College arrangement from next session. We will have teachers of mathematics teaching mathematics in all the classes, Mr. Emmanuel said. According to him, a teacher that teaches different subjects is not making use of his knowledge well and not helping the system. Rather than keeping one teacher to be a master of all or to be teaching all subjects, we better create professionalism and division of labour in teaching. From studies, we have discovered that is not really helping and preparing the children for further education. But they can still go round other classes to teach, we want to fully utilised the capacity of the teachers that we have in the primary school, for now they are not fully utilised, he said. He said the state government had commenced distribution of computers to public primary and secondary schools in the state, adding that computers would be sent to St Pauls Lutheran School next week. The governor said that his administration was passionate about education and promised to support schools across the state. The governor appealed to the people to assist school management to protect infrastructure provided by the state government. In his remarks, the Transitional Chairman of Eket, Frank Archibong, commended the philanthropist who paid the bills for the renovation. He urged other well to do stakeholders, public spirited individuals and corporate organisations to emulate him. Also speaking, Grace Etok, the Head Teacher of the school, expressed appreciation to God and the philanthropist for the initiative. Mrs. Etok called on government to build a perimeter fence round the school to check trespassing and stealing. NAN recalled that the pupils of the school had over the past years been sitting on bare floor to read and write. (NAN) The Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, said on Friday that the Lagos-Kano Rail project would be completed in the next two years. Mr. Amaechi, who said this while inspecting the Abuja-Kaduna rail project in Kaduna, added that it would generate employment for 250,000 Nigerians. He said the ongoing rail project from Lagos-Kano and Lagos-Calabar would generate more employment than the Abuja-Kaduna rail modernisation project. He further stated that a training institute would be established by the Chinese company to train Nigerians on operations, maintenance and communication. For the Lagos-Kano and Lagos-Calabar rail project, we expect to generate like 250,000 employment opportunities both formal and informal. We are negotiating with General Electric in America to construct a narrow gauge from Lagos to Kano and they cannot run that without training Nigerians. If the communication system goes down how do we revive it, so they would also teach Nigerians how to maintain it. If we want to replace it, how do we replace it, so the key thing is transfer of technology and that will be the focus of the ministry. He said government would ensure that the rail service was affordable for the masses. (NAN) President Muhammadu Buhari has again ruled out the possibility of his government devaluing the naira. The president said Saturday that the priority of his administration was to ensure national food security before export of food products. The president said this while contributing to a Presidential Panel Roundtable on Investment and Growth Opportunities at the opening session of the Africa 2016: Business for Africa, Egypt and the World at Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. President Buhari said for Nigeria, being a mono-economy dependent on oil, and with a teeming unemployed youth population, the way out of the current slump in the global oil market, is for the administration to focus on agriculture and solid minerals development. The land is there and we need machinery inputs, fertilizer and insecticides, he said. Reiterating his opposition to the devaluation of the naira, President Buhari said Nigeria cannot compete with developed countries which produce to compete among themselves, and can afford to devalue their local currencies. Developed countries are competing among themselves and when they devalue they compete better and manufacture and export more. But we are not competing and exporting but importing everything including toothpicks. So, why should we devalue our currency? the president asked. We want to be more productive and self-sufficient in food and other basic things such as clothing. For our government, we like to encourage local production and efficiency. He added that those who have developed taste for foreign luxury goods should continue to pay for them rather pressure government to devalue the naira. President Buhari, who expressed optimism that Nigeria would get out of its current economic downturn, noted that another major problem militating against economic revival is the huge resources deployed towards fighting insurgency and international terrorism. He, however, commended the support being received from the international community in the administrations fight against terrorism as well as cooperation in tracing looted funds stashed away in foreign countries. Responding to a question on his performance since he assumed office, the president said that his administration had been quite focused on three fundamental issues of securing the country, reviving the economy and stamping out corruption. The message on corruption has been driven home vividly and Nigerians are very acceptable to the message, he said, adding that those accused of stealing public funds are cooperating by voluntarily providing useful information while investigations and prosecutions are ongoing. In his opening address at the Forum, the Egyptian President, Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, said Africa needs to concentrate on transforming into knowledge societies using innovation and research. The Presidents of Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Sudan and the Prime Minister of Ethiopia also participated at the Roundtable. In his opening message, the President of the African Development Bank (ADB), Akinwumi Adesina, said that Africa must think big, act big and develop big. Before departing Egypt, President Buhari and his Egyptian host, had a bilateral discussion on security, military cooperation, agriculture and solid minerals development. Two prominent members of the Peoples Democratic Party, Femi Fani-Kayode and Doyin Okupe, have lambasted the partys leaders for installing a former governor of Borno State, Ali Modu Sheriff, as its national chairman. Mr. Sheriff was picked as the PDP national chairman on Tuesday at the partys national executive committee meeting in Abuja. Apart from his alleged ties with the dreaded Boko Haram, Mr. Sheriff was until 2014 a member of the All Progressives Congress, the product of the 2013 merger talks between his former party, All Nigeria Peoples Congress, and two other opposition parties. He also served as a two-time ANPP governor of Borno State, a former ANPP senator, and former Chairman of the APC Board of Trustees. Mr. Fani-Kayode, who was the spokesperson of the PDP Presidential Campaign Organisation in the 2015 elections, in an opinion article, lamented that the quality of the party had worsened by Mr. Sheriffs appointment. He said, What on earth has happened to us? As the Book of Galatians in the Holy Bible asks, who has bewitched us? Over the course of the last 17 years, in terms of the quality of party leadership, the PDP has gradually descended into the unceremonious cesspit of mediocrity. Worst still, with the recent appointment of Ali Modu Sheriff as our Acting National Chairman, we have chosen to spit in the wind, sleep with the dogs, dance on the graves of our fallen heroes, piss on the blood and bones of the slaughtered innocents and wallow in the filthy pool of compromise, deceit, doublespeak and shame. Mr. Fani-Kayode, who described Mr. Sheriff as the indisputable founder of Boko Haram, said the new PDP chairman is also the erstwhile godfather and sponsor of Governor Shettima Ali, the present APC Governor of Borno State (until they fell out); he is a man that has a very deep and profound relationship and association with Idris Deby, the President of Chad and he is a man whose son is married to the daughter of President Muhammadu Buhari. According to him, many had argued that Mr. Sheriffs allegiance was more to the Republic of Chad than it was to Nigeria and that he was an agent of the Chadian intelligence agencies and even a Chadian citizen who often flaunts his Chadian passport. I cannot confirm the veracity of these assertions but one thing that I know is that most of Modu Sheriffs funding and stupendous wealth emanates primarily from the Republic of Chad, and that that country is as much a home to him as is Nigeria, Mr. Fani-Kayode said. Yet, it is not his connection with Chad that gives me cause for concern. Rather it is his role in the establishment of Boko Haram. The truth is that appointing him as our Acting National Chairman is like appointing Jack the Ripper as the leader of the Conservative party in Victorian England. The former PDP campaign spokesperson praised the elders in the PDP Board of Trustees, a number of state party chairmen and a number of key individuals in the PDP Ministers Forum for taking a courageous and noble stand by rejecting and resisting the imposition of the abominable monstrosity. He stated further, What Ali Modu Sheriff stands for and represents is utterly repugnant to every fiber of my being. Yet I have no objection to his being a member of the PDP simply because politics is a game of numbers. It is a game in which everyone, no matter how big or small, counts. If you want your party to grow and make progress you must accept the good, the bad and the ugly. To this end when he left the APC and joined the PDP sometime back, I was one of those who gladly welcomed him into our ranks and defended him in the public realm. This was at a time when others criticised the party for accepting him. There is however a world of difference between accepting him as one of the many leaders of the PDP and appointing him as the Acting National Chairman. Others may seek to justify such a course of action but I cannot, in good conscience, do so. To me it is a matter of principle. If we accept this, then on what moral grounds did we condemn or oppose the APC or the APC-led Federal Government during the course of the last presidential election? On what basis can we accept as our National Chairman a man who helped to create an organisation that wishes to establish sharia as the norm in our country, repeal all our criminal and civil laws, ban all our civil liberties and human rights, proscribe the teaching of western education in our schools, turn our women into sixth century sex slaves and abrogate the secularity of our state? Mr. Fani-Kayode argued that if PDP members were comfortable with Mr. Sheriffs leadership of the party, they had no reason criticising and opposing President Muhammadu Buhari for appearing to support Boko Haram when he (president) said an attack on Boko Haram is an attack on the north. He also argued that if the PDP was comfortable with the Mr. Sheriff as chairman of the party, it should as well go and apologise to the APC for all past criticisms and condemnations and join them. He demanded to know the basis on which Mr. Sheriff as a man who encouraged the establishment of Boko Haram and supported a group that wished to suspend Nigerian constitution, wipe out the Christian faith and the practice of moderate Islam in Nigeria and create an evil ISIL-type empire in the country should be supported as the national chairman of the PDP. He said, I really do wonder whether those that made this decision have lost all sense of rationality. I wonder whether they have lost their ability to see reason properly and to exercise their discretion in a logical, responsible and lucid manner. I wonder whether they have lost their fear of God. I wonder whether they have forgotten the evil that was visited on our people, and is still being visited on them, over the last seven years by Boko Haram? I wonder whether they know at whose instance it was that Mohammed Yusuf, the erstwhile leader of Boko Haram, was killed by our security forces whilst in police custody in 2009 just so that he wouldnt live to tell the whole world who gave him the funds to set up his murderous cult? I wonder whether they have forgotten the terrible havoc that Boko Haram unleashed on our citizens. I wonder whether they have forgotten the tears, wailing and suffering of the bereaved. I wonder whether they have forgotten the slaughter of the innocents. I wonder whether they have forgotten those that were beheaded, those that were chopped to pieces and thrown down wells like dog meat and those that were burnt alive. Simply put has the leadership of the PDP gone completely mad or are they working for elements outside the PDP? Are they suggesting that you need a godless Haramite to run the affairs of the party before we can ever win power at the centre again? Where is the patience and fortitude that is required from true leaders? Where is their faith in God? Where is their sincerity of purpose? Mr. Fani-Kayode said there were so many other people that could have chosen to lead the PDP from the North-East zone where Mr. Sheriff comes from. He listed some to include Mohammed Wakil, Nuhu Ribadu, Bala Mohammed, Wilberforce Juta, Aliyu Modibbo, Ahmed Gulak, noting these are all committed people with impeccable records of public service, high moral standing and good character. He also wondered if the PDP was still the party once led by successive groups of seasoned and formidable intellectuals and great men of power, vision, courage and good character. He said, This is what the party that was founded and once led by giants like President Olusegun Obasanjo, Chief Tony Anenih, General Ibrahim Babangida, General Aliyu Gusau, Alhaji Adamu Ciroma, General T.Y. Danjuma, Vice President Abubakar Atiku, President Umaru Yaradua, President Goodluck Jonathan, Chief Bode George, Col. Ahmadu Alli, Chief E.K. Clark, Professor Jerry Gana, Dr. Chuba Okadigbo, Chief Ken Nnamani and so many others has degenerated to? What a pity! What a monumental tragedy! He stressed, Imposing Ali Modu-Sheriff is an insult to all those that have fought for, led, served, defended, supported and risked everything for the party, at every level, over the last 17 years. Only the deeply malevolent can be comfortable with such an arrangement. Also, Mr. Okupe, who was the special assistant to former President Goodluck Jonathan on public affairs, in a statement on Friday, said though the capability of the PDP and its leadership to make grave errors of judgement was legendary, what is intriguing was that even out of power that tendency seemed unabated. Stating that though Mr. Sheriff was his longstanding political associate, his choice as PDP national chairman was wrong. Alhadji Ali Sheriff is a longstanding political associate of mine and a very adroit and astute politician of perhaps a sublime class, he said. But for the post of the national chairman of the PDP, he is a wrong candidate and also coming in at a wrong time. Mr. Okupe, who initially backed Mr. Gulak for the position, said he recalled that many of the proponents of the former Borno governor had said his (Sheriff) strong point was his wealth with which he could use to fund the activities of the party. But the antagonists believe that he is bringing along with his wealth a crushing weight of burden capable of fatally destroying the few strands of moral fibres on which rejuvenation will depend on, he said. For a morosed and severely prostrate political party, thanks to the overwhelming and effective propaganda machinery of the (opposition) party in power, this may yet be the mortal wound that may cause the eventual haemorrhage of its long perplexed followership. The former presidential aide noted that the present crop of the leadership of the PDP had not fared well, stating that impunity, presumptive reasoning, highly stratified and restrictive consultative processes, absolute lack of inclusiveness, mercantilism, group conceit with a resultant total disconnect with the main stake holders and the followership are some of the florid signs and symptoms of the terminal disease that is killing this erstwhile great party. Mr. Okupe vowed not to leave the PDP, stating that in spite of the present situation of things we will continue to engage all who care to listen and deepen consultation across the country seeking help from everyone ready to help to revive this severely challenged sickened giant. He added, But if it is the divine will of God that our present masters must kill PDP, then by the Grace of God we shall yet tarry at the graveside to bid it farewell. ( Read 14242 Times) Jodhpur/Barmer: The Cairn Centre of Excellence has emerged as the prime centre where youth of Thar Desert are getting benefitted with training and study material of global standard available in their language.The first batch of trainees who underwent their training at the Cairn Centre of Excellence (CCOE) under the Rajasthan Skills & Livelihood Corporation (RSLDC) sponsorship was awarded certificates of completion at a ceremony organized at the CCOE premises.Cairn Indias Head-CSR and Stakeholder Management Manoj Aggarwal, Senior Manager Sidharth Balakrishna, TUV Global Academy and Life cares Vice President MarkusDohm, Executive Vice President, Chief Regional Officer, IMEA region Andreas Hofer, TUV India MD & CEO Thomas Fuhrmann and other officials interacted with the students and awarded certificates to 160 successful students.An MoU with RSLDC had earlier been signed in the presence of the Rajasthan Chief Minister, VasundhraRaje, RSLDC MD Gaurav Goyal and Cairn CEO, Mayank Ashar in 2015. Many trainees have been offered placements with Suzlon, Vodafone, SBI Cards, Pepper Tap, Samsung and other firms.Students shared their experiences and explained how they had benefited from training added with thepersonality development and grooming sessions at CCoE. Goma Ram, a student from a remote village in the Barmer district who completed the training course on Wind Energy recalled that the urge to learn more and ask questions was fostered due to the environment he found at this training center.The faculties were dedicated; and that made him give his best too. Post successful completion of the training course, he commenced On-the-Job Training (OJT) in one of the largest wind energy companies, Suzlon. Owing to the skills he gained at CCOE, and his own determination to achieve the best for himself, has helped him rise further; he has now been placed at companys head office location in Pune.To provide a best-in-class training center positioned well above the rest in terms of vocational education with strong linkage to placements, Cairn India has established this state-of-the-art centre at Jodhpur. The center has been built to European standards with equipment sourced from across the world including Germany, Finland etc. and also has a residential facility. The German training and certification firm, TUV Rheinland, delivers vocational courses in Welding, Automobile engine repair & maintenance, renewable energy (solar, wind) and retail at the campus along with courses for working professionals such as Six Sigma, Balanced Scorecard, Lead Auditor etc. Partnerships have been established with RSLDC, MNRE, Tribal Development Society and other entities to maximize the reach of CCOE.Apart from the above, recently a Team of 21 Suryamitra students and faculty from the National Institute of Solar Energy (NISE), an autonomous institution of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) recently visited the Cairn Centre of Excellence (CCoE) for their exposure visit. Time and again officials like NSDC chairman, and other govt. dignitaries have been visiting CCoE. For the New World Order, a world government is just the beginning. Once in place they can engage their plan to exterminate 80% of the world's population, while enabling the "elites" to live forever with the aid of advanced technology. For the first time, crusading filmmaker ALEX JONES reveals their secret plan for humanity's extermination: Operation ENDGAME. Jones chronicles the history of the global elite's bloody rise to power and reveals how they have funded dictators and financed the bloodiest warscreating order out of chaos to pave the way for the first true world empire. Watch as Jones and his team track the elusive Bilderberg Group to Ottawa and Istanbul to document their secret summits, allowing you to witness global kingpins setting the world's agenda and instigating World War III. to Ottawa and Istanbul to document their secret summits, allowing you to witness global kingpins setting the world's agenda and instigating World War III. Learn about the formation of the North America transportation control grid, which will end U.S. sovereignty forever. Discover how the practitioners of the pseudo-science eugenics have taken control of governments worldwide as a means to carry out depopulation. View the progress of the coming collapse of the United States and the formation of the North American Union. Never before has a documentary assembled all the pieces of the globalists' dark agenda. Endgame's compelling look at past atrocities committed by those attempting to steer the future delivers information that the controlling media has meticulously censored for over 60 years. It fully reveals the elite's program to dominate the earth and carry out the wicked plan in all of human history. Endgame is not conspiracy theory, it is documented fact in the elite's own words. PORTLAND, Ore., Feb. 19, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Please note: The previous version of this press release was inadvertently issued without the accompanying photo. Kevin Diaz, National Director of Legal Advocacy for Compassion & Choices, will be honored tonight by the Oregon Hispanic Bar Association with the Paul J. De Muniz Professionalism Award. The award is named after Judge De Muniz, who is the first Hispanic Chief Justice in the history of the Oregon Supreme Court. The award ceremony will take place at 5:30pm at the Benson Hotel in Portland, Oregon. Kevin Diaz, National Director of Legal Advocacy, Compassion & Choices Throughout his 20-year career in public interest law, Kevin has worked to protect the liberty and enhance the dignity of individuals who, for one reason or another, have been treated unfairly. "Receiving an award named after Judge De Muniz, the first Hispanic Justice in the history of the Oregon Supreme Court, is a great honor," said Diaz. "I hope I do his legacy justice by continuing to follow his example of exemplary service to the Latino community and the less fortunate." Kevin's work as National Director of Legal Advocacy for Compassion & Choices focuses on improving health care and expanding choice at the end of life. "Kevin is one of the most strategic, smart and creative attorneys I have ever worked with," said Compassion & Choices Chief Program Officer Kim Callinan. "He exudes professionalism in everything he does. He leads by example and stays laser focused on what really matters. I can't think of a more deserving person to win this award." Previously Mr. Diaz has served as the Legal Director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon, as well as an advocate for immigrants with a particular focus on issues affecting migrant and seasonal farm workers. Mr. Diaz currently is a board member of Planned Parenthood Columbia Willamette and is a member of the executive committee of the Oregon State Bar Constitutional Law Section. In the past he was a member of the Oregon Law Enforcement Contacts Policy and Data Review Committee, a board member of the Hispanic National Bar Association, and is a past President of the Oregon Hispanic Bar Association. Born in Peru and raised in Oregon, Diaz earned degrees at the University of Oregon and the University of Washington School of Law. Each year, the Oregon Hispanic Bar Association honors an individual with the Paul J. De Muniz Professionalism Award who elevates the practice of law by a combination of: Exemplary professionalism Significant contribution to the justice system and the public Exceptional courage in the face of adversity Outstanding service to the bench and bar Outstanding service to the people of Oregon Exceptional volunteer work and community service Outstanding efforts in providing free or low cost services to the poor Significant contribution to advancing legal education in Oregon Dedication to mentoring students and legal professionals Exemplary dedication to the OHBA Exemplary service to the Latino community Compassion & Choices is the nation's oldest and largest nonprofit organization working to improve care and expand choice at the end of life. More information is available at: www.compassionandchoices.org. Contact : Sean Crowley, 202-495-8520-c, [email protected] Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160219/335458 Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140312/DC81938LOGO-b SOURCE Compassion & Choices Related Links http://CompassionAndChoices.org Islamabad, Feb 16 : The "new, ugly face of Modi's India" can be seen in the Jawaharlal Nehru University protest row, said a Pakistani daily which urged JNU students, India's civil society and opposition parties to "fight back". An editorial "JNU protests" in The News International on Tuesday said: "The new, ugly face of Modi's India can be seen in the reaction to the row over protests at the Jawaharwal Nehru University." The fracas started when students at the university held a protest to mark the third anniversary of the execution of Afzal Guru, convicted of an attack on the Indian Parliament House. "...the protestors were immediately tarred as being pro-Pakistani, supporters of terrorists and anti-India." The daily said that in a "stunning suppression of dissent, police have even arrested the head of the JNU student's union for participating in the protest". "Leaders of Congress, including Rahul Gandhi, are being similarly smeared. Perhaps the worst reaction came from (Indian) Home Minister Rajnath Singh who accused Pakistan's Hafiz Saeed of being behind the protest. It now appears he came to this ludicrous conclusion based on a tweet by a fake Hafiz Saeed account." "Instead of taking back his remarks, Singh is now doubling down and asking his critics to prove a negative by claiming they can't show Hafiz Saeed wasn't behind the protest. This is the reality when an ultra-nationalist like Modi comes to power. It is up to dissenters to prove their loyalty and show they are not agents of foreign forces," it added. The editorial went on to say that by falling over a fake tweet, the Indian government has only damaged its own credibility. "...this is about more than just Pakistan. The BJP government has shown it has no respect for India's secularist traditions. The official narrative is that anyone who doubts the course of justice was properly followed in the Afzal case can now be jailed for voicing that opinion. This narrative...makes a mockery of the concept of academic freedom. "We have already been through beef bans and pots of ink being thrown by Modi's opinions. Now they are coming for the academia. The students at JNU, and India's civil society and opposition parties will have to fight back." Kathmandu, Feb 17 : Nepal Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli's upcoming visit to India will be highly successful and bilateral relations will be normalised after the visit, Indian Ambassador to Nepal Ranjit Rae said on Wednesday. Oli will be accorded a warm welcome in India, and the visit would further strengthen the relationship between Nepal and India, Rae said ahead of the visit that starts on February 19. Leading a delegation of over 100 members, Oli leaves for a six-day official visit to India on Friday. Bilateral ties were strained since September last year when Nepal promulgated its new constitution, and India expressed reservations over some of the provisions. Oli will hold political talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other leaders that will be instrumental in helping clear the misunderstanding, Rae said. Pointing out that India gives high priority to Oli's visit, the Indian ambassador said the visit would help resolve the differences that emerged between the two countries of late. "Time and again, we have seen ups and downs in the relations but we have successfully resolved these hiccups through talks," the Indian envoy said. Matters like economic cooperation for mutual benefit and clearing the recent misunderstanding will take priority. Oli will visit the Tehri dam in Uttarakhand, and also look at the reconstruction work carried out in Gujarat after the 2001 earthquake. "We want to show how we have been building the hydropower station and how reconstruction work has been carried out in Gujarat," Rae said. "We are happy that the prime minister's maiden visit will be to India. PM Oli's visit to India will be successful, productive, and fruitful," the Indian envoy said. He said the Nepal government's decision to form a political mechanism to resolve the issue of demarcation of provincial boundaries was "laudable", and advised that Nepal should settle its internal problems through dialogue. Nepal's attempts to control cross-border crimes, cooperation in security matters and some legal framework will also be discussed during the visit, Rae said. (Anil Giri can be contacted at girianil@gmail.com) Mumbai/Yavatmal, Feb 18 : A BJP MP on Thursday received flak for suggesting it has become "fashionable" for states to outcompete each other in compensating the families of farmers committing suicide, but later said he has been quoted out of context. "He lives in Mumbai and has absolutely no idea of the agrarian crises" in Maharashtra and elsewhere in the country, said Kishore Tiwari, a farmers' rights activist who is chairman of Vasantrao Naik Sheti Swavlamban Mission. Shetty's remarks were "beyond any apology," he said. The MP from Mumbai North is reported to have said in Mumbai on Wednesday: "Not all farmers' suicide are due to unemployment or starvation. It has become a fashionable trend... State governments are competing with each other to give compensation to the farmers." On Thursday, Shetty said he had been quoted out of context in the matter. Shetty's controversial comment came as Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday addressed farmers in Sehore in Madhya Pradesh and highlighted his government's initiatives for the development of the agriculture sector. "If Shetty feels this is a fashion, then why does Prime Minister Modi show so much concern on farmers' issues? Why did he come to Vidarbha and conduct a lengthy 'Chai Pe Charcha' with farmers across the country, besides his speeches on radio and TV," Tiwari said. Shetty's comments reflected the 'insensitivity' of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) towards the cause of the farming community in the country, said Mumbai Congress President Sanjay Nirupam. In Goa, Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh on Thursday condemned Shetty's remarks which, he said, contrasted sharply with Modi's holding of rallies in favour of farmers. "Modi should clarify whether the manner in which farmers are committing suicide is a fashion or helplessness," Digvijay Singh told reporters at the Congress party office in Panaji. The Maharashtra government informed the Bombay High Court on Tuesday that since January 1 this year, 124 farmers have ended their lives in the state, including 20 from Osmanabad district alone, due to various reasons. Ahmedabad, Feb 18 : A day after a section of agitating Patel leaders expressed their willingness for peace talks with the Gujarat government, quota agitation spearhead Hardik Patel on Thursday began an indefinite fast at a jail in Surat district seeking reservation for the community. According to sources, the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) leader in a letter to the Lajpore jail superintendent conveyed his decision to sit on an indefinite fast from Saturday but he gave up food and water on Thursday itself. He has been in custody in Lajpore jail under several charges, including sedition. Besides reservation in jobs and educational institutions for his community, Patel has also been demanding that all his supporters lodged in various jails in the state for the quota stir be released. "We have isolated him in the jail and got his medical tests done. He is normal. We informed him that it was illegal to go on fast in jail but he refused to accept it. We shall take further action on the basis of reports from medical officers," said S.L. Dusa, jailor at Lajpore jail. "We have not heard from our superiors so far but we are trying our level best to convince him to give up his fast," he added. Meanwhile, Lalji Patel, leader of the Sardar Patel Group (SPG) which had joined hands with the PAAS in its agitation, said they would react to the development only after meeting Hardik. "We have heard the news through the media. We will have to meet him in person and understand his views," Lalji Patel said. "I think at a time when everyone in the community, including elders, SPG and his own associates have decided to form a panel to discuss key issues with the state government, Hardik should have shown a little patience," he said. On Wednesday, parents of three associates of Hardik Patel submitted a letter to Chief Minister Anandiben Patel expressing their willingness for a compromise on the issue. The letter that lists a couple of names of Patel quota stir leaders was signed by three closest aides of Hardik -- Dinesh, Chirag and Ketan. It said they would abide by any decision reached between the government and the community panel headed by Jairam Patel. Though the letter carried the name of Hardik Patel, it did not bear his signature. New Delhi, Feb 18 : External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Thursday wrote to her Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu condemning Wednesday's car bomb attack in Ankara that killed 28 people. "EAM writes to her Turkish counterpart, condemns #AnkaraAttack & says it is reminder of the necessity of concerted action against terrorism," external affairs ministry spokesman Vikas Swarup tweeted. At least 28 people were killed and 61 wounded in a car bomb attack targeting the Turkish military in Ankara on Wednesday, Turkey's deputy prime minister and government spokesperson said. Ankara Governor Mehmet Kiliclar said the authorities believe that the explosion was caused by a "bomb-laden vehicle". The bomb targeted the housing complex in Ankara where shuttles for military personnel were waiting, according to the Turkish military, triggering two explosions near a military compound of the headquarters of the General Staff of the Turkish Armed Forces, Turkish media reported. Jaipur, Feb 18 : The Congress in Rajasthan on Thursday criticised a statement by BJP legislator Kailash Chaudhary calling party vice president Rahul Gandhi a traitor, and demanded his arrest. Chaudhary, the BJP legislator from Baytoo constituency in Barmer district, while addressing a farmers' rally on Wednesday, said: "Rahul Gandhi who stands with the people who shout anti-India and pro-Pakistan slogans is anti-national and a traitor. Traitors should be punished, hanged and shot." The legislator did not stop there. He said such kind of people should be thrown out of the country. "They do not have any right to live in this country," Chaudhary said, in the wake of Gandhi meeting students at Jawaharlal Nehru University a few days back. The Youth Congress on Thursday staged a protest march and burnt an effigy of the BJP leader. Hundreds of Youth Congress workers staged a march towards the house of the BJP leader and shouted slogans in support of Gandhi. Chanting "Rahul Gandhi zindabad", the youth brigade burnt an effigy and blackened the name-plate of Kailash Chaudhary in front of his house. State Congress president Sachin Pilot, in a statement on Thursday, also criticised the statement by Chaudhary, and termed it "highly objectionable". Demanding Chaudhary's immediate sacking, Pilot said the BJP leader's act falls in the category of a criminal act. "A case should be filed against him," he said. Rio De Janeiro, Feb 20 : Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff on Friday called for a joint effort in the fight against the Zika virus, which has been responsible for a rise in microcephaly cases in the country. "A mosquito cannot defeat 204 million people. We are much stronger than this mosquito," Rousseff said, referring to the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which spreads the feared virus. "Together, we will overcome these difficulties." Rousseff and several ministers are involved in the effort to halt the proliferation of the Aedes mosquito. They have visited schools and launched public awareness campaigns against the virus, Xinhua news agency reported. Pernambuco state, where the president spoke on Friday, is the epicentre of the pandemic in Brazil. The state registered the highest number of confirmed and suspected cases of microcephaly in newborns. It was also where the connection between Zika and microcephaly was first noticed. The government is working to develop a vaccine against Zika, but that could take time, said Rousseff. For now, the public must be more vigilant and work to stop the reproductive cycle of the mosquito, she added. The Aedes aegypti mosquito breeds in stagnant water. The Brazilian government has intensified campaigns to raise awareness of the need to avoid keeping stagnant water indoors. According to the World Health Organization, the geographical distribution of the Zika virus has steadily broadened since the virus was first detected in the Americas in 2015. Zika transmission has been reported in 28 countries and territories. Rohtak/Chandigarh, Feb 20 : Army personnel were airlifted on Saturday to Haryana's violence-ridden Rohtak town after Jat protesters dug up roads to block the entry of military units. Looting and arson continued in the town through Friday night with unruly mobs targeting malls, shops and other buildings and many of them were set on fire. Indian Air Force helicopters did several sorties to transport troops into some parts of Rohtak town. The helicopters landed insides the premises of the police Lines. "Around 20-30 troops were being brought into Rohtak town by choppers. They will be deployed in areas which are under siege of the Jat protesters," a senior officer told IANS. Curfew was clamped in Rohtak and Bhiwani towns on Friday evening with authorities issuing shoot-at-sight orders. On Friday, the agitation that started a week ago, got even worse and resulted in the death of three people and dozens, including security personnel, injured. The Army has been called in to eight districts -- Rohtak, Bhiwani, Jhajjar, Sonipat, Hisar, Panipat, Jind and Kaithal. The Jats are demanding reservation for the community. Islamabad, Feb 20 : A team of Pakistani investigators is likely to visit India next month for collecting evidence relating to alleged involvement of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terrorists in the Pathankot airbase attack, the media reported on Saturday. "The investigation team's visit is expected," a senior diplomat told Dawn on Friday, adding that dates for the visit were yet to be finalised. The registration of an FIR by the Counter-Terrorism Department of Punjab police on Friday has, however, paved the way for the visit of the six-member investigation team constituted by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif weeks after the attack on the Pathankot Air Force Station, part of the Western Air Command of the Indian Air Force on January 2 that resulted in the death of 14 people - six attackers, seven security personnel and one civilian. The investigation team will visit the site of the attack and collect evidence related to Indian claim that the terrorist strike was planned in Pakistan and executed by a group of four who had crossed the border into Pathankot. The investigators will also meet officials of India's National Investigating Agency investigating the attack. India, a diplomatic source said, was ready to receive the Pakistani team and facilitate it in investigations. The decision regarding cooperation with Pakistan was taken at a meeting in Delhi presided over by Indian National Security Adviser Ajit Doval in which issues relating to the visit of the Pakistani team were discussed. Washington, Feb 20 : Donald Trump is leading the Republican pack ahead of Saturday's crucial primary in South Carolina while Hillary Clinton is facing a tough challenge from Bernie Sanders in the Democratic contest in Nevada. With the real estate mogul leading with 31.8 percent support in Real Clear Politics average of polls widely expected to win in Indian-American governor Nikki Haley's home state, the focus is on who would get the second place. While Texas senator Ted Cruz, who scored a surprise win in the first Republican caucus in Iowa, has the backing of 18.4 percent Republican voters, Florida senator Marco Rubio snapping at his heels with 17.8 percent, has been endorsed by Haley. Trump, who Thursday took on Pope Francis for suggesting he is not Christian because of his plans to build a wall on the US-Mexican border and deport illegal immigrants and Rubio are both attacking Cruz calling him a liar and dishonest. "He holds up the Bible and then he lies," Trump said of Cruz Thursday. "I think it's very inappropriate." Cruz is fighting back and dared Trump to sue him after the billionaire sent a letter urging Cruz to stop. The remaining three candidates are also hoping for a good performance in South Carolina to keep their campaigns going. Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson thinks he'll perform better in South Carlolina than many expect. "It's a very important state," he said in Charleston. "It can have an effect of redirecting things. I think there is a lot of potential here." John Kasich, the Ohio governor, is hoping his strong New Hampshire second-place finish will lead to unexpected gains in future primaries. Former Florida governor Jeb Bush, after losing the coveted endorsement of Haley to Rubio, is running low on cash. His efforts this week have included campaigning with his brother, former president George W. Bush, and his mother, former First Lady Barbara Bush. Meanwhile, self styled Democratic Socialist Bernie Sanders is posing a tough challenge to Clinton in the Democratic caucus in Nevada. In her first run for the White House in 2008, Clinton won the popular vote in Nevada over then Sen. Barack Obama. The question is whether after a drubbing in New Hampshire, would she be able to repeat the feat and put a stop to the "Bern-mentum." Both campaigns have invested heavily in caucus training geared toward Spanish speakers, including the Clinton campaign's training, "Caucus Conmigo." Clinton reiterated Friday that she'll release the transcripts of the infamously expensive speeches she gave to Wall Street firms including Goldman Sachs if other politicians start releasing transcripts of their past speeches to private groups. "I'm happy to release anything I have when everybody else does the same, because every other candidate in this race has given speeches to private groups, including Senator Sanders," she said at an event in Las Vegas. Bernie Sanders' campaign quickly "accept[ed] Clinton's challenge" with a tongue in cheek press release: "Sen. Sanders accepts Clinton's challenge. He will release all of the transcripts of all of his Wall Street speeches. That's easy. The fact is, there weren't any. Bernie gave no speeches to Wall Street firms." (Arun Kumar can be contacted at arun.kumar@ians.in) New Delhi, Feb 20 : Sanjay Patel's animated short, "Sanjay's Super Team", which tells the story of an immigrant community and "a family of colour", is up against movies like "Bear Story" and "World of Tomorrow" for the Best Animated Short Film at this year's Oscars. The Indian-American Pixar artist and director says it feels special just to be in the company of "incredibly deserving" nominees. The world is eagerly waiting to see who will walk away with the prestigious statuette at the 88th Academy Awards, to be held in Los Angeles on February 28. And Indians have a reason to cheer as Patel, who has roots in Gujarat, is pitted against "Bear Story", directed by Gabriel Osorio, "World of Tomorrow", helmed by Don Hertzfeldt, Richard Williams's "Prologue" and "We Can't Live Without Cosmos", directed by Konstantin Bronzit. "I was confident (of winning) until I saw the other nominees. I became even less confident after I met the nominees. They are so incredibly deserving. All the films are so unique and special. It feels special just to be in that company," Patel told IANS over the phone from Los Angeles. The US film production studio Disney-Pixar's film shows a boy, modelled on Patel, who wants to watch superhero cartoons on television. It goes on to present the boy's daydreams -- bored with his father's religious meditation -- who imagines Hindu gods as superheroes. "John Lasseter (chief creative officer, Disney-Pixar) was the one who gave me the confidence and permission (to make the film). I had a story about a little boy from India who didn't have a father and it was more about him being absorbed in western comics and kind of ignoring the stories from his own culture. I told that story to John. He liked it. Then he asked me about how I grew up. "I told him about my experience with my father. John straight away loved the idea. The same ideas got communicated, but it got richer and more universal. Initially, the concept was something that may be only a certain amount of people might have been able to relate to. But the idea of generational struggle between a young person and his parents is way more universal and emotional," he said. He feels proud that Pixar was "so supportive in letting me tell a story from an immigrant community... a story of family of colour and give me that opportunity to tell the truth". Born in Britain to Gujarati parents, Patel moved to the United States in the 1980s. The 41-year-old joined Pixar Animation Studios in 1996 as an animator on "A Bug's Life", and has animated on many of Pixar's feature films, including "Ratatouille", "Cars" and "Toy Story 3". Patel also storyboarded extensively for "Monster's Inc.", "The Incredibles" and "Toy Story 2". "My father has always been proud of me. The truth is I was always very embarrassed of him... of his Indianness. So, I am really proud that my father was patient for me to grow up, for me to come to appreciate who we really are," said Patel. In fact, his "big wish" is to visit India with his parents. "My dream is to... I have never been to Gujarat with my parents. It's a big wish of mine. I just want to go back and have them show me our roots," said the first-time director, who also has a son named Arjun. (Natalia Ningthoujam can be contacted at natalia.n@ians.in) New Delhi, Feb 20 : Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday expressed concern over the ongoing Jat agitation in Haryana and discussed the issue with Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar. The Delhi chief minister had said in a tweet that he is worried about water supply to the national capital. Later, in a series of tweets, Kejriwal said both Singh and Khattar have assured him that the army is being sent to Munak canal, which supplies water to south Delhi. "Spoke to Rajnath ji also and apprised him of grave situation. He has assured that army is being sent to Munak canal," the Delhi chief minister tweeted. Kejriwal also spoke to Khattar, who gave a similar assurance. "He (Khattar) has assured that he will immediately send army to ensure safety of Munak canal," Kejriwal said. Haryana has been on boil with Jat community agitating demanding reservations in government jobs and educational institutions. In worst hit Rohtak, looting and arson continued in the town through Friday night with unruly mobs targeting malls, shops and other buildings and many of them were set on fire. London, Feb 20 : Actors Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart will together host the 2016 MTV Movie Awards. The annual show, which will be aired on April 10 will come prior to the duo's summer film "Central Intelligence", reports variety.com. This year's MTV Movie Awards, which marks the 25th anniversary of the show, will be pre-taped live-style the day before the broadcast on April 9, taking place outdoors across multiple locations, unlike most award shows, which air from a singular theater. "We want to do a big, brave thing to celebrate movies," the show's executive producer Casey Patterson says of filming. "We love Kevin and Dwayne for doing big, risky, bold things. Most award shows play it safe. They're the right guys to take big swings," Patterson added. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Nepalese counterpart K P Sharma Oli, at Hyderabad House, in New Delhi on Feb 20, 2016. Image Source: IANS/PIB Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Nepalese counterpart K P Sharma Oli, at Hyderabad House, in New Delhi on Feb 20, 2016. Image Source: IANS/PIB New Delhi, Feb 20 : Nepal's stability is linked to India's security, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday at a joint press conference with his Nepalese counterpart K.P. Sharma Oli. "I am confident under your able leadership, India-Nepal relations will further strengthen and attain new heights," Modi told Oli, adding: "It is clear that Nepal's stability is linked to India's security." "We are working on hydro projects with combined capacity of 7000 mw and their quick and successful completion can be a gateway to Nepal's economic prosperity," he said while tele-inaugurating, along with Oli, a power transmission line between Muzaffarpur in Bihar and Dhalkebar in Nepal. "Trade, investment are strong pillars of relations between India and Nepal; they can be further strengthened," the prime minister said. Oli, who arrived here on Friday, is the first Nepalese prime minister to pay a bilateral visit to India since 2011 when Baburam Bhattarai had travelled to New Delhi. Beijing, Feb 20 : An international team of scientists says the unusual dinosaur tracks found in northern China might have been by the four-legged sauropod dinosaurs. Previous studies of such track ways have suggested that the dinosaurs, which were far too big to walk on their hind legs, might have been swimming. The scientists from China University of Geosciences in Beijing, including palaeontologists from the University of Bristol suggested that trackways fossil trackways from Gansu Province in northern China, in which only the front or hind feet are imprinted into the sediment, were produced by walking, not swimming animals. Published in journal Scientific Reports, the new study said the tracks, dating from the Lower Cretaceous, over 120 million years ago, are roughly circular and with a clear set of four or five claw marks at the front. These prints perfectly match the feet of medium-sized sauropod dinosaurs, massive long-necked, plant-eating dinosaurs such as Brontosaurus and Titanosaurus. "Nobody would say these huge dinosaurs could stagger along on their hind legs alone - they would fall over. However, we can prove they were walking because the prints are the same as in more usual tracks consisting of all four feet, its just that here, we do not see the hand prints," lead author Lida Xing said. "If they had been swimming, with the hind legs dangling down, some of the foot prints would be scratch marks, as the foot scrabbled backwards," Xinga added. The study said that most of the animal's weight was towards the rear, and so the hind-feet pressed deeper. The front feet, on the other hand, did not apply enough pressure to make a lasting mark. Beijing, Feb 20 : The entry-exit inspection and quarantine bureau in China's Zhejiang province on Saturday said it was conducting epidemiological studies and sampling 32 travellers a day after the third Zika patient was reported in the country. It was confirmed on Friday that a 38-year-old man, who had travelled to the city of Yiwu in Zhejiang on February 15 from Fiji and Samoa, had the virus, Xinhua cited the National Health and Family Planning Commission as saying. The patient developed a fever and had been bitten by mosquitos. None of the 32 people that travelled with the patient have developed any related symptoms so far. The bureau advised pregnant women against travelling to countries with Zika outbreaks, as the virus is suspected by medical experts to be linked to microcephaly among newborns. Symptoms of the Zika virus, which spreads to people through mosquito bites, include fever, joint pain, a rash, conjunctivitis, headache and muscle pain. Disease prevention experts said the risk of the spread of the virus was low due to the current low temperature which inhibits mosquito activity. Bhubaneswar, Feb 20 : The stage is set for a farmers' convention to be addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah at Bargarh in Odisha on Sunday. "This would be the greatest of all rallies of the BJP in the state. For the first time, Modi and Amit Shah would address a rally in the state while several central leaders would attend the farmers' convention," said state BJP spokesperson Sajjan Sharma on Saturday. Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh, Tribal Affairs Minister Jual Oram and Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan will also join the Bargarh convention. Sharma said the leaders would interact with the farmers while highlighting the schemes initiated by the central government for the benefit of farmers. The party expects that the visit of Modi and Shah would give a big boost to the BJP to connect to the people in the state and gain political mileage. Bargarh town is flooded with party flags, posters, banners and hoardings of Modi, Shah, Dharmendra Pradhan and Jual Oram. Odisha Police have made elaborate security arrangements for the smooth conduct of the farmers' convention. While DGP K.B. Singh has already visited the spot to review the security arrangements, senior police officials are taking stock of the situation. Police sources said besides SPG and NSG, 65 platoons and 300 officers are to be deployed at the meeting venue. Mumbai, Feb 20 : Actor Ranveer Singh, who is known for his quirky and eclectic fashion sense, says although he is not brand conscious, he is well aware of brands. "I wouldn't call myself brand conscious but I am very aware of brands. I am very much aware of brands so my knowledge with brand is good," Ranveer said at the launch of American multinational clothing and accessories retailer GAP's store here. "GAP is one of the most renowned brands in the world which assures quality, coolness, style. It's great they have come to Mumbai it's a household name," Ranveer said about the brand, while adding that their products are "durable and high quality". "So even if a person has certain financial standing and finds this cloth expensive it is an investment," he added. On the film front, after hitting the jackpot with "Bajirao Mastani", Ranveer is prepping up for his next venture "Befikre", which marks Aditya Chopra's comeback as a director. He stars in it opposite Vaani Kapoor. Seoul, Feb 20 : The recent shutdown of an inter-Korean industrial complex will not affect Pyongyang's nuclear programme, as it started before the opening of the zone, North Korea said on Saturday. North Korea's development of nuclear and "space" programmes will remain intact after the shutdown, adding that South Korea's plan to cut the funding of such projects by closing the complex will be unsuccessful, Yonhap news agency reported. The South Korean government decided to close the operation of the joint complex in the North's border city of Kaesong in response to Pyongyang's recent nuclear test and long-range rocket launch. Around 54,000 North Korean workers were employed by 124 South Korean firms in production facilities in Kaesong. The shutdown of the industrial zone is set to drive Kaesong-based South Korean firms to "death", the report said. The measure has drawn mixed views on its effects, given the fact that local manufacturers had run production facilities there with the output hovering above $500 million in 2015. Global credit appraiser Moody's Investors Service, meanwhile, earlier said the shutdown will have only a limited impact on South Korea, as the zone contributes only around 0.04 percent of the country's annual gross domestic product. In 2013, the industrial zone was also closed due to Pyongyang's protest against a joint military exercise between South Korean and the US forces. The two Koreas still technically remain in a state of war since the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce, not a peace treaty. The Kaesong Industrial Complex first went into operation in 2004. New Delhi, Feb 20 : : With the aim to tap the imagination of young minds and utilise them for the Make in India initiative, the Jindal Global Business School (JGBS) under Jindal Global School (JGS) launched a new Bachelors of Business Administration course (BBA) at an event here on Saturday. The course targets to train young people with knowledge and skills so that they can take up positions in management companies and corporations, become entrepreneurs and contribute to the 'Make in India' initiative. "The future of India and the future of Make in India is going to depend upon how effectively we are going to train our young people who can not only contribute to the business sector and enterprises but also create companies, corporates and enterprises. The role of the government and corporations should become deeply engaged with academic institutions and universities, Sonipat-based Jindal Global University vice-chancellor Professor C. Raj Kumar told IANS. The BBA course is global in its orientation with outstanding faculty members, an intellectually involving environment with seminars, workshops beside classroom study. The course also allows students to cross-register for other subjects within schools under the university. "The curriculum of the new BBA programme has been designed keeping in view the thinking skills which the young generation needs today along with the managerial potential that is needed to run a business, accompanied with generous practical training and industry focus, this programme aims to make students proficient in using software tools, processes and best practices that they will need to succeed in the business world," the vice chancellor noted. Dean Professor C. Gopinath emphasised that the unique three year BBA Programme with industry focus is structured to provide essential business management courses to hit the ground running from the first day at the job. Core courses are designed to give a broad knowledge of the functional areas with specialisations in entrepreneurship and family business, hospitality management and banking and insurance. The BBA programme fee is Rs. 4,00,000 per year and the fee for food, accommodation and laundry services is Rs. 1,85,000 per year. Srinagar, Feb 20 : Ten Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) troopers were injured on Saturday when guerrillas attacked their convoy on the Jammu-Srinagar highway near Pampore town in Pulwama district of Kashmir region, police said. After the attack, three militants entered the nearby multi-storeyed Jammu and Kashmir Entrepreneurship Development Institute (JKEDI) building, a senior police officer said here. "The building has been surrounded and an operation has been started to flush out the militants. Intermittent firing is going on," the officer said, adding that the trainees and staff of the institute are being evacuated. New Delhi, Feb 20 : With the stir by Haryana's Jat community, wanting affirmative action, entering the seventh day, the impact on industry in the National Capital Region worsened on Saturday, with companies neither able to get supplies, nor ship out their merchandise. Even as Army columns held flag marches in violence-hit districts of Haryana -- a state bordering the national capital -- movement of goods continued to suffer due to blockades of both railways and roadways. Particularly hit were the industries in Haryana, India's third largest exporter of software with a large presence of automotive, agro, textiles, oil refining, biotechnology and petrochemicals industries. While no estimate was available on the extent of losses, the impact can be somewhat gauged by the fact that the state's GDP was $72.2 billion in 2014-15 -- a shade under $200 million per day or Rs.1,360 crore in Indian currency. "Yesterday alone we've lost Rs.15 lakh worth of business. Our finished goods just couldn't reach the locations," a businessperson with a factory in Gurgaon, a hub for IT services, told IANS but requested anonymity due to the sensitivities and the violence involved. "All our major offload takes place during the month-end. If we don't service our clients on time, our receivables also get impacted," the businessperson said, adding the movement of trucks even to areas beyond Haryana was getting affected. Her reference was to the blockade along the National Highway 1, which is an arterial road that connects the north of Haryana with the southern parts of the country. This has resulted in some consignments of other states getting stuck as well. For some specifics, the highway was blocked by protesters in Sonipat district, 50 km from Delhi, even as the disruptions were caused on the railway track between Delhi and Ambala, some 200 km north of the national capital. Nearly 550 trains were either cancelled or diverted. Due to the violence -- resulting in the death of three people and injuries to dozens, including security personnel -- industry bodies declined comment, politely saying they needed more time to assess the situation. State Finance Minister Abhimanyu's house was set on fire. Mahendra Mittal, president of the Haryana state sector of the Confederation of All India Traders, told IANS: "Of course business is impacted due to the agitation. But if the government promised the Jat community reservation earlier, then they should stick to that promise." The state has several large units, including the main plants of India's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki. But smaller units are the ones that pepper the industrial landscape. However, Central Minister for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Kalraj Mishra had little to say. He termed the stir as "unfortunate" but remained nonchalant about the impact. "Disturbances will keep happening," he said, trying to give the matter a political twist as well. "Some frustrated elements can't digest the huge mandate given to the BJP." Even Maruti Suzuki said it halted production at two facilities, making 5,000 cars per day. "Owing to the agitation in Rohtak and nearby areas, supplies of certain components have been disrupted. As a consequence, the company has had to temporarily suspend manufacture of cars at its facilities in Manesar and Gurgaon, starting Saturday (February 20) second half," it said. "Once the supply of components is restored, normal operations will resume." In the National capital, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted on Saturday: "Am worried about impact of Jat agitation on Delhi." He said he spoke to the central Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and was assured early resolution of the issue. What has also left industry wondering is: How will the state now showcase itself as an attractive destination, when it hosts its flagship event for the global investors. As of today, "Happening Haryana", as the summit on March 7 is being called, sounds like it is for a different reason. Kabul, Feb 20 : At least six members of a family were killed as a roadside bomb struck a vehicle in Paktika province, the Interior Ministry said on Saturday. The deadly attack occurred in Waza Khowah district of Paktika province on Friday, killing six occupants, including four children, on the spot, Xinhua reported. The Interior Ministry blamed the enemies of peace, a reference to the Taliban militants, and condemned the incident in strong terms. Taliban militants who largely rely on suicide and roadside bombings have not yet claimed responsibility for the bombing. New Delhi, Feb 20 : The Opposition has demanded a discussion in the Rajya Sabha on the situation in universities across the country, including JNU, and the government has agreed to it. "All parties agreed that the house should work smoothly and important legislations should be passed and the government has agreed that the discussion opposition parties have demanded, whether it is the JNU issue or the farmers' issue, we will take it up," Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi told IANS. He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed the hope that the house would function smoothly. The meeting was called by Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari, who discussed with leaders of various parties the modalities of the functioning of the upper house ahead of the budget session that starts on Tuesday. The Rajya Sabha chairman called upon the parties to ensure that the house functions smoothly. "Time has come to assure the public that parliamentary democracy does work and is sensitive to the needs of the people," Ansari said. The meeting was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad, Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha P.J. Kurien, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and leaders from different political parties including Trinamool Congress, JD-U, CPI, CPI-M, RJD, SAD and NCP. Leader of the House Arun Jaitley assured that the government was open to discussion on all issues. He said the first part of the budget session should be devoted towards passing urgent bills besides the budget. Azad, meanwhile, demanded a discussion on the prevailing situation in universities including JNU and the University of Hyderabad. "The meeting ended with a general sense of agreement that the house should legislate and deliberate on all issues. All leaders present shared the same feeling. The prime minister held that it has been a good meeting and hoped that the session will work," an official statement said. Rohtak/Chandigarh, Feb 20 : Chaos reigned in Haryana on Saturday with escalated violence in several areas as hooligans, who have joined ranks of Jat protestors, ran amok, setting afire government and private property and vehicles, blocking roads and highways, disrupting trains and uprooting tracks and indulging in looting. Curfew was imposed in Hisar, Sonipat and Jind towns after violence. Violence was also reported from Kaithal. The death toll in the violence in past 36 hours has reached four with over 100 people being injured. One person was killed when soldiers opened fire on an unruly mob in Jhajjar. The Haryana Police and local administration in the affected districts have failed to react to the violence, leave alone controlling it even as the army moved in to control the situation in the worst-affected areas of Rohtak, Bhiwani and Jhajjar. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and NSA Ajit Doval discussed the deteriorating law and order situation in the state in New Delhi. While Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar appealed to protestors to stop the violence and his BJP invited them to hold talks with the party's central leadership, his predecessor Bhupinder Singh Hooda, of the Congress, said that he would start a hunger strike at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi from Saturday till the situation normalised. Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) leader Abhay Chautala demanded that the Khattar government be dismissed and president's rule be imposed in view of the deteriorating situation. Army columns conducted flag marches at various places in the violence-hit districts as the security forces grappled with the tense situation in areas where violence occurred. However, the army did not take a flag march towards Gate No.2 of Maharishi Dayanand University in Rohtak town as nearly 3,000 Jat youth laid siege to the area, armed with sharp-edged weapons, despite warnings by the authorities not to venture out of their homes. Protesters set several buses on fire in the Gohana bus stand in Sonipat district, 210 km from Chandigarh. Mobs set a police station in Meham town on fire. A police station and a railway station was set on fire in Jind district, a 'dharamshala' (free hostelry) was set on fire in Jhajjar and buses were set on fire in Julana and Kaithal towns. Buildings of revenue departments were also set on fire at some places. The toll plaza on the Panipat-Rohtak highway was also set on fire by mobs, while protesters uprooted the Delhi-Ambala railway track at Rajlu Garhi in Panipat district, disrupting the crucial rail line which connects Delhi with north India and leaving hundreds of passengers stranded. Nearly 550 trains were either cancelled or diverted since the agitation began. The Vita milk plant was set on fire in Rohtak and scores of shops were set afire in the town. Curfew continued in Rohtak, Bhiwani and Jhajjar towns on Saturday but the violence did not stop. Haryana Director General of Police Y.P. Singhal said that 129 cases have so far been registered against agitators and claimed that the situation improved on Saturday compared to Friday. Home Secretary P.K. Das said no untoward incident was reported from Rohtak, Bhiwani and Jhajjar districts, and that more army and para-military would be air-lifted to the violence-hit areas. "A petrol pump and Sadar police station in Meham were damaged and set on fire. The national highway-1 (NH-1) is blocked but efforts are on to get the blockade lifted," Singhal said. He said 13 army columns have reached the state to assist the administration and 10 more columns are being airlifted, while 10 companies of paramilitary forces have reached the state and 23 more are on their way. The DGP said the ongoing agitation in Haryana was "leaderless", and the role of outsiders in the violence could not be ruled out. Soldiers were airdropped earlier on Saturday in violence-hit Rohtak town after the protesters blocked and dug up roads to prevent their entry. Indian Air Force helicopters conducted several sorties to transport soldiers into some parts of the town. The agitation began as Jats demanded reservation for the community in government jobs and educational institutions. Reports said NH-1 was blocked by protesters in Sonipat district, 50 km from Delhi, and thousands of people and hundreds of vehicles were stranded. Traffic was also disrupted in Gurgaon. New Delhi, Feb 20 : With Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday saying that "Nepal's stability is linked to India's security", his Nepalese counterpart K. P. Sharma Oli expressed the desire to take relations between the two countries to the "same level of enthusiasm" as earlier by clearing up all "misunderstandings". "The whole of India and I are in favour of economic development of Nepal... I am confident that under your able leadership, India-Nepal relations will further strengthen and attain new heights," Modi told Oli while addressing a joint press conference with him here. "It is clear that the stability of Nepal is linked to India's security. Prime Minister Oli and I agree that we need to face together the rising extremism and terrorism in the two countries," Modi said. The two leaders also vowed not to allow the open border between the two nations to be misused by terrorists and criminals. "We will not allow terrorists and criminals to misuse the open borders between the two countries. "Security agencies of both countries will collaborate closely in this context," Modi said. Oli, while thanking India for its vital support, said he had come to India to clear "misunderstandings" that surfaced in the recent past. "The main mission of my visit is to clear misunderstandings that surfaced in the last few months and to take back our relations to the same level of enthusiasm when Modiji visited Nepal in August 2014," said Oli. He also thanked India for all the support it provided to Nepal over the years for its developmental work in various fields, and specially for spontaneous support after the earthquake in April last year that killed 8,800 people and destroyed property worth crores of rupees. "The support and solidarity shown by our friends from India turns the heads of Nepalese people," he said, adding that "we equally appreciate the support of India in our reconstruction drive". Oli, who is making his first foreign visit after the Himalayan nation adopted a new constitution in September last year, said that India and Nepal shared a lot in common and their relations were beyond formalities. The two prime ministers tele-inaugurated a power transmission line between Muzaffarpur in Bihar and Dhalkebar in Nepal. "We are working on hydro projects with combined capacity of 7,000 MW and their quick and successful completion can be a gateway to Nepal's economic prosperity," Modi said, adding that the just inaugurated power line would initially provide 80 MW electricity to Nepal but in the next two years it would provide up to 600 MW of power. India and Nepal also signed nine agreements following delegation-level talks led by Modi and Oli. The agreements signed on Saturday between the two sides included those on utilisation of an Indian grant of $250 million for post-earthquake reconstruction, improving road infrastructure in Nepal's Terai area, cultural cooperation, transit between Nepal and Bangladesh through the Kakarbitta-Banglabandh corridor, and use of Visakapatnam port by Nepal. Speaking to the media later in the day, Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar said that Oli briefed Modi on the developments in Nepal after the adoption of the new constitution. "Our prime minister appreciated the progress made towards the consolidation of constitutional democracy in Nepal, acknowledging the two amendments which were passed by the Nepalese parliament as positive steps," he said. Nearly 60 people lost their lives in violent protests after the adoption of the new constitution last year with agitating Madhesi political parties and ethnic groups of the Nepal Terai demanding amendments in the statute that they deem discriminatory and ignoring their rights. Crucial entry points from India to Nepal were blocked by the agitators leading to shortage of essential supplies and medicines in the northern neighbour. Nepal blamed the Indian establishment for instigating the trouble, a charge New Delhi has firmly and constantly denied. On January 23, the Nepal parliament approved the first ever amendment to the country's new constitution to address the agitating Madhesis' demands for proportionate representation and allocation of seats in parliament on the basis of population. In Saturday's talks, Oli said of the constitutional issues that were being discussed and debated, some of them have been addressed and some are still being addressed, Jaishankar said. The six-day visit of Oli, who arrived here on Friday, is the first state visit by a prime minister from the Himalayan nation since 2011. Earlier on Saturday, Oli was accorded a ceremonial welcome at Rashtrapati Bhavan, where he inspected a guard of honour. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley called on the visiting dignitary during the day. Oli later called on Vice President Hamid Ansari and President Pranab Mukherjee. New Delhi, Feb 20 : In the wake of the Munak canal -- which supplies water to south Delhi -- being closed after vandalisation by Jat protesters, the Delhi government on Saturday said water supply in the capital may be hit, but it has taken certain measures to restore it. "An emergency meeting of the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) was called. The gate of Munak canal is closed at this moment. The demonstrators vandalised the control buttons of the canal as per the messages we have received," Delhi's Water Minister Kapil Mishra said. "It has started affecting the supply of water in Delhi. We took a few decisions in the meeting. We have already started rationing of all the primary reservoirs of water in Delhi. The supply of water will be limited in the morning tomorrow (Sunday). After that, there will be no water in the major plants of Delhi," said Mishra, who is also the DJB chairman. "North, west and central Delhi have been the worst affected. The situation in east and south are comparatively better. A central control room has been set up at DJB. Through this, we will regularly monitor the quality and quantity of water," he added. Mishra said the supply of essential commodities in Delhi could also be affected in the next few days. "It will take at least one day to repair the Munak canal and make it functional. I would plead with the people to save water and not panic. The situation will be serious for the next 2-3 days. The weekend leave of officials of DJB have been cancelled. They have to be on duty. "We are moving the Supreme Court against the demonstrators who are trying to block the supply of water. This is not just a matter of water. Highways and railway tracks are also being blocked. "Even the supply of essential commodities like milk, petrol and vegetables may get affected from tomorrow (Sunday) morning. We hope that the water supply in Delhi will be restored with the intervention of the Supreme Court, Centre and Haryana government," said Mishra. He said 60 percent water supply in the capital will be affected. Apart from Sonia Vihar and Bhagirathi plants, the rest of the plants will get affected. The Wazirabad and Chandrawali plants have already closed. "We have deployed tankers. But if supply doesn't come from Haryana, then the situation will worsen." He said Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has spoken to his Haryana counterpart Manohar Lal Khattar. "He (Khattar) has assured us that he will take all possible measures to restore the supply of water. Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia has spoken to union Home Minister Rajnath Singh. He said he will ensure that the supply of water in Delhi will not be affected," Mishra added. Haryana has been on the boil with the Jat community demanding reservation in government jobs and educational institutions. Kolkata, Feb 20 : Train services went haywire for hours following an indefinite rail 'roko' (blockade) agitation launched by the Greater Cooch Behar Peoples Association (GCPA) on Saturday to press their demand for statehood or union territory status for Cooch Behar. Slogan-shouting GCPA activists squatted on the railway tracks in New Cooch Behar station of northern West Bengal since early morning seeking intervention of the union home ministry to resolve the issue. Several long distance trains were stranded or short terminated due to the agitation, said a Northeast Frontier Railway official. The Delhi-bound 12435 down/Dibrugarh Town-New Delhi Rajdhani Express via Lucknow and 12423 down /Dibrugarh Town-New Delhi Rajdhani Express via Allahabad was detained at New Bongaigaon station, while 15960 Dibrugarh-Howrah Kampur express was detained at Barpeta Road. AGCPA leader Bangshi Badan Barman claimed Cooch Behar had enjoyed the status of a C category state for around three months when it was included in India through a pact between the then maharaja of Cooch Behar and the Indian government. However, the West Bengal government then included it into the state as a district. "We will continue with our movement unless the central government agrees to our demand to make Cooch Behar either a C Category state or a union territory," said Barman. New Delhi, Feb 20 : Vietnamese Ambassador to India Ton Sinh Thanh on Saturday invited Indian filmmakers to shoot their movies in Vietnam to boost the two millenia-old cultural ties between the two countries. "Besides enhancing the exchange of artists, cultural troops, students and think tanks, we should try new areas such as exchange of movies and promoting film shooting in each other's countries," Ton said while speaking as the guest of honour at a bilateral international seminar on "Indo-Vietnam cultural relations: Retrospect and prospect" here. "We welcome an Indian cultural centre in Hanoi, we hope that there will also be a Vietnamese cultural centre in New Delhi," he said. Stating that Ho Chi Minh, the father of the Vietnamese people, was a great friend of the Indian people, he also said that a statue of the revolutionary Communist leader in New Delhi would be an excellent symbol of friendship between the two countries. "Cultural cooperation is one of the pillars in the strategic partnership between our two countries. Vietnam and India have many cultural similarities which have been accumulated by the interactions between our countries over the last 2,000 years," the ambassador said. Organised by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), the seminar is aimed at covering topics on the centuries old cultural bonding between India and Vietnam and its relevance in today's geopolitical scenario. There are seven participants from Vietnam, including a minister rank delegate and a member of the central committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam, who would interact with 15 Indian scholars to analyse Indo-Vietnamese relations in a historical perspective and evaluate them in the modern context. "The seminar is an effort to unearth the contacts between these two ancient civilisations and would cover the centuries-old cultural bonding between India and Vietnam, the role of Hinduism and Buddhism, relevance of culture and literature in today's geopolitical scenario in the context of India-Vietnam relations, Ho Chi Minh and India and (Rabindranath) Tagore and Vietnam," ICCR Director General Ambassador C. Rajasekhar said in his welcome address. "These subjects are likely to witness debate and discussion over our future strategy so far as interactions in the fields of art and culture are concerned," he added. ICCR President Lokesh Chandra said that Indian traders and monks who had once migrated from India to Vietnam, had established their Cham (Hindu) kingdom in central Vietnam without any violence or invasion. "The Indian approach was sharing and giving them scripts for language while cotton fabrics and sugar were major exports going to the highest point in Vietnam. In the past 2,000 years. Vietnam has maintained its identity while we have problems in India," Chandra said. "Buddhism has a long history which dates back to the third century BC in Vietnam," Anil Wadhwa, secretary (east) in the ministry of external affairs, said in his speech as the chief guest. "Furthermore, some historians also feel that the oldest Hindu kingdom, Funan, ruled from Vyadhapura, was established in the lower valley of the Mekong. The carvings of Cham period depicted events of Ramayana and Indian mythology such as marriage ceremony of Ram-Sita, Krishna playing flute, Indra and dancing apsaras, Vishnu and Sheshnag and the Shivling," he said. "The depiction of musical instruments such as pakhawaj, mridangam, drums etc. are reflective influence of Indian music. Vietnam's famous 'LakhonBassac' dance drama is based on the epic Ramayana." Wadhwa said that the Mekong-Ganga cooperation initiative has been built on cooperation in the region defined by two great rivers, the Mekong and the Ganga. "It is a forum which is unique in its civilisation foundation. It is also a forum which has tremendous potential to become a powerful catalyst for socioeconomic development in the region," the secretary (east) said. Jaipur, Feb 20 : The Congress in Rajasthan on Saturday submitted an application to police superintendents in all district headquarters demanding filing of a police complaint and the arrest of BJP legislator Kailash Chaudhary for his "traitor" remark against Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi. Chaudhary, the BJP legislator from Baytoo constituency in Barmer district, while addressing a farmers rally on Wednesday said Gandhi stood with people who made anti-India and pro-Pakistan slogans, and was thus an "anti-national and traitor", who "should be punished, hanged and shot". He also said such people "should be thrown out of the country" and they do not have any right to live in India. Members of the Congress on Saturday submitted an application to superintendents of police in all district headquarters of the state demanding filing of an FIR against the BJP leader. State Congress president Sachin Pilot said Chaudhary should be arrested immediately, and also demanded immediate sacking of the leader by the BJP. New Delhi, Feb 20 : Abdul Rouf Khan was returning to his work place, the Entrepreneurship Development Institute (EDI) in Jammu and Kashmir's Pampore town on Saturday, after having lunch on Saturday afternoon when he heard gunshots and blasts. Initially, the skills trainer in his late 20s had no idea that the multi-storied building was under attack but it took only a few seconds for Khan and his colleagues to realise the horrific truth. Khan who had reached inside when the unknown assailants stormed the building, had a first-hand view of the gunmen who advised him and others -- 120-130 people -- to keep calm and leave the building. "Our target is security men, not you... keep calm and leave the building, shouted one of the gunmen in Urdu language," the traumatized Khan told IANS in a telephonic interview from Pampore. The attackers, reportedly three to four in all, seemed in a hurry and were directing each other frantically. There were some 120-130 people including staff inside the building at the time of the attack besides about 50 trainees. "I was terrified and started reciting the verses of the holy Quran, when we heard the gun shots... it was the most horrific scene one can ever experience," said Khan. At least two troopers and a civilian were killed and 10 other people including civilians injured in the gunfight, which ensued after the militants attacked a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) bus on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway and then entered the EDI. The gunbattle was still on and at least three militants are believed to be holed up inside the institute. The area has been cordoned off and barricades put in place on the roads leading to the EDI bulding. (Aadil Mir can be contacted at aadil.hussain@ians.in) New Delhi, Feb 20 : The Congress, condemning the violence that erupted in Haryana against the backdrop of Jat agitation for reservations, on Saturday, blamed the Manohar Lal Khattar government for failing to handle the situation. "Violence has no place in democracy. Essence of democracy lies in solving every dispute through dialogue. Unfortunately, certain vested interests are indulging in violence in garb of reservation agitation to destroy the peaceful comradeship and fraternity of communities in 'Dev Bhoomi' Haryana. Time has come for all Haryanvis to stand united against forces that seek to create a caste division' in the state," said Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala. Blaming the state's Bharatiya Janata Party government of failing to handle the situation, he said: "Having created intense division and provocation, BJP government in Haryana has utterly failed and proved incompetent to handle the volatile situation. "We want to caution BJP governments at the centre and state to forthwith stop the politics of 'divide and rule', take decisive steps to restore peace and follow 'Rajdharma'." According to sources, hundreds of Jat protesters continued their siege of some parts of Rohtak town on Saturday afternoon and were not willing to disperse despite warnings by the local authorities. Curfew continued in Rohtak and Bhiwani towns on Saturday. "Valuable lives have been lost in the fire of reservation agitation in Haryana. We offer our deepest condolences to the families of the deceased as also to victims of violence. We appeal to people of Haryana to maintain peace, tranquility and brotherhood," Surjewala added. "Great discomfort and inconvenience has been caused to people of state and country in course of agitation. We demand that BJP governments at centre and state should settle the entire dispute immediately and peacefully besides taking strict action against those indulging in violence." Former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda also condemned the violence in the state and said he would go on a hunger strike until it normalised. "I condemn the violence in Haryana. Whatever has happened in Haryana is very said and serious. I appeal to all the demonstrators not to get influenced by those people who are trying to ignite hatred and disrupt law and order and peace in the society. They should maintain brotherhood and peace. The government must act promptly and handle the situation in the state," he said. Chennai, Feb 20 : DMDK leader A. Vijaykant on Saturday said his supporters want him to be the "king" and not the "kingmaker" in the Tamil Nadu politics. Addressing a massive rally at Kanchipuram district, around 70km from here, he however did not spell out clearly his party's stand on alliance for the forthcoming assembly elections in Tamil Nadu. As party cadre said "king" to his question whether he should be a "king" or "kingmaker", Vijaykant said: "If I am the king, then you all will also be a king". He then told journalists that party cadre want him to be the "king" and not a "kingmaker", thus signalling that he would align with those parties that agree to support his candidature as the chief minister. The DMDK party had earlier authorised Vijaykant to take appropriate decision on the electoral alliance. During his address, he charged the ruling AIADMK government of corruption but did not criticise the DMK. Kolkata, Feb 20 : A Trinamool Congress legislator, who had sparked a controversy by making disparaging comments about judges a day back, publicly apologised on Saturday after being censured by his party. Monirul Islam, the legislator from Labhpur in Birbhum district, on Friday -- without naming anybody -- accused "a number of judges" of singing paens to the Leftists as they had got property worth crores of rupees at throwaway prices during their rule. "Mamata Banerjee is the only chief minister who has not taken any piece of land from minorities, tribals or Scheduled Castes to dole out to others. She has not given away property worth crores to judges by charging only one rupee." "A number of judges, are preaching sermons. But in reality, these judges are enjoying property worth Rs.15 crore, Rs.20 crore, Rs.10 crore, Rs.5 crore by forking out only Re.1. Then how can they not but sing paens to the Leftists, rather than to Mamata Banerjee?" Monirul's comments led to a furore, with opposition parties and the civil society condemning him unequivocally. Sensing the damage that the remarks could cause to the party, Trinamool secretary general Partha Chatterjee directed him to apologise publicly. "Trinamool does not endorse the comments of Labhpur MLA regarding judiciary. The party has asked him to apologise publicly," said Chatteree. Under pressure from his party, Monirul told the media that he was respectful to the judges and the judicial system, but claimed he only had one particular retired judge in mind while making the comments. "I or my party respect the honourable judges and the judicial system. I wanted to comment on a former judge who has retired and wants to join politics. "I did not want to show disrespect to any judge or the judicial system. But despite that, if anybody has felt humiliated or pained by my comments, I feel sorry and apologise." Infamous for his hate speeches, Monirul, a murder accused, was issued a show-cause notice by the Election Commission ahead of the Lok Sabha polls in 2014 after he asked Trinamool workers to prevent people from voting for other parties. Monirul had publicly threatened to decapitate a Congress leader during the rural polls in the state in 2013. "It would not take me even a minute to behead you," he had said at a rally in July 2013 as he went on to claim how he had "squashed" three people under his feet for committing atrocities against women. Bari (Italy), Feb 20 : Massimiliano Latorre, one of two Italian Marines facing trial in India for the killing of two fishermen, has posted a video on Facebook of his arrest four years ago, accompanied by the soundtrack of Italian rocker Vasco Rossi's smash hit "Give a sense to my life". "This is what happened on 19 February 2012 when they took us to jail," Latorre wrote in a Facebook post on Friday accompanying the video. The shooting in February 2012 of the fisherman by Latorre and his colleague Salvatore Girone off the coast of Kerala as they guarded an Italian oil tanker sparked a diplomatic row. India's Supreme Court had earlier allowed Latorre to return home for medical treatment after he suffered a stroke in India, where he was detained since his arrest. Girone has not been allowed to leave India and is staying at the Italian embassy in New Delhi. A long delay and fears that the Marines could be executed if convicted of murder prompted Italy to take the case to international arbitration in June last year. The Hamburg-based International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea ruled in August that India had no jurisdiction in the case and referred it to the International Court of Justice in The Hague. The Hague tribunal last month said the arbitration verdict in the case would not come before August 2018. Meanwhile, Italy wants the two Marines to be allowed to stay in Italy until the verdict. Ahmedabad, Feb 20 : The Congress' Gujarat unit on Saturday said it would move a bill in the upcoming assembly session for reservation based on economic criterion and not caste, even as it announced for the first time its support to the Patel community youngsters leading a pro-quota agitation in the state. In a late evening communique, the Congress said it proposes a 20 percent reservation in government jobs and educational institutions to those hailing from economically weaker sections irrespective of their castes. Senior Congress leader Siddharth Patel clarified in the press release that the proposed 20 percent quota would be over and above the present 49 per cent allocation for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes. He said the Congress had already made a policy announcement to this effect and that party president Sonia Gandhi had also stated in January 2014 that people hailing from economically weaker sections of society should get quota benefits. The Congress leader said the party supports the pro-reservation agitation by young Patel leader Hardik Patel but it favours quota for economically weaker sections who lose out on the opportunity to grow with the others. Contacted, Gujarat Congress spokesperson Manish Doshi told IANS that "our party does not wish to disturb the 49 percent people getting reservation benefits on caste basis since they already face a double whammy of being economically weak". To the point that a bill by the Congress would be defeated in the assembly since it did not have the numbers, Doshi said: "We would move the bill and thus make a firm statement of what we believe in on the floor of the assembly." "It is up to the ruling BJP to support it. If it does not, it will stand exposed before the people as well as those who are spearheading the agitation for reservations. With this, the Congress party has come clean with its position," he added. Meanwhile, the Congress has demanded that the state government should drop the sedition charges against Hardik Patel and "stop its repressive measures". Siddharth Patel added that his party also wants the sedition charges against students of the Jawaharlal Nehru University to be withdrawn. Moscow, Feb 21 : Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kerry on Saturday discussed issues on Syrian peace process. The two, over a phone call, discussed humanitarian aid issues and the planned cessation of hostilities in Syria, "with the exception of fighting against terrorist groups". It was noted that progress was made on humanitarian aid delivery to besieged areas in Syria, Xinhua news agency reported. Lavrov and Kerry also discussed current practical interaction between the two countries, both being co-chairs of the International Syria Support Group. "It was confirmed that the establishment of mechanisms to implement tasks (in the Munich agreement reached last Friday) requires military coordination," Russian foreign ministry statement said. Lavrov also stressed the importance of not allowing Turkey to violate Syria's territorial integrity, as Ankara continued "inadmissible and provocative" bombings against Syrian territories. In another development, Russia on Saturday urged the US and other NATO countries to responsibly and carefully choose their targets in Syria. The comment came as the Serbian foreign ministry earlier confirmed two employees of the Serbian embassy, kidnapped last November in Libya, were killed in the US airstrikes against terror outfit Islamic State (IS). "This is far from the first time NATO airstrikes have killed innocent people," the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement, expressing deep condolences to the families of the victims. "Of course, the US and its allies should be guided first and foremost by international law and act not unilaterally, with coordinated steps with all concerned parties in the international community." The US-led coalition have been conducting airstrikes against terrorist targets in Syria and other Middle East countries since 2014, while Russia started bombing terrorist targets in Syria from last September. Russia has fallen into "war of words" with western countries on Syrian issues, accusing each other of causing civilian casualties and bombing targets other than terrorists'. Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday claimed that Russian armed forces in Syria "helped Syrian government army and other participants in anti-terror efforts to defeat terrorists, saved civilians from violence, barbarism and tyranny". "We have always sought to resolve any disputed issues solely through political and diplomatic means, we have repeatedly contributed to stabilizing the situation in different countries, helped resolve serious conflicts," Putin said. Reiterating that fighting terrorists in Syria is protecting Russia's national interests, Putin said the Russian army must "always be ready to promptly and efficiently respond to any potential threat, to stop any provocation and aggressive actions". "It's all-natural and tastes great" Nature's Pharm of Lafayette will be pouring fresh, local, healthy, Kombucha from their brand new Kombucha bar Friday February 19th, starting at 10am. Kombucha (pronounced "com-BOO-cha") is a cold brew fermented green tea that comes in many flavors, and Kombucha bars are already a phenomenon in states such as California, Oregon, and Washington. Matt Smith, co-owner of Nature's Pharm, explains that he is excited to bring something so unique to his store and to the Lafayette area with the new Kombucha bar. "It's all-natural and tastes great with reportedly, amazing health benefits. We know Lafayette is going to have a lot of fun stopping by our new bar, learning more and getting a taste". The health benefits that Smith refers to regarding Kombucha are that it provides an energy boost, aids in the detox process, enhances mental clarity, and helps maintain probiotic health. "It's brand new to most people," continues Smith, "but they started drinking it in Asia nearly 2000 years ago! So it's hardly some kind of passing craze". Nature's Pharm customers will be able to get Kombucha in various sizes and can even use their favorite growler on return visits to the bar. Smith says the Kombucha bar in Lafayette follows in the footstep of their recent opening of bars in their Greenwood and Castleton health food stores late last year. All three of these kombucha bars are the first and only of their kind in the state of Indiana. Beginning in 1971, the prominent Tampa bay firm of Carlson, Meissner, Hart & Hayslett P.A. began living their motto, Fighting for the injured, defending the accused. Attorneys at the firm agree that the personal relationships they build with clients and their reputation as leaders in the community is the driving force behind a client's motivation to trust the Carlson Meissner team. The firms long history of success is founded upon four key philosophies - based on the word CARE. The C in this acronym stands for community commitment. The next letter represents accessibility, a promise of a timely response to clients. R stands for responsible, reasonable and reliable service while the final letter, E, stands for extensive experience and the team approach. Since 1971, the firm has grown to five locations across the Tampa Bay area to better meet the communitys needs. Locations include Tampa, Clearwater, Spring Hill, Bradenton, and New Port Richey. A team of 16 highly skilled attorneys comprises the Carlson Meissner legal team, giving clients access to more than a century of legal experience through the firms team approach. The attorneys have a proven record of success in several areas of practice, including: DUI/DWI Personal Injury Criminal Defense Social Security Disability Workers' Compensation Family Law Immigration The firms website, CarlsonMeissner.com, includes client testimonials, as well as information on receiving a free consultation. Devin, a former client from Brooksville, wrote, "I strongly urge anyone else to contact this law office with any help you may need. The website also includes links to online resources, attorney descriptions, and an informational video library. The founders of the law offices of Carlson, Meissner, Hart & Hayslett, P.A. celebrate being named one of Floridas Top Ranked Law Firms based on AV Preeminent Martindale-Hubbell Lawyers Ratings, pursuant to the Wall Street Journal. Attorney Edward D. Carlson, co-founder of the firm, remarks, Our long-lasting success was not without hard work. Attorneys with our firm go the extra mile for the clients we serve and it is evident as each case unfolds. The firms other co-founder, Paul A. Meissner, adds, Our values have guided our practice and our skilled group of attorneys have allowed our firm to be unique in the creation of innovative legal strategies. For more information, visit the website or call (877) 728-9653 to schedule a free consultation. About Carlson, Meissner, Hart & Hayslett , P.A. The law firm of Carlson, Meissner, Hart & Hayslett P.A. was founded in 1971 by attorneys Ed Carlson and Paul Meissner. For more than four decades, they have been committed to protecting the injured and defending the accused. Their attorneys have established a solid reputation of case success throughout Florida, providing strong legal representation, easy accessibility and a high level of dependability. A client-centered approach ensures that clients know what is happening as their case progresses, and understand their options every step of the way. With a focus on personal injury, they help victims of auto accidents, slip and falls and wrongful death accidents. The firm is well-known for their innovative criminal defense and DUI work, defending both local and high-profile clients. Attorney and Partner Kevin Hayslett is widely recognized as The Attorney to the Stars, providing strong legal representation for notable celebrities and dignitaries throughout Florida. The firm also handles social security disability, workers compensation, divorce, family law and immigration cases. They offer free initial consultations and have five convenient Tampa Bay Area locations. Attorneys are available 24/7 for emergencies. Count on the legal team of Carlson, Meissner, Hart & Hayslett, P.A. to be there, fighting for you, protecting your rights. For more information or to schedule a consultation, call 877-728-9653 or visit their website at http://www.CarlsonMeissner.com Philadelphia Personal Injury Attorneys Installing PTC will reduce human error and save lives. It is unfair to keep expecting people to compromise their safety while waiting for railroad companies to fulfill their legal obligations. Amtrak, major transportation provider in the Northeast Corridor (NEC), provided its annual report to Congress on February 12, 2016, stating, "To ensure the safety of those trips, Amtrak alone among all subject railroads met the 2015 statutory deadline to complete implementation of a full positive train control (PTC) system on the NEC." Well-known Eastern Pennsylvania law firm Wapner, Newman, Wigrizer, Brecher & Miller, which represents those injured in transportation-related accidents, acknowledges that there are hurdles to getting all U.S. railroads to implement PTC in a timely manner, but also recognizes that the lifesaving change has been a long time in coming. PTC uses GPS, on-board wireless radios, and computers to monitor trains and stop them from derailing, colliding, or speeding. The technology combines onboard systems, trackside systems, and back office servers that can override improper action or inaction by an engineer, and slow or stop the train. The Rail Safety Improvement Act was enacted after a rash of fatal rail accidents, culminating in 2008 when a Metrolink commuter train and a Union Pacific freight train collided head-on in California, killing 25 people and injuring 102 others. Railroads were able to resist the financial expense and inconvenience of implementing PTC for years, observes Managing Partner Marc Brecher. Once Congress passed RSIA, some commuter railroads began making the sacrifices needed to stop putting profits ahead of the human cost, and we applaud the accomplishments of Amtrak set forth in their recent report to Congress. But many others, including influential rail groups in the freight industry, have spent the time complaining about the imposition and dragging their feet. It was only days after last year's deadly Philadelphia derailment that The New York Times reported officials believed it was highly likely that PTC could have prevented the catastrophe that killed eight and injured more than 200. Nevertheless, in October, lawmakers agreed to extend the December 31, 2015, deadline an extra three years -- with an optional additional two years if requested prior to the new 2018 deadline. Requests are subject to individual approval by the Department of Transportation. Its unfortunate that the Philadelphia train accident did not convince Congress to find a solution to adherence other than extending the time by up to five years," said Steven G. Wigrizer, the firm's president. "Installing PTC will reduce human error and save lives. It is unfair to keep expecting people to compromise their safety while waiting for railroad companies to fulfill their legal obligations. While some railroads have made great strides toward compliance, others seem to still be focused on running out of time and money. Certainly, upgrading to PTC technology is not without its challenges, Wigrizer continued, but the railroads that keep postponing need to follow the example of those that have managed the task and commit to speedy implementation before another tragic accident happens. About Wapner, Newman, Wigrizer, Brecher & Miller For over 30 years, the law firm of Wapner, Newman, Wigrizer, Brecher & Miller has been helping victims of serious personal injury and wrongful death receive the justice and compensation they deserve. They serve personal injury victims throughout Pennsylvania and New Jersey, with offices in Philadelphia, West Conshohocken, Allentown, and Marlton. For more information or to get help with a potential claim, call 1-800-LAW-6600 (1-800-529-6600). RILA is proud to be part of an industry that takes care of its people and we once again stand with LPF in their efforts to ease survivors financial burdens The Loss Prevention Foundation (LPF) will once again partner with The Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) to raise money for the Loss Prevention Benevolent Fund. The fundraiser will culminate in a drawing for valuable prizes during RILAs upcoming Retail Asset Protection Conference, April 17-20, 2016 in Dallas, Texas. The Loss Prevention Benevolent Fund, originally formed in 2012 by the LPF under the name Loss Prevention Memorial Fund, provides financial assistance to the families of fallen asset protection professionals who lost their lives while performing the duties of their jobs. 100% of contributions go directly to the retail asset protection community. LPFs Loss Prevention Benevolent Fund Committee selected RILAs annual Retail Asset Protection Conference as the ideal venue to enhance visibility of the LP Benevolent Funds mission within the retail industry. RILA is proud to be part of an industry that takes care of its people and we once again stand with LPF in their efforts to ease survivors financial burdens, said Lisa LaBruno, senior vice president, Retail Operations at RILA. Were trending to have more executives in Dallas than in years past which translates to more opportunities to raise funds for the Loss Prevention Benevolent Fund. On behalf of the Loss Prevention community, The Loss Prevention Foundation and the Loss Prevention Benevolent Fund Committee, I would like to express our profound gratitude to RILA and the solution provider community for continuing to support this meaningful initiative, said Chris Duke, LPC, Chairman of the LP Benevolent Fund Committee. Fund-raising efforts like this, made possible through our partnership with RILA, allow us to continue to provide beneficial financial support to the families of fallen asset protection professionals who have lost their lives while engaged in the duties of their profession. Moving forward, as we transition to a 501c3 charitable organization, we will be able to help many more asset protection professionals as well. Call to Action: LPF is seeking prize donations from retailers and solution providers (gift cards of any denomination, merchandise) that will entice conference attendees to purchase raffle tickets. To make a donation or learn more, please email Chris Duke: chris.duke(at)losspreventionfoundation(dot)org To learn more about the RILA Asset Protection Conference, please contact Kelly Foelber: kelly.foelber(at)rila(dot)org *The LPF is a 501(C) 6, not for profit, however donations are NOT tax deductible. About The Loss Prevention Foundation: The Loss Prevention Foundation is a not-for-profit organization founded in 2006, by industry leading professionals to serve the loss prevention and asset protection industry. Their mission is to advance the loss prevention profession by providing relevant, convenient and challenging educational resources. LPF is responsible for administering the industrys two-tiered certification program, the LPQualified (LPQ) and LPCertified (LPC), on-line educational resources and the loss prevention professional membership program. In addition, LPF is focused on driving more talent to the industry from colleges, universities, military and law enforcement through its Academic Retail Partnership Program and its Hire A Vet Program. For further information, visit http://www.losspreventionfoundation.org. About Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA): RILA is the trade association of the worlds largest and most innovative retail companies. RILA members include more than 200 retailers, product manufacturers, and service suppliers, which together account for more than $1.5 trillion in annual sales, millions of American jobs and more than 100,000 stores, manufacturing facilities and distribution centers domestically and abroad. For more information visit http://www.rila.org. Carolrhoda Listens to Burkharts Honor Code In a world English rights preempt, for two books, Alix Reid at Carolrhoda acquired Kiersi Burkharts debut YA novel, Honor Code. The book is set in a prep school rocked by a scandal and is slated for a fall 2017 release. The second book, called Tower of Smoke and Lies was pitched, the publisher said, as Game of Thrones meets Gossip Girl. The novel is set in a fantasy kingdom and follows a princess and a wannabe princess who are both willing to do whatever it takes to become queen. Tower of Smoke is slated for spring 2018. Burkhart was represented in the deal by Fiona Kenshole at Transatlantic Agency. Wilson Gets Perfect with Ecco Kevin Wilson (The Family Fang) sold a new novel, called Perfect Little World, to Zack Wagman at Ecco. Wagman took North American rights from Julie Barer at the Book Group. (In a separate deal, the book sold to Picador UK.) Perfect Little World, Ecco said, follows a teenager on the cusp of becoming a mother. After she joins an unorthodox experiment called the Infinite Family Project, she discovers the difference between the families were born into and those we make for ourselves. The Family Fang, which Ecco published in 2011, was recently adapted to the screen by Jason Bateman (who also stars alongside Nicole Kidman and Christopher Walken). Starz acquired the film at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival and plans to release it theatrically, as well as via its video-on-demand platform (Starz Digital), in May. Gotos Shadow Falls over First Second First Second Books Calista Brill nabbed world English rights to a graphic novel called Shadow Life written by Hiromi Goto and illustrated by Celine Loup. Sally Harding at the Cooke Agency handled the deal for Goto, while Loup was represented by Meredith Kaffel Simonoff at DeFiore & Company. The publisher said the book follows a woman named Kumiko who escapes her senior living facility while being followed by Death. The book is set for 2018. Dane Signs for Six Figures At Harlequin Romance author Lauren Dane inked two separate world English rights deals at Harlequinwith HQN and Carina Pressfor six figures. Angela James was the acquiring editor in both deals, working with agent Lauren Bradford, who has an eponymous shingle. In the first acquisition, for HQN Books, James bought three titles in a new romance series called Whiskey Sharp, which follows the men who work in a Seattle barbershop that sits on real estate once occupied by a whiskey distillery. The first Whiskey Sharp book is set for spring 2017. In the Carina Press acquisition, James bought two titles in a new series called Cherchez Wolf Pack, a paranormal romance series set in Washingtons North Cascades National Park that follows a pack of werewolves. Soho Teen Goes to the Dogs with Haynes Butthole Surfers frontman Gibby Haynes sold world rights to his debut novel, Dogs, to Daniel Ehrenhaft at Soho Teen. The YA title, the publisher said, is a darkly comic contemporary work infused with magical realism about a troubled teenager who goes on a journey to save his estranged sister with his supernatural dog, Mr. Cigar. The book is set for spring 2018. Haynes did not use an agent in the deal. Over the past five years, the American Booksellers Association has witnessed a resurgence in independent bookselling, yet the number of bookstores owned by African-Americans has continued to decline. Between 2002 and 2012, two-thirds of black-owned bookstores closed, according to statistics compiled by Troy Johnson, founder of the African-American Literature Book Club (AALBC). Of the roughly 400 stores that remained, more than half closed in 2013 and 2014. The closings continued in 2015, leaving only 67 black-owned bookstores at the end of January 2016. Despite tough times, booksellers and other entrepreneurs arent giving up. Johnson points to some promising signsnew store openings and reopenings, and at least one store thats changing handssuggesting that the number of black-owned bookstore closings could have topped out. But, he cautions, it may not be at a point where you can jump up and down for joy; so many communities dont have bookstores. One indication of the uncertain future of black-owned bookstores is the Shrine of the Black Madonna Cultural Center and Bookstore in Detroit, which held a liquidation sale in late 2014 to make space for events and was mistakenly reported to be closed. The bookstore is open with curtailed hours, two days a week. Three-month-old Amalgam Comics & Coffeehouse in Philadelphia is among a handful of black-owned bookstores that have sprung up. At 33, Ariell Johnson is a member of a younger generation of owners, and she is also the first African-American woman to own a comics shop on the East Coast. Amalgam has been kicking around my head since college, Johnson said. She first came up with the idea after her favorite coffee shop closed. When her mother passed away at 57, Johnson decided that life was too short and she should go ahead and do it. Currently, Amalgam stocks comics and graphic novels for adults and children. Johnson is looking to add some geek culturerelated science fiction titles, and she has already begun creating events such as a Dungeons & Dragons evening in advance of adding a gaming room. It was a personal connection that also led Pamela Blair to create EyeSeeMe Educational Bookstore in University City, Mo. When she homeschooled her four children, she had trouble finding books for them that featured black children. In response, she wrote three of her own booksThe Story of Jacob, The Story of Abraham, and The Story of Creation. Because of the response from friends and neighbors, she launched EyeSeeMe.com in 2011 to sell her work. Last June, she expanded the concept with a bricks-and-mortar childrens bookstore that carries her books and those of other writers on African-American culture and history. Like Johnson, Blair continues to add new programs. Were constantly growing the store to help the community to see themselves, Blair said. For her, that translates into online and in-school book fairs with diverse books, as well as a year-round book-angel program that donates childrens books with positive images of African-American children and families to schools and nonprofit centers. The store also has a physical classroom, which she plans to use for events, such as having black medical students talk with middle graders about STEM subjects. Although Chaun Webster closed Ancestry Books in North Minneapolis last fall, the store reopened earlier this month as a recurring weekend pop-up outlet at Juxtaposition Arts, a local arts organization. We still are here, Webster said. Were not intending to go anywhere. Although he hasnt had much success selling through the stores website, some former customers have placed phone and e-mail orders. He is excited for the store to once again have a physical presence. It has always been about the creation of space, he said. People that come and return to Ancestry Books have done so out of the sort of space we provide, both social and material. Wild Fig in Lexington, Ky., began as a used book store four years ago in the same space that had once housed Morgan Adams Books. Owners Ron Davis and writer Crystal Wilkinson, whose debut novel, The Birds of Opulence (Univ. of Kentucky), will be published in March, closed Wild Fig in February 2015 after a second Half Price Books opened nearby. A few weeks later their landlord approached them about leasing space in an up-and-coming neighborhood. Wilkinson and Davis reopened the store last fall as Wild Fig Books & Coffee in Lexingtons North Limestone district, with a different business model that includes a coffee bar, new books, and fewer titles overall. Now their inventory caters to Southern literary customers and young mothers looking for high-quality childrens books and graphic novels such as the Lumberjanes series. Davis said the store did well through Christmas and he is seeing how the new shopping patterns will develop in 2016. Two of the countrys oldest African-American bookstores are hoping for a comeback. Karen Johnson, who co-owns Marcus Books in San Francisco with her husband, Greg, has been scouting for new locations since the store was evicted in May 2014. In the meantime, she is working with her sister, Blanche Richardson, at the Marcus Books in Oakland, which her family owns. Since the San Francisco store closed, the Oakland one has also had some problems. Weve suffered because of the rumors out there that Marcus Books has closed, said Richardson, who noted that the Oakland outlet did well last year with big events, such as with actor Danny Glover. Ta-Nehisi Coatess Between the World and Me was a strong seller last year, and the stores childrens section did well. Within the next couple months, she plans to launch an online store. The site will feature new books and a selection of the stores archive of collectible titles, with synopses written by Richardson. Hakims Bookstore & Gift Shop in Philadelphia, which once had three locations, has had financial difficulties in the years following the death of founder Dawud Hakim in 1997. His daughter Yvonne Blake, who has been dipping into her retirement fund to keep the store afloat, would have closed Hakims last year had it not been for an article in the Philadelphia Daily News headlined Lets Save the Citys Landmark African-American Bookstore. Its still a little touch and go, Blake said. On the upside, people are shopping. Plus she has begun receiving donations from around the country with notes urging her to stay strong. Blake has also gotten offers from people who would like to volunteer, and she is considering other options to make the store more financially secure, including adding a partner. Although money has been tight, Blake recently expanded the childrens section. Gentrification is an additional challenge faced by some stores, including 18-year-old Sankofa Video Books & Cafe in Washington, D.C.a city once served by six other black-owned bookstores. The environment helps us and hurts us, said co-owner and filmmaker Shirikiana Gerima. Gentrification in D.C. is a like a wildfire. People are looking for an oasis in the midst of a big white snow storm. Gerimas other challenge is one many other small booksellers face: finding space in the 1,500-sq.-ft. bookstore for all the titles she would like to carry, particularly childrens books. One of the stores big events is a three-day in-store Magical Mirrors book fair for which she brings in more childrens inventory, including a number of self-published titles. The store also has a regular series of author events and film screenings. Though a number of black-owned bookstores have expanded their childrens sections in recent years, at Source Booksellers in Detroit, owner Janet Webster Jones, who opened her bookstore in 2000 after a 41-year career in the Detroit public schools, stocks only nonfiction, primarily for adults. I want the adult reader to be a reader so much that theyll teach their children to read, she explained. Because her store is only 900 sq. ft., she has chosen to specialize in four areas: history and culture, health and well-being, metaphysics and spirituality, and books by and about women. She plans to add more titles by self-published authors and to put in a free library at a dog park across the street to motivate more readers. Jones said she had a good year, nothing exceptional in 2015. Eso Won Books in Los Angeles, which is almost 30 years old, had what co-owner James Fugate described as the best year in a long time in 2015. When you have a constant seller, it makes a difference, he said, referring to the Coates book. We also had more book signings and a lot of special orders. Fugate also attributed higher sales to the fact that the store has been in the same location for the past nine years. Ironically, he had originally planned to move Eso Won across the street but instead hes about to renew the lease for the stores current location. Although the future of black-owned bookstores remains precarious, the need for them to grow and thrive is clear. People want to have a place to go to celebrate and investigate black heritage, Sankofas Gerima said. They are places for people to be restored and rejuvenated. Representatives of the Cuban publishing industry and a U.S. publishing mission to the 25th Feria Internacional del Libro de La Habana Cuba (Havana Book Fair) pledged to work together to establish normal business relations. The missionthe first official American publishing presence at the fair in its historywas in Havana from February 10 to 16, and was organized by PW and Combined Book Exhibit. It featured an exhibition of American titles at the Havana Book Fair, plus two days of professional panels off-site discussing the Cuban and American publishing industries. The publishing mission culminated with the signing of a memorandum of understanding by PW and CBE and the Cuban Book Institute, which oversees the state-run Cuban publishing industry and organizes the Havana Book Fair, to continue to work to promote cooperation and understanding between the United States of America and Cuba in the publishing field. Commenting on the ability of the two countries to work together, Zuleica Romay Guerra, president of the Cuban Book Institute, observed, We made a lot of progress. Weve shown we can climb over or circumvent barriers so that they no longer separate us. In the short term, the pact means a continuing official American presence at the Havana Book Fair in the years to come, as well as visits by Cuban book publishing figures to BookExpo America in 2016. (BEA has donated exhibit space to the Cuban Book Institute at this years show in Chicago.) More ambitiously, Guerras remarks point to the need to lift the long-running American trade embargo on Cuba, the legal barrier to any kind of commercial activity by American publishers on the island. In fact, Smashwords CEO Mark Coker, who was part of the mission, has started the initial efforts to organize the American publishing industry to support a petition that calls for lifting the trade embargoor at least the ban on books and cultural products. Coker hopes to start the petition drive in the next few weeks. For her part, Guerra said more proposals for collaboration with her new partners will be exchanged with representatives of PW and Combined Book Exhibit. And a meeting is planned for May in New York City, in an effort to create the conditions for the projects we want to carry out. By any measure, the mission to Cuba was a rousing success, and a key first step toward normalizing publishing relations between the two countries. First conceived around last years BEA and organized by PW executive v-p and publisher Cevin Bryerman and CBE president Jon Malinowski, the groundbreaking project brought 37 American publishers (and distributors) to the book fair, displaying 600 books of all kinds, including novels, educational materials, childrens books, graphic novels, works of history, and academic, professional and STEM titles. The Havana Book Fair featured roughly 63 foreign and 81 Cuba exhibitors, including publishers and related vendors. (The American Books Exposition featured the 37 U.S. publishers.) Over the course of the shows first week (it ends Feb. 21), PWs Spanish correspondent Leylha Ahuile moderated panels on the U.S. and Cuban book markets, social media, and self-publishing. Bryerman and Malinowski were interviewed by the Cuban media, including a live interview on Havana Radio and a video feed streamed live over the Web. The publishers involved in the mission also praised the effort and cited its historical, professional, and, just as often, personal significance. World Book International director Kristin Norell said, We have made new friends, fostered business relationships, have fantastic memories, and were a part of history that will forever be a chapter in the publishing industry. Quarto USA president and CEO Ken Fund called the mission a rare and extremely important moment that started the industry on a path with our Cuban counterparts that can only bring a positive impact to bringing Cuban authors to the U.S. and U.S. authors to Cuba. John Sinclair, Thomson-Shore regional sales manager, offered a list of high points that included eye-opening cultural awareness, valuable contacts made, immediate opportunities, calling the event a career and personal milestone. The trip included a number of Cuba-born Americansamong them celebrated Miami bookseller Raquel Rogue and People en Espanol editor-in-chief Armando Correareturning to Cuba for the first time in decades. On the professional side, Cecilia de la Campa, director of subsidiary rights at the literary agency Writers House, said the visit allowed her to meet both Americans and Cubans that inform the decisions we make around our authors. De la Campas parents are Cubans who were airlifted to the U.S. as children following Castros seizure of power. She described an emotional visit to the Havana home of her fathers aunt, which is now run as a B and B by a caretaker who knew her father and his family. In her presentation during the two days of professional panels, Guerra was clear about her goals for the future of the relationship between Cuban and American publishers: We are very interested in the U.S. markets. We know the classics of American literature, she said, but later writers over the last 50 years have not been published in Cuba. Most importantly, she emphasized to the gathering of Cuban and American publishing professionals, We want Cuban classics translated into English. We want the best of American literature, and we want the best of Cuban literature to be visible and known in the U.S. The News-Gazette reports Rebecca Bohlen of Mansfield allegedly stole about $14,000 between Jan. 1, 2015 and Jan. 26, 2016 from the Mahomet hardware store. She was arraigned Thursday on a felony charge. Bohlen's bond has been set at $1,000. Store owners discovered thousands of dollars paid out in allegedly false returns. Reports say the owners linked the missing cash to Bohlen. Bohlen told Mahomet officials she took the money to help care for a special needs relative. Penalties for the felony offense range from probation to as many as seven years in prison if convicted. Bohlen is scheduled to return to court April 19. MOLINE-- If all goes well, things will be turning green at Intouch Adult Day Care next week. Intouch director Sharon Patten said Friday that Addus Health Care representatives visited the center Thursday and Illinois Department of Aging officials were there Friday as part of an effort to keep the center in operation. A spokeswoman for the Department of Aging in Chicago said she would have information the first of the week on Addus' proposed takeover of the daycare service. When Lutheran Social Services announced several weeks ago it would close Intouch because of shortcomings in state funding, Help at Home, another elder care service, announced it would take over. The state, however, rejected Help at Home's application, at which time Addus applied to take over Intouch. Everyone is working hard to make sure this is done as quickly as possible, said Ms. Patten. Ms. Patten said those clients who would like to enroll in the new programto be called the Evergreen Clubwill have the opportunity to go through a new intake process starting next week, although the actual projected change to the Addus affiliation would be March 1. The location will remain the same and furniture and furnishings will remain, according to Ms. Patten. She said there will be new equipment such as computers. Addus has a lot more options and opportunities, she said. It will be a good thing for our community. It will be very good. Intouch's adult day program served 150 people, with 25 staff. Staff orientation through Addus will also start next week. Ms. Patten noted there are no other adult day programs in the Illinois Quad Cities, but she said enrollment in the new program, nevertheless, is not automatic. We don't want anybody to feel forced or that they'll automatically be enrolled, she said. Lutheran Social Services of Illinois announced Jan. 22 it would not be able to continue the program due to lack of state funding. I'm very positive we'll be able to dodge this bullet, said Ms. Patten, explaining L.S.S.I.with a few exceptions such as some Iowa clientsrelies on Illinois. Addus is big enough that other states paying the bills are able to carry Illinois, but that won't be forever, she said. Addus offers programs in 24 states. MOLINE The presidents of Western Illinois University, Augustana College and Black Hawk College united Friday to urge state leaders to pass a budget. For eight months, Gov. Bruce Rauner and state legislators have been deadlocked over government spending, leaving the state without a budget. Colleges, universities and other entities have plugged holes in their budgets created by missing state funding. On Friday, WIU President Jack Thomas, BHC President Bettie Truitt and Augustana President Steve Bahls spoke at WIU's Riverfront campus in Moline, saying students, schools and communities are being hurt by the stalemate. All said a budget needs to be passed at the soonest opportunity. "This impasse is causing tremendous pain for all of us," Mr. Thomas said. Their comments came shortly after Gov. Rauner vetoed Senate Bill 2043 which would have funded community college programs and the state's monetary awards program that helps students pay for college. In a news release, Gov. Rauner stated the bill would have added $721 million to the state deficit because it lacked a mechanism to pay for it. Earlier this month, Illinois Comptroller Leslie Munger said the state already is set to be $6.2 billion in debt by the end of this year. Gov. Rauner's release said other bills in the General Assembly would fund higher education more responsibly. House Bill 4539 and Senate Bill 2349 would appropriate $1.6 billion for higher education programs, according to his release, and Senate Bill 2789 would let Gov. Rauner, the comptroller and the state treasurer reduce or move funds from other areas. "Together these bills would fund MAP, community college programs, and our public universities, without exploding the deficit or exacerbating the states cash flow crisis," the release stated. "This is a far more fiscally responsible and constitutional plan for funding higher education." At WIU, leaders of three of those higher education schools said they are missing more than $70 million in general state aid and MAP funds that hundreds of Quad-Cities students use to help cover education costs. To compensate, the school officials said they have made staff cuts and other belt-tightening measures. They've also tried to cover the missing MAP grants, the school leaders said, adding that is not a permanent solution. Mr. Thomas said WIU has been very efficient over the years, but its reserves will be threatened if the budget stalemate continues. Despite academic success, many students will not be able to continue their education without MAP grants, he said meaning those students also won't return to college communities and spend money there. Ms. Truitt said BHC no longer is counting on $7.2 million in general state aid it was to receive for the 2015-16 school year. BHC has a broad enrollment, and officials are trying to meet the needs students with a variety of backgrounds and abilities, she said. She added people should consider what our communities will become without affordable access to higher education. Mr. Bahls called the political standoff "unseemly" and said a bipartisan effort is needed to solve the budget issue. The people of Illinois need to hold their elected officials accountable, he said, adding students' opportunities are being squandered. "They are our future," Mr. Bahls said. Also speaking at Friday's WIU event was Nicolas Moreno, president of WIU's Quad-Cities Student Government Association, and Padmaja Pillutla, a professor of accounting and finance at the campus. Mr. Moreno said not resolving the impasse will lead to cuts in programs, staff and faculty, none of which WIU can afford to lose. The deadlock, he said, also will push students deeper into debt or out of school altogether. "This is where we want to be," Mr. Moreno said. Illinois' financial well-being is tied to educating its youth, Ms. Pillutla said. "Our economic success is through public higher education," she said. On Wednesday, WIU students held an informational picket at the riverfront campus, also asking for resolution to the budget impasse. MOLINE Putting a "Christ Man" in charge of a Christian church seems like an obvious choice, even if temporarily. Moline's Community Christian Church decided it was even wiser to name Andrew Christman, of Kewanee, as its new permanent leader. Mr. Christman had been filling in at the church, as it sought someone to permanently replace the Rev. John Davenport whose health forced him into retirement. Mr. Christman was first called upon to serve at the church in 2013. He was asked to return in July 2014 for a two-week stetch. He became permanent in January. "I never expected to become a minister, but God had other plans for my gifts, Mr. Christman said, explaining he has a degree in counseling but never was able to work professionally in that field. His father was pastor of the Church of Christ, in Peebles, Ohio, for 22 years and now is a pastor at a church near Cincinnati. "Before being led to the ministry, I was a financial representative with Country Financial and started in the Kewanee office before moving into an office in Princeton, he said. He is a member of first Christian Church in Kewanee where he has been active in children and youth ministry and currently is a deacon. I have preached there a few times also, Mr. Christman said. As senior minister at Community Christian Church, 4330 12th Ave., Moline, Mr. Christman said he is responsible for training the members to be disciples of Jesus Christ as well as disciple makers themselves. "The most rewarding part of this ministry is the people I get to encourage and see them grow in all aspects of their life, he said. He said his big job" is to prepare a Sunday morning message, "where I do my best to speak the truth from the Bible. "As a minister, there are many other things I end up doing," he said. "But Sunday morning is the one thing I do that is seen by the most. I have only 20 to 30 minutes on Sunday mornings to hopefully encourage,instruct, correct and grow those who hear. Mr. Christman said he is trying to not set attendance goals for the church. "It is not the number of people in the pews that will make a difference," he said. "It is the heart of the people in the pews that will tell of the greatness of Jesus. "My goal is that everyone that attends our services will grow in their understanding of God and live like it." Sunday worship services are at 10:30 a.m., with Sunday school at 9:30 a.m. BIO BOX FOR ANDREW P. CHRISTMAN Hometown: Peebles, Ohio. Family: Wife, Alissa; son, Maxwell, 9, Grayson, 6, Thorin,4, and Weston, four months; two dogs and one cat. Education: North Adams High School Class of 2001, Seaman, Ohio; bachelors degree in Christian counseling from Central Christian College of the Bible, Moberly, Mo. Favorite scripture: Psalms 23 "As I shepherd this church, I have my own shepherd in Jesus and therefore I have no reason to be afraid. Biblical character Id like to meet: Noah. Hobbies and activities: Read fiction novels and watch movies. "I am an automotive enthusiast and I love to just be with my family. I enjoy working outdoors, either in the yard or riding with my boys on the four-wheeler. I am the current president of the Kewanee Kiwanis Club. One thing I feel strongly about: The importance of family. "The family is the key to the future of this country and for that matter any country. If anyone wants to make a difference in this world, start at home. I wish I knew how to: Play an instrument. DAVENPORT -- St. Ambrose University students sampled desserts and deserts during a recent 16-day trip to Israel. The eight-member student group, with two adult advisers, visited Israel, Jordan and religiously historic bodies of water such as the Sea of Galilee, the Jordan River, the Dead Sea and the Red Sea. They also dipped their toes into the Mediterranean Sea during the Dec. 27-Jan. 11 trip, according to St. Ambrose professor and international education director Dr. Ryan Dye. Alex Cicelesky, who lives in a kibbutz in Israel, guided the group. He was a visiting scholar at St. Ambrose for a couple months through the university's Middle East Institute, "and then he took us back to the Middle East with him," Dr. Dye said. "Alex is very personable, and is a 'foodie,' " Dr. Dye said. "He loves going into small family restaurants and talk to owners about food and the story about their restaurants." Those outings tended to be far more interesting than planned meetings or seminars, Dr. Dye said. Students learned much more going to restaurants or out for an ice cream and talking to people they met, he said. Dr. Dye said the trip offered a unique opportunity for students to engage with Israelis, Palestinians and Jordanians, "and to talk to people about their hopes and fears." Meeting three Muslim college-aged women in a Bedouin town of Rahat, Israel, particularly intrigued the St. Ambrose contingent of six women and two men, he said. The Muslim women spoke about their traditions and cultures. "Two of them kept their heads covered and spoke about why," he said. "And they come from a culture in which arranged marriages is still the custom. Yet they love their culture and their devotion to family. It was a fascinating discussion, and gave our students a significant amount of perspective." The Muslim women also spoke about their love of social media and watching Oprah, he said. The students were selected by an extensive application process and personal interviews, Dr. Dye said. "We had to make sure they were up to the challenge of doing a lot of physical activity," he said. The students stayed in youth hostels, he said. "They were spartan conditions to say the least," Dr. Dye said. "We also had to look for students who would be prepared for anything that might happen in the area." He noted nothing happened, in terms of security, during the trip. "We never felt unsafe of anything," Dr. Dye said. The trip's focus was on peace, justice and the environment, he said. The diverse group of students had different majors, including political science, history, psychology and engineering. Cost was $4,884 per student for airfare and board, Dr. Dye said, with scholarship help from the Heeren Family Foundation, the Jewish Federation and the Rauch II Family Foundation. While in the Middle East, the St. Ambrose students also visited a farm where they spent a couple hours cutting cabbages. They also talked a lot about water conservation and changing climate conditions, Dr. Dye said. "It is a big concern and a huge national security issue," he said. "But I think Israel and Jordan realize they will have to work together because of the environmental and economical concerns." Along with Mr. Cicelsky's Lotan Kibbutz in southern Israel, near the Arrava Desert on the border of Jordan, the students also toured Petra, Jordan, considered to be one of the seven wonders of the world. "I think it's important for our students to go to the Middle East region and see it in their own eyes," Dr. Dye said. "The area often gets discussed in the news in negative ways, and I think it's important for our students to move beyond what they only hear from the media." In the news and opinion pages, readers are seeing events unfold over the announcement that the city of Rock Island has been approached by a local family asking if the city would sell the Hauberg estate. After the initial news, what followed headed over to opinion pages, where a former Rock Island mayor and a retired judge, both opined against this proposed sale. Both gave their reasons in lengthy columns against the sale of city owned property given to Rock Island by the Hauberg family over 50 years ago. A local family (two generations in the same business) is offering to purchase the Hauberg property, spend their own funds to upgrade, and leave it open for citizens to utilize and enjoy. News coverage delved into the family and reported their desire to maintain estate buildings, including the grounds, so as to preserve/restore the integrity of the property that has declined over the 50 years of city ownership. What opponents aren't mentioning is the proposed sale of the estate, transferring it from government to private ownership, will turn this property into a tax producing entity and remove it from being a tax drain on Rock Island citizens. A contractual requirement for the family to provide financial guarantees is part of any responsible real estate transaction. Preservation of this property is first and foremost, including what happens when the family retires or goes out of business. If this can be achieved, I urge city fathers to allow tax revenues to flow into the coffers and increase employment. Jeffrey H. Rice, Rock Island Former Triple M radio host and TV personality Andrew Denton has shot straight to the Number 2 position on the iTune Podcast Chart in Australia. Dentons Better Off Dead podcast series this week was second only to the hugely popular series Serial. Better Off Dead which looks closely at the subject of euthanasia overtook top downloaded podcasts by the likes of Hamish and Andy, Mia Freedman, Tim Ferriss, BBC radio, Triple Js Hack, Ted Talks, This American Life, Wil Anderson, Radio Lab, Mama Mia and Kate Tim and Marty. The iTunes charts reflect the number of individual podcasts and relate to the popularity of podcast channels, some channels comprising a large number of episodes. Dentons podcast series consists of 17 episodes. We asked Andrew about his surprise chart success, he said: Im not sure what it means might be a bit like Twitter a few years ago where 30 Tweets meant you were trending but if the Algorithm Gods want to be kind, Im not complaining The series is available at www.wheelercentre.com/betteroffdead and iTunes, Soundcloud, You Tube, Omny, iHeart, Tune in, Sitcher, Podcasts.com, Pocket Casts and new podcast platform Whooshka. The listener reviews include comments like: very respectfully presented, well produced, a discussion that needs to happen, emotionally powerful, a must listen, thought provoking, sensitively handled, Denton has done it again, he has fire in his belly, shows real mastery of the medium. You can read Brad Marchs chat with Denton here. Is Happy Days 2CH to get a lick of paint, a new logo and join Brisbane and Melbourne in the Magic Network repositioning as Magic 2CH? Last year when the then Fairfax music stations moved to the Magic brand, heritage names like 4BH Brisbane disappeared permanently. It appears that for Sydney, they will possibly transition slowly rather than shock and awe the older demos. The domain magic2ch.com was secured by MMN in 2015 and while some Magic words have crept into the 2CH website; they are possibly more related to networked programming talent than anything. Strategically a move to Magic 2CH, would create a stronger uniformed sales presence for Macquarie Media on the Eastern Seaboard a united Magic Network. That is only while they still own 2CH. In April 2015 industry regulator ACMA approved a temporary breach for then MRN to offload both Sydneys 2CH and some regional stations. The regionals were sold late last year but interestingly the required sale of 2CH seems fairly quiet since all the noise on the governments proposed media reforms have gained momentum. If those reforms get the green light, it means Macquarie Media could then own all three AM services in Sydney. If the move to Magic 2CH goes ahead, does it also mean that Sydney can also then be networked from Melbourne like the majority of Magic 882 Brisbane? While way too early to tell, Macquarie Media Executive Chairman Russell Tate made it clear last week as their first full results were released, that the network needs to realise cost synergies. While 2CH has a number of long term heritage presenters like the legendary Bob Rogers and in recent years Johnny Young, when push comes to shove there is already a track record of making cuts when needed. Appears to transition is in play, Sunday afternoon the station website moved to the new Magic 2CH 1170 logo. It also saw Brisbane based talent Donna Lynch also added to the stable. Donna covers nights on currently on Magic 882 and Magic 693 Melbourne. Motivated by the impressive performance of its recently acquired Italian operation, Spain's Cellnex is planning to expand throughout the terrestrial telecom markets in Western and Central Europe. At the presentation of its 2015 financial results , Cellnex confirmed that it plans consolidation in Spain and Italy as well as starting operations in Germany, the UK, France, Portugal, the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria and Switzerland.During its first year as an independent company it was an Abertis's subsidiary and after going public , Cellnex has seen an increase in revenue of 41% compared with 2014, totalling 613 million, 250 million of which was generated by the audiovisual business mostly terrestrial broadcasting networks.However, profits fell by 25% in the same period, reaching 45 million compared with 60 million in 2014. Cellnex attributed this to the closure of nine DTT networks in Spain and the purchase of nearly 8,000 telephone towers in Italy.The group expects to continue growing in both the DTT and mobile markets, particularly after Spain's recent TV licences bid, which has seen six new channels enter the country's free-to-air (FTA) TV scenario. MOSCOW, February 20 (RAPSI) - Dmitriy Kamenshchik, the owner of the Domodedovo airport, has filed an appeal against his house arrest in connection with 2011 terrorist attack that left 37 dead, his attorney Mikhail Kolpakov told RAPSI on Saturday. The Basmanny District Court of Moscow on Friday placed Kamenshchik under house arrest until April 18. A prosecutor who asked the court to drop charges against the businessman is also going to appeal the ruling. Kamenshchik was arrested on Thursday and charged with the provision of services that do not meet security. He could face up to 10 years in prison if convicted. The businessman has pleaded not guilty and expressed his willingness to cooperate with investigators in order to ascertain the truth in the case. Investigation into the case against him has been extended until April 28. Earlier, the court ordered the detention of former director of Domodedovo Airport Vyacheslav Nekrasov, Svetlana Trishina, ex-head of Export Management Company Limited and Andrei Danilov, Managing Director of Domodedovo Airport Aviation Security until February 28. According to Investigative Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin, new suspects in the case may be arrested in the nearest time. On January 24, 2011, a suicide bomber detonated a bomb in the Domodedovo Airports international arrivals hall, killing 37 people and injuring 172. Doku Umarov, Russias most wanted terrorist at the time, claimed responsibility for the attack. Altogether, 28 men connected with the terrorist organization called the Caucasus Emirate were linked to the attack, according to the investigators. Seventeen of them were killed in special operations in 2011, and four were detained. In November 2013, a Moscow Region court sentenced three men to life in prison and a fourth man to 10 years for their role in the suicide bombing. The question of Domodedovo Airports ownership arose back in 2011, when the investigators first stated that they couldnt determine the owner of the airport. The Investigative Committee initiated criminal proceedings against the airports former managers for failing to guarantee the safety of passengers, which resulted in the death of two or more people. The airport administration argued that this charge was inapplicable to the case in point and that they were only made responsible for airport entrance control in 2014, after the law on transport security was amended. In this Jan. 6, 2016 photo, the newsstand originally was named 'Read All About It' and is now named for its location First & Pike News in Seattle. Print is not dead. Not at the corner of First and Pike, where the city's most prominent newsstand has been since 1979. First & Pike News carries publications from Arabic to Yiddish from Middle East lifestyle magazine Sayidaty, printed in Dubai, to the New York City newspaper Yiddish Daily Forward. (Alan Berner/The Seattle Times via AP) RCEd Commentary Theres an anti-reform narrative that has taken hold, where published articles and blog posts have become so similar, they start to blur, reading like a greatest hits of talking points, an amalgamation of all the myths spewed forth against education reformers. These pieces, typically written by people like Valerie Strauss of The Washington Post, or Jeff Bryant in Salon, parrot political propaganda as nuanced as a jackhammer drilling into concrete. But it is truly troubling when what is arguably Americas premier magazine tasks its film critic David Denby, someone lacking experience in education reportage save for a shallow profile of Diane Ravitch published in 2012, to pen a hollow critiquesans data or any kind of reliable evidenceof education reform that reads less like a work of journalism than that of a dog-eared playbook. This tells you a lot about the state of education journalism. And its not good. Its a field where all too often, baseless assertions dominate, articles are void of data, and correlation implies causation. That The New Yorker, long renowned for the rigor of its fact checking, could resort to such practices shows how low journalistic standards have fallenand how endemic the problem has become. Those of us who identify as education reformers probably utter familiar groans when we come across these articles, so often do they repeat the same sound bites. 1. Education reformers disrespect teachers. 2. Reformers solely blame teachers for educational failure. 3. Poverty goes unacknowledged by reformers. 4. Public education is fine. Reformers are hysterical. 5. Charter schools privatize public education. 6. Reformers reflexively hate unions. Many of us working in this space can write these pieces on autopilot. They are derivative when we are in dire need of well reported, factually reliable, and original journalism that tells us what we dont already know and doesnt consist of hoary canards. Instead, what we are getting are screeds masked as journalism. Education reporting has to be more ambitious -- and occasionally it is, as shown by the work of Nikole Hannah-Jones in her reporting on school segregation. While our opponents believe we prefer to live in an echo chamber, we would much rather have our work analyzedeven challengedthoughtfully and without an obvious agenda. Ambitious, valuable journalism means not using tired phrases such as corporate reform or coming to pat conclusions such as the real problem is persistent poverty. It does not sneer at data. It acknowledges the modern wave of the education reform movement cannot possibly be responsible for policies and practices that have been in place for decades. Good journalism is not caricature and it does not look for easy villains and heroes. Why is this kind of journalism not more common? In concert with the very uncertain future of the industry, it is no secret that education reporting is afforded less respect than other beats. When The New Yorker allows its film critic to deliver a poorly informed rant, that gives you an indication of the esteem in which education reporting is held. More responsible journalism would result if reporters diversified their sources instead of reaching out to the same talking heads such as Diane Ravitch or Julian Vasquez Heilig. They would do well to talk to people at the Department of Education, particularly those working in the Office of Civil Rights. They could visit charter schools and see for themselves what kinds of places they are. Above all, reporters should become more data and research literate rather than being deferential to papers posing as rigorous academic research. Its bad enough that meaningful, factually based discussion of education is being given short shrift during this election cycle. That this sad state of affairs is reproduced in some of our best publications should give us all pause. Property details: Your browser does not support JavaScript. To view this page, enable JavaScript if it is disabled or upgrade your browser. Click Here. Double your traffic. Get Vendio Gallery - Now FREE! This is a wonderful investment in California land in Los Angeles county 1. Paved Road Frontage 2. Electricity on the Street 3. Very close to development and other ranch/homes 4. 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Price: $ 255,900 Seller State of Residence: Florida Property Address: 231 Riverside Dr #2508-1 State/Province: Florida City: Holly Hill Number of Bedrooms: 2 Number of Bathrooms: 2 Property Type: Condominium Sale Type: Existing Homes Setting: Urban, City Year Built: 2007 For Sale by: Agent Zip/Postal Code: 32117 Location: 321**, Daytona Beach, Florida You will be redirected to eBay Nearby 32117 , We're sorry, this article is not currently available Since its founding more than 10 years ago, the purpose of the University of Georgia LGBT Resource Center has been to serve students and allies by providing them with their own safe place. Below is a look at how resources for LGBT students have changed over the years. Matias Koski does things quietly. He talks barely above a whisper. His freestyle stroke has become so efficient that it hardly makes any noise as it passes through the surface of the water. He shows little reaction after races good or bad, instead keeping his emotions to himself. With popular television shows like Transparent and Orange Is The New Black creating new exposure for transgender issues, the Phi Kappa society decided the time was right to debate about transgender representation in popular culture. As the job market changes and STEM science, technology, engineering, and math knowledge increases in demand, University of Georgia students also seem to be changing their major. The percentage of STEM field bachelors degrees increased steadily from 2000 to 2012 according to data from the Office of Institutional Research at the University The arrival of Hamilton Holmes and Charlayne Hunter on the University of Georgia campus to register for classes on Jan. 9, 1961 marked the beginning of the desegregation of the first public, land grant institution in the Deep South. SHARE By Claudia Mosby When I was young my best friend was a blond-haired, blue-eyed English girl named Diane who lived down the block from me. She moved away while we were still in grade school and although we stayed in touch for a while, those occasions diminished as we grew older until one day they disappeared altogether. Many years later I read a book by Lillian Rubin called "Just Friends" that helped me think differently about this early experience of friendship in my life. Rubin distinguishes between two qualitatively types of friendship that she refers to as "friends of the road" and "friends of the heart." "Friends of the road" relationships, she says, are dependent upon sharing time and place, as was the case with my childhood best friend. When contact is lost, so is the friendship because it's the contact that keeps the friendship vital and alive. "Friends of the heart" relationships, on the other hand, are those that are long-lived and continuous, ones in which the connection is rooted in being rather than doing. Rubin says they revolve around sharing ourselves in ways that can be sustained apart from the accidents of geography and historical moment. Today my best friend Janice is a "friend of the heart." Although we met 22 years ago seemingly by chance and only lived in the same city for a few years, we clicked immediately and are a case in point for Rubin's assertion that "friends of the heart" can and do transcend the bounds of space and time. Don't get me wrong. Best friendship doesn't imply that everything is always hunky-dory. Janice and I didn't meet and then ride off together into the sunset of best friendship. We've had plenty of warm and fuzzy times together, but we've also passed through others when communication has been minimal and something in our respective lives has temporarily put a strain on our friendship. As recently as this past week, we had a miscommunication that resulted in tension and irritation on both sides. Perhaps one of the reasons it's taken me longer to write this particular column is because our friendship is so significant in my life and when these rare occurrences of being out of sync arise, it's a little unsettling. Janice is the one person other than my husband who I believe really "gets me" in my core self. When I think about what it is that makes us best friends, I can point to our shared intellectual, emotional, social and spiritual lives. I can slip into my kookier, flightier self and say that astrologically it's an "Aquarian-thing." I can call it Grace, Kismet or Divine intervention. Perhaps it's a combination of all these. It's difficult to say exactly but two words come to mind: soul mates. In our years as friends we've climbed Lassen Peak and Mt. Rainier together and hiked too many trails to count. We've encouraged each other to follow the call to our own adventures she to South America and the Caribbean and me to Turkey, New York and Boston and then lived still more adventures together. Several years ago when I wanted to see the wolves at Wolf Haven International in Tenino, Wash., she accompanied me and shared the magical moment when an otherworldly chorus of howling arose around us from all directions everywhere. Through the years, we've flown back and forth between California and Washington to take part in each other's weddings and college graduations as well as to vacation and visit. We've supported each other through our own illnesses, those of our family members and friends, and the death of my father. We've been big sister, mother, mentor and sometimes conscience to each other when the occasion has called for it. Uncannily, we often find ourselves traveling parallel tracks, working through similar issues and learning similar life lessons. I treasure having someone outside of my birth family with whom I share a deep and enduring bond, someone who can add perspective to my life because she "knew me then." Now at midlife, with changes in body, mind and spirit occurring daily, we have a whole new arena to navigate together. We can reminisce about the earlier years of our lives with the other who understands because she was there and knows something about the life passages that have shaped character and contributed to the women we each have become. Rubin perhaps said it best: "Whether explicit or not, there's a promise in a best friendship a promise of mutual love, concern, protection, understanding and, not least of all, stability and durability that separates this relationship from others we call 'friend.'" Amen. SHARE Q. Can your faith help explain why tragic things happen to good people? The Buddha's first noble truth is the universality of suffering. Regardless of our good or bad behavior, all sentient beings experience the suffering of unpleasant circumstances, such as illness, physical pain, injury, old age and loss. Tragic events are not punishment for behavior or for some innate flaw. If unpleasant circumstances are the first dart of suffering, then subjective elements emotions, beliefs, habits, telling ourselves an unskillful story are optional, self-inflicted second darts of suffering. Research has shown that emotional suffering activates the same areas of the brain as physical pain. Our emotions can literally hurt. Our responses to our circumstances can be as important to our happiness and suffering as the circumstances themselves. The objective circumstances of a person's life tell us nothing about the goodness or badness of that person. May all beings experience fortunate circumstances and wellbeing free from suffering and the causes of suffering. Chris Carrigan, Buddhist River Oak Sangha, Redding Theodicy is the term used to describe the vindicating of God in the face of the existence of sin and of disasters natural and man-made. First we can say that God needs no vindication. It's absurd that the creature should put the creator on trial. The challenge is rather to properly understand the issues, and explaining them in 150 words is not possible. We can say the following, though: The question is phrased improperly. There are no good people. The Bible says in Romans 3:10, "There is none righteous, not even one." That rephrases the question to "Why do bad things happen to any people?" Bad things happen because of sin, which, as it has always done, fouls up the creation and invites the judgment of God. The more perplexing question is why do good things happen to bad people? That too, is attributable to God, in this case to his amazing grace. The Rev. Gene Crow, pastor Redding Reformed Fellowship Over the centuries, both religious leaders and others have tried to explain tragic events. Is it punishment for bad behavior, lack of belief, retribution from God, cursed existence, karma, or just random happenings? Does it have meaning and can it be somehow avoided or prevented by various actions or prayers? Superstitions often play a part in our fears. Others firmly believe it is some sort of predestined fate. Many say it is to test our faith and response. I believe that life just "is," that nothing is predestined. Our greatest calling is to be healers of those who are hurting, cooperators with the Lord in bringing light, salvation, restoration and hope to an often broken world. For further information, read the "Book of Job" in the Bible. Deacon Mike Evans Sacred Heart Church, Anderson In our faith, we don't believe in a God who manipulates things around on Earth to reward, punish or test people. We do believe that we create our experience of reality with our thinking both conscious and unconscious. And, we recognize that with more than 7 billion people on the planet, we are never creating in a vacuum and we sometimes bump into each other. Also, the planet itself has its own patterns. If I build my home in a known tornado alley, I shouldn't be surprised when a tornado comes along and creates a tragedy. Additionally, with the cumulative effects of centuries of unhealthy ecological practices on the planet, we are seeing the effects of the cause we have set in motion interacting with natural planetary patterns. The universe follows a set of principles that work on all alike. Just like gravity doesn't discern between good and bad people, these principles produce results impersonally. The Rev. David Robinson, senior minister Center for Spiritual Living, Redding Once we remove the God hypothesis from consideration, this question simplifies to the point of vanishing. Things happen without guidance, without purpose and often for no discernible reason: Good things to bad people, bad things to good people, etcetera. William Shockley Shasta Atheists and Freethinkers, Shasta Lake As long as the pain of innocents remains a burning question, we are bothered by its existence. If the suffering of innocent people does not fit into our world view, we might conclude that we need to get rid of what's causing that pain. Instead of blaming God, Reform Judaism teaches us to be proactive, to redirect our emotional frustration to righting injustice and unfairness. George Wandrocke, chaplain Temple Beth Israel, Redding Life holds both joy and sorrow. Asking why tragic things happen cannot be answered in a way where the questioner feels satisfied. A more important question might be, "What do we do when sorrow touches our life?" In Unity, we believe that the love, compassion and peace of God are always within us, regardless of circumstances. When tragedy strikes, we turn within and pray that we may feel that ever-present peace and love. We pray for the strength to carry on. We must accept that we may never know why something happens. We can affirm and hold the faith that the darkness will ultimately turn to light. The Unity Prayer for Protection reminds us that the light, the love, the power and the presence of God are with us at all times. If we can embrace that promise, even in times of tragedy, we will grow in spiritual understanding. Carolyn Warnemuende, spiritual director Unity in Redding God is good all the time. Let me point out that there are no good people. Sure, by human standards and how we measure the actions of others, there are people who have good qualities. But to answer the question why tragedy happens, simply put, it's sin. From a perfect creation to a disobedient world, sin has caused a breakdown in the environment and the health and well being of the human race. Until Jesus returns and restores his creation, one can only strive for the best, but be prepared for the worst. At least through Christ we can find hope. Jim White, lay leader Weaverville Church of the Nazarene Next week's question: 2016 is a presidential election year. Based on the ethics and behaviors expected of your faith's doctrine, what kind of leader should voters seek? SHARE Redding police say a teenager has been arrested on suspicion of having a gun in his car at Pioneer Continuation High School, though he was carrying it for protection and not to attack anyone. The gun appeared to be in the car for quite some time, police said, so it was not tied to the recent feud that resulted in a lockdown at Central Valley High School. However, police said the teenager is an "associate" of one of the groups involved in that feud, which also triggered the closure of Central Valley today. Sgt. Todd Cogle said the 17-year-old student had a loaded .22 caliber revolver in his trunk for months because he feared retribution over a drug debt. He never intended to use it at the school and kept it in his vehicle, Cogle said. Sgt. Todd Cogle said one of the groups is affiliated with Redding and the other with Shasta Lake. He said the Redding group is too new to be considered a gang yet, having only popped up in maybe the last couple of months. The group doesn't appear to have a plan to conduct violence on school property, Cogle said. "I don't think there is an organized effort on their behalf to conduct any violence on schol property, and there were no threats regarding violence on school property today or in the future in connection to (Friday's arrest)," he said. The teen was charged on suspicion of possessing a firearm on school property, possessing ammunition on school property, possessing a concealed firearm in a vehicle and possessing a firearm with obliterated identifying numbers. SHARE By Joe Szydlowski of the Redding Record Searchlight As the nation has reeled from school shooting after school shooting, one of the most common responses is the lockdown, in which schools tell people to shelter in place because of a potentially dangerous person or animal in the area. It's a process Enterprise High School student Haley Kester, 15, says students know well enough that they can tell the difference between a drill and the real thing. Most drills happen in the middle of class, and sometimes teachers will tell the students whether it's one. The atmospheres in the drills are pretty relaxed and laid back students will chat or play games. "If it happens five minutes into class, no it isn't a drill," said Kester, who added as it lasts longer the students begin to realize the lockdown isn't a drill. "You get really scared," she said, noting some girls cry in fear. "You don't know why it isn't a drill. Everyone gets really scared." Students often begin texting their parents as fear and dread sets in, she said. One student, Kyle Duncan, 16, said security changes from his days at Parsons Junior High School and his time now at Enterprise are stark. Parsons seemed to be an open environment. But the lockdowns, fencing and other measures give the high school a different feel, said Duncan, who remembers one lockdown caused by a man with a machete who was in the area. Another Enterprise student, India Orona, 15, remembers years ago when her mother could just walk in and out of her school. Now, she has to register as a guest, and prove she's the girl's mother. "Are you sure that's your kid? Do you have a birth certificate," Kester joked. "It's scary what people have to do." Experts acknowledge there's little research into the effects of lockdowns on students' psyches and their development. But, like Enterprise's students, the lockdown drills seem to be of little consequence. "As I researched this through both academic studies, and then by simply asking some kids in my neighborhood, it turned out (that) both in what little data exist and among the kids I asked, the whole thing was sort of a non-issue, especially to the older kids," said Dr. Steven Schlozman of the drills in a September 2014 column for Boston's NPR station and an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School and associate director of The Clay Center For Young Healthy Minds. Many described it as akin to a fire drill. However, he cautioned that a key difference between a fire drill and a lockdown drill is the disasters are usually accidental or caused by Mother Nature. "We know from studies that while all disasters can cause traumatic responses, events in which intentionality is clear someone is trying to do something bad pose the greatest risk for traumatic syndromes among survivors," he wrote. Drills not bothering most students was the conclusion of a January 2014 New York Times analysis as well. Kester, Orona and Duncan look at the security features as a double-edged sword. They welcome the additional safety and security. But they lament that they're necessary. "When it's in the news and you think, 'This could happen to me, happen to my school,' you also think, 'How can we make it more safe for staff and students,'" she said. SHARE Redding police went to Shirley Lane and School Street, just west of Enterprise High School, after receiving reports of a possible assault of a boy. Dispatchers initially reported the incident as a vehicle hitting the boy about 2:50 p.m., but later said the boy had been assaulted. They say two teen boys were fighting over a girl. They had a suspect detained. The boy suffered a head wound and police are trying to piece together whether it was a schoolyard fight, according to dispatch reports. He was treated at scene and not taken to the hospital. Central Valley High School closed Friday as the Shasta County Sheriffs Office investigated gang threats that led to a lockdown of the school in Shasta Lake on Thursday. SHARE Greg Barnette/Record Searchlight Capt. Forrest Bartell of the Shasta County Sheriffs Office speaks during a press conference Friday about gang threats at Central Valley High School. Greg Barnette/Record Searchlight Gateway United School District Superintendent Jim Harrell speaks during a news conference Friday about gang threats that led Central Valley High School going into lockdown on Thursday and to close Friday. By Alayna Shulman of the Redding Record Searchlight Campus and sheriff's officials on Friday distanced Central Valley High School from an alleged gang feud that triggered the cancellation of classes there for a day and a half, noting that a fight simply "spilled over" to the school and did not start there or appear to involve any students as suspects. Meanwhile, the Friday arrest of a Pioneer Continuation High School student and "associate" of one of the gangs for allegedly having a gun in his car on campus was essentially a coincidence and not indicative of a surge in gang activity at local schools, police said. The two people who have been identified so far in the Central Valley incident are not and were never students at the school in Shasta Lake, Gateway Unified School District Superintendent. Jim Harrell said. One of them, Michael Anthonie Farnsworth, was initially considered a suspect but released Friday after deputies learned he didn't have any direct involvement with the threats to shoot rival gang members at Central Valley. As of Friday evening, though, authorities said they were still looking for Alexander Zachary Comer, 17, for questioning. "It spilled over to our school," Harrell said at a news conference Friday. "(The school) was just where it was supposed to end." But that doesn't mean Central Valley was chosen as a random venue for the fight Harrell confirmed that school officials know some students are involved in one of the gangs that reportedly fought over the weekend, triggering the alleged retribution-shooting plan that pushed campus officials to cancel classes. He said he didn't know how many kids are in the gang and noted that adults are involved in it as well. Meanwhile, new details in the case emerged Friday, including that the unexpected cancellation of classes Friday was a precaution spurred by materials found in a sweep of the school Thursday. Sheriff's Capt. Forrest Bartell would not say what those items were, though. "Everyone wants to know what the items were we're not going to release that," he said, adding that the items very well may have had nothing to do with the threat. Classes should resume Monday, Harrell said, noting that only another unexpected finding would warrant an extra day off, and that his own children go to Central Valley. "At this point in time, my students will be in school on Monday," he said. Sheriffs officials have said that two gangs were involved in the spat, the L'Z Up Guns Down and 275 gangs. Bartell said one of the gangs has been around in Shasta Lake for some time and is well-known by law enforcement, but the other one was not on their radar. Bartell would not say which gang was which. Redding police Sgt. Todd Cogle who heads the agency's gang unit said one of the gangs involved in the feud has only emerged in the past few months in Redding. He characterized the group not so much as a gang but, "a group of individuals, both adults and kids, who ... have aligned themselves against this group from Shasta Lake City." "It's a fairly recent phenomenon," Cogle said. Cogle said he doesn't see this as the beginning of a surge in gang activity in the area, though. "They're not as organized as traditional Norteno and Sureno gangs that have been well-established in California for decades," he said of the Redding gang. "I don't think there is an organized effort on their behalf to conduct any violence on school property." For example, the Pioneer student who allegedly had a gun in his car had the weapon there for months because he feared for his safety over a drug debt, Cogle said, not because he had any apparent plans to attack someone. "There was no threat regarding violence on school property today or in the future in connection to the arrest at Pioneer," Cogle said Friday. He called the Central Valley incident, "unfortunately, a typical fight between high-schoolers" that boiled over and "has gotten way out of hand." "I imagine the individuals involved in this are either going to be incarcerated or ultimately removed from the school," he said. "This isn't a long-festering conflict. It's not something that's been going on for generations." Harrell said Central Valley has hopes of hiring a school-resource officer, though he noted that was already in the works before this week's incident. Anderson Police Chief Michael Johnson said his department has a full-time officer at Anderson High School, and he's seen the benefits. While Johnson said the school's lack of any major reported gang activity so far this year isn't directly attributable to the officer, having one on campus tends to lessen the chance an incident will escalate to a full-blown crime. "The schools that actually have a resource officer full-time on campus are always better off," Johnson said. "The officers do serve as not only a deterrent, but an intervention piece that can step in and kind of prevent some of those incidents from occurring." Johnson noted how having a school officer also eases the burden on patrol officers. "It really doesn't take a police officer off the street that way," he said. But Johnson noted how it essentially comes down to funding priorities, since many police departments used to pay for resource officers and now it's the school district that pays for his. "They stepped up and provided the full-time funding," he said of the school district. "If I had to fund that on my own, I wouldn't be able to do it, so it really comes down to schools now, whether to fund that or not." Author Harper Lee in 2001 outside the Blacksher home in Uriah, Ala. The house was built in the first decade of the 20th century. Uriah is about 20 miles from Monroeville, Ala., where Lee was born and raised. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune) NEW YORK Harper Lee has died, but the conversation about her life and work has only begun. "I think the retrospective will be more useful than what was said during her lifetime, because there are a lot of things we can get down to that were impossible before," Lee's friend Wayne Flynt, an Alabama-based historian, told The Associated Press. Advertisement Lee's death Friday at age 89 comes almost exactly a year after her publisher, HarperCollins, stunned the world by announcing that a second novel by the author of "To Kill a Mockingbird" would be released, ending what many believed was a permanent and much-desired literary silence. With Lee confined to a nursing home in her native Monroeville, Alabama, and communicating only through press releases that many wondered if she even knew about, the debate about her state of mind and about the second book, "Go Set a Watchman," took off without her. It will likely grow as those close to her finally speak up and more is learned about what, if any, other writings she left behind. Advertisement "Everybody from the newspaper boy to the checkout girl to the local minister will be remembering Harper Lee with fondness or with an ax to grind, depending on how they were treated," said Lee biographer Charles Shields, whose "Mockingbird: A Portrait of Harper Lee" was published in 2006 and will be reissued this year. Flynt is among those thinking about a memoir. Lee's retreat from public life over the past half-century created one kind of mystery; last summer's publication of "Go Set a Watchman" started another. Millions who thought they "knew" Atticus Finch, who named their children for him and became lawyers because of him were faced with a seemingly different man in the new book, which took place 20 years later but actually had been written before Lee turned to what became "To Kill a Mockingbird." The bold attorney who in the 1930s defended a black man accused of rape in "Mockingbird" had aged into a spiteful reactionary condemning the Supreme Court's 1954 decision to outlaw segregation in public schools. Was the Atticus of "Mockingbird" a romanticized figure and the Atticus of "Watchman" closer to the truth? Did Atticus, based closely on Lee's father, really change or was he simply a patrician more comfortable with the old rules, when all the powers belong to whites? Ralph Eubanks, a former editor of the Virginia Quarterly Review and currently a visiting professor of Southern studies at Millsaps College in Jackson, Mississippi, said that the brilliance of "Mockingbird" was in how it could make anyone from the North or South identify with the issues and with the characters. "For 'Go Set a Watchman," there was no one you were cheering for," he said. "That for me changed the dynamic." In an email to The Associated Press, award-winning historian Isabel Wilkerson said that Lee had created two equally worthy legacies. "Harper Lee has left us a great gift: a beloved vision of our better selves in 'To Kill a Mockingbird' and a thornier reflection of what lies beneath in her earlier manuscript, 'Go Set a Watchman,'" wrote Wilkerson, best known "The Warmth of Other Suns," which traced black migration from the South in the 20th century. Advertisement "In both, she has bravely given us versions of our country for us to ponder for generations." James McBride, winner of the National Book Award in 2013 for the novel "Good Lord Bird" and author of the upcoming nonfiction "Kill 'em and Leave" about James Brown, said reading "To Kill a Mockingbird" as a child made him want to become a writer and that it "crystallized" for him an awareness of racism that had been "floating around him." Nobel laureate Toni Morrison and others have labeled the book a "white savior" novel, but McBride believes that "Mockingbird" is the best story that Lee could have told. "Yes, I would have liked to see the black characters displayed with a lot more dimension," he said. "But Harper Lee gave it all she had. She left nothing behind, and that's all you can ask for." McBride has re-read "Mockingbird" a few times, catching new and important details with each reading, and has given the book to his kids, too. He has not read "Go Set a Watchman." "I prefer to remember 'To Kill a Mockingbird' and Atticus Finch and all those characters as Harper Lee wanted us to remember them. I believe she wasn't strong enough at the end of her life to make any informed decisions about her work," he said. Advertisement "There is no question in my mind that Harper Lee is a great American writer with the best of intentions. You have to start the conversation about race somewhere, and Harper Lee is a great place to start it." Associated Press Chicago police officers carry protester Bernie Sanders, 21, in August 1963 to a police wagon from a civil rights demonstration at West 73rd Street and South Lowe Avenue. He was arrested, charged with resisting arrest, found guilty and fined $25. He was a University of Chicago student at the time. In 1963, controversial Chicago Public Schools Superintendent Benjamin C. Willis decided that placing aluminum trailers in black neighborhoods was the best way to ease overcrowding and keep school segregation intact. The modular units were put in vacant lots and on existing school grounds in neighborhoods such as Englewood, where the African-American school population was soaring in the early 1960s. Picketing, school boycotts and sit-ins ensued as the black community voiced outrage at the discrimination. (Tom Kinahan / Chicago Tribune) A Chicago Tribune archival photo of a young man being arrested in 1963 at a South Side protest shows Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders, his campaign has confirmed, bolstering the candidates narrative about his civil rights activism. The black-and-white photo shows a 21-year-old Sanders, then a University of Chicago student, being taken by Chicago police toward a police wagon. An acetate negative of the photo was found in the Tribune's archives, said Marianne Mather, a Chicago Tribune photo editor. Advertisement See more vintage photos from the Tribune's archives >> "Bernie identified it himself," said Tad Devine, a senior adviser to the campaign, adding that Sanders looked at a digital image of the photo. "He looked at it he actually has his student ID from the University of Chicago in his wallet and he said, 'Yes, that indeed is (me).'" Sanders, a U.S. senator from Vermont, was traveling Friday near Reno, Nev., on the eve of the state's Democratic presidential caucuses. Advertisement Sanders' activism at the University of Chicago has been in the news recently, after questions arose about a different photo that appeared to show Sanders addressing students at a 1962 campus sit-in. At first, several alumni identified the speaker as another man, according to the University of Chicago Library's Special Research Center. The other man is no longer alive. However, photographer Danny Lyon, who took that photo, contacted the research center and made available more photos from the same sequence, confirming Sanders' identity, the center said. Devine called those questions about the sit-in photo "unfair and unfounded." "His activism and when it occurred, as a young college student, set in motion the direction of his life," Devine said. After the 1962 photos surfaced, Mather and photographer Brian Nguyen looked in the newspaper's archival collection and found several negatives that appeared to be Sanders. The subjects of the photographs were not listed on the negatives, but information filed with them indicated that the Tribune arrest photo was taken in August 1963 near South 73rd Street and Lowe Avenue, which is in the Englewood neighborhood. A January 1964 Tribune story on the court cases of those who had been arrested in August identified a Bernard Sanders. The negatives were scanned and an image was shown to the Sanders campaign Friday. On Saturday, the campaign confirmed that a second photo also shows Sanders. In the early 1960s, protests over segregation in the Englewood area raged over mobile classrooms dubbed "Willis Wagons," named for then-Chicago Schools Superintendent Benjamin Willis. Critics charged that the trailers kept black children in the area instead of sending them to white schools. Advertisement Sanders was arrested Aug. 12, 1963, and charged with resisting arrest. He was found guilty and fined $25, according to a Tribune story about the protests. Sanders enrolled at the University of Chicago on Oct. 3, 1960, and graduated in June 1964 with a bachelor of arts degree in political science, said Jeremy Manier, a university spokesman. Sanders attended Brooklyn College before coming to the U. of C., Manier said. At the University of Chicago, he was a leader of the Congress of Racial Equality, a major civil rights group. News accounts from the time had Sanders leading protests over racial inequality. kskiba@tribpub.com Twitter @Katherine Skiba Former Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Party member Pradeep Narwal, who resigned from the party earlier this week in protest against the handling of the Jawaharlal Nehru University row by the government, has appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ensure "security" and "respect" to all the university students. "What is the duty of the police? Is it to protect the people of this country or defend a particular ideology? Are they to help the people of nation or a particular political interest. I want to request you to intervene in this issue and ensure proper working of police system without any bias," Narwal, a history student at JNU, said in an open letter to PM. "I want you to ensure zero political intervention in educational institutes, ensure respect for every JNU student, and ensure security to every JNU student considering the way it has been branded anti-national," he added. Narwal, who was the Joint Secretary of JNU's ABVP unit, along with Rahul Yadav, president of ABVP unit of JNU's School of Social Sciences and its secretary Ankit Hans, had resigned from the outfit in protest against the Centre's handling of the row at JNU and "legitimising" actions of right wing fascist forces, saying they "cannot be mouthpiece of such a government which has unleashed oppression on student community". In the letter to the PM, Narwal has asserted that it was branding of JNU as an "anti-national" university which made him resign from the BJP's student wing. "I am from Haryana, I was part of ABVP but I quit this organization recently. The inaction and negligence that led to the death of Rohith Vemula and portraying JNU as anti-national forced me to take this decision. "I personally feel a university is an independent space and political persons and their opinions should have no space and role in governing university matters," he said in the letter. He said, "I am from a rural background. When I joined JNU my mother asked me about this university, I replied to her that JNU is one of the best institutions of India but now she is asking me after reading the media reports 'Is it the same JNU you were telling me?." "I don't have an answer. Sir, today there are some factions holding flag in the name of nationalism in their hands and crying to kill students without any reason," he added. Jawaharlal Nehru University is caught in a row over an event on campus against the hanging of parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, where "anti-national" slogans were allegedly raised. The varsity's students union president Kanhaiya Kumar is in judicial custody in a sedition case over the incident. The army conducted flag march in tense areas and used choppers to reach parts of Rohtak even as incidents of violence and arson by Jats demanding quota continued at several places overnight despite authorities imposing curfew and issuing shoot at sight orders in two districts. Normal life remained disrupted as protesting Jats continued to block roads and rail routes, affecting the supplies of essential commodities to Rohtak, Jind, Bhiwani and other parts of the state. Photograph: PTI Normal life remained disrupted as protesting Jats continued to block roads and rail routes, affecting the supplies of essential commodities to Rohtak, Jind, Bhiwani and other parts of the state. Haryana government had on Friday called the army in nine districts of Haryana while curfew was imposed in Bhiwani and Rohtak districts along with shoot-at-sight orders after one person died and 25 were injured during the Jat stir which turned violent with mobs resorting to widespread arson. The Centre has also rushed 3,300 personnel of paramilitary forces to control the rampaging mob. Incidents of violence and arson continued at several places during the night even as prohibitory orders remained in place in many places including Hisar, Jhajjar, Jind, Kaithal and Panipat. In Bhiwani, a contingent of army took out a flag march this morning. The administration has asked people to stay at homes, official sources said. The army could not enter Rohtak initially as protesters had put up blockades at several places, forcing the authorities to air drop them, the sources said. Rampaging mobs had on Friday held some policemen captive besides setting ablaze the house of state's Finance Minister Abhimanyu and several government and private properties in Rohtak, Jhajjar, Hansi and several other parts of the state. Schools were ordered to be closed across the state and mobile Internet services were suspended in almost all the districts. Protesters had also targeted police and private vehicles, buildings housing offices, including two Toll Plazas at Hansi in Hissar district and near Rohtak, both located on the Delhi-Hisar-Fazilka National Highway. One protestor was killed in Rohtak on Friday when the BSF personnel had opened fire in "self-defence" after someone from the rampaging mob fired at and injured a BSF jawan. The agitation, which has been going on for last few days, escalated and turned violent soon after an all-party meeting held by Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar issued an appeal for calling off. Rail services are severely hampered on the Delhi-Ambala, Delhi-Amritsar, Delhi-Hisar-Fazilka route, and Hisar-Dhuri sections as agitating jats squatted on railway tracks at few places. As many as 37 trains have been cancelled while 22 have been partially cancelled by the railway authorities. A number of passenger trains, long distance including super fast passing through or originating in Haryana will remain cancelled on Saturday, railway authorities said. Refusing to accept the appeal of all political parties, Jats continued with their agitation in support of quota under OBC category. On Friday, all political parties had appealed to the Jats to call off their agitation to maintain peace and harmony in the state. Apothecary Salon & Spa ready to pamper locals at Burton Lane location More than two years ago, the COVID-19 pandemic upended the lives and careers of millions of Americans. Some folks took the opportunity to learn more about themselves. What has Gov. Abbott done about the six mass shootings on his watch? As some urge Abbott to finally take action on guns, he says the issue is mental health. Texas lags in that area, too. Will there be accountability? Family Fit Event The Dyess Elementary School PTA is doing its Dyess Fit Family Event for the February, promoting healthy eating and exercise with families. All fitness enthusiasts are invited to participate in a huge Zumba master class from 5 to 7 p.m. Feb. 26. The event is free and families may enter to win a Kindle Fire. Snacks will be available. Questions? Contact the Dyess Elementary PTA at dyesspta@yahoo.com. Candidates speak The Big Country Chapter of Texas Democratic Women will meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Taylor County Democratic Party Headquarters, 3291 S. 14th St. Democratic candidates participating in the March 1 election will speak and the ballot referendums will be discussed. The meeting is open to everyone; children and men are always welcome. For more information, call 325-692- 3353. Informed voting help from library The Abilene Public Library reminds citizens that it has free voters guides from the Texas League of Women Voters to help you make informed voting choices in the upcoming statewide primary election March 1. The voters guide, which can be carried into the voting booth, lists candidates for statewide and regionally contested races in Texas, including railroad commissioner, Texas Supreme Court, Court of Criminal Appeals, Courts of Appeals, and the state Board of Education. Candidates provide their answers to questions posed by the League of Women Voters of Texas Education Fund. Guides are available in both English and Spanish at the Main Library, 202 Cedar St., and the Mockingbird Branch, 1326 N. Mockingbird Lane. The League of Women Voters is strictly nonpartisan; it neither supports nor opposes any amendment, position, party or candidate. Each election year, the league publishes the voters guide to help citizens cast an informed vote. More information can be accessed online at www.VOTE411.org, including an online voters guide with candidate videos and races not included in the printed voters guide. VOTE411 allows voters to enter an address and review races and ballot initiatives specific to that address. It also includes the responses of candidates who missed the print deadline. For more information, call 325-676-6025. Mail your information to Jan Woodward in care of "Around Town," Abilene Reporter-News, P.O. Box 30, Abilene, TX 79604. Email address is jan.woodward@reporternews.com or fax information to 325-670-5242. Deadline for submission is noon seven working days before publication. "Psalm 119, verse 97" Jazmyn Gindratt shouted as loudly as possible, trying to be heard in the church basement over a tangle of voices, young and old. No sooner had she said it than a woman in the audience quickly thumbed her Bible and found the right verse. She stood up and read it aloud, also straining to the heard over all the other voices. Gindratt heard her perfectly. "Yes, ma'am," Gindratt said, "that is correct." Everyone applauded and Gindratt moved on to the next verse. "Daniel 12, verse 24," she shouted, and everyone in the audience with a Bible that would be just about every person at the party started searching as fast as possible. The annual Red & White Tea, a mainstay at Antioch C.M.E. (Christian Methodist Episcopal) Church for as long as anyone can remember, was in full swing. The church is observing its 130th anniversary this year and has many historical moments and traditions to celebrate, but the Red & White Tea is special. The Bible verse contest was just one of several games and activities held on Valentine's Day, before everyone took a break and headed toward a long table filled to capacity with sandwiches and pastries. No one knew for sure the first year the Red & White Tea was held but they know it has been going on for quite a few decades, Linda McGee, 73, was baptized in the church in 1942 and remembers attending as a girl. The tea is hosted by the Women's Missionary Society of the church. Isie Wiley is regional president of the society. She came to Abilene in 1967 and hasn't missed a tea since. "We do it every year," she said. The tea originated, she said, to help the men of the church raise money to pay the church's apportionment to the Northwest Texas Annual Conference of the C.M.E. Only the "red and white" part of the tea remains from the original. The "tea" part of the event has been replaced with punch, soft drinks, and coffee. Years ago, hot and iced tea both were served. "The hot tea went first," McGee said, maybe because the tea is held the second Sunday in February when the weather usually is cold and maybe a little nasty. But the "red and white" still is in full display at the party. Women dress in red and white tailored suits or dresses, some topped by a beautifully designed red and white hat. The tables in the basement of the church, located at 801 Plum St., are covered in overlapping red and white layers of tablecloths. Even the men get into the "red and white" spirit. McGee's husband, Edwin, who is president of the church's board of trustees, made an attempt to comply. His shirt wasn't red, but it would do. When he told his wife he didn't have a red shirt to wear, she had a quick response. "You've got your blue and white," she told him. "That's good enough." The Red & White Tea annually draws 100-plus people from various denominations, which is a source of pride for the ladies who stage it. The church will observe its 130th anniversary in April and members are proud of its heritage among black Abilenians. Linda McGee has put together a binder of historic photos and information about the church, which was one of the first established in Abilene. Mt. Zion Baptist Church opened in November 1885, making it the oldest black church in Abilene. Originally, Antioch C.M.E. Church was on the corner of North Third and Ash streets. The current building, at the corner of North Eighth and Plum streets, was constructed in 1944. According to a history of the church, one of its members was Rose Bruce, who was believed to have been the first black child born in Abilene. The C.M.E denomination was organized on Dec. 16, 1870, in Jackson, Tenn. Originally, the "C" stood for "colored" but in 1954 that was changed to "Christian." Today, Antioch C.M.E. boasts a number of young people, the lifeblood of any congregation. Gindratt, who was in charge of games, is 24 and a lifelong member. She is single, but she loved looking out at the children in attendance, a sign that the church will continue long past its 130th anniversary. "That's what I like to see," she said. "Everybody's bringing their kids." One man who is already looking to the future is Edwin McGee, president of the trustees. Next year, he vowed, his wife won't have to settle for seeing him in a blue and white shirt. "Next year," he said, "I'm going to get me a red shirt and a white tie." DUNN If you're driving between Colorado City and Snyder on State Highway 208 and you happen to see a woman on horseback flailing her arms and flopping her legs, don't worry. She's fine. 'I really look like a crazy person when I get on the back of a horse,' said Andrea Barefield, 24. She is the founder of Take the Reins Therapeutic Center, a newly launched nonprofit. Why the spectacle? That's how she trains her horses. 'I'll hoop and holler, sometimes we'll play music, or toss things and wave my arms,' she said. 'It's because there are some kiddos who don't have full control of their body and so those things happen.' Originally from Abilene, Barefield is a teacher at Colorado High School. She moved to the area in late summer, knowing in the back of her mind that somehow she wanted to start an equine therapy program. 'When I moved here in August, I rented a house. I had no idea I would be buying one later, moving in and having horses this soon,' she said. 'Between donors and support, T-shirt sales, Scentsy sales and Mary Kay, we have jumped. We got our 501c3 exemption in nine days, which is unheard of.' Barefield got her start while a student at Texas Woman's University. She worked in the summer at Charis Hills Camp, a Christian summer camp for children with autism, Asperger's syndrome, attention deficit disorder and other learning difficulties. Having some experience with horses, she became the camp's equine coordinator and was certified by the Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship. It was enough to spark a dream for creating a similar program in the western Big Country. 'When I moved out here, I realized that there's a place in Lubbock and there's a place in Abilene, but there's no middle mark,' she said. 'For a lot of kids in this area, their families either don't have the funds or the time to drive all the way to Lubbock or Abilene.' The philosophy is to create an environment where horses and children can, in a sense, grow together. Barefield is using horses from Winner's Circle Equine Rescue in Azle. 'Our motto is, Rehabilitating equines and humans, one relationship at a time,'' she said. In March, Barefield plans to start an after-school therapeutic riding program. By next fall, she hopes for her center to be a full-time venture. She has four horses a big, 10-year-old paint named Rexie; a large pony called Hope; a 3 month-old foal named Charis; and a 3-week-old foal she calls Pistol Annie. The two foals won't even be broken for riding until three years have passed. But there are lots of hands-on trust-building exercises in which they can be useful in until that time. 'The two babies were abandoned. The breeder decided that he didn't want them,' Barefield said. 'We're going to use them for a program dedicated for the Child Protective Services and West Texas Children Advocacy population.' Winner's Circle does a good portion of the rehabilitating for the horse before it gets to Barefield. Each animal will have its own role to play depending on the needs of a given child. Rexie is a big, solid horse with an easygoing demeanor. Hope, who was brought in recovering from a loss of sight in one eye, is a bit more tentative. Hope is a bit more tender in spirit, just like some of the children she will be working with, Barefield said. 'Students with Asperger's or autism may have struggles recognizing social cues or personal space,' Barefield explained. If the animal backs away, the question of why it did so gets posed to the child. The learned response on their part may be an automatic belief that the horse doesn't want to be friends. 'That's your opportunity to say it's not that they don't want to be your friend,' Barefield said. '(You ask) what's the environment? What is happening that has made them decide this is not comfortable?' This gives the child a moment for noncritical self reflection. Were they overly loud or jumpy? Might that be off-putting, or even frightening, to someone else? It provides an opportunity for the child to recognize their own role and a path to correcting it. This is where the desensitizing comes in with the waving arms and the flying toys. With the foals, it's still a work-in-progress. Everybody was fine and friendly around the watering trough until Charis accidentally stepped on the tail of Oliver, the barn cat. But a quick hop over the spitting feline and a few calming words from Barefield settled things. Rexie and Hope, on the other hand, are pretty un-spookable. Barefield still works with them to ensure they stay that way. 'If you expect (your horses) to work with kids of any kind, you've got to trust them,' she said. 'When I put a kid on this horse, whether that kid is completely silent when they get on, or that child has a tic and just makes a lot of noise, they've got to be prepared for that.' Trust, after all, is the foundation for any good relationship. 'If I'm going to expect a parent to trust their child with me on the back of this 1,100-pound animal, then I've got to trust my 1,100-pound animal,' she said. High school juniors and seniors in Region 14 who are interested in applying for college and completing financial aid documents are invited to participate in McMurry University's College PASS (Prepare, Apply, Select and Succeed) program from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Saturday. The free program is designed to present college-bound students with all of the information they need to prepare for college and is open to students and their families. McMurry's financial aid team will be available to answer questions in the Jay-Rollins Library, while guest speakers will cover topics ranging from preparing the student for college in their junior year of high school to how to fund higher education. Students also will receive instruction on how to fill out financial aid documents, such as the Free Application for Federal Student Aid Other topics will include preparing taxes for college reporting, insurance, medical concerns, applying for college, successful essays, admissions, financial aid, loans, scholarships, defining majors, budgeting and how to be successful once enrolled. Additionally, representatives of businesses, organizations and other universities will be available to visit with College PASS participants and their families from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. JA to help at Lee Elementary Business and civic leaders will join forces to assist Lee Elementary students with their financial literacy from 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Wednesday. Working through Junior Achievement of Abilene, an organization dedicated to providing economic education to students at the primary and secondary levels, the program will introduce students to basic financial education principles such as U.S. currency, how money enters their home, the difference between "wants" and "needs," why saving is important, how banks work and more. The partnership with Lee Elementary is part of Junior Achievement's goal to adopt elementary schools with high populations of students from low- to moderate-income homes, according to a news release from the Abilene Independent School District. ACU to hand out top alumni awards Jeff Kimble and Gilbert Tuhabonye will receive the two highest annual awards for alumni during a ceremony at 12:30 p.m. Sunday at the Hunter Welcome Center at Abilene Christian University. Kimble, Class of 1971, is the 2016 Outstanding Alumnus of the Year. Tuhabonye, Class of 2001, is the 2016 Young Alumnus of the Year. Kimble is the William L. Valentine professor of physics and founding director of the Institute for Quantum Information and Matter at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, California, and the Max Planck Institute for Quantum Optics Distinguished Scholar for 2014-2016. Tuhabonye is a motivational speaker, author and co-founder of The Gazelle Foundation, which funds and builds clean-water projects in his native Burundi. Twitter: @TimothyChippARN Four people were arrested Thursday on charges of injury to a child after a baby girl was found malnourished and "in danger of dying" last month in a home in west Abilene, according to police. On Jan. 4, emergency crews responded to a 911 call of an infant who had stopped breathing in the 200 block of Chapel Hill Road. The girl, Angelica Mayhall, 4-and-a-half-months, was taken to Hendrick Medical Center, where the emergency room physician told police that Angelica was "extremely malnourished and dehydrated" and "in danger of dying at the time of her admission," according to court documents. The girl, whose birth weight was 6 pounds 15 ounces, weighed only 6 pounds 5 ounces when she was admitted to the hospital, according to court documents. By the time the baby was discharged from the hospital Jan. 15, she had gained 2 pounds 5 ounces, according to authorities. Doctors found no medical reason for the girl's malnourishment, according to court documents. The baby now is in protective custody, police said. Four adults and two children, including the baby, resided in the home, according to police. All four of the adults have been charged in the case. The baby's parents, James Mayhall, 49, and Evangelia Mayhall, 37, remain in the Taylor County Jail in lieu of $50,000 bail each on a charge of first-degree felony injury to a child. Justin Heiser, 29, and Breanna Morris, 18, each were charged with state jail felony injury to a child. They also remain in jail in lieu of $50,000 bail each. Morris reportedly told police that she saw Angelica losing weight and had approached Evangelia Mayhall about the issue, according to court documents. Heiser, who made the 911 call, said he thought Angelica had a "high metabolism," according to court documents, and that he was not concerned because "he knew Evangelia was breast-feeding her." Evangelia Mayhall reportedly told police that she saw Angelica had been losing weight "but she was waiting to supplement her breast milk with formula when the doctor said it was OK." According to court documents, the baby's treating pediatrician said the last time she had seen Angelica was in August for her 2-week "well baby exam." At the time, Angelica weighed 7 pounds 2 ounces. The emergency responders who went to the home in January said the residence had a strong smell of feces and urine and that they observed "feces rubbed into the carpet." The other child who lived in the home also is in protective custody, police said. Twitter: ARN_Titus It wasn't necessarily a frenzy Friday morning at Texas State Technical College's culinary school on North First Street. But the roughly 35 high school students from across the Big Country who took in the school's Food Truck Frenzy certainly had a fun time. Set up by the college to introduce potential students to the culinary arts program, organizers put the attendees in touch with professional chefs and turned them loose in the kitchen preparing their own lunches for the afternoon. Hannah Hart, a junior at Cooper High School, said she loved her experience Friday. But she has motivations some of the other attendees don't share. "I want to own my own restaurant," Hart said. "I want to get involved, to see what the different experiences are." Besides Cooper High, students traveled from as far away as Colorado City to the west and Brookesmith and Eastland to the east. Brin Reed, chief instructor at the culinary school, spent much of her Frenzy Friday helping the visiting students prepare some of the sweets they would enjoy with lunch. But she didn't just demonstrate or take it a step further and do it for them. There was always a lesson involved. Actually several lessons. From quizzing the students about the number of ounces in a cup to demonstrating the signs of fresh basil, her morning was dedicated to reaching out with excitement for cooking and a love for learning at the same time. As she helped the students create their own trifles, as well as the strawberry basil lemonade one of the school's trademark offerings the experiences seemed to light up the eyes of the attendees. "This kind of event gets them excited for new foods," Reed said. "It's very hands on. It makes everything taste better when they get to taste the fruits of their own labor." Other stations at the event had students creating their own vinaigrette salad dressing and tomato soup. They combined these food options, including desert, with grilled cheese sandwiches from Toasted Traveler food truck. Assisting Reed with her lessons were a trio of her students in Caitlin Wallace, Abagail Bueno and Lexi Moya. Wallace said she enjoys events like this because it allows her to connect with the students who may be interested in going to culinary school. Those students get to speak with them, too, she said, which is encouraging. "It's nice to talk to the kids," she said. "Sometimes, they get too nervous to talk to the instructors." "We feel like we're needed," Bueno added. "And it shows the high school students this is a good program to get into." Twitter: @TimothyChippARN Two men filed Friday for seats on the Abilene ISD board of trustees. Robert Tucker, dean of the College of Fine Arts at Hardin-Simmons University, and James Miller, a bus driver with the Abilene Independent School District, both submitted paperwork on the final day of filing. No additional filings were reported Friday in the Wylie Independent School District, leaving three incumbents Darrell Moore, Chris McCurley and Mike Awtry running unopposed. In the Abilene ISD, Tucker will challenge for the Place 1 seat against Abilene Christian University professor Jeff Arrington, while Miller will attempt to win the vacant Place 7 seat against Abilene Education Foundation President Angie Wiley. Place 7 was vacated in December by the resignation of Kelvin Kelley, who had two years remaining on his four-year term. Place 1 incumbent Robert Laird did not seek a new term. Miller, who has driven for the district for almost three years, said he has noticed several issues related to his job and similar service positions within the district. He listed pay and safety among his concerns, saying the board needs to do more to address these important jobs that often are overlooked. Miller noted that bus drivers are forced to split their concentration between driving safely and monitoring the 60-70 children behind them. It presents a number of issues, he said. "The point is I would like to establish a policy to address these issues so bus drivers are able to spend more (time) driving the school bus," he said. "I've never served on a school board before, so I've been looking over the information that was given to me when I submitted my form. I'm not sure what can be done, but I definitely think it's something I want to address." Although Miller is a relative newcomer to Abilene and said he has little education experience, he noted that his family has a history of serving students. His mother was a teacher, he said, and his grandfather served on the state board of education in Colorado. Previously, Daryl Zeller and Sammy Garcia filed for the Place 3 trustee seat, currently held by Barry Hoefer, who decided to not seek re-election. Incumbent Randy Piersall, meanwhile, was the lone individual to file for Place 2 before Friday's deadline. Tucker, in his third year as the dean of fine arts at HSU, isn't a stranger to school boards. He served as a trustee in the Bangs Independent School District from 2006-09. "I bring with me a great deal of experience," Tucker said. "My wife (Clairissa Tucker) taught in Abilene ISD until recently when she retired. I'd do the best I can for Abilene ISD, and I know what it takes to be student-oriented." Tucker said he believes the district has a good foundation in place and that he trusts the public to pick the best members for the board. He said he has no hidden agenda, no ax to grind and no anger toward anyone on the board or in the district's administration. The election is May 7. Twitter: @TimothyChippARN Dason Williams SHARE Jim McNiece By Brooke Crum of the Abilene Reporter News Both Abilene City Council seats up for election in May will be contested by candidates who believe they can serve the city better than the incumbents. Friday was the final day to file for the May 7 council and local school boards election. Ryan Marrs, who owns Belle's Chicken Dinner House, said he believes he has the business and budget sense to carry the city forward better than his opponent and incumbent for City Council Place 5, Kyle McAlister. McAlister, a local Aflac insurance salesman, earlier filed to serve a second term on the panel. Marrs said he understands how to make money, save it and budget it because he started his business from scratch. He believes he can do the same for the city by creating an enticing atmosphere in Abilene for business that provides growth. "More money in the area is good for all of us," Marrs said. The restaurant owner has kept his business open for seven years after opening in February 2009. Marrs said his entrepreneurship has given him the tools to find the best ways to be successful when confronted with a challenge and that he would bring those qualities to the council. "I feel like we need more conservative voices on the City Council," he said. Facing incumbent Steve Savage for Place 6, Dason Williams, executive vice president of Clavel Corp., earned his master's degree in business administration from the University of Dallas. Williams worked for the Dallas Mavericks for five years, selling season tickets and suites, before returning to his hometown to work for the family business, he said Friday. Clavel manufactures Blue Stop Max, a topical anesthetic. "I could live anywhere or go work for a Fortune 500 company," he said. "I care about this city, and I want to make it better." With a decade of marketing experience, Williams said, he believes he would be a good steward of the taxpayers' money and be able to attract businesses to the area. But to get anything done on a board like City Council, one has to possess the ability to compromise; being extreme is pointless because it accomplishes nothing, he said. "The action is in the middle," Williams said. Jim McNiece, development officer at Christian Homes & Family Services, filed late Friday to run against Savage and Williams. McNiece has worked in donor development for the nonprofit agency since 2013, according to its website. Christian Homes & Family Services provides maternity and foster care, as well as adoption services. Savage, who owns Stinky Steve's Septic and Grease, filed to run for his first full term on the panel. He won a special election last year to fulfill the unexpired term of Kellie Miller, who resigned from her seat. Twitter: BrookeCrum_ARN City employees who hold concealed handgun licenses will be allowed to carry their firearms at work after taking a safety training course with the Abilene Police Department, according to a new policy instituted by City Manager Robert Hanna. The first APD training course took place Friday. In addition to being licensed, employees must have permission from their department director to carry their concealed handgun while working. Employees are not allowed to carry openly, but they may store their firearms in their personal vehicles not city vehicles or in a locked desk drawer, the policy states. "We don't think it's appropriate for employees to open carry, primarily because there are members of the public for whom it would cause alarm," Hanna said. Although he has the authority to prohibit employees from carrying handguns at work, Hanna said he issued this policy because it is a "lawful act" for employees outside work and he did not want to deny them that right. Hanna said he discussed the decision with his leadership team, city attorneys and the City Council before writing the policy. Twelve city employees with concealed handgun licenses signed up to attend the first class Friday at the Warren Dodson Training Complex, said Rick Tomlin, police spokesman. The course costs $75 per person and lasts eight hours, though the city could require future classes. Tomlin said the money for the class goes toward the city's general fund. Police Chief Stan Standridge declined the Reporter-News' request to attend the class. "The required workplace safety training course is intended to ensure employees authorized to conceal carry do so responsibly in a workplace environment," Hanna said. The city would not disclose which departments will allow employees to carry concealed weapons to protect the employees' identities, Hanna said in a statement. But neither the Fire Department nor the zoo will permit employees to carry weapons because of the nature of their jobs, he said. The city previously had no policy regarding the concealed carrying of a firearm by employees, another reason for the new policy, Hanna said. Additionally, the city allows residents to carry openly in City Hall and the council chambers. Hanna said that decision was made by the council, which wanted to take a "wait-and-see approach." Under the open carry law, the city could ban handguns from the council chambers but not City Hall. Twitter: BrookeCrum_ARN SHARE You know because anyone with access to social media knows that it was Obama's secret hit squad of pillow-wielding assassins who took out Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. The timing of the "murder" seems a bit curious, so late in his second term that the president has little chance of getting a successor past the Senate. And, of course, Scalia was 79 years old with a history of serious heart problems. No matter. Rational thinking hardly keeps lunatic conspiracy theories like this from spreading through cyberspace like a brain-eating virus. Speaking of which, apparently the Zika virus was spawned by an entomological experiment gone horribly wrong, after a British bio-tech company released genetically modified mosquitoes in a bungled attempt to control dengue fever. The GMO Frankenbug theory was born last month on a Reddit post, "mankind's arrogance may have backfired on us," and has since been disproved by reputable science writers. But too late. Sinister plans to spread Zika have now been attributed to, among other conspirators, Bill Gates and the Rockefeller Foundation. Or to a larvicide manufactured by Monsanto, though it turns out that Monsanto didn't make the larvicide and that the larvicide can't be linked to Zika. But what the hell? This Zika plot has some kind of link to the old one-world-government thing. Though a counter theory roiling through the blogosphere holds that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention invented the Zika sham just to scare us into submission ("The CDC is the medical CIA."). Nutball conspiracies are hardly new. When I was a kid, the John Birch Society was sure that fluoridated water was a commie plot. Then the investigation of the Kennedy assassination left enough troubling questions to spawn a thousand counter-theories. But nowadays, the digital age can lend even a few disparate paranoids the sense that they are one of many. Even the craziest notions that George Bush plotted 9/11 and the Katrina floods, or that Obama invented Sandy Hook find community on Facebook or Reddit or Twitter or beyond. I've noticed that James Tracy, the infamous conspiracy-theorist professor whom Florida Atlantic University finally fired last year, has added posts about Scalia and Zika to his netherworld blog. Tracy's prevailing obsession remains that "Nobody died at Sandy Hook," that the awful elementary school massacre was only theater, so many fake deaths contrived to allow Obama such a busy conspirator to confiscate our guns. It's getting crazier. Maybe even scarier. On Wednesday, the South Poverty Law Center released a report warning about the rise of "conspiracy-minded antigovernment "Patriot" groups, going from 874 in 2014 to 998 last year. Conspiracy theories have become so prevalent on the Internet that mainstream news outlets now spend time and space debunking rumors we once would have ignored. In the past week, The Washington Post, The New York Times, CNN, Fox News and other media deconstructed fantastic suppositions about Scalia's death or the Zika virus. Of course, out there in crazy land, The Times and The Post and the Miami Herald are all conspirators in the big secret plot. Fredd Grimm wrote this for the Miami Herald. Today in history: On Feb. 21, 1952, figure skater Dick Button wins his second gold medal. His win in 1948 was the first in the event for the United States at the Winter Olympics. He won numerous titles as a boy and won his first gold in St. Moritz, Switzerland, landing the first double axel jump. At the Oslo, Norway, Olympics, he achieved the first triple loop. He would retire andserve as a TV commentator, serving ABC since 1962. Button also is a Harvard Law School graduate. Russia has been sending in thousands of recently mobilized troops to reinforce the defense of the southern region of Kherson, where Kyiv's forces have been making major advances in their offensive to retake territory occupied by Moscow, the Ukrainian military said, as fresh Russian strikes on civilian targets were reported on October 21. "Up to 2,000 mobilized Russians arrived in the temporarily captured Kherson region to replenish losses and strengthen units on the contact line," the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said in a statement on October 21. Live Briefing: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine RFE/RL's Live Briefing gives you all of the latest developments on Russia's ongoing invasion, Kyiv's counteroffensive, Western military aid, global reaction, Russian protests, and the plight of civilians. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war, click here. "At the same time, the occupation authorities issued an order to prepare for the evacuation of the so-called banking institutions and Russian medical workers and teachers," the statement said. Ukraine is trying to drive Russian forces in Kherson back east across the Dnieper River that bisects the country. Russian soldiers on the western bank, where the city of Kherson is located, are reportedly close to being cut off from supply lines and reinforcements. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's office said on October 20 that Ukrainian forces mounted 15 attacks on Russian military strongholds in the Kherson region in what appears to be the start of a major push to liberate the region and the strategic city of Kherson. Russia's Defense Ministry, meanwhile, said the Kremlin's forces repelled Ukrainian attempts to advance with tanks on the Kherson villages of Sukhanove, Nova Kamyanka, and Chervoniy Yar. Neither claim could be independently confirmed. The city of Kherson, with a prewar population of about 284,000, was one of the first urban areas captured by Russia when it invaded Ukraine, and it remains the largest city it holds. The city is an important objective for both sides because of its key industries and a major port on the Dnieper River. Moscow-installed officials have urged residents to evacuate and allow the military to build fortifications. Officials said 15,000 residents of an expected 60,000 had been relocated from the city and surrounding areas as of October 20. Kherson is one of the four partially occupied Ukrainian regions that Russian President Vladimir Putin illegally seized following Kremlin-orchestrated referendums denounced as sham by Ukraine and the West. Putin declared martial law in the Kherson, Luhansk, Donetsk, and Zaporizhzhia regions on October 19 in an attempt to assert Russian authority in the annexed areas as Moscow faced battlefield setbacks, a troubled troop mobilization, increasing criticism at home and abroad, and international sanctions. In a video address to EU leaders gathered for a summit in Brussels on October 20, Zelenskiy warned that Ukraine suspects Russia has mined the dam and units of the Nova Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant on the Dnieper River in southern Ukraine, and if it were blown up, more than 80 settlements, including Kherson, would be in danger of flooding. Zelenskiy said Ukrainian workers have been thrown out of the facility, leaving Russians in control. He asserted that Russia "has already prepared everything to carry out this terrorist attack." He called for an international observation mission and the return of Ukrainian personnel to ensure the mines are removed from the dam and its units. Zelenskiy's comment came two days after Vladimir Saldo, the Russian-appointed head of the Kherson region of Ukraine, announced an "organized, gradual displacement" of civilians from four towns on the right bank of the Dnieper River to the left side. Saldo accused Ukrainian forces of planning to destroy the dam and also warned of "an immediate danger of flooding." The Moscow-appointed deputy head of the Kherson region, Kirill Stremousov, encouraged people to cross over to the left bank of the Dnieper River and posted a video of a column of buses on Telegram. Kyiv has denounced Moscow's move, calling it a "deportation" of Ukrainian civilians to Russia. Over the past 10 days, Russia has also unleashed a wave of deadly attacks on Ukrainian civilian and energy infrastructure using artillery, air strikes, and Iranian-made suicide drones that destroyed 40 percent of the country's energy grid and prompted Kyiv to introduce rolling electricity restrictions for the first time since the start of the Russian invasion eight months ago. WATCH: Ukrainian forces first got their hands on FH70 155-millimeter howitzers courtesy of Italy in May and received training in Estonia. RFE/RL journalists met with a frontline FH70 crew and watched them in action against Russian forces. Early on October 21, a series of blasts rocked the Ukrainian cities of Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhya, authorities said. Missiles hit an industrial facility in Kharkiv, Mayor Ihor Terekhov said. Separately, Kharkiv regional Governor Oleh Sinegubov said five people had been wounded. No further details were immediately available about the Zaporizhzhua blasts. Zelenskiy told EU leaders that the Russian attacks against civilians and infrastructure are aimed in part at provoking a new wave of migration of Ukrainians to EU countries. "Russian terror against our energy facilities is aimed at creating as many problems as possible with electricity and heat for Ukraine this fall and winter and for as many Ukrainians as possible to go to your countries," he said. This should be "answered immediately," primarily by more air-defense systems sent to Ukraine, the president said, speaking by video conference from Kyiv. "We must do everything possible to make it completely impossible for Russia to destroy our energy system with missiles and drones," Zelenskiy said in the virtual speech, calling on Ukraine's partners to provide systems "to create a truly reliable air shield." With reporting by Reuters, AFP, dpa, and BBC Nationalist demonstrators have attacked two Russian banks in Kyiv as thousands attended ceremonies in the Ukrainian capital marking the second anniversary of the protests that brought down the Russia-friendly president. Protesters threw rocks through the windows at the offices of Alfa Bank and Sberbank and ransacked furniture and equipment inside. Police did not intervene. February 20 marked the second anniversary of the bloodiest day of the months of protests, which had been sparked by then President Viktor Yanukovychs decision to spurn closer ties with the European Union. More than 50 people died in sniper fire and fighting with police. Ukraine now marks the occasion as the "Day of the Heavenly Hundred," which refers to those who died during the protests. After Yanukovychs ouster, Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula and Russian-speaking separatists in eastern regions launched actions that escalated into a war that has killed more than 9,100 people. Based on reporting by AP and Interfax Pakistans military says the countrys security forces killed five militants in a northwestern tribal region bordering Afghanistan. The military said in a statement that the shoot-out took place on February 20 in the Mohmand tribal region. The troops found the militants near Ghalanai, the main town of Mohmand. The statement said that the men were planning terrorist activity. Just a few days earlier, on February 17, Taliban militants killed at least nine policemen in two attacks in Mohmand. Mohmand is one of several districts that make up Pakistan's tribal belt near the Afghan border where the military has been battling Al-Qaeda and Taliban-linked militants for more than a decade. Based on reporting by AP and AFP Electricity is expected to soon be restored in the Afghan capital, weeks after insurgents destroyed cables from Uzbekistan providing power to Kabul. Wahidullah Tawhidi, spokesman for the Afghan electricity directorate, said on February 20 that the military had cleared Taliban-linked fighters from the area of northern Baghlan Province where the cables were cut. Engineers had begun to reconnect some of the cables and the work should be finished within five days. Kabul's 5 million or so inhabitants are used to rationing and frequent power cuts that often last several hours, especially during winter. However, the latest blackouts, which began in late January, mark some of the worst the capital has seen since the demise of the Taliban regime in 2001. Based on reporting by AP Russia has expressed regret that the United Nations Security Council rejected its bid to stop Turkeys military actions against Syria. Western powers turned down a Russian draft resolution presented at an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council on February 19 aimed at stopping Turkeys cross-border shelling of Syrian Kurds. Western powers also called on Moscow to stick with plans for a truce in Syria, however the February 19 deadline for honoring the cease-fire passed with little sign of compliance. "We can only express regret that this draft resolution was rejected," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists on February 20. Peskov said that Russia was concerned at the growing tension at the Syrian-Turkish border. He said that Russia will continue its support for President Bashar al-Assads ground offensive. Western powers said Moscow's backing of the Syrian ground war, even as it supposedly was negotiating a cease-fire at the UN, is what caused an escalation of the conflict. "We are facing a dangerous military escalation that could easily get out of control and lead us to uncharted territory," French UN Ambassador Francois Delattre said. Delattre said that Turkey's bid to intervene in the conflict was the "direct result of the brutal offensive in the north of Syria led by the Syrian regime and its allies." "Russia must understand that its unconditional support to Bashar al-Assad is a dead-end and a dead-end that could be extremely dangerous," he said. He warned that a continued failure to honor the truce negotiated last week could lead to "a full regional conflagration." In a sign that all sides no longer expect to return to peace negotiations any time soon, the UN's Special Envoy for Syria Steffan de Mistura formally cancelled a round of talks that had been tentatively scheduled for February 25. While rebuking Russia for going after Turkey at the UN, the White House announced that U.S. President Barack Obama had spoken with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on February 19 and urged him to stop shelling Kurdish militias in the Syrian border region. While Obama agreed with Erdogan that the Kurdish militias "should not seek to exploit circumstances in this area to seize additional territory," he urged Turkey to "show reciprocal restraint by ceasing artillery strikes in the area." Turkey's shelling has exposed a deep rift between Washington and its NATO ally. While Turkey regards the Kurdish YPG militia forces in Syria as allies of outlawed terrorist groups in Turkey, the United States has worked with the YPG in a successful campaign to regain Syrian territory taken over the Islamic State group in 2014. U.S.-backed Kurdish forces, in fact, routed IS out the Syrian town of Shaddadeh, the militant group's last stronghold in the northeastern province of Hassakeh, after a fierce battle on February 19, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. With reporting by Reuters, AP, AFP, and dpa Saudi Arabia said it is halting $4 billion of deals to equip and support Lebanese security forces in retaliation for the small Mediterranean country siding with Iran in its spat with the Sunni kingdom. The Lebanese premier said his government "deeply regretted" the Saudi decision, reported by the Saudi Press Agency, and said it goes against a history of good relations between the countries. "We are keen on keeping the relations brotherly and friendly," said Prime Minister Tammam Salam's office. One deal involves a four-year, $3 billion Saudi pledge to buy French arms for the Lebanese military. The other involves a $1 billion support deal for the Lebanese police. The decision came after Lebanon declined to support Saudi resolutions against Iran during two meetings of Arab and Muslim foreign ministers. The Saudi news agency said the kingdom was offended by Lebanon's refusal to condemn the attacks on Saudi diplomatic facilities in Iran after Riyadh executed a prominent Shi'ite cleric last month. That was "regrettable and unjustified," and "inconsistent with the fraternal relations between the two countries," the Saudis said. Based on reporting by AP and AFP According to officials in Turkmenistan, it is still Altyn Asyr, the Golden Era, as it supposedly has been for many years now. But recently things have been different in Turkmenistan. Cracks are appearing within the dictatorship and the shine is rubbing off the Golden Era. Of course, with Turkmenistan it is always difficult to tell what exactly is happening inside the country, dubbed the hermit kingdom, so it is difficult to see where the country is headed. RFE/RLs Turkmen Service, known locally as Azatlyk, assembled a panel to look at what we know about recent events in Turkmenistan. Azatlyk Director Muhammad Tahir moderated the discussion. Participating in the talk was Peter Leonard, Central Asia editor at Eurasia Net, Ruslan Myatiev, journalist and founder of the Alternative Turkmenistan News website. And since Ive been following the often bizarre events in Turkmenistan for many years, I said some things also. Myatiev started by saying, A lot of things have changed especially in the last year. That applies to the economy, to the social life to the freedom of the people in the country. Hard times have hit Turkmenistan, the sort of hard times the country really has not seen since it became independent. Turkmenistan is heavily dependent on natural-gas exports for revenue. The recent sharp decrease in gas prices on world markets seems to have touched off a chain reaction in Turkmenistan. As Leonard said, This sort of cushion of large riches flowing into the country has suddenly dried up, kind of creating a great crisis of confidence. There is ample evidence of crisis. Last year, the Turkmen government announced cuts in subsidies for gas, electricity, and water, which were all previously free. Rates are still very low for the use of these utilities but they could get higher quickly if the government acts on a proposal to totally do away with these subsidies. There are also reports of growing unemployment, though the Turkmen government does not speak about unemployment, so it is unclear how bad the problem is. Some opposition websites, based on information from people inside Turkmenistan, reported there were layoffs in the gas industry and suggestions nearly half the gas workers would eventually be let go. Recently, authorities have been preventing nonresidents of the capital Ashgabat from entering the city. One thought is that officials are preventing a mass migration of unemployed people seeking to find work in the capital. Leonard cautioned that in Turkmenistan the government has a counternarrative it has been preaching for years when it comes to socioeconomic problems. In Turkmenistan, the state message is [that] the white marble, the big projects, the stadiums, the hippodromes, the statues, whatever, all of this is a sign of economic success. The signs of economic failure are not unemployment or drops in productivity. The signs of economic failure are holes in the road, ugly buildings, all of these things, he said. That explains to some extent how the government has been able to cut back on social spending while at the same time allocating state funds for realizing grandiose projects, many of which seem to serve little or no purpose. All the same, there have been some reports of social discontent, the kind of reports not heard out of Turkmenistan for some two decades. The gas workers in the eastern Lebap Province went on strike last summer. Something happened last year in the late winter in the city of Tejen, some 220 kilometers east of Ashgabat, that involved mass arrests but there have been conflicting reports about the cause. Conflicting because of course it is nearly impossible for outside news services to gain access to Turkmenistan, especially to areas outside the capital or Caspian resort area Awaza, especially in recent months. Azatlyk, for example, has been able to do some reporting from inside Turkmenistan, but last year, as the economic problems set in across Central Asia, harassment of Azatlyk correspondents increased and Azatlyk correspondent Saparmamed Nepeskuliev was arrested. Nepeskuliev was charged with narcotics possession, was held in custody without authorities informing his family, and was quickly convicted and was sentenced at a trial where he had no legal representation. [You can find out more about this here.) Turkmen authorities prefer to control what information comes out of the country. Azatlyk was allowed to work within tight and tacit parameters but Nepeskulievs case, and that of other Azatlyk correspondents, seems to show those parameters have contracted as conditions inside Turkmenistan have gone into decline. Myatiev said it is part of a broader pattern of renewed repression. People started to display their disagreement with the current policies and the repression here started to become more tangible, he said. The reduction in revenues may also be leading to infighting in the government. There have been a wave of dismissals in the government in recent weeks (I deal with that in a report to be released soon), more so than usual. Leonard suggested under [the president] are all these people trying to grab a now, smaller and smaller pie, and that the best way to get a piece of the pie is to say look at that guy, hes stealing or hes doing his job badly this kind of fighting under the rug is going on. Ive made it all the way through this text without mentioning President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov by name. Thats not easy when writing about Turkmenistan. Myatiev agreed with Leonard that there is fighting under the rug and said the source of this is Berdymukhammedovs family, which has been acquiring ever more sectors of the economy. And all this comes as amendments are about to be introduced to the constitution that will allow Berdymukhammedov to run for a third term in office in next years election, and possibly stay on far longer than just this one additional term. The panel looked at these topics in greater detail and touched on other important events taking place currently in Turkmenistan. An audio recording of the discussion can be heard here: Two Serbian embassy staff members kidnapped in Libya in November are believed to have been killed in U.S. air strikes against a suspected Islamic State (IS) training camp, Serbias foreign minister said on February 20. Sladjana Stankovic, a communications officer, and Jovica Stepic, a driver, were taken hostage on November 8 after their diplomatic convoy, including the ambassador, was ambushed near the coastal city of Sabratha. Dacic said that information about their deaths was given to Serbia by foreign officials but has not been confirmed by the Libyan government. U.S. officials said on February 19 that the U.S. strike killed dozens of people, most likely including Noureddine Chouchane, a senior IS group operative behind attacks in Tunisia. Sabratha, 70 kilometers west of Tripoli, is considered a hub of extremists who receive training in militant camps to carry out deadly attacks in other countries. Based on reporting by AP, Reuters, and AFP Western powers batted down an attempt by Russia to focus United Nations efforts against Turkey in the escalating Syrian war, and called on Moscow to stick with plans for a truce in the region. As the February 19 deadline for honoring a truce in Syria passed with little sign of compliance, Russia had presented a resolution to the UN Security Council aimed at stopping Turkey's cross-border shelling of Syrian Kurds. The U.S. Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power accused Russia of trying to create a distraction from its own failure to stop bombing raids assisting the Syrian government's campaign to surround and recapture Aleppo, Syria's largest city. "Rather than trying to distract the world with the resolution they just laid down, it would be really great if Russia would implement the resolution that's already agreed to," Power said, referring to a December UN resolution providing a road map for a Syria peace process. "It's incredibly important that we have de-escalation," Power said after a closed-door council meeting on Russia's latest Syrian plan. "We have a resolution on the books. It's the right resolution. We've committed ourselves to it and we need Russia to do the same." The Western powers said Moscow's backing of the Syrian ground war, even as it supposedly was negotiating a truce at the UN, is what caused an escalation of the conflict. "We are facing a dangerous military escalation that could easily get out of control and lead us to uncharted territory," French UN Ambassador Francois Delattre said. Delattre said that Turkey's bid to intervene in the conflict was the "direct result of the brutal offensive in the north of Syria led by the Syrian regime and its allies." "Russia must understand that its unconditional support to [Syrian President] Bashar al-Assad is a dead-end and a dead-end that could be extremely dangerous," he said. He warned that a continued failure to honor the truce negotiated last week could lead to "a full regional conflagration." In a sign that all sides no longer expect to return to peace negotiations any time soon, the UN's Special Envoy for Syria Steffan de Mistura formally cancelled a round of talks that had been tentatively scheduled for February 25. He told the Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet that he cannot "realistically" get the government and opposition parties back to the table by then. "We need real talks about peace, not just talks about talks," he said, even as a "cessation of hostilities" that he had negotiated a week earlier in Geneva died a quiet death on the battlefields of Syria. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry appeared to be the only top leader to retain much optimism, saying on February 19 that he is still hopeful of negotiating a formal cease-fire through working groups established in Geneva a week ago. En route to Jordan for talks about Syria, Kerry said negotiating a cease-fire is not easy, and tough and complex issues remain, but his talks with Russian counterparts on the working groups had been serious and so far constructive. While rebuking Russia for going after Turkey at the UN, the White House announced that U.S. President Barack Obama had spoken with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on February 19 and urged him to stop shelling Kurdish militias in the Syrian border region. While Obama agreed with Erdogan that the Kurdish militias "should not seek to exploit circumstances in this area to seize additional territory," he urged Turkey to "show reciprocal restraint by ceasing artillery strikes in the area." Turkey's shelling has exposed a deep rift between Washington and its NATO ally. While Turkey regards the Kurdish YPG militia forces in Syria as allies of outlawed terrorist groups in Turkey, the United States has worked with the YPG in a successful campaign to regain Syrian territory taken over the Islamic State group in 2014. U.S.-backed Kurdish forces, in fact, routed IS out the Syrian town of Shaddadeh, the militant group's last stronghold in the northeastern province of Hassakeh, after a fierce battle on February 19, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. With reporting by Reuters, AP, AFP, and dpa Register for more free articles. Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading. A felony voter fraud charge will likely be dismissed in six months against a Powhatan County pastor charged with trying to obtain a ballot to vote in last Novembers election after already casting an absentee ballot in October. In an agreement reached between the prosecution and defense, the charge against Curtis W. Blankenship will be dismissed Aug. 12 if he stays out of trouble, said Goochland Deputy Commonwealths Attorney Michael Caudill, who was appointed special prosecutor in the case. Judge Ray Lupold took the matter under advisement for six months during a hearing Friday in Powhatan General District Court. According to evidence, Blankenship submitted an absentee ballot in October but then went to a polling station on Election Day and presented his identification to a poll worker in an attempt to obtain a ballot. But the poll worker discovered that Blankenship, pastor of Cumberland Baptist Temple in Cumberland County, had already voted with an absentee ballot. When confronted, Blankenship said he was just testing the system. He said something to the effect that he had heard there are problems with the machines and he was testing the system, Caudill said. Thats why it was an attempt, because he started it but didnt quite get to where they gave him a ballot. It shows that the system works, the prosecutor added. Caudill said Blankenship raised the issue of whether he could rescind his earlier ballot when he showed up at the poll. He asked them that question, the prosecutor said. But he appeared and presented his ID to start the ballot process. The poll worker notified the county registrar, and the incident was reported to the electoral board. Its an important case. You cant just go in and test the system, the prosecutor said. If he had gone up and said, I voted absentee, you got me down? they would have checked and said, Yeah Ill see you later. But he gave his ID. Caudill said he agreed to handle the case as he did after discussing the circumstances with the police detective who investigated the matter and the county registrar. Every case is different and judged accordingly on the facts and the law, the prosecutor said. I think there was probable cause to support the charge. But whether or not he would be found guilty or not, I dont know. In addition to Blankenships generally positive reputation in the community, he also freely admitted what he did, (but said he) didnt realize it was wrong which we all know is not an excuse, Caudill said. But this is a case where being charged with a felony was a significant circumstance in itself. Part of it is that citizens have to be comfortable with their electoral officials doing their job and (for that reason) I just couldnt dismiss it outright, Caudill added. Thats kind of why we reached this agreement. CHARLOTTESVILLE - A federal judge has set a trial date in the legal battle between a University of Virginia associate dean and Rolling Stone magazine over a now-retracted article, and the young woman at the heart of the controversial story has been ordered to face a deposition. Judge Glen Conrad said in a court order this week that the case brought by U.Va. Associate Dean Nicole Eramo against the magazine and one of its writers will go before a jury Oct. 11. The trial is scheduled to last 10 days. Last May, Eramo filed a lawsuit seeking $7.85 million for defamation relating to A Rape on Campus, an article Rolling Stone published in November 2014 about the culture of sexual assault on college campuses, for which U.Va. served as the backdrop. While initially stirring controversy and rousing several rallies at U.Va., the article soon fell apart and ultimately was retracted when its central narrative about a student named Jackie fell apart. In the original article, Jackie told author Sabrina Rubin Erdely that in 2012 she was the victim of a brutal gang rape at a U.Va. fraternity house during a party. The details of the assault quickly fell under intense scrutiny, and by December 2014, the magazine said its trust in Jackie had been misplaced. The following month, Charlottesville police said they could not find evidence the alleged rape had occurred, and a review by the Columbia University School of Journalism called the article a journalistic failure. Rolling Stone retracted the story in April. Eramo, a U.Va. administrator tasked with aiding student survivors of sexual assault, argues the story portrayed her as a villain and characterized her as uncaring and callous to Jackies needs following her alleged rape. She reportedly received hateful messages and death threats after the articles release and argues that her career and reputation were seriously damaged in the aftermath. Court documents show that Eramo and the defendants agreed on the date after several setbacks in obtaining Jackies cooperation in the matter. Following several unsuccessful attempts to have Jackie turn over communications related to her alleged rape, Eramo asked the court to compel her cooperation. While Jackies attorneys argued that doing so would be an invasion of her privacy, Conrad officially ordered her to cooperate late last month. On the same day that motion was granted, counsel for both Eramo and the magazine filed a joint motion for a new trial date and an amended scheduling order. The trial previously had been scheduled to start July 18 and last two weeks, but the motion argued that complications with third-party discovery in the case assumed to be the fight to have Jackie turn over documents and comply with subpoenas had extended the discovery phase of the proceedings. Significant third-party discovery has been necessary, including the discovery of education records under FERPA and document and deposition discovery from third-party sources that have (and will be) the subject of motions practice, the motion reads. Due to its scope, and the complexities presented by third-party discovery in this case, discovery has taken longer than anticipated. FERPA, or the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, is a federal law that protects the privacy of students' educational records. Jackie's attorneys had previously argued that her communications with the university about her alleged rape qualified for FERPA protection, but the judge disagreed. Conrad agreed to push the cases schedule back: Fact discovery in the case must be completed by May 13 and expert discovery must conclude by June 10. Furthermore, the judge ordered Jackie to face a deposition from both sides of counsel on April 5, which is expected to last seven hours. If additional time is needed, counsel will have to request it by March 15. An Argentinian, Pope Francis is the first pope from the Western Hempishere and from the global South. He recently visited Mexico, one of the most populous Catholic countries in the world. It boasts a complicated history with the church, which often has represented the forces of reaction. Benito Juarez opposed it. Reformers have risen from the church as well. Mexicos veneration of the Virgin of Guadalupe has spread beyond the countrys borders. Marys Guadalupan incarnation ranks among the most visible and beautiful Christian images. Its attraction is universal. The image derives from the Virgins 1531 appearance to Juan Diego, an indigenous Mexican, outside what would become Mexico City. The incident helped to blend the Catholic Church with local religious traditions. The church has a gift for adaptation. Francis Rocca and Amy Guthrie described the process in the Feb. 13-14 Wall Street Journal. Their article cited R. Andrew Chesnut, who explains, Theres an old saying in Mexico that Mexicans are 90 percent Catholic but 100 percent Guadalupan. Visitors to Mexico City or Los Angeles would agree. Chesnut teaches at Virginia Commonwealth University where he holds the Bishop Walter Sullivan chair in Catholic studies. He concentrates in Latin American religious history. Chesnut has written not only about the Virgin but also about the Pentecostal boom that is reshaping religion and culture in Brazil. His studies put him on the front lines of scholarship. His research will help Americans better understand their neighbors and themselves. Truly, VCU nurtures knowledge not only on campus but in the world at large. The Richmond Ballet also takes a global perspective. The company celebrated Valentines Day with performances of Romeo and Juliet. The ballet told a love story from Renaissance Italy by an Elizabethan playwright set to a score by a Russian. The companys eclectic casts danced the celebrated roles. The passion melted the snow outside; the full house frequently gasped. Several seasons ago the dance critic for The New York Times reviewed Nutcrackers by troupes throughout the country. He gave honor grades to Richmonds production and to the city itself. Richmonds Nutcracker ranked among Americas three best. The local ballet company punches above its weight, as the Romeo and last years Don Quixote suggest. The annual productions of full-length story ballets approach New York standards. The accompaniments by the Richmond Symphony enhance the experience. The sets are of global caliber. Richmond ought to be grateful for the artistry in its midst. The performances at the Richmond Ballets Studio Theatre offer intimate settings. The company debuts new works and presents favorites. We always look forward to its Balanchine. Speaking of Romeo and Juliet: Next season the Richmond Symphony will play Berliozs oratorio based on the Shakespearean play. The love music must be heard to be believed and will prove a highlight of the 2016-17 performing arts season. Concerts belong to the Masterworks series for a reason. And speaking of the Richmond Symphony: From May 6 to 8 the RVA East End Festival: The Gift of Music will be held at Chimborazo Park under the Richmond Symphonys Big Tent, which proved a popular venue during last years cycling championships. The festive days will include performances by the symphony, student ensembles and other groups. A Sunday slate of gospel music will wrap up the event. Admission will be free but the festival hopes to raise through contributions funds to buy musical instruments for youngsters in the East Ends public schools. Future editions will focus on other neighborhoods. The Richmond Ballet and Symphony, the Virginia Opera, other performing arts groups as well as the regions many museums and cultural sites perform educational functions. Their interpretations lift aspirations. Families attend The Nutcracker. Romeo and Juliet drew a young audience, too. We hope the Berlioz concert will attract all ages. Nearly everybody has advice for President Barack Obama about the Supreme Court vacancy caused by the sudden death of Justice Antonin Scalia even Scalia himself. Scalia, although a Harvard Law grad, was a fierce critic of the Harvard-Yale axis on the court and the narrow range of background and experience of the justices whose opinions shape American life. This court consists of only nine men and women, all of them successful lawyers who studied at Harvard or Yale Law School. Four are natives of New York City, eight grew up in East- and West-Coast states, he wrote last June in a dissent in the same-sex marriage case. Only one hails from the vast expanse in between. Not a single Southwesterner or even, to tell the truth, a genuine Westerner (California does not count). Not a single evangelical Christian (a group that comprises about one quarter of Americans), or even a Protestant of any denomination, said Scalia. All the justices are either Jewish or Roman Catholic. Justice Clarence Thomas, a former Baptist whos now a Catholic, joined Scalia, also Catholic, in the dissent. Scalias astringent dissents he was often in the minority won him many fans in law schools, where he loved to lecture, debate and counsel students. Known for his wit and intellect, he was a popular professor at the University of Virginia from 1967 to 1974. He had hired six U.Va. law grads as his clerks in the past 10 years, helping build a path for a new generation to the highest court. A Supreme Court clerkship is often a stepping stone to becoming a federal judge and even a Supreme Court justice. Obama says he will nominate someone with an outstanding legal mind to replace Scalia. The president likely will remember Scalias advice after Justice David Souter announced his retirement in 2009. I hope he sends us someone smart, Scalia told David Axelrod, then Obamas senior adviser, at the White House Correspondents Dinner. Surprised by Scalias overture, Axelrod replied that he was sure the president would do so, he recalled this week in a commentary he wrote for cnn.com. But Scalia persisted. Let me put a finer point on it, the justice said, in a lower, purposeful tone of voice, his eyes fixed on mine. I hope he sends us Elena Kagan, Axelrod wrote. Axelrod was shocked that the courts leading conservative would propose a liberal for the court. But Kagan and Scalia shared intellectual rigor and a robust sense of humor, Axelrod explained, And if Scalia could not have a philosophical ally in the next court appointee, he had hoped, at least, for one with the heft to give him a good honest fight. That time, Obama chose Sonia Sotomayor, the first Hispanic justice. The next year, though, when Justice John Paul Stevens retired, the president did choose Kagan. To expand the courts horizons this time, Obama may nominate someone whose name is unfamiliar to many Americans: Sri Srinivasan (SREE SREE-nee-vah-sun), a federal appeals court judge. Srinivasan, 48, is known for his outstanding legal mind, his collegiality and his open-mindedness. He was born in India, emigrated to the United States as a young child and grew up in Kansas. A graduate of Stanford University with three degrees, he clerked for 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III in Richmond, Va., and Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day OConnor. Wilkinson, a Reagan appointee, has called him lightning smart. The Senate unanimously confirmed Srinivasan to the D.C. Circuit in 2013. He won kudos from Republicans and Democrats, although he drew liberal opposition for representing Exxon Mobil and Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling. As a law clerk in Richmond, Srinivasan and fellow law clerk Ted Cruz became friends. Senator Cruz praised and voted to confirm Srinivasan in 2013 but said Wednesday that if Obama nominates him for the nations highest court, he will not vote for him. Cruz wants the election to be a referendum on the court. Thats politics. Srinivasan would be the first justice from South Asia, the first Hindu on the Supreme Court and the first justice born outside the United States since Felix Frankfurter served from 1939 to 1962. Yes, Mr. President, send someone smart. It looks like nothing was found at this location. Maybe try a search? Search for: Search A Place for All Conservatives to Speak Their Mind. Heres an historical factoid that is well-known to longtime Roanokers but was news to me and may be news to you: Salem Avenue got its name because it used to go to Salem or, at least, to the road that went to Salem. Well before the Civil War, it went west from its intersection with the Carolina Road now Franklin Road at the little hamlet of Big Lick. It followed its present-day path until it came to what is now 17th Street Southwest, where it angled north along present-day Westport Avenue in Hurt Park. It then crossed over the railroad, which at the time was just a single track, after intersecting with what is now 24th Street Northwest, near present-day Shaffers Crossing. Then it continued west, paralleling what is now Baker Avenue Northwest, before turning north again to join the Lynchburg-Salem Turnpike at present-day 30th Street NW. During the early 20th Century, the Norfolk & Western railway expanded its yards to meet industrial demand during WWI. Soon, there were so many tracks that crossing them at-grade was no longer safe. Other roads were cut off as well, and so, during the last century, the railroad had a major hand in reshaping Roanokes transportation network. Theres talk these days of a merger of N&Ws successor, Norfolk Southern Corp., with the Canadian Pacific Railway. If the bid is successful, some of the track may be abandoned, making it easier to go over or under and creating new traffic patterns for the 21st century. Who knows, Salem Avenue may one day go all the way to Salem again. -- Betsy Biesenbach, a reader in Roanoke RICHMOND The bond packages moving through the House of Delegates and Senate include money for planning an expansion of the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute. Neither earmarks any immediate money for construction a divergence from the more expansive $2.4 billion bond proposal rolled out by Gov. Terry McAuliffe in December. But leaders on the General Assembly money committees said the slower approach doesnt reflect a lack of support for the project. Its just part of the process, said Senate Finance Committee Co-Chairman Emmett Hanger, R-Augusta, adding next steps can be discussed once the project is planned and designed. One of the things were trying to do is not do detailed preplanning until weve made a solid commitment that were going to go forward with the project, Hanger said. So the fact that its moved into planning is a strong indication that, when that is done, we will attempt to put funding out there either through cash or bonds to go ahead and build it. The House and Senate both scaled back the bond plan submitted by the governor. McAuliffes proposal included more than $1.6 billion for construction of new state building projects. The Senates bond bill earmarks more than $1.3 billion. The House version has about $1 billion for new construction. The House figure represents a baseline proposal that only includes construction projects that were already planned and designed. It shifted another 27 projects, including five for Virginia Tech, into the planning category. This guarded approach was prompted in part by uncertainty over what the Senate would support, officials said. Sen. Tommy Norment, majority leader and finance co-chairman, voiced concerns about the size of the bond proposal earlier this year. House Appropriations Chairman Chris Jones opted to put together a proposal that prioritized projects that already had been discussed and planned for. The House can then consider adding projects to the construction list later on when it sits down to negotiate an agreement with the Senate, he said. Ive stated very publicly that what were doing is a starting point, Jones, R-Suffolk, said of the House plan. We werent looking to subtract things from our bill. We could certainly add to it. Well have to sit down and work it out. The House and Senate proposals will be sent to a conference committee, a small group of lawmakers from both chambers, to iron out the differences in their bond bills. The Senates proposal includes planning and construction money for Tech to renovate Holden Hall for more engineering classrooms, continue building a new chiller plant and upgrade the livestock research facilities at the Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station all projects included in the governors original proposal. The Senate also added construction money to renovate Techs undergraduate laboratories. Upgrading and expanding its laboratory space has been a priority for Tech, though the university was hoping to get the green light to build an entirely new laboratory building. The House earmarked planning money only for all of Techs projects, including planning for a new lab building. In addition to the construction projects, both bond proposals include $59 million to help upgrade local wastewater treatment systems in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. The House proposal contains $350 million to enhance the Port of Virginia. The Senate is trying to address those projects through the biennial budget rather than the bond package. A Virginia Tech spokeswoman declined to comment on the General Assembly bond bills. The proposed expansion of the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute has been touted as a major step that will allow it to bring in new research teams and expand the scope of its cutting-edge work. Legislation to allow 151-proof clear grain alcohol to be sold in Virginia liquor stores has moved through the General Assembly with the speed of, well, white lightning, prompting public health officials at colleges and universities to ask Gov. Terry McAuliffe to veto the bill. The Virginia College Alcohol Leadership Council warned McAuliffe this week that House Bill 143, which is on its way to the governor after gliding through the legislature with little opposition in either chamber, poses a health threat to students because it would allow the sale of low-priced extreme strength alcohol that is tasteless, odorless, and colorless. These beverages are very low cost, and their unflavored nature makes the level of alcohol difficult to detect, said Steven Clarke, the councils executive director and director of the Campus Alcohol Abuse Prevention Center at Virginia Tech, in a letter to the governor. Clarke warned that the consequences could include an increase in alcohol-related sexual assaults, including use as a weapon by sexual predators. Further, this would likely result in increases in negative consequences for our campuses, such as personal injury, property damage, and academic non-performance, he told the governor. Legislative leaders said the swift passage of the bill, sponsored by Del. Barry Knight, R-Virginia Beach, was not influenced by $5,500 in campaign contributions that Luxco made to legislative political action committees in December. The St. Louis-based company produces Everclear, a neutral grain alcohol product that can be sold at 151 and 190 proof in Virginia only to holders of special permits for industrial, commercial culinary and medical uses, not in state Alcoholic Beverage Control stores. There is no connection between campaign contributions and legislative action, whatsoever, said Matthew Moran, spokesman for House Speaker Bill Howell, R-Stafford, whose Dominion Leadership Trust received $1,500, the largest contribution. Del. Christopher Peace, R-Hanover, who chairs the Commission on Youth, said Friday he would urge the governors office to consider amending the bill to moderate its potential effect on colleges and universities. Peace, who heard a warning about the product to the commission in December, abstained from voting on the bill, which passed the House 97-0 on Feb. 1, but said his misgivings have deepened. I dont like it at all, he said. The legislations promoters say Virginia already allows sale of high-proof liquor brands in state stores and that the states current prohibition on sales of clear, grain spirits above 101-proof or 55.5 percent alcohol dates to an era when 190-proof grain, almost pure alcohol, was sold here. Now, an estimated 16 states still prohibit sale of 190-proof grain, but 151-proof clear grain alcohol can be sold in every state but Virginia and Vermont, as well as at military post exchanges here, said Benson Dendy, a lobbyist for Luxco and president of the Vectre Corp. Dendy said opponents cannot show evidence of greater problems with alcohol consumption on college campuses in states that allow sale of the products than those that do not. This is not a product that is targeted today around college campuses, he said. Instead, Dendy cited company research that shows almost two-thirds of Everclear consumers to be older than 31 and using the product to make infused, hand-crafted cocktails rather than mixing it in trash cans with fruit juices for fraternity parties. Our customers are predominantly middle-age adults, he said. Until 1993, Virginia didnt regulate alcohol by proof. That year, it restricted sale of neutral grain spirit or alcohol above 101 proof in state Alcoholic Beverage Control stores except to people with permits for industrial, commercial, culinary, or medical use. Neutral means without distinctive character, aroma, taste or color. In contrast, Virginia ABC stores sell about 68 products above 101 proof, but they are non-neutral, meaning they have taste, color, and aroma typically rum and various high-end whiskeys. State stores sell Bacardi 151 and Goslings Black Seal rum in various sizes, and two other brands of high-proof rum by special order. The result? In recent history, the administration and top appropriators from both parties have butted heads when it comes to funding priorities for repairing the nations aging locks and dams. On top of that, the executive branch traditionally lowballs the funding for projects and Congress adds the money back, which some see as a budget sleight-of-hand. I think thats part of the challenge, that the president can identify, but members of Congress cant, said House Appropriations Committee ranking member Nita M. Lowey , D-N.Y. Lowey confirmed shes heard frustration from Democrats about appropriators lack of control over which water projects get funded. But she conceded there seems to be little ability for them to make a change. Congressional districts in North Carolina will have to be redrawn for this years electionsand the date of the primary elections will be moved from March 15 to June 7after a Supreme Court decision issued late Friday and other state legislative action. In a one-line order issued near 10 p.m. Friday, the justices denied a request from North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory and state election officials, who asked the justices to allow them to use the current congressional districts for the coming elections. The officials want to appeal a lower court ruling that found two districts were unconstitutional gerrymanders. DEVOTED daughter Denise Reed says she has been left angry and appalled after yobs tried to prise a picture frame off her mothers headstone. Janet Browns ashes were buried at Greasbrough Lane cemetery in Rawmarsh in November after she died age 67 last October. Daughter Miss Reed, of Marrion Road, Rawmarsh, said: I am just so angry that someone can do that to someones property. I think its absolutely appalling. I was so distraught when I saw the damage. I feel like I want to be there 24/7 now. Miss Reed thinks the yobs were after the silver in the picture frame. She said the family would now have to pay for the headstone to be removed. She said: It was distressing to know people could do something like that. Miss Reed said that the family had paid 200-plus to Rotherham Borough Council to pay for crematorium and cemetery services and there should be more security at the site. She said: Headstones are a lot of money and now we have got to pay again to have it repaired. Its just so upsetting knowing that we are trying to come to terms with her being there. The incident, thought to have happened overnight on Wednesday, February 3 into Thursday, February 4, has been reported to South Yorkshire Police. A spokesman asked anyone with any information to contact police on 101, quoting incident 367 of February 4. Dignity, which manages the cemetery on behalf of the council, said there had been no other reports of thefts or damage at the cemetery. A spokesman said: Our staff will remain vigilant but the cemetery is open to the public throughout the day. There are staff on site every day and they keep a watchful eye. Cemeteries are generally safe places and the gates are locked in the evening. Such an isolated incident like this, though distressing, is not representative of cemeteries as a whole. The World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB) has congratulated Jim Pounds, executive vice-president of Dominion Diamond Corp, on his appointment as Vice Chairman of the Diamond Producers Association (DPA) and Jean-Marc Lieberherr as Chief Executive Officer. "I wish Jim and Jean-Marc all the best in their endeavours," said WFDB President Ernie Blom. "This is a critical time for the global diamond industry and we need experienced heads to help guide it forward. Generic diamond marketing is one of the largest challenges facing the industry and is vital in creating increased consumer demand for our amazing product". "The WFDB created the World Diamond Mark three years ago with the aim of increasing consumer awareness of diamond jewellery, and we would be delighted to work together with the DPA in the generic promotion of diamonds. It is vital that the industry stand united in dealing with this challenge, and we stand ready to join forces," Blom concluded. Alex Shishlo, Editor of the Rough&Polished European Bureau in Brussels South Africas National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) has threatened to go on strike should De Beers Consolidated Mines (DBCM) proceeds with plans to cut its 2,236-strong workforce by 189 positions. The union was quoted by Mining Weekly as saying that it was extremely disgusted by the move to layoff workers as there was no rationale for the diamond company to do so. "The company must stop these retrenchments or face the possible closure of the mine." "The NUM is not going to allow them to retrench, the union said. Once the 60 days of consultations has lapsed, we will issue a certificate to strike and close the mine. De Beers had indicated earlier in the week that 68 of the 189 positions might be reduced without retrenchments, by natural attrition from retirements and the redeployment of employees. The remaining 121 affected positions were concentrated at DBCMs corporate offices in Kimberley and Johannesburg, as well as at the Venetia diamond mine and underground project, according to Mining Weekly. De Beers, just like other diamond companies, had been facing the brunt of weak diamond market, which saw it cutting back on production targets several times last year. The group also shut down its Snap Lake diamond mine in Canada late last year and placed put the Damtshaa mine in Botswana onto care-and-maintenance in January. Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished ALROSA's shares will not be a priority in terms of privatization Trutnev 20 february 2016 News (TASS) - ALROSA's shares will not be a priority in terms of privatization. This was the opinion expressed by Yury Trutnev, Deputy Prime Minister and Presidential Plenipotentiary Envoy to the Far Eastern Federal District of the Russian Federation. I do not think that the stake in ALROSA will be a priority on the sales list. The reasons for this are obvious, as the companys EBITDA exceeds 100 (billion rubles), so it may be easier to increase its annual disbursement (of dividends - Ed.), then the state will retain its block of shares, Yury Trutnev said. He added that now it was not exactly the time when you have to sell, since now it is the time to buy. To sell the companys shares at the bottom of the market is not a very good story. We will lose on the economic situation and on the stock volume, Yury Trutnev added, noting that the sale of ALROSA should not be rushed. ALROSA will accept any decision, which will be taken by the Russian government on the privatization of the company, Rinat Gizatulin, Vice President of ALROSA told TASS. ALROSA will accept any decision, which will be taken by the Russian government based on the discussion attended by Andrey Zharkov, the head of the company, after its approval by the President of the Russian Federation, he said. The vice president added that so far it has not been decided what kind of stake in the company will be offered for a public float. USA kills Yemeni people with GCC funds SANA'A, Feb. 16 (Saba) - The costs of the U.S. logistic support to Asifat al-Hazm, (Operation Decisive Storm) offensive mounted by the Saudi-led coalition against Yemen, reached more than US$ 174 billion in 10 months While the United States of America (USA) is implementing its big project in the Middle East region, the Gulf Corporation Council (GCC) countries open the doors of their treasuries widely to finance this project, as a second task beside their main task as tools for the project implementation. These countries will not gain anything from this dual task, but wasting their funds. They will discover that the threats targeting their national security were just a Hollywood trick. Written by Hussein al-Junaid In the first place, we have to put this question: If the U.S. project is targeting the whole region, why the GCC states will be excepted from that? To answer this question, we should know that the U.S. project moves on two directions. In the first direction, the project targets some countries directly, and in the second direction it targets some others indirectly. The GCC states are among the indirectly-targeted countries because they are allies of the USA and its protectorates. The USA has drawn its plan in a proficient manner to push those countries to engage in and plunge into the project automatically through representing the American will in the implementation and facing the consequences that will lead them to destruction. Thus, the USA would have achieved its purpose by getting rid of those countries indirectly. American Plot and Gulf Stupidity Launching its project, the USA started attacking the Gulf entity political mind through provoking its latent fears from losing thrones and utilizing its feeling of military inability to deter any aspiring power. The USA worked on feeding this feeling through the lake monster strategy; by creating delusive enemies. Iran and its nuclear project was the ideal model of this monster, which the Gulf entity should be afraid of it. Thus, the Gulf entity began purchasing weapons hysterically from the USA to enhance its defensive abilities in preparation for any Iranian attack. According to a report issued by IDEX Organization, the gross value of the weapons deals, which the GCC countries have concluded with the USA between the years from 2002 to 2012, amounted to about $ 500 billion (at an average equals $ 70 billion per year). This is aside from the costs of the maintenance, spare parts and military training programs, which reach more than US$ 12 billion. For accelerating the project implementation, the USA advised Saudi Arabia to move from the defensive readiness square to the preventive attack square, according to the fourth generation strategy of wars based on proxy war. In other words, through targeting the internal communities by organizations via a regional strategy to hit the countries it believe they pose a threat to its national security. Some GCC states, topped by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) resorted to fund and to direct Al-Qaeda and Daesh organizations toward the targeted countries directly by USA, like Iraq, Syria, Libya and Yemen. As a result, the USA achieved the first phase of its project successfully. Asifat al-Hazm and the Biggest American Profit The USA was not content with the Iranian monster. Therefore, it made another lake monster to push the GCC states to implement its project, believing that they should face this monsters danger in order to maintain their strategic national security. The USA chose Yemen particularly because it is the model it was not able to destroy it in the Arab Spring scheme. Yemen freed from the U.S. control through the September 21 Revolution, which put an end to the subjection to abroad. So, the USA placed the features of the hypothetical monster in this revolution and its leaders and exported this illusion to the GCC countries and linked it to Iran, via an allegation that Yemens expansionary revolutionary project tends towards the neighboring countries according to an Iranian agenda. For this reason, the GCC states announced the state of alert and took up arms to defend their strategic national security, which is allegedly threatened by Yemen. They waged a pre-emptive war against Yemen and destroyed everything in the country. Thus, the USA took its revenge on Yemen via the stupid Gulf entity and profited in three directions; the first is that it destroyed Yemen to subjugate it, the second is the profits it gained from this war and the third is drowning the Gulf entity in the war swamp in order to be exhausted economically and financially, which would lead it to the collapse. Asifat al-Hazm Bill After ten months from the aggression on Yemen, The emphasis is on the scale of the destruction wrought by the American war machine through the Gulf tools, without paying attention to the massive losses in the other site. Some observers see that Yemen incurred fatal losses at the human, developmental and economic levels due to this aggression. But the steadfastness of the Yemeni people during this period made a global din, not only at the level of the military victories, but also at the level of weakening the economy of the richest countries in the world. In this regard, the U.S. Foreign Policy Magazine published a report, in which it revealed some costs of the Gulf war on Yemen. In light of the report, which summarized the aggression bill during six months only, we will expand the bill to include ten months as in the following table: The military service Cost/ hour Cost / day Cost / month Total cost in 10 months Two warships accompanied by frigates $300 million $9 billion $90 billion Two spy satellites $2 million $48 million $1.044 billion $14.4 billion Extracting satellites data $10 million $300 million $3 billion AWACS planes $250,000 $6 million $180 million $1.8 billion Weapon deals $65 billion Total cost in ten months US$ 174,200,000,000 Without mentioning the air raids costs, the statistics of the U.S. magazine, during six month from the aggression, stated that more than 150 fighter jets carried out nearly 35 thousands raids and dropped 140 thousands missiles and bombs of various types on targets, mostly civilian and populated areas. The used missiles included 40 thousands missiles of small size, with a total value amounts to six billion dollars (each missile costs $ 150,000). The Saudi-led coalition warplanes dropped also 50 thousands missiles of the medium size with a total cost reached $ 15 billion (each missile costs $ 300,000), as well as 50 thousand missiles of big size with a total value amounted to $ 25 billion (each missile costs $ 500,000). The cost of the air supply, fuel, maintenance, spare parts and Kerosene for an aircraft in each raid amounted to $ 150 thousand, which brings the total cost of all raids to five billion dollars, in addition to the air supplying planes that costs two millions dollars per day. With respect to the wages of the Blackwater mercenaries, press sources have mentioned that the wage of each fighter amounts to $ 1,500 per day (About $ 45,000 per month). We have to mention here that the costs included in this report are only the costs flowing into the U.S. treasury. The report did not touch on the costs the GCC states incurred in their aggression on Yemen and at the other levels; for example the funds spent in buying the consciences and loyalties in Yemen and the attitudes of some countries, whether via a symbolic participation in the aggression or providing the regional and international political cover for this aggression. As such, the dairy costs of the war at the land lever were not accounted. So, to which number the bill of this aggression costs will reach? Harvest of the Dual Project By looking closely in the course of what the USA is doing, the vision becomes clearer that it reaps the most abundant harvest in all directions. All these astronomical numbers of money squandered by the Gulf entities have been poured into the U.S. treasury. These entities will not earn anything in exchange for their service to the American project and from the outcome of the illusion sold to them by their major ally. Do these entities realize that they are on their way to economic collapses; due to the depletion of their wealth by the USA? And thus, the second phase of the American project is achieved by devastating the states of this direction in an indirect manner and without their knowledge. Given that these countries are just banks, if they run out their balances, they announce their collapse automatically, with no need to detonate the situations from inside them like the directly-targeted countries. BA Saba Facebook Facebook Twitter Twitter Whatsapp Whatsapp Telegram Telegram Email Email Print Print [16/February/2016] By SA Commercial Prop News The Northern Cape is ready for the establishment of special economic zones, says the Department of Trade and Industry (dti). Speaking at a public hearing on the draft Special Economic Zones Bill and Policy in the Northern Cape, the departments Head of Regional and Spatial Economic Development, Alfred Tau, said: The kind of enthusiasm and level of engagement and commitment that characterised todays session has left us with no doubt that the Northern Cape is ready for business when it comes to the establishment and development of special economic zones. The Bill was gazetted by Minister Rob Davies last month. It aims to provide for an effective mechanism for the development, operation and management of special economic zones to promote accelerated industrial development and industrial decentralisation. There is no doubt that your valuable inputs will go a long way in enriching the new legislation, he said of the public engagement session. Two special economic zones are planned for the Northern Cape and the dti has already begun talks with the provincial government in establishing the zones. The zones are expected to assist the country address some of South Africas socio-economic challenges like unemployment and poverty. South Africa still experiences a high unemployment rate, particularly amongst the countrys youth, as well as high levels of poverty and inequality. The special economic zones, as proposed in the draft bill and policy, will be used as one of the tools that government will apply in order to address some of these challenges, explained Tau. Since the introduction of the Industrial Development Zones by the dti in 2000, significant changes have happened such as changes in the countrys industrial and economic policies. This includes the introduction of new policies and strategies like the New Growth Path and the National Development Plan. In the national budget tabled last week, R2.3 billion was allocated to the department for industrial development and special economic zones. Infrastructure Development Support chief director at the department, Kaya Ngqaka, said that the new legislation would promote the development of world-class infrastructure in each region in line with the needs of the targeted industries. Submission made by those attending the session in Northern Cape and others throughout the country will be considered when the bill and policy are finalised. BuaNews A first-of-its-kind journey along India and Pakistan border What binds the two most talked about nations - India and Pakistan together? What makes the Another car wash company is coming to Salina The growth of car wash services have been increasing in Salina the past few years, with another coming after approval by the city. News / National by Stephen Jakes A political commentator Makhelithi Ndiweni has said as long as the Zimbabwe political system is exclusive and despotic Zimbabwe will remain a laughing stock."By thinking that China is or the people of the East can save Zimbabwe from the economic meltdown, Zimbabwe policy makers are day dreaming," he said. "Why is China not helping her friend Zimbabwe with a 20 billion dollar loan that will see an instant economic recovery?"He said China is a new imperialist, she is a dangerous capitalist, she is a time bomb waiting to explode, China have a dream to rule the world taking the advantage of her population!"Imagine if about 2million Chinese acquires citizenship of Botswana wat will happen to that nation of less than 2 million people? Zimbabwe is being sold to China whilst we are watching! If the Chinese are our real friends, with those trillions of US dollars stashed in their bank as rerseves what can stop them from lending a friend a soft loan of 20 billion? China is the 21st Imperialist," he said. An open race for a Superior Court judges seat could become one of the juiciest elections in town. The most high-profile candidates are Paul Henderson, Mayor Ed Lees deputy chief of staff for public safety, and Victor Hwang, a civil rights attorney who also serves on the Police Commission. Two other lawyers have thrown their names into the race: civil litigator Sigrid Irias, a past president of the San Francisco La Raza Lawyers Association, and DUI defense attorney Bruce Kapsack. But, in the world of City Hall, all the chatter is about Henderson and Hwang. Both are politically connected and their careers have often overlapped. Hwang served as an assistant district attorney from 2007 to 2014, mainly in charge of hate crimes and human trafficking prosecutions. He started his career in the Los Angeles public defenders office. He is also the fiance of Ivy Lee, chief of staff to Supervisor Jane Kim. Henderson also worked in the district attorneys office, from 1995 to 2011, the last four year as chief of administration. He ran for district attorney, withdrawing shortly after former Mayor Gavin Newsom appointed then-Police Chief George Gascon to the position in 2011. The June election is to fill the seat of Judge Ernest H. Goldsmith, who has said he will retire April 14. If no candidate wins at least 51 percent of the vote, the top two vote-getters will face each other in November. Both Hwang and Henderson said they have the mayors endorsement, but theres no word on that from the mayors office. Hwang also said he has Gascons endorsement. Henderson said he was scheduled to meet with Gascon on Friday to ask for his support. Asked why voters should elect him, Hwang said he is the only candidate who has tried a substantial number of cases, and the only one who has practiced law extensively in both the civil and criminal arena. All of the other candidates have done one or the other, he said. Henderson, who is gay and African American, said the bench needs more diversity. The fact that there has never been an openly gay, black judge in San Francisco is shameful, he said. Its really important to have people on the bench who reflect the community being served. Well see how it plays out. Emily Green New captain: The Port of San Francisco is getting a new leader and is sticking close to home. Mayor Ed Lee appointed Port Deputy Director Elaine Forbes as interim director this week. She replaces Executive Director Monique Moyer, who held the job for 16 years and is resigning at the end of the month. The port manages 7 miles of waterfront property that includes Fishermans Wharf and those popular renovated piers along the Embarcadero, as well as the small working port on the citys south end. Moyer oversaw the development of the James R. Herman Cruise Terminal at Pier 27 as well as the Exploratorium. The mayor said in a statement that Forbes is a proven leader with a strong background in policy and financial management. He said the city is undertaking a national search to fill the job permanently. Emily Green A 61-year-old San Pablo man was pronounced dead early Saturday, hours after being struck by a tow truck in Richmond, police said. The incident occurred on the 12600 block of San Pablo Avenue at around 6:53 p.m. Friday, police said. The pedestrian, Leonard Lua, was crossing eastward on San Pablo between Solano and Garvin avenues when he was struck by the commercial tow truck, which was going south on San Pablo Avenue, said Lt. Andre Hill, a spokesman for the Richmond Police Department. Hes been in the book dealing business for more than 15 years, but Lawrence Van De Carr said hed never come across such a jewel of a title: a mint copy of Isaac Asimovs 1950 classic I, Robot valued at $8,500. That novel, once a prized possession of Van De Carrs, is now gone, along with around 400 of his other books worth well over $350,000. Someone stole his van while it was parked outside a friends Oakland home this week. The thing about that book is it was as new as the day it was published. Just a perfect, perfect copy. It glistened, Van De Carr lamented. Its my livelihood, its how I make a living, added Van De Carr, owner of Bookleggers Books in Chicago. Now, I have nothing. One suspect has been arrested, he said, but his van filled with novels penned by Faulkner, Hemingway and Cormac McCarthy, among other famous authors, has not been found. Van De Carr has spent more than a decade making several visits to the Bay Area for annual book fairs. He just attended fairs in San Mateo and Pasadena, and like always, planned to stay with a friend in Oakland in February, avoiding the harsh winter in Chicago for at least a short while. He said he parked his silver 2008 Ford van outside his friends home Monday afternoon. But when he went outside Tuesday morning, it was gone. First he called the Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America. The group sent out a warning to its network of book dealers to be on the lookout for the stolen books. Van de Carr said he called Oakland police around 11 a.m. Monday to report the theft. Everyone was on the lookout for these books and sure enough someone showed up four hours later, he said. Joshua Anderson, 30, went to Moes Books in Berkeley shortly after the bookseller association sent out an alert. He and an alleged accomplice had four books, valued around $14,000, that they were trying to sell, said John Wong, manager at the store. Among the classic first-editions they were trying to deal were A Hornbook for Witches: Poems of Fantasy by Leah Bodine Drake, one of only 563 known copies; No Country for Old Men by McCarthy, Always Comes Evening by Robert E. Howard, and Pylon by William Faulkner. The men said they got the valuable volumes from a deceased uncle, but Anthony, one of Wongs employees, wasnt buying it. Anthony was suspicious because they had said they were left by their uncle, Wong said, adding that he and his employees had just been made aware of the stolen books when the pair walked into Telegraph Avenue store. Anthony, who did not want his last named used, stalled the men by sending them up to the fourth-floor rare books section, while he called police. When officers arrived, one of the men escaped through a back door, but Anderson ran out through the front, where he was caught and arrested, Wong said. Alameda County Sheriffs Office online records show a man with the same name was arrested in Berkeley Tuesday on suspicion of making a false check and appropriating loss property, among other charges. Oakland Police would not comment on the case and Berkeley Police were not immediately available. Were probably the largest open book shop in the Bay Area, Wong said. Its probably natural they would have come here. The second man has yet to be apprehended, but he might still be attempting to unload the books. Van de Carr said that after Anderson was arrested, he got a call from an El Cerrito bookstore reporting a man was there trying to sell rare books. He said he recognized the titles as those from this stolen van. Now, Van de Carr, still without his car, is stranded in the Bay Area. He said he will wait until the end of the month before deciding whether to rent a car or fly back to Chicago. Police throughout the Bay Area are on the watch for Van de Carrs 2008 silver Ford van with the Illinois license plate number E-91496. Jenna Lyons is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: jlyons@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @JennaJourno This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate BRUSSELS Britain is thinking of leaving. Greece feels isolated. Austria and Denmark are pushing controversial measures for coping with asylum-seekers despite what their neighbors think. Tensions among European Union leaders at last weeks summit in Brussels have highlighted a gnawing lack of confidence that the bloc of 28 nations can provide timely answers to Europes challenges. Rarely has the EU seemed as fragmented and impotent as it did last week, when leaders grappled with a possible British exit and tried to find a united response to the refugee emergency. The fact that every policy being discussed is strongly contested is fueling doubts as to whether the EU and its members will be able to match their rhetoric with concrete actions by cooperating more closely, Janis Emmanouilidis at the European Policy Center think tank wrote in an analysis. Still barely recovering from an economic crisis that rivaled the Great Depression, Europe is now struggling with its biggest refugee crisis in well over half a century. The arrival of more than 1 million people fleeing conflict or poverty for better lives in a far wealthier Europe has overwhelmed border authorities and reception capacities. It has stoked unfounded fears of a threat to Europes cultural identity and even religion, the arrival of extremism or the theft of jobs. As tens of thousands of people have packed into trains or hiked Europes highways north from Greece toward their dream of having a home in Germany or Sweden, nations have erected fences or tightened border controls unilaterally, putting pressure on their EU partners. The Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia are working together, pushing for a clampdown on borders along the main migrant transit route through the Balkans. Out of step And even nations like Austria and Denmark are out of step with other EU nations. Austria has surprised its partners by limiting the number of asylum-seekers it will let in, a move the EUs Executive Commission maintains breaks European and international law. Denmark, meanwhile, has moved to take away some assets from asylum-seekers to help pay for their housing and food. The problem is that everyone sees the situation from their individual standpoint and waits for the other to move first in implementing those necessary solutions, European Parliament President Martin Schulz told leaders in Brussels. Lamentably, this crisis is exposing serious fault-lines within our union. The crisis is also hurting Europe on a psychological level, with the refugee response going counter to its proclaimed values and possibilities as a powerful, relatively prosperous world trading bloc. Professor Hendrik Vos of Belgiums University of Ghent, says EU migration policy is hardening. Hungarys populist leader, Viktor Orban, has erected razor-wire fences. The language may be a bit less aggressive, and there are humanitarian concerns, but the policy is really going in the direction of: How do we keep the refugees out? he said. The fear of EU migrant workers taking advantage of Britains welfare system is partly driving Prime Minister David Camerons push for a referendum this summer on whether his country should leave. On Friday, he won a hard-fought deal for a less intrusive EU after 31 hours of tense talks with EU partners. The summit was sent into overtime as Cameron pushed his partners for reforms that include limiting benefits to those migrant workers, ensuring that nations like Britain that are outside the euro currency union dont have to pay for euro needs, as well as simplifying EU bureaucracy. In exchange, he pledged to campaign for Britain to stay in the bloc. But it doesnt stop with Britains future or the refugee emergency. Italys economic woes have seen Prime Minister Matteo Renzi aggressively take German Chancellor Angela Merkel to task on the economy, migration and energy policy. While ostensibly Europes driving force, Merkel has also become synonymous with the austerity measures imposed on countries like Greece to meet fiscal targets and budget plans. Through it all, the future of Greece, with a communist government elected a year ago, remaining in the euro single currency has been called into question. Resisting pressure Poland too is making its voice heard. Riding a populist wave to power, the new right-leaning government in Warsaw refuses to allow policy to be dictated from outside. It is resisting EU pressure to amend new laws that restrict the media and changes to its constitution that its EU partners argue are not compatible with Europes approach to the rule of law. The upshot is that the more Europe bickers, the worse things are likely to get. In a world of globalization, there is a drive for new narratives. So its easy for populist parties to criticize what is happening in Europe, said Daniela Schwarzer, Europe program director at the German Marshall Fund. There are societies in Europe in different stages of development, she said, adding that some EU countries, in Eastern Europe and the Baltics in particular, have little experience with migration and the influx of new religions and cultures. If Europe brings this to the country then Europe is seen as being to blame, she said. News / National by Staff reporter Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa has left for Rome to attend the 9th edition of the International Conference of the Ministers of Justice.The conference which is being held under the theme: 'No Justice Without Life' is expected to discuss the abolition of the death sentence.The Vice President who is also the Minister of Justice is expected to address the conference on Zimbabwe's position regarding the death penalty.The conference runs from the 22nd to the 23rd of this month.Zimbabwe has made great strides in removing numbers of offences that attract the death penalty and the new constitution has provisions that exempt women from facing capital punishment.The Vice President is accompanied by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Mrs Virginia Mabhiza and senior government officials from the ministry. Bill Hutchinson A 72-year-old woman suffered critical head trauma after a car collided with her in South San Francisco on Thursday night as she was walking across a street. The driver was going north on the 400 block of Alida Way near Country Club Drive about 8 p.m. when he plowed into the woman crossing the street in a marked crosswalk, police said. She was transported to San Francisco General Hospital with major injuries. A man was fatally stabbed in San Jose early Saturday, police said. Police went to the 3200 block of South White Road in San Jose at 12:40 a.m. and discovered two men with at least one stab wound each, said San Jose Police Department spokesman Officer Albert Morales. The men were taken to a hospital, where one was pronounced dead, he said. The other victim has non-life-threatening injuries. Neither of the men was identified. No arrests have been made in the case, and police are investigating. Hamed Aleaziz is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: haleaziz@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @haleaziz WASHINGTON Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy on Friday waded into the controversy surrounding the Supreme Court vacancy, saying Republicans were guilty of a terrible lie in arguing the Senate customarily does not confirm justices in the final year of a presidents term. The Senate should do its job, Malloy told reporters after he met the president at the White House with 12 other Democratic governors. If they dont, the people should hold them accountable. Malloy is chairman of the Democratic Governors Association and was in the nations capital, along with his counterparts, to attend the mid-winter meeting of the National Governors Association. At the White House meeting, the president and the governors discussed topics, including the minimum wage, jobs, redistricting and health care. There was only passing reference to the vacancy created by the abrupt death last Saturday of Justice Antonin Scalia. But after the meeting, Malloy took the opportunity to excoriate Republicans led by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., for saying the Senate should neither consider nor confirm a nominee in President Barack Obamas final year in office. We have a Constitution, lets live by it, Malloy said. Make a nomination, take it up and, quite frankly, if the candidate is eligible, (he or she) should be approved. Malloy is one of the Obama administrations favored governors, and he has been more than willing to return the compliment. He said the meeting with the president was nostalgic, leading Democratic governors to reflect on a mutual agenda of lowering unemployment, access to health insurance via Obamacare, and state minimum-wage laws like the one Malloy signed last year, which raised Connecticuts minimum to $10.10. But it was the Supreme Court vacancy and the 2016 presidential race that got Malloy and the other Democratic governors going as they emerged from their meeting and met reporters. Republicans fear a liberal appointed by Obama to replace Scalia, the courts leading conservative, could tip the court to the left for the first time in decades. Republican Senate leaders wrote that American voters on Election Day should decide for themselves who should appoint the justice to fill Scalias seat. Rarely does a Supreme Court vacancy occur in the final year of a presidential term, and the Senate has not confirmed a nominee to fill a vacancy arising in such circumstances for the better part of a century, said McConnell and Senate Judiciary Chairman Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, in an op-ed. Malloy accused Republicans of making up new rules about no confirmations in a presidents final year in office. Its a terrible lie, he said. It should stop. The last instance of a confirmation in a presidents final year in office was 1988, when the Senate confirmed Justice Anthony Kennedy, who had been nominated in 1987 in the wake of the Senate turning down controversial conservative jurist Robert Bork. On the 2016 race for the Democratic nomination, Malloy reiterated his support for former first lady and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. She is the best candidate for president and ultimately, come November, would have the broadest appeal, Malloy said. Malloy was asked whether he thought Clintons chief rival, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., is electable. Clearly he has been, Malloy joked, referring to Sanders long history in politics in Vermont as a mayor, House member and senator. Nevertheless, Malloy said, Clinton is the most electable, no matter how many millions of dollars folks spend to try to bring her candidacy down. Clinton just keeps going, he said. Shes the little engine that can. dan@hearstdc.com Julia Lezhneva Classical The debut recital disc by the Russian soprano Julia Lezhneva two years ago, a collection of Baroque selections aptly titled Alleluia, suggested the arrival of a formidable vocal talent, one blessed with a distinctive combination of technical brilliance, tonal elegance and expressive directness. This follow-up release, though perhaps not quite as dazzling, confirms that impression. This time around, Lezhneva has concentrated her focus on Handel, specifically the music from his early sojourn in Italy. The selections are drawn from oratorios and such early operas as Rodrigo and Agrippina music that shows the composer creating the expressive lexicon that would shape his mature theatrical masterpieces and its wonderfully congenial to Lezhnevas bright, fervid sound and ferocious mastery of coloratura. Theres even an enchanting bit of sacred music, a setting of Salve Regina, that combines reverence with theatrical panache. Giovanni Antonini and the period ensemble Il Giardino Armonico provide vivacious accompaniments. Joshua Kosman JULIA LEZHNEVA HANDEL ARIAS IL GIARDINO ARMONICO; GIOVANNI ANTONINI DECCA $18.99 FORT WORTH, Texas A judge on Friday sent the Texas teenager who used an affluenza defense in a fatal drunken-driving wreck to adult court, raising the possibility that he could get jail time for the 2013 crash that killed four people. Ethan Couch was 16 at the time of the crash. During his juvenile trial, a defense expert invoked the term affluenza while arguing that Couchs wealthy parents had coddled him into a sense of irresponsibility. Fridays ruling means the now 18-year-old Couch could face up to 120 days in jail, then finish his 10-year probation. If he violates his probation during that time, he could get up to 10 years in prison for each of the four people killed in the crash. Among those attending the hearing was Sergio Molina, who was riding in the back of Couchs pickup and was paralyzed by the wreck. He can only communicate by blinking his eyes. Molina attended with his mother and brother, Alexander Lemus, who said that what he wanted from the Couches was that they pay. The judge ordered that the case be transferred before Couch turns 19 in April. He remains in custody. Couchs attorney, Scott Brown, did not fight the transfer. Couch and his mother disappeared in December, as prosecutors investigated whether he had violated his probation. They were later found in Mexico and deported. Couchs blood-alcohol level was three times the legal limit for adult drivers when he rammed a pickup truck into a crowd of people trying to help a stranded motorist on the side of a road near Fort Worth. Authorities believe that Couch and his mother, Tonya Couch, fled to Mexico after an online video surfaced that appeared to show Ethan Couch at a party where alcohol was being served. Drinking alcohol would be a violation of his probation. WASHINGTON Despite Bernie Sanders win in New Hampshire, Hillary Clinton is adding to her big lead among the delegates who will choose the Democratic nominee for president. Since the New Hampshire primary, Clinton has picked up endorsements from 89 more superdelegates to the Democratic National Convention, and Sanders has added just 11, according to a new Associated Press survey. These party leaders and elected officials can change their minds. But if they continue to back Clinton overwhelmingly, Sanders would have to win the remaining primaries by a landslide just to catch up. He would have to roll up big margins because every Democratic contest awards delegates in proportion to the vote, so even the loser can get some. After the contests in Iowa and New Hampshire, Sanders has a small 36-32 lead among delegates won in primaries and caucuses. But when superdelegates are included, Clinton leads 483-55, including two new superdelegate endorsements she picked up on Friday, according to the AP count. Its essentially a parallel election that underscores Clintons lopsided support from the Democratic establishment. The disparity is sparking a backlash among some Sanders supporters, who complain that the Democratic nominating process is decidedly undemocratic, rigged in favor of Clinton. Some of them are contacting superdelegates who have publicly endorsed Clinton. Their message isnt subtle, or always welcome. They were saying Were not going to forget this, said Lacy Johnson, an Indiana superdelegate who backs Clinton. Im an African American male who is in my 60s, Johnson said. I have experienced the struggles. The experiences they are sharing dont faze me in comparison. Superdelegates have been part of the Democratic Partys nominating process since 1984. They automatically attend the national convention and can support the candidate of their choice, regardless of whom primary voters back. They are party leaders members of Congress, party officials and members of the Democratic National Committee. There are 712 Democratic superdelegates, about 30 percent of the 2,382 delegates needed to claim the nomination. Republicans have far fewer automatic delegates who can back the candidate of their choice. Clintons campaign expresses confidence that she will maintain a strong lead among superdelegates even as she focuses on state-by-state voting. Our campaign strategy is to build a lead with pledged delegates won in primaries and caucuses, spokesman Jesse Ferguson said in an e-mail. MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. The Republican battle for South Carolina turned deeply personal on the eve of Saturdays high-stakes presidential primary, as New York businessman Donald Trump eyed a delegate sweep and his Republican rivals fought for a southern surprise. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, the son of a pastor, evoked the body of Christ in his closing message while fending off allegations of campaign misconduct in a state where most Republicans identify as evangelical Christians. At the same time, Trump allies took subtle shots at Pope Francis for questioning the Republican front-runners devotion to Christian principles. Ohio Gov. John Kasich opened up about the death of his parents. And Jeb Bush turned to his mother to help revive his underdog campaign. Friday marked an emotionally charged day in the campaign, with 50 delegates up for grabs in Saturdays primary contest. Candidates were also trying to stoke some badly needed momentum heading into the next phase of the campaign March 1s Super Tuesday. Trump appeared to hold a commanding lead less than 24 hours before voting began in South Carolina. With a big win, the billionaire businessman could take home most, if not all, of the states 50 delegates. Such a victory would mark a particularly painful blow to Cruz, whose consistent focus on Christian values and southern roots should have given him a distinct advantage. As the undisputed Republican front-runner, Trump was a popular target in the final-hours scramble for votes. Trump values are not South Carolina values, the states senior senator, Lindsey Graham, charged during a Charleston rally for Bush. Former first lady Barbara Bush offered a positive contrast with her sons values: Hes steady. Hes honest. He is modest. He is kind, and he is good. Trumps campaign continued trying to brush off an extraordinary criticism from Francis the day before. When asked about Trumps call to build a massive wall on the U.S.-Mexican border, the leader of the Roman Catholic Church said those who seek to build walls instead of bridges are not Christian. Trump called the popes words disgraceful on Thursday, but offered a distinctly softer jab as he courted South Carolina voters on Friday. Yesterday, the pope was great, Trump told an audience in Myrtle Beach. They had him convinced that illegal immigration was like a wonderful thing. Not wonderful for us. Its wonderful for Mexico. In the same city, Cruz took a veiled shot at Trumps campaign motto, featured on hats, T-shirts and bumper stickers. Its easy to say, Lets Make America Great Again, he said. But, he asked, Do you understand what made America great in the first place? While Cruz wanted to be on offense, his campaign faced new questions about a website it created this week attacking rival Marco Rubios record. The site features a photo of Rubio shaking hands with President Obama. After Rubios team complained, Cruzs campaign acknowledged that the photo was manufactured using a computer program. Every picture in a political campaign is Photoshopped, Cruz spokesman Rick Tyler told Fox News when pressed to explain the tactic. ST. FRANCISVILLE, La. The last inmate of a group known as the Angola Three pleaded no contest Friday to manslaughter in the 1972 death of a prison guard and was released after more than four decades in prison. Albert Woodfox and two other men became known as the Angola Three for their decades-long stays in isolation at the Louisiana Penitentiary at Angola and other prisons. Officials said they were kept in solitary because their Black Panther Party activism would otherwise incite inmates at the maximum-security prison farm in Angola. Woodfox consistently maintained his innocence in the killing of guard Brent Miller. He was being held at the West Feliciana Parish Detention Center in St. Francisville, about 30 miles north of Baton Rouge. He was awaiting a third trial in Millers death after earlier convictions were thrown out by federal courts for reasons including racial bias in selecting a grand jury foreman. Woodfox, who turned 69 on the day he was released from custody, spoke to supporters briefly outside the jail before driving off with his brother. He said he wanted to visit his mothers grave site. She died while he was in prison, and Woodfox said he was not allowed to go to the funeral. As to whether he would have done anything differently back in 1972, Woodfox responded: When forces are beyond your control, theres not a lot you can do. Angola was a very horrible place at the time, and everybody was just fighting to survive from day to day. In a news release earlier Friday, Woodfox thanked his brother and other supporters who have lobbied over the years for his release. Although I was looking forward to proving my innocence at a new trial, concerns about my health and my age have caused me to resolve this case now and obtain my release with this no contest plea to lesser charges. I hope the events of today will bring closure to many, he said. He had been twice convicted of murder and pleaded no contest Friday to manslaughter and aggravated burglary. At the time of Millers killing, Woodfox was serving time for armed robbery and assault. Inmates identified him as the one who grabbed the guard from behind while others stabbed Miller with a lawnmower blade and a hand-sharpened prison knife. The star witness, a serial rapist who left Death Row and was pardoned by the Louisiana governor after his testimony, died before the second trial. Woodfox was placed in solitary immediately after Millers body was found, and then was ordered kept on extended lockdown every 90 days for decades. The other Angola Three inmates were Herman Wallace, who died a free man in October 2013, just days after a judge granted him a new trial in Millers death, and Robert King, who was released in 2001 after his conviction in the death of a fellow inmate was overturned. WASHINGTON With pageantry, spirituality and a touch of his trademark humor, Justice Antonin Scalia was honored Saturday as a capital riven by his death briefly set down its political weapons to mourn what his son called the countrys good servant. The nations leaders gathered in the cavernous Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception for a mostly solemn, two-hour funeral Mass. The longest-serving member of the current Supreme Court, Scalia died at age 79 last weekend at a Texas ranch after almost 30 years on the highest bench. The funeral, only the second for a sitting justice in more than 60 years, was one of those ritual Washington moments when the perpetual struggle at the intersection of law and politics is briefly suspended to honor one of the capitals most celebrated and cheerfully controversial gladiators. Scalia, who relished a vigorous debate, would hardly be surprised by the fierce battle that has erupted over his now-vacant seat, but his admirers hoped to focus for a few hours at least on his powerful legacy. He was remembered as much for his faith and family as his jurisprudence, as one of his sons, the Rev. Paul Scalia, delivered an eloquent homily that emphasized his devout Catholicism. The funeral was the first for a sitting member of the court since Chief Justice William Rehnquist died in 2005 and only the second since Justice Robert Jackson died in 1954. Scalias body lay in repose Friday in the Great Hall of the Supreme Court, where President Obama and the eight other justices paid their respects along with the justices widow, Maureen, and their nine children. Donald Trump, the presidential candidate, chided Obama on Twitter for not attending the funeral. I wonder if President Obama would have attended the funeral of Justice Scalia if it were held in a Mosque? he wrote. Trump did not attend either. But Trump rival Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas did, returning to Washington even as voting opened in South Carolinas Republican primary. Cruz who argued before the high court and Scalia nine times, mostly in representing Texas as its solicitor general has pledged to block any Obama nominee to replace Scalia. News / National by Staff reporter A group of senior Zanu-PF officials in Masvingo have distanced themselves from a decision taken by the province last week.Last week the province took a decision that they do not accept the National Political Commissar Saviour Kasukuwere's decision to suspend chairperson Ezra Chadzamira.Drama has characterised Masvingo since then.This Saturday, Amasi Nenjana who was announced acting chairman, convened a meeting attended by some members of the party's provincial leadership and distanced themselves from last week's meeting called by Chadzamira."I have a letter of suspension for Chadzamira. I was appointed acting chairman and this gives me the power to call this meeting. There is a lot of talk about factions in Masvingo. These factions are created by people who think they are too big for the party," said Nenjana.Legislators Daniel Shumba and Walter Mzembi were also part of the group that attended the meeting.Those who attended the meeting were shown Chadzamira's suspension letter. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate WASHINGTON Bidding farewell to their longtime colleague, the eight remaining Supreme Court justices joined family members, former law clerks and members of the public Friday in paying their respects to Antonin Scalia in a tradition-laden, solemn day at the marble courthouse atop Capitol Hill. The Rev. Paul Scalia, the justices son and a Catholic priest, said traditional prayers at a private ceremony before thousands of people filed through the courts Great Hall, where Scalias casket lay on a funeral bier first used after President Abraham Lincolns assassination. You have called your servant Antonin out of this world. Release him from the bonds of sin and welcome him into your presence, the sixth of the justices nine children said. Outside the court, meanwhile, a makeshift memorial was set up featuring jars of applesauce, a pile of fortune cookies and paper bags, items that figured in the outspoken conservative Scalias sharp dissents in recent cases. President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama paid their respects Friday, while Vice President Joe Biden and his wife Jill Biden will attend Saturdays funeral Mass. On Friday, 98 former law clerks to Scalia lined the Supreme Courts steps as a police honor guard carried the casket into the building beneath the words Equal Justice Under Law just after 9:30 a.m. on a cool, overcast morning. The justices stood near the casket in the same order they will sit on a reconfigured bench following Scalias death last week in Texas. Chief Justice John Roberts was between Justices Anthony Kennedy, the longest-serving member of the current court, and Clarence Thomas. A 2007 portrait of Scalia by artist Nelson Shanks was displayed nearby. In it, the justice is shown surrounded by images representing important moments and influences in his life, including a framed wedding photograph of his wife, Maureen. The extended Scalia family gathered around the widow inside the court. Scalias clerks also took turns standing near the casket in groups of four, and planned to do so through the night until his body is taken from the court for his funeral on Saturday. Rhaleta Bernard from the New York City borough of Queens, where Scalia grew up, had been visiting Washington with her husband. They changed their bus tickets in order to pay their respects. Bernard said Scalia believes in interpreting the law, not making the law. The Mass, open to family and friends, will take place Saturday at 11 a.m. at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington. Burial plans have not been released. Scalia was found dead last Saturday in his room at a remote Texas hunting resort. The 79-year-old was appointed to the court in 1986 by President Ronald Reagan. NEW YORK A U.S. Air Force veteran charged with trying to join the Islamic State will be among the first Americans to go on trial as a result of the U.S. governments pursuit of dozens of suspected sympathizers of the militant group. Tairod Nathan Webster Pugh, 48, was stopped at a Turkish airport in January 2015. He told investigators he was on vacation, but an indictment alleged that he was carrying 180 jihadist propaganda videos, including one featuring the beheading of an Islamic State prisoner. Later, prosecutors said they found a letter on his computer in which he told his wife he wanted to join the Islamic State. Jury selection in Pughs trial in federal court in New York City is scheduled to begin in earnest this week. Pugh has pleaded not guilty to charges that he tried to provide material support to a terrorist group and obstructed justice. The Justice Department said it has pressed criminal charges against more than 70 Islamic State sympathizers, though some published reports have put that figure higher. Karen Greenberg, director of the Fordham Law Schools Center on National Security, which tracks terrorism cases, said the U.S. government has charged 78 people in connection with the group. Of those, two dozen have pleaded guilty. Opening statements Opening statements began last week in Phoenix in the trial Abdul Malik Abdul Kareem, a moving company owner charged with plotting to attack a Prophet Muhammad cartoon contest in Texas. Authorities said two of Kareems associates were killed when they brought semiautomatic rifles, bulletproof vests and an Islamic State flag to the event. Kareems lawyer, blaming the governments overactive imagination, told jurors Kareem had no knowledge the attack was to occur. Other cases are moving closer to trial, including in Minneapolis, where several members of Minnesotas Somali community are scheduled for trial in May on charges that they plotted to join Islamic State fighters. Another trial scheduled for this month has been put off after charges were upgraded against a North Carolina 19-year-old accused of killing a neighbor and stealing his money so he could buy an assault rifle to carry out an Islamic State-inspired shooting at a concert or club. Authorities said the Morganton man thought he could kill as many as 1,000 people. Pugh case Pugh served in the Air Force from 1986 to 1990 after being trained to install and maintain aircraft engines and navigation and weapons systems. The airman first class worked in July 1987 at the Woodbridge Air Base in England before moving to the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona in July 1989. After leaving the military, he worked as an avionics specialist and mechanic for companies in the Middle East and U.S. According to court papers, the FBI was tipped in 2001 that Pugh had expressed sympathy for Osama bin Laden. In 2002, an associate of Pughs again told the FBI that Pugh was interested in traveling to Chechnya to wage war, the indictment said. Part of the case against Pugh has focused on a letter prosecutors said he wrote to his wife, an Egyptian citizen. The two met and married in the spring of 2014, even though they didnt speak the others language. To communicate, they rely on Internet translation services or multilingual friends or relatives. According to court papers, Pugh declared in his letter to his wife: I will use the talents and skills given to me by Allah to establish and defend the Islamic States. When Ken and Caretha Coleman went looking to buy a house in Los Altos Hills in 1982, they were already Silicon Valley success stories, with impressive resumes dating to the early days of personal computing at Hewlett-Packard. Yet, when they put a bid in on a nice home on a hill, the listing agent tried to block the sale. The real estate agent didnt think the neighborhood was ready for a black family, Ken Coleman said. The Colemans bought the place anyway. They then set out to prove the Realtor wrong, befriending neighbors and raising six children at the home where, 34 years later, Coleman is still stamped on the mailbox. The couple didnt see a neighborhood that might not want them. They saw a place that didnt know them. They felt the same way in Silicon Valleys largest companies, where African Americans and other minorities, along with women, were all but absent. And so they paved the way there as well, pushing against the conscious and largely unconscious bias in the hiring process. Peter DaSilva/Special to The Chronicle Nudging the status quo The couple perhaps arent visionaries in the traditional Silicon Valley way. They never invented a world-changing piece of technology. They didnt create a corporate empire or start a world-changing nonprofit. But they had a vision of a better world, and so they nudged it. They lived it. Year after year in executive board meetings, they asked questions about hiring practices. They sat in corporate conference rooms and prodded for answers, nudging the status quo, pushing for more opportunities for women and minorities in business. They never set out to fight for diversity, to be black role models or African American trailblazers or Silicon Valley visionaries, but they are among those nominated for the 2016 Visionary of the Year award sponsored by The Chronicle and the School of Economics and Business Administration at St. Marys College. My definition of a visionary is someone who is an innovator, who has had measurable impact in changing the environment in which they operate, said Pamela Joyner, founder of Avid Partners, who nominated the Colemans for the award. I think Ken and Caretha do that, and they do that all day long. Their coattails are long, she added. They frankly are key mentors to a successor generation of women and people of color in Silicon Valley and others, Joyner said. Decades of experience Four decades ago, Ken Coleman was among the first African Americans in the tech world, landing a job at Hewlett-Packard in 1972 after a tour of duty in Vietnam as an Air Force captain. He later worked in various firms, including Silicon Graphics, where he was a top executive, and then in his early 60s, rather than retire, he launched a software startup. Caretha Coleman, who had an African American father and Japanese mother, was the second black female tech executive in the region in the early 1980s, and later, among other positions in various companies, she was the chairwoman of the board for Dignity Health, one of the largest health care providers in the country. She also served as a director of the nonprofit Silicon Valley Community Foundation. She now runs a venture strategy consulting firm. In their spare time, they each have sat on several corporate and nonprofit boards through the years. Changing from within As they rose through the ranks, they leveraged their success and reputations in the boardrooms and corporate headquarters to support candidates of color for job openings or push venture capital for a new company created by women. When theyre sitting on those boardrooms and they raise a set of questions that other people havent raised, they have to have the credibility, Joyner said. I really believe corporate America changes from the inside like that. Ken Colemans mother was a maid and his father a factory worker; neither of them graduated high school. Coleman graduated from Ohio State with a bachelors degree and an MBA. Caretha Coleman grew up with her Baptist father and Buddhist mother but was raised in Massachusetts as a Catholic, in part to attend local parochial schools, later earning her associate arts degree. The couple are a little uncomfortable with the accolades. Sure, they have questioned the unconscious bias in boardrooms and personnel offices. Its just what you do, Ken Coleman said. Were trying to make the world a better place. Social systems like to re-create themselves; the natural order of things is sameness, he added. Ive just fought that and tried to help organizations confront that issue, he said. Were just creating opportunity for people. They have found themselves in positions to question the way things are done. If its not right, Im going to speak up, Caretha Coleman said. Its who you are and whats important to you. That said, were not one-issue people, Ken Coleman said. I would hope my legacy is because I lived this way, I had a positive impact on the people I touched. The couple, for example, count the construction of a YMCA in East Palo Alto as among their most significant accomplishments, leading efforts to raise the $15 million to build it. But advocating for diversity was more ingrained into everyday life. The Colemans didnt differentiate between qualified candidates based on race or any other factors. They simply pointed out that many people, including African Americans and women, were also qualified for jobs. Continuing struggle While Silicon Valley is certainly more diverse than when the Colemans arrived, its facing increasing criticism for an ongoing lack of women and people of color. At top tech firms, the vast majority of workers are men and most are white, according to reports out of Google and Yahoo. About 1 to 3 percent are black or Latino. If anyplace can fix this problem, its Silicon Valley, Ken Coleman said. Weve solved some of the worlds hardest problems here, he said. We just have to do it. THE LEAST DIVERSE JOBS IN THE COUNTRY: Jill Tucker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: jtucker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jilltucker Visionary of the Year award This is one of eight profiles of nominees for The Chronicles second annual Visionary of the Year award, which is presented in collaboration with St. Marys Colleges School of Economics and Business Administration. The honor salutes leaders who strive to make the world a better place and drive social and economic change by employing new, innovative business models and practices. The eight finalists were nominated by a distinguished committee that included Evan Marwell, CEO and co-founder of the nonprofit group Education SuperHighway; Pam Baer, founder and CEO of For Goodness Sake, a nonprofit foundation that created an e-commerce site to connect consumers with curated brands and nonprofits; Ron Conway, an angel investor and philanthropist; Ben Fong-Torres, a noted rock journalist, author and broadcaster; Pamela Joyner, founder of the strategic marketing consulting company Avid Partners LLC; Zhan Li, dean of St. Marys School of Economics and Business Administration; and John Diaz, The Chronicles editorial page editor. Chronicle Publisher Jeff Johnson, Editor in Chief Audrey Cooper and Diaz will select the winner, which will be announced during a March 29 ceremony. To read more, go to www.sfgate.com/visionsf. News / National by Staff reporter The Zanu-PF Mashonaland East provincial coordinating committee has passed a vote of no confidence in women's league national political commissar Mabel Chinomona and three other members from the women's league and youth league.The affected members are being accused of sabotaging a solidarity rally that was held at the Zanu-PF headquarters on Wednesday the 10th of February.The motion to pass a vote of no confidence in the four members was moved by provincial member Everisto Pfumvuti and seconded by Richard Mavhunga.The other three suspended members are Goromonzi South legislator Petronella Kagonye and youth league members Tonderai Bosha from Goromonzi and Fungai Mahamad.This was after acting provincial chairperson Bernard Makokove had outlined the allegations against the members.Politburo member Dr Sydney Sekeramayi says discipline must be restored in the party, adding the party must do away with people with their own agenda.Chinomona, however, denies the allegations saying she did her part in ensuring people go to the rally.Eight members have so far been suspended in Mashonaland East including chairperson Biggie Joel Matiza who was suspended by the national commissariat.A national disciplinary sub-committee headed by Kembo Mohadi has since been instituted to investigate. Opinion / Columnist The address to the nation by President Robert Gabriel Mugabe on Friday 19 February 2016 calling for the factionalists in the ruling party ZANU PF to "Shut up", needs all peace loving Zimbabweans to heed the President's call so that the revolutionary party which hitherto was facing disunity to unite again under the "Son of the soil" concept, which was the driving force during the armed struggle.The President made it clear that Zimbabwe is one and there is need to be no tribal connotations if dealing with Zimbabwean issues. So the people need to focus on the development of the country and stop tribal war of words that nearly caused the ruling party to disintegrate until the intervention of President Mugabe to restore order. People need to appreciate and realise that tribal politics has no room in a democratic country like Zimbabwe, hence, the need to embrace the "son of the Soil" ideology in the country.The war of liberation was fought by all Zimbabweans and there was no tribe which can claim to have fought alone in that war hence all the people should take the President's address to nation seriously. Everyone in the country needs peace to prevail and those creating confusion in the country and seeking to destabilise the prevailing peaceful environment through factional wars should be advised to stop such machinations. Divisions within the country are not necessary considering that Zimbabwe needs to fight the economic doldrums so that everyone enjoys the national cake.It was clear from the President's address that factionalism has no room in the ruling party and whoever still harbouring it should throw that mentality away for the betterment of the country in general and the ruling party in particular. Zimbabweans should not be held at ransom by few individuals seeking their political aggrandisements while the economy is further shrinking downwards. The Zim-Asset needs to be totally implemented and the ruling party ZANU PF should not waste its time on factional wars while the 2018 harmonized elections are drawing near.During the 2013 harmonized elections campaigns, ZANU PF came up with Zim-Asset as a campaign tool and having an objective to make it being fully implemented before the next harmonized elections that is before 2018 harmonised elections. As such people in the country are expecting serious commitment from ZANU PF for the total implementation of that Zim-Asset so that during the coming 2018 harmonised elections the ruling party would have something to preach to the electorate. Taking the full implemented Zim-Asset to the electorate would make ZANU PF being retained by the voters throwing the opposition political parties into the political wilderness.So the call by President Mugabe for all those engaged in factional fights to stop and realise the concept of the "son of the soil" ideology should be taken seriously because Zimbabwe cannot afford to be diverted from its fight for economic turn-around to political fights. All the people are looking forward to government to make sure that the economy is revived but when the top leadership spend their time fighting for positions in the ruling party defeats all efforts of the economic revival by the same government.ZANU PF members and supporters should realise that the President made it clear that people should not abuse each other. The President further implored the youths to respect their elders so that there is unity in the party. So all Zimbabweans should listen and take heed of what the President said. Abusing each other in either an open or closed fora should be stopped as the President said, so that the ruling party is united again. People should realise that division with the ruling party or any society is counterproductive especially in a country like Zimbabwe which is facing some plethora of problems.It is a fact that Zimbabwe is currently facing the El Nino induced drought and the economic problems that are causing sufferings in a lot of families so if the ruling party is divided there would be no room for it to seek solutions to such problems. Some economic problems that are in the country call for unity of purpose from all people both in the ruling party and government so that resources are availed to the public with the combined effort of everyone in the country. For that reason the factional fights that were creating divisions within the ruling party should stop and people get geared for the revival of the economic fortunes.People should also realise that the President made it clear that all the said G40s and the Lacoste teams should "shut up" and those people who have been involved in such factional wars should heed what the President said. It would be naive and uncalled for to keep on reading in various media houses some machinations to divide the revolutionary party by those said teams when the President has ordered such teams to stop forthwith their factional wars within the ruling party. Those factional teams which used to spend their time fighting for supremacy in the ruling party should now spend their time trying to build the party and create unity which they destroyed.Actually the time is still with ZANU PF members and supporters to bury the hatchet and work for the development of this revolutionary party. ZANU PF can be stronger again once all those who have been failing to sleep trying to decampaign each other in the ruling party, now to realise their mistakes and work together as one for the betterment of ZANU PF and the country.It should be known and realised that the former revolutionary parties in the region such as the UNIP of Zambia, KANU of Kenya as well as MCP of Malawi let the power snatched by the new political parties in their countries because they waited for too late to rectify their problems. Now that ZANU PF through its First Secretary and President of the party Cde Robert Gabriel Mugabe has seen it and called for unity within the party should be applauded. Such a move taken by President Mugabe has shown the nation that he is an astute political leader who quickly seeks solutions for the party and country whenever there is threat to peace and tranquillity. As such ZANU PF should listen to what its leader has said so that the political power which has been with ZANU PF since independence in 1980 is not snatched away by those new opposition political parties in the country.So the revolutionary party members and supporters should heed President Mugabe's call for unity so that all factional wars and such abuse of one another in the ruling party are stopped and people then speak with one voice. Zimbabwe is for Zimbabweans and people should not be divided by foreign ideologies which have no room in this mighty country named after one of the Wonders of the World, Zimbabwe Ruins. Contributed photo / Contributed photo As one of the last schools in Fairfield County to make the move to artificial turf, Greens Farms Academy felt some pressure to keep up with the Joneses and install a turf field, mostly to ensure our athletes would have comparable playing conditions and a safe, consistent surface. Several of our parents, however, voiced concerns about the potential health risks of the typical crumb rubber used in artificial turf. Listening to our parents, and not feeling completely confident about the current industry standard of crumb rubber, we began to research other options for artificial turf. Our trustees, always keeping both the health of our students and our surrounding ecosystem a top priority, looked into other options This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate All was quiet. And then came a chirp, and a small brown bird flitted across the sky. Hands went to binoculars and bird guides. I always need a little help with LBJs, or little brown jobs, said Kris Nagle of Gustine in Merced County. Thats what we called them growing up. You cant see any detail on them, and theyre incredibly hard to identify. She flipped through species on her smart phone, pausing to observe the birds behavior. Others shouted out guesses sparrow? No. Lark? Not quite. They just look like brown dots, one exasperated novice said. But they were on their own. The birdwatching guide hadnt shown up, and the group of about 10 had embarked on the Mare Island hike banking on shared expertise. It certainly wasnt hard to come by this weekend. More than 3,000 birdwatchers flocked to Vallejo for the 20th annual San Francisco Bay Flyway Festival, which runs through Sunday. More than a million shorebirds, water fowl and common birds rest in the area while traveling between their winter and summer homes. The three-day festival allows visitors to catch a glimpse of the winged creatures as they soar along the Pacific Flyway, a migratory highway. El Nino rains have only made birdwatching conditions better, said Myrna Hayes, festival director and president of the Mare Island Heritage Trust. It makes it better for the birds, Hayes said. There is more water. And where there is more water, theres more food and places to rest. It helps the birds get stronger, and more of them are stopping off here. Birders will come rain or shine, event organizer Sarah Cain said. But wet weather also helps freshen things up and clear the skies. Participants filed through a cream-colored, former warehouse filled with Flyway vendors and nonprofit groups. Visitors moved among the tables, stopping to grab seed packets and informational brochures. At the childrens corner, tykes made bird feeders with plastic water bottles and foam stickers. The most popular event was a daily wild bird show, featuring owls and hawks. Most people headed straight for the grass trails snaking around the island and nearby areas of San Pablo Bay. Volunteers led birdwatching tours and nature hikes. Joanne Lee of Marin and her sister, Kathy Murasko of Glastonbury, Conn., kept their eyes on the sky as they walked. I hike a lot, Lee said. Naturally you see wildlife when youre out and about. People were always asking me what kind of birds there were, and I never know. I picked up birdwatching as a way to give myself focus on my hikes. The trail skirts marshy land and fenced-off, hazardous materials sites that formerly were used to dump dredge spoils. The air was crisp and the skies clear after several days of rain. The honk of geese pierced the quiet. Hear that? Muraski said. Those are definitely geese. August Snell, 6, looked at the sky in fascination. Turning to his mother, Anne Marie Snell, he put a finger over his lips. Shh, theres birds, he said quietly, blond hair sticking out beneath his binoculars. This little guy is good at spotting birds, said Snell of San Francsicos Inner Sunset neighborhood. Its really a family affair, because we all love it, my dad included. Theyre amazing creatures. We spend so much time running through our lives that we forget that we share the same world and the same air as these magnificent birds. August pointed as a brown kestrel took flight. Wow, look at that, he said. This is incredible. Lizzie Johnson is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: ljohnson@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @LizzieJohnsonnn Bird festival The Flyway Festival continues Sunday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Building 223, 500 Connolly St., on Mare Island in Vallejo. There will be free guided outings throughout the San Pablo Baylands, self-guided hiking routes and guided bird-watching outings around Mare Island. Opinion / Columnist Ilos Nyoni Is an MDC National Executive Member (NATIONAL DIRECTOR OF ELECTIONS) When the late Mwalimu Julius Nyerere the then president of Tanzania sent his congratulatory message to the newly elected Zimbabwe Prime Minister Robert Mugabe in 1980 he reminded him that he had inherited the jewel of Africa and therefore had to guard it jealously. At that time the manufacturing industry was booming, formal employment in factories was the order of the day and the economy was the envy of most African countries. Both the private and public health system were also at their best. It is all but run down now.In terms of section 76 of the Constitution of the Republic of Zimbabwe every citizen and permanent resident of Zimbabwe has the right to have access to basic health services. Major public health and referral centres such as Parirenyatwa in Harare, Mpilo and United Bulawayo Hospitals and other public hospitals countrywide have become death traps instead of places of recovery for our loved ones. These public hospitals have become synonymous with perennial shortages of essential drugs, dilapidated infra-structure, obsolete and malfunctioning equipment such as x-ray machines, scanners and shortage of health personnel. Due to lack of adequate tools of trade and other essential hospital requisites, staff morale and motivation is always at its minimum in these public hospitals. Issues of corruption are now a daily occurrence at these hospitals with the latest being that of abuse of office by Mpilo hospital top brass in the procurement of hospital requisites and equipment.Due to unavailability of medication, it is now the norm that patients admitted at these public hospitals are given prescriptions at the hospital and have to wait while relatives and friends scrounge around for the money to buy medication from private pharmacies. What this means is that those without the money to buy the medication will remain without any treatment resulting in their conditions getting worse or in death that could have been avoided. It is disappointing to note that some doctors are now taking advantage of this sad situation and making a killing through illegal networks where they refer these patients to pharmacies owned by them or their friends.Sadly, the National Pharmaceutical Company(Natpharm) which is tasked with the procurement and supply of medical drugs to these public health institutions is only running at 25% capacity due to underfunding from government and non -payment for drugs supplied to the public hospitals. The parastatal is currently owed $25 million by government.This crisis in our hospitals is acerbated by the health workers' attitude to work due to poor remuneration and working conditions. Their attitudinal disposition and commitment to their work over the years appears to threaten the very foundation of the profession entrusted with the primary responsibility of saving lives. Some deaths that occur in these public institutions are as a result of sheer neglect and carelessness by the health practitioners.The ZANU PF government has for many years allocated a larger chunk of the national budget to the security sector at the expense of the health and other crucial social services ministries. This is a clear sign of the government having our country's priorities all wrong and whose result unfortunately is inadequate health provision for the ordinary poor citizens. According to the 2001 Abuja declaration to which Zimbabwe is a signatory, African Union countries agreed to increase government funding for the health sector to at least 15% of the national budget. Alas the ZANU PF government has done the exact opposite. In the 2015 national budget, the Ministry of Health was only allocated $301 million which translates to only 6% of the national budget. The ruling elite themselves are not affected by this crisis because we all know that when they get sick they either go for treatment to expensive private hospitals which are always fully stocked with medication and state of the art medical equipment or catch the first plane out to Europe, the Far East or the neighbouring South Africa for treatment. If the millions of dollars spent by the ruling elite for treatment in the diaspora could be harnessed back home to help uplift our public hospitals, the situation would be very different.It is unfortunate that we are witnessing the current crisis in the health sector when the causes are avoidable or can be minimised. The wealth of a nation is measured by how healthy its citizens are. I believe it is only an MDC government that can introduce and implement sound and progressive health policies that will ensure all citizens have access to affordable and accessible health care. Through devolution of power budget allocations to public health institutions will be determined at local level which will result in efficient administration and nip corruption in the bud. Devolution of power will ensure checks and balances are done at the local level in our health institutions and promote progress and transparency in all the country's provinces. Those caught on the wrong side will face prosecution instead of the current trend where the corrupt are allowed get way with their loot without and no punitive action being taken. Opinion / Columnist Three decades of brainwashing by Zanu PF apologists and propagandists has done some serious damage to many of our people; people like Jabulani Sibanda and his lick of war vets that terrorized the nation from 2000 to 2014 were so mentally damaged they could not see right from wrong. Ever since his booting out of Zanu PF together with Joice Mujuru and many others one had hoped that the forced sabbatical from politics had given him time to sober up and recover his mental faculties. Sadly the brain damage inflicted on him by the decades of Zanu PF brainwashing has been permanent, at least there is no sign of him recovering as yet."Sibanda said war veterans were not seeking to monopolise the country by reminding people they fought for independence. He said the war veterans were simply identifying with the idea of sovereignty and self-determination which they fought for," reported Nehanda Radio."Mr Sibanda said such fundamental tenets of the liberation struggle were now under threat from certain elements with sinister agendas."The fundamental tenets of the liberation struggle were freedom, liberty and human rights and dignity for all Zimbabweans. President Mugabe and his Zanu PF apologists have since independence blatantly disregarded all these tenets in pursuit of their selfish agenda to establish and retain at all cost a de facto one-party dictatorship. Zanu PF has systematically denied the people their basic freedoms and rights including the right to a meaningful vote and even the right to life.Zanu PF has brainwashed people like Sibanda into helping the party impose its no-regime-change mantra. No doubt that the 1997 $50 000 one-off grant allowance paid to all war vets, a generous pension, a farm for war vet leaders like Sibanda, etc. all helped in blinding Sibanda and his overzealous war vet to the obvious contradiction in war vets forcing the people to vote for Zanu PF and yet still pretend to up hold the principle of national "sovereignty and self-determination".In 2014 President Mugabe falsely accused then VP Joice Mujuru of plotting to assassinate him, amongst many other charges, as cover to justify booting her and many of her supporters including Jabulani Sibanda out of Zanu PF. The booted out members looked at President Mugabe and Zanu PF not through the tinted glass of the privileged party member but through the naked eye of ordinary Zimbabwean. One had hoped that people like Sibanda saw President Mugabe for who he is an incompetent, corrupt and murderous tyrant. And that his no-regime-change agenda people like Sibanda had helped defend did not promote nation sovereignty and self-determination but undermined them by usurping the people's democratic freedoms and human rights.But listening to Sibanda it is clear he would take up his campaign of terror and intimidation of ordinary Zimbabweans from where he left it when he was booted out of Zanu PF in pursuit of the no-regime-change mantra if he was to find a new master! He fell out with Mugabe but does not see anything wrong with a de facto one-party dictatorship!According to the Nehanda Radio report the G40 Zanu PF faction is trying to lure Sibanda and his band of war vets into their corner."Mr Sibanda on Thursday confirmed that certain individuals linked to G40 had approached him. Although, he declined to reveal names, he said the group was in the deep end desperate-ly seeking the support of war veterans," said the report."Mr Sibanda said as a war veteran, he dismissed the group's overtures as "they betrayed the founding principles of the liberation struggle."Nonsense, Sibanda is the one who betrayed the founding principles of the liberation struggle, assuming he ever understood them in the first place. Given the right sweetener, Sibanda will jump ship."Yes, they are trying (to lure me) and they will be phoning even now," said Mr Sibanda."They are under pressure. They are in the deep and I am not. There are some who believe that I must be holding a grievance against (Cde Chris) Mutsvangwa on how he treated me when I was chairman of the war veterans."Sibanda is right there; the G40 faction is in deep trouble, it was made a lot of noise but has failed to deal the Mnangagwa faction a decisive blow and time is running out. The Mnangagwa faction has not been able to hit back because President Mugabe has been protecting the G40. Everyone knows that without him G40 is nothing and the day he kicks the bucket, he is a frail old and sick man now; G40 members will in serious trouble.The reader should is reminded that Sibanda was booted out of Zanu PF without being afforded the chance to defend himself before a disciplinary hearing after he accused Grace Mugabe of a "bedroom coup". It is no secret that President Mugabe is a hen-pecked husband and that is why the jibe hurt Mugabe like a sword thrust. But the G40's need to deal Team Lacoste a decisive blow is so urgent Sibanda will be forgiven if he can deliver the goods!Beside Professor Jonathan Moyo, a leading member in G40, was himself the mastermind of the attempted 2004 Tsholotsho coup to ouster him. Mugabe forgave Moyo because he needed him to mastermind the vote rigging in 2008 and thereafter. Even if President Mugabe did not want to forgive Sibanda, he has been overruled by Grace! Tuition to U.S. universities has surged 500 percent since 1985 and continues to rise. But German universities offer free education to everyone -- including Americans. The number of American students enrolled in German universities has risen steadily in recent years. Currently, an estimated 10,000 U.S. citizens are studying at German colleges -- nearly all of them for free, according to NBC News. German universities in most federal states have traditionally been free for German citizens as well as many foreigners, including many American, Chinese and British students. One reason German taxpayers foot the bill is to help attract more skilled workers to the country. In recent years, German companies have been unable to fill thousands of jobs because of a lack of qualified applicants. Although Germany has one of the world's most generous welfare systems, its resources are increasingly strained as more workers retire. The central European economic powerhouse also has one of the world's lowest fertility rates -- making the problem even worse. Back in 2012, Lars Funk, a representative for the Association of German Engineers (VDI), explained that "the current labor shortage in Germany could inflict lasting damage." According to Funk, foreign students could help fill that gap. Since then, the problem has increased. To attract talent from abroad, many Germany universities have started to offer courses on an undergraduate as well as postgraduate level in English. According to a data analysis by the website studyportals.eu -- which collects information on available college courses all over the world -- there are at least about 900 entirely English-language courses in Germany. The subjects include social sciences, politics and engineering -- a particular strength of the country's education system. Getting into those courses is easier than one might assume: In some cases, a potential student doesn't even have to submit a formal application. There are other countries that offer even more such courses, including the Netherlands, as well as English-speaking Ireland and the United Kingdom. However, Germany is the only country without any tuition fees. Unlike Mars which needs women, Germany needs skilled workers. With its low birth rate, it has found an excellent way to attract foreign workers , free college education.In addition to free college andpotentially a job, Germany has great beer and they don't have small glasses. - T. S. Eliot Thoughts After Lambeth "The World is trying the experiment of attempting to form a civilized but non-Christian mentality. The experiment will fail; but we must be very patient in awaiting its collapse; meanwhile redeeming the time: so that the Faith may be preserved alive through the dark ages before us; to renew and rebuild civilization, and save the World from suicide." When Jose Manuel Carreno became Silicon Valley Ballets artistic director in 2013, the former Ballet San Jose was a financial and artistic shambles. He soon announced his intention to remake the dejected troupe into a company worthy of a national stage, even an international one. The goal seemed nothing short of quixotic, if admirably optimistic. But the company made good on his promise Friday night, when the Directors Choice program opened at the San Jose Center for the Performing Arts. The varied bill showcased international repertory and vibrant dancers with technical command, magnetic stage presence and unity of purpose. And it is indeed vying for the worlds attention: The dancers returned Monday from an eight-city tour of Spain, where this same program was well received. If they were jet-lagged, it didnt show. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate SACRAMENTO U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein said Apple is wrong to refuse to cooperate with the federal government to help unlock an iPhone used by terrorists in the San Bernardino massacre. Speaking at a Public Policy Institute of California event in Sacramento on Friday, Feinstein said Apple is making a mistake by deciding privacy rights trump national security. Apple is not above the laws of the United States, nor should anyone or any company be above the laws, the Democrat from California said. To have a court warrant granted, and Apple say they are still not going to cooperate is really wrong. A federal judge granted a court order compelling Apple to create specialized software to unlock the iPhone of San Bernardino shooter Syed Rizwan Farook. The phone, Feinstein noted, belongs to the County of San Bernardino, where Farook worked, and the county has agreed to have the phone searched. Feinstein is working on legislation with Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr, R-N.C., that would require companies to unlock data under court order. The bill faces significant bipartisan opposition, including from Rep. Zoe Lofgren, the San Jose Democrat who represents Silicon Valley, who argue the governments demand is an unprecedented overreach. Privacy experts say if Apple writes a program to break into Farooks phone, it can be used by hackers looking to steal private photos, messages or financial data of people. Specifically, the FBI wants us to make a new version of the iPhone operating system, circumventing several important security features, and install it on an iPhone recovered during the investigation, wrote Apple CEO Tim Cook in a letter to customers. In the wrong hands, this software which does not exist today would have the potential to unlock any iPhone in someones physical possession. Feinstein said her time on the Intelligence Committee has colored her view of the issue. She said she spends a great deal of time reading intelligence documents and that she keeps photos in a folder on her desk as reminders of how dangerous terrorist groups like ISIS are. The first photo in that folder is of a 6-year-old girl in plaid dress, white tights and Mary Jane shoes. She's laying on her back and her head is cut off, Feinstein said. I can tell you it is a very dangerous world, she said. I can tell you there is a war going on without a war being declared. Feinstein said the iPhone could hold the key as to whether the San Bernardino terrorists were lone wolves or whether they were part of some cell planted here developing here with more people connected. The fight over encryption-protected smartphone data has been heating up in recent weeks, with lawmakers across the country debating whether investigators should have the ability to unscramble data on smartphones in criminal cases. California Assemblyman Jim Cooper, D-Elk Grove (Sacramento County), introduced legislation to weaken encryption, which he said would help law enforcement gain critical evidence in human trafficking and child pornography cases. You reach a point, and I can say I've reached this point, where I have to protect the people of this country, Feinstein said Friday. I really do. I took an oath of office to do that. Do it within the Constitution, do it within the law. I think I understand Apple's motivations, but I think it's a mistake. Melody Gutierrez is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: mgutierrez@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @MelodyGutierrez This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Gail Dunnett remembers a time not too long ago when Realtors outside the Bay Area dismissed home staging as another wacky trend from kooky California. After all, only folks in the Golden State would think to move all the furnishings out of a property thats for sale and design a new interior for fictional residents, right? Dunnett disagrees. Chefs at high-end restaurants pride themselves on how plates look coming out of their kitchen. Presenting a home to a discerning buyer should be given such consideration. Putting a home on the market that isnt staged or presented well is like going on a date without showering or combing your hair, Dunnett said. Turns out those designers and entrepreneurs like Dunnett were onto something. Staging blossomed from a niche service in only premium Bay Area neighborhoods to the almost mandatory institution in major markets across the nation. Studies have repeatedly shown staging can increase the closing price of a home by 10 to 15 percent, said Dunnett, the owner and founder of studio D. Thats when staging really caught on outside the Bay Area when people realized this made money. Clients and accolades have followed her ever since. Most recently, the Real Estate Staging Association named studio D the Home Staging Team of the Year. Dunnetts operation blossomed out of an 800-square-foot warehouse in Sausalito in 2003. She soon moved to larger digs in the East Bay before upgrading to San Francisco, and her firm just moved its headquarters to 20th Street in the Mission District. Her bi-coastal firm includes a satellite office in New York and shes setting her sights on a studio in Orange County or the Los Angeles area. The New Jersey natives first true experience organizing a space came as teenager, when her mother allowed Dunnett to select wallpaper patterns and light fixtures for her bedroom. Though her interests gravitated toward economics and the stock market, Dunnett never strayed far from her interest in design. She majored in business and landed at Bain Capital, where she formulated statistical models and advised clients on streamlining their product lines. The work there was too theoretical, and I got frustrated, Dunnett said. I was missing out on the actual doing. Dunnett needed a change of scenery and literally flew to the other side of the world for that very reason. In Australia, she designed packages for products found in local grocery stores and enjoyed going to work every day. Whatever job I have, I need to be passionate about it, she said. In a lightly edited interview, Dunnett talks about style, what finishes are poised for a comeback, and how staging feels like designers on crack. Q: Do you have any rules about staging? A: We steer away from family photos or anything overly personalized. There can be exceptions made if the family photos are in black-and-white and present well visually. I also like to use hardcover books of various colors to match the decor. But you need to check what youre putting on the shelves. One time I picked out a book because I liked its color, only to learn later that it was about S&M fetishes. Q: How does staging differ from traditional interior design? A: Staging is like designers on crack. Stagers dont have the luxury of time. We can stage a tri-level or four-story house in a day. That said, we look to keep staging as an affordable option. Interior design can be very expensive, so we focus on beautifying a room without having to go over-the-top. We need to be efficient and effective in order for it to be worth the sellers time. It certainly helps to have a few weeks of advance notice, but sometimes the client needs it done next week. Were used to it. Time is not a luxury we have. Q: What look or finishes are poised to be popular in 2016? A: Everything is cyclical. Weve already transitioned away from darker woods to lighter hues and now Im seeing changes in metal finishes. Muted brass is coming back. But its not going to be like it was in the 1980s, its going to be a softer, more elegant finish. Were seeing it in light fixtures, furniture legs and end tables. Dont worry, its not going to be framing mirrored closet doors. Its an improved look, not something that will make you cringe. Gail Dunnett with studio D 3130 20th St., Unit 150 www.studiodhome.com (415) 867-0882 gail@studiodhome.com PYONGYANG, North Korea North Korea responded to an unusually harsh verbal attack by South Koreas president against the Norths leader and its recent nuclear test and rocket launch with colorful invective of its own Saturday, calling her policy traitorous and adding that Washingtons newly enacted sanctions are laughable. The Norths official reaction including the insult senile granny was expected, though it took several days for Pyongyang to announce it through state-run media. BENGHAZI, Libya Libya is rapidly turning into a new front in the Wests fight against the Islamic State group, with the militants streaming in fighters and trying to exploit years of chaos to expand their foothold in the oil-rich North African nation. From their stronghold in the city of Sirte, the militants have lashed out in recent months with suicide bombings against police. They have made forays attacking Libyas vital oilfields and export facilities, setting back efforts to rebuild what is effectively its only money-making industry. Islamic State has so far been unable to take over large parts of Libya as it did in Syria and Iraq and it has suffered some setbacks the past year in Libya. Rival militias drove its fighters out of one city, Darna, and a U.S. air strike in December killed the leader of the Libya branch. But it has recently launched a drive to build up its presence: U.S. officials say in past weeks and months, Islamic State has been bringing in fighters from abroad, mainly from Tunisia, North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa. From around 3,000 fighters, they estimate it now has a total of about 5,000. Forging a unified Libyan government to fight the jihadists is a monumental task in what has effectively been a failed state since the 2011 ouster and death of longtime dictator Moammar Khadafy. After Khadafy, Libyas military collapsed and the country fragmented, carved up by powerful militias. There are two governments: One is based in in the capital, Tripoli, is dominated by Islamist politicians, and has been backed by a coalition of militias known as Libya Dawn. The other is internationally recognized and based in the eastern city of Tobruk, backed by other militias and fragments of the military led by Gen. Khalifa Hifter. The two sides have been battling each other for the past year. In a sign of how convoluted Libyas civil war has become, some militias backing the Tripoli government have been fighting the Islamic State group outside Sirte, while others have allied with the jihadists to fight Hifters pro-Tobruk forces for control of Libyas second-largest city, Benghazi. KAMPALA, Uganda As election returns showed a strong, early lead Friday for incumbent President Yoweri Museveni, the longtime leaders security forces briefly detained the main opposition candidate and cracked down on protesters with beatings, tear gas and stun grenades. The actions were condemned by the United States, which gives financial support to the East African nation and helps train its military. Thursdays vote was extended for a second day in two main districts because ballots and other election materials had not arrived in time. Museveni, who has ruled Uganda for three decades, led in the returns, but votes remained to be cast and counted in strongholds for opposition leader Kizza Besigye. With results counted from about 47 percent of polling stations across the country, Museveni had about 63 percent of the vote and Besigye had about 33 percent, the election commission said. Final results are expected Saturday. Police surrounded the headquarters of Besigyes Forum for Democratic Change party as he met with party members, and a helicopter fired tear gas at a crowd outside. Then police took Besigye, a 59-year-old doctor, to an unknown location, according to Semujju Nganda, a party spokesman. Police spokesman Fred Enanga said Besigye was transferred for his own safety and because police wanted to talk to him to exercise restraint until the final results are announced. Besigye was driven to his home and his movements are not restricted, he said. Secretary of State John Kerry spoke by phone with Museveni to underscore that Ugandas progress depends on adherence to democratic principles in the ongoing election process, the State Department said. Kerry expressed his concern about the detentions of ... Besigye and harassment of opposition party members during voting and tallying, and urged President Museveni to rein in the police and security forces. When the wild Mexican wolf population reached 110 in 2014, it was the first time in a nearly 20-year recovery that the wolf population exceeded 100. This year's annual count found just 97 Mexican wolves in the wild, a dip that officials called a demonstration of the need for ongoing work to recover this endangered species. "Recovery of endangered species is never easy, nor is the road to success a straight line," Jim deVos, assistant director of wildlife management for the Arizona Game and Fish Department, said in a press release from the US Fish and Wildlife Service, announcing the results of their annual survey. "The lower number of Mexican wolves that were counted is a concern, but not a signal that the program is unsuccessful. It is important to look at a number of population demographic factors, such as the number of pups born this year, which is only two less than last year. Of the 21 wolf packs on the ground today, 10 successfully reared a litter through the end of this year. Wildlife populations vary on an annual basis, so the decline in the number of Mexican wolves counted this year is not out of character." He points to the fact that in 1998, there were zero wild Mexican wolves, and so the long-term trend is upward. But wildlife advocates see last year's population drop in a different light, saying it's a mark of the need for major reforms in a program that has limped toward success since the first Mexican wolves were reintroduced to the wild in 1998. "They know that they're driving the Mexican wolf to extinction, and they're trying to pretend otherwise. The Fish and Wildlife Service for years has been ignoring the urgent pleas of scientists to change course," says Michael Robinson, conservation advocate with the Center for Biological Diversity. "They know the obvious response when you see a drastic drop like this is, how come you didn't follow the advice of scientists? Are you screwing things up? Are things going wrong? These are bureaucrats who are betraying the public interest, trying to cover their asses." The public information officer for the Fish and Wildlife Service tells SFR it doesn't respond to allegations from the Center for Biological Diversity and also on Friday declined to talk about the notion they don't take the lack of genetic diversity in the population seriously. In a September interview, Maggie Dwire, assistant Mexican wolf recovery coordinator, described the few options in a small gene pool limiting the ability of survival of the fittest to function in the population: "Every animal has fixed traits, and nobody can adapt to a new or changing environment," she said. "The problem with the wild population currently is that all the wolves are pretty related to one another, and when inbreeding accumulates, it can lead to reduced fitness, which is an animal's ability to survive and reproduce," Dwire said. "So I guess on the most basic level, if left unattended, the chances for this population to lose its ability to do those things, survive and reproduce, adapt to a changing environment, all of that would go down." Right now, every animal in the wild population is related to one another as siblings, meaning even when wolves disperse to find a mate from another pack, that mate is about as similar genetically as brother and sister are. "That's why we have the need for increased releases of wolves, so that we can sort of dilute the relatedness of the population, so that when animals disperse, they have a chance of meeting an animal that's not related to them, so then gene diversity can increase, and inbreeding can go down," Dwire said. She's watched the program change, she says, from her early days with it shortly after she started in 2000, when there were a lot of captive-bred wolves being released, to a waning trend for those releases, increasing the gap in relatedness between the captive population and wild population. Asked if there are planned releases this year, Bradley said, "I think there are, but they haven't been finalized, so I don't want to give a positive or a negative." The latest census counts 21 total packs, with 47 wolves in New Mexico and 50 in Arizona. Ten of those packs had at least one pup, with a total of 23 wild-born pups that survived to the end of the year55 percent, compared to 86 percent in 2014. Part of the problem with this latest round of losses is that nine of 13 wolves lost were breeding females, and that's something the Fish and Wildlife Service will have to address as they move forward, says Sherry Barrett, the service's Mexican wolf recovery coordinator. They're working now on the release strategy for 2016, Barrett says, and should have that available for the public in April. It's a question of basic math, says Dave Parsons, who oversaw the USFWS recovery program when the first Mexican wolves were reintroduced into the wild and has since left the agency: Reproduction has to surpass mortality for the population to increase, and this year saw "excessive mortality," including the loss of nearly half of pups born. In addition to 13 wolves known to have been killed in 2015, 11 are "fate unknown," their radio collars having stopped transmitting, for reasons that could vary from a dead battery to sabotage, or perhaps they exited the search area, though that's unlikely, given the low population density. Missing wolves have turned up alive in later years, but it's rare, and without a carcass, their fate remains unknown. "The Fish and Wildlife Service predicted just a year ago that the population was going to enjoy a 10 percent annual increase for the foreseeable future, and what we've seen is an over 10 percent decline in one year, so that's obviously distressing for those of us that care about the Mexican wolves, and it shows that there are things the Fish and Wildlife Service was not taking into account in its estimate, and we're worried about it," Robinson says. In the same document that predicted a population increase, a new rule that went into effect in January 2015, the Fish and Wildlife Service also loosened restrictions on private individuals removing wolves or harming them. Livestock owners, domestic animal owners and their agents can now obtain permits to kill a wolf in the act of attacking livestock on federal land; they also allow for killing wolves in response to "unacceptable impacts" to deer and elk. None of the new provisions were used this year, according to Barrett. "We cannot be certain if this abrupt decline is an anomaly, as our trends since 2010 had been more encouraging prior to this year, including a 30 percent growth in 2014," Barrett said in a press release. "Although there are many dynamics that may have contributed to this year's count results, we will carefully analyze the contributing factors to try to actively reverse this decline." Robinson points to two contributing factors as likely causes for the decline: illegal shooting and limited genetic diversity, which could be contributing to fewer pups being born and fewer of them maturing to adulthood. Even with 110 wolves in the wild, advocates and scientists saw the situation as a "genetic crisis" that put future recovery of this rarest wolf sub-species at risk, and the Fish and Wildlife Service, he says, is failing to take that risk seriously. "They haven't actually released any wolves from the captive breeding facilities into the wild, and that's the only way to address the inbreeding," Robinson says. "Unless and until new wolves are put into the population, the loss of genetic diversity is a one-way ratchet. Each generation, you're going to have less and less genetic diversity represented, and there's no way to go back." And that problem was identified in 2007, he says, adding that there's been little done to remediate it. The Fish and Wildlife Service spent much of 2015 embroiled in an appeals process with the New Mexico Game Commission, after the state denied an application to release more captive-bred wolves into the wild, including up to 10 pups to be cross-fostered and introduced into similarly aged litters for wild-born wolves, and two adults with pups. That fight culminated in the service's October declaration that while the Endangered Species Act advises collaboration with state governments, it doesn't require it if the future of a species is at risk, and so the service could essentially ignore the state's failure to cooperate and release wolves here anyway. Arizona's wildlife managers have similarly declared that they won't allow adult wolf releases, only pups, which would then need to be cross-fostered. "That's been tried twice and was successful once," Parsons says. "The problem with that is that it's very tricky to pull off." Not only do cross-fostered litters need to be born in captivity and in the wild within a week of one another, but the wild den needs to be found and pups put in, though not so many that the litter becomes too large. Last year, the Fish and Wildlife Service transported pups from Missouri to the recovery area, which straddles Arizona and New Mexico, but arrived only to find the wild female had moved her den and couldn't be located. The pups were rushed back to Missouri, and any attempt to put those wolves into the wild will have to wait until they're adults. "Cross-fostering alone is not the answer, it's a tool that's helpful, but you need to be putting adult pairs out there that are capable of producing immediately, and they're just not doing that yet," Parsons says. All the service seems to do is put out is press releases about their upcoming wolf releases, Robinson says, releasing few actual wolves. "The Fish and Wildlife Service has only released four Mexican gray wolves from the captive breeding program into the wild in the entire Obama administration, and three of those are dead, and one of them is back behind wire mesh, for a net gain of zero," Robinson says. The Center for Biological Diversity, among other wildlife advocacy groups, sent a letter to the secretary of the interior and the director of the US Fish and Wildlife Service, calling for the release of five family packs into the Gila in the next several months. "It's actually not a very viable option," Barrett says. "That's a lot of packs to be putting into the Gila Wilderness. What we would always want to do is make sure we're not introducing conflicts between packs. ... Putting five packs in the wilderness essentially all at one time would really be problematic for the population." Each Mexican wolf wears a radio collar, and as part of an effort to reduce conflicts with ranchers who have cattle grazing rights near the wolf recovery area, radio telemetry receivers were given out to allow those ranchers to track where wolves are and manage their livestock to steer them away from wolves. But given the number of losses this year, Robinson says, the service should give wolves back their ability to hide by reclaiming those devices. "They should not be given out to people who say things like 'I'm gonna go shoot a wolf,' but they are," he says. "We have radio-collared wolves that are going missing over and over again, and other radio-collared wolves that are showing up with bullet holes in them." Each year, the Mexican wolf population is counted by helicopter and airplane, then wolves are captured to attach radio collars to allow the Interagency Field Team to gather information on their dispersal, territories, habit use and breeding, as well as to manage the wolves during any conflicts, including livestock depredations. During the annual count, the field team also takes a blood sample for DNA analysiswhich is how they know all the wolves in the wild are basically as genetically similar as siblings and new wolves need to be introduced to diversify the gene pooland to check for disease and give vaccinations. Losses this year included two Mexican wolves that died during the annual population count capture operations, one four days after it was released back into the wild, and one within minutes of being darted. No wolves had died during past annual count operations, according to the Fish and Wildlife Service, and the techniques, protocol and drugs this year were the same as previous years. Necropsies on those wolves are still pending. Santa Fe Reporter Biggest Lies You Were Told About Adulthood 10 Lies You Were Likely Told About Adulthood When You Were Younger By the time most people reach their twenties or thirties, they look back and realize their lives are nothing like what they thought it would be. While a few people are living the dream, others are scrambling to pay off their student loans or struggling to find a decent job in a tough market. What if we were all badly prepared for adulthood? What if we were told lies that set us up for inevitable failure and disappointment? This discussion was sparked on AskMen's Q&A platform, guyQ where user Once_ler posted about his high school experience vs. his adult reality. Killed by US-backed Israeli-armed forces in and near Hebron over the course of the last three tumultuous months of 2015, and held by the Israeli government without explanation, the bodies of the Palestinians were finally brought to Hebron's al-Ahli Hospital in the early morning of January 1. Why did Israel refuse to restore the bodies of 17 slain Hebronites to their families for a period, not of days, not of weeks, but of months? It's a question that doesn't arise in conversations between Palestinians, however. When it comes to the Israeli occupation, after all, Palestinians know that the unanswerable is standard protocol. Mass funerals are routinely held in east Jerusalem, the West Bank or the Gaza Strip for Palestinians who have been killed as a result of their attack. The ceremonies can be politicized by Palestinian militant groups, such as Hamas or Islamic Jihad. "The terrorist's family turns the funeral into a demonstration of support for terrorism and incitement to murder," Erdan said in a statement seen by the newspaper. "We cannot allow this. We must do everything so that the terrorist doesn't receive the honor and accolades after carrying out attacks." Each culture has rituals for burying their dead. Jesus was prepared for burial in linens and spices according to the burial custom of the Jews. The rituals for buying the dead in Islam are also specific to the culture. Why does Israel deny the Palestinians the right to mourn? Withholding the dead is a form of collective punishment and against international law. She said that one of them slapped her and another laughed in her face and told her to drop dead when she told him she'd give him a million shekels if he helped her get away with her two babies. They saw that we were with two baby carriages, she said. Updates throughout the day at http://calevbenyefuneh. blogspot.com. If you enjoy "Love of the Land", please be a subscriber. Just put your email address in the "Subscribe" box on the upper right-hand corner of the page.Twitter updates at LoveoftheLand as well as our Love of the Land page at Facebook which has additional pieces of interest besides that which is posted on the blog. Also check-out This Ongoing War by Frimet and Arnold Roth. An excellent blog, very important work as well as a big vote to follow our good friend Kay Wilson on Twitter. . ..CAMERA Media Analyses..19 February '16..For most Christians, Lent is a time of introspection, fasting and repentance. But for Rev. Loren McGrail, a pastor in the United Church of Christ working in Jerusalem, the forty days before Easter are an opportunity to use her position at the YWCA in Jerusalem to broadcast anti-Israel propaganda to fellow Christians in the United States.McGrail, a UCC pastor whose work is supported by Global Ministries of the United Church of Christ and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), as well as the Church of Scotland, serves as a communications officer for the YWCA office that operates out of Jerusalem, which is part of a chapter that calls itself The National YWCA of Palestine. This chapter of the YWCA works to promote the welfare of women in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip (by, for example, educating Palestinians about the evils of honor killings, which are on the rise in Palestinian society).It also broadcasts anti-Israel propaganda to Western audiences.The most recent example of this tendency is Breaking Down the Wall: Lenten Reflections, a document posted on the website of the YWCA's office on February 9, 2016. This document is comprised of five chapters which can either be used to pray and meditate during the five weeks of Lent or during a particular day of the Holy Week leading up to the Resurrection (Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday and Easter). Each chapter includes a poem, or reflection, an article on the Arab-Israeli conflict and Questions for Reflection.This seems innocent enough, but every article in the booklet highlights an alleged wrongdoing by Israel, the Jewish state or by Israeli Jews. The booklet portrays the Israel-Palestinian conflict as if it is entirely the fault of Israel and as if the Palestinians bear no blame or guilt for the violence.To make matters worse, some of the articles in the meditation booklet are marred by material omissions that result in a dishonest and hostile depiction of the Jewish state.The fact that this Lenten meditation has been produced and disseminated during a time when Israeli Jews are being stabbed and run over in the streets outside their homes by Palestinians who have been exposed to hateful antisemtic incitement by their leaders for years is very troublesome.Why would Christian organizations ostensibly committed to peacemaking produce and disseminate such a document during a time such as this?Are they attempting to fuse antisemitic incitement that permeates Palestinian society with the Christian antisemitism that historically has manifested itself on Good Friday?Apparently so.Anti-Israel contempt is particularly evident in the booklet's second mediation dedicated to Maundy Thursday. This entry asks readers to meditate on an article published by Palestine National News on January 17, 2016.The article , titled Settlers Spray Slaughter the Christians' on Walls of Jerusalem Monastery, reports that a group of right-wing settlers spray painted slogans that call for the murder of Christians on the walls of a monastery in Jerusalem. The article then states Israeli police have claimed to open an investigation in the case, but the Jewish extremists are expected not to be punished under Israeli law.Oddly enough, the article which asserts Israel does not properly investigate and prosecute crimes against Palestinians and Christians highlights two crimes in which arrests were made, charges were filed, and in one instance, convictions were obtained and a life sentence imposed. But the article makes no mention of these facts, leaving the reader to believe that Israel did not act forcefully in response to these crimes. It is a classic example of lying by omission.The first crime mentioned in the article the arson attack against the Dawabsheh family home perpetrated in July 2015. This attack killed an 11-month old baby and both of his parents. The article reports that Israel failed to hold anyone accountable for this attack because Israel said that the evidence against the Jewish suspects was not enough' to try them.The PNN's assertion is contradicted, however, by a crucial bit of information that it omitted from its story: Israeli police arrested and indicted a 21-year-old Israeli Jew and an unnamed minor on Sunday, January, 3, 2016 two weeks before the PNN article was published and a few weeks before it was reprinted in the YWCA Jerusalem's Lenten meditation.The Times of Israel reported on the arrests the same day they happened. One of the suspects reportedly admitted to the firebombing, saying he did it to avenge the killing of Malachy Rosenfeld by a Palestinian terrorist in June.The PNN article included in the YWCA's Lenten meditation gives leaders the false impression that Israel has not arrested anyone for the crime, when in fact, it did.By itself, the omission described above is bad enough to disqualify it for inclusion in McGrail's Lenten meditation, but it gets worse. The same article cites the murder of Mohammad Abu Khdeir, a 16-year-old who was set on fire by Israeli Jews in July 2014.Readers who examine the article will discover that, in the sentence right after describing the gruesome attack, it states, Israeli Occupation Authorities claim to start an investigation, but often fail to hold the attackers accountable for their crimesBut in the Abu Khdeir case, alleged attackers were arrested on July 6, 2014, four days after the attack.Three defendants were indicted on July 27, 2014.Two of the three defendants were convicted on November 30, 2014. (The third defendant entered a last minute insanity defense, which is now being heard by the court.)On Feb. 4, 2016, five days before McGrail's Lenten meditation was posted on the Internet, the two defendants were sentenced . One, a 17-year-old, was sentenced to life in prison (plus three years). The other, a minor, was sentenced to 21 years in prison.Palestinian National News falsely portrayed the Jewish state as if it let people responsible for two terrible heinous crimes, both of which generated international attention, off the hook without even trying to capture and punish them. Again, it lied by omission.No honest or knowledgeable Christian peacemaker could include this article in a Lenten meditation a religious document but McGrail did.Why?Another meditation, this one devoted to Good Friday (which commemorates the Crucifixion), includes a similarly dishonest and incendiary article titled Why Did Israel Withhold Bodies of Slain Palestinians, Denying the Right to Mourn?This article, published byon January 5, 2016, reports that On New Year's Day here in Hebron, after months of painstaking waiting and deliberations, the parents of 17 slain Palestinians finally received the bodies of their children. The article continues:The article also includes the following propagandistic flourish:This article is dishonest in a number of ways. First off, it offers no explanation as to why these people whose bodies were returned were killed in the first place.The article only reports that they were killed over the course of the last three tumultuous months of 2015, obscuring the fact that the Palestinians whose bodies were being returned were killed after murdering, or attempting to murder, Israeli Jews by attacking them with knives and by running them over with automobiles.And the article's assertion that the bodies were held without explanation by Israeli authorities is false. In October 2015, Israel's internal security minister warned that returning the bodies would allow extremists to organize funerals that would be used to incite further hostility and acts of violence against Israeli citizens. reported on the issue as follows:The use of the dishonest article fromin a Lenten Meditation is bad enough, but the manner in McGrail attempts to steer the meditation into an anti-Israel direction is remarkable in a question she poses to the reader after the article:This question falsely accuses Israel of engaging in collective punishment by withholding the bodies, when in fact it did so to prevent further incitement, which is a reasonable and proper thing to do under the circumstances. It ups the ante by repeating the article's assertion that Israel denied the Palestinians the right to mourn and by connecting that allegation to the burial Jesus on Good Friday. The overall effect (and intention) is to incite heightened feelings of anger and sadness and then direct them at Israel.This is not peacemaking, but theological and liturgical incitement against the Jewish state.The extent to which McGrail is committed to demonizing Israel is also evident in her use of the security barrier as a prop for mediation. In the reflection she produced, the barrier's impact on the Palestinian is highlighted and depicted in dramatic manner, but the suicide attacks it was built to prevent are not even mentioned. Israel's efforts to defend itself are portrayed as inherently evil, Palestinian violence is not even mentioned.For example, McGrail included the following graphic in the fourth meditation dedicated to Holy Saturday:This graphic is a modified version of an image that can be found on Facebook (and which is appended to the bottom of this article). It reportedly shows a mother and a daughter who are unable to see each other because of an Israeli-built barrier. It provides no details that can be used to verify whether or not it is an accurate depiction of reality. The goal of this graphic is not to convey information, but again to elicit sadness over the separation of a mother from her daughter and then direct this sadness (and the anger it generates) at Israel.Nowhere does McGrail direct the reader's attention to the suffering endured by the Israelis prior to the wall's construction. Nor does she make any effort to draw attention to the suffering endured by Israelis who were stabbed and killed by the 17 Hebronites whose bodies were not immediately buried after their suicidal attacks.Nor does she inform the readers of the conviction of Israeli violent extremists mentioned in the PNN article and she ignores the praise heaped upon Palestinian killers by their leaders.During the last few months, a pregnant woman has been stabbed . Another woman, a mother, was murdered with her children nearby And yet another woman, whose husband was stabbed to death right in front of her, was spit upon by Arab shopkeepers as she pleaded to them for help , for she too, had been stabbed. I yelled please help me!' and they just spat at me, she said after the attack. The Times of Israel reported the following about the victim:These attacks and the horror they engender are passed over in silence by this Lenten reflection. The document's silence about these attacks gives readers the impression that the Jewish victims of Palestinian violence are not worthy of Christian concern.The publication and dissemination of this Lenten Meditation is no innocent act on the part of its editor, the YWCA of Palestine or the Global Ministries of the United Church of Christ and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) which has posted it on their website.It is a malign act that comes after years of anti-Israel propagandizing by Global Ministries and the YWCA.Instead of promoting a human longing for God, which is the goal of Lent, the document promotes contempt for the Jewish state and indifference for the safety of its citizens.This is shameful.Simply shameful.The original Facebook image of the graphic shown above can be seen below: Family Court.jpg Children and families have been getting mental health services in St. George near the courthouse since 1976. Those services will soon be relocated 20-30 minutes away. (iStock) STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Staten Islanders involved in cases in Family Court in St. George will soon have to travel to Ocean Breeze to get mental health services, instead of walking two blocks to where the office currently stands. Those involved in family disputes, neglect and child-abuse cases, and juvenile delinquency in need of mental health services now get free services and have since 1976, when Staten Island became the last borough to get state funding for the office. But a recent decision by the Office of Mental Health, which funds the St. George team of five people through South Beach Psychiatric Center, will relocate the services to the grounds of the psychiatric center in Ocean Breeze, a 20-minute drive by car or 35-minute bus ride. That commute could be enough to dissuade families in distress, said Dr. Jack M. Filut, a staff psychologist who has worked there for 39 of the 40 years the office has been open. He said the office started with 15 staff members and through the years has been whittled down to five, something that makes it difficult to provide services, he said. Before the center opened, Staten Islanders had to travel to Manhattan to get services. Filut fears people won't make the trip to South Beach Psychiatric Center. "It's a long ride," he said. In a letter to elected officials noting his concern, Filut cited a study that found "60 to 70 percent of the Staten Island clients referred to the Manhattan Family Court for mental health services did not keep their scheduled appointments. They did not travel to Manhattan Family Court for services because it was a hardship for many Staten Island court clients." By creating a location specifically for Staten Island services, those in Family Court had easy access to vital services while going through a difficult time. A spokesman for the Office of Mental health said in a statement, "South Beach Psychiatric Center provides court-ordered evaluations for the New York City Family Court in Richmond County. "The employees of the Family Court Services team also have clinical responsibilities at the psychiatric center, beyond their roles at the Family Court. "To maximize the efficiency of this team, we plan to relocate their office to South Beach Psychiatric Center. The South Beach Psychiatric Center Family Court Services team will continue to offer the same high-quality court evaluation services to Staten Island residents, both in the courthouse and at the South Beach Psychiatric Center office." Services will continue to be free. Evaluations for individuals who are in law enforcement custody are currently done in the courthouse building and will remain there. firearm.jpg The firearm recovered at the scene where two police officers were shot in the Bedford Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, according to police. (Courtesy of NYPD) STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Two police officers were wounded by gunfire during a shootout in Brooklyn early Saturday morning. At approximately 3:20 a.m. the two officers -- William Redding, 33, and Andrew Yurkiw, 29 -- of Brooklyn's 81 Police Precinct anti- crime team, were shot during the apprehension of an armed suspect in Bedford Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, according to police. Police would not release the boroughs in which the officers reside. Both officers are in stable condition at Kings Country Hospital in Brooklyn, according to a police spokesman. The incident began when two uniformed housing police officers, from PSA 3, heard a shot fired near the intersection of Quincy Street and Malcolm X Boulevard in Brooklyn, said police. As they approached the suspect, he pointed a revolver at them and fled in a vehicle. The officers began to follow the vehicle and radioed for assistance, police said. Officers from the 81, 83, and PSA 3 commands responded to the call for assistance. At the corner of Lexington Ave and Malcolm X Boulevard, the suspect, traveling the wrong way, rammed a responding marked patrol car from the 83 Precinct. Officers then engaged the armed suspect, said police. The officers fired at the suspect, striking him several times. A .357 revolver was recovered from the front seat of the car with five spent shell casings, police said. During the engagement, the two police officers were struck by gunfire, police said. The suspect is a 34-year-old male who is at Brookdale Hospital in critical condition. He has been identified at Jamal Funes, who police believe is from New Jersey. The investigation is ongoing. FOLLOW Tracey Porpora on OxyContin drugs ins rx Staten Islanders who want to get rid of unwanted medication can bring it to the police station. (Toby Talbot) Staten Island parents have a good way to dispose of unused prescription pills rather than storing them in the medicine cabinet. It's the right way to protect kids. The unneeded or unwanted medicines can be dropped off in bins installed for that purpose at each of the Island's four police precinct stationhouses. Doing this -- with no questions asked -- was begun in 2014 under a program initiated by East Shore Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis and then-District Attorney Dan Donovan. They deserve thanks from all of us because their plan has saved untold numbers of young people here from the scourge of accidental drug abuse and even addiction. Now Ms. Malliotakis (R-East Shore/Brooklyn) and Mr. Donovan, who went on to become Staten Island's congressman, want to see their drug drop-off plan expanded. They want to make lock-boxes available for parents to drop off unused prescription pills at any of the 77 police precincts in the five boroughs. Beyond Staten Island, this is already being done in the 68th Precinct in Bay Ridge, which is in both Ms. Malliotakis' and Mr. Donovan's districts. We support the effort to protect young New Yorkers from becoming drug-abuse victims by chance after finding prescription pills in their homes. Lethal risk Young people often think that prescription drugs are safer than illicit drugs. But they can be as addictive and dangerous and put users at lethal risk. The prescription drugs most commonly abused are: opioid pain relievers, such as Vicodin or Oxycontin; stimulants for treating Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), such as Adderal, Concerta, or Ritalin; and central nervous system depressants for relieving anxiety, such as Valium or Xanax. None of these prescription medicines ought to be stored in homes if they are not for current use. Too many teen-agers who end up abusing prescription drugs get them for free in their homes, at least at first. What worked on Staten Island thanks to these elected officials' initiative -- removing unused pills from medicine cabinets -- can work elsewhere. A lock-box at every stationhouse "Because of our success, we'd like to see the New York City Police Department put these boxes in each of the precincts in New York City," Mr. Donovan said. He added: "We think that our success should be an example for our colleagues in other boroughs who experience the same plight of the abuse of prescription drugs that we've experienced." Drop-off bins at precinct stationhouses in this borough are sometimes overflowing with prescription medications. "This has been a successful program on Staten Island, when you think about how many pills have been dropped off," Ms. Malliotakis said. In the 18 months that the Island program has been in place, 68 cubic feet of pills have been collected. That's more than 500 gallons of prescription medicine safely disposed of by the Police Department. The pills are collected from the boxes periodically by the NYPD Property Clerk's office and incinerated. Ms. Malliotakis and Mr. Donovan used their own discretionary funds to pay for the drop-boxes, which cost approximately $430 each. Mr. Donovan said he doesn't expect the NYPD to pay for additional boxes out of its precinct budgets. He and Ms. Malliotakis are calling on elected officials to cover the expense from discretionary funding. Providing funding It is reasonable for the city administration to provide funding of its own for so important a program. Putting drop-off boxes in the remaining 72 police precincts would only cost a total of $30,960. "It's a minuscule amount for such a great return," said Mr. Donovan about keeping families safe. As Ms. Malliotakis explains, it allows addictive pain-killing pills to be "taken off the streets, and more importantly, taken out of medicine cabinets, where we know this is a problem that begins oftentimes at homes, when children or children's friends come over and go through medicine cabinets." She added, "We feel that the more precincts that have this as an option for parents to dispose of these drugs, it will be better for our entire community." We could not agree more, of course. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, prescription and over-the-counter drugs are, after marijuana and alcohol, the most commonly abused substances by Americans 14 and older. It can turn into a slippery slope. About 75 percent of heroin users started with prescription pills, according to a study by the National Institutes of Health. "It's a tool in the toolbox," Ms. Malliotakis said about drop-off bins in NYPD precincts for prescription pills. "It's a preventive measure." Which responsible parents on Staten Island have been putting to good use. A First-Hand Account from an Israeli Insider Updates throughout the day at http://calevbenyefuneh. blogspot.com. If you enjoy "Love of the Land", please be a subscriber. Just put your email address in the "Subscribe" box on the upper right-hand corner of the page.Twitter updates at LoveoftheLand as well as our Love of the Land page at Facebook which has additional pieces of interest besides that which is posted on the blog. Also check-out This Ongoing War by Frimet and Arnold Roth. An excellent blog, very important work as well as a big vote to follow our good friend Kay Wilson on Twitter. . ..Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs..18 February '16..Israels disengagement from the Gaza Strip had undeniable consequences for the Arab world, including the Palestinians, but those consequences were not taken into account in the process leading to the dramatic decision. In this essay, I shall provide my own reflections as former head of the Research Division of Military Intelligence at that time when the fateful decision of the disengagement was made. It is noteworthy that intelligence professionals were not consulted in the process at all and their assessment was not requested before the decision was taken. Instead, a small group of decision-makers carried out this plan. Their attitude and thinking suffered from a number of weaknesses characteristic of Western political and strategic thought in the region.I also will show that the Arabs had mixed responses to the disengagement. Each player, including the different groups in the Palestinian political system, emphasized what was important to its own outlook and interests.On the one hand, the disengagement was perceived as an achievement of the Palestinian struggle and as a positive precursor to an eventual Israeli withdrawal from parts of the disputed territories in the Land of Israel/Palestine. The precedent of the withdrawal from Lebanon in May 2000 opened the way for similar moves in the future. It is important to note that the decision to pursue disengagement was taken at a time when Palestinian terrorist activities, including the area of the Gaza Strip, reached their highest levels. Thus, from the Arab point of view, it exposed the failure of Israeli society to cope effectively with that challenge. This perspective is further supported by the fact that the actual disengagement was implemented at a time, toward the undeclared end of the Second Intifada, when terrorist activities slowly began to subside. In addition, the policy of terrorism failed to produce long-term gains for the Palestinians who regarded their campaign as ultimately ineffective because it came at a heavy price and yielded no tangible results. Nonetheless, the Palestinian leadership appropriated the disengagement and used it as a sign of success in their otherwise futile struggle to motivate other radical actors in the region. The disengagement may have been one of the factors that encouraged Hassan Nasrallah, secretary-general of Hizbullah, to intensify his efforts to carry out an additional kidnapping. This eventually materialized in July 2006 when two soldiers were kidnapped an act that led to the Second Lebanon War. Later Nasrallah admitted that it was a mistake.Whereas the radical actors of the Palestinian leadership celebrated the disengagement as a victory, its more pragmatic elements regarded it as problematic. They feared that it would further fuel terrorism and hence harm internal stability within the Palestinian political leadership. Given that the leadership was going through a period of internal strife and instability, they felt that the disengagement might further complicate relations with their political opponents and that they would be forced to cooperate with the extremist factions.In the neighboring region, the disengagement created far-reaching consequences particularly for Egypt, which in light of Israels decision to evacuate also the border area, the Philadelphi Route was forced to come to terms with Fatah and Hamas and allow increased smuggling from Sinai to Gaza, particularly by Hamas. Moreover, at the time, Egypt suffered domestically from increasing Islamic terror, especially in Sinai. (Before the disengagement a mass-casualty attack took place in Sharm el-Sheikh on 23 July 2005, and Egypt convened an Arab summit to discuss the disengagement and the terror attacks.)1Concurrently, the Palestinians claimed the disengagement as an achievement and felt vindicated by the dismantlement of the settlements and the Israel Defense Forces departure from the Gaza Strip. The Palestinians began to think that the pressure on Israel should continue, which could then bring them closer to their next objective a unilateral withdrawal from Judea and Samaria, and from Jerusalem. To ensure that Israel would not retract the decision at the last moment, the Palestinian factions resolved to keep things quiet during the disengagement itself, which they did.The Palestinian leadership unequivocally attributed the Israeli decision to disengage from Gaza to their terror campaign. But once Mahmoud Abbas was elected to replace Yasser Arafat as Chairman of the Palestinian Authority and called for an end to the onslaught of terror, Hamas quickly reacted. It positioned itself strategically as the faction entitled to reap the political fruits of the disengagement. Cognizant of the political threat that Hamas posed, the PA decided to postpone the date of the parliamentary elections to the beginning of 2006, thus separating the elections from the disengagement as much as possible. In retrospect, it is clear that the PA strategy ultimately failed, and indeed, one may argue that the election victory for Hamas may be attributed quite significantly to the perception of the general public, which saw Hamas as the critical player in forcing Israel to seek the political solution of disengagement from the Gaza Strip.Along with the sense of achievement, many Palestinians were concerned that the disengagement would foster different perceptions of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. First, the Palestinians feared that Israel would now claim that it no longer had the status of an occupier in Gaza. This fear was valid because the decision to leave the Philadelphi Route was defended, inter alia, on the basis that it would enable Israel to make that claim. Hence the Palestinians launched an effort to prevent a change in Israels status, and despite international support for the disengagement, they easily managed to enlist international support for their position. As a result, the international community and the Arab world now considered Israel as an occupying power in a place where it had neither military nor civilian presence.Furthermore, the Palestinians were concerned that the suffering of the settlers, who experienced both physical and psychological trauma when they were uprooted from their homes, could deprive the Palestinians of their status as the primary victims of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. For a time, the wide coverage of the disengagement in the international media, and particularly, the traumatic forced removal of the settlers, inspired empathy and sometimes even sympathy for their human story, while the suffering of the Palestinians was upstaged. However, international sympathy with the settlers and their misfortune was short-lived. The international media quickly reverted to depicting the Palestinians as the main victims, while settlers were portrayed as responsible for their own suffering.Beyond the fears of the Palestinians in general, the disengagement posed much graver concerns for Fatah. Mahmoud Abbas and his comrades in the movements top echelon saw the Israeli move as a form of pressure on them to reach an agreement based on an Israeli interpretation of the Roadmap. They feared that if they did not do so, a new, unilateral reality would emerge where the Americans would recognize Israels claims regarding Judea and Samaria (President Bushs letter to Prime Minister Sharon intensified these worries).2 Abbas, of course, was not prepared to give in to this pressure since it would mean accepting a long-term interim arrangement where, at most, a Palestinian state would arise in Gaza and part of the West Bank without a solution to the problem of the refugees. This fear, however, turned out to have been exaggerated. The disengagement had not really intended to put pressure on the Palestinians. On the contrary, it came from domestic Israeli considerations. The Americans not only did not try to leverage the move but eventually ignored the Bush letter, which lost all significance after President Obama dismissed it.It had not proved possible to work out an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza by agreement. Moreover, some in Fatah feared that coordination with Israel would fail and the achievement represented by the withdrawal would be endangered. This concern existed despite the fact that James Wolfensohn, representative of the Quartet for coordinating Israels disengagement from Gaza and for the development of the Gaza Strip, had devised an arrangement for leaving the Israeli green-houses in the Gaza Strip intact, using his personal finances. Therefore, Abbas repeatedly emphasized Israels threats prior to the withdrawal, that the disengagement that if rocket fire continued from Gaza, Israel might exercise its option to re-conquer that land. This led Abbas to demand that Hamas refrain from launching rockets, thereby encouraging Israel to complete the withdrawal. Abbas concerns turned out to be somewhat exaggerated: Israel not only fulfilled all its commitments, it refrained from invading Gaza even after Abbas reneged on his promise and shortly after the disengagement, rocket fire from Gaza resumed.Two additional concerns turned out to be more justified. Firstly, the PA and Fatah feared that after Israels withdrawal Hamas would use its increased military power to take over the entire Gaza Strip as it was strong enough (with about 20,000 armed men, according to the PA) to deter the PAs security forces from fighting it frontally, especially in the areas where Hamas was entrenched. Once Israels military presence was gone, the PAs ability to prevent a Hamas takeover was limited. The day after the Israeli withdrawal, it had become clear that Hamas was doing whatever it wanted in the Strip. It destroyed the greenhouses and the remaining buildings in the Israeli settlements, razed the fence that Israel had built along the Philadelphi Route, and brought in a large quantity of weapons from Egypt while PA security forces stood by passively. Eventually, in 2007, Hamas used its power and electoral gains to take control of the Gaza Strip.The second concern was that the Israeli move could have been a ruse to expose the fact that the PA was neither capable nor prepared to govern Gaza independently. Thus, it would bolster Israels argument that a Palestinian state in the West Bank would endanger Israel and the pragmatic elements in the region, such as Egypt, Fatah and Jordan. The Palestinian Authoritys impotence was indeed revealed. Despite the fact that the government of Israel has emphasized that point, Europe, the United States, and even some on the Israeli Left have preferred to ignore this obvious Palestinian failure. They continue to maintain that the Gaza precedent should be followed in Judea and Samaria by creating an independent Palestinian state there.For Hamas, the disengagement had positive consequences. Israels decision clearly vindicated the movements insistence that terror (i.e., jihad or Islamic resistance) is the only way to liberate Palestine. It is clear that the disengagement was one of the factors that made Hamas overcome its misgivings and run in the Palestinian parliamentary elections. The disengagement raised Hamas hopes for a solid electoral victory.This achievement was quickly translated into a new reality on the ground because Hamas had gained effective control of the Strip. For Hamas, the main issue became how to leverage their enhanced position in Gaza and increase their ability to hold it in the future, turn it into a base for anti-Israeli terror, and apply pressure on Israel to withdraw from Judea and Samaria and from areas within the Green Line. The movement did not conceal its goal of liberating all of Palestine, and kept calling for the liberation of Jaffa, Haifa, Ashkelon, and, of course, Jerusalem.At the same time, a disparity arose between Hamas achievement in Gaza and its freedom of action in Judea and Samaria an issue that continues even today. On the one hand, Hamas leveraged its accomplishment in Gaza to consolidate its strength in Judea and Samaria both politically and operationally. On the other hand, Hamas feared that Israels success in preventing it from building its power base in Judea and Samaria would endanger its position in Gaza, which was its greatest accomplishment.So far, despite continuous efforts, Hamas has failed to repeat its Gaza success in Judea and Samaria. A major reason for its failure to do so is Israels presence on the ground, along with the lessons that the PA has learned from what happened in Gaza after the disengagement.From the perspective of a decade, we may learn six lessons from the disengagement, as follows:First, the Palestinian Authority is not capable of controlling a territory on its own. It cannot overcome radical groups that challenge its authority because of its corruption and because of the conflict between its seemingly pragmatic approach and its commitment to an extremist ideology that claims that there is no such thing as the Jewish people and there is no history of Jewish sovereignty in the Land of Israel. Therefore, there is no justification for the existence of the Jewish nation-state in the land. In fact, the land really is Palestine and, hence, Israels disappearance is inevitable. Furthermore, it is incumbent upon the Palestinians to expedite the process of Israels disappearance. All means justify the ends, and the choice between approaches must be based upon their effectiveness at a particular time. The Jews are dreadful and appalling creatures that the Europeans removed from their midst. There is no reason for the Palestinians to tolerate them. The Palestinians are victims of the West and of Israel and cannot be held accountable or expected to accept responsibility for their actions. The weakness of the PA, however, makes it dependent on Israel in order to prevent its collapse.Second, a territory that Israel completely evacuates without retaining a capacity to operate in it, or at least to implement containment of it, undergoes a change. It is impossible to return it to the previous status quo. Just as Hamas exploited the disengagement in order to strengthen its forces and improve its military capabilities in Gaza, as Hizbullah did in southern Lebanon, there will be a similar result in Judea and Samaria, if they are transferred to the Palestinians, particularly if Israel does not retain control of the Jordan Valley.Third, unilateral concessions are perceived in the region as signs of weakness, and hence invite additional pressure. Conversely, demonstrating resolve discourages pressure. The unilateral withdrawal from Lebanon encouraged the Palestinians to choose confrontation and launch the Second Intifada. The Disengagement convinced the extremist elements among the Palestinians, along with Hizbullah, to continue the armed struggle, including a focus on kidnappings.Fourth, the ultimate, long-term goal of the Palestinians is the destruction of Israel and gaining control over all of Palestine. This is especially true regarding the 1948 refugees, whose objective is to return to their former homes. For them, the homeland is not simply an abstract conception, but a concrete idea of a house that they or their parents had left and to which they want to return. Thus, even when a small plot of land that belonged to what they consider their homeland is given to them to control, they do not concentrate on cultivating it, but focus upon how to use it to make progress toward their main goal. Remnants of any Israeli presence in Gaza, including the greenhouses, were demolished. No attempt was made to use them for settling refugees and advancing economic growth. The Western and Israeli peace industry refuses to recognize this reality, and facts on the ground will not change their preconceptions, which involve projecting Western norms on the Palestinians. People in the peace industry wring their hands and express their disappointment at the bitter reality, and learn nothing. The implications with regard to Judea and Samaria are clear.Fifth, the political benefit from unilateral concessions is temporary and illusory. It is not possible to translate such concessions into sustainable political achievements. Israels withdrawal from Gaza was not acknowledged as the end of an occupation, even after the adoption by Congress of the letter of President Bush. The campaign of delegitimization against Israel continued, as was evident in the Goldstone Report, published four years after the disengagement. In conclusion, we should not delude ourselves.Sixth, optimism and wishful thinking cannot provide a basis for major political initiatives. There was no justification for optimism about the disengagement. Gaza did not become Singapore and the Philadelphi Route was breached. A continuous supply of weapons was brought into Gaza and large parts of Israel came under the threat of rockets by Hamas. Predictions of a great future for Gaza were not fulfilled.From a personal standpoint, looking back at the disengagement after a decade raises the question of how major decisions are reached in Israel. I do not know whether and to what extent Prime Minister Sharon was motivated by personal considerations or public pressure or, conversely, that he believed he had invented an idea that promised much greater military and political advantages than disadvantages, and decided to implement it. It is clear that he was influenced by the terror attack at Netzarim in October 2003, in which two female soldiers and one male soldier were killed at the base where they lived. This attack further decreased the support of part of the public for deploying the IDF to protect the Gaza settlements.3 In any event, the readiness of the top decision-makers, along with a small coterie of associates, to take fateful decisions men neither elected by the public nor chosen by the state because of their professional competence only increased the chances of making unsound decisions.This practice is likely to increase the effects of the basic structural weaknesses of Western political and strategic thinking and may continue to influence the decision-making process in Israel. These weaknesses were evident during the period of the disengagement. Perhaps the most important factor is a fundamental naivete, which makes it difficult for Israels decision-makers to see the other side as an enemy whom one must confront until he changes his policy and ceases to be an enemy. Many believe that even when the other side unequivocally regards us as an enemy that must be destroyed or removed, we must view it as an opponent that can and should be placated and turned into a partner. The affair of the greenhouses is a striking example of this wide cultural gap. Such naivete encourages some of our decision-makers to develop an attitude of exaggerated optimism. This state of mind causes them to favor positive scenarios while belittling problematic ones and to see the importance of the immediate consequences of their decisions while downplaying their medium- and long-term repercussions on the immediate environment (in this case, Gaza) and the broader environment (the Palestinian, Arab, and international spheres). In other words, naivete compromises strategic foresight, which, in turn, allows our leaders to place excessive focus on the domestic impact of their actions while assigning much less significance to foreign policy considerations.* * *Notes1 Many killed in a series of attacks in Sinai, Nana News, 23 July 2005, http://news.nana10.co.il/Article/?ArticleID=195552 By clicking Agree, you consent to Slates Terms of Service and Privacy Policy and the use of technologies such as cookies by Slate and our partners to deliver relevant advertising on our iOS app to personalize content and perform site analytics. Please see our Privacy Policy for more information about our use of data, your rights, and how to withdraw consent. Agree Thank you for visiting the Daily Journal. Please purchase an Enhanced Subscription to continue reading. To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account. We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription. A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means youre helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much! There are haunting anonymous three-dimensional faces, a black painting of a man in a cell with white light streaming in from a small barred window, and a stunning multicoloured landscape of a country left behind. These images are among the artworks produced by asylum seekers living in Australia which form the unique exhibition Home: between here and there, which opened in Barton on Friday night. Asylum seeker Hayder in front of his artwork, "Memories", at the opening of the "Home: between here and there" exhibition on Friday night. Credit:Jay Cronan The eight artworks explore the experience of displacement and exile, the homeland left behind, and the unfinished journey to a new place to call home. Hayder, 32, a qualified artist and teacher who fled the conflict in Iraq, said his artwork, titled Memories, gave him a sense of relaxation as it looked both to the past and the future. People who wring their hands about how social media is making us all nasty are dead wrong. The modern media environment doesn't make us nasty. It just takes the nastiness that was always there and projects it on a screen. When Stephen Fry, at the BAFTA awards, said of Costume Design gong-winner Jenny Beavan as she left the stage: "Only one of the great cinematic costume designers would come to the awards ceremony dressed like a bag lady!", there were always going to be people at home who would pause popcorn en route to mouth and say to their husband or wife or dog: "Well. What a rude prick." When comedian Lawrence Mooney got a lukewarm review for his Fringe Show, one assumes there were always going to be harsh words said in the Mooney lair. And fair enough: no-one likes to be told they are less funny than they are (I am biased here, as I find Mooney ridiculously hilarious). What social media does is supply the opportunity to take the sorts of things we used to mutter in the privacy of our own homes and broadcast them to their targets. Thereby allowing a bunch of unconnected people to bustle in and set up their little pup tents of outrage on one side or another. Thereby creating a two-day scandal from something that really ought to have remained as a stray remark. Friends! Social media isn't making us meaner. It's just eroding the great and noble human tradition of bitching behind each other's backs. Have you ever had one of those moments where you're loudly castigating the driver in front of you for driving like a cloth-eared git, and then you realise it's actually your friend driving the car? That sense of quantifiable shame is the precise human gap between what we're prepared to say to people's faces, and what is best left unheard. Even the Bible deals with this phenomenon. Jesus predicted that his main man Peter would deny him three times (a prediction hotly contested at the time by the above-mentioned disciple). And Peter did deny Jesus three times. But not to his face; just to a couple of bystanders who asked if he was in any way associated with the totally doomed guy from Galilee. Don't know what you're talking about, said Peter, nonchalantly, three times. You see, Peter didn't count this as a betrayal. Not until the cock crowed and he twigged that he'd blown it. There are two lessons from this parable. One: Don't betray the omniscient. They're already onto you. Two: Humans don't count victimless backstabbing as genuine betrayal. Backstabbing is our naturally-evolved pressure valve for human relationships; even the distant ones. Fuming in private whether it be about your kid's maths teacher, your mother-in-law, Garry Lyon, anyone who has slept with Garry Lyon, or the flight attendant who told you to stow your tray table when you were ALREADY DOING IT is a rewarding, therapeutic and harmless way to dispel angst. Share it across the kitchen table, and it's gone. Share it on social media though, and it's on. Social media has taken that harmless little pressure valve and turned it into a giant, roiling cesspit of offence endlessly given and taken, and spun into weightless news items. Even hitherto normal news sites devote columns and columns to pointless Twitspats, as if they mean something. "David Bowie's Son Posts Cryptic Tweet After Lady Gaga Tribute To Late Father". "First Pictures Of Rihanna After War Of Words With Beyonce", and so on. "Who gives a f--- about Kanye West?" shrieks the venerable New York performance artist Penny Arcade in her current Adelaide Fringe show. "They have hijacked our attention and they are renting it back to us!" This week, Fitzphile Ian Yager recounted to me his experience, the previous Friday morning, catching the ferry from McMahons Point to Circular Quay. "We were warmly welcomed onto the ferry by a crewman I later learnt was Grant. We had barely left the wharf when I noticed Grant engaging with a small group who were clearly overseas visitors. Within a minute or so he had arranged them for a group photo with the Sydney Harbour Bridge as a backdrop. He continued to warmly engage with and photograph couples and groups until his duties required him to assist with berthing." On their return journey, late that afternoon, there was Grant still, lining up travellers and taking their photos with both the Opera House and Bridge as backdrops. Outcomes? "All travellers welcomed and put at ease," Mr Yager writes, "a great introduction to the city. Happy and memorable group photos for travellers without reliance on and interference by selfie sticks. Happy travellers and crew. GOTTA LOVE THIS CITY." And well done, Grant, and Sydney Ferries. Joke of the week As the train rolls out of Wynyard, a man sitting next to a tired businesswoman pulls out his mobile phone, as they cross the Bridge, heading north. He starts talking in a loud voice: "Hi, sweetheart. It's Jim. I'm on the train. Yes, I know it's the seven thirty and not the four thirty, but I had a long meeting. No, honey, not with that Kevin from the accounting office; it was with the boss. No, sweetheart, you're the only one in my life. Yes, I'm sure, cross my heart!" Thirty minutes later, he is still talking loudly, even as the train slows for her stop at Wahroonga. Deciding it is payback time, she picks up her briefcase leans over and says in a husky voice, "Jim, hang up the phone and come back to bed ..." before alighting. Jim doesn't use his mobile phone in public any longer. They said it "I hate the new Kanye. The always rude Kanye. The bad mood Kanye ... I love you like Kanye loves Kanye." Lyrics from Kanye West's new song, called how could I not guess this? I love Kanye. "They're trying to throw me out. I'm blind, I'm deaf I'm not stupid." Maya Demetriou, 89, who has been a tenant in the Sirius building, the Housing Commission pyramid in the Rocks, since 2008. She is one of the few tenants left in the building and doesn't want to move. "Now Iraq is Harvard for terrorism. You want to become a terrorist? You go to Iraq. Saddam Hussein understood, and he killed terrorists." Donald Trump, after calling the whole Iraq War "a big fat mistake", says the US should never have got rid of Saddam. "I know people will disagree with me, but it just seems like God made men and women, and that night guns made them equal ... Maybe until nobody has guns, everybody has to have them." Eagles of Death frontman Jesse Hughes, returning to Paris from America, to finish the concert that was under way when the terrorists attacked in November. "I mean, with all due respect, dude, I think you are scum and I reckon you should come home. Cardinal Pell, I know that you are not feeling well; perhaps you just need some sun. It is lovely here, you should come home. You pompous buffoon, and I suggest you do it soon." Tim Minchin serenades Cardinal Pell this week, in a song that went viral in minutes. "It's so great to be here at this really serious event. I have never been invited to the Oscars because, as you know, they are racist. But BAFTA have diverse members and that's what we all want to see in life, isn't it? Diverse members. One day I hope to return here to win a BAFTA myself. I have already been practising my transgender face." Comedian Rebel Wilson at the BAFTAs. She thought edgy, others thought over the edge. "Only one of the great cinematic costume designers would come to an awards ceremony dressed as a bag lady." Stephen Fry, joking on Twitter about his friend, costume designer Jenny Beavan at the BAFTAs. After a backlash, Fry announced he was "quitting" Twitter. "If you bring 100,000 people into the Sydney Basin every year, the price of housing goes up [...] people wonder why their youngsters can't get houses in the big cities ... the answer is we are going for breakneck population growth." So when public relations maven and mother someone dubbed her a "momager", I love that Roxy Jacenko made the news this week, polarising opinion with the story about her four year old daughter Pixie, it got me to thinking about the whole idea of parenting in a social media age. Well now they have social media accounts of their own, closely monitored. There are rules: you must befriend me, I must know the passwords, you will take down anything I deem inappropriate, and if you don't, the device you use to run these accounts will be mine, all mine, for the best part of week. I remember and, God, are they really that old? having actual photographs of my bubbas, when they were bubbas, real-life photographs I lovingly put into an album (but never one of those My First Five Years albums, I mean who had time to do that?). Photos I would post, in an envelope, to my parents, photos I would write on the back of, Blossie's first Weetbix, the Monster's first steps. Remember those two little kids from my now defunct Motherload column all those many, many years ago? What did we parents do with ourselves before we could share photos of our children on social media? What did we do before we Instagrammed or tweeted about our offspring, before our Facebook status reflected our parenting state of mind? In case you missed it, here's a brief wrap of the story. Pixie is apparently one of Instagram's biggest child stars, with more than 109,000 followers in comparison I have 134. Jacenko runs her daughter's account, using it to promote products, including her own fashion label Pixie's Bows. And she's making money from it, all dollars, apparently in a trust fund for when she's older. Anyways, someone obtained some pictures and photoshopped them, placing Pixie in some pornographic situations, and the photographs were circulated among Sydney's fashion circles. Police are investigating the situation. Here's hoping Pixie is OK. That tomorrow she'll be back playing with Play-Doh and crayons (or back in her private jet and wearing Dolce and Gabbana, which is more likely given what I can make of the situation.) But it got me to thinking about how I felt about Jacenko. Sure I felt horrified that any mother would find doctored pornographic photos of their child. That act is incomprehensible. But, a little like the team on The Project on Wednesday night, I was wondering if this momager wasn't partly to blame for, what Waleed Aly and Carrie Bickmore called the "commercialising" and "commodifying" of her child. Neither journalist disagreed that the doctoring of the photos was out of place, but both had issue with the idea that you could use a child for commercial gain. And I think I agree with them. Child stars aren't anything new. From Shirley Temple to Brooke Shields, children have always been a part of popular culture. But I ask, where does social media fit into that? My feed is full of proud mama moments not so much my own but those I follow share photos of their children, posed and perky, with rosy cheeks and flowing locks. (Sometimes I think I'm the only mother on Instagram who doesn't have a personal photographer following her around. When I feel this way I look at @womenirl.) And then Jacenko is right when she says everyone is going to have an opinion about how you parent and what you do and don't do. But we were judging other parents way before we could do it on social media. If she wants to, and I dare not use the word, exploit her daughter then go for it. (Indeed some would say perhaps I have exploited my own children through my writing about them, but I've rarely dressed them up and made them smile sweetly for the cameras. It's IRL at my place.) The contemporary dance company also toured Cacti to regional cities across Australia last year where it was enthusiastically received, according to SDC's artistic director Rafael Bonachela. "I think they find it refreshing that they can go to see a dance show where they are explicitly invited to relax and laugh out loud," he says. Cacti begins with 16 dancers seemingly trapped on large Scrabble tiles. As a string quartet plays and spoken recordings offer a flippant narration of the show, the dancers run, fall and writhe until they are each given a cactus. The show was devised as a parody of contemporary dance, which Ekman says is often boring and difficult to watch. "I believe Ekman would like to uncomplicate the contemporary dance experience for audiences," Bonachela says. "I do agree that when people try too hard to understand something it can detract from their enjoyment." Cacti has been widely performed and critically acclaimed even though it questions the role of critics and their supposed power to make or break a work. However, the joke was lost on The New York Times critic Alastair Macaulay, who called it "a deliberately inane and pretentious work that seeks to create cute comedy from its inanity and pretentiousness". Ekman says it was a predictable response. "He's exactly what I'm making fun of," Ekman says. "He always writes the same thing. He's always playing that part." Given the tepid nature of arts criticism in Australia, it is surprising to hear how much power is wielded by their counterparts overseas, and the angst they instil in performers such as Ekman. "It's extremely hard to create a piece and then to see in the newspaper, if they decide to trash it, it's extremely painful and unfair sometimes," he says. But Ekman also says the work is a museum piece, created six years ago when "I was just dealing with all this myself". "I'm over all this now. I don't care what the critics think any more. I'm a little bit annoyed at having to go back to this subject all the time. This was my therapy. In my work now, I'm over this." Ekman's annoyance raises the questions of why the work is being restaged. After all, whatever power reviewers once wielded has been diminished by social media, he says. "They're not as important, I guess, as they used to be because there are more critics out there these days." Ekman also makes a surprising admission for a choreographer. "I don't make dance steps," he says. "That's not what I'm good at. I make happenings, situations and sort of experiences for the audience." His latest work includes creating a lake on stage for a production of A Swan Lake for the Norwegian National Opera and Ballet in 2014. He says convincing the crew of his idea was no easy feat: "There were lots of scared technicians who feared this thing would break. It all becomes how to get these people with me." "To be a good choreographer, you need good ideas, interesting subjects and timing and the talent to create a piece, the craft. But you also need to be a good leader." Ekman hatched an equally ambitious plan for his production of A Midsummer's Night Dream for the Royal Swedish Ballet last year, which involved placing a musician in the royal box. But Ekman's attempt to traduce tradition was ultimately unsuccessful. "It became this huge thing you know, but I had my image," Ekman says. "And that's my job, to fight for that image." Ekman's creative process begins with a question: "Why am I doing this piece? Why do we need art?" He also asks hard questions about why contemporary dance attracts small audiences. "The question is why aren't they going?" he says. "Because it's boring and doesn't reach out to them. It doesn't capture them. They don't care. Honestly, that's the truth I think." "After 10 years in this business, I've also realised how extremely rare it is, a well-crafted, entertaining, interesting dance piece. That's like a needle in the haystack." "My premise was that it's not possible to represent the Holocaust 'frontally', to present a sort of objective imagery of it, as films usually do. We had to find an angle. And ours was to approach it from the human perspective and integrate human limitations into the experience." So the camera has a close, intimate relationship with Saul, played with devastating simplicity by Geza Rohrig, a writer and poet who lives in New York and has never acted before. It focuses on his face, it follows his gaze, it sits at his shoulder. We see what Saul sees, and often it's the devastating images glimpsed on the edge of the frame that tell us what is going on. This is not a contemplative camera, however. Things move quickly in Son of Saul. It's set in late 1944, when the German war effort is collapsing. We see the mechanism of extermination, the machine that is the camp, but it's careering out of control. A feeling of frenzy, says Nemes, and a veritable Babel of different languages heard around us these too are details that films about the Holocaust rarely touch on. "Frenzy and the lack of information constitute an integral part of the human experience within the camp." We had to make sure that the actors were not trying to project a 2014 set of emotions onto their roles. Laszlo Nemes Son of Saul was shot in a former military facility on the outskirts of Budapest. "We knew we couldn't recreate the entire camp. We wanted to create the logic of space, not inch by inch, but rather the spirit of it," Nemes says. "That's what guided us throughout the film, to have this mental, imaginary space that the viewer would have to construct in their mind." For the crematorium, however, he wanted to have a single location. "I really wanted to preserve the continuity of space, the human experience, so that if you go from inside to outside you don't have to cut. You have the feeling you are in one real space." Preparing the cast members to play prisoners and guards, he wanted them to be as aware as possible about the time and its context, to read documents and testimonies that were the basis of the film. "And on the other hand," he says, "we had to make sure that the actors were not trying to project a 2014 set of emotions onto their roles. So they had to integrate all the knowledge and context and then try to forget, try to minimise the emotional interpretation. I wanted them to go beyond that, or not go there, to keep the acting as raw and simple as possible." He wanted to avoid the cliches of Holocaust imagery, he says, "the history film, postcard look", or the search for "beautiful pictures. We wanted to resist the temptation of making it beautiful, but we also had to avoid the tendency to make it ugly. We were looking for the feeling of everyday life." Nemes was born in Hungary; members of his family died in Auschwitz. He moved to France with his mother at the age of 12, studied history and cinema in Paris, worked as an assistant on two films with Hungarian filmmaker Bela Tarr, and studied filmmaking in New York. He has made three short films. At first, he thought that his central character in Son of Saul would be French, and that much of his financial support would come from France. But French backers did not want to film in Hungary, and he did not want to compromise on this. In the end, his funding came entirely from Hungary. There were several decisions about how Son of Saul was shot that were crucial to its sense of authenticity; one of them, he says, was to shoot on celluloid. "We like it, we believe in it, we think it can communicate things that digital cannot, and it was very important to anchor it in the physical reality of chemicals and physics. Film makes every second count." Using a digital camera might seem to give a filmmaker more options or more freedom, he says, but that's not something he's interested in. "The lie of the digital world gives you the illusion that you are infinite, that you can do everything. But I believe in the poetic, artistic advantages of limitations, because you have to overcome them in other ways. I think that's what makes art more interesting. If you have the impression of being a god, that doesn't serve the material. "I think digital is a regression, and it corresponds to a narrow industrial push from projector-makers and distributors. But the audience ends up getting less for their money. The troubling case of Steven Avery, convicted of murder, features in documentary Making a Murderer. Credit:Netflix And with the emphasis on the fine print of case detail, and lingering uncertainties of innocence or guilt, they also offer the audience a chance to play armchair detective. In that sense, they might owe as much to Agatha Christie, Perry Mason and CSI as creative antecedents as they do to groundbreaking film crime documentaries such as 1988's The Thin Blue Line, which led to the exoneration of alleged murderer Randall Dale Adams, or 1996's Paradise Lost, about the murder trial of three teenage boys in West Memphis, Arkansas. Ricciardi is cautious about comparisons, particularly to Making a Murderer's contemporaries. "With respect to Serial, for example, there is a narrator, [journalist] Sarah Koenig, and she's very much on her own journey to understand the investigation into who killed Hae Min Lee," she says. "Our story, in that respect couldn't be more different." Significantly, Ricciardi and Demos point out they were never in a position to investigate the murder of Teresa Halbach, nor did they set out to. "That was never our aim," Ricciardi says. "Our goal was to document the prosecution of Steven Avery and to understand what had gone wrong in the first case. It's a very different goal in mind and different format in that sense." The pair began filming on December 5, 2005. Since then they have worked full-time on the assembly of the documentary series. "We were really in the best position to witness the prosecution of these two individuals and to question to what extent that process was fair," Ricciardi says. After the series was launched in the US, it drew almost universal acclaim from television critics, but created a firestorm of accusation and counter accusation in Manitowoc County where, understandably, local politics gave the documentary a unique context. "You don't want to muddy up a perfectly good conspiracy movie with what actually happened," prosecutor Ken Kratz told US media, in a stinging rebuke to the series. The reaction of America's news media, which is notably partisan in tone, was also mixed. Some outlets rounded on the filmmakers, backing the county's complaint that they had been unfairly portrayed. Though Ricciardi and Demos are perfectly composed during our interview, it is clear that point is a source of some frustration for them. "I think any self-respecting journalist rather than trying to police two documentarians in our work, would actually focus their efforts on the problems in the American criminal justice system," Ricciardi says. The filmmakers make a strong defence of the series, saying no documentary not even one lasting 10 hour-long episodes could have included every detail of the Avery case. "I think the question at hand is, of the list of things that we supposedly left out, do any of them have any consequence? We say no," Demos says. Nor, she adds, was the documentary an attempt to relitigate the case on television. "That wasn't our goal in making this series; it's certainly not our goal now. We would hope that journalists look at what [Katz] is saying and check the public record and see if any of it checks out." The impact of the series was amplified by its prominent positioning by Netflix, which has become the buzzy go-to destination for quality television. As an on-demand service, which fuels the appetite for "binge viewing", it is a rare crucible where long-form documentary can blossom against the kind of scripted programming that traditionally eats up most of the media noise. "It can only be a good thing for storytelling and for journalism," Demos says. "Not all stories fit into a one-hour slot, or a half-hour slot, or a two-hour film and it's important that stories that don't fit into those also have an opportunity to be told. "In that sense, what we are seeing is a new form of television journalism, a TV equivalent to the 10,000-word deep-dive piece that was the historical provenance of newspapers. "It's a great question ... to what extent is documentary filmmaking different than journalism?" Ricciardi says. Making a Murder is not even really about Steven Avery, although his story dominates its narrative. What is on display, and what perhaps drills deep into the discomfort the law enforcement establishment has with the series, is a deeper malaise within the American justice system. "We chose Steven because of the valuable window we thought his story could offer," Demos says. "So in a way his story wasn't of particular importance; it was what his story could show us and it's not particular to Wisconsin or Manitowoc or to Steven. These things are happening everywhere. "I've heard from many people after they watched the series, that [they see it as] terrifying, like this could happen to anyone, and that's true and it could happen to anyone, anywhere," Demos adds. "So it's absolutely just a kernel and a crack that shows you what's really going on. "The most frustrating thing," says Ricciardi says, "is that so many questions still remain unanswered. "We saw it in the 1985 case; there was a wrongful conviction and a corresponding wrongful acquittal," she says. "The actual perpetrator remained on the streets to attack women. And if that's at all possible here, I would think everyone would want to know. "In choosing Steven Avery as their subject, Ricciardi adds, it allowed them to "put a human face on a story that was for us really an exploration of the status of the American justice system. We went in because we were documentarians and we were able to do a really deep dive into the system. "Its lasting power," Demos says, "is to provoke the kind of debate that will bring attention to what the filmmakers see as the larger, and more affecting, issue. "The majority of viewers, not those who have a platform on television, but real viewers, what they are responding to are much deeper questions and a much deeper feeling of disquiet with what they see," she says. Making a Murderer's Laura Ricciardi and Moira Demos will talk with Charlie Pickering for Spectrum Now on March 10. For details, see spectrumnow.com.au. More highlights from the Spectrum Now Festival Talks in Sydney from March 1 to 16. PILLOW TALK Hear sparks fly between Australia's leading creative couples as they open up about their craft and collaborations. Sunday March 6 David and Kristin Williamson, David and Lisa Campbell, Rob Carlton and Adrienne Ferreira. Wednesday March 16 Shannon Murphy and Dan Wyllie, Richard Tognetti and Satu Vanska, Max Cullen and Margarita Georgiadis. CULTURAL CRUSH Over the past two years, fisherman Max Laub has watched his little patch of Corner Inlet, where he'd anchor to catch whiting and garfish, turn into an underwater "desert". The culprit: purple urchins, "lined up like lawnmowers", chewing through the broad-leaf seagrass that stops the seabed being eroded and washed away. Corner Inlet, one of the state's most prolific fishing grounds, is part of Nooramunga Marine Park, just east of Wilsons Promontory. What's occurring there is being characterised by Parks Victoria as a mystery and a rarity; by Deakin University researchers as a threat to biodiversity and a probable loss of countless tonnes of ancient blue carbon; and by fisherman as a curse on their livelihood that's easily fixed if bureaucracy would only step aside. The purple sea urchin is a native critter given to taking over sub-tidal reefs and turning them into what's known as "urchin barrens" that is, life-rich areas eaten away to nothing, and restoration is a long process, not easily achieved. This is what's happening to the reefs in Port Phillip Bay. There are a number of permits available to fish the urchins, and supply them to restaurants, but only in areas much further east and west on the Victorian coast. About three years ago, an outbreak of purple urchins were first spotted in Nooramunga by marine park manager Jonathan Stevenson who along with a group of volunteers has been monitoring the Posidonia australis seagrasses for 10 years. The Posidonia beds in Corner Inlet and Nooramunga are the largest in Victoria and their conservation status in Victoria is "rare". If the proverbial really hits the fan on a Collins Class submarine, the crew has three options to escape. The best-case scenario, in which they stay dry, is an LR5 rescue submarine that can be flown anywhere in the world, dropped into the sea, and then locks onto the ailing mother boat. In the worst instance, they can flood the forward section and effectively swim out. In between, there is the option of using the escape hatch in the middle of the boat, donning MK11 full-body suits that fill with air, and shooting to the surface from depths of up to 180 metres. Sydney loves a good culture war, and right now it is getting them in spades. The spat over plans to relocate the Powerhouse Museum to Parramatta was dialled up to 11 on Friday with a screaming front page from Murdoch's Daily Telegraph bagging the inner city's "cashed-up cultural elite" for disrespecting western Sydney. Actress Cate Blanchett is at the forefront of the Powerhouse Museum fight. Credit:AP Enemy No. 1 was Cate Blanchett, one among 170 signatories of a petition calling on Premier Mike Baird to halt the proposed move. After all, Blanchett and her husband Andrew Upton are much more likely to be visiting the Met than the Powerhouse, given their stateside move ahead of Blanchett's Broadway debut. The Terrorgraph's attack was vintage Murdoch has spent his entire career railing against the snobs, toffs and elites of the "establishment", among which the 84-year-old billionaire certainly never counted himself. Artists, academics and television personalities and anyone who can be vaguely construed as "the Left" are all high up on the hit list. The Herald Sun reported on Friday that Cardinal Pell was being investigated by Victoria Police's Sano taskforce for committing multiple offences, by "both grooming and opportunity". Archbishop of Melbourne Denis Hart. Credit:Joe Armao The report claims police have spoken to "numerous" alleged victims as part of their year-long investigation. It is understood that Sano's investigation of Pell has been ongoing for the past 12 to 18 months. It is not known whether it is an active or open investigation based on preliminary inquiries. Cardinal George Pell at a mass of thanksgiving in 2014. Credit: Wolter Peeters In a statement released by the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney, Cardinal Pell said the allegations are "without foundation and utterly false" and called for a public inquiry into the leak. "These undetailed allegations have not been raised with the Cardinal by the police," it said. "He strongly denies any wrongdoing. If the police wish to question him he will co-operate, as he has with each and every public inquiry." "For elements of the police to publicly attack a witness in the same case study that has exposed serious police inaction and wrongdoing is outrageous and should be seen for what it is." Cardinal Pell said in his statement that he had been exonerated after claims of historic sexual abuse were made against him in 2002. He said those "false claims" had been ignored by police for 15 years. The complaint he refers to centres on allegations he abused a boy at a church holiday camp at Smiths Beach, Phillip Island, in the 1960s. According to the complaint, Cardinal Pell, then a student priest, fondled the young boy's genitals. Cardinal Pell, who always denied the allegations, temporarily stood down as Archbishop of Sydney in 2002 after the accusation was made. Reports at the time said an investigation by retired Victorian Supreme Court judge Alec Southwell found the accusation could not be established. The closed-door inquiry organised via the National Committee for Professional Standards, which also oversees the abuse complaints processes for the Catholic Church, Towards Healing concluded that both the complainant and the Cardinal were honest witnesses. "I accept as correct the submission of (counsel) that the complainant, when giving evidence of molesting, gave the impression that he was speaking honestly from an actual recollection. However, the respondent, also, gave me the impression that he was speaking the truth," Mr Southwell said. The absence of forensic evidence due to the 40-year interval since the alleged offence, the complainant's credibility, lack of corroborative evidence and Cardinal Pell's sworn denial of the accusations were key factors in the inquiry's conclusion, Mr Southwell said at the time. In December 2015, Sano taskforce detectives investigating historic allegations of abuse publicly appealed for information about sexual assaults at St Patrick's Cathedral between 1996 and 2001, during which time Cardinal Pell was archbishop of Melbourne. The investigation centres on claims that 14-year-old boys were sexually assaulted at the church. Detectives were understood to have executed search warrants on buildings linked to the church in East Melbourne, Melbourne, Maidstone and Toorak, on December 2. Victoria Police would not comment on the Herald Sun's report. "Taskforce SANO is currently conducting a large number of investigations into historic sexual offending," Sergeant Anthoula Moutis said. The committee comprised seven individuals. Three of them the director of the Art Gallery of NSW, Hal Missingham, and graphic designers Alistair Morrison and Douglas Annand didn't put pencil to paper, but acted as mentors to the others. On the 50th anniversary of Australia's successful switch to decimal currency , it's worth commemorating how the design group, charged with designing Australia's decimal banknotes, came up with the equivalent of a Melbourne Cup winner. A camel, according to conventional wisdom, is a horse designed by a committee. We've had our share of camels born of committees in Australia, but the Currency Note Design Group, convened in 1963 by the governor of the Reserve Bank, H. C. "Nugget" Coombs, wasn't one of them. It was these four Richard Beck, George Hamori, Max Forbes and Gordon Andrews who did the grunt work, labouring alone on their individual sketches. Despite the element of competition, the group evidently worked harmoniously. It was a panel of experts and Coombs expertly let them get on with it. An image of the Queen appears on one side of the $1 note. Andrews was declared the first among equals by his fellow committee members in April 1964. His designs were a triumph. They were distinctive, modern and brightly coloured. They acknowledged the past and celebrated science and the arts. They didn't take the easy route to popularity; there were no soldiers or sporting heroes; there was no Don Bradman. So appealing were they that the nation accepted them with alacrity and soon bestowed on them the greatest of all Australian compliments: nicknames. (A lobster as the $20 bill is sometimes called was also known as a "red drinking voucher" on my teenaged Saturday nights.) But even this highly effective committee didn't get everything right. On one side of the $1 note is a portrait of the Queen, looking very regal, decked out in the Order of the Garter. The other side, by contrast, is adorned with three examples of Aboriginal art. He believes that developing the ability to put ourselves in another's shoes is the key to a fairer, more productive and harmonious society. Sydney-born Roman Krznaric has conducted empathy training for some of Britain's top judges as well as the violent offenders they sentence. There is a quiet revolution going on in the criminal justice system. Visiting Melbourne from Britain to host The School of Life's Empathy in Australia panel discussion this Wednesday, Krznaric told Fairfax Media that fostering more empathy in the legal system can have a transformative effect. "The judges I've trained realised that empathy was actually very important in a courtroom situation when often you've got very really angry people in front of you. People feeling they've been heard has actually improved courtroom management and made it faster to get people through the system," he said. Krznaric noted that while some judges were initially resistant, believing that an empathic approach could be viewed as being soft on crime, they found it improved their awareness and decision-making. "Judges are often bringing their own stereotypes and prejudices to the table. They may be Catholics having to rule on issues of gay marriage for example. "Empathy can help shift some of their beliefs and be a tool for fairness. That imaginative leap is what helps us make a connection with another person who is different from us. We have all sorts of assumptions about people and we're so often wrong." A remedial massage centre that promotes the bra sizes of all of its staff has challenged the City of Sydney to prove it is operating as an illegal brothel. Central Station Massage, in Elizabeth Street, Surry Hills, showcases on its website "four cute Asian girls" daily, which on Saturday included workers described as "slender 34A, milky skin" and "curvy 35D and tanned". The shop's website also includes links to a second massage centre in nearby Broadway where the same rostered girls "dress sexy" in "nurse, maid, stockings and school uniforms ... to satisfy your fantasies with a "happy ending". Yet the council now finds itself in the position of having to fight the owners in the Land and Environment Court on March 1 after an order to "cease unauthorised use", was rejected and appealed. The victim of a paedophile priest told a court that the then Cardinal of the Sydney archdiocese and a high-ranking bishop allowed the perpetrator to move on to other parishes despite knowing he had sexually abused a young boy. Reading from his victim impact statement at the Downing Centre court on Friday the one time altar boy, now grown up, struggled to control his emotions as he told how the assault had ruined his life. Paedophile priest Robert Flaherty leaves Downing Centre Court. Credit:Tim Barlass "I heard the names of these so-called leaders during the trial, namely Cardinal James Freeman and Bishop Edward Kelly," he said. "I never had any contact with them but their decisions have impacted on my life," he said. "[They] knew that he had sexually abused a young boy and all they did was move him from parish to parish to give him new young boys to manipulate and abuse without having any restraints put on him. A man had allegedly drunk at least two full-strength beers and used his mobile phone when his car hit and killed a pedestrian in Sydney's west, court documents have revealed. Matthew Simon Prykaza, 29, from Berala in Sydney's west, was allegedly driving his Ford ute along Bay Drive in Meadowbank at 5.30pm on Friday when a 67-year-old man began to cross the same road. The man was allegedly hit by the ute and was taken to Royal North Shore Hospital in a critical condition, where he later died. Mr Prykaza was charged with dangerous driving occasioning death, negligent driving occasioning death, consuming alcohol while driving and using a mobile phone when not permitted. He faced Parramatta Local Court on Saturday over the crash. A police charge sheet alleges Mr Prykaza was "driving the vehicle in a manner dangerous to another person" at the time of the impact, had consumed "two to three 330ml" Hahn Super Dry beers, and used a "hand-held mobile phone". The federal government's 'no jab, no pay' law has sparked a rush on vaccines as parents fear missing out on welfare benefits. Under the vaccination policy, which came into effect on January 1, parents will lose the Family Tax Benefit Part A supplement and childcare subsidies if their child is not up to date with their immunisations. State and territory health departments report they are being inundated with calls from GPs and health nurses about how to implement catch-up schedules, particularly for children who have never been vaccinated, as parents flock to immunisation providers. Meanwhile, health departments are sending out increased vaccine supplies, a spokesman for federal Health Minister Sussan Ley confirmed. A former member of the Rural Fire Service with an "unhealthy fascination" for fire has been refused bail after he allegedly lit a bushfire in Sydney's north-west on Friday afternoon when temperatures were predicted to hit 34 degrees. Johnathon Trindall, 22, from Ropes Crossing in Sydney's west, hired a car and drove to the Scheyville National Park at 1.40pm on Friday while he was being followed by detectives in unmarked cars, police allege. The national park was described in a set of alleged police facts tendered to the court as an area of dense, dry bushland which is heavily covered in high grass. It is alleged Mr Trindall stopped his car on Dormitory Hill Road in the national park for about five minutes, and shortly afterwards a fire was seen adjacent to the car with flames five feet high and billowing smoke. The issue has exploded on social media as the Baird government reviews the laws introduced two years ago in the wake of the deaths of two teenagers in Kings Cross. The polling has been released by health groups to combat a Keep Sydney Open rally on Sunday by opponents of the lockouts, who claim the laws have destroyed Sydney's nightlife. More than two-thirds of NSW residents support the government's crackdown on alcohol-fuelled violence, including lockouts and 3am last drinks, a Galaxy poll has shown. Concern that Australia has a problem with alcohol had increased in the past year, the polling for the Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education shows. Eighty per cent of NSW respondents expressed concern, up from 74 per cent a year ago. Laws enforcing a 3am closing time (80 per cent), 1am lockouts (66 per cent) and 10pm bottle shop closures (63 per cent) received strong support. But the most popular policies to deal with alcohol-fuelled violence were greater penalties (86 per cent), CCTV at venues (85 per cent), increased police numbers (82 per cent) and more public transport (81 per cent). "There is currently under way a well-organised, highly vocal, industry-backed campaign to undermine the trading hour measures, but it's very important that we don't make the mistake of thinking this noisy minority represents the wishes of the majority of New South Wales voters, because they don't," said FARE chief executive Michael Thorn. He said a similar campaign had been previously mounted in Victoria under the former Bracks government in the name of protecting live music, which had led to the watering down of laws there. A 20 year veteran of the NSW Parliament, Charlie Lynn, says he has been inundated with messages of support since his shock suspension by the Liberal Party. Mr Lynn, who retired from the NSW Upper House before the 2015 election, was issued with a six-month suspension for speaking publicly on ABC television's 7.30 about the need to reform the NSW Liberal Party's preselection processes. "People are telling me to keep speaking out": Charlie Lynn. Credit:Ben Rushton But Mr Lynn's views on the topic are not new. In his valedictory speech to the NSW Upper House, he had highlighted the need to get more women preselected to the upper house, arguing that without reform, the NSW Liberals risk "being depicted as a white-bread Anglo enclave run by misogynistic factional warlords". "People are telling me to keep speaking out," he said on Saturday, a day after he learnt of the suspension. Western Sydney University is embroiled in a legal battle with its head of safety and security who has accused it of illegally snooping on staff emails. Adam Byrne has held a senior role at the university's Sydney campus for almost 10 years, during which time he was the only staff member to twice receive the coveted Vice-Chancellor's Excellence Award. University caught up in a dispute over alleged illegal monitoring of staff emails: Western Sydney University employee Adam Byrne. However, in July last year, one of his staff became aware her email account had been interfered with. After she raised concerns with Mr Byrne, it emerged his had too. The resulting legal stoush reached a climax on Friday when Mr Byrne flagged, through lawyers, his intention to bring an "adverse action claim" against WSU which, he claims, has breached its professional staff employment agreement through "illegal surveillance". He also claims that after lodging formal objections about his treatment, WSU terminated his position and attempted to sideline him in an alternative role which he was unqualified to do. Arkangelo Kon, husband of Asunta Jongkor, who survived the crash and is in a stable condition. Credit:Fiona Morris "What is life now without you. Your the best mum ever I know you been through a lot I wasn't easy on you but now your resting. An ill always love you mummy." A passenger of the car, Asunta Jongkor, 43, and a mother of 10 children, was in a stable condition on Saturday. The wreckage of the car is towed away. Credit:Kirk Gilmour Her husband, Arkangelo Kon, said she did not remember what happened when the car crashed but was in a "bad condition" when she learnt about the deaths of the three women. "It was a terrible time ... but I thank God that she is still alive," he said. He said the group had been at the Seven Hills house of Ms Mawen and were travelling to his wife's home at the time of the accident. He did not know what they had been doing there, or whether alcohol was involved. The scene of the accident early on Saturday morning. Credit:TVN News Mrs Diing, a South Sudanese community leader and a relative of the driver, said the occupants of the car were related and had come to Australia from their war-torn country for a better life for their children. "It is really shocking. I couldn't handle it [when told of the deaths]. We have a lot of things happen in our community but [the accident] is really shocking. The women were related to me," Mrs Diing said. Sudanese community leader Tresa Diing is a relative of the driver of the car. Credit:Fiona Morris Mrs Diing said their deaths would have a huge impact on their families because children were now without their mothers. She said her nephew was "a good guy" but she had no idea why he didn't stop for police. He was in a serious but stable condition in hospital where members of the South Sudanese community met to show their support and grieve for the dead women. Marayong car crash victim Roza Mawen. Another daughter of a victim wrote on Facebook: "While I was out doing god knows what last night, the most beautiful person I have ever known was taking her last breath. I'm so sorry for everything mum, God knows you've had it rough. Now you get to rest. I love you, rest easy." Police said it was a matter of seconds between the start of the pursuit and the moment when the car, which did not have its headlights on at the time, careered off the road and hit a power pole and fence before flipping on its roof. "The car, we would say, sped away and within a matter of seconds collided with a power pole and now we have three females who are deceased," Assistant Commissioner Dennis Clifford said. He described the crash as a real tragedy. "There's a lot of people that will be very affected by what occurred tonight," he said. "A lot of lives that will be changed forever." Bruce Davies, a resident who lives just metres from the scene of the accident in Marayong, had just gone to bed when he heard a "huge crunch and a bang". "There was no braking noise or squealing of tyres. I have never seen anything like it," he said. "You could see by the damage to the car that it was travelling at a fair rate of knots. It was on its roof and there was debris all over the road. He arrived at the the scene about 15 seconds after the accident occurred. One police car was quickly joined by several others. "When I came out a police car had just stopped and when I looked down there was a body on the corner over the drain," he said. "It was completely motionless and the police did cover it up." Another resident, Tony Jegede, said he arrived home minutes after the accident and neighbours could hear the occupants of the car screaming. "[Firefighters] couldn't get into the car and they had to cut it open first," he said. "I saw someone was lying down on the footpath and the crews were trying to attend to that person." The car crashed through the fence and into the backyard of long-time resident Peter Eisenhuth. He was sleeping when he and his wife heard a loud bang. "The next thing I heard were sirens," he said. "It was shocking. I came out and had a look but the coppers told me not to go any further. There were coppers and tow trucks everywhere." A Gold Coast cabbie had his car stolen overnight after a passenger became aggressive after paying the fare. Police said the taxi driver, 34, was assaulted and then had his cab stolen in Surfers Paradise about 1.40am on Sunday. Police said the cab driver was assaulted before his car was stolen. He had been dropping off a male and two female passengers on Hamilton Avenue when the man became aggressive and struck the driver in the face, police said. The taxi driver walked away from the vehicle when two other men ran towards him. He sustained minor injuries and received treatment from paramedics at the scene. Three young children were hospitalised after the car they were in performed a U-turn and was struck by another car at Ballan, north of Melbourne. A female passenger aged in her 40s, and believed to be the children's mother, was also injured. Ambulance Victoria spokesman John Mullen said a toddler suffered head injuries after the car rolled on the Western Freeway shortly after noon. The boy was flown to the Royal Children's Hospital, where he remains in a serious but stable condition. Another boy and a girl, both aged under 10, were driven by ambulance to the same hospital with cuts and abrasions, while the woman was taken to the Royal Melbourne Hospital with back and neck soreness. The 38-year-old, who identifies as a woman, was deported from Sydney to Perth on Friday. Clayton James Palmer appeared before Perth Magistrates Court on Saturday morning and was remanded in custody. A transgender escort has appeared in court over allegations she infected a client with HIV. Police say the prostitute, who worked as an escort under the name Sienna Fox, was diagnosed with HIV in August 2014. It's alleged she had unprotected sex with a client in early 2015. That client was diagnosed with HIV in September last year and made a complaint to police. Detectives discovered the escort had moved to Sydney and was working in the Redfern area. Police arrested her at a hotel in Surrey Hills on Tuesday afternoon. So far the escort is facing a single charge of causing grievous bodily harm. Police in Sydney are investigating her activities while she was working in New South Wales. Follow WAtoday on Twitter @WAtoday London: British Prime Minister David Cameron vowed on Friday to wage a relentless campaign to keep Britain in the European Union after striking a deal with fellow leaders that he said would transform the country's relationship with the 28-member bloc. But it came as Downing Street sources claimed that one of Mr Cameron's key cabinet allies had already decided to campaign for Britain to exit the EU, or "Brexit" as it's called. Michael Gove, the Justice Secretary, and one of Mr Cameron's closest allies, is likely to be an "Outer" and has decided with a "heavy heart" that he will back a Brexit, sources said. The deal, which followed two days of round-the-clock negotiations in Brussels, paves the way for a June referendum in Britain on the country's long-ambivalent membership. Education officer Manoj Mishra has been threatened and now carries a pistol. Credit:Craig Abraham "He's the first anyone had met like him, a government officer so bold and unbending," said Pratap Pathak, a reporter for Dainik Jagran, a Hindi daily. With the largest population in the world under the age of 35, India is trying to grow by leveraging what is often called the "demographic dividend". To prepare more than 200 million primary school children for jobs in a modern workforce, India passed legislation a decade ago that more than doubled education spending, increased teacher salaries and reduced class sizes. But children's already low performance has fallen. Pratham Education Foundation, a nonprofit that conducts an annual household survey, reported that in 2005, about 60 per cent of fifth-graders in rural India - where most people live - could read at a minimum second-grade level, but that in 2014, less than 50 per cent could. Teacher truancy is among the more prominent causes of that failure, experts say. Teaching jobs pay well and are sometimes obtained through political connections. But those who get them often do not want to travel to the remote areas where many schools are. In areas with weak local governance, not showing up has become the norm, and people feel powerless to complain. That is where Mishra comes in. Wearing a shiny gray jacket, and with a halo of wavy black hair around a chubby-cheeked face, he hardly looks the tough guy. He grew up in a village about 160 kilometres away, attending a school similar to the ones he now oversees. Having graduated from this state's prestigious Allahabad University, he joined the state civil service, landing a coveted education post in 2002. After jobs in the state education headquarters, he moved out into the field as the officer in charge of primary education in district after district. By August 2014, when he showed up in Deoria, he was already causing a stir. He had been reprimanded for beating up three teachers with a stick because he believed they had landed their jobs using fraudulent documents. That episode made the headlines in the nearby city of Gorakhpur. "Wherever he was, there was always a conversation around him," said Pathak, the newspaper reporter. Just a few days into the Deoria job, Mishra began to get text messages from people complaining that teachers rarely attended school. By then, he was well aware that widespread teacher truancy could occur only if, he said, "my officers are hand in glove with the teachers", warning them if anyone was coming to check attendance. Some weeks later, he called all the officers to a meeting, collected their mobile phones and sent them out to schools they were not in charge of supervising to report on absences. The results shocked him. In one subdistrict, 73 of its 245 teachers were absent. Mishra said he soon discovered that some of the missing teachers lived nowhere near their schools. One lived in the New Delhi suburb of Noida, a two-hour flight from the Deoria area; another in India's financial capital, Mumbai, more than a 1600 kilometres away. Another had not been seen in school for six years. He says many of them worked other jobs and had bribed his officers into reporting them present. "That's when I took the problem seriously and realised I needed to do something about it," Mishra said. A principal, Manoj Singh, 40, was among those nabbed in the first raid. Soon after, Mishra demoted him to assistant teacher, cutting his monthly salary of $750 by one-third, and transferred him to a remote village a two hours' drive from his home. Singh said he was sure he could persuade Mishra to forgive him because "everyone had missed school for years and no officers had ever come down hard on anyone". He told Mishra that he was sick on the day of the attendance check, and even persuaded politicians and union leaders to intervene on his behalf. "Do whatever you want," he said Mishra told him. "I have done what I have to." In his frustration, Singh acknowledged, "I got aggressive. It's possible I said some loose words." In Mishra's telling, the former principal threatened to shoot him. Singh said he does not recall making such a threat, but whatever he said, it was enough for Mishra to go to the police. Mishra said he received hundreds of calls and visits on behalf of virtually all of the suspended teachers. "There was mayhem," said Sunil Singh, a reporter for another Hindi daily, Amar Ujala. Most people, Mishra included, believed that he would be transferred within a week, the usual punishment from the state executive for disobedient officers. But the tide turned in his favour. "Everyone except the teachers was happy with his work," Pathak said. It did not hurt that the conservative Bharatiya Janata Party had swept to victory not long before with the promise of fighting corruption. One day, Ram Govind Choudhary, then the state basic education minister, called Mishra and said, "I support you - don't worry," both men recalled. "What he did is what all my district officers should do," Choudhary said in an interview. By the late 1970s "To Kill a Mockingbird" had sold nearly 10 million copies, and in 1988 the National Council of Teachers of English reported that it was being taught in 74 percent of the nation's secondary schools. A decade later, Library Journal declared it the best novel of the 20th century. At the same time, her stark morality tale of a righteous Southern lawyer who stands firm against racism and mob rule struck a chord with Americans, many of them becoming aware of the civil rights movement for the first time. Looking back on her childhood as a precocious tomboy, Scout, the narrator, evokes the sultry summers and simple pleasures of an ordinary small town in Alabama. At a time when Southern fiction inclined toward the Gothic, Lee, with a keen eye and a sharp ear for dialogue, presented "the more smiling aspects" of Southern life, to borrow a phrase from William Dean Howells. Nelle Harper Lee was born in the poky little town of Monroeville, in southern Alabama, the youngest of four children. "Nelle" was a backward spelling of her maternal grandmother's first name, and Lee dropped it when "To Kill a Mockingbird" was published, out of fear that readers would pronounce it Nellie, which she hated. Her father, Asa Coleman Lee, was a prominent lawyer and the model for Atticus Finch, who shared his lofty sense of civic duty. Her mother, Frances Finch Lee, also known as Miss Fanny, was overweight and emotionally fragile. Lee was a tough little tomboy who enjoyed beating up the local boys, climbing trees and rolling in the dirt. One boy on the receiving end of Nelle's thrashings was Truman Persons (later Capote), who spent several summers next door to Nelle with relatives. The two became fast friends, acting out adventures from "The Rover Boys" and, after Nelle's father gave the two children an old Underwood typewriter, making up their own stories to dictate to each other. Capote later wrote Nelle into his first book, "Other Voices, Other Rooms", where she appears as the tomboy Idabel Tompkins. She made a repeat appearance as Ann Finchburg, nicknamed Jumbo, in his story "The Thanksgiving Visitor". Lee returned the favour, casting Capote in the role of the little blond tale-spinner Dill in "To Kill a Mockingbird". In one of Lee's last interviews, with a Chicago radio show in 1964, she talked in some detail about her literary ambition: to describe, in a series of novels, the world she grew up in and now saw disappearing. "This is small-town middle-class Southern life as opposed to the Gothic, as opposed to 'Tobacco Road,' as opposed to plantation life," she told her interviewer, adding that she was fascinated by the "rich social pattern" in such places. "I would simply like to put down all I know about this because I believe that there is something universal in this little world, something decent to be said for it, and something to lament in its passing," she continued. "In other words, all I want to be is the Jane Austen of South Alabama". Letter sent to ABVO also sent to Prosecutors Office and Labor Department. Airport:--- Workers of the Princess Juliana International Airport (PJIAE) have taken another step to get the ABVO union to annul the CLA they signed with their employer. In a letter sent to the President of the ABVO union the workers has given the union five days in which they must annul and retract the Collective Labor Agreement they signed with their employer. The workers claimed that the shop stewards that negotiated the contract were not elected by them and they were not consulted prior to the signing of the CLA. Most of all they said a labor mediator was not involved in the negotiations when disagreements began with the workers and the ABVO. A copy of the letter which was provided to SMN News states that the duties of the union is to safeguard and protect their rights and to fairly represent them. They further stated that the union violated the authorities given to them and is in breach of their duties since they signed a CLA which they considered to be fatal. They asked that union to reopen the CLA negotiations and if such is not done within the given time frame then they will fire the union and take legal actions against ABVO. The workers states that in the event the ABVO decides to reopen the negotiations, then them must meet with the workers prior to start negotiating, in order for them to highlight the issues affecting the workers. In a statement to SMN News the workers said they wanted to know if PJIAE paid out the unions, because at this moment they do not know who exactly the ABVO is representing. Further to that they said that the CLAs that were signed in the past were all illegal since the workers never got the benefits that are due to them. The workers said that even though ABVO signed CLAs in the past what they agreed upon was never given to the workers including the increase in salary scales. Further to that they said that PJIAE never had qualified persons in that could properly evaluate the workers. The workers further stated that only recently personnel was sent for proper evaluation training but those persons are not yet certified. That means all the previous evaluations were done illegally, therefore there were a lot of violations of laws committed by management of PJIAE and they do owe the workers quite a large sum of monies. We mean business now because we will not be attending the meeting that the union call for on Monday unless they retract the CLA they signed recently. Besides that the union has to ensure that all monies that are owed to the workers for the past five years are paid off in full. Click to see letter sent to ABVO POINTE BLANCHE:--- Management of Port St. Maarten is very happy to participate in the Dutch Caribbean Coast Guard Open House on Sunday, February 21, by accommodating the various vessels that will be docked at the piers for the event. Have you always wanted to see how a Coast Guard cutter or a Navy ship looks like on the inside? Always wanted to know how they operate and what they stand for? This is your opportunity by visiting the Coast Guard Open House at the Cruise Terminal in Point Blanche. The Dutch Caribbean Coast Guard is celebrating their 20th anniversary this year and has organized an Open House on Sunday from 10.00 AM to 4.00 PM. During the entire day, ships from the Coast Guard, Royal Netherlands Navy, St. Kitts & Nevis, Anguilla, United States and the St. Maarten Sea Rescue, will be open for public tours. Parking for the general public will be available at the Port St. Maarten facility. Guests are asked to follow the instructions of security guards. Parking will be open from 9:30 AM and closed at 4.30 PM sharp. Once guests for the Open House find a parking spot, they can walk around via the sidewalk to the main entrance. Photo I.D. is a requirement for entering the facility. Bags and other items may be subject to inspection. Throughout the day, there will also be demonstrations with the Coast Guard vessels on the water, and the Dash-8 patrol aircraft in the air. The Dutch Caribbean Coast Guard works closely with several partners such as police, customs and immigration on Sint Maarten. The Coast Guard also has good connections with neighbouring territories and countries. For example, the Rescue and Coordination Center (RCC) in Curacao coordinates on a regular basis Search and Rescue actions (SAR) with its partner RCC in Fort-de-France, Martinique. Several SAR operations have been conducted in good cooperation using both French assets and assets of the Coast Guard. This includes flying assets (eg. planes, helicopters) from substation Hato in Curacao, and maritime assets from substation Sint Maarten. Regarding maritime law enforcement, both the French and the Dutch Caribbean Coast Guards have to coordinate their operations due to the proximity of territorial boundaries. Both agencies exchange valuable information on a regular basis. The Dutch HNLMS De Zeven Provincien, is an air defense and commando frigate which is stationed in the Dutch Caribbean. The Royal Netherlands Navy has four of these ships in its fleet. In order to conduct Coast Guard tasks from HNLMS De Zeven Provincien, a boarding team from the Coast Guard Substation Sint Maarten is stationed on-board during operations. The naval vessel has been tasked with counterdrug operations and humanitarian disaster relief, especially after the passing of a hurricane. The Navy also carries out inspections of illegal fisheries, environmental offenses and Search and Rescue tasks. GREAT BAY, Sint Maarten (DCOMM) Ministry of Public Housing, Environment, Spatial Development and Infrastructure (Ministry VROMI), announces that road works will be carried out along part of the Airport road between Thrifty Car Rental and Avis Car Rental starting on Monday, February 22 up to Friday, February 26. These works will be carried out during the day and are related to the laying of underground cables by United Telecommunications Services (UTS). Though there will be no road closure, motorists and especially pedestrians, should be alert of the works that are taking place in the aforementioned area. Ministry VROMI apologizes for any inconveniences this may cause. GREAT BAY (DCOMM):--- Minister Hon. Ingrid Arrindell of the Ministry Tourism, Economic Affairs, Traffic and Telecommunications (Ministry TEATT), met on Thursday in Miami with President of the Florida Caribbean Cruise Association (FCCA) Michele Paige. The FCCA is a not-for-profit trade organization composed of 19-member cruise lines operating more than 100 vessels in Floridian, Caribbean and Latin American waters. The FCCA works with governments, ports, and all private/public sector representatives to maximize cruise passenger, cruise line and cruise line employee spending, as well as enhancing the destination experience and the amount of cruise passengers returning as stay-over visitors. Minister Arrindell was introduced to Paige as the new Shareholder Representative of Port St. Maarten. During the meeting, Paige was informed about the priorities for the Ministry of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunications. Other points that were discussed and where information was exchanged: Destination Sint Maarten cruise figures; Rain Forest Project; Zika Virus and the Cruise Sector; Marketing FCCA-Sint Maarten; and Shore Excursion Concessions. Minister Arrindell described the meeting as very informative and is looking forward to following up on a number of the points that were discussed with FCCA President Paige. Tourism is the foundation of the Sint Maarten economy. I found it very important to meet with the President of the FCCA to formally introduce myself as shareholder representative, but also to express our plans where it concerns cruise tourism and the overall tourism product. This visit was also an opportunity to get updates with respect to a number of matters. The FCCA and its member cruise lines are a strategic partner where it concerns our national economy, and we must continue to maintain a close working relationship in the interests of all, Minister Ingrid Arrindell said on Friday. Also participating in the operations meeting were Port St. Maarten Supervisory Board Chairman Humphrey Mezas and Chief Executive Officer Mark Mingo. Port St. Maarten accommodated 1,901,617 cruise passengers in 2015, and is the #1 cruise port in the Caribbean, the second year in a row according to Cruise Fever.net readers who were asked to vote on the best cruise ports in the Caribbean in the 2015 Cruise Fever Fan Awards. The FCCA was created in 1972 to provide a forum on tourism development, ports, safety, security and other cruise industry issues. PHILIPSBURG:--- The prisoner by the name Kathron Fortune a.k.a. Cuchi who escaped from prison guards on Monday February 15th 2016 has not yet been recaptured and is still at large. An intense search to recapture this prisoner is still ongoing. The Public Prosecutors Office and Police Department on the day of the escape sent out a joint press release requesting the assistance of the entire community to help locate this prisoner. The picture of the prisoner that was sent to all media outlets is dated September 16th 2014. His latest description is as follows: Kathron Fortune was born on the island of Grenada, 38 years of age, he has a dark complexion and a full beard, weighs between 200 and 215 pounds, is approximately 5 feet and nine inches tall, he has a heavy set and strong posture, very low cut hair and possibly a pony tail. The Public Prosecutors Office and Police Department are reminding the general public, that assisting in the escape of a prisoner, keeping that prisoner in hiding, assisting that prisoner in any other form, to prevent his or her capture by authorities, is considered a criminal act and is punishable by law. Anyone who have information that can lead to the recapture of this armed a very dangerous prisoner should immediately get in contact with the Police Department by calling 54-22222 ext. 214 or215, the tip line # 9300 or 911. Do not attempt to capture this prisoner on your own call the police. GREAT BAY(DCOMM):---- Minister Hon. Ingrid Arrindell of the Ministry Tourism, Economic Affairs, Traffic and Telecommunications (Ministry TEATT) and the St. Maarten Tourist Bureau, would like to reassure travelers that even though the destination has one confirmed case of the mosquito-borne virus Zika, various partners in the industry are taking measures to eliminate mosquito breeding sites. Sint Maarten tourism authorities continue to monitor the development of this virus via the World Health Organization (WHO)/Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), and the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA). Sint Maarten tourism and public health authorities have been advising residents and travelers visiting the destination to take extra precautions against mosquito bites to avoid contracting the virus. Other travelers shouldnt panic, and reconsider their travel plans, given the mild symptoms from the Zika virus. Sint Maarten tourism authorities are monitoring and working with CARPHA, through its integrated regional Tourism and Health program, and in collaboration with its partners, the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) and Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA), in taking a holistic aggressive approach to travel-related Zika and other mosquito-borne infections through prevention and control. To ensure the safety of visitors and citizens alike, fogging of mosquitos has been taking place on the island to minimize the exposure to mosquitos. If visitors take the preliminary actions against mosquito bites, they can still have a safe and enjoyable vacation on the island. Dont let the mosquitos ruin your travel plans. The St. Maarten Tourist Bureau wants to ensure the safety of travelers, and is ready to provide up-to-date advice on potential risks and appropriate measures in collaboration with the Ministry of Public Health. Visitors should always take preliminary measures against mosquito bites by covering exposed skin, wearing long-sleeved shirts, long pants, and using EPA-registered insect repellents as well as staying and sleeping in screened-in or air- conditioned rooms. The St. Maarten Tourist Bureau hopes like any other outbreak, the Zika virus will decline and eventually be contained, Minister of Tourism and Economic Affairs Ingrid Arrindell said on Saturday. Shaw Announces Closing of C$300 Million Senior Notes Offering CALGARY, ALBERTA (Marketwired) 02/19/16 Shaw Communications Inc. (Shaw) (TSX: SJR.B)(NYSE: SJR) announced today that it has closed its offering of C$300 million principal amount of 3.15% senior notes due 2021. The senior notes were made available in Canada under Shaws previously filed shelf prospectus pursuant to an agency agreement with TD Securities Inc. acting as sole bookrunner. The net proceeds of this offering will be used for working capital and general corporate purposes, which may include directly or indirectly funding payment of a portion of the purchase price for the previously announced acquisition by Shaw of WIND Mobile. About Shaw Communications Inc. Shaw Communications Inc. is a diversified communications and media company, serving 3.2 million customers through a reliable and extensive fibre network. Shaw serves consumers with broadband Internet, WiFi, Digital Phone and Video products and services. Shaw Business Network Services provides business customers Internet, data, WiFi, telephony, Video and fleet tracking services. Shaw Business Infrastructure Services offers North American enterprises colocation, cloud and managed services through ViaWest. Shaw Media provides Canadians with engaging programming content through one of Canadas largest conventional television networks, Global Television, and 19 specialty networks including HGTV Canada, Food Network Canada, HISTORY and Showcase. Shaw is traded on the Toronto and New York stock exchanges and is included in the S&P/TSX 60 Index (TSX: SJR.B)(NYSE: SJR). For more information, please visit . Contacts: Shaw Communications Inc. Investor Relations How an adventurous priest's bike ride claimed him on Western Ave. Jan Klimczyk was pursuing a healthy lifestyle. Neighbors where he was hit on a bike say speeding traffic on Western Avenue is dangerous. Oak Creek to host outdoor 2022 World Cup watch party A partnership between Morans Pub in South Milwaukee and the city of Oak Creek will offer residents food, drinks, music and games on Nov. 25. Welcome to SwanseaOnline - your home for the best news, sports and what's on coverage of the city. Never miss a Swansea story with our daily newsletter Sign up to comment on our stories here Follow us on Facebook and Twitter | Swansea City news | Ospreys news | InYourArea Virgin Galactic founder Sir Richard Branson walks toward the podium during the unveiling of the new VSS (Virgin Spaceship) Unity on Feb. 19, 2016. MOJAVE, California Virgin Galactic's new spaceship has the enthusiastic endorsement of one of the world's greatest scientists, who plans to fly on the vehicle one day. Famed cosmologist and physicist Stephen Hawking revealed the name of the new SpaceShipTwo suborbital craft VSS (for Virgin Spaceship) Unity during its star-studded unveiling ceremony Friday (Feb. 19) at Virgin's manufacturing facility here at the Mojave Air & Space Port. Unlike actor Harrison Ford and English soprano Sarah Brightman, Hawking did not attend the event. But Virgin Galactic played a four-minute-long recorded message from the physicist when it was time to announce Unity's name. [Gallery: Virgin Galactic's VSS Unity Rolls Out] "We are entering a new space age, and I hope this will help to create a new unity. Space exploration has already been a great unifier we seem able to cooperate between nations in space in a way we can only envy on Earth," Hawking said in the message. "Taking more and more passengers out into space will enable them and us to look both outwards and back, but with a fresh perspective in both directions," he added. "It will help bring new meaning to our place on Earth and to our responsibilities as its stewards, and it will help us to recognize our place and our future in the cosmos which is where I believe our ultimate destiny lies." Hawking's message concluded with the name annoucement: "Please welcome Virgin Spaceship Unity." Stephen Hawking has suffered from the neurodegenerative disease ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), which is also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, for more than 50 years. He is confined to a wheelchair and speaks with the aid of a computer. Hawking said in his recorded message that he has always dreamed of flying to space, but for most of his life he viewed that dream as unachievable. After hearing Hawking speak of his dream during a radio interview about eight years ago, however, Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson called the scientist up and offered him a free seat on SpaceShipTwo. "I said 'yes' immediately," Hawking said in his recorded message. "Since that day, I have never changed my mind. If I am able to go and if Richard will still take me I would be very proud to fly on this spaceship." Branson has repeatedly expressed his admiration for Hawking, who was invited to Friday's event but apparently couldn't make it because of health issues. The scientist is the only person ever to be offered a free ride on SpaceShipTwo, Branson has said. And the entrepreneur revealed Friday that a piece of Hawking graces VSS Unity's exterior. "We felt strongly that we should somehow make sure that Stephen remained a permanent part of Unity's story, because so much of what he stands for resonates with what we at Virgin Galactic aspire to be," Branson said during the unveiling ceremony. "So the Galactic Girl on the side of our proud Spaceship Unity now carries a banner using an image of Stephen's eye." The face of Unity's Galactic Girl is based on an old photo of Branson's mother, Eve, the entrepreneur added. SpaceShipTwo is designed to carry six passengers on brief journeys to suborbital space, for $250,000 per seat. Customers will get to see the curvature of the Earth against the blackness of space and experience a few minutes of weightlessness during the trip, Virgin Galactic representatives say. VSS Unity is the second SpaceShipTwo to be built. The first, VSS Enterprise, broke apart during its fourth rocket-powered test flight on Oct. 31, 2014, killing co-pilot Michael Alsbury and seriously injuring pilot Peter Siebold. Unity will be subjected to a variety of ground-based tests before beginning its flight trials. It's unclear exactly when the new spaceship will be ready to start carrying passengers to suborbital space and back. Follow Mike Wall on Twitter @michaeldwall and Google+. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook or Google+. Originally published on Space.com. Thanks to iZombie_Fan for the heads up. Philip Winchester is set to topline the next installment in Dick Wolfs Chicago franchise for NBC, tentatively titled Chicago Law. He is the first actor cast in the legal drama, eyed for a potential launch during the 2016-2017 season, likely in midseason.Strike Back star Winchester was among the most sought actors last pilot season, ultimately signing for the lead in NBCs drama pilot The Player, which went to series. While the show did not last, I hear NBC brass wanted to keep the actor in the fold and stepped up with an offer for Chicago Law as Winchester was weighing in other pilot offers. BBC Pictures About the Author - Sandi Sandi is part of the Senior Staff at SpoilerTV having been a contributor from back in the Lost days of DarkUFO, and who now writes previews for Banshee, The Musketeers, Poldark, and other UK shows. She also enjoys watching and commenting on other shows such as Vikings, Orphan Black, Game of Thrones and The Flash. All Reviews) Recent Reviews & Articles As some of you are already probably aware, when I am covering a series which is an adaptation from a popular novel I tend to include slightly more detail than I would with my other previews. Therefore, if you are not familiar with the material, or havent read the press release issued, then please be aware that the following will contain some spoilers for the episode.I have been impatiently waiting for this mini-series to hit our screens ever since I saw the casting news more than a year ago.is one of John le Carres most critically acclaimed books; its a gripping and complex spy story about ruthless criminals, double agents lurking in the shadows and how power can corrupt almost anyone. Its very much a character driven plot from the off, exploring the relationships between each of the main players in detail with love, jealousy, manipulation and betrayal all playing their part in the downfall of some of the cast by the end of the series.BBC drama appears to be showcasing new James Bonds recently. In December there was Aidan Turner looking suave in a tux during, and now we have Tom Hiddleston in what could be seen as a six-hour audition for the role. His Jonathan Pine, an ex-soldier who finds himself going undercover to smoke out a despicable arms dealer, isnt a world away from Flemings Secret Service agent, although there are differences of course. Jonathan Pine is not a conventional espionage hero, he is flawed and in many ways unprepared for the task ahead. Ropers world is very seductive, the glamour and influence that his illegal lifestyle affords him is a magnet for many who cross his path, and he knows how and when to use his charm too. Once Pine finds a way into the inner circle he may find it extremely hard to resist the allure of his intended target.Apart from a brief opening video of Richard Roper which depicts him as anything but the worlds worst man, you wont be seeing much of Hugh Lauries character in the opening two-thirds of the episode. Instead, we get to uncover the truth behind the mask he portrays to those who those who are unaware of his criminal life through the eyes of Pine as he is drawn into his world. Pine is an efficient, yet unremarkable night manager of a luxury hotel in Cairo in 2011. Amongst the chaos of the Arab Spring risings which is causing many tourists to flee the area there is one guest who catches his attention.Sophie Alekan (Aure Atika), the mistress of the hotels owner Freddie Hamid, requests a favour of Pine that will impact his life in a way he could never imagine. Her lover is dealing arms with Roper, and fearing for her life she shares the evidence with Pine, who wrestles with the knowledge of what effect these weapons could have on the events unfolding outside on the streets of Egypt. His conscience eventually leads him into leaking documents to a friend in the British Embassy, Simon (Russell Tovey), but Ropers influence reaches far beyond what anyone envisaged, with perilous consequences for those involved.We then rejoin Pine four years later in Zermatt, an isolated part of Switzerland, where he has retreated after having managed to narrowly avoid becoming ensnared in the aftermath of the events in Cairo. The past isnt quite ready to let go of him, however, as the new hotel he works at is one that Roper and his entourage use from time to time, and he is about to fly in for a business meeting with other gangster bigwigs. With the failures of the past still playing on his mind, Pine is determined that he will again pass on any intelligence that he can collect during Ropers stay. Once he hands his findings over to Angela Burr (Olivia Colman) he discovers that the Secret Service need far more evidence than he has, and Burr has a plan on how to acquire it.airs at 9pm on Sunday 21st February on BBC One and BBC One HD, below are a few dialogue teasers to see you through until then. Dont forget to come back and vote in our poll after the episode and let us know what you thought. The late education commentator Gerald Bracey once observed that technology permits us now to do in nanoseconds things we shouldnt be doing at all. Nowhere is this observation more true than in the agenda of Connecticuts superintendents association, CAPSS; specifically its promotion of a concept called personalized learning. Personalized learning is an ill-defined term popular in the education reform world meaning different things to different advocates. The common thread is a heavy reliance on computers to teach children. In CAPSS incoherent version, schools will no longer be age-graded, students will design their own curricula and progress when they develop competencies rather than completing a school year. Rather than being grouped according to age, students will be grouped according to mastery. In order to progress to the next level, children will have to undergo four standardized tests a year. Of course, any system that depends on standardized tests for advancement cannot be personalized. In addition, the CAPSS plan institutionalizes tracking; a harmful educational practice rejected by the Connecticut State Board of Education. Worse still, CAPSS version of tracking, where there is no age-grading, would humiliate a student who fares poorly on standardized tests by grouping her with children years younger than she. The CAPSS muddled vision also proposes students not necessarily learn in school, meaning that much learning will be conducted online; a method with little evidence of success. This reliance on online learning is also troubling in light of research showing that reading online may negatively affect brain development. Online reading promotes superficial, non-linear reading which discourages sustained attention and intellectual effort. By contrast deep reading, a skill developed by reading paper text, promotes more profound thought and analysis. Tufts reading and child development expert Maryanne Wolf is among those who raise concerns about emphasizing learning on a computer before rigorous research tells us how online learning may change brain circuitry. Studies already demonstrate that heavy use of technology in school worsens academic outcomes. CAPSS bizarre proposal for schools raises an important question: What should personalized learning mean? If we are concerned with our childrens development into healthy responsible citizens, then personalization should mean that schools should focus on relationships with humans, not computers. Relationships with teachers and other students are the key to keeping students engaged and in school. A longitudinal study of diverse California high schools confirmed previous research that students who feel connected to their teachers improve academically, engage in less risky behavior, and are more likely to complete high school. Another recent study comparing personalized learning to a control group in traditional schools found that students in the control group reported greater enjoyment and comfort in school, and felt their out-of-school work was more useful and connected to their in-school learning. As Harvard economics professor N. Gregory Mankiw recently observed in the New York Times, after 30 years as an educator, I am convinced that the ideal experience for a student is a small class that fosters personal interaction with a dedicated instructor. The need for human interaction to promote effective learning is rooted in brain development. As neuroscience expert Adele Diamond has written, the brain does not recognize a sharp division between cognitive, motor and emotional functioning. Thus, research has shown that feelings of social isolation impair reasoning, decision-making, selective attention in the face of distraction and decreases persistence on difficult problems. The goal of public education, to develop responsible and productive citizens, also demands a focus on human interaction. If we want to develop into adults who cooperate with others in civilized society, they must practice as children in a classroom with peers. If a child spends his time progressing on isolated tasks in a self-designed curriculum, how will he fare with a lab partner in college, in a class discussion, or when he tries to navigate the workplace? A truly personalized education would ensure small classes with supports for every need; and a variety of subjects to develop students interests as well as their cognitive, motor and social capabilities. Dr. Diamond recounted the remark by a prominent psychologist to those with a one-sided view of development. He inquired, which contributes more to the area of a rectangle, its length or its width? Our children are complex, multi-dimensional beings who need deep and rich experiences to develop properly. They are not characters in a video game who just need enough points to jump to the next level. Anyone who cares about healthy child development should reject CAPSS narrow and de-personalized vision of learning. Wendy Lecker is a columnist for the Hearst Connecticut Media Group and is senior attorney at the Education Law Center. Alice Dellal returned to the catwalk last night in support of older sister Charlotte who staged her first ever London Fashion Week show. Closing the show at the Roundhouse in Camden, the youngest Dellal modelled a pair of thigh high velvet boots from the accessory designers autumn/winter collection. Sporting Forties finger waves and deep red lips, the model cut a demure figure. Gone was the undercut and ripped tights that defined her early days on the party circuit. Given Charlottes reputation as a designer who deals in vintage glamour, the classic aesthetic was far from surprising and served as a perfect match for a collection which honoured all of her favourite design codes. Charlotte Olympia at London Fashion Week 1 /17 Charlotte Olympia at London Fashion Week Charlotte Olympia Alice and Charlotte Dellal walk the runway 2016 Getty Images Charlotte Olympia Alice Dellal backstage Tristan Fewings/Getty Charlotte Olympia A model walks the runway Tristan Fewings/Getty Charlotte Olympia A model walks the runway Tristan Fewings/Getty Charlotte Olympia Alice Dellal walks the runway Tristan Fewings/Getty Charlotte Olympia A model walks the runway Tristan Fewings/Getty Charlotte Olympia A model walks the runway Tristan Fewings/Getty Charlotte Olympia Alice and Charlotte Dellal walk the runway Tristan Fewings/Getty Charlotte Olympia A model walks the runway Tristan Fewings/Getty Charlotte Olympia Charlotte Dellal walks the runway Tristan Fewings/Getty Charlotte Olympia A model backstage Miles Willis/Getty Charlotte Olympia Alice Dellal walks the runway Tristan Fewings/Getty Charlotte Olympia Alice Dellal walks the runway Tristan Fewings/Getty Taking the 1970s as inspiration and in particular, Sci-Fi posters, Olympia delivered a homage to Ziggy Stardust. Hard case clutch bags embellished with the phrase the girl who fell to earth emphasised Dellals space age vibe while metallic sandals with heels, designed to echo planets, were equally out of this world. Miles Willis/Getty Alien pochette bags and star embellished leather lace up brogues also featured in the showcase which was staged in a blacked out amphitheatre. Charlotte Olympia, has long been synonymous with statement accessories which are instantly recognisable and they were also present in this catwalk debut. Keen to delight celebrity fans Alexa Chung and Daisy Lowe who watched from the front row, Dellal included metallic pussy cat pumps and a striking leopard print tote bag. T wo Albanian drug dealers have been jailed after police found a block of cocaine hidden in the boot of their car...ironically weighing 999 grams. Bekim Domi and Shkelqim Dardha, both 25, from Acton and Brent Cross, were stopped by West Midlands Police at Corley Services on the M6 as they drove to London. Officers said a Mercedes E-Class was seen acting suspiciously in Birmingham on January 28 as they tracked the vehicle after it entered the motorway. A search of the cars boot uncovered a solid block of cocaine along with two bricks of cannabis resin. Police said the class A drugs weighed 999 grams and had a street value of nearly 120,000. Domi and Darda initially tried to pass blame onto another when interviewed by police but later admitted possessing drugs with intent to supply at Warwick Crown Court on Thursday and were each jailed for four years and eight months. West Midlands Police Detective Constable Chris Smith said: 999 has proved the downfall for countless crooksand it certainly proved unlucky for this pair! Officers picked up their Mercedes travelling on the A454 before getting on the M6 at junction 10. They then got off at Spaghetti Junction, went northbound for a junction, and then headed south again until they pulled off at Corley Services. If it was an attempt to stay under the radar and shake off any police attention it clearly didnt workand they were caught red handed with a significant quantity of drugs." The Mercedes has also been seized by police. A serial cat killer feared to be on the loose in south London could be keeping the animals' body parts as trophies, it has been claimed. Up to 50 animals, thought mainly to be cats, are said to have been killed by an unknown person dubbed the 'Croydon cat killer' in the past three years. The number of reported incidents has increased in recent months, with some animal owners reporting pets having their heads and tails cut off. A criminologist has now warned the killer may be keeping their victims' body parts to "re-live the moment". Serial murder specialist Dr Adam Lynes, from Birmingham City University, told Sky News: "There are some parallels with serial killers who target humans who take trophies such as watches, underwear, jewellery, or even hair. "And it could be the case that this person is keeping the heads and tails (of the cats) as trophies, to re-live the moment. "Given that they dump the cats' bodies at - or near - the homes of the owners would suggest they like the attention." Animal rights activists have offered a 5,000 reward for anyone who can find the culprit after an apparent escalation in recent months. Kirsty Henderson from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals told Sky: "The majority of these animals have been cats but unfortunately other species have also been killed and mutilated. "We have seen reports of foxes who have been mutilated - killed of course - and left on the street. So who knows where this person will stop? "We don't want to frighten people in this community, but make them aware of what is happening and to ask them to keep their companion animals inside, keep them safe, be diligent, look out for what is happening in your community and hopefully together we can catch this person." A "depraved" paedophile has been jailed for 16 years after admitting almost 20 child sex offences. Julian King, 53, groomed two female victims - one under 16 and one under 13 when the abuse happened - before preying on them during a 12 year period. He was arrested after a victim contacted police in 2014 to inform them of abuse she suffered at his hands between 2003 and 2009. Detectives then identified another of King's victims, who he abused in south London between 1997 and 1999. King, from Waltham Forest, was jailed for 16 years at Snaresbrook Crown Court on Friday. He had pleaded guilty to five counts of rape or attempted rape of a child, six counts of indecency with a child, three counts of indecent assault, one count of sexual assault with a child, one count of sexual activity with a child and one count of taking indecent images of a child. Detective Constable Jon Froude, from the Met's Sexual Offences, Exploitation and Child Abuse Command, said: "The victims were preyed upon by a depraved man who used his relationships to manipulate them. The sentence reflects the seriousness of the offences." A police officer was injured in a suspected hit-and-run after a car was deliberately driven towards him. Officers from West Yorkshire Police were called to the Omnibus pub in Middleton, Leeds, shortly before 7pm on Friday. While conducting enquiries at the pub off Sharp Lane, a Vauxhall Astra was driven towards a police officer. The car hit the officer before the person left the scene, driving erratically, West Yorkshire Police said. The officer was taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries and has since been discharged. Enquiries are ongoing to trace the driver of the vehicle. Anyone with information should contact DI Seth Robinson at West Yorkshire Police via 101, quoting reference 198 of 19 February. A teenager is in a serious condition in hospital after being stabbed in south London. Police were called to reports of a large fight in Central Parade, New Addington, at 6.07pm on Saturday. A male teenager, who is thought to be 17-years-old, was found suffering from stab wounds. He was taken to a south London hospital in a serious but stable condition. No arrests have been made and enquiries are ongoing. A Metropolitan Police Service spokesman said: "At this early stage, the incident is believed to be gang related." Anyone with information should call police on 101, quoting reference 6690/20 Feb, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. A woman has been charged with the murder of a man found stabbed to death above a pub. The body of 32-year-old Shenol Erol Ali, was discovered in a flat above the pub in Tottenham, north London earlier this month. A Met Police spokesman said they had charged Gyuldzhan Hadzhieva, 37, of Northumberland Park, with his murder. She is due to appear at Hendon Magistrates' Court on Saturday. At around 11.30am on February 3 police were called by the London Ambulance Service to the Bill Nicholson pub on Northumberland Park, Tottenham. Mr Ali, a Bulgarian national living in Haringey, was pronounced dead at the scene and a post-mortem examination revealed he died as a result of multiple stab wounds. A woman is seriously injured in hospital after she was hit by a car in Oxford Street. Police and paramedics were called to the busy shopping street, near the junction with Duke Street, just after 2pm. Witnesses said the crash happened near Selfridges department store. A police spokeswoman said the woman, aged in her 30s, was taken to a central London hospital where she remains in a serious condition. Transport for London said traffic had stretched back to Marble Arch after the road was partially blocked. P olice today issued an appeal to trace a young moped rider after a 27-year-old man died in a crash in east London. Daniel Sellick was pronounced dead at the scene when a Vauxhall Vectra he was driving hit a VW Passat minicab on the Alfreds Way flyover at the Lodge Avenue junction in Barking. The fatal collision happened on the A13 at around 2.20am on Wednesday, February 3. A post-mortem examination, held five days later, ruled Mr Sellick, of Rainham, died of multiple injuries. Four people travelling in the minicab, including a 13-year-old girl, remain in hospital with serious injuries. No arrests have been made. Scotland Yard said they wanted to speak to a Vespa rider who stopped and spoke with another witness after the collision. He is described as south-east Asian in appearance and is possibly Chinese. Anyone who witnessed the collision is asked to contact the witness line on 020 8597 4874 O ne in three London NHS trusts saw patients affected by incidents that should never be allowed to happen in an eight month period last year, the Standard can reveal. Twelve of London's 36 trusts reported so-called 'never events' - incidents the NHS says should always be preventable. An Evening Standard analysis of the period from April 1 to December 31 last year showed some trusts recorded as many as 10 of the incidents. They included patients having implements mistakenly left inside their body after surgery and wrong implants being used. Never events at London NHS Trusts between 1 April and 31 December 2015 Guys and St Thomas NHS Foundation Trust 10 3x misplaced naso or oro gastric tubes 2x retained foreign object post-procedure 2x wrong site surgery 1x Mis-selection of a strong potassium containing solution 1x Wrong administration of medication Barts Health NHS Trust 9 5x misplaced naso or oro gastric tubes 3x retained foreign object post-procedure 1x overdose of insulin due to abbreviations or incorrect device Kings College Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust - 5 3x wrong implant/prosthesis 2x retained foreign object post-procedure Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust - 4 2x retained foreign object post-procedure 1x wrong route of administration of medication 1x wrong site surgery St Georges Healthcare NHS Trust - 4 2x retained foreign object post-procedure 1x misplaced naso or oro gastric tubes 1x overdose of insulin due to abbreviations or incorrect device North West London Hospitals NHS Trust - 3 1x misplaced naso or oro gastic tubes 1x wrong site surgery 1x fall from poorly restricted windows University College London NHS Foundation Trust - 2 1x retained foreign object post procedure 1x wrong route administration of medication Chelsea and Westminster Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust - 1 1x retained foreign object post procedure Ealing Hospital NHS Trust - 1 1x wrong wrote administration of medication Epsom and St Helier NHS Trust - 1 1x misplaced naso or oro gastric tubes Homerton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust - 1 1x wrong route administration of medication Whittington Hospital NHS Trust - 1 1x misplaced naso or oro gastric tubes Victoria Care Centre, reported by North West London Collaboration of CCGs - 1 1x fall from poorly restricted windows Other incidents included the wrong medication being administered to patients and nasal or feeding tubes being "misplaced". Guys and St Thomas NHS Foundation Trust, which looks after Guys Hospital, St Thomas Hospital and Evelina London Childrens Hospital, had the highest number of instances at 10. A spokesman for the Trust said it was "unacceptable" that the errors had occurred was "extremely concerned" by the harm or potential harm caused to patients as a result of the never events reported. The spokesman added: "Every never event is thoroughly investigated so that we understand the causes and learn lessons. The Trust has a clear and robust set of actions in place to prevent never events, to reduce the risk of their occurrence, and to ensure that we provide the safest possible care to all of our patients." Barts Health NHS Trust which covers The Royal London Hospital, Mile End Hospital, Newham University Hospital, St Bartholomews Hospital and Whipps Cross University Hospital had nine cases of never events within the same eight month period. There were five instances of misplaced feeding tubes, three retained objects post-procedure and one overdose of insulin due to abbreviations or incorrect device. A Barts Health NHS Trust spokesman said while never events occur rarely, it regarded each event as "entirely unacceptable" and has completed investigations to learn from each case. The spokesman added: "To help prevent re-occurrence we have strengthened our surgical safety checklist, and are holding team briefings, introducing team training in line with the national safety programme as well as using whiteboards to count supplementaries used in surgical procedures. "We have also provided additional staff training in nasogastric tube feeding whilst revising our policy to ensure safe practice." At Kings College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, five never events were reported with three cases of surgical placement of the wrong implant or prosthesis and two instances of items being left inside patients. Foreign objects left inside patients following a procedure can include swabs, needles, instruments and guide wires. A spokesman for the Trust said "even one never event is too many" and was not in line with the high standards it sets itself. The Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust and St Georges Healthcare NHS Trust both recorded four never events within the eight months in 2015. Both hospitals reported two instances of foreign objects left inside patients. St Georges Healthcare NHS Trust reported one misplaced feeding tube and one overdose of insulin due to abbreviations or incorrect device while Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust recorded one incorrect administration route of medication and one wrong site surgery. Seven other NHS Trusts in London also reported never events between April 1 and December 31 last year. A further never event, a fall from a window at Victoria Care Centre in Park Royal, was also referred to NHS England by the North West London Collaboration of CCGs. An NHS England spokeswoman said: Although one never event is one too many, the chances of a never event happening to any one individual is extremely small. For example, there are around 250 never events reported in relation to surgery each year. This is in the context of 4.6 million hospital admissions that lead to surgical care every year in England and 500,000 non-caesarean births. This is therefore an incidence rate of around 0.005 per cent, or one never event in every 20,000 procedures. B ritain would be "freer, fairer and better off outside the EU", Michael Gove declared as he explained his "difficult" decision to defy David Cameron and back the "out" campaign at the referendum. The Justice Secretary - a close political ally of the Prime Minister - is the most prominent of six Cabinet ministers to have taken advantage of the suspension of collective responsibility to oppose the Government line. In a detailed statement setting out his position, he said the EU had "proved a failure on so many fronts" and that he had felt compelled to put his political convictions before his loyalty to the PM. Mr Cameron has said he was "disappointed but not surprised" that the long-term advocate of withdrawal had chosen to campaign for the opposite side for the June 23 vote. "I believe our country would be freer, fairer and better off outside the EU. And if, at this moment of decision, I didn't say what I believe I would not be true to my convictions or my country," Mr Gove said. "By leaving the EU we can take control. Indeed, we can show the rest of Europe the way to flourish. "Instead of grumbling and complaining about the things we can't change and growing resentful and bitter, we can shape an optimistic, forward-looking and genuinely internationalist alternative to the path the EU is going down." He said he had wrestled for weeks "with the most difficult decision of my political life. "I was encouraged to stand for Parliament by David Cameron and he has given me the opportunity to serve in what I believe is a great, reforming Government. "I think he is an outstanding Prime Minister. There is, as far as I can see, only one significant issue on which we have differed. And that is the future of the UK in the European Union. "It pains me to have to disagree with the Prime Minister on any issue. My instinct is to support him through good times and bad. But I cannot duck the choice which the Prime Minister has given every one of us." R escuers are set to resume the hunt for two climbers missing for a week in the Scottish Highlands. Rachel Slater, 24, and Tim Newton, 27, failed to return from an outing on Ben Nevis last weekend with air and ground searches for the pair hindered by treacherous conditions. High winds and driving snow meant search was suspended on Friday and the Met Office issued snow and ice warnings for most of northern Scotland over the weekend. But calmer conditions expected on Saturday means rescue teams could resume efforts to trace the duo. Relatives of the experienced climbers, from Bradford, said they remain hopeful they will be found. A spokesman for Lochaber Mountain Rescue Team said: "The search will continue with an improvement in the weather conditions expected. "We would like to thank the climbing community for their support during this difficult time." In a joint statement released on Thursday their families said: "The overwhelming response from members of the public and the climbing community has greatly assisted the search effort and we appreciate all the support and words of encouragement. "As the search continues we remain hopeful Rachel and Tim will be found and reunited with their families and friends." Police Scotland said: "Conditions remain under constant review. "Police and partners reiterate the appeal to anyone with any information that may assist the search effort to make contact. "Climbers and walkers travelling to the area this weekend are asked to bear the search activity in mind and report anything they feel may assist via 101. "An assessment of conditions will be made first thing on Saturday where consideration will be given to deploying Mountain Rescue personnel and all available resources." H ollywood actor Shia LaBeouf has appeared to punch a man in a lift during his latest artistic stunt. The 29-year-old Transformers star occupied the lift in Oxford for 24 hours as part of a performance, which is being streamed live on YouTube. One visitor, who described himself as a performance artist, asked the actor to punch to him in the face as part of his act. The man, who reportedly queued for seven hours to meet the star, said: Can you help me with completion of my next piece by punching me in the face. LaBeouf replied: Ah man you want me to punch you in the face? before adding: I dont want to punch you very hard. He eventually agreed to slap the man after he was told dont be a p****. LaBeouf entered the lift at 9am on Friday and has only left to use the toilet and to give a talk at the Oxford Union. He is joined by friends and musical collaborators Nastja Ronkko and Luke Turner, with viewers able to watch the performance on YouTube. The Union wrote on its website: Visitors will be able to join LaBeouf, Ronkko and Turner inside the elevator during this time, and are invited to address the artists, the debating chamber, and the internet, so that their collective voices may form an extended, expansive and egalitarian Oxford Union address." Previous stunts involving Mr LaBeouf include setting up a call centre in Liverpool in which members of the public could phone him to ask questions. In 2014, he allowed visitors to an art gallery in Los Angeles to interact with him as he sat with a paper bag over his head with the message I am not famous any more. The latest performance can be streamed via YouTube entitled ELEVATE. A s many as 5,000 jihadists have returned to Europe after being trained at terror camps, Europol's head has said. Rob Wainwright, the director of the EU-backed law enforcement agency, warned of the risk of large-scale attacks by IS and other terror groups. Police said at least half of the 700 people who have travelled from the UK to support or fight for jihadist groups in Syria have since returned. Mr Wainwright told Germany's Neue Osnabrucker Zeitung newspaper: "The growing number of foreign fighters presents the EU countries with completely new challenges." He added that 3,000-5,000 Europeans have returned from terror camps and warned of fresh terror attacks in Europe. "It is expected that IS or other religious terrorist groups will carry out an attack somewhere in Europe, with the aim of achieving high losses among the civilian population," he said. But Mr Wainwright said there was no evidence attackers, who he warned could operate alone, are using the refugee crisis to enter Europe undetected. He said: "There is no concrete evidence that terrorists are systematically using the flow of refugees to arrive undetected in Europe." The comments come weeks after Europol launched the European Counter-terrorism Centre to counter the threat of Islamist terrorism. H undreds of migrants living in a camp in Calais known as the Jungle have been ordered to leave as French authorities prepare to raze it to the ground. They have been told to remove their homes and possessions by 8pm on Tuesday so the area can be cleared. Anyone who defies the eviction order will be forcibly removed, authorities warned. It is estimated between 800 and 1,000 migrants live in the Jungle, which has makeshift shops, cafes, mosques and churches. But humanitarian groups on the ground said many more than a thousand migrants lived at the camp. Pascal Froehly, who volunteers for the relief organisation Caritas, said: "I find it extremely annoying and unfair to move these people away from what they have created, including churches, shops and restaurants." But Mayor of Calais Natacha Bouchart said dismantling of the camp would keep migrants and refugees away from activists looking to cause disruption. The migrants are made up of mainly Syrians, Iraqis, Afghans or Africans, trying to escape conflict or fleeing countries with poor human rights records. A police officer killed after a stand off in rural north Mississippi ended in gunfire. Tishomingo County Coroner Mack Wilemon said police were called to a domestic disturbance on Friday afternoon and officers were engaged in a stand off with a man for several hours. A SWAT team later forced their way into the house, Mr Wilemon said, before gunfire erupted while a woman and a girl were present in the home. He added: They negotiated. They must have decided it wasnt going too well. The SWAT team stormed the house. Killed: A police officer and the suspected gunman died during the gunfire / AP Photo/Michael H. Miller One officer from the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics, named by the coroner as James Lee Tartt, 44, of Grenada, was killed. The suspected gunman, Charles Lambert, 45, of Iuka, was also killed in the gunfire. Three other police officers were injured, with two sustaining wounds that were not thought to be life-threatening. The condition of the third officer was unknown. The woman and girl were uninjured during the incident. Additional reporting by Associated Press. S tunned Top Gear fans brushed shoulders with Matt LeBlanc after the former Friends star broke down in the car park at a retail outlet. The new co-host of the BBC show made an unplanned pit shop at the Orbital Retail Park in Cannock on Friday evening, part-way through the London to Blackpool challenge. Eagle-eyed members of the public spotted LeBlancs Reliant Robin, clad in stars-and-stripes, near a branch of KFC and immediately rushed over to meet their idol. Among those to meet LeBlanc and his co-host Chris Evans, who was driving a Reliant Robin emblazoned with Union Flag paintwork, were Claire Raddies daughters Megan, 16, and Macy, 12. Ms Raddie said she got an excited call from her eldest daughter who was working in Boots nearby, but did not initially believe the news. #TopGear sorry for the breakdown but you've made my two daughters very happy in Cannock! pic.twitter.com/a9MXTO3Pbh Claire Raddie (@claireraddie) February 19, 2016 Convinced, she then took her youngest daughter down to the car park where LeBlanc was happy to pose for pictures. Ms Raddie, aged 39, of Cannock, thanked the star on Twitter, saying: "Sorry for the breakdown but you've made my two daughters very happy in Cannock!" She added: "Totally unexpected but thank you so much." The 48-year-old ex-Friends star was revealed among the programme's new line-up of hosts earlier this month. The Top Gear duo kicked off filming for the first episode of the new series with a 230-mile road trip to Blackpool, setting off from BBC's Broadcasting House in London yesterday. New Top Gear line-up 2016 Also joining the line-up are Formula 1 commentator Eddie Jordan, German racing driver Sabine Schmitz, motoring journalist Chris Harris and car reviewer Rory Reid. LeBlanc tweeted ahead of filming, calling the Top Gear crew a "great group of lunatics" and adding: "We start filming in the morning. I'm pumped." Additional reporting by Press Association. LINCOLN -- Twenty-nine Nebraska LEAD 34 Fellows recently returned from an international study and travel seminar in Hungary, Romania and Moldova. Our international study is designed to provide firsthand appreciation and understanding of our international community and the potential for people of all nations to work together, said Terry Hejny, LEAD program director and group leader. During the Jan. 5-19 seminar, LEAD fellows participated in briefings with U.S. Embassy officials in Budapest, Hungary; Bucharest, Romania; and Chisinau, Moldova, including sessions with Colleen Bell, U.S. ambassador to Hungary; Hans Klemm, U.S. ambassador to Romania; and Jeanette Tyson of the Political-Economic Section in Moldova. The LEAD fellows also visited international businesses, several farm operations and entrepreneurs. Additionally, the fellows were able to meet with officials at Szent Istvan University in Godollo, Hungary; the Pioneer-DuPont Agriculture and Nutrition Research Center near Bucharest, Romania; and Agromester HD, the national John Deere dealership near Chisinau, Moldova. The people-to-people encounters provided the members of Nebraska LEAD Group 34 an opportunity to view characteristics, conditions and trends in Hungary, Romania and Moldova and determine relationships to issues and situations in our country, Hejny said. Through this experience, participants develop techniques in identifying comparisons and contrasts of the countries we recently studied in areas such as agriculture, politics, economics, energy, religion, culture and history as well as technology, trade, food, art and philosophy. LEAD 34 fellows in alphabetical order are: Reed Allen, Wayne; Lance Atwater, Hastings; Ashley Babl, Albion; Nicole Bohuslavsky, Omaha; Wayne Brozek, Gering; Adam Bruning, Kearney; Jonathan Carlson, Callaway; Josh Cool, Gothenburg; Tabbatha Cornelius, Bassett; Jordan Feller, Wisner; Debra Gangwish, Shelton; Mat Habrock, Lincoln; Todd Heithoff, Elgin; Clayton Hensley, Fremont; Justin Jarecke, Kearney; Tyler Kugler, Elwood; Hilary Maricle, Albion; Mark Miles, Ainsworth; Bryan Palm, Mitchell; Esther Rickert, Wood River; Jacob Robison, Elk Creek; Cecil Schriner, Hildreth; Jeff Schroeder, West Point; Alex Schwarz, Bertrand; Rick Spencer, Culbertson; Misty Stauffer, Harrisburg; Sarah Werner, Davenport; Lance Williams, Nora; and Teri Zimmerman, Wymore. The Nebraska LEAD Program includes men and women currently active in production agriculture and agribusiness, and is a two-year leadership development program under the direction of the Nebraska Agricultural Leadership Council, in cooperation with the University of Nebraska-Lincolns Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources. For more information, or to request an application for LEAD 36, contact the Nebraska LEAD Program at 104 Agricultural Communications Building, UNL, Lincoln, NE 68583-0763, call 402-472-6810 or email leadprogram@unl.edu. The application deadline is June 15. "Part of his motivation was notoriety, and that's why I'm not gonna say his name," Sheriff Wagner said. "What he told us is that he was going to be famous." Installation will be held at the 10:30 a.m. service followed by a carry in potluck dinner. Everyone in the community is invited to celebrate. Rev. Katrina Palan, the Nebraska regional minister, will lead through this service of installation. Countries & Areas Search for country or area A Afghanistan Albania Algeria Andorra Angola Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Australia Austria Azerbaijan B Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Brazil Brunei Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burma Burundi C Cabo Verde Cambodia Cameroon Canada Central African Republic Chad Chile China Colombia Comoros Costa Rica Cote dIvoire Croatia Cuba Cyprus Czechia D Democratic Republic of the Congo Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic E Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Eswatini Ethiopia F Fiji Finland France G Gabon Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Greece Grenada Guatemala Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana H Haiti Holy See Honduras Hungary I Iceland India Indonesia Iran Iraq Ireland Israel Italy J Jamaica Japan Jordan K Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Kosovo Kuwait Kyrgyzstan L Laos Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg M Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Mauritania Mauritius Mexico Micronesia Moldova Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Morocco Mozambique N Namibia Nauru Nepal Netherlands New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria North Korea North Macedonia Norway O Oman P Pakistan Palau Palestinian Territories Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Poland Portugal Q Qatar R Republic of the Congo Romania Russia Rwanda S Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Samoa San Marino Sao Tome and Principe Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa South Korea South Sudan Spain Sri Lanka Sudan Suriname Sweden Switzerland Syria T Taiwan Tajikistan Tanzania Thailand Timor-Leste Togo Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Tuvalu U Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom Uruguay Uzbekistan V Vanuatu Venezuela Vietnam Y Yemen Z Zambia Zimbabwe A South African initiative has been launched to equip detectives in Lesotho with the necessary knowledge and skills to present cases to the court for prosecution. This follows the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the South African Insurance Crime Bureau (SAICB) and the Lesotho Mounted Police Services (LMPS) in 2015 to enhance the fight against crime, especially vehicle-related crime. The South African Insurance Crime Bureau has compiled a programme to enhance the capacity of vehicle crime investigators in the mounted police. The SAICB considers the Lesotho Mounted Police Services as crucial in the fight against crime impacting on the insurance industry. Investing in training of detectives will ensure that especially cross border vehicle crime can be addressed effectively. Partners in the training project are Tracker, Datadot, SAPS, LMPS, ABSA Insurance and Standard Bank Vehicle Asset Finance, said Louwrens Liebenberg, senior project manager, SAICB. The first Capacity Building Workshop held in Lesotho for 25 LMPS detectives from different Police Stations and Specialised units was officially opened by Deputy Police Commissioner Molibeli on the 15 February 2016. During his address to the participants, the Commissioner emphasised the vision of the LMPS to enhance the expertise of its members by also involving the private sector. The workshop will be dealing with various aspects impacting on vehicle crime investigation including legislation, vehicle identification, gathering of evidence and interviewing skills. Romanian workers in the UK will not be affected by the decisions of the European Council, President Klaus Iohannis assured on Saturday, following the Council's meeting in Brussels. Romania has obtained in negotiation the guarantee of solid reasons for any restriction to the freedom of movement, he added. "An agreement was reached on the relation between the United Kingdom and the European Union. (...) For Romania, the major topics were the social benefits and the free movement of labour. I have demanded the full observance in the agreement of the rights of Romanian citizens working in the United Kingdom," the President declared.The Council decided the setup of two mechanisms for the UK.The first is a safeguard by subsequent modification of European laws to allow EU citizens the access to a restricted set of non-contributory benefits specific to the UK. "This mechanism is non-discriminatory, applicable to all EU citizens, and exceptional. It is applicable for a maximum seven years. Romanian citizens who already work in the UK - this is very important - will not be affected by the mechanism, but they too will recover their access to these benefits gradually, over a four-year period. We have been very much involved in this matter and we are very happy about this outcome of the negotiation," Iohannis detailed.The second mechanism allows the UK to index child allowances for children left home by workers of other EU countries. Iohannis pointed out that this mechanism, too does not discriminate among EU citizens. "The UK can apply indexing to allowance requests submitted after the mechanism comes into force. It is important for the EU workers residing in the UK who already get allowances for their children back home; indexing is applicable only from 2020 on. (...) These regulations do not come into force automatically, but are subject to an additional legislative process," the President explained.The child allowance mechanism will not be extended to other social benefits."Romania has obtained during the negotiations the amendment of the wording of the [European Council's] decision, to the effect that requests of restricting the freedom of movement of individuals in accordance with Article 45 of the EU Treaty need sound justifications. It is a very important issue, because this avoids situations when merely political decisions are taken without very serious reasons. Romania got this by very diligent, well prepared negotiations, unlike others who spoke perhaps a little more and probably obtained a little less," Iohannis concluded. AGERPRES A company that specializes in reviving financially troubled shopping centers is the new owner of St. Louis Outlet Mall, which is burdened by high vacancy and high debt. Namdar Realty Group, of Great Neck, N.Y., stepped in this month when the winner of an online auction backed out of an agreement in November to buy the mall for $9 million. St. Louis Outlet Mall, known formerly as St. Louis Mills, debuted in 2003 at a cost of $250 million. Mills Corp. of Arlington, Va., opened the 1.2-million-square-foot center in Hazelwood with several anchor stores and 200 specialty stores. Cabelas, the chain of outdoor gear outfitters, came along in 2007. Occupancy and sales plummeted as a result from competition of newer outlet malls in Chesterfield. Namdar executives were unavailable for comment. Kevin McLaughlin, a Newmark Grubb Zimmer principal who helped broker the sale, said Friday that Namdar bought the mall for $4.4 million. City Manager Matt Zimmerman said Hazelwood officials look forward to working with Namdar to revive the mall. He said city officials had a conference call with Namdar representatives and toured the mall with them prior to the sales completion last week. Namdar plans a mixed-use redevelopment although details had yet to be determined, Zimmerman said. Were excited to see some owners who are invested in this and not just financially, he said. This is what they do for a living. Namdar is a privately held commercial real estate investment and management firm. The company says on its website its acquisition criteria for shopping centers and office buildings include minimum occupancy of 50 percent and a low price per square foot. St. Louis Outlet Mall qualifies. Public records show that the malls previous owner, LNR Partners LLC, of Miami, was servicer of a $90 million mall loan foreclosed on in 2012. The mall was 77 percent occupied, down from 84 percent in 2014, according to the company that conducted the online auction in November. The average occupancy rate at malls in many markets is about 92 percent. A motion-activated kitchen faucet was one of the best conveniences my wife and I ever bought. At least until it began making sounds that for some reason evoke the image of a wounded moose. (Search online for moose sounds and hear it for yourself.) We may call a plumber. If we do, I dont care whether that person favors gun control, opposes elective abortions or needs a path to citizenship. I do not care if he, or she, used to be the other. Im OK with any skin color and any headgear, including a hijab, sombrero, do-rag, yamulke, fez or even Los Angeles Rams cap. I only need competence, honesty and someone with no phobia about moose (which, by golly, is the official plural of moose). I do not seek the moral leadership of plumbers, electricians, carpenters, car mechanics or typewriter repairmen, if there are any typewriters left to fix. They are the hired help, paid to do a specific job and move on. Thats also the way I look at public officials, whom I neither look up to nor down upon. Their job is no less simple in concept than that of a plumber, whose role is to efficiently get clean water in and dirty water out. Those we elect are supposed to use some of the publics money to provide services and protection for all. Yet many of us seem to expect something grander at campaign time, and inevitably end up disappointed at the limitations of mere humans. Im talking about the ridiculous campaign dogma of some candidates, who dramatically overestimate what they will accomplish, intentionally misleading an ever-naive cadre of voters As president, I will is a word sequence that ought to be banned from campaigns unless the next word is try. And that applies just as well to candidates for anything. Anyone who can promise a result with certainty is either lying or planning to replace democracy with dictatorship. Thats hard to hold in your head when listening to the bluster in what seem to be hourly presidential debates. The effect is demonstrated in my home state of Illinois, where Gov. Bruce Rauner just presided over his second annual budget speech without ever having his first budget. Real people are hurting as spending shrivels for social services and education from a state government held together for eight budgetless months by the bureaucratic equivalent of duct tape and mirrors. And theres no end in sight. Rauner, a Republican who earned hundreds of millions of dollars in high finance, pledged during the 2014 campaign to bring his business skills to bear. But he had no political experience, and seems to be learning slowly that an accomplished status quo politician like House Speaker Michael Madigan is just as formidable as a near-billionaire on a mission. It would be easy to blame the voters. They delivered both a new governor bent on pro-business reforms, and veto-proof majorities in both legislative chambers of Democrats whose political foundation rests on support of labor. But then again, the states financial distress hardly improved back when essentially the same lawmakers previously had a Democrat, Pat Quinn, as governor. Is distress even a strong enough word to describe a current budget deficit of about $5 billion ($400 for each resident) and a backlog of unpaid bills that in four years is estimated to reach almost $26 billion (about $2,000 per person)? I dont even dare look at the pension funds deficit, which I believe rocketed past $110 billion ($8,800 each) some time back. These numbers are growing while entrenched pols refuse to budge. The poor and mentally ill are being abandoned. Schools at all levels are in upheaval. Bad things are happening to the everyday functions of government while ideologues dither. I used to fear that politicians were losing their respect for that most democratic principle called compromise. Now I see its worse. Some candidates for president are literally campaigning against compromise, promising never to give in. They try to sell omnipotence, ignoring that it quickly turns into impotence in the real world of collaborative governing. There is no honor in what is happening in Illinois. Not for Rauner, well insulated from the pain, and not for Madigan, his chief opponent, a Democrat who presided for years over diversion to other purposes of money intended for public pension funds. Illinois is a warning, an example of what intractable leadership could bring to the federal government. My way or the highway? Ha. If you kept things gridlocked long enough, there wouldnt be a highway. ST. LOUIS Emergency responders are facing a flood of people overdosing on synthetic drugs, a problem that has exploded in recent years, medical experts testified Friday in a sentencing hearing for two traffickers. A recent two-week period saw 100 emergency room admissions at St. Louis University Hospital, said Dr. Laurie Byrne, head of the Division of Emergency Medicine there. It was crazy. They kept coming and coming and coming, she said. Some were comatose. Some were paranoid or very agitated. One had to be restrained and sedated. One was stabbed. Another fell down steps. In one case, the person had overdosed on other medications, too, and it wasnt clear if he was trying to commit suicide or just didnt know what he was doing, she said. The outbreak is overwhelming the department, Byrne told U.S. District Judge John A. Ross in a daylong hearing in court downtown. Ross handed down prison terms of 12 years each to Anwer Rao and Michael Lentsch, both 36 and from OFallon, Ill. They pleaded guilty last fall to drug conspiracy and other charges, admitting they tried to get around drug laws by making or reselling synthetic cannabinoids, like K2, also known as spice, and cathinones, more commonly known as bath salts. Officials said that despite labels warning Not for Human Consumption the two knew customers were smoking or otherwise taking the drugs to get high. They sold the drugs via a website and out of a series of locations in Missouri and Illinois under the brand names Cloud 9 DEEW (weed spelled backward), Mad Hatter, Optima, Crazy Eyes, and Primo. Their organization was taken down by a July 2012 raid by police and federal agents, who seized drugs and manufacturing equipment. Rao, Lentsch and 26 others were indicted in 2014. Byrne said there is no easy way of testing for these drugs, and no antidote, making it really, really challenging for medical providers. Doctors can only treat the symptoms and wait for the drug to wear off. The symptoms can include seizures, aggression, paranoia, nausea and even organ failure and death, said Dr. Jordan Trecki, a pharmacologist with the Drug Enforcement Administration, in response to questioning by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jim Delworth. Byrne said the homeless in St. Louis were being hit particularly hard. Someone, she said, is pushing the K2 on them and making it cheap. Many buy a single hit from someone who bought a larger package of three grams for around $30. Police and emergency responders have also seen a spike. Between Jan. 25 and Feb. 3, there were 18 medical emergencies related to K2 in the city police downtown Fourth District alone, a court document shows. Not a new problem The DEA and others have been tracking overdose outbreaks for years including one in 2015 that resulted in more 2,500 overdoses and nearly three dozen deaths in 12 states. It put such a strain on resources that it was declared a public health emergency, he said. But officials have been playing a cat-and-mouse game since the early 2000s, as they detect and outlaw synthetic versions of THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, and bath salts, which can mimic the effects of methamphetamines or cocaine. Each time a new drug formula is outlawed, manufacturers tweak it, and the pharmacological effects are unchanged, Trecki said, and the new drug goes back on the market. Makers often try to make the sale legal by printing packages with Not for Human Consumption or DEA Compliant, he said. But Trecki said anything intended for human consumption that mimics the effects of a controlled substance is also illegal under federal law. Because the drugs are typically obtained from China and produced using equipment better suited to the construction trade portable cement mixers and paint sprayers the quality varies and users can get doses of different strengths from the same bag, he said. Officials said Rao and Lentsch were connected to others in Arizona and an Indiana drug conspiracy that the Indianapolis Star reported to include two deputies, a teacher and a minister. The two defendants admitted selling the equivalent of 90,000 kilograms of marijuana. As part of their pleas, they agreed to forfeit real estate in Illinois and Missouri, including five downtown St. Louis loft apartments, and more than $5 million. In exchange for their pleas, prosecutors agreed to ask for no more than the 150-month terms they received. Raos lawyer, Thomas Keefe III, and Lentschs lawyer, John Stobbs, sought less, arguing that their clients had clean records, conducted their business openly, paid taxes and even sought the advice of a Florida attorney who told them their business would be legal in that state. Lentsch dodged a bullet because but for the plea agreement, he would have received a significantly higher sentencing, Stobbs said after the hearing. Several co-defendants have pleaded guilty and others await trial, prosecutors said. Police raided a market near North Jefferson Avenue and Dr. Martin Luther King Drive in St. Louis this month, seizing a gun, a surveillance system and suspected drugs. Byrne said that may explain a decrease in overdoses recently. But she said her patients say they are still buying their Green Giant and 24K Monkey from a downtown shop. Missouris most nationally significant political race this year formally began Friday, with Republican U.S. Sen. Roy Blunts long-expected announcement that he will seek a second term in office. Blunt, 66, a 20-year Congressional incumbent with seven terms in the House and one in the Senate, will almost certainly face Democratic challenger Jason Kander, 34, currently Missouris secretary of state the same post Blunt held before his congressional career began in 1997. The polar-opposite worldviews of the two candidates were on display almost immediately, with Blunt vowing in his announcement to oppose any nominee President Barack Obama might appoint to the U.S. Supreme Court, regardless of qualifications. Its a stance Kander labeled political pandering, indicating a compete inability to do his job. Kander announced his own Senate candidacy one year (to the day) before Blunts announcement Friday. Neither faces any serious opposition for their respective parties nominations in the Aug. 2 Missouri state primaries. Tuesday is the first day for candidates to file for that primary. Blunts announcement sets up a race that will be watched nationally between a seasoned fiscal conservative who has backed his partys hard-line ideological stances in Congress while avoiding being labeled a radical versus a young veteran of Afghanistan and relative political newcomer who has walked a line between promoting progressive domestic policies and criticizing President Barack Obamas handling of the ISIS terror network. Blunt, in his kickoff announcement early Friday at an Arnold manufacturing plant before a crowd of supporters, hammered at pro-business, anti-regulation themes and rattled off a familiar litany of criticism toward Obama on foreign policy, health care and business regulation. Im confident that we have better days ahead of us. Im certainly not done yet, Blunt said, to cheers from the crowd. Next Tuesday, I am going to go to Jefferson City for the first day of filing for office and file for the United States Senate and continue representing you at a critical time. Kanders camp responded with a written statement warning that we will not change Washington if we keep electing the same career politicians. Washington is broken and Senator Blunt has spent nearly 20 years in Congress climbing the political ladder and enriching his family by serving as the go-to vote for Washington lobbyists and special interests, said the statement. Jason Kander represents a new generation of leadership who will put service to country ahead of partisan politics. Democrats in Missouri and Washington have made an issue of lobbying work by Blunts wife, Abigail, for Kraft Foods, and by his son, Andy, a well-known state lobbyist in Missouri who is also Roy Blunts campaign manager. The Blunts have dismissed the criticism as nonissues. But for the most part, as Kander and his supporters have actively criticized Blunt over the past year, Blunt has avoided directly engaging him, saying the campaign hadnt yet started. That presumably will change soon. When asked why he didnt mention Kander during his announcement speech Friday, Blunt said: Theres going to be plenty of opportunity to talk about that. What I want to talk about is my record . . . Im confident Ive been representing this state the way they want to be represented. Missouri is among a cluster of states with Republican-held Senate seats whose outcomes will determine the control of the Senate under a new president. Blunt isnt considered a top-tier target this year in the vein of neighboring GOP Sen. Mark Kirk of Illinois. However, Democratic and Republican national Senate campaign operatives in Washington have made it clear they dont consider Blunts re-election to be assured. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee has been producing online ads attacking Blunt over his sons status as a lobbyist. The National Republican Senatorial Committees most recent digital ad against Kander hits him for raises he approved for his employees in the Missouri Secretary of States office. During Blunts Friday announcement, he criticized Obama as an anti-business president and a weak world leader. Our friends dont trust us anymore and our enemies arent afraid of us anymore, said Blunt. He quipped that the only countries in the world where we now have better relations than we used to are Iran and Cuba. Blunt also stood by his position that he will vow in advance to vote against any Supreme Court nomination that Obama makes. I think the American people ought to be able to vote on the issue with their choice of the next president, he said. Kander has criticized Blunt for agreeing with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell that a lifetime appointment to replace the late Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court should be left up to the next president. Blunts position on the issue as he articulated it Friday was slightly different than that of some Republicans who have said Obama shouldnt even attempt to nominate someone to the high court. This president has the constitutional opportunity and, I think, responsibility to nominate somebody, but I will not be supporting that nominee even if its my own daughter, who is a lawyer, said Blunt. I think this needs to be left to the next president. Blunt made his campaign announcement on the cavernous warehouse floor of Unico Manufacturing in Arnold. Unico makes heating and cooling systems. A company official who spoke to the crowd credited Blunt for co-sponsoring legislation, with U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., that cleared a regulatory problem for the company. Arnold was the first of 10 stops on Blunts two-day tour of Missouri. Subsequent campaign stops were scheduled for Kansas City, St. Joseph, La Plata, Hannibal, Joplin, Springfield, Columbia, Poplar Bluff, and Cape Girardeau. Blunt goes into the race with a more than two-to-one campaign cash advantage, according to records filed last month. At that time, Blunt had about $5 million in his campaign accounts, against about $2 million for Kander. Chuck Raasch of the Post-Dispatch Washington Bureau contributed to this report. Updated at 5:25 p.m. with comment from national coalition More than 200 people marched in downtown St. Louis on Saturday to protest last weeks conviction of former New York police Officer Peter Liang in the fatal shooting in 2014 of an unarmed African-American man. A New York jury had found Liang guilty of manslaughter in the shooting of Akai Gurley in a darkened public housing stairwell. The rookie police officer said that the shooting had been accidental and that he hadnt even realized anyone was shot as the result of his guns discharging. But prosecutors accused Liang of handling his gun recklessly and doing little to aid the dying victim. Liang, 28, who was dismissed from the police force immediately after the verdict, will be sentenced on April 14. He could be sentenced to 5 to 15 years for shooting Gurley. His attorneys plan to appeal the conviction, and they also have asked the presiding judge to dismiss the charges. The St. Louis march and a brief rally at the plaza in front of the Civil Courts Building were part of nationwide protests by those concerned that Liang, who is Chinese-American, is being made a scapegoat because of anger over other police shootings and that the former police officer has been treated unfairly because of his race. The Coalition of Justice for Liang, the group organizing Saturdays demonstrations, called the shooting a tragic accident and said the police officer was subjected to selective prosecution with an unfair trial, according to a press release. In the wake of so many unfortunate deaths of unarmed African American men in the hands of police officers, the tension between the police and African American communities nationwide has reached an unprecedented level, the coalitions spokesperson Jack Ouyang said in a press release. However, it is totally wrong for the prosecutor to single out Mr. Liang. Advocates for police accountability, however, have supported the verdict. The outcome stood in stark contrast to many other cases around the country in which grand juries declined to indict white police officers in the killings of unarmed black men, including Eric Garner in New York and Michael Brown in Ferguson. A crowd of 10,000 rallied in Brooklyn on Saturday in support of Liang. Organizers said rallies also took place in more than 30 cities in the U.S., including Philadelphia, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Ching Ling Tai , 70, of Clayton, who chaired the St. Louis effort, said in an interview that it was an ad hoc response. She said Asian-Americans as a group typically are considered silent. We feel that this time Officer Liang was singled out and convicted largely because of ... his ethnic origin, said Tai, a retired teacher at St. Louis University High School. Many in the group carried small American flags and signs with messages such as Equal Justice For All, We Demand Fairness, NYPD and NYC Are Accountable and One Tragedy Two Victims. Some carried a large banner with the words Justice For Officer Liang. One speaker at the rally was state Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal, D-University City, who was an outspoken participant in the Ferguson protests after the 2014 fatal shooting of Michael Brown. Chappelle-Nadal said she was not taking a position on Liangs actions or the court case against him because she didnt have all the facts. However, she told the group that they had the right to speak their mind about the issue on public property. She urged them to work with her to build bridges between police officers and the Chinese-American, African-American and Hispanic communities. She also said she strongly supported the use of body cameras by police, saying that they prove who is innocent and who is not in police confrontations with the public. The Associated Press contributed to this report. FERGUSON Of all the moments that led up to the U.S. Department of Justice lawsuit against this city, perhaps none was more pivotal than a presentation by Ferguson Finance Director Jeffrey Blume on Feb. 6. Before an audience of roughly 200 people, Blume outlined one dismal financial picture after another. Near the end, he hit on a positive note at least for some. A proposed consent decree, negotiated between Ferguson and the Justice Department to avoid litigation, would mean 25 percent raises for city police. A handful of residents, sympathetic to what officers had endured in the 18 months since Michael Browns death, exchanged smiles. Some applauded. But Blumes words stung activists, whose protests helped produce one of the nations most comprehensive plans to reform a police department. To them, it appeared as if the same employees accused by the Justice Department of acting as collection agents for a revenue-hungry municipal court would now be rewarded. As Blume continued, the cost of the decree rose. Raises for officers would mean higher pay for firefighters. Other employees would want salary increases, too. Now the first-year cost of proposed reforms totaled $3.7 million in Blumes worst-case scenario. But an examination by the Post-Dispatch has found that to arrive at that number, city officials: Accelerated deadlines within the agreement. Used salary data from cities beyond the required scope. Ignored the context of an essential phrase in the decree. They also appear to have discounted the possibility that some terms could be worked out later under the supervision of a neutral arbiter. Nevertheless, the figure weighed heavily in the Ferguson City Councils decision to unilaterally revise the consent decree at a meeting on Feb. 9, a decision that drew the ire of the nations top law enforcement officer, Loretta Lynch. It had all started with just two words: most competitive. Of the decrees more than 450 provisions, one requires Ferguson to develop a plan to offer police salaries that are among the most competitive with comparable agencies in St. Louis County. The interpretation of that single mandate provided the basis for Ferguson Mayor James Knowles III to insist that a lawsuit would be cheaper than abiding by the terms of the decree. It also has fueled speculation that some city leaders always intended to fight the Justice Department in court and inflated expenses to stoke fear. I think they have shown absolute manifest bad faith, said Scott Greenwood, a leading police accountability expert and general counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union. What Ferguson has done has been to essentially try to stick its finger in the eye of the Civil Rights movement and of the Justice Department. In the citys financial analysis, roughly $1.9 million of the $3.7 million first-year cost of the decree comes from salary increases resulting from the most competitive provision. It seems like the council, at the very least, was rejecting the idea that they could talk with the DOJ and an eventual monitor about what that provision meant, said Matthew Barge, the court-appointed federal monitor overseeing Clevelands consent decree. Another aspect of the citys decision did not go unnoticed: The price of the decree was provided by a city official portrayed by the Justice Department as helping create the conditions that made it necessary. The Muni Shuffle The term most competitive does not appear in any other consent decree. But anyone familiar with St. Louis County could deduce its intent: to address a phenomenon peculiar to the area known as the muni shuffle, as well as to attract a diverse work force. Roughly 60 departments police the county. Often officers with discipline and performance issues are forced out of one city only to be hired by another that is unable to attract better candidates. Heres one case where they are saying, Lets create really high standards to attract the best workforce possible, said Chuck Wexler, executive director of Police Executive Research Forum. How the city views that in terms of the economic implications is really a different issue. Although the phrase most competitive is not defined, Ferguson officials have interpreted it to mean that the city must raise pay by an average of $12,100 per officer to ensure salaries are in the top quartile of similarly sized agencies. The decree specifies that those agencies be in St. Louis County. But city officials factored in salary figures from departments in Lincoln, Warren and St. Charles counties, according to documents on Fergusons website. The city also included salaries from police departments that are twice as small as Fergusons, which employs roughly 55 officers, along with those that are more than twice as large. Its unclear why. The citys estimate also seems to have discounted the context in which the phrase most competitive appears: in instructions about how Ferguson is to develop a recruitment plan with goals, objectives, and action steps one being that Ferguson offer competitive wages. The decree allows Ferguson six months to create the plan. The city has an additional two months to enact it. So even if all sworn officers must receive 25 percent pay raises, as Ferguson suggests, those increases would not necessarily take effect for at least eight months after signing the decree. That later date would drop the price of executing the decree in the first year. The citys analysis also fails to make another important distinction, namely that a requirement to plan to meet a goal is not the same as a requirement to meet it. In other words, nothing appears to prohibit Ferguson from adopting a strategy that would raise salaries over time, instead of all at once. Goals and objectives are down the road, said John Ammann, a St. Louis University law professor and supervisor of the schools legal clinic, an organization that has filed two federal lawsuits against Ferguson. It doesnt give a deadline for which those things have to be in place. A plan is just that, its a plan. City officials reject any notion that they inflated the cost estimates to influence a decision on the decree. The City has interpreted the provision based on discussions with DOJ and, specifically, an emphasis placed on retaining the same police officers that will be undergoing the arduous training required by the agreement, Ferguson officials said in a statement. The Post-Dispatch sent follow-up questions to a Ferguson spokesman in an email on Monday. Although Ferguson officials were reviewing the questions, none had responded by Friday evening. Meanwhile, a Justice Department spokeswoman declined to comment, noting the matter was in litigation. The gamble As the decision about the decree loomed, statements from some city leaders never seemed to consider the possibility that certain provisions were intentionally vague to allow both parties to work in good faith to accomplish the goals. Federal judges oversee the agreements. After a decree is filed, the parties are able to make their case at a fairness hearing and even later. Just like with a lot of other private party agreements, if it looks like something isnt tenable, or something isnt working out, one of the parties can go to the judge and say, This is completely unconscionable, Barge said. Fears that a consent decree might bankrupt Ferguson, as many speculated during three public hearings, were unfounded, Barge said. Logically it cant be that the effect or the goal of a consent decree or a major reform of a police department is to bankrupt the city, said Barge, vice president and deputy director of the Police Assessment Resource Center. Effective, safe, constitutional policing cant happen if you dont have a city to do it. It sort of defeats the purpose. If the case goes to trial and Ferguson loses, the city could be saddled with millions of dollars in legal fees and the cost of enacting a court order. By that point Ferguson will have sacrificed much of the influence it might have otherwise wielded in the process, said Greenwood, who recently negotiated a consent decree in Albuquerque. There is no chance, zero, that the city of Ferguson will prevail in this Kamikaze mission, Greenwood said. They are not ever likely to get the deal that they had . It will never be that good again. Greenwood was also the principal architect of the Cincinnati Collaborative Agreement, which includes a number of court-ordered reforms, resulting from a partnership between African-American community leaders, the ACLU, the Black United Front, the Cincinnati Police Department and the Fraternal Order of Police. The agreement is often praised as the most innovative, comprehensive and successful police reform process to date. It led to Greenwoods founding a consulting firm with former Cincinnati police Chief Tom Streicher once his adversary. Ferguson officials are familiar with Greenwood and Streicher. The City Council interviewed the pair several months ago about representing Ferguson in negotiations with the Justice Department. They were not interested in fixing their problems, Greenwood said. They were interested in arguing about their problems. The city instead retained Dan K. Webb, a former U.S. Attorney from Chicago, now a defense lawyer specializing in white-collar crime. The decision, some said, indicated the city intended to fight the Justice Department, not partner with it. After he watched Ferguson take the latest defiant step, Greenwood said: Im glad they didnt hire us. A key player When the City Council voted to revise the consent-decree proposal this month, some members said they hoped the Justice Department would return to the negotiating table. But if that was the case, it may have been the most spectacular miscalculation of all. The Justice Department sued Ferguson the next day. Immediately, questions about the figures provided by Blume surfaced on the most visible of stages: a news conference at which U.S. Attorney General Attorney Lorretta Lynch announced the litigation. Lynch declined to speculate on the citys cost estimates. But she noted that they did change. Over a 10-day period, the citys estimates went from $800,000 in a New York Times article to $1.5 million at the citys first public hearing on the agreement to its most recent projection of up to $3.7 million. For the past year, the finance director had largely remained in the background, despite being mentioned 19 times in a 105-page Justice Department report published in March. The report depicts the unidentified finance director as working in concert with the police department to ensure that the citys court provided a steady stream of revenue frequently at the expense of African-Americans. According to the report, the finance director wrote to the police chief in a 2010 email: unless ticket writing ramps up significantly before the end of the year, it will be hard to significantly raise collections next year. What are your thoughts? Three years later, another email from the finance director stated: Court fees are anticipated to rise about 7.5%. I did ask the Chief if he thought the PD could deliver 10% increase. He indicated they could try. One passage in the Justice Department report may have been less than accurate. It says that in 2011 the finance director issued a directive ensuring that bond refunds could be issued only through the mail, not to defendants in person. The report references a statement from another city official saying that it is not entirely uncommon for these refund checks to be returned as undeliverable and become unclaimed property. City officials say that policy came from a former policy chief in 2003 five years before Ferguson hired Blume. The city said it was indeed uncommon for the checks to be returned. Only two have come back to the city since 2013. And Ferguson does not keep unclaimed property, but sends it to the Missouri state Treasurers Office in the defendants name, a statement said. Ferguson declined to make Blume available for an interview. In the days that followed the councils decision, Knowles repeatedly invoked the estimates Blume presented as evidence that fighting in court was less expensive than abiding by the decree. But Knowles calculation ignored yet another important variable the possibility of defeat. Conditions for the acceptance of the Ferguson consent decree The Ferguson City Council placed these seven conditions on the city's acceptance of the consent decree with the U.S. Department of Justice: The agreement contain no mandate for the payment of additional salary to police department or other city employees. The agreement contain no mandate for staffing in the Ferguson Jail. Deadlines set forth in the agreement are extended. The terms of the agreement shall not apply to other governmental entities or agencies which may, in the future, take over services or operations currently being provided by the city of Ferguson. A provision for local preference in contracting with consultants, contractors and third parties providing services under the agreement shall be included. Project goals for minority and women participation in consulting, oversight and third-party services shall be included. The monitoring fee caps in the Side Agreement are changed to $1 million over the first five years with no more than $250,000 in any single year. Americas wars in Iraq and Afghanistan changed the national dialogue about the psychological and health effects of sustained exposure to traumatic events and situations. Before those wars, it was a topic best avoided in polite conversation. Thats how America postponed a very necessary discussion. Today, we all recognize the need to confront post-traumatic stress syndrome. The military orders officers to talk about it with those under their command. Treatment programs have spread nationwide. Law enforcers know to be on the lookout if an emergency call involves a war veteran. But no one wants to talk about the other war zone, the one that exists in the high-poverty, high-crime neighborhoods of Americas urban core. In todays Post-Dispatch, reporter Nancy Cambria reveals the discussion America must have about the toxic stress affecting the bodies and minds of kids growing up in too many struggling city neighborhoods and parts of suburbs like Ferguson. Not your problem? Think again. When society ignores these young victims problems, a vicious cycle ensues. The nation neglects these issues at its peril. And the typical middle-class response picking up the kids and moving to the suburbs only postpones the time of reckoning. As Cambria describes in her exhaustive report, the effects of toxic stress are multifold. Childrens first exposure comes when their parents struggle with the hardships of poverty: debt, housing, transportation, keeping utilities connected and putting food on the table. Next comes the stress of crime and insecurity. Imagine being a child in constant fear of break-ins, gun violence on the street, or being accosted at school. In extreme cases, theres a bullet through the bedroom window or the violent death of a close relative or dear friend. Some of these stresses affect middle-class children in the suburbs, but rarely at the level of intensity experienced by the children described by doctors and researchers in studies assessing the long-term effects these stresses can have. The most obvious damage, researchers say, surfaces in childrens physical health: asthma, obesity, heart disease and diabetes, among other illnesses. Decades of national health studies have demonstrated the higher incidences of such illnesses in areas with high concentrations of poverty. It had long been thought that such diseases were a function of poor nutrition and inadequate access to health care. But researchers now cite evidence of biochemical factors related to toxic stress. Children are producing stress-induced hormones that are altering their chromosomes and triggering the early onset of maladies. Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder comes into play. Even brain size can be affected. Think of the long-term effects when such situations develop and spread across entire neighborhoods. The health issues place a bigger burden on taxpayer-supported medical facilities. The psychological issues reverberate in poorer school performance. The propensity for domestic violence grows. The chances of a confrontation with law enforcers rise. Drugs can come into play. Multiply these factors across hundreds or thousands of households, generation after generation, and it becomes clear how toxic stress contributes to the vicious cycle of poverty and violence. A problem that has taken decades to develop wont be solved easily or quickly. Anyone with the financial means reacts by moving away from such situations as quickly as possible. In St. Louis, the middle-class flight to the suburbs is unquestionably being driven by parents desire to protect their families from the symptoms of toxic stress. The mistake is to construe this as a racial thing. Put a white, middle-class kid through the kinds of daily stresses experienced by the children in Cambrias report, and the result probably would be the same. Federal housing policies are partly to blame for concentrating far too many subsidized units in already overstressed neighborhoods. Thats why Section 8 housing vouchers, which offer geographic options to poor families, are a key way to eliminate concentrations of poverty and get children out of high-stress environments. The national political conversation is being steered further and further from taxpayer-aided programs to help people in poverty. Yet simple solutions, such as special funds to help poor parents pay off overdue utility and rent bills, can work wonders to alleviate the stresses at home. Mental health funding which Gov. Jay Nixon has set as his top legislative priority is an essential part of the solution. Funding for prenatal care and parenting classes is a solid investment in the future. Expanded availability of financial literacy classes for teens and adults is another way to help people avoid the kinds of economic fixes that create stressful environments. Sure, eliminating such programs can give politicians budgetary bragging rights in an election season. But the smartest long-term approach is to invest in the urban core, not run from it. If the execution is carried out, it too will leave a grieving family, in addition to having lost a little boy who might have survived if he could have gotten to the hospital in time. Each Saturday and Sunday well post a Quick Smoke: not quite a full review, just our brief take on a single cigar. Few cigars have generated as much buzz as Cubanacans HR line, and even fewer have been at the center of a star-studded cigar-centric soap opera. The splits and legal questions involving who did what and who owns what are best left for another day (long story short, in July, Cubanacan found out, via the media, that Cuban tobacco star Hiroshi Robaina was leaving the company for La Palina). At this point, lets just say Robaina and blender Omar Gonzalez Aleman created one fine cigar. The Ecuadorian-wrapped HR Hermosa (5.1 x 48) is powerful, rich, and pours out smoke. Not particularly complex, the profile is pleasing from start to finish. Its expensiveI paid about $75 for a four-vitola samplerand hard to find. But if you can get an HR, light one up. Verdict = Buy. George E photo credit: Stogie Guys Should I use Doctors and Drugs to Heal Me or Spiritual Methods? "Dear Kryon, I have heard that you should stay natural and not use the science on the planet for healing. It does not honor God to go to a doctor. After all, don't you say that we can heal with our minds? So why should we ever go to a doctor if we can do it ourselves? Not only that, my doctor isn't enlightened, so he has no idea about my innate or my spiritual body needs. What should I do?" First, Human Being, why do you wish to put so many things in boxes? You continue to want a yes and no answer for complex situations due to your 3D, linear outlook on almost everything. Learn to think out of the 3D box! Look at the heading of this section [above]. It asks which one should you do. It already assumes you can't do both because they seem dichotomous. Let's use some spiritual logic: Here is a hypothetical answer, "Don't go to a doctor, for you can heal everything with your mind." So now I will ask: How many of you can do that in this room right now? How many readers can do that with efficiency right now? All of you are old souls, but are you really ready to do that? Do you know how? Do you have really good results with it? Can you rid disease and chemical imbalance with your mind right now? I'm going to give you a truth, whether you choose to see it or not. You're not ready for that! You are not yet prepared to take on the task of full healing using your spiritual tools. Lemurians could do that, because Pleiadians taught them how! It's one of the promises of God, that there'll come a day when your DNA works that efficiently and you will be able to walk away from drug chemistry and the medical industry forever, for you'll have the creator's energy working at 100 percent, something you saw within the great masters who walked the earth. This will be possible within the ascended earth that you are looking forward to, dear one. Have you seen the news lately? Look out the window. Is that where you are now? We are telling you that the energy is going in that direction, but you are not there yet. Let those who feel that they can heal themselves begin the process of learning how. Many will be appreciative of the fact that you have some of the gifts for this now. Let the process begin, but don't think for a moment that you have arrived at a place where every health issue can be healed with your own power. You are students of a grand process that eventually will be yours if you wish to begin the quantum process of talking to your cells. Some will be good at this, and some will just be planting the seeds of it. Now, I would like to tell you how Spirit works and the potentials of what's going to happen in the next few years. We're going to give the doctors of the planet new inventions and new science. These will be major discoveries about the Human body and of the quantum attributes therein. Look at what has already happened, for some of this science has already been given to you and you are actually using it. Imagine a science that would allow the heart to be transplanted because the one you have is failing. Of course! It's an operation done many times a month on this planet. That information came from the creator, did you realize that? It didn't drop off the shelf of some dark energy library to be used in evil ways. So, if you need a new heart, Lightworker, should you go to the doctor or create one with your mind? Until you feel comfortable that you can replace your heart with a new one by yourself, then you might consider using the God-given information that is in the hands of the surgeon. For it will save your life, and create a situation where you stay and continue to send your light to the earth! Do you see what we're saying? You can also alter that which is medicine [drugs] and begin a process that is spectacular in its design, but not very 3D. I challenge you to begin to use what I would call the homeopathic principle with major drugs. If some of you are taking major drugs in order to alter your chemistry so that you can live better and longer, you might feel you have no choice. "Well, this is keeping me alive," you might say. "I don't yet have the ability to do this with my consciousness, so I take the drugs." In this new energy, there is something else that you can try if you are in this category. Do the following with safety, intelligence, common sense and logic. Here is the challenge: The principle of homeopathy is that an almost invisible tincture of a substance is ingested and is seen by your innate. Innate "sees" what you are trying to do and then adjusts the body's chemistry in response. Therefore, you might say that you are sending the body a "signal for balance." The actual tincture is not large enough to affect anything chemically - yet it works! The body [innate] sees what you're trying to do and then cooperates. In a sense, you might say the body is healing itself because you were able to give it instructions through the homeopathic substance of what to do. So, why not do it with a major drug? Start reducing the dosage and start talking to your cells, and see what happens. If you're not successful, then stop the reduction. However, to your own amazement, you may often be successful over time. You might be able to take the dosage that you're used to and cut it to at least a quarter of what it was. It is the homeopathy principle and it allows you to keep the purpose of the drug, but reduce it to a fraction of a common 3D dosage. You're still taking it internally, but now it's also signaling in addition to working chemically. The signal is sent, the body cooperates, and you reduce the chance of side effects. In January 2016 Thailand ordered a second locally built OPV (Offshore Patrol Vessel). The first of these 2,500 ton River class ships entered Thai service in 2013. Built in Thailand, the new OPV should enter service by 2019. The first River class OPV performed so well that Thailand now plans to build as many as six. This ships cost about $80 million each. The River class OPVs are a British design built locally under license and with some foreign technical assistance. This is seen as a way to improve Thailands shipbuilding capability. The Thais worked with British shipbuilder BAE to develop modified version of the original River class ships. Britain was the first user of these ships and four entered service between 2002 and 2006. These corvette size ships will be used by Thailand to patrol coastal waters and to protect fishing grounds and offshore oil fields. These are 90.5 meter (281 foot) long ships displacing 2,500 tons. They carry a crew of 36 (with accommodations for up to 70) and are armed with one 30mm remotely controlled autocannon or a 76mm gun plus 2 smaller 25mm or 30mm autocannon (one on each side). Buyers can equip these ships with a wide variety of sensors and electronics and install all sorts of options. There is a landing deck in the rear for a helicopter (of up to 7 tons) or six 20 foot cargo containers (containing supplies or equipment). Top speed is 45 kilometers an hour and cruising speed is 12 kilometers an hour. Endurance is about 5 weeks. 2 speedboats are usually carried, along with a 16 ton crane. The ship can be rigged to carry 50 infantry. Brazil bought 3 of these OPVs from Britain, with the option to build 5 more in Brazil. Since the 1990s Pakistan has quietly and extensively changed how it creates and manages spies inside India. For decades Pakistan mainly relied on agents recruited and trained in Pakistan to pass as Indians. After their training, which often took years, was completed these agents were sent to India where they often spent many more years working their way into jobs where they could obtain useful information. The Pakistani agents also sought Indians willing to gather information, usually for a price. India is a poor country and many low level, and poorly paid, government employees were willing to sell information if the price was right. Over the years India became more effective and detecting and arresting these spies as well as their Pakistani handlers. As a result Pakistan began switching from using agents inside India to recruiting and managing spies via the Internet. The highly trained Pakistani agents could remain safe in Pakistan and develop techniques to find and manage Indian spies via the Internet. India still catches these spies, but has come to discover that there are a lot more of them. Sin 2015 more than a dozen were arrested. This included four post office employees who were intercepting mail sent from one Indian base to another and looking for salable information. That was passed on to Pakistan, which paid well for this stuff. Often information was literally phoned in using hard-to-trace SIMS supplied by the Pakistanis. Pakistan accepted the risk of these spies getting caught because the payoff was often considerable. For example in early 2015 Indian police arrested an employee (a cameraman) for the government defense research organization (DRDO) and accused him of spying for Pakistan. The suspect was accused of passing on information about missile research and tests and doing so for up to ten months. The suspect admitted that he had met with ISI (Pakistani intelligence) agents in India several times in 2014. Apparently this man was caught because Indian intelligence was monitoring ISI agents. Its unclear why the Indian man agreed to be a spy, although money appears to be the most likely motivator. In addition to cash Pakistan has found that sex also works and is being used more frequently via the Internet. Thus in mid-2014 an Indian army warrant officer (Subedar) was arrested and charged with spying for Pakistan. The arrested man had been recruited in 2013 via Facebook by a woman who sent him software that he posted to his work server. This software enabled the Pakistanis to hack into the headquarters where the warrant officer worked. The Pakistani woman (or someone posing as a woman) convinced the warrant officer she was interested in him and asked him to help her with some work she was doing for the NGO she was employed by. The warrant officer fell for all this and enabled the Pakistanis to get a lot of information about the readiness and deployment of several Indian missile units. It is as yet unclear if the warrant officer knew he was being played or that he was really smitten by his new online girlfriend. Such honey traps (using sex for recruiting or blackmailing people to spy) have been encountered in India for quite some time and were known to exist in antiquity. In 2011 an infantry lieutenant-colonel was prosecuted for spying for Pakistan. The officer was recruited in 2010 while in Bangladesh, where he was attending a course at a Bangladesh military school. The Pakistani ISI had a woman operative seduce the Indian officer, and the sexual activity was recorded on video. The officer was given a choice of the video being made public, or him becoming a Pakistani spy. The officer became a spy and was caught by Indian counterintelligence after a few months. Honey traps are still less frequently encountered in South Asia and the most common method is still simply offering cash. An Indian army clerk was arrested earlier in 2014 for doing that. In early 2013 India police arrested four Indians and accused them of working for ISI and passing on information and documents for at least three years. That spy cell mainly operated near the Nepal border and cash was the main motivator. Pakistan is constantly seeking Indian military personnel willing to spy for cash. Even most Indian Moslems have no love for Pakistan and thus ISI concentrates on the greed, need or blackmail approach to recruiting Indian agents. India does the same in Pakistan, but India, with six times the population of Pakistan, is a far larger target and has more secrets Pakistan wants. Kenya and al Shabaab are involved in a public dispute about the Kenyan claim that their air force bombed an al Shabaab camp in southwest Somalia (Nadaris) on February 8th that killed the deputy head of al Shabaab (Mohammed Karatey), ten other al Shabaab commanders and about 40 of the new al Shabaab members that were graduating from a training course. Al Shabaab claims that Karatey is alive and that there was no attack. Neither side has offered proof of what happened (or didnt happen). Karatey is also head of intelligence for al Shabaab and organizer of terror attacks. He is believed responsible for several attacks in Kenya and Somalia that left hundreds of civilians and security personnel dead. The United States offers a $5 million reward for his capture or death. In the last few weeks peacekeepers have been on the offensive throughout central and southern Somalia. At the same time several major al Shabaab attacks on army and peacekeeper camps failed. All this is in sharp contrast to January where there were several successful al Shabaab attacks. The peacekeepers said they and the Somali army would reorganize their deployments, improve their intelligence and develop new tactics. All this appears to have worked so far. Meanwhile al Shabaab still has a lot of popular support. The majority of Somalis oppose Islamic terrorism but a significant minority (up to 20 percent) support or tolerate groups like al Shabaab. The main reason for the support is desperation for a solution to the poverty, corruption, factionalism and chaos that make Somalia such a dangerous place to live in. Al Shabaab is still attracting recruits and is still a dangerous factor in Somali life. Then again al Shabaab is part of the problems that bother most Somalis. The most recent (2015) international study found Somalia one of the two (along with North Korea) most corrupt nations in the world. Corruption in this Transparency International Corruption Perception Index is measured on a 1 (most corrupt) to 100 (not corrupt) scale. The two most corrupt nations have a rating of 8 (North Korea and Somalia) and the least corrupt is 91 (Denmark). A look at this index each year adds an element of reality to official government pronouncements. African nations are the most corrupt, followed by Middle Eastern ones. Pirate activity may be largely gone in Somalia but the pirates are still a threat , even if the pirates not based in Somalia . It was recently revealed that on January 27th Somali pirates operating out of an al Qaeda controlled town (al Mukalla) in southern Yemen attacked a large cargo ship but fled when armed security guards fired back, killing one of the pirates. Islamic terrorists based in Yemen have been known to work with Somali pirates before, usually for money. Providing sanctuary for the pirates in return for a cut of any ransom money was the usual deal. Because of the civil war in Yemen al Qaeda has gained control of much of the southeast Yemen coast. Pirate activity in Somalia has been declining since 2012 but it was always believed that some of the pirate gangs were waiting for the expensive anti-piracy measures (armed guard on large ships and the international anti-piracy patrol) to disappear. February 18, 2016: In the southwest (Gedo, 320 kilometers from Mogadishu) a peacekeeper raid on an al Shabaab training camp left at least twenty Islamic terrorists dead. Among those killed was Maalim Sheriff, an expert bomb maker who was the main target of the raid. Several more al Shabaab men escaped, some of them wounded. Many weapons and much equipment was captured in the camp, including 16 assault rifles, bomb making materials and electronic gear (like GPS devices). In Mogadishu soldiers and police conducted one of their periodic raids into neighborhoods where there has been al Shabaab activity and arrest and interrogate suspected al Shabaab supporters. This time the overnight raids led to the arrests of about 300 people. Some 90 percent of these suspects were released after questioning. February 15, 2016: In Mogadishu a prominent politician (and former Defense Minister) was killed by a bomb planted under his car. Al Shabaab was suspected of being responsible as they have made several similar attacks in the last year. February 14, 2016: In the south (Kismayo) al Shabaab fired several mortar shells at the port citys airport. None of the shells hit the airport and instead hit a residential area wounding three civilians. Al Shabaab believes that American UAVs are operating from the airport. The government admitted that Nigerian Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram had some members who were trained in Somalia by al Shabaab. It was not made clear if this was still going on. Probably not because Al Shabaab and Boko Haram have gone in different directions. Boko Haram has aligned itself with ISIL (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant) while al Shabaab remains loyal to ISIL arch-enemy al Qaeda. Moreover in early 2015 defectors and captured al Shabaab members reported that that groups leaders were dismayed that other Islamic terror groups like ISIL in Syria and Boko Haram in Nigeria are crowding al Shabaab out of the media. Al Shabaab needs that media attention for fund raising and recruiting, both of which were (and still are) in decline for other reasons as well. Al Shabaab is seen as less attractive to Somali expatriates seeking to become Islamic terrorists. In part thats because al Shabaab made itself very unpopular inside Somalia because of how the mistreated civilians, many of whom had kin in the West. This unpopularity made it easier for the UN and AU to get a peacekeeping force in and build a new Somali Army and government. February 11, 2016: A leader of the peacekeeper force in Somalia warned that al Shabaab was apparently planning to use captured peacekeeper uniforms to disguise their men for attacks on civilians in areas controlled by peacekeepers. This is intended to discredit the peacekeepers because some Somalis will believe the subsequent al Shabaab claims that the foreign peacekeepers are oppressing the Somali people. February 7, 2016: In the south al Shabaab men entered the coastal town of Merka and chased away police and local militia. But the next day soldiers and peacekeepers came and drove the Islamic terrorists out. Small ports like Merka were once frequently used by al Shabaab for smuggling goods and people in and out of the country. During 2015 al Shabaab lost regular access to many of the small port towns it had long depended on. The attack on Merka was an attempt to see if they could regain that access and apparently they cannot. February 4, 2016: In the northwest (Middle Shabelle region 120 kilometers north of Mogadishu) soldiers searching for al Shabaab raided an Islamic terrorist camp and after brief gun battle killed eight al Shabaab men and seized a large quantity of weapons and ammo. The area where this took place (near the town of Mahaday) has been under government control since 2014 but there are still small groups of al Shabaab men around who live off plunder. February 2, 2016: In Mogadishu an airliner took off and while still climbing suffered an Islamic terrorist bomb explosion in the passenger cabin. The suicide bomber was sucked out the hole created in the fuselage but the aircraft was still intact and was able to safely return to land in Mogadishu. No one else on the aircraft was hurt. Al Shabaab later took credit for the attack and an investigation tracked down those at the airport who had got the bomb through security. Al Shabaab had meant to get their bomber on a Turkish airliner but that flight was cancelled and passengers were transferred to an aircraft from an Arab airline. Al Shabaab wanted to punish the Turks for supporting the Somali government and reopening their embassy in Mogadishu. February 1, 2016: In northeast Kenya police detained three trucks carrying aid for Somali refugees in Somalia. The police were suspicious that the truck drivers were working for al Shabaab because aid trucks in this area had been seized by the Islamic terrorists recently. Officials from the foreign aid organization involved arrived and eventually persuaded police to let the trucks through. Al Shabaab did not seize any of these trucks. January 31, 2016: Just across the border in Kenya (Lamu) five al Shabaab gunmen entered a village at dawn looking for Christians to kill. Three Kenyans were killed before the gunmen left. Attacks like this are nothing new in northeast Kenya, which has a mixed Christian-Moslem population. Al Shabaab considers any area where Moslems live as Islamic territory where non-Moslems should be converted, driven away or killed. Because of this attitude there is growing tension between Kenyan Christians and Somalis. About ten percent (4 million) of Kenyans, mostly along the coast, are Moslem and most of these are ethnic Somalis. There has always been some Islamic radical activity among Kenyan Moslems, but the police have been particularly attentive to it after Kenyan Moslems were found to be involved in terrorist operations in the 1990s. Wellesbourne Airfield Deputy Headmaster, Thomas Walton, said: Mandarin is the most spoken language in the world, with approximately one billion native speakers. By offering the opportunity for all our students to learn this language we will undoubtedly provide them with a distinct advantage in an increasingly globalised job market. They will also be exposed to a rich and varied culture with the chance to visit China and sample a different way of life as part of their studies. Headmaster Bennett Carr added: The curriculum we offer is broad, balanced and challenging the best of the old and the best of the new where the study of Latin, the traditional arts and sciences co-exist in equal value with the latest developments in science, computing and technology. Whilst we are an ancient school that cherishes its traditions I believe that the past is a place for reference and not residence. By introducing Mandarin we are helping prepare our young people for the future. The introduction of Mandarin is not the only exciting development at KES this year, the school is also planning to open Shakespeares schoolroom to the public for the very first time in April following a 1.8million restoration. Dr Paul Edmondson, head of research at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust said: 'The Latin that Shakespeare learned in the King's New School (now known as King Edward VI School) helped him to become one of the leading writers of his day, and one of the greatest of all time. Now successive students continue to follow in his footsteps with twenty-first century opportunities and challenges. I think Shakespeare would be astonished and excited about the teaching of Mandarin in his old school. He'd certainly appreciate the creative and entrepreneurial prospects that the language will no doubt present to receptive minds. In September 2015 the chancellor George Osborne announced that the government would invest 10 million to boost teaching of Mandarin in British schools in an effort to get 5,000 more pupils to learn the language by 2020. That will be the next largest discovery on the planet. It's been held back from you because it takes a higher vibrating consciousness to create and understand it. When any planet discovers a quantum energy and is able to use it, you could go to that planet and know that you will meet high-consciousness entities. This has never been given to you before that, for within the quantum factor contains the secret of interplanetary travel using large, entangled states. There are ways of doing things you never thought could happen. You can throw away your rocket ships. You're on the edge of that. .. Wellesbourne Airfield At a similar event, which Kate Bliss attended in Stratford recently, yielded an Edwardian four piece silver tea set, that eventually sold for 2200. Adrian Rathbone, head of fine art at Hansons, will also be joining Kate Bliss on the 26th. Last month in Alveston he took in a 17th century portrait with a value between 600 and 800 at auction. The event is to be held on Friday 26th February from 1pm to 4pm at The Malt House, The Rookery, Alveston, Stratford, CV37 7QP. Further details from Hansons Warwickshire Area Manager, Carol Jones, on 07802 839915 or visit www.hansonsauctioneers.co.uk. Refreshments available will be in aid of the Alveston Villagers Association. LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Latin America's indigenous peoples have benefited less than other people from the region's economic boom in the first decade of this century, according to researchers at the World Bank. Their study found that more than 70 million indigenous people escaped poverty during the period thanks to economic growth and social policies. Despite such progress indigenous people still represent 14 percent of the region's poor and 17 percent of the extremely poor - while forming less than 8 percent of the population. Jorge Familiar, the bank's vice president for Latin America and the Caribbean, said governments needed to do more to ensure indigenous people had the same opportunities as others. "If we want to achieve our goals of reducing poverty and boosting shared prosperity, we need to fight discrimination and exclusion for all Latin Americans and ensure that all have the same opportunities to live a better life," he said during the report's launch earlier this week. Poverty levels declined in countries like Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile and Ecuador but indigenous peoples still lag in access to basic services and the adoption of new technologies, the study found, based on census data in 16 countries and household surveys in nine. To improve the situation, the authors suggest looking at indigenous issues through a different lens which takes into account indigenous people's views and culture. Nearly half of Latin Americas indigenous populations now live in cities, 36 percent of them living in insecure, unsanitary and polluted environments, the study found. LINK TO REPORT https://media.worldbank.org/secure/indigenous-latin-america/report/Indigenous-Latin-America.pdf (Reporting by Astrid Zweynert, editing by Tim Pearce. Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, which covers humanitarian news, women's rights, trafficking, property rights and climate change. Visit news.trust.org to see more stories) JAKARTA (Reuters) - An Indonesian finance ministry official said the government will not issue yuan-denominated sovereign bonds this year as its diversification with euro-, dollar- and yen-denominated bonds seen sufficient. "After we studied it, it has been decided that it is not needed yet for 2016 because the existing diversifications are good enough," Robert Pakpahan, the finance ministry's director general for financing and risk management, told Reuters. (Reporting by Gayatri Suroyo; Writing by Fransiska Nangoy; Editing by Kim Coghill) KABUL (Reuters) - Five Red Cross staff members, kidnapped by a group of armed men in the central Afghan province of Ghazni on Tuesday, were released unharmed, the aid group said on Friday. "We are immensely relieved to know our five colleagues are free and in good health," Jean-Nicolas Marti, head of the International Committee of the Red Cross delegation in Kabul said in a statement posted on the group's Facebook page. "We want to thank all involved for the swift resolution of the crisis." The Red Cross suspended its operations in Ghazni following the abduction of the staff members. Marti said the group was reviewing security procedures in the area and hoped to be able to resume its work in the province as soon as possible. (Reporting by James Mackenzie; Editing by Dominic Evans) A man walks past the Standard and Poor's building in New York's financial district February 5, 2013. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid SYDNEY (Reuters) - A substantial settlement has been reached in a landmark A$200 million ($143 million) class action brought against ratings agency Standard & Poor's, according to the law firm for the local governments, churches and charities bringing the suit. London-based law firm Squire Patton Boggs said on Saturday that the settlement, which is subject to court approval, is likely to have widespread international ramifications for similar actions against Standard & Poor's (S&P) due to the number of products it rates throughout the world. Financial terms of the settlement were confidential, Squire Patton Boggs said. Litigation funder IMF Bentham (NYSE: IMF) said it would generate revenue of about A$52 million and a pretax profit after capitalized overheads of around A$47 million as a result of the settlement. The Federal Court lawsuit was brought by 92 Australian groups who had bought synthetic collateralized debt obligations issued by Lehman Brothers Australia between 2005 and 2007. The applicants alleged Standard & Poor's engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct by assigning AA and AAA credit ratings to the Lehman Brothers products. S&P denied the allegations. It could not immediately be reached for comment on the settlement. "The outcome of this case has highlighted that organizations such as Standard & Poor's require transparency and accountability in the formulation of the credit ratings that they assign to financial products such as SCDOs," said Amanda Banton, a partner at Squire Patton Boggs. Mick Wainwright, the leader of one of the local councils who took part in the class action, said the confidential settlement was "a welcome end to the monumental David and Goliath style action." Wainwright said the agreement vindicated the lengthy international pursuit to recover funds. The Federal Court found three years ago that Lehman Brothers Australia had engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct, breached fiduciary duties, breached contracts and acted in negligence toward plaintiffs. The finalization of that matter enabled the launch of the class action against Standard & Poor's in 2013. (Reporting By Jane Wardell; Editing by Tom Hogue) An employee of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries wears a shirt bearing the company's logo at its Jerusalem oral solid dosage plant (OSD) December 21, 2011. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun By Foo Yun Chee BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd (NYSE: TEVA) has offered concessions to allay EU antitrust concerns over its $40.5 billion bid for Allergan's (NYSE: AGN) generics unit which will cement its position as the world's largest generics drugmaker. "Commitments have been submitted and the new legal deadline is set on 10 March," European Commission spokesman Ricardo Cardoso said in an email on Friday, without providing details. The EU competition enforcer is expected to seek feedback from third parties before deciding whether to accept the proposal, demand more changes or open a lengthy investigation that could last up to five months. Teva also declined to provide details. "Those discussions (with the Commission) are productive and positive, but were not in a position at this time to predict or comment on how or when they will be completed," it said. Teva plans to sell about $1 billion worth of assets in the United States, Europe and the Middle East to resolve antitrust concerns, people familiar with the matter have told Reuters. The deal also needs U.S. regulatory approval. Earlier this month, the American Antitrust Institute flagged competitive concerns about the deal to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission. Dublin-based Botox-maker Allergan in turn is to be acquired by Pfizer Inc (NYSE: PFE) which would slash the latter's tax rate once it moves its headquarters to Dublin. (Reporting by Foo Yun Chee, additional reporting by Tova Cohen in Tel Aviv; editing by Julia Fioretti and Adrian Croft) Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe addresses the ZANU-PF party's top decision making body, the Politburo, in the capital Harare, in this February 10, 2016 file photo. REUTERS/Philimon Bulawayo/Files By MacDonald Dzirutwe HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe threatened to discipline ruling party members he accuses of fanning divisions over who will succeed him, reaffirming his authority ahead of his 92nd birthday on Sunday. In a 30-minute speech broadcast on state-owned ZBC TV late on Friday, Mugabe said he was disturbed by "dog fights" and insults among senior officials of the ruling ZANU-PF party, who are divided over who should succeed him. "We are all being abused, the President, his wife, in a manner that is very disgraceful. It's a shame," Mugabe said, flanked by his two vice presidents, Emmerson Mnangagwa and Phelekezela Mphoko, at his official State House residence. "So, we will definitely take action where we feel action should be taken within the party. There is need for a whip of discipline now to be shown and to be used," he said. Mugabe says ZANU-PF will choose his successor. But he plans to contest the next election in 2018 aged 94, seeking his last five-year term under a new constitution that would see him through to 99. His life presidency aspirations are frustrating the feuding factions of ZANU-PF, who have been trying for years to position themselves for a post-Mugabe political era. Allies of Vice President Mnangagwa and a group of senior ZANU-PF officials, labeled G-40 by local media, have been denouncing each other in public. The Mnangagwa faction says Mugabe should retire and Mnangagwa should succeed him. G-40 is rallying behind Mugabe's wife Grace, but says Mugabe should be allowed to die in office. "Those who are saying we belong to this faction or that faction, I say to them 'shut up', you belong to Zimbabwe. Shut up and let us not hear any divisive voices from you," Mugabe said raising his voice. In 2014 Mugabe fired his deputy of 10 years Joice Mujuru after accusing her of leading a "treacherous cabal" that plotted to challenge his leadership. But divisions have since worsened. Mnangagwa has cemented his position by getting allies appointed to important cabinet posts and securing the tasks of reforming the economy and legal system. After Mugabe's long rule some people fear the government could be paralyzed and the country riven by instability if he dies without resolving the succession issue. (Reporting by MacDonald Dzirutwe; Editing by Susan Fenton) Low oil and gas prices have sent the industry into dive with little sign of immediate relief. Christopher Reive investigates what the future of Taranaki's black gold looks like from here. To Ralph Sims it's crystal clear the oil and gas industry has had its heyday. The Massey University professor of sustainable energy says though the industry will likely recover from its current downturn, it won't be returning to its glory days again. Not because oil is running out, as it was thought a decade ago during the peak oil panic, but because the world appears to be genuinely inching away from oil. "Everyone knows we'll be needing oil and gas for the next few decades," Sims says, but December's Paris Climate Accord showed a recognition the world needs to shift to a carbon-zero economy and that means a world without the black gold that has bouyed Taranaki's economy for more than a century. READ MORE: * Oil storage and production vessel the Raroa to get $60 million upgrade * Maari oil field gets a boost * Norwegian vessel Rem Etive to inspect Maui gas field * Work finished on $70 million Pohokura platform project What that means for the region is probably more of the same as what is happening now. Exploration has all but stopped, non essential staff have been given their marching orders as oil and gas companies hunker down and royalties paid to the government on oil and gas dwindled in line with the plummeting prices. While the trend is downwards there is no doubt the current slump will pass, says Sims, in part because New Zealand is slow to adopt new technologies such as solar power and electric vehicles, that will reduce our reliance on oil and gas. "There's technology that has shown big differences in 10 years or so. We can decarbonise the electricity sector. We're at 80 per cent renewable resources now - we can get up to 90 per cent easily and 100 per cent is not impossible. Then we can use electricity for heating and for transport to a much larger degree with zero greenhouse gas emissions. "All of that is quite possible," Sims says. "Things are changing fast in the transport sector worldwide, but they'll be slower here." Sims' confidence in the industry's gradual demise is a bitter pill to swallow in Taranaki. For the past century, the oil and gas industry has been the blood running through the veins of the province, but low oil and gas prices have recently brought the industry to its knees. On February 18, Bloomberg Business showed prices for US crude oil benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) sat just above US$31 per barrel, after slipping below the US$30 mark earlier in the week, while the price for natural gas was $1.94 USD per million British thermal units (MMBTU). In February 2014, a barrel of oil was selling for US$100 and natural gas was going for US$8.15 per MMBTU. What that means in terms of lost income for producers in Taranaki is impossible to gauge accurately. Each well has different cost structures, break even points and/or supply contract deals. But, as an example, in the final quarter of last year, the Kupe field produced 4.30 petajoules of gas, equivalent to about 4,075,613 MMBTU. Were that gas being sold on the open market the difference between what it was worth two years ago to what it is worth now is close to $25 million. While the 1,284,343 barrels of oil produced by the Maari field in the same quarter would sell for about US$89m less. Another potentially lengthening shadow hanging over the future of Taranaki's oil and gas industry is the December announcement from industry giant Shell that it was reviewing its operations in New Zealand. This could lead to nothing but it could also see Shell pull out completely, a huge blow for the industry's confidence. In a written statement, Shell New Zealand said the review was ongoing and decisions were yet to be made so it was business as usual for them. The company has operated in New Zealand for more than a century, supplying more than 70 per cent of the country's natural gas. Shell own 83.75 per cent of the Maui gas field, 48 per cent of the Pohokura gas field and 50 per cent of the onshore Kapuni field. They are New Zealand's prestige oil and gas player. Taranaki Engineering Consortium chairman Graham Wells isn't overly concerned about the company's potential departure. He says if Shell was to leave the region, their facilities would be picked up by another company and very little would change. "It depends on what the new company would choose to do. "Shell have been a good company here for a number of years. If they did decide to move their operation they have facilities that other people would be looking to pick up and the work would still have to be carried out in the same safe and environmentally friendly way," Wells says. He says a lot of Taranaki businesses have been looking to diversify in recent years and offering their services around the country in other industries. The most recent example of this was Fitzroy Engineering building an underwater restaurant for a resort in the Maldives. There are plenty of other examples of local firms that have used their oil and gas expertise to diversify, but it's not yet close to being the golden bullet to fix Taranaki's economic woes. While the current downturn might prompt more businesses to look to spread their operations, Wells says that decision would be down to the individual business as some might be willing to wait out the current state of the industry until the next boom comes around. "Any business is cyclic, and that goes for oil and gas," Wells says. Tag Oil country manager Max Murray echoes Wells' opinion, and says things will get better for the industry, simply because they always have before. "I've been in the industry for 30 years now, and this is the fourth time I've seen it," Murray says. The catch, he says, is his guess was as good as anyone's as to when that might happen. "We're starting to see signs now but it's too soon to say that we're on the improve," Murray says. "It's just a matter of seeing how things play out." Petroleum Exploration and Production Association New Zealand (PEPANZ) chief executive Cameron Madgwick says demand for oil and gas and associated products remained strong, despite the price drop. He says the last time oil prices were as low, around 12 years ago, the industry proved resilient. "The industry, like all industries in all markets, has to respond to supply and demand imbalances and make prudent financial decisions in that context," he says. Recent work being done around the region, such as the $60m upgrade to the Maari oil field's floating production platform the Raroa and the $70m maintenance at the Pohokura rig, are definitely signs of faith in the industry, and, there is, as always, persistent rumours of bigger projects just around the corner. Madgwick suggests the work programmes currently underway, analysing the region's potential and the growing interest in its resources; and skills and training programmes run by companies is a sign the future doesn't look so bad for the industry. "When you take all these elements into account and the fact that the industry has weathered many tough times in its 100 years of operation, odds are Taranaki's oil and gas industry will be around for many years to come," Madgwick says. He says, like Sims, although alternative energies are on the rise, oil and gas would be a part of New Zealand's energy sector for the foreseeable future. "A cleaner form of energy will play a vital role in New Zealand's energy mix towards a lower carbon energy future, but that transition may take decades or centuries to get right because oil and gas aren't just used for power we use petroleum as a transport fuel, as an energy source and as a key ingredient in manufacturing many plastics, cosmetics, even medical equipment," Madgwick says. "Finding alternatives to replace oil and gas that are reliable, cleaner, greener and commercially viable is a huge challenge, and until then, the world demand and reliance on oil and gas to meet its energy and other needs will continue." Burdened with debt, Sri Lanka turns to the Islamic world for help By Bandula Sirimanna View(s): View(s): Sri Lanka, burdened by debt and a growing payments schedule, is appealing to the Islamic banking world for financial help, applying for membership of the Saudi-based Islamic Development Bank (IDB) and drafting the necessary Sharia-compliance regulations required for this purpose, official sources revealed. During a recent visit by a high level Sri Lankan delegation of bankers headed by Central Bank (CB) Governor Arjuna Mahendran to Saudi Arabia, the IDB President had invited Sri Lanka to become a member of the bank. Such membership will enable Sri Lanka to benefit from its financial assistance programme including equity capital participation loans for production projects and enterprises and other forms of financial assistance for economic and social development, the sources said. This was conveyed to a government Sub-Committee on Economic Affairs by the CB in a memorandum recently recommending that the cabinet directs the Legal Draftsmens department to prepare Sharia-compliance regulations necessary to obtain the membership of the IDB. The Sunday Times on January 10 reported about the CB plan to obtain an infusion of US$1 billion in the next few months from Saudi banks to prop up sagging foreign reserves. The offer came during discussions a delegation of Sri Lankan bankers led by Mr. Mahendran held with the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (Central Bank) and other banks in assisting Colombo in various ways. Seeking IDB membership by Sri Lanka was the result of these discussions, a senior government official told the Business Times adding that the time for Islamic bonds is coming and its a matter of time before we see it as a normal issue in our market.He said, In its debut, Sri Lanka would first go for a traditional bond and as the Central Bank accesses international capital markets, by learning about its (sukuks) structure. We shall consider how structuring of Sukuk will work especially in asset-financing in future access (of the international capital markets), he said adding that Sukuk basically differs from conventional bonds because they are an asset-based securities not debt instruments. The Islamic finance industry in Sri Lanka is waiting for a government policy statement on new initiatives in 2016. He said that there may be a positive policy statement toward encouraging capital market operations for Sukuk and other new Islamic banking products. Sukuk are seen as well-suited for infrastructure financing for a developing economy. Sri Lankan photojournalists to attend Canon show in Tokyo View(s): A group of Sri Lankan photojournalists has been invited to attend the Camera and Photo Imaging Show and Press Tour 2016 on February 24-26 at the International City Yokohama, Tokyo, Japan. Taslim Rahaman, Managing Director of Metropolitan PhotoHub Pvt Ltd, local agents for Canon, said Sri Lanka media representatives will get an opportunity to visit the headquarters office of Canon Inc, Tokyo as well as a visit to the fully integrated and automated Canon Oita factory in Kyushu. Canons upcoming products as well as latest development and trends from the ever-evolving world of photo imaging will be seen at the event. US helps Sri Lanka Customs to develop trade potential View(s): Legal experts from the US Department of Commerce and US Customs and Border Protection collaborated with 20 senior officials from Sri Lanka Customs in Colombo last week on reforming customs procedures to enhance trade. The effort seeks to improve efficiency and transparency for businesses, allowing Sri Lanka to develop more fully its export potential and advance investment opportunities, the US embassy said in a media statement. The United States is working at all levels in Sri Lanka government, private sector, and development groups to help strengthen the economy for the benefit of all Sri Lankans, said US Ambassador Atul Keshap. These reforms will send important signals to the trade community that Sri Lanka is open for business.The 3-day workshop, provided in cooperation with the US Embassy, will also better position Sri Lanka to meet its commitment under the World Trade Organisation Agreement on Trade Facilitation. The sessions addressed issues key to Sri Lanka realising its export-led development plan, including advance rulings, valuation and classification, and customs appeals. In addition, the U.S. experts held a one-day training for 30 District Court and Magistrate Judges who commonly hear customs appeals. How official was the Presidents State visit to Germany View(s): In the Foreign Affairs Ministry corridors, the talk is on who was responsible for a blunder during President Maithripala Sirisenas four-day visit to Germany. Was it a state or an official visit? If one is to believe Karunatilake Amunugama, a one-time Chief of Protocol, a key player in the Foreign Office during the previous Rajapaksa administration and now Sri Lankas Ambassador in Germany, it was a state visit. He said so to the Colombo media and added that no Sri Lankan President had visited Germany in the past four decades. Despite the claimed state visit, it was only a lowly protocol official from the German Foreign Ministry who received President Sirisena. Foreign Ministry officials in Colombo say it was not a state visit by President Sirisena and was only an official visit. It becomes a state visit only if the invitation had come from the German President who is the Head of State. It becomes an official visit when the invitation comes from the Federal Chancellor, a senior official explained. Sri Lanka, however, ignores protocol when it comes to visitors to Colombo. German Foreign Minister Frank Walter Steinmeir visited Sri Lanka on an official visit weeks earlier. However, he was received by Minister Malik Samarawickrema and the Deputy Minister Foreign Affairs Harsha de Silva at the Bandaranaike International Airport and with drummers and children at the Foreign Ministry. There was a slip up at President Sirisenas arrival ceremony. Ambassador Amunugama handed over a sheaf of betel leaves to Mr. Sirisena. It fell on the ground before reaching the Presidents hands. Mr. Amunugama, due to retire in April this year, had to quickly squat to pick up the fallen leaves. A photograph that appeared in a State run newspaper depicting the scene has now become the subject of an informal inquiry. President Sirisena, upon reaching his hotel in Berlin, went to his suite to freshen up. He later went to a Thai restaurant there for lunch. On Wednesday he met the Sri Lankan community where the participants vied with each other to take selfies with the President. Since he left early for another engagement, they had to be content with photo opportunities with Foreign Minister Samaraweera. At a dinner hosted by Ambassador Amunugama on Monday, there was a special enclosure for the media. Cocktails and dinner were served separately. Minister Samaraweera walked in to comment to a television journalist, and asked jocularly why the television reporters boss, an ardent supporter of the previous administration had come to Berlin without an invitation. It is like President Obama staying in a hotel where there were ISIS representatives, he chuckled. The boss in question also turned up when President Sirisena met the Sri Lankan community. Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake also showed up before the media entourage. He was to complain that the Sunday Times had attacked him. There was some confusion over transport after the business forum ended on Thursday at the Maritime Hotel. Foreign Minister Samaraweera had to travel in the front seat of a Mercedes Benz. Behind were Ministers Karunanayake and Malik Samarawickrema. A small group of LTTE supporters, braving the winter cold carrying the flag banned in the European Union, demonstrated outside Hotel Adlon Kempinski where President Sirisena was staying. They shouted slogans through a loud hailer as he was leaving. Wigneswaran, Sumanthiran eye to eye again The battle between Northern Province Chief Minister C.V. Wigneshwaran and Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Parliamentarian M.A. Sumanthiran continues. The latest was after the new Northern Province Governor Reginald Cooray assumed duties on Friday.As politicians, officials and Tamil Parliamentarians were walking up to the Governor, the Chief Minister noticed that Mr. Sumanthiran was standing behind him. Why are you silent these days? Arent there any allegations against me? the Chief Minister asked. Mr. Sumanthiran promptly responded: Nettrikann thirandalam kuttram, kuttram than (A fault is a fault even it is seen by the third eye) a reference to the belief that God Shiva opens his third eye when he wants to destroy if he is challenged). They walked away thereafter. But, the differences between the Chief Minister and the rest of the TNA are currently the main topics discussed among the people in the north. Thai defence attache for Colombo Thailand has posted a Defence Attache in Colombo. He will function with residence in New Delhi. He is Captain Sittichai Tansjai of the Royal Thai Navy. The lady wont quit Months ago, a hospitality venture chairperson defied the big boss and ignored calls to resign. Now comes the news that she has appealed to the angry boss to let her be in office till March this year, at least until the first phase of a refurbishment is complete. A source close to the boss said there has been no response so far. That means the original request to quit immediately stands, the source said. Heartbreak in Seoul for Dullas Dullas Allahapperuma, a former minister and Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP Mahinda faction) frontrunner travelled to South Korea. Barely had he acclimatised himself to the environment in Seoul, the Korean capital, did Mr. Allahapperuma realise that someone had hacked into his personal e-mail. That was bad enough. The hacker had also sent out a message, purportedly coming from the former Minister, seeking help to the tune of Rs 200,000 since he was in difficulty. Worse enough, the hacker, to authenticate his claim, has attached a photo copy with pages from Mr. Allahapperumas passport. So, its a case of both the e-mail account and the passport that have been hacked. He returned to Colombo on Friday. Missing historical significance of journey to Germany View(s): When the media first announced that President Sirisena would be paying a state visit to Germany it was said that this would be the first by a Sri Lankan Head of State in 43 years. How wrong that was! Other news media, particular the plethora of websites that exist today, picked up the news item and repeated it without taking the elementary precaution of checking the veracity of what the original report said. This habit of picking up what some media outlet says as fact and blindly reproducing it is increasingly becoming an undesirable feature of Sri Lankan journalism. It only underlines the fact that persons move into media without basic training or not trained subsequently which is so very essential if the media is to be a responsible purveyor of correct information and a public educator. Besides the fact that the last visit to Germany was not 43 years ago, it seems some present day news reporters are unable to distinguish between a head of state and a head of government. Let us go back 43 years when, according to these erroneous reports, the last Sri Lankan Head of State visited Germany. That would in the first half of the 1970s-in fact 1973. This was shortly after the United Front Government headed by Sirima Bandaranaike which came to power in 1970 had adopted the new Republican Constitution of 1972. The Head of State then was Governor- General William Gopallawa who as President under the new constitution, was largely a ceremonial figure. The Head of Government was Mrs. Bandaranaike as Prime Minister. It was Mrs. Bandaranaike who visited in1974 the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) called the Bundesrepublik Deutschland. So it was not the Head of State of Sri Lanka who visited the FRG but the Head of Government. The fact that Mrs. Bandaranaikes visit to the FRG had historical significance has, unfortunately, not featured in any scene-setter of the Sirisena visit. What has been sadly missed is that Germany was divided at the time, a result of the post-war division of the spoils among the victorious allies. So there were two Germanys when Mrs. Bandaranaike visited the FRG which had invited her and the German Democratic Republic (GDR) known in German as the Deutsche Demokratische Republik (DDR), a member of the Soviet bloc, which she had diplomatically recognized after coming to power in 1970, much to chagrin of West Germany. Mrs. Bandaranaike, a founder- member of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and ideologically anti-west, had also diplomatically recognized North Vietnam and North Korea at the same time. Apart from getting the year of the visit and the official status of the high-level guest wrong, no mention was made of the important fact of the two Germanys. She visited West Germany not the GDR she had diplomatically recognised. It was also wrong to say the last visit was 43 years earlier when in fact it was 15 years. President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga paid a state visit to Germany in 2001 with Lakshman Kadirgamar her foreign minister. There is a difference between the visit of her mother Prime Minister Sirima Bandaranaike and President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaranatunga. Her mothers visit was to West Germany in a Germany divided by the cold war and belonging to the two confrontationist power blocs and the two military alliances NATO and the Warsaw Pact which buttressed them. An unforgettable symbol of that confrontation between East and West was the infamous Berlin Wall that actually separated showpiece West Berlin from the dilapidated and economically backward East. It was the collapse of the Berlin Wall in 1989 as a consequence of then Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachevs policies of perestroika and glasnost that paved the way for the reunification of Germany. Chandrika paid a state visit to a Germany that had been unified around 11 years earlier during the time of Chancellor Helmut Kohl. It is this single unified Germany that President Sirisena has just visited and not the half that Mrs.Bandaranaike did. One might well ask why West Germany invited Mrs.Bandaranaike whose strong attachment to non-alignment and her proclivity to the socialist bloc were anathema to the west, especially the US. In fact West Germany cut off economic aid to Ceylon (as it was then) in 1971 in retaliation for the diplomatic recognition of the GDR by the Bandaranaike government just as the US did when we entered into the rubber-rice pact with China during the Korean war. The fact that three years later Bonn then the temporary capital of West Germany -should turn around and invite the Prime Minister for a state visit shows a remarkable improvement in bilateral relations. There were two local reasons that prompted this attitudinal change. In 1971 the Bandaranaike government faced a left-wing insurgency launched by the JVP. Moreover fissures were later beginning to appear in the United Front government which included the Trotskyist LSSP and the pro-Moscow Communist Party. The LSSP pulled out in 1975 and the CP several months later. With more liberal new economic policies that lifted ceilings on income etc in place, the west felt it politically prudent to strengthen the hand of the much less doctrinaire SLFP led by the Prime Minister. Furthermore the antagonism that West Germany showed towards Mrs. Bandaranaike for her friendship with East Germany (GDR) quietly faded because of the changed relationship between the two halves of Germany. The architect of this radical shift in West German policy was Willy Brandt the Social Democrat Chancellor. Willy Brandt was at the butt end of his mayoralty of West Berlin in 1966 when I came to the divided city for a five month stay on an advanced training programme in mass communication. It was at the height of the Cold War but Willy Brandt was already beginning to hint at policies that would eventually lead to his ostpolitik- an opening to the east which reached fruition when Brandt became Chancellor of West Germany and entered into detente with Moscow that had further repercussions. Four years later in mid-March 1970 I was visiting East Germany as a guest and was travelling through the GDR seeing the far less affluent other half of Germany. It was at that time that the leaders of the two Germanys Willy Brandt and Willi Stoph met in the East German town of Erfurt for the first round of talks that was to lead to West Germany granting de facto though not de jure status to its Communist brother. I remember writing a piece in the Daily News on the opening of the Willy-Willi talks on my return to Colombo. The Basic Treaty signed in December 1972 between the two countries was intended to establish good neighbourly relations and in effect meant the jettisoning of the Hallstein doctrine which basically held that the FRG will not recognise any state that entered into diplomatic relations with the GDR. The fact that the Hallstein doctrine was never employed against Ceylon when it recognized the GDR in 1971 was because Brandts ostpolitik was already taking root for he had been pushing it through since becoming foreign minister in 1969. So West Germanys new policy approach to East Germany was seen as an important step in ensuring peace in Europe. The diplomatic recognition of the GDR by Sri Lanka was no longer a major irritant. Combined with this new atmosphere which characterised relations between the two Germanys there was the felt need to support the more moderate SLFP government. All this led to her being invited for an official visit to West Germany. Tailpiece The dilettantish and obnoxious remarks about Kishani Jayasinghes operatic rendition of Danno Budunge brought back memories of an article I wrote 13 years ago in the Sunday Times (ST Plus 7.12.2003) after listening to her at a charity show in London organized by Ameena Musthapha, wife of then High Commissioner Faisz Musthapha. The other day Tissa Devendra, retired civil servant reminded us that Italian trained Hubert Rajapakse had rendered the same devotional song in operatic style at Independence Day events in 1948 and continued to do so very successfully thereafter. I wonder what they would call the caterwauling of some of our female Sinhala and Bollywood pop stars -a mutiny on the high cs? The Lackey tag and a prime ministers anger View(s): These are curious times indeed. Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his supporters who treated the Sri Lankan media and the legal system as their family hunting ground are struggling to emerge as newfound libertarians. We witness with enormous skepticism their strutting and fretting on the political stage to protect the propriety of appointment to the Office of the Attorney General and (quite piquantly) to safeguard media freedoms. Repression in its varied forms It was once a great game of the Rajapaksa regime to unleash its salivating media bloodhounds for the express purpose of savaging its critics. Quite apart from the editors and journalists killed, Rajapaksa propagandists attacked independent opinion to an unprecedented extent. This columnist has had first-hand experience of such calumny as a result of raising legitimate questions on Rule of Law failures. If these questions had been addressed then, Sri Lanka would have been spared the supreme indignity of being lectured to on accountability by world powers who, to put it mildly, do not practise what they preach. The indignant reactions of United Kingdom ministers and British newspapers over the recent finding of a United Nations investigative body on the arbitrary detention of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange are examples enough. But returning closer home, even an incomparably degenerate Rajapaksa decade does not mean that media repression cannot be practised in other, subtler ways. Some of those Rajapaksa media bloodhounds are now accommodated within the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe government to practise old mischief but for a different paymaster. We await their amusing acrobatics. The independent regulation of media More worryingly, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghes remarks this week that erring journalists of the private media would be dismissed and frequencies given to private broadcasting stations withdrawn if they do not behave raise several concerns. To be clear, the improvement of media ethics is no small matter. Political agendas, sexism, racism and at times, deplorable crudity (such as the needless controversy over the operatic rendition of Danno Budunnge) covertly characterize the manipulation of news and commentary. A professional industry response is seen to some extent in regard to the print media. But the electronic media has yet to initiate this discussion. On its own part, the Government must heed the admirable warning issued by the Supreme Court almost two decades ago, that the airwaves/frequencies are public property and a Government is only a trustee for the public (see Determination Re the Broadcasting Authority Bill, S.D. No 1/97 15/97, 5th May 1997). The Court threw out a Broadcasting Authority proposed by the Kumaratunga Presidency on the basis that it allowed for excessive political interference. The regulating and licensing of media is best left to an independent Authority. The sight of the Prime Minister threatening to take swift punitive action against journalists and withdraw frequencies of broadcasting stations is unnerving to say the least. This is antithetical to the very concept of good governance which his Government so loudly if not hysterically espouses. Failure to reach out to citizens Overall, there is a particular trend becoming visible. As the inflammatory rhetoric of the Rajapaksa lobby gathers strength, its complaint of marginalization in Parliament resonates with force among some. The absence of an effective opposition on the floor of the House is a contributory factor. Corruption cases are only filed against Rajapaksa proponents while equally corrupt worthies in the Government are running free. Meanwhile the Wickremesinghe-Sirisena coalition appears unable to reach out to ordinary people and clearly explain its difficulties not only in regard to economic woes but also the acutely sensitive question of war-time accountability. This recklessly courts a blow back from the citizenry, stoked by supporters of the former president, many of whom are fifth columnists secretively biding their time in government ranks while others perform as agent provocateurs. For however much the government may say that the constitutional reform process is broad-based, the reality is quite the converse. It is much the same for the reconciliation process, driven largely from Colombo, operating within limited time frames and generally characterized by confusion worse confounded. Immediate measures in consonance with the Rule of Law such as the expeditious trial of detainees under anti-terror laws or release if held without charges are studiously bypassed. The Audit Bill and the (Cabinet approved) Right to Information Bill still await passage in Parliament. These laws will transform the functioning of government far more effectively than convoluted constitutional reforms. A dangerous path to tread These issues are only aggravated by Prime Ministerial tirades against journalists and also against Sri Lankas powerful medical lobby over the proposed Economic and Technology Cooperative Agreement (ECTA) with India. Opponents of ECTA argue that this will flood Sri Lankas service sector with Indian professionals. Quite apart from the substantive import of objections in regard to what essentially remains a framework for an agreement, the Governments response leaves much to be desired. The Prime Minister resorts to a familiar refrain that for every person who comes onto the streets to oppose the ECTA, he can bring out double that number. Surely this should not be the clarion call of an administration elected to power just last August? Should not documents in regard to such matters be readily available for public scrutiny and consultations held with professionals rather than reacting so provocatively? Prime Minister Wickremesinghes annoyance appears to be driven by the fact that some journalists and doctors were lackeys of the Rajapaksa regime. Yet similarly obnoxious media lackeys are now part of this coalition administration. This begs the question as to whether it is not the lackey tag per se but the opposition to government policies which is the rub. Other onetime lackeys who have (presumably seeing the error of their ways) chosen to tag along with this dispensation are exempted from such tirades. Undoubtedly this is a dangerous path to tread for a Government flamboyantly elected on good governance promises. In the final result, absent significant course correction, the deterioration of confidence in Sri Lankas political leadership is inevitable. This will determine the countrys eventual electoral trajectory, notwithstanding glowing tributes from abroad. Before the 2015 Presidential poll, clear warning signals were ignored by the Rajapaksa regime to their downfall. It appears that this Government is equally and culpably blind to potential perils. Heres the Gazette the Finance Minister doesnt know about By Chandani Kirinde View(s): View(s): The Central Bank, through a Gazette notification, appears to have stymied declared efforts by Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake to invite those abroad to remit money to Sri Lanka, assuring no questions will be asked. This Gazette extraordinary notification on January 27, 2016 (the date in English is erroneously stated as January 27, 2015 at the top but has the correct dates in Sinhala and Tamil) was published by the Financial Intelligence Unit of the Central Bank. The Sunday Times has confirmed that the Gazette in question has been issued and it remains on the website of the Government Printer (www.documents.gov.lk). The notification under Financial Transactions Reporting Act No 6 of 2006, however, bore the date January 27, 2016 and formed the front page lead story in the Sunday Times last week. The story saw Finance Minister Karunanayake hurriedly summon a news conference last Sunday evening. He accused the Sunday Times of blocking his efforts to bring in much needed foreign exchange to the country. Waving a copy of the Sunday Times, he declared that no restrictions had been placed on money coming from abroad a claim which was not made in the news report. However, as the report disclosed, all those receiving inward remittances would be asked to inform the respective banks how the funds had arrived, if they exceeded Rs. 200,000. We cannot allow media freedom to become freedom of the wild ass. We cannot allow such things to be written, declared Minister Karunanayake. He said that writing such things when we are struggling to get the economy going is wrong. Most national newspapers, except those state run, ignored his outburst and assertions. As we revealed last week, the Gazette extraordinary did mention that inward remittance of amounts in foreign currency to the equivalent of Rs. 200,000 would have to be declared. The move is intended to prevent money laundering and terrorism funding and the regulations do not make any exception to money coming from abroad for other purposes. After the Sunday Times report appeared, Minister Karunanayake got in touch with Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran. He had said that he was on a visit to China and was unaware of the notification. Surprisingly, one H. Ameratunga, described as a Director of the Central Bank Financial Intelligence Unit, was also at the news conference. He said there was no mention in the gazette about inward remittances a position contradicted by the clauses that have been gazetted. How did the Government Printer publish a Gazette from the Financial Intelligence Unit, if indeed there was none, remains a puzzling question? The answer should be obvious. \ Indian fishermen wont hold protest in Kachchativu By Chris Kamalendran View(s): View(s): Indian fishermen will not go ahead with a proposed protest in Kachchativu today, following last minute talks Sri Lankan fisher leaders held with their Tamil Nadu counterparts, the Sunday Times learns. Indo-Lanka Fishermens Welfare Forum Advisor S.P. Anthonymuttu told the Sunday Times he urged Rameshwaram Mechanical Fisheries Craft Association President N. Devadas not to use a religious ceremony for political issues. Tension was building after a week-long protest in Tamil Nadu by fishermen who demanded that the Indian government intervene to obtain the release of ten Indian fishermen and 79 boats in Sri Lankas custody. Mr. Anthonymuttu said he received information that the Indian fishermen coming for the St. Anthonys feast in the 1.15 sq. km island off the west coast of the Jaffna peninsula were planning to hold a protest after todays main mass to demand the release of their colleagues and the boats. They have given us an assurance that they will not hold the protest. I hope they will keep their promise, he said. Indian media reports said the fishermen would stage a protest outside Sri Lankas Deputy High Commissioners office on February 29. Some 3,200 Indian pilgrims have been granted permission to visit the island, though 3,477 people had applied. The Indians began to arrive in Kachchativu last afternoon in keeping with a 1974 agreement, according to which India recognised Sri Lankas ownership of the island. They were welcomed by the Sri Lanka Navy, which has been entrusted with the task of looking after the pilgrims welfare. The Bank of Ceylon yesterday opened a facility there to enable the visiting Indian pilgrims to obtain Sri Lankan currency as many of them buy clothes, footwear, fancy goods and other items at stalls run by Sri Lankan traders. Jaffnas Deputy Inspector General G.K. Perera said 150 policemen had been deployed on duty in the island. Startling revelation By Kumar Chellappan in Chennai View(s): View(s): The Indian Coast Guard has told a Chennai High Court that the Sri Lanka Navy has neither trespassed into Indian waters nor attacked Indian fishermen in Indian waters. From January 2014 to March 2015 as many as 36,865 Indian fishing boats poached in Sri Lankan waters. In a startling disclosure through an affidavit filed by K.R. Nautiyal, Deputy Director General (Operations and Coastal Security) of the Indian Coast Guard, the Coast Guard has said the Indian fishermen are not only showing scant regard for international law but are also engaged in smuggling contraband, including narcotics. The High Court is hearing a petition filed by a Madurai based lawyer alleging that the Indian Government is not providing security to Tamil Nadu fishermen in the Palk Strait. Illinois Bill Would Make Life Even More Difficult For Single Moms By aaroncynic in News on Feb 20, 2016 4:00PM DC Duxbury New legislation filed in Springfield could make it extremely tough to be a single mother. If a father is not listed on a birth certificate to a newborn child, the bill says a birth certificate would not be issued for that child and any hopes of receiving financial assistance, if needed, would be dashed. The bill does this by amending the Vital Records Act. You may be shocked to hear that HB6064, filed last week, is being sponsored by two white Republican men: Rep. John D. Cavaletto of Salem (which is a couple hours outside St. Louis), and Keith Wheeler, who represents the western 'burbs. Here's a snippet from the proposed legislation: Provides that if the unmarried mother cannot or refuses to name the child's father, either a father must be conclusively established by DNA evidence or, within 30 days after birth, another family member who will financially provide for the child must be named, in court, on the birth certificate. Provides that absent DNA evidence or a family member's name, a birth certificate will not be issued and the mother will be ineligible for financial aid from the State for support of the child. In other words, despite this being the year 2016, some lawmakers feel a single mother has to prove shes somehow deserving of state aid. If this sounds slightly familiar, it may be because it echoes some racist and classist remarks by another republican legislator, State Rep. Jeanne Ives. In September of last year, there was a floor debate in the House that ultimately killed a bill that wouldve restored subsidies lost due to the budget impasse. During this debate, Ives said: "You need to have verifiable need. You better know who the daddy is and whether or not he can afford that child and whether or not the taxpayers should be funding that or if there's actual child support he can provide. While its entirely possible the legislation may never make it out of the rules committee, and would more than likely die due to the Democratic supermajority in the House, its still troublesome. This is a punitive and outrageous bill that would have a hugely negative impact on those most likely in need of safety net programs and support, said Ed Yohnka of the Illinois American Civil Liberties Union. We reached out to co-Sponsor Rep. Keith Wheeler, who did not return a request for comment. Should the curb-side evangelists be allowed to badger the tourists straight off the cruise liners? Does the Jehovahs Witness religious literature constitute advertising and marketing? And should the church require a permit to pitch its faith to passengers at Pilot Bay? Even the Tauranga City Council admits its a grey area after one of its councillors raised an objection and fired off a complaint to Tauranga City Council enforcers. A lucky Lotto player from Auckland will be celebrating their good fortune in the Chinese zodiac Year of the Monkey after winning $1 million with Lotto First Division last night. The winning ticket was sold at Z Albany in Auckland. Do you have fibroids? Have you ever had to deal with fibroids as a lady? Do you know someone who has experienced or is current... The US-ASEAN Summit will convene on Monday and Tuesday in Sunnylands, California. This is the first such meeting on US turf, which shows Washington's growing emphasis on the US-ASEAN relationship. In November when US President Barack Obama visited Kuala Lumpur, the US upgraded its ties with ASEAN to a strategic partnership. In late December, the ASEAN Economic Community was also established. As Nina Hachigian, the US ambassador to ASEAN, said, the US has established "a new normal of intense engagement with ASEAN." Southeast Asia plays a key role in Obama's rebalance to the Asia Pacific. This region has a large population of 620 million and its aggregate economic volume has reached $2.4 trillion. The US is the fourth largest trading partner of ASEAN, and ASEAN is the fourth largest export market of the US. The summit will feature an emphasis on economic issues. US enterprises have shown growing interest in exploring business opportunities in Southeast Asia. From 2012 to 2014, US investments in this region went up to $32.3 billion. US business moguls have been lobbying the government to lift sanctions against Myanmar so that they can fully enter the market. Indonesia's economy is 15 times the size of Myanmar's, and 50 percent of its population is under the age of 30. It is expected that by 2020, Indonesia's labor force will increase by 14.8 million. However, Indonesia only ranks 28th among US trading partners. Indonesian President Joko Widodo is promoting his ambitious maritime-axis doctrine, which also brings in opportunities for the US. By relying on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), Washington looks to closer ties with Southeast Asia. Daniel Russel, the Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, said that "TPP is a strategic agreement. It is the economic leg and the 'crown jewel' of the Obama rebalance strategy." As of now, Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam have joined TPP. Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand are likely to follow suit. As for other non-TPP members, such as Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar, the US has offered the Expanded Economic Engagement (E3) agenda, through which Washington aims to improve ties with these countries. With US support, Laos joined the WTO in 2013. Follow China.org.cn on Twitter and Facebook to join the conversation. This Page Is Under Construction - Coming Soon! Why am I seeing this 'Under Construction' page? SEBASTIAN Classes returned to normal at Sebastian Elementary School while police continue to try to find the caller of a bomb threat on campus. Sebastian Police released no new information Friday about the investigation, which started shortly after someone called the school about 11 a.m. Thursday with the threat. The Indian River County School System evacuated the school, sending more than 500 students to Sebastian City Hall until parents picked them up. Bomb-sniffing dogs from the Brevard County Sheriff's Office and Patrick Air Force Base swept the school but found no explosive devices. Planting a bomb is a first-degree felony under state statutes. A person convicted of a first-degree felony with intent to kill would face more than 25 years in prison. Calling in a false report of a bomb is a second-degree felony punishable for up to 15 years in prison, according to state statutes. MARTIN COUNTY Authorities on Saturday turned to Twitter to warn residents not to fall for phone scams being perpetrated by fraudsters claiming to work for the Martin County Sheriff's Office. Sheriff's officials also triggered 'code red' automated phone calls to warn Jensen Beach residents to hang up on anyone who calls claiming to work for the Sheriff's Office and insists you missed a jury duty appointment. The caller also claims a warrant for your arrest has been issued. Authorities also warned residents not to fall for anyone seeking personal information over the phone. The Sheriff's Office logged nearly a dozen complaints from Eagle Marsh residents on Saturday, and dispatchers fielded several similar calls on Friday, said spokeswoman Christine Christofek. Christofek noted the Sheriff's Office does not make phone calls about arrest warrants. If you receive such a call, contact the Sheriff's Office at 772-220-7170. The State Board of Education cleared the way Thursday for three new Treasure Coast charter schools by overruling two school districts that last year denied the proposals. Somerset Academy was approved for a middle school to pair with the company's existing high school in St. Lucie County and for elementary and middle-school campuses in Indian River County. The districts can appeal the decision. "This is not just a huge win for us for our school in St. Lucie County and ... Somerset but a huge win all over the state of Florida," said Erika Rains, principal at Somerset College Preparatory Academy in St. Lucie County. Somerset, which has 54 campuses in the U.S., mostly in southeast Florida around Fort Lauderdale and Miami, sought to copy its high-performing schools on the Treasure Coast and faced opposition from school districts in 2015. By law, high-performing charter schools must have received at least two A school grades and no less than a B in the last three years, and must be on solid financial ground. Applications to replicate these schools differ from typical charter school requests, and require "clear and convincing" evidence the proposed school does not substantially replicate an existing school, or fails to comply with legal requirements, state officials said at Thursday's meeting in Tallahassee. Attorneys representing St. Lucie and Indian River districts argued the proposed charter schools don't accurately replicate Somerset campuses because demographics are different in Broward County, where one of the example schools is located, and that one plan uses language from Indian River County School District programs. The school districts had other issues with the charter schools, including inadequate transportation and financial plans. School officials in Indian River County also are concerned new charter schools wouldn't comply with the desegregation order the district is working under to ensure an appropriate amount of minority teachers are hired. The arguments didn't sway Board of Education members, who unanimously approved the charter schools. "I'm disappointed but not surprised," said Wayne Gent, superintendent of St. Lucie County School District. Indian River County School District officials did not respond to a request for comment. The districts have 30 days to file an appeal once notification letters regarding the decision are mailed, which Rains anticipates will come next week. Gent said School Board members will review the decision and discuss if they want to appeal. If St. Lucie County doesn't appeal, Rains said, the Somerset middle school would open in August. Somerset College Preparatory Academy currently is housed in a building leased from Indian River State College and will move to a new sixth- through 12th-grade campus at the California and Peacock boulevards in Port St. Lucie, Rains said. Construction should begin on the 10-acre property in two to three weeks, she said. Somerset officials could not be reached for comment regarding the schools in Indian River County. TALLAHASSEE Vero Beach state Rep. Debbie Mayfield's husband got appointed to the board of a state university just seven months before their wedding last year. Mayfield, a Republican, said she didn't use her public office to influence Gov. Rick Scott's office to appoint Robert Scaringe to the Florida Polytechnic University Board of Trustees, an unpaid position. Scaringe, the founder of Mainstream Engineering Corp. in Melbourne, was appointed to fill a vacant seat on the board of the Lakeland-based engineering, science, math and technology school and was supposed to serve a two-year term. "I didn't have anything to do with that," Mayfield said. "(Scaringe) spoke with (House Speaker Steve) Crisafulli and Crisafulli is the one who made the recommendation." Scaringe didn't serve on the board, however, because the Florida Senate didn't confirm his appointment as the Legislature ended its session unexpectedly early last year amid a conflict between the House and Senate over health care funding, Mayfield said. Scott didn't reappoint him. Scaringe listed Mayfield as a reference on a 2012 application to serve on the board of trustees at the Polytechnic University and the University of West Florida in Pensacola, both state universities. He didn't get appointed to either school that year. He also listed as references Crisafulli and Republican Rep. Ritch Workman, who's running against Mayfield for Sen. Thad Altman's open seat this year. Workman, who said he is friends with Scaringe, said his "resume speaks for himself" and Scaringe would have been perfect to serve on the board given his experience and education. Among the qualifications Scaringe listed for the position are a doctor's degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York, the country's oldest technological research university, and several awards, including a NASA technical achievement award. Mayfield and Scaringe married in October in Melbourne and she plans to move to Brevard County to run for a newly-drawn Senate district that covers all of Indian River and part of Brevard counties. She won her late husband Stan's House seat in 2008. Each of the 12 state universities has a 13-member board of trustees responsible for each school's policy, implementing education programs, performance evaluation, budgeting and education standards. Members receive no compensation but may be reimbursed for travel and daily expenses. While Scaringe's appointment "raises eyebrows and deserves further scrutiny," determining whether that represents a conflict of interest for Mayfield depends on his qualifications, said Peter Butzin, state chair of government watchdog organization Common Cause Florida and who doesn't know Mayfield or her husband. "Is he distinguished in engineering, science or mathematics?" Butzin said. "Does he have experience and skills in these fields that would qualify him to be a trustee? Does he have the kind of 'deep pockets' that might bring in private funding? If the answer is an obvious 'yes,' then it might be a coincidence that he is related to a legislator. If not, then, yes, it would appear to be a conflict-of-interest." FORT PIERCE New million-dollar, single-family homes are making their way to Fort Pierce. Developer Joe Foglia plans to build the Inlet Palms, a group of seven, three-story luxury town houses on the south side of Fort Pierce Inlet on Seaway Drive. Each home would have three bedrooms, 4 baths, an elevator, pool, spa and a slip that could accommodate up to an 80-foot boat, said Realtor Michael Thorpe, who is selling the houses. Prices will start at $1.3 million, Thorpe said. Construction is expected to start in April and last for 10 months, Thorpe said. "This is great for Fort Pierce because it shows we are open for business," Mayor Linda Hudson said. The residential project is the latest development project for Hutchinson Island. The City Commission on Tuesday approved development plans for the $2.9 million Causeway Cove Marina & RV park, just east of the South Bridge on Hutchinson Island. Property owner Ashton DePeyster, of Palm Beach, wants to build the marina in two phases on the 18 acres of the former mobile home park of the same name. The park was demolished after it was destroyed in the 2004 hurricanes. Phase 1, tentatively slated to begin this summer, would have 47 boat slips, 10 RV spots, a boat ramp, dock master station, laundry facilities and shuffleboard court. The cost is $1.6 million. Phase 2, to be built within five years, involves an additional 151 dock slips and 14 offshore mooring spaces and would cost an additional $1.3 million. Another project under construction is the Square Grouper Tiki Bar, 1920 Seaway Drive, a casual beach-theme restaurant. It is expected to open by the summer, according to a message from the Square Grouper Facebook page. Fort Pierce is expected to continue attracting the attention developers as real estate market continues to improve, said John Slivon, president of Realtors Association of Palm Beach and St. Lucie counties. "The price to buy land is cheaper in Fort Pierce and St. Lucie County than it is in South Florida, and developers get a better quality of land than they would further south," he said. PORT ST. LUCIE City Manager Jeff Bremer apparently won't be the next top official packing his bags in the wake of City Attorney Pam Booker's firing last week by the City Council. At least not for now. Bremer was spared his job after apologizing at a special City Council meeting Tuesday for poor performance, while Booker was a casualty of what the council called a communication breakdown and lack of performance by top management. The council minus Councilman Ron Bowen, who was absent voted unanimously to fire Booker, citing poorly executed court strategy, bad legal advice and poor communication skills. Mayor Greg Oravec had called the meeting to address what he characterized as a communication breakdown between Bremer and Booker's offices and the City Council over their handling of pressing issues and high-profile cases such as Crosstown Parkway, City Center, economic development, the demise of the Vaccine & Gene Therapy Institute of Florida and the mishandling of public-records requests by the city's Legal Department. A majority of the City Council last week said Bremer's job isn't in jeopardy. 'I don't see him being next or on the chopping block,' said Vice Mayor Linda Bartz, adding Bremer is 'committed to doing the right thing.' Still, the pressure as always is on Bremer to perform, Oravec said. 'If you ask any at-will employee, they're going to tell you that their jobs are always on the line. That's the nature of the job,' Oravec said. Councilwoman Michelle Berger and Bowen could not be reached for comment. Bremer, who has more than 30 years of experience as a city manager and previously worked in Michigan, on Tuesday took the blame for the communication disconnect and the fact that council members often learn of city news through the media specifically that the city is considering buying the controversial City Center land. 'I want to apologize to staff and City Council for any embarrassment over actions or inactions that have happened over the past several months, ' Bremer told the City Council. 'It is my responsibility to accept that responsibility, and I have failed to properly identify needs that need to be brought back to the City Council for their consideration.' 'I'm the one who dropped the ball,' Bremer told Treasure Coast Newspapers last week. 'I'm the one who didn't sense the need for additional communication and wasn't, quite honestly, in the frame of mind to really make sure that council was aware of things that could come up that could embarrass them if they didn't know the information. It all falls on me. I'm the guy.' The communication breakdown, however, wasn't 'fatal' to his job, Bremer said. 'I don't think the criticism that was leveled at me was fatal,' Bremer said. 'I think, quite honestly, that I have the support on the part of the City Council for what I do, but if I continue to repeat mistakes or continue to repeat things brought to my attention, I deserve to be fired.' Bremer and Booker's office came under fire from some council members after a Treasure Coast Newspapers investigation last month revealed an apparent lack of transparency and large lag time to fulfill public-records requests. Bremer launched an internal audit of the city's records-keeping system, which should be completed in three months, he said. In response, he revamped existing city communication policies. Bremer fired the city communications director, forbid city employees from speaking to the media, set up a system for all department heads to help craft responses to media requests and plans to brief the City Council more frequently on all issues big and small. Bremer's plan is sufficient and worthy of him keeping his job, Councilwoman Shannon Martin said. 'I support Jeff. He's done a great job overall in the city. He brought us from a state of turmoil to a point of stabilization,' Martin said. 'He's had a steady, even hand.' 'Did we have a little bit of a breakdown going on? Absolutely,' Martin said. 'But he has already addressed it. He has already apologized for it and he is already as a result, set a course of action.' Under the watch of Sergio Vieira de Mello, right, the first Cambodian refugees arrive in Phum Ku, on the Thai/Cambodian border, in 1992. They were returning to Cambodia from refugee sites in Thailand. Vieira de Mello served from 1991 to 1996 as special envoy of the high commissioner for Cambodia, director of repatriation for the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia. SHARE U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Andre Valentine and U.S. Army Reservist William von Zehle Sheryl Estrada By Sheryl Estrada I first met Andre Valentine more than 20 years ago in an ambulance in Long Island, N.Y. He and my father were both emergency medical technicians for an ambulance service, and the two let me take a tour of their vehicle. I was a kid, so I had to promise not to touch any of the equipment as it was important; it helped save lives. Valentine, now a staff sergeant in the U.S. Army, was part of a duo who attempted to rescue Sergio Vieira de Mello, the U.N. ambassador to Iraq, trapped in the U.N. headquarters at Baghdad's Canal Hotel after a truck bomb explosion by al-Qaida on Aug. 19, 2003. The documentary "Sergio," directed by Greg Barker, is based on the biography, "Chasing the Flame: Sergio Vieira de Mello and the Fight to Save the World" by Samantha Power. It airs this month on HBO, and relives the day's events, including Valentine's perspective. Age 52, Valentine resides in Covington, Ga. He's married, a father of two teenagers, and two adult children from his former marriage to my aunt. I spoke with him about his military career and the bombing, the day before he was to return to his tour of duty in Afghanistan. "When I enlisted at 17, the choice of medical came up, I said I'd do it, and the rest is history," he said. After some time in the service, he received civilian medic training, working for New York City Emergency Medical Services for 16 years, and he was also a paramedic/firefighter in Washington, D.C., and Atlanta. He returned to the Army in 1993 to serve during the Gulf War. He also served in operations Enduring Freedom (2001) and Iraqi Freedom (2003), which led to the unforgettable experience. "I was at base camp when the explosion happened less than a quarter-mile away. I was ordered by my commander to investigate. I didn't know it was the U.N. building until I got there," Valentine explained. Valentine and U.S. Army Reservist William von Zehle tried to free Vieira de Mello and U.S. professor Gil Loescher, who was with Vieira de Mello in his office, both trapped in a two-story hole after the building collapsed. "Bill and I had experience in building collapse and rescue. Like on 9/11, how the firefighters went into to the World Trade Center, we knew we could help them," Valentine said. Without heavy equipment, Valentine and von Zehle had to move debris brick by brick. The only equipment they had to haul the bricks out of the hole was a ladies purse, tied to a rope. "I spoke to Sergio for a while, finding out about his life, to keep him talking," Valentine explained. "He asked for help in finding his people, and said some four-letter words I probably shouldn't say." They freed Loescher, though in the process, his legs had to be amputated by Valentine, with a rusty saw. He was helicoptered out, and survived. Loescher was blocking Vieira de Mello in the hole, so by the time they could physically reach him, he had died. "You live with the images for the rest of your life, till the day you die," Valentine said. I asked him how he deals with possibly losing his life in the line of duty. "As a born-again Christian, I've made peace with my maker, so I know where I'm going, and I'll know that I did my job," he said. Estrada is a multimedia journalist for TCPalm.com's YourNews and Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers. E-mail: sheryl.estrada@scripps.com. What: "Sergio," an HBO documentary. When: 2:30 p.m. Wednesday; 11 a.m. and 9 p.m. Monday; 9:45 a.m. May 22; and 4:30 p.m. and midnight May 24. For more information: Visit www.hbo.com/documentaries. SHARE Photos by Candace Moore Meghan Walsh will release her new song Lead Me On later this month on iTunes. Future Visions video production crew reviews scenes with Meghan Walsh and David Busch (left). Meghan Walsh poses before diving into the pool for a scene in her new music video. Sergio Montoya gets the drone ready to take flight. By Candace Moore Music videos are filmed all over the world but never one so high-profile in Vero Beach ? until now. Meghan Walsh, the multi-talented artist, fashion designer and songwriter, filmed her first music video in August at a mansion on A1A in south Vero Beach with all the glamour and glitz of a Hollywood movie. Meghan is the daughter of John and Reve Walsh. And like her TV personality father, she is a very enterprising, always fascinating young woman who exemplifies a true passion for life. In her own right, she has been a successful fashion designer with her label Blank Silk by Meghan Walsh, an acclaimed visual artist and a poet. Now, she can add recording artist to her long list of accomplishments. With her first single "Lead Me On" ? set to be released on iTunes before Christmas ? Walsh has created an irresistibly catchy tune that will have you up on your feet dancing with the first verse. Changing course "I've grown up singing and dancing my entire life, but my passion has always been design and the fine arts," said Walsh. "I started writing music from my poetry, called a few friends to listen, and together we produced my first song and music video. It's exciting to see my artistic creations come together through music." The co-star of her music video is the Legendary Bali, an up-and-coming hip hop artist who introduced her to Traksterz, who produced the song. "Bali is amazing. I have known him forever. He started out as a solo rap artist and has gone into writing and producing," said Walsh. "I could not have done any of this without him." "Once we got into the studio, it only took us about two or three sessions before we had the whole song done. Bali stood by me and encouraged me every step of the way. I am grateful for his friendship, trust and belief in me." Video shoot Twin brothers Sergio and Steven Montoya, and their company Future Visions Productions directed and produced the video. Their entire crew and truckloads of equipment ? including Red Dragon cameras and drones ? arrived in Vero Beach early one Friday morning. They didn't leave until Sunday evening. The video took three full days to shoot beginning in the early morning and ending well past midnight. There are scenes ? some complete with fog machines and rose petals ? in almost every room in the house including the bathtub, billiard's room and hallways. Help from friends David Busch and Meghan Walsh collaborated on the creative direction, and decided to use only her beautiful silk fashions in the video. "David is one of my closest friends," said Walsh. "To know David is to know that he is a creative genius, and his talents go far beyond the world of fine wines and delicacies. His attention to detail while shooting the video is professionally comparable to the creative design work of major record labels. Every scene was shot to David's perfection." Tia Victoria Ashton provided impeccable hair styling and make-up, including a beautiful fish tale braid used for the pool scene. "Tia makes me look and feel glamorous," said Walsh. "I wish I could have her with me every day." Behind the music The behind-the-scenes video of "Lead Me On" has just been released and can be viewed on YouTube (www.youtube.com then type in "Lead Me On Meghan Walsh" in the search bar), Facebook (www.facebook.com/themeghanwalsh) and the website www.meghanwalshmusic.com "In writing music I always go to life experiences, and my own personal trials and tribulations," said Walsh. ?Lead Me On' is a reflection of my past relationships and loves. Actually what woman hasn't been through a relationship where someone has led them on or brushed them off? "As an artist, especially being in fashion ? previously having my own line, doing runway fashion shows ? having a strong vision and not passive in that, I can only hope that people will enjoy my music. That would make me very happy." Bearhugging [By Jiao Haiyang/China.org.cn] Last one decade has witnessed a remarkable turnaround in India-China economic relation. From a trickle US$2 billion in 2001, the combined trade volume between two Asian giants has galloped to US$70 billion. Experts believe the figure to touch US$100 billion by the end of next fiscal year. China has emerged India's largest trade partner (individual country). Yet considering the size and scale of two economies and their geographical proximity, this is still a drop in the ocean. The Chinese mainland's trade with tiny Taiwan is more than US$197 billion. For various reasons, mostly owing to the memories of 1962 border clashes and long standing boundary disputes, economies of these two neighbors are probably least integrated ones in the world. For various reasons, Chinese companies routinely complain the long bureaucratic procedures and frequent "security" concerns raised by Indian officials while clearing projects. There are issues of getting visas and work permits for professionals and workers. Some Chinese giants like Fosun have spent years of time and money to enter Indian market, but still caught up in the web of bureaucracies and official dilly dallying in India. Of course, there are instances in which Indian business professionals and private enterprises too complain about trade barriers and business freedom in China. Yet, the biggest barrier to a robust economic relation comes from the growing trade deficit between economies. While India exports to China touched over US$15 billion in 2015, it imported a mammoth US$62 billion in the same year, thereby incurring a deficit of US$47 billion. Such trade deficit accounts for more than quarter (27 percent) of country's fiscal deficit. As usually, such trade imbalances have impacted the bilateral relations between two countries. Often, Indian policy makers resort to taking anti-dumping measures to stem Chinese imports and this has led to retaliatory measures from China. On the whole the two Asian giants have failed to capitalize the advantage of geography and opportunities of scale. Apple will begin selling new models of its iPad tablets and iPhones in mid-March, according to a report published last week in 9to5Mac. It will debut a 4-inch iPhone, called the iPhone 5se, as well as a new iPad Air at a March 15 event, followed by a retail and online sales launch three days later, said the report, which cited unnamed sources. Apple is not expected to offer its usual preorder sales event, but that decision is subject to change. The new tablet, called the iPad Air 3, reportedly will include a new Smart Connector and support for various Apple accessories, most importantly an updated smart keyboard and Apple Pencil. The body of the new phone reportedly will be similar to that of the iPhone 5s, which was released in 2013, and the device will include new A9 and M9 processors, an NFC chip that will allow the phone to use the Apple Pay mobile checkout technology, the same camera as the iPhone 6 support for always-on Siri activation, plus the ability to take Live Photos. What else will be in the new iPhone and iPad? Will it contain WiFi or the faster LiFi or some permutation thereof that doubles the range of connectivity while using less power? Theres always a surprise feature or so in any Apple device, said Susan Schreiner, an analyst atC4 Trends. Appeal to Mass Market Apple may be trying to appeal to a subset of customers who want to buy an Apple product but cannot afford to pay for it at current price points, according to Kevin Krewell, principal analyst atTirias Research. The new small iPhone to replace the iPhone 5s makes a lot of sense. There is a group of people who like the smaller form factor and others who want an iPhone, but can only afford it at a lower price. This new iPhone allows Apple to upgrade the iPhone 5s to the latest chip technology, while maintaining 5s pricing, he told the E-Commerce Times. The rumored iPhone fills a sweet spot that Apple missed when it introduced the iPhone 6 in terms of size. While there was a pent-up demand for a larger screen smartphone, there still is a huge population that prefers the convenience of the smaller screen to a larger screen, Schreiner told the E-Commerce Times. These consumers didnt run out and buy the iPhone 6 just because it was the latest and greatest from Apple. How many people still held on to their iPhone 5s because of this? she asked. Its unusual for Apple to release a new phone midcycle, Krewell noted, but the move may be designed to boost sales in China, which is a key market for the companys international business. There are lots of rumors about what Apple will introduce next and when. March 18 or thereabouts sounds about right because it will be at the end of Q1, which Apple anticipates to be slow due to a range of factors, including currency and geopolitical shifts and turmoil, said Schreiner. Softening Sales The report comes at a time when Apple isstruggling to make a market for some of its core product upgrades, particularly the iPhone and iPad, which have seen growth curves start to soften. Apple needs to shake things up a bit, said analystJeff Kagan. Their rapid growth wave seems to be starting to slow, he told the E-Commerce Times. Growth in the installed base of iPhones has slowed from previous years, according to newly released data fromConsumer Intelligence Research Partners. The installed base grew 11 percent in the December 2015 quarter, compared with 23 percent in the December 2014 quarter. Apple had some of its greatest success with the iPhone 6 and 6s models, which had larger form factors, said CIRP co-founder Michael Levin. New methods of financing phones have made the more expensive models more affordable to users. So were not sure what Apple wants to accomplish with the reported smaller phone, at least in the U.S., he told the E-Commerce Times, noting that the 5s seems to meet the needs of U.S. customers looking for a less-expensive handset. The new phone might have more to do with meeting the needs of non-U.S. customers, Levin said, who also dont have access to the same phone financing programs as U.S. customers. Black holes are rather weird and mysterious but they could get even more puzzling. For the first time, scientists have demonstrated that black holes in 5D could defy the prevailing laws of physics and our basic understanding of the universe. Researchers from the University of Cambridge and Queen Mary University of London in the UK showed that a black hole in a five-dimensional world could disprove Einsteins general theory of relativity, a foundational law of physics. This means that 5D black holes would contain such intense gravity that the laws of modern physics as we know it would break down. According to the simulation, a five-dimensional universe would have black holes that are akin to very thin rings instead of holes, giving rise to a series of bulges that turn thinner over time. The strings connecting these bulges eventually turn so thin that they form mini black holes. These so-called black rings were first discussed in 2002, but it is only now with the aid of supercomputers like the COSMOS supercomputer that they were simulated successfully. Should 5D black holes form, they would give rise to naked singularity since they hypothetically consist of rings of highly intensive gravity. The resulting event is equally mysterious, except that it would show that the laws of general relativity is no longer applicable. The general theory of relativity guides what humans know so far about gravity, from estimates of the age of the stars in the universe to the GPS signals helping in navigation. In a nutshell, it dictates that matter is warping surrounding spacetime, with gravity as the effect of such warp. It has been 100 years since the theory was first proposed, and it has so far passed each test thrown its way. The phenomenon of singularities, however, remains one of its primary limitations. In a singularity, gravity is very intense that time, space, and laws of modern physics break down. According to the general relativity, these events exist right smack in the middle of black holes and are surrounded by an event horizon or the so-called point of no return, where the pull of gravity turns so strong that escape cannot be observed from outside. Study author Dr. Markus Kunesch from Cambridge explains that singularities are not a source of trouble meaning the theory still holds as long as they stay hidden behind an event horizon. [T]he 'cosmic censorship conjecture' says that this is always the case, Kunesch says. He adds that scientists can safely predict the future outside of the black hole phenomenon as long as this conjecture, which is widely accepted as true in humans four-dimensional universe, remains valid. What if a singularity outside of an event horizon existed, which physicists hypothesized might be existing in greater dimensions? It would be visible and a state where an object collapses to an endless density would emerge, causing general relativity to fall apart and remove its predictive power or strength as a stand-alone theory for explaining the universe, says co-author Saran Tunyasuvunakool. This emerges as a relevant issue when one considers that physicists have proposed the universe to be consisted of as many as 11 dimensions. Humans can only perceive three, with the existence of extra dimensions only inferred from high-energy experiments including the Large Hadron Collider. The team has reached the limits of what the COSMOS supercomputer can simulate, with new techniques and computer code required to handle extreme shapes that a black ring forms into. But they seek to know what elements in a four-dimensional universe could make naked singularity impossible and the theory of general relativity correct. The findings were published in the journal Physical Review Letters. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. It seems that there just isn't going to be any let up to the heat people have been facing for the past few months. NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have just declared January of this year as the warmest month ever to be recorded. This means the Earth has been plagued with record-breaking heat for the ninth straight month now. According to the space agency, January 2016 clocked in temperatures that reached 2.03 degrees Fahrenheit above normal levels, which is considered to be the highest margin of any recorded month. The abnormally high heat has also caused sea ice in the Arctic to reach its lowest point even though January is known to be a month for building ice in the region. Experts at NOAA, however, used a different set of computations to determine the temperature levels in January. They found that temperatures last month reached 1.87 degrees above normal. While this is still particularly high, the environment agency said that it is only the second largest margin ever to be recorded. The biggest one was detected in December 2015. NOAA added that the average global temperature for the first month of 2016 reached 55.5 degrees Fahrenheit, which easily surpassed the former recorded for January 2007. Records for global temperature averages stretch back to 1880. Low Levels Of Arctic Sea Ice Jessica Blunden, a climate scientist at NOAA, explained that some parts of Asia, Europe and the United States experienced patches of colder-than-normal temperatures, but these readings were surpassed by off-the-chart warming that occurred in the Arctic. She said that areas in Alaska, Siberia and Northwest Canada recorded temperatures that were 9 degrees Fahrenheit hotter than average. This significant warming is what caused the Arctic sea ice to reach its lowest point during the first month of the year. The National Snow and Ice Data Center said that the average Arctic sea ice for January 2016 was only 5.2 million square miles. This is 90,000 square miles below the lowest point that was recorded in 2011. The reading for the month is also 402,000 square miles less than normal for an entire 30-year period. The nine straight months of record-setting heat the Earth has been experiencing recently mirrors a similar event that occurred from June 1997 to February 1998. This period also corresponds to the last time the planet suffered from a large-scale El Nino phenomenon. Blunden said that the longest string of hot months on record happened in 1944, which reached 10 straight months. However, it is possible that that record will be reached this year if the current trend keeps up until February. Photo: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center | Flickr 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The state of California decided to build the first bullet train system in the country with the Bakersfield-Bay Area route. The recent shift scrapped the previous plan to run it between Bakersfield and Los Angeles. The proposed plan is expected to start operation by 2025 where the pioneer 250-mile bullet train will run from Bakersfield to San Jose. The change in segments will help prevent costly tunnels and constructions of viaducts in the San Gabriel and Tehachapi mountains. "High-speed rail can't get to the Bay Area fast enough, so this is great news for our entire region," said Assemblyman David Chiu, D-San Francisco. The decision to build in the Bay Area comes with hopes to generate more support and attract private investors. California High-Speed Rail Authority chairman Dan Richard said the decision shift must be approved first by the authority's board. The shift from L.A. to Bay Area lowers the overall costs to just $64 billion from the original $68 billion. Officials said that by 2025, the Caltrain will be 100 percent electric and can connect to San Francisco immediately. "The updated business plan seems to be great news and is an encouraging sign that state funds already committed to constructing electrification will be available in time for Caltrain to award contracts and start work on the project without any delay to the modernization program," said Caltrain. The Caltrain Modernization Program involves the electrification of lines between San Jose and San Francisco as well as the addition of high-performance vehicles called the electric multiple units (EMUs). The signal system of the railroads will also be upgraded plus, an advanced Positive Train Control safety system will be implemented. Caltrain said that an electrified system will reduce its criteria pollutant emissions by as much as 97 percent. In 2015, California Governor Jerry Brown joined the state officials for the groundbreaking of the country's first high-speed railway system in Fresno. The rail line's first 29-mile segment is expected to be completed by October 2017. During the 2015 groundbreaking ceremony, Brown said the high-speed rail will link the "past to the future" and the "south to Fresno and the north." He said that it was a California project that brought them all together that day. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Apple has engaged two prominent lawyers who are well-versed in free-speech rights to represent the company in the legal battle over encryption. In the filings lodged with a California court, Apple has named Theodore Boutrous and Theodore Olson as lawyers who would represent the company in a court order that requires Apple to offer technical and software related assistance in unlocking an iPhone 5c. The smartphone is tied to the shootings that took place in San Bernardino in 2015. Tim Cook has called FBI's request unprecedented. Several tech companies including Google, Facebook, Alphabet and Twitter are supporting Apple. Federal lawyers have defended the court request, citing authorities like a 1977 U.S. Supreme Court ruling, which upheld an order compelling a telephone company to deliver support for setting up a device that could record telephone numbers. The court suggests that the All Writs Act of 1789, authorized the court order. The scope of that ruling may target Apple when it makes an official response in the next few days. However, Apple is highly likely to challenge the court's request with the inclusion of the First Amendment's guarantee of speech rights. The U.S. has a solid guarantee of speech rights when compared to other countries. Experts suggest that Apple may argue that the court's request is unlawful compelled speech. The iPhone 5c in question was used by Rizwan Farook, who was responsible for the San Bernardino shooting with his wife. The shooting killed 14 people and wounded 22 more. U.S. prosecutors want to pick the unfortunate shooting for testing the encryption battle with big tech companies. The shooting involves emotional impact as well as highlighting the dangers of armed militants. It is noteworthy that Farook just used the iPhone 5c, but it was owned by his employer. Michael Froomkin, a law professor at the University of Miami, said the legal fight is very significant for Apple. If the company loses the case, it will be forced to create a forensic tool for the government that can be used for decrypting its phones. Such a step has the likelihood of damaging Apple's global brand name. If the government demands are met with, then many people who are concerned about the security of their devices may stop using Apple devices in the near term resulting in financial loss for the company. Apple was asked to submit its response by Feb. 23, but the deadline has now been moved to Feb. 26. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Against the will of the cable industry, the Federal Communications Commission on Thursday pushed forward the "Unlock the Box" proposal to unbound set-top boxes. It's an effort to pave the way for more innovation in software, hardware and solutions related to the way people consume pay TV. About 99 percent of pay TV customers are limited to buying or leasing whatever boxes their cable or satellite TV providers offer. These "anti-competitive barriers" have amounted to average of what the FCC figures to be $231 in annual rental fees for the average household. The proposed rules would require that MVPDs (Multichannel Video Programming Distributors) disclose information about what programming options are available to a given subscriber, what services, such as DVR, that individual is entitled to and data on the delivery of the content itself. The FCC also proposes that third parties respect the advertising limits to children, indiscriminately relay emergency alerts, provide transparent billing, and respect the commission's rules on consumer-owned CableCARD devices and the associated "integration ban." The ban allows third parties, like Tivo, to leverage MVPDs' decryption technology. To ensure that the pay TV industry is protected, the proposal requires that third parties certify their adherence to policies much like those which MVPDs comply with now. The cable and satellite industry, through its recently formed Future of TV Coalition, has railed against the proposal as being "a solution in search of a problem" and even accused the FCC of going in cahoots with Google. AT&T's federal regulatory senior vice president Bob Quinn didn't back off on his side's message on Thursday. "While consumers are embracing an apps-based approach that offers a variety of content on more than 450 devices, the FCC has chosen to go down a path that threatens the very competition and innovation that has led to this vibrant marketplace," Quinn said. All the FCC is saying through this proposal is that cable operators need to open up their platform to innovations from third parties, stated FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler in an interview with Variety. Cable operators can continue to control their products, he added. "Let's have the cable company say, 'You want to pay me for my interface, because it does all these things nobody else does.' Rather than, 'You must pay me,'" said Wheeler. "We are just trying to get to that basic American concept of competition." 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. IBM has agreed to buy data company Truven Health for $2.6 billion in cash in a move that would allow the American tech company to expand its repository of medical data for the Watson Health unit. It is the fourth major purchase that IBM has made in less than a year since directing its focus on acquiring health-related data. "We're now deeply embedded in the health care system," John Kelly, senior vice president of IBM's solutions portfolio and research, said. As part of the purchase, Truven will turn over its library of health industry data collected from more than 8,500 insurers, hospitals and government agencies to IBM, which in turn will be included in Watson Health's own database. The deal is expected to wrap up later in the year. IBM's acquisition of Truven is the largest deal the tech company has made in three years since Ginni Rometty took over the reins as chief executive. During the period, IBM has focused on investing in the data and technology sectors to help improve its products and services related to the health care industry, particularly its Watson Health unit. Watson is the tech company's AI-based computing machine capable of interpreting, analyzing and even predicting patterns in various data. By adding information gathered from data firms such as Truven, IBM will help Watson perform better and provide more valuable insights on certain matters. "Most of the data in health care is in disparate databases," Watson Health general manager Deborah DiSanzo explained. "The strategy of IBM is to bring this data together and democratize it so that both IBM and our ecosystem of partners can build health solutions on top of it." IBM's Watson unit is considered to be one of the company's major efforts to bounce back from the recent declines it has experienced for the past 15 straight quarters. Last year, the tech company acquired Merge Healthcare's medical imaging technology and data for $1 billion. It has also bought population health technology vendor Phytel as well as big data analytics firm Explorys. IBM hopes to use all of the health-related data it has amassed in these separate deals to develop insights into value-based care. This is in response to U.S. government's decision to shift its focus toward such programs and allow patients to pay based on the outcomes of health care services provided to them. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Samsung has started rolling out the much-awaited Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow software update to its Galaxy Note 5 handset. Samsung announced the global rollout of Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow for the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 edge in mid-February. Individual carriers may take some time to roll out the update to their versions of the devices and some Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 edge owners may have to wait slightly longer than others. While Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 edge owners will be keenly waiting to receive the latest Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow on their device, some Galaxy Note 5 owners in Cambodia have already started receiving the latest update. According to a SamMobile report, the update is out in Cambodia for the Galaxy Note 5 SM-N920C model with build number N920CXXU2BPB6. The report suggests that the update is available via Samsung Smart Switch and via SamMobile's firmware section. The firmware should be going out to Galaxy Note 5 owners over-the-air (OTA) soon. Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow brings a number of improvements and new features to Android devices. The Galaxy Note 5 has a 3,000 mAh battery that already offers long-lasting usage to owners. The Doze and the App Standby modes of Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow may improve the battery life of the phablet. The Doze mode detects when a handset is not in use and automatically puts it in sleep mode. The App Standby mode focuses on less-used apps for preserving the battery life of the Galaxy Note 5. "No more battery drain from seldom-used apps: App Standby limits their impact on battery life so your charge lasts longer," says Android. On Wednesday, Samsung also shared some features Galaxy devices will get following the Marshmallow update. "With the release of Android 6.0 Marshmallow for Samsung's Galaxy devices, a whole host of new and improved features are now available," says Samsung. "Two of the most useful are Samsung Internet 4.0, which offers better privacy and functionality from the native Samsung browser than ever, and Cross App, which lets people access their most useful apps while inside the messaging program." American carriers such as Verizon, AT&T, Sprint and more have not hinted of an update to Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow for the Galaxy Note 5. However, Canadian carrier TELUS has confirmed the tentative Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow rollout date as March 9 for the Galaxy Note 5, the same day the carrier plans to release the update for the Galaxy S6 edge Plus. Samsung has not officially confirmed the update for the Galaxy Note 5 but the Korean company is expected to announce the rollout date sooner than later. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Yahoo's season of trouble was momentarily interrupted when executive Simon Khalaf gave a talk during the company's Mobile Developer Conference on Thursday. Khalaf, Yahoo's publishing products senior vice president, talked about the impending mobile revolution. Khalaf said phablets will drive hardware revamp while a more mature mobile market will embrace the increasingly native mobile content. Mobile 2.0's beginnings will start toward the end of this year and will give rise to the next seven years of exponential growth. Most mobile content these days are created initially for print, desktop or television but are being reduced to fit mobile screens. Khalaf said this trend will fade and soon a new mobile revolution will be born wherein content for mobile will be created using a mobile device. The conference was held at The Masonic Center in San Francisco. Marissa Mayer, Yahoo's chief executive, officially opened the conference with a short talk in front of hundreds of developer participants. Mayer talked about Yahoo's entry into native advertising and mobile engagement but did not share its plans on how to gain revenue from native mobile content. Yahoo launched the tools for Flurry, its mobile analytics platform. The new tools include gender, age and location filtering option for mobile app users plus improved ad-tracking abilities. Yahoo said it plans to release Flurry for both Android and Apple devices. The company will also roll out a tool that developers can use to track their apps' analytics for Apple's tvOS. "There is incredible potential here. Together, we can build the future of mobile," Mayer reassured the mobile developers in the audience. Apart from helping developers come up with great apps, Yahoo is continuously investing in tools that will enable developers to tap new markets and transform them into businesses. Just a few days ago, Yahoo announced that it is cutting its workforce by 15 percent and closing the windows on seven online magazines. The ones focused on parenting, health, food and travel got the ax as well. Khalaf said that 2016 is the year to pause and reflect and they plan to do these while they analyze how to "jump on that bandwagon." Photo: TechCrunch | Flickr 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Flash Deploying national defense facilities on the Xisha Islands has nothing to do with negotiations over a code of conduct on the South China Sea, China said on Thursday. The comment was made as Beijing emphasized the efforts made by the country in negotiations to arrive at the code. Deploying such facilities "is irrelevant to a comprehensive implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea, or to the consultations over the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei during a media briefing. Hong made the remarks in response to speculation that China had deployed missiles on disputed islands in the South China Sea and that the country appeared not to be serious about consultations over the code. Western media have been following closely China's defense facilities on the Xisha Islands since FoxNews reported on Tuesday that Beijing had deployed a missile system on Yongxing Island in the Xisha Islands. Hong stressed that the Xisha Islands are China's "inherent territory" and are not so-called disputed islands. Equipping them with defense facilities is not militarization, but a move "within China's sovereignty", Hong said. In 2002, China and member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations signed the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea. In the declaration, they voiced agreement to work on the basis of consensus for adopting such a code of conduct. In 2013, China and the ASEAN countries began consultations on the code. Hong said China and ASEAN countries had been actively pushing consultations over the code. Li Jinming, a professor of maritime policy and law at Xiamen University, said the code of conduct applies only to disputed islands, while the Xisha Islands, which have always been under China's administration, are not disputed. China had taken "very active steps" and had made many efforts on reaching a code of conduct, but attaining this goal took time, Li said. "China has always been coordinating, but neighboring countries should also invest in such efforts," he said. Li added that actions such as making a unilateral request for international arbitration, as the Philippines had done, are against the spirit of negotiations set by the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea signed by China and the ASEAN countries. A Mercedes-Benz BlueTEC owner sued the carmaker in the United States, arguing that Clean Diesel vehicles are pre-programmed to emit higher levels of nitrogen oxide than the law allows. The man filed the class-action lawsuit against Mercedes in New Jersey, adding more fuel to the global diesel scandal. The class-action lawsuit resembles accusations that befell German automaker Volkswagen AG last year. The plaintiff claims that BlueTec cars from Mercedes contain a device that shuts off a nitrogen oxide-reducing mechanism in its exhaust. "All our vehicles comply with regulatory frameworks," Joerg Howe, parent company Daimler AG's spokesman, responds. He goes on to add that all Daimler vehicles, Mercedes included, respect the pollution laws. Global Diesel Scandal The lawsuit takes place only five months after Volkswagen conceded that it tampered with the software in its diesel engine vehicles in order to cheat emission testing. The scandal rippled throughout the car industry, causing diesel engine manufacturers to be looked upon with suspicion. One of the main selling points of diesel engines used to be their environmental friendliness, but the Volkswagen scandal threw a shadow of doubt on the matter. In January, it was found that the stocks of Renault SA took a dive as a result of sudden investigations from French anti-fraud authorities. Following the investigation, the company recalled 15,000 of its cars to make sure these comply with emissions regulations. The New Jersey complaint underlines that the gizmo installed in Mercedes's clean diesel models kills pollution controls when the temperatures go under below 50 degrees Fahrenheit (10 degrees Celsius). This permits the cars to break emissions standards. Allegedly, Mercedes affirms that the shut-off is intentional and has the purpose of protecting the engine in cold temperatures. Dutch Independent Testing Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP is the law firm that took the American case against Mercedes. The firm already gathered expertise in similar cases against Volkswagen AG. Hagens Berman quotes research by independent testing agency TNO, at the commission of the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment. Its results show that Mercedes C-Class 220 cars exhaust significantly more nitrogen oxide in real-life conditions than in laboratory testing. "Mercedes never disclosed that, when the temperature drops below 50 degrees, it prioritizes engine power and profits over people," reads the complaint, as cited by Bloomberg. This means that, in reality, Mercedes's BlueTEC diesels have two modes of functioning: a "clean" one when it is warm outside, and a "dirty" one when it gets chilly. "It's normal that emissions can be higher but not in the range they are now," says Monique de Geus, a spokeswoman for TNO. She notes that Mercedes's BlueTEC models were among the tested vehicles. On one hand, the suit asks for a court order that would force Mercedes to call back the affected models or offer their owners a replacement. On the other hand, there are undisclosed damages that the law firm wants to get from the automaker. Hagens Berman wants to take the class lawsuit to national scale. This means including all United States-based citizens and enterprises that purchased or leased one of the afflicted car models. Among the autos affected are the GLE crossovers, the ML320 and the 350 SUVs, the S-Class and E-Class models. Should you be curious to learn more about the evolution of the class action lawsuit, the case is Lynevych v. Mercedes-Benz USA, U.S. District Court, District of New Jersey. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) has dazzled the world with stunning images of celestial bodies throughout the Universe, and made a myriad of valuable scientific discoveries. Now, after more than 25 years in orbit, NASA officials are sitting at the cusp of launching a new generation of space telescopes to continue and expand on the original mission of the space-borne observatory. The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), named after one of NASA's earliest leaders, is the most direct descendant of the HST. This massive orbiting observatory will utilize 18 independent mirrors, carefully aligned to simulate a single giant mirror in space, more than 250 inches in diameter, collecting light from distant bodies. This telescope, significantly larger than the 200-inch instrument at Mount Palomar, is scheduled for launch in October 2018, aboard an Ariane 5 rocket. The Webb Telescope will be utilized by thousands of astronomers around the globe, searching for a wide variety of data. The observatory will search for exoplanets surrounding other stars, uncover secrets of our own solar system, and stare at objects that formed in the earliest days of the visible universe. "Hubble's science pushed us to look to longer wavelengths to 'go beyond' what Hubble has already done. In particular, more distant objects are more highly redshifted, and their light is pushed from the UV and optical into the near-infrared. Thus observations of these distant objects (like the first galaxies formed in the Universe, for example) requires an infrared telescope," NASA officials report. The Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope (Wfirst) will be capable of viewing 100 times more sky in a single view than is currently possible using the HST. Astronomers believe the instrument will be capable of discovering millions of currently-unknown galaxies, as well as thousands of exoplanets. The observatory, scheduled for launch in the middle of the 2020s, could also measure the effects of dark energy, one of the strangest predictions of theoretical physics. The telescope will be constructed from pieces of an unused spy satellite. The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) mission will lift off in 2017, on a quest to search the entire sky for exoplanets similar to Earth that could be home to alien life. The telescope will record data from alien planets that pass between their sun and our world, resulting in a dip in the amount of light received from the star. This method has been used by ground-based observatories to find larger planets, but the TESS observatory should find smaller worlds, such as super-Earths, orbiting other stars. Astronomers are also looking further ahead, to the Advanced Technology Large-Aperture Telescope (Atlast), proposed for launch around the year 2030. Still in the earliest stages of planning, the observatory could have a diameter of between 300 and 600 inches. Even the smallest of these proposed designs would result in a telescope 2,000 times more sensitive than Hubble, and capable of five to 10 times greater resolution than the Webb observatory. Astronomers would be able to use that behemoth observatory to search for methane, ozone, water vapor and other telltale signs of life on alien worlds. In the waning days of Hubble, NASA is ready to dazzle the public, as well as scientists, with a new generation of space-borne observatories. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Christiana Figueres announced that she will step down from her post as the executive secretary of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UFCCC) in July and will not consider an extension. This marks the end of a six-year term that was concluded with the adoption of the Paris Agreement in December 2015. Figueres, a civil official from Costa Rica, was appointed the agency since 2010. She helped draft the Paris agreement along with other leaders from across the globe. The Paris Agreement involved all countries, including the poorest and richest nations and has also marked the joint effort to take action to reduce gas emissions that contribute to the continuing global warming. "The Paris Agreement is a historical achievement, built on years of increasing willingness to construct bridges of collaboration and solidarity," Figueres said. During her term, she worked to build trust among countries with different interests in the aim to reduce gas emissions and change industries into eco-friendly ones. She defied diverse beliefs and was widely recognized for having delivered a legally binding agreement that seemed impossible in the last two decades. "We now move into a phase of urgent implementation," Figueres said. "The journey that lies ahead will require continued determination, ingenuity and, above all, our collective sense of humanity and purpose. I know that together you will again rise to the task," she added. As U.N.'s top climate change official, she proposed climate solutions to help stem the effects of climate change. She urged countries to pursue clean energy to expand employment opportunities. She said that a safer and more secure future "comes from clean energy policy." She called for clean energy targets that can offer green jobs and at the same time cut emissions. Another proposal included establishing a security policy that uses energy to boost operational capacity, which can decrease carbon emissions and investing in measures to keep both the population and economies healthy. A lot of countries face health problems linked to poor air quality as an effect of pollution. Implementing measures to reduce carbon emissions from both industries and modes of transportation are needed to ensure public and economic health. "This message cuts through partisan divide with practical truth. Climate action is sound economic, security, health and development policy. For everyone," Figueres said. Photo: UN Climate Change | Flickr 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. After waiting for a decade, Elon Musk has gained control of Tesla.com as a Silicon Valley engineer finally gave up the domain name. This means that when visitors head to Tesla.com, they are now being rerouted to TeslaMotors.com. The news was confirmed by Tesla spokeswoman Khobi Brooklyn on Friday, as reported by Bloomberg. With the change in ownership of the domain name, rumor has it that the company is now likely to alter its official name from Tesla Motors to Tesla, which could grow further into its electric vehicle and energy businesses. During the introduction of its Tesla Energy last year, Musk was asked if he had the intention to modify the company's name from Tesla Motors to Tesla to indicate that the automaker would soon be shifting its gears to manufacturing its stationary batteries. He responded by saying there had been domain problems. The Tesla.com domain name was owned by Stu Grossman, a fan of Nikola Tesla, since 1992. John Berryhill, a lawyer who represented him in a dispute with Tesla Industries Inc., says that Grossman kept the website name for private use. Berryhill also says the man had been approached by a number of people with regard to giving up the domain name. Mr. Grossman is an engineer and a big fan of Nikola Tesla, says Berryhill. Hes had it, and now Tesla the auto company got it," adding that he believes this was a voluntary arrangement. What's un clear is whether or not Tesla purchased the domain name from Grossman. Bloomberg says Grossman could not be reached for comment while Tesla's spokeswoman refused to provide a comment regarding the domain change, apart from confirming that Tesla Motors has gotten its hands on it. In a related news, it seems Tesla is keen on widening its reach as the company's boss said late last month that he wants a Tesla Manufacturing Plant within the borders of China by mid-2016. One of the reasons why Tesla wishes to build its electric cars in the country is that the Chinese government urges its citizens to go full electric. Tesla also adds that it wants to fend off the prohibitive import tax imposed by the local government. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Businessman and presidential aspirant Donald Trump has called on the public to boycott Apple in response to the tech company's reluctance to help federal authorities in their investigation of the San Bernardino shootings. The Trump Organization chairman and president voiced his opinion on the matter on Friday during a campaign rally in South Carolina. "Apple ought to give the security for that phone, OK?" Trump said. "What I think you ought to do is boycott Apple until such time as they give that security number. How do you like that? I just thought of it. Boycott Apple!" Apple has been mired in controversy over the past few days after refusing to help FBI officials in unlocking an iPhone believed to be owned by Syed Rizwan Farook, one of the gunmen involved in the shooting at a community center in San Bernardino, California last December. Federal authorities are hoping the tech company would develop a software that would allow them to access Farook's files on the smartphone. In an open letter released earlier this week, Apple CEO Tim Cook said that the government's demand is "chilling" and that it would serve to undermine the same freedom and liberty it is meant to uphold and protect. Trump, however, challenged the iPhone maker's stance, arguing that the smartphone in question is not even owned by the gunman. He also noted that Farook used to work for the county government in California. "The phone's owned by the government, OK? Not even his phone we don't even have to go that far." Trump has taken his campaign against Apple to social media. He sent out a tweet on Friday, saying that if Apple continues to refuse to cooperate with authorities in their investigation, he will stop using his iPhone and switch to Samsung devices. He also reiterated his call to boycott Apple products until the company decides to give the smartphone information related to the terrorist group to the authorities. I use both iPhone & Samsung. If Apple doesn't give info to authorities on the terrorists I'll only be using Samsung until they give info. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 19, 2016 Boycott all Apple products until such time as Apple gives cellphone info to authorities regarding radical Islamic terrorist couple from Cal Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 19, 2016 A number of other tech firms, including Twitter, Microsoft, Facebook and Google, have expressed their support for Apple's stance. A group representing the companies issued a statement on Wednesday where it pointed out that while it is highly important to stop crime and acts of terrorism, no company should be made to create backdoors to the technologies they own. On Friday, the Department of Justice filed another motion to compel Apple to cooperate with the government's investigation. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Penis transplants for wounded American soldiers are on the verge of becoming a reality. A soldier will soon undergo the first penis transplant procedure in the United States, doctors at Johns Hopkins Hospital have reported. If the operation becomes successful, it could pave the way for curing around 60 other servicemen with genital injuries. A donated organ for a recently deceased male is hoped to offer the full range of function for its recipient, including urination and sex. To conduct the surgery, specialists will join nerves and blood vessels under a microscope. The penis transplant could take place in the coming weeks, with doctors currently looking for a good donor with matching age and skin color and whose family will permit the removal of his genitals. Penile health emerges as an embarrassing yet important concern of returning soldiers, according to Thor Wold, an advocate for veterans and a Marine medic in the Iraq War. "[The soldiers] would ask: 'Is everything okay down there doc? My wife's at home and we're trying to have a baby when I get back, he recalls. The American soldier to receive the first penis surgery in the country lost majority of his organ and obtained significant groin injuries due to a bomb explosion overseas. Plastic surgeon Dr. Richard Redett, who will be part of the surgery team, says a blast injury of that kind would likely need not just the penis replaced, but also other parts like the scrotum, groin tissue, portions of the abdominal wall and some of the inner thigh. In addition, the transplant will not involve the testes, which produces the sperm. This means that the offspring of a patient with a transplanted organ will remain his in the genetic sense. Post-surgery, the doctors will focus on ensuring that the transplanted tissue is healthy, or with adequate blood supply and no apparent rejection. The next phase is regaining function, with nerves growing around one millimeter a day. The patient is expected to regain urinary and sexual function up to a year after the surgery. After being on anti-rejection drugs for a couple of days, the patient will receive an infusion of the bone marrow of the donor. This is theoretically anticipated to slash the amount of immunosuppressive medication needed to be taken in his lifetime. Carisa Cooney of Johns Hopkins said they would have to make a special request to donors families on an individual basis, as it is not a routine donation that would be noted on ones drivers license. So far there have been two penis transplants done worldwide: an unsuccessful operation in China in 2006, and one in South Africa in 2014 when the patient successfully impregnated his partner shortly after the procedure. While the surgery is currently being offered to injured military personnel, doctors aspire to also perform it in the future on transgenders and men with birth defects. Photo : DVIDSHUB | Flickr 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. In the middle of a Peruvian jungle lies a legendary river that is said to be so hot, it could boil animals to death. This so-called "Boiling River" has an ancient name of "Shanay-timpishka," a rough Amazonian-Quechua translation of "boiled with the heat of the sun." Massive Size One of the most amazing features of the river is its massive size. It is probably the largest thermal river in the world as its water flows for almost 4 miles. It is 80 feet across at its widest point and can get up to 16 feet deep. So Hot, It Can Kill The Boiling River has become well-known for its scorching temperature. What's more interesting is that the water it contains is non-volcanic. In fact, the nearest active volcano is more than 430 miles away. Many animals have fallen prey to the dangers of the Boiling River. Geoscientist Andres Ruzo, who leads a research group called Boiling River Project, says "the first thing to go" in animals falling into the river are the eyes, because these body parts cook very rapidly. When an animal falls in, it would try to swim out, but its meat will already have begun cooking into the bones. As the animal eventually loses energy to swim and keep its head above water, it will take in the hot water, which fill the animal's mouth and lungs, essentially cooking the animal from the inside out. Ruzo's Research Ruzo, from the Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas first came to know about the legendary river from his grandfather many years ago. In his TED talk about the Boiling River, Ruzo shares his grandfather's story about a legend of the conquest of Peru by Spain. According to the story, Spanish soldiers looking for other peoples to conquer were told to go to Amazon where there is a city of gold called El Dorado. The soldiers who managed to return came back with tales of shamans, gigantic trees, man-eating snakes and "a river that boiled." Ruzo was working on his PhD and "trying to understand Peru's geothermal energy potential" when he remembered the legend of the river. This prompted him to ask colleagues and officials if the boiling river could exist in the Amazon. "The answer was a unanimous no," Ruzo says. "You need a powerful heat source to produce such a large geothermal manifestation ... we don't have volcanoes in the Amazon, nor in most of Peru. So it follows: We should not expect to see a boiling river." It took a family dinner for Ruzo to learn that the Boiling River really does exist. Ruzo's aunt said she had gone swimming there herself. As it turns out, his aunt is friends with the wife of the shaman who protects the river. In 2011, Ruzo set out on a hike with his aunt. They braved the jungle and when they finally got to the river, Ruzo was so amazed, he formed the Boiling River Project. Boiling River Project "The Boiling River Project is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the protection of the Boiling River of the Amazon and its surrounding jungle," the website says. Another goal of the project is to make the Boiling River a Peruvian national monument. This includes enforcing rules to make the remaining jungle available only for legal ecological uses such as tourism, conservation and ecological activities. Tips For Tourists For tourists who would want to see the legendary river in the Amazon with their own eyes, the Boiling River Project recommends contacting with Mayantuyacu (mayantuyacu.com) or Santuario Huistin (santuariohealing.com) groups, which have been catering to tourists' needs and providing necessary information, safety tips and warnings. Many people have already visted the river and while accidents are not very common, people should still take extra caution and be well-informed. For one, the hike is long, the weather is hot and there is no decent Internet or mobile signal. It would take an hour to get to the nearest clinic and three hours to the nearest hospital. Such setup signifies that the river and the jungle is, for the most part, wild and untamed still. The local residents and the people behind the Boiling River Project hope to maintain that. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Samsung will soon take Samsung Pay to the shores of China, hot on the heels of Apple Pay. The South Korean company's mobile payment solution was well-received in South Korea and the United States, where about 5 million users reportedly made about $500 million worth of transactions six months after it rolled out. "We've already seen significant consumer adoption and we continue to see great momentum. Our aim is to expand Samsung Pay to even more locations around the world, and our customers should expect to see more features in the year to come," Injong Rhee, executive vice president and head of research and development at Samsung, says. With that said, the big question of whether Samsung Pay will be bigger than Apple Pay still remains. To start things off, Samsung Pay is slated to go live in China sometime in March. The company will soon extend the service to Australia, Brazil, Singapore, Spain and the UK within 2016, keeping Canada as part of its launch roadmap. On the other hand, Apple Pay has debuted in China, officially making it the fifth country to support the Cupertino brand's mobile payment system. However, Apple Pay didn't exactly get off on the right foot at launch, where plenty of users weren't able to sign up or connect their cards to their accounts. An Apple spokesperson tells Mashable that the reason for the issue is that the company is launching the service on a "rolling basis." There was no mention about whether this implementation is to ensure that Apple can handle the number of sign-ups. Despite the real cause, as opposed to the speculated overload of sign-ups, some users still encountered some trouble in registering. "It kept telling me the phone 'cannot connect to Apple Pay' or the verification for the card is not available when I was linking a bankcard," Duan Ge, a user that Chinese news website Caixin Online cited, says, noting that he "could not even open the app." The issue did not hinder the progress of Apple Pay in the country, though. After an hour of going live, about 10 million users have already linked their cards to the service, according to the Beijing Morning News. By 5:00 p.m. local time, roughly 38 million cards have been registered. Now, Samsung is ready to take on the Chinese market, supporting four major payment networks: American Express, China UnionPay, MasterCard and Visa. On top of that, the company will certainly have an audience there, and perhaps it could learn a thing or two from what happened with Apple and make a better launch. Of course, the two will have to go toe-to-toe with Alipay, the leading mobile payment service in China with 400 million users, but that's a whole different story. To boil things down, Samsung Pay has the potential to be as hot as Apple Pay as long as the South Korean company gets things off the ground smoothly, but at any rate, it would be interesting to see who will come out on top in the mobile payment game in China. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The question still remains about what the "s" and the "c" stand for in the iPhone, though there are theories and evidence to back up several meanings. For the "i" Apple uses in the branding of its products, the answers have been revealed. The meaning of the "i" in devices such as the iPhone and iMac was actually revealed by Apple co-founder Steve Jobs a long time ago. Back in 1998, when Jobs introduced the iMac, he explained what the "i" stands for in Apple's product branding. The "i" stands for "Internet," Jobs explained. The iMac's job was to make accessing the Internet simpler and more intuitive, though "intuitive" wasn't revealed to be one of the words represented by that "i." "Even though this is a full-blooded Macintosh, we are targeting this for the number one use that consumers tell us they want a computer for, which is to get on the Internet - simply, and fast," Jobs said. "And that is what this product is targeted for." But like "compact" and "cheap," some of the words thrown around for the "c" in devices like the iPhone 5c, the "i" has more than one meaning. It's just that "Internet" would be the first definition of the "i" if there was a dictionary on Apple terms. Secondary meanings of the "i" include "individual," "inspire," "inform" and "instruct." "'i' also means some other things to us," Jobs said. "We are a personal computer company, and although this product is born to network, it also is a beautiful stand-alone product. We are targeting it also for education. They want to buy these. And it is perfect for most of the things they do in instruction." The "i" is one of Jobs' many legacies and current Apple CEO Tim Cook has been building his own, one of which includes a step away from the popular branding scheme. Back in 2014, when Cook and company introduced the company's first piece of wearable tech, Apple began to diverge from the path of the "i." During the event in September of 2014, the industry was pretty convinced that Apple would debut its first smartwatch and its mobile payments system. Analysts and journalists guessed the company would stick with the "i" branding in naming the products "iPay," "iWatch," "iWallet" and so on - they were, of course, right on the product announcements but wrong on the branding. The introduction of the Apple Watch and Apple Pay have since been followed by Apple TV. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Google announced on Thursday that it has launched an engineering team based in Singapore that will cater to the needs of the Southeast Asian market. The move is part of the company's efforts to expand its presence in the region. Aside from creating an engineering team, Google said that it will also train 100,000 Indonesia-based developers within four years in order to provide more online Web content for the country through the use of the local language. Internet Use In Southeast Asia For the past few years, Google has been limited in its efforts to expand in Southeast Asia. Many people in Indonesia, India and the Philippines who log on to the Internet for the first time often face slow network connections, severely affecting their user experience. There aren't enough useful content available in their local languages as well. Google hopes that by creating an engineering team dedicated to the region, it can provide meaningful solutions to many of these issues. In an article posed on the Google Asia Pacific blog, Caesar Sengupta, Google's vice president for the Next Billion Users team, points out why the Internet company chose Singapore as the base for its engineering team. "In many ways, Singapore feels like the best place to do this. It is hyper-connected, with some of the fastest Internet speeds in the world," Sengupta writes. "It sits at the center of a region with half of the world's current Internet users, and more new Internet users coming online every day than anywhere else in the world." Sengupta added that through the efforts of the new Google engineering team in Southeast Asia as well as those in other countries, they hope to continue their work in organizing information from around the world and make it more useful and accessible to everyone. As part of its Southeast Asian expansion, Google purchased Pie.co, a Singapore-based mobile workplace chat system that has been compared to Slack. The Internet company is also offering various programs for students and full-fledged engineers alike. Students who wish to become part of the company as engineers are invited to take part in an internship program based in Australia that will run for 12 weeks. Meanwhile, existing engineers from other countries who have connections within Singapore are given the chance by Google to work in the country. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Flash A Kurdish militant group linked to the outlawed Kurdish Workers Party (PKK) has claimed responsibility for a car bomb attack in Turkey's capital Ankara that killed 28 and injured more than 80. Flames are seen near the site of an explosion in downtown Ankara, Turkey, Feb. 17, 2016. At least 18 people were killed and 45 others wounded in a car bomb attack targeting the Turkish military in the capital Ankara on Wednesday, the Ankara governor said. [Mustafa Kaya/Xinhua] In a statement on Friday, the Kurdistan Freedom Hawks (TAK) said they carried out the attack on military personnel on Wednesday, according to Firat News Agency which is known affiliated with the PKK. The group claimed that the perpetrator of the Ankara attack was Abdulbaki Sonmez, born in eastern Van province of Turkey. Turkish officials, however, had said the attacker was Syrian born Saleh Nejar who is linked to the People's Protection Units (YPG) in Syria. TAK also said the attack was in response to the Turkish government's recent military operations in Cizre town of southeastern Diyarbakir province, in which the military announced more than 600 PKK members were killed. The group has earlier claimed responsibility for attacks in some cities and touristic sites outside the PKK's regular area of operation in the mainly Kurdish southeast, such as a 2015 attack at Istanbul's second airport that left an aircraft cleaner dead and another injured. Now that we've gotten used to ads on Facebook and to some degree on Instagram, more ads are coming on more Facebook properties such as Messenger and WhatsApp. In fact, it's already been confirmed that ads are definitely coming to Facebook's Messenger application. In a leaked document sent out to the social media company's biggest advertisers, it's revealed that businesses on Facebook will be able to send ads as messages to users. We won't be seeing ads pop up in conversations between ourselves and our parents, however. In the same leaked document, Facebook advises companies to try and get consumers to start message threads with them so those very same companies can start sending us ads when the feature does launch. In short, users will have to get in touch with a business on Facebook first before that business can initiate an ad-filled conversation with a user. And between Messenger and WhatsApp, WhatsApp has the greatest reach due to its stronghold of at least 1 billion users (only Facebook can claim the same impressive user base). "That's nearly one in seven people on Earth who use WhatsApp each month to stay in touch with their loved ones, their friends and their family," WhatsApp says. As a result, if Facebook plans to incorporate advertising into Messenger, it would also make sense to do the same inside WhatsApp, since both are essentially messaging platforms. Moreover, WhatsApp got rid of its $1 per year subscription fee and it's going to need to make up for that, too. But that's the difference between Messenger and WhatsApp. Messenger can hook on to the business pages already existing on Facebook. As for WhatsApp, all it has are users' loved ones, friends and their family. There are no business-centric WhatsApp accounts. The company does plan, however, to test B2C accounts for companies. "We will test tools that allow you to use WhatsApp to communicate with businesses and organizations that you want to hear from ... That could mean communicating with your bank about whether a recent transaction was fraudulent, or with an airline about a delayed flight," WhatsApp explains. Should this be the case, this would then open up new channels for businesses to get in touch with their customers and vice versa. Before that happens, however, we'll most likely see the rollout featured on Messenger first and better incorporated inside WhatsApp once all the wrinkles have been ironed out. Photo: Jan Persiel | Flickr 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Gay Teacher Fired After Hacker Posts Sex Tape on School Website An anonymous hacker hacked into a Dropbox account of a gay teacher and then posted the contents of the account on a school website. Brian Cody Bray, a high school teacher from a suburb of Little Rock, Arkansas stated that an anonymous hacker gained access to a video of him and another man having sex which he had saved on Dropbox and posted it to the schools website. After seeing the his video on the faculty website, the school authorities promptly fired him. Now Bray is fighting back against the school authorities, who he says. denied him severance pay and insinuated that he was partially responsible. Bray told Washington Blade that he was home sick when a school colleague called to tell him about the video posted on his faculty page. Pretty much immediately after that phone call I went to the bathroom and threw up, Bray told the Blade. I was just in shock that, oh, my God, this is something that will impact my career, impact my life, and what am I going to do? Bray tried to explain to the school administrators that he was a victim of hack attack and a hacker had accessed his email account and stolen his passwords to other sites, including his Dropbox account, and phone numbers of students he called regularly about school activities. He also said that the video in question was also stored on Dropbox. The hacker changed the name of the file the video was stored in from Private to FagTeachBray. The hacker than sent anonymous texts the students whose number was saved on Brays Dropbox account. The message would direct the students to the school website where the video was posted, according to the report. Bray tried to explain the situation to the school authorities as well as his students by setting up a website to explain how he was a victim of a cyber crime. Bray admitted that he was wrong and deserved to be fired, Of course I had to be dismissed at the time because I had lost any kind of authority with my students there. He also told the Blade he wasnt ready to return the classroom at that point due to the emotional distress. However, school officials denied Bray severance pay and insinuated to the school community that he was partially responsible for the situation. Administrators filed an ethics complaint against him with the Arkansas Professional Licensure Standards Board, which has authority to revoke teachers licenses. After investigating the charges, the board concluded there was insufficient evidence to discipline him. Bray says he has filed a police report, but the police were not according importance to his case, which he says, comes under hate crime. Arkansas does not have a hate-crimes law. The Maumelle police department, Pulaski County Sheriffs Office, and the FBI all declined to comment on whether they were investigating the claims. Europes bankers fear they may never again be able to issue CoCo bonds, if the dive in prices this month has left investors too afraid to buy the bonds. Lenders had planned to issue 40bn of bonds this year, leaving them with a gap in their financing plans. Banks have even made approaches to regulators to warn them that the industry may not be able to meet officials plans for issuing the bonds if prices do not bounce back soon. CoCos, formally known as contingent convertible bonds and classed as AT1 securities, are bonds which are designed to make banks safer. Banks can stop paying the interest coupon on bonds when profits evaporate, in the same way as they do with dividends on shares. And when a banks capital buffer falls below a fixed level, the CoCos are turned into shares or wiped out completely. David Cameron is an unlikely champion of a euro superstate. Since embarking on a bid to redraw Britain's settlement with Europe - beginning with his seminal Bloomberg speech in January 2013 - the Prime Minister has urged the 19-member eurozone to pursue deeper reforms in a bid to shore up its shaky institutional foundations. "It is in all our interests for the eurozone to have the right governance and structures to secure a successful currency for the long-term", Mr Cameron told an audience at Chatham House last November, as he officially unveiled his renegotiation demands. Britain, of course, will have nothing to do with Brussels' pipe dreams of a euro parliament, single treasury or common banking union. In echoing federalist calls for a quantum leap in euro integration, Mr Cameron is less an EU visionary than an EU retrograde. Flash About 40 recruits of the Islamic State (IS) were killed in the overnight U.S. airstrikes in Libya, said U.S. local media reports, quoting military sources. Most of the killed were believed to be from Tunisia. The airstrikes came as the White House was weighing next steps against the expanding presence of IS in Libya as the extremist group had reportedly gained control over about 240 kilometers of the Libyan coastline. The Pentagon on Friday confirmed the U.S. military launched the overnight airstrikes against the IS targets in Libya. According to a brief statement by Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook, the U.S. military targeted an IS training camp near Sabratha, Libya, and an IS senior leader in Libya called Noureddine Chouchane. The statement did not say whether or not the strikes had killed Chouchane, a Tunisian national. Instead, it said the airstrikes were expected to have an "immediate impact" on IS's ability to facilitate its activities in Libya, including recruiting, establishing bases in Libya and potentially planning attacks on U.S. interests in the region. Pentagon had earlier estimated that there were about 5,000 IS fighters operating in Libya. As many as one in five of the UK's 10,000-plus dairy farms could be forced to close this year, as falling milk prices and rising debt reach crisis levels for farmers across the country, various industry bodies have warned. The National Farmers Union (NFU) said many dairy farmers are at the end of their tether, operating at a loss and unable to receive any more finance from banks. Were expecting an awful lot to exit the industry by the end of this year, when lots of farmers will have eaten up their savings. Last year the figure was 4pc, but the expectation is more will exit this year, whether its 10pc or 20pc, said the organisations chairman Rob Harrison, who also runs his own dairy farm and says he lost 150,000 worth of income last year. Currently, there are around 10,500 dairy farms across England, Scotland and Wales. Ten years ago, that figure was closer to 21,000. Britains biggest business lobbies have backed Prime Minister David Camerons deal to redraw the UKs relationship with Europe, which seeks to slash EU red tape and safeguard the City of London from eurozone regulation. Following 30-hour marathon talks with EU leaders in Brussels, the Government gained significant concessions to protect Britains financial interests from being rail-roaded by the euros in-built majority of 19 member states. The UK and any of the eight non-euro countries will be able to deploy an emergency brake mechanism on legislation that could discriminate against their financial interests. The annual Mobile World Congress calls in on Barcelona on Monday where the globes biggest operators will attempt to seal lucrative deals, woo influential policymakers and prove they are further ahead of the technological curve than their rivals. More than 95,000 people are expected to attend, including politicians and everyone who is anyone in the telecoms industry across Europe, the US and China. Mobile World Congress has been happening for the past three decades. After stints in Madrid, Cannes and Hong Kong, Barcelona has been named host until 2023. Despite Apples notable absence, which prefers its own trade show in September, companies from across the world will unveil their smartphones, connected cars and wearable gadgets that consumers will be buying and using over the next year. There was a joyous celebration the other night in the Talbot Hotel Malton, a handsome Georgian coaching inn that sits at the heart of this traditional North Yorkshire market town. Ale and champagne were drunk in equal measure. Toasts and speeches were made. Backs were slapped in congratulation. Ruddy-faced agricultural workers and aristocratic scions mixed as one. And was that the bells of the Norman St Michaels Church ringing out for evensong or to signal a great victory for the butcher, the baker and the candlestick maker who had risen up together to defeat the insidious, often secretive, powers of State and Profit they feared would wreck their town? Malton had good reason to enjoy its party. It had taken seven years to bring an end to a proposal to build a totally unsuitable supermarket, bigger than a Premiership football pitch, which would have driven out the small, independent shopkeepers who supply local farmers and give this beautiful and friendly town so much of its character. Sainsburys may well now consider a higher bid given that on paper it looks like there are a lot of strategic and financing benefits of a tie up with Home Retail, said analyst Claire Huff at RBC. It is also likely it could ask for a Takeover Panel extension while it considers its options. As well as battling Steinhoff, The Sunday Telegraph can reveal that Sainsburys is expected to face a lengthy investigation by the UKs Competition and Markets Authority were it to win the day. Industry sources have said that the two companies overlaps in toys and small electrical appliances, such as kettles and toasters, would have been scrutinised by the regulator. One senior industry source said that as a result, the merger would be bound for a so-called phase two investigation, which is a six-month process. Merging companies typically notify the CMA and then pass through a 40-day phase one process. However, if there are serious concerns that a deal may restrict competition for consumers, it is referred to a second stage investigation, which adds a further 24 weeks. There are only two cases out of the 141 the CMA has reviewed since its inception in 2014 that have gone directly to the phase two stage: BTs takeover of mobile phone company EE and Ladbrokes acquisition of Gala Coral. We've noticed you're adblocking. We rely on advertising to help fund our award-winning journalism. We urge you to turn off your ad blocker for The Telegraph website so that you can continue to access our quality content in the future. Thank you for your support. Elderly people could for the first time be given extra protections to stop them being ripped off or discriminated against when they buy mortgages, insurance, and savings products, as watchdogs launch an investigation into financial ageism. The Telegraph understands that the Financial Conduct Authority could enforce a new "anti-ageist" regime within a year in which firms may be banned from discriminating against customers because of their age. On Monday in a Parliamentary meeting chaired by Conservative MP Nusrat Munir Ul-Ghani, the regulator will unveil a new and far-reaching paper outlining growing concerns by charities and industry bodies about financial needs of Britain's rapidly ageing population. In the report Britain's largest charity for elderly people, Age UK, will recommend that the FCA reviews financial companies' special exemption from the Equality Act, a hole in the law which currently allows them to discriminate against the elderly. Last night legal experts warned such a move would be "foolish" as it would drive up overall costs and lead to younger generations paying thousands of pounds more for financial products. A major area of focus for the FCA will be ageism in the mortgage market as borrowers in their 40s and 50s are being told they are "too old" when they apply for loans. In recent years the Financial Ombudsman, the arbiter of disputes, has upheld a number of mortgage grievances relating to older borrowers complaining they were unfairly rejected by lenders. The total predicted number of staff which could relocate was found to be between 150,000 and 200,000, meaning office vacancy in some of Londons main office districts in the Square Mile could increase by up to 12.2pc as firms reduce their space or decide to move their European headquarters. This level of vacancy would hit the value of Londons office rental market, driving rents down as demand reduces, which in turn affects the value of a building. In Bishopsgate, for example, which is home to a high number of foreign financial companies, yields on office property could fall as much as 35.4pc. In Canary Wharf, it could be 30.4pc, while in Fitzrovia it could be 29pc, Geophy said. Other areas to be hit hard by a Brexit include large swathes of Westminster and emerging employment sub-markets such as Kings Cross, which is currently undergoing huge amounts of regeneration. International non-EU companies are based in the UK because it is a stepping stone into the EU, said Teun van den Dries, GeoPhys chief executive. EU deal: How David Cameron took on the eurozone and won This is a key driver that trumps other considerations such as location, the weather, culture or food, for example. In the event of a Brexit, they will need to build up a presence in cities such as Paris and Frankfurt as an alternative. The change in the office market could also have a knock-on effect for residential property, as highly paid members of staff who are employed by international companies move elsewhere to work. Research released last week by German policy body the Bertelsmann Foundation which surveyed 700 British and German companies operating in the UK found similar results. Of those surveyed, 29pc said they would either reduce capacities in the UK or relocate altogether in the event of a Brexit. Umberto Eco, best known for the novel The Name of the Rose, was praised as "an outstanding example of a European intellectual" by the Italian prime minister following the writer's death on February 19, 2016, aged 84. Eco, who died of cancer was praised by Italy's Matteo Renzi, who said, "Eco was an outstanding example of a European intellectual, a single intelligence with an untiring ability to anticipate the future. Its a huge loss for culture, which will miss his writing and his voice, sharp and vivid thought and his humanity." Eco was born on January 5, 1932, at Alessandria, in the northern Italian region of Piedmont. His father, Giulio Eco, was an accountant, before being drafted to fight in three wars. As a teenager, Eco wrote comic books and fantasy novels before studying Medieval philosophy and literature at the University of Turin. His thesis was published in 1956 as The Aesthetics of Thomas Aquinas. During that period, Eco abandoned the Roman Catholic Church after a crisis of faith. From 1956-1964 he worked as a cultural editor for television station RAI and became a lecturer at the University of Turin from 1956 to 1964. Over 1 in 4 French Gas Stations Out of at Least One Fuel: CNN THE FINLAB, a joint venture company between United Overseas Bank Ltd (UOB) and Infocomm Investments Pte Ltd (IIPL), invites Thai fintech start-ups to apply for its acceleration programme slated to start in May 2016 in Singapore. What is THE FINLAB? THE FINLAB accelerates the development of disruptive FinTech start-ups changing our world today. Through our deep expertise and broad experience in the financial industry and the venture capital ecosystem, we provide start-ups with valuable insights, analytics and a strong infrastructure to propel their businesses to the next level. A joint venture between Infocomm Investments Pte Ltd (IIPL) and United Overseas Bank Ltd (UOB), our wide connections in ASEAN, Greater China, Europe and the United States provide our start-ups an unparalleled access to the global market for growth and expansion. Why should fintech start-ups apply to join The Finlabs acceleration program, and whats in it for them should they get selected? It is a fact that early stage start-ups face a failure rate of higher than 90%. The causes are usually bad business models and/or lack of experience of the team in planning, execution, and tapping into the right networks for resources like funding. These can be largely mitigated when start-ups join THE FINLABs acceleration programme; and for an intense 3-month period, they get to refine their business and revenue models by leveraging the knowledge, experience and networks of the mentors Source link A man has been charged with murder after a 48-year-old Melbourne woman was found with severe upper body injuries in her home last week. A friend discovered the body of Prasad Somawansa at the family's two-storey home after her concerned husband could not contact her. A man has been charged with the murder of a woman in Melbourne. Credit:Marina Neil Police say a 21-year-old man from Lara, near Geelong, has been remanded in custody after an out-of-sessions court hearing on Saturday night, and would appear before Melbourne Magistrates Court on Sunday. The woman's body was discovered at her home in Hoppers Crossing on Thursday night. The Raiders' planned $80 million residential and retail development in Braddon has hit another hurdle, with a community council contesting the Planning and Land Authority's approval of the project. The North Canberra Community Council has appealed the authority's December 23 approval of the development application to the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal. Mike Hettinger, Chairman of the North Canberra Community Council, at the open car park in Braddon, next to the Northbourne Oval, where the Raiders are proposing a development. Credit:Graham Tidy Council chairman Mike Hettinger said the challenge focused on perceived inconsistencies with the Territory Plan, as well as access to sunlight, trees, the zoning codes and rubbish removal. "What we want to see there is a design that's compliant and also provides access to amenities and an improvement in building standards," he said. Think fashion and North Korea, it's mandatory drab workers overalls that spring to mind, not columns of comrades modelling funky surf wear. But, as The Sunday Age has revealed, the well-known clothing brand Rip Curl has earned itself an unwelcome label for stitching up slave labour in North Korea. Rip Curl appears to have been caught out by lax oversight rather than deliberate complicity but all companies have an obligation to know precisely what they are selling. "Made in China" is a ubiquitous feature of the modern world, far more than just in the manufacture of clothes and textiles but for electronics, vehicles and other machinery. Rip Curl has followed the same route as countless other companies, seeking advantage and profit from the far larger and cheaper workforce available in China than that in Australia. And some in China, following the logic of the market, are clearly on the hunt for cheaper labour themselves. Rip Curl blames a Chinese manufacture for subcontracting the production of its surf and snow gear to a factory outside Pyongyang, an action Rip Curl insists it never authorised and only became aware of after products had been hung on retail racks. The apparent ignorance in this case is disturbing. But in other instances, companies appear to have wilfully closed eyes to potential abuses. A report by Baptist World Aid this month analysed the supply chains of 56 electronics companies. Just over half the companies made an effort to trace supply chains in the final manufacturing stage and none bothered to completely trace where the raw materials had been sourced. The report highlighted the danger that raw materials such as tin and cobalt could be dug from dangerous mines in Indonesia or the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where exploitation of child workers has been reported. The report's author is correct: "If companies don't know or don't care then they cannot ensure that workers are not being exploited." Maverick Liberal senator Bill Heffernan will retire from politics at the next federal election. Senator Heffernan confirmed on Saturday that he did not nominate for the NSW Liberal Party Senate ticket but declined to comment further. Set to retire: Outspoken NSW senator Bill Heffernan. Credit:Andrew Meares Liberal powerbrokers were last year understood to have discussed the need for him to bow out of politics, along with other Liberal elders including Bronwyn Bishop and Philip Ruddock. The outspoken farmer, 72, has served in Federal Parliament since 1996, including as cabinet secretary, and was a key adviser to former prime minister John Howard. A senior Catholic Church figure has claimed abuse allegations against Cardinal George Pell are part of a co-ordinated campaign designed to do "maximum damage" to his reputation ahead of his appearance before the child sex abuse royal commission later this month. Melbourne Archbishop Denis Hart has condemned those responsible for leaks to the media, suggesting Australia's highest-ranking cleric in the Catholic Church is being investigated over allegations of child sex abuse over 40 years. Archbishop Hart issued a strongly-worded statement on Saturday in defence of his long-time friend, saying the allegations did not reflect "the man I have known for more than 50 years". "It is very disturbing and concerning to read reports based on leaks to the media that Victoria Police has been investigating allegations of abuse against Cardinal George Pell for the past year and that his first knowledge of these allegations has come from those media reports," he said. Surf lifeguards are warning beachgoers to take extreme caution on the Gold Coast's beaches due to dangerous conditions. Raging surf contributed to the death of a 36-year-old body boarder from Brisbane at Broadbeach on Thursday while two tourists were rescued by lifesavers after being dumped and swept off a North Burleigh sandbank on Friday. Surf lifeguards are warning beachgoers to take extreme caution on the Gold Coast this weekend. Surf Life Saving Queensland (SLSQ) is urging caution on beaches this weekend due to the powerful surf conditions, with swells up to 2m expected across the state's southeast coastline. SLSQ says lifesavers are bracing for a busy weekend with rough waters and temperatures set to hit 30C. Lockyer Valley mayor Steve Jones died about 7pm on Friday at Brisbane's Princess Alexandra Hospital when his life support was turned off. The popular mayor had been in intensive care since Thursday afternoon, after he collapsed during a meeting with Ipswich mayor Paul Pisasale and Somerset mayor Graeme Lehmann. Lockyer Valley mayor Steve Jones has died on Saturday morning. Credit:Michelle Smith "Steve suffered a severe brain bleed with paramedics and hospital staff in Ipswich and Brisbane doing all they could to save his life," Cr Jones's family said in a statement released on Saturday afternoon. "We would like to thank paramedics and the staff of Brisbane's PA Hospital and the Ipswich General for their support and care for Steve during the past two days. The timing of these leaks is clearly designed to do maximum damage to the Cardinal and the Catholic Church and undermines the work of the Royal Commission. The allegations are without foundation and utterly false. It is outrageous that these allegations have been brought to the Cardinal's attention through a media leak. These undetailed allegations have not been raised with the Cardinal by the police and the false claims investigated by Justice Southwell have been ignored by the police for over 15 years, despite the very transparent way they were dealt with by the Cardinal and the Catholic Church. The Cardinal has called for a public inquiry into the leaking of these spurious claims by elements in the Victorian Police in a manner clearly designed to embarrass the Cardinal, in a case study where the historical failures of the Victorian Police have been the subject of substantial evidence. These types of unfair attacks diminish the work of those good officers of the police who are diligently working to bring justice to victims. The Phillip Island allegations have been on the public record for nearly 15 years. The Southwell Report which exonerated Cardinal Pell has been in the public domain since 2002. The Victorian police have taken no steps in all of that time to pursue the false allegations made, however the Cardinal certainly has no objection to them reviewing the materials that led Justice Southwell to exonerate him. The Cardinal is certain that the police will quickly reach the conclusion that the allegations are false. The Victorian Police have never sought to interview him in relation to any allegations of child sexual abuse and apart from the false allegations investigated by Justice Southwell, the Cardinal knows of no claims or incidents which relate to him. The man accused of killing a Hoppers Crossing mother in a feared "random attack" was her son's former school friend. Prasad Somawansa, 48, was found dead in her Hoppers Crossing home last Thursday evening. She was killed after her 21-year-old son had briefly left the house on a call-out with the State Emergency Service, police said. A friend then discovered her body at the family's two-storey home after her concerned husband, a truck driver on an interstate trip, could not contact her. When someone like Marj Woollard, 88, complains that she has been exploited, the common thing to do is let the matter drag on ignore, delay, postpone until the Marjs of the world go to God. Not this time. Six years ago Mrs Woollard bought a 99-year lease on a site at the Dromana Holiday and Lifestyle Village essentially a caravan park with a number of retirees living there and put a demountable home upon it. Along with the other residents, Mrs Woollard was required to pay a portion of the landlord's total cost of ownership (LTCO). Marj Woollard, 88. The Consumer Action Law Centre has taken her case to VCAT because her housing was at risk. Credit:Simon Schluter At the financial year ending 30 June 2013 this amounted to $2,669.36. By the end of June 2014, it had increased 60.37 per cent to $4,280.80. In other words, she was expected to pay more than $80 a week out of her aged pension toward the maintenance of a couple of swimming pools and the communal areas. According to Mrs Woollard's daughter, Marj Bertrand, there are 220 sites at the Dromana facility, which suggests the aged residents are paying around $900,000 a year with little to show for it. New Orleans: Albert Woodfox, who has spent nearly all of the past four decades in solitary confinement and was facing his third trial for a 1972 murder, was set free Friday as part of a plea deal with Louisiana prosecutors. Earlier in the day, Woodfox, who has long maintained his innocence in the murder of a prison guard, Brent Miller, pleaded no contest to lesser charges of manslaughter and aggravated burglary before a judge in West Feliciana Parish, which is north of Baton Rouge. George Kendall, Woodfox's lawyer, emphasised that this was not an admission of guilt. Woodfox, who was released on time served for those charges, left the prison by car shortly before 2pm local time. As the car stopped in front of the prison, he rolled down the window and briefly answered a couple of questions from reporters. He was asked whether he would do anything differently if he could go back to that day of the murder in April 1972. "There's forces beyond your control," he replied. "There's not a lot you can do." A Chinese businessman who lost $NZ5 million ($4.6 million) in 82 minutes while gambling at Auckland's SkyCity casino has been accused of stealing $NZ129 million to fund his lavish lifestyle. William Yan gambled $NZ300 million in the casino's VIP lounge between 2001 and 2013. The combined total of money gambled and won by the businessman over the period was $NZ563 million, reports the NZ Herald. William Yan, who lost $5 million in 82 minutes while gambling at Auckland's SkyCity casino, has been accused of stealing $129 million to fund his lavish lifestyle. Credit:Channel Nine The New Zealand citizen is now at the centre of a money-laundering investigation and, following the 2014 raid of his $NZ2.5 million Auckland apartment, has had $NZ40 million worth of assets seized by the authorities. New Zealand police are working closely with Chinese police, who claim Mr Yan stole the money while working as chairman of a pharmaceutical company in 2000. Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders will test his appeal with minority voters in Nevada on Saturday, looking to puncture rival Hillary Clinton's argument that he is a one-note candidate whose support is limited to mostly white states. After routing Mrs Clinton in New Hampshire and finishing a strong second in Iowa, states with nearly all-white populations, Nevada's Democratic caucuses give Mr Sanders his first chance to prove he can win over black and Hispanic voters and compete nationally as the race moves to states with more diverse populations. Bernie Sanders. Credit:Bloomberg Republicans in South Carolina also vote on Saturday in the state-by-state contest to pick nominees for the November 8 election, with opinion polls showing front-runner Donald Trump trying to solidify his spot at the top of the pack and rivals Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio fighting for a second-place finish. Behind them, Republican candidates Jeb Bush, John Kasich and Ben Carson could be vying in South Carolina to keep their campaigns alive before the presidential race rapidly picks up steam in March when dozens of states hold nominating contests. SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, February 19, 2016 -- Today (Friday, February 19) the Routes Americas route development forum was officially handed over from San Juan, Puerto Rico to Las Vegas, USA - the host destination for 2017. Routes Americas brings together leading airlines, airports and tourism authorities to discuss air services to, from and within the entire Americas region. Over the last three days Puerto Rico Tourism Company has been hosting Routes Americas 2016 in partnership with Aerostar Airport Holdings LLC and Meet Puerto Rico. The event in the Puerto Rico Convention Center has attracted a record number of 750 delegates, an increase of 80% over the last two years. Routes Americas 2017 (14-16 February 2017) will mark the second time that Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority and McCarran International Airport bring a Routes event to the city. After hosting World Routes in 2013, the airport gained over 120 weekly flights with an estimated annual economic impact of $450 million in non-gaming revenue. Las Vegas is the ideal destination for Routes Americas because the tourism and convention industries are so high on the city's agenda. Nearly half of Las Vegas' 42 million visitors a year travel by air. Aviation helps drive tourism which is the lifeblood of the local economy. Katie Bland, Director of Routes, said: "As a host of both World Routes and Routes Americas, Las Vegas can be described as a trailblazer for air service development. Las Vegas is already a top destination but it constantly strives to improve its connectivity with the rest of the Americas and the world. "We very much look forward to returning in 2017 and working with the dynamic teams at Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority and McCarran International Airport." Rossi Ralenkotter, president/CEO of Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, said: "As a global destination for both leisure and business travel, Las Vegas attracts millions of visitors every year from all over the world. "We are excited to host Routes Americas and show airline executives and route planners why Las Vegas is an ever popular and exciting travel destination that fills all sections of their planes." Rosemary Vassiliadis, Director of Aviation for Clark County, Nevada, which owns and operates McCarran, said: "McCarran International Airport saw first-hand the value that comes in hosting a Routes event, which brought airline decision makers from around the world into our facility and our community. We look forward to building upon our success in 2013 with a spectacular Routes Americas event this time next year." About Routes Its fitting that Gov. Scott Walker signed a bill into law to dismantle crucial aspects of Wisconsins civil service system at the home of a temp agency, because this law has the potential to turn our state agencies into revolving doors for their employees. Before Walkers attack on civil service, state law worked to ensure, as former Gov. Bob La Follette intended, that the best shall serve the state. Hiring practices were designed to promote hiring based on merit rather than political connections or ideologies. New employees were selected from within the agencies in which they would be working, rather than by a top-level governors appointee. And state employees had protections against unfair termination to defend against retribution for political opinions out of sync with the current state administration. As a result, our state agencies were largely protected against cronyism, corruption and political interference, allowing them to fulfill their essential missions to serve the citizens of Wisconsin. This law will not make the management of the state workforce more efficient, as Republicans have claimed. In fact, the law will make it harder for our state workers to serve the public. State agencies are tasked with sensitive functions such as implementing laws, regulating businesses and distributing public funds fairly. Yet this law dismantles protections against the political pressures that can punish state employees just for doing their jobs. Under Walker, we already have seen heavy-handed attempts by Wisconsin Republicans to target agency departments and employees that dont toe the official line on issues such as climate change, with dozens of science education jobs eliminated from the Department of Natural Resources in the last state budget. This law will allow partisanship to further permeate our state agencies, corrupting their missions and denying crucial services to Wisconsinites. Moreover, this law opens the door to subjective hiring and promotion that will reward incompetence, favoritism and bias in our state agencies. Rather than cultivating an atmosphere of excellence in serving the public, this law goes in the opposite direction. The law also strips time-tested, common-sense standards of investigation and discipline, instead allowing political appointees to implement whatever standards they like. Transparency of government will be reduced, exactly when we need more sunshine on our states operations, not less. The outcome of this law is likely to be disastrous to Wisconsins public services. For example, state agencies are responsible for ensuring safe food, water, highways, buildings and so on. State programs provide crucial basic services that make life bearable and help businesses prosper. We cannot allow these basic services to be weakened and subverted in order to satisfy a campaign donor or promote an ideology. Our lives are too important. Im proud of the efforts of union members and community supporters to draw attention to this crucial issue through the Coalition to Save Civil Service. Despite the fact that this bill is now law, I know that this coalition will continue to serve as watchdogs, doing their best to defend the missions of our state agencies and to ensure that Wisconsins citizens receive the support and services they need. This law dismantles protections against the political pressures that can punish state employees just for doing their jobs. SEATTLE, Feb. 19, 2016; An outspoken Uber driver who supports unionization and has been critical of the company in the press was stripped of his ability to work on the Uber app without notice last week. Peter Kuel, who has driven for Uber since 2014, said he was given inconsistent, unfounded reasons for the deactivation of his account when he visited Uber's Seattle offices in an attempt to resolve the issue. "I went to Uber several times to try to get an answer. Every time I went there, they told me something different," Kuel said. On Feb. 11, an Uber representative told Kuel that he had not completed a criminal background check, even though Kuel had fulfilled this requirement in December 2015. When Kuel submitted to a second background check on Feb. 12 and presented his paperwork to Uber, he was told that it was not the background check after all, rather an issue with his driving record. Kuel proceeded to obtain a copy of his driving record, which shows that he has been in three no-fault accidents since 2014. When he returned to the Uber offices with the records, he was inexplicably told that he would have to wait indefinitely before he can drive again. "If they can see from my record that there are no problems, why won't they let me work? Is it because I am involved in the union? They can see that the accidents were not my fault. I feel bad I want to work. I am supporting my daughter, my parents. I have a car payment and a student loan and my rent," Kuel said. "We are deeply concerned that Peter may have been targeted as a result of his effort to organize fellow drivers and because of his leadership in the association," said John Scearcy, Secretary-Treasurer of Teamsters Local 117. "It is unacceptable for a company to retaliate against workers who speak out to defend their rights. We demand that Uber reactivate Peter's account immediately and appropriately compensate him for any lost earnings." Mr. Kuel is on the Leadership Council of the App-Based Drivers Association, an organization that advocates for the rights of Uber drivers and other drivers in Seattle's for-hire industry. Over the past year, he has spoken to numerous local and national media outlets in favor of a new law that provides collective bargaining rights to Seattle drivers. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 20/02/2016 (2435 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Danzel Ramirez would regularly visit an online site for university matters, looking for any bursaries that might help pay tuition. Then one day in December, more than $26,000 surprisingly showed up. This wasnt simply a small portion of her tuition. It was a cheque to pay for virtually her entire schooling at the University of Manitoba. IAN FROESE | THE CARILLON The lab coat is on for Danzel Ramirez, a chemistry major at the University of Manitoba who became the first recipient of the Esther G. Castanera scholarship, an endowment valued at more than $500,000 that will benefit female graduates of Steinbachs high school interested in science for years to come. Ramirez, 20, didnt believe it at first. I called my parents to double-check, just to see if I was seeing it right, she recalls. What Ramirez would soon find out is that two months ago she became the first recipient of a long forgotten half-a-million dollar scholarship that not only sets a path for future female graduates of the Steinbach Regional Secondary School to pursue post-secondary studies in the sciences, but also marks an important legal decision that will influence future discrimination complaints regarding charitable trusts that may come before the court. A judge ruled last year the late Esther G. Castaneras conditions for bestowing half of her estate to women like herself, Steinbach high school graduates interested in the sciences, should be respected. The University of Manitoba expressed concern the conditions Dr. Castanera placed on the trust were too rigid, but the judge discounted those worries, citing Dr. Castaneras motive to assist women in a male-dominated field is not discriminatory. The matter was lost in the throes of university bureaucracy for nearly two decades before it was settled in court. The capital of the bequest rested at $270,000 when Dr. Castanera passed away in 1997 but has since ballooned to more than $563,000 as of early 2015. Ramirez didnt know about the scholarship itself when it landed on her lap. Her younger sister, Danyel, had a rough idea, hearing about it last year while in Grade 12 at the SRSS. News of the hefty scholarship reverberated through science classrooms at the Regional. The eldest Ramirez has since learned about Castaneras trust. She now knows the story, which now has its next chapter with its first recipientthe first beneficiary of many. Its been a blessing to have it. I dont really have a lot of money in my account, said Ramirez, who is studying chemistry. Most of the money I had was from my loans and some of the scholarships I grabbed from last year, she said. Just thinking how this $26,000 could pay for all my schooling, Im really happy. An immigrant from the Philippines, Ramirez joined the SRSS midway through Grade 10. She says she wasnt a great student in her native country but she applied herself in Steinbach. She graduated with an average just above 95 percent, good enough for a $3,000 entrance scholarship to the U of M. She worked hard at the SRSS. Her parents encouraged her and since she didnt have a job, she put time into her studiesshe wanted scholarships. I really have no other way of helping my parents out somehow and I dont want them to be paying my loans, she said. Doing my best in school I think is the least I can do. Ramirez enrolled first in engineering but it wasnt the right fit for her. By second year she went into chemistry, hoping she can parlay it into a job with a pharmaceutical company. Her parents, Dante and Madonna, both work at Valeant in Steinbach. Dr. Castanera wanted her endowment fund, created in 1991, to entice women to try academic disciplines they are consistently underrepresented in. Women are no longer marginalized in some of those majors in the U of M, which helped prompt the university to say the scholarships guidelines might violate the Manitoba Human Rights Code for being discriminatory. The judge ultimately ruled Dr. Castaneras intent was pure. Ramirez said she did not think of that historic underrepresentation of women herself until after receiving the scholarship, which speaks for itself the gains women have made in the sciences. Still, she said she understands that those former challenges have set a more equitable playing field today. Now studying a subject of interest to her, Ramirez says shes getting a hang of university. Its harder than high school was, with more studying to tackle. Shes resting now. This week is off for University of Manitoba students but she will be back at it, even during this break. She is looking at a midterm on the other side of this vacation. I have the study habits from high school already and I feel like I do have the work ethic for it, said Ramirez. I just have to work hard. Five years after our withdrawal from Iraq, the time is ripe for Americas first great work of reckoning. And we might just have it in Youngblood, Matt Gallaghers dark, suspenseful meditation on Americans impact abroad. The novel throws us into the daily tedium of the militarys Clear, Hold, and Build policy during the twilight of the American operation. With the self-assured righteousness of the post-9/11 years fading into distant memory, soldiers slog through night watches, long drives, and neighborhood raids, no surer than we are which moments will remain agonizingly quiet and which will end in a sudden shocks of violence. They gossip, they shit-talk, they play complex psychological games; they kill, they die, they mourn, they find ways to go on. The life of an American soldier, in many ways, hasnt changed. The willingness to write honestly about itthe way Gallagher does searingly wellhas. A first-time novelist, but an experienced chronicler of war (his 2010 memoir, Kaboom: Embracing the Suck in a Savage Little War, details his own 15-month deployment in 2007-2008), Daily Beast contributor Gallagher has been endorsed by just about every war literature heavyweight still breathing. And the attention is well deserved. Youngbloods narrator is Jack Porter, a green young lieutenant struggling to assert authority over his unit. Caught in the grey area between civilian naivete and war-hardened numbness, Porter is able to see moral ambiguities that others cannot. He is also a sobering reminder of just what young men we send to fight our wars. Sergeant Chambers, a seasoned fighter intent on undermining Porter, is the perfect foil, with his stiff overbite, a skull tattoo for every kill, and a moral structure that boils down to kill or be killed. (Watch for a memorable allegory for their relationship in the gladiatorial fight between a scorpion and a camel spider.) When locals begin whispering about Chamberss past and its connection to a forbidden romance between a missing American soldier and the daughter of an Iraqi sheik, Porter develops a dual obsession with incriminating Chambers and finding out the truth about this mysterious woman, Rana. As Porter tumbles down the rabbit hole of her charms, his erratic behavior quickly escalates from neglecting his duties to defying orders to endangering his life. The author spoke with us about the importance of war literature, the political blowhards hes sick of listening to, and his plans for his next novel. Youngblood is an Iraq War novel that often reads like a hardboiled mystery. Was that blending of genres something you did intentionally? It kind of happened organically. Im a big fan of Raymond Chandler, so maybe my reading preferences were creeping in, but the idea was mostly that I wanted to write an Iraq War novel with some breadth. You cant write about the entire nine-year war, but maybe it is possible to get a wider swath of it than just one soldiers micro-experience. I wanted to set it near the withdrawal so it could have kind of a reflective aspect, so I was thinking, Okay, how can I reference these myths? And I guess my answer was: murder mystery. You know, plot is kind of a dirty word in certain literary circles, but story is vital. I didnt want to be afraid of having my characters do things. Do you feel like another part of that is an effort to get this into the hands of more readers, especially readers who might not ordinarily pick up an Iraq War novel? Oh, absolutely. That factors into language choices, into using different tropes like the murder mystery, even into having a love story. I think its so vital that more American citizens wrestle with these issues of armed violence and the use of our military. The lessons of Iraq matter more now than ever. Theres the old saying that history repeats itself; now it just feels like history is speeding up. Particularly on the Republican side, you just get blowhard madness. Ted Cruz essentially admitted that hed commit a war crime with the carpet-bombing thing. Thats helpful to no one. And then you see polls with a majority of Americans supporting a ground invasion of Syria, and youre just like, But what then? Its the same question that people were asking in early 2003. If we do invade Syria, thats inevitably going to be followed by a lengthy and bloody occupation. And this [book] is what it would resemble in some way, ten years from now. And this is not just an American thing. An essay that I read a few times as I was drafting this book was Orwells Shooting an Elephant. Gosh, with him and Conrad and Kipling, theres all kinds of great literature from the past that deals with the same issues. Its funny that you mention Shooting an Elephant. Your book really captures a similar feeling of alienation between the occupiers and the occupied, but you also give the Iraqis these rich interior lives, which I think is rare. You know, it was important to me, especially as a veteran. I wanted to give the Iraqis presence on the page as much fullness and dimensionality as the American soldiers. I think it is natural that some of the earlier literary offerings were more American soldier-centricbefore the shift in strategy in 2006, 2007, American service members really didnt interact with Iraqi locals. But Im certainly not the only writer writing about these wars that feels like the perspective of the others is important. Elliot Ackermans book Green on Blue is told from the perspective of an Afghan militant, which I thought was a really fascinating choice for a Marine veteran to make. And in Michael Pitres Fives and Twenty-Fives, one of the narrators is the interpreter. Yes, Dodge! I found Dodge and [Youngbloods interpreter character] Snoop to be very kindred characters. [LAUGHS] I will admit, when I read Mikes book, I was like, Dammit! But thats OK. I think theyre both vibrant and distinct characters in and of themselves. I think maybe its the beginning of something. I hope so. Because yes, its important to engage with the experiences and the consequences of being a soldier, but its also vital that Americans realize that these are neighborhoodsin Afghanistan, Syria, Iraqthese arent just fields with bomb craters. These are places where people just like us live and are trying to survive. So if theres some small way that contemporary war literature can bring that home, then of course thats a good thing. Rana is a particularly interesting character and such an integral part of this book, but there were certain scenes where she feels almost surreal. The question that kept coming to mind was: Is she, as a person, possible? Im glad to hear you say that, because to me she is a huge part of the book. The working title for the novel for many drafts was The Sheiks Daughter. Was she based on anybody I knew personally? She was not. Was she possible? Yes. There were always stories in Iraq of an American soldier with an Iraqi girlfriend. It was always, Its a unit away, or, It happened two or three years ago. And almost assuredly, 98 percent of those stories were BS. But having done a little research, there were articles out there about American soldiers marrying Iraqi women theyd met during their combat tour. And of course, my book is fiction, so the key for me as a writer was, I didnt need to prove that it was believable in our Iraq, but I needed to prove that it was believable in the Iraq in Youngblood. It took a lot of drafts, but I think I got there. Youre also able to give an extra dimension to the soldiers masculinity that allows for fear, vulnerability, and even tenderness. That to me has been an amazing development in the genre, from The Things They Carried to Jarhead to the new crop of Iraq and Afghanistan novels in the last decade. You didnt exactly see that stuff in Hemingway. Yeah, soldiers are real people! Some of the most incredible acts of generosity and kindness and gentleness that Ive ever seen were my men in Iraqwith each other and with local Iraqis. Like I wrote in my Hemingway essay, a lot of it was luck, but the thing Im most proud of is, we got shot atpeople were actively trying to kill usbut through a lot of good training and excellent sergeants, none of us ever fired a weapon. A lot of that was circumstantial, but a lot of it was just staying cool, calm, and collected when it mattered most. And yeah, its totally contrary to how I think Hemingway would have defined masculinity at war. So conveying that in the writing is important. I remember being over there when I was 24. I didnt feel scary at all, but looking at us or trying to look at us through an Iraqi childs eyes or an Iraqi mothers eyes, I was like, Oh, of course theres fear. Young, armed men in armor from a foreign land walking around. Of course. Exploring the messiness of that interested me, so I wanted to write about it. Now that youve been out of the service since 2009, do you feel your own personal identity shifting more into civilian writer? Do you think youll keep writing about war? You know, I think itll always be a part of me, but Im well past the point where I think that its a defining part of me. I think being a writer helps immensely with that, because you can be many different things as a writer. Its a little annoying to be reduced to veteran writer or war writer. So its up to us to go prove that we are something other. I dont want to be too reverse-engineer careerist about it. I want to write about what interests me. So the next novel, which Ive started, touches on veterans issues and the relationship between post-Empire America and its military, but its mostly a story about life back here than it is a war story or anything. I will say this: I dont foresee myself writing about Iraq for a long time, because Ive written about it a lot. I just dont have anything left to say about it. It can be frustrating the way that liberals and conservatives both arent ableor willingto engage in any meaningful debate about this stuff. There seems to be so much common ground and common sense that we could all find in it. Im fairly liberal-leaning, but yeah, frankly, Ive been kind of surprised that I havent [heard more from readers] about moral purity. No. Moral purity is a very small thing in the grand scheme of the world. Lets try to figure this out. I had deep misgivings about the Iraq invasion in 2003, but I also didnt want to be one of those people who just criticized. I felt like I was in a unique place to help in some small way and contribute to somethingif not to a beautiful democracy in the heart of the Middle East, at least a less destructive occupation that was going to happen with or without me. And its awful because of the way Iraq played out, but when we got there in 2007, we were pushing a country back from the brink of a civil wargranted, a civil war that we helped initiatebut that was a good thing. That is a worthy pursuit. But wed just gotten there, I think, when the General Petraeus ad ran, and it was like, This is not a serious contribution. If an anti-war movement wants to engage seriously with these issues, they can and they should. But Petraeus at the time was trying to do a thing that I think that most anti-war people wanted, which was a safer Iraq, an end to the war. Maybe people wouldnt agree with the way he was attempting to carry that out, butIm on my soapbox again, Im sorry. Thats more than okay, Matt. His political battles winding down, state Rep. Tom Larson is taking on a far tougher challenge. He has been diagnosed with lung cancer. It is his third cancer diagnosis in three years, after fighting prostate and kidney cancer. Larson is depending on the strong support of his family and his faith to pull him through. But if things dont go his way in his latest battle, hes OK with that, too. If I die tomorrow and go to heaven, Im an even bigger winner, Larson said Friday. On Thursday, Larson (R-Colfax) announced he will not be seeking re-election in the November election in Assembly District 67, which covers most of Chippewa County and portions of Dunn and Barron counties. Larson was diagnosed with lung cancer last September, and begun chemotherapy sessions that month. The cancer itself isnt bad. Its the chemo, said Larson, who is a non-smoker. He said the chemo has reduced the size of his cancer. Still, he knows it will be a tough fight. According to the American Cancer Association: The lung cancer five-year survival rate (17.8 percent) is lower than many other leading cancer sites, such as the colon (65.4 percent), breast (90.5 percent) and prostate (99.6 percent). Larson said: Im hoping to beat those odds. Larson is a former electrician and founder of Bear Valley Electric of Menomonie. His sons Roger and John have owned and operated the business since March 2012. They are doing a great job, Larson said. Larson is chairman of the Assemblys Committee on Family Law. He was awarded the Patriot Award from the Wisconsin Committee for Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve in 2014. While in the Legislature, Larson voted for the controversial ACT 10, which stripped most bargaining rights from public unions. It also helped the state remove a $3.6 billion deficit, he said. State Sen. Terry Moulton (R-Chippewa Falls) describes Larson as being soft-spoken and a man of faith. Tom will be sorely missed. Hes represented his constituents very well, Moulton told the Herald Thursday. The senator said Larson is well-liked in the Assembly That speaks of his character, and he is grateful that Larson decided to go into politics. Its been an honor for me to serve with him, Moulton said, adding Larson will be in his prayers. Larson was elected on Nov. 2, 2010, defeating Democrat CW King for the 67th District seat. The same night, Republican state Rep. Kathy Bernier (R-Lake Hallie) was elected in the 68th District, along with Moulton winning the 23rd District seat in the state Senate. Tom and I have worked together probably more closely than other representatives, Bernier said Thursday. Anyone who works with Larson appreciates his low-key behavior, Bernier said. Hes always been a person with a positive attitude, Bernier said. Bernier said that both Larson and his wife Mary have faced major health challenges in recent years. He was struggling whether to make that decision now, she said of Larsons opting not to run for re-election. Michael Hanke, a two-term former member of the Chippewa Falls City Council, said he is seriously considering running for Larsons Assembly seat. Hes planning on weighing the pros and cons of running and making a decision by March 15. Hanke is currently attending Globe Business, and plans on getting a degree from that school in the spring or summer of 2017. Bernier said the first day candidates for the Assembly can circulate nomination papers is April 15. As for Larson, most of his legislative work wrapped up with a session in Madison Thursday night. He will have committee work and local issues to tackle for the remainder of his term, which ends in January. What he does in his retirement depends on his health. As long as I feel well, we probably are going to do some traveling, he said of himself and Mary Larson. Shifting the state Department of Resources forest ranger from Cornell to the town of Anson plus two solar power proposals got the backing of the Chippewa County Planning and Zoning Committee on Thursday. A new Ranger station would have over 9,000 square feet and cost an estimated $1.8 million. The DNR said the project is scheduled to get funding during the 2017-2019 biennium. The station in Cornell was built in 1955 and is outmoded. It no longer fits the size of our fire apparatus, said Steve Edge of the DNRs Eau Claire office. The best option that we came up with was moving the fire station. Edge said the DNR has an option to buy five acres east of Jim Falls on County S. The station includes the ranger, a forestry technician, a part-time laborer from March to November, two part-time forestry technicians who can serve as firefighters during periods of fire danger, and one conservation warden. If a new station is built, the DNR said it will add two permanent staff. Power up The solar projects are being proposed by Xcel Energy and SoCore Energy, with the Xcel project planned for the town of Wheaton and the SoCore project in the town of Hallie. Xcel wants a 3.5 megawatt solar generation operation on half of a 40-acre parcel owned by NSP-Wisconsin. The operation, the first in Wisconsin for Xcel Energy, would generate enough power for 700 homes. Construction would start in June and the electricity generated by the solar panels will go online in October. Today, 54 percent of the electricity our customers are using is carbon-free energy, said Robert C. Schultz, community service manager for Xcel Energy. The solar operation is intended to help increase that percentage. The solar panels would stand as high as seven feet. The property Xcel wants for the operation is property that is zoned industrial. There are some questions whether or not you would allow it in an industrial district, said Doug Clary, director of the countys Planning and Zoning Department. I would like to think it is an accessory to the existing district, said Supervisor Glen Sikorski. Schultz said the utility could select another location for the solar project, depending on how talks with the Chippewa Valley Regional Airport go. Permit granted A conditional use permit was approved on a committee voice vote to allow SoCore Energy to operate a solar panel field on property at 15800 County OO in the town of Hallie. The site is about 1,000 feet from a Dairyland Power Cooperative substation. SoCore would sell the electricity to Dairyland Power, which would then sell it to Eau Claire Energy Cooperative. The project would generate about 1 megawatt of power, enough to power about 200 homes. The (solar) panels slowly track the sun east to west, said Eric Luesebrink, senior vice president of SoCore. The maximum height of the panels is seven feet. We are staying clear of all of the wetlands on site, Luesebrink said. SoCore Energy has over 300 projects in operation and is a part of Edison International, said Andrew Dahlen, project developer. SoCore and Edison Internationals parent company is Southern California Energy. Supervisors Chuck Hull, Lee McIlquham, Sikorski and Henry Shakal attended the meeting. Supervisor Leigh Darrow was absent. The following editorial appeared in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Monday, Feb. 8: Not everyone embraces the idea of women serving in military combat roles, particularly some Republican lawmakers as well as commanders of the nations most elite special operations units. The skeptics continue to question whether women are up to the task. They seem determined to squelch recognition of womens battlefield participation any way they can. Republican Reps. Duncan Hunter of California and Ryan Zinke of Montana introduced a bill last week to require all American women between ages 18 and 26 to register for the Selective Service the draft exactly as their male counterparts already are required to do. Yes, the draft still exists, even though weve had an all-volunteer force since the 1970s. This bill clearly was a cynical move designed for shock value. Hunter and Zinke are both veterans. Both appear to believe the Obama administration has gone too far with its advocacy for women who want to pursue combat eligibility. They echo the concerns of various military commanders who contend that womens presence in front-line combat jobs would destroy unit cohesion and erode performance. President Barack Obama and Defense Secretary Ash Carter overruled these objections, with Obama noting in December that 90 percent of military positions have opened to women during recent decades, and that they already serve and some have died while performing combat duties. More than 280,000 women were deployed in the Iraq and Afghanistan combat zones, and at least 150 were killed. But because they havent been officially eligible for combat, they havent always received recognition in the same ways their male counterparts have. In 2012, four service women, including an Air National Guard helicopter pilot shot down in Afghanistan, had to sue to get their combat service recognized. The pilot, a major, had been deemed ineligible for promotion at the time because the Pentagon couldnt officially recognize her combat service. Thats the background driving the effort to make their combat service official and establish a training regimen that adequately prepares them for battlefield challenges. The difficult question is the one raised by Hunter and Zinke: If women want equality, are they prepared to accept the awesome responsibility that accompanies it? The short answer is that not all women want to serve in the military, and not all women currently in uniform necessarily want to be on the front lines. Not all men want to serve, and many probably shudder when it comes time to register for the draft. If Hunter and Zinke seriously want to pursue this bill, let them. Its a good debate for the nation to have. Equality under the law doesnt just mean equal pay and equal opportunities for promotion. It also means bearing equal responsibility, regardless of gender, when the call comes to serve our nation. July 28, 1981 - February 17, 2016 William Brock Faulkner, 34, of Bryan was released to the presence of Jesus on Wednesday, February 17, 2016, after fighting a two-year battle with leukemia. Born on July 28, 1981 in Bryan to Bill and Martha Faulkner, Brock married Brittney Schlatre May 22, 2004 in Baton Rouge, LA. He graduated from Bryan High School in 2000, and earned his Bachelor's, Master's and Ph.D. degrees from Texas A&M in Agricultural Engineering. He was a proud member of the Fightin' Texas Aggie Band (A-Battery), Class of 2004. Brock learned to ranch from his Granddaddy. From those earliest days driving t-posts to establishing his own beef cattle operation, he was deeply connected to the family land. His career in teaching culminated in serving as Assistant Professor at A&M; he advised the Secretary of Agriculture on the USDA Agricultural Air Quality Task Force, to which he was just re-appointed; and he consulted for cattle ranchers in Colorado. Among his many awards are the 2012 Texas A&M College of Agriculture Award for Outstanding Achievement in Early Career Research, and the 2014 Gale Holloway ASABE Professional Development Award. His greatest professional joy, though, was working with students. He leaves an uncommon legacy of young men and women who were deeply impacted by his teaching and mentorship. Brock served as an elder with Community Church of Bryan/College Station. His personal investment in his church community was wholehearted, even in his most difficult seasons. Above all his professional and ranching achievements, Brock's deepest love was and is for Jesus, his wife, children, family, friends, and the people of Community Church. Brock is survived by his wife Brittney, son Emery, daughter Lyla Kate, and son Charlie; his mother Martha Faulkner, his brother and sister-in-law C.W. and Emily Faulkner and their children Brenna, Joseph, & Carly; and numerous other devoted family members and friends. He was preceded in death by his father Bill. Visitation will be Saturday, February 20, 3:30-6:00 p.m. at Memorial Funeral Chapel in Bryan. A service celebrating Brock's life will be held at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, February 21 at Grace Bible Church Anderson Campus in College Station. A graveside service will follow at Reliance Church Cemetery in Reliance, northeast of Bryan. In lieu of flowers, donations to the Faulkner Fund through Community Church would be appreciated. These will be used to support Brock's children, other families going through cancer treatment, and to plant trees on the family ranch in Brock's honor. Checks should be marked "Faulkner Fund" and sent to Community Church, PO Box 10977, College Station, Texas, 77842. Republicans have several contested races for the state's top two courts on the March 1 Brazos County ballot. Texans like to elect their judges, even though they don't know the incumbents, the challengers or the courts they seek. Too often, judges are selected in the November elections simply because they run, now, as Republicans or, in the past, as Democrats. It is a poor way to select judges, but appointive systems have as many faults. Two things would make the selection of judges better: doing away with straight-party voting in the general election and, well, voters who bother to be informed about the candidates for whom they vote. Neither is likely to happen anytime soon. Let's take a brief look at the state judicial structure. At the local level, criminal and civil cases are tried in district courts or county courts-at-law. In Brazos County, our three district and two at-law courts are general jurisdiction, hearing both civil and criminal matters. In larger cities, district courts frequently specialize in criminal, civil or family matters. With the exception of death-penalty verdicts, decisions at the local level may be appealed to one of the state's 14 intermediate courts of appeal. In Brazos County, cases that are appealed go to the three member 10th Court of Appeals in Waco. The courts of appeal have to accept every case appealed to them, criminal or civil. From those courts, cases may be appealed to one of the state's two supreme courts. The nine-member Supreme Court of Texas handles only civil and juvenile matters. The other top court, the nine-member Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, hears criminal cases appealed from the intermediate courts. Both the Court of Criminal Appeals and the Supreme Court are discretionary courts, choosing which cases to accept - with one major exception. All death-penalty cases are automatically appealed from the district court level straight to the Court of Criminal Appeals. At present, all nine Supreme Court justices, as they are called, and eight of the nine Court of Criminal Appeals judges, as they are called, are Republicans. The lone Democrat on the court is Judge Lawrence Meyers, a fine jurist who has been elected to the top court several times as a Republican. Last year, though, he switched to the Democratic Party to run for a place on the Supreme Court. He lost and now is finishing his six-year term on the Court of Criminal Appeals and is running for re-election as a Democrat. No other Democrats are running for the top two courts. Here is a look at the contested judicial races on the Republican Primary ballot in Brazos County: Supreme Court of Texas Place 3 Justice Debra Lehrmann vs. Justice Michael Massengale -- Lehrmann was judge of the 360th District Court when, in mid 2010, Gov. Rick Perry appointed her to fill out the remaining six months of Justice Harriet O'Neill's term when O'Neill stepped down. Lehrmann was elected to a full six-year term in November 2010. Lehrmann's background before taking the Tarrant County bench was primarily in family law. Massengale clerked in Houston for a judge on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for two years and then joined the prestigious firm of Baker, Botts, eventually becoming a partner. Perhaps his biggest case was representing the directors of Pennzoil in a suit filed by the company's shareholders. After a three-week trial, he won and the shareholders received nothing. Six and half years ago, Gov. Perry named him to a vacancy on the 1st Court of Appeals, one of two appellate courts located in Houston. He has been elected to that post twice since then. Massengale is critical of Lehrmann, noting she had no appellate experience before being named to the Supreme Court, although, of course, she has gained plenty of such experience in the past five years on the court. He said she is the most frequent dissenter on the Supreme Court, often on the state's tort reform statute. He said Lehrmann often is results-driven, deciding cases on the way she thinks the law should be rather than on the law as written. Lehrmann did not meet with the Editorial Board. Massengale is a highly intelligent, engaging appellate justice. His criticism of Justice Lehrmann may be correct, but we expect our judges and justices to rule on the law as they understand it. Judges frequently can read the same case and apply the same facts and come up with differing opinions. That is why we have nine justices on the Texas Supreme Court and nine judges on the Court of Criminal Appeals. Massengale would make a fine Supreme Court justice, but doesn't make the case he would be better than Justice Lehrmann. The Eagle recommends a vote to re-elect Justice Debra Lehrmann to Place 3 on the Supreme Court of Texas. Place 5 Judge Rick Green vs. Justice Paul Green -- Justice Paul Green was elected to the Supreme Court in 2004 and re-elected in 2010. Prior to that, he was a justice on the 4th Court of Appeals in San Antonio. Rick Green is a former member of the Texas House of Representatives who was defeated after two terms. He has no judicial experience, losing to Justice Lehrmann in 2010. Neither candidate met with The Editorial Board, but Paul Green's experience on the Supreme Court gives him a significant edge. The Eagle recommends a vote for Justice Paul Green for re-election to the Supreme Court of Texas. Place 9 Justice Eva Guzman vs. Joe Pool -- The daughter of immigrants, Guzman was appointed by Gov. Perry in 2009 when Justice Scott Brister resigned. She was elected to a full six-year term in 2010. Prior to being appointed to the court, she was a justice on the 14th Court of Appeals in Houston and, before that was a family court judge. She is the first Hispanic woman to hold all three positions. She was named Latina Judge of the Year by the Hispanic National Bar Association and 2009 Judge of the Year by the Mexican American Bar Association of Texas. Pool says Guzman is not a true conservative who is out-of-step with the beliefs of the majority of Texas. He described himself as a "Christian Constitutional Conservative." On his website site, he pledges to rule "in accordance with the Constitution and his conscience." He ran for the Supreme Court in 2012 in a three-person race, coming in third. Guzman has been an outstanding jurist in Texas for a number of years and has served all Texans well. It is Pool who is out of touch with his fellow Texans. The Eagle recommends a vote to keep Justice Eva Guzman on the Supreme Court of Texas. Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Place 2 Judge Mary Lou Keel vs. Judge Chris Oldner vs. Judge Ray Wheless -- Judge Keel has served as a Houston felony court judge for 21 years and has tried 20 capital murder cases. Prior to that, she was an assistant Harris County district attorney, handling 279 criminal appeals, including five death-penalty cases. She has been board certified in criminal law since 1990. Oldner has been board certified in criminal law for 14 years. He spent seven years as a prosecutor before serving as a Collin County court-at-law judge for three and a half years. Gov. Perry appointed him to the 416th District Court Bench in McKinney in 2003. He has run unopposed since then. He said he is the candidate in the race who has argued a death penalty case before a jury. He said he has never had a felony decision in his court reversed. "We do it right the first time." He made the news last year when he presided over the grand jury that handed up an indictment of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton for securities fraud. Oldner recused himself from the case after the indictment was handed up, but Paxton's attorneys accused the judge of improprieties and said the indictment should be thrown out. A man not associated publicly with the case filed a judicial ethics complaint against Judge Oldner, and the matter is in the hands of the state's judicial ethics commission. Oldner denies any wrongdoing, saying he has nothing to gain by Paxton's indictment. He said, "It's just another example of how dark-money special interest groups seek to bully and intimidate ethical, conservative judges who strictly follow the law." Wheless is board certified in civil trial law and personal injury trial law, specializations that seemingly would make him more suited for the Supreme Court. He calls himself the conservative candidate in the race. Wheless was named to a Collin County court-at-law bench in 2000 and, in 2009, was appointed to a district court bench by Gov. Perry. He has run unopposed since then. Before being named to the bench, Wheless was active in a variety of Collin County Republican Party activities. He did not meet with the Editorial Board. Oldner seemingly did nothing wrong in the Paxton indictment -- remember, it is Texas Attorney General Paxton who is under indictment, not the judge -- and he brings a wealth of experience to the race. Keel, however, has experience that far surpasses Oldner's and that experience would serve Texans well on the Court of Criminal Appeals. The Eagle recommends a vote for Judge Mary Lou Keel for election to Place 2 on the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals in the Republican Primary. The winner of that primary race will face the now-Democrat Judge Lawrence Meyers in the fall. Place 5 Judge Sid Harle vs. Steve Smith vs. Scott Walker vs. Brent Webster -- The four are vying to replace Judge Cheryl Johnson, an outstanding jurist who is retiring after 18 years on the court. Harle is running at the urging of Judge Johnson. He has been judge of San Antonio's 226th District Court for 27 years and has run unopposed for the past 20 years. He is a former prosecutor and former defense attorney who appealed a death penalty case to the Court of Criminal Appeals. He said he has tried more capital cases than any other judge in Texas. While running for the Court of Criminal Appeals, Harle said he has maintained his busy court schedule, using no visiting judges. Harle was the judge who recommended that the state convene a court of inquiry that led to the exoneration of Michael Morton, who was wrongly convicted and served almost 25 years in prison for murdering his wife. Smith is not our Judge Steve Smith, who serves on the 361st District Court bench. This Steve Smith is a former justice of the Texas Supreme Court who filled the final two years of now-Gov. Greg Abbott's term. He was defeated in his bid for election to a full term in 2004 after Gov. Perry opposed him. He ran again in 2006 and again lost in parts thanks to Perry's opposition. He now says the two top courts should be merged, an idea that has been floated frequently but probably is not a workable idea as the Court of Criminal Appeals already is one of the busiest appeals courts in the nation. Smith says Harle is too moderate. Webster has never been elected to office before. He is an assistant district attorney in Williamson County. He says he has strong views on Second-Amendment and other constitutional rights. The fourth candidate, Scott Walker, is a criminal defense attorney in Texas who has chosen not to campaign. Only Harle met with the Editorial Board, but he is an impressive candidate with an impressive record. The Eagle recommends a vote for Judge Sid Harle for election to Place 5 on the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. Place 6 Judge Michael E. Keasler vs. Richard Davis -- We have been impressed with Judge Keasler every time we have interviewed him. He has been on the court for 17 years, providing reasoned, steady jurisprudence. Keasler is 73 and when he turns 75, state law says he can serve only two more years. Thus, he would have to retire four years into his six-years term. The court has three new members, though, and Keasler said it is important that judges who have served longer remain to help the new judges settle in to their new roles. "We provide institutional memory," Keasler said. Davis is a Marble Falls attorney who did not meet with the Editorial Board. He is critical of Keasler's inability to serve a full six-year term. Although he never has been a judge, Davis served as a prosecutor in Sherman and Ector counties. Texas would be lucky to have Keasler serve even four more years. His experience is too valuable to reject. The Eagle recommends a vote for Judge Michael E. Keasler for re-election to Place 6 on the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. The remark caused a bit of a stir and earnest questions about the mechanism by which Tepco could be brought there. Needless to say, nothing of the kind ever happened, or is likely to. Instead, the Abe's government's preferred tactic is to go full out to restart reactors and move everybody back home as soon as possible, as if nothing serious had happened. Just scoop off a little topsoil, cart it away somewhere else and, Abracadabra! Everything is clean and safe again! Normalizing radiation, a policy and now a practice Of course radiological decontamination is not that easy. Nor is it reliable. It is more like "pushing contamination from one spot to the next", as independent nuclear expert, Mycle Schneider describes it. And radiation does not remain obediently in one place, either. "The mountains and forests that cannot even be vaguely decontaminated, will serve as a permanent source of new contamination, each rainfall washing out radiation and bringing it down from the mountains to the flat lands", Schneider explained. Birds move around. Animals eat and excrete radioactive plant life. Radiation gets swept out to sea. It is a cycle with no end. Nevertheless, efforts are underway to repopulate stricken areas, particularly in Fukushima Prefecture. It's a policy, and now a practice, of 'normalizing' radiation standards, to tell people that everything is alright, when clearly, there is no medical or scientific evidence to support this. And it was an approach already firmly and institutionally in place, even on March 11, 2011 as the Fukushima disaster first struck and much of the decision-making was left to individual judgement. "We were told that evacuating poses a greater risk than radiation," recalls Hasegawa Kenji, a farmer from Iitate, a village situated 45 kilometers from the Fukushima nuclear power plant. Featured in the Vice documentary 'Alone In The Zone', Hasegawa criticized Iitate's mayor for making what he called a terrible mistake. "Even when the scientists told the mayor that Iitate was dangerous, he ignored them all. He brought in experts from around the country who preached about how safe it was here. They said we had nothing to worry about. They kept telling us that. Eventually the villagers fell for it and began to relax. And the mayor rejected the idea of evacuating even more. That's why nobody left, even though the radiation levels were so high." The nuclear industry did not tell the public the truth The confusion surrounding evacuation was so profound that, as Zhang et al. noted in a September 11, 2014 study published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health: "Unclear evacuation instructions caused numerous residents to flee to the northwestern zone where radiation levels were even higher." All par for the course, said Iida. "I must emphasize, the people in the nuclear industry did not tell the public the truth and keep us informed." Next in the 'normalization' process came the decision to raise allowable radiation exposure standards to 20 millisieverts of radiation a year, up from the prior level of 2 mSv a year. The globally-accepted limit for radiation absorption is 1 mSv a year. This meant that children were potentially being exposed to the same levels of radiation that are permitted for adult nuclear power plant workers in Europe. Some officials even argued that zones where rates were as high as 100 mSv a year should be considered 'safe'. Writing on his blog, anti-pollution New Orleans-based attorney, Stuart Smith, observed wryly: "Instead of taking corrective measures to protect its people, Japan has simply increased internationally recognized exposure limits. It seems that the priority - as we've seen in so many other industrial disasters in so many other countries - is to protect industry and limit its liability rather than to ensure the long-term health and well being of the masses. Go figure." The great repatriation lie All of this set the perfect stage for the Great Repatriation Lie. "It's the big cover-up," Iida told his Westminster audience. "People are being told it's quite safe to have a little [radiation] exposure." Indeed, at a recent conferences of prefectural governors, young people in particular were urged to return to Fukushima. "If you come to live with us in Fukushima and work there, that will facilitate its post-disaster reconstruction and help you lead a meaningful life", said Fukushima Gov. Masao Uchibori. Young people in Japan, however, appear not to be cooperating. Where evacuees are returning, the majority are senior citizens, who have less to lose from a health perspective and are more traditionally tied to the land and their ancestral burial grounds. "They want to die where they were born and not in an unfamiliar place", said Yoshiko Aoki, an evacuee herself who now works with others, and who also spoke at the London conference. All of this impacts revenue from the inhabitants' tax which constitutes 24.3% of all local tax sources and is collected by both prefectures and municipalities. It is levied on both individuals and corporations but with the bulk of revenue coming from individuals. Senior citizens who have retired do not contribute to income tax, so the onus is on governors and mayors to lure as many working people as possible back to their towns and regions in order to effectively finance local public services. Radioactive areas are hardest hit economically Late last year, the Asahi Shimbun looked at tax revenues in the 42 municipalities affected by the triple 2011 disasters of earthquake, tsunami and the Fukushima meltdowns. Unsurprisingly, the areas hardest hit by radiological contamination had suffered the biggest economic blows. Those areas free from radioactive fallout could simply rebuild after the tsunami and earthquake, and had consequently recovered economically, some even to better than pre-3/11 levels. "On the other end of the scale, Namie, Fukushima Prefecture, marked the biggest decreasing rate - 72.9 percent - in tax revenues for fiscal 2014", the Asahi Shimbun reported. "All residents of the town near the crippled nuclear plant remain in evacuation. Although tax payments from companies increased from decontamination work and other public works projects, income taxes paid by residents and fixed asset taxes have declined." To return or not to return is the question of the hour - or it will be come March 2017, when the Abe government has announced it will revoke many evacuation orders. At that point, government compensation to evacuees would be lifted, putting them under financial pressure to return. Cue more confusion. People are confronted, said Iida, with "two extreme views, either that it's very dangerous or quite safe. So it's very difficult to decide which is the truth and it has been left up to individuals." One of those towns that could be declared 'safe' is Tomioka, Japan's Pripyat, formerly home to close to 16,000 people but now uninhabited. "It's like a human experiment, that's how we feel," said Aoki in London, herself a former Tomioka resident. "The Governor of Fukushima spoke about a safe Fukushima. We want it to become safe, but our thoughts and reality are not one and the same." Observes Kyoto University professor of nuclear physics, Koide Hiroaki, in the Vice film, who has been outspoken for decades against the continued use of nuclear energy: "Once you enter a radiation controlled area, you aren't supposed to drink water, let alone eat anything. The idea that somebody", he pauses, " ... is living in a place like that is unimaginable." Linda Pentz Gunter is the international specialist at Beyond Nuclear, a Takoma Park, MD environmental advocacy group. Also on The Ecologist: The 12th round of negotiations for the proposed TTIP trade deal between the EU and the USA are due to start in Brussels on Monday. But chances of success are looking remote - much to the relief of civil society on both sides of the Atlantic. The two parties look increasingly at odds over the investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanisms - one of the main planks of the negotiations. ISDS and its 'corporate courts' are seen, especially by the US, as integral to the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership negotiations. But it now looks like they could sink the deal altogether. A White House official recently admitted that the deal was unlikely to be reached while President Obama was still in office. These investment provisions would enable corporations to sue governments in secretive, supra-judicial courts for bringing about legislation that would harm their profits. Other contentious aspects of the deal include 'regulatory cooperation', the principle that regulations on either side of the Atlantic will be recognised even if, in fact, they are much weaker on one side than on the other. This would force down standards for health, safety, labour and environment in the EU and the US to the lowest applicable level. Conducted in secret (but not for lobbyists) Also causing immense anger to elected representatives in national, state and EU parliaments has been the secrecy under the negotiations have been veiled. The TTIP negotiating documents have been subjected to extreme levels of secrecy, leading to widespread criticism from both civil society and MEPs. In 2015 Green MEP Molly Scott Cato decried the extreme security lengths she had to endure to access the reading room that had been set up in Brussels. Now the UK government has announced its plans to open a special 'TTIP reading room' where MPs will be able to read the negotiating texts. The announcement was made in response to a written parliamentary question by Caroline Lucas MP, in advance of the resuming negotiations. In her response Trade Minister Anna Soubry stated: "Restrictions placed on these rooms include that they are only accessible to officials of Member State central governments and Members of Member State national Parliaments. The UK intends to establish such a reading room in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills." In addition MPs will only be allowed to enter the room with pencil and paper to make notes. They will have to sign a confidentiality agreement forbidding them to disclose any paert of the texts to other parties including their constituents. The text as a whole will remain behind lock and key. SHARE Legislation to protect gays and lesbians from discrimination in the workplace has languished for years on Capitol Hill, even as the Supreme Court has ruled that same-sex couples may marry and Congress has voted to allow gay Americans to serve openly in the military. But now, while they continue to press for federal legislation that explicitly outlaws discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, some gay-rights supporters want the Obama administration to declare that such protection already exists in the Civil Rights Act's ban on discrimination based on an individual's "sex." It's an audacious approach to overcoming legislative gridlock, but it's also a defensible reading of the law in light of an evolving understanding of sexuality, gender and the harm inflicted by stereotypes about both aspects of human existence. Generations ago, it would have seemed obvious that "sex discrimination" referred only to treating male employees or job applicants better than female ones (or vice versa). But discrimination against women and discrimination against gays and lesbians (and transgender people) all are rooted in stereotypes about "proper" expressions of gender and sexuality. Moreover, the Supreme Court already has recognized that on-the-job sexual harassment a form of sex discrimination that violates the Civil Rights Act can occur even when both the aggressor and the victim are of the same sex. In 1998, the court ruled in favor of a male oil-rig worker who alleged that he had been the target of sexually oriented touching and rape threats from male co-workers. Writing for a unanimous court in that case, Justice Antonin Scalia acknowledged that "male-on-male sexual harassment in the workplace was assuredly not the principal evil Congress was concerned with" when it enacted Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. But he added that "statutory prohibitions often go beyond the principal evil to cover reasonably comparable evils." Likewise, even if the members of Congress who voted to ban "sex discrimination" were primarily concerned with discrimination against women by men, the legal protections they established can be interpreted more broadly. That is what the American Civil Liberties Union wants the Obama administration to do. In a letter to Attorney General Loretta Lynch, the ACLU called for a "formal announcement" that the Justice Department will take the position in litigation that discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation constitutes "sex stereotyping" and amounts to sex discrimination under current law. The administration has yet to issue such a sweeping statement, although it has made clear that it regards discrimination against transgender employees as a form of sex discrimination. But the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has endorsed the view that discrimination against gays and lesbians also amounts to sex discrimination, and the Justice Department may be inching toward the same position. Last month, BuzzFeed reported that department lawyers, in disputing a claim of discrimination by a gay former Federal Aviation Administration employee, focused on the facts in the case rather than arguing that the law against sex discrimination didn't apply to discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. Ideally, Congress would approve legislation explicitly outlawing employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. The Equality Act introduced in Congress last year would accomplish that objective, along with prohibiting discrimination against gay, lesbian and transgender Americans in housing and public accommodations. But, given Republican control of Congress and the fact that this is an election year, it's unlikely that any such legislation will be enacted in the near future. President Barack Obama has endorsed the Equality Act, but that doesn't mean his administration can't also embrace a broad definition of sex discrimination under current law and defend that understanding in court. If members of Congress are uneasy about the administration reinterpreting the Civil Rights Act in this way, they have an easy alternative: Pass legislation making it clear that no one may be denied a job or a promotion because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. This editorial appeared in the Los Angeles Times. Great River Christian hosting 25th anniversary open house on Saturday Great River Christian School is hosting an open house event on Saturday to celebrate its 25th anniversary. Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel on Friday asked a federal judge to stay out of a matter related to the halted John Doe investigation into Gov. Scott Walkers recall campaign, marking the first time his office has taken sides in court in the politically fraught legal battle. Lawyers representing the John Doe investigators issued a statement Friday afternoon calling Schimels comments on the matter false and defamatory. Schimel filed a friend-of-the-court brief in a lawsuit that could affect a Wisconsin Supreme Court decision requiring investigators to turn over evidence they collected during the so-called John Doe I and II investigations into Walkers Milwaukee County office and his 2012 recall campaign. Schimel, a Republican elected in 2014, asked the court to deny the investigators motion to block the state Supreme Courts decision out of respect for the separation of state and federal court authority. He noted the court determined investigators obtained numerous documents as part of an unlawful state-law investigation, meaning that they have no right to possess such documents. The defendants in this case are requesting that the federal court directly contradict the Wisconsin Supreme Courts order requiring that the evidence unlawfully seized by the John Doe investigators be kept under seal, Schimel said in a statement. The defendants request ignores well-settled law which provides that federal courts may not interfere with state court decisions. Douglas Knott, a lawyer representing Milwaukee County investigators David Budde, Robert Stelter and Aaron Weiss, issued a statement saying Schimel misrepresented their position. They are asking for the John Doe records to be available to the investigators as they defend themselves against lawsuits, but not that they be unsealed for the public. We are surprised that the Attorney Generals office, after declining to participate previously due to conflicts of interest, would involve itself now in such a partisan and ill-informed manner, Knott said. We question whose interest is being served by Mr. Schimels sudden appearance in favor of (plaintiff Cindy) Archers position and his accompanying media statements. Scot Ross, executive director of liberal advocacy group One Wisconsin Now, chastised Schimels move, noting the political arm of the state chamber of commerce, Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, spent $1.5 million to help get Schimel elected. The John Doe probe was investigating coordination between Walkers recall campaign and so-called issue advocacy groups such as WMC and Wisconsin Club for Growth. Brad Schimel is turning DOJ into a legal defense fund for his campaign backers, Ross said. Asked for a response, Schimel said in an email the brief is self-explanatory. As Attorney General, I represent the state and have an obligation to protect the sovereignty of our state and the validity of the decision of our state Supreme Court, he said. Schimels predecessor, J.B. Van Hollen, also a Republican, declined to lead the John Doe II investigation after a more than five-month review of a request by Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm. But instead of shutting it down, he cited the perception that my office can not act impartially and referred the matter to the nonpartisan Government Accountability Board. Chisholm, the GAB and Republican and Democratic district attorneys in four other counties consolidated the case in 2013 under special prosecutor Francis Schmitz, a self-described Republican. After Schmitz served dozens of subpoenas in fall 2013, the subjects of the investigation fought back in court and Judge Gregory Petersen, who was overseeing the case, quashed the subpoenas in January 2014. Schimel represented Petersen in the case before the Wisconsin Supreme Court. However, Schimel maintained neutrality on the core legal issues and primarily defended the appointment of the judges who oversaw the case. The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled in July the investigation had no basis in law and denied a reconsideration motion in December. Chisholm and the two Democratic district attorneys involved in the case are trying to appeal that decision to the U.S. Supreme Court. In December, Schimel declined to intervene on behalf of those being investigated, but discouraged Schmitz from appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court, calling the case a long, unfortunate chapter in Wisconsins history. The federal lawsuit filed by former Walker aide Cindy Archer alleges Milwaukee County investigators violated her civil rights when they served search warrants at her Madison home in September 2011 as part of the first John Doe investigation, which yielded six convictions of former Walker aides and associates. The lawsuit is being heard by U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman, a former Democratic state senator appointed to the court by President Bill Clinton. Looking for the big games to watch in Week 9? We have them right here. Madison County Chairman Alan J. Dunstan today announced the county has joined forces with Justine PETERSEN to create a micro-loan program for small businesses and entrepreneurs in Madison County. Dunstan appropriately made the announcement during an appearance at an issues forum presented by the Southwestern Illinois Chamber of Commerce at the Granite City Housing Authority. There is an overall need for capitalization by new and existing small businesses in Madison County and this program is one way to address that need. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Fadli (The Jakarta Post) Batam Sat, February 20, 2016 Batam workers' associations rejected on Friday the government's plan to limit workers' demonstrations, saying that it would violate freedom of expression laws. 'We reject it. How can we be listened to if the places [where demonstrations are allowed] are limited to three locations,' Federation of Indonesian Metal Workers' Union Batam chapter chairman Suprapto said. Suprapto said workers would ignore the planned Riau Islands gubernatorial regulation and continue acting in accordance with current laws. 'Public actions will still be held at company sites if the situation calls for it,' he added. Batam has been frequently jolted by massive demonstrations. The latest in January this year was conducted by hundreds of workers of PT Amtek Engineering, an Apple mobile phone contractor, who were demanding that a plan to change the company's name be dropped. The strike, which paralyzed the company, was halted after an eight-hour mediation session between company executives and workers' representatives. During a visit to Batam in June, President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo ordered the National Intelligence Agency (BIN) to investigate alleged foreign involvement in labor rallies that had reportedly caused investors to leave the Batam Industrial Zone. Allegations of foreign support for workers were also made by the government following a massive and chaotic rally in 2011 involving at least 10,000 workers on the island. At least six people were injured, including one person who was shot. In response to investors' complaints and to help maintain the investment climate in Batam, the government plans to restrict workers' strikes inside the island's free-trade zone. The police similarly will also increase their efforts to prevent workers from holding demonstrations that disturb production activity in factories. Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan said the government would regulate how workers could hold rallies. The regulation, he said, would only allow rallies from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., with locations limited to three venues, namely the governor's office, the Batam city legislative council building and the office of the Batam mayor. 'Demonstrations can no longer be held at factories. The country must be orderly,' Luhut said during a visit to Batam on Thursday, during which he was accompanied by National Police chief Gen. Badrodin Haiti and Manpower Minister Hanif Dhakiri. Badroidin said the police had six levels of public demonstration response. At the highest level, he said, the police were justified in using guns to deal with rallies considered dangerous. Level one only required a police presence. 'Forcing fellow workers to join rallies is not allowed. Rallies also cannot be conducted in front of a factory entrance as that can disturb traffic. We will act if that happens,' Badrodin said in his presentation about the National Police's commitment to dealing with workers' rallies. Meanwhile, Hanif said that dialogue between employers and workers had to be maintained for the sake of good communication. That way, undesirable activities could be handled, he added. 'There must always be room for dialogue,' Hanif said. Separately, Kepri Governor Muhammad Sani said the regulation on workers' rallies would make investors feel safe about their investments in the province. 'The regulation will be issued soon,' he said. ---------------------- To receive comprehensive and earlier access to The Jakarta Post print edition, please subscribe to our epaper through iOS' iTunes, Android's Google Play, Blackberry World or Microsoft's Windows Store. Subscription includes free daily editions of The Nation, The Star Malaysia, the Philippine Daily Inquirer and Asia News. For print subscription, please contact our call center at (+6221) 5360014 or subscription@thejakartapost.com Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Dylan Amirio (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sat, February 20, 2016 A change of mind by the Communications and Information Ministry to block social media and microblogging site Tumblr has drawn criticism from bloggers and internet experts. Tuesday saw the ministry, through its e-business director general Azhar Hasyim, declare that it would cleanse the Indonesian internet of 477 websites deemed 'pornographic', including Tumblr. The reason for the blockade, said Azhar, was because of the staggering amount of pornographic material and the presence of homosexual content made available to Indonesians on the site. However, the ministry backtracked on their decision to block the widely popular site on Wednesday due to the intense furor from Indonesian internet users. Ministry spokesperson Ismail Cawidu mentioned that the ministry's censorship panel would continue to evaluate the decision and that any decision made would ultimately be up to Communications and Information Minister Rudiantara and the censorship panel. 'While it is true Tumblr does not solely contain pornographic material, it is impossible for our internet service providers (ISPs) to single out particular accounts on the site. That's why we are asking Tumblr to do so themselves in order to align their content with the social norms that are suitable here,' Ismail said. Azhar reportedly sent a letter to Tumblr asking them to change their content to suit Indonesia's internet standards. The ministry has demanded that ISPs block the site while it awaits Tumblr's reply. As of writing, Tumblr.com still remains active and open to Indonesian internet users. Internet observers and bloggers have questioned the government's decision to block the site and have also questioned the government's ability to govern the internet. Damar Juniarto, regional coordinator for SafeNet and an internet expert, said that in the Tumblr fiasco, the government had demonstrated an unwise attitude toward addressing problems emanating from the internet, especially in light of the fact that its decisions were able to be altered so easily simply because of an uproar from Indonesia's internet users. 'The Tumblr blocking, along with the blocking of other sites such as Vimeo, shows that the government is operating with opaque methods in dealing with the internet. In other words, the governance of our internet is still not clear because of the easiness of their backtracking,' Damar said Friday. Meanwhile, blogger Aditya Eka Prawira, who runs the self-help blog adiitoo.com, said that the decision to declare a blockade of Tumblr without the presence of Rudiantara in the room was a 'total blunder' on the ministry's part. When Azhar declared the ministry's intention on Tuesday, Rudiantara was still in the US accompanying President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo on his state visit. However, Aditya acknowledged that the decision had already been approved by the minister. 'This reeks of the other blunder the government made with the banning of mobile transport apps such as Go-Jek earlier in the year. It was made for unclear reasons,' he said. However, he expressed his gratitude for the reversal of the ban. He further advised the ministry to surf the site to see that it was not just about pornography. 'If the reason is solely because of pornography, why not ban Facebook or Twitter as well? Even though their sites are not solely pornographic, there exists content that is pornographic,' Aditya added. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Luiz Alberto Figueiredo Machado (The Jakarta Post) Washington, DC Sat, February 20, 2016 On Monday Feb. 1, the WHO declared the Zika virus, transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, an international public health emergency. The announcement followed the declaration by Brazil of a national public health emergency. An outbreak of the Zika virus was detected last year in Brazil. The virus has since been found in several countries in Latin America and, more recently, the US. The main concern is over the virus's link to microcephaly, a congenital condition where a child is born with a smaller than normal head size and impaired brain development. The WHO declaration will allow for better coordination of actions and mobilization of the necessary funding in a global effort aimed at preventing the spread of the virus, as well as speeding up the research to develop a vaccine and new therapeutic drugs. Despite the real public health risk, it is important to avoid misinformation. At this point, there is no reason to cancel business or pleasure trips, but extra precautions must be taken by pregnant women, who should talk to a doctor before travelling to the most affected areas. The Zika is not a new Ebola, its symptoms being similar to a mild flu in adults. The Zika virus is of course a matter of concern, given association with microcephaly in newborn babies. More data and standardized protocols are needed before the link ' first discovered by Brazilian doctors ' between the virus and such cases of abnormally small heads and brain damage can be fully clarified. Microcephaly in newborn babies can also be caused by a number of other diseases. Health experts are dealing with something new: the link between Zika and microcephaly is unprecedented in the scientific literature and requires in-depth studies and analyses ' which are already underway ' both to find out what is really happening and to determine the risk level for pregnant women. The Brazilian Ministry of Health is currently investigating 3,670 suspected cases of microcephaly in the country. According to the latest information released on Feb. 2, 404 diagnoses of microcephaly were confirmed, of which 17 were linked to the Zika virus. Brazil and the world have the know-how [...] to meet the challenge. Another 709 suspected cases of microcephaly had their diagnosis discarded. This in no way diminishes the seriousness of the risk, nor does it weaken the resolve of the Brazilian government to take action. From a Brazilian perspective, this fight is global, regional, and national. Globally, the WHO will be the main coordinator of efforts in this fight to control the virus worldwide. On the regional level, Brazil is also in permanent contact with the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and regional partners, such as the United States. In a Jan. 29 telephone conversation, Presidents Dilma Rousseff and Barack Obama discussed shared concerns about the spread of the Zika virus in the Western Hemisphere. The leaders agreed on collaborative efforts to deepen our knowledge, advance research, and accelerate action to develop vaccines and other technologies to control the virus. They also agreed to continue to prioritize building national, regional, and global capacity to combat infectious disease threats more broadly. The heads of state decided to create a high-level group to build on the successful partnership already in place between the National Institutes of Health and the Butantan Institute, both of which are working together and testing a vaccine against dengue fever. At the domestic level, the Brazilian government is seriously addressing this issue as a matter of utmost importance, not only in view of the Olympics but also because of its potential long-term impact on the Brazilian people. The federal government has launched a three-front National Plan to Combat the Aedes and Microcephaly: prevention and combat against the Aedes aegypti; health care and assistance to pregnant women and children; and research. All efforts are coordinated by the federal government in partnership with State and local governments. In order to fight the vector of the infection, the mosquito, the Brazilian government has deployed 220,000 troops and 300,000 health agents, who are visiting communities to educate the population and help eliminate all mosquito breeding grounds. Insecticides and larvicides, as well as repellents, are also being employed as traditional weapons that proved efficient in the past. The mobilization also involves the civil society, schools, NGOs and other public and private institutions in a broad-based alliance to raise public awareness about the infection and prevent the spread of the disease. Apart from these more traditional strategies and the efforts to strengthen its healthcare network, Brazil is investing in technology and research to develop a vaccine and new therapies. A genetically modified mosquito, now under trial, could offer a new and promising weapon. Our national public health institutions are reaching out to their partners abroad to strengthen the research network and develop more efficient diagnostic kits, antiviral drugs and a Zika vaccine. In Brazil, the Butantan, Chagas, Pasteur and FioCruz Institutes operate as leading world-class institutions with vast experience in tropical diseases and a successful record in technological development. All the available expertise and manpower of these and other organizations is now directed toward this fight, in cooperation with international partners. The private sector, especially drug companies, is also investing in research into new and innovative ways to defeat the virus. This is an emergency, but Brazil and the world have the know-how and are able to muster the human and material resources to meet the challenge. As Brazil prepares for the Olympics in August, authorities are working hard to rid the Rio de Janeiro region and the whole country of Aedis aegypti mosquitoes. Moreover, the Olympics will take place during winter in the southern hemisphere, a period of cooler temperatures, which usually contribute to a sharp decrease in mosquito-borne illnesses. The Brazilian government promptly notified PAHO and WHO about the Zika outbreak and is taking the measures that have proved effective in similar situations in the past. I am certain that this strategy will pay off. While any reaction based on misinformation may disrupt our daily lives without helping to solve the problem, effective measures require scientifically consistent data, transparency, rational planning, and decisive action. The international community must unite in this global effort and draw the right lessons to improve the international framework for preventing and fighting epidemics and tropical diseases. Brazil will continue to do its part with resolve and determination. ______________ The writer is ambassador of Brazil to the US. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Fedina S. Sundaryani (The Jakarta Post) Sat, February 20, 2016 The National Police are set to receive an additional Rp 1.9 trillion (US$140 million) in the revised 2016 state budget, enabling them to complete the construction of a new headquarters for counterterrorism unit Densus 88. National Police chief Gen. Badrodin Haiti said the completion of the headquarters would boost the performance of Densus 88 in its counterterrorism efforts. 'We do not yet have details [of what the funds will be spent on]. However, it will definitely be partly used on the headquarters as Densus 88's working space is currently just wedged into other buildings,' he said on Friday at the National Police headquarters in South Jakarta. Densus 88 was established in 2004 following a number of attacks carried out by radical groups starting with the 2002 Bali bombings that left 202 people dead and hundreds more injured. The most recent attack on Jl. Thamrin in Central Jakarta, which was planned and executed by a group with links to the Islamic State (IS) movement, has put the country's counterterrorism efforts back into the spotlight and prompted the government to attempt to strengthen the unit through law revisions and additional funds. The anti-terror squad's new headquarters, located inside the Jakarta Police headquarters in South Jakarta, is around 80 percent complete after 10 years of work, and is expected to be ready at the end of this year. The Jakarta Police said they needed Rp 150 billion to finish construction of the headquarters. Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Tito Karnavian recently said that the police had only Rp 50 billion left for the project. Earlier this week, Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Luhut Pandjaitan announced that the government had earmarked Rp 1.9 trillion for Densus 88 for the construction of its headquarters and the procurement of weapons and equipment. On Friday, Badrodin also said that the additional funds would go into purchasing more advanced equipment and facilities as well as paying for the recruitment and training of Densus 88 personnel. 'We must improve their professionalism as well as their regeneration every year. There are a lot of skills [that must be improved], including surveillance and early detection skills. Furthermore, as technology improves all the time, the modus operandi of [terrorists] changes quickly,' he said. Currently, Densus 88 is conducting a massive operation to hunt down members of the radical East Indonesia Mujahidin (MIT) group in Poso, Central Sulawesi, with help from the Indonesian Military (TNI) and the police force's Mobile Brigade (Brimob). The most recent operation, code-named Tinombala, started at the beginning of the year after the Camar Maleo I through IV operations failed to captured MIT chief Santoso Abu Wardah last year. Brimob chief Insp. Gen. Murad Ismail said his personnel had been facing various challenges given their lack of exposure to mountainous terrain or the cold weather in the area. Although medical tests are administered on personnel before deployment, Murad said that the first 14 days of the operation had drained their physical and mental energy, which had led to several deaths. 'There are layers of mountains [in Poso]. It's not like Aceh. My personnel stay for a maximum of 14 days in the hills because they only pack enough food for 14 days. Although we choose light foods such as biscuits, they also have to carry clothes and weapons. Imagine bringing something that heavy while having to hunt people,' he said. Santoso and members of his group have used a strategy of trying to blend in with local communities and influence them in the process. Most locals fear Santoso and his underlings, Murad said, and rarely reported his presence in their village because they were scared of being killed. 'Most locals feel threatened and think that if they get too close to the police they will be killed too,' he said. ' JP/Fedina S. Sundaryani -------------------- To receive comprehensive and earlier access to The Jakarta Post print edition, please subscribe to our epaper through iOS' iTunes, Android's Google Play, Blackberry World or Microsoft's Windows Store. Subscription includes free daily editions of The Nation, The Star Malaysia, the Philippine Daily Inquirer and Asia News. For print subscription, please contact our call center at (+6221) 5360014 or subscription@thejakartapost.com Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin The Jakarta Post Sat, February 20, 2016 Jakarta Governor Basuki 'Ahok' Tjahaja Purnama has shown that he has good intentions and wishes to enforce the law. But his hasty iron fisted approach in dealing with thousands of the capital's underprivileged, including hundreds of sex workers, has not been met with compliance. Many Jakartans support efforts to uphold the law against illegal residences in Kalijodo and turn the area into green space, which Ahok insists is the reason for clearing out the long-time red-light district ' although the plan seems to have been triggered by a recent deadly accident in which the driver of a vehicle had been drinking in the area. Many may also hope that the exploitation of women by the lucrative sex business will end. Like the resettlement of inhabitants of the city's river embankments under former governor Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo, low-cost apartments will eventually house displaced residents. Kalijodo's closure should also strengthen Ahok's efforts to end chronic administrative corruption ' as the alleged squatters say they pay all kinds of dues including electricity and taxes. So what's all the fuss about? The area straddling North and West Jakarta, Ahok argues, must make way for a designated 1.6 hectares of green space. Though denying he is bent on ending prostitution, Ahok has labeled Kalijodo as hosting only law-defying prostitutes and thugs, though most residents are neither. Of some 3,000 residents comprising over 1,000 families, only 1,400 have jobs related to the red-light district, which includes cleaners. The city has promised only 300 low-cost apartments, leaving the rest to fend for themselves. Some inhabitants say the administration should include them in improving the area, instead of ejecting them with the help of the police and even the military. Governor Ahok's haste raises questions about whether he is wooing voters for next year's elections. Nevertheless, he could try a more cautious approach. Jokowi showed more sensitivity in resettling vendors and residents, and met less resistance. Ahok insists on clearing the area as soon as possible, defying police advice to wait until the Organization of Islamic Cooperation summit ends on March 7. Clearing a red-light district needs a more strategic and comprehensive approach than forcing residents, thugs and prostitutes to disperse in the deluded hope that they will return to their hometowns for good. The earlier closure of Kramat Tunggak, a larger red-light area, has led to uncertainty about how to monitor the health of returning sex workers. Social Affairs Minister Khofifah I. Parawansa has offered 2,000 women in Kalijodo a six-month training program at a garment factory with support payments of Rp 5 million (US$370) per person. Listening to them may lead to greater understanding about whether this offer is really appealing. Even the World Bank, criticized for displacing people in its projects, has resettlement standards, which include ensuring housing for each evicted family and avoiding further impoverishment of already poor people. Ahok himself has said Jakartans are accustomed to a harsh life. He needs to be more creative in applying his principle of 'governing with muscle', if indeed he knows what he is up against. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Djemi Amnifu (The Jakarta Post) Kupang Sat, February 20, 2016 For the past several weeks, Amos Talan, a resident of Kualin district in South Timor Tengah (TTS) regency, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), has started his day by praying that rain would fall over his village. The 46-year-old farmer, who makes a living by growing corn on his one-hectare farm, normally starts planting in December, but the absence of rain over the past couple of months has prevented him from doing so. 'Some villagers started planting in late December but their crop soon died because there was no rain,' he told The Jakarta Post on Friday. Amos' village, located some 120 kilometers east of the provincial capital of Kupang, however, is not the only place in NTT where farmers are struggling to make ends meet due to the prolonged dry season. While many parts of the archipelago saw the arrival of the rainy season in December, hundreds of villages in NTT have not seen rain over the past several months, forcing farmers in one of the country's poorest provinces to miss their planting season this year. In TTS alone, at least 115 villages in 15 districts have been struggling with drought, regent Paul Mella said. Among the affected districts are Bena, Kualin, Tuapakas, Kot'olin, Kolbano, Se'i and South Amanuban. 'Based on reports from district heads, rain only fell once in December with very low intensity. After that, the dry weather continued,' Paul said, blaming the situation on the El NiAo weather phenomenon. The latest data also showed that some 40 percent of the regency's 78,000 ha of cornfield had experienced severe drought, making it impossible for farmers to grow anything in the near future. Although some farmers have seen low-intensity rainfall and have planted their crops, their chance of experiencing harvest failure is still very high, Paul said. 'Harvest yields in many cornfields have recently dropped by 50 percent compared to yields in normal conditions,' he said. Corn requires between 60 and 100 days before it can be harvested depending on the variety of the corn. It is one of main staple foods in NTT and serves as an alternative to rice. NTT farmers can grow corn at least twice a year during the wet season, which normally falls from October to March in Indonesia. Last month, East Flores regent Yoseph Lagadoni Herin also shared similar anxieties. Yoseph said only 10 out of 250 villages in the regency still had the chance to deliver a proper harvest due to the long absence of rain in his region. 'I have visited a number of villages over the past few weeks,' he said as quoted by Antara news agency. 'Crops are not growing properly and the corn has also turned yellowish due to extremely low rainfall.' NTT, home to 5.3 million people, requires approximately 300,000 tons of rice per year for local consumption. Last month, the NTT branch of the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) claimed that they had 46,000 tons of rice in storage. In anticipation of a food crisis, Paul said his administration would distribute logistical aid to help farmers who experienced harvest failure. 'We have also been distributing seeds of drought-resistant plants, like tubers and palawija [secondary crops],' he said. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Agnes Anya (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sat, February 20, 2016 Five people have died and five others are injured following two separate fires in Tangerang, Banten, on Friday. The first fire broke out in the Dhamma Budhi Bakti temple, or Butong temple, on Jl. Bouraq in Neglasari, Tangerang, early on Friday morning, leaving four people dead and one injured. When the family-owned temple caught fire at around 3 a.m., the five people were sleeping in two different buildings in the temple complex. Among the victims, only the temple owner Beni survived although with serious hand injuries. Meanwhile, the other family members, identified as Selly, 28, Cing Cing, 10, Cek Api 60, and Soso, 60, died in the incident. A witness, Indri, 29, told reporters that neighbors had tried to help the victims but were hampered by its locked gate. 'We tried to find a way to save them. We went to the back of the temple and put a ladder against it but we could only save Beni, who slept in a different building,' Indri said. Indri said the alarm was raised by someone screaming for help. Soso apparently managed to get out of the temple, but went back inside to attempt to rescue the other family members. However, all four were soon engulfed in the blaze. 'We tried our best to save them,' Indri added. The fire, which severely damaged the temple, was eventually brought under control at 8 a.m. after four teams of Tangerang firefighters and four water trucks from the Tangerang Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) were deployed to the scene. The police have questioned several witnesses including Beni, to determine the cause of the fire. Based on preliminary investigations the police believe the fire was ignited by candles in the temple. In a separate location, a house caught fire in Ciakar village, Panongan, Tangerang regency. A 2-year-old boy, identified as Alfard Azesa, was killed and his parents and sister were badly injured. The boy's father, Zainaldi, 39, allegedly bootlegged subsidized gas from 3-kilogram canisters into unsubsidized 12-kg canisters in the house. Tangerang Police, suspect the fire was caused by an exploding gas canister. 'We cannot question Zainaldi now as he is still hospitalized as a result of his injuries,' said Tangerang Police chief Comr. Irman Sugema, adding that the police had seized 17 gas canisters from the house. The blast killed Alfard and caused 80 percent burn injuries to his mother Agustina, 35, and sister Gaisha Azesa, 7. Meanwhile, Zainaldi suffered 25 percent burns to his body. The survivors are being treated at Citra Raya Hospital, Panongan. The victims were initially assisted by Zainaldi's oldest son, Syahreza Algania 13, who was upstairs when the explosion occurred. Following the blast he rushed downstairs and found his badly injured mother and younger siblings lying on the floor. Syahreza immediately covered the children with a blanket and carried them outside. At the same time, Zainaldi helped his wife and took his family by car to the hospital, however, Alfard passed away en route to the hospital. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Tama Salim (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sat, February 20, 2016 As reports of vote-buying and money politics tied to the Golkar Party begin to make the rounds ahead of the party's upcoming congress to elect a new chairman, party leaders have pledged to lay out tough ground rules to keep the contest clean and free from corruption. Party chairman Aburizal Bakrie said on Friday that candidates would be disqualified if there was enough evidence to prove their complicity in dirty tricks. 'I want this congress to be clean. But honestly, sometimes it is hard to prove such allegations,' Aburizal said during a meeting with the party's many organizations in Jakarta on Friday. To curb any form of vote-buying, Aburizal said that the congress steering committee would devise a mechanism to better screen candidates. One such measure includes eliminating the requirement for candidates to submit letters of endorsement from the party's regional branches. During the 2014 Bali National Congress, candidates running for Golkar's top post needed to get 30 percent of 529 votes from regional branch leaders nationwide in order to join the race. The only way a candidate could apply for the leadership contest was by collecting endorsement letters from provincial and regency branch leaders. Aburizal won the vote by a landslide, leading his rivals to claim that the vote had been rigged. Shortly thereafter, current deputy chairman Agung Laksono held another congress that ended up choosing him as the party leader, a development that set into motion a year-long leadership dispute that is expected to be resolved in the upcoming congress. Agung, who was also present in Friday's meeting, said he was surprised by reports of vote-buying. Agung claimed to have received reports about such practices from regional branch executives set to participate in the congress. 'That's why I asked for the Corruption Eradication Commission [KPK] to monitor the congress from the very beginning,' he said. The KPK previously warned of possible vote-buying in the lead-up to the upcoming congress, though the anti-graft organization has no plan to monitor the Golkar congress, which is expected to take place in April. 'No such talks have taken place because this is the realm of politics,' KPK spokesperson Yuyuk Andriati told The Jakarta Post on Friday. Earlier this month, senior Golkar politician Nurdin Halid said that there was at least one candidate running for the party chairmanship who was involved in money politics. Nurdin claimed that an unnamed party branch leader from North Sulawesi had claimed to have been approached by a candidate who promised the regional party executive S$10,000 (US$7,107) in exchange for an endorsement in the leadership race. Nurdin said he was unable to name either party involved, but claimed that he had obtained a recording of the confession, a letter of endorsement and a chronology of the incident. Meanwhile, Golkar deputy treasurer Bambang Soesatyo, who backed the candidacy of current House of Representatives Speaker Ade Komaruddin, claimed to have also heard rumors of vote-buying ahead of the congress, but maintained that Ade was not involved in the dirty tactics. Meanwhile, Golkar politician Indra Bambang Utoyo blamed the ongoing conflict within the party on the practice of money politics. 'Golkar has become really pragmatic. Everything is becoming transactional. There is no idealism anymore. Selecting gubernatorial candidates, regents and lawmakers, all involves [transactional politics],' he told The Jakarta Post on Friday. ---------------------- To receive comprehensive and earlier access to The Jakarta Post print edition, please subscribe to our epaper through iOS' iTunes, Android's Google Play, Blackberry World or Microsoft's Windows Store. Subscription includes free daily editions of The Nation, The Star Malaysia, the Philippine Daily Inquirer and Asia News. For print subscription, please contact our call center at (+6221) 5360014 or subscription@thejakartapost.com Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Khoirul Amin (The Jakarta Post) Sat, February 20, 2016 In an effort to provide certainty for potential investors in the country's industrial zones, the Finance Ministry is set to issue a regulation on incentives for such zones, an official has said. Industry Ministry director general for industrial-estate development Imam Haryono said he expected that detailed incentives for industrial zones could soon be issued so that further development of industrial zones could go ahead. 'I thanked the Coordinating Economic Minister for issuing the new regulation on industrial zones on time, and we hope that a derivative regulation on fiscal incentives can be issued soon,' he said Thursday. Government Regulation No. 142/2015 on industrial zones, which came into effect on Dec. 28 last year, divides industrial zones into four categories, namely developed industrial development estates (WPI) in Java; developing WPI in southern Sulawesi, eastern Kalimantan, northern Sumatra (other than Batam, Bintan and Karimun) and southern Sumatra; potential WPI in northern Sulawesi, western Kalimantan, Bali and Nusa Tenggara; and potential WPI in Papua and West Papua. The Industry Ministry has proposed that greater incentives be given for less developed zones to lure more investors to go to those regions. The new regulation is set to provide tax incentives for industrial zones in the form of tax holidays and tax allowances. It is also set to provide regional incentives in the form of reductions, allowances or exemptions from regional taxes and/or levies. Among the regional taxes and levies are land and building acquisition fees, property tax (PBB) and street lighting tax (PPJ). The regulation also stipulates non-fiscal incentives, such as the revocation of requirements to obtain environmental licenses for tenants of industrial zones as long as the operators have already obtained the licenses for the whole area of the zones. Imam said the government aimed to ensure 60 percent to 70 percent of industrial activities in the country were carried out in industrial zones in the next 20 years. A number of sectors, such as small and medium industries, meanwhile were exempt from the stipulation, he said. Indonesian Industrial Estate Association (HKI) chairman Sanny Iskandar lauded the government's target as he said carrying out industrial activities in industrial zones was much more efficient than outside industrial zones. 'I think tenants in industrial zones can conduct their businesses efficiently as industrial zones provide more integrated infrastructure and utilities, pollution mitigation and transportation,' he said. Imam said that industrial zones, particularly those operated by the government, should aim to provide higher efficiency, productivity and innovation to attract more companies to the zones. According to the Industry Ministry's estimate, only 6 percent of total industrial zone areas are managed by the government through state-owned enterprises or local administrations, with the remainder operated by private businesses. Industry Ministry data show that in 2014 there were 74 industrial zones with a total area of 36,295 hectares. ' JP/Khoirul Amin ------------------- To receive comprehensive and earlier access to The Jakarta Post print edition, please subscribe to our epaper through iOS' iTunes, Android's Google Play, Blackberry World or Microsoft's Windows Store. Subscription includes free daily editions of The Nation, The Star Malaysia, the Philippine Daily Inquirer and Asia News. For print subscription, please contact our call center at (+6221) 5360014 or subscription@thejakartapost.com Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Fedina S. Sundaryani and Tama Salim (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sat, February 20, 2016 Members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community are anxious about the government and the general public's recent harsh attacks on their sexual orientation. Openly gay Dimas Merdeka, 25, said that although he never expected much from the government, the ongoing discrimination from officials had left him feeling hurt. Dimas said the government and the state were obliged by the Constitution to protect all Indonesians. 'Well, I'm a gay man and I feel like I've been discriminated against in my own house. We don't expect anything from the government, so they should just leave us alone. ['] We as Indonesian citizens need to be protected and accepted as long as we don't overrule or threaten other people's lives,' he told The Jakarta Post on Friday. Dimas, who came out to his mother when he was 17, said he was realistic and did not expect gay marriage to be legalized in the next few years. However, he was worried that the current anti-LGBT atmosphere would prove harmful for young teenagers still discovering their sexual identity. 'I think it may be harmful for teenagers because they are physically and mentally fragile. Not every teen and kid has a very proud and accepting mum with a religious upbringing. How would you feel if you were growing up and you thought that in the future you could not go to school or get a job?' he said. Similar concern for LGBT teenagers was expressed by 24-year-old Rocky Intan. 'Personally, it's hurtful but it's something I've dealt with. I've heard people say [discriminatory things] a lot of times before but I think I've developed a thicker skin. I'm disappointed but what do you expect? This is a Muslim-majority country, but I'm worried for young teenage LGBTs,' he said. Rocky, who works as a researcher, explained that LGBT youth had a hard enough time dealing with the fact that family members might not accept them if they came out publicly. 'It would be significantly harder knowing that society is against you through legislation, among other things, when in fact I believe that coming out publicly is very important for us,' he said. The regularity of derogatory comments against LGBT people has sharply increased in the past month. Recently, Health Ministry officials became the latest party to make such comments by saying that LGBT people were prone to psychiatric problems such as depression due to certain problems in their families or environments. Health Ministry secretary-general Untung Suseno Sutarjo emphasized that identifying as LGBT was not a mental disorder. He said he was just afraid that it could be dangerous if people talked about the issue too much because people in remote areas, children and teenagers and those currently unaware of LGBT issues would become familiar with the topic. Furthermore, he added that being transgender could be considered a biological disorder such as a genetic irregularity found on a person's chromosome. Meanwhile, People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Speaker Hidayat Nur Wahid made clear his opposition to the LGBT community, likening the group's struggles to legitimize themselves to a band of pickpockets attempting to win legal recognition for their activities. While the senior Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) politician acknowledged that the LGBT community was a reality of life in Indonesia, he categorized them as thieves and corruptors. 'Problematic realities must be corrected, or in their case, cured,' he said. Nurul Fitri Ramadhani also contributed to the story. ---------------------- To receive comprehensive and earlier access to The Jakarta Post print edition, please subscribe to our epaper through iOS' iTunes, Android's Google Play, Blackberry World or Microsoft's Windows Store. Subscription includes free daily editions of The Nation, The Star Malaysia, the Philippine Daily Inquirer and Asia News. For print subscription, please contact our call center at (+6221) 5360014 or subscription@thejakartapost.com Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin The Jakarta Post Jakarta Sat, February 20, 2016 JAKARTA: City commuter train operator PT KAI Commuter Jabodetabek (KCJ) has committed to improving access for passengers with disabilities at stations and on trains. KCJ spokeswoman Eva Chairunisa said that beginning early this year, the company had provided wheelchairs at all stations in the capital along with ramp facilities and manual gates at 21 stations. The facilities are hoped to help disabled passengers access stations and trains. Eva added that KCJ had equipped 38 stations with information boards that allowed passengers with hearing impairments to access train route information. For visually impaired passengers, the company provides regular audio announcements at stations. 'We will improve the services gradually to provide sufficient access for all passengers, including those with disabilities,' Eva said on Friday, adding that disabled passengers could also ask for assistance from security officers assigned at the stations and trains. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin The Jakarta Post Depok Sat, February 20, 2016 DEPOK: Six youths were detained on Thursday night for allegedly gang raping a female junior high school student at an empty house in Laguna Complex, Tapos, Depok, West Java. Cimanggis Police precinct chief Comr. Arlon Sitinjak said the six people aged between 15 and 19 years old had been declared suspects and would be charged under Article 81 on child rape of the Child Protection Law, which carries a maximum sentence of 15 years behind bars. Arlon said that based on the report filed by the victim's family, the incident occurred last week when one of the suspects FP, 15, and his five friends made an appointment to meet with the victim at an empty house in Laguna Complex. The victim, who is an ex-girlfriend of FP, arrived at the meeting point with two of her female friends, but her friends returned home early, leaving the victim alone with the six suspects. 'That's when the six suspects took turns to rape the victim,' said Arlon as quoted by tribunnews.com. When the suspect returned home, she reported the incident to her parents who directly filed a report with the police. 'Based on the report, we arrested the suspects at their houses,' said Arlon. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin The Jakarta Post Jakarta Sat, February 20, 2016 JAKARTA: Twenty female police cadets were rushed to the National Police Hospital after falling violently ill due to food they ate at the Soekarno-Hatta airport in Tangerang, Banten, on Thursday. Jakarta Police medical division head Sr. Comr. Musyafak said the police cadets had eaten at a canteen at the airport. 'They suffered digestive system infections and kept on vomiting, but they have recovered now,' he said on Friday as quoted by wartakotalive.com. He claimed that the poisoning was caused by food boxes, which contained rice, chicken liver, jackfruit curry and hot sauce. He said the police cadets were now in good condition after undergoing medical treatment at the National Police Hospital in Kramatjati, East Jakarta. The 20 police cadets were at the airport completing apprenticeships as part of the police entrance selection process. Completing the apprenticeship is the final stage cadets have to undergo before evaluation and acceptance into the force. If they pass selection, the 20 candidates will be officially inducted as police officers at the end of this month. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Bambang Muryanto (The Jakarta Post) Yogyakarta Sat, February 20, 2016 Dozens of Islamic Jihad Front (FJI) members visited on Friday the Al Fatah Islamic boarding school for transgender students in Sayangan hamlet, Kotagede district, Yogyakarta, with the school pledging not to bow to acts of intimidation. 'We just wanted to check whether they were conducting deviant acts. We wanted to straighten it out,' FJI commander Abu Hamdan told journalists upon finding the school empty after the students were evacuated by police for security reasons. Hamdan and his fellow group members left the compound, which was guarded by scores of police officers, after handing over a letter to the hamlet chief Gatot Indriyanto, calling on the transgender students to return to 'the right way'. At the same time, school chairperson Shinta Ratri reported the group to the police for intimidation. 'We have also secured protection from the police,' she added. Ratri said she and other transgender people would not abandon the school, saying it was her home. Banguntapan Police chief Comr. Suharno said the police would provide protection. 'It's my area; I will give a security guarantee,' Suharno said. The school is based in a traditional Javanese style joglo house, which was built in the 1800s and belonged to Ratri's grandmother before being passed down to her mother. The school, which was founded by the late Maryani in 2008, was previously located in Notoyudan. Maryani previously made headlines for her failed attempt to reach Mecca, Saudi Arabia, in 2012 because of documentation problems. However, Maryani's dream of pilgrimage to the holy land eventually came true in 2013. She flew to Mecca on April 26 and returned on May 5 after performing all the pillars of umrah (minor haj). The school, which is supported by Nahdlatul Ulama University in Jepara, Central Java, offers various subjects, such as transgenderism and Islam, Koran reading and shalat (prayer) lessons. The school moved to Ratri's house after Maryani passed away in March 2014. The school's supervisory board member Abdul Muhaimin deplored the FJI's actions, calling on the group to respect the religious rights of transgender people. 'I'm very angry at the FJI. They don't care about transgender people; they even destroy them,' said Muhaimin, who is also the leader of Nurul Umahat Pesantren in Kotagede. He said the country's only Islamic boarding school for transgender students was well supported by Nahdlatul Ulama University and had been visited by many domestic and overseas researchers. Budi Wahyuni of the National Commission on Violence Against Women called on the government to protect transgender people, saying they had equal rights as citizens and should not be subjected to violence from other parties. 'I hope police protect the school and do not ask the transgender students to leave the area,' Budi said. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Corry Elyda (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sat, February 20, 2016 The Jakarta administration is gearing up to clear Kalijodo, one of Southeast Asia's oldest red-light districts, which stretches between the West Flood Canal (BKB) and the Krendang River in North and West Jakarta. The eviction, slated for Feb. 29, is likely to affect the lives of more than 3,000 Kalijodo residents. Around 200 residents staged a protest in front of City Hall on Friday against the eviction plan. 'We want justice. Where is Ahok's responsibility? We are not animals,' said Lusi, one of the residents' representatives. City secretary Saefullah said during a coordination meeting with agencies and working units that he had told all officials involved in the eviction program to plan well in order that the whole process would run smoothly. Saefullah said he had instructed the Public Order Agency (Satpol PP) to ensure that all the 250 semi permanent and 300 permanent buildings in Kalijodo were empty during the demolition. The city, he said, would deploy 15 excavators to ensure that the demolition of buildings on the 1.6-hectare site could all be done on Feb. 29. He added that all buildings with the exception of a mosque should be destroyed that day. 'This includes an 800-square-meter vermicelli factory whose right to build [HGB] certificate contravenes the Spatial Planning bylaw,' he said. Saefullah said that Satpol PP personnel would check all houses one by one in order to make sure that all the occupants and their furniture had been relocated. He said trucks and buses would be deployed to take any residents still in the area on eviction day, and their belongings, to low-cost apartments (rusunawa). Saefullah said that other officers would also ensure that electricity had been shut off. 'Ambulances and medics will also stand by for any emergency situation,' he said. He added that he had instructed the Legal Affairs Bureau to send letters to the Ombudsman and the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) to assist the city administration in executing the plan. The secretary also instructed the Parks and Cemeteries Agency to immediately build parks on the cleared land. 'The land will be cleared on Feb. 29 and March 1, the agency can start to work the next day,' he said, adding that the Water Management Agency could also start its job of dredging and sheet-piling the Krendang River. The decision to shut down Kalijodo reemerged following a fatal drunk-driving accident earlier this month that left four people dead. The driver reportedly admitted to the police that he and his friends had been drinking in Kalijodo prior to the crash. After issuing the first warrant of eviction this week, the city plans to issue the second one on Monday and the third on Feb. 28, a day before the planned eviction. Satpol PP head Kukuh Hadisantoso said he was preparing to deploy 2,500 personnel. 'Each municipality will deploy 500 personnel,' he said, adding that around 100 officers would be equipped with riot equipment. Parks and Cemeteries Agency head Ratna Dyah said she was currently finalizing the design of the park in Kalijodo. 'The park will have a green area, seating, a jogging track, children's playground and a bike lane,' she said. Housing and Administration Buildings Agency head Ika Pudji Lestari said her agency had prepared 400 rusunawa units in Marunda, North Jakarta, and Pulo Gebang, East Jakarta. 'Forty one out of 86 families in West Jakarta have taken part in the lottery for the units,' she said. Ika said that she was still gathering data on families with Jakarta IDs in North Jakarta. 'North Jakarta has 126 buildings. So, 400 units will be enough,' she said. Regarding the funding for the eviction, Jakarta Development Planning Board (Bappeda) head Tuty Kusumawati said it would come from programs related to regulating and re-greening public spaces. 'We can allocate the funds from general programs. For example, the Ciliwung River normalization funds can also be used for the eviction,' she said. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Ina Parlina and Tama Salim (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sat, February 20, 2016 As the House of Representatives fails to reach agreement over its plan to amend the law governing the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), the administration of President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo continues to oscillate between supporting the House's amendments and proclaiming its opposition. With Jokowi maintaining his silence over the planned amendments, one of his most senior ministers has said that Jokowi would only support the House's plan if it agreed to four specific provisions. Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Luhut Pandjaitan said that one of key proposals the government emphasized was that the KPK's wiretapping authority must remain free of any interference, including from an oversight committee such as that currently proposed by the House. 'The wiretapping will be under the authority of the KPK,' Luhut said. In regard to the issue of halting ongoing probes, Luhut said the KPK should only make the decision after the person of interest was deceased or had suffered a terminal illnesses that would prevent them from standing trial. Another proposal from the government was that the KPK be invested with the authority to recruit independent investigators, Luhut said. Luhut was quick to add that the current batch of KPK leaders, who have publicly opposed any amendment to the KPK's authority, could not reject the government's proposals because they were only authorized to implement the law. Presidential spokesman Johan Budi, a former KPK commissioner, meanwhile, maintained that Jokowi had remained consistent in supporting the nation's anticorruption campaign and would withdraw from the deliberations if the draft bill included provisions that could weaken the KPK. 'The President is open to the possibility of reviewing the government's support for the revision. He will probably do it next week because he has just returned home from a working visit to the US,' Johan said on Friday. Johan was quick to emphasize that he was only conveying the President's message and was not representing the government or the ministers. Johan's gesture suggests that the government may be split on the issue and raises the speculation that the President could once again use public opinion to shield him from political pressure over the controversial plan. Early last year, Jokowi's prolonged indecisiveness on the nomination of Comr. Gen. Budi Gunawan as National Police chief led to a standoff between the KPK and the National Police and drained much of his political capital. Speaking to the media in his capacity as a former KPK commissioner, Johan challenged one of Luhut's proposals, saying that the ability to stop an investigation would allow outsiders to meddle with the KPK's work. Friday also saw more confusion when Johan, after checking with State Secretary Pratikno, denied a statement from Luhut that claimed Jokowi had signed a directive allowing the House to press ahead with its amendment plan, even though the House has thus far failed to officially adopt the draft bill. The President can only issue such a directive if the House has officially adopted a legislative proposal. Following another delay to adopt the KPK amendments on Friday, the House requested a meeting with Jokowi and urged the President to be firm in his commitment to the House's revisions. House Deputy Speaker Fadli Zon said leaders from the legislative body (Baleg) planned to consult with Jokowi to clarify the government's stance on the issue. Fadli said he was concerned that the government might criticize the legislative body for pushing through with the amendments. He said that legislators would prefer not to waste time making amendments if the government planned to reject their work. 'The government must be clear in its stance. If they endorse it, then say so. If not, then just say no. We don't want this to drag on,' Fadli told reporters. ---------------------- To receive comprehensive and earlier access to The Jakarta Post print edition, please subscribe to our epaper through iOS' iTunes, Android's Google Play, Blackberry World or Microsoft's Windows Store. Subscription includes free daily editions of The Nation, The Star Malaysia, the Philippine Daily Inquirer and Asia News. For print subscription, please contact our call center at (+6221) 5360014 or subscription@thejakartapost.com Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin The Jakarta Post Jakarta Sat, February 20, 2016 JAKARTA: The National Police have decided to halt a probe into an alleged assault by Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) politician Masinton Pasaribu. The National Police's Criminal Investigation Corps (Bareskrim) made the move following a decision by the alleged victim of the assault, Masinton's aide Dita Aditia Ismawati, to withdraw her complaint. 'Based on existing Criminal Code Procedures, law enforcement agencies have to honor the decision made by an individual who has withdrawn his or her report and wants the case to be dropped,' head of Bareskrim's general crimes division Brig. Gen. Agus Andrianto said. Dita arrived at the National Police headquarters on Thursday night to withdraw her assault report against Masinton. Masinton, an outspoken lawmaker from the PDI-P, allegedly hit Dita after finding out she was meeting with colleagues from the NasDem Party. Masinton, who often makes headlines for his controversial statements, allegedly punched Dita because he had reason to believe she would reveal secrets to her friends. Earlier, Masinton claimed that Dita had been accidentally hit by his driver's gemstone ring after she tried to take control of the steering wheel while intoxicated. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin The Jakarta Post Jakarta Sat, February 20, 2016 JAKARTA: Secretary general of the Democratic Party Hinca Panjaitan has demanded that ministers in the administration of President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo stop pinning blame for their lackluster performance on decisions made by Jokowi's predecessor Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY). 'We have kept track from the start of this administration. Some of the ministers openly put the blame on us,' Hinca said as quoted by tribunnews.com. Hinca said that several ministers were in fact using Yudhoyono as a scapegoat for many of their failures. 'It would be better if they resigned after realizing that they've failed to find solutions to their problems,' he said. Earlier this week, Yudhoyono posted on his Twitter account statements from a number of Jokowi's ministers who have blamed him for some of the current problems in the country. 'Even today, SBY and SBY's administration are being used as scapegoats by those in power,' Yudhoyono said in one of his tweets sent on Wednesday. This is not the first time Yudhoyono has taken a swipe at Jokowi. In 2014, Yudhoyono warned Jokowi against becoming a tyrant. 'Learn lessons from the world. Any leader, whose words and deeds are always perceived to be true, could become a dictator or a tyrant even if he or she is not aware of it,' he said. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Ni Komang Erviani, Andi Hajramurni and Arya Dipa (The Jakarta Post) Denpasar/Makassar/Bandung Sat, February 20, 2016 The government's new policy requiring modern retailers to charge customers for plastic bags will begin slowly as local administrations in Denpasar and Makassar revealed on Friday that they were unable to implement the program on schedule due to paperwork issues. Under the policy, scheduled to be implemented in nine major cities starting Sunday, to coincide with National Waste Awareness Day, customers must pay for plastic bags when they shop at malls, department stores, supermarkets and other modern retail outlets. The program, expected to eventually be implemented in a total of 23 major cities, is aimed at reducing plastic waste in Indonesia, a country that consumes up to 9.8 billion plastic bags every year. Among the first cities set to implement the policy are Jakarta, Bandung, Bogor, Banda Aceh, Surabaya, Tangerang and Balikpapan. Makassar and Denpasar were to be among the first but confirmed on Friday that they would postpone. Speaking to The Jakarta Post, Denpasar Environment Agency head AA Bagus Sudharsana said that the municipal administration was not ready to implement the policy as it needed more time to discuss it with local retailers. Sudharsana said the agency had set up a meeting with five retail companies next week and was expecting to wrap up a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the new policy by Friday. 'Thus, we will be able to introduce the program after the MoU's signing' he said, adding that his agency had also notified the Environment and Forestry Ministry's Bali office about the postponement. Meanwhile in Makassar, municipal administration secretary Ibrahim Saleh said that the South Sulawesi provincial capital had postponed the implementation of the policy until March 5, during which time leaders of the province's 23 regions would gather with the Indonesian Retailers Association (Aprindo) to sign an MoU regarding the program. 'We will implement the policy after the signing,' he said. Data from the Environment and Forestry Ministry shows that people consume up to 9.8 billion plastic bags every year in Indonesia, with 95 percent of the bags made with plastics that take a considerable length of time to break down naturally. The ministry's decision to issue a circular stating that retailers should start charging for plastic bags was inspired by petitions both online and offline, which attracted 70,000 signatures. In Bandung, retailers have expressed their support for the implementation of the policy in the West Java provincial capital. Solo Grand Mall public-relations officer Ni Wayan Ratrina, for example, claimed that the mall management had informed its tenants about the program and would soon share it with visitors. Not everyone, however, is aware of the plan to introduce new fees on plastic bags. Lita Angeline of Medan, North Sumatra, who works as a cashier in an Alfarmart minimarket on Jl. Jamin Ginting, said she had never heard of the program. 'The company has yet to inform us about it,' she said. Apriadi Gunawan in Medan and Ganug Nugroho Adi in Surakarta contributed to the article Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Fedina S. Sundaryani (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sat, February 20, 2016 The National Police have criticized the Attorney General's Office's (AGO) plan to drop an assault case involving the Corruption Eradication Commission's (KPK) top investigator Novel Baswedan, saying that a criminal trial would be the only way to bring closure to the controversial case. National Police chief Gen. Badrodin Haiti said that a trial could provide legal certainty as to whether the KPK investigator was innocent of assault charges. 'From the National Police's perspective, we hope that this case, which has been fully investigated by our investigators, will reach the court. Why? So that we can have legal certainty ['] so that the public can judge for themselves,' Badrodin said on Friday at the National Police headquarters in South Jakarta. Attorney General M. Prasetyo recently withdrew Novel's case dossier from the Bengkulu District Court after receiving instructions from President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo to settle all controversial cases involving Novel and two former KPK commissioners, Abraham Samad and Bambang Widjojanto. Although Prasetyo is currently preparing to issue a deponering (the ending of a prosecution deemed not in the public interest) in Abraham's and Bambang's cases, he is likely to let Novel's decade-old case expire as the Criminal Code (KUHP) stipulates that law enforcement institutions have a maximum of 12 years to investigate and prosecute a criminal case. However, Prasetyo revealed on Thursday afternoon that the AGO had returned Novel's case dossier to the Bengkulu prosecutor's office. 'Novel's case has been returned to Bengkulu for an administrative purpose,' Prasetyo said while on an official visit to Lampung. Meanwhile, head of the Bengkulu prosecutor's office, Ali Mukartono, said that he had not received the case dossier yet but he confirmed that the case was still registered at his office. 'The [dossier] may still be at the AGO's junior attorney for general crimes. The Attorney General would not just give it directly to me,' he said. Upon receiving the dossier, the Bengkulu prosecutor's office is expected to decide the future of Novel's case with the local prosecutor's office. 'The prosecutors will have to discuss it because this is a joint effort between the provincial prosecutor's office and the city prosecutor's office,' Ali said. The police are not the only ones pushing for the case to go to trial. Novel's alleged assault victims, who accused the former Bengkulu Police detective chief of shooting them in 2004, had visited the KPK and AGO headquarters to demand that the case move forward. The victims' lawyer, Yuliswan, said Novel should face trial as the charges were based on fact and had not stemmed from a conflict between the KPK and the National Police. Novel is accused by the police of shooting robbery suspects during his tenure as Bengkulu Police detective chief in 2004. The police first reopened the investigation into Novel in 2012 after the antigraft body named then National Police Traffic Corps (Korlantas) chief Insp. Gen. Djoko Susilo a graft suspect. --------------------- To receive comprehensive and earlier access to The Jakarta Post print edition, please subscribe to our epaper through iOS' iTunes, Android's Google Play, Blackberry World or Microsoft's Windows Store. Subscription includes free daily editions of The Nation, The Star Malaysia, the Philippine Daily Inquirer and Asia News. For print subscription, please contact our call center at (+6221) 5360014 or subscription@thejakartapost.com Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Dylan Amirio (The Jakarta Post) Sat, February 20, 2016 Telecommunications company PT Smartfren Telecom aims to inch further into digital innovation by introducing Voice Over LTE (VoLTE) technology in two of its newest smartphones, as a way to fully utilize its 4G network. In a move that the company described as a 'first in Indonesia', Smartfren's two new Andromax smartphones, the R2 and the E2, will feature the technology. VoLTE is a system that enables better quality video calling for users as it carries voice calls on the 4G network instead of the cellular network. Smartfren president director Merza Fachys said VoLTE was one of the most innovative methods of communication in the digital era as it was able to enrich the quality of video conference calls, thus increasing efficiency. 'VoLTE enables us to strengthen our position as Indonesia's prime cellular service provider. It introduces a kind of technology which will prove to be crucial in the future,' Merza told reporters on Friday. The VoLTE feature will initially only be available on the two new Andromax smartphones. However, Smartfren said there were plans to make the VoLTE feature commercially available in the near future. Merza added that the new phones would be Smartfren's newest entries into the entry-level smartphone market, supporting a plan from Communications and Information Minister Rudiantara for more affordable smartphones below Rp 1 million in order to further increase usage of the country's relatively new 4G broadband network. 'The Andromax E2 and R2 show our commitment toward enriching the entry-level smartphone market in Indonesia. Aside from that, we hope that by introducing the new VoLTE feature in these phones it will accelerate the 4G/LTE network's penetration throughout all areas in Indonesia in order to enrich its digital ecosystem,' he said. Merza said Smartfren planned to expand its 4G network to about 160 cities by the end of 2016, with 85 cities carrying Smartfren's network as of the end of 2015. The company has more than 1.2 million users on its 4G network at present, from a total user base of 13 million nationwide. Smartfren said earlier that 70 percent of its user base was still using feature phones, and that only 2 million users were using smartphones. Meanwhile, Smartfren's networks vice president Munir Syahda Prabowo added that while Smartfren and other companies continued to race for the most innovative methods to deliver their 4G networks, the main problem remained educating and spreading information to the public on how the network worked. 'What is still needed now is to educate the public on the benefits of the 4G network so that they can be gradually encouraged to switch from their old CDMA networks to 4G. We are teaming up with digital communities in several cities to help us educate the public,' Munir said. According to data from a 2015 report by Juniper Research, the number of VoLTE connections worldwide could reach 2 billion by 2020, with 123 million recorded in 2015. ' JP/Dylan Amirio Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Corry Elyda (The Jakarta Post) Sat, February 20, 2016 City-owned bus operator PT Transportasi Jakarta (Transjakarta) is considering cooperating with individuals who own Metromini medium-sized buses as the buses' umbrella company is still in dispute. While other bus operators operate under one legal entity, Metromini buses have long been divided into several groups, which hampers plans to integrate them with Transjakarta. Transjakarta president director Budi Kaliwono said Thursday that despite the ongoing internal dispute at PT Metro Mini, his company would keep trying to put the buses under its management. 'As many as 40 owners of Metromini buses met with us today to talk about the cooperation,' Budi told reporters at City Hall. Budi said that he and the city administration were now trying to figure out cooperation schemes with the individual owners of the buses. 'I hope we can finalize the cooperation scheme within three months,' he said. The company will also gradually replace rickety Metromini buses with new ones, he said. 'We will have 500 new buses in May,' he said. For years, Metromini has built up a reputation for having reckless drivers and vehicles that are no longer roadworthy. According to the Organization of Land Transportation Owners (Organda), only 10 percent of the 1,600 Metromini buses that operate in the capital are in good condition. Support for integrating Metromini with Transjakarta intensified after a Jakarta Transportation Agency crackdown on non-roadworthy buses that contributed significantly to traffic accidents. Budi said the transportation agency would also revamp the bus routes. 'However, I think changes will be insignificant because Metromini serves high-demand routes,' he said. Budi said that like bus companies Kopaja and Mayasari Bakti that had joined Transjakarta, the owners of Metromini should also undergo the same procedures. 'Their services should be listed with the Government Procurement Regulatory Body [LKPP],' he said. Each entry, he suggested, should include the specifications of the operator's buses and the rupiah-per-kilometer tariff for each bus. Jakarta Governor Basuki 'Ahok' Tjahaja Purnama said that since individuals were not allowed to list their services with the LKPP, the city administration would try to find other schemes. Ahok said that those owners could form a cooperative, so they could be listed under one legal entity. PT Metro Mini president director Nofrialdi said that he did not mind if the bus owners preferred to directly cooperate with Transjakarta. 'Our buses are not compatible anymore. The city requires minimum 9-meter long buses. The city will help us to figure out how individuals can sign up with the LKPP and what kind of specs we need to meet,' said the director who also owns a number of buses. The transportation agency recently revealed that 124 routes serviced by full-size buses were set to be discontinued as their operators had agreed to join with Transjakarta. The routes to be discontinued include Mayasari Bakti's Route 03 from Tanjung Priok in North Jakarta to Kalideres in West Jakarta, Steady Safe 921 from Blok M in South Jakarta to Kampung Melayu in East Jakarta and Steady Safe 948 from Tanjung Priok to Kampung Melayu. 'JP/Corry Elyda Earlier this month, we reported that the city has hired a new construction manager to complete the long-delayed Pier 35 eco-park and a section of the East River Esplanade between Catherine Slip and Pike Slip. Hunter Roberts Construction is taking over from the previous contractor. Officials with the NYC Economic Development Corp. (EDC) told members of Community Board 3s parks committee that work should resume this coming summer. Today, we have more on another aspect of the Hunter Roberts contract: construction of a pavilion at Rutgers Slip. The EDC team said the design of the pavilion is being reworked to conform with post-Hurricane Sandy resiliency standards. Theyre trying to win approval for a variance from the citys Board of Standards and Appeals. Back in 2011, the EDC put out a Request for Expressions of Interest (RFEI), asking for ideas from: experienced and qualified individuals, companies, and/or organizations either alone or in partnership interested in programming a to-be-built enclosed pavilion and certain outdoor space located at the intersection of Rutgers Slip and South Street along the East River Waterfront Esplanade on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. It is contemplated that the Pavilion will house two unique uses: 1) a restaurant, retail, or other commercial use and 2) a non-profit, educational, and/or community use pursuant to a lease or other occupancy agreement. During this months community board meeting, city officials acknowledged that the commercial facility is no longer part of the plan. In response to a question from a CB3 member, they indicated that there were apparently no viable responses to the RFEI. But there was, in fact, at least one proposal for the pavilion from a community-based organization, the Two Bridges Neighborhood Council. In the past few days, that organization has shared portions of their application with us. It included followup submissions to the EDC answers to questions city officials asked during face-to-face meetings about the Two Bridges proposal. The organization wanted a 20-year lease for the pavilion. It planned to operate a community facility out of the building and to sub-lease a 300 sq. ft. space to Veselka, the legendary 2nd Avenue Ukranian restaurant. Veselka would have been able to use a 700 sq. ft. outdoor seating area for customers. Among the materials submitted was a letter from Veselka owner Tom Birchard confirming his interest in operating a snack bar. Two Bridges lined up a number of partners, including Hamilton Madison House, Immigrant Social Services, Hester Street Collaborative, the LES Ecology Center and the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council. There were to be daytime exercise and wellness classes, an after school program specific to the East River-environment and evening/weekend cultural events. There was even a plan to attract a green market to the location. In the packet, there were letters of support for the proposal from State Sen. Daniel Squadron and City Council member Margaret Chin. The organization never received any kind of response from the city. In the middle of last year, the city put out a new Request for Proposals (RFP), encompassing Pier 35, sections of the esplanade and the Rutgers Slip Pavilion. That document, which was recently sent to us by the EDCs press office, notes that the pavilion will include a community space, maintenance storage space and public restrooms. It makes no mention of a potential food vendor. Theres also no commercial space set aside in diagrams the city has filed with the Board of Standards and Appeals (see above). So whats the upshot? At the moment, its unclear whether the community will have a role in determining the design and programming of the undefined community space. We have asked EDC officials for an answer to this question. Well let you know what we hear. Meanwhile, Victor Papa, president of the Two Bridges Neighborhood Council, says hes dismayed that his organization never heard a response from the city regarding the 2011 proposal. Hes asking Community Board 3 to help get some answers from the city about the process going forward. Many of the questions being asked the other night at the parks committee meeting were posed by Trever Holland. Hes a board member as well as head of the tenant association at Two Bridges Tower, which is located just across from the pavilion site. He recently expressed concerns in a letter to CB3 leaders and city officials about the project. Our community should have a say in whatever process will be used to determine the uses for the community space, he wrote. Holland said local residents, not just local community-based organizations, should have a role in making those decisions. UPDATED 2/20 A spokesperson for the Economic Development Corp. tells us the city intends to work with stakeholders to determine a use that meets the communitys needs. (front page) Syrian people face catastrophe as regime, allies press attacks Russian bombers and some 20,000 ground troops led by Iranian special forces, Hezbollah combatants and irregular forces from Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere under Iranian command continue their murderous assault on opponents of the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad around Aleppo, once the countrys largest city. At the same time, Washington continues efforts to firm up a political bloc with Moscow and Tehran to put a cease-fire in place and defend its imperial interests in the region. There has been no pause in Moscows bombing and the Assad regimes moves against Aleppo since the Feb. 11 United Nations announcement that a Washington-Moscow-led gathering had reached agreement on a cease-fire to take effect in a week. Washington says it has no plans to interfere with the advance of the pro-Assad forces. With callous indifference to the fate of tens of thousands trapped in Aleppo, U.S. Army spokesman Col. Steve Warren told the press he considered the situation there dire, but our focus really is to defeat ISIL [Islamic State], so thats where our focus remains. At Washingtons initiative, President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin consulted Feb. 14 and agreed they would work in even closer collaboration on efforts to achieve a cease-fire. At the same time, both Moscow and Tehran said they had no intention of stopping military operations against terrorists, meaning opponents of Assads regime. A Russian military official told the Wall Street Journal that Moscow would step up use of heavy weaponry to take Aleppo. How do you clear out your enemy he said. You level the city mostly with artillery. While the Obama administration cries crocodile tears over Aleppo in public, in fact they see Moscows moves to reinforce the Assad regime as increasing the chance of stability there. Washington rules out any possibility of its forces conducting a ground war in Syria or Iraq. The disastrous toll on working people in Syria from bombs, starvation sieges and murderous assaults by the regime and its allies was released Feb. 11 by the Syrian Center for Policy Research. It documents that the death toll in the war is nearly half a million people, not the 250,000 that has been repeated for some time since the United Nations stopped counting. Of the 470,000 Syrians who have died, some 400,000 perished from the violent war itself; the rest as a result of malnutrition and disease in the absence of health care, food and sanitation. Nearly 1.9 million Syrians have been injured, meaning that 10 percent of Syrians have been killed or injured. Life expectancy dropped from 70.5 years in 2010 to 55.4 in 2015. Nearly 70 percent of Syrians now subsist in extreme poverty. The war began in 2011 when mass protests by working people against the Assad dictatorship were met with bloody military retaliation. The working class, lacking any leadership capable of organizing an independent fight to take political power, was pushed aside as a range of capitalist opposition groups from former figures of Assads Baathist Party to Islamists of different stripes formed armed groups to combat Assad and in some cases each other. The vacuum of working-class leadership is a product of decades of betrayals of workers and farmers struggles by bourgeois nationalist forces like Assads Baathist Party and subservience to it in the interests of Moscow by the Stalinist Communist Party of Syria. This also opened the door for the emergence of Islamic State and its seizure of territory in both Syria and Iraq. Place of Kurdish fighters In the midst of Moscows bombings, Kurdish Peoples Protection Units (YPG) forces, backed by Arab combatants, captured the Mannagh air base near Syrias Turkish border from Islamist anti-Assad forces Feb. 10 and moved fighters into position to target Islamic State to the east of Azaz. Ankara, which is determined to keep Kurds in Syria and some 20 million Kurds within its own borders from any moves towards an independent Kurdistan, fired across the border at YPG units. Washington pressed Ankara to stop the shelling and called on the Kurds to halt efforts to expand the area they control. Ankara, as well as Riyadh, opponents of both Assad and Tehran, have been decades-long allies of Washington. But today Turkish and Saudi rulers feel they are being pushed aside as Washington works more closely with Moscow and Tehran. The Turkish and Saudi rulers seek to reassert their place in swirling developments in the Middle East, defending their own special interests. Another casualty of the war is the population of Syrian Turkmens, a people with a language and culture related to Turkish, who have lived in the region for centuries. Most oppose Assad, who banned them from writing or publishing in their language, and some are in armed groups. Now thousands are fleeing Aleppo province to Turkey. Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home (front page) Fight govt frame-up of Oregon ranchers The day after Oregon State Police and the FBI ambushed and gunned down Robert LaVoy Finicum a leader of the occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge protesting the imprisonment of cattle ranchers Dwight and Steven Hammond and land-use issues in the West Ruth Danielsen took a snowcat into town for repairs. We had to go through two roadblocks, she said by phone from Harney County Feb. 15. They stopped us both times. Made us put our hands on our heads. Thirty or 40 federal agents, dressed to the nines, snipers. I had on a vest and they told me to unzip it, she said. When I saw the video of the shooting [of Finicum], I kept thinking, if there had been a plane overhead filming me, they couldve said it looked like I was reaching for a gun. She was referring to the FBI video of the Jan. 26 killing of Finicum and the FBIs claim that he was shot because he was reaching for a gun. Danielsen is a neighbor of the Hammonds and is involved in the fight to win their freedom and to regain their families grazing rights on federal land, which were vindictively revoked after their frame-up conviction for two controlled fires. The tension between the Hammonds and other ranchers and government agents goes back decades. In the 1970s nearly all the ranches in that area were bought up by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to expand the Malheur refuge. But the Hammonds, who had permits to graze their herd on federal land since they bought their ranch in 1964, refused to sell. In August 1994 Dwight Hammond was arrested and charged with interfering with federal officers after he allegedly tried to prevent the Fish and Wildlife Service from fencing off a watering hole his cattle had used for 30 years. The Oregonian reported that more than 450 ranchers, loggers and sawmill workers turned out at a public meeting to support the Hammonds and demand the charges be dropped. In the latest attack, Dwight and Steven Hammond were sentenced to prison twice on the same arson charge, the second time with an extended sentence under federal mandatory-minimum terms required by the 1996 Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act. Setting controlled fires is a common practice here, Danielsen said. Not only ranchers, but the Bureau of Land Management and other federal agencies often set fires to get rid of invasive plants or to prevent the spread of wildfires caused by lightning. This is the first time anyone has been charged for this under the Antiterrorism law, Danielsen notes. In other cases if theres any charges at all its usually just probation and a fine. The frame-up of the Hammonds takes place in the context of a decades-long shift in U.S. policy, marked by the 1976 Federal Land Policy and Management Act and the National Forest Management Act, passed under the banner of protecting the environment. Increases in grazing fees; restrictions on grazing and planting hay; bans on harvesting fallen trees a big issue because it increases the fuel load for fires; and pressure to sell ranch land became common in government regulators efforts to cobble together wildlife refuges and to save endangered species at the expense of local ranchers. With some 50 percent of all land in the western United States owned by the federal government these are life-and-death questions for ranchers. Its the smaller ranchers who get hurt the most, Merlin Rupp, 80, who calls himself a retired buckaroo, said by phone from Burns, Oregon. Its criminal what they did to the Hammonds. If youve got a ranch youre not going to destroy the land, you want to make it better, Rupp said, referring to claims that cattle grazing destroys the land. I worked in logging when I was younger, Larry Lent, a retired ranch hand and meatpacker, told the Militant from John Day, Oregon. Back then the log crews all stopped what they did and put out fires. Now if theres a lightning strike and you put it out without their permission you can get fined or jailed. Many ranchers say that government red tape and rules affect both large capitalist ranches and small family run ones. But if it was Ted Turner who did a back burn, do you think hed be in jail like the Hammonds? said Lent. Hell no! Fight to free the Hammonds Danielsen is working with the Hammond family to ask President Barack Obama to commute their sentence. She encourages people to send letters to Obama asking they be freed. Letters can be sent to the Hammonds in prison at: FCI Terminal Island, 1299 Seaside Ave, San Pedro, CA 90731. Dwight Hammond #59886-065 and Steven Hammond #60061-065. While support for the Hammonds is widespread in the region, the wisdom of the occupation of the wildlife refuge is still hotly debated. Federal prosecutors have charged 25 people with conspiracy to impede officers of the United States for their role in the refuge occupation, including leaders Ammon and Ryan Bundy. The FBI arrested their father, Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, when he flew to Portland, Oregon, Feb. 10 to visit his sons in jail. He was charged with six felony counts stemming from a 2014 confrontation in Nevada with federal agents when they attempted to confiscate 1,000 of his cattle they said were illegally grazing on federal land. Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home (front page) NY cop convicted for killing Akai Gurley in Brooklyn Reuters/Stephanie Keith NEW YORK City cop Peter Liang, who gunned down unarmed 28-year-old Akai Gurley in a Brooklyn housing project stairwell 15 months ago, was convicted in a jury trial Feb. 11 on charges of reckless manslaughter and official misconduct. The case marks the first time in over a decade that a New York Police Department cop was convicted in a shooting. On the evening of Nov. 20, 2014, Liang and his partner, Shaun Landau, were conducting so-called vertical patrols, where they walk the stairways and the roof, in the Louis Pink Houses in the East New York neighborhood. As the cops entered the eighth floor stairwell, Gurley and his friend Melissa Butler, both of whom are African-American, began walking down the stairs a floor below, as the elevator wasnt working. Liang, holding his gun in his left hand and a flashlight in the right, fired off a shot that ricocheted off the wall, hitting Gurley in the chest. Gurley, father of a 2-year-old girl, went down two more flights before collapsing. Neither officer made any effort to provide medical assistance and didnt call for help for at least four minutes. Butler testified that while she knelt in a pool of blood trying to resuscitate Gurley, the officers came by, stopped briefly, and then just went on down the stairs. A lawyer for Kimberly Ballinger, the mother of Gurleys child, is asking the NYPD inspector general to investigate whether the Police Academy provided inadequate CPR training. Three cops, including Liang, testified at the trial that they were unprepared. Liang said his academy instructor gave the class the answers to almost the entire CPR exam. Liang, a rookie whod been on the police force for 18 months, claimed at the trial that his finger was on the side of his drawn pistol as he entered the stairwell and it went off accidentally. But to fire the 9 mm handguns the cops were using takes more than 11 pounds of force on the trigger, NYPD firearms expert Detective Mark Acevedo testified. The conviction was right because it will make other cops think twice before they shoot anyone, a young woman who lives in the building where Gurley was killed and asked that her name not be used told the Militant Feb. 14. She said the cops had started the building patrols a couple months before Gurley was killed and then stopped immediately after. Frankly, they made the cop into a scapegoat. He was a rookie, scared, said Rodney King, a 48-year-old maintenance worker who lives in Pink Houses. He was a scapegoat for all those other cases where the cops killed people, but nothing was done. Its good that people are speaking out about police brutality. Wow, I am happy for [Gurleys] family, Esaw Garner, widow of Eric Garner, told the New York Daily News after the verdict was announced. Four months before Gurleys death, cop Daniel Pantaleo killed Eric Garner in Staten Island in a chokehold. But in that case no charges were brought against the cop. Both Liang and Landau were fired after the trial. Liang faces up to 15 years in prison, with sentencing set for April 14. His attorneys said they will appeal. Seth Galinsky and Lea Sherman contributed to this article. Related articles: Outcry halts bill Cleveland sent to family of Tamir Rice Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home (front page) Support Eleanor Garcia, SWP candidate for US Senate in Calif. Militant Eleanor Garcia for U.S. Senate from California Eleanor Garcia, 63, an aerospace worker at Triumph Vought Aerostructures in Hawthorne, outside Los Angeles, was born in Phoenix. Her father was a fireman and her mother, after she raised her children, a production-line worker at Revlon and member of the United Auto Workers union. Her grandfather, an underground copper miner in the Inspiration Consolidated Copper mine in Miami, Arizona, was crushed by a mine car and killed at work. In high school Garcia was inspired by the successful fight to overthrow Jim Crow segregation in the South and by farmworkers fighting to win representation by the United Farm Workers union. Public schools in Arizona mining towns were segregated for Mexicans and Native Americans. Cesar Chavez, leader of the UFW, held a 24-day fast in Phoenix in 1972 to protest an Arizona bill restricting the union and outlawing strikes and boycotts. Garcia was part of the security team to defend Chavez and meetings organized to support the fight. She became an organizer for the UFW and the Arizona Farm Workers Union in the 1970s, helping workers win union contracts in vegetable fields and citrus orchards. Garcia joined the SWP in 1977. In the 1980s she lived in Minneapolis and joined protests by family farmers who faced foreclosure in a debt crisis that swept the region and were being driven off their land. She supported the fight of Native Americans for land and water treaty rights on the White Earth Reservation in northern Minnesota. Garcia is a longtime supporter of womens right to choose abortion and has defended clinics against right-wing attacks. As SWP candidate for governor of Utah she helped organize protests against the cops when a teenage cousin of one of her co-workers at Kennecott Copper was shot. Family, friends and supporters of the youth used Garcias campaign statement to build support for a march and rally in the copper-mining town of Magna. She helped organize activities to tell the truth about the Cuban Revolution. She was part of the international movement that won freedom for the Cuban Five, five revolutionaries unjustly imprisoned in the U.S. for the crime of defending their countrys socialist revolution. (editorial) Support the SWP 2016 campaign! Theurges its readers to join Alyson Kennedy and Osborne Hart, Socialist Workers Party candidates for president and vice president, Eleanor Garcia, SWP candidate for U.S. Senate in California, and more SWP candidates to come, in fighting alongside workers in city and countryside to defend ourselves against attacks on our wages and working conditions as the slow-burning capitalist crisis deepens. The Socialist Workers Party campaign fights for a working-class way forward out of the dog-eat-dog capitalist system and the depression conditions it imposes on workers and our allies. Capitalist contraction and resulting attacks on workers in industry and on the land mark every part of the world. Kennedy and Hart address what workers know: real unemployment in the U.S. is far higher than the 5 percent claimed by government officials, who dont count the discouraged worker, retirees, students, disabled workers or stay-at-home parents. Propertied rulers squander the productive capacity of millions and condemn them to isolation and demoralization. A workers and farmers government will recognize the humanity and dignity of every worker and draw on the capacities of all so that learning, producing and creating can be lifelong activities to advance humanity. The Socialist Workers Party candidates and campaigners join and help build labor and social fights today from demonstrations against police killings in Chicago to rallies by Los Angeles warehouse workers fighting for safer working conditions and representation by the Teamsters union. As they fight shoulder to shoulder with fellow workers, they point to the need for unions to act as tribunes of the whole working class, and all oppressed and exploited allies. As these struggles grow, workers gain confidence and class-consciousness, becoming more competent, more capable of leading a struggle to overthrow the dictatorship of capital. The Cuban Revolution provides living inspiring proof that ordinary workers and farmers are capable of making a thorough-going revolution and, in the process, become what Che Guevara called new men and women, capable of building a society based on relations of human solidarity and internationalism. (feature article) Cubas role in fighting Ebola highlighted at Book Fair Above, Juventud Rebelde; inset, Luis Perez Borrero/Casa Editora Abril HAVANA One highlight of this years Havana International Book Fair, which began Feb. 12, was a presentation of the book Zona Roja: La experiencia cubana del ebola (Red Zone: The Cuban Experience with Ebola) by Cuban journalist Enrique Ubieta, fourth from left. The book tells the story of the 265 volunteer Cuban doctors and nurses who served in West Africa to combat the Ebola crisis. In individual testimonies, many of them describe the conditions created by the imperialist plunder of the region that contributed to the spread of the deadly epidemic. Their accounts also bring to life the selfless internationalist solidarity that has marked the Cuban Revolution from the beginning. A number of doctors and nurses who took part in this effort attended the lively, packed event. Tens of thousands of Cubans have attended the book fair since it opened. Along with the 188 book exhibits by publishers and institutions from Cuba and 24 other countries, the 10-day cultural festival includes forums, panel discussions, film showings, theater performances and free concerts. Prominent at this years book fair is a three-day international seminar on slavery in Cuba, marking the 130th anniversary of its abolition. Joining Ubieta on the platform at the Feb. 12 event on Cubas leading role in the fight against Ebola were, from left, Drs. Juan Carlos Dupuy, Carlos Manuel Castro, and Jorge Delgado, heads of the Cuban medical brigades in Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone, respectively, where the epidemic took hold. Speaking with mic is Abel Prieto, adviser to Cuban president Raul Castro. On the far right is Javier Duenas, director of Casa Editora Abril, which published the book. ROGER CALERO AND JONATHAN SILBERMAN (commentary) Scalias death prompts debate on Supreme Court, Bill of Rights The Feb. 13 death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia sparked a partisan debate on nominating his replacement and a broader debate about the role of the court and the place of the Bill of Rights and other amendments to the Constitution that defend equal protection under the law. Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders urged President Barack Obama to nominate a liberal replacement rapidly. Republicans demanded Obama decline to make a nomination, leaving it to the next president in 2017. Scalia was hated by most liberals and leftists for his socially conservative views, but more importantly because he argued the court should base its rulings strictly on the Constitution, rejecting outcome-driven decisions that amount to decreeing laws from the bench. But its in the interest of the working class that the court uphold the Constitution, especially the Bill of Rights and subsequent amendments won in struggle that are protections of the people against the government. In his dissent on last years ruling legalizing gay marriage, Scalia pointed to the narrowness of the class background of the justices, writing they are only nine men and women, all of them successful lawyers who studied at Harvard or Yale Law School. The justices are all Catholic or Jewish, he pointed out. Not a single evangelical Christian (a group that comprises about one quarter of Americans), or even a Protestant of any denomination. Eight of them grew up in east- and west-coast States. Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a long-serving liberal Supreme Court justice, has raised other concerns about what is called judicial activism concerning the courts 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that decriminalized abortion. Its not that the judgment was wrong, but it moved too far too fast, cutting short the political fight needed, she told a Columbia Law School symposium in 2012. She has also criticized the court for not basing the decision on the 14th Amendments guarantee to every person of equal protection of the laws, a conquest of the revolutionary struggle that ended slavery. Liberal supporters of judicial activism and the living Constitution say the court should prioritize achieving an outcome they view as positive and progressive, and then find some justification. Scalia took the opposite approach, insisting on applying the Constitution and its amendments strictly, as limits on government abuse. For example, in Kyllo v. U.S. in 2001, he wrote that the government violated the Fourth Amendment prohibition of unreasonable search and seizure when it used thermal imaging technology without a warrant to detect marijuana cultivation inside a suspects house. 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First Class Charles Martland, a Green Beret with an 11-year Special Forces career, was stationed in Afghanistan in 2011 when the boy's mother came to him and said she'd been beaten and her son raped by a local police commander. Martland and another soldier summoned the police official and, when the man laughed at them, threw him off the base. Martland and Daniel Quinn were both disciplined for their actions. Last year, amid military cuts, the Army Human Resources Command recommended Martland be discharged in part based on his disciplinary record, but an official decision by U.S. Army brass is expected by March 1. Charles did the right thing in Afghanistan by standing up to a child rapist and corrupt commander, and now its the Armys turn to do the right thing and reverse the decision to expel him from the service. - Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA) Charles did the right thing in Afghanistan by standing up to a child rapist and corrupt commander, and now its the Armys turn to do the right thing and reverse the decision to expel him from the service, said Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., whose office has been assisting Martland. Permitting Charles to continue serving is in the best interest of the Army and the nation. Supporters mounted an online petition backing Martland and separately, 93 members of Congress have called for an investigation into the military's silence in the face of rampant sexual abuse of children in Afghanistan. While Quinn left the military voluntarily, Martland, who graduated in 2006 from Special Forces Qualification Course, has always seen himself as a lifer. After a deployment to Iraq in 2008, he deployed to Afghanistan in January 2010 as part of a 12-man unit. He and his team found themselves fighting large numbers of Taliban militants in the volatile Kunduz Province. Martland was awarded a Bronze Star with Valor for his actions. According to one evaluation, he also was praised by Gen. David Petraeus, then commander of U.S. and allied forces in Afghanistan. Wild Thing's comment........... I fully support this soldier defending a child of any nationality!!! "After acting to protect a child from sexual assault from an Afghan commander, SFC Martland was punished and could be kicked out of the military at any time," said Jay Sekulow, of the American Center for Law and Justice. Posted by Wild Thing at February 20, 2016 12:45 AM Only in Obama's army can a soldier be disciplined for doing the right thing. Posted by: BobF at February 21, 2016 08:31 AM Phuket mayor's home raided: 5 arrests, weapons seized PHUKET: Scores of officers raided the home of a former Rassada mayor early this morning (Feb 20) resulting in the arrest of five men and seizure of an array of weapons as authorities continue their anti-crime blitz on the island. crimepolice By Eakkapop Thongtub Saturday 20 February 2016, 02:05PM One of the men in custody being escorted by police. Photo: Ekkapop Thongtub At 7:20am, Officers from the Royal Thai Police Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) and Crime Suppression Department (CSD), including special investigation unit of Phuket Provincial Police, descended upon the home, which sits across from Bus Terminal 2 in Rassada. CSD Col Phumin Phumpanmuang led authorities in the raid as they acted on a warrant of arrest for suspicious activity following complaints by locals about alleged drug dealings and threats made to neighbours. As soon as officers walked into the yard, one man ran out but was apprehended. He told police that four armed men were still in the house. Back-up officers were called to the scene as the armed suspects locked themselves inside. At 11:30 am, police arrested five men and seized firearms and swords from the home. All were taken to Tourist Police Station. At a press conference this afternoon, CIB Maj Gen Chartchai Eimsang announced the arrest of the five men: Jompon Siriwan, Pasakorn Wutthicharn, Boonnak Sornnum, Chairat Chanta, Chanin Phetkong. All were charged with Possession of Category 1 Drug (ice, heroin) with Intend to Sell and Illegal Possession of Firearms. Police say one of the men had been wanted for attempted murder. The home belongs to Former Rassada Mayor, Surathin Lianudom, aka Kamnan Sang and Phuket Patriotic Rebel leader, who no longer lives at the property. The house was left to my wife's brother. I moved out three years ago, Mr Surathin told The Phuket News. Neither his wife or her brother were home at the time of the raid. During the raid, Mr Surathin called out on a mega-phone for the suspects to open the door and surrender to police while scores of officers surrounded the house. This mornings raids is a continuation of the massive anti-crime blitz by authorities all over the region. Earlier this week, 58 suspects were arrested along with more than 20,000 items seized in raids carried out by more than 300 officers islandwide. Stay with The Phuket News for updates. Phukets Trisara scores big in travel awards PHUKET: Trisara Phuket has again received awards from internationally renowned travel publications Conde Nast Traveller and the Gallivanters Guide, as well as online travel portal giants Oyster.com and TripAdvisor. By The Phuket News Saturday 20 February 2016, 03:21PM Trisara was the only Thai resort to make the New York-based Conde Nast Traveler Gold List 2016 for the top hotels in the world. The Metropolitan by COMO hotel in Bangkok was the only other Thai accommodation venue to make the list at all. In the most recent readers poll from the Gallivanters Guide 2016, Trisara was voted as the worlds Best Leisure Resort, Best Resort in South East Asia and the worlds top resort cuisine. Established in 1991, the Gallivanters Guide sets the benchmarks for high end travelers. Greatly respected by top journalists, travellers, hoteliers and travel advisors, the publication takes no advertising and employs no journalists. The editors, Middlehurst and Maslin, personally do all the reviews and this is restricted to only the best hotels and resorts in the world. Meanwhile, Oyster.com, which offers reviews written by professional journalists, also awarded Trisara with its Editors Choice Award for Best Beach Resort in Southeast Asia. Further, Trisara Phuket has also been awarded the prestigious #1 Hotel in Thailand - 2016 Travellers Choice Award by TripAdvisor. TripAdvisors Travellers Choice awards are the highest honour given by TripAdvisor. The annual award is based on millions of reviews and opinion from travellers across the globe, and reflects excellence in service, quality and customer satisfaction. We are blessed with a team of incredible, passionate and caring service providers and our mission is to continue pushing the boundaries of service, attention to detail and providing great experiences for our guests, said Anthony Lark, Managing Director and General Manager. Its amazing to see our property receive recognition from both the worlds top travel authorities and guests, and we are grateful for the honour, he said. Police arrest three more in Phuket influential people, hitmen raids PHUKET: Police this afternoon announced three more suspects arrested today (Feb 20) in an anti-crime blitz reportedly specifically targeting influential people and hitmen in Phuket. policecrime By Eakkapop Thongtub Saturday 20 February 2016, 03:13PM In addition to the five arrested in this mornings high-profile, heavily-armed raid in Rassada (see story here), two more suspects were presented to the press at the Tourist Police headquarters in Phuket Town. According to the Royal Thai Police statement issued by Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) Commander Lt Gen Thitirat Nongharnpitak, his taskforce of 300 officers are currently in Phuket carrying out an anti-crime campaign targeting influential people and hitmen. Todays efforts targeted nine people, of whom eight were arrested, he said. Weerawat Thanomkiat, 48, was arrested at a home in Tambon Kathu, where he was found in illegal possession of 14 rounds of .45-calibre bullets and nine 12-gauge shotgun cartridges. Suwat Yalee, age not given, was arrested at an undisclosed address in Muang District, which includes Phuket Town, Wichit, Chalong and Rawai. He was arrested on an outstanding warrant issued in Krabi for theft. Missing from the press conference, but with an empty chair waiting for him, was Noi Thongsin, 40, who was arrested in Patong on a warrant issued on April 23, 2014 for rape. Leading the press conference today were CIB Deputy Commissioners Pol Maj Gen Adis Ngamchitsuksri and Maj Gen Chatchai Ieam-saeng. Gen Adis led the initial raids in Phuket on Thursday (Feb 18), when the 300-strong force arrested 58 suspects and seized more than 20,000 items in raids. Among those arrested were 28 jet-ski operators, facing charges of breaking jet-ski regulations. (See story here.) Three women injured when public bus crashed into Phuket pole Three women were hospitalised when a Phuket songtaew bus almost split in half as it crashed straight into an electricity pole in Mai Khao this morning (Feb 20). accidents By Eakkapop Thongtub Saturday 20 February 2016, 11:15AM The blue public bus, known as a Pothong, was carrying five passengers at the time and had just left the Tha Chat Chai checkpoint heading to Phuket Town when the driver lost control of the vehicle and hit the pole in front of Baan Nasompor Mosque on Thepkassatri Road. Mai Khao Police arrived on the scene and found three women injured, one of them severely. All three were taken to Thalang Hospital. Lt Col Anek Mongkul said: "The driver, Lek Lomchat (63 years old), escaped without injury but he was taken to hospital to check for alcohol level." How to watch and what to know about South Dakota State at North Dakota I think people just think of Turkish food as Mediterranean food, but its not, says Yusuf Yenilmez, owner of Pasha Authentic Turkish Cuisine, which opened in Thorncliffe Park on Overlea just off Don Mills in the fall. There arent a lot of Turkish restaurants in the city so were here to make sure (Torontonians) have real Turkish food. Those with a fondness for the cuisine come for a plate of manti Turkish dumplings or kunefe a warm cheese-filled pastry soaked in honey for dessert, says Yenilmez. Yenilmez and I are at a table in the restaurants dining room and his wife, Filiz, a nurse at Sunnybrook Hospital, is explaining the regional differences of food from their homeland. The Black Sea region is abundant in vegetable and fish dishes while closer to Greece in the southwest, the food is more Mediterranean with olive oil used in almost everything, she says. Head toward the Middle East and there are more kebabs like the Adana kebab, a long skewer of grilled minced lamb thats one of Turkeys more famous dishes. The Iskender kebab, lamb basted in a spiced tomato sauce, is from the city of Bursa near Istanbul. Yenilmez is from Rize, a coastal city off the eastern Black Sea region, where he was a fashion designer before coming to Canada in 2000. Language barriers and a lack of funds prevented him from continuing that career here, so he entered the construction trade and eventually started his own construction company based in Brampton. Clients frequently ask where they could try Turkish food in the GTA and while Yenilmez would tell them, he was underwhelmed with the choice. It ate at him so much, he bought what was the Anatolians Turkish restaurant and renamed it Pasha Authentic Turkish Cuisine. The owner was Indian and was running a Turkish restaurant, so it wasnt easy for him to get a taste of Turkish food, Yenilmez says, bringing me a glass of salgam, a tart beet-coloured fermented juice made from carrots, bulgur and turnips that is reminiscent of kombucha. We want Canadians to get a taste of Turkish food, so thats the reason we bought the restaurant. He made a relatively quick cosmetic change intricate tiles on the walls, fabrics, plates and pots from Turkey and brought in Turkish cooks, who return home periodically for refresher courses on Turkish flavours. With this, the kitchen started rolling out freshly baked pitas; pides, which are canoe-shaped Turkish pizzas topped with minced meats, herbs and vegetables; grilled kebabs kissed with smoky charcoal flavour and dripping with juices and one of my favourites, manti, quarter-sized Turkish lamb-filled dumplings that are boiled and topped with garlicky yogurt and melted butter slightly spiced with chilies. Simply seasoned with salt, pepper, onion and a bit of parsley, its a hearty but simple dish I envision grandmothers making on a Sunday afternoon. If you go to Turkey, there are manti places that serve that and nothing else. Youll see two or three old ladies at the front doing nothing but stretching out the dough and making manti. Its that famous and the places are full every day, says Filiz, who translated a manti recipe from Maskan, the restaurants shy, Turkish-speaking cook. To make manti at home, be prepared to block off a full afternoon. Its not that it is difficult to make, but rolling and cutting the dough is time consuming. So better yet, fire up a podcast and invite a friend or two over to help cut wrappers. Tell them they will be handsomely rewarded with a plate of delicious dumplings topped with melted paprika-spiced butter and creamy yogurt. The restaurant serves them boiled, which is how they are usually served in Turkey, but Yenilmezs chef also sent me away with a baked version. Traditional Manti For the wrappers: 2 cups (250mL) all-purpose flour 1 tsp (5 mL) table salt 2 large eggs, beaten 1 tbsp (15 mL) olive oil 1/2 cup (125 mL) cold milk For the filling: 1/2 lb. (225 g) lean ground beef or lamb 1/2 cup (125 mL) finely grated white or Spanish onion 1/4 cup (60 mL) finely chopped fresh Italian parsley 1/4 tsp (1 mL) table salt 1/4 tsp (1 mL) black pepper In a large bowl, sift together flour and salt. Create a well in the middle and pour in eggs, oil and milk. Mix everything together with a wooden spoon until a dough forms and knead for 30 seconds. Do not over-knead. Cover the bowl with a damp towel or paper towel and let sit for 30 minutes. Combine filling ingredients in a bowl. Refrigerate. On a lightly floured surface, roll out chilled dough as thin as you can, a little less than 2 mm in thickness. Cut dough into 2-inch (5 cm.) squares. Place a teaspoon of uncooked beef filling into centre of each square. Bring all four corners of dough together and press together, sealing side seams and forming a small dumpling. Continue until filling is used up. Makes about 80 manti or 4 servings. For the red sauce: 5 tbsp (75 mL) room temperature unsalted butter tsp (2 mL) chili flakes 1 tsp (5 mL) paprika 1 tsp (5 mL) dried mint Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in chili and paprika. Bring to gentle simmer and take off heat. Strain through fine mesh sieve into small serving bowl. Add mint. Serve immediately. Makes about cup. Garlic yogurt sauce: 2 cups (500 mL) plain yogurt 2 cloves finely minced garlic 1/4 tsp (1 mL) table salt Whisk together ingredients and pour into small serving bowl. Serve immediately. Makes 2 cups. Baked manti 40 freshly made manti 1 cup (250 mL) garlic yogurt sauce 1/2 cup(118 mL) red sauce Preheat oven to 400F (200C). Line manti on a lined baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes, or until slightly golden brown. Serve immediately with red and yogurt sauces. Boiled manti 40 freshly made manti 1 cup (250 mL) garlic yogurt sauce 1 cup (250 mL) red sauce Over high heat, bring large pot of salted water, enough to completely submerge manti, to a roaring boil. Add manti and continue to boil for 10 to 15 minutes until dumplings float to top. Serve immediately with red pepper and yogurt sauces. karonliu@thestar.ca SHARE: MONTREALThere has been a bowl-a-thon in Rimouski, a community dinner in Jonquiere, Tupperware sales in Quebec City and a benefit comedy show in Acton Vale. All across Quebec, funds are being raised with one goal in mind keeping hope alive for dozens of people with incurable cancers. Some 500 Canadians whove exhausted their options here have sent their medical records to a clinic in Frankfurt, Germany, hoping that Dr. Thomas Vogls advanced, experimental and at $20,000 per trip pricey treatments can keep them alive. Only about 70 have been accepted. The vast majority are francophones from Quebec. After each treatment I was taken to a recovery room. Theres room for about 10 people and all 10 of us were Quebecers, said Manon Latouche, who travelled to the clinic seven times between July and November 2015 a $140,000 undertaking. The 49-year-old said she had a grapefruit-sized tumour around her diaphragm that was not responding to chemotherapy in Quebec. Doctors told her she could try another round of treatment or stop and prepare for the end, she said. I decided to stop. In the same week I heard about Dr. Vogl. We sent my (medical charts) and a week later he responded saying, Id like you to come. I think theres something we can do for you. At the end of the treatments, Latouche said the tumour was gone. But she is still being treated today for cancer cells that have spread to her intestines, liver and lungs. Sophie Bouchard, of Rimouski, said she was given about six months to live by her doctors here, but told by Vogl she has between an 80 per cent and 85 per cent chance of improvement. She is scheduled to receive her first treatment March 11. There are those who talk about miracles ..., she said of the German doctors growing reputation in Quebec. Vogl himself is more cautious. About one in every 10 patients who contact the clinic is accepted for treatment. Most have had cancers in the lung, colon, pancreas or liver. About 20 Quebecers are being treated at the moment. Healing is a word we try not to use ... I think what we try to provide is an increased survival rate, he said in a telephone interview. The vast majority of those who inquire about receiving the treatments are turned away because they are in poor physical condition, have cancers that are too advanced, or because they already have access to the best treatment in Canada. For us, its important to note that we dont do any miracles, Vogl said. Those who are invited to take the treatment in Frankfurt typically receive it in two stages. The first is chemoembolization, which involves delivering chemotherapy directly into a tumour along with a chemical that starves the cancer cells of blood. The targeted delivery reduces the brutal side effects from chemotherapy. The second stage uses a laser to heat and destroy the cancerous tissue at a temperature of up to 95 C. In Quebec, chemoembolization is used only on specific and limited types of cancers, said Candice Gingras, a spokesperson for the provinces health ministry. Quebec and other jurisdictions have said there is insufficient evidence to prove that Vogls treatment increases patients lives. Vogl admitted it has been difficult convincing prospective patients to participate in randomized trials that would allow him to compare results from surgeries with those from his less-invasive treatments. The laser used by Vogl to destroy the cancerous cells is not approved for use by Health Canada. We expect it might be approved in one or two years, said Vogl. A spokesperson for Health Canada said it has not received an application for the device to be cleared for use in Canada. Lothar Lilge, a senior scientist at Torontos Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, said the approvals process in Canada makes it more difficult to obtain authorization for the type of procedures Vogl is conducting. To conduct drug studies, doctors require a clinical trial application. To try out a medical device, like the laser, an instrument trial application is required. In this situation you would need both and sometimes those two committees looking at those applications dont talk to one another, Lilge said. Regulators in Canada are slowly coming around, but it takes time, he said. But the people most in need of the regulatory changes have little hope and even less time. Their energies are too focused on staying alive. A number of patients contacted by the Star said they want to put pressure on health authorities so that the treatments they receive in Frankfurt, at a cost of $20,000 per trip, are available here. But organizing such a campaign isnt easy while juggling surgeries, chemotherapies and impromptu health scares that patients must also deal with. Marc-Andre Michaud, another of Vogls Quebec patients, was a symbol and inspiration for many others in the province. Diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, he was one of the first to bring attention to the Frankfurt clinic last summer and shared his advice and experience with dozens of others. He died on Nov. 26, 2015. Quebecs health ministry urges prudence for those seeking treatment abroad that is not covered by provincial health insurance, said Gingras. But Quebec Health Minister Gaetan Barrette, a radiologist before entering politics, went further last August, questioning Vogls methods and accusing him of selling hope. We live for this hope. Thats all we have left, said Brigitte Beaudoin, who has been treated three times in Frankfurt and is waiting now to see if she can undergo an operation to remove the cancerous cells. When were told we have three months to live we need to have this hope and I have no regrets at all about having gone. Other Quebec cancer patients have banded together on a Facebook page that shares the latest news reports on patient updates, advice on how to get the cheapest flights (avoid flying on a Saturday) and even the preferred hotel of the Quebecers in town for treatment. Among the latest causes for celebration is Celine Tanguay, a 59-year-old retiree from Lac-Etchemin, Que. Last summer, doctors told her there was nothing they could do for the metastatic cancer cells on her liver, leading her to Vogls clinic. She said Vogl told her recently that any trace of the cancer has disappeared. I had my three-month checkup last week. I sent him the scan and he sent me the response in English saying he was happy for me ... and that it had worked, Tanguay said. Today Im good. Its going well but I will never know whats around the corner ... I have energy and strength to do work around the house that I thought Id never be able to do again. Some of Dr. Vogls patients Celine Tanguay, 59 Tanguay, of Lac-Etchemin, Que., went through surgeries and rounds of chemotherapy before learning in February 2015 there was nothing more Canadian doctors could do for her. She went to Dr. Vogls clinic last September and October. She said the procedures are much less invasive and debilitating than chemotherapy. She learned last week that her scans taken three months after the procedure show no signs of metastatic cells on her liver. Brigitte Beaudoin, 48 Beaudoin, from Roxton Falls, Que., was diagnosed with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer and given three months to live. That was a year ago. She applied for Dr. Vogls treatment despite doctors telling her she was wasting her money. She will learn on April 6 if her cancer is now operable. There are still days when I have to take it easier than others ... but last summer I took care of my lawn and last fall I took in my firewood in alone. Sophie Bouchard, 47 Bouchard, of Rimouski, Que., has metastatic cancer cells on her liver, lungs and bones. They are all small, but doctors said her only option was palliative chemotherapy and less than a year to live. Friends told her about Dr. Vogls clinic in Frankfurt and she was told there was between 80 per cent and 85 per cent chance of improvement. Her first treatment will be on March 11. Its urgent, she said. I have to get there as soon as possible before my cancer spreads. Francois Beaumont, 35 Beaumont, a 35-year-old triathalete from Jonquiere, was diagnosed with colon cancer a year ago, for which he has had surgery. But it spread to his liver. Surgery was deemed too risky. Palliative chemotherapy was the only option on offer. He has had three chemoembolization treatments in Frankfurt and is finishing chemotherapy in Quebec, after which he is hoping to undergo surgery. If not, he plans to go to Dr. Vogl for a laser treatment to destroy the metastatic cells a treatment that isnt approved in Canada. Manon Latouche, 49 Latouche, who is from the Quebec City region, received seven treatments in Frankfurt between July and November 2015, after which an inoperable eight-inch tumour had disappeared. The cancer has, however, spread to her intestines, liver and lungs for which she was in the hospital this week. Dr. Vogls treatments cost her $140,000, which she paid for through the profit on the sale of a home, remortgaging her current home and donations from the public. Marc-Andre Michaud, 50 Michaud, of Saint-Georges, Que., was one of Dr. Vogls early patients to receive public attention. He was a beacon of the hope that Quebec patients saw in Vogls treatments and his name comes up in nearly every conversation with those who have gone abroad for care. But Michauds case also represents a harsh reality for those with some of the more complex cancer cases. He died on Nov. 26, 2015. Dr. Rayan Alaoui Some of the Quebecers seeking treatment in Frankfurt speak only rudimentary English. Forget about German. All praise Dr. Rayan Alaoui, a Moroccan-born doctor who has lived in Montreal, for ensuring their comfort and confidence. Alaoui is in Frankfurt to learn Dr. Vogls technique, but he also translates the doctors advice and instructions into Quebec-accented French. Alaoui said in an email that he initially hoped to bring Vogls techniques back to Canada. Without any encouraging signs from, though, he said he is ready to remain in Germany. Read more about: SHARE: Dont know what the going penance rate is for dissing the Pope. Ten Hail Marys? Five Our Fathers? Two Apostles Creeds? Of course forgiveness and absolution from the confessional box extends only to Catholics and Donald Trump is Presbyterian. (I would insert a Presbyterian joke here if I could find one that was remotely funny. The fact none exists may be its own punchline.) If Trump could scrub his soul clean by kneeling at the prayer rail, hed likely have to stay there until, oh, 2020 the next Oval Office go-round. But that might really and truly be Hillary Clintons moment, after Americas first black president and Americans first proudly racist-sexist-toxic yahoo president. (As if.) Pope Francis thrust himself into the freewheeling Republican nomination campaign on Thursday by observing, from his infallible heart, that building a wall across the U.S.-Mexico border is a loopy idea, and Trump has an abundance of those. A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not a Christian, said Francis, though he was prepared to give Trump the benefit of the doubt because hed not heard the scheme directly from the schemers lips. I say only that this man is not a Christian if he has said things like that. Trump couldnt resist a counterpunch. For a religious leader to question a persons faith is disgraceful. Like, who are you to tell me Im not a Christian? Answer: Im the Pope, dumbass. One is pontiff. The other is a pontificating nitwit. (Not Knitwit, as Trump tweeted about House Speaker Paul Ryan. Among his other excruciating traits, The Donald cant spell.) If these were olden days and Trump Catholic, the billionaire could simply buy himself a plenary indulgence from the Vatican to vault past the purgatory hump, assuming he got that far. Once upon a time there was a furious market for these get-out-of-hell passes. It should surprise no one that cartoon Trump will go mano-a-mano with the Pope, perhaps putting him on the wrong side of 69.5 million 22 per cent of the population Americans. The man long ago lost touch with his own mortal dimensions, convinced that the vox populi is in the mood for a vulgarian in the White House. Farther he goes with the unspeakables, more support he picks up in the polls, though this hasnt necessarily translated to the primaries and is a rickety foundation on which to build for the only ballot that counts. Simultaneous with his pope blurt, Trump tried to change the conversation by advocating his bona fides as defender of both Christian values akin to Kanye West as defender of bitch girl singers and the Holy See against an imaginary Islamic State attack, scolding Francis that, if such an event transpired, the Pope would have only wished and prayed that Donald Trump would have been president because this would not have happened. So Trump would swap the Swiss Guards for Navy SEALS? Having taken on the Pope, Trump has hit the stratosphere for presumed opposition. Where next, from amongst the beloved, might his psycho-harrumphing take aim? Queen Elizabeth? (The lady-balls under her skirts are tougher than anything Trump has between his legs.) The Dalai Lama? Tom Hanks? His blood-splatter babble, from the debate podium but even more on hyperactive social media, has been one long insult spew, covering the gamut from popular entertainers (of the Penn in Penn and Teller: goofball atheist, worst show in Las Vegas) to entire countries (of Mexico: We get the killers, drugs & crime, they get the money!; theyre rapists). According to tracking by The New York Times, Trump has mocked, jeered and harangued no less than 199 people, places and things on Twitter since announcing his candidacy for the Republication nomination. Numerous websites have been keeping a running tally as well on the bile that emerges from his weirdly pursed little mouth. From the Trump Hit Parade: On Fox News host Megyn Kelly: Highly overrated . . . really weird . . . dopey . . . I refuse to call Megyn Kelly a bimbo because that would not be politically correct . . . blood coming out of her whatever. On Associated Press, the whole outfit: They have lost their way and are no longer credible . . . reporting is terrible and highly inaccurate . . . always looking for a way to bring themselves back into relevancy. On Glenn Beck, right-wing TV personality: Wacky, a real nut job . . . always seems to be crying ... mental basket-case ... dumb as a rock. On Al-Waleed bin Talal, Saudi prince: Wants to control US politicians with daddys money dopey. On Chuck Todd, moderator for Meet The Press: Love watching him fail . . . pathetic . . . sleepy eyes . . . will be fired like a dog. On Senator John McCain, held for more than five years by the North Vietnamese as a PoW: Dummy . . . graduated last in his class . . . doing a lousy job in taking care of vets . . . all he does is go on television and talk-talk-talk . . . hes a war hero because he was captured. On rocker Neil Young: Dumb as a rock. On Senator Rand Paul: Reminds me of a spoiled brat without a properly functioning brain. On former Texas governor Rick Perry: Should be forced to take an IQ test. On basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: You dont have a clue about life. On former GOP rival Carly Fiorina: Look at that face! Would anyone vote for that? On model Heidi Klum: No longer a 10. Ill stop now. But he wont. Interestingly, more of Trumps targets are on the right side of the political spectrum. I mean, for a presidential aspirant of his raw-meat-red colour to make an enemy out of Fox News is dumb as a rock strategy. But he will be the self-professed iconoclast. Hell never be president. You know whats cockamamie? In an end-of-2015 Gallup survey to determine the most admired man in the world, Trump tied for second. With Pope Francis. Rosie DiManno usually appears Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. Read more about: SHARE: Caught between a rock and a hard place, women in Brazil and other countries where the Zika virus is prevalent may have received help from an unlikely ally: the Pope. Flying back from a visit to Mexico, Pope Francis suggested women could use contraception to avoid getting pregnant and passing the virus to their babies. The mosquito-borne disease is linked to severe birth defects. The Popes surprising words are most welcome to women caught in a moral dilemma. On one hand, health officials in several countries have been warning women not to get pregnant for anywhere from seven months to two years while they work to eradicate the outbreak of the disease. At the same time, many of the countries where the Zika virus is prevalent are predominantly Roman Catholic, and bishops there have been speaking out to reassert the churchs opposition to birth control and abortion. While the Pope seemed to soften the churchs stance on contraception if only to avoid the spread of the Zika virus he had nothing to offer women who have the disease and find themselves pregnant. He emphasized that abortion, which he called an absolute evil, was not an option. Still, the Popes comments may encourage Catholic hospitals in the region to provide birth control. That would be a helpful step, especially in poor areas in Brazil and other Latin American countries where women have little access to contraceptives. The Popes words were also welcome to health authorities trying to battle the latest outbreak of the disease. It was diagnosed in Brazil last April and has now spread to 26 countries in the Americas. Experts believe it will infect as many as four million people during the next year. While the disease itself is mild, the devastating birth defects it is associated with include microcephaly, in which babies are born with undersized heads and incomplete brain development. Already some 4,000 babies have been born with the condition. The Popes words may not go far enough for health and human rights officials. The World Health Organization says women who have unprotected sex and fear infection should have access to emergency contraception in other words, the morning-after pill. And the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has called on countries in the infected region to repeal policies that break with international standards on access to sexual and reproductive health services, including abortion. Still, Pope Franciss words will help women avoid pregnancy until this latest round of the Zika virus can be stamped out. Thats good news for women. SHARE: Re: Ghomeshi trial exposes troubling double-standard, Opinion Feb. 15 Re: No right to having a discriminatory defence, Opinion Feb. 8 Re: An unforgiving legal process, Feb. 13 Re: For what it's worth, I believe them, Feb. 13 Re: Women need to believe in themselves, Letter Feb. 11 Ghomeshi trial exposes troubling double-standard, Opinion Feb. 15 Sex assault-themed criminal trials are easy fodder for those humans determined to live in a black and white world on either side of the gender divide. For true justice to be served humans must step back and look at these trials from a position not biased by biological and environmentally induced gender baggage. Much has been made about the labyrinthine mental processes a woman, or indeed a man, deals with after a sexual assault. But what about the mental processes any complicated human deals with when victimized by a crime that has nothing to do with genitalia? Emma Healey eloquently argues that again we have evidence of poor female misunderstood, evil man acceptable double standard with the Ghomeshi trial debacle. Somehow she would have us believe that females are so complicated they cannot possibly control their actions in the wake of such devastating violence at the hands of a jerk. Sorry Emma. Nice try. Extending your logic it is impossible for anyone ever to be held personally accountable. You expect black and white justice for an event that clearly is filled with nuanced shades of human motivation, all too human emotion, and shady circumstance. Sadly our society is morphing into a patronizing attitude toward the female gender. The poor weak things, how can they be expected to behave like victims when beaten? We must automatically believe their stories. How dare we expect that their tormentors may be innocent? Why dont we just skip the trial and immediately toss every man accused of disrespecting a woman into a penal institution? There are far too many true victims of horrific assaults, that are far more clear, hurt by this tale of what can only described as pissed off women scorned by a celebrity. Scott Gordon, Sydenham What weve learned from Jian Ghomeshis trial is the hard truth that the Canadian legal system needs a real overhaul in the area of assault and abuse against women in relationships. This was supposed to be a watershed moment for modern women, but its turned into a waterfall where everything seemed to go over the edge. For many this was really about womens rights and womens progress, but in reality it wasnt about that at all. It was about defending the present legal system, and it proved that the power is still in the hands of men, regardless of whether or not a hard-core feminist is in charge of the defense. With respect to women in the legal system the law still is, in Dickensian terms, an ass, an idiot. Douglas Cornish, Ottawa I agree that the victims of suspected sexual violence are often retraumatized and horribly scarred by the legal process in a trial such as this. But I do not see this was his lawyer Marie Heneins purpose. She behaved in an impeccably professional manner, performing the complex tasks, required by law, of a defense attorney. Henein was imminently informed, always prepared, and held the complainants to a high standard in the proceedings. That was her job. She was there to protect her client. The fact that the witnesses seemed unprepared or prone to revisionism was not her concern. That should have been the concern of the investigating police and the the Crown. They let these women down by not advising or preparing them adequately for what they knew would be the expected invasion and gut-wrenching process of a sexual assault trial. Who investigated their stories? What questions were asked? How long were they interviewed? Were they not cautioned about revised stories, missing facts and how often personal correspondence becomes part of the public realm? The Crown appeared inept and at times totally surprised by the testimonies. Shouldnt such a high profile case have been conducted by the very best the Crown has to offer? Shouldnt the Crown be required to do its utmost to prepare its case and support its clients? In their mishandling of this case and these women, are the investigating officers and the Crown guilty of the same criticisms that have been leveled at society in general and Ms Henein in particular? Perhaps one solution of the many needed to humanize sexual assault trials is to educate and monitor all involved in the process and to hold even the Crown and the police to a higher standard of conduct. Cheryl Sartor, North Orillia Emma Healey accuses Marie Henein perpetuating the myth that complex men are human beings, but complex women are liars. Ghomeshi lawyer Marie Heneins defence strategy is as time-tested as it is effective: by pointing out all the seemingly contradictory and counterintuitive details in Ghomeshis accusers reactions to his alleged assaults, she brings their reliability into question. As a 17-year-old high school student who has watched way too many crime shows, I do know the importance of preparation of victims testimony. If we expect defence to contextualize the victims actions, we might as well get them to hand over their entire defence case with it. What do you expect the defence to do? Putting the witness through multiple interviews and witness preparation is absolutely the responsibility of the police and the crown and, although sometimes painful, these witnesses suffered in the long term due to the inadequate preparation they received from the Crown and the police and the lack of resources put into key witnesses testifying to the context of the victims actions and behaviour following their trauma. No matter your stance on this case, it can be agreed that the defence lawyer did not violate the rape shield law; it was not her job to give credibility to the victims. Although tough, she did her job, while, in my opinion, the Crown and police did not. This case proves yet again why, of every 100 incidents of sexual assault, only six are reported to the police. If Ghomeshi walks, Emma Healy should rethink where she points her finger. Maggie ONeill-Dee, Ottawa The nature of its high-profile defendant and the incredible accessibility to the courtroom via social media have provided a clear look at the challenges of applying the sometimes clunky legal system in evaluating matters of sexual misconduct and consent. Clearly, there is work to be done. Yet, in the incredible coverage in newspaper and social media, it seems transparent that the court system, however blunt an object it may currently be, has to this point and in this instance worked in the service of justice. Given that, I was surprised to read a column essentially proposing (and I paraphrase here) that in this case, quite the opposite has happened that society has ipso facto ruled against these women under the incongruous and frankly odd argument that society likes complex men and dislikes complex women. Then, in among the most inexplicable and incoherent examples Ive read in a column, the article compares fictional male television characters to court-room witnesses. In its brash and reckless trotting out of facts to support a particular ideology, this article, in this case, has merely offered another version of that which it rails against. Matt Shaw, Toronto Vinay Menons otherwise excellent Feb. 13 column on the Ghomeshi trial ended with disappointingly overreaching statements about the Crown and the defence. Its critically unfair to say that the defence cares less about the truth and more about an acquittal or that the Crown cares less about a conviction and more about the truth. This view suggests almost cynically, and certainly with bias that the Crown somehow told the truth while the defence didnt. The recent trial showed instead that the Crown wanted a conviction based on a very narrow range of truth, much of it self-proclaimed and untested, while the defence advocated for an acquittal based on a fuller and broader range of truth, much of it originally hidden from view and consideration. Its not that the system is unforgiving to those who dont grasp the rules of engagement. Rather the system, for a conviction, requires a level or truth (or evidence) that far exceeds the truth captured by allegation, opinion, partial recollections, exaggeration, hurt feelings and any motive of revenge. Our courts dont always get it right think Donald Marshall, Guy Paul Morin, David Milgaard, and Susan Nelles. But Im prepared to be thankful that our courtrooms allow the truth of an allegation to be vigorously examined, regardless of gender. John Ryrie, Kitchener If we want to get down to the truth for both sides, we needed in this case to allow the Crown to question Ghomeshi to see if his testimony and composure held up under fierce questioning. Colette Rayakovich, Wasaga Beach According to Emma Healey, it seems that one has to be convicted based on what it looks like rather than due process. If the verdict has to be based on facts and the facts have to rely on the credibility of the accusators and all of them have shown no credibility because there were facts that contradict the accusations, I am not sure what one can expect the defense can do to defend the accused. Unless somebody likes to be beaten and choked, I cannot figure out how somebody can write a letter afterwards saying I love your hands. It beggers my mind. Andres V. Galia, Ottawa Emma Healey completely misses the point. The issue at the trial wasnt that the witnesses behaviour was somehow deemed inconsistent. It was the fact that the witnesses lied about it. You can bet your bottom dollar that if men told similar lies, their credibility would be questioned. The author seems to be arguing for a double standard, not against one: unlike men, women shouldnt have their credibility questioned when caught in lies. Harold Higdon, Wasaga Beach Support for assault victims is sadly lacking in this society. The Ghomeshi trial shall further hinder victims from speaking out and seeking redress. Grant Alcorn, Saint John NB Throughout the Ghomeshi circus, there has been something niggling at the back of my brain. Finally, it struck me. Was sexual assault the most appropriate charge for the authorities to pursue? Or would a simple assault charge have been more effectively prosecuted? An assault charge is prepared when a person applies force to another person in a direct or indirect manner with intent and without their consent. Intention and consent are two essential aspects of all types of assault in Canada. Although an injury does not have to occur in order for the action to be considered an assault, the force used needs to be offensive in nature and used with an intention to apply. That means that the types of assault defined by the Criminal Code of Canada may range from tapping, pinching, or pushing someone with intent and without their consent to the use of a weapon that results in serious injuries. This is a simple case of assault being tried as a case of sexual assault. If a person was punched, choked or slapped unexpectedly, without discussion, without warning, without consent within the context of virtually any other activity, the charge would be assault. If a person was walking a dog, shopping in a store or on a bus and was physically assaulted in the manner allegedly committed by Jian Ghomeshi, this is assault. But because the alleged assaults occurred generally within the context of some initially consensual mildly sexual activity such as kissing in a car or on a couch, the authorities cant seem to get past the sexual component. Mr. Ghomeshi allegedly introduced without discussion or warning, a physical assault that may have been sexually related for him but was not for the women involved. Several of the complainants stated that they didnt think that it was relevant that there had been other communication with Mr. Ghomeshi post incident. Were they less than forthcoming about additional contact with him? Apparently so, but why should this matter outside of the episodes of alleged assault? Other comments have been that there was no power imbalance between the defendant and the complainants. Again, really? Mr. Ghomeshi is a well-known media personality. Several of the complainants have some connection to the entertainment industry and could fear for repercussions after they rejected him. Marie Henein effectively attacked the complainants credibility. She did not refute the allegations of assault. Neither did Mr. Ghomeshi. Kathryn Walker, Mississauga Could we have treated the woman who came forward with any more hostility? I offer my humble praise to the brave women who came forward with charges against Ghomeshi. After what they were put through on the stand Im not sure they would do it again. Shame on all of us for letting womens rights and issues sink so low. Carol Ann Cole, Toronto This trial is proof positive the Attorney General for Ontario and the Minister of Justice for Canada need to change our legal system when it comes to sexual assault. The rape shield laws of the early 1990s which, in part, dealt with past sexual history and consent, are not enough. Media should be automatically banned from such trials. More protections should be afforded to sexual assault victims during legal proceedings. And other serious protective considerations need to be addressed. Time is of the essence. Women old and young continue to be victimized every day. Dave Penfold, Toronto Those who think Emma Healeys conclusion is devoid of reality should skim stories from last weekends Star: Women, girls being used as weapons (Feb. 12, A12); Mass graves, serial rapes (Feb. 13, WD1); State your limits when it comes to sex . . . young men . . . who are asking for it have been influenced by the massive proliferation of porn (Feb. 13, L2); Her father shot her in the head as an honour killing (Feb. 13, WD7). This is just one weekend of stories of degradation, humiliation and abject violence faced by women throughout the world that we know of. Matthew Marosszeky, Aurora Emma Healey clearly points out that Ghomeshis lawyer never asked him whether or not he assaulted them. Everyone knows the answer. What is most troubling is that she carefully manipulated the evidence in Ghomeshis favour. Clearly Ghomeshi has a problem. He has admitted he likes rough sex. Going to jail wont help him. Being forced into a rehabilitation program might be the better verdict so it doesnt happen to others in the future. Jill L. ODonnell, Toronto Emma Healey points to different ways that complexity of personality get treated in men and women. In some ways, our conception of human complexity has advanced, as in the new willingness to accept variations of human sexuality contained within the rubric LGBTQ. Yet, some politicians grossly oversimplify all human beings, and consider only conscious motivation, rather than acknowledging the rich mix of conscious and unconscious reasoning. Leaders like Stephen Harper and Donald Trump are like that, just not psychologically minded. Neither were Harpers successive public safety and justice ministers willing or able to commit sociology and aim for sophistication at identifying and preventing those who are most vulnerable to commit crimes from doing so. Over-generalizing phrases like law-abiding gun owners are nonsense phrases perpetrated by politicians currying favour with gun lobbies. Women and children are often the main victims of policies based on such simplistic generalizations, as when their husbands, fathers or sons either commit suicide, or in the worst cases, murder/suicide. Jian Ghomeshis alleged victimizing of women must be viewed on a continuum. When we think about what he may have done, we should follow up by reading what happened to Saskatchewans Latasha Gosling and Albertas Emily Janzen and their murdered, mainly female family members, or to three lively women from Wilno, Ontario, who had the misfortune to have dated a man who turned out to be murderously unstable. How many of the missing and murdered aboriginal women were taken at gunpoint or knifepoint by their killers. To not think of such things is to collude with such evils. Ron Charach, Toronto The only double standard apparent in the Ghomeshi trial is that men are always presumed to be guilty when they are accused of sexual assault. Canadian law states that any person charged with an offense has the right to be presumed innocent. Why should sexual assault be any different? Ben Barone, North York When my surgeon cut me open 60 years ago with a knife and removed my appendix, he committed a grievous assault in exactly the same sense that Ghomeshi assaulted his victims. Yes, it matters whether the victim or his guardian consented. No, it does not matter when the assault occurred. If the Crown can demonstrate that my surgeon acted without consent, he should be found guilty. If the Crown cannot, he should be found not guilty. The same rules apply to men and women, whether the perpetrators are surgeons or radio hosts and whether the victims are male or female. While not perfect, they are good rules and there is no double standard. Patrick Cowan, North York Emma Healeys article expresses very well the issue that is central to this matter: women and men react differently to many situations, especially when under stress, not only taking into consideration different cultural backgrounds, but also individual differences. The most important issue has not been dealt with: whether the accused did what he was charged with, and therefore whether he should be held responsible for his actions. Miguel Prohaska, Toronto What happened at the trial seemed pretty straight forward. Defense counsel attempted to test the credibility of the witnesses, who were also the complainants, and who, because of the nature of the case, were the only witnesses, by asking them about emails they had sent to the accused subsequent to the alleged assault, and about what they had said to the investigating police officers, and to reporters, about the circumstances surrounding the alleged assaults. The emails were not created by defense counsel, and her failure to ask about them would likely be considered negligent. That the Crown apparently was not aware of the emails obviously made his case somewhat more difficult, and if anything, speaks to the importance of preparation for trials. The judge heard the evidence, and reserved his decision. Where exactly is the double standard? Maybe in the attempts made by too many people to judge the case themselves and to publicize what they thought was the wisdom of their analyses. Romain Pitt, retired judge, Toronto What a strange argument Ms Healey makes. That we enjoy fictional shows involving complex men does not necessarily mean we admire these men. And many shows also contain complex women. What does this have to do with what is going on in court? We have seen many men in court deconstructed in just the same way these women have been in this case. It is, like it or not, part of the legal process. In effect the writer is attempting to excuse women for apparently lying and conniving among themselves to convict this man because it should be acceptable to do so because they are complex women. Where exactly does the double standard come in and what kind of argument is that? Andrew Hallett, Burlington Emma Healey = writer/excellence; Marie Henein = lawyer/excellence. Meg Hughes, Georgetown There is no double standard. If a straight, white male hero in The Wire, Mad Men, Breaking Bad, The Sopranos, etc., was a witness in a criminal or civil trial he, like every witness, would have to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. All men and women are complicated but when he or she is a witness as to what happened, the rule of laws truth oath prevails for every witness, male and female, both of whom are human beings. Willson McTavish, Mississauga I am horrified and deeply angry that anyone at the Star could think it was appropriate to run a Valentines Day editorial cartoon making light of the allegations of sexual assaults by Ghomeshi. Sexual assault survivors across Canada are already being retraumatized on a daily basis by news of the trial and of the horrible treatment of the witnesses who were brave enough to testify. If you want to address the trial on the editorial page, you should be explaining to readers that many assault survivors try to manage their emotions after an assault by pretending (to themselves and others) that it was just a wild night, instead of having to live with the horror of admitting to themselves that they were helpless victims of a vicious assault. This common (temporary) self-delusion may be particularly likely to happen when the assailant is a celebrity. People keep acting as though it is unfathomable that survivors of an assault would contact their assailant a few days later, acting like it had all been just a wild night of lovemaking. But assault survivors have had their faith in a safe world shattered, and they sometimes try to patch that faith back together by blaming themselves for the abuse, or by convincing themselves that it wasnt abuse at all. You are not psychologists (as I am) and thus can perhaps be forgiven for not understanding why survivors do that. But you cannot be forgiven for running a cartoon that callously made light of sexual assault. Becky Liddle, Toronto This is in response to Rob Questors letter regarding the Jian Ghomeshi trial. His statement basically said if the victim didnt let Ghomeshi know that his actions were unacceptable before getting together, then case closed. Even if she did object to Ghomeshis treatment of her beforehand, if she said no or if she felt violated in any way during the encounter, that is still sexually assault. Sexual assault is not as basic as you may deem it and the fact that you do, tells me you do not understand the issue. Victims of sexual assault are always made to feel it is their fault whether it is by the perpetrator, family, the police or the court. If a woman says no and the man forced himself on her, how would you deem that? Granted there are stories of women who make false reports but I can promise you that there are millions more that do not report it because of people like you who view rape as simply as you do. Reporting it, having their past dissected beyond ridiculousness, and then having to relive it during court hearings is just like being raped over again. She could have been a prostitute but if she said no it is still rape. In the Ghomeshi trial, it seems it is more complicated or the Crown didnt do a good job. But it is not as simple as having a pre-ordained agreement of what you will allow or not allow. I just hope that women who are assaulted do not use this trial as a reason not to report. Melissa Cheam, Burlington No right to having a discriminatory defence, Opinion Feb. 8 In this column, three lawyers make the argument that the law is discriminatory because it does not ask someone who has been mugged if they consented to being mugged. But mugging does not occur in the context of a relationships. Strangers assault and steal from other strangers. Consent is not an issue. Relationships involve a mutual decision to get together, to hang out, to explore the possibilities of a future and, as in Ghomeshi, can involve a decision by women to continue to explore a relationship after allegedly being assaulted. In such a context the focus has to be on consent. Context is everything. A judge might have difficulty understanding why a victim of a robbery would want contact with an assailant, after the event. However, in a sexual assault case, knowing that the complainant and alleged assailant knew each other and were working on some kind of relationship will help a judge understand why the complainant would continue contact. Peter Kirby, Kenora We have not progressed very far with the way we treat sexual assault victims. I was horrified by how the women involved were treated by a female lawyer during the Ghomeshi trial. She has obviously never been a victim and should be ashamed of herself. Its high time the legal system learns how a victims mind works. Otherwise people, particularly women, will never feel safe coming forward to accuse their abusers. Molly Mulloy, Belleville Countless allegations of Ghomeshis criminally abusive, narcissistic, misogynistic, behaviour exploded in a flash, once the pin of silence was pulled out of the grenade. The brilliant and conscientious Marie Henein has done her job well as she should. As for the rest of us, let us keep on learning, and teach our children well. Carol Mason, Etobicoke What seems clear about the Ghomeshi trial is that more points appear to have been racked up by the defense in the due process of law, leaving us to wonder just how that will be weighed when the judge renders his verdict on March 24. It is not by far an easy task. But whatever the outcome is, will there really be clarity on the boundaries of consensual behaviour in issues of alleged sexual assault? And just what will that mean for those victimized who will either come forward or remain silent? Claude McDonald, Kitchener If the Ghomeshi case were a movie then Rick Salutins comparison of life with movies with their random access ambiguity would be a persuasive argument. We could suspend judgment about Ghomeshis lovely hands and go on with our confusing lives. But Ghomeshis court case is not a movie. Its ultimately a sentence to be composed by a judge constrained by the linear thinking of the legal process. The judge must write that sentence clearly and impartially removing any doubt. Observers who identify with the suffering of the accusers burden of proof are treating the case like a movie, only looking at one part the role of the oppressed informers. As such they can overlook the predicament of the accused. But the judge, a critical thinker of the law, who must reduce ambiguous reality into a sentence, cant ignore the part played by the accused. When the judge writes that sentence, the presumption of innocence of the accused cant be ignored. The verdict must contain both parts that constitute the whole Ghomeshi case. To do otherwise condemns society only to the movie version. Tony DAndrea, Toronto An unforgiving legal process, Feb. 13 Because defense lawyers are understandably mostly interested in the manipulation of information verses exposure of the truth, the only solution to improving the determination of the truth during court proceedings is for everyone to be (almost) full-time equipped with some form of body camera. This may sound to be far-fetched today but I predict that it will in fact happen as we cannot continue to rely on the current unreliable method of he said, she said. Increased use of video evidence would also reduce the current waste of court resources when guilty persons plead innocence in the hope of getting off and would be far more reliable than the now commonly-used legal system technique of manipulating information and memory verses seeking the truth. Robert Woodcock, North York It seems that justice depends on the ability of a lawyer to muddle the waters. Counsel depends on the ability to provide payment and this results in the outcome of the trial. It confirms that money is always right. The core of this trial is extremely simple: on a date, would one expect to be victimized? Can anyone trust our justice system after this trial? Rita Cecchini, Toronto For what it's worth, I believe them, Feb. 13 I, too, believe the women who testified. How many people would invent testimony against a powerful figure not to mention expose themselves to brutal cross-examination in court? Yes, their accounts showed inconsistencies and contradictions; much has been written about the frailty of memory after the passage of time, and the effects of trauma on memory. Plus, the three victims were clearly blinded at the time by the accuseds fame, good looks and charm. If Mr. Ghomeshi is acquitted of these charges, it will send a chilling message to women in Canada and rightfully provoke outrage. I can only hope that the police and Crown handle future sexual assault cases much more thoroughly, and that the accuseds career remains in tatters. Estelle Berry, Toronto Women need to believe in themselves, Letter Feb. 11 The letter writer highlights one of many points missed by the Crown prosecution when she refers to, Ghomeshis consistency at picking insecure women and then doing whatever he pleases. Ghomeshis partner selection process was certainly effective - was it not worth some analysis? Another point ignored by the Crown is Ghomeshis auspicious ability to retain reams of self-serving evidence. Who keeps a hand written letter from an ex-girlfriend for 13 years? Its almost as if the man was expecting to go to trial. If this case has taught me anything its how inept our Crown prosecution services are. Four-hour work days, 1970s technology and complainants woefully unprepared for trial. With opponents like this its no wonder Marie Heneins legal mind looks so brilliant. Ben Bull, Toronto As a man, I am confused and disgusted about what has gone on in the courtroom. The allegations were not even the issue. It seems that Marie Henein was trying to prove that sexual assault is fine provided that there are mitigating issues like whether the accuser was nice or sent emails or liked bananas or whether their pet rat just died or, well, anything. It is time for Parliament to step in and further clarify the law. Bill Livingstone, Toronto Trials are no longer Perry Mason affairs with last-second revelations and embarrassed witnesses found with their finger on the trigger. They are tightly scripted, well rehearsed, with setting and props that have proven the test of time. There is no doubt that the outcry of the verdict, guilty or not guilty, will be heartfelt, justified and indicative of the reality that the way crimes against women are tried does not provide justice. But let us not blame the judge or the defence attorney. The judge decides based on precedence and quality of evidence with the line being reasonable doubt. The defence attorneys job is straightforward: defend without breaking the law. If the defence is presented with a witness who fails to remember, lies, engages in conduct that causes question, then perhaps the problem is with the prosecutor and the legal precedence of what conduct is expected after a trauma-causing incident. The prosecutor tried to close the door after the doubt got out. It appeared that Ghomeshi had two defence attorneys at his trial one female and one male. If this trial has taught society anything it is to conceptually revision the way sexual assault charges are laid, trials are conducted and clearly what conduct and fear can be expected. Don Graves, Burlington Im not sure which planet Rosie DiManno is reporting from, but here on earth, in every online forum I went on, there was no criticism of Marie Henein. On the other hand, mountains of virulent abuse were heaped on his accusers. The claim that Henein will be crucified is histrionic, to say the least. DiManno also does not seem to understand that the behaviour of the women before or after the alleged assaults has no bearing on the truthfulness of their testimony. What matters is if their accounts of his behaviour are consistent, and this does not mean picking apart whether someone kissed him or not before being punched in the head. Perhaps DiMannos next column will be a convincing explanation of why the 23 other women who came forward to accuse Ghomeshi of assault are just out to get him. John Kneeland, Hamilton More and more, it seems, were being exposed to news reports that include photographs of accused sex offenders. Are they guilty? Should the news media be allowed to show photographs of those accused of crime when, at the same time, were expected to believe that they are innocent until proven guilty? Upon acquittal (in such cases) the stigma of identification will be impossible to erase. Weve been subjected to many, many images of Jian Ghomeshi, I expect his likeness will be burned into our memories regardless of the verdict. George Dunbar, Toronto SHARE: "Yes, I do believe that now after the American people bailed Wall Street out, yes, they should pay a Wall Street speculation tax so that we can make public colleges and universities tuition-free," said Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders at the sixth Democratic presidential debate in Milwaukee. But what exactly does such a tax entail? One of the core parts of the Sanders campaign platform, the Wall Street speculation tax -- otherwise known as a "financial transaction tax" -- aims to raise billions of dollars in revenue by placing a small levy on every stock, bond and derivative bought and sold in the United States. He says such a measure would cover the entirety of his $75-billion-a-year plan to make free college a reality in America. Sanders' proposal largely mirrors the Inclusive Prosperity Act, a bill put forth by Keith Ellison, a Democratic Representative from Minnesota, in 2015. Under the proposals, stock trades would be taxed at a 0.5% rate, bond trades at 0.15% (in the Ellison plan, 0.10%) and derivatives at 0.005%. "The idea of taxing trading and financial markets is not especially original. It's been done already in many, many countries," said Robert Pollin, professor of economics and co-director of the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Pollin's research is the source of both Ellison's and Sanders' plans, though he says he has not discussed the issue at length with the Sanders campaign (he has consulted on other topics). Sanders' Wall Street speculation tax has two functions, Pollin explained: raising revenue and discouraging excessive, speculative trading. "I think it works better as a way for raising revenue. It may discourage trading modestly, but not dramatically," he said. Just how much revenue Sanders' proposal might raise, and to the extent it will impact trading, is up for debate. The paper Sanders' campaign website links to, a memo co-authored by Pollin in 2012, estimates the resulting revenue to be upwards of $350 billion. Pollin said that even if current trading volumes drop by an "implausibly large number" of 50%, he believes it could still raise about $300 billion a year -- enough to cover Sanders' free-college plan. The Tax Policy Center, a joint venture of the Urban Institute and Brookings Institution, offers a more conservative estimate. A study published by the organization found that a revenue-maximizing financial transactions tax could generate about $75 billion a year. Steve Rosenthal, senior fellow at the Urban Institute and one of the researchers behind the study, acknowledged that the group's lower revenue estimate comes as a result of a different set of assumptions -- namely, those related to the responsiveness of the markets to an increased tax. "The big picture is, there are a lot of financial transactions, even a small tax would raise a lot of money," he said. "But the corollary to a financial transactions tax raising a lot of money is that somebody is incurring those transaction fees. And in our view, those would be investors, by and large. To increase the transaction fees ... would be reflected ultimately in the price of securities, that is, lower the price of securities, and that would be a burden on investors and the holders of capital in general." The Tax Policy Center estimates that about three-quarters of the burden would fall on the highest-income 20% of households, and 40% would fall on the top 1% -- an idea that would likely appeal to many, including Sanders' anti-1% supporters. However, it may also produce effects that would impact a broader swath of the American public. The Tax Policy Center's research found that a financial transactions tax has just as much a chance of curbing volatility as it does increasing it. It also concluded it would likely create new distortions among asset classes and across industries, impact liquidity and increase bid-ask spread if it substantially cuts market volume. Financial transaction taxes in other markets have had varying results. Many detractors point to Sweden's implementation of such a system in the 1980s, which resulted in a major drop-off in trading and an exodus of investors to the London stock market until the tax was abolished. Proponents look to the United Kingdom's system, which entails a 0.5% stamp tax and applies to securities issued by U.K. companies (unlike Sanders' plan, however, the UK tax does not apply to derivatives). Greenberg noted that while the speculation tax rates put out by the Vermont senator are nominally low, they are relatively high compared to other proposals in the U.S. and globally. Still, the ultimate impact of such a tax would only be seen if and when implemented. "It's not entirely clear why some financial transactions taxes work and some don't, although how you design the policy is clearly a major factor," he said. To be sure, there are some who dislike the idea of a tax on all trades more than others. "Even though the rhetoric is that it will only affect Wall Street speculators, in fact, [Sanders'] tax would hit pretty much all investments," said Bill Harts, CEO of Modern Markets Initiative, an advocacy group for high-frequency trading -- an industry that would be hard-hit by the implementation of a financial transactions tax. Harts pointed to the example of the California State Teachers' Retirement System, which announced in September plans to move up to $20 billion out of stocks. Under Sanders' plan, he says such portfolio realignment would cost more than $100 million. "Those are the kinds of numbers that people have to focus on," he said. Moreover, some perceive the goals of Sanders' plan as being at odds. "The more that his tax is able to reduce Wall Street speculation, the less revenue it's going to end up bringing in," said Scott Greenberg, an analyst with the Center for Federal Tax Policy at the Tax Foundation. "Conversely, the more revenue that it brings in, the less it will have reduced Wall Street speculation, because that indicates that, if it's bringing in revenue, that means that there are still lots of transactions going on on Wall Street." Jeremy Scott, editor in chief at nonprofit tax organization Tax Analysts, compared the scenario to a implementing a cigarette tax to fund schools -- if it discourages smoking, as is the intended effect, revenue for the benevolent cause will drop as well. Likewise, a tax on investments that results in a drop in trading or migration of investors abroad could have similar effects. "These taxes in the past have been failures as revenue raisers," he said. No matter what your political affiliation is, the stock market doesn't care -- and neither should your portfolio. Like many timid investors in 2016, you may be wondering how the next president could potentially affect your current investments. If you've been considering getting out of the market solely based on election uncertainty, stop. Oppenheimer Funds recently put out a whitepaper on exactly why and below are two key takeaways: 1. Market returns are unbiased when either political party is in office. A common notion is that the Republican party tends to be a historically pro-business party. Conversely, the Democratic party with its historic preference for higher taxes and increased regulation, may hinder economic and market growth. But the idea that having a Republican in office is better for market returns is simply not supported by historical evidence. According to a New York Times study from 2012, market returns exclusively over the past 15 Republican presidents have averaged about 4.22%. Over the past 13 Democratic Presidents, the market has averaged a return of 7.94%. This difference in returns doesn't mean you should pull out of the markets when Republicans are in office. According to Bloomberg and Oppenheimer, an investor who stayed in the market regardless of the party in office would have fared exponentially better than one who remained invested only while one party was in office. To quantify this, $10,000 invested in the Dow from 1897 regardless of which party was in office, would be worth roughly $4.4 million at the end of 2014. The same $10,000 in 1897 that was only invested while a Republican was in office, would be worth about $100,000; the figure would be $650,000 if only invested while a Democrat was in office. 2. What if the Public isn't happy with the elected President? An investor may be concerned that the market may suffer if the elected President becomes unpopular while in office. Naturally, the many strong personalities in this upcoming election and even stronger opinions of those strong personalities may be cause for alarm. However, taking emotion out of the equation, the market doesn't care. This is particularly evident in Obama's first administration. According to Gallup's Poll of Presidential approval ratings from 2009 to 2014, Obama's approval rating peaked around 65% and fell to a low of 35% over that time frame. During that same time frame, the Dow gained about 110%. This clearly had more to do with recovering from the 2008 crisis than approval ratings -- nonetheless, it's clear that market performance isn't solely affected by who is in office. Looking at the same Gallup Poll of Approval Ratings, but now from 1961 to 2014, when the approval rating for any one president was between 50% and 65%, the Dow gained an annualized return of 6.8%. When approval ratings for any one president were lower, between 35% and 50%, the Dow returned 11.8% at an annualized rate. Therefore, presidential approval ratings do not necessarily result in higher market returns. Thus, the fear of a potentially unpopular president being elected is irrelevant. Clearly, the market doesn't care who is going to be elected in 2016 and neither should the long term investor. The long-term investor should create a portfolio that is poised to withstand the election as well as the ensuing volatility. Stay the course -- don't let your current political affiliations affect your long-term investment plan. The information has been obtained from sources considered to be reliable, but we do not guarantee that the foregoing material is accurate or complete. Investing involves risk and you may incur a profit or loss regardless of strategy selected. Any opinions are those of Joseph Carpenito and not necessarily those of Raymond James. Examples discussed are hypothetical in nature and are not intended to reflect the actual performance of any particular security. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), commonly known as "The Dow" is an index representing 30 stock of companies maintained and reviewed by the editors of the Wall Street Journal. Keep in mind that individuals cannot invest directly in any index, and index performance does not include transaction costs or other fees, which will affect actual investment performance. Individual investor's results will vary. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Links are being provided for information purposes only. Raymond James is not affiliated with and does not endorse, authorize or sponsor any of the listed websites or their respective sponsors. Raymond James is not responsible for the content of any website or the collection or use of information regarding any website's users and/or members. Raymond James is not affiliated with and does not endorse the opinions or services of TheStreet.com. 301 Yamato Rd. Ste. 3160 Boca Raton, FL 33431. 561.241.6616. NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Southwestern Energy Co. (SWN) stock is down by 14.86% to $7.23 in mid-morning trading on Friday as oil prices retreat. Oil prices are sinking due to investors' concerns about the global oversupply of oil, the Wall Street Journal reports. On Thursday, the Energy Information Administration reported a 2.1 million barrel increase in U.S. crude oil stockpiles last week. Additionally, industry experts doubt that OPEC memberswill enact a cut to oil production in order to boost prices, according to the Journal. Iran has not committed to a proposal that would freeze oil production. "The excessive supply isn't going away," Alan Oster, National Australia Bank's chief economist, told the Journal. We don't see global demand picking up anytime soon. There is lot of pain in the oil industry." Crude oil (WTI) is declining by 4.29% per barrel to $29.45 per barrel and Brent oil is slipping by 3.50% to $33.08 per barrel this afternoon, according to the CNBC.com index. Southwestern is a Spring, TX-based energy company engaged in natural gas and oil exploration, development and production. Separately, recently, TheStreet Ratings objectively rated this stock according to its "risk-adjusted" total return prospect over a 12-month investment horizon. Not based on the news in any given day, the rating may differ from Jim Cramer's view or that of this articles's author. TheStreet Ratings rates this stock as a "sell" with a ratings score of D. The company's weaknesses can be seen in multiple areas, such as its deteriorating net income, generally high debt management risk, disappointing return on equity, weak operating cash flow and generally disappointing historical performance in the stock itself. You can view the full analysis from the report here: SWN SWN data by YCharts Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Thursday, 9 Adar I, in Jerusalem, met with representatives of bereaved families from the wave of terrorism; he acceded to the families request to meet with him in order to discuss how they are coping with loss and bereavement. We have come to you out of pain, one bereaved sister said. We have come to strengthen you, that you should do everything so that this does not recur. The families representatives asked that consideration be given to the possibility of expelling terrorists families to Gaza and of shortening the time necessary for the demolition of terrorists homes. The Prime Minister explained that steps are being taken to move forward on them but added that they are encountering legal difficulties. Prime Minister Netanyahu noted the actions being taken by the IDF and the Israel Police and told the families that he understands their pain as a member of the same family of the bereaved: Your stories are heart-rending. We have been in a war against terrorism for 100 years. We are fighting and winning all the time. We will defeat this wave as well. We are in a protracted struggle. I am telling you the plain truth. We are being affected by the global whirlwind of radical Islam. The families presented the Prime Minister with a document listing their recommendations for the continuation of the fight against the wave of terrorism. Not long following the meeting there was another fatal attack, in a supermarket in Shar Binyamin. A 21-year-old husband and father was murdered in the attack and another man injured. (YWN Israel Desk, Jerusalem / Photo: Kobi Gideon, GPO) As more big FTSE 100 names join the list of dividend casualties, the outlook for income seekers is growing increasingly desperate. Troubled miner Rio Tinto, whose share price is down more than 40 per cent in the past 12 months, last week warned investors that a dividend cut would come. Rolls-Royce has slashed its own by half the firms first dividend cut in almost 25 years. The Footsie giants join a long list of businesses struggling to maintain their payouts. But while many are panicking, some fund managers are looking for opportunities. Casualties: Troubled miner Rio Tinto, and Rolls-Royce are two of several firms to have cut their dividend Nick Kirrage, manager of the Schroder Income fund, says: We talk about the so-called outlook for UK dividends but that just focuses on the 20 biggest companies, which account for two-thirds of the countrys dividends. But there are around 700 companies out there to look at. So while others are worrying about the possibility of another recession, he has been topping up his holdings in banks such as Barclays and RBS. He says: Everyone is so obsessed with PPI and regulation but ignoring the fact that these businesses have been hoarding their profits for the past few years to meet new regulatory requirements. At some point they will have had hoarded enough to start paying out. Such optimism does not change the fact that the environment is exceedingly difficult for any investor. Kirrages fund is down 15 per cent over the past year. And many other funds are struggling too. With a dearth of dividends, some managers could even face ejection from their investment sector. To qualify as an UK Equity Income fund, a manager must deliver a yield which is at least 10 per cent more than what the FTSE All Share is yielding. Michael Clark is manager of the Fidelity MoneyBuilder Dividend fund, which has returned 23 per cent over the past three years and yields around 4.25 per cent. He says: We will definitely see areas of the market where dividends are under pressure throughout this year and I am happy to be completely out of some sectors, such as mining. Im cautious on oil and gas companies their dividends looked challenges when oil was $80 a barrel, and they are seriously under threat at a price of $30. Instead Clark is looking for what he calls safe stocks. There is safety in predictability he says, referring to industries such as pharmaceuticals, telecoms, consumer goods and regulated utilities such as water and electricity. Clark likes support services group Capita. It is a dominant player in its sector with higher barriers to entry and a strong management team which are good at identifying opportunities. The firm yields around 3 per cent. He also likes L&G which he says has adapted well to negative developments in the annuity market. The firm is finding opportunities in international expansion and has a strong dividend yield of 5.5 per cent. Hugh Yarrow, manager of the Evenlode Income fund, is looking for companies with recurring revenues. Firms such as Sage or Compass, which have long contracts with their clients. He says: We try to invest in things which we are confident people will still be buying in five years time. A favourite investment is Unilever, which manufactures consumer brands such as Flora, Dove and Domestos. The firm has grown its dividend for 50 years in a row. Yarrow says: People will always need those low-ticket items such as soap and shampoo. The fund has returned 30 per cent over the past three years and yields 3.8 per cent. Still, it is important to keep things in perspective. HSBC has halved its dividend. On the surface that sounds like terrible news. A South African predator last night gatecrashed Sainsburys planned takeover of Argos. Steinhoff, which owns Bensons For Beds and Harveys in the UK, launched a last-ditch 1.4billion cash offer for Home Retail Group. The dramatic move, announced after the stock market closed last night, looks set to scupper Sainsburys 1.3billion plan to snap up the Argos chain. The proposal from Steinhoff came ahead of Sainsburys put-up or shut-up deadline to make a formal offer on Tuesday at 5pm. Contested: South African predator Steinhoff, which owns Bensons For Beds and Harveys in the UK, launched a last-ditch 1.4billion cash offer for Argos owner Home Retail Group Earlier this month Sainsburys and Home Retail agreed a three-week extension on the original takeover deadline in order to complete due diligence. Sainsburys has been stalking Argos for months as it looks to bring together two of the biggest names in British retail. It first made an offer in November and subsequent offers were rejected until it increased its proposal to 1.3billion, which comprises a mix of cash and shares which at the time was equivalent to 161.3p a share. Since Sainsburys initial approach Home Retail has sold its Homebase chain for 340million to Australias Wesfarmers. The Homebase sale is expected to complete by the end of March. Steinhoff said it is supportive of the ongoing disposal of Homebase. Home Retail said in a statement: The board is reviewing the Steinhoff proposal with its advisers and will make a further announcement in due course. Steinhoffs offer totals 175p a share and will be more attractive to shareholders as it is all in cash. Sainsburys offer is a mixture of cash at 55p a share and shares which, if it went through, would see Home Retail shareholders own 12 per cent of Sainsburys. Steinhoff operates in 20 countries across 24 brands including Conforama in France. It is listed on the Johannesburg stock market with a market value of 14billion but moved its primary listing to Frankfurt last year as part of its European focus. It first invested in the UK in 2001 and later bought the owner of Benson For Beds and Harveys in 2005. Benson has around 270 stores in the UK while Harveys has 150 or so. The retail and manufacturing giant is thought to have met with Home Retail in the past year but the first approach about an offer came this week. Argos runs around 800 shops and if Sainsburys were successful in its bid it planned to close up to 200. Home Retails share price was less than 100p at the start of the year, before news of Sainsburys interest emerged. Its shares fell 1.6p to 153.6p yesterday and Sainsburys slipped 2p to 261.1p. The last-ditch bid threatens Sainsburys plans to help it compete with online rivals such as US giant Amazon and help both businesses compete on the High Street in the internet age. Sainsburys wanted to use Argos expertise in home delivery to bolster its own position in the grocery delivery market as well as improve its non-food sales. Argos has already been trialling outlets in Sainsburys supermarkets. Sainsburys will now be locked in talks over the weekend to decide whether to increase its bid or ask for an extension from the Takeover Panel. 'Negative outlook': Fitch cut Shell's credit rating from AA to AA- Royal Dutch Shell has seen its credit rating slashed following its 36billion takeover of gas giant BG Group. The credit score of the FTSE 100 oil company a barometer of its financial strength was lowered by Fitch from AA to AA-. Ratings agency Fitch said its outlook on Shell was negative in a sign a further cut could follow. Shell used some of its cash reserves to fund the takeover of BG. Following the completion of the mega-deal on Monday, Shell plans to sell 20billion of assets in the next three years. However, Fitch warned it downgraded its view on the company because Shell (down 26.5p to 1560.5p) had materially missed the targeted level of sell-offs so far. Rival rating agency Standard & Poors earlier this month warned of the significant likelihood that it will cut the rating of several large oil companies. Moodys last month said it is reviewing the credit scores of 175 oil, gas and mining stocks due to the prolonged commodities price rout. The oil price is close to a 12-year low. The North Sea industry is in crisis as thousands of workers are laid off and salaries cut. The global mining sector has also been hit by the slump in commodity prices, dragged down by slowing demand from China, the biggest consumer of commodities such as iron ore and aluminium. Amanda Staveley helped broker a deal that saw the Abu Dhabi royal family invest in Barclays Barclays made 346million in 'sham' payments to investors to secure their support in an emergency cash call, court documents claim. The bank has been accused of making the payments to Qatari investors who pumped 4.6billion into the bank in 2008 in two fundraisings. The allegations appear in court documents filed by PCP, the investment firm of dealmaker Amanda Staveley. Staveley, a former girlfriend of Prince Andrew, helped broker a deal that saw the Abu Dhabi royal family invest in Barclays during the second fundraising. The emergency cash calls during the financial crisis enabled Barclays to stay afloat without a bailout from the UK Government. Taxpayers were forced to prop up HBOS and Royal Bank of Scotland during the financial crisis. The legal action is linked to a Serious Fraud Office investigation into millions of pounds of fees paid by Barclays to Qatari investors. Barclays has been accused of bribing investors and not properly disclosing these payments to shareholders. The court documents allege that Barclays made the payments after the Qataris saw the value of an earlier investment in the bank plummet as the financial crisis took hold. Staveley is reported to have been paid between 30million and 40million for her role in securing investment from Abu Dhabi. But she argues that PCP is entitled to more. PCP's lawsuit seeks 720million in damages plus interest and costs. A Barclays spokesman said: 'We believe the claim is misconceived and without merit and will be vigorously defending it.' MANZINI Change equals tension and tension is reaching boiling point at Swaziland Skills Centre (SSC), formerly known as MITC, between the administration and staff members. The training centre has introduced programmes to empower staff even at the lowest level, something which has not gone down well with other employees. Also, the institution has adjusted its academic calendar and enrolment for January this year has been shifted to April. The learning course has also been reduced, first from two years to a year and now to about six months, despite that tuition fees have increased from E1 800 to E2 300. Groundsmen are said to be undergoing training to become instructors, something which has been viewed as a way to invest in cheap labour. However, the administration said those opposing the staff empowering programme were just feeling threatened. Some staff members said they were frustrated and demotivated, more so because the administration had even unjustly cut profit-sharing proceeds for instructors, which they have always been entitled to. While government issues yearly subventions, which is about E3 million a year, because quarterly government pays about E900 000, at the eleventh hour when the institution closed for last year, we were told that the training centre was not going to open in January this year but in April. We were told not to inform students or applicants that the institution would not be opening in January this year, alleged one staff member. To protect our informants from reprisals, they will not be identified. However, management did respond to the allegations citing change as one reason staff was failing to embrace. Management informed lecturers and other staff members that the reason for the change in the institutions calendar was because auditors had complained about being unable to audit records accordingly. This was caused by the fact that the institution receives the first roll-out in government subvention in April, yet the training centres academic calendar commences in January. It didnt come clear as to how private auditors could give a directive as to when and how the government-funded institution is to operate, they said. The Chief Executive Director, Brian Magongo, said all the tension and bad talk was because staff was refusing to accept change. He confirmed that indeed the two-year course was reduced to the one-year course in 2008. During a survey it was again discovered that the one-year course, if the practical subjects are to be separated from the theory learning, can be finished in three to four months time, Magongo mentioned in his response. He also confirmed that auditors said they had challenges with aligning their statements and therefore suggested that the training centres academic calendar be in line with governments financial year as a subvention beneficiary. MBABANE Government will spend E6 287 500 on visibly pregnant women, children and other vulnerable groups who are affected by the current drought situation. The money will cater for elderly, persons with disabilities, people living with HIV (PLWHIV) and young persons (out-of-school youth) with the objective to provide them with social protection from exploitation, violence abuse and neglect resulting from the emergency situation. The National Emergency Response, Mitigation and Adaptation Plan released on Thursday states that social protection is to bring back self-esteem and dignity to all affected groups by preventing and addressing violence, exploitation, abuse and neglect especially for women, children and other vulnerable groups during emergency. Other stakeholders involved in the implementation of this plan include Umbutfo Swaziland Defence Force, Ministry of Home Affairs, World Vision Swaziland, Baphalali Swaziland Red Cross Society, Save the Children, World Food Programme, UNICEF, CANGO and others. Research and analysis indicate that levels of gender-based violence (GBV) are high such that one in four females between the ages of 18-24 years has experienced physical violence in their lifetime and 9 per cent had experienced coerced sexual intercourse before the age of 18. In another study by UNICEF and the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 2007, it was found that one-third of females aged between 13 and 24 years had experienced sexual violence before the age of 18, states the report in part. It is for this reason then that government noted how GBV is a severe social and public health problem and directed over E6m towards this programme. Natural and man-made disasters tend to have a disproportionate impact on special groups. These groups of people can be at risk during disasters, affecting their access to services and may be grossly affected in cases of evacuation if assistance is not available. Outlining its interventions of the two-year programme that will be headed by the Deputy Prime Ministers Office, government will do the following; Awareness raising/education on protection issues, Community, Protection and Security Structures, Beneficiary Identification and accountability, Address Gender-based Violence and Psychosocial Support. The specific objectives are; Sign up for our amNY Sports email newsletter to get insights and game coverage for your favorite teams By Gabriel Rom A 39-year-old man and a 32-year-old woman were shot early Saturday morning inside the Rico Chimi restaurant in Woodhaven, police said. Police said an unknown suspect walked into the restaurant, located at 80-01 Atlantic Avenue at 12:30 a.m., and opened fire on the two victims. The man was shot twice in his leg and stomach and the woman was shot once in her leg, police said. Both victims were listed in stable condition at Jamaica Hospital. According to Alexander Blenkinsopp, spokesman for the Woodhaven Residents Block Association, an officer from the 102nd Precinct told the civic group the shooting was a targeted incident and not a random act. Police do not currently have a description of the suspect. Times Record News file Helen Li of Fowler Elementary School correctly spells symbiosis in 20th round of the 2015 regional spelling bee at Midwestern State University. Li, who was the first runner up last year, will return for the 2016 regionals Saturday at Midwestern State University. She will go up against 21 other competitors hoping to advance to the Scripps National Spelling Bee in May. Today's the day of the big nail-biting contest. No, it's not the South Carolina primary it's the Wichita Falls spelling bee. A bunch of kids will line up at Midwestern State University for a shot at going to the Scripps Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C. Along the way, these kids have already eliminated their competitors on the school level. Now it's the cream of the crop, the best of the best left standing. I've been involved in several and I know the tension in the room is palpable. Oh, the angst! The sweating palms. The itchy collars. The short tempers! That's the parents. The kids are actually pretty cool. I was a pretty good speller when I was a kid. Not competition level, but not bad. But after six decades of writing words for a living, there are still some I really have to stop and think about. As part of reporting, I write the word describing a police document every day. But is it "warrent?" Or "warrant?" The latter is correct and you'd think by now I would remember that. Often it's not the big words that are hardest. Antidisestablishmentarianism is easy. It's the little common ones that nail you. Is he the "sheriff" or the "sheriff?" The "concensus" ( or is it "consensus?") is that he is the former and it is "consensus." Is it a "defendent" or a "defendant" who needs a "counsel" (or a "council:)? Actually, a "defendant" would need a "counsel" unless he wanted to plead his case to the city "council." And would the judge enter a "judgement" or a "judgment?" He would enter a "judgment" even though it might go against the better "judgement" of people in Britain. I can usually remember to spell "accommodate" correctly by filling it with almost all the double consonants I can. The same is not true of "harass," but a lot of writers "embarrass" themselves by throwing in an extra "r." If you want to "argue," you have to give up an "e" to win the argument. A photograph is a "memento" of a special moment, even though it seems like it ought to be a "momento." I think my ability to spell well has declined over the year due largely to the machine I am typing this on. Should I misspell (and, yes, it's a double "s"), the thing puts that annoying red line under the misspelled word and all I have to do is right click and insert the proper spelling without giving it any further thought. I hope this doesn't spell the end of spelling bees in the future. And one more thing about those smart, brave kids who will stand on the stage this morning they've got it a lot tougher than all these politicians who have been on the stage lately. "I never said that!" is not an excuse that will keep you in the running. ("Waffle" W-A-F-F-L-E) By the way, you can watch live-streaming of the bee at timesrecordnews.com at 9 a.m. Emily Junek and Greg Pollock rehearse a scene from God of Carnage, now running at the Royal Theater in Archer City. SHARE By Lana Sweeten-Shults of the Times Record News ARCHER CITY, Texas While no blood is shed in "God of Carnage," the steak tartar of the stage, it is emotionally bloodletting, lamb-to-the-slaughter, wild-eyed, emotionally epic stuff in which its characters swallow the bitter pill of brutal truth. And, oh my, what a bitter pill true feelings can be. Get ready for marital annihilation and the absolute nihilism of politeness, people. Playwright Yasmina Reza has gifted us a dark comedy of anti-manners. This is such a tour-de-force, actorly play, with meaty lines and all kinds of emotional, tornadic upheaval going on all over the place, along with snaggletoothed, madwoman physicality, and a dichotomy of civilized personality types. With such brilliant source material along with a surprising special effect involving one character spewing something I will not detail it's hard to go wrong when staging a production of "God of Carnage," which the Royal Theater tackled Thursday night with some gusto, though just not quite enough of it. Much of that verve comes from spark plug of an actress Jennica Lambert. She delivers an absolutely cyclonic performance and sweeps everyone away as she goes from eye-of-the-storm calmness to a nuclear emotional meltdown. She punches, she jabs, she attempts to take out her seemingly Milquetoast hubby with a pillow, putting the full force of her body into it. And when she starts cleaning her carpet and beloved art books, she does it with such fury that she's so fun to watch. The rest of the talented cast pulls you into the story, too, but not quite up to that level of crazed emotional investment. "God of Carnage" follows two couples who agree to meet and calmly discuss the playground fight of their 11-year-old boys. Distracted lawyer Alan (director Greg Pollock) and his pearl-wearing wife, Annette (Emily Junek), are the parents of the "bully" of the equation. They have been invited to the home of Michael (David Conrady), who sells pots, pans and such, and his wife, Veronica (Jennica Lambert). Veronica has an interest in Africa, collects rare books and has social activist and granola tendencies. They are the parents of the "victim." The couples do a dance of niceties, partaking of an apple-pear confection and speaking of tulips. Then the implosion begins. Alan constantly answers his phone and is too busy with a pharmaceutical case to pay much attention. He doesn't want to be bothered with all this nonsense. The nerve-wracked Annette constantly apologizes for her husband's attitude. Michael tries to smooth things over, even while the pretentious Alan demeans him because of his pot-and-pan-selling job. And academically inclined, socially aware, put-upon and accusatory Veronica just wants to get down to the matter at hand. "God of Carnage" touts a fine cast, though Lambert's Veronica overpowers the other characters. The cast leaves room for more physicality and nuclear-reactor type of emotions more chases, more screaming, more pillow fights. Pollock's Alan is appropriately pompous, though still a little too calm. He can turn the knife even more. Junek's Annette, after her character has downed a few glasses of alcohol, needs to make more of a sharp, dramatic change as she goes from sedate to out of control. And I loved Conrady as nice-guy Michael. He brings such a likability to the stage. His challenge, again, is to make a bigger character change halfway through play, when he loses some of his nice-guyness. Thursday night's opening show did hit a minor bobble or two with longer-than-expected pauses between lines and a bit of tripped-over dialogue. But this is a play with so much dialogue, and the cast really does a stellar job. One thing that detracted from the show is that two of the actors' backs face the audience for about 15 minutes while they are seated on a sofa that's turned away from the front of the stage. It was impossible to see their facial expressions, which is vital to a play like this. "God of Carnage" runs for a brisk 75 minutes. But the audience is served plenty of dramatic steak tartar in that short time. Make a trip to Archer City to see it. IF YOU GO What: "God of Carnage" When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday and 7:30 p.m. Feb. 26-27 Where: Royal Theater, 113 E. Main St., on the courthouse square, Archer City Tickets: $15 general admission for all ages Contact: 940-574-2489 or www.royaltheater.org SHARE Contributed photo Lord Leslie Griffiths, from Wesley Chapel in London, will be the speaker for the Perkins Lectures at 10:30 a.m. and 7 p.m. Feb. 28-29 at First United Methodist Church. Fain Presbyterian Church, 2201 Speedway: A pizza dinner will be served at 5:30 p.m. Feb. 24. First Christian Church, 3701 Taft Blvd.: A meeting will be held after the Feb. 21 morning service for anyone interested in joining the prayer team. Those unable to attend the meeting can contact Nancy Joliff at 766-2437. Young Ages Preschool will have an open house 6-7 p.m. March 1, when registration packets will be available. First Christian Church of Iowa Park, 210 E. Cash St.: The men's group will have its monthly breakfast meeting at 9:30 a.m. Feb. 21. First United Methodist Church, 909 10th: The Perkins Lectures, by Lord Leslie Griffiths, from Wesley Chapel in London, will be at 10:30 a.m. and 7 p.m. Feb. 28-29. Good Shepherd Lutheran Church of Iowa Park, 801 N. First St.: Lenten midweek services will be at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 24. Sacred Heart Catholic Church, 1501 Ninth St.: Knights of Columbus Council 10998 will hold fish fries from 5:30 to 7 p.m. each Friday during Lent. Desserts will be available from the Catholic Daughters. The middle school rally will be Feb. 27. Contact Cassie Erazo at ceraza@sacredheartwf.org for information. St. Marks United Methodist Church, 4319 McNiel: The United Methodist Men will have a breakfast at 9 a.m. Feb. 20. The praise hymn band will perform during services Feb. 21. The United Methodist Men and United Methodist Women will have a joint birthday lunch at 11:30 a.m. Feb. 24. St. Paul Lutheran Church, 11th and Holliday: A congregational potluck lunch will be at 11:30 a.m. Feb. 21, with a voter assembly to follow at 12:30 p.m. The education board will meet at 7 p.m. Feb. 22. Special events on Feb. 24 will include a Lenten meal at 5:30 p.m. and a service at 6:30 p.m. On Feb. 25, the women's home Bible study will be at 9:30 a.m. and the Agape Ringers will meet at 6:45 p.m. Church volunteers will serve dinner at Faith Mission Feb. 27, with workers asked to meet at 5 p.m. at the mission. Trinity United Methodist Church, 5800 Southwest Parkway: The Followers class will have a potluck dinner at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 20. The monthly song service will be at 5 p.m. Feb. 21. University United Methodist Church, 3405 Taft: Angel Wings members will meet from 9-11:30 a.m. Feb. 20 to make plans for their high tea event. The choir will sponsor the midwinter banquet at 6 p.m. Feb. 20, with dinner and special music by the choir. The deadline for submitting items for church briefs is 4 p.m. Wednesday. To have an item listed, mail the information to Bridget Knight, Times Record News, P.O. Box 120, Wichita Falls, Texas 76307. Please limit announcements to special events, meetings or guests. Limited space does not allow listings for regular weekly events. Items may be faxed to 940-720-3444 or emailed to bridget.knight@timesrecordnews.com. We are sorry, but church brief items cannot be taken over the phone. KONICA MINOLTA DIGITAL CAMERA SHARE By Bill Lockwood/Iowa Park Church of Christ Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, informed the disciples that he would be "going away" and where he went they could not come now, but would follow afterward. In the course of that discussion, the Lord promised the coming of "The Comforter." (John 14:26; 15:26, 27; 16:13). The Holy Spirit is a personage of deity. The Bible clearly teaches there is one God (Deuteronomy 6:4; 1 Corinthians 8:4) but three personalities of that one deity (Matthew 28:18-20). Muslim apologists assert that Jesus referred to Muhammad in this promise and that the Bible therefore "prophesies" the coming of Muhammad in seventh century Arabia who would be the "final prophet" God would send. Hamza Abdul Malik, for example, says that the "Comforter" predicted in John 14-16 is a reference to Muhammad. Malik is following the foundational biography of Muhammad by Ibn Ishaq called "The Life of Muhammad," in which it is asserted that Jesus used the term "Comforter" in John 15:23. The word for this "Comforter" in Greek is "Parclete" which refers to "Muhammad," Ishaq says. It is noteworthy that seventh century Arabians recognized the integrity and authority of both the Old and New Testaments, and sought to insert Muhammad into the sacred text. What shall we say to these things? First, the promise of the Comforter refers to the Holy Spirit, which would be sent upon the 12 apostles in the first century. The text of John is emphatic. Only the apostles were addressed by Jesus in the night before he was crucified (John 13, 14). Announcing that he was leaving, Jesus reassured the 12 that "the Comforter" would be sent to them to give them perfect recall on what Jesus had taught (14:26). The Comforter is defined by Jesus as "the Holy Spirit," who would be with them. Muhammad is 600 years too late to be the "Comforter." The reason the Comforter would be given to the 12 apostles was because they "had been with me (Jesus) from the beginning" (John 15:26). For this reason they were qualified as "witnesses" in their preaching. Once again, no Arabian person of the seventh century could qualify, Ibn Ishaq notwithstand- ing. According to John 16:13 Jesus promised that when the Comforter, the "Spirit of Truth" comes upon the apostles, "He shall guide you into all the truth." All truth was revealed to the selected apostles of Jesus Christ. Not one part of truth was to be left for any other group of men or self-styled prophets of later centuries. It matters not if that board of men would meet in Rome or Mecca. Nothing more could be added to the sacred text when the apostles of Jesus Christ finished their course. Second, Jesus had earlier promised during his ministry that the Holy Spirit would come upon the apostles within a few days of his ascension. It was for this reason Jesus told the apostles to wait in Jerusalem until this occurred. In Acts 1:5 this promise of the coming of the Holy Spirit was said to be "not many days" more. If the coming of the "Comforter" would not be until 600 years later in Mecca that would be a long wait! Third, the apostles later recognized and quoted the promise of Jesus regarding the Comforter as having reference to themselves, not Muhammad. In Acts 5:32, while Peter stood on trial before the Jewish Sanhedrin for preaching the resurrection of Jesus Christ, he used the words quoted in John 15:26, 27. "And we are witnesses of these things (resurrection and ascension of Christ) and so also is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to them that obey him." This is exactly what Jesus had promised in reference to the apostles. The right place to begin studying the life of Muhammad is the biography by Ibn Ishaq. It is authoritative to Islam, much like the Gospels are to Christianity. Ishaq is the supreme standard. The fact that one discovers this distortion in it pertaining to Jesus' promise of "the Comforter" demonstrates the error of the whole. Bill Lockwood is minister of Iowa Park Church of Christ. Contact him at billnitalockwood@yahoo.com. SHARE Chester By Patrick Johnston An Iowa Park woman was arrested Thursday, accused beating her son over chewing gum and what clothes he wore to school. According to an arrest warrant affidavit: Around 9:05 a.m. on Feb. 8, Iowa Park police responded to Bradford Elementary School after a boy, 10, came to school with dried blood on his face, hands and legs. At first, the boy told school officials his younger brother pushed him and he tripped over his sister, causing a bloody nose. When the school officials spoke to his younger brother, 8, about the incident, he said the children had gotten up late for school and the victim was in trouble over gum he took that was not his. The younger brother also told school officials his mother, Starla Veita Chester, 31, grabbed the victim by the hair and began hitting him in the face when he got in the truck to go to school, causing the victim's nose to bleed. When officers spoke with the victim, he said Chester blamed him for going through medication and taking gum the night before. Once in the truck, the boy told officers Chester grabbed him by the hair and began hitting him on the right side of his face. He said they had to go back in the house after his nose started bleeding "very badly." He said Chester told him she didn't want to see him, talk to him or even be in the same house with him. He said his mother told him if he told anyone what she did, he would be grounded for life and would be going to Colorado to live with his biological father. When asked by officers how often this happens, the victim said "it just all depends, sometimes a month, sometimes a week." During an interview at Patsy's House, the victim said he was punched in the face several times and once in the stomach. He said he went back inside to clean up the best he could and was then taken to school and dropped off. On Feb. 9, Iowa Park detectives spoke with Chester. During the interview, she changed her statement several times. Chester kept blaming the victim for her aggression toward him and said he will lie to get her into trouble but the younger brother would tell the truth. At one point, Chester told detectives the victim argued with her about wanting to wear shorts instead of the pants she told him to put on. She said that is what really set her off when he told her no and that he didn't have to. She admitted to using a coat hanger in the past to hit the victim and to pulling his hair to make him get in the vehicle. Chester was arrested Thursday and booked into the Wichita County Jail on a charge of injury to a child with bodily injury family violence. Her bail was set at $20,000 and she was not in jail Friday afternoon. Bowie Memorial Hospital SHARE By Barbara Green Directors of the Bowie Hospital Authority Friday accepted the $1.5 million bid from Dr. Hasan Farid Hashmi for the purchase of the hospital. Hashmi, whose family operates Texas General Hospital, will now have five days in which to submit a sales agreement, plus 10 percent earnest money deposit, or $150,000, and a letter from a financial institution certifying the bidder has enough liquid assets to complete the purchase. They are planning for a March 4 closing date. On Monday, the board opened bids with Hashmi as the sole bid. The company was one of two bidders back in December when the first bid was held. After hospital legal counsel reviewed the bid, the board voted unanimously to accept the bid. Chief Executive Officer Lynn Heller told the board there has been some controversy stirred up on social media about the company's billing operations. A summer 2015 television news report said the hospital was "price-gouging," and was reported to have some of the highest prices for care in the state of Texas. TGH operates a hospital in Grand Prairie and Grand Saline, both previously closed facilities that were renovated and reopened. Heller said the hospital is using a nontraditional method of billing, but the concept is not new and several other hospitals in the state use the same process. Chairman Tim Winn asked if they take assignment for Medicare, Medicaid and supplement part B, and Heller said yes. Winn also asked if there would be an emergency room. Heller said to be a licensed acute care hospital in Texas you must operate an emergency room. Responding to the comment the ER and hospital would be used as a "feeder" for the Grand Prairie hospital, Heller said that question has not come up, but he didn't think that would be practical. Winn added the bidder has said they want to bring in specialty doctors to increase surgery options that can help provide a return on their investment. When asked about possible time frame for reopening, Heller said there is a lot of paperwork and he expected it would take at least 60 days. The CEO referred to a letter presented by the bidder outlining its vision for the hospital. He said it would operate as an independent entity with a new name serving the elderly, veterans and low-income. An ER would be established along with lab and imaging services. Hashmi stated in the letter they want to grow the service lines, work with local vendors, local doctors and recruit new physicians. Heller said the letter also states they will work with insurance companies who offer competitive in-network rates. Charles Barnard, 89th District judge (right), poses with the family of P.A. Martin after a ceremony unveiling a photo of Martin to be hung in the courtroom. Martin, who was appointed to the district court when it was first formed in 1920, was the only judge to not have his picture displayed in the courtroom. SHARE Patrick Johnston/Times Record News Charles Barnard, 89th District judge, unveils a photo of Judge P.A. Martin to be hung in the courtroom during a ceremony attended by his family members. Martin, who was appointed to the district court when it was first formed in 1920, was the only judge to not have his picture on the wall in the courtroom. Patrick Johnston/Times Record News Charles Barnard, 89th District judge, unveils a photo of P.A. Martin to be hung in the courtroom during a ceremony attended by his family members Friday afternoon. Martin, who was appointed to the district court when it was first formed in 1920, was the only judge to not have his picture on the wall in the courtroom. A photo of P.A. Martin was hung in the 89th District courtroom Friday afternoon during a ceremony attended by his family members. Martin, who was appointed to the district court when it was first formed in 1920, was the only judge to not have his picture on the wall in the courtroom. By Deanna Watson of the Times Record News When Charles Barnard became the 89th District judge in 2015, he recognized the historical significance. What he didn't notice was a monumental link to his place in Wichita County history. While giving an old friend and fellow Wichita Falls High School Coyote a tour of his courtroom, Barnard realized something was missing. "I think my great-grandfather was a judge in this court," Barnard's friend, Dr. Steve Ruyle, said at the time. His great-grandfather, Judge P.A. Martin, was indeed the first 89th District judge, and his portrait, Barnard noted, was not hung along with the subsequent judges in that court. "He's the only judge to serve in two different district courts in Wichita County, but what's important to me is that he was the first judge of the 89th court and yet his picture wasn't on the wall," Barnard said. "I don't know what caused that oversight, but I wanted to fix that." Barnard corrected the oversight Friday in an unveiling ceremony that also served as a surprise to Martin's granddaughter, Janice Ruyle, now living in Austin. "I know she'll be surprised," said Barnard, who planned to take the Ruyle family for lunch at McBride's before casually suggesting she take a tour of his courtroom. That's where Janice Ruyle found a celebration of her grandfather. A portrait of Martin hangs in the 30th District Court, where Judge Robert Brotherton presides, and Barnard said he recalled seeing Martin there before. He would recognize Martin, since the Barnard and Ruyle families go back decades. "Dr. Ruyle and I have been best friends forever," Barnard said. "I was best man in his wedding. His sister and my sister were friends. Our brothers were friends. We vacationed in Colorado together, in a lodge where Dr. Ruyle's grandmother, a Reynolds, would play the piano." The Barnard siblings called Janice Ruyle's mother "Grandma," the judge said. Judge Martin served as 30th District Court from 1911-14, Barnard said, "and then he must have gone into private practice for a while." Then, when the population grew and the Texas Legislature established the 89th District in 1920, Martin was appointed to the bench by then Gov. William P. Hobby. Martin served in 89th District Court until 1935, winning several elections. He was then named to the Texas Court of Civil Appeals in Fort Worth in 1935, dying a year later. A detailed collection of Judge Martin's thoughts can be found at Ancestry.com, where, among other memories, he recalled his arrival in Wichita Falls. "My first visit to Wichita Falls occurred during the great drought of 1886-7, when the only available water for man or beast between Graham, where I then lived and Wichita Falls was at Archer City where I secured water for my team at 25 cents per bucketful. This water was hauled to town from water holes in the little Wichita River. Drinking water was secured from some wells in town and was, as I remember, free." The vivid recollections make one long for time travel back to his courtroom, where his proceedings would arguably be just as riveting. "It was a long and lonesome road from Graham to Wichita Falls in the '80s and '90s. From the 'drift fence' of the Loving Cattle Co. six miles north of Graham to the 'top of the hill' at Wichita Falls, one traveled through an almost continuous prairie-dog town, not excepting the metropolis of Archer County. In fact on one of my first visits to Archer City I sat on the courthouse steps with Sheriff Joe Powell and we shot prairie dogs on the public square. "It took a good team to make it with a Spaulding buggy from Graham to Wichita Falls in a day. When I traveled the road I usually carried a shotgun along and ordinarily bagged some prairie chicken, quail or plover along the way. I remember on one occasion I got six prairie chickens out of bunch of seven at a single shot a few miles south of Archer City." Judge Barnard embraced the chance to bring back memories of P.A. Martin and honor Janice Ruyle's memories of her grandfather. "The Ruyle family has been a part of Wichita Falls for a long time," Barnard said. PLATTSBURGH -- A Saratoga Springs woman and her correction officer son were arrested on charges relating to a marijuana distribution conspiracy operating out of upstate New York, authorities say. Freda Rushford, 62, of Saratoga, and Brad Rushford, 33, of Ellenburg Depot in Clinton County, were charged Friday with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute 100 kilograms of marijuana or more, according to U.S. Attorney Richard Hartunian. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Las Vegas Hillary Clinton has done just about everything right ahead of Saturday's caucuses in Nevada. She began organizing early, visited the state repeatedly, hired some of its most talented political professionals and cultivated broad support from organized labor, Democratic leaders and the party's grass roots. But Clinton made one glaring mistake: She failed to take Bernie Sanders seriously enough. Most crucially, she allowed him to dominate the television airwaves in the state starting in December and continuing through his momentum-building performances in the first two presidential nominating contests in Iowa and New Hampshire. Now Clinton's once-sizable lead in voter surveys has all but vanished, and both sides are bracing for a close finish. "Nevada has become a highly contested race and could either be Clinton's firewall or Sanders' proving ground," said Rebecca Lambe, a top strategist for Nevada's Democratic Sen. Harry Reid, who like her boss has not taken sides. A loss in Nevada, which once seemed almost inconceivable, would do grave harm to Clinton and establish the Vermont senator as more than a charmingly irascible distraction en route to her nomination. Even a close Sanders finish could raise strong doubts about Clinton's candidacy, especially if he manages to cut deeply into her presumed base among Latino, black and Asian-American voters. In a last sprint on Friday, Clinton sought to bolster her support among women and Latinos. Appealing to both, her latest TV spot featured a scene from a meeting last weekend in East Las Vegas, where Clinton hugged a young girl afraid her parents will be deported. "Let me do the worrying," Clinton said. Sanders took his populist message to rural Nevada. He spoke Friday at a town hall-style event in Elko, calling for a higher federal minimum wage and free college tuition two hallmarks of his campaign. "This is not a radical idea," he said. Nevada has none of the storied history of Iowa's caucuses or New Hampshire's primary. But the vote here could go much further than either of those contests in shaping an increasingly unpredictable fight for the Democratic nomination. The only other time Nevada mattered this much in the primary season was in 2008, when Clinton and then-Sen. Barack Obama fought to a split decision; Clinton won the popular vote while Obama edged her in the delegate count. Had Clinton handily carried both Iowa and New Hampshire, the fight for the nomination would have essentially ended, even if Sanders continued campaigning. But Sanders nearly beat Clinton in the Iowa caucuses, and then won New Hampshire in a landslide the next week. The outcome could go a long way toward determining whether Clinton's firewall holds, or the Sanders insurgency blazes on brighter and stronger than before. Albany Ben Katagiri's performance in the one-actor play "I Am My Own Wife" impresses with its technical accomplishment. Over the course of almost two hours and a duffel's worth of lines, Katagiri plays more than three dozen characters who speak in at least seven accents, including multiple versions of German, English and American, plus French and even Indian. He often successfully creates conversations among several people, each with a different accent. And he changes character with just the slightest adjustment of accent, posture or the addition of a pair of glasses or their position on his face. Even if the production running at the Albany Barn through March 5 is curiously lacking in emotional power, it's a testament to Katagiri's skill, and to the script, by Doug Wright, that you always know what's going on and who's who. That's remarkable, given the complexity of the story. The title character is Charlotte von Mahlsdorf, a figure so extraordinary she has to be real a fictional character like this would strain credulity to the shattering point. Born in Germany in 1928 with a male body and the name Lothar Berfelde, von Mahlsdorf identified from an early age as female and lived her whole adult life openly as a woman. She survived two repressive regimes the Nazi and communist East Germany as she built and maintained a museum in her house dedicated to household items largely from Germany of the 1890s, with a special focus on Victrolas and other early phonographs. It's there that Wright, who is a character in the play, finds von Mahlsdorf. He has gone to Germany in the early 1990s to interview her in preparation for writing a play about her. Her story turns out to be more difficult and contradictory than Wright expected. Instead of a clear early pioneer and hero of the LGBT community "a boy in his mother's housecoat who survived the Nazis," as Wright puts it von Mahlsdorf turns out to have survived in part by being an informant for the Stasi, the feared East German secret police. Information in her police files, released following the fall of the Berlin Wall, doesn't support von Mahlsdorf's version of her life, distressing Wright. "I need to believe her story as much as she does," Wright says. Sign up for The Knick Get the latest news and features with our afternoon newsletter. The importance of stories is at the core of the play how we tell them and retell them to ourselves and others; their function in helping us define and redefine who we are, sometimes after the fact; how we can cling to a story even when it's shown to be partly or largely or wholly untrue, because it's the version of events, and ourselves, that we want to be the truth. What's missing in this "I Am My Own Wife," the third show produced at the Albany Barn arts incubator by the young production company Creative License and directed by David Carta, is a demonstration the emotional toll on von Mahlsdorf of her choices and compromises. For all of Katagiri's linguistic virtuosity, his von Mahlsdorf remains largely opaque. She's had to be so tough for so long, and her dedication to her possessions is so dogged, that the human side of her remains elusive. sbarnes@timesunion.com 454-5489 THE ISSUE: The FBI wants Apple Inc. to create a hack for its iPhone security software. THE STAKES: Is the risk to hundreds of millions of cellphone owners worth it? More Information To comment: tuletters@timesunion.com or at http://blog.timesunion.com/opinion See More Collapse For some context on the FBI's attempt to force Apple Inc. to create a way around its smartphone security, imagine for a moment a handgun of the not-too-distant future, embedded with smart technology that allows only the owner to fire it. No one, but no one, can crack it. Now, imagine that along comes the FBI, saying it wants the gun's manufacturer to change its program so that it can hack into those guns in order to stop future suspects from using them. Who could object? This is about law and order, and saving lives. But there's a hitch: Once that program is invented, tech savvy criminals would probably be able to figure it out, and disable the guns of rivals, security guards, homeowners, even police. In a sense, this is what the government's fight with Apple is about, except what's a stake is not the right to defend one's self, but the right to be secure in one's electronic papers and effects. The Fourth Amendment, that is, instead of the Second. The FBI wants to get into the cellphone of Syed Farook, who with his wife, Tashfeen Malik, killed 14 people in December in San Bernardino, Calif. Authorities want to determine whether the dead shooters acted in concert with the terrorist group known variously as Islamic State. What it's asking Apple to do and what a court has ordered the company to do is create software that doesn't exist in order to disable a security feature. Sign up for The Knick Get the latest news and features with our afternoon newsletter. While this could fairly be called a matter of national security, it is not a pressing one. There's no ticking time bomb scenario here. The FBI already has access to phone, Internet and social media records. This is a fishing expedition. The trade-off, Apple says, is that this action would effectively open a new way into its phones. And it's reasonable to assume that once that vulnerability is created, it won't remain a secret for long. So much for a key security feature of devices used by hundreds of millions of people. Nor would it be unreasonable to assume that Apple will get more requests. The New York City Police Department has phones it wants to get into, too, and it's likely other law enforcement agencies will get in line. And behind them will be other nations, perhaps regimes that want to spy on dissidents. And so on, until the way around Apple's security is the worst kept secret in the world. It's likely, too, that no security software would be exempt from this condition. Consider what people use their cellphones for these days: banking and credit card information and passwords, Social Security numbers, and all the other information that, in the wrong hands, could quickly be used to steal your identity and destroy your financial security. The FBI should reconsider this demand, and the courts should weigh the potential damage against the dubious benefit. This slippery slope leads to essentially the same unintended, but entirely predictable, consequence as the gun scenario: people made less safe in the name of security, and their rights a little more eroded in the name of liberty. Do you wish to highlight what your business is offering to customers? Do you need to inform those in the community what your organisation is doing? If so, then the Thurles Enterprise Town expo could be just the thing for you. Bank of Ireland, through branch Manager Patricia Ryan, is facilitating the initiative which will see a major expo of the three pillars of the community taking place on Friday and Saturday March 11th and 12th in St Patrick's College . Those pillars - business, community and schools - are supporting the drive for the Enterprise Town and full community participation is anticipated following a very successful and well attended launch at the branch on Thursday evening last. A special organising committee has been established for the event and a fun run/walk will also be part of the activities which will see clubs, organisations, societies and community associations, rubbing shoulders with the many businesses in Thurles, and the schools/colleges, to showcase their activities. This will be a very unique event for the town. We are privileged to be able to introduce the Enterprise Town concept to Thurles. Everyone will have a chance to showcase everything they wish and having witnessed it first hand in Callan, County Kilkenny where I live, I can vouch for the success of the programme and the benefits to be accrued, Patricia Ryan told those in attendance last week. As part of the initiative Thurles Vintage Club will also hold a Tractor Run on the 13th March, thereby making the event a three day one in reality. The chosen charities for the Enterprise Town are Suir Haven and North Tipperary Hospice - the funds will be raised through registration for the tractor run, and also for the fun walk/run on the Saturday morning. Entry, for patricipants and visitors, to the exhibition in St Patrick's College is free of charge, but exhibitors must book in advance in order to be allocated a space. Thurles Chamber of Commerce President John Butler backed the initiative and commended Bank Of Ireland for putting Thurles forward as an Enterprise Town. There are, he said, great opportunities to promote the town and what it has to offer from a business, community and enterprise perspective. Exhibitors will be allocated space in the venue on Friday afternoon - the event takes place from 4-7:00pm on Friday and from 11-2:00pm on Saturday. Bank of Ireland will match the funds raised for both charities up to a maximum. There will also be a schools element to the inititive with opportunities to view school exhibits in the afternoon - the students of today are the businesspeople of tomorrow after all. Josette Hartnett, a native of Thurles, who has worked on a number of Enterprise Town programmes said she was thrilled to have it in her native town and outlined the benefits which can accrue from it. She encouraged all buisnesses, enterprises, clubs, societies and organisations to get involved and said that participation in the event will help to open up the participants to a very wide audience. A keynote speaker will be announced very soon and the hard working committee are putting the preparations in place to ensure that everything runs smoothly over the course of the event. If you are interested in participating, you must register with Bank of Ireland immediately. This can be a major success for Thurles and I encourage everyone to get involved, Patricia said. The condition of the South Perry Street Bridge has continued to deteriorate after recent minor repairs that were expected to place it on an an [February 19, 2016] Paycom CFO Craig Boelte Recognized for Excellence in Financial Stewardship Paycom Software, Inc. (NYSE:PAYC), a leading provider of comprehensive, cloud-based human capital management software, today announced that its CFO, Craig Boelte, was honored by The Journal Record with a 2016 Financial Stewardship Award in the public company category. The accolade honors business leaders who demonstrate great leadership and dedication to their companies and communities. This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160219006028/en/ Craig Boelte, CFO, Paycom Software, Inc. (Photo: Business Wire) Boelte was recognized on Feb. 18 at The Journal Record's seventh-annual Oklahoma's Most Admired CEOs awards event at the Embassy Suites Oklahoma City Downown/Medical Center. Recipients were judged based on their ability to contribute to the company's growth and profitability, as well as their ability to excel in the areas of revenue growth, financial stability, innovation and financial integrity. The honorees are profiled in the Oklahoma's Most Admired CEOs magazine, inserted in the Feb. 19 edition of The Journal Record. "I am honored to be recognized among some of the state's best leaders and am thankful I have the opportunity to work alongside the outstanding individuals that make up Paycom," said Boelte. Having served as Paycom's CFO since 2006, Boelte has more than 29 years of experience in various facets of workforce management and accounting. Prior to joining Paycom, Boelte spent nine years at Deloitte (News - Alert) & Touche, where he served as senior tax manager. From there, he opened his own accounting practice, with Paycom as a client. Under Boelte's leadership, Paycom went public in 2014 and recently was ranked as one of Oklahoma's top public companies. With Boelte at the helm, Paycom has experienced tremendous growth and significant financial success that includes a compound annual growth rate for revenue of 41 percent (2011-2015). About Paycom As a leader in payroll and HR technology, Oklahoma City-based Paycom redefines the human capital management industry by allowing companies to effectively navigate a rapidly changing business environment. Its cloud-based software is based on a core system of record maintained in a single database for all human capital management functions, providing the functionality that businesses need to manage the complete employment lifecycle, from recruitment to retirement. Paycom has the ability to serve businesses of all sizes and in every industry. As one of the leading human capital management providers, Paycom has sales offices across the country and serves clients in all 50 states. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160219006028/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [February 19, 2016] ComEd Opens New State-of-the-Art Training Facility in Chicago Joined by Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, ComEd today held the grand opening of its new Chicago Training Center at 3536 S. Iron Street in the Bridgeport neighborhood. The facility will provide significant economic and community benefits while meeting the need to train current and future workers on managing a modern electric delivery system. The Chicago Training Center, and its sister facility in Rockford, were made possible by the smart grid law passed by the Illinois General Assembly in 2011. The smart grid law opened the doors for ComEd to modernize its 100-year old electric delivery system and provide customers with improved power reliability and more programs and options to manage electricity usage, while also enhancing economic development in Illinois and building smart infrastructure for the future. The new facility is the second training center that ComEd has built from the ground up in its 130-plus-year history. It is specially designed to educate and train the workforce of the future. The center features 50,000 square feet of classroom and indoor training space, a 240,000-square-foot outside training yard and a 200-seat auditorium. The facility also includes substation and meter training areas, an indoor pole yard, lead splicing bays for underground cable and manhole training areas. Additionally, the facility will serve as an auxiliary storm center to help expand ComEd's resource coordination during significant storms. "This training and education center reflects the innovative spirit that runs throughout our organization," said Anne Pramaggiore, ComEd's president and CEO. "It also demonstrates our commitment to our people, customers and communities as this brand new facility will play an enormously important role in helping to train the workforce of the future, provide new opportunities to Chicago students and better serve our customers with innovative technologies of a modern grid." ComEd expects more than 4,000 employees will receive training at the facility annually and over 6,000 members of the public will visit the fcility each year for educational tours. The center is decorated with art from Project Onward participants, a program at the Bridgeport Arts Center that supports the professional development of artists with exceptional talents and challenges, ranging from autism to mental illness. Another center feature is the Smart Energy Hub, a one-of-a kind interactive station designed to help elementary, middle high school students and adults learn about how electricity is generated and delivered, the technologies available to manage electricity usage and save money on electric bills, and how ComEd is helping to build a community of the future. Nearly 70 groups, representing more than 1,800 visitors, are already signed up to visit the new Chicago Training Center. ComEd is working with After School Matters to develop a program to expose Chicago high school students to skills needed to work in the construction trades. The program will teach students about the math skills, electrical theory and use of tools needed to begin the journey to a career in construction. "I want to thank ComEd for building this new training center in the Bridgeport neighborhood. It will bring jobs and economic benefits for our residents and also help our workers and students learn the skills they need to succeed in the 21st century economy," Mayor Rahm Emanuel said. "This state-of-the-art training center illustrates ComEd's commitment to helping our communities remain vibrant while also helping Chicago develop a world-class workforce to drive our economic growth far into the future." "CPS is committed to providing our students access to opportunities that will allow them to develop 21st century skills, and we are grateful to our partners at ComEd for recognizing the potential in our students with this commitment to the next generation of Chicago's skilled workforce," CPS Chief Education Officer Dr. Janice Jackson said. "With these opportunities, CPS students will build not only the confidence, but the skills they need to succeed in college and career." The facility will also allow ComEd better flexibility in managing severe weather events. "In addition to enabling us to train the next generation of utility workers and teach students more about electricity, this new state-of-art facility also will serve as a storm center to help us manage and coordinate resources during severe weather events," said Terence R. Donnelly, Executive Vice-President and COO, ComEd. Commonwealth Edison Company (ComEd) is a unit of Chicago-based Exelon Corporation (NYSE: EXC), the nation's leading competitive energy provider, with approximately 6.6 million customers. ComEd provides service to approximately 3.8 million customers across northern Illinois, or 70 percent of the state's population. For more information visit ComEd.com, and connect with the company on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube (News - Alert). View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160219005978/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] What you need to know about Powerball and the $550 jackpot Kansas City Journalist Elite Answer Lame Questions From Local Public TV Watchers Here's a quick look at Kansas City according to the people who write the news. Take a look at the top stories among the mainstream . . . Even better . . . FORMAT CHANGE UP . . . THEY'RE TAKING THE LAMEST QUESTIONS FROM VIEWERS!!! Check the description . . . "Nick Haines, Barbara Shelly, Dave Helling, Eric Wesson and Steve Vockrodt discuss the potential for Kansan Sri Srinivasan getting a Supreme Court nomination, the local impact of the presidential race, the chances of the American Royal moving to KCK, raising the speed limit, the impact of recent high profile arrests on the payday loan industry, superintendent salaries and allocating tax incentives." More in a bit . . . While Kansas City's top politicos celebrated the opening of the Hillary office a few days ago, supporters of Bernie outnumbered the Democratic Party former First lady in a low key affair that still garnered quite a bit of excitement.The KCMO Bernie For Prez office is located in the Uptown Shopping Center near the 3700 bloc of Broadway and right across the Uptown theater . . .It's a favorite spot for die-hard Kansas City Democrats thatbe open after dark on most days.You decide . . . KANSAS CITY E-TAX INSIDERS DEBATE OVER USING TABLETS TO MAKE THEIR PITCH TO VOTERS OR RELYING STRICTLY ON A SCRIPT AND A SMILE!!! THE EARNINGS TAX GROUND GAME LEADERSHIP OF PHIL SCAGLIA IS FACING FIERCE CRITICISM OVER THE TABLET TECH GIMMICK AND THE FACT THAT LOW VOTER TURNOUT THREATENS TO CHANGE THE DYNAMICS OF THIS ELECTION . . . PUT SIMPLY, THE GROUND GAME DOESN'T SEEM TO BE GETTING PEOPLE EXCITED TO GO OUT AND VOTE!!! Behind the scenes there's a debate raging among supporters of the earnings tax over the best way to approach voters. Today's nice weather offers an important moment for Question 1 advocates to get out and start talking to the electorate whilst making vague threats about the consequences of defeat for this longstanding local levy.To wit . . .Detractors of the tablet approach say the impromptu tablet tech viewing demand can seem condescending . . . Especially in the urban core . . . After all, watching commercials with people is kinda boring . . .Here's one of the many clips that Kansas City voters might be forced to endure if they dare answer their door on a sunny day for strangers . . .Critics of the tablet approach argue that the old school personal touch is more effective and eliminates that needles tech campaign prop.But it gets better . . .To be fair, the old style of campaigning also has its share of critics and with voter turnout at an all time low in KCMO . . . The lists, resources and data driven campaign employed by Mr. Scaglia might be more effective at targeting likely voters than they old scattershot neighborhood approach.Either way . . . This post serves as a warning to voters . . . E-Tax supporters will be out in full force today and demanding locals partake in their pitch.You decide . . . Germany proposed an emergency EU summit on March 6, with the participation of Turkey, and has pledged that the current status on the borders' control will not change in the meantime Greek diplomatic sources expressed their content over the final conclusions of the EU summit as agreed early on Friday in Brussels. Greece has managed to meet the four main goals it had set, they explained. The same sources noted they are particularly pleased with the statement that ensures the integrity of the Schengen Treaty, giving an end to scenarios over Greece's expulsion. Relocation of refugees They also stressed the need to avoid unilateral and uncoordinated actions, accelerate the relocation of refugees and implement the resettlement mechanism for refugees directly from Turkey. Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras noted that from the 66,000 refugees to be relocated from Greece, less than 250 refugees have done so. He also stressed that there is no data on how many refugees have been relocated to the Western Balkans (Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Macedonia). "Greece has stressed since last summer the need to put pressure on countries such as Morocco, Pakistan, and Algeria for returns, but not a single return has been made," Tsipras noted, adding that some of the partners harshly criticised Greece in the previous months. "Turkey has not received the same criticism," he added. Emergency EU summit On its part, Germany proposed an emergency EU summit on March 6, with the participation of Turkey, and has pledged that the current status on the borders' control will not change in the meantime. Greek authorities find this development positive as there will be time until March 6 for the EU - Turkey agreement to be fully implemented and the NATO involvement in reducing refugee flows bear fruit. Based on the aforementioned, Greece is expected to ask all involving countries to follow the example of Germany and not change the current status as regards the borders. Otherwise, it will not ratify the final conclusions (on the refugee issue and EU-Britain relation), the adoption of which requires the unanimity of all member states. Source: sofokleous10.gr RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations , Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report Iran has announced plans to establish four Iranian-Algerian companies in the fields of water resources, dam construction as well as water management. The new firms will begin operations to organise and examine the status of water resources in collaboration with the private sector, the Mehr News Agency reported citingthd country's energy minister Hamid Chitchian. He wasspeaking after a meeting with visiting Algerian Minister of Water Resources and Environment Abdelwahab Nouri, stated the report. During the meeting, the two ministers discussed cooperation in management of water resources and sewage treatment. Chitchian said the companies will be formed as a joint venture between the two countries focusing on areas of water studies, dams, construction of irrigation networks, wastewater as well as creation of required equipment. "The ministry staff of the two countries will also be provided necessary facilities to hold joint training courses." The minister underlined that the employees of respective ministries will undergo training on water management in both countries. Oceanco, a Netherlands-based specialist in building sophisticated custom yachts, is set to take part in this year's Dubai International Boat Show which opens next month. To be held from March 1 to 5 at the Mina Seyahi Marina, the boat show will see exhibitors from over 55 countries showcase the world's biggest superyachts at the event. The Dutch firm's brand new 90m Moonstone is making its debut appearance at the five-day show. Additionally, Oceanco will feature two 90m projects, Yasmin designed by Espen Oino and the Oceanco designed E-Motion. Also on display will be the model of the 105m Acquaintance designed by Philippe Briand. Moonstone is an extremely innovative 90m yacht bearing the exterior design of Van Geest Design with unique and cutting-edge lighting systems by Temeloy Advanced Lighting Design. The exciting scale model of this extraordinary yacht will be unveiled on the first evening. The Master Suite located on private owners' deck boasts a generous spa and gym area, a cinema and a touch-and-go helicopter pad; 4 double guest suites and 2 twin suites.-TradeArabia News Service Dozens of al Qaeda militants took control of the southern Yemeni town of Ahwar on Saturday, residents said, consolidating the group's control over much of the region. The coastal city and surrounding district, in Abyan province, is home to more than 30,000 people and is an important geographic link between the major port city of Mukalla to the east and the smaller town of Zinjibar, both of which Al Qaeda seized months ago. "At dawn this morning the al Qaeda gunmen clashed with the Popular Resistance forces, killing three of them," one resident said. "They attacked the sheikh in charge of the area and after he escaped set up street checkpoints and planted their black flag on government buildings." Separately, two gunmen riding a motorbike killed one of the most senior commanders in the Popular Resistance, a loose confederation of southern militias opposed to al Qaeda. Sheikh Mazen al-Aqrabi was killed along with a bodyguard in Yemen's second-largest city of Aden in the southwest, an eyewitness and a security official said. The gunmen were believed to be from al Qaeda, according to the official. Residents in Aden's Mansoura neighbourhood also reported heavy explosions on Friday night as gunmen launched shoulder-fired rockets in a failed attempt to take over a container port. Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), a Sunni Muslim group that claims to be subordinate to the main global militant organisation, has expanded during Yemen's civil war. Viewed by Western analysts as the most dangerous arm of al Qaeda, it claimed responsibility for the deadly January 2015 attack in Paris on the satirical French magazine Charlie Hebdo. AQAP's advance in Yemen triggered a military intervention by a Gulf Arab coalition in March last year. The Saudi-led forces, which back the ousted government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, have clashed with the ascendant Houthi movement which they fear is a proxy for Shi'ite Muslim Iran. The Houthis and Iran deny this. Hadi's Aden-based government has struggled to reverse AQAP's advance which has reached areas close to the presidential palace. Even so, AQAP has suffered setbacks, losing its leader and several top officials in U.S. drone strikes, and is facing competition from the new Yemen branch of jihadist group Islamic State.-Reuters US warplanes launched air strikes against a suspected Islamic State training camp in western Libya on Friday, killing more than 40 people, likely including a militant connected to two deadly attacks last year in neighbouring Tunisia. It was the second US air strike in three months against Islamic State in Libya, where the hardline Islamist militants have exploited years of chaos following Muammar Gaddafi's 2011 overthrow to build up a presence on the southern shores of the Mediterranean Sea. The Pentagon said it had targeted an Islamic State training camp. The facility in the city of Sabratha was linked to Noureddine Chouchane, a Tunisian blamed by his native country for attacks last year on a Tunis museum and the Sousse beach resort, which killed dozens of tourists. "Destruction of the camp and Chouchane's removal will eliminate an experienced facilitator and is expected to have an immediate impact on ISIL's ability to facilitate its activities in Libya, including recruiting new ISIL members, establishing bases in Libya, and potentially planning external attacks on US interests in the region," the Pentagon said, using an acronym for Islamic State, also known as ISIS or Daesh. US officials said Chouchane is most likely dead but White House spokesman Josh Earnest said he could not yet confirm the results of the air assault. He said the raid showed US willingness to fight Islamic State. "It's an indication that the president will not hesitate to take these kinds of forceful, decisive actions," Earnest said. In Libya, photos released by the municipal authorities showed a massive crater in grey earth. Several wounded men lay bandaged in hospital. The mayor of Sabratha, Hussein al-Thwadi, told Reuters the planes hit a building in the city's Qasr Talil district, home to many foreigners. Locals officials said 43 people were killed. The strikes targeted a house in a residential district west of the centre, municipal authorities said in a statement. The house had been rented to foreigners including Tunisians suspected of belonging to Islamic State, and medium-calibre weapons including machineguns and rocket-propelled grenades had been found in the rubble, the statement said. The air strikes came just days after a warning by President Barack Obama that Washington intended to "take actions where we've got a clear operation and a clear target in mind" against Islamic State. Britain said it had authorised the use of its airbases to launch the attack. Islamic State runs a self-styled caliphate across swathes of Iraq and Syria, where it has faced air strikes from a US-led coalition since 2014. DEEPER INTO CHAOS Since Gaddafi was overthrown five years ago by rebel forces backed by NATO air strikes, Libya has slipped deeper into chaos, with two rival governments each backed by competing factions of former rebel brigades. A U.N.-backed government of national accord is trying to win support, but is still awaiting parliamentary approval. It is opposed by factional hardliners and has yet to establish itself in the capital Tripoli. Islamic State has expanded, attacking oil ports and taking over Gaddafi's home city of Sirte, now the militant group's most important stronghold outside its main redoubts in Syria and Iraq. Calls have increased for a swift Western response to stop the group establishing itself more permanently and using Libya as a base for attacks on neighbours Tunisia and Egypt. Western officials and diplomats have said air strikes and special forces operations are possible as well as an Italian-led "security stabilisation" plan of training and advising. US and European officials have in the past insisted Libyans must first form a united government and ask for help, but they also say they may still carry out unilateral action if needed. The United States estimates that the number of militants directly affiliated with Islamic State or sympathetic to it now operating in Libya is in the "low thousands," or less than 5,000, a US government source said. Last November the United States carried out an air strike on the Libyan town of Derna, close to the Egyptian border, to kill Abu Nabil, an Iraqi commander in Islamic State. A US air strike targeted veteran Algerian militant Mokhtar Belmokhtar and other jihadists meeting in eastern Libya last June. His fate is unclear. Reuters Lebanon-based luxury chocolatier Patchi is working with Goldman Sachs and deNovo Corporate Advisors ahead of a potential stake sale, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters, in a deal expected to value the company at more than $500 million. The prospective sale would be the latest in the food sector in the Middle East by a family business aiming to support expansion plans and improve governance structures. Investors have been keen to buy into the market as they target the potential of consumer brands buoyed by spending from the Middle East's growing and increasingly affluent population. Patchi, which has more than 140 stores across 21 countries in the Middle East, Europe, Asia and Africa according to its website, could not be reached for comment outside of normal business hours. The chocolatier was considering the sale of a substantial minority stake, according to two sources who spoke on condition of anonymity as the information isn't public, with one adding this could equate to between 30 and 49 per cent being offloaded. The second source said the company was currently being prepared for the sale process and that Goldman Sachs was working with the company while Dubai-based boutique deNovo was advising members of the family. Patchi was founded in 1974 by Nizar Choucair, who now serves as chairman. "It is a good business, with high margins and retail exposure across the region, so I'd expect it to be worth at least $500 million," said the first source, who also confirmed the appointment of Goldman Sachs. Patchi would join other food and luxury goods companies in the Middle East to have sold stakes in the last year. Gourmet date company Bateel agreed in January 2015 a partnership with L Capital Asia, a luxury goods-focused private equity firm backed by LVMH. Last month Investcorp acquired a minority stake in Saudi Arabia's Bindawood Holding, which operates supermarket chains in the kingdom, and fellow private equity house Fajr Capital is in talks to buy a majority stake in Gulf food and beverage franchising group Cravia.-Reuters The smart airport market in the Middle East region is expected to reach $850 million over the next three years, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of more than four per cent, said a report. The growth in the region will be spearheaded by the Gulf countries ably supported by Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Cyprus, Lebanon, Palestine and Turkey, stated Technavio, a leading global technology research and advisory company, in its market review. The Technavio report covers the market outlook and growth prospects of the global smart airport market for 2015-2019. The market is divided into terminal operation, airside operation, and landside operation in terms of application. Of these three applications, the terminal operations application accounted for 51 per cent of the market share in 2014 and is expected to keep the leading position until 2019, stated the report. According to Technavio, the Middle East is an emerging market for smart airports mainly driven by a spurt in investments from the UAE government towards expansion of airport capacity and building efficient operations. The use of smart technologies, it stated, will help airport authorities reduce 25 per cent of operational costs and provide passengers with seamless travel. On the global scale, the smart airport market is expected to reach close to $13 billion, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of almost six per cent. As of 2014, Asia Pacific (Apac) region holds the largest market share, accounting for over 40 per cent of the global smart airport market, it stated. The countries in the Apac region include India, Australia, China, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, the Philippines, New Zealand, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Burma, Cambodia, Laos, and Nepal. The other regions being covered by Technavios research study include: *Americas - Countries of North America and Latin America *Europe - France, Germany, Russia, Spain, the UK, Italy, Turkey, Ukraine, the Netherlands, Poland, Belgium, Hungary, Sweden, Greece, Portugal, Denmark, Ireland, Romania, the Czech Republic, Austria, and Switzerland. *Middle East - Bahrain, Cyprus, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, the UAE, and Yemen According to the report, the Apac region will continue to dominate the market through 2019, thanks to the growing aircraft fleet and passenger traffic, especially in India and China. "China accounted for a significant share in Apac because of an increase in government funding that is aimed at facilitating the development of airports," explained Sriram Mohan, a lead analyst from Technavios aerospace sector. "For instance, the Chinese Civil Aviation Administration is planning to invest $500 million in the construction of 69 regional airports in China by 2019," he revealed. Acording to him, India, Singapore, and China are some of the countries that will showcase the highest demand for smart airport technologies during the period till 2019. The smart airport market in Europe is expected to reach $4 billion, growing at a CAGR of close to 6 per cent.The growth of the smart airport market in Europe is due to increased air passenger traffic over the last couple of years in European countries. On the air passenger traffic, Technavios report said it had increased to 500 million for domestic flights in European countries, whereas the number has increased to 330 million in international routes over the last couple of years. Increased passenger traffic has encouraged airport and airline authorities to further increase their investment in the development and innovation of technologies that provide various services such as flight status, baggage tracking, smart parking, and smart advertising in airports, remarked Mohan. With just over 21 per cent of the overall market share, the Americas still need to catch up to the trend of smart airports. In 2014, the smart airport market in the Americas was valued at $2 billion in 2014 and is expected to reach $2.72 billion by 2019, depicting a moderate growth. In North America, the US is the largest market for commercial airport luggage-handling systems, said the report. Latin America is expected to increase its demand for smart airport technologies because of the increased investment in airport construction, it added.-TradeArabia News Service When you visit the site, Dotdash Meredith and its partners may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. Cookies collect information about your preferences and your devices and are used to make the site work as you expect it to, to understand how you interact with the site, and to show advertisements that are targeted to your interests. You can find out more about our use, change your default settings, and withdraw your consent at any time with effect for the future by visiting Cookies Settings, which can also be found in the footer of the site. Gurdeep Singh Mann Tribune News Service Bathinda, February 19 The 21-year-old migrant arrested by the Government Railway Police (GRP) used to buy pistols from Nepal border for Rs 7,000 and sell them in Punjab and other adjoining states for Rs 35,000. This was disclosed by GRP officials interrogating Deepak Kumar, who was caught with five pistols and 40 cartridges yesterday from the railway station. He was caught off guard at the exit of the railway station in the wee hours at 6.30 am yesterday. In view of the Pathankot terror attack, we remain on the high alert and almost every GRP official is doing 18-hour duty after receiving strict orders in this regard from top officials, said GRP SHO U Cee Chawla. Its not always the gadgets like the metal detectors, which help us detecting explosives or weapons but experience and behaviour of a criminal prove instrumental in catching him, Chawla said. He said Deepak belonged to a poor family of Madhubani (Bihar). Earlier, he had brought five pistols and delivered them to a person named Mukesh in Lalgarh area of Rajasthan near Bikaner. He was paid a paltry sum of Rs 3,000 to Rs 4,000 for just carrying the weapons in train to hand over to someone in Rajasthan, Chawla said. Last time too, he bought an equal number of weapons. He said eight cartridges per magazine were offered free with one pistol. All these pistols are of good quality metal and to make them appear imported, US is embossed on them. The SHO said they were making all efforts to arrest Mukesh, to whom the weapons were to be delivered. He may land in our net in a day or two, as the top officials of Rajasthan were informed immediately, Chawla said. Rohtak, February 20 Arson, rioting and plundering continued across Haryana throughout Friday night and Saturday as state and central security forces struggled to rein in rampaging mobs. Jat protesters ran riot across the state, torching buses, shops and buildings and destroying lakhs worth of public property as the state government watched helplessly. Reports of clash between Jats and non-Jat communities also trickled in, adding to the chaos. Army men alight a helicopter at Rohtak on Saturday. Tribune photo: Manoj Dhaka Protesters rejoice after an Army flag march passes them by in Rohtak on Saturday. Tribune photo: Manoj Dhaka Remains of a motorcycle as the Army march by in Rohtak after fatal caste protests on Saturday. Tribune photo: Manoj Dhaka A torched Haryana Roadways bus following fatal caste protests in Kaithal on Saturday. PTI photo Seven torched buses torched at Kaithals Pundri bus stand following caste protests on Saturday. A Tribune photo A view of a burnt building Rohtak following caste protests on Saturday. Tribune photo: Manoj Dhaka Residents survey damage following fatal caste protests in Rohtak on Saturday. AFP photo Vishal Joshi Tribune News Service Kurukshetra, February 20 Following a dressing down by the top BJP leadership for his anti-Jat rhetoric, Kurukshetra MP Raj Kumar Saini has dropped the plan of holding a meeting of the OBC Brigade. In-charge of BJPs Haryana unit Anil Jain in New Delhi on Saturday had informed the media a show-cause notice would be served on Saini for his alleged public utterances against Jats. Saini had called a meeting of his supporters on Monday at Theme Park, the largest open public spaces in the city, to decide plan of action to oppose the ongoing Jat agitation. He had warned a direct action by the OBC Brigade if the Haryana government failed to take action against protesting Jats in the state. The first time MP Saini is the leading voice against any proposal to extend OBC benefits to the Jat category. He was directly naming the Jat BJP ministers in Haryana and the Centre as alleged designers of the Jats agitation. MP had been naming finance minister Capt Abhimanyu, agriculture minister OP Dhankar and Union rural development minister Birender Singh for instigating Jats to block railway traffic. Sainis personal staff told the media on Saturday the proposed meeting had been postponed and the new date will be decided later. The local MP is at Visakhapatnam and did not respond to the calls made by The Tribune for his comments. On Friday, he had told The Tribune on phone to fight back the Jats to free the blocked roads and railway tracks. The leader had formed OBC Brigade, a front claimed to be supported by members of 35 communities, to oppose Jats demand of job reservations. Saini wanted rights of reservation restricted to the existing OBC castes and had threatened on Friday a direct confrontation with Jats by the OBC Brigade to ensure smooth movement of public transport. Meanwhile, the Jats held peaceful protest in support of their demands at five different spots in the district. Traffic at these points was diverted to other routes and no untoward incident was reported from the district. Simran Sodhi Tribune News Service New Delhi, February 20 Nepalese Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli today said his visit to India is primarily aimed at clearing the misunderstandings that have crept into the bilateral relationship. India-Nepal relations have been under strain owing to two factors. One: the blockade on the India-Nepal border by Madhesis that has just been called off. Nepal has pointed the finger at India for being behind the blockade. Two: Indias public unhappiness with the new Nepalese Constitution, which India said was not inclusive enough and failed to protect the rights of the Madhesis. The main reason for my visit is to clear the misunderstandings between India and Nepal that have settled in last few months, Oli said. This is Olis first visit abroad since becoming the PM of Nepal. Speculation had been rife that Oli might snub India and visit China first, but that has now been laid to rest. India, on its part, reached out to Oli and in a gesture of warmth, President Pranab Mukherjee invited him to stay at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, which Oli accepted. Oli reportedly briefed PM Narendra Modi on the developments in Nepal after the new Constitution was promulgated and Modi appreciated the two amendments Nepal is making to address Madhesis concerns. Modi said Nepals stability is linked to Indias security and also talked about the growing economic cooperation between the two countries. India and Nepal also agreed to step up the security cooperation between the two countries and to not allow the open borders be misused by terrorists and criminals. We will not allow terrorists and criminals to misuse the open borders between the two countries. Security agencies of both countries will collaborate in this context, Modi said. We are working on hydro projects with combined cap of 7,000 MW, their quick and successful completion can be a gateway to Nepals economic prosperity, Modi said. The two leaders also tele-inaugurated a power transmission line between Muzaffarpur in Bihar and Dhalkebar in Nepal. Tribune News Service Chandigarh, February 21 Arson and violence continued unabated in parts of Haryana on Sunday amidst hope from a positive meeting between Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Jat leaders in New Delhi. The situation across the state, however, was yet to show signs of improvement with leaderless youth continuing to burn properties unchecked and blocking highways as well as minor roads. A Bill for granting OBC status to Jats will be introduced in the coming Budget session of the Haryana Assembly, BJP Haryana in-charge Anil Jain said after a meeting between Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Jat leaders. Jat leaders said that they had also been promised action against BJP MP from Kurukshetra Raj Kumar Saini within a week for his anti-Jat utterances. An immediate halt to the agitation from the seemingly positive talks remained a moot question as a large number of youth without any coordinated leadership were marauding equally in cities and small towns, as well as highways and minor roads. However, road blocks in Palwal were removed after the talks. There were a few major incidents of arson on Sunday also, including the burning of a police post at Kalanaur and a railway station. Popular dhabas along GT Road in Murthal were vandalised. Yet another town, Kaithal, was brought under curfew on Sunday afternoon, as the death toll in the Jat reservation agitation mounted to at least 10, with four more people succumbing to injuries overnight. Kaithal is the ninth Haryana town where curfew has been imposed, the others being Rohtak, Bhiwani, Jhajjar, Jind, Hisar, Hansi, Sonepat and Gohana town of Sonipat district. Read: Road and rail traffic remained paralysed as essential supplies, including fuel, milk and vegetables, were severely hit. ATMs were also running out of cash, official sources said. Markets have remained shut in most towns. The water supply to Delhi, disrupted since Friday night, has not yet been restored, creating a crisis in the National Capital. Spiralling violence today claimed two more lives taking the overnight death toll to 12 as over 150 others have been injured so far, Haryana Additional Chief Secretary (Home) PK Das said. One death was reported in a firing incident from Akbarpur-Barota, near Munak canal in Sonepat, while another person died in a clash between two groups at Hansi, Das told reporters. The Centre has sent additional 1,700 paramilitary personnel to deal with the situation. With public transport in Haryana severely hit, the Civil Aviation Ministry has asked airlines to operate additional flights from Delhi to Chandigarh, Amritsar and Jaipur to enable stranded people reach their destinations. There are reports of airlines massively jacking up ticket prices in view of the rush. LIVE UPDATES: Violence/arson/disruptions SONEPAT: Troops of the Rapid Action Force airdropped on the OP Jindal University campus grounds in 10 sorties. KURUKSHETRA: MP Raj Kumar Saini appeals for peace and harmony in Haryana on his Facebook page. KARNAL: Protesters block NH-1 near Kohand village. KAITHAL: Several roads blocked in district. Tent erected in middle of Hisar-Ambala highway. SONEPAT: College owned by an MP and a hotel vandalised in Sonepat; rice mill set on fire. BHIWANI: Number of buses set ablaze at Tosham. BHIWANI: BJP MP Dharambirs house vandalised. CHANDIGARH: Zirakpur-Shimla highway blocked. Weekend rush to Shimla causes massive jam. REWARI: Highway blocked, disrupting traffic. PANIPAT: Railway station vandalised at Ganaur; booking office and Station Master's room damaged. SONEPAT: Violence reported in Gohana, where a mob set on fire several shops, two buses and two motorcycles. BHIWANI: Protesters late last night set on fire an ATM and burnt official records of a cooperative bank in Loharu. BHIWANI: Police chowkis in Mundal and Kharak set on fire. HISAR: Nine districts are under Army's control as 73 columns have been deployed across Haryana, said Lt Gen Shokin Chauhan, Corps Commander of South Western Command. ROHTAK: Unruly mob set police station, petrol pump, several shops and vehicles on fire at Kalanaur town JHAJJAR: Chhotu Ram Dharmshala set on fire; Rao Tula Rams statue vandalised, Ahirs start gathering to protest the incident. REWARI: Non-Jats burn effigies of Jat ministers Birender Singh, Capt Abhimanyu and OP Dhankar. FARIDABAD: Clash between protesters and police on NH-2 near Ballabgarh; vehicles damaged, journalists beaten up by police. GURGAON: City staring at water crisis; district administration appeal for judicious use, claiming just a day's reserve supply left. GURGAON: A railway halt room at Basai Dhankot set on fire, police claim the room was set afire by a drunkard. KARNAL: Several roads leading to city blocked by protesters, vehicles heading towards Delhi being diverted via Meerut road. KARNAL: More than 20 foreign scientists and around 1,000 scientists and farmers from all over the country are stranded in city. They had come here to participate in 44th International Dairy Conference at NDRI. ROHTAK: Traders and shopkeepers of Quila road market shift their valuable items to safer places. Rohtak IG transferred The state government on Saturday shifted IG of Rohtak Range Sirikant Jadhav without assigning any reason for the transfer. The districts of Rohtak and Jhajjar, which have been badly affected by the stir, fall in Rohtak Range. The office of IG, Rohtak Range, was also vandalised by the protesters. The Haryana government has appointed Sirikant Jadhav, IG of Rohtak Range as IG, State Crime Record Bureau, Madhuban, with immediate effect," an official communique said. No officer has been appointed in place of Jadhav. Violence on Saturday Flag marches by the Army notwithstanding, arsonists had a field day on Saturday, looting and setting shops and business establishments on fire and blocking roads and rail tracks. Two persons were killed and 10, including policemen, were injured in a cross-fire between protesters and Army personnel in Jhajjar. The injured were admitted to the Civil Hospital. An unruly mob went on the rampage setting the Jhajjar police station, BDO office, PWD rest house, Roadways buses and PROs jeep on fire. The mob threw stones at the residence of Haryana Agriculture Minister Om Prakash Dhankar. Choppers drop troops As the protesting Jats last night dug up roads to prevent the troops from entering Rohtak, the Army on Saturday used choppers to drop troops at the Rohtak Police Lines. Army sources said all main roads leading to Rohtak from Delhi, Hisar and Jaipur had been dug up. Despite a flag march in the city, the protesters, mostly students on a dharna in front of the MDU gates, refused to budge. The civil authorities had on Friday requisitioned Army troops for nine violence-hit districts Notice to Kurukshetra MP A show-cause notice has been issued to Kurukshetra MP Raj Kumar Saini, who has been issuing statements against reservation for the Jats. Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar has asked his MLAs to leave for their constituencies and speak with the protesters to end the impasse. The Chief Minister's CM's Barara rally, scheduled for Sunday, has been cancelled. The Indian National Lok Dal has demanded Presidents rule, holding the BJP responsible for the chaos. With PTI inputs New Delhi, February 20 India stands for peace, stability and overall development of Nepal, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday after talks with his Nepalese counterpart KP Sharma Oli. Bilateral relationship between the two nations, particularly in context of the ongoing the political turmoil in the Himalayan country, was the focus of the talks. Nepal Prime Minister Oli said they had ironed out the "misunderstandings" of the past few months. The two countries also signed nine agreements to expand bilateral cooperation in several sectors, particularly transport and power. "The announcement of the new Constitution in Nepal came after decades of struggle in Nepal. It is a major achievement. I appreciate the contribution of the political leadership and people of Nepal for it, Modi said. "But its success depends on consensus and dialogue. I am confident on the basis of these principles and through political dialogue and by taking all sections together, you (Oli) will be able to resolve all issues relating to the Constitution satisfactorily and take Nepal forward towards the path of development and stability." The prime minister promised to assist Nepal in helping it grow. The two countries also said their security agencies will share intelligence reports on terrorism. Nepals prime minister said Indian would remain the Himalayan countrys close friend. The two prime ministers also inaugurated 400 KV Dhalkebar-Muzaffarpur electricity line over a video call from Hyderabad House. India will supply 80 mega watt of power through the line to Nepal now; the supply will go up to 600 MW in the next two years. "India's assistance has always been constructive. Our actions have been in line with the priorities of people of Nepal," Modi said. The prime minister said both sides are working on a number of hydro-power projects in Nepal. He said trade and investment are strong pillars of relations between the two countries and mentioned about the joint initiatives to construct roads in Terai region that he said would boost trade and infrastructure. "The earthquake hit Nepal, but its pain was felt by every Indian. Our USD 1 billion assistance package will take forward our cooperation in this area," he said. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj also met the Nepal prime minister earlier in the day. "They discussed political issues, reconstruction assistance after the Nepal earthquake, SAARC satellite and bilateral cooperation," the sources said. Oli is accompanied by wife Radhika Shakya, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Kamal Thapa, Finance Minister Bishnu Poudyal, Energy Minister Top Bahadur Rayamaji and Home Minister Shakti Basnet among others. Relationship between India and Nepal soured due to protests by Madhesis an ethnic group believed to be of Indian origin that makes up for more than 50 per cent of Nepals population against the countrys constitution unveiled in September 2015. PTI New Delhi, February 20 The Pakistan High Commission today said it was unfortunate that the Ministry of External Affairs did not give clearance to the diplomats who were supposed to accompany Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit on his visit to Chennai. As a result, Basit had to call off his Chennai visit at the last minute. Basit was to call on the Tamil Nadu Governor and the CM during his official visit from February 21-23. Due to the uncertainty surrounding the situation, Basit decided to call off the visit. Basit was supposed to interact with the think tank Observer Research Foundation, FICCI, FIEO and students and faculty of the Madras University. TNS Shamika Ravi In Women of Power, Skard examines Half a century of female presidents and prime ministers worldwide, and in doing so, constructs a compelling narrative that covers the backdrop from which these women emerge. Starting from their childhoods, all the way to the impact they have made on the global stage through their political influence, Skard brings forward a richly detailed timeline of female rulers, from the 1960s up to the current era. The first point to note is the distribution of her sample, which is a feat of universal, lateral inclusion. Skard takes the need to include the Global South in stride, as the countries she examines vary from Sri Lanka to Haiti; South Korea to Latvia. Skard raises some insightful and prima facie ideologically unbiased questions Why did some women get engaged in political activities that were usually considered a male domain? And how did they manage to climb all the way to the highest political positions, when very few men managed to do so and women had not done it before? Further, when top leaders were women and not men, did it make a difference for policies and decisions? This does raise the critical question of whether a gender analysis of top political actors would constitute their essential identities, both of the leaders under examination as well as vast cultural and geo-political differences between the countries they govern. As such, Skard takes special care to avoid this by not looking at each country in isolation, but by taking into account the considerable changes that make international comparison possible. Additionally, she makes the point that although her focus is centered on women, she feels the need for an understanding of men, who dominate the political arena, construct the conditions for female participation through their own views and behaviour. In reasoning out the need for a detailed study such as this, she makes the vital point that this research would lend insight not only to academia but also to understanding gender justice. One of the questions that arise out of her hypothesis is in laying the weight of transformative potential on these women in power, could other non-gendered aspects of governance be ignored? When looking at how a womans identity, her class, upbringing, and gender influence her capacity to be a groundbreaking leader, does political ideology fall by the wayside? Another assumption that needs to be questioned is Skard harbours the belief that it is women at the very top who make any sort of substantial change, and as such, her study is solely focused on political leadership. However, women work at political grassroots levels, and work on advisory bodies in international organisations. CEDAW and Yogyakarta principles might have more tangible effect on the lives of those marginalised by their gender identities. What of women in other forms of local governance, an Indian example being the panchayat. Is this transformative potential available only at the very top, to be meted down in a vertical approach? She partially addresses these questions by acknowledging the need to identify ways in which powerful women have utilised their capabilities was it to transform, or was their work analogous to their male counterparts undertaken for years? In her qualitative analysis, Skard studies the most crucial aspect of women in top leadership the factors that interact, permitting women to become national leaders. Here she states the aim of the book to get a better grasp on historical, institutional and political dimensions and to understand the interplay between global, national and individual levels. Thus, we see a constant shift between the micro and macro levels, in an attempt to provide the reader with a holistic understanding of the dynamics at play. A special emphasis is placed on women who came into prominence amidst strife and political turmoil, in an attempt to outline the rationale that drove the people to democratically elect, or meritoriously appoint, an individual so outwardly unlike anyone who has ruled them before. The book attempts to synthesise the factors that helped these women leaders reach the top, by noting that external conditions and family backgrounds both play a role. Wealth and democracy seem to be the most important external factors, with 40 per cent of rich countries reporting women leaders compared to 20 per cent of developing countries. Democracy appears to be even more critical, with only two women becoming national leaders in autocratic systems, and nine in systems that were turbulent/transitional and could not be classified as democratic. It is also noted that many women became leaders at times of crisis with only a third being elected under stable and calm conditions and those mostly in western democracies. Family backgrounds matter and mothers of women leaders are often marked as being strong-willed and energetic participants in social and community life, half the women leaders fathers had political background, and almost all the women leaders had higher than average educational qualifications. From the outset, it is clear that this book, in its study of the transformative potential of women leaders, has an intrinsic power to transform. The book was originally written in Norwegian and the translated English version suffers somewhat from awkward phrasing and sentence construction in places, but these issues are not glaring and can easily be set aside if one wishes to have a concise reference for the stories of modern women national leaders. It is a comprehensive anthology of the driving forces behind women who have gained international prominence despite all adversity, and within it, we may find the answer to the global disparity in inclusion and power politics. Washington, February 20 Donald Trump is leading the Republican pack ahead of Saturdays crucial primary in South Carolina, while Hillary Clinton is facing a tough challenge from Bernie Sanders in the Democratic contest in Nevada. With the real estate mogul leading with 31.8 per cent support in Real Clear Politics average of polls widely expected to win in Indian-American Governor Nikki Haleys home state, the focus is on who would get the second place. While Texas senator Ted Cruz, who scored a surprise win in the first Republican caucus in Iowa, has the backing of 18.4 per cent Republican voters, Florida senator Marco Rubio snapping at his heels with 17.8 per cent, has been endorsed by Haley. Trump, who Thursday took on Pope Francis for suggesting he is not Christian because of his plans to build a wall on the US-Mexican border and deport illegal immigrants and Rubio are both attacking Cruz calling him a liar and dishonest. He holds up the Bible and then he lies, Trump said of Cruz Thursday. I think its very inappropriate. Cruz is fighting back and dared Trump to sue him after the billionaire sent a letter urging Cruz to stop. The remaining three candidates are also hoping for a good performance in South Carolina to keep their campaigns going. Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson thinks hell perform better in South Carlolina than many expect. Its a very important state, he said in Charleston. It can have an effect of redirecting things. I think there is a lot of potential here. John Kasich, the Ohio Governor, is hoping his strong New Hampshire second-place finish will lead to unexpected gains in future primaries. Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, after losing the coveted endorsement of Haley to Rubio, is running low on cash. His efforts this week have included campaigning with his brother, former President George W. Bush, and his mother, former First Lady Barbara Bush. Meanwhile, self-styled Democratic Socialist Bernie Sanders is posing a tough challenge to Clinton in the Democratic caucus in Nevada. In her first run for the White House in 2008, Clinton won the popular vote in Nevada over then Sen. Barack Obama. The question is whether after a drubbing in New Hampshire, would she be able to repeat the feat and put a stop to the Bern-mentum. Both campaigns have invested heavily in caucus training geared toward Spanish speakers, including the Clinton campaigns training, Caucus Conmigo. Clinton reiterated Friday that shell release the transcripts of the infamously expensive speeches she gave to Wall Street firms, including Goldman Sachs, if other politicians start releasing transcripts of their past speeches to private groups. Im happy to release anything I have when everybody else does the same, because every other candidate in this race has given speeches to private groups, including Senator Sanders, she said at an event in Las Vegas. Bernie Sanders campaign quickly accept[ed] Clintons challenge with a tongue in cheek press release: Sen. Sanders accepts Clintons challenge. He will release all of the transcripts of all of his Wall Street speeches. Thats easy. The fact is, there werent any. Bernie gave no speeches to Wall Street firms. IANS Local school officials are beginning to reach out directly to employees and patrons about the impact state funding cuts are having on schools. On Friday, Broken Arrow Superintendent Jarod Mendenhall released a video called BAPS Budget Realities, detailing the states financial crisis and how district leaders are responding. School leaders have been reluctant to broadcast their cutbacks and many are still hoping something can be done by state leaders to shield Oklahomas public schools from much more dramatic reductions in the coming months. Mendenhall said his initial intention was to address employees anxieties about the situation and reassure them that every possible measure is being taken to shield classrooms and programs for students from budget slashing. But the video is circulating among parents and was also posted to the school districts website. The biggest thing for me was thinking, If I were a teacher right now, I would be wanting to know what does this mean for me. Will I have my job back for next year? Are we going to do a reduction in force? he said. He explained how Broken Arrows state funding was cut $1.05 million in January and that the district expects to lose anywhere from $450,000 to $1.45 million more before the current fiscal year ends June 30. We also anticipate that at the end of the legislative session, our districts budget will be reduced by at least another $2 million for the 2016-17 school year, Mendenhall said, adding that he is planning monthly updates to the video presentation. I think its important that I keep updating them, because things may get bad enough that I may have to do a reduction in force. I cant imagine that happening, but if we come back next month and they cut us some more, I dont know what were going to do. The Tulsa World surveyed other area districts for the same working estimates of anticipated cuts, and many responded. Tulsa Public Schools was cut $2.1 million by the state in January, and officials declined to disclose their working estimates for how much state funding they might lose later this spring and for next years operations. We have a responsibility to our students, teachers, families and community members to provide accurate, realistic and up-to-date information about the impact of the state revenue failure, said Chris Payne, a Tulsa Public Schools spokesman. We are taking the budget situation very seriously and reviewing all of our options to determine our best next steps, he said, adding that we will not comment further at this time. Jenks Public Schools officials are preparing a special page on the districts website and a detailed video presentation similar to Mendenhalls by Superintendent Stacy Butterfield. That work is expected to be complete by early next week. We want our community to be informed and educated about the cuts our schools are facing, and we encourage comments, questions and concerns from parents and patrons, said Rob Loeber, director of communications at Jenks. He said district leaders expect to add at least another $322,000 to their January loss of $671,000 and $2.65 million for Fiscal Year 2017. Sapulpa Superintendent Kevin Burr said he has been making personal presentations about his districts state funding cuts to local civic groups and to parent meetings at each school in his district. In the presentation, I have outlined the academic successes of the district as well as the recent efforts weve made to significantly reduce expenditures and administration costs. The bulk of the presentation is in regard to the present and future budget crisis, Burr said. Collinsville Superintendent Lance West said he has already sent a letter to employees and is planning a similar communication to parents in late February detailing the anticipated loss of $89,000 to $239,000 this year and $780,000 next year. Today has snatched the first two weeks of the ratings year from Sunrise. Feb 8-12 Today: 339,000 Sunrise: 325,000 Feb 15-19 Today: 320,000 Sunrise: 304,000 The shift follows a much-criticised Sex and the City sketch in which Sunrise presenters donned wigs before US actress Kristen Davis. Sam Armytage defended the show in the media after copping the brunt of an outspoken column by ABC presenter Virginia Haussegger. Social media also lashed out at the sketch as unfunny, despite an earlier interview with Davis discussing her UNHCR role. But there have been other recent adjustments in breakfast TV that may have impacted on numbers too. Both shows have undergone set revamps, with Sunrise adding Edwina Bartholomew as a 5th presenter, whilst ditching segment regulars. Nine has also rebranded Mornings as Today Extra in a bid to align the two shows more closely. Of the 10 shows that have aired in the current ratings season, Today has won 9 times. But the race is far from over. While the two shows were as far apart as 45,000 on Thursday, they were just 1,000 the day before. Feb 15 19: MONDAY Today: 308,000 Sunrise: 304,000 TUESDAY Today: 318,000 Sunrise: 310,000 WEDNESDAY Today: 319,000 Sunrise: 318,000 THURSDAY Today: 331,000 Sunrise: 286,000 FRIDAY: Today: 339,000 Sunrise: 304,000 Amended. President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko had a phone conversation with U.S. Vice President Joseph Biden. This has been reported by the press service of the Head of State. Vice President Biden honored memory of the Heroes of the Heavenly Hundred and noted the exceptional role of the Revolution of Dignity in the history of independent Ukraine. He also praised the progress of Ukraine achieved in its cooperation with the EU and IMF due to the recent voting by the Verkhovna Rada. The parties coordinated actions to further exert pressure on Russia for it to implement the Minsk agreements and restore Ukraine's territorial integrity. ish Latvia will continue condemn the illegal annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation. This has been reported in a statement of the Foreign Ministry of Latvia "Two years ago, on 20 February 2014, Russias military activities triggered the process of the illegal annexation of Crimea leading up to the illegitimate referendum on 16 March on Crimea joining the Russian Federation. On 18 March, the Russian Federation took a decision on the incorporation of Crimea," reads the statement. By continuing the process of illegal annexation, Russia is in gross violation of its international commitments and acting contrary to international law. "Up till now and also in future, Latvia together with the international community will consistently condemn this action thereby continuing the policy of non-recognition of the illegal annexation of Crimea. Latvia is a staunch supporter of the restoration of Ukraines territorial integrity and sovereignty," the statement noted. ish Canadian Foreign Minister Stephane Dion will pay a two-day visit to Germany to discuss global challenges, in particular the situation in Ukraine. This was informed in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Canada, an Ukrinform correspondent reported. "During a meeting with his colleague [German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier] in Berlin, Foreign Minister Dion will discuss ways on how close cooperation between Canada and Germany can be deepened to respond to global challenges, such as the situation in Ukraine, fight against terrorism, refugee crisis and climate change," reads the statement. The ministry added that in Germany Stephane Dion will meet with other political leaders "to discuss Canada's approach to these urgent global problems." ish R. Budd Dwyer (48 years) served as a treasurer for the state of Pennsylvania from 1971 to 1981 as a Republican member. On January 22, 1987, R. Budd Dwyer scheduled a press conference in the Pennsylvania state capital of Harrisburg, which people assumed was pertaining the announcement for his resignation as the Treasurer of Pennsylvania. However, after he concluded his speech, the entire press conference that was present there received the shock of their lives: Budd Dwyer killed himself by placing a gun in his mouth and pulling the trigger. What led him to take this horrifying decision was a series of events that unfolded which ultimately spun a web of bribery against him. In the late 1980s, Pennsylvania was embroiled in an accounting crisis that started with the employees of the Commonwealth overpaying millions in FICA taxes. The state legislature began to search for an outside accounting agency to calculate the appropriate refunds and the $4.6 million contract was eventually given to a Californian-based firm, Computer Technology Associates, which was owned by Harrisburg native John Torquato, Jr.. Although it was later disclosed that he managed to secure the contract through a series of well-channeled bribes. After a few months into the investigation led by the US Attorney, it got proved that John Torquato paid $300,000 in kickbacks to Budd Dwyer (the treasurer of Pennsylvania) in order to grab the contract. Two of the companys officials testified that they had won the contract by offering a $300,000 payoff to Mr. Dwyer and one testified that Mr. Robert B. Asher (a former state Republican chairman) found out about the offer and ordered the money to be diverted to the Republican State Committee. Quite predictably, Dwyer refused all the allegations and denied to resign from his position. In December of 1986, he was found guilty of racketeering, bribery, fraud and conspiracy and, subsequently Budd Dwyer had to face upto 55 years in prison. He wrote a letter to then President Reagan, in December 23, 1986, requesting him to minimize his sentence, which the President had refused. Advertisements On January 22, 1987, a day before his sentence was to be delivered, Dwyer called for a press conference and read couple of papers through which he criticized Acting United States Attorney James West, who prosecuted him; former Governor Thornburgh, with whom he had been at odds, and Federal District Judge Malcolm Muir, who presided at his trial. He also urged that what had happened to him had made him certain that innocent people were convicted and executed. He called three aides to his side and handed each a sealed envelope. One contained instructions for funeral arrangements. One was Mr. Dwyers organ-donor card. One was the letter to Governor Casey in which Mr. Dwyer recommended his wife of 23 years as his successor. He then pulled out a .357 Magnum and cautioned everyone to stay away to avoid being hurt. Before anyone could reach Mr. Dwyer, he put the barrel of the pistol in his mouth and pulled the trigger. He was quoted as saying-Good bye to all of you on the count of three. In 1995, Filter used Dwyers public suicide as the inspiration for Hey Man, Nice Shot, which garnered a fair amount of radio play. A 2010 documentary was made on the life of Budd Dwyer titled Honest Man: The Life of R. Budd Dwyer, by James Dischberger in which a case was made that Dwyer was indeed innocent, and died knowing he couldnt live with the reality. Interviewed in the film was William Smith, who admitted that he had lied under oath in order to receive a reduced sentence, and felt responsible for Dwyer taking his own life. [source:www.nytimes.com] "Whenever I go into a restaurant, I order both a chicken and an egg to see which comes first" A new study reports that more than 83 million Americans sleep less than the recommended seven hours per night, UPI reports. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention conducted the research study. People just aren't putting sleep on the top of their priority list," Dr. Anne Wheaton, an epidemiologist at the CDC, told CNN. "They know they should eat right, get exercise, quit smoking, but sleep just isn't at the top of their board. And maybe they aren't aware of the impact sleep can have on your health. It doesn't just make you sleepy, but it can also affect your health and safety." Researchers said that one-third of the country is at risk for obesity, high blood pressure and other metabolic diseases by missing out on sufficient sleep. The study was published in the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report,. For the study, the researchers surveyed 444,306 adults in all 50 states and Washington, D.C. The researchers found that 65.2 percent slept for at least seven hours per night. The study found 11.8 percent sleep less than five hours per night, 23 percent get six hours of sleep, 29.5 percent average seven hours, 27.7 percent average eight hours, 4.4 percent sleep nine hours, and 3.6 percent sleep 10 hours a night. According to the report, those likely to get the recommended amount of sleep include people over age 65, those who are married, employed, have a college education or higher, and are white, Asian or Hispanic, Huffington Post reports. Sleep patterns can be altered with health education and behavioral changes. "As a nation we are not getting enough sleep," Dr. Wayne Giles, director of the CDC's Division of Population Health, said in a press release. "Lifestyle changes such as going to bed at the same time each night, rising at the same time each morning and turning off or removing televisions, computers, mobile devices from the bedroom, can help people get the healthy sleep they need." Marlin Holmes Receives UWs Stanford Commitment to Diversity Award Marlin Holmes, of Charlotte, N.C., a University of Wyoming mechanical engineering graduate student, works in the UW Wind Tunnel Lab. Holmes recently received the Willena Stanford Commitment to Diversity Award. (UW Photo) Marlin Holmes, of Charlotte, N.C., was named the recipient of the University of Wyomings 2016 Willena Stanford Commitment to Diversity Award. Holmes, the son of Lisa and Roderick Holmes, is a graduate student pursuing masters and Ph.D. degrees in mechanical engineering. Holmes received the diversity award at the annual Willena Stanford Community Supper in the Wyoming Union following the recent Martin Luther King Jr. Days of Dialogue week of events. More than 150 UW and community guests commemorated the memory of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at the dinner and honored Stanford, an inspirational former UW instructor in African American and Diaspora Studies. She also was a past member of the MLK Days of Dialogue steering committee. According to one of his nominators, Marlin has emerged as an important campus leader on issues of racial diversity and campus culture. Marlin quickly got involved with the UW Black Student Alliance when he first arrived to campus, resulting in him taking on a leadership role the following year as president. The nominator also added that the organization grew from four active members to nearly 20 under Holmess leadership. Holmes also has a prominent role in broader campus initiatives to address climate and racial justice issues. Last spring, he helped facilitate a series of campuswide professional development workshops dealing with racial micro-aggressions in student services and in the classroom. Holmes earned a bachelors degree in aerospace engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) in 2013. He is in the UW Department of Mechanical Engineering, working under Professor Jonathan Naughton in UWs Wind Energy Research Center. Last spring, Holmes received a prestigious National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship, one of 2,000 individuals selected from among 16,500 applicants. The fellowships support graduate studies for students based on their demonstrated potential for significant achievements in science and engineering, according to an NSF media release. Through a separate NSF fellowship, he regularly works with young people around the state to encourage their interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics through activities, including building model wind turbines. He has taught mathematics during the summer in UWs TRIO Program for students who are economically disadvantaged, from ethnic minorities, have disabilities or are first-generation college students. He also is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc., the first intercollegiate Greek-letter fraternity established for African-Americans at UW. In addition to Holmes, other UW students nominated for the diversity award were Garrett Cruzan, Carly Demple, Rida Fatima, Thushara Lankananda, Mikalah Skates, Kereston Thomas, Roby Valez and Robert West. Last years recipient was Natawsha Mitchell, and previous winners include Ahmed Balogun, Jaryd Unangst, Arla Mistica, Sydney Ezell, Zanyaille Lyons, Helen Changthongthip, Adriana Magana, Jeremy Joseph and Tracy Montanez. For more information about the Stanford Award, email mlkdod@uwyo.edu or visit www.uwyo.edu/mlkdod. UW Hosts Engineering Society Conference Up to 60 students from six states will attend the Tau Beta Pi 2016 District 12 Conference Feb. 26-27 at the University of Wyoming. Tau Beta Pi, the nations second-oldest honor society, is the only engineering honor society representing the entire engineering profession. District 12 contains the nations largest land area of all districts. Participants from the following institutions will take part: Colorado School of Mines, University of Colorado at Boulder, Colorado State University, University of Colorado at Denver, Air Force Academy, Idaho State, Boise State, Montana State, Montana Tech, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, University of Utah, Brigham Young University, Utah State University and UW. The students get to participate in leadership activities that help them learn what qualities make a good leader, and that is the focus of Tau Beta Pi, says Dakota Roberson, of Rock Springs, a doctoral degree student in electrical engineering who organized the regional conference. It is really beneficial for students who attend. Kipp Coddington, director of the Carbon Management Institute at UW, will be the keynote speaker. He will discuss 500 Things You Can Do With an Engineering Degree, Not Including Engineering. The program includes chapter reports from each school, a campus tour, trivia session, interactive exchanges among members, an industry panel and a dinner on campus with alumni. The focus of district programming is to strengthen the collegiate chapters and to enlist the interest and aid of alumni in their work. Training student officers in chapter management, and overcoming the effects of discontinuity in chapter membership arising from rapid student turnover are examples of specific programming. Nationwide, there are chapters at 244 colleges and universities; 42 active alumni chapters in 16 districts across the country; and a total initiated membership of approximately 564,000. UW joins some elite company as a host school. Other institutions to conduct district meetings this year include Penn State, Virginia, Vanderbilt, Kansas State and Texas. Metropolitan Police Department(WASHINGTON) -- Darron Dellon Dennis Wint, the man accused of killing three family members and their housekeeper in Washington, D.C., last May, pleaded not guilty at his arraignment Friday. Wint, 35, of Lanham, Maryland, also known as Daron Dylon Wint, was indicted on 20 felony charges Wednesday, including four counts of first-degree premeditated murder while armed. Other counts include burglary, kidnapping, extortion, arson, and theft, according to a press release issued by the U.S. Attorneys Office. If found guilty, Wint could face a mandatory 30 years up to a life sentence without parole for each of the 12 murder charges. The indictment also charges Wint with specified aggravating circumstances, including one finding that the murders were especially heinous, atrocious or cruel, according to the press release. Wint is accused of killing Savvas Savopoulos, his wife, Amy Savopoulos, their son, Philip Savopoulos, and a household employee, Veralicia Figueroa, at their mansion in May 2015. The father of Amy Savopoulos attended the hearing but declined to speak to reporters. Wint was arrested a little more than a week after the murders and has been in custody ever since. He was initially charged with just one count of first-degree murder while armed in the death of Savvas Savopoulos, according to the press release. Wint allegedly "seized and kidnapped the four victims, stole $40,000 through means of extortion, murdered the victims, and set fire to the house," according to the press release. Authorities discovered the bodies inside when fire crews responded to the burning mansion. The investigation into the murders is ongoing. A status hearing has been scheduled for May 20. Copyright 2016, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. Protests due to gaps in labor force prompt Malaysia to stop its recruitment of foreign workers to meet the industries' demand. The suspension will enable the government to carefully examine the assessment system in Malaysia for overseas workers. It was reported Friday by the Bernama news agency informing what Deputy Prime Minister Zahid Hamidi said. The deliverance came after the protests of companies and some non-government associations that 1.5 million Bangladeshi workers will be hired over the next three years to meet the rising demands of the industries. According to a Bloomberg report, Malaysia's Human Resource Minister Richard Riot Jaem signed a contract with the Bangladesh's government that will enable registration of 1.5 million Bangladeshis to find jobs in Malaysia. However, he mentioned as well that it didn't mean that all of those aspiring workers will be able to enter Southeast Asian nation. The government was forced to give clarification due to the widespread criticism in Malaysia. A group of manufacturers say that hiring a large number of workers from overseas could worsen the problem of undocumented foreign labor in the country. The policy also deviates from a plan to lessen dependence on overseas workers. "The suspension will be in force until the government is satisfied with the manpower needs of the industries," state news agency Bernama said, citing Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi. He added that enforcement measures will also be implemented against illegal foreign workers in every part of Malaysia. The Southeast Asian country comprises of 2.1 million foreign workers that are documented, a number that drops below the 15 % of foreigner workers from a total of 15.3 million workforces, Reuters reports. "Foreign workers without valid documents or those who have overstayed will be arrested and sent back to their country of origin," the agency quoted Hamidi as saying. After having talks with army personnel on Friday, he informed that the cancelation would be in place while the government reviews the two-tiered levy program of the said foreign workers. He also asked all employers to hire local workers, New Age reports. Malaysia should closely consider labor market demands when deciding foreign worker influx since its present approval system doesn't adequately show the needs of industries. The government confirmed that even if the foreign workers register, it is not a guarantee that they will be hired. SHARE Gordon Camarillo Chamber announces community awards Mayor Mike Morgan and Camarillo Chamber of Commerce board of directors Chairman Bill Locker announced Camarillo's Top 10 Community Award Winners at a recent City Council meeting. Man of the Year is Desmond Sandlin and Woman of the Year is RaeAnne Michael. Awards also were handed out in other categories, as was the Stan Daily Lifetime Achievement Award. Winners will be honored at the 49th annual Top 10 Community Awards banquet and ceremony from 6-9 p.m. March 4 at the Serra Center. The following honors also will be given at the ceremony: Business of the Year to Semtech; Entrepreneur of the Year to Jason Gray of Valentino's; Public Servant of the Year to Monica McGrath; Service Organization of the Year to Amber's Light Lions Club; Educator of the Year to Aimee Stoll; Volunteer of the Year to Don Medley; Youth of the Year to Robert Stern; Senior of the Year to Janna Visser; Stan Daily Lifetime Achievement Award to Maggie Kildee; and Philanthropist of the Year to David Press. For more information about the awards or to attend the banquet and ceremony, call the chamber at 484-4383 or visit http://www.camarillochamber.org/events. Port Hueneme Chamber to honor residents, businesses The Hueneme Chamber of Commerce will celebrate its 76th anniversary when it hands out awards to citizens and businesses hosting its annual community awards dinner March 11 at the Bard Mansion. Citizen of the Year honors will be presented to volunteer Jonnie Lisman, of Port Hueneme. The following honors also will be given: Business Person of the Year to Bonnie Mercadante, of Softouch Photography; Chairman's Award to Ventura County Supervisor Kathy Long; Police Officer of the Year to Chris Gunter; Military Persons of the Year from Naval Base Ventura County to Johnathon Hankey and Roberto Rodriguez, Jr.; Naval Base Ventura County Firefighter of the Year to Torrey Anderson; Ventura County Firefighter of the Year to Duncan Shuler; Educator of the Year to Kris Neske, of Hollywood Beach School; and Port Hueneme Employee of the Year to Peter Alcantar. For tickets, visit http://www.huenemechamber.com. For more information, email chamberinfo@huenemechamber.com or call 488-2023. Thousand Oaks Walgreens sale is Colliers record Colliers International has announced the recent $15.675 million sale of a Walgreens location in Thousand Oaks. A private investor acquired both the land and building occupied by the pharmacy. The seller was the development firm of Newmark Merrill Cos., based in Los Angeles. Colliers Senior Vice President Eric Carlton, who, along with Executive Vice President Jeremy Snyder, represented the seller, said the sale was a record for market capitalization. "We have not found a comparable Walgreens triple-net sale with a higher cap rate anywhere in the nation," Carlton said. Ventura Company opens office on Main Street DIG designitGREEN LLC, a landscape architecture, engineering, design-build and construction management company, has opened its Central Coast Ventura corporate headquarters at 973 E. Main St. Since its founding in 2006, DIG has taken part in and completed projects for residences, hotels, commercial developers and public agencies in construction, acquisitions, leasing and facilities management services. Martin Armstrong, DIG's director of design and construction services, says the new location will better serve regional projects and clients in Los Angeles, Ventura and Santa Barbara counties. For more information or a brochure of services, contact Armstrong at 364-2377 or email info@designitgreen.com. Westlake Village Insurance company names VP to ranks Westlake Risk & Insurance Services Inc. announced the addition of Joe Gordon to the firm. Gordon joins the company's employee benefits division and assumes the role of vice president of benefits. Before Westlake Risk, Gordon worked for Northwestern Mutual and its affiliate Northwestern Group Inc. Strategic Employee Benefit Services for the last six years. His career in the insurance industry began after a successful career in real estate. Gordon holds a master's degree from California Lutheran University and a degree in mathematics education from George Fox University, Oregon. He attended UCLA, as well. He resides in Moorpark with his wife, Julie, daughter Pressley, and sons Gunner and Bronx. For more information about Westlake Risk, visit http://www.westlakerisk.com or call 413-0250. Staff reports JOSEPH A. GARCIA/THE STAR The recent rainfall brought some water into Senior Canyon Reservoir in Ojai, but not enough to treat and use for drinking. By Cheri Carlson of the Ventura County Star Two words. Nine letters. That's what it takes to sum up Ventura County's rainfall so far this year. Not enough. "The rain we're getting now is not enough," said Casitas Municipal Water District's Ron Merckling as showers started earlier this week. Lake Casitas, owned and managed by the Ojai Valley water district, has shrunk to historic levels. It's now at just 42 percent of capacity. As February ticks by, Ventura County's rainfall still sits below normal for this time of year. (Scroll down to see rainfall totals.) California is in its fifth year of drought. State-ordered water conservation has been extended, and local water supplies continue to drop. "Everybody had such high hopes for an El Nino year," said Peter Thielke, board president for Senior Canyon Mutual Water Co., a small agency in the east end of the Ojai Valley. Now, "everybody is wondering if this is going to be another bust this year," he said. Forecasts that El Nino would bring a conveyor belt of wet storms have yet to materialize in Southern California. But experts say it's not too late. There are still two months to go. Climatologist Bill Patzert, of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, said he's still counseling patience and optimism. The El Nino didn't start to peak until January and February. It might have been too big, pushing the subtropical jet stream farther north. As its intensity decreases, that could change. There is precedent for that, Patzert said. In 1983, "the big show didn't really happen until March and April." Meanwhile, El Nino storms have boosted the Sierra Nevada snowpack, which provides about one-third of California's water, including in east Ventura County. AP photo: Officials measuring the Sierra Nevada snowpack in 2015. The Casitas district gets no imported water. Instead, it depends on the watershed, rivers and creeks. Lake Casitas has dropped 69 feet in recent years. It's lower than it has been since it was first filled 50 years ago. During a significant El Nino, Casitas officials can expect 60,000 acre-feet of water. At this point, it would take two large El Ninos to fill the lake back up. "We'll take even one," said Merckling, Casitas public affairs manager. Juan Carlo/The Star: Old Highway 150 has resurfaced from under Lake Casitas. In a drought, demand for lake water goes up, as it becomes the backup supplier for other water agencies in the area. Some are solely dependent on it now. The good news is that demand is not as high as it was in the last drought, Merckling said. Customers are cutting back on water use, he said. But if dry days continue, cuts will have to go deeper. Over the past few years, Senior Canyon Mutual Water Co. has mostly relied on Lake Casitas to provide its customers with drinking water. The company typically pulls water from three sources in the hills high above Ojai for drinking water. Then the drought happened. Two storms in January were enough to get some water into its reservoir, Thielke said. It wasn't enough to treat and use for drinking water, but it can supply some local orchards. Without more rain, though, it won't last long, he said. "We need rain on rain to get any runoff up there," said Murray McEachron, senior hydrologist for United Water Conservation District, which owns and manages Lake Piru. The man-made lake on the eastern edge of the county has dropped to about 12,400 acre-feet, or 15 percent of its capacity. With a single storm, there's not a lot of runoff, McEachron said. There needs to be a decent-size rainstorm followed by another rainstorm, he said. "We just haven't had that yet." Staff writer Gretchen Wenner contributed to this report. Preliminary rainfall totals by city Year to date Normal to date Camarillo 3.52 8.52 Fillmore 5.55 12.04 Matilija Canyon 9.33 22.24 Moorpark 4.11 9.17 Ojai 6.77 13.57 Oxnard 4.50 9.23 Port Hueneme 4.02 8.83 Santa Paula 6.47 11.58 Simi Valley 5.12 8.72 Thousand Oaks 4.03 9.99 Ventura 5.72 10.09 Source: Ventura County Watershed Protection District. TROY HARVEY/SPECIAL TO THE STAR Ariana Salazar reacts while getting her hair cut for the first time Wednesday evening. Ariana had her hair cut so she could donate it to Wigs for Kids. SHARE TROY HARVEY/SPECIAL TO THE STAR Susie Bello-McGarry measures the length of Ariana Salazars hair before cutting it Wednesday evening. Ariana is donating her hair to Wigs for Kids, and the locks must be a minimum of 12 inches. TROY HARVEY/SPECIAL TO THE STAR Susie Bello-McGarry puts the finishing touches on Ariana Salazars new cut after removing 12 inches of hair that will be donated to Wigs for Kids. TROY HARVEY/SPECIAL TO THE STAR Susie Bello-McGarry packages Ariana Salazars hair in tissue paper so it can be donated to Wigs for Kids. By Anne Kallas Goodbye, Rapunzel. That was the nickname 9-year-old Ariana Salazar had at school, thanks to her long, dark tresses that touched her legs. But on Wednesday evening, after more than a foot of her hair was cut off and earmarked for Wigs for Kids, Ariana emerged from Bellizima Salon in Oxnard's Silverstrand neighborhood with a saucy bob, courtesy of Susie Bello-McGarry. Ariana's mom, Ana Salazar, said her daughter had never cut her hair except for an occasional trim of the ends. "She always wanted long hair," Salazar explained. "Then, when she was about 5 years old, she saw a picture of some children from St. Jude's Hospital who didn't have any hair, and she decided to grow her hair until she was 10, so she could donate it." Even in a braid, Ariana found having the super-long hair a hindrance during gymnastics classes, where, her Mom reported, "her braid would flip all over the place." So six months before her Aug. 12 birthday, Ariana decided to do something about it. Bello-McGarry offered to cut the girl's hair for free "because it's for a good cause." Lorraine Yoro, business manager at Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish School in Oxnard, was able to help line up the haircut, saying she thought it would be inspirational for other students during Lent. "During this time of Lent, (Ariana) is sharing the message of the pope, which is mercy," Yoro explained. "The pope asks us to help the needy, poor and sick. This is a life-affirming story to share with other children." Salazar said she and her daughter searched online for charitable organizations that take donated hair and hand-weave them into wigs for young children who have lost their hair through illness or as a side-effect of chemotherapy. They found Wigs for Kids, a cooperative effort among certified cosmetic therapists to make wigs for children who have lost their hair through disease. "We chose a group that doesn't charge any money for the wigs," Salazar said. A straight-A fourth-grader, Ariana said she hopes to be able to grow her hair long again, at which point, she'll repeat the process. On Wednesday, Bello-McGarry first thoroughly cleaned and dried Ariana's hair, then divided it into four sections that were tied off at the tops, braided and tied off at the bottom. Those plaits were cut off and carefully wrapped in tissue paper and placed in a plastic bag. "The idea is to make sure the hair doesn't mold or get dirty in the mail," Salazar said. Wigs For Kids does not accept dyed or otherwise chemically treated hair. "It has to be virgin hair," Bello-McGarry said. The salon owner said she was only too happy to donate her time to a student at Our Lady of Guadalupe, where she graduated eighth grade in 1995. "We learned to treat people like family," she recalled. "We learned to always give, not just expect things. This is something I'm trying to teach my 2-year-old daughter Samantha." After cutting Ariana's hair, Bello-McGarry styled what was left and added some feathering at the ends to give it a pageboy effect. "Oh my goodness, we're going to have to start early to style her hair tomorrow because it's so different," Salazar said. "We might be late to school." As her father Juan watched from outside the door of the small salon, so he could keep an eye on the car where Ariana's younger brother Cristian, 4, was dozing, Ariana stepped from the salon chair and shyly flipped her shoulder-length hair out of her face. "I really like it," she declared. JOHNNY CORONA/SPECIAL TO THE STAR Oxnard police investigate an officer-involved shooting Tuesday outside a McDonalds on Saviers Road. SHARE By Megan Diskin of the Ventura County Star Prosecutors announced Friday a man shot by an Oxnard police officer this week pleaded not guilty to felony charges stemming from the incident shortly before the lawman involved was identified. Juan Palacios Soto, 55, of Oxnard, was indicted Friday on charges of exhibiting a deadly weapon to prevent detention or arrest, resisting a police officer with the use of a knife, elder abuse with the use of a knife and making criminal threats with the use of a knife, the Ventura County District Attorney's Office said. The District Attorney's Office also announced it will not conduct a separate officer-involved shooting investigation because "there is substantial reason to believe the officer acted lawfully while performing his duties." The Oxnard Police Department identified the lawman as Senior Officer Jose Silva, a 15-year veteran. The shooting occurred about 9:40 a.m. Tuesday in the 3100 block of Saviers Road after police were called regarding a man throwing rocks at passers-by, Oxnard police said. Three officers confronted Soto, who was carrying a knife and refused to put it down, officials said. Officer Brandon Rodriguez, an eight-year veteran, used a stun-gun device to disarm him but it did not work, police said. Soto charged at Rodriguez and Silva with the knife and that's when Silva shot him in the arm, police said. A knife was recovered at the scene and it was discovered that about 10 minutes before police arrived on scene, Soto brandished the knife at a 78-year-old man and threatened him. Although the District Attorney's office is not conducting a separate investigation, both officers remain on paid administrative leave pending an investigation into the shooting by Oxnard police. Soto remains in county jail with his bail set at $500,000. SHARE CONTRIBUTED PHOTO Jeffrey Korber, of Laguna Beach, was found dead in a Ventura storage unit in June 2013. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO Michael Bresnak has been charged with killing Jeffrey Korber, who was found inside a Ventura storage freezer in 2013. By John Scheibe of the Ventura County Star Attorneys gave their opening statements Friday in the trial of a Ventura man suspected of killing his mother's boyfriend and stuffing the body into a freezer, with a prosecutor saying the suspect "committed the ultimate crime against humanity." Authorities became suspicious about what happened to victim Jeffrey Korber, 60, in 2011, months after he'd last been seen alive at the home of his Ventura girlfriend, jurors were told in the murder trial of Michael Bresnak, 52. A detective from Laguna Beach, where Korber lived at one time, questioned Bresnak's mother, Mary Francesca Hannan, about Korber's whereabouts in 2011, Senior Deputy District Attorney Anne Spillner said in Ventura County Superior Court. Hannan told the detective that Korber had come to live with her at her Chippewa Lane home in Ventura in fall 2010, Spillner said. Hannan, an attorney, told the Laguna Beach detective Korber had come to do some clerical work for her legal practice. Hannan said tensions grew between the two because Korber wanted more pay and she felt he wasn't doing a good job. Hannan told the detective she watched Korber get in his car on March 29, 2011, and drive away, headed for Florida, where a new job supposedly awaited him, jurors were told. When the detective told Hannan that Korber's abandoned car had been found at Los Angeles International airport, Hannan responded by saying Korber probably did not want to be found, Spillner told jurors. Hannan also suggested the detective alert Korber's family to the fact that his car had been found abandoned, the prosecutor said. In fact, his family had been worried about Korber for some time. Korber was a graduate of Penn State and had a law degree, Spillner said. "But he lost it all because of alcohol," Spillner told the jury. Despite his alcoholism, Korber "had a cellphone and always maintained contact with his family," Spillner said. Family members became even more suspicious after Korber missed his daughter's graduation. "Wild horses couldn't have dragged him away from his daughter's high school graduation," Spillner said. Suspicions grew when investigators learned Korber's cellphone had been cut off because of unpaid bills. "He'd gone into complete radio silence in March 2011," Spillner said. Spillner told jurors that, in fact, Hannan knew exactly where Korber was. Hannan also knew Korber was no longer alive, Spillner said. In fact, Hannan had helped her son, Bresnak, "hide the body," Spillner said. With no more information to go on, law enforcement officials were forced to close the case on Korber's disappearance in January 2012. The case was only opened only 18 months later, when a woman in San Bernardino County contacted the California Highway Patrol, saying Bresnak had put a body in a freezer more than two years earlier, Spillner said. The woman, identified by Spillner as "Gabi," told authorities Bresnak had called her, asking to bury a body on her large desert property, the prosecutor said. Spillner said the woman told Bresnak she would not allow a body to be dumped on her property. But Bresnak was insistent and continued to call her, Spillner said. She alerted authorities after becoming fearful of Bresnak, Spillner said. The CHP then put her on a train to Ventura, where she met Bresnak, Spillner said. Unknown to Bresnak, the CHP had placed a tracking device on the woman, Spillner said. Authorities had considered placing a recording device on her, but decided not to, fearing Bresnak might notice it, Spillner said. When the woman arrived in Ventura, Bresnak drove her to the Ventura Mini Warehouse on Market Street, Spillner said. Once there, Bresnak showed the woman the freezer, tapping it and asking her if she wanted to see the body inside, but the woman said no, Spillner said. Spillner said Bresnak told the woman he'd chocked Korber to death "because Korber was laying hands on his mother." Investigators later got a search warrant for the storage unit, and found the body inside the freezer on June 28, 2013. Bresnak then was arrested in connection with the killing. He'd had previous run-ins with law enforcement because of his addiction to methamphetamine, his attorney, Dusty Kawai, told jurors on Friday. Hannan had spoken to her son while he was in jail, Spillner said, adding that authorities had recorded many of these jailhouse conversations. One conversation centered on news that an a small plane had crashed into a self-storage facility near the Camarillo Airport in April 2011. Spillner said Hannan's "heart dropped" when she learned of the crash, fearing it might bring attention to Korber's body being stored in a freezer. Hannan also was said to be upset that Bresnak had told others of Korber's killing, hoping for their help in getting rid of the body, Spillner said. "Loose lips sink ships," Hannan was said to have told Bresnak, according to Spillner Bresnak tried to reassure his mother that everything was going to be OK, Spillner said as she went over some of the conversations between Bresnak and Hannan that investigators had recorded. Kawai told jurors most of the evidence authorities have against his client centers on the conversations they recorded between Bresnak and his mother. Kawai told jurors that what Spillner failed to tell them on Friday is that four forensic pathologists had examined Korber's body, and none found any signs of strangulation. "There were zero signs, absolutely no signs, of chocking or strangulation," Kawai told jurors as he recalled the postmortem examinations by pathologists. Had Korber been choked to death as prosecutors are alleging, Kawai said, there would have to be some evidence of this, including such things as a broken none in the neck or neck cartilage that has been broken or bruised. "The body has no signs of trauma consistent with murder," Kawai said. "Zero." Spillner told jurors at the end of her opening statement she was confident that after they'd heard all of the testimony, they would find Bresnak guilty of killing Korber. Kawai, in turn, told jurors at the end of his opening statement that he was equally confident they could not possibly find him guilty of such a charge. "You cannot," Kawai said. The trial is scheduled to resume at 9:15 a.m. Monday in the Ventura courtroom of Judge Gilbert Romero. STAR FILE PHOTO A crew harvests green curly leafed kale from a field near Fillmore Monday. SHARE By Kathleen Wilson of the Ventura County Star Agricultural interests on Friday filed an alternative proposal for the renewal of the SOAR measures that require voter approval for development of farmland and open space. If backers can collect enough valid signatures, the initiative would appear on the November ballot as an option to a proposal to renew the Save Open-space and Agricultural Resources, or SOAR, laws until 2050. The alternative would expire in 2036, 14 years earlier. Both measures seek to discourage sprawl, but the alternative would allow more exceptions to voter approval than the renewal bid. Filing the proposed measure Friday along with a notice of intent to circulate a petition were growers Phil McGrath, of Oxnard; Patsy Waters, of Moorpark; and John Lamb, of Somis. In a summary of the initiative, Waters said the proposal would create certain exceptions to the current laws requiring voter approval of farmland and open space. To view documents related to the initiative, click here. Voter approval would not be required to: Rezone land to comply with state laws for creation of housing across economic groups. Redesignate up to 225 acres of land countywide for processing of locally grown foods. Rezone agricultural properties next to local public schools that are adjacent to cities to reduce conflicts between schools and agricultural uses. The proposal also seeks to promote construction of water infrastructure for agriculture, promote building of farmworker housing, encourage research facilities that focus on local agriculture and support tax benefits for farming, open space and grazing land through conservation contracts. None of the three growers submitting the proposed initiative could be reached Friday. But the wording of the initiative grew out of discussions among various farming and ranching groups, said Bud Sloan, president of the Ventura County Coalition of Labor, Agriculture and Business. "After seeing what SOAR has done and hasn't done in the county, our basic feeling is that SOAR did not go far enough," he said. " It helped to protect agricultural ground, but it didn't do a thing to protect the agricultural industry." The alternative initiative has to do with promoting, marketing and helping agriculture, he said. "The only way we're going to have this land is for agriculture to survive," he said. Sloan, a cattle rancher, acknowledged that time is short for getting the required number of signatures. The requirements for getting the measures on the ballots are the same for both the SOAR renewal group and the alternative that's titled Stop Sprawl with Sustainable Agriculture. Each must submit about 20,000 valid signatures of registered voters by March 21, elections officials said. Organizers of the SOAR renewal campaign have a head start. Volunteers have been out on the street collecting signatures since December. The group supporting the alternative will probably have to hire paid signature gatherers with time so short, Sloan said. County Supervisor Steve Bennett, a leader of the SOAR renewal effort, said he was not surprised the alternative was filed. "We knew they were polling and having conversations," he said. He said the renewal drive is going well but has declined to say how close the SOAR renewal group is to getting enough signatures for filing requirements. Organizers have raised about $750,000 to pass the measure, he said. SHARE Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia's death affects many cases, but none more controversial than one from California. During oral arguments on a case dealing with dues that California's public employees must pay to unions even if they don't belong, Scalia left no doubt that he would vote to overturn the law. With Sacramento's Anthony Kennedy likely to vote with Scalia and other conservative justices, the outcome was a foregone conclusion. The California Teachers Association, which was the putative defendant in the case, and other unions were already making adjustment plans on that assumption. The practical effect for the unions of an adverse decision would have been a reduction of their dues income and perhaps a diminution of their dominance of California's state and local politics. Scalia's death from natural causes on a hunting trip in Texas, however, changes everything about the case, Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association, both legally and politically. President Barack Obama said he plans to appoint a successor, but the Republican leader of the Senate, Mitch McConnell, said the GOP majority will leave the vacancy to the next president. With the eight remaining justices tied 4-4 on Friedrichs, therefore, the federal appeals court ruling on the case upholding the union dues law would remain intact. So CTA and other unions will continue to receive what they call "fair-share fees" indefinitely. And their critics will continue to complain that the law violates the free-speech rights of their nonmembers. It should remove any reluctance by union leaders to spend heavily on this year's elections, most notably for a ballot measure that would extend a temporary income tax surcharge on high-income taxpayers that's due to expire soon. Unions are also expected to spend heavily on legislative races to help Democrats regain the "supermajorities" in both legislative houses and block the expansion of a business-friendly bloc of Democratic legislators that has thwarted liberal legislation in recent sessions. What ultimately happens to Friedrichs and other cases pending in the sharply divided court, meanwhile, depends on who fills Scalia's seat, and California could be a player in that game as well. The blogosphere immediately began speculating whether California Attorney General Kamala Harris or Gov. Jerry Brown might be potential Obama nominees. Harris is running for the Senate this year, and while she could legally continue to run while a Supreme Court nominee, she would not likely accept a nomination, given McConnell's declaration about not acting this year. Brown, meanwhile, is scarcely a year younger than Scalia and presidents prefer to choose younger justices in hopes of having long-term impacts. Who ultimately fills the vacancy will either bolster the court's narrow conservative majority or bring liberals back to dominance. And that adds another element to this year's presidential contest. SHARE Gov. Brown has introduced a voter initiative that would allow tens of thousands of dangerous criminals to be released early from prison. A Feb. 14 editorial in The Star urges rejection of this measure. As district attorney, I strongly agree with The Star's recommendation. I am particularly troubled by the process the governor is using to place the measure before voters and the sweeping changes it contemplates. At first blush, the so-called Public Safety and Rehabilitation Act of 2016 sounds good. After all, everyone is in favor of public safety. But in truth, this artfully crafted title is misleading because the proposal actually jeopardizes our safety. If approved, it would overturn four decades of laws passed by the voters and Legislature that have lowered crime rates and protected the public by keeping the most serious criminals behind bars. Additionally, the stated goal of rehabilitating inmates, although laudable, is largely illusory because the measure neither defines nor funds programs necessary to accomplish this goal. The untimely filing abused the initiative review process and essentially "gutted and amended" a previously filed initiative. This denied the public the right to comment as required by law. The last-minute amendment also significantly shortened the required time period available for official review by both the Legislative Analyst's Office and the attorney general. This lack of transparency should be troubling to California voters. At its core, the initiative is a throwback to past failed policies that allowed corrections officials to release felons after they had served very short periods of incarceration. These practices produced record levels of violent crime and are strikingly similar to the policies the governor now proposes. Among its many negative impacts, the initiative would make the following changes: Give the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation virtually unlimited authority to reduce sentences for "good behavior" without regard for the current limits on credits approved by the voters and Legislature. The initiative would enshrine this bureaucratic power in the California Constitution and authorize reductions for all classes of crime, including murder, rape, child molesting and human trafficking. Grant criminals a constitutional right to be considered for parole after serving just a portion of their sentences without regard to the gravity or number of offenses committed. Make criminals eligible for early parole consideration by disregarding consecutive sentences imposed by a judge for additional crimes, prior offenses and enhancements. This effectively treats the worst offenders the same as first-time offenders. Nullify provisions of the Victims' Bill of Rights enacted by voters in 1982, which requires enhancement of sentences for prior serious felony convictions. Undermine the protections of Marsy's Law, enacted by voters in 2008, which requires that sentences be carried out as ordered by the court, and provides that sentences "shall not be substantially diminished by early release policies intended to alleviate overcrowding in custodial facilities." Abolish much of the Gang Violence and Juvenile Crime Prevention Act, passed by 62 percent of voters in 2000, by restricting the prosecution in adult court of juveniles charged with murder and other serious offenses. Disregard the will of 81 percent of voters who enacted the Californians Against Sexual Exploitation Act, by allowing prison officials to reduce prison sentences of human traffickers. I respect the governor and shared the above concerns in a recent lengthy meeting with him and his staff. I also am sympathetic to the challenges he has faced in complying with federal court orders on prison overcrowding and have offered to work with him on legislative efforts to address this challenge. But I cannot support the Public Safety and Rehabilitation Act of 2016 because it will endanger, not protect, California. Gregory D. Totten is Ventura County's district attorney. SHARE Go for it, Senate Republicans, but not the wrong way. Aim to cling to the legacy of the great, recently departed Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, to keep a decent balance on the court, to save the Constitution from rips, tears and a trash basket. But don't imitate a president forever turning his back on Congress by turning your back on him. Give him a chance to hang up his arrogant ideological stridency for once. It's truly a hard time right now. Scalia, besides being a buoyant, loving, good man, was one of the best things to ever happen to the court. Give him a decision to write, even a dissenting decision, and what you got was something exceptionally lucid, stylistically powerful and profound in what it said. An underlying message was almost always opposition to the love affair of liberals with what they stupefyingly and contradictorily called "a living Constitution." What they meant by the word "living" was that it was actually burial time for the centuries-old document and birth time for their own modernist attitudes, progressive values and maybe, too, the public mood of the moment. Occasionally the Constitution needs amending, and there's an amending process available, but these people essentially aimed to replace it with oligarchical moral superiority. They just didn't get it that the Constitution is the major means by which we retain the essentials of our republic, not least of all our rights. Here's what Scalia taught: Court decisions should be based on the original meaning of the Constitution's text. And here's what he got: Quite a few liberal academics, judges and politicians gradually converting to his view. It doesn't follow that they thereby eschewed all the old stuff, and the conservative Scalia wasn't wholly pure, either. But he was miles closer to the goal than most liberals, and if someone too far gone is nominated to replace him, the person should be rejected. At least, however, the nominees should be considered, and Senate Republicans are saying nothing doing. They don't even want to hold hearings or any of the rest of it, but why not? By interrogation and examination of records and more, they can decisively demonstrate that a nominee is unfit if, in fact, he or she is. Any accusation of unfair play will be scooted aside. And President Barack Obama can hardly complain about a rejection because, as a senator, he fought against two nominees made by President George W. Bush, essentially saying he didn't like their political ideas. Among the many issues that should be raised in detail by the Republicans: to what extent can a president rewrite federal laws or extinguish state laws of his own accord; does the person agree with the Democratic desire for new restrictions on free speech; does the nominee think it constitutionally permissible for an organization to have the legal power to require dues from someone who has refused to join, even if it is a public employee union? There is plentiful precedent for rejecting nominees, even precedent for leaving vacancies open for long periods of time. There would still be problems for Republicans. With Scalia gone, the court has one less conservative, leaving three conservatives, four liberals and one person in between. If there is a four-four tie in deciding cases, the lower court ruling is affirmed, meaning conservatives lose on some major matters and liberals on others. These matters can be reconsidered with a nine-person court, however. What we don't know is who the next president will be or even who will control the Senate. Any party that gets the presidency will almost surely have more court vacancies to fill in the coming term. Whatever happens, sticking up for the Constitution right now without establishing a liberal majority is worth doing but it should be done in a way that relays fairness and conscientiousness. Jay Ambrose is an op-ed columnist for Tribune News Service. Readers may email him at speaktojay@aol.com. SHARE Peter Copeland sat at the point of the spear that was the U.S. Army VII Corps. It was believed to be the biggest, most powerful massing of military artillery in history. They were in the Iraqi desert, chasing down the elite Iraqi Republican Guard armored units. And they were moving very fast. Copeland was a journalist, the Pentagon reporter for Scripps Howard News Service. He had bent, if not broken, most of the Department of Defense rules for reporters to get himself at the front lines for the start of the Gulf War. That was 25 years ago this week. When President George W. Bush ordered the ground troops forward on Feb. 24, 1991, Col. Morris Boyd invited Copeland to tag along with his 42nd Field Artillery Brigade. So he did. Every day of that 100-hour war, Copeland sent back stories about the soldiers of the 42nd and what they were doing, what they were saying, what they were feeling and how they were winning the war. None of the stories violated the military guidelines for revealing secret information to the enemy. They were stories in the vein of that other great Scripps Howard war correspondent, Ernie Pyle, who kept Americans connected to World War II one soldier at a time. Read Three days, three countries, total victory: A sense of unreality by Peter Copeland When the Humvees and howitzers finally stopped, Copeland thumbed a ride back to the VII Corps base camp in Saudi Arabia and called his boss at the Washington, D.C., office of the Scripps news service. Exhausted but proud of the work he had done in reporting this war, he blurted out: "How did you like my stories?" "What stories?" I replied There was a dark, sustained moment of quiet where all I could hear was the wind blowing outside the phone booth in Hafr Al-Batin, Saudi Arabia. Copeland had achieved a military reporter's dream job of being embedded with a fast-moving fighting force at the start of a major battle. He filed stories each day and sent them back from the front. None ever reached us or you. Not only did we never receive any stories, we never knew where he was once the war started. On the first day of the war, my bosses at Scripps were livid that our reporter failed to file a story on the start of the war. On the second day, when we still hadn't heard from him, they were still mad. By the war's third day, with no word from Copeland, they were concerned. By the fourth day, after his wife and mother both called me frantically worried about him, we were phoning everywhere in search of him. By the fifth day with no word, our bureau chief called the White House and demanded they find our reporter. He phoned in on the sixth day. The Army's public affairs chief for the VII Corps told Copeland, "The reporters outstripped our capability. We feel terrible." Each one of the stories he filed seemed to mysteriously get stopped at a different point along the pipeline back to the Army filing center, where they were to have been sent back to us. Copeland had a different, blunter take. "They do not care about the swift transmission of news, they are incompetent, they have antiquated communications networks and they purposely held up news from the VII Corps as a military tactic to keep the Iraqis surprised." That was one of the worst examples of how the military controlled the media in that war. By staging in Saudi Arabia, the military took advantage of a locked-down society to lock down the media in the months leading up to the ground war. Reporters were only allowed to visit troops in small groups, called pools, and only with a military press officer as escort. Information about the war itself came from the Pentagon in Washington, and officials there under the direction of Defense Secretary Dick Cheney delighted in saying nothing. The American public was ravenous for war information. Newspaper editors across the nation said they filled almost all of their available space with stories about the war. Reporters like Copeland and our other two Scripps news service journalists on the scene, Joan Lowy and Lance Gay, did wonderful work telling the small, individual stories of soldiers and airmen engaged in this battle. But they, and the public, were unable to understand most of the bigger picture of this war. It was the only truly victorious war we have fought since World War II. But no one back home really knew the story until long after it was over. John T. Moore is editor of the Ventura County Star. He can be reached at 805-437-0200 or by email at john.moore@vcstar.com. SHARE On Feb. 19, 1945, the Seabees of the 133rd Naval Construction Battalion were among the first to storm the beaches of Iwo Jima, along with Marines. The 133rd NCB trained at Port Hueneme and then received Marine training in Hawaii before landing on Iwo Jima. The Seabees were integrated into and joined at the hip with the 4th Marine Division's Pioneer Battalion. They wore Marine uniforms and carried Marine weapons. Although they suffered more casualties than their Marine counterparts and moved inland under fire to rehab the airstrips, they were overlooked when the Presidential Unit Citation, or PUC, was awarded to their Marine counterparts. On-site senior Marine officers and members of the Pioneer Battalion believe this was an oversight and have said the Seabees should receive the award "before they're all dead." "The 133rd Seabees were wonderful. We were alongside each other, and if we were awarded the PUC, then my fellow shore party counterparts, the 133rd Seabees, should be given the PUC as well," said Howard C. Ricks, a Pioneer Battalion Marine who served beside the Seabees. The last remaining Iwo Jima Medal of Honor recipient, Hershal (Woody) Williams, wrote to me: "I certainly agree that the NUC (Navy Unit Commendation) should be upgraded to PUC and I will be glad to talk to my Representatives to encourage their support. I hope the effort pays off and that you have at least one Senator or House member who will take the ball and run with it." Lawrence F. Snowden, a retired Marine lieutenant general, wrote: "The 133rd unit distinguished itself by extremely meritorious services required in the amphibious attack and assault on Iwo Jima Island from 19 February to 28 February, 1945. It is strongly recommended that the service of the 133rd NCB was equally and comparably highly meritorious to that of their counterparts, the Pioneer Battalion. "The 133rd is entitled to the same recognition for its execution of heroic duty equal to that received by the 4th Pioneer Marines. They should be authorized to receive and wear the PUC awarded to the 4th Pioneers. In view of the foregoing, it is recommended that the 133rd NCB be included in the Presidential Unit Citation awarded to the 4th Pioneers-4th Marine Division (reinforced)." Additional Marine endorsements have also been received. Over the years, many letters have been sent to the Navy requesting the Presidential Unit Citation upgrade. Rep. Julia Brownley has been especially helpful in this quest. However, to date the awards board hasn't budged. We ask that Ventura County citizens assist by writing letters directly to President Obama requesting the upgrade. Ken Bingham is a Ventura resident, a former Seabee, a Vietnam veteran and author of "Black Hell: The story of the 133rd Navy Seabees on Iwo Jima." SHARE California is getting old and falling apart. At least its infrastructure is showing signs of aging. Jump in your car and head most any direction and you'll see why Gov. Jerry Brown wants an infusion of tax money to repair our roads and bridges. Read the news out of Los Angeles and you'll quickly find a story on another old water line bursting and flooding a neighborhood. Now, we have evidence of aging energy infrastructure that has the potential to seriously damage our health and environment. Southern California Gas Co. has been working its way through Ventura County over the past couple of years replacing natural gas transmission lines, under orders from the California Public Utilities Commission. Some of those lines were installed in the 1920s. Last week, federal regulators said a corroded pipe was the root cause of the leak that poured more than 140,000 gallons of crude oil last year on the Gaviota coast. State Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson, D-Santa Barbara, has introduced legislation to get the state to pay for capping old, abandoned and leaking oil wells, like the ones along the Summerland coast. Some of those date to the 1890s and have forced periodic closures of the beach. U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz, visiting the Aliso Canyon gas well leak, pointed out the disaster there was a sign that "we have a lot of very old infrastructure in energy that we have to address for the 21st century." The energy industry will tell us, even without asking, that it is too heavily regulated. Yet even with all these regulators and regulations, we see government agencies that in many cases wait for catastrophes before moving in to act, and industry officials waiting to be pushed by those reluctant regulators before addressing potentially dangerous situations. One problem is the large number of regulatory fingers involved in energy development. The state PUC was the body that stepped in and developed a plan to work with California's natural gas companies to test and replace, where necessary, all natural gas transmission lines to be sure that the ancient infrastructure was adapted with modern safety measures. In the Gaviota spill, Assemblyman Das Williams, D-Santa Barbara, announced that the pipeline owner had finally given in to pressure and agreed to reclassify the lines as intrastate, so the state fire marshal, rather than a federal agency, would have regulatory authority and oversight. Sen. Jackson's bill to plug old, leaking wells would require the California State Lands Commission to step in and handle the problem. And Secretary Moniz, in his call to action following the Aliso Canyon incident, urged a multiagency approach to improving safety at energy facilities. There were no details on what he envisioned. It's important to find the money to fix the potholes along California's roads. But we're seeing the need for a bigger effort to identify and fix the aging structure under our feet that feeds our energy needs. There are, however, a lot of players involved. We hope this will become a cause for politicians, regulators and the industry long before it becomes another disaster. WASHINGTON If you've defaulted on federal student loans, you can breathe more easily. You won't be arrested for simply failing to make payments. For a hot second, people were panicking after a Houston television station reported that a local man, Paul Aker, had been arrested because he owed $1,500 for a federal student loan he took out in 1987. "What's the worst that can happen to you if you don't pay your old federal student loans?" the anchor began the segment. "Garnishment, something on your credit report? Or how about being arrested by the U.S. Marshals Office?" Aker, who appeared on the newscast, was incredulous. "Why are the marshals knocking on my door? It's amazing." Public outrage ensued. But as I watched a video of the interview, something didn't seem right. I've been reporting on debt collection for decades and never had I heard about anyone being arrested just because they hadn't paid their student loans. People get their wages garnished. Their credit scores get decimated. But arrested)? I immediately thought unscrupulous debt collectors must be jumping for joy. They could use Aker's plight to pressure people into paying debts they didn't owe or to scare others that they too would be arrested and hauled off to jail. Just recently, the Federal Trade Commission slammed four debt-collection outfits and their affiliates that the agency said engaged in abusive practices, including impersonating law enforcement officials and threatening to arrest people. Well, thank goodness, there was more to Aker's story. And there are two lessons to be learned. First, there is no need to panic: You cannot get arrested simply for defaulting on your federal loans. "If anyone out there thinks that it is the top priority of the U.S. Marshals Service to arrest student-loan violators, they are sadly mistaken," Richard Hunter, chief deputy for the U.S. Marshals' Southern District of Texas told me in an interview. Marshals had made several attempts to contact Aker to appear in federal court, according to Hunter. Notices were sent to numerous known addresses. Marshals spoke with Aker by phone and requested that he appear in court, but Aker refused, a statement from officials said. So a federal judge issued a warrant for Aker's arrest for failing to appear at a December 2012 hearing. "A big misconception is people are being arrested on suspicion of not paying their loans, when in fact they are being arrested on suspicion of failure to appear in court," Hunter said. "At the point the U.S. marshals show up at your door, there have been months perhaps many years of notices, summons, etc., issued." Here's the second lesson in this story. During the Houston news broadcast, Rep. Gene Green, D-Texas, asked Aker if he had been notified by anyone ahead of time about the state of his loan. "You didn't receive any kind of notice?" Green said. "No certified mail? Nobody coming out saying this is the debt you owe?" "Nothing in almost 30 years," Aker said. We now know from court records dating back to 2007 that Aker had indeed been contacted about the debt. A default judgment was entered for $2,709.47. But more to the point, even if he hadn't been served about the loan, he is ultimately accountable for keeping track of how much he borrowed. It's your responsibility to know what you owe. If you move, let your lenders know. If you haven't been receiving bills, call and find out why. "The key to all of this is communication," Hunter said. "If you have a loan that you're behind on, call the Department of Education and get a deferment or request a payment plan. If you have received a court summons, by all means communicate with the court. If you choose not to, at some point the federal judge handling your matter may order the U.S. marshals to bring you to court." The National Student Loan Data System is the Department of Education's central database for student aid. Go to www.nslds.ed.gov to find information about your federal loans. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has a useful tool to help you figure out how to pay off your loans (www.consumerfinance.gov/paying-for-college/repay-student-debt). With more than $1.3 trillion in outstanding student loans in the United States, the effort to collect will only increase. In addition to paying back the loan plus penalties and interest, Aker has to pay $1,258.60 to reimburse the U.S. marshals for arresting him. Still, his case is extreme. "People should not be afraid that U.S. marshals will kick down their door for student loan violations," Hunter said. What you should be afraid of is the interest and penalties that accrue if you let your loans go into default. Readers can write to Michelle Singletary c/o The Washington Post, 1150 15th St., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20071. Her email address is michelle.singletary@washpost.com. Follow her on Twitter (@SingletaryM) or Facebook (www.facebook.com/MichelleSingletary). Mama never made spaghetti meatballs this good! TREVI Italian Restaurant, located at The Forum Shops inside Caesars, will celebrate National Spaghetti Day on Saturday, Jan. 4, by offering a spaghetti meatballs entree for $10. TREVI Italian Restaurant offers homemade Italian cuisinepasta, chicken and veal prepared with true TREVI flair. TREVI is the perfect setting for lunch, dinner, group dining and cocktails. Address: Forum Shops at Caesars Palace 3500 Las Vegas Boulevard South Las Vegas, NV 89109 Phone: 702.735.4663 Hours: Sunday Thursday: 11am 11pm Friday Saturday: 11am 12am It is extremely difficult to locate sources about the Roma people (otherwise known as Gypsies) in the Holocaust like those widely available about Jewish victims, which may reflect the difference between a literate culture and a largely illiterate one.For Nazi Germany, the Roma became a racist dilemma. The Roma were Aryans, but in the Nazi mind there were contradictions between what they regarded as the superiority of the Aryan race and their image of the Roma people.At a conference held in Berlin on January 30, 1940, a decision was taken to expel 30,000 Roma from Germany to the territories of occupied Poland.(Photos: German Federal Archives Refugee children from Sudan walk on their way to Austria at the Hungarian-Austrian border crossing in Nickelsdorf, on September 5, 2015 AFP/Vladimir Simicek VIENNA: Austria's new daily cap on asylum seekers entered into force Friday (Feb 19), in a move that the European Commission has described as "plainly incompatible" with European Union laws. Since 8:00am (0700 GMT), a maximum of 80 migrants per day are being allowed to claim asylum in the country, police said. In addition, Vienna is limiting the daily number of people transiting Austria to seek asylum in a neighbouring country to 3,200. Once the quotas have been reached, "the borders will be closed," police spokesman Fritz Grundnig told AFP. He added that due to bad weather, no migrant had arrived at the Austrian-Slovenian frontier since Thursday afternoon. Vienna's measures - announced earlier this week along with tougher controls at 12 checkpoints along its southern borders - drew an angry reaction from the EU on Thursday. "Such a policy would be plainly incompatible with Austria's obligations under European and international law," European migration commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos complained in a letter to Austrian Interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner. European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker also criticised the proposal. "As far as Austria is concerned I have to say I don't like this decision, we are questioning whether it is within European law, and we will have a friendly discussion," Juncker told a news conference. But Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann said there "will be no lifting of the decision," speaking at a two-day EU summit. The daily limit on asylum claims is in line with Austria's announcement last month that it would only take in 37,500 asylum seekers this year -- sharply down from the 90,000 it accepted in 2015, making it one of the bloc's highest recipients on a per-basis capita. Vienna says that the measures are necessary because a German-backed EU plan for Turkey to stem the flow of migrants setting off from its coast is not yet working, and has urged other countries on the Balkans route into Europe to follow suit. In response, Slovenia, Croatia and Serbia have also tightened their borders. In 2015, over one million people reached Europe's shores - nearly half of them Syrians fleeing a civil war that has claimed more than 260,000 lives. The vast majority enter the EU through Italy and Greece, where they should register, but poor controls mean most are able to continue their journeys to northern Europe. A system of surveillance cameras will be established along the Ho Chi Minh City-Long Thanh-Dau Giay Expressway to deter stone throwers from aiming their rocks at vehicles running on the route, the Vietnam Expressway Services Engineering Joint Stock Company (VEC E), which manages the expressway, said on Thursday. Since the expressways opening in January 2015, the company has received reports from eight drivers stating that their automobiles were stoned, leading to severe damage, according to Nguyen Thi Hoai Phuong, deputy director of the VEC E. In six of the cases, the stone throwing caused damage to the windows of the vehicles, compromising the drivers control over their automobiles and threatening the safety of both passengers and the surrounding traffic, Phuong said. After being notified of the situation, the VEC E worked with local police to inspect the scenes, gather statements, and provide free rescue and repair services for the victims, she added. The company director affirmed that the stone-throwing cases are all unrelated and not connected with organized crimes targeting specific individuals or sabotaging activities between passengers bus lines. Completion of the surveillance system is expected in late 2016, Phuong said. The front window of a car is mended with tape to cover the damage caused by stone throwers. Photo: VECE The Ho Chi Minh City-Long Thanh-Dau Giay Expressway, which measures 55 kilometers, was constructed in 2009 and officially opened to traffic in February 2016. The urban motorway, whose total investment was estimated at nearly VND21 trillion (US$939.3 million), starts at An Phu Intersection, District 2, Ho Chi Minh City and ends at Dau Giay Interchange in Dong Nai. Vietnams modest investment in science and technology represents 2% of the state budget or about US$70 million in 2014. And Vietnams science and technology development depends almost entirely on state funding. There is little of the kind of private investment found in more developed nations. Economist Le Dang Doanh told VOV that Vietnams modest application of science and technology reflects a total-factor productivity of 26%. The figure is 50% in the Republic of Korea and some ASEAN countries. That means we depend too much on low cost labor and resources to support growth. Once Vietnam still continues this trend, its economy will not grow sustainably and efficiency will never improve. Vietnam needs stronger renovation and the most important thing is to encourage private businesses to invest in science and technology. In economics, Total Factor Productivity (TFP) is the portion of output not explained by the amount of inputs used in production. Associate Professor Vu Minh Khuong suggested that Vietnam should outline specific preferential policies for science and technology so that enterprises can receive direct benefits. According to Khuong, the state needs to help businesses, especially small enterprises, to access technology information. In Singapore a company which invests its own capital in science and technology gets a 30% of tax exemption if it makes a profit. Vietnam should learn from the Republic of Korea and Singapore who both have institutes that specialize in finding out about the worlds most advanced technologies and transferring the information to enterprises. The costs of the government-supported institutes come largely from the businesses which benefit. This is the public and private partnership model. Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Tran Van Tung said Vietnam has promulgated preferential policies, especially in tax reduction for equipment imports, transfer of technology, and land lease. Tung noted that our issue is that implementation of these legal policies in the provinces hasnt been synchronized between localities and the tax sector, necessitating increased coordination among agencies. In the future the Ministry of Science and technology will work more closely with the Finance Ministry to provide instructions for tax bureaus nationwide. French player Benoit Paire gestures after defeated Swiss player Stan Wawrinka at the end of their tennis quarter final match at the ATP Marseille Open 13 Provence in Marseille, southeastern France, on Feb 19, 2016. (Photo: AFP/Anne-Christine Poujoulat) MARSEILLE: France's Benoit Paire ousted top seed Stan Wawrinka 6-4, 1-6, 7-5 on Friday (Feb 19) to join second seed Tomas Berdych, Marin Cilic and Nick Kyrgios in the semi-finals of the ATP Marseille Open. Paire, seeded eighth, represents the last home hope in Marseille after Australian Kyrgios earlier whipped Richard Gasquet 6-0, 6-4. It was just the second win for the eighth-seeded Paire in eight meetings with his Swiss opponent and first since 2013. The 22nd-ranked Frenchman will next play 12th-ranked Croat Cilic, who earlier got past Russian Andrey Kuznetsov 6-3, 6-4. Cilic, the number four seed, needed just 66 minutes to spoil 24-year-old Kuznetsov's bid for a first ATP World Tour semi-final appearance at the seventh attempt. Cilic, 27, is looking to reach the Marseille final for the second time, having finished runner-up in 2011. But Paire won their only previous meeting in Chennai in 2013. Frenchman Gasquet, ranked 10, who pulled out of Rotterdam last week with flu, had won two weeks ago in neighbouring Montpellier. But he was no match for the 41st-ranked Kyrgios, whose powerful serve helped him to a straightforward victory in under an hour. The 20-year-old fired 17 aces, dropping just six points on serve and breaking Gasquet four times. It was just Kyrgios's second win over Gasquet in six meetings, after the second round of Wimbledon in 2014. He will bid to reach his second ATP World Tour final against Czech Berdych, having reached his maiden final last year in Estoril where he finished runner-up to Gasquet. Berdych completed the semi-final line-up for Saturday by easing past sixth-seeded Belgian David Goffin 6-3, 6-4. The 30-year-old world number eight beat Kyrgios in their only previous clash at this year's Australian Open. Ha Long Bay Director General of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) Nguyen Van Tuan cited Ha Long Bay (northern Quang Ninh province), Hoi An ancient town (central Quang Nam province), Nha Trang resort city (central Khanh Hoa province), Sa Pa (northern mountainous province of Lao Cai), Da Nang, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City as well-known destinations in Vietnam. Additionally, Trang An Complex in northern Ninh Binh province, the Mekong Delta region, the northern province of Ha Giang and Phu Quoc island district in the southern province of Kien Giang have become more popular, he said. Vietnam was selected by the UK magazine Telegraph as one of the 20 must-see destinations in the world in 2015, he noted, adding that while Hanoi and Da Nang were chosen as two of the top 10 most attractive places in Asia, Ha Long Bay and Son Doong Cave were among the 10 most impressive destinations by the global magazine Global Grasshopper. Legal documents and policies on tourism development and visa relaxation have facilitated travel in ASEAN, he said, noting that the transparent and favourable investment climate in Vietnam, along with better coordination among sectors, has met regional integration requirements. Tuan said ASEAN integration has helped connect the Vietnamese tourism market with that of the region and the world. Deputy Director of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT)s International Cooperation Department Tran Phu Cuong said Vietnam started to study ASEAN cooperation mechanisms in the late 1990s after official engagement in the bloc in 1995. Inn 2009, Vietnam hosted the ASEAN Tourism Forum (ATF) - the biggest event in the ASEAN tourism year. Vietnam has created 130 tourism products and connected at least two countries in ASEAN to develop tourism products based on the nature, community, culture and heritage via cruises and waterway tours. The nation also implemented the ASEAN tourism marketing strategy in 2011 and 2015 with the theme Southeast Asia Feel the Warmth. Cuong said Vietnam has fulfilled its role as head of the blocs Tourism Marketing and Communication Working Group (MCWG) in 2013 and 2014, and it currently acts as deputy head of the tourism service quality group. The country is also responsible for coordinating the development of waterway tourism products and the implementation of the technical assistance project to promote tourism in the Mekong River which is supported by the UK World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO). The regional integration is a major turning point for ASEAN member countries that bring enormous opportunities and challenges for each nation, he said. In 2012, the VNAT set up a tourism cooperation group to increase coordination between relevant agencies. The agency has also carried out projects to study and evaluate human resources and improve capacity to implement the Mutual Recognition Agreement on Tourism Professionals (MRA TP) and increase cooperation in the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) on tourism. With a population of over 500, ASEAN tourism markets contribute bring in about 20 percent of Vietnams tourists. Some countries like Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia serve as significant gateways to bring foreign visitors to Vietnam. The multinational cooperation has helped increase the prestige of Vietnamese tourism in the region and enabled the country to access to valuable experience and lessons on tourism development, he said. The realisation of the MRA TP, signed in 2009, creates an opportunity for the tourism sector to develop human resources and facilitate labour mobility, he added. Ambassador Son speaks about the programme (Photo: VNA) The programme, organised by the embassy in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism, will draw the participation of the association of Vietnamese people and Vietnams travel agencies in the republic. Within the framework of the programme, the largest ever tourism promotion seminar in the Czech Republic will be held on March 14. The event is expected to attract the attendance of about 100 officials and representatives from the host countrys travel and aviation agencies, as well as around 50 Vietnamese officials, businessmen and artists. A number of promotional activities will also be held, including performances featuring ethnic minority cultures, as well as Vietnamese cultural days. Vietnamese organisations and individuals will also participate in cultural exchange activities hosted by Czech representatives with the aim to popularise Vietnams image to the locals. Vietnam, with a coastline of about 3,200 kilometres, has a huge tourism potential to Czech people due to the fact that the European country has no beaches, Vietnamese Ambassador to the Czech Republic Truong Manh Son said. However, only 4,000 Czechs currently visit Vietnam per year. Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Le Hai Binh Mr. Binh made the point in response to domestic and foreign reporters queries on China's aforesaid actions. The Chinese actions seriously encroached upon Viet Nam's sovereignty over the archipelago and threatened peace and stability in the region as well as security, safety, freedom of navigation and aviation in the East Sea, said the diplomat. Viet Nam demands China immediately put an end to such wrongfull actions, said Mr. Binh. The same day, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent a diplomatic note to the Chinese Embassy in Ha Noi to protest against Chinas infringements on Viet Nams sovereignty over Hoang Sa Archipelago. Viet Nam Permanent Mission to the United Nations also requested the United Nations Secretary General to officially circulate the Vietnamese Foreign Ministry's diplomatic note. An operation to air drop critical relief supplies into Deir ez-Zor, the eastern Syrian city under the control of Islamic State militants, is still in the planning stage, but the World Food Program says it is working around the clock and hopes to start the operation next week. The U.N. agency says the last time it reached Deir ez-Zor was in May 2014. The airdrop operation aims to reach up to 200,000 people who are being denied food, medicine and other vital supplies by Islamic State, according to WFP spokeswoman Bettina Luescher. The militant group, however, will not allow humanitarian aid into the city. "This will be a high-altitude operation where we will be dropping off lifesaving aid supplies with parachutes, she said. We will be using a plane that is especially equipped for this kind of high-altitude operation. We will be working with flight crews that are highly experienced." The operation will use a WFP-registered company that has experience with airdrops in dangerous places, such as South Sudan, and knows how to maneuver safely, Luescher said. The Syrian Arab Red Crescent and local partners will prepare and distribute the airdrops on the ground. It is urgent for the operation to succeed, as the trapped inhabitants of the besieged city are desperate. "We know that there are critical food shortages for the people on the ground, as small military helicopters sometimes fly in food that is being sold for prohibitively high prices, Luescher said. Food is sometimes 16 times more expensive than before the surge. And that, of course, means that many families simply cannot afford to buy it. So they urgently need humanitarian assistance." Airdrops are always a measure of last resort. Luescher said WFP would much rather transport food by truck because land routes are usually easier, safer and more cost-effective; however, going by land into the IS stronghold is not possible, given the dangers implicit in the operation. China has removed its top securities regulator. The official Xinhua news agency reported Xiao Gang's dismissal Saturday. The move was not unexpected following a turbulent period in China's stock market. Xiao was responsible for introducing the "circuit breaker" designed to limit stock market losses. However, it only added to the securities market turmoil and was deactivated after only four days of use. Liu Shiyu, chairman of the Agricultural Bank of China and a former deputy governor of the central bank, is the new securities regulator. It was not immediately clear what measures Liu would enact to restore confidence in the Chinese stock market. Zhang Kaihua, a fund manager of Nanjing-based hedge fund Huyang Investment, said, "Liu has a lot of experience in the financial sector, but there will be some policy uncertainty in the short term as it will take at least six months for the former banker to get used to his new role." U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said recently that uncertainty about China's currency policies and its economic prospects have contributed to "increased volatility in global markets. At least five people have been killed in a powerful cyclone that struck the South Pacific island nation of Fiji Saturday. Authorities have begun deploying storm teams and clean-up crews throughout the island chain to assess the damage from Cyclone Winston, a category five storm with winds reaching 300 kilometers an hour and higher gusts, making it the strongest tropical cyclone ever in the Southern Hemisphere. Initial reports say hundreds of homes have been destroyed, power lines are down and streets flooded across the archipelago. The government has imposed a nationwide curfew in the country of 900,000 people and declared a month-long state of natural disaster. Scores of residents have sought shelter in evacuation centers set up across Fiji. According to the U.S. Joint Typhoon Warning Center, category five Cyclone Winston hit the north coast of Viti Levu the main and largest island of the more than 330-island archipelago. The cyclone affected the popular tourist resorts in Viti Levu's west, which were closer to the cyclone's center. Fiji's capital, Suva, located in the southern part of the island, experienced high winds but was not directly in the cyclone's path. Local media reports said that the superstorm caused power outages after making landfall. Property damage was also reported. Many domestic and international flights were canceled and hundreds of evacuation centers have been set up. Fiji's prime minister, Voreqe Bainimarama, told Fijians: "As a nation, we are facing an ordeal of the most grievous kind. We must stick together as a people and look after each other. Be alert and be prepared." The United Nations Humanitarian Agency (UNOCHA) had said Winston would likely bring "destructive winds, heavy rains, dangerous storm surge and a high risk of both flash and river flooding." UNOCHA said it was ready to support the disaster management office if required. WATCH: Related video of Cyclone Winston Italian author Umberto Eco has died at age 84, ending a writing career that spanned decades and covered topics both profound and mundane. Eco died of cancer at his home in Milan Friday. He was, as the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera said, one of Italy's most celebrated intellectuals. His novels, while challenging, had popular appeal. His most famous work, the best-selling historical novel The Name of the Rose, was made into a movie starring Sean Connery in 1986. The novel published in 1980 has been translated into 43 languages and sold millions of copies. Professional academics Eco was a professional academic, having studied philosophy and later specializing in semiotics, the study of signs and symbols. His second novel, Foucault's Pendulum, was a thriller so complicated that it was packaged with an annotated guide to help readers follow the plot. Eco's road to literary fame was long and filled with unlikely detours. As a teenager in northern Italy, he wrote comic books and fantasy novels. He worked as a journalist for Italian television starting in the 1950s, and later wrote children's books and columns for Italian newspapers. In the past decade, Eco published essay collections on current events and, last year, a novel about Italian political scandal called Numero Zero. Faustin Archange Touadera, former prime minister of the Central African Republic, on Saturday was declared the winner of the February 14 presidential election. Marie Madeleine Nkoet, president of the national election authority, read poll results to reporters, saying Touadera had come in first with 695,000 votes, or 62.7 percent. Georges Anicet Dologuele, who came in first in the first round, obtained just over 413,000 votes in the runoff, or 37.3 percent, she said. Out of 1.95 million registered voters, 1.15 million cast ballots, about 59 percent. Results of the first round of the parliamentary poll were not announced Saturday but were expected soon. Touadera supporters, including many of the citys taxi drivers, celebrated his victory noisily, and celebrations looked set to continue into the night. Touaderas campaign director, Simplice Sarandji, reacted to the election results by saying it was not the time for invective but time for peace and love. He called on all Central Africans to commit to living in harmony with each other in the interests of the nation. It is hoped the elections will close a particularly turbulent chapter in CAR history. In the conflicts of the past four years, the government, which always had difficulty exercising authority outside the capital, virtually ceased to exist. Security in the country is still largely provided by some 13,000 international peacekeepers, and the administration depends on subsidies from donors. The new president has pledged to rebuild the state, working closely with the international community. Observers said Touadera's election victory stemmed from the reputation he gained as prime minister between 2008 and 2013, when government worker salaries were paid regularly. Although only some 24,000 Central Africans are on the governments payroll, many of them help provide for dozens of people besides their immediate families. Members of an Indian caste, demanding better work and educational opportunities, are clashing with security forces in a northern state near New Delhi. Officials say at least one person has been killed in the demonstrations that have been raging for several days in Haryana state. Authorities have enforced curfews in some areas and have instructed security forces to shoot protesters without warning. "Three rail stations were burnt down and several kilometers of track have been damaged," a spokesman for Indian Railways told the French news agency AFP. The demonstrators are members of the Jat caste. They are demanding benefits both at the federal and state levels, including guaranteed government jobs and university placement. Yashapal Malik, the president of a national Jat organization said "The protest will only end when government accepts our demands." The off-duty Israeli soldier stabbed to death by two Palestinian teens in a West Bank supermarket has been identified as Tuvya Weisman, an American citizen. He was the second American to die in a six-month wave of stabbing attacks by Palestinians against Israeli citizens. State Department spokesman Mark Toner said the United States condemned the killing "in the strongest possible terms." "There is no justification for terrorism," he said. "This horrific incident again underscores the need for all sides to reject violence and urgently take steps to restore calm, reduce tensions and bring an immediate end to the violence." The two 14-year-olds stabbed Weisman to death and wounded another shopper Thursday inside the crowded supermarket before being shot and wounded by an armed civilian. Six months of Palestinian attacks on Israeli civilians, police and soldiers have left nearly 30 Israelis dead, along with one other American and an Eritrean. But police and soldiers have killed more than 160 Palestinians who were attempting to stab Jews or run them down with cars. Israel accuses Palestinian leaders of inciting young Palestinians to violence. But Palestinians say they are fed up with poor economic opportunities, weak leadership and a dim outlook for peace. South Korea says North Korea has fired several artillery rounds near a frontline island Saturday. A South Korean Defense Ministry statement said the North Korean army "fired a few artillery rounds" on Jangsangot promontory near the disputed sea border between the two Koreas. The ministry said it believed the move was part of a North Korean "military drill." As a precaution, however, the South has warned residents on Baengnyeongdo island to be prepared to evacuate into shelters. The government has also urged fishing boats to return to their ports. The episode happened amid increased tensions between the two Koreas following Pyongyang's nuclear and missile tests. Gunmen attacked a paramilitary convoy in restive Indian Kashmir Saturday, killing two soldiers before entering a government-run training institute with 100 people inside, police said. The militants, believed to be rebels opposed to Indian rule, assaulted a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) convoy before paramilitaries engaged them in a firefight in the complex on the outskirts of Srinagar. "Two CRPF personnel died in the initial assault on the convoy and ten others were injured," said Javaid Gillani, inspector general of police for the region. "All the civilians present inside the building have been evacuated," Gillani said. Witnesses said three militants entered the complex, which houses the government-run Entrepreneurship Development Institute on the outskirts of the main city of Srinagar. 'Save themselves' They said the gunmen asked everyone inside to "save themselves" and move to a nearby hostel on the campus. "They (gunmen) barged into the reception area as CRPF soldiers were firing towards them. They asked everyone to save themselves and go to the next building," a witness who worked at the institute said, asking to remain anonymous. The wounded soldiers were hospitalized, including one in critical condition, Gillani said. Anti-India sentiment runs deep in Kashmir, where rebel groups have been fighting since 1989 for either independence or a merger with neighboring Pakistan. India and Pakistan each administer a portion of Kashmir, but both claim the region in its entirety. More than 68,000 people have been killed in the armed uprising and ensuing Indian military crackdown. India and Pakistan have fought three wars, two of them over control of Kashmir, since they won independence from British colonialists in 1947. The Nigerian army has established an office of human rights at its headquarters in the capital, Abuja, to continue training officers about the need to respect the rights of citizens in the ongoing fight against Islamic insurgent group Boko Haram, and other terrorist groups, according to military spokesman Colonel Sani Kukasheka Usman. Usman's comments came after high-ranking officials of the army, including army chief of staff Tukur Buratai, met with Amnesty International about concerns the rights organization raised in its recent report. The report accused the Nigerian army of gross human rights violations in the fight against Boko Haram militants in parts of Nigerias north. Accusations Residents of areas attacked by Boko Haram militants often accused soldiers of human rights violations. The military usually denies the accusation. We have been treating both Boko Haram suspects and the victims with respect and dignity, as humanly possible, Usman said. He said the army has investigated and punished officers accused of committing human rights abuses in the amnesty report. He also said the Nigerian army led by the chief of army staff took proactive measures including consulting the Nigeria Bar Association as well as the national human rights commission in the country. Usman said the Nigerian army respects human rights despite criticisms that officers routinely commit human rights violations without being punished. We realized in one of the seminars that there was the need to have a human rights desk, a kind of contact person to interface with allegations of human rights abuses by our officers or soldiers," he said. "We were able to establish one at the army headquarters for the time being. ... But we are making effort really, to move it outside the barracks from the military environment so that people will feel at will to submitting their complaints whenever such things arise, Usman said. He also said it is regrettable that some soldiers will engage in human rights violations despite the armys laid down procedures prohibiting personnel from engaging in such acts. Welcome complaints Usman said the arms human rights office would welcome complaints or feedback from people who feel aggrieved on human rights violations committed by soldiers. We have been training soldiers both locally and abroad, he said. Beyond that we have also included the teaching of human rights and humanitarian law in all our training schools. "We have also opened liaison with the Nigerian human rights commission, and the Nigerian bar association. ... The whole essence is to enhance our performance, especially as regards to respect and protection of human rights either in peace time or in war time or during operations," he added. Some human rights groups said they expect a bit of resistance from soldiers who are on the front lines fighting Boko Haram because they, some of them, have been getting away with rights violations over the years. Report on fellow soldiers They called on the army to encourage soldiers to feel free to report their comrades who commit rights violations without the fear of victimization by their superiors. We have been talking to opinion leaders, [and] we have also in our own way [been] sensitizing the public,"he said. "With the establishment of the human rights desk, it is just not enough to be at the army headquarters. It is going down to the various formations and units of the Nigerian army, so that the public will be aware. And if anybody has any complaints about human rights abuses, to the contact person, Usman said. Observer missions in Uganda released their findings of the 2016 electoral process Saturday, finding overall that the elections suffered from democratic shortcomings, while still remaining largely peaceful. Election observers from the African Union, European Union, the Commonwealth, and the Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy in Africa (EISA), among others, released their preliminary findings Saturday in Kampala before the final Ugandan election announcement was made. Former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo led the Commonwealth observer mission to Uganda, and said that "while the presidential elections were competitive with regard to the number of candidates," freedom of movement and assembly affected the fairness of the campaign for opposition candidates. 'Fell short' These elections fell short of meeting some key democratic benchmarks namely, the increased prevalence of money in politics, the misuse of state resources, which led to significant advantages for the incumbent, and the confidence, credibility, and ability of the electoral commission to manage the process effectively and impartially," Obasanjo said. WATCH: Related video with election observers Sophia Akuffo, Ghanian Supreme Court justice and head of the African Union observer mission, said the delays in ballot papers arriving at polling stations was quite "inexcusable." But Akuffo also said she was impressed by Ugandan voters. I commend them for their patience and their fortitude and their determination to exercise their votes, because it was hot, humid, and very, very confusing at some of the polling stations that we went to and of course, the materials were late," she said. Stronger electoral provisions Rupiah Banda, the leader of the EISA mission, and former president of Zambia, urged for stronger electoral provisions to guard against the use of inflammatory and intimidating language during the campaign. As an African, I want to underline the very point of inflammatory language. We just have to learn to express ourselves without showing bitterness and anger, be it by government authorities or leaders, or those prepared to participate in the elections," Banda said. The observer missions plan to later release their final reports. After terrorists stormed the Bataclan in Paris on November 13, Georges Salines spent frantic hours searching for the whereabouts of his daughter Lola, 28, one of hundreds attending a concert that ended in a bloodbath. With an information telephone line saturated, Salines ended up calling city hospitals, which were struggling to cope with the influx of casualties from the theater and from other near-simultaneous jihadist attacks across the French capital. News about Lola finally arrived via Twitter: dead. Salines described his odyssey to lawmakers as Frances lower house opened an inquiry into the governments response to the terror threat since the first set of Paris attacks, in January 2015. Set up at the request of Frances conservative opposition Republicans, the commission is expected to deliver its findings by July. We have a thousand questions and expect answers, Salines told the commission, which began its probe Monday by hearing often scathing testimony from victims groups and their lawyers. Along with the much-awaited return to Paris of American rock band Eagles of Death Metal to finish their aborted concert, the parliamentary investigation is bringing back painful memories but also helping some people move forward. Whats important is that everyone has a clear view of what happened, Salines said later in an interview. We must find solutions together. Claim by IS The Islamic State militant group claimed responsibility for the assaults that left 130 dead and 350 wounded. The assailants have been identified as mostly French and Belgian nationals. In their testimony, victims groups and their lawyers described frustrating efforts to reach police and late, sometimes callous delivery of information about loved ones. Caroline Langlade, holed up in a side room of the Bataclan with other hostages as terrorists picked off concertgoers, told deputies about how she tried calling the police on her cellphone. She was told to speak louder and, as she tried to explain her situation, was hung up on. I had to call my mother in [the French town of] Nancy so she could communicate the information to the police there, she said. Salines and Langlade are part of two separate support networks that have been set up in recent weeks. One, November 13: Brotherhood and Truth, includes both survivors and victims families. Salines is president of the group, which is helping members wade through the bureaucracy of receiving state support and compensation. It also wants to become a civil party in a judicial probe into the assaults. A second, Life for Paris, has a website and a Facebook page. Most of its members are survivors of the Bataclan attacks, who get together for drinks and exchange information and support. Scenes From Paris After the Deadly Terror Attacks Photo Gallery: Scenes From Paris After the Deadly Terror Attacks Multiple attacks across Paris on Friday night have left scores dead and hundreds injured. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the coordinated assault Saturday. Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Email to a Friend Part of healing process For many, understanding every detail of the attacks how they could happen, how they were carried out and the fate of the assailants is an essential step in the healing process. I dont think well have the whole truth, but maybe well have a little part of the truth, said Emmanuel Domenach, 29, who survived the Bataclan assault and is a member of the November 13 group. People want to know what happened to their sons, their brothers, their dads. How they died. And how young French and Belgians can grow up to kill other young people, he said. Domenach was among many survivors to attend the return concert of Eagles of Death Metal on Wednesday. This time, the American rock band did not play at the Bataclan which is set to reopen later this year but rather at the trendy Olympia concert hall under tight security. I was a bit afraid the concert would be too sad, that it would be about November 13, but the group gave us 2 hours of a really good show, he said. Domenach escaped from the Bataclan with the help of a security guard. It helped that he was in the front of the concert hall; the terrorists entered from the back. He lost his glasses in the mayhem and emerged with his T-shirt soaked in blood. Today, he is fearful about taking the subway or going to movies. He has been fighting depression, his mind wandering back to the blood-soaked events. Recently, however, things are getting better. This time I enjoyed the moment, he said of the Olympia concert. "Although I still had thoughts about the people at the Bataclan, especially a girl dancing near me who is now dead. I saw people like her in the audience. Too sad for some Other survivors chose not to attend, and some emerged in tears. I think they were not ready maybe still too sad, Domenach said. Salines also attended with family and a friend of his daughters who had also been at the Bataclan. The music isnt exactly my cup of tea, but its a good group and a good concert, he said. The November 13 group will be closely following the parliamentary investigation. Members hope to meet with French President Francois Hollande. We want to discuss what failed and what needs to be done so these kinds of attacks dont happen again, Salines said. Law-and-order answers are not enough, he said. On the contrary, he said, its absolutely necessary to understand what drives these young people to take up arms against their own country." Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Saturday won the Nevada Democratic caucuses, defeating Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders 52.7 percent to 47.3 percent in the race for the party's 2016 presidential nomination. Analysts said Clintons win showed that her national network of support remained formidable, and that Sanders must do more to appeal to Democrats beyond the young people who have formed the core of his campaign. And in South Carolinas closely fought Republican primary, Donald Trump has edged out his rivals with projections showing him capturing 32.5 percent of the vote. Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz locked in a virtual tie for second, with each taking about 22 percent. Rubio finished with a slight edge. After Trump's big victory in New Hampshire last week, his win Saturday was likely to solidify the billionaire real estate mogul as the Republican front-runner. Trump addressed a jubilant crowd in Spartanburg, South Carolina, along with his wife, Melania, and his daughter, Ivanka, who also spoke briefly. Trump congratulated the other candidates, saying it is tough to run for president but beautiful when you win. Trump repeated elements of his stump speech, saying that when he becomes president, the United States will start winning again. He vowed to make Mexico pay for a massive wall along the U.S. southern border and to challenge China on its trade surplus. Trump said he was headed for Nevada, which will hold its Republican caucuses Tuesday. He said his campaign is an incredible movement with incredible people. Members of the crowd chanted, USA! USA! He looked forward to contests in multiple states on March 1st, called Super Tuesday, saying "lets put this thing [Republican primary contest] away. About one-third of South Carolina voters are military veterans, and exit polls showed that Trump won more veterans' votes than any of his Republican opponents. Analyst Todd Shaw with the University of South Carolina told VOA that history shows the South Carolina primary is almost always a "clarifier" for the Republican nomination. He said often one candidate will win the Iowa caucus, and a different one will win in New Hampshire, but the person who wins in South Carolina usually goes on to win the nomination. 2008 was an exception, with former House Speaker Newt Gingrich winning the South Carolina primary, and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney winning the nomination. Shaw said, as final results were still being tallied from Saturday's vote, if Trump ends up winning every single congressional district in the state, he would capture a large share of the delegates and that Trump appears to be "well on his way" to winning the nomination, unless the field narrows to a two person race. Bush bows out An emotional Jeb Bush delivered a gracious speech as the vote count sealed his fate at fourth place in the Republican field. The former Florida governor said he had decided to suspend his campaign, withdrawing from a race that many had expected him to win. Instead, Rubio and Cruz are the two candidates vying for second place behind Trump. Speaking to his supporters of a new generation of "21st-century Republicans," Rubio vowed that he would go on to win the Republican nomination and become the next president. WATCH: Candidates' Speeches from South Carolina, Nevada He closed in quickly in South Carolina after finishing a disappointing fifth in the New Hampshire primary earlier in the month. The 44-year-old son of a Cuban immigrant, with South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley at his side, spoke to an energized crowd that chanted, "Marco! Marco!" Cruz lauds Bush Cruz also spoke to his supporters, surrounded by his wife and two young girls. He praised Bush, saying the former Florida governor didnt go to the gutter and hurl insults at others a veiled reference to Trump. Cruz paid tribute to late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, saying he had attended his funeral earlier Saturday. This election will be a referendum on the Supreme Court," he said. "I cant wait to stand on the debate stage with Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders, or whatever socialist they put forth. Cruz said conservatives were continuing to unite behind his campaign, and that he was the only strong conservative in a position to win the race. He noted that he was the only candidate so far to have beaten Trump, in the Iowa caucuses, and he said he was the Republican candidate who could provide the best contrast with the Democrats in the November general election. Clinton triumphant Clinton was jubilant as she addressed cheering supporters at her Nevada headquarters. "Some may have doubted us, but we never doubted each other," she said, singling out hotel and casino workers, students and families for their support in the Western state. She congratulated Sanders on a hard-fought race. Speaking to his Nevada supporters, Sanders said, We are bringing working people and young people into the political process in a way we have not seen in a long while. Sanders was upbeat as he said he would soon be on a plane to South Carolina, and then would compete in the 11 states in which Democrats will vote on Super Tuesday. "The wind is at our backs and we have the momentum. He said he believed that when Democrats hold their nominating convention in Philadelphia in July, voters will see one of the great political upsets in the history of the United States. Both campaigns had viewed multi-ethnic Nevada as a test for electoral viability nationwide. Exit polls indicated that Sanders won the Hispanic vote in Nevada, but that Clinton won the African-American vote by a large margin. Clinton will head into next week's Democratic primary in South Carolina with momentum, and she already has a commanding lead in the polls there. She told her supporters she was traveling to the delegate-rich state of Texas late Saturday to campaign there, and that her husband, former president Bill Clinton, was traveling to Colorado. It was the second win of the 2016 election season for Clinton, who narrowly won the Iowa caucuses earlier this month. Sanders won the New Hampshire primary by a big margin. Pressure on Sanders Political experts said the clear win in Nevada was a big relief for Clinton and her backers, after recent reports of a Sanders surge. Analysts said there was now more pressure on Sanders to prove he can win in a more diverse state than New Hampshire. In her victory speech, Clinton said a brave young girl in Nevada told her how scared she was that her undocumented parents would be deported. Referring to Sanders' focus on income inequality and the power of Wall Street banks, Clinton said voters are looking for workable solutions, and that the United States is not a single-issue country. She said she wanted the U.S. to be the clean-energy country of the 21st century, and that it was time that women received equal pay for equal work. Clinton pledged to reform the countrys criminal justice system and immigration system if she is elected, and to address what she termed systemic racism. She aimed a message at young people, who have been backing Sanders in greater numbers, saying that every person has a role to play in building the future. Before both candidates spoke publicly, Sanders congratulated Clinton on her win, saying he was proud of his supporters in Nevada and that he would leave the state with a solid number of delegates. Exit polls showed that Sanders again won a majority of young voters. Nevada and South Carolina have split their caucus and voting schedules between Democrats and Republicans this year. Next Saturday, South Carolina Democrats will have their primary election, while Republicans in Nevada will caucus that day. The following Tuesday is Super Tuesday when voters in a collection of 13 states will choose delegates, committed to presidential candidates, at the two major political party conventions. WATCH: Battle of the Campaign Signs in South Carolina South Carolina Republicans have a knack for choosing winners. With the exception of 2012, they have successfully chosen the eventual Republican presidential nominee in every election since 1980. Given the state's heavy evangelical presence, a conservative Christian candidate like Texas Senator Ted Cruz might seem a popular choice in 2016. The majority of South Carolina Republicans identify as "evangelical" and share his hard-line stance on abortion and other so-called "traditional family values" issues. But while Cruz's fans are passionate, he is polling second to businessman Donald Trump. In rural towns like Gaffney, self-described conservative Christians who support the billionaire can reconcile with supporting a "less Christian" candidate. Bobby Ramsey, who attended Trump's campaign rally Thursday, said he isn't too concerned about Trump's religion. Instead, he said, he prays that he would be a good leader. "He has accepted the Lord as his savior," Ramsey said. "He's his own man," added another, who supports Trump precisely because he is not a politician. Small-town values Nine miles northeast of Gaffney, along South Carolina's rolling foothills, is Blacksburg or the "Iron City." Population: 1,870. Councilman Darren Janesky describes the community as "mostly conservative." "You can't walk an eighth of a mile in any direction without walking across a church," he said. Janesky, who has lived in Blacksburg for 16 years, believes Trump is the most qualified of all the candidates. "People may have their issues with Trump and some of the way he conducts himself, but he's a businessman, and he's a professional, and he knows a lot about hard-core business," Janesky said. The town's police chief, Jamie Ham, agreed, adding that he trusted Trump would surround himself with "successful people." "He's successful in managing a multibillion-dollar business," Ham said. "We need somebody that's going to make the right financial decisions for the country, as well." But not everyone in the town of Blacksburg is convinced. For one table-of-five at Bailey's Fish Camp, a tasty filet was the only choice they had in common. Greg, who is undecided between Cruz and Florida Senator Marco Rubio, thinks Trump is all talk. "How are you going to build a wall between us and Mexico, and get Mexico to pay for it?" Greg asked. "That's crazy." Dirty tricks Billy, across the table, says his vote will be a last-minute decision. Becky and Dana, on the other hand, say neurosurgeon Ben Carson who is polling in single digits is the best Christian, and the most trustworthy. "He's not mudslinging," Dana said. "No. He's not being ugly about it, Becky added. I just feel like he's being honest. Dana supported Cruz until his campaign spread a false rumor that Carson was suspending his campaign after the Iowa caucuses. She called the act "presumptuous." The Texas senator, who surged to unexpected victory in Iowa on February 1, is urging South Carolinians to do the same Saturday. Mourners attended a Roman Catholic funeral Mass Saturday for the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, lauded as a giant of the law and the most influential justice of his era. The life of Scalia, who was deeply religious, was honored in the countrys largest Roman Catholic church, the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, where Pope Francis had celebrated a Mass in September. Vice President Joe Biden led a distinguished group of officials, dignitaries, family and friends in attending the service for Scalia, who died one week ago at age 79. Scalia's eight fellow justices including Clarence Thomas, who offered a Bible reading several cabinet secretaries and many members of Congress were in attendance, as was former Vice President Dick Cheney. One of the late justice's nine children, Paul Scalia, a Roman Catholic priest, delivered a homily to the congregation during the service. Four other sons served as pallbearers. Paul Scalia recalled his father's devotion to God and country. He told the audience how his father reacted once after accidentally standing in his son's confessional line. "Like heck if I'm confessing to you,'' Paul Scalia fondly remembered his father saying. Public mourning Scalia's coffin lay in repose throughout the day and evening Friday at the Supreme Court, near the U.S. Capitol, as lines of mourners filed past. President Barack Obama and first lady Michele Obama offered their condolences Friday afternoon. Scalia was a member of the nation's highest court for more than 29 years. He was known as a leading proponent of conservative policies and an "originalist," meaning that he was guided in his intepretation of the U.S. Constitution by what the country's founders in the 18th century had in mind when they wrote the national charter. Such views often contrast with what is known as a "liberal" view of the court's decisions, held by those who believe the Constitution, written more than 200 years ago, should be interpreted in terms of its meaning for the government and society of today. The judge's sudden death left the Supreme Court with only eight judges, which could affect the court's actions until a ninth justice is nominated by the president and approved by the Senate. Court review With only eight sitting judges, an even 4-4 vote among them would mean the Supreme Court could take no action to review lower-court decisions either upholding or overturning them. Many lower-court actions are brought before the Supreme Court on appeal, but the court chooses which cases it will review. Since this is a presidential election year, many members of the opposition Republican party have said the responsibility of choosing a new Supreme Court justice should be made by the next president, whoever that may be, who will succeed Obama in 11 months' time. President Obama, however, said it is his constitutional responsibility to act more promptly; most members of his Democratic Party and some Republicans agree that a Supreme Court nomination should not be postponed until next year. Obama has said he will name his choice for the court in the coming days or weeks. WATCH: Public pays respects to Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia The late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia was known as a famously combative, often polarizing figure whose strict constitutionalist ideology won him as many adherents as detractors across an increasingly divided United States. Yet it was Scalias gregarious charm, sparkling wit and irrepressible joie de vivre, as much as his judicial philosophy, that brought thousands of dignitaries, friends, local residents and tourists to his beloved court on a cold February morning to pay their respects. "I met him once. He was so gracious," said Washington resident Cliftine Jones. "It was my moms birthday. He wished her a happy birthday. It was heartfelt, genuine." "Hes an outstanding American," she continued. "A lot of people take our rights, and our country, for granted. He didnt." Indeed, the combination of Scalias razor-sharp judicial mind and his irreverent charisma appeared to echo most prominently among those waiting to view his coffin. "I came today because I respect his fierce intellect, his undying passion for his faith and his splendid wit," said Sunjin Choi, a Korean-American from Fairfax, Virginia. "Plus, I love opera, and so does he," Choi said. "I also admire his friendship with Justice [Ruth Bader] Ginsburg, who does not share his views. But they bonded with music, which is splendid." The Korean immigrant noted that she does not always agree with Scalia, but came "to pay respects for his contribution to this wonderful country." Scalias coffin, draped in an American flag, was on display all day Friday so that his fellow justices, law clerks, Supreme Court employees and Americans who simply respected him could pay homage to the current courts longest-serving member. Clerks stand guard Groups of four former clerks stood guard beside the coffin at all times, rotating every 30 minutes. Lawyer Dave Kruetz flew in from Toledo, Ohio, because he admired Scalia's judicial philosophy. Kreutz said there has been a lawyer in his family every generation since Joshua Seney represented Maryland at the 1775 Second Continental Congress - the group that led the American revolutionary war effort and moved the 13 colonies towards independence. He sees Scalia as a towering legal figure. "Our family considers Scalia to be the greatest justice of all time, so Im here to wish him well," Kruetz said. "We believe in the text of the Constitution, and [Scalia] had the ability to interpret that very closely to how we feel it should have been done." Others, less enamored with Scalias ideology, felt connected nonetheless. "I came today to pay respects to a public servant," said Washington resident Dwight Jefferson. "Im a public servant myself, and its a duty I take very seriously." "Even though I didnt agree with Justice Scalias view of the Constitution as a document set in stone, I still respect him," Jefferson said. Two federal appeals court judges who have been mentioned as potential Supreme Court nominees Sri Srinivasan and Patricia Millett were in the line of those paying their respects. President Barack Obama, accompanied by first lady Michelle Obama, also came to say farewell, pausing beside Scalia's coffin. T.J. Schmidt, a lawyer from Kearneysville, West Virginia, drove to Washington with his two children for Fridays ceremony. "I felt it was important to show my kids a little about our country," Schmidt said. "I think, regardless of ideology, he was well-respected on the court, and his wit and ability to articulate his positions will be sorely missed. "As an attorney, I certainly read a lot of his opinions and dissents. I tend to support most of his decisions, but I dont see eye to eye with him on everything." Neither does Evan El-Amin, a New Jersey resident who works for Thompson-Reuters. "I didnt always agree with Scalia, but I do respect [his] process of thinking about things," he said. Thats a sentiment clearly shared by many. A human rights monitor says the death toll from double blasts in the central Syrian town of Homs has risen to 46 people with dozens more wounded. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says the twin explosions Sunday struck the al-Zahraa neighborhood and most of those killed appeared to be civilians. Homs has been the target of multiple attacks in recent months, killing and wounding scores of people. The Observatory said the blasts Sunday were among the largest to hit the neighborhood in the five-year-old civil war. There has been no claim of responsibility for the deadly attack, which comes a day after U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov conferred on the crisis in Syria by telephone. The main rebel coalition in Syria has said it is willing to accept a temporary truce, but only if Russia calls a halt to its airstrikes and the Damascus government ends its offensive near the Syrian-Turkish border. There was no indication Kerry and Lavrov made any significant progress on the truce issue. Russia has said it will not stop its airstrikes against what it calls terrorist targets in Syria, even if there is international agreement on a temporary truce, which diplomats have been calling a "cessation of hostilities." The United States and others involved in trying to end the Syrian civil war say most Russian bombs are directed at rebels fighting the Syrian government, not at Islamic State terrorists. U.S. officials gave a guarded account of Kerry and Lavrov's conversation Saturday, which reviewed the work of two teams working in Geneva on the Syrian crisis one on the urgent need to get humanitarian assistance to civilians trapped by the war, the other on a temporary truce intended to lead to a full and formal cease-fire. Both sides agreed there has been some progress in delivering aid to civilian neighborhoods under siege by Syrian government troops and their allies. A U.S. statement added that humanitarian groups need immediate access to additional areas, and that future deliveries should be "sustained and unimpeded." Truce points On the truce issue, a spokesman for Kerry said the U.S. secretary and Lavrov discussed "developing a draft set of modalities for a cessation of hostilities." He added: "Those modalities are not yet agreed upon." The Russian Foreign Ministry's version of the Kerry-Lavrov conversation was similar to the statement issued in Washington, except that it said a "cessation of hostilities" would not stop "the fight against terrorists" Russia's around-the-clock aerial bombing campaign in northern Syria. Everyone recognizes the complexity of this endeavor, and there is certainly a lot more work to do, Kerry said in London, where he met with senior British officials early Saturday. Kerry later flew to Jordan for more talks about Syria, including an expected meeting with King Abdullah on Sunday. A coalition of Syrian rebel groups meeting in Saudi Arabia on Saturday condemned Russia's military action supporting the Damascus government. The coalition, known as the High Negotiations Committee, said Russia has "shown disdain for the international community and disregard for the lives of Syrians." The Russian air campaign also has been blamed for increasing the war's toll on Syrian civilians, prompting more of them to become refugees and try to flee across the border into Turkey. Russia's UN request rejected Moscow has complained that Turkey is about to send ground forces into Syria, and it called for Security Council action to block that at an emergency meeting Friday. Other Security Council members rejected Russia's draft resolution, and Turkey's U.N. ambassador said his country would take such a direct role in Syria only if it was backed by the United Nations. Russia's proposal to the Security Council did not mention Turkey by name, but its intent was clear. It strongly condemned cross-border shelling into Syria and what Russia says is an unrestricted flow of "terrorist" fighters and illegal weapons shipments into the country. Russia's resolution 'a distraction' Diplomats said at least six of the 15 council members rejected the resolution outright when it was presented, and only one member Venezuela expressed support. Even China, which frequently aligns its position with Russia, appeared to be reluctant to side with Moscow; China's U.N. delegates said they were awaiting for instructions from Beijing for the time being. The Kremlin said Russia has a "consistent, transparent, and clear policy aimed at securing stability" in the Syria and the wider region. Whats really important is that rather than trying to distract the world with the resolution they just laid down, it would be really great if Russia would implement the resolution its already agreed to, U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power said. Power referred to Security Council Resolution 2254, adopted in December, which laid out a framework for starting political talks in parallel with a nationwide cease-fire in Syria. We have a resolution on the books. Its the right resolution. Weve committed ourselves to it, and we need Russia to do the same, she added. Turkeys U.N. envoy, Yasar Halit Cevik, dismissed Russia's concern that Ankara might be planning to launch a ground operation in Syria. Our political leaders are quite open on saying that Turkey will not be going into Syria with boots on the ground if it is not a collective action, Cevik told reporters, and said Turkey would only consider military intervention if the Security Council or the international coalition called for it. Turkey's prime minister on Saturday called on the United States to give his government unconditional support in the fight against the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia without ifs and buts. Speaking to reporters in Ankara after a five-hour meeting with security officials, Ahmet Davutoglu said that Turkey was certain that the YPG, which the United States supports in the fight against Islamic State in Syria, was involved Wednesday's bomb attack in Ankara that killed 28 people. A Kurdish militant group based in Turkey known as the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK) claimed responsibility for the Ankara attack in a statement Friday. Davutoglu rejected that as a false claim; he said TAK was trying to shield YPGs international legitimacy from any links to the bombing, which was aimed at military units in the Turkish capital. The YPG, or People's Protection Units, is the armed wing of the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD). Turkey claims they are terrorists, but the United States does not agree. U.S. officials said they could neither confirm nor deny Ankara's charge that the militia was behind the bombing. President Barack Obama met by telephone with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for 80 minutes on Friday, sharing his concerns about the Syrian conflict and promising his support. Separately, however, a State Department spokesman told reporters that the U.S. continued to support groups in Syria that have been fighting against Islamic State extremists a likely reference to the YPG. Uganda's electoral commission has named incumbent President Yoweri Museveni the winner in Thursday's election, but the main opposition party is rejecting the results as fraudulent. Mugisha Muntu, the chairman of the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) party, said election results announced at the national tally center in Kampala were "inconsistent" with results declared at polling stations. Muntu told VOA Saturday that the party is compiling evidence to show Ugandans and poll observers that the election was rigged in favor of Museveni. "One thing we can say for sure, which is nothing new to our party supporters, is that the elections have been fraudulent," Muntu said. Uganda's electoral commission said Saturday that Museveni won the election with nearly 61 percent of the vote, more than enough to secure a first-round victory. It said his strongest challenger, FDC candidate Kizza Besigye, won 35 percent. Besigye, who was arrested while trying to hold a news conference Friday, remains under house arrest. Questioned fairness The European Union's election observer mission released a statement just hours before the final vote tally was due, saying the ruling National Resistance Movement's domination of the political landscape "distorted the fairness of the campaign and state actors created an intimidating atmosphere for both voters and candidates" on election day and the days following. Chief Observer Eduard Kukan praised Ugandan voters for their commitment to the electoral process. Many voters waited in long lines Thursday for a chance to cast their ballots, and in parts of the capital, Kampala, and Wakiso district, the vote had to be continued into Friday to make up for delays in opening the polling stations. But Kukan criticized the Electoral Commission for failing to effectively communicate steps that would have been needed to overcome "growing tensions caused by markedly delayed delivery of the voting material." The observer mission had already noted in an earlier statement that "state actors," or representatives of the government, were mainly to blame for a "polarized discourse and intimidating atmosphere" prior to the election. WATCH: Related video of election observers' comments The news of Museveni's win pleased National Resistance Movement supporters, such as 58-year-old Sarah Opondo. Im very, very happy, extremely happy because I like the president. I like his ways of doing things, of handling things, hes parental, hes so parental to us," Opondo said. But her view was not shared by others, such as Richard Bulamu, who supported opposition candidate Kizza Besigye of the Forum for Democratic Change party. Im not really sure if the elections were free and fair. As a Ugandan, Im not happy with the process, but, you know, in a dictatorial country, thats what we are used to, you know It shows the kind of country we are living in, we dont have democracy, we dont have freedom of speech, our social media was switched off yesterday," Bulamu said. Uganda election criticisms Earlier, the United States and a prominent human rights group criticized Uganda's election process, alleging undue pressure, and in some cases undue force, by security forces on opposition candidates and their supporters. Maria Burnett, an Africa specialist for Human Rights Watch, said threats to Ugandans' human rights had been documented over the years, but in the days preceding the election, she said, "there was no hiding the brutality." Burnett called on Ugandan security forces to respect peaceful protests and avoid excessive use of force in response to any confrontations. Meanwhile, police spokesman Fred Enanga told The Associated Press that opposition leader Besigye had been put under house arrest to prevent further unrest after police used tear gas on his supporters outside opposition headquarters on Friday. Police said Besigye was detained because he planned to announce election results, in violation of electoral laws. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry voiced concern about the detention of Besigye, and urged President Museveni to rein in his security forces. 'Call into question' Kerry spoke on the phone with Museveni Friday, saying the police actions "call into question Uganda's commitment to a transparent and credible election process free from intimidation," the State Department said in a statement. Kerry also urged Museveni to end the shutdown of popular social media sites and money mobile services. The head of Uganda's Communications Commission said the social media sites were blocked for security reasons. Museveni told Kerry, "Democracy cannot open in anarchy, and everybody should behave according to the law," the Ugandan newspaper The Daily Monitor reported. A U.S.-backed alliance of Syrian Kurdish and Arab fighters is making headway against Islamic State militants in northeast Syria as a part of a major coalition operation to drive IS out of a strategic town bordering Iraq. The Syrian Democratic Forces, backed by coalition airstrikes, captured tens of villages and cut off a major IS supply route between Iraq and Syria, according to a VOA reporter on the scene. The move is part of a "Rage of Ash Shaddadi Operation started Thursday to push jihadists out of the strategic Syrian town. The SDF fighters told VOA they reached Ash Shaddadi on Friday and now fully control the town. We have cut off ISs supply line between Raqqa and Ash Shaddadi town to prevent IS gangs from moving supplies to Raqqa, Lewend Ahmed, an SDF fighter, told VOA. Ash Shaddadi has served as ISs main supply route between two of its most important strongholds, the cities of Mosul in Iraq and Raqqa in Syria. Control of the town will ultimately isolate Raqqa, IS's de facto capital, Kurdish commanders told VOA. The SDF fighters argue that the control of the town will also secure Hasakah province, a self-declared Kurdish autonomous canton in northern Syria. Ash Shaddadi has its own importance for Cizire canton [Kurdish for Hasakah], because it is the final line where IS could attack the canton, the SDF commander, Dilsher Qamishlo, told VOA. The SDF was established in late 2015 as an alliance of some Syrian Kurdish and Arab fighters. India has pledged to spend $250 million for earthquake reconstruction in Nepal and signed agreements to build transportation and power projects, as the two countries move to reset frayed ties during a visit to India by Nepalese Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Oli. After meeting his Indian counterpart in New Delhi on Saturday, the Nepalese leader said it is time to look ahead. The misunderstandings which persisted in the last few months is no longer there. It is high time that we look at India-Nepal relations with a forward-looking approach, Oli said at a news conference. Border tensions Tensions had grown in recent months as the picketing of a key transit point on the Indo-Nepal border by Nepals ethnic minorities led to crippling shortages of essential supplies in the landlocked country. Nepalese leaders accused India, which has close ties to the minorities, of imposing an economic blockade, and turned to China for critical supplies such as fuel. The protests were called off earlier this month, somewhat easing the tensions. But the downward spiral in ties raised concerns in India that its tiny Himalayan neighbor was moving closer to China. As Oli visited India, both leaders underlined having close links between the two countries. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the two countries will expand cooperation in key areas. India always wanted peace, stability and prosperity of Nepal and it will extend all possible help to ensure its all-round development, the Indian leader said. Devastating quake India will build 50,000 houses in Nepal, which was devastated by an earthquake last April, and also assist in health and education projects in districts flattened by the killer quake. The two prime ministers also inaugurated a transmission line to supply Indian electricity to Nepal under an Indian credit line of $13.5 million. Modi said the success of Nepals new democratic constitution will depend on consensus and dialogue. India has been leaning on Kathmandu to address the grievances of its ethnic minorities, which complain they do not have adequate political representation in Nepals new charter. That has created resentment among Nepalese leaders, who see it as interference in their affairs. But Indian analysts said New Delhi does not want to see political turmoil close to its borders. Friendly ties At the same time, political observers said it is important for India to maintain friendly ties with a country wedged between China and India in the high Himalayas. Pointing out that China has been wooing Nepal with aid and investment, Jayadeva Ranade, of New Delhis Center of China Analysis and Strategy, said Kathmandu has moved closer to Beijing in recent years. Ranade said India is wary of this because India would not like Chinese influence to come right up to our doorstep. In effect that would mean the entire Indo-Himalayan belt and that is a matter of concern to us." The Mutare City Council has retrenched nearly 250 workers this year in line with recommendations contained in a special audit conducted late last year by the Ministry of Local Government, which revealed that the local authority has a lot of redundant employees. The council is now also expected to advertise the position of Town Clerk following the resignation of Obert Muzawazi, who was accused in the report of alleged corruption. Mutare mayor councilor Tatenda Nhamarare told residents during a consultative meeting organised by the United Mutare Residents and Ratepayers Trust that the council is currently implementing the recommendations. Nhamarare said they are at the moment streamlining the local authority in order to have a sustainable wage bill. The council had at least 1,500 employees at the time the special audit was conducted in December last year. At least 75 percent of its revenue is being gobbled by salaries. The mayor said the council did not renew the contracts of the affected workers in an attempt to reduce its huge wage bill. In terms of reducing our employment costs we have laid off all the 246 contract employees that had their contracts were terminated on the 31st of January. And we have a few remaining contract workers whose contracts will be terminated at the end of February. That is the first step that we have taken to cut costs. Nhamarare also said the council is currently looking for a Town Clerk and Chamber Secretary in line with the government recommendations. He bemoaned mayors lack executive powers, which the city father noted has led to serious managerial challenges in most local authorities. He said as a result mayors are being bypassed by managers when allocating land to the people, an issue that was highlighted in the audit report as promoting corruption. The councils are likely to lose lots of money and land through land sales behind the mayors back as they have no signing powers as compared to the CEOs and town clerks. This might happen without the mayor and councilors knowing anything and we are appealing to the government to have certain signing powers on important council issues to avoid blame in future as the mayor is usually the one to be the target for attack when these things happen. The mayor said current mayors need to have authority to approve any land sales together with senior council managers so as to minimize underhand deals in land sales. The chairperson of the parliamentary portfolio committee on Local Government, Urban and Rural Development, Irene Zindi, who is also the Mutasa South Member of the House of Assembly, decried the governments usually slow action on reports of maladministration on issues like maladministration and corruption. She was reacting to concerns expressed by residents on delays in reporting alleged cases of corruption in the Mutare City Council. Zindi said it was heartbreaking that some council officials were allegedly involved in corrupt activities. We are saying should the rest of the citizens suffer simply because there are people that awarded themselves hefty allowances and salaries at a time when service delivery is suffering because we fear the litigation that might be faced, but I think we just need to bite the bullet. Some of the axed top council officials are planning to take the city to court claiming that their contracts were unfairly terminated. She expressed dismay over the slow pace of the government in addressing cases of corruption. The government which is the executive in this instance almost always turns to drag their feet to take corrective measures and they only come in to take corrective measures when so much harm would have been done, when it is too late, this is what has obtained with the city of Mutare; coming up with an audit after so many years. She urged residents to exercise their rights through engaging her committee on issues of service delivery and approach line ministries such the Ministry of Mines on issues of pollution in key water sources, relocations of villagers and lack of benefits in mineral resources. President Robert Mugabe has told rival factions in his ruling Zanu PF party fighting for his succession to shut up, saying the partys internal strife is crippling the organization. In a State of the Union Address following the teargassing of war veterans on Thursday in Harare aligned to the so-called Team Lacoste allegedly led by Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa, Mr. Mugabe said the rival groups should unite and stop fighting over the presidential post. The other faction calling itself Generation 40 is allegedly led by his wife, Grace, who is said to be habouring presidential ambitions. President Mugabe apologized to the war veterans for facing harsh police action, noting that they were allegedly fooled by one of the factions to hold an illegal meeting which was blocked by the police. He said the ruling party would take stern measures against War Veterans Minister Christopher Mutsvangwa for organizing the so-called meeting to discuss the state of the ruling party, among several other issues. He said the party will take the necessary action will be taken where action needs to be taken. We take exception to that. This irresponsible manner brings the name of the party and head of government into disrepute. People are beginning to wonder whether in fact we are governing properly in accordance with the rules. The youth wing of the ruling Zanu PF party on Friday accused the media of escalating internal fights within the party, which is facing an internal strife over the succession of President Robert Mugabe. Addressing a news conference at the Zanu PF headquarters in Harare, the national secretary of the partys Youth League, Pupurai Togarepi, castigated the media for allegedly fanning factionalism in Zanu PF. Over the past month, Zanu PF officials belonging to a group linked to Team Lacoste, a Zanu PF faction allegedly led by Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa, and Generation 40 or G40, another faction reportedly linked to First Lady Grace Mugabe, have been trading barbs over President Robert Mugabes unresolved succession question. Togarepi said the media is being irresponsible in its coverage of the goings-on in Zanu PF. Togarepis criticism of the media comes in the wake of threats issued by his deputy Kudzai Chipanga early this week in which he warned that the Zanu PF Youth League would march to the state-controlled Herald newspapers offices over its so-called lop-sided coverage of the ruling partys internal squabbles. The Herald is allegedly siding with Mnangagwas group in the battle to succeed Mr. Mugabe, who has ruled Zimbabwe for more than 35 years. Zimbabwe Newspapers bosses were not immediately available for comment. War veterans allegedly supporting the vice presidents Zanu PF faction had running battles with the police in Harare yesterday. The situation appeared to be calm but tense in Harare today with a heavy police presence still visible in the capital city. Several reporters in Harare criticized Togarepis remarks. One such journalist is editor of The Observer newspaper, Barnabas Thondlana, who says Togarepis utterances undermine the freedom of the press in the country. Mr. Mugabe, who turns 92 on Sunday, has reportedly cancelled his traditional annual interviews ahead of his birthday on February 21st. His spokesperson, George Charamba, who is embroiled in Zanu PF succession fights, is quoted in the state media saying Mr. Mugabe had pressing commitments and would conduct the interviews after the celebrations. But sources in Zanu PF said Mr. Mugabe is trying behind the scenes to deal with the widening internal rifts in his party. At the same time, a group of war veterans led by Chris Mutsvangwa that was assaulted by police yesterday for allegedly holding an unsanctioned meeting regrouped in Harare today to discuss issues affecting their association as well as the Zanu PF in-house squabbles. General secretary of the Mutsvangwa led faction of the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association, Victor Matemadanda, said they were still in a meeting at the time of going to air. Meanwhile, Togarepi said his wing was happy with its preparations for President Robert Mugabes 92nd birthday celebrations set for Great Zimbabwe in Masvingo province. He refuted reports suggesting that organizers of $800,000 bash were forcing villagers in the drought stricken Masvingo province to fork out money towards the function. He added that organizers of the presidents annual birthday celebrations were not concerned about the starvation being faced by the people in Masvingo saying those were two different issues. Masvingo Province is one of the areas serious affected by the El Nino induced drought. Some villagers affected by the famine have called on the organizers of the 21st February Movement celebrations to channel the resources set to be splashed at Mr. Mugabes birthday bash towards averting hunger in the countryside. Photo: Valerie Macon/Getty Images NBC in-development legal drama Mirandas Rights has gotten one step closer to becoming the first show on television to be called Mirandas Rights: Deadline reports that Rebecca Breeds (The Originals) has been cast in the title role of Miranda Coale, a lawyer whose first name is the same as the last name of Ernesto Miranda, an Arizona man who in 1963 confessed to criminal charges without being informed of his right to remain silent. By contrast, the shows Miranda is a lawyer who joins a law firm full of millennials in order to reinvent herself after a sex scandal involving a married senator. These millennial lawyers also live together, setting the stage for a potential spin-off where Mirandas roomate turned love interest breaks up with her to work in a post office Ex Post Factor. Isnt it rich? / Arent (these two movies going to be) a pair? Photo: ERIC FEFERBERG/2013 AFP Send in the clown: In an interview with Collider yesterday, Stephen King said that the film adaptation of It, his seminal horror novel that was previously adapted into a TV miniseries, may be happening after all. King told Vulture that Cary Fukunaga was set to direct a two-film version of the novel back in 2014, but that project stalled out. About a year ago, Mamas Andy Muschietti came aboard, but with not much other noise, it seems that It had gone dormant. It hasnt. It will hopefully be shooting later this year, King told Collider. We just got the California tax credit Gary Doberman wrote the most recent draft working with Andy Muschetti, so its being envisioned as two movies. King confirmed that It is sticking with the two-film model as well, shooting one from the perspective of the children in the story and one from the perspective of the adults. King also said It will be R-rated, as any film with clowns should be. This either marks the beginning of a big few years for King, whose Dark Tower novels are also slowly making their way to the screen, or the beginning of another flurry of delays and postponements, as so often happens to projects stuck in development hell. Lets hope It escapes that hell, just this one time. Photo: AZ Celtic Films Tobias Lindholms A War is an upending morality play centering on Danish soldiers in Afghanistan, where their country (a member of the NATO alliance) has had a strong military presence since 2002. Who knew? The Danes, I guess, who cant be too happy that theyre still having to pay for the Bush-Cheney administrations cock-ups in the early days of the invasion. In the movie, they dont seem too plugged into Afghan culture. The protagonist, Claus Pedersen (Pilou Asbaek), is a commander who commits, depending on your perspective, a tragic mistake or a war crime or both. Pedersens squad is based in rural Afghanistan and charged with protecting civilians from assaults by the Taliban. Hes an unusually hands-on commander, embarking on patrols with his men even when he could stay on the base. Hes there when one of his company steps on an IED, loses part of a limb, and bleeds out in agony. Later, a traumatized soldier named Lasse begs to leave, but Pedersen tells him gently but firmly that he cant return to Denmark. Pedersen has to tell his own wife (Tuva Novotny) as much when she begs him to come home, saying their three sons need him. One boy is acting out toward other kids. The littlest one eats something he shouldnt and is rushed to the hospital. Pedersen is similarly firm when an Afghan man and his family risk their lives when they show up at the gates of the base and beg to be taken in. Earlier, the mans young daughter had received medical treatment from the Danes for an infection, and hes convinced the Taliban will retaliate by killing him, his wife, and his children. Pedersen wont be swayed, though, even when a fellow officer, a woman, gazes at him, appalled. Regulations are regulations. I wont spell out what happens next, but its a worst-case scenario on many fronts an attack from all directions in a civilian sector by Taliban soldiers whom the Danes cant even see much less count. Lindholms camera techniques ultra-subjective, hand-held jitters and swerves dont seem fresh anymore, but his situation is novel, and crazy-making. That traumatized soldier he forced to stay is horribly wounded, and theres no way a Medevac helicopter can land without information about the enemys location that Pedersen doesnt have. Every choice is potentially disastrous. So-called elementary rules of engagement dont seem so elementary anymore. The last third of A War set in Pedersens house and then a Danish courtroom is in a different style than what has preceded it. Its plain, prosaic, legalistic a different movie. But, of course, the films two pieces are not meant to fit together. Pedersens lawyer, as well as the soldiers under his command, ask how people can pass judgment when they werent there, under fire. If its difficult to dismiss the fierce moral outrage of Pedersens female prosecutor, its almost impossible to root for a conviction. In both cases, humanity loses. But then, it has lost already. I fear Im making Lindholm seem more morally relativist than he is. Art is said to be the politics of the impossible, so hes not required to pass sentence, to say whether he thinks Claus Pedersen deserves shame and prison and the designation of war criminal. What he is saying is that the man was out of his depth and that most if not all of us would be, too. That strikes me as an implicit condemnation of this particular occupation even though, in interviews, Lindholm has insisted hes taking no stand on the Western presence in Afghanistan. Maybe he really believes hes not. In his other films especially The Hunt, starring Mads Mikkelson as an unjustly shunned teacher, and A Hijacking, another thriller that comes down to terrible choices and ends on a bitterly tragic note Lindholm finds a unique balance between social and individual responsibility. Theres plenty of blame to go around. In any case, Pedersen clearly stands condemned in his own eyes. Although there isnt a scene in which he weeps or shares his anguish, Asbaek (who will be seen this year in another psychologically fractured role, Pontius Pilate in the Ben-Hur remake) plays him as frozen in time and unlikely ever to emerge from under his protective shell. A War confirms the darkest, least mentionable secret of traumatized veterans that what haunts them is not just what they saw and what was done unto them, but what they did. Photo: TriStar Pictures The Nazarene. Did you find him different? Pontius Pilate (Peter Firth) asks this of Joseph Fienness Roman tribune Clavius early on in the new Biblical film Risen. I found him dead, is Claviuss curt response. They are speaking of the crucifixion itself an unfussy affair, treated admirably free of sentimentality in this low-key, faith-based drama. Its the kind of dry exchange that helps lend a quiet authenticity to the film, directed and co-written by Kevin Reynolds. Clavius is a gruff, veteran Roman officer, tasked by Pilate of overseeing Jesuss entombment and investigating his whereabouts after the prophets body goes missing. It perhaps goes without saying that Claviuss cynicism will eventually be defeated, once he finds out what really happened to Jesus. But for much of its running time, Risen plays out like a no-nonsense procedural, as Clavius interrogates a variety of apostles, soldiers, and others, in an effort to get to the truth. Its a novel way to tell an oft-told tale. Mostly free of overt piety (at least in its first half), Risen situates itself in the political and spiritual atmosphere of the period: Clavius is busy putting down rebellions left and right; Pilate, worried about an upcoming visit by the Emperor, wants to quell the tensions in the area. A crucified prophet gone missing is the last thing anyone needs right now. Without a corpse to prove hes dead, we have a potential Messiah, says Caiaphas (Stephen Greif), the Jewish high priest. (The Sanhedrin dont quite get the skewering here that they do in other films like Passion of the Christ, but they are very much in cahoots with the Romans in desperately seeking to suppress any sign of dissent.) As Clavius investigates, accompanied by his aide-de-camp Lucius (Tom Felton, of Harry Potter fame), Reynolds grounds the film in physical reality as well. We see the mass graves of those executed by the Romans decaying bodies, wasted faces, sliced-off limbs. (Is this movie really PG-13?) Its not gratuitous or exploitative, but rather a window into the protagonists mind. Clavius has been fighting Romes battles for so long, hes jaded, numb to suffering and pain and carnage. And Fiennes portrays him as a man with a perpetual cloud over his head, with a thousand-yard stare and a terse tongue to match. When asked what he longs for, his response comes wearily: A day without death. Its clear he knows he wont find it in this life. Though more aloof, Pilate is also resigned to the misery around him. What does it all matter, really? he says, looking at a mans decomposing body. In a few years, thats us. Oh ye of little faith. That brings us to the Jesus part of this Jesus tale. Exclusively referred to as Yeshua here, hes played by the part-Maori actor Cliff Curtis, a veteran performer who has covered pretty much every ethnicity on the planet (from an Arab in Three Kings to Pablo Escobar in Blow.) Refreshingly, this is a Jesus who actually looks like he might have lived in ancient Judea. But its smart casting for other reasons, too: A constant scene-stealer, Curtis has perfected the art of conveying the world in a simple glance, ideal for a film in which his character is largely a defining absence. We see just a glimpse of his dying face during the crucifixion itself and in little moments throughout. Each time, he seems both approachable and mysterious. Thats a tough, thin line to walk, but for much of its running time, Risen benefits from Reynoldss grounded, economical direction. One of the most notoriously beaten-down auteurs of the 1990s, the director made his name with the stylishly silly Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, starring frequent collaborator Kevin Costner. That partnership went south with the catastrophe of Waterworld, a mostly solid, occasionally bloated action-adventure that suffered toxic buzz around its immense price-tag and Costners grandiose ways. (This was back when being the most expensive Hollywood film in history was a mark of shame, not a selling point.) Reynoldss work has been uneven since then, though his hit adaptation of The Count of Monte Cristo was a bright spot. While nobody will mistake him for Martin Scorsese, his films usually demonstrate a nice mix of atmosphere and grit. He tells mythic, heroic stories, but he usually finds convincing ways into them, placing us in these worlds. That works well in Risen until it doesnt. As you might expect, the God stuff eventually becomes more pronounced. This is a film produced by Sonys faith-based handle Affirm Films and aimed at the evangelical market, so we do get some (clunky) pyrotechnics and worshipful looks by the time its all over. But still, for a film that could have easily become bogged down in Sunday School reverence, or culture-war opportunism, Risen presents an intriguing, oblique approach to a Bible movie. Yesterday & Today, a shop that sold fine clothing, housewares and novelty items for nearly 32 years in the Waco market, has closed. Owner Diane Smith said she liquidated her merchandise this week, and plans to move to North Carolina to be closer to family. Smiths departure means no local resident with ties to the decades-old Smith Furniture Co. will live in Waco, and Im kind of sad about that, said Smith, whose closing sale lasted about four weeks and ended when a single buyer took all remaining merchandise and the store fixtures. Her shop, Yesterday & Today, first opened in the Richland Mall, but she relocated to the marketplace about five years ago when her lease came up for renewal. Her upscale merchandise included items from Brighton and Vera Bradley, among others, acquired on trips to markets in Dallas, San Francisco, Seattle and Los Angeles. If I went out of the country, I brought things back to the shop for sale, she said. I tried to keep things interesting. She described her closing as bittersweet, saying she loved operating the unique shop and cherished her customers. But I came to realize that family is more important than anything, and now I will be near them, she said of her move to Durham, North Carolina, to be near her son, Scott Smith. She and her family have faced trying times in recent years, with her husband, Harry Smith, diagnosed with an aggressive strain of non-Hodgkins lymphoma in 2007. He marked the third generation to oversee the Smith Furniture manufacturing operations in Waco, but died 11 months after his diagnosis. With Harry Smith critically ill, his son, Mark Smith, began a liquidation sale for the company that could trace its founding to 1939. One of the oldest furniture makers in the state, it employed more than 200 people at its peak and operated out of a 130,000-square-foot facility at 5900 Franklin Ave. The company exhibited wares at the World Market in Las Vegas, and its customers included Lacks, The Roomstore and Finger. Business sagged for Smith Furniture, as it did for many furniture makers in the United States, due to foreign competition, especially from China, where products could be made much cheaper. Smith Furniture tried to counter this trend by making a deal with a Chinese supplier to make a line of hand-tied sofas. But the company had problems finding fabric suppliers in that country, and freight costs proved too steep to overcome, said Mark Smith in an interview before his death at age 38. Diane Smith said she worked for the familys furniture company for about 15 years, but couldnt resist the temptation to open her own upscale shop. Met husband at UT She grew up in Houston and met her husband, Harry, while attending the University of Texas in Austin. I feel good about the fact the Smith family made a difference in peoples lives, and that includes those who came to love my shop, my longtime customers, Smith said. She said she showcased merchandise for more than 20 years at Richland Mall and became one of the original tenants of Central Texas Marketplace. Smith said she launched a clearance sale, hoping to clear all merchandise from the store in six weeks. But my longtime customers showed up in a very heartwarming and touching way, and after four weeks, I was practically down to the bare walls, and one person bought me out, she said. A lot of those stopping by were buying something special for Valentines Day or an anniversary, and made a special trip. She said she had acquired a big following over the years, and that hundreds of regulars followed her from Richland Mall to the marketplace. Smith, who laughingly declined to reveal her age, said she remains in good health and likely will find a job when she moves to North Carolina. I wont be opening a shop because I dont want to have obligations 24/7, but I do want to work somewhere I can leave behind at the end of the day, said Smith, who took her four employees out Thursday evening to Georges Restaurant & Catering to talk about old times and three decades in business. Jennifer Wilson, who owns Spice Village, a collection of 87 shops on Mary Avenue in downtown Waco, said the closing of Yesterday & Today is Wacos loss. Its kind of a Waco establishment, having been around a number of years, and you get used to having places like that around. Its kind of sad to see it go away, said Wilson, adding she visited Yesterday & Today regularly for a number of years when she was collecting Brighton items. Wilson said she served with Smith on several volunteer committees and described her as sweet and a tireless worker for good causes. I remember her as being plainspoken, Wilson added with a laugh. She was the kind who didnt put fluff on things. Joyce Cotton, 19-year owner of Seasons on the Brazos, a shop at 1411 N. Valley Mills Drive, said she and Smith were friendly competitors. We carried some of the same items, like candles and home decor, but our shops were not close to each other, Cotton said, adding that the number of small, family-owned shops that carry unique merchandise is dwindling, and that customers are now losing another one with the closing of Yesterday & Today. She said those customers who became fans of Yesterday & Today are welcome to visit Seasons on the Brazos. The last day of filing for the May 7 local elections left Waco Councilman Kyle Deaver unopposed in the mayoral race and Councilman John Kinnaird facing a last-minute challenger. Dustin Kyle Weins, 33, an insurance agent, filed Friday for Kinnairds District 3 post, which represents southwest Waco. Weins said Kinnairds vote this month against the new ordinance restricting payday lenders persuaded him to jump into the race. Its something Ive thought about previously, but what really got me fired up was Mr. Kinnairds vote on the payday lending issue, Weins said. That spurred me to action. Kinnaird cast the dissenting vote in a 5-1 decision to limit the size of payday and auto title loans and the number of times they can be renewed. The newly passed payday lending ordinance mirrors those of Dallas and other major Texas cities. Kinnaird said he supports regulations of payday lending, but at the state rather than municipal level. I agree with Kinnaird that it needs to go up to state level, but I dont think voting on it at city level could have hurt, Weins said. Kinnaird, 36, a bank officer, said its a legitimate issue to debate. Thats fair, said Kinnaird, who has served four years on the council. I look forward to having a productive discussion about it. Kinnaird said he got the ball rolling on a new nonprofit initiative that provides lower-interest short-term loans to school district and city employees, which he hopes will be extended to private-sector employees in the future. He said hes now working with banks and nonprofit groups on a financial literacy initiative that will help alleviate the impact of payday lending through better education. Weins said he wants to advocate for lower-income residents from lending to housing to quality access to health care. Meanwhile, District 1 Councilman Wilbert Austin is facing a challenge from Johnson Group manager Mark Shaw. Deaver will replace Mayor Malcolm Duncan Jr., leaving a year unexpired in his term as District 5 councilman. In the past, the council has sought applications to fill unexpired terms when a member becomes mayor, often from District 5. Deaver himself was appointed to fill in the last year of Duncans term, and Duncan was the councils choice to fill out the term of Jim Bush when he became mayor. The lack of a citywide mayoral race will reduce the need for voting centers, said City Secretary Esmeralda Hudson. She said she had been prepared to have 17 vote centers, including centers in Bellmead and Lorena through agreements with local governments there. Hudson said Friday she had not yet settled on how many voting centers will be needed or which ones would be eliminated. Early voting Early voting runs April 25 though May 3. Election day is May 7. Waco shares the polls on election day with neighboring cities, including Bellmead, Hewitt, Woodway and Lorena as well as the Waco, La Vega, Lorena and Mart school districts. Voters can go to any of the vote centers scattered around the cities and school districts. City of Beverly Hills Four people filed for three at-large seats on the Beverly Hills City Council. Rita Ms. Z Zolecki, 62, a retired veteran, filed as well as incumbent council members Michael Thompson, 63, who is retired, and student Tony Garcia, 32. Mayor Pro-Tem Joe Frank Holder, who is retired, also filed for an at-large seat. The three candidates with the most votes in the election will take the seats. City of Hewitt Hewitt residents have one contested race to cast their vote in, after a council member opted to not run again. Council member Ronnie McNiel, who has been on the council since May 2011, decide not to run for Ward 3. Steve Fortenberry, 59, owner of Fortenberry Insurance Agency, and Michael Kemp, 63, who is retired, filed to fill the seat. Council members Wilbert Walky Wachtendorf, 65, who has been in office since 2006, will continue in Ward 1, and Bill Fuller, who has served on the council since 2002, will continue in Ward 2. The mayor is elected by the council once a year at the council meeting immediately after the election. City of Lorena Four people filed for three at-large seats on the Lorena City Council. Jeff Linnstaedter, 48, a CPA, is challenging incumbents Robert Braswell, who is self-employed; programs director Kelly Yarbrough, 50; and electronic media designer J Fagner, 34. Council members are elected at-large annually for two-year terms. The three candidates with the most votes will win the three seats. City of Mart Mart will not have an election this year. Three incumbents and no challengers filed for the three at-large seats up for election. The two-year, at-large seats included those held by Mayor Pro-Tem Henry Witt III, Willie T. Hurth and Kevin Schaffer. City of Woodway There is one contested race in Woodway. Steve Sorrells, 53, a builder and developer, filed for Ward 2 challenging incumbent Scott A. Giddings, 62, GM Wholesale sales manager. The other two seats went uncontested. Ward 1, Place 2, will go to Mayor Donald J. Baker, and Ward 3, Place 2, will go to council member Jane Kittner. The mayor is elected by the council once a year at the council meeting immediately after the election. Midway Independent School District will have a contested race for its Place 5 seat between Pamela Watts, co-founder of The Mothers of Midway, and Debra Jones Tumlin, a local accountant. Midway has three open spots. Incumbent Rick Tullis filed uncontested for Place 7, and incumbent Ivan Green filed uncontested for Place 6. All places are elected at-large. A Midway graduate, Tumlin seeks Place 5 as her brother, Robbie Jones, steps down. Tumlin said she has been watching the board for the nine years Jones served and decided to try and continue its good work. She works as an accountant at her familys business, Jones Printing Company, and said she hopes to help the district stay financially responsible. But her main motivation is her son, who attends Spring Valley Elementary School. I just want to continue the Midway tradition and see that its still going strong when hes in high school, Tumlin said. Watts, a self-proclaimed booster mom and freelance writer, said she chose to run because she wants to increase her level of service to the district. A mother of four, Watts has been a Midway parent for 16 years and served on the board of Midway parent-teacher associations at the elementary, intermediate and high school levels. She created The Mothers of Midway, an organization that connects women with information to better help the districts students. I dont care much for politics, but I care for Midway enough to engage in the political process if it will help me serve the district better, Watts said. China Spring China Spring ISD has two open places, with one contested race. Place 7 incumbent Boyd Kent and Place 6 incumbent John Palmer are stepping down. Keith Click, a finance executive, and Chris Gerik, a business owner, filed for Place 6. Dod Moore, a local dentist, filed for Place 7. Connally Two Connally ISD seats are up for election, and both have contested races. Place 2 incumbent Danny Raines has a challenger in Jason Hancock, and Place 1 incumbent Aaron Mitzel has a challenger in E.Z. Padron. Waco There are two Waco ISD seats up for elections, but Place 5 Trustee Allen Sykes and Place 4 Trustee Angela Tekell are running uncontested. La Vega La Vega Independent School District filings were not available Friday, but Districts 2, 4 and 5 are all up for election with incumbents previously reported as filing. Robinson ISD holds trustee elections in November. Officials overseeing the flow of the Brazos River were surprised twice last year by the rivers behavior. Around Memorial Day, the river rose enough to flood the parking lot at McLane Stadium, even though the three upstream flood control dams protecting Waco were releasing only a fraction of their authorized flow. In late October, the river rose even higher, creeping into houses along Honey Lane near Downsville. This time, the upstream dams at Lake Waco, Lake Whitney and Lake Aquilla were releasing nothing at all. I didnt realize how much of our runoff is not controlled by the dams, city utility director Lisa Tyer said. It wasnt a catastrophe in either of these cases, but local and federal officials took the lesson that they need to know more about how the river and its runoff area work in case even more extreme rainfall comes this way. The city of Waco and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers agreed this week to partner in funding a three-year, $365,000 study of the Brazos Rivers flooding dynamics through Waco and McLennan County. It allows us a better understanding of how the Corps handles major storms that hit this area, Tyer said. It gives us a better opportunity to plan thoughtfully. It also helps us prepare for emergencies. The study will use the latest technology to model how extreme rainfall events could affect development close to the Brazos. Scientists will use the storm pattern that struck the upper Trinity basin in North Texas last May and transpose it to this watershed to see how the Brazos River would have responded. Nearly 29 inches of rain fell in the Gainesville area last May, according to the National Weather Service three times the rain that fell in Waco that month. We can transpose those events to the Waco area and look at the impact those events may have on flooding in Waco, said Jerry Cotter, water resources chief for the Corps regional office in Fort Worth. Cotter said that information could lead the Corps to adjust its calculations of how much water it can safely release from the flood control dams during heavy rainfall events. It could also allow the city of Waco to work with the Federal Emergency Management Agency to redraw flood plain maps that were based on less sophisticated models from decades back. I think thats going to be very helpful to the city, he said. Cotter said the study is piggybacking on two studies the Corps is already doing. The federal agency is wrapping up watershed modeling for the Brazos River basin and is also doing a dam operational study of Corps dams in the area. Cotter said new modeling technology, including Doppler mapping of weather events, gives water managers a firmer grasp on how rainfall can affect rivers and lakes. The technology has really evolved over the last 20 years, he said. The Corps dams at Waco, Whitney and Aquilla were built to preserve life and property in downstream areas during floods, but as lake levels rise, the Corps has a plan of regulation to release water so theres room for additional flood storage. In the May floods, Lake Waco rose 17 feet over its normal level, helping to prevent flooding downstream. The Corps regulation plan allows it to release up to 30,000 cubic feet of water per second out of Whitney and Aquilla combined and another 30,000 out of Lake Waco. But the Corps has never exceeded 15,000 out of Lake Waco, and Cotter said releasing much more could have negative effects downstream. We just have concerns that in recent flooding we have not been able to make those releases without some damage, Cotter said. In last Octobers flood, the river flooded homes along Honey Lane when the river hit 34,000 cubic feet per second, with no releases from any of the lakes, he said. Frank Patterson, Waco-McLennan County emergency manager, was in constant contact with Corps officials during Octobers storms, communicating flood conditions around Honey Lane and other low-lying neighborhoods. Patterson said that kind of communication is essential, but better information in advance would help local officials know when to begin closing roads and evacuating neighborhoods. Thats very important to us, he said. Readers recently have been treated to some lengthy articles by Tribune-Herald staffers regarding the unsavory subject of sexual abuse at Baylor University, even though the administration faces certain limitations on what it can and cannot discuss regarding all this. There has also been some controversy reported about Baylors initial efforts to bring more diversity to the campus in terms of its faculty. Yet amidst all these negative articles about Baylor, I have not seen a word about recognition of Baylor Law Schools accomplishments. I am not a lawyer so my remarks dont reflect bias. But our city should be proud of what Baylor Law has accomplished under the outstanding leadership of Dean Brad Toben. Too often traditional law schools are ranked in terms of such things as acceptance rates and bar-passage rates. Too few are scrutinized for the quality of attorney they produce. However, The National Jurist has begun calculating which law schools have the highest percentage of super lawyers among them that is, lawyers judged in terms of peer review, awards received and community service undertaken. Based on these factors, The National Jurist calculated which law schools have the highest percentages of super lawyers among alumni. Three topped the list. The first two Harvard and Yale are no surprise to anyone in the law profession, but Baylor is the third. The research found that 23 percent of Baylor Law School alumni (or 1,023 of them) have been named super lawyers. Baylor was the only school to join Ivy League peers Harvard and Yale above the 20 percent lines. All this follows yet other reassuring information. For instance, Dean Toben notes that Princeton Law Review has called Baylor Law School the Marine Corps of law schools a frightening prospect for new law school students but a point of pride for those who make it through what I am often told is a rigorous program of preparation and scholarship. The city of Waco should be extremely proud to have what many of us regard as the No. 1 law school in the nation located right here. Formerly of the Dallas office of Haskins & Sells, now Deloitte & Touche, Carroll Webb lives in Waco. He has served as chairman of the advisory board of Baylor Universitys Hankamer School of Business and a director of the Baylor Bear Foundation. Veterans will tell you they were bunk mates with people from different cultural and ethnic backgrounds. Charles Cook Reinstitute the draft Many of our national crime issues can be solved by reinstating the draft: If you consult many veterans from the draft era, they will tell you they were bunk mates with people from different cultural and ethnic backgrounds. In World War II, our country survived because of a deeply patriotic legacy that existed and now appears to be dwindling. Serving our country in some GI capacity would revive this legacy. If the criminal neighborhoods of America saw their kids drafted, it would get them off the streets and provide a new disciplined way of life for the individual and the community, as well as reducing the welfare drag on our economy. In my experience in the Marine Corps, I saw young men from indigent and criminal backgrounds turned into men of character and function well alongside youngsters from affluent families. The GI Bill of Rights offers an education after honorable discharge. What a great way to become a taxpaying part of our country rather than following a path to nowhere. Is this common sense or what! Charles Cook, Waco EPA, VWs & ethanol A Jan. 20 column by Robert Bryce stated emissions from the congressional mandate requiring ethanol be spiked into gasoline are four times more deadly than emissions from Volkswagens cheating vehicles. The study by Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology indicated that the emissions of nitrogen oxides from the Volkswagen cars were 10 to 40 times greater than the law allows. Six years ago the EPA detailed the environmental effect of ethanol additions to gasoline including higher nitrogen oxides. It was noted that ethanol-blended mixtures also increase emissions of hydrocarbons, particulate matter and other pollutants that will lead to increases in population-weighted annual average ambient PM (particulate matter) and ozone concentrations, which in turn are anticipated to lead to up to 245 cases of adult premature mortality. (The VW emissions, according to Harvard and MIT, would cause 60 premature deaths a year.) The EPA increased the mandate for corn ethanol to be blended into gasoline by more than 1 billion gallons on Nov. 1, 2015. Does this say that ethanol causes 245 cases of adult premature mortality per year and what does it mean? If VW can be sued $90 billion as stated by columnist Robert Bryce for 60 annual deaths, how much should the EPA be fined? What about Congress and the administration? Are they complicit? For how long have these emissions been committing 245 deaths a year and how much longer will it go on unchallenged by those most in danger the people? Harvey Meredith, Waco Floating all millennial boats I applaud McLennan Community College student Saul Cornejo Bravos recognition of the dangers of spiraling national debt in his Feb. 14 guest column [Young people need to step up in fiscal battle]. In one critical area, Mr. Bravo does need to further his knowledge: Tax-rate cuts lead to tax-revenue increases. One cannot multiply the tax-rate reduction times tax revenues and predict a decrease in tax revenue. This neglects the multiplier and stimulatory effects of tax-rate cuts. President George W. Bushs tax cuts proved this conclusively. A May 2007 statement by Office of Management and Budget director Rob Portman included the following: There can be no doubt that the presidents tax relief has spurred economic growth, which in turn has increased tax collections by double-digit rates the past two years. When tax rates were lowered, the economy created more than 8 million jobs, increased wages and grew tax revenues. This should be of particular concern to millennials. Federal tax revenues shot from $925 billion in 2003 to $1.398 trillion in 2006 with continued growth through 2008. Tax revenues rose from 8.5 percent of GDP in 2003 to 10.7 percent in 2006, and increased slightly more in 2008. So rather than considering tax-rate cuts a negative when evaluating candidates, millennials should view this a positive. Tax-rate cuts are critical to bring the American economy out of the morass of the past seven years and back into healthy growth. And a rising economy will float all boats including those of the millennials. Brent Doty, Robinson Pots calling kettles black Donna Myers Feb. 18 letter is clear: Sordid partisanship has infiltrated the inner core of our government. Senators need to execute the duties they swore to uphold. Refusing any U.S. Supreme Court nominee because of party differences would appear to be blatant disregard of the Constitution, which these senators supposedly cherish. Each senator who vows not to confirm any court nominee submitted by a sitting president should be censured. But if this is blatant disregard of the Constitution, then why wasnt this reasoning embraced when the liberals did same thing? I have never heard Donna Myers ever remark about the blatant disregard by former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid when he blocked any bill the president didnt want voted on when Democrats were in charge. And what about the times President Obama has tried to put through things through executive privilege that have been shot down by the Supreme Court? Jerry Willett, Lorena Left tireless on I-35 We recently bought a 2015 car and decided to go to Austin. About 20 miles from home we had a flat tire. No biggie, at least till we found we had no spare tire or jack or lug wrench. After four and a half hours at the side of Interstate 35, we were brought home by a wrecker driver who told us new cars dont have spare tires so as to increase gas mileage. Oh, there is an air compressor in the wheel well, but no tire not even a toy tire. Had we had any of the above, we would have gone on our way. Why, oh, why is this considered a good option to save gas? It never occurred to us to check for a spare tire in a new car. What good is the compressor with a flat, except to take up room in the trunk? Had we been told we didnt have a spare at the dealership, we would have bought one before leaving this area. Not a good move on the dealerships part. Not to be forewarned is criminal, to my way of thinking. This is a hard lesson learned and we will not use that dealership again! Marcyl Howell, Bruceville The National Warplane Museum in Geneseo, New York has achieved a major coups in gaining the lease of the late David Tallichets Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress serial 44-83546. Known universally now as The Movie Memphis Belle, due to her starring role in the 1989 film Memphis Belle, the aircraft was a frequent participant in the famed Geneseo air shows of the late 1980s and early 1990s when it was not uncommon to find six, seven or even eight WWII heavy bombers in formation over that hallowed grass field hewn from the corn fields of upstate New York. Geneseo hasnt had a B-17 based on their field since B-17G Fuddy Duddy left following the lamented, mid-1990s schism of the original museum. Having Memphis Belle back in town is marvelous news for everyone who remembers those halcyon days. The Movie Memphis Belle has spent the last four years under lease to the Liberty Foundation in Douglas, Georgia, under whose guardianship she toured North America, much like their B-17G Liberty Belle prior to that aircrafts loss in a fire. Interestingly, at time of writing, the Liberty Foundations website is still advertising rides in The Movie Memphis Belle for 2016, so this change in operations really is hot off the press! Following her arrival at the National Warplane Museum, engineers will go through the aircraft for winter maintenance in preparation for the 2016 air show season. The museums press release continues During her long term residence at National Warplane Museum, The Movie Memphis Belle will be on display to the public, available for tours and eventually will provide (pending FAA approval) Living History Flight Experiences. The Movie Memphis Belle will continue her work here in Geneseo, NY, as well as touring the air show circuit and will be visiting additional aviation, museum and tourism venues throughout the east coast, ensuring that the historical legacies of the aircraft and the Veterans who flew with them, are kept alive and at the forefront of the minds of our nations youth and leaders of tomorrow. The return of The Movie Memphis Belle speaks well for the hard work that the museum staff and its members have done over the last several years. Having this flagship of the warbird fleet based in Geneseo is a huge step forward in our ability to fulfil our mission of making history and sacrifice come alive for future generations. Austin Wadsworth, President, National Warplane Museum The Movie Memphis Belle is one of only 10 or 11 B-17s still flying. It is a national treasure and we are so lucky to have it back at the NWM in Geneseo. As one of the crew members, I cant wait to get it back in service. Craig Johnson, B-17 Pilot, National Warplane Museum To have this airplane back at The National Warplane Museum is wonderful. When I started here 12 years ago, the B-17 was the first plane I worked on. I worked for Dave Tallichet for a time, taking care of the 17. I consider it an honor to be able to take care of it for his son, John and the Tallichet family, to keep Daves dream alive. Michael Lindsay, National Warplane Museum The addition of The Movie Memphis Belle to the National Warplane Museums already impressive collection will only continue the momentum of drawing visitors to Livingston County and the Finger Lakes region who are interested in both history and aviation. We already anticipate an influx of visitors to come and view this aircraft in the upcoming months and are excited about the impact on tourism that this priceless artifact will have in drawing people to the area. Elissa Leuer, Director of Tourism & Marketing, Livingston County Chamber of Commerce News that the B17, The Movie Memphis Belle, is returning to the National Warplane Museum in Geneseo is a tremendous development, said Congressman Collins. The planes arrival will be a great addition to the museums world-class collection, and will provide yet another reason for tourists to visit the Finger Lakes and Western New York. I want to thank the men and women at the Warplane Museum for their hard work and constant advocacy in making this museum a true must-see destination. Congressman Chris Collins, 27th District, NY For more information about The Movie Memphis Belle or National Warplane Museum please contact Dawn Schaible @ 585-243-2100 or hagchic@gmail.com. WarbirdsNews looks forwards to this recent development with much anticipation, and we will be sure to bring you updates when they occur! Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic venture unveiled a new passenger spacecraft on Friday, nearly 16 months after a fatal accident destroyed its sister ship during a test flight over California's Mojave Desert. The rollout of the gleaming craft, dubbed Virgin Space Ship Unity, marks Branson's return to a race among rival billionaire entrepreneurs to develop a vehicle that can take thrill-seekers, researchers and commercial customers on short hops into space. "It's almost too good to be true," Branson said during a ceremony at the Mojave Air and Space Port, about 160 kilometres north of Los Angeles. "When I saw it for the first time, it brought an immediate lump to my throat and tears to my eyes. It was a completely overwhelming moment." Christened with a bottle of milk by Branson's year-old granddaughter, the ship was painted bright white on its front section, fading to gray and black toward the tail. As Donald Trump barreled toward his next test of strength in the Republican nomination fight, the billionaire confronted two top US companies, a popular pope and virtually anyone else in his way. It was just another day on the campaign trail for the Republican front-runner. The real estate mogul's most dramatic move Friday was to call for a boycott of Apple, following the company's refusal to cooperate with a judge's order to assist law enforcement in unlocking the iPhone of a California suspect in the San Bernardino shooting rampage that killed 14 people in December. "Boycott Apple until they give up the information," he said at a rally in Pawleys Island, South Carolina. "The phone is owned by the government." Nicole Kidman has spoken about the violent sex scenes she endured at the hands of John Cusack while filming 2012's The Paperboy. The Australian actress said she didn't complain during filming despite turning up to set covered in bruises because it was part of her job. Nicole Kidman in Lee Daniels' 2013 film The Paperboy. The film starred Kidman as the fiancee of a death row inmate, played by Cusack, and also paired Kidman and the much-younger Zac Efron together as on-screen lovers. Around 200,000 people every year visit Fremantle Prison enjoying its tours and exhibitions and now the government wants to make the tourist attraction even better. The jail is Western Australia's only world heritage-listed building and although it's already an award-winning tourist attraction Heritage Minister Albert Jacobs thinks it can be even more popular - so he has decided to ask the people of WA for ideas. The government is asking WA locals to suggest ways to improve tourism at Fremantle Prison. Credit:Jessica Wyld Photography "The last major plan for the prison was prepared in 2003 and, with most of its recommendations now implemented, it is time to consider how we build on this great foundation to promote the ongoing use and sustainability of this great asset for future generations," he said. Originally built using convict labour in the 1850s Fremantle Prison was shut in November 1991. Just two months later it reopened as a tourist attraction, including the gallows. The last person hanged in the prison was Eric Edgar Cooke in 1964. Thailand is pursuing closer ties - and possible arms deals - with Russia, with relations between Thailand and its traditional partner, the United States, cooling in the wake of a May 2014 coup. Two Thai deputy prime ministers will travel to Russia, just weeks after a visit to Bangkok by the powerful head of Russia's security council, Nikolai Patrushev. Thailand's Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha speaks to reporters in Bangkok, Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2015. Credit:AP On the table, officials from both countries say, are wide-ranging talks on trade and security cooperation, as Russia seeks to develop its position as an Asian power. Most attention has been focused on Thailand's warming ties with China, including talks on a massive rail project and the possible purchase of $1 billion worth of Chinese-made submarines. Secretary of State Adams warns of long ballot for the general election By West Kentucky Star Staff Feb. 19, 2016 | 02:10 PM | PADUCAH, KY Representatives from the world's largest service organization visited Paducah Friday on the first day of a nine-state tour. During the nine-day trip, First Vice President Chancellor Bob Corlew of Milton, Tennessee will meet with Lions club members and other community leaders in Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina. In Paducah, volunteers toured the Easter Seals child development and adult services centers. The 26-stop tour gives Corlew opportunities for face-to-face meetings with community leaders who will discuss the current state of Lions clubs and their direction for future service initiatives. Corlew will also participate in local service projects, visit Lions eye clinics, charter a new club at a school for the deaf and blind, and more. "After 100 years of successful volunteering in communities around the world, Lions Clubs International is undertaking a global service assessment to determine how volunteer organizations can best meet the needs of the 21st century," Corlew said. "We are thrilled to gain insight from the Kentucky Lions." Founded in Chicago in 1917, Lions Clubs International is the world's largest service club organization with 1.4 million members in more than 200 countries and geographic areas. Email To : Multiple e-mail addresses must be separated with a comma character(maximum 200 characters) Email To is required. Your Full Name: (optional) Your Email Address: Your Email Address is required. By West Kentucky Star Staff Feb. 19, 2016 | 12:48 PM | NASHVILLE, TN Travelers headed south might want to know that a section of Interstate 24 East in Nashville is closed this weekend. Contractors for the Tennessee Department of Transportation will temporarily close I-24 between Briley Parkway and Interstate 65 in Davidson County from 9:00 pm Friday until noon on Sunday. During the closure, all eastbound traffic will be detoured onto Briley Parkway and redirected to I-65 on the north side of the I-24 junction. The detour will be marked, but drivers are advised to plan ahead and seek alternate routes. The work is part of a project that will expand I-65 from six to ten lanes from Trinity Lane to Dickerson Pike. Crews will be removing and restriping lane markings. The $50 million project is expected to be finished in May. Rita Redmond was a true lady who felt that every pupil had something to gift to the world Good Morning Gentle Readers, Today is a Day of Remembrance, the purpose of which is to commemorate the war-time internment of guys like my old friend, Ike. He was Akira Yonehara, file number 711037, an American citizen, born in Los Angeles who had never traveled to Japan. He spent most of the war years at the camp in Heart Mountain, Wyoming. When he'd talk about it at all, he always called it *camp* never Heart Mountain. The Boy and I stopped at Manzinar for a few hours. This is the cemetery and the view is to the west with the Sierra Nevada range just a few miles away. I believe that Ike was detained at Manzinar briefly before he and his family were shipped off to Wyoming. I loved Ike's stories of growing up in pre-war Los Angeles. I should have taken notes, but when I was 27 years old, I had a remarkable memory and I never thought I'd forget any of them. Now most have faded with time and that's a shame. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 19/02/2016 (2436 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. TORONTO Ontario has its first confirmed case of Zika virus in a person who had travelled to Colombia. Public Health Ontario announced Friday that it had received positive test results Tuesday, but wouldnt say if the person is a man or woman. However, Ontarios health ministry did confirm the patient isnt pregnant. The virus has been potentially linked in Brazil to more than 4,400 cases of abnormally small heads in infants born to women who may have been infected while pregnant, as well as cases of Guillain-Barre syndrome, a neurological condition that can cause muscle weakness or even partial paralysis. The risk to Ontarians remains very low, as the mosquitoes known to transmit the virus are not established in Canada and are not well-suited to our climate, said Dr. David Williams, Ontarios chief medical officer of health. There has been an explosion of Zika infections in South and Central America, Mexico and the Caribbean since the first cases began showing up in Brazil last May. A small number of cases have previously been reported in Canada in British Columbia, Alberta and Quebec in travellers who have returned home infected. Most people who contract the infection have no symptoms, but some experience fever, joint pain, rash and red eyes. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 19/02/2016 (2436 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. VANCOUVER Vancouver-based human rights group Pivot Legal Society hopes to win a powerful ally as it fights for adequate housing for Canadas homeless. Pivot lawyer DJ Larkin will speak before the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in Geneva, Switzerland, on Monday. The group alleges Canada is not meeting obligations to a section of a UN covenant protecting the rights of the homeless. Larkin says Pivot will argue that Canada must immediately address a national housing crisis that contributes to violations of the rights of homeless. The Pivot submission says Canadas failure to pursue a national housing program has led to the ongoing criminalization and displacement of homeless people. Larkin and the society hopes the UN Committee approves Pivots call for new laws ensuring appropriate standards of living, physical and mental health for all vulnerable Canadians. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 20/02/2016 (2435 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. The Selinger government, the Opposition Tories and some local Nigerians say they arent worried about Manitoba Hydros operation in Nigeria despite a recent Nigerian senate motion condemning the company. The controversy, percolating since 2012, includes allegations Manitoba Hydro International (MHI) has been hired to help make Nigerias transmission system profitable so it can be more easily privatized, an allegation Manitoba Hydro rejects. More recently, a group of Nigerian senators alleged there are apparent illegalities in the way Manitoba Hydro is paid by the government, in U.S. dollars instead of the Nigerian naira. Bruce Bumstead / Brandon Sun Files Manitoba Hydro said that allegation is false, and is part of a campaign by a small group of politicians and media outlets who oppose foreign involvement in Nigerias power system. Eric Robinson, the minister responsible for Manitoba Hydro, was not available to comment Friday. In a statement, the Selinger government said it stands by Manitoba Hydros dealings in Nigeria. Nigeria is a sovereign nation, and MHI is only there to improve the operation and efficiency of that countrys transmission system. We have been assured by Hydro that the corporation will obey all local laws and resolve this issue, said the province. We are not concerned about rumours of privatization. Manitoba Hydro International, a subsidiary of the provincial governments power company, was created in 2009. Its done consulting work in several countries in Africa as well as Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Mongolia. In 2012, MHI began a three-year, $24-million contract to manage and improve the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), the state-owned power utility. A short time later, Nigeria privatized its power generation and distribution systems in a complex series of deals involving several foreign investors. The hope was the move would improve Nigerias power supply, which was and continues to be in dire shape. Most homes, even in the capital, have light for just a few hours a day, and many rely on expensive diesel generators. Winnipegger Florence Okwudili, a leader in the local Nigerian community, went to visit family over Christmas who were still using the generator from Canadian Tire she sent them three years ago. She said promised improvements to the power system have not materialized. The effects are not being felt by the common Nigerian, said Okwudili, who said corruption and fraud make it difficult to operate in Nigeria. Though the high-voltage transmission system MHI was hired to run is still state-owned, MHI has been the subject of critical media coverage in Nigeria during the last several years. Late last month, Nigerias senate passed a motion demanding a committee investigate the entire circumstances surrounding the preparation, execution and implementation of management services for TCN and all other related matters. But Nigerians in Winnipeg, including Okwudili, say most Nigerians dont feel MHI is involved in dubious dealings or a secret plan to privatize the transmission network. Shola Agboola, president of the Nigerian Association for Young Adults of Canada, said many Nigerians hoped the countrys power reforms, and the involvement of a reputable Canadian company, would spark huge improvements to their daily lives. That hasnt happened, and Agboola said MHI officials may have underestimated the trouble the company would have navigating Nigerias political culture. RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Florence Okwudili, a Nigerian who lives in Winnipeg, says corruption and fraud are rampant in her home country and make it tough for firms to operate there. He said the countrys new president, former army major general Muhammadu Buhari, appears to be more committed to transparency and anti-corruption measures, which could help quell some of the criticism of MHI. Manitoba Hydro spokesman Scott Powell said MHI has more than doubled the countrys high-voltage capacity to 5,500 megawatts and has reduced system loss and collapses. He said MHI follows local laws as well as the companys own code of ethics. The Progressive Conservatives said Friday Manitoba Hydro should be free to make its own operational decisions. I dont think its for politicians to dictate to utilities concerning operational decisions, Manitoba Hydro critic Ralph Eichler wrote in a statement. One thing weve said all along is that operational matters at Hydro should be decided by Hydro experts and not by politicians. MHIs contract was recently extended for a fourth year, until July. Talks are ongoing about another extension of one or two years. maryagnes.welch@freepress.mb.ca Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 20/02/2016 (2435 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. When newly elected Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Canada would welcome 25,000 Syrian refugees by the end of 2015, resettlement workers and agencies in Manitoba braced for the influx. The target date has been extended to the end of February but so far, the province has received fewer than half of the 1,500 Syrian refugees Manitoba offered to take. No one here is complaining. Resettlement agencies and programs have shifted gears to welcome nearly 700 Syrians in addition to the ongoing arrival of refugees from around the world. Theyre testing new programs and revamping existing ones to meet the needs of the Syrian refugees who are part of the largest global migration since the Second World War. Heres a snapshot of whats new: JOE BRYKSA / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS From left: Sameer Sulaiman Alzoubi, Zyad al-Owimr and Hatem Almahmoud take their two-week crash course on surviving in Canada. Arabic Express is a two-week orientation for Syrian refugees who havent yet started English classes. Its a crash course in survival. Instead of the usual four-week entry program taught in English to newcomers from an array of countries and languages, its been condensed to just two weeks for Syrian refugees and taught in Arabic in half-day classes running morning, afternoon and night. Students learn about everything from employment, health and the law to getting around and making purchases. They need to know how to buy bus tickets and whats the difference with a bus pass and using coins, instructor Mariam Rezkalla said. On a recent February morning, the class focused on health how to call 911 if theres an emergency, how to make a doctors appointment, how to get a prescription filled things they need to know right away when the baby has a bad ear infection and wont stop crying. Its a struggle when so much is new and so much information is required in a different language, Rezkalla said. The government-assisted Syrian refugees shes teaching have varying education and literacy levels. Some dont know how to write or read in Arabic. Some have a Grade 6 or 7 education, while one participant had an engineering background, Rezkalla said. Most, such as cousins Mohamed Al Shebin and Abdulhamid Al Chebin, havent mastered the Roman alphabet yet. When asked how to spell their names, they pull out their Manitoba Health cards. Its lost on them that the last name they share is spelled differently on each of their cards. Their classmates share similar values, said instructor JenaMae Deferia, who helps with the Arabic Express class but doesnt speak Arabic. They appreciate Canada, yet mourn the loss of their former home. We played the Syrian national anthem and they cried, said Deferia. CAROL SANDERS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Reem Abdulkader is one of the Arabic-speaking instructors explaining differences between Syria and Canada. They didnt want to hear it, said Rezkalla. We had to stop the music because they were all crying. Hearing the song about unity, freedom and peace everything that was lost was too much for them to bear, the instructors learned. Theyre finding out as they go how to best help their students and adapt the course to meet their needs, said Rezkalla, who is an English as an Additional Language instructor. They needed to know more information about health, she said. Government-assisted refugees receive Interim Federal Health Benefits that will pay for things such as dental care and prescription drugs. But to receive the benefits, the patients need to know which dentists and pharmacies participate in the federal program. The instructors put together a list for the refugees, who also needed to see which piece of paper in the growing pile of English documents theyve received shows theyre eligible for the health benefits. Its one more lesson in the crash course to help them with their initial settlement. Offering it in Arabic is an advantage because they can pack four weeks worth of information into two weeks of classes but there is one drawback, said Grace Eidse, executive director the non-profit Altered Minds Inc., which administers the Entry program. The disadvantage of the Arabic Express program is that Arabic-speaking Syrians taking it together dont have to figure out coping and communication strategies with people who dont speak their language, she said. Its socially detrimental if they dont get integrated with other newcomers, said Eidse. The four-week entry program offered in English with plenty of visuals and occasional interpreters to a mix of newcomers speaking different languages requires them to learn survival English right away, said Eidse. The quicker they know how to communicate with folks who dont speak Arabic, the quicker they will integrate into the community, said Eidse, whos prepared an assessment of the pilot program for its federal funders. Not learning immediately how to talk with their new neighbours isnt helpful in the long run, she said. It makes them feel segregated. On a frigid, 40-with-the-windchill morning in downtown Winnipeg, a few men from Syria wearing flip-flops on their bare feet shiver while having a smoke outside their temporary housing. From inside, settlement worker Reem Abdulkader sees them and adjusts her lesson plan to focus more on the dangers of frostbite. Shes one of two Arabic-speaking instructors teaching a family safety program to government-assisted Syrian refugees whove just arrived. Mosaic Newcomer Family Resource Network is offering the half-day program to families at the Welcome Place temporary shelter. Child care is available so both parents can attend but, on this morning, just a couple of moms take part leery of leaving their kids with strangers, even if its just for a couple of hours and theyre one flight of stairs away. JOE BRYKSA / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Instructor Mariam Rezkalla addresses the class. Before they move out of the shelter and into permanent homes and apartments in the community, theyre inundated with appointments and information some of which may be lifesaving. On this February day, theyre learning about safety: the dangers of cold how quickly flesh freezes when its 40 C and that kids and adults can lose toes and other body parts to frostbite; about black ice and slippery sidewalks and roads. Theyre warned to put safety covers on electrical outlets that in Canada are located close to the floor, unlike back home in Syria, where theyre too high to pose a risk to toddlers. Theyre learning about smoke detectors, infant car seats and seat-belt laws, traffic signals with buttons for pedestrians and railway crossings located in the middle of the city all new to the people who have escaped war and now face other dangers in Canada. In Syria, we dont just look both ways before we cross the street, Ahmed Almtawaa joked through an interpreter. We also have to look up, he said, pointing to an imaginary bomb falling from the sky. After surviving a war thats killed 250,000 Syrians and fleeing his home like four million others, Almtawaa still has a sense of humour. Stuck in a temporary shelter in a frozen land a world away from home and everything familiar, he was soaking up the safety information for his wife and two kids, 1 and 3, making a new life with him in Winnipeg. The father of two said he had never heard of smoke detectors. He learned theyre needed in Canada where wood-frame construction is common and fire can quickly destroy a home. With five children under the age of five including two pairs of twins Yahia Alsabsabi and his wife, Najah Alzoubi, arrived in Canada the day before the safety training. Theyve just spent three years in Jordan and were overwhelmed and exhausted when they finally arrived in Winnipeg. After being through war, then struggling as refugees, they were cooped up in a room with five little kids during a Winnipeg deep freeze. They have just one thing to fear now, said Alsabsabi. The cold. carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 20/02/2016 (2435 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. COLUMBIA, S.C. Everyone can now start using the F-word to describe Donald Trump. And feel safer using it to describe Hillary Clinton once again. Frontrunner. Voters cast ballots Saturday in two races that could shape the U.S. presidential primaries leading into Super Tuesday Trump won the Republican primary in South Carolina, and Clinton captured the Democratic caucuses in Nevada. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump meets with attendees during a campaign stop Friday, Feb. 19, 2016, in North Charleston, S.C. Today could be the day everyone starts using the word "Frontrunner" to describe Donald Trump. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Matt Rourke Trump won a victory that made him the clear Republican frontrunner, by historical standards: Nobody in the modern era has won New Hampshire and South Carolina, then gone on to lose the nomination. There was only one sour note for him. Trump alluded to it dismissively in his victory speech. But the collapse of the also-rans in the field increased the likelihood of fourth- and fifth-place candidates dropping out and rallying behind the more like-minded Marco Rubio. That was underscored immediately as Jeb Bush exited the race. His announcement drew loud cheers at a Rubio rally. Fans of the Florida senator immediately speculated that supporters and donors of the former Florida governor would inevitably start gravitating their way toward the campaign of Bushs old friend and protege. Rubio saluted the life and work of his old ally. He then quickly made a pitch for Bushs voters. After tonight this has become a three-person race, Rubio told a jubilant crowd, which celebrated the senators second-place finish. And we will win the nomination Now, practically speaking, were down to three. Trump took 33 per cent of votes, Rubio took 22 per cent, finishing just ahead of firebrand conservative Ted Cruz and miles ahead of the rest of the pack. Bush and Ohio Gov. John Kasich each took eight per cent, while neurosurgeon Ben Carson took seven per cent. It was a quick, anti-climactic end for Bush. Hed roared into the campaign as a presumed favourite with money, the party establishment, and the Bush dynasty at his back but his juggernaut failed to launch. Grassroots conservatives were unpersuaded by his quite conservative gubernatorial track-record, and remained unmoved when he made a nostalgia play late in the campaign by trotting out famous family members. While Bush is gone, other also-rans have chosen to fight on for now. The race is now on to scoop up delegates on March 1. A dozen states vote on Super Tuesday, delivering a motherlode of delegates compared to the few handed out so far. As for Clinton, Saturdays results were a potential campaign-saver. She staved off what could have been a ground-shifting loss to Bernie Sanders, the socialist senator who has put up a surprisingly strong challenge and threatens to eclipse her. The former secretary of state clung to a four-percentage-point lead in Nevada not nearly the advantage she once had in polls, but perhaps enough to quash talk of a campaign death-spiral. Some may have doubted us, but we never doubted each other, Clinton told supporters. She listed parts of her campaign platform, arguing that it would achieve more for regular Americans than the angry anti-business rhetoric of her opponent whom she describes as a single-issue candidate: Americans are right to be angry, but were also hungry for real solutions. Trump expressed awareness in his last campaign rally that winning isnt the only thing that matters. In his latest campaign speech, he urged every supporter to get out and vote: The more we can win by, the bigger the mandate, the better it is. But he was dismissing that same logic in his victory speech Saturday. He poked fun at pundits who speculated the field might now narrow to his disadvantage. In an early taste of the next phase of the race, Rubio criticized some recent language from Trump. The New York billionaire appeared to have mastered one of the less-charming traditions of campaigning in South Carolina: racial dog-whistling. Trumps whistles were at a low-enough frequency for any human to comprehend. Trump tweeted an observation Saturday that perhaps the reason President Barack Obama isnt attending the funeral of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia is because its not being held in a Muslim mosque. This was after he delivered a speech the previous night where he recited an urban legend: about a U.S. general scaring off a Muslim insurgency by killing 49 Muslims with bullets dipped in pigs blood then telling the 50th to warn his friends. The story appears to be, at best, a drastically embellished combination of two other tales from the early 20th century and at worst a complete fabrication, the equivalent of an Internet chain letter being aired from the podium of a U.S. presidential campaign. Trump also defended torture in his final campaign speech Friday. He called waterboarding minor, minor, minor torture and when describing how he felt about the now-abandoned tactic he said, I feel great about it. Rubio reacted to the pigs-blood story. Im sure people were offended. I hope people were offended by that. Thats not what the United States is about. Its doubtful whether that even happened, he said. Were in a very weird year here People are saying whatever they want in politics today and there seems to be no accountability. He said the presidency is a serious job and its time to start talking about serious things not the circus. Among Democrats, Clinton retains a big lead with African-American voters and is expected to win next week in South Carolina and other southeastern states on March 1. But until recently she also had a huge lead in Nevada, which has a large Latino population and that essentially disappeared. The sudden death of Justice Antonin Scalia has given Chief Justice John Roberts a unique opportunity to affirm the Supreme Courts rightful place in American politics: keeping the law above politics. He should seize it, even though and especially because the high court has a tenuous hold on that place. Within hours of Scalias death, Republican leaders in the Senate announced they would not consider confirming his replacement until after the 2016 election. Never before has the Senate attempted to put off an appointment for so long, nor has the courts balance of power been thrust so forcefully into the middle of a presidential campaign. Perhaps the Republicans gambit will have the effect of galvanizing voters in both parties. It could also further damage the integrity of an institution that has become as polarized as the electoral system it is shielded from. A presidential campaign that doubles as an election to replace Scalia would position the court as an extension of the parties more directly than ever before. That may well be unavoidable. But Roberts can mitigate some of the damage to the court by taking a modest step: Reminding the Senate that an election year does not absolve it from its constitutional duties. Senators may ultimately reject the presidents nominee, but he or she should get a fair and public hearing. It would not be the first time Roberts decried politics intruding on the appointment process. A persistent problem has developed in the process of filling judicial vacancies, Roberts wrote in 2010. Each political party has found it easy to turn on a dime from decrying to defending the blocking of judicial nominations, depending on their changing political fortunes. This has created acute difficulties for some judicial districts. Now that same problem has created difficulties for the Supreme Court itself. In his own 2005 confirmation hearing, Roberts likened his role as a judge to an umpire who calls balls and strikes. Roberts has no authority to force the Senate into action, of course. But he is free to tell senators to get on with it to basically trot out to the pitchers mound and tell the players to stop dawdling and do what the people expect them to do. They dont have to listen to him, but they certainly should respect his commitment to fair play. Should Roberts fail to speak up or, worse, condone the Senates stonewalling public perceptions of the courts partisanship may harden. Roberts may prefer to stay out of a political fight, and the head of the judicial branch of government is right not to want to get too involved in the debates of the legislative branch. But he also can demonstrate his neutrality by stating that long delays are neither contemplated by the Constitution nor in the countrys best interest. Republicans may well ignore him. But such a step would be a credit to his tenure as chief justice and to the reputation of the court. The Dodge County Executive Law Enforcement Association presented the awards for Citizen of the Year, Youth of the Year, Law Enforcement Officer of the Year, Support Person of the Year, Correctional Officer of the Year and Corporation of the Year during their annual banquet. David Kaufman of Suamico, Andrew Lamoureux of Marinette and Jerry Neis of Beaver Dam were presented with the award for Citizen of the Year. On May 1, 2015, the Dodge County Sheriffs Office responded to a motor vehicle crash with injuries on Highway 151 at Highway DE in the town of Calamus. Kaufman, Lamoureux and Neis were all driving on Highway 151 when they came across the scene of the accident and observed a subject lying in the median. The subject had one of his legs severed and was suffering a severe amount of blood loss. Kaufman and Neis attempted to fashion a tourniquet out of a jacket to prevent further blood loss. Lamoureux eventually removed his belt and placed it on the victims upper leg as a tourniquet when the jacket failed. Medical staff told Sheriff Dale Schmidt that the tourniquet placed on the victims leg likely saved his life. In a commendation to the three men, Schmidt said, You went above and beyond what a citizen could be expected to do in a similar situation and we are honored to recognize and commend you for your efforts. The Youth of the Year award was presented to 11-year-old Christopher Rios Sarabia of Beaver Dam. Sarabia was walking through Majestic Hills Mobile Home Park, 1217 Madison St., Beaver Dam, around 3 p.m. on Aug. 26 when he noticed a vehicle with a driver unconscious behind the wheel. He tried to wake the driver by yelling and she did not respond. Sarabia ran back to his residence to get his mother. The two went back to the vehicle and the boy called 911. He then gave the phone to his mother who was able to relay the necessary information to dispatchers. When Beaver Dam Paramedics arrived, they determined the driver had overdosed, likely on an opiate drug like heroin. Paramedics indicated that had Sarabia not taken it upon himself to try and wake her and call 911 the individual would have likely been overtaken by the overdose and died. Sheriff Schmidt said in a letter of commendation, Christopher is a hero to not only the individual who overdosed, but to that individuals family, and to the community as a whole. I am proud to know that we have citizens of all ages who will step up to help others when they are in need. Bryan Beaudry was presented the award for Correctional Officer of the Year. On May 19, Beaudry responded to the aid of his neighbor who said that her husband was intoxicated and suicidal, holding a 12-gauge shotgun in his mouth. Beaudry responded to his neighbors residence while he was off-duty and secured the firearm and made sure the man had no access to additional firearms. He then called law enforcement to get help for his neighbor who was suffering from intoxication and post-traumatic stress disorder. The neighbor was held for an emergency detention. Schmidt wrote in a letter of commendation, Your experience as a correctional officer and your dedication to your duties has reflected highly upon you, and the Dodge County Sheriffs Office. Thank you for representing our agency in such a positive way! Officer Ryan Toellner of the Mayville Police Department was presented the award for Law Enforcement Officer of the Year. Toellner was nominated by Mayville Captain Ryan Vossekuil for his life saving efforts on June 23, 2015. At approximately 5:33 p.m., Officer Toellner was dispatched to 126 Allen St. in Mayville where a one-year-old child was not breathing. Toellner arrived on scene in less than two minutes and re-positioned the child to open her airway and began CPR. After administering chest compressions and rescue breathing, he heard the ambulance arrive and carried the child to the ambulance where she was transported to a local hospital. Mayville EMTs David Sellnow, Mary Breitkreutz and Kassie Knoll assisted with the life saving efforts. In speaking with medical staff, it is believed that the child suffered a ferile seizure but survived the crisis. Vossekuil wrote, Officer Toellners professionalism, dedication and calm under pressure in the above critical incident make him an ideal candidate for the award of Law Enforcement Officer of the Year. Two businesses were presented the Corporation of the Year award. The first is the Open Door Coffeehouse, 119 S. Main St., Mayville. The Open Door Coffeehouse is a non-profit coffee shop that provides free life skills development and mentorship programs to the community. Founder and president Amber Schraufnagel met with Captain Vossekuil and discussed the methods utilized to connect with the community. Vossekuil writes, Ms. Schraufnagel mentioned several programs have been a huge success. Notably, the wired program is open to students in grades 7 through 12 to do homework, read or study at the Open Door Coffeehouse. Currently there are 80 Mayville students signed up for the program and on average 10 to 15 students come to the coffeehouse after school to work on their homework or read. Also recieving the Corporation of the Year award is the Beaver Dam Walmart, 120 Frances Lane. Nominated by Sgt. Brittany Borchardt of the Juneau Police Department she writes, Walmart has been a key part of Shop With Cops since its inception in 2004. Not only have they provided thousands of dollars in monetary donations every year they make sure to have extra staff available to streamline the shopping experience for the children and officers. This partnership has allowed us, not only as an organization, but Law Enforcement as a whole to make a difference in thousands of peoples lives over the past 13 years. She added that Walmart has also made numerous monetary contributions to other law enforcement programs and provide everyday support to officers allowing them to make a difference in someones life. The Support Person of the Year award was presented to Barb Mullin for her work in the communications center. On Feb. 21, 2015 Mullin received a call from a 16-year-old boy who had just had a go-cart accident in the town of Portland. Mullin was able to effectively determine his location and extent of his injuries. Due to the rural location of the accident it took first responders approximately 19 to 20 minutes to arrive on scene. Sheriff Schmidt wrote in his letter of commendation, Of great importance during this call was your ability to recognize that this child needed your support until the first responders would be able to respond to his location. He was alone, injured and in need of serious medical attention. Your reassuring demeanor with him kept him calm as he faced a major medical crisis while no one else was around. Jeff Meyer was presented the Presidents Award for his work in the Dodge County Drug Task Force. Town of Beaver Dam police chief Brian Drumm wrote, Often times the Task Force can struggle to find enough full time officers to come in on their time off and assist with operations. Jeff has consistently stepped up and helped fill these vacancies so that operations could go forward. Jeffs knowledge and insight has helped me as the Commander more than words can explain. I would never require Jeff to go to our jail to recruit new informants, but that is exactly what he has done time and time again. Willis Mulder, 91, Waupun, went peacefully to be with his lord and savior on Thursday, Feb. 18, 2016. Willis was born April 12, 1924, in Alto, the son of Albert and Jennie (Navis) Mulder. On June 25, 1948, he married Ramona DeVries in Waupun. The couple resided in Waupun all of their married life. God blessed them with 65 years of faithful love and companionship. He also gifted them with six children, 24 grandchildren and 23 great-grandchildren. Willis was a devoted husband and father who found great joy in his family and being involved in the activities of his grandchildren. Willis was a faithful member of Grace United Reformed Church in Waupun where he was blessed by the worship services, Bible studies, and fellowship of a very caring church family. He served 14 years in church leadership. He also served for many years on the Christian school board. At the age of 20, Willis began his lifes occupation as a carpenter and found delight in fixing things. He was an excellent craftsman who used his gifts in many ways to bless Gods people. He enjoyed the special privilege of designing and building the sanctuary furniture for Grace URC. He loved to read, study Gods word, and experience the beauties of His creation. In January 2013, Willis moved with his wife to Prairie Ridge Assisted Living. The family thanks the staff at Prairie Ridge and Agnesian Hospice for their loving and compassionate care. Willis is survived by two daughters, Faye (Ronald) Scheuers of Ontario, Calif., and Amy (Lawrence) Van Den Berg of Waupun; three sons, Daniel (Phyllis) of Waukesha, Phillip (Sharon) of Sioux Center, Iowa, and Joseph (Sandra) of Delavan; daughter-in-law, Marilyn Mulder of Waupun; one brother, Harold (Gert) Mulder and one sister, Julia Broadway; sisters-in-law, Georgene Mulder, Joan Mulder and brother-in-law, Frank DeJager, all of Waupun. He is also survived by his grandchildren, great-grandchildren, nieces, nephews and sisters-in-law. He was preceded in death by his wife, Ramona; his son, Steven; three sisters, Marian Sanders, Christina TerBeest, Catherine DeJager; and three brothers, Alvin, Junior, and Albertus. God blessed Willis with a long life and with family and friends who loved him and were touched by his kind, gentle and gracious spirit. We thank our lord for His many blessings and faithfulness throughout his life. A funeral service will be held Tuesday, Feb. 23, at 10:30 a.m. at Grace United Reformed Church, Waupun, with the Rev. Talman Wagenmaker officiating. Burial will follow at Alto Cemetery. Friends and relatives may call on the family on Monday at Werner-Harmsen Funeral Home, Waupun, from 4 to 7 p.m. and Tuesday at the church from 9:30 a.m. until the time of service. Werner-Harmsen Funeral Home of Waupun is serving the family. Visit www.wernerharmsenfuneralhome.com for further information and to send condolences. Reedsburg has hopped aboard a nationwide trend aimed at making online transactions between anonymous buyers and sellers safer. The Reedsburg Police Department is now a Safe Deal Zone site. Chief Tim Becker said he acted on a suggestion from Mayor Dave Estes to make the police department building the citys designated transaction site. I looked for something where we could be registered somewhere and people could look us up, Becker said. Safe Deal Zone is a website that allows municipalities, private businesses and organizations to register their addresses as transaction sites in a nationwide database. While not necessary, Becker said theres an advantage to being registered with a site such as Safe Deal Zone because it allows people unfamiliar with the area to identify and locate the citys site by simply entering a post office ZIP code. A search at the site Feb. 19 indicated the nearest Safe Deal Zone site to the Reedsburg Police Department is the Naperville Police Department in the Chicago area, 150 miles away. Last month, the village of Lake Delton became the first in the area to create a public transaction site. The public area inside the police department, which is under video surveillance, is Reedsburgs exchange site. Theres cameras in the foyer, theres cameras in the lobby, Becker said. Becker said the aim is not for the police department to create a record of the transaction or become a partner to the transaction, its just to provide a safe place for deal making. Last year Craigslist, a popular online site for the exchange of goods and services, issued a statement encouraging users to complete deals at local police stations. It can be a little sketchy if youre meeting someone you dont know at the parking lot of some closed business or something like that, Becker said. Becker said Reedsburgs site isnt only about buy-and-sell transactions. Its also an ideal place for child custody exchanges between partners. Two years ago the Common Council voted to fund round-the-clock staffing of the dispatch center inside the police department, which means someone is always there. So that really fits in well with this program, Becker said. Becker said hes working on getting a sign made for posting outside the police department to advertise the transaction site. People who want to take advantage of the site dont need to do anything. Theres no need to make appointments or call ahead, though visitors may want to inform the dispatch officer on duty of why they are there. Just show up, Becker said. The building is always open. USDA announces $1 billion debt relief for 36,000 farmers The USDA announced a program to provide $1.3B in debt relief for about 36,000 farmers who have fallen behind on loan payments or face foreclosure. China News on Women Sorry, the page you requested was not found. If you're having trouble locating a destination on Womenofchina.cn, try visiting the Womenofchina Home page After various rumors and false reports, a new film may finally start production. Actress Emily Blunt is undergoing negotiations to play Mary Poppins in a new sequel to Disneys 1964 film. Directed by Rob Marshall, the untitled project takes place roughly 20 years after the events of the first movie, which had Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke playing leading roles. The movie will be a new live-action musical set in Depression-era London, exploring the life of a now-grown Michael Banks and his big sister, Jane. As the family struggles during tough times, Mary Poppins returns to lend a hand. The new film will also borrow ideas and references from the classic book series conceived by P.L. Travers. The first book was published in 1934 and the last in the series in 1988. Blunt was initially rumored to star in the film when the media first learned about the project back in September 2015, but now the news about her involved has been confirmed. Marshall is also collaborating with Marc Platt and John DeLuca to assist in the production, with Scott Wittman composing original songs. Meanwhile, screenwriter David Magee is set to pen the project. Despite the series being somewhat dormant, a Russian film adaptation came to fruition in 1983, as well as a 2004 stage play in the United Kingdom. Rumors of a Mary Poppins film had surfaced several years prior, with false reports that director Tim Burton was working on the project in 2014. This was then followed by a hoax when an unofficial movie poster was created and leaked online. Emily Blunt is also set to appear in Universals The Huntsman: The Winters War, alongside actor Chris Hemsworth, with an Apr. 22 theatrical release. The Australian Labor Party has once again demanded that Canberra deploy naval or air assets to provocatively challenge Chinese claims over various islands and reefs. It has joined the outpouring of accusations by the US and its allies that China is militarising the South China Sea and threatening freedom of navigation by placing a missile system on Woody Island. Labor, through its defence spokesperson Stephen Conroy, is acting as a catspaw of the US military establishment, which is applying its own pressure on the Obama administration to dramatically ratchet up military tensions with Beijing. Conroy yesterday responded to the reports concerning Woody Island by condemning the Coalition government of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull for not yet joining the US in carrying out military intrusions into the 12-nautical-mile exclusive zone of Chinese-controlled territory. Conroy told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation: Its China thats trying to claim a 12-mile limit, outside of the international system The international rules-based system needs the people benefiting from it, needs the people who have the capability, to stand up and demonstrate that they are not prepared to be bullied by China in this way. The international system so passionately defended by the Labor Party is the strategic and military dominance of the Asia-Pacific by the US, from which its Australian ally has certainly benefited since World War II. Conroy signalled Labors active support for and encouragement of a military confrontation and even war with Beijing to maintain that dominance, declaring that Australia should be prepared to defend the international system. He asserted that the Australian military should violate Chinese-claimed waters unannounced, as it would be foolhardy to give Chinese forces prior warning. Conroy made his comments as Turnbull and New Zealand Prime Minister John Key fronted a press conference, where they faced questions about their position on the South China Sea. Both leaders, representing countries for which China is the major trading partner, publicly urged caution. Turnbull asserted all parties had a massive vested interest in reducing tensions and not doing things, any measures, that would inflame tensions. Key declared that any blow-up of activities there would be very bad for security and economic issues in the region. Behind-the-scenes, however, there is mounting evidence that the Turnbull government has given undertakings to Washington that it will actively support further actions by the United States that are calculated to inflame tensions. The Australian Financial Review (AFR) reported today that it was informed by Washington sources that the Obama administration has said it would look favourably upon Australia doing more so-called freedom of navigation exercises by water and air. The AFR echoed earlier reports by the Murdoch-owned Australian that Turnbull discussed the issue with Obama and other US officials during his visit to the US last month, and with Admiral Harry Harris, head of the US Pacific Command, during a stopover in Hawaii. Visiting Beijing this week, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop conveyed Australias support for the US demands that China cease land reclamation and militarisation in the South China Sea. In a separate column today, AFR commentator Lisa Murray wrote: For the US, any move by the Turnbull government to take a more muscular stance on the issue would give its position credibility. It would make it not a battle about supremacy in Asia but the global trade implications of Chinas activities. She concluded: For now, Turnbull and Bishop are still trying to walk the tightrope. But at some point, Washington could ask for more from its ally and the balancing act may not hold out. The Australian air force carries out continuous surveillance flights over the South China Sea, documenting the activities and movement of ships and submarines from all countries. Australian air force head Air Marshal Leo Davies commented to journalists earlier this month that such flights had been slightly increased in the recent period and that nearly all were challenged by the Chinese military if they came close to the exclusion zones around Chinese-held territories. Over recent weeks, the Australian media has reported that the Australian Navy has drawn up plans for a freedom of navigation incursion and is simply waiting for the go-ahead from Canberra to set it in motion. The deployment of a Chinese missile system to Woody Island in the Paracel group may well be used as the pretext. The purported missile placement is being cynically exploited to stir up a scare campaign. Peter Jennings, a pro-US figure who heads the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI), has implied that passenger aircraft are in danger, especially, he declared, after the Ukrainian experience. Commercial airlines, he claimed, would have to factor in that risk and would have to start thinking about diverting. Fairfax Media took the remarks one step further by requesting comment from the Australian airline Qantas, Singapore Airlines and Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific. Rather than dismiss the question out of hand, Qantas replied that its flights track well to the east of the archipelago. Not a shred of evidence has been provided for the incendiary suggestion that the Chinese military would shoot down civilian aircraft. On another front, the US Navy has requested a revision to its Code for Unplanned Encounters at Sea so that it sanctions military action against non-military vessels. Vice Admiral Joseph Aucoin of the US Seventh Fleet asserted this month in Singapore that changes were needed because China was using what we refer to as white shipping, cabbage vessels [cargo ships] to confront intrusions into Chinese-claimed waters. The Chinese government has continued to reject as hype the assorted claims about the significance of shifting a missile system to Woody Island. On Friday, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hong Lei reminded journalists that it was US naval and air operations that had escalated tensions and constituted the real militarisation of the South China Sea. Woody Island has been under Chinese control since 1956 and used as a base for military operations for at least 30 years. It lies some 300 kilometres from the Chinese mainland and a major naval base on Hainan, and around 750 kilometres from major Chinese cities such as Hong Kong, Guangzhou and Shenzhen. A protest called by Reverend Jesse Jacksons Rainbow Coalition drew some 500 people Friday in Flint, Michigan. The turnout was a pale reflection of the seething anger in the community and around the state over the lead poisoning of the citys residents. The fact that the event was scheduled in the middle of a workday indicates that the organizers were in fact not interested in a large turnout that they might not be able to control. While the anger expressed by march participants was genuine, the political forces assembled by Jackson sought to channel outrage behind the very same politicians responsible for the lead poisoning of Flint residents and the ensuing cover-up. March organizers promoted the states Democratic Party establishment, diverting all blame for the crisis onto the shoulders of Michigan Republican Governor Rick Snyder. Rather than expose the lineup of banks and corporations along with Democratic and Republican politicians against the residents of Flint, Jackson and his supporters sought to sow maximum confusion. Joining these efforts were assorted organizations around the Democratic Party, such as the neo-Stalinist Workers World Party and the International Socialist Organization. They sought to divide the working class of Flint, a racially mixed community, by injecting racial politics. Marchers assembled at a Baptist church on the north side of Flint and then marched about a mile to the citys water treatment plant. The route passed the former site of GMs Buick City complex, which once employed some 28,000 workers. Today it is a barren field, a testament to the role played by GM in the impoverishment of the once prosperous city. Jackson is the latest in a long line of prominent Democratic Party operatives that have descended on Flint in the wake of publicity over the leaching of lead from Flints antiquated piping system by highly corrosive water drawn from the polluted Flint River. Jackson brought in tow a pack of television celebrities, preachers and local politicians. These included Judge Greg Mathis, from the court TV reality show by the same name, and Phaedra Greg from The Real Housewives of Atlanta. Also present were several local ministers, State Representative Ryan Neeley and Scott Kincaid, a former Flint City councilman who is now a community health liaison for the United Auto Workers. None of those speaking at the brief rally following the march to the water plant shed any light on the social or political roots of the water crisis in Flint. The only policy initiative advanced by the speakers was to plug for the $600 million Flint aid package being promoted by the states Democratic Congressional delegation. The amount is totally inadequate in the face of the scale of the crisis, with conservative estimates of the amount required to rebuild Flints water system placed at up to $1.5 billion. This does not include a price tag on the incalculable damage done to Flint residents, particularly children, from drinking Flints tainted water. The rally featured a heavy-handed dose of religion. It began with a Christian prayer. Speakers included several ministers, one who sang a gospel hymn. Only one Flint resident, Melissa Mays, founder of Water You Fighting For, was given a very short amount of time to speak. She and her children were sickened from drinking the lead tainted water, and she currently suffers from seizures. Jackson himself spoke last. Time has taken its toll on Jackson, a corrupt remnant of the former civil rights movement and a tireless promoter of minority set asides and a spokesman for an aspiring layer of black businessmen. After leading a series of chants, his trademark, Jackson went on to blame workers in Flint for the water crisis due to their failure to vote for Democrats. Those of you who didnt vote elected Snyder. If you dont vote, you are going to elect problems, he declared. In fact the entire political establishment, Democrat and Republican, at all levels, was involved in both the original decision to shift Flints water supply from Detroit to the polluted Flint River and the subsequent cover-up of health dangers facing Flint residents. None other than Democratic Michigan Treasurer Andy Dillon gave the official go ahead to the switch. The series of emergency managers that presided over the city during the crisis were all Democrats, as were the mayor and members of the Flint City Council. The Obama administrations Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) played a particularly criminal role. The top EPA official in Michigan for months suppressed warnings about the lead dangers facing Flint residents. The lower level EPA official, Miguel del Toral, who tried to raise an alarm, was gagged. Gina McCarthy, the EPA head administrator, to this day defends the agencys actions in relation to Flint. Before closing with his standard Keep Hope Alive mantra, Jackson issued a call for President Obama to come to Flint. The appeal to Obama expresses Jacksons well-founded fear that the Flint crisis has deeply discredited the entire political establishment. In the wake of Flint, revelations have surfaced of high incidents of lead poisoning in cities across the United States. While Congress is debating over a few hundred million dollars in aid to Flint, it spends as much on a few F-35 fighter aircraft. The White House approved trillions to bail out Wall Street. The World Socialist Web Site spoke to several participants in the demonstration. Many of those attending the protest expressed a healthy distrust of the entire political system. Diane, a retired GM worker, said, I am here to show support. I grew up here. I have relatives living here. I think it is about greed and money. The government felt Flint wasnt intelligent enough to realize what was going on. I am here to show we are not going to take it. General Motors needs to help. They took money out of the community, and what they have donated is a drop in the bucket. At one time this was a GM factory, she said, pointing to the site of the former Buick City complex. Michael, a substitute teacher, said, Its affected everyone I know. My kids have friends attending the Flint public schools. They have issues with hair falling out and behavior. They are unable to do their homework or even stop and listen. I think a lot of people are responsible. It starts at the top. The emergency manager, all those involved should be held accountable. Ultimately you have to follow the money trail. It was not worth saving $2 million a year to poison all those families. There was the (Karegnondi) pipeline. There was so much going on. There needs to be a full investigation to find out who was making the moves. We are collateral damage. I really think this goes deeper than race. It is about the haves and have nots. Flint happens to have a black majority, but there is a lot going on in other places. There are a lot of cities finding out they have the same thing going on. Lansing has already started switching their pipes. Lead poisoning is an epidemic. Aaron came from Lansing to attend the protest. He is with the environmental group Clean Water Action. He said, It is something I personally care about. Healthy and safe water is a human right. These decisions were made to save money. It was deliberate. It has opened a lot of eyes, and now we are hearing of other places that have similar issues. Now we have a national crisis. This is a city in the middle of the largest bodies of fresh water in the world. What is happening here is unacceptable. Over 200,000 state government employees in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu remain on indefinite strike, after walking out on February 10 over 20 demands. The workers want the abolition of the contributory National Pension Scheme (NPS), a pay rise and the filling of all vacancies in various government departments. The striking workers intensified their action this week, picketing divisional and district administrative offices across the state and holding protest rallies and marches in several district centres. Government offices in rural development, land survey, commercial tax, local government offices and the education department have all been hit by the industrial action. Tamil Nadus All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) government arrested tens of thousands of protesting workers on Tuesday, releasing most later that day. The NPS was first introduced by Indias Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government in August 2003 and came into effect from January 2004. Under the scheme all central and state government employees hired after January 1, 2004 were deprived of previously existing pension rights and forced to pay 10 percent of their salaries into the NPS, with an equivalent contribution from the government. Workers are deeply opposed to the decision of the current BJP-led government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to allow the pension fund to invest in the share market. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa Jayaram is notorious for her brutal crackdowns on striking government employees. In 2003 she sacked nearly 200,000 striking workers using draconian Essential Services laws. The AIADMK government, however, is facing elections in April-May and may be calculating that an open crackdown will undermine its electoral prospects. Jayalalithaa is depending on the trade unions to divide workers and undermine the strike. She sent a ministerial delegation led by Finance Minister O. Paneerselvam to hold talks with the unions on February 9. Desperate for any face-saving promise from the state government, the Tamil Nadu Government Employees Association (TNGEA), a front of 68 unions, demanded a written assurance from the ministers on their claims. When the ministers refused, declaring they had to speak with the chief minister, the TNGEA was forced to proceed with its scheduled February 10 walkout. The Joint Action Council of Teachers Organisations (JACTO), which represents primary school teachers, higher secondary school teachers and higher secondary and school headmasters, initially decided not to strike, declaring that it would await the state governments interim budget on February 16. However, when the budget failed to grant any of the state government workers demands, the JACTO called a human chain protest in major cities across the state on February 20 and a protest march in Chennai on February 25. JACTO has threatened to call an indefinite strike on February 26. The Tamil Nadu walkout reflects the growing opposition of Indian workers to attacks on basic democratic rights and living standards by successive central and state governments. Since 1991, central and state governments have imposed far-reaching market reform measures to open up the economy to foreign investment, slash public spending and privatise state-owned enterprises, as dictated by big business and the International Monetary Fund. The unions have no fundamental differences with these measures and are determined to divert workers anger into empty protests and harmless appeals to the federal and state governments. Tamil Nadu workers should recall the brutal repression and mass sacking of state government employees by the AIADMK administration in July 2003 and the treacherous role played by the unions and the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM) and Communist Party of India (CPI). The Stalinist CPM and CPI responded to the mass sackingsthe largest in India historywith perfunctory condemnations and directed the sacked employees into futile legal appeals (see: Tamil Nadu sackings signal new offensive against Indian workers). For decades, the CPI and CPM have worked to subordinate the working class to Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and then AIADMK state administrations, hailing one, and then the other, as secular parties with a pro-people agenda. The CPM and CPI backed the AIADMK in the 2011 state assembly elections and share full responsibility for all the state government attacks on the working class. World Socialist Web Site reporters in Chennai spoke to some of the striking workers this week, who voiced their opposition to the contributory pension scheme. Prem said: I have been working as a junior clerk for the last two-and-a-half years but have no idea when Ill be made permanent. Governments are spending a lot of money on infrastructure development and claim that they dont have money to give us a pay rise. The Modi government is also allocating substantial amounts of money to the military. This also affects us because the government claims it doesnt have enough money for a wage increase for workers. Child-care centre or Anganwadi workers who spoke to the WSWS used pseudonyms, fearing victimisation. Rani, who has been working for 25 years, and is only paid 8,000 rupees ($US119) per month, said: Most of the workers in this scheme have not been regularised [given permanent jobs]. Weve also been told to do various other duties, including recording births and deaths, giving polio drops to children and other work related to the elections. Although were supposed to have a half-day holiday on Saturday and a full day on Sunday, we are often told to do extra work during the weekends but not given any extra payment. Both Jayalalithaa and Karunanidhi [leader of the opposition DMK] dont care about the people. Theyre only concerned about their own interests. They do these things for publicity and to gain votes at the election. Ammu, a helper, said: None of the political parties fight for the interests of workers and Ive seen all of them. Ive also seen how the AIADMK and DMK governments operated against the workers. The Jayalalithaa government hasnt given us any benefits. [Under the NPS] Jayalalithaa gives us a 1,000-rupee pension once every three months. So after working very hard for a long time this is all we get from the pension fund! Lalitha, a teacher, voiced her frustration about her low monthly pay. There is not much difference between the DMK and the AIADMK governments, she said. Many people said Modi would be a good prime minister but after he came to power he laid his hands on the gas cylinder [i.e., slashed the government gas subsidy]. Now we pay more for the cylinder. Asia Mumbai auto-rickshaw drivers walk out over fee increase About 90,000 auto-rickshaw drivers in Mumbai stopped work for one day on February 15 to protest a massive increase in permit fees. Taxi drivers, who also face fee increases, refused to run short routes in support of the striking rickshaw drivers. The auto-rickshaw permit has increased from 200 rupees to 15,000 rupees while taxi permits were increased from 200 rupees to 25,000 rupees. Auto and taxi drivers have called for all app-based taxi operators like Uber, Meru and Ola to be banned from Mumbai. New Delhi university teachers strike Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) teachers in New Delhi have boycotted classes since February 16 in support of students striking against the arrest of JNU student leader Kanhaiya Kumar on trumped up sedition charges. The teachers are holding day-long protests on the campus. Teachers from 40 central universities have been participating in the demonstrations. Kumar was arrested last week, after being charged with sedition and criminal conspiracy over holding an event at the university during which anti-India slogans are alleged to have been raised. He is being held in custody. Honda motorcycle factory workers on wildcat strike Around 4,000 workers at Honda Motorcycle and Scooter Indias (HMSI) Tapukara plant in Alwar, Rajasthan, walked out indefinitely on Tuesday afternoon, shutting down all production. The strikers are demanding re-instatement of 10 permanent workers and the re-employment of 400 contract workers whose term had ended. Management refuses to recognise unions at the plant. The factory produces around 5,000 two-wheelers per day including the popular Activa scooter and Shine motorcycles. HMSI is a major manufacturer in India with plants in Manesar, Haryana, Bangalaru and Gujarat. It has a 26 percent share of the domestic two-wheeler market. Bangladeshi garment workers demand minimum wage rise Garment workers organised by the Garments Sramik Front demonstrated in Dhaka on February 11 demanding the Awami League-led government increase the minimum wage for garment workers to 15,000 taka (US$200) a month. Workers marched to the Minimum Wages Board where they handed a memorandum to the board chairman. They demanded the introduction of dearness allowances until implementation of the next wage board recommendations are implemented. Garment workers are currently paid a poverty-level minimum wage of 5,300 taka, which the union claims is far below what is required to maintain a family in the city. The protest erupted after the government raised the salaries of the Bangladesh president, prime minister and other senior politicians, as well as government bureaucrats and public officials. Bangladeshi jute mill workers resume protests Alim Jute Mill workers at the Atara industrial area in Khulna demonstrated along the Khulna-Jessore highway on February 10. They were protesting the governments move to privatise the public sector entity. Their action followed a similar protest in November over the issue. Production ceased at the plant and 2,000 mill workers were locked out without pay last July after the mill administration was privatised. Workers want production resumed, payment of wage arrears and the private management contract revoked. Pakistan: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa paramedics suspend strike The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Paramedics Association has postponed a scheduled February 15 province-wide strike in all medical and health institutions after the government invoked the Essential Services Act. In talks last weekend the government agreed to resolve long-standing issues over a service restructure, approve the Health Professional Allowance and other issues related to the Peoples Primary Health Initiative. The service restructure and transfers of health employees to remote areas, however, was not resolved, including the dropping of action against 140 striking workers. The health secretary declared that there would not be any back-pedalling on enforcement of the Medical Teaching Institutions Reforms Act 2015 Act and the transfers. Health workers, who have formed an 11-member committee to negotiate talks with the government, have threatened to strike if all outstanding issues are not resolved by February 22. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa ad-hoc lecturers end strike Ad-hoc lecturers in government colleges in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province ended a week-long strike on Monday after the government agreed to meet their demand for permanency. The federal government appointed ad hoc lecturers in 37 colleges in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas in 2011. The lecturers said they only received their salaries after three to four months and that their services were extended on a year-to-year basis. Australia and the Pacific Queensland Catholic school teachers to strike More than 8,500 teachers in 242 Catholic schools in Queensland plan to take protected strike action on February 25 over a proposed new work agreement. The 24-hour strike will be the eighth stop-work action since the middle of last year. Rallies will be held in 11 cities across the state. The Independent Education Union (IEU) and the Queensland Catholic Education Commission (QCEC) have been in negotiations over a new enterprise agreement since April last year. The QCEC has offered a 2.5 percent pay increase but the union wants a 3.25 percent rise and for the commission to address long-standing pay disparities between Catholic schools in New South Wales and Queensland. A union representative told the media that some teachers in Queenslands Catholic schools are paid $6,792 a year less than their New South Wales colleagues. Other issues include workload, preparation time and multimedia work. Victorian firefighters in mediation for pay equality After more than a year of failed enterprise agreement negotiations for hundreds of specialised forest firefighters, the Fair Work Commission agreed to mediate the dispute on February 18. The firefighters are employed by Victorias Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning. If mediation fails the dispute will be referred to arbitration. The Victorian Labor government is refusing to budge on the forest firefighters long-running claim to be recognised as emergency service workers. A United Firefighters Union (UFU) representative told the media that the firefighters want terms and conditions that reflect the dangerous work they do. The Victorian government is also locked in a separate dispute over the pay and conditions of workers employed by other fire agencies. New Zealand: Lockout ends for AFFCO Talleys meat workers New Zealands employment court has ruled that AFFCO Talleys lockout of 170 meat workers was unlawful. Workers at the Wairoa plant, on the East coast of New Zealands North Island, have been locked out without pay for five months, suffering significant financial hardship. The workers were due to return to the plant in early December, two years after their collective agreement with the company expired. On return they discovered that they had been offered only night work, rather than their original contracts. The court indicated workers should be reinstated on previous terms and conditions. While the Meat Workers Union hailed the end of the lockout as a victory, the union steered the dispute into the court in order to prevent the outbreak of industrial action across all AFFCO plants. Auckland bus drivers strike Bus drivers working for two separate employers in the city of Auckland, on New Zealands North Island, planned to strike for 24 hours at 4 a.m. yesterday. The drivers are employed by NZ Bus and Howick & Eastern under contract to the government authority Auckland Transport. They make up about 70 percent of the citys bus services. NZ Bus is currently in wage negotiations with Tramways and FIRST Unions but no agreement has been reached. The company offered drivers a 1.7 percent wage rise, taking hourly rates to $20.75. The unions want $21 an hour. NZ Bus drivers began work-to-rule action last week. Howick & Eastern drivers have accused the company of trying to reduce wages in their new agreement. A FIRST Union spokesman accused the company of attempting to reduce pay for weekend work and overtime in order to maintain its contract with Auckland Transport. NZ Bus and Howick & Eastern Buses recently lost their contracts in South Auckland after Auckland Transport selected Ritchies and Go Bus as the preferred tenders. Both companies pay poorer wages to their drivers than NZ Bus and Howick & Eastern Buses. The government of Pakistan is pushing forward with its IMF-dictated privatization drive after the pro-capitalist trade unions suppressed a militant week-long strike by Pakistan International Airline (PIA) workers. The Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz)-led government has also seized on the unions betrayal of the strike to victimize hundreds of PIA workers. The all-out strike at PIA began on February 2 and quickly succeeded in grounding the airlines entire fleet for the first time ever. The inter-union Joint Action Committee (JAC) called the strike off on the evening of February 9, although the unions had secured nothing more than a worthless promise of talks with the government. The PIA strike evoked a massive outpouring of working-class support after the government sought to bloodily repress it. Throughout, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his PML-N government were gripped by fear that the strike would trigger a broader working class upsurge against the governments privatization program. But the JAC and the trade unions, both public and private sector, systematically isolated the PIA strike. The government has made clear that it views the privatization of PIAa 26 percent share in the airline is to be sold off in the coming weeksas a crucial test of its ability to implement its entire privatization, including the sell-off of Pakistan Steel Mills and the giant water and power utility WAPDA. In 2013, the PML-N government pledged to privatize 68 loss-making public sector enterprises in return for a US $6.64 billion IMF bailout. However, in recent months the IMF became increasingly impatient over the governments hesitation at implementing a plan it knew would be met with mass opposition. The fear and crisis the PIA strike engendered in the government and ruling elite was palpable. After the JAC reluctantly announced that it was ending a campaign of partial walkouts and was calling an-all out strike to begin Tuesday, February 2, the government hurriedly announced a phony six-month postponement of the privatization of PIA. Later that same day, February 1, Sharif invoked the Compulsory Service Maintenance Act (CSMA) to criminalize all job action at PIA and ban all union activity for six months. The government announced that workers who defied the strike ban would be severely punished. On the first day of the strike, the central government, closely collaborating with the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) provincial government in Sindh, mounted a bloody crackdown in Karachi where support for the strike was strongest. After attacking workers with tear gas, water cannons and rubber bullets, the police and paramilitary Pakistan Rangers opened fire with live bullets, killing two PIA workers and injuring a dozen more. This lethal assault was meant to break the strike, but it had the opposite effect, galvanizing support across the country. Sharif and his ministers responded by threatening to fire the strikers en masse and jail them for up to a year, but, following the counsel of much of the media and the PPP and other establishment opposition parties, they above all relied on the unions to smother the strike and the broad social opposition it had inspired. As soon as the JAC had succeeded in maneuvering to shut down the strike, the government launched an offensive against the workers. It invoked the blatantly anti-democratic CSMA to terminate 11 daily-contract workers and, according to press reports, issued show-cause notices to 167 permanent workers identified as active protesters. The show-cause notices are a first step to implementing vicious sanctions, including firings, fines and jailing. According to JAC spokesman Nasrullah Khan the witch hunt is far more extensive than the press has reported, with over 500 workers targeted to date. The government is determined to make an example out of the PIA workers, so as to intimidate the working class, reassure the IMF from which it may soon have to seek additional loans, and impress investors. The IMF increased pressure on Islamabad to make good on its privatization pledge at a loan review meeting that coincided with the first days of the strike. According to an unnamed Pakistani official who attended the meeting, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar was given a brutal dressing down by IMF officials after he proposed to renegotiate the deadline for the privatization of the PIA and warned of the danger of social unrest. Before the meeting was over, Dar had changed his tune and publicly reiterated the governments commitment to the privatization plan. This week Secretary of the Privatization Commission Ahmed Nawaz Sukhera announced to the upper house of Pakistans parliament that the government is moving ahead with the PIAs privatization forthwith. The JACs role in suppressing the strike was entirely predictable. It was comprised of unions that are affiliated to parties of Pakistans ruling elite, from the PML-N to the PPP and the Islamic fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami. All of these parties agree with the governments pro-market reforms and making Pakistan a profitable and globally-competitive site for foreign investors. While the JAC claimed to oppose the privatization of PIA, this was a lie. Its four-point program accepted the governments goal of making PIA a profit-making enterprise and offered the unions collaboration in realizing it. Furthermore, the JAC declared it would give the government freedom to do whatever it finds suitablei.e., privatize PIAif the unions efforts to make the airline profitable failed. The JAC opposed any appeal to other workers to join the PIA strikers in a challenge to the governments privatization drive and the IMF-austerity program of which it is a core element. Like the government, the PIA unions feared a broader anti-privatization struggle could rapidly escape their control and develop into a working-class challenge to the entire political and social order. In the same vein, Pakistans main unions and union federations, like those representing the railway and WAPDA workers, limited their support to the PIA workers to empty pledges of solidarity. Within days of the strikes launch, the JAC leaders began closed door negotiations with the government and insisted that they were trying our best to pull the nation out of the present crisis. The announcement ending the strike provided further proof that the unions were conspiring with the bourgeois political establishment and state against the workers they purported to represent. JAC Chairman Sohail Baloch said, A kind friend advised us to call off the strike, adding later, We have decided to end our strike on assurances given by a mediator. Never did he identify who this kind friend and mediator were but undoubtedly they are major figures within the ruling class. Given the role the military plays in Pakistans political life there is a very real possibility that it played a major behind the scenes role in ending the strike. Under the Karachi operation, which is supported by the PML-N, the PPP and other establishment parties, the military now occupies Pakistans largest city in all but name in the guise of cracking down on terrorism and crimes. The assurances Baloch claimed to have secured in ending the strike have already proven to be worthless as the government victimizes the most militant PIA workers, in addition to pressing forward with the sell-off of the airline. In carrying out this abject betrayal the unions were assisted by Pakistans pseudo-left, above all Lal Khans The Struggle group and the Awami Workers Party (AWP). The pseudo-left sung praises to the militancy of the workers, the better to keep them trapped under the leadership of the pro-capitalist unions and to deny the political character of their struggle: that the fight against privatization is a challenge to the class strategy of the entire Pakistani ruling class and requires the independent political mobilization of the working class on a socialist program. Lal Khan wrote a series of articles that covered over the JACs ties to the political establishment and its acceptance of the governments demand that PIA be made profitable. At the end of some of these he issued a rhetorical call for a general strike to be organized by a united front of all the trade unions and progressive political forcesthat is, by unions beholden to Pakistans elite and sections of the political establishment. For decades Khan has promoted the lie that the openly bourgeois and pro-imperialist PPP is the mass socialist party of the Pakistani working class. The role played by the AWP is no less criminal. It cheered on the launching of the ongoing military offensive in the northwest of the country against Islamist fundamentalist militants, an action coordinated with Washington and which has been used to provide political cover for the imposition of a raft of draconian anti-terrorism laws that are being used to attack the working class and left-wing opponents of the government. This offensive has also served as the pretext for the occupation of Karachi by the para-military Rangers who shot down the PIA strikers on February 2. The author also recommends: Unions preparing to shut down Pakistan airline workers strike [9 February 2016] Pseudo-left Awami Workers Party cheers on Pakistani offensive in North Waziristan [16 July 2014] Antonin Scalia died as he lived, indulging behind closed doors in the largess of the very wealthy, who could depend on the right-wing associate justice to defend their interests in the United States Supreme Court. The nauseating praise for Scalia as a towering judicial figure is exposed as all the more dishonest and absurd by the still emerging circumstances of his passing. On Friday, February 12, the start of the Supreme Courts annual week-long Presidents Day recess, Scalia took a chartered jet from Washington, D.C., accompanied by an unidentified lawyer friend, to the exclusive Cibolo Creek Ranch in the Chinati Mountains of West Texas, near the Mexican border. US marshals assigned as Scalias bodyguards were told not to make the trip. John B. Poindexter, a former commanding officer in Vietnam who now controls a Houston manufacturing empire with multiple subsidiaries, taking in total annual revenues of close to $1 billion and employing 5,000 people, bought the 30,000-acre property in 1988. He renovated its three adobe forts, which date back to 1857, turning them into plush accommodations for a high-end resort. Among the guests seeking seclusion in the lap of luxury at Cibolo Creek Ranch that have been identified by the press are Mick Jagger, Bruce Willis, a variety of businesspeople and European royalty. According to its web site, among the resorts most popular activities is the guided tour of its scenic desert terrain in a Humvee, the same vehicle used by the United States military in its occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq. Guests can hunt pheasants and chukars along with bigger game such as deer, elk, buffalo and mountain lions. Retired Supreme Court Associate Justice Sandra Day OConnor once told Houston lawyer Mark Lanier that Scalia will do anything if you take him hunting. After landing at the ranchs private airfield, Scalia enjoyed an outing with some other guests, followed by dinner. Weary from traveling, Scalia retired alone to the 1,100-square-foot El Presidente Grand Suite shortly before 10. The advertised rate for El Presidente, which includes a private fire pit on the veranda overlooking Cibolo Lake, is $700 per night, inclusive of meals and one bottle of wine per stay. The next morning, after Scalia did not join the other guests for breakfast, Poindexter and Scalias lawyer friend found his cold, lifeless body in bed. A local justice of the peace contacted by telephone pronounced Scalia dead of natural causes, freeing his body to be shipped back to Washington without a coroners investigation or autopsy. This episode pulls back the curtain a bit on how big financial interests have been pulling the strings in the Supreme Court. Poindexter confirmed to the Washington Post that Scalia was not going to pay for his stay at Cibolo Creek Ranch. He was an invited guest, along with a friend, just like 35 others, Poindexter said. According to media sources, Poindexter hosts gatherings two or three times a year. Last year, James Hinga, a 76-year-old machinist for MIC Group, one of Poindexters companies, filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking review of a lower-court decision that summarily dismissed his claim that he was fired based on pretexts because of his age. Scalia participated in the October 5, 2015 decision denying review, thus ending the case in Poindexters favor. Scalias acceptance of gifts worth several thousands of dollars so soon after ruling in a partys favor is a clear violation of judicial ethics. Other significant ethical questions remain unanswered a full week later. Poindexter maintains that he did not pay for Scalias chartered jet. There is no indication yet whose pocket that money came from, but one can be assured that it did not come from Scalias own. Similarly, it is not yet known whether Scalias companion, or any of the 35 other Cibolo Creek Ranch guests, similarly had matters pending before the Supreme Court, because none of these witnesses to the circumstances of Scalias death have been identified. This silence itself suggests that Poindexter and the others may have something to hide. At minimum, given the central role Houston plays in the United States energy industry, it is likely that some of Poindexters guests benefited from the Supreme Courts extraordinary five-to-four order the preceding Tuesday that halted implementation of the Environmental Protection Agencys Clean Power Plan, which would have shifted some energy production from fossil fuels to renewable sources such as wind and solar. This is not the only time Scalia has been caught hobnobbing during private hunting junkets with people who had vested interests in his actions as a Supreme Court justice. He was, in addition to being an arch reactionary who consistently ruled in opposition to democratic rights, a thoroughly corrupt individual who flaunted his corruption. In a notorious incident 12 years ago, Scalia accepted an invitation from a Louisiana oilman to spend several days hunting ducks with about a dozen others at a private camp in the Bijou. The Los Angeles Times discovered that Scalias companion on the trip was Vice President Dick Cheney. Cheney at the time was the lead defendant in a case brought by the Sierra Club that was then under review in the Supreme Court, making Scalias outing a clear violation of the principle that sitting judges must avoid even the appearance of impropriety. Asked for a comment, Scalia sent the newspaper a flippant response, noting that the hunting was lousy, but I did come back with a few ducks, which tasted swell. Scalia later issued a belligerent and disingenuous 21-page memorandum to explain why he refused to remove himself from the case. After attacking the press for raising the issue, Scalia asserted that because the hunting took place in two- or three-man blinds, referring to the camouflaged hideaways used by bird hunters, and because I never hunted in the same blind with the vice president, no one could conclude Scalias impartiality might reasonably be questioned. The Supreme Court later ruled for Cheney by a vote of 7-2. Scalias practice of slipping away from Washington, unannounced, all expenses paid, to socialize for days in private, intimate settings with selected people who have business either before or affected by the Supreme Court epitomizes how justice in the United States is dispensed. It highlights the role of a social layer that is profoundly hostile to democratic principles and feels itself in no way bound by traditional political methods or legal prescriptions. A referendum on British membership in the European Union will go ahead, UK Prime Minister David Cameron having secured unanimous agreement at the EU summit last night on most of the demands he made. The deal was announced at 10.30 p.m. local time after repeated delays. It will mean: * A so-called emergency brake on EU migrants claiming work benefits that will last for seven years. * Restrictions on child benefits for EU migrants that will now be indexed to the rate of a migrants home country, with existing EU migrants paid at the lower rate from 2020. * A specific opt-out for the UK from the EUs commitment to forge an ever closer union. * The right of one country to impose a temporary break on the imposition of contentious financial regulations, to be discussed at a meeting of EU leaders in the European Council. Cameron immediately tweeted, I have negotiated a deal to give the UK special status in the EU. I will be recommending it to Cabinet tomorrow. At a press conference, he would not answer whether the referendum would go ahead on June 23, as has been widely predicted. There was enormous pressure on the 28 EU heads of state to prevent a Brexit due to its destabilising impact on the entire continent. Even so, there were reports of conflicts between the European powers throughout the day, and discussion on the refugee crisis, the other theme of the summit, never began. The talks and the agreement expose the wholly reactionary character of the EU as a bastion of the interests of the banks and major corporations. There was not a shred of principle animating any of the 28 heads of state at the summit, only naked, national self-interest. The most serious divisions were between France and the UK over Camerons demands that the City of London banks and finance institutions be exempt from any euro zone financial regulations. French President Francois Hollande said Frances position was to make sure financial regulation applied everywhere in Europe, without vetoes or impedimentsa position later echoed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Edouard Tetreau even wrote in Le Figaro that France might benefit from a Brexitfirst, as a unique opportunity to consolidate a core Europe of 10 or so states under a firmer Franco-German leadership, and second, because it would represent a historic windfall for the city of Paris, as it would replace London as the financial hub of Europe. There was far greater readiness on the part of all concerned to agree with Camerons demand for a clamp-down on benefits. A paltry amount of moneya few tens of millions from the total UK welfare budget of 171 billionis involved. But its import for Cameron is as a dog whistle issue for whipping up anti-immigrant sentiment, while seeking to appease his partys right wing and the media, and scapegoating migrants for the impact on working people of the austerity measures imposed by the government and its Labour predecessor. As well as securing the agreement of the Visegrad Group of Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary, Camerons stance on cutting benefits won the enthusiastic backing of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who began the summit by stating, There are no points of dissent between the UK and Germany as far as social systems are concerned. Her own government plans to legislate an end to EU migrants claiming any benefits in Germany. Germany had considered it impossible for non-German citizens to claim benefits because, like many EU countries, it has a contributions-based social security system. But when a German court ruled that EU citizens were entitled to a minimum subsistence level of support for six months, the government announced a clamp-down. Andrea Nahles, a leader of the Social Democratic Party and minister for work and social security in Merkels grand coalition, said, We have to protect local authorities from having to provide unlimited care for destitute EU foreigners. For all the pious talk about the rights of workers to free movement in Europe that accompanied the discussion on the emergency brake, the reality is that there is a rush to erect new border fences throughout the continent and enforce yet more restrictions on allowing entry to desperate refugees. A majority of EU countries are now opposed to taking any more refugees from Syria and other countries devastated by imperialist war and intrigues. On Wednesday, a European commissioner felt obliged to comment, You cant have 20 [EU] countries refusing to take in refugees. As the summit began Thursday, Hungary announced that it would shut three railway crossings with Croatia for 30 days. On Friday, the daily cap announced by Austria on the number of migrants and refugees allowed into the country came into force. Just 80 applications from asylum seekers will be accepted each day at Austrias southern border, after which it will be slammed shut. Also yesterday, Serbia closed its border with Macedonia to unregistered refugees. Shortly after, Slovakia stated that it intended to seal its border with Austria following Viennas decision. The two issues of a Brexit and the migrant crisis at one point came together with the dramatic intervention Friday by Greeces Syriza prime minister, Alexis Tsipras. According to an AFP report, Tsipras had threatened to reject any final agreement with Britain, which would require unanimous approval. He was responding to demands from the Visegrad group and others that the EU force Macedonia, a non-EU state, to close Greeces northern land border to stem the flow of refugees from the Middle East. The European Commission previously gave Greece three months to restore control of its borders under threat of expulsion from the EUs passport-free Schengen Area. This would provoke a security and humanitarian emergency within days, according to German government documents published by Der Speigel, with Greece already under instruction to build vast concentration camps to house refugees prior to their deportation back to Turkey. Cameron still faces a deeply divided party on his return today, with a number of senior cabinet members expected to campaign for a Brexit. Even before Cameron returned, the BBC reported that Justice Secretary Michael Gove had declared in favour of UK withdrawal from the EU. This places significant responsibility on the Labour Party to argue the case for EU membership in a referendum, still the favoured position of the majority of Britains ruling elite. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has answered this call by reversing his previous opposition to the EU. He spoke Thursday to a meeting of the Party of European Socialists parliamentary bloc in Brussels, which was also attended by Hollande. Corbyn said he endorsed the EU on the basis that it supposedly "brings investment, jobs and protection for British workers and consumers. Not only does his claim studiously ignore the EUs real record of imposing savage austerity in Greece, Spain, Portugal and elsewhere, but it is also a farce, since the EU signed up to all of Camerons demands. To underscore Corbyns readiness to adapt himself to the right-wing xenophobic basis on which the merits or otherwise of EU membership are being discussed, he opposed Camerons emergency brake proposal by describing it as largely irrelevant to the problems it is supposed to address. That is, he explained, There is no evidence that it will act as a brake on inward migration. Wal-Mart Stores, the largest US retailer, reported that losses due to shifting currency values, particularly the rising US dollar, had wiped out its entire revenue growth in 2015 and contributed to a continued slowdown in profits. CEO Doug McMillon, in a conference call with investors Thursday, announced that the currency shifts had a $17.2 billion impact on annual revenues, more than offsetting what would have been $13.7 billion in sales growth. Most of the impact from the strengthening US dollar came on Wal-Marts Latin American operations, particularly in Brazil, where the company recently announced the closure of one-tenth of its retail outlets. The Brazilian economy is in a deep slump triggered by the collapse of the countrys exports of raw materials like iron ore to China. Last month Wal-Mart announced the biggest program of store closings in its history, with 269 stores to be closed, including 154 in the United States, 58 in Brazil and 55 elsewhere in Latin America. The majority of the US closures came from the complete shutdown of Wal-Mart Express, which operated 102 smaller convenience stores. McMillon said that sales for the three-month period ending January 31 rose by 0.6 percent, significantly below the 1.0 percent forecast by analysts. This quarter includes the entire Thanksgiving to Christmas shopping period, as well as post-Christmas sales. The company said that sales for the current fiscal year would be relatively flat, a sharp downgrade from its October prediction of annual sales growth of between 3 percent and 4 percent. Wal-Mart said the downgrade was the result of currency fluctuations and the store shutdowns announced in January. Sales at existing stores were still expected to rise by 3 to 4 percent, the company said. Total revenue in the quarter declined 1.4 percent to $129.7 billion while operating profit plunged 16.4 percent to $4.57 billion. Since the company is both the biggest employer of low-wage labor and the biggest retailer of low-cost consumer goods, Wal-Marts finances provide a virtual x-ray into the crisis of working class family budgets. Wal-Mart raised its minimum US hourly wage to $9 last year, and will raise it again to $10 an hour this weekend. In the investor call, CEO McMillon blamed the ongoing profit decline on $2.7 billion in increased costs for employee wages and benefits. At the same time, analysts noted that the stagnation in Wal-Mart sales was itself a reflection of the lack of buying power for low-income consumers, afflicted by wage-cutting, cuts in federal and state social programs and continuing mass unemployment and underemployment. The projection of flat sales in 2016 is the first ever in the history of the company, which has come to dominate grocery and general sales in much of the United States. Wall Street analysts gave generally poor reviews to the companys financial results, singling out two factors: the well-publicized wage increases, and Wal-Marts failing efforts in online selling, where it lags badly behind industry leader Amazon.com. For the 12 months ending December 31, Amazon.com saw a 25 percent increase in North American sales, to $63.7 billion, nearly five times the $13.7 billion Wal-Mart generated from e-commerce. One of most scathing commentaries came from Jeff Reeves of MarketWatch, who dismissed the across-the-board raises for employees making just above the minimum wage as wasting money on wages. His comments dripped with the contempt for the working class that is typical in this privileged social layer: Higher wages havent paid off yet: Now lets dig deeper, specifically into Wal-Marts 2015 wage increases that have dragged down profits significantly. The idea was that if Wal-Mart treated its employees better, it would see less turnover and better results. It was a bet worth taking, considering some rather shocking numberschief among them, a Bloomberg estimate in 2015 that pegged annual theft losses at $7 billion. And considering that the top cause of theft in the U.S. is actually from employees and not shoplifters, part of the thinking was that happier associates would be more likely to protect their employer. But a year in, its easy to see the costs and hard to see the benefits. So Wal-Mart workers are thieves and parasitesterms that would apply better to the grossly overpaid corporate executives, the Wall Street financiers who give them their marching orders, and the media apologists who glorify both. TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - The deadline is almost here for Florida families to purchase Florida Prepaid Plans. Open enrollment ends on Feb. 29. There are five prepaid tuition plans and prepaid dormitory plans. The plans start as low as $46 a month, and are about 50% less than they were two years ago. According to Florida Prepaid, students with college savings are more likely to attend and finish college. The plans are guaranteed by the state, but if your child attends an out-of-state or private college, the plan will pay the same amount as it would at a public college or university in Florida. For more information, just follow this link. TALLAHASSEE, Fl. (WTXL) -- Florida State University High school hosted a STEAM Day on its campus Friday. Unlike the traditional STEM study of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, this one focuses on the influence of Arts in stem education. Students K through 12 were able to visit different "STEAM" stations at the all-day event. The interactive stations were hosted by Panacea Touch Tanks, the FAMU College of Engineering, the FSU Mag Lab, and the FSU Science Department. I really think it is critical that our teachers work together, collaborate, and understand that we are building a body of knowledge for students that involves lots of different content", said Angelyn Hirai, teacher at FSU High School and organizer of the event, "and so this kind of event did just that." Later in the afternoon, students took part in a festival. It included boats, horses, museums, and plenty of more activities for students. INDIANAPOLIS- Attorneys for former Subway pitchman Jared Fogle are facing a deadline in his appeal of the more than 15-year prison sentence he received for possessing child pornography and paying for sex with underage girls. They must file court documents detailing the grounds for his appeal by Friday. The sentence handed down by a federal judge was longer than the maximum term prosecutors agreed to pursue as part of his plea deal. Fogle pleaded guilty to one count each of distributing and receiving child porn and traveling to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a child. FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - The city of Fort Lauderdale will award a man $30,000 in a settlement after the man said he was arrested when police mistook his aspirin for Ecstasy pills. The Sun Sentinel reports commissioners agreed to settle the suit. 37-year-old Antonio Grant sued the city and police officers Jared Gross and Steven Johnson last year, claiming false arrest, battery and unlawful search during a 2013 traffic stop. The suit says Grant was pulled over, handcuffed, and searched for drugs. Officer Gross says Grant reached in the glove compartment where Gross recovered the suspected drugs. He says that from his training, he recognized the pills as Ecstasy pills. Grant's attorney Hugh Koerner says it was outrageous that Grant was jailed. MIDWAY, Fla. (WTXL) -- From the Storm Team Weather Center ... The effects of the mid-Atlantic high pressure will linger tonight, creating a clear sky and light to calm wind conditions. Though slight amounts of moisture have crept into the area, the air overall remains remarkably dry. This combination will cause lows to once again fall into the low to mid 40s just before sunrise. Once the sun is up, the warming will be swift, further supported by a broad high-pressure ridge in the upper levels over the Gulf of Mexico. This will also keep the atmosphere stable, just able to form spotty to scattered clouds. Highs will rise into the 70s, and even a few isolated cases of max temps near 80. Warmer-than-average temperatures will stretch into early next week, but clouds will increase as the high pressure system weakens and shifts. A disturbance will plunge into the Southeast by Tuesday carrying with it chances for more widespread rain and a few thunderstorms. It will turn cooler by late Wednesday. NA Confidential's mask-free policy on reader comments. NA Confidential believes in a higher bar than is customary in the blogosphere, and follows a disclosure policy with respect to reader comments. First, you must be registered with blogger.com according to the procedures specified. This is required not as a means of directing traffic to blogger.com, but to reduce the lamentable instances of flaming and personal attacks on the part of the anonymous. Second, although pen names are perfectly acceptable, senior editor Roger A. Baylor must be informed of your identity, and according to your preference, it will be kept confidential. To reiterate, I insist upon this solely to lessen the frequency of malicious anonymity, which unfortunately plagues certain other blogs hereabouts. You may e-mail Roger at the address given within his profile and explain who you are. Failure to comply means that your comments probably will be deleted -- although the final decision remains ours. Thanks for reading, and please consider becoming a part of the community here, one that is respectful of the prerequisites of civilized discourse, and that seeks to engage visitors in substantive dialogue. The tunnel threat has returned to the headlines. A year and a half have passed since Netanyahu announced that he would crush Hamas and land a mortal blow from which it cannot recover for years. Lo and behold, rumblings exude from the bowels of the earth and the implicit admissions of the security forces make residents in the vicinity of Gaza lose their sleep. The lights stay on at IDF headquarters, and the General Staff is constantly busy creating diversified solutions for dealing with the evolving and probably more sophisticated threat. Tunnels are at your doorstep, Israel. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter But this is not just about the tunnels, Bibi. Its about Hamas. Yes, the Hamas that you promised to collapse immediately when you came into power in 2008. But starting in 2009, through seven years of your reign, it has only grown stronger. It fires missiles into the Gush Dan region. During Operation Protective Edge it took the life of dozens of soldiers and civilians, it held out against the most powerful military in the region for 51 days, and caused (and still causes) defense authorities to spend many billions of shekels defending against rockets and missiles, and against the threat of tunnels. Its probably clear to you, Bibi, that these tunnels, Qassams, Grads and drones emerge from the swamp you failed to dry up. As long as it exists, the mosquitoes of terror will continue to look for ways to sting us, and will collect from us a terrible toll in blood. So why are you not running to topple the Hamas regime today? That is what you promised to do, and you could have done so in Operation Pillar of Defense, and even more readily so in Operation Protective Edge. The Western world hung their hopes on you. The moderate Arab countries, especially Egypt, urged you to topple the Hamas regime and return the Palestinian Authority to Gaza. Members of Hamas' Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades. (Photo: AFP) Egypt is working against Hamas continuously, strongly, and determinately, trying to disconnect it from supply routes coming in through the Sinai. But you, Bibi, you always preferred its continued reign, keeping negotiations for a cease-fire and the reconstruction of Gaza going. To this day, you still conduct secret talks with them through intermediaries, in different ways, in order to reach a long-term agreement. Ironically, Israel, under your leadership, along with Qatar and her collaborators, are the only countries which consistently support the Hamas government. The clearest expression of this comes in the form of hundreds of trucks that deliver supplies to Gaza every week, allowing Hamas to not only survive but grow stronger. The height of absurdity which you created is the ongoing supply of construction materials, most of which are used for the construction of terrorist tunnels. I hate to say, but in practice, Bibi, you are the main contractor responsible for this project designed to harm Israeli citizens. Location in Egypt where Hamas' tunnels were flooded. Why, for example, did it not come to your mind to inform Hamas that if it did not cease building the tunnels, the supply of construction materials to Gaza will stop? That if the resources and building materials aren't used for construction and rehabilitation of homes and hospitals, as well as a source of income for hundreds of thousands of unemployed, then they will not reach Gaza. You blame the wild Palestinian incitement as the main cause of terrorism in recent months. Hamas is at the head of this incitement campaign. Its leaders preach openly and explicitly for increasing the number of terrorist acts and celebrate after each attack. But you give them immunity, keeping a continuous flow of oxygen to their regime and ensuring its continued rule. So what is the meaning of this dangerous policy? It is quite transparent, Bibi. Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades on parade. (Photo: EPA) The Palestinian Authority is much more dangerous to you than Hamas. That legitimate body, which the world recognizes as the representative of the Palestinian people, and with which the world requires you to hold negotiations about the two-state solution, is the main threat to the your ideology of not surrendering any territory. Your policy of maintaining the status quo is, in fact, the creeping annexation of Judea and Samaria into Israel. In recent weeks, you reiterated that Israel must continue to control all of the West Bank - "for the sake of our security." You know, the Palestinian Authority is fighting ideologically and physically against Hamas terror as much as it can. The security cooperation between the PAs forces and our security services saves the lives of dozens of Israelis daily. But Abbas, who is interested in demilitarized Palestinian independence, is more dangerous to you than former Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh. So you prefer the quiet cooperation with the terrorist Hamas regime and ensure its rule. After all, Hamas will never demand that you to negotiate with it towards a political solution to the Palestinian problem. This week, we learned of two small steps taken by Israeli scientists, which are two giant steps for mankind. Two Israeli researchers, Prof. Zelig Eshhar from the Weizmann Institute and Prof. Gidi Gross from Tel-Hai College, are the chief developers behind the most significant cancer-treatment medication to date. This isn't a first time for the two: In 2012, medication they developed helped cure an American girl, Emma Whitehead, of her leukemia. This week, based on a wider set of samples, US-based researchers reported the medication having a 94 percent success rate. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter And the tale goes on. Pluristem, A bio-medical company in Haifa, has developed a substance that can prevent damage from radioactive radiation. In an age of growing fears regarding accidents like those in Chernobyl and Fukushima, with reports of radioactive material being stolen from Iraq coming out this week, this kind of medicine can save millions of people. The US and Japan have already joined in on efforts to further develop it. This is Israel's true contribution to the world. It accompanies other medicines, as well as the world's most efficient desalination and agricultural watering systems. We have so many troubles, real and imagined. We should be allowed to remember, once in a while, that Israel is still the center point of the great directive of Tikun Olam ("repairing the world"). With all this in mind, BDS never looked more ridiculous. Prof. Eshhar receiving the Israel Prize om 2015. One of the people responsible for an immense breakthrough. (Photo: Gil Yohanan) The Knesset suspension bill has many justifications. Sometimes I brig them up them myself. Knesset members who support racism, encourage terrorism, or oppose Israel's right to exist as a Jewish and Democratic state are not worthy of serving in the parliament. That's exactly what Basic Law: The Knesset and the Knesset party bill say. The High Court of Justice (HCJ), in its old radical activist period, stepped all over what the law explicitly states, and brought us to this point. The problem is that the answer to the HCJ's actions, the suspension bill (which, if it were to become law, would allow the Knesset to suspend MKs with 90-vote majority. -ed), mostly does harm. It was obvious from the start that instead of discussing Balad's support of terrorism we'd get more complaints of the "end of democracy." Even the President, just this week, spoke in opposition to the suspension bill, saying it harms democracy, and only found time to condemn Balad. And so, the response to the heinous act becomes more important than the act itself. The right-wing's bills create a lot of noise, again and again. They give people opportunities to speak against Israel, and in the end they don't even pass in the Knesset. The suspension bill will also have a similar trajectory. And if it were to actually pass, there's no chance of a 90-member majority coming together to suspend even one MK. So what's the point? Balad members meeting Palestinian terrorists' families. Not much chance of a 90-MK majority to suspend anyone. (Photo: Screen grab) Is the public veering rightward? I'm not so sure. A launch even for Dr. Yoaz Hendel's new book, Eretz Lo Zrua ("An unseeded land"), took place this week. I doubt if there was even one Meretz voter in the crowd, and that's too bad. The left has a very easy time dealing with Benzi Gopstein and "price tag" people. But there's another side to the right. A liberal right that has been engaging in a more interesting conversation for the past few years. Hendel's book in another landmark in that conversation, joining publications by the Institute for Zionist Strategies and websites like Mida.org.il and Presspectiva.org.il. The hundreds of people in attendance didn't just listen to Dani Dayan, who spoke about how the solution was settlements, settlements, and more settlements. I presented a different view. The day Ehud Olmert entered prison, I raised the idea that his convergence plan ("Hitkansut") wasn't so bad. Not only did my clothes remain free of pelted-tomato residue, but parts of the crowd actually expressed its support. I've been running into more and more right-wing voters in the past few months who've completely gotten past the delusion of annexing the Palestinian Territories or the possibility of one big state. They're right-wing people on a geo-political level. They aren't willing to give up the word "democratic," which always accompanies the word "Jewish." However, they won't vote for a left-wing party. That kind or right wing, perhaps center-right wing, perhaps liberal-right wing, isn't represented in the Knesset. The day the circumstances align just right and Netanyahu can publically admit his willingness to give up over 90 percent of Judea and Samaria, as part of talks with John Kerry, he'll lose a part of the right. But he'll also gain another part's trust. And it's yet unclear which part is larger. Yoaz Hendel's new book. The mark of a new liberal right in Israel? The struggle over the government's gas plan is nearing the finish line. The HCJ is expected to make a ruling in the coming days. It's not clear that this is its job. It's quite clearly not its expertise. The only justification it has to rule against the plan is "unreasonability." However, leading economic pundits and the OECD have expressed a mostly positive opinion of it. Even if those opposed to it have good points to make - and they do a ruling of "unreasonability" would be highly unreasonable. The HCJ will, most likely, not strike the plan down. But it may demand that a stability clause be made legally binding, according to a proposal by Deputy Chief Justice Elyakim Rubinstein. The practical meaning of such a step might mean the plan's collapse, since it's doubtful that demand can be met in the current political climate. This kind of move by the court would be a return to radical activism, which the court seemed to be over. It's true that according to the judicial proceedings common here in Israel, and only here in Israel, the HCJ has the authority to not only demand a legal tie of some sort, but also completely strike the plan down. Sometimes, however, moderation is power. The HCJ's huge power has to be preserved for rare instances in which laws and government decisions that have a black mark upon them are in place. That's not the case here, not in regard to the plan as a whole, and certainly not in regard to legislative binding. BDS. A cancer on the body of the free world. (Photo: Shutterstock) The British Independent newspaper, on Tuesday of this week, featured five articles in the opinions section. Three of them three! were about BDS, following a government decision to forbid public bodies from boycotting Israel. Two articles were against, one for. Not bad, considering the fact that the Independent constantly spits venom at Israel. Three out of five is certainly an overreaction, but it's a topic that's been widely discussed in the British media. For a while, this has been a hit on college campuses in the UK and US. Not global Jihad, no Iran. No abuse of women. No Syria, no Iraq. Only Israel is on their mind. Alex Chalmers, Co-Chair of the Oxford Labour Club, quit his position this week after the club joined the BDS's Apartheid Week. He accused his friends on the left of being anti-Semites. Chalmers, by the way, is not Jewish. So it turns out there are still fair enlightened people out there. There's still hope. Yedioth Ahronoth will host a conference about the BDS on March 28, 2016. The claims that "it's unimportant" and "there's no need to make a big fuss about it" are still heard from time to time. The penny has not dropped. Many still don't see clearly that the BDS is becoming a cancer on the body of the free world. A bigoted, anti-Semitic cancer. Unbelievably, this cancer has supporters in Israel as well. The narrow-minded did it to the Jews in the past. These days, the enlightened are doing it to the Jewish state. One conference won't solve the problem, but it could be another wake up call. BDYemini@Gmail.com A Lebanese man accused of collaborating with Israel told a military court on Friday that captive IAF navigator Ron Arad whose fate has remained a mystery for the nearly 30 years since he was taken hostage in Lebanon died in that country in 1988 after enduring beatings and torture. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter However, the new claims contradict previous evidence and are inconsistent with information Israel has previously learned about the case. The claims arose during a military court hearing regarding five suspects who purportedly stated they knew details of Arad's fate. Two of the accused were present in court on Friday and claimed they had deceived an Israeli organization dedicated to finding Arad in an attempt to get money in exchange for what they claimed were his teeth and bones. Ron Arad's fate has remained murky since 1986 At least some of the accused were charged with cooperating with Israel and its intelligence services. They allegedly took advantage in this context of the fact that three of them had been field commanders in the Syrian Socialist Nationalist Party during Lebanon's civil war. "I want to tell you the details," suspect Moufid Kuntar told the court. "In 1988, I was an officer in the party's military wing. Someone form the party in the al-Farzel area in the Bekaa Valleycalled me and reported that a group of young men was in possession of a certain person." According to Kuntar, this group began interrogating the captive, but didn't get far with Arad. "He knew many languages," Kuntar said. "If we spoke Arabic with him, he answered in French. If we spoke in French, he answered in Spanish. If we spoke English, he answered in French." The group of young men, Kuntar claimed, took Arad to the town of Dour El Choueir. Kuntar said he could not confirm that the captive was in his s uniform at this stage. He said he instructed his men to give Arad new clothes. He was informed soon after departing that the captive had died, Kuntar claimed. "I didn't see him right away, but on the second day," Kuntar said. "He wore regular clothes, but his condition was pitiful after all the beatings he had endured during the interrogation. He could not stand up. I asked the youths to supply him with food and to allow him to shower so it would be possible to complete the interrogation." According to Kuntar, he received news of Arad's death within less than 48 hours. "They said he had gone to shower and stayed there for a long time," said the alleged collaborator. "When they went to check on him, they found him lifeless." Kuntar claimed that he realized the man was the Israeli pilot who had been taken captive only after Arad's death. "It's obvious that he died of exhaustion and it's obvious that he was subjected to beatings and torture, because that's how you conduct an interrogation." Kuntar went on to say that he asked to bury the captive, who was interred in a forest in the vicinity of Mount Lebanon. Kuntar told the judge that he had not interrogated Arad before he died. But a decade later, Kuntar said, when images of Arad were published in the media, he returned to al-Farzel to meet with the man who had initially contacted him in 1988 and told him Arad's skeleton should be disinterred. Kuntar said that following this, he asked to meet with then-Lebanese president Emile Lahoud. The judge halted proceedings at this point, arguing that the hearing should occur behind closed doors because the name of a president had come up. Another hearing is scheduled for April 20. Arad was captured on October 16, 1986. The Phantom jet he was navigating experienced a technical fault during strikes on terrorist targets south of Sidon. He and his pilot abandoned the plane in Lebanese territory. A helicopter barely managed to rescue the pilot, but Arad was captured by the Shi'ite Amal Movement. Arad was promoted to the rank of major after his capture. Attempts to secure Arad's release failed, and 1988 he was apparently transferred from the hands of senior Amal Movement figure Mustafa Dirani to Iran or a different Shi'ite organization. All traces of Arad vanished in May 1988. It has previously been claimed that Arad may have been murdered by his captors on May 3, 1988, during an Israeli paratrooper operation targeting Hezbollah in the town of Maydun, or that he had been murdered when he tried to escape. Earlier this week, on the anniversary of the targeted killing of senior Hezbollah leader Imad Mughniyeh, media outlets affiliated with the Lebanese terrorist organization claimed that Mughniyeh ran a special team in 2004-2006 to investigate the Arad case, and was able to find some of Arad's belongings, including a parachute, his weapon, and some clothes According to Wafiq Safa, director of the organization's liaison and coordination committee, Hezbollah used these items in negotiations with Israel. More money, more performances, and more caution regarding controversial works were all part of the new "culture basket" the Education Ministry presented on Thursday. The plan increases the budget allocated for schools to use on cultural performances by NIS 6 million to NIS 22 million a year. The number of municipalities benefitting is to rise, and students from less advantaged municipalities are to receive a higher proportional budget. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter A third of the cultural performances for schools are to be drawn from a list formulated by the Repertoire Committee, while the other shows will be chosen by school principals. But given recent controversy over the issue, such as the firestorm surrounding the play "Parallel Time", an external committee made up of cultural figures is to be formed in order to discuss controversial works and decide whether they are appropriate for schools. Education Ministry Director General Michal Cohen and Education Minister Naftali Bennett announce the plan at a press conference (Photo: Lior Paz) Up to now, the Repertoire committee has ruled on 100 percent of performances, including theater, cinema, music, literature, visual arts, and dance. The committee formulated an annual list of acceptable works from which principals could make selections. Principals will now be able to choose two-thirds of the works, even if they are not on the approved list. This usually means at least three works a year. To this end, the Education Ministry plans to create an online database logging all performances in Israel. Educators will be able to publish reviews of these performances and choose which performances to see or artists to bring to school, based on their fellow educators' recommendations and in accordance with the values they seek to promote at the school. The database is supposed to go live this May, while the overall plan is to come into effect when the next school year begins in autumn. "We are creating a balance between culture and art on the one hand, and advancing values that are important to the school principal on the other," said Education Minister Naftali Bennett at a Thursday morning press conference. The Ministry pointed as an example to the play "Ofer and Dekel", which deals with integrating special needs children in society, which did not make the Repertoire Committee's list, but to which principals will now be able to take students. New committee Meanwhile, Education Ministry Director General Michal Cohen is to form an external committee to consider controversial works. The Education Ministry emphasized that the Repertoire Committee has a cultural mandate, while the external committee is meant to consider works from an educational perspective. Education Minister Bennett decided, for example, not to permit the play "Parallel Time" to be part of the culture basket, while the Repertoire Committee disagreed. According to the new plan, the suitability of such a controversial work would be up to the external committee. "This means works that have elements of pornography, violence, racism, expressions that oppose the values of the State of Israel, or preaching terrorism," said Bennett. Asked what would prevent him from overturning the external committee's decisions as he did the Repertoire Committee's, he said: "I do not believe there will be personal intervention here because the committee will deal with pedagogy, which was not true in the case of the Repertoire Committee on the question of 'Parallel Time'." More towns to benefit The new basket also allocates an extra NIS 6 million, bringing its budge to NIS 22 million. The basket so far involved 1,200 cultural performances for 500,000 students, and will now have the budget to fund 6,000 shows for 800,000 students. Furthermore, up to now only 100 municipalities were included. Municipalities like Sderot, Ariel, Netivot, and Umm al-Fahm, for example, were not included, and hence missed out on cultural subsidies. The Education Ministry says the basket will now be able to cater to 170 local municipalities out of a total of 250. Budgeting is to be proportiona based on the municipality's "Care Index" and its number of students, in an effort to boost access to culture for children in less advantaged locations. "I am very excited because I have news for the students of Israel," Bennett said. "From now on, every Israeli child will be able to see all the plays in Israel, and students from weaker towns will receive more funding than students in strong towns. Until now, only a small section of Israel's children was exposed to a small portion of plays." Samuell Willenburg, the final survivor of the Treblinka extermination camp revolt, passed away in Israel on Saturday at the age of 93. His funeral is to take place on Monday at 3:00 PM at Moshav Udim. He leaves behind his wife, daughter, and three grandchildren. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter At the age of 17, Willenburg joined the Polish army and fought against the Nazi invaders in 1939. After surviving the Holocaust, he worked as a sculptor and commemorated one of his statues to the Trebelinka uprising, when prisoners launched a revolt that resulted in the successful escpe of 67 of them. Samuel Willenburg at 70th anniversary ceremony of the Treblinka revolt He recounted his stunnng escape to Ynet's sister site Xnet in an interview: "They shot at me, but I continued to run away." He added: "Some of the people who escaped with me ran to the left and others ran to the right; I ran straight ahead, alone." After the revolt, the Nazis murdered 900,000 Jews withn 13 months at Treblinka. Willenburg later participated in the Polish Warsaw Uprising in 1944. His tale has been immortalized in an autobiography, "Surviving Treblinka," published in Hebrew, Polish, and English in 2002, and the documentary film "The Final Witness". The president of Poland also granted him the highest military decoration bestowed by Poland. Willenburg in his Polish military uniform His daughter, Orit Willenburg-Giladi, said: "My father turned into a legend because the memory of Treblinka and its atrocities were very important to him. He wanted to tell the stories that shook his soul; that was his life's goal. He was a wonderful person and an example for all us because of his courage, brazenness, optimism, and his tremendous joy of life." His widow, Eda, spoke this morning of their last moments together. "Yesterday afternoon, we sat beside him; he did not pass away alone," she said. "My daughter and I held his hands and we watched him depart from us." Willenburg recently requested that a new building be erected at the memorial site in Treblinka. "We will absolutely continue his work and will undertake great efforts to bring his final desire to fruition," said Eda Willenburg. In the documentary film "Treblinka's Last Witness," Willenburg discusses a meeting with Ruth Dorfman, a fellow Treblinka prisoner who has long been etched in his memory, a moment before she was murdered. Willenburg was in charge of cutting Dorfman's hair before she entered the gas chambers. He recalls Dorfman asking him, "How long will the process of dying take? She knew what awaited her because in Warsaw, where she was from, people had heard about what was happening in Treblinka. Nonetheless, I answered that I would take a few minutes." A prehistoric village dated to around 12,000 years ago was uncovered near the Sea of Galilee in Israel on Wednesday, February 17 by archeologists from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter The site, named NEG II by the researchers, is located at the Ein-Gev River in the middle of the perennial stream that flows west of the Sea of Galilee. The Jordan Valley, near the Sea of Galilee A series of excavations at the site revealed an abundance of findings, including human remains, flint tools, artworks, animal fossils, ground stone tools, and bone tools. The findings show that many people lived in the area, which is estimated to have covered roughly 1200 square meters. The village differs markedly from others of its period in Israel. The findings included cultural characteristics typical of both the Old Stone Age known as the Paleolithic period and the New Stone Age known as the Neolithic period. Characterizing this important period of potential overlap in the Jordan Valley is crucial for the understanding of the socioeconomic processes that marked the shift from Paleolithic mobile societies of hunter-gatherers to Neolithic agricultural communities, said excavation leader Dr. Leore Grosman of the Institute of Archeology at the Hebrew University. The Paleolithic period is the earliest and the longest period of prehistoric human history. The end of this period is marked by the transition to settled villages and the domestication of plants and animals as part of the agricultural lifestyle in the Neolithic period. The archeologists, in their research published in the PLOS ONE journal, described the village as one of the latest settlements in the Levant region of the Late Natufian subperiod, the last cultural subperiod of the Paleolithic era. The excavation site was inhabited during the cold and dry global climatic event known as the Younger Dryas (11,600-12,900 years ago) when climatic changes caused Late Natufian groups in the Mediterranean to become increasingly mobile and smaller in size. However, excavations at the site showed that groups in the Jordan Valley became more stationary and potentially larger in size during this period. The thick archeological deposits, the uniformity of the tool types, and the flint knapping technology indicate intensive occupation of the site by the same cultural entity, said Dr. Grosman. The research, which sheds light on the historical shift from foraging to agriculture, was funded by the American School of Prehistoric Research at the Peabody Museum at Harvard University, the Israel Science Foundation, and the National Science Foundation. Among the 562 e-mails sent by Hillary Clinton publicly released this weekend were several regarding the former secretary of state's thoughts about Israel, and particularly Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter One e-mail contains a redacted transcript of a conversation between the then-US secretary of and Prime Minister Netanyahu, sent by a Clinton assistant with the concise, yet evocative subject line: "Very rough". The contents of the conversation are completely redacted after the two politicians greet each other. Hillary Clinton and Benjamin Netanyahu (Photo: Alex Kolomoisky) In another e-mail, Clinton discusses an interview given by outgoing Israeli National Security Adviser Uzi Arad to Nahum Barnea and Shimon Shiffer in Yedioth Ahronoth, particularly reports in Israel that Arad had been forced to resign after the Shin Bet began suspecting he was responsible for leaking information. Clinton wrote: "You should get whole, translated article. US press should report asap." Among the articles in the e-mail was a May 2011 article from Ynetnews. Clinton's aide claimed that Netanyahu had tried to dismiss the claims "with a story published by the Jerusalem Post, right-wing Likud organ." In the same e-mail, the aide wrote to Clinton: "Holy Moly! What more can you find out about this and why Arad had to resign?" An e-mail sent on January 17, 2011, by Martin Indyk, former US ambassador in Israel, to senior Clinton aides regarded Ehud Barak's split from Labor and the possible ramifications for the peace process. Initial assessment of Barak's preemptive strike on the Labor Party is that it stabilizes Bibi's coalition and eliminates any remaining moderating influence of Barak," it read. "The coalition math leaves Bibi with 5 more votes for his coalition than if Labor had forced Barak to leave the government. On the other hand, Barak and his 4 followers will not dare leave the government now for fear of being consigned to oblivion. Of course Lieberman or Shas can bring the government down at any time so Bibi remains dependent on them. "This is exacerbated by Tzipi's withdrawing of any potential safety net for Bibi," continued Indyk. "She is now intent on bringing the government down and has convinced Mohfaz to stick with her (especially because with Barak velcroed to Bibi, there's no place for Mohfaz in the government). So, bottom line, the already dismal prospects for a peace breakthrough just grew dimmer. This is not Bibi's spin. His line is that this will prove to Abu Mazen that the Israeli government will run its course and therefore he is better off negotiating with it than waiting another 2 years." Another released e-mail is one then-opposition chief Tzipi Livni sent to Clinton in 2011, including suggestions of what the US should do in order to prevent terror groups from taking advantage of democratic elections, as occurred in Gaza and in the case of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. Story from Ynetnews cited in Clinton's e-mails Livni asks Clinton in the e-mail that the US set rules and a democratic code for Arab countries revolting against dictatorships in order to prevent a hostile takeover and exploitation of the vote. The e-mail was forwarded to Clinton by US Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro, who received it from Livni. "You may recall in our initial conversation about this, I raised with you my firm conviction that truly democratic elections required a commitment by the parties running for office to some core democratic values," Livni wrote. "I discussed my frustration that in the case of Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, the international community had limited its definition of democracy to the technical conduct of voting and failed to insist that those who sought the benefits of the democratic process accept its underlying principles as well. The result, as you know, was to give a measure of democratic legitimacy and power to forces that were plainly not committed to democratic principles and that continue to pose a danger to their own societies and to their neighbors" Close Clinton adviser Sid Blumenthal sent an October 4, 2012 e-mail informing her of what his son Paul had written in the Huffington Post about Ehud Barak: "According to Paul, another reporter at Huff Post told him that he was informed by a staffer on the NSC that Barak was at the White House recently having a secret meeting with the President. "At the same time, Michael Oren had finished some meeting at the NSC and somehow heard that Barak was in the building," Indyk wrote. "Oren raced around the West Wing searching for Barak, opening doors and looking in rooms. Donilon heard about Oren's frantic snooping and raced after him, catching him, and escorted him out. Apocryphal? True? If false, it still reflects the split between Bibi and Barak." Hillary Clinton responded: "Doubt that it happened, but, these days, who knows???" MK Oren, in response to the account described in the email Sunday morning, said that "the report, from Hillary Clintons email, that claims I was at the White House when Ehud Barak held secret talks with President Obama and looked for him frantically, going from room to room, until I was accompanied out of the building, has no basis in reality. Every visit by the Israeli minister of defense is coordinated with the embassy in Washington and there is no situation where an ambassador would be able to walk around the White House freely. The report is totally fictitious. Helen Onita Hager, age 95, of Kimball, passed away Feb. 17, 2016 at Regional West Medical Center in Scottsbluff. She was born on the family farm east of McCool Jct. on Feb. 28, 1920. Her early childhood consisted of helping on the family farm raising chickens, cattle and farming with horses. She attended K-12 school at McCool Jct. and the family attended the First Evangelical Lutheran Church. She met her future husband and lifetime soulmate Richard (Dick) at school and they were united in marriage on June 28, 1941. To this union three sons were born, Dennis G. Hager (Diana), Virgil L. Hager and Roland (Rollie) Hager. Early in their marriage they spent a short time in California as Dick worked in the North American B-25 Factory and she worked in a soda fountain/pharmacy. About this same time Dick was drafted into the Army and she ended up traveling a lot across the United States with their son Denny by train following her husband to various military bases until he was called overseas during World War II. After the Japanese surrender and his discharge from the Army they started farming in York County eventually settling West of McCool, where they farmed and raised cattle for approximately 40 years before retiring to York. Over all those years of farming including a home destroyed by fire, she milked many a cow, drove many a tractor, fixed many meals for a lot of folks, worked countless hours for her church which she loved, helped quilt many a quilt with the quilt ladies of the church, along with serving on many committees for the church and other civic organizations. She was a friend to many and lived a very long hard working, but enjoyable life. She is survived by her three sons, Dennis G. Hager and wife Diana, Virgil L. Hager and Roland D. (Rollie) Hager; eleven grandchildren, Tishia Skeie, Andrew Hager, Nicolas (Angie) Hager, Bethany Hager, Angelina Hager, Karry (Jerry) Thacker, Machell Hager, John Hager, Jana (Philip) Dobrowski with new life in the womb, Tori (Dan) Evertson and Brooke Hager and 12 great-grandchildren. She is also survived by several very special nieces and nephews, Phyllis (Neil) West and Bobbie and (Bud) Bolte who have done so much for her in visits and phone calls. She was predeceased by her parents Robert and Clara (Smith) Young; husband Richard E. Hager; daughters-in-law, Nancy Hager and Roxann (Ann) Hager; her brother, Boyd Young and a host of other relatives and close friends. She will be missed by all, but she treasured all of you that knew her. She has lived a Good Life and her journey on earth is complete. Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m. Monday, Feb. 22, 2016 at First Evangelical Lutheran Church in McCool Jct. with the Reverend Becky Sells officiating. Interment will follow in Pleasant Ridge Cemetery in McCool Jct. Visitation will be held at the mortuary from 1-9 p.m. on Sunday with the family greeting friends from 1:30 - 3 p.m. Memorials may be directed to First Evangelical Lutheran Church-McCool. Condolences may be left for the family at www.metzmortuary.com. Metz Mortuary, York, Neb. is handling arrangements. MONDAY 2/22 >> Alcoholics Anonymous - Fresh Start Group meets Monday at 12 noon at First Presbyterian Church located at 414 Delaware Ave. in York. >> Alcoholics Anonymous - How It Works meets Monday at 7 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church located at 414 Delaware Ave. in York. TUESDAY 2/23 >> Alcoholics Anonymous - Womans Meeting meets Tuesday nights at 7 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church located at 414 Delaware Ave. in York. >> Sexaholics Anonymous, a 12 Step recovery group for those dealing with addiction to pornography, sex, and other forms of lust, meets Tuesday nights at 5:45 p.m. For more information please call our toll free number 1-877-889-8071 or visit sanebraska.org. >> Cancer Support Group will meet Tuesday, Feb. 23 at 6:30 p.m. at Willow Brook Assisted Living. For more information call 402.362.4662. WEDNESDAY 2/24 >> Alcoholics Anonymous - Fresh Start Group meets Wednesday at 12 noon at First Presbyterian Church located at 414 Delaware Ave. in York. >> Alcoholics Anonymous - How It Works meets Wednesday at 8 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church located at 414 Delaware Ave. in York. THURSDAY 2/25 >> Weight Watchers meets in the basement of the York Towne House, 5th & Grant Ave., each Thursday. Weigh in 5:15 - 5:45 p.m.; Member meeting 5:45 - 6:15 p.m. >> AL-ANON meets Thursday at 12 noon at First Presbyterian Church located at 414 Delaware Ave. in York. >> Narcotics Anonymous meets Thursday at 8 p.m. at Emmanuel Lutheran Church in the Annex building. FRIDAY 2/26 >> Alcoholics Anonymous - Fresh Start Group meets Friday at 12 noon at First Presbyterian Church located at 414 Delaware Ave. in York. >> Alcoholics Anonymous - AWOL Group meets Friday at 8 p.m. at the First Presbyterian Church located at 414 Delaware Ave. in York. SATURDAY 2/27 >> Alcoholics Anonymous - Fresh Start Group meets Saturday at 11 a.m. at First Presbyterian Church located at 414 Delaware Ave. in York. >> Time To Heal - A holistic program designed to help women regain their physical, emotional and spiritual health after breast cancer treatment. Mondays at 8 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church located at 414 Delaware Ave. in York. For more information, call Karrie at 402.362.0446 or Barb at 402.362.0411. >> CENTENNIAL Monday, Feb. 22: Meatball stroganoff, corn on the cob, green beans Tuesday, Feb. 23: Cooks choice Wednesday, Feb. 24: Mini corndogs, baked beans, potato salad Thursday, Feb. 25: Cheeseburgers, spicy curly fries, green beans Friday, Feb 26: Tuna and noodles, carrots Monday, Feb. 29: Pizza, peas, green beans * Milk served daily. A fruit and vegetable bar is available every day. Alternative of chef salad offered daily >> CROSS COUNTY Monday, Feb. 22: Tater tot casserole, green beans, garlic bread Tuesday, Feb. 23: Chicken nuggets, French fries, peas and carrots, bread and butter Wednesday, Feb. 24: Beef stew, cornbread, corn Thursday, Feb. 25: Ham and cheese, tri-tators, baked beans Friday, Feb. 26: Fish sticks, scalloped potatoes, carrots Monday, Feb. 29: Breaded pork, mashed potatoes and gravy, corn, dinner roll * Milk served daily. >> EMMANUEL-FAITH LUTHERAN Monday, Feb. 22: No school Tuesday, Feb. 23: Lasagna Wednesday, Feb. 24: Grilled cheese with tomato soup Thursday, Feb. 25: Chicken nuggets Friday, Feb. 26: Runza Monday, Feb. 29: Chicken and dumplings * Fruit and veggie bar, bread and milk served daily >> EXETER-MILLIGAN Monday, Feb. 22: Hamburger deluxe on whole grain bun, crinkle cut fries, green beans Tuesday, Feb. 23: Mandarin orange chicken, stir-fry vegetables, whole grain rice or noodles, whole grain egg roll, whole grain fortune cookie Wednesday, Feb. 24: Sloppy nachos, romaine salad, whole grain cookie Thursday, Feb. 25: Chicken fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, corn, whole grain dinner roll Friday, Feb. 26: Whole grain grilled cheese sandwich, tomato soup, fresh veggie medley, whole grain peanut butter bar Monday, Feb. 29: Whole grain soft tacos, shredded lettuce and cheese, topping choices, refried beans, tater tots * White, strawberry and chocolate milk, and fruit and veggie bar, served daily. >> FILLMORE CENTRAL Monday, Feb. 22: Chicken sandwich, fries, green beans, banana Tuesday, Feb. 23: Chicken fajita, lettuce, oranges, cookie Wednesday, Feb. 24: Deli sandwich, chips, lettuce, mixed fruit Thursday, Feb. 25: Ham, mashed potatoes, corn, pears, Rice Krispie bar Friday, Feb. 26: Tuna and noodles (middle school), fish sandwich (elementary and high schools), fries, baked beans, peaches Monday, Feb. 29: Chicken tenders, baked beans, California blend vegetables, applesauce * Salad bar, fruit, vegetables, milk served daily. >> HEARTLAND Monday, Feb. 22: Chili, cinnamon rolls Tuesday, Feb. 23: Hamburgers, fries, slushies Wednesday, Feb. 24: Mini corndogs, baked beans, steamed broccoli Thursday, Feb. 25: Steak fingers, mashed potatoes and gravy, dinner roll Friday, Feb. 26: Fish sticks, tater tots, green beans Monday, Feb. 29: Sloppy joes, fries, slushies * Milk and fruit/veggie bar served daily. >> MCCOOL Monday, Feb. 22: Cheesy shells and hamburger, green beans, fruit, bread slice Tuesday, Feb. 23: Chicken nuggets, peas, fruit, bread slice Wednesday, Feb. 24: Crispitos, corn, fruit, bread Thursday, Feb. 25: Pork patty, mashed potatoes with gravy, carrots, fruit, dinner roll Friday, Feb. 26: Macaroni and cheese, lettuce salad, fruit, dinner roll * Milk and salad bar choices offered daily. >> NEBRASKA LUTHERAN Lunch menu Monday, Feb. 22: Lasagna, bread, refried beans, peaches Tuesday, Feb. 23: Pork roast, bread, carrots, applesauce Wednesday, Feb. 24: Chicken noodle soup, roll, peas, mixed fruit Thursday, Feb. 25: Spaghetti, bread, corn, apricots Friday, Feb. 26: No school Supper menu Monday, Feb. 22: Chicken nuggets, ranch wedge, vanilla pudding with vanilla wafers Tuesday, Feb. 23: Beef quesadillas, fruit, butterscotch marshmallow brownie Wednesday, Feb. 24: Corndog, corn casserole, fruit Thursday, Feb. 25: Cooks choice Friday, Feb. 26: Spring break * Salad bar is served with all lunches. Milk and bread are served with all meals. >> ST. JOSEPHS CATHOLIC SCHOOL Monday, Feb. 15: General Tsos chicken with brown rice Tuesday, Feb. 23: Beef Tex-Mex boat Wednesday, Feb. 24: Chili, cinnamon roll Thursday, Feb. 25: Beef burrito bar Friday, Feb. 26: Cheese squares with marinara sauce Monday, Feb. 29: Roasted turkey with mashed potatoes and vegetables * Students in grades 1-8 have choices daily of the entree, yogurt and a side, or chef salad. Fruits and vegetables are offered daily. White, chocolate and strawberry milk are offered daily. Breakfast is also being offered each morning. >> ST. PAUL LUTHERAN Monday, Feb. 22: Barbecued pork on whole grain buns Tuesday, Feb. 23: Potato buffet Wednesday, Feb. 24: Chicken, whole grain buns Thursday, Feb. 25: Lasagna Friday, Feb. 26: Sloppy joes on whole grain buns Monday, Feb. 29: Pork rib patty on whole grain bun * Fruit and vegetable bar, along with milk, served daily >> YORK ELEMENTARY Monday, Feb. 22: No school Tuesday, Feb. 23: Soft shell tacos or hot ham and cheese sandwich, chili lime corn, carnival cookie Wednesday, Feb. 24: Breaded beef patty or crispy chicken nuggets, mashed potatoes and gravy Thursday, Feb. 25: Homestyle chicken ranch pasta with bread stick or mini corndogs, green beans sugar cookie Friday, Feb. 26: Sloppy joe or pizza, barbecued beans Monday, Feb. 29: Homestyle chicken stew over fresh baked biscuits or cheeseburger, mixed vegetables * Unlimited fruit/vegetable choices, milk offered daily >> YORK MIDDLE SCHOOL Monday, Feb. 22: No school Tuesday, Feb. 23: Sloppy joe or pizza, barbecued beans Wednesday, Feb. 24: Breaded beef patty or crispy chicken nuggets, mashed potatoes with gravy Thursday, Feb. 25: Homestyle chicken ranch pasta with bread stick or mini corndogs, green beans, sugar cookie Friday, Feb. 26: Soft shell tacos or hot ham and cheese sandwich, chili lime corn, carnival cookies Monday, Feb. 29: Homestyle chicken stew over fresh baked biscuits or cheeseburger, mixed vegetables * Unlimited fruits, vegetables, and milk offered daily. >> YORK HIGH SCHOOL Monday, Feb. 22: Homestyle cheeseburger soup with dinner roll or crispy chicken sandwich, peas Tuesday, Feb. 23: Sloppy joe or pizza, barbecued beans Wednesday, Feb. 24: Breaded beef patty with dinner roll or chicken nuggets with dinner roll, mashed potatoes and gravy Thursday, Feb. 25: Homestyle chicken ranch pasta and bread stick or mini corndogs, green beans, sugar cookie Friday, Feb. 26: Soft shell tacos or hot ham and cheese sandwich, chili lime corn, carnival cookie Monday, Feb. 29: Homestyle chicken stew over fresh baked biscuits or cheeseburger, mixed vegetables * Unlimited fruits, vegetables, and milk offered daily. >> YORK HIGH SCHOOL CRUISIN CAFE Monday, Feb. 22: Bosco stick with marinara or meat and cheese burrito, potato salad, Baked Eagle Crisps Tuesday, Feb. 23: Italian meatball sub or pizza, Baked Lays chips Wednesday, Feb. 24: Golden crispy chicken sandwich or hot Hawaiian flatbread, baked beans, Baked Lays chips Thursday, Feb. 25: Bacon cheeseburger or popcorn chicken, Baked Eagle Crisps Friday, Feb. 26: Cheeseburger sliders or chicken nuggets, Baked Eagle crisps Monday, Feb. 29: Italian chicken sub or quarter pound hot dog, potato salad, Baked Lays chips * This menu is offered in addition/as an alternative to the menu shared with the middle school, for students to grab and go. Meals include fruit choices, fresh vegetables with dips, milk choices and Sunny Delight The following are questions asked recently on the Wonderline: Q: Is it legal, in the city of York, for someone to raise a considerable number of large pythons in their basement, as well as rats in their garage (to feed to the pythons)? A: There is nothing in the citys municipal code that specifically addresses such a situation or other situations pertaining to the raising of exotic animals such as this. However, if there is an issue of these animals getting loose or causing problems, neighbors do have the option of calling the police department to ask for assistance or for them to investigate. Q: I am confused about the upcoming Democratic caucus that will take place in March. Does the caucus determine this states Democrats preference for presidential candidate or does the Primary Election determine that? A: Leaders from the Nebraska Democratic Party explain that while it is very important to go to the polls during the Primary Election for local races and issues, the Primary Election will not determine the presidential choice among Nebraska Democrats but the caucus will. So the Primary Election, for Democrats, has no bearing on the Nebraska preference . . . Democrats who want to participate in that process will have to participate in the caucus. Q: I recently saw a copy of a very old menu from the McCloud Hotel in York. In the menu, they list English plum pudding with hard sauce. What on earth is hard sauce? I have never heard of it. A: Hard sauce is actually a soft, spoonable topping meant to be plopped onto the top of warm desserts. It has a butter base, so when it hits a warm dessert, it melts and runs down the sides. One main ingredient is that it contains alcohol typically whiskey, brandy or rum. The ingredients include soft butter, powdered sugar and alcohol. Q: This past week, there was a committee hearing at the state legislature about a bill that would require high school students to pass a civics test, in which the questions would be from the U.S. Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services naturalization test. My question is what kind of questions are on this test? Ive heard some say the test is very difficult, some say the test is quite easy. Can you give us some sample questions (and provide the answers as well)? A: Here is a selection of questions from the naturalization test they are multiple choice questions. The Nebraska News Service went through the test and provided some of these, as a lot of people (like this reader) in the state do not know what is on that test. Why does the flag have 13 stripes? A. Because the stripes represent the members of the Second Continental Congress. B. Because the stripes represent the number of signatures on the U.S. Constitution. C. Because it was considered lucky to have 13 stripes on a flag. D. Because the stripes represent the original colonies. Answer: D. What is one responsibility that is only for U.S. citizens? A. Be respectful of others. B. Pay taxes. C. Serve on a jury. D. Obey the law. Answer: C. Under our Constitution, some powers belong to the states. What is one power of the states? A. Provide schooling and education. B. Coin or print money. C. Make treaties. D. Create an army. Answer: A. Name one right only for U.S. citizens. A. Run for federal office. B. Freedom of speech. C. Attend public school. D. Freedom of religion. Answer: A. What did Martin Luther King Jr. do? A. Became a U.S. senator. B. Fought for womens suffrage. C. Ran for president of the United States. D. Fought for civil rights. Answer: D. There are four amendments to the Constitution about who can vote. Describe one of them. A. Only citizens with a job can vote. B. Citizens by birth only can vote. C. Citizens 17 and older can vote. D. Citizens 18 and older can vote. Answer: D. Who wrote the Declaration of Independence? A: Thomas Jefferson. B. George Washington. C. James Madison. D. Abraham Lincoln. Answer: A. Who vetoes bills? A. The speaker of the house. B. The president pro tempore. C. The vice-president. D. The president. Answer: D. What happened at the Constitutional Convention? A: The Constitution was written. B. The Virginia Declaration of Rights was written. C. The Declaration of Independence was written. D. The Emancipation Proclamation was written. Answer: A. Why do some states have more representatives than other states? A: Because of the states location. B. Because the states representatives have seniority in the House of Representatives. C. Because of the geographical size of the state. D. Because of the states population. Answer: D. What are two ways Americans can participate in their democracy? A. Vote and join a civic group. B. Write to a newspaper and call senators and representatives. C. Given an elected official your opinion on an issue and join a community group. D. All of the above. Answer: D. How many U.S. Senators are there? A. 100. B. 435. C. 50. D. 52. Answer: A. How old do citizens have to be to vote for president? A. 35 and older. B. 18 and older. C. 16 and older. D. 21 and older. Answer: B. The House of Representatives has how many voting members? A. 100. B. 200. C. 435. D. 441. Answer: C. How many justices are on the Supreme Court? A: 10. B. 9. C. 12. D. 11. Answer: B. Q: Is there really a secret vault at Mount Rushmore? A: This appears to be the case but its not necessarily secret, although it cannot be accessed by visitors because of its tricky location on the mountain. According to Forbes Magazine, Mount Rushmore sculpter Gutzon Borglum had big dreams and they included a mountainside series of granite tableaus that would retell significant events in American history. When he realized that neither the budget or the mountain would accommodate that vision, Borglum instead created a plan for a Hall of Records. Unfortunately, he died before it could be completed. The project didnt go with him, however, because in 1998 the National Parks Services ensured that the Hall of Records became the home of porcelain copies of the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights, and the story of the nation. It was all sealed in a titanium box, then buried behind a 1,200-pound granite capstone. Q: What is the intent of the new mountain lion license plates that will be available in our state? A: Nebraska lawmakers passed the bill to create special mountain lion license plates that would raise money for youth wildlife education. The plates would require a $5 fee. Revenue from the plates would go to a state program that educates youth about conservation. Sen. Ernie Chambers says he introduced the proposal because of the publics interest in preserving the mountain lion population. New Delhi: As water supply may be "significantly affected in Delhi in next one-two days due to Jat protest in Haryana, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday directed Delhi Jal Board (DJB) to approach Supreme Court immediately seeking urgent hearing over the crisis. Delhi Water Minister Kapil Mishra today held an emergency meeting with DJB officials and decided to rationalise water supply till the situation is normal. Mishra said that protestors have broken gates of Munak canal due to which water supply will be affected across the national capital. "The Delhi CM has directed DJB to approach the apex court immediately to seek an urgent hearing as water crises may prevail if supply is not made normal at the earliest," said a senior government official. Kejriwal talked to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and his Haryana counterpart M L Khattar to discuss the situation. "Spoke to Haryana CM. He has assured that he will immediately send army to ensure safety of munak canal(sic)," Kejriwal tweeted. In another tweet, Kejriwal said, "Am worried about impact of Jat agitation on Delhi esp Delhi's water supply. Sought time from Rajnath ji". "Have spoken to HM about Munal canal crisis. He has assured me to direct Army Chief and do the needful to avoid water crisis in Delhi," Deputy CM Manish Sisodia also tweeted. Fresh incidents of violence were today reported in Haryana as the Jat stir for quota intensified with protestors torching a railway station in Jind even as the Army conducted a flag march in two curfew-bound districts and used helicopters to reach parts of the blocked Rohtak district. As the violence by Jat protestors demanding quota continued unabated, Chief Minister Manohar Khattar issued a fresh appeal to the people to maintain peace. New Delhi: TERI's executive Vice Chairman R K Pachauri, facing sexual harassment charges by a former woman colleague, has "deliberately" violated travel conditions imposed on him by overstaying abroad, a Delhi court has said while forfeiting his surety bond. The court ordered that the surety bond of Rs four lakh, furnished by Pachauri as a condition for being allowed to travel abroad be forfeited and the amount deposited by Monday. "In these circumstances, it is clear that accused has deliberately and unilaterally extended the liberty granted to him. Thus, it is a clear case of violation of terms and conditions, subject to which, the accused was permitted to travel abroad vide order dated February 15," Metropolitan Magistrate Shivani Chauhan said. The court said Pachauri has failed to return to India as per schedule from Sharjah, where he had gone to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award on February 16, and there was nothing on record to show that the schedule of the event was changed at the last minute. "The accused failed to return back to India on scheduled date and time and thus violated the condition imposed upon him by the court," it said. "There is nothing on record to show that the scheduled award ceremony was indeed changed at the very last minute. There is no document or other material on record to support this contention of the accused," the court said, taking a stern view. The court had on February 15 granted permission to Pachauri to go to Sharjah from February 16 to 18 where he was to be conferred the award. However on February 18, Pachauri moved an application submitting that due to a change in the schedule of the award ceremony, he had to extend his trip by one day and would be arriving on February 19 instead. The court, while refusing to consider his submission, said Pachauri had not sought permission to extend the trip in view of an order of a sessions court binding him to seek nod of the court each time he went abroad. "It is hereby clarified that accused had not sought permission to extend the trip in view of the order dated March 21, 2015, passed by the Additional Sessions Judge," it said. Since the FIR against him was registered on February 13 last year, Pachauri has been allowed at least nine times to travel abroad, including to the USA, UK, China, Japan, France, Kazakhstan, Bolivia, Kuwait, Somalia and Saudi Arabia. The FIR was registered on charges of sexual harassment under IPC sections 354, 354(a), 354(d) (molestation) and 506 (criminal intimidation). "The organisation of any award ceremony entails a lot of planning and logistics. Participation of several guests and other dignitaries is also involved. Any rescheduling of such an event would entail extensive pre-planning and arrangements in advance," the court said in its order. The court said it appeared that the accused had unilaterally sought to bypass the directions passed by the court of the ASJ without any justification and without seeking prior permission of the court. "This court, as well as the accused, are bound by the directions passed by the ASJ," it said. "In these circumstances, surety bonds furnished by the accused at the time of his travel stand forfeited. The surety is directed to deposit the forfeited amount of Rs 4 lakh on or before the next date," the court said, while asking Pachauri to comply with the directions by February 22. Pachauri had obtained permission from the court to travel to Sharjah till February 18 and later attend a meeting with the Secretary General of Geneva-based World Meteorological Organisation from February 22 to 26. The court had allowed him to travel as per his itinerary subject to furnishing of one local surety of Rs 4 lakh. It had noted the submission of the Investigative Officer that the probe in the matter was complete and charge sheet is likely to be filed soon. Surat: Incarcerated Patel quota stir spearhead Hardik Patel, on a hunger strike since Thursday, has been admitted to a hospital after he complained of weakness and dizziness. The 22-year-old, who launched his indefinite fast in Lajpore Jail here, was late last night shifted to the prison ward of Civil Hospital where he is fine now, a health official said today. "Hardik Patel was brought late last night from Lajpor Jail and admitted to the prison ward of Civil Hospital," Superintendent of Surat Civil Hospital Mahesh Vadel said. "He had complained of weakness and dizziness. We conducted various tests on him and he is found to be OK. His treatment is going on in the hospital," Vadel said. "On our advice he has started taking water," he said. Hardik, lodged in the jail since September in two sedition cases, is leading an agitation demanding reservation for Patels in government jobs and educational institutes under OBC category. The surprise move of hunger strike by Hardik three days back came at a time when his close aides have expressed willingness to hold talks with Gujarat's BJP government to resolve the quota issue, which had led to violent protests. Three of Hardik's close aides - Ketan Patel, Chirag Patel and Dinesh Bambhaniya - who are also behind bars in sedition case, wrote a letter to Chief Minister Anandiben Patel on Wednesday and expressed willingness to hold talks. Since the letter did not have the signature of Hardik, speculation is rife that the youth leader felt betrayed by his own associates and decided to undertake indefinite fast. Meanwhile, Health Minister Nitin Patel today said the government is working hard to resolve the issue of quota for Patels, a politically powerful community. A committee of community leaders has been formed with the support of members from PAAS and SPG, the groups which are in forefront of the agitation, to work out a compromise formula, he said. Chandigarh: With the Jat agitation showing no signs of let up, the BJP government in Haryana on Saturday said it has "accepted" the demands of the community which is seeking quota under OBC category. Appealing to protesters to end their stir, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar in a statement here this afternoon asked agitators to "return to their homes as the Government has accepted their demands", but did not elaborate. After an all-party meeting here yesterday, the Chief Minister had said "a way will be worked out to give reservation to Jats." Jats have been demanding quota in jobs and educational institutions under OBC category. The agitators today demanded a "written assurance from the government", saying they "cannot be befooled with hollow promises every time". As the Jat protest turned violent leading to the death of one person yesterday and spread to various parts of the state, Khattar today said nothing can be gained by damaging public property. "No one will be benefited by damaging public property. Therefore, those agitating and the youth should maintain peace in the state," he said. He also urged people not to be swayed by rumours. The Haryana CM also said the state government does not agree with the reported statements of BJP MP Raj Kumar Saini who had opposed any quota to Jats. "No one should make such a statement which adversely affects the feeling of brotherhood," Khattar said. Notably, Jats are miffed at the opposition of Kurukshetra MP Saini to Jat reservation. He had objected to giving reservation to Jats and had even threatened to resign if the OBC quota is affected. Army personnel could not enter Rohtak through road as protesters had put up blockades on Delhi, Hissar, Rohtak, and Fazilka highways, forcing the authorities to airdrop them from helicopters, an official said. In other incidents of arson and violence, vehicles were set on fire at Safidon (Jind) and a government office building set ablaze in Beri in Rohtak district. A private college was vandalized in Bhiwani and the private security guard beaten up, police said, adding that an Ayurvedic dispensary was also set on fire. A government vehicle was set on fire in Jhajjar district, a police Station in Uchana (Jind) vandalized by a mob, a motor cycle and two buses set ablaze in Kalayat (Kaithal) in Gohana (Jind) respectively. A convoy of army, moving towards Rohtak from Hissar, was stranded near Madankheri subdivision late last night for an hour as protesting Jats had "dug up" a stretch of road as part of their pro-quota agitation. Army personnel then repaired the road and moved on towards their destination. Normal life was crippled in Rohtak, the epicentre of the ongoing agitation, and Bhiwani in the wake of violence which broke out yesterday during the stir, and many other parts of the state with rail and road traffic hit, and shops and commercial establishment and schools remaining closed. Sporadic incidents of violence and arson were reported at several places overnight despite authorities imposing curfew. Haryana government had yesterday called the Army in nine districts while curfew was imposed in two districts along with shoot-at-sight orders after one person died and several others were injured during the Jat stir which turned violent with mobs resorting to widespread arson. The Centre has also rushed 3,300 personnel of paramilitary forces to control the rampaging mob. Agitating Jats squatted on the rail tracks in Gurgaon district today, affecting movement of trains. A Jat protester in Gurgaon said community members want a "written assurance from the government this time. We cannot be befooled with hollow promises every time". He said Jats did not believe in violence and it was "anti-social" elements who were indulging in such acts to defame the community and to derail their agitation. Governor Kaptan Singh Solanki had to cancel his function in Gurgaon today, where he was to address a group of women, with an official saying the decision was taken in view of the situation prevailing in the state. Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar earlier in the day made an appeal to the people to maintain peace and harmony. "I appeal to all my fellow Haryanvis to maintain law & order in the State, and ensure that harmony is maintained in society," he tweeted. Khattar had recently held talks with Jat and Khap leaders here, but these failed to bear fruit as the protesters remained adamant on their main demand of OBC quota in government jobs and rejected his announcement of enhancement of the quota of reservation for Economically Backward Classes in the state from 10 to 20 per cent. Chandigarh: Situation in Haryana continues to remain tense on Saturday a day after violence erupted in several parts of the BJP-ruled state after the Jat community continued its agitation for reservation in government jobs and educational institutions. At least three people have been killed and over 25 injured in the violence so far prompting the government to issue shoot-at-sight orders and imposing curfew in several areas. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday chaired a meeting at his residence to review the situation in Haryana, which was attended by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi. As per reports, Army had been called in nine districts of Haryana and curfew imposed in two most affected districts - Rohtak and Bhiwani. Authorities clamped curfew and issued "shoot-at-sight" orders in the worst-affected Rohtak and Bhiwani districts on Friday evening. Out of the three deaths reported so far, one person was killed when Border Security Force personnel opened fire in self-defence after being fired upon by a mob. Two other people succumbed to their injuries in hospital after police fired on rampaging mobs. The injured included a BSF trooper. The unruly mob indulged in arson. A mall in Rohtak town was looted, reports said. A gun house was also looted and a toll plaza was set on fire near Rohtak while another one was damaged near Sampla. Haryana Director General of Police YP Singhal told media in Chandigarh that the army has been sought for Rohtak, Jhajjar, Sonipat, Panipat, Jind, Kaithal, Bhiwani and Hisar districts. "... The chief secretary spoke to the Army chief. The CM (Manohar Lal Khattar) has spoken to Defence Minister (Manohar Parrikar). The effort is to deploy the Army as soon as possible to control the situation," he said. The injured were taken to the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences in Rohtak, 75 km from Delhi, police said. He said that a mob attacked a Haryana Police officer and other policemen near the Maharishi Dayanand University gate and held the hostage and more forces had to be sent to rescue them. "A leaderless mob is moving through Rohtak town. They came near the Circuit House and damaged the vehicle of the deputy inspector general of police and two other police vehicles and set on fire another police vehicle," Singhal said. The mob attacked the office of the DIG, and set the house of Finance Minister Abhimanyu on fire. At some places in the town, black smoke could be seen coming out of property set on fire by the agitators, who even manhandled media persons at some places. "We are trying to stop the mob," the police chief said, adding that three companies of paramilitary forces were already stationed and 30 more companies would be deployed soon. Jat leader Hawa Singg Sangwan said that the youth have taken over the agitation. "They do not have any organised leader and hence the violence is happening. Some mischievous elements have infiltrated the mobs," he said. The authorities have also blocked Internet and SMS services in the affected districts. Thousands of trucks, carrying supplies and goods, were stranded in the affected districts due to highways and roads being blocked. Over 40 trains including express trains like Kalka-Delhi Shatabdi Express, Pashchim Express and others were cancelled by railway authorities across Haryana on Friday as the agitation escalated. In Gurgaon, Jat protestors blocked roads, leading to traffic jams and chaos in the city, adjoining the national capital. Life continued to be affected in most parts of Rohtak, Jhajjar Sonipat, Bhiwani, Jind, Hisar and some other districts as the agitation by Jats for reservation in jobs and educational institutions continued for the sixth day on Friday. The protestors have also blocked railway tracks. Hundreds of railway passengers were stranded as protestors blocked the Delhi-Ambala-Amritsar railway track at Rajlu Garhi village in Sonipat on Friday evening. The stir escalated even as the Haryana government called an all-party meeting in Chandigarh to discuss the reservation issue and the Jat protests. The meeting urged the protestors to end their agitation and remove blockades. Jat leaders however rejected the appeal. After the all-party meeting, Khattar said that his government was "in favour of reservation for Jats in the state and is trying to find out ways and means for the same". Referring to statements of BJP's Kurukshetra MP Raj Kumar Saini, who is opposed to reservation for Jats, Khattar said he had been asked to withdraw his statement. Security had been tightened at Saini's house in Kurukshetra town. Agriculture Minister OP Dhankar meanwhile said in Gurgaon that the state government was ready to give special backward class quota to the Jats. Rohtak/Chandigarh: Situation in Haryana continues to remain tense with escalated violence in several areas claiming eight lives so far and the state government deploying more forces with the help of Centre to bring back normalcy after the agitating Jat leaders rejected Chief Minister ML Khattars appeal for peace. Refusing to call off the quota agitation, several Jat leaders demanded the Haryana government to promulgate an ordinance to include the community in the OBC category if it wanted peace and normalcy in the state. The response came after CM Khattar released a statement saying that his government has "accepted" their demands, but did not elaborate. The leaders also demanded that a compensation of Rs 50 lakh be given to the kin of the person killed in firing on Friday and a government job to one of his family members. All India Jat Aarakshan Sangarsh Samiti's national president Yashapal Malik said, "We will not withdraw our agitation unless the state government brings an ordinance for giving reservation to Jats. Meanwhile, hooligans set on fire government and private property and vehicles, blocking roads and highways, disrupting trains and uprooting tracks and indulging in looting on Saturday. Curfew was imposed in Hisar, Sonipat and Jind towns after violence. Violence was also reported from Kaithal. The death toll in the violence in past 36 hours has reached eight with over 100 people being injured. One person was killed when soldiers opened fire on an unruly mob in Jhajjar. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and NSA Ajit Doval discussed the deteriorating law and order situation in the state in New Delhi. While Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar appealed to protestors to stop the violence and his party BJP invited them to hold talks with the party's central leadership, his predecessor Bhupinder Singh Hooda, of the Congress, said that he would start a hunger strike at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi from Sunday till the situation normalised. The Indian Air Force conducted around 50 sorties on Saturday deploying Army columns in Haryana, where the agitation by Jat protestors is escalating. The sorties were carried out throughout the night. Meanwhile, 13 army columns reached the site earlier on Saturday and assisted the administration in controlling the situation and 10 more columns were airlifted to respective destinations. 10 companies of para-military forces reached the area and 23 more companies were on their way to Haryana. Protesters set several buses on fire in the Gohana bus stand in Sonipat district, 210 km from Chandigarh. Mobs set a police station in Meham town on fire. A police station and a railway station was set on fire in Jind district, a 'dharamshala' (free hostelry) was set on fire in Jhajjar and buses were set on fire in Julana and Kaithal towns. Buildings of revenue departments were also set on fire at some places. The toll plaza on the Panipat-Rohtak highway was also set on fire by mobs, while protesters uprooted the Delhi-Ambala railway track at Rajlu Garhi in Panipat district, disrupting the crucial rail line which connects Delhi with north India and leaving hundreds of passengers stranded. Nearly 550 trains were either cancelled or diverted since the agitation began. The Vita milk plant was set on fire in Rohtak and scores of shops were set afire in the town. Curfew continued in Rohtak, Bhiwani and Jhajjar towns on Saturday but the violence did not stop. Haryana Director General of Police YP Singhal said that 129 cases have so far been registered against agitators and claimed that the situation improved on Saturday compared to Friday. The agitation began as Jats demanded reservation for the community in government jobs and educational institutions. New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday expressed concern over the ongoing Jat agitation in Haryana and discussed the issue with Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar. The Delhi chief minister had said in a tweet that he is worried about water supply to the national capital. Later, in a series of tweets, Kejriwal said both Singh and Khattar have assured him that the army is being sent to Munak canal, which supplies water to south Delhi. "Spoke to Rajnath ji also and apprised him of grave situation. He has assured that army is being sent to Munak canal," the Delhi chief minister tweeted. Kejriwal also spoke to Khattar, who gave a similar assurance. "He (Khattar) has assured that he will immediately send army to ensure safety of Munak canal," Kejriwal said. Haryana has been on boil with Jat community agitating demanding reservations in government jobs and educational institutions. In worst hit Rohtak, looting and arson continued in the town through Friday night with unruly mobs targeting malls, shops and other buildings and many of them were set on fire. Kolkata: Amid reports of discontent among some Left Front partners apprehensive of getting a lower share of seats following a probable Left-Congress tie-up in the coming West Bengal assembly polls, Left Front chairman Biman Bose on Saturday said all allies have to be prepared for sacrifices. "All Left Front partners need to make sacrifices, and yes, the CPI -M (Communist Party of India -Marxist which spearheads the LF) has to make the biggest sacrifices," Bose said. With the CPI-M and other LF constituents beginning the process to identify seats which each constituent would contest in the coming polls, there have been reports of some partners unwilling to let go a portion of their share of seats to the Congress in case the LF-Congress tie up becomes a reality. In a meeting on February 11, all LF constituents had given the stamp of approval on holding alliance talks with the Congress, but put the ball on the Congress court, saying it has to approach the combine first with the proposal. Meanwhile, Trinamool Congress supremo and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee dismissed the possible alliance at a party meeting and exuded confidence of returning to power. "She told the meeting that she is not at all bothered about the tie up. She said Trinamool would emerge victorious irrespective of whether the LF and the Congress comes together or not. She also said the party would win on the weight of the tremendous development work that the state has seen over the past five years," said a Trinamool leader present at a meeting of the elected representatives and organisational functionaries of the party`s Kolkata district body. Virtually clearing the decks for its first-ever tactical electoral tie up with the Congress in West Bengal, the CPI-M on Thursday sought the cooperation of all democratic forces to defeat the ruling Trinamool in the coming state assembly polls. While CPI-M secretary Sitaram Yechury refused to be very specific keeping in mind the concerns of the Kerala party unit, which would have to take on the ruling Congress as its arch-rival in the assembly polls scheduled to be held around the same time as in West Bengal, another CPI-M central committee member Gautam Deb emphatically said his party was eyeing a tie up with the Congress. Soon after, the state Congress leaders welcomed the CPI-M`s stand and said "the grassroot workers of the two parties have already formed an alliance on the ground". With the polls months away, the state leaderships of both the CPI-M and the Congress have been pitching for a joint fight against the Trinamool. On February 1, a majority of state Congress leaders conveyed to the party vice president Rahul Gandhi their desire to team up with the CPI-M. Congress president Sonia Gandhi will take the final decision on on the possible tie-up. A number of state Congress leaders have already flown to Delhi to impress upon the high command the need to formalise the pact without delay. New Delhi: The Delhi police on Saturday issued a look out circular (LOC) against three JNU students who are suspected to be a part of the group responsible for allegedly raising anti-national slogans on the university campus on February 9. The Delhi Police has written to the concerned authorities at all the immigration checkposts in the country to trace the absconding accused. Several teams, including the Delhi Police Special Cell, have joined the search for the students and have started questioning close friends of the students. Accrording to reports, the police have also collected call detail records (CDR) from the mobile phones of the three students. The police have arrested JNU students union president Kanhaiya Kumar, who is presently in judicial custody in Tihar jail. Police have so far recorded statements of 17 eyewitnesses, including university students, JNU security staff and staff members in this regard. New Delhi: The Haryana Government must find a solution through talks on the Jat reservation row and not indulge in petty politics, said former state chief minister BS Hooda on Saturday. "The situation isn`t good for the state. I appeal to everyone that it should be a peaceful protest. There shouldn`t be any loss of life and property," Hooda told ANI. "I request the protestors to ensure peace and safety. I also request the government to expedite the decision on this regard. This scale of agitation is unprecedented. We never overhauled the reservation system, rather we tweaked the reservation. The time has come to protect our state and not indulge in petty politics," he added. Union Rural Development Minister Chaudhary Birender Singh said in a democracy it is the right of every person and community to demand their rights. "Three protestors died in the protest and many are injured. There are various ways to protest. However, when the protest turns violent, a negative perception is created in the public," he added. He further appealed to the people of Haryana as well as to the Jat community to maintain peace and brotherhood. "Solution can come only through talks. The people of Haryana have always led a peaceful life. I believe there will be a solution to the issue if the government and the protestors talk on it," he said. Earlier, Jat agitators set fire to the Budha Khera station master`s office. The station master was not present at the scene, but it has been learnt that signal panel (which indicates railway traffic) has been destroyed in the fire. The train services have been badly hit in the state in the wake of the pro-reservation agitation. Passenger trains going from Delhi to Haryana, Rajasthan, Punjab and Jammu have been affected. Meanwhile, the army and para-military personell have also been called in eight districts of the state after one person was killed and 21 injured in police action as the Jat protest for quota turned violent. The rampaging mobs set ablaze the state finance minister`s house besides several government and private properties. Protesters also took some police personnel captive besides going on a rampage at many places including Rohtak, Jhajjar and Hansi, targeting police and private vehicles, buildings housing offices. New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today held comprehensive talks with his Nepalese counterpart KP Sharma Oli, who is on a six-day visit here, during which a range of issues of mutual interest, including trade and political situation in Nepal, figured. In his first overseas trip after assuming charge of the top office in October last year, Oli, accompanied by a 77-member delegation, arrived here yesterday afternoon with a major focus on mending ties hit by issues relating to the Himalayan nation's new Constitution. External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup tweeted, "Stepping forward into the future. PM @narendramodi welcomes PM KP Sharma Oli at Hyderabad House", along with a picture of the two leaders. Modi and Oli reviewed the entire gamut of bilateral relationship during the talks. Earlier, Oli was accorded a ceremonial welcome at Rashtrapati Bhavan where Modi was also present. Before the PM-level talks, Swaraj called on Oli, during which he conveyed to her that Nepal is and will remain a "reliable" friend of India. Official sources said Oli told Swaraj that he wants to "move forward in the relationship which is not man-made but entirely natural and civilizational." Swaraj said the visit will deepen the trust between the two countries. Kota: Enraged over dowry demands, a 24-year-old woman called off her marriage to a government teacher scheduled for next week. Bharti Yadav alias Pinki, a resident of Faithapura village, called off her marriage with Shambu Dayal scheduled on February 22 after he and his family demanded a car as dowry in Baran city, Shriram Badesara, SHO, Sadar police station said. According to the complaint filed by Bharti on Thursday, Shambu and his maternal grandfather, Kanayalal threatened to call off the marriage if they were not given a car as dowry. They further forced the bride's family to sign a legal document stating that they would give the car six months after the marriage as Bharti's father expressed his inability to give such an expensive gift, Badesara said. Bharti was engaged to Shambu on Feb 15 and her parents had given them a motorbike and jewellery as gifts after the engagement. A case has been under various sections of IPC has been registered following the complaint. Badesara said that a notice has been sent to the family and their statements have been recorded. Mumbai: While underworld don Dawood Ibrahim continues to live in hiding, his nephew Sohail Kaskar has been arrested by the US authorities for narco-terrorism. According to a ToI report, Sohail Kaskar, 36, has been arrested for conspiring to commit narco-terrorism, provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization and unlawfully sell missile launching systems. Sohail Kaskar has been linked with Colombia's FARC terrorist group. As per report, Sohail and two Pakistani nationals were arrested by the US's dreaded Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in December 2015 after extradition from Spain, but Dawoods henchmen used all their might and money power to suppress the news to save Dawood's "international image" from getting tarnished. Sohail, alias Ali Danish, is Dawood's deceased younger brother Noora's older son. Report also quoted sources as saying that Dawood has engaged a top lawyer for Sohail, who, if convicted, can face a maximum sentence of life in jail and a mandatory minim-um term of 25 years in prison. The lawyer, Tom Keniff, is representing him in the Manhattan federal court, which charged him in December 2015 for supplying surface to-air missiles to FARC and for bringing drugs, mainly heroin, into the US from Pakistan. Srinagar: Security forces resumed the counter operations in Jammu and Kashmirs Pampore in the wee hours on Sunday to flush out at least three terrorists believed to be holed up in the area. An Army officer, identified as Captain Pawan Kumar, was killed in the ensuing encounter with militants at Pampore in South Kashmir shortly after the operation resumed. Earlier, three CRPF troopers and a civilian were killed and at least 10 other people including civilians injured in a fierce gunfight between militants and security forces in South Kashmir on Saturday. The gunfight ensued after the militants attacked a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) bus on the Jammu-Srinagar highway and then entered a training institute located nearby. "Militants attacked a CRPF bus on the Jammu-Srinagar highway near Pampore town in Pulwama district today (Saturday) evening," a senior police officer was quoted as saying by IANS. "Eleven CRPF troopers travelling in the bus were injured in the attack. Three of the injured troopers identified as head constable GD Bhola Prasad of the 144 Battalion, constable-driver RK Raina of the 79 Battalion and one more succumbed to their injuries while other injured are being treated in the hospital," he added. Among those injured are Constable Rakesh Kumar, Constable Kanhaiya, Constable Sanjeev Kamania, Head Constable Muneem, Constable Thakur, Constable Raju Thakur, Constable Baruna Thakur, Constable J Negi and Parma Thakur, as per news agency ANI. After attacking the CRPF bus, the militants believed to be three in number, entered the multi-storeyed Jammu and Kashmir Entrepreneurship Development Institute (JKEDI) building situated close to the highway when more than 150 trainees and staff members were present inside, the official said. "Security forces surrounded the building and focused on safe evacuation of the civilians while engaging the holed-up militants in sustained exchange of gunfire. So far, 150 trainees and staff members have been safely evacuated. "After we make sure there are no civilians inside the complex, the final assault against the holed-up militants will be launched," the official said. A civilian identified as Abdul Ghani Mir, a gardener at the JKEDI, was also injured in the shooting and succumbed in hospital, Meanwhile, civilian protesters took to the highway at Kadlibal in Pampore town pelting stones on the passing traffic to stop the movement on the highway. Washington: The aspiration to become astronauts seems to have rocketed in the US as more than 18,300 people applied to join NASAs 2017 astronaut class, far surpassing the previous record of 8,000 in 1978. The number of applications that the agency has received for the 2017 astronaut class is almost three times the number of applications received in 2012 for the most recent astronaut class, NASA said. "Its not at all surprising to me that so many Americans from diverse backgrounds want to personally contribute to blazing the trail on our journey to Mars, said NASA administrator Charlie Bolden in a statement on Friday. "A few exceptionally talented men and women will become the astronauts chosen in this group who will once again launch to space from US soil on American-made spacecraft, Bolden noted. Applications opened on December 14, and closed Thursday, but that is just the beginning of an 18-month process that will end with the selection of 8-14 individuals for the opportunity to become astronaut candidates. NASA hopes to announce its selections in mid-2017. Between now and then, NASAs Astronaut Selection Board will review the applications, assessing each candidates qualifications. The board will then invite the most highly qualified candidates to the agencys Johnson Space Center in Houston for interviews before the final selection is made and the new astronaut candidates report to Johnson for training. After reporting at Johnson, the astronaut candidates will go through about two years of initial training on spacecraft systems, spacewalking skills and teamwork, Russian language and other requisite skills. Those who complete the training will be given technical duties within the Astronaut Office at Johnson before being assigned on any of four different spacecraft: the International Space Station, NASAs Orion spacecraft for deep space exploration, or one of two American-made commercial crew spacecraft currently in development -- Boeings CST-100 Starliner or the SpaceX Crew Dragon, NASA said. Washington: NASA has received a record 18,300 resumes from people keen on becoming astronauts, the US space agency has said. The number of applications for a spot in NASA's 2017 class is almost triple the amount that came in during the last recruitment call for the 2012 class. And it shatters the previous record of 8,000 in 1978. "It's not at all surprising to me that so many Americans from diverse backgrounds want to personally contribute to blazing the trail on our journey to Mars," NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden, a former astronaut, said in a statement yesterday. But only a chosen few will actually see their galactic career goals realized. Over the course of the next year and a half, a selection board will whittle down the applications and invite only the most highly qualified candidates for interviews at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. In the end, a mere eight to 14 lucky individuals will be asked to report for training. NASA expects to announce its new class in mid-2017. The timeframe for submitting applications opened on December 14 and closed Thursday, with the space agency taking to social media to get the word out. Training for the chosen candidates includes a focus on spacewalking and teamwork, as well as some command of Russian language. Those who make it through will be given technical duties at Johnson's Astronaut Office. They will then be assigned to the International Space Station, the Orion spacecraft for deep space exploration or one of two commercial crew spacecraft currently in development -- SpaceX's Dragon crew capsule and Boeing's CST-100 Starliner. With the American spaceflight program grounded since 2011 when the space shuttle was retired, NASA's current active corps currently comprises 47 members, down from 149 in 2000 at the peak of the space shuttle era. In its call for recruits, NASA encouraged pilots, engineers and other scientists to apply. Qualified candidates need to be US citizens and have at least a bachelor's degree in engineering, science, computer science or math, as well as three years of professional experience or at least 1,000 hours of pilot-in-command time in jet aircraft. They also have to be physically fit and pass a "NASA long-duration astronaut physical." More than 300 people have been hired as NASA astronauts since the US space agency's first corps of seven was selected in 1959 as part of Project Mercury, which sent men into orbit around the Earth. "A few exceptionally talented men and women will become the astronauts chosen in this group who will once again launch to space from US soil on American-made spacecraft," Bolden said. (AFP)NASA sees record number of astronaut applications Washington, Feb 20 (AFP) NASA has received a record 18,300 resumes from people keen on becoming astronauts, the US space agency has said. The number of applications for a spot in NASA's 2017 class is almost triple the amount that came in during the last recruitment call for the 2012 class. And it shatters the previous record of 8,000 in 1978. "It's not at all surprising to me that so many Americans from diverse backgrounds want to personally contribute to blazing the trail on our journey to Mars," NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden, a former astronaut, said in a statement yesterday. But only a chosen few will actually see their galactic career goals realised. Over the course of the next year and a half, a selection board will whittle down the applications and invite only the most highly qualified candidates for interviews at the Johnson Space Centre in Houston, Texas. In the end, a mere eight to 14 lucky individuals will be asked to report for training. NASA expects to announce its new class in mid-2017. The time frame for submitting applications opened on December 14 and closed Thursday, with the space agency taking to social media to get the word out. Training for the chosen candidates includes a focus on spacewalking and teamwork, as well as some command of Russian language. Those who make it through will be given technical duties at Johnson's Astronaut Office. They will then be assigned to the International Space Station, the Orion spacecraft for deep space exploration or one of two commercial crew spacecraft currently in development -- SpaceX's Dragon crew capsule and Boeing's CST-100 Starliner. With the American spaceflight program grounded since 2011 when the space shuttle was retired, NASA's current active corps currently comprises 47 members, down from 149 in 2000 at the peak of the space shuttle era. In its call for recruits, NASA encouraged pilots, engineers and other scientists to apply. Qualified candidates need to be US citizens and have at least a bachelor's degree in engineering, science, computer science or math, as well as three years of professional experience or at least 1,000 hours of pilot-in-command time in jet aircraft. They also have to be physically fit and pass a "NASA long-duration astronaut physical." More than 300 people have been hired as NASA astronauts since the US space agency's first corps of seven was selected in 1959 as part of Project Mercury, which sent men into orbit around the Earth. "A few exceptionally talented men and women will become the astronauts chosen in this group who will once again launch to space from US soil on American-made spacecraft," Bolden said. Zee Media Bureau/Udita Madan New Delhi: If you're a space enthusiast and an art lover, then this one's for you! US space agency NASA is giving an opportunity to all space aficionados to send in their artistic endeavours, which will be sent on a journey aboard NASA's Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) spacecraft. This US mission includes collecting a sample of an asteroid and return it to Earth for study and it will be the first of its kind. Scheduled to launch in September, the OSIRIS-REx will travel to asteroid Bennu. The campaign has been suitably named #WeTheExplorers and invites the public to take part in this mission by expressing, through art, how the missions spirit of exploration is reflected in their own lives. But, what's the point of sending artwork to an asteroid? What purpose does it serve? We're sure this is one question that will be on your mind. Well, this is where it gets interesting. All the submitted works of art will be saved on a chip on the spacecraft. The spacecraft already carries a chip with more than 442,000 names submitted through the 2014 Messages to Bennu campaign. Quoting Jason Dworkin, OSIRIS-REx project scientist at NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, NASA reported that, The development of the spacecraft and instruments has been a hugely creative process, where ultimately the canvas is the machined metal and composites preparing for launch in September. It is fitting that this endeavor can inspire the public to express their creativity to be carried by OSIRIS-REx into space. The spacecraft will voyage to the near-Earth asteroid Bennu to collect a sample of at least 60 grams (2.1 ounces) and return it to Earth for study. Scientists expect Bennu may hold clues to the origin of the solar system and the source of the water and organic molecules that may have made their way to Earth. According to NASA, a submission may take the form of a sketch, photograph, graphic, poem, song, short video or other creative or artistic expression that reflects what it means to be an explorer. Submissions will be accepted via Twitter and Instagram until March 20th. For details on how to include your submission on the mission to Bennu, go to: http://www.asteroidmission.org/WeTheExplorers Aligarh: The Aligarh Muslim University, which has been battling to preserve its character as a minority institution, now finds itself in another controversy - this time over beef. The issue broke out on social media yesterday when a WhatsApp post circulated a report that 'beef biryani' was being served at the AMU Medical College canteen, an allegation promptly denied by the university. The reports spread the impression that it was cow meat and not the meat of buffalo that was being served. A picture of the canteen's menu card also went viral on social media. BJP Mayor Shakuntala Bharti, along with party leaders and several right wing activists, held a demonstration outside the office of Senior Superintendent of Police today, demanding registration of an FIR against the contractor of AMU medical college canteen for serving 'beef biryani'. Police said the matter was still under investigation. As news of the controversy spread, senior AMU officials led by University Proctor M Mohsin Khan rushed to the Medical College canteen and carried out an on-the-spot preliminary check. University spokesperson Rahat Abrar alleged that the incident was a "malicious" attempt to defame the institution, asserting that the beef mentioned in the menu was of buffalo meat. "It is nothing but a malicious propaganda to defame this institution. I can say with confidence that the beef biryani mentioned in the menu card pertains to buffalo meat and there is no iota of evidence to suggest to the contrary," he said. The spokesperson said that according to a preliminary investigation, it was revealed that the contract for the canteen was ending soon and some "vested interests" were eyeing it next, and so were creating a controversy. "The contract for the canteen was ending on February 23. Some vested interests which were eyeing the lucrative contract deliberately floated a malicious rumour suggesting that cow meat was being served," he said. Abrar, however ridiculed the allegations, saying that AMU was one of the first institutions to ban cow meat on campus more than a century ago. "AMU was perhaps the first educational institution of higher learning where beef was banned from being served inside the institution more than a century back." "The founding father of Mohammedan Anglo Oriental College (which became the Aligarh Muslim University in 1920), Sir Syed Ahmad Khan had issued an explicit order in 1884 that not only would no beef be served in any dining room but even sacrifice of cow during Idul Adha was forbidden for all AMU employees," he said. Abrar said Sir Syed took the action as he did not want to hurt sentiments of Hindus and terminated services of an AMU employee in 1884, when he broke this rule. New York: A US Air Force veteran and former airplane mechanic charged with trying to join the Islamic State will be among the first Americans to go on trial as a result of the US government's pursuit of dozens of suspected sympathizers of the militant group. Tairod Nathan Webster Pugh, 48, was stopped at a Turkish airport in January 2015. He told investigators he was just on a vacation, but an indictment alleged that he was carrying 180 jihadist propaganda videos, including one featuring the beheading of an Islamic State prisoner. Later, prosecutors said they found a letter on his computer in which he told his wife he wanted to join the Islamic State. Jury selection in Pugh's trial at a federal court in New York City is scheduled to begin in earnest this week. Pugh has pleaded not guilty to charges that he tried to provide material support to a terrorist group and obstructed justice. The Justice Department said it has pressed criminal charges against more than 70 Islamic State sympathizers, though some published reports have put that figure higher. Karen J. Greenberg, director of the Fordham Law School's Center on National Security, which tracks terrorism cases, said the U.S. Government has charged 78 people in connection with the group. Of those, two dozen have pleaded guilty. Opening statements began last week in Phoenix in the trial of Abdul Malik Abdul Kareem, a moving company owner charged with plotting to attack a Prophet Muhammad cartoon contest in Texas. Authorities said two of Kareem's associates were killed when they brought semiautomatic rifles, bulletproof vests and an Islamic State flag to the event. Kareem's lawyer, blaming the government's "overactive imagination," told jurors Kareem had no knowledge the attack was to occur. Other cases are moving closer to trial, including in Minneapolis, where several members of Minnesota's Somali community are scheduled for trial in May on charges that they plotted to join Islamic State fighters. Another trial scheduled for this month has been put off after charges were upgraded against a 19-year-old in North Carolina accused of killing a neighbor and stealing his money so he could buy an assault rifle to carry out an Islamic State-inspired shooting at a concert or club. Authorities said the Morganton man thought he could kill as many as 1,000 people. Vienna: Austria on Friday introduced a daily cap on asylum-seekers, sparking EU fears of a domino effect along the Balkan migrant trail and a threat from Greece to veto an accord keeping Britain in the bloc. A maximum of 80 migrants per day are now being allowed to claim asylum in Austria, and Vienna is also limiting the daily number of people transiting through to seek asylum elsewhere to 3,200. The arrival of more than a million refugees and migrants in Europe last year has caused a chain reaction of border clampdowns among several member states. As the main gateway into the EU, Greece has been struggling to cope with the new arrivals and fears new restrictions by other members will leave tens of thousands of people stranded on its territory. But EU sources said Greece had reached an informal agreement with Austria to "cooperate better" on migration. Faced with being excluded from the EU`s passport-free Schengen zone, Greece had pinned its hopes on the EU and Turkey firming up a deal to stem the migration flow at a special summit on March 6. "We are asking for a unanimous decision that until March 6, no state will unilaterally close its borders," a Greek government source told AFP Friday before the reform deal was reached. "If not, the Greek government will not approve the conclusion text," the source said. But EU sources said Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras`s concerns eased after meeting with Austrian Chancellor Werner Feymann on the sidelines of an EU summit in Brussels. The pair reached "an agreement to cooperate better" on migration, an EU source told AFP on condition of anonymity. "Tsipras seemed happy with the outcome." Another EU source told AFP that Austria would not close its borders before the EU-Turkey summit. Under a German-backed EU proposal to be discussed in March, Turkey would curb the flow of migrants and then fly refugees to Europe for resettlement in exchange for three billion euros ($3.3 billion). However, central European countries are opposing the resettlement scheme and are instead pushing to seal Greece off from the Schengen zone.Deep rifts within the 28-nation EU have opened in the face of Europe`s biggest migration crisis since World War II. More than 80,000 people -- many of them children -- have endured the perilous journey across the Aegean Sea since January, most fleeing war and violence in Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq. Brussels on Friday clinched a deal to keep Britain from potentially leaving the EU by giving it "special status" in the bloc, including allowing London to limit welfare payments for migrants. But Austria`s move to cap migrant numbers has sparked an angry reaction from Brussels, which called it "incompatible" with EU law. Austria`s Interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner warned on Friday the cap could be lowered even further, saying: "We need to put the brakes on." Following Austria`s tighter measures, Slovenia, Croatia and Serbia have also tightened their borders. Austria announced last month it would only take in 37,500 asylum-seekers this year -- sharply down from the 90,000 it accepted in 2015, making it one of the bloc`s highest recipients on a per-basis capita. Vienna has joined the so-called Visegrad Four (V4) group -- Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic -- in their call for tighter EU controls inside Schengen. Brussels: British Prime Minister David Cameron has sealed a deal for "special status" in the EU after a marathon summit, paving the way for him to campaign to stay in the bloc in a historic referendum. The unanimous agreement came after two days and nights of intense negotiations in Brussels, despite European leaders digging in their heels on all the major reforms Cameron sought. The British premier will hold an emergency cabinet meeting today as he embarks on the difficult process of selling the deal at home ahead of the referendum, expected on June 23. "I've negotiated a deal to give the UK special status in the European Union," Cameron told a press conference. "I will be campaigning with all my heart and soul to persuade the British people to remain in the reformed European Union that we have secured today." He said the deal contained a seven-year "emergency brake" on welfare payments for EU migrants and meant Britain would be "permanently out of ever closer union". While Britain's place in the EU now rests in the hands of the British public, the deal removes one major headache for the bloc as it faces the biggest migration crisis in Europe's history. EU president Donald Tusk - the man who brokered the deal - said the "unanimous" agreement "strengthens Britain's special status in the EU" and was "legally binding and irreversible". German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Europe's most powerful leader, said the accord was a "fair compromise". "I do not think that we gave too much to Great Britain," she said. French President Francois Hollande, meanwhile, insisted that the British deal contained "no exceptions to the rules" of the EU. Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite, the first to break the news of the agreement, tweeted: "Drama over." Yet the drama is only just beginning for Cameron, as he battles eurosceptic members of his own Conservative Party and a hostile popular media. Britain's newspapers went to press shortly before the deal was officially announced, and most of today's editions focussed on the expected announcement that Cameron's long-time ally Michael Gove was to support a "Brexit". The Guardian, Daily Telegraph, and Independent all carried front-page pictures of the former education secretary while the eurosceptic Daily Express ran with headline: "Gove to lead us out of EU. London: UK Independence Party (UKIP) leader Nigel Farage on Friday said the agreement on Prime Minister David Cameron`s demands for EU reforms at a key summit in Brussels was "not worth the paper it`s written on". "This deal that he`s done does not address the fundamental issues that people care about," Farage told an audience of around 1,500 people at a pro-Brexit campaign event in central London. "Dave`s deal is not worth the paper that it`s written on," he told cheering supporters, shortly after news broke that there had been an agreement in Brussels. Some well-known eurosceptic MPs also turned out for the event, as British media reported that justice minister Michael Gove and five other ministers were preparing to pledge support for the "Leave" camp. "This is a historic moment. This is the moment when we fight back," said Bill Cash, a lawmaker and veteran anti-EU campaigner in Cameron`s Conservative Party. "We have gone further and further forward and deeper and deeper into this morass of legislation, this increasingly offensive system which we now have to leave," he told the meeting. Fellow Conservative MP David Davis said it was time for Britain "to take control of its own destiny". The event was organised by the Grassroots Out movement, which unites several anti-EU groups. The BBC and the Independent meanwhile reported that Gove, a close Cameron ally, was preparing to declare his backing for the "Leave" campaign. The Independent said he and at least five other ministers would do the same following a cabinet meeting to be chaired by Cameron on Saturday. Much of the media attention remains on the intentions of Mayor of London Boris Johnson -- a popular politician who has expressed eurosceptic views. Johnson met with Cameron at the prime minister`s 10 Downing Street residence on Wednesday but left saying: "I`ll be back. No deal". Beijing: China says it does not intend to militarise the Nansha Islands in the South China Sea, dismissing US accusations of raising tension in the region, the media reported on Saturday. Hong Lei, a spokesman for China`s foreign affairs ministry, said on Friday that demilitarisation in the region is not a matter for just a single country, the Global Times reported. "There should not be double standards or multi-standards for demilitarisation in the South China Sea, and the process requires joint efforts from countries in the region and beyond," he said. US State Department spokesman John Kirby on Thursday said that commercial satellite imagery suggested "very recent" placement of missiles on Yongxing Island that went against China`s pledge not to militarize the South China Sea, Reuters reported. In response to the accusation, Hong said the US is strengthening military deployment in the South China Sea and frequently sends military vessels or planes to conduct close-in reconnaissance against China. Brussels: David Cameron hailed a landmark deal on Friday he said gave Britain "special status" in the European Union and pledged to campaign heart and soul to stay in the EU at a deeply uncertain referendum expected in June. At a summit that ran into overtime, EU leaders agreed unanimously on a package of measures aimed at keeping Britain in the 28-nation bloc to avoid a potentially disastrous divorce. Their legally binding decision granted Britain an explicit exemption from the founding goal of "ever closer union", offered concessions on the welfare rights of migrant workers and safeguards for the City of London financial centre. The British prime minister said he had achieved all his main negotiating aims and would recommend the agreement to his cabinet on Saturday, firing the starting gun on a fierce referendum campaign on Britain`s future membership of the bloc. "I believe we are stronger, safer and better off inside a reformed European Union," he told a news conference. "And that is why I will be campaigning with all my heart and soul to persuade the British people to remain in the reformed European union that we have secured today." The eurosceptic "Vote Leave" campaign was quick to dismiss what it called "Cameron`s hollow deal" as bad for Britain. Cameron acknowledged that one of his closest political allies, Justice Secretary Michael Gove, would campaign to leave the EU, saying he was disappointed but not surprised. He suggested other Conservatives may also join the "out" camp. He would not officially confirm the expected polling date of June 23 but said he would make an announcement soon. After two days of intense wrangling in Brussels, EU leaders determined to try to keep Britain in the union resolved outstanding disputes over migrant workers` welfare rights and relations between London and the euro zone. "So now the deal is done and its up to the British people to decide," said European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker - the man Cameron tried furiously to block for the top EU executive job, but who played a key role in crafting the deal. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, one of Britain`s strongest allies in Europe, said: "We believe that with this we have given David Cameron a package with which he can campaign in Britain for Britain to stay in the European Union." The agreement delivered victory to Cameron on several of the key demands on which he chose to fight for what he called "a new settlement" with Europe. He won a commitment to change the bloc`s governing treaties in future to recognise that Britain was not bound to any political union and would have safeguards against financial regulation being imposed on the City of London by the euro zone. Facing an uphill political battle at home, Cameron was concerned to show Britons that he had won concessions that he believes can reduce an influx of EU migrant workers and keep Britain out of any future political integration. In hours of wrangling with central and east European countries that provide many of Britain`s low-paid immigrant workers, he secured the right to curb in-work benefits for up to four years and scale back child benefit for workers whose children remain abroad. High stakes East European countries were only partially successful in restricting Cameron`s welfare cuts to new arrivals rather than the more than 1 million European migrant workers already in the UK. In the end, both sides emerged with something to show for their negotiations. The Visegrad Group, comprising Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, said the deal reflected their key demands. A compromise largely favourable to Britain was found for French concerns about differential treatment for London banks outside the euro zone as well as to Belgian grumbles about Britain setting a precedent for states to snub EU integration. Belgium did also secure what EU officials called a "self-destruct" clause whereby that the entire deal would be null and void if Britain votes to leave the EU. That would to preclude any second renegotiation. Cameron was also at pains to dismiss arguments by some British eurosceptics that a "leave" vote would lead to a better deal. "The idea that a vote to leave the European Union would lead to a whole new renegotiation is for the birds," he said. The risks of Cameron`s strategy were highlighted on Friday when an opinion poll showed the campaign to leave the bloc had a two-percent lead with 36 percent support. The TNS poll showed 34 percent of British voters wanted to stay in the bloc, 7 percent would not vote and 23 percent were undecided. But the 49-year-old British leader, a former PR executive, is a formidable campaigner who confounded pollsters and pundits by winning an outright general election victory last year. Perhaps the biggest threat to his campaign could come from charismatic London mayor Boris Johnson, a eurosceptic former Brussels journalist, who has yet to disclose which side he will take in a battle that could also involve Cameron`s succession. Semi-detached Britain is already the EU`s most semi-detached member, having opted out of joining the euro single currency, the Schengen zone of passport-free travel and many areas of police and judicial cooperation. Summit chairman Donald Tusk said Britain had long had a special status inside the bloc. Many leaders said they felt they were at a historic turning point for European integration. No country has ever voted to leave the Union. Britain is the EU`s second-largest economy and one of its two permanent members on the UN Security Council. Its exit would end the vision of the EU as the natural home for European democracies and reverse the continent`s post-World War Two march towards "ever closer union". The EU issue has divided Cameron`s Conservative Party for decades, crippling his 1990s predecessor John Major and bringing down his hero Margaret Thatcher. Britain`s largely eurosceptic press has depicted Cameron as begging or pleading, the Daily Mail describing him as "rattled". "Shambles as embattled PM`s deal is watered down," a front-page headline read over a picture of an anxious-looking Cameron. Fiji declared a nationwide curfew on Saturday, as airlines suspended flights and the prime minister warned people to seek refuge from a cyclone that could prove to be the Pacific island nation`s most powerful on record. After twice hammering outlying islands in nearby Tonga last week, Cyclone Winston re-intensified and began to track west towards Suva, the capital of Fiji, packing winds of 230 km per hour (143 mph), with gusts of up to 325 kph (202 mph). Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama urged Fijians to prepare themselves for a "terrible event", Australian broadcaster ABC reported. "We cannot afford to be complacent," it quoted the prime minister as saying. "And I am especially concerned that some people in urban areas do not appear to have heeded the warnings about the seriousness of the threat." A nationwide curfew has been imposed, the government said on social media website Facebook. "A total public curfew will take effect across the country today from 6.00 p.m.," it added. It issued a list of 758 evacuation centres across the nation of just under 900,000 people. As Fiji`s weather service warned people in the east to "expect very destructive hurricane-force winds," Suva resident Alice Clements said the power had failed just after 5:00 p.m. and she expected water supplies to be hit next. "I have palm trees flying all around me at the moment," Clements, an official with a U.N. agency, told Reuters. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said Winston was following a path that might spare Suva the full force of its winds, rated as category 5, the highest ranking on the hurricane wind scale. "The cyclone has tracked further north than expected over the past 24 hours," the U.N. agency said. Airlines Virgin and Jetstar suspended flights into and out of Fiji`s international airport at Nadi, while the national carrier suspended all flights. Ankara: A Kurdish militant group on Friday claimed the suicide car bomb attack on a military convoy in the Turkish capital Ankara that killed 28 people, threatening new attacks targeting the crucial tourism sector. The Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK), who have been linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), said the attack was revenge for operations by the Turkish military in the southeast of the country and warned foreign tourists not to visit Turkey. "On February 17 in the evening a suicide attack was carried out by a sacrifice warrior on a military convoy of the fascist Turkish Republic in Ankara... The attack was realised by the Immortal Battalion of the TAK," the TAK said in a statement on their website. Wednesday`s attack struck at the heart of Ankara in an area where institutions including the army headquarters and parliament are concentrated. It was one of the deadliest attacks on the Turkish military in recent years. Ankara has insisted that the Syrian Kurdish People`s Protection Units (YPG) and Democratic Union Party (PYD) were behind the attack, although its claims have met with scepticism from chief NATO ally the United States. The YPG and PYD deny accusations from Ankara that they are branches of the PKK and have rejected having any involvement in the attack. The TAK named the suicide bomber as Zinar Raperin born in 1989 in Turkey`s Kurdish-dominated eastern region of Van, who had been involved with the Kurdish "freedom struggle" and since 2011 with the TAK. The TAK`s claim of the bomber`s identity is in contradiction to Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu who said the bomber was a Syrian national YPG operative. In an additional English-language statement the TAK warned it aims to "destroy" tourism in Turkey. "We warn the foreign and native tourists not go to the touristic areas in Turkey. We are not responsible for who will die in the attacks targeting those areas," it said. The TAK is a little-known group which has nonetheless risen to prominence in recent months after it claimed firing mortar shells on Istanbul`s Sabiha Gokcen airport on December 23. The firing left one airport cleaner dead and also damaged several planes. Turkish officials say the TAK is a front for PKK attacks on civilian targets, but the PKK claims TAK is a splinter group over which it has no control. Seoul: North Korea conducted a firing drill on its western coast, hours after observers heard an explosive sound near the frontline island of Baengnyeong, South Korea`s military confirmed on Saturday. The military said North Korea fired artillery "several times" from its western coast, Yonhap news agency reported. The firing, however, did not cross the maritime border in the Yellow Sea, widely known as the Northern Limit Line (NLL), it said. Residents were asked to remain alert for a possible evacuation, while nearby fishing boats were also requested to return to their ports, it added. The military added it will continue to keep a close eye on North Korea, especially at the NLL. There have been no significant moves in the North since the firing, it said. In November 2010, North Korea fired some 170 rounds of artillery at another frontline island of Yeonpyeong, killing two South Korean marines, two civilians and injuring 16 others. Pyongyang`s provocations have continued since early 2016. North Korea conducted what it claimed to be a successful test of an H-bomb on January 6. Earlier this month, it also launched a satellite, which was viewed by many as a cover for testing its intercontinental ballistic missile technology. South Korea closed down the inter-Korean industrial zone in the North Korean border city of Kaesong earlier this month in response to North Korea`s moves. New Delhi: Islamabad on Saturday expressed disappointment after Pakistan High Commissioner to India Abdul Basit was denied permission to visit Chennai by the Ministry of External Affairs.Islamabad conveyed that it was 'unfortunate' that the MEA had still not given clearance for Pakistan diplomats Basit to call on the Governor and Chief Minister Jayalalithaa. Due to lack of knowledge about the status of the permission or clearance regarding his visit, Basit has called off his trip to Chennai." As this is high commissioner's first visit to Chennai he would not like to leave New Delhi amidst uncertainty. Pakistan High Commission is grateful to various organisations who were hosting us and looking forward to exchange of views with the High Commissioner," a statement by the Pakistan High Commission said. Islamabad: A team of Pakistani investigators is likely to visit India next month for collecting evidence relating to alleged involvement of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terrorists in the Pathankot airbase attack, the media reported on Saturday. "The investigation team`s visit is expected," a senior diplomat told Dawn on Friday, adding that dates for the visit were yet to be finalised. The registration of an FIR by the Counter-Terrorism Department of Punjab police on Friday has, however, paved the way for the visit of the six-member investigation team constituted by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif weeks after the attack on the Pathankot Air Force Station, part of the Western Air Command of the Indian Air Force on January 2 that resulted in the death of 14 people - six attackers, seven security personnel and one civilian. The investigation team will visit the site of the attack and collect evidence related to Indian claim that the terrorist strike was planned in Pakistan and executed by a group of four who had crossed the border into Pathankot. The investigators will also meet officials of India`s National Investigating Agency investigating the attack. India, a diplomatic source said, was ready to receive the Pakistani team and facilitate it in investigations. The decision regarding cooperation with Pakistan was taken at a meeting in Delhi presided over by Indian National Security Adviser Ajit Doval in which issues relating to the visit of the Pakistani team were discussed. Jerusalem: The sniper barrel juts out of the ancient wall above Jerusalem`s Damascus Gate, pointing down towards a young Palestinian being searched by Israeli policemen. A key tourist site and one of the entrances to the Old City, the massive white stone gate has become a backdrop for the violence between Israel and Palestinians that erupted almost five months ago. Israeli policemen line the courtyard beneath the gate, which is flanked by two towers and was built in the 16th century by Suleiman the Magnificent. Snipers have positioned themselves on nearby roofs and new surveillance cameras have been set up beside dozens of others already installed. Trees that once cast shade over green areas nearby have been cut back or even uprooted to give the cameras a clear view. Damascus Gate, one of seven historic gates in the city, leads into Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem. A web of alleyways where Palestinians, Israelis and tourists cross path lie beyond the gate, which also leads toward Al-Aqsa mosque compound, the Western Wall and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. But the gate`s history has been overshadowed by deadly violence in recent months. On Friday, a 20-year-old Palestinian stabbed and wounded two policemen outside Damascus Gate before they shot him dead. And on February 3, three young Palestinians from the nearby occupied West Bank killed an 19-year-old Israeli policewoman before they were shot dead. Since October 1, Palestinian knife, gun and car-ramming attacks have taken the lives of 27 Israelis, an American and an Eritrean, according to an AFP count.Most of the assailants have been teenagers or young men and women, and recent security checks have focused on that age group. Near Damascus Gate, three policemen conduct a body search on a young man, who stands legs and arms apart against the wall. One policeman points his gun to his head while his two colleagues keep an eye on their surroundings. The young man is patted down thoroughly from head to toe and asked to remove his shoes. His backpack is emptied of all its items, one by one. His identity papers are checked. Only then is he allowed on his way. "I live in the Old City so I have to go through this every single day," says the young man who asked to remain anonymous. "It`s really annoying," he adds, his face visibly tense. A little further on, Bassem Zidan, 29, says: "Sometimes they check us ten times every two metres" (yards). "Sometimes, the searches have no security justification. It`s just provocation. It depends on the soldiers` mood." "Before, I used to refuse that they search me in public and they`d take me aside to a police station," he adds. But "now I don`t dare anymore, I`m too scared they`ll kill me in cold blood, now they have a ready-made accusation to kill us." Around him, women and school students open up their handbags and school bags to have them checked with the security forces` guns pointed at them. Earlier this month, the Israeli parliament passed a law authorising the police to stop and search "any person appearing to be reasonably suspicious" as long as they agree to the search. But at Damascus Gate, journalists did not hear policemen ask for the consent of the young people they were searching. New York: Western powers on Friday rejected a Russian bid at the United Nations to halt Turkey`s military actions in Syria, as France warned of a dangerous escalation in the nearly five-year conflict. The emergency Security Council meeting came as US Secretary of State John Kerry cautioned there was "a lot more work to do" for a ceasefire to take hold in Syria, following talks in Geneva between American and Russian officials. Meanwhile, President Barack Obama, in a phone call with Turkey`s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, urged the Ankara government and Kurdish YPG forces to "show reciprocal restraint" in northern Syria. The elusive truce was meant to begin Friday, but failed to materialise as fighting raged in Syria with Kurdish-led forces backed by US-led air power seizing a key town from the Islamic State group. Russia, which has been carrying out air strikes in support of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad`s forces, has urged the UN to press Turkey to halt its shelling of Kurdish forces in the country`s north. Moscow presented a draft resolution that "strongly demands" an immediate end to cross-border shellings and plans -- supported by Turkey -- for foreign ground intervention in Syria. But the text failed to garner support from key council members with at least six countries including veto-wielding France and the United States rejecting it outright during a closed-door meeting, diplomats said. US Ambassador Samantha Power accused Moscow of trying to "distract the world" from its air campaign in support of the Syrian regime and urged it to abide by UN resolutions supporting a peace process. "Russia must understand that its unconditional support to Bashar al-Assad is a dead-end and a dead-end that could be extremely dangerous," French Ambassador Francois Delattre said. "We are facing a dangerous military escalation that could easily get out of control and lead us to uncharted territory," he said. Turkey is pressing for a joint ground operation in Syria with its international allies, insisting it is the only way to stop the war. Turkish Ambassador Yasar Halit Cevik said his country was facing "national security threats emanating from Syria" in reference to the Kurdish militias it is targeting in the country`s north. Amid the surge in fighting, UN peace envoy Staffan de Mistura said a new round of peace talks scheduled for February 25 was unlikely.In his call with Erdogan, Obama stressed that Kurdish YPG forces "should not seek to exploit circumstances in this area to seize additional territory, and urged Turkey to show reciprocal restraint by ceasing artillery strikes in the area," a White House statement said. Obama, in an apparent reference to Russia, also "urgently called for a halt to actions that heighten tensions with Turkey and with moderate opposition forces in northern Syria, and undermine our collective efforts in northern Syria to degrade and defeat ISIL." French President Francois Hollande said Ankara`s escalating involvement in the conflict was creating a risk of war between Turkey and Russia. "Turkey is involved in Syria... There, there is a risk of war," Hollande told France Inter radio. On the ground, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) alliance -- which groups the powerful Kurdish People`s Protection Units (YPG) and smaller Arab groups -- seized the northeastern town of Al-Shadadi from IS, with backing from US-led air strikes, a monitor and Kurdish sources said. Al-Shadadi was the largest town controlled by IS in Hasake province, and the defeat extends earlier losses for the jihadists there. SDF forces earlier seized a nearby oilfield from IS and cut the routes from Al-Shadadi to Mosul in neighboring Iraq as well as IS`s de facto Syrian capital Raqa. The SDF began a new operation in Hasakeh on Tuesday, following major advances by its forces in northern Aleppo province, where it has seized territory from Syrian rebel groups. Its advances in Aleppo have angered Turkey, which says the YPG is the Syrian affiliate of the Kurdistan Workers` Party (PKK), an outlawed group that has waged a decades-long insurgency against Ankara. Turkey has carried out nearly a week of shelling against SDF positions in Aleppo, intensifying its fire Friday and expanding it to target the Kurdish town of Afrin, where two civilians were killed, the Observatory said. Ankara fears the SDF advance in Aleppo province is intended to connect Kurdish-held areas in northern and northeastern Syria, creating an autonomous Kurdish region along much of its southern border.On Friday, Erdogan repeated accusations that the YPG was behind a Wednesday bombing in Ankara that killed 28 people. The YPG denied the charges. However the little-known Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK), a group linked to the PKK, claimed responsibility, saying it was revenge for military operations in southeast Turkey. The group warned foreign tourists not to visit the country. The PKK says the TAK is a splinter group over which it has no control. The TAK rose to prominence after it claimed that it fired mortar shells on Istanbul`s Sabiha Gokcen airport on December 23. Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Jubeir meanwhile raised the prospect that Syrian rebels could be supplied with surface-to-air missiles, though he said it was not a decision Riyadh would take alone. Syria`s conflict is now approaching its sixth year, with more than 260,000 people killed and half the population displaced. Beirut: A key Syria opposition umbrella group on Saturday said it would agree a temporary truce proposed by world powers on several conditions, including that regime allies Russia and Iran halt fire. In a statement, the High Negotiations Committee (HNC) also made its acceptance of the so-called "cessation of hostilities" conditional on the lifting of sieges and the delivery of humanitarian aid. "The rebel factions agreed in principle on the possibility of reaching a temporary ceasefire provided it is done with international mediation and with guarantees obliging Russia, Iran and their sectarian militias and mercenaries to stop fighting," HNC chief Riad Hijab said in a statement. The HNC is an umbrella group of political opposition bodies and rebel factions that was formed to participate in negotiations with the regime that collapsed earlier this month. After the talks fell apart, world powers last week proposed a ceasefire as part of a plan that also included expanded humanitarian access. The truce was meant to have gone into effect by Friday, but little progress has so far been made towards even a temporary halt to the fighting, which has only intensified in recent days. The statement, issued after a meeting of the HNC, said the opposition "wants to respond positively to international efforts to stop the Syrian bloodbath". "But... there will not be a truce unless fighting stops simultaneously on the part of all the belligerents, sieges are lifted, humanitarian aid is delivered to those in need, and prisoners, particularly women and children, are released," it said. Regime backer Russia and opposition supporter Washington are meant to be co-chairing a UN panel that is working on the modalities of the temporary truce. Officials from the two sides met for talks on the issue on Friday, but no official plan has been laid out, nor has a start date been proposed for a truce. In recent days, fighting has intensified in Syria, particularly in northern Aleppo province, where rebel forces have lost ground to both regime forces backed by Russian air power and a Kurdish-led coalition called the Syrian Democratic Forces. Syria`s conflict is now approaching its sixth year, after beginning with anti-government protests in March 2011. It now involves an array of groups including moderate and Islamist rebels, jihadists from Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra Front and the Islamic State group, the Kurds, and regime forces backed by Russia and Iran and Lebanon`s Hezbollah movement. More than 260,000 people have been killed in the conflict, and half the country`s population has been displaced. Islamabad: Militants said Saturday they had blown up a girls' school in Pakistan's restive northwest, the latest in a string of attacks on educational institutions. There were no casualties, but the bomb destroyed three out of five classrooms of the government girls` primary school in Tiarza village of tribal South Waziristan, a local security official told AFP. Azam Tariq, a spokesman for the "Sajna" arm of the Pakistani Taliban, claimed responsibility for the attack, saying the school had been targeted because it was run by the military and the group was opposed to female education. Tariq told AFP that militants captured 18 people including school security guards and labourers before planting the explosive, but later released them. Since 2002, when the army moved into northwestern tribal areas to fight the Taliban, militants have blown up hundreds of schools. Pakistan`s army stepped up its offensive in the region after the Taliban`s massacre of 153 people, mostly school children, in Peshawar in December 2014, and killed or pushed hundreds of militants to Afghanistan. Last month Taliban gunmen stormed a university in the northwestern town of Charsadda, killing 21 people in a chilling reminder of their ongoing ability to carry out occasional high-profile and brazen attacks. Overall, levels of militant-linked violence have dropped dramatically, with 2015 seeing the fewest deaths among civilians and security forces since 2007 -- the year the Pakistani Taliban umbrella group was formed. But the threat posed by the Taliban remains, particularly in the northwest. Separately in the region on Saturday, Pakistani security forces killed at least five militants in a gunfight, the military said. Troops encountered the militants near Ghalanai, the main town of Mohmand, one of the seven tribal districts bordering Afghanistan which have been home to Al-Qaeda and Taliban-led militants. "Five terrorists were killed by security forces in Mohmand early morning today," a military statement said. The clash comes after Taliban militants killed at least nine policemen in two almost simultaneous attacks in Mohmand on Wednesday. Pakistan's Islamist insurgency began after the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, which led to a spillover of militants across the border and a surge in recruitment for Pakistani extremist groups. Warsaw: A right-wing Polish magazine cover emblazoned with the headline "The Islamic rape of Europe" triggered a storm of criticism on social media on Thursday, with some comments comparing it to World War II fascist propaganda. The cover of the news weekly "wSieci" (In the net) showed a posed photo of a blue-eyed blonde woman, wrapped in an EU flag, looking terrified as she is groped by hairy-armed men. The magazine said the cover referred to a rash of sexual assaults against hundreds of women, allegedly by men of North African and Arab origin, during New Year's Eve celebrations in the German city of Cologne. But the publication drew fierce criticism on Twitter, with one user comparing it to what they described as a World War II-era Italian fascist propaganda poster vilifying Africans. Another Twitter user said the "sick cover" was fear-mongering. "'Islamic rape of Europe', screams Polish magazine. They obviously forget Nazi depictions of Poles in the 1930s," said one Twitter user. "w Sieci" makes no secret of its support for the Poland's new right-wing Law and Justice (PiS) government. At the end of 2015, it had a circulation of 76,000, a decline of 1.16 percent over 2014, according to the specialist website press.pl. In the category of news weeklies, it lay a distant third, with the top-selling title, Newsweek Polska, selling 120,000. The populist PiS won an unprecedented majority in October's General Election campaigning, among others, on an anti-migrant platform. Party leader and ex-premier Jaroslaw Kaczynski played up migrant fears before election day by claiming refugees were bringing "cholera to the Greek islands, dysentery to Vienna, various types of parasites" in comments that critics said recalled the Nazi era. The PiS government been among the staunchest opponents of an European Union quota plan to distribute refugees across the bloc. Surveys show a majority of Poles share this view. Washington: Washington's elite put political differences aside as thousands gathered to pay final respects to US Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, whose death last week ignited a fierce battle over his successor. Vice President Joe Biden and the court's Chief Justice John Roberts led a distinguished group of officials, dignitaries and family friends in attendance at the funeral mass yesterday at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. Scalia died a week ago of an apparent heart attack at age 79 while on a hunting trip in Texas. It was the first funeral for a sitting member of the US high court since 2005, when Chief Justice William Rehnquist died. Scalia -- a conservative icon -- was a devout and tradition-bound Catholic. Cardinal Donald Wuerl, the archbishop of Washington, called him "an extraordinary man." His death plunged the Supreme Court into uncertainty, leaving what had been a conservative-dominated body evenly divided in a year of blockbuster cases -- on abortion, affirmative action, immigration and President Barack Obama's health care law. It also set off an epic election-year battle over Scalia's successor, whose appointment could tip the body to a liberal majority with the potential to reshape American life far into the future. Thousands of mourners filled the pews at the vast Romanesque-Byzantine basilica, the country's largest Catholic church -- where Pope Francis celebrated a mass in September. Dozens of white-robed priests were on hand -- so laughter ensued when Wuerl said that Scalia had expressed a desire for a "simple parish family mass." The mass was led by one of the justice's nine children, Paul Scalia, who is a priest in nearby Arlington, Virginia. Four other sons served as pallbearers. While the late justice preferred traditional Latin masses, his own was mostly in English. In words that to many seemed to refer to his father, Paul Scalia said: "We are gathered here because of one man. A man known personally to many of us, known only by reputation to even more, a man loved by many, scorned by others, a man known for great controversy, and for great compassion." He paused, then added, "That man, of course, is Jesus of Nazareth." It was because of Jesus, he went on, that "in confidence we commend Antonin Scalia to the mercy of God." Michael Hayden sure does love him some drone-killing. In a New York Times opinion piece titled "Drone Warfare: Precise, Effective, Imperfect," the former head of the National Security Agency celebrates the joy of wiping people out from a distance. Do innocent men, women, and children routinely get murdered by an errant strike? Sure, says Hayden. "Civilians have died, but in my firm opinion, the death toll from terrorist attacks would have been much higher if we had not taken action." But here is the bottom line: It works. I think it fair to say that the targeted killing program has been the most precise and effective application of firepower in the history of armed conflict. It disrupted terrorist plots and reduced the original Qaeda organization along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border to a shell of its former self. And that was well before Osama bin Laden was killed in 2011. Drone Warfare: Precise, Effective, Imperfect [nytimes] By Ayesha Rascoe WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama cannot select the most liberal possible candidate for the U.S. Supreme Court and should seek a "consensus" pick who could attract Republican support, Vice President Joe Biden said on Thursday. A fierce political fight is brewing as the Democratic president prepares to name a successor to conservative Justice Antonin Scalia, who died on Saturday. Obama's nominee could change the court's balance of power. Scalia's death left it with four conservative and four liberal justices. Many Republicans, led by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, have said the seat should remain vacant until Obama's successor takes office next January so voters can have a say in the selection when they choose a new president in the Nov. 8 election. "The Senate gets to have a say," Biden, a former senator, told Minnesota Public Radio in an interview broadcast on Thursday. "In order to get this done, the president is not going to be able to go out, nor would it be his instinct anyway, to pick the most liberal jurist in the nation and put them on the court." The Senate, whose Republican majority would be unlikely to embrace any selection seen as particularly liberal, must confirm nominees picked for lifetime appointments to the nation's highest court. "There are plenty of judges who are on high courts already who have had unanimous support of the Republicans. This should be someone who, in fact, is a consensus and whereby we can generate enough support to get a person passed," Biden said. Biden said Obama "has allowed me to be a partner" in the process of finding a nominee. White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters Obama would draw on Biden's perspective, noting the vice president had served as Senate Judiciary Committee chairman and presided over confirmation hearings for past Supreme Court nominees. Those included the contentious 1991 hearings for Justice Clarence Thomas. 'GET ON WITH IT' Separately, retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, the first woman to serve on the court and a nominee of Republican President Ronald Reagan, took issue with Republicans who are demanding that Obama's successor pick the person to fill Scalia's vacancy. "I don't agree," O'Connor, 85, told an Arizona television station. "We need somebody in there to do the job - and just get on with it." Some Republican senators have urged their leaders to at least allow the customary Judiciary Committee confirmation hearings to proceed on any Obama nominee. "I do believe that the nominee should get a hearing," Senator Lisa Murkowski told reporters in her home state of Alaska on Wednesday. She added, "That doesn't necessarily mean that ends up in a vote" by the Senate to confirm the nominee. Senators Dean Heller of Nevada and Thom Tillis of North Carolina this week also indicated support for allowing the Senate to consider Obama's nominee. Obama will not attend Scalia's funeral on Saturday, a decision that provoked criticism from some conservatives. Earnest rebuked critics who he said "want to use the funeral of the Supreme Court justice as some sort of political cudgel." Earnest noted Obama would pay his respects by going to the Supreme Court building on Friday when Scalia's body will be lying in repose, and Biden would represent the Obama administration at the funeral. Obama's presence at public events requires a massive retinue of Secret Service agents and security measures, while Biden's "security footprint" is a little bit lighter, Earnest said, noting the White House had sought a "respectful arrangement." A CBS News poll and a Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll showed Americans closely split along partisan lines on whether Obama should name Scalia's successor. (Additional reporting by Roberta Rampton, Lawrence Hurley, Richard Cowan and John Whitesides; Writing by Will Dunham; Editing by Bernadette Baum and Howard Goller) By Tim Hepher SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Bombardier is in talks with more potential buyers including United Airlines after winning a lifeline $3.8 billion order for its struggling CSeries jet from Air Canada , its sales chief said on Thursday. Visibly relieved after landing the first tentative CSeries order in 16 months, and the first from a top flag carrier since 2011, Bombardier basked in attention at the Singapore Airshow as larger rivals drifted home with a handful of orders. Bombardier announced the 45-aircraft order in Montreal on Wednesday, sending its shares up as much as 30 percent and overshadowing plans to cut 7,000 jobs. "The competition has been fierce but the fact is, CSeries is a reality," said Colin Bole, senior vice president for sales and asset management at Bombardier Commercial Aircraft. "It can no longer be dismissed as an orphan aircraft (as) we have heard from our competitors. It is there, it has customers and customers will draw customers," he said in interview. Once finalised, the deal will leave Bombardier 12 planes short of its target of 300 firm orders by the time the delayed CSeries enters service, due in the second quarter. That goal has long appeared elusive as Bombardier met delays, technical problems and nervous buyers. It remains in talks with United Airlines after losing a recent contest there to Boeing , Bole said. It is talking to other major U.S. carriers and has its sights on another win before the Farnborough Airshow in July. "I certainly hope so...it is the goal," Bole said, asked about getting a new deal by the UK show, adding "we have a number of transactions close to finalization." NO SLAM DUNK Bole said it was too early to say how the Air Canada deal would be financed but dismissed suggestions by some analysts that it marked hidden support from the Canadian government. "There is no government subsidy or funding whatsoever. It is a perfectly normal commercial deal," he said. "I can assure you Air Canada is no slam-dunk customer." Bombardier's home win follows a tough four-way competition against Airbus, Boeing and Brazil's Embraer, each of which have aircraft in Air Canada's portfolio. It reflects a planned assault by a team of former leasing executives brought in by Bombardier to reinvigorate marketing. "It has been tough. We were always confident.. but it was a matter of getting out of the starting blocks and I think this is exactly it," Bole said. Although announced elsewhere, it effectively made Bombardier the clear air show winner, but analysts said it would not remove challenges for a plane which has struggled to break into the main jet market dominated by bigger players. The 110-130-seat CSeries sits between the 106-seat Embraer 195 and the main 150-160 seat models of Airbus and Boeing. Critics say the CSeries is undersized but Bombardier says it is addressing a gap in the market deliberately played down by Airbus and Boeing, which make better margins as airlines trade up. "Airbus and Boeing have been pretty successful in brainwashing airlines to think they need larger aircraft," Bole said. While insisting jet markets remain robust, he said Bombardier could benefit from any downturn because it would encourage airlines to buy less risky, smaller models. But Airbus and Boeing say the market has voted in favor of their upgraded narrowbody models, selling in the thousands. Bole said the CSeries was not suffering engine problems seen on the Airbus A320neo, even though they share similar engines from Pratt & Whitney . Criticism of Pratt & Whitney from Qatar Airways dominated this week's air show, but the engine maker said current teething problems were being resolved. (Reporting by Tim Hepher; editing by Adrian Croft) BEIJING (Reuters) - China attaches high importance to a case involving the Madrid arrest of five directors of its largest bank by assets, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) <601398.SS> <1398.HK>, a Chinese foreign ministry official said on Friday. The arrests followed a police raid on the lender's office in the Spanish capital as part of a probe into alleged money laundering, Europol has said. Liu Haixing, assistant foreign minister, met Jose Luis Garcia Galan of the Spanish embassy on Friday, the Foreign Ministry said in a brief statement on its website. Liu asked that Spain protect the rights and interests of Chinese firms and citizens there and handle the case in accordance with the law, the ministry said. A Beijing-based spokesman for ICBC has said its Madrid branch was cooperating with the investigation. The Spanish embassy in Beijing did not immediately respond to telephone calls from Reuters to seek comment on the details of the meeting. China's large state-owned lenders have been dogged by allegations of improper conduct as they expand abroad. The probe into ICBC by police, the Spanish tax agency and Europol involves funds handled by a criminal group that the Interior Ministry says passed through the bank and were transferred to China. (Reporting by Megha Rajagopalan; Editing by Clarence Fernandez) Rumble The idea of making cheese at home can be really intimidating. Cheese feels like something you have to buy at the store or the farmer's market. But not anymore, you can make fresh cheese at home with four simple ingredients: whole milk, lime juice, apple cider vinegar and sea salt. Queso Fresco translates from Spanish is "fresh cheese." It has its roots in Spain but has been popularized by Mexican food culture. It's mild taste is a perfect canvas to bold build flavour profile. This video shows you how to make Queso Fresco three different ways: sweet, savoury and spicy. Bon Appetit! check out my first novel. https://www.amazon.co.uk/KAT-Matthew-... Whole milk 2L - 3.5 pints Lime 1 large Vinegar 120ml - 1/2 cup - 4fl oz Salt 2 tbsp Heat the milk gently to 77c - 170f, squeeze in the lime juice and stir with a slotted spoon. Keep heating to 87c - 190f and add the vinegar. Turn off the heat and stir occasionally for 15 minutes, strain into cheese cloth sitting in a sieve or colander and leave to drain for between 30 minutes and 2 hours. The cheese remaining will be quite firm, turn into a bowl and beat with a fork or your hand with the salt for a few minutes to create a smoother mixture. Muy caliente chopped pickled chilli pepper, garlic, hot sauce and coriander Honey and rosemary Basil and sun-dried tomato (fresh and puree) Armed wildlife rangers are hunting for lions in a residential area of Nairobi after they walked out of a nearby national park. Parents were warned to keep their children indoors. "Lions are dangerous wild animals. Avoid provoking the lions by confronting them," Kenya Wildlife Service spokesman Paul Udoto said. Six lions were initially believed to have left the park on the outskirts of the city. A number were seen at 4am near a hospital in the suburb of Langata, and also near the slum neighbourhood of Kibera. Several of them have since returned to the park. "Glad to report that lioness and cub safely back into the park," Mr Udoto tweeted. "Two others suspected to have made their way back before daybreak." It is not clear whether any other big cats remain in the Kenyan capital. The wildlife rangers are working with vets armed with dart guns. Senior Warden Nelly Pameris told reporters: "As of now we don't actually know where these two are. They could have actually gone back, all of them. "They are very intelligent animals. "We are going to comb all that bush today using any resources that we have to ensure all the lions that are in that bush are captured." It is not clear how the powerful animals got out of the park, most of which is surrounded by an electric fence. Nairobi National Park is spread across 45 square miles, and is home to endangered black rhino, lions, leopards, cheetahs, hyenas, buffaloes, giraffes and various species of birds. Its northern tip is just six miles from downtown Nairobi. Lions have occasionally clashed with people on the southern side, which is not fenced. Six lions were killed in 2012 after they attacked some goats belonging to Maasai herdsmen. There are only about 2,000 lions left in Kenya after years of hunting and poaching. Chris Morris has proved himself to be England's nemesis once again as South Africa won a thrilling first T20I in Cape Town by three wickets. Morris' 62 from 38 balls in the preceding ODI encounters helped the Proteas level a series they would go on to win 3-2, and his 17no from seven deliveries at Newlands scraped South Africa past England's total of 134-8 off the final ball. Reece Topley fumbled a chance to run out Kyle Abbott at the non-striker's end as the hosts scampered through for the match-sealing two, but England will really be ruing their under-par display with the bat, as they lost five wickets for 29 runs in the middle overs after being derailed by Imran Tahir (4-21). Alex Hales (27), who was buoyed by five fifties and a ton in his previous six knocks, and Jason Roy (15) gave England a rip-roaring start, blasting 38 for the first wicket within four overs before Roy skewed a slower ball from recent Kent signing Kagiso Rabada to midwicket. JP Duminy then atoned for dropping Hales at deep midwicket on 24 by catching the opener at deep fine leg off Tahir, despite being accidentally rugby tackled by Rabada in the process. Joe Root (8) soon picked out point, with Ben Stokes (11) then stumped by AB de Villiers - standing in as wicketkeeper for the rested Quinton de Kock - having drilled Tahir for six and four off his preceding two balls. Tahir continued to bamboozle England, dismissing the out-of-sorts Eoin Morgan (10) and Moeen Ali (0) from successive deliveries in the 13th over, and coming close to bowling Jordan through the gate with the hat-trick ball. Jordan helped Jos Buttler (32no from 30) lift England above 100, but Abbott's wickets of the Sussex player (15) and Adil Rashid (2) ensured Morgan's men set the lowest total batting first in a T20I at Newlands, David Willey (6no) with Buttler at the death. Willey's contribution with the bat was quickly erased as the hosts amassed eight runs from his first two balls, four leg byes followed by Hashim Amla clipping the left-armer off his pads and to the fence. Story continues De Villiers, though, top-edged Jordan to Hales in the fifth over and Amla was caught sharply at mid-on by Willey an over later, having been shelled on 14 by Buttler. Faf du Plessis (25) and Duminy (23) propelled the Proteas to 76-2 in the 13th over, but when the batsmen, who added 41 for the third wicket, each lashed to long-on, South Africa's innings began to unravel. Jordan (3-23) returned to snare Rilee Rossouw (18) and David Miller (13), complete career-best figures and leave the home side needing 15 from the last over - which they managed thanks to Morris' six and four and that madcap finale. WARSAW (Reuters) - Poland's Lech Walesa, who shot to world fame for his role in the collapse of communism, promised on Thursday to defend himself in court against new allegations that he collaborated with the communist-era secret services. The state history institute said it had confirmed as genuine some documents offered to it by the widow of a communist interior minister suggesting Walesa, ex-leader of the Solidarity union movement that brought down communism in Poland, had been an informant of the communist regime in the 1970s. "The personal file contains an envelope and in it there is a manually written commitment to collaborate with the secret service signed: Lech Walesa "Bolek"," said a spokesman for the institute. Walesa, 72, immediately issued a statement saying he signed no such commitment and suggested it was forged. "I will prove it in court," he wrote in a blog. Deputy Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said earlier this week "Walesa has an agent's past, of course he does. For the last 27 years I not only suspected this but was almost sure". Walesa years ago acknowledged signing a commitment to be an informant for Communist Poland's security organs but insisted he never did anything to carry it out. A special court exonerated him in 2000, saying it found no proof of collaboration. The Institute of National Remembrance is close to the ruling Law and Justice party (PiS) and the new allegations against Walesa surfaced two months after he accused the conservative nationalist party of acting to undermine Polish democracy since winning an election majority in October. PiS leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski is a former senior Solidarity official but he and Walesa have long been at loggerheads. Their conflict dates to 1990 when Walesa, soon after being elected president, dismissed Jaroslaw and his late twin brother, Lech, from positions in his office. Jaroslaw Kaczynski has since maintained that Walesa was once a communist collaborator. Tensions rose in December when Walesa, who won the Nobel Peace Prize for his Solidarity leadership and retains influence on public opinion in Poland, called for early elections to head off what he said was a threat to democracy posed by PiS policy. Poland overthrew communism in 1989. Walesa served as president from 1990 to 1995 and Poland joined the EU in 2004. Last month, the EU began an unprecedented inquiry into whether the PiS government has breached EU rule-of-law standards by passing laws that critics said rein in the constitutional court and public media. On Feb. 4, legislation was passed to heighten the government's surveillance powers. (Reporting by Agnieszka Barteczko; Editing by Mark Heinrich) Rumble This video shows the incredible behaviour of a caring mother elephant on high alert, quickly stopping her adorable baby which was curiously straying away from her towards a vehicle full of safari tourists. Going on safari in the Kruger National Park is a life changing experience. Driving around multiple tarred roads, slowly scanning a massive area of wilderness is all part of the thrill. You never know what will be around the next corner or what animal will suddenly appear from the bush onto the road. Its an exciting experience and one of the must-see animals for most tourists are elephants. Not only are they the largest land mammals on our planet and fairly intimidating, elephants are also one of the most intelligent and emotionally intelligent animals that roam this planet. Seeing these giants in the wild is always a sight to remember. The video shows an incredible moment filmed in the Kruger National Park when a safari vehicle full of tourists found a large elephant cow and her adorable calf next to the road. The safari vehicle stopped and it looked like the mother elephant and her baby wanted to cross the road. The baby elephant was the cutest thing alive in the wild right at that moment. While the elephant cow remained focussed on crossing the road, her baby took notice of the safari vehicle and curiously started straying away from its mother towards the vehicle. The caring mother elephant immediately went into high alert and quickly took her trunk and stopped her baby from going any closer to the safari vehicle. The mother elephant gently used her trunk to guide her baby back and into the right direction. It was incredible to see how quickly the elephant cow became protective over her baby. The elephant calf listened to its mother and in a well-behaved manner, walking on the opposite side of its mother, continued to focus and follow its mother as it should. This is crucial for the survival of the calf in the wild. The gestation period of an elephant is twenty-two months, so it is very understandable that an elephant calf is seen as a huge investment and there will always be a mother around, ready to protect her calf from any potential danger. Even though the tourists were not a direct threat, the mother elephant knows all to well that there are humans that still pose a danger for them in the wild. The mother of such a small calf is definitely not something to mess with at all and its best never to get too close to a mother and her calf. By Edith Honan and Elias Biryabarema KAMPALA (Reuters) - Police detained Uganda's main opposition candidate Kizza Besigye for the third time this week and clashed with his supporters on Friday as early contested election results showed President Yoweri Museveni set to extend his 30-year grip on power. Officers set off stun grenades and fired tear gas at crowds outside the headquarters of Besigye's Forum for Democratic Change (FDC), where senior members of the party accused organisers of rigging the vote. Police later bundled Museveni's chief challenger into a van as the party was preparing to hold a press conference, a Reuters witness said. Officers said he was about to announce unofficial preliminary results - one commander said he had not been arrested but simply taken home. Museveni, one of Africa's longest-serving leaders, has presided over strong economic growth, but faced mounting accusations at home and abroad of cracking down on dissent and failing to tackle corruption. Other clashes broke out across the capital, and the spokesperson for another presidential contender, former prime minister Amama Mbabazi, said police had barricaded him in his home, stoking tensions a day after the vote. That report could not be confirmed independently. MUSEVENI EXTENDS LEAD Early results showed Museveni, a Western ally against security threats including Islamist militants, with a sizeable lead of 62 percent based on a count of ballots in 42 percent of polling stations. Besigye trailed with 33 percent of the vote, and Mbabazi with 2 percent. But Dan Mugarura, a senior official from Besigye's party, said there were "glaring discrepancies" compared to reports from polling stations. The Electoral Commission has regularly denied accusations of anti-opposition bias. "(Besigye) is a Ugandan but he is living on another planet. Let him respect Ugandan law," said commission chairman Badru Kiggundu on Friday. The 71-year-old sitting president had earlier warned that anyone caught stoking violence would face the wrath of Ugandan security forces, who were deployed in heavy numbers across capital Kampala in riot gear. Besigye, who challenged Museveni unsuccessfully in three previous elections, has repeatedly said the election would not be free and fair. Late on Thursday, he was briefly detained in Kampala for alleged criminal trespass and assault. U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby said it called into question Ugandas commitment to a transparent election, free from intimidation. Election day was otherwise largely peaceful, although voting was delayed in some areas, especially in the capital. The government, citing security fears, said it shuttered the social media such as Facebook and Twitter, though all were working again on Friday. On Friday morning, voting resumed in a handful of areas where delays in delivering polling materials had prevented some people from casting their ballot. "It's our right to vote," said Geofrey Were, 32, as he stood waiting for the second day in a row in the Ggaba neighbourhood of Kampala. "This man has ruled us for 30 years. Obviously we need a change." (Additional reporting by Ben Makori and Goran Tomasevic; Writing by Drazen Jorgic; Editing by George Obulutsa and Andrew Heavens) Uganda's president Yoweri Museveni has won a fifth term after an election criticised by observers. Electoral Commission chairman Badru Kiggundu confirmed Mr Museveni's victory, saying he had won 60.8% of the vote, while his main challenger Kizza Besigye won 35.4%. The European Union is among those who have criticised the vote, with the mission's chief observer Eduard Kukan describing the country's electoral commission as "lack(ing) independence, transparency and the trust of stakeholders". Mr Kukan said the dominance of the political space by President Museveni and his ruling National Resistance Movement party "distorted the fairness of the campaign and state actors created an intimidating atmosphere for both voters and candidates". Ballot boxes and voting papers arrived late at some polling stations in the capital Kampala, meaning voting had to be extended in 36 sites. Protests by frustrated voters prompted police to use tear gas. Mr Museveni called for "all candidates (to) accept the result" and Ugandans to "remain calm...and not to engage in any public disruptions". Mr Besigye, who leads the Forum for Democratic Change, described the results as fraudulent, saying in a statement: "This has not been an electoral process - this is a creeping military coup". He was arrested during his campaign, again on Thursday evening and was put under house arrest on Friday, with police saying they wanted to prevent him from publishing his own results - forbidden under the country's electoral laws. Mr Besigye, 59, was once close to his political adversary, acting as his personal physician during the fight to overthrow Uganda's first post-independence leader Milton Obote. But, in what was his fourth attempt to unseat his former comrade, Mr Besigye was one of seven people who ran against Mr Museveni, who is in his 70s and has governed the east African country for three decades. At least 19 of Mr Museveni's ministers appear to have lost their seats in parliament in the vote. By Edith Honan and Elias Biryabarema KAMPALA (Reuters) - Ugandans began voting on Thursday in a presidential election that pits President Yoweri Museveni, in power for three decades, against a long-time rival who said he did not believe the vote would be "free and fair." All sides contesting the election accuse each other of stoking tensions and assembling vigilante groups, and the leading opposition candidates have predicted vote rigging. "Such a day is highly undermined by the lack of free and fair elections," opposition candidate Kizza Besigye said as he cast his vote in Rukungiri village in western Uganda. Besigye, 59, has run unsuccessfully in three previous elections. Museveni, 71, came to power in 1986 after waging a five-year guerrilla war and many Ugandans credit him with providing relative peace and economic stability. He is a staunch U.S. ally; Ugandan soldiers lead an African Union peacekeeping force against Islamist fighters in Somalia. But many voters among Uganda's youthful population say they want change and blame Museveni for not tackling endemic corruption or creating enough jobs. [nL2N1540SW] "I was a baby when Museveni came in. Now, even my own children are seeing that same face. Is he the only one who can rule this country?" asked Uthman Kalyango, 32. His polling station was among many in the capital, Kampala, which opened hours after the official opening of polling at 7 am local time (0400 GMT), worrying many voters. "We were almost ready to go away. We were getting tired," he said, adding that he was supporting Besigye, like many young voters interviewed by Reuters in the capital. A second major challenger, former prime minister Amama Mbabazi, was a close ally of the president until a power struggle last year. He is also campaigning on promises of reform. Martin Mwondha, national coordinator at Election Observers Network-Uganda (CEON-U), said voting was peaceful so far but there were multiple reports of polling stations opening late in and around Kampala and the nearby town of Jinja. Among those waiting to vote was Joel Nyonyintono, a 26-year-old entrepreneur, who said he was ashamed of Uganda's neglected roads and hospitals. "We are so far behind. We need to open our eyes and move into the 'now' tense," Nyonyintono said as he sat near a church in Kampala. But other voters, like 56-year-old fruit vendor Nanteza Beatrice, say change makes them nervous. "We have had peace for a long time and these young people are taking it for granted because they don't know how it was before," she said, referring to years when Uganda was ruled by two dictators infamous for unpredictable violence. Voting is scheduled to last for nine hours, ending at 4 p.m. (1300 GMT) Mike Sebalu, campaign spokesman for the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) party, said that he believed turn-out would be high and urged a peaceful vote. "It is the responsibility of every Ugandan to remain peaceful and not to engage in any public disruption," he said in a statement. (Additional reporting by Ben Makori; Editing by Katharine Houreld) NARFE meeting set Thursday COLUMBUS -- The Platte Valley Chapter of National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association (NARFE) will meet at 11:30 a.m. Thursday at the Columbus Resource Center. Social time will be followed by lunch at the center. The speaker will be Joanne Mancuso, coordinator from Big Pals-Little Pals. Those planning to attend are asked to call Bob Voboril at 402-564-3344. Willa Cather program Feb. 28 COLUMBUS -- Willa Cathers Life in Letters, presented by Andrew Jewell, will be held at 2 p.m. Feb. 28 at the Columbus Public Library auditorium. This event is free and open to the public. It is sponsored by Friends of the Library and Humanities Nebraska. Food handler program planned DAVID CITY -- The University of Nebraska-Extension will be offering the ServSafe Food Handler Program from 1:30-5:30 p.m. March 9 at the Butler County Health Care Center, 372 South 9th St. Class instructor is Amy Peterson MS, RD from UNL Extension in Polk County. Cost is $20 per participant, which includes the ServSafe Food Handler Course Book and additional classroom materials. Registration is due by March 4. Return registration form and check made out to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension in Polk County, Box 215, Osceola, NE 68651. For more information, contact Peterson at 402-747-2321 or apeterson3@unl.edu. Democratic caucus at VFW COLUMBUS -- The Platte County Democrats will host the third presidential selection caucus March 5 at the VFW. Doors will open at noon, and voting will begin at 2 p.m. Registered democrats may participate in the caucus. For more information, call Tom Havelka at 402-276-6601. One-day book sale at library COLUMBUS -- The Friends of the Columbus Public Library will have a one-day book sale from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. March 19 at the Columbus Public Library. This will be shoppers last chance to get everything for a buck a bag. New items will be added weekly until the sale. Prices will be raised beginning with the August sale. All proceeds benefit the Friends of the Columbus Public Library. Veteran training, networking set COLUMBUS -- No Wrong Door, training and networking focused on serving veterans and their families, will be held from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. April 20 at CCC-Columbus in the west education center room 205. This workshop will provide information about the military culture, PTSD and how it affects military and their families, and resources available through the VA and other organizations. Eight hours of nursing contact hours are included with registration. Cost is $50, which includes lunch. Registration is required by April 14. For more information, contact Peggy at 402-890-0606;Teri at 402-904-7946, or vetset@nalhd.org. Shrimp peel set Feb. 26 COLUMBUS -- The 18th annual St. Isidore Elementary School Lenten Shrimp Peel will be held from 6-11 p.m. Feb. 26 in the Scotus Central Catholic cafeteria. The meal will include shrimp, beverage, salads and desserts. Tickets are $15 each and must be purchased in advance. No children are allowed at this event as there will be alcohol present. Proceeds will go to assist with technology upgrades at the school. For more information or tickets, call Nicole at 402-606-4115 or stop by the St. Isidore school office and church rectory. Museum open house Feb. 28 CLARKSON -- Clarkson Museum, 221 Pine St., will have an open house from 1-4 p.m. Feb. 28. There will be 24 rooms with Czech heritage artifacts including military, mortuary, kitchen, music, school, photos and farm items. For more information, visit www.clarksonmuseum.weebly.com. For a private tour, call 402-892-3863 or 402-892-3100. US warplanes have struck an Islamic State camp in Libya, killing as many as 40 people. The airstrikes were targeting a senior Tunisian operative linked to two major attacks claimed by Islamic State, according to US officials. One official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said it is "likely" the militant was among the dead, although that is yet to be officially confirmed. :: Libya Airstrike A Sign Of Things To Come Col. Mark Cheadle, a spokesman for the Pentagon's Africa Command, identified the operative as Noureddine Chouchane, who has been connected to Tunisia's beach massacre and the Bardo Museum attack. "We are assessing the results of the operation and will provide additional information as and when appropriate," he said. Local officials said the planes struck a farm house in the western city of Sabratha, near the Tunisian border, where foreign workers were living. The city's mayor Hussein al-Dawadi said the building was completely destroyed, killing 41 people and injuring six. Thirty-eight people, including 30 British tourists, were shot dead on a beach near the Tunisian city of Sousse in June, 2015. Three months earlier 22 people, most of them European tourists, were killed in an attack on the Bardo National Museum in Tunisia's capital Tunis. The gunmen in both attacks, which are believed to have been linked , trained at militant camps in Libya. Islamic State has exploited a power vacuum in Libya , taking control of the northern city of Sirte and attacking numerous oil ports. Sky News' Foreign Affairs Editor Sam Kiley said President Barack Obama has been under pressure from US intelligence organisations to take a more proactive role against the rise of IS in Libya. Last November the US said it carried out an airstrike on the eastern port city of Derna to target Abu Nabil, an Iraqi commander in Islamic State. By David Shepardson WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Federal Bureau of Investigation said on Tuesday it was joining a criminal investigation of lead-contaminated drinking water in Flint, Michigan, exploring whether laws were broken in a crisis that has captured international attention. Federal prosecutors in Michigan were working with an investigative team that included the FBI, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Inspector General and the EPA's Criminal Investigation Division, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Detroit said. An FBI spokeswoman said the agency was determining whether federal laws were broken, but declined further comment. EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy met with officials and community leaders in Flint and told reporters she could not give a timeline for fixing the problem. She said the agency was examining where it may have fallen short, but declined to address the criminal probes. The city, about 60 miles (100 km) northwest of Detroit, was under the control of a state-appointed emergency manager when it switched the source of its tap water from Detroit's system to the Flint River in April 2014. Flint switched back last October after tests found high levels of lead in blood samples taken from children. The more corrosive water from the river leached more lead from the city pipes than Detroit water did. Lead is a toxic agent that can damage the nervous system. Michigan Governor Rick Snyder, who extended a state of emergency in Flint until April 14, has repeatedly apologized for the state's poor handling of the matter. The ability to seek criminal charges under U.S. environmental laws is limited, according to Peter Henning, a law professor at Wayne State University in Detroit and a former federal prosecutor. Prosecutors would need to find something egregious like a knowingly false statement. "You need something that is false to build a case," he said.Simply failing to recognize the seriousness of the situation would not rise to that level, Henning added. In Washington, Senators Gary Peters and Debbie Stabenow, Democrats from Michigan, pushed for $600 million in aid, mostly in federal funds, to help Flint replace pipes and provide healthcare. Senator James Inhofe, an Oklahoma Republican who chairs an environmental committee, said an agreement to help Flint was close and would be a combination of revolving funds and other aid. Money from a revolving fund is like a loan, with the money going to the recipient and then being repaid so there is no net cost to U.S. taxpayers. Senator John Cornyn of Texas, the second-ranking Republican in the Senate, said aid to Flint must not add to U.S. budget deficits for "what is a local and state problem." U.S. Representative Candice Miller, a Michigan Republican, proposed an emergency bill to provide $1 billion in funds to be used to replace Flint's water pipes. The U.S. House Oversight and Government Reform Committee will hold a hearing on Wednesday on the Flint crisis. The head of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, Keith Creagh, will apologize for its handling of the case, and an EPA water official will tell the committee that reforms must be enacted to prevent a repeat, according to advance testimony. (Additional reporting by Ben Klayman in Detroit, Serena Maria Daniels in Flint, David Bailey in Minneapolis and Tim Gardner and Richard Cowan in Washington; editing by Jeffrey Benkoe, Grant McCool, G Crosse and Dan Grebler) 1. U.S. acceptance of coexistence as the only alternative to atomic war. 2. U.S. willingness to capitulate in preference to engaging in atomic war. 3. Develop the illusion that total disarmament of the United States would be a demonstration of moral strength. 4. Permit free trade between all nations regardless of Communist affiliation and regardless of whether or not items could be used for war. 5. Extension of long-term loans to Russia and Soviet satellites. 6. Provide American aid to all nations regardless of Communist domination. 7. Grant recognition of Red China. Admission of Red China to the U.N. 8. Set up East and West Germany as separate states in spite of Khrushchev's promise in 1955 to settle the German question by free elections under supervision of the U.N. 9. Prolong the conferences to ban atomic tests because the United States has agreed to suspend tests as long as negotiations are in progress. 10. Allow all Soviet satellites individual representation in the U.N. 11. Promote the U.N. as the only hope for mankind. If its charter is rewritten, demand that it be set up as a one-world government with its own independent armed forces. (Some Communist leaders believe the world can be taken over as easily by the U.N. as by Moscow. Sometimes these two centers compete with each other as they are now doing in the Congo.) 12. Resist any attempt to outlaw the Communist Party. 13. Do away with all loyalty oaths. 14. Continue giving Russia access to the U.S. Patent Office. 15. Capture one or both of the political parties in the United States. 16. Use technical decisions of the courts to weaken basic American institutions by claiming their activities violate civil rights. 17. Get control of the schools. Use them as transmission belts for socialism and current Communist propaganda. Soften the curriculum. Get control of teachers' associations. Put the party line in textbooks. 18. Gain control of all student newspapers. 19. Use student riots to foment public protests against programs or organizations which are under Communist attack. 20. Infiltrate the press. Get control of book-review assignments, editorial writing, policymaking positions. 21. Gain control of key positions in radio, TV, and motion pictures. 22. Continue discrediting American culture by degrading all forms of artistic expression. An American Communist cell was told to "eliminate all good sculpture from parks and buildings, substitute shapeless, awkward and meaningless forms." 23. Control art critics and directors of art museums. "Our plan is to promote ugliness, repulsive, meaningless art." 24. Eliminate all laws governing obscenity by calling them "censorship" and a violation of free speech and free press. 25. Break down cultural standards of morality by promoting pornography and obscenity in books, magazines, motion pictures, radio, and TV. 26. Present homosexuality, degeneracy and promiscuity as "normal, natural, healthy." 27. Infiltrate the churches and replace revealed religion with "social" religion. Discredit the Bible and emphasize the need for intellectual maturity which does not need a "religious crutch." 28. Eliminate prayer or any phase of religious expression in the schools on the ground that it violates the principle of "separation of church and state." 29. Discredit the American Constitution by calling it inadequate, old-fashioned, out of step with modern needs, a hindrance to cooperation between nations on a worldwide basis. 30. Discredit the American Founding Fathers. Present them as selfish aristocrats who had no concern for the "common man." 31. Belittle all forms of American culture and discourage the teaching of American history on the ground that it was only a minor part of the "big picture." Give more emphasis to Russian history since the Communists took over. 32. Support any socialist movement to give centralized control over any part of the culture--education, social agencies, welfare programs, mental health clinics, etc. 33. Eliminate all laws or procedures which interfere with the operation of the Communist apparatus. 34. Eliminate the House Committee on Un-American Activities. 35. Discredit and eventually dismantle the FBI. 36. Infiltrate and gain control of more unions. 37. Infiltrate and gain control of big business. 38. Transfer some of the powers of arrest from the police to social agencies. Treat all behavioral problems as psychiatric disorders which no one but psychiatrists can understand. 39. Dominate the psychiatric profession and use mental health laws as a means of gaining coercive control over those who oppose Communist goals. 40. Discredit the family as an institution. Encourage promiscuity and easy divorce. 41. Emphasize the need to raise children away from the negative influence of parents. Attribute prejudices, mental blocks and retarding of children to suppressive influence of parents. 42. Create the impression that violence and insurrection are legitimate aspects of the American tradition; that students and special-interest groups should rise up and use united force to solve economic, political or social problems. 43. Overthrow all colonial governments before native populations are ready for self-government. 44. Internationalize the Panama Canal. 45. Repeal the Connally reservation so the United States cannot prevent the World Court from seizing jurisdiction over nations and individuals alike. By Fatos Bytyci PRISTINA (Reuters) - Kosovo opposition lawmakers released tear gas in parliament on Friday, forcing the abandonment of this year's first legislative session as part of a long-running protest against a deal to grant the country's ethnic Serb minority more power. They have kept up their protests since the government signed an EU-brokered accord with Serbia in August giving the Serb community a greater say over local government decisions and raising the possibility of financing from Belgrade. The agreement, yet to take effect following a critical judicial review by Kosovo's highest court, has set off the 90 percent ethnic Albanian country's worst political crisis since independence in 2008. In a parallel protest outside the building on Friday, hundreds of opposition supporters demanding snap elections clashed with police. There were no reports of injuries or arrests. Lawmakers released three gas canisters and, as the chamber filled with smoke, parliamentary speaker Kadri Veseli held a gas mask and urged MPs to continue debating, a live TV broadcast showed. The session was then postponed, repeating a pattern that has not varied since October, when the tear gas protests and street demonstrations began. "This regime is now is in its final days, they understood they have no legitimacy and they will not last long," Visar Ymeri, the head of the biggest opposition party Vetevendosje, told reporters outside the debating chamber. Three MPs were arrested, said police, who were forced to remove several opposition lawmakers who refused to leave the chamber. Opposition parties, who also reject a border accord with Montenegro that they say gives Kosovo land to its neighbor, have said they will keep organizing protests until the government, elected in December 2014, resigns. On Wednesday, thousands demonstrated in front of Pristina's main government building. The government accuses party leaders of fometing violence and attempting to drag the country into "crime and anarchy." "This is the continuation of their primitive behavior... but we will continue to work for democracy," Deputy Prime Minister Hashim Thaci said on Friday. Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, almost a decade after NATO air strikes drove out Serbian security forces accused of killing and expelling ethnic Albanian civilians during a counter-insurgency war. Many Kosovo Albanians believe last year's accord with Serbia represents a threat to that hard-won sovereignty, though its status is unclear after the constitutional court ruled in December that parts of it breach the country's basic law. (Reporting by Fatos Bytyci; editing by Ivana Sekularac and John Stonestreet) By Nate Raymond and Anthony Deutsch NEW YORK/AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - VimpelCom Ltd (VIP.O), an Amsterdam-based telecommunications operator, said on Thursday it would pay $795 million to resolve U.S. and Dutch probes into a bribery scheme in Uzbekistan, in the second largest global anti-corruption settlement in history. The settlement was announced in a federal court in Manhattan, where a subsidiary pleaded guilty to conspiring to violate a U.S. anti-corruption law by paying $114 million in bribes from 2006 to 2012 to a Uzbekistan official. The official, described in court papers as high-ranking and a relative of Uzbek President Islam Karimov, matched the description of his daughter, Gulnara Karimova, who has long been identified as being at the centre of the probe. In a related action, the U.S. Justice Department filed a lawsuit seeking the forfeiture of $550 million in Swiss bank accounts tied to corrupt payments to the official by VimpelCom and two other companies. The payments by VimpelCom, Teliasonera AB (TLSN.ST) and Mobile TeleSystems, were paid to shell companies the official controlled for help entering and operating in the Uzbek telecommunications market, the Justice Department said. Combined with an earlier lawsuit, the Justice Department is seeking to recover $850 million paid in the scheme, the largest sum U.S. authorities have ever sought to recover from a government official. VimpelCom's settlement, which called for the retention of a compliance monitor, resolved probes by the Justice Department, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Public Prosecution Service of the Netherlands. It marked a near record for a global anti-corruption accord, behind only Siemens AG's $1.6 billion settlement in 2008 that resolved wide-ranging bribery probes in the United States and Germany. VimpelCom, whose biggest shareholders are Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman's LetterOne and Norway's Telenor, took a $900 million provision in November to resolve the investigations. Story continues Under the deal, VimpelCom entered into a deferred prosecution agreement in which U.S. criminal charges will be dropped in three years if it follows the agreement's terms. Uzbek subsidiary Unitel LLC pleaded guilty to conspiring to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. "The company deeply regrets its actions here, and we will make sure it never happens again," Scott Dresser, VimpelCom's general counsel, said in court. U.S. and Dutch authorities said the investigation continued into other companies and individuals involved in the scheme, including one man Dutch prosecutors said was arrested in November. Mobile TeleSystems declined comment. Neither Teliasonera nor lawyers for Uzbekistan responded to requests for comment. (Reporting by Nate Raymond in New York; and Anthony Deutsch in Amsterdam; Editing by Leslie Adler, Peter Cooney and Alexander Smith) As of August 26th, 2021 Yahoo India will no longer be publishing content. Your Yahoo Account Mail and Search experiences will not be affected in any way and will operate as usual. We thank you for your support and readership. For more information on Yahoo India, please visit the FAQ Long Island Medium (Theresa Caputo) works for Satan Shes charming, shes whacky, and shes got funny hair and crazy fingernails- shes also working for the devil. Sound harsh? Good. ... Fr.Longenecker vs Michael Voris Quote: "If the faith is in imminent peril, prelates ought to be accused by their subjects, even in public."-St. Thomas Aquinas ... Catholic Controversy over "Son of God" movie It is seldom that I disagree with Michael Voris from Church Militant TV , but today I do. It seems some of the more traditional leanin... Banning Children from Gay Pride Parades ** WARNING : Adult homosexual content GRAPHIC GAY PRIDE PARADE PHOTOS ** Should children be banned from gay pride parades? Ye... Saint Peter taught me to love Pope Francis Anyone who has been following my blog [along with family and friends] know that I have had serious issues with Pope Francis since Holy We... What's up with Life Teen Catholic Youth Ministry? So I'm on Twitter when I see Ryan Fitz retweet a Creaky tweet about Catholic Life Teen Youth Ministry that caught my eye. Someth... Lonely: I pray for someone I came across two stories on Twitter recently about lonely people. The first was about an elderly woman who sat alone in her house for ye... Archdiocese of New Orleans has a gay problem There is something seriously wrong with the Archdiocese of New Orleans . Namely, they speak with a forked tongue. How can any Cath... Fr James Martin says the Virgin Mary opposed Jesus Christ because Jesus was crazy Father James Martin strikes again, taking another shot at the Holy Mother of God on his Facebook page . Martin says... get this.... By Fiona Ortiz CHICAGO (Reuters) - An Illinois judge on Friday said she would decide next month whether she had jurisdiction over a voter's complaint that Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz should not be on the state's primary ballot because he was born in Canada. Lawrence Joyce, a lawyer and pharmacist, filed a complaint in January with the Illinois State Board of Elections saying that under the U.S. Constitution, the Texas senator cannot run for president since he is not a "natural born" citizen. Cruz was born in Calgary, Alberta of a Cuban father and an American mother. The Board rejected Joyce's complaint - saying Cruz became a natural-born citizen at the moment of his birth because of his mother's citizenship - so he petitioned the Cook County Circuit Court to review that decision. Circuit Court Judge Maureen Ward Kirby said she was not sure she had jurisdiction, and set a March 1 hearing for arguments on whether to dismiss the complaint. The complaint comes in the wake of repeated attacks on Cruz about his eligibility by New York businessman and presidential rival Donald Trump. Children born abroad to American citizens can immediately be registered as U.S. citizens through a consular report of birth abroad, but Joyce said that process is a form of naturalization. A Reuters/Ipsos poll in January found that one quarter of Republicans did not think Cruz was qualified to be president because of his birthplace. [n:L2N14Z098] Cruz and Trump are locked in a battle to win the Republican nomination for the Nov. 8 election. Cruz won the first nominating contest in Iowa while Trump prevailed in New Hampshire. "A potential nightmare scenario may be developing if Ted Cruz becomes the nominee and is then forced to resign the nomination," Joyce told reporters. He backs Republican candidate Ben Carson but said no candidate was involved in his lawsuit. Voters in New York and in Alabama have also filed legal challenges to Cruz's eligibility. "It is widely assumed and believed that no court is going to invalidate a presidential candidate on this issue," said Gerald Rosenberg, a professor at the University of Chicago Law School. Lawyers for both Cruz and the Illinois State Board of Elections said they would present motions to dismiss the case based on jurisdiction and because they said Lawrence did not properly serve notice of his complaint. The Illinois primary is March 15 but early voting has already begun. (Additional reporting by Tracy Rucinski; Writing by Mary Wisniewski; Editing by Mary Milliken) (Reuters) - U.S. Representative James Clyburn of South Carolina backed Hillary Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination on Friday, giving her campaign a vital boost from the states most influential black politician ahead of next weeks primary. Clyburns endorsement comes as Clinton battles rival Bernie Sanders for the support of blacks in the South Carolina contest on Feb. 27, when more than half of the voters are likely to be black. Polls show Clinton with a solid double-digit lead in South Carolina, fueled by strong African-American support. Clyburns backing could help solidify that lead. Campaigns are and should be about the future, and I believe that the future of the Democratic Party and the United States of America will be best served with the experience and know-how of Hillary Clinton as our 45th president, Clyburn said at a news conference in South Carolina. Clyburn, the No. 3 ranked Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives and the only Democrat in Congress from South Carolina, stayed neutral in the bitter 2008 race between Clinton and Barack Obama. But he said he decided to get involved this time because Clinton was well positioned to tackle many of the challenges facing minorities and the country. Hillary Clinton is a fighter, and thats what we need for our next president, Clyburn said. Clinton and Sanders, a U.S. senator from Vermont, have been courting support from black civil rights leaders and voters as the Democratic race has moved on from mostly white Iowa, where Clinton narrowly won, and New Hampshire, where Sanders routed Clinton. For more on the 2016 presidential race, see the Reuters blog, Tales from the Trail (http://blogs.reuters.com/talesfromthetrail/). (Reporting by John Whitesides and Megan Cassella; Editing by Phil Berlowitz) (Cover tile photo: Sean Rayford/AP) FMCSA Declares Truck Driver an Imminent Hazard The agency has ordered a California-licensed driver not to operate any commercial motor vehicles in interstate commerce The FMCSA has declared Edward Herbert Crane, a California-licensed driver, to be an imminent hazard to public safety and therefore has ordered him not to operate any commercial motor vehicles in interstate commerce, according to a report. An investigation in May 2015 revealed that Crane was medically unqualified to operate a commercial motor vehicle after testing positive for prohibited controlled substances, amphetamines or methamphetamines on three separate occasions. News Microsoft Azure Now Supports Red Hat Enterprise Linux Microsoft boasted of its Azure datacenter support for open source software this week, while also announcing that Red Hat Enterprise Linux images are now available from the Azure Marketplace. In addition, Microsoft announced this week that its Azure Container Service preview, based on collaborative work with open source software companies Docker and Mesosphere, is now available broadly for testing purposes. Microsoft conceives of this service as a means for provisioning "clusters of Azure Virtual Machines onto which containerized applications can be deployed, orchestrated and managed." Red Hat Enterprise Linux Support Images for Red Hat Enterprise Linux versions 6.7 and 7.2 can be downloaded this week from the Azure Marketplace. The Marketplace is a repository for software that's capable of running on virtual machines in Azure datacenters. The new Red Hat Enterprise Linux images are available in all Azure service regions except for China. They aren't available for U.S. government customers, though. Microsoft had previously collaborated with Red Hat on Hyper-V hypervisor integration, but it's lately formed a much deeper partnership with its Linux-based rival, joining the Red Hat Certified Cloud and Service Provider Program. Red Hat team members even moved onto Microsoft's Redmond campus to assure better integrated products. And it's not just one way collaboration on Azure. Red Hat is using open source Microsoft .NET technology in its OpenShift cloud platform as well as in its Atomic Host container solution, for instance. The teamwork between the two companies even extends to the support that gets offered to organizations. "We offer the best enterprise-grade support of the public cloud, by offering a fully integrated support experience with co-located Red Hat and Microsoft support engineers sitting side-by-side to help you when you need it," said Corey Sanders, Microsoft director of program management for Azure, in Microsoft's announcement. He added that buying Red Hat subscriptions through the Azure Marketplace provides "direct access to the Red Hat customer portal." "This availability also marks the first instance of Red Hat and Microsoft's integrated support, a unique offering in the IT world, offering a seamless experience for customers seeking to engage with industry-leading support teams to address technical challenges," Red Hat noted, in its announcement. Open Source Collaborations Sanders offered up a few more instances of Microsoft's embrace of open source software. He said that "more than 60 percent" of the Azure Marketplace images now are Linux based. Microsoft has learned how to monetize Linux on Azure. That point was noted last year by Microsoft Technical Fellow Jeffrey Snover, who said back then that "in the context of Azure, Microsoft makes more money if you have 10 installations of Linux than if you have two instances of Windows." Microsoft has begun certifying Bitnami Linux images for the Azure Marketplace, Sanders noted. Bitnami makes a software server stack that's typically used for running production apps and dev testing. That effort sprung from earlier collaborations with Microsoft Open Technologies, a spin-off organization focused on open source software integration. Microsoft announced a reintegration of its Open Technologies subsidiary back into the company in April of last year. Sanders said that the new Bitnami images would get certified "over the next few months." Microsoft is even using some open source software in its cloud products, Sanders noted. He listed the following examples: dm-crypt, a disk encryption capability in Linux kernels, is part of Azure Disk Encryption PHP 7 was introduced experimentally into the Azure App Service's Web Apps He also noted Microsoft's partnerships with various open source software companies, such as Cloudera, Datastax, Hortonworks and MariaDB. Microsoft's newfound Linux love still may elicit skeptical views, but the company has been puffing up Azure to be a Linux-friendly environment for a while now. And that includes on the training side, too. In December, Microsoft established a certification program to that end in collaboration with the Linux Foundation. Civil defence members search for survivors after airstrikes by pro-Syrian government forces in the rebel held al-Qaterji neighbourhood of Aleppo, Syria February 14, 2016. REUTERS/Abdalrhman Ismail Friday was supposed to be an important deadline in Syria's Civil War. On February 11, the International Syria Support Group (ISSG), a group of countries with interests in the outcome of the Syria conflict that includes the US, and Russia, announced that a "cessation of hostilities" would begin within one week. But the deadline to end the violence has now passed, making the "cessation" plan seems even more like a half-hearted attempt at imposing a peaceful solution that none of the major combatants in Syria seem to actually want. As it was, the cessation announcement was meant to salvage some kind of resolution from flailing peace negotiations talks that Syrian opposition groups want to make conditional upon Russia halting its airstrikes. Far from encouraging a preliminary end to the fighting, however, the terms of the ISSG plan seem to have encouraged anti-Assad rebels, Kurdish forces, and Russia to make a last-minute grab for territory: Russia bombed a Doctors Without Borders hospital in Idlib province earlier this week, Kurdish forces battled Islamist fighters in Aleppo with the help of Russian air cover, and Syrian president Bashar al-Assad told a group of lawyers in Damascus that he believes "no one" is capable of enforcing a stop in the fighting. Lavrov Kerry On Friday, the US and Russia postponed a scheduled meeting on the implementation of the "cessation of hostilities," with the sides appearing to differ on whether scheduled negotiations would actually ever be held. Secretary of State John Kerry spoke of the "cessation" in aspirational terms that gave little indication of when or whether a pause in the fighting will take place. Story continues "Working out modalities for a cessation of hostilities in a situation like Syria is a highly technical and detailed process; and that's why our teams are still at it," Kerry said Friday, according to Reuters. "We want this process to be sustainable, and should all participants prove willing to really sit down and work this out, we can get to a cessation of hostilities." That's a far cry from the February 11th announcement of the ISSG, which stated that "the cessation of hostilities will commence in one week, after confirmation by the Syrian government and opposition, following appropriate consultations in Syria." Syria map The "cessation" was not a legally binding ceasefire, but was meant to offer all sides except the Islamic State and al-Qaeda affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra an opportunity to negotiate the "modalities" of a longer halt in the fighting. That halt would, in turn, provide the basis for negotiations towards a political solution to Syria's civil war, which has killed an estimated 470,000 people and displaced another 12 million. The cessation plan was riddled with loopholes: it allowed Russia to continue its bombing campaign, permitted the regime of Bashar al-Assad to continue fighting anti-regime "terrorists," and didn't' mention the humanitarian situation in Aleppo, an opposition stronghold and the target of an intense Russian, Iranian, and regime bombardment. "This looks like a ceasefire proposal," Nadim Shehadi, director of the Fares Center for Eastern Mediterranean Studies at Tufts University, told Business Insider last week. "But it's in effect a license to kill." Even so, the "cessation" offered at least the possibility of a way forward. Now, it appears unlikely that the scheduled pause in violence which is already a day overdue will even happen at all. NOW WATCH: Watch this heartbreaking eyewitness account of the Syrian refugee crisis in Greece More From Business Insider Zimbabwe authorities on Saturday released a cargo plane hired by South Africa's central bank, six days after it was detained with a dead body in the landing gear and 67 tonnes of cash on board. The US-registered cargo aircraft, owned by the Western Global Airlines Company, had last Sunday been en route to South Africa but made an unscheduled stop-over in Harare where the grim discovery was made. "The body of the deceased and the cargo have been released to the crew after it was established that there is nothing suspicious," police spokeswoman Charity Charamba told journalists. A pathologist report showed that the unidentified dead man had succumbed to a lack of oxygen due to the high altitude at which planes fly. "From what the investigations have indicated there is a high probability that this was a stowaway," Charamba said. The cargo plane, carrying 67 tonnes of cash in millions of rands for the South African Reserve Bank had departed from Liege, Belgium on February 11 and made a stop in Munich to pick up the shipment of cash. It made another stop-over in Abidjan, Ivory Coast on the same day and went on to Abuja, Nigeria as well as Entebbe, Uganda on February 13, according to the police. Charamba said Zimbabwe police had taken fingerprints from the body to be sent to Interpol for analysis. "Nothing from international law obliges Zimbabwe to be responsible for the burial, cremation or any disposal of the body," she said. South Africa's ambassador to Zimbabwe, Vusi Mavimbela, had told AFP earlier that the plane was hired from the Florida-based cargo carrier by the South African central bank to carry banknotes printed in Germany, but did not disclose the amount involved. SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia is in talks with Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines, among six nations, to resettle asylum seekers detained in Papua New Guinea and the Pacific island nation of Nauru, the Sydney Morning Herald said on Saturday. The number of asylum seekers trying to reach Australia is small in comparison with those arriving in Europe, but border security is a hot-button political issue in Australia, which is scheduled to hold a national election later in the year. Negotiations with the governments of the three Southeast Asian countries focus on potentially settling 1,459 detainees, many of whom arrived during previous administrations, the newspaper said. Three other countries are also involved in preliminary stages of talks, it added, but did not identify them. A spokeswoman for Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull declined to confirm or deny the report. However, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop cautioned that it was "early days" for the talks, as pressing local issues would influence the discussions. "Some of them have domestic issues, like elections," Bishop said in a statement. The Philippines goes to the polls on May 9 to choose a new president and vice president, among other officials. Australia's tough immigration policies provide that anyone intercepted while trying to reach the country by boat is sent for processing to camps in Nauru and Papua New Guinea's Manus Island. They are never eligible to be resettled in Australia. Past Australian efforts to resettle asylum seekers elsewhere ran into hurdles. Last October, Philippine President Benigno Aquino said the country had "no capacity" to permanently relocate asylum seekers, adding that his government was "challenged to meet the needs of its own people right now". Australia had offered $150 million spread over five years in exchange for permanent relocation of some refugees. A deal struck with Cambodia was halted after only four asylum seekers were resettled. In 2011, the Australian high court ruled invalid a deal with Malaysia, as it was not a signatory to the United Nations Convention on Refugees. Australia has also received criticism from the United Nations and rights groups for its hardline policy. Since 2012, people on boats trying to reach Australia have been turned back or taken to camps in Nauru, where there have been reports of assaults and systemic child abuse, or Papua New Guinea, where Canberra has set up processing centres. (Writing by Peter Gosnell; Editing by Clarence Fernandez) SYDNEY Australia urged China yesterday to refrain from the militarization of islands to avoid walking into a conflict, a day after the United States slammed Beijing for deploying missiles in the disputed South China Sea. China said Thursday it had weapons on one of the islands in the strategically important region, which US Secretary of State John Kerry said was evidence of an increase of militarization and a serious concern. Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said it was critical for the regions prosperity that China and the US use international law to resolve their disputes. We urge all claimants in the South China Sea to refrain from any building of islands, any militarization of islands, any land reclamation, Turnbull said in a joint press conference with his New Zealand counterpart John Key in Sydney. Turnbull said both Australia and New Zealand wanted to see a lowering of tensions as he urged Chinese President Xi Jinping to resolve all disputes in the seas through which one-third of the worlds oil passes through legal means. President Xi of China has said that one of Chinas biggest challenges is falling into what he calls the Thucydides Trap, which essentially is where a rising power creates anxiety among other powers such that conflict occurs, he said. If China wants to avoid falling into the Thucydides Trap, as President Xi describes it, then resolving disputes in the South China Sea should be done through international law, through all of those mechanisms that are available to us. New Zealand Prime Minister Key said the two nations economic relationships with China, an important trading partner, would allow them to make their case against escalating tensions publicly and privately. Beijing claims nearly all of the South China Sea. It has insisted that its island building aims to provide services such as search and rescue facilities, but also maintains it has the right to deploy necessary self-defense measures there. Other nations surrounding the sea Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam lay claim to parts of it. The US and Australia have carried out several so-called Freedom of Navigation overflights and sail-bys in the region, which China has described as provocations. AFP By Guy Faulconbridge and Kate Holton LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister David Cameron on Saturday called a June 23 referendum on membership of the European Union that could have far-reaching consequences for Britain's unity and for the viability of the world's biggest trading bloc. Forty-three years after Britain joined the EU's predecessor, Cameron clinched a deal from 27 other leaders to give it what he said was a special status before presenting the new settlement to senior ministers in London. In the first British cabinet meeting on a Saturday since the 1982 Falklands War, Cameron said he had won the blessing of his colleagues to recommend to voters that Britain stay in the bloc it joined in 1973. "Britain will be safer, stronger and better off by remaining in a reformed European Union," Cameron, 49, said outside his Number 10 Downing Street residence in London, kicking off a four-month referendum campaign. "Leaving Europe would threaten our economic and our national security," Cameron said, adding that he would propose to parliament that the referendum be held on Thursday June 23, in the middle of the Glastonbury music festival and the Euro 2016 soccer championship. Britain has been divided over its European destiny since France and West Germany sought closer unity to prevent a repeat of the destruction wrought by World War Two and, though Britain eventually joined the club, it remained a reluctant member outside the core euro zone. Both U.S. President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping have urged Britain to stay, but British voters - and Cameron's ruling Conservative Party - are split on membership. Polls suggest about a fifth of voters are undecided though betting odds have moved further in favour of Britain remaining a member since Cameron's summit deal in Brussels. A British exit from the EU would rock the Union - already shaken by differences over migration and the future of the euro zone - by ripping away its second-largest economy, one of its top two military powers and by far its richest financial centre. BREXIT TIME? Pro-Europeans, including former prime ministers Tony Blair and John Major, have warned that an exit could also trigger the break-up of the United Kingdom by prompting another Scottish independence vote if England pulled Scotland out of the EU. Companies such as BP and GlaxoSmithKline have cautioned that Britain's $2.9 trillion economy would face years of uncertain negotiations if voters chose to divorce, while Goldman Sachs said sterling could fall by as much as a fifth. Members of Britain's split 'Out' campaign say such warnings are overblown and that Britain would prosper if it broke free from what they say is a doomed German-dominated bloc that punches way below its weight beside rivals such as Russian President Vladimir Putin. The agreement Cameron reached in Brussels granted Britain an explicit exemption from the founding goal of "ever closer union", offered concessions on the welfare rights of migrant workers and safeguards for the City of London. After the deal, Cameron said he would campaign heart and soul for membership but Nigel Farage, the head of the UK Independence Party, said he had achieved nothing. "This is a truly pathetic deal," Farage said. One of Cameron's closest political allies, Justice Secretary Michael Gove, and five other cabinet members opposed the deal and said they would campaign to leave. They signed a poster for the "Vote Leave" campaign saying "Let's take back control." "The EU is an institution rooted in the past," Gove said, adding that Britain had exported a democratic system of self-government to nations like the United States, India, Canada and Australia that had brought prosperity and peace to millions. "Our country would be freer, fairer and better off outside the EU," he said. While a rebellion by 6 out of 30 cabinet members illustrated the depth of the party's split over Europe, Cameron's most senior ministers including interior minister Theresa May and finance minister George Osborne backed EU membership. BORIS AND MURDOCH London Mayor Boris Johnson, who has charmed some voters with a buffoonish persona that masks fierce ambition to succeed Cameron, has yet to make his position clear. He might show his hand on Sunday, a source told Reuters. Despite a 1975 referendum in favour of membership, the issue of Europe has divided the Conservatives for three decades and played a major part in the downfall of Cameron's two Conservative predecessors, Margaret Thatcher and John Major. The EU inflames such passions that Cameron warned in 2006 that the party had to stop "banging on" about Europe. But less than seven years later, under pressure from lawmakers who feared the electoral success of the anti-EU UK Independence Party, Cameron promised a referendum on membership. Gove joined Christopher Grayling, leader of the House of Commons, Iain Duncan Smith, a former Conservative Party leader, employment minister Priti Patel, culture minister John Whittingdale and Northern Ireland minister Theresa Villiers in support for the leaving camp. Media tycoon Rupert Murdoch, an influential figure in Britain through his ownership of a clutch of U.K. newspapers, congratulated Gove. "Congratulations Michael Gove," Murdoch said on Twitter. "Friends always knew his principles would overcome his personal friendships." The message from the 84-year-old executive chairman of News Corp and 21st Century Fox Inc raises the prospect of some of the media tycoon's British newspapers possibly campaigning for an EU exit. (Writing by Guy Faulconbridge; editing by Richard Balmforth) By Peter Gosnell (Reuters) - Fiji declared a nationwide curfew on Saturday, as airlines suspended flights and the prime minister warned people to seek refuge from a cyclone that could prove to be the Pacific island nation's most powerful on record. After twice hammering outlying islands in nearby Tonga last week, Cyclone Winston re-intensified and began to track west towards Suva, the capital of Fiji, packing winds of 230 km per hour (143 mph), with gusts of up to 325 kph (202 mph). Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama urged Fijians to prepare themselves for a "terrible event", Australian broadcaster ABC reported. "We cannot afford to be complacent," it quoted the prime minister as saying. "And I am especially concerned that some people in urban areas do not appear to have heeded the warnings about the seriousness of the threat." A nationwide curfew has been imposed, the government said on social media website Facebook. "A total public curfew will take effect across the country today from 6.00 p.m.," it added. It issued a list of 758 evacuation centres across the nation of just under 900,000 people. As Fiji's weather service warned people in the east to "expect very destructive hurricane-force winds," Suva resident Alice Clements said the power had failed just after 5:00 p.m. and she expected water supplies to be hit next. "I have palm trees flying all around me at the moment," Clements, an official with a U.N. agency, told Reuters. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said Winston was following a path that might spare Suva the full force of its winds, rated as category 5, the highest ranking on the hurricane wind scale. "The cyclone has tracked further north than expected over the past 24 hours," the U.N. agency said. Airlines Virgin and Jetstar suspended flights into and out of Fiji's international airport at Nadi, while the national carrier suspended all flights. (Reporting by Peter Gosnell in Sydney; Editing by Matthew Lewis and Clarence Fernandez) BEIJING China yesterday accused the US of militarizing the South China Sea, just days after it was revealed Beijing had deployed surface-to-air missiles on an island in the hotly disputed area. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei told reporters that patrols by US military aircraft and Navy vessels, along with joint exercises involving regional partners were the true reason why concerns were growing over peace and stability. The above actions have escalated tensions in the South China Sea, and thats the real militarization of the South China Sea, Hong said. US and Taiwanese officials this week confirmed commercial satellite images showing the missiles placed on Woody Island in the disputed Paracel chain. China has not denied the appearance of the missiles, but says it is entitled to defend its territory and points to the construction of lighthouses, weather stations and other infrastructure undertaken to provide more public goods and services to the international community. The deployment follows Chinas building of new islands by piling sand atop reefs and then adding airstrips and military installations. The buildup is seen as part of Beijings efforts to claim virtually the entire disputed sea and its resources. The Philippines, which claims waters and features east of Woody island, yesterday said it was gravely concerned by reports of the missile deployments. Such actions negate Chinas earlier commitment not to militarize the South China Sea, the Department of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. AP There is no "flip-flop" in Putrajaya's decision to suspend the intake of foreign workers a day after signing an agreement with Bangladesh to recruit its workers, Deputy Home Minister Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed says, adding that employers are the ones who had contributed to the messy situation with their high reliance on cheap migrant labour. "The ones who flip-flopped are employers. One moment, they say 'too many, don't take the Bangladeshis', and when we announce the freeze, they say they need workers. "The public have also become confused. (The freeze) is also to help the government assess the views of the public," he told The Malaysian Insider as Putrajaya came under fire for confusion over its recent announcements regarding foreign labour. Putrajaya and Dhaka on Thursday signed a deal to recruit Bangladeshi workers, amid confusion over the 1.5 million figure that was first announced by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi in June last year. Only in recent weeks did Putrajaya begin to say that the 1.5 million was the number of workers on offer by Bangladesh to recruiting countries. On Friday, one day after the deal was signed, Zahid, who is also home minister, announced a freeze on foreign worker intake from all source countries, including Bangladesh. Nur Jazlan (pic) said recruitment would resume after the government had completed the Rehiring Programme for Illegal Foreign Workers, and assured that the number of Bangladeshi workers coming in would not be 1.5 million. "Through the rehiring programme, we will ensure that undocumented migrant workers in the country have the chance to be registered. This will help us legalise some of them, and then only will we take in new workers." The freeze and rehiring programme will not affect Putrajaya's deal with Bangladesh as it was an agreement to last for the next three to five years. "The ones who made this offer is the Bangladesh government and they did so for the welfare of their citizens and to prevent them from getting cheated by agents," he said, referring to previous recruitment methods that used middlemen before the present government-to-government arrangement. The freeze would also have no impact on foreign worker applications that had already been approved and were in the process of being executed, he added. "For those that are already in process, it is only fair (to let them continue). Furthermore, the agreement in the memorandum of understanding (with Bangladesh) is not in effect yet." Employers responsible Employer and manufacturing groups have reacted to the news of the suspension with surprise, saying it would cause difficulties for businesses. But Nur Jazlan blamed employers for contributing to high numbers of undocumented migrant workers in the country, estimated at around two million, saying that some bosses failed to follow procedures that resulted in foreign workers getting cheated and stranded. "In the past there were those who brought in Bangladeshi workers but not through government-to-government arrangements. Many ended up getting cheated. "If employers are good bosses, will workers with permits leave them? So who is causing this problem of illegal workers? Employers, too. "Because they don't follow procedures and do what is required for foreign workers. Some promise good wages but don't pay. "The government is only an intermediary, the government can only help to facilitate, so it is not fair to blame the government only," Nur Jazlan said in response to claims that Putrajaya's poor policies were at fault for the large numbers of undocumented foreign workers. The deputy minister also held employers responsible for the large numbers of foreign workers due to their reluctance to hire locals. "Employers are the ones who don't want to accept local workers, they are the ones who 'flip-flopped'. They don't want to pay minimum wage and prefer to pay foreigners because they want to make their work easier, (and) have more profits. "We want to help their businesses but they have to give and take. Wages for local workers have to be appropriate. Don't blame the government. The ones with double standards, with flip-flop, are employers; they want things cheap," he said. February 21, 2016. British Prime Minister David Cameron on Saturday embarked on a daunting challenge to persuade ministers in his own cabinet and the country at large to vote for Britain to stay in the European Union. Cameron will hold a cabinet meeting -- the first on a Saturday since the Falklands War in 1982 -- and will announce the date for a membership referendum after striking a deal in Brussels that gives Britain special concessions. "The cabinet will this morning discuss the UK's new special status in the EU -- afterwards I'll announce the planned referendum date," Cameron tweeted following a gruelling two-day summit with EU leaders. The announcement of the date -- widely expected to be June 23 -- sounds the launch of a campaign that will be bitterly contested, with opinion polls showing Britons fiercely divided on the question and the media pouring cold water on Cameron's claims to have won substantial concessions from his EU peers. Following the cabinet meeting, ministers who want Britain to become the first member state to leave the EU will be allowed to speak out for the first time. Justice minister Michael Gove is expected to be one of around five or six ministers who will declare their support for a British EU exit or "Brexit". Much of the political suspense is over whether Mayor of London Boris Johnson, a popular politician from Cameron's Conservative Party, will join them. "I will be campaigning with all my heart and soul to persuade the British people to remain in the reformed European Union that we have secured today," Cameron told a press conference on Friday evening. He said the deal contained a seven-year "emergency brake" on welfare payments for EU migrants and meant Britain would be "permanently out of ever closer union" -- one of the EU's key objectives. But Britain's predominantly right-wing newspapers reacted sceptically. "Cameron's Climbdown," read a headline on the Daily Express website, while the Daily Mail said: "Call that a Deal, Dave?" The Daily Telegraph said Cameron had made "puny gains" and The Times called it "Thin Gruel". "From the land of chocolate, David Cameron was always destined to bring back fudge," said The Times, which dismissed Cameron's drawn-out negotiations with fellow European leaders as "ill-disguised theatrics". He "has little choice now but to resort to the old argument that Britain's interests are best served by trying to reform Europe from the inside rather than submitting to the unknown rigours of full independence" an editorial said. "He faces an uphill struggle making it." But the left-leaning Guardian daily said the deal was "a practical package" and "cannot be dismissed as a charade". The paper said it supported Britain staying in the EU "come what may", urging undecided voters to examine the agreed reforms "very seriously indeed". - 'Depressingly negative campaign' - The drama is only just beginning for Cameron, as he battles not only a hostile press but also eurosceptic members of his own Conservative party. Daily Telegraph editor Charles Moore predicted: "From now on... the internal pains of the Tory party on this subject will be brought into the open." Anand Menon, professor of European politics at King's College London, said he expected both sides to emphasise the risks of either leaving or sticking with the status quo. "This is going to be a depressingly negative campaign," he told AFP. Cameron will on Monday address parliament, which formally has to approve the date for the vote. This will be Britain's second referendum on European membership in just over 30 years. In June 1975, voters backed membership of the then European Economic Community (EEC) by just over 67 percent. - 'No exceptions to the rules' - German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Europe's most powerful leader, said the accord in Brussels was a "fair compromise". "I do not think that we gave too much to Great Britain," she said. French President Francois Hollande insisted the deal contained "no exceptions to the rules" of the EU, but Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi warned "there is a risk of us losing sight of the original European dream". During negotiations, France and Belgium strongly resisted safeguards for countries that do not use the euro. European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker said the deal would give Britain no power of veto over the eurozone. Britain and other "euro-outs" will, however, be able to raise concerns about eurozone policies at the level of EU summits. Western powers rejected a Russian bid at the United Nations to halt Turkey's military actions in Syria, as France warned of a dangerous escalation in the nearly five-year conflict. The emergency Security Council meeting came as US Secretary of State John Kerry cautioned there was "a lot more work to do" for a ceasefire to take hold in Syria, following talks in Geneva between American and Russian officials. Meanwhile President Barack Obama, in a phone call with Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, urged the Ankara government and Kurdish YPG forces to "show reciprocal restraint" in northern Syria. The elusive truce was meant to begin Friday, but failed to materialize as fighting raged in Syria with Kurdish-led forces backed by US-led air power seizing a key town from the Islamic State group. Russia, which has been carrying out air strikes in support of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad's forces, has urged the UN to press Turkey to halt its shelling of Kurdish forces in the country's north. Moscow presented a draft resolution that "strongly demands" an immediate end to cross-border shellings and plans -- supported by Turkey -- for foreign ground intervention in Syria. But the text failed to garner support from key council members with at least six countries including veto-wielding France and the United States rejecting it outright during a closed-door meeting, diplomats said. US Ambassador Samantha Power accused Moscow of trying to "distract the world" from its air campaign in support of the Syrian regime and urged it to abide by UN resolutions supporting a peace process. "Russia must understand that its unconditional support to Bashar al-Assad is a dead-end and a dead-end that could be extremely dangerous," French Ambassador Francois Delattre said. "We are facing a dangerous military escalation that could easily get out of control and lead us to uncharted territory," he said. Turkey is pressing for a joint ground operation in Syria with its international allies, insisting it is the only way to stop the war. Turkish Ambassador Yasar Halit Cevik said his country was facing "national security threats emanating from Syria" in reference to the Kurdish militias it is targeting in the country's north. Amid the surge in fighting, UN peace envoy Staffan de Mistura said a new round of peace talks scheduled for February 25 was unlikely. - Kurds seize town from IS - In his call with Erdogan, Obama stressed that Kurdish YPG forces "should not seek to exploit circumstances in this area to seize additional territory, and urged Turkey to show reciprocal restraint by ceasing artillery strikes in the area," a White House statement said. Obama, in an apparent reference to Russia, also "urgently called for a halt to actions that heighten tensions with Turkey and with moderate opposition forces in northern Syria, and undermine our collective efforts in northern Syria to degrade and defeat ISIL." French President Francois Hollande said Ankara's escalating involvement in the conflict was creating a risk of war between Turkey and Russia. "Turkey is involved in Syria... There, there is a risk of war," Hollande told France Inter radio. On the ground, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) alliance -- which groups the powerful Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) and smaller Arab groups -- seized the northeastern town of Al-Shadadi from IS, with backing from US-led air strikes, a monitor and Kurdish sources said. Al-Shadadi was the largest town controlled by IS in Hasake province, and the defeat extends earlier losses for the jihadists there. SDF forces earlier seized a nearby oilfield from IS and cut the routes from Al-Shadadi to Mosul in neighboring Iraq as well as IS's de facto Syrian capital Raqa. The SDF began a new operation in Hasakeh on Tuesday, following major advances by its forces in northern Aleppo province, where it has seized territory from Syrian rebel groups. Its advances in Aleppo have angered Turkey, which says the YPG is the Syrian affiliate of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), an outlawed group that has waged a decades-long insurgency against Ankara. Turkey has carried out nearly a week of shelling against SDF positions in Aleppo, intensifying its fire Friday and expanding it to target the Kurdish town of Afrin, where two civilians were killed, the Observatory said. Ankara fears the SDF advance in Aleppo province is intended to connect Kurdish-held areas in northern and northeastern Syria, creating an autonomous Kurdish region along much of its southern border. - TAK claims Ankara bombing - On Friday, Erdogan repeated accusations that the YPG was behind a Wednesday bombing in Ankara that killed 28 people. The YPG denied the charges. However the little-known Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK), a group linked to the PKK, claimed responsibility, saying it was revenge for military operations in southeast Turkey. The group warned foreign tourists not to visit the country. The PKK says the TAK is a splinter group over which it has no control. The TAK rose to prominence after it claimed that it fired mortar shells on Istanbul's Sabiha Gokcen airport on December 23. Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Jubeir meanwhile raised the prospect that Syrian rebels could be supplied with surface-to-air missiles, though he said it was not a decision Riyadh would take alone. Syria's conflict is now approaching its sixth year, with more than 260,000 people killed and half the population displaced. ISTANBUL (Reuters) - A Kurdish militant group once linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) claimed responsibility on Friday for the bombing in the Turkish capital Ankara that killed 28 people this week, according to a statement on its website. The Kurdistan Freedom Hawks (TAK) said the bombing was in response to the policies of President Tayyip Erdogan and said it would continue its attacks. It said the bomber was a 26-year old Turkish national born in the eastern city of Van. The group most recently claimed responsibility for a mortar attack at Istanbul's second airport in December that left an aircraft cleaner dead. TAK has in the past said its relationship with PKK militants has been severed. Both groups are regarded as terrorist organisations by Ankara and the United States. A car laden with explosives was detonated next to military buses as they waited at traffic lights in the administrative heart of Ankara on Wednesday. The government has blamed the PKK and the Syrian Kurdish YPG for the attacks. (Reporting by Ece Toksabay in Istanbul, Gulsen Solaker in Ankara; Writing by David Dolan; Editing by Nick Tattersall) The recent fiasco over Putrajaya's handling of the 1.5 million Bangladeshi workers supposedly meant for Malaysia has highlighted, once again, the haphazardness in which foreign labour policies are made and questions about their effectiveness. Union and trade groups have said the debacle represented, yet again, the lack of a clear and consistent long-term policy on foreign workers by Putrajaya. This is despite the Najib administrations repeated pledge that it wants to cure Malaysian companies of its addiction to cheap foreign labour. That different ministers said different things on different days about the plan fuelled suspicions of "state capture" that private interests close to Putrajaya were influencing policy in order to make billions in the lucrative manpower supply industry. Conflicting statements Now that the public is told that not all 1.5 million Bangladeshi workers are destined for Malaysia, one wonders why Putrajaya could not have said so at the beginning, when Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi first announced the plan in June last year. In the interim months until last week, Putrajaya took criticism over the plan from various groups, including the Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) and the Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF) two groups that have historically disagreed with each other on almost everything related to labour issues. They argued that Malaysia already had about two million illegal workers and more than 143,000 refugees that could be absorbed into the system to fill job gaps in various industries such as plantations, manufacturing and services. There were also allegations that individuals close to Umno were trying to profit from this intake through their ownership of an online system to process those workers. MTUC secretary-general N. Gopal Kishnam (pic) said the plan ran counter to the 11th Malaysia Plans to cap the proportion of foreigners to total workers at 15% by 2020. The 1.5 million plan would push the proportion up to 20%. In an interview with The Malaysian Insider, MEFs Datuk Shamsuddin Bardan estimated that foreign workers sent RM30 billion out of the country in 2014. Yet, Putrajaya took flak for more than six months and continued to defend the plan, right up till Friday when the Human Resources Minister Datuk Richard Riot gave the clearest explanation yet the 1.5 million, he said, were not all meant for Malaysia but was the number of Bangladeshis who had registered with their government as supply available to 139 countries. To add to the confusion, Zahid announced hours later on the same day the suspension of recruitment of foreign labour from all source countries, including Bangladesh. The purpose of the freeze was to allow the completion of the Rehiring Programme of Illegal Foreign Workers to legalise those working without permits and to help Putrajaya assess the foreign labour needs of industries. Two ministers with PhD cannot get their facts right. The level of competency among Barisan Nasional leaders is now more worrying," said Segambut MP Lim Lip Eng when commenting on Riots revelation. Either Putrajaya genuinely made a U-turn after public criticism or Zahids colleagues allowed him to publicly repeat a mistake and get skewered for it. More contradictions But the debacle over the 1.5 million plan is not the only sign of Putrajayas uncoordinated approach to foreign workers. In his recalibration of Budget 2016, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak announced the rehiring programme for employers using illegal workers to legalise and rehire them at the cost RM1,200 per worker. In a BloombergTV report MEFs Shamsuddin (pic) as saying that no company was going to admit that it was employing illegals and pay the RM1,200 levy for each of them in order to legalise their stay. There is also a question of why there needs to be another programme to rehire illegal workers given that Putrajaya just finished a similar initiative called the 6P programme less than two years ago. Some 520,000 legal permits were issued during the 6P programme which ran from 2011 to 2014. According to BloombergTV, the remaining illegal workers were to be caught and deported. Yet instead of mass deportations, Putrajaya has now announced the rehiring programme that will run until December 31. At the same time, it signed a deal with Bangladesh for the recruitment of its workers. This lack of basic coordination and the inability of public officials to provide accurate and coherent explanations appears to support labour experts' advice to place foreign worker recruitment under the purview of the Human Resource Ministry, rather than the Home Ministry, since the former is asked with crafting of labour market policies. Perhaps what is really needed, as MTUCs Gopal has said, is a proper inquiry such as one by royal commission or a parliamentary select committee on the foreign worker industry to figure out why these debacles happen and how they can be prevented once and for all. February 20, 2016. The sniper barrel juts out of the ancient wall above Jerusalem's Damascus Gate, pointing down towards a young Palestinian being searched by Israeli policemen. A key tourist site and one of the entrances to the Old City, the massive white stone gate has become a backdrop for the violence between Israel and Palestinians that erupted almost five months ago. Israeli policemen line the courtyard beneath the gate, which is flanked by two towers and was built in the 16th century by Suleiman the Magnificent. Snipers have positioned themselves on nearby roofs and new surveillance cameras have been set up beside dozens of others already installed. Trees that once cast shade over green areas nearby have been cut back or even uprooted to give the cameras a clear view. Damascus Gate, one of seven historic gates in the city, leads into Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem. A web of alleyways where Palestinians, Israelis and tourists cross paths lie beyond the gate, which also leads toward Al-Aqsa mosque compound, the Western Wall and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. But the gate's history has been overshadowed by deadly violence in recent months. On Friday, a 20-year-old Palestinian stabbed and wounded two policemen outside Damascus Gate before they shot him dead. And on February 3, three young Palestinians from the nearby occupied West Bank killed a 19-year-old Israeli policewoman before they were shot dead. Since October 1, Palestinian knife, gun and car-ramming attacks have taken the lives of 27 Israelis, an American and an Eritrean, according to an AFP count. - 'No security justification' - Most of the assailants have been teenagers or young men and women, and recent security checks have focused on that age group. Near Damascus Gate, three policemen conduct a body search on a young man, who stands legs and arms apart against the wall. One policeman points his gun to his head while his two colleagues keep an eye on their surroundings. The young man is patted down thoroughly from head to toe and asked to remove his shoes. His backpack is emptied of all its items, one by one. His identity papers are checked. Only then is he allowed on his way. "I live in the Old City so I have to go through this every single day," says the young man who asked to remain anonymous. "It's really annoying," he adds, his face visibly tense. A little further on, Bassem Zidan, 29, says: "Sometimes they check us ten times every two metres" (yards). "Sometimes, the searches have no security justification. It's just provocation. It depends on the soldiers' mood." "Before, I used to refuse that they search me in public and they'd take me aside to a police station," he adds. But "now I don't dare anymore, I'm too scared they'll kill me in cold blood, now they have a ready-made accusation to kill us." Around him, women and school students open up their handbags and school bags to have them checked with the security forces' guns pointed at them. Earlier this month, the Israeli parliament passed a law authorising the police to stop and search "any person appearing to be reasonably suspicious" as long as they agree to the search. But at Damascus Gate, journalists did not hear policemen ask for the consent of the young people they were searching. By Denis Dyomkin NOVO-OGARYOVO, Russia (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday he is sure that relations between Russia and the European Union will get back to normal sooner or later. "It will happen sooner or later. Relations between Russia and the European Union will be normalised," Putin said after talks at his residence near Moscow with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. The EU imposed sanctions on Russia in response to Moscow's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea peninsula and the conflict in eastern Ukraine. Some European leaders, including Orban, want to restore trade relations with Russia, testing EU solidarity over the issue. Speaking at a joint news conference with Putin after their talks, Orban said he believed EU economic sanctions against Russia won't be extended this year, when they are due for renewal. "I think that in the middle of this year there will be no opportunity to extend sanctions automatically," he said, speaking through an interpreter. "More and more countries... are starting to realise that we need to cooperate," he added. Putin said that Russia will fulfill all its obligations under an agreement to help Hungary to build Paks nuclear power plant. Russia agreed in 2014 to provide a $10 billion loan to Hungary to cover 80 percent of the costs of building new units at the Paks nuclear power plant, on the Danube river. Questions have been raised in Hungary about whether Moscow could still afford to provide the financing, after its economy went into recession and it was forced to make deep spending cuts. Orban has been outspoken in his criticism of EU policy on refugees arriving in Europe, saying they were threatening his country's national identity and security, and that the bloc should be more resolute in keeping them out. The Russian president said that Russia sympathizes with Hungary's view on the refugee crisis, saying it is "defending its European identity". Putin said the only way to solve the migrant crisis was to restore political stability in volatile parts of the Middle East and North Africa. He said the prerequisite for that was to "destroy terrorism. That is the number one objective." (Reporting by Denis Dyomkin, writing by Maria Tsvetkova, editing by Christian Lowe) Via The Guardian: Cyclone Winston: strongest ever southern hemisphere storm hits Fiji. Click or tap through for the full report and a video. Excerpt: A state of emergency has been declared in Fiji as tropical Cyclone Winston made landfall on the countrys main island, with estimated wind gusts of up to 195mph (315km/h). The category five storm is thought to be the strongest ever recorded in the southern hemisphere, and is the strongest Fiji has ever experienced. An elderly man from Nabasovi, Koro Island is reported to have died as a result of the storm. Fiji Disaster Management Committee (DISMAC) officer Vatia Vasuca told FBC news the man died after a roof top fell on him. Cyclone Winston began to make landfall on the main island of Vitu Levu after a national curfew took effect at 6pm local time. It had earlier sunk boats and caused flash flooding on the nations outer islands, including Vanua Levu. It is carrying average winds of 220km/h, with gusts of up to 315km/h recorded, according to Fijis Meteorological Service. The Fijian government issued a list of 758 evacuation centres across the nation of just under 900,000 people. The countrys prime minister, Frank Bainimarama, said on Saturday that the islands evacuation centres were operational and the government was prepared to deal with a potential crisis. As a nation we are facing an ordeal of the most grievous kind, he wrote. We must stick together as a people and look after each other. ABC quoted the prime minister expressing concerns that some people in urban areas did not appear to have heeded the warnings about the seriousness of the threat. Save the Children Fijis CEO, Iris Low-McKenzie, said the storm had the potential to cause catastrophic damage across Fiji, an island nation frequented by hundreds of thousands of holiday-goers every year. Were extremely concerned about the impact this will have on children, who are particularly vulnerable during emergencies, she said. Putrajaya's freeze on the intake of foreign workers including the 1.5 million from Bangladesh has been met with scepticism by a Bangladesh official, the Dhaka Tribune reported. It quoted the acting secretary of Bangladesh Expatriates Welfare and Overseas Employment Ministry, Begum Shamsun Nahar, as saying she believed the Malaysian government would still take in workers from Bangladesh as agreed in a memorandum of understanding signed two days ago, and one day just before Putrajaya announced it was suspending recruitment of foreign workers from all source countries. The Malaysian government has made the announcement to calm local pressure groups who are opposed to recruiting foreign workers," Begum Shamsun was quoted as saying. The Dhaka Tribune also said she had called Putrajaya's announcement an "eyewash". The report said that Bangladesh had yet to receive any official statement on the freeze from Putrajaya. Yesterday, Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi announced that Putrajaya was putting on hold recruitment of foreign workers from all source countries, including Bangladesh. This came a day after the Malaysian and Bangladesh governments signed an memorandum of understanding to bring in 1.5 million workers from the South Asian country over the next three years. Deputy Home Minister Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed said the suspension was done so that Putrajaya could evaluate the current pool of foreign labour in the country. He said the agreement signed with Dhaka expired in three years' time and Malaysia did not need to implement it immediately. Local groups have criticised the plan to bring in more foreign workers when a large number in the country are undocumented, while employers are concerned about the impact of the freeze on their businesses. Malaysian Trades Union Congress secretary-general N. Gopal Kishnam had welcomed the move to put on hold the intake of foreign workers, but still wants a royal commission of inquiry into foreign labour needs in the country. Malaysian Employers Federation Datuk Shamsuddin Bardan, however, said he hoped that freeze would not affect the ongoing intake of foreign workers. February 20, 2016. Britain will vote on whether to stay in the EU in a make-or-break referendum expected in June, after Prime Minister David Cameron sealed a reform deal in Brussels on Friday. National referendums have often determined the direction taken by the European Union, whether by admitting new members, expanding its powers via treaty changes, or embarking on new projects: - Enlargement - The then European Economic Community's first expansion was in 1973. Founding member France blocked British membership under President Charles De Gaulle, but in the end French voters agreed in April 1972 to admit Britain, Denmark, Ireland and Norway. Danish and Irish voters then voted in referendums to join the bloc, while Norwegians voted to stay out. Britain did not hold a referendum on whether to join, but the Labour government of Harold Wilson organised one in 1975 on whether to stay in, to which Britons voted in favour. In 1994 it was the turn of Austria, Finland and Sweden to vote to join what had become the European Union, bringing the bloc's membership to 15 on January 1, 1995. Norwegians voted for a second time to stay out. Then, on May 1, 2004, 10 new countries, including eight members of the former communist bloc and two Mediterranean islands, joined the EU, taking its ranks to 25. Nine of the incoming countries voted to join at referendums staged between March and September 2003: Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary. Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia. Cyprus did not hold a referendum. Croatia, which became the bloc's 28th member in July 2013, also voted to join in a January, 2012, plebiscite. - Reforms and treaty changes - Under a series of reforms and new treaties, the EU has gradually expanded its powers and role. Some EU member countries, such as Ireland and Denmark, are required under their constitutions to hold referendums to agree these changes, and the popular verdict has sometimes between negative. - The Single European Act, which established a single market in the EEC from 1993, was agreed at referendums in both Denmark and Ireland. - The Maastricht Treaty, establishing the European Union and laying the groundwork for European monetary union, did not go so smoothly. On June 2, 1992, Danes sent shockwaves through Europe when they turned down the treaty. They backed an amended version by a narrow margin in May 1993, but only after Denmark had secured greater autonomy in defence, currency, citizenship matters and judicial cooperation. French voters, also consulted at a referendum, voted narrowly on September 20, 1992 to ratify the treaty. while Ireland also voted in favour. - The Treaty of Amsterdam, which boosted the powers of the European Parliament, was approved by voters in Denmark and Ireland in May 1998. - The Treaty of Nice contained key institutional reforms needed for the bloc's eastwards enlargement in 2004. It only faced a referendum in Ireland, where it was initially rejected in June 2001 after backers underestimated local opposition. After obtaining guarantees regarding Ireland's cherished neutrality, a second referendum was approved on October 19, 2002. - The European Constitution: four countries held referendums. Spanish voters gave their approval in February 2005 and those in Luxembourg agreed in July of that year. Trouble broke out, however, when almost 55 percent of French voters said 'no' in late May 2005 and more than 61 percent of the Dutch rejected the document three days later. - Treaty of Lisbon: The treaty of reform to replace the doomed constitution. Once again, Irish voters initially said 'no' in June 2008 before changing their minds in October 2009. - The European Budgetary Pact: This introduced the notion of the "golden rule," of balanced budgets was approved by an Irish referendum on the first try in mid-2012. Ireland was the only country to submit the pact to a referendum. - The euro - Two countries have held referendums on joining the euro since it was created in 1999, and in both cases Nordic voters rejected Europe's single currency. In September 2000, just over 53 percent of Danes snubbed the euro, while in September 2003, neighbouring Sweden also held a referendum on the euro, which was rejected by 55.9 percent of those who voted. - Switzerland - Non EU-member Switzerland voted in 1992 against joining the European Economic Area agreement linking the EU and other Western European countries and in 2001 voted against applying to join the EU. It voted in favour of joining the EU's Schengen border-free zone in 2005. Russia on Saturday expressed regret that the United Nations Security Council rejected its bid to halt Turkey's military actions against Syria and vowed to continue supporting government forces against "terrorists." Western powers on Friday turned down a Russian draft resolution calling for an immediate end to cross-border shellings and plans -- supported by Turkey -- for foreign ground intervention in Syria. "We can only express regret that this draft resolution was rejected," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists. He said Moscow was "concerned at the growing tension at the Syrian-Turkish border. "Russia considers such cross-border shelling that Turkey is carrying out as unacceptable." President Vladimir Putin held a "detailed discussion of the situation in Syria particularly due to the escalation in tensions on the Syrian-Turkish border," on Friday with his security council, the Kremlin said in a statement. Peskov stressed that Syrian government troops were coming under fire in the area being shelled by Turkey, as well as Kurdish fighters. The Kremlin spokesman underlined that Russia is set to continue its support for President Bashar al-Assad's ground offensive. "Russia is continuing a consistent line to provide assistance and help to the armed forces of Syria in their offensive actions against terrorists, against terrorist organisations," Peskov said. He said that Russia's intervention is aimed at providing "stability in the fight with terrorism, to preserve the terrorial integrity of the country (Syria) and the region." Six officials of Chinese megabank ICBC have been placed in detention by Spanish authorities on suspicion of laundering tens of millions of euros, judicial sources said on Saturday. They were detained overnight and while three of them can be freed if they post bail of 100,000 euros ($111,000) each, the others will remain in custody for the time being, the Madrid appeals court said. The suspects were arrested on Wednesday at the bank's central Madrid branch as part of a probe into the suspected laundering of at least 40 million euros ($44.5 million). They were questioned from Friday afternoon through to early Saturday. The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China is accused of allowing traders to move money earned through smuggling and tax fraud out of the country, to China, "in a way that appeared legal", Spanish police said in a statement. Spanish prosecutors said the employees were being sought for "economic crimes" but did not elaborate. The raid was a follow-up to an operation last year that targeted Madrid-based Chinese syndicates suspected of importing huge amounts of goods from China without declaring them, to avoid duties and taxes. The groups allegedly deposited the proceeds in ICBC accounts, with the lender accused of sending the funds to China without checking their origin as required by law. ICBC is the world's largest bank by market capitalisation. It entered the Spanish market in January 2011 with the inauguration of its branch in Madrid. A year later it opened a second branch in Barcelona. The Chinese lender's foreign operations accounted for about 10 percent of its total assets at the end of last year. BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syria's opposition on Saturday said it had agreed to the "possibility" of a temporary truce, provided there were guarantees Damascus's allies including Russia would cease fire, sieges were lifted and aid deliveries allowed country-wide. Russian air strikes began last September and turned the tide in Syria's five-year civil war in Bashar al-Assad's favour, to the frustration of the United States and its allies who have supported rebels trying to topple the president. Attempts to negotiate a truce in recent months have failed. The latest round of talks at the United Nations in Geneva is being jointly chaired by Russia and the United States. On Saturday, various Syrian opposition factions "expressed agreement on the possibility of reaching a temporary truce deal, to be reached through international mediation," a statement from the High Negotiations Committee said. A halt to Russian bombardments did not look immediately likely. The spokesman for Russia's President Vladimir Putin, Dmitry Peskov, said: "Russia is sticking to its consistent policy of rendering assistance and aid to the armed forces of Syria in their offensive actions against terrorists and against terrorist organizations." The High Negotiations Committee, which joins various armed groups and Syria's exiled political opposition, said the U.N. must guarantee "holding Russia and Iran and sectarian militias ... to a halt to fighting". All sides should cease fire simultaneously and the government should release prisoners, it added. U.S. and Russian military officials met ahead of the wider Geneva meeting, diplomats said on Friday. A source close to peace talks earlier on Saturday told Reuters Syria's opposition had agreed to a two- to three-week truce. The truce would be renewable and supported by all parties except Islamic State, the source said. It would also be conditional on the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front no longer being targeted, at least to start with, the source said. The Nusra Front is considered a terrorist organisation by the U.N. Security Council and banned. Asked if the opposition's insistence on the Nusra Front no longer being targeted was the main stumbling block, he described it as "the elephant in the room". "They have to deal with this very delicately or they are going to end up with a civil war in Idlib on their hands," the source said. Nusra fighters are fighting alongside other rebel groups in some areas, including Idlib. Ending sieges on civilians have become another key sticking point in talks to end the conflict. The U.N. estimates there are 486,700 people in around 15 besieged areas of Syria, and 4.6 million in hard-to-reach areas. In some, starvation deaths and severe malnutrition have been reported. (Reporting by Tom Perry and John Davison in Beirut; Additional reporting by Tom Miles in Geneva and Dmitry Solovyov in Moscow; Editing by Janet Lawrence and Raissa Kasolowsky) Thousands of people in Slovenia on Saturday protested against the proposed opening of a migrants' centre. Around 3,000 protesters, according to state Radio Slovenija, waved Slovenian flags and banners with slogans such as "Migrants' centre: no thanks!" and "The duty of all patriots is defend the country from this government". The protest near the town of Kranj, around 25 kilometres (15 miles) north of capital Ljubljana, was called by a civil group and backed by the main opposition centre-right Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS). The authorities have said they could open a migrants' accommodation centre in an abandoned home improvement store near the town. The protestors formed a circle in front of the building playing accordions and singing traditional songs as drivers sounded car horns and others whistled. Since mid-October Slovenia has been a key transit nation on the Balkan migrant trail from Greece toward Austria and Germany. Slovenia controls 670 kilometres (410 miles) of the passport-free Schengen zone's external border. Slovenia has stepped up security along its border with Croatia on to avoid becoming a bottleneck after Austria introduced a daily cap on asylum-seekers on Friday. Only 227 of the 470,000 migrants that passed through Slovenia since mid-October have applied for asylum, the country's Interior Ministry said last week. GENEVA (Reuters) - Countries backing the U.S.- and Russian-led plan for a cessation of hostilities in Syria have requested access to besieged towns and expect approval from the warring parties without delay, the group's chairman Jan Egeland said on Friday. The "Task Force on Humanitarian Access in Syria" met at the United Nations in Geneva less than 24 hours after it was set up by major and regional powers meeting in Munich. "We have already submitted requests for access to the parties surrounding besieged areas, Egeland said in a statement. We expect to get such access without delay." (Reporting by Tom Miles, editing by Stephanie Nebehay) The human gut is a complex and amazing system, and the more we learn about it, the more amazed we are. It turns out By David Brunnstrom and Ben Blanchard WASHINGTON/BEIJING (Reuters) - The United States accused China on Thursday of raising tensions in the South China Sea by its apparent deployment of surface-to-air missiles on a disputed island. U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby said commercial satellite imagery suggested "very recent" placement of missiles on Woody Island in the Paracel island chain that went against China's pledge not to militarize the South China Sea. "The Chinese have said one thing, and yet appear to be doing another," Kirby told a regular news briefing. "We see no indication that ... this militarization effort, has stopped. And it's doing nothing ... to make the situation there more stable and more secure. In fact, it's having quite the opposite effect." On Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said the United States would have "very serious" talks with China about militarization of the South China Sea. China has offered little specific response to the missile deployment reports, which first appeared on Fox News on Tuesday, but has accused Western media of "hyping up" the story and said China had a legitimate right to military facilities on territory it views as its own. China claims most of the South China Sea, through which more than $5 trillion in global trade passes every year. Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, the Philippines and Taiwan have rival claims. Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, the first senior Western official to visit China since the reports appeared, said she raised the issue of the South China Sea's militarization in talks in Beijing on Thursday. She told reporters after meeting China's top diplomat, State Councillor Yang Jiechi, that China had "challenged" the deployment report but had neither denied nor admitted that the missiles were there. "So until such time as we have a clear picture of it, of course it's a matter of concern," she said. Bishop referred to comments by Chinese President Xi Jinping in Washington last year that China did not intend to militarize islands in the South China Sea, and added: "We certainly hold China to that and that's been reiterated to me." 'LIMITED DEFENSIVE FACILITIES' Yang explained that the islands in the South China Sea had been China's since ancient times and that "the limited defensive facilities that China has deployed on its own territory have nothing do with militarization," a Chinese statement said. Yang added that Australia should stick to its promise not to take sides and "not participate in or take any actions to harm regional peace and stability or Sino-Australia ties." On Thursday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei would neither confirm nor deny if the missiles were on Woody Island, but repeated that China has had defence facilities on the islands for decades. The United States claims no territory in the South China Sea but has expressed serious concerns about how China's increasingly assertive pursuit of territorial claims there could affect the vital global trade routes that pass though it. Beijing has been angered by air and sea patrols the United States has conducted near islands China claims in the South China Sea. Those have included one by two B-52 strategic bombers in November and by a U.S. Navy destroyer that sailed within 12 nautical miles of Triton Island in the Paracels last month. An influential Chinese state-run tabloid, the Global Times, said in an editorial on Thursday that China needed to strengthen its "self-defence" in the South China Sea in the face of "more frequent provocations from the U.S. military." "Jet fighters from the United States, an outside country, may feel uneasy when making provocative flights in the region. To us, that's a proper result," it said of the reported missile deployment. (Reporting by Ben Blanchard and Michael Martina in Beijing and David Brunnstrom in Washington; Editing by Clarence Fernandez, Mike Collett-White and Peter Cooney) By Aubrey Belford BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand is pursuing closer ties - and possible arms deals - with Russia, with relations between Thailand and its traditional partner, the United States, cooling in the wake of a May 2014 coup. Two Thai deputy prime ministers will travel to Russia, just weeks after a visit to Bangkok by the powerful head of Russia's security council, Nikolai Patrushev. On the table, officials from both countries say, are wide-ranging talks on trade and security cooperation, as Russia seeks to develop its position as an Asian power. Most attention has been focused on Thailand's warming ties with China, including talks on a massive rail project and the possible purchase of $1 billion worth of Chinese-made submarines. But Russia appears keen to compete for Thailand's attention. In the last 18 months, Thai junta leader General Prayuth Chan-ocha has met three times with Russian Prime Minister Dimitry Medvedev, who visited Thailand in April 2015, the Russian ambassador to Thailand, Kirill Barsky, told Reuters. Prayuth will travel to Russia in May for a meeting between Russia and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). "THE U.S. WON'T SELL" The big prize of talks - and of most strategic concern to the United States - is in defence. Thailand served as a staging ground for American forces during the Vietnam War, and the Pentagon values its strategic access to the Southeast Asian nations airfields and ports. But for a second straight year, the United States scaled back regional military exercises, known as "Cobra Gold", which Thailand hosted earlier this month. Thai media have reported that Thailand is seeking to buy dozens of Russian T-90 tanks to replace part of its ageing U.S.-made fleet. In an interview, Thai Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwan told Reuters no decision had been made on the tanks. But U.S. restrictions on the sale of arms to the military-ruled country means Thailand needs to shop elsewhere for the roughly 50 tanks it needs, he said. "The U.S. won't sell weaponry to us, and as of late we've been on a tight budget and can't afford them," Prawit said. A 2011 deal to buy 49 tanks from Ukraine fell through after only 10 were delivered, he noted. Thailand is on course to sign an agreement with Russia covering counter-terrorism and is looking to buy Russian hardware, such as helicopters, for disaster response, he said. "It's not that we've decided to be on good terms with China and Russia and not with the U.S. We're equally good to all of them." "THIS IS OUR DESTINY" Russia has made it clear that its approach to Thailand is part of a broader push for Asian influence. But this will not necessarily be at the expense of China or the United States, Barsky, ambassador Barsky said. "Russia does not need to prove to anybody that Russia is an Asian power, an Asia-Pacific power, a Euro-Pacific power. This is our destiny as a country which stretches from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific coast," he said. Next week's visit will include talks on 25 separate draft agreements, including on trade, culture, technology and security, he said. Prawit will meet Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin and Trade Minister Denis Manturov for talks on military and technical cooperation, Barksy said. "If Thailand selects Russian tanks, more than welcome, more than welcome." Matthew Sussex, a Russia expert at Australian National University, said any deal on tanks "would certainly make Washington sit up and take notice". Russia already refuels its nuclear-capable bombers in Vietnam and is probing Southeast Asia for a possible strategic "toehold", he said. Even if they remain all talk, warming Thai-Russia relations would still worry the United States, Sussex said. "The fact that the Thai government is starting to say 'well, you know, what about the Russians?' sends pretty worrying signs to D.C." (Reporting By Aubrey Belford) SWNS

Americans are still waiting for their Goldilocks moment four in five say theyve never found their perfect fit for certain items.

According to a new poll of 1,000 people 250 lbs and over and 1,000 people under 250 lbs, 52% struggle to find clothing, mattresses (40%) and bathtubs or shower enclosures (38%) that fit their body types.

In fact, about two-thirds (67%) find themselves struggling frequently with finding items that fit their body size needs.

This was especially true for those 350 lbs and over, as 41% admit they always struggle, compared to only 23% of those under 250 lbs.

Despite frequency, almost three-quarters (74%) of all respondents find themselves feeling frustrated when they are searching for an item that accommodates their needs.

Conducted by OnePoll on behalf of Big Fig Mattress, the survey asked respondents how they go about their everyday lives despite challenges they may face because of their body type.

Results found that seven in 10 respondents feel less confident when they struggle with finding items that fit their size needs.

When asked about other emotions respondents experience, those 250 lbs and over are more likely to feel set apart from others, citing embarrassed (59%) and isolated (53%).

While those who are under 250 lbs tend to lean towards disappointed (51%).

Even so, those 250 lbs and up were more optimistic than those under (35% vs 23%).

The average respondent has crossed off about five brands or retailers because they dont carry products that meet their physical needs.

However, for those who are 250 lbs and over, 72% have eliminated between three and eight stores.

Almost one in five (18%) of those under 250 lbs cited that all stores carry their size, compared to only 2% of those who are 250 lbs and up.

"This survey makes it clear that the 'all' part of 'one size fits all' couldn't be further from the truth," said Jeff Brown, president, Big Fig Mattress. "Almost two in five respondents haven't found something that they felt was made for them. Everybody and every body deserves a long-lasting and comfortable mattress to support a good night's sleep, regardless of your size."

Products made for all body types are an issue no matter what the product, with respondents needing to stand on furniture to reach something (46%) or finding that clothing is either way too long or too short (46%).

And ill-fitting items arent just an inconvenience, 61% of respondents say that clothing, vehicles (59%) and mattresses (50%) that arent made for their body type have a big impact on their quality of life.

More than half of those 250 lbs and over (53%) believe their life is more difficult than for someone who is considered normal sized.

But that doesnt mean respondents are only dwelling on the negative almost half (44%) frequently make light of their struggles.

When asked how they do so, respondents outlined things like, I speak to myself. I'm beautiful and special. I'm impeccable," and Remind myself that if this is the biggest problem I have, then I am doing just fine in life."

The survey also asked about relationship status and how respondents are navigating integrating their lifestyles with another uniquely sized person.

Seventy-four percent of all respondents are in a relationship and living with their significant other.

Almost half (45%) are mixed-size couples, meaning they have a noticeable difference in body size or type.

Because of this, couples face challenges like finding a place to live that accommodates both people (40%), struggling to share a mattress comfortably (40%) and having items that one person uses but the other never would such as step stools (34%).

In the end, more than two-thirds (68%) of all respondents agree that its difficult to navigate a one size fits all world when people have varying body types.

We believe and support being body positive, in body acceptance, and in making positive life choices, noted Brown. Bigger figured people deserve the same level of quality products and choices as everyone else. Its important to accept that all bodies are different and require more from product manufacturers, and I think the data makes that clear.

MOST DIFFICULT ITEMS TO FIND FOR A SPECIFIC BODY TYPE

  • Clothing - 52%
  • Mattress - 40%
  • Bathtub/shower enclosure - 38%
  • Chairs/couch - 35%
  • Bike/scooter - 34%
  • Vehicle - 31%

Survey methodology:

This random double-opt-in survey of 1,000 Americans under 250 lbs and 1,000 Americans 250 lbs and up was commissioned by Big Big Mattress between September 8 and September 21. It was conducted by market research company OnePoll, whose team members are members of the Market Research Society and have corporate membership to the American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR) and the European Society for Opinion and Marketing Research (ESOMAR).

MADRID/BEIJING (Reuters) - Spanish police have arrested a sixth worker at the Madrid branch of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), a Madrid court said on Friday, after five directors were detained in a raid on Wednesday. The arrests follow an investigation by police, the Spanish tax agency and Europol into alleged money-laundering through the branch involving funds suspected of having been transferred via the bank to China by a criminal group. "The bank remains operative. The entrance and registration was done within the strict framework of the investigation and, so, there has been no judicial intervention in the bank itself," the court said in a statement. The six suspects are due to testify later on Friday, it said. The arrested face charges of money laundering, fraud and tax crimes and include the Madrid branch's general manager, according to a legal source. "The bank is paying great attention to developments," an ICBC spokesman in Beijing said. No one at the bank in Madrid was immediately available for comment. China's foreign ministry said in a statement earlier on Friday that the country attached high importance to the case and it had asked that Spain protect the rights and interests of Chinese firms and citizens there and handle the case in accordance with the law. (Reporting by Paul Day and Maria Vega in Madrid, Shu Zhang in Beijing; Editing by Adrian Croft, Greg Mahlich) BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syria's army and allies, backed by Russian air strikes, recaptured 18 villages from Islamic State fighters in eastern Aleppo province on Saturday, a monitoring group said. The advance extended their control of parts of a road running towards the jihadist group's stronghold of Raqqa, and built on gains made in assaults that intensified sharply earlier this month. Damascus's offensive, drawing heavily on Russian air cover and ground support from Lebanese Hezbollah and Iranian fighters, has brought the Syrian army to within 25 km (15 miles) of Turkey's border. The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Syria's army and allied fighters recaptured 18 villages east of Aleppo, bringing under their control some 40 km (25 miles) of a highway that leads from the city to Raqqa. Syrian state television also said its armed forces had captured several villages in the area from Islamic State. The Syrian army in November fought its way to the Kweires military air base that had been besieged by Islamic State in eastern Aleppo province. Saturday's advances took place to the west of the base. Russia intervened in Syria's nearly five-year-old civil war in September with an air campaign to bolster Assad. Its air strikes have hit Islamic State targets but mostly other insurgents, including Western- and Turkish-backed fighters. U.S.-led air strikes are also hitting Islamic State in areas it controls in Raqqa, Deir al-Zor and Hasaka provinces in the north and east of the country. (Reporting by John Davison; editing by Andrew Roche) BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syria's opposition on Saturday said it had agreed to the "possibility" of a temporary truce, provided there were guarantees Damascus's allies including Russia would cease fire, sieges were lifted and aid deliveries were allowed country-wide. But there was no immediate sign that Moscow would drop its vow to continue its onslaught against those it views as "terrorists" among the range of armed groups pitted against President Bashar al-Assad. And Assad himself added his own conditions to any truce plan, saying on Saturday he was ready for a ceasefire on condition that "terrorists" did not use a lull in fighting to their advantage, and that countries backing insurgents halted support for them. He especially singled out neighbouring Turkey. Throughout the five-year-old war, Damascus has routinely referred to all insurgents fighting the government and its allies as terrorists. To the frustration of the United States and its allies who support rebels trying to topple the president, Russian air strikes have turned the tide of the civil war in Assad's favour. Attempts to negotiate a truce in recent months have failed. The latest round of talks at the United Nations in Geneva is being jointly chaired by Russia and the United States. U.N. special envoy Staffan de Mistura said on Saturday the discussions were "intensive and constructive", Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet reported. On Saturday, various Syrian opposition factions "expressed agreement on the possibility of reaching a temporary truce deal, to be reached through international mediation", a statement from the High Negotiations Committee said. But the Committee, which brings together a number of rebel groups and Syria's exiled political opposition, said the United Nations must guarantee "holding Russia and Iran and sectarian militias ... to a halt to fighting". All sides should cease fire simultaneously and the Syrian government should release prisoners, it added. NUSRA FRONT IN SPOTLIGHT A source close to peace talks earlier told Reuters Syria's opposition had agreed to the idea of a two- to three-week truce. The truce would be renewable and supported by all parties except Islamic State, the source said. It would be conditional on the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front no longer being attacked by Syrian government forces and their allies, at least to start with, the source said. The Nusra Front is considered a terrorist organisation by the U.N. Security Council. No halt to Russian bombardments looked immediately likely. The source close to peace talks said Russia had so far rejected the idea of halting attacks on Nusra. Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said Russia was "sticking to its consistent policy of rendering assistance and aid to the armed forces of Syria in their offensive actions against terrorists and against terrorist organisations". The source close to talks described the opposition's insistence on the Nusra Front no longer being targeted as "the elephant in the room". "They have to deal with this very delicately or they are going to end up with a civil war (among rebel groups) in Idlib on their hands," the source said. Nusra fighters are fighting alongside other rebel groups in some areas, including Idlib. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry told his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov by phone on Saturday that Washington was deeply concerned about Russia's continued bombing of civilian targets, a State Department spokesman said. NO U.S.-RUSSIA AGREEMENT While the men restated their commitment to continued deliveries of aid, there was as yet no agreement on how a ceasefire would work, John Kirby said. In Moscow, the Russian Foreign Ministry said the two men had discussed how to implement a ceasefire that would exclude "operations to fight terrorist groups". The tangled alliances and rivalries among the states and armed groups embroiled in the war add to pessimism about the chances of success of further peace talks envisaged soon in Geneva. Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Saturday called on the United States to give unconditional support in the fight against Syrian Kurdish militants, illustrating growing tension between Ankara and Washington over policy in northern Syria. An official online media outlet for the Syrian presidency quoted Assad as saying: "We have said that we are ready to stop military operations, but the issue relates to more important factors ... such as preventing terrorists from using it to improve their positions." He said any truce must ensure that "other countries, especially Turkey, are prevented from sending more terrorists and weapons, or any kind of logistical support". Fighting raged on Saturday in Syria's Aleppo province, with government forces claiming the capture of 18 villages from Islamic State. (Reporting by Tom Perry and John Davison in Beirut, Tom Miles in Geneva and Dmitry Solovyov in Moscow; Writing by Andrew Roche in London; Editing by Kevin Liffey) By MacDonald Dzirutwe HARARE (Reuters) - When U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon urged African leaders not to cling to power at a summit last month, Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe responded by saying he would continue "until God says 'come'". Mugabe turns 92 on Sunday and, judging by those comments, has no intention of stepping down - despite being Africa's oldest leader and the only president Zimbabwe has known since independence in 1980. His life presidency aspirations could frustrate the feuding big-hitters of his ruling ZANU-PF party who have been trying for years to position themselves for a post-Mugabe political era. They will also fuel criticism from opponents of the government, who say the internal conflict is distracting it from its job of dealing with a stagnating economy and responding to the worst drought in a generation - charges denied by ministers. "Amid this looming starvation, coupled with an economy on the ropes, no one is paying attention to this national crisis. There is no government response as ZANU-PF is too pre-occupied with the succession issue of President Mugabe," main opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai said on Tuesday. Critics blame Mugabe for many of the problems facing the country. They say his policies, including the seizures and redistribution of white-owned commercial farms, drove one of Africa's most promising economies into nearly a decade of deep recession until 2008 that cut its output almost in half. They also say Zimbabwe's sluggish economy and low productivity - the jobless rate is around 85 percent - has left it ill-equipped to deal with the drought, which has left 3 million people in need of food aid, about a quarter of the population. For his part, Mugabe defends his land seizures as necessary to correct colonial injustices and says the economy has fallen victim to sanctions by Western countries that are punishing him for seizing white-owned land. WHEELBARROW Mugabe remains in charge of day-to-day running of his government. He still presides over graduations at all state universities and military passing-out parades, and takes trips abroad. The president maintains that his party will choose a successor. But he plans to contest the next election in 2018 aged 94, seeking his last five-year term under a new constitution that would see him through to 99. His wife Grace, a powerful figure in ZANU-PF in her own right, told party supporters last week that he was the only one who could keep Zimbabwe "intact and peaceful", adding she would push him in a wheelbarrow to work if he was unable to walk. "From analysing the political situation, his political speeches, his political actions, it is increasingly becoming clear that he is gunning to be there for as long as he lives," said Eldred Masunungure, a political science lecturer at the University of Zimbabwe. Despite his old age, Mugabe remains the glue holding together his fractious ZANU-PF, which dominates the political scene. He enjoys support from the military, an institution that has been a major pillar of his long rule. Many Zimbabweans follow his health with keen interest, especially after assertions by Wikileaks that he might have prostate cancer - which he denied. With Mugabe having ruled for 36 years, some people fear the government could be paralysed and the country riven by instability should he die without resolving the succession issue. Last year he read out the wrong speech in parliament, which the opposition seized upon to question whether he was still of sound mind, though the president's spokesman blamed his aides. His reluctance to cede power could frustrate ZANU-PF grandees with ambitions for his throne. Several leading party figures have presidential aspirations, but Emmerson Mnangagwa has been regarded as heir apparent to Mugabe. He was made vice president in 2014 following the sacking of Joice Mujuru, another faction leader who had been also tipped for the top job after holding the office for a decade. Mnangagwa has since cemented his position by getting allies appointed to important cabinet posts and securing the tasks of reforming the economy and legal system. 'CROCODILE' But the vice president - nicknamed 'Crocodile', which he says reflects his ability to strike at the opportune time - is opposed by a group labelled G-40 by local media, comprising young government ministers and ZANU-PF members rallying behind Grace Mugabe, including the party's women's wing. Grace is widely regarded in the party as another potential successor, even though she says she has no such ambitions. The group says Mugabe should be allowed to die in office and has exchanged insults with Mnangagwa's acolytes, accusing them of plotting to overthrow the president - charges they deny. Mnangagwa himself has not responded to such accusations, but his allies in ZANU-PF and the military privately express unease at the influence that the First Lady wields on the president. They say the G-40 group is trying to isolate Mugabe from his old comrades. At last week's party rally, Grace said some unnamed people were plotting to physically remove Mugabe and harm his family, accusations similar to ones she made in 2014 against Mujuru, who was then regarded as the most likely successor to Mugabe. The campaign against Mujuru led to Mugabe denouncing her before party loyalists as leader of a "treacherous cabal" bent on removing him from power, and firing her. Grace Mugabe has hinted Mnangagwa may not be the chosen one after all. "They go around saying Mrs Mugabe wants to lead, I am already in charge. Those that we thought could succeed him (Mugabe), we no longer have any confidence in them," she said at the rally last week. Mnangagwa did not respond to several requests for comment for this article. The University of Zimbabwe's Masunungure said the stage may have been set for Mnangagwa's removal from office, little more than a year after Mujuru's ejection. He said that would mean the two dominant factions that had vied to succeed Mugabe since 2000 would be purged from the party. "The lesson for Mnangagwa is that you can quarrel, you can struggle among yourselves, as long as you do not commit the cardinal sin of wanting to take over while the president is still alive," he added. "I think that's the red line for President Mugabe. Now the president is being told this guy has crossed that red line." (Editing by James Macharia and Pravin Char) Author Nelle Harper Lee, who won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1961 for her book, "To Kill a Mockingbird," passed away in her sleep Friday morning at the age of 89, her family has confirmed. "This is a sad day for our family. America and the world knew Harper Lee as one of the last century's most beloved authors," Hank Conner, Lee's nephew and a spokesman for the family, said in a statement Friday morning. "We knew her as Nelle Harper Lee, a loving member of our family, a devoted friend to the many good people who touched her life, and a generous soul in our community and our state. We will miss her dearly." Conner's statement indicated that "Ms. Lee passed away in her sleep early this morning. Her passing was unexpected. She remained in good basic health until her passing." Services for Lee have not been announced, but Conner said the funeral will be private as per her request. Lee was born April 28, 1926, in Monroeville, the youngest of four children of lawyer Amasa Coleman Lee and Frances Cunningham Finch Lee. As a child, Lee attended elementary school and high school just a few blocks from her house on Alabama Avenue. In a March 1964 interview, she offered this capsule view of her childhood: "I was born in a little town called Monroeville, Alabama, on April 28, 1926. I went to school in the local grammar school, went to high school there, and then went to the University of Alabama. That's about it, as far as education goes." She moved to New York in 1949, where she worked as an airlines reservations clerk while pursuing a writing career. Eight years later, Lee submitted her manuscript for "To Kill a Mockingbird" to J.B. Lippincott & Co., which asked her to rewrite it. On July 11, 1960, "To Kill a Mockingbird" was published by Lippincott with critical and commercial success. The author won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction the following year. Lee's novel tells the story of small-town lawyer Atticus Finch of Maycomb, Ala.--based on Monroeville -- and his children, Scout and Jem. Told from Scout's point of view, the book reflects the innocence of children growing up in the early 1930s. It also depicts the various social classes that existed then, and brings the undercurrents of racism to light. More than a half-century after its publication, the novel continues to be studied by high school and college students. It has sold more than 30 million copies--still selling nearly a million copies per year by the 50th anniversary of its publication in 2010, according to Publishers Weekly--and has been translated into more than 40 languages. The film adaptation of the novel, with Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch and Mary Badham as Scout, opened on Christmas Day of 1962 and was an instant hit. It was nominated for eight Academy Awards and won four, including Best Actor for Peck and Best Screenplay for Horton Foote, who wrote the screenplay for the movie based on the book. Lee became close friends with both of them. The novel also inspired a generation of lawyers with its portrayal of the gentle, wise Atticus Finch, who defends a black man, Tom Robinson, falsely accused of raping Mayella Ewell, a white woman. Meanwhile, the Finches' strange neighbor, Boo Radley, who strikes fear in Scout's and Jem's hearts, turns out not to be the monster the children expect him to be. Though Lee denied that the novel was autobiographical, many parallels exist between "To Kill a Mockingbird" and Lee's own childhood. Her father was also a lawyer who owned the town newspaper. Comparisons have been made between Lee and Scout, the 9-year-old tomboy protagonist, especially in her friendship with Dill, a character widely considered to have been based on Lee's own childhood friend, Truman Capote. When he was a child, the author of "In Cold Blood" often stayed with his cousins, who lived next door to the Lees. Capote and Lee collaborated on the early stages of his novel and remained lifelong friends. The interior of the Monroe County Courthouse was reconstructed on a movie set in Hollywood for the film's pivotal courtroom scenes, and local actors bring the book to life each spring at the courthouse itself, where they stage "To Kill a Mockingbird" to sellout crowds. The press-averse author was thrust into the public eye in February 2015, when her publisher, HarperCollins, announced the upcoming release of "Go Set a Watchman," Lee's second and final full-length published work. The announcement almost immediately sparked rumors that Lee - who had long said she would never publish another novel - had been taken advantage of by her attorney, Tonja Carter. In February 2015, the Alabama Department of Human Resources met with Lee at Meadows of Monroeville, the southern Alabama assisted living facility where she resided, and concluded that she was mentally competent to handle her affairs, but rumors persisted that she was not lucid enough to sign off on business decisions. A guardedly private individual, Lee was respected and protected by residents of the town that displays Mockingbird-themed murals and each year stages theatrical productions of "To Kill a Mockingbird." Lee returned to Monroeville for good once her beloved sister Alice became ill and needed help. She'd eat breakfast each morning at the same fast-food place, and could later be seen picking up Alice from the law firm founded by their father, which currently employs Carter. Since she stopped granting interviews in 1964, Harper Lee has been fiercely protected by Monroeville residents. In addition to maintaining an apartment in New York City, Lee lived in her hometown with her sister, Alice Finch Lee, who is 15 years older and practiced law until she was 100 years old. In recent years, Harper Lee had experienced declining health after a stroke left her partially paralyzed and confined to a wheelchair. She also had lost 95 percent of her vision, according to a 2011 interview with Alice Lee in the Press-Register. AL.com reporter Michelle Matthews contributed to this report. A blog talking about Cuban cigars, culture & lifestyle including food, restaurants, entertainment, apartment or room rentals, Cuban art & music, travel, history and anything & Everything Cuba. Roy Kaylor has been battling the County for over two decades--but that may end soon.The County plans to unrightfully confiscate his land next year. Roy Kaylor has helped Santa Cruz County in numerous ways; both directly and indirectly, but the county has yet to help him. You may know Roy from his episode of Hoarders or you may know him for his prestige. Roy Kaylor has a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering and masters in physical science both from Stanford. His masters should be a PH.D because Stanford accepted his thesis of high efficient quasi-sinusoidal poly-phrase converter--however, Kaylor holds an honorary PH.D in electrical engineering from Euro-technical Research Institute. Kaylor is the one who invented the quadruple redundant high efficient power supply for Nasa's Voyager. He invented the pre-prototype to the Toyota Prius, which would later spark the interest of GM when 2, out of the 3 owners of California hybrid: Don Daniels and Gary Soubry, appeared on the morning show to flaunt the design. Roy, the third owner of the company and the design inventor had prior obligations and could not attend. The proto-type would later be purchased by Toyota for $3 million after GM backed out. Roy Kaylor is also the owner of 156.3 acres of land in California, which is known as the Kaylor Micro Basin Wildlife and Wilderness Preserve. Roy's land is infamous for its aesthetics. His land is home to the redwood trees; Redwoods are some of the oldest trees in the world. They can live for thousands of years and are some of the largest and tallest trees on the planet. They are capable of growing over 300ft high and can have a trunk diameter of 20ft. Unfortunately Santa Cruz County may take those trees from him next year. Santa Cruz County is seeking about 25 million dollars in fines from Roy Kaylor. Although Kaylor has lived on the land for 31 years, the county claims that his land is in violation of their planning departments codes--codes they wrote over the past few years. The county claims Kaylor's land is not in compliance with zoning regulations, violates allowed use in a timber harvest zone district, is an illegal outdoor storage ground for personal property and materials, and harbors travel trailers and recreational vehicles without the proper permits. Every day since 2006 the county has charged him $1,250 for being in violation of these codes--But it is no coincidence that the county wants to take Kaylor's land away from him. Next year, Big Basin Redwood State Park is moving their headquarters 150 feet away from Kaylor's property. The county finds his land desirable because they see it as 156.3 acres available for development. It is likely that they would convert the land into parking spaces and camp sights that would produce revenue for the county. The county has already told Kaylor's neighbors that they would be willing to sell them 10-acre parcels of Kaylor's land after it has been seized. The requisition of Kaylor's land was not always a threat. In 2011 the planning department said they would not sue Kaylor if he signed a mediation agreement. At the time the agreement was presented to Kaylor he was only shown 2 of the 8 total pages. Later on, he stumbled upon the remaining pages and was unhappy to see that the agreement was heavily biased. However, he signed it unhappily hoping the County would finally leave him alone. Just months after the agreement was signed, the planning department rejected the mediation and proceeded to sue Kaylor. Heading into the trouble, Stanford Law School was going to assist Stanford alumni Roy Kaylor. But when Kaylor agreed to sign the mediation, Stanford Law School backed away and their assistance could not be revoked, leaving Kaylor to his own devices as he battles the county. For over 20 years Kaylor has been trying to obtain permits to rebuild establishments that were bulldozed by a meth addict in 1989. In 1984 when Kaylor purchased the land there was a winery vineyard, a 4-bedroom house, a 2-bedroom house, a 1-bedroom house, an old sawmill, and a half-mile of narrow gauge railroad tracks. Today, none of those establishments remain and the railroad tracks have been stolen. Kaylor says trying to obtain the permits necessary to rebuild " has been a nightmare". Back in 89' when the buildings were first destroyed he received two permits to rebuild. Unfortunately, Kaylor's permits were destroyed in a gasoline fire that an individual intentional set on his land. This person broke the windows of Kaylor's vehicles and poured gasoline inside before lighting the fire. 3 RV's, 2 pick up trucks, a logging truck, and a boom truck were all destroyed. Inside one of the RV's was a file cabinet with Kaylor's two permits. The flames were 60 feet wide, 80 feet long, and 100 feet high. Although the county granted him the permits in 89, they have since mysteriously lost their record of him owning the permits--the permits that would partially protect him from their codes. Santa Cruz County has no intention to leave Kaylor with any of his land that they plan to confiscate. The same land where Kaylor has planted exactly 7800 trees, the same land where he developed the pre-prototype for the Toyota Prius, the same land where Kaylor designed the power supply for the voyager spacecraft while working for Philco-Ford. There is a long list of inventions that Kaylor has created that are ubiquitous in today's world, none of which would have been possible without Kaylor and his laboratory located on his property. All of which could be gone by next year. Kaylor has been battling the county for years but it appears that the end is near--and it's not looking too promising for him. The judge has authorized the receiver to hire an attorney; in addition to the fees from the county, Kaylor will now need to pay attorneys fees also. The judge declared that he is not allowed to sell anything from the property to raise the money he needs to fight the case: no vehicles, no firewood, nor anything else from his land. Kaylor's receiver has been told to cut all the trees on the property and keep the proceeds to pay himself for " cleaning up the property and returning the land it it's pristine state". Which makes no sense because there would no longer be any trees. Roy has been fighting to save the redwood trees and overrule the county for quite some time. He has started a petition and created a Facebook page to bring awareness to his case. However, he still needs all the help he can get in his battle with Santa Cruz County--because next year, it could all be gone. If you or anyone you know can help Roy Kaylor please contact KaylorEnergy@yahoo.com You can sign Roy's Petition Here US launches anti-dumping probe on tyres from India, Sri Lanka Published: February 20, 2016 United States International Trade Commission (USITC) has decided to initiate anti-dumping investigations into a certain category of tyres imported from India and Sri Lanka. Decision in this regard was taken after USITC commissioners after they found that certain category of tyres imported from both countries is damaging domestic industry. They have alleged that imports of certain new pneumatic off-the-road tyres are sold at less than fair value in US and are subsidised by the governments of India and Sri Lanka. This is for the first time that anti-dumping investigations from US have launched probe into tyres coming from India, while Chinese tyres already have faced a similar probe in the past. What is Anti-Dumping Duty? It is duty imposed by government on imported products which have prices less than their normal values or domestic price. Anti-Dumping Duty is imposed by a counter as a trade barrier under the multilateral WTO regime and varies from product to product and from country to country. Usually countries initiate anti-dumping probes to check if domestic industry has been hurt because of a surge in below-cost imports. Month: Current Affairs - February, 2016 Topics: Anti-dumping duty Business Current Affairs 2016 Economy US Latest E-Books This month the downtown post office in Santa Cruz was cleared by police of what had been a large and regular presence of sleepers at night. The post office had been used as shelter for 6-12 people a night for some time. A homeless man who was sleeping outside of Bookshop Santa Cruz and cited with two other sleepers for trespassing this month said he thought the police were ticketing at increased rate recently to get homeless people to move along before the next rains arrived.The current enforcement patterns in the City of Santa Cruz are an extension of the homeless sweeps that began in 2012. According to Santa Cruz Police Department statistics, the number of camping ban citations issued by police officers is presently at the same level as when the department dramatically increased enforcement of the ordinance during their widely publicized series of homeless sweeps initiated in the city in July of 2012. On February 18, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced the reclassification of the Santa Cruz cypress from endangered to threatened status under the Endangered Species Act. The tree was protected in 1987 due to threats to its habitat, but now the habitat for all five populations is secure.The cypress is found only in the Santa Cruz Mountains of California, in Santa Cruz and San Mateo counties. This compact, coniferous tree with dense, cone-producing branches thrives in coastal chaparral communities above the fog belt. Before the Santa Cruz cypress was protected under the Act, it faced intense pressure from development, logging, disease and competition from non-native species, which ultimately stifled its ability to repopulate and thrive in its historic habitat. Through the cooperative efforts of local, state and federal agencies, most of the trees now live in fully protected areas.The recovery plan developed by federal scientists determined that the cypress, which now numbers between 33,000 to 44,000 trees, could be downlisted once all five of its populations were protected from threats that include development, non-native species and unauthorized trail-building. Though the exact number of trees at the time of listing was unknown, the Service estimated there were only around 2,300. Nine Palestinian were killed this week by Israeli gunfire, meanwhile Palestinian Journalist detained by Israel Mohammad Al-Qeeq entered his 87th day without food. These stories, and more, coming up, stay tuned.The Nonviolence ReportLets begin our weekly report as usual with the nonviolent activities organized in the West Bank. One journalist was injured; scores others were treated for the effects of tear gas inhalation when Israeli troops attacked nonviolent protests organized in West Bank villages. IMEMCs Majd Batjali with the details:In Kufer Kadum in northern West Bank one journalist was injured many residents were treated for the effects of tear gas inhalation as Israeli troops attacked the weekly protest there. Troops later stormed the village and fired tear gas into residents homes,Meanwhile in the villages of Bilin and Nilin, in central West Bank, Israeli soldiers attacked the protesters as soon as they reached the gate in the wall that separates local farmers from their lands. Many protesters suffered the effects of tear gas inhalation and were treated by field medics at both locations.At the nearby al Nabi Saleh village, troops attacked protesters at the village entrance. Israeli soldiers fired several rounds of rubber-coated steel bullets and tear gas at protesters and nearby homes. Many residents suffered effects of tear gas inhalation as a result.For IMEMC News this Majd Batjali.The Political ReportIsrael continues to refuse the release of hunger-striking Palestinian prisoner Mohammad Al-Qeeq who entered his 87th day without food. In the meantime, International isolation of Israel is speeding, IMEMCs George Rishmawi has more:The Detainees and ex-Detainees Committee announced, Friday, that Israeli security is still refusing to allow hunger striking journalist Mohammad al-Qeeq's family the right to visit with him, violating Israeli Supreme Court ruling which permitted his family to visit him in the Hospital.The family has been trying to see him, as his health condition has been rapidly deteriorating over the past couple of days. Mohammad has been staging his strike for a total of 87 days as of today. After suffering severe convulsions on Wednesday night, al-Qeeq lost the ability to breath, hear, see or speak until the next morning.Al-Qeeq's family said they wouldnt object to transferring him to a hospital in Jerusalem, as long as it is a Palestinian hospital, because they do not trust Israeli hospitals. This announcement came after the family insisted al-Qeeq will not agree to any offer that doesnt guarantee transferring him to a hospital in Ramallah, in order to be close to his family. Al-Qeeq continues to suffer from spasms of acute chest pain twice or more a day, adding that doctors have warned that he could die of a heart attack as a result of his ongoing hunger strike.Four Palestinian administrative detainees in Israeli jails are currently on hunger strike in protest of being detained without a charge or trial, according to the Palestinian Prisoners Society. The Society said that, Mohammad al-Muhur from Jenin and Rabee Jibril from Bethlehem, have been on hunger strike for 64 days and eight days respectively, also in protest of being detained based on secret information, without a charge or trial.The society added that a fourth detainee, Samer al-Issawi from Jerusalem, himself a former hunger striking icon, has also been on hunger strike for five days in solidarity with al-Qeeq. Wide Palestinian and International protests have been organized demanding the immediate unconditional release of Al-Qeeq. These protests include journalists and Human Rights workers.In other news, The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences announced that it is suing Distinctive Assets, the company distributing a luxury gift bag to Oscar nominees, which this year includes an all-expenses paid trip to Israel sponsored by the Israeli government. Palestinians had denounced the inclusion of the trip to Israel as a cynical and desperate attempt by the Israeli government to fight its increasing international isolation through bribes to celebrities instead of addressing its human rights abuses against them.Omar Barghouti from the Palestinian Boycotts Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) National Committee, the broadest Palestinian coalition that leads the global BDS movement, said: By distancing itself from the company marketing Israels propaganda trip to Oscar nominees, the Academy is taking a step in the right direction. The so-called Oscars swag bag has fallen into further disrepute with its association with the Israeli regime of occupation, settler-colonialism and apartheid. scar nominees Mark Rylance and Asif Kapadia have already promised not to visit Israel professionally as long as the human rights violations persist. Five-time Oscar nominee Mike Leigh, Director Ken Loach and musician Brian Eno have publicly denounced the Israeli governments propaganda initiative.For IMEMC News, this is George RishmawiThe West Bank and Gaza ReportThis week nine Palestinians were killed by Israeli army gunfire in separate attacks across the West Bank. Meanwhile in Gaza navy and troops continue to attack farmers and fishers. IMEMCs Ghassan Bannoura Reports:Three Palestinian youth were killed on Friday by Israeli troops during separate attacks in West Bank communities. Mohamed Abu Khalaf, 20, from Kufer Aqab town near Jerusalem was killed after he was shot by Israeli troops near Damascus Gate in Jerusalem old city. Witnesses said that Abu Khalaf was hit with more than 50 bullets and was left to bleed to death by Israeli soldiers.Meanwhile Abed Hamed, 20 was killed when Israeli troops opened fire at his car at the entrance of Silwad town near Ramallah city. Troops claimed that he tried to hit soldiers with his car. Moreover, Israeli troops killed on Friday 21 year old Khalid Takatka during clashes in the village of Beit Fajar near Bethlehem city.Earlier in the week, three Palestinians were killed by Israeli army gunfire in two separate attacks in the West Bank on Saturday. Kalzar al-Ewaiwe, 18, was shoot dead by Israeli soldiers in Hebron old city after troops claimed she tried to stab soldiers at a military checkpoint.Later in the day, 16 year old Nahed and Foad Waked, were killed after being shot by Isralei soldiers guarding the wall near Aqraba village, in northern West Bank. The Israeli army claimed that the two youth opened fire at troops from a homemade machinegun.On Sunday additional three young Palestinians were killed by Israeli gunfire. Mansour Al Shawamrah and Omer Amr, both 20 years old were killed near the wall of Jerusalem old city. Meanwhile 17-year-old Ahmad Safi was killed at a military checkpoint near Bethlehem.Two more Palestinian youth were injured, on Monday, after they were shot by Israeli soldiers at an Israeli settlers supermarket near the central West Bank city of Ramallah. Israeli sources said that the two youth were shot by Israeli security after they stabbed a settler to death and critically injured another. The incident took place at the Rami Levi Store east of Ramallah.Also this week, Israeli forces conducted at least 88 military invasions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. During these incursions, Israeli troops kidnaped more than 76 Palestinian civilians, including 19 children.In the Gaza Strip, Israeli soldiers opened fire, on Monday morning, on several Palestinian farmers in the southern part of the Gaza Strip, while navy ships fired live rounds on fishing boats, in Gaza territorial waters. Damage was reported but no injuries.Later in the week, three brothers were injured, on Thursday, when an Israeli bomb left behind by the army detonated near them in Beit Hanoun town, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip. Palestinian medical sources said that the three brothers were move to Beit Hanoun hospital after sustaining moderate to light wounds.For IMEMC News this is Ghassan Bannoura.ConclusionAnd thats all for today from This Week in Palestine. This was the Weekly report for February 13, to the 19, 2016. From the Occupied Palestinian Territories. For more news and updates please visit our website at http://www.imemc.org , This weeks report has been brought to you by Maher Qasiess and me Eman Abedraboo- Bannoura. Porter Ranch, CA The family of a 79-year-old woman who died after the Southern California Gas Company (SoCalGas) leak in October has filed a The family of a 79-year-old woman who died after the Southern California Gas Company (SoCalGas) leak in October has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the gas company. Although the victim suffered breathing problems prior to the gas leak, the wrongful death claim alleges the gas leak made the womans health problems worse and ultimately led to her early death. it went downhill for her very quickly. According to reports, Zelda Rothman lived within five miles of the leaking Aliso Canyon gas facility and had been diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer in 2015. Gas released by the leak made it even more difficult for her to breathe, and Rothman suffered other side effects including migraines and problems walking. The(2/2/16) reports that Rothmans family asked if she would move, but before she could consider it, she was hospitalized. Her son, Michael Rothman, told thethat his moms life had been normal up until October, but between November and December, SoCalGas has been in the spotlight since the leak at its storage site in Aliso Canyon was discovered in October 2015. Regulators have filed criminal charges against the company, alleging SoCalGas failed to immediately report the gas leak to the proper authorities. According to reports, SoCalGas knew about the leak on October 23 but did not notify authorities until October 26. Additionally, the company faces allegations of discharging air contaminants.The leak reportedly continues. Although the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health has said that symptoms linked to the gas leak are short-term and non-toxic, officials also said the data is based on quick sampling and does not show accurate average concentrations of the chemicals being leaked.(2/3/16) reports that residents living near the Aliso Canyon site have complained about headaches, nausea and breathing problems. Two local schools have closed and thousands of people have temporarily relocated.SoCalGas has issued a statement that it is working to stop the leak and address residents concerns.The Rothman lawsuit is case number BC607923, in the Superior Court of the State of California, County of Los Angeles.The Los Angeles District Attorneys lawsuit iscase number 6SC00433, in the Superior Court of the State of California, County of Los Angeles. The Cubs have signed reliever Aaron Crow to a minor league pact, the club told reporters including Mark Gonzalez of the Chicago Tribune (Twitter links). Chicago also has released lefty Luis Cruz after he failed his physical. Crow, a 29-year-old righty, spent last year with the Marlins organization after being acquired from the Royals. He was only available to Miami because he scuffled in 2014, with his strikeout and groundball rates plummeting along with his velocity. And as things turned out, Crow he never threw a competitive pitch for the team. He ultimately required Tommy John surgery, leading to a non-tender earlier this offseason. Before that, though, Crow had done some quality work in the back of the Kansas City pen. Over 2011-13, he ran up 174 2/3 innings of 3.19 ERA pitching while carrying 9.0 K/9 against 3.9 BB/9 and inducing grounders on more than half of the balls put in play against him. If he can make it back to anything like that level of production, hed obviously make for quite a bargain for the Cubs. The 25-year-old Cruz had been a member of the Astros organization for his entire career to date. But he lost his 40-man spot after throwing 116 innings of 4.27 ERA ball at Triple-A last year, with 7.2 K/9 against 4.0 BB/9. Chicago had picked him up on a minor league deal, but has now nullified that contract owing to the medicals. The storied rivalry between the Cardinals and Cubs has the opportunity to capture the nations attention in 2016 as both clubs enter the year with lofty expectations on the heels of excellent 2015 campaigns, writes Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. Morosi opines that St. Louis vs. Chicago has added meaning this year with the Cubs prying Jason Heyward and John Lackey away from the Cardinals and the subsequent comments from Heyward and St. Louis skipper Mike Matheny adding to the feud. Morosi spoke to both Ryan Theriot and Mark DeRosa two now-retired players that experienced both sides of the Cubs/Cardinals rivalry about what matchups between the two teams were like from a player perspective and about what it would mean for a player to be on a team that finally succeeds in bringing a World Series victory to the Cubs for the first time since 1908. Heres more from the division - President Muhammadu Buhari rejects naira devaluation - Says developed countries can afford it because of their competition - Reveals his administration's plan to cusion the effect of oil fall in the global market President Muhammadu Buhari has once again reiterated that his government would not devalue the naira, Premium Times reports. President Muhammdu Buhari in a closed door session with other delegates. Speaking on February 20, at a Presidential Panel Roundtable on Investment and Growth Opportunities at the opening session of the Africa 2016: Business for Africa, Egypt and the World at Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, Buhari completely ruled out any though of devaluing the currency. President Buhari, who stressed his disapproval to naira devaluation, revealed that Nigeria cannot compete with developed countries which are already in production competition among themselves. He stated that developed countries can afford to afford to devalue their local currencies. Developed countries are competing among themselves and when they devalue they compete better and manufacture and export more. But we are not competing and exporting but importing everything including toothpicks. So, why should we devalue our currency? Buhari asked. The president disclosed that his government was mapping out ways to guarantee national food security before export of food produce to other countries. President Buhari said the only way Nigeria can escape from the current dwindling oil price in the global oil market because of her dependence on oil revenue is to focus on agriculture. He said with the increasing number of unemployed youths in the country, his administration would also focus on solid minerals development. The land is there and we need machinery inputs, fertilizer and insecticides, Buhari said. Details here. Source: Legit.ng Unveiled a day before the 2016 Auto Expo, new Bajaj V15 is a commuter class touring motorcycle. It is powered by a 150 cc single cylinder DTSi engine which generates 12 PS power and 13 Nm torque. A completely new motorcycle, the talking point of the new Bajaj V15 is that it has been built from scrap metal of INS Vikrant, Indian Navys first ever aircraft carrier. Yes, the same INS Vikrant which played a major role in the 1971 Indo-Pak war. This iconic vessel was decommissioned by the government in 1997, post which it was open to public as a museum while docked in Mumbai. Due to security concerns, in 2012, it was decided that the ship be dismantled. In 2014, dismantling of INS Vikrant commenced. It is around the same time that marketing team from Leo Burnett, a world famous advertising agency chanced upon the idea of buying scrap metal from INS Vikrant and using it in a new Bajaj motorcycle. And this is how Bajaj V15 was born / conceptualized. So how much metal have Bajaj Auto bought? At the time of unveiling, Bajaj did not reveal the quantity of metal procured, but they did say that they have bought all the available scrap metal and that it was enough for a few lakh units. Now, it has emerged that the amount of metal bought by Bajaj Auto stands at a total of 3 metric tonne or 3,000 kg. This includes 1,000 kg of aluminium and 2,000 kg of iron and steel. And for the purchase of this scrap metal, they paid Rs 1.8 lakh. Bajaj claims V15 is their proudest creation yet. Aiming to sell about 20,000 units a month, it is the fuel tank of the Bajaj V15 which consists a few grams of metal from INS Vikrant, while the remaining metal is procured from regular suppliers. Photos via economictimes Geologists studying a region in the Mexican state of Veracruz have discovered evidence to explain the origin of the Wilcox Formation, one of Mexico's most productive oil plays, as well as support for the theory that water levels in the Gulf of Mexico dropped dramatically as it was separated from the rest of the world's oceans and Earth entered a period of extreme warming. The drop in water levels and the warming, known as the Paleocene-Eocene thermal maximum (PETM), occurred around 55.8 million years ago. The Gulf refilled about 850,000 years later. Geologist Don Van Nieuwenhuise said the study, published in the February edition of Interpretation, explains the distribution of the Wilcox Formation from onshore Texas and Mexico into the deep waters of the Gulf and offers insight into the episode of extreme warming more than 55 million years ago, with potential implications for climate change today. Van Nieuwenhuise, director of professional geoscience programs at the University of Houston, is an author of the study, along with lead author Stephen P.J. Cossey, Joseph Davis, Joshua H. Rosenfeld and James Pindell. Cossey, Davis, Rosenfeld and Pindell are independent geologists. The findings support the theory that the Gulf of Mexico was landlocked as the Paleocene Epoch morphed into the warmer Eocene, punctuated by a massive loss of water due to evaporation and, millennia later, was inundated again. Van Nieuwenhuise said oil producers long have been puzzled about the Wilcox Formation's appearance in the Gulf's deeper waters, hundreds of miles from where it appears onshore. This new information could mean there are still-undiscovered sections of the formation, also known as the Paleocene/Eocene Chicontepec Formation, he said. advertisement But while the research offers a better understanding of where additional oil reservoirs might be located, Cossey said it also expands what is known about the history of the Gulf. "There have been geologists working in the Gulf of Mexico for decades," said Cossey, who is based in Durango, Colo. "After all these years, we're still finding out things we didn't know. This is important for oil and gas exploration, but it's also important in the history of the Gulf of Mexico and our knowledge of climate change." The researchers said waters in the Gulf dropped at least 650 feet, leaving an exposed area that refilled less than a million years later -- the blink of an eye in geologic time. "Proving the existence of the Paleocene-Eocene drawdown would profoundly alter the interpretation of the Gulf's geologic history with academic and economic ramifications," the researchers wrote. "The theory, if further validated, would provide a revised context and would enhance predictability for petroleum exploration. ... We can add another line of evidence that the (Gulf of Mexico) drawdown occurred and that it likely happened near the Paleocene-Eocene boundary," or in the era between the Paleocene and Eocene epochs. Several members of the team had previously worked near the village of Chicontepec, in Veracruz. Cossey, in fact, has written a book about the region, "Chicontepec: A Mexican National Treasure." He returned in February 2015 to an outcrop previously documented as a coal bed, convinced that the existence of turbidites, a type of sedimentary rock associated with deep ocean currents, next to the coal deserved more investigation. advertisement Analysis of samples from the outcrop convinced the researchers that the "coal" was in fact a fossilized oil seep dating to the late Paleocene/early Eocene. Samples from above and below the oil contained fossilized sea life, additional evidence that the area was once submerged. The researchers report that the oil seep developed after a dramatic drop in water levels in the Gulf, triggered by evaporation and coinciding with the PETM, the previously reported surge in temperatures. They conclude the dropping sea levels reduced pressure on hydrate-rich sediments, resulting in a massive methane release. Although there is not yet proof the warming was triggered by the methane release, Cossey said the timing fits. "We know there was an increase in temperatures about 56 million years ago," he said. "If we know the drawdown in the Gulf of Mexico caused that, we can better understand how natural events on earth can affect the climate." Van Nieuwenhuise noted that today's warming oceans could also cause hydrates on the ocean floor to release methane, which may exacerbate climate change. The region where the outcroppings were found was re-submerged as the Gulf waters rose but are now above sea level and about 100 miles from the Gulf coast, due to later geologic movement known as Tectonic activity, which would have reopened the passage between the Gulf and the world's oceans. When it comes to Bible prophecy and future events, we are living in an exciting time. I know, I know, some of you are thinking, "We've been hearing this 'Jesus is coming back' stuff for a long time. It just ain't happening." For those of you in that train of thought, I'd like to say, "Thank you" because the Apostle Peter told us the first thing we should know about the end times is there would be people saying just that. 2 Peter 3:3-4, "Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation." What we are as individuals today is a culmination of all the days before. The same goes for the world. Just consider how different the world would be if the South would have won the American Civil War, if the Berlin Wall had not fallen, or if D-Day had failed. Many Bible prophecies are still waiting for fulfillment, and many current events contain main players of these prophecies. Although other current events may not be leading directly to Biblical prophecies, they are still stepping stones to future incidents. All this makes for interesting days. Which current events are closely related, in one way or another, to Biblical prophecies? THE WAR IN SYRIA Not a particular Bible prophecy in and of itself, but many of the nations involved are directly related to two specific prophesied wars. The battle of Psalm 83. I believe it is this fight that will directly lead to the Antichrist coming into power. Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, and the Palestinians (from the West Bank and Gaza) will all attack Israel at the same time. Amos chapters 1-2 speaks of a fiery end of all these nations, Psalm 83 tells of Israel's total victory. It would seem to reason these countries meet their demise in this battle, but Amos also tells us the "palaces of Jerusalem" are destroyed. The destruction of the palaces of Jerusalem is an indicator that the government of Israel may well be destroyed. With the government of Israel in shambles, Generals on the battlefield will be making the decisions. I believe, the Generals decide to employ the Sampson option and launch the nukes leaving Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and much of Israel in ruins. The world will be in an uproar and looking for someone to figure out and clean up this mess and here comes the Antichrist to the rescue. He will broker a seven-year treaty promising Israel protection and gaining confidence from most of the rest of the world as the great peacemaker (the Bible does tell us he will ride in on a white horse - Revelation 6:2). This treaty is the start of the Tribulation Period. The battle of Ezekiel 38-39 is the other Biblical battle that involves many of the nations in today's news. Russia organizes a coalition with Iran, Turkey, Lybia, The Ukraine, and several other Muslim countries and invades Israel. God intervenes, the Antichrist takes full credit, and the world now faces the decision of following God or the Son of Perdition. Nearly all these nations are somehow involved in the current Syria situation. Some of these countries, such as Turkey and Russia, don't see eye to eye in the current conflict, but will one day fight on the same side against Israel. It is interesting to see how everything will pan out. THE AMERICAN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION Eventually, all nations of the earth will follow the Antichrist, and "all" does include the United States. The increasing entitlement attitude falls perfectly into the Antichrist's plan that the government is the be all, end all answer to every problem of life. The election of a Republican may slow the speed of the entitlement train, but neither party will force it to come to a stop. The election in November may give us an indication of how close we may be to seeing actual Biblical prophecies come to pass. OKLAHOMA Over the last year and a half, Oklahoma has been shaking every day. This past weekend, Oklahoma was rocked with its third strongest quake in history and the experts are saying there is no end in sight. Jesus told us one of the signs of His return would be earthquakes in divers places (Matthew 24:7; Mark 13:8; Luke 21:11). There are more, but just remember, God does have a plan. Jesus is coming back and the day of His return is the cultivation of all the days before it. Soilless farming could help developing countries with little arable land and harsh for agriculture climate, such as Qatar, to become self-sufficient in terms of their produce. Relying on advanced hydroponics and multi-story vertical growing, the proposed system uses nutrient-enriched water to produce approximately a hundred times more yield compared to when the crops are grown on a conventional farmland of the same size. The hybrid setup, devised by Nik-Othman Abdullah, biotechnologist at Malaysia University of Science and Technology, is described in his Methods paper, published in the open-access peer-reviewed journal Research Ideas and Outcomes (RIO). In his publication he describes and explains the steps of the approach meant to tackle the food-shortage and enormous import expenditures in the country in line with the Ministry of Environment of Qatar's recently created National Food Security Programme. The proposed vertical-horizontal regulated soilless farming is theoretically capable of increasing the domestic produce on such a scale that the country, which has been estimated to have spent USD 11 billion on imported food in 2014 alone, could become self-sufficient. Furthermore, this type of soilless farming could provide reliable quantity as well as quality of the crops. Grown indoors, where they would be constantly monitored by personnel with good technical and scientific knowledge, the produce would be less affected by factors such as atmospheric conditions, contamination or pests. The plants would be supplied with the calculated amount of nutrition they need, as well as the exact amount of light and gas exposure. Being grown in a sterile environment and not treated with fertilizers, pesticides, weedicides and other harsh chemicals, the crops would not only look visibly identical, but would also be cleaner, fresher, healthier, tastier and richer in nutrient content. They would also grow faster and bigger. "Plants would not waste energy in root tissue production because nutrients in pure form will be provided to the plants instead of the plant stressing to search for the nutrients," explains the biotechnologist. "Therefore, plants grow evidently 50% faster and bigger." On the other hand, such farming would be more cost-efficient, since there would be significantly less personnel needed and no expenditure on chemical treatment. Moreover, it would take only 10% of the water used in conventional farming for a same-sized piece of agricultural land. Overall, soilless farming would cost 90% less, although the initial setup would be quite expensive. The latter is also the only disadvantage pointed out in the paper. The author stresses that such a farming ground can be constructed basically in any location. "It can be set up almost anytime and everywhere, in a greenhouse, warehouse, inside a building, or even in outer space," Nik-Othman Abdullah comments. New research has identified regions in the United States where bioenergy crops would grow best while minimizing effects on water quantity and quality. Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign used detailed models to examine impacts on water quantity and quality in soils that would occur if existing vegetation was replaced by various bioenergy crops in the name of ethanol production. "We expect the outcome of this study to support scientifically sound national policy decisions on bioenergy crops development especially with regards to cellulosic grasses," wrote Atul Jain, professor of atmospheric sciences at U of I, regarding a paper published by the journal Environmental Science & Technology. Currently, corn is the dominant crop used in biofuel production. Recently, research has revealed bioenergy grasses such as Miscanthus and switchgrasses such as Alamo and Cave-in-Rock causes less nitrogen to be lost due to rain and irrigation than corn. Nitrogen is an important nutrient for crops and a key ingredient in fertilizer, but nitrogen often washes away into rivers and other bodies of water where it is detrimental to aquatic ecosystems. Another advantage bioenergy grasses and switchgrasses have over corn is their deep root system which allows them to draw water and nutrients from deeper soil levels and allows them to be more resilient in poor growing seasons. "Growing bioenergy grasses, in general, can mitigate nitrogen leaching across the United States," said Yang Song, a graduate student and the study's lead author. "However, the greatest reduction in nitrogen leaching occurs when bioenergy crops displace other cropland or grassland, because energy crops consume more water and less nitrogen fertilizer than the crops and grasses that they replace, resulting in less water runoff and nitrogen loss." By using a combination of crop growth, hydrological, carbon and nitrogen cycle models, researchers found that the estimated land suitable for bioenergy grasses--particularly Miscanthus, the most productive bioenergy crop--is limited, despite its relatively high biomass productivity and low water consumption per unit of ethanol. Specifically, the most suitable regions to grow bioenergy grasses in terms of impact on water (and ultimately ethanol production) are eastern Ohio, eastern Kentucky, eastern Tennessee, and the Northern Atlantic regions. Miscanthus and Cave-in-Rock are less suitable in areas such as Missouri, southern Illinois, and Mississippi River watershed regions of eastern Arkansas. Finally, the researchers found that bioenergy crops do best in regions with higher precipitation rates. They are more likely to fail in dryer regions with less frequent and predictable precipitation, such as the Great Plains, where environmental conditions limit production of bioenergy grasses. In the Midwest, on the other hand, the grasses are generally able to withstand periodic dry conditions because their roots can grow toward deeper and moister soil. Instead of a pan and a pick ax, prospectors of the future might seek gold with a hand-held biosensor that uses a component of DNA to detect traces of the element in water. The gold sensor is the latest in a series of metal-detecting biosensors under development by Rebecca Lai, an associate professor of chemistry at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Other sensors at various stages of development detect mercury, silver or platinum. Similar technology could be used to find cadmium, lead, arsenic, or other metals and metalloids. A primary purpose for the sensors would be to detect water contaminants, Lai said. She cited the August 2015 blowout of a gold mine near Silverton, Colorado, which spilled chemicals into nearby rivers, as well as the ongoing problems with lead-tainted water supplies in Flint, Michigan. Fabricated on paper strips about the size of a litmus strip, Lai's sensors are designed to be inexpensive, portable and reusable. Instead of sending water samples away for time-consuming tests, people might someday use the biosensors to routinely monitor household water supplies for lead, mercury, arsenic or other dangerous contaminants. But Lai also is among scientists searching for new and better ways to find gold. Not only aesthetically appealing and financially valuable, the precious metal is in growing demand for pharmaceutical and scientific purposes, including anti-cancer agents and drugs fighting tuberculosis and rheumatoid arthritis. "Geochemical exploration for gold is becoming increasingly important to the mining industry," Lai said. "There is a need for developing sensitive, selective and cost-effective analytical methods capable of identifying and quantifying gold in complex biological and environmental samples." Scientists have employed several strategies to find gold, such as fluorescence-based sensors, nanomaterials and even a whole cell biosensor that uses transgenic E. coli. Lai was a co-author of a 2013 study that explored the use of E. coli as a gold biosensor. advertisement DNA, the carrier of genetic information in nearly all living organisms, might seem an unlikely method to detect gold and other metals. Lai's research, however, exploits long-observed interactions between metal ions and the four basic building blocks of DNA: adenine, cytosine, guanine and thymine. Different metal ions have affinities with the different DNA bases. The gold sensor, for example, is based on gold ions' interactions with adenine. A mercury sensor is based upon mercury ions' interaction with thymine. A silver sensor would be based upon silver ions' interaction with cytosine. NUtech Ventures, UNL's affiliate for technology commercialization, is pursuing patent protection and seeking licensing partners for Lai's metal ion sensors. She applied for a patent for the sensors in 2014. "Although these interactions have been well-studied, they have not been exploited for use in electrochemical metal ion sensing," Lai and doctoral student Yao Wu said in a recent Analytical Chemistry article describing the gold sensor. Lai and Wu say their article is the first report of how oligoadenines -- short adenine chains -- can be used in the design and fabrication of this class of electrochemical biosensors, which would be able to measure concentrations of a target metal in a water sample as well as its presence. advertisement The DNA-based sensor detects Au(III), a gold ion that originates from the dissolution of metallic gold. The mercury and silver sensors also detect dissolved mercury and silver ions. "The detected Au(III) has to come from metallic gold, so if gold is found in a water supply, a gold deposit is somewhere nearby," Lai explained. The DNA-based biosensors need more refinement before they can be made commercially available, she said. Lai's sensor works by measuring electric current passing from an electrode to a tracer molecule, methylene blue in this case. In the absence of Au(III), the observed current is high because the oligoadenine probes are highly flexible and the electron transfer between the electrode and the tracer molecule is efficient. But upon binding to Au(III) in the sample, the flexibility of the oligoadenine DNA probes is hindered, resulting in a large reduction in the current from the tracer molecule. The extent of the change in current is used to determine the concentration of AU(III) in the sample. To allow the sensor to be reused multiple times, the Au(III) is later removed from the sensor with an application of another ligand. Lai's research focus is on electrochemical ion sensors. Her research has been supported with grants from the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation. A new harbour or windmill park at sea will continuously undergo the forces of breaking water waves. Those waves have, on their way from the deepest ocean to more shallow coastal waters, undergone lots of changes. PhD student Ruddy Kurnia of the University of Twente developed mathematical models for very fast calculation of the wave behavior, for each water depth and taking into account slopes, quay walls or ships. His HAWASSI software is already available for e.g. harbour designers. Kurnia defends his thesis Friday February 19. The waves we see at a surface, at full sea or at the coast, consist of numerous other waves at a range of depths. From the deepest ocean waves with a long wave move at high speed, while the waves we see at the surface are short waves moving slower and differ from the deep sea waves in shape and altitude. Joint action It is complicated to capture all these changes in mathematical models, therefore often some kind of approximation is chosen. This holds, for example, for dispersion: the relationship between wave length and wave speed. Kurnia does not use an approximation but the exact relationship. He doesn't choose a numerical approach, that uses strongly simplified equations for a series of times. Instead, he wrote an accurate description of the combined action of the wave at different depths, using the kinetic energy. Fast calculation Thanks to this, the model is applicable for any water depth. Furthermore, Kurnia is capable of introducing abrupt changes: a quay, a sloping coastline, a ship. Despite the added complexity, the models can be calculated very fast -- minutes instead of days -- by using the so-called Fast Fourier Transform, decomposing any mathematical description in several sinus waves. Kurnia's model calculations have already been compared with the many experiment in 'wave tanks' of the Technical University of Delft, MARIN in The Netherlands and the Indonesion Hydrodynamic Laboratory. The models are also very useful to make precalculations of the desired wave in the thank, thus reducing the expensive experimenting hours. Via LabMath Indonesia, Kurnia's software is available named HAWASSI: Hamiltonian Wave-Ship-Structure Interaction. Ruddy Kurnia (Bandung, 1987) did his PhD research in de Applied Analysis group (faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science EEMCS). His supervisor is Professor Brenny van Groesen. The research had financial support of the Dutch Technology Foundation STW. Kurnia continues working on the models, partly as a postdoc researcher in Twente, partly in his home country Indonesia The rebels are losing but the government forces and their Arab allies are willing to take their time and limit their casualties. This is necessary because the Shia rebels are too effective as fighters, especially in the northern mountains they come from, for the Saudis to win quickly at an acceptable (in terms of their own casualties) cost. Whenever or however this war ends there will be some unpleasant side-effects. For one thing the Saudis will still have a needy (of Arab oil state charity) southern neighbor. On the plus side Saudi archenemy Iran will have suffered a very public loss. In the north (Jawf province) pro-government Sunni and rebel Shia tribes continue fighting for control of territory and the pro-government Sunni forces continue winning. Since the Sunni tribes gained air support from the Arab coalition and access to training and supplies (weapons, ammo, medical) in early 2015 they have been able to drive Shia tribesmen out of most of Jawf. To the west of Jawf is Saada province, the Shia tribal homeland. North of Jawf is Saudi Arabia. Going into Saada will be a much more difficult fight but the Sunni tribes want revenge for several years of heavy fighting with the Shia. So far this year the Shia resistance has been more determined but the pro-government forces are still taking back control of towns and areas containing key roads. The UN sponsored peace talks, begun in December and scheduled to resume in January are stalled. This comes after a December 15-January 2 ceasefire deal was regularly violated by both sides. Discussions to resume the peace talks Both AQAP (Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula) and ISIL (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant) are thriving despite efforts by the U.S. to track and attack Islamic terrorist leaders from the air. Since late 2014 AQAP has controlled he southeastern the port of Mukalla and much of the surrounding Hadramawt province. ISIL is scattered in remote locations or urban bases in Aden. This reflects the different strategies of the two groups AQAP believes in slowly expanding while ISIL favors aggressive attacks and boldness. Neither approach has had much success in over a thousand years of use but both remain popular with Islamic radicals. Over 7,000 people have died in the Yemen fighting since March 2015 and about half of them have been civilians. This includes nearly 400 people (most of them civilians) killed just across the border in Saudi Arabia by rebel mortar, rocket and gun fire. This sort of thing happens several times a week and is often quite intense. The fighting and general chaos made it difficult for foreign aid groups to get needed food and medical supplies to rebel controlled areas where Yemenis are most in need of such aid. The Arab Coalition nations are making a large and very public effort to obtain the needed aid and quickly get it to the ten million Yemenis who need it the most. This has created problems with UN controlled (or sponsored) aid groups. While the Arab aid groups work closely with the local and coalition forces to avoid getting fired on, the UN aid groups often do not and some insist that any interference with their aid operations is illegal and possibly a war crime. Saudi Arabia told the UN very publicly that all aid groups must proceed with caution and coordinate with government forces to avoid getting shot at. At the same time the government and Arab coalition consider it collaboration (with the enemy) when foreign aid operations take place within rebel controlled areas. The UN, and foreign aid groups in general, do not agree with this and it is a growing problem worldwide. All this is made worse by the fact that many warring groups force aid groups to supply rebel operations and keep quiet about fighters hiding out in aid facilities (like hospitals or refugee camps). Many aid workers feel a responsibility to try and halt the fighting any way they can and that often includes reporting bombings, artillery or gunfire that kills civilians as a war crime even when it isnt. This makes many aid groups suspect as far as government and rebel forces are concerned. The UN is trying to get donor nations to provide $1.8 billion to pay for UN supervised aid for Yemen during 2016. The UN is facing increasing resistance from donor nations because of corruption and growing instances of aid ending up under the control of one armed group or another instead of the civilians who desperately need it. The UN estimates that about 80 percent of Yemenis are in need of aid. The Iran Angle The Saudis and the other Gulf Arab states are mainly concerned with Iranian aggression. Iran has made it very clear that they believe they should control the Moslem holy places in Saudi Arabia and be the dominant military and political power in the region. That means having a veto over Arab diplomatic moves and generally returning to their ancient role of regional superpower. The Gulf Arabs are very hostile to this sort of thing but reluctant to go to war over it because the Iranians have an impressive history of battlefield victories. In response the Sunni Arab states tried to use Islamic terrorist groups as a weapon against the Shia threat. Thus Yemeni Shia rebels blame the Sunni Gulf Arabs of supporting al Qaeda in Yemen. This Islamic terrorist group has always been very hostile towards Shia and the growth of al Qaeda in Yemen was a primary reason for the Yemeni Shia rebelling in the first place. There is some truth to the Yemeni Shia accusations as many Sunni Gulf Arabs do support al Qaeda and have long provided cash donations and recruits. This terrorist support is not government policy with these Gulf States although some Gulf Arab states, like Qatar, have actively supported Islamic terrorist rebels in Libya and Syria. There is a lot of popular support for Islamic terrorism among Sunni and Shia as it is common to believe that the non-Moslem world is always actively at war with the Islam and Islamic terrorists are the only effective weapon to strike back with. This sounds absurd to non-Moslems, especially Westerners. Arab diplomats insist that there is no such terrorist support in Moslem nations. But anyone perusing Arab language media immediately sees this support and some of it even shows up in English language versions of Arab media. That despite the fact that the Arab editors of the English language news outlets know that the Arab support for Islamic terrorism is not acceptable to Western audiences and try to remove it from the English language sites. The Iranians understand all this, as do other non-Moslems (like Indians) who have lived next to Moslems for a long time. So when the Yemeni Shia complain of Gulf Arab Sunni support for al Qaeda in Yemen it has a different meaning to other Moslems (who take it as fact) and Westerners (who dismiss it as a paranoid delusion). Iran understands that Yemen is far more important to the Gulf Arabs than to Iran. Moreover the Yemeni Shia have never been dependent on Iran like those in Lebanon (Hezbollah), Iraq or Syria. Control (or substantial influence) in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon give Iran a land route to their declared main foe; Israel. The Saudi royals and Arabs in general are secondary to the Iranian official hatred of Israel. The Iranian threat to the Arab states in the region, especially those with oil, is of more immediate concern for the Arabs and the main reason why Arabs have openly become allies with Israel against Iran. This complex web of opportunities and capabilities means Yemen is basically a sideshow where winning is not the highest priority for Iran or Arabs. Both the Arabs and Iran have an interest in shutting down the Sunni Islamic terrorists in Yemen because these cutthroats see both Arab rulers and Shia in general as prime candidates for elimination. February 17, 2016: In the south (Aden) an ISIL suicide bomber wearing an army uniform killed 14 soldiers at the entrance to a military base. Islamic terrorists are having a more difficult time organizing and carrying out bombing attacks like this and so far this year most of the Islamic terrorist violence in government controlled areas has been assassinations and ambushes. President Hadi revealed that Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah sent him a latter in which he admitted that Hezbollah members were operating in Yemen but only to help the Shia rebels govern the areas they had taken control of. This is no surprise. Back in May 2015 Saudi Arabia sanctioned two Hezbollah leaders because the Saudis were certain that Hezbollah had personnel in Yemen aiding the Shia rebels. The Saudis long supported Hezbollah (more in words than in deeds) because Hezbollah was in direct contact with Israel, which all Arab states still officially consider the enemy. February 16, 2016: In the southwest (Taiz) pro-government forces finally pushed Shia rebels away from Taiz city. It is believed that the rebel forces were actually ordered to move back the help defend Sanaa, the national capital that is under increasing threat from government forces. For six months Shia rebels remained outside Taiz city and made it very difficult to get supplies to civilians and pro-government forces in the city. For the last few months it was believed that the Shia resistance wouldnt last much longer because Shia strength in the province and territory held has been gradually shrinking since August 2015. The Arab air strikes have been constant and pro-government tribes cut access to rebel held bases outside Taiz. But the Shia resistance continued in Taiz because the province has a lengthy Red Sea coastline which enabled smugglers to bring in weapons and other aid for the Shia rebels even though the rebels gradually lost control of most of the Taiz coast. This made smuggling operations along the Red Sea coast more difficult but obviously not impossible. There are Red Sea smugglers who will (for a much larger fee) get stuff in although the naval patrols have become more intense in an effort to halt all aid to the rebels. Over 1,500 civilians have died in the city so far. February 11, 2016: Government forces captured two army bases outside Sanaa and are now 30 kilometers from the capital. These moves also cut off rebel access to a main road to Marib province. Saudi Arabia detained a cargo ship carrying UN aid for Yemen. Saudi inspectors say they found four cargo containers containing computer and communications equipment that was not declared and is considered suspicious because this gear can also be used for military purposes and would be useful to the Shia rebels. February 9, 2016: In the south (Aden) government forces fought AQAP gunmen in the residential area (Mansoura) for several hours leaving several people dead. Inside Aden the growing number of AQAP men has enabled the Islamic terrorists to take control of some neighborhoods. The government has been trying to clear AQAP held neighborhoods but there is not enough manpower right now to complete the job because most government forces are up north fighting the Shia rebels in the capital. February 4, 2016: In the south (Abyan province) a senior AQAP commander and two associates were killed by missiles from an American UAV. The AQAP leader had a $5 million price on his head. This was the third such UAV attack in Yemen this year. February 1, 2016: The rebels launched another ballistic missile at a target in southwest Saudi Arabia but the missile was shot down. A day later Saudi warplanes found and destroyed the launcher for this missile, which was outside Sanaa. The Saudis were particularly annoyed at the Shia continuing to fire ballistic missiles into Saudi Arabia. None of these missiles hit anything of value mainly because Saudi anti-missile systems (U.S. Patriot PAC-3 missiles) were able to shoot down missiles that were headed for a populated area. On the Saudi border Shia rebels fired over a hundred mortar shells and at least 15 short range rockets into Saudi Arabia. These animals were left to die after war swept through their country. The Taiz Zoo is Yemen has reportedly been abandoned in the midst of ongoing civil war, leaving 281 animals to die of starvation and thirst. They include 20 lions, 26 leopards, crocodiles, monkeys, birds of prey and a menagerie of other animals. WARNING: Disturbing photos below Facebook/SOS Zoo and Bear Rescue Facebook/SOS Zoo and Bear Rescue Unfortunately, the ongoing conflict makes it all but impossible for animal rescue groups to operate in the region. But an international team of animal lovers has banded together to get these animals the help they need. One local man, Hisham AlHoot, has reportedly taken on the responsibility of feeding the starving animals, according to Chantal Jonkergouw, a Swedish woman who is helping to organize the aid efforts and coordinate with the Yemen locals through a Facebook page dedicated to the rescue efforts, SOS Zoo and Bear Rescue. Facebook/SOS Zoo and Bear Rescue Facebook/SOS Zoo and Bear Rescue Unfortunately, the situation on the ground is still murky. But Lionel de Lange, director of the Lawrence Anthony Earth Organization's Ukraine branch, who has been assisting in the rescue efforts, told The Dodo that the team has at least confirmed the existence of the animals through dated photos of AlHoot and other helpers at the zoo. Facebook/SOS Zoo and Bear Rescue Facebook/SOS Zoo and Bear Rescue The rest of the photos speak for themselves. Eleven lions and six leopards have reportedly already died. The remaining lions are emaciated and ill; one has a wound that exposes his bone. Facebook/SOS Zoo and Bear Rescue Facebook/SOS Zoo and Bear Rescue There are two newborn cubs, and other animals are reportedly pregnant. One devastating picture shows a male leopard who was so hungry that he resorted to eating the body of his dead mate. Facebook/SOS Zoo and Bear Rescue Facebook/SOS Zoo and Bear Rescue Yet another photo shows what appears to be a crocodile floating in filthy, murky water. Facebook/SOS Zoo and Bear Rescue Dodo Shows Pittie Nation The Sweetest Pittie Was Living Under A Jeep Facebook/SOS Zoo and Bear Rescue Helping the animals is even more difficult as the zoo is located in the middle of an active war zone, which means it's not always safe to enter, according to reports posted by Jonkergouw. "Today should have been the day where Hisham and the vet should have treated the lion with human antibiotics," she said on Thursday. "According to Hisham, they noticed irregularities upon arrival at the zoo and found it too risky to move closer. We have no details on what actually happened in the area." Facebook/SOS Zoo and Bear Rescue Facebook/SOS Zoo and Bear Rescue And yet, according to Jonkergouw, there have been small signs of hope. In a recent post, she said that six zoo workers have been paid to return to the facility and that Alhoot has obtained a license allowing him to access and work at the zoo. The animals are being kept alive on a shoestring budget of just $330 per day, she said, which allows for meat for the predators every third day and doesn't include medication. The wounded lion is reportedly the only carnivore who's been getting meat each day. Facebook/SOS Zoo and Bear Rescue Facebook/SOS Zoo and Bear Rescue "The first two money transfers have enabled us to buy food and water for the animals, but we have an enormous task in keeping them alive in the middle of a war zone," she wrote. "Let alone finding a sustainable solution for the future." For now, the daily survival of these animals depends on people around the world who have been struck by their plight and made contributions - and the people on the ground who are risking their lives each day to visit the war-torn zoo and care for them. Facebook/SOS Zoo and Bear Rescue Facebook/SOS Zoo and Bear Rescue You can follow the rescue efforts on the team's Facebook page. If you'd like to make a donation to buy food and medicine for the animals, you can do so here. (Please note: This fundraiser is organized solely by volunteers with on-the-ground civilian aid, as no vetted animal rescue organizations are able to enter the conflict zone. There are many other fundraising efforts being shared online, but The Dodo cannot vouch for their veracity). For more photos, see below. Facebook/SOS Zoo and Bear Rescue Facebook/SOS Zoo and Bear Rescue Facebook/SOS Zoo and Bear Rescue Facebook/SOS Zoo and Bear Rescue Facebook/SOS Zoo and Bear Rescue Facebook/SOS Zoo and Bear Rescue Facebook/SOS Zoo and Bear Rescue Facebook/SOS Zoo and Bear Rescue Facebook/SOS Zoo and Bear Rescue Facebook/SOS Zoo and Bear Rescue Facebook/SOS Zoo and Bear Rescue Facebook/SOS Zoo and Bear Rescue Facebook/SOS Zoo and Bear Rescue Facebook/SOS Zoo and Bear Rescue Facebook/SOS Zoo and Bear Rescue Facebook/SOS Zoo and Bear Rescue Facebook/SOS Zoo and Bear Rescue Facebook/SOS Zoo and Bear Rescue Facebook/SOS Zoo and Bear Rescue Facebook/SOS Zoo and Bear Rescue Facebook/SOS Zoo and Bear Rescue Facebook/SOS Zoo and Bear Rescue Facebook/SOS Zoo and Bear Rescue Facebook/SOS Zoo and Bear Rescue Facebook/SOS Zoo and Bear Rescue Facebook/SOS Zoo and Bear Rescue Facebook/SOS Zoo and Bear Rescue Facebook/SOS Zoo and Bear Rescue Facebook/SOS Zoo and Bear Rescue Apple CEO Tim Cook released a statement arguing against the FBI's recent order to hack into the San Bernardino shooter's iPhone 5c. See why he and Apple are refusing to do so. (Jhaan Elker/The Washington Post) Apple CEO Tim Cook released a statement arguing against the FBI's recent order to hack into the San Bernardino shooter's iPhone 5c. See why he and Apple are refusing to do so. (Jhaan Elker/The Washington Post) The Justice Department calculated that it held a winning hand the passcode-locked Apple iPhone of a terrorist when it went to a federal court in Riverside, Calif. Not only did the agency want Apple to build special software to help the FBI crack open the phone, but the government also knew the order would be made public. After a mass killing that provoked national outrage, the government hoped to win support far outside the courtroom in its bid to gain access to encrypted phones in criminal and terrorism cases. They picked this case to increase the chances of getting public opinion on their side, said a former federal prosecutor. Now, a single iPhone has reignited a broad debate about government surveillance and the needs of law enforcement vs. the need for privacy. The showdown escalated Friday with the Justice Department accusing Apple of putting its brand marketing ahead of the law. The stakes have soared, well beyond the fate of any particular iPhone. How can anyone back down now? asked Mike McNerney, a former cybersecurity adviser to the secretary of defense and now a Truman National Security Project fellow. You cant solve [this case] when its the director of the FBI vs. the CEO of Apple. For more than a year, Apple and its chief executive, Tim Cook, have signaled in public comments that the company no longer wants a hand in exposing data stored on its devices. That became particularly evident in October, when Apple declined to help authorities crack an iPhone in a routine drug case. The refusal was a clear break from Apples long history of complying without much objection, beginning with a government request in 2008 to extract data from the iPhone of a defendant accused of drugging and sexually abusing children. Since then, Apple has complied in about 70 other criminal cases. But in classic Silicon Valley fashion, Apple sought a technological cure to its growing frustration with these requests. It wrote software, which debuted in late 2014, that it says makes it impossible for even the company to crack its newer devices. Leading Apples charge is Cook, 55, who frequently talks about issues from his support for gay rights to his objections to discriminatory religious freedom laws with a passion more familiar to activists than corporate chieftains. Along the way, it has become increasingly clear that he values privacy in the same fundamental vein, some observers say. The very public stance, where we are today, thats Tim Cook. This is his social activism, said Rich Mogull, a longtime security analyst with Securosis. Late Tuesday, Cook released a public letter responding to the initial order in the San Bernardino case, calling it a dangerous precedent and an overreach by the U.S. government. He argued that the government wanted Apple to create a security back door, a term recalling Edward Snowdens revelations about National Security Agency snooping. Cook was taking his case to the public, just as the Justice Department had. A firestorm followed, with politicians, advocates and consumers instantly reacting to the resurrected fight between Silicon Valley and the government. Both Cook and FBI Director James B. Comey have been invited to testify about the battle before the House Energy and Commerce Committee. On Friday, the government argued that Cooks open letter was publicly repudiating the order. There was no waiting around for Apple to respond formally in court. Justice Department lawyers accused the company of designing and marketing a phone that allows technology, rather than the law, to control access to data. Apples refusal appears to be based on its concern for its business model and public brand marketing strategy, the Justice Department wrote. For the government, this is a case that puts the stakes in stark relief. Its a terrorism case that left 14 dead. The phone might contain key data. Authorities have vowed to the families they will leave no stone unturned, said a law enforcement official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing. And this is a pretty big rock. The position Apple staked out was long in the making. Mogull, the analyst, recalled detecting Apples new emphasis on privacy at a Apple developers conference in June 2014. What caught his eye was that privacy tools had trickled down to minor items such as Apples health app. It seemed as if privacy was the focus in the computer giants trenches. Mogull noticed again three months later when Apple updated its privacy policy usually home to boilerplate legalese to include a personal letter from Cook. It opened with: At Apple, your trust means everything to us. When have you ever seen a privacy policy like this from a company? Mogull asked. That was soon followed by Apples introduction of a new mobile operating system, iOS 8, an encrypted program that Apple says makes it impossible for the company to unlock a phone without a customers passcode. The iPhone of San Bernardino shooter Syed Rizwan Farook ran an even newer version, iOS 9. Cook has never shied from trumpeting Apples focus on privacy, not drawing a distinction between the prying eyes of hackers and those of government officials. Last February, he took the stage at a White House-organized event at Stanford University aimed at fostering cooperation between industry and the government on cybersecurity. President Obama was in the crowd. Cooks brief speech made clear that he took his mission to heart. If those of us in positions of responsibility fail to do everything in our power to protect the right of privacy, we risk something far more valuable than money we risk our way of life, Cook said. Months before the San Bernardino iPhone case, Apple was embroiled in a fight over access to another iPhone. Law enforcement officials had seized the phone of a New York man named Jun Feng, who allegedly had distributed crystal meth. But the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration couldnt extract its data, despite the phone running older, less-secure software, iOS 7, which Apple had the technical capabilities to unlock. In October, the agencies turned to the company for help, following a protocol outlined by Apple. There were no signs of resistance from the company. A data extraction expert at Apple said the process could take two weeks, according to the government. But days later, Apple balked. A company attorney told a judge that complying would be burdensome and could tarnish the Apple brand. The Justice Department was clearly stunned. Now, this was a textbook example of Apples long-standing and responsible corporate practice of bypassing locked cellphones when it has a court order requiring it to do so, Assistant U.S. Attorney Saritha Komatireddy argued in a federal courtroom in Brooklyn on Oct. 26. She pointed out that Apple had complied with 70 similar court orders since 2008, including cases involving child pornography and drugs. Apple attorney Marc Zwillinger echoed the companys hard line on privacy. Never has the privacy and security of customer data been as important as it is now, Zwillinger said. He later added that Apple believes it is not in the business of accessing customers data and that we shouldnt be in that business, either on our own or being conscripted by law enforcement. Zwillinger foreshadowed the battle over the terrorists iPhone, weeks before the San Bernardino shooting that left 14 dead. He wondered aloud in court if the governments requests would stop at unlocking a phone. Why wouldnt the government say all the same things about modifying software? he asked. Requests for help accessing iPhones have usually involved more routine cases than terrorism incidents. For example, in 2014, prosecutors asked Apple to assist in unlocking a phone in a Baltimore case of food-stamp fraud. Even those types of requests will become rarer as more iPhones are updated with the unhackable systems. Apple estimates that 90 percent of active iPhones now run that level of software, the kind that has caused so many problems in the San Bernardino case. But the pursuit of airtight technology also brings unintended costs, such as with the iPhone belonging to Alison Parker, the TV news reporter in Roanoke, Va., who was fatally shot, along with cameraman Adam Ward, during a live broadcast in August. The FBI and state police struggled for weeks to access her passcode-locked iPhone, recalled her fiance, Chris Hurst. Authorities wanted to know if she had had earlier contact with the shooter. Hurst just wanted to retain her photos and messages. It was frustrating, Hurst said. He eventually got almost all of her phones data, because she had backed it up to a remote server. Facts on the ground have changed since The Promised Land premiered in 2012 at Tel Avivs Habima Theatre: Israel has stemmed the flow of East African immigrants streaming into its country by building a fence along the Egyptian border. Aaron Bliden, front, and the cast of The Promised Land, produced by Mosaic Theater Company. (Stan Barouh) Still, this short documentary drama from Mosaic Theater Company, the latest in its Voices From a Changing Middle East Festival, is an eye-opener. Writers Shahar Pinkas and Shay Pitovsky worked from interviews, and they embrace the immigrants view. The picture presented by this show, which is being staged through Sunday in Woolly Mammoth Theatre Companys small rehearsal hall, is bleak. [Earlier in the festival, the bio-drama I Shall Not Hate] The play is a series of vignettes about Eritrean and Sudanese fleeing war and famine and heading for Israel. They deal with thieving rebels, walk across the desert, pay smugglers and dream of reuniting with family members scattered by the desperate flight from home. The fact-based show starts with sobering statistics about the staggering numbers of refugees worldwide and the 60,000 or so who have entered Israel from East Africa in the past decade, where hard-liners view them as infiltrators. The plays relevance is hardly confined to its specific place and time. Still, its a project with a targeted aim: to put human faces on the East African immigrants and appeal to Israels sense of compassion. On the latter score, one of the most interesting passages re-creates the Jewish refugee crisis during and after World War II, a sequence evocatively staged with shadowy bustle and a cascade of voices by director Michael Bloom. The spare, assured production makes the most of a bit of chain-link fence and projections that bring streets and deserts and overcrowded housing units crisply into view. Seven actors effectively take on a variety of roles, from a 12-year-old Sudanese girl who worriedly keeps track of each stop on her odyssey to an Israeli construction contractor voicing the anti-immigrant position. Promised Land is not a deep play: It doesnt explore the East African political crises driving the flow of refugees, and watching Israeli border officers suspiciously harassing a man hoping to work in the country feels like an oversimplification. The dramas strength is showing certain conditions in detail, the most vivid of which include a mother and daughter disagreeing about whether to pick up and flee yet again, and a grim evocation of the physical ordeal of walking across a desert. The blunt Promised Land may be less artful than heartfelt, but even so, its a useful snapshot of a particular pressure point, with obvious parallels in refugee and immigrant crises playing out all over the globe. The Promised Land by Shahar Pinkas and Shay Pitovsky. Directed by Michael Bloom. Set and lighting, Andrew R. Cissna; costumes, Marci Rodgers; original music and sound design, Eric Shimelonis. With Audrey Bertaux, Aaron Bliden, Felipe Cabezas, Gary-Kayi Fletcher, Awa Sal Secka, Brayden Simpson and Kathryn Tkel. About 65 minutes. Through Feb. 28 in the Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company rehearsal hall, 641 D St. NW. Tickets: $30-$50. Call 202-399-7993 or visit mosaictheater.org. Forty-three states now allow wineries to ship their products directly to consumers, avoiding the industrys traditional middleman: the distribution company. (Leah McIntyre) Americans are buying more wine than ever without going to a wine store. Direct-to-consumer sales increased 66 percent from 2010 to 2015, with 4.3 million cases valued at nearly $2 billion shipped directly from wineries to consumers last year. Thats according to an annual survey by ShipCompliant, a firm that helps wineries negotiate the legal labyrinth of direct shipping. The nations capital leads the country in these direct-from-the-winery purchases on a per capita basis, narrowly edging out California, Washington state, Colorado and Oregon. (That might be an exaggeration, Im guessing; the Districts number probably includes people who have wine shipped to their offices and then take it home to the suburbs.) [Five wines to try this week.] The very existence of a firm such as ShipCompliant highlights the difficulties of direct shipping. Forty-three states allow it in some form or other, up from 17 in 1998, but state laws and regulations differ, creating paperwork and financial headaches for wineries seeking to use this sales channel. The growth of direct shipping has chipped away at the three-tier system of producer-distributor-retailer that has dominated alcohol beverage sales since the end of Prohibition, although the traditional sales channels remain dominant. And ShipCompliants figures almost certainly underestimate the extent to which wine is being delivered by UPS or FedEx. The company measures only winery-to-consumer sales and does not capture sales by retailers shipped directly to consumers. The nations convoluted distribution system and fragmented taxation and regulatory structure allow Washington-area wine lovers to find bargains at stores in New Jersey or Chicago that are unavailable here. And wine fiends elsewhere comb online listings or pick up the phone to find their favorite wines from D.C. stores. (A caveat: When Maryland legalized direct-to-consumer sales by wineries in 2011, it did not allow out-of-state retailers to ship to Maryland residents. District and Virginia residents may order from retailers in other jurisdictions.) Direct shipping has provided an opportunity for smaller wineries to circumvent the three-tier system. Those wineries have been squeezed by consolidation in the distribution network, which has favored large national brands and made it hard for smaller labels to earn shelf space. According to the ShipCompliant survey, there were 8,638 wineries in the United States last year; of those, more than 8,000 produce fewer than 50,000 cases of wine a year. Small wineries (5,000 to 50,000 cases) accounted for 44.3 percent of shipments by volume, while medium-size wineries clocked in with 32.1 percent. When looking at the total value in sales dollars, however, very small wineries (1,000 to 5,000 cases) equaled medium wineries, as the little guys tended to sell higher-priced wines. Napa Valley led all U.S. wine regions in sales, topping $1 billion. That suggests we are still in love with our cult cabernet sauvignons. But we adore pinot noir as well: The survey noted a continuing surge in direct sales of wines from Oregon. Shipments of pinot noir, the states signature grape, outpace the market in every aspect, the report said. The average price per bottle shipped last year was about $38, a level that has remained fairly steady over the few years ShipCompliant has published its survey. Smaller wineries average higher prices, and bottles costing $100 or more rose 19 percent in sales by volume. Although that price category accounts for only 5.8 percent of all wines shipped, it equaled 25.2 percent when measured by value. But the clearest sign that direct shipping may indeed be a threat to the three-tier system is probably at the low end of the price scale. Traditionally, lower-priced wines arent associated with the direct-to-consumer channel, according to the report. It says further: But the $15 and under category saw a 27.7 percent increase in volume of shipments in 2015, bringing its share of shipments to 22.5 percent the highest volume share of any [price] category. Thats still a big slice of a small pie. But these are wines we typically buy in a supermarket or a local wine store. If consumers are finding inexpensive wines they are willing to buy direct even with the added cost of shipping, distributors may have an incentive to increase the variety of wines they offer or risk further erosion of their market share. Dear Readers: I have stepped away from my daily column for two weeks while I work on my next book, a memoir, which is scheduled to be published in the fall. While Im away, I hope youll enjoy these topical best of questions. Todays questions deal with babies. Ill be back next week with fresh questions and answers. Dear Amy: I began my job about a year ago. Everything about the work the schedule, the location, the pay and the benefits is great. The company consists of the male owner, who is rarely in the office, and my two co-workers, both female, one of whom is my boss. The two women have a strong friendship, and all day long they chitchat, compliment each other, laugh, prepare food together in the kitchen, etc. They arent exactly rude to me, but they arent friendly and dont include me in anything not strictly business-related. Most days, I feel like Im invisible. When I began the job, I assumed that I was one of the girls and was friendly and sharing, but about a month into the job, my boss berated me in front of the other woman, who snickered. I was new and was struggling. I was shocked because it was clearly just a question of me being new and having a learning curve. But after that, the tone changed and now its less pleasant. My boyfriend says that you go to work to earn a paycheck and not to socialize. Everything else about the job is good, so he says I should stop complaining. Should I just accept the situation and quit complaining? Or should I find another job? Susan Susan: You should stop complaining, mainly because complaining doesnt get you anywhere. Venting is one thing, but complaining is like listening to an annoying song on a loop. It brings you down and depresses the people around you. Concentrate on enjoying those aspects of your job that give you personal and professional satisfaction. The more professionally accomplished you become, the less sensitive you will be and the less these queen bees will bother you. Spend any time you might otherwise have spent trying to suck up to these women developing your professional life and looking for other opportunities. (April 2006) Dear Amy: I am the assistant to the president of a small organization so small that we are the only employees of the central office. My boss insists that he must have access to me on evenings and weekends. He says that I must be on call to answer his business needs at any time. He justifies this by saying that he must be able to depend on my help in emergencies, but his interruptions of my leisure are usually to get a phone number or to have me send an email. There has never been a real emergency or anything that couldnt wait until the next business day. I have repeatedly resisted his intrusions, and once, when I refused to speak to him on the phone, he sent the police to knock on my door. We both live in his friends condo building, and our office is in the basement. I am at work all the time. This man is enraged by my resistance and threatens to fire me. He claims I have professional status, even though all I do is secretarial work. He says that this kind of 24/7 access is standard for professionals and executives. I dont know any professionals I can ask to confirm this. Exhausted Secretary Exhausted Secretary: I suppose that if you were Bill Gatess personal secretary, you might have a beeper strapped to your ankle and basically be under house arrest, but if you held a position such as that, you would be amply compensated for your time and efforts and wouldnt notice the imposition. Every professional I know makes sure to take time away from the demands of work. Your boss sounds like a jerk. Calling the police because you didnt answer his call is obnoxious, not to mention a deplorable waste of time for the police officers. I assume that you receive a vacation of some sort? It would be wise to use your time off to launch an extensive job search. For an entertaining look at the experience of a put-upon and abused assistant, check out The Devil Wears Prada as you ponder your options. (July 2006) Amys column appears seven days a week at washingtonpost.com/advice. Write to Amy Dickinson at askamy@tribpub.com or Ask Amy, Chicago Tribune, TT500, 435 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, Ill. 60611. John King Jr., pictured here at Patterson Elementary School in the District, is acting secretary of education and Obamas nominee for the permanent job. (Photo by Evelyn Hockstein/For The Washington Post) (Evelyn Hockstein/For The Washington Post) In one of his first major speeches as acting U.S. secretary of education, John King apologized to teachers for the role that the federal government has played in creating a climate in which teachers feel attacked and unfairly blamed. To many teachers, Kings remarks at a Philadelphia high school late last month was an astonishing and welcome acknowledgment that the Obama administration, in pushing states to link teacher evaluations to student test scores, had helped create systems that seemed as though they were designed to punish teachers instead of help them get better. For King, it was the beginning of what he describes as an important chance thanks to the new federal education law that President Obama signed in December to reset the tone of conversation about teachers, teacher evaluation and the future of public schools in the United States. I think theres just such an urgency around making sure that teachers feel valued in our society. Its one of the things I worry a lot about, King said in an interview with The Washington Post. I want young people to see a future for themselves as teachers. [The next education secretary: Polarizing, powered by personal story] Lily Eskelsen Garcia, president of the National Education Association, said she appreciates the overtures from King, a former classroom teacher and Obamas nominee for the permanent job of education secretary. The Senate education committee has scheduled his confirmation hearing for Thursday. We definitely hear something new coming out of Dr. King, she said, adding that while his words mean a lot to us, teachers are interested in seeing how he backs up those words with actions. Theres some power in making a speech. I think that actually tells people where you are, she said. But if thats where it ends, were in big trouble. The new federal education law, the Every Student Succeeds Act, shifts power from the federal to state and local governments. It also requires state and local governments to consult teachers as they implement the new law, including in decisions about teacher training and school improvement. Eskelsen Garcia said she wants to see King use his bully pulpit to ensure that states and school districts are living up to that part of the law. If policymakers truly listen to teachers in classrooms, she said, then they will craft policies to teach and nurture the whole child not just lift test scores. My teachers, their hair is on fire with the possibility that this law means that we will have some real power to do what makes sense for the students, Eskelsen Garcia said. King said he, too, thinks that the law offers an opportunity for a rethinking of how to define an excellent education and measure school performance, and that including the voices of teachers as well as civil rights groups and community leaders is central to the spirit of the law. He said the department endeavors to listen to and amplify teacher voices, including through the two-year-old Teach to Lead initiative, which brings teachers together to discuss ways to change the culture of schools so that teachers play a more central decision-making role. Jeff Charbonneau, a teacher in Zillah, Wash., who was the 2013 national teacher of the year, said theres definitely a feeling that teachers have been targeted since the passage of No Child Left Behind in 2002. But he said the U.S. Education Department has been trying to change that for the past year or two, pointing to Teach to Lead as an example. I think there has been a renewed emphasis on trying to lift teacher voices, Charbonneau said. King assumed the helm of the Education Department on the first of the year after his predecessor, Arne Duncan, stepped down to move home to Chicago with his family. Teachers unions were not happy with Kings appointment as acting secretary; as state education commissioner in New York, he had clashed frequently with teachers over new Common Core tests and teacher evaluations tied to those tests. Peggy Brookins, the president and chief executive of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, said that Kings personal story he was orphaned at 12 and says that teachers at Brooklyn public schools saved his life is a powerful testament to his appreciation for teachers. But it is the rocky relationship he had with teachers as New York state education chief that makes him uniquely qualified now to reboot the administrations relationship with teachers, and the public conversation about teachers in general. He learned lessons, and I think he learned them the hard way, Brookins said. [A former disc jockey, pet sitter and journalist becomes Teacher of the Year] Shanna Peeples, a high school English teacher from Texas and the 2015 national teacher of the year, said that she meets young people around the country who are deciding not to go into teaching because they hear so often that its a job that wont bring them respect or much of a paycheck. Peeples said that teachers need to do a better job telling their own stories as a political tool to create the change they want to see. But she said Kings words, and his background as a classroom teacher, matter: I appreciate anyone whos willing to turn down the volume on the conflict were having and broker a civil conversation. Brian Kortes Lego portrait of Brittany and Connor Kirk, two teenagers who were murdered in 2009. (Brian Korte ) After artist Brian Korte met an excitable brother and sister with bright, smiling faces at a Lego convention in 2008, he spoke with their father about creating a portrait of the teenagers, a mosaic Korte would make from the colored plastic bricks. But the conversation about the artwork that would have captured Connor and Brittany Kirk abruptly ended without explanation. A few months later, Korte received a package at his door containing the teens entire Lego collection and a note from their father, Kevin Kirk, detailing a tragedy: The siblings had been murdered. Their stepfather fatally shot them in their bedrooms in February 2009. Take these Lego bricks, Kirk wrote to the artist, because keeping them around the house was difficult to bear. There are a lot of years there after my children were murdered that I dont remember, Kevin Kirk said. I was completely numb. Now Korte is honoring his familys memory with a Lego portrait of Connor, 13, and Brittany, 14, made of the bricks from their own toy collection. The mosaic is part of a featured exhibit of Kortes work in Glen Allen, Va., north of Richmond. Brittany Kirk and Connor Kirk were found shot in their bedrooms in February 2009. Their stepfather was convicted of killing them and their mother. (Courtesy of Prince William County Public Schools) I was completely devastated, Korte said. That kind of violence towards children just sets me off. [From the archives: Park ranger snapped before three slayings, court told] Korte at first felt sadness for Kevin Kirk, then anger. Finally, Korte said, he welled with pride, knowing that the family had decided to give him the things the two children treasured. Its such a privilege to have someone trust their Legos for this, Korte said. Im sure its going to go a long way in keeping their memory alive in a healthy, creative way. Kirk said that the mosaic has helped ease his pain and will help keep his kids legacies alive. This will let people know, Hey, things can be okay when things like this happen, Kirk said. Its a little bit of closure for me. Its doing me so much good to know that so many people care. Kortes own obsession with Legos began as a child, when he dedicated hours to building elaborate medieval-castle scenes. As an adult, he continued to tinker with Lego projects in his free time. Since 2004, when he launched his Brickworkz portraits business, he has created more than 200 Lego mosaics that now adorn such places as the halls of a royal palace in Bahrain and the corporate offices of Airbnb in Copenhagen. But the portrait that has touched him most profoundly is the 12,000-piece Lego mosaic of Connor and Brittany, Korte said. It almost has a spiritual feel to it, Korte said, noting that pieces from the siblings Lego collection were used in the colorful border of the solemn grayscale portrait of the children, whose lives were cut short that winter night in 2009. Carrillo Dean, a 23-year veteran Prince William County park ranger, returned home to Triangle, Va., that night from a typical eight-hour shift to find his stepchildren and his wife, Elizabeth, arguing about Connors unfinished Bible study and Brittanys math homework. When Dean headed to bed, he got into an argument with his wife. He said he just snapped, a detective later testified in court. He just couldnt take it anymore. Dean grabbed a .45-caliber handgun and shot his wife in the head before shooting her children Connor as he slept in his bed, and then Brittany, who woke up after hearing the gun blasts. Elizabeth Dean and Connor Kirk died at the scene. Brittany Kirk was airlifted to a hospital, where she succumbed to her wounds the next morning. My daughter died in my arms in the hospital, Kirk said. When police arrived at the house after 10:45 p.m., according to court testimony, Dean turned around and told the officers, Just cuff me. He then told police: Its too late. Theyre all dead. I killed them all. Dean pleaded guilty and received three life sentences, which he is serving at a state prison in Sussex County, Va. Korte decided to unveil the Lego portrait on the seventh anniversary of the siblings deaths, along with an exhibit memorializing other children who died young. It was emotional, said Korte, who has three children, ages 1, 4 and 5. Kirk said he is still recovering from the loss of his children. Even a trip to Luray Caverns or a vacation to the beach can send him reeling. Every moment of the day, its always there. Its always there in the back of my mind no matter what I do, Kirk said. Kirk said the Lego mosaic will help share Connors and Brittanys story. Im getting over this, Kirk said. People like Brian have helped me. Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan delivers his State of the State address at the statehouse in Annapolis, Md., on Feb. 3. (Gail Burton/AP) The accusations from Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland were pointed and jarring: Republican Gov. Larry Hogan was demonstrating racial bias by delaying construction projects at two historically black colleges while moving forward with plans to build a new Baltimore city jail. Within hours, the first-term governor announced he would withdraw the jail funding and work with lawmakers on putting the money toward higher-education projects. It was the latest example of Hogans ability to undermine the strategy of his Democratic rivals, who after losing the governors mansion in 2014 are searching for ways to control the agenda in Annapolis and prevent Hogan from winning a second term. [Lawmakers accuse Hogan of assault on black communities] Democrats have said their blueprint for defeating Hogan involves boosting voter turnout in the state, which heavily favors their party in terms of registration, and allowing Hogan to sink himself with conservative policies. So far, with Hogans approval ratings soaring above 60 percent in recent polls, neither approach appears to be showing much success. Del. Jay Walker, center, a Democrat from Prince George's County, criticizes Gov. Larry Hogan during a press conference on Thursday for decisions that he says adversely affect minorities in Maryland. (Pam Wood/Baltimore Sun) Hogan, a former businessman now in his second year as governor, has pushed a moderate agenda, leaving critics with few opportunities to attack his policies. Opponents once warned that Hogan would give tax breaks to wealthy business owners while rolling back funding for people in need. But his proposals this year included plans to expand tax credits for the elderly and working poor. Critics also described his push to reduce automatic spending increases as code for education cuts until Hogan made clear that his proposal would protect school-funding formulas from changes. The Democrats who control both chambers of the legislature often find themselves attacking the governors style, saying he rarely collaborates and that he steals credit for their legislative accomplishments. [How Md. Democrats plan to halt the GOPs momentum] Democrats want that governorship back, said Melissa Deckman, chair of Washington Colleges political science department. I think theyre stymied because hes doing well, and the public is responding well to him as governor. Sniping from both parties Hogan preaches bipartisanship but seems to relish opportunities to joust with his Democratic rivals, frequently mocking and criticizing them in interviews and on social media. During a radio show last week, the governor compared legislators who oppose his initiatives to irresponsible kids on spring break. They come here for a few weeks, they start breaking up the furniture and throwing beer bottles off the balcony, Hogan said. Luckily, in a few weeks, theyre going to go home, and we get to go back to running the state and making progress. Sen. Robert A. Zirkin (D-Baltimore County) responded on the Senate floor later that day, noting that lawmakers spend hours debating bills and listening to often emotional testimony at committee hearings. If the governor doesnt know what were doing, he should come down and watch a little while, Zirkin said. [Democrats sent hate mail after Hogan criticizes felon-voting override] House Speaker Michael E. Busch (D-Anne Arundel) said: Theres been very little substantive communication on issues people believe are problems. . . . It seems like most of the attention is focused on the political agenda rather than the governing agenda. Such back-and-forth most likely will have limited effect on voter perceptions during the 2018 election, several analysts said. When Democrats take shots that arent substantive, I dont think its effective at this point, said Richard Vatz, an expert on political rhetoric at Towson University. I think people want to give the governor a chance, to see how his style works. At the same time, if either side becomes defined by petty squabbles, it could be politically damaging, analysts said. They cited the case of Marylands last Republican governor, Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., who developed a rancorous relationship with lawmakers, failed to push through several of his major initiatives and lasted only one term. Both sides are going to talk about slights, because if things go wrong, thats part of the positioning to tell the story of how it happened, said Mike Morrill, a longtime Democratic strategist. But those marks disappear if the session appears to be a success for either side. Its a matter of putting them in the bank in case you need them in the future. House Minority Leader Nicholaus R. Kipke (R-Anne Arundel) said Democratic leaders are thin-skinned about the governors use of social media. This governor is consistent, he goes to the people, Kipke said. He knows who his boss is, its not the legislature. When the General Assembly is going in the wrong direction, he educates the voters of the state. He has the bully pulpit So far in the 2016 legislative session, Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller (D-Calvert) and Busch have rallied lawmakers to overturn all six of Hogans 2015 vetoes, reminding the governor of the limits of his power. Democrats have also introduced at least 15 bills that would diminish Hogans influence and authority on issues such as appointing the state school superintendent, granting parole to inmates serving life sentences and determining which transportation projects deserve state funding. One of the measures would expand the legislatures authority by allowing the General Assembly to add or increase spending in the governors budget. Currently, Maryland is one of the few states that bars such changes. Under another Democratic measure, the General Assembly would have to approve appointments of the state schools superintendent and the University System of Maryland chancellor. Currently, boards appointed by the governor have sole discretion over those decisions. Hogan spokesman Doug Mayer called the bill, which is expected to be voted on in the Senate this week, a flawed and poorly considered piece of legislation that would endanger the very nature of the states educational system. [Senate delays vote on state superintendent bill] Even on issues with broad agreement, Hogan tends to exclude Democrats from policymaking, often enacting changes through executive orders. In one such instance, he launched a program to reward public high school students who graduate early with college scholarships worth up to $6,000. Strategically, its smart for him to do, but he should be a little more collaborative if he wants to foster goodwill, Deckman said of the governors solo approach. Democrats and black leaders were outraged when Hogan did not include funding in his initial budget for a hospital in Prince Georges County and for promised demolition of blighted buildings in Baltimore. The governor eventually funded both projects making the announcements himself, without alerting the Democrats ahead of time or attempting to bring them on board. Its clear they forced his hand, said Todd Eberly, a political science professor at St. Marys College. He can take credit for it. Hell get the press conference. . . . But they have found an effective way to get him to do things. Hogans ability to claim the spotlight is magnified, Eberly said, because he and the legislative majority hail from different parties. He has the bully pulpit and has a much easier time controlling the narrative. Political snubs Hogan opened this years legislative session by telling lawmakers that he is just a phone call away. But when Sen. Nancy J. King (D-Montgomery) tried to call his office to discuss a bill, she was told she needed to fill out a form. King, describing the incident, said she was appalled. Hogan aides said an employee inadvertently referred the senator to the process used for some members of the public. But the incident, many believed, spoke to the broader relationship between Hogan and the Democrats. Miller has blamed Hogans perceived missteps, including not talking to lawmakers before making significant announcements, on being a political novice. Youve got to remember he hasnt held public office before, Miller said. The governor needs to work on his communication skills with all the members of the Senate and members of the House. All of us read about these things in the newspaper. Hogans staff disputes any notion of a communication problem, noting that the governor met with Miller a handful of times this year and frequently talks with him by phone. The governor is here to get things done in the best way and the most cost-effective way possible, Mayer said. Anyone who is willing to work with him, hell work with them. He doesnt care if the ideas come from Democrats or Republicans. In the end, Morrill said, no one is going to remember the machinations of a particular funding dispute or policy proposal. Thats just how the sausage is made. If the sausage tastes good, everyone is happy, he said. If not, it looks like its because youre not willing to work with the other guys, and that can come back to haunt you. A packed audience listens to testimony Friday from Eric King about his wife Marlene's (pictured) battle with breast cancer, during a Maryland General Assembly hearing on right to die issues. (Evelyn Hockstein/For The Washington Post) Maryland, a state where lawmakers abolished the death penalty and made same-sex marriage legal, would seem fertile ground for an aid-in-dying bill. But the state also has deep Catholic roots and a large African American population, and both of those communities have long opposed assisted suicide for the terminally ill. At a hearing Friday on a bill that would make Maryland the sixth state to legalize aid in dying, dozens of witnesses waited hours to testify. There were terminal patients who said they deserve the option to legally end their lives and caregivers who described loved ones committing suicide to cut short their suffering. There were religious leaders and disability advocates who argued that every life is precious, and a young woman who survived brain cancer as a child after doctors said she had little time to live. Guess those doctors were pretty wrong, she said. And then there was the Rev. Eric King, an African American minister from Baltimore who last year watched his wife, diagnosed with Stage 4 breast cancer, testify in favor of assisted suicide in defiance of their churchs teachings. That bill never made it out of committee. Marlene King died last fall, her body withered to 90 pounds, her last days full of pain. I want to carry on her work, King told delegates at a joint hearing Friday of the House Judiciary Committee and the House Health and Government Operations Committee. God allows choices. . . . I look at it as there are two types of healing. One is for a person to be restored to a quality of life and wellness. And death is also a form and act of healing. Death is Gods grace for people of faith, for anguish and suffering to end and to be in the presence of our Creator. Del. Ariana B. Kelly (D-Montgomery), listens to testimony during a hearing on a bill supporting the right to die for those with terminal illnesses. (Evelyn Hockstein/For The Washington Post) Marylands bill is modeled on the measure approved in California last year after the highly publicized case of Brittany Maynard, a 29-year-old Bay Area woman with terminal brain cancer who moved to Oregon to legally kill herself. Aid in dying is also permitted, with varying restrictions, in Washington state, Vermont and Montana. In Maryland, the legislation appears to face an uphill battle. [California adopts right-to-die law allowing assisted suicide for terminally ill patients] Sponsors say they are optimistic about its chances in the House of Delegates, where it has the support of one Republican, Del. Christopher R. West (Baltimore County), who considers aid in dying a liberty issue, and many first-term Democrats. They are less certain about the legislation getting out of the 11-member Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee, which has scheduled a hearing for Thursday. Five committee members oppose the measure, including all four of the committees Republicans. Two panel members, both Democrats, are co-sponsors. For the bill to move forward, advocates must persuade the four undecided Democrats: Sen. Robert A. Zirkin (Baltimore County), who is the committee chair, and Sens. Susan C. Lee (Montgomery), C. Anthony Muse (Prince Georges) and Victor R. Ramirez (Prince Georges). But opponents of the bill are lobbying those lawmakers, too. Ramirez, who is Catholic, said two constituents expressed their concerns to him during a dinner sponsored by the church. Del. Nathaniel T. Oaks (D-Baltimore) listens to testimony during a hearing on a bill supporting the right to die for those with terminal illnesses. (Evelyn Hockstein/For The Washington Post) Same-sex marriage was about treating people the same. The death penalty was where we have an imperfect system, and the government shouldnt be in the business of deciding life or death, Ramirez said. With aid in dying, he said, we could be going down a slippery slope. Once you allow someone to perform this procedure, you cant reverse it. . . . Are we going to look back in 10 years and wonder did we do the right thing? The Maryland Catholic Conference and disability rights advocates say the bill could open the door for mistreatment of the disabled, elderly and minority communities, which they say already experience disparities in health-care access. Legalizing suicide as a medical course-of-action will only serve to further erode the healthcare that vulnerable people currently receive, especially since it is much less expensive than continuing treatments, said a statement that was given to the 300 Catholics who came to Annapolis this month for Catholic Lobby Night, an annual event at which members of the church talk to lawmakers about bills. The main focus this year: stopping physician-assisted suicide, a term listed on their documents and one that proponents of the bill abhor. At the hearing Friday, Georgetown University School of Medicine doctor Kevin Donovan called the bill discriminatory and not progressive. It creates, by law, a class of people whose lives should no longer be preserved, Donovan said. It favors the white elite, not the sort of thing that progressives want to get behind. Proponents of the bill say safeguards have been added to the measure to ensure that no one is taken advantage of. They say there have been no reported instances of coerced death in Oregon, where legislation was approved in 1994, or in any of the other states that have legalized aid in dying. About three dozen volunteers from the nonprofit group Compassion & Choices, which is leading the effort to build support for the bill, recently held a lobbying day, spending hours knocking on legislators office doors. One volunteer met with Muse, the Judicial Proceedings Committee member and an African Methodist Episcopal minister. She said the lawmaker told her that he is open to the idea of aid in dying a statement she counted as a small victory. Asked about the legislation on Friday, Muse said he remains undecided. Lobbyist W. Minor Carter is working for the bill pro bono, in memory of his friend, Richard E. Israel, a former assistant attorney general who died last summer after a long bout with Parkinsons disease. Carter said he has run into more than a few roadblocks as he tries to sway lawmakers with whom he normally discusses insurance and other, less-fraught issues. Some flatly refused to meet with him. They say there is no need to waste my time, Carter said. Theyre Catholic, they say. So Carter moves to the next name on his list. He knows that House Speaker Michael E. Busch (D-Anne Arundel), a Catholic, reversed his position on the aid-in-dying bill last year after reflecting on his own life and the deaths of two friends. Carter said he hopes that there are other lawmakers out there ready to be persuaded. Gov. Larry Hogan (R), who is in remission after a bout with non-Hodgkins lymphoma last year, has not taken a position on the bill. Hogan, who is also Catholic, indicated as a candidate that he would oppose aid-in-dying legislation. But he said in March before his cancer diagnosis that he could see both sides of the issue. He has since become an outspoken advocate for cancer patients, spending hours with people who are fighting the disease. Several black and Hispanic lawmakers said they have not heard from constituents either for or against the bill. That could change if the legislation makes it out of committee and comes before the full Senate or House for consideration. The black community is generally of the position when its your time, its your time, God wont take you no sooner than your time, said Del. Charles E. Sydnor III (D-Baltimore County), a member of the House Judiciary Committee who is African American. Its not going to be an easy vote. Mario Perez, left, was fatally shot during a holiday gathering in Damascus, Md., by his friend Frank Trujillo, right. Montgomery County prosecutors on Friday dropped a first- degree murder case against local construction executive Frank Trujillo, concluding he acted in self-defense when he fatally shot an unarmed houseguest who threatened him during a holiday gathering. He made this unavoidable, Trujillo, 35, said in an interview Friday, his first public comments about the case. Ive gone over it a thousand times. I did, unfortunately, what was necessary to protect my family. He called the situation which unfolded in his home in Damascus, Md., on the night of Dec. 20 a tragedy. The man he shot, Mario Perez, 40, a barrel-chested, former active-duty Marine, had been a good friend. Perezs 8-year-old son was in the home at the time, as were Perezs girlfriend, Trujillos wife and Trujillos two sons. This impacted a lot of people, Trujillo said. Frank Trujillo acted in self-defense, according to prosecutors. (Family photo) An avid weightlifter, Perez was trained as a mixed-martial-arts fighter, Trujillo said. On the night of the shooting, Perez was drunk, yelled that he was going to kill Trujillos family and charged him. He was physically capable of doing whatever he wanted, Trujillo said. He was completely out of his mind. An autopsy showed Perez to have a blood alcohol content of 0.22 to 0.28, which at the high range is more than three times the legal limit for driving. After a lengthy and thorough investigation, it was determined the facts in the case showed that Mr. Trujillo was acting in self- defense of his family in his own home, said Ramon Korionoff, a spokesman for the Montgomery County States Attorneys Office. Korionoff described Perez as a much larger man in stature than Trujillo, adding that Perez had the know-how and capability to inflict severe bodily harm, if not death, upon Trujillo and his family. For Trujillo, the legal case began Dec. 21, when he was charged with first-degree murder and booked into jail without bail. Trujillos attorney, Barry Helfand, challenged the Montgomery County police version of the nights events and got his client released on a $50,000 bond. Trujillo quickly returned to work at Miller & Long, one of the areas leading construction firms, where he is a vice president and head of safety. A rising star in our company. And he is just solid as a rock, the firms chairman, John McMahon, told a judge during a hearing late last year. Trujillo also went back to classes at the University of Maryland, where he expects to earn his MBA this year. Earlier: Different accounts surround fatal Christmas gathering The charges against him began to fizzle this week, when a grand jury met to review the case. Helfand asked that his client testify to the panel. Helfand called the move unusual because defense attorneys generally do not like to have clients testify before they have been indicted and risk incriminating themselves. I just believed this kid was telling the truth, Helfand said. The grand jury declined to issue any charges. And on Friday, prosecutors went to court to drop the case. In a later interview, Trujillo spoke in detail about Perez, and what happened inside his house: The two had known each other at Miller & Long, where Perez worked before losing his job after being jailed in Northern Virginia on DUI charges. Trujillo had clearly tried to help Perez, even writing a letter in support of Perez for his DUI case. Trujillo told the court how Perez and Perezs son would come to his home in Damascus. My sons and his son were especially thrilled to see each other and play together, Trujillo said. Inside his home the night of Dec. 20 a Sunday Perez and his girlfriend cooked dinner in the kitchen, where Perez drank liquor and beer. Trujillo said he had been hoping for a low-key evening and had gone to his basement to work out. At some point, he came upstairs, and he and Perez started talking about employees and Miller & Long. He became increasingly agitated, Trujillo said. The two went to the basement. Using vulgarity, Perez threatened to destroy Trujillos world. Trujillo went upstairs and into his bedroom with his wife. Trujillos two boys were in another bedroom. Trujillo could hear Perez yelling in the basement and decided to arm himself with his .40-caliber semiautomatic handgun. He came out of his bedroom just far enough, he said, to stand in front of his sons bedroom. By then, Perez was also on the main level. Trujillo said he offered to call Perez an Uber ride, then said he was going to call the police. Perez said: Ill kill everybody here, according to Trujillo. Fearing that Perez was about to charge him, Trujillo pointed his gun at him. He came at me anyway, Trujillo said. When he shot Perez, Trujillo said, he was only three feet away. If I had missed him, I am confident he would have killed me, Trujillo said. Trujillos wife called 911. Police found Trujillo at the home, and took him in for questioning. He declined to talk to them. Trujillo said he never thought he committed murder but said that he did not want to criticize the criminal justice system. At the end of the day, they got it right, he said. Perez, who was living in Northern Virginia, grew up in California, was a high school linebacker and joined the Marines in 1994, according to friends and military records. He left the service, where he was a computer systems specialist, in 1998 and entered the private sector in that line of work. Many people who knew Perez in the past said they knew him to be a strong but gentle person and were surprised to learn he had been accused of attacking a friend. A loving, sweet, curious soul who loved to laugh and learn, said Jenny Johnston, a girlfriend who lived with Perez from 2004 to 2007. MARYLAND Tractor-trailer driver dies in Beltway crash A tractor-trailer driver was killed Friday in a violent crash on the Capital Beltway. Dennis Frampton, 47, of Halethorpe, Md., died after his vehicle struck the concrete traffic barrier just east of Connecticut Avenue and turned over, state police said. Martin Weil and Dana Hedgpeth Four debates for Senate candidates Democratic candidates for the seat of retiring U.S. Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.) said Friday that they have agreed to four on- air debates and several forums, before the April primary. Reps. Donna F. Edwards and Chris Van Hollen will face off twice on March 18, at a debate on WAMU at noon, and at a forum at the Eleanor and Franklin Roosevelt Democratic Club; on March 25 at the University of Baltimore, in a debate whose sponsors include WJZ (Channel 13); and at a candidates forum April 5. Arelis R. Hernandez Former school board member is convicted A jury convicted a former Maryland education official Thursday who prosecutors say was fraudulently applying for free school lunches. Lynette Mundey, a former Prince Georges County Board of Education member, had been charged with theft, fraud and filing a false public assistance application. Prosecutors allege Mundey stole more than $1,300 in free lunches between 2010 and 2015, applying for the federal free or reduced-price meal plan despite earning an income above the eligibility level. Mundey and five others were charged in 2015 after an audit from the Government Accountability Office showed its employees in Prince Georges benefiting from the program when ineligible. All six received $11,432 in reduced lunches in total, prosecutors said. Lynh Bui Man convicted of ordering execution A Maryland man was convicted Thursday of ordering his uncles execution to prevent him from testifying against him at a murder trial. A Prince Georges County jury returned the first-degree murder verdict in the retrial of Brian Mayhew, 24. The jury also convicted the men who prosecutors said carried out Mayhews orders: Stanley Winston, 25, and Anthony Cannon, 26. In July, jurors could not reach a verdict in the case, with some agreeing with the defense that recorded jailhouse conversations were not proof alone of guilt. Nicoh Mayhew, 25, was killed in Seat Pleasant, Md., on Dec. 19, 2012, two months before he was to testify against his nephew.. Lynh Bui Virginia Bullets hit several houses in Woodbridge Houses were hit by gunshots Thursday on a street in Woodbridge, Prince William County police said. Bullets were lodged in inner and outer walls of multiple houses in the 15500 block of Banjo Court, police said. No injuries were reported. Police are investigating. Martin Weil Region Monument closed to fix elevator control The Washington Monument is closed for repairs to an elevator control box that was inadvertently damaged by a contractor, the National Park Service said. It is expected to reopen early next week. Victoria St. Martin The Virginia governments plan will impose rush-hour tolls on I-66 inside the Beltway in 2017 and widen four miles of the highway by 2020. (Matt McClain/The Washington Post) When I met Ron Meyer in October, he was campaigning outside a school in Ashburn, where the Virginia Department of Transportation was about to hold a hearing on its plan for Interstate 66 inside the Beltway. Meyer, a candidate for the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors, was in tune with much of the audience. These outer suburban commuters were very concerned about the plan. Even though it would allow solo drivers to use the High-Occupancy Vehicle lanes, they would have to pay a toll. Many already pay a toll on the Greenway and the Dulles Toll Road before reaching the HOV-only part of I-66, so they were adding up the total cost of such a trip. Meyer said the VDOT plan for creating high-occupancy toll lanes without widening the interstate was radical. [How HOT lanes became a campaign issue] When I saw him on Wednesday, he was in his seat as the new Loudoun County representative on the regions Transportation Planning Board, which was considering the I-66 plan after the state made several modifications. Meyer described the revised plan as a huge improvement. The new supervisor noted that the VDOT plan will offer I-66 commuters many options for leaving their cars behind, but Meyer said that transit services in Loudoun have not yet reached the point where many people can begin their commutes without cars. For them, he said, Driving still has to be an option. Whats most appealing about the revisions is that VDOT will immediately begin adding a lane on the eastbound side rather than waiting for a study to measure the success of the variable tolling system. (Meyer noted that the full board of supervisors has not taken a position on the new plan, which Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) announced Feb. 10.) Less pleased with the changes was another Transportation Planning Board member, Jay Fisette of Arlington County, where the HOV lanes are located. He was focused on the upcoming environmental assessment of the widening project and need to ensure that the impacts are understood. Most pleased with the new plan was Bob Chase, president emeritus of the Northern Virginia Transportation Alliance, which has supported both the HOT lanes program and the immediate widening of the interstate. The widening will help traffic in a particularly bad stretch of I-66 where traffic from the Dulles Connector Road which includes those drivers from the Ashburn area gets tangled up with the traffic already on the eastbound interstate. Much of that traffic will leave by the time it reaches Ballston, where the widening project ends. In last weeks column, I wanted you to see the limitations of the political and engineering decisions about I-66 the reality that plans for commuter relief keep evolving, even after deals are struck. In a more optimistic vein, I want you also to sense the importance of deals. If the I-66 program gets done on schedule, if the HOT lanes begin operating in 2017 and the widening occurs by late 2019 or early 2020, then thats going to look like the speed of light to commuters discouraged by the slow pace of change in the D.C. regions transportation network. But Kanti Srikanth, TPBs director of transportation planning, pointed out to me that todays construction plan evolved from a confrontation at a planning board meeting in 2009. Chris Zimmerman, who was then a board member representing Arlington County, organized a coalition on the board to block acceptance of VDOTs plan for three small widenings on the westbound side of I-66 till Virginia reviewed all the ways to improve transportation within the corridor. The planning board, made up of representatives from local and state governments and transportation agencies, doesnt have the power to build projects or tell local governments what projects they should build. But a big project needs to be accepted into the boards long-range regional plan if its going to get built. The boards power to block a project rarely invoked turned out to be an important jolt in creating a project. Virginia went ahead and did that comprehensive study, which served as a basis for the I-66 HOT lanes plan that the McAuliffe administration unveiled in late 2014. The history since then is one of engineering proposals and political compromises. Along the way, the administration dropped the ideas of tolling in both directions at the same time and of upping the carpool standard of HOV2 to HOV3 at the same time tolling began. Now were at the point delicate, perhaps where many interested parties are likely to find a way to live with the compromise between an innovative approach such as the HOT lanes and a traditional approach such as the highway widening. Its this element of head-butting leading to deals that the entire region should pay attention to and take heart in when considering other problems without apparent solutions. Dr. Gridlock also appears Thursday in Local Living. Comments and questions are welcome and may be used in a column, along with the writers name and home community. Write Dr. Gridlock at The Washington Post, 1301 K St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20071, or email drgridlock@washpost.com. LOUISIANA Final Angola Three prisoner is released Albert Woodfox, the last of the Angola Three prisoners still behind bars, was released Friday, his 69th birthday, after more than four decades spent in solitary confinement. His release came as Woodfox, facing the prospect of a third trial for murder, pleaded no contest to two lesser crimes Friday. Woodfox continues to maintain his innocence in the death of Brent Miller, a prison guard killed at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola in 1972. Although I was looking forward to proving my innocence at a new trial, concerns about my health and my age have caused me to resolve this case now and obtain my release with this no-contest plea to lesser charges, Woodfox said. The Angola Three were the focus of international protests against their solitary confinement. Woodfox and Herman Wallace were convicted of murder in Millers stabbing and placed in isolation, as was Robert King, who had been convicted of another crime. King was released in 2001. Wallace was released in 2013 and died of cancer four days later. Mark Berman TEXAS Afuenza teen to be tried in adult court A judge on Friday sent the Texas teenager who used an affluenza defense in a drunken-driving case to adult court, raising the possibility that he could be given jail time for the 2013 crash, which killed four people. Ethan Couch was 16 at the time of the crash. During his juvenile trial, an expert for the defense invoked the term affluenza, arguing that Couchs wealthy parents had coddled him into a sense of irresponsibility. Fridays ruling means Couch, 18, could face up to 120 days in jail and then finish his 10-year probation. But if he violates his probation, he could get up to 10 years in prison for each of the four people who were killed. Couch and his mother disappeared in December, as prosecutors investigated whether he had violated his probation. They were later found in Mexico and deported. Associated Press NORTH CAROLINA Courts refusal pushes primaries to June The U.S. Supreme Court refused Friday night to stop a lower-court order demanding that North Carolina legislators draw a new congressional map, meaning House primary elections will not occur next month as scheduled and are shifted to June. The denial of the request by the states attorneys for the justices to intervene came after Republican lawmakers redrew the boundaries as a safeguard to comply with a federal court ruling that called two majority black districts racial gerrymanders. The General Assembly reconvened and passed a new map because a three-judge panel had ordered a replacement by Friday. The refusal means the congressional primary elections, originally scheduled for March 15, will now occur June 7. Associated Press Col. Cherry pauses during his address after he and six other former POWs arrived at Andrews Air Force Base near Washington on Feb. 16, 1973. (Bob Daugherty/AP) Fred V. Cherry, an Air Force fighter pilot, was downed by enemy fire over North Vietnam in 1965, and he spent more than seven years as a prisoner of war. He had grown up in the Jim Crow South, and his captors made it clear that he could mitigate the harshness of his incarceration, including routine torture, and improve his living conditions by speaking out against the racial injustice and discrimination he had faced as an African American in the United States. When beatings failed to bring him around, his jailers tried another tactic. They assigned a self-described Southern white boy as his cellmate, hoping that racial antipathy between the two men would weaken his resolve and produce a propaganda triumph for North Vietnam. The plan failed. Instead, the two men, Col. Cherry and a Navy fighter pilot, then-Ensign Porter Halyburton, became fast and lifelong friends. Each would credit the other with having saved his life. Col. Cherry, center, at a 2015 event in Rockville, Md., honoring Vietnam War veterans. (Sarah L. Voisin/The Washington Post) Col. Cherry died Feb. 16 at a hospital in Washington. He was 87. The cause was heart ailments, said his companion of 24 years, Deborah Thompson. He was a major and had more than 100 combat missions in Korea and Vietnam behind him on the day Oct. 22, 1965 that his F-105 Thunderchief fighter-bomber was hit by enemy antiaircraft fire. The plane exploded and I ejected at about 400 feet at over 600 miles an hour, Col. Cherry wrote in a 1999 collection of war stories by POWs and Medal of Honor recipients. In the process of ejection, I broke my left ankle, my left wrist, and crushed my left shoulder. I was captured immediately upon landing by Vietnamese militia and civilians. I spent 702 days in solitary confinement, he added, with the longest period lasting 53 weeks. At one time I was either tortured or in punishment for 93 straight days. Early in his captivity, Col. Cherry was matched with Halyburton, a North Carolinian who had been shot down Oct. 17, 1965. For eight months, they would live together. But whatever mutual animosity their captors may have hoped for never materialized. I guess they thought if they had a Southern white boy taking care of a black man, it would be the worst place for both of us, Halyburton said in a telephone conversation from North Carolina. It turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to me. For eight months, Halyburton changed the dressings on his cellmates infected wounds, fed him, bathed him and watched over him. He said I saved his life, and he saved my life. . . . Taking care of my friend gave my life some meaning that it had not had before. The two men lived in a succession of fetid 10-by-10-foot cells, sleeping on straw mats, benches or the floor. I was so inspired by Freds toughness, Halyburton said. He had grown up in the racial South [and] undergone a lot of discrimination and hardship. But he was such an ardent patriot. He loved this country. It inspired me, and it inspired a lot of others. For 2,671 days, Col. Cherry was held in captivity before his release on Feb. 12, 1973, with the first group of U.S. prisoners of war to come home. Fred Vann Cherry Sr. was born in Suffolk, Va., on March 24, 1928. His parents were farmers. He attended racially segregated public schools and graduated in 1951 from Virginia Union University, a historically black college in Richmond. He then joined the Air Force and, during the Korean War, flew more than 50 combat missions over North Korea. In the summer of 1966, after eight months of sharing a cell, Col. Cherry and Halyburton were separated. Halyburton remembers it as one of the saddest days of my life. They did not see each other again until 1973, when they met at a military hospital at Clark Air Base in the Philippines after their release from captivity. Col. Cherry, who later attended the National War College and the Defense Intelligence School in Washington, retired from the Air Force in 1981 as a joint staff officer assigned to the Defense Intelligence Agency. He was a resident of Silver Spring, Md. His medals included the Air Force Cross, awarded, according to the citation, for extraordinary heroism in military operations against an opposing armed force as a Prisoner of War . . . extremely strong personal fortitude and maximum persistence in the face of severe enemy harassment and torture, suffering critical injuries and wounds. But Col. Cherrys homecoming was painful. His wife, the former Shirley Brown, reportedly deserted him soon after he was declared missing, cleaned out his life savings and had a child with another man. The officer endured years of legal proceedings and negotiations with the military over issues involving back salary, child-support payments and allowances. Survivors include his companion, of Silver Spring; four children from his marriage, Deborah Cherry-Jones and Donald Cherry, both of Norfolk, Va., Cynthia Cherry-Leon of Woodbridge, Va., and Fred V. Cherry Jr. of Springdale, Md.; a son from another relationship, Frederick Stein of Los Angeles; 14 grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren. Col. Cherry and Halyburton, who retired from the Navy at the rank of commander, gave joint talks at military institutions and colleges. In 2004, they toured to promote a book about their story, Two Souls Indivisible: The Friendship That Saved Two POWs in Vietnam, by James S. Hirsch. Col. Cherry also was featured in a public television documentary narrated by Tom Hanks, Return With Honor, about Vietnam fighter pilots held as POWs. I know that the faith in God, love and respect for my fellow man that my parents and family instilled in me during my youth carried me through some very difficult years as prisoner-of-war in Vietnam, Col. Cherry wrote in the 1999 collection of POW war stories. I was always taught to love and respect others and forgive those who mistreat, scorn or persecute me. . . . [This] allowed me overcome the damages of discrimination, Jim Crow, and the social and economic barriers associated with growing up a poor dirt farmer. . . . My standard for making decisions is based on doing what is right. In the decade since he opened a Fort Worth- area coffeehouse, David Clarke never really cared whether a customer packed a pistol beneath his jacket. Carrying a concealed weapon has been legal in this state since 1996, but Clarkes shop and thousands of other restaurants, grocery stores, churches and movie theaters were free to engage in a version of dont ask, dont tell. That changed Jan. 1. For the first time in a century, under the new open-carry law, Texans can legally tote their holstered handguns in plain view unless establishments post signs that specifically prohibit the practice. As a result, from Texarkana to El Paso, businesses and institutions have been forced to contemplate the effect of having a holstered .45 on the hip of someone in the next restaurant booth. Clarke, like many others, reluctantly took a public stand on the combustible issue. Customers told us that if we didnt post, they would consider not coming back, he said. It forced me to make a decision. So he banned open carry in his two coffeehouses. Hes not alone. Hundreds of other Texas businesses, the largest percentage of them restaurants, have done the same, according to lists compiled by pro- and anti-gun groups in the state. With the bans has come a wave of confusion and concern among gun owners of an unintended consequence: that the open-carry law will prompt more bans on concealed weapons. A sign outside a Fort Worth coffeehouse prohibiting open-carry handguns. (Tim Madigan/For The Washington Post) About 4 percent of the states 27 million people, about 940,000, possess the concealed-handgun licenses that are required to openly carry. But where they actually can is less clear. So far, the supermarket chain HEB has banned open carry, while another, Kroger, has not. At the Fort Worth Stock Show, one of the states showcase celebrations of its Western heritage, open carry was allowed on the streets and in exhibit halls but not in the professional rodeo arena or in livestock barns, where young people were huddled with their animals. The new law somewhat notoriously did not exempt the states mental hospital from open carry. Were following the law, but we have signage asking people not to openly carry at our hospitals, said Carrie Williams, a spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Health Services, which oversees the mental hospitals. Public institutions in the state must permit open carry, just as the states public universities must follow a new state law that allows concealed carry on campus, while private colleges can choose to ban it, as Baylor University did this past week. The Roman Catholic dioceses of El Paso and Dallas have banned open carry in their churches. It is difficult, wrote Dallas Bishop Kevin Farrell, to see how this new law . . . can accomplish anything other than cause people to feel threatened and intimidated. But the 2,500-member First Baptist Church in Arlington decided not to post signs banning open carry. We are not adopting any political position on gun control, the Rev. Dennis Wiles said in a pastoral letter to his congregants. We are certainly not encouraging anyone to bring guns to church. Even in the West Texas city of Lubbock, as conservative and pro-gun a place as anywhere in the state, the open-carry law has put merchants in an awkward position, said Eddie McBride, president and chief executive of the Lubbock Chamber of Commerce. Even when you have a lot of gun rights enthusiasts, you have to make sure you are doing the right thing for your customers, McBride said. That is the awkward position a lot of businesses find themselves in. But in Fort Worth, Clarke said he has had only one complaint after prohibiting open carry. He said he would no longer frequent my business, Clarke said. Thats not a problem. I have hundreds of customers. It was very interesting. The only reaction I got when putting the sign up was from two police officers. They applauded me. They said it was not in their interests to have people going around openly with guns in their holsters. Critics say that the law was meant as more of a political statement by the gun lobby and the Republican-controlled state government than a practical attempt to enhance the lives of gun owners. It was a provocation. Thats my view, said Ed Scruggs, a board member of Texas Gun Sense, an Austin-based group that advocates stricter gun-control laws. The gun lobby holds a special place among conservatives, probably more so in this state than any other. They just keep pushing it further and further. Were not talking about safety. Were not talking about preventing the accidental shooting of children. Were not talking about any of that. In passing the law, Texas lawmakers pointed out that 44 other states allow a form of open carry. For a state that highly values freedom, this antiquated law needed an update, said a sponsor of open carry, state Sen. Craig Estes, a Republican from Wichita Falls. Our concealed-handgun license holders have proved themselves to be responsible, law-abiding citizens, and it is my firm belief that they should have the right to carry openly. Whether or not they choose to exercise this right is entirely up to them. Some of those concealed- license holders, though, are fuming at a possible effect of the new law: Businesses that ban openly carried firearms may choose to ban concealed ones, as well. I truly wish that open-carry supporters would admit that they were wrong and that there is a problem, Charles Cotton, a National Rifle Association board member, wrote in an online forum. Because of the new law, someones ability to show their handgun to everyone will have cost me the ability to defend myself. C.J. Grisham, founder and president of the 50,000-member Open Carry Texas, dismissed those concerns as a clash between old-school support for gun rights, where they capitulated to the powers-that-be to exercise some of their gun rights, and the new school, where we are tired of having our rights mealy-mouthed away. He offered his recent experience to illustrate why the law is necessary. Just the other day when I was eating lunch, it was chilly outside but warm inside and I wanted to be able to take off my jacket, Grisham said. Now I can take my jacket off. Its about protecting gun owners from becoming criminals just because that piece of fabric is not covering up their self-defense gun. And even if its just one person out of 27 million, its that one person who needs to have a choice to open carry or conceal, he said. The likelihood youd even see somebody openly carry is extremely low, Grisham said. Whats more, the mayhem some feared with open carry has not come to pass. Since the first of the year, Houston police have answered a handful of calls, but there have been no arrests associated with the law, spokesman Kese Smith said. That has been the case statewide. I dont know if surprised is the right word, Smith said. Were very pleased that the call volume we anticipated has not come to fruition. UGANDA Opposition candidate briefly detained again As election returns showed a strong early lead Friday for President Yoweri Museveni, the longtime leaders security forces briefly detained the main opposition candidate and cracked down on protesters with beatings, tear gas and stun grenades. Thursdays vote was extended for a second day in two main districts because ballots and other election materials had not arrived in time. Museveni, who has ruled Uganda for three decades, led in the returns, but votes remained to be cast and counted in strongholds for opposition leader Kizza Besigye. Final results are expected Saturday. Police surrounded the headquarters of Besigyes Forum for Democratic Change as he met with party members, and a helicopter fired tear gas at a crowd outside. Then police moved in and took Besigye, 59, to an unknown location, according to Semujju Nganda, a party spokesman. Police spokesman Fred Enanga said Besigye was transferred for his own safety and because police wanted to tell him to exercise restraint until the final results are announced. The U.S. Embassy said on Twitter that We strongly condemn the disproportionate police action taken today at FDC HQ in Kampala. Associated Press CANADA Poll: Country divided over taking in Syrians Canadians remain divided about the resettlement of Syrian refugees, with some saying Canada should accept more despite a series of racist incidents that have marred a mostly smooth arrival of nearly 25,000 migrants, a poll showed Friday. Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was elected in October on a promise to accept more Syrian refugees more quickly than the previous Conservative government had allowed, but the original deadline for accepting 25,000 by the end of 2015 proved too ambitious and the timeline was extended by two months. During his election campaign, Trudeau said a Liberal government would work with private sponsors to accept even more than the immediate goal of 25,000, and Immigration Minister John McCallum said in December that the government could double the intake to 50,000 by the end of 2016. A poll by the Angus Reid Institute showed that 52 percent of Canadians support the plan to resettle 25,000 refugees before the end of February, while 44 percent oppose the program. The poll also showed that 42 percent of respondents want Canada to stop taking in Syrian refugees immediately, while 29 percent said it should stop at 25,000 and 29 percent said it should accept even more. Reuters COLOMBIA Rebels push back against travel ban Colombias largest rebel group is pushing back against the governments suspension of travel permits for peace negotiators in Cuba, saying a surprise political rally Thursday didnt violate any ground rules for visits aimed at explaining agreements to their fighters. The government said Thursday that it would no longer allow leaders of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) to visit guerrilla camps after top commanders, surrounded by heavily armed guerrillas, addressed hundreds of residents and bused-in activists in a hamlet along the border with Venezuela. In a statement, the FARC said its leaders were only delivering a message of peace in an area long forsaken by the state. Associated Press Brazilian officials visit schools to educate students on Zika: Brazils president, government ministers, governors, health agents and members of the armed forces visited schools throughout the country to involve students in the campaign to eradicate the Aedes aegypti mosquito that spreads the Zika virus. President Dilma Rousseff visited a school in the city of Juazeiro, in the impoverished northeastern region thats the epicenter of the Zika outbreak. From news services Nine months ago, having just retired as chief of the Seattle Fire Department, I arrived in the District, eager to work for D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D), who was looking for a proven leader to reform the D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department. Upon arriving, I embarked on a six-month process to review and evaluate the department to better understand operations and set a new course for the future. After decades of underinvestment, poor training and a lack of leadership, I knew there would be no easy answers. I also knew we would need bold solutions to break up the status quo. I heard loud and clear from the mayor, D.C. officials and residents that the communitys demand for emergency medical services had outpaced the departments ability to deliver them. EMS call volume had climbed 20 percent since 2010, but EMS resources remained stagnant. We spent our days chasing calls and trying to get our units back from the hospitals. Our firefighters and emergency medical technicians have not had adequate time to participate in regular training, and our vehicles were tapped out and breaking down. Many of our paramedics (who are frequently cross-trained as firefighters) responded to too many low-acuity calls, pulling them away from more urgent situations. As a first step toward reform, we must address call volume. Otherwise, we will constantly be chasing our tails. That is why the mayor and I put forward a plan, unanimously approved by the council in October, to contract with a third party to transport basic EMS patients to hospitals. The $9 million in funding for the first year represents the largest investment in EMS reform by any D.C. mayor in recent history. We recently entered into an emergency contract with American Medical Response to transport patients from 7 a.m. to 1 a.m. seven days a week. On its own, this contract will not reform our EMS system, but it is a critical step. Supplementing our resources with a third-party provider will enable us to create a more effective system that matches the right resources with the right calls. It will allow us to better meet our response-time goals, more frequently train our providers, preserve resources for our highest-acuity patients, provide better field supervision and performance evaluation, do preventive maintenance on our fleet and improve the agency culture around EMS. This initiative will give us the time and space we need to do what we do best: practice medicine in the field, saving more lives. While we have been setting up the third-party program, we have been hard at work on a number of other efforts. We hired 74 new firefighters and emergency medical technicians and held the training academys first entrance exam since 2007 . We are purchasing and receiving new vehicles and working with the Office of Unified Communications to improve our 911 dispatch process. We have trained more than 4,100 people in hands-only CPR as part of our Hands on Hearts initiative, which is one of our strategies to increase the Districts cardiac arrest survival rate. Our goal was to train 5,000 people this fiscal year; we will surpass that goal in the coming weeks. The District is heading in the right direction. But the proof will be in the pudding. We will be transparent and patient-focused in measuring our performance. In fact, for the first time, the departments performance plan includes goals that measure patient outcomes as well as our providers compliance with medical protocols for time-sensitive illnesses. We are now talking about EMS in a way that goes beyond focusing only on response times. While Im not a veteran of D.C. FEMS, Ive been here long enough to see how much our providers care about our patients. They are out there on the front lines every day, giving their hearts and souls to District residents. In 2015, our team of 1,800 first responders responded to 160,000 EMS calls. In the vast majority of those calls, our providers responded quickly and competently, despite the departments challenges. The challenges we face did not materialize overnight, and we wont fix them overnight. We are going to use all of the tools at our disposal to build on our gains. And I am confident that we are on the right path toward making the District safer and stronger. The writer is chief of the D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department. In his Feb. 16 op-ed, America needs budget straight talk, Robert J. Samuelson confused what the public is willing to pay in additional taxes with what those few who fund campaigns are willing to pay in additional taxes. Those are two very different groups. This discrepancy is yet another example of the inordinate influence of money in our electoral system, and it is exacerbated by the infamous Citizens United decision by the Supreme Court. Michael Berla, Columbia Robert J. Samuelson asked, Should we be gradually modifying Social Security . . . reducing benefits for wealthier elderly? and answered yes. The problem with this oft-repeated demand, including in many Post editorials, is that wealthier Americans already have reduced Social Security benefits. In 2015, my wife and I received $54,000 in Social Security. But $46,000 was taxed at our mean federal rate of 23 percent (loss of $10,500 in taxes) and at our mean Maryland rate of 8 percent (loss of $3,700 in taxes), so we return about $14,000 (26 percent) in taxes. Also, one reason we are wealthier is that we both still work and pay $20,300 in Social Security taxes, not a penny of which is returned to us. Overall, of the $54,000 we receive in Social Security, we keep about $20,000 (37 percent). Lets talk straight: How much more than 63 percent do Mr. Samuelson and the editorial board think should be removed from our Social Security benefits? Jonathan Berman, North Bethesda Taxes matter. Dont think so? Take a look at what occurred recently in Connecticut. General Electric announced that it is moving to Massachusetts, mainly because of taxes. Connecticut has been increasing corporate and individual taxes, but Massachusetts reduced some rates. Massachusetts has shown a willingness to offer incentives to attract companies, but it also knows that it can afford to be a bit higher in taxes than some other states because it provides a skilled workforce and an appealing environment for younger, technology-oriented employees. Now, a large Maryland employer is testing the waters to determine whether it will keep its headquarters in Maryland. Marriotts Bethesda headquarters employs about 2,000 people. Marriott recently announced it would acquire Starwood Hotels, which is (ironically) headquartered in Stamford, Conn. Connecticut probably will again lose another large company and the jobs associated with it. This merger could be good for Marylands economy. It certainly makes retaining Marriott more important. But Martin OMalleys (D) years as governor were devastating to Marylands business-friendly reputation. More than 80 tax, license and fee increases accelerated an outmigration of businesses from the state. In a 2014 Gallup survey, Maryland ranked immediately behind Connecticut as a state people would flee if they could. Forty-seven percent of people stated that they wanted to leave Maryland. Maryland residents also had among the least amount of pride in their state. Survey factors that caused people to feel this way included a low trust in their state government, a poor business climate with limited job opportunities and resentment about the amount they paid in state taxes. These factors highlight the states challenges in retaining Marriott. The good news for Maryland is that Gov. Larry Hogan (R) has hung out the open for business sign, helping the state improve its image and job climate. Marriotts roots have been here for years. But what will it take to keep it here? Maryland competes most directly against Virginia, the District and Delaware for employment opportunities. Most of the competition for Marriotts retention would come from Northern Virginia. How do the two states compare tax-wise? Maryland imposes an 8.25 percent tax on corporate profits; Virginias is 6 percent. A corporation with $100 million in earnings would pay $2.25 million more in taxes to Maryland. Employees would have less take-home pay because Maryland localities impose an average 3 percent income tax. Virginia does not have a local tax. Each year Marylands legislature proposes a series of bad-for-business bills that ultimately worsen the states business-climate reputation. These do nothing but make it more difficult for Hogan to broadcast his message that Maryland is indeed open for business. Fortunately, last year he vetoed several bills that would hurt businesses economically and has offered some modest bipartisan-friendly tax cuts in his new budget. That will help his plea to Marriott. Maryland has positive momentum, however. Marylands job growth was greater than Virginias in the past year, according to the Washington Business Journal. While Marriotts retention is not impossible, it will take a combination of tax abatements and incentives for this to happen. Word has it that Massachusetts kicked in about $145 million in incentives to recruit GE. Given that Marriott already has strong ties to Maryland, it may not take that much to keep the company. Can the legislature cease its destructive economic programs and regulations long enough for the governor to sell his package and retain this long-standing state employer? If it cant, Maryland may in fact become the next Connecticut. The writer is a member of the Maryland Taxpayers Association board of directors. Heather Cox Richardson is a professor of history at Boston College and the author of To Make Men Free: A History of the Republican Party. As the long-anticipated state primaries bring us closer to the nomination of a Republican presidential candidate whom experts agree is unfit for the White House, political pundits are scrambling to find a fix for the partys spectacular meltdown. The Republican old guard resurrects a plea for tax cuts, welfare reform and religious faith. By contrast, liberals insist that those policies created todays crisis and that voters must toss Republicans overboard. E.J. Dionnes Why the Right Went Wrong tries to bridge these opposites by offering advice to conservatives from a liberal who wishes them well. Dionne is right that America needs an intelligent conservative party, and the insights of this decent man who, as an award-winning journalist for The Washington Post, has unique access to politicians make wonderful reading. But his attempt to find common ground with establishment Republican leaders means he overlooks the elephant in the room: that it was the Republicans own narrative that created todays crisis. Dionne courts conservatives by noting that he and conservative blogger Erick Erickson agree that the Republican Partys problem is a lack of sincerity: Elected conservatives have repeatedly broken promises made to voters. As campaigners, they have pledged to slash government spending and regulations, establish a Christian nation, bring back prosperity and restore American supremacy and credibility abroad. Once elected, however, they havent delivered. This recurring cycle of disappointment and betrayal has made voters support political insurgents. Ideological conservatives would bridge the chasm between promises and actions by making the promises come true. They want legislators who really will shrink the government until it can be drowned in a bathtub. Dionne warns that this solution is not viable and offers an excellent alternative. He points out that Americans like clean water, Social Security and disaster relief, and they rely on the government to provide them. To break the cycle of disappointment, he suggests, conservatives must admit that they cannot deliver a small-government utopia. Instead, they should reclaim the moderate Eisenhower Republicanism that the party long ago abandoned. Eisenhower, Dionne points out, was a fiscal conservative who shunned corruption while promoting individualism, religion and family values, principles modern-day conservatives claim. To bring conservatives back to a path they left two generations ago, Dionne punctures the popular idea that Republican problems arrived in 2010 with the tea party. He recounts a well-known story: that todays crisis began as opposition to the New Deal. He explains that the Republican Party split in two in the 1930s, with one part following Sen. Robert Taft of Ohio into intransigent opposition to business regulation and social welfare legislation. The other part, which Eisenhower spokesman Arthur Larson termed modern Republicanism, created a version of conservatism that looked much like the New Deal, with slightly more weight on business and God. Dionne details the gradual domination of the Republican Party by the reactionaries. He traces their ideological line of descent through William F. Buckley and the National Review, to Barry Goldwater and Richard Nixon, to todays extremist presidential candidates. Unlike most historians, though, Dionne finds persistent threads of moderate conservatism throughout this rightward shift. He notes that Ronald Reagan governed far more pragmatically than his 1964 A Time for Choosing speech foreshadowed; claims that George W. Bush favored compassionate conservatism; and lauds recent reformicons such as Bruce Bartlett, David Frum, Ross Douthat and Reihan Salam, who have urged GOP leaders to address poverty and social decay. Goldwater conservatism has dominated the party recently, Dionne argues, only because voters feel betrayed. It doesnt have to be this way. Dionne warns the Republican Party that it must do more than offer a few tax credits and speak warmly about civil society. He urges its leaders to move toward progressive positions on prison reform, for example, and on shoring up families in the midst of economic decline. He calls for a return to Eisenhowers balance and moderation in governance, and away from the radicalism inherent in the attempt to overturn the New Deal. Dionnes prescription for the Republican Party is a good one. Indeed, it has always been astonishing that any party that could claim Eisenhower the man who won World War II and then presided over the nations greatest economic boom would not make him central to its identity. But Dionnes discussion of the partys history leaves out the role of political rhetoric in the construction of todays political crisis. Conservatives who set out to destroy the New Deal took taxation as their wedge issue. Dionne plays it down, but taxation is the issue on which Reagan won election in 1980, and it remains the litmus test for discovering RINOs (Republicans in Name Only). Grover Norquists tax pledge designed to protect Reagans 1986 tax cuts became as central to Republican policy as Ralph Reeds 1989 Christian Coalition became to translating that policy into votes. It was his endorsement of the 1990 tax increase that sank moderate President George H.W. Bush. George W. Bush began his administration with a proposed $1.6 billion tax cut, and all of todays Republican candidates have offered plans to slash taxes further. This anti-tax history is crucial to understanding the political crisis. Dionne makes the Republican Partys rightward shift seem bloodless; voters are aggregate numbers that move to the right for no apparent reason, and ultimately, the partys rightward swing has made little difference. Central to Dionnes argument is the key conservative observation that, as he stresses, Reagan changed the terms of the American political debate without changing the underlying structure of American government. But while these points are interesting and accurate, they ignore the crucial role of political rhetoric in voter behavior. Voters have moved right as conservatives have convinced them that government regulations and social welfare legislation take tax dollars from hardworking white people and redistribute them to lazy minorities. Dionne notes the racism inherent in Goldwater conservatism and points out that Nixon made Goldwaters ideology a central Republican tactic with the Southern Strategy in 1968, but he avoids the reality that conservative media has saturated the country with racist and sexist rhetoric to attack government activism. Reagans culture-changing welfare queen one of the most incendiary racist images in recent American history is missing in Dionnes account, and he tempers even the infamous Willie Horton ad with operative Lee Atwaters insistence that his linking of a black rapist to Democratic nominee Michael Dukakis was not about race. Dionnes note that Donald Trumps appeal has a racial tinge is a remarkable understatement. These tactics have alienated the women and minorities the Republicans desperately need to attract, while creating a conservative population that has slipped beyond the control of party leaders to follow candidates who stoke visceral rage. The first step to reclaiming Eisenhowers moderation is, as Dionne suggests, to acknowledge that government has an important role to play in society. The second, though, is to translate that acknowledgement to voters by reclaiming Eisenhowers rhetoric. America is not a story of makers and takers, it a story in which every American can be equal. Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan gives the State of the State address at the statehouse in Annapolis this month. (Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post) THE MARYLAND state Board of Education has done a good job of recruiting and hiring state school superintendents, who have contributed to the states reputation as a leader in education. Similar sound judgment has been shown by the Board of Regents in the selection and appointment of chancellors, who have helped build Marylands university system. Now some lawmakers are seeking to upend this success by giving veto power over these appointments to the Maryland General Assembly. The impetus for politicizing these critical education jobs is obvious. Democrats dont like having a Republican in the governors office, so they hope to chip away at his authority. Under legislation pending in the state Senate, appointment of the state school superintendent would be subject to confirmation by the Senate, while selection of the chancellor of the University System of Maryland would have to be approved by the House of Delegates and the Senate. Currently, the appointments are made, respectively, by the state Board of Education and the Board of Regents without interference from either the governor or the General Assembly. Searching for and recruiting a system head is challenging and difficult enough, Board of Regents member James T. Brady told the Senate. He observed that good candidates are not likely to be interested in a job in which they would be in political limbo with the risk of rejection. State education board President Guffrie M. Smith Jr. called the proposal nationally unprecedented in the governance of public education and said it would impede the boards ability to make effective and timely decisions. Proponents defend the shift as just a check and balance, but Maryland education law is carefully calibrated to give the executive and legislature a say in public education while insulating specific decision-making from political interference. Members of the two boards are appointed by the governor and subject to Senate approval. As Mr. Smith argued in a letter to the Senate, to the extent that the Senate is concerned about a nominated Board members ability to select a Superintendent with qualities the Senate seeks in that role, the Senate could reject that nominee. No doubt, as The Posts Ovetta Wiggins reported, some Democratic lawmakers disagree with Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) over education issues. But diluting the independence and autonomy of boards that have served Maryland and its students well is not in the public interest. This ill-advised and thinly disguised power grab should be rejected. The Fairfax County School Board was wrong to close my childrens schools on March 1, Virginias primary election day. The board considered the idea because, as it said in an email to parents and a news release , it is anticipated that voter turnout in Fairfax County will . . . result in historic numbers of voters and there may be potential parking issues at the schools. That is appalling. Closing the schools is wasting an amazing lesson in civics. The students might have been exposed to record numbers of people enthusiastically exercising their right to vote, unlike most elections, where a few people trickle in and out unnoticed. There might even be people there who feel passionately about a candidate, who might have been able to express their support in full view of the students with a sign or handouts, or by telling people. But there might be parking problems, so some in the district wanted to keep the kids home. This isnt even a First World problem. This is an only in America problem. The district instead should have had the pupils take field trips out front to watch, and maybe interview people on why they came out to vote and why they care. Andy Hoskins, Annandale The Feb. 16 Metro article Residents press for shelter site details cited D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowsers (D) lack of transparency as a source of residents dismay over her plan to put homeless shelters throughout the city. However, a flier recently posted in the area of 10th and V streets NW cited the following issues as chief concerns: congestion, loitering, safety, decreased property values. It is worth noting that these are the same concerns cited a century ago by all-white citizens associations that successfully organized campaigns for adding to deeds the racially restrictive covenants that kept Mount Pleasant and much of Bloomingdale, Columbia Heights, Park View and other neighborhoods largely off-limits to African Americans until the 1950s. The Districts racial transition, at least east of Rock Creek Park, was followed by decades of disinvestment that eventually made these neighborhoods ripe for redevelopment and gentrification. As beneficiaries of the economic renaissance that continues to increase home values but has also resulted in a skyrocketing number of homeless families, I encourage residents of the U Street area to recognize that prosperity for some comes at a great cost to others. Many of those others are longtime residents of a city that has become increasingly unwelcome and alienating to them. These neighborhoods are theirs, too, and they should have the opportunity to live in them. Sarah Shoenfeld, Washington Rachel E. Adams is a professor of English and American studies at Columbia University and author the Raising Henry: A Memoir of Motherhood, Disability, and Discovery. Before I was born, the doctors told my mom that Ill be Down syndrome and so the doctors asked her if she wanted to have an abortion of me, says John, a star of the reality show Born This Way . Cut to his mother, Joyce, who remembers doctors cautioning, Dont expect a lot. He will never be an asset to society. He will never be a productive citizen. Those are the words they tell you you know, all negative. I just said, No, John is gonna be my child. I will take care of him. He has Down syndrome, but its not gonna limit him. The John we see at age 28 is funny and kind. He has warm relationships with family and friends, and, like many other reality show stars, is pursuing a pipe dream in his case, being a rap artist. This is a familiar story for people with Down syndrome and their advocates. Where once experts advised parents to institutionalize babies born with Down syndrome, in the era of genetic testing, expecting mothers are frequently urged to abort. Even those who would otherwise identify as staunchly pro-life have seen Down syndrome as a possible justification for abortion. But more recently, opponents of abortion have begun to use Down syndrome in their attempt to roll back womens reproductive rights. Last month, the Missouri Senate debated a bill that would outlaw selective abortion that is, termination of an otherwise wanted pregnancy on the basis of a Down syndrome diagnosis. This is not the first bill of its kind. In 2013, North Dakota passed a similar ban, and legislation is pending in Ohio and Indiana. Proponents of these laws claim to be motivated by desire to fight prejudice against people with Down syndrome, rather than curtail womens access to abortion. Ending someones life simply because they are different or might have Down syndrome is discrimination. There is no other way to look at it, said Republican Sen. David Sater, the Missouri bills sponsor. Let me suggest another way. These laws trivialize the often-wrenching decision to terminate a pregnancy by suggesting that women are acting out of simple prejudice. But women decide to abort after a diagnosis of Down syndrome for many reasons. Doubtless some are motivated by misunderstanding or fear. Like Joyce, they may have received biased or inadequate information from their health-care providers or harbored their own preconceptions about what it means to live with the condition. But many others believe they lack the resources required for such a child to flourish. They may know that people with Down syndrome are living longer, healthier and more independently than ever, but they may also know they dont have the time, money or social support necessary to raise a disabled child. By representing these laws as a strike against discrimination, proponents also trivialize the efforts of self-advocates and their supporters to promote the well-being and inclusion of people with Down syndrome. The same legislatures that claim to protect the unborn have also slashed services to people living with disabilities. Ohio, which is debating the Right to Life Down Syndrome Non-Discrimination Act, defunded services for people with mental illness and developmental disabilities in its latest budget . And Missouris annual budget contained across-the-board cuts to services for seniors and people with disabilities. The very states that seek to bring more people with Down syndrome into the world are also reducing support for their health, development and overall quality of life. As the parent of a child with Down syndrome, I, too, wish fewer women chose to abort in the wake of a prenatal diagnosis. I worry about the money pouring into development and marketing of noninvasive genetic tests for Down syndrome and other conditions that may soon become a routine aspect of prenatal care. And Im dismayed that pregnant women who receive a diagnosis of Down syndrome often dont get sound and impartial information about the condition. But we wont end discrimination by limiting access to abortion, which will have the unwanted consequence of driving some women to risk their health by seeking illegal alternatives and other women to bear children they are not prepared to raise. Better to put resources into services and supports that improve the lives of people with Down syndrome and their families. This morning my son Henry woke me before dawn, already dressed in his hat, parka and boots. He knew there was snow in the forecast and was ready to explore. Today, like most days in my life with Henry (and like most days in the lives of parents with any child under 10), will be both joyful and trying. My son loves reading, chocolate, Kermit the Frog and wrestling with his brother. He is a valued member of our family, not an arrow in the quiver of lawmakers seeking to pit supporters of disability rights against supporters of reproductive freedom. Lets recognize this legislation for what it is. Not a weapon against prejudice. And not a way to save lives. It is one more chapter in the conservative attempt to curtail womens reproductive freedom. Those of us who genuinely want to end discrimination against people with Down syndrome should fight to preserve the services that allow them to thrive. The claim in the Feb. 13 World article Pope, patriarch reach across divide that the meeting of Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill I was the first . . . between the religious leaders of the Vatican and Moscow since an 11th century schism was mistaken or misleading on several counts. Moscow, first mentioned as a border town in 1147, did not become the chief residence of the metropolitans of Kiev and All Rus until the 1320s. The last Greek metropolitan of Kiev and All Rus, Isidore, met Pope Eugene IV in 1438-1439 at the Council of Florence, which enacted on paper a short-lived Catholic-Orthodox Church union. After the expulsion or flight of Isidore from Moscow in 1443, Moscow and Kiev had separate metropolitans, Moscows becoming patriarch in 1589. (For the record, Peter the Great abolished this patriarchate in 1721 and placed the Russian Orthodox Church under a Holy Synod. Only after the fall of the monarchy in 1917 did Russian churchmen reestablish the patriarchate, but it became free from state control only as the Soviet Union disintegrated.) David Goldfrank, Falls Church Deborah Tannen is a linguistics professor at Georgetown University. Now we know that Gloria Steinem and Madeleine Albright dont actually think that anyone should vote for Hillary Clinton simply because shes a woman. Does that mean we can forget about Clintons gender? I dont think so. But the question we face is subtler, more complicated and harder to address than Do I vote for her because shes a woman? Rather, its Can I be sure Im judging this candidate accurately, given the double bind that confronts all women in positions of authority? A double bind is far worse than a straightforward damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-dont dilemma. It requires you to obey two mutually exclusive commands: Anything you do to fulfill one violates the other. Women running for office, as with all women in authority, are subject to these two demands: Be a good leader! Be a good woman! While the qualities expected of a good leader (be forceful, confident and, at times, angry) are similar to those we expect of a good man, they are the opposite of what we expect of a good woman (be gentle, self-deprecating and emotional, but not angry). Hence the double bind: If a candidate or manager talks or acts in ways expected of women, she risks being seen as underconfident or even incompetent. But if she talks or acts in ways expected of leaders, she is likely to be seen as too aggressive and will be subject to innumerable other negative judgments and epithets that apply only to women. An example: Anyone who seeks public office, especially the highest one, must be ambitious, yet that word is rarely applied to male candidates because it goes without saying. And ambition is admirable in a man, but unacceptable in fact, downright scary in a woman. Google Bernie Sanders ambitious, and you get headlines about the candidates ambitious plans. Try it with Donald Trump, and you find references to his ambitious deportation plan and ambitious real estate developments. When the word is used to describe Trump himself, its positive, as in Trump is proud and ambitious, and he strives to excel. But pair the word with Hillary Clinton, and a search spews headlines accusing her of naked ambition, unbridled ambition, ruthless ambitions even of being pathologically ambitious. In a spoof, the satirical website the Onion exposed the injustice and absurdity of demonizing a candidate for this requisite quality through its own version of such headlines: Hillary Clinton Is Too Ambitious to Be the First Female President. Former secretary of state Hillary Clinton eked out a win over Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in the Nevada caucuses. The Posts Abby Phillip breaks down why that was critical for Clinton. (Alice Li/The Washington Post) Robin Lakoff, the linguist who first identified the double bind as it applies to women in her 1975 book Language and Womans Place, has pointed out that it accounts for the persistent impressions of Clinton as inauthentic and untrustworthy. We develop these impressions, Lakoff notes, when people dont talk and act as we think they should, given who they are and what we know about them. In Clintons case, she explains, they come precisely from the fact that she has characteristics, such as toughness, that we require of a candidate but that just dont feel right in a woman. The trickiest thing about the double bind is that it operates imperceptibly, like shots from a gun with a silencer. It has nothing to do with gender, I heard recently. Its just that shes shrill. When is the last time you heard a man called shrill? She should stop shouting, another critic advised. How is a candidate to be heard over the din of a cheering crowd without shouting? Both these comments came from women. Surprising? No. Women are just as likely, if not more likely, to react this way. After all, its from peers that girls learn to play down their power lest they be ostracized for being bossy. This helps answer the question that Steinem and Albright brought into focus: Why arent more young women (or, more precisely, as Post reporter Janell Ross recently pointed out, young white women) flocking to support the first woman with a serious shot at the presidency? The double bind lowers its boom on women in positions of authority, so those who havent yet risen to such positions have not yet felt its full weight. They may well believe (as I did when I was young) that when the time comes, theyll be judged fairly, based on their qualifications. They probably have not yet experienced the truism that to get equal consideration, a woman has to be better than her male counterparts just as Clinton is, according to the New York Times editorial endorsing her last month, one of the most broadly and deeply qualified candidates in modern history. Voters of all ages must ask whether the lens through which they view Clinton is being clouded by these invisible yet ubiquitous forces. To make sure theyre seeing clearly, they need to understand and correct for the double bind. IN SCHEDULING a visit to Cuba next month, President Obama broke his word about the conditions under which he would offer that gift to the Castro regime. Just two months ago, the president said that he would travel to Havana only if, in fact, I with confidence can say that were seeing some progress in the liberty and freedom and possibilities of ordinary Cubans. On Thursday, the White House acknowledged the obvious that there has been no such progress. Mr. Obama is going anyway: Itll be fun, he said. This is not the first time the president has ditched a pledge to connect greater U.S. engagement with Cuba to political liberalization. When he renewed U.S. diplomatic relations with the Castros in 2014, he disregarded his promise that normalization would require significant steps toward democracy, as well as a vow to consult with Cuban civil society before going forward. Its little wonder that since the opening, political detentions and beatings of Cubans have spiked, and imports of U.S. goods have fallen steeply: The regime perceives that Mr. Obama is so intent on what he regards as a major legacy that it need do nothing in exchange for his concessions. Those have been abundant and lucrative for the Castros. U.S. visitor traffic to Cuba is up by more than half, and remittances to the island flow more freely, meaning the regime is collecting billions in precious hard currency. The regime is using the prospect of U.S. investment to attract business from other countries, such as China, while not actually allowing in American firms. Dissidents say Raul Castro is methodically using the fresh resources to fortify the communist regime for the long term. The White House doesnt really dispute these facts. Instead it argues that the way to overcome the failures of its policy is to unilaterally offer still more engagement. A presidential visit is a forcing mechanism, deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes told the media. I think it has the potential benefit of making our government and the Cuban government do as much as we can to make normalization move forward. Wed like to believe that. It is certainly the case that Mr. Obama is enormously popular in Cuba, where many people fervently hope that his initiatives will bring change to a country stuck in a putrid Stalinism. Sometimes expectations stirred by charismatic outsiders can create uncontainable pressure on dictatorships witness Pope John Paul IIs 1979 visit to communist Poland. If the presidents visit is to serve that purpose, however, it must be designed with the Cuban people, not the Castros, in mind. Mr. Rhodes said the presidents two-day schedule is still being roughed out and that he will meet with opponents of the regime as well as Raul Castro. But will Mr. Obama address Cubans directly, in places where thousands of ordinary people not hand-picked party cadres can see and hear him? Will he visit private businesses? Will he give an interview to Yoani Sanchez, the countrys renowned independent journalist? The regime will seek to prevent all such activity, which is why Mr. Obama should have negotiated it before committing to the trip. Asked if the administration had lost its leverage, Mr. Rhodes offered that what [the president] says and how the trip goes will depend on whether we are demonstrating progress. Lets hope that at least that pledge is honored. Pope Francis, left, on the papal plane en route to Rome on Feb. 17, and Donald Trump in Portsmouth, N.H., on Feb. 4. (Pool/Reuters) The popular wisdom that opposites attract is true in both romance and politics. But rarely do adages prove so profoundly and absurdly true as during the recent, media-created dialogue between Pope Francis and Donald Trump. Set aside for a moment that this mini-uproar, spawned by a reporters question and poached by scandalmongers, has largely been put to rest. The episode was a stellar (celestial?) example of the pitfalls of todays culture-media-politics complex a constellation of supernovas exploding in an accelerating universe in which a repulsive force counteracts an attractive force. Guess whos who? Here's how the fight between Pope Francis and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is playing out. (Sarah Parnass/The Washington Post) Much distilled and slightly paraphrased, heres how the conversation between Trump and Francis went for a news cycle or two: Pope: Anyone who wants to build walls instead of bridges is not a Christian. Trump: Questioning someones Christianity is disgraceful. Pope: If thats what Trump really said. Trump: If the Islamic State gets the pope, which is the groups ultimate goal, hell wish I had been president because it wouldnt have happened. The Islamic State would have been destroyed. Pope: It wasnt a personal attack but the Gospel. Trump: I think he said something much softer than was originally reported by the media. Heaven forbid, I think Trump may be right. At first, the exchange, all of which took place through stories ricocheting and pinging around the vast media-verse, seemed a bit nasty. But as the conversation continued and messages began bubbling up in the Magic 8 Ball, things seemed less hostile and even more ridiculous. Meanwhile, South Carolinians, whose Republican primary was just a couple of days away when the cycle started, wondered why the pope was getting in their business. The simple answer is that Reuters reporter Phil Pullella specifically asked the pontiff about Trumps position on immigration as well as insults aimed at the papal leader: Republican Donald Trump in an interview recently said that you are a political man and he even said that you are a pawn, an instrument of the Mexican government for migration politics. Trump said that if hes elected, he wants to build 2,500 kilometers of wall along the border. He wants to deport 11 million illegal immigrants, separating families, et cetera. . . . What do you think of these accusations against you and if a North American Catholic can vote for a person like this? To which Francis replied: Thank God he said I was a politician because Aristotle defined the human person as animal politicus. At least I am a human person. As to whether I am a pawn, well, maybe, I dont know. Ill leave that up to your judgment and that of the people. And then, a person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian. This is not in the Gospel. As far as what you said about whether I would advise to vote or not to vote, I am not going to get involved in that. I say only that this man is not Christian if he has said things like that. We must see if he said things in that way and in this I give the benefit of the doubt. You can see why quotes get trimmed. But its important to note, Francis didnt say Trump isnt a Christian; he did reaffirm that the church doesnt get involved in elections. Most important, he said the immigration problem cant be solved by only building walls. Thus, it was hardly an indictment but an observation related to the Gospel. Otherwise, the flurry that followed focused on Trumps own inferences based on what he was told. Many in the media, knowing full well the extent of Trumps several disgraceful remarks about a variety of issues and people, rationally drew their own inferences. Thats context, too. Invariably in such matters, we reach a consensus that one shouldnt judge anothers religious beliefs. We cant know anothers heart, we dutifully say at the end of such superficial purges. While this isnt precisely true Jeb Bush and John Kasich talk incessantly about their hearts it is a fine guiding principle. Given this, why is it that Republican candidates speak so tirelessly of religion? What an excellent question for the Magic 8 Ball. Wait, here comes the answer: Morality is a continuum of ethical actions, not a proclamation of beliefs and intentions. I made that up, but its brilliant, dont you think? Herewith a moral for the story: Let the pope be popey, let Trump be Trumpy, and let the rest of the bunch follow their faiths without fanfare. Read more from Kathleen Parkers archive, follow her on Twitter or find her on Facebook. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Newtons Third Law of Motion Notice the Newtonian physics of Americas Madisonian system. Barack Obamas Wilsonian hostility to the separation of powers, expressed in his executive authoritarianism, is provoking equal and opposite reactions from the judicial and legislative branches. The Supreme Court has inflicted on Obama a defeat accurately described as the courts most severe rebuke of a president since it rejected Harry Trumans claim that inherent presidential powers legitimated his seizure of the steel industry during the Korean War. The court has blocked Obamas Clean Power Plan, which rests on the rickety premise that the Clean Air Act somehow, in a way unsuspected for four decades, empowers the Environmental Protection Agency to annihilate the right of states to regulate power generation. It is unprecedented for the Supreme Court to stop a regulatory regime before a lower court has ruled on its merits. This is condign punishment for the EPAs arrogance last year after the court held that it had no authority for a rule regulating fossil fuel-fired power plants in Michigan. The EPA snidely responded with a gloating statement that the courts decision came too late to prevent it from imposing almost $10 billion in costs under the illegal rule. The legislative branch, too, is retaliating against executive overreach. Consider the lethal letter Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) sent to the Education Department concerning its Office for Civil Rights. OCR has sent its own letters to, among other targets, colleges and universities, concerning, among other topics, sexual harassment and violence. These letters, Lankford notes in his, although purporting to offer mere guidance, clearly are intended to intimidate schools with the implied threat of inquiry, investigation, adverse finding, or rescission of federal funding. Furthermore, Lankford says, they fail to identify precise governing statutory or regulatory language that empowers OCR to micromanage institutions disciplinary practices. OCR is insisting on practices discordant with constitutional values. These practices include denying people accused of sexual assault the right to confront their accusers, and subjecting the accused to convictions based on a mere preponderance of evidence rather than clear and convincing evidence. In an October 2014 letter to the Boston Globe, 28 Harvard Law School faculty members voiced strong objections to OCRs diktats: As teachers responsible for educating our students about due process of law, the substantive law governing discrimination and violence, appropriate administrative decision-making, and the rule of law generally, we find the new sexual harassment policy inconsistent with many of the most basic principles we teach. Accusing Harvard of jettisoning balance and fairness in the rush to appease certain federal administration officials, the professors said: Harvard has adopted procedures for deciding cases of alleged sexual misconduct which lack the most basic elements of fairness and due process, are overwhelmingly stacked against the accused, and are in no way required by Title IX law or regulation. They cited the absence of any adequate opportunity to discover the facts charged and to confront witnesses and present a defense at an adversary hearing. And: The failure to ensure adequate representation for the accused. And: The lodging of the functions of investigation, prosecution, fact-finding, and appellate review in one office, and the fact that the office is itself a Title IX compliance office rather than an entity that could be considered structurally impartial. Sixteen University of Pennsylvania law professors have expressed similar concerns. As have two members of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, who note a disturbing pattern of disregard for the rule of law at OCR, including: defining perfectly legal conduct as unlawful (e.g., telling sexual or dirty jokes and displaying sexually explicit drawings) and squandering resources to address violations it has made up out of thin air. On Wednesday, OCR, oblivious or indifferent to such learned reproaches, replied to Lankford, saying: Its guidance letters do not have the force of law a distinction without a difference because the letters construe statutes and regulations that have such force. And: The preponderance of evidence evidentiary standard is proper because many schools already are using it. Furthermore, OCR says it must initiate proceedings against an institution in front of a neutral independent department hearing officer. So, the department monitors itself neutrally and independently. Lankford will soon use congressional hearings to acquaint OCR with how unpersuaded he is. OCR and the EPA, representative tentacles of this lawless administration, are inadvertently serving constitutional values by arousing the resistance of rival branches. Madisons Newtonian system can still stymie Wilson. Read more from George F. Wills archive or follow him on Facebook. Miguel A. Estrada is an attorney in Washington, D.C. Benjamin Wittes, a former Post editorial writer, is a senior fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institution and editor in chief of Lawfare. Heres a simple piece of advice for anyone confused by the partisan politics of replacing Justice Antonin Scalia: Assume that anyone who claims to be acting out of a pristine sense of civic principle is being dishonest. We have both argued for a world in which judicial nominees receive prompt hearings and up-and-down votes based solely on their objective qualifications education, experience and temperament. But that has not been our world for at least two decades. The savvy citizen should recognize as much and heavily discount anyone who speaks in the language of principle about the rules or norms that do or should govern the treatment of either a judicial nominee or the president who sends that nominee to the Senate. As recent history demonstrates, the only rule that governs the confirmation process is the law of the jungle: There are no rules. There is no point in pretending otherwise, as much as many of us wish it were not so. We have come by this view with extreme reluctance. One of us was a judicial nominee who never got a vote from the Senate but who nonetheless publicly encouraged the Senate to support President Obamas appointees, including an overwhelmingly qualified Supreme Court nominee of the opposite party. The other wrote editorials for The Post for many years decrying unreasonable Senate treatment of nominees of the Bill Clinton and George W. Bush administration alike and also wrote a book arguing for a restoration of norms of expeditious and fair consideration of nominees. Both of us believe that when presidents nominate qualified nominees, the Senate should confirm them, and that courts should be fully staffed at all times to dispense justice to the litigants who come before them. Rarely has either of us lost an argument more completely at the hands of the entire political culture than we have lost this one. Washington Post reporter Juliet Eilperin explains the difficulties ahead facing both Republicans and Democrats as they battle to fill the vacant Supreme Court seat left by the sudden passing of Associate Justice Antonin Scalia. (Dalton Bennett/The Washington Post) Republicans and Democrats put the blame on the other for the complete abandonment of rules and norms in the judicial confirmation process. Both are being insincere whitewashing their conduct over a long period of time while complaining bitterly about the very same conduct on the part of the other side. Both have chosen, in increments of one-upmanship, to replace a common law of judicial nominations that was based on certain norms with one based on power politics alone. Today, there is no principle and no norm in the judicial nominations process that either side would not violate itself and simultaneously demand the other side observe as a matter of decency and inter-branch comity. This truth has consequences. In the judicial nominations process for which we argued, there were several good reasons for Republican senators to move a nominee advanced by Obama late in his tenure. One was that the Senate owed an institutional duty to the executive branch to consider presumptively qualified nominees in a fair process. Another was the knowledge that some day, the shoe would be on the other foot. A Senate of the opposite party would confront a late nominee of a president of the opposite party. We all seemed to agree that we would rather live in a world in which both nominees got considered than in a world in which neither got considered. In that world, comity, fairness and long-term self-interest of both parties all pushed towards a relatively predictable, relatively humane (to the nominee), relatively deferential (to the president) process. In a world in which those norms do not have force, there is no reason in principle to demand that Republicans move a late-stage nominee from Obama. Certainly, the Constitution doesnt require it of them. All the Constitution gives the president is the power to nominate whomever he wishes for a judicial vacancy. The Constitution expressly provides that the power to appoint may be exercised only with the affirmative concurrence of the Senate. If the Senate does not act at all for a good reason, for a bad reason, or for no reason at all that is the constitutional equivalent of the Senates rejection of the nominee. The Constitution doesnt require the Senate to engage in any process at all beyond sitting on its collective hands. All of those expectations were merely a matter of the norms the political parties have so cheerfully torn down. If the president or a senator of either party tells you differently, ask him or her how is it that both parties have systematically blocked judicial nominees of the other party using the filibuster and other parliamentary tricks for the past two decades. The whole purpose of these maneuvers is to prevent the Senate from giving an up-or-down vote to qualified nominees in the expectation that the nominee will eventually go away and the Senate will not have to vote on the merits of his or her nomination. As a senator, Obama filibustered nominees. So did then-Senator Hillary Clinton. And, of course, the Republican caucus also filibustered Obamas nominees early and often. Even before the filibuster had been normalized, both parties when in the majority refused to schedule hearings on the candidates nominated by presidents of the other party or did so only with lengthy delays. Each of those instances involved, in the current parlance, the Senate not doing its job and leaving judicial vacancies open for years. If all of that was unconstitutional, then both parties conspired to dispose of the document a long time ago. Ah, you say, but the Supreme Court is different. Actually, its not. The political infighting over staffing our courts is, in fact, less harmful when it affects one nominee who understands fully the political minefield he or she is walking into in accepting the nomination to the high court than when it affects dozens or hundreds of people who undertake to serve with only a limited sense of the blood sport the Senate will make of them. And more importantly, it is less harmful when it plays itself out over a single vacancy on the Supreme Court than when it manifests itself over and over in significantly understaffed federal appellate courts. Unlike the Supreme Court, which gets to pick its cases and hears on average about 80 cases per year, only a few of which it decides on a 5-to-4 basis, the appeals courts must dispose of thousands of appeals each year. Over the past two decades, both parties have concluded that federal appellate vacancies are far preferable than fully staffed courts if full staffing requires confirming nominees of the other party. This has been the case even when appellate court after court has declared judicial emergencies, when vacancies result in intolerably high caseloads for the remaining judges. Since both parties have accepted (and ignored) those emergencies with equanimity, it is a bit late in the day now to cry crocodile tears over a single vacancy on a court that hears a few dozen cases and needs a tie-breaking vote only in a small handful of those. Its symbolic, yes, but its symbolic in a non-acute setting of a reality that has long existed in acute situations elsewhere and about which the political culture plainly does not care. Lest any reader think we are making a partisan point here, we hasten to emphasize that if the Senate and the presidency flip hands in November, we also think there will be no principled basis to demand that a Democratic Senate ever consider a nominee by President Trump, Cruz, or Rubio. The decision on the part of a future-Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer at that point is that a 4-to-4 court is a better long-term equilibrium for him than confirming a nominee of the other party will be exactly as defensible as current-Majority Leader Mitch McConnells decision today that a 4-to-4 court is a better short-term equilibrium for him than confirming a nominee from Obama. Whatever elevated rhetoric anyone invokes to suit his or her convenience, the fact is that our real judicial nominations system is now one of raw power and nothing else. That is what this suit is about. Power. The allocation of power among Congress, the President, and the courts, Scalia once wrote in an important separation of powers dissent. Frequently an issue of this sort will come . . . clad, so to speak, in sheeps clothing. . . . But this wolf comes as a wolf. Our new judicial nominations system also came as a wolf. There were many good reasons, knowable at the time, not to let the wolf through the door. Both parties had other priorities most important the perceived urgent need to prevent the other party from confirming its nominees. Appeals to principle and precedent ring hollow now particularly because the parties are still appealing only to principles that any sentient observer knows they would not follow themselves. Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe is joined by members of the House and Senate as he announces a compromise on a set of gun bills Jan. 29. (Steve Helber/Associated Press) Despite the paternalistic lecture in the Feb. 16 editorial Gun safety advocates should celebrate this victory, gun-violence survivors and prevention advocates know the facts surrounding Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffes (D) ill-advised deal with the gun lobby . While gun-violence-prevention advocates are pleased to see movement on domestic violence, Virginia Attorney General Mark R. Herrings (D) action on concealed-carry reciprocity gave the governor a strong hand with which to negotiate a hand he misplayed by agreeing to a dangerous expansion of Virginias concealed-weapons policy. Research from Stanford University has found that right-to-carry laws are associated with substantially higher rates of aggravated assault, rape, robbery and murder. Numerous instances of permit-holders (in Virginia and elsewhere) committing murder are documented at the Concealed Carry Killers website. If anyone seems confused about the deal, its the editorial board. The Jan. 31 editorial In Virginia, a small improvement on gun policy described the deal as a small improvement, not a victory, admitting, Mr. McAuliffes deal is nothing like the gun policy Virginia should have. Whats changed about the deal since then? Nothing, unfortunately. Its still a poorly negotiated package that has drawn universal acclaim from the gun lobby and pro-gun activists. Josh Horwitz, Washington The writer is executive director of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence. The collision of two black holes, detected for the first time by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO), is seen in this image from a computer simulation. (Handout/Reuters) Alan Lightman is a physicist, novelist and professor of the practice of the humanities at MIT. Like many homo sapiens on planet Earth, I was thrilled by this months announcement of the first direct detection of gravitational waves. This finding surely ranks with the greatest scientific discoveries of the past 200 years. Nobody in the scientific community doubted the existence of gravitational waves. They are absolutely required by Albert Einsteins theory of gravity and have been indirectly inferred from other astrophysical observations. The great achievement here was the construction of the most sensitive scientific instrument ever built able to measure changes in distance a thousand times smaller than the nucleus of an atom. We now have a new sense organ with which to fathom the cosmos. Previously, astronomers could detect only electromagnetic radiation from outer space, including visible light, radio waves and X-rays. Gravitational radiation is totally different as different as sound is to light and reveals an entirely new range of phenomena previously invisible and silent. It is as if you were born deaf: You could see, but you had no comprehension of speech, of music, of the chirpings of birds. Then suddenly you could hear sounds. With the ability to detect gravitational waves, we may learn about the explosion of stars, the formation of black holes, the lumpiness of matter in the early universe. As with the first understanding of DNA, we cannot imagine the insights and revelations that may emerge. As I watched the Feb. 11 news conference broadcast from the California Institute of Technology, I was struck by the fact that the leaders of this scientific project are well into their senior years. Caltechs Kip Thorne is in his mid-70s, and MITs Rainer Weiss is in his early 80s. (Ronald Drever, the third leader of the team, is 85 and suffers from dementia.) These guys are not hot-shot young mavericks like Steve Jobs or Mark Zuckerberg. They have been working on this project, called the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO), for 40 years. From Aristotle to Einstein, the world's greatest minds have long theorized about gravity. Here are the highlights, and where the study of gravity is headed next. (Gillian Brockell,Joel Achenbach/TWP) Gerald Ford was in the White House when Weiss and Thorne had their first meeting in a D.C. hotel room to discuss the outrageous idea of measuring a movement 1,000 times smaller than the pit of an atom. Over the subsequent decades, thousands of pages of equations and design concepts were scribbled, hundreds of scientists were recruited, and novel equipment and prototypes were imagined, built and tested. Generations of graduate students have come and gone without seeing the fruits of their labors as the project received grant after grant from the National Science Foundation, which had every right to be skeptical of this wild dream. It was like building three Brooklyn Bridges, one after another, with only a hope and a prayer that the thing would hold up. The world at large, and the United States in particular, has developed an unfortunate need for instant gratification. We live not only in the age of information. We live in the Age of the Now. We grow impatient with printers that cannot churn out 10 pages per minute, or with computer screens that take 30 seconds to boot up. We avoid investing in companies that do not promise payoffs within a few years. Federal research and development, as a fraction of gross domestic product, has been going down and down. Perhaps even our foreign policy has been plagued by a hurried view of the world, seeking immediate results. In science, as in many other precincts of the Age of the Now, too often we celebrate the instant discovery, the sudden breakthrough, the quick and glamorous result. Drever, Thorne and Weiss, and the many scientists and institutions that supported their dream, did not seek instant gratification. They had a vision, and they wandered the desert with that vision for 40 years. In the early 1970s, I was one of Thornes graduate students in physics at Caltech shortly before he teamed up with Weiss and Drever to start work on LIGO. Even then, Thorne was deeply involved with the theoretical study of black holes, experimental tests of Einsteins theory of gravity and the mathematics of gravitational waves. He worked carefully and methodically. He was patient with his students. He believed in the slow but steady progress of science. He taught his students much at that time, not just about physics but about an approach to the world. And, by example, he has continued to teach us ever since. Following a tight race, former secretary Hillary Clinton defeated senator Bernie Sanders in Nevada. The Washington Posts reporter Abby Phillip breaks down why this victory was critical for Clinton and what this means for both candidates going into South Carolina. (Alice Li/The Washington Post) Following a tight race, former secretary Hillary Clinton defeated senator Bernie Sanders in Nevada. The Washington Posts reporter Abby Phillip breaks down why this victory was critical for Clinton and what this means for both candidates going into South Carolina. (Alice Li/The Washington Post) Hillary Clinton held off a powerful late challenge from rival Sen. Bernie Sanders in Nevadas Democratic caucus vote Saturday, securing a narrow victory that helps the former secretary of state regain momentum after a crushing defeat in New Hampshire. Nevada was the first state to test support among minority voters, who have long been expected to be in Clintons camp. As it turned out, preliminary entrance polls showed Latinos favoring Sanders, despite having voted for Clinton 2-to-1 when she ran in 2008. African American voters, meanwhile, appear to have overwhelmingly supported Clinton a development that could bode extremely well for her given the run of Southern states with large black electorates voting in the coming weeks. Some may have doubted us, but we never doubted each other, Clinton told supporters gathered at a Las Vegas hotel ballroom. Clinton congratulated Sanders on a close election, but she got in a few digs, too. It cant just be about what were going to give to you; it has to be about what we are going to build together, she said in an unmistakable reference to Sanderss large and expensive plans for government-run health care, college and more. Clintons campaign cast doubt on the strength of Sanderss support among Hispanics, pointing to majority-Latino precincts that she won. Sanders used his concession speech to denounce the corrupt campaign finance system and the nations vast inequality between the top 1 percent of the economy and everyone else. The wind is at our backs, Sanders said. We have the momentum. He predicted several victories in upcoming state primary contests and, ultimately, one of the great political upsets in the history of the United States. Saturdays results seemed to render that promise more difficult to achieve. Sanders had steadily eroded Clintons double-digit lead in Nevada, the first state with a racially diverse population to cast primary votes this year. Slightly more than a quarter of the states population is Hispanic, and the state is also home to sizable African American and Native American populations. A Sanders victory in Nevada would have suggested a reach far beyond his core base of white liberals and rocked the premise that Clintons national lead was insurmountable. Instead, Clintons strong showing among African American voters in Nevada suggests that despite inroads among Hispanic voters, Sanders faces an even more difficult test in the next contest, in South Carolina next Saturday. With most precincts reporting, Clinton was winning with 52 percent of the vote overall to Sanderss 48 percent. But according to preliminary entrance polls reported by CNN, she won among black Democrats by a whopping 76 percent to 22 percent. African Americans made up 13 percent of the electorate, according to the entrance poll, while 19 percent were Hispanic and 59 percent were white. Sanders held an eight-point edge among Hispanic voters, who accounted for roughly 1 in 5 caucus-goers, and the two candidates split white voters about evenly. In the five NV precincts with the highest percentages of African American registrants, Clinton won all the delegates, 76-0, her spokesman, Brian Fallon, said in a tweet shortly after the results were known. 1 of 24 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad What it looked like on the ground in Nevada for the Democratic caucuses View Photos Hillary Clinton held off a late challenge from rival Bernie Sanders in the Silver State. Caption Hillary Clinton held off a late challenge from rival Bernie Sanders in the Silver State. Feb. 20, 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton hugs her Nevada campaign director, Emmy Ruiz, while approaching the stage at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas to deliver a speech after winning the states Democratic caucuses. Melina Mara/The Washington Post Wait 1 second to continue. Clinton has enjoyed a large lead among South Carolina African Americans, who in 2008 made up more than half the Democratic primary electorate. And on March 1, when more delegates will be awarded in Super Tuesday voting than at any other time in the political calendar, black voters make up significant parts of the Democratic electorate in Alabama, Georgia, Texas, Arkansas and Virginia. Sanders has a better chance of winning the other Super Tuesday states Colorado, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Oklahoma and his home state of Vermont which have relatively small black populations. Sanders planned to campaign in South Carolina on Sunday, but he has scheduled events Monday in Massachusetts. Were going to target the states where were strongest and compete for delegates everywhere, said Jeff Weaver, Sanderss campaign manager. Clinton flew directly to Texas for a campaign rally later Saturday and will be in South Carolina in the coming week. Clinton has now barely won two of the first three states to cast presidential selection votes, and she lost the other badly. Sanderss growing momentum in recent weeks has exposed flaws in Clintons candidacy and threatened her carefully constructed strategy that presented her as the presumed front-runner and heir to President Obamas legacy. The Nevada vote, however, gives weight to the claim by Clinton allies that the wave of anti-establishment fervor carrying Sanders would slow in states with fewer white voters. Sanders, who represents a state that is 95 percent white, has never in his four-decade political career had to court minority voters. His advisers said they were confident that his economic message would break through with younger and working-class voters two constituencies he has connected with in other states regardless of race. Clinton supporters gathered for her victory party in a ballroom at Caesars Palace and erupted in cheers and chants of Hill-a-ry! Hill-a-ry! as results flashed on the televisions. I told ya! said Michael Airington, 57, a Clinton supporter. She needed this. Now shes going to sweep South Carolina! Airington attributed the closeness of the vote to younger Democrats who were too young to know much about Clintons work during her husbands presidency in the 1990s. She needs to recalibrate with the millennials and let them know she was for everything Bernie is for before Bernie was, Airington said. Indeed, voters younger than 30 preferred Sanders 82 percent to 14 percent, and those younger than 45 picked Sanders 62 percent to 35 percent, according to the CNN exit poll data. Weaver said Sanderss now-proven ability to court Latinos should help his prospects going forward in states including Texas, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico and California. He also said that the loss in Nevada will not affect Sanderss plans to remain in the race through the Democratic National Convention. Clintons first campaign trip to Nevada, weeks after she entered the race in April, was intended as an outreach primarily to Hispanics and chiefly around the issue of immigration. She met with young people protected from deportation by Obamas executive actions, and she pledged to seek a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants. Nevada led the nation in home foreclosures and was hit hard by bankruptcies during the Great Recession. Sanderss heavy focus on an economy rigged to benefit the wealthy and powerful interests had resonated in a state where many residents blamed Wall Street and large mortgage companies for their reversals. In the closing days, his campaign aired a 30-second ad with foreclosure signs and aerial shots of decimated neighborhoods narrated by Erin Bilbray, the daughter of a former congressman, who relayed how her neighbors were hurt by the crisis. Ive watched as the house across the street has sat empty for over six years, says Bilbray, a Democratic National Committee member and former Clinton supporter. Ive watched good friends have their homes foreclosed on. People are still really suffering, and theyre looking for somebody who is going to create bold change. The senator from Vermont also repeatedly pointed to Clintons ties to big financial institutions, as he did again Saturday by noting that a super PAC supporting Clinton receives what he called Wall Street donations. But in the days leading up to the caucus vote, immigration was the main point of argument between the two campaigns. Clinton and her surrogates argued that Sanders was a latecomer to championing the rights of illegal immigrants. Clinton allies have made the same claim about Sanderss efforts to win over African Americans elsewhere. He is a very strong candidate. He had a lot of committed supporters, Clinton communications director Jennifer Palmieri said Saturday. He is a real force, and he will continue to be a strong candidate, so we are grateful for this win, but we know we have 47 more states. About 80,000 people showed up for the Nevada caucuses on Saturday, a significant drop-off, compared with 2008, the last time there was a competitive Democratic race, according to officials at the Nevada Democratic Party. People cheer with signs while waiting for Republican front-runner Donald Trump to arrive and speak at a campaign event Friday at the Myrtle Beach Sports Center in Myrtle Beach, S.C. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post) The strength of anti-establishment fervor in the 2016 president campaign faces a twin test Saturday, with Donald Trump favored to win the Republican primary in the crucial state of South Carolina and Sen. Bernie Sanders battling Hillary Clinton for supremacy in the Democratic caucuses in Nevada. Establishment Republicans have yet to fully coalesce around an alternative to Trump, though Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, who stumbled in New Hampshire, hopes to rebound in Saturdays balloting in South Carolina and cement himself in that role. Clinton still enjoys strong support from the Democratic establishment, and her goal in Nevada is to blunt the momentum Sanders acquired from a victory in New Hampshire and then move on next week to South Carolina, where she enjoys broad support from African Americans. A big Trump victory in the Palmetto State would stamp him clearly as the Republican front-runner, while a Sanders win in Nevada would raise more questions about Clintons appeal and add to the pressure on her to score a big victory in South Carolina. All polls in South Carolina show Trump leading, though they differ over the size of his margin ahead of the next two candidates, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and Rubio. In Nevada, where polls are scarcer, Sanders and Clinton appear to be in a dead heat. The Vermont senator has appealed to younger Hispanics to support his candidacy in an effort to counter claims that he cannot attract minority votes. Once considered a firewall for Hillary Clinton, Nevada has sharply turned into a tight and unpredictable contest for the former secretary of state as senator Bernie Sanders steadily gains support from critical voting blocs. (Alice Li/The Washington Post) South Carolinas Republican primary has a history of identifying the eventual nominee and often embracing the establishments choice of candidates. That pattern was broken four years ago when former House speaker Newt Gingrich handily defeated Mitt Romney. Trump threatens to do the same with a victory Saturday, which would further unsettle party regulars. This weekend marks one of the few times when the Democratic and Republican calendars diverge. Republicans will hold caucuses in Nevada on Tuesday, and Democrats will have their primary in South Carolina on Feb. 27. [In S.C., the GOP contest looks more and more like a three-man race] As the leading outsiders in the presidential race, Trump and Sanders continue to underscore the frustrations with politics as usual on both the left and right. Trump has tapped anti-immigration sentiment in particular and has drawn energy from working-class white voters. Sanders has energized younger voters as part of a grass-roots constituency that has given his candidacy surprising strength. There is a shift in the establishment and thinking of Republicans in South Carolina from mainstream, center-right Republicans to angry, hard-right Republicans, said Katon Dawson, a former South Carolina Republican Party chairman who is not aligned with any candidate. Its a monumental shift against the pillars of our society: our government and our elected officials. That reality has put establishment candidates on the defensive in South Carolina, and none more so than former Florida governor Jeb Bush. Once the nominal front-runner for the GOP nomination, Bush could find his candidacy in serious jeopardy if he finishes poorly Saturday, as some polls suggest. The other establishment candidate, Ohio Gov. John Kasich, is hoping for a finish just strong enough to justify his focus on the March 8 Michigan primary as his best hope for a victory. The tone of the South Carolina campaign has been overwhelmingly negative, and not only because of the millions of dollars in attack ads that flooded television stations in the final week. The candidates themselves have carried on an acrid dialogue in which the words liar and lying have been injected into campaign rhetoric at a volume rarely seen even in a state known for brutal intraparty contests. [Liar, liar: A charged word is now common in the GOP race] In the last hours before the primary, Trump sought to brush off two recent controversies one involving former president George W. Bush, whom Trump accused of lying about the existence of weapons of mass destruction in the run-up to the Iraq War in 2003, and the other with Pope Francis, who branded the New York billionaire as un-Christian for his views on immigration. During a town hall meeting hosted by CNN on Thursday night, Trump softened his tone toward the pontiff and equivocated when pressed by a voter about whether he truly believed that Bush had lied before launching the invasion. But Trump opened up a new line of attack Friday, calling on supporters to boycott Apple, which has refused requests from the federal government to help unlock an iPhone that was carried by one of the San Bernardino, Calif., terrorists. Rubio spent Friday flying around the state, accompanied by a trio of leading South Carolina Republicans who have endorsed him: Gov. Nikki Haley, Sen. Tim Scott and Rep. Trey Gowdy. He pressed his argument that he alone among the candidates can unify the party. But Rubio stressed that would not be enough to win a general election. We cant just unite, he said. We also have to grow. In an effort to amplify the message that Rubio represents the future of a more diverse party, Haley described the tableau of a Cuban American senator, African American senator, Indian American governor and white member of Congress as what the new conservative movement looks like, because it looks like a Benetton commercial. Cruz, meanwhile, appeared at a boisterous midday rally in Charleston, where he was interviewed by Fox News anchor Sean Hannity and joined by three conservative endorsers of his own: Rep. Mark Sanford, a former governor here who had not previously declared his support; Phil Robertson of Duck Dynasty fame; and David Limbaugh, brother of radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh. Cruz told the crowd that the death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia leaves the high court and with it many conservative principles hanging in the balance. He said that before they cast votes they should ask, Who do we know beyond a shadow of a doubt will nominate and fight to confirm principled constitutionalists who will protect the Bill of Rights? Meanwhile, Bush brought in family reinforcements for a final-hours appeal to South Carolinians, campaigning alongside his mother, Barbara Bush. Sixteen years ago, South Carolina resurrected the campaign of George W. Bush after a loss in New Hampshire, and brother Jeb Bush hopes voters will give him a better-than-expected result Saturday. Trump is favored to win here, but critics say that a disappointing finish could suggest weakness ahead of a round of Southern primaries on March 1. The impact of his recent feud with the pope and his attacks on George W. Bush will be measured against trend lines of late-deciding voters. Trump faces persistent doubts about whether he has enough supporters to withstand a one-on-one contest in which mainstream conservatives are consolidated behind another candidate. Katie Packer, who runs an anti-Trump super PAC and was deputy campaign manager for Romneys 2012 campaign, said she believes South Carolina has the potential to reframe the race as a three-person contest between Trump, Cruz and Rubio. Theres still some iterations to be had, she said. Everybody wants to rush for this race to be over. . . . We have to be patient and let the voters decide. That is a view held by many in the party who fear the impact in November on Republican candidates in other races if Trump is the nominee. [Clintons campaign manager faces his biggest test] For Clinton, Nevada was supposed to be where months of painstaking grass-roots organizing, plus goodwill in minority communities, would put a stop to Sanderss momentum after the contests in Iowa and New Hampshire, far less diverse states. Instead, in an effort to help stanch the bleeding of minority votes, especially from Latinos, Clintons surrogates have turned sharply to Sanderss record on immigration issues, which they said has been checkered by votes in favor of anti-immigration bills and a vote against comprehensive immigration reform in 2007. Clintons campaign has been playing down the importance of the Nevada vote in calls and other discussions with donors and key political supporters. The caucus format plays to Sanderss grass-roots strengths, and the likely electorate is far less diverse than the state population as a whole, Clinton aides have told donors since her 22-point defeat in New Hampshire. To emphasize her focus on South Carolina, Clinton received a boost Friday when the influential Rep. James E. Clyburn (D-S.C.) offered his support. I believe that the future of the Democratic Party and the United States of America will be best served with the experience and know-how of Hillary Clinton as our 45th president, Clyburn said. At a late-morning stop in Elko, Nev., Sanders urged a crowd of 575 people packed into a high school gym to participate in Saturdays caucuses. I hope we have a huge no, yuuuugge turnout, Sanders said, playfully stretching out the word in an acknowledgment of how his Brooklyn accent is parodied on Saturday Night Live and elsewhere now that he is a national figure. Sanderss advisers argue that his message is resonating here in no small part because Nevada was hit hard during the financial crisis and is still feeling the hangover. No state more than Nevada understands the impact of Wall Streets greed and illegal behavior, Sanders told reporters Thursday en route from Washington to Las Vegas. Phillip reported from Las Vegas and DelReal from Greenville, S.C. Anne Gearan in Washington; Jenna Johnson in North Charleston, S.C.; Sean Sullivan and Ed OKeefe in Greenville; John Wagner in Elko, Nev.; Robert Costa in Charleston; and Philip Rucker in Columbia, S.C., contributed to this report. Thousands of people gathered for the funeral of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, which took place at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., Feb. 20. (Reuters) Thousands of people gathered for the funeral of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, which took place at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., Feb. 20. (Reuters) Justice Antonin Scalia was prayerfully offered up by his son Paul and the nations political and legal elite Saturday in an ageless funeral Mass that set aside Washingtons usual lessons of power and celebrated devout Christian faith. Vice President Biden, all of the living Supreme Court justices with whom Scalia served save one, congressional leaders and members of the legal establishment were among the thousands who attended a ceremony that Scalia himself might have designed in the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. The occasion put aside momentarily the partisan battle over the court that Scalias death has occasioned and was remarkably free of the encomiums that usually mark the send-offs of Washingtons political class. Instead, it followed the dictates of religion and placed the emphasis on the Christian promise of resurrection and the sinners need for Gods grace. [Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia dies at 79] The Rev. Paul Scalia, a priest in the Diocese of Arlington, told the throng there was a purpose in gathering. His father was a practicing Catholic practicing in the sense that he hadnt perfected it yet. Or rather, Christ was not yet perfected in him. Because only those brought to perfection may enter heaven, Paul Scalia said. We are here then to lead our prayers to that perfecting, to that final work of Gods grace. Scalia the Supreme Court justice was not prone to humility. He was revered and hated for his strident views, an unfailingly confident sense of right, his sharp-tongued critique of all things liberal, or modern, and a larger-than-life personification of conservatism. The setting for his funeral was perfect in that sense the largest Catholic church in North America. It took all seven verses of O God, Our Help In Ages Past and then some for his wife, Maureen, his eight other children and his three dozen grandchildren to accompany his body to the altar. An angelic-sounding choir provided song, and it appeared that every priest in the region had donned a white robe to stand at attention. The day before, 6,000 people, including President Obama, had filed past his flag-draped casket in the Great Hall of the Supreme Court. But before the casket crossed what Paul Scalia called the holy doors, the flag had been replaced with an ivory pall, and the powerful leader became supplicant. 1 of 46 Full Screen Autoplay Close Scalia lies in repose at Supreme Court building Skip Ad Mourners pay respects to Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia View Photos Scalia is laid to rest at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington. Caption Scalia is laid to rest at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington. Feb. 20, 2016 The memorial service for Justice Antonin Scalia concludes at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington. Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post Wait 1 second to continue. Paul Scalia set the tone early in his 15-minute homily. We are gathered here because of one man, the priest said. A man known personally to many of us, known only by reputation to even more. A man loved by many, scorned by others. A man known for great controversy and for great compassion. He paused for the effect his father would have appreciated. That man, of course, is Jesus of Nazareth. It is He who we proclaim. It was a fitting service for Scalia, who died Feb. 13 at 79. He was a Catholic and was the member of the Supreme Court most vocal about his religion. He urged fellow intellectuals to be fools for Christ and once used an interview to underscore his belief in the existence of the Devil, whose latest maneuver, he said, is getting people not to believe in him or in God. Scalia had made known his view that weddings and funerals, but especially funerals, are the principal occasions left in modern America when you can preach the Good News not just to the faithful but to those who have never really heard it. The grand shrine became a (likely brief) demilitarized zone in the partisan wars that have raged since Scalias death about whether Senate Republicans will allow an Obama nominee to succeed Scalia. That replacement would tip the balance of the court to the left. Biden sat in the front along with Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. The rest of Scalias colleagues on the Supreme Court were there, too, along with two of the three retired justices: John Paul Stevens, 95, and David Souter, 76. Sandra Day OConnor, 85 and in frail health, was not there. Clarence Thomas, a fellow Catholic and the justice most ideologically aligned with Scalia, read Romans 5:5-11. [Supreme Court now filled with vocally devout justices] Of course, politics were not completely absent. Sen. Ted Cruz (Tex.) took time away from campaigning ahead of Saturdays South Carolina Republican presidential primary to attend, and he and Thomass wife, Ginny, hugged in the center aisle. She has endorsed Cruz, who served as a clerk in the 1990s for then-Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist. And Obamas decision not to be among the mourners has sparked condemnation from conservatives. He and first lady Michelle Obama paid their respects Friday at the Supreme Court, where they viewed Scalias casket and met privately with members of the family. Obama and Scalia were not close, and the White House has noted that Biden and Scalia had a personal relationship. Scalia liked to attend parishes that offered traditional Latin Mass, and on Sundays he could be found at St. John the Beloved, near his home in McLean, Va., or St. Mary Mother of God in Chinatown. But his funeral Mass was conducted in English. That a Catholic of his stature did not have his funeral Mass celebrated by a high-ranking cardinal or bishop but by his son was seen as important and sentimental, said the Rev. James Bradley, a D.C. priest who blogs on liturgy, homilies and church music. Its quite a beautiful thing to celebrate your fathers funeral. We all dread doing it, but its significant, Bradley said. If a cardinal or bishop presided, they may feel bound to celebrate the Mass of a public figure. But his son, he celebrates as a Catholic. The family plans a memorial service on March 1 that will probably be filled with testimonials, but Scalias homily was personal and at times drew laughter. Paul Scalia thanked God for blessing his father with 55 years of marriage to the woman he loved, a woman who could match him at every stage and even hold him accountable. He recounted how his father could not always call the children by the right name there are nine of us and told of how his father one Saturday afternoon had found himself in his sons confessional line. The elder Scalia quickly departed. As he put it later, Like heck am I confessing to you, Paul Scalia recalled. The feeling was mutual. Paul Scalias remarks became political just once, when he noted that his father agreed that Gods blessings could be lost when faith is banned from the public square or when we refuse to bring it there. One aspect of Scalias judicial rulings greeted his mourners. Members of the Westboro Baptist Church, who picket the funerals of the famous and infamous, were outside. In 2011, Scalia joined in the majority opinion that said the group had a First Amendment right to protest at funeral services. That was his duty to us, the group said on Twitter. Now we are doing our duty to him, and all the living pouring in to lie over his dead body. Chad C. Pecknold, a theology professor at the Catholic University of America, adjacent to the basilica, said Scalia was something of an ambassador for the Catholic Church. He promoted the Red Mass, the annual celebration for judges and lawyers that some justices attend on the Sunday before their terms begin in October. And Scalia created a social-media storm when he attended Obamas second inauguration wearing a hat modeled after one worn by Saint Thomas More, the patron saint of politicians and statesmen. This is a very important moment for Catholics in Washington, Pecknold said. In his homily, Paul Scalia cited a letter his father wrote that received attention this week when the American Conservative published it. It was praise for James C. Goodloe, a Presbyterian minister who presided at the funeral of Justice Lewis F. Powell Jr. Scalia said flowery eulogies missed the religious significance of funerals. Even when the deceased was an admirable person indeed, especially when the deceased was an admirable person praise for his virtues can cause us to forget that we are praying for, and giving thanks for, Gods inexplicable mercy to a sinner. Michelle Boorstein and Kelsey Snell contributed to this report. The memorial service for Justice Antonin Scalia concludes at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington. Feb. 20, 2016 The memorial service for Justice Antonin Scalia concludes at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington. Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post Scalia is laid to rest at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington. Scalia is laid to rest at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington. Scalia is laid to rest at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington. Ted Olson and his wife, Lady Olson, looked stricken Saturday morning as they entered the basilica where their friend Antonin Scalia would be mourned in a Mass of Christian burial. This is a shock we cant get over. Its a tragedy, said the former solicitor general, who had argued many cases before the Supreme Court. A national tragedy, Lady Olson said. He was one of a kind. You cant replace a man like that, Ted Olson said. Replacing Scalia how, when, with whom is the urgent Washington partisan question of the moment, one that has intruded ungraciously upon what for many people at the funeral is a grieving period. When they say you cant replace Scalia, theyre not just talking about a seat on the Supreme Court. Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia died Feb. 13 at the age of 79. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP) Scalia was an icon. That was obvious Saturday from the size of the crowd. Attendees at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception included a cardinal, numerous archbishops and bishops, scores of priests, the vice president, the surviving justices, many senators, and judges and lawyers from across the country. Few Supreme Court justices could fill a jumbo church like that which is not an insult: Someone like low-key David H. Souter, one of the retired justices who came to the service, probably didnt mind that no one could pick him out of a lineup even when he was on the court. [Antonin Scalias funeral reflects the justices life of faith.] Justices, unlike politicians, tend not to be flashy, verbose characters, and by strict rule and tradition they spend their time in a place that refuses to permit television cameras. Deliberations are secret. The final written opinions are not always dazzling as literary ventures, or even readable. Scalia, however, broke the mold and then shattered it into a thousand pieces. He was by leaps and bounds the courts most voluble, entertaining, maddening member, and he incited intense passions both positive and negative. He was eager to give public speeches and even do roadshows with his liberal colleague Stephen G. Breyer. Its a huge hole in the court. Theres no one with the consistent intellectual heft and the tremendous writing ability to cut to the quick and just devastate the other sides fuzzy-headed thinking to use his word, former senator Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) said outside the church. Scalia tore up jelly-kneed lawyers in oral arguments. Among colleagues, he sought no coalitions, happy to be the lone dissenter as he was famously in Morrison v. Olson (a 1988 case about the constitutionality of independent counsels yes, that Olson). He had no desire to ever be anything as mutable as a swing vote. Thousands of people gathered for the funeral of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, which took place at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., Feb. 20. (Reuters) Pat Korten, who served as director of public affairs in the Justice Department during the Reagan administration, was walking toward the security gate outside the church before the service, but he already had a sense of the magnitude of this funeral: This is huge. This is a moment in history that ought to be remembered for many years. Now its going to be up to a new generation to pick up where Nino left off. Conservatives in the legal world say Scalia served as an icon for them in the same way that William F. Buckley led the way for political conservatives. And yet, because of his writing skills, Scalia has often been compared to Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., a liberal from a century ago who shared Scalias flamboyance with the pen. Although the service lacked eulogists, it held subtle hints of Scalias legacies. Just on the biological side of things, there was the sprawling Scalia family. Clarence Thomas, his close ideological ally, did a reading from the Bible, as did Leonard Leo, executive vice president of the Federalist Society, the organization for conservative legal thinkers that Scalia long supported. In the crowd were many of the clerks who served under Scalia over the years. If you look at todays Mass and you look at the 125 clerks he sent off into the world, his influence will be felt for a long time, Eileen OConnor, a lawyer, said as she left the church on a surprisingly balmy day. One of those Scalia clerks was Greg Dovel, who worked for the justice in the late 1980s. He didnt want to talk politics or ideology he was in mourning. I thought he was going to be doing this for another 10 years at least, Dovel said. He was the most alive person that I knew. The thing that I remember most about him is his laugh. He enjoyed every minute of the day. Beyond inciting all this grief among friends and family, Scalias death is a blow to originalism, the conservative legal philosophy that Scalia personified. Scalia disdained the notion of a living Constitution that molts from time to time. What matters is what the people understood the Constitution to mean in 1787, Scalia believed. That had been a borderline-crackpot view until Scalia, nominated by President Ronald Reagan in 1986, shouldered it into the highest court. Scalia lost a lot of battles the inevitable result of his hard-line positions on social issues in a time of cultural transformation but originalism eased into the mainstream. On the left, many legal scholars saw Scalia as the archenemy. His critics saw someone whose jurisprudence neatly lined up with his hard-right political views. He opposed Roe v. Wade and marriage equality. Liberals will not likely forget or forgive Scalias vote, along with four conservative colleagues, to stop the Florida recount in 2000 and award the presidency to George W. Bush. Rancor erupted at Georgetown Law this week after the dean circulated a statement of mourning over the loss of Scalia, a Georgetown University alumnus. Even rote acknowledgments of Scalias brilliant legal mind in recent days have drawn rebukes; one law professor wrote in Salon that Scalia was unprincipled and the most overrated judge in America. History will sort it out. There is little question that Scalias death last Saturday in Texas leaves the court in an awkward situation, stuck with a four-four ideological split between conservatives and liberals. William Bennett, Reagans education secretary and now a radio host, stood outside the church and recounted the moment a little earlier when he saw Justice Anthony Kennedy walk into the great, domed basilica. In a nine-person court, Kennedy had been the swing vote, closest to the ideological middle and most likely to turn four votes into five. He used to be the most powerful man in the world, Bennett said. Now, maybe not. Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa), shown in Des Moines on Feb. 1, could find himself at the center of the nomination process in the search to find Antonin Scalias successor on the Supreme Court. (Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg News) As the White House shifts its vetting of potential Supreme Court nominees into high gear, the handling of that nomination is set to rest largely with the 82-year-old chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Charles E. Grassley. Grassley (R-Iowa) said in a Washington Post op-ed published Friday, co-authored with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), that the Senate should withhold its consent for anyone President Obama nominates to succeed the late Justice Antonin Scalia. But in earlier public comments, Grassley did not rule out holding hearings or votes on the nominee which have emerged as points of division for Senate Republicans determined to block an Obama nominee but also blunt political attacks that could threaten their majority in November. Take it a step at a time, Grassley told Iowa reporters on Tuesday. Grassleys steps as Judiciary chairman stand to put the plainspoken farmer at the center of a months-long, bare-knuckle political fight unlike any other he has experienced during his 35 years in the Senate. White House press secretary Josh Earnest said Friday that it will probably be a few weeks before Obama makes a nomination. The list of candidates is not yet final, he said, but lawyers have prepared dossiers on potential nominees records, professional experience and other matters, and I suspect the president will be dedicating a significant portion of his weekend digging into that information. Friday evening, Obama walked from the West Wing to the residence holding a binder filled with briefing material on potential nominees. Asked by reporters to offer up some names, the president demurred. Grassley is among a group of key Senate leaders, including McConnell, Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and ranking Judiciary Committee Democrat Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.), whom Obama has called to convey his determination to make a nomination. Last year, Grassley became the first non-lawyer ever to chair the Judiciary Committee, passing up opportunities to helm the powerful Finance or Budget panels for a chance to oversee judicial confirmations and influence many other legal matters. Grassley made numerous, sometimes contradictory Supreme Court-related comments earlier this week, but he did not make any public statements Friday after the publication of the op-ed. Grassley spokeswoman Beth Levine said the senator is not likely to address the matter over the weekend. Republican senators are expected to meet behind closed doors to plan a path forward once they return to Washington on Tuesday. Grassley has vowed to block any Obama nomination, beginning hours after Scalias death was announced last Saturday, when he declared that it only makes sense that we defer to the American people who will elect a new president to select the next Supreme Court justice. But after spending his entire Senate career on the Judiciary Committee and participating in confirmation hearings for 13 Supreme Court nominees, the senator might find it difficult to pass up the chance to chair one himself. He is also seeking election to a seventh term this year, and while he has not attracted serious competition, he may wish to avoid becoming a symbol of Washington obstruction. Criticism has been directed at Grassley from both directions. The editorial page of Iowas largest newspaper, the Des Moines Register, said this week that he was wrong to disregard his constitutional duty by rejecting a nominee who hasnt even been named. Conservatives, meanwhile, are skeptical of Grassleys decision to move criminal justice reform legislation and his willingness to advance a handful of Obamas lower-court nominees. Any move to consider a Supreme Court nominee, activists say, would infuriate the Republican base. Holding a hearing would suggest that there is some reason the American people should in fact be robbed of this unique opportunity to weigh in on the next president and thus the next justice, said Dan Holler of Heritage Action for America, an advocacy group that called last month for a total shutdown of judicial confirmations. In a Dallas talk-radio interview Wednesday, Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Tex.) sought to tamp down conservative fears: Nobody can roll Chuck Grassley, and I predict that he will stand firm on this. As the debate over Scalias replacement raged on, the president and first lady went to the Supreme Court on Friday afternoon to pay their respects as his body lay in repose in the Great Hall. The two met privately with some members of Justice Scalias family, Earnest said later. Some conservatives have criticized the president for not attending Saturdays funeral Mass for Scalia, but Earnest said Fridays visit gave Obama an opportunity to both pay his personal respects to those who loved Justice Scalia, but also pay tribute to the outsized impact that he had on the country and on our legal system. Obamas initial outreach to Senate leaders came just as Vice President Biden said in interviews Thursday evening that Obama needs to pick a consensus candidate to win Senate approval. The idea that were going to go in and decide were going to pick an, I dont know, a new Justice [William J. Brennan Jr.], I dont think thats going to happen. Thats not how the system works, he said. Earnest would not comment Friday on whether the president feels compelled to pick a moderate, but acknowledged that the presidents nominee will need bipartisan support. He also did not rule out the idea of Obama selecting a high-ranking administration official, such as Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch. Thank you for reading! To read this article and more, subscribe now for as little as $1.99. Women walk past campaign posters of Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni in Kampala on Saturday after he won a fifth term. (Carl De Souza/AFP/Getty Images) Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, one of the most prominent U.S. allies in East Africa, routed his opponents in the countrys presidential election, but Thursdays vote was dogged by international criticism and concerns about the repeated detention of the main opposition leader. Museveni, 71, has been in power for 30 years since taking control in an armed rebellion. His willingness to contribute troops to U.S.-backed peacekeeping missions, especially a regional effort to eradicate the Somalia-based Islamic extremist group al-Shabab, has earned him substantial support from the White House, even as his security forces have regularly cracked down on the political opposition. In the past week, Kizza Besigye, his principal opponent for the presidency, has been detained four times. On Friday, security forces fired tear gas into the party headquarters of Besigyes Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) and then stormed the premises. Besigye and two other FDC party officials were arrested before they could announce alternative election returns. [Top opposition candidate briefly detained as Ugandans go to polls] The candidate was later released, although security personnel prevented him from leaving his house on the outskirts of Kampala on Saturday or holding news conferences. Other members of the security forces ringed the house of another candidate, former prime minister Amama Mbabazi, who ran for the presidency as an independent. Secretary of State John F. Kerry called Museveni on Friday to express concern over the detentions and to encourage him to rein in the police and security forces, according to a statement from the State Department. But some Ugandans said they did not expect the United States or Musevenis other Western supporters to question the election results, unless Ugandas security forces turned to violence against the opposition. Because of Western powers close ties to Musevenis government, they really cant say much. Their hands are tied, said Ugandan political analyst Angelo Izama. The United States contributes $750 million annually in aid, along with military training and support. Museveni won with nearly 61 percent of Thursdays vote, down from 68 percent in 2011. Besigye trailed this time with 35 percent. This is the fourth time Besigye, who used to be Musevenis personal physician, has run against the president. He has never polled higher than 38 percent. Even before the results were announced, the opposition disputed the count. FDC President Mugisha Muntu issued a statement calling on all Ugandans and the international community to reject and condemn the fraud that has been committed and to expose it to the fullest extent possible. Opposition representatives walked out of the official tally center Friday in protest, and the FDC refused to send a representative to collect the official returns. There is nothing like vote rigging; we just have bad losers, said Mike Sebalu, a top official in Musevenis National Resistance Movement. That has not stopped the rumors circulating on social networks. In one incident on election day, protesters in a Kampala neighborhood ripped open a box they alleged was filled with ballots pre-marked in favor of Museveni. Hours later, the ballot papers were still scattered outside the polling station. On the evening of the vote, Besigye was arrested when he tried to storm a Kampala house he said was being used to run a vote-rigging operation. Officials said the house was being used by police. Eduard Kukan, the head of a European Union observation mission, said the observers were aware of the vote-rigging accusations but had not verified any of the claims. The polls were dogged by other problems, though, including the hours-late distribution of ballots in the capital city, Kampala, an opposition stronghold. Museveni draws his support primarily from rural areas of the country. Across the capital, the delays forced officials to keep polling centers open an additional three hours. And three dozen polling stations were opened Friday because voting materials did not arrive Thursday. Former Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo, the head of a Commonwealth observer group, said in an interim assessment that election-day deficiencies, including delays in supplying ballots, have seriously detracted from the fairness and credibility of the results of the elections. While noting that problems such as the late delivery of ballots might have caused problems, the E.U.s Kukan would not say that they distorted the overall result. The government also ordered telecommunications providers to shut off access to social media, including Facebook and Whatsapp two popular forms of communication among younger Ugandans. But Ugandans circumvented the attempted blackout by using virtual private networks to get online and criticize the electoral process. Ahead of the final tally, soldiers and police were deployed across a tense Kampala, where public anger was fueled by suspicions that Musevenis administration had tried to steal the election. Were all hoping for calm, but theres no peaceful transition by the look of things, said Ali Mukasa, who works in a barbershop across the street from the FDC compound that police and military forces stormed Friday. The road in front of his shop is scarred from fires that protesters set in their efforts to block the movements of security personnel. After Besigyes arrest, police officers engaged in running skirmishes with opposition supporters, firing tear gas and rubber bullets at the protesters. The Ugandan Red Cross treated 12 people for injuries, including four who were taken to a nearby hospital. Although all was quiet after the returns were announced, Mukasa said he was worried about more violence after nightfall. America needs to make an interference, or this country is doomed, he said. Read more: Deaths of two black farmers prompt a racial reckoning in South Africa U.N. reports new rape accusations against peacekeepers in Central African Republic Nairobi freaks out as lions escape from national park Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world Prime Minister David Cameron said Britain would vote June 23 on whether to stay in the European Union. (Luke Macgregor/Bloomberg News) Having persuaded 27 fellow European Union leaders to do a deal to save Britains E.U. membership, Prime Minister David Cameron faced an insurrection at home on Saturday as his government emerged divided over whether to back a Brexit. In a rare Saturday morning cabinet meeting the first since the Falklands War in 1982 Cameron attempted to rally his senior ministers to the cause of keeping the United Kingdom a part of the European Union when the country votes in June. The meeting came hours after the prime minister inked a deal in Brussels with his E.U. counterparts that he said would dramatically improve British relations with the bloc. The agreement featured concessions in various areas, including currency protections and immigration, and it came together only after two days of round-the-clock talks. But with a referendum campaign now underway in Britain, there were major defections from the governments senior ranks, reflecting bitter divisions in the prime ministers Conservative Party over the countrys membership in the E.U. Polls show that voters as a whole are almost evenly split. Speaking in front of 10 Downing Street on a gray Saturday, Cameron announced that Britons will decide the issue on June 23, giving both sides four months to try to persuade a majority of voters. Cameron had first promised the referendum in 2013, bowing to a strong current of Euroskepticism that has run through British politics for decades and is unequaled anywhere else on the continent. A British departure would be a first for the bloc, and it could imperil the unions future by empowering anti-E.U. forces across the continent. The stakes are high for Britain, as well. [Whats a Brexit? A guide to Britains E.U. drama] We are approaching one of the biggest decisions this country will face in our lifetimes, Cameron said Saturday. The prime minister announced that a majority of his cabinet was recommending that the British public vote to stay in, and he argued that a departure popularly known as a Brexit would damage Britain by depriving the country of vital partners. Leaving Europe would threaten our economic and national security, he said. But only minutes after the prime minister spoke, a half-dozen cabinet ministers announced they would defy Cameron and side with out. Cameron had bucked British political convention by allowing his ministers to choose either side of the E.U. debate, rather than demanding loyalty. Saturdays defections were not a surprise; six of the ministers have been sharply critical of the E.U. in the past. But their stance reflects just how politically divisive the referendum is likely to be, cutting across party lines. Among the defectors dubbed #TheSecessionistSix on Twitter is Justice Secretary Michael Gove, an influential Tory and one of Camerons closest friends. In a lengthy statement released Saturday afternoon, Gove said that he was anguished at the idea of opposing the prime minister, whom he credited with launching his political career. But he said he could not ignore his belief that the United Kingdom would be freer, fairer and better off outside the E.U. The union, Gove wrote, is a relic of the 1950s and 1960s that is now hopelessly out of date. It is also, he argued, fundamentally antidemocratic. Laws which govern citizens in this country are decided by politicians from other nations who we never elected and cant throw out, he said. Cameron said he was disappointed but not surprised by Goves decision. [Has Prince William entered Britains debate over leaving Europe?] Other top government officials opted for in, including George Osborne, Britains chancellor of the exchequer, and Home Secretary Theresa May. May, a hard-liner with Euroskeptic leanings who was at one time considered a possible Brexit supporter, released a statement Saturday announcing she was for in. She said the decision was for reasons of security, protection against crime and terrorism, trade with Europe, and access to markets around the world. London Mayor Boris Johnson, a leading Conservative who covets Camerons job, has also toyed with supporting the out campaign. He did not immediately show his hand Saturday, and the BBC reported he was unlikely to announce his decision until Sunday at the earliest. Johnson would give the out movement the sort of charismatic and broadly popular leader it lacks. Compared with the Conservatives, the center-left Labour Party is less divided over the issue, with most of the partys elected officials supporting E.U. membership. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn described Camerons E.U. renegotiation Saturday as tinkering. But he nonetheless said his party would campaign to stay in the E.U. because it brings investment, jobs and protection for British workers and consumers. The political leanings of Britains newspapers were on vivid display Saturday morning, with right-wing papers dismissing Camerons Brussels deal and left-leaning ones praising it. The progressively minded Guardian said the renegotiations were substantive not superficial, while the Rupert Murdoch-owned Times of London pronounced that from the land of chocolate, Cameron was always destined to bring back fudge. [Europe wants Britain to stay in the E.U., but not at any cost] Analysts suggested that Cameron had won a better deal than many expected but generally played down the effect of European concessions. The prime minister won a British exemption from Europes goal of ever-closer union, a national veto on E.U. laws, protections for countries that do not use the euro and an emergency brake to limit benefits paid to immigrants from within the E.U. Cameron trumpeted the latter concession as a chance to limit net migration to Britain, which is at an all-time high. But experts have cast doubt on the claims, noting that most workers do not come to Britain for government benefits. The Center for European Reform concluded in a briefing note that Camerons package of reforms will sway few voters, so he must now make the case for the E.U. itself. Camerons best chance of success, the think tank said, is to shift the debate onto more lofty terrain, away from arguments about banking safeguards and migrants benefits towards a contest over how to secure Britains interests in Europe and the rest of the world. Read more: Spring could bring a fresh surge of refugees. But Europe isnt ready for them. In supposed no-go zone, British Muslims, Christians say no to fanatics Even Europes humanitarian superpower is turning its back on refugees Decisions by South Korean President Park Geun-hye to end the last major engagement project with North Korea was the result not just of North Koreas actions, but of Chinas. (Lee Jin-Man/AP) The 18th and 19th of each month were busy days at the Woori bank branch in the Kaesong industrial complex. Salaries for the 54,000 North Koreans who worked in the interKorean economic zone, on the northern side of the demilitarized zone that separates the estranged countries, were due by the 20th. So the managers of the 123 South Korean companies operating there would head to the Woori branch a couple of days before to withdraw cash. Always in U.S. dollars and usually in $100 or $50 notes. Every month, the accountant would tally the hours of each worker, and each worker would check their hours and sign a list, said Ok Sung-seok, head of Nine Mode, a clothing company that hired 300 North Koreans until the zone was closed this month. The manager of the factory would go to the Woori branch in Kaesong and take out the money in U.S. dollars, Ok said. The cost for hiring each worker was between $180 and $200 a month. Then, with the cash in an Woori bank paper bag, the company representative would drive five minutes down the road to a management office and hand over the cash to the North Korean officials there. For more than a decade, South Korean companies have been handing over bags of greenbacks to the North Korean regime in this way. When it was opened in 2004, the idea was that the Kaesong industrial complex would help lessen the economic gap between North and South, and at the same time expose a few isolated North Koreans to the outside world. The government theory went that these benefits outweighed concerns about what the north might do with the money. But now, that has all changed. Park Geun-hye, the South Korean president, has acted with unusual decisiveness and acted alone, following her gut instinct, advisers say to close down the complex in the wake of North Koreas nuclear and missile tests, and with it the sunshine policy era of engagement. Shes the president. The buck stops with her, said a senior government official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. In an address last week, Park said that the money South Korea was sending through Kaesong was helping the runaway Kim Jong Un regime. This echoes what critics of the project had been saying for a decade. South Koreas government estimates that it has sent more than half a billion dollars to North Korea through Kaesong over the past 12 years, including $120 million last year alone. By the time it closed this month, 54,000 North Koreans were working in 124 Southern-owned factories in the zone, making an average of about $160 a month. They did not receive any of the money, instead being paid in vouchers that they could use in local stores. No ones knows what proportion of the monthly payment each worker received, but the Daily NK, a South Korean website with sources inside the North, estimated that it was about 20 percent or about $30. The $560 million sent through Kaesong was in addition to the $487 million it sent through the Kumgangsan tourist resort in the years it was open, according to unification ministry statistics, and the $2.2 billion in fertilizer, rice and disaster assistance from South to North since the mid-1990s. Parks decision to end the last major engagement project with North Korea was the result not just of North Koreas actions, but also of Chinas. In the three years since she took office, Park has made concerted efforts to woo China, including risking annoying Washington by attending a military extravaganza in Beijing last year. Yet after North Korea conducted its nuclear test at the beginning of January, Chinese President Xi Jinping refused to take a phone call from Park for a month, according to multiple people with knowledge of the situation. When they finally talked, the Chinese leader didnt say anything that hadnt already been said in the official media, anything that couldnt have been said the day of the test, said one person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations. Parks decision to close Kaesong and also to open discussions with the United States about hosting an advanced missile defense system that China staunchly opposes is meant as a signal that South Korea will do everything it can to punish North Korea, and it expects other countries to do what they can, analysts say. China, which shares a long border with North Korea, is by far its largest trading partner, and therefore has the most leverage over its errant neighbor. The Kaesong complex was shut down once before by North Korea, which withdrew its workers during a period of heightened tensions in 2013. But experts think that this time, the closure is permanent. Realistically, its closed for good, said Lee Jong-seok, who was South Koreas minister of unification during the sunshine policy years and remains a strong proponent of engagement. Now that the South Korean government has alleged that the money is going into North Koreas nuclear program, theres no way they can reopen this. Park had tried to find a middle ground between the sunshine policy and the hard-line tendencies of her predecessor, pursuing what she called a trustpolitik approach to North Korea a combination of carrots and sticks. But the nuclear test and missile launch forced her to call an end to this approach. Shes come to realize that trustpolitik doesnt work, said Chun Yung-woo, national security adviser to Parks predecessor and an advocate of a much tougher approach to the North. Shes now decided to speak the language that North Korea understands: the language of sanctions and regime change. Yoonjung Seo contributed to this report. Italian best-selling writer and philosopher Umberto Eco was best known for his novel TheName of the Rose. (Fernando Alvarado/European Pressphoto Agency) Italian author Umberto Eco, best known for the international bestseller The Name of the Rose, has died. Lori Glazer, a spokeswoman for Ecos American publisher, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, told the Associated Press that Eco died Friday at 84. She could not immediately confirm the cause of death or where he died. The Name of the Rose, a murder mystery set in the 14th century, was published in 1980 and caught on with readers worldwide. His other books included Foucaults Pendulum, The Prague Cemetery and The Island of the Day Before. La Repubblica newspaper said it had been informed by the family that Eco had died at his home in northern Italy. Eco was virtually unknown outside university circles until well into middle age, when he found himself an international celebrity overnight after he published his first novel, an unorthodox detective story set in a medieval monastery. He was an extraordinary example of European intellectualism, uniting a unique intelligence of the past with an inexhaustible capacity to anticipate the future, Prime Minister Matteo Renzi was quoted as saying by the Italian news agency Ansa. For the professor from Bologna University, then 48, it was a late introduction into the world of international literary fame and one that took many critics by surprise. The Name of the Rose was translated into dozens of languages, sold more than 14 million copies and won several international literary prizes. The book was also the subject of a lavish film production directed by Frenchman Jean-Jacques Annaud and starring Scottish actor Sean Connery as Brother William. Eco attributed the books success to the similarity of experiences shared by mankind in the 14th and late 20th centuries. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, right, and British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond, seen Feb. 4 in London, met again on Saturday to discuss Syria and other issues. (Reuters) Secretary of State John F. Kerry arrived in Jordan on Saturday to discuss the worsening situation on the ground in Syria with King Abdullah II, as attempts to halt the fighting foundered and the United States expanded its military effort against Islamic State militants to Libya. Syria also was the focus of Kerrys conversations Saturday morning with British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond, as they met over breakfast in Kerrys only official encounter during his one-night stay in London before heading to Jordan. While in Jordan, Kerry also plans to meet on Sunday with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas. State Department spokesman John Kirby said Kerry and Hammond talked about the brutal civil war, and discussed efforts to broker a partial cease-fire and get humanitarian aid delivered to trapped residents facing starvation as their towns and villages are under siege. Britain is one of 17 countries trying to get peace talks between the Syrian government and opposition groups underway in Geneva. The talks were supposed to start in January, but the opposition refused to take part while its forces and civilians were bombarded by Syrian troops backed by Russian airstrikes. Soldiers from the Syrian army carry a rocket to fire at Islamic State group positions in the province of Raqqa. In recent weeks, Syrian government forces have captured dozens of villages and towns across the country. (Alexander Kots/AP) A meeting a week ago in Munich established a Friday deadline for what was called a cessation of hostilities, one legal step short of a full cease-fire. But the deadline elapsed while U.S. and Russian diplomats dickered over the terms. Meanwhile, the United States launched an airstrike on Friday against a suspected Islamic State training camp in Libya, killing dozens of militants. Diplomats have said more militants are now going to Libya instead of Syria as the Islamic State tries to establish a caliphate and expand its areas of influence. Two Serbian Embassy staffers who were being held hostage at the camp were killed in the airstrikes, Serbian officials said Saturday. Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said surveillance of the site had given no indication any civilians were present, and said the United States has no information that their deaths resulted from the airstrikes. Kerrys weekend of diplomacy, coming just days before he is scheduled to testify on Capitol Hill about the State Departments budget request for next year, underscores his concern over the peace talks that have struggled to get off the ground, as did two previous efforts before them. The Syrian opposition, meeting in the Saudi capital Riyadh, said it had agreed in principle to accept the deal for a temporary cease-fire, but said the implementation of a truce would require the Syrian government first to lift sieges around rebel-held towns and release political detainees. The High Negotiations Committee, a group of rebel and opposition representatives formed to participate in the stalled Syrian peace talks in Geneva, said in a statement quoted by the Associated Press that the truce would have to include all parties to the conflict, including Iran and Russia, which have both intervened in Syria on behalf of President Bashar al-Assad. In an attempt to get more humanitarian aid to civilians and a stop in the fighting, Kerry spoke by phone Saturday with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. According to Kirby, the two men agreed try to get more food, water and medicine to Syrians immediately, and aim toward ensuring future deliveries are made in a sustained and unimpeded manner. Kerry told Lavrov he hoped the temporary cease-fire would take effect in the shortest time frame possible, and said Syrians were being killed as a result of the indiscriminate nature of continued bombing by Russian military aircraft. The United States continues to call for all sides to abide by international obligations to avoid civilian casualties, and that responsibility lies first and foremost with the Assad regime and its supporters, Kirby said, referring to Russia and Iran. Kirby said Kerry and Hammond had discussed progress being made in Geneva. The State Department spokesman said Hammond also updated Kerry on a Brussels summit in which diplomats agreed to grant Britain special status in the European Union so that it can set new limits on benefits for future immigrants from elsewhere in Europe and adopt other measures independent of the organization. Kerry and Jordans foreign minister, Nasser Judeh, will talk Sunday morning before Kerry visits Abdullah to talk about the ongoing campaign against the Islamic State in neighboring Syria. Jordan is one of the front-line countries confronting the fallout from the Syrian civil war that grew out of peaceful protests five years ago. The small kingdom has taken in more than 600,000 Syrian refugees, and tens of thousands more are massed along the border trying to get in. Kerry also will talk with Abbas, who maintains a home in the capital Amman. Kerry has tried diplomatic efforts meant to stem a continuing wave of violence in Israel and the West Bank. But his most public achievement so far, an agreement to put security cameras on the holy compound known as the Temple Mount to Jews and as the Noble Sanctuary to Muslims, has not materialized. For months now, there have been almost daily incidents of violence involving Palestinians and Israelis, both civilians and security officers. A U.S. citizen became one of the latest victims on Thursday, when two Palestinian teenagers stabbed and killed Tuvya Weisman and wounded another person at a supermarket. The assailants were shot and wounded by an Israeli bystander. State Department deputy spokesman Mark Toner condemned the attack. Liz Sly in Beirut contributed to this report. Members of Iraqi security forces are deployed at the border between Iraq and Saudi Arabia on February 17. (Alaa Al-Marjani/Reuters) The Islamic State deployed snipers on rooftops in Fallujah on Saturday in an attempt to quell an insurrection by Sunni tribesmen, Iraqi officials said, a flare-up that appears to indicate the groups weakening grip on the city. Small clashes took place in the Nazzal and Askali neighborhoods, said Sheikh Majeed al-Juraisi, a tribal leader from Fallujah who claims to be in contact with gunmen inside. Eissa al-Issawi, Fallujahs mayor in exile, also confirmed the fighting but with phone lines cut the reports were difficult to independently verify. [Islamic State faces new trouble in Fallujah as Sunni tribesmen revolt] The fighting in the city about 45 miles west of Baghdad in Anbar province is a small but rare show of force against the Islamic State, which has controlled Fallujah for more than two years. The groups hold on Anbar has been weakened, however, with Iraqi forces retaking the provincial capital of Ramadi, leaving Fallujah isolated and besieged. With essential food and medical supplies scarce, frustration has been building in the city. If Daesh were the same strength that they were six months ago, they would have controlled the situation within hours, Juraisi said, using an Arabic acronym for Islamic State. The group has been weakened in the city since it lost Ramadi, about 40 miles west, he said. The tribesmen have attacked checkpoints and an Islamic State building during three days of fighting, Iraqi officials have said. The sporadic fighting began on Thursday when Islamic State members publicly insulted and humiliated an elderly man, according to Juraisi and Rageh Barakat, a member of the provincial council who is from Fallujah and also claims to be in touch with the gunmen. Barakat said the clashes had finished by Saturday afternoon, and that the Islamic State had carried out mass arrests in the city. Juraisi said the Islamic State has deployed snipers on buildings that had limited the movement of our fighters. Issawi also said snipers had been deployed. Local officials say the insurrection should lead to a reconsideration of military plans to take advantage of the unrest in Fallujah by mounting an offensive there. Some tribal fighters are pinned down in the Jolan neighborhood, Juraisi said. Time is running out very quickly, and if there is no intervention by the government or the Americans, then there will be a massacre, Juraisi said. Read more: How the battle against the Islamic State is redrawing the map of the Middle East Why success against the Islamic State in Ramadi hints at U.S. military strategy to come Vigilantes and local hunters armed with locally made guns gather before they go on patrol in Yola, Nigeria, in this Nov. 25, 2014, file photo. (Sunday Alamba/AP) First come the whispers, then accusations loud enough to raise alarms throughout Nigerias northeastern villages ravaged by extremist violence. Next, people accused of being Boko Haram are rounded up, sometimes by the military, sometimes by a civilian self-defense force. Many are never seen again. The murmurs exploded into a rare open-throated protest recently when an elementary school teacher and two middle-aged farmers were taken away in Duhu village. Women who knew the men insisted they did not belong to the Islamist extremist group, and they marched to a nearby military base to demand their release. Instead, the men were shot, and their bodies were dumped outside of town. Nigerias military denied detaining the teacher, Habu Bello, and Idrisa Dele and Umaru Hammankadi last month. But several villagers told the Associated Press that they watched as the men were led away by uniformed soldiers who accused them of being Boko Haram fighters. Threats to civilians come from all sides and extrajudicial killings have not abated despite President Muhammadu Buharis declaration of victory over Boko Haram. The insurgents have shown no mercy, but many people are equally afraid of the soldiers and the self-defense Vigilante Group of Nigeria. Now, they are learning to fear their neighbors, as well. As refugees return home and try to rebuild lives from nothing houses have been razed, wells poisoned, crops and livestock looted some are capitalizing on the fear and insecurity to settle old scores, erase debts, win land disputes or otherwise get rid of enemies, human rights lawyer Sunday Joshua Wugira explained. If you have a problem with someone, you can influence the military to pick them up, and then you will never hear about them again, he said from his offices in the northeastern city of Yola, where police are investigating the January killings of three brothers from the Fulani tribe. Police have detained members of the civilian self-defense group, Deputy Superintendent Othman Abubakar said. The group members told police they took the suspected insurgents to the military barracks for detention but were turned away, and then a separate group of soldiers seized and killed the brothers, Abubakar said. A teenager said she was captured last year by Boko Haram fighters who attacked her village and killed her father. Soldiers arrived to hunt down extremists, but interrogated her three brothers instead. Vigilantes then seized and killed them, she said. Duhu district leader Mustapha Sanusi said he has no official record of detainees being killed or disappeared, but he has notified the military and legislators about complaints. I dont have any figures, but I can confirm to you that there have been a series of complaints about extrajudicial killings, he said. He called for a federal investigation and said that the military should always operate within the confines of the law. The president promised to end military abuses last year, pledging an investigation into Amnesty Internationals allegations that since 2011, the military has been responsible for the deaths of about 8,000 detainees who were shot, starved or tortured. That is more than a third of the estimated 20,000 people killed during the six-year-old insurgency. Human rights groups also accuse the self-defense fighters of extrajudicial killings but no one has collated figures. Buharis spokesman, Garba Shehu, referred requests for comment for this report to the military, but army spokesman Col. Sani Kukasheka Usman did not respond. However, the army on Thursday announced the establishment of a special office to investigate all cases of human rights complaints brought before it. And it said it has established a special court-martial to try all cases of indiscipline and related acts of misconduct, including human rights abuse. Buhari told a delegation from the United States Institute of Peace this week that mechanisms have been put in place to ensure human rights are respected in the fight against terrorism. We attach great importance to human rights, he said. If there are breaches, they will be investigated and dealt with. There is little evidence of this in the villages, and one of nine senior commanders that Amnesty International accused of possible war crimes Maj. Gen. Ahmadu Mohammed was reinstated last month without any investigation, ending an early retirement prompted by a mutiny among his men. The many allegations of gross rights abuses have hampered the cooperation some allies, including the United States, can offer to Nigeria because of laws that prohibit arming and training troops that may be guilty of war crimes. Wugira, the lawyer, said he and others continue to work to uphold peoples rights. He said he got two young men released from illegal military detention in December, and he freed a group of 10 wrongly accused young men in November, after a soldier testified that they had fought against Boko Haram. But most disappearances go unchallenged, Wugira said, even though he offers his services free. People will say, at the end of the day we will never get justice, he said. People are living in fear. A consignment of Russian weapons was presented to the Fiji government at an official ceremony in Suva on February 16 by the Russian Ambassador Vladimir Morozov and armed forces Missile Artillery group head, Lieutenant General Nikolay Parshin. Morozov, who is based in Australia, said Russia sees Fiji as a leading partner in the South Pacific, while Parshin declared that Moscow was looking to strengthen its relationship with its Fijian counterparts. A 10-member team from the Russian Armed Forces arrived in Suva last week to begin training Fijian instructors in the use of the weapons. Fiji has already initiated negotiations for a second consignment of arms and ammunition. The gifted weapons arrived on January 14 aboard two Russian container ships. According to the Fiji Times, the equipment included grenade launchers, grenade simulators and maintenance equipment. The manifest for the 27 sealed containers has not been revealed. It is rumoured to also include heavy weaponry, as well as new generation Kalashnikov assault rifles. Fijis parliament was told the shipment is valued at $US8.8 million. A memorandum, including protocols on military technical cooperation, was first signed in 2013 during an official visit to Moscow by Fijis prime minister and former military coup leader Frank Bainimarama. It was the first state visit by a Fijian leader, and followed a trip by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to Fiji in February 2012. Fiji Defence Minister Timoci Natuva said the weapons would be deployed to Fijis 1,000-strong peacekeeping forces in Syria, Lebanon and Iraq. Fijian participation in peacekeeping missions was being recognised by bigger countries and when Fiji asked for arms and ammunition, Russia provided a grant, he said. Opposition spokesmen have charged that the arms could be used to suppress domestic opposition to the increasingly autocratic regime. The response by the regional imperialist powers, Australia and New Zealand has, at least publicly, been muted. New Zealand Prime Minister John Key said what Fiji and Russia do with each other is up to them, as long as its lawful. Murdochs Australian newspaper was more revealing. A February 18 editorial bluntly declared that Bainimarama was making a bad mistake if he believed that the consignment was a good idea for his nation. The editorial listed the purported crimes of Russian President Putinfrom the annexation of Crimea to the bombing of tens of thousands of refugees fleeing Aleppo. The editorial concluded with a direct warning that Bainimarama could not afford to consider himself far removed from these events, particularly as the Obama administration had proved incapable of dealing with the Kremlins Soviet-style aggression. Such belligerent posturing, which raises the prospect of an Australian-led operation against Fiji, turns reality on its head. The widening involvement of Russia and China in the Pacific is in response to the Obama administrations military and economic pivot to Asia. In preparation for war, US imperialism, assisted by its allies Australia and New Zealand, is seeking to ensure its dominance in the South West Pacific and to counter the growing influence of China. This has heightened tensions throughout the region. Russia simultaneously faces the intensifying threat by the US to isolate and subjugate it from Europe in the west. Over the past decade, Fiji has developed closer relations with China, Russia and India as part of its Look North policy, in reaction to sanctions applied by Australia, New Zealand and the US following Bainimaramas December 2006 military coup. While professing concern for democracy, the imperialist powers were worried that Bainimaramas junta could lessen their sway over the former British colony. Australia and New Zealand, beginning in 2007, attempted to cut Fiji out of the UNs peacekeeping operations, which generate significant income for its economy. This alienated the Fijian regime and strengthened its diplomatic and military connections with both China and Russia. In 2010, in an unsuccessful effort to stem the growth of Chinese influence, Washington pressured Australia and New Zealand to drop the sanctions. Fijis relations with Russia have been bolstered through closer diplomatic ties and Russian military delegations visiting Fiji. Fijian military officers have received training in Russia and China. China is already heavily involved in Fiji, building infrastructure, sending visiting naval ships and stationing a satellite tracking ship in Suva. In March 2014, Fiji was one of 58 nations that abstained on the UN vote condemn Russias annexation of Crimea. In an exchange of greetings marking 40 years of diplomatic relations between the countries in July 2014, Fijian Foreign Minister Ratu Inoke Kubuabola declared that Russia was emerging as one of Fijis significant partners in its pursuance of its Look North policy. Lavrov declared that deepening interaction with the island nations of the South Pacific is an integral part of the Russian agenda in the region. Russia first announced its intentions to restore its Pacific maritime power in 2013. Russia and China held their largest ever combined naval drill, the Joint Sea/Naval Interaction 2013, followed by another major military exercise in Russias east. Following the drills, Rear Admiral Sergei Avakyants, Commander of Russias Pacific Fleet, disclosed that, for the first time since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia would send new warships to the Far East, including nuclear submarines. In 2015, the first of four nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines joined the Russian Pacific Fleet. Navy Commander-in-Chief Viktor Chirkov stated that the deployment of Russian ballistic and multipurpose nuclear submarines on operational duty in the Pacific Ocean had increased almost 50 percent over the previous year. Expressing concerns in Australian strategic circles, an article last month by the Sydney-based Lowy Institute declared: Not surprisingly, analysts are speculating that the next logical step to Russias increased submarine activity in the Pacific is a submarine fleet support base in the South Pacific. The article was headlined Russia ships arms to Fiji: What will be the quid pro quo? Moscow has no progressive answer to Washingtons provocations and threats of war. The Putin regime represents the interests of the super-wealthy, criminal oligopoly that emerged through the processes of capitalist restoration following the collapse of the USSR. Its military build-up in the Pacific only compounds the danger of conflict. Russias increasing military involvement will not be welcome in Washington, Canberra or Wellington. While expanding its own military might across the Pacific, the US is pressuring governments throughout the region, no matter how small, to fall into line with its strategic agenda. The United States, in league with Australian and New Zealand, will not hesitate to use all means at its disposal to ensure Fiji does not become a Chinese or Russia base of operations. US warplanes struck Libya in the early morning hours Friday killing as many as 50 people at what the Pentagon alleges was a training camp of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in the northwestern port town of Sabratha, near the Tunisian border. The mayor of the town, Hussein al-Thwadi, told Reuters that the target was a building in Sabrathas Qasr Talil district, which had been home to many foreigners. Many of the victims were Tunisians and at least two women were reported among the dead. The Pentagon indicated that the bombing was aimed at assassinating one man, Noureddine Chouchane, a Tunisian national described as a senior facilitator in Libya and alleged to be a suspect in the March 2015 terrorist attack that killed 22 people at the Bardo Museum in Tunis. US officials allowed that they were still assessing who had actually been killed in the strike and were unsure if Chouchane was among the dead. This was the second known US airstrike in Libya in the space of just three months. Last November, US warplanes struck the Libyan town of Derna, near the Egyptian border, in a bid to kill ISIS operative Abu Nabil. This latest air strike comes just days after President Barack Obama told a press conference called at the close of an ASEAN summit meeting in California that Washington was prepared to intervene militarily in Libya. The US military, he said, would take actions where weve got a clear operation and a clear target in mind. He added that the US is working with our other coalition partners to make sure that as we see opportunities to prevent ISIS from digging in, in Libya, we take them. In a further indication of the escalation of US military intervention in the north African country, the Pentagon acknowledged that US special operations troops have been deployed on the ground there in recent weeks and played a role in preparing the airstrike. Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook claimed that the bombing raid had been in compliance with international law and the Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF) passed by Congress shortly after the September 11, 2001 attacks. This legal rationale is dubious to say the least. There is no UN authorization for foreign military intervention in Libya, and there is no legitimate government in Libya itself to request such action. As for the nearly 15-year-old AUMF, it has been used by the Obama administration, like the Bush administration before it, as a blank check to carry out military interventions anywhere on the planet, without having to seek congressional approval, nor, for that matter, even going through the motions of securing the support of the American people. Washingtons military intervention in Libya in the name of the war against ISIS follows by nearly five years the launching by the Obama administration and its NATO allies of a war for regime-change in Libya under the pretext of intervening to protect civilians against what was falsely claimed to be an imminent threat of massacre at the hands of troops loyal to the government led by Muammar Gaddafi. The war, which killed some 30,000 Libyans, culminated in Gaddafis defeat and hideous torture-murder in October 2011 at the hands of Islamist fighters employed as proxy ground troops in the US-NATO war. Since then, the country has been wracked by a civil war between rival militias that Washington and its allies had armed and backed in the regime-change operation. The violence has driven some 2 million Libyans, one-third of the population, into exile in neighboring Egypt and Tunisia. Hundreds of thousands more are internally displaced within Libya, and the countrys basic social infrastructure and economy remain decimated. The growth of ISIS in Libyathe Pentagon claims that the group has as many as 5,000 fighters thereis the byproduct of successive US imperialist interventions in the region. The same Islamist fighters that Washington used as proxies in the war to topple Gaddafi were funneled, along with massive quantities of arms taken from Libyan government stockpiles, into Syria to wage another regime-change war coordinated by the CIA against the government of President Bashar al-Assad. Now, some of these same elements have returned to Libya. It is not only the US that is embarked on another military intervention in Libya. WikiLeaks released a classified document this week disclosing a European Union (EU) plan for military intervention on the pretext of halting the flow of refugee boats across the Mediterranean. Dated January 29, 2016, the document was drafted by Rear Admiral Enrico Credendino, commander of the EUs Operation Sophia, which is employing naval vessels to halt human smuggling on the high seas. It calls for EU bodies and member states to press for the speedy formation of a reliable EU-friendly government that could provide a legal cover by inviting European military forces not only to patrol Libyan territorial waters, but also to operate on the countrys territory. At present, however, no such government exists. Instead, there are two rival parliaments, one in Tripoli and the other in Tobruk, with a so-called presidential council, hand-picked by UN officials, posing as a government of national unity and operating in exile in Tunisia and Morocco. Meanwhile, militias backing the rival governments continue to wage a vicious war for control of resources. It is the intervention into this conflict by ISIS, and particularly its move to take control of key oil exporting ports, that has lent increasing urgency to the demands for US and EU military intervention. Just as the war in 2011 was not about human rights, so the new war being prepared today is not about terrorism. In both cases, the objective is the semi-colonial subjugation of Libya and appropriation by competing energy conglomerates of its oil and gas reserves, the largest on the African continent. Greeces radical left Syriza party is forging a close military alliance with Israel, one of Washingtons key allies in the Middle East. Last month, Greeces Syriza-led coalition government with the Independent Greeks signed an agreement with Israel and Cyprus pledging closer cooperation over their gas reserves in the Eastern Mediterranean and other economic issues. Crucially, the deal also pledges to strengthen cooperation on counterterrorism. This is a euphemism for greater military and political cooperation with Israel, which is in line with the Obama administrations aim of overthrowing the Syrian regime of President Bashar al-Assad, so as to dominate the energy-rich Middle East and its broader aims of mobilising against Russia and China. Syriza Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras billed the move as part of a new independent foreign and economic policy for Greece, which along with closer economic relations with Egypt and Iran, will make Greece a bridgehead between the Middle East and Europe. Greece is being transformed, despite its economic problems, into a hub for developments in the crucial and fragile region of the South Eastern Mediterranean, he said. It is being transformed into what it should always have been because of its geographical position: a bridge between East and West. It would be more truthful to say that he is offering his services to US imperialism. Syrizas manifesto in the January 2015 election included a promise to end previous governments growing military links with Israel, as part of its declared support for the Palestinians. Two Syriza members had been aboard the Mavi Marmara flotilla, which attempted to break the blockade of Gaza in 2010. Instead, within days of taking office, Tsipras assured the Israeli ambassador to Athens that Greek-Israeli relations would not change following his election. The latest agreement follows a series of bilateral meetings between Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu, Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades and Tsipras in Tel Aviv, Nicosia and Athens. Tsipras had previously visited Tel Aviv twice in less than two months. The three leaders agreed to explore the possibility of constructing a pipeline to transport gas from Israel to Greece and then on to Europe, as well as connecting the electrical grids of all three countries. A US Geological Survey published in 2010 estimated that the Levantine Basin, which straddles the maritime borders of Cyprus, Egypt, Israel, Palestine, Lebanon and Syria, contains an estimated 1.7 billion barrels of oil and 122 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of gas. In 2009 and 2010, Israel discovered gas reserves of 10 trillion cubic feet in the Tamar field, and 22 tcf in the Leviathan field, ensuring sufficient capacity for both its domestic needs and exports. In 2011, gas reserves were discovered in the Aphrodite field off the coast of Cyprus that are estimated to hold up to seven tcf. Israel has agreed to sell gas to Jordan under an agreement that precludes Jordan from importing gas from Iran. Both Israel and Cyprus had signed agreements to sell gas to Egypt, which has become a net importer due to rising demand, falling gas output and attacks on its pipelines in Sinai by Islamist militants. However, the collapse of oil and gas prices has called into question the viability of developing all these fields in isolation, as has the discovery of vast gas deposits in the Zohr gas field, situated within Egypts maritime waters, necessitating close collaboration between Israel, Cyprus and Greece. The Zohr field is estimated to hold up to 30 tcf of gas, the largest discovered in the region, which would ensure Egypts energy security and turn it into a regional natural gas hub. It is likely to scuttle Cypriot and Israeli plans to sell offshore gas to Egypt. The tripartite agreement between Israel, Cyprus and Greece also seeks to strengthen military and intelligence cooperation, with the three countries pledging to work together to bolster stability and security in a region. Two days before the tripartite agreement, Israels Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon met his Greek counterpart Panos Kammenos, leader of the right-wing nationalist Independent Greeks, in Athens. Following the meeting, Kammenos spoke of a new period of a strategic, essential and mutually beneficial defence cooperation, including cooperation on military training and our joint exercises which take place in the region of the Mediterranean, in Israel and in Greece. The declaration is an extension of the military cooperation treaty that Kammenos signed in Israel last July. According to the Jerusalem Post, Israel has only ever signed such an accord with the US. Under the agreement, Israeli pilots can train in Greece, a NATO member, enabling the Israeli military to gain access to the latest NATO equipment and thinking. Crucially, it provides the military framework for the growing cooperation between Israel, Greece and Cyprus in exploiting the natural gas fields in the Eastern Mediterranean. In July, Israeli helicopter pilots completed an unprecedented 11-day combat training exercise near Greeces Mount Olympus, following an earlier exercise in which Israeli warplanes carried out extensive training missions in Greece. Later in the year, Greece took part in a series of joint military exercises with Israel. The latest one involved the air forces of both countries, when Greek pilots carried out introductory flights over the Negev desert before participating in joint formations, practising attack missions and rescuing downed pilots. To underscore US strategic interest in these moves, a report by the US Army War Colleges Strategic Studies Institute (SSI), published in January 2015, called for US security and military support to its key allies in the Eastern Mediterranean, particularly Israel, over access to recent vast discoveries of regional oil and gas. The region is rapidly becoming the focus of a new scramble for the Eastern Mediterranean in which the Syrian war is a part. The SSI report notes that while these discoveries have yet to translate into proven gas reserves, the chief beneficiary is Israel, and it calls for Israel to play a key role in exporting gas to Washingtons allies, Jordan, Egypt and Turkey. It further notes the possibility of Israel piping gas to Turkey. This is believed to be Israels preferred export solution and a factor in Tel Avivs agreement with Cyprus and Greece, which it sees as a means of pressuring Ankara to reach an agreement. The US calculates that these arrangements would have the additional advantage of weaning Europe off its dependency on Russia for its energy needs, as well as limiting Greece and Cyprus trade and investment deals with Moscow. The SSI report concluded that extensive US military involvement may prove essential in managing possible future conflict in case of an eruption of natural resource conflict in the East Mediterranean, as a result of the recent discovery of huge offshore gas discoveries. It would also be necessary to prevent regional encroachment by emerging powers and potential new peace brokers such as Russiawhich already entertains a strong interest in East Mediterranean gas developmentsand notably China. Dore Gold, Director General of Israels Ministry of foreign Affairs, told Natural Gas Europe last December that the US was the main bridesmaid in Israels gas agreements with its neighbours. Syrizas alignment with Israel and its backer, Washington, follows on from its implementation of the European Unions (EU) draconian austerity measures, with devastating consequences for Greek workers and their families in return for loans that are being used to shore up European banks. It is also implementing the EUs brutal demands to deter refugees, ordering the army to the Aegean islands of Kos, Chios, Lesbos and Leros to construct the hotspots (internment camps where refugees are registered) ordered by the EU Commission. It is now positioning itself as a direct military ally of US imperialism in schemes that can drag the entire Middle East and Europe into war. MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, held a presidential campaign event here on Friday that was equal parts church sermon and political rally. The event included calls to prayer, fiery declarations about the countrys morals, and comments about the Christian credentials of one of his top rivals, businessman Donald Trump. South Carolinas Republican primary is on Saturday, and a significant portion of the states GOP voters are religious Christians. According to NPR, 65 percent of South Carolinas Republican primary voters identify as born-again evangelical Christians. As he wrapped up his speech, Cruz, who has said he hopes to rally born-again Christians around his presidential bid, framed his campaign as a religious awakening. If you agree with me, I want to ask every one of you to do three things: No. 1, tomorrow come out and vote in the Republican primary, and lets stand together. But No. 2, bring others, Cruz said, later adding. And the last thing I want to ask each of you to do, every minute that youre not on the phone calling friends and loved ones, spend beseeching God, praying for this country that this awakening, that this spirit of revival that is sweeping the country, that it continues, and grows, and that we awaken the body of Christ. Cruz was introduced at the event by Phil Robertson, one of the bearded stars of the reality TV series Duck Dynasty. Robertson is well known for his outspoken conservative and religious views. In 2013, A&E, the network that airs Duck Dynasty, briefly suspended Robertson after he criticized homosexual behavior and non-Christians in a magazine interview. Last month, Robertson appeared on the campaign trail with Cruz in Iowa. He also filmed a campaign ad for Cruz that aired in that state. Cruz emerged victorious in the Iowa caucuses on Feb. 1. Robertson, who waved a Bible as he spoke in Myrtle Beach, launched into a critique of abortion, same-sex relationships, and premarital sex. He began by railing against the separation of church and state and attempts to get rid of God in American law and government. Story continues When you start allowing men to determine what is right, what is wrong, what is good, what is evil, you let men do it and they do not vet it through this book, Robertson began, gesturing with his Bible. Our founding fathers warned us over, and over, and over again, what you will end up doing is saying, Well, I know it sounds like it may be a violation of commandment number six, do not murder, but were just going to go ahead and tell these ladies of America, American women, they can kill their children. Robertson then turned to perversion. While waving a report about STDs from the Centers for Disease Control, he urged young men to keep your sex confined to heterosexual marriages. I know what God says about perversion. I mean, you know marriage is between a man and a woman. Keep your sex right there, Robertson said. Heres a report from the CDC, gentlemen. Young men, marry you a woman. Oh, dude, if shes clean, and youre clean, and you marry her you keep your sex right there, youre never going to get a debilitating disease and/or dead. Its safe! Robertson ended by praising Cruz as a staunch, Jesus Bible-believing, Jesus-loving, godly man. We better get him in the White House, and we better get him in there quick! Robertson said of Cruz. Cruzs Christian faith has been questioned by one of his opponents, Donald Trump, in recent days. Both men are competing for the support of the conservative base, and while Trump is the frontrunner in South Carolina, most polls show Cruz in second place. As they fight to win over religious conservatives in the state, Trump has suggested Cruz might not really be a religious Christian. Ive never seen anybody that lied as much as Ted Cruz, Trump said on Monday. And he goes around saying hes a Christian. I dont know youre going to have to really study that. Trumps Christian credentials have also been questioned, most recently by Pope Francis, who said Trumps pledge to build a wall on the U.S. border with Mexico is not Christian in an interview earlier this week. Trump has also stumbled on several occasions while attempting to reference Scripture as he tries to woo evangelicals. At the campaign event in Myrtle Beach, a Cruz volunteer checking in reporters joked that they should have invited the pope to watch the speech. After he spoke, Yahoo News asked Cruz if he thinks Trump is a good Christian. You know, thats between him and God, Cruz said. Decades before presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders hit the campaign trail, he was arrested during a civil rights protest in 1963, and video of the incident has finally emerged thanks to Kartemquin Films. Kartemquin Films co-founder Jerry Temaner shot the footage, which was recently shared on the companys Vimeo account. The Sanders campaign confirmed to the New York Times that Bernie is the young man in the clip. The video from Kartemquin Films prompted the Chicago Tribune to dig through its own archive, where researchers found a photograph from the event that showed Sanders face more clearly. Also Read: Democratic Debate: Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders Spar Over Obama, Immigration and Super PACs Sanders was a 21-year-old student at the University of Chicago when he decided to participate in a civil rights demonstration to protest school segregation. Sanders was ultimately charged with resisting arrest, and the Chicago Tribune reported he was found guilty and fined $25 a small price to pay to prove oneself a man of the people, both then and now. FLORENCE, S.C. Former neurosurgeon Ben Carsons town hall here on Friday did not feel like an event for a failing campaign. Hundreds of people packed the Florence Civic Center to hear Carson speak. And yet, though hes able to draw a crowd, Carson is in last place in many polls of the major candidates in South Carolinas Republican primary, which will take place on Saturday. In a brief conversation after the event, Yahoo News asked Carson about his chances. The discussion also touched on a secret meeting he had with Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, to discuss alleged dirty tricks on the campaign trail. Carson has been critical of the media throughout his campaign, which briefly attained near-frontrunner status in polls ahead of the Iowa caucuses. He kept up that criticism when Yahoo News asked if he feels hes being underestimated. Not so much underestimated as it is ignored, because, you know, youre not one of the chosen ones. But, you know, were fighting through that, because when the people hear us they know better, Carson said. Carsons national press secretary, Deana Bass, told Yahoo News people are underestimating the enthusiasm he generates in South Carolina. This crowd alone just shows you, people waiting in line for a room this size. I think that Dr. Carsons message of faith, integrity and common sense it really resonates in this community. And so, wherever we go, it doesnt matter if its, you know, we just stopped into Krispy Kreme, people get really excited to see him, or whether its a crowd like this, Bass said. They recognize that hes not a politician, that he speaks from his heart and that he has a career of solving problems, and thats what America needs right now. Christian faith is indeed a key part of Carsons message. Bass said voters in South Carolina, where a large portion of the Republican electorate identifies as evangelical, born-again Christians, appreciate the fact that Carson is also religious. Story continues He does have a strong faith, and he is very clear about that. Its not a talking point. Its something that is sincere, Bass said. That sincerity resonates with people, and, you know, he doesnt really speak in Christian-ese the way some politicians do, but its just a very sincere faith. Slideshow: Republican candidates duke it out in South Carolina >>> Dr. Ben Carson speaks to cadets at the Citadel on Friday in Charleston, South Carolina. (Photo: Spencer Platt/Getty Images) Carson indicated that the campaign has also been attempting to target African-Americans. Though African-Americans make up more than 27 percent of the states population, they traditionally vote Democratic. However, Carson, who is African-American, said he has been focusing on the community and is attempting to encourage black Democrats to cross party lines and vote for him. Ive been messaging to them all week that, you know, forget about whether a person has a D or an R behind their name. Listen to the ideals, you know, the stale ideals that have kept people, you know, in a state of dependency, that have increased the number of out-of-wedlock births, the number of poverty, crime, incarceration, Carson said. Those are not the policies that you really want, no matter what promises they make you. What we want are people who will give us programs that will allow people to climb out of the state of dependency and become part of the strength and fabric of America. South Carolina has an open primary, where people can vote in either partys election regardless of registration. Carson has repeatedly suggested his disappointing fourth-place finish in Iowa on Feb. 1 could have been affected by what he described as fraud from the Cruz campaign. While voters were caucusing in Iowa, Cruzs campaign sent an email suggesting Carson had dropped out of the race. The message encouraged Cruz supporters to tell voters at the caucuses that Carson had given up while there was still time for them to switch sides. On Thursday evening, Cruz and Carson had a private meeting to clear the air. According to the Daily Beast, which was first to report on the powwow, the pair spent 20 to 25 minutes talking in a storage closet ahead of the Conservative Review convention. A spokesperson for Carsons campaign said the meeting did not go well. The Carson campaign also claimed Cruzs team leaked word of the tete-a-tete, which was supposed to be private. Carson told Yahoo News that Cruz apologized to him for the incident in Iowa. However, he suggested they didnt come to an agreement about whether there should be consequences. That wasnt supposed to be a public meeting by any stretch of the imagination, Carson said. But yes, I accepted his apology and we just agreed to disagree on whether there should be accountability in that situation. Carson expressed confidence there would not be any similar dirty tricks in South Carolina. I would not expect to see that, he said. Bass was bullish about her candidates chances. Though she would not say where she hopes Carson will end up in the pack of candidates, she vowed he will outperform the low expectations most political experts have for his performance. I dont even look at what place it will be, but I definitely know that we will do better than the pundits are predicting, Bass said. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton speaks during a rally on Feb. 19, 2016, in Las Vegas. (Photo: John Locher/AP) A week before Nevadas Democratic caucus, Hillary Clinton abruptly cancelled a rally in Palm Beach, sending her husband in her place. Instead, the former secretary of state appeared at three small campaign events in Reno, and then, on Sunday, showed up for service at Victory Missionary Baptist Church in Las Vegas, with her friend and civil rights hero Rep. John Lewis of Georgia in tow. Crashing would be a strong word to describe Clintons presence at the African American church, but Bernie Sanders had planned a campaign stop there before the secretary of state had. Now, the senator was upstaged at his own event. Lewis introduced her as his beloved sister and a warrior. Then, Clinton obliquely criticized Sanders, as he listened from a nearby pew. I am not a single issue candidate and this is not a single issue country, Clinton said. The former secretary of state has been in an all-out sprint in this final week before Saturdays caucus, attempting to defend a state that she has long called her firewall. Sanders built surprising momentum in Nevada, a diverse state that, should he win it, would go a long way to silence critics who say the democratic socialist can only win with white voters and lacks the broad appeal to be the nominee. Clinton, whose campaign manager Robby Mook earned his stripes in 2008 working Nevada for her, has had a strong operation here since April, and until recently had a commanding double digit lead in the states notoriously unreliable polls. But Sanders came from behind: outspending Clinton two to one on television ads and quickly building up a campaign operation to rival hers in size. His win in New Hampshire and near-win in Iowa catapulted him from unrealistic longshot to serious contender. The latest Nevada poll showed the rivals in a statistical tie. In his final rally before the caucus, Sanders told the thousands of supporters who showed up that he had a feeling they would make history on Saturday. Story continues Clinton did not sound as confident as the senator in her final rally, which drew a few hundred supporters in Las Vegas Friday night. Weve got to be in this together, she said, urging them to bring as many people as possible to caucus for her Saturday morning. I want you tell them this, If they will stand with me tomorrow, I will stand and fight for them. A Clinton staffer who did not want to be named talking about strategy said that the campaign realized many Clinton supporters did not fully understand Nevadas caucus process, which is only eight years old. Having Clinton herself appear at events and explain the importance of the caucus was the best way to motivate voters to actually show up. Having the candidate is always better, the staffer said. Clintons decision to stay in Nevada an extra day also led to meaningful one-on-one interactions with voters. On Sunday after the church visit, she met with young immigrants and their families, leading to a touching moment that the campaign in which Clinton comforted a 10-year-old girl whose parents might get deported. The Clinton campaign later turned the moment into an ad. Clinton campaigned in Nevada four of the past six days at a grueling pace, while Sanders stumped in the state for just three of those days, spending the rest of his time in Detroit and South Carolina. Clintons high-profile surrogates were also out in full force before Sanders were. Cabinet members Ken Salazar and Tom Perez, several members of Congress, actresses Chloe Grace Moretz, Eva Longoria and Jamie Lee Curtis, and labor activists Dolores Huerta all appeared at multiple, daily events for the former secretary of state in the past week. Sanders surrogates, including Dick Van Dyke and Susan Sarandon, appeared in the final days before the caucus. Clinton also held at least four back-of-the-house meetings with casino workers in the past week, hoping for a repeat of 2008 when she handily won the casino caucus sites. Some see Clintons frenzied pace as a sign of desperation as she contemplates losing a state that was once a given. I think her campaign has been more manic and frenetic, said Jon Ralston, a long-time political reporter in Nevada who writes a column for the Reno Gazette-Journal. But if the desperation works, and Clinton carries the day, Sanders team may wonder if they should not have kept the candidate in the state for an extra day or two. After all, if Sanders could win in Nevada, he could make the pitch that he can appeal to a diverse electorate, and Clinton would be in a significantly weaker position going into South Carolina and Super Tuesday. But the Sanders momentum may push him to victory on Saturday anyway. His campaign [in Nevada] is just not what hers is here and never has been, Ralston said. But it might not need to be. In you, O Lord, do I take refuge; let me never be put to shame! In your righteousness deliver me and rescue me; incline your ear to me, and save me! Be to me a rock of refuge, to which I may continually come; you have given the command to save me, for you are my rock and my fortress. Rescue me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked, from the grasp of the unjust and cruel man. For you, O Lord, are my hope, my trust, O Lord, from my youth. Upon you I have leaned from before my birth; you are he who took me from my mother's womb. My praise is continually of you. I have been as a portent to many, but you are my strong refuge. My mouth is filled with your praise, and with your glory all the day. Do not cast me off in the time of old age; forsake me not when my strength is spent. For my enemies speak concerning me; those who watch for my life consult together and say, God has forsaken him; pursue and seize him, for there is none to deliver him. O God, be not far from me; O my God, make haste to help me! May my accusers be put to shame and consumed; with scorn and disgrace may they be covered who seek my hurt. But I will hope continually and will praise you yet more and more. My mouth will tell of your righteous acts, of your deeds of salvation all the day, for their number is past my knowledge. With the mighty deeds of the Lord God I will come; I will remind them of your righteousness, yours alone. O God, from my youth you have taught me, and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds. So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might to another generation, your power to all those to come. Your righteousness, O God, reaches the high heavens. You who have done great things, O God, who is like you? You who have made me see many troubles and calamities will revive me again; from the depths of the earth you will bring me up again. You will increase my greatness and comfort me again. I will also praise you with the harp for your faithfulness, O my God; I will sing praises to you with the lyre, O Holy One of Israel. My lips will shout for joy, when I sing praises to you; my soul also, which you have redeemed. And my tongue will talk of your righteous help all the day long, for they have been put to shame and disappointed who sought to do me hurt. History and philosophy. Caution: Some thinkers, and especially their ideas, may still be alive. Iran does execute juvenile offenders The death sentence of Himan Ouraminejad who was charged with murder as a juvenile, has been confirmed in the Supreme Court and is waiting for the permission of head of judiciary to be executed. According to the report of Human Rights Activists News Agency in Iran (HRANA), Himan Ouraminejad is charged with the murder of another juvenile in a fight in Sanandaj. Himan Ouraminejad is born in 1994 and by the time that he committed the crime in 2010, he was under 18. According to article 91 of the Islamic Penal Code, when the individual is under 18 or do not understand the nature of the crime, or the growth of their brain could be questioned, the death retribution will not be applied. According to an informed source, the forensic has just asked him few questions and the actual scientific tests were not carried out about Himan Ouraminejad. The death sentence of this juvenile offenders will be executed after the permission of the head of judiciary and the refusal of consent by the victim's family. Himan Ouraminejad is currently being kept in Sanandaj prison. Source: Human Rights Activists News Agency, Feb. 20, 2016 Is the death penalty fair? Is it humane? Does it deter crime? The answers to these questions vary depending on who answers them. Those who are against the death penalty usually argue that such punishment fails to rehabilitate and discourage crime. They also believe that prison keeps dangerous criminals away from society just as well as having them executed. On the other hand, those who support the death penalty believe that it is the ultimate weapon against increasing crime rates, since it is human nature to fear of death. It has been reported that there are around 100 convicts currently on death row in Indonesia. At least 60 of them were sentenced for drug offenses, which at the moment is dominated by foreigners. Recently, the processes related to the execution of two (2) Australians, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, who were both sentenced to death by firing squad for drug trafficking, have raised protests from people and the government of Australia. Domestically, many Indonesians have different opinions on whether or not the government should continue to implement the death penalty. It seems that the controversial stories of the death penalty always attract the public's attention. INDONESIAN LAW ON DEATH PENALTY In Indonesia, the death penalty can be applied to various criminal offenses. There are fourteen (14) different laws with the death penalty as a discretionary punishment. Such major offenses include: (i) production, transit, import and possession of drugs (Law No. 35 of 2009 on Narcotics); (ii) premeditated murder (Art. 340 of Penal Code of Indonesia); (iii) corruption under 'certain circumstances' (Law No. 31 of 1999 on Corruption); (iv) acts of terrorism (Law No. 15 of 2003 on Combating Criminal Acts of Terrorism); and (v) gross violations of human rights, including genocide and crimes against humanity (Law No. 26 of 2000 on Human Rights Courts). The reports indicate that in practice the death penalty is mainly imposed on the commission of drug trafficking, murder and terrorist acts. Drugs offenses have accounted for most death sentences since 1998. The Constitution of Indonesia ("Constitution") provides that every person has the right to live and to defend his/her life and existence; however the right to live and other human rights granted under the Constitution are not absolute. Article 28 (J) of the Constitution stipulates that every person has the duty to respect the human rights of others in the orderly life of the community, nation and state. As the consequence, for the sole purposes of guaranteeing the recognition and respect of the rights and freedom of others, the law may restrict the individual human rights. The law can set aside such rights if the interest to be protected is particularly important or serious. In light of the above, the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Indonesia, in its Decision No. 2-3/PUU-V/2007 on Judicial Review of Law No. 22 of 1997 on Narcotics dated 23 October 2007 ("Decision No. 2-3/2007") and Decision No. 15/PUU-X/2012 on Judicial Review of Indonesian Penal Code dated 10 July 2012, interpreted that the inherent right to life is not absolute. Therefore, according to the Constitutional Court, the state is entitled to restrict the right to life in order to protect the rights and freedoms of others, including through the application of the death penalty. Also, the Constitutional Court based its ruling on Article 6 (2) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of 1976 ("ICCPR"), and the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 ("Convention 1988") which has been ratified by Law No. 7 of 1997. The Constitutional Court argued that the death penalty may still be imposed for the most serious crimes. FUTURE TREND The phrase 'the most serious crimes' as stated in Article 6 (2) of ICCPR is open to interpretation. In 2006, the United Nations ("UN") rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions further narrowed the interpretation of the 'most serious crimes' by defining them as 'cases where it can be shown that there was an intention to kill, which resulted in the loss of life'. The abolitionists are of the view that sentencing people to death denies them the right to life as enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948, and execution is the ultimate, irrevocable punishment since the risk of executing an innocent person can never be eliminated. In the spirit of universality, Article 6 of ICCPR sets direction towards abolition of the death penalty by establishing state obligations to progressively restrict its use only for the most serious crimes. There is a clear international trend away from the death penalty. According to the UN, more than 150 countries have abolished the death penalty from their laws. In an effort to abolish death penalty throughout the world, the General Assembly of the UN has adopted resolutions for a moratorium on the death penalty. It calls for states which maintain the death penalty to establish a moratorium on the use of the death penalty with a view to abolishing it, and in the meantime, to restrict the number of offenses with the death penalty. It also calls for the states which have abolished the death penalty not to reintroduce it. However, like all General Assembly resolutions, it is not binding on any state. Despite this global trend, some countries continue to apply the death penalty on the basis that it deters crime and should be applied to a broad range of criminal acts, even when there is no intention to kill or actual loss of life. As a comparison, in the neighboring countries of Indonesia such as Singapore and Malaysia, the death penalty is mandatory for drug trafficking and the manufacturing of drugs, genocide involving the killing of any person, and other capital offenses under the Singaporean Penal Code. However, the courts are now given more discretion on whether to impose the death penalty. In Malaysia, the death penalty is mandatory for drug trafficking, acts of terrorism, and other capital offenses under the Malaysian Penal Code. In the last 10 years, Indonesia has executed 10 people for drug offenses. Compared to Singapore and Malaysia, this number can be viewed as slightly conservative. Singapore has executed more than 80 people for drug offenses. Meanwhile, Malaysia has executed more than 50 people for similar offenses. Therefore, the 'seriousness' of a crime may vary according to national culture, religion, tradition and political context. While the imposition of the death penalty is a legal move, the decision on whether or not to carry it out, particularly in Indonesia, is a political one. Under the new administration, President Joko Widodo, there was a hope at the beginning that the new administration will afford more respect human rights and there were signs that Indonesia would abolish the death penalty for all crimes. In fact, quite the opposite has occurred. President Joko Widodo has proven to be a staunch supporter of the death penalty, overseeing the execution of 6 drug traffickers on January 2015 and making several public statements that he will not grant clemency to any of the other drug traffickers currently on death row. The number of countries that put an end to the death penalty since the late 1980s increased nearly three-fold, from 35 to 99. These notes confirm Indonesia as one of the few countries moving in the opposite direction. Source: mondaq.com, Feb. 19, 2016 The actress claimed that she had physical relations with Yadav on seven occasions and she was forced into it every time. (Representational photo) Mumbai: The Mira Road police arrested Bhojpuri producer and actor Shayam Charan Yadav early on Friday morning for allegedly raping a Pakistani actress. The 42-year-old actress lodged a police complaint in Kanakiya Road police station late on Thursday night against Yadav. The complainant, in her statement, told the police that Yadav had also cheated her. Later, the police arrested Yadav at his residence in Jogeshwari under sections 376 (rape), 417 and 420 (cheating), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code. The police is searching for two more accused, identified as Bablu Rai and Tiger, who are absconding. The actress has claimed that the men, who are residents of Vapi, had cheated her. According to police sources, the complainant and the accused were in touch since 2012. When the complainant visited Mumbai for the first time that year, she met Yadav at a promotional event of a film and they became friends. Later, Yadav made a small-budget film Road to Revenge and the complainant and the accused acted in it. Later, Yadav allegedly lured the actress to make a film and took `35.80 lakh from her. However, the film never got completed. The complainant claims that she eventually realised that Yadav had cheated her and started for asking her money back. According to the complainant, initially Yadav avoided her, but after some time he allegedly took the help of Bablu and Tiger to threaten her. The actress in her statement also said Yadav had raped her at Sona Lodge in Mira Road in the past. She also claimed that she had physical relations with Yadav on seven occasions and she was forced into it every time. The police said that it is probing the rape allegations. The actress was sent for a medical test and her reports are yet to come. The actress is married and has children, said a police official from the Mira Road police station. The actor is currenting shooting for Gauri Shinde's film, which also stars Alia Bhatt, in Goa. (Photo: Twitter) Mumbai: Its a known fact that Shah Rukh Khan cant stay a day or two without his little bundle of joy. After wrapping up his film Raees Gujarat scheduled shoot, the actor is now in Goa, where he is shooting for filmmaker Gauri Shindis next. SRK bought little AbRam along with him to Goa. After finishing his work for the day, the actor decided to take a break and spend some peaceful time with AbRam. Apart from strolling on the beach, the actor also took his son for a Quad bike ride. With AbRam comfortably seated in front, we see SRK riding the bike. On work front, the film also stars Alia Bhatt. US President George W. Bush presents the 2007 Presidential Medal of Freedom to novelist Harper Lee in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC. (Photo: AFP) Harper Lee, who wrote one of Americas most enduring literary classics, To Kill a Mockingbird, about a childs view of right and wrong and waited 55 years to publish a second book with the same characters from a very different point of view, died at the age of 89 on Friday. Mary Jackson, the city clerk in Lees hometown of Monroeville, Alabama, said by phone that Lee had died. A woman who answered the phone at the office of Harper Lees attorney, Tonja Carter, read a statement on behalf of the family that said Lee passed away early this morning in her sleep. Her passing was unexpected. For decades it was thought Lee would never follow up To Kill a Mockingbird and the July 2015 publication of Go Set a Watchman was a surprising literary event, as well as a shock for devotees of Mockingbird. In the first book, Atticus Finch was the adored father of the young narrator Scout and a lawyer who nobly but unsuccessfully defended a black man unjustly accused of raping a white woman. But in Watchman, an older Atticus had racial views that left the grown-up Scout greatly disillusioned. Lee reportedly had written Go Set a Watchman first but, at the suggestion of a wise editor, set it aside to tell a tale of race in the South from the childs point of view in the 1930s. For many years, Lee, a shy woman with an engaging Southern drawl who never married, lived quietly and privately, always turning down interview requests. She alternated between living in a New York apartment and Monroeville, where she shared a home with her older sister, lawyer Alice Lee. Harper Lee became the top trending term in the US on Twitter shortly after news of her death broke. Social media users mourned the loss of the legendary author. Oh, Harper Lee. What an extra-ordinary legacy. Thank you for helping us climb into other folks skin, wrote Emily Bishop (@emilybishop). Prominent public figures quickly joined the online mourners as well. US Representative Bradley Bryne (@RepByrne) of Alabama tweeted on Friday, Heartbreaking news. Harper Lee, from Monroeville, is an Alabama and American literary giant. Lees literary output had been a matter of speculation for decades before Go Set a Watchman. She acknowledged she could not top the Pulitzer Prize-winning Mocking-bird but friends said she had worked for years on at least two other books before abandoning them. A family friend, the Reverend Thomas Lane Butts, told an Australian interviewer Lee had said she did not publish again because she did not want to endure the pressure and publicity of another book and because she had said all that she wanted to say. Lee essentially quit giving interviews in 1964 and rarely made public appearances but in November 2007 went to the White House to accept a Presidential Medal of Freedom from President George W. Bush, who called her book a gift to the entire world. She also regularly attended an annual luncheon at the University of Alabama to meet with the winners of a high school essay contest on the subject of her book. Nelle Harper Lee was born April 28, 1926, in Monroeville, the youngest of four children of A.C. and Frances Finch Lee and a descendant of Civil War General Robert E. Lee. Like Scout, Lee grew up a tomboy. Lee had studied law at the University of Alabama but, six months before finishing her studies, she went to New York in the early 1950s to pursue a literary career while working as an airline reservation clerk. In 1956 friends Michael and Joy Brown gave Lee a special Christmas gift, a year of financial support so she could work full time on To Kill a Mockingbird. The book was published in 1960, shortly after the dawn of the US civil rights movement, and would sell an estimated 30 million copies. It would become required reading in many American schools but the American Library Association said it was frequently challenged by those who did not like its subject matter. Lee also played a key role in researching another great American book by Truman Capote, her childhood friend and the inspiration for the frail, precocious Dill in To Kill a Mockingbird. In 1959 she accompanied Capote to Holcombe, Kansas, to work on In Cold Blood, the chilling account of the murders of a farming family. Her mannerly, down-home approach undoubtedly smoothed the way for the flamboyant Capote. There was speculation that Capote helped her write To Kill a Mockingbird the book but in his 2006 biography, Mockingbird: A Portrait of Harper Lee, Charles J. Shields disputed that. He also said Lees contribution to Capotes In Cold Blood was greater than believed. Lees sister said the authors eventually fell out because Capote was jealous of Lees Pulitzer. The movie version of To Kill a Mockingbird also became an American classic. It won the Academy Award for best picture in 1963 while Gregory Peck, who played Atticus, was named best actor and screenwriter Horton Foote won for his adaptation of the book. In 2006 Lee wrote a piece for O magazine about developing a childhood love of books, even though they were scarce in Monroeville. Now, 75 years later in an abundant society where people have laptops, cell phones, iPods, and minds like empty rooms, I still plod along with books, she wrote. Adolescents dealing with chronic pain may benefit from the advice and support of a young adult who has learned to manage similar symptoms, a Canadian pilot study suggests. After the eight-week program of scheduled video calls with a peer mentor, teenagers said they liked the experience and that they were better able to manage and cope with their pain, the study team reports in the journal Pain. Young people with chronic pain can become socially isolated and many have never met another person with chronic pain, said lead study author Sara Ahola Kohut, a pediatric health psychologist at The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. By having trained mentors, young people who are only a couple years older than the teens, teach coping strategies, we believed the pain coping skills might be easier to learn and practice, Kohut told Reuters in an email. Chronic pain is a common problem, affecting between 11 and 38 percent of children and adolescents, Kohut and her colleagues note. Conditions like neuropathic pain, chronic widespread pain or chronic headache can lead to physical and emotional distress as well as causing teens to miss school, which affects their social development. To assess how an online peer mentoring program might help teens deal with chronic pain, the study team recruited 28 kids ages 12 to 17 who'd been diagnosed with various chronic pain conditions at a Canadian hospital. The teens were randomly assigned either to a group that would participate in the iPeer2Peer program or to a comparison group that was on a waitlist for the treatment. All the kids continued to receive any other usual care they were getting for their condition. All of the teens in the treatment group were girls researchers say thats because chronic pain is more common among females and during recruitment boys were less interested in participating. The peer mentors were 18-25-year-olds with chronic pain disorders who had learned to manage their own pain successfully. Peer mentors went through a 20-hour training program, and were matched to a mentee based on gender, and when possible, diagnosis. For the first two weeks, two calls a week were scheduled, then one call a week for the remaining six weeks of the program. During video calls using free Skype software, mentors gave the participants advice, emotional support and encouragement and let the mentees direct the conversation to address any issues they wanted help with. The sessions were planned to last a minimum of 20 minutes but routinely ran about twice as long, the study team writes. Only 40 percent of peer-mentor pairs completed the program within eight weeks and there were some issues with scheduling calls. Even so, the teens said they were satisfied with the program and would recommend it to a friend. Mentors, too, said they enjoyed the sessions and liked being in the mentor role. Teenagers in the mentoring treatment group reported significantly better self-management skills after completing the program. They also reported being more satisfied with their own ability to cope with pain. Sara King, a clinical psychologist and professor at Mount Saint Vincent University in Nova Scotia, said the online model is promising and may be more appealing to young people. Internet interventions have the added benefit of reducing the amount of time young people must spend away from school to attend medical appointments and they also allow some flexibility in terms of when and where the young person accesses support, King told Reuters Health by email. This may be especially helpful for youth in rural or underserved areas, King added. Although this is a preliminary study and cannot give definite answers, King said, Peers are so important to adolescents and, as clinicians we need a better understanding of how their peer can be part of the intervention process. Kohut said she is optimistic about the future of the program. The program is easily accessible, teenagers liked it, and it helped improve the teenagers ability to cope with pain, she said. The original construction plans of the key road tunnels have been eaten up by rodents. As if the European Union does not have crises enough, now traffic chaos in its congested capital Brussels is being blamed on... hungry mice. EU leaders gathering for a summit on Thursday to deal with the refugee crisis and British threats to quit the bloc find a city struggling to cope with repeated closures of key road tunnels caused by crumbling concrete and years of decay. Now the Belgian capital's regional parliament has been told that repairs are being held up because original construction plans have been destroyed -- apparently eaten by rodents. The tunnels provide vital arteries across what is often described as Europe's most traffic-congested city. But for decades the plans for their construction were stored in the pillars under a motorway bridge, for want of space elsewhere. "They may have been eaten by mice," the former head of the city's infrastructure agency told city lawmakers on Wednesday. The state of the roads in the city of 1.2 million, home to the European Union and NATO headquarters, has become a hot political issue in Belgium, with an estimated bill of some 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) to repair all the tunnels. Minister for labour Shibu Baby John handing over the job offer letter to nurses at a function in Thiruvananthapuram on Friday. Kerala Accademy for Skills and excellence director R Rahul, MD and CEO SUT Hospital Sudhakar Jayaram, Director Employment and training K Biju, ODEPEC Managing director Dr GL Muraleedharan, Norka Roots CEO RS Kannan looks on (Photo: DC) THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: All 116 nurses, who passed out of Indias first finishing school for nurses here, have landed jobs in hospitals in the United Arab Emirates. Labour Minister Shibu Baby John, who distributed offer letters to 73 nurses at the Press Club here on Friday, said there were 118 students in the first batch and two of them had dropped out. Offer letters were sent to other recruits. Doha had expressed interest in absorbing nurses, he said. The nurses got offer letters with an average monthly salary of Rs 122,000 to work at NMC Specialty Hospital, Brightpoint Royal Womens Hospital, NMC Hospital, Al Ain, NMC Day Surgery Center, Mohammed Bin Zayed City and NMC Royal Hospital, Khalifa City, Abu Dhabi. The Nursing Institute for Career Enhancement was started last year by BR Academy of Abu Dhabi-based businessman BR Shetty under the state initiative to improve the quality of manpower exports. Mr Shibu Baby John said the Government would explore avenues for nurses in Latin America. Kerala, which once dominated the export of caregivers, now faced stiff competition from the Philippines. Gulf-bound nurses are taught English and Arabic. We are considering another centre in Kochi and including functional Spanish in the curriculum, said Mr Baby John. Recruits had completed a 90-day advanced nursing training programme on the NICE campus; one of them cleared the Health Authority of Abu Dhabi (HAAD) licensing exam. The rest are appearing for the test soon. Mr Sudhakar Jayaram, the head of SUT Hospital here and BR Academy, said the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) training was being incorporated in NICE curriculum in association with British Council. The move was on for tie-ups with other international hospitals in other GCC countries. He expected offer letters from other GCC countries to arrive soon and appreciated the Kerala Government initiative in identifying challenges faced by nursing professionals in the Gulf market and offering the right solution in equipping them to serve in international hospitals. The training for the second batch of 26 students progressed smoothly at NICE. Entrance tests for third batch are scheduled for February 27, March 12 and 26. JNUSU President Kanhaiya Kumar, arrested on charges of sedition, being produced at Patiala House Courts in New Delhi. (Photo: PTI) New Delhi: Coming down heavily on Delhi Police, an NHRC probe team said on Friday that the physical assault on JNU student leader Kanhaiya Kumar in the court premises appeared to have been "organised and pre-planned". It also said Kumar was subjected to psychological pressure and was made to issue a statement before he appeared in the court, owing allegiance to Constitution which was dictated by police. "Kanhaiya Kumar was abused and physically assaulted by some persons dressed as advocates in the Patiala House court premises on February 17. "He was even physically assaulted inside the adjoining court room in the presence of police who did not do anything to prevent the assault or apprehend the attackers even though they were identified by Kanhaiya Kumar then and there. The physical assault on Kumar in the court premises appears to be organized and pre-planned," a report submitted to the NHRC by a fact-finding team of the Commission said. The NHRC team said what happened in the Patiala House court complex on Wednesday when Kumar was attacked was a major security lapse on the part of the police. "There was serious dereliction of duty on the part of the police. Going by the sequence of events, the safety and security of Kanhaiya and his family members is a serious cause of concern," the committee said. In a damning indictment of the police, it said the statement, which was issued by the force as an appeal on behalf of Kumar was not written by him voluntarily. "The content, construction and framework of the statement were as dictated by the police." The panel, which visited Kumar in Tihar jail on Thursday, quoted him as having said that he was arrested without any valid reason and without disclosing to him even grounds of arrest. "He had not committed any offences as now alleged. However, this aspect is under investigation by the police. Kumar did not complain of any physical assault by the police while in custody. However, he was subjected to psychological pressure during interrogation," it said. A copy of the inquiry report submitted by the NHRC team has been forwarded to Delhi Police Commissioner B S Bassi and the Director General of Tihar Jail. The Commission which had earlier issued notices to the Union Home Secretary, Delhi Chief Secretary, Delhi Police Commissioner and Registrar of Jawaharlal Nehru University, sent the team to Tihar to ascertain the treatment meted out to Kumar by the police and prison authorities while in custody. It was also tasked with ascertaining whether the statement released to the press by the Delhi Police Commissioner in the name of Kumar was made by him voluntarily and without any extraneous influence. The team formed following direction of NHRC Acting Chief Cyriac Joseph, comprised the Commission's Registrar (Law) C K Chaturvedi, and S K Jain, SSP (Investigation). It said Tihar has made special arrangements to ensure safety and security of Kumar and that he has been kept in an independent and separate cell. Dedicated security staff has been deployed to ensure his safety and security round the clock. Several security instructions have been issued by the prison authorities in this regard. wo BJP candidates in the MLC elections suddenly withdrew from the fray paving the way for the unopposed election of the Samajwadi Party candidates. (Photo: PTI) Lucknow: Even as the BJP in Uttar Pradesh happily welcomes outsiders, its own cadres are even more happily crossing over to the ruling Samajwadi Party and causing considerable embarrassment to the party. Two BJP candidates in the MLC elections suddenly withdrew from the fray on Thursday evening, paving the way for the unopposed election of the Samajwadi Party candidates. BJP loyalist Aniruddh Chandel, the candidate from Lucknow-Unnao constituency, and Anand Tripathi, the candidate from Chitrakoot, withdrew their nominations without informing the party leadership. Earlier, Virendra Kumar Yadav had defected to the Samajwadi Party hours after filing his nomination as BJP candidate for Meerut MLC seat. Later in the night, state BJP president Laxmikant Bajpai expelled the leaders from the party for indiscipline but the damage had already been done. The BJP claimed that its candidates were being pressurised and forced to withdraw but the candidates denied the same. We felt that the development of the state was possible under the Samajwadi regime and, therefore, decided to withdraw in their favour, said one of the candidates. Another candidate said, We are all happy. The BJP is welcoming outsiders and is happy to bank on them and we are also happy to cross over to greener pastures. So it is a happy-happy situation. Sources said that the two candidates had been assured tickets for the Assembly elections in 2017 by the Samajwadi leaders. A senior BJP leader admitted that lack of election management by the leadership was responsible for this exodus. The MLC election through the local bodies calls for extensive election management but no one in the party is helping the candidates. With the entire government machinery working for the ruling party, I do not blame the candidates for withdrawing from the fray. Our leaders should have foreseen such a situation, he said. Party leaders feel that if the level of preparedness that the BJP had shown in recent panchayat elections and now the MLC elections, then the leadership should be prepared for major shocks in the assembly elections next year. As it is, the party is having a tough time in finding suitable candidates for the assembly polls and sources claim that a number of leader have declined to contest the assembly polls. Getting crowds for the Prime Ministers rallies is one thing and contesting elections is another thing. A candidate cannot contest elections without organisational support and the organisation is totally fragmented at the moment, said a candidate from eastern UP who has reportedly declined to contest. Raipur: A senior police officer of Chhattisgarh on Friday said the reports of "celebration" at the Jawaharlal Nehru University after the massacre of 76 security personnels by the Maoists in Dantewada had disappointed him. JNU is currently at the centre of a controversy over arrest of student leader Kanhaiya Kumar for 'anti-national' slogan-shouting at an event. "I felt disappointed when I came to know that celebration was held at JNU (by some students) after the killing of 76 jawans in the forest of Tadmetla in 2010. I was then posted as DIG in the region," Inspector General of police, Bastar range, SRP Kalluri said at a press conference in Raipur on Friday. "At that time some fiction writers had dubbed the incident as a victory of people. However, Bastar has transformed a lot now from what it was in 2010. Bastar has become emboldened," he said. "People of Bastar are gathering under the banner of an organisation named Samajik Ekta Manch and raising their voice against Naxals. Now they won't tolerate anybody coming from outside and supporting Maoists," he said. Special director general of police (anti-Naxal operations) D M Awasthi who was also present denied that the current events at JNU may bring down the morale of security forces who are fighting the left wing extremism. "Morale of security forces is very high. They are battling the rebels in adverse conditions. We are all Indians and have faith in the law of the land and the constitution," he said. He said at least 31 Naxals have been gunned down by the police since the start of 2016 and several others arrested. After an anonymous post blamed the retired police officer, which popped up in all groups, the former top cop, who is currently serving the state information commission, had to come out with a detailed reply. Chennai: The mysterious death of IPS officer N. Harish in Chennai has triggered a battle of words in WhatsApp groups where senior cops from across the country seem to have forwarded messages indirectly indicting former state DGP K. Ramanujam without verifying facts. After an anonymous post blamed the retired police officer, which popped up in all groups, the former top cop, who is currently serving the state information commission, had to come out with a detailed reply. It looks like the anonymity of the sender had irked the former top police officer the most. Ramanujam starts his message addressing to To the anonymously Brave, and went on to say I understand a malicious message is being circulated on WhatsApp referring to the death of a young IPS officer of Tamil Nadu cadre by name N. Harish and making certain insinuation that I as DGP, tortured him to the core every passing day with multiple enquiries and that I was stumbling block for his promotion. It is sad that Harish was not able to get promotion. I retired more than a year back and I dont know if he had cleared the regional language test or not afterwards. Its maligning the memory of Harish to say that he begged me for his promotion, Ramanujam says. Such statement assumes that the promotions are granted at the whim of the DGP and junior officers have to beg for legitimate dues. Why should I single out and torture him? What is the motive? Ramanujam asked when this newspaper contacted him on Saturday. He said that during his time, to get promoted as SP, he had to clear a test in Hindi. Ramanujam further notes that in a a big state like Tamil Nadu, DGPs interaction with ASPs do not take place even once in a month. I welcome the idea of having a departmental psychologist. If failure to appoint one amounted to official neglect, I do admit my share along with that of all my predecessors and successor, says Ramanujam reacting to another post in a WhatsApp group. Ramanujam, reacting to string of forwards which appeared with foot notes like dont know whether its genuine, but dont doubt it too, or someone forwarded it to me. I posted it here. Sorry, I was a bit sloppy about it noted that such post are puzzling, painful and hurtful. Ramanujam ends his message with Never send to know for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee. KOCHI: The much hyped city gas project, providing piped gas connection to residents in Kochi, will be formally launched on Saturday. Chief Minister Oommen Chandy will inaugurate the project by giving a connection to Ernakaulam Medical College in Kalamasserry. On the inaugural day, 10 connections to the canteens in the medical college and a few nearby houses will be provided. The city gas distribution project, promoted by Indian Oil Adani Gas Private Ltd (IOAGPL), hopes to provide piped gas connections to 40,700 households in Ernakulam and surrounding areas in the next five years. Kochi will be the first city in South India to have piped gas connectivity, Rajeev Sharma, CEO of Adani Gas, told reporters. The company will provide the gas by sourcing it from the LNG Terminal at Puthu Vypin in Kochi. At present the city gas project will be using the pipeline network installed by GAIL, for providing connectivity to industrial houses. Feeder lines from the GAIL pipeline will be established for providing connectivity to residents, Mr. Sharma said. The pipeline infrastructure developed in Kochi will be able to cater to the needs of three types of consumers. Apart from piped gas to residents, the network will also be equipped to provide compressed natural gas to transport vehicles and LNG for industries. The completion of the gas pipeline network will end the perennial problem of LPG shortage, Mr. Sharma said. Stressing the safety of the network Mr. Sharma said every 150 metre in the network would carry a warning system. On the pricing front, Mr. Sharma said on an average, a 40 per cent reduction is expected when LNG is converted to piped gas. The state government, at the time of launch of this census on April 11 2015, had claimed that the data would help in implementation of programmes for uplift of all backward families irrespective of their caste or community. BENGALURU: A state-wide, a pet project of CM Siddaramaiah to compute accurate data on socio-economic conditions and level of education among people belonging to all castes, seems to proving wasteful expenditure because the authorities have not be able to collate information about all families. The state government, at the time of launch of this census on April 11 2015, had claimed that the data would help in implementation of programmes for uplift of all backward families irrespective of their caste or community. In all, Rs 175 crores was spent on this massive census operation involving over 1.27 lakh enumerators spread across the state to cull out information from each household. As many as 55 questions were drawn up by Karnataka State Backward Classes Commission in order to garner all details. Sources in the commission admitted that the survey was not satisfactory following complaints of non-visit to a number of houses in several districts. Though the local administration had showed over 90 per cent coverage of households in their respective districts in reality, it was different. Scores of enumerators reportedly skipped several houses in areas allotted to them due to cumbersome procedure in filling up the forms provided by the commission. Sources said there was no point in blaming the enumerators because the timing of census was wrong. The harsh weather condition, vacations and non-cooperation by people too have contributed for the failure to cover all households. The enumerators had a harrowing time in Bengaluru as they were denied entry into gated community and posh housing complexes. The census staff were treated badly and residents refused to provide details. According to our information, the census is incomplete in Bengaluru city as thousands of families have not furnished details at all. The commission did not agree to the government's idea of taking details of those families skipped during the exercise from the census carried out in 2010-11. Even the proposal to call all those people over the phone to seek details was not liked by the commission. So, both the ideas were dropped. Social welfare minister H. Anjaneya admitted the delay in drawing up the survey report owing to series of elections since December 2015. Service doctors and post graduates association hold dharna at MMC RGGH demanding hike in pay allowances and restoration of old pension scheme. Chennai: Following the governments announcement of a pay hike of Rs 5,000 for guest lecturers working in government arts and science colleges, they withdrew their fast-unto-death protest on DPI campus here on Friday. For the last five days, around 300 guest lecturers were demanding a pay hike and withdrawal of transfer of Annamalai University professors to government colleges. They intensified their sit-in protest as a fast-unto-death agitation on Wednesday. CM J. Jayalalithaa while announcing various welfare measures for government employees on Friday, also hiked the consolidated pay for guest lecturers from Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000 per month. S. Vasanthakumar, vice-president, Tamil Nadu Government Guest Lecturers Association, said, We are withdrawing our agitation temporarily. But, we will continue to press our demand for a salary of Rs 25,000 per month as per UGC recommendations. Chennai: Various trade unions including those affiliated to DMK and Left parties have urged Chief Minister Jayalalithaa to hold direct talks with all the protesting government employees association to bring an end to the 10-day-long strike and also to ensure that the protest did not affect public and election works. In a joint statement issued by eight trade central unions LPF, CITU, AITUC, INTUC, HMS, BMS, AIUTUC and AICCTU here, they said that government employees and teachers were forced to protest as the chief minister did not hold talks with them and the minister who held talks delayed making an announcement. The unilateral announcement made by the government is an insult to protestinsg union leaders and employees, they said. The government employees, teachers, noon meal workers and anganwadi workers were protesting for the past 10 days seeking action their 20 charters of demands. Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu Government Employees Association president R. Tamilselvi said, The executive committee will be convened on Saturday, to take a decision after studying the concessions offered by the government and decide whether to continue with the agitation or not. She added they have decided to withdraw the sit in agitation, being conducted in the government offices, from Friday. Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu Government Employees Association president R. Tamilselvi said that the announcement made by the government is only a lip service. There was not even a mention about the ongoing strike in the statement. Our executive committee will be convened on Saturday, to take a decision after studying the concessions offered by the government and decide whether to continue with the agitation or not, she said. The Haryana CM also said the state government does not agree with the reported statements of BJP MP Raj Kumar Saini who had opposed any quota to Jats (Photo: PTI) New Delhi: With the Jat agitation showing no signs of let up, the BJP government in Haryana on Saturday said it has accepted the demands of the community which is seeking quota under OBC category. Appealing to protesters to end their stir, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar in a statement here Saturday afternoon asked agitators to return to their homes as the Government has accepted their demands, but did not elaborate. Read: Jat quota stir turns violent, top BJP leaders in a huddle to discuss crisis After an all-party meeting here on Friday, the Chief Minister had said a way will be worked out to give reservation to Jats. Jats have been demanding quota in jobs and educational institutions under OBC category. The agitators on Saturday demanded a written assurance from the government, saying they cannot be befooled with hollow promises every time. Read: Jat quota: Shoot-at-sight orders issued in Haryanas curfew-bound cities As the Jat protest turned violent leading to the death of one person on Friday and spread to various parts of the state, Khattar on Saturday said nothing can be gained by damaging public property. Read: More than 800 trains hit due to Jat stir No one will be benefited by damaging public property. Therefore, those agitating and the youth should maintain peace in the state, he said. Also read: BJP, RSS conspiring to divide Haryana on caste: Congress He also urged people not to be swayed by rumours. The Haryana CM also said the state government does not agree with the reported statements of BJP MP Raj Kumar Saini who had opposed any quota to Jats. No one should make such a statement which adversely affects the feeling of brotherhood, Khattar said. Read: Jat leaders reject Haryana governments offer, quota agitation to continue Notably, Jats are miffed at the opposition of Kurukshetra MP Saini to Jat reservation. He had objected to giving reservation to Jats and had even threatened to resign if the OBC quota is affected. Chennai: To try and end the ongoing strike by government employees, Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Friday announced a slew of concessions, including a hike in assistance under Family Welfare Fund and setting up of an expert panel to study the state government employees' demand for scrapping contributory pension scheme. Amid a stir by sections of government employees pressing for several demands since February 10, she said government employees "are the face, foundation, and backbone of the government" who take government welfare schemes to the people. In a statement, she said government employees had given several demands and representations over which senior ministers and officials held talks with them. My government has decided to give them various concessions, she said. On the demand of several government employees unions for scrapping the contributory pension scheme and reverting to the old pension scheme, she said since the demand should be thoroughly scrutinised, an expert committee would be set up to go into the demand and make recommendations to government. An appropriate decision will be taken based on the report of the panel, she said. The contributory pension scheme is applicable for those who joined government service on or after April 1, 2003. Ms Jayalalithaa said the new pay commission would consider the demand for change in pay scale and regularisation of services of employees under consolidated pay scheme and time pay scale for those who were receiving salary under special time. These demands could be considered only by taking into consideration the hierarchy and parity. So only the pay commission will consider these demands, she said. She said the assistance under the family welfare fund for kin, if government employees die in harness, would be increased to Rs 3 lakh from Rs 1.5 lakh. She also announced that under group insurance scheme for employees including those in local-bodies, government aided educational institutions, and nutritious meal programme, the sum insured would be increased to Rs 3 lakh from the present Rs 1.50 lakh. Ms Jayalalithaa said the government would issue an order for regularising the services of employees appointed on compassionate ground. In normal course, those who are appointed on compassionate ground are eligible for pay hike and other benefits only after their services are regulated. Since it required the nod of the Tamil Nadu Public Services Commission (TNPSC) regularization of their services got delayed. The government will issue an order for regularisation of services of those who do not require relaxation of rules. Till the nod if obtained, they will be treated as temporary employees," she said. As far as the employees of anganwadi and nutritious meal scheme, their pension will be increased from Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,500. The financial assistance given to nutritious meal scheme employees at the time of retirement will be increased from Rs 50,000 to Rs 60,000. The cooks will get Rs 25,000 as retirement benefit instead of Rs 20,000. New Delhi: The February 9 event in support of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru at Jawaharlal Nehru University was carried out under a false pretext, according to a professor at the university. It was done on a false pretext. People who wanted to hold that event said they would conduct a poetry reading and that there would be seven people. It was called A Country Without a Post Office. Instead it became a commemoration for Afzal Guru. So it was done on the false pretext, Makarand Paranjape, a member of JNU Teachers Association, said on Friday. He said this while participating in the Sahitya Akademis ongoing National Festival of Letters. Paranjape was critical of the lack of action against the organisers on the part of the university over the use of such subterfuge and expressed surprise at the condemnation of the arrest of JNU Students Union President Kanhaiya Kumar. I am a member of JNUTA. No resolution was passed condemning that misuse, that subterfuge which was used but there was a condemnation of the arrest of a student? I am also very regretful that happened, he said. He was speaking at a session titled, Freedom of Expression organised by Sahitya Akademi as part of its annual national seminar. He also questioned the absence of protests in JNU during the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from their homes and the recent lynching of a RSS pracharak in Kerala. I dont want to wash dirty linen in public but many people and their families were displaced and driven out of their homes in Kashmir. There were no protests in JNU when that happened. But to commemorate Afzal Guru there were protests, he said. Whether you accept capital punishment or not is a different issue. You are using the ideas of democracy and dissent to justify the commemoration of those who want to destroy the Indian democracy. So are we trying to say that when we do not tolerate the commemoration, the deification of a persons such as Afzal Guru, we are being intolerant? Paranjape asserted that it was important for the students at JNU, which is considered an institution of national integration, to study and not do politics or they will be neither here nor there. I tell my students, have you come to JNU to do politics or to study because in the end you will be neither here nor there. The cadres will be picked up and patronised but what about the majority of you from the middle and lower middle class who have to earn a living? He claimed that most students spend four to five years in the university but dont attend classes because attendance is not compulsory, and by the time the course ends they are incompetent to face the world because they dont have any skills. Playwright and actor Girish Karnad and former minister B.T. Lalitha Naik take part in a protest against the arrest of JNU student Kanhaiya Kumar, in front of Town Hall in Bengaluru on Friday. (Photo: Shashidhar B) Bengaluru: Noted playwright and actor Girish Karnad on Friday joined the protest against the arrest of JNU student, Kanhaiya Kumar, in Delhi for his anti-national speech on campus. Participating in a peaceful protest by writers , artists and student organizations here to show solidarity with the arrested student leader, Karnad said, Kanhaiya had done no wrong. It only becomes an offence if it leads to violence. In his case there was none. It was not right to arrest him simply for expressing his views, he asserted. Expressing ones opinion should not invite sedition charges. In 1961 Annadurai wanted to separate Tamil Nadu from the rest of the country and he expressed his opinion freely in Parliament. No action was taken against him then, so why now? he asked, warning that the RSS and Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) would be responsible if India was divided into pieces in future. Journalist and activist, Gauri Lankesh, said the current debate on who was a nationalist and who was not was meaningless. What we need to discuss and debate are important matters affecting the country like how we can improve the quality of life for its people, she said. Like Karnad, a professor, Dr Sushi Kadanakuppe , stressed that free thought was very important in modern society. "If any act goes against the Constitution then we should oppose it, not otherwise . We cannot brand people as anti-national if they are merely expressing their views about something," he underlined. Condemning the recent attacks on students in Delhi, the protestors gathered at the Town Hall, chanted 'I am JNU' and 'I am democracy, ' as activists of the Students Federation of India (SFI) , the Democratic Youth and other left leaning student organisations joined them in support of the JNU students. Punish Delhi lawyers: Scribes Meanwhile, members of the Bengaluru Press Club, Bengaluru Reporters Guild, Karnataka Union of Working Journalists and Karnataka Photo Journalists Association demanded stern action against those who attacked journalists at the Patiala House court in Delhi. Taking out a rally from the Press Club to Rajbhavan, they gave a memorandum to the Governor seeking immediate action. Pesident of the Press Club, Sridhar said it was unfortunate that journalists were attacked for merely doing their job.They should be given adequate security, he added. Lawyers raise slogans as they march from Patiala House Court to India Gate against alleged anti-national activities at JNU, in New Delhi. (Photo: PTI) New Delhi: Call records of two mobile numbers belonging to JNU Ph.D. scholar Umar Khalid, believed by the Delhi Police to be the main organiser of the controversial February 9 event at the varsity campus where anti-India slogans were allegedly raised, have revealed that over 800 calls were made from his numbers to several places, including Jammu and Kashmir, Bangladesh and Gulf countries between February 3 and 9. Read: Umar Khalid's father lodges complaint of threat call While 38 calls are said to have been made to Jammu and Kashmir, a total of 65 calls were received on Mr Khalids numbers from the northern state. The call details came to light after the police intensified its search to track the former leader of the Democratic Students Union. Sources said most of the calls made to Jammu and Kashmir from Mr Khalids numbers were to three particular numbers, while 4 to 5 calls were made to another number. While one number has been traced to an individual at the Central University of Kashmir located in Ganderbal, three other numbers belong to different persons. A scan of the call records showed that many calls were made to numbers outside Delhi, spanning across different cities. Some calls were also made and received from Gulf countries and Bangladesh. The source said that the call details of Mr Khalids numbers for the past two months showed that the frequency of phone calls to these numbers had increased since the last week of December, which is when the police suspects that the preparations for the February 9 event could have actually begun. Mr Khalid allegedly went absconding after JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar was arrested on charges of sedition. His mobile phone has also been switched off since the student leaders arrest. Bengaluru: With selfie-related deaths spiralling at important tourist destinations, the top brass of the state tourism department is mulling deployment of personnel belonging to newly-raised tourist police force to dissuade youth from risking their lives. Recently, three medicos were washed away in the river Cauvery while they were clicking a selfie, standing in a canal in Mandya district. A few months ago, two youth lost their lives when they were clicking pictures of themselves on a hillock. It is really a matter of grave concern, and my department feels that it is the right time to do something before the situation goes out of control, G Satyavathi, director, department of tourism, told DC. She said she was moved by the tragic death of three medicos who died while taking photographs in a canal in Mandya. It is hard to imagine the great loss to parents of those medical students. The need of the hour is to evolve a mechanism to deter youth from indulging in such (mis)adventure, she added She said though it would take a long time to address this issue, as immediate relief, the department could consider deployment of traffic police personnel at tourist spots categorized as dangerous spots. They would be asked not to allow tourists, especially the youth from crossing the danger area, just to take their selfie and post it in social media. More police personnel are likely to be posted on public holidays and weekends. Though warning sign boards are put up near all such spots, people take risk resulting in death. If guards are posted at one place, people find out other routes to go near the waterfalls or climb atop of hillock just to take selfie. If something happens, who is responsiblethe security guards or selfie craze youth? she asked. She assured to take up the issue with officers of her department as also with tourism minister R V Deshpande and find a solution to this craze. First, the authorities ought to identify places of tourist importance which are high risk and then work on deployment of tourist police personnel. We can do whatever possible from our side but ultimately it is for the youth to realize that their lives are more precious than selfies, she added. New Delhi: Air Commodore J S Dhamoon, the head of the Pathankot air base which was attacked last month by Pakistani terrorists, is being transferred to Delhi. IAF officials have described his transfer to the national capital as a "routine" one. Dhamoon, Air Officer Commanding (AOC), had taken over the charge of the Pathankot air base in July, 2014 and is likely to be replaced by Air Commodore Anuj Mishra who is moving in from Bengaluru. "Any tenure between one and half years to two years for an AOC is a normal tenure. Air Commodore Dhamoon falls in the bracket of completion of normal tenure," an IAF spokesperson said today. Dhamoon's transfer comes less than two months after the Pathankot airbase came under attack by heavily-armed terrorists who managed to breach the perimeter. An inquiry into the incident and the breach of the air base is underway and a security audit of all major bases has also been carried out in the wake of the brazen attack that left seven soldiers killed. Hyderabad: The stand taken by the Telugu Desam in Telangana state towards defectors is expected to become a hurdle for the party in Andhra Pradesh as it prepares to welcome some YSR Congress MLAs into the party fold. In Telangana, 10 Telugu Desam MLAs have joined the TRS, and the Telugu Desam leadership has been demanding that these defectors resign from the membership of the House. The Telugu Desam has also lodged a complaint with the Telangana Assembly Speaker, demanding he disqualify the Telugu Desam MLAs who joined the TRS. Against this background, if the Telugu Desam allows YSRC MLAs to join the party in Andhra Pradesh, it stands to lose the moral high ground against defectors it has adopted in Telangana. The TRS leadership has officially welcomed the Telugu Desam MLAs into the party fold, but the Telugu Desam leadership is not in a similar position in Andhra Pradesh. YSRC MP S.P.Y. Reddy is sailing with the Telugu Desam after the elections, even to the extent of attending party meetings, but the Telugu Desam leadership has never publicly acknowledged that he has joined the party. On Thursday, Deputy CM K.E. Krishna Murthy and other ministers had countered YSRC chief Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddys claim that some Telugu Desam MLAs would be joining his party by saying that about 28 YSRC MLAs were ready to join the ruling party. Telugu Desam chief N. Chandrababu Naidu too had been claiming during party meetings that 10 YSRC MLAs were ready to join the Telugu Desam. However, Telugu Desam leaders had been repeatedly making this claim, but none of the YSRC MLAs had switched sides so far. If indeed some do, the Telugu Desam will have to face accusations of being hypocritical in its approach, having opposed defections in Telangana. If it does welcome any YSRC MLA it cannot question defections in Telangana. If some YSRC MLAs do want to join the Telangana, the partys leadership cannot openly and officially welcome them, like the TRS has done in Telangana. The only option the Telugu Desam has would be to ask the YSRC MLAs to resign from the House, but that is an option no MLA would be ready to take. Hyderabad/Anantapur: In a significant development, YSR Congress president Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddys close associate, Nandyal MLA Bhooma Nagireddy appears to have decided to leave the party along with his daughter, Allagadda MLA Akhila Priya. Mr Nagireddy is likely to join the Telugu Desam. The MLA was closeted with his trusted loyalists in Nandyal on Friday, giving strength to the speculations that he would be parting ways with the YSRC soon. Sources said that his loyalists told Mr Nagireddy that he should part ways with the YSRC. Before he leaves the YSRC, Mr Nagireddy is expected to resign from the Public Accounts Committee (PAC). However, the MLA did not reveal his plans to the media after the meeting, only going to the extent of saying that he would speak at the right time. If Mr Nagireddy leaves the YSRC, some more MLAs from the party may follow his footsteps. Among them would be his brother-in-law S.V. Mohan Reddy, who represents the party from Kurnool Assembly constituency, a sources close to Mr Nagireddy said. Meanwhile, Mr Mohan Reddy on Friday made it clear he would remain with the YSRC and ruled any possibility of MLAs from Kurnool district joining the TD. Hyderabad: Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao has given his green signal for construction of four new 1,000-bedded multispeciality hospitals in GHMC limits. Mr Rao asked officials to identify land for the new multispeciality hospitals in Uppal-LB Nagar, Malkajgiri-Secunderabad Cantonment, Qutbullahpur-Kukatpally and Serilingampally-Rajenderanagar areas. While the existing King Koti hospital in city will be turned into a multispeciality hospital, special towers would be constructed for women and child welfare in MGM hospital in Warangal in addition to the multispeciality hospital attached to the health university. Expressing anguish over the poor medicare facilities and absence of some doctors in rural government hospitals, the CM told officials to modify the law to ensure doctors stay in the place of their posting, follow fixed working hours and get basic facilities. Not only junior doctors but also qualified doctors appointed by the government should work in rural areas for some time, Mr Rao said. The health university, medical college and multispeciality hospital in Warangal will come up in Central jail premises. Government hospitals in Karimnagar, Khammam and Suryapet will also be upgraded. Mr Rao took these decisions during a review of the medical and health department as part of a pre-Budget exercise and allocation of funds for various projects under the department here on Saturday. Prepare a detailed project report soon. Purchase all the required equipment, recruit doctors and other paramedical staff, Mr Rao said. Health minister Laxma Reddy, finance minister Etala Rajender and senior officials of the health department participated. The CMs review comes a day after Governor E.S.L. Narasimhans surprise visit to Gandhi Hospital on Friday, where he expressed his anger at the appalling conditions in the hospital. Mr Rao told the meeting that every district should have four MRIs in different corners of the state, 40 such equipment besides CT scans, ultrasound, mammography, facilities for scanning breast cancer, treatment of heart, kidney, liver and other serious ailments and medicines in all government hospitals in state. Attenders of patients should also be provided beds, he added. The CM asked the department to promote Ayurveda, Homoeopathy, and Unani along with Allopathy, adding government hospitals should be on par with private corporate hospitals. He decided to send a high-level delegation headed by the health minister to Tamil Nadu to study the functioning of government hospitals there. Besides, the CM is keen that 104 and 108 services are lined with highway patrol vehicles and police to ensure prompt medical attention to victims of road accidents. Lucknow: The plight of an army man who had been waging a legal battle for the past 40 years for a pension of Rs 40 a month, finally moved the Armed Forces Tribunal. It directed the ministry of defence to pay the arrears of the pension. A two-judge bench of the Lucknow regional bench of the Armed Forces Tribunal comprising Justice V.K. Dixit, (member judicial and HOD), and Lieutenant General Gyan Bhushan (member administration), also asked the ministry to refer the case to re-survey medical board for re-assessing the medical condition of the petitioner, sepoy Sunehri Lal, for further entitlement of disability pension, if any. The bench further observed that, It is a very hard case in which all that Sunehri Lal would get is a very meagre amount. The case lingered for no fault of the petitioner in the courts below. Looking to his old age, his sagging health, his ailment concomitant with old age and the financial strain undergone by him all these years, we feel that the petitioner should be adequately compensated. The bench also allowed the application with costs. The petitioner has also been held entitled to special costs, which we quantify at Rs 25,000. The amount shall be paid to in addition to the amount, which the petitioner has been entitled by the way of judgment, the bench said. Army conducts a Flag March in view of violence due to Jat agitation for reservation at Rohtak on Saturday (Photo: PTI) Chandigarh/New Delhi: Union minister Birender Singh said Congress announced reservation for Jats without due diligence due to political reasons, following which the Supreme Court quashed the decision. As Haryana remained on the boil, several Haryana Roadways buses, seven railway stations, a police station and some buildings were torched by pro-quota protesters. The movement of more than 800 trains has been severely hit. The Army had to use helicopters to reach parts of blocked Rohtak district. Curfew was clamped in five more Haryana towns the latest being Jind, Hisar and Hansi in the evening. Earlier on Saturday, curfew was imposed in Sonipat and Gohana towns of Sonipat district. Curfew had already been clamped in Rohtak, Bhiwani and Jhajjar towns. The countrys largest carmaker, Maruti Suzuki India, suspended operations at its two plants in Gurgaon and Manesar as component supplies have been hit by the agitation of Jats demanding job reservation. Around 200 paramilitary personnel were airlifted to Rohtak on Saturday. Stepping in to prevent a major spillover of the agitation to surrounding states, the Centre has also asked the Haryana government to provide security to people and property by ensuring that law and order is kept under control. This was conveyed by Cabinet Secretary P.K. Sinha to Haryana chief secretary D.S. Dhesi and DGP Yashpal Singhal at a meeting held through video-conference. Union home secretary Rajiv Mehrishi and other senior officers were also present. The security personnel were dispatched from Delhis Safdarjung airfield in batches as the trouble-torn district was cut off by road and rail network due to protests. The Centre had on Friday rushed in 3,300 paramilitary personnel and assured chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar of all possible help to maintain law and order as the stir turned violent. Home minister Rajnath Singh on Friday called up Mr Khattar, who briefed him about the prevailing situation. Mr Singh also appealed to the people to maintain peace and order and stressed on the need for discussion and dialogue. Meanwhile, Delhi is staring at huge water shortage in next one or two days with 60 per cent of water supply affected due to the Jat stir in neighbouring Haryana, prompting the city government to rationalise water supply and approach the Supreme Court for help. Guwahati: After a two-month political battle, former finance minister and Congress leader Kalikho Pul was administered the oath of office as chief minister of Arunachal Pradesh on Friday. Arunachal Pradesh governor J.P. Rajkhowa administered the oath to Mr Pul at Raj Bhavan in Itanagar. He took the oath alone. Legislators of both the Congress and BJP were present at Raj Bhavan during the swearing-in ceremony, which started at about 10 pm. Also read: Tuki lashes out at RSS, BJP, says Congress govts in North East targeted The swearing-in took place soon after President Pranab Mukherjee approved the Union Cabinets recommendation for revocation of Presidents Rule in Arunachal Pradesh. The Presidents nod came after the Supreme Court on Friday rejected last-ditch efforts by deposed chief minister Nabam Tuki seeking an interim direction that his party be allowed to prove its majority on the floor of the Arunachal Pradesh Assembly. Earlier, the Union Cabinet had recommended the withdrawal of Presidents Rule in Arunachal Pradesh on Wednesday after Mr Pul, accompanied by 31 MLAs, including 18 Congress rebels, 11 BJP MLAs and two Independents met the Arunachal Pradesh governor and staked claim to form a new government. Pul, 46, a veteran of five consecutive victories in the Assembly elections since 1995, has been the lone crusader against the alleged rampant corruption of the previous Congress government headed by Nabam Tuki. Mr Pul, a father of five sons, belongs to a very small community called Kaman Mishmi, which has hardly 2,500 members. An MLA from Hayuliang in Anjaw district in eastern Arunachal that shares a boundary with China, Mr Pul has been a minister for most of the time since he was first elected in 1995. He began as deputy minister for finance (1995-97), then became minister of state for power (1997-99), MoS for finance (1999-2002), MoS for land management (2002-03), and finally minister for finance (2003-05) before he was made chairman of a high-powered committee and simultaneously adviser to the chief minister for about a year. In 2006-09, he once again served as minister for finance, then minister for rural works (2009-11), and then health. Between 2011 and 2014, he was also made adviser to the chief minister, then again made a minister in 2014. In 2015, Mr Pul who was accused to have been conspiring to topple Mr Tuki was not only dropped from the Cabinet but also expelled from the Congress for his alleged anti-party activities in April. However, Mr Pul went to the court challenging his suspension from the Congress, which was revoked at the direction of the court. Puls challenge is picking of ministers The Congress, which had 47 MLAs in the 60-member Assembly, suffered a jolt when 21 of its legislators, led by Mr Kalikho Pul, rebelled. Sources in Arunachal Pradeshs new ruling alliance of dissident Congress MLAs and the BJP told this newspaper that the newly-sworn-in chief ministers biggest challenge would be to expand his council of ministers. However, the BJP, the second-largest constituent of the government, has not taken any decision on joining the government led by Mr Pul and has been extending outside support to the government. Sources in the BJP said central party leaders would take a final decision on joining the government. New Delhi: Former Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh Nabam Tuki on Saturday blamed RSS and BJP for the dismissal of his government, alleging that their aim was to topple all Congress governments in the Northeast. Tuki, whose Congress government was dismissed by imposition of President's rule on January 26 after 21 party MLAs revolted against him, also alleged that Governor J P Rajkhowa and Union Minister Kiren Rijiju worked "to overthrow his democratically elected popular government". "The whole dissidence was funded and controlled by RSS and BJP. They just want to topple all Congress governments in the Northeast. RSS and BJP were firing through the shoulders of Congress dissident MLAs," he said at a press conference. Tuki's statement came a day after leader of the Congress dissidents, Kalikho Pul, was sworn-in as Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh following withdrawal of President's rule. The former Chief Minister, flanked by 26 MLAs loyal to him, said whenever the NDA came to power, the governments in Arunachal Pradesh were destabilised -- be it in the time of (former Chief Ministers) Gegong Apang or be it during Mukut Mithi. Tuki claimed every effort was made by Governor Rajkhowa "to trample on democracy and defy the Constitution" to remove the Congress government. "There was no reason to dismiss my government. There was no law and order problem, there was no internal disturbance. Still, President's rule was imposed undemocratically and unconstitutionally," he said. The Congress leader accused Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju of supporting and instigating dissident MLAs against his (Tuki's) leadership. Demanding removal of Rajkhowa as Governor, former Congress MP Takam Sanjay said democracy and Constitution "were murdered in Arunachal Pradesh and this may lead to serious law and order problems in the sensitive border state". "Modi ji, please stop treating us as second class citizen. We are as much Indian as anyone else. Don't turn Arunachal Pradesh as another Jammu and Kashmir," he said. Congress has governments in Manipur, Assam, Meghalaya and Mizoram in the Northeast. A revolt by Congress dissidents led by Pul led to a political crisis in Arunachal Pradesh that finally led to imposition of President's rule on January 26. Tuki has the support of 26 MLAs in the 60-member Assembly. Congress, which had 47 MLAs in the 60-member assembly, suffered a jolt when 21 of its lawmakers revolted against Tuki's leadership. Eleven BJP MLAs and two independents backed the rebels in the bid to upstage the government. Later, 14 rebel Congress MLAs were disqualified by the Speaker. The Supreme Court was considering pleas against imposition of President's rule in Arunachal Pradesh and also hearing petitions seeking examination of constitutional schemes on the scope of discretionary powers of the Governor. After Union Cabinet's recommendation for withdrawal of President's rule, Congress moved the Supreme Court and got an order for maintenance of status quo in the crisis-ridden state till it examined judicial and assembly records on disqualification of 14 rebel Congress MLAs by former Speaker Nabam Rebia. However, on Thursday, the apex court virtually paved the way for government formation in Arunachal Pradesh by vacating its order on maintaining status quo, after being satisfied with the Gauhati High Court order staying the disqualification of the 14 rebel Congress MLAs. Congress again moved the Supreme Court yesterday but the Supreme Court rejected its plea for an interim direction that it be allowed to go in for a floor test in the Arunachal Pradesh Assembly to prove majority. Pul was sworn-in as Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh last night following withdrawal of President's rule. I have travelled around the world and I notice that we Indians use some words that others do not. Non-vegetarian is a word only Indians of upper caste and middle class use. No other nation knows the word non-veg and in no other country except India do flight attendants offer veg or non-veg as options. They offer meat, fish or chicken, which are standard and one must opt specifically for vegetarian. Similarly, anti-national is not a word one enc-ounters in Europe or the US. This is because the opposite of it, meaning nationalism, is not a good word in their languages. Nationalism produced Europes two great wars and being nationalistic is seen as a negative value. I cannot think of a single European political party that uses the word nationalist that we in India use so easily, even in party names, like NCP. In Hindi and Gujarati, the word for nationalism is rashtrawad. This is a warm word, and something to be desired in an individual because rashtra itself is a warm word for all Indians, unlike nation which is neutral. Urdu is more accurate and offers nationalism as qaum-parasti. The Oxford English Dictionary defines nationalism as an extreme form of patriotism marked by a superiority over other countries. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defi-nes nationalism as a feeling exalting one nation above all others and placing primary emphasis on the promotion of its culture and interests as opposed to those of other nations and supranational groups. This accurately desc-ribes Indian nationalism to me. In the last few days we have seen how passionate Indians can get in defending our nationalism. It resulted in violence and I was not surprised. The behaviour of lawyers in court on two consecutive days on the JNU matter was totally in keeping with our culture. I wanted to write about something else. Going back to nationalism, in what other ways do Indians show it? Going by TV debates, it is obvious that the overwhelming majority of middle class Indians are nationalistic when it comes to opposing slogans and when it comes to the unity and integrity of India. And yet only 3 per cent of Indians pay income-tax. Here our nationalism is not particularly strong. Also, it should be made clear that the majority of these taxpayers are salaried individuals whose tax is deducted by the employer so the opportunity to do tax theft is not available. Another uniquely Indian thing is called TDS, a phrase only middle class Indians know. It stands for income-tax deducted at source and no other country I know has it. The Government of India assumes that there is a certain amount of theft that its citizen will do and so it deducts the I-T before the return is filed. Recovering such money for your refund is not easy. Our passionate love for our nation does not extend to caring for the nation in other ways. We are one of the dirtiest people on earth and even our holiest river the Ganga can only be cleaned if the SC orders it. The citizen will not show his love voluntarily. Casual breaking of the nations laws shows up in other words that are uniquely Indian. For example, unauthorised construction and encroachment. I have been travelling to America and Europe for 30 years and have yet to encounter individuals who do such things. Our nationalism seems to be limited. The governments response to the JNU issue is to force an Indian flag on all universities. Will this produce the right effect? The feeling we have for Mother India is already very strong, but it does not reflect in our actions, only in our sentiment. I think nationalism as defined in English is quite accurate for us Indians. We are concerned mainly about our superiority over others and our emphasis is on the promotion of our culture and interests as opposed to those of others. Real feeling for nation in terms of contribution and sacrifice seems absent. Only noise and anger are on display. Since nationalism is the word of the week, how does one write about it without repeating the banal comments that have already been made by somebody else? Perhaps, the question to ask is if Indian conceptualisation of nationalism (or patriotism or identity choose the one you like) is rooted in as territorially organic a tradition as post-18th century European nationalism, or for that matter Chinese or Japanese nationalism. The question has struck this writer several times over the years. As foreign minister Jaswant Singh, the Bharatiya Janata Party politician, often made the point that Indians had no notion of cartographic certainty. The idea of maps and fixed borders was introduced to us by the British Raj and to this day, he complained, the Republic of India had not quite identified its land boundaries and was okay with them being ambiguous. As a politician, he attributed this to policy laziness and inevitably blamed the Congress governments. Yet, as a thinker, he recognised this was not a political weakness as much as a social and community characteristic. It was, in some confounding manner, written into the Indian DNA. This has led to Indians being comfortable with open or quasi-open borders in a manner that exasperates both organic nationalists and those with everyday security concerns. Nevertheless, even if attempting to change it, if such a change is feasible, one needs to understand this phenomenon. Where does it come from? Was it innate in India? Did geography and history dictate it? Was it, like so much else in life, a combination of instinct and experience? If that sounds difficult to digest, consider the antithesis the Chinese model. The modern Chinese state is obsessed with boundaries and establishing fixed lines in the grass, the snow, the sand and if possible the water to demarcate Chinese territory. This is not just a Chinese Communist Party sentiment; the idea of revanchism maybe irredentism is the appropriate word was as strongly rooted in the manifesto of a Chiang Kai-shek, the Right-wing nationalist leader who lost out to Mao Zedong in the post-World War II power struggle. Going still further back, one sees elements of such identification of our space in Chinese history and in the very building of the Great Wall. The Great Wall of China, built, rebuilt, expanded and re-situated as that Chinese sense of our space changed, was a device to keep out the barbarians. Over millennia just who comprised those barbarians was continually re-defined, whether in ethnic, cultural or religious terms. Even so, the idea of a national identity that was territorially definite and protected by a wall and a settled boundary was salient. For better or worse, the Indian situation was and has been different. Perhaps, this was a function of the absence of large, pan-Indian empires, except for short periods in several thousand years of history. Perhaps, it was simply a greater comfort with diversity, a diversity dictated by the accident of geography, which made northern India (with or without the Partition of 1947) the base, as it were, of Central Asia and the Eurasian heartland, and southern India, with Bengal and the Northeast as well, the top so to speak of Southeast Asia. If one adds to this the cultural, linguistic and social diversity that was an inadvertent but happy by-product of internal political divisions despite religious and rites-of-passage commonalities the result is a bewildering patchwork of multiple notions of nationalism. It can be confusing, and does explain why some prefer a more fixed and ordered identity, useful as such fixing is no doubt for the logistics of modern commerce and the processes of contemporary governance. In an absurd and comical extreme, it can lead to the lament, which this writer came across on Twitter a few weeks ago, that ancient Indians should have built a Great Wall on the Khyber Pass, probably a little after Alexanders invasion. That proposal is, of course, ridiculous but the reason that wall wasnt built or perhaps the outcome of it not being built is worth contemplating. The presence and absence of a wall real or metaphorical and often a combination of the two trickles down into popular consciousness and regime impulses even centuries later. Here, an anecdote would be explanatory. Some years ago, a senior Indian diplomat posted in China visited Lhasa, the capital of Tibet. After a couple of days in Lhasa and tiring of the local sights and food, he drove off into the countryside in the general direction of Uttarakhand. Of course, the Indian state was far, far away, but the diplomat was conscious that the route he was taking though he was going only a relatively short distance outside Lhasa, given the sheer expanse of Tibet was part of an ancient trade corridor. Having driven longer than he had expected, the diplomat stopped at what he described as a Tibetan dhaba, hoping to get directions and some conversation. He was greeted by a young man who took one look at him and asked, Aap India se hain? Parathe khayenge? (Are you from India? Will you have parathas?) The diplomat was left stunned. Hungry and greedy for Indian food, he wolfed down aloo parathas in the Tibetan countryside. It turned out his host had lived in Nepal as well as Delhi, where he had learnt the fine art of paratha-making. The diplomat never bothered finding out which passport the paratha chef had or even if he had any, but the encounter was telling. Such an experience would have Beijing completely paranoid about open borders, free movement of unidentified people and the possibility of Indian and foreign agents infiltrating Tibet and the rest of China. Such an experience in India would no doubt attract similar concerns in the security and intelligence bureaucracy, but would also be met by a more relaxed understanding of what frontier regions and the porousness and osmosis of natural borders can mean, despite the most determined intentions of political map-makers. In the end, it would point to the wisdom that a love for India and a looser, more enlightened imagining of nation, nationhood and nationalism can go hand in hand. Definitions, American poet Toni Morrison once wrote, belong to the definer not the defined. Implicit in her formulation is an acknowledgment that those who define are usually the powerful who use their power to name primarily for their self-interest. In the last one week, we have seen a shrill and divisive rhetoric emerge which quickly divides people as nationalists and anti-nationalists. From politicians who have not hesitated to brand an entire university anti-nationalist to zealous vigilante lawyers willing to insult the constitution to prove their nationalist credentials, and TV anchors acting as self-appointed custodians of patriotism who confuse reporting with witch hunts. If these are the definers of our times, perhaps it is time to look a little further back in history to search for authorities who carry a greater moral force. Read: All you need to know about the JNU controversy In contrast to the knee-jerk declaration that any criticism of the government or the state is necessarily seditious speech, lets not forget that Mahatma Gandhi had been tried under the same provision (Sec. 124-A) in 1921 for an article that he had published in Young India. In his statement on March 18, 1922 before Judge Broomfield, Gandhiji famously asserted: Section 124-A, under which I am happily charged, is perhaps the prince among the political sections of the Indian Penal Code designed to suppress the liberty of the citizen. Affection cannot be manufactured or regulated by law. If one has no affection for a person or system, one should be free to give the fullest expression to his disaffection, so long as he does not contemplate, promote, or incite violence. Read: JNU row: Umar Khalids 800 calls under scanner JNU row: Afzal Guru event was organized on false pretext, says professor JNU row: Full text of resignation of ABVP office-bearers Gandhi was prescient in his sharp legal understanding of the provision and it is not surprising that his interpretation of the law is what the Supreme Court in the postcolonial context has also reiterated, consistently holding that mere words and criticism do not qualify for sedition and it has to be accompanied by an incitement to imminent violence. Gandhis suggestion that affection cannot be manufactured or regulated by law hints that if it is indeed genuine affection that one strives for, it can only be won through a process of genuine dialogue, to understand the cause for discontentment and to address that discontentment. Just as it was easier for the British to label Gandhis writings seditious rather than address the substantive concerns he was raising, it appears that rather than understanding the demands for justice and equality raised by JNU students, it is much easier to label them anti-nationalist. If the question is who we should trust, Mahatma Gandhi or Arnab Goswami, hopefully the answer sho ld be abundantly clear. Much of the public anger that has been fuelled against the alleged incidents in JNU have been produced through a combination of convenient misreporting and wilful obfuscation by the definers. But ignoring the lumpen definers for now, it is a fact that even if the reporting is fake, the sense of hurt or anger of ordinary people is genuine. But what exactly is the cause of this indignation? Much of nationalism plays itself out on the symbolic register (the national anthem, the national flag etc) and in the world of media frenzy, it has become easy to whip up sentiments purely through an appeal to symbolic indignation. Read: JNU row: Left parties to hold nationwide protests next week JNU row: Kanhaiya wasn't involved in anti-India sloganeering, say cops JNU row: Let court decides if my son is seditionist, says Umar Khalid's father But what if there is also a substantive political domain which does not reside easily within the symbolic theatre of nationalism and yet remains crucial to an ethical imagination of democracy? Philosophers have argued that presumptions of the social contract are always subject to repudiation through the withdrawal of consent. The withdrawal of ones consent is not necessarily a nihilistic rejection of the world, but a dispute that one has about its content. It is both possible and reasonable to reject society as it stands (because it is unfaithful to what you have consented to) while still consenting to a conversation about the horizon of possibilities of this society. This is in effect the domain of substantive politics, where often questions of constitutional values and promises are at stake. It is also the domain where free speech plays a crucial role, for, how can one have a conversation if not guaranteed the freedom to do so? And there is no better person to illustrate this than Rabindranath Tagore. Tagore, despite being the "national" poet and the author of the anthem, was himself highly critical of nationalism especially in its overt forms, and retained in his writings and his significant lectures on nationalism, the sovereignty of an individual's political and ethical views. Ramachandra Guha describes Tagore as a patriot who was not quite a nationalist and as someone who was dismayed by the xenophobic tendencies of the nationalist movement. Tagore's universalism came out of a civilisational confidence and seems to be in sharp contrast with the knee-jerk responses of indignation whenever anyone expresses their dissent. Some of Tagores works were written in the backdrop of the rise of ultra nationalism and fascism in Europe as well as use of the discourse of terrorism in Bengal to label anti-colonial actors. In his book on the philosophy of Tagore, Kalyan Sengupta argues that while Tagore had no sympathy for nationalism, he was a patriot, and for Tagore, nationalism and patriotism were not synonymous. Nationalism was a political demon for Tagore, while patriotism means a love of ones country and commitment to its traditions which aims at social cohesion and encourages communication, consensus and fruitful interchange. Tagores invocation of love and Gandhis invocation of affection would reject the chest-thumping declarations of symbolic nationalism and return us to a domain of affective politics in which one can express ones love for a land in myriad ways including being seditious. It is no surprise that the root word for the word fond comes from ground, and there can perhaps be no common ground on which we can stand, no collective ideal that we can imagine, if its not founded on an idea of gentle affection of this kind. This is the form of passionate dwelling that will guarantee that India remains the land of Gandhi and Tagore, rather than Arnab Goswami. JNU and anti-nationalism Event: February 12, 2016 JNU Students Union president Kanhaiya Kumar arrested in a sedition case over a meeting on Afzal Guru hanging anniversary at which some elements allegedly raised anti-national slogans. Complaint registered under IPC Sections 124-A (sedition), 120-B (criminal conspiracy) and 34 (acts done by several persons with common intention) Rajnaths role: Police arrests Kanhaiya Kumar after videos of alleged protest go viral. Home Minister Rajnath Singh speaks to Delhi Police Commissioner B. S. Bassi and releases a statement: If anyone raises anti-India slogans, tries to raise questions on the countrys unity and integrity, they will not be spared. Rajnath Singh alleges that JNU students had the backing of Jamaat-ud-Dawah chief Hafiz Saeed Mob attack: February 14, mob in gown slaps and kicks supporters of Kanhaiya Kumar on the Patiala House Courts premises just before Kumar is scheduled to appear before metropolitan magistrate Loveleen. Journalists and students beaten up; BJP MLA O. P. Sharma seen beating up a CPI worker outside the courts gate number 4. O. P. Sharmas says: The problem of this country is that terrorism and being anti-national are considered being progressive. And JNU is promoting this kind of ideology and producing anti-nationals. JNU should be sealed. Mute police: February 15, violence breaks out again in the Patiala House Courts complex. Delhi Police stands as silent spectators as attackers defy SCs order for restricted entry to court complex and beat up Kumar en route to his hearing. Attackers also hurl abuse, gravel and a flowerpot piece at a six-member team of senior advocates, sent by SC to verify and report on the ground situation. Major campus rows: Event: January 17, 2016 Research scholar Rohith Vemula hangs himself at the University of Hyderabads hostel room. What led to suicide: Vemula, 26, was among five research scholars suspended by HCU in August last year over alleged assault of ABVP leader. Union Minister Bandaru Dattatreya (BJ) writes to HRD minister Smriti Irani, describing the university as a den of casteist, extremist and anti-national politics and follows up with five reminders. Vemulas scholarship suspended and he is banned from the hostel. Protests: HCU students joint action committee calls suicide institutional murder; Opposition slams NDA government for anti-Dalit agenda, mindset. An umbrella organisation of the university launches indefinite strike for resignation of vice-chancellor Appa Rao. Vemulas mother joins protest on campus. Students of the FTII in Pune and Mumbai University join in protests. Centres take: Centre blames Congress for politicising issue, says suicide had nothing to do with Dattatreyas letter to Irani. Irani said, Dont want to make political statement. My condolences to family of deceased. Government doesnt intervene in the administration of universities. IIT-M against Dalits? Event: May 24, 2015 Indian Institute of Technology Madras kicks up row by derecognising Ambedkar Periyar Study Circle, many of whose members are Dalits. Reason: Anonymous complaint received by the Union HRD Ministry says APSC tried to mobilise SC/ST students and spread hatred towards Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Undersecretary Prisca Mathew writes to director on May 15, seeking comments of the institute to the complaint. APSC alleges it was targeted for opposing caste discrimination, Hindi imposition and beef ban. What happened: Students strike and hundreds arrested; protests spread to other parts of the country with NSUI and major organisations taking up the cause. Who to blame: Union HRD Minster Smriti Irani blamed for the institutes decision. End: June 7, 2015 IIT-M restores recognition of APSC after meeting between the Dean of Students and APSC. FTII imbroglio Event: June 12, 2015 Film and Television Institute of India students launch indefinite strike in protest against Information and Broadcast Ministry appointing small-time TV actor-turned-politician Gajendra Chauhan as chairman. Later, students launch relay hunger strike. Opposition: Students question Mr Chauhans creative credentials. The appointment of Chauhan, who played Yudhishtira in TV series Mahabharata and acted in B grade Bollywood movies, and the reconstitution of FTII governing council with four RSS leaders as members, seen as BJP-led Centres attempt to foist rightwing agenda on the institute. Students and film fraternity fear for institutes autonomy. 12 filmmakers, including documentary maker Anand Patwardhan, and Bollywood director Dibakar Banerjee, return national awards Action: At least nine rounds of formal and informal talks were held between the ministry and students. End: Students call off strike after 139 days on October 28 and return to classes though in protest. Keeping patients on ventilator support for too long without any chance of revival is not the right option. (Representational image) Need to make it legally valid I am in favour of passive euthanasia. Keeping patients on ventilator support for too long without any chance of revival is not the right option. An individual can choose between the right to live and the right to die honorably, and he or she must be allowed to exercise the option in the normal course. Many senior citizens in their complete consciousness are writing a Medical Will which states that they must not be subjected to ventilator support, catheters and aggressive use of medicine as and when they fall ill. This kind of a Will is fully justified and must be brought under the purview of the law. It must be made legally valid so that those who want to die peacefully are allowed the freedom to do so. Thats a service society can do. As of now, we are finding a lot of patients in end stage of cancer, Parkinsons and other debilitating diseases where there is no cure. The patient is in a vegetative state and suffers. When this occurs, the option of passive euthanasia can be exercised. In foreign countries, there are hospice centres that cater to patients with terminal stage illness, but there is no such facility in many cities in India. The issue needs to be settled. The government may set up a committee of two eminent doctors along with a few social workers to decide whether or not passive euthanasia can be practised. It may be advised that the age of the patient, his or her condition, the chances of recovery and also the activity of the brain are assessed before the option can be exercised. In many cases, we find that the cortical activity of the brain is gone and only the medullar function remained. In such a situation, there is no point in keeping the patient alive. In one case, the AP government had asked me to decide on a patient suffering from muscular dystrophy, as to whether he can opt for organ donation and euthanasia. In the absence of legal back up, it had to be denied. Hence, a proper framework of legal aspects is required even for patients who are conscious but are bed-ridden for life. They are suffering and have been put on support systems but there is no chance of them ever getting up and walking again. In the acute medical care unit in foreign countries, there are instructions like Do not Resuscitate, as the patients relatives end up spending too much even as there is no chance of a recovery. Such patients are not attended to and they are allowed to die a rightful, natural death. Dr Pradeep Deshpande, The writer is president of the Indian Society of Nephrology. Selectively and as last resort If passive euthanasia is to be practised, caution is the byword. It must not be used as a tool to do away with end-stage care or not giving care at all. Treat the patient till the last minute is the doctors motto. Patients who are conscious generally want to live and want be treated till the last minute. For such patients, passive euthanasia is not an option. A conscious patient of any age has the right to live in whatever state he is. Whats important for doctors and family members is to make him/her comfortable. If passive euthanasia is to be practised, caution is the byword. It must not be used as a tool to do away with end-stage care or not giving care at all. The government would do well to come up with rules and regulations that define passive euthanasia. It must decide at which stage can passive euthanasia be allowed. It cant be that a person is living as he has hope to be treated by medicines and hope for recovery, but due to the age-factors that care is denied to him in the name of passive euthanasia. The fine line between care and passive euthanasia is to be identified. Who, at what age and at which stage, is entitled to it? This must be made clear. It is not applicable to all; and if there is grievous injuries or debilitating diseases like cancer, muscular dystrophy, Par-kinsons or Alzheimers, there must be guidelines on when end-stage care is to be stopped. These definitions are important not only for the medical community but also for the people to understand the concept of passive euthanasia. Life support systems like ventilator are provided when the medical community sees hope for the patient to recover. Hence this cant be denied to them. Despite ventilator support, if there is no improvement, the option of passive euthanasia can be looked into. In conscious patients, we have seen the hope to live and the urge to fight the disease. Not even one per cent of them would opt for this kind of a treatment. Rather, they will be hurt due to their advanced age and may fall into depression or face psychological issues by a feeling that their near and dear ones and also the society itself do not want them. At the same time, those who are unconscious, whose chances are zero, and each of whose family is spending lakhs to keep the patient on ventilator, must be allowed to take off the support systems which would mean death. It is not that they be given some poisonous substance to die, but simply to stop the supportive treatment and they be allowed to die peacefully. Dr P. Vijay Anand Reddy, The writer is a senior clinical oncologist, Director of Apollo Cancer Hospital. The government has been pruning the upper echelons of the bureaucracy, quietly curtailing the tenure of many officials and sending them back or putting them on hold. It has cut short the tenure of M.K. Tripathi, a 2000-batch Indian Forest Service officer of the Karnataka cadre, as private secretary to housing and urban development minister Venkaiah Naidu, and placed him on compulsory wait without assigning any reason for this decision. He has been replaced by Saurabh Gaur from the parliamentary affairs ministry (also headed by Mr Naidu). Mr Tripathis is not a lone case. Sources says the recent meeting of the Appointments Committee of Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi also cut short the tenure of another private secretary, V. Ponnuraj, a 2000-batch Indian Administrative Service officer, working with law minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda. Also exiting is Sanjiv Kumar, a 1986-batch IAS officer of the Karnataka cadre, who is joint secretary in the ministry of environment. There are some others too who have been prematurely repatriated to their state cadres, ostensibly to avail the benefit of promotion. What it does show is that the exodus of senior babus from the Centre to the states continues. So far at least 65 IAS and Indian Police Service officers have returned to their parent cadres or have been prematurely repatriated. The trend is unlikely to change. Back from the cold The Centre named Archana Ramasundaram, the 1980-batch Indian Police Service officer of the Tamil Nadu cadre, as the new director-general of the Sashastra Seema Bal, making her the first woman to head a paramilitary force. The appointment ends a period of strife for the police officer in which her earlier appointment as additional director of Central Bureau of Investigation in 2014 was challenged in the Supreme Court by her own state government, which even suspended her only to revoke the order later. At the time it was believed that Ms Ramasundaram became a victim of politics in her cadre state. Her husband, an IAS officer, was widely perceived to be close to the rival Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam party, which reportedly displeased the Jayalalithaa government enough to stop her entry into the CBI, despite the backing of the then CBI director Ranjit Sinha. But things have changed since then, and she is likely to have a smoother run in her latest assignment. Not so unusual The vacancy at the department of industrial policy and promotion created by the appointment of its secretary Amitabh Kant as CEO of Niti Aayog has been filled by Ramesh Abhishek, 1982-batch Bihar cadre IAS officer, slated to take over at the end of the month when Mr Kant retires and takes over his new prestigious assignment. Some observers, however, were surprised when the government decided to give the inevitable two-month extension a bit late to finance secretary and secretary expenditure Ratan P. Watal, though he too is retiring on February 29. The Budget demands it. Though its unusual for the government to extend the tenure of secretary-level officers after they retire, two factors probably influenced the decision in Mr Watals case. It so happens that he was slated to retire on the very day the Union Budget is being presented in Parliament. But there is also the view that since the expenditure department is likely to play a major role in the implementation of the Seventh Pay Commissions report, it would not be wise to bring in a new official at this critical juncture. So the continuity principle worked in Mr Watals favour!